Facilitating the acquisition of syntax with cross-sentential cues to phrase structure

Abstract

Several previous studies using miniature language methodology have shown that the acquisition of syntax is facilitated by language input that incorporates cues to sentence phrase structure. These studies have examined effects of LOCAL cues, such as prosody or function words, which are physically identifiable aspects of input and which directly indicate the phrase bracketing of individual input strings. In the present study, we examine the effects of CROSS-SENTENTIAL cues to phrase structure—cues that lack overt manifestations in individual strings, arise solely as consequences of the rule system underlying the input language, and must be extracted from input through comparisons of semantically and syntactically related strings. Grammars incorporating rules of pronominalization and permutation were used to generate input with cross-sentential cues. Subjects exposed to such input were completely successful in learning syntax, whereas subjects exposed to input generated by a simpler grammar (and lacking either local or cross-sentential cues) failed to learn complex aspects of syntax. Natural languages regularly include the types of rules that give rise to cross-sentential cues and also regularly possess multiple local cues to phrase structure. These patterns of universality, coupled with the consistent facilitative effects of structural cues on learning, suggest that such cues may constitute a necessary component of language input.