Defragmenting Learning

In the 1990s, language acquisition researchers and theoretical linguists developed an interest in learning mechanisms, and learning theorists rediscovered the verbal learning tradition. Nonetheless, learning theory and language acquisition continued to develop largely independently, which has stymied progress in both fields. However, exciting progress is happening in applying learning theory to language, and, more recently, in using language learning data to advance domain-general learning theory. These developments raise hopes for a bidirectional flow of information between the fields. The importance of language data for learning theory and of learning theory for understanding language is briefly discussed.