Doctoral Dissertation Research: Catching the cognitive consequences of bilingual language processing on the fly

在过去的二十年里，研究人员已经发现了两个关于双语的发现，这些发现促进了我们对语言，认知和大脑的理解。一种是两种语言竞争选择，这表明了双向的跨语言影响。另一个是使用两种或更多种语言会对整个生命周期的认知功能产生影响。然而，这项研究只关注双语的长期后果。因此，双语者如何从领域一般认知中汲取知识，使语言的使用能够在真实的时间中进行，这一点仍然是未知的。此外，尽管事实上，双语者在他们的语言经验中存在差异，但过去很少有研究考察双语的认知后果，除了自我报告的熟练程度之外，没有提供语言使用背景的全面表征。重要的是，传统语言使用者和成年第二语言学习者是美国双语者的主要群体，然而，在两种语言中的一种占主导地位的情况下，这些人如何利用认知资源来支持他们的语言功能，人们对此知之甚少。本项目使用行为和神经科学方法来确定认知机制，使传统的说话者和学习者能够成功地处理语言，真实的时间，并试图挑战的想法，在这些人口的语言能力是完全由熟练和/或不完全收购。该项目使用最近开发的跨任务适应范式，比较了：1）传统的讲西班牙语的人沉浸在英语占主导地位的环境中，与沉浸在西班牙语占主导地位的环境中的西班牙语-英语双语者的表现; 2）高级西班牙语课堂学习者与沉浸在西班牙语占主导地位的环境中的学习者，而在国外学习。跨任务适应范式的一个关键特征是它提供了一个衡量一般认知任务中经历的冲突如何直接影响语言处理过程中解决冲突的能力的方法。语言表现是衡量在词汇和语法的水平，比较理解和生产在西班牙语和英语，使用速度和准确性的行为措施，在句子阅读的眼跟踪措施，和电生理措施，检查单词生产的时间过程。该研究项目将注意力转移到更动态的语言观以及它如何从认知中汲取，这对塑造美国双语教育具有重要意义。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。

In the last two decades, researchers have made two discoveries about bilingualism that have advanced our understanding of language, cognition, and the brain. One is that the two languages compete for selection, suggesting bidirectional cross-language influences. Another is that using two or more languages has consequences for cognitive functioning across the lifespan. However, this research has only focused on the long-term consequences of bilingualism. Therefore, it remains unknown how bilinguals draw from domain-general cognition to enable the use of language in real time. Moreover, despite the fact that bilinguals differ among themselves in their language experiences, few of the past studies examining the cognitive consequences of bilingualism have used anything more than measures of self-reported proficiency, and do not provide a comprehensive characterization of the context of language use. Critically, heritage speakers and adult second-language learners are the predominant groups of bilinguals in the US, yet little is known about how these individuals recruit cognitive resources to support the functioning of their languages in a context where one of the two languages predominates.This project uses behavioral and neuroscientific methods to identify the cognitive mechanisms that enable heritage speakers and learners to successfully process language in real time and seeks to challenge the idea that language ability in these populations is solely determined by proficiency and/or incomplete acquisition. Using a recently-developed cross-task adaptation paradigm, the project compares performance of: 1) heritage Speakers of Spanish immersed in an English-dominant environment with Spanish-English bilinguals immersed in a Spanish-dominant environment; and 2) advanced classroom learners of Spanish with learners who are immersed in a Spanish-dominant environment while studying abroad. A key feature of the cross-task adaptation paradigm is that it provides a measure of how conflict experienced in a general cognitive task directly affects the ability to resolve conflict during language processing. Language performance is measured at the level of the lexicon and grammar, comparing comprehension and production in both Spanish and English, using behavioral measures of speed and accuracy, eye-tracking measures during sentence reading, and electrophysiological measures that examine the time course of word production. This program of research shifts the focus of attention to a more dynamic view of language and how it draws from cognition, which holds significance for shaping bilingual education in the US.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.