Recognition of Second Language Spoken Words, Signs, and Characters Via Perception and Production in Adults

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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Self-production facilitates acquisition of spoken words, signs, and characters from an unfamiliar second language. The proposed work investigates how motor cortex, a key part of the brain enabling body action, supports their acquisition via production as well as perception, providing insight into whether they are learned via mental simulation of the body actions used to produce them. It is hypothesized that activity in motor cortex will differ based on the body part used to produce lexical items (e.g., mouth vs. hands), will be greater for lexical items learned via production than observation, and will differentiate lexical items recognized successfully vs. unsuccessfully.

Official Title
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How Motor Cortex Supports L2 Acquisition of Spoken Words, Signs, and Characters Via Perception and Production

Conditions
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Second Language Acquisition in Healthy Young Adults

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Self-production


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Right-handed Native English speaker Exclusion Criteria: Knowledge of sign language or languages with logographic characters Hearing or vision impairments Speech, language, or learning disorders Unsecured metal body implants

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years
Maximum Age: 35 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Basic Science
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Self-production<br>L2 lexical items self-produced at learning | Behavioral: Self-production<br>* After participants learn L2 lexical items via hearing or observing them paired with L1 translations, they are prompted to produce them themselves<br>|
| Active Comparator: Perception<br>L2 lexical items heard or observed an additional time at learning | Behavioral: Self-production<br>* After participants learn L2 lexical items via hearing or observing them paired with L1 translations, they are prompted to produce them themselves<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Functional activity in motor cortex location, 5 min, recognition | Location of Blood Oxygen Level Dependent (BOLD) signal in motor cortex at recognition | 5 minutes after learning | 
| Functional activity in motor cortex degree, 5 min, recognition | Degree of Blood Oxygen Level Dependent (BOLD) signal in motor cortex at recognition | 5 minutes after learning | 
| Functional activity in motor cortex location, 1 week, recognition | Location of Blood Oxygen Level Dependent (BOLD) signal in motor cortex at recognition | 1 week after learning | 
| Functional activity in motor cortex degree, 1 week, recognition | Degree of Blood Oxygen Level Dependent (BOLD) signal in motor cortex at recognition | 1 week after learning | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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Second language, Word learning, Self-production