Sentence Processing of Japanese Sign Language: An fMRI study

• Project/Area Number: 26580070
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Linguistics
• Research Institution: Kyoto Women's University (2015-2016); Tohoku University (2014)
• Principal Investigator: KIM JUNGHO 京都女子大学, 文学部, 准教授 (70513852)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 2016)
• Budget Amount: ¥3,380,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,600,000、Indirect Cost: ¥780,000); Fiscal Year 2016: ¥780,000 (Direct Cost: ¥600,000、Indirect Cost: ¥180,000); Fiscal Year 2015: ¥1,300,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,000,000、Indirect Cost: ¥300,000); Fiscal Year 2014: ¥1,300,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,000,000、Indirect Cost: ¥300,000)
• Keywords: 文処理 / 語順 / 日本手話 / 言語処理 / 手話

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Japanese Sign Language is a well-known free word order language. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we investigated the effects of word order on cortical activation by directly comparing the brain regions involved in the processing of JSL sentences with SOV and OSV word order. The result showed more activation at the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and the left dorsal prefrontal cortex (DPFC) during the comprehension of OSV sentences than that of SOV sentences. These results support the linguistic hypothesis that a OSV sentence is syntactically more complex than its SOV counterpart.

Research Products

• [Journal Article] Social Interaction Affects Neural Outcomes of Sign Language Learning As a Foreign Language in Adults (2017)
  • Author(s): Noriaki Yusa, Jungho Kim, Masatoshi Koizumi , Motoaki Sugiura and Ryuta Kawashima
  • Journal Title: Frontiers in Human Neuroscience Volume: 11 Pages: 1-11
  • DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2017.00115
  • Peer Reviewed / Open Access / Int'l Joint Research / Acknowledgement Compliant
• [Journal Article] お店の意味を表す「jib」「ga-ge」に関する一考察 (2016)
  • Author(s): 金情浩
  • Journal Title: 言語学論集 Volume: 25 Pages: 23-36
  • Acknowledgement Compliant
• [Journal Article] Greater Left Inferior Frontal Activation for SVO than VOS during Sentence Comprehension in Kaqchikel (2016)
  • Author(s): Masatoshi Koizumi1 and Jungho Kim
  • Journal Title: Frontiers in Psychology Volume: 7 Pages: 1-9
  • DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01541
  • Peer Reviewed / Open Access / Int'l Joint Research / Acknowledgement Compliant
• [Journal Article] Interference of context and bilinguality with the word order preference in Kaqchikel reversible sentences (2016)
  • Author(s): Sachiko KIYAMA, Meng SUN, Jungho KIM, Katsuo TAMAOKA and Masatoshi KOIZUMI
  • Journal Title: Tohoku Psychologica Folia Volume: 75 Pages: 22-34
  • NAID: 120006237506
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] On the (non-) universality of the preference for subject-object word order in sentence comprehension: A sentence processing study in Kaqchikel Maya (2014)
  • Author(s): Koizumi, M., Yasugi, Y., Tamaoka, K., Kiyama, S., Kim, J., Ajsivinac Sian, J. E., & García Mátzar, L. P. O.
  • Journal Title: Language Volume: 90 Issue: 3 Pages: 722-736
  • DOI: 10.1353/lan.2014.0068
  • Peer Reviewed / Open Access
• [Journal Article] On the Acquisition of Noun－Noun Compounds in Japanese (2014)
  • Author(s): Kensuke Emura, Naoki Kimura, Cornelia Daniela Lupsa, Jungho Kim, Sanae Yamaguchi, Hiroko Hagiwara and Noriaki Yusa
  • Journal Title: 国際文化研究 Volume: 20 Pages: 17-29
  • NAID: 120005430840
• [Presentation] VOS preference in Seediq: A sentence comprehension study (2016)
  • Author(s): Hajime Ono, Jungho Kim, Apay Tang, & Masatoshi Koizumi
  • Organizer: Austronesian Formal Linguistics Association (AFLA 23)
  • Place of Presentation: 東京大学
  • Year and Date: 2016-06-10
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] The Primacy of Grammar in Sentence Processing:A Case in the Kaqchikel Mayan Language (2015)
  • Author(s): Masatoshi Koizumi, Jungho Kim, Noriaki Yusa, Manami Sato
  • Organizer: Human Brain Mapping
  • Place of Presentation: Hawaii Convention Center
  • Year and Date: 2015-06-14
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] Subject-verb agreement attraction in production by Japanese learners of English (2014)
  • Author(s): Mayuko Yusa, Jungho Kim, Noriaki Yusa & Masatoshi Koizumi
  • Organizer: AMLaP 2014
  • Place of Presentation: University of Edinburgh
  • Year and Date: 2014-09-03 – 2014-09-06
• [Presentation] 日本人英語学習者の文産出における主語動詞一致誘引 (2014)
  • Author(s): 遊佐麻友子・金情浩・小泉政利
  • Organizer: 日本言語学会
  • Place of Presentation: 法政大学
  • Year and Date: 2014-06-07
• [Book] ここから始める言語学プラス統計分析 (2016)
  • Author(s): 小泉政利【編】
  • Total Pages: 360
  • Publisher: 共立出版