Doctoral Dissertation Research: Using syntactic priming to identify cross-language constraints in bilingual language processing

双语语言加工的一个特点是在产出性理解中只使用一种语言时两种语言的平行激活。为了从无数共同激活的单词中选择一种单一语言中的单词，双语者利用一种精细的语言控制机制，这种机制可能会影响认知和执行功能。然而，这一机制的确切性质尚不清楚。在国家科学基金会的支持下，Jason Gullifer先生将在朱迪思·克罗尔博士和Paola Dussias博士的指导下为他的论文收集数据。使用包括行为和电生理测量在内的一系列实验方法，Gullifer和他的同事将调查英语和西班牙语在句子结构上的差异是否可以作为线索，使说这两种语言的双语者在理解过程中做出语言选择。在句子语境中命名单词的反应时间和与这些单词的呈现时间锁定的大脑电位将被用来检验语言之间的结构差异可以影响语言共同激活程度的假设。一项独立的行为实验利用一种测量跨语言句法启动的方法来确定西班牙语和英语之间每个结构的表征重叠程度，揭示了跨语言重叠程度与语言共同激活之间的关系。多样性的增加使得学习第二语言来加强交流变得重要。2005年，美国科学促进会的出版物《科学》将第二语言学习的生物学基础确定为未来25年内最重要的125个科学研究问题之一。这项研究通过提出语言理解和产生的模型来指导语言学习。学习第二语言也会给认知带来好处，这项由基金资助的研究将确定一种实现语言选择的机制，帮助回答双语如何影响认知的问题。拟议的研究包括一个指导本科生研究助理的组成部分，让历史上在科学研究中代表性不足的个人参与进来。

A hallmark of bilingual language processing is the parallel activation of the two languages during the use of only one language in production comprehension. In order to select a word in a single language from the myriad of co-activated words, bilinguals exploit an exquisite mechanism of language control that may come to affect cognitive and executive function. However, the exact nature of this mechanism is unknown. With National Science Foundation support, Mr. Jason Gullifer will collect data for his dissertation under the direction of Drs. Judith Kroll and Paola Dussias. Using an array of experimental methodologies, including behavioral and electrophysiological measures, Gullifer and colleagues will investigate whether differences in sentence structure between English and Spanish can function as a cue enabling bilingual speakers of those two languages to make a language choice during comprehension. Reaction times to name words in the context of sentences and brain potentials time-locked to the presentation of those words will be used to test the hypothesis that structural differences between languages can influence the degree of language co-activation. An independent behavioral experiment utilizing a method to measure cross-language syntactic priming will be used to determine the degree of representational overlap of each of the structures between Spanish and English, revealing the relationship between the degree of cross-language overlap and language co-activation.The funded research has a number of broader impacts. Increasing diversity makes it important to learn a second language to enhance communication. The biological basis of second language learning was identified in 2005 in the AAAS publication 'Science' as one of the top 125 questions for scientific inquiry over the next quarter-century. The proposed research informs language learning by advancing models of language comprehension and production. Learning a second language also confers benefits to cognition, and the funded research will identify one mechanism by which language selection is achieved, helping to answer the question of how bilingualism impacts cognition. The proposed research includes a component for the mentorship of undergraduate research assistants by involving individuals who have been historically underrepresented in scientific research.