An advanced investigation of reconstruction effects in terms of the first language acquisition

• Project/Area Number: 26370497
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Linguistics
• Research Institution: Miyagi Gakuin Women's University
• Principal Investigator: Kiguchi Hirohisa 宮城学院女子大学, 一般教育部, 准教授 (40367454)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 高橋 将一 青山学院大学, 文学部, 准教授 (70547835)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 2016)
• Budget Amount: ¥3,900,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,000,000、Indirect Cost: ¥900,000); Fiscal Year 2016: ¥1,430,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,100,000、Indirect Cost: ¥330,000); Fiscal Year 2015: ¥1,300,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,000,000、Indirect Cost: ¥300,000); Fiscal Year 2014: ¥1,170,000 (Direct Cost: ¥900,000、Indirect Cost: ¥270,000)
• Keywords: 言語の生得性 / 国際研究者交流 / 第一言語獲得

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this research, we investigated whether English children can understand the constructions that involve reconstruction effects, in which the moved element is interprted at the launch site, as adults do, especially concentrating on clefts. We first theorized these types of sentences. Then, in order to see whether the children possess the grammar that we theorized, we executed a series of behavioral experiments. Our experimental results suggest that the children have the same kind of the grammar that adults use for interpreting the clefts that involve reconstruction effects. The results of our research, hence, could provide a piece of the evidence that children have already acquired the same kind of grammar that adults have in terms of reconstruction effects. It entails the existance of some sort of abstract level of grammar in child language that is beyond the surface word order or phrase structure.

Research Products

• [Int'l Joint Research] Macquarie University(Australia)
• [Int'l Joint Research] Macquarie university(オーストラリア)
• [Journal Article] A Lacuna in Adjunct Extraposition (2017)
  • Author(s): Takahashi, Shoichi and Akane Ohtaka
  • Journal Title: Proceedings of North East Linguistic Society 47 Volume: 印刷中
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] Cleft and reconstruction in English-speaking children's grammars (2016)
  • Author(s): R. Thornton, H. Kiguchi, E. D'Onofrio
  • Journal Title: Proceedings of the 40th annual Boston University Conference on Language Development
  • Peer Reviewed / Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] A Lacuna in Adjunct Extraposition (2016)
  • Author(s): Takahashi, Shoichi and Akane Ohtaka
  • Organizer: Proceedings of North East Linguistic Society 47
  • Place of Presentation: University of Massachusetts, Amherst
  • Year and Date: 2016-10-15
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] 生成文法の課題 - 人間の言語知識の解明に向けて (2016)
  • Author(s): 髙橋将一
  • Organizer: 『東京言語研究所開設50周年記念セミナー ことばの科学 - 将来への課題』
  • Place of Presentation: 東京言語研究所
  • Year and Date: 2016-09-04
  • Invited
• [Presentation] Cleft and reconstruction in English-speaking children's grammars (2015)
  • Author(s): R. Thornton, H. Kiguchi, E. D'Onofrio
  • Organizer: The 40th annual Boston University Conference on Language Development
  • Place of Presentation: Boston University
  • Year and Date: 2015-11-13
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] Clefts and Reconstruction in English-speaking Children’s Grammars (2015)
  • Author(s): Rothalind Thornron, Hirohisa Kiguchi and Elena D'onofrio
  • Organizer: The International Conference on Language Form and Function
  • Place of Presentation: 中国蘇州 蘇州大学
  • Year and Date: 2015-03-27 – 2015-03-29
• [Book] 生成文法の課題－人間の言語機能の解明に向けて. 『ことばの科学』（仮題） (2017)
  • Author(s): 髙橋将一
  • Publisher: 開拓社