A study of psycholinguistics.docx
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A study of psycholinguistics.docx
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Astudyofpsycholinguistics
Astudyofpsycholinguistics
Abstract:
Psycholinguisticsisayoungdiscipline.Therewasonlyafewdecadesfromwhenit’sproducedtopresent.Buttheresearchonithadlastedforseveralcenturies.Psycholinguisticsstudiestheprocessoflanguageusingandlanguageacquisition,whichhasobviouscross-disciplinarynature.Itmainlystudieslanguagecomprehension,languageproduction,languageacquisition.ThisarticledealswiththemeaningofPsycholinguistics,itsdevelopmentandresearchonmentallexicon,finallyitalsoviewsthedevelopmentprospectsofPsycholinguistics.AndbasedonthelearnedcontentsofPsycholinguistics,itwillintroducethestudyofthementallexiconweightily.
Forseveraldecades,researchershaveshiftedtheirattentionfromseekingthebestteachingapproachestostudyinglearners'individualdifferences.Moreandmoreresearchersagreethatthefollowingareimportantvariablesinwhichindividuallearnersmaydiffer:
intelligence,languageaptitude,personality(suchasextraversion/introversion,perseverance,andanxiety),learningstrategies,andattitudestowardsthetargetlanguageanditsnativespeakers(LiuRunqing,2004).ItindicatesthatthepreviousresearchesonthesevariableshaveprovedtobehelpfulinunderstandingSLLprocess(Skehan,1989).
Basedonthepreviousresearchesandtherelevanttheories,thisstudyfocusesontwooftheabovevariables:
personality(extravcrsion/introversion)andlanguagelearningstrategies,andisaimedatexploringtherelationshipsamongthese:
theextraversion/introversion(E/1)tendenciesofChinesestudents,theirproficiencyinEnglishasaforeignlanguage(EFL)andtheirforeignlanguagelearning(FLL)strategiesemployment.
Asurveystudyhasbeenmadeamong110seniorhighschoolstudents.Twoself-report
questionnaires---EysenckPersonalityQuestionnaire(EPO)andForeignLanguageLearningStrategiesQuestionnaire,andonelanguageproficiencytest---theCollegeEntranceExamination(inShanghai)havebeenadministratedtothem,inordertoidentifythestudents'personalitytraits(E/1),theirlearningstrategiesandtheirforeignlanguageproficiency.
Keywords:
psycholinguisticspsycholexiconvocabularyextraversion/introversionrelationshipEnglishasaforeignlanguageProficiencyforeignlanguagelearningstrategies
Introduction
BackgroundofThisstudy
Psycholinguisticsisthestudyofthepsychologicalandneurobiologicalfactorsthatenablehumanstoacquire,use,comprehendandproducelanguage.Initialforaysintopsycholinguisticswerelargelyphilosophicalventures,duemainlytoalackofcohesivedataonhowthehumanbrainfunctioned.Modernresearchmakesuseofbiology,neuroscience,cognitivescience,linguistics,andinformationtheorytostudyhowthebrainprocesseslanguage.Thereareanumberofsubdisciplineswithnon-invasivetechniquesforstudyingtheneurologicalworkingsofthebrain;forexample,neurolinguisticshasbecomeafieldinitsownright.Forcenturies,effortshavebeenmadetolookforthebestteachingmethodinforeignlanguageteaching(FLT)/secondlanguageteaching(SIT).Numerousmethodsareinvolved,butnotoneseemsgoodenoughtobeuniversallyacceptedastheBEST.Ithasbeenfound,instead,thatwhateverthemethodology,thematerial,theconditionunderwhichaforeignlanguageistaught,somelearnersarealwaysmoresuccessfulthanothers,whiletherewillbe,invariably,oneortwototalfailures.Thishasforcedresearcherstoconsiderifitisthedifferenceinindividuallearnersthatcausessuchdisparityinultimateattainmentwhentheexternalenvironmentisverynearlyidentical.Psycholinguisticsisaninterdisciplinaryfield.Hence,itisstudiedbyresearchersfromavarietyofdifferentbackgrounds,suchaspsychology,cognitivescience,linguistics,andspeechandlanguagepathology.Psycholinguistsstudymanydifferenttopics,butthesetopicscangenerallybedividedintoansweringthefollowingquestions:
(1)howdochildrenacquirelanguage(languageacquisition)?
;
(2)howdopeopleprocessandcomprehendlanguage(languagecomprehension)?
;(3)howdopeopleproducelanguage(languageproduction)?
;and(4)howdoadultsacquireanewlanguage(secondlanguageacquisition)?
ResearchershavebeguntoshifttheirattentionfromseekingthebestmethodtostudyingIndividualdifferences.Aftermorethantwodecadesofresearch,individual-differenceresearchhasmadedeniableprogressinthesensethatmethodshaveimprovedagreatdeal,instrumentshavegrownintermsofvarietyandreliability,andthenumberofvariableshasshrunktoafewMoreresearcherswouldagreethatthefollowingareimportantvariablesinwhichindividuallearnersmaydiffer:
intelligence,languageaptitude,personality(suchasextraversion/introversion,perseverance,anxiety),learningstrategies(suchascognitive,metacognitive,formal,andinstrumental),andattitudestowardsthetargetlanguageanditsnativespeakers
(LiuRunqing,2004).
InordertodeeplyunderstandFLLprocessofChinesestudentsandtopromoteEnglishteaching,accordingtothepreviousresearchesandrelevanttheories,thisstudyfocusesontwooftheabovevariables:
personality(extraversion/introversion)andlanguagelearningstrategies,andisaimedatexploringtherelationshipsamongthese:
theextraversion/introversion(E/I)tendenciesofChinesestudents,theirproficiencyinEnglishasaforeignlanguage(EFL)andtheirforeignlanguagelearning(FLL)strategiesemployment.
Languagecomprehension
Onequestionintherealmoflanguagecomprehensionishowpeopleunderstandsentencesastheyread(alsoknownassentenceprocessing).Experimentalresearchhasspawnedanumberoftheoriesaboutthearchitectureandmechanismsofsentencecomprehension.Typicallythesetheoriesareconcernedwithwhattypesofinformationcontainedinthesentencethereadercanusetobuildmeaning,andatwhatpointinreadingdoesthatinformationbecomeavailabletothereader.Issuessuchas"modular"versus"interactive"processinghavebeentheoreticaldividesinthefield.
Amodularviewofsentenceprocessingassumesthatthestagesinvolvedinreadingasentencefunctionindependentlyinseparatemodules.Thesemodulateshavelimitedinteractionwithoneanother.Forexample,oneinfluentialtheoryofsentenceprocessing,thegarden-paththeory[5],statesthatsyntacticanalysistakesplacefirst.Underthistheoryasthereaderisreadingasentence,heorshecreatesthesimpleststructurepossibleinordertominimizeeffortandcognitiveload.Thisisdonewithoutanyinputfromsemanticanalysisorcontext-dependentinformation.Hence,inthesentence"Theevidenceexaminedbythelawyerturnedouttobeunreliable,"bythetimethereadergetstotheword"examined"heorshehascommittedtoareadingofthesentenceinwhichtheevidenceisexaminingsomethingbecauseitisthesimplestparse.Thiscommitmentismadedespitethefactthatitresultsinanimplausiblesituation;weknowthatexperiencethatevidencecanrarelyifeverexaminesomething.Underthis"syntaxfirst"theory,semanticinformationisprocessedatalaterstage.Itisonlylaterthatthereaderwillrecognizethatherorsheneedstorevisetheinitialparseintooneinwhich"theevidence"isbeingexamined.Inthisexample,readerstypicallyrecognizetheirmisparsebythetimetheyreach"bythelawyer"andmustgobackandre-parsethesentence.[6]Thisreanalysisiscostlyandcontributestoslowerreadingtimes.
Incontrasttoamodularaccount,aninteractivetheoryofsentenceprocessing,suchasaconstraint-basedlexicalapproach[7]assumesthatallavailableinformationcontainedwithinasentencecanbeprocessedatanytime.Underaninteractiveaccount,forexample,thesemanticsofasentence(suchasplausibility)cancomeintoplayearlyoninordertohelpdeterminethestructureofasentence.Hence,inthesentenceabove,thereaderwouldbeabletomakeuseofplausibilityinformationinordertoassumethat"theevidence"isbeingexaminedinsteadofdoingtheexamining.Therearedatatosupportbothmodularandinteractiveaccounts;whichaccountisthecorrectoneisstillupfordebate.
Languageacquisition
Thereareessentiallytwoschoolsofthoughtastohowchildrenacquireorlearnlanguage,andthereisstillmuchdebateastowhichtheoryisthecorrectone.Thefirsttheorystatesthatalllanguagemustbelearnedbythechild.Thesecondviewstatesthattheabstractsystemoflanguagecannotbelearned,butthathumanspossessaninnatelanguagefaculty,oranaccesstowhathasbeencalleduniversalgrammar.Theviewthatlanguagemustbelearnedwasespeciallypopularbefore1960andiswellrepresentedbythementalistictheoriesofJeanPiagetandtheempiricistRudolfCarnap.Likewise,theschoolofpsychologyknownasbehaviorism(seeVerbalBehavior(1957)byB.F.Skinner)putsforththepointofviewthatlanguageisabehaviorshapedbyconditionedresponse,henceitislearned.
TheinnatistperspectivebeganwithNoamChomsky'shighlycriticalreviewofSkinner'sbookin1959.[2]Thisreviewhelpedtostartwhathasbeentermed"thecognitiverevolution"inpsychology.Chomskypositedhumanspossessaspecial,innateabilityforlanguageandthatcomplexsyntacticfeatures,suchasrecursion,are"hard-wired"inthebrain.Theseabilitiesarethoughttobebeyondthegraspofthemostintelligentandsocialnon-humans.AccordingtoChomsky,childrenacquiringalanguagehaveavastsearchspacetoexploreamongallpossiblehumangrammars,yetatthetimetherewasnoevidencethatchildrenreceivesufficientinputtolearnalltherulesoftheirlanguage(seepovertyofthestimulus).Hence,theremus
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