Catalan-Spanish bilingualism continuum

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 477-513 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvia Perpiñán
Keyword(s):  
Language Use ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Production Task ◽  
Dominant Group ◽  
Acquisition Process ◽  
Bilingual Group ◽  
Acceptability Judgment

Abstract This study investigates the expression of Catalan clitics en and hi, which have no grammatical equivalent in Spanish, in the adult grammar of Catalan-Spanish early bilinguals. Participants (N = 57), born and raised in Catalonia, are divided into 3 groups according to their onset of acquisition and language use: Spanish-dominant (n = 20), Balanced Bilinguals (n = 15) and Catalan-dominant (n = 22). The results of an Acceptability Judgment Task and an Elicited Production Task indicated that Spanish-dominant bilinguals have a divergent grammar compared to that of the Catalan-dominant speakers, overaccepting ungrammatical omission and doubling of the clitics. The bilingual group patterned with the Catalan-dominant group in some of their judgments, but with the Spanish-dominant group in their production. It is argued that onset of acquisition cannot be the only explanation for the differences between the bilingual groups, and that quantity and quality of input play an important role in the acquisition process.

scholarly journals Experimental testing of the left periphery

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jose Sequeros-Valle
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Testing ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Corpus Analysis ◽  
Left Periphery ◽  
Production Task ◽  
Discourse Function ◽  
New Model ◽  
Discourse Functions ◽  
Castilian Spanish ◽  
Acceptability Judgment

This manuscript presents an empirical description of the left periphery based on the performance of speakers of Castilian Spanish in a corpus analysis, an acceptability judgment task, and a scripted production task. The picture drawn by the three studies look as follows: First, clitic-doubled left dislocations (CLLD) fulfil multiple discourse functions, but the construction is not completely free from discourse restrictions. Second, canonical utterances are also able to fulfil CLLD’s discourse functions. Third, CLLD does not present distinctive intonational patterns depending on the discourse function. Fourth, there is partial evidence that focus fronting (FF) presents an intonational pattern different than that of CLLD. The concluding section of the manuscript calls from a new model of the left periphery.

scholarly journals Transfer Effects at the Syntax-Semantics Interface: The Case of Double-que Questions in Heritage Spanish

2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-89
Author(s):  
Alejandro Cuza ◽  
Joshua Frank
Keyword(s):  
Judgment Task ◽  
The Other ◽  
Production Task ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Level Of Use ◽  
The Us ◽  
Preference Task ◽  
Semantic Shift ◽  
Acceptability Judgment

This study examines the role of transfer from English in the acquisition of double-que questions in Spanish among 17 heritage speakers in the US. Results from an elicited production task, an acceptability judgment task and a preference task revealed significant difficulties in the production and acceptability of double-que questions. In contrast with interface vulnerability approaches suggesting no difficulties at the syntax-semantics interface, the participants showed a decreased level of use of double-que structures and no distinction in their acceptability of statements versus questions. However, results from the preference task showed sensitivity to double-que questions among 10 of 17 heritage speakers. It appears that only when the two structures are presented together were the heritage speakers able to perceive the semantic shift introduced by the double-que. The results suggest that transfer from the other language prevents the complete acquisition of these properties even at high levels of bilingual proficiency.

On the Learning of Auxiliary Use in the Referential Variety by Speakers of New Brunswick Acadian French

2008 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia Balcom
Keyword(s):  
New Brunswick ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
First Year ◽  
Production Task ◽  
Directed Motion ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Acadian French ◽  
University Level ◽  
The University ◽  
Acceptability Judgment

AbstractThis study investigates the learning of Referential French by speakers of Acadian French at the university level. One difference between the two varieties lies in their use of auxiliaries in compound tenses. In Acadian French,avoiris used categorically in compound tenses with verbs of inherently directed motion and pronominal verbs, while Referential French usesêtre. A controlled-production task and an acceptability judgment task were administered to 80 speakers of New Brunswick Acadian French who were students at a francophone university in New Brunswick, 40 first-year students and 40 fourth-year students. Results show that, while there is still variability in the fourth-year students’ auxiliary use, their performance is significantly closer to Referential French than that of the first-year students.

scholarly journals Can Frequency Account for the Grammatical Choices of Children and Adults in Nominal Modification Contexts? Evidence from Elicited Production and Child-Directed Speech

Languages ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 35
Author(s):  
Emanuela Sanfelici ◽  
Petra Schulz
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Production Rate ◽  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Spontaneous Speech ◽  
Production Task ◽  
Specific Context ◽  
High Production Rate ◽  
High Production ◽  
Acquisition Order

There is consensus that languages possess several grammatical variants satisfying the same conversational function. Nevertheless, it is a matter of debate which principles guide the adult speaker’s choice and the child’s acquisition order of these variants. Various proposals have suggested that frequency shapes adult language use and language acquisition. Taking the domain of nominal modification as its testing ground, this paper explores in two studies the role that frequency of structures plays for adults’ and children’s structural choices in German. In Study 1, 133 three- to six-year-old children and 21 adults were tested with an elicited production task prompting participants to identify an agent or a patient referent among a set of alternatives. Study 2 analyzed a corpus of child-directed speech to examine the frequency of passive relative clauses, which children, similar to adults, produced very often in Study 1. Importantly, passive relatives were found to be infrequent in the child input. These two results show that the high production rate of rare structures, such as passive relatives, is difficult to account for with frequency. We claim that the relation between frequency in natural speech and use of a given variant in a specific context is indirect: speakers may opt for the less grammatically complex computation rather than for the variant most frequently used in spontaneous speech.

scholarly journals Anxiety in autistic individuals who speak few or no words: A qualitative study of parental experience and anxiety management

Autism ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 136236132096236
Author(s):  
Joanne Tarver ◽  
Effie Pearson ◽  
Georgina Edwards ◽  
Aryana Shirazi ◽  
Liana Potter ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Intellectual Disability ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Assessment Tools ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Verbal Language ◽  
Parental Recognition

Anxiety is a common co-occurring condition in autism and impacts quality of life of autistic individuals and their families; autistic individuals who speak few or no words represent an under-researched group. This qualitative study aimed to understand more about parental recognition and management of anxiety in autistic individuals who speak few or no words. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with parents/carers of 17 autistic individuals (mage = 14.29) recruited from an existing participant database and social media adverts. Using thematic analysis, 15 themes were placed under three a-priori grand themes: parental recognition of anxiety; parental management of anxiety; and anxiety impact on the autistic individual and their family. Due to reduced verbal language use and overlap with other behaviours, parents described difficulties recognising anxiety in their child. However, they also described use of a number of management strategies, including some which overlap with components of evidence-based interventions for emotional and behavioural problems in autistic individuals (e.g. exposure/sensory calming). Despite this, parents reported that anxiety continues to have significant impact on quality of life. The findings of this study can help to inform the development of targeted intervention and assessment measures for anxiety in autistic individuals who speak few or no words. Lay abstract Anxiety is a common condition in autistic individuals, including those who also have an intellectual disability. Despite this, autistic individuals who have severe to profound intellectual disability, or use few or no words, are often excluded from autism research. There are also very few assessment tools and interventions with known effectiveness for autistic individuals with intellectual disability. In this study, we aimed to learn more about parent/carers experiences of recognising and managing anxiety in autistic individuals who use few or no words. We conducted semi-structured interviews with parents and carers to address three research questions: (1) what techniques and management strategies do parents describe for anxiety-related behaviour in their child; (2) how do communication difficulties impact parental understanding and management of anxiety provoking situations and behaviours; (3) what is the impact of anxiety-related behaviours on the quality of life of autistic individuals and their families? During the interviews, parents described difficulties recognising anxiety in their child, mostly due to reduced verbal language use and anxiety behaviours overlapping with other behaviours (e.g. autism characteristics). However, parents also described use of a number of management strategies, including some which overlap with components of evidence-based interventions for emotional and behavioural problems in autistic individuals (e.g. exposure/sensory calming). Despite this, parents reported that anxiety continues to have significant impact on quality of life. We will use the findings of this study to inform future research to develop assessment tools and interventions for anxiety in autistic individuals who use few or no words.

Human Factors Engineering Planning Aid

1987 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 350-352
Author(s):  
Stephen C. Merriman
Keyword(s):  
Complex System ◽  
Human Factors ◽  
Human Factors Engineering ◽  
Planning Time ◽  
Acquisition Process ◽  
Engineering Program ◽  
System Acquisition ◽  
The Military ◽  
Made In

This paper describes the application of affordable program management software to the task of planning human factors programs conducted in support of complex system developments. A model of the military system acquisition process was developed and a model human factors engineering program was overlayed upon it. Interdependencies were created between the models so that changes made in the acquisition schedule would cause the human factors program to be automatically tailored. This approach has potential to reduce planning time and increase the quality of human factors plans.

scholarly journals Een kritische kijk op krantendiscours over Kenia’s crisis

1970 ◽  
Vol 65 ◽  
pp. 79-101
Author(s):  
Roel Coesemans
Keyword(s):  
Language Use ◽  
News Discourse ◽  
News Events ◽  
Nuanced Understanding

A comparison between Belgian and Kenyan newspaper reports about the postelection crisisin Kenya shows that the same news events are reported from different frames of meaning.This is partly due to differing worldviews on which the news discourse is based, andthe various perspectives from which the events are interpreted, resulting in differentimplicit meanings. These can be studied to evaluate the quality of the reporting. The Kenyanpress focuses on the socio-political aspects of the conflicts involved, while the Belgiannewspaper coverage emphasizes the ethnic aspect. Both can be criticized. However, bycombining the interpretive analyses of newspaper language use with contextual explanationsderived from ethnographic information, such as interviews or editorial guidelines, abetter and more nuanced understanding of both national and international newspaper coveragecan be reached.

scholarly journals SEASONAL BIOLOGICAL WATER QUALITY ASSESSMENT OF RIVER KSHIPRA USING BENTHIC MACRO-INVERTEBRATES

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (9SE) ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Akhand Archna ◽  
Shrivastava Sharad ◽  
Akhand Pratibha
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
River Water ◽  
Benthic Fauna ◽  
Water Quality Assessment ◽  
Seasonal Abundance ◽  
Dominant Group ◽  
Biological Water ◽  
Water Quality Status ◽  
Biological Water Quality

The water quality of River Kshipra in stretch of 195 km was studied for water quality status using benthic macro invertebrates for all three seasons’ monsoon, winter and summer. The River water quality is subject to severe domestic and industrial pollution at compete stretch of River. In the present investigation a total of 13 Orders of macrobenthic fauna i.e. Ephemeroptera, Trichoptera, Placoptera, Coleoptera, Hemiptera, Odonata, Crustacea, Diptera, Pulmonata, Operculata, Pulmonata, Oligochaeta and Hirudinea belong to 3 Phylum’s Arthropoda, Mollusca and Annelida were reported. Arthropoda was the most dominant group in all seasons. On seasonal comparison of benthic fauna is observe that abundance were decreasing order were, Winter > Monsoon > summer. To monitor the water quality samples from two years (2010-12) from different stations were collected monthly. The works highlighted the condition of the River water in various seasons with respect of the seasonal abundance of the benthic macro-invertebrates organisms mentioned above.

scholarly journals Intonational effects on English scopally-ambiguous sentences

2020 ◽  
Vol 73 (3) ◽  
pp. 13-36
Author(s):  
Mien-Jen Wu ◽  
Tania Ionin
Keyword(s):  
Native English Speakers ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Subject Position ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Universal Quantifier ◽  
Sentential Negation ◽  
Prior Literature ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Acceptability Judgment

This paper examines the effect of intonation contour on two types of scopally ambiguous constructions in English: configurations with a universal quantifier in subject position and sentential negation (e.g., Every horse didn’t jump) and configurations with quantifiers in both subject and object positions (e.g., A girl saw every boy). There is much prior literature on the relationship between the fall-rise intonation and availability of inverse scope with quantifier-negation configurations. The present study has two objectives: (1) to examine whether the role of intonation in facilitating inverse scope is restricted to this configuration, or whether it extends to double-quantifier configurations as well; and (2) to examine whether fall-rise intonation fully disambiguates the sentence, or only facilitates inverse scope. These questions were investigated experimentally, via an auditory acceptability judgment task, in which native English speakers rated the acceptability of auditorily presented sentences in contexts matching surface-scope vs. inverse-scope readings. The results provide evidence that fall-rise intonation facilitates the inverse-scope readings of English quantifier-negation configurations (supporting findings from prior literature), but not those of double-quantifier configurations.

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