Doctoral Dissertation Research: Child/Adult Differences in Implicit/Explicit Knowledge of a Second Language

人们认为孩子们会自然地“习得”语言，而成年人则必须学习语法才能学习第二语言(L2)。成年的二语学习者通常会形成关于二语的广泛的显性知识(有意识的、可以用语言表达的知识)，但可能缺乏隐性知识(不能用语言表达的知识，但可以快速、轻松地获取)。相反的情况在儿童中很常见。但儿童也会体验到与成人截然不同的学习环境。内隐/外显语言知识的年龄差异是成熟的还是环境的？本研究探讨了不同学习条件下的成人和儿童如何发展内隐和外显的二语知识，特别是问(1)儿童是否偏爱内隐知识，(2)成年人是否偏爱外显知识，以及(3)当儿童和成人处于相同的受控训练条件下，这种情况是否仍然成立。到目前为止，还没有进行过这样的研究，因为关于内隐/外显知识的研究只测试成年人，而关于儿童的研究没有包括任务比较。在国家科学基金会的支持下，将开展两项关于儿童和成人显性和隐性知识的研究。第一项研究测试了儿童和年轻的二语学习者，他们在动词词法的内隐和外显知识方面有相似的教学经验。第二项研究训练成人和儿童说一种人工迷你语言；一半的受试者接受明确的规则指导，另一半的受试者不接受。这些研究的目的是检验年龄或教育是否是决定对显性知识和隐性知识的依赖的主要因素。这项研究有助于讨论儿童和成人的语言学习是否从根本上相似或不同，有助于发展终身语言学习理论。研究结果可望对不同年龄段的有效教学方法的发展有所启示。

It is thought that children "pick up" languages naturally, whereas adults must study grammar in order to learn a second language (L2). Adult L2 learners typically develop extensive explicit knowledge about the L2 (knowledge that is conscious and can be verbalized), but may lack implicit knowledge (knowledge that cannot be verbalized, but can be accessed quickly and easily.) The reverse is typical of children. But children also experience a very different learning environment from adults. Are age differences in implicit/explicit language knowledge maturational, or environmental?This dissertation research explores how adults and children in different learning conditions develop implicit and explicit L2 knowledge, specifically asking (1) whether children favor implicit knowledge, (2) whether adults favor explicit knowledge, and (3) whether this still holds when children and adults are under the same controlled training conditions. Such research has not been done to date, since research on implicit/explicit knowledge only tests adults, and research on children has not included task comparisons. With support from the National Science Foundation, two studies addressing explicit and implicit knowledge in children and adults will be carried out. The first tests child and young adult L2 learners of Spanish who have had similar instructional experiences on their implicit and explicit knowledge of verb morphology. The second study trains adults and children to speak an artificial mini-language; half the subjects receive explicit rule instruction, and the other half do not. The goal of these studies is to examine whether age or instruction is the primary factor in determining reliance on explicit vs. implicit knowledge. This research contributes to the discussion of whether child and adult language learning are fundamentally similar or different, helping to develop theories of language learning across the lifespan. Results are expected to have implications for the development of effective pedagogy for different age groups.