Digital Commons Network^™

An Operator-Based Account Of Semantic Processing, Deryle W. Lonsdale, C. Anton Rytting

Faculty Publications

This paper explores issues of psychological plausibility in modeling natural language understanding within Soar, a symbolic cognitive model. It focuses on constructing syntactic and semantic representations in simulated real time, with particular emphasis on word sense disambiguation (WSD). We discuss (i) what level of WSD should be modeled and (ii) how to use resources such as WordNet to inform these models. A preliminary model of coarse-grained WSD is included to show how syntactic, semantic, and other knowledge sources interact in Soar. Finally, we explore issues of interleaving, learning, and integrating other WSD approaches with Soar's native model of learning.

Assessing Geo-Location And Gender Information In Han Chinese Personal Names, Deryle W. Lonsdale, Bruce Brown

Faculty Publications

Brigham Young University is a particularly optimal academic institution for comparative cross-cultural onomastic research. There are over 65 nations represented by five or more students at BYU, and in fall semester of 2004, 10252 of the 29729 students had lived for two years in a foreign country.

Proximity In Context: An Empirically Grounded Computational Model Of Proximity For Processing Topological Spatial Expression., John D. Kelleher, Geert-Jan Kruijff, Fintan Costello

Conference papers

The paper presents a new model for context-dependent interpretation of linguistic expressions about spatial proximity between objects in a natural scene. The paper discusses novel psycholinguistic experimental data that tests and verifies the model. The model has been implemented, and enables a conversational robot to identify objects in a scene through topological spatial relations (e.g. ''X near Y''). The model can help motivate the choice between topological and projective prepositions.

A Computational Model Of The Referential Semantics Of Projective Prepositions, John D. Kelleher, Josef Van Genabith

Conference papers

In this paper we present a framework for interpreting locative expressions containing the prepositions in front of and behind. These prepositions have different semantics in the viewer-centred and intrinsic frames of reference (Vandeloise, 1991). We define a model of their semantics in each frame of reference. The basis of these models is a novel parameterized continuum function that creates a 3-D spatial template. In the intrinsic frame of reference the origin used by the continuum function is assumed to be known a priori and object occlusion does not impact on the applicability rating of a point in the spatial template. …

The Acquisition Of Japanese As A Second Language And Processability Theory: A Longitudinal Study Of A Naturalistic Child Learner, Junko Iwasaki

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The aim of this study was to investigate longitudinally how a child learner acquired verbal morpho-syntax in Japanese in a naturalistic second language (L2) context. Specifically the points of emergence for three verbal morpho-syntactic structures, namely verbal inflection, the V-te V structure and the passive/causative structure, were investigated within a framework of Processability Theory (PT) (Pienemann, 1998b). The subsequent development of these structures was also examined. Unlike earlier research about morpheme orders and developmental sequences in language acquisition which was criticised because of its apparent lack of theoretical underpinnings, Pienemann’s Processability Theory (PT)(1998b) connects the processability of morpho-syntactic structure to …

Quelques Remarques Sur Les Belgicismes Métalinguistiques, Jean-Nicolas De Surmont

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

Of all Belgicisms, only a few have metalinguistic connotation and they have to be considered of special interest in this respect, even if the literature on French in Belgium has not addressed this issue specifically. This essay proposes some observations on these few important words, supported by recent lexicographical descriptions and data obtained through research undertaken in collaboration with Michel Francard of the Université catholique de Louvain (Belgium).

Polylogic Minds: Interview With Dr. Soteria (Roula) Svorou, Niko Shido

SWITCH

This interview with linguist Dr. Roula Svorou explores how language connects with fields like cognitive science, technology, philosophy, and digital media to help us understand how humans think and perceive the world. She explains how studying language reveals why computers struggle to truly “understand” and how digital media art could become an important tool for visualizing complex linguistic ideas.

Interlanguage Coda Production Of Hmong Second Language Learners Of English, Renae L. Caneday

Theses and Dissertations

This paper reports on Hmong speakers' acquisition of English in children ages 9 and 12 on final voiced and voiceless consonants and consonant clusters, none of which occur in Hmong codas except /ŋ/. The learners' production patterns were considered using an Optimality Theory account to understand the conflict between the learner's first language constraints and the learner's target language constraints. The main findings of this study are that the Hmong language and the English language constraints interacted in an ordered fashion allowing predictable patterns in production. The final consonants and consonant clusters were often deleted or changed by the intermediate …

Curriculum Development Of Elang 105: A Ge First-Year Academic Literacy Course For International Students, Tamara Lee Burton Lamm

Theses and Dissertations

Each year more international students enroll in American universities, and administrators nationwide must determine how to meet students' unique writing needs. Compared to similar institutions of higher learning, Brigham Young University (BYU) has a large percentage of international students—4.3 percent of the student body, approximately 2,000 students each year from 112 countries. Prior to Fall 2004, international students were placed in courses offered through the English composition program, which focuses on "mainstream" college writers who compose in their first language (L1) and not on second language writers and their unique needs. As a result, many international students did poorly and …

Language Barriers & Perceptions Of Bias: Ethnic Differences In Immigrant Encounters With The Welfare System, Philip Kretsedemas

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This article demonstrates why research on immigrant language barriers should account for local variations in the way these barriers are experienced by different immigrant groups. It makes the argument that variations in language barriers experienced by immigrant groups are often reflective of differences in the local migration histories and socio-economic status of these groups. These themes are illustrated by discussing the findings of a comparative survey of welfare service barriers experienced by Haitian and Hispanic welfare clients in Miami-Dade county. Secondary data on South Florida migration patterns is also used to explain disparities in the bilingual fluency of welfare caseworkers, …

An Overview Of Central Dizin Phonology And Morphology, Marvin Dean Beachy

Linguistics & TESOL Theses - Archive

Dizin (Dizi) is an Omotic language spoken in Southwest Ethiopia with three main dialects. This thesis focuses on Central Dizin phonology and morphology, but includes some data from Eastern Dizin and Western Dizin. Prolonged language contact with Amharic has affected the sound system of Dizin and numerous Amharic words have been borrowed. Features of the Dizin sound system include glottalized consonants, syllabic nasals, lengthened vowels, three phonemic tone levels and contour tones. Western Dizin has phonemic retroflex consonants. The glottal stop is analyzed as phonemic word initially before nasals, but not phonemic elsewhere. Dizin is polysynthetic and more agglutinative than …

Herbalist (Part 3), George Tucker Childs

Mani, a Disappearing Language of Sierra Leone and Guinea

The third of three parts of the story "The Herbalist," as told by Amara Camara in Palatougou.

Devil And Tapster 3, George Tucker Childs

Mani, a Disappearing Language of Sierra Leone and Guinea

Transcriptions of the third of three parts of the telling of the folk tale "Devil and the tapster," by Amara Camara in Palatougou.

Dog And Monkey (Part 2), George Tucker Childs

Mani, a Disappearing Language of Sierra Leone and Guinea

Transcriptions of the folk tale "Dog and monkey" as told by Kaba Camara in Palatougou.

Why Dogs Have No Names (Part 2), George Tucker Childs

Mani, a Disappearing Language of Sierra Leone and Guinea

Part 2 of "Why dogs have no names," as told by Kaba Camara in Palatougou. The audio version of this folk tale can be found here.

Herbalist (Part 2), George Tucker Childs

Mani, a Disappearing Language of Sierra Leone and Guinea

The second of three parts of the story "The Herbalist," as told by Amara Camara in Palatougou.

The Frequency And Use Of Lexical Bundles In Conversation And Academic Prose, Susan M. Conrad, Douglas Biber

Applied Linguistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

In using a frequency-driven, fixed-word approach to identifying multi-word sequences, we follow Altenberg (1993, 1998), who carried out initial work of this type with spoken texts in the London-Lund corpus. Butler (1997) applies this approach to Spanish. In the Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English (Biber et al. 1999, chapter 13 ; hereafter the Longman Grammar), we emphasized the structures of lexical bundles, and discussed the structures' associations with various discourse functions. Here we summarize major findings of that work and then extend it, presenting an initial classification of the lexical bundles into functional categories. We continue to adopt …

The New Black's, Peter Tiersma

Journal of Legal Education

No abstract provided.

'Field Linguistics' Takes Researchers To All Parts Of The Globe, David J. Silva

Linguistics & TESOL Faculty Publications & Presentations - Archive

No abstract provided.

Opal Creek: The Framing Of A Policy Controversy, James Floyd

Dissertations and Theses

The denouement of conflict is essential in the process of crafting public policy. The settlement of clashes over who get what, who pays, and who benefits is a critical component of a process described as decision making in the public interest. However, in some cases, the process results in unresolved controversy rather than the formulation of public policy. This may result from too little time being allocated to problem setting because of a rush to find problem solutions.

Conflict arises in public disputes due to a mixture of interests and values by multiple parties and the expression of divergent views …

Toward Ontology Generation From Tables, Deryle W. Lonsdale, Yuri A. Tijerino, David W. Embley, Yihong Ding, George Nagy

Faculty Publications

At the heart of today’s information-explosion problems are issues involving semantics, mutual understanding, concept matching, and interoperability. Ontologies and the Semantic Web are offered as a potential solution, but creating ontologies for real-world knowledge is nontrivial. If we could automate the process, we could significantly improve our chances of making the Semantic Web a reality. While understanding natural language is difficult, tables and other structured information make it easier to interpret new items and relations. In this paper we introduce an approach to generating ontologies based on table analysis. We thus call our approach TANGO (Table ANalysis for Generating Ontologies). …

The Development Of A Certified Nursing Assistant English For Specific Purposes Curriculum: Teaching Materials And Methods, Nancy Waireana Tarawhiti

Theses and Dissertations

After careful review of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) and English for Medical Purposes (EMP) literature, I assisted in the development of a curriculum for an ESP Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) Preparation course. The course participants were non-native English speaking employees of Utah Valley Regional Medical Center (UVRMC), currently working in the department of housekeeping, wanting to further their employment opportunities. The ESP CNA Preparation course was 12 weeks duration, three days per week, 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm.

My contribution to the curriculum was the development of teaching materials and methods and I used two guiding questions to assist …

Self-Access Centers: Maximizing Learners' Access To Center Resources, Benjamin L. Mcmurry

Theses and Dissertations

The Self-Access Study Center (SASC) at Brigham Young University's English Language Center (ELC) is a self-access lab where students can work independently to improve their language skills. Although some students have discovered how to use the SASC effectively, the majority of them appear to be unaware of the resources available in the center. Their trips to the SASC end up becoming more like a cyber cafe situation, where friends send email and chat online. If the SASC is used merely as a computer lab, then students are not using the resources available to fine-tune their English skills. The current project …

Computer-Aided Self-Access Pronunciation Materials Designed To Teach Stress In American English, Ann-Marie Krueger Bott

Theses and Dissertations

In recent years, increasing attention has been placed on providing pronunciation instruction that meets the communicative needs of nonnative speakers (NNSs) of English. Empirical research and pronunciation materials writers suggest that teaching suprasegmentals before segmentals to intermediate and advanced NNSs could be more beneficial in a shorter period of time. However, the majority of the materials available that emphasize suprasegmentals are textbook-based, relying principally on classroom settings and teacher feedback. The purpose of Pronunciation Progress: Stress in American English is to provide NNSs with pronunciation materials for self-access and student-directed learning environments. These materials are designed as a series of …

500 Essential English Words For Esl Missionaries, Carrie A. Thompson

Theses and Dissertations

In order to help ESL missionaries teach the gospel from their hearts using their own words, I have developed a 500-word list of core gospel vocabulary in English. To enhance the 500-word list, I included a lexicon with simple definitions, some grammatical information, and examples of the words in context. The resulting product complies with the standards for master's projects established by the Department of Linguistics and English Language. Published literature shows that the development of specialized corpora can be beneficial for students learning another language. Additionally, specialized corpora act as a catalyst for in-depth vocabulary analysis and the development …

Beliefs About The Education Of Children: A Comparison Of Hispanic Immigrant And Anglo-American Parents, Elodie Gisele Martine Bertola

Theses and Dissertations

In light of the fact that the number of Hispanic children enrolled in American schools is dramatically increasing and that these children are at higher risk of academic difficulty than any other group, the present study investigates the educational and child-rearing beliefs held by Hispanic parents. Understanding these beliefs is pivotal in any attempt to improve Latinos' educational attainment since current research recognizes that parental educational beliefs influence home-literacy practices, which in turn influence subsequent academic achievement. The research questions focus on two types of potential differences in terms of educational and child-rearing beliefs: (1)intercultural (Anglo-Americans vs. Hispanics), (2) intracultural …

Overseas Language Learning Experience: Student Beliefs About Their Teachers' Qualifications, Frank Bradford Bailey

Linguistics & TESOL Theses - Archive

This study investigates ESL student beliefs about ESL teachers' overseas experience (OE), language learning experience (LLE), and overseas language learning experience (OLLE), the combination of the two, as well as student attitudes toward native-English-speaking teachers. Data is gathered via an online survey from students of university or college-affiliated Intensive English Progams in the United States. The results show that respondents consider OE and LLE to be important experiences for ESL teachers, and strongly prefer native-english-speaking teachers, although non-native-english-speaking teachers have both OE and LLE. Results suggest that OLLE may be considered a separate factor, but sample size was too small …

The Role Of Asynchronous Computer Mediated Communication On Enhancing Cultural Awareness, Elizabeth Zeiss, Christina Isabelli

Scholarship

This study investigates the effect of CMC participation on language learners’ willingness to learn more about the target culture through study abroad. Also, it seeks to discern whether CMCactivities improve language learners’ self-perception that they have learned more about the target culture. An experimental group of 23 U.S. university students engaged in CMC with Mexican university students with a control group of 38 students from the U.S. university. We administered a questionnaire grouped thematically around seven topics. The data suggest that CMC may have a more positive effect on the acquisition of cultural awareness of students that engage in CMC …

Progress On Nl-Soar, And Introducing Xnl-Soar, Deryle W. Lonsdale, Jamison Cooper-Leavitt, Warren C. Casbeer

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

A Discourse Analysis Of 1 Peter, Ervin Ray Starwalt

Linguistics & TESOL Dissertations - Archive

The study focuses on two problems. The first concerns the structure of the text. The text is considered to be notoriously difficult to outline. The second problem is the function of the participle in 1 Peter. The letter is considered to contain some of the classical examples in the New Testament of the imperatival participle (e.g. 2:18; 3:1, 7, 9), the participle used independently in place of a finite imperative verb. The text is analyzed in terms of salience. Generally, commanding clauses, primarily indicated by the presence of imperative verbs, are those clauses which move the argument along. Locally, other …