Specific Referential Contexts Shape Efficiency in Second Language Processing: Three Eye-Tracking Experiments With 6- and 10-Year-Old Children in Spanish Immersion Schools.
Specific Referential Contexts Shape Efficiency in Second Language Processing: Three Eye-Tracking Experiments With 6- and 10-Year-Old Children in Spanish Immersion Schools.
复制标题
DOI：
10.1017/s0267190517000101
复制
发表时间：
2017-09
影响因子：
3.7
通讯作者：
Lew-Williams C
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Lew-Williams C
实时语言处理的效率通常对学习第二语言(L2)的成年人比学习第一语言(L1)的儿童提出了更大的挑战。对于二语学习者来说，语法性别是语言中一个出了名的难掌握的方面，此前的研究表明，二语学习者不会以与母语使用者相似的方式利用语法性别线索。但目前尚不清楚这个问题是否仅限于语法性别，或者它是否反映了处理单词之间的本地关系的更广泛的困难。此外，我们不知道与典型的第二语言课堂相比，沉浸式第二语言环境是否在单词之间的学习规则方面具有优势。在三个眼球跟踪实验中，6岁和10岁的西班牙浸入式小学的孩子们听了关于语法性别(实验1)、生物性别(实验2)和视野中所指对象的数量(实验3)的文章。在所有三个实验中，第一语言儿童都使用冠词引导他们的注意力到目标对象上。二语儿童没有利用冠词作为语法性别的线索，但成功地利用冠词作为生物性别和数量的线索。对这些发现的解释侧重于学习经验如何与特定参照语境的性质相互作用来塑造学习者的语言处理效率。
Efficiency in real-time language processing generally poses a greater challenge to adults learning a second language (L2) than to children learning a first language (L1). A notoriously difficult aspect of language for L2 learners to master is grammatical gender, and previous research has shown that L2 learners do not exploit cues to grammatical gender in ways that resemble L1 speakers. But it is not clear whether this problem is restricted to grammatical gender or whether it reflects a broader difficulty with processing local relations between words. Moreover, we do not know if immersive L2 environments, relative to typical L2 classrooms, confer advantages in learning regularities between words. In three eye-tracking experiments, 6- and 10-year-old children who were enrolled in Spanish immersion elementary schools listened to sentences with articles that conveyed information about the grammatical gender (Experiment 1), biological gender (Experiment 2), and number of referents in the visual field (Experiment 3). L1 children used articles to guide their attention to target referents in all three experiments. L2 children did not take advantage of articles as cues to grammatical gender, but succeeded in doing so for biological gender and number. Interpretations of these findings focus on how learning experiences interact with the nature of specific referential contexts to shape learners’ efficiency in language processing.