Learn locally, act globally: Learning language from variation set cues. Onnis, L., Waterfall, H. R., & Edelman, S. Cognition, 109(3):423 - 430, 2008.
doi  abstract   bibtex   
Variation set structure - partial overlap of successive utterances in child-directed speech - has been shown to correlate with progress in children's acquisition of syntax. We demonstrate the benefits of variation set structure directly: in miniature artificial languages, arranging a certain proportion of utterances in a training corpus in variation sets facilitated word and phrase constituent learning in adults. Our findings have implications for understanding the mechanisms of L1 acquisition by children, and for the development of more efficient algorithms for automatic language acquisition, as well as better methods for L2 instruction.
@ARTICLE{Onnis2008,
  author = {Luca Onnis and Heidi R. Waterfall and Shimon Edelman},
  title = {Learn locally, act globally: Learning language from variation set
	cues},
  journal = {Cognition},
  year = {2008},
  volume = {109},
  pages = {423 - 430},
  number = {3},
  abstract = {Variation set structure - partial overlap of successive utterances
	in child-directed speech - has been shown to correlate with progress
	in children's acquisition of syntax. We demonstrate the benefits
	of variation set structure directly: in miniature artificial languages,
	arranging a certain proportion of utterances in a training corpus
	in variation sets facilitated word and phrase constituent learning
	in adults. Our findings have implications for understanding the mechanisms
	of L1 acquisition by children, and for the development of more efficient
	algorithms for automatic language acquisition, as well as better
	methods for L2 instruction.},
  doi = {10.1016/j.cognition.2008.10.004}
}

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