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Lexicon development in bilingual toddler

双语幼儿的词汇发展

基本信息

批准号：
ES/K010123/1
负责人：
Caroline Floccia
金额：
$ 87.46万
依托单位：
Plymouth University
依托单位国家：
英国
项目类别：
Research Grant
财政年份：
2013
资助国家：
英国
起止时间：
2013 至无数据
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=ES%2FK010123%2F1
关键词：
Lexicon development bilingual toddler

项目摘要

Bilingualism, not monolingualism, is the global norm (UNESCO, 2003). We have a good understanding of how the minds of adult bilinguals store words in their two languages: for example, we know that a proficient French-English bilingual, when hearing the English word 'dog', unconsciously inhibits its French equivalent, 'chien'. However, there is little known about how the words are organised in the mind of a young bilingual. This is not a trivial problem as even monolingual children's mental processing of words is different from that of adults. Understanding how bilingual children deal with words has important implications for assessment of their language learning abilities. Bilinguals tend to have delays in critical stages of language development, which can lead to over-referral for Speech and Language Therapy. The opposite problem is also prevalent, under-referral on the basis that some delay, relative to monolinguals, is expected. Such failings in the assessment system are costly for society in the short-term and the long-term, as a child with undetected language problems will struggle academically and socially.The absence of bilingual-specific tools for language assessment can be attributed to (1) lack of knowledge about the architecture of the developing bilingual lexicon (2) the multiple social and linguistic influences on bilingual language development, which are poorly understood, particularly in combination. For example, we know that the linguistic distance between the languages being learnt is very important, but we don't have tools to measure linguistic distance in children.Here we propose to produce a new computer-based model of the developing bilingual lexicon, based on experimental data, that will provide (1) significant advances in our theoretical understanding of bilingualism, and (2) pave the road for the development of a universal tool for the assessment of young bilinguals' language development.This project is organised in three streams: two three-year data-collection streams and a final-year modelling stream. Children will be aged 18 months, which usually marks the onset of a sharp increase in vocabulary development.In the first data-collection stream, we will run a series of experiments examining the organisation of words in bilingual infants. In collaboration with the Oxford Babylab, pairs of spoken words related or unrelated in meaning ('chien'-'pig' or 'chien'-'boat') will be presented accompanied by appropriate pictures. Children's looking times for pictures associated with related versus unrelated pairs will inform us about the strength of connections between words.In the second data-collection stream, we aim to measure the interactions between the external factors influencing vocabulary development in bilinguals. Two hundred and fifty bilingual toddlers will be assessed in five different sites in the UK (Plymouth, Bangor, Birmingham, Kent and Liverpool) to get a large range of specifics in terms of language background and socioeconomic status. Infants' amount and mode of exposure to their two languages will be checked through appropriate questionnaires. Their level of vocabulary in English and the additional language will be evaluated through language-specific MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories (CDI), vocabulary questionnaires with versions for 60 languages. The data from the CDIs will help us to design child-adjusted metrics of distance between the two languages being learned. In the final, modelling stream, the findings from the previous data-collection streams will be used to create a computational model of bilingual lexicon development, which will be able to predict language development in toddlers in different social and linguistic environments.This project will considerably advance our understanding of language processing in young bilinguals, and prepare the ground for the design of a universal language assessment tool for this currently overlooked population.

双语而非单语是全球常态（联合国教科文组织，2003）。我们非常了解成人双语者的大脑如何存储两种语言中的单词：例如，我们知道熟练的法语-英语双语者在听到英语单词“dog”时，会无意识地抑制其法语对应词“chien”。然而，人们对这些单词在年轻双语者的头脑中是如何组织的知之甚少。这不是一个小问题，因为即使是单语儿童，对单词的心理处理也与成人不同。了解双语儿童如何处理单词对于评估他们的语言学习能力具有重要意义。双语者往往在语言发展的关键阶段出现延迟，这可能导致过度转诊言语和语言治疗。相反的问题也很普遍，转介不足是因为相对于单语者而言，预计会出现一些延迟。评估系统的此类失败对社会造成短期和长期的代价，因为语言问题未被发现的孩子将在学业和社交上陷入困境。缺乏双语专用的语言评估工具可归因于（1）缺乏对正在发展的双语词典结构的了解（2）对双语发展的多种社会和语言影响，人们知之甚少，尤其是在组合方面。例如，我们知道正在学习的语言之间的语言距离非常重要，但我们没有工具来测量儿童的语言距离。在这里，我们建议根据实验数据创建一个新的基于计算机的双语词典发展模型，这将提供（1）我们对双语的理论理解的重大进展，以及（2）为开发评估年轻双语者语言发展的通用工具铺平道路。分为三个流：两个为期三年的数据收集流和一个最后一年的建模流。孩子们将满 18 个月，这通常标志着词汇量发展的开始。在第一个数据收集流中，我们将进行一系列实验来检查双语婴儿的单词组织。与牛津婴儿实验室合作，将呈现一对意义相关或无关的口语单词（“chien”-“pig”或“chien”-“boat”）并附有适当的图片。孩子们寻找与相关和不相关配对相关的图片的时间将告诉我们单词之间联系的强度。在第二个数据收集流中，我们的目标是测量影响双语者词汇发展的外部因素之间的相互作用。我们将在英国五个不同地点（普利茅斯、班戈、伯明翰、肯特和利物浦）对 250 名双语幼儿进行评估，以获得语言背景和社会经济地位方面的大量细节。将通过适当的问卷调查检查婴儿接触两种语言的数量和方式。他们的英语和其他语言的词汇水平将通过特定语言的麦克阿瑟-贝茨交际发展量表 (CDI)、包含 60 种语言版本的词汇问卷进行评估。来自 CDI 的数据将帮助我们设计针对儿童所学习的两种语言之间距离的调整指标。在最后的建模流程中，之前数据收集流程的结果将用于创建双语词典发展的计算模型，该模型将能够预测不同社会和语言环境中幼儿的语言发展。该项目将大大增进我们对年轻双语者语言处理的理解，并为为当前被忽视的人群设计通用语言评估工具奠定基础。