Doctoral Dissertation Research: Parent Input Effects on Heritage Speakers Knowledge of Mood Selection

该奖项的全部或部分资金来自《2021年美国救援计划法案》(公法117-2)。说传统语言的人在家庭中长大，在家庭中除了使用社会的多数语言外，还使用少数人的语言，他们的语法系统在模式上与说单一语言的人和将传统语言作为第二语言学习的人不同，但这一过程的性质仍然存在许多问题。描述和解释语言语法的哪些方面最常发生变化，以及这些变化在传播过程中发生在哪里，这是一个长期存在的问题。传统语法主要在大学环境中的成年双语者中进行研究，并假设在儿童层面上存在群体差异。然而，父母的语法也被证明会随着说话者的寿命而发生变化。儿童和父母说话者的语言表现的直接证据可以告诉我们，哪些结构存在但没有习得，哪些结构没有出现在输入本身中。统计方法的进步有助于理解与语言传播有关的亲子输入/迁移问题。通过研究说话人语法表征的这些小范围代际变化和涉及的说话人特征，本研究有助于理解双语习得过程。本研究采用二元设计(1个父母，1个孩子)，这为传统语法的研究提供了新的方法论和分析贡献。亲子输入迁移是通过理解-产生语气选择(指示语和虚拟语气)这一传统语言中公认的变量现象，通过时间可接受性评分和引出的产生任务来探索的。这项研究考察了1)孩子-父母的情绪选择，2)内部(绝对语境与可变语境)和外部因素(例如，说话者的语言经验和熟练程度)的影响，以及3)父母使用情绪对孩子产生的直接影响。包括二元分析在内的统计模型将直接测试父母情绪产生对儿童理解的影响，以及影响成员自身表现的个人因素。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2). Heritage language speakers, who grow up in household where a minority language is used in addition to the society's majority language, have a grammatical system that differs in patterned ways from monolingual speakers and those learning the heritage language as a second language, but many questions remain about the nature of this process. Characterizing and explaining what aspects of the language's grammar are most commonly changed, and where in the transmission process these changes occur is a longstanding question. Heritage grammars have been primarily studied in adult bilinguals in university settings, and group differences are assumed to occur at the level of the child. However, parents' grammars have also been shown to change over speakers' lifespans. Direct evidence of language performance from child and parent speakers can inform which structures were present but not acquired and which structures were absent from the input itself. Statistical methodological advances can aid in understanding questions of parent-child input/transfer related to language transmission. By studying these small-scale intergenerational changes in speakers' grammatical representations and the speaker characteristics involved, this study contributes to an understanding of bilingual acquisition processes.This study uses a dyadic design (1 parent, 1 child), which offers novel methodological and analytical contributions to the study of heritage grammars. Parent–child input transfer is explored through the comprehension–production of mood selection (indicative vs. subjunctive), a well-established variable phenomenon, in the heritage language through timed acceptability ratings and an elicited production task. The study examines 1) child–parent mood selection, 2) the effect of internal (categorical vs. variable contexts) and external factors (e.g., speakers' language experience and proficiency), and 3) the direct effect of parent's use of mood on child production. Statistical models including dyadic analyses will directly test the effect of parent mood production on child comprehension and the individual factors that contribute to members' own performance.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.