Roberts, J. (1997). Acquisition of variable rules: a study of (-t, d) deletion in preschool children. Journal of Child Language, 24, 351–372.
Presentation: Renee
Summary: Sally
The paper examined the pattern of word-final /t/-/d/ deletion in three- and four-year-olds. Three questions were asked in this study: whether children acquire the variable rule of (-t, -d) deletion and its internal and external constraints; whether the rules are a reflection of universal, natural processes affecting language acquisition; whether the children actually acquired these rules or they simply copied the individual surface forms of their patterns or other language models. Results showed that children did learn the variation of word-final /t/-/d/ deletion at this young age. And they made progress toward the acquisition of internal constraints on the rules—consistent distinction as adults has been made between grammatical forms of monomorpheme (eg. nest) and weak past tense (eg. missed). On the other hand, as for semi-weak verbs (eg. slept), children showed a different deletion pattern from their parents in that they seemed to characterize this type closer with monomorphemes, instead of weak past tense. From the above, the author concluded that children did learn the rules, not merely copying individual surface forms.
Jun 30, 2007
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