scholarly journals Children’s use of polysemy to structure new word meanings

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahesh Srinivasan ◽  
Catherine Berner ◽  
Hugh Rabagliati
Keyword(s):  
Word Learning ◽  
Word Meaning ◽  
Word Meanings ◽  
Object A ◽  
Shape Bias ◽  
Multiple Meanings ◽  
Polysemous Word ◽  
Polysemous Words

It is well-known that children rapidly learn words, following a range of heuristics. What is less well appreciated is that – because most words are polysemous and have multiple meanings (e.g., ‘glass’ can label a material and drinking vessel) – children will often be learning a new meaning for a known word, rather than an entirely new word. Across four experiments we show that children flexibly adapt a well-known heuristic – the shape bias – when learning polysemous words. Consistent with previous studies, we find that children and adults preferentially extend a new object label to other objects of the same shape. But we also find that when a new word for an object (‘a gup’) has previously been used to label the material composing that object (‘some gup’), children and adults override the shape bias, and are more likely to extend the object label by material (Experiments 1 and 3). Further, we find that, just as an older meaning of a polysemous word constrains interpretations of a new word meaning, encountering a new word meaning leads learners to update their interpretations of an older meaning (Experiment 2). Finally, we find that these effects only arise when learners can perceive that a word’s meanings are related, not when they are arbitrarily paired (Experiment 4). Together, these findings show that children can exploit cues from polysemy to infer how new word meanings should be extended, suggesting that polysemy may facilitate word learning and invite children to construe categories in new ways

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.

Frame-based instruction: Teaching polysemous nouns in the L2

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 171-192
Author(s):  
Ronald Kemsies
Keyword(s):  
Teaching Method ◽  
Word Meaning ◽  
Teaching Methodologies ◽  
Word Meanings ◽  
Multiple Meaning ◽  
Null Result ◽  
Cognitive Semantic ◽  
Widespread Belief ◽  
Polysemous Word ◽  
Based Instruction

Abstract Across the various L2 teaching methodologies, polysemy represents a mostly neglected phenomenon. Due to the widespread belief that multiple meaning extensions are largely arbitrary as well as due to the lack of a systematic teaching method, rote learning of polysemous word meanings frequently appears to be a common practice in L2 classrooms. A cognitive semantic view of polysemy claims that polysemous meaning extensions are motivated and form a systematic network (Lakoff 1987). Against this backdrop, this article introduces a CL-based learning/teaching technique in order to systematically approximate the intended meanings of polysemous L2 nouns in context. ‘Frame-based instruction’ capitalizes on the notion of frame-inherent ‘slots’ and ‘fillers’ (cf., e.g., Barsalou 1992; Martin 1997; Minsky 1975). According to this view, polysemy arises through context- dependent slot-filler configurations. The method grants L2 learners access to these structures through a systematic array of questions scanning generic slots within the contextual frame and the polyseme-frame. In doing so, it guides them to unveil the intended polysemous word meaning in context in a step-by-step fashion. After an illustration of the method on the basis of a practical example, an empirical study is presented which tested the functionality of frame-based instruction in a classroom setting with 13-year-old EFL learners in Austria. Although the experiment produced a statistical null result, several future avenues of research crystallized with regard to an improved implementation of the method.

scholarly journals Learning language from within: Children use semantic generalizations to infer word meanings

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahesh Srinivasan ◽  
Sara Al Mughairy ◽  
Ruthe Foushee ◽  
David Barner
Keyword(s):  
Word Learning ◽  
Observational Learning ◽  
Word Meanings ◽  
New Words ◽  
Word Forms ◽  
Multiple Meanings ◽  
Learning Language

One reason that word learning presents a challenge for children is because pairings between word forms and meanings are arbitrary conventions that children must learn via observation – e.g., the fact that “shovel” labels shovels. The present studies explore cases in which children might bypass observational learning and spontaneously infer new word meanings: By exploiting the fact that many words are flexible and systematically encode multiple, related meanings. For example, words like shovel and hammer are nouns for instruments, and verbs for activities involving those instruments. The present studies explored whether 3- to 5-year-old children possess semantic generalizations about lexical flexibility, and can use these generalizations to infer new word meanings: Upon learning that dax labels an activity involving an instrument, do children spontaneously infer that dax can also label the instrument itself? Across four studies, we show that at least by age four, children spontaneously generalize instrument activity flexibility to new words. Together, our findings point to a powerful way in which children may build their vocabulary, by leveraging the fact that words are linked to multiple meanings in systematic ways.

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.

The implications of polysemy for theories of word learning

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahesh Srinivasan ◽  
Hugh Rabagliati
Keyword(s):  
Young Children ◽  
Word Learning ◽  
Fundamental Feature ◽  
Children’S Learning ◽  
Multiple Meanings ◽  
New Perspective ◽  
Polysemous Words ◽  
Review Current ◽  
Children's Learning

Word learning is typically studied as a problem in which children need to learn a single meaning for a new word. According to most theories, children’s learning is itself guided by the assumption that a new word has only one meaning. However, most words in languages are polysemous, having many related and distinct meanings. In this article, we consider the implications of this disjuncture. As we review, current theories predict that children should struggle to learn polysemous words. Yet recent research shows that young children readily learn multiple meanings for words and represent them in ways that are qualitatively similar to adults. Moreover, polysemy may facilitate word learning by allowing children to use their knowledge of familiar meanings of a word to learn its other meanings. These findings motivate a new perspective on word learning that recognizes polysemy as a fundamental feature of language instead of treating it as an outlying case.

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 From social contingency to verbal reference: a constructivist hypothesis.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Luchkina ◽  
Fei Xu
Keyword(s):  
Word Learning ◽  
Language Production ◽  
Mental Representations ◽  
Eye Gaze ◽  
Word Meaning ◽  
Developmental Theory ◽  
Mediated Learning ◽  
Word Meanings ◽  
Social Contingency ◽  
Ostensive Communication

In the first year of life, infants’ word learning is slow, laborious, and requires long, repeated exposure to word-referent co-occurrences. In contrast, by 14-18 months, infants learn words from just a few labeling events, use joint attention and eye-gaze to decipher word meaning, and begin to use speech to communicate about absent things. We propose that this remarkable advancement in word learning results from attaining verbal reference–a property of words (or other signals) that are linked to mental representations and used intentionally to communicate about real-world referents. We argue that verbal reference is supported by co-developing conceptual, social, representational, and statistical learning capacities. We also propose that infants’ recognition of this tri-directional link between words, referents, and mental representations is fueled by their experience participating in and observing socially contingent interactions. Verbal reference signals a qualitative shift in infants’ word learning. This shift enables infants to bootstrap word meanings from syntax and semantics, learn novel words and facts from non-ostensive communication, and even make inferences about speakers’ epistemic competence based on their language production. In this paper, we review empirical findings across multiple facets of infant cognition, propose a novel developmental theory of verbal reference, and reconcile a long-standing debate on the mechanisms of early word learning. Finally, we propose new directions of empirical research that may provide stronger and more direct evidence for our theory and contribute to our understanding of the development of verbal reference and language-mediated learning in infancy and beyond.

Morphological Knowledge as an Aid to Word Learning: A Cross-Situational Word Learning Study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Finley
Keyword(s):  
Word Learning ◽  
Word Meaning ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Artificial Language ◽  
Initial Training ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Morphological Knowledge ◽  
Semantic Categories ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Morphological Cues

The present study explores morphological bootstrapping in cross-situational word learning. Adult, English-speaking participants were exposed to novel words from an artificial language from three different semantic categories: fruit, animals, and vehicles. In the Experimental conditions, the final CV syllable was consistent across categories (e.g., /-ke/ for fruits), while in the Control condition, the endings were the same, but were assigned to words randomly. After initial training on the morphology under various degrees of referential uncertainty, participants were given a cross-situational word learning task with high referential uncertainty. With poor statistical cues to learn the words across trials, participants were forced to rely on the morphological cues to word meaning. In Experiments 1-3, participants in the Experimental conditions repeatedly outperformed participants in the Control conditions. In Experiment 4, when referential uncertainty was high in both parts of the experiment, there was no evidence of learning or making use of the morphological cues. These results suggest that learners apply morphological cues to word meaning only once they are reliably available.

scholarly journals Word meaning access: The one-to-many mapping from form to meaning

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer M Rodd
Keyword(s):  
A Priori ◽  
Word Meaning ◽  
Semantic Features ◽  
Contextual Cues ◽  
Word Meanings ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Core Feature ◽  
Distributional Information ◽  
Current Context ◽  
The One

This chapter focuses on the process by which stored knowledge about a word’s form (orthographic or phonological) maps onto stored knowledge about its meaning. This mapping is made challenging by the ambiguity that is ubiquitous in natural language: most familiar words can refer to multiple different concepts. This one-to-many mapping from form to meaning within the lexicon is a core feature of word-meaning access. Fluent, accurate word-meaning access requires that comprehenders integrate multiple cues in order to determine which of a word’s possible semantic features are relevant in the current context. Specifically, word-meaning access is guided by (i) distributional information about the a priori relative likelihoods of different word meanings and (ii) a wide range of contextual cues that indicate which meanings are most likely in the current context.

Linguistic Minority Children's Knowledge of multiple Word Meanings; Polysemy and the Testing of lexical Skills

1998 ◽  
Vol 119-120 ◽  
pp. 79-89
Author(s):  
René Appel
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Vocabulary Test ◽  
Linguistic Minority ◽  
Minority Children ◽  
Word Meanings ◽  
Multiple Meanings ◽  
Lexical Skills

Abstract It is often observed that minority children's lexical proficiency in the majority language lags behind that of majority children. This observations is substantiated by scores on vocabulary tests. However, in these (traditional) tests words are generally treated as having one meaning, while most words are polysemous, i.e. they have multiple meanings. A new test was designed to measure the knowledge of multiple word meanings of minority and majority children. Results pointed to a rather high correlation between the scores on a traditional vocabulary test and the newly developed test for the minority children. Furthermore, the minority children scored lower on the new test than the majority children, which suggests that they not only have a lexical deficit in their second language with respect to the number of words known, but also with respect to the number of meanings attached to each word.

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