Linguistics Commons^™

Elicited Imitation For Prediction Of Opi Test Scores, Deryle W. Lonsdale, Kevin Michael Brooks Cook, Jeremiah Lane Mcghee

Faculty Publications

Automated testing of spoken language is the subject of much current research. Elicited Imitation (EI), or sentence repetition, is well suited for automated scoring, but does not directly test a broad range of speech communication skills. An Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) tests a broad range of skills, but is not as well suited for automated scoring. Some have suggested that EI can be used as a predictor of more general speech communication abilities. We examine EI for this purpose. A fully automated EI test is used to predict OPI scores. Experiments show strong correlation between predicted and actual OPI scores. …

Bilingualism And Bilingual Education In The U.S., Zakaria Jouaibi

Department of Curriculum, Instruction, and Media Technology

No abstract provided.

Fostering Effective French Communication In The Classroom, Lindi Brown

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This portfolio is a compilation of work the author completed while in the Master of Second Language Teaching (MSLT) program at Utah State University. It is focused on her beliefs of how French should be taught in a university classroom. It also includes three artifacts addressing how a challenging aspect of the language should be taught, how authentic literature can be utilized in the classroom, and why the French culture should be incorporated into the curriculum. Finally, there is an annotated bibliography of books and articles which have shaped the author’s beliefs and opinions about teaching French as a foreign …

The Lived Experiences Of Participants In The Euchee/Yuchi Language Project: A Phenomenological Study Of Language Preservation, Jessica Park

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Native languages are disappearing quickly in this country, but there are many programs that are underway trying to save Native languages before they are gone. One such program is the Euchee/Yuchi Language Project which uses a modified version of the Master-Apprentice Language Learning Program (MALLP). Elder language speakers, masters, and younger members of the tribe, apprentices, meet daily in a two-hour language session. The goal of the session is to immerse the apprentices in the language by using conversational Euchee/Yuchi in the form of lessons, props, and presentations, so they can learn the language quickly. The purpose of this study …

A Grammar Of Signwriting, Stuart M. Thiessen

Theses and Dissertations

Signed languages have not enjoyed the benefits of writing for lack of an effective writing system. Writing systems designed for spoken languages are not easily adaptable to signed languages because signed languages are not based on sound. A successful writing system for sign languages must convey a different set of articulators, namely the configurations and movements of the hands, head, and body to convey meaning. This necessarily means that writing systems for signed languages must find a way to express those articulators, reducing a three-dimensional event to a written representation.

One such writing system is SignWriting, a system developed by …

Out Of The Mouths Of Babes: Vocal Production In Infant Siblings Of Children With Asd, Rhea Paul, Yael Fuerst, Gordon Ramsay, Kasia Chawarska, Ami Klin

Communication Disorders Faculty Publications

Background: Younger siblings of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are at higher risk for acquiring these disorders than the general population. Language development is usually delayed in children with ASD. The present study examines the development of pre-speech vocal behavior in infants at risk for ASD due to the presence of an older sibling with the disorder. Methods: Infants at high risk (HR) for ASD and those at low risk, without a diagnosed sibling (LR), were seen at 6, 9, and 12 months as part of a larger prospective study of risk for ASD in infant siblings. Standard clinical …

Teacher Gesture In A Post-Secondary English As A Second Language Classroom: A Sociocultural Approach, Natalie Hudson

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Vygotsky (1978) uses the example of gesture in a child, stating that finger pointing represents an interpersonal relationship, and only after this cultural form is internalized can an intrapersonal relationship develop. Language learning must be viewed in the context of social interaction, and the gesture of others, specifically language instructors toward their students, is a form of social interaction worthy of attention. Newman and Holzman (1993) discuss the idea of performance as a mode of semiotic mediation related to meaning making. Daniels, Cole, and Wertsch (2007) also discuss the concept of performance, stating that gestures are tools which assist performance. …

Cultural Brokering And Bicultural Identity: An Exploratory Study, Jorida Cila, Richard Lalonde, Zohrah Haqanee

Western Migration Conference Series

Abstract: Cultural brokering refers to a process where individuals mediate between two parties that are experiencing some type of cultural misunderstanding. Our exploratory study indicates that cultural brokering is a diverse experience that spans the boundaries of one’s family and includes various norms, values and traditions.

Sociolinguistics Barriers: Constructing And Reproducing Temporary Migrants' Social Inequalities, Maria Eugenia De Luna Villalón

Western Migration Conference Series

This study explores the sociolinguistic barriers that Mexican Agricultural Temporary Workers (MATW) experience during their temporary stays in Canada. Following an ethnographic approach, some of the findings were that the sociolinguistic barriers lead to sociolinguistic dependency, increasing and perpetuating human and social inequalities of the MATW.

The Challenge Of Successful Integration For Francophone Immigrants Within Minority Communities, Suzanne N. Huot, Belinda Dodson, Debbie Rudman

Western Migration Conference Series

A critical ethnography was undertaken to explore the integration experiences of French-speaking newcomers from visible minority groups residing with the London, Ontario Francophone minority community. Findings highlight a complex negotiation process involving learning the tacit social norms characterizing the host society.

Using Textual Features To Predict Popular Content On Digg, Paul H. Miller

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Over the past few years, collaborative rating sites, such as Netflix, Digg and Stumble, have become increasingly prevalent sites for users to find trending content.  I used various data mining techniques to study Digg, a social news site, to examine the influence of content on popularity.  What influence does content have on popularity, and what influence does content have on users’ decisions?  Overwhelmingly, prior studies have consistently shown that predicting popularity based on content is difficult and maybe even inherently impossible.  The same submission can have multiple outcomes and content neither determines popularity, nor individual user decisions.  My results show …

Signs And Symbols: Art And Language In Art Therapy, Malissa Morrell

Journal of Clinical Art Therapy

This paper is a preliminary attempt at theory building by exploring the use of art and language in art therapy through a theoretical inquiry model. Inductive and deductive processes are used to explore literature from the fields of psychology, art philosophy (particularly aesthetics), and linguistics. Concepts common to each of these disciplines are then further explored through the lens of bilingual therapy. Practical applications are discussed, along with suggestions for future research.

Comparing Deaf Native Signers And Deaf Early Signers With Respect To Phonological Perception, Ian Deandrea-Lazarus

Undergraduate University Honors Capstones

Common criteria for a native ASL signer include exposure to ASL from birth and having Deaf parents. This study questions the necessity of the second criterion by comparing two groups: 16 Deaf adults with Deaf parents and exposed to ASL from birth, and 16 Deaf adults with hearing parents and exposed to ASL before age two. All determined whether pairs of pseudosigns, sometimes differing in phonological details, matched. The two groups did not differ significantly on accuracy, but the first group responded faster than the second group on average. These findings suggest processing differences between the two groups, but otherwise …

Representations Of English In France: Conflict And Opportunity In Language And Identity, Matt Brauer '11

Honor Scholar Theses

It is not hard to find English spoken in France. Amid the blue and white signs announcing different RER lines in the Paris metro, one announces: “RER A: Destination Dreams,” pointing the way to EuroDisney. Behind the lines of waiting passengers, billboards hang against the white-tiled walls. An advertising campaign for a French car maker announces a “Baby Boom chez Renault,” two well-known French soccer players pose in Nike track jackets next to the words “V is for Victory. By Claude Makele and Hatem Ben Arfa,” and a fruit juice company promises “Happy Fruit Moments,” recommending “Remixez votre After Work.” …

Talking Masturbation: Men, Women, And Sexuality Through Playful Discourse, Geoffrey Evans-Grimm

Honors Projects

This study seeks to understand the relationship between talking about masturbation and masturbation as an everyday practice in the United States. This essay is arranged in terms of a number of overlapping sections that converge to offer a clearer interpretive context for a discussion of the results of the questionnaire and interview data. The first part of my essay is an attempt to make sense of the cultural history and to situate conceptions about masturbation and attempts to regulate it up to present day. Then, as a gendered talk, it is necessary to engage in a theoretical discussion of gender …

Invariance In The Factor Structure Of Translated Instruments: Multiple Group Confirmatory Factor Analysis And Mimic Models, Fatma Ayyad

Dissertations

When factorial invariance is established across translated forms of an instrument, the meaning of the construct crosses language/cultures. If factorial invariance is not established, score discrepancies may represent true language group differences or faulty translation. This study seeks to disentangle this by determining whether cultural/linguistic variance can be decomposed separately from construct variance intended in the measuring instrument.

Translated forms of the God Mediated Control factor of the Belief in Personal Control Scale (BPCS) (Berrenberg, 1987) was analyzed across multiple samples for measurement and structural invariance among American native English speakers, Arab native Arabic speakers, and Arab bilingual Arabic/English speakers. …

Student Use And Teacher Requirement Of E-Mail Conventions, Lora Ibrahim Galabi

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the use of conventions by EFL students and the requirement of conventions by EFL teachers in student-teacher e-mail communication, in an English-medium university in the Arab world. A convenience sample of 61 students and 13 teachers from the Intensive English Program at the American University in Cairo, Egypt was used. Data were obtained for this exploratory study from a student survey, a teacher survey, and a sample of student e-mails, and were analyzed using descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, and thematic content analysis. Chi-square tests revealed a correlation between the frequency of …

Humor In Code-Mixed Airline Advertising, Maria Jose Garcia Vizcaino

Department of Spanish and Latino Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

This article examines how humor works in the code-mixed advertising campaigns of the Spanish airline company Vueling. Drawing on the fetishism approach to multilingual advertising (Kelly-Holmes, 2005) and the theory of incongruity (Raskin, 1985), this paper explores three main types of humorous deviations in Vueling campaigns: structural, phonetic, and visual. The analysis confirms that humor in Vueling ads is produced by deviations at the formal rather than semantic level of language, specifically through the insertion of foreign languages (mainly English and French) into Spanish colloquial expressions. These foreign elements are partially “domesticated” into local Spanish frames by creative code-mixing mechanisms …

The Evaluation Of English For General Academic Purposes (Egap) Course In An Indonesian University, Flora Debora Floris

Bahasa dan Seni: Jurnal Bahasa, Sastra, Seni, dan Pengajarannya

This paper presents an internal evaluation on English for General Academic Purposes (EGAP) subject which is developed by the English Language Teaching Center (ELTC) from a private university in East Java, Indonesia. The research was conducted to elicit feedback on the effectiveness of English for General Academic Purposes (EGAP). The presented data were obtained from questionnaires, group interviews, classroom observations, and the students’ final scores. There were 124 students and 6 lecturers involved in this small-scale research. Therefore, this paper is intended to describe the interesting facts of the study.

Space Lexicalization In Compositions By Indonesian Efl Learners: Toward Near-Native Style, A. Effendi Kadarisman

Bahasa dan Seni: Jurnal Bahasa, Sastra, Seni, dan Pengajarannya

This research intends to find out whether Indonesian EFL learners are aware of the presence of “space” and are able to lexicalize it in their English compositions. It takes 21 seventh-semester English Department students as research subjects. They were given story pictures and asked to write a narrative. The resulting 21 EFL narratives were measured against a native-speaker narrative model in terms of “spatial words” (prepositions and adverbial particles), producing the following comparisons: 6.6% vs. 7.2% in total, 78.2% vs. 85.7% used dynamically, 95.5% vs. 100% used obligatorily, and 19.2% vs. 28.6% used in phrasal verbs. This indicates that Indonesian …

Strategi Penyampaian Honorifik Dalam Tindak Perintah Masyarakat Tutur Makassar, Syafruddin Syafruddin

Bahasa dan Seni: Jurnal Bahasa, Sastra, Seni, dan Pengajarannya

Honorific informative strategies play an integral role in Indonesian speech acts within the informed families of Makassar society. These honorific informative strategies have unique characteristics. This study was conducted to describe and explain honorific informative strategies in the imperative speech acts of informed families in Makassar society. The design of this study was qualitative, applying pragmatic theory and an ethnographic communication analysis model. The results of this study show that honorific informative strategies are implemented through imperative and interrogative speech acts, using a variety of honorific alternatives based on different contexts that align with social and cultural norms.

Strategi Meminta Dalam Wacana Kelas Di Madrasah Aliyah Alkhairaat Palu, Ali Ali

Bahasa dan Seni: Jurnal Bahasa, Sastra, Seni, dan Pengajarannya

This strategy is aimed at describing the use of ”asking” strategy in the classroom discourse, namely (1) asking strategy by the teacher and its usage to the students, asking strategy used by the students and its usage to the teacher, and (3) asking strategy used by the students and its usage to the students. Based on the data analysis, it is found out that ”asking strategy ” in the classroom is applied using direct and indirect strategy by all participants or students. In general, the teacher applies direct asking strategy to the students by using moof interogatif. Meanwhile, either the …

Tuturan Laku Among Dalam Wacana Kelas, Heri Suwignyo

Bahasa dan Seni: Jurnal Bahasa, Sastra, Seni, dan Pengajarannya

This study aims to describe and explain laku among utterances in classroom discourse. Laku among speech acts are a natural phenomenon of language use in social and cultural contexts. To explain this phenomenon, ethnographic research was employed based on the structure of classroom communication. The results of the study show three findings regarding the use of laku among utterances in the classroom: ing ngarsa, ing madya, and tut wuri handayani, which occur in the initial, middle, and final speech acts of classroom discourse.

Avatar To Depict Sign Language: Building From Reusable Hand Animation, Rosalee Wolfe, John Mcdonald, Jerry C. Schnepp

Visual Communications and Technology Education Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Introduction, Mika Ishino, Gale Stam

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Cultivating Knowledge In The School Garden: New Ways Of Teaching Literacy To Esl Students, Michele Durivage

MA TESOL Collection

My thesis project includes a combination of materials development and classroom-based research. In my paper, I explore existing garden-related curricula, and create original garden-based lesson plans to teach literacy to fourth grade ESL students. This curriculum development project contributes to the field of ESL in its innovative garden-based pedagogy. The field study took place during the spring semester of 2009 at Increase Miller Elementary School in Westchester County, New York. Using nature as inspiration for writing descriptive essays and poetry, the ESL students at Increase Miller produced imaginative writing pieces, using their own voices to express their thoughts. The students’ …

Instructional Practices That Hinder And Support Esl Students In The Self-Contained Esl Classroom And The Mainstream Classroom, Ebru N. Bozburun

MA TESOL Collection

This paper describes the academic challenges that many English Second Language (ESL) students must deal with from the moment they start attending a bilingual program at elementary school until they finish the last step of their academic experience. These students continually struggle to keep up with their peers, often fail the state mandated tests, and eventually, drop out before receiving their high school diploma. For the past three years, both as a self-contained ESL teacher and an ESL certified co-teacher in the mainstream classroom, I taught ESL Language Arts to Spanish- speaking students at a public junior high school in …

Using Technology In The Efl Classroom In Saudi Arabia, Neil Oby Morris

MA TESOL Collection

This paper explores the ways that technology, specifically the use of laptop computers and cellular phones, may be incorporated in the EFL classroom to enhance learning and lower the affective filter of male Saudi Arabian university students.

Saudi Arabia presents the EFL teacher with many challenges that are unique to this gender-segregated Islamic kingdom. Meeting these challenges and turning them into learning opportunities that other EFL teachers may find useful within their teaching contexts is the purpose of this paper.

The appendix includes a writing rubric and a 40-day materials introduction calendar. The calendar illustrates the day-by-day introduction of material …

Cognitive Load And Its Major Pedagogical Implications, Focus On Education In Jordan, Bassam Kutkut

MA TESOL Collection

Through my teaching experience in Jordan, I noticed the amount of work students had to do. I noticed the tremendous amount information they received from their teachers on a daily basis. I also noticed that students forgot most of the information they learned in class right after their exams. I was wondering if that’s the right way of teaching. Then, after my study at SIT, I learned that this is a cognitive overload that can impair the learning process.

Cognitive load refers to the information processing abilities in the human memory system which has limitations. When these limitations are exceeded, …

The Effect Of Strategies On Relieving Initial And Recurring Tip Of The Tongue States, Cheryl Elizabeth Emery

Theses Digitization Project

One of the most common forms of memory failure is the phenomenon known as "tip-of-the-tongue" (TOT) where you can't quite articulate a particular word even though you know that you know it. Strategies for resolving this phenomenon were explored in two experiments. This thesis explored the effectiveness of different strategies for resolving the TOT experience.