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Longer-term effects of corrective input: an experimental approach.
M Saxton1, B Kulcsar, G Marshall
1Psychology Department, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, Surrey. M.Saxton@RHBNC.ac.uk
Journal of Child Language
|March 30, 1999
Summary
Children learn grammar more effectively when provided with corrective input, also known as negative evidence. This study found that negative evidence significantly improved children's grammatical accuracy and understanding of verb forms.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Linguistics
- Child Language Acquisition
Background:
- Children receive corrective input for grammatical errors, but its effectiveness is debated.
- Little is known about the long-term impact of negative input on language development.
Purpose of the Study:
- To experimentally compare the effects of negative evidence versus positive input on children's acquisition of irregular past tense verbs.
- To investigate the influence of corrective input on children's grammatical development.
Main Methods:
- An experimental, within-subjects design was used over five weeks.
- Twenty-six children (mean age 3;10) participated.
- The study compared the impact of negative evidence against positive input.
Main Results:
- Children showed greater improvements in grammaticality when provided with negative evidence.
- Children's judgments of irregular and overregularized verb forms became more adult-like with corrective input.
Conclusions:
- Negative evidence plays a crucial role in enhancing children's grammatical accuracy.
- Corrective input aids children in developing a more sophisticated understanding of grammatical rules and exceptions.