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Updated: Mar 7, 2026

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation tDCS of Wernicke's and Broca's Areas in Studies of Language Learning and Word Acquisition
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Thinking About Multiword Constructions: Usage-Based Approaches to Acquisition and Processing.

Nick C Ellis1,2, Dave C Ogden2

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of Michigan.

Topics in Cognitive Science
|February 25, 2017
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Language learners acquire multiword expressions, like verb-argument constructions (VACs), by recognizing usage patterns. This implicit statistical knowledge of language sequences is crucial for fluent processing and acquisition.

Keywords:
Corpus analysisFirst language acquisitionForm-function contingencyOnline processingSecond language acquisitionSemantic prototypicalityType-token frequencyVerb-argument constructions

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Area of Science:

  • Psycholinguistics
  • Corpus Linguistics
  • Language Acquisition

Background:

  • Usage-based theories propose language is learned from patterns.
  • Multiword expressions are key to fluent language processing.
  • Verb-argument constructions (VACs) integrate syntax, lexis, and semantics.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate usage patterns of English VACs.
  • To examine VACs in child-directed speech and acquisition.
  • To explore psycholinguistic evidence for VAC processing.

Main Methods:

  • Corpus analysis of VAC grammatical form, semantics, and distribution.
  • Analysis of VACs in child language data.
  • Free-association and online processing psycholinguistic experiments.

Main Results:

  • VACs exhibit highly patterned usage across various dimensions.
  • Usage patterns of VACs are evident in child-directed speech and acquisition.
  • Online language processing is sensitive to VAC form, statistics, and semantics.

Conclusions:

  • Rich implicit knowledge of multiword sequence statistics is fundamental to language users.
  • Patterned usage of VACs drives language acquisition.
  • Language processing relies on statistical patterns, semantic contingency, and activation effects.