RUI: Lexical and Conceptual Memory in the Bilingual

个体通过什么过程习得第二语言？在学习第二语言单词的早期阶段，人们经常报告说他们意识到自己的第一语言。然而，随着他们对第二语言的掌握越来越熟练，他们开始报告说，他们可以直接用第二语言思考，而不需要参考第一语言。尽管有经验证据支持这些常见的观察，但我们并不完全了解记忆是如何改变以适应新语言中单词的习得的，或者熟练的双语者是如何发展认知机制，使他们能够快速掌握每种语言以及语言之间的相互联系。本研究的总体目标是探索成人习得第二语言时记忆的变化，并比较初学者和熟练双语者的表现。这项研究的一个具体目标是测试和评估一种新的跨语言互连模型，在这种模型中，两种语言之间的连接被认为是不对称的。该模型提出，在不同的语言中，词汇表征之间的联系强度是不对称的。该模型还提出了词汇表征和概念之间的不对称性。两项研究将检验新模型的预测。第一个是对命名、翻译、启动和记忆任务中的跨语言表现的预测。本研究的核心观点是，翻译有两种不同的途径：从第一语言到第二语言的翻译需要理解第二语言单词的意思，而从第二语言到第一语言的翻译可以在两种语言中单词之间的联系的基础上完成。一组实验将评估这一说法的证据，并测试对后期记忆表现的影响。第二项研究将通过确定影响个人流利掌握第二语言的速度的因素，探索在成人第二语言学习过程中假设的跨语言不对称的发展。这些实验的结果将对记忆理论和理解语言处理的水平及其相互作用具有重要意义。此外，通过识别二语习得过程中对二语词汇建立新的记忆系统的方式，本研究将为基础认知研究在二语教学和双语教育中的应用提供思路。鉴于我国社会不断变化的人口特征，这是一个日益重要的问题。

By what process do individuals acquire a second language? During early stages of learning second language words, people often report being aware of their first language. However, as they become more proficient in the second language, they begin to report that they can think directly in the second language without reference to the first language. Although there is empirical evidence to support these common observations, we do not fully understand how memory changes to accommodate the acquisition of words in a new language, or how skilled bilinguals develop cognitive mechanisms that allow them rapid access to each language and also to the interconnections between their languages. The general goal of this research is to explore the changes in memory that occur as adults acquire a second language, and to compare the performance of beginning second language learners to skilled bilinguals. A specific goal of the research is to test and evaluate a new model of cross-language interconnection in which the connections between the two languages are thought to be asymmetric. The model proposes that there are asymmetries in the strength of the connections between lexical (word-to-word) representations in different languages. The model also proposes asymmetries between lexical representations and concepts. Two lines of research will test the predictions of the new model. The first concerns predictions for cross-language performance in naming, translation, priming, and memory tasks. A central claim in this work is that there are two different routes to translation: translation from the first language to the second language requires understanding the meaning of the second language word, whereas translation from the second language to the first can be accomplished on the basis of associations between words in the two languages. One set of experiments will evaluate the evidence for this claim and also test implications for later memory performance. A second line of research will explore the development of the hypothesized cross-language asymmetries over the course of second language learning in adults by determining the factors that influence how quickly an individual becomes fluent in the second language. The results of the proposed experiments will have important implications for theories of memory and for understanding levels of language processing and their interaction. In addition, by identifying the way in which a new memory system is established for second language words during second language acquisition, the research will suggest ways in which basic cognitive research can be applied to second language instruction and bilingual education. Given the changing demographic characteristics of our society, this is an issue of increasing importance.