Reflecting on the use of response times to index linguistic knowledge in SLA

IF 2.8 1区文学 0 LANGUAGE & LINGUISTICS

Annual Review of Applied Linguistics Pub Date : 2024-04-12 DOI:10.1017/s0267190524000047

Bronson Hui, Ruirui Jia

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Response times (RTs) have become ubiquitous in second language acquisition (SLA) research, providing empirical evidence for the theorization of the language learning process. Recently, there have been discussions of some fundamental psychometric properties of RT data, including, but not limited to, their reliability and validity. In this light, we take a step back to reflect on the use of RT data to tap into linguistic knowledge in SLA. First, we offer a brief overview of how RT data are most commonly used as vocabulary and grammar measures. We then point out three key limitations of such uses, namely that (a) RT data can lack substantive importance without considerations of accuracy, (b) RT differences may or may not be a satisfactory psychometric individual difference measure, and (c) some tasks designed to elicit RT data may not be sufficiently fine-grained to target specific language processes. Our overarching goal is to enhance the awareness among SLA researchers of these issues when interpreting RT results and stimulate research endeavors that delve into the unique properties of RT data when used in our field.

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反思在 SLA 中使用反应时间来反映语言知识

反应时（RT）在第二语言习得（SLA）研究中无处不在，为语言学习过程的理论化提供了实证证据。最近，人们开始讨论反应时数据的一些基本心理测量属性，包括但不限于其可靠性和有效性。有鉴于此，我们回过头来思考一下如何利用 RT 数据来挖掘 SLA 中的语言知识。首先，我们简要概述了 RT 数据如何最常用于词汇和语法测量。然后，我们指出了此类使用的三个主要局限性，即：(a) 如果不考虑准确性，RT 数据可能缺乏实质性的重要性；(b) RT 差异可能是，也可能不是一个令人满意的心理测量个体差异的测量指标；(c) 一些旨在获得 RT 数据的任务可能不够精细，无法针对特定的语言过程。我们的总体目标是提高 SLA 研究人员在解释 RT 结果时对这些问题的认识，并激励研究人员深入研究 RT 数据在我们领域中使用时的独特属性。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Annual Review of Applied Linguistics Multiple-

CiteScore

6.70

自引率

5.40%

发文量

期刊介绍： The Annual Review of Applied Linguistics publishes research on key topics in the broad field of applied linguistics. Each issue is thematic, providing a variety of perspectives on the topic through research summaries, critical overviews, position papers and empirical studies. Being responsive to the field, some issues are tied to the theme of that year''s annual conference of the American Association for Applied Linguistics. Also, at regular intervals an issue will take the approach of covering applied linguistics as a field more broadly, including coverage of critical or controversial topics. ARAL provides cutting-edge and timely articles on a wide number of areas, including language learning and pedagogy, second language acquisition, sociolinguistics, language policy and planning, language assessment, and research design and methodology, to name just a few.