Doctoral Dissertation Research: Language-Specific Constraints on Scope Interpretation in First Language Acquisition

语言习得理论的核心问题是确定儿童如何学习什么是可能的，什么是不可能的。这个问题对于存在于语法和语义边界的现象尤其尖锐，其中(a)从表面形式到意义的映射通常是复杂的，(b)语言在形式和意义的对齐方式上各不相同。本项目旨在通过对范围解释的语言特定约束的习得，探索语法-语义映射的特征以及对这种映射的学习。日语中的一些结构没有显示出相应的英语句子所显示的范围歧义。在科林·菲利普斯（Colin Phillips）博士和杰弗里·利兹（Jeffrey Lidz）博士的指导下，五郎拓哉先生将使用“真理价值判断任务”（Truth - Value Judgment Task）来调查日本学龄前儿童对这些结构的解释。该项目的研究结果将扩大收购范围研究的实证覆盖范围。在这一领域的许多先前的研究已经调查了语用和加工约束，这些约束可能是儿童对范围模糊句子的表面范围解释的偏见的基础。相比之下，这个项目侧重于儿童对排除某些范围解释的约束的掌握。该项目还将有助于更好地理解范围解释中特定语言约束习得的机制。此外，该项目将确定儿童是否对特定类型的解释有最初的偏见，从而有助于理解语言学习的初始状态。这项研究的一个更广泛的影响是，该研究项目将有助于建立日语语言习得研究的新伙伴关系，建立在与幼儿园建立机构联系的基础上，并培训日本研究人员使用最先进的语言发展研究方法。与幼儿园合作在美国很常见，但在日本相对较少。以这种方式发展的新关系不仅有利于本研究项目，而且有利于未来在日语和英语比较语言习得研究方面的国际合作。

A central problem for a theory of language acquisition is to determine how children learn both what is possible and what is not possible. This problem is especially acute for phenomena residing at the boundary between syntax and semantics, where (a) the mapping from surface form to meaning is often complex and (b) languages vary in how form and meaning align. This project aims to use the acquisition of language-specific constraints on scope interpretation as a probe into the character of the syntax-semantics mapping and the learning of this mapping. Several constructions in Japanese do not show scope ambiguities that the corresponding English sentences exhibit. Under the direction of Dr. Colin Phillips and Dr. Jeffrey Lidz, Mr. Takuya Goro will investigate Japanese preschool children's interpretations of those constructions, using the Truth Value Judgment Task. The results from the project will expand the empirical coverage of studies on the acquisition of scope. Much previous research in this domain has investigated the pragmatic and processing constraints that might underlie children's bias for surface scope interpretations of scopally ambiguous sentences. In contrast, this project focuses on children's mastery of constraints that exclude certain scope interpretations. The project will also contribute to an improved understanding of the mechanism that is involved in the acquisition of language-specific constraints on scope interpretations Furthermore, the project will determine whether children have initial biases towards particular kinds of interpretations, and will therefore contribute to an understanding of the initial state of language learning. One broader impact of the study is that the research project will help to establish new partnerships for language acquisition research on Japanese, based on developing institutional connections with preschools, and training Japanese researchers in state-of-the-art research methods in the study of language development. Partnerships with preschools are common in the US, but relatively rare in Japan. The new relationships developed in this way will benefit not only this research project, but also future international collaborations on comparative language acquisition studies on Japanese and English.