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DEVELOPMENTAL SEQUENCE: AN ALTERNATIVE APPROACH TO MORPHEME ORDER
Author(s) -
Wode H.,
Bahns J.,
Bedey H.,
Frank W.
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
language learning
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.882
H-Index - 103
eISSN - 1467-9922
pISSN - 0023-8333
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-1770.1978.tb00313.x
Subject(s) - morpheme , linguistics , psychology , plural , german , criticism , theoretical linguistics , language acquisition , cognitive psychology , mathematics education , art , philosophy , literature
This paper is a critical evaluation of the morpheme order approach and it is intended to complement recent criticism raised by Rosansky (1976a‐b) and Andersen (1977). They emphasize methodological shortcomings that derive from data collection procedures and from the application of statistics in studies by Dulay & Burt (1974a‐b). It seems that Rosansky and Andersen, though questioning the extrinsic methodology, do not challenge the notion of morpheme order itself as an adequate approach to describe language acquisition. We think the criticism should be extended to the notion itself, irrespective of the methodological problems. Data on the naturalistic, untutored acquistiion of the English plural inflections by four German children will be presented to illustrate that the morpheme order approach cannot capture numerous acquisitional regularities. Attention is drawn to the notion of developmental sequence as an alternative approach.