Yuriko Oshima-Takane

The Development of Referential Choice in English and Japanese: A Discourse-Pragmatic Perspective.

The present research investigated whether childrens referential choices for verb arguments are motivated by pragmatic features of discourse referents across different developmental stages, not only for children learning null argument languages but also for those learning overt argument languages. In Study 1, the form (null, pronominal, or lexical) and referential status (given or new) of verb arguments were systematically analysed in six English-speaking and six Japanese-speaking children and their mothers when the children were at 1;9 and 3;0. In Study 2, non-linguistic pragmatic correlates (pointing, reaching, moving, making a head motion, or purposeful gaze direction toward a referent) were analysed in addition to the form and referential status of arguments at each of four linguistic periods between MLU 1 00 and 4 00 in two English-speaking and two Japanese-speaking children and their mothers. The results revealed that, when both linguistic and non-linguistic referential behaviours were considered, the English-speaking children showed patterns consistent with language-universal as well as language-specific discourse-pragmatic principles by 2;0 (between MLU 2 00 and 2 99), whereas the Japanese-speaking children did not show these patterns even as late as 3;0 (MLU 4 00 and above). Results also indicated that the children who were exposed to more consistent discourse-pragmatic referential patterns from their input tended to show these patterns earlier than those exposed to inconsistent patterns. Together these findings suggest that both the referential status of discourse referents as well as parental input predict childrens referential choices across typologically different languages.

Analysis of pronominal errors: a case-study *

The present paper reports a case-study of a normally developing boy who made pronominal errors for about ten months. Comprehension and production of first- and second-person pronouns were longitudinally examined from 1;7 to 2;10 to test three hypotheses concerning pronominal errors: pronominal errors are a result of either (a) semantic confusion, (b) simple imitation, or (c) confusion between self and others. The results showed that the child began using first- and second-person pronouns at about 1;8 and mastered the correct usage by 2;10. Consistent errors for the first- and the second-person pronouns were observed from 1;11 to 2;4, but proportions of errors occurring in his imitative language were low. The comprehension and production data clearly indicated that the child persistently made pronominal errors due to semantic confusion. That is, first-person pronouns referred to a person with whom the child conversed and second-person pronouns referred to himself.

The Learning of First and Second Person Pronouns in English: Network Models and Analysis.

Although most English-speaking children master the correct use of first and second person pronouns by three years, some children show persistent reversal errors in which they refer to themselves as you and to others as me. Recently, such differences have been attributed to the relative availability of overheard speech during the learning process. The present study tested this proposal with feed-forward neural networks learning these pronouns. Network learning speed and analysis of their knowledge representations confirmed the importance of exposure to shifting reference provided by overheard speech. Errorless pronoun learning was linked to the amount of overheard speech, interactions with a greater number of speakers, and prior knowledge of the basic-level kind PERSON.

An alternative view of pronominal errors in autistic children

Persistent pronominal errors in autistic children have been attributed either to a psychosocial deficit or to a linguistic or cognitive deficit. However, recent studies of normal children suggest that the failure to observe pronouns in speech addressed to another person is a major reason children show pronominal errors. The present study investigated if pronominal errors in autistic children can be explained by this alternative hypothesis. Childrens attentiveness to the pronoun models and their imitative behaviors were examined under two modeling conditions. The nonaddressee condition provided children with systematic opportunities to observe pronoun models directed to another person as well as those directed to themselves. The addressee condition provided only systematic opportunities to observe pronoun models directed to children. Clear evidence for the alternative hypothesis was obtained for second person pronouns, suggesting that pronominal errors in autistic children can be interpreted within the framework of normal language development.

Early verb learning in 20-month-old Japanese-speaking children.

The present study investigated whether childrens representations of morphosyntactic information are abstract enough to guide early verb learning. Using an infant-controlled habituation paradigm with a switch design, Japanese-speaking children aged 1 ; 8 were habituated to two different events in which an object was engaging in an action. Each event was paired with a novel word embedded in a single intransitive verb sentence frame. The results indicated that only 40% of the children were able to map a novel verb onto the action when the mapping task was complex. However, by simplifying the mapping task, 88% of the children succeeded in verb-action mapping. There were no differences in perceptual salience between the agent and action switches in the task. These results provide strong evidence that Japanese-speaking children aged 1 ; 8 are able to use an intransitive verb sentence frame to guide early verb learning unless the mapping task consumes too much of their cognitive resources.

Nonlinear Generalized Canonical Correlation Analysis by Neural Network Models

A method of K-set canonical correlation analysis capable of joint multivariate nonlinear transformations of data was proposed. The method consists of K nonlinear data transformation modules, each of which is a multi-layered feed-forward network, and one integrator module which combines information from the K transformation modules. The proposed method is useful for integrating information from K concurrent sources.

Nouns to verbs and verbs to nouns: when do children acquire class extension rules for deverbal nouns and denominal verbs?

We investigated when children acquire class extension rules for denominal verbs and deverbal nouns using an intermodal preferential looking paradigm. We taught French-speaking 2.5-year-olds (mean age = 2 years, 8.56 months [2;8.56], range = 2;6–2;11) and 3-year-olds (mean age = 3;3.31, range = 3;0–3;5) novel parent nouns or verbs referring to unfamiliar instruments and their functions, and then tested their interpretation of both the parent word and its denominal verb or deverbal noun. Experiment 1 demonstrated that only the 3-year-olds understood the denominal verbs. Experiment 2 demonstrated that only 3-year-olds who learned the parent verbs were able to interpret the deverbal nouns correctly. These findings suggest that French-speaking children acquire class extension rules for denominal verbs and deverbal nouns by the age of 3 years and can demonstrate this knowledge as long as they are able to learn the parent words.

Case studies of pronoun development in two hearing-impaired children: normal, delayed or deviant?

This paper is a study of first and second person pronoun development in the spoken language of two young hearing-impaired children. Pronoun development was examined over a period of 11 months, starting at the age of 29 and 28 months, to determine whether the childrens acquisition of these pronouns would reflect normal, delayed or deviant patterns of development. Comparison of data from these children with data regarding normally developing children shows the hearing-impaired childrens acquisition to be within normal expectations for hearing age and overall linguistic level, and only slightly delayed in terms of chronological age. These results lend support to the view that differences in the hearing-impaired childs language ability are probably the result of a relative lack of auditory and linguistic experience, rather than reorganisation of the hearing-impaired childs psychological and cognitive processing abilities.

Pronominal semantic confusion in a hearing-impaired child: a case study

The present paper reports a case study of a hearing-impaired girl who made persistent first and second person pronoun errors for about eight months. Comprehension and production of first and second person pronouns were systematically examined from 28 months to 39 months of age to evaluate two hypotheses concerning pronominal errors: (a) that they are due to semantic confusion, or (b) that they result from temporary adoption of addressees perspective. It was expected that her reduced ability to benefit from overhead conversations due to hearing loss as well as her spoken language learning environment would promote semantic confusion such that a pronoun is a type of name. Consistent with our expectation, the results revealed that pronominal errors she made were due to semantic confusion: me/my referred to her mother and you referred to herself.

The Effect of Input on Children’s Cross-Categorical Use of Polysemous Noun-Verb Pairs

Using an observational task followed by an experimental task with an Intermodal Preferential Looking Paradigm, we examined the effect of input on children’s acquisition of class extension rules by investigating the relationship between the amount of polysemous noun-verb pairs in French-speaking 2-year-olds’ input and both their spontaneous production of these words and their comprehension of novel instances of these words. Study 1 demonstrated that the number of words children used cross-categorically was related to the number of words their mothers used cross-categorically. Children also used object-denoting words cross-categorically more often than nonobject- and action-denoting words. Study 2 demonstrated that only children whose mothers frequently used noun-verb pairs cross-categorically were able to understand the cross-categorical use of the novel object-denoting words in the experimental task. This suggests that semantic and distributional cues associated with object-denoting noun-verb pairs in the input play an important role in children’s acquisition of class extension rules.