A Unified Model of Language Acquisition

This paper presents an extended formulation of the Competition Model. The extended model is designed to account for a larger range of phenomena in first and second language acquisition, including bilingualism. As in the classic version of the Competition Model, competition is at the core of a set of non-modular interacting forces. However, now the various inputs to competition are described in terms of six additional subcomponents: arenas, cues, chunking, storage, codes, and resonance. Learning is viewed as a resonant process that relies on storage, chunking, and support to acquire new mappings.