Doctoral Dissertation Research: The effect of bilingual language exposure on bilingual children's phonological categorization and lexical processing efficiency

本论文的研究项目将探讨双语儿童的语言能力如何随着周围语言环境的变化而波动。具体来说，研究人员将测试接触母语英语，母语西班牙语和西班牙口音英语如何影响西班牙语-英语双语儿童产生和理解英语单词的能力。该项目将扩大目前的文献，声音和文字是如何从他们的环境中学习，以及如何语音变化发生在生产和感知。研究结果将提高照顾者和教育工作者对双语儿童所遇到的日常语言环境对其语言发展的影响的理解。随着多语言学校和家庭在美国变得越来越普遍，孩子们在家里和学校的语言环境中都会经历显著的波动。因此，了解不同的语言环境对儿童语言发展的影响是非常重要的。为了了解语言环境如何影响儿童的语言能力，研究人员将招募6至9岁的西班牙语-英语双语儿童，用英语完成语音和词汇生产和感知任务。在完成这些任务之前，孩子们将看到英语，西班牙语或西班牙口音的英语故事。每种暴露类型后的语音和词汇处理的措施将进行比较。孩子们还将完成英语和西班牙语的语言评估，以获得完整的语言档案。比较暴露对产出和感知的影响，以及比较单词（词汇通达）和声音（语音）水平的变化，将直接说明语言暴露如何影响双语儿童的语言能力。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This dissertation research project will examine how language abilities in bilingual children fluctuate as a result of the surrounding language context. Specifically, the investigators will test how exposure to native English, native Spanish, and Spanish-accented English affects the ability of Spanish-English bilingual children to produce and understand English words. The project will expand the current literature on how sounds and words are learned from their environment, and how speech change occurs in both production and perception. The findings will enhance caregivers' and educators' understanding of the impact of the everyday language environments encountered by bilingual children on their language development. With multilingual schools and families becoming increasingly common in the US, children experience significant fluctuations in their language environments, both at home and at school. Therefore, it is important to understand the impact of the different linguistic environments on children's language development. To understand how language environment affects children's language abilities, the researchers will recruit Spanish-English bilingual children ages 6 to 9 to complete phonological and lexical production and perception tasks in English. Immediately prior to completing these tasks, children will be presented with stories in English, Spanish, or Spanish-accented English. Measures of phonological and lexical processing after each exposure type will be compared. The children will also complete language assessments in English and Spanish for a full language profile. Comparison of exposure effects on production vs. perception as well as comparison of changes at the word (lexical access) and sound (phonological) level will directly illustrate how language exposure affects language ability in bilingual children.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.