Doctoral Dissertation Research: Acquisition of Complex Chickasaw Linguistic Constructions in an Endangered Language Context

世界上主要语言的学习者可以通过正式的教学或非正式的沉浸在语言社区中，流利地掌握另一种语言。正式学习和非正式学习反映了不同层次和类型的分析和适应过程。在俄克拉何马大学Racquel Yamada的指导下，Juliet Morgan将调查学习流利奇卡索语的过程，奇卡索语是俄克拉何马州的一种马斯科语，大约有65名50岁以上的第一语言流利者使用。该项目将探索这种特殊情况下的学习过程，在这种情况下，由于语言的低功能使用，正式教学和非正式接触受到高度限制。朱丽叶·摩根将从参与“大师学徒”语言学习项目的奇卡索语成年学习者那里收集数据。专为濒危语言教学而开发的“师徒制”教学方法是由一个流利的长者与一个或一组学习者配对，他们每周会面多次，专门用濒危语言进行交流。摩根将使用人种学和语言文献方法，从奇卡索学徒那里收集横截面和纵向数据。通过分析这些互动的输入和输出，她将分析习得的顺序、发展阶段和学习者的种类。摩根将重点关注学习者如何使用形态句法（他们如何创造单词和句子）和话语（他们如何将句子组织成更大的语言单位）来接近老年人的多样性。此外，本研究将探讨年长的流利说话者如何感知二语学习者的言语。对土著语言习得的研究很少，因为往往没有流利的说话者和语言教材，无法进行语言教学。进行这类研究的机会正在迅速减少，因为说流利英语的人减少的速度快于新出现的流利学习者的数量。朱丽叶摩根的研究提供了无与伦比的学习信息与这些独特的变量集。这项研究将对奇卡索民族语言复兴的努力产生影响，通过提供评估师徒法中最有效的方法。

Learners of major world languages can acquire fluency in an additional language through formal instruction or informally through immersion in a speech community. Formal and informal learning reflect different levels and types of analytic and adaptive processes. Juliet Morgan under the direction of Racquel Yamada of the University of Oklahoma will investigate the learning processes involved in acquiring fluency in Chickasaw [cic], a Muskogean language spoken in Oklahoma by approximately 65 fluent first language speakers, all over the age of fifty. The project will explore learning processes in this unique case where formal instruction and informal exposure are highly constrained due to the low functional use of the language.Juliet Morgan will collect data from adult learners of Chickasaw involved in the Master-Apprentice language learning program. Developed specifically for teaching endangered languages, the Master-Apprentice teaching method pairs a fluent elder with a learner or group of learners who meet multiple times a week for the purpose of communicating exclusively in the endangered language. Using ethnographic and language documentation methodologies, Morgan will collect cross-sectional and longitudinal data from Chickasaw apprentices. Analyzing the input and output of these interactions, she will analyze the order of acquisition, developmental stages, and learner varieties. Morgan will focus on how the learners' use of morphosyntax (how they create words and sentences) and discourse (how they organize sentence into larger linguistic units) approximates the elder's variety. Additionally, the research will investigate how the elder fluent speakers perceive the speech of the L2 learner. Acquisition studies of indigenous languages are rare since fluent speakers and language teaching materials are often unavailable for language teaching and learning to occur. Opportunities to conduct studies of this sort are quickly declining, as the number of fluent native speakers dwindles faster than the number of emerging fluent learners. Juliet Morgan's research provides unparalleled access to information on learning with these unique set of variables. This research will have implications for the Chickasaw Nation language revitalization efforts by providing the means to assess what is most effective in the Master-Apprentice method.