Doctoral Dissertation Research: Acquisition of Complex Chickasaw Linguistic Constructions in an Endangered Language Context

学习世界主要语言的人可以通过正式教学或非正式地沉浸在语言社区中获得流利的另一种语言。正规和非正规学习反映了不同层次和类型的分析和适应过程。Juliet Morgan在俄克拉荷马大学的Racquel Yamada的指导下，将研究获得Chickasaw[cic]流利程度所涉及的学习过程，Chickasaw[cic]是俄克拉何马州的一种马斯科吉语，讲流利的第一语言的人约有65人，年龄均在50岁以上。该项目将探索在这种独特的情况下的学习过程，由于语言的低功能使用，正式教学和非正式接触受到高度限制。朱丽叶·摩根将从参与师徒语言学习计划的Chickasaw的成年学习者那里收集数据。师徒教学法是专门为教授濒危语言而开发的，它将一位流利的长辈与一名或一群学习者配对，后者每周多次会面，目的是专门用濒危语言进行交流。使用人种学和语言文献方法，摩根将从契卡索学徒那里收集横断面和纵向数据。通过分析这些互动的输入和输出，她将分析习得的顺序、发展阶段和学习者的种类。摩根将专注于学习者如何使用形态句法(他们如何创造单词和句子)和语篇(他们如何将句子组织成更大的语言单位)与长辈的多样性相似。此外，这项研究还将调查年长的流利说话者如何感知二语学习者的演讲。对土著语言的习得研究很少，因为流利的发言者和语言教学材料往往无法用于语言教学。进行这类研究的机会正在迅速减少，因为母语为流利的人的数量减少的速度快于新兴的流利学习者的数量。朱丽叶·摩根的研究提供了无与伦比的途径，通过这些独特的变量集来获取学习信息。这项研究将通过提供评估师徒法中什么是最有效的方法，对契卡索民族的语言振兴努力产生影响。

Learners of major world languages can acquire fluency in an additional language through formal instruction or informally through immersion in a speech community. Formal and informal learning reflect different levels and types of analytic and adaptive processes. Juliet Morgan under the direction of Racquel Yamada of the University of Oklahoma will investigate the learning processes involved in acquiring fluency in Chickasaw [cic], a Muskogean language spoken in Oklahoma by approximately 65 fluent first language speakers, all over the age of fifty. The project will explore learning processes in this unique case where formal instruction and informal exposure are highly constrained due to the low functional use of the language.Juliet Morgan will collect data from adult learners of Chickasaw involved in the Master-Apprentice language learning program. Developed specifically for teaching endangered languages, the Master-Apprentice teaching method pairs a fluent elder with a learner or group of learners who meet multiple times a week for the purpose of communicating exclusively in the endangered language. Using ethnographic and language documentation methodologies, Morgan will collect cross-sectional and longitudinal data from Chickasaw apprentices. Analyzing the input and output of these interactions, she will analyze the order of acquisition, developmental stages, and learner varieties. Morgan will focus on how the learners' use of morphosyntax (how they create words and sentences) and discourse (how they organize sentence into larger linguistic units) approximates the elder's variety. Additionally, the research will investigate how the elder fluent speakers perceive the speech of the L2 learner. Acquisition studies of indigenous languages are rare since fluent speakers and language teaching materials are often unavailable for language teaching and learning to occur. Opportunities to conduct studies of this sort are quickly declining, as the number of fluent native speakers dwindles faster than the number of emerging fluent learners. Juliet Morgan's research provides unparalleled access to information on learning with these unique set of variables. This research will have implications for the Chickasaw Nation language revitalization efforts by providing the means to assess what is most effective in the Master-Apprentice method.