Linguistics Commons^™

A Sociocognitive Approach To Second Language Acquisition: Integrating Neurodiversity And Advocacy In Language Learning, Brian Kapustka

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

This project, A Sociocognitive Approach to Second Language Acquisition: Integrating Neurodiversity and Advocacy in Language Learning, serves as a pedagogical framework and instructional resource designed for world language educators. Grounded in Atkinson’s (2011) Sociocognitive SLA model, the project synthesizes cognitive, sociocultural, ecological, and embodied perspectives to illuminate how language learning emerges through dynamic interactions among mind, body, and environment. It further integrates contemporary neurodiversity research—addressing ADHD, ASD, dyslexia, and other cognitive profiles—to propose strength-based, multimodal strategies that support diverse learners. Drawing on the work of Swain, Norton, van Lier, and others, the project emphasizes identity, emotion, and advocacy as …

Penerjemahan Ungkapan Tabu Dalam Film The Big 4 Ke Dalam Bahasa Belanda, Alfiyyah Fadiyah, Triaswarin Sutanarihesti

Multikultura

This study analyzes the occurrence of taboo expressions and their translation strategies into Dutch in the movie The Big 4. The research method used in this study is descriptive qualitative method. The analysis in this study uses theories related to the category of taboo expressions from Wardhaugh (2006) and Allan & Burridge (2006), then the theory of translation strategies of taboo expressions from Davoodi (2009). The results show that the categories of taboo expressions that appear the most from 129 data found in The Big 4 movie are animal names (45.7%), body parts (16.3%), sex (10.9%), mental abnormality (9.3%), death …

The Key To Acquiring The Language Of Law, Science, And Technology In The Esl College Classroom, Patricia George-Hunter

Journal of English Learner Education

Since vocabulary plays a significant role in second language acquisition, expansive vocabulary targets should be set and pursued. This paper explores the results of introducing affixes to develop vocabulary and increase motivation for beginner to intermediate-level English language learners (ELLs) pursuing academic disciplines in law, science, and technology at a New York City community college. Participants included 23 ELLs with diverse linguistic, educational, and sociocultural backgrounds enrolled in an online synchronous Integrative Language Seminar (ILS) designed to develop all areas of English language proficiency. Pre‑, post‑, delayed tests, questionnaires, and post‑intervention interviews were conducted and analyzed to establish the language …

251024_Skl_Lingbing_S032_En_M_V01, Julie A. Hochgesang, Krystin Balzarini, Alexander Ivanov, Kolby Lipiz, Steve J. Saenz, Grace Shi

LING BING

Scott Liddell's English narrative response to the list of sample questions related to the LING BING project.

Terminating Pregnancies In Boccaccio, Anne C. Leone

Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics - All Scholarship

Analyzing examples from the Decameron (1349-51), De mulieribus claris (1361), and the Corbaccio (1365), I argue that Boccaccio (1313-75) demonstrates an awareness of theological, legal and medical opinions on abortion and contraception at the time. However, he is more attuned to the practical concerns of pregnancy than are many of his contemporaries. Acknowledging the variety of situations facing pregnant people and some parts of their lived experience that were ignored by many religious and legal authorities, Boccaccio highlights a disconnection between theory and practice, and thereby raises questions about the limits of abstract knowledge in the face of practical concerns.

Diverse Presentations Of Aphasia: A Comparative Analysis Of Polysynthetic And Analytic Languages Through Kanien'keha (Mohawk) And English Morphology And Syntax, Halle L. Elder

The Downtown Review: An Interdisciplinary Journal Written and Peer-Reviewed by Mandel Honors College Students at Cleveland State University

This paper looks to compare two linguistically diverse languages, English and Kanien'keha, a native American language commonly known as Mohawk. The comparison will revolve around the morphology and syntax typologies of these two languages. In addition to the morphological and syntactic comparison, I will discuss how aphasia presents itself in different language typologies, placing this comparison onto English and Kanien'keha. The research questions I look to answer are: How does word formation and sentence structure differ between English and Kanien'kéha? Does aphasia present differently in analytic and polysynthetic languages like English and Kanien'kéha? The morphological data and syntactic data are …

9th Gsep Research Symposium - 2025

GSEP Research Symposium

The Ninth Annual GSEP Research Symposium, themed "Building Bridges to Elevate Humanity: Innovations and Insights in Education and Psychology", was hosted by the Pepperdine University Graduate School of Education and Psychology (GSEP) on June 19–20, 2025, at the historic Château d’Hauteville in Switzerland and virtually via Zoom.

This hybrid symposium convened a vibrant global community of students, alumni, faculty, and scholars to share research that addresses real-world challenges, advances scholarly inquiry, and builds pathways for inclusive collaboration and leadership. Spanning a wide array of topics—from artificial intelligence and mental health to trauma-informed practices, educational equity, social justice, and cross-cultural leadership—the …

Visual Literacy, English Learners, And The Slider, Kristin Lems

Faculty Publications

The article looks at some of the ways “degrees of intensity” can be taught and practiced with visual supports such as sliders, graphs, or emojis, with a focus on English learners of all ages.

Morphology-Performance Relationships To Understand Cichlid Neurocranial Evolution In The Context Of Adaptive Radiation, Sarah Pascarella

Theses and Dissertations from DePaul University

Cichlid fishes have undergone multiple adaptive radiations in the rift lakes of East Africa pairing rapid taxonomic and morphological diversification. Lake Malawi’s rock-dwelling cichlids (mbuna) have diversified into hundreds of species that partition their habitat by depth and diet resulting in high morphological and behavioral diversity. We characterized morphological differences and performed behavioral assays among four cichlid genera from Lake Malawi focused on understanding form-function relationships in the neurocranium and oral feeding apparatus. We characterized neurocranial shape using 3D geometric morphometrics across a large taxonomic sample of mbuna cichlids, focusing primarily on the Tropheops species complex. Alongside broad changes in …

Indigenous And Online: Implications For Contemporary Zapotec Language Acquisition And Heritage Learning In Central Oaxaca, Esénia Bañuelos , '26

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

Within the Indigenous communities of the United States and Mexico, combating language loss in a moment of exponential language loss is one of working in conjunction with contemporary tools – or creating the future of language preservation itself from them. Technological advances of the 21st century– including the expansion of instant messaging, video streaming, and photography sharing platforms– have sometimes been considered antithetical to language reclamation practices and Indigenous cultural maintenance more generally (Chibrow and Meighan-Chibrow, 2021; Warschauer, 1998). One example of this is made visible in concerns expressed by First Nations Elders in that technology may be depended upon …

Colonial Christianity: The Language Of Evangelization Through The Levanto 1766 Joyful Mysteries Of The Rosary Poems, Lillian E. Chan , '26

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

This thesis presents a translation from Colonial Valley Zapotec to English of the five poems based on the biblical Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary found in the 1766 Christian catechism attributed to Dominican friar Leonardo Levanto. I analyze the construction of the linguistic strategies revealed by the translation (periphrasis, semantic bifurcation, neologisms, calques, and metaphors) as well as examine the extent to which these constructions were poetic innovations versus drawing on already-established language. Together, the translation and analysis of the Levanto (1766) Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary poems illustrate how language was used as a tool for evangelization in colonial …

¿Soy Bilingüe? ¡Soy Bilingüe!: How Bilingual Proficiency Influences Code Switching, Natalie S. Cortez , '26

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

No abstract provided.

Postcolonial Policies And Practices Towards Language In Algeria And Côte D’Ivoire, Charlotte Anne Dutcher , '26

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

This thesis discusses language policies and practices in Algeria and Côte d’Ivoire. These two countries were both colonized by France in the 19th century, and under their rule, French was enforced as an official language across French colonies. After their respective decolonizations in the mid-20th century, Algeria and Côte d’Ivoire diverged in their language policies. Côte d’Ivoire kept French as an official language, and Algeria instead chose Arabic, pursuing a national policy of Arabization. This thesis aims to analyze the factors contributing to these differing policies, while also addressing the language practices, and how they vary from the policies. To …

Mama, Appa, And Titi: What Makes Words Sound Parental? A Phonological Exploration Of Parental Terms In And Beyond The Gender Binary, Madeleine C. S. Kruckemeye , '26

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

This paper addresses the following research question: What phonological components make a word sound ‘parental’ cross-linguistically and (how) do those components relate to the social genders associated with the word? The goal in answering this question is to extend Jakobson (1960) and Murdock’s (1959) work to be inclusive of our current understanding of gender and gender roles, and to create more options for queer parents and other families that are recognizable as parental terms, an important factor as found by Frank et al. (2017). The research consists of a literature review, an analysis of cross-linguistic parental terms, and an online …

Lost In Translation: Chomskyan Analysis Of Language Variation In Ai, Post-Critical Learners, And Native Speakers, Hannah Van Rijnswou

Holster Scholar Projects

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Large Language Models (LLMs) have revolutionized linguistic theory, raising questions about human language acquisition. Some argue AI's language generation challenges the concept of innate linguistic ability, while others contend it reinforces it. This research examines AI's "Surplus of the Stimulus" learning—relying on vast datasets—against human language acquisition, particularly within Chomskyan frameworks of Universal Grammar and the "Poverty of the Stimulus." By analyzing language production across three groups—Native English Speakers, Post-Critical Period Second Language Learners, and LLMs—this study compares linguistic complexity using the Lexical Opulence Index (LOI). Data is collected through structured prompts across four linguistic registers: …

The Processing Of Emotional Prosody And Semantics In Native And Non-Native Chinese Speakers, Cheng Xiao

Theses and Dissertations

Emotional information in spoken language is conveyed through both semantic and prosodic cues. While listeners interpret the meaning of utterances (what is said), they also detect the speaker’s emotional prosody (how it is said). For non-native speakers, processing these two types of information simultaneously can be challenging, particularly in a tonal language such as Mandarin Chinese, where the same acoustic feature (i.e., pitch) encodes both lexical semantics and emotional prosody. This dissertation reports a series of behavioral and fMRI experiments investigating how native and non-native Chinese speakers perceive and process emotional prosody and semantics in words and sentences. Behaviorally, results …

Anthropomorphism In Language And Thought: The Effect Of Agentive Linguistic Framing On Readers’ Perceptions Of Ai Animacy, Dawson Petersen

Theses and Dissertations

Over the past decade, deep learning AI systems have gone from academic obscurity to near cultural centrality in the developed world. As these technologies become increasingly integrated into daily life, there is growing cause for concern about AI anthropomorphism—i.e., the perception of AIs as more human than they really are. Despite the potential risks, AI developers continue to market their technologies using agentive language that seems to be designed to encourage anthropomorphism. The current dissertation utilizes behavioral and eye-tracking methods to examine the relationship between agentive linguistic framing and AI anthropomorphism in both controlled judgments and automatic inferences. The results …

Between Opposite And Unity: A Cross-Linguistic Study Of Contranyms In Classical Chinese, German, And English, Che Lu , '26

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

This thesis aims to contribute to the study of contranyms — a special kind of polysemy where one word, character, or even morpheme, has two contradictory meanings — from a comparative perspective by examining representative examples in Classical Chinese, English, and German, with a brief consideration of the absence of such phenomena in Modern Chinese. With the help of Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) and Hegelian dialectics, this study will analyze how such words encode semantic dialectics and the evolution of meaning.

The selection of these three languages reflects their distinct typologies and approaches to meaning formation. Classical Chinese, as an …

“He’S Here, He’S Not Queer”: The Indexical Potential Of Pronoun Use On American Drag Reality Television, Finn Verdonk , '26

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

When English speakers talk about drag performers, what factors impact the pronoun that is used? Pulling data from two seasons of RuPaul’s Drag Race (Season 4 and Season 14) and one season of Dragula (Season 5), this thesis attempts to understand the ways in which drag performers use pronouns in discourse about fellow drag performers. Building from Myers’s 2018 proposal that using he/him pronouns for drag queens can index shadiness or criticism, I expand her sample to see if her findings hold up over time and across franchises. I find that he/him pronouns on RPDR no longer index shadiness and …

What’S In A Name (Order): Linguistic And Extralinguistic Constraints In Fandom Ship Names, Glory Zhang , '26

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

No abstract provided.