Linguistics Commons^™

The Creative Process Of Two Indonesian Nft Artists From The Perspective Of Actor-Network Theory, Rendy Pandita Bastari, Idhar Resmadi, Wahyu Lukito

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

The development of crypto has resulted in NFT (non-fungible token) derivation. Artists began to explore the NFT market with its potential. NFT artists have different ways to get engagement and establish themselves in the world of NFT, whether in terms of artwork substance or in the social field. This study aims to deconstruct the actors behind NFT artists to elucidate the visual style and the social engagement of artists in the world of NFT. The method used in this study is a qualitative approach with data validation from interviews and NFT artwork samples. The data was subsequently processed using actor-network …

Differences In Code-Switching Between Chinese Heritage And Non-Heritage Learners In Computer-Mediated Communication, Feng Xiao, Cecilia Wade

Chinese Language Teaching Methodology and Technology

In the fields of bilingualism and second language (L2) acquisition, growing attention has been paid to code-switching in Chinese heritage learners , as they show how early linguistic and cultural influence affects language use. Most existing studies focused on balanced bilinguals but little has been done to understand the differences in code-switching between Chinese heritage and non-heritage learners. Moreover, no studies have focused on L2 code-switching in computer-mediated communication which has become a daily routine of many L2 learners after the COVID pandemic. To fill these gaps, the present study compared differences in code-switching instances between five Chinese heritage and …

Variation Of English Intensifiers With Formality On The Internet, Joshua Baumgarten

Theses - ALL

Intensifiers are a class of adverbs that are noted to change relatively rapidly when compared to other parts of English. Frequently, their role as intensifiers results from the process of grammaticalization in which they take on this emphatic function. Over time, certain intensifiers have adopted indexicality, often carrying connotations of informality and femininity. Very, on the other hand, stands out from the other most frequent intensifiers (really, pretty, and so) due to its classification as a formal intensifier, evidenced by its favored usage in formal speech and written text. In the present study, the perceived formality or informality of these …

Focus In Kenyan Maay, Chiara Di Maio

Theses - ALL

In this thesis, I describe and also analyze focus in Kenyan Maay, an under-described Cushitic language. Since focus in Somali, a closely related language, has been described and analyzed in detail, its characteristics are compared to focus in Kenyan Maay to develop its description and morphosyntactic analysis. Significant variation was observed between the two speakers I worked with, so my goal is to account for both varieties (Kenyan Maay Bu’aale and Kenyan Maay Baidoa).

Variation Of English Intensifiers With Formality On The Internet, Joshua Baumgarten

Theses - ALL

Intensifiers are a class of adverbs that are noted to change relatively rapidly when compared to other parts of English. Frequently, their role as intensifiers results from the process of grammaticalization in which they take on this emphatic function. Over time, certain intensifiers have adopted indexicality, often carrying connotations of informality and femininity. Very, on the other hand, stands out from the other most frequent intensifiers (really, pretty, and so) due to its classification as a formal intensifier, evidenced by its favored usage in formal speech and written text. In the present study, the perceived formality or informality of these …

Focus In Kenyan Maay, Chiara Di Maio

Theses - ALL

In this thesis, I describe and also analyze focus in Kenyan Maay, an under-described Cushitic language. Since focus in Somali, a closely related language, has been described and analyzed in detail, its characteristics are compared to focus in Kenyan Maay to develop its description and morphosyntactic analysis. Significant variation was observed between the two speakers I worked with, so my goal is to account for both varieties (Kenyan Maay Bu’aale and Kenyan Maay Baidoa).

Uncovering University Teachers' Perspectives: Conceptualizations, Factors, And Perceptions Of Second Language Learner Engagement, Eman I. M. Alzaanin

The Qualitative Report

Second language (L2) learner engagement has been a key theme in applied linguistics over the past two decades; however, teachers' voices have been largely absent from L2 learner engagement research. In addition, little is known about what learner engagement means to L2 language teachers. Through semi-structured, in-depth interviews, this study aims to capture the conceptualizations of learner engagement and the perceptions of the factors facilitating or hindering learner engagement in L2 learning in a Saudi university context, as expressed by 12 English as a Foreign Language university (EFL) teachers. The data analysis method used was inductive thematic analysis. The findings …

Technical Report: A Framework For Confusion Mitigation In Task-Oriented Interactions, Na Li, Robert J. Ross

Articles

Confusion is a mental state that can be triggered in task-oriented interactions and which can if left unattended lead to boredom, frustration, or disengagement from the task at hand. Since previous work has demonstrated that confusion can be detected in embodied situated interactions from visual and auditory cues, in this technique report, we propose appropriate interaction structures which should be used to mitigate confusion. We motivate and describe this dialogue mechanism through an information state-style policy with examples, and also outline the approach we are taking to integrate such a meta-conversational goal alongside core task-oriented considerations in modern data driven …

L2 Learners’ Pragmatic Output In A Face-To-Face Vs. A Computer-Guided Role-Play Task: Implications For Tblt, Veronika Timpe-Laughlin, Judit Dombi, Tetyana Sydorenko, Shoko Sasayama

Applied Linguistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Accomplishing oral interactive workplace tasks requires various language abilities, including pragmatics. While technology-mediated tasks are thought to offer many possibilities for teaching and assessing second language (L2) pragmatics, their effectiveness – especially those facilitated by an AI agent (artificial intelligence agent) – remains to be explored. This study investigated how 47 tertiary-level learners of English as a second language (ESL) performed on an oral interactive task that required them to make requests to their boss in two distinct modalities. Each participant completed the same task with a fully automated AI agent and with a human interlocutor in a face-to-face format. …

A Method For Generating A Non-Manual Feature Model For Sign Language Processing, Robert G. Smith Dr, Markus Hofmann Dr

Articles

While recent approaches to sign language processing have shifted to the domain of Machine Learning (ML), the treatment of Non-Manual Features (NMFs) remains an open question. The principal challenge facing this method is the comparatively small sign language corpora available for training machine learning models. This study produces a statistical model which may be used in future ML, rules-based, and hybrid-learning approaches for sign language processing tasks. In doing so, this research explores the emerging patterns of non-manual articulation concerning grammatical classes in Irish Sign Language (ISL). The experimental method applied here is a novel implementation of an association rules …

Semantico-Pragmatic Aspects Of The Metalinguistic Uses Of Comparatives In Mandarin Chinese And English, Meng Yang

Linguistics & TESOL Dissertations - Archive

This dissertation examines a group of Metalinguistic Comparatives (MCs) in Mandarin Chinese, exploring what they suggest about the universality of comparatives. I show that Chinese MCs encode a more fine-grained scalarity of the subjective attitude conveyed, which varies in orientation, i.e., positive or negative, and strength, i.e., subtle or strong. By analyzing their uses in conversational settings, I claim that MCs are pragmatical devices for speakers to reject or rectify an utterance. In examining the shared Chinese ‘than’ marker in both Negative MCs (NegMCs) and Rhetorical Comparatives (RCs), I show that both subtypes are comparatives with a contrastive and negative …

Double Tense Marking In L1 Spanish Speakers/L2 English Learners, Vianney Zuniga

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The present study examines the effects of Form Focused Instruction plus corrective feedback on "double-tense marking" (Al-Makatrah et al. ,2017; Cancino et al. 1967) in past tense negative statements and wh-questions among advanced L2 English speakers (Candry, 2013). These are learners who have reached the fourth stage of sentential negation, having acquired the auxiliary "do" and inflecting it in the past tense producing "did". Some advanced L1 Spanish speaking English learners inflect the verbs in structures in which the auxiliary "do" is already inflected for the past tense as in:

1. "I didn't knew about chemistry"

2. "When did he …

Dismantling Anti-Blackness In Teacher Education: Centering Black Epistemologies To (Re)Construct Elementary Language Arts Education For Linguistic And Racial Justice, Jasmyn Kymberly Jones

Teaching & Learning Theses & Dissertations

Black students and their linguistic resources are undervalued, disdained, disrespected, and disregarded in language arts classrooms. Not only is Black Language often ignored in English language arts instruction, but language more generally remains largely hidden within elementary ELA. Elementary ELA educators are tasked with teaching a vast array of skills, content, and concepts. So, teacher education programs are responsible for ensuring that preservice teachers leave prepared to take on the task of cultivating language arts classrooms that foster students’ literacy development. However, traditionally, literacy teacher education and the ELA curriculum has maintained white mainstream English as the standard for which …

An Analysis Of Communication-Related Information And Services Offered To Parents Of Deaf Children In Puerto Rico, Brenda Belcher

Capstone Collection

The period from birth to five years is a critical stage for human language acquisition, and inadequate access to language during this period can cause far-reaching negative effects. Young deaf and hard-of-hearing children face barriers to acquiring language through speaking and listening techniques, and their parents must make consequential decisions about what communicative strategies to pursue for their child. In Puerto Rico, information and support around communication approaches flow to parents from a variety of sources, including the Island’s local Early Hearing Detection & Intervention (EHDI) system, three dedicated schools for the deaf, and a variety of community-based organizations. This …

People And Power: Person-First Language Usage And The Criminal Justice System, Casey E. Orr

Amplify: A Journal of Writing-as-Activism

Language is power. Word choice and terminology, especially those referring to people, are expressions of societal norms and institutional power. Dehumanizing crime-first terms and labels are abundant and common in criminal justice contexts despite being protested by system-involved individuals and activists. Instead, many advocate for person-first terms wherein identifying language emphasizes an individual’s humanity. With a peace-focused anthropological framework, this paper presents the case for person-first language in criminal justice contexts. It is evident that adopting first-person language usage regarding the criminal justice system is necessary after analyzing and considering the multiple sources, such as the voices of those who …

Confronting The Political Economy Of Englishes In The Classroom, Katy Highet

International Journal for Research in Education

Despite celebratory discourses of Global English(es), scholars adopting political economic approaches have demonstrated the continued unequal distribution and valuation of English(es), and have shifted the focus to questions of unequal speakers in unequal conditions (Tupas, 2020). Drawing on ethnographic data from an English-teaching NGO for ‘disadvantaged’ young adults in Delhi, this paper seeks to contribute to political economic scholarship of English Language Teaching and Learning in two ways. In a first instance, I trace the shaping effects of class, caste and coloniality on how marginalised students orient themselves to notions of correctness and discursively reject fluid language practices. In a …

Lived Experiences Of Unequal Englishes Of Filipino Domestic Workers In Hong Kong, Nicanor L. Guinto

International Journal for Research in Education

In this paper, I investigate the lived experiences with English of Filipino domestic workers in Hong Kong from roughly 30 hours of recorded ethnographic interviews and fieldwork with 28 key participants talking about language in relation to their living and working experiences. Employing linguistic ethnographic approaches to analysis, I describe recurring accounts reflecting the tension between doing being an English-proficient and an English-deficient other: a tension that emanates from enabling and constraining sociolinguistic conditions in the workplace and the host society, and informed by participants’ experiences and education from their home country. I demonstrate how participants seem to discursively invoke …

Competing Targets In English Sibilant Imitation, Ivy Hauser, Emily Graham, Xinwen Zhang

Open Initiatives Grant Funded Publications-Archive

This study investigates imitation of English /s/ to determine whether speakers converge toward normalized or raw acoustic targets. Participants exposed to increased spectral mean (SM) raised SM, converging toward both the raw acoustics of the model talker (who had high baseline SM) and the pattern of increased SM. However, after exposure to decreased SM, direction of shift depended on participant baseline. All participants converged to the raw acoustic values of the model talker, increasing or decreasing their own SM accordingly. These results suggest imitation is not necessarily mediated by perceptual normalization to different talkers, and raw acoustics can be the …

A Computational Analysis Of Volodymyr Zelenskyy's Public Diplomacy Discourse In Times Of Crisis, Amber Brittain-Hale, Amber Brittain-Hale

Education Division Scholarship

In this study, we delve into the public diplomacy discourse of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during the ongoing crisis of the Russo-Ukrainian War. We aim to conduct a computational analysis of Zelenskyy's English, Russian, and Ukrainian speeches, exploring the linguistic patterns and code-switching employed in his discourse. The study period encompasses Russia’s build-up to and full-scale invasion of Ukraine from May 2019 to May 30, 2023. This time frame is crucial as it captures the dynamic development of the crisis and the expansion of Zelenskyy's presidency, providing a unique context for analyzing his public diplomacy efforts. By utilizing Linguistic Inquiry …

Individual Differences In Perspective-Taking During Language Comprehension, Kanan Benjamin Luce

Theses and Dissertations

Previous research has found mixed results for a link between executive function and perspective-taking. One proposed reason for this is that perspective-taking during comprehension tasks may not be internally reliable. This dissertation presents two large individual differences experiments with multiple perspective-taking during comprehension and executive function measures. We aimed to see (1) whether people were consistent in their ability to take perspectives during comprehension, (2) if the typical tasks used in this area were reliable, and (3) whether executive function measures predicted perspective-taking ability. We found a lack of reliability of some of the most commonly used perspective-taking during comprehension …