Neurocognitive Mechanisms of Second Language Learning: Role of Learning Context and Cognitive Functions

第二语言学习的神经认知机制：学习情境和认知功能的作用

• 批准号: 1338946
• 负责人: Ping Li
• 金额: $ 5.9万
• 依托单位: Pennsylvania State Univ University Park
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2013-09-15 至 2016-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1338946&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Neurocognitive; Mechanisms; Second; Language; Learning

Both folk wisdom and educational practices point to the benefits of study-abroad experiences for the learning of a new language. But why is language learning so much more effective when conducted in the target language environment, as compared with learning in a classroom? The proposed catalytic research project addresses this question with a neurocognitive approach by comparing two groups of learners: American students who are immersed in the second language environments (study-abroad students in Milan, Italy), and American students studying Italian in a classroom setting (in State College, Pennsylvania). This initial comparison will provide the basis for uncovering the role of learning context (immersion or no immersion). The investigators will use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine the effect of learning context on how second language material is represented and processed, as compared with that of native language and language-ambiguous materials (e.g., words that could occur in both languages, such as homographs). Furthermore, the investigators will examine the impact of the learner?s individual differences in specific cognitive capacities on the successfulness of second language learning, and how such differences interact with the context of learning. These capacities, we hypothesize, include different levels of inhibitory control and working memory abilities, because the learners always need to inhibit the native language while speaking the second language and to keep track of the language being spoken. We also hypothesize that the immersion experience provides a context for more effective inhibition of their native language, thereby promoting direct mapping of new words to existing concepts for learners, especially for those with weaker control abilities. Such interactions between cognitive capacities and learning context are hypothesized to show in differential neural networks underlying bilingual performance in several key brain regions including the left prefrontal, anterior cingulate, and middle temporal cortical areas. As our world becomes increasingly globalized, there is need for more effective cross-cultural communications via the use of multiple languages. It is thus important to understand the cognitive and neural bases of what makes second language learning successful. The proposed catalytic work provides an ideal forum for new, previously unexplored, international collaborations in the context of bilingual communities (Milan, Italy and State College, USA). It will lead to new theories and data in a rapidly developing field, the cognitive neuroscience of bilingualism that crosses the boundaries of psychology, linguistics, and neuroscience. The project also reflects our attempt to understand the bilingual mind and brain in a socially relevant context, such as the continuing social pressures faced by immigrants struggling with their second language. Increased knowledge in this domain could also have pedagogical implications for more effective foreign language teaching, for example, by providing classroom training that targets the direct connections between words and concepts (rather than second language learning through one?s native language). This project will provide further catalyst for research leading to large-scale collaborations between the investigators? institutions in the USA and Italy for longitudinal studies of second language learning in children and adults.

民间智慧和教育实践都表明，出国学习经验的好处在学习新语言方面。但是，与在课堂上学习相比，在目标语言环境中进行的语言学习在进行目标语言环境时会更加有效？拟议的催化研究项目通过比较两组学习者来解决这个问题：沉浸在第二语言环境中的美国学生（在米兰，意大利的公民学生）和在教室环境中学习意大利语的美国学生（在宾夕法尼亚州州立大学，宾夕法尼亚州）。最初的比较将为揭示学习环境的作用（浸入或不沉浸）提供基础。研究人员将使用功能性磁共振成像（fMRI）来检查学习环境对第二语言材料如何表示和处理的影响，与母语和语言含义的材料相比（例如，在两种语言中可能出现的单词，例如同谱）。此外，调查人员将研究学习者在特定认知能力上的个体差异对第二语言学习成功性的影响，以及这种差异与学习背景如何相互作用。我们假设这些能力包括不同级别的抑制性控制和工作记忆能力，因为学习者在说第二语言时始终需要抑制母语，并跟踪所讲的语言。 我们还假设，沉浸体验为更有效地抑制其母语提供了背景，从而将新单词直接映射到现有的学习者中，尤其是对于那些控制能力较弱的人。假设认知能力与学习环境之间的这种相互作用在几个关键的大脑区域的基本双语性能的差异神经网络中显示，包括左前额叶，前扣带回和中间颞皮质区域。随着我们的世界越来越全球化，需要通过使用多种语言进行更有效的跨文化交流。因此，重要的是要了解使第二语言学习成功的认知和神经基础。 拟议的催化工作为在双语社区（米兰，意大利和美国州立大学）的背景下的新的，未开发的国际合作提供了理想的论坛。它将在快速发展的领域中导致新的理论和数据，即跨越心理学，语言学和神经科学界限的双语性神经科学的认知神经科学。该项目还反映了我们试图在社会相关的背景下理解双语思想和大脑的尝试，例如移民在第二语言上挣扎的持续社会压力。该领域中的知识增加也可能对更有效的外语教学具有教学意义，例如，通过提供针对单词和概念之间直接联系的课堂培训（而不是通过一种母语学习第二语言学习）。该项目将为研究提供进一步的催化剂，从而导致研究人员之间的大规模合作？美国和意大利的机构对儿童和成人的第二语言学习纵向研究。