ling 51/psych 56l: acquisition of language
TRANSCRIPT
Ling51/Psych56L:AcquisitionofLanguage
Lecture18DevelopmentofsyntaxII
Announcements
HW5isdue12/1/17-beworkingonit
Beworkingonthereviewquestionsformorphologyandsyntax
Checkoutthelanguagesciencecoursesnextquarter,includingAcqofLangII!
Fromonewordtomany
Theone-wordstagehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmghbKNiI1k&feature=youtu.be
0:42-2:03:Theone-wordstage&thefocusonnewinformation
Beyondsinglewordspeech
Unanalyzedcombinations:mostchildrenhavetransitionalformsthatcombinemultiplewords,butwhichthechilddoesn’trealizearemultiplewords
Ex:“Iwant”(Iwant),“Idunno”(Idon’tknow)
Thetwo-wordstagehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmghbKNiI1k&feature=youtu.be
2:57-3:54:Thetwo-wordstage
Beyondtwowords
Evenwhenchildrenproducemultiwordutterances,theystillproducesinglewordutterances.
Point:children’sdevelopmentmeasuredbythemaximumnumberofwordstheyproduceinagivenutterance.
Beyondtwowords
Whenchildrenstarttoput3wordstogether,manyoftheseutterancesarecombinationsoftherelationalmeaningsexpressedinthetwowordstage.
“Iwatchingcars”=“Iwatching”+“watchingcars”“Putittable”=“Putit”+“ittable”
Beyondtwowords
Earlysentencestendtobeimperatives(commands),aswellasaffirmative,declarativestatements.Questionsandnegationscomelater.
Imperative:“Dancewiththem!”Affirmative,declarative:“Idancewiththem.”
Question:“CanIdancewiththem?”Negation:“Idon’tdancewiththem.”
Beyondtwowords
Beyondtwowords
Imperativesdominateearlyon,thentaperoff.
Beyondtwowords
Declarativesalwaysafairlylargeproportion
Beyondtwowords
Questionsalwaysafairlysmallproportion
Developmentofsentenceforms
Notallsentenceformsarecreatedequal-somearehardertogetthehangofthanothers.
Negation:requiresuseofnegativewordandauxiliaryverb
Stage1:externalnegativemarkerNowipefinger.Nothesunshining.Nomitten.Wearmittenno.
Developmentofsentenceforms
Notallsentenceformsarecreatedequal-somearehardertogetthehangofthanothers.
Negation:requiresuseofnegativewordandauxiliaryverb
Stage2:internalnegativemarkerIcan’tseeyou.Idon’tlikeyou.Inowantenvelope.
Developmentofsentenceforms
Notallsentenceformsarecreatedequal-somearehardertogetthehangofthanothers.
Negation:requiresuseofnegativewordandauxiliaryverb
Stage3:auxiliaryconstructionsIdidn’tdidit.Donnawon’tletgo.No,itisn’t.
Developmentofsentenceforms
Notallsentenceformsarecreatedequal-somearehardertogetthehangofthanothers.
Questions:yes/noquestionsvs.wh-questions
Yes/No:Questionsthatcanbeansweredwithyes/no.Usuallyrequirepermutationofmainverbandauxiliaryverb,or
insertionofdummy“do”inEnglish.
Canwedancewithallthegoblins?
Wecandancewithallthegoblins
Developmentofsentenceforms
Notallsentenceformsarecreatedequal-somearehardertogetthehangofthanothers.
Questions:yes/noquestionsvs.wh-questions
Yes/No:Questionsthatcanbeansweredwithyes/no.Usuallyrequirepermutationofmainverbandauxiliaryverb,or
insertionofdummy“do”inEnglish.
Didwedancewithallthegoblins?
Wediddancewithallthegoblins. Wedancedwithallthegoblins.
Developmentofsentenceforms
Notallsentenceformsarecreatedequal-somearehardertogetthehangofthanothers.
Questions:yes/noquestionsvs.wh-questions
Wh-Questions:Questionsthatbeginwith“wh”words.Requirepermutationofauxiliaryverbsanduseof“wh”word.
Whocanwedancewith?
Wecandancewithwho Wecandancewithallthegoblins
Developmentofsentenceforms
Notallsentenceformsarecreatedequal-somearehardertogetthehangofthanothers.
Questions:yes/noquestionsvs.wh-questions
Stage1:externalquestionmarkerY/NIridetrain?Sitchair?
WhWhatcowboydoing?Whatabandaidis?
Developmentofsentenceforms
Notallsentenceformsarecreatedequal-somearehardertogetthehangofthanothers.
Questions:yes/noquestionsvs.wh-questions
Stage2:auxiliarieswithoutinversioninwh-questions, evenwhileyes/noquestionsshowinversionY/NDoesthekittystandup?DidIcaughtit?
WhWheretheotherJoewilldrive?Whykittycan’tstandup?
Developmentofsentenceforms
Notallsentenceformsarecreatedequal-somearehardertogetthehangofthanothers.
Questions:yes/noquestionsvs.wh-questions
Stage3:auxiliarieswithinversioninwh-questionsY/N(N/A)
WhWhatdidyoudoed?Whatdoeswhiskeytastelike?
Telegraphicspeechhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmghbKNiI1k&feature=youtu.be
5:34-6:22:Telegraphicspeech
Telegraphicspeech
Typicalgrammaticalcategoriesincludedinchildren’smultiwordspeech:nouns,verbs,adjectives
Typicalcategoriesmissing:determiners(the,a,…),prepositions(to,by,from,…),auxiliaryverbs(am,are,was,…),boundmorphemes(-spluralmarker,…)
Basicdivisionofmeaning: morecontentfulvs.moregrammatical
Youcancommunicatequitewellwithoutthemore“grammatical”categories.
Telegraphicspeechexamples
Intended:“Ihavetogotothecastletorescuemybabybrother!”
Telegraphic:“Igocastlerescuebabybrother!
Intended:“Theairissweetandfragrant–andnonemaypass
withoutmypermission!”
Telegraphic:“Airsweetfragrant–nonepasswithoutpermission!”
Telegraphicspeechhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmghbKNiI1k&feature=youtu.be
6:22-7:38:Fewerrors&comprehensionbetterthanproduction
Earlygrammaticalknowledge
Justbecausechildrendon’tusegrammaticalmorphemesintheirownspeechdoesn’tmeantheydon’tunderstandthatadultsusethemandtheyshouldusethem,too.
Shipley,Smith,&Gleitman(1969):childrenwhoaretelegraphicspeakersprefertorespondtofullcommandslike“Throwmetheball”overtheirowntelegraphicversions(“Throwball”)
Gerken&McIntosh(1993):childrenareparticularaboutwhichgrammaticalmorphemesoccurwhere-theycantellthedifferencebetween“Findthedogforme”and“Findwasdogforme”
Developmentofcomprehension
Gettingtochildren’sknowledge
Clevercomprehensionstrategieschildrenuse:
Usetheorderofwordstopredictwhodidwhattowhom.
Worksreallywellforactivesentences:“Theknightbumpedthedwarf.”Actualevent:knight-bumps-dwarf[Matcheswordorder]
…butnotsowellforpassives:“Theknightwasbumpedbythedwarf.”Actualevent:dwarf-bumps-knight[Doesnotmatchwordorder]
knight dwarf
Gettingtochildren’sknowledge
Clevercomprehensionstrategieschildrenuse:
Usetheorderofwordstopredictwhodidwhattowhom.
Worksreallywellforsentenceswhereorder-of-mentionistheorderofaction:
“JareththrewoffhisdisguisebeforeHogglecowered.”Actualevent:Jareth-throw-disguise,thenHoggle-cower.
[Matcheswordorder.]
…butnotsowellforoneswhereit’snot:“HogglecoweredafterJareththrewoffhisdisguise.”Actualevent:Jareth-throw-disguise,thenHoggle-cower.
[Doesnotmatchwordorder]
Jareth
Hoggle
Gettingtochildren’sknowledge
Clevercomprehensionstrategieschildrenuse:
Useworldknowledgetofigureoutlikelysequenceofevents.
Worksreallywellfornormalsentences(inaworldwhereJarethisoftendoingtheintimidatingandHoggleisoftendoingthecowering):
“JarethintimidatedHoggle.”
…butnotsowellforoneswheretheeventsarenotpredictablefromworldknowledge:
“HoggleintimidatedJareth.”
Jareth
Hoggle
Testingtruecomprehensionhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmghbKNiI1k&feature=youtu.be
2:03-2:57:Experimentswithchildren
Gettingaroundthecleverstrategies
Usingindirectmethodslikethepreferentiallookingparadigm,wecantestchildren’scomprehensionofmultiwordcombinationsevenwhentheycanonlyproduceonewordutterancesthemselves
Preferentiallookingparadigmhttp://www.thelingspace.com/episode-16https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-A9TnuSVa85:48-6:57
Gettingaroundthecleverstrategies
Hirsh-Pasek&Golinkoff(1991):13-to15-month-oldscancomprehendimprobablesentenceswithrelationalpropertieslike
“She’skissingthekeys.”
Hirsh-Pasek&Golinkoff(1991):16-to18-month-oldscantellthedifferencebetweencomplexquestionslike
“WhereisCookieMonsterwashingBigBird?”and “WhereisBigBirdwashingCookieMonster?”
Childrenunderstandmoreaboutstructuralrelationshipsthantheyletonwiththeirproduction!
Earlygrammaticalknowledge
Childrenhaveknowledgeofgrammaticalconstructionsevenbeforetheycanproduceallthewordsthemselves–andwhatwaspreviouslythoughttobetelegraphicspeechmightjustbeasevereformof“babyaccent”.
Dye2011:2-and3-year-oldFrenchchildrenhavephoneticplaceholdersforauxiliarywords(like“am”and“are”),andusethemastheywouldusetheactualwords.
“Thecontinuumrangedfromtargetornear-targetformsdowntobarelyaudibleforms(someofwhichrequiredidentificationthroughspectralanalysis)orevenpuffsofair.”
Earlygrammaticalknowledge
Anexampleofhowmuchproductioncanunderestimatechildren’sunderlyingknowledge:
Froma2-year-oldwhopreviouslysaidonly4words(mama,dad,yaya="doll",wawa=“dog”):
“Youknow,Dad,whatIlikeaboutgoingtothedoctor'sofficeisgesngtoplaywithallofthetoysinthewaitngroom.”(contributedbyJimMorgan)
Earlygrammaticalknowledge
Anotherexampleofhowmuchproductioncanunderestimatechildren’sunderlyingknowledge:
Myownmother’sfirstwordsatagefour,whenshehadn’tspokenasinglewordoutloudbefore:
(averheraunthadknockedsomethingover)“Thatwasverysloppyofyou.”
Earlygrammaticalknowledge
Childrenhaveknowledgeofgrammaticalconstructionsevenbeforetheycanproduceallthewordsthemselves—cluesaboutwhattypeofutterancesomethingisdon’tcomejustfromprosody.
Geffen&Mintz2014:12-month-oldscandistinguishbetweendeclarativeslike“Yourememberedthepopcorn”andyes/noquestionslike“Didyourememberthepopcorn?”onthebasisofwordorderalone.
DeVilliers1995:comprehensiontaskwith3-to6-year-olds “Oncetherewasaboywholovedclimbingtreesintheforest.One
afternoonheslippedandfelltotheground.Hepickedhimselfupandwenthome.Thatnightwhenhehadabath,hesawabigbruiseonhisarm.HesaidtohisDad,‘ImusthavehurtmyselfwhenIfellthisafternoon.’”
Anotherexampleofearlygrammaticalknowledge
Whendidtheboysayhefell?—>Whendidtheboysay__hefell?—>Whendidtheboysayhefell__?
DeVilliers1995:comprehensiontaskwith3-to6-year-olds “Oncetherewasaboywholovedclimbingtreesintheforest.One
afternoonheslippedandfelltotheground.Hepickedhimselfupandwenthome.Thatnightwhenhehadabath,hesawabigbruiseonhisarm.HesaidtohisDad,‘ImusthavehurtmyselfwhenIfellthisafternoon.’”
TwointerpretationspossibleWhendidthesayinghappen?
Whendidthefallinghappen?
Anotherexampleofearlygrammaticalknowledge
Whendidtheboysayhefell?—>Whendidtheboysay__hefell?—>Whendidtheboysayhefell__?
DeVilliers1995:comprehensiontaskwith3-to6-year-olds “Oncetherewasaboywholovedclimbingtreesintheforest.One
afternoonheslippedandfelltotheground.Hepickedhimselfupandwenthome.Thatnightwhenhehadabath,hesawabigbruiseonhisarm.HesaidtohisDad,‘ImusthavehurtmyselfwhenIfellthisafternoon.’”
Thatnight
Thisafternoon
Childrenallowboththesestructures(andtheirinterpretations),too.
Anotherexampleofearlygrammaticalknowledge
Twointerpretationspossible
Whendidtheboysayhowhefell?
DeVilliers1995:comprehensiontaskwith3-to6-year-olds “Oncetherewasaboywholovedclimbingtreesintheforest.One
afternoonheslippedandfelltotheground.Hepickedhimselfupandwenthome.Thatnightwhenhehadabath,hesawabigbruiseonhisarm.HesaidtohisDad,‘ImusthavehurtmyselfwhenIfellthisafternoon.’”
Anotherexampleofearlygrammaticalknowledge
Whendidtheboysay[howhefell]?—>Whendidtheboysay__[howhefell]? Whendidtheboysay[howhefell__]?
DeVilliers1995:comprehensiontaskwith3-to6-year-olds “Oncetherewasaboywholovedclimbingtreesintheforest.One
afternoonheslippedandfelltotheground.Hepickedhimselfupandwenthome.Thatnightwhenhehadabath,hesawabigbruiseonhisarm.HesaidtohisDad,‘ImusthavehurtmyselfwhenIfellthisafternoon.’”
Onlyoneinterpretation
Whendidthesayinghappen?Whendidthefallinghappen?
Anotherexampleofearlygrammaticalknowledge
x
Whendidtheboysay[howhefell]?—>Whendidtheboysay__[howhefell]? Whendidtheboysay[howhefell__]?
DeVilliers1995:comprehensiontaskwith3-to6-year-olds “Oncetherewasaboywholovedclimbingtreesintheforest.One
afternoonheslippedandfelltotheground.Hepickedhimselfupandwenthome.Thatnightwhenhehadabath,hesawabigbruiseonhisarm.HesaidtohisDad,‘ImusthavehurtmyselfwhenIfellthisafternoon.’”
AtnightIntheafternoon
Childrenallowonlythetopstructure(anditsinterpretation),too.
Anotherexampleofearlygrammaticalknowledge
xOnlyoneinterpretation
DeVilliers1995:comprehensiontaskwith3-to6-year-olds “Oncetherewasaboywholovedclimbingtreesintheforest.One
afternoonheslippedandfelltotheground.Hepickedhimselfupandwenthome.Thatnightwhenhehadabath,hesawabigbruiseonhisarm.HesaidtohisDad,‘ImusthavehurtmyselfwhenIfellthisafternoon.’”
Anotherexampleofearlygrammaticalknowledge
Childrenasyoungas3yearsoldhavetheseadultinterpretations!
Whywemaynotalwaysrealizehowmuchchildrenknow
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmghbKNiI1k&feature=youtu.be
7:38-9:16:Processingconstraints
Arelatedpoint:DatadistributionsWhyisthespeedyacquisitiontrajectorysurprising?
LanguagehasaZipfiandistribution:relativelyfewitemsareusedveryfrequentlywhilemostitemsoccurrarely,withmanyoccurringonlyonceeveninverylargedatasamples.
items
itemfrequency
Arelatedpoint:DatadistributionsWhyisthespeedyacquisitiontrajectorysurprising?
“Toattainfulllinguisticcompetence,thechildlearnermustovercometheZipfiandistributionanddrawgeneralizationsaboutlanguageonthebasisoffewandnarrowtypesoflinguisticexpressions.”–Yang2010
Basicpoint:Thedistributionofnaturallanguagedatareallymakesthechild’sjobhard,sincethechildmustextractpatternsandbuildasystemdespitenotencounteringmostofthegrammaticalformsinthelanguageveryoften.
Thesequenceofgrammaticaldevelopmentthatoccursincomprehensionislikethesequenceinproduction,butitoccursearlier.
Morphology&syntaxdevelopment:Recap
Childrenprogressfromsinglewordutterancestomultiwordutterances,learningtocombineitemsintheirlexiconinaproductivemannertoexpressthemeaningstheywant.
Children’sdevelopmentalpatternstendtofollowpredictablepaths,demonstratingtheirgradualacquisitionofmoregrammaticalknowledge.
Morphology&syntaxdevelopment:Recap
Childrenseemtohaveacquiredaverycomplexsystemofgrammarataveryyoungage,thoughitisnotnecessarilythecompleteadultsystem.
Howevergrammaticalrulesareacquired,theymustbeacquiredquickly.Thisplacesconstraintsonwhatkindofdevelopmentaltheorycanbeproposed,becauseitmustaccountforthisspeedyacquisitiontrajectory.
Questions?
Youshouldbeabletodoupthroughquestion10onthereviewquestions,andupthroughquestion11onHW5.