Lexical and sentence processing in novice L2 learners: Psycholinguistic and neurocognitive investigations

能够说一种以上的语言是在广泛的专业和学术领域取得成功的关键。传统观点认为，学习第二语言“越年轻越好”，越来越多的孩子在学校学习第二语言，有时早在幼儿园。然而，我们对学校第二语言课堂中词汇和句法学习初始阶段的认知和神经机制知之甚少，也不知道二语知识的获取和使用过程是如何随着年龄的增长而变化的。目前可用的神经认知证据主要是基于成人第二语言学习者，但由于儿童仍在发展他们的母语语言和读写技能，儿童在如何将新的第二语言词汇和句法知识整合到他们的母语系统中，在原则上可能与成人不同。在美国国家科学基金会的支持下，Janet van Hell博士及其同事李平博士和Darren Tanner博士将使用行为和电生理测量方法纵向研究与词汇和句法处理初始阶段相关的认知和神经机制，这些阶段分别是：5-6岁（幼儿园）、11-12岁（六年级）和青年期。该研究项目还将有助于了解学习者之间的个体差异（即第一语言和第二语言熟练程度、工作记忆、执行控制功能和态度/动机的差异）如何影响早期第二语言学习和词汇和句法加工的速度和性质。更一般地说，通过研究三个不同年龄的第二语言初学者，该研究将为语言学习的神经可塑性提供见解。教育工作者、家长、商务人士和政策制定者越来越认识到在美国小学、初中和高中教授外语的重要性。这个项目将有助于了解不同年龄的第二语言词汇和句法学习是如何发生的，并将为更有效的课堂教学和教学方法提供进一步的输入。由于研究团队培养了许多女学生，通常来自不同种族的学生群体，因此该项目有助于增强神经科学领域的多样性，并且计划在学校开展的外展活动将促进代表性不足的人群参与科学探究。

Being able to speak more than one language is key to success in a wide range of professional and academic fields. As conventional wisdom has assumed that "younger is better" for second language learning, an increasing number of children learn a second language (L2) at school, sometimes as early as Kindergarten. However, we know remarkably little about the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying the initial stages of lexical and syntactic learning in a second language classroom setting at school, or how the processes subserving the acquisition and use of L2 knowledge change with increasing age. The currently available neurocognitive evidence is mostly based on adult second language learners, but because children are still developing their language and literacy skills in their first language, children may differ in principled ways from adults in how they integrate novel second language lexical and syntactic knowledge into their first language system. With support from the National Science Foundation, Dr. Janet van Hell and colleagues Dr. Ping Li and Dr. Darren Tanner, will use behavioral and electrophysiological measures to longitudinally study cognitive and neural mechanisms associated with the initial stages of lexical and syntactic processing in novice classroom second language learners at three ages: 5-6 years (Kindergarten), 11-12 years (6th grade), and young adulthood. The research project will also lead to an understanding of how individual differences among learners (i.e., variations in first and second language proficiency, working memory, executive control functions, and attitude/motivation) impact the rate and nature of early-stage second language learning and lexical and syntactic processing. More generally, by studying novice second language learners at three different ages the research will provide insights into the neural plasticity of language learning. Educators, parents, business professionals, and policymakers increasingly acknowledge the importance of teaching foreign languages in US elementary, middle, and high schools. This project will contribute to much needed knowledge of how second language lexical and syntactic learning occurs at different ages, and will provide further input for more effective classroom instruction and instructional methods. Because the research team trains many female students, often from an ethnically diverse student population, the project contributes to enhancing diversity in the field of neuroscience and the planned outreach activities in the school will promote involvement by underrepresented populations in scientific inquiry.