Mandarin-speaking three-year-olds' demonstration of productive knowledge of syntax: evidence from syntactic productivity and structural priming with the SVO-ba alternation

2013 ◽  
Vol 41 (5) ◽  
pp. 1115-1146 ◽  
Author(s):  
DONG-BO HSU
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
Order Effects ◽  
Structural Priming ◽  
Input Frequency ◽  
Early Acquisition ◽  
Mandarin Speakers

ABSTRACTTwo studies investigated syntactic productivity in three-year-old Mandarin speakers' use of verbs in the SVO and SbaOV constructions. In Study 1, children were taught novel verbs in one construction and assessed for their production in the other construction. Children produced verbs taught in the ba constructions in SVO utterances, but showed order effects when producing verbs taught in SVO constructions in ba utterances. In Study 2, children described animated scenes either with structural priming (i.e., after hearing verbs in SVO or ba constructions). Children demonstrated structural priming, producing more SVO and ba utterances, respectively, directly after hearing verbs in these constructions. These results indicate that Mandarin speaking three-year-olds demonstrate productive knowledge of both SVO and SbaOV constructions. Their ability to override the predominant input frequency of SVO runs counter to a purely usage-based account of early acquisition of grammar.

The United States and Iran

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ray Takeyh
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
National Security ◽  
Decision Maker ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Other ◽  
Order Effects ◽  
Optimal Outcome ◽  
Third Order ◽  
National Interests ◽  
Taking Action

Implementing deterrent and compellent strategies are among the most critical tasks of the national security decision maker. However, as the case of U.S.-Iranian relations since 1979 demonstrates, deterring another state from taking action—especially if it considers those steps to be in its national interests—or compelling it to adopt policies in line with one’s own preferences but which represent a setback to the goals of the other state can be a difficult proposition. In addition, the Iran relationship demonstrates howthe use of deterrent and compellent instruments must be weighed against costs and other second- and third-order effects which may cause the policymaker to accept a less than optimal outcome in order to avoid greater complications in other areas.

Second language speakers’ awareness of their own comprehensibility

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 347-373
Author(s):  
Lauren Strachan ◽  
Sara Kennedy ◽  
Pavel Trofimovich
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
The Other ◽  
Task Repetition ◽  
Self Assessment ◽  
Five Dimensions ◽  
Second Language Speakers ◽  
Self Assessments ◽  
Mandarin Speakers ◽  
Task Content

Abstract This study investigated whether second language (L2) speakers are aware of and can manipulate aspects of their speech contributing to comprehensibility. Forty Mandarin speakers of L2 English performed two versions of the same oral task. Before the second task, half of the speakers were asked to make their speech as easy for the interlocutor to understand as possible, while the other half received no additional prompt. Speakers self-assessed comprehensibility after each task and were interviewed about how they improved their comprehensibility. Native-speaking listeners evaluated speaker performances for five dimensions, rating speech similarly across groups and tasks. Overall, participants did not become more comprehensible from task 1 to task 2, whether prompted or not, nor did speakers’ self-assessments become more in line with raters’, indicating speakers may not be aware of their own comprehensibility. However, speakers who did demonstrate greater improvement in comprehensibility received higher ratings of flow, and speakers’ self-ratings of comprehensibility were aligned with listeners’ assessments only in the second task. When discussing comprehensibility, speakers commented more on task content than linguistic dimensions. Results highlight the roles of task repetition and self-assessment in speakers’ awareness of comprehensibility.

Adverbial clauses and V3

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (s3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva Csipak
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Speech Act ◽  
The Other ◽  
Order Effects ◽  
Matrix Clause ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Pragmatic Analysis ◽  
The Matrix ◽  
Adverbial Clauses ◽  
Biscuit Conditionals

AbstractThis paper discusses word order effects in German adverbial clauses: often, the matrix clause can exhibit either V2 or V3 word order. I argue that adverbial clauses with V3 word order have an obligatory ‘biscuit’ interpretation and receive a speech act modifying interpretation, as has previously only been argued for ‘biscuit conditionals’. I show that this phenomenon holds more generally. On the other hand, a pragmatic analysis for V2 biscuit conditionals remains necessary.

An Energy Method for Certain Second-Order Effects With Application to Torsion of Elastic Bars Under Tension

1980 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. T. Shield
Keyword(s):  
Axial Force ◽  
Strain Energy Function ◽  
Incompressible Material ◽  
Elastic Cylinder ◽  
Second Order ◽  
The Other ◽  
Circular Cylinders ◽  
Order Effects ◽  
First Order ◽  
Wide Range

When a mechanical system has a potential energy, it is a simple matter to show that if the generalized force corresponding to a coordinate p is known to first order in p for a range of the other coordinates of the system, then the other generalized forces can be found immediately to second order in p, without requiring a second-order analysis of the system. By this method the second-order change in the axial force when a finitely extended elastic cylinder is twisted is found from the first-order value of the twisting moment. Numerical results for a realistic form of the strain-energy function for an incompressible material suggest that the second-order expression for the axial force is very accurate for a wide range of twist for circular cylinders of rubber-like materials extended 100 percent or more.

Relationships between parental input frequencies and children's language acquisition: a reanalysis of Brown's data

1980 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ernst L. Moerk
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
The Other ◽  
Significant Variable ◽  
Input Frequency ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Prepositional Phrases ◽  
Parent Child Interactions ◽  
Parental Input ◽  
Short Term Effects ◽  
Parent Child

ABSTRACTTo evaluate Brown's assertion that frequency of input is not a significant variable in language acquisition, some of Brown's data were reanalysed. The data pertaining to Adam, Eve, Sarah and their parents were predominantly obtained from Brown's (1973) book and were supplemented from the transcripts. Parental input frequency and the children's age at mastery were highly related for each of the three triads. Then Sarah's input and rate of language acquisition were compared with that of the other two children. The correlation between Sarah's relative input deprivation and her relative linguistic delay was 0·66. Finally, an analysis of Eve's acquisition of specific prepositional phrases involving the preposition in were made. Again it was found that frequency of input was highly related to frequency of production. Detailed analyses of parent-child interactions provided evidence also for short-term effects of input frequency.

scholarly journals Frustrated order by disorder: The pyrochlore anti-ferromagnet with bond disorder

2001 ◽  
Vol 79 (11-12) ◽  
pp. 1365-1371 ◽  
Author(s):  
L Bellier-Castella ◽  
M JP Gingras ◽  
P CW Holdsworth ◽  
R Moessner
Keyword(s):  
Ground State ◽  
Energy Landscape ◽  
Matter Mater ◽  
Higher Order ◽  
The Other ◽  
Order Effects ◽  
Weak Bond ◽  
Ground State Degeneracy ◽  
Higher Order Effects ◽  
Substantial Degree

The classical Heisenberg anti-ferromagnet on the pyrochlore lattice is macroscopically and continuously degenerate and the system remains disordered at all temperatures, even in the presence of weak dilution with nonmagnetic ions. We show that, in contrast, weak-bond disorder lifts the ground-state degeneracy in favour of locally collinear spin configurations. We present a proof that for a single tetrahedron the ground state is perfectly collinear but identify two mechanisms that preclude the establishment of a globally collinear state; one due to frustration and the other due to higher order effects. We thus obtain a rugged energy landscape, which is necessary to account for the glassy phenomena found in real systems such as the pyrochlore Y2Mo2O7 recently reported by Booth et al. (Phys. Rev. B: Condens. Matter Mater. Phys. 62, R755 (2000).) to contain a substantial degree of bond disorder. PACS Nos.: 75.10.Hk, 75.40.Mg, 75.40.Gb

The basic continuity hypothesis of L1 to L2 production

2017 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 275-308 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Romano
Keyword(s):  
First Language ◽  
Sentence Production ◽  
The Other ◽  
Structural Priming ◽  
Production Task ◽  
Continuity Hypothesis ◽  
Syntactic Representation ◽  
L2 Production ◽  
L1 And L2 ◽  
L1 English

To what extent can second language (L2) speakers acquire a syntactic representation for an L2 structure absent in the first language (L1)? Findings from L2 structural priming studies are in conflict inasmuch as evidence for and against continuity between L1 and L2 sentence production has been shown. Furthermore, previous investigations have not adequately controlled for well-known animacy effects on choice of syntactic frames. I address the conflict of views in the field via three experiments of structural priming with native, Chinese, and Turkish speakers of English by means of an oral sentence-recall production task. The structure tested, the English genitive alternation, is subject to animacy effects as in the waiter’s photo / the photo of the waiter. Chinese and Turkish have no equivalent to English of genitives nor animacy effects in their genitive structure. Experiment 1 showed priming within-L1 English and found evidence of an animacy effect, albeit only numerical. Likewise, Experiment 2 showed priming within-L2 English and found the L1 Chinese were similarly susceptible to animacy effects. Experiment 3 also showed clear within-L2 English priming in Turkish speakers but the effects of animacy differed from the other groups. I argue the similarities between the native and L2 groups to constitute grounds for a basic continuity in L1 to L2 production.

scholarly journals Perception of gesturally different Mandarin retroflexes by Taiwan Mandarin speakers

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhe-chen Guo
Keyword(s):  
Acoustic Analysis ◽  
The Other ◽  
Taiwan Mandarin ◽  
Pedagogical Implication ◽  
Perceptual Difference ◽  
Mandarin Speakers ◽  
First Moment

This paper reports results from a study investigating whether there is a perceptual difference between gesturally different Mandarin retroflexes. Previous studies have suggested that there are two articulatory manners for Mandarin retroflexes: One involves the tongue tip being “curled-up,” and the other the tongue body being “bunched-up.” Thus, by implementing a perception test on Taiwan Mandarin listeners and an acoustic analysis, the research determines whether retroflexes produced with these gestures will be perceived differently. The resultsdings then show that “curled-up” and “bunched-up” retroflexes are not perceptually contrastive at a phonological level. However, the latter are perceived to be phonetically more retroflexed, with such property of stronger retroflexion reflected in their lower M1 (first moment) values. These findings yield one pedagogical implication. The teaching of retroflex articulations can be made reference to the gesture with which Mandarin learners can produce with more ease.

L1 Korean and L1 Mandarin L2 English learners’ acquisition of the count/mass distinction in English

2017 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 147-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sea Hee Choi ◽  
Tania Ionin ◽  
Yeqiu Zhu
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
English Learners ◽  
The Other ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
L1 Transfer ◽  
Plural Marking ◽  
Mandarin Speakers

This study investigates the second language (L2) acquisition of the English count/mass distinction by speakers of Korean and Mandarin Chinese, with a focus on the semantics of atomicity. It is hypothesized that L1-Korean and L1-Mandarin L2-English learners are influenced by atomicity in the use of the count/mass morphosyntax in English. This hypothesis is tested in two experiments, one comparing Korean and Mandarin speakers in their L2 (English) and the other investigating count/mass morphosyntax in native Korean and Mandarin Chinese. In both experiments, participants are tested on their suppliance of plural marking with count and mass NPs. The findings are fully consistent with the view of atomicity as a semantic universal: learners overuse plural marking with mass atomic nouns such as furniture more than with mass non-atomic nouns such as water. Even though plural marking is associated with atomicity in Korean but not in Mandarin, the same patterns are observed in L1-Korean and L1-Mandarin L2-English learners. We conclude that learners’ performance is not due to L1-transfer, but rather to the role of the semantic universal of atomicity in L2-acquisition.

Distributive Effects of the Crisis in the European Periphery

2018 ◽  
pp. 133-153
Author(s):  
Manos Matsaganis ◽  
Chrysa Leventi
Keyword(s):  
Social Protection ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
The Other ◽  
Order Effects ◽  
Microsimulation Model ◽  
Income Groups ◽  
European Periphery ◽  
The One ◽  
Household Incomes

This chapter aims to provide an assessment of the distributional implications of the economic crisis in Greece, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Latvia, Lithuania, and Romania in the period 2009−2013. On the one hand, the recession has caused unemployment to rise and household incomes to fall, which are both changes that raise the demand for social protection. On the other hand, austerity policies and program reforms affect the capacity of welfare states to provide social protection. We use a microsimulation model to disentangle the first-order effects of tax–benefit policies from the overall effects of the crisis. Moreover, we estimate how the burden of the crisis has been shared across income groups and how the differential impact of the crisis may have altered the composition of the population in poverty. We conclude by discussing the methodological pitfalls and policy implications of our research.

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