Doctoral Dissertation Research: Parent Input Effects on Heritage Speakers Knowledge of Mood Selection

该奖项全部或部分由《2021年美国救援计划法案》（公法117-2）资助。传统语言使用者，在除了使用社会多数语言之外还使用少数民族语言的家庭中长大，他们的语法系统与单语使用者和将传统语言作为第二语言学习的人在模式上有所不同，但关于这一过程的性质仍然存在许多问题。描述和解释语言语法的哪些方面最常发生变化，以及在传播过程中这些变化发生在哪里，是一个长期存在的问题。传统语法主要在大学背景下的成人双语者中进行研究，并且假定群体差异发生在儿童水平上。然而，父母的语法也会随着说话人的寿命而变化。来自孩子和父母的语言表现的直接证据可以告诉我们哪些结构是存在的，但不是后天习得的，哪些结构是输入本身不存在的。统计方法的进步有助于理解与语言传播相关的亲子输入/迁移问题。通过研究说话者语法表征的代际变化及其特征，本研究有助于理解双语习得过程。本研究采用双元设计（一个父母，一个孩子），这为传统语法的研究提供了新的方法和分析贡献。亲子输入迁移是通过对传统语言中语气选择（指示语气和虚拟语气）的理解-产生来探索的，这是一种公认的变量现象，通过定时可接受性评级和引出的产生任务。本研究考察了1)亲子情绪选择，2)内部因素（分类语境与可变语境）和外部因素（如说话者的语言经验和熟练程度）的影响，以及3)父母使用情绪对儿童生产的直接影响。包括二元分析在内的统计模型将直接检验父母情绪产生对儿童理解的影响以及影响成员自身表现的个体因素。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，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。

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2). Heritage language speakers, who grow up in household where a minority language is used in addition to the society's majority language, have a grammatical system that differs in patterned ways from monolingual speakers and those learning the heritage language as a second language, but many questions remain about the nature of this process. Characterizing and explaining what aspects of the language's grammar are most commonly changed, and where in the transmission process these changes occur is a longstanding question. Heritage grammars have been primarily studied in adult bilinguals in university settings, and group differences are assumed to occur at the level of the child. However, parents' grammars have also been shown to change over speakers' lifespans. Direct evidence of language performance from child and parent speakers can inform which structures were present but not acquired and which structures were absent from the input itself. Statistical methodological advances can aid in understanding questions of parent-child input/transfer related to language transmission. By studying these small-scale intergenerational changes in speakers' grammatical representations and the speaker characteristics involved, this study contributes to an understanding of bilingual acquisition processes.This study uses a dyadic design (1 parent, 1 child), which offers novel methodological and analytical contributions to the study of heritage grammars. Parent–child input transfer is explored through the comprehension–production of mood selection (indicative vs. subjunctive), a well-established variable phenomenon, in the heritage language through timed acceptability ratings and an elicited production task. The study examines 1) child–parent mood selection, 2) the effect of internal (categorical vs. variable contexts) and external factors (e.g., speakers' language experience and proficiency), and 3) the direct effect of parent's use of mood on child production. Statistical models including dyadic analyses will directly test the effect of parent mood production on child comprehension and the individual factors that contribute to members' own performance.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.