Arciuli Joanne, Torkildsen Janne von Koss
Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Sydney Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Front Psychol. 2012 Aug 31;3:324. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00324. eCollection 2012.
Mastery of language can be a struggle for some children. Amongst those that succeed in achieving this feat there is variability in proficiency. Cognitive scientists remain intrigued by this variation. A now substantial body of research suggests that language acquisition is underpinned by a child's capacity for statistical learning (SL). Moreover, a growing body of research has demonstrated that variability in SL is associated with variability in language proficiency. Yet, there is a striking lack of longitudinal data. To date, there has been no comprehensive investigation of whether a capacity for SL in young children is, in fact, associated with language proficiency in subsequent years. Here we review key studies that have led to the need for this longitudinal research. Advancing the language acquisition debate via longitudinal research has the potential to transform our understanding of typical development as well as disorders such as autism, specific language impairment, and dyslexia.
对于一些孩子来说，掌握语言可能是一项难事。在那些成功实现这一壮举的孩子中，语言熟练程度存在差异。认知科学家仍然对这种差异很感兴趣。现在大量的研究表明，语言习得是由儿童的统计学习（SL）能力支撑的。此外，越来越多的研究表明，SL的差异与语言熟练程度的差异有关。然而，纵向数据明显缺乏。迄今为止，尚未对幼儿的SL能力是否实际上与随后几年的语言熟练程度相关进行全面调查。在这里，我们回顾了导致需要进行这项纵向研究的关键研究。通过纵向研究推进语言习得辩论有可能改变我们对典型发育以及自闭症、特定语言障碍和诵读困难等疾病的理解。
