ABSTRACT

The Discontinuity Model (DM) described in this article proposes that adults can learn part of L2 morphosyntax twice, in two different ways. The same item can be learned as the product of generation by a rule or as a modification of a template already stored in memory. These learning modalities, which are often seen as opposed in language theory, integrate and superpose in adult SLA. Learners resort to grammatical rules and statistical templates under different circumstances during language processing. Ontogenetically, while in L1 acquisition, the natural endowment for language constrains statistical learners’ capacity by narrowing the hypothesis space; in adult SLA, statistics can reopen the window of opportunity for grammar and drive adult learners to derive part of L2 morphosyntax. This article proposes a computational and psycholinguistic model of how this might occur. According to this model, skewness between transition probabilities (TP) represents the triggering factor in both L1 and L2 acquisition. As fluctuation in TP drives children to individuate the words in a speech stream, so skewness between TP drives adult learners to discover the grammatical features that are hidden in asymmetric chunks.

摘要

本文中描述的不连续性模型（DM）提出，成年人可以通过两种不同的方式两次学习L2形态语法的一部分。可以通过规则将相同的项目作为生成的产物，也可以将其作为已经存储在内存中的模板的修改来学习。这些在语言理论中通常被视为相反的学习方式，在成人SLA中是整合和叠加的。在语言处理过程中，学习者在不同情况下会使用语法规则和统计模板。从本体上讲，在L1语言习得中，语言的天赋会通过缩小假设空间来限制统计学习者的能力。在成人SLA中，统计信息可以重新打开语法的机会之窗，并促使成人学习者获得L2形态语法的一部分。本文提出了如何发生这种情况的计算和心理语言模型。根据此模型，过渡概率（TP）之间的偏斜度表示L1和L2采集中的触发因素。由于TP的波动促使儿童在语音流中个性化单词，因此TP之间的偏斜促使成年学习者发现隐藏在不对称块中的语法特征。