NSF East Asia and Pacific Summer Institute for FY 2012 in Japan

Kachergis George, Bloomington IN

Investigators

Abstract

This action funds George Kachergis of Indiana University to conduct a research project, entitled "Mechanisms of language learning," during the summer of 2012 at Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology in Nomi, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. The host scientist is Dr. Takashi Hashimoto. The Intellectual Merit of the research project is new understandings of the memory and learning mechanisms that allow infants to learn their first language. Most infants produce their first words as one-year-olds and have a vocabulary of more than 60,000 words by the end of high school. This research is developing mathematical models of how people learn from which it may be possible to identify deficits that interfere with language learning in some and find ways to better structure the learning environment to aid in learning first languages and beyond. The models are not limited to language learning because they are built upon basic mechanisms of learning and memory and can be applied to education in many domains, from memorizing anatomy to learning molecule names and structures. This type of hierarchical model can also be used to identify individual differences and may suggest ways of structuring training to keep learners from falling behind and to keep them challenged. The Broader Impacts of an EAPSI fellowship include providing the Fellow a first-hand research experience outside the U.S.; an introduction to the science, science policy, and scientific infrastructure of the respective location; and an orientation to the society, culture and language. These activities meet the NSF goal to educate for international collaborations early in the career of its scientists, engineers, and educators, thus ensuring a globally aware U.S. scientific workforce.