EAPSI: Learning word representations containing foreign sounds may be easier when learning from multiple talkers

EAPSI：向多个说话者学习时，学习包含外来声音的单词表示可能会更容易

• 批准号: 1414594
• 负责人: Andrea Davis
• 金额: $ 0.01万
• 依托单位: Davis, Andrea K
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Fellowship Award
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2014-06-01 至 2015-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1414594&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: EAPSI; Learning; word; representations; containing

Learning a second language is crucial to interacting in today's global world. Much of the difficulty in acquiring a second language is in learning its sound system. Failure to learn the sound system can lead to incorrect word representations, word representations being made up of smaller sound units: for example, the sounds d, ah, g make the word dog. Understanding what can make words containing foreign sounds easier to learn is important for developing better methods of teaching a second language. Many studies suggest that hearing words produced by multiple talkers helps infants and young children to develop more robust word representations. Multiple talkers may also help second language learners, who are likewise inexperienced with the language's sound system. However, second language learners may not benefit from multiple talkers in all circumstances. In collaboration with Dr. Jane Tsay at National Chung Chen University in Taiwan, this project will explore the circumstances in which multiple talkers are beneficial for second language learners. Results from a behavioral experiment at the Psycholinguistic Lab at Chung Cheng National University will shed light on the question of why multiple talkers are helpful for forming a robust word representation. It will also speak to the long-standing question: to what extent is perceiving speech related to producing speech? Based on the PI's previous studies, it is hypothesized that when perceiving new words, experienced learners will not benefit from multiple talkers, while inexperienced learners will. In contrast, it is hypothesized that even experienced learners will continue to benefit from multiple talkers when producing new words, although they will cease to benefit when perceiving new words. Such a result would suggest that speakers use different word representations for perceiving vs. producing words. This NSF EAPSI award is funded in collaboration with the National Science Council of Taiwan.

学习第二语言对于在当今全球化的世界中进行互动至关重要。学习第二语言的大部分困难在于学习它的发音系统。不学习语音系统会导致不正确的单词表示，单词表示是由更小的声音单位组成的：例如，d, ah， g组成单词dog。了解什么可以使包含外语发音的单词更容易学习，对于开发更好的第二语言教学方法很重要。许多研究表明，听多个说话人说的单词有助于婴幼儿发展更强大的单词表征。多语者也可以帮助第二语言学习者，他们同样对语言的声音系统缺乏经验。然而，第二语言学习者可能不会在所有情况下受益于多语者。​国立中正大学心理语言学实验室的一项行为实验的结果将阐明为什么多说话者有助于形成一个健全的单词表征。它还将回答一个长期存在的问题：在多大程度上感知语言与产生语言有关？根据PI先前的研究，假设在感知新单词时，有经验的学习者不会从多语者中受益，而没有经验的学习者会。相比之下，即使是经验丰富的学习者在产生新词时也会继续受益于多说话者，尽管他们在感知新词时将不再受益。这样的结果表明，说话者使用不同的单词表征来感知和产生单词。​