An ecological theory of language acquisition

An ecological approach to early language acquisition is presented in this article. The general view is that the ability of language communication must have arisen as an evolutionary adaptation to the representational needs of Homo sapiens and that about the same process is observed in language acqui...

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Main Authors: Francisco Lacerda, Ulla Sundberg
Format: Article
Language:Portuguese
Published: Universidade do Porto 2006-01-01
Series:Linguística
Subjects:
Online Access:http://ler.letras.up.pt/uploads/ficheiros/4499.pdf
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author Francisco Lacerda
Ulla Sundberg
author_facet Francisco Lacerda
Ulla Sundberg
author_sort Francisco Lacerda
collection DOAJ
description An ecological approach to early language acquisition is presented in this article. The general view is that the ability of language communication must have arisen as an evolutionary adaptation to the representational needs of Homo sapiens and that about the same process is observed in language acquisition, although under different ecological settings. It is argued that the basic principles of human language communication are observed even in non-human species and that it is possible to account for the emergence of an initial linguistic referential function on the basis of general-purpose perceptual, production and memory mechanisms, if there language learner interacts with the ecological environment. A simple computational model of how early language learning may be initiated in today’s human infants is proposed.
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spelling doaj.art-cbd4fdc705944f77a78bad0c988929672022-12-22T02:47:04ZporUniversidade do PortoLinguística1646-61952006-01-011153106An ecological theory of language acquisitionFrancisco LacerdaUlla SundbergAn ecological approach to early language acquisition is presented in this article. The general view is that the ability of language communication must have arisen as an evolutionary adaptation to the representational needs of Homo sapiens and that about the same process is observed in language acquisition, although under different ecological settings. It is argued that the basic principles of human language communication are observed even in non-human species and that it is possible to account for the emergence of an initial linguistic referential function on the basis of general-purpose perceptual, production and memory mechanisms, if there language learner interacts with the ecological environment. A simple computational model of how early language learning may be initiated in today’s human infants is proposed.http://ler.letras.up.pt/uploads/ficheiros/4499.pdfInfancyEarly language acquisitionBabblingInfant-Directed Speech
spellingShingle Francisco Lacerda
Ulla Sundberg
An ecological theory of language acquisition
Linguística
Infancy
Early language acquisition
Babbling
Infant-Directed Speech
title An ecological theory of language acquisition
title_full An ecological theory of language acquisition
title_fullStr An ecological theory of language acquisition
title_full_unstemmed An ecological theory of language acquisition
title_short An ecological theory of language acquisition
title_sort ecological theory of language acquisition
topic Infancy
Early language acquisition
Babbling
Infant-Directed Speech
url http://ler.letras.up.pt/uploads/ficheiros/4499.pdf
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