Doctoral Dissertation: Does Speaking Improve Comprehension and Processing of a Foreign Language? A Computer-Assisted Language Learning and ERP Study

Adult language learners, including college students, find learning new languages to be difficult, yet many are remarkably successful. While previous work has focused on cognitive abilities (e.g. fluid intelligence, phonological short-term memory, declarative memory) as indicators of language learning aptitude, less attention has been given to how specific learning tasks might promote language learning in adults.

Using a computer-assisted language learning (CALL) protocol, this project introduces an unfamiliar language to college students while varying learning tasks across participant groups. After listening to question-answer dialogues in the novel language, learners are prompted either to generate answers to the questions (i.e. brief phrases in the language), repeat answers to the questions, or answer forced-choice comprehension questions.

The impacts on the learning outcomes of the different tasks are measured and assessed. Sessions are conducted remotely and recorded using web-based tools.

Based on work in cognitive psychology demonstrating benefits of retrieval practice for learning, this project hypothesizes that adults who generate answers will outperform the other groups on tests assessing their comprehension of specific grammatical features of the new language, after controlling for individual differences in aptitude. Researchers hypothesize that after only two CALL sessions, adult learners will show neural markers associated with processing the grammatical structures (i.e. event-related potentials time-locked to errors) that will correlate with comprehension accuracy.

Identification of the benefits of retrieval practice for comprehension will inform language learning instruction and aid in the development of effective web and mobile applications. The research will be conducted at a large urban public university with women and members of underrepresented groups involved as key personnel and participants.

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.