The Development of Causal Structure without a Language Model. Issue 3 (3rd July 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Rissman, Lilia; Goldin-Meadow, Susan
• Is Part Of: Language learning and development. Volume 13:Issue 3(2017)
• Page Start: 286
• Page End: 299
• Publication Date: 2017-07-03
• Subjects: Language acquisition -- Research -- Periodicals; Children -- Language -- Periodicals; 401.9305
• DOI: 10.1080/15475441.2016.1254633
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1547-5441

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Across a diverse range of languages, children proceed through similar stages in their production of causal language: their initial verbs lack internal causal structure, followed by a period during which they produce causative overgeneralizations, indicating knowledge of a productive causative rule. We asked in this study whether a child not exposed to structured linguistic input could create linguistic devices for encoding causation and, if so, whether the emergence of this causal language would follow a trajectory similar to the one observed for children learning language from linguistic input. We show that the child in our study did develop causation-encoding morphology, but only after initially using verbs that lacked internal causal structure. These results suggest that the ability to encode causation linguistically can emerge in the absence of a language model, and that exposure to linguistic input is not the only factor guiding children from one stage to the next in their production of causal language.