Quick learning of novel vowel-consonant conjunctions within the mature speech production system: A commentary on Dell et al. (2019)

This is a commentary on a review article by Dell et al. (2019), “Tuning the blueprint: how studies of implicit learning during speaking reveal the information processing components of the production system”, doi: 10.1080/23273798.2019.1613553. 

The authors describe limitations for what can be learned in the mature language production system. In particular, they demonstrate how adult speech slowly adapts to novel vowel-contingent phonotactic constraints. A connectionist framework is proposed for which variability in learning outcomes may be explained by the availability of hidden units as a function of early linguistic experience. Here, we enclose data from French-speaking adults in which rapid phonotactic constraint learning of vowel-consonant conjunctions could be observed. The data fit within their proposal for hidden units in a connectionist model, where hidden units can be variously accessible, and suggest that not only maturation but also linguistic knowledge may affect how language learning abilities evolve throughout life.