Linguistics Commons^™

Formal And Informal Academic Language Socialization Of A Bilingual Child, Hyonsuk Cho

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

This ethnographic case study examines a bilingual child’s academic socialization in both formal and informal academic communities. The study follows a high-achieving, bilingual student in a public US elementary school, who paradoxically is seen as a slow learner in her Korean-American Sunday school. From the academic socialization and community of practice perspectives, 360 contextual, interactional, and interview events gathered from both communities over the course of one year are analyzed. The findings indicate that explicit norms and peer collaboration have a considerable effect on a child’s socialization in a formal academic school context, and furthermore, that the lenient, undisciplined environment …

The Window To The Bilingual Mind: Eye Movements Reveal Psycholinguistic Grain Unit Sizes Of Bilingual Spoken Word Recognition, Yu-Cheng Lin

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Although there are common phonological units across different languages, previous studies have shown that individual differences of language proficiency affect sound unit preferences in monolingual and bilingual speakers. The cross-language lexical activation of phonological representations in bilingual minds can provide a great opportunity for testing hypotheses about how this key factor modulates the cross-linguistic phonological transfer across languages. In this study, I used the eye-tracking technique and quantitative methods (i.e., growth curve analysis and multilevel regression) to examine how individual differences in language proficiency affect cross-language phonological unit size transfer in Chinese-English bilinguals. Participants heard a spoken word and were …

Brother Bell’S Audience Design: Forms Of Address Mong Latter-Day Saint Young Adults, Joseph A. Stanley

Faculty Publications

In this paper, I analyze forms of address between Latter-day Saint (Mormon) young adults. In American English, title + last name (TLN) is typically used for older, superior, or unfamiliar addressees while first name (FN) is directed towards younger, subordinate, or familiar addressees (Brown & Gilman 1960). In the Mormon context, the TLN form is Brother or Sister followed by a surname (Fogg 1990). While many other studies analyze address forms between individuals with varying power or age differences (Brown & Ford 1961; Wood & Ryan 1991; Murray 2002; Dickey 1997), this study focuses those who are of similar age …

A Snohomish Telling Of “The Seal Hunters”, Deryle W. Lonsdale

Faculty Publications

Oral-based indigenous cultures have stories that persist over time, though some variation may exist in various details and in overall context. Related cultures in particular have similar stories, and assessing the similarities and differences across their tellings of these stories provides valuable historical and cultural background. In the case of endangered languages and cultures, every telling of every story provides important insight. This article presents a recently discovered archived account of a Snohomish version of “The Seal Hunters”, a captivating story that has many variant forms across Salish cultures. The story was written down in the nineteenth century by an …

Separate Phonemes /Ɔr/ Merging? The Cord-Card Merger In Real-Time, Joseph A. Stanley

Faculty Publications

In sociolinguistics, when analyzing language change across time, studies in apparent time are the norm with the assumption that language does not change in adult speech (Chambers & Trudgill 1998). However, some research has provided evidence that change does occur within the individual during their lifetime (Prince 1987; Harrington, Palethorpe & Watson 2000). This study shows further evidence by analyzing the cord-card merger over 40 years of speech from a Utah native.

Two mergers combine what was historically a three-way distinction of /or/, /ɔr/, and /ɑr/ to just two, with /ɔr/ either merging upward in the hoarse-horse merger, or downward …

Specters Of Kurdish Nationalism: Governmentality And Counterinsurgent Translation In Turkey, Nicholas S. Glastonbury

Publications and Research

This essay examines translations of the Kurdish epic poem Mem û Zîn into Turkish, tracing the logics behind these state-sponsored translations and examining how acts of translation are also efforts to regulate, translate, and erase Kurdish subjectivities. I argue that the state instrumentalizes Mem û Zîn’s potent nationalist currency in order to disarm present and future claims of Kurdish national autonomy. Using translation as a counterinsurgent governmental tool, the state attempts to domesticate Kurdish nationalist discourses even as it reproduces them, thereby transforming Kurdish nationalism into a specter of itself. Attending to this specter, however, allows us to see how …

Student Interactions During Study Abroad In Jordan, Jennifer Brown, Dan Dewey, R. Kirk Belnap

Faculty Publications

For many years, researchers have assumed that studying abroad produces “fluent” speakers of a given language. However, in the past several decades, researchers have recognized that learners do not always avail themselves of opportunities to interact in the target language, and even when they do, success is not guaranteed. Scholars have begun to recognize that the quality of learners’ interactions during study abroad may be more important for ultimate language gains than the quantity of language use. This qualitative study documents the interactions of 82 students of Arabic studying in Amman, Jordan, as well as the factors that influenced the …

The Effects Of Cued Speech On Phonemic Awareness Skills, Jessica M. Phillips

Masters Theses

Research suggests phonemic awareness is enhanced through multimodality training. Cued Speech is a multimodality system that combines hand signs with mouth movements to represent phonemes of the spoken language. This system has been utilized successfully in developing phonological awareness with children with hearing loss. However, no research is available on its effectiveness with children who are not deaf or hard-of-hearing. The efficacy of the use of Cued Speech for the enhancement of phonological skills in typically developing 1st grade students was evaluated in this study. Twenty-six 1^st graders identified as low-achieving readers by their classroom teachers were administered the …

Elicited Imitation For Brazilian Portuguese, Deryle W. Lonsdale, Jarrett Finlinson Lever

Faculty Publications

Elicited imitation (EI) is an approach to measuring oral proficiency that consists of having test takers hear a sentence and repeat the sentence exactly as they heard it. Though indirect in nature, EI has successfully shown to correlate with previously established oral proficiency examinations, such as the Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) (Lonsdale and Christensen 2014, Matsushita and Lonsdale 2014, Millard 2011, Thompson 2013). This paper discusses the development, administration, and evaluation of an EI test for the Brazilian Portuguese language. We first discuss the relevant background of oral proficiency examination and EI. After presenting the pertinent research questions, we explain …

Comparative Analysis Of Email Request Strategies Used By Native And Non-Native Speakers Of English In Academic Settings, Karyna Tytar

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This thesis presents an analysis of pragmatic features of email request composite parts: email openings and closings, request Head Acts, and supportive moves elicited from native speakers (NSs) and non-native speakers (Non-NSs) of English, in two different email request situations. The two email request situations in this study have different levels of imposition, where the email request in situation 1 is considered more of an imposition than the email request in situation 2. It is thus expected that email requests in situation 1 would exhibit more politeness features than email requests in situation 2.

Analysis of the email request composite …

The Development Of Korean Preschoolers' Ability To Understand Transitive Sentences Using Case-Markers, Kyong-Sun Jin, Minju Kim, Hyun Joo Song

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

We examined whether Korean 2- and 3-year-old children can use case markers to understand the meaning of Korean canonical (subject–object–verb; SOV) and noncanonical (object–subject–verb; OSV) word order in a transitive sentence. Side-by-side videos depicted the same caused motion events, both of which involved the same two characters but with the agent versus patient roles reversed. Along with the videos, children heard SOV sentences (e.g., Bear-nominative Rabbit-accusative is pushing.) or OSV sentences (e.g., Rabbit-accusative Bear-nominative is pushing.), both of which were marked with nominative and accusative case markers. Two-year-olds correctly understood only the canonical sentences (Experiment 1). In contrast, 3-year-olds understood …

Imagining Accomplishments From Differing Visual And Temporal Perspectives, Deanna C. Hall

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The current research examined the relationship between grammatical aspect (GA) (imperfective vs. past perfect) and accomplishment verbs in event representation in Experiment 1, and then investigated the influence of visual perspective taking on this representation process in Experiment 2. Electroencephalography (EEG) was recorded with slow cortical potentials (SCPs) acting as a measure of cognitive processing during the imagination period, and behavioural measure questionnaires provided ratings of vividness, temporal component, and importance of the imagined events.

It was hypothesized for Experiment 1 that imagining imperfective events would result in more negative SCP amplitudes than when imagining events with past perfect aspect, …

Brother Bell’S Audience Types: Forms Of Address Among Latter-Day Saint Young Adults, Joseph A. Stanley

Faculty Publications

In communities where potentially every member has a title (doctors, teachers, or other workplaces), it has been shown that title + last name (TLN) is typically used for older or unfamiliar addressees while first name (FN) is directed towards those who are younger or familiar (Brown & Gilman 1960). While many studies have analyzed address forms between individuals with varying status or age differences (Brown & Ford 1961; Ervin-Tripp 1971; Wood & Ryan 1991; Dickey 1997), interactions between equals remain relatively unstudied. Latter-day Saints (Mormons) are of particular interest since they commonly use address forms for other members and call …

Processing Of Garden-Path Sentences Containing Silent And Filled Pauses In Stuttered Speech: Evidence From A Comprehensive Study, Elena Galkina

Theses and Dissertations

Disfluency is common in spontaneous speech. Self-correction is a type of disfluency that consists of reparandum, filler, and repair (Levelt, 1989). Little is known about the processing of self-corrections in a normally disfluent speech, and even less is known about its processing in atypically disfluent speech (e.g. speech in patients with autism spectrum disorder, hearing impaired, patients with brain damage, and stuttered speech; see: Lake, Humphreys, & Cardy, 2011; Lind, Hickson, & Erber, 2004; Plexico et al., 2010; Rossi et al., 2011; Yairi, Gintautas, & Avent, 1981). This study focuses on self-correction disfluencies in garden-path sentences and employs a behavioral …

The Effect Of Short-Term Study Abroad On Second Language Spanish Phonetic Development, Silvina Bongiovanni, Avizia Y. Long, Megan Solon, Erik Willis

Faculty Publications

This study explores the impact of study abroad (SA) on second language Spanish phonetic development. Twenty-seven English-speaking learners of Spanish, 15 who were participating in a 4-week SA program in the Dominican Republic and 12 who were studying at their home (AH) institution, were recorded 5 weeks apart (at the approximate beginning and end of their respective programs). Recordings were analyzed acoustically, and four groups of segments were examined: word-initial /p t k/, intervocalic /b d ɡ/, intervocalic /ɾ/ and /r/, and word-final /l/. Productions at Time 1 and Time 2 as well as between the SA and AH groups …

Student Teachers’ Cognition About L2 Pronunciation Instruction: A Case Study, Michael Burri

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

In view of the minimal attention pronunciation teacher preparation has received in second language (L2) teacher education, this study examined the cognition (i.e. beliefs, thoughts, attitudes and knowledge) development of 15 student teachers during a postgraduate subject on pronunciation pedagogy offered at an Australian tertiary institution. Findings revealed that, as a result of taking the subject, student teachers’ cognition shifted from teaching individual sounds (i.e. segmentals) to favouring a more balanced approach to pronunciation instruction. That is, teaching the melody of the English language (i.e. suprasegmentals) was seen as important as teaching segmentals. Non-native speakers’ self-perceived pronunciation improvement, an increase …

Lessons Learned: Insights Into One Teacher’S Experience Working With Karen Refugee Students In The United States, Daniel J. Gilhooly

Journal of Southeast Asian American Education and Advancement

This study is informed by funds of knowledge and culturally responsive teaching studies that aim to explore and legitimize the cultural knowledge immigrant children bring to their communities and schools. Consequently, this paper specifically addresses issues related to the educational experiences of Karen children and their parents from one American teacher/researcher who has worked with the Karen for the past four years. In aggregate, this paper addresses issues germane to Karen education including; (1) background information on Karen educational experiences prior to resettlement, including a review of their journey from Thailand to the U.S.; (2) important characteristics of Karen culture; …

Literary Translingualism: Multilingual Identity And Creativity, Steven G. Kellman, Natasha Lvovich

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Lexical Processing And Affix Ordering: Cross-Linguistic Predictions, Jeffrey R. Parker, Andrea D. Sims

Faculty Publications

Rich cross-linguistic variability in the strictness of affix ordering raises questions about how universal and language-specific factors interact to determine affix combinability patterns. While focus has been primarily on the interaction of semantic scope and language-specific formal factors, in this paper we take a first step towards a cross-linguistic, typological perspective on a different potential influencing factor: lexical processing. Based on a corpus study, we show that derivational suffix ordering is less constrained in Russian than in English. And significantly, statisticaldistributional evidence also suggests that Russian words are overall more likely to be decomposed during lexical access. This hints that …

The Multidimensional Quality Metrics (Mqm) Framework: A New Framework For Translation Quality Assessment, Valerie Mariana, Troy L. Cox, Alan Melby

Faculty Publications

Determining translation quality requires a precise measure of the traits being examined. This article evaluates a new framework for translation quality evaluation, Multidimensional Quality Metrics (MQM), to the task of grading student translations. It demonstrates the viability (i.e. the practicality, validity and reliability) of using the MQM framework by novice raters to judge translations based on the American Translators Association’s translator certification exam grading system. The data gathered for this study were drawn from 29 student translations of a single news story that were rated by nine novice and two expert raters. The study used average time on task, correlations …

Using Cognitive Word Games To Promote Lexical Memory Access And Vocabulary Retrieval In Second Language Learners, Kejkaew Thanasuan

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Fluency in a second language (L2) is one of the most important skills for the modern world. However, adults learning a new language face many obstacles, including motivation, time, and other challenges in learning. Technology learning tools may help solve these problems. In this dissertation, I tested the effectiveness of cognitive word games as a vocabulary learning method, with the main goal of investigating how different word games including a crossword paradigm task, a free association task and a word-stem completion task were effective at improving vocabulary memory access. The games selectively increased semantic (meaning) or orthographic (spelling) associations in …

Metadata And Linked Data In Word Sense Disambiguation, Matthew Corsmeier

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Word Sense Disambiguation (WSD) can be assisted by taking advantage of the metadata embedded in the various ontologies, lexica, databases, etc… that exist in the Semantic Web. Automated processes that exploit the links already present in the Semantic Web can strengthen parsing of word senses by using user-contributed and semantically-linked data. These processes are only possible because of a commitment to interoperability and the creation of shared standards. This paper will review some of the most heavily used Linguistic Linked Open Data (LLOD) tools and models which show the most promise for using metadata to alleviate problems caused by polysemous …

Comparing Student Assessments And Perceptions Of Online And Face-To-Face Versions Of An Introductory Linguistics Course, David M. Johnson, Chris C. Palmer

Faculty Articles

This article examines the issue of whether linguistics is better suited for a face-to-face (F2F) environment than an online teaching environment. Specifically, it examines assessment scores and student perceptions of the effectiveness of an introductory linguistics course at an undergraduate state university that has been taught multiple times in both online and F2F modes. To study this issue data was collected about the types of students enrolled in either version of the course, including their GPAs and course grades. A survey with both closed- and open-ended questions was also used to ask students about their experiences and perceptions of the …

Stance Taking In Japanese Newspaper Discourse: The Use And Non-Use Of Copulas Da And Dearu, Michiko Kaneyasu

World Languages and Cultures Faculty Publications

The present study aims to demonstrate how writers display their stances in information-oriented written discourse. In particular, the paper analyzes nominal sentences in three newspaper subgenres, and explicates how the Japanese copulas da and dearu , which are normally considered stylistic variants in written language, are used by journalists as important grammatical resources for expressing their epistemic and evaluative stances toward certain types of information conveyed in nominal sentences. Da in newspaper discourse is used as a marker of the writer’s commitment to the relevance of the information in the given discourse context. Dearu, on the other hand, marks …

Utilization Of Placebo Response In Double-Blind Psychopharmacological Studies, Contextual Perspective, Margarita Olegovna Ashirova

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Placebo response has been an elusive phenomenon in the fields of medicine, medical research, and psychology. Even though it has been heavily utilized as a comparator treatment in double-blind psychopharmacological studies, the reliable definition and consistent understanding of placebo response are missing. In this contextual exploration, I outlined the state of current placebo response research and variable rates of placebo response reported in double-blind studies. I identified the gap in the literature—lack of consistent understanding of placebo response—that has led to a waste of resources by the psychopharmacological research industry. Further, I compared and contrasted the current inconsistent Western medical …

Immersion: Helping Learners To Use Japanese In Study Abroad And Other Settings, Dan Dewey

Faculty Publications

This paper is an attempt to describe some of the challenges of getting learners to immerse themselves in Japanese through study abroad and other experiences. In it, I will write about problems that learners in my own research have encountered during study abroad. I will also give some specific suggestions for helping learners overcome these challenges. Those interested in reading further about my own research and the work of others I have drawn upon can see the list of references at the end of this paper.

Study abroad is considered one of the best ways to learn another language. There …