Linguistics Commons^™

The Relative Effects Of Processing Instruction And Traditional Output Instruction On The Acquisition Of The Arabic Subjunctive., Youness Mountaki

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The role of input and output in the acquisition of language has been a source of controversy in Second Language Acquisition (SLA) research. This present study aimed to investigate the relative effects of processing instruction (PI) as a type of input-based instruction and traditional instruction (TI) as a type of output-based instruction. Specifically, this experiment examined whether PI and TI bring about any improvement in comprehension and production of the Arabic subjunctive by beginner-level learners of Arabic. The PI instructional technique was based on the principles of input processing suggested by VanPatten (1993, 2002, 2004). It has three main elements: …

¿Vera O Verra? Using Principles Of Task-Based Language Teaching To Practice Spanish Rhotics, Avizia Long

Faculty Publications

Research on task-based language teaching and learning has demonstrated that tasks may encourage second/foreign language development, specifically by facilitating conditions believed to engage processes that are important for second language acquisition to occur (Robinson, 2011; Skehan, 2014). Recent studies conducted by Solon, Long, and Gurzynski-Weiss (2014, 2015) have demonstrated that tasks designed to make pronunciation task essential do encourage learner attention to pronunciation, and increasing task complexity leads to greater accuracy in the production of the Spanish vowels [o] and [u]. This micro-teaching lesson, inspired by Solon et al., will showcase a task designed to make the pronunciation of the …

Effects Of Parent Child Interaction And Language Stimulation On Children's Language Development, Rachel E. Timm, Helen Raikes

UCARE: Research Products

Research Questions:

• Does parent positive regard relate to a child’s receptive language development?

• Does language stimulation relate to a child’s receptive language development?

• Does parent bookreading behavior (reading fluency, reading intonation/animation, comfort level, and child involvement) relate to a child’s receptive language development?

Measures:

• Preschool Language Scale-5 (PLS-5)
• Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-4 (PPVT-4)
• HOME Language and Literacy Scale
• Video Codes from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care

Results:

• Positive regard was not significantly related to the PLS-5 or the PPVT-4.
• The HOME Language and Literacy Scale was a significant predictor of the PPVT-4 and was related to the PLS-5 …

April 10, 2016: English Department Alum Premiers 40th Feature Film, Department Of English

Gleanings: Department of English Blog Archive

Chuck Bentley's latest film features a host of WMU alum as well as several current faculty members. The premiere is free to the public and will appear on PMN and YouTube shortly thereafter for those unable to attend the screening.

Perceptions Of College Instructors Toward Accented English Measured By The Auditory Multifactor Implicit Association Test, Eunkyung Na

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the implicit language attitudes of college-level instructors toward accented English and the effect of gender, teaching experience, and home language background on those attitudes. The auditory multifactor Implicit Association Test (IAT) was used to measure the implicit attitudes toward Standard, Chinese, Hispanic, and Korean accented English. For the current study, audio stimuli were embedded into the multifactor IAT, which became available for the first time in 2014. The auditory multifactor IAT generated implicit preference scores of six pairs of accented English: Standard vs. Chinese, Standard vs. Hispanic, Standard vs. Korean, Chinese vs. …

International Teaching Assistants In The Us University Classroom: A Mixed-Methods Study Of Individual Differences And L2 Pragmatic Competence, Erhan Aslan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

International teaching assistants (ITAs) are considered advanced English users with relatively high standardized language proficiency test scores. However, they may experience difficulties during their interactions with undergraduate students. Some of these difficulties may arise from affective factors such as ambiguity, stress, and adjustment and can impact language use. From an individual differences perspective, a second language user with high communication anxiety may have difficulty comprehending or producing appropriate pragmalinguistic forms. Using a mixed-methods approach, this study examined the underlying factors in ITAs communication anxiety and willingness to communicate in the US classroom and how these factors explained their pragmatic competence, …

April 2, 2016: Grace Tiffany Book Launch Party On Shakespeare's 400th Deathday!, Department Of English

Gleanings: Department of English Blog Archive

Join Shakespeare and fiction aficionados on Shakespeare's 400th Deathday at Kazoo Books, 2413 Parkview Avenue. Saturday, April 23rd, at 1 p.m., at Kazoo Books, Shakespeare scholar and author Grace Tiffany will read from her new novel about the Gunpowder Plot, Gunpowder Percy, and local Shakespearean actors Chuck Bentley and Kitty Kashniewicz will perform explosive Shakespearean dialogues.

Uso, Impacto Y Futuro Del Mapudungun En La Comunidad De Chapod, Tierney Marey

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study analyzes and investigates the current vitality and use of mapudungun, the endangered indigenous language of the Mapuche people, in the small rural community of Chapod in Southern Chile. This research then looks at a particular context within a larger global frame of mass language decline and extinction. With increasing numbers of languages becoming extinct linguists and other invested bodies are examining in more detail the state of the world’s languages and the impact of their decline, particularly in terms of cultural identity. As such this study specifically investigates the level of use and knowledge of the language within …

Ñaan Baat : Ousmane Sembène Et L’Adaptation Wolof Comme Discours Accessible Sur La Politique Linguistique Sénégalaise, Xavier Lee

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Utilisant les romans écrits en français d’Ousmane Sembène et leurs adaptations respectives réalisées en wolof, j’avance que nous pouvons mieux comprendre la politique linguistique de la société dakaroise, particulièrement au sein des langues wolof et françaises, à travers une analyse sociolinguistique de la consommation et la production de littérature et cinéma au Sénégal. En particulier, j’essaie de mélanger une étude sociolinguistique avec une analyse littéraire et une critique culturale afin de comprendre comment Sembène utilise les langes pour atteindre une audience sénégalaise dans ses adaptations wolofs. J’avance que l’existence des « langues internes » démarque une réalité de la vie …

Improving Head Start Teachers' Concept Development: Long Term Follow-Up Of A Training Program And Differences In Program Impact, Amanda Kr Lipp

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Children from a low socioeconomic status (SES) home environment are typically exposed to less vocabulary during the first few years of life and experience higher rates of poor school readiness, particularly in emergent literacy skills, when compared to middle-class peers (Bowey, 1995; Hart & Risley, 2003; Whitehurst, 1997). Early childhood education programs designed to expose this group to cognitively challenging utterances have found that low SES children tend to make greater gains in vocabulary development compared to middle-class peers (Justice, Meier, & Walpole, 2005).

Subject Pronoun Expression In Second Language Learners: A Corpus Study, Falcon Restrepo-Ramos

World Languages & Cultures Department Publications

No abstract provided.

Measuring Fluency: Temporal Variables And Pausing Patterns In L2 English Speech, Soohwan Park

Open Access Dissertations

This paper examines temporal variables and pausing patterns in L2 English speech to investigate fluency as a measurable component of oral proficiency. Fluency can be defined as ‘speed and smoothness of oral delivery’. We can measure the speed of oral delivery through calculating temporal variables such as speech rate and mean syllables per run where ‘run’ is the vocal chunk between silent pauses. The smoothness of oral delivery can be measured through examination of pausing patterns by classifying the placement of pauses. Pauses may be placed in expected positions such as clause/phrase boundaries or in unexpected positions. Pause placement in …

What’S Their Story? Using An Online Assessment Tool To Learn About Patron Skills, Amy Honisett

Presentations and Publications

We believe our patrons can use our electronic resources, but international assessment data tell a different story. The US population scores below the international average in problem solving in technology-rich environments, so Multnomah County Library and Portland State University are collaborating on a project funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services to assess patrons' online abilities and how those abilities map to common library tasks. Results will help inform how online library services are presented and will help ensure computer class content includes meaningful skills.

There’S An Identity Label For Me?: Perceptions By First-Generation College Students Of An Institutional Label, Curtis A. Green-Eneix

McNair Scholars Research Journal

Although first-generation college students (FGCS) have been entering universities in large numbers, and even with past quantitative studies to understand this demographic, a major percentage continue to drop out of college within their first two years. Past research has resulted in an overall picture of this demographic. This qualitative study explores: (1) how FGCS perceive their social identity in relation to a college community, and (2) how interacting with support programs, such as Boise State’s Student Success Program (SSP), shapes their understanding of support. In interviews with nine FGCS students, most of them did not know this first-generation label applied …

Flip Cup: Problems Related To Alcohol Consumption In Modern China, Helen Lamm

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The habits and attitudes surrounding the consumption of alcohol, in any culture, are just another lens through which we can look to better understand social life. The hierarchical social systems in China, which dictate common behavior, are unique. Much work has been written on the topic of guanxiand face: the defining factors for China’s ubiquitous, self-affirming system of relationships. Drinking culture is perhaps more interesting to travel bloggers than academics, but I believe that China’s drinking culture is a direct practice in guanxi production. The darker side of China’s drinking culture is anexercise in preserving face.

The gap in …

Rethinking Reference: Towards A Holistic Approach To Linguistic Reference, Libby C. Chernouski

Open Access Theses

In this thesis, a review of linguistic reference identifies four entities (speaker, hearer, term, and object) and their interrelations as falling under the umbrella of reference. This review brings to light certain underdeveloped areas of research into linguistic reference, and the second chapter addresses these gaps by distinguishing between the experiences of speaker and hearer as regards linguistic reference, differentiating between the cognitive processes required by each interlocutor, asking how the speaker establishes reference pre-utterance, and drawing on various pragmatic, philosophic, and semantic approaches and theories to see how they could begin to approach for this important issue. …

Bilingualism Effects At The Syntax-Semantic Interface: Evidence From The Spanish Present Tense, Julio Cesar Lopez Otero

Open Access Theses

The current study examines the acquisition of the semantic values of the Spanish present tense among English-speaking second language learners and Spanish heritage speakers. With a few exceptions (Cuza, 2008, 2010; Klein, 1980; Pérez-Cortés, 2012; Sánchez-Muñoz, 2004), an area of research still underexplored. The predictions for this study is that bilingualism effects will be evidenced in lower patterns of use, acceptance and preference of the simple present with an ongoing meaning in bilingual speakers, as well as preference for the progressive in ongoing contexts, as this is the pattern available in English. In addition, it is predicted that the heritage …

Exploring How Problem Solving In Technology-Rich Environments Can Be Used To Design Responsive Programming, Jill Castek, Amy Honisett

Presentations and Publications

This session explored a project that assesses community members’ digital skills using Education and Skills Online (ESO) – a valid and reliable assessment tool based on PIAAC that addresses Literacy, Numeracy, and Problem Solving in Technology Rich Environments (PS-TRE). The project will use these data to determine how the abilities of patrons map to the common library tasks that libraries assume patrons are able to access and use in a meaningful way.

Language And Cognition: Insight From Exceptional Cases, Anna Snyder

Senior Honors Theses

The understanding of the world in the human mind is accomplished through cognitive processing and articulated through linguistic processing. Undoubtedly, there is a significant connection between language and cognition because of how intricately they work together to create and express meaning. Researchers from a variety of fields have sought to discover the specifics of these domains to determine what kind of relationship exists between them and how the involvement between language and cognition should be best represented. Though they obviously interact, the different characteristics of each domain provide evidence that linguistic processes and cognitive processes may be distinct. Rather than …

A Racism Without Race: A Moroccan Case Study Of Race Denial, Leila Chreiteh

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This article aims to articulate the ways in which race and race relations are conceptualized in Morocco. Using the concept of racialized discourse as the preconceptual theoretical field for race and racist expressions, the author analyzes the different converging factors which influence the performance of “Moroccan-ness” and how subjectivity can be influenced by a State-driven communal linguistic episteme. Through its insistent hyper-nationalist campaigns, the Moroccan State has deployed racist expressions as a means of face-keeping and sociopolitical management, which have become naturalized through its reproduction in individual subjectivity and interpellation. However, from the independent research conducted by the author, the …

"Mi Niño Con Asma": Hispanic/Latina Mothers, Environmental Justice, And Photovoice At The Front Lines Of The Asthma Epidemic, Robin A. Evans-Agnew Rn, Phd, Julie Postma Rn, Phd, Lee Sledd M. Ed

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

Asthma is an important environmental justice concern for first generation Mexican-Americans. Families experience disparities in housing conditions, access to care, and legal marginalization. Little is known about how Hispanic/Latina mothers of children with asthma navigate these oppressions.

Problem: The purpose of this paper is to describe the discourses of environmental justice of a group Hispanic/Latina caregivers of children with asthma.

Method: A photovoice design was used with Hispanic/Latina mothers (n=11) in Tacoma, Washington, to take, discuss, select and display phototexts to policymakers that communicated their experiences and opinions in managing asthma for their child. Using critical narrative analysis, phototexts were …

Situated Directives In Italian L2 Service-Learning Encounters, Kristin Cardellio

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Interaction with local speakers of a second language (L2) in a naturalistic setting during study abroad is beneficial to language learning in many respects; particularly in the development of pragmatic competence, or the awareness and ability to use the appropriate language for a specific social context (Kinginger, 2011; Magnan & Back, 2007; Schauer, 2009; Shively, 2011). Service-learning - volunteering in the local community combined with an academic pursuit - during study abroad provides the opportunity for meaningful interaction between language learners and local speakers of the L2 in authentic and collaborative settings (Overfield, 2007). This study examines the interactions of …

Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis From A Realist Perspective, Hyeseung Jeong, Juliana Othman

The Qualitative Report

The article presents how a study that investigated the acquisition of second language academic literacy skills practised the qualitative methodology, interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), from a realist perspective. We share the rationale behind the methodological decisions made in the study, which is followed by a detailed description of the methodological practice. In addition, the evaluation of the study against the realist criteria is reported, and some implications of using IPA based on realism for educational research are discussed. Overall, we suggest that IPA practice from a realist perspective helps go beyond postmodernism paradigms that seems to exert considerable influence on …

Pax Populi: Utilizing Technology And Education As A Means To Achieve Peace, Anand Balar

Engagement & Service-Learning Summit

This project of Pax Populi was presented to the students in the Honors course called Beyond Afghanistan taught by Dr. Brite as an opportunity to do service learning. The goal of Pax Populi as taken from their mission statement is to “put the tools of peacemaking into the hands of ordinary people through initiatives that advance peace through education and economic development within a framework of human rights.”

The tool we used in this case was Skype web conferencing to communicate with an Afghan tutee the students were individually partnered up with to teach English skills to whether they be …

The Role Of Translation In The Nobel Prize In Literature : A Case Study Of Howard Goldblatt's Translations Of Mo Yan's Works, Yau Wun Yim

Lingnan Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to explore the role of the translator and translation in the Nobel Prize in Literature through an illustration of the case of Howard Goldblatt’s translations of Mo Yan’s works.

As the most significant international literary prize, the Nobel Prize in Literature is well discussed in media. However, insufficiently detailed attention has been given to the role of translation in the Prize. In many cases, the works that the Nobel judges evaluate are in fact translations, not the prize winner’s own words. Despite the importance of translation in the selection process, no research has ever …

Using Corpus To Facilitate Vocabulary Teaching In The Data-Driven Learning Classroom, Ge Lan

Purdue Linguistics, Literature, and Second Language Studies Conference

The synthesized paper covers the topics of “corpus linguistics” and “language instruction and pedagogies”. I would like to do a presentation to highlight the key points in my paper.

The Design And Research Potential Of Crow In Language Research And Teaching, Jie Gao, Sherri Craig

Purdue Linguistics, Literature, and Second Language Studies Conference

The proposal describes Crow’s developing background, preliminary structure, and research potentials. Possible scenarios and samples will be presented, opening ground for further contributions and suggestions. Crow serves as an example of how interdisciplinary projects could be launched, meanwhile integrating the use of corpus and database in language teaching and research.

Language Ideologies Of Tertiary Teachers In China: A Deeper Look Into English Educational Language Policy In Chinese Universities, Carrie Anne Thomas

Purdue Linguistics, Literature, and Second Language Studies Conference

No abstract provided.

Passport To Privilege: English For Survival In Pakistan, Sham Haidar

Purdue Linguistics, Literature, and Second Language Studies Conference

This qualitative study focuses on students, teachers, and administrators in different schools, from high to low SES, perceptions about the importance of English in academic, professional, and social life. Most study participants consider English competence a prerequisite for survival in Pakistan due its symbolic power and pragmatic need in life.

Error Types In Esl Writing In The United Arab Emirates, Hadi Banat

Purdue Linguistics, Literature, and Second Language Studies Conference

This study investigates the error types in second language writers’ papers at an institution in the United Arab Emirates. Morphological, syntactic, lexical, linguistic and semantic problems were highlighted and interpreted through error analysis and by comparing the linguistic systems of L1 and L2.