Second language acquisition and long-term retention in a mini-language

鉴于现代生活的全球化，学习第二语言(L2)正变得越来越重要。然而，学习第二语言是出了名的困难，特别是在成年后，即使在达到很高的熟练程度后，学习者也面临着保留他们所学知识的困难而又关键的任务。目前，我们对L2习得和保持的神经机制知之甚少。研究二语习得的神经认知轨迹的一个主要障碍是学习者从最初接触到熟练掌握一门完整语言所需的时间。在国家科学基金会的支持下，迈克尔·乌尔曼博士和他的同事们将使用一种新的方法来揭示从最初获得到高度熟练再到随后的保留整个过程中涉及的神经过程。使用实际自然语言巴斯克语的精简版本，但单词要少得多，语法也要简化，学习者可以在相对较短的时间内达到较高的熟练程度。研究使用这种简化语言的二语学习可能会提供对学习和保持完整语言的共同神经机制的洞察。在说英语的成年人学习将巴斯克语降低到高度熟练的过程中，将持续记录行为和功能磁共振成像(FMRI)测量，分几天进行几次学习，并在一个月和六个月后再次测试语言保持情况。这项研究将提供从最初接触到高度熟练再到保持的第二语言学习的完整行为和神经轨迹的第一张细粒度图像。了解大脑如何将第二语言学习到高度熟练，然后将其保留下来，将为实现多种有益结果铺平道路。首先，它可能导致有效的循证语言学习和教学方法。例如，在学习轨迹的不同阶段，不同的神经认知机制可以针对语言的不同方面。这种方法可能会对教育、安全和经济产生重大影响，在这些领域，学习第二语言往往很重要，有时甚至是至关重要的。这种方法还可能导致为患有发育或后天障碍(例如，特定语言障碍、阅读障碍、自闭症、后天失语症)的个人在语言(重新)学习治疗方面取得进展，并带来实质性的临床好处。这项拟议的研究可能还会影响研究方法，因为展示这一范式的实用性将为第二语言研究开辟主要的新途径。该项目还应具有体制和教育效益。它将来自几个学科和机构的研究人员聚集在一起，加强现有的合作并形成新的合作。最后，该项目将通过开发本科研究模块以及培训高中、研究生和博士后学生来培养下一代科学家，为他们提供前沿跨学科研究的第一手经验。

Learning a second language (L2) is becoming increasingly important given the globalization of modern life. Yet, L2 learning is notoriously difficult, especially in adulthood, and even after high proficiency is reached, learners face the difficult yet critical task of retaining what they have learned. We currently know very little about the neural mechanisms underlying L2 acquisition and retention. A major roadblock in investigating the neurocognitive trajectory of L2 acquisition is the time it takes a learner to acquire a full language, from initial exposure all the way to high proficiency. With support from the National Science Foundation, Dr. Michael Ullman and colleagues will use a new approach to reveal the neural processing involved in the entire trajectory from initial acquisition to high proficiency and then subsequent retention. Using a reduced version of an actual natural language, Basque, but with many fewer words and a simplified grammar, learners can achieve high proficiency in a relatively shorter time. Investigating L2 learning using this reduced language may offer insights into shared neural mechanisms underlying the learning and retention of a full language. Both behavioral and functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) measures will be continuously recorded while English-speaking adults learn reduced Basque to high proficiency, over several learning sessions spread out over several days, as well as again one and six months later to examine language retention. This study will provide the first fine-grained picture of the full behavioral and neural trajectories of L2 learning from initial exposure to high proficiency and then retention. Understanding how the brain learns a second language to high proficiency, and then retains it, will pave the way to multiple beneficial outcomes. First, it may lead to effective evidence-based language learning and teaching approaches. For example, different neurocognitive mechanisms could be targeted for different aspects of language at different points in the learning trajectory. Such approaches could have significant impacts for education, security, and the economy, where learning an L2 is often important, and sometimes critical. Such approaches could also lead to advances in language (re)learning therapies for individuals with developmental or acquired disorders (e.g., Specific Language Impairment, dyslexia, autism, acquired aphasias), with substantial clinical benefits. The proposed research may additionally impact research methodology, since demonstrating the utility of this paradigm would open up major new avenues of L2 research. The project should also have institutional and educational benefits. It brings together researchers from several disciplines and institutions, strengthening existing collaborations and forming new ones. Finally, the project will be leveraged to train the next generation of scientists, through the development of an undergraduate research module, and the training of high school, graduate, and post-doctoral students, providing them with first-hand experience in cutting edge interdisciplinary research.