Acquisition of variable rules: a study of (-t, d) deletion in preschool children

Abstract

The present study examined the pattern of deletion of final /t/ and /d/ in word final consonant clusters in sixteen three- and four-year-old children and their degree of mastery of phonological and grammatical constraints to answer the following questions: how and when is this variable rule acquired, and how does its acquisition relate to the learning of the categorical rule of past tense formation? Sixteen children were tape recorded in their South Philadelphia day care centre. In addition, eight of their mothers were interviewed in their homes for purposes of comparison.Results of the study revealed that children as young as three had, for the most part, mastered the phonological constraints on (-t, d) deletion. They matched the adult pattern including the constraint of following pause disfavouring deletion, the only one that has been shown to vary according to geographical dialect. The children also made a consistent and adult-like distinction between the grammatical forms of monomorpheme and weak past tense. Their high rate of deletion in semi-weak verbs, which differs from adult patterns, suggests that the children are demonstrating rule acquisition based on an analysis of verbal inflection.

Sociolinguistic convergence and social interactions within a group of preschoolers: A longitudinal study

“…In this way, she paved the way for the research that has followed, investigating earlier age groups. Finally, certain -mostly recent -studies have added a further dimension by questioning the cognitive processes involved in the acquisition of sociolinguistic variables (Labov, 1989;Roberts, 1994Roberts, , 1997Chevrot, Beaud & Varga, 2000;Foulkes, Docherty & Watt, 2001;Pierrehumbert, 2001;Díaz-Campos, 2004;Foulkes & Docherty, 2006;Smith, Durham & Fortune, 2007;Chevrot & Foulkes, 2013;Nardy et al, 2013).…”

“Mam, my trousers is fa'in doon!”: Community, caregiver, and child in the acquisition of variation in a Scottish dialect

“…The impact of external and0or internal influences may not be equal across all variables, or indeed, in all varieties. Roberts (1994;1997a;1997b; examined acquisition of a number of phonetic0phonological variables by children aged 3;2 to 4;11 in South Philadelphia. For (-t, d) deletion, she reported, "children as young as three have acquired the phonological and grammatical constraints .…”

Percurso Do Artigo Definido Diante De N Próprio Na Fala De Crianças Em Fase De Aquisição

“…Assim, por exemplo, Roberts (1994), no seu estudo sobre o apagamento variável de /t/ e /d/ finais no inglês e da variação na produção do -ing já havia verificado que os padrões de variação da fala do adulto já se encontram incorporados na fala de crianças em fase pré-escolar (entre 3 e 4 anos de idade). Ao analisar como as crianças adquirem os padrões de variação estabilizados na fala dos adultos, a autora conclui: (Op.…”