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Training generative repertoires within agent-action-object miniature linguistic systems with children
Journal of Speech and Hearing Research
|March 1, 1983
Summary
Children can acquire generative language skills by recombining elements within a miniature linguistic system. Prior lexical learning significantly boosts their ability to create novel agent-action utterances and new sentence structures.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Linguistics
- Cognitive Science
Background:
- Generative language acquisition is crucial for communication.
- Understanding how children learn to combine linguistic elements is key to language development.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate generative language acquisition processes in children.
- Determine if children can recombine linguistic constituents to form novel utterances.
- Examine if children can extend a miniature linguistic system with new syntactic constructions.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a miniature linguistic system with nonsense syllables and concrete referents.
- Experiment 1 involved four children (ages 4:5–8:8) learning agent-action constructions.
- Experiment 2 involved seven 4-year-olds to assess the impact of lexical learning history.
Main Results:
- Children successfully produced novel utterances for untrained referents.
- Participants extended learned agent-action structures to agent-action-object sentences.
- A history of lexical learning significantly enhanced generative production of new utterances.
Conclusions:
- Children demonstrate capacity for generative language acquisition through recombination.
- Early lexical learning facilitates the acquisition of novel syntactic structures.
- Findings inform the development of effective language remediation strategies.