EAGER: Collaborative Research: Variation and the Grammar of Child African American English

EAGER：合作研究：非洲裔美国儿童英语的变异和语法

• 批准号: 1744639
• 负责人: Lisa Green
• 金额: $ 15.18万
• 依托单位: University of Massachusetts Amherst
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2017-09-01 至 2020-02-29
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1744639&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: EAGER; Collaborative; Research; Variation; Grammar

The variation of language dialects has been primarily studied for adult speech. A growing literature is looking at the development of these dialects by focusing on children's usage. One reason this is important is because accurate understanding of a dialect and its acquisition and development are needed to identify typical linguistic patterns and when patterns are indicative of a language disorder. Collaborations between experts in linguistics and communication disorders have the potential to answer questions about developing patterns in children in dialects where adults use variable forms, and where the stages of development of acquisition are not yet clearly described and analyzed. This project will collect developmental data on the acquisition of a particular dialect to fill in gaps in the literature about stages of development of the acquisition of variable forms, information that is not available for the child variety of the dialect. Broader impacts include the usefulness of findings for the development of more culturally and linguistically appropriate assessment tools, leading to more accurate assessment outcomes for children who speak this dialect, the involvement in undergraduate research by underrepresented groups, and the strengthening of a research collaboration between two institutions, one a historically black college (HBCU). The activities will provide undergraduate students with background and analytical skills that are applicable to STEM-related fields, such as linguistics and computation. This project is a collaboration between researchers from Jackson State University (an HBCU) and the University of Massachusetts Amherst to investigate developing patterns in morphological marking on verbs in African American English (AAE). Systematic variation in African American English (AAE) has been addressed in research on the variety; however, there remains a blurred line of demarcation between typical developmental language variation and language disorder in younger AAE speakers. This study builds on previous descriptions of child AAE, and it applies quantitative analysis and mechanisms in current syntactic theory to empirical data in investigating the connection between morphological marking and the instantiation of [Tense] and [Agreement] in child AAE. Specifically, the project will analyze verbs in past tense contexts and in 3rd person singular non-past contexts child AAE. The data and results will bear directly on the acquisition path of morphological marking (e.g., 3rd singular -s and forms of past such as -ed) on verbs in that it will fill gaps in the literature about stages of development of the acquisition of variable forms, information that is not available for child AAE. Findings of the project will be used to describe how normal variation associated with child AAE is systematically different from disordered language. Findings will be useful in the development of more culturally and linguistically appropriate assessment tools, leading to more accurate assessment outcomes for AAE-speaking children. A better understanding of the AAE linguistic system will be useful in addressing longstanding questions that remain unanswered about the interaction of AAE and the acquisition of literacy and other language-based academic subjects, such as math and science, and should ultimately lead to more positive educational opportunities for children who speak AAE.

语言方言的变化主要研究以进行成人演讲。越来越多的文献通过关注儿童的用法来关注这些方言的发展。这很重要的原因之一是因为需要准确理解方言及其获取和发展，以识别典型的语言模式以及何时表明语言障碍。语言学和沟通障碍专家​​之间的合作有可能回答有关成年人使用可变形式以及尚未清楚描述和分析收购阶段的方言中发展模式的问题。该项目将收集有关获取特定方言的发展数据，以填补有关获取可变形式的开发阶段的空白，这些信息是方言的儿童多样性的信息。更广泛的影响包括发现的有用性，用于开发更文化和语言上适当的评估工具，从而为讲话方言的儿童提供了更准确的评估结果，由代表性不足的群体参与本科研究的参与，并加强了两个机构之间的研究合作，其中一个是一名历史悠久的黑人学院（HBCU）。这些活动将为本科生提供背景和分析技能，这些技能适用于与STEM相关的领域，例如语言学和计算。该项目是杰克逊州立大学（AN HBCU）的研究人员与马萨诸塞大学阿默斯特大学的研究人员之间的合作，以研究非裔美国人英语（AAE）动词形态学标记的发展模式。关于该品种的研究已经解决了非裔美国人英语（AAE）的系统变化。但是，在年轻的AAE扬声器中，典型的发展语言差异与语言障碍之间存在模糊的界线。这项研究以先前对儿童AAE的描述为基础，并在当前的句法理论中应用定量分析和机制，以研究形态学标记与儿童AAE的[时态]和[一致]的实例化之间的联系。具体而言，该项目将在过去时态环境中分析动词，在第三人称奇异的非公平环境中，儿童AAE。数据和结果将直接依赖形态标记的获取路径（例如，第三个单数 - 过去的形式（例如-eed））在动词上，以至于它将填补有关可变形式的获取的文献阶段的空白，而可变形式的获取信息，这些信息对于儿童AAE不可用。该项目的发现将用于描述与儿童AAE相关的正常变异与无序语言的系统不同。调查结果将有助于开发更文化和语言上适当的评估工具，从而为AAE讲的儿童带来更准确的评估结果。对AAE语言体系的更好理解将有助于解决长期存在的问题，这些问题尚未得到有关AAE的相互作用以及对识字和其他基于语言的学术学科的获得，例如数学和科学，并且最终应该为AAE的儿童带来更积极的教育机会。