![]() ![]() Yet, it is striking that few have offered a comprehensive operational definition of complexity. Three questions are addressed: (a) What is “complexity”? (b) How does complexity trigger language learning? and (c) What aspects of linguistic complexity enhance phonological generalization in the clinical setting? It will be shown that parallel instances of complexity are also exemplified in other facets of child development.Ĭomplexity has been the focus of study in a broad range of disciplines, including but not limited to linguistics ( Dahl, 2004 Mohanan, 1992), cognitive and developmental psychology ( Casti, 1994 Thelen & Smith, 1994), education ( Gagné, 1977), philosophy ( Peirce, 1935), evolutionary biology ( Holland, 1995), and computer science ( Simon, 1981). The emphasis herein is on the phonological properties of language and their acquisition by children with functional phonological delays. ![]() This complements and extends prior discussions of the developmental and clinical factors that are associated with complexity ( Gierut, 2001 Gierut, Morrisette, Hughes, & Rowland, 1996). In this article, complexity is examined within this broader theoretical context to best illustrate its clinical utility. How then does a child use less-than-perfect input to guide language learning in extracting salient islands of information that are, in turn, revealing of linguistic structure? And importantly, for children with language delays, how can the input best be structured and presented in clinical treatment so as to facilitate the language learning process? These questions form the basis of learnability theory and its explicit focus on complexity as the trigger of language learning. Linguistic input is thus the primary evidence for language learning, whether one views language as innately guided ( Chomsky, 1999) or computationally derived ( Bates & MacWhinney, 1987).ĭespite its importance, the linguistic input that a child receives is often variable, degraded, or even lacking in cues that would help to uncover the structure and organization of the language being learned ( Gleitman & Newport, 2000). In order to achieve this, a child must attend to the available input of the surrounding speech community ( Morgan & Demuth, 1996). In a matter of just about 36 months, a child typically produces novel sentences that involve complicated constructions, words that reference abstract ideas or absent entities, and sound sequences that mark the distinctive contrasts of the native language. Children’s acquisition of language occurs rapidly, with relatively few errors and seemingly without effort. ![]()
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