scholarly journals Predictive processes during simultaneous interpreting from German into English

Interpreting ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ena Hodzik ◽  
John N. Williams
Keyword(s):  
Language Processing ◽  
English Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Transitional Probability ◽  
Semantic Cues ◽  
Simultaneous Interpreting ◽  
Spoken Language Processing ◽  
Advanced Students ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
Predictive Processes

We report a study on prediction in shadowing and simultaneous interpreting (SI), both considered as forms of real-time, ‘online’ spoken language processing. The study comprised two experiments, focusing on: (i) shadowing of German head-final sentences by 20 advanced students of German, all native speakers of English; (ii) SI of the same sentences into English head-initial sentences by 22 advanced students of German, again native English speakers, and also by 11 trainee and practising interpreters. Latency times for input and production of the target verbs were measured. Drawing on studies of prediction in English-language reading production, we examined two cues to prediction in both experiments: contextual constraints (semantic cues in the context) and transitional probability (the statistical likelihood of words occurring together in the language concerned). While context affected prediction during both shadowing and SI, transitional probability appeared to favour prediction during shadowing but not during SI. This suggests that the two cues operate on different levels of language processing in SI.

scholarly journals Proficiency Differences in Syntactic Processing of Monolingual Native Speakers Indexed by Event-related Potentials

2010 ◽  
Vol 22 (12) ◽  
pp. 2728-2744 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Pakulak ◽  
Helen J. Neville
Keyword(s):  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
English Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Memory Span ◽  
Wide Spectrum ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
Proficiency Scores

Although anecdotally there appear to be differences in the way native speakers use and comprehend their native language, most empirical investigations of language processing study university students and none have studied differences in language proficiency, which may be independent of resource limitations such as working memory span. We examined differences in language proficiency in adult monolingual native speakers of English using an ERP paradigm. ERPs were recorded to insertion phrase structure violations in naturally spoken English sentences. Participants recruited from a wide spectrum of society were given standardized measures of English language proficiency, and two complementary ERP analyses were performed. In between-groups analyses, participants were divided on the basis of standardized proficiency scores into lower proficiency and higher proficiency groups. Compared with lower proficiency participants, higher proficiency participants showed an early anterior negativity that was more focal, both spatially and temporally, and a larger and more widely distributed positivity (P600) to violations. In correlational analyses, we used a wide spectrum of proficiency scores to examine the degree to which individual proficiency scores correlated with individual neural responses to syntactic violations in regions and time windows identified in the between-groups analyses. This approach also used partial correlation analyses to control for possible confounding variables. These analyses provided evidence for the effects of proficiency that converged with the between-groups analyses. These results suggest that adult monolingual native speakers of English who vary in language proficiency differ in the recruitment of syntactic processes that are hypothesized to be at least in part automatic as well as of those thought to be more controlled. These results also suggest that to fully characterize neural organization for language in native speakers it is necessary to include participants of varying proficiency.

The influence of increasing discourse context on L1 and L2 spoken language processing

2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 121-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
TATIANA KOHLSTEDT ◽  
NIVEDITA MANI
Keyword(s):  
Language Processing ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Contextual Information ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Discourse Context ◽  
Semantic Cues ◽  
Spoken Language Processing ◽  
Unknown Words ◽  
Language Context ◽  
L1 And L2

Using the visual world paradigm, we compared first, L1 and L2 speakers’ anticipation of upcoming information in a discourse and second, L1 and L2 speakers’ ability to infer the meaning of unknown words in a discourse based on the semantic cues provided in spoken language context. It was found that native speakers were able to use the given contextual cues, throughout the discourse, to anticipate upcoming linguistic input and fixate targets consistent with the input thus far, while L2 speakers showed weaker effects of discourse context on target fixations. However, both native speakers and L2 learners alike were able to use contextual information to infer the meaning of unknown words embedded in the discourse and fixate images associated with the inferred meanings of these words, especially given adequate contextual information. We suggest that these results reflect similarly successful integration of the preceding semantic information and the construction of integrated mental representations of the described scenarios in L1 and L2.

scholarly journals Understanding Aviation English: Challenges and Opportunities in NLP Applications for Indian Languages

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saptarshi Paul
Keyword(s):  
Natural Language ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
English Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Continuous Process ◽  
Indian Languages ◽  
Natural Languages ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
Aviation English

English is a language that is understood, spoken and used by citizens of a diverse array of countries. The speakers include both native and non-native speakers of English. NLP or Natural Language Processing on the other hand is a branch of computer science that deals with one of the most challenging aspect that a machine can process: dealing with Natural Languages. Natural languages which have evolved over centuries are complete, diverse and highly complex and thus are challenging for a computer system to understand and process. MT or Machine Translation is a more specific part of NLP that translates one natural language to another (English being one of the major researched and sought after languages among them). Though research in the field of NLP and MT has come a long way and many efficient translators are available, still Translation and other NLP applications in specialized domains such as aeronautics are still today a challenge for NLP researchers and developers to achieve. NLP applications are often used in education of English Language, and are therefore a continuous process for Non-Native speakers of English. Non-native English speakers take help of various NLP tools such as E-Dictionary, MT applications and others to better understand the English language and thus learn it better and faster. Aviation English poses a challenge to MT systems and understanding it as a whole requires specialized handling as it has own phonetic pronunciations and terminologies and constituent Out-Of-Vocabulary words. Dealing with Aviation English calls for teaming up of experts from Applied Linguistics, NLP and AI. As a result it becomes a cross-research discipline that covers situations that demand real time use of proper language, e.g. ATC communications. This Paper aims to discuss most recent research methodologies that deals with the Aviation English and reviews the problems posed by it. Being a specialized and structured form of English, the problems are faced by both native and non-native speakers of English Language. Discussion is carried out in the relevant and recent advances of methods in dealing with aviation English language challenges from both, the Human (ICAO/DGCA/AAI) as well as NLP angle. Lastly we have a look at how these challenges are linked to scope for development of applied technologies. Research in experiential Aviation English situations deals with both English for Specific Purposes - ESP (Aeronautics in our case) as well as situations in English as a Foreign Language i.e. EFL (English-Indian language pair).

Children With Cochlear Implants Use Semantic Prediction to Facilitate Spoken Word Recognition

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Christina Blomquist ◽  
Rochelle S. Newman ◽  
Yi Ting Huang ◽  
Jan Edwards
Keyword(s):  
Word Recognition ◽  
Target Word ◽  
Cochlear Implants ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Spoken Word Recognition ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Spoken Word ◽  
Semantic Cues ◽  
Matched Group ◽  
Spoken Language Processing

Purpose Children with cochlear implants (CIs) are more likely to struggle with spoken language than their age-matched peers with normal hearing (NH), and new language processing literature suggests that these challenges may be linked to delays in spoken word recognition. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether children with CIs use language knowledge via semantic prediction to facilitate recognition of upcoming words and help compensate for uncertainties in the acoustic signal. Method Five- to 10-year-old children with CIs heard sentences with an informative verb ( draws ) or a neutral verb ( gets ) preceding a target word ( picture ). The target referent was presented on a screen, along with a phonologically similar competitor ( pickle ). Children's eye gaze was recorded to quantify efficiency of access of the target word and suppression of phonological competition. Performance was compared to both an age-matched group and vocabulary-matched group of children with NH. Results Children with CIs, like their peers with NH, demonstrated use of informative verbs to look more quickly to the target word and look less to the phonological competitor. However, children with CIs demonstrated less efficient use of semantic cues relative to their peers with NH, even when matched for vocabulary ability. Conclusions Children with CIs use semantic prediction to facilitate spoken word recognition but do so to a lesser extent than children with NH. Children with CIs experience challenges in predictive spoken language processing above and beyond limitations from delayed vocabulary development. Children with CIs with better vocabulary ability demonstrate more efficient use of lexical-semantic cues. Clinical interventions focusing on building knowledge of words and their associations may support efficiency of spoken language processing for children with CIs. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.14417627

scholarly journals English as a Lingua Franca Approach: Implications and Limitations in Saudi English as a Foreign Language Classrooms

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (12) ◽  
pp. 96-104
Author(s):  
Samar Alharbi
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
English Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Lingua Franca ◽  
English As Foreign Language ◽  
The World ◽  
Language Classrooms ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
Foreign Language Classrooms ◽  
Global Language

English language considers a global language spoken by a majority of people around the world. It is a language used mainly for communication, trades and study purposes. This widespread of English language being wildly spoken lead to different varieties of English as a lingua franca (ELF) means that non native speakers of English still be able to communicate with each other. Using ELF as a legitimate variety of English in language classrooms is questioned by some researchers. This paper will provide an overview of the concept of ELF. It will also present implications and limitations of using ELF in Saudi English as foreign language classrooms.

scholarly journals Teaching English in India —The Use of Technologically Enhanced Realia in the Classroom

2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 149
Author(s):  
Priya K. Nair
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
English Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Teaching English ◽  
Job Market ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
Listening And Speaking ◽  
Speaking Skills

In India acquisition of English language is imperative if one wants to sell oneself in the increasingly competitive job market. With a booming population the nation is filled with educated, technologically literate youth. English is not merely a foreign language in India. As India is separated by a plethora of languages knowledge of English is imperative. As the teachers in India are not native speakers of English the language they teach is not free from errors. The articulation is quite problematic as the mother tongue influence is quite pronounced. Technology helps to reduce these errors. Movies as a tool can enhance the listening and speaking skills of our students. It is quite boring to work with disembodied voices and the recorded conversations available in language labs do not sustain the learner’s interest. However learners are often forced to listen to recorded conversations of people they never see, the conversation is often stilted and contemporary idiom is hardly used. However, a completely new dimension to aural practice can be added in the classroom by using movies. <br /><p><strong> </strong></p>

scholarly journals Syntactic Complexity in EFL and Native Learners' Undergraduate Thesis Abstracts

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Murniati Murniati
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
The United States ◽  
Syntactic Complexity ◽  
Syntactic Structures ◽  
Complex Sentences ◽  
Academic Texts ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
Academic Year ◽  
Undergraduate Thesis

<p>This research aims to find syntactic complexity of the abstracts in the undergraduate thesis written down by university learners in Indonesia and the ones written down by native speakers of English. The characteristics of syntactic complexity produced by Indonesian learners and the learners who are the native speakers should also be analyzed. It is possible to extend the type of syntactic complexity found in academic texts. In the end, those extensions should be characterized the English language used by Indonesian learners. The data is gained through downloading the abstracts of the undergraduate thesis in the academic year of 2015-2016 from the UBM English Department alumni database. The data regarding the abstracts written down by the native speakers is downloaded from the reputable universities in The United States of America. After that, the data is analyzed by making used of the syntactic analyzer by Lu &amp; Ai (2015). The results shows that the Indonesian learners tend to write more complex sentences and use subordination in the abstracts. The native speakers, on the other hands, tend to write longer sentences with longer T-Unit and clauses. They also tend to write complex nominal in the abstracts. The number of coordination used is similar between the ones written down by Indonesian learners and native speakers of English. <strong></strong></p><strong>Keywords:</strong> syntactic complexity, syntactic structures, undergraduate thesis, Indonesian learners

Towards a typology of linguistic and stylistic errors in scientific abstracts written by low-proficiency geoscience and mechanical engineering doctoral students in France

Fachsprache ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (3-4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony Saber ◽  
Audrey Cartron ◽  
Claire Kloppmann-Lambert ◽  
Céline Louis
Keyword(s):  
Doctoral Students ◽  
Writing Assessment ◽  
Mechanical Engineering ◽  
English Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Scientific Writing ◽  
Error Ratio ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
Traditional Grammar

To date, few studies have attempted to formulate typologies of errors by non-native speakers in English scientific writing. In this study of 123 doctoral dissertation abstracts written by doctoral students in France, we present a tentative typology of frequent errors that covers issues with general grammar, expert grammar and style. In order to specifically ascertain the errors made by students who experience very significant difficulties, the 123 items of our corpus were chosen after an initial review of 1018 abstracts because they demonstrated low linguistic and stylistic proficiency. The typology of errors was sought in support of an error identification exercise in the Scientific Writing Assessment Program (SWAP), an English language certification recently developed at ENS Paris-Saclay. Although some disciplinary variation was seen in the distribution of errors, a convergence towards six major error types (determiners, syntax, tense choice, compound phrases, collocations and lack of clarity) was observed (62.96% of all errors in geoscience, and 83.89% in mechanical engineering), suggesting that efforts to mitigate errors should primarily focus on these key issues. Another key finding was that, in contrast with previous studies, traditional grammar issues did not represent the bulk of overall errors (52.78% in geoscience and only 37.32% in mechanical engineering), while the overall frequency of stylistic errors was high in both corpora (30.25% in geoscience, 46.05% in mechanical engineering), showing the importance of errors in relation with genre-specific style. We propose a metric of error frequency, the Comprehensive Error Ratio or CER, to assess the overall quality of abstracts written by non-native speakers of English. In conclusion, we suggest that any typology of errors in ESP/EAP contexts results from a trade-off between seeking descriptive specificity and achieving the specific purposes for which a typology is developed.

scholarly journals Islamic English in Islamic Talks

2018 ◽  
Vol 150 ◽  
pp. 05081
Author(s):  
K. Othman ◽  
A. I. Ismail
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
English Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Analysis Method ◽  
Content Analysis Method ◽  
Native Speakers Of English

The international nature of the English language has affected many communities across the globe and this has led to the emergence of varieties of English, specifically to meet the needs of non-native speakers of English. For Muslim speakers, Islamic English has been proposed which aims to maintain Arabic terms in the English language when there is an absence of equivalent English words. An attempt to translate would lead to distortion in meanings. This paper aims to highlight the presence of Islamic English employed by a prominent international Islamic speaker. Content analysis method is employed. The findings indicate the functions of Islamic English in the speaker’s talks are to provide the accurate meaning of the terms, correct misconceptions and lack of equivalent word in the English language, hence the need for Islamic English for Muslim speakers of English.

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