When babies are really young, they like to copy what their parents say. But at some point, they start becoming “creators”. So when does the change happen?
According to a new study by scientists from the University of Chicago in the US, English-speaking children start making their own sentences at about 2.5 years old. To do this, kids need to first understand the rules of the language. For English, one important rule is that determiners(限定词), like “a” and “the”, go in front of nouns(名词).
Every four months, the scientists recorded 64 English-speaking children talking with their parents. The scientists found that at around 30 months later, kids started using both “a” and “the” in front of the same noun, for example, “dog”. This showed that they understood the determiner-noun language pattern(模式). What’s more, they were using the pattern to create more expressions their parents had never said.
But the recording cannot cover everything the kids hear and say each day. So the scientists developed an AI model to double check their findings. Like a human child, the model could find language patterns in the recordings and predict the words to come. “For the most part, it does what the kids do,” said Susan Goldin-Meadow, one of the scientists. The team then wanted to see when the model produced its first new determiner-noun phrase. The result was the same as the study on kids.
The findings can further scientists’ understanding of language learning. They can also help teach kids with special needs, such as those learning sign language.
回答下面5个问题,1~4小题每题答案不超过5个词。
1. At what age do English-speaking children start making their own sentences?

2. How often did the scientists record the 64 English-speaking children?

3. What could the AI model do besides(除……之外) finding language patterns?

4. When did the AI model produce its first new determiner-noun phrase?

5. What do you think of the findings? And why?