Current Perspectives on Child Language Acquisition: How children use their environment to learn

Current Perspectives on Child Language Acquisition
Editorial page
Title page
Copyright page
Table of contents
Foreword
Introduction
References
Part 1. Levels of acquisition
Learning how to communicate in infancy
Preface
The newborn’s preparedness for communication
Early face-to-face interaction and primary intersubjectivity
Turning towards the outside world
The transition to intentional communication
The developmental roots of human communication
References
Heads, shoulders, knees and toes: What developmental robotics can tell us about language acquisition
Preface
Introduction
Why models?
Why robotics?
Gaze following and joint attention
First vocalisations
First words
Abstract words
Syntax
Conclusion
References
Insights from studying statistical learning
Preface
Introduction
Statistical processes for different language learning tasks
General statistical principles of language acquisition: Grouping and dividing
The role of the broader environment on learning
A note on cue variability
Conclusions
Funding
References
From grammatical categories to processes of categorization: The acquisition of morphosyntax from a usage-based perspective
Preface
Deriving language from interaction
Categories and categorization in usage-based linguistics
Categorization processes
Example 1. Categorization in conceptual development: Representational redescription
Example 2. Learning inflectional categories with variation
Example 3. Learning case markers for reference and syntactic role marking
From a structuralist to a constructivist perspective
Attention tuning to prosodic cues
Functional relations: Reference and attribution
Summary and outlook
References
The retreat from transitive-causative overgeneralization errors: A review and diary study
Funding
References
Where form meets meaning in the acquisition of grammatical constructions
Preface
Introduction
Overarching theory
What are grammatical constructions?
How do children learn constructions?
Grammatical errors as a window onto children’s form–meaning mappings
‘Borrowing’ within a network of constructions leads to error
Third person verb marking and auxiliary omission errors
Pronoun case errors
Summary
The nature of the ‘slots’ within grammatical constructions
Infinitival-to omission errors
Methodological advances
Creative solutions to communicative problems
Structure combining in wh-questions
Fine-tuning the meaning of negation
The complexities of self-reference
Summary
Semantic and pragmatic (information-structural) properties of sentence representations
Simple constructions
Complex constructions
Conclusions
Funding
References
Social cognitive and later language acquisition
Preface
Language acquisition and Theory of Mind in interaction
Interactions between syntax, verbal semantics and false belief
Interactions between syntax, verbal semantics and false belief from a cross-linguistic perspective
Looking at usage patterns and functions across languages
Summary and conclusion
Funding
References
Part 2. Levels of variation
The emergence of gesture during prelinguistic interaction
Preface
Introduction
The development of triadic attention and joint action
The development of prelinguistic communicative gestures
Theoretical perspectives on the emergence of declarative gestures
Prelinguistic gesture development across cultures
Summing up
Funding
References
Individual differences in first language acquisition and their theoretical implications
Preface
Introduction
1. Individual differences in language acquisition
2. What causes individual differences in language acquisition?
2.1 Intrinsic differences in the neurocognitive learning mechanisms
2.2 The communicative environment (especially linguistic input)
2.3 The role of developmental cascades
3. Case study: Individual differences in children’s early lexical processing efficiency
3.1 The LWL task and its relationship to lexical development
3.2 Psychometric modelling
3.3 Longitudinal analyses
4. Future prospects
Funding
References
Understanding the cross-linguistic pattern of verb-marking error in typically developing children and children with Developmental Language Disorder: Why the input matters
Wexler’s Unique Checking Constraint (UCC) account of the OI stage
An alternative account of OI errors
Modelling cross-linguistic differences in children’s rate of OI errors
Modelling other aspects of the data on OI errors
The Modal Reference Effect and the Eventivity Constraint
The cross-linguistic patterning of OI errors in declaratives and Wh-questions
Comparing MOSAIC and the Variational Learning Model
The problem with English
An input-driven model of the pattern of verb-marking error in children with DLD?
Conclusion
Funding
References
Appendix. Summary of how MOSAIC has been developed over time to simulate a wider range of OI-related phenomena
Sampling linguistic diversity to understand language development
1. Personal statement
2. Introduction
3. Cross-linguistic diversity: Why care?
4. The maximum diversity approach
5. Input universals
6. Some candidates of input universals
7. Conclusions
Acknowledgements
References
Lessons from studying language development in bilingual children
Preface
Introduction
What do we talk about when we talk about childhood bilingualism?
Word learning
Processing efficiency, language exposure and lexical acquisition
Word learning and mutual exclusivity
Shared syntactic representations in later bilingual development
Conclusion
References
Language disorders and autism: Implications for usage-based theories of language development
Preface
Introduction
Theories of language development
Usage-based theory
Shared intentionality
Statistical learning / distributional analysis
From exemplar-learning to the learning of syntactic constructions
Properties of the language input
Usage-based predictions for language development
Developmental Language Disorder (DLD)
Autism
Statistical learning in autism
The role of language input for language development in Autism Spectrum Conditions
Shared intentionality
Is shared intentionality atypical in autism?
Would difficulties in shared intentionality lead to impairments in nuts-and-bolts language?
Would difficulties in shared intentionality lead to impairments in pragmatics?
General conclusions
Summary
Future directions
References
Index