Modeling syntactic acquisition

Abstract

Abstract Informative computational modeling can be an invaluable tool for understanding syntactic acquisition. In this chapter, I describe how modeling can be used to both formalize specific proposals about syntactic acquisition and empirically evaluate those proposals. I then review several approaches to a key aspect of a model’s inference process: how the modeled learner updates the underlying representations, based on the data encountered. I survey several syntactic acquisition models (both parametric and non-parametric), highlighting the importance of the modeled learner’s assumptions in each case, and conclude with exciting future possibilities in syntactic acquisition modeling.

Topics & Concepts