Construction Learning by Child Learners of Foreign Language: Input Distribution and Learner Factors

Abstract

AbstractTwo studies examined the role of input distribution in English construction learning, by child learners from a Mandarin first‐language background, and the extent to which phonological short‐term memory and awareness predicted such learning. In the first study, 4th‐grade students of Mandarin Chinese (N = 121) learned the English object‐cleft construction under skewed or balanced input conditions. In the skewed condition, the construction was instantiated by exemplars with a high token‐frequency verb; in the balanced condition, the exemplars were evenly distributed. The second study (N = 117) replicated the first study, except that the argument nouns of the verbs in the exemplars also varied. The 2 studies yielded similar results in that children's comprehension of new sentences of the construction and use of the construction to infer new words were not affected by input distribution but were associated with phonological awareness and short‐term memory. The results suggest that while child learners of a foreign language could abstract a new pattern from input without direct instruction, their performance was more consistently associated with individual learner factors than with input‐related factors.