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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
Phonetic Imitation in L2 Speech: Immediate Imitation of English Consonant Glottalization by Speakers of Polish
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Arkadiusz Rojczyk; Pavel Sturm; Joanna Przedlacka – Language Acquisition: A Journal of Developmental Linguistics, 2025
Phonetic imitation is a ubiquitous process in speech production. Speakers have a strong tendency to imitate their interlocutors both in a native and a non-native language. It is especially important in acquiring non-native speech, because it allows forming new sound categories. In the current study we investigated whether and to what extent Polish…
Descriptors: Phonetics, Phonemes, Language Variation, Polish
Assessing the Acquisition of Romani in Roma Children
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Hristo Kyuchukov; Jill de Villiers; Yanwan Zhu; Iris Zhong – Language Acquisition: A Journal of Developmental Linguistics, 2025
The paper presents the first comprehensive look at the language development of Romani-speaking children from resource-poor Roma communities in several European countries. 250 participants aged 3- to 10-years participated. The experimental tasks assess knowledge in eight key areas of grammar and morphology, including fast mapping of novel items.…
Descriptors: Language Acquisition, Minority Groups, Preschool Children, Elementary School Students
Applying "Given-before-New" Principle in L2 English Datives Development
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Xiaoyu Zhang; Sang-Gu Kang – Language Acquisition: A Journal of Developmental Linguistics, 2025
Dative alternation between prepositional and double object datives has been a popular topic in second language (L2) acquisition, but only few studies deal with discourse constraints such as the "given-before-new" principle, or given-new (GN) ordering, which describes the tendency to place given information before new information. The…
Descriptors: Verbs, English (Second Language), Second Language Learning, Second Language Instruction
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
Unclogging the Bottleneck: The Role of Case Morphology in L2 Acquisition at the Syntax-Discourse Interface
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Lecouvet, Mathieu; Degand, Liesbeth; Suner, Ferran – Language Acquisition: A Journal of Developmental Linguistics, 2021
The Bottleneck Hypothesis argues that properties of inflectional morphology explain why second-language learners may face persistent difficulties in articulating meaning in target-language forms. In particular, the acquisition task proves even harder when first and second languages differ in the way they organize the mapping of functional features…
Descriptors: Morphology (Languages), Second Language Learning, Native Language, Syntax
Telicity and Mode of Merge in L2 Acquisition of Resultatives
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Kim, Sujeong; Ko, Heejeong; Yang, Hyun-Kwon – Language Acquisition: A Journal of Developmental Linguistics, 2020
Resultative constructions show a wide range of cross-linguistic variation, which may pose nontrivial challenges to L2 learners. This study investigates how syntactic and semantic differences between L1 and L2 affect L2 acquisition of resultatives. In particular, we investigate how L1-Korean learners project the syntax and semantics of L2-English…
Descriptors: Second Language Learning, Contrastive Linguistics, Semantics, Syntax
Floating Numeral Quantifiers as an Unaccusative Diagnostic in Native, Heritage, and L2 Japanese Speakers
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Fukuda, Shin – Language Acquisition: A Journal of Developmental Linguistics, 2017
This study investigates the knowledge of unaccusativity in Japanese native, heritage, and second/foreign language speakers with respect to licensing of floating numeral quantifiers (FNQs) by unaccusative and unergative subjects (the "FNQ diagnostic"). Two acceptability judgment experiments were conducted to examine (i) whether and how…
Descriptors: Japanese, Second Language Learning, Form Classes (Languages), Language Research
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
Interface Hypothesis and the L2 Acquisition of Quantificational Scope at the Syntax-Semantics-Pragmatics Interface
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Özçelik, Öner – Language Acquisition: A Journal of Developmental Linguistics, 2018
According to the Interface Hypothesis (IH) (e.g., Tsimpli & Sorace 2006; Sorace 2011), external interfaces are more challenging for L2 learners than internal interfaces. It is not clear, however, if linguistic phenomena associated with external interfaces are necessarily problematic and if internal interfaces are necessarily unproblematic. In…
Descriptors: Linguistic Theory, Second Language Learning, Turkish, Native Language
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
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
Why Some Imperfectives Are Interpreted Imperfectly: A Study of Chinese Learners of Japanese
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Gabriele, Alison; McClure, William – Language Acquisition: A Journal of Developmental Linguistics, 2011
The study investigates whether advanced second language (L2) learners can extend beyond the grammatical properties of the first language (L1) to successfully acquire tense and aspect. We examine the acquisition of the semantics of the imperfective marker "te-iru" in Japanese by native speakers of Mandarin Chinese, a language that…
Descriptors: Semantics, Mandarin Chinese, Native Speakers, Japanese