Learning Without Rules: PDP and a Resolution of the Adult Language Learning Paradox

Parallel distributed processing (PDP) or connectionist models are systems that “learn without rules,” thus providing an alternative to more traditional symbolic grammars. In this paper, a common problem in adult second language learning—the disparity between child and adult second language learning—here called the Adult Language Learning Paradox (ALL Paradox) is examined within this framework. The alternative analysis examined here offers some insight into this problem by taking into consideration the influence of neurological constraints on language learning and the parallel processing that is intrinsic to brain function.