Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant: Morphosyntactic Development in a Second Language: An eye tracking study of the role of attention

了解影响语言习得的因素——不仅在学习者的第一语言（或母语）的情况下，而且在第二语言习得的情况下——是人类语言和交际研究的一个重要目标。对于成年人来说，学习第二语言可以说是最复杂的学习任务之一，并且导致第二语言的实现存在很大的差异，特别是在语法方面。一个可以解释这种差异的认知因素是注意力。从第二语言学习的理论和应用角度来看，人们普遍认为对语法形式的关注会导致语法形式的习得。然而，在该领域很少有直接的经验证据来支持这一说法。相比之下，认知科学领域的研究已经提供了充足的证据，表明注意力对包括学习在内的各种认知操作都至关重要。因此，我们对第二语言学习中注意的理解可以通过采用理论视角进一步阐明，例如外部注意（由物体本身的属性引起）和内部注意（由与物体相关的任务操作引起）之间的区别，并通过使用认知科学的实验方法，如眼动追踪来检验这种区别。在卡拉·肖特博士的指导下，伯纳德·伊萨的论文项目采用了这样一种创新的方法来解决以下问题：(i)对特定第二语言语法形式的关注增加会导致对这些形式的学习增加吗？（ii）外在注意和内在注意对第二语言学习的影响是否不同？为了回答这些问题，西班牙语初学者在学习新的语法形式时的眼球运动将被记录下来，作为一种注意力指数，在外部或内部的注意力操纵下。这一跨学科项目的结果有望为注意力在第二语言学习中的作用提供新颖、直接的证据，从而更广泛地理解学习中的注意力，并对教育学产生直接影响。最后，这个项目将进一步为研究生和本科生研究员助理提供参与、培训和跨学科合作的机会，他们可能来自认知科学中代表性不足的群体。

Understanding the factors that influence language acquisition--not only in the case of a learner's first (or native) language, but also in the case of second language acquisition--is an important goal of research on human language and communication. Learning a second language is arguably one of the most complex learning tasks for the adult mind and results in great variability in attainment of the second language, particularly for grammar. One cognitive factor that may account for this variability is attention. It has been widely assumed, under both theoretical and applied perspectives on second language learning, that attention to grammatical forms leads to acquisition of those forms. However, there is scant direct empirical evidence to support this claim in the field. In contrast, research in the field of cognitive science has produced ample evidence that suggests that attention is crucial for various types of cognitive operations, including learning. Thus, our understanding of attention in second language learning may be further elucidated by adopting theoretical perspectives, such as the distinction between external attention (cued by properties of the object itself) and internal attention (cued by task manipulations related to the object), and by the use of experimental methods from cognitive science, such as eye tracking, to examine this distinction. Under the direction of Dr. Kara Short, Bernard Issa's dissertation project implements such an innovative approach to address the following questions: (i) Does increased attention to particular second language grammatical forms lead to increased learning of those forms? (ii) Are there differential effects of external and internal attention on second language learning? To answer these questions, the eye-movements of novice learners of Spanish will be recorded as an index of attention while learning a new grammatical form under either external or internal manipulations of attention. The results from this interdisciplinary project are expected to provide novel, direct evidence for the role of attention in second language learning, lead to a greater understanding of attention in learning more generally, and have direct implications for pedagogy. Finally, this project will further opportunities for involvement, training, and interdisciplinary collaborations in research for a graduate student and for undergraduate researcher assistants, who are likely to come from underrepresented groups in cognitive science.