The Origins of Conventional Understanding in Language

语言传统理解的起源

• 批准号: 1024298
• 负责人: Melissa Koenig
• 金额: $ 30.47万
• 依托单位: University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-09-15 至 2014-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1024298&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Origins; Conventional; Understanding; Language

Conventionality lies at the center of human communication. For communication to be effective there must be symbols that are shared among speakers. In this proposal, Dr. Koenig investigates the possibility that understanding the conventional nature of words serves as a powerful tool in language acquisition. While speakers are often consistent in the particular language they use, the presence of different languages across speakers raises important questions about the scope of children's conventional understanding when more than one language system is involved. Can monolingual toddlers learn foreign terms from foreign speakers? Do they treat foreign terms as distinct from inaccurate terms? This project will compare 24-month-olds' ability to learn new words from an accurate English speaker versus an inaccurate English speaker and a native Dutch speaker. Given promising evidence that children can learn foreign terms presented in Dutch, an interesting question arises of how broadly they generalize what they have learned across speakers. This study will examine toddler's generalization across different types of speakers, native and foreign. Broad generalization would indicate that infants have accepted the word, but not demarcated the boundaries of their own system versus a foreign language. Narrow generalization -- generalizing English but not foreign terms to users of your own language -- would suggest that infants have begun to understand that different systems can exist. In the final component, this project will directly examine the possibility that observation of consistent word use across speakers is more powerful evidence in favor of a word than is consistency that is demonstrated by only one speaker.The major goal of this research is to provide insight into different aspects of conventionality in language: (1) knowing that conventional systems can, in principle, vary across speakers; (2) knowing that word knowledge generalizes to other speakers, but not all speakers; and (3) knowing that the basis of conventionality lies in consistent word use across speakers. Each aspect reflects an important conceptual achievement in understanding language as a system, and a central aim of this project is to identify the emergence of each component. As a result, it will contribute to scientific knowledge about the development of conventional understanding, and advance current theories of language development. Beyond elucidating a critical aspect of language learning, these studies will promote future research in bilingual populations and shed light on the more general question of how children extract and generalize cultural and social norms.

常规性在于人类交流的中心。为了使沟通有效，必须在说话者之间共享符号。 在此提案中，Koenig博士调查了理解单词的常规性质是语言获取的强大工具的可能性。 虽然说话者通常在他们使用的特定语言中是一致的，但跨扬声器的不同语言的存在提出了有关涉及多种语言系统时儿童常规理解范围的重要问题。 单语幼儿可以从外国说话者学习外国术语吗？ 他们是否将外国术语视为不准确的术语？ 该项目将比较24个月大的人从准确的英语说话者那里学习新单词的能力，而不是说英语的说话者和荷兰本地人。 鉴于有前途的证据表明儿童可以学习荷兰语中提出的外国术语，这是一个有趣的问题，即他们在跨讲者中学到的知识有多广泛。这项研究将检查幼儿对不同类型的母语和外国人的概括。 广泛的概括将表明婴儿已经接受了这个词，但没有划定自己的系统与外语的边界。 狭窄的概括 - 将英语（而不是外国用语）概括给您自己的语言的用户 - 这表明婴儿已经开始了解可能存在不同的系统。 在最终组成部分中，该项目将直接研究以下可能性的可能性，即在说话者之间观察一致的单词使用比仅由一位发言人证明的一致性更有力的证据。这项研究的主要目标是提供对语言中常规性不同方面的洞察力：（1）知道常规系统可以原则上，跨言论者的vary; （2）知道知识一词会概括为其他说话者，但并非所有人； （3）知道常规性的基础在于跨说话者一致的单词使用。每个方面都反映了将语言视为系统的重要概念成就，该项目的核心目的是确定每个组件的出现。 结果，它将有助于科学知识，了解传统理解的发展，并推进当前的语言发展理论。除了阐明语言学习的关键方面外，这些研究还将促进双语人群的未来研究，并阐明更普遍的问题，即儿童如何提取和推广文化和社会规范。