Modeling grammar plasticity: The acquisition of sC- from English

Abstract

This research aimed to model the cognitive acquisition mechanisms of six sC-type consonantal clusters, namely /sp, st, sk, sl, sm, sn/, by L2 English learners using the gradual learning algorithm. The study focus was qualitative, so production data fed the model, which ranked six restrictions in mental grammar according to the domain level: no complex sC-onset, sonority sequencing generalization (SSG), minimum distance principle (MD-3), no epenthesis, no elision, and no insertion. Twenty female college students from three proficiency levels provided data throug a production task; then, these data were subjected to the algorithm. Specifically, the ranking of restrictions changes at the intermediate level towards target grammar. Although faithfulness constraints dominate markedness constraints, the latter were rearranged. In the last acquisition stage, the ssg restriction is no longer lax. These results confirm the plasticity of grammar during phonological acquisition. It is concluded that acquisition data contributes to a better description of the learner's variation.