BUREAU FOR INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE CO-ORDINATION

1. BUREAU FOR INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE CO-ORDINATION BUREAU DE COORDINATION LINGUISTIQUE INTERNATIONALE Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center (DLIFLC) October 18, 2011 Richard Brecht, PhD Executive Director University of Maryland Center for Advanced Study of Language 1

2. Unique UARC Mission/Role CASL is charged to deliver independent, empirically-based 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 & DoD core capability CASL is the only University Affiliated Research Center devoted to the study of language 2

3. UARCs • Essential research, development and engineering "core" capabilities • Maintain long-term strategic relationships with their DoD sponsors • Operate in the public interest, free from real or perceived conflicts of interest 3

4. 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

5. CASL Research Staff Second Language Acquisition 18% 28 researchers Cognitive Science 38% 61 researchers Linguistics 44% 71 researchers Total CASL Researchers = 160 5

6. 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

7. Summary Translation 7

8. 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

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10. 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

11. Intermediate Online Mandarin Chinese • Overview of course content • Resources required for online implementation • Instructions for Course Implementation • Research requirements 11

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

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

14. African Language Identification and Familiarization Aid 14

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16. Lexical Comparison Generator 16

17. 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

18. Cognitive Science for Improved Candidate Selection, Diagnostic Profiling and Curriculum Adaptation Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center (DLIFLC) October 18, 2011 Amy Weinberg, PhD Deputy Executive Director University of Maryland Center for Advanced Study of Language 18

19. 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

20. Predicting Language Success

21. A Causal Model of Language Proficiency the working memory system Cognitive and perceptual components associated with language aptitude and proficiency

22. 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)

23. 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 U Example: T R T 23

24. N B V B X L Y D Y C Q C 24

25. N B V B X L Y D Y C Q C

26. Results: Composite α = 0.90

27. 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

28. Executive Function: Induction 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)

29. Content of the ALAB Non-linguistic tests assess aptitude for learning Linguistic tests assess aptitude for language learning

30. Content of the ALAB: Raven’s Test Choose the picture that completes the large pattern

31. Content of the ALAB Non-linguistic tests assess aptitude for learning Linguistic tests assess aptitude for language learning

32. 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

33. Example: Language Analysis Test • Word list: zorit..............................the farmer volip.............................the worker zoritvolipupigom........The farmer pushed the worker. • Exercise:

34. Cognitive Profiling

36. Improving Readiness to Learn 36

37. 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 Control Condition Pre-testing No Contact (N = 45) Post- testing Follow-up 5 Weeks 3 Months 37

38. Improvements on Training Tasks n-back task Do training gains transfer to measures of sentence reinterpretation? 38

39. Accuracy on Comprehension Questions:“Did the thief hide himself?” Ambiguous ns * Proportion of Errors * Unambiguous ns ns Pretest Posttest error bars = ±1 SEM; * p < 0.05; ns=nonsignificant

40. fMRI activation: PreTraining No difference in activation prior to training Pre-training brain activation in the high memory load condition for the vsWM and the placebo control group. Panel A shows the vsWM group, and panel B shows the placebo control group. Panel C shows the β values for the right and left IPL. 

41. fMRI activation: PostTraining Less diffuse activation following working memory training Post-training minus pre-training BOLD brain activation in the high memory load condition for the vsWM and the placebo control group. Panel A shows the Post-Pre for the vsWM group, and panel B shows the Post-Pre for the placebo control group. Panel C shows Placebo control minus the vsWM Post-Pre. Panel D shows the β values for the right and left IPL. 

42. Individualized Curricula

43. 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

44. ATI Cycle

45. For More Information: www.casl.umd.edu Richard Brecht rbrecht@casl.umd.edu Amy Weinberg aweinberg@casl.umd.edu

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