The adjective in Dutch-French codeswitching: Word order and agreement

2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 454-473 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emma Vanden Wyngaerd
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Minimalist Program ◽  
Point Scale ◽  
Grammaticality Judgment ◽  
Grammaticality Judgments ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Minimalist Approach ◽  
The Matrix ◽  
Points Of View

Aims and Objectives: This paper investigates the word order and adjectival agreement patterns in French-Dutch codeswitched Determiner Phrases (DPs). It examines the predictions made by two theoretical points of view: the approach by MacSwan (2009) within the Minimalist Program (MP) and the Matrix Language Framework (MLF) (Myers-Scotton & Jake, 2009). Methodology: The predictions of these frameworks are compared to data gathered in a grammaticality judgment task. In total, 120 codeswitched sentences were presented aurally to participants, who were asked to rate the sentences on a three-point scale. Originality: While some previous work on word order within codeswitched DP’s exists, this paper is the first study investigating the adjectival agreement patterns in codeswitching. Data and Analysis: Statistical analysis of the data showed that the MacSwan approach is a better predictor for the grammaticality judgments, as sentences predicted to be grammatical by the MP were rated higher than sentences predicted to be ungrammatical by the same model. This difference was statistically significant. There was no significant difference in rating for the predictions of the MLF. Conclusions: The results of the judgment task in combination with the results of previous research on codeswitching highlight the importance of a combination of data from both naturalistic and experimental settings. Implications: The predictions of the Minimalist approach have the upper hand over the predictions of the MLF. However, it remains is important to integrate results from other experimental methodologies, such as naturalistic data and results from psycholinguistic and neurolinguistic studies.

scholarly journals The Cerebellum and English Grammatical Morphology: Evidence from Production, Comprehension, and Grammaticality Judgments

2004 ◽  
Vol 16 (7) ◽  
pp. 1115-1130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy Justus
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Significant Extent ◽  
Verb Agreement ◽  
Grammaticality Judgment ◽  
Grammaticality Judgments ◽  
Closed Class ◽  
Grammatical Morphology

Three neuropsychological experiments on a group of 16 cerebellar patients and 16 age-and education-matched controls investigated the effects of damage to the cerebellum on English grammatical morphology across production, comprehension, and grammaticality judgment tasks. In Experiment 1, participants described a series of pictures previously used in studies of cortical aphasic patients. The cerebellar patients did not differ significantly from the controls in the total number of words produced or in the proportion of closed-class words. They did differ to a marginally significant extent in the production of required articles. In Experiment 2, participants identified the agent in a series of aurally presented sentences in which three agency cues (subject–verb agreement, word order, and noun animacy) were manipulated. The cerebellar patients were less affected than the controls were by the manipulation of subject–verb agreement to a marginally significant extent. In Experiment 3, participants performed a grammaticality judgment task on a series of aurally presented sentences. The cerebellar patients were significantly less able to discriminate grammatical and ungrammatical sentences than the controls were, particularly when the error was of subject– verb agreement as opposed to word order. The results suggest that damage to the cerebellum can result in subtle impairments in the use of grammatical morphology, and are discussed in light of hypothesized roles for the cerebellum in language.

You That Read Wrong Again! A Transposed-Word Effect in Grammaticality Judgments

2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (12) ◽  
pp. 1922-1929 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Mirault ◽  
Joshua Snell ◽  
Jonathan Grainger
Keyword(s):  
Parallel Processing ◽  
Word Order ◽  
Sentence Comprehension ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Base Sequence ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Grammaticality Judgment ◽  
Grammaticality Judgments ◽  
Sentence Level

We report a novel transposed-word effect in speeded grammaticality judgments made about five-word sequences. The critical ungrammatical test sequences were formed by transposing two adjacent words from either a grammatical base sequence (e.g., “The white cat was big” became “The white was cat big”) or an ungrammatical base sequence (e.g., “The white cat was slowly” became “The white was cat slowly”). These were intermixed with an equal number of correct sentences for the purpose of the grammaticality judgment task. In a laboratory experiment ( N = 57) and an online experiment ( N = 94), we found that ungrammatical decisions were harder to make when the ungrammatical sequence originated from a grammatically correct base sequence. This provides the first demonstration that the encoding of word order retains a certain amount of uncertainty. We further argue that the novel transposed-word effect reflects parallel processing of words during written sentence comprehension combined with top-down constraints from sentence-level structures.

Incidental and explicit learning of L2 derivational morphology and the nature of acquired knowledge

2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (6) ◽  
pp. 1377-1404
Author(s):  
Keiichi Ishikawa
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Explicit Knowledge ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Explicit Learning ◽  
Derivational Morphology ◽  
Verbal Reports ◽  
Delayed Effects ◽  
Grammaticality Judgment ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Set Up

AbstractThe aim of the current study was to compare both incidental and explicit auditory learning of second language derivational morphology by measuring the accuracy and the reaction time of a grammaticality judgment task. Furthermore, the study was set up to examine the nature of acquired knowledge using subjective measures of awareness during the testing phases and postexperimental verbal reports. The delayed effects of learning were investigated by testing participants immediately after the learning and 1 week later also. The results showed a significant learning effect for the incidental and explicit learners immediately after exposure, but only the explicit learners maintained the learning effects a week later. Both types of learners showed no significant difference in the reaction time. Incidental learners primarily developed implicit knowledge, while explicit learners relied on explicit knowledge to a large extent, part of which became unconscious later. The differences of learning under incidental and explicit learning conditions are discussed in terms of the maintenance of knowledge.

scholarly journals Constructional tolerance

2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 266-304 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florent Perek ◽  
Martin Hilpert
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Argument Structure ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Experimental Results ◽  
Relative Ease ◽  
Grammaticality Judgment ◽  
Grammaticality Judgments ◽  
Lexical Items ◽  
The Way

The present paper investigates the question whether different languages can be categorized into ‘constructionally tolerant’ languages, which grant speakers considerable freedom to combine syntactic constructions with lexical items in non-conventional ways, and ‘valency-driven’ languages, which impose stronger restrictions on the way in which constructions and lexical items can be combined. The idea of such a typological distinction is sketched for instance by Rostila (2014). In order to explore possible effects of constructional tolerance, a grammaticality judgment task is administered to speakers of English and French, which are two languages that differ with regard to this phenomenon: English verbs can be used across different argument structure constructions with relative ease, French verbs are more constrained. Both populations of speakers are exposed to stimuli sentences of varying creativity in a second language, namely German. The paper advances the constructional tolerance hypothesis, which states that speakers of a constructionally tolerant language should judge non-conventional examples in an L2 with more lenience than speakers of a valency-driven language. The experimental results are in line with this hypothesis, but they also suggest that grammaticality judgments are influenced by the availability of a productive L1 construction that shows functional overlap.

On-line grammaticality judgments in French children and adults: a crosslinguistic perspective

2004 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 713-737 ◽  
Author(s):  
MICHELE KAIL
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Position Effect ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Age Group ◽  
Grammaticality Judgment ◽  
Grammaticality Judgments ◽  
On Line ◽  
Verbal Agreement ◽  
And Gender ◽  
New Processing

This study examined the on-line processing of French sentences in a grammaticality judgment experiment. Three age groups of French children (mean age: 6;8, 8;6 and 10;10 years) and a group of adults were asked to detect grammatical violations as quickly as possible. Three factors were studied: the violation type: agreement violations (number and gender) vs. word order violations; the violation position: early vs. late in the sentence; the target type of the violations: intra vs. interphrasal. An example of an early interphrasal verbal agreement violation follows: ‘Chaque semaine la voisine remplissent le frigo après avoir fait les courses au marché’ (Every week the neighbour fill the fridge after shopping at the market). The main developmental results were the following: not surprisingly, children were always slower than adults in the detection of grammatical violations. At each age level, morphological violations were more rapidly detected than word order violations. Each age group was faster at judging sentences with later occurring violations and the position effect was especially strong in the youngest groups. Finally, intraphrasal violations were more rapidly detected than interphrasal ones, this effect being observed only in the oldest groups (i.e. 10;10 years and adults). The results were compared to previous on-line data obtained in modern Greek (Kail & Diakogiorgi, 1998) showing strong similarities, even though Greek is a very rich morphological language. These results are discussed within the framework of the Competition Model, outlining the necessity to incorporate new processing constraints into the model.

How similar are adult second language learners and Spanish heritage speakers? Spanish clitics and word order

2009 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 167-207 ◽  
Author(s):  
SILVINA MONTRUL
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Word Order ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Oral Production ◽  
Grammaticality Judgment ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Family Language ◽  
Spanish Heritage Speakers

ABSTRACTRecent studies of heritage speakers, many of whom possess incomplete knowledge of their family language, suggest that these speakers may be linguistically superior to second language (L2) learners only in phonology but not in morphosyntax. This study reexamines this claim by focusing on knowledge of clitic pronouns and word order in 24 L2 learners and 24 Spanish heritage speakers. Results of an oral production task, a written grammaticality judgment task, and a speeded comprehension task showed that, overall, heritage speakers seem to possess more nativelike knowledge of Spanish than their L2 counterparts. Implications for theories that stress the role of age and experience in L2 ultimate attainment and for the field of heritage language acquisition and teaching are discussed.

The syntax and interpretation of embedded null subjects in Chinese, and their acquisition by English-speaking learners

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 191-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucy Xia Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Judgment Task ◽  
Minimalist Program ◽  
Null Subjects ◽  
Null Subject ◽  
The Matrix ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
The Government ◽  
Advanced Proficiency ◽  
L1 And L2 ◽  
Matrix Subject

This article reports an investigation of embedded null subjects in both L1 and L2 Chinese. Chinese null embedded subjects can refer either to a matrix subject or to a discourse entity. In the Government-Binding (GB) framework, these two possibilities resulted from the null subject being either pro or a variable. Neither pro nor a variable is compatible with the assumptions of the more recent Minimalist Program, however. This article proposes an alternative account for null embedded subjects in Chinese that is consistent with the Minimalist Program: deletion of the anaphor ziji and deletion of a topic under identity with appropriate antecedents. It then reports a study of knowledge of such deletion in the Chinese of L2 speakers. Although the existing literature has found that embedded null subjects are allowed by L2 learners of Chinese at early stages of development, no research has investigated whether they are interpreted in a target-like way by L2 speakers. A picture judgment task and a written interpretation task showed that English-speaking learners of high-intermediate proficiency in Chinese allow an embedded null subject to refer to the matrix subject, but not to a discourse entity. It is only at advanced proficiency that L2 speakers allow co-reference with both a matrix subject and a discourse entity. The implications of these results are discussed.

Age and knowledge of morphosyntax in english as an additional language: grammatical judgment and error correction

2020 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-50
Author(s):  
Muhammad Asif Qureshi
Keyword(s):  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Graduate Students ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Error Correction ◽  
Critical Period ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Medium Of Instruction ◽  
Grammaticality Judgment ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Grammatical Judgment

AbstractResearch on age and second language acquisition (L2A) is vast, but inconclusive. Such research has mainly been motivated by the Critical Period Hypothesis (CPH), which postulates that language acquisition becomes extremely difficult after the onset of puberty. Also, there is a lack of research on age and third/additional language (L3/Ln) learning. To fill this gap, this article examines differences in morphosyntactic knowledge between early and late learners of English as a L3/Ln. In this study, ‘early’ and ‘late’ learners are those participants first exposed to English as a medium of instruction (MOI) in 1st and 11th grades, respectively. Participants’ morphosyntactic knowledge was assessed based on two tasks: (a) a Grammaticality Judgment Task (GJT) and (b) an editing task. Three hundred and thirty five undergraduate and graduate students from two universities in Pakistan voluntarily participated in the research. Results of the group comparisons showed no statistically significant differences between early and late learners on the GJT; however, on the editing task, a modest but significant difference was observed between the two groups, with late learners scoring higher. This finding contradicts the predictions of the CPH.

scholarly journals Testing alternative theoretical accounts of code-switching: Insights from comparative judgments of adjective–noun order

2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 200-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans Stadthagen-González ◽  
M Carmen Parafita Couto ◽  
C Alejandro Párraga ◽  
Markus F Damian
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Mixed Model ◽  
Linear Mixed Model ◽  
Language Model ◽  
Comparative Judgment ◽  
Convincing Evidence ◽  
Code Switching ◽  
Minimalist Program ◽  
2Afc Task ◽  
The Matrix

Objectives: Spanish and English contrast in adjective–noun word order: for example, brown dress (English) vs. vestido marrón (‘dress brown’, Spanish). According to the Matrix Language model ( MLF) word order in code-switched sentences must be compatible with the word order of the matrix language, but working within the minimalist program (MP), Cantone and MacSwan arrived at the descriptive generalization that the position of the noun phrase relative to the adjective is determined by the adjective’s language. Our aim is to evaluate the predictions derived from these two models regarding adjective–noun order in Spanish–English code-switched sentences. Methodology: We contrasted the predictions from both models regarding the acceptability of code-switched sentences with different adjective–noun orders that were compatible with the MP, the MLF, both, or none. Acceptability was assessed in Experiment 1 with a 5-point Likert and in Experiment 2 with a 2-Alternative Forced Choice (2AFC) task. Data and analysis: Data from both experiments were subjected to linear mixed model analyses. Results from the 2AFC task were also analyzed using Thurstone’s law of comparative judgment. Conclusions: We found an additive effect in which both the language of the verb and the language of the adjective determine word order. Originality: Both experiments examine adjective–noun word order in English–Spanish code-switched sentences. Experiment 2 represents a novel application of Thurstone’s law of comparative judgements to the study of linguistic acceptability which yielded clearer results than Likert scales. We found convincing evidence that neither the MLF nor the MP can fully account for the acceptability of adjective–noun switches. Implications: We suggest that advances in our understanding of grammaticality in code-switching will be achieved by combining the insights of the two frameworks instead of considering them in isolation, or by espousing a probabilistic model of code-switching.

Grammaticality judgments in autism: Deviance or delay

2009 ◽  
Vol 36 (5) ◽  
pp. 999-1021 ◽  
Author(s):  
INGE-MARIE EIGSTI ◽  
LOISA BENNETTO
Keyword(s):  
Judgment Task ◽  
Receptive Vocabulary ◽  
Sentence Length ◽  
Lower Sensitivity ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Older Children ◽  
Grammaticality Judgment ◽  
Grammaticality Judgments ◽  
Third Person ◽  
The Subject

ABSTRACTLanguage in autism has been the subject of intense interest, because communication deficits are central to the disorder, and because autism serves as an arena for testing theories of language acquisition. High-functioning older children with autism are often considered to have intact grammatical abilities, despite pragmatic impairments. Given the heterogeneity in language skills at younger ages, this assumption merits further investigation. Participants with autism (n=21, aged nine to seventeen years), matched on chronological age, receptive vocabulary and IQ, to 22 typically developing individuals, completed a grammaticality judgment task. Participants with autism were significantly less sensitive than controls, specifically for third person singular and present progressive marking. Performance interacted with sentence length, with lower sensitivity to errors occurring at the end of the longest stimulus sentences. Performance sensitivity was associated with onset of single word and phrase speech, and with severity of autistic symptomatology. Implications of findings are discussed.

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