Language learning as language use: A cross-linguistic model of child language development.

Computational Investigations of Multiword Chunks in Language Learning

“…Preexisting knowledge of words and word‐classes may lead L2 learners to employ different strategies than those used in L1—and while such knowledge is not factored into our simulations explicitly, it is implicitly reflected in the nature of the L2 speech being chunked and sequenced by the model. Nevertheless, Simulation 1 revealed remarkable similarities in the L1 Child versus L2 learner chunk inventories in terms of chunk structure (see also McCauley, ), suggesting that knowledge of multiword sequences could still play an important role in the speech of our L2 sample. It may merely be that these sequences are discovered and used in ways that are less closely captured by the CBL model.…”

“…In our simulations, L2 chunk inventories were less useful in generalizing to unseen utterances. Nevertheless, L2 and child L1 inventories exhibited similarities in terms of structure: McCauley () shows, using a series of network analyses, that the chunk inventories constructed by the model for L2 and L1 child simulations exhibit similar patterns of connectivity (between chunks) while differing significantly from chunk inventories constructed for L1 adult simulations.…”

“…The CBL model has been described thoroughly as part of previous work (e.g., McCauley & Christiansen, , ). Here, we offer an account of its inner workings sufficient to understand and evaluate the simulations reported below.…”

“…Such perspectives enjoy mounting empirical support from psycholinguistic evidence that both children (e.g., Arnon & Clark, ; Bannard & Matthews, ) and adults (e.g., Arnon & Snider, ; Jolsvai, McCauley, & Christiansen, ) in some way store multiword sequences and use them during comprehension and production. Computational modeling has served to bolster this perspective, demonstrating that knowledge of multiword sequences can account for children's online comprehension and production (e.g., McCauley & Christiansen, , , unpublished data), as well as give rise to abstract grammatical knowledge (e.g., Solan, Horn, Ruppin, & Edelman, ).…”

“…In the present paper, we compare L1 and L2 learners' use of multiword sequences using large‐scale, corpus‐based modeling. We do this by employing a model of online language learning in which multiword sequences play a key role: the Chunk‐Based Learner (CBL) model (Chater, McCauley, & Christiansen, ; McCauley & Christiansen, , , ). Our approach can be viewed as a computational model‐based variation on the “Traceback Method” of Lieven, Behrens, Speares, and Tomasello ().…”