ABSTRACT
Although we cannot tamper with the circumstances under which children learn language, we can take advantage of the real-world variation that surrounds language-learning. We have looked thus far at children exposed to very different types of language models, including models in the manual modality. Children are remarkably open to learning all languages, even those processed by hand. Moreover, children learn many of the particulars of the language model to which they are exposed from the very start. However, there are places in the learning process where children appear to be asserting themselves—places where children override the input they receive, and thus provide clear evidence of the biases they themselves bring to language-learning.
