BUREAU FOR INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE COORDINATION BUREAU DE COORDINATION

BUREAU FOR INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE CO-ORDINATION BUREAU DE COORDINATION LINGUISTIQUE INTERNATIONALE Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center (DLIFLC) 1 October 18, 2011 Richard Brecht, Ph. D Executive Director University of Maryland Center for Advanced Study of Language LANGUAGE RESEARCH IN SERVICE TO THE NATION

Unique UARC Mission/Role CASL is charged to deliver independent, empiricallybased research solutions that: • Improve the human-centric components of military and intelligence operations that include language performance, analysis and culture • Underpin leadership decisions on language readiness for the warfighter and the intelligence analysts who support them • Elevate language to the stature of math and science as an IC & Do. D core capability CASL is the only University Affiliated Research Center devoted to the study of language 2 LANGUAGE RESEARCH IN SERVICE TO THE NATION

UARCs • Essential research, development and engineering "core" capabilities • Maintain long-term strategic relationships with their Do. D sponsors • Operate in the public interest, free from real or perceived conflicts of interest 3 LANGUAGE RESEARCH IN SERVICE TO THE NATION

CASL Core Competencies • Foreign languages and dialects • Linguistics • Disciplines relevant to analysis and critical thinking (cognitive & neurological sciences) • Disciplines relevant to the manipulation, use, and sharing of information of varying quantities & diverse forms (tools & technologies, Human-Computer Interaction) 4 LANGUAGE RESEARCH IN SERVICE TO THE NATION

CASL Research Staff Second Language Acquisition 18% 28 researchers 7% offsite Cognitive Science 18% onsite 38% 61 researchers 11% onsite 20% offsite Linguistics 24% offsite 44% 71 researchers 20% onsite Total CASL Researchers = 160 5 LANGUAGE RESEARCH IN SERVICE TO THE NATION

Featured CASL Products Assessment: • Language Product Evaluation Tool (LPET) Resources: • Learning Management System: STARTALK • African Languages: ALIFA, Pasaglossa • Under-resourced languages: Grammars, Dictionaries, Parsers, new Mouton de Gruyter Series 6 LANGUAGE RESEARCH IN SERVICE TO THE NATION

Summary Translation 7 LANGUAGE RESEARCH IN SERVICE TO THE NATION

Language Product Evaluation Tool (LPET) • Designed to establish standards for evaluating language translations, complete summaries, gists, etc. • Makes quality control more systematic • Enables consistent, comprehensive feedback for skill growth • Streamlines the reporting process • Can be migrated into coursework 8 LANGUAGE RESEARCH IN SERVICE TO THE NATION

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Teaching Mandarin Chinese Online • Learning foreign languages at a distance • Prototype implementation of “blended” learning model • Special challenges of LCTLs • “Teaching Mandarin Chinese Online: A guide to implementation from theory to practice, ” by Katharine B. Nielson 10 LANGUAGE RESEARCH IN SERVICE TO THE NATION

Intermediate Online Mandarin Chinese • • 11 Overview of course content Resources required for online implementation Instructions for Course Implementation Research requirements LANGUAGE RESEARCH IN SERVICE TO THE NATION

STARTALK LMS • Built custom one-stop language Learning Management System (LMS) • Combines language related tasks with Vo. IP and latest social media technology • Activities are targeted: based on needs-analysis • Lessons are here: http: //www. chineseforall. org/ch_2009/ 12 LANGUAGE RESEARCH IN SERVICE TO THE NATION

African Language Identification • Initiative to build core and surge capabilities for 2 K+ languages & 1 K+ dialects & pidgins • Language mapping tool with language ID interface & database of available experts & resources • Lexical comparison generator • Links to additional online language resources 13 LANGUAGE RESEARCH IN SERVICE TO THE NATION

African Language Identification and Familiarization Aid 14 LANGUAGE RESEARCH IN SERVICE TO THE NATION

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Lexical Comparison Generator 16 LANGUAGE RESEARCH IN SERVICE TO THE NATION

Under-Resourced Languages • Grammar series: Pashto, Bangla, Dhivehi, Punjabi, Swahili, Javanese, Burmese, Bambara • Morphological parsers: Grammars in Bangla, Urdu, and Pashto already imported into morphological parser and being used by USG professionals nation-wide • Automatic tools for language analysis: Did You Mean? In Urdu and two dialects of Arabic • Compendium of key words in 19 dialects of Arabic 17 LANGUAGE RESEARCH IN SERVICE TO THE NATION

Cognitive Science for Improved Candidate Selection, Diagnostic Profiling and Curriculum Adaptation Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center (DLIFLC) October 18, 2011 Amy Weinberg, Ph. D Deputy Executive Director University of Maryland Center for Advanced Study of Language 18 LANGUAGE RESEARCH IN SERVICE TO THE NATION

Presentation Structure • Predicting Language Success and Diagnosing Individual Differences: – Executive Function – Hi-LAB: Cognitive predictors of high level language aptitude – ALAB: Applications to assessing aptitude for learning English – Cognitive Profiling • Improving Readiness to Learn: – Working memory abilities can be improved through training • Individualized Curricula LANGUAGE RESEARCH IN SERVICE TO THE NATION

Predicting Language Success 20 LANGUAGE RESEARCH IN SERVICE TO THE NATION

A Causal Model of Language Proficiency the working memory system 21 Cognitive and perceptual components associated with language aptitude and proficiency LANGUAGE RESEARCH IN SERVICE TO THE NATION

Executive Function: Working Memory • Active information storage that allows attention to be focused for the purpose of higher level combination, reasoning, or other subsequent processing. • Decays quickly • Varies among individuals • Affects language processing (e. g. error recovery) 22 LANGUAGE RESEARCH IN SERVICE TO THE NATION

Demo: N-Back Training Task Instructions: Monitor the identity of a series of letters and indicate when the current letter is the same as the one presented 2 trials previously Example: U T R T 23 LANGUAGE RESEARCH IN SERVICE TO THE NATION

Q N B D C V X Y L 24 LANGUAGE RESEARCH IN SERVICE TO THE NATION

N 25 B V B X L Y D LANGUAGE RESEARCH IN SERVICE TO THE NATION Y C Q C

Results: Composite α = 0. 90 Reliable Stable Jointly acceptable Short-term memory 2 of 2 1 of 2 Updating 3 of 3 2 of 3 Inhibition 3 of 3 2 of 3 Task-switching 2 of 2 1 of 2 Novel word memory 3 of 3 1 of 3 Perceptual acuity 3 of 3 2 of 3 Speed 2 of 2 1 of 2 Semantic primability 1 of 3 Implicit induction 1 of 3 Cognitive construct 26 LANGUAGE RESEARCH IN SERVICE TO THE NATION

Afghan-LAB: Aptitude For English NATO and DLIELC Requirement Need aptitude instrument to better predict language learning success in the DLIELC-Afghan program Relevance Need better readiness for follow-on training and more DLIELC graduates meeting graduation requirements Solution Quick fix for immediate implementation followed by more rigorously developed test 27 LANGUAGE RESEARCH IN SERVICE TO THE NATION

Executive Function: Induction Ability to infer a general conclusion from particular instances. Induction in the language domain Ability to infer the rules generating language patterns (word or sentence structure) 28 LANGUAGE RESEARCH IN SERVICE TO THE NATION

Content of the ALAB Non-linguistic tests assess aptitude for learning Linguistic tests assess aptitude for language learning 29 LANGUAGE RESEARCH IN SERVICE TO THE NATION

Content of the ALAB: Raven’s Test Choose the picture that completes the large pattern 30 LANGUAGE RESEARCH IN SERVICE TO THE NATION

Content of the ALAB Non-linguistic tests assess aptitude for learning Linguistic tests assess aptitude for language learning 31 LANGUAGE RESEARCH IN SERVICE TO THE NATION

Linguistic Tests • ALAB has two linguistic tests: Language Analysis and Words in Sentences • In addition to the ALAB instructions, language and cultural concepts must be adapted and translated. • Language Analysis: required transliteration of an artificial language from Roman to Arabic • Direct assessment of linguistic ability LANGUAGE RESEARCH IN SERVICE TO THE NATION

Example: Language Analysis Test • Word list: zorit. . . . the farmer volip. . . . the worker zorit volipu pigom. . . . The farmer pushed the worker. • Exercise: The worker pushed the farmer. 33 A. zoritu volip pigom B. volip zoritu pigom C. zorit volip pigom D. volip zorit pigom LANGUAGE RESEARCH IN SERVICE TO THE NATION

Cognitive Profiling 34 LANGUAGE RESEARCH IN SERVICE TO THE NATION

LANGUAGE RESEARCH IN SERVICE TO THE NATION

Improving Readiness to Learn 36 LANGUAGE RESEARCH IN SERVICE TO THE NATION

Behavioral Working Memory Training Study Goal: Test if training gains transfer to untrained measures of attention, language, and reasoning Training Condition Pre-testing Training (N = 47) (20 hours training) Post. Testing Follow-up Posttesting Follow-up Control Condition Pre-testing 37 No Contact (N = 45) 5 Weeks LANGUAGE RESEARCH IN SERVICE TO THE NATION 3 Months

Improvements on Training Tasks n-back task Do training gains transfer to measures of sentence reinterpretation? 38 LANGUAGE RESEARCH IN SERVICE TO THE NATION

Accuracy on Comprehension Questions: “Did the thief hide himself? ” Proportion of Errors Ambiguous ns Unambiguous * * ns Pretest ns Posttest error bars = ± 1 SEM; * p < 0. 05; ns=nonsignificant 39 LANGUAGE RESEARCH IN SERVICE TO THE NATION

f. MRI activation: Pre. Training No difference in activation prior to training Pre-training brain activation in the high memory load condition for the vs. WM and the placebo control group. Panel A shows the vs. WM group, and panel B shows the placebo control group. Panel C shows the β values for the right and left IPL. 40 LANGUAGE RESEARCH IN SERVICE TO THE NATION

f. MRI activation: Post. Training Less diffuse activation following working memory training 41 Post-training minus pre-training BOLD brain activation in the high memory load condition for the vs. WM and the placebo control group. Panel A shows the Post-Pre for the vs. WM group, and panel B shows the Post-Pre for the placebo control group. Panel C shows Placebo control minus the vs. WM Post-Pre. Panel D shows the β values for the right and left IPL. LANGUAGE RESEARCH IN SERVICE TO THE NATION

Individualized Curricula LANGUAGE RESEARCH IN SERVICE TO THE NATION 42

Aptitude-by-Treatment Interaction Problem Individuals who are already selected for intelligence and motivation and have attained functional ability need to acquire higher levels of language Solution Match cognitive aptitude profile to language training procedures to optimize training and boost outcome levels LANGUAGE RESEARCH IN SERVICE TO THE NATION

ATI 44 Cycle LANGUAGE RESEARCH IN SERVICE TO THE NATION

For More Information: www. casl. umd. edu Richard Brecht rbrecht@casl. umd. edu Amy Weinberg aweinberg@casl. umd. edu LANGUAGE RESEARCH IN SERVICE TO THE NATION

Research Contacts For more information on individual research projects presented here, please contact: LPET Erica Michael, Ph. D emichael@casl. umd. edu Under-Resourced Languages Michael Maxwell, Ph. D mmaxwell@casl. umd. edu STARTALK Katharine Nielson, MA knielson@casl. umd. edu Hi-LAB, ATI Cathy Doughty, Ph. D cdoughty@casl. umd. edu PASSAGLOSSA Christopher Green, Ph. D cgreen@casl. umd. edu ALAB, Working Memory Michael Bunting, Ph. D mbunting@casl. umd. edu