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Language Use In The Epena District Of Northern Congo, William L. Gardner

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis, based on two language surveys conducted in 1988 and 1989, addresses the question “What language do you speak?” for the people of the district of Epena in the Likouala Region of the People’s Republic of the Congo. The goals of the study were to: 1) inventory all the languages and dialects spoken in the district; 2) clarify their relationships with each other and neighboring languages; 3) measure the degree of intelligibility between speakers of different language varieties, specifically among the Bomitaba people; 4) investigate in what situations the people use which languages; and 5) provide bases for making …

Distinctives Of Corongo Quechua: Historical And Synchronic Perspectives, Daniel J. Hintz

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents the structure of Corongo Quechua from four distinct but complementary perspectives. One, it describes the segmental sound system both historically and synchronically. Two, it provides a substantial amount of data in the form of glossed texts in a variety of genres. Three, it provides a brief description of the morphological structure and a complete list of suffixes with examples. Four, it includes a brief glossary of commonly occurring roots.

The description of the sound system has a comparative focus, examining those aspects of the phonological structure that are distinct from other Quecha dialects. It specifically examines Corongo …

Pennsylvania Folklife Vol. 39, No. 4, Theresa G. Saul, John L. Dochter, Henry Berkowitz, Linda Berkowitz, John Marshall, Shirley Marshall, Joseph L. Tognoli, Michael W. Rhode, Constantine Kermes, Judy Sweetland, Robert Legge, Kenelm Winslow Iii, Barry Mcfarland, Matthew Vardjan, Elaine Vardjan, John E. Stinsmen, Mark R. Eaby Jr.

Pennsylvania Folklife Magazine

• Our Church
• Pig Roast
• Wooden Jointed Dolls
• Coal Jewelry
• The Pennsylvania Long Rifle
• The Mennonites
• Festival Focus
• Festival Programs
• Blockprinting
• Dried Flowers, Wreaths and Baskets
• Broom Making
• Wood-Turning
• Moravian and German Stars
• A Plain Costume Primer
• Farewell to the Folk Festival Magazine

Visual Speech Training Aid For The Deaf, Subhashri Venkat

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

A computer-based vowel articulation training aid has been developed. A "continuous" acoustic-phonetic transformation is performed to map speech parameters to a lower dimensionality display space. There are two possible approaches to this transformation problem. The transformation could be either linear or a combination nonlinear/linear. The nonlinear transformation is performed using a multi-layered feedforward neural network with linear output layers. Speech parameters are extracted either from an analog filter bank arrangement (band energies) or by a digital signal processing procedure (Discrete Cosine Transform Coefficients). The speech parameters obtained from both methods correspond to the spectral envelope of the speech signals. The …

Cross-Cultural Differences In Written Discourse Patterns : A Study Of Acceptability Of Japanese Expository Compositions In American Universities, Hiroko Kitano

Dissertations and Theses

Since Kaplan started the study of contrastive rhetoric, researchers have investigated Japanese and English compositions and have found some differences between them. However, few studies have investigated how these differences are perceived by native English readers when the different rhetorical patterns are transferred to English writing.

Drawing from Hinds' study, this research focuses on the following: how the Japanese style of writing is evaluated by Japanese and American readers, especially in academic situations, how Japanese rhetorical patterns are perceived by American readers, and how a change of organization affects the evaluation by American readers.

An Evaluation Of The Academic Success Of Students Who Participated In The English For Non-Native Residents Program At Portland State University, Linda Carol Andrews Dunn

Dissertations and Theses

Many programs exist across the United States to prepare non-native English speaking students for academic work. The effectiveness of these programs has been the subject of various research projects, with mixed results. Some have found that the programs they have examined seem to have led to higher achievement among participants. Others have found that it is difficult to show any effect. However, the amount of time and resources devoted to such programs warrants continuing efforts to evaluate their success.

This study compares the academic records of non-native English speaking students who were enrolled in the English for Non-native Residents Program …

A Comparison Of The Phonological Skills Of Late Talking And Normal Toddlers, Patricia Joan Jennings

Dissertations and Theses

In the present study, the speech of twenty-four normally speaking toddlers and twenty-eight late talking toddlers was analyzed with respect to the syllable structures produced during a speech sample. The groups were matched with regard to age, sex, and socio-economic status, all passed a hearing screening, and all scored at least 85 on the Bayley Scales of Infant Development.

Pennsylvania Folklife Vol. 39, No. 3, Amos Long Jr., Marion Lois Huffines, Robert L. Leight, Charles R. Steitz Jr., Alvenia Schultz Graber

Pennsylvania Folklife Magazine

• The General Store
• Pennsylvania German in Public Life
• Building a One-Room School: The Dynamics of School Board Decision-Making at the Turn of the 20th Century
• Washington Hood: 500th Graduate of the United States Military Academy
• Grandmother Schultz
• Aldes un Neies (Old and New)

Vol. 13 No. 2 (1990): Pacific Studies Full Issue, The Jonathan Nāpela Center For Hawaiian And Pacific Islands Studies

Pacific Studies

Pacific Studies is published two times a year by The Jonathan Nāpela Center for Hawaiian and Pacific Studies, Brigham Young University Hawai‘i #1979, 55–220 Kulanui Street, Lāʻie, Hawai‘i 96762, but responsibility for opinions expressed in the articles rests with the authors alone. Subscription rate is US$40.00 yearly, payable to The Jonathan Nāpela Center for Hawaiian and Pacific Studies. The Jonathan Nāpela Center for Hawaiian and Pacific Studies (formerly The Pacific Institute) is an organization funded by Brigham Young University Hawai‘i. The Center assists the University in meeting its cultural and educational goals by undertaking a program of teaching, research, and …

Vol. 13 No. 2 (1990): Pacific Studies Front Matter, The Jonathan Nāpela Center For Hawaiian And Pacific Islands Studies

Pacific Studies

Pacific Studies is published two times a year by The Jonathan Nāpela Center for Hawaiian and Pacific Studies, Brigham Young University Hawai‘i #1979, 55–220 Kulanui Street, Lāʻie, Hawai‘i 96762, but responsibility for opinions expressed in the articles rests with the authors alone. Subscription rate is US$40.00 yearly, payable to The Jonathan Nāpela Center for Hawaiian and Pacific Studies. The Jonathan Nāpela Center for Hawaiian and Pacific Studies (formerly The Pacific Institute) is an organization funded by Brigham Young University Hawai‘i. The Center assists the University in meeting its cultural and educational goals by undertaking a program of teaching, research, and …

Contributors: Vol 13 No. 2, The Jonathan Nāpela Center For Hawaiian And Pacific Islands Studies

Pacific Studies

Contributors list of Vol. 13 (1990): Pacific Studies Full Issue 2

The Effect Of A Parent Training Program On Language Delayed Children, Lynn Krupa

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this research project was to determine whether a child-centered parent training program requiring minimal training would increase the language skills of LD pre-school children who have normal receptive language. Seven experimental subjects and 6 control subjects were randomly selected from a pool of middle-class families who answered a newspaper advertisement. The parents of the experimental group received 3 individual training sessions over a 3-month period. They were instructed to spend 15 minutes a day, 5 days a week, for 3 months, in a free play situation with their children using the language stimulation techniques they had learned, …

Zapotec Pronoun Classification, Stephen A. Marlett

Work Papers of the Summer Institute of Linguistics, University of North Dakota Session

From the introduction: "Zapotec languages have sometimes been described as having two sets of (nonreflexive) personal pronouns: bound and free (Butler 1976), clitic and free (Jones and Church 1985, Marlett 1987), dependent and independent (Pickett 1960, Bartholomew 1983), inseparable and separable (Butler 1980), suffixes and pronouns (Briggs 1961), particles and pronouns (Pickett et al. 1965). The variety of terminology used indicates that the syntax of Zapotec pronouns requires further study. The goal of this article is to clarify the behavior of these pronouns across the Zapotec language family (using a subset of languages to illustrate), noting where these languages are …

Laminal Sibilants In Chamicuro, Steve Parker

Work Papers of the Summer Institute of Linguistics, University of North Dakota Session

From the introduction: "This paper examines the phonological status of laminal sibilants in Chamicuro. Chamicuro is a Maipuran Arawaken language spoken in the Amazonian lowlands of Eastern Peru. The phonemic inventory of Chamicuro sibilants exhibits a very strong symmetry of three affricates and three corresponding fricatives. However, when the laminal alveolar fricative [š̯] is considered, the pattern of distribution becomes more complicated. Specifically, it is very difficult to account for the occurrence of syllable-final [š̯]'s in a simple and elegant way. Two possible solutions are outlined and discussed, and the advantages and disadvantages of each one are evaluated."

Unmarked And Marked Instances Of Topicalization In Hebrew, Stephen H. Levinsohn

Work Papers of the Summer Institute of Linguistics, University of North Dakota Session

From the introduction: "My aims in this paper are twofold: first, to spell out the normal or UNMARKED function of topicalization (as defined below) in narrative discourse; and second, to consider what Sperber & Wilson call the "additional contextual effects" (1986:196) that MARKED or apparently redundant instances of topicalization are intended to achieve in Hebrew.

"In sect. 2, I argue in favour of Beneš 1962 characterization of topicalization as bidirectional. It not only serves "as point of departure for the communication", but also provides the basis for linking the communication to its context. I then review my 1987 work on …

Book Chapter: That Obscure Object Of Desire: A Science Of Language, Tony Crowley

Scripps Faculty Publications and Research

The task will be to bring to light the repressions necessary to sustain the new science of language and its newly found object and to examine its alleged scientific neutrality.

An Approach To Teaching English Composition In Micronesian Cultures, Lori Arlene Weiny

Theses Digitization Project

No abstract provided.

Indian English: Is It "Bad" Or "Baboo" Or Is It Indianized So That It Is Able To Deal With The Unique Subject Matter Of India?, Marilyn Jane Sargent

Theses Digitization Project

No abstract provided.

Pennsylvania Folklife Vol. 39, No. 2, Wendy Everham, Lee C. Hopple, Ervin Beck, Juliana Bova, Grover M. Detwiler, Robert P. Stevenson

Pennsylvania Folklife Magazine

• The Recovery of the Feminine in an Early American Pietist Community: The Interpretive Challenge of the Theology of Conrad Beissel
• A Religious and Geographical History of the Shakers, 1747-1988
• Indiana Amish Family Records
• Eel for Christmas: An Italian Tradition
• Recollections of Ninety-Two Years
• Those Old-Time Children's Days
• Aldes un Neies (Old and New)

Possessor Ascension In Dakota Sioux, Thomas M. Pinson

Work Papers of the Summer Institute of Linguistics, University of North Dakota Session

From the introduction: "The goal of this paper is to present evidence for Possessor Ascension in Dakota Sioux. In this construction, a nominal which is semantically a possessor is syntactically not a constituent of the noun phrase, but rather a constituent of the clause. I first discuss the universal characterization of Possessor Ascension from within the framework of Relational Grammar and give an introduction to the ways possession is expressed in Sioux. Next I present four arguments for this construction in Sioux. One is based on verb agreement, the second on reflexivization, the third on the distribution of the possessive …

The Use Of Quasi-Words In Normal Phonological Development, Shelly Genseal Roat

Masters Theses

This study examined the use of quasi-words in eight normally developing infants from eight-and-one-half months to ten-and-one-half months . The infants were video-taped for thirty minutes once a week for 16 consecutive weeks . Spontaneous utterances were transcribed and categorized as babbling, quasi-words, or true words . Utterances were additionally analyzed to determine phonetic inventories, dominant place and manner, and syllable shapes.

Results revealed the use of quasi-words by all subjects . Further analysis revealed that subjects utilized two types of quasi-words, primitive quasi-words and complex quasi-words. Results revealed a correlation between complex quasi-words and true-words . Results further revealed …

Case Marking Strategies In Kope, John M. Clifton

Work Papers of the Summer Institute of Linguistics, University of North Dakota Session

From the introduction: "In this paper I will examine case marking strategies in Kope, a Papuan language of Papua New Guinea, in light of claims made by Foley (1986:92-98). Foley makes a basic distinction between 'core' and 'peripheral' case relations in his typological study of case marking in the Papuan languages of New Guinea. Core relations include actor and undergoer, while peripheral relations include instrument, locative, and temporal. Syntactically, Foley claims that most Papuan languages have one strategy for marking core relations, and another strategy for marking peripheral relations.

"A third group of relations discussed by Foley includes the beneficiary …

Front Matter For Sil-Und Work Papers Vol. 34 (1990)

Work Papers of the Summer Institute of Linguistics, University of North Dakota Session

No abstract provided.

The Destiny Of Latin Second Conjugation Infinitives In Romance, S. Davis, Donna Jo Napoli

Linguistics Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

Pragmatic Conversational Skills Of Children Identified As Emotionally Disturbed, Deidre Winder

Dissertations and Theses

Communication refers to the conveyance of intended messages so that the listeners' attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors are changed. Communication through a language system may be thought of as the integration of the three components of content (semantics), form (syntax), and use (language in context or pragmatics). The corning together of content, form, and use in signs, words, phrases, and discourse is the essence of language development. The synergism of content/form/use makes up language competence, or knowledge. When children speak and understand a message, they have a plan that is knowledge of language and they use that plan for the behavior …

A Study In The Language Acquisition Styles Of Language Delayed Toddlers, Shelly Saunders

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of the present study was to determine if language delayed toddlers, 18 to 30 months of age, were at one end of the referential/expressive continuum. It was this researcher's hypothesis that due to the restricted vocabulary of children who use an expressive language style, that the delayed toddlers would tend to be more expressive speakers.

The Creation Of A Core Vacabulary For Initial Lexicon Selection For Nonspeaking Preschool Children, Lillian May More

Dissertations and Theses

The selection of the initial lexicon is one of the most important decisions made in the implementation of augmentative communication systems with preliterate, nonspeaking preschool children. If a communication aid is to be adopted by a child, the words available on the device must be interesting to the child and encourage communication. The vocabulary must allow for cognitive growth and foster language development. Ideally, a lexicon would be customized for each nonspeaking child's particular interests, vocabulary needs and developmental level. The reality is that vocabulary selection is a difficult and time consuming process. Parents and clinicians do not always have …

The Unified Speech Period Of A Bilingual Child, Gary Frank Wood

Dissertations and Theses

Previous studies of bilingual infants learning their languages simultaneously have suggested that such children go through what is known as a unified speech period in which they make no differentation between the languages in question and in which they frequently use mixed utterances (Arnberg, 1987; Grosjen, 1982; Leopold, 1939; & Skutnabb-Kangas, 1981). To test the validity of the claim that there is such a period, an English-Japanese bilingual child from one year and six months of age (1;6) through two years and six months of age (2;6) was observed and his speech recorded.

Study Of Referential And Display Questions And Their Responses In Adult Esl Reading Classes, Susan Lindenmeyer

Dissertations and Theses

The technique of asking questions in the classroom has prevailed in first language classes for many years. This teaching technique has also been widely used in ESL reading classes. Though there has been extensive research about teachers' questions and students' responses in first language classrooms, there is a paucity of studies in second language classrooms.

This is a descriptive study of six experienced college level English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers and their discussions of the same reading selection with ninety-eight non-native speakers in each of their classes. Teacher-led discussions were audiotaped and twenty minutes of each class were …

Phrasal Verbs In Academic Lectures, Robert D. Pierce

Dissertations and Theses

Phrasal verbs are a pervasive and distinctly Germanic part of the spoken English language that has been alive for centuries. They have preceded American history, and yet considered to be "the most active and creative pattern and word formation in the American language" (Meyer, 1975). Distinctly colloquial, idiomatic and varying in shades of literalness and figurativity, phrasal verbs are largely dominant in casual usage, such as conversation, while the Latinate verbs of English are dominant in formal usage, such as in making reports (McArthur 1989). While foreign educators and their students, such as from Chinese countries, are found to emphasize …