Linguistics Commons^™

October 3, 2013: Evan Gottlieb Lecture Opens Scholarly Speakers Series For 2013-14, Department Of English

Gleanings: Department of English Blog Archive

No abstract provided.

October 2, 2013: Rob Bixby/March Street Press Reading, Saturday, Oct. 5, Department Of English

Gleanings: Department of English Blog Archive

No abstract provided.

“We Give Way:” 6 Narratives Of The Academic Negotiation Between English And Afrikaans At The University Of Stellenbosch, Alexis K. Boyer

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The negotiations between the African National Congress (ANC) and the National Party in 1992 led to the creation of South Africa’s eleven national languages including English and Afrikaans. This paper discusses the intricate relationship between these two languages at the University of Stellenbosch. This project attempts to understand how undergraduate and postgraduate students have negotiated the rise of English as a universal academic language and the maintenance of Afrikaans as Stellenbosch’s core language of instruction. The project works to determine how students view the changes to the policy and how those changes affect them, looking particularly at the effect of …

October 1, 2013: Paint, By Grace Tiffany, Issued By Bagwyn Books, Department Of English

Gleanings: Department of English Blog Archive

No abstract provided.

Borrowing The Essentials: A Diachronic Study Of The Semantic Primes Of Modern English, Karen Esther Swan

Theses and Dissertations

In order for communication to take place, there must be a set of core concepts that are universal to all speakers. Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) has proposed an inventory of these concepts, called semantic primes, and uses them as universal concepts in the explication and exploration of cultural values. The English semantic primes, while the majority are Anglo-Saxon, contain words that have been borrowed from Latin, Old Norse, and French. Borrowing lexical items into core vocabulary has many implications. First, the primes are not entirely stable or immune to foreign influence, even the Anglo-Saxon primes have been susceptible to the …

Automatic Identification Of Metaphoric Utterances, Jonathan Edwin Dunn

Open Access Dissertations

This dissertation analyzes the problem of metaphor identification in linguistic and computational semantics, considering both manual and automatic approaches. It describes a manual approach to metaphor identification, the Metaphoricity Measurement Procedure (MMP), and compares this approach with other manual approaches. The dissertation then describes an implemented and simplified version of the procedure, Measuring and Identifiying Metaphor-in-Language (MIMIL), and compares the premises of this system with other automatic metaphor identification systems. MIMIL and three existing metaphor identification systems are then evaluated on a common data set. Finally, the dissertation looks at difficulties which face attempts to automatically identify metaphors caused by …

Language At Play: Digital Games In Second And Foreign Language Teaching And Learning. Language Learning & Technology, Steven L. Thorne, Erin Watters

World Languages and Literatures Faculty Publications and Presentations

A review of Language at Play: Digital games in second and foreign language teaching and learning Julie Sykes and Jonathan Reinhard 2013 ISBN 10: 0-205-00085-1 US 157 pp. Pearson New York, US

by Steven L. Thorne, Portland State University and University of Groningen and Erin Watters, Portland State University

Teaching Pronunciation: Is Explicit Phonetics Instruction Beneficial For Fl Learners?, Elizabeth M. Kissling

Latin American, Latino and Iberian Studies Faculty Publications

Pronunciation instruction has been shown to improve learners’ L2 accent in some, though certainly not all, cases. A core component of traditional pronunciation instruction is explicit lessons in L2 phonetics. Studies suggest that Spanish FL learners improve their pronunciation after receiving instruction, but the effect of phonetics instruction has not been directly compared with other pedagogical alternatives. This study reports on the pronunciation gains that first, second, and third year learners (n = 95) made after receiving either explicit instruction in Spanish phonetics or a more implicit treatment with similar input, practice, and feedback. The target phones included a …

Language Teaching Research & Language Pedagogy (Review), Elizabeth M. Kissling

Latin American, Latino and Iberian Studies Faculty Publications

This book extends Chaudron’s (1988) review of L2 classroom research to include the studies published in the last thirty years, with the intention of providing technical knowledge to teachers interested in conducting research or using research to inform their teaching. The scope is restricted to studies that investigate the effect of some instructional artifact or procedure on learners’ knowledge of the L2, for the most part within face-to-face classroom interactions. Ellis organizes the research into broad topics of interest and further subdivides them by theoretical or methodological construct. He balances presentation of research in both the cognitive and socio-cultural traditions …

Not A Hearing Loss, A Deaf Gain: Power, Self-Naming, And The Deaf Community, David J. Thomas

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

Self-naming has long stood as the primary assertion of power for disenfranchised communities in the western world. While person first language (e.g. person who is deaf) has been the preferred language of disability and disability services for the last 20 years, members of the Deaf community have asserted their cultural capital, and indeed, their Deafhood, or defining the experience of being ‘deaf in the world’, through the power of self-naming. This research examines attitudes toward language, self-naming, and disability in the Deaf community and seeks to move toward a more attentive, sensitive, and responsive language policy in the academy.

Historically, …

September 24, 2013: Austen Film Fest - Preliminary Lineup, Department Of English

Gleanings: Department of English Blog Archive

No abstract provided.

The Ezafat Suffix: The Syntax-Semantics Interface, Ahmed Saeed Manati

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Any discussion of Dari noun phrases pays special attention to Ezafat and the way it behaves. Ezafat is of great importance to understanding the underlying structure of a Dari noun phrase. Much of this thesis uses the methodologies and tools provided by generative syntax to determine the status of Ezafat and to answer a number of questions posed by Ezafat. I hypothesize that Ezafat belongs to a functional category which is base-generated under D and its function is to mark nouns for genitive case. In addition, the analysis of Ezafat entails the classification of most Dari prepositions as a subcategory …

Technology And Pedagogy: The Future Of Less Commonly Taught Languages, Meredith Kersley Coy, Dr. Michael Bush

Journal of Undergraduate Research

One of the goals of the BYU Center for Language Studies is to improve the basic Swahili course in order to support the African studies minor. An initial concern in teaching such less commonly taught languages is the lack of qualified teachers. In many cases technology is the solution to this problem. Creating on-line lesson materials that are pedagogically sound facilitates instruction in two ways. First, teachers do not have to be as strictly qualified because much of the burden is shifted to lesson plans that are already completed and available on-line. Second, students receive authentic language exposure and instruction …

“Through A Glass Darkly”: Portrayal Of The Mormons In Nineteenth-Century American Periodical Literature, Stanley J. Thayne, Dr. Cynthia Hallen

Journal of Undergraduate Research

During the nineteenth century the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, then known primarily as the Mormon Church, was a subject of great controversy in American periodical literature. Major magazines such as The Atlantic Monthly, Scribner’s, Harper’s, The North American Review, and The Century published articles about the Mormon people. While working as a research assistant for Dr. Cynthia Hallen, documenting literary influences on Emily Dickinson, I came across several of these articles and wondered how the Mormon Church would have been portrayed to readers such as Emily Dickinson, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and the rest of the nineteenth-century American …

Gathering Media For A Turkish Language Course, Laura Ann Knight, Dr. Michael Bush

Journal of Undergraduate Research

When a person visits another country with which they are unfamiliar, it can be hard to understand both the language and the culture of the people. It can be very useful to learn a bit about a country, its people, and language before visiting it. In this project we developed a multimedia computer based program that could be used by business people, tourists, exchange students, or any person interested in being introduced to life in another country. The specific focus of this project was on Turkey.

Crossing Bridges Of Understanding: An Interactive Tutorial For Humanities 201, Rebecca Petersen, Dr. Michael Call

Journal of Undergraduate Research

My goal in creating this tutorial was to “bring to life” some of the sites and treasures studied in the Humanities 201-202 sequence, stimulating student’s interest in the topics and providing support to the faculty teaching the courses. I feel that the module I completed successfully achieves that goal. I created a module, currently accessible in the Humanities PC Computing Lab, entitled, “Vezelay: A Romanesque Masterpiece.”

Applying And Evaluating The Astm Standard Guide To Quality Assurance In Translation And Localization, Carina Leticia Klemetz Aceves

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The ASTM Standard Guide to Quality Assurance in Translation (the name has been shortened as of late) defines the process of translation, and explains among other things the concept of “translation specifications.” Those are parameters that have to be considered in order to ensure that the product resulting from a translation is such that satisfies all parties. The Guide defines a “quality translation” as one that meets the specifications previously defined and discussed by all parties, as opposed to the traditional concept of “one best translation.” There would, therefore, not be one best translation to any given text but there …

He Says She Says, Eric Roundy, Dr. Deryle Lonsdale

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The first step in meeting the goals outlined in my proposal was to download the source code for the Festival speech synthesis engine. Festival is an open source modular synthesis engine built on a Scheme backbone. I ported the make files to run with my current version of the GNU compiler collection (GCC) compiler and built and installed the engine.

Emily Dickinson’S Place Names, Malina Nielson, Dr. Cynthia L. Hallen

Journal of Undergraduate Research

During her prolific writing career, nineteenth-century poet Emily Dickinson produced 1,789 poems. Dr. Cynthia Hallen of the English Language and Linguistics Department has been researching and defining all of Emily Dickinson’s words according to the way Dickinson used them for the forthcoming Emily Dickinson Lexicon.

September 22, 2013: Sss Fall Party Welcomes Department Grads, Department Of English

Gleanings: Department of English Blog Archive

No abstract provided.

English Advertising In Vienna, Tiffany Oaks

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Present day English is enormously influential in the international business world. This is evident in continental Europe, not only in the marketing of products originating from countries whose first language is English, but sometimes also in the marketing of products originating in countries whose first language is not English. In Austria, for example, many Austrian companies give their products English names. The reason behind this deserves some exploration. It might be assumed to be the result of prestige accompanying American English, perhaps conveying associations of ingenuity, dependability and wealth.

Isaiah In The Book Of Mormon And Old Testament: A Comparison In Language Usage, John Larsen, Dr. Allen Manning

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The similarities between the Bible and the Book of Mormon have often been pointed out by Scholars and critics alike. My research was to compare language similarities in the two texts linguistically. For twelve chapters in the Book of Mormon the text runs almost exactly parallel to that in the book of Isaiah. I intended to isolate directly the differences in the two texts and attempt to classify them linguistically. Through this classification I hoped to discover possible explanation and any symmetry or system to the changes. The changes would also be analyzed in terms of period language usage to …

Literacy Development Of Deaf Students: The Influence Of Environmental Factors, K. Brooke Harding, Dr. Mark W. Tanner

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Learning to read and write plays a significant role in children’s linguistic and cognitive development. The development of reading skills is a natural process in a home where literacy is emphasized and children are surrounded by print.1 However, the acquisition of literacy is not an easy task for all children because it requires complex coordination of various capabilities.2 Deaf people in particular face immense linguistic, social, and emotional obstacles in learning to read and write. (The term deaf is used in this report to denote both deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals). According to standardized reading assessments, most deaf high school graduates …

Scripture Literacy: An Observation Of Behaviors Related To Scriptural Literacy In Children Ages 5-12, Melissa Lovelady Helselt, Dr. Dennis A. Wright

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The focus of my study was to answer two questions: “Is scriptural literacy different from conventional literacy?” and “What factors, if any, foster competent scripture comprehension and retention?” The study involved a series of tasks with children between the ages of 5 and 12 living in Wymount Terrace. To simplify my experiment, I used only Latter Day Saint children whose native language was English, and used only the Book of Mormon.

The Effects Of Gender On Language Perception In The Classroom, Rachel Hansen, Dr. Wendy Baker

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The creation of adaptive learning environments is crucial for students’ success. Teachers often use written feedback to encourage improvement in their students’ work. The manner and content of feedback greatly affects how it is perceived (Brinko, 1993). Also, studies have shown for almost two decades that gender affects how student learn (Kolb, 1976). For example, female students perceive their learning environment more positively (den Brok, Fisher, Rickards & Bull, 2006) and are more likely to hold mastery over performance goals and to refrain from disruptive classroom behavior than are males. (Kenney-Benson, Pomerantz, Ryan & Patrick, 2006). Roberts (1991) argued that …

September 10, 2013: Interdisciplinary Work Group In Digital Humanities, Department Of English

Gleanings: Department of English Blog Archive

No abstract provided.

Isma`Kuwayyis: Software To Improve Listening Comprehension In Arabic Students, Jason White, Dr. Dilworth Parkinson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

In Arabic pedagogy (as in many languages), listening comprehension continues to be an area of frustration for students as well as teachers involved in second language acquisition. The greatest challenge is to allow a student access to authentic material with interaction. Obviously, the resources (natives) for such idealistic activities are very limited. The goal of this software development was to make authentic material available to students and allow for interaction (though somewhat limited), and to make the setup of such activities and materials easier for the professor. Computer-aided instruction cannot replace conversation or live interaction; however, it can and does …

Comparative Morphology Of The Hominin And African Ape Hyoid Bone, A Possible Marker Of The Evolution Of Speech, James Steele, Margaret Clegg, Sandra Martelli

Human Biology Open Access Pre-Prints

This study examines the morphology of the hyoid in three closely related species, Homo sapiens, Pan troglodytes and Gorilla gorilla. Differences and similarities between the hyoids of these species are characterised, and used to interpret the morphology and affinities of the Dikika A. afarensis, Kebara 2 Neanderthal, and other fossil hominin hyoid bones.

Humans and African apes are found to have distinct hyoid morphologies. In humans the maximum width across the distal tips of the articulated greater horns is usually slightly greater than the maximum length (distal greater horn tip to most anterior point of the hyoid body …

September 9, 2013: Gwst/Women's Caucus Fall Reception, Department Of English

Gleanings: Department of English Blog Archive

No abstract provided.

Learning To Recognize Vervet Monkey Calls, Jeremiah Mcghee, Dr. Deryle Lonsdale

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The use of computers to perform speech recognition on human speech is becoming commonplace in today’s world. Less well known are attempts to use speech recognition on other animal species. Current projects are researching the possibilities of using speech recognition technologies to give insight to the animal communication of dolphins1, elephants2, birds3 and even crickets4. All of these projects are showing very promising results with recognition results approaching 90%. The goal of this project is to apply speech recognition technology to identify the distinct calls of vervet monkeys.