Abstract
Grammatical error detection and correction are often used to test explicit language knowledge. This study investigated effects of token frequency and error type in error detection, correction, and repetition, and performance on the three tasks were compared and related to models of metalinguistic awareness and development. Thirty Swedish-speaking 10-year-olds with typical language development participated in the study, which focused on four morphosyntactic errors: the infinitive instead of past tense for regular and irregular verbs, and the omission of the obligatory indefinite article in common and neuter gender noun phrases. Target verbs and nouns were of high or low frequency. Results showed significant effects of verb frequency in all tasks, and effects of noun gender for error detection, but not for correction and repetition. Children detected significantly more past-tense errors than they accurately corrected, but the opposite result was seen for noun phrase errors. The patterns of results both within and across tasks imply that implicit language knowledge affects performance, and that lexical frequency, even of familiar words, needs to be controlled when designing tasks for measuring grammatical knowledge. The particular challenge of the Swedish neuter noun phrase in language development and language processing needs to be further investigated.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1189-1220 |
| Journal | Applied Psycholinguistics |
| Volume | 39 |
| Issue number | 6 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2018 |
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Keywords
- child normal language
- lexicon and word learning
- metalinguistic ability
- morphosyntactic processing
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
- Language and Linguistics
- Linguistics and Language
- Psychology(all)
Cite this
Effects of frequency and morphosyntactic structure on error detection, correction, and repetition in Swedish-speaking children. / Hallin, Anna Eva; Reuterskiold, Christina.
In: Applied Psycholinguistics, Vol. 39, No. 6, 2018, p. 1189-1220.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Effects of frequency and morphosyntactic structure on error detection, correction, and repetition in Swedish-speaking children
AU - Hallin, Anna Eva
AU - Reuterskiold, Christina
PY - 2018
Y1 - 2018
N2 - Grammatical error detection and correction are often used to test explicit language knowledge. This study investigated effects of token frequency and error type in error detection, correction, and repetition, and performance on the three tasks were compared and related to models of metalinguistic awareness and development. Thirty Swedish-speaking 10-year-olds with typical language development participated in the study, which focused on four morphosyntactic errors: the infinitive instead of past tense for regular and irregular verbs, and the omission of the obligatory indefinite article in common and neuter gender noun phrases. Target verbs and nouns were of high or low frequency. Results showed significant effects of verb frequency in all tasks, and effects of noun gender for error detection, but not for correction and repetition. Children detected significantly more past-tense errors than they accurately corrected, but the opposite result was seen for noun phrase errors. The patterns of results both within and across tasks imply that implicit language knowledge affects performance, and that lexical frequency, even of familiar words, needs to be controlled when designing tasks for measuring grammatical knowledge. The particular challenge of the Swedish neuter noun phrase in language development and language processing needs to be further investigated.
AB - Grammatical error detection and correction are often used to test explicit language knowledge. This study investigated effects of token frequency and error type in error detection, correction, and repetition, and performance on the three tasks were compared and related to models of metalinguistic awareness and development. Thirty Swedish-speaking 10-year-olds with typical language development participated in the study, which focused on four morphosyntactic errors: the infinitive instead of past tense for regular and irregular verbs, and the omission of the obligatory indefinite article in common and neuter gender noun phrases. Target verbs and nouns were of high or low frequency. Results showed significant effects of verb frequency in all tasks, and effects of noun gender for error detection, but not for correction and repetition. Children detected significantly more past-tense errors than they accurately corrected, but the opposite result was seen for noun phrase errors. The patterns of results both within and across tasks imply that implicit language knowledge affects performance, and that lexical frequency, even of familiar words, needs to be controlled when designing tasks for measuring grammatical knowledge. The particular challenge of the Swedish neuter noun phrase in language development and language processing needs to be further investigated.
KW - child normal language
KW - lexicon and word learning
KW - metalinguistic ability
KW - morphosyntactic processing
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85053697809&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85053697809&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1017/S0142716418000280
DO - 10.1017/S0142716418000280
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85053697809
VL - 39
SP - 1189
EP - 1220
JO - Applied Psycholinguistics
JF - Applied Psycholinguistics
SN - 0142-7164
IS - 6
ER -