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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Spatial Prepositions In Arabic And English, Maha Alshammari
Spatial Prepositions In Arabic And English, Maha Alshammari
MA in Linguistics Final Projects
The acquisition of English prepositions is particularly challenging for students learning English as a second language. This project explores the acquisition of English spatial expressions by Arab ESL learners. This study examines several issues that may affect the processes of acquiring the English prepositions among Arab ESL learners such as the age of acquisition, learning transfer, and frequency. Furthermore, it considers the difficulties that Arab learners may encounter when learning English spatial locatives via transfer phenomena. These phenomena involve possible positive transfer and negative transfer in second language acquisition. This is especially problematic in the case of the lack of …
Acquisition Of English /S/-Clusters By Brazilian Portuguese Speakers, Carolyn June Baker
Acquisition Of English /S/-Clusters By Brazilian Portuguese Speakers, Carolyn June Baker
MA in Linguistics Final Projects
This research examines the error patterns of two member /s/ + consonant clusters (sC) in word initial position by native speakers of Brazilian Portuguese learning English. Previous research has found that not all sC clusters are modified at the same rate and studies involving native Brazilian Portuguese speakers have produced conflicting findings (Cardoso, 2008; Major, 1996; Rebello & Baptista, 2006; Rauber, 2006). The current study aims to clarify which markedness relationships influence the frequency of prothesis in sC clusters and test the opposing predictions made by two phonological principles, Sonority Sequencing and Obligatory Contour Principle for [continuant] (OCP [cont]), to …
The Processing Of Aspect, J. C. Urbana
The Processing Of Aspect, J. C. Urbana
MA in Linguistics Final Projects
A topic in linguistics that requires more psycholinguistic research is that of aspect. In particular, we are interested in how speakers process aspectual structures in terms of telicity and atelicity. For this project, we examine monolingual English speakers and their processing times linked to aspectual interpretation of telic vs. atelic constructions. Our methodology utilizes Response Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP) (Rayner & Sereno, 1994; Garrod, 2006), which presents readers with sequences on a computer screen, and measures their reading times. The subjects are instructed to complete an additional task, such as a comprehension task. We investigate the distinctions in processing time …
A Linguistic Landscape Of Two Hispanic-Serving Institutions: Miami, Florida And Fresno, California, Gina Marie Ailanjian
A Linguistic Landscape Of Two Hispanic-Serving Institutions: Miami, Florida And Fresno, California, Gina Marie Ailanjian
MA in Linguistics Final Projects
Linguistic Landscape (LL) is the study of public signage. Landry & Bourhis (1997) defined LL as “the visibility and salience of languages on public and commercial signs in a given territory or region.” These signs can be billboards, street signs, warnings, notices, public road signs, government signs, commercial shop signs, etc. The present study explores the LL of Florida International University (FIU) in Miami, Florida versus the LL of California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) in Fresno, California. Both of these universities are Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI), with a Hispanic population of 63% and of 45.7% respectively (FIU is in …
Incidental Learning Of Chinese Vocabulary Via English Context Reading, Kay-Ann Linton
Incidental Learning Of Chinese Vocabulary Via English Context Reading, Kay-Ann Linton
MA in Linguistics Final Projects
Two research questions were posed to assess the potential of a new pedagogical tool, L1-context reading, for learning Chinese as a second language: 1) Can an alphabetic text context be used to facilitate incidental learning of logographic vocabulary? 2) Is there a difference between L1-context reading and rote memorization in acquisition of form and meaning? Twenty four Florida International University students with no knowledge of a logographic language were assigned to the L1-context Reading Group or the Rote Memorisation Group. For five minutes, the Reading Group read a list of English sentences, each containing a Chinese word, while the Rote …
Long-Distance Reflexivization And Logophoricity In The Dargin Language, Muminat Kerimova
Long-Distance Reflexivization And Logophoricity In The Dargin Language, Muminat Kerimova
MA in Linguistics Final Projects
The study of anaphora challenges us to determine the conditions under which the pronouns of a language are associated with possible antecedents. One of the theoretical questions is whether the distribution of pronominal forms is best explained by a syntactic, semantic or discourse level analysis. A more practical question is how we distinguish between anaphoric elements, e.g. what are the borders between the notions of pronouns, locally bound reflexives and long-distance reflexives? The study analyzes the anaphora device saj in Dargin that is traditionally considered to be a long-distance reflexivization language. We show that the previous research did not cover …
Exploring Miamians’ Perceptions Of Linguistic Variation In Miami-Dade County And The State Of Florida, Daniel Garzon
Exploring Miamians’ Perceptions Of Linguistic Variation In Miami-Dade County And The State Of Florida, Daniel Garzon
MA in Linguistics Final Projects
Scholarship in folk dialectology has successfully demonstrated that folk beliefs about language vary wildly according to geographical region. The current study, an analysis of non-linguists’ beliefs toward language in Florida and Miami-Dade County, reports on the results of a study using Dennis Preston’s draw-a- map technique, processed with ArcGIS. Two maps, a map which depicted a minimally-labeled outline of the State of Florida, and a second map which depicted the outline of Miami-Dade County, were given to 46 participants. When collected, the maps were scanned and geo-referenced into ArcGIS, a Geographical Information Systems (GIS)-based tool used to process perceptual dialectology …