Doctoral Dissertation Research: Learning and processing mechanisms for singular they/them pronouns

使用代词“他们”而不是单数的“他”或“她”来指代一个孤独的个体，出于各种目的，人们对它的接受程度参差不齐，而且对一些听众和说话者来说可能是一个挑战，尽管从历史上看，单数的他们在语言中根深蒂固。例如，许多人并不打算误认别人的性别，但在实际的语言表达中仍然会犯错误。错误尤其常见于单数they，这变得越来越普遍和更被接受（2021年，46%的年轻美国人认识使用他们/他们代词的人，高于2018年的32%），但对许多人来说仍然是新的。本项目探讨了为什么会出现这样的错误，并测试了学习策略和言语产出结果。本项目借鉴了句子处理、言语产出、观点采择和基于错误的学习方法，提出了关于语言学习和产出机制的新问题。建立在有前途的初步数据，拟议的实验研究如何在语言处理过程中出现的困难，如何选择替代代词之间的上下文的影响，以及什么策略支持学习记住人们的陈述代词和流利地产生单数他们。去识别数据和代码将与研究预注册一起公开提供，沿着提供。除了为减少性别错误提供基于证据的最佳实践外，拟议研究的结果将促进对语言学习和演讲产生的理解。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得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来支持。

The use of the pronoun “they” instead of singular “he” or “she” to refer to a lone individual has met with mixed acceptance for a variety of purposes and can be challenging for some listeners and speakers despite the fact that, historically, singular-they is well entrenched in the language. For example, many people who don't intend to misgender others still make errors in their actual language production. Errors are particularly common with singular they, which is becoming more common and more accepted (46% of younger Americans in 2021 know someone who uses they/them pronouns, up from 32% in 2018), but is still new to many speakers. This project asks why errors like these occur, and tests learning strategies and speech production outcomes.This project draws on sentence processing, speech production, perspective-taking, and error-based learning approaches to ask novel questions about mechanisms of language learning and production. Building on promising preliminary data, the proposed experiments investigate how difficulties with singular they arise during language processing, how choices between alternative pronouns are affected by context, and what strategies support learning to remember people’s stated pronouns and fluently produce singular they. De-identified data and code will be made publicly available, along with study pre-registrations. In addition to informing evidence-based best practices for reducing misgendering, the findings of the proposed studies will advance understanding of language learning and speech production.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.