Learnability and Linguistic Theory

Learnability and Linguistic Theory
Author: R.J. Matthews
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 224
Release: 1989-11-30
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 9780792305583
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The impetus for this volume developed from the 1982 University of Western Ontario Learnability Workshop, which was organized by the editors and sponsored by that University's Department of Philosophy and the Centre for Cognitive Science. The volume e~plores the import of learnability theory for contemporary linguistic theory, focusing on foundational learning-theoretic issues associated with the parametrized Government-Binding (G-B) framework. Written by prominent re searchers in the field, all but two of the eight contributions are pre viously unpublished. The editor's introduction provides an overview that interrelates the separate papers and elucidates the foundational issues addressed by the volume. Osherson, Stob, and Weinstein's "Learning Theory and Natural Language" first appeared in Cognition (1984); Matthews's "The Plausi bility of Rationalism" was published in the Journal of Philosophy (1984). The editors would like to thank the publishers for permission to reprint these papers. Mr. Marin Marinov assisted with the preparation of the indices for the volume. VB ROBERT 1. MATTHEWS INTRODUCTION: LEARNABILITY AND LINGUISTIC THEORY 1. INTRODUCTION Formal learning theory, as the name suggests, studies the learnability of different classes of formal objects (languages, grammars, theories, etc.) under different formal models of learning. The specification of such a model, which specifies (a) a learning environment, (b) a learn ing strategy, and (c) a criterion for successful learning, determines (d) a class of formal objects, namely, the class that can be acquired to the level of the specified success criterion by a learner implementing the specified strategy in the specified enviroment.

Learnability and Linguistic Theory

Learnability and Linguistic Theory
Author: R.J. Matthews
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 221
Release: 2012-12-06
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 9400909551
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The impetus for this volume developed from the 1982 University of Western Ontario Learnability Workshop, which was organized by the editors and sponsored by that University's Department of Philosophy and the Centre for Cognitive Science. The volume e~plores the import of learnability theory for contemporary linguistic theory, focusing on foundational learning-theoretic issues associated with the parametrized Government-Binding (G-B) framework. Written by prominent re searchers in the field, all but two of the eight contributions are pre viously unpublished. The editor's introduction provides an overview that interrelates the separate papers and elucidates the foundational issues addressed by the volume. Osherson, Stob, and Weinstein's "Learning Theory and Natural Language" first appeared in Cognition (1984); Matthews's "The Plausi bility of Rationalism" was published in the Journal of Philosophy (1984). The editors would like to thank the publishers for permission to reprint these papers. Mr. Marin Marinov assisted with the preparation of the indices for the volume. VB ROBERT 1. MATTHEWS INTRODUCTION: LEARNABILITY AND LINGUISTIC THEORY 1. INTRODUCTION Formal learning theory, as the name suggests, studies the learnability of different classes of formal objects (languages, grammars, theories, etc.) under different formal models of learning. The specification of such a model, which specifies (a) a learning environment, (b) a learn ing strategy, and (c) a criterion for successful learning, determines (d) a class of formal objects, namely, the class that can be acquired to the level of the specified success criterion by a learner implementing the specified strategy in the specified enviroment.

Empiricism and Language Learnability

Empiricism and Language Learnability
Author: Nick Chater
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Total Pages: 269
Release: 2015-07-09
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 0191053589
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This interdisciplinary new work explores one of the central theoretical problems in linguistics: learnability. The authors, from different backgrounds—-linguistics, philosophy, computer science, psychology and cognitive science-explore the idea that language acquisition proceeds through general purpose learning mechanisms, an approach that is broadly empiricist both methodologically and psychologically. For many years, the empiricist approach has been taken to be unfeasible on practical and theoretical grounds. In the book, the authors present a variety of precisely specified mathematical and computational results that show that empiricist approaches can form a viable solution to the problem of language acquisition. It assumes limited technical background and explains the fundamental principles of probability, grammatical description and learning theory in an accessible and non-technical way. Different chapters address the problem of language acquisition using different assumptions: looking at the methodology of linguistic analysis using simplicity based criteria, using computational experiments on real corpora, using theoretical analysis using probabilistic learning theory, and looking at the computational problems involved in learning richly structured grammars. Written by four researchers in the full range of relevant fields: linguistics (John Goldsmith), psychology (Nick Chater), computer science (Alex Clark), and cognitive science (Amy Perfors), the book sheds light on the central problems of learnability and language, and traces their implications for key questions of theoretical linguistics and the study of language acquisition.

Learnability in Optimality Theory

Learnability in Optimality Theory
Author: Bruce Tesar
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 158
Release: 2000-05-08
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 9780262264884
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Highlighting the close relationship between linguistic explanation and learnability, Bruce Tesar and Paul Smolensky examine the implications of Optimality Theory (OT) for language learnability. Highlighting the close relationship between linguistic explanation and learnability, Bruce Tesar and Paul Smolensky examine the implications of Optimality Theory (OT) for language learnability. They show how the core principles of OT lead to the learning principle of constraint demotion, the basis for a family of algorithms that infer constraint rankings from linguistic forms. Of primary concern to the authors are the ambiguity of the data received by the learner and the resulting interdependence of the core grammar and the structural analysis of overt linguistic forms. The authors argue that iterative approaches to interdependencies, inspired by work in statistical learning theory, can be successfully adapted to address the interdependencies of language learning. Both OT and Constraint Demotion play critical roles in their adaptation. The authors support their findings both formally and through simulations. They also illustrate how their approach could be extended to other language learning issues, including subset relations and the learning of phonological underlying forms.

Learnability and the Lexicon

Learnability and the Lexicon
Author: Alan Juffs
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
Total Pages: 295
Release: 1996
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 9027224781
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This book provides a critical review of recent theories of semantics-syntax correspondences and makes new proposals for constraints on semantic structure relevant to syntax. Data from several languages are presented which suggest that semantic structure in root morphemes is subject to parametric variation which has effect across a variety of verb classes, including locatives, unaccusatives, and psych verbs.The implications for first and second language acquisition are discussed. In particular, it is suggested that different parametric settings may lead to a learnability problem if adult learners do not retain access to sensitivity to underlying semantic organization and morphological differences between languages provided by Universal Grammar.An experiment with Chinese-speaking learners of English is presented which shows that learners initially transfer L1 semantic organization to the L2, but are able to retreat from overgeneralisations and achieve native-like grammars in this area.Suggestions for further research in this rapidly developing area of theory and acquisition research are also made.

Syntactic Theory and First Language Acquisition

Syntactic Theory and First Language Acquisition
Author: (Vol.1)Barbara Lust
Publisher: Psychology Press
Total Pages: 404
Release: 2018-10-24
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1317728831
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Universal Grammar (UG) is a theory of both the fundamental principles for all possible languages and the language faculty in the "initial state" of the human organism. These two volumes approach the study of UG by joint, tightly linked studies of both linguistic theory and human competence for language acquisition. In particular, the volumes collect comparable studies across a number of different languages, carefully analyzed by a wide range of international scholars. The issues surrounding cross-linguistic variation in "Heads, Projections, and Learnability" (Volume 1) and in "Binding, Dependencies, and Learnability" (Volume 2) are arguably the most fundamental in UG. How can principles of grammar be learned by general learning theory? What is biologically programmed in the human species in order to guarantee their learnability? What is the true linguistic representation for these areas of language knowledge? What universals exist across languages? The two volumes summarize the most critical current proposals in each area, and offer both theoretical and empirical evidence bearing on them. Research on first language acquisition and formal learnability theory is placed at the center of debates relative to linguistic theory in each area. The convergence of research across several different disciplines -- linguistics, developmental psychology, and computer science -- represented in these volumes provides a paradigm example of cognitive science.

Language Acquisition and Learnability

Language Acquisition and Learnability
Author: Stefano Bertolo
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 256
Release: 2001-05-17
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 9780521641494
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Language Acquisition and Learnability is an accessible introduction to learnability theory and its interactions with linguistic theories. Working within the Principles and Parameters framework, the book surveys general concepts from formal learning theory and complexity theory, together with important findings from developmental psycholinguistics, historical linguistics and language processing. Fully integrated, and complete with a large number of exercises to test readers on their understanding of the material, this book will become essential reading for students and researchers in linguistic theory.

Interlanguage and Learnability

Interlanguage and Learnability
Author: Virginia Yip
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
Total Pages: 264
Release: 1995-01-01
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 9027224773
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This book investigates a set of structures characteristic of Chinese speakers' English interlanguage (CIL) in the light of grammatical theory and principles of learnability. As a study of CIL grammar, it illuminates both the theory of interlanguage syntax in general and some specific problems in the acquisition of English by Chinese L1 learners. A set of interrelated structures are investigated, including topicalization, passive, ergative, “tough movement” and existential constructions. The interlanguage is approached through the comparative syntax of the relevant L1 and L2 constructions, combining insights from Chomskyan Universal Grammar and typological research. CIL proves to be permeable to Chinese typological influence and bears topic-prominent characteristics, while showing effects of language universals. A parallel theme of the book is the question of learnability in the context of second language acquisition. The Subset and Uniqueness Principles are adapted to the L2 context so as to account for learning difficulty as well as successful acquisition. Under-generation and over-generation of the interlanguage and target constructions give rise to learnability problems which are formulated in terms of set relations at the level of individual constructions. The Uniqueness Principle is invoked to motivate preemption of overgenerated forms. The interaction of syntax and semantics plays a crucial role in the formulation and resolution of these learnability problems. General conceptual issues raised by the Subset and Uniqueness Principles are also discussed.

Language Learnability and L2 Phonology

Language Learnability and L2 Phonology
Author: J. Archibald
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 196
Release: 2012-12-06
Genre: Education
ISBN: 9401120560
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In this book Archibald describes two studies conducted within a parametric framework in the area of second language acquisition. The studies are designed to investigate the acquisition of English stress patterns (via both production and perception tasks) by adult speakers of Polish and Hungarian. Archibald argues that interlanguage grammars can be understood as a mix of L1 transfer and the effects of Universal Grammar. Metrical parameters related to such things as quantity--sensitivity, extrametricality, and word--tree dominance determine the structure of the interlanguage. The author reports that the subjects are remarkably successful at acquiring English stress and do not appear to violate proposed universals of metrical phonology. This book is one of the few attempts to investigate the acquisition of L2 phonology within a UG framework. Empirical support is provided for the parametric model to an extent uncommon in most syntactic studies.

Learnability and Cognition, new edition

Learnability and Cognition, new edition
Author: Steven Pinker
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 509
Release: 2013-05-24
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 0262314282
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A classic book about language acquisition and conceptual structure, with a new preface by the author, "The Secret Life of Verbs." Before Steven Pinker wrote bestsellers on language and human nature, he wrote several technical monographs on language acquisition that have become classics in cognitive science. Learnability and Cognition, first published in 1989, brought together two big topics: how do children learn their mother tongue, and how does the mind represent basic categories of meaning such as space, time, causality, agency, and goals? The stage for this synthesis was set by the fact that when children learn a language, they come to make surprisingly subtle distinctions: pour water into the glass and fill the glass with water sound natural, but pour the glass with water and fill water into the glass sound odd. How can this happen, given that children are not reliably corrected for uttering odd sentences, and they don't just parrot back the correct ones they hear from their parents? Pinker resolves this paradox with a theory of how children acquire the meaning and uses of verbs, and explores that theory's implications for language, thought, and the relationship between them. As Pinker writes in a new preface, "The Secret Life of Verbs," the phenomena and ideas he explored in this book inspired his 2007 bestseller The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature. These technical discussions, he notes, provide insight not just into language acquisition but into literary metaphor, scientific understanding, political discourse, and even the conceptions of sexuality that go into obscenity.