Neurocognitive determinants of adolescent second language literacy development

说明(申请人提供)：鉴于全球化，越来越多的国家面临着多语言社会，双语教育的问题变得尤为尖锐。在美国，与将非土著人口融入社会相关的教育挑战对大量语言少数群体来说尤其具有挑战性，他们在第一语言识字能力成熟后开始承担学习一种新语言的任务。这项拟议的项目包括对影响青少年如何获得和学习阅读一种新语言的神经认知参数进行全面调查。该项目将采用纵向设计，我们将招募从第二语言(L2)基本识字水平到中等识字水平的青少年队列，并在24个月内通过行为和功能磁共振测量跟踪技能发展。以色列和美国都将招募一批人；因此，每种语言都将作为L2和L1。具体目标是：1)调查二语阅读是如何由母语的语言结构和读者神经认知能力的个体差异共同决定的；2)调查获得第二语言阅读流利性是否必然依赖于获得类似母语的神经认知标记；以及3)调查学习一套新的二语统计规律对语言和一般神经认知的影响。此外，横断面的第四个目的是对比希伯来语和西班牙语作为第一语言，以评估希伯来语发现的普遍性，并调查第一语言潜在语言结构中的质量差异对阅读英语的神经认知指标的影响。这项研究将直接为第二语言学习理论提供参考，并有望为第二语言课程开发的最佳途径的研究提供参考。此外，考虑到一个人的母语和语言环境的特点，关注第二语言学习中的大脑和行为层面的个体差异，将对第二语言识字习得面临的挑战产生新的见解。 公共卫生相关性：拟议的研究将有助于提供有关第二语言识字发展的重要基础知识，为日益多元化的社会中的教育和健康问题提供信息。在这个社会中，许多学习者在第一语言识字能力成熟后开始承担学习一种新语言的任务。通过探索语言特征的差异和神经认知个体的差异如何塑造习得一门新语言的识字技能的轨迹，以及这些技能反过来如何影响母语的表现，本研究旨在提供对第二语言识字习得挑战的新理解，考虑到个人的母语和语言环境的特点。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The problem of bilingual education has become especially acute in light of globalization, where an increasing number of countries are faced with multilingual societies. In the United States, the educational challenges associated with integrating non-native populations into society are particularly challenging for the significant cohort of language-minority individuals who come to the task of acquiring a new language after the acquisition of literacy in L1 has matured. The proposed project comprises a comprehensive investigation of the neurocognitive parameters that affect how adolescents acquire and learn to read a new language. The project will employ a longitudinal design in which we will recruit cohorts of adolescents ranging from a basic to medium literacy level in a second language (L2) and track skill development with both behavioral and fMRI measures over 24 months. Cohorts will be recruited in both Israel and the U.S.; thus, each language will serve as both L2 and L1. Specific aims are: 1) To investigate how learning to read in L2 is jointly determined by the linguistic structure of L1 and by individual differences in neurocognitive capacities of the reader; 2) To investigate whether acquiring reading fluency in a second language necessarily depends on acquiring "native- like" neurocognitive markers; and 3) To investigate the linguistic and general neurocognitive consequences of learning a new set of statistical regularities in L2. In addition, a cross-sectional fourth aim contrasts Hebrew vs. Spanish as L1 in order to assess both the generality of findings from Hebrew and investigate the impact of qualitative differences in the underlying linguistic structures of an L1 on neurocognitive indices of reading English. This proposed research will directly inform theories of second language learning, and holds promise to inform research on optimal approaches to second language curriculum development. Moreover, the focus on individual differences in L2 learning, at the level of brain and behavior, will yield new insights into challenges to second language literacy acquisition, given the characteristics of an individual's native language and linguistic environment. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The proposed research will contribute important foundational knowledge about second language literacy development that will inform educational and health issues in an increasingly multilingual society in which many learners come to the task of acquiring a new language after the acquisition of literacy in L1 has matured. By exploring how differences in language characteristics, in conjunction with neurocognitive individual differences, shape the trajectory of acquiring literacy skills in a new language and how those skills, in turn, impact native language performance, this proposed research aims to provide new understanding of challenges to second language literacy acquisition, given the characteristics of an individual's native language and language environment.