Tracking multiple inputs
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Daniel J. Weiss
Abstract
For many learners, language acquisition may entail acquiring more than a single language. Yet to date, much of the research on the fundamental mechanisms of language acquisition has been predicated, at least implicitly, on modeling monolingual acquisition. In this chapter, we explore statistical learning, the ability to track distributional properties of the input, through the lens of multilingual acquisition. This ability is thought to play a critical role in the early stages of language acquisition. We identify a set of theoretical challenges that need to be overcome in order to track multiple sets of statistics and develop multiple representations to accommodate each input language. We then review the limited number of empirical studies that have investigated how people keep track of statistics in multiple artificial inputs and explore the consequences of accruing statistics in multi-language input for infants raised in bilingual environments. We highlight the role that contextual cues may play in helping solve the problem of multiple inputs, pointing out that they may facilitate the forming of multiple representations. We conclude, based on the available data, that the consequences of bilingualism for statistical learning may be a greater propensity to posit multiple underlying causal models when the input is variable.
Abstract
For many learners, language acquisition may entail acquiring more than a single language. Yet to date, much of the research on the fundamental mechanisms of language acquisition has been predicated, at least implicitly, on modeling monolingual acquisition. In this chapter, we explore statistical learning, the ability to track distributional properties of the input, through the lens of multilingual acquisition. This ability is thought to play a critical role in the early stages of language acquisition. We identify a set of theoretical challenges that need to be overcome in order to track multiple sets of statistics and develop multiple representations to accommodate each input language. We then review the limited number of empirical studies that have investigated how people keep track of statistics in multiple artificial inputs and explore the consequences of accruing statistics in multi-language input for infants raised in bilingual environments. We highlight the role that contextual cues may play in helping solve the problem of multiple inputs, pointing out that they may facilitate the forming of multiple representations. We conclude, based on the available data, that the consequences of bilingualism for statistical learning may be a greater propensity to posit multiple underlying causal models when the input is variable.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword vii
- List of contributors ix
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Introduction
- Introduction xiii
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Theoretical perspectives
- Implicit AND explicit language learning 3
- Explaining phenomena of first and second language acquisition with the constructs of implicit and explicit learning 25
- Implicit learning in SLA 47
- Semantic implicit learning 69
- What does current generative theory have to say about the explicit-implicit debate? 91
- Explicit knowledge about language in L2 learning 117
- The learnability of language 139
- Tracking multiple inputs 167
- Implicit statistical learning and language acquisition 191
- Implicit learning of non-adjacent dependencies 213
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Methodology
- Artificial grammar learning 249
- Challenges in implicit learning research 275
- Effects of conditions on L2 development 301
- Investigating implicit and explicit processing using L2 learners’ eye-movement data 325
- Contributions of event-related potential research to issues in explicit and implicit second language acquisition 349
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Practical applications
- Implicit learning of a L2 morphosyntactic rule, and its relevance for language teaching 387
- Form-focused instruction and the measurement of implicit and explicit L2 knowledge 417
- Implicit and explicit instruction in L2 learning 443
- Index 483
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword vii
- List of contributors ix
-
Introduction
- Introduction xiii
-
Theoretical perspectives
- Implicit AND explicit language learning 3
- Explaining phenomena of first and second language acquisition with the constructs of implicit and explicit learning 25
- Implicit learning in SLA 47
- Semantic implicit learning 69
- What does current generative theory have to say about the explicit-implicit debate? 91
- Explicit knowledge about language in L2 learning 117
- The learnability of language 139
- Tracking multiple inputs 167
- Implicit statistical learning and language acquisition 191
- Implicit learning of non-adjacent dependencies 213
-
Methodology
- Artificial grammar learning 249
- Challenges in implicit learning research 275
- Effects of conditions on L2 development 301
- Investigating implicit and explicit processing using L2 learners’ eye-movement data 325
- Contributions of event-related potential research to issues in explicit and implicit second language acquisition 349
-
Practical applications
- Implicit learning of a L2 morphosyntactic rule, and its relevance for language teaching 387
- Form-focused instruction and the measurement of implicit and explicit L2 knowledge 417
- Implicit and explicit instruction in L2 learning 443
- Index 483
