Linguistics Commons^™

Falam Immigrants In America: Motivations For Language Use, Maintenance, And Shift, Hannah Reeves

Theses and Dissertations

Using a mixed qualitative and quantitative approach, I explore immigrants' individual motivations for language use, language shift and language maintenance. I met with 25 immigrants to the US who are native speakers of Falam, a language from Myanmar, to learn their reasons for Falam and English usage as well as their desires for Falam usage in the US. I used the Perceived Benefit Model of Language Shift's taxonomy of motivations to classify each motivation expressed. Among Falam immigrants to America, I found that solidarity-related and communicative motivations are behind language maintenance while economic and communicative motivations are behind language shift. …

Case And Pragmatic Status Markers In Embera Katío, Bethany Winter Carlson

Theses and Dissertations

In previous research on the Embera languages of the Chocó genus of Colombia and Panama, many different terms have been applied to one or all of the morphemes ba, ta and ra that frequently mark noun phrases and dependent clauses, and some of these descriptions have been conflicting. This study summarizes the previous analyses and compares them to language data from a corpus of texts and elicited material. The result is an analysis in which ba has three functions, marking ergative case, instrumental case and reason; ta marks focus on absolutives; and ra marks pragmatic topic and syntactic topics. …

Computer-Assisted Vocabulary Learning For Deaf Learners Of Foreign Sign Languages, Benjamin J. Cavaletto

Theses and Dissertations

Deaf people have as great or greater need and desire to learn foreign languages as their hearing peers. Currently it is difficult for these learners to find courses and materials that are appropriate for their learning needs. Especially difficult is finding courses or learning materials for learning sign languages, which are more motivating and more accessible for Deaf learners than spoken languages. Additionally, evidence is presented that learning a foreign sign language can act as a bridge to learning a spoken language from the same region. The study presented in this thesis tested the efficacy of a computer-assisted vocabulary learning …

The Thing About -Ing, Amy S. Orf

Conference Presentations

Once students are exposed to the Spanish progressive, they often start generalizing –ndo to every context where –ing occurs in English, producing ungrammatical structures such as me gusta nadando and el traje nadando. Expressing –ing in Spanish is actually quite complicated and depends on whether -ing functions as a verb, adverb, noun, or adjective. Even the Spanish progressive causes problems for students since it differs in use from the English progressive. In this presentation I hope to shed some light on the equivalents of –ing in Spanish.

July 16, 2015: New Issues 20th Anniversary, Department Of English

Gleanings: Department of English Blog Archive

A special gathering of the Kalamazoo community, writers, and Creative Writing and English alumni to celebrate 20 years of New Issues Poetry & Prose. Featuring music, readings, and an art sale.

First-Generation College Students, Identity, & Empowerment Labels, Curtis Green-Eneix, Gail Shuck

Idaho Conference on Undergraduate Research

First-generation college students (FGCS) have been the primary focus of college retention research due to more FGCS entering universities, and FGCS’s low retention rates. Recent research has focused on quantitative studies of FGCS from comparing education and social backgrounds to non-FGCS, to outside constraints FGCS face while in college. These findings result in general understandings of FGCS dealing with additional hardship to moments of severe loneliness. This study explores (1) how FGCS—from Boise State University’s Student Success Program (SSP)—perceive their identity in a college community, (2) how they have or have not experienced identity conflicts while pursuing a degree, and …

Shared Reading Activities: A Recommendation For Deaf Children, Donna Jo Napoli, G. Mirus

Linguistics Faculty Works

There should be a focus on fun in shared reading activities with preschoolers in order to prepare them for later literacy, particularly those at risk of a poor foundation in a first language (L1), including deaf children (here “deaf” covers hard of hearing, as well). We look at how shared reading activities (SRAs) develop pre-literacy skills and describe bilingual-bimodal ebooks aimed purely at producing enjoyment, so families will engage in SRAs frequently.

The Linguistic Features Of Deceptive Speech, Jared Albrecht, Michal Temkin Martinez (Mentor)

Idaho Conference on Undergraduate Research

Research on deception within the field of linguistics has been largely focused upon the lexical aspect of lies. However, while the words a liar uses may reveal the lie in some cases, there are certain prosodic features of speech (e.g. pitch or tempo) that may be correlated to lying. This study focuses on these features in an attempt to decode deception. In an experiment with a representative sample of a university campus population, participants were asked to lie for science in a game of ‘Two Truths and a Lie’. Each participant’s speech was recorded while they constructed spontaneous truths and …

Early Documentation Of The Orang Seletar And Sugut Sungai Languages, Kevin Blissett, Dr. Dirk Elzinga

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The Orang Seletar and Sugut Sungai languages are endangered languages indigenous to Malaysia. With every generation there are fewer speakers of the language, and, perhaps more worryingly, the language is less frequently taught to children. It is increasingly urgent for linguists to document the languages before they vanish completely. The purpose of this project was to begin that documentation effort by translating a list of common vocabulary, known as the Swadesh list, into each of these two languages.

Corrections Around The World: An International Survey Of Oral Corrective Feedback, Andrew Bashford, Dr. Mark Tanner

Journal of Undergraduate Research

English teachers’ primary goal is to help their students use English as a means of communication, self-expression, and transaction. Of course, learning a second language is not a spontaneous process: it requires study, practice, and meaningful feedback. In fact, one of the teacher’s most essential roles is that of providing feedback to students, often in order to correct errors and guide the students’ learning. This current study deals with the feedback that teachers provide when their students make errors in speaking—oral corrective feedback, or OCF. While much work has been done to investigate the most effective ways of giving OCF …

Learning Armenian And English Pronunciation, Anna Mcconner-Hughes, Dr. Wendy Baker-Smemoe

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The purpose of this study is to examine the learning of English consonants by native Armenian speakers. In particular, we examined how the native Armenian speakers perceive and produce English voiced and voiceless ‘th’ sounds (as in the words thy and thigh (/ð/ and /θ/ in IPA)). These sounds are difficult for learners to acquire, in part because they are often confused with each other. The results of this study will help us better understand the relationship between first and second language sound systems and will hopefully lead to training materials to help native Armenian speakers better learn English.

The Mission As A Master Signifier: Documentary Film, Social Change And Discourse Analysis, Joseph Van Der Naald

Publications and Research

This field note explores the ways in which the documentary MIND ZONE: Therapists Behind the Front Lines (2014), directed by Dr. Jan Haaken, moves viewers into innovative and critical stances towards the U.S. military mental health program. Using a discourse analysis of the film and transcripts of interviews conducted by Haaken, I trace the deployment of the term “the mission” to show how the film teases apart problematic military discursive practices. Jacques Lacan’s theory of the four discourses is used to analyze how MIND ZONE’s content challenges audiences to produce their own critically informed opinions.

Empowering All Who Teach: A Portrait Of Two Non-Native English Speaking Teachers In A Globalized 21st Century, Rosa Dene David

Dissertations and Theses

One of most prevalent issues surrounding English education internationally is the differentiation between Native English-Speaking Teachers (NESTs) and Non-native English-Speaking Teachers (NNESTs). What is sometimes termed the "Native speaker fallacy" is the notion that in order to be a proficient teacher of the English language one must either be a native speaker or possess native like fluency (Phillipson, 1992). This position is furthered by Hollidays Native Speakerism (Holliday, 2006) which suggests that within the field of English Language Teaching (ELT) there is an assumption that NESTs are better equipped to teach English language learners due to language proficiency and Western …

Identity And Investment In The Community Esl Classroom, Jennifer Marie Sacklin

Dissertations and Theses

After Norton Peirce's (1995, Norton, 2000) groundbreaking work in conceptualizing identity as "multiple, changing, and contradictory," many researchers have explored language learners' identities. However, few studies of identity have been conducted within the "overlooked and understudied" (Mathews-Aydinli, 2008) context of adult community ESL (English as a Second Language), and even fewer studies have focused on LESLLA (low-educated second language and literacy acquisition) learners in mainstream community ESL programs.

This thesis, based on a case study of an adult LESLLA learner in a community ESL class, analyzes how this student's identity, the social context of her life, and the classroom space …

Training And Application Of Correct Information Unit Analysis To Structured And Unstructured Discourse, Audrey Bretthauer Cohen

Dissertations and Theses

Correct Information Units (CIU) analysis is one of the few measures of discourse that attempts to quantify discourse as a function of communicating information efficiently. Though this analysis is used reliably as a research tool, most studies' apply CIUs to structured discourse tasks and do not specifically describe how raters are trained. If certified clinical speech-language pathologists can likewise reliably apply CIU analysis within clinical settings to unstructured discourse, such as the discourse of people with aphasia (PWA), it may allow clinicians to quantify the information communicated efficiently in clinical populations with discourse deficits. Purpose: The purpose of this study …

The Role Of The Language Production System In Shaping Grammars., Dana Mcdaniel Phd, Cecile Mckee, Wayne Cowart Phd, Merrill F. Garrett

Faculty Publications

We argue for an extension of the proposal that grammars are in part shaped by processing systems. Our extension focuses on production, and we use that to explore explanations for certain subject/object asymmetries in extraction structures.

Talking Back, With Reawakened Voices: Analyzing The Potential For Indigenous California Languages Coursework At California Polytechnic State University, Logan Cooper

Ethnic Studies

The legacy of colonialism in the United States, including genocidal practices and cultural assimilation, has left Indigenous languages endangered. Native peoples, scholars, and activists have been working to revive and heal the languages of America’s first peoples, and the cultures those languages speak to, yet more work remains in the field of language revitalization. California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo currently does not offer any course specifically teaching or discussing Indigenous languages, even those of the Chumash people who know the San Luis Obispo area as their ancestral homelands.

By synthesizing revitalization and Indigenous activist literature with the narratives …

Establishing The Viability Of The Multidimensional Quality Metrics Framework, Tyler A. Snow

Theses and Dissertations

The Multidimensional Quality Metrics (MQM) framework is a new system for creating customized translation quality assessment and evaluation metrics designed to fit specific translation needs. In this study I test the viability of MQM to determine whether the framework in its current state is ready for implementation as a quality assessment framework in the translation industry. Other contributions from this study include: (1) online software for designing and using metrics based on the MQM framework; (2) a survey of the typical, real-world quality assessment and evaluation practices of language service providers in the translation industry; and (3) a measurement scale …

A Cultural Diffusion Model For The Rise And Fall Of Programming Languages, Sergi Valverde, Ricard V. Solé

Human Biology Open Access Pre-Prints

Our interaction with complex computing machines is mediated by programming languages (PLs) which constitute one of the major innovations in the evolution of technology. PLs allowed a flexible, scalable and fast use of hardware and are largely responsible for shaping the history of information technology since the rise of computers in the 1950s. The rapid growth and impact of computers was followed closely by the development of programming languages. As it occurs with natural, human languages, they emerged and got extinct. There has been always a diversity of coexisting PLs that somewhat compete among them, while occupying special niches. Here …

The Language And Cross-Cultural Perceptions Of Deception, Brent Logan Laing

Theses and Dissertations

While much research has shown that some linguistic features can indicate a person is lying, this line of research has led to conflicting results. Furthermore, very little research has been done to verify that these supposed linguistic features of deception are universal. In addition, few studies have researched the cross-cultural perceptions of deception, which knowledge could greatly improve the detection of deception across cultures. The current study addresses these gaps in the literature by analyzing and comparing truthful and deceptive discourse of eight native English-speaking Americans and eight non-native English-speaking Ghanaians. The discourse was elicited in one-on-one interviews where each …