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Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Distinctions in the acquisition of vocabulary and grammar
T2 - An individual differences approach
AU - Walker, Neil
AU - Monaghan, Padraic
AU - Schoetensack, Christine
AU - Rebuschat, Patrick
PY - 2020/6/15
Y1 - 2020/6/15
N2 - Learning language requires acquiring the grammatical categories of words in the language, but learning those categories requires understanding the role of words in the syntax. In this study, we examined how this chicken and egg problem is resolved by learners of an artificial language comprising nouns, verbs, adjectives and case markers following syntactic rules. We also measured individual differences in declarative and procedural memory processing, which have been linked to vocabulary and grammar learning, respectively. The results showed that grammar and vocabulary can be acquired simultaneously, but with distinctive patterns of acquisition – the syntactic role of verbs and their referents first, then other lexical categories, and finally the syntactic function of case markers. Interdependencies in learning were found for word order and verbs, which related to verbal declarative memory, and also for nouns, adjectives and case markers, which related to procedural memory.
AB - Learning language requires acquiring the grammatical categories of words in the language, but learning those categories requires understanding the role of words in the syntax. In this study, we examined how this chicken and egg problem is resolved by learners of an artificial language comprising nouns, verbs, adjectives and case markers following syntactic rules. We also measured individual differences in declarative and procedural memory processing, which have been linked to vocabulary and grammar learning, respectively. The results showed that grammar and vocabulary can be acquired simultaneously, but with distinctive patterns of acquisition – the syntactic role of verbs and their referents first, then other lexical categories, and finally the syntactic function of case markers. Interdependencies in learning were found for word order and verbs, which related to verbal declarative memory, and also for nouns, adjectives and case markers, which related to procedural memory.
KW - language acquisition
KW - grammar
KW - vocabulary
KW - declarative memory
KW - procedural memory
KW - cross-situational learning
U2 - 10.1111/lang.12395
DO - 10.1111/lang.12395
M3 - Journal article
VL - 70
SP - 221
EP - 254
JO - Language Learning
JF - Language Learning
SN - 0023-8333
IS - S2
ER -