第二言語学習が児童の認知に与える影響 : 個別性に関する物体・物質区別タスクによる証拠

抄録

The present study examines the impact of second-language (L2) learning on children's cognition. There has been a growing body of empirical studies which have explored the effects of prior L2 learning at elementary school on Japanese L2 users' attitudes and motivation toward L2 learning and linguistic skills in later years. However, little is known about the impact of L2 learning on children's cognitive dispositions. The present study tries to reveal whether there are any differences in cognitive dispositions between groups of different amounts of exposure. The cognitive disposition examined in this study is the object-substance distinction in word meaning, which is based on either a 'shape' bias or a 'material' bias. An individuated object-substance distinction in a word meaning task was given to two groups of Japanese children to see how they projected novel names onto objects and substances. A striking pattern of similarities and differences in responses was found between the groups. Japanese children largely projected novel names onto objects and substances principally based on a 'material' bias. However, significant differences in responses based on a shape bias were found between the groups. For instance, children who had greater L2 exposure shifted their bias, from 'material' to 'shape'.