The acquisition of English modal constructions: a corpus-based analysis

Area of Science:

• Linguistics
• Developmental Psychology
• Language Acquisition

Background:

• The English modal system presents complex many-to-one and one-to-many form-function mappings.
• Usage-based theories highlight input's role in language acquisition but often overlook form-function mapping effects.
• Investigating how input characteristics influence the acquisition of linguistic forms is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine if consistent form-function mappings in caregiver speech facilitate the acquisition of English modal verbs by young children.
• To analyze the impact of input features, such as form-function mapping frequency and the number of functions a modal signifies, on acquisition.
• To employ methodological controls for input and child characteristics to isolate the effect of form-function mappings.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of two dense mother-child corpora focusing on children aged 3 and 4.
• Examination of input features: modal form frequency, form-function mapping frequency, and the number of functions per modal.
• Application of innovative controls for other input aspects (e.g., form frequency) and child characteristics (e.g., age).

Main Results:

• Children were more likely to produce modal verbs and form-function mappings that were frequent in their input.
• Modal verbs with fewer functions in caregiver speech did not significantly promote their acquisition by children.
• Input frequency of both the modal form and its specific mapping to a function positively influenced acquisition.

Conclusions:

• Findings support usage-based approaches to language acquisition, emphasizing the role of input frequency.
• Consistent and frequent form-function mappings in input are important facilitators of modal verb acquisition.
• The study underscores the necessity of rigorous methodological controls when examining input-development relationships in language acquisition.