Target selection in Error Selective Learning
article (pdf) | abstract | materials and results | contact info
Article (pdf)
Michael Becker (to appear) Target selection in Error Selective Learning. Brill's Annual of Afroasiatic Languages and Linguistics.
Abstract
SR (aka ˈʃaχaʁ̞ , Adam & Bat-El 2007a,b, 2009, 2010) shows a typical acquisition pattern of first avoiding marked structures, then repairing them, then producing them faithfully. I propose a method for diagnosing and quantifying avoidance, and then analyze the avoidance using the null parse approach. I offer a computationally implemented analysis of SR's acquisition path in terms of Error Selective Learning (Tessier 2007, 2008, 2009; Becker & Tessier 2011), modeling the avoidance of marked structure as selection of the null parse. The model predicts a realistic acquisition path using a persistent M > F > MParse bias and the relativization of MParse to markedness constraints.
Materials and results
These files may be used freely; please acknowledge if used in publication.Syllable margin simulation: script.
R script (for the analysis, charts, and everything else)