Measuring Form and Function in Language Models

Hector Javier Vazquez Martinez; Charles Yang

Measuring Form and Function in Language Models

Hector Javier Vazquez Martinez, Charles Yang

Correct Metadata for

Use this form to create a GitHub issue with structured data describing the correction. You will need a GitHub account. Once you create that issue, the correction will be reviewed by a staff member.

⚠️ Mobile Users: Submitting this form to create a new issue will only work with github.com, not the GitHub Mobile app.

Important: The Anthology treat PDFs as authoritative. Please use this form only to correct data that is out of line with the PDF. See our corrections guidelines if you need to change the PDF.

Title Adjust the title. Retain tags such as <fixed-case>.

Authors Adjust author names and order to match the PDF.

Abstract Correct abstract if needed. Retain XML formatting tags such as <tex-math>. You may use ... for bold, ... for italic, ... for underline, <sc>...</sc> for small-caps, <tt>...<tt> for typewriter text, <url>...</url> for URLs, <a href=...> for hyperlinks, and <par/> for paragraph breaks.

Verification against PDF Ensure that the new title/authors match the snapshot below. (If there is no snapshot or it is too small, consult the PDF.)

Authors concatenated from the text boxes above:

ALL author names match the snapshot above—including middle initials, hyphens, and accents.

Abstract

We introduce quantitative metrics for child language acquisition to evaluate language models. Our focus is on the formal syntactic and functional discourse properties of determiners in English, which young children acquire early and accurately. We propose Contextual Alternative Choice (CAC), a new prompting method which provides targeted tests for both syntactic and discourse knowledge of language. The method enables direct comparison of language models against children, and more importantly, against statistical benchmarks independently established in empirical research. No current model trained on a comparable amount of data simultaneously meet both formal and functional benchmarks like human children, but some very large models do. We present our results as methodological and technical contributions, with specific emphasis on cognitive status of language models.

Anthology ID:: 2026.babylm-main.35
Volume:: Proceedings of the Second BabyLM Workshop
Month:: October
Year:: 2026
Address:: Budapest, Hungary
Editors:: Leshem Choshen, Ryan Cotterell, Mustafa Omer Gul, Jaap Jumelet, Tal Linzen, Aaron Mueller, Suchir Salhan, Raj Sanjay Shah, Alex Warstadt, Ethan Gotlieb Wilcox
Venues:: BabyLM | WS
SIG:
Publisher:: Association for Computational Linguistics
Note:
Pages:: 438–458
Language:
URL:: https://aclanthology.org/2026.babylm-main.35/
DOI:
Bibkey:
Cite (ACL):: Hector Javier Vazquez Martinez and Charles Yang. 2026. Measuring Form and Function in Language Models. In Proceedings of the Second BabyLM Workshop, pages 438–458, Budapest, Hungary. Association for Computational Linguistics.
Cite (Informal):: Measuring Form and Function in Language Models (Vazquez Martinez & Yang, BabyLM 2026)
Copy Citation:
PDF:: https://aclanthology.org/2026.babylm-main.35.pdf

PDF Cite Search Fix data

Export citation

BibTeX
MODS XML
Endnote
Preformatted

@inproceedings{vazquez-martinez-yang-2026-measuring,
    title = "Measuring Form and Function in Language Models",
    author = "Vazquez Martinez, Hector Javier  and
      Yang, Charles",
    editor = "Choshen, Leshem  and
      Cotterell, Ryan  and
      Gul, Mustafa Omer  and
      Jumelet, Jaap  and
      Linzen, Tal  and
      Mueller, Aaron  and
      Salhan, Suchir  and
      Shah, Raj Sanjay  and
      Warstadt, Alex  and
      Wilcox, Ethan Gotlieb",
    booktitle = "Proceedings of the Second {B}aby{LM} Workshop",
    month = oct,
    year = "2026",
    address = "Budapest, Hungary",
    publisher = "Association for Computational Linguistics",
    url = "https://aclanthology.org/2026.babylm-main.35/",
    pages = "438--458",
    ISBN = "979-8-89176-475-0",
    abstract = "We introduce quantitative metrics for child language acquisition to evaluate language models. Our focus is on the formal syntactic and functional discourse properties of determiners in English, which young children acquire early and accurately. We propose Contextual Alternative Choice (CAC), a new prompting method which provides targeted tests for both syntactic and discourse knowledge of language. The method enables direct comparison of language models against children, and more importantly, against statistical benchmarks independently established in empirical research. No current model trained on a comparable amount of data simultaneously meet both formal and functional benchmarks like human children, but some very large models do. We present our results as methodological and technical contributions, with specific emphasis on cognitive status of language models."
}

Download as File

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<modsCollection xmlns="http://www.loc.gov/mods/v3">
<mods ID="vazquez-martinez-yang-2026-measuring">
    <titleInfo>
        <title>Measuring Form and Function in Language Models</title>
    </titleInfo>
    <name type="personal">
        <namePart type="given">Hector</namePart>
        <namePart type="given">Javier</namePart>
        <namePart type="family">Vazquez Martinez</namePart>
        <role>
            <roleTerm authority="marcrelator" type="text">author</roleTerm>
        </role>
    </name>
    <name type="personal">
        <namePart type="given">Charles</namePart>
        <namePart type="family">Yang</namePart>
        <role>
            <roleTerm authority="marcrelator" type="text">author</roleTerm>
        </role>
    </name>
    <originInfo>
        <dateIssued>2026-10</dateIssued>
    </originInfo>
    <typeOfResource>text</typeOfResource>
    <relatedItem type="host">
        <titleInfo>
            <title>Proceedings of the Second BabyLM Workshop</title>
        </titleInfo>
        <name type="personal">
            <namePart type="given">Leshem</namePart>
            <namePart type="family">Choshen</namePart>
            <role>
                <roleTerm authority="marcrelator" type="text">editor</roleTerm>
            </role>
        </name>
        <name type="personal">
            <namePart type="given">Ryan</namePart>
            <namePart type="family">Cotterell</namePart>
            <role>
                <roleTerm authority="marcrelator" type="text">editor</roleTerm>
            </role>
        </name>
        <name type="personal">
            <namePart type="given">Mustafa</namePart>
            <namePart type="given">Omer</namePart>
            <namePart type="family">Gul</namePart>
            <role>
                <roleTerm authority="marcrelator" type="text">editor</roleTerm>
            </role>
        </name>
        <name type="personal">
            <namePart type="given">Jaap</namePart>
            <namePart type="family">Jumelet</namePart>
            <role>
                <roleTerm authority="marcrelator" type="text">editor</roleTerm>
            </role>
        </name>
        <name type="personal">
            <namePart type="given">Tal</namePart>
            <namePart type="family">Linzen</namePart>
            <role>
                <roleTerm authority="marcrelator" type="text">editor</roleTerm>
            </role>
        </name>
        <name type="personal">
            <namePart type="given">Aaron</namePart>
            <namePart type="family">Mueller</namePart>
            <role>
                <roleTerm authority="marcrelator" type="text">editor</roleTerm>
            </role>
        </name>
        <name type="personal">
            <namePart type="given">Suchir</namePart>
            <namePart type="family">Salhan</namePart>
            <role>
                <roleTerm authority="marcrelator" type="text">editor</roleTerm>
            </role>
        </name>
        <name type="personal">
            <namePart type="given">Raj</namePart>
            <namePart type="given">Sanjay</namePart>
            <namePart type="family">Shah</namePart>
            <role>
                <roleTerm authority="marcrelator" type="text">editor</roleTerm>
            </role>
        </name>
        <name type="personal">
            <namePart type="given">Alex</namePart>
            <namePart type="family">Warstadt</namePart>
            <role>
                <roleTerm authority="marcrelator" type="text">editor</roleTerm>
            </role>
        </name>
        <name type="personal">
            <namePart type="given">Ethan</namePart>
            <namePart type="given">Gotlieb</namePart>
            <namePart type="family">Wilcox</namePart>
            <role>
                <roleTerm authority="marcrelator" type="text">editor</roleTerm>
            </role>
        </name>
        <originInfo>
            <publisher>Association for Computational Linguistics</publisher>
            <place>
                <placeTerm type="text">Budapest, Hungary</placeTerm>
            </place>
        </originInfo>
        <genre authority="marcgt">conference publication</genre>
        <identifier type="isbn">979-8-89176-475-0</identifier>
    </relatedItem>
    <abstract>We introduce quantitative metrics for child language acquisition to evaluate language models. Our focus is on the formal syntactic and functional discourse properties of determiners in English, which young children acquire early and accurately. We propose Contextual Alternative Choice (CAC), a new prompting method which provides targeted tests for both syntactic and discourse knowledge of language. The method enables direct comparison of language models against children, and more importantly, against statistical benchmarks independently established in empirical research. No current model trained on a comparable amount of data simultaneously meet both formal and functional benchmarks like human children, but some very large models do. We present our results as methodological and technical contributions, with specific emphasis on cognitive status of language models.</abstract>
    <identifier type="citekey">vazquez-martinez-yang-2026-measuring</identifier>
    <location>
        <url>https://aclanthology.org/2026.babylm-main.35/</url>
    </location>
    <part>
        <date>2026-10</date>
        <extent unit="page">
            <start>438</start>
            <end>458</end>
        </extent>
    </part>
</mods>
</modsCollection>

Download as File

%0 Conference Proceedings
%T Measuring Form and Function in Language Models
%A Vazquez Martinez, Hector Javier
%A Yang, Charles
%Y Choshen, Leshem
%Y Cotterell, Ryan
%Y Gul, Mustafa Omer
%Y Jumelet, Jaap
%Y Linzen, Tal
%Y Mueller, Aaron
%Y Salhan, Suchir
%Y Shah, Raj Sanjay
%Y Warstadt, Alex
%Y Wilcox, Ethan Gotlieb
%S Proceedings of the Second BabyLM Workshop
%D 2026
%8 October
%I Association for Computational Linguistics
%C Budapest, Hungary
%@ 979-8-89176-475-0
%F vazquez-martinez-yang-2026-measuring
%X We introduce quantitative metrics for child language acquisition to evaluate language models. Our focus is on the formal syntactic and functional discourse properties of determiners in English, which young children acquire early and accurately. We propose Contextual Alternative Choice (CAC), a new prompting method which provides targeted tests for both syntactic and discourse knowledge of language. The method enables direct comparison of language models against children, and more importantly, against statistical benchmarks independently established in empirical research. No current model trained on a comparable amount of data simultaneously meet both formal and functional benchmarks like human children, but some very large models do. We present our results as methodological and technical contributions, with specific emphasis on cognitive status of language models.
%U https://aclanthology.org/2026.babylm-main.35/
%P 438-458

Download as File

Markdown (Informal)

[Measuring Form and Function in Language Models](https://aclanthology.org/2026.babylm-main.35/) (Vazquez Martinez & Yang, BabyLM 2026)

Measuring Form and Function in Language Models (Vazquez Martinez & Yang, BabyLM 2026)

ACL

Hector Javier Vazquez Martinez and Charles Yang. 2026. Measuring Form and Function in Language Models. In Proceedings of the Second BabyLM Workshop, pages 438–458, Budapest, Hungary. Association for Computational Linguistics.