Doctoral Dissertation Research: Effects of non-verbal working memory and spoken first language proficiency on sign language acquisition by deaf second language learners

博士论文研究：非语言工作记忆和第一语言口语能力对聋哑第二语言学习者手语习得的影响

• 批准号: 2336589
• 负责人: Deanna Gagne
• 金额: $ 1.46万
• 依托单位: Gallaudet University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2024-03-01 至 2025-08-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2336589&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Effects; non

Deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) individuals experience substantial variability in exposure to a sign language. For example, more than 90% of DHH children in the US have hearing parents who do not know a sign language at the time of their DHH child’s birth. By the time these children are school-age, only 26% are using sign language regularly with their families at home and 53% are using some sign language at school. Consequently, a substantial number of DHH people are learning a sign language for the first time as young adults. Despite being one of the most common ways for DHH people to learn a sign language, researchers know very little about the factors that support second language learning success in this learning context. For example, proficiency in the first language and working memory are predictors of second language proficiency in other language learning contexts--are these predictors also important for DHH learners? Additionally, the quality and quantity of early language input that DHH people receive is highly variable--does this variation affect second language learning of a sign language?This doctoral dissertation study aims to (1) extend existing research on predictors of second language proficiency to a new learning context, DHH second language signers, and (2) investigate relationships between spoken first language proficiency, non-verbal working memory, and signed second language proficiency. This research conducts a mediation modeling study assessing spoken language reading comprehension and non-verbal working memory in DHH people who grew up using a spoken language as a primary language and started learning a sign language as young adults and investigate how these variables relate to sign language receptive comprehension. The results of this study will lead to more generalizable theories of second language learning that account for variability in the quality and quantity of early first language acquisition. The results also inform family and school language policy for DHH children as well as second language teaching curriculum and interpreting strategies for adult DHH second language signers.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.

聋哑听力（DHH）个人在接触手语的情况下经历了很大的差异。例如，在美国，有90％以上的DHH儿童听到父母在DHH儿童生日时不知道手语的父母。到这些孩子是学龄的时候，只有26％的人定期与家人一起使用手语，而53％的人在学校使用一些手语。因此，大量的DHH人是年轻人首次学习手语。尽管是DHH人学习手语的最常见方法之一，但研究人员对支持第二语言学习在这种学习环境中的第二语言学习成功的因素知之甚少。例如，对第一语言和工作记忆的熟练程度是其他语言学习环境中第二语言能力的预测指标 - 这些预测因素对DHH学习者也很重要吗？ Additionally, the quality and quantity of early language input that DHH people receive is highly variable--does this variation affect second language learning of a sign language?This doctoral dissertation study aims to (1) extend existing research on predictors of second language proficiency to a new learning context, DHH second language signers, and (2) investigate relationships between spoken first language proficiency, non-verbal working memory, and signed second language Proficiency.这项研究进行了一项调解建模研究，评估DHH患者的口语阅读理解和非语言工作记忆，他们使用口语作为主要语言成长，并开始学习手语作为年轻人，并研究这些变量如何与手语接受理解有关。这项研究的结果将导致更广泛的第二语言学习理论，以解释早期第一语言获取的质量和数量的可变性。该结果还为DHH儿童的家庭和学校语言政策提供了信息，以及第二语言教学课程和解释成人DHH第二语言签名者的策略。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并被认为是通过基金会的智力优点和更广泛影响的评估来评估来支持的珍贵支持。