Child Phonology as a Dynamic System.

This study investigates the role of articulation, phonological systematicity and individual boldness in attempting challenging targets in phonological development. In particular, it examines the interaction of these factors and their link with variability. The purpose of the analysis is to provide an answer to the question whether child phonology could be better understood by adopting Dynamic Systems Theory, as it has been done in other natural sciences. Three longitudinal case studies of children acquiring English are presented. The results suggest that articulation, variability and individual differences in children’s strategies of selecting words to attempt play an important part in the emergence of the phonological system. The evidence provided supports the view that the nature of the interaction between the above factors and the developing phonological systematicity and accuracy might the same as has been observed in other dynamic systems in the natural world. It is argued that further research in this direction, involving computer modeling, should be pursued as a promising direction in child phonology research.