Unraveling the Role of Statistical Learning in Second Language Learning and Processing

• Applicant: Privatdozentin Dr. Elma Kerz
• Subject Area: Individual Linguistics, Historical Linguistics
• Term: from 2016 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 315280731

Extensive research has shown that statistical learning (SL) - succinctly defined as the discovery of structure by way of statistical properties of the input - is a fundamental mechanism that shapes basic aspects of perception and action. In the area of language learning, SL has been shown to boost the acquisition of knowledge across all components of the linguistic system, from the acquisition of properties of speech as well as the graphotactic and morphological regularities of written words to complex grammatical structures. Moreover, a growing body of recent evidence demonstrates a tight coupling between individual differences (IDs) in SL abilities and variability in native language learning and processing, in both child and adult populations. However, while this research has been expanding rapidly in the last few years, much less is known about the role of SL in second-language (L2) learner populations.The first phase (P1) of the present project has made significant contributions to the current understanding of SL and its link to L2 learning and processing (L2LP) by providing a systematic investigation of the extent to which L2-English learners can acquire linguistic knowledge through the computation of statistical regularities inherent in L2 input. The findings obtained in P1 have paved the way for a more comprehensive and integrated approach to address a number of central theoretical and methodological issues in the second phase (P2). The focus of P1 was predominantly on group-level analyses revealing whether and to what extent L2 learners can develop sensitivity to the statistics of linguistic patterns and structures. This was a natural first step toward an understanding of SL and its link to L2LP. The objective of P2 is threefold: [1] to examine interrelationships between SL abilities and experience-related and cognitive-affective IDs factors and to determine their relative impact on L2LP, [2] to investigate the nature of SL knowledge by uncovering implicit and explicit contributions to SL and [3] to introduce novel processing-based measures for assessing SL abilities and adequately aligned L2 performance measures based on ecologically valid data. The project brings together empirical evidence from a series of corpus-based and behavioral experimental studies to provide a deeper understanding of the complex dynamics between SL and IDs factors that are implicated in L2 production and comprehension. By synthesizing SL and implicit learning paradigms, it explores both the phenomenological and learning consequences of SL knowledge. Such research has the potential to transform our current understanding of SL and its link to L2LP and, at the same time, provides valuable insights into mechanisms underlying language learning and processing, more generally. Its focus on IDs is of key importance to contemporary theories of acquisition, processing and use of language and is of immediate relevance to L2 instruction.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants