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ERIC Number: EJ1171652
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2018
Pages: 19
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1547-5441
EISSN: N/A
Regularizing Unpredictable Variation: Evidence from a Natural Language Setting
Hendricks, Alison Eisel; Miller, Karen; Jackson, Carrie N.
Language Learning and Development, v14 n1 p42-60 2018
While previous sociolinguistic research has demonstrated that children faithfully acquire probabilistic input constrained by sociolinguistic and linguistic factors (e.g., gender and socioeconomic status), research suggests children regularize inconsistent input-probabilistic input that is not sociolinguistically constrained (e.g., Hudson Kam & Newport, 2005, 2009; Singleton & Newport, 2004). The current study extends this research to investigate how children acquire grammatical forms when they are exposed to inconsistent input at the community-wide level by investigating the acquisition of inconsistently produced gender in Fering, a dialect of North Frisian. The results of a gender elicitation task show that some children regularize inconsistently produced features, while others approximated the adult-like probability patterns in their input. Those children who approximated the adult-like patterns were exposed to more Fering input than their peers who regularized gender. These results highlight the importance of input quantity in the context of community-wide inconsistent input, and demonstrate that when given sufficient input, children can acquire inconsistent patterns in the input.
Psychology Press. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 325 Chestnut Street Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Fax: 215-625-2940; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Germany
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A