Language and the learning curve : a new theory of syntactic development /
Drawing on formal linguistic theory, cognitive psychology, and computational linguistics, and complexity theory, this volume takes the view that syntactic development is a simple process, one that can be learned just like any other cognitive or motor skill.
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| Format: | eBook |
| Language: | English |
| Language Notes: | English. |
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Oxford ; New York :
Oxford University Press,
2006.
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| Online Access: | Connect to the full text of this electronic book |
Table of Contents:
- Introduction
- Valency
- Linguistic approaches to valency and syntactic structure
- Implication for acquisition : syntax is simple
- Developmental evidence : the earliest word combinations are syntactic mergers
- Conclusions : children learn to merge two words according to their valency
- The learning curve
- The learning curve in cognitive psychology
- Implication for acquisition : syntax should transfer right away
- Developmental evidence : learning curves and generalizations in early syntax
- Conclusions : lexical-specific syntactic frames facilitate others
- Lexicalism
- The linguistic basis to lexicalism
- Implication for acquisition : no abstract schema formation
- Developmental evidence : no change in the form of syntactic schemas
- Conclusions : children learn a lexicalist syntax
- Similarity
- Similarity for transfer and generalization
- Implication for acquisition : no role for semantic linking in learning syntax
- Developmental evidence : no semantic effects in generalization and transfer
- Conclusions : children utilize similarity of form to organize the process of acquisition
- The growth of syntax
- The language web
- Implication for acquisition : learning means linking to the network
- Developmental evidence : children recreate the global features of the maternal network
- Conclusions : children join the language network.