This dissertation award will support psycholinguistic experiments on speech errors in Tunisian Arabic. Word formation in Arabic differs from that in more commonly studied languages. The cross-language study of error phenomena using a language with unusual morpho-phonological properties permits a new and sharper test of claims about sentence processing and production. The central questions revolve around so-called 'exchange errors' (e.g., "I left my briefcase in the cigar"). These errors can mis-order not just whole words but smaller grammatical elements as well. In English, for example, such errors may strand affixes (e.g., "it waits to pay" and "you have to square it facely"). Previous experimental tests of the properties of speech errors in English, German, and Romance languages have played an important role in psycholinguistic accounts of language production. This research project speaks to alternative accounts of speech error phenomena, addressing a vital area of production theory at the interface of syntax, morphology, and phonology with an experimental method that utilizes an existing speech error database in Arabic.
The research represents a combination of established and innovative paradigms that promote the training of a Ph.D. student while contributing in an original way to a significant scientific problem. The dissertator is a Tunisian woman in the Second Language Acquisition and Teaching Program at the University of Arizona, with an interest in linking psycholinguistic research to applied domains. Support of her research broadens the participation of underrepresented groups. The research has the potential to help develop more effective pedagogical materials for Arabic language-learners. The Modern Language Association's recent report on enrollment in foreign-language courses in American colleges and universities found a 127% increase in students studying Arabic between 2002 and 2006. The research is therefore timely and this potential critical. The research team is also committed to disseminating the results in ways that connect with scholars from Arabic-speaking countries who may not have ready access to the conferences and journals that American scholars typically enjoy. This project will be the first study of language production processes in Tunisian Arabic. It will also be the first experimental study to exploit speech error data to contribute to the theoretical evaluation of Semitic word structure. To the extent that this work appears in venues that are accessible to the Tunisian and broader Arabic academic communities, it will also raise the visibility of psycholinguistic research in that region.
