汉-英儿童双语者母语和二语加工的相互作用:来自神经机制方面的证据

双语者语言加工的神经机制一直是语言认知神经科学研究关注的热点问题之一。前人研究多关注二语加工过程,较少研究母语加工神经网络与二语加工神经网络之间的相互作用;并且前人研究多以成人为被试,研究结果可能会受到发展成熟因素的影响。本研究中,28名汉英儿童双语者进行了两种语言条件下的语音判断任务和字形判断任务,在进行任务的同时进行了磁共振扫描。通过全脑分析、感兴趣区分析和相关分析,结果显示:1)汉语语音、字形加工和英语语音、字形加工激活了类似的脑区网络,但也存在差异。汉语特异脑区(根据Tan等人对汉英跨语言比较的元分析进行定义)右侧枕下回、梭状回以及左侧扣带回在英语语音、字形任务中都显著激活,英语语音任务还额外激活了汉语特异的左脑额中回和中央前回;英语特异脑区(根据Tan等人对汉英进行跨语言比较的元分析进行定义)左脑额内侧、额下回以及梭状回在汉语语音、字形加工中显著激活。2)儿童的英语熟练度越低,左脑扣带回(汉语特异脑区)在汉语语音和汉语字形任务中的激活越强;汉语熟练度越高,左脑额下回(英语特异脑区)在英语字形任务中的激活越强,左脑颞上回(英语特异脑区)在英语语音任务中的激活越弱。两个任务的结果一致说明:汉英双语者母语加工的神经网络与二语加工的神经网络之间存在相互作用,并且受到双语熟练度的调制。     

双语即时切换下非目标语言语音和语义的激活状态

本研究采用双语即时切换范式, 探讨非熟练中英双语者在对目标语言(启动词)语音或语义的加工过程中非目标语言的激活状态。实验1设置了与启动词的翻译对等词存在语音相关或无关的两类配对词, 要求被试进行语音判断任务, 结果表明, 不论哪种切换条件, 两类配对词在反应时和P200成分上都没有差异, 说明目标语言在语音加工过程中非目标语言的语音层面没有得到自动激活, 从而没有产生启动效应。实验2则设置了语义相关和无关配对词, 并进行语义判断任务, 结果在两种切换条件下都发现明显的语义启动效应及N400差异, 说明非目标语言在语义层面上有得到自动激活, 但激活的程度表现出切换方向上的不一致, L1-L2切换下的语义启动量要明显大于L2-L1, 并且L1-L2的N400差异主要表现在前部脑区, 持续时间更久, 而L2-L1的N400差异主要表现在后部脑区, 但持续时间较短, 表明对于非熟练的双语者来说, 不同切换方向下对共享语义表征的激活加工是不一样的。     

发展性阅读障碍语音缺陷的脑科学研究及对阅读教学的启示

阅读障碍语音缺陷是阅读障碍的关键原因之一。脑科学研究发现,拼音文字系统中阅读障碍者在语音加工的神经机制上存在缺陷,相关脑区包括颞—顶—枕联合区和额下回;而汉语阅读障碍者语音加工时,激活的脑区和拼音文字系统阅读障碍者激活的脑区不同,涉及左额中回和右脑一些皮层。基于此,提出了相应的阅读教学建议。     

非平衡中-英双语者言语产生中非目标语言的语音激活

采用改造的图片命名启动范式考察非平衡中-英双语者在言语产生中非目标语言的语音激活范围。实验1探讨在准备用汉语命名图片后,英语词汇的语音激活。结果发现,英语语音一致词的命名反应快于语音相关词和语音无关词,且语音相关词的命名反应快于语音无关词,说明在一语的产生过程中,二语对等词和相关词的语音都得到了激活。实验2探讨在准备用英语命名图片后,汉语词汇的语音激活。结果发现,汉语语音一致词的命名反应快于语音相关词和语音无关词,而语音相关词与语音无关词之间的命名反应没有显著差异,说明在二语的产生过程中,只有一语对等词的语音得到了激活。总结果表明,非平衡中-英双语者使用目标语言时,非目标语言的语音也可以得到激活,并且激活范围可能受非目标语言熟练水平的影响。     

词汇熟悉度对非熟练中英双语者语言理解转换中非目标语言激活的影响

采用改造后的长时重复启动范式,探讨母语为汉语的非熟练中英双语者语言理解转换中非目标语言的激活层面,以及词汇熟悉度的影响。实验1考察学习阶段不同熟悉度的非目标词在测验阶段呈现时能否出现长时重复启动效应,从而检测双语者语言理解转换中非目标语言是否自动激活,实验2探究学习阶段不同熟悉度的非目标词在测验阶段以翻译对等词呈现时能否出现长时重复启动效应,从而检测双语者语言理解转换中非目标语言的语义层面能否激活。结果发现:非熟练中英双语者语言理解转换中非目标语言不管为中文还是英文,都能自动激活,但激活层面会受到词汇熟悉度的影响;当非目标语言为二语时,熟悉度高的二语词能激活到语义层面,熟悉度低的二语词只能激活到词汇层面;当非目标语言为一语时,不管词汇熟悉度高还是低,都能够激活到语义层面。     

读写分离的脑神经机制：来自fMRI的证据

使用只读不写的繁体字和会读会写的简体字材料, 以默读为实验任务, 探讨“会读会写”与“只读不写”文字的加工脑区。8名在校大学生在磁共振扫描过程中默读呈现的繁体字或简体字, 采用ANOVA统计全脑激活图。与简体字相比, 繁体字额外激活了右额下回、左小脑。在功能连接性上, 简体字和繁体字相同的激活脑区有左楔前叶-左内侧前额叶, 左楔前叶-左中央前回, 右枕中回-左舌回; 不同的是, 繁体字左楔前叶与右额下回有高相关, 而简体字左楔前叶与右额中回有高相关。左内侧前额叶与中央前回只在繁体字中表现出高相关。繁体字和简体字任务的T检验差异脑区包括左颞中回和右顶下小叶。只读不写的文字具有加工的整体性和轮廓性特征, 它的读音与不规则简体字相似, 具有整字加工特点。繁体字和简体字加工具有相同的功能连接区, 但也存在差异。右脑表现为连接脑区不同, 左脑内侧前额叶与中央前回表现为相关性不同, 说明内侧前额叶-中央前回在繁体字加工中起着重要作用。实验结果还证明顶叶是记忆再认的主要脑区。     

客体与空间工作记忆的分离：来自皮层慢电位的证据

利用128导事件相关电位技术,采用延迟匹配任务的实验范式,测查了16名正常被试在完成客体任务和空间任务时的皮层慢电位（slow cortical potentials,简称sp成分）,实验发现：在后部脑区,客体工作记忆与空间工作记忆在慢波活动的时间上存在分离,空间任务更早的诱发出负sp成分,并且空间任务激活更多的后部脑区;左下前额叶在客体工作记忆任务与空间工作记忆任务中都有激活,并且激活强度不存在显著差异;背侧前额叶主要负责客体信息的保持与复述,但左右背侧前额叶的激活强度存在不对称性。     

字形信息在藏——汉双语者汉字词识别中的作用

采用启动范式下的真假字词判断任务,在两种SOA(60ms、100ms)条件下,考察字形信息在藏-汉双语者汉字识别中的作用。结果表明:(1)字形信息促进了语音信息的激活,字形信息影响了汉字识别的相对时间进程。(2)在汉字识别过程中,藏-汉双语者亚词汇单元的语音信息没有得到激活。(3)对于藏-汉双语者来说,语音信息的激活早于字形信息的激活。研究结果对我国少数民族学生的汉语教学具有重要的参考价值。     

语言熟练度对Stroop效应的影响——不平衡双语者的任务态fMRI研究

目的:探讨语言熟练度对Stroop效应的影响及其背后的脑机制。材料与方法:17位被试参与本研究。被试母语为汉语,第二语言为英语。在被试完成中英文的stroop色字的任务过程中对被试进行fMRI扫描。结果:在色字相一致的条件下,中文任务与英文任务相比,双侧背侧枕叶及右侧背外侧前额叶有更强的激活; 反向比较,双侧腹侧枕叶有更强的激活。在色字不一致的条件下,中文任务与英文任务相比,双侧背外侧前额叶、右侧枕下回有更强的激活; 反向比较,并无显著激活的脑区。此外,中文Stroop效应引起左侧额下回显著的激活。英文Stroop效应中,左侧额下回无显著激活。结论:结合前人研究,我们得出,语言熟练度影响了对注意控制有重要作用的背外侧前额叶以及与反应抑制有关的左侧额下回在Stroop任务中的参与程度,进而影响了Stroop任务的表现     

汉语声调认知加工的脑机制及语言经验的影响

汉语母语者对汉语声调的认知加工可分为亚词汇和词汇两种加工水平。亚词汇水平涉及对汉语声调的声学和语音加工,当无需主动注意参与时,现有研究在左右半球优势上尚未取得明确结论;当需要主动注意参与时,优势主要表现为左侧化,涉及左侧的布洛卡区、前运动区、前部脑岛、顶叶、顶枕联合区以及双侧听皮层附近脑区,这与语言加工双通路模型(HickokPoeppel,2007)中的背侧通路有很大重合。词汇水平涉及对汉语声调的识别,由双侧半球参与,顶叶、颞叶等部分脑区左侧优势更加明显,同时涉及颞中回等语言加工腹侧通路的核心区域。此外,个体对汉语声调认知加工的脑机制会受到语言经验的影响。     

汉字亚词汇部件语音加工的P200效应

亚词汇加工是词汇识别研究中的一个重要领域,本研究考察了早期ERP成分P200如何受到汉字亚词汇部件语音信息的影响。在ERP实验中,被试对顺序呈现的启动字和目标字对进行语义判断。实验中“启动字-目标字”字对共享一个共同的可发音或不可发音的部件（如“吹-砍”、“扬-场”）。对目标字的P200效应分析显示：与部件不发音的目标字相比,部件可发音的目标字所诱发的P200显著增强。这种增强的ERP效应表明P200对汉字识别中亚词汇部件的语音加工非常敏感,其效应变化受到亚词汇语音的单独调节,同时也表明在汉字识别的早期阶段亚词汇部件语音信息就已被激活并在汉字加工中起重要作用。     

英汉双语者二语口语产生中音韵编码过程的同化机制

本研究运用事件相关电位技术, 结合时空微态分割分析法, 考察英汉双语者二语口语产生过程中音韵编码过程的同化与顺应机制。研究中采用图词干扰即时命名任务, 比较英汉双语者的汉语产生过程中音韵编码的加工单元与汉语母语者的汉语产生过程还是与英语母语者的英语产生过程的特点类似。反应时结果发现汉汉组、英汉组与英英组都出现显著的音节效应。事件相关电位的结果发现英汉双语者的汉语产生过程中出现了音素效应, 与其英语产生过程的特点类似, 音素效应在英语和汉语的产生过程中都出现在图画呈现后的200~250 ms之间, 而汉语母语者的汉语产生过程中仅发现了音节效应, 出现在250~300 ms之间。时空微态分割分析发现英汉双语者在汉语产生的音韵编码过程与英语母语者在英语产生过程所对应的脑电微态成分相同, 仅在持续时间上存在显著差异; 其微态成分不同于汉语母语者的汉语产生过程。上述结果表明英汉双语者汉语产生的音韵编码过程与英语作为母语时的产生过程相似, 而与汉语作为母语时的产生过程不同。英汉双语者的汉语产生过程采用了母语同化机制。     

Chinese-English biliteracy acquisition: cross-language and writing system transfer

This study investigated cross-language and writing system relationship in biliteracy acquisition of children learning to read two different writing systems-Chinese and English. Forty-six Mandarin-speaking children were tested for their first language (Chinese-L1) and second language (English-L2) reading skills. Comparable experiments in Chinese and English were designed focusing on two reading processes-phonological and orthographic processing. Word reading skills in both writing systems were tested. Results revealed that Chinese onset matching skill was significantly correlated with English onset and rime matching skills. Pinyin, an alphabetic phonetic system used to assist children in learning to read Chinese characters, was highly correlated with English pseudoword reading. Furthermore, Chinese tone processing skill contributed a moderate but significant amount of variance in predicting English pseudoword reading even when English phonemic-level processing skill was taken into consideration. Orthographic processing skill in the two writing systems, on the other hand, did not predict each other's word reading. These findings suggest that bilingual reading acquisition is a joint function of shared phonological processes and orthographic specific skills.     

Language aptitude for pronunciation in advanced second language (L2) Learners: Behavioural predictors and neural substrates

Individual differences in second language (L2) aptitude have been assumed to depend upon a variety of cognitive and personality factors. Especially, the cognitive factor phonological working memory has been conceptualised as language learning device. However, strong associations between phonological working memory and L2 aptitude have been previously found in early-stage learners only, not in advanced learners. The current study aimed at investigating the behavioural and neurobiological predictors of advanced L2 learning. Our behavioural results showed that phonetic coding ability and empathy, but not phonological working memory, predict L2 pronunciation aptitude in advanced learners. Second, functional neuroimaging revealed this behavioural trait to be correlated with hemodynamic responses of the cerebral network of speech motor control and auditory-perceptual areas. We suggest that the acquisition of L2 pronunciation aptitude is a dynamic process, requiring a variety of neural resources at different processing stages over time.     

Language nonselective access to phonological representations: Evidence from Chinese–English bilinguals

Four experiments with Chinese–English bilinguals were conducted in order to investigate the hypothesis of language nonselective access to an integrated lexicon for bilingual phonological representations. Results of a naming task (in Experiments 1 and 2) and a lexical decision task (in Experiments 3 and 4) showed homophone priming effects regardless of priming direction (English to Chinese, or Chinese to English) or English proficiency. Our findings are compatible with the BIA+ model of bilingual processing, provide further support for the hypothesis of language nonselective access to an integrated lexicon for bilingual phonological representations, and extend the hypothesis to language pairs with very different writing systems.     

From SOFA to LOUCH: Lexical contributions to pseudoword pronunciation

A word can be pronounced by applying spelling-sound correspondence rules or by looking up its pronunciation in the lexicon. In contrast, a novel string with no lexical entry should be pronounceable only through rule application. Recent research, though, suggests that lexical information may contribute to the pronunciation of nonwords (Glushko, 1979; Marcel, 1980). The present three experiments tested this possibility with the logic of spreading activation. Experiment 1 found a decrease in naming latencies for target words preceded by either related words or pseudowords created from those words, implicating lexical activity in pseudoword pronunciation. In Experiment 2, words visually similar to target pseudowords were semantically primed prior to pseudoword presentation, but the expected facilitation in pseudoword naming did not appear. Experiment 3 provided strong support for the hypothesis, however, demonstrating a marked bias in the pronunciation chosen for an ambiguous pseudoword as the result of priming a visually similar word.     

Pinyin and English Invented Spelling in Chinese-Speaking Students Who Speak English as a Second Language

This study examined pinyin (the official phonetic system that transcribes the lexical tones and pronunciation of Chinese characters) invented spelling and English invented spelling in 72 Mandarin-speaking 6th graders who learned English as their second language. The pinyin invented spelling task measured segmental-level awareness including syllable and phoneme awareness, and suprasegmental-level awareness including lexical tones and tone sandhi in Chinese Mandarin. The English invented spelling task manipulated segmental-level awareness including syllable awareness and phoneme awareness, and suprasegmental-level awareness including word stress. This pinyin task outperformed a traditional phonological awareness task that only measured segmental-level awareness and may have optimal utility to measure unique phonological and linguistic features in Chinese reading. The pinyin invented spelling uniquely explained variance in Chinese conventional spelling and word reading in both languages. The English invented spelling uniquely explained variance in conventional spelling and word reading in both languages. Our findings appear to support the role of phonological activation in Chinese reading. Our experimental linguistic manipulations altered the phonological awareness item difficulties.     

Nonselective access of spelling–sound knowledge for Korean‐English bilinguals

An intense debate in monolingual research concerns the presence of phonological recoding in word recognition. Research supporting the phonological recoding hypothesis in monolingual research suggests the possibility of phonological recoding even in L2 recognition. There has been some experimental evidence showing phonological priming between L1 and L2 for alphabetic bilinguals (e.g., French‐Dutch). In the present study, lexical decision experiments used either L1 or L2 primes with targets from the other language at SOAs of 140 ms and 250 ms for Korean‐English bilinguals. It was found that phonological information activated by either an L1 or L2 prime can interact with phonological information in the other language. That is, L2 shares phonological information with L1, and its spelling–sound knowledge is activated, apparently automatically, at an SOA of 140 ms. The consistent pattern of phonological priming of both L1 and L2 targets at the 140 ms SOA indicates that the spelling–sound knowledge of bilingual lexicons is activated when any linguistic form is presented. Importantly, this indiscriminate activation of spelling–sound knowledge in the Korean‐English bilingual system occurs in the absence of any common orthographic cues because the two languages have totally different writing systems.     

儿童汉字读音声旁一致性意识的发展

采用同音判断的方法,考察儿童对汉字读音声旁一致性意识的发展。一个熟悉字和一个不熟悉字共用同一个声旁,该声旁在提示整字发音时可以是一致的,即包含此声旁的所有汉字都发音相同,也可以是不一致的。要求儿童猜测不熟悉字的读音,作出它与熟悉字“是”、“否”同音的判断。结果发现,儿童很早就意识到汉字的结构以及声旁和形旁在表音、表义功能上的分工。随着年级的升高,声旁一致性对猜测不熟悉汉字读音的影响增强。小学四年级语文能力较高的儿童已经开始意识到声旁的一致性;六年级儿童总体上说来已发展了一致性意识。初二年级的学生发展了声旁一致性意识,且没有能力差异。大学生的声旁一致性意识最强。