Linguistics Commons^™

If Signs Could Talk: Tales From Two Minority Landscapes In Contact With Spanish, Falcon Restrepo-Ramos

World Languages & Cultures Department Publications

In the Caribbean Archipelago of San Andres, Colombia, a minority creole language, known as Islander, have coexisted with Colombian Spanish for almost two centuries. However, since the declaration of San Andres island as a free-duty port in 1953, the commercial expansion of the Archipelago has brought about the imposition of Spanish in formal settings (Bartens, 2013), and consequently the preference of Spanish in written visual signs. In contrast, Valenciano (Valencia, Spain), another minority language in contact with Spanish as a national language, seems to enjoy more official recognition in terms of public display of written signs. This study examines the …

L’Agitation Du Quotidien: Une Conversation Sur La Réflexion Ⓐnarchiste Face Au Sexisme Dans La Langue, Mariel Mercedes Acosta Matos, Ernesto Cuba

Publications and Research

Ernesto Cuba interviewe Mariel Acosta au sujet des résultats de son mémoire de master, qui traite des propositions de morphèmes de genre inclusif dans des publications anarchistes de langue espagnole, parmi lesquelles le @, le x et d’autres innovations orthographiques cherchant à contrecarrer le biais androcentré de la langue.

Ernesto Cuba interviews Mariel Acosta about the findings in her master’s thesis, which investigates inclusive gender morphemes in Spanish-language anarchist publications, among which is the use of @, x and other orthographic innovations that seek to challenge the androcentric bias of language.

Pun Strategies Across Joke Schemata: A Corpus-Based Study, Robert Nishan Crapo

Theses and Dissertations

In the linguistic study of humor, research has largely been centered around the formulation of models and theories or the dissecting and categorization of jokes. Because of the often difficult-to-categorize aspects of verbal jokes, much time has been spent trying to create taxonomies for humor types and mechanisms. Linguists such as Raskin and Attardo have sought to categorize all verbal humor according to various functional elements (Attardo & Raskin, 1991). Such elements include, but are not limited to, the logical mechanism that drives the humor in the joke or the situation where the joke takes place. These categorizations are helpful …

Educator Perceptions Of Gifted English Language Learners, Michelle C. Lynch

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This paper explores educator perceptions of gifted and talented (GT) English language (ELL) students. This study identifies barriers for identification and service for GT/ELL students and highlights ways to support students through current efforts for students who fit these criteria. Educators from two elementary schools were interviewed in this qualitative study. The schools were chosen due to their high population of ELL students. The roles of professional development (PD) and best practices for identification of underrepresented students are discussed. Five main themes emerged from interviews of educators that work with GT/ELL students. The themes are obstacles, perception, referral, professional development, …

Student Perceptions Of Vocabualry Gain During Study Abroad, Yuan Sui

Masters Theses

It is well acknowledged that study abroad is an ideal context to achieve high language proficiency. Previous studies show a relatively complex picture of the relationship of social interactions and language gains. On the one hand, students who study abroad experience language gains such as oral proficiency but on the other hand, researchers argue that study abroad does not guarantee language gains. Vocabulary as foundational knowledge of language learning has not received much attention in the context of study abroad, especially vocabulary learning strategies. The present study investigates the change of students’ perceived vocabulary gain via routine social activities with …

Linguistic Features Of Medical English For Curricular And Instructional Purposes, Yi Shi

Masters Theses

In China, medical English as a specific target language use domain has been of high need to Chinese doctors and college medical students. It is mainly used for publishing research articles in international medical journals and presenting at international medical conferences. For this reason, the study of linguistic characteristics of medical English will benefit Chinese doctors and medical students in their efforts to learn English in the field of medicine. Nevertheless, “medical English” is recognized as a concentration of study as part of the English major at some universities in China while in other colleges, medical students just learn generic …

Addressing The Assumption; A Case Study On Student Motivations And Barriers To Study Second Language Abroad, Rebecca Schano

Capstone Collection

Historically, second language learning and study abroad programming have run in natural conjunction. However, in recent years there has been a slow but steady decline in the number of foreign language students in higher education who are choosing to study abroad to further their second language acquisition. This study explores this topic through a case study at Marquette University, and aims to answer the research question: What are the motivations and barriers of foreign language students to study their second language abroad? Using a student survey and in-person interviews with professionals in the field, data is collected on the most …

An Analysis Of Rehearsed Speech Characteristics On The Oral Proficiency Interview—Computer (Opic), Gwyneth Elaine Gates

Theses and Dissertations

The ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines identify memorized words and phrases as a hallmark of novice-level speech. For this reason, research by Cox (2017) found rehearsed content to be a major hindrance to interviewees being rated at higher sublevels on the Oral Proficiency Interview-computer (OPIc). To further investigate, an analysis of these memorized segments to determine patterns of lexico-grammatical and discursive features was conducted. In this study, researchers utilized a Praat analysis to compare prosodic features (specifically, mean length of utterance, number of silent pauses, and articulation rate) of speech segments marked as memorized and those which were not. A qualitative analysis …

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of A Korean Heritage-Speaking Interpreter, Yoonjoo Lee

Theses and Dissertations

The U.S. is a country of immigrants who are non-native speakers of English (NNS), yet its legal system is not always in the favor of them. One of the issues for the NNSs is not being provided with proficient interpreters in legal settings such as police interrogations or courtrooms. There are times when some NNSs are offered qualified interpreters or translators, but others are provided with heritages speakers of needed languages in the local area. The heritages speakers are often thought to have good proficiency in languages, but unfortunately thats not always the case. To investigate the need for qualified …

Cultural Differences In Russian And English Magazine Advertising: A Pragmatic Approach, Emily Kay Furner

Theses and Dissertations

Many American companies looking to increase sales and achieve growth targets consider expanding the reach of their product lines to other countries. However, expansion on a global scale often requires much trial and error as English-speaking companies try to market their goods to a foreign audience. In order to ease this process, localization experts are often hired to "localize" or change advertisements in order to make them more culturally relevant to consumers. Because the field of localization is relatively new, there is little research done on the degree and extent to which advertisements are localized. The purpose of this study …

Rubric Rating With Mfrm Vs. Randomly Distributed Comparative Judgment: A Comparison Of Two Approaches To Second-Language Writing Assessment, Maureen Estelle Sims

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to explore a potentially more practical approach to direct writing assessment using computer algorithms. Traditional rubric rating (RR) is a common yet highly resource-intensive evaluation practice when performed reliably. This study compared the traditional rubric model of ESL writing assessment and many-facet Rasch modeling (MFRM) to comparative judgment (CJ), the new approach, which shows promising results in terms of reliability and validity. We employed two groups of raters”novice and experienced”and used essays that had been previously double-rated, analyzed with MFRM, and selected with fit statistics. We compared the results of the novice and experienced …

A Glimpse Into Amazighophone Technology Usage An Example Of The Results Of Short-Term Ethnography, Garrison Smith

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper explores the situation of the Amazigh language and its revitalization in Morocco, specifically aiming to shed light on the intersections of language use, technology, and youth, in order to obtain insight into processes that Amazighophone youth both undergo and enact in their lives. Through literature review and an interview, this research provides a glimpse into the use and reality of Amazigh and variants in technological media and an example of the shortcomings of a short-termed fieldwork research project. In all, despite only having one interview with one young woman who attends university and speaks Amazigh, the results provide …

Switch-Reference In Pastaza Kichwa, Alexander Harrison Rice

Theses and Dissertations

Pastaza Kichwa is a Quechuan language spoken in eastern Ecuador. This thesis describes its use of switch-reference which is traditionally understood to be an interclausal cross-referencing feature. Switch-reference is manifested by one of two morphemes that mark a subordinate clause as having either the same or different subject as another clause. Switch-reference has been described for other Quechuan languages and some of these studies present challenges to the theoretical underpinnings of switch reference (Stewart 1988, Dreidemie 2007) others present associated functions of switch-reference morphemes (Cole 1982). This study tests some of the propositions made about switch-reference in other Quechuan languages …

Performance Self-Appraisal Calibration Of Esl Students On A Proficiency Reading Test, Jodi Mikolajcik Petersen

Theses and Dissertations

Self-assessment as a placement measure or accurate assessment of skill has been scrutinized in previous research. Findings have shown a general human tendency towards overconfidence in performance (Kruger & Dunning, 1999). This study looks at performance self-appraisals in an ESL population, with participants from varying cultural backgrounds. Performance self-appraisal calibration is a measure of the relationship between an examinee's perceived skill (or confidence) and their actual skill (or ability) on a given exam item (Phakiti, 2016). Being well-calibrated is an indication that test takers know their strengths and weaknesses and thus the difference between confidence and ability is minimal, whereas …

Investigating The Perception Of Identity Shift In Trilingual Speakers: A Case Study, Elena Vasilachi

Theses and Dissertations

This is a case study that examines the perception of identity shift in trilingual speakers. The participants were three females from Moldova, a country in Eastern Europe, that have moved to the U.S. Participants responded to open-ended questions during an individual interview and self-report. The questions were about (1) the way they think in their native language, (2) the way they feel in different situations while switching languages, and (3) their interactions with others, depending on their relationships with the participants, the situation, and the language they use at that moment. Primary findings suggest that trilingual speakers perceive a shift …

Review Of Landmarks, By Robert Macfarlane. Published By Hamish Hamilton, London, 2015. Cover Price £20.00., Patrick Armstrong

Landscapes: the Journal of the International Centre for Landscape and Language

A review of Robert Macfarlane's book, Landmarks.

Los Pronombres De Segunda Persona Del Singular Y La Cortesía Verbal En Español Peninsular Y En Euskera, Gorka Basterretxea Santiso

Theses and Dissertations

A través de los pronombres de segunda persona del singular se pueden establecer una serie de relaciones personales entre los hablantes en cada idioma. Abundantes trabajos han sido ya publicados en relación a esta cuestión lingüística tanto en español como en euskera, sobre todo para delimitar sus ámbitos de uso, pero en ningún caso se han realizado estudios comparativos dentro de la pragmática intercultural sobre estos dos idiomas vecinos a este respecto. Tomando como punto de partida los pronombres de segunda persona del singular del español peninsular –tú y usted– y los del euskera –hi y zu–, el presente trabajo …

Role Of Information Technology In Development Of Eritrean Language - ኣበርክቶ ቴክኖሎጂ ሓበሬታ ኣብ ምምዕባል ቋንቋታት ኤርትራ, Filmon Gebreyesus Ph.D

Symposium on Eritrean Literature

Information technology has been affecting us in every day of our lives, especially social media has been the main means of communication in our society. But, all the access to this current and ever-growing technology has always been limited to using it in English, Arab or other languages because our language didn’t come up to speed with the current technology.

Though there has been lots of efforts to develop Tigrigna or other languages application programs to help us use our language, there are still lots of gaps that could be filled to achieve the competence of our languages. In light …

Advancing Digital Equity In Public Libraries: Assessing Library Patrons’ Problem Solving In Technology Rich Environments, Gloria Jacobs

Presentations and Publications

This mixed methods research examined the digital problem solving processes of vulnerable adults within the community setting of a public library. Data were collected from approximately 450 library users who completed a library survey, a subset who completed PIAACs Problem Solving in Technology Rich Environments (PSTRE) assessment, and a smaller subset who participated in an observation protocol. Quantitative analysis revealed that library website use was a strong predictor of PSTRE scores. Qualitative analysis showed that digital problem solving needs to be seen as a set of contexts and events that are dynamic across different situations. In order to respond to …

Supporting Digital Problem Solving, Tyler Frank

Presentations and Publications

This presentation draws from findings based on a three-year research project with the goal of achieving greater digital equity for adult learners in libraries. This project addresses digital problem solving, a unique task adults face in today’s age of ubiquitous technology use. Marginalized and under-resourced digital users face challenges of access not only to high-speed Internet but also to getting the support they need for their digital learning and problem solving. Libraries are uniquely positioned to support these learners. However, this calls for techniques and tools to assist digital users in accomplishing their goals as they continue to develop their …