Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Identity Phauxnetics, Nathan T. Jones

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This thesis investigates the construction of identity and authenticity through sociophonetic variation, focusing on British Hip Hop artist Amy Winehouse. Prior work on British vocal artists’ phonetic variation has relied upon regional categorical frameworks (Trudgill, 1983; Carlsson, 2001) and found variation to be evidence of production errors and speakers’ misidentification of targeted speech patterns, resulting in summative interpretations of conflict between speakers’ discreet identities and speech pattern categories. More recent work has attended to linguistic processes within cultural movements influenced but not strictly delimited by sociolinguistics’ canonical categories of region, class, race, etc. Within the context of the Hip Hop …

Nonstandard Languages: The Outcasts Of The Language Revitalization Movement, Whitney Snowden

Senior Honors Theses

This thesis compares the failures of the creolization movement with the success of the language revitalization movement and seeks to determine which elements are missing from the former to make it as successful as the latter. Education policy, identity, and language ideology are all examined as contributors to the future success of creole inclusivity in education and society, as well as the potential benefits such a movement would include. Specifically examined are Siegel’s research on creole education and Armstrong’s work on language ideology.

Correcting Errors In The L2 Classroom: Students' And Teachers' Perceptions, Kerwin A. Livingstone

Kerwin A. Livingstone

Correcting students’ errors is necessary for improving their linguistic and communicative competence. This study seeks to examine students’ and teachers’ perceptions about error correction in the L2 classroom. An online survey was designed and sent out to a purposive sample. The sample consists of 12 students from the University of Guyana’s Modern Language Programme, who are pursuing a career in Spanish, French and Portuguese (with B1 and C1 language levels), and 9 teachers (7 current/2 former) from the Programme who specialise in teaching these different languages. The results of the survey are analysed and discussed through a mixed method approach, …

Why Digital Problem Solving Matters: A Closer Look At How Education And Skills Online Can Be Used To Inform Educational Outreach Efforts, Jill Castek, Cindy Gibbon

Presentations and Publications

This presentation focuses digital problem solving and the approaches and strategies digital problem solvers use.

Emotional Facial Expressions In Synthesised Sign Language Avatars: A Manual Evaluation., Robert G Smith, Brian Nolan

Other Resources

This research explores and evaluates the contribution that facial expressions might have regarding improved comprehension and acceptability in sign language avatars. Focusing specifically on Irish sign language (ISL), the Deaf (the uppercase ‘‘D’’ in the word ‘‘Deaf’’ indicates Deaf as a culture as opposed to ‘‘deaf’’ as a medical condition) community’s responsiveness to sign language avatars is examined. The hypothesis of this is as follows: augmenting an existing avatar with the seven widely accepted universal emotions identified by Ekman (Basic emotions: handbook of cognition and emotion. Wiley, London, 2005) to achieve underlying facial expressions will make that avatar more human-like …

50 Años De Evolución En Los Estudios Lingüísticos Transculturales: De La Retórica Contrastiva A La Retórica Intercultural, David Sánchez-Jiménez

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Relationship Between Acoustic Measures And Speech Naturalness Ratings In Parkinson’S Disease: A Within-Speaker Approach, Marie I. Klopfenstein

SIUE Faculty Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

This study investigated the acoustic basis of across-utterance, within-speaker variation in speech naturalness for four speakers with dysarthria secondary to Parkinson’s disease (PD). Speakers read sentences and produced spontaneous speech. Acoustic measures of fundamental frequency, phrase-final syllable lengthening, intensity and speech rate were obtained. A group of listeners judged speech naturalness using a nine-point Likert scale. Relationships between judgements of speech naturalness and acoustic measures were determined for individual speakers with PD. Relationships among acoustic measures also were quantified. Despite variability between speakers, measures of mean F0, intensity range, articulation rate, average syllable duration, duration of final syllables, vocalic nucleus …

The Role Of Error Analysis In Teaching And Learning Of Second And Foreign Language, Agsa Jabeen, Bahram Kazemian, Muhammad Shahbaz Mustafai

Bahram Kazemian

The aim of this paper is to investigate errors made by second and foreign language (L2) learners so as to understand the strategies and techniques used in the process of second and foreign language learning. Error analysis is a very important area of applied linguistics as well as of second and foreign language learning. It is also a systematic method to analyze learners' errors. Errors are not always bad, rather they are crucial parts and aspects in the process of learning a language. They may provide insights into the complicated processes of language development as well as a systematic way …

Why Get Lost In Translation? On The English Translations Of Wen Yiduo's Poems, Choi Yung Ng

Theses & Dissertations

The debate over the translatability of poetry has been a long-standing issue for decades. Relatively few discussions, however, have focused on the concrete reasons of poetry being translatable (or untranslatable). Moving beyond traditional ways of elucidating the matter through theoretical argument, this study aims to investigate the question of poetry translation in a more solid, empirical manner by looking into linguistic and language-based aesthetic differences between Chinese and English, in particular their prosodic features and capacities. Part One seeks to answer the question “Why does poetry get lost in translation?” from a linguistic and language-based aesthetic perspective, using the English …

Exploring Adult Punjabi-Speaking Immigrants’ Path To English Language Acquisition: A Case Study, Pankaj Sharma

All Theses And Dissertations

Punjabi-speaking immigrants to the United States find many successes and face many challenges as they strive to become full citizens of their new communities. There are success stories and obstacles faced by immigrants as they embark upon a journey from another country. This study examined what major obstacles Punjabi speaking immigrants face when they immigrated from India, including poverty, lack of employment, and stress specifically related to moving from the Punjabi to English language that ultimately affect the acculturation process for the entire family. The study also looked at support received by Punjabi immigrants from others in the community and …

Investigating Foreign Language Curriculum Planning, Design And Development In Portuguese Higher Education Institutions (Phd Thesis Proposal [Ppt Presentation]), Kerwin A. Livingstone

Kerwin A. Livingstone

Translating Mathematical Texts, Jose Mojca, Bahram Kazemian Mr.

Bahram Kazemian

Translating Scientific texts is crucial for disseminating scientific knowledge and consequently for the progress of specific scientific fields.

Initial Career Motives And Demotivation In Teaching English As A Foreign Language: Cases Of Korean Efl Teachers, Tae-Young Kim, Yoon-Kyoung Kim

Dr. Tae-Young Kim (김태영, 金兌英)

In order to broaden understanding of English as a foreign language (EFL) teacher motivation, this study examines Korean EFL teachers’ initial job motives and demotivating factors. Four psychological constructs emerged regarding initial career motives: Global Orientation, Job Security, Altruism, and Ought-to Self. Among the constructs, global orientation proved to be the most popular reason for choosing an EFL teaching career. This study also showed three constructs for detrimental factors on EFL teacher motivation: Obstacles to Communicative Language Teaching, Inadequate Administrative Support, and Lack of Social Recognition. It was shown that obstacles to communicative language teaching contributed to the greatest demotivation.

An Investigation Of Nominalization And Lexical Density In Undergraduate Research Proposals, Thu Ha T. Nguyen, Emily C. Edwards

Bahram Kazemian

Academic writing is considered an essential skill for academic success not only for undergraduate study but also for students’ further education and professional development. This writing genre has certain characteristics often lacking in students’ research writing. This study explores two characteristics in students’ research proposals, nominalization and lexical density (LD), after the students completed courses on academic writing and Second Language Research (SLR) in their second year at a Vietnamese pedagogical university. It also investigates the effectiveness of writing training in increasing students’ performance regarding the use of given features. The findings, obtained from analyzing students’ proposals and recorded interviews, …

Talking Back, With Reawakened Voices: Analyzing The Potential For Indigenous California Languages Coursework At California Polytechnic State University, Logan Cooper

Ethnic Studies

The legacy of colonialism in the United States, including genocidal practices and cultural assimilation, has left Indigenous languages endangered. Native peoples, scholars, and activists have been working to revive and heal the languages of America’s first peoples, and the cultures those languages speak to, yet more work remains in the field of language revitalization. California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo currently does not offer any course specifically teaching or discussing Indigenous languages, even those of the Chumash people who know the San Luis Obispo area as their ancestral homelands.

By synthesizing revitalization and Indigenous activist literature with the narratives …

Sound Effects: Age, Gender, And Sound Symbolism In American English, Timothy Krause

Student Research Symposium

This mixed-method study investigated the correlation of sound symbolic associations with age and gender by analyzing data from a national survey of 292 American English speakers. Subjects used 10 semantic differential scales to rate six artificial brand names that targeted five phonemes. Subjects also described the potential products they imagined these artificial brand names to represent. Quantitative analysis alone provided insufficient evidence to conclude that age or gender affect sound symbolism in American English. While 26 out of 60 scales showed a monotonic shift among the means of the three age groups, only three were statistically significant. The evidence of …

A Case For An Ecological Approach And Against Language Commodification In Elt, Vinicius O. Souza

MA TESOL Collection

This paper aims to provide an alternative approach to the English language education practiced in many developing countries which can help reverse their current low-proficiency status, as revealed by standard international examinations such as the PISA scores and others. The author argues that this can be best accomplished by adopting an ecological approach to teaching which promotes language learning as emergent and socially situated phenomena, two concepts largely neglected by current teaching methods. In fact, many of these countries have long been dominated by an extremely commodified and cognitivist ELT market, where business interests have taken precedence over pedagogical considerations. …

Leveraging Research To Inform Better Practice, Jill Castek

Presentations and Publications

Panel focused on the importance of research being designed strategically from the very beginning and thinking about dissemination at the outset of every project design, not as an afterthought.

Linguistic Landscape Of Main Streets In Bosnia And Herzegovina, Rachel E. Lay

Undergraduate Honors Theses

After the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1991, Bosnia and Herzegovina erupted into ethnic conflict and ultimately genocide. Nearly 100,000 people, mainly Bosniaks, died in the Bosnian War. Two decades later, the violence has ended but the conflict is still present in Bosnia; the societal segregation of the 1995 Dayton Accords, intended only as an immediate solution to the violence, still stands. Population and language distribution are evidence of this segregation. Bosnia’s two entities are home to two different ethnic majorities: Serbs in the Republika Srpska and Bosniaks in the Federation of BiH. In an environment so sensitive that the government …

Linguistic Landscape Of Main Streets In Bosnia And Herzegovina, Rachel E. Lay

Undergraduate Honors Theses

After the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1991, Bosnia and Herzegovina erupted into ethnic conflict and ultimately genocide. Nearly 100,000 people, mainly Bosniaks, died in the Bosnian War. Two decades later, the violence has ended but the conflict is still present in Bosnia; the societal segregation of the 1995 Dayton Accords, intended only as an immediate solution to the violence, still stands. Population and language distribution are evidence of this segregation. Bosnia’s two entities are home to two different ethnic majorities: Serbs in the Republika Srpska and Bosniaks in the Federation of BiH. In an environment so sensitive that the government …

Paradigm Shift In Language Planning And Policy: Game Theoretic Solutions -- My Response To Dr. Sayers' Review, Ettien Koffi

Linguistic Portfolios

Ettien Koffi's response to Dr. Dave Sayers review of Dr. Koffi's Paradigm Shift in Language Planning and Policy (2012) that appeared on The Linguist List.

Teaching Esl Students Adverb Position To Develop Rhetorical Emphasis, James Rutledge, Zachary Fitton

Linguistic Portfolios

This paper highlights the importance of teaching ESL students adverb placement to increase rhetorical awareness. Instructors are encouraged to consider designing grammar lessons at early stages in ESL composition for adverbs that focus not only on prescriptive accuracy but also on those that create rhetorical emphasis. As previous researchers have indicated, placing adverbs in unique positions can add emphasis to particular words or phrases such as using an interrupting adverbial modifier or adverbial fronting. This paper provides a review of literature that promotes teaching adverb placement as rhetorical emphasis, which is significant in ESL composition because it can help ESL …

Paper-Based Or Computer-Based Essay Writing: Differences In Performance And Perception, Benjamin Kohler

Linguistic Portfolios

The purpose of this investigation is to gather and compare data as to students’ performances, processes, and perceptions of computer-based writing assessments versus paper-based writing assessments within the context of a university ESL program in the hopes of providing further support and considerations for implementation of computerbased writing assessments for ESL programs. Other learner variables, such as computer experience and typing ability, are compared to see if they have a measurable impact on students’ products, processes, or perceptions of writing in both modes. The raters also provided evidence for their reactions to scoring written texts in various modes, as scoring …

A Discussion Of The Syntax Of Wh Questions For Native English Speakers Acquiring Mandarin Chinese As A Second Language, Jong-Hee Youn, Wen Meng

Linguistic Portfolios

This paper is an analysis of the similarities and differences in syntactic structure of WHquestions between English and Mandarin Chinese. While Subject-Auxiliary inversion, Do-support, and WH-movement are required processes in forming an interrogative sentence in English, the same types of transformation are not needed in. This can be one of the challenges for native English speakers acquiring Chinese WH-questions. The aim of this study is to provide pedagogical implications to native English speakers of Chinese as a second language and their teachers by providing an overview of how the syntax of WH-questions behaves in both languages and how it can …

Postpositions And Word Order Variation In Korean, Minhui Choi, Emily Schmitt

Linguistic Portfolios

The syntax of postpositions in Korean is unique and worth analyzing for the purpose of teaching English to Korean speakers. Korean uses a variety of postpositions that affect the meaning and the structure of sentences. Postpositions function like prepositions in English in that they assign case to nouns. However, Korean postpositions are different from prepositions in English in that they call for a variety of word order changes. In this study, we examine how the use of postpositions results in word order variations in Korean and discuss its pedagogical implications in ESL settings.

Adverbial Phrase Placements In L1-Chinese Esl Learners' Writing, Borui Zhang, Theresa Koller

Linguistic Portfolios

The authors of this study looked at 49 samples of English writing from 14 Chinese students enrolled in College ESL. Adverbial placements were recorded, categorized, and analyzed. Although some types of adverbials have different positioning in Chinese than in English, the authors found that this was not a primary factor in the students’ English writing. Students greatly favored sentence-initial and post-verbal placement of adverbs and made extensive use of modality adverbs. Reasons for their placements and usage are possibly: ease of transfer, explicit instruction, and a perception of prestige.

The Acquisition Of Phrasal Verbs In L2 English: A Literature Review, Karen Cathcart Bronshteyn, Tom Gustafson

Linguistic Portfolios

This paper introduces the linguistic element called the phrasal verb, which consists of a verb followed by a particle, such as to “eat out.” The challenges facing L2 students attempting to master phrasal verbs are considered, followed by a proposed approach to teaching semantic as well as syntactic understanding of these structures. We conclude with a review of literature which proposes innovative teaching techniques. We conclude that there is promise that some of these techniques can assist students to master phrasal verbs, and that more research is necessary to determine the most effective approaches.

Acoustic Analysis Of Montenegrin English L2 Vowels: Production And Perception, Ivana Lucic

Linguistic Portfolios

This study provides an acoustic analysis of Montenegrin vowels, in order to make a comparison with the already existing measurements of General American English (GAE) vowels. Also, a production analysis is done on Montenegrin (MTN) learners of English, which shows the vowels that are the most problematic in their L2 pronunciation. In addition to this, a two-way perception study was conducted with the participants. American native English speakers listened to 11 GAE vowels produced by Montenegrin speakers of English, and tried to indicate which vowels they heard, while Montenegrin speakers of English did the same after listening to native GAE …

Unifying Nominalized Clauses, Auxiliaries, And Copular Allomorphy In North Azeri, Colin Davis

Linguistic Portfolios

In this paper I examine the relationship between auxiliary copular insertion, copular allomorphy, and the nominalization of clauses in North Azeri (Turkic). I argue that in North Azeri an auxiliary copula is inserted at T0 whenever an aspect head blocks V0 to T0 movement. However, allomorphy of the copula obscures the consistency of this morphosyntactic process. I argue that the allomorphy of the copula in North Azeri is conditioned by the features of T0, but that in some contexts, including nominalized clauses where T0 is defective, this conditioning does not occur. I claim that “ol” is the elsewhere form of …

Game Theoretic Evaluation Of Planning Roma Lanuages In Hungary, Kristen Lorincz

Linguistic Portfolios

The Roma population in Hungary has endured longstanding cultural and linguistic discrimination, despite their significant numbers. As a result, the outlook for maintaining and preserving the use of the Romany language in Hungary is bleak. In an attempt to shed light on this issue, this paper discusses the current situation of the Romany language in Hungary, and subsequently, investigates the possible implementation and effectiveness of various language policies through the lens of the Game Theory.