Examining Native Language Variability and its Effects on Second Language Processing: An Event-Related Potentials Investigation of Referential Dependencies

这个项目考察了第一语言和第二语言的语言能力之间存在联系的程度，目的是更好地理解预测跨语言阅读理解成功的因素。尽管语言技能对经济安全和国家安全都至关重要，但美国正处于一场外语危机之中，只有30%的高中生和8%的大学生在学习外语课程(《国家安全危机》，2012)。提高我们预测成功学习语言的能力将使我们更好地理解需要加强的技能，以便为语言学习提供更坚实的基础，从而使教学实践的发展有可能增加成功学习者的数量。该项目将采取一种独特的方法，即在同一个人中审查第一和第二语言，从而解决关于第二语言的处理是否与母语的处理有根本不同的理论辩论。这个项目将在大学和更大的社区内提供教育机会。在大学一级，该项目将为来自代表性不足的少数群体的本科生提供培训机会。在社区层面，研究人员将在当地高中和公共图书馆发表演讲，讨论双语的社会、文化、教育、经济和认知优势，并提供有关可用于语言学习的资源的信息，重点是为以英语为母语的人和对保持其母语的资源感兴趣的移民群体提供资源。该项目研究短篇小说中代词的处理，作为复杂语言处理的测试案例。长期以来，把“她”这样的代词与话语中出现得更早的名词联系起来，对以英语为母语的人和第二语言学习者来说都是具有挑战性的，但这两个研究机构一直在独立进行。目前的研究考察了两组学习者的代词加工，一组是说西班牙语的英语学习者，另一组是说西班牙语的英语学习者，测试了所有参与者的第一语言和第二语言。该项目使用事件相关电位(ERP)，这是一种大脑成像测量方法，可以检查语言处理过程中使用的精确机制。所有参与者还将采取广泛的个体差异测量，评估语言和认知技能。目的是为了更好地理解母语人士和第二语言学习者在阅读理解中取得成功的语境和条件。通过使用ERP，可以对第一和第二语言的基本理解过程进行更细粒度的表征，从而更好地了解第二语言的处理是否真的与母语的处理有质的不同。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project examines the extent to which there is a link between language abilities in a first and second language with the goal of providing a better understanding of the factors that predict successful reading comprehension across languages. Although language skills are critical for both economic security and national security, the U.S. is in a foreign language 'crisis,' with only 30% of high school students and 8% of college students taking foreign language courses (A National Security Crisis, 2012). Improving our ability to predict successful language learning will provide a better understanding of the skills that need to be reinforced in order to provide a stronger foundation for language learning, allowing the development of pedagogical practices that can potentially increase the number of successful learners. The project will address theoretical debates regarding whether or not the processing of a second language is fundamentally different from the processing of a native language by taking a unique approach in which both the first and second languages are examined within the same individuals. This project will provide educational opportunities within both the university and the larger community. At the university level, the project will provide training opportunities for undergraduate students from under-represented minority groups. At the community level, the researchers will give presentations at local high schools and at the public library in which the social, cultural, educational, economic, and cognitive advantages of being bilingual will be discussed and information about the resources available for language learning will be provided, emphasizing resources for both English native speakers and immigrant populations who may be interested in resources for maintaining their home languages.The project examines the processing of pronouns such as "she" in short stories as a test case for complex language processing. Linking a pronoun such as "she" with a noun that has come much earlier in the discourse has long been recognized as challenging for both native speakers and second language learners but the two bodies of research have proceeded independently. The current study examines the processing of pronouns in two groups of learners, English-speaking learners of Spanish and Spanish-speaking learners of English, testing all participants in both their first and second languages. The project uses event-related potentials (ERP), a brain imaging measure that allows the examination of the precise mechanisms that are used during language processing. All participants will also take an extensive battery of individual difference measures which assess both linguistic and cognitive skills. The goal is to develop a better understanding of the contexts and conditions under which native speakers and second language learners are successful in reading comprehension. In utilizing ERP, a more fine-grained characterization of the processes underlying comprehension in the first and second languages becomes possible, leading to a better understanding of whether the processing of a second language is truly qualitatively different from the processing of a native language.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.