What is Language Acquisition? The process of attaining a specific variant of human language. The...
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Transcript of What is Language Acquisition? The process of attaining a specific variant of human language. The...
What is Language Acquisition?
• The process of attaining a specific variant of human language.
• The process of learning a native or a second language.
What is Cognitive Science?
• The multi-disciplinary approach to the study of the mind, including– Adult and developmental psychology– Philosophy– Linguistics– Anthropology– Neuropsychology– Artificial intelligence– Psycholinguisics
What is Language?
• a system of symbols and rules that enable us to communicate
• a symbolic code used in communication
• the systematic, meaningful arrangement of symbols
Language Acquisition, Representation, &
Processing• Language acquisition
– How is language acquired or learned?
• Language representation– How are the symbols of language
represented in memory?
• Language processing– What factors influence the processing of
language?
How are Language Acquisition, Representation, & Processing
Related?
How are Language Acquisition, Representation, & Processing
Related?
Language is acquired
How are Language Acquisition, Representation, & Processing
Related?
Language is acquired
Acquisition leads to a set of representations
How are Language Acquisition, Representation, & Processing
Related?
Language is acquired
Acquisition leads to a set of representations
Language use is the processing of these representations
Language AcquisitionMajor Issues
First language acquisition
• How does our general intelligence interact with our biological predispositions?
• How do we learn our native language? What are the stages this process follows?
• How do failures in this process occur?
Language Acquisition
Language Development
• Phonological development
• Semantic development
• Syntactic development and syntactic categories
Language Acquisition
Second language acquisition
• Factors that affect our chances of learning L2:– Individual differences– Age of acquisition effects– Environment of learning– Style of instruction--conejo is “rabbit” or
• Stages of second language acquisition
Language Processing
Language Comprehension
• Lexical ambiguity resolution– “spade”
• Syntactic ambiguity resolution– “fly”
• Imageability and other word-specific factors– “table” versus “freedom”
• Context effects--autonomous or interactive?
Spoken Word Recognition Models
• Initial contact, selection of a lexical entry, word recognition/lexical access, integration
• Cohort model (Marslen-Wilson, 1973, 1975)
Access stage--> cohort of items
Selection stage--> one item chosen
Integration stage--> syntax, semantics
Spoken word recognition: An example
• /d/dog, dirt, dry, dries, drive, drip, dumb, desk
• /dr/dry, dries, drive, drip
• /dry/dry, dries, drive, driving, driver
• /drive/drive, driving, driver
• /drivi-/DRIVING!!!
Visual Word Recognition Methods/Findings
• Semantic priming
NurseDoctor
--respond “yes”
ButterDoctor
--respond “yes”, but more slowly
Visual Word Recognition Methods/Findings
• Word frequency effects
– “year” versus “permutation”
– “rain” versus “puddle”
related effects: familiarity
Visual Word Recognition Models
• Logogen Model
– Logogens for each word– Accumulate evidence passively until
threshold– Perceptual & contextual evidence raise
activation– Lower thresholds for more frequent
words
Visual Word Recognition Models
• Interactive-Activation Model
– Accounts for the “word superiority effect”
– Visual features, letters, words– Facilitatory and inhibitory connections
• “T” excites “take” but inhibits “cake”
– Lateral inhibition– Parallel activation of all links
Language Processing
Language Production
• Lexicalization--stages of processing– Lemma selection– Word form (lexeme) retrieval
• Phonological specification
• Speech errors– Syntactic planning--how far ahead?
• Aphasias
Models of Language Production
• Dual-route model (revised)– Non-lexical route (G-P)
– Non-semantic route (O-P)
– Lexical-semantic route (G-L-S-P)
• Connectionist model– Similar to IA model of word recognition
– Learns by associating phonology and orthography
– Patterns of activation
Individual Differences
• Do individual differences determine the activation of multiple meanings of ambiguous words (especially the irrelevant ones)?
• What is the influence of verbal ability and working memory on syntactic processing?
Language Representation
• What is a concept?
• Is there any such thing?
Things I Haven’t Covered
• Language and thought
• Structure of the language system
• Speech perception
• Language disorders
• Discourse processing
• Reading
• Orthographic (e.g., neighborhood) effects
Bilingualism Defined
• Bilingualism is the ability to master the use of two languages, and multilingualism is the ability to master the use of more than two languages. Although bilingualism is relatively rare among native speakers of English, in many parts of the world it is the standard rather than the exception. For example, more than half the population of Papua New Guinea is functionally competent in both an indigenous language and Tok Pisin. People in many parts of the country have mastered two or more indigenous languages. Bilingualism and multilingualism often involve different degrees of competence in the languages involved. A person may control one language better than another, or a person might have mastered the different languages better for different purposes, using one language for speaking, for example, and another for writing.
Consequences of Bilingualism
• Interrelation among the two languages—RHM– Language dominance issue
• Selectivity of activation in the two languages—BIA model
• Relative activation of the two languages—BIMOLA and IC models
My Own Work
• Bilingualism– Concept representation
• Concept types, learning environments
– Ambiguity resolution• Number of translations, number of meanings
– Structure of the memory representations• To what extent are the two languages connected?
My Own Work
• Second Language Acquisition– Stages at which distinctions are learned
– Is the L1 grammar always active?
– How are the semantics differentiated?
Interrelation among the two languages, especially at the
conceptual level
• Are concepts shared by the bilingual’s two languages?
• Is there an easy answer??? Fully versus partially shared semantics
Word Association Model(Potter et al., 1984)
L1 L2IMAGES
CONCEPTS L1=First Language L2=Second Language
Concept Mediation Model(Potter et al., 1984)
L1 L2IMAGES
CONCEPTSL1=First Language L2=Second Language
Revised Hierarchical Model(Kroll & Stewart, 1994)
L1 L2
concepts
lexical
links
conceptuallinks
conceptuallinks
L1=First Language L2=Second Language
Distributed Feature Model(De Groot, 1992)
L1 lexical level
conceptual level
lexical level
conceptual level
Concrete Words
Abstract WordsL1 L2
L2
L1 = First Language L2 = Second Language
Distributed Representation Model (Van Hell, 1998)
.... ........ ....
.... ........ ....
.... ........ ....
.... ........ ....
.... ........ ....
.... ........ ....
.... ........ ....
.... ........ ....
revenge
anger
boosheid
lexical conceptual
lexical conceptual
skirt
dress
jurk
rok
wraak
.... ........ ....
.... ........ ....
.... ........ ....
.... ........ ....
apple
pear
peer
lexical conceptual
appel
Number of Translations
Dutch word English word
One Translation voordeel advantage
Synonym translation 1
herfst
autumn
Synonym translation 2 fall
Meaning translation 1
boodschap
message
Meaning translation 2 errand
Relative activation of the two languages and selectivity of
activation• Can one language ever be fully
turned off?• Is L1 grammar always active?• Can L2 become the more dominant
language?• What factors influence the relative
activation of the two languages (individual and contextual)?