The Origins of Conventional Understanding in Language

语言传统理解的起源

• 批准号: 1024298
• 负责人: Melissa Koenig
• 金额: $ 30.47万
• 依托单位: University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-09-15 至 2014-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1024298&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Origins; Conventional; Understanding; Language

Conventionality lies at the center of human communication. For communication to be effective there must be symbols that are shared among speakers. In this proposal, Dr. Koenig investigates the possibility that understanding the conventional nature of words serves as a powerful tool in language acquisition. While speakers are often consistent in the particular language they use, the presence of different languages across speakers raises important questions about the scope of children's conventional understanding when more than one language system is involved. Can monolingual toddlers learn foreign terms from foreign speakers? Do they treat foreign terms as distinct from inaccurate terms? This project will compare 24-month-olds' ability to learn new words from an accurate English speaker versus an inaccurate English speaker and a native Dutch speaker. Given promising evidence that children can learn foreign terms presented in Dutch, an interesting question arises of how broadly they generalize what they have learned across speakers. This study will examine toddler's generalization across different types of speakers, native and foreign. Broad generalization would indicate that infants have accepted the word, but not demarcated the boundaries of their own system versus a foreign language. Narrow generalization -- generalizing English but not foreign terms to users of your own language -- would suggest that infants have begun to understand that different systems can exist. In the final component, this project will directly examine the possibility that observation of consistent word use across speakers is more powerful evidence in favor of a word than is consistency that is demonstrated by only one speaker.The major goal of this research is to provide insight into different aspects of conventionality in language: (1) knowing that conventional systems can, in principle, vary across speakers; (2) knowing that word knowledge generalizes to other speakers, but not all speakers; and (3) knowing that the basis of conventionality lies in consistent word use across speakers. Each aspect reflects an important conceptual achievement in understanding language as a system, and a central aim of this project is to identify the emergence of each component. As a result, it will contribute to scientific knowledge about the development of conventional understanding, and advance current theories of language development. Beyond elucidating a critical aspect of language learning, these studies will promote future research in bilingual populations and shed light on the more general question of how children extract and generalize cultural and social norms.

常规性是人类交流的核心。为了有效的沟通，必须有说话者之间共享的符号。 在这一建议中，Koenig博士研究了理解单词的常规性质作为语言习得的有力工具的可能性。 虽然说话者在他们使用的特定语言中通常是一致的，但当涉及一种以上的语言系统时，不同语言在说话者之间的存在引起了关于儿童传统理解范围的重要问题。 单语幼儿能从外国人那里学到外国术语吗？ 他们是否将外国术语与不准确的术语区分开来？ 这个项目将比较24个月大的婴儿从一个准确的英语说话者和一个不准确的英语说话者以及一个以荷兰语为母语的人那里学习新单词的能力。 鉴于有证据表明儿童可以学习荷兰语中的外国术语，一个有趣的问题出现了，他们在多大程度上概括了他们所学到的东西。本研究将探讨幼儿对不同类型的母语者和外语者的概括能力。 广泛的概括表明婴儿已经接受了这个词，但没有划分出他们自己的系统与外语的界限。 狭义的概括--将英语而不是外国术语概括到你自己语言的使用者--表明婴儿已经开始理解不同的系统可以存在。 在最后一部分中，本项目将直接考察观察到的不同说话者之间一致的词汇使用比只有一个说话者所表现出的一致性更有力的证据的可能性。本研究的主要目标是提供对语言中规约性的不同方面的洞察力：（1）知道规约系统在原则上可以在不同的说话者之间变化;（2）知道词汇知识可以推广到其他说话者，但不是所有说话者;（3）知道惯例的基础在于说话者之间一致的词汇使用。每个方面都反映了理解语言作为一个系统的重要概念成就，本项目的中心目标是确定每个组件的出现。 因此，它将有助于科学认识传统理解的发展，并推进当前的语言发展理论。除了阐明语言学习的一个重要方面外，这些研究还将促进双语人群的未来研究，并阐明儿童如何提取和概括文化和社会规范的更普遍问题。