We study the learnability problem concerning the dative alternations in English (Baker, 1979; Pinker, 1989). We consider how first language learners productively apply the double-object and to-dative constructions ("give the book to library"/"give the library the book"), while excluding negative exceptions ("donate the…

This paper reports progress in developing a computer model of language acquisition in the form of (1) a generative grammar that is (2) algorithmically learnable from realistic corpus data, (3) viable in its large-scale quantitative performance and (4) psychologically real. First, we describe new algorithmic methods for unsupervised learning of…

"THE SOUND PATTERN OF ENGLISH" PRESENTS A THEORY OF SOUND STRUCTURE AND A DETAILED ANALYSIS OF THE SOUND STRUCTURE OF ENGLISH WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF GENERATIVE GRAMMAR. IN THE PREFACE TO THIS BOOK THE AUTHORS STATE THAT THEIR "WORK IN THIS AREA HAS REACHED A POINT WHERE THE GENERAL OUTLINES AND MAJOR THEORETICAL PRINCIPLES ARE FAIRLY CLEAR" AND…

The purpose of this study was to synthesize theories and known facts of language acquisitions provided by transformation-generative grammarians and the cognitive theories of Piaget and Vygotsky into a unified theory and to suggest a partial model of the reading process. Review and analysis of transformational-generative theory strongly indicate…

Presents an outline for a theory of syntax acquisition, surveys other approaches to language acquisition, and addresses the following methodological issues: (1) the relevance of linguistic theory to the model; (2) how the model is tested; and (3) the domain of the theory. (Author/AM)

A comparison of two models of the reading process--the psycholinguistic model, in which learning to read is seen as a top-down, holistic procedure, and the traditional theory model, in which learning to read is seen as a bottom-up, atomistic procedure--is provided in this paper. The first part of the paper provides brief overviews of the following…

Conceptual models of language learning and language use were made by a committee of school personnel interested in investigating learning differences in preschool language development, even though public school systems do not as yet include preschool classes. Normative information was collected from various research sources and classified.…

This is the second report concerned with the analysis of a young child's spoken French. It focuses on the study of the entire corpus of 33 hour sessions occurring approximately once a week and ranging from the time the subject was 25 months old to 38 months old. Chapter 1 is devoted to introductory remarks. Chapter 2 contains a dictionary of the…