Work

A new view of language acquisition

Year: 2000

Type: article

Abstract: At the forefront of debates on language are new data demonstrating infants' early acquisition of information about their native language. The data show that infants perceptually "map" critical aspects of ambient language in the first year of life before they can speak. Statistical properties of speech are picked up through exposure to ambient language. Moreover, linguistic experience alters infants' perception of speech, warping perception in the service of language. Infants' strategies are unexpected and unpredicted by historical views. A new theoretical position has emerged, and six postulates of this position are described.

Source: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

DOI: 10.1073/pnas.97.22.11850

Author: Patricia K. Kuhl

Institution: University of Washington

Language: English

Topic: Language Development and Disorders

Subfield: Developmental and Educational Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Institutes of Health, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development

Awards: Development of Speech Perception and Brain Plasticity, G534867999, G9000021243