Linguistics Commons^™

Topics In Action Sources Of Definiteness Of Topic Noun Phrases In Thai Interactive Discourse, Prakaiwan Vajrabhaya

English Theses & Dissertations

The notion of topic has been widely discussed in past literature; however, the use of naturally occurring data in these studies, especially in Thai, has been lacking. This study approaches topic from a functionalist standpoint. It uses definiteness, a feature of topics generally agreed upon by scholars, to investigate topic noun phrases (NPs) in the topic with a clausal comment construction in naturally occurring data in Thai. The main objectives are to identify the sources of definiteness of topic NPs and demonstrate their functions. The data for this study was obtained from the Chulalongkorn University Linguistics Department corpus which …

Phonological Facilitation Through Translation In A Bilingual Picture-Naming Task, Paul Amrhein, Aimee Knupsky

Department of Psychology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

We present a critical examination of phonological effects in a picture-word interference task. Using a methodology minimizing stimulus repetition, English/Spanish and Spanish/English bilinguals named pictures in either L1 or L2 (blocked contexts) or in both (mixed contexts) while ignoring word distractors in L1 or L2. Distractors were either phonologically related to the picture name (direct; FISH–fist), or related through translation to the picture name (TT; LEG–milk–leche), or they were unrelated (bear–peach). Results demonstrate robust activation of phonological representations by translation equivalents of word distractors. Although both direct and TT distractors facilitated naming, TT facilitation was more consistent in L2 naming …

Statistical Machine Translation Of Japanese, Erik A. Chapla

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to find ways to improve the performance of a statistical machine translation system that translates text from Japanese to English. Methods included altering the training and test data by adding a prior linguistic knowledge, altering sentence structures, and looking for better ways to statistically alter the way words align between the two languages. In addition, methods for properly segmenting words in Japanese text through statistical methods were examined. Finally, experiments were conducted on Japanese speech to produce the best text transcription of the speech. The best statistical machine translation methods implemented resulted in improvements …

A Liminal Examination Of Always Already Meaning Within Language, James Richard Starr

Theses Digitization Project

This thesis juxtaposes Plato's allegory of the cave with Jacques Derrida's concept of the always already aspect of meaning, a concept derived from Ferdinand de Saussure's work. This theoretical investigation examines the implications of universal Signified forms of word meanings for postmodern composition theory.

Error Feedback In Second Language Writing, Carol Ann Miller-Cornell

Theses Digitization Project

This thesis follows five second language (L2) students in an introductory composition class at California State University, San Bernardino. The study investigates their perceptions and responses to grammatical coded feedback provided by their writing instructor. The results showed that students wanted, expected, appreciated and understood the coded feedback that was given to them.

Pragmatic Abilities In Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Case Study In Philosophy And The Empirical, Jessica De Villiers, Robert Stainton, Peter Szatmari

Philosophy Publications

No abstract provided.

Missing Topics In Malagasy Headlines, Ileana Paul

French Studies Publications

No abstract provided.

“The Problem Of Science” In Nietzsche And Heidegger, Babette Babich

Research Resources

Nietzsche and Heidegger pose important philosophical questions to science and its technological projects. The resultant contributes to what may be called a continental philosophy of science and I argue that only such a rigorously critical approach to the question of science permits a genuinely philosophical reflection on science. The resultant contributes to what may be called a continental philosophy of science and I argue that only such a rigorously critical approach to the question of science permits a genuinely philosophical reflection on science. More than a thoughtful reflection on science, however, the heart of philosophy is also at stake in …

Stimulating Reading Excitement In Secondary Level English Language Learners, Rachael J. Schweigert

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The purpose of this paper is to examine how ESL teachers can stimulate reading excitement in secondary level English language learners. The current research about factor which affect reading enjoyment in secondary level English language learners will also be discussed. These factors include element in reading instruction, attitudes toward reading, readability of text, interest level in literature, and availability of meaningful literature. Current research regarding applications that can be used in classrooms will also be reviewed, such as reading models and reading strategies. Based on the results of this research, suggestions will be presented regarding literature that can be used …

Acquisition Of Tense In Xhosa: The Long And The Short Of It, Sandile Gxilishe, Jill De Villiers, Peter A. De Villiers

Philosophy: Faculty Publications

The purpose of the present paper it so determine when Xhosa-speaking children master the morphology of tense. Specifically, we ask when Xhosa-speaking children learn the conditions on the two forms of the Present and Recent Past tenses, namely the long and the short forms. Despite the fact that there are complex grammatical conditions on which form is appropriate in a sentence, the paper will demonstrate that young children can attend to these grammatical conditions.

Liberated Jokes: Sexual Humor In All-Female Groups, Janet Bing

English Faculty Publications

Females have formerly been under-represented in jokes. Many scholars have claimed that joke making is primarily a male activity, particularly in the domain of sexual jokes. In this paper, I discuss sexual jokes that women share with each other both in all-female groups and by e-mail. After reviewing some widely held assumptions about women and jokes, I explore liberated women's jokes, including their structure, use of stereotypes, and subversive ideas. Finally, I discuss why humor theory is incomplete without the inclusion of a female perspective and suggest that women should tell more jokes.

Health Perceptions Of Low-Income, Immigrant Spanish-Speaking Latinas In The United States., Donna Hartweg, Christina Isabelli

Scholarship

The health outcomes and health practices of immigrant Latinas tend to decrease with acculturation to U.S. culture. The purpose of this pilot study was to investigate health perceptions of first- and second generation, low-income, Spanish-speaking women from Mexico and Central America to learn their views of health and also to identify any differences between subcultures. This investigation was the first phase of a larger study to understand the relationship of physical activity to health, as Latinas define it. Seven focus groups were conducted in Spanish with women, ages 25 to 64, by country of origin. Fifteen themes emerged, with more …

Washback From Language Tests On Teaching, Learning And Policy: Evidence From Diverse Settings, Pauline Rea-Dickins, Catriona Scott

Institute for Educational Development, East Africa

No abstract provided.

Book Review - Hart, W. (2002) Never Fade Away, James Kent Knaack

Journal of Southeast Asian American Education and Advancement

No abstract provided.

Cross-Linguistic Analysis Of Vietnamese And English With Implications For Vietnamese Language Acquisition And Maintenance In The United States, Giang Tang

Journal of Southeast Asian American Education and Advancement

Two overall goals of this paper are a) to provide a linguistic basis for promoting first language maintenance of Vietnamese in a larger United States context and b) to stimulate future research in language acquisition of Vietnamese-English speakers. This paper is divided into three sections. Section 1 discusses previous studies on first language (L1) maintenance among Vietnamese Americans. Section 2 presents a cross-linguistic comparison of Vietnamese and English across speech-sound, word, and grammatical language levels. A cross-linguistic analysis may help educators better understand speaking patterns of Vietnamese American students. Based on this cross-linguistic comparison, Section 3 presents potential bi-directional interactions …

Context, Translator And History : A Study Of Three Translations Of Luotuo Xiangzi In The Usa, Ying Jun Li

Lingnan Theses

Three different English translations of Lao She’s (老舍) Luotuo Xiangzi (骆驼祥子) were marketed in the USA from 1945 to 2005. What are the major historical occurrences and trends from the late 19th to the early 21st century that define the contexts of these translations? Beginning with an analysis of the stylistic features of each translation, the present study explores how each of the three translators and the corresponding historical context impacted on the production of the translated text, its marketing orientation and its reception in the USA.

With a comparison of the three translated texts and their meta-textual features, the …

翻译操控论：从严复和鲁迅的翻译理论相关的例句实践看意识形态作用, Fengliang Mu

Lingnan Theses

翻译行为一直伴随人类活动。翻译理论却往往是“一堆意见”。翻译操控论正是这样一个值得争论的命题。

本文以翻译研究的语言学转向、文化转向和史学转向为背景，以赫曼斯的翻译操控论为理论架构，研究翻译过程中的意识形态作用，以便于理解翻译过程中的译者主体作用或操控行为。

本文拾起严复和鲁迅的老话题，是希望每次阅读都创造出不同于以往的历史主义的关怀和方法，以便在现在和历史的对话中加深对过去的理解，从中演绎出新意，进而服务于将来。在翻译实践中，严复和鲁迅实施两种截然 不同的翻译操控。本文通过具体的文本比对和译界传统的追溯研究，解读多元因素作用下的翻译实践，回答了前人(例如梁实秋)尚未解决的鲁迅硬译的缘由，贯穿了翻译的操控历史和历史在操控中进化的主题，同时也疏理了操控阵营的理论要点。赫曼斯所代表的操控学派缘起于具有激进倾向的因素作用研究，同时又强调中立描述的稳健立场。这为该派开展翻译规范研究和尝试普遍适用的理论假设提供了转机。鉴于意识形态缺乏恒定值，造成特殊性的普遍存在和普遍性的假想性质，操控学派中的因素论锐气渐弱，规范研究却力度渐强。籍此，本文在以下几个方面做了积极的论证。一、意识形态有若干特征，其关键特征是一时之态。理解意识形态的这种动态变化有利于减少意识形态的一时失态，促进意识形态的相互宽容和相互借鉴。二、本文将翻译操控论施诸严复和鲁迅的个案，界定了“信、达、雅”的“游移性、不确 定性、隐喻性、延异性”，从而揭示了“信、达、雅”变量的可选性、指导翻译实践的方向性和译者自主把握尺度的灵活性。三、在翻译操控论形成之前就有翻译的操控实践。只是在翻译中，操控乏力有碍交流，操控过度就超出了翻译范畴，操控适当才能有利于思想交流。本文指出，译员不操控等于不作为，不利于文本的认知、解读和阐释。查翻译操控论的未来走向，规范研究将促使翻译操控论转变激进立场，或者至少可以由规范研究来把握操控的信度和效度。

Multilingual Phoneme Models For Rapid Speech Processing System Development, Eric G. Hansen

Theses and Dissertations

Current speech recognition systems tend to be developed only for commercially viable languages. The resources needed for a typical speech recognition system include hundreds of hours of transcribed speech for acoustic models and 10 to 100 million words of text for language models; both of these requirements can be costly in time and money. The goal of this research is to facilitate rapid development of speech systems to new languages by using multilingual phoneme models to alleviate requirements for large amounts of transcribed speech. The Global Phone database, winch contains transcribed speech from 15 languages, is used as source data …

Concept Map Used In Reading English As A Foreign Language At The University Level, Li Han

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined traditional reading instruction and concept mapping reading instruction using reading and survey data collected from English as Foreign Language (EFL) students in China. Its purpose was to investigate whether there was any difference between these instructional types in three reading areas: main idea reading, subordinate idea reading and reading between the lines. Forty first-year students were randomly chosen from two universities in Southwestern China. They were equally divided into the two instructional methods. Ten sets ofreading materials were used for a six-week period of the study. Concept mapping students were taught with concept mapping techniques and assessed …

Literal/Littoral Crossings: Re-Articulating Hope Atherton’S Story After Susan Howe’S Articulation Of Sound Forms In Time, W. Scott Howard

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

[First paragraph]

Water transforms everything it touches: landscapes, lives & languages. This essay offers a true relation, or a sequence of contiguous reflections—some concentric, others eccentric—provoked by the strange story of Hope Atherton (1646-77), first minister of Hatfield, Massachusetts and protagonist of American poet Susan Howe’s Articulation of Sound Forms in Time (Awede, 1987): his involvement at the battle of Peskeompscut (May 19, 1676) and separation from Captain Turner’s men during their retreat, which became a rout; Rev. Atherton’s crossings of rivers & brooks, his fearful wanderings through woods, around marshes, swamps; his near captivity, miraculous signal escapes, deliverance from …

翻译、意识形态与话语 : 中国1895-1911 年文学翻译研究, Xiaoyuan Wang

Lingnan Theses

1895－1911 年这一时期，是中国翻译史上第三次翻译高潮。现有的中国翻译史研究成果，由于受到各自的研究对象以及研究者自身的局限，均未能对这一断代史进行充分的研究。本文采取文化研究的视角，尝试建立一个新的理论模式――翻译社会学模式，即考察翻译场域中，翻译这一话语生产活动，如何在受到意识形态制约的 同时，通过不同途径（其中特别是通过主体性）获得各种资本，尤其是符号象征资本，对现有意识形态（尤其是主流意识形态）产生作用。在此基础上，对这一时期的文学翻译，特别是小说的翻译，加以研究。 本文认为：翻译这一社会行为，不仅是语言之间而是处在特定的历史语境之中的转换活动，因而势必会受到当时意识形态的制约；同时，翻译作为一种话语生产活动，亦会因此生产新的意识形态话语。由此，翻译与意识形态之间存在着一种互动关系。 本文采取纵横相结合的方法：首先从纵的即历史的跨度，考察这一时期翻译行为所处的社会文化语境，从文化史与思想史的高度，概述这一时期的翻译史特征，史论结合，以史为辅，以论为主。其次，截取其中某个时间横断面，对这一时期具有代表性的论者与译者，进行深入的个案分析（包括梁启超、林 纾、苏曼殊、周氏兄弟），希冀通过以点带面的方式，微观（文本分析）与宏观（文化研究）相结合，以微见著，从微观中看出宏观来，同时又能高屋建瓴， 从宏观解释微观，总结该时期的翻译活动的特征与规律。

If Your God Has Really Spoken To You… Then All The World Must Hear It: The Discourses Of Revelation And Satire In Salman Rushdie’S The Satanic Verses, Conrad William

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

In his essay, “Is Nothing Sacred?”, Salman Rushdie lays out a place for literature as an arena in which various perspectives may interact. He thereby provides a context for the controversy regarding his books, most particularly The Satanic Verses. Despite his claims, however, literature, as Rushdie conceives it, operates not simply as an arena for discourse but similarly as a rule-maker, controlling the discourse which operates within its bounds. The Satanic Verses, in particular, suggests that revelation as it passes through unstable and hybrid human language loses its authority and power to speak purely or dogmatically. In so …

Derrida’S Deconstruction Of Logocentrism: Implications For Trauma Studies, Julie Elaine Goodspeed-Chadwick

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

This article examines Derrida’s conception of logocentrism as it is discussed throughout the entirety of his seminal work Of Grammatology, as well as in his collected interviews, Points...: 1974-1994. Systematically refuting logocentrism, Derrida’s deconstruction enables exposure of the mechanisms, such as binary constructions, that exert a dominant—and domineering—influence over marginalized people, places, and concepts. Specifically, presence and the (falsehood of the) totality of the sign define logocentrism, and these terms cannot productively contribute to trauma studies because it is precisely in texts and textuality that embodied states can be studied. Texts are themselves material embodiments that display …

A Short Note On The Placement Of Adverbs, Jonathan R. Siegel

Journal of Legal Education

No abstract provided.

Speech Recognition Using The Mellin Transform, Jesse R. Hornback

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to improve performance in speech recognition. Specifically, a new approach was investigating by applying an integral transform known as the Mellin transform (MT) on the output of an auditory model to improve the recognition rate of phonemes through the scale-invariance property of the Mellin transform. Scale-invariance means that as a time-domain signal is subjected to dilations, the distribution of the signal in the MT domain remains unaffected. An auditory model was used to transform speech waveforms into images representing how the brain "sees" a sound. The MT was applied and features were extracted. The …

Hidden Sentiments, Unfinished Project: Pirandello’S Film La Nuova Colonia, Stefano Giannini

Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics - All Scholarship

This article investigates the notion of the unfinished work. In Pirandello studies the word unfinished holds particular importance. Luigi Pirandello's last, and one of his major works, I giganti della montagna [The Mountain Giants] was not completed. The many years devoted to its making weaken the assumption that Pirandello was not capable of completing it in favor of his decision not to complete his work. I considered the overlapping of the writing of I giganti della montagna and of the attempts to produce the film La nuova colonia [The New Colony] an important, and insofar unnoticed, key element for understanding …

Interactional Competence And The Use Of Modal Expressions In Decision-Making Activities: Ca For Understanding Microgenesis Of Pragmatic Competence, Midori Ishida

Faculty Publications

Interlanguage pragmatics (Kasper & Blum-Kulka, 1993) is a research area that is concerned with what second language (L2) learners do with the target language, and how their competence in using the language develops over time. However, until 1996 when Kasper and Schmidt put out agendas for more developmentally oriented investigations, research on interlanguage pragmatics had been predominated by studies focusing on the former, L2 use at a point in time. This research area has matured more by now in the area of developmental interlanguage pragmatics, as reviewed in Kasper and Rose (2002). Along with an increased attention to longitudinal development …

Really Intriguing, That Pred Np!, Ileana Paul, Robert Stainton

Philosophy Publications

No abstract provided.

Terminological Reflections Of An Enlightened Contextualist, Robert J. Stainton

Philosophy Publications

No abstract provided.

Really Intriguing, That Prednp!, Ileana Paul, Robert Stainton

Philosophy Publications

No abstract provided.