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Published on: February 8, 2019
Verb argument structure acquisition in young children: defining a role for discourse
Letitia R Naigles1, Ashley Maltempo1
1University of Connecticut.
Journal of Child Language
|November 11, 2010
Summary
Young children learning English repaired ungrammatical sentences more often with context. However, older preschoolers consistently repaired more than younger ones, showing discourse context aids verb argument structure acquisition.
Area of Science:
- Psycholinguistics
- Child Language Acquisition
- Developmental Psychology
Background:
- Preschoolers encountering ungrammatical sentences with missing direct objects often alter verb meaning to fit syntax.
- Older children tend to repair syntax to match verb meaning, a pattern observed in previous studies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if providing an informative discourse context influences how young English learners repair ungrammatical sentences lacking direct objects.
- To determine the role of context in the acquisition of verb argument structure.
Main Methods:
- Children aged two, three, and four were presented with sentences missing direct objects.
- Sentences were preceded by short contextual vignettes establishing character relationships.
- Children's enactment of sentences was analyzed to determine repair strategies.
Main Results:
- Children repaired more sentences when provided with a preceding discourse context compared to previous findings.
- Older preschoolers (three- and four-year-olds) demonstrated significantly higher repair rates than younger preschoolers (two-year-olds).
Conclusions:
- Discourse context appears to be a relevant factor in the acquisition of verb argument structure for young language learners.
- While context aids learning, it is not the only factor influencing the development of syntactic repair strategies.
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