Doctoral Dissertation Research: Learning and processing mechanisms for singular they/them pronouns

使用代词“他们”而不是单数“他”或“她”来指代一个孤独的人，在不同的目的上受到了不同的接受，对一些听众和说话者来说可能是一种挑战，尽管从历史上看，单数--他们在语言中根深蒂固。例如，许多人在实际的语言表达中仍然会犯错误，尽管他们并不打算错别化他人。单数They的错误尤其常见，这一现象正变得越来越普遍和被接受(2021年，46%的美国年轻人认识使用They/Them代词的人，2018年这一比例为32%)，但对许多说话者来说，这仍然是新的。这个项目询问为什么会出现这样的错误，并测试学习策略和言语产生的结果。这个项目利用句子处理、言语产生、视角选择和基于错误的学习方法来提出关于语言学习和产生机制的新问题。在有希望的初步数据的基础上，拟议的实验调查了单数在语言处理过程中如何出现困难，在可选代词之间的选择如何受到语境的影响，以及哪些策略支持学习记住人们陈述的代词并流利地产生单数。取消识别的数据和代码将与研究预登记一起公开。除了为减少性别混杂提供循证的最佳实践外，拟议研究的结果还将促进对语言学习和演讲产出的理解。这一奖项反映了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。

The use of the pronoun “they” instead of singular “he” or “she” to refer to a lone individual has met with mixed acceptance for a variety of purposes and can be challenging for some listeners and speakers despite the fact that, historically, singular-they is well entrenched in the language. For example, many people who don't intend to misgender others still make errors in their actual language production. Errors are particularly common with singular they, which is becoming more common and more accepted (46% of younger Americans in 2021 know someone who uses they/them pronouns, up from 32% in 2018), but is still new to many speakers. This project asks why errors like these occur, and tests learning strategies and speech production outcomes.This project draws on sentence processing, speech production, perspective-taking, and error-based learning approaches to ask novel questions about mechanisms of language learning and production. Building on promising preliminary data, the proposed experiments investigate how difficulties with singular they arise during language processing, how choices between alternative pronouns are affected by context, and what strategies support learning to remember people’s stated pronouns and fluently produce singular they. De-identified data and code will be made publicly available, along with study pre-registrations. In addition to informing evidence-based best practices for reducing misgendering, the findings of the proposed studies will advance understanding of language learning and speech production.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.