Markedness and Learnability in Second Language Phonology

第二语言音系学的标记性和可学习性

• 批准号: 7047278
• 负责人: FRED R ECKMAN
• 金额: $ 28.63万
• 依托单位: UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN MILWAUKEE
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2006
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2006-08-01 至 2011-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/7047278
• 关键词: behavior test; behavioral /social science research tag; clinical research; educational psychology; human subject; language development; language translation; learning transfer; nonEnglish language; perception; phonology; psycholinguistics; response generalization; speech; teaching; training; verbal learning

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The aim of this research is to show that universal generalizations which govern the operation of primary languages hold also for non-primary language systems, including non-native languages (L2). It is hypothesized that these universals are in fact constraints on learnability, and therefore can be used as strategies for language teaching. The research focuses on second language phonology, the part of L2 acquisition responsible for the patterning of non-native speech sounds. The universal used in the proposed research is an implicational generalization about the domain in which a phonemic contrast can hold in a language. This generalization states that if a language has a phonemic contrast in morphologically composite words, it also necessarily has this contrast in morphologically simple words, but not vice versa. The claims underlying the proposed research are that this generalization holds also for L2, that it imposes constraints on the kind of language systems that humans can develop, and that it can be used as a strategy for language teaching. The strategy employed in the proposed research is to instruct learners on certain phonemic contrasts in only one of two phonological domains, one which is permitted by the generalization, and the other which is excluded by it. The prediction is that those subjects who are taught the contrast only in the phonological environment that is excluded by the generalization will generalize the learning to include the other domain, thereby learning a system that is sanctioned by the generalization, but that those learners who are trained only on the contrast that is allowed by the universal will not necessarily generalize this learning to the other environment. Two studies involving 120 subjects from four native-language backgrounds are planned. The studies address three hypotheses focusing on six different phonemic contrasts, and entail analyses of the subjects' production and perception of the contrasts in1 question. The production study will be a phonological analysis of the contrasts in both domains specified by the universal generalization; the perception study will investigate whether the implicational generalization holds also when the subjects perceive the contrasts. The health relatedness of this research is that our current pluralistic society includes many different varieties of American English, including those termed "accented" English produced by people for whom English is not a native language. These non-native forms of English are a product of 1) the rules of an individual's native language, 2) the patterns of English, and 3) principles governing how humans learn. This study will allow us to examine normal language development in second-language learners as a product of explicit training in English, especially as it relates to possible universal constraints that all humans might be subject to in all language learning. This research will lead to a better understanding of the mechanisms of normal L2 development in bilingual and limited-English populations in the United States.

描述（由申请人提供）：本研究的目的是表明，支配主要语言操作的普遍概括也适用于非主要语言系统，包括非母语（L2）。这些共性实际上是对可学性的限制，因此可以作为语言教学的策略。研究的重点是第二语言语音学，这是第二语言习得的一部分，负责非母语语音的模式。在所提出的研究中普遍使用的是一个关于音位对比在一种语言中可以保持的域的隐含概括。这种概括表明，如果一种语言在形态复合词中存在音位对比，那么它在形态简单词中也必然存在这种对比，但反之则不然。这项研究的主张是，这种概括也适用于第二语言，它对人类可以发展的语言系统施加了限制，它可以作为语言教学的一种策略。本研究采用的策略是只在两个语音领域中的一个领域中指导学习者进行某些音位对比，一个是被泛化所允许的，另一个是被泛化所排除的。预测是，那些只在被泛化所排除的语音环境中教授对比的受试者将泛化学习包括另一个领域，从而学习一个由泛化所认可的系统，但是那些只在普遍允许的对比上训练的学习者不一定会将这种学习推广到其他环境。计划进行两项研究，涉及来自四种母语背景的120名受试者。本研究提出了三个假设，重点研究了六种不同的音位对比，并分析了受试者对一个问题中音位对比的产生和感知。产出研究是对普遍概括所指定的两个领域中的对比进行语音分析;感知研究是考察当受试者感知到对比时，隐含概括是否也成立。这项研究的健康相关性是，我们目前的多元化社会包括许多不同的美式英语，包括那些被称为“口音”英语的人产生的英语不是母语。这些英语的非母语形式是1）个人母语规则，2）英语模式和3）人类学习原则的产物。这项研究将使我们能够检查正常的语言发展在第二语言学习者作为一个产品的明确的培训英语，特别是因为它涉及到可能的普遍限制，所有的人可能会受到所有的语言学习。这项研究将导致更好地了解在双语和有限的英语人群在美国的正常L2发展的机制。