Model Of Language Acquisition Research Articles

Linguistic type-frequency in preschool boys and girls with and without hearing loss

Linguistic type-frequency, how many different lexical types are used, has been examined in usage-based models of child language acquisition. In general, it has been shown that exposure to greater type-frequencies increases children’s productive use of language and that language in turn bootstraps later development including language and literacy. It is not currently known if pediatric hearing loss impacts the type-frequency of those children’s early communicative productions. In this study, we used a public database available via HomeBank [http://homebank.talkbank.org] to examine the type-frequency in 53 cognitively intact children, 37 with mild to moderate hearing loss (HL) and 16 peers who were typically-developing (TD). For each child, we analyzed 15 minutes of high volubility from a representative daylong recording collected in a natural family setting via an audio recorder worn by the child. Results indicate a main effect of sex favoring girls, but no main effect of HL. There were, however, interaction effects in which TD-boys had a greater type-frequency than HL-boys, but TD-girls were lesser than HL-girls. Within the HL group, HL-girls had greater type-frequency than HH-boys, but within the TD group TD-boys had greater type-frequency than TD-girls.

Memory, learning and language in autism spectrum disorder

Background and aims The ‘dual-systems’ model of language acquisition has been used by Ullman et al. to explain patterns of strength and weakness in the language of higher-functioning people with autism spectrum disorder. Specifically, intact declarative/explicit learning is argued to compensate for a deficit in non-declarative/implicit procedural learning, constituting an example of the so-called see-saw effect. Ullman and Pullman extended their argument concerning a see-saw effect on language in autism spectrum disorder to cover other perceived anomalies of behaviour, including impaired acquisition of social skills. The aim of this paper is to present a critique of Ullman et al.’s claims and to propose an alternative model of links between memory systems and language in autism spectrum disorder. Main contribution We argue that a four-system model of learning, in which intact semantic and procedural memory are used to compensate for weaknesses in episodic memory and perceptual learning, can better explain patterns of language ability across the autistic spectrum. We also argue that attempts to generalise the ‘impaired implicit learning/spared declarative learning’ theory to other behaviours in autism spectrum disorder are unsustainable. Conclusions Clinically significant language impairments in autism spectrum disorder are under-researched, despite their impact on everyday functioning and quality of life. The relative paucity of research findings in this area lays it open to speculative interpretation which may be misleading. Implications More research is needed into links between memory/learning systems and language impairments across the spectrum. Improved understanding should inform therapeutic intervention and contribute to investigation of the causes of language impairment in autism spectrum disorder with potential implications for prevention.

Issues with different models of third language acquisition (TLA)

Issues with different models of third language acquisition (TLA)

Online Contact, Face-to-Face Contact, and Multilingualism: Young Swedish-Speaking Finns Develop Trilingual Identities

Based on the tenets of the social context model of second language acquisition, the present article examined the combined effect of online and face-to-face contact in developing multilingual skills and identities among young Swedish-speaking Finns (N = 304). The hypotheses were tested for Finnish as a second language and English as a third language using parallel models. The results were largely identical for both languages. Specifically, online contact enhanced language confidence which, in turn, contributed to language identity. However, online contact had a more substantial effect on confidence as well as identity among those who had little face-to-face contact with speakers of the given language. Findings and their implications are discussed.

Model Pemerolehan Bahasa Arab Sebagai Bahasa Asing Pada Peserta Didik Non-Native Speaker (Kajian Teori Psikolinguistik)

The language acquisition model of a person is one of the most interesting themes to be discussed. Especially the process of obtaining foreign languages, because in addition to the concept of acquisition of the first language in children, also has a linkage, between the process of learning the language to the acquisition of foreign languages. Of course there is a difference between the process of language learning with the process of language acquisition, especially foreign languages. At least the process of acquisition of language can be seen from two sides, namely from the side of the process of obtaining a foreign language in the frame of psycholinguistics and from the side of the process of obtaining foreign languages in the sociolinguistic framework, or in its development can also be seen in the neurolinguistic side that examines the nervous system in the human brain to the process of acquisition foreign language.

Infant-Directed Speech Enhances Attention to Speech in Deaf Infants With Cochlear Implants.

Both theoretical models of infant language acquisition and empirical studies posit important roles for attention to speech in early language development. However, deaf infants with cochlear implants (CIs) show reduced attention to speech as compared with their peers with normal hearing (NH; Horn, Davis, Pisoni, & Miyamoto, 2005; Houston, Pisoni, Kirk, Ying, & Miyamoto, 2003), which may affect their acquisition of spoken language. The main purpose of this study was to determine (a) whether infant-directed speech (IDS) enhances attention to speech in infants with CIs, as compared with adult-directed speech (ADS), and (b) whether the degree to which infants with CIs pay attention to IDS is associated with later language outcomes. We tested 46 infants-12 prelingually deaf infants who received CIs before 24 months of age and had 12 months of hearing experience (CI group), 22 hearing experience-matched infants with NH (NH-HEM group), and 12 chronological age-matched infants with NH (NH-CAM group)-on their listening preference in 3 randomized blocks: IDS versus silence, ADS versus silence, and IDS versus ADS. We administered the Preschool Language Scale-Fourth Edition (PLS-4; Zimmerman, Steiner, & Pond, 2002) approximately 18 months after implantation to assess receptive and expressive language skills of infants with CIs. In the IDS versus silence block, all 3 groups looked significantly longer to IDS than to silence. In the ADS versus silence block, both the NH-HEM and NH-CAM groups looked significantly longer to ADS relative to silence; however, the CI group did not show any preference. In the IDS versus ADS block, whereas both the CI and NH-HEM groups preferred IDS over ADS, the NH-CAM group looked equally long to IDS and ADS. IDS preference quotient among infants with CIs in the IDS versus ADS block was associated with PLS-4 Auditory Comprehension and PLS-4 Expressive Communication measures. Two major findings emerge: (a) IDS enhances attention to speech in deaf infants with CIs; (b) the degree of IDS preference over ADS relates to language development in infants with CIs. These results support a focus on input in developing intervention strategies to mitigate the effects of hearing loss on language development in infants with hearing loss.

Evolution and determinants of language attitudes among Catalan adolescents

This paper analyzes language integration from an intergroup-relations’ perspective, using the social identity approach and socio-contextual model of second language acquisition. It focuses on the evolution of language attitudes in adolescents as an indicator of cultural integration between the two major language groups in Catalonia. The distinctive features of the Catalan case − the similar ethnolinguistic vitality enjoyed by the two official languages and the widespread bilingualism that common schooling has fostered − make it of great sociolinguistic interest. The empirical study focuses on the development of language attitudes towards Catalan and Spanish by using a panel sample of Catalan students (N=1050) followed for a period of five years (three waves). Joint trajectory clustering was used to make a longitudinal analysis that shows the main patterns of coevolution. Logistic regression relates changes to other linguistic, identity and sociodemographic variables. Results show that there are three main types of change in attitudes: a majority one, whith a profile of integration, and two others, which tend to separation. The direct effects of language confidence and ethnonational identity are found to explain the likelihood of individuals following one of these types of change.

Investigating “wanna” contraction through an emergentist approach among Iranian EFL learners applying usage-based model of language acquisition

In this study, we followed an emergentist view on the acceptability of “want to” contraction in both comprehension and production of Subject Extraction Question (SEQ) and Object Extraction Question (OEQ). Earlier experimental work (e.g. Bailes, 2000) showed that such a contrast is not robust for EFL learners. To study this hypothesis, one hundred EFL learners were randomly chosen among advanced EFL students. They were given two types of tests. One was a grammaticality judgment test, and the other was an elicited production test. The results showed that EFL learners had a propensity to contract “want to” both in OEQ and SEQ wherever want and to were adjacent.

Constructing a Language From Scratch: Combining Bottom–Up and Top–Down Learning Processes in a Computational Model of Language Acquisition

We present a computational model that allows us to study the interplay of different processes involved in first language acquisition. We build on the assumption that language acquisition is usage-driven and assume that there are different processes in language acquisition operating at different levels. Bottom-up processing allows a learner to identify regularities in the linguistic input received, while top–down processing exploits prior experience and previous knowledge to guide choices made during bottom–up processing. To shed light on the interplay between top–down and bottom–up processing in language acquisition, we present a computational model of language acquisition that is based on bootstrapping mechanisms and is usage-based in that it relies on discovered regularities to segment speech into word-like units. Based on this initial segmentation, our model induces a construction grammar that in turn acts as a top–down prior that guides the segmentation of new sentences into words. We spell out in detail these processes and their interplay, showing that top–down processing increases both understanding performance and segmentation accuracy. Our model thus contributes to a better understanding of the interplay between bottom–up and top–down processes in first language acquisition and thus to a better understanding of the mechanisms and architecture involved in language acquisition.

Weakly Supervised Learning of Hidden Markov Models for Spoken Language Acquisition

In this paper, a spoken command and control interface that acquires spoken language through demonstrations from the user is discussed. The user can train the system by uttering a command and subsequently demonstrating the required action through an alternative interface. From the demonstration, a bag of semantic concepts representation that represents which semantic concepts are present in the demonstration is extracted. In the previous work, we have proposed a method for learning words for these concepts by linking the bag of semantic concepts representation to a bag of features representation of the acoustics. In this method, the order in which the words occur is lost. However, in many cases, the order in which the words occur is important to be able to determine the correct action. In this paper, the vocabulary acquisition based on nonnegative matrix factorization is jointly trained with a hidden Markov model (HMM), making it possible to use the bag of concepts representation as a weak supervision for HMM learning. This model can better utilize the timing information to improve the results and the order in which the words occur is retained making it possible to learn vocabulary and grammar. The proposed system is tested on several command and control tasks and it is shown that for unimpaired speech the resulting system outperforms the system solely based on vocabulary acquisition.

Book Review: Empiricism and Language Learnability

The Reverend Bayes is good at explaining things. This time he’s been wheeled out to explain language acquisition.Chater et al. present the case for an empirical model of language acquisition that i...

Computational Learning of Syntax

Learnability has traditionally been considered to be a crucial constraint on theoretical syntax; however, the issues involved have been poorly understood, partly as a result of the lack of simple learning algorithms for various types of formal grammars. Here I discuss the computational issues involved in learning hierarchically structured grammars from strings of symbols alone. The methods involved are based on an abstract notion of the derivational context of a syntactic category, which in the most elementary case of context-free grammars leads to learning algorithms based on a form of traditional distributional analysis. Crucially, these techniques can be extended to work with mildly context-sensitive grammars (and beyond), thus leading to learning methods that can in principle learn classes of grammars that are powerful enough to represent all natural languages. These learning methods require that the syntactic categories of the grammars be visible in a certain technical sense: They must be well characterized either by the sets of symbols that they generate or by the sets of contexts in which they can appear. However, there are still significant gaps between these theoretical results and their direct implementation as models of language acquisition; I discuss how these remaining problems can be overcome.

VOT merger and f0 contrast in Heritage Korean in California

Author(s): Cheng, Andrew | Abstract: Recordings of read speech in Korean and English were made by native South Koreans and Korean Americans of varying generational status (“second-generation” American-born or “1.5-generation” foreign-born) and analyzed for differences in usage of VOT and fundamental frequency to contrast production of Korean lenis and aspirated stops and affricates. The speech was then played back to listeners of Korean heritage and judged metalinguistically regarding proficiency in Korean and other attributes relevant to the speech and demographics of immigrant speakers. Results show that second-generation Korean speakers, especially females, are not showing the collapse of VOT contrast found in the other two groups, one part of the “tonogenetic” sound change nearing completion in Seoul. Female second-generation speakers are also not using f0 to differentiate between the stops to the extent that first- and 1.5- generation speakers are. These second-generation speakers were easily identifiable as having been born in the United States, but the correlation with their generational identification and use of VOT and f0 to contrast lenis and aspirated stops and affricates is mild. It is concluded that because second-generation Korean Americans vary in their production of Korean, there is no clear sociophonetic marker for a Korean American “variety” of the language. The most proficient second-generation speakers closely resemble native speakers and do demonstrate the tonogenetic sound change, but the least proficient second-generation speakers diverge from this norm in a variety of ways. Second-generation Korean American speakers are easily identifiable as not speaking in the same way as native South Korean speakers, although this does not hinge on their use of the f0 contrast. The analysis makes a stronger case for applying new models of language acquisition, speech production, and identity formation to heritage language speakers that differ from those used for bilingual speakers.

A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK TO EXPLORE THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING EXPERIENCES OF INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS IN MALAYSIA

This conceptual paper addresses the information lacuna in the amalgamation between the areas of language learning strategies and international students in Malaysia. Malaysia is considered a hybrid or mixed setting environment where English as a Second Language (ESL) meets English as a Foreign Language (EFL). Thus in dissecting the big areas of language learning strategies and international students in relation to Malaysia, it gives rise to four notions – hybrid environment, agency, out-of-class language learning strategies and acculturation strategies. Underpinned by tenets derived from four flagship theories/model – Experiential Learning Theory by Kolb, Sociocultural Theory by Vygotsky, Social Cognitive Theory by Bandura, and Second Language Acquisition Model by Ellis – a framework is conceptualised. The conceptual framework elucidates the interplay of the four notions and their connections which will inform the main purpose of the study that is to explore the English language learning experiences of the international students in Malaysia.

Faces of Contemporary Cognitivism

The paper focuses on a comparison of the concepts of language and language studies as presented in contemporary cognitivism and expounded by Ronald Langacker, George Lakoff and Charles Fillmore in their versions of Cognitive Grammar on the one hand and by Noam Chomsky in his Minimalism Program on the other. The theoretical concepts and hypotheses that are discussed relate to the concept of modelling and the locus of linguistic meaning, place of intentionality in the philosophy of language and linguistic theory, the nature of language and cognitive abilities as well as the proper theme of linguistic inquiry. The status of public (shared) language and the position of meaning and semantic theories in linguistic description are dealt with in the next part. Problems evolving from those diverse views on language such as verifiability on the one hand and the methodological constraint on the other conclude the discussion. Referred to are also the generative as opposed to cognitive models of language acquisition and, consequently, diverse methodologies as used by scholars of these persuasions. Conclusions show those aspects of Chomsky’s generativism and Cognitive Linguistics that seem incompatible and those that can be perceived as converging.Keywords: cognitive linguistics, generative linguistics, language acquisition, meaning representation .

Beyond associations: Sensitivity to structure in pre-schoolers’ linguistic predictions

One influential view of language acquisition is that children master structural generalizations by making and learning from structure-informed predictions. Previous work has shown that from 3 years of age children can use semantic associations to generate predictions. However, it is unknown whether they can generate predictions by combining these associations with knowledge of linguistic structure. We recorded the eye movements of pre-schoolers while they listened to sentences such as Pingu will ride the horse. Upon hearing ride, children predictively looked at a horse (a strongly associated and plausible patient of ride), and mostly ignored a cowboy (equally strongly associated, but an implausible patient). In a separate experiment, children did not rapidly look at the horse when they heard You can show Pingu … “riding”, showing that they do not quickly activate strongly associated patients when there are no structural constraints. Our findings demonstrate that young children’s predictions are sensitive to structure, providing support for predictive-learning models of language acquisition.

The Frequency based Study of the Applicability of DBN Algorithm on Language Acquisition Modeling

The Frequency based Study of the Applicability of DBN Algorithm on Language Acquisition Modeling

Action Research on the Impact of Student Grouping

There exists a lack of relevant literature by which educators can determine how they might effectively group beginning-level English Language Learners (ELLs) toward the end of language acquisition and social inclusion. Because of this gap in literature, educators often struggle in determining best practices in a multilingual classroom. This author has undertaken a study of unconventional ways to group ELLs in a mainstream classroom for maximum inclusion and language acquisition. In the study context, a rural public K12 district with a comparatively low ELL population, established practice had been to pull ELLs out of English-only group classrooms in homogeneous home language groupings according to grade level. Due to low numbers of students classified as ELLs, groupings were small and rarely differentiated by literacy level. The author began the study by interviewing study students, families and affected teachers to determine actual and perceived effectiveness of the pull-out model for language acquisition and academic achievement as measured by local and state literacy assessments. After a review of interview data and commonalities in responses, this author undertook various grouping methods from individualized to small similar-language groupings to literacy-level groupings inclusive of native English-speaking peers. Student engagement and response to instruction was monitored for grouping-dependent changes. The study has found that inclusion of native-speaking peers with similar literacy levels or social factors had a positive impact on ELL engagement and achievement, particularly in communicative competence. Additional research on the effects of student grouping on language acquisition and social inclusion has the potential to benefit student experience and elevate ELL academic achievement levels.

A Multifactorial Analysis of English Dative Alternations in Korean EFL Learners’ Writings

This paper adopts a multi-factorial analysis and investigates English dative alternations in Korean EFL learners’ writings, by directly comparing dative alternations of native speakers and those of Korean EFL learners’ writings. Two corpora were chosen for the comparison: the Switchboard corpus (written sections) and the Korean component of the TOEFL11 corpus. After all the sentences with dative alternations were extracted from these two corpora, and seventeen linguistic factors were manually encoded, the data were statistically analyzed in R. This paper was theoretically based on the concept of interlanguage in the Second Language Acquisition and Competition Model of Bates and MacWhinney (1982, 1989). Through the analysis, the following facts were observed: (i) the Korean EFL learners used ditransitive constructions more frequently than prepositional constructions, (ii) eight main factors and four interactions with the L1 were statistically significant, and (iii) the ditransitive constructions which the Korean EFL learners used were closer to the prepositional constructions rather than the ditransitive constructions in Korean.

An Advantage for Perceptual Edges in Young Infants’ Memory for Speech

Models of language acquisition are constrained by the information that learners can extract from their input. Experiment 1 investigated whether 3‐month‐old infants are able to encode a repeated, unsegmented sequence of five syllables. Event‐related‐potentials showed that infants reacted to a change of the initial or the final syllable, but not to a change of the third, internal, syllable. The information carried by the internal constituents of a continuous speech sequence remains thus largely inaccessible at 3 months, whereas the information carried by perceptual edges may play a major role in the early steps of language acquisition. In Experiment 2, the preliminary analysis of a corpus of infant‐directed speech showed that the statistical information carried at utterance edges does not differ substantially from that contained in the whole input. Focusing on perceptual edges may thus facilitate the extraction of statistical information, by highlighting a representative sample of the input.