ERIC Number: EJ1195830
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2018-Dec
Pages: 43
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0023-8333
EISSN: N/A
Beyond Statistical Learning: Communication Principles and Language Internal Factors Shape Grammar in Child and Adult Beginners Learning Polish through Controlled Exposure
Dimroth, Christine
Language Learning, v68 n4 p863-905 Dec 2018
This study investigated the predictions of two approaches to second language acquisition. According to the usage-based approach, learner knowledge results from the strengths and weaknesses of input-driven statistical learning. According to the learner-varieties approach, pragmatic communication principles and language-internal constraints play major roles in language development. For this study, novice child and adult learners of Polish (speakers of Italian or German) attended several controlled-exposure sessions and retold a story after 14 hours of target language contact. Analyses focused on form-function associations in the learners' production data and on comparisons with properties of the input that the learners had encountered. In addition to support for input-driven factors, there was evidence for a uniform syntax, for individual creative constructions, and for reinterpreted morphological variation, pointing to an influence of communication principles and to an effect of system-internal factors. Findings revealed differences due to learners' age but not their language background.
Descriptors: Grammar, Polish, Second Language Learning, Syntax, Linguistic Input, Language Usage, Language Variation, Pragmatics, Italian, German, Native Language, Morphology (Languages), Creativity, Age Differences, Novices, Children, Adults, Communication (Thought Transfer)
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
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