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Overgeneralization is a process in language acquisition where a child applies a grammatical rule to cases where it does not apply, particularly to irregular words that are exceptions to the rule. This type of error is significant because it provides clear evidence that the child is actively learning and internalizing the grammatical rules of their language, even if they have not yet mastered the exceptions.

Overgeneralization in Language Acquisition

A common example of overgeneralization in English-speaking children involves the rule for forming plurals by adding an 's' to a noun. While this rule applies to regular nouns like 'dog' (becoming 'dogs'), children often overgeneralize it to irregular nouns. This results in errors such as saying 'two gooses' instead of 'two geese' or 'three mouses' instead of 'three mice'.

Example of Overgeneralization in English Plurals

A developmental psychologist is observing a 3-year-old child's language patterns. Which of the following utterances from the child provides the clearest evidence that the child is learning grammatical rules but applying them incorrectly to exceptions?

How could grammatical errors actually be indicative of language acquisition in children?

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