Overgeneralisation
A grammatical development error where children apply grammatical rules too broadly, producing forms like 'goed' and 'mouses'. Overgeneralisation shows active rule-learning.
Real World
When a child proudly tells their teacher 'I goed to the park', they are demonstrating the same productive rule-application that linguist Jean Berko Gleason captured in her famous 1958 Wug Test, where children added '-s' to nonsense words they had never heard before.
Exam Focus
Use overgeneralisation as evidence for nativist theory (Chomsky's LAD) — children couldn't imitate forms they've never heard adults say.
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