Reading group on the learnability of syntax

Carlo Cecchetto (SFL) and Giorgio Magri (SFL)

Goals:

This reading group will discuss a broad range of studies on the learnability of syntax, including formal learnability results, computer simulations, and experimental findings from language acquisition. We are interested in questions such as the following: Is negative evidence necessary for syntax to be learnable by an algorithm or by a child? Is probabilistic or statistical information needed to allow learnability? What are the implications of formal learnability for the architecture of syntax? Can learnability discriminate among alternative approaches to the existence and the nature of syntactic parameters?

Practical information:

The seminar is expected to meet six times between November and January, on Tuesday afternoons from 14h30 to 16h30. All sessions will be accessible also via the internet at https://rendez-vous.renater.fr/learnabilityofsyntax (preferably using Chrome). The program used to connect over Internet allows live interaction. The seminar will be conducted in English.

Schedule: