Conference: Bridging Child Language Research to Practice for Language Revitalization

第一语言习得研究——儿童学习母语的过程——在人类语言科学中占有中心地位。然而，美洲的土著语言在这一科学领域的代表性大大不足。此外，大多数这些语言都严重濒危，因此迫切需要研究如何获得这些语言，以有利于发展科学和土著社区努力振兴其传统语言。该会议奖支持在语言学两个主要学术组织的2024年年会上组织一次会议：美洲土著语言研究学会（SSILA）和美国语言学会（LSA）。这个有组织的会议汇集了两个小组：(1)研究人员专注于美洲土著语言的母语习得；(2)在语言巢内工作的从业者，这是早期儿童语言振兴计划，让幼儿沉浸在土著语言中。在科学和实践之间建立一个反馈循环，通过加强参与者和参会者所代表的振兴计划，为土著语言振兴从业者创造机会，扩展他们的网络和专业社区，扩大土著美国人对STEM的参与，产生广泛的影响。这次有组织的会议通过增加美洲土著语言的代表性来纠正现有L1习得研究中存在的地理和类型偏见。在关注母语习得方面，会议内的论文加深了对特定土著语言结构的科学理解，这些结构对语言学理论至关重要，但仅在成人语言中研究。通过打破习得研究者和实践者之间的隔阂，会议扩展和丰富了母语习得研究的研究问题，更好地将土著视角和认知方式融入语言科学，并为从业者及其语言社区建立了一个更符合语言和文化的文献体系。通过对语言复兴产生积极影响，本届会议还有助于改善土著社区的健康和福祉。该奖项是美国国家科学基金会和美国国家人文基金会为美国国家科学基金会动态语言基础设施- NEH记录濒危语言项目建立的资助伙伴关系的一部分。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。

The study of first language (L1) acquisition — the process whereby children learn their native language(s) — occupies a central place in the science of human language. However, the Indigenous languages of the Americas are greatly under-represented in this area of science. Furthermore, most such languages are severely endangered, which amplifies the urgency for research on how these languages are acquired, for the benefit of developmental science and for Indigenous communities working to revitalize their traditional languages. This conference award supports an organized session at the 2024 annual meetings of two major scholarly organizations in linguistics: the Society for the Study of the Indigenous Languages of the Americas (SSILA) and the Linguistic Society of America (LSA). This organized session brings together two groups: (1) researchers focused on the L1 acquisition of the Indigenous languages of the Americas; and (2) practitioners working within language nests, which are early-childhood language revitalization programs that immerse young children in an Indigenous language. Creating a feedback loop between science and practice generates a wide range of broader impacts by strengthening the revitalization programs represented by participants and attendees, creating opportunities for Indigenous language revitalization practitioners to extend their networks and professional community, and broadening participation in STEM by Native Americans.This organized session redresses existing geographical and typological biases within the existing landscape of L1 acquisition research by increasing the representation of the Indigenous languages of the Americas. In focusing on L1 acquisition, the papers within the session deepen the scientific understanding of specific Indigenous language structures, which have been of central importance to linguistic theory but studied only in adult language. By breaking down silos between acquisition researchers and practitioners, the session expands and enriches the research questions for L1 acquisition studies, better integrates Indigenous perspectives and ways of knowing into language science, and builds a body of more linguistically and culturally appropriate literature for practitioners and their language communities. Through creating positive impacts on language revitalization, the session also contributes to improving health and well-being within Indigenous communities. This award is made as part of a funding partnership between the National Science Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities for the NSF Dynamic Language Infrastructure – NEH Documenting Endangered Languages Program.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.