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

Author(s):  
Helen Engemann

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.

Author(s):  
Jacqueline Laws ◽  
Anthony Attwood ◽  
Jeanine Treffers-Daller

Abstract This study explores the effects of instruction on the acquisition of motion event construal among learners of English as a second language. The challenge for learners with Verb-framed first languages is that they need to ‘unlearn’ the boundary-crossing constraint and conflate manner and motion in the main verb, as in she ran into the bank, however, there is little research on how this domain can be taught. We evaluate performance on story-telling productive tasks using three experimental treatments involving 1) an input-only approach based on the principles of Processing Instruction, 2) combined input and output training and 3) explicit information only about the target construction. The findings show that boundary-crossing constructions expressing manner can be taught and learning effects generalised to non-boundary-crossing structures not included in the training material. The effectiveness of input-only instruction persists over a two-week period, and compares positively with that of an input+output teaching package.


2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 272-296
Author(s):  
Youran Lin ◽  
Elena Nicoladis

Heritage language speaking children often show signs of attrition, particularly as they get older and are educated in the majority language of the society where they live. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that simplification is one process of attrition for heritage language speakers. We tested this hypothesis on the expression of motion events among children who are first language speakers of Mandarin Chinese and early second language speakers of English, the majority language in this community. We compared their motion expressions to those of monolingual Mandarin-speaking children living in mainland China. Two age groups were included: younger children (4-6 years, not yet in school) and older children (8-10 years; in school for two to five years). The children watched a cartoon and recounted the story. We coded the motion expressions used in their retellings. The results showed that the older bilingual children showed clear signs of attrition, particularly simplification, but also some signs of cross-linguistic influence from English. These results suggest that attrition in a heritage language can quickly follow the onset of schooling in the majority language.


Author(s):  
Nadia Miller ◽  
Reyhan Furman ◽  
Elena Nicoladis

Abstract Bilinguals sometimes show crosslinguistic influence from one language to another while speaking (or gesturing). Adult bilinguals have also shown crosslinguistic influence in gestures as well as speech, suggesting an underlying conceptualization that is similar for both languages. The primary purpose of the present study is to test if the same is true of simultaneous French-English bilingual children in speaking and gesturing about motion. If so, they might show different patterns from both French and English monolinguals. Furthermore, we examined whether there were developmental changes between early and middle childhood. French-English bilingual and French and English monolingual children watched two cartoons and described them. In speech, the bilinguals differed from the English monolinguals, using more lexicalizations of the Path of motion in token numbers but not in type. They did not differ from the French monolinguals. In gestures, all children used a majority of Path gestures. There were few age-related changes. We argue that in speech, the bilinguals conceptualize their two languages differently, but show some crosslinguistic influence due to processing. Gestures may not show this same pattern, because they serve to highlight the important parts of the discourse.


Diabetes ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 67 (Supplement 1) ◽  
pp. 1522-P
Author(s):  
CHRISTOPH H. SAELY ◽  
ALEXANDER VONBANK ◽  
CHRISTINE HEINZLE ◽  
DANIELA ZANOLIN ◽  
BARBARA LARCHER ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (6) ◽  
pp. 8-11
Author(s):  
Bakaev Zh. N.

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


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anat Gesser-Edelsburg ◽  
Munawar Abed Elhadi

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.


Viruses ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 500
Author(s):  
Zoltan Vajo ◽  
Gergely Balaton ◽  
Peter Vajo ◽  
Peter Torzsa

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.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Arian Ashourvan ◽  
Preya Shah ◽  
Adam Pines ◽  
Shi Gu ◽  
Christopher W. Lynn ◽  
...  

AbstractA major challenge in neuroscience is determining a quantitative relationship between the brain’s white matter structural connectivity and emergent activity. We seek to uncover the intrinsic relationship among brain regions fundamental to their functional activity by constructing a pairwise maximum entropy model (MEM) of the inter-ictal activation patterns of five patients with medically refractory epilepsy over an average of ~14 hours of band-passed intracranial EEG (iEEG) recordings per patient. We find that the pairwise MEM accurately predicts iEEG electrodes’ activation patterns’ probability and their pairwise correlations. We demonstrate that the estimated pairwise MEM’s interaction weights predict structural connectivity and its strength over several frequencies significantly beyond what is expected based solely on sampled regions’ distance in most patients. Together, the pairwise MEM offers a framework for explaining iEEG functional connectivity and provides insight into how the brain’s structural connectome gives rise to large-scale activation patterns by promoting co-activation between connected structures.


2012 ◽  
Vol 98 (3) ◽  
pp. S284
Author(s):  
B. Amorocho ◽  
G. Calderón ◽  
M. Mollá ◽  
D. Gumbao ◽  
J. Marcos ◽  
...  

Languages ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 88
Author(s):  
van Osch ◽  
García González ◽  
Hulk ◽  
Sleeman ◽  
Aalberse

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.


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