MATURATIONAL CHANGE IN LANGUAGE ACQUISITION CAPACITY

目前的研究方案考察了发展变化 这发生在习得语言的能力中。更多 具体地说，它检查了似乎是 习得一种语言的语法。第一部分 这项研究计划是描述性的。建议进行四项研究以 研究其结构参数和可靠性。 使用不同第二语言学习者群体的效果 年龄。另一项研究将评估这一独特之处 测试音乐中的年龄差异对语言的影响 学习。该计划的第二部分是试验性的。会的 探索学习机制中发生的一些变化 过度发展，这可能是描述性的 现象。特别是，它将探索可能的儿童-成人 使用不同的操作原理来转换 语音输入到存储数据中。本研究拟进行七项研究。在每一个中 研究，两组6-7岁和10-11岁的儿童 一组成年人将被要求学习一个微型模型 人工语言。微型语言将被设计为 测试形态属性(包括位置、 频率、应力和结构)对成功和模式的影响 受试者的学习。除了记录发展中的 在使用这些操作原理的变化时，一些研究将 母语类型学对英语词汇使用影响的测试 这样的原则。 了解与年龄相关的语言学习能力的变化 对聋人(通常不是聋人)教育的重要影响 在出生时接触到一种母语)并教育许多新的 抵达美国的儿童和成人移民。是这样的 信息最终将帮助我们发展教育 机会是为特定的品质量身定做的 不同年龄的学习者。

The present research program examines the developmental changes which occur in the capacity for acquiring language. More specifically, it examines what appears to be a sensitive period for the acquisition of the grammar of a language. The first part of this research program is descriptive. Four studied are proposed to investigate the structural parameters and reliability of this effect using a population of second language learners of varying ages. An additional study will evaluate the uniqueness of this effect for language by testing for age differences in music learning. The second part of this program is experimental. It will explore some of the changes that occur in the learning mechanism over development which may underlie and explain the descriptive phenomena. In particular it will explore possible child-adult differences in the use of the operating principles used to convert speech input into stored data. Seven studies are proposed. In each study, two groups of children of the ages of 6-7 and 10-11 years and one group of adults will be asked to learn a miniature artificial language. The miniature language will be designed to test the effects of morphological properties (including position, frequency, stress and structure) on the success and patterning of subjects' learning. In addition to documenting developmental changes in the use of these operating principles, some studies will test for the influence of first language typology on the use of such principles. Understanding age related changes in language learning capacity has important implications for educating the deaf (who are often not exposed to a native language at birth) and educating the many newly arriving child and adult immigrants to the United States. Such information will ultimately help us to develop educational opportunities tailored to the particular qualities inherent in different aged learners.