Doctoral Dissertation Research: Mutsun reclamation continued: Three years in a learner's efforts to acquire language

加州大学戴维斯分校的博士生Lajos Szoboszlai将在Martha Macri博士的指导下，研究在没有母语群体的情况下成人语言习得的过程和结果。这项研究将与一名成年部落成员一起进行，他正在使用语法、词典和一些教学材料学习他的祖先语言穆特森语，这是一种北加州传统使用的科斯坦瓦语。Szoboszlai将确定仅仅通过这些文献材料获得的语言是如何影响说话者学习到的结构，哪些是简化的，哪些是修改的。由于大多数关于第二语言习得的知识都是基于课堂学习或通过在一个强大的语言社区中出现，因此这个项目的结果将为成人语言习得过程提供全新的见解。Lajos Szoboszlai将采用定性分析来进行这项纵向研究。他的数据库将包括电子邮件，半结构化访谈，以及77小时部落成员辅导课程的录音。这些数据将被编码，以允许跟踪特定语法形式的习得。土著社区正在努力恢复传统语言的使用，这为研究学习过程和这种特定学习环境对语言变化的影响提供了机会。本项目所反映的语言文献材料的重新利用反映了高质量语言文献对濒危语言社区的重要性。只有有了这些材料，世界范围内的语言多样性才能得以保持，各社区才有希望重新使用其祖先的语言

University of California-Davis doctoral student Lajos Szoboszlai, under the guidance of Dr. Martha Macri, will investigate the processes and outcomes of adult language acquisition in the absence of a community of native speakers. The research will be conducted with an adult tribal member who is learning his ancestral language Mutsun, a Costanoan language traditionally spoken in Northern California, using a grammar, a dictionary, and a few pedagogical materials. Szoboszlai will identify how language accessed solely through these documentary materials influences what structures are learned, which are simplified, and which are modified by speakers. Since most of what is known about second language acquisition is based on learning in a classroom or through emersion in a robust speech community, the results of this project will provide brand new insights on the process of adult language acquisition. Lajos Szoboszlai will employ qualitative analysis to conduct this longitudinal study. His database will consist of e-mails, semi-structured interviews, and 77 hours of audio-recordings of tutoring sessions with the tribal member. This data will be coded to allow for tracking of acquisition of particular grammatical forms. The many efforts underway by indigenous communities trying to revive the use of traditional languages offer an opportunity to investigate the learning process and the effects of this specific learning environment for language change. The repurposing of language documentation materials as reflected in this project reflects the importance of high-quality language documentation for endangered language communities. It is only with such materials that worldwide linguistic diversity can be maintained and that communities can hope to regain use of their ancestral languages