Identifying formulas in first language acquisition
- 1 February 1993
- journal article
- review article
- Published by Cambridge University Press (CUP) in Journal of Child Language
- Vol. 20 (1) , 27-41
- https://doi.org/10.1017/s0305000900009107
Abstract
With the increase in interest in formulas, or apparently non-productive utterances in children's speech, a range of definitions has emerged and sometimes conflicting criteria have been proposed for their identification. These definitions of formulas are compared, and the criteria of Brown (1973), Wong Fillmore (1976), Peters (1983) and Plunkett (1990) for the recognition of formulas are reviewed. A preference rule System is proposed, which distinguishes necessary, typical and graded conditions for the recognition of formulas. Using these conditions, some of the formulas found in the data of one child acquiring Irish between 1;4 and 2;1 are examined. Issues such as length of units, frequency of occurrence and appropriateness of use are discussed. The methods developed in this study could be used to assess the importance of formulas in the language acquisition of other children.Keywords
This publication has 11 references indexed in Scilit:
- Referential style at thirteen months: why age-defined cross-sectional measures are inappropriate for the study of strategy differences in early language developmentJournal of Child Language, 1990
- Individual differences at 20 months: analytic and holistic strategies in language acquisitionJournal of Child Language, 1983
- Individual differences in language development: Implications for development and language.Developmental Psychology, 1981
- Item-learning and system-learningJournal of Psycholinguistic Research, 1981
- ON ROUTINES AND PATTERNS IN LANGUAGE ACQUISITION AND PERFORMANCE1Language Learning, 1978
- Structure and Variation in Child LanguageMonographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 1975
- PREFABRICATED PATTERNS AND THE EMERGENCE OF STRUCTURE IN SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION1Language Learning, 1974
- Performing without competenceJournal of Child Language, 1974
- A First LanguagePublished by Harvard University Press ,1973
- Structure and Strategy in Learning to TalkMonographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 1973