以功能性磁振造影探討英語為外語學習者之 工作記憶對象徵性語言理解之影響

本研究之特殊性在於此為第一篇以功能性磁振造影探討英語為外語學習者(English as a foreign language, EFL, learners)處理隱喻(暗喻)句與轉喻(換喻)句認知理解歷程之研究。此外，本研究進一步探討隱喻(暗喻)句與轉喻(換喻)句理解歷程與工作記憶及字彙量之認知關聯性。過去相關的實驗研究，僅專注於隱喻(暗喻)句與工作記憶之認知處理，且探討對象多為英語為母語人士。本實驗受試者為17位健康的英語為外語學習人士(5位男性，12位女性，平均年齡27.11歲，年齡標準偏差為4.56)。實驗刺激項有63項英語對話句組(每組對話句組包含一句情境句及一句目標句)。實驗設計總共有三大類實驗語句變項(直述句、隱喻句、轉喻句)，其中直述句(控制組)與轉喻句(比較組) 再各自分為系統直述句、情境直述句與系統轉喻句、情境轉喻句。造影成像顯示，在處理情境轉喻句的理解時，字彙量較少的學習者，相同於過去研究，涉及在處理一般象徵性語言(figurative language)的前顳葉區(STG)，但不同的是活化於右腦。而字彙量較多的學習者，則是在楔葉(cuneus)有較多活化，推測他們運用工作記憶中的抑制控制功能，以更專注於關鍵意涵的理解。此外，基於前人對於小腦(cerebellum)認知功能的證據，本研究更進一步推測小腦對於象徵性語言有其關聯性。因此，本研究支持轉喻句(換喻)與工作記憶及字彙量之認知處理的關聯性。

關鍵字

隱喻(暗喻)句；轉喻(換喻)句；工作記憶；字彙量

並列摘要

The highlight of the current study is that it is the first investigation into analyzing metaphor and metonymy processing for English as a foreign language, EFL, learners. Substantial research has demonstrated neural evidence of left frontal network (e.g., regions of the left inferior frontal gyrus, IFG, middle and superior temporal gyri, MTG and STG) for metaphor processing. Some neuroimaging studies have also pinpointed the correlation between metaphor processing and working memory capacity for, mainly, English native speakers. Adopting event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the present study examined not only metaphor, but also metonymy of different types (systematic and circumstantial) in contrast to the matched literal in order to characterize metaphorical and metonymic neural correlation as well as to explore their interplay with working memory capacity (WMC) and vocabulary size for English as a foreign language (EFL) learners. Seventeen EFL learners (5 males, 12 females; mean age = 27.11; SD = 4.56) participated in the fMRI experiment. Stimuli consisted of 63 English conversation sets, including one context sentence and one target sentence, created for three conditions: literal, metaphor, and metonymy. Imaging results indicated that circumstantial metonymies involve common regions for figurative language processing (STG and TPL), yet in homologue RH, with lower vocabulary learners. Cuneus was activated as higher span learners resorted to inhibitory control, filtering out irrelevant information. Moreover, in the light of its role in cognitive and behavioral–affective modulation (De Smet, Paquier, Verhoeven, Mariën, 2013), cerebellum may extend its association to figurative language processing. The degree to which bilateral strategies that individuals with larger vocabulary size or higher span resort to or not resort to (neural efficiency) is differently modulated by subtypes of metonymies. Future implication lies in that learners may require perspective-taking ability and semantic reasoning for imagery mental network.

並列關鍵字

Metaphor ； Metonymy ； Working memory ； Vocabulary size ； functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)

參考文獻

Blankenship, A. (1938). Memory span: a review of the literature. Psychological Bulletin, 35(1), 1-25. doi:10.1037/h0061086.

Davey, J., Thompson, H. E., Hallam, G., Karapanagiotidis, T., Murphy, C., De Caso, I., Krieger-Redwood, K., Bernhardt, B.C., Smallwood, J., & Jefferies, E. (2016). Exploring the role of the posterior middle temporal gyrus in semantic cognition: Integration of anterior temporal lobe with executive processes. Neuroimage, 137, 165–177. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.05.051.

Health, S., McMahon, KL, Nickles, L, Angwin, A., Macdonald, AD, van Hees, S., Johnson, K, & McKinnon, E. (2012). Neural mechanisms underlying the facilitation of naming in aphasia using a semantic task: an fMRI study. BMC Neurosci, 13(1),98. doi: 10.1186/1471-2202-13-98.

Lai, V. T., van Dam, W., Conant, L. L., Binder, J. R., & Desai, R. H. (2015). Familiarity differentially affects right hemisphere contributions to processing metaphors and literals. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 9, 44. http://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2015.00044

Leshikar, ED, Duarte, A., & Hertzog, C. (2012). Task-selective memory effects for successfully implemented encoding strategies. PLos OONE, 7(5). doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0038160.

國際替代計量

以功能性磁振造影探討英語為外語學習者之工作記憶對象徵性語言理解之影響

全文下載

主題瀏覽