scholarly journals Prosody and Function Words Cue the Acquisition of Word Meanings in 18-Month-Old Infants

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 319-332 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex de Carvalho ◽  
Angela Xiaoxue He ◽  
Jeffrey Lidz ◽  
Anne Christophe
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Word Learning ◽  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Word Meaning ◽  
Lexical Acquisition ◽  
Function Words ◽  
Word Meanings ◽  
Syntactic Information ◽  
And Function ◽  
Speech Melody

Language acquisition presents a formidable task for infants, for whom word learning is a crucial yet challenging step. Syntax (the rules for combining words into sentences) has been robustly shown to be a cue to word meaning. But how can infants access syntactic information when they are still acquiring the meanings of words? We investigated the contribution of two cues that may help infants break into the syntax and give a boost to their lexical acquisition: phrasal prosody (speech melody) and function words, both of which are accessible early in life and correlate with syntactic structure in the world’s languages. We show that 18-month-old infants use prosody and function words to recover sentences’ syntactic structure, which in turn constrains the possible meanings of novel words: Participants ( N = 48 in each of two experiments) interpreted a novel word as referring to either an object or an action, given its position within the prosodic-syntactic structure of sentences.

Using Speakers' Referential Intentions to Model Early Cross-Situational Word Learning

2009 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 578-585 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael C. Frank ◽  
Noah D. Goodman ◽  
Joshua B. Tenenbaum
Keyword(s):  
Computational Model ◽  
Word Learning ◽  
Word Meaning ◽  
Mutual Exclusivity ◽  
Object Individuation ◽  
Word Meanings ◽  
Inference Problems ◽  
Corpus Data ◽  
Situational Learning

Word learning is a “chicken and egg” problem. If a child could understand speakers' utterances, it would be easy to learn the meanings of individual words, and once a child knows what many words mean, it is easy to infer speakers' intended meanings. To the beginning learner, however, both individual word meanings and speakers' intentions are unknown. We describe a computational model of word learning that solves these two inference problems in parallel, rather than relying exclusively on either the inferred meanings of utterances or cross-situational word-meaning associations. We tested our model using annotated corpus data and found that it inferred pairings between words and object concepts with higher precision than comparison models. Moreover, as the result of making probabilistic inferences about speakers' intentions, our model explains a variety of behavioral phenomena described in the word-learning literature. These phenomena include mutual exclusivity, one-trial learning, cross-situational learning, the role of words in object individuation, and the use of inferred intentions to disambiguate reference.

scholarly journals Consistency and Variability in Children’s Word Learning Across Languages

Open Mind ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 52-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mika Braginsky ◽  
Daniel Yurovsky ◽  
Virginia A. Marchman ◽  
Michael C. Frank
Keyword(s):  
Word Learning ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Parent Report ◽  
Corpus Analysis ◽  
Function Words ◽  
Lexical Categories ◽  
Derived Properties ◽  
Report Data ◽  
And Function

Why do children learn some words earlier than others? The order in which words are acquired can provide clues about the mechanisms of word learning. In a large-scale corpus analysis, we use parent-report data from over 32,000 children to estimate the acquisition trajectories of around 400 words in each of 10 languages, predicting them on the basis of independently derived properties of the words’ linguistic environment (from corpora) and meaning (from adult judgments). We examine the consistency and variability of these predictors across languages, by lexical category, and over development. The patterning of predictors across languages is quite similar, suggesting similar processes in operation. In contrast, the patterning of predictors across different lexical categories is distinct, in line with theories that posit different factors at play in the acquisition of content words and function words. By leveraging data at a significantly larger scale than previous work, our analyses identify candidate generalizations about the processes underlying word learning across languages.

scholarly journals The company that words keep: comparing the statistical structure of child- versus adult-directed language

2012 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 586-604 ◽  
Author(s):  
THOMAS HILLS
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Written Language ◽  
Statistical Structure ◽  
Function Words ◽  
Contextual Diversity ◽  
Associative Structure ◽  
Word Acquisition ◽  
Word Classes ◽  
Language Statistics ◽  
And Function

ABSTRACTDoes child-directed language differ from adult-directed language in ways that might facilitate word learning? Associative structure (the probability that a word appears with its free associates), contextual diversity, word repetitions and frequency were compared longitudinally across six language corpora, with four corpora of language directed at children aged 1 ; 0 to 5 ; 0, and two adult-directed corpora representing spoken and written language. Statistics were adjusted relative to shuffled corpora. Child-directed language was found to be more associative, repetitive and consistent than adult-directed language. Moreover, these statistical properties of child-directed language better predicted word acquisition than the same statistics in adult-directed language. Word frequency and repetitions were the best predictors within word classes (nouns, verbs, adjectives and function words). For all word classes combined, associative structure, contextual diversity and word repetitions best predicted language acquisition. These results support the hypothesis that child-directed language is structured in ways that facilitate language acquisition.

Het Effect Van Monitor-Gebruik Op Het Nederlands Als Tweede Taal

1983 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
pp. 58-81
Author(s):  
Jan Erik Grezel ◽  
Hans Buiter ◽  
Ton van der Geest
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learner ◽  
Linguistic Features ◽  
Function Words ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Reflection Time ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Natural Data ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
And Function

In this paper the effect of monitoring in the acquisition of Dutch as a second language has been investigated in a descriptive design. Starting point was an experimental investigation, carried out by Hulstijn (1982). As his investigation was restricted to only two variables, a number of experimental conditions (unnatural situation) and to correct sentences only, it was decided to replicate this investigation with the following alterations: (1) only natural data from three different situations were used. These data ranked from formal to informal: dialogue (informal), monologue (formal) and written report (formal); (2) all kinds of linguistic variables that were relevant for the acquisition stage of the subjects were scored: syntactic, morphological, lexical variables, both correct and incorrect usage; (3) subjects were subdivided with respect to LI into English and less related languages (Slavic), and with respect to L2-achievement according to the teacher: good and not so good achievers. Some results 1. English speaking subjects and good achievers had better scores generally on the variables under investigation. This means that these variables are valid to describe the language acquisition process of Dutch as L2. 2. Those linguistic features that are well acquired are under the domain of monitoring in such a way that under formal circumstances (more reflection time) fewer errors occurred: word order, content words, and those morphological phenomena that are essential for the meaning of the message (tense, plural). 3. Those linguistic features that are not internalized completely are under the domain of monitoring in such a way that under formal circumstances more errors occurred: morphological phenomena that are less relevant with respect to meaning (e.g. incorrect plurals), and function words. 4. English subjects and good achievers demonstrated more correct monitoring. 5. The results 1. to 4. fit quite well into the L1=L2 hypothesis. There seems to be a universal order for language acquisition that is influenced only in minor points by the LI of the language learner. These findings have some interesting consequences for L2-education.

scholarly journals Children's use of information in word learning

1990 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 393-416 ◽  
Author(s):  
Terry Kit-Fong Au
Keyword(s):  
Prior Knowledge ◽  
Word Learning ◽  
Word Meaning ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Linguistic Information ◽  
Word Meanings ◽  
Knowledge And Beliefs ◽  
Novel Material ◽  
Children's Beliefs

ABSTRACTWhenever children hear a novel word, the context supplies information about its meaning. One way children may cope with so much information is to use whatever seems to make sense, given their prior knowledge and beliefs, while ignoring or quickly forgetting the rest. This work examined if and how children's beliefs about word meanings may affect their use of contrastive linguistic information in the input in word learning. In Study 1, some 3- and 4-year-olds were introduced to a novel material or shape name and heard it contrasted with familiar words. Others merely heard the novel word used for referring to an object. These children were then tested to determine what they had learned about their new word meaning. In Study 2, another group of 3-and 4-year-olds were asked to name the materials and shapes used for introducing these novel terms. Children made use of linguistic contrast only in some situations. They benefited more when the novel term did not overlap much in denotation with any terms commonly known by 3-and 4-year-olds. These results suggest that children can use information in the input very efficiently in learning a term for an as-yet-unnamed category, but not in learning a term similar in denotation to a word they already know. Thus, the results are consistent with the claim that children believe every word has a unique denotation.

scholarly journals Against stored abstractions: A radical exemplar model of language acquisition

2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 509-559 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben Ambridge
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Word Meaning ◽  
Computational Modelling ◽  
Word Meanings ◽  
Sentence Level ◽  
Child Language Acquisition ◽  
Data Tables ◽  
Meaning Category ◽  
Degree Of Similarity ◽  
Rule Out

The goal of this article is to make the case for a radical exemplar account of child language acquisition, under which unwitnessed forms are produced and comprehended by on-the-fly analogy across multiple stored exemplars, weighted by their degree of similarity to the target with regard to the task at hand. Across the domains of (1) word meanings, (2) morphologically inflected words, (3) n-grams, (4) sentence-level constructions and (5) phonetics and phonology, accounts based on independently-represented abstractions (whether formal rules or prototype categories) fail for two reasons. First, it is not possible to posit abstractions that delineate possible and impossible form; e.g. that (1) rule in pool tables and data tables, but rule out chairs, (2) rule in the past-tense forms netted and bet but rule out * setted and * jet, (3) rule in the bigram f+t but rule out (probabilistically) v+t, (4) rule in both John feared Bill and John frightened Bill but rule out * John laughed Bill, (5) rule in Speaker A but rule out Speaker B as the person who produced a particular word (e.g. Sa’urday). Second, for each domain, empirical data provide evidence of exemplar storage that cannot be captured by putative abstractions: e.g. speakers prefer and/or show an advantage for (1) exemplar variation even within word-meaning ‘category boundaries’, (2) novel inflected forms that are similar to existing exemplars, (3) n-grams that have occurred frequently in the input, (4) SVO sentences with he as SUBJECT and it as OBJECT and (5) repeated productions of ‘the same’ word that are phonologically similar or, better still, identical. An exemplar account avoids an intractable lumping-or-splitting dilemma facing abstraction-based accounts and provides a unitary explanation of language acquisition across all domains; one that is consistent with models and empirical findings from the computational modelling and neuroimaging literature.

Discovering word forms and word meanings: The role of phrasal prosody and function words

2013 ◽  
pp. 86-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Séverine Millotte ◽  
Elodie Cauvet ◽  
Perrine Brusini ◽  
Anne Christophe
Keyword(s):  
Function Words ◽  
Word Meanings ◽  
Word Forms ◽  
And Function

scholarly journals Against stored abstractions: A radical exemplar model of language acquisition

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben Ambridge
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Word Meaning ◽  
Computational Modelling ◽  
Word Meanings ◽  
Sentence Level ◽  
Child Language Acquisition ◽  
Data Tables ◽  
Meaning Category ◽  
Degree Of Similarity ◽  
Rule Out

The goal of this paper is to make the case for a radical exemplar account of child language acquisition, under which unwitnessed forms are produced and comprehended by on-the-fly analogy across multiple stored exemplars, weighted by their degree of similarity to the target with regard to the task at hand. Across the domains of (1) word meanings, (2) morphologically inflected words, (3) n-grams, (4) sentence-level constructions and (5) phonetics and phonology, accounts based on independently-represented abstractions (whether formal rules or prototype categories) fail for two reasons. First, it is not possible to posit abstractions that delineate possible and impossible form; e.g., that (1) rule in pool tables and data tables, but rule out chairs, (2) rule in the past-tense forms netted and bet but rule out *setted and *jet, (3) rule in the bigram f+t but rule out (probabilistically) v+t, (4) rule in both John feared Bill and John frightened Bill but rule out *John laughed Bill, (5) rule in Speaker A but rule out Speaker B as the person who produced a particular word (e.g., Sa’urday). Second, for each domain, empirical data provide evidence of exemplar storage that cannot be captured by putative abstractions: e.g. speakers prefer and/or show an advantage for (1) exemplar variation even within word-meaning “category boundaries”, (2) novel inflected forms that are similar to existing exemplars, (3) n-grams that have occurred frequently in the input, (4) SVO sentences with he as SUBJECT and it as OBJECT and (5) repeated productions of “the same” word that are phonologically similar or, better still, identical. An exemplar account avoids an intractable lumping-or-splitting dilemma facing abstraction-based accounts and provides a unitary explanation of language acquisition across all domains; one that is consistent with models and empirical findings from the computational modelling and neuroimaging literature.

Test-Retest Reliability of the Test for Auditory Comprehension of Language When It Is Used with Mentally Retarded Children

1980 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 195-199 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jack D. Anderson ◽  
Robert Hess ◽  
Kathleen Richardson
Keyword(s):  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Mentally Retarded ◽  
Test Results ◽  
Auditory Comprehension ◽  
Function Words ◽  
Mentally Retarded Children ◽  
And Function ◽  
Test Retest Reliability ◽  
Total Test

The Carrow (1973) Test for Auditory Comprehension of Language (TACL) is used frequently as part of a test battery to assess the language skills of mentally retarded children. This study determined its reliability with this population using a test-re-test paradigm. Forty-four retarded children were given the test and then retested after a five-week interval. A reliability coefficient of 0.91 was obtained between pre-test and posttest administrations of the TACL. Internal stability was highest for total score, the subtests measuring form class and function words, and grammatical categories. The low coefficients obtained for the subtests of morphological construction and syntactic structure suggest that these should be viewed with considerable caution when considered separately from the total test results.

Good intentions and bad words

2001 ◽  
Vol 24 (6) ◽  
pp. 1110-1111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank C. Keil
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Word Learning ◽  
Word Meaning ◽  
Learning System ◽  
Acquisition System ◽  
Critical Questions ◽  
Strong Case

Bloom makes a strong case that word meaning acquisition does not require a dedicated word learning system. This conclusion, however, does not argue against a dedicated language acquisition system for syntax, morphology, and aspects of semantics. Critical questions are raised as to why word meaning should be so different from other aspects of language in the course of acquisition.

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