Digital Commons Network^™

New Manuscripts Of The Divisiones Aristoteleae, Justin Barney

Library Research Grants

No abstract provided.

Not Quite At The Well: 2 Samuel 11 As An Inverted Betrothal Journey Narrative, David B. Ridge

Library Research Grants

No abstract provided.

Results 2012: Using Flagship Data To Develop A Russian Learner Corpus Of Academic Writing, Anna A. Alsufieva, Olesya V. Kisselev, Sandra G. Freels

Russian Language Journal

This paper presents a project developed at the Russian Flagship Center at Portland State University, the pilot Russian Learner Corpus of Academic Writing (piRULEC). PiRULEC is the first of its kind Russian learner corpus that contains academic texts written on a variety of topics produced by advanced learners of Russian from a variety of linguistic backgrounds (heritage speakers of Russian and mainstream American students).

Establishing A Foundation For Automated Human Credibility Screening, Jay F. Nunamaker Jr, Judee K. Burgoon, Nathan W. Twyman, Jeffrey Gainer Proudfoot, Ryan M. Schuetzler, Justin Scott Giboney

Faculty Publications

Automated human credibility screening is an emerging research area that has potential for high impact in fields as diverse as homeland security and accounting fraud detection. Systems that conduct interviews and make credibility judgments can provide objectivity, improved accuracy, and greater reliability to credibility assessment practices, need to be built. This study establishes a foundation for developing automated systems for human credibility screening

Using Automatic Speech Recognition Technology With Elicited Oral Response Testing, Troy L. Cox, Randall S. Davies

Faculty Publications

This study examined the use of automatic speech recognition (ASR) scored elicited oral response (EOR) tests to assess the speaking ability of English language learners. It also examined the relationship between ASR-scored EOR and other language proficiency measures and the ability of the ASR to rate speakers without bias to gender or native language. To that end, 179 subjects were given an ASR-scored EOR test with 60 items, followed by an oral proficiency interview (OPI) type assessment and a battery of other language tests. Findings suggest that ASR-scored EOR results could be used alone to predict speaking ability in specific …

Measuring Written Linguistic Accuracy: A Question Of Reliability, Validity, And Practicality, Troy L. Cox, Norman Evans, K. James Hartshorn, Teresa Martin

Faculty Publications

Error correction in second language writing has an interesting history with some scholars calling for its abolition, and others arguing for its inclusion in L2 writing pedagogy.

Most of the debate has centered around whether or not L2 writers' linguistic accuracy improves or not.

Relationship Between Reported Out-Of-Class English Use And Proficiency Gains In English, Wendy Baker-Smemoe, Denisa K. Cundick, Norman Evans, Lynn Henrichsen, Dan P. Dewey

Faculty Publications

This study investigated the relationship between out-of-class L2 use and proficiency gains in learners of English as a second language (ESL) in an intensive English language program. In contrast to previous studies on this topic, which have found weak, non-existent or even inverse relationships between out-of- class language experience and L2 proficiency gains, this study took place over a longer period of time (31 weeks), involved a larger number of participants (61 ESL learners from 12 different language backgrounds at four proficiency levels), and found a statistically significant connection between out-ofclass language use and proficiency gains. Participants took a proficiency …

Working Memory’S Meager Involvement In Sentence Repetition Tests, Deryle W. Lonsdale, Eve Kiyomi Okura

Faculty Publications

Elicited imitation (EI) is a testing method for learners’ oral language proficiency. One common criticism aimed at EI is that performance might not require linguistic knowledge, but mere rote memorization. This study explores the issue by administering two tests to the same group of students studying English as a second language: (1) a working memory test, and (2) an English EI test. Participants came from a range of English language proficiency levels. Our goal was to test whether scores from these two treatments (English EI scores and working memory scores) would correlate significantly. If not, this would suggest that there …

First Results In A Study Evaluating Pre-Annotation And Correction Propagation For Machine-Assisted Syriac Morphological Analysis, Deryle W. Lonsdale, Paul Felt, Eric Ringger, Kevin Seppi, Kristian Heal, Robbie A. Haertel

Faculty Publications

Manual annotation of large textual corpora can be cost-prohibitive, especially for rare and under-resourced languages. One potential solution is pre-annotation: asking human annotators to correct sentences that have already been annotated, usually by a machine. Another potential solution is correction propagation: using annotator corrections to dynamically improve to the remaining pre-annotations within the current sentence. The research presented in this paper employs a controlled user study to discover under what conditions these two machine-assisted annotation techniques are effective in increasing annotator speed and accuracy and thereby reducing the cost for the task of morphologically annotating texts written in classical Syriac. …

The Measure Matters: Language Dominance Profiles Across Measures In Spanish–English Bilingual Children, Lisa M. Bedore, Elizabeth D. Pena, Connie Summers, Maria D. Resendiz, Kai Greene, Thomas M. Bohman, Ronald B. Gillam

Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to determine if different language measures resulted in the same classifications of language dominance and proficiency for a group of bilingual pre-kindergarteners and kindergarteners. Data were analyzed for 1029 Spanish–English bilingual pre-kindergarteners who spanned the full range of bilingual language proficiency. Parent questionnaires were used to quantify age of first exposure and current language use. Scores from a short test of semantic and morphosyntactic development in Spanish and English were used to quantify children’s performance. Some children who were in the functionally monolingual range based on interview data demonstrated minimal knowledge of their other …

Japanese Language Proficiency, Social Networking, And Language Use During Study Abroad: Learners' Perspectives, Dan Dewey, Jennifer Brown, Dennis Eggett

Faculty Publications

This study examines the self-perceived speaking proficiency development of 204 learners of Japanese who studied abroad in Japan and analyzes connections between self-reported social network development, language use, and speaking development. Learners perceived that they gained the most in areas associated with the intermediate and advanced levels of the ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages) Speaking Proficiency Guidelines and the least in novice and superior-level abilities, largely because of a ceiling effect – learners were highly capable of novice-level tasks before study abroad and therefore had little to gain. Regression analysis indicated that self-reported pre-departure proficiency level, …

Relationship Between Reported Out-Of-Class English Use And Proficiency Gains In English, Wendy Baker-Smemoe, Denisa K. Cundick, Norman Evans, Lynn Henrichsen, Dan Dewey

Faculty Publications

This study investigated the relationship between out-of-class L2 use and proficiency gains in learners of English as a second language (ESL) in an intensive English language program. In contrast to previous studies on this topic, which have found weak, non-existent or even inverse relationships between outof- class language experience and L2 proficiency gains, this study took place over a longer period of time (31 weeks), involved a larger number of participants (61 ESL learners from 12 different language backgrounds at four proficiency levels), and found a statistically significant connection between out-ofclass language use and proficiency gains. Participants took a proficiency …

Student And Teacher Perceptions Of Motivational Strategies In The Foreign Language Classroom, Ashley Ruesch, Jennifer Brown, Dan Dewey

Faculty Publications

The present paper reports on a study that builds upon Do¨rnyei and Csize´r’s and Cheng and Do¨rnyei’s research on the teaching practices foreign language instructors consider most motivational. The study utilized an instrument based on that of Do¨rnyei and Csize´r, but changed the cultural context in which the survey was administered (North America) and added the perspective of foreign language students. The results of the study offer further support to the findings of the earlier studies. Findings also suggest additional cross-cultural differences in perceptions of motivational teaching practices. Furthermore, the present study underscores the importance of including students’ perspectives on …

Evaluating Journal Quality And The Association For Information Systems (Ais) Senior Scholars’ Journal Basket Via Bibliometric Measures: Do Expert Journal Assessments Add Value?, Paul Benjamin Lowry, Gregory D. Moody, James Gaskin, Dennis F. Galletta, Sean L. Humpherys, Jordan B. Barlow, David W. Wilson

Faculty Publications

Information systems (IS) journal rankings and ratings help scholars focus their publishing efforts and are widely used surrogates for judging the quality of research. Over the years, numerous approaches have been used to rank IS journals, approaches such as citation metrics, school lists, acceptance rates, and expert assessments. However, the results of these approaches often conflict due to a host of validity concerns. In the current scientometric study, we make significant strides toward correcting for these limitations in the ranking of mainstream IS journals. We compare expert rankings to bibliometric measures such as the ISI Impact Factor™, the h-index, and …

Review Of Understanding Morphological Rules, By Stela Manova, Jeffery R. Parker

Faculty Publications

In this monograph Stela Manova dicusses word-formation processes ("techniques" in her terminology) based on data from several Slavic languages: Bulgarian, Russian, and Serbian/Croatian. Manova presents theoretical support and a wealth of data to argue that conversion and subtraction operate similarly to other morphological techniques; that is to say, they operate in both derivation and inflection, have prototypical and non-prototypical instances, can be applied to different bases (words, stems, and roots) and compete with other, more iconic, morphological processes. While some of her examples could be disputed, she presents ample data and discussion to support her claims. This work will be …

Who Uses The Word "Resurrection" In The Book Of Mormon And How Is It Used?, John Hilton Iii, Jana Johnson

Faculty Publications

While there are only a handful of primary speakers in the Book of Mormon, many voices are heard within its pages. The fact that multiple people speak in the text provides the opportunity to investigate whether these people have varying patterns of speech. The purpose of this study is to report on the word resurrection, which has unusual usage patterns by individual speakers in the Book of Mormon. For example, there are curious patterns in terms of who in the Book of Mormon employs (or does not employ) resurrection, how individuals in the Book of Mormon use this word, and …

Panorama Sociolingüístico Del Caribe Hispánico Insular, Orlando Alba

Faculty Publications

El presente artículo ofrece una visión panorámica del español en el Caribe hispanico insular. Después de repasar brevemente los temas de investigación más relevantes, se describen los puntos de contacto entre las tres Antillas y se realiza una serie de precisiones sociolingüísticas. Estas puntualizaciones permiten destacar las peculiaridades, poniendo en evidencia que, a pesar de las conocidas semejanzas existentes en su modo de hablar, Cuba, la República Dominicana y Puerto Rico mantienen su propia identidad dialectal. La personalidad lingüística de cada una de las islas se revela tanto por medio de un análisis de las diferencias objetivas, como de la …

Reclaiming Literacy Classroom Through Critical Dialogue, Bob Fecho, Dawan Coombs, Sean Mcauley

Faculty Publications

Tim (all student names are pseudonyms), a young English teacher, took a position in a corporately owned charter school. Despite misgivings—“Just not sure privatization and choice are the saviors of public education”—Tim needed a job and accepted what was offered.

Typically for Tim, he threw himself into his teaching, getting additionally involved in class sponsorship and student government. As an offshoot of these activities, Tim asked his sophomore classes to write about, and then discuss, the seeming lack of school spirit and what they could do about it:

Multilingual Extraction Ontologies, Deryle W. Lonsdale, David W. Embley, Stephen W. Liddle, Yuri A. Tijerino

Faculty Publications

In our global society, multilingual barriers sometimes prohibit and often discourage international travelers from receiving desired goods and services. In a multilingual setting, easing linguistic-based tasks such as finding a restaurant, learning how to use local mass transit, and making simple business transactions would help remove barriers and encourage international travelers to seek and enjoy a wider variety goods and services. We propose multilingual extraction ontologies accessible via mobile devices as an aid to resolving these issues. Multilingual ontologies can communicate in multiple languages with the wireless local web as well as the international traveler and can thus break through …

The Feasibility Of Implementing A Collaborative Recommender System For The Brigham Young University Harold B. Lee Library, Derrick Brinton

Student Works

With library users finding their information from other non-library sources, the Harold B. Lee Library at Brigham Young University has great need of a recommender system. The library already has years of checkout data that can be used to jump-start the recommender system's recommendations. Unfortunately, that data is difficult to format in a way that a recommender system can use. With some effort, it can be stored in a graph database and used to generate recommendations for users based on their preferences. Calculating recommendations before they are required and storing them for future use can speed up the amount of …

“Stretch Forth Thy Hand And Prophesy“: Hand Gestures In The Book Of Mormon, David Calabro

Journal of Book of Mormon Studies

Often overlooked in scriptural text, hand and arm gestures are often used to convey meanings that complement the verbal lessons being taught. This article discusses the meaning and significance of four specific gestures referred to in the Book of Mormon: stretching forth one’s hand(s), stretching forth the hand to exert divine power, extending the arm(s) in mercy, and clapping the hands to express joys. Beyond the fascinating meanings of these gestures in the Book of Mormon are the correlations that can be seen in the biblical text and in other Near Eastern cultures. Also insightful, specifically in reference to Moses’s …

Who Uses The Word Resurrection In The Book Of Mormon And How Is It Used?, John Hilton Iii, Jana Johnson

Journal of Book of Mormon Studies

The word resurrection is employed at varying frequencies in specific books and by individual writers in the Book of Mormon. Although Alma uses resurrection most often overall, Abinadi uses it more often per thousand words spoken. Some phrases in which resurrection is used in unique patterns by different speakers include power of the resurrection, first resurrection, and resurrection with the words time or with body. Some phrasal uses of resurrection in the Book of Mormon are not found in the Bible (such as resurrection and presence appearing together). This study of the usage of one individual word appears …

Stylometric Analyses Of The Book Of Mormon: A Short History, Matthew Roper, Paul J. Fields, G. Bruce Schaalje

Journal of Book of Mormon Studies

The abundance of skeptical theories about who wrote the Book of Mormon has led many scholars to seek scientific data to discover the answer. One technique is stylometry. Having first been developed in the 1850s, stylometry seeks to find the ” wordprint” of a text. Although these stylistic studies are not as accurate as a human’s fingerprint, they can give researchers a good idea either of differences in style between authors or of who might have written a text from a list of possible authors. Beginning in the 1960s individuals have completed four major stylometric studies on the Book of …

The Covenant Of The Chosen People: The Spiritual Foundations Of Ethnic Identity In The Book Of Mormon, Steven L. Olsen

Journal of Book of Mormon Studies

The literary sophistication of the Book of Mormon is manifest at all levels of the text: vocabulary, rhetoric, narrative, and structure. A prime example of this craftsmanship is the concept of ethnicity, that is, how different social groups are defined and distinguished in the record. Nephi defines ethnicity by four complementary concepts: nation (traditional homeland), kindred (descent group), tongue (language group), and people (covenant community). While all four concepts are relevant to the Nephite record, people predominates. The term people is by far the most frequently used noun in the Book of Mormon and is the basis of a distinctive …

Worthy Of Another Look: The Historicity Of The Book Of Mormon, Dallin H. Oaks

Journal of Book of Mormon Studies

In recent years the idea has been promoted that the Book of Mormon should be viewed as a great moral work but not as the actual history of peoples in the Americas. In this paper, Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles defends the historicity of the Book of Mormon from the standpoint of faith and revelation. He demonstrates that scholarship cannot create faith and that secular evidence will never be able to prove or disprove the Book of Mormon. He also illustrates how the burden of negative proof lies squarely on the shoulders of skeptics, …

Worthy Of Another Look: John Gilbert's 1892 Account Of The 1830 Printing Of The Book Of Mormon, Royal Skousen

Journal of Book of Mormon Studies

In 1892, when John Gilbert was 90 years old, he made a statement about the process of setting the type for the Book of Mormon at the Grandin Print Shop. John was the compositor (or typesetter) for the 1830 edition of the book. He makes claims about the number of manuscript pages, the number of copies and the price, the number of ems (a measure of type width) per printed page, a comparison of manuscript versus printed pages, a description of the font, the process of receiving the pages to typeset, proofreading the title page, the decision not to correct …

Variants In The Stories Of The First Vision Of Joseph Smith And The Apostle Paul, John A. Tvedtnes

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

Some critics of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints have noted that the different accounts of Joseph Smith’s first vision, though written by the prophet himself, vary in some details. They see this as evidence that the event did not take place and was merely invented to establish divine authority for his work. They fail to realize that the versions of Paul’s vision on the road to Damascus, in which the risen Christ appeared to him, also differ from one another. Indeed, they vary more than Joseph Smith’s accounts of his experience. This article examines those variants.

An Open Letter To Dr. Michael Coe, John L. Sorenson

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

In August 2011 John Dehlin conducted a three-part interview with famed Mesoamericanist Michael Coe.1 Dehlin operates the podcast series Mormon Stories, which features in terviews discussing the faith and culture of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This article examines a large num ber of dubious claims made in those interviews, providing clari f ications, responses, and references to numerous sources dealing with those issues. Much more detail will be forthcoming in Dr. Sorenson’s new book, Mormon’s Codex.

Deflected Agreement In The Book Of Mormon, Andrew C. Smith

Journal of Book of Mormon Studies

Deflected agreement is a grammatical phenomenon found in Semitic languages—it is ubiquitous in Arabic and found occasionally in Classical Hebrew. Deflected agreement is a plausible explanation for certain grammatical incongruities present, in translation, within the original and printer's manuscripts and printed editions in the Book of Mormon in the grammatical areas of verbal, pronominal, and demonstrative agreement. This finding gives greater credence to the plausibility of the authenticity and historicity of the Book of Mormon. Additionally, the implications of this finding on Book of Mormon scholarship are discussed.

P. J. Marshall: The British Discovery Of Hinduism In The Eighteenth Century: Book Review, Michael Austin

Religion in the Age of Enlightenment

The format of this reissued book deserves some commentary. Originally published in 1970, these reprints of primary texts from the second half of the eighteenth century are now available in a digitally printed version. This publication format takes advantage of new digital printing technologies that can produce attractive, bound volumes of older books-often indistinguishable from the original edition-in print runs as small as a single copy. This publication medium is an exciting innovation for scholars, ultimately eliminating out-of-print books by making any book available, on demand, to anyone who wants to purchase it.