Connectionist Models: Implications in Second Language Acquisition

Abstract

In language acquisition, ‘Emergentists’ claim that simple learning mechanisms, of the kind attested elsewhere in cognition, are sufficient to bring about the emergence of complex language representations (Gregg, 2003). Connectionist model is one of the models among others proposed by emergentists. This paper attempts to clarify the basic assumptions of this model, its advantages, and the criticisms leveled at it.