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Acquiring Recursive Structures through Distributional Learning
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Li, Daoxin; Schuler, Kathryn D. – Language Acquisition: A Journal of Developmental Linguistics, 2023
Languages differ regarding the depth, structure, and syntactic domains of recursive structures. Even within a single language, some structures allow infinite self-embedding while others are more restricted. For example, when expressing ownership relation, English allows infinite embedding of the prenominal genitive "-s," whereas the…
Descriptors: Language Acquisition, Linguistic Input, Artificial Languages, Learning Processes
English-Learning Preschoolers Can Correctly Parse and Interpret Negative Sentences to Guide Their Interpretations of Novel Noun and Verb Meanings
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de Carvalho, Alex; Gomes, Victor; Trueswell, John – Language Acquisition: A Journal of Developmental Linguistics, 2023
We studied English-learning children's ability to learn the meanings of novel words from sentences containing truth-functional negation (Exp1) and to use the semantics of negation to inform word meaning (Exp2). In Exp1, 22-month-olds (n = 21) heard dialogues introducing a novel verb in either negative-transitive "("Mary didn't blick the…
Descriptors: English, Native Language, Language Acquisition, Classification
Obviating the Mood, but Mostly under Control: Spanish Heritage Speakers' Acquisition of the Binding Constraints of Desiderative Complements
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Silvia Perez-Cortes – Language Acquisition: A Journal of Developmental Linguistics, 2025
Verbal morphology has been identified as a particularly vulnerable domain for adult heritage speakers (HSs) of Spanish, especially when it involves the selection of subjunctive mood. A minimal amount is known, however, about the potential effects of the variability associated with these forms on the acquisition of related epiphenomena, such as the…
Descriptors: Spanish, Phonemes, Native Language, Second Language Learning
Structural Intervention Effects in the Acquisition of Sluicing
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Mateu, Victoria; Hyams, Nina – Language Acquisition: A Journal of Developmental Linguistics, 2021
Experimental studies show that children have greater difficulty with "wh"-extraction from object position than subject position, arguably an intervention effect (e.g., Relativized Minimality). In this study we provide additional evidence of a S/O asymmetry in A'-dependencies from a novel source--sluicing. The results of our first…
Descriptors: Language Acquisition, Intervention, English, Preschool Children
English Derived Word Recognition by Chinese-English Bilinguals: Testing the Nature and Time Course of the Component Processes
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Natalie G. Koval – Language Acquisition: A Journal of Developmental Linguistics, 2025
Research utilizing morphological priming has found that L2 speakers show facilitation from derived L2 primes, which could suggest morphological processing during derived L2 word recognition. However, the process of L2 derived word recognition is still poorly understood, with some arguing that the observed priming effects may not be morphological…
Descriptors: English (Second Language), Second Language Learning, Word Recognition, Native Language
L2 Representation and Processing of Spanish Focus
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Leal, Tania; Hoot, Bradley – Language Acquisition: A Journal of Developmental Linguistics, 2022
Research on second-language (L2) acquisition has identified linguistic domains that appear to be especially difficult to learn--one such sticking point being syntactic structures that depend on the surrounding discourse. The Interface Hypothesis (IH) explains what makes such constructions problematic by appealing to a modular view of language,…
Descriptors: Spanish, Language Processing, Second Language Learning, Language Research
Look at That: Spatial Deixis Reveals Experience-Related Differences in Prediction
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Reuter, Tracy; Sullivan, Mia; Lew-Williams, Casey – Language Acquisition: A Journal of Developmental Linguistics, 2022
Prediction-based theories posit that interlocutors use prediction to process language efficiently and to coordinate dialogue. The present study evaluated whether listeners can use spatial deixis (i.e., "this," "that," "these," and "those") to predict the plurality and proximity of a speaker's upcoming…
Descriptors: Prediction, Language Processing, Native Language, English
The Role of Aspect in the Acquisition of "Ser" and "Estar" in Locative Contexts by English-Speaking Learners of Spanish
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Perpiñán, Silvia; Marín, Rafael; Moreno Villamar, Itziri – Language Acquisition: A Journal of Developmental Linguistics, 2020
This study proposes an explanatory account for the developmental stages of the acquisition of ser and estar in locative constructions. We propose that this copular distribution is regulated by two aspectual features, "dynamicity" and "temporal boundedness." These features are crucial for the interpretation of nominals such as…
Descriptors: Spanish, Verbs, Second Language Learning, English
Intervention Effects in the Acquisition of Raising: Evidence from English and Spanish
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Mateu, Victoria Eugenia – Language Acquisition: A Journal of Developmental Linguistics, 2020
The present study is designed to investigate whether children's difficulties with subject-to-subject raising (StSR) are due to intervention effects. We examine English-speaking children's comprehension of StSR with "seem" and Spanish-speaking children's comprehension of StSR with "parecer" 'seem,' a configuration never before…
Descriptors: Spanish Speaking, Intervention, Difficulty Level, English
Universal Grammar and Second Language Phonology: Full Transfer/Prevalent Access in the L2 Acquisition of Turkish "Stress" by English and French Speakers
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Özçelik, Öner – Language Acquisition: A Journal of Developmental Linguistics, 2018
This article explores the role of transfer and Universal Grammar (UG) in second language (L2) phonology by investigating the L2 acquisition of stress/prominence in footless languages, such as Turkish and French, which have fixed word- and phrase-final prominence respectively. It is proposed that once the prosodic constituent Foot is projected in a…
Descriptors: Language Universals, Grammar, Second Language Learning, Second Language Instruction
Indirect Positive Evidence in the Acquisition of a Subset Grammar
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Schwartz, Misha; Goad, Heather – Language Acquisition: A Journal of Developmental Linguistics, 2017
This article proposes that second language learners can use indirect positive evidence (IPE) to acquire a phonological grammar that is a subset of their L1 grammar. IPE is evidence from errors in the learner's L1 made by native speakers of the learner's L2. It has been assumed that subset grammars may be acquired using direct or indirect negative…
Descriptors: Grammar, Native Language, Language Acquisition, Second Language Learning
NPI Licensing and Beyond: Children's Knowledge of the Semantics of "Any"
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Tieu, Lyn; Lidz, Jeffrey – Language Acquisition: A Journal of Developmental Linguistics, 2016
This article presents a study of preschool-aged children's knowledge of the semantics of the negative polarity item (NPI) "any". NPIs like "any" differ in distribution from non-polarity-sensitive indefinites like "a": "Any" is restricted to downward-entailing linguistic environments (Fauconnier 1975, 1979;…
Descriptors: Semantics, Language Acquisition, Preschool Children, Comparative Analysis
A Nonword Repetition Task to Assess Bilingual Children's Phonology
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dos Santos, Christophe; Ferré, Sandrine – Language Acquisition: A Journal of Developmental Linguistics, 2018
Children with specific language impairment (SLI) are particularly sensitive to phonological complexity in their language. Their performance drops when there are specific phonological structures or when complexity increases. A nonword repetition (NWR) test, which aims to assess the phonology of bilingual speakers with and without SLI, should…
Descriptors: Task Analysis, Bilingualism, French, Phonology
In Search of L1 Evidence for Diachronic Reanalysis: Mapping Modal Verbs
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Cournane, Ailís – Language Acquisition: A Journal of Developmental Linguistics, 2014
The lexical mapping of abstract functional words like modal verbs is an open problem in acquisition (e.g., Gleitman et al. 2005). In diachronic linguistics it has been proposed that learner mapping errors are responsible for innovations in the historical record (see Kiparsky 1974; Roberts & Roussou 2003, among others). This suggests that child…
Descriptors: Native Language, Verbs, Preferences, Task Analysis
A Large-Scale Cross-Linguistic Investigation of the Acquisition of Passive
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Armon-Lotem, Sharon; Haman, Ewa; de López, Kristine Jensen; Smoczynska, Magdalena; Yatsushiro, Kazuko; Szczerbinski, Marcin; van Hout, Angeliek; Dabašinskiene, Ineta; Gavarró, Anna; Hobbs, Erin; Kamandulyte-Merfeldiene, Laura; Katsos, Napoleon; Kunnari, Sari; Nitsiou, Chrisa; Olsen, Lone Sundahl; Parramon, Xavier; Sauerland, Uli; Torn-Leesik, Reeli; van der Lely, Heather – Language Acquisition: A Journal of Developmental Linguistics, 2016
This cross-linguistic study evaluates children's understanding of passives in 11 typologically different languages: Catalan, Cypriot Greek, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, German, Hebrew, Lithuanian, and Polish. The study intends to determine whether the reported gaps between the comprehension of active and passive and between short and…
Descriptors: Language Research, Form Classes (Languages), Language Processing, Language Acquisition
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