Neurocognitive determinants of adolescent second language literacy development

描述（由申请人提供）：双语教育的问题已成为全球化，其中越来越多的国家面临着多语言社会的光特别尖锐。在美国，与非本地人口融入社会相关的教育挑战对于大量语言少数群体来说尤其具有挑战性，这些人在第一语言识字能力成熟后才开始学习新语言。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，我们将招募第二语言（L2）从基础到中等识字水平的青少年群体，并在24个月内通过行为和fMRI措施跟踪技能发展。这些部队将在以色列和美国招募;因此，每种语言将同时作为L2和L1。具体目标是：（1）探讨学习第二语言阅读是如何由母语的语言结构和阅读者的神经认知能力的个体差异共同决定的：（2）探讨第二语言阅读流利性的获得是否必然依赖于获得“类母语”的神经认知标记;（3）研究学习一组新的统计词汇对第二语言的语言和一般神经认知的影响。此外，一个横截面的第四个目标对比希伯来语与西班牙语作为L1，以评估希伯来语的研究结果的一般性和调查的影响，在潜在的语言结构的L1的神经认知指数的阅读英语的质的差异。这项研究将直接为第二语言学习理论提供信息，并有望为第二语言课程开发的最佳方法研究提供信息。此外，在第二语言学习的个体差异，在大脑和行为的水平上的重点，将产生新的见解的挑战，第二语言识字习得，鉴于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.