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Grinstead, John – Journal of Child Language, 2021
Interface Delay is a theory of syntactic development, which attempts to explain an array of constructions that are slow to develop, which are characterized by being sensitive to discourse-pragmatic considerations of the type associated with the natural semantic class of definites. The theory claims that neither syntax itself, nor the…
Descriptors: Linguistic Theory, Syntax, Form Classes (Languages), Pragmatics
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Pye, Clifton – Journal of Child Language, 2012
Poverty of the stimulus (POS) arguments have instigated considerable debate in the recent linguistics literature. This article uses the comparative method to challenge the logic of POS arguments. Rather than question the premises of POS arguments, the article demonstrates how POS arguments for individual languages lead to a "reductio ad absurdum"…
Descriptors: Linguistic Theory, Comparative Analysis, Grammar, Language Universals
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Crain, Stephen; Thornton, Rosalind; Murasugi, Keiko – Language Acquisition: A Journal of Developmental Linguistics, 2009
In the 1980s, researchers in child language devised several new experimental techniques to assess children's emerging linguistic competence. Innovations in methodology were needed to bridge the apparent gap between the expectation of rapid language acquisition, based on linguistic theory, and the protracted acquisition that was being witnessed…
Descriptors: Linguistic Competence, Linguistics, Child Language, Language Acquisition
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Demuth, Katherine; Machobane, Malillo; Moloi, Francina – Language, 2009
Noun-class prefixes are obligatory in most Bantu languages. However, the Sotho languages (Sesotho, Setswana, Sepedi) permit a subset of prefixes to be realized as null at the intersection of "unmarked" phonological, syntactic, and discourse conditions. This raises the question of how and when the licensing of null prefixes is learned. Using…
Descriptors: Nouns, Language Acquisition, African Languages, Morphemes
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Musolino, Julien – Cognition, 2009
Recent work on the acquisition of number words has emphasized the importance of integrating linguistic and developmental perspectives [Musolino, J. (2004). The semantics and acquisition of number words: Integrating linguistic and developmental perspectives. "Cognition 93", 1-41; Papafragou, A., Musolino, J. (2003). Scalar implicatures: Scalar…
Descriptors: Sentences, Vocabulary Development, Semantics, Syntax
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Higginson, Roy – Journal of Child Language, 1988
The ISU/ChiLDES bibliographic database, a nonprofit computerized database dedicated to language acquisition, currently consists of nearly 1,900 annotated bibliographic references to journal articles dating back to 1972. (CB)
Descriptors: Annotated Bibliographies, Child Language, Databases, Language Acquisition
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Golinkoff, Roberta Michnick; And Others – Journal of Child Language, 1994
Six lexical principles for object label learning are evaluated. In this framework, lexical acquisition changes as a result of the particular principles a given child has at his or her disposal. These principles were developed for the class of object labels but may also apply across other early-appearing word classes. (Contains 98 references.) (JP)
Descriptors: Child Language, Developmental Stages, Infants, Language Acquisition
Gentner, Dedre – 1982
There is overwhelming evidence that children's first words are primarily nouns even across languages. These data are interpreted as evidence of a "Natural Partitions Theory," one that holds that the concepts referred to by nouns are conceptually more basic than those referred to by verbs or prepositions. Analysis of data from…
Descriptors: Child Language, Comparative Analysis, Contrastive Linguistics, Language Acquisition
Newport, Elissa L. – 1984
In examining the issue of why children do so well at language learning despite limited skill and experience, two possible explanations are addressed: one suggests that children learn language well exactly because they are limited, and the other proposes that children are extremely adept at language learning, perhaps more so than adults. Research…
Descriptors: Age Differences, American Sign Language, Child Language, Language Acquisition
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Wolfe-Quintero, Kate – Second Language Research, 1996
Focuses on nativist theories of language learning and how they apply to second-language acquisition (SLA). The article is seeking a nativism that goes beyond the scope of Universal Grammar and explains the human cognitive capacity for language learning, the learning of all language structures found in natural languages, and SLA. (95 references)…
Descriptors: Child Language, Cognitive Ability, English, Language Acquisition
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Myles, Florence – Second Language Research, 2005
This article presents a selective review of the work carried out recently in second language acquisition (SLA) research which makes use of oral learner corpora and computer technologies. In the first part, the reasons why the field of SLA needs corpora for addressing current theoretical issues are briefly reviewed. In the second part, recent…
Descriptors: Second Languages, Language Acquisition, Second Language Learning, Interlanguage
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Schnitzer, Marc L. – Hispania, 1996
Examines the results of a nonce-verb test administered to adults and children in five hispanophone communities to determine their control of the inflectional morphology of the Spanish verbal system. Results indicate that adults have less access to natural productive verbal processes than do children. Notes that these results have implications for…
Descriptors: Adults, Child Language, Data Analysis, Error Analysis (Language)
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Thompson, Linda – Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 1994
Presents the findings of an ethnolinguistic study conducted in northeastern England on children's language behavior during their first term in school. The article combines two theoretical perspectives in an analytical description of this behavior presented in three levels of data analysis. (23 references) (Author/CK)
Descriptors: Bilingualism, Child Language, Classroom Communication, Discourse Analysis
Shulman, Jill; Decker, Nan – 1978
Television is of limited value to hearing-impaired children, who cannot benefit from the soundtrack. Traditional caption writing techniques, which involve editing of the audio track, have been based primarily on the captioner's empirical knowledge and intuition and aim the captions at a presumed average language and reading ability of the target…
Descriptors: Captions, Child Language, Deafness, Deep Structure