scholarly journals Semantic cues in language learning: an artificial language study with adult and child learners

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Helen Brown ◽  
Kenny Smith ◽  
Anna Samara ◽  
Elizabeth Wonnacott
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Artificial Language ◽  
Semantic Cues ◽  
Language Study

scholarly journals Children’s sensitivity to phonological and semantic cues during noun class learning: evidence for a phonological bias

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Culbertson ◽  
Hanna Jarvinen ◽  
Frances Haggarty ◽  
Kenny Smith
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Classification Systems ◽  
Developmental Changes ◽  
Artificial Language ◽  
Phonological Information ◽  
Semantic Cues ◽  
Artificial Language Learning ◽  
Cue Use ◽  
Noun Class

Previous research on the acquisition of noun classification systems (e.g., grammatical gender) has found that child learners rely disproportionately on phonological cues to determine the class of a new noun, even when competing semantic cues are more reliable in their language. Culbertson, Gagliardi, and Smith (2017) argue that this likely results from the early availability of phonological information during acquisition; learners base their initial representations on formal features of nouns, only later integrating semantic cues from noun meanings . Here, we use artificial language learning experiments to show that early availability drives cue use in children (67 year-olds). However, we also find evidence of developmental changes in sensitivity to semantics; when both cues types are simultaneously available, children are more likely to rely on phonology than adults. Our results suggest that early availability and a bias favoring phonological cues both contribute to children’s over-reliance on phonology in natural language acquisition.

scholarly journals Do children privilege phonological cues in noun class learning?

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Culbertson ◽  
Kenny Smith ◽  
Hanna Jarvinen ◽  
Frances Haggarty
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Natural Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Grammatical Gender ◽  
Developmental Changes ◽  
Artificial Language ◽  
Semantic Cues ◽  
Artificial Language Learning ◽  
Noun Class

Previous research on acquisition of noun class systems, such as grammatical gender, has shown that child learners rely disproportionately on phonological cues to class, even when competing semantic cues are more reliable. Culbertson, Gagliardi, and Smith (2017) use artificial language learning experiments with adults to argue that over-reliance on phonology may be due to the fact that phonological cues are available first; learners base early representations on surface phonological dependencies, only later integrating semantic cues from noun meanings. Here, we show that child learners (6-7 year-olds) show this same sensitivity to early availability. However, we also find intriguing evidence of developmental changes in sensitivity to semantics; when both cues are simultaneously available children are more likely to rely on a phonology cue than adults. Our results suggest that early availability and a bias in favor of phonological cues may both contribute to children’s over- reliance on phonology in natural language acquisition.

scholarly journals Brown, Smith, Samara, & Wonnacott (pre-print). Semantic cues in language learning: An artificial language study with adult and child learners.

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen Brown ◽  
Kenny Smith ◽  
Anna Samara ◽  
Elizabeth Wonnacott
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Artificial Language ◽  
Semantic Class ◽  
Semantic Cues ◽  
Artificial Languages ◽  
Adults And Children ◽  
Type Frequency ◽  
Additional Support ◽  
Comprehension Tests

Grammatical regularities may correlate with semantics cues; for instance, the grammatical gender of a noun is often partially predictable from its semantics. However, semantic cues seem to pose difficulties for child learners. We explore whether 6-year-olds and adults generalize over semantic cues, and how this is affected by the extent of exposure (1v4 sessions) and the number of exemplars for each semantic class (type-frequency). Participants were exposed to semi-artificial languages in which nouns co-occurred with novel particles, with particle usage either fully or partially determined by a semantic property of the noun. Subsequent production and comprehension tests showed that both adults and children generalized semantic cues to novel nouns when cues were fully consistent. Adults (but not children) also generalized when cues were partially consistent. However, although generalization increased with exposure, there was no evidence for a role of type-frequency (i.e. no greater generalization when there were more nouns per category). In addition, post-experiment interviews suggested that successful generalization was dependent upon explicit awareness. These results provide additional support for the observation that semantic cues seem to be particularly difficult for children to exploit during the early stages of language acquisition.

scholarly journals In search of resilient and fragile properties of language

2014 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. 64-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
SUSAN GOLDIN-MEADOW
Keyword(s):  
Young Children ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Great Promise ◽  
Artificial Language ◽  
Fundamental Properties ◽  
Linguistic Input ◽  
Language Input

ABSTRACTYoung children are skilled language learners. They apply their skills to the language input they receive from their parents and, in this way, derive patterns that are statistically related to their input. But being an excellent statistical learner does not explain why children who are not exposed to usable linguistic input nevertheless communicate using systems containing the fundamental properties of language. Nor does it explain why learners sometimes alter the linguistic input to which they are exposed (input from either a natural or an artificial language). These observations suggest that children are prepared to learn language. Our task now, as it was in 1974, is to figure out what they are prepared with – to identify properties of language that are relatively easy to learn, the resilient properties, as well as properties of language that are more difficult to learn, the fragile properties. The new tools and paradigms for describing and explaining language learning that have been introduced into the field since 1974 offer great promise for accomplishing this task.

Learning Paradigmatic Structure

2018 ◽  
pp. 179-200
Author(s):  
Vsevolod Kapatsinski
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Grammatical Gender ◽  
Second Order ◽  
Production Plan ◽  
Artificial Language ◽  
Artificial Language Learning ◽  
Noun Classes ◽  
Paradigmatic Structure ◽  
New Evidence

This chapter reviews research on the acquisition of paradigmatic structure (including research on canonical antonyms, morphological paradigms, associative inference, grammatical gender and noun classes). It discusses the second-order schema hypothesis, which views paradigmatic structure as mappings between constructions. New evidence from miniature artificial language learning of morphology is reported, which suggests that paradigmatic mappings involve paradigmatic associations between corresponding structures as well as an operation, copying an activated representation into the production plan. Producing a novel form of a known word is argued to involve selecting a prosodic template and filling it out with segmental material using form-meaning connections, syntagmatic and paradigmatic form-form connections and copying, which is itself an outcome cued by both semantics and phonology.

College Students’ Perceptions of Cell Phone Integration in Language Learning

2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 11-28
Author(s):  
Guoqiang Cui ◽  
Xin Chen ◽  
Wei Li ◽  
Shuyan Wang ◽  
Zhenhuan Yang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Cell Phone ◽  
English Language ◽  
Cell Phones ◽  
Chinese College Students ◽  
Foreign Language Study ◽  
Initial Stage ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Language Study

Cell phone integration in education has been widely discussed and explored, especially in the field of foreign language study. Compared with other countries, cell phone educational integration in China is in its infancy. This article examined Chinese college students’ perceptions of cell phone usage in three aspects: interaction, course construction, and flexibility. Though students generally demonstrated great interest for the cell phone integration in English language study, no significant difference was found between students’ characteristics and perceptions of interaction, course construction, and flexibility in their use of cell phones. However, researchers did find that course constructions are a significant predictor of students’ senses of course flexibility issues. This study also found that many students hold neutral attitudes towards the integration of cell phones, therefore initial stage of cell phone usage is of great importance in order to attract and motivate more students.

Learning biases in opaque interactions

Phonology ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 627-653
Author(s):  
Brandon Prickett
Keyword(s):  
Neural Network ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Learning Process ◽  
Computational Modelling ◽  
Artificial Language ◽  
Phonological Acquisition ◽  
Learning Biases ◽  
Learning Experiment ◽  
Artificial Language Learning ◽  
Harmonic Serialism

This study uses an artificial language learning experiment and computational modelling to test Kiparsky's claims about Maximal Utilisation and Transparency biases in phonological acquisition. A Maximal Utilisation bias would prefer phonological patterns in which all rules are maximally utilised, and a Transparency bias would prefer patterns that are not opaque. Results from the experiment suggest that these biases affect the learnability of specific parts of a language, with Maximal Utilisation affecting the acquisition of individual rules, and Transparency affecting the acquisition of rule orderings. Two models were used to simulate the experiment: an expectation-driven Harmonic Serialism learner and a sequence-to-sequence neural network. The results from these simulations show that both models’ learning is affected by these biases, suggesting that the biases emerge from the learning process rather than any explicit structure built into the model.

scholarly journals Compositional Hierarchical Structure Evolves through Cultural Transmission: An Experimental Study

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 83-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carmen Saldana ◽  
Simon Kirby ◽  
Robert Truswell ◽  
Kenny Smith
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Hierarchical Structure ◽  
Cultural Transmission ◽  
Artificial Language ◽  
Compositional Structure ◽  
Evolutionary Linguistics ◽  
Artificial Language Learning ◽  
Learning Techniques ◽  
Iterated Learning

AbstractCompositional hierarchical structure is a prerequisite for productive languages; it allows language learners to express and understand an infinity of meanings from finite sources (i.e., a lexicon and a grammar). Understanding how such structure evolved is central to evolutionary linguistics. Previous work combining artificial language learning and iterated learning techniques has shown how basic compositional structure can evolve from the trade-off between learnability and expressivity pressures at play in language transmission. In the present study we show, across two experiments, how the same mechanisms involved in the evolution of basic compositionality can also lead to the evolution of compositional hierarchical structure. We thus provide experimental evidence showing that cultural transmission allows advantages of compositional hierarchical structure in language learning and use to permeate language as a system of behaviour.

Comprehensie van Vreemdtalige Input

1988 ◽  
Vol 30 ◽  
pp. 21-30
Author(s):  
Diana C. Issidorides
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Comprehension ◽  
Word Order ◽  
English Learners ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Theoretical Issue ◽  
Function Words ◽  
Semantic Cues ◽  
Processing Strategies

Within a psycholinguistic approach to second language learning, an attempt is made to investigate the question of how morphology, syntax (word order phenomena), semantics and pragmatics affect the comprehension of Dutch sentences for normative learners of that language. When talking to nonnative language-learners, native spea-kers often tend to dehberately modify their speech -'simplify' it - in an attempt to make the target language more comprehensible. Omitting semantically redundant function words and copulas, or deliberate-ly modifying the word order in a sentence, are but a few characteris-tics of sucn 'simplifications'. In trying to determine whether, and what kinds of, linguistic simplifications promote comprehension, an important theoretical issue arises, namely, the relationship between linguistic (structural) and cognitive (ease of information processing) simplification. That one form of simplification is by no means a guarantee for the other form is an important assumption that forms the backbone to our approach. The results from research on morphological simplifications (omission of redundant function words in utterances) in two parallel experiments - an artificial and a natural language one (Dutch) - are discus-sed. They suggest that the presence of semantically redundant functi-on words is not experienced as bothersome "noise" in the successful inference of the meaning of unfamiliar utterances, as long as supra-segmental cues are present. The suprasegmental structure provides the listener/learner with cues for locating the potentially meaningful elements of such utterances. Research on syntactic simplifications is also discussed. Its aim was to examine the role and effect of syntactic and semantic cues on sen-tence interpretation. Two important questions were: (a) What are the processing strategies and cues responsible for the interpretation of Dutch sentences by native speakers, and how do they compare to those employed by nonnative speakers? (b) Are the processing stra-tegies and cues that are responsible and decisive for first language comprehension also those employed in second language comprehension? The performance of Dutch control subjects on a Dutch sentence interpretation task is presented, and hypotheses are put forward as to the locus and cause of eventual performance differences in a nonnative subject population (English learners of Dutch). Some relevant theoretical implications of our findings are also mentioned.

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