Examining Native Language Variability and its Effects on Second Language Processing: An Event-Related Potentials Investigation of Referential Dependencies

检查母语变异性及其对第二语言处理的影响：指涉依赖性的事件相关电位调查

• 批准号: 1749143
• 负责人: Alison Gabriele
• 金额: $ 43.44万
• 依托单位: University of Kansas Center for Research Inc
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2018-06-01 至 2024-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1749143&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Examining; Native; Language; Variability; its

This project examines the extent to which there is a link between language abilities in a first and second language with the goal of providing a better understanding of the factors that predict successful reading comprehension across languages. Although language skills are critical for both economic security and national security, the U.S. is in a foreign language 'crisis,' with only 30% of high school students and 8% of college students taking foreign language courses (A National Security Crisis, 2012). Improving our ability to predict successful language learning will provide a better understanding of the skills that need to be reinforced in order to provide a stronger foundation for language learning, allowing the development of pedagogical practices that can potentially increase the number of successful learners. The project will address theoretical debates regarding whether or not the processing of a second language is fundamentally different from the processing of a native language by taking a unique approach in which both the first and second languages are examined within the same individuals. This project will provide educational opportunities within both the university and the larger community. At the university level, the project will provide training opportunities for undergraduate students from under-represented minority groups. At the community level, the researchers will give presentations at local high schools and at the public library in which the social, cultural, educational, economic, and cognitive advantages of being bilingual will be discussed and information about the resources available for language learning will be provided, emphasizing resources for both English native speakers and immigrant populations who may be interested in resources for maintaining their home languages.The project examines the processing of pronouns such as "she" in short stories as a test case for complex language processing. Linking a pronoun such as "she" with a noun that has come much earlier in the discourse has long been recognized as challenging for both native speakers and second language learners but the two bodies of research have proceeded independently. The current study examines the processing of pronouns in two groups of learners, English-speaking learners of Spanish and Spanish-speaking learners of English, testing all participants in both their first and second languages. The project uses event-related potentials (ERP), a brain imaging measure that allows the examination of the precise mechanisms that are used during language processing. All participants will also take an extensive battery of individual difference measures which assess both linguistic and cognitive skills. The goal is to develop a better understanding of the contexts and conditions under which native speakers and second language learners are successful in reading comprehension. In utilizing ERP, a more fine-grained characterization of the processes underlying comprehension in the first and second languages becomes possible, leading to a better understanding of whether the processing of a second language is truly qualitatively different from the processing of a native language.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

该项目旨在研究第一语言和第二语言的语言能力之间的联系程度，以便更好地了解预测跨语言成功阅读理解的因素。尽管语言技能对经济安全和国家安全都至关重要，但美国正处于外语“危机”之中，只有30%的高中生和8%的大学生参加外语课程（A National Security Crisis，2012）。提高我们预测成功语言学习的能力将使我们更好地了解需要加强的技能，以便为语言学习提供更坚实的基础，从而制定可能增加成功学习者数量的教学实践。该项目将解决关于第二语言的处理是否与母语的处理有根本不同的理论争论，采取独特的方法，在同一个人中检查第一和第二语言。该项目将在大学和更大的社区内提供教育机会。在大学一级，该项目将为代表性不足的少数群体的本科生提供培训机会。在社区层面，研究人员将在当地高中和公共图书馆进行演讲，讨论双语的社会，文化，教育，经济和认知优势，并提供有关语言学习资源的信息，强调为英语母语者和移民人口提供资源，他们可能对维护家园的资源感兴趣该项目研究了短篇小说中代词（如“she”）的处理，作为复杂语言处理的测试案例。将代词如“she”与语篇中出现较早的名词联系起来，长期以来一直被认为是母语使用者和第二语言学习者的挑战，但这两个研究机构都是独立进行的。目前的研究探讨了两组学习者，英语为母语的西班牙语和西班牙语为母语的英语学习者，测试所有参与者在他们的第一和第二语言的代词的处理。 该项目使用事件相关电位（ERP），这是一种大脑成像测量方法，可以检查语言处理过程中使用的精确机制。所有参与者还将采取一系列广泛的个体差异措施，评估语言和认知技能。目的是更好地理解本族语者和第二语言学习者在阅读理解中取得成功的语境和条件。在利用ERP时，对第一和第二语言理解的基础过程进行更细粒度的表征成为可能，这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响进行评估来支持审查标准。