Usage-Based Linguistics

Usage-based linguists refer to language learning as entrenchment. It is influenced by both learner external factors and learner internal processes. The major external factor is frequency. Multiple exposures to a construction in context strengthen its cognitive representation. Other factors such as salience and transparency of meaning also influence entrenchment. A key learner internal process is association. When the same word occurs frequently with the same meaning, learners make symbolic associations. When words occur in regular patterns, they make syntagmatic associations. When common patterns occur with substitutes such as synonyms or antonyms, they make paradigmatic associations. When words occur in the same social situations, they make pragmatic associations. Another general learning process is categorization. When learners meet words which represent things which are physically or conceptually similar, they put them into groups. Analogy occurs when words are not perceptually but functionally similar. With sufficient experience of similar language patterns, learners abstract common features and schematize them to create linguistic prototypes. Usage-based linguistics explains a range of linguistic phenomena including why grammar- and communication-based courses are not effective, and why learners plateau before jumping to a higher proficiency curve.