Latent error regimes in the learning of plural agreement in SFL

• Published in: Forma y función Vol. 37; no. 1
• Main Author: Pablo Ezequiel Marafioti
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universidad Nacional de Colombia 01-01-2024
• Subjects: dynamical systems; hidden markov model; nominal agreement; plural; second language
• ISSN: 0120-338X; 2256-5469
• DOI: 10.15446/fyf.v37n1.104617

The dynamics of three hidden learning regimes in the production of nominal number agreement are analyzed in a corpus of four italian learners of Spanish FL, in a longitudinal case study. Within the framework of complex systems theory, a Bayesian topic discovery model and a hidden Markov model were applied. The dynamics tended to remain in the regime associated with the «correct» attractor (or eventually return to it) with agreement instances: (1) with concrete, familiar and animated controller; (2) when facilitating learning strategies are applied; (3) with more frequent TYPES; (4) with epenthetic «e»; (5) with more than two members. Instead, it tended to move away from the «correct» attractor with: (1) long distance agreement; (2) instances with modifiers that were not definite articles; in particular at low levels of proficiency (A, B1). The simulation was close to the empirical data, but the emission probabilities were underestimated.