EAGER: Collaborative Research: Variation and the Grammar of Child African American English

语言方言的变异主要是针对成人语言进行的研究。越来越多的文献通过关注儿童的使用来研究这些方言的发展。这很重要的一个原因是，准确理解一种方言及其习得和发展是识别典型的语言模式以及何时模式表明语言障碍所必需的。语言学和沟通障碍专家之间的合作有可能回答有关儿童方言发展模式的问题，成人使用不同的形式，以及尚未明确描述和分析习得发展阶段的问题。这个项目将收集一种特定方言习得的发展数据来填补文献中关于不同形式习得的发展阶段的空白，这些信息对于儿童方言来说是不可用的。更广泛的影响包括研究结果的有用性，有助于开发更适合文化和语言的评估工具，为说这种方言的儿童提供更准确的评估结果，参与代表性不足的群体的本科研究，以及加强两所机构之间的研究合作，其中一所是传统的黑人大学（HBCU）。这些活动将为本科生提供适用于stem相关领域的背景和分析技能，如语言学和计算。该项目是由杰克逊州立大学和马萨诸塞大学阿默斯特分校的研究人员合作开展的，旨在研究非裔美国人英语（AAE）中动词形态标记的发展模式。非裔美国人英语（AAE）的系统性变异在变异研究中得到了解决；然而，在年轻的AAE使用者中，典型的发展性语言变异和语言障碍之间的界限仍然很模糊。本研究在前人对儿童AAE研究的基础上，运用现有句法理论的定量分析和机制，对儿童AAE中形态标记与[Tense]和[Agreement]实例化之间的关系进行实证研究。具体来说，该项目将分析动词在过去时语境和第三人称单数非过去时语境中的情况。这些数据和结果将直接影响动词形态标记（如第三人称单数-s和过去式-ed）的习得路径，因为它将填补文献中关于可变形式习得发展阶段的空白，这是儿童AAE无法获得的信息。该项目的研究结果将用于描述与儿童AAE相关的正常变异如何与语言障碍有系统的不同。研究结果将有助于开发更适合文化和语言的评估工具，从而为讲aae的儿童提供更准确的评估结果。更好地了解AAE语言系统将有助于解决长期存在的关于AAE与识字和其他基于语言的学术科目（如数学和科学）的习得之间的相互作用的问题，并最终为讲AAE的儿童带来更多积极的教育机会。

The variation of language dialects has been primarily studied for adult speech. A growing literature is looking at the development of these dialects by focusing on children's usage. One reason this is important is because accurate understanding of a dialect and its acquisition and development are needed to identify typical linguistic patterns and when patterns are indicative of a language disorder. Collaborations between experts in linguistics and communication disorders have the potential to answer questions about developing patterns in children in dialects where adults use variable forms, and where the stages of development of acquisition are not yet clearly described and analyzed. This project will collect developmental data on the acquisition of a particular dialect to fill in gaps in the literature about stages of development of the acquisition of variable forms, information that is not available for the child variety of the dialect. Broader impacts include the usefulness of findings for the development of more culturally and linguistically appropriate assessment tools, leading to more accurate assessment outcomes for children who speak this dialect, the involvement in undergraduate research by underrepresented groups, and the strengthening of a research collaboration between two institutions, one a historically black college (HBCU). The activities will provide undergraduate students with background and analytical skills that are applicable to STEM-related fields, such as linguistics and computation. This project is a collaboration between researchers from Jackson State University (an HBCU) and the University of Massachusetts Amherst to investigate developing patterns in morphological marking on verbs in African American English (AAE). Systematic variation in African American English (AAE) has been addressed in research on the variety; however, there remains a blurred line of demarcation between typical developmental language variation and language disorder in younger AAE speakers. This study builds on previous descriptions of child AAE, and it applies quantitative analysis and mechanisms in current syntactic theory to empirical data in investigating the connection between morphological marking and the instantiation of [Tense] and [Agreement] in child AAE. Specifically, the project will analyze verbs in past tense contexts and in 3rd person singular non-past contexts child AAE. The data and results will bear directly on the acquisition path of morphological marking (e.g., 3rd singular -s and forms of past such as -ed) on verbs in that it will fill gaps in the literature about stages of development of the acquisition of variable forms, information that is not available for child AAE. Findings of the project will be used to describe how normal variation associated with child AAE is systematically different from disordered language. Findings will be useful in the development of more culturally and linguistically appropriate assessment tools, leading to more accurate assessment outcomes for AAE-speaking children. A better understanding of the AAE linguistic system will be useful in addressing longstanding questions that remain unanswered about the interaction of AAE and the acquisition of literacy and other language-based academic subjects, such as math and science, and should ultimately lead to more positive educational opportunities for children who speak AAE.