What is Language Acquisition?

The process of attaining a specific variant of human language. The process of learning a native or a second language.

What is Cognitive Science?

The multi-disciplinary approach to the study of the mind, including
Adult and developmental psychology Philosophy Linguistics Anthropology Neuropsychology Artificial intelligence Psycholinguisics

What is Language?
a system of symbols and rules that enable us to communicate
a symbolic code used in communication the systematic, meaningful arrangement of symbols

Language Acquisition, Representation, & Processing

Language acquisition
How is language acquired or learned?

Language representation
How are the symbols of language represented in memory?

Language processing
What factors influence the processing of language?

How are Language Acquisition, Representation, & Processing Related?

How are Language Acquisition, Representation, & Processing Related?

Language is acquired

How are Language Acquisition, Representation, & Processing Related?

Language is acquired

Acquisition leads to a set of representations

How are Language Acquisition, Representation, & Processing Related?

Language is acquired

Acquisition leads to a set of representations

Language use is the processing of these representations

Language Acquisition
Major Issues
First language acquisition
How does our general intelligence interact with our biological predispositions? How do we learn our native language? What are the stages this process follows? How do failures in this process occur?

Language Acquisition
Language Development
Phonological development Semantic development Syntactic development and syntactic categories

Language Acquisition
Second language acquisition
Factors that affect our chances of learning L2:
Individual differences Age of acquisition effects Environment of learning Style of instruction--conejo is rabbit or

Stages of second language acquisition

Language Processing
Language Comprehension
Lexical ambiguity resolution
spade

Syntactic ambiguity resolution

fly

Imageability and other word-specific factors

table versus freedom

Context effects--autonomous or interactive?

Spoken Word Recognition Models

Initial contact, selection of a lexical entry, word recognition/lexical access, integration
Cohort model (Marslen-Wilson, 1973, 1975) Access stage--> cohort of items Selection stage--> one item chosen Integration stage--> syntax, semantics

Spoken word recognition: An example

/d/
dog, dirt, dry, dries, drive, drip, dumb, desk

/dr/
dry, dries, drive, drip

/dry/
dry, dries, drive, driving, driver

/drive/
drive, driving, driver

/drivi-/ DRIVING!!!

Visual Word Recognition Methods/Findings

Semantic priming
Nurse Doctor --respond yes Butter Doctor --respond yes, but more slowly

Visual Word Recognition Methods/Findings

Word frequency effects
year versus permutation rain versus puddle related effects: familiarity

Visual Word Recognition Models

Logogen Model
Logogens for each word Accumulate evidence passively until threshold Perceptual & contextual evidence raise activation Lower thresholds for more frequent words

Visual Word Recognition Models

Interactive-Activation Model
Accounts for the word superiority effect Visual features, letters, words Facilitatory and inhibitory connections
T excites take but inhibits cake

Lateral inhibition Parallel activation of all links

Language Processing
Language Production
Lexicalization--stages of processing
Lemma selection Word form (lexeme) retrieval
Phonological specification

Speech errors
Syntactic planning--how far ahead?

Aphasias

Models of Language Production

Dual-route model (revised)
Non-lexical route (G-P) Non-semantic route (O-P) Lexical-semantic route (G-L-S-P)

Connectionist model
Similar to IA model of word recognition Learns by associating phonology and orthography Patterns of activation

Individual Differences
Do individual differences determine the activation of multiple meanings of ambiguous words (especially the irrelevant ones)?
What is the influence of verbal ability and working memory on syntactic processing?

Language Representation
What is a concept?
Is there any such thing?

Things I Havent Covered

Language and thought Structure of the language system Speech perception Language disorders Discourse processing Reading Orthographic (e.g., neighborhood) effects

Bilingualism Defined
Bilingualism is the ability to master the use of two languages, and multilingualism is the ability to master the use of more than two languages. Although bilingualism is relatively rare among native speakers of English, in many parts of the world it is the standard rather than the exception. For example, more than half the population of Papua New Guinea is functionally competent in both an indigenous language and Tok Pisin. People in many parts of the country have mastered two or more indigenous languages. Bilingualism and multilingualism often involve different degrees of competence in the languages involved. A person may control one language better than another, or a person might have mastered the different languages better for different purposes, using one language for speaking, for example, and another for writing.

Consequences of Bilingualism
Interrelation among the two languagesRHM
Language dominance issue

Selectivity of activation in the two languagesBIA model Relative activation of the two languagesBIMOLA and IC models

My Own Work
Bilingualism
Concept representation
Concept types, learning environments

Ambiguity resolution
Number of translations, number of meanings

Structure of the memory representations

To what extent are the two languages connected?

My Own Work
Second Language Acquisition
Stages at which distinctions are learned

Is the L1 grammar always active?

How are the semantics differentiated?

Interrelation among the two languages, especially at the conceptual level

Are concepts shared by the bilinguals two languages? Is there an easy answer??? Fully versus partially shared semantics

Word Association Model

(Potter et al., 1984)
IMAGES L1 L2

CONCEPTS

L1=First Language L2=Second Language

Concept Mediation Model

(Potter et al., 1984)

IMAGES L1 L2

CONCEPTS

L1=First Language L2=Second Language

Revised Hierarchical Model

(Kroll & Stewart, 1994)
lexical links

L1
conceptual links

L2
conceptual links

concepts

L1=First Language L2=Second Language

Distributed Feature Model

(De Groot, 1992)
L1 Concrete Words L2 lexical level

conceptual level lexical level

L1

Abstract Words

L2

conceptual level
L1 = First Language L2 = Second Language

Distributed Representation Model (Van Hell, 1998)

lexical wraak revenge boosheid anger
.... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... ....

conceptual
.... .... .... ....

lexical rok skirt jurk dress

.... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... ....

conceptual
.... .... .... ....

lexical appel apple peer pear

.... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... ....

conceptual
.... .... .... ....

Number of Translations
Dutch word One Translation voordeel Synonym translation 1 herfst Synonym translation 2 English word advantage autumn fall

Meaning translation 1
boodschap Meaning translation 2

message
errand

Relative activation of the two languages and selectivity of activation

Can one language ever be fully turned off? Is L1 grammar always active? Can L2 become the more dominant language? What factors influence the relative activation of the two languages (individual and contextual)?