Child Language Impairment; Child Language Acquisition
Generative approaches to language learning.
Linguistics 47(2): 273–310
All proponents of generative approaches to language learning argue that the syntactic knowledge which language... more All proponents of generative approaches to language learning argue that the syntactic knowledge which language learners acquire is underdetermined by the input. Therefore, they assume an innate language acquisition device which constrains the hypothesis space of children when they acquire their native language. However, it is still a matter of debate how general or domain-specific this acquisition mechanism is and whether it is fully available from the onset of language acquisition. This article provides an overview of the different answers that have been provided for these questions within generative linguistics. Moreover, it shows how the generative concept of “learning” has been applied to the acquisition of syntax, morphology, phonology and vocabulary, language processing, L2-acquisition, non-typical language development, creoles and language change. Finally, current developments, merits and problems of the generative approach to learning are discussed. The focus of this discussion will be on efforts to reduce assumptions about domain-specific innate predispositions for language learning.
DownloadPhonological Constraints on Children’s Use of the Plural
The correct use of an affix, such as the English plural or past
tense suffixes, is generally assumed to reflect... more
The correct use of an affix, such as the English plural or past
tense suffixes, is generally assumed to reflect mastery of the
relevant morphological process. An alternate view holds that
the use of an affix reflects not only morphological
competence, but also additional factors including syntactic,
semantic and phonological abilities. The present paper reports
on a set of experiments in support of this latter view
specifically examining the role of phonology on Englishspeaking children’s ability to produce the plural. Plural
productions were elicited from two-year-olds for nouns with
different codas, or endings (e.g. dogs vs. keys). The results
provide evidence that the production of the plural morpheme
–s is partly governed by children’s developing ability to
articulate or perceive the phonological form of the plural.
This supports a model of language learning in which the
acquisition of different components of grammar interact with
each other versus a model that is exclusively modular.
Child Language Acquisition
2008.
(Ask-A-Linguist FAQ)
Children will come up with the most extraordinary things when they start using language. Cute things, hilarious things... more Children will come up with the most extraordinary things when they start using language. Cute things, hilarious things and, sometimes, baffling things that may start us wondering whether we should worry about their language development. This article summarizes some of the knowledge we have about typical child language acquisition, that is, what you, as a caregiver, need not worry about. The last sections give a few pointers about when to seek professional help concerning your child's language development and about resources on language acquisition.
Sociolinguistic and cultural considerations when working with multilingual children
2012.
Book flyer available from http://beingmultilingual.com/Articles_Chapters.html
Click on McLeod & Goldstein 2011 flyer.pdf
Overarching considerations when working with multilingual children concern the special status that continues to be... more
Overarching considerations when working with multilingual children concern the special status that continues to be accorded to multilingualism. Virtually all current knowledge about linguistic and cultural practices draws on monolingual and mono-cultural behaviour, whose "mono" character is glossed over and so tacitly emerges as default. In contrast, research on multilingualism invariably includes explicit reference to "multi" settings, thereby signalling an exceptionality worthy of a dedicated label. Multilingual children are "CLD", culturally and linguistically diverse, as if monolingual children were, by definition, culturally and linguistically homogeneous; or users of "heritage varieties", as if monolinguals lacked linguistic heritage.
This chapter reviews sociolinguistic and cultural issues in multilingual settings, starting with a brief discussion of their relevance for extant assessment tools, and concluding with their implications for clinical work with multilingual children.
A CHAT-based annotation scheme for case and noun-phrase inflection in child language data.
co-authored with Ingrid Sonnenstuhl. Published as Essex Research Papers in Linguistics, 60.3. 2011.
This paper describes a coding scheme and a set of semi-automatic procedures for the annotation of complex noun phrases... more This paper describes a coding scheme and a set of semi-automatic procedures for the annotation of complex noun phrases and their morpho-syntactic properties in child language data. These tools are based on the CHAT conventions of the Child Language Data Exchange System (MacWhinney 2000; CHILDES: http://childes.psy.cmu.edu/; CHAT: http://childes.psy.cmu.edu/manuals/chat.pdf). The coding scheme presented here focuses on the order and grammatical category of the individual elements in the noun phrase and their gender, number and case marking. It also provides information about the category and lexical identity of the element that assigns case to the respective noun phrase (e.g. the dative preposition mit ‘with’). The coding scheme was developed for German child language, but it can be adapted to other languages and populations.