Doctoral Dissertation Research: The influence of local social context on speech perception in bilinguals

双语者动态地调整他们的语言使用以应对社会环境。 例如，他们对对话伙伴的语言知识的感知会影响他们对互动中需要或合适的语言的期望。 双语语言控制理论，考虑双语者如何参与和切换他们的语言，假设社会信息在这些过程中的作用，但没有确定哪些方面是相关的。 此外，在研究中考虑了社会背景对双语者的语言控制机制的作用，他们传统上使用的措施，是不是本地定位，因此，不捕捉本地化的社会意义可能会影响双语语言处理和控制的方式。然而，为了更好地反映双语者是如何交流的，双语语言控制理论必须考虑双语者在当地语境中使用他们的语言所产生的社会意义。通过半结构化访谈，社会评价任务，并与墨西哥裔美国人，西班牙语-英语双语者的感知任务，这个博士论文项目将探讨当地的社会意义如何塑造双语者的期望什么语言（S）有人会说，因此，他们的看法，那个人的讲话。 这项工作有助于了解如何详细的，以社区为基础的社会信息参与双语语言的感知和控制过程，扩大我们的知识，什么方面的社会背景的事项双语者时，感知和生产language.This奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响力审查标准进行评估的支持。

Bilinguals dynamically adapt their language use in response to social context. Their perception of a conversation partner’s language knowledge, for example, can influence their expectations for what language(s) are needed or appropriate in an interaction. Theories of bilingual language control, which consider how bilinguals engage and switch between their languages, postulate a role for social information in these processes but have not determined what aspects are relevant. Furthermore, where studies have considered the role of social context on bilinguals’ language control mechanisms, they have traditionally utilized measures that are not locally situated and, therefore, do not capture the ways in which localized social meanings may impact bilingual language processing and control. To better reflect how bilinguals communicate, however, theories of bilingual language control must account for the social meanings that bilinguals associate with the use of their languages within a local context. Through semi-structured interviews, social evaluation tasks, and perception tasks with Mexican American, Spanish-English bilinguals, this doctoral dissertation project will investigate how local social meanings shape bilinguals’ expectations of what language(s) someone will speak and, consequently, their perception of that person’s speech. This work contributes to the understanding of how detailed, community-grounded social information is engaged in bilingual language perception and control processes, expanding our knowledge of what aspects of social context matter for bilinguals when perceiving and producing 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.