When learners surpass their models: The acquisition of American Sign Language from inconsistent input
When learners surpass their models: The acquisition of American Sign Language from inconsistent input
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DOI：
10.1016/j.cogpsych.2004.05.001
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发表时间：
2004-12-01
影响因子：
2.6
通讯作者：
Newport, EL
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Singleton, JL;Newport, EL
本研究探讨了高度不一致的输入对语言习得的影响。美国聋人社区提供了一个独特的机会，观察儿童暴露于规范的语言模型作为他们唯一的语言输入。本研究是一个详细的个案研究，一个孩子在这种情况下获得他的母语。它询问这个孩子是否能够从不代表某些自然语言原则的输入数据中组织自然语言。西蒙是一个聋哑儿童，他的聋哑父母都在15岁后学习了美国手语（ASL）。西蒙唯一的美国手语输入是由他的晚学父母提供的。这项研究考察了西蒙在7岁时在ASL形态任务上的表现，与8名父母是本地手语的儿童进行了比较，并与西蒙自己的父母进行了比较。结果表明，西蒙的美国手语的生产大大超过了他的父母。西蒙的父母，像其他后期学习者的美国手语，表现低于成人本机签署标准，与许多不一致和错误，在他们使用的美国手语形态。相比之下，西蒙的表现是更有规律的，事实上，在大多数美国手语词素是平等的儿童接触到一个本地签署模式。因此，结果表明，西蒙是能够获得一个规则和有序的形态规则系统，他的输入只提供高度不一致和噪音的数据。此外，研究结果提供了一些深入了解这种学习可能发生的机制。虽然美国手语的情况是罕见的，它揭示了线索，可能有助于我们了解人类的语言学习能力。(C)2004年爱思唯尔公司All rights reserved.
The present study examines the impact of highly inconsistent input on language acquisition. The American deaf community provides a unique opportunity to observe children exposed to normative language models as their only linguistic input. This research is a detailed case study of one child acquiring his native language in such circumstances. It asks whether this child is capable of organizing a natural language out of input data that are not representative of certain natural language principles. Simon is a deaf child whose deaf parents both learned American Sign Language (ASL) after age 15. Simon's only ASL input is provided by his late-learner parents. The study examines Simon's performance at age 7 on an ASL morphology task, compared with eight children who have native signing parents, and also compared with Simon's own parents. The results show that Simon's production of ASL substantially surpasses that of his parents. Simon's parents, like other late learners of ASL, perform below adult native signing criteria, with many inconsistencies and errors in their use of ASL morphology. In contrast, Simon's performance is much more regular, and in fact on most ASL morphemes is equal to that of children exposed to a native signing model. The results thus indicate that Simon is capable of acquiring a regular and orderly morphological rule system for which his input provides only highly inconsistent and noisy data. In addition, the results provide some insight into the mechanisms by which such learning may occur. Although the ASL situation is rare, it reveals clues that may contribute to our understanding of the human capacity for language learning. (C) 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.