If we are to understand language acquisition, then we must understand how the visual system influences our language learning capabilities.
Project type
Pilot Experiment
Steps
Subjects will be split into two groups: those who learn Russian with me in person and those who listen to a recording of me.
I will teach them five basic Russian words and ask the subjects to memorize them - the pronunciation and the pictoral meaning (Instead of telling the subjects the English translation of the word, I will show them a picture that corresponds to that word's meaning).
Three days later, I will meet with both groups and prompt the subjects, with the same pictures, for the five learned Russian words.
If they remember the word, I will record, on a scale of check minus, check, check plus, how close the pronunciation is.
I will draw conclusions from this data about whether seeing my mouth/lips while learning the words helped the subjects remember
and pronounce the words better.
Contributions
Collected and analyzed data relating visual input to language learning.
Demonstrated that having visual input increases a subject's ability to remember the words and pronounce them correctly.
