LINGUIST List 18.1142
Sun Apr 15 2007
Diss: Lang Acquisition: Miller: 'Variable Input and the Acquisition...'
Editor for this issue: Hunter Lockwood
<hunterlinguistlist.org>
Directory
1. Karen
Miller,
Variable Input and the Acquisition of Plurality in Two Varieties of Spanish
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Message 1: Variable Input and the Acquisition of Plurality in Two Varieties of Spanish
Date: 13-Apr-2007
From: Karen Miller <klm26calvin.edu>
Subject: Variable Input and the Acquisition of Plurality in Two Varieties of Spanish
Institution: Michigan State University Program: Department of Linguistics and Germanic, Slavic, Asian and African Languages Dissertation Status: Completed Degree Date: 2007
Author: Karen Lynn Miller
Dissertation Title: Variable Input and the Acquisition of Plurality in Two Varieties of Spanish
Dissertation URL: http://www.calvin.edu/~klm26/
Linguistic Field(s): Language Acquisition
Subject Language(s): Spanish (spa)
Dissertation Director(s): Cristina Schmitt
Dissertation Abstract:
This dissertation presents a series of production and comprehension experiments designed to test how variable and ambiguous input affects the acquisition of grammatical morphology in children. Acquisition of plural morphology was examined in two varieties of Spanish, one where the plural morpheme is sometimes omitted in adult speech (due to syllable-final /s/ lenition - Chilean Spanish) and the other where the plural morpheme is consistently produced by adult speakers (Mexico City Spanish). The results show that clear differences exist in the way that children acquire grammatical morphology that is consistently produced in the input vs. grammatical morphology that is variable and ambiguous in the input. That is, in production, children exposed to consistent input produce the plural morpheme consistently in their own speech, while children exposed to variable input are variable in their own production. In comprehension, the results show that children exposed to consistent input associate the plural morpheme to an interpretation of 'more than one' by at least 4 years of age, while children exposed to variable and ambiguous input are delayed in their comprehension of plural morphology. Specifically, these children do not assign an interpretation of 'more than one' to the plural morpheme until approximately 7 years of age. The results of this dissertation strongly suggest that variable and ambiguous input delays the acquisition of grammatical morphology that is affected by that variability.
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