The effect of language experience on a bilingual's ability to process arithmetic and other memorized facts

项目摘要 在美国，英语是大多数学校教学和测试的主要语言。但不少 进入美国学校的双语学生学习英语以外的语言的基本概念， 当期望建立在这些知识的基础上时，处于发展劣势。这一问题在 哪些概念被存储为特定语言的记忆，以及双语者如何访问这些记忆 其他语言的信息。在这个建议中，我将研究双语大脑如何处理 被认为是受语言经验影响的基础知识。在目标1中，我使用了事件相关 潜力（ERP），以了解如何基本的算术概念，即记忆乘法事实， 都被翻译成双语者的语言。我的研究表明，流利的双语成人和儿童 引发相似的大脑反应，这表明两种语言对这些事实的记忆是等同的。这 数据表明，双语者对两种语言的事实可能有重叠的皮层表征。在Aim中 2、我将通过使用比ERP更好定位的神经成像方法直接测试这一点，具体功能 磁共振成像（fMRI）。我将调查儿童是否有共同或单独的皮质 用两种语言表示乘法事实。我的博士前培训将使我的专业知识， 补充脑成像方法与精确的时间（ERP）和空间（功能磁共振成像），为更完整的 了解大脑发育。我也将获得一个跨学科的角度交叉的孩子 发展，双语，语言和数学认知。在我的博士论文中，我使用乘法事实作为 评估双语记忆和处理的独特工具。然而，作为记忆概念的有限集合， 乘法事实可以与双语记忆中的其他概念不同地处理。在目标3中，我将扩展 我的训练，以了解语言依赖记忆更广泛，并探讨如何动态的 双语经验调节基础知识的学习和检索。例如，学生学习 在全国排名中，英语作为第二语言的平均分比英语流利的人低40分 标准科学评估。这种表现上的差异可能会使第二语言学习者长期处于 这是因为他们建立在这个基础知识上。通过这个奖学金，我的目标是成为一个 发展认知神经科学家精通多种研究方法和跨学科 接近科学。最终，我的目标是建立自己的研究实验室，以了解语言的大脑基础 双语者的依赖记忆我希望不仅培养后代学生， 基础研究的进步，将有利于双语教育和儿童发展的21%， 美国人口是双语的。

PROJECT SUMMARY In the United States, English is the primary language of instruction and testing in most schools. However, many bilingual students entering US schools learned foundational concepts in a language other than English and might be at a developmental disadvantage when expected to build on this knowledge. It has been widely debated in the literature which concepts are stored as language-specific memories and how bilinguals might access this information in their other language. In this proposal, I will investigate how the bilingual brain processes foundational knowledge that is thought to be affected by language experience. In Aim 1, I used event-related potentials (ERPs) to understand how foundational arithmetic concepts, namely memorized multiplication facts, are processed in each of a bilingual’s languages. My research revealed that fluent bilingual adults and children elicit similar brain responses, suggesting equivalent access to these facts from memory, in both languages. This data suggests that bilinguals may have overlapping cortical representations of facts in both languages. In Aim 2, I will directly test this by using a neuroimaging method with better localization than ERPs, specifically functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). I will investigate whether children have shared or separate cortical representations of multiplication facts in their two languages. My pre-doctoral training will give me expertise in complementary brain imaging methodologies with precision in time (ERPs) and space (fMRI) for a more complete understanding of brain development. I will also gain an interdisciplinary perspective intersecting child development, bilingualism, language, and math cognition. In my doctoral work, I use multiplication facts as a unique tool in assessing bilingual memory and processing. However, as a finite set of memorized concepts, multiplication facts may be processed differently than other concepts in bilingual memory. In Aim 3, I will expand my training to understand language dependent memory more broadly, and explore how the dynamics of the bilingual experience modulates learning and retrieval of foundational knowledge. For example, students learning English as a second language score on average 40 points lower than fluent English speakers on the nation’s standard science assessment. This disparity in performance may leave second language learners at a long-term disadvantage as they build on this foundational knowledge. Through this fellowship I aim to become a developmental cognitive neuroscientist versed in multiple research methodologies and an interdisciplinary approach to science. Ultimately, I aim to establish my own research lab to understand the brain basis of language dependent memory in bilinguals. I hope to not only train future generations of students, but also spearhead advancements in basic research that will benefit bilingual education and child development for the 21% of the U.S. population that is bilingual.