What is Language Acquisition?

The process of attaining a specific variant of human language.

The process of learning a native or a second language.

What is Cognitive Science?The multi-disciplinary approach to the study of the mind, includingAdult and developmental psychologyPhilosophyLinguisticsAnthropologyNeuropsychologyArtificial intelligencePsycholinguisics

What is Language?a system of symbols and rules that enable us to communicate

a symbolic code used in communication

the systematic, meaningful arrangement of symbols

Language Acquisition, Representation, & ProcessingLanguage acquisitionHow is language acquired or learned?

Language representationHow are the symbols of language represented in memory?

Language processingWhat factors influence the processing of language?

How are Language Acquisition, Representation, & Processing Related?

How are Language Acquisition, Representation, & Processing Related?Language is acquired

How are Language Acquisition, Representation, & Processing Related?Language is acquiredAcquisition leads to a set of representations

How are Language Acquisition, Representation, & Processing Related?Language is acquiredAcquisition leads to a set of representationsLanguage use is the processing of these representations

Language AcquisitionMajor IssuesFirst language acquisition

How does our general intelligence interact with our biological predispositions?

How do we learn our native language? What are the stages this process follows?

How do failures in this process occur?

Language AcquisitionLanguage Development

Phonological development

Semantic development

Syntactic development and syntactic categories

Language AcquisitionSecond language acquisition

Factors that affect our chances of learning L2:Individual differencesAge of acquisition effectsEnvironment of learningStyle of instruction--conejo is rabbit or

Stages of second language acquisition

Language ProcessingLanguage Comprehension

Lexical ambiguity resolutionspadeSyntactic ambiguity resolutionflyImageability and other word-specific factorstable versus freedomContext effects--autonomous or interactive?

Spoken Word Recognition Models

Initial contact, selection of a lexical entry, word recognition/lexical access, integration

Cohort model (Marslen-Wilson, 1973, 1975)Access stage--> cohort of itemsSelection stage--> one item chosenIntegration stage--> syntax, semantics

Spoken word recognition: An example/d/dog, dirt, dry, dries, drive, drip, dumb, desk/dr/dry, dries, drive, drip/dry/dry, dries, drive, driving, driver/drive/drive, driving, driver/drivi-/DRIVING!!!

Visual Word Recognition Methods/FindingsSemantic priming

NurseDoctor--respond yes

ButterDoctor --respond yes, but more slowly

Visual Word Recognition Methods/FindingsWord frequency effects

year versus permutation

rain versus puddle

related effects: familiarity

Visual Word Recognition ModelsLogogen Model

Logogens for each wordAccumulate evidence passively until thresholdPerceptual & contextual evidence raise activationLower thresholds for more frequent words

Visual Word Recognition ModelsInteractive-Activation Model

Accounts for the word superiority effectVisual features, letters, wordsFacilitatory and inhibitory connectionsT excites take but inhibits cakeLateral inhibitionParallel activation of all links

Language ProcessingLanguage Production

Lexicalization--stages of processingLemma selectionWord form (lexeme) retrievalPhonological specification

Speech errorsSyntactic planning--how far ahead?

Aphasias

Models of Language ProductionDual-route model (revised)Non-lexical route (G-P)Non-semantic route (O-P)Lexical-semantic route (G-L-S-P)

Connectionist modelSimilar to IA model of word recognitionLearns by associating phonology and orthographyPatterns of activation

Individual DifferencesDo individual differences determine the activation of multiple meanings of ambiguous words (especially the irrelevant ones)?

What is the influence of verbal ability and working memory on syntactic processing?

Language RepresentationWhat is a concept?

Is there any such thing?

Things I Havent CoveredLanguage and thoughtStructure of the language systemSpeech perceptionLanguage disordersDiscourse processingReadingOrthographic (e.g., neighborhood) effects

Bilingualism DefinedBilingualism is the ability to master the use of two languages, and multilingualism is the ability to master the use of more than two languages. Although bilingualism is relatively rare among native speakers of English, in many parts of the world it is the standard rather than the exception. For example, more than half the population of Papua New Guinea is functionally competent in both an indigenous language and Tok Pisin. People in many parts of the country have mastered two or more indigenous languages. Bilingualism and multilingualism often involve different degrees of competence in the languages involved. A person may control one language better than another, or a person might have mastered the different languages better for different purposes, using one language for speaking, for example, and another for writing.

Consequences of BilingualismInterrelation among the two languagesRHMLanguage dominance issueSelectivity of activation in the two languagesBIA modelRelative activation of the two languagesBIMOLA and IC models

My Own WorkBilingualismConcept representationConcept types, learning environments

Ambiguity resolutionNumber of translations, number of meanings

Structure of the memory representationsTo what extent are the two languages connected?

My Own WorkSecond Language AcquisitionStages at which distinctions are learned

Is the L1 grammar always active?

How are the semantics differentiated?

Interrelation among the two languages, especially at the conceptual level

Are concepts shared by the bilinguals two languages?

Is there an easy answer??? Fully versus partially shared semantics

Word Association Model(Potter et al., 1984)

Concept Mediation Model(Potter et al., 1984)

Revised Hierarchical Model(Kroll & Stewart, 1994)

Distributed Feature Model(De Groot, 1992)

Distributed Representation Model (Van Hell, 1998)

Number of Translations

Dutch wordEnglish wordOne TranslationvoordeeladvantageSynonym translation 1herfstautumnSynonym translation 2fallMeaning translation 1boodschapmessageMeaning translation 2errand

Relative activation of the two languages and selectivity of activationCan one language ever be fully turned off?Is L1 grammar always active?Can L2 become the more dominant language?What factors influence the relative activation of the two languages (individual and contextual)?

Although how children learn to speak is not perfectly understood, most explanations involve both the observation that children copy what they hear and the inference that human beings have a natural aptitude for understanding grammar. Children usually learn the sounds and vocabulary of their native language through imitation, and grammar is seldom taught to them; that they rapidly acquire the ability to speak grammatically supports the theory of Noam CHOMSKY and others that children are able to learn the grammar of a particular language because all intelligible languages are founded on a deep structure of universal grammatical rules that corresponds to an innate capacity of the human brain. People learning a second language pass through some of the same stages as do children learning their native language.Language disorders and loss--linguistic deprivation

The critical period hypothesis--biological basis of language learning

When youre tired--not just people with pathologies

from babbling to full sentencesWe learn what things mean (semantics) and acquire conceptsWe learn the syntax of our language (what are synt cat)

Ind diffs--working memory spanAOA--time at which begin to learn L2Environment--classroom versus immersionStyle of instruction--associations between translations or directly to conceptsWILL RETURN TO ISSUES OF SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION LATERLexical ambiguities spade Imageability such as table or libertySyntactic ambiguity bug

Also the TRACE model which is based on the IA model, is connectionist and emphasizes the role of context. IS lateral inhibition but no inhibition across levels.Uniqueness point/d//dr//dry/dry, dries, drive, driving, driver/drive/drive, driving, driver/drivi-/driving!Length, repetition priming, degradationIssues similar as for spoken word recognition:Semantic context effects, Stages and interaction of stages

Methods scans, eye movements, tachistoscopic ID, naming, lex dec and cat RTsForsters (I1976, 1979) Autonomous serial search modelLike a dictionary (alphabetical)Go from master file to bin of similar itemsFrequency ordered Morton (1969, 1970)McClelland and Rumelhart 81 and rum and mccl 82Earliest connectionist modelsWord superiority--letters easier to identify as part of wordsBUT arbitrary connection strengthsA lemma is a representation that includes both semantic and syntactic information for a word, but not its phonological word form (e.g., Levelt et al., 1991). During lemma selection, a semantically-appropriate item is selected and is specified with respect to syntax but not phonology. During word form (lexeme) retrieval, phonological specification occurs (i.e., when the phonological features of the to-be-produced word become activated)

Semantic context effects-Role of working memory?Word naming and models: dual-route model, analogy model, connectionist models

Speech errorsSyntactic planning--how far ahead?Dual route morton and patterson, conn seid and mcclelland 89G=graphemeP=phonemeO=orthographyL=lexicon

Language interconnectedness--language dominance issue