Processing ‘Gender-neutral’ Pronouns: A Self-paced Reading Study of Learners of English

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (5) ◽  
pp. 793-815 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lydia Gabriela Speyer ◽  
Erik Schleef
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Relative Strength ◽  
Production Data ◽  
L2 Proficiency ◽  
Online Processing ◽  
Developmental Progression ◽  
Optimistic Picture ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Reading Study ◽  
Over Time

Abstract This article explores the online processing of singular he and she and singular they by learners of English to discover whether singular they presents a processing problem for non-native speakers (NNSs). It also examines the extent to which such issues may vary as a function of L2 proficiency at B2, C1, and C2 levels. A self-paced reading study was conducted with 51 students at an Austrian university. Results were compared with a similar study based on data collected from native speakers. We found advanced NNSs matching those of native speakers in almost all respects, and we present some evidence for developmental progression in how he, she, and they are processed. Pronoun-specific details are built up over time, and we suggest their relative strength depends on the robustness of the input. We provide self-reported production data to support this argument. This study paints a very optimistic picture of the acquisition of singular they at B2 and higher proficiency levels, as it can be acquired even under circumstances of later familiarization.

scholarly journals Does L2 Proficiency Impact L2-L1 Transfer While Reading L1 Collocations? Evidence From Behavioral and ERP Data

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agnieszka Otwinowska ◽  
Marta Marecka ◽  
Alba Casado ◽  
Joanna Durlik ◽  
Jakub Szewczyk ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Language Processing ◽  
English Proficiency ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
L2 Proficiency ◽  
Brain Response ◽  
L1 Transfer ◽  
Online Processing ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
English Verb

Multi-word expressions (MWEs) are fixed, conventional phrases often used by native speakers of a given language (L1). The type of MWEs investigated in this study were collocations. For bilinguals who have intensive contact with the second language (L2), collocational patterns can be transferred from the L2 to the L1 as a result of cross-linguistic influence (CLI). For example, bilingual migrants can accept collocations from their L2 translated to their L1 as correct. In this study, we asked whether such CLI is possible in native speakers living in the L1 environment and whether it depends on their L2 English proficiency. To this end, we created three lists of expressions in Polish: (1) well-formed Polish verb-noun collocations (e.g., ma sens – ∗has sense), (2) collocational calques from English (loan translations), where the English verb was replaced by a Polish translation equivalent (e.g., ∗robi sens – makes sense), and, as a reference (3) absurd verb-noun expression, where the verb did not collocate with the noun (e.g., ∗zjada sens – ∗eats sense). We embedded the three types of collocations in sentences and presented them to L1 Polish participants of varying L2 English proficiency in two experiments. We investigated whether L2 calques would (1) be explicitly judged as non-native in the L1; (2) whether they would evoke differential brain response than native L1 Polish equivalents in the event-related potentials (ERPs). We also explored whether the sensitivity to CLI in calques depended on participants’ level of proficiency in L2 English. The results indicated that native speakers of Polish assessed the calques from English as less acceptable than the correct Polish collocations. Still, there was no difference in online processing of correct and calques collocations as measured by the ERPs. This suggests a dissociation between explicit offline judgments and indices of online language processing. Interestingly, English L2 proficiency did not modulate these effects. The results indicate that the influence of English on Polish is so pervasive that collocational calques from this language are likely to become accepted and used by Poles.

Globalization and interconfessional communications

2001 ◽  
pp. 13-17
Author(s):  
Serhii Viktorovych Svystunov
Keyword(s):  
21St Century ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Modern World ◽  
The World ◽  
Target Set ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Rapid Appearance

In the 21st century, the world became a sign of globalization: global conflicts, global disasters, global economy, global Internet, etc. The Polish researcher Casimir Zhigulsky defines globalization as a kind of process, that is, the target set of characteristic changes that develop over time and occur in the modern world. These changes in general are reduced to mutual rapprochement, reduction of distances, the rapid appearance of a large number of different connections, contacts, exchanges, and to increase the dependence of society in almost all spheres of his life from what is happening in other, often very remote regions of the world.

scholarly journals Pyrite (FeS2)-supported ultrafiltration system for removal of mercury (II) from water

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dong Suk Han ◽  
Kawsher M. D. Solayman ◽  
Ho Kyong Shon ◽  
Ahmed Abdel-Wahab
Keyword(s):  
Membrane Filter ◽  
Pyrite Surface ◽  
Ph Change ◽  
Filtration Process ◽  
Sem Images ◽  
Flux Decline ◽  
Cake Layer ◽  
Water Effects ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Over Time

AbstractThis study investigated the Hg(II) removal efficiencies of the reactive adsorbent membrane (RAM) hybrid filtration process, a removal process that produces stable final residuals. The reaction mechanism between Hg(II) and pyrite and the rejection of the solids over time were characterized with respect to flux decline, pH change, and Hg and Fe concentration in permeate water. Effects of the presence of anions (Cl−, SO42−, NO3−) or humic acid (HA) on the rejection of the Hg(II)-contacted pyrite were studied. The presence of both HA and Hg(II) increased the rate of flux decline due to the formation of irreversible gel-like compact cake layers as shown in the experimental data and modeling related to the flux decline and the SEM images. Stability experiments of the final residuals retained on the membrane using a thiosulfate solution (Na2S2O3) show that the Hg(II)-laden solids were very stable due to little or no detection of Hg(II) in the permeate water. Experiment on the possibility of continuously removing Hg(II) by reusing the Hg/pyrite-laden membrane shows that almost all Hg(II) was adsorbed onto the pyrite surface regardless of the presence of salts or HA, and the Hg(II)-contacted pyrite residuals were completely rejected by the DE/UF system. Therefore, a membrane filter containing pyrite-Hg(II) could provide another reactive cake layer capable of further removal of Hg(II) without post-chemical treatment for reuse.

scholarly journals Lexical correlates of comprehensibility versus accentedness in second language speech

2015 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 597-609 ◽  
Author(s):  
KAZUYA SAITO ◽  
STUART WEBB ◽  
PAVEL TROFIMOVICH ◽  
TALIA ISAACS
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
L2 Proficiency ◽  
Surface Level ◽  
Proficiency Levels ◽  
Lexical Content ◽  
Lexical Factors

The current project investigated the extent to which several lexical aspects of second language (L2) speech – appropriateness, fluency, variation, sophistication, abstractness, sense relations – interact to influence native speakers’ judgements of comprehensibility (ease of understanding) and accentedness (linguistic nativelikeness). Extemporaneous speech elicited from 40 French speakers of English with varied L2 proficiency levels was first evaluated by 10 native-speaking raters for comprehensibility and accentedness. Subsequently, the dataset was transcribed and analyzed for 12 lexical factors. Various lexical properties of L2 speech were found to be associated with L2 comprehensibility, and especially lexical accuracy (lemma appropriateness) and complexity (polysemy), indicating that these lexical variables are associated with successful L2 communication. In contrast, native speakers’ accent judgements seemed to be linked to surface-level details of lexical content (abstractness) and form (variation, morphological accuracy) rather than to its conceptual and contextual details (e.g., lemma appropriateness, polysemy).

Examining individual variation in learner production data: A few programmatic pointers for corpus-based analyses using the example of adverbial clause ordering

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Stefan Th. Gries ◽  
Stefanie Wulff
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
First Language ◽  
Main Clause ◽  
Subordinate Clause ◽  
Production Data ◽  
Subordinate Clauses ◽  
Chinese Learners ◽  
Adverbial Clauses ◽  
Adverbial Clause ◽  
Temporal Adverbial

ABSTRACT This study examines the variable positioning of a finite adverbial subordinate clause and its main clause with the subordinate clause either preceding or following the main clause in native versus nonnative English. Specifically, we contrast causal, concessive, conditional, and temporal adverbial clauses produced by German and Chinese learners of English with those produced by native speakers. We examined 2,362 attestations from the Chinese and German subsections of the International Corpus of Learner English (Granger, Dagneaux, Meunier, & Paquot, 2009) and from the Louvain Corpus of Native English Essays (Granger, 1998). All instances were annotated for the ordering, the subordinate clause type, the lengths of the main and subordinate clauses, the first language of the speakers, the conjunction used, and the file it originated from (as a proxy for the speaker producing the sentence so as to be able to study individual and lexical variation). The results of a two-step regression modeling protocol suggest that learners behave most nativelike with causal clauses and struggle most with conditional and concessive clauses; in addition, learners make more non-nativelike choices when the main and subordinate clause are of about equal length.

Slangs as a Special Group of Words

2020 ◽  
Vol 60 (11) ◽  
pp. 103-107
Author(s):  
Mehriban Zeynal Hajizade ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Key Words ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Main Function ◽  
Special Group ◽  
Modern Times ◽  
The World ◽  
Normative Status ◽  
Over Time

In modern times, the processes in the world have affected the field of linguistics as well as all other fields.These processes require a diffferent approach to issues related to the use of specific word groups. Over time, language develops and changes occur at all levels. Taking into consideration that the main function of language is a means of communication between people, all changes should be taken into account to make the function more convenient and more suitable. Some of the processes that take place in the language are directly related to the speech process, and ends with getting the gradual normative status of variants in the speech of native speakers. Native speakers use some expressions that gained and didn’t gain status of norms in their speech. They use specific word groups to make their speech more specific and expressive. These word groups are used by some groups of people for special goals. Slangs are new meaningful words used in different social groups. Slangs are presented as non-literary concept. Slangs are various and colorful according to their tones. Key words: slang, morphem, term, communication, society

Cranial morphology and systematics of an extraordinary sample of the Late Neogene dwarf tapir, Tapirus polkensis (Olsen)

2009 ◽  
Vol 83 (2) ◽  
pp. 238-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard C. Hulbert ◽  
Steven C. Wallace ◽  
Walter E. Klippel ◽  
Paul W. Parmalee
Keyword(s):  
Single Species ◽  
Relative Strength ◽  
Cranial Morphology ◽  
Linear Measurements ◽  
Average Mass ◽  
Gray Fossil Site ◽  
Extant Species ◽  
Late Neogene ◽  
Fossil Site ◽  
Almost All

The previously poorly known “Tapiravus” polkensis Olsen, 1960 (Mammalia, Perissodactyla, Tapiridae) is now known from abundant, well preserved specimens from both the type area in central Florida and from the Gray Fossil Site (GFS) in eastern Tennessee. The latter has produced over 75 individuals, the greatest number of tapirids from a single fossil site, including many articulated skeletons. Almost all linear measurements taken on skulls, mandibles, and cheek teeth from GFS have coefficients of variation less than 10 (most between 3 and 7), indicating the presence of a single species. However, the sample reveals considerable intraspecific variation for a few key morphologic features, including development of the sagittal crest, outline shape of the nasals, and number and relative strength of lingual cusps on the P1. The Florida sample of T. polkensis is more limited, but has the same state as the GFS sample for all preserved characters of systematic significance, and while the Florida teeth are on average smaller (especially narrower lower cheek teeth), they fall either within or just below the observed range of the Gray Fossil Site population. The new material supports a reassignment of “Tapiravus” polkensis to the genus Tapirus, and demonstrates that the geologic age of the species is significantly younger than previously thought, Hemphillian rather than Barstovian. Tapirus polkensis is the smallest known North American Tapirus, and smaller than any of the extant species in the genus, with an estimated average mass of 125 kg.

scholarly journals Semantic Categories and Gender Assignment in Contact Spanish: Type of Code-Switching and its Relevance to Linguistic Outcomes

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 405-435 ◽  
Author(s):  
Osmer Balam
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Code Switching ◽  
Production Data ◽  
Abstract Concepts ◽  
Gender Assignment ◽  
Semantic Categories ◽  
Oral Production ◽  
The Status ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Semantic Domains

The present study examines two aspects of determiner phrases (dps) that have been previously investigated in Spanish/English code-switching; namely, the openness of semantic domains to non-native nouns and gender assignment in monolingual versus code-switched speech. The quantitative analysis of naturalistic, oral production data from 62 native speakers of Northern Belizean Spanish revealed both similarities and notable differences vis-à-vis previous findings for varieties of Spanish/English code-switching in theu.s. Hispanophone context. Semantic domains that favoured non-native nouns in Spanish/Englishdps included academia, technology, work/money-related terms, abstract concepts, linguistics/language terms and everyday items. In relation to gender assignation, assignment patterns in monolingualdps were canonical whereas an overwhelming preference for the masculine default gender was attested in mixeddps. Biological gender was not found to be deterministic in switcheddps. The analysis highlights the important role that type of code-switching has on contact outcomes in bi/multilingual communities, as speech patterns are reflective of the status and resourcefulness that code-switching is afforded at a societal and idiolectal level.

scholarly journals On Adjectival Attributives Blood, Direct, Peaceful as Components of Archaic Nominations of Friends

2021 ◽  
pp. 58-68
Author(s):  
Tatyana Leontyeva
Keyword(s):  
Social Class ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Russian Language ◽  
Cultural Layer ◽  
Spiritual Intimacy ◽  
Class Identification ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Russian Language ◽  
Over Time ◽  
National Corpus

The article discusses the changes in collocability of the word friend over time. It notes that the works by A.S. Pushkin contain the forms, unexpected for the perception of the native speakers of the modern Russian language: blood friends, direct friend, peaceful friends. The analysis of the specified attributive combinations is carried out applying definitional, contextual, linguocultural analysis methods. The text material from the National Corpus of the Russian language is used. It is proved that the expression "blood friends" could denote "people connected by strong friendship" and "people of the same class". Physical kinship criterion has been proved to serve as a basis for cognitive understanding of spiritual intimacy and social class identification. However, the connection between primary and secondary semantics is not so direct here; it is mediated by the cultural layer – the custom of twinning, a form of artificial relationship noted among many peoples. Most examples of the usage of the phrase "direct friend" mean 'express your opinion to someone honestly, directly'. The expression "peaceful friends" is interpreted as based on a doubling of the meaning 'in a relationship of agreement'. The research results can be used in compiling dictionaries of the Russian language, and also in teaching linguistic disciplines.

scholarly journals OPTIMIZED PLANNING OF ASSORTMENT PRODUCTION IN FOREST STANDS

FLORESTA ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 735
Author(s):  
Luan Demarco Fiorentin ◽  
Julio Eduardo Arce ◽  
Allan Libanio Pelissari ◽  
Rodrigo Otávio Veiga de Miranda ◽  
Thaís Wisniewski de Freitas
Keyword(s):  
Net Present Value ◽  
Production Data ◽  
Timber Production ◽  
Objective Functions ◽  
Present Value ◽  
Homogeneous Production ◽  
Planning Strategies ◽  
Pinus Spp ◽  
Industrial Demand ◽  
Over Time

This study aimed to evaluated two optimized planning strategies and analyze their performance in timber production. Data were obtained in Pinus spp. stands from a forestry company with unbalanced planted area over time. Maximization models of forest production (1) and net present value (2) were formulated and two minimization objective functions of the production deviation (3) and minimum and maximum production oscillation (4) were tested as alternatives to the traditional models. The highest thinning and clearcutting average areas were obtained in strategy 1. Strategies 1 and 2 resulted in the greatest variability of forestry operations. All strategies resulted in the highest timber production for sawn and special sawn wood and the lowest for veneer, while the pulpwood volume was almost constant. Strategies 1 and 2 provided the highest average timber volume and the greatest variability in the production, while strategies 3 and 4 were more efficient, since they supplied the industrial demand with homogeneous production.

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