Syntax and Language Acquisition
(to appear) Syntax and language acquisition. In: T. Kiss and A. Alexiadou (eds.), Syntax: an international handbook, 2nd Edition. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.ms.
This chapter provides an overview of theoretical issues and core empirical findings in cross-linguistic research on... more This chapter provides an overview of theoretical issues and core empirical findings in cross-linguistic research on the acquisition of syntax. Section 1 identifies key issues in syntax acquisition research: (i) the respective contribution of learners' input and innate predispositions for language acquisition;(ii) the time course of syntactic development; (iii) the role of learners’ age and potential implications for monolingual, bilingual and second language (L2) acquisition. Section 2 introduces methods for investigating syntactic development. Section 3 discusses the relative role of learners’ input and innate predispositions for syntax acquisition. This section presents (i) generative, Optimality Theory and usage-based approaches to syntactic development and (ii) the empirical findings on learners’ input that form the background for the debate between proponents of the different approaches. Section 4 focuses on the emergence of syntax. The following sections discuss the acquisition of core syntactic phenomena: questions and embedded clauses (section 5), passives (section 6), co-reference (section 7), and quantification (section 8). Each of these sections gives an overview of theoretical accounts and empirical findings; with a focus on monolingual first language (L1) acquisition. Age effects and differences between monolingual and bilingual acquisition are the focus of section 9. Section 10 discusses the empirical findings and their theoretical implications and highlights current trends.
CEGS: An elicitation took kit for studies on case marking and its acquisition.
Essex Research Reports in Linguistics 60,1. 2011
This paper presents a set of Case Elicitation Games and Stimuli (CEGS). The aim of this elicitation tool kit is to... more This paper presents a set of Case Elicitation Games and Stimuli (CEGS). The aim of this elicitation tool kit is to encourage speakers to produce a broad range of case-marked forms in a variety of different syntactic contexts, including subjects, direct and indirect objects, prepositional phrases and noun phrases that are not selected by a verb or preposition. The games involve two tasks - the Puzzle Task and the Picture-Pairing Task (Eisenbeiss 2009, 2010). Both tasks are semi-structured and involve flexible procedures and an informal interactional setting. The same target words are used in different games and syntactic contexts, which allows for cross-context and cross-method comparisons. CEGS was designed to provide rich semi- naturalistic speech samples of speakers from the age of two years. It can complement spontaneous speech sampling and controlled experiments on the use and comprehension of case marking; and the games are particularly effective for children that are too young to take part in controlled production experiments on case acquisition. The picture stimuli described in this paper were designed for studies involving German children, but we will discuss how tasks and stimuli can be adapted to other languages or adult participants, and to speech therapy or language documentation contexts.
Documenting Child Language
Eisenbeiss, Sonja (2006): Documenting Child Language. In: Peter K. Austin (ed.), Language Documentation and Description, Volume 3, London: Soas, The Hans Rausing Endangered Languages Project, 106-140.
This paper argues for the integration of child language data into language documentations projects and shows the... more This paper argues for the integration of child language data into language documentations projects and shows the benefits that the documentation of child language can have for (i) acquisition researchers, (ii) descriptive, theoretical and historical linguists, and (iii) members of language maintenance or revitalisation projects. Moreover, it discusses which implications different user requirements have for data collection and provides pointers to resources, tools and stimuli.
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Seen by: and 14 moreContrast is the Name of the Game: Contrast-Based Semi-Structured Elicitation Techniques for Studies on Children’s Language Acquisition.
Essex Research Reports in Linguistics 57 (7). NOTE: This paper is aimed at a wider audience, including teachers, speech therapists, and parents.
This paper discusses a series of so-called “elicitation” games that encourage children to
talk in a situation... more
This paper discusses a series of so-called “elicitation” games that encourage children to
talk in a situation that is as natural and relaxed as possible. Such games have played a
central role in language teaching and speech therapy, where they have been employed to
provide language training or to assess children’s linguistic development without putting
them under stress. Recently, such games have become more widely used in language
acquisition research. Here they are employed to obtain rich sets of language production
data from children who are too young to take part in controlled experiments on language
production. Moreover, they can be used in longitudinal studies where children are
recorded over longer periods of time and might develop strategies in experiments. Most
of these elicitation games target a specific construction or domain of grammar and so
language teachers, speech therapists and researchers spend a lot of their time developing
new games for each individual construction they would like to elicit from children. As
this can be very time-consuming, there is a demand for games that can be adapted to a
broad range of phenomena and situations (for instance, situations with one or several
players). In this paper, I will present three such games, which might be useful for
acquisition researchers, language teachers and speech therapists: the Bag Task, the
Picture-Pairing Task and the Puzzle Task. In addition, I will discuss the advantages and
disadvantages of using such games in a research context.
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