Linguistics Commons^™

Examining The Dangers Of The Digital Age, A Book Review Of Online Child Sexual Grooming Discourse, Olivia L. Villeneuve

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

Seeing Through Solid Words: Using Gebser’S Concept Of Transparency To Understand A Gnostic Poem Expressing Integral Consciousness, Lisa Maroski

Journal of Conscious Evolution

It is difficult to express integral consciousness using ordinary language because of the inherent tendency of language to separate and distinguish. Jean Gebser, in The Ever-Present Origin, suggested concepts such as transparency and diaphaneity as ways to access integral consciousness, and the Gnostic text The Thunder, Perfect Mind (TPM) is written from the perspective of a being with integral consciousness. I use Jean Gebser’s concepts of transparency and diaphaneity to explicate TPM, an enigmatic, paradoxical poem in the Nag Hammadi Library. Because TPM is written from the perspective of an integral being, one who is All-of-It (i.e., paradoxical completeness rather …

Proficiency And Positivity: Investigating Learner Affect Toward L2 Instructional Methods, Learner Goals, And L2 Success, Natalie Spiva

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Second language (L2) learning outcomes vary widely due to factors both internal and external to the learner, including learning and usage contexts and learner goals and motivations. Learners may feel more proficient in and positive towards an L2 if they have intrinsic motivation and positive experience with the L2. Many students in the United States are first exposed to an L2 later in life as an academic requirement, which often impedes L2 learning success and can limit the learner’s relationship with the L2 and related cultures. Because of the highly interconnected global society, investigating the experiences of today’s language learners …

How To Catch A Con: The Rhetorical Strategies Of Fraudulent Political Leaders, Lukas Huntington

CMC Senior Theses

The United States faces persistent challenges in controlling political fraud. Government agencies exhibit the second-highest fraud rate of any industry, and corruption levels have only worsened over the last decade, contributing to declining public trust in national leadership. Current fraud detection efforts generally catch late-stage, large-scale fraud, highlighting the need for earlier-detection mechanisms. One way this could be accomplished involves identifying rhetorical patterns that are commonly used by political frauds in order to flag high-risk individuals. Leaning on the Theory of Planned Behavior, it was hypothesized that political frauds would exhibit more rhetorical appeals to fear, blame, pathos, and self-promotion …

Comparative Semiotic Analysis Of Non-Verbal Communication: Apis Mellifera Waggle Dance And Human Kinesic Signaling Systems, Nishtha Tikalal

Honors Undergraduate Theses

There are many parallels between two seemingly disparate forms of non-verbal communication: the waggle dance of Apis mellifera (honeybees) and human kinesic signaling systems. Through a comparative semiotic analysis, this research aims to conduct a comparative semiotic analysis, investigating structural and functional similarities between these communication methods, challenging anthropocentric assumptions about meaning making in the natural world. This research employs a meta-synthesis approach, drawn from a methodological literature review to examine historical representations of bee-human relationships, semiotics of non-verbal communication, and the specific mechanisms of the waggle dance and human kinesics. This methodology involves systematic categorization and analysis of extracted …

Systematic Reexamination Of Early Verb Dominance: Verbal And Nonverbal Characteristics Of Caregiver Input And Their Contribution To Long-Term Language Outcomes, Minju Kim, Jeonghee Mun, Gayoung Kim, Solyeon Jeon, Youngon Choi

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Early language input to infants varies in lexical composition across languages and contexts. For instance, American-English input emphasizes nouns more than verbs, while Mandarin Chinese and Korean inputs provide more verbs than nouns, the difference of which is considered an influential factor in the child’s early vocabulary acquisition. Furthermore, a possibility was raised that nonverbal input accompanying child-directed language provides additional support for verb meanings in verb-dominant caregiver input. However, these early verb dominance and support patterns have been derived from a handful of studies that examined very small samples. Thus, we aimed to systematically reexamine the verb dominance pattern …

Co-Creation, Interpretations And Engagement With A Movement-Based Symbol For Climate Justice: A Qualitative Inquiry, Kai Reimer-Watts

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The climate crisis demonstrates with complete clarity the need for massive systems-level changes towards far more sustainable societies. Global and local emissions need to decline rapidly to mitigate intensifying climate breakdown, accompanied by climate and sustainability solutions, to secure a far more stable, safe, and just future for all people and all life. Within these changes, engaging in our communities is essential to support and co-create broader solutions to help advance more sustainable societies, reduce negative impacts of a changing climate, and to move towards cultures and systems that recognize natural limits and centre care for people and planet.

‘Climate …

40 Years Passing By In (A) “Heartbeat”, Christopher Janney

Monsoon: South Asian Studies Association Journal

This article outlines the forty-year history go Christopher Janney’s iconic performance work “HeartBeat.” Trained as an architect and jazz musician, Janney combines these two disciplines to create large interactive light/sound installations and performances. On the one hand, he attempts to make architecture more like music, more “alive” using real-time sensing devices as on his “Harmonic Convergence” installation on the Miami International Airport. On the other hand, he attempts to make music more like architecture, more physical more visual. In his “HeartBeat” performance, a dancer wears a heartbeat device that amplifies his/her heartbeat in “real time.” Over this pulse, live musicians …

Yoga Sūtra Book Four And The Yogabindu, Christopher Key Chapple

Monsoon: South Asian Studies Association Journal

Four themes from the fourth pāda of Patañjali’s Yoga Sūtra are examined here: karma (IV:2-13), individuality (IV:16), humility (IV:20-22), and freedom (IV:29-34). Affirmations and variant interpretations of these four are provided from Haribhadra Virahāṅka’s Yogabindu, most likely composed a century or two later.

Collective Karma: From The Yogasūtra To Taylor Swift, Zoë Slatoff

Monsoon: South Asian Studies Association Journal

The Indian knowledge traditions speak at length about karma, which is divided into three categories—accumulated (saṃcita), ripe (prārabdha), and future (kriyamāṇa). While much is said about our individual karma and how it affects our repeated reincarnation in cyclic existence, how does this affect others and how do others affect us? In other words, as this paper explores, what is our reciprocal and collective karma?

Painting Liberation: A Visual Ontology Of The Interplay Of Mind And Consciousness In Book Four Of The Yoga Sūtras, Melissa Townsend

Monsoon: South Asian Studies Association Journal

This presentation explores how artistic practice can illuminate philosophical questions about the nature of mind, consciousness, and liberation as articulated in Book Four of the Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali. Through a series of paintings that visually translate these sūtras, I propose that art offers a unique, experiential means of engaging with the complex relationship between citta (mind) and puruṣa (consciousness).

The paintings function as a form of “visual ontology,” inviting viewers to engage with abstract philosophical concepts in a sensory, tangible way. By depicting the interplay between the mutable processes of the mind and the unchanging awareness of consciousness, these …

Do Deaf Readers Pre-Activate Phonology During Sentence Comprehension?, Danielle Moraga, Lauren Fillet, Eva Gutierrez-Sigut, Zed Sehyr

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Readers can use linguistic and contextual clues to predict upcoming words in a sentence. This predictive processing allows for more efficient recognition of upcoming words, particularly when the context of a sentence is predictable (Federmeier & Kutas, 1999; Metusalem et al., 2012). Evidence suggests that for hearing readers, preactivation of word semantics and phonology facilitates the recognition of upcoming words in a sentence (Ito et al., 2016). Readers who became deaf/hard-of-hearing before learning a language rely primarily on visual rather than auditory input, and it is unclear if they engage in similar predictive processes. The study aims to investigate the …

Enhancing Memory Through Literary Features, Sarah Naylor

Psychological Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Literary devices used by a writer can influence and impact the manner in which readers respond and interact with a text. Both the perspectives readers are expected to take while reading and the amount of foregrounding in a text cognitively and affectively influence a reader’s experience. However, little research has explored what effects these factors have on verbatim memory. For this research, participants were instructed to read a short literary story either by identifying with the protagonist or as a spectator. After reading and completing a range of other tasks, participants were asked to select sentences they saw in the …

The Impact Of Telepractice On Voice Production In Normal Hearing Children, Rachael Walsh, Yesenia Rodriguez Cruz, Maria Kondaurova

The Cardinal Edge

Telepractice is a growing service model that delivers aural rehabilitation services to deaf and hard of hearing children at a distance via telecommunications technology. Research suggests that when there is a physical barrier in communication there is an increase in vocal effort in children with and without hearing loss. The aim of the current study is to examine the effect of telepractice on voice production in normal-hearing (NH) children to enhance intervention effectiveness. Ten normal-hearing children (mean age = 10.4 years, age range 8-12 years) came to participate in four sessions, 2 in-person and 2 tele, order counterbalanced. Each session …

Gsep Research Symposium Proceedings - 2024

GSEP Research Symposium

The 8th Annual GSEP Research Symposium, was themed "Dismantling Barriers between Research and Practice: Shining a Light on Global Interdisciplinary Solutions," took place on July 18-19, 2024, at the picturesque Château d'Hauteville in Saint-Légier-La Chiésaz, Switzerland.

The annual symposium is hosted by the Pepperdine University Graduate School of Education and Psychology (GSEP). The symposium served as a dynamic platform for students, faculty, alums, and staff to come together and explore innovative ideas across multiple disciplines. Featuring 69 selected presentations under five distinct tracks, the proceedings showcase groundbreaking research, foster meaningful discussions, and promote professional development.

The symposium aimed to bridge …

The Influence Of Misconceptions On Pedagogical Choices Of Secondary Science Teachers: An Embedded Case Study, Tracey Beyer

Dissertations

This case study, using phenomenography within science disciplines, examines how educators' experiences with misconceptions affect teaching methods in high school physics, chemistry, and biology. Based on constructivist and interpretive theories it highlights that personal experiences shape learning and involve continuously reconstructing knowledge. The shared misconceptions of 13 educators across science disciplines reveal how those experiences influenced both their content knowledge and instructional practices. The findings indicate that educators who openly acknowledge and learn from their past experiences with misconceptions are better equipped to recognize and address gaps in understanding, an asset to furthering student learning. This research highlights the importance …

Cross-Linguistic Differences In Neural Encoding And Processing Of Stop Consonants: The Impact Of Language Experience On Attention Allocation, Aline Dos Santos Oliveira

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study aims to examine the intricate relationship between language experience and the neural processing of stop consonant speech sounds. Previous research has shown minimal differences in amplitudes and latencies of cortical Auditory Evoked Potentials (AEPs) to speech sounds across listeners from various language backgrounds. It is only towards the later latencies (around the P2 peak at 200 ms), that there have been suggestions of cross-linguistic differences. In addition, a recent study, observed an AEP difference between monolinguals and bilinguals when processing speech, specifically an "Nd effect”. The Nd effect, which is an increased negativity of the AEP is proposed …

Uncovering The Mimicry Of Online Review Breadth And Depth And Its Subsequent Effect On Consumer Responses, Andrea Pelaez Martinez

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Word-of-mouth (WOM) in marketing occurs when consumers discuss a company's product or service or any consumption experience with their friends, family, and others with whom they have any relationship. With the advent of social media, this phenomenon has expanded rapidly into virtual environments where consumer conversation is enabled through chats, forums, social media posts, and online reviews. In response to this rapid growth of online WOM, academics and practitioners have focused their interest on this phenomenon and its implications on consumers, firms, and society. So far, the evidence of the critical role that online WOM plays in helping consumers make …

Comparing Executive Control: Bilingualism's Cognitive Advantage, Malcolm Jasmin, Tonya Buchanan Ph.D.

Symposium Of University Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE)

The Stroop Task is a widely used method for studying executive control. It helps to understand cognitive processes like inhibition and attentional regulation to examine how reading text and naming colors can interfere with each other. The study intends to use the Stroop Task to explore the executive control abilities of both bilingual and monolingual individuals. Previous research has shown that bilingual individuals perform better in the Stroop test compared to those who only speak one language (Bialystok et al., 2010). The impact of this advantage is believed to be due to the need to switch between languages and prevent …

The Relationship Between Autistic Traits, Autistic Camouflaging, And Adults’ Representations Of Abstract And Social Concepts, Henry Tomiser, Katja Wiemer Dr.

Honors Capstones

Concrete concepts (e.g., BUTTON) can be experienced directly by the senses, whereas abstract concepts (e.g., FRIENDSHIP) cannot. Additionally, the mind may represent abstract concepts using more introspective, social, and emotional information than concrete concepts. Social difficulties are one defining feature of autism, and autistic individuals may use social camouflaging to hide these difficulties, but the precise nature of social processing in autism is not known. This study aims to explore possible links between autistic traits, autistic camouflaging, and mental representations of concepts. Participants gave open-ended definitions for concepts varying in concreteness and social content via an online survey. Responses were …

Effects Of Language Status, Community Advice, And Parent Beliefs On Heritage Language Maintenance In The U.S.: A Scoping Review, Isabelle Trujillo, Jasmine Loeung, Carolyn Quam

Student Research Symposium

This scoping review of qualitative research examines effects of language status, community advice to parents, and parents' beliefs on heritage language maintenance within a U.S. context. The review was guided by three research questions: 1. What is the nature of the relationship between a heritage language’s (HL) status in society and language maintenance across generations? 2. How does information parents receive from community members (e.g., health professionals, teachers, friends/family) influence their beliefs about the HL? 3. How do parents’ beliefs about the impact of a HL on academic/career success influence HL transmission? Thirty-four articles met inclusion criteria. Three themes were …

The Development Of Children's Causal Language, Karima Elgamal

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

In order to talk about mechanical support (e.g., girl adheres a picture to a box), children must not only represent the relevant components (actor, action, figure, spatial relation, ground) but also map them onto linguistic structures (e.g., NP, VP, NP, PP). Although research has explored how children linguistically encode states of mechanical support (picture adhering to box), little research has explored how children encode mechanical support events - representations that involve knowledge of event causality as well as states (the picture adheres to a box because the girl used an adhesive mechanism). The current study tests whether children 3-to 5-years …

Vulnerability Of Semantic Networks In Multiple Sclerosis: An Analysis Of Verbal Fluency Data, Sophia Lall

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Word finding difficulty is a frequently reported subjective cognitive concern among persons with Multiple Sclerosis (pwMS). Word-finding relies on several information retrieval processes, including search and retrieval from the conceptual store, the phonological store, the syllabary, as well as other stores of information. Neuropsychological assessments, including the semantic verbal fluency measure, can be used to measure word retrieval abilities. Despite this, the MS research literature shows that neuropsychological assessment of semantic verbal fluency yields mixed results in detecting word-finding difficulties. While some studies report finding statistically lower semantic fluency scores in pwMS relative to healthy controls (HC), others found no …

Bilingual Comprehension Of Accented Speech And Spoken Code Switches, Liam John Gleason

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Across three experiments, the current study explored how accented speech and coarticulation impact how bilingual listeners comprehend code-switches in speech. Eye-tracking methodology was used to compare responses to single-language and code-switched sentences. Experiment 1 observed how accented speech influenced the costs involved in comprehending code-switches by comparing responses to speakers that had North American English accents to speakers with Juarez/El Paso Spanish accents when speaking English. Experiment 2 compared responses to English speech produced by speakers with North American English, Flemish, and Bulgarian accented speakers. To examine coarticulation as a cue to an upcoming code-switch, Experiment 3 compared naturally produced …

Biomedical Text Readability After Hypernym Substitution With Fine-Tuned Large Language Models, Karl Swanson, Shuhan He, Josh Calvano, David Chen, Talar Telvizian, Lawrence Jiang, Paul Chong, Jacob Schwell, Gin Mak, Jarone Lee

SKMC Student Presentations and Publications

The advent of patient access to complex medical information online has highlighted the need for simplification of biomedical text to improve patient understanding and engagement in taking ownership of their health. However, comprehension of biomedical text remains a difficult task due to the need for domain-specific expertise. We aimed to study the simplification of biomedical text via large language models (LLMs) commonly used for general natural language processing tasks involve text comprehension, summarization, generation, and prediction of new text from prompts. Specifically, we finetuned three variants of large language models to perform substitutions of complex words and word phrases in …

Starting Small Or Big: An Artificial Language Paradigm, Rachel Evans

LSU Master's Theses

Previous research on language acquisition has raised two competing hypotheses: Starting Small and Starting Big. Starting Small states that limitations (small working memory capacity, simple structure, short string length, etc.) are beneficial for language learning, which explains why children are able to acquire language more easily than adults. Starting Big proposes the opposite, that input of chunks of language rather than individual units creates a stronger and more fluid understanding of grammatical relations between words. The current study aimed to investigate these theories in the context of an artificial language paradigm using a forced-choice task, a production task, a working …

The Influence Of Texting On Perceived Warmth: The Role Of Punctuation And Emoji, Elizabeth Mathews

Senior Honors Theses

Technology Mediated Communication (TMC) has become an essential part of interpersonal communication. Punctuation and emoji are major vessels of nonverbal communication in texting. The impact of punctuation and emoji use on perceptions of warmth was tested with 291 residential undergraduate students at Liberty University who were at least 18 years old. Through an online questionnaire, participants read a series of text messages with a randomly assigned condition of having either punctuation and emoji, punctuation and no emoji, no punctuation and emoji, or no punctuation and no emoji. Results indicated a significant main effect for the presence of emoji on perceived …

Auditory Free Classification Of Gender Diverse Speakers, Brandon Merritt, Tessa Bent, Rowan Kilgore, Cameron Eads

Departmental Papers (Speech)

Auditory attribution of speaker gender has historically been assumed to operate within a binary framework. The prevalence of gender diversity and its associated sociophonetic variability motivates an examination of how listeners perceptually represent these diverse voices. Utterances from 30 transgender (1 agender individual, 15 non-binary individuals, 7 transgender men, and 7 transgender women) and 30 cisgender (15 men and 15 women) speakers were used in an auditory free classification paradigm, in which cisgender listeners classified the speakers on perceived general similarity and gender identity. Multidimensional scaling of listeners’ classifications revealed twodimensional solutions as the best fit for general similarity classifications. …

Exploring Cross-Linguistic Speech Perception In Hindi, English, And Romance-Language Through Temporal Dynamics Of Neural Activity, Yuga Kothari

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study examines the effect of linguistic experience on the neural processing of Voice Onset Time (VOT) in Hindi and Romance language (Spanish and Portuguese) individuals who are bilingual in English and monolingual English speakers using the event-related potential (ERP) Mismatch Negativity (MMN) response. VOT is a linguistic property that measures the time elapsed between the release of a stop consonant and the beginning of voicing, that is, vocal fold vibration of a following vowel. In a double-oddball paradigm, participants’ (n = 41) ERP were recorded while listening to speech sounds differing in VOT. The bilabial short lag stop [p] …

The Essential Roles Of Forensic Linguists And Expert Interrogators In National Security, Alan Saquella

Publications

Language is a multifaceted element intricately woven into the tapestry of human behavior, serving as a pivotal medium for comprehending and deterring crime. Within this realm, forensic linguists and expert interrogators emerge as distinct yet interconnected professions, playing vital roles in unraveling the complexities of language to ensure public safety and national security. This article sheds light on the shared responsibilities and significance of these professionals in crime prevention and explores why their expertise is crucial for Executive Protection and Security Professionals.