202410.11
Exploring New Vocabulary Acquisition Research Using Brain Imaging Technique (22nd Human Brain Sciences Seminar)
Posted in EVENT
Exploring New Vocabulary Acquisition Research Using Brain Imaging Technique
(22nd Human Brain Sciences Seminar)
Dr. Joe Barcroft (Washington University in St. Louis), an internationally well-known researcher specializing in second language vocabulary acquisition research, was our featured speaker. He discussed the future of combined research on vocabulary acquisition and brain science. Dr. Ryuya Komuro, a postdoctoral researcher at Tohoku University, also gave an update on vocabulary research using the latest brain measurements. (Uchihara)
【Date & Time】
October 11 (Friday): 16:30～18:10
【Venue】
Smart Aging Building, Institude of Development, Aging & Cancer (IDAC), third floor, Tohoku University
【Schedule】
※Language：English
16:30 – 17:00
Speaker 1: Ryuya Komuro (Tohoku University)
Title: Semantic elaboration task for L2 homograph learning: An extension of Kida and Barcroft (2019)
17:10 – 18:10
Speaker 2: Joe Barcroft (Washington University in St. Louis)
Title: Toward a theory of acoustically varied input and vocabulary learning: How can fMRI research help?
Organized by Institude of Development, Aging and Cancer (IDAC)・Research Center for Language, Brain, and Cognition, Graduate School of International Cultural Studies, Tohoku University (Uchihara)
Toward a theory of acoustically varied input and vocabulary learning: How can fMRI research help?
Joe Barcroft (Washington University in St. Louis)
Abstract:
Acoustic variability refers to variations in speech of an indexical nature (e.g., hearing a sibling versus a friend reading the same sentence) that do not alter linguistic content. Increases in many types of acoustic variability, such as talker, speaking-style, and speaking-rate variability, improve vocabulary learning whereas others, such as amplitude variability, do not (Barcroft & Sommers, 2005; Sommers & Barcroft, 2007). These findings support (a) the proposal that acoustically varied input facilitates more robust or distributed developing lexical representations (Barcroft & Sommers, 2005) and (b) the extended phonetic relevance hypothesis (Sommers & Barcroft, 2007), which posits that learners benefit only from sources of variability that are phonetically relevant to them. In this presentation, we first explain how existing research supports these two theoretical proposals. We then discuss specific ways in which future fMRI studies can test the proposals by comparing patterns in neural substrates of positive versus null effects of different types of acoustically varied and acoustically consistent input during lexical input processing and post-learning retrieval of target vocabulary.
Bio:
Joe Barcroft is Professor of Spanish and Second Language Acquisition and Affiliate Professor of Psychological & Brain Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis. His research focuses on second language vocabulary learning, lexical input processing, the bilingual mental lexicon, and psycholinguistic approaches to other issues in second language acquisition. His publications include the books Input-Based Incremental Vocabulary Instruction (2012, TESOL International), Lexical Input Processing and Vocabulary Learning (2015, John Benjamins), the co-edited volume The Routledge Handbook of Second Language Acquisition and Input Processing (2024, Routledge), and research articles in journals such as Studies in Second Language Acquisition, Language Learning, Applied Psycholinguistics, and Memory & Cognition.
Exploring New Vocabulary Acquisition Research Using Brain Imaging Technique
(22nd Human Brain Sciences Seminar)
Dr. Joe Barcroft (Washington University in St. Louis), an internationally well-known researcher specializing in second language vocabulary acquisition research, was our featured speaker. He discussed the future of combined research on vocabulary acquisition and brain science. Dr. Ryuya Komuro, a postdoctoral researcher at Tohoku University, also gave an update on vocabulary research using the latest brain measurements. (Uchihara)
【Date & Time】
October 11 (Friday): 16:30～18:10
【Venue】
Smart Aging Building, Institude of Development, Aging & Cancer (IDAC), third floor, Tohoku University
【Schedule】
※Language：English
16:30 – 17:00
Speaker 1: Ryuya Komuro (Tohoku University)
Title: Semantic elaboration task for L2 homograph learning: An extension of Kida and Barcroft (2019)
17:10 – 18:10
Speaker 2: Joe Barcroft (Washington University in St. Louis)
Title: Toward a theory of acoustically varied input and vocabulary learning: How can fMRI research help?
Organized by Institude of Development, Aging and Cancer (IDAC)・Research Center for Language, Brain, and Cognition, Graduate School of International Cultural Studies, Tohoku University (Uchihara)
Toward a theory of acoustically varied input and vocabulary learning: How can fMRI research help?
Joe Barcroft (Washington University in St. Louis)
Abstract:
Acoustic variability refers to variations in speech of an indexical nature (e.g., hearing a sibling versus a friend reading the same sentence) that do not alter linguistic content. Increases in many types of acoustic variability, such as talker, speaking-style, and speaking-rate variability, improve vocabulary learning whereas others, such as amplitude variability, do not (Barcroft & Sommers, 2005; Sommers & Barcroft, 2007). These findings support (a) the proposal that acoustically varied input facilitates more robust or distributed developing lexical representations (Barcroft & Sommers, 2005) and (b) the extended phonetic relevance hypothesis (Sommers & Barcroft, 2007), which posits that learners benefit only from sources of variability that are phonetically relevant to them. In this presentation, we first explain how existing research supports these two theoretical proposals. We then discuss specific ways in which future fMRI studies can test the proposals by comparing patterns in neural substrates of positive versus null effects of different types of acoustically varied and acoustically consistent input during lexical input processing and post-learning retrieval of target vocabulary.
Bio:
Joe Barcroft is Professor of Spanish and Second Language Acquisition and Affiliate Professor of Psychological & Brain Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis. His research focuses on second language vocabulary learning, lexical input processing, the bilingual mental lexicon, and psycholinguistic approaches to other issues in second language acquisition. His publications include the books Input-Based Incremental Vocabulary Instruction (2012, TESOL International), Lexical Input Processing and Vocabulary Learning (2015, John Benjamins), the co-edited volume The Routledge Handbook of Second Language Acquisition and Input Processing (2024, Routledge), and research articles in journals such as Studies in Second Language Acquisition, Language Learning, Applied Psycholinguistics, and Memory & Cognition.