scholarly journals You Take the Low Road and I’ll Take the High Road: Variation in Agreement Structure in Wisconsin Heritage German

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 525-562
Author(s):  
Joshua Bousquette
Keyword(s):  
Heritage Language ◽  
American English ◽  
Control Group ◽  
High Agreement ◽  
English Grammar ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
Complementizer Agreement ◽  
Predicting Factor ◽  
Grammatical Structures ◽  
High Road

This article presents on interviews with 10 bilingual speakers of American English and Wisconsin Heritage German (WHG), with respect to their licensing of high (NP1) versus low (NP2) agreement. In terms of linguistic typology, English copular constructions license only NP1 agreement, in which the verb agrees in person and number with the first—or syntactically high—nominal element in the clause; Standard German copular constructions license NP2 agreement with the lower nominal element in the clause (though subsequent topicalization of this element is also licit). As a second variable, a subset (7) of these speakers license complementizer agreement (C-agr) in WHG, which obtains from a second, syntactically high agreement structure in the complementizer field, in addition to the canonical German NP2 structure. These data were compared to a control group of the remaining three WHG speakers who did not license C-agr. Data presented here suggest a bi-directional transfer of both NP1 and NP2 agreement structures for both groups of heritage language (HL) speakers. The control group produced a majority of forms consistent with both English and German language-specific grammars. Evidence of NP2 structures in the control group’s English, however, suggests that these speakers are HL-dominant—since NP2 is categorically prohibited in English. WHG speakers with C-agr, in contrast to the control group, produced a majority of NP1 forms in both languages, with the presence of C-agr being a predicting factor in the presence of NP1 agreement in the English of WHG speakers. It is here argued that the presence of C-agr in the HL is similar to the canonical NP1 structures of Standard English, allowing for overlapping licit NP1 structures in both varieties. Data from Assumed Identify Constructions (AICs) suggests that canonical NP2 agreement in C-agr WHG may have been weakened as a result. This research suggests that even superficially English-like grammar may obtain not from a direct transfer from the L2 into the HL, but rather from the interaction of English grammar with the autochthonous grammatical structures of non-standard HLs.

scholarly journals VOICE ONSET TIME IN MULTILINGUAL SPEAKERS: ITALIAN HERITAGE SPEAKERS IN GERMANY WITH L3 ENGLISH

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
Miriam Geiss ◽  
Sonja Gumbsheimer ◽  
Anika Lloyd-Smith ◽  
Svenja Schmid ◽  
Tanja Kupisch
Keyword(s):  
Heritage Language ◽  
Voice Onset Time ◽  
Onset Time ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Third Language ◽  
Bilingual Advantage ◽  
L3 Acquisition ◽  
Crosslinguistic Influence

Abstract This study brings together two previously largely independent fields of multilingual language acquisition: heritage language and third language (L3) acquisition. We investigate the production of fortis and lenis stops in semi-naturalistic speech in the three languages of 20 heritage speakers (HSs) of Italian with German as a majority language and English as L3. The study aims to identify the extent to which the HSs produce distinct values across all three languages, or whether crosslinguistic influence (CLI) occurs. To this end, we compare the HSs’ voice onset time (VOT) values with those of L2 English speakers from Italy and Germany. The language triad exhibits overlapping and distinct VOT realizations, making VOT a potentially vulnerable category. Results indicate CLI from German into Italian, although a systemic difference is maintained. When speaking English, the HSs show an advantage over the Italian L2 control group, with less prevoicing and longer fortis stops, indicating a specific bilingual advantage.

American English grammar and syntax

2010 ◽  
pp. 81-100
Author(s):  
Julie S. Amberg ◽  
Deborah J. Vause
Keyword(s):  
American English ◽  
English Grammar

scholarly journals ENHANCING STUDENTS’ MOTIVATION IN LEARNING ENGLISH GRAMMAR THROUGH A COMPUTER-SUPPORTED LEARNING CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bahruddin Bahruddin
Keyword(s):  
Classroom Management ◽  
Motivational Factors ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Pedagogical Practice ◽  
English Grammar ◽  
Grammar Correction ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Experimental Group ◽  
Learning English

This research is to examine the students‘motivational factors and attitude towards the learning ofEnglish grammar in a Computer-supported LearningSystem. Twenty-nine students were taught with astudent-centered approach and three grammar learningweb sites were used frequently for classroom andindividual English grammar practice, whereas anothertwenty-nine were taught with the traditional teachercenteredapproach. Both groups were given grammarcorrection and explanation tests before and after thestudy. After comparing the results of the pre-test andpost-test with those of the control group, it was foundthat the experimental group excelled over the controlgroup in both grammar correction and grammarexplanation. It proved that students‘ implicit andexplicit knowledge on English grammar was greatlyimproved by the computer-supported teaching methodsand environment. Further interviews with the studentsalso revealed that the new pedagogical practice hadprovided many positive motivational factors insupporting students‘ learning process.Keywords: motivation, grammar, computer-supportedclassroom.

scholarly journals Problems in Grammatical Structure: A Case Study of B.Ed. Student at the Education Department

sjesr ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 420-425
Author(s):  
Dr. Gulzar Ahmed ◽  
Dr. Syed Shafqat Ali Shah ◽  
Dr. Muhammad Nisar
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
English Language ◽  
Text Structure ◽  
Grammatical Structure ◽  
Education Department ◽  
Undergraduate Level ◽  
English Grammar ◽  
Grammatical Structures

English grammar is how words in the English language are translated into text. This includes the structure of words, phrases, clauses, and phrases, up to and including full-text structure. The main objective of the authors is to discover the difficulties of grammatical structures for students at the Department of Teacher Education. Shikarpur Shaikh Ayaz University. The students of B.Ed. undergraduate level of education department was selected as a data population. The fifty students were randomly selected from the education department. There is quantitative research underway. The researchers used a testing tool for a questionnaire. The student's collected data were analyzed by SPSS-Descriptive statistics.  Some of the challenges and problems are facing during the English Grammar lesson of B.Ed. students. The students have used the conditional verb and also the proper use of a phrasal verb that is one of the problems with students. The use of an article is also one of the fundamental problems for undergraduate students. Teachers should make it possible for students to practice these materials either through activity-based teaching or through the CLT method so that they can be more attentive to EFL learning and not focus on translation alone.

Preposition Stranding in Spanish as a Heritage Language

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 186-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diego Pascual y Cabo
Keyword(s):  
Heritage Language ◽  
Comparison Group ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Heritage Speaker ◽  
The Core ◽  
Preposition Stranding ◽  
Crosslinguistic Influence ◽  
Spanish Heritage Speakers ◽  
Timing Of Exposure

Previous research examining heritage speaker bilingualism has suggested that interfaceconditioned properties are likely to be affected by crosslinguistic influence (e.g., Montrul & Polinsky, 2011; White, 2011). It is not clear, however, whether the core syntax can also be affected to the same degree (e.g., Cuza, 2013; Depiante & Thompson, 2013). Departing from Cuza’s (2013) and Depiante and Thompson’s (2013) research, the present study seeks to determine the extent to which this is possible in the case of Spanish as a heritage language. With this goal in mind, a total of thirty-three Spanish heritage speakers (divided into sequential and simultaneous bilinguals) and a comparison group of eleven late Spanish-English bilinguals completed a battery of off-line tasks that examined knowledge and use of preposition stranding (i.e., a syntactic construction whereby the object of the preposition is fronted while the preposition itself is left stranded), an understudied core syntactic phenomenon that is licit in English but precluded in Spanish. Overall findings reveal that the sequential heritage speakers pattern with participants from the control group. The simultaneous heritage speakers, on the other hand, seem to have a grammar that is not so restricting as they accept and produce ungrammatical cases of preposition stranding. Herein, we argue that these results do not obtain the way they do due to incomplete acquisition or L1 attrition but crucially because of the timing of exposure to the societal language. We propose that this property was completely acquired, although differently acquired due to the structural overlap observed between the two languages involved (e.g., Müller & Hulk, 2001), and most importantly, to the timing of acquisition of English (e.g., Putnam & Sánchez, 2013).

Orthographical, Phonological, and Morphological Challenges in Language Processing

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-30
Author(s):  
Ilhan Raman ◽  
Yasemin Yildiz
Keyword(s):  
Language Processing ◽  
Heritage Language ◽  
Dynamic Processes ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Heritage Language Speakers ◽  
Theoretical Considerations ◽  
Shed Light

The chapter examines the relationship between orthography, phonology, and morphology in Turkish and what this means for Turkish-English bilingual language processing. Turkish offers a unique language medium in pitching theoretical perspectives both in linguistics and psycholinguistics against each other because of its properties. Empirical and theoretical considerations are employed from both domains in order to shed light on some of the current challenges. In line with contemporary thought, this chapter is written with the view that bilingual speakers engage a singular language or lexical system characterized by fluid and dynamic processes. Particular focus will be given to English-Turkish speaking bilinguals in the UK, which includes heritage (HL) and non-heritage language speakers. Evidence from monolingual developmental research as well as neuropsychology will be examined to confirm findings of previous studies in other European contexts, and also to raise attention to various challenges which need to be addressed across all contexts.

The Role of Input in Second Language Acquisition

2000 ◽  
Vol 129-130 ◽  
pp. 225-274
Author(s):  
Ali Işik
Keyword(s):  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Writing Skills ◽  
Placement Test ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Control Groups ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Reading And Writing ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
And Control ◽  
Grammatical Structures

The present study investigates the combined effects of different amounts of comprehension-based and form-focused instruction on skill-based proficiency and knowledge of grammatical structures of beginner-level efl students. Specifically, the study addresses the following research questions : 1) Does a basically comprehension-based program of instruction supported by form-focused instruction help beginner-level efl learners improve/develop their listening, reading and writing abilities more than a basically form- focused program of instruction? 2) Does a basically form-focused program of instruction help beginner-level efl learners improve their knowledge of grammatical structures more than a basically comprehension-based program of instruction? One experimental and one control group, each containing 20 lycee prep level Turkish efl students, participated in the study. The subjects in the experimental and control groups were randomly selected from among lycee prep classes in two different schools. The experimental group enrolled in a program of comprehension-based instruction supported by form- focused instruction; whereas, the control group enrolled in a basically form-focused program of instruction. Both the experimental and control groups had 29 hours of efl instruction per week for 36 weeks. Different instruments were used to see the effects of these two different types of instruction on their reading, listening, writing skills and knowledge of grammatical structures. At the end of the fourth month, both groups were given the listening, reading and writing components of the Key English Test (ket) and the grammar component of the Oxford Placement Test. At the end of the eighth month, they were given the Preliminary English Test (pet) and another version of the grammar component of the Oxford Placement Test. The results indicated that the program of comprehension-based efl instruction supported by form-focused instruction was more effective than a basically form-focused program of instruction in helping beginner-level students develop their listening, reading, and writing skills as well as their knowledge of grammatical structures.

Disease Severity Is Associated with Alexithymia in Patients with Atopic Dermatitis

Dermatology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 236 (4) ◽  
pp. 329-335
Author(s):  
Andrea Chiricozzi ◽  
Maria Esposito ◽  
Paolo Gisondi ◽  
Mario Valenti ◽  
Niccolò Gori ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Atopic Dermatitis ◽  
Logistic Regression ◽  
Disease Severity ◽  
Healthy Subjects ◽  
Sleep Disturbances ◽  
Rating Scale ◽  
Univariate Analysis ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Predicting Factor ◽  
Tas 20

Background: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic inflammatory skin disorder that is associated with higher rates of psychological disorders, but limited evidence supported the association with alexithymia, a psychoaffective dysfunction. Objectives: This study was aimed to investigate the occurrence of alexithymia in AD patients, compared to healthy subjects. Methods: This cross-sectional study assessed AD severity by the Eczema Area and Severity Index (EASI) score, sleeplessness and itch by a numeric rating scale (NRS), and alexithymia by the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) score. The association between disease characteristics and alexithymia was evaluated through several logistic regression models. Results: 202 AD patients and 240 healthy subjects were included in this study. The alexithymic personality trait (TAS-20 ≥51) was more frequently observed among AD patients compared to the control group (62.4% [126/202] vs. 29.2% [70/240], p < 0.0001). In particular, alexithymia (TAS-20 score ≥61) was detected in a significantly higher number of AD patients than in the controls (27.7% [56/202] vs. 7.5% [18/240]; p < 0.0001), whereas borderline alexithymia was detected in 34.6% (70/202) of AD patients compared to 21.7% of healthy controls. Alexithymia was more common among severe AD patients (43.6%) compared to mild AD patients (15.6%) and correlated with itch intensity and sleep disturbances. Among clinical variables, ordered logistic regression analyses revealed disease severity as predictor of alexithymia. Indeed, univariate analysis showed EASI score, sleep NRS, and itch NRS being significantly associated with alexithymia, while a multivariate model identified increased EASI score values as predicting factor. Conclusion:This study described alexithymia in AD patients correlating its occurrence with clinical AD severity markers (EASI score, itch, and sleeplessness) and identifying the increase in EASI score as predicting factor.

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