Semantic cues in language learning: an artificial language study with adult and child learners
Semantic cues in language learning: an artificial language study with adult and child learners
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DOI：
10.1080/23273798.2021.1995612
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发表时间：
2021-11-10
影响因子：
2.3
通讯作者：
Wonnacott, Elizabeth
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Brown, Helen;Smith, Kenny;Wonnacott, Elizabeth
语法性别可能与语义相关;例如，语法性别通常可以从名词的语义部分预测。我们探讨学习者是否概括语义线索，以及是否暴露的程度（1与4届会议）和每个语义类（类型频率）的样本数量影响这一点。六奥尔兹和成年人接触到半人工语言，名词与新的粒子共同出现，粒子的使用完全或部分由名词的语义决定。当语义线索完全一致时，成人和儿童都能概括出新名词。当线索部分一致时，成人（但不是儿童）也会泛化。概括增加曝光，但没有证据表明，增加类型频率（即每个语义类更多的名词）增加概括。实验后的访谈也表明，成功的概括取决于外显意识。这些结果表明，语义线索是特别困难的儿童利用在语言习得的早期阶段。
Grammatical regularities may correlate with semantics; e.g. grammatical gender is often partially predictable from the noun's semantics. We explore whether learners generalise over semantic cues, and whether the extent of exposure (1 versus 4 sessions) and number of exemplars for each semantic class (type-frequency) affect this. Six-year-olds and adults were exposed to semi-artificial languages where nouns co-occurred with novel particles, with particle usage fully or partially determined by the semantics of the nouns. Both adults and children generalised to novel nouns when semantic cues were fully consistent. Adults (but not children) also generalised when cues were partially consistent. Generalisation increased with exposure, however there was no evidence that increasing type-frequency (i.e. more nouns per semantic class) increased generalisation. Post-experiment interviews also suggested that successful generalisation depended on explicit awareness. These results suggest that semantic cues are particularly difficult for children to exploit during the early stages of language acquisition.