Socio-Spatial Approaches to the Analysis of Multilingualism

多语言分析的社会空间方法

基本信息

批准号：
1761639
负责人：
Jeffrey Good
金额：
$ 44.48万
依托单位：
SUNY at Buffalo
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
Standard Grant
财政年份：
2018
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2018-05-01 至 2024-10-31
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1761639&HistoricalAwards=false
关键词：
Socio Spatial Approaches Analysis Multilingualism

项目摘要

Language distributions represented on maps are typically quite simplified, assigning only one language to a given area. The reality is more complex. On the one hand, even in places where one language is dominant, there will often be groups who primarily use a different language in their daily lives, such as at home or in church. On the other hand, many people are able to speak more than one language, and simplified maps are incapable of representing this effectively. To achieve a more realistic sense of language distributions, it is necessary to explore linguistic knowledge and use at the level of the individual. In this multidisciplinary project, the investigators will use advances in the available tools for mapping complex social patterns for the spatial and linguistic dynamics of a rural region of Cameroon where the average adult speaks five different languages, many of which are endangered. The level of individual multilingualism found in this rural environment far exceeds what is typically found in the United States. The project will support the training of a graduate student and build future opportunities for international collaborative research. The resulting research on socio-spatial patterns and language use may be usable by the U.S. in the areas of public health, national security, and connections on the ground in Cameroon. The future adaptation of these methods will facilitate investigating the spatial patterns of other dimensions of social behavior, such as trade and marriage, or to compare the spread of linguistic features with the spread of diseases. The investigators will utilize new ways of representing and analyzing language distributions using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and individual-level data to understand the extent to which people tend to learn languages spoken by those that they live near and languages spoken by their friends and family members. These individual-level factors will be examined with regard to the dynamics and nature of the community in which these individuals live. A particular focus of the work is understanding the relationship between spatial, social, and cultural factors in accounting for an individual's linguistic knowledge. High-resolution spatial data will be integrated with detailed descriptions of individual patterns of language use and analyzed from the perspective of spatial and social network analysis. Much of the data will be collected using smartphones, allowing information to be gathered at a scale that is unprecedented for linguistic research on endangered languages. The tools and methods to be developed will be general in nature and applicable to any part of the world and will be especially useful for the investigation of the language dynamics of rural areas with limited infrastructure. A better understanding of how and why people come to speak different languages will provide better information to policymakers in the domain of language planning. Spatial analysis of individual language use will augment psycholinguistic and other analyses of multilingualism to advance knowledge of human cognition and behavior in this domain.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

地图上代表的语言分布通常是非常简化的，仅为给定领域分配一种语言。现实更为复杂。一方面，即使在一种语言占主导地位的地方，通常会有一些群体在日常生活中，例如在家中或教堂中使用其他语言。另一方面，许多人能够说多种语言，而简化的地图无法有效地代表这一语言。为了获得更现实的语言分布感，有必要在个人层面探索语言知识和使用。在这个多学科项目中，调查人员将使用可用工具的进步来绘制喀麦隆农村地区的空间和语言动态的复杂社会模式，其中平均成年人会说五种不同的语言，其中许多语言受到威胁。在这个农村环境中发现的个别多语言的水平远远超过了美国通常发现的。该项目将支持研究生的培训，并为国际协作研究提供未来的机会。美国关于社会空间模式和语言使用的研究可能是美国在喀麦隆地面上公共卫生，国家安全和联系领域可用的。这些方法的未来适应将有助于研究社会行为（例如贸易和婚姻）的其他维度的空间模式，或者将语言特征的传播与疾病的传播进行比较。调查人员将利用新的方法来代表和分析地理信息系统（GIS）和个人级别数据来了解人们倾向于学习的语言，这些语言是他们所生活的人所说的语言，以及他们的朋友和家人所讲的语言。这些个人级别的因素将在这些人居住的社区的动态和性质方面进行研究。这项工作的一个特定重点是了解个人语言知识的空间，社会和文化因素之间的关系。高分辨率的空间数据将与单个语言使用模式的详细描述集成，并从空间和社交网络分析的角度进行分析。许多数据将使用智能手机收集，从而使信息以对濒危语言的语言研究前所未有的规模收集。要开发的工具和方法本质上是一般的，适用于世界的任何地方，对于研究基础设施有限的农村地区的语言动态尤其有用。更好地了解人们如何以及为什么会说不同的语言，将为语言规划领域的决策者提供更好的信息。对个体语言使用的空间分析将扩大心理语言和其他多语言主义的分析，以提高该领域中对人类认知和行为的了解。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为是值得通过基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛影响的评估标准来评估的。