Collaborative Research: NSF/SBE-BSF: The neural mechanisms of language transfer to morphological learning

合作研究：NSF/SBE-BSF：语言迁移到形态学习的神经机制

• 批准号: 1753626
• 负责人: James Booth
• 金额: $ 55.23万
• 依托单位: Vanderbilt University
• 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 2022-04-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1753626&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; NSF; SBE; BSF

The ability to communicate in a second language is of critical importance in today's global society. But learning a second language as an adult is hard, especially when it is very different from one's first language. This study will examine whether greater similarity between the first and second language 1) facilitates learning in the second language and 2) effects the brain processes that underlie learning. English speakers and Hebrew speakers are compared on their ability to learn words in a "new" language, created by the investigators, that shares features with both English and Hebrew. The investigators use functional brain imaging to examine whether learning familiar language features uses different brain systems than when learning unfamiliar language features. The study will also examine the effect of variability in the training items on learning. High variability involves training many different words with similar features whereas low variability training involves repeating fewer words more times. More broadly, the results will uncover aspects of the brain basis for second-language learning and will inform methods for improving second-language instruction. The project will integrate research and education by providing training to students at all levels from undergraduate to postdoctoral and includes a visiting scholar program between the US and Israel. The investigators will also hold workshops on second language learning for local professionals in both countries.This project will contribute to our understanding of the role of domain-general principles of learning and consolidation in second-language acquisition. It will examine the relative involvement of mediotemporal and neocortical learning mechanisms in the acquisition of a second language, depending on the presence of pre-existing experience with similar abstract linguistic structures in the first language. The structure of words varies across languages. In Hebrew, many words have a three-consonant root, such as the word perax (meaning "flower"), which contains the root p-r-x (meaning, "to bloom"). In contrast, most complex English words contain a base and an affix. For example, piglet contains the base "pig" and the affix "let." This study will shed light on the role of compositional processes in second-language learners and suggest a mechanism by which transfer from the first language may affect such compositional processes. Differences in the linguistic properties, such as morphological structure of the two languages, may influence the neurocognitive basis of learning. Finally, parameters that can improve learning and enhance extraction of morphological regularities from new words will be examined. This project is supported by a partnership between the National Science Foundation and the U.S.-Israel Binational Science Foundation.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.

在当今的全球社会中，用第二语言进行交流的能力至关重要。但作为成年人学习第二语言是很困难的，尤其是当它与母语有很大不同时。这项研究将检验第一语言和第二语言之间更大的相似性是否 1) 促进第二语言的学习，2) 影响学习背后的大脑过程。研究人员对说英语的人和说希伯来语的人学习“新”语言的能力进行了比较，这种“新”语言是由研究人员创建的，该语言与英语和希伯来语有共同的特征。研究人员使用功能性脑成像来检查学习熟悉的语言特征是否使用与学习不熟悉的语言特征时不同的大脑系统。该研究还将检验培训项目的可变性对学习的影响。高变异性涉及训练许多具有相似特征的不同单词，而低变异性训练涉及重复更少的单词更多次。更广泛地说，研究结果将揭示第二语言学习的大脑基础的各个方面，并将为改进第二语言教学的方法提供信息。该项目将通过为从本科生到博士后的各个级别的学生提供培训来整合研究和教育，并包括美国和以色列之间的访问学者项目。研究人员还将为两国当地专业人士举办第二语言学习研讨会。该项目将有助于我们理解学习和巩固领域一般原则在第二语言习得中的作用。它将检查中颞叶和新皮质学习机制在第二语言习得过程中的相对参与，这取决于第一语言中类似抽象语言结构的预先存在的经验的存在。不同语言的单词结构各不相同。在希伯来语中，许多单词都有三个辅音词根，例如单词 perax（意思是“花”），其中包含词根 p-r-x（意思是“绽放”）。相比之下，最复杂的英语单词包含词根和词缀。例如，piglet 包含词根“pig”和词缀“let”。这项研究将揭示第二语言学习者的作文过程的作用，并提出一种从第一语言的迁移可能影响这种作文过程的机制。语言特性的差异，例如两种语言的形态结构，可能会影响学习的神经认知基础。最后，将检查可以改善学习并增强从新单词中提取形态规律的参数。该项目得到了美国国家科学基金会和美国-以色列两国科学基金会之间合作伙伴关系的支持。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。