ling 151/psych 156a: acquisition of language...

Ling151/Psych156A:AcquisitionofLanguageII

Lecture1Introductiontolanguageacquisition

AdministriviaInstructor:LisaPearlDepartmentofLinguisticsDepartmentofCognitiveScienceslpearl@uci.eduhttp://www.socsci.uci.edu/~lpearlOfficeHours:W,3:00-4:00pminSBSG2314

Messageboard(accessibleviaCanvasEEE)

https://canvas.eee.uci.edu/courses/7442/discussion_topics

Usedtofacilitatecommunicationaboutthecourseadministriviaandcontent.Pleasegotherefirsttoseeifsomeonehasalreadyaskedyourquestionbeforeemailingtheprfoessor.Itmaybethatyourquestionisalreadyansweredthere,andthiswillallowyoutogetaquickerresponsetoyourquestion.

Administrivia

https://canvas.eee.uci.edu/courses/7442/discussion_topics

AdministriviaClasswebpage:http://socsci.uci.edu/~lpearl/courses/acqoflang2_2018win/index.html

Containsoverview,officehours,schedule,readings,assignmentdescriptions,andgradingpolicies.

http://socsci.uci.edu/~lpearl/courses/acqoflang2_2018win/index.html

Administrivia

Somereferencereadingswillcomefrom“LanguageinMind”byJulieSedivy

Otherswillbebookexcerpts,articles,andvideolinks:

Administrivia Somereadings&referencematerialwillrequireausernameand

passwordtoaccess. UserName= langacq Password= models

Lecturenotesdonotrequireapassword

Thisinformationisalsoavailableonthemessageboardunder“Pinneddiscussions”.

AdministriviaAssignmentsHomework: Latehomeworkwillbeacceptedaccordingtothelatepolicylistedin

theassignmentssectionontheclasswebpage.Ifyoucannotturninthehomeworkontime,takeadvantageofthepolicytogetsomecreditforyourassignment.Seriously.

AdministriviaAssignmentsHomework: Severalthroughoutthequarter,availablethroughEEE.Collaboration

isallowedandhighlyencouraged.Infact,takeaminutetointroduceyourselftosomepeoplearoundyouwhomightformahomework/studygroupwith.However,youmustturninyourownassignmentcopy.

Reviewquestionsarealsoavailableforeachtopic,butyouarenotrequiredtodothem.Theyarejusttheretohelpyoureviewthematerial(andareagreatwaytostudyforexams).

AdministriviaExams

Midtermexam: Therewillbetwoonlinemidtermexamson2/2/18and2/28/18,availablethrough

EEE.Theywillcoverthematerialinthepriorweeks(notcumulative).Reviewquestionswillbeavailableforeachtopiccoveredinclass,andtherewillbeamidtermreviewinclasspriortoeachmidtermexamon1/31/18and2/26/18.Midtermexamquestionswillcomefromthehomeworksandthereviewquestions.

Themidtermexamswillbeopen-note,butnon-collaborative. Ifyouarefoundcollaboratingwithotherclassmatesduringamidtermexam,you

willreceivea0. Fordetailsoftheonlineexampolicyandprocedure,seethecoursewebpage.We

willalsogoovertheseduringthemidtermreview.

AdministriviaExams

Finalexam: Therewillbeanonlinefinalexamon3/23/18,availablethroughEEE.Itwill

coverthematerialinweeks1-10,withastrongfocusonthematerialafterthesecondexam.Reviewquestionswillbeavailableforeachtopiccoveredinclass,andtherewillbeafinalexamreviewinclasson3/16/18.Examquestionswillcomefromthehomeworksandthereviewquestions.

Thefinalexamwillbeopen-note,butnon-collaborative. Ifyouarefoundcollaboratingwithotherclassmatesduringthefinalexam,

youwillreceivea0. Fordetailsoftheonlineexampolicyandprocedure,seethecourse

webpage.Wewillalsogoovertheseduringthefinalreview.

AdministriviaGrades Homework:50%

Midterms:20%

FinalExam:30%

Yourgradeswillbedeterminedbyapproximatelythisscale(availableonthewebpage):

96-100:A+ 84-88:B+ 72-76:C+ … 92-96:A 80-84:B 68-72:C 88-92:A- 76-80:B- 64-68:C-

AdministriviaExtraCreditYoucanearnupto3percentagepointsofextracredittwoways.(Seetheclass

webpageunderthe“assignments”tabformoredetails.)

(1) Participateasahumansubjectinalanguagescienceexperimentwebgame(30items=halfapercentagepoint).

(2) Participateasahumansubjectinsocialscienceexperimentsforupto3hours(halfanhour=halfapercentagepoint).

AdministriviaSchedule “Thisisourwonderfullyambitiousschedule.We’llattempttokeep

withit,butitissubjecttomodification.”

Topics: Introduction (1/8/18–1/12/18) [3] Sounds&SoundsofWords (1/17/18–1/24/18) [4] SpeechSegmentation (1/26/18–1/29/18) [2]WordMeaning(2/5/18-2/9/18)[3] SyntacticCategories (2/12/18–2/14/18)[2] Sentences (2/16/18–2/23/18)[3] PovertyoftheStimulus (3/2/18–3/5/18) [2] Structure (3/7/18–3/14/18)[4]

Whatislanguage?

Whatislanguage?

Alanguageisasystemofsignals,suchasvoicesounds,gesturesorwrittensymbols,thatencodeordecodeinformation.

Humanlanguagesareusuallyreferredtoasnaturallanguages,andthescienceofstudyingthemislinguistics.

Theterm"animallanguages"isoftenusedfornon-humanlanguages.Mostresearchersagreethatthesearenotascomplexorexpressiveashumanlanguage;theymaybetterbedescribedasanimalcommunication.Someresearchersarguethattherearesignificantdifferencesseparatinghumanlanguagefromthecommunicationofotheranimals,andthattheunderlyingprinciplesareunrelated.

“Itisaveryremarkablefactthattherearenone…withoutevenexceptingidiots,thattheycannotarrangedifferentwordstogether,formingofthemastatementbywhichtheymakeknowntheirthoughts;whileontheotherhand,thereisnootheranimal,howeverperfectandfortunatelycircumstanceditmaybe,whichcandothesame.”RenéDescartes

Languageisspecial

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Descartes.jpg

Languageisspecial

“Forthemoment,themainthingistoappreciatehowhardaproblemthisis.Thefactthatwecantalk(andcatscan’t)seemssoobviousthatithardlybearsmention.Butjustbecauseit’sobviousdoesn’tmeanit’seasytoexplain.Thinkofanotherperfectlyobvious,well-knownphenomenon:thefactthatmetalsturnredwhenyouheatthem.Whydoesthishappen?Itcouldbeotherwise-theymightjustaswellturngreenornotchangecoloratall.It’sasimplephenomenon,easilyobservable,buttheexplanationisn’tsimpleatall.Itturnsouttoinvolveattheveryleastthetheoriesofelectromagneticradiationandquantummechanics,twoofthemoreamazingintellectualadvancesinthepastcentury.Soitis,Iwanttosuggest,withthehumanabilitytouselanguage.”-RayJackendoff,1994

“Whatissospecialaboutlanguage?Maybenothingifyouareasnailoracamphortree.Butlanguageisparamountamongthecapacitiesthatcharacterizehumans,settingusofffromeventhemostperfectlyformedandfunctioningoftheotherbeastsonearth;so,asamatterofspeciespride–ifnothingelse–wewouldholduplanguageasamarkerofourhumanityandthusafocusofourscientificinterest.”(Gleitman&Liberman1991:xix)

Languageisspecial

Knowledgeoflanguage

It’ssonaturalforustoproduceandcomprehendlanguagethatweoftendon’tthinkaboutwhatanaccomplishmentthisis.

Orhowwelearnedlanguageinthefirstplace.

Themysteryoflanguageacquisition

http://www.quickmeme.com/meme/36f39x/

http://www.quickmeme.com/meme/36f39x/

What’sallthefussaboutlanguagedevelopment?

Babiesareamazingatlearninglanguage

What’sallthefussaboutlanguagedevelopment?


http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=2479

Wait…whatexactlydoyouknowwhenyouknowalanguage?



Alot!

Alot!

whatapreuykiuy!

= wʌɾəpɹɪɾikɪɾi wʌɾ ə pɹɪɾi kɪɾi

Youknowhowtoidentifywordsinfluentspeech(speechsegmentation)



Alot!

Youknowhowtopronouncewords(phonology)

KIuykiTTY

whatapreuykiuy!

speechsegmentaKon


Alot!

whatapreuykiuy!

Youknowthatcertainwordsbehavelikeotherwords(syntacticcategorization)

kiuy

owl

penguin

whatapreuy___!Noun

speechsegmentaKon

KIuy

kiTTY

phonology


Alot!

Youknowhowtointerpretwordsincontext(syntax,semantics)

“Ohlook—apreuykiuy!”“Look—there’sanotherone!”

whatapreuykiuy!

speechsegmentaKon

KIuy

kiTTYkiuy

owlpenguin

Noun

syntacKccategorizaKonphonology


Alot!

whatapreuykiuy!

speechsegmentaKon

KIuy

kiTTYkiuy

owlpenguin

Noun

syntacKccategorizaKon

Thiski1ywasboughtasapresentforsomeone.

Lilythinksthiski1yispre1y.

WhodoesLilythinktheki1yforispre1y?

Youknowhowtoputwordstogethertoaskquestions(syntax)


syntax,semanKcs

phonology


Alot!


syntax

whatapreuykiuy!

speechsegmentaKon

KIuy

kiTTYkiuy

owlpenguin

Noun



syntax,semanKcs

Youknowhowtoidentifytherightinterpretationincontext(pragmatics)

“Everykiuydidn’tsitonthestairs”

Notallkixessatonthestairs.

Nokixessatonthestairs.x

phonology


Alot!


syntax


whatapreuykiuy!

speechsegmentaKon

syntax,semanKcs

pragmaKcs

“Everykiuydidn’tsitonthestairs”

KIuy

kiTTYkiuy

owlpenguin

Noun


Notallkixessatonthestairs.

phonology


Alot!

syntax

speechsegmentaKon syntacKccategorizaKon

syntax,semanKcs

pragmaKcs

Sohowexactlydochildrenlearnallthis?

phonology

“TheLinguisticGeniusofBabies”

http://www.ted.com/talks/patricia_kuhl_the_linguistic_genius_of_babies.html

(upthrough10:07,butespeciallythrough7:55)

http://www.ted.com/talks/patricia_kuhl_the_linguistic_genius_of_babies.html

Kidsdoamazingthings

Muchofthelinguisticsystemisalreadyknownbyage3.

…whenkidscan’ttietheirownshoes orreliablyrecognize“4”.

Whatkidsaredoing:extractingpatternsandmakinggeneralizationsfromthesurroundingdatamostlywithoutexplicitinstruction.

Terminology:Patternsor“rules”oflanguage=grammar

Alearninganalogy:Set

Herearesomecards-theyhavesomesalientfeaturesassociatedwiththem:numberofitems,shapeofitems,colorofitems,fillofitems.


Task:FindSets.


Here’sone:

WhatgeneralizationsmightyoumakeaboutSets?


Here’sone:

WhatgeneralizationsmightyoumakeaboutSets?

Set=allshapes,fills,andnumberofitemsthesame?


Here’sanotherone:

Doesthisfitthegeneralization?

Set=allshapes,fills,andnumberofitemsthesame?


Here’sanotherone:


Set=allshapesandfillsthesame?


Here’sanotherone:


Set=allfillsthesame?


IsthisaSet?

Set=allfillsthesame?✔

✔Ittrulyisaset!


Set=allfillsthesame?✔

IsthisaSet?

✔Ittrulyisaset!


Set=allfillsthesame?XIsthisaSet?

XIttrulyisn’taset!


Set=allfillsthesame?XIsthisaSet?

Ittrulyisaset! ✔Uhoh!Nowwhat…


Set=threecardsinwhicheachindividualfeatureiseitheralltheSAMEoneachcardorallDIFFERENToneachcard.

ThegrammarofSet



ThegrammarofSet

✔X



ThegrammarofSet

Childreninferlanguageruleswiththisamountofcomplexity(andmore!)fromexamplesoflanguage.Andsometimes,evenwhenthere’snoise(misleadingexamplesintheinput).



ThegrammarofSet

noise(misleadingexamplesintheinput)

“Thisisaset”

Weknowtheydoitrelativelyquickly.

syntax

speechsegmentaKon

phonology


syntax,semanKcs

pragmaKcs


Muchofthelinguisticsystemisalreadyknownbyage4.

Interesting:Theydothismostlywithoutexplicitinstruction.

Andwhentheydogetexplicitinstruction,theydon’treallypayattentiontothingsthatdon’timpactmeaning.


Child:Wantotheronespoon,Daddy.Father:Youmean,youwanttheotherspoon.Child:Yes,Iwantotheronespoon,pleaseDaddy.Father:Canyousay“theotherspoon”?Child:Other…one…spoon.Father:Say“other”.Child:Other.Father:“Spoon.”Child:Spoon.Father:“Otherspoon.”Child:Other…spoon.Nowgivemeotheronespoon?

(FromMartinBraine)


Ingeneral,imitationisn’tlikelytogetthemtoofar.…

Imitationcertainlyisusefulforlearningsomeaspectsoflanguage,suchaslearningthatthesequenceofsounds“cat”referstoafurry,purringpet.



However,childrencan’tlearnhowtounderstandandproducefullsentencesbyimitatingwhattheyhearandrepeatingitwordforword.

Whynot?Onereason:Mostsentencesarenovel–

youunderstandandproducethemonthefly,andmayneverhaveheardthembefore.



Also,itturnsoutthatchildrenarebadatimitatingsentenceswheretheydon’tknowsomeofthewords(sohowcouldtheylearnthosewordsbyimitatingthem?):

“Thecatishungry”becomes“Cathungry.”



Inaddition,childrendon’toftenrepeatword-for-wordwhatadultsaroundthemsay.

Whatkidsaredoing

Extractingpatternsandmakinggeneralizationsfromthesurroundingdatamostlyjustbyhearingexamplesofwhat’sallowedinthelanguage.

Remember:Patternsor“rules”oflanguage=grammar

Therulesoflanguage=grammar

It’salsounlikelychildrenlearnbybeingexplicitlytaughtalltherulesoftheirlanguage.Thisisbecauseoncewegobeyondthemostsuperficialthings(like“cat”isafurry,purringpet),mostofourknowledgeissubconscious.

Weknowit–butwedon’tknowhowweknowitorwhyit’sso.

Knowledgeoflanguage&hiddenrules

Someexamplesfromlanguage:

Youknowthat…

…strimpisapossiblewordofEnglish,whilestvimpisn’t.


Youknowthat… …toaskabout“someone”inthesentence “Youthinkthat[someone]didit”, youcan’taskitthisway:

“Whodoyouthinkthatdidit?”


(Instead:“Whodoyouthinkdidit?”)


Youknowthat…


shecanbeSarahinallofthese:

Sarahatethepeachwhileshewasreading. Whileshewasreading,Sarahatethepeach. WhileSarahwasreading,sheatethepeach.

butin“SheatethepeachwhileSarahwasreading”,she≠Sarah


Youknowthat…

…the‘s’in‘cats’soundsdifferentfromthe‘s’ingoblins


cats:‘s’=/s/

goblins:‘s’=/z/


Youknowthat…

…contractedformslike“wanna”and“gonna”can’talwaysreplacetheirrespectivefullforms“wantto”and“goingto”.

Yougettochoosewhoyouwillrescue. “Whodoyouwanttorescue?” “Whodoyouwannarescue?”

Yougettochoosewhowilldotherescuing. “Whodoyouwanttodotherescuing?” *“Whodoyouwannadotherescuing?”



Youknowthat…


Yougettochoosewhoyouwillrescue. “Whoareyougoingtorescue?” “Whoareyougonnarescue?”

“I’mgoingtothewitch’slairtorescueher.” *“I’mgonnathewitch’slairtorescueher.”


Linguisticrules

Thepoint:ourmindsstorewordsandmeaningsandthepatternsintowhichtheycanbeplaced(=rules).

Recap

Childrendon’tjustimitatewhatthey’veheard-they’retryingtofigureoutthepatternsoftheirnativelanguage.Also,theymaynotnoticeorrespondtoexplicitcorrection.

Childrenlearnrulesaboutlanguagethatarequitecomplex.Howtheytypicallydothissowellandsoquicklyisamajormystery.

Questions?

Youshouldbeabletodoupthroughquestion5ontheintroductionreviewquestionsand

upthroughquestion1onHW1.

ling 151/psych 156a: acquisition of language...

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