Doctoral Dissertation Research: Using syntactic priming to identify cross-language constraints in bilingual language processing

博士论文研究：利用句法启动识别双语语言处理中的跨语言约束

• 批准号: 1331709
• 负责人: Judith Kroll
• 金额: $ 1.75万
• 依托单位: Pennsylvania State Univ University Park
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2013-09-01 至 2015-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1331709&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Using; syntactic

A hallmark of bilingual language processing is the parallel activation of the two languages during the use of only one language in production comprehension. In order to select a word in a single language from the myriad of co-activated words, bilinguals exploit an exquisite mechanism of language control that may come to affect cognitive and executive function. However, the exact nature of this mechanism is unknown. With National Science Foundation support, Mr. Jason Gullifer will collect data for his dissertation under the direction of Drs. Judith Kroll and Paola Dussias. Using an array of experimental methodologies, including behavioral and electrophysiological measures, Gullifer and colleagues will investigate whether differences in sentence structure between English and Spanish can function as a cue enabling bilingual speakers of those two languages to make a language choice during comprehension. Reaction times to name words in the context of sentences and brain potentials time-locked to the presentation of those words will be used to test the hypothesis that structural differences between languages can influence the degree of language co-activation. An independent behavioral experiment utilizing a method to measure cross-language syntactic priming will be used to determine the degree of representational overlap of each of the structures between Spanish and English, revealing the relationship between the degree of cross-language overlap and language co-activation.The funded research has a number of broader impacts. Increasing diversity makes it important to learn a second language to enhance communication. The biological basis of second language learning was identified in 2005 in the AAAS publication 'Science' as one of the top 125 questions for scientific inquiry over the next quarter-century. The proposed research informs language learning by advancing models of language comprehension and production. Learning a second language also confers benefits to cognition, and the funded research will identify one mechanism by which language selection is achieved, helping to answer the question of how bilingualism impacts cognition. The proposed research includes a component for the mentorship of undergraduate research assistants by involving individuals who have been historically underrepresented in scientific research.

双语语言处理的一个标志是在生产理解中仅使用一种语言时两种语言的并行激活。为了从无数共同激活的单词中选择单一语言中的单词，双语者利用了一种微妙的语言控制机制，这种机制可能会影响认知和执行功能。然而，这种机制的确切性质尚不清楚。在国家科学基金会的支持下，Jason Gullifer 先生将在 Drs. 的指导下为他的论文收集数据。朱迪思·克罗尔和保拉·杜西亚斯。 Gullifer 及其同事将使用一系列实验方法，包括行为和电生理学测量，研究英语和西班牙语之间句子结构的差异是否可以作为一种线索，使这两种语言的双语使用者在理解过程中做出语言选择。在句子上下文中命名单词的反应时间以及与这些单词的呈现时间锁定的大脑电位将用于检验语言之间的结构差异可以影响语言共同激活程度的假设。利用测量跨语言句法启动的方法进行的独立行为实验将用于确定西班牙语和英语之间每种结构的表征重叠程度，揭示跨语言重叠程度与语言共激活之间的关系。这项资助的研究具有许多更广泛的影响。日益增加的多样性使得学习第二语言以加强沟通变得非常重要。 2005 年，美国科学促进会 (AAAS) 出版物《科学》将第二语言学习的生物学基础列为未来 25 年科学探究的 125 个首要问题之一。拟议的研究通过改进语言理解和生成的模型来为语言学习提供信息。学习第二语言也有益于认知，这项资助的研究将确定一种实现语言选择的机制，有助于回答双语如何影响认知的问题。拟议的研究包括通过让历史上在科学研究中代表性不足的个人参与来指导本科生研究助理。