Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Count/Mass Distinction in Native and Non-Native Grammar

语言和认知有着密切的联系，它们以普遍和特定的方式相互影响。本论文旨在探讨认知对象/实体区分与语言计数/质量区分之间的关系。更具体地说，这个项目调查了英语，韩语和汉语普通话的使用者如何使用和解释他们的母语中的计数与质量名词，以及英语作为第二语言的韩语和普通话学习者如何使用和解释英语中的计数和质量名词。这个项目旨在提供洞察力，什么是普遍的，什么是特定的语言领域的计数/质量的区别。本研究还可以为教育工作者、语言教学专家和语言教学软件开发者提供有关学习者使用数量/质量区分的信息。为了达到这一目的，本论文的研究将首先考察英语、韩语和汉语中数量/质量区分的语法和宾语/物质解释之间的关系。一旦在所有三种语言的计数/质量区分的属性被建立，本研究将探讨如何韩国语和汉语为母语的英语学习者解释不同类型的英语名词，以及他们如何判断和处理英语复数标记（计数/质量区分的标记），在离线和在线（反应时间）任务。本项目将通过提供母语和非母语的语法知识和处理信息，为理论语言学和心理语言学领域做出贡献。此外，该项目还提高了对东亚语言（特别是韩语和汉语普通话）语法的理解。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Language and cognition are deeply related, influencing each other in both universal and language-specific ways. This dissertation project aims to examine the relationship between the cognitive object/substance distinction and the linguistic count/mass distinction. More specifically, this project investigates how English, Korean and Mandarin Chinese speakers use and interpret count vs. mass nouns in their native languages and how Korean-speaking and Mandarin-speaking learners of English as a second language use and interpret count and mass nouns in English. This project aims to provide insights into what is universal and what is language-specific in the domain of the count/mass distinction. This project also has the potential to inform educators, language teaching professionals and developers of language teaching software about learners' use of the count/mass distinction.To meet its goals, this dissertation research will first investigate the relationship between the object/substance interpretation and the grammar of the count/mass distinction in English, Korean and Mandarin. Once the properties of the count/mass distinction in all three languages are established, this research will examine how Korean-speaking and Mandarin-speaking learners of English interpret different types of English nouns, as well as how they judge and process English plural marking (a marker of the count/mass distinction), in both offline and online (reaction-time) tasks. This project will contribute to the fields of theoretical linguistics and psycholinguistics by providing information on grammatical knowledge and processing in both native and non-native language. Furthermore, this project enhances the understanding of the grammars of East Asian languages, specifically Korean and Mandarin Chinese.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.