German-speaking children use sentence-initial case marking for predictive language processing at age four

Cognition ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 221 ◽  
pp. 104988
Author(s):  
Duygu Özge ◽  
Jaklin Kornfilt ◽  
Katja Maquate ◽  
Aylin C. Küntay ◽  
Jesse Snedeker
Keyword(s):  
Language Processing ◽  
Case Marking ◽  
German Speaking ◽  
Predictive Language Processing

scholarly journals “Which mouse kissed the frog?” Effects of age of onset, length of exposure, and knowledge of case marking on the comprehension of wh-questions in German-speaking simultaneous and early sequential bilingual children

2016 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 635-661 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANNE DOROTHEE ROESCH ◽  
VASILIKI CHONDROGIANNI
Keyword(s):  
Age Of Onset ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Language Abilities ◽  
Error Patterns ◽  
Case Marking ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Wh Questions ◽  
German Speaking

AbstractStudies examining age of onset (AoO) effects in childhood bilingualism have provided mixed results as to whether early sequential bilingual children (eL2) differ from simultaneous bilingual children (2L1) and L2 children on the acquisition of morphosyntax. Differences between the three groups have been attributed to other factors such as length of exposure (LoE), language abilities, and the phenomenon to be acquired. The present study investigates whether four- to five-year-old German-speaking eL2 children differ from 2L1 children on the acquisition of wh-questions, and whether these differences can be explained by AoO, LoE, and/or knowledge of case marking. The 2L1 children outperformed the eL2 children in terms of accuracy; however, both bilingual groups exhibited similar error patterns. This suggests that 2L1 and eL2 bilingual children are sensitive to the same morphosyntactic cues, when comprehending wh-questions. Finally, children's performance on the different types of wh-questions was explained by a combination of knowledge of case marking, LoE, and AoO.

scholarly journals Comprehension of Welcher -Questions in German-Speaking Children With and Without Developmental Language Disorder

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Anne Dorothée Roesch ◽  
Vasiliki Chondrogianni
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Language Disorder ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Question Type ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Developmental Language Disorder ◽  
Typically Developing Children ◽  
Phonological Working Memory ◽  
Case Marking ◽  
German Speaking

Purpose This study examined whether monolingual German-speaking preschool children with developmental language disorder (DLD) were facilitated by the presence of case-marking cues in their interpretation of German subject and object welcher (“which”)-questions, as reported for their typically developing peers. We also examined whether knowledge of case-marking and/or phonological working memory modulated children's ability to revise early assigned interpretations of ambiguous questions. Method Sixty-three monolingual German-speaking children with and without DLD aged between 4;0 and 5;11 (years;months) participated in an offline picture selection task targeting the comprehension of welcher -questions in German. We manipulated question type (subject, object), case-marking transparency, and case-marking position within the question (sentence-initial/-final). Results The typically developing children outperformed the children with DLD across conditions, and all children performed better on subject than on object wh -questions. Transparent and early cues elicited higher accuracy than late-arriving cues. For the DLD children, their working memory capacity explained their inability to revise early assigned interpretations to ambiguous questions, whereas their knowledge of case did not. Conclusions The results suggest that disambiguating morphosyntactic cues can only partly facilitate comprehension of German welcher -questions in children with DLD, whose poor phonological working memory rather than their knowledge of case-marking mediates performance on these structures.

The processing of passive sentences in German

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-195
Author(s):  
Valentina Cristante ◽  
Sarah Schimke
Keyword(s):  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Primary School ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Empirical Data ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Visual World ◽  
German Speaking ◽  
Passive Sentence ◽  
Auxiliary Verb ◽  
Age Range

Abstract This study examines the processing and interpretation of passive sentences in German-speaking seven-year-olds, ten-year-olds, and adults. This structure is often assumed to be particularly difficult to understand, and not yet fully mastered in primary school (Kemp, Bredel, & Reich, 2008), i.e. in children aged between six and eleven. Few studies provide empirical data concerning this age range; it is therefore unknown whether this assumption is warranted. Against this background, we tested whether the three age groups differed in their off-line comprehension of passive sentences. In addition, we employed Visual World eye-tracking to measure processing difficulties that may differ between age groups and may not be reflected in the final interpretations. Previous studies on adult language processing in German and English have documented a preference to interpret sentences according to an agent-first strategy. Our results show that all three groups make use of this strategy, and that all of them are able to revise this interpretation once the first cue indicating a passive sentence is encountered (the auxiliary verb form wurde). We conclude that at least from age seven on, children have the linguistic and cognitive prerequisites to process the passive morphosyntax of German and to revise initial sentence misinterpretations.

scholarly journals Towards a complete multiple-mechanism account of predictive language processing

2013 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 365-366 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nivedita Mani ◽  
Falk Huettig
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Multiple Mechanism ◽  
Predictive Language Processing

AbstractAlthough we agree with Pickering & Garrod (P&G) that prediction-by-simulation and prediction-by-association are important mechanisms of anticipatory language processing, this commentary suggests that they: (1) overlook other potential mechanisms that might underlie prediction in language processing, (2) overestimate the importance of prediction-by-association in early childhood, and (3) underestimate the complexity and significance of several factors that might mediate prediction during language processing.

scholarly journals The Role of Awareness and Cognitive Aptitudes in L2 Predictive Language Processing

2018 ◽  
Vol 69 ◽  
pp. 42-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maja Curcic ◽  
Sible Andringa ◽  
Folkert Kuiken
Keyword(s):  
Language Processing ◽  
Predictive Language Processing

scholarly journals The Neurophysiology of Language Processing Shapes the Evolution of Grammar: Evidence from Case Marking

PLoS ONE ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. e0132819 ◽  
Author(s):  
Balthasar Bickel ◽  
Alena Witzlack-Makarevich ◽  
Kamal K. Choudhary ◽  
Matthias Schlesewsky ◽  
Ina Bornkessel-Schlesewsky
Keyword(s):  
Language Processing ◽  
Case Marking

scholarly journals Knowing the Future: Predictive Processing in the ELT Classroom

2019 ◽  
Vol 2018 (1) ◽  
pp. 274
Author(s):  
Edward Howland
Keyword(s):  
Language Processing ◽  
Language Comprehension ◽  
English Language ◽  
Academic Community ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Predictive Processing ◽  
English Language Teachers ◽  
Three Stages ◽  
Linguistic Input ◽  
Predictive Language Processing

Recent research in neuroscience has confirmed the brain’s ability to predict linguistic input before it occurs. Predictive language processing (PLP) is linked to language comprehension and production, yet it is rarely discussed within the ELT academic community. This paper is intended to explore that omission in three stages. First, available research is reviewed. Second, the results of a questionnaire regarding English language teachers’ awareness of and attitudes towards PLP are discussed. Finally, a presentation of two techniques designed to train an L2 learner’s predictive abilities is offered as a model for future language teaching. 最近の神経科学の研究により、脳が言語的な入力をあらかじめ予想する能力があることが確認されている。予想言語処理（predictive language processing; PLP）は言語の理解力と発話に関わりがあるが、英語教授法（ELT）の分野のなかでめったに論じられていない。本論文では、この分野を深く三段階にわたって研究する。最初に、これまでの研究を総括する。次に、アンケート調査の結果から、PLPに関して英語教師の認識また態度について考察する。最後に、今後に応用可能な言語教授法のモデルとして、第二言語学習者（L2）の予想力を高めるための二つのトレーニング技術が提示されている。

scholarly journals Lexical prediction in language comprehension: a replication study of grammatical gender effects in Dutch

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arnold Kochari ◽  
Monique Flecken
Keyword(s):  
Language Processing ◽  
Brain Research ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Original Data ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Original Study ◽  
Gender Effects ◽  
Test Case ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Predictive Language Processing

[This is a postprint/accepted version of the manuscript. It is now published: https://doi.org/10.1080/23273798.2018.1524500 . Please cite the published version.] An important question in predictive language processing is the extent to which prediction effects can reliably be measured on pre-nominal material (e.g., articles before nouns). Here, we present a large sample (N=58) close replication of a study by Otten and van Berkum [2009, Does working memory capacity affect the ability to predict upcoming words in discourse? Brain Research, 1291, 92–101. doi: 10.1016/j.brainres.2009.07.042]. They report ERP modulations in relation to the predictability of nouns in sentences, measured on gender-marked Dutch articles. We used nearly identical materials, procedures, and data analysis steps. We fail to replicate the original effect, but do observe a pattern consistent with the original data. Methodological differences between our replication and the original study that could potentially have contribute to the diverging results are discussed. In addition, we discuss the suitability of Dutch gender-marked determiners as a test-case for future studies of pre-activation of lexical items.

scholarly journals The predictive potential of hand gestures during conversation: An investigation of the timing of gestures in relation to speech

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marlijn ter Bekke ◽  
Linda Drijvers ◽  
JUDITH HOLLER
Keyword(s):  
Response Time ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Semantic Information ◽  
Hand Gestures ◽  
Lexical Information ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Movement Component ◽  
Natural Conversation ◽  
Representational Gestures ◽  
Predictive Language Processing

In face-to-face conversation, recipients might use the bodily movements of the speaker (e.g. gestures) to facilitate language processing. It has been suggested that one way through which this facilitation may happen is prediction. However, for this to be possible, gestures would need to precede speech, and it is unclear whether this is true during natural conversation. In a corpus of Dutch conversations, we annotated hand gestures that represent semantic information and occurred during questions, and the word(s) which corresponded most closely to the gesturally depicted meaning. Thus, we tested whether representational gestures temporally precede their lexical affiliates. Further, to see whether preceding gestures may indeed facilitate language processing, we asked whether the gesture-speech asynchrony predicts the response time to the question the gesture is part of. Gestures and their strokes (most meaningful movement component) indeed preceded the corresponding lexical information, thus demonstrating their predictive potential. However, while questions with gestures got faster responses than questions without, there was no evidence that questions with larger gesture-speech asynchronies get faster responses. These results suggest that gestures indeed have the potential to facilitate predictive language processing, but further analyses on larger datasets are needed to test for links between asynchrony and processing advantages.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document