Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Phonetic Speech Variations Of L1 Portuguese English Learners, Maria Salow Castillo

Linguistics Senior Research Projects

The English pronunciation of six Brazilian Portuguese language learners as well as their language experiences and attitudes are the focuses of this study. Participants provided information regarding demographics and experience with English, then completed the same reading exercise in Portuguese, then English. Interviewees answered the questions and completed the exercises remotely during a Zoom call. Findings include language attitudes and raw phonetic data. All nonstandard pronunciations were transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) and prominent unintelligible articulations are highlighted in this study. The resulting pronunciations are derived from the learner’s interlanguage and their understanding of phoneme-grapheme relations between the …

Sociolinguistics And Insider/Outsider Status In Hawai'i, Elissa M. Uithol

Linguistics Senior Research Projects

Prior to the rise of tourism in Hawai’i, the Hawaiian economy was largely driven by plantations. As labor was imported to work these plantations, a rich, multiethnic culture developed on the islands, producing a similarly diverse linguistic situation. What began as a pidgin blend of several languages for the purpose of communication between workers and supervisors has since developed into a language unique to the islands: Hawaiian Creole English (HCE). Social status in Hawai’i has long been influenced by a person’s manner of speech, as evidenced by elite Standard English (SE) schools founded to educate children of those in the …

The Influence Of Investment On Generation 1.5, Karis E. Ryan

Linguistics Senior Research Projects

This study seeks to look at the relationship between Generation 1.5 language learners, and the investment that is made. It reflects on the influence that student language investment in an English-speaking high school has on the language identity and social capital of Generation 1.5. Following the learning patterns of three different immigrant students, readers will observe the differences and effects of investment in school programs, as well as the involvement and availability of ESL programs in public school systems.

The Collaborative Function Of Verbal Aspect And Aktionsart: A Distributional Analysis Of English Verb-Types, Marc A. Agee

Linguistics Senior Research Projects

This paper reviews literature in aspect studies from modern linguistics and Biblical language studies and proposes syntheses of multiple definitions given for these often-confusing verbal categories as the discussion has progressed from the Nineteenth Century to the present day. To inform these definitions, key studies such as Bache (1982), Comrie (1981), Lyons (1977), and Porter (1989) are consulted. In addition to suggesting definitions for these, this paper also discusses the best way to understand aktionsart as it functions in several related languages, and as it relates to aspect in usage. An analysis of evidence for this description as it functions …

What Did God Say? A Critical Analysis Of Dynamic Equivalence Theory, Katelyn R. Fisher

Linguistics Senior Research Projects

This paper is a critical analysis of Eugene A. Nida’s theory of dynamic equivalence as it relates to Bible translation, largely through a comparative study of select passages from the biblical genres of poetry, proverbs, and Pauline epistles. In addition, a brief survey distributed to 72 students at Cedarville University provides both qualitative and quantitative data regarding which English Bible version they prefer and why. Identifying Nida’s contributions to translation studies and analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of his theory in practice serves to provide implications for believers who are seeking to discern which English version is the most accurate, …

Symbolism As The Language Of Millennials, Esther L. Mazor

Linguistics Senior Research Projects

This paper is a linguistic analysis of symbols in regard to marketing strategies becoming relevant to the Millennial generation. This study aims to examine how technological advances affect Millennial characteristics and behaviors arnd contribute to the growing phenomenon of visual literacy. Research on the topic was synthesized and used to create a survey with various symbols. Utilizing Abdullah and Hubner’s (2006) semiotic design analysis of icons and pictograms, fourteen popular brand name symbols were chosen to be first analyzed and then anonymously named by Millennials. This study found that marketing professionals’ strategies are successfully relevant to the Millennial generation, causing …

The Speech Act Of Naming In Context: A Linguistic Study Of Naming In The Old Testament, Lauren Yost

Linguistics Senior Research Projects

This research sought to study the act of naming in the context of the Old Testament using speech act theory. To analyze naming as presented in the Old Testament, I first studied the Hebrew words qārāʾ and šēm, creating from my findings the following extended definition: (naming is) the act of giving a name within particular specified circumstances by one with authority over the name-receiver, whose authority is respected by others such that the name spoken is hence used to identify and represent the receiver. This, along with an understanding of Alston (2000) and the example of Arcadi (2013), …

Evangelical Perceptions On Linguistic Sexism In English, Anna M. Beckmeyer

Linguistics Senior Research Projects

This study explores how evangelical Christians view connotatively and denotatively sexist language in English through a comparative study against non-evangelicals. Research on unnecessarily gendered language establishes English as contextually and denotatively sexist through falsely generic nouns, lexical asymmetries, and derogatory terms for females. Evangelical Christians have historically viewed gender roles as distinct from each other, however, little research has been done on how that affects perceptions of gendered language. Taking the stance that English unnecessarily prioritizes maleness, this study uses surveys and interviews to gather opinions on definitions of sexist language and asks participants to apply that definition in specific …

Is This Author Intelligent? The Effect Of Spelling Errors On Perception Of Authors, Rachel M. Schloneger

Linguistics Senior Research Projects

This study seeks to understand how the presence of spelling errors affects readers’ perceptions of an author’s intelligence and writing ability. Undergraduate students and professors read a short essay and completed a sixteen-question questionnaire concerning their perceptions of the author and the essay. The number of spelling errors present (zero, five, or ten) in the essay was manipulated by the researcher. Participant perceptions of the author and the essay suffered as more spelling errors were found. Participants in the five- and ten-error conditions judged both the author and the essay more harshly, giving it lower scores. Further, intelligence ratings suffered …

A Linguistic Comparison Of Biblical Greek And English: How Should The Adverbial Participle Be Translated?, Sarah C. Nickchen

Linguistics Senior Research Projects

This paper combines the two fields of linguistics and biblical Greek studies in a scientific study of original research. Linguistics can be defined as “the scientific study of the language systems of the world” (Black, 1995, 5). Biblical Greek studies focus on analysis of the original New Testament text. Semantics (the meaning of words and phrases) is one subfield of linguistics, and the focus of this paper. The Greek adverbial participle is the most versatile Greek participle. The English adverbial participle is much less versatile. Thus, this paper focuses on adverbial participles in Greek and English in order to determine …

The Effects Of Bilingualism And Multilingualism On Lexical Retrieval, Sarah E. Young

Linguistics Senior Research Projects

This research reviews literature that has been written concerning the positive and negative cognitive impact bilingualism has on the speaker. It then takes this research one step further asking whether increasing the number of languages one speaks slows down the person’s lexical retrieval. Methods include an interview and two tests, the data from which strongly supports the hypothesis mentioned in the literature review that bilingualism slows down lexical processing. This research concludes that having more languages does increase a person’s difficulty with retrieving words on demand.

Key terms: bilingualism, lexical retrieval, RIF, retrieval induced forgetting, aphasia, tip of the tongue, …

Linguistic Expression And Gender: A Function Word Analysis Of Jane Austen’S Pride And Prejudice, Erica Corbiere

Linguistics Senior Research Projects

The current study investigates ten dimensions of female and male categories of speech, which focus on function words, as previously identified by Newman et al. (2008). Through the use of the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count tool (using the LIWC2015 dictionary), these ten categories were analyzed in the dialogue of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Results were consistent with previous findings by Newman et al. (2008). Four of five previously identified categories as more often used by male speakers (numbers, words per sentence, prepositions, articles, and words greater than six letters) were used with an even greater difference between …