Advance planning in language production: An investigation of inter- and intraindividual differences in the production of phrases and sentences in L1 and L2

• Applicant: Dr. Jana Klaus
• Subject Area: General, Cognitive and Mathematical Psychology
• Term: from 2015 to 2018
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 287186208

Human speech is a highly complex skill which requires a multitude of cognitive processes. When we plan a sentence, we first have to consider what exactly we want to express, and then access the semantic-syntactic and phonological properties of the chosen elements. Furthermore, we have to keep the required utterance active in working memory to avoid speech errors and not 'lose the thread'. Empirical studies on the advance planning of simple sentences (e.g., 'the monk reads the book') showed that all elements of such sentences are activated up to the phonological level prior to speech onset. However, the phonological effects related to utterance-final elements (i.e., the object 'the book') have demonstrated a high variability between different speakers. This suggests that the extent to which all elements of a simple sentence are planned ahead phonologically can differ between speakers, and that these differences might be located both at an inter- and intraindividual level. While speech comprehension research has investigated interindividual differences as a function of verbal working memory capacity since the 1980s, a systematic examination of a comparable influence on processes of speech production has not yet been conducted. Moreover, it is feasible that the phonological activation of non-initial elements of an utterance also varies within speakers, as a consequence of different strategies or temporary lapses of attention. The proposed research project suggests a number of experiments which aim at addressing this possible interaction. In particular, section A shall tackle to what extent the variability of planning non-initial utterance elements documented in the literature may be either reduced by the systematic manipulation of a number of linguistic or working memory-related components, or may be explained by additional cognitive measures. Furthermore, section B shall investigate in bilingual speakers to what extent both their L1 and L2 are activated in varyingly complex utterances, or how this activation might be modulated. Together, the results aim at bringing the two research fields of language production and (verbal) working memory capacity, which so far have been treated relatively separately, closer together, thus leading to a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying human speech production.

• DFG Programme: Research Fellowships
• International Connection: Netherlands
• Hosts: Professorin Dr. Kristin Lemhöfer; Professor Dr. Herbert J. Schriefers