Activation Maximization with a Prior in Speech Data

Sho Inoue; Tad Gonsalves

doi:10.11648/j.ajcst.20210403.13

‘I me Mine’ The Acquisition of Dutch Pronominal Possessives by L1 Children, L2 Children and L2 Adults

ITL - International Journal of Applied Linguistics ◽

10.2143/itl.155.0.2032363 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 155 ◽

pp. 23-52

Author(s):

Elma Nap-Kolhoff ◽

Peter Broeder

Keyword(s):

Adult Learners ◽

Young Children ◽

First Language ◽

Spontaneous Speech ◽

L2 Acquisition ◽

Possessive Constructions ◽

Speech Data ◽

L2 Learners ◽

Dutch Language ◽

L1 Acquisition

Abstract This study compares pronominal possessive constructions in Dutch first language (L1) acquisition, second language (L2) acquisition by young children, and untutored L2 acquisition by adults. The L2 learners all have Turkish as L1. In longitudinal spontaneous speech data for four L1 learners, seven child L2 learners, and two adult learners, remarkable differences and similarities between the three learner groups were found. In some respects, the child L2 learners develop in a way that is similar to child L1 learners, for instance in the kind of overgeneralisations that they make. However, the child L2 learners also behave like adult L2 learners; i.e., in the pace of the acquisition process, the frequency and persistence of non-target constructions, and the difficulty in acquiring reduced pronouns. The similarities between the child and adult L2 learners are remarkable, because the child L2 learners were only two years old when they started learning Dutch. L2 acquisition before the age of three is often considered to be similar to L1 acquisition. The findings might be attributable to the relatively small amount of Dutch language input the L2 children received.

Download Full-text

Intra-individual variation in adults and children: measuring and conceptualizing individual dialect–standard repertoires

Linguistics Vanguard ◽

10.1515/lingvan-2020-0032 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 7 (s2) ◽

Author(s):

Irmtraud Kaiser ◽

Andrea Ender

Keyword(s):

Language Acquisition ◽

Individual Variation ◽

The Other ◽

Standard Language ◽

Methodological Choices ◽

Standard Spectrum ◽

Speech Data ◽

Adults And Children ◽

The One ◽

The Individual

Abstract This paper explores intra-individual variation as a manifestation of language-internal multilingualism in the Central-Bavarian Austrian context. Based on speech data from children and adults in different contexts, we discuss different methods of measuring and analyzing inter-situational variation along the dialect and standard language spectrum. By contrasting measures of dialectality, on the one hand, and proportions of turns in dialect, standard language or intermediate/mixed forms on the other, we gain complementary insights not only into the individual dialect-standard repertoires but also into the consequences of different methodological choices. The results indicate that intra-individual variation is ubiquitous in adults and children and that individual repertoires need to be taken into account from the beginning of the language acquisition process. We suggest that while intra-individual variation can be attested through the use of various methods, the revealed level of granularity and the conclusions that can be drawn as to the individual repertoires on the dialect-standard spectrum largely depend on the measures used and their inherent assumptions and intrinsically necessary categorizations.

Download Full-text

Exploring Cross-lingual Singing Voice Synthesis Using Speech Data

2021 12th International Symposium on Chinese Spoken Language Processing (ISCSLP) ◽

10.1109/iscslp49672.2021.9362077 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Yuewen Cao ◽

Songxiang Liu ◽

Shiyin Kang ◽

Na Hu ◽

Peng Liu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Singing Voice ◽

Voice Synthesis ◽

Speech Data ◽

Cross Lingual

Download Full-text

Gender and Party Discipline: Evidence from Africa’s Emerging Party Systems

American Political Science Review ◽

10.1017/s0003055421000368 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-16

Author(s):

AMANDA CLAYTON ◽

PÄR ZETTERBERG

Keyword(s):

Qualitative Case Study ◽

Party Systems ◽

Substantive Representation ◽

Party Discipline ◽

Women Legislators ◽

Ability To Act ◽

Speech Data ◽

Legislative Effectiveness ◽

Gendered Expectations

Are men and women legislators equally loyal to their parties? We theorize that parties select candidates based on gendered criteria, leading to the (s)election of more disciplined women. Moreover, we argue that gendered expectations about proper behavior limit women legislators’ ability to act independently from their parties. Using surveys from over 800 parliamentarians across 17 African legislatures, we find that women report significantly higher levels of party discipline than do their men copartisans. From this survey data and new legislative speech data, we also find support for our proposed causal mechanisms. Further, we find that among women parliamentarians, party discipline is negatively correlated with the prioritization of womens rights. A qualitative case study of the Namibian Parliament illustrates our findings. We discuss the implications of our results for women’s legislative effectiveness, for the substantive representation of women’s interests in policy making, and for the continued democratization of emerging party systems.

Download Full-text