Parental numeric language input to Mandarin Chinese and English speaking preschool children

2010 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 341-355 ◽  
Author(s):  
ALICIA CHANG ◽  
CATHERINE M. SANDHOFER ◽  
LAUREN ADELCHANOW ◽  
BENJAMIN ROTTMAN
Keyword(s):  
Preschool Children ◽  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Mathematical Performance ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Language Input ◽  
Chinese And English ◽  
Syntactic Frames ◽  
Preschool Aged Children

ABSTRACTThe present study examined the number-specific parental language input to Mandarin- and English-speaking preschool-aged children. Mandarin and English transcripts from the CHILDES database were examined for amount of numeric speech, specific types of numeric speech and syntactic frames in which numeric speech appeared. The results showed that Mandarin-speaking parents talked about number more frequently than English-speaking parents. Further, the ways in which parents talked about number terms in the two languages was more supportive of a cardinal interpretation in Mandarin than in English. We discuss these results in terms of their implications for numerical understanding and later mathematical performance.

scholarly journals The Impact of Language Input on Deaf and Hard of Hearing Preschool Children Who Use Listening and Spoken Language

2018 ◽  
Vol 163 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronda Rufsvold ◽  
Ye Wang ◽  
Maria C. Hartman ◽  
Sonia B. Arora ◽  
Elaine R. Smolen
Keyword(s):  
Preschool Children ◽  
Hard Of Hearing ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Language Input ◽  
The Impact

scholarly journals A Contrastive Analysis of Chinese Humor and English Humor in Intercultural Communication

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 1595
Author(s):  
Sha Zhu
Keyword(s):  
Interpersonal Communication ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Cultural Communication ◽  
Contrastive Analysis ◽  
Cultural Backgrounds ◽  
Cross Cultural Communication ◽  
Transcultural Communication ◽  
Figure Of Speech ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Chinese And English

Humor plays an important role in daily life and also quite useful in interpersonal communication. Nowadays, the cross-cultural communication between the English-speaking countries and China becomes more and more frequent while some humor is difficult to appreciate with diverse cultural backgrounds. Therefore, this paper aims at analyzing the Chinese and English humor from their similarities, like the use of ambiguity and figure of speech, as well as differences, especially in functions, topics and ways of expression. Related causes are further discussed the differences. Hopefully, the findings will help to reduce the obstacles in understanding humor in different culture and promote transcultural communication in a delightful manner.

Accusative case in passives

Linguistics ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grant Goodall
Keyword(s):  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Double Object ◽  
Standard View ◽  
Accusative Case ◽  
Passive Construction ◽  
Chinese And English

Abstract The standard explanation for Ν Ρ movement in the passive construction has been that the N P must move into the nominative position because no accusative case is available. This paper examines the implications for this view of some double-object constructions in Mandarin Chinese and English that are ungrammatical as active clauses but improve significantly as passives. These facts are unexpected under the standard view of passives, but I suggest that they can be explained if we assume that the second object is not licensed for case in the active versions but is able to check accusative case in the passive version, thus arguing that accusative case is available in passive clauses.

Forward and backward transfer of sentence processing cues in English and Mandarin Chinese: A call for approximate replication of Liu, Bates, and Li (1992) and Su (2001)

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Stephen Skalicky ◽  
Victoria Chen
Keyword(s):  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Competition Model ◽  
Functional Explanation ◽  
L2 Proficiency ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
Processing Strategies ◽  
Forward Transfer ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Chinese And English

Abstract The Competition Model has served as a functional explanation of cross-linguistic influence and transfer for more than 30 years. A large number of studies have used the Competition Model to frame investigations of sentence processing strategies in different types of bilingual and multilingual speakers. Among the different bilingual speakers investigated, Mandarin Chinese and English bilinguals represent a clear testing ground for the claims of the Competition Model. This is because of purportedly stark contrasts in sentence processing strategies between the two languages. Previous studies investigating sentence processing strategies of English L2 and Mandarin L2 bilinguals suggests forward transfer of L1 cues to the L2, moderated by L2 proficiency. In this paper, we argue for replication of two of these studies, namely Liu, Bates, and Li (1992) and Su (2001). These studies continue to be cited today as evidence of differences between English and Mandarin sentence processing strategies which is in turn taken as support for the predictions of the Competition Model. However, both studies presented methodological limitations in terms of measures of proficiency, participant and stimuli selection, and the statistical analysis. We suggest approximate replication of both of these studies and provide suggestions for how such replications might be conducted.

Learning and Performance in a Verbal Paired-Associate Task with Preschool Children

1963 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 847-850 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louis E. Price
Keyword(s):  
Preschool Children ◽  
Paired Associate ◽  
Paired Associate Learning ◽  
Associate Learning ◽  
Paired Associate List ◽  
Anticipation Interval ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Preschool Aged Children ◽  
Learning And Performance

The aims of the present investigation were to explore the hypothesis that a short anticipation interval in verbal paired-associate learning affects performance rather than learning and to design a procedure suitable for preschool-aged children. One group of Ss received practice on a paired-associate list with a short anticipation interval while another group learned the same list with a longer anticipation interval. When the interval of the former group was increased, they performed as well as the latter group. The results suggest that the number of trials administered in a verbal paired-associate task is a better measure of learning than S's level of performance.

scholarly journals Acquisition of generic noun phrases in Chinese: learning about lions without an ‘-s’

2011 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 130-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
TWILA TARDIF ◽  
SUSAN A. GELMAN ◽  
XIAOLAN FU ◽  
LIQI ZHU
Keyword(s):  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Noun Phrases ◽  
Developmental Trajectory ◽  
Clear Distinction ◽  
Linguistic Differences ◽  
Chinese Learning ◽  
English Speaking

ABSTRACTEnglish-speaking children understand and produce generic expressions in the preschool years, but there are cross-linguistic differences in how generics are expressed. Three studies examined interpretation of generic noun phrases in three- to seven-year-old child (N=192) and adult speakers (N=163) of Mandarin Chinese. Contrary to suggestions by Bloom (1981), Chinese-speaking adults honor a clear distinction between generics (expressed as bare NPs) and other quantified expressions (‘all’/suo3you3 and ‘some’/you3de). Furthermore, Mandarin-speaking children begin to distinguish generics from ‘all’ or ‘some’ as early as five years, as shown in both confirmation (Study 2) and property-generation (Study 3) tasks. Nonetheless, the developmental trajectory for Chinese appears prolonged relative to English and this seems to reflect difficulty with ‘all’ and ‘some’ rather than difficulty with generics. Altogether these results suggest that generics are primary, and that the consistency of markings affects the rate at which non-generic NPs are distinguished from generics.

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