Paper Info
Title
Modeling the Development of Children's Use of Optional Infinitives in Dutch and English Using MOSAIC.
Abstract
In this study we use a computational model of language learning called model of syntax acquisition in children (MOSAIC) to investigate the extent to which the optional infinitive (01) phenomenon in Dutch and English can be explained in terms of a resource-limited distributional analysis of Dutch and English child-directed speech. The results show that the same version of MOSAIC is able to simulate changes in the pattern of finiteness marking in 2 children learning Dutch and 2 children learning English as the average length of their utterances increases. These results suggest that it is possible to explain the key features of the 01 phenomenon in both Dutch and English in terms of the interaction between an utterance-final bias in learning and the distributional characteristics of child-directed speech in the 2 languages. They also show how computational modeling techniques can be used to investigate the extent to which cross-linguistic similarities in the developmental data can be explained in terms of common processing constraints as opposed to innate knowledge of universal grammar.
Year
DOI
Venue
2006
10.1207/s15516709cog0000_47
COGNITIVE SCIENCE
Keywords
Field
DocType
syntax acquisition,optional infinitives,computational modeling,MOSAIC
Universal grammar,Computer science,Computational linguistics,Grammar,Language acquisition,Natural language processing,Artificial intelligence,Infinitive,Psycholinguistics,Syntax,Linguistics,Indo-European languages
Journal
Volume
Issue
ISSN
30
2.0
0364-0213
Citations 
PageRank 
References 
8
1.07
5
Authors
3
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Daniel Freudenthal1558.34
Julian M. Pine2399.50
Fernand Gobet311526.08