Learning to construct sentences in Spanish: a replication of the Weird Word Order technique

AbstractIn the present study, children's early ability to organise words into sentences was investigated using the Weird Word Order procedure with Spanish-speaking children. Spanish is a language that allows for more flexibility in the positions of subjects and objects, with respect to verbs, than other previously studied languages (English, French, and Japanese). As in prior studies (Abbot-Smith et al., 2001; Chang et al., 2009; Franck et al., 2011; Matthews et al., 2005, 2007), we manipulated the relative frequency of verbs in training sessions with two age groups (three- and four-year-old children). Results supported earlier findings with regard to frequency: children produced atypical word orders significantly more often with infrequent verbs than with frequent verbs. The findings from the present study support probabilistic learning models which allow higher levels of flexibility and, in turn, oppose hypotheses that defend early access to advanced grammatical knowledge.

Download Full-text

Is More Always Better? Optimal Amounts of Feedback in Learning to Calibrate Sensory Awareness

The Occupational Therapy Journal of Research ◽

10.1177/153944929501500303 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 15 (3) ◽

pp. 181-197 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Tal Jarus

Keyword(s):

Motor Learning ◽

Relative Frequency ◽

Inverse Relationship ◽

Age Groups ◽

Low Frequency ◽

Knowledge Of Results ◽

Sensory Awareness ◽

Effective Performance ◽

Older Subjects ◽

Two Age Groups

Contrary to predictions from early views on motor learning, recent studies have shown that reduction of the relative frequency of feedback regarding the success in achieving a goal (knowledge of results = KR) depresses performance during acquisition; whereas, in retention and transfer tests, an inverse relationship is found between performance and KR. The present study investigated the effect of reduced relative frequency of KR on the ability to calibrate kinesthetic awareness of 90 healthy young and older subjects. Across three task versions of kinesthetic acuity, practice conditions of 100% KR were compared with 33% equally spread and 33% faded practice conditions. The results of this study show that reduced relative KR frequency depressed the performance of the older subjects but raised the performance of the younger subjects in the acquisition phase. In retention, reduced relative KR frequency produced more effective performance than 100% KR, with no difference between the two age groups or the two 33% KR frequency conditions. These results seem to imply that treatment of patients on the ability to calibrate sensory awareness is benefited by providing these patients with KR at a low frequency.

Download Full-text

Child L2 development of syntactic and discourse properties of Spanish subjects

Bilingualism Language and Cognition ◽

10.1017/s1366728909990447 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 13 (2) ◽

pp. 185-216 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

ELISABET PLADEVALL BALLESTER

Keyword(s):

Word Order ◽

Age Groups ◽

Control Groups ◽

Preference Judgment ◽

L2 Learners ◽

L2 Development ◽

Syntactic Properties ◽

Discourse Interface ◽

Free Word ◽

Two Age Groups

The apparent optionality in the use of null and overt pronominal subjects and the apparently free word order or distribution of preverbal and postverbal subjects in Spanish obey a number of discourse–pragmatic constraints which play an important role in Spanish L2 subject development. Although research on subject properties at the syntax–discourse interface has been conducted in adult L2A and bilingual L1A, child L2A has not been extensively explored in this respect. This paper explores the L2 development of syntactic and discourse properties of subjects by British child L2 learners of Spanish in the context of a Spanish immersion school and in three different age groups, namely five-, ten- and seventeen-year-old children whose age of first exposure was at four years old, and in three corresponding control groups. Research is carried out by means of grammaticality and preference judgment experimental tasks and results suggest that children can indeed acquire the syntactic properties of Spanish subjects, although not fully in the case of the first two age groups, while the acquisition of discourse properties seems to be delayed and remains problematic even for the older/more advanced group, as has been suggested for adult L2 learners.

Download Full-text

Concordance of Glucose-Based and of HbA1c-Based Diagnoses of Diabetes in Patients with Peripheral Artery Disease—A Comparison between Two Age Groups

Diabetes ◽

10.2337/db18-1522-p ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 67 (Supplement 1) ◽

pp. 1522-P

Author(s):

CHRISTOPH H. SAELY ◽

ALEXANDER VONBANK ◽

CHRISTINE HEINZLE ◽

DANIELA ZANOLIN ◽

BARBARA LARCHER ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Peripheral Artery Disease ◽

Age Groups ◽

Peripheral Artery ◽

Artery Disease ◽

Two Age Groups

Download Full-text

Foundation for the Prevention and Pathological Aspects of Diseases of the Mucous Membranes of the Oral Cavity (Review)

International Journal on Integrated Education ◽

10.31149/ijie.v3i6.392 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 3 (6) ◽

pp. 8-11

Author(s):

Bakaev Zh. N.

Keyword(s):

Oral Cavity ◽

Rural Women ◽

Rural Areas ◽

Southern China ◽

Age Groups ◽

Urban Residents ◽

Volgograd Region ◽

Mucous Membranes ◽

The Russian Federation ◽

Two Age Groups

According to the authors, the prevalence of SOPR diseases is from 3 to 20%.In a study of 1573 residents of southern China in two age groups who use tobacco and alcohol, the incidence of SOPR was higher among men living in rural areas compared to urban residents. Among women aged 35-44 years, the incidence was higher in urban women, and in the 65-77-year-old group in rural women. In the course of studies in Brazil, among 335 patients older than 60 years, 646 diseases of the SOPR were identified. Similar results were obtained in the analysis of SOPR diseases in the Volgograd region of the Russian Federation

Download Full-text

Internet Sex discourse and porn viewing by Arab adolescents: The overt and the covert and its impact on their sexual education and behavior (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.11667 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Anat Gesser-Edelsburg ◽

Munawar Abed Elhadi

Keyword(s):

Age Groups ◽

Sexual Education ◽

The Internet ◽

Traditional Values ◽

Sexual Discourse ◽

Cultural Taboos ◽

Internet Sex ◽

And Behavior ◽

Depth Interviews ◽

Two Age Groups

BACKGROUND Due to the religious proscription, it was found that Arab youths acquire information and view pornography secretly. The internet exposes them to contents that contradict religious and cultural taboos. There are few studies about viewing habits of sexual contents among Arab adolescents and about the way they discuss sexuality. OBJECTIVE to characterize the barriers and difficulties that prevent sexual discourse in Arab society and enable pornography viewing, according to the perceptions of adolescents and mothers. METHODS phenomological qualitative research methods, in-depth interviews with 40 participants. 20 Arab adolescents, sampled by two age groups: 14-16 and 16-18. In addition, 20 mothers of adolescents from both sexes were interviewed. RESULTS The findings indicate that mothers “turn a blind eye” to porn viewing and sexual activity by boys, versus a sweeping prohibition and denial of such behavior by girls. The boys reported viewing porn routinely, whereas girls denied doing so, but admitted that their girlfriends watched porn. The study also found that the boys have guilt feelings during and after the viewing as a result of the clash between modernity and traditional values. CONCLUSIONS It is necessary to find a way to encourage a significant sexual discourse to prevent the violent consequences of its absence in Arab society. A controlled, transparent and critical sexual discourse could help youth make more informed decisions concerning the search for sexual contents, porn viewing and sexual behavior.

Download Full-text

A Reduced Dose Whole Virion Aluminum Adjuvanted Seasonal Influenza Vaccine Is Immunogenic, Safe, and Well Tolerated in Pediatric Patients

Viruses ◽

10.3390/v13030500 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (3) ◽

pp. 500

Author(s):

Zoltan Vajo ◽

Gergely Balaton ◽

Peter Vajo ◽

Peter Torzsa

Keyword(s):

Pediatric Patients ◽

Geometric Mean ◽

Age Groups ◽

Aluminum Phosphate ◽

Vaccine Virus ◽

Serious Adverse Events ◽

Reduced Dose ◽

Viral Hemagglutinin ◽

Virus Strains ◽

Two Age Groups

Background: Data suggest that pediatric patients might react differently to influenza vaccination, both in terms of immunity and side effects. We have recently shown that using a whole virion vaccine with aluminum phosphate adjuvants, reduced dose vaccines containing 6 µg of viral hemagglutinin (HA) per strain are immunogenic, and well tolerated in adult and elderly patients. Here we show the results of a multicenter clinical trial of pediatric patients, using reduced doses of a new, whole virion, aluminum phosphate adjuvanted vaccine (FluArt, Budapest, Hungary). Methods: A total of 120 healthy volunteers were included in two age groups (3–11 years, receiving 3 µg of HA per strain, and 12–18 years, receiving 6 µg of HA per strain). We used hemagglutination inhibition testing to assess immunogenicity, based on EMA and FDA licensing criteria, including post/pre-vaccination geometric mean titer ratios, seroconversion and seropositivity rates. Safety and tolerability were assessed using CHMP guidelines. Results: All subjects entered the study and were vaccinated (ITT population). All 120 subjects attended the control visit on Day 21 (PP population). All immunogenicity licensing criteria were met in both age groups for all three vaccine virus strains. No serious adverse events were detected and the vaccine was well tolerated by both age groups. Discussion: Using a whole virion vaccine and aluminum phosphate adjuvants, a reduction in the amount of the viral hemmaglutinin is possible while maintaining immunogenicity, safety and tolerability in pediatric and adolescent patients.

Download Full-text

How (not) to cross a boundary: Crosslinguistic influence in simultaneous bilingual children's event construal

Bilingualism Language and Cognition ◽

10.1017/s1366728921000298 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-13

Author(s):

Helen Engemann

Keyword(s):

Production Process ◽

Age Groups ◽

Boundary Crossing ◽

Bilingual Children ◽

Activation Patterns ◽

Motion Event ◽

Co Activation ◽

Crosslinguistic Influence ◽

Event Construal ◽

Two Age Groups

Abstract Simultaneous bilingual children sometimes display crosslinguistic influence (CLI), widely attested in the domain of morphosyntax. It remains less clear whether CLI affects bilinguals’ event construal, what motivates its occurrence and directionality, and how developmentally persistent it is. The present study tested predictions generated by the structural overlap hypothesis and the co-activation account in the motion event domain. 96 English–French bilingual children of two age groups and 96 age-matched monolingual English and French controls were asked to describe animated videos displaying voluntary motion events. Semantic encoding in main verbs showed bidirectional CLI. Unidirectional CLI affected French path encoding in the verbal periphery and was predicted by the presence of boundary-crossing, despite the absence of structural overlap. Furthermore, CLI increased developmentally in the French data. It is argued that these findings reflect highly dynamic co-activation patterns sensitive to the requirements of the task and to language-specific challenges in the online production process.

Download Full-text

Effects of laser assisted hatching on IVF/ICSI cycles in two age groups

Fertility and Sterility ◽

10.1016/j.fertnstert.2012.07.1033 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 98 (3) ◽

pp. S284

Author(s):

B. Amorocho ◽

G. Calderón ◽

M. Mollá ◽

D. Gumbao ◽

J. Marcos ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Age Groups ◽

Assisted Hatching ◽

Two Age Groups

Download Full-text

The Development of Subject Position in Dutch-Dominant Heritage Speakers of Spanish: From Age 9 to Adulthood

Languages ◽

10.3390/languages4040088 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 4 (4) ◽

pp. 88

Author(s):

van Osch ◽

García González ◽

Hulk ◽

Sleeman ◽

Aalberse

Keyword(s):

Word Order ◽

Exploratory Study ◽

Heritage Language ◽

Age Groups ◽

Judgment Task ◽

Subject Position ◽

Bilingual Children ◽

Heritage Speakers ◽

Heritage Speakers Of Spanish ◽

Language Literature

This exploratory study investigates the knowledge of word order in intransitive sentences by heritage speakers of Spanish of different age groups: 9-year-olds, 13-year-olds and adults. In doing so, we aim to fill a gap in the heritage language literature, which, to date, has mainly focused on adult heritage speakers and preschool bilingual children. The results from a judgment task reveal that child- and adolescent heritage speakers do not entirely resemble monolingual age-matched children in the acquisition of subjects in Spanish, nor do they assimilate adult heritage speakers. The data suggest that several different processes can occur simultaneously in the acquisition of word order in heritage speakers: monolingual-like acquisition, delayed acquisition, and attrition. An analysis of the influence of extraneous variables suggests that most of these effects are likely to be the consequence of quantitatively reduced input in the heritage language and increased input in the majority language.

Download Full-text