Language acquisition in the multimodal parallel architecture: A commentary on Karadöller, Sümer, and Özyürek
Neil Cohn, Joost Schilperoord · First Language · 2025
Karadöller et al. give a comprehensive review of first language acquisition in the vocal and especially bodily modalities, but they do not explicitly model a multimodal framework. The multimodal parallel architecture provides such a theoretical model that can explain both unimodal and multimodal communication. We will discuss this model, how it distinguishes what is innate and what is acquired, and how modalities relate to each other in acquisition. This approach, therefore, offers a ‘grand unified model’ situating all modalities and their acquisition into a common architecture.