Doctoral Dissertation Research: Processing of L2-specific multi-word units and the impact on representation and generalization: an ERP study

在2017年关于美国语言的报告中，美国艺术与科学学院语言学习委员会建议“制定一项国家战略，为每个地区，种族和社会经济背景的人提供尽可能多的语言。重视语言教育，将其视为与数学或英语教育类似的持续的国家需求，并确保每个学生都能达到有用的熟练程度。https://www.amacad.org/content/publications/pubContent.aspx? d=22478）。本论文是朝着开始回答这一呼吁迈出的一步。成人第二语言学习者通常能够在一定程度上使用外语，但母语在第二语言学习和使用过程中的影响对熟练程度产生负面影响。第二语言学习者经常会遇到这样的挫折：试图记住第二语言中最近学过的单词，但只能用母语检索单词。因此，一个重要的目标是学会调节母语的干扰，以达到更高的第二语言熟练度。本项目旨在研究如何做到这一点。学习西班牙语的英语使用者的大脑电生理活动将在学习新单词组合的过程中进行测量，例如，“dutar dudas”。“这个搭配字面上翻译为“唤醒疑虑”，但在英语中是用短语“提出疑问”来表达的。使用像“reputar dudas”这样的词语组合需要取消英文翻译的对应词“raise doubts”。该研究项目将研究在需要忽略母语干扰的条件下与学习相关的大脑活动，以研究当学习者接触新输入时，它们是否会导致更好的学习和概括。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

In their 2017 report on America's languages, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences' Commission on Language Learning recommends "a national strategy to improve access to as many languages as possible for people of every region, ethnicity, and socioeconomic background...to value language education as a persistent national need similar to education in math or English, and to ensure that a useful level of proficiency is within every student's reach" https://www.amacad.org/content/publications/pubContent.aspx?d=22478). This dissertation is a step towards beginning to answer this call. Adult second language learners are often able to function at some level in a foreign language, but the influence of the native language during second language learning and use is known to negatively affect proficiency levels. Second language learners often experience the frustration of trying to remember a recently learned word in a second language, but only being able to retrieve the word in the native language. An important goal, then, is to learn to regulate interference from the native language to achieve higher proficiency in a second language. This project proposes to investigate how this might be possible. The electrophysiological brain activity of English speakers who are learning Spanish will be measured during the learning of new word combinations, for example, "despertar dudas." This collocation literally translates as "awaken doubts" but is expressed in English with the phrase "raise doubts". Using a word combination like "despertar dudas" requires the suppression of the English translation equivalent "raise doubts". This research project will examine the brain activity associated with learning in conditions that require ignoring interference from the native language to examine whether they lead to better learning and generalization when learners are exposed to new input.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.