Introduction
Psycholinguistics is a field of study that is concerned with understanding psychological and neurobiological factors in human beings (Sedivy, 2014). The factors are important in the processes of acquiring, using, comprehending, and producing language. Traditionally, the focus of the field was limited only understanding the functions of the human brain. However, contemporary studies in psycholinguistics involve many subjects, such as information theory, linguistics, and biology, among others. The application of multiple subjects in the field of research enables researchers to address language issues holistically among learners and other persons in society (Sedivy, 2014).
The importance of language cannot be overemphasized. Excellent psychological and neurological processes of acquiring, processing, comprehending, and producing language are important to all aspects and interactions of human beings (Zimmerman et al., 2009). This paper aims at formulating a novel research question that would be tested in the proposed study. Moreover, it provides methods that would be utilized to answer the question. Finally, it discusses why the question is important for the field of psycholinguistics.
The proposed research question
A research question is an essential component of a study since it helps a researcher to focus on a specific area of investigation (Sedivy, 2014). The proposed study will endeavor to find answers to the following question: What are the psycholinguistic factors that affect students aged between 10 and 15? Previous studies have concentrated on understanding several aspects of psycholinguistics on groups of people. For example, the influences of factors in relation to the processes of acquiring a second language have been described (Shabitha & Mekala, 2013). However, past studies have not provided data about the factors that might affect students in the age group (from 10 to 15 years).
Methods
Scientific studies should always use validated procedures to collect data that can be analyzed and utilized in making conclusions about the sample and the general population (Roberts, 2012). The proposed study will make use of experiments that will be based on behavioral tasks. In this context, study participants will be subjected to linguistic stimuli in a classroom or outside the classroom. Later, they will be requested to perform some actions. For example, they may be required to give lexical decisions, and/or imitate the stimuli. Alternatively, they would be asked to pronounce some words that would be visually presented to them (Roberts, 2012). Data will be recorded about reaction periods and the percentage of correct answers.
Importance of the question and conclusion
A multidimensional environment supports language learning that is exemplified by physical and mental developmental processes (Zimmerman et al., 2009). By answering the study question, the study will provide important information about psychological and neurological factors that are essential in acquiring and processing language stimuli among students. Previous studies have demonstrated that individual variations are inherent among learners.
Using previously published journal articles to provide a conceptual framework, the study will analyze the answers to the research question to make informed conclusions that would have implications for the field of psycholinguistics. Additionally, the research question is important since its answers will be utilized in proposing recommendations that would be applied by psycholinguistics with the goal of helping students to learn languages more effectively in the future. Finally, answers to the question will be applied to suggest areas in the field of psycholinguistics that would be investigated in the future. Thus, the study will culminate in important implications in the future.
References
Roberts, L. (2012). Psycholinguistic techniques and resources in second language acquisition research. Second Language Research, 28(1), 113-127.
Sedivy, J. (2014). Language in Mind: An Introduction to Psycholinguistics. Sunderland, MA: Sinauer Associates.
Shabitha, M. P., & Mekala, S. (2013). The Impact of Psycholinguistic Factors on Second Language Acquisition. The IUP Journal of English Studies, 8(1), 7-14.
Zimmerman, F. J., Gilkerson, J., Richards, J. A., Christakis, D. A., Xu, D., Gray, S., & Yapanel, U. (2009). Teaching by listening: The importance of adult-child conversations to language development. Pediatrics, 124(1), 342-349.