Chapter published in:
Sources of Variation in First Language Acquisition: Languages, contexts, and learnersEdited by Maya Hickmann †, Edy Veneziano and Harriet Jisa
[Trends in Language Acquisition Research 22] 2018
► pp. 1–24
IntroductionWhat can variation tell us about first language acquisition?
Maya Hickmann | Laboratoire Structures Formelles du Langage, CNRS & Université Paris 8
Edy Veneziano | Laboratoire Modèles, Dynamique, Corpus & Laboratoire de Psychopathologie et Processus de Santé, Université Paris Descartes & CNRS
Harriet Jisa | Laboratoire Dynamique du Langage, Université Lyon 2 & CNRS
After years of research focusing on universal regularities in child language, the study of variation has enriched our understanding of language development. Variation stems from exogenous and endogenous factors that can all influence the development of communicative capacities. This volume focuses on three main sources of variation considered from a large multimodal perspective that includes speech, gesture, and signs. First, research suggests that development partly varies with linguistic and/or cultural environments. A second source of variation stems from the input to which children are exposed across contexts. Finally, learners themselves differ along many dimensions, such as cognitive maturity, exposure to language(s), relative reliance on the visuo-gestural modality, and language impairments. The discussion highlights the need for more research on inter- and intra-individual variation within comparative perspectives allying complementary methodologies.
Keywords: exogenous/endogenous factors, input, discourse type, language impairment, linguistic and cultural environment, inter/intraindividual variation, morphosyntax, semantics
Article outline
- 1.Why variation in language acquisition?
- 2.Factors and types of variation
- 2.1Exogenous and endogenous factors
- 2.2Inter- and intra-individual variation
- 2.3Developmental periods
- 2.4Multimodality
- 3.The organization of this volume
- 3.1Universals and cross-linguistic variation in acquisition
- Phonology
- Nouns and verbs: Prosody, morphosyntax, and semantics
- Syntax and semantics of motion expression
- Speech and co-verbal gesture
- 3.2Variation in input and in contexts during acquisition
- Common ground
- Input properties
- Discourse types and registers
- Input-output relationships
- 3.3Variation in types of acquisition and types of learners
- L1, 2L1 and L2 acquisition
- Speech, gesture and sign
- Language impairments
- 3.1Universals and cross-linguistic variation in acquisition
- 4.Concluding remarks and future perspectives
-
Acknowledgements -
Note -
References
Published online: 22 February 2018
https://doi.org/10.1075/tilar.22.01hic
https://doi.org/10.1075/tilar.22.01hic
References
References
Allen S. E. M., Özyürek, A., Kita, S., Brown, A., Furman, R. & Ishizuka, T.
Alibali, M. W. & Goldin-Meadow, S.
Antinoro Pizzuto, E., Rossini, P., Sallandre, M. -A. & Wilkinson, E.
2008 Deixis, anaphora and Highly Iconic Structures: Cross-linguistic evidence on American (ASL), French (LSF) and Italian (LIS) Signed Languages. In Sign Languages: Spinning and Unraveling the Past, Present and Future [Proceedings of TISLR 9], R.M. de Quadros (ed.), 475–495. Florianapolis, Brazil: Editora Arara Azul.
Baillargeon, R.
Bassano, D., Maillochon, I., Korecky-Kröll, K., van Dijk, M., Laaha, S., Dressler, W. U. & van Geert, P.
Bates, E., Benigni, L., Bretherton, I., Camaioni, L. & Volterra, V.
Behrens, H.
Berman, R.
Berman, R. & Slobin, D. I.
Bowerman, M. & Choi, S.
Bowerman, M. & Levinson, S.
Braine, M.
Brusini, P., Dehaene-Lambertz, G., Dutat, M., Goffinet, F. & Christophe, A.
Capirci, O., Iverson, J. M., Pizzuto, E. & Volterra, V.
Carlucci, L. & Case J.
Choi, S. & Hattrup, K.
Clark, E. V.
Cuxac, C.
Edelman, S. & Waterfall, H.
Engemann Evans, N. & Levinson, S. C.
Engemann, H., Hendriks, H., Hickmann, M., Soroli, E. & Vincent, C.
Freudenthal, D., Pine, J., Aguado-Orea, J. & Gobet, F.
Friederici, A. D., Friedrich, M. & Christophe, A.
Friederici, A. D. & Thierry, G.
Gennari, S. P., Sloman, S., Malt, B. & Fitch, T.
Gentner, D. & Goldin-Meadow, S.
Goldin-Meadow, S.
Golinkoff, R. M., Ma, W., Song, L. & Hirsh-Pasek, K.
Gullberg M. & de Bot, K.
Hickmann, M., Hendriks, H. & Champaud, C.
2009 Typological constraints on motion in French and English child language. In Crosslinguistic Approaches to the Psychology of Language: Research in the Tradition of Dan Isaac Slobin, J. Guo, E. Lieven, N. Budwig, S. Ervin-Tripp, K. Nakamura & S. Ozcaliskan (eds), 209–224. New York NY: Taylor & Francis.
Hickmann, M., Tarrane, P. & Bonnet, P.
Jisa, H.
Kail, M.
Kail, M., Kihlstedt, M. & Bonnet, P.
Kita, S. & Özyürek A.
Landau, B. & Jackendoff, R.
Landau, B. & Lakusta, L.
Levinson, S. C.
Lieven, E. V.
MacWhinney, B.
MacWhinney, B. & Bates, E.
Mandler J. M.
Marcus, G., Pinker, S., Ullman, M., Hollander, M., Rosen, J. & Fei Xu, F.
Mazur-Palandre, A., Fayol, M. & Jisa, H.
Miller, W. & Ervin, S.
Munnich, E. & Landau, B.
Nelson, K.
Nicoladis, E., Mayberry, R. I. & Genesee, F.
Özçalışkan, Ş. & Goldin-Meadow, S.
Özyürek, A., Kita, S., Allen, S., Furman, R. & Brown, A.
Özyürek, A., Kita S., Allen, S., Furman, R., Brown, A. & Ishizuka, T.
Papafragou, A., Massey, C. & Gleitman, L.
Papafragou, A., Hulbert, J. & Trueswell, J.
Pearl, L.
Perniss, P. & Özyürek, A.
Pine, K. J., Bird, H. & Kirk, E.
Plunkett, K. & Marchman, V.
Serratrice, L. & Allen, S. E. M.
Shi, R.
Siegler, R.
Slobin, D. I.
Slobin, D. I., Hoiting, N., Kuntze, K., Lindert, R., Weinberg, A., Pyers, J., Anthony, M., Biederman, Y. & Thumann, H.
Snow, C. E., Lawrence, J. F. & White, C.
Spelke, E. S., Breinlinger, K., Macomber, J. & Jacobson, K.
Strömqvist, S. & Verhoeven, L.
Talmy, L.
van Dijk, M. & van Geert, P.
2013 Exploring patterns of adaptation in child-directed speech during the process of early grammaticalization in child language. In Grammaticalization and First Language Acquisition: Crosslinguistic Perspectives [Benjamins Current Topics 50], D. Bassano & M. Hickmann (eds), 61–80. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 

van Geert, P.
2010 Dynamic systems methods in the study of language acquisition: Modeling and the search for trends, transitions and fluctuations. In Language Acquisition across Linguistic and Cognitive Systems [
Language Acquisition and Language Disorders 52], M. Kail & M. Hickmann (eds), 1–17. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 

Veneziano, E.
2016 The development of narrative discourse in French by 5 to 10 years old children: Some insights from a conversational interaction method. In Written and Spoken Language Development across the Lifespan: Essays in Honour of Liliana Tolchinsky [Literacy Studies Series], J. Perera, M. Aparici, E. Rosado & N. Salas (eds), 141–160. Heidelberg: Springer. 

In press. Learning conversational skills and learning from conversation. In Handbook of Communication Disorders: Theoretical, Empirical, and Applied Linguistic Perspectives, A. Bar-On & D. Ravid eds Berlin De Gruyter Mouton
Veneziano, E. & Hudelot, C.