ERIC Number: ED576511
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2017
Pages: 121
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: 978-1-3697-4813-0
ISSN: EISSN-
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Brain Responses to Contrastive and Noncontrastive Morphosyntactic Structures in African American English and Mainstream American English: ERP Evidence for the Neural Indices of Dialect
Garcia, Felicidad M.
ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, Columbia University
Recent research has shown that distinct event-related potential (ERP) signatures are associated with switching between languages compared to switching between dialects or registers (e.g., Khamis-Dakwar & Froud, 2007; Moreno, Federmeier & Kutas, 2002). The current investigation builds on these findings to examine whether contrastive and non-contrastive morphosyntactic features in English elicit differing neural responses in bidialectal speakers of African American English (AAE) and Mainstream American English (MAE), compared to monodialectal speakers of MAE. Event-related potentials (ERPs) and behavioral responses (response types and reaction time) to grammaticality judgments targeting a contrasting morphosyntactic feature between MAE and AAE are presented as evidence of dual-language representation in bidialectal speakers. Results from 30 participants (15 monodialectal; 15 bidialectal) support the notion that bidialectal populations demonstrate distinct neurophysiological profiles from monolingual groups as indicated by a significantly greater P600 amplitude from 500ms-800ms time window in the monodialectal group, when listening to sentences containing contrasting features. Such evidence can support the development of linguistically informed educational curriculums and clinical approaches from speech-language pathologists, by elucidating the differing underlying processes of language between monodialectal and bidialectal speakers of American English. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]
Descriptors: Brain Hemisphere Functions, Morphology (Languages), Black Dialects, North American English, Contrastive Linguistics, Code Switching (Language), Grammar, Diagnostic Tests, Syntax, Profiles, Neurolinguistics, Speech Language Pathology, Bilingualism, Reaction Time, Listening Comprehension, Language Processing
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Publication Type: Dissertations/Theses - Doctoral Dissertations
Education Level: N/A
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Language: English
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