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More overregularizations after all: new data and discussion on Marcus, Pinker, Ullman, Hollander, Rosen & Xu
1University of Minnesota, USA.
Journal of Child Language
|March 31, 2000
Summary
Over-regularization in child language acquisition is more common than previously thought. This study finds substantial periods of over-regularization in young children
Area of Science:
- Child language acquisition
- Linguistic development
- Psycholinguistics
Background:
- Theories of irregular verb past-tense acquisition propose that over-regularizations are rare speech errors.
- Marcus et al. (1992) argued that known irregular past-tense forms are immediately recognized, limiting over-regularization to errors.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the frequency and nature of over-regularization in child language.
- To challenge the claim that over-regularization rates are inherently low.
- To analyze longitudinal data for evidence of genuine grammatical over-regularization.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal analysis of speech data from three children (Abe, Adam, Sarah) aged 2;3 to 5;2.
- Detailed examination of past-tense verb forms, focusing on over-regularization instances.
- Comparison of observed over-regularization rates with theoretical predictions.
Main Results:
- Even if over-regularizations are grammatical, overall rates can still be low for most children.
- Substantial periods of over-regularization were observed in three longitudinal subjects.
- Abe exhibited significantly higher over-regularization rates linked to his overall past-tense acquisition development.
Conclusions:
- Over-regularization may represent a genuine grammatical phase in child language development, not just speech errors.
- Existing models may underestimate the prevalence and significance of over-regularization.
- Individual differences in language acquisition trajectories influence over-regularization patterns.
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