| 摘要: | 語言系統有其內在規則和結構，而能偵測此內隱規則的統計學習能力應對外語學習有重大影響，但過往研究甚少驗證此假設。有鑑於此，本三年計畫提出八個實驗，主要透過學習中文的成年受試者之行為表現和利用功能性磁振造影技術和腦磁波儀所記錄到的大腦神經訊號，聚焦這些資料所展現出的個別差異，針對以下議題進行探討。一、發展空間統計學習作業(實驗一)，用以檢驗外語學習者在此類作業中的反應正確率(實驗二)，並和其進行中文真字、假字判斷作業時所展現的大腦血氧濃度變化(實驗三)、腦殼上之腦磁波強度和分布(實驗四)進行相關分析，據以了解對有特定規則之空間訊息的敏感度是否和習得中文字形的結構性有關；二、發展序列統計學習作業(實驗五)，用以檢驗以中文為母語及外語學習者在此類作業中的反應正確率(實驗五、七)，並和這兩群受試者聆聽中文語句時腦殼上所展現的腦磁波強度和分布(實驗六、八)進行相關分析，據以了解對有特定規則之序列訊息的敏感度是否和習得中文句子中的語意、語法一致性有關。本計畫之結果不僅可為成年外語學習者處理中文的行為和生理機制提供實徵證據，也將幫助學者釐清泛範疇之統計學習能力和外語學習間的關聯性，對外語處理和學習歷程的理論與教學策略帶來重要啟發。 ;There are hierarchy and systematic regularities embedded in Chinese orthography and sentence structure. Native speakers and readers of Chinese presumably rely on their sensitivity to probabilistic information to develop the knowledge of the regularities “hidden” in linguistic input after extensive exposure to the countless exemplars during their life spans. Through the approach that investigates the correlation between individual differences in domain-general (non-linguistic) and domain-specific (linguistic) abilities, the present proposal aims to investigate whether the fundamental cognitive ability of statistical learning (SL) would help adult learners of Chinese extract the regularities in this foreign language and to achieve high proficiency, reflected in both behavioral and neuronal indices, as native speakers. Based on previous literature and our own research on Chinese character recognition and sentence comprehension in native readers and speakers, we propose to conduct eight experiments in a period of three years with the following specific aims: First, we investigate whether individual differences in SL correlates with emergence of the sensitivity to the regularities embedded in Chinese orthography. Specifically, we prepare spatial SL tests (Experiment 1), examine adult Chinese learners in these tests (Experiment 2), and measure their Chinese proficiency in character recognition via behavioral and fMRI responses (Experiment 3), as well as via behavioral and MEG responses (Experiment 4), that reflect the effects of phonetic radical consistency in the tasks of lexical decision and pseudo-character decision. Second, we investigate whether individual differences in SL correlates with emergence of the sensitivity to the temporal dependencies among words in Chinese sentences. Specifically, we prepare sequential SL tests (Experiment 5), examine native speakers and adult learners of Chinese in these tests (Experiment 5 & 7), and measure their Chinese proficiency in sentence comprehension via MEG responses to semantic (negative polarity item) and syntactic (aspect) agreement violations (Experiment 6 & 8). In addition to profiling whether adult learners of Chinese exhibit similar or distinct behaviors and brain activations in the tasks of character recognition and sentence comprehension as native Chinese participants, the results of the proposed project elucidate the relationships between individual differences in SL abilities and in the acquisition of Chinese proficiency. Such findings not only provide empirical evidence for the critical role of SL in learning a foreign language, they also point to potential directions for the optimal strategies to teach and to master a foreign language. Moreover, when the results from the present project are considered together with the results from the Main Project and other Sub-Projects, we are able to explore the relationships among multiple cognitive factors and the acquisition of foreign language proficiency in a comprehensive fashion, which would help us build an adequate theory for foreign language learning and processing. |
