Doctoral Dissertation Research: Testing the Three-Stage Model of Second Language Skill Acquisition

学习第二语言是一项令人印象深刻的壮举，它可以带来社会、专业和文化上的好处。这个研究项目考察了第二语言学习者在试图掌握第二语言时所经历的阶段数量。当代最具影响力的理论认为，第二语言技能的习得是一个三个阶段的过程：(i)从最初缓慢的知识应用，（ii）通过最初的行为改变，（iii）到最终流利和自动的行为。目前，有间接证据支持这三个阶段的存在，但这些阶段的数量和性质尚未通过有针对性的研究进行仔细研究。通过对语言学习者经历的阶段和阶段的重新界定，本研究可以为现代语言教学和评估提供信息，使更多的第二语言学习者能够达到较高的语言水平。为了研究第二语言习得的阶段，参与者将学习和练习理解和创造一种语言的微型版本，直到他们达到高速度和准确性（“自动化”）。一半的参与者在练习之前会接受关于语言词汇和语法的明确指导，而另一半则不会接受事先指导，而是被动地接触语言的词汇和句子。这些情况分别反映了美国自然语言学习的两大背景，即教师主导的课堂学习和自然主义语言学习。参与者来自理解和生产实践的数据将使用隐马尔可夫模型进行分析，隐马尔可夫模型是一种新的认知建模方法，将用于测试三阶段获取模型是否比其他模型（例如，两阶段模型）更好地解释数据。一旦计算确定了技能习得阶段的数量，回归分析将调查三组认知能力——陈述性记忆、程序性记忆和精神运动能力——哪一组预测了每个技能习得阶段的学习。本研究的结果将直接服务于各种各样的第二语言学习者(a)通过揭示指导性和自然主义学习者是否以及如何获得自动性和(b)通过确定哪些认知特征使一个人成为成功的学习者。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Learning a second language is an impressive feat that can bear societal, professional, and cultural benefits. This research project examines the number of stages that second language learners go through as they attempt to master a second language. The most influential contemporary theory holds that second language skill acquisition is a three-stage process: (i) from initial slow application of knowledge, (ii) through initial changes in behavior, (iii) to eventual fluent and automatic behavior. At present, there is indirect evidence that supports the existence of these three stages, yet the number and the nature of the stages have not been examined closely through targeted research. By newly establishing what stages language learners go through, and how many, this research can inform modern language teaching and assessment and empower more second language learners to reach high language proficiency. To investigate the stages of second language acquisition, participants will learn and practice comprehending and producing a miniature version of a language until they reach high speed and accuracy ('automaticity'). Half the participants will receive explicit instruction about the vocabulary and grammar of the language before they engage in practice, whereas the other half will not receive prior instruction but will be passively exposed to vocabulary items and sentences of the language. These conditions mirror two broad contexts for natural language learning in the U.S., namely, teacher-led classroom learning and naturalistic language learning, respectively. Participants' data from comprehension and production practice will be analyzed using hidden Markov modeling, a novel method of cognitive modeling that will be used to test whether the three-stage acquisition model accounts for the data better than other models (for example, a two-stage model) do. Once the number of skill acquisition stages has been determined computationally, a regression analysis will investigate which of three sets of cognitive abilities - declarative memory, procedural memory, and psychomotor ability - predicts learning at each skill acquisition stage. Results of this study will directly serve a wide variety of second language learners (a) by revealing whether and how instructed and naturalistic learners attain automaticity and (b) by identifying what cognitive characteristics make one a successful learner.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.