The competition model: the input, the context, and the brain

By Brian MacWhinney. 2001

242 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Introduction Language learning is a three-way interaction between the input, the learner, and the interactional context (Bloom, 1974). This three-way interaction provides a general framework for understanding first and second language acquisition (SLA), in both naturalistic and formal contexts. In order to elaborate this general framework, we need to model its three components: The input. We need to know how the linguistic input can be structured to maximize effective learning. What aspects of the phonology, syntax, semantics, and morphology of the input does the learner use to ‘crack the code’ of the new language? The learner. We need to understand exactly how the cognitive abilities of the learner shape the process and outcome of L2 instruction. The context. Traditionally, the classroom environment maintains a rather uniform structure in which interaction is controlled by the instructor. How does this framework affect learning and how can it be varied to improve the learning process? This paper will examine these three components within the framework of the Competition Model (MacWhinney, 1987; MacWhinney & Bates, 1989). To quantify the role of the input in L2 learning, the model relies on the concepts of cue reliability and availability. To characterize the cognitive abilities of the learner, the model relies on findings from cognitive neuroscience. To understand the role of the context, the model elaborates the concepts of environmental and social support. The Competition Model views both L1 and L2 learning as constructive, data-driven processes that rely not on universals of linguistic structure, but on universals of cognitive structure.

Subfields: Developmental and Educational Psychology, Language and Linguistics

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/e2fd525982d1311d509a130492b83ee8524b14da

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In Developmental and Educational Psychology

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Citations in the corpus

AT THE INTERFACE: DYNAMIC INTERACTIONS OF EXPLICIT AND IMPLICIT LANGUAGE KNOWLEDGE (2005, background): “…L1 cue strength hierarchy across to their L2, only gradually resetting the ordering after considerable L2 experience ~MacWhinney, 1987a!, if at all ~MacWhinney, 2001a!+ Under normal L1 circumstances, usage optimally tunes the language system to the input; under these circumstances of low salience…”
THE BOUNDS OF ADULT LANGUAGE ACQUISITION (2010, background): “The competition model (MacWhinney, 2001 ; MacWhinney & Bates, 1989 ; MacWhinney, Bates, & Kliegl, 1984 ) was explicitly formulated to deal with competition between multiple linguistic cues to interpretation.”
REFLECTIONS ON FREQUENCY EFFECTS IN LANGUAGE PROCESSING (2002, methodology): “The Competition Model (MacWhinney, 1992, 2001) has been applied to transfer from L1 just as it has to direct learning of L2, analyzing both processes in terms of cue reliability, cue cost, and form-function mappings.”
Acquisition by processing: A modular perspective on language development (2004, methodology): “Our discussion was based on several standard descriptions of the CM (Bates and MacWhinney, 1982, 1987, 1989; MacWhinney, 2001).”
The Development of Complexity, Accuracy, and Fluency in Second Language Performance: A Longitudinal Study (2017, result): “Both the HLM and the within-individual correlational results, which are contrary to the expectation of the cost of lexical retrieval, may support a model (e.g. MacWhinney 2001) where lexical retrieval occurs before the construction of the syntactic frame (rather than during formulation).”
Language Acquisition as Rational Contingency Learning (2006, background): “They are unreliable predictors of outcome, with contingency statistics such as ÁP falling far short of 1.0 (Bates and MacWhinney 1987; MacWhinney 1987, 2001a).”
LEARNED ATTENTION IN ADULT LANGUAGE ACQUISITION (2011, background): “The competition model (MacWhinney, Bates & Kliegl, 1984 ; MacWhinney & Bates, 1989 ; MacWhinney, 2001 ) was explicitly formulated to deal with competition between multiple linguistic cues to interpretation.”
Statistical Measures for Usage‐Based Linguistics (2015, background): “These factors are central to the Competition Model (MacWhinney, 1987, 1997, 2001) and to other models of construction learning as the rational learning of form-function contingencies (Ellis, 2006; Xu & Tennenbaum, 2007).”
Selective Attention and Transfer Phenomena in L2 Acquisition: Contingency, Cue Competition, Salience, Interference, Overshadowing, Blocking, and Perceptual Learning (2006, methodology): “MacWhinney (2001) reports the connectionist model of Johnson and MacWhinney that successfully simulates these results using an Elman recurrent network.”
TASK COMPLEXITY, FOCUS ON FORM, AND SECOND LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT (2009, methodology): “In fact, using the competition model as a framework (e.g., MacWhinney, 2001 ), he implied that the presence and magnitude of such interference will depend on the extent to which the two languages differ in their relevant cues.”
Agreement attraction in Spanish comprehension (2015, background): “These two properties make verb morphology the main cue for subject identification, which has given rise to the claim that morphological cues are more reliable than positional information in Spanish (Kail, 1989; MacWhinney, 2001).”
Usage‐Based Language: Investigating the Latent Structures That Underpin Acquisition (2013, background): “Language knowledge involves statistical knowledge, so humans learn more easily and process more fluently high frequency forms and “regular” patterns which are exemplified by many types and which have few competitors (e.g., MacWhinney, 2001).”