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Children's Expressive and Receptive Knowledge of the English Regular Plural

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Title: Children's Expressive and Receptive Knowledge of the English Regular Plural
Language: English
Authors: Stephan C. Meylan (ORCID 0000-0003-1099-075X), Roger P. Levy, Elika Bergelson
Source: Developmental Psychology. 2026 62(5):986-1000.
Availability: American Psychological Association. Journals Department, 750 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20002. Tel: 800-374-2721; Tel: 202-336-5510; Fax: 202-336-5502; e-mail: order@apa.org; Web site: http://www.apa.org
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 15
Publication Date: 2026
Sponsoring Agency: National Institutes of Health (NIH) (DHHS)
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) (DHHS/NIH)
National Science Foundation (NSF), Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences (BCS)
Contract Number: F32HD097982
1F32HD097982
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Research
Descriptors: Child Language, Language Acquisition, Expressive Language, Receptive Language, Morphemes, Nouns, Knowledge Level, Eye Movements, Generalization, Syntax, Phonology, Grammar, Toddlers, Vocabulary Development, English
DOI: 10.1037/dev0001986
ISSN: 0012-1649
1939-0599
Abstract: We investigate how children form early grammatical generalizations using the test case of the English regular plural. While some previous studies demonstrate that children apply abstract grammatical rules to produce novel plurals before 24 months, other studies have revealed that children use plural forms inconsistently with familiar and novel nouns and demonstrate limited or variable receptive plural knowledge through 36 months. This is at odds with typical trajectories in language development, where receptive knowledge precedes expressive knowledge. However, previous studies tested receptive and expressive knowledge in different samples and differences in experimental materials across studies limit interpretability. In a cross-sectional design, across three studies, we tested one hundred twenty-eight 24- to 36-month-olds on two complementary experimental tasks: a receptive (eyetracking) task to evaluate children's understanding of plurals and an expressive (storybook) task to test their plural production. In the former, children heard sentences directing their gaze to an onscreen plural or singular target. In the latter, they heard a singular object labeled and a prompt eliciting their plural production. We manipulated both novelty (novel vs. familiar object words; e.g., "cats" vs. "wugs") and phonological form (/s/ vs. /z/ plurals; e.g., "cats" vs. "dogs"). We found strong, age-related evidence of expressive knowledge of the plural, but much more limited evidence of receptive knowledge. Performance on the expressive task only predicted performance on the receptive task that included additional grammatical cues (e.g., "there are two wugs" vs. "can you find the wugs?"). This work highlights the complexity of emerging grammatical generalizations in language acquisition and emphasizes the role of redundant grammatical cues in processing.
Abstractor: As Provided
Notes: https://osf.io/dqs9m
Entry Date: 2026
Accession Number: EJ1503379
Database: ERIC
FullText Text:
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  Data: Children's Expressive and Receptive Knowledge of the English Regular Plural
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  Data: English
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Stephan+C%2E+Meylan%22">Stephan C. Meylan</searchLink> (ORCID <externalLink term="https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1099-075X">0000-0003-1099-075X</externalLink>)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Roger+P%2E+Levy%22">Roger P. Levy</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Elika+Bergelson%22">Elika Bergelson</searchLink>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="SO" term="%22Developmental+Psychology%22"><i>Developmental Psychology</i></searchLink>. 2026 62(5):986-1000.
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  Data: American Psychological Association. Journals Department, 750 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20002. Tel: 800-374-2721; Tel: 202-336-5510; Fax: 202-336-5502; e-mail: order@apa.org; Web site: http://www.apa.org
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  Data: Y
– Name: Pages
  Label: Page Count
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  Data: 15
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  Label: Publication Date
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  Data: 2026
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  Data: National Institutes of Health (NIH) (DHHS)<br />Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) (DHHS/NIH)<br />National Science Foundation (NSF), Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences (BCS)
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Child+Language%22">Child Language</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Language+Acquisition%22">Language Acquisition</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Expressive+Language%22">Expressive Language</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Receptive+Language%22">Receptive Language</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Morphemes%22">Morphemes</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Nouns%22">Nouns</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Knowledge+Level%22">Knowledge Level</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Eye+Movements%22">Eye Movements</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Generalization%22">Generalization</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Syntax%22">Syntax</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Phonology%22">Phonology</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Grammar%22">Grammar</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Toddlers%22">Toddlers</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Vocabulary+Development%22">Vocabulary Development</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22English%22">English</searchLink>
– Name: DOI
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  Data: 10.1037/dev0001986
– Name: ISSN
  Label: ISSN
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  Data: 0012-1649<br />1939-0599
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
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  Data: We investigate how children form early grammatical generalizations using the test case of the English regular plural. While some previous studies demonstrate that children apply abstract grammatical rules to produce novel plurals before 24 months, other studies have revealed that children use plural forms inconsistently with familiar and novel nouns and demonstrate limited or variable receptive plural knowledge through 36 months. This is at odds with typical trajectories in language development, where receptive knowledge precedes expressive knowledge. However, previous studies tested receptive and expressive knowledge in different samples and differences in experimental materials across studies limit interpretability. In a cross-sectional design, across three studies, we tested one hundred twenty-eight 24- to 36-month-olds on two complementary experimental tasks: a receptive (eyetracking) task to evaluate children's understanding of plurals and an expressive (storybook) task to test their plural production. In the former, children heard sentences directing their gaze to an onscreen plural or singular target. In the latter, they heard a singular object labeled and a prompt eliciting their plural production. We manipulated both novelty (novel vs. familiar object words; e.g., "cats" vs. "wugs") and phonological form (/s/ vs. /z/ plurals; e.g., "cats" vs. "dogs"). We found strong, age-related evidence of expressive knowledge of the plural, but much more limited evidence of receptive knowledge. Performance on the expressive task only predicted performance on the receptive task that included additional grammatical cues (e.g., "there are two wugs" vs. "can you find the wugs?"). This work highlights the complexity of emerging grammatical generalizations in language acquisition and emphasizes the role of redundant grammatical cues in processing.
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  Data: As Provided
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  Data: https://osf.io/dqs9m
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  Data: 2026
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  Data: EJ1503379
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        Value: 10.1037/dev0001986
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      – Text: English
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        PageCount: 15
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      – SubjectFull: Child Language
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      – SubjectFull: Language Acquisition
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      – SubjectFull: Receptive Language
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      – SubjectFull: Vocabulary Development
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      – SubjectFull: English
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      – TitleFull: Children's Expressive and Receptive Knowledge of the English Regular Plural
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