scholarly journals VERB AGREEMENT WITH PREVERBAL (NON) SYNCRETIC COORDINATED SUBJECTS

2020 ◽  
pp. 097
Author(s):  
Ivana Mitić
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Research ◽  
Verb Agreement ◽  
Production Experiment ◽  
Phonological Form ◽  
Acceptability Judgments

This paper examines the effects which contribute to the agreement of the verb with only one of the conjuncts of different values for gender and number as opposed to resolved agreement. Bošković (2009) claims that resolved agreement is the only available pattern of agreement. New experimental research on a Slovenian sample (Marušič, Nevins, and Badecker 2015) confirms that a verb can agree with the plural conjunct as well. These authors, as well as Willer Gold et al. (2016) attest that agreement occurs in phonological form in Slovenian and Serbian. This study is based on an elicited production experiment and acceptability judgments experiments to verify what happens when a verb is in agreement with pre-verbal (non)syncretic coordinated conjuncts of different values for gender and number. The results indicate that resolved agreement is far less frequently used when the verb is in agreement with a syncretic coordinated subject than with a non-syncretic one, as well as that agreement with the last plural conjunct is a stable and available agreement pattern whether or not a verb is in agreement with a (non)syncretic coordinated subject. The results support the hypothesis that agreement occurs in phonological form.

scholarly journals Measurement for accentedness, pause frequency/duration and nuclear stress placement in the EFL classroom

2017 ◽  
Vol 70 (3) ◽  
pp. 185-200
Author(s):  
Pedro Luis Luchini
Keyword(s):  
Multivariate Analysis ◽  
Experimental Research ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
The Other ◽  
Speaking Test ◽  
Phonological Form ◽  
Group B ◽  
English Native Speaker ◽  
Teacher Centered ◽  
Stress Placement

This study reports on an experimental research carried out with 50 Spanish-L1 trainees, divided into 2 groups: A & B. Both groups were presented with a traditional-teacher centered approach based on controlled exercises (repetition, imitation), but group B added a communicative component in which students completed a battery of sequenced tasks with a focus on phonological form. Both groups recorded a speaking test before & after instruction which was used to measure and compare degrees of accentedness, frequency & duration of pauses and nuclear stress placement. Ten English-native-speaker-raters judged the recordings to determine the speakers’ degree of perceived accentedness. Two specialists, using inter-marker reliability, segmented the transcriptions of recordings and identified nuclear stress placement. Another two specialists identified empty pauses. Multivariate analysis was used to measure results. Overall, group B (learners exposed to the communicative component) obtained better results in all 3 parameters than the other group. Finally, some pedagogical implications for the teaching of L2 pronunciation in ELT contexts will be discussed. 

scholarly journals Correction by Focus: Cleft Constructions and the Cross-Linguistic Variation in Phonological Form

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Markus Greif ◽  
Stavros Skopeteas
Keyword(s):  
Speech Production ◽  
Linguistic Variation ◽  
Lexical Tones ◽  
Contrastive Focus ◽  
Focus Structure ◽  
Production Experiment ◽  
Phonological Form ◽  
Cleft Constructions ◽  
The Cross

A challenging issue of cross-linguistic variation is that the same syntactic construction may appear in different arrays of contexts depending on language. For instance, cleft constructions appear with contrastive focus in English, but in a larger array of contexts in French. A part of the cross-linguistic variation may be due to prosodic differences, since prosodic possibilities determine the array of focus structures that can be mapped onto one and the same syntactic configuration. In the present study, we compare languages with flexible nuclear-accent placement (English, German), with languages that do not use this prosodic strategy (French, Mandarin Chinese). In a speech production experiment, we examine the prosodic realization of contrastive focus and identify prosodic reflexes of focus in all languages. The presence of different phonetic reflexes of focus suggests that – anything else being equal – the same syntactic constructions should be possible in the same array of contexts. In an acceptability study with written questionnaires, we examined the felicity of cleft constructions in contexts licensing a focus within the cleft clause. This focus structure is orthogonal to the preferred focus structure of cleft constructions and can appear in cases of second-occurrence foci (in contexts of correction). The obtained judgments reveal a distinction between languages with flexible nuclear-accent placement (English, German) and languages with other types of reflexes of focus (French, Chinese): languages of the former type have an advantage in using cleft constructions with a focus within the cleft clause, which shows that the array of contexts of using clefts in English and German is not a proper subset of the array of contexts applying to the same constructions in French and Chinese. The obtained differences can be explained by the role of prosodic devices and corroborate the view that prosodic reflexes of focus have different semantic-pragmatic import: it is easier to establish a focus structure that is orthogonal to the syntax in a language with flexible nuclear-accent placement (English, German); this does not hold for prosodic correlates of focus that reinforce the articulation of prosodic constituents (French) or the articulation of lexical tones (Chinese).

scholarly journals Answering negative questions in Russian

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yulia Panchenko
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Research ◽  
Acceptability Judgments ◽  
The Way ◽  
Negative Questions

In colloquial Russian answers “yes” and “no” to negative polar questions can either stand for confirmation or contradiction of the proposition of a question. This paper contains an experimental research of correlation between the choice of “yes” or “no” response particle and the way of expressing negation and the presence of li particle in a question and also of comprehension of the short “yes” answer. The results showed that there are several competing strategies for answering negative polar questions and acceptability judgments of possible answers in Russian, meanwhile the correlation with the presence of li particle in a question was approved.

scholarly journals The Use of Pelmanism Technique In Increasing Foreign Learners' Grammar Ability

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sitti Zainab Mukhtar ◽  
Rafi'ah Nur ◽  
Ammang Latifa
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Method ◽  
Prior Knowledge ◽  
Experimental Research ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Verb Agreement ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
Good Improvement ◽  
And Control ◽  
Teaching Grammar ◽  
Experimental Group

This paper provides the Pelmanism technique which can be used by the teachers to make their students enjoyable in learning grammar. Pelmanism is a matching card which is challenged by hiding the cards’ face. Using Pelmanism in teaching grammar can be done by giving the students a pack of cards that contained of sentence to the grammar’s topic. The teacher spread the cards face down on the table and then the students try to match the sentences with the appropriate grammar (Case: 2009). This paper aims at finding out the students’ improvement in grammar especially for Subject Verb Agreement by using Pelmanism technique, it is expected to change the students’ way of study from passive to be active and expected to be an effort of changing the classroom atmosphere and to provide useful contribution to the teachers to activate and organize students’ prior knowledge. In this study aim, the researcher applied the experimental research which used the Quasi Experimental method with two classes pretest-posttest design with two groups; experimental group and control group that consisted of 27 students for each group of the eight grade students of SMP Negeri 3 Balusu Barru. The researcher used grammar test of SVA and questionnaire in collecting data. The result of the research showed that after applying Pelmanism technique, the students had good improvement. It was clear that the treatments which were done in experimental group had gone well and the students were felt interested in learning grammar of SVA by using Pelmanism technique. Thus, the researcher concluded that Pelmanism technique could increase the students’ grammar ability of SVA of the eight grade students of SMP Negeri 3 Balusu Barru.

Pragmatic versus Morphological/Syntactic Criteria for Language Referrals

1980 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 85-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jack Damico ◽  
John W. Oller
Keyword(s):  
Grade Level ◽  
The State ◽  
Verb Agreement ◽  
Remedial Programs ◽  
Service Training ◽  
Traditional Approaches ◽  
Communicative Effectiveness

Two methods of identifying language disordered children are examined. Traditional approaches require attention to relatively superficial morphological and surface syntactic criteria, such as, noun-verb agreement, tense marking, pluralization. More recently, however, language testers and others have turned to pragmatic criteria focussing on deeper aspects of meaning and communicative effectiveness, such as, general fluency, topic maintenance, specificity of referring terms. In this study, 54 regular K-5 teachers in two Albuquerque schools serving 1212 children were assigned on a roughly matched basis to one of two groups. Group S received in-service training using traditional surface criteria for referrals, while Group P received similar in-service training with pragmatic criteria. All referrals from both groups were reevaluated by a panel of judges following the state determined procedures for assignment to remedial programs. Teachers who were taught to use pragmatic criteria in identifying language disordered children identified significantly more children and were more often correct in their identification than teachers taught to use syntactic criteria. Both groups identified significantly fewer children as the grade level increased.

Narrative Language Markers of Arabic Language Development and Impairment

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (10) ◽  
pp. 3472-3487
Author(s):  
Natalia V. Rakhlin ◽  
Nan Li ◽  
Abdullah Aljughaiman ◽  
Elena L. Grigorenko
Keyword(s):  
Language Development ◽  
Standardized Test ◽  
Language Disorder ◽  
Arabic Language ◽  
Developmental Language Disorder ◽  
Standardized Measures ◽  
Verb Agreement ◽  
Language Groups ◽  
Specificity And Sensitivity ◽  
Omission Errors

Purpose We examined indices of narrative microstructure as metrics of language development and impairment in Arabic-speaking children. We examined their age sensitivity, correlations with standardized measures, and ability to differentiate children with average language and language impairment. Method We collected story narratives from 177 children (54.2% boys) between 3.08 and 10.92 years old ( M = 6.25, SD = 1.67) divided into six age bands. Each child also received standardized measures of spoken language (Receptive and Expressive Vocabulary, Sentence Imitation, and Pseudoword Repetition). Several narrative indices of microstructure were examined in each age band. Children were divided into (suspected) developmental language disorder and typical language groups using the standardized test scores and compared on the narrative indicators. Sensitivity and specificity of the narrative indicators that showed group differences were calculated. Results The measures that showed age sensitivity included subject omission error rate, number of object clitics, correct use of subject–verb agreement, and mean length of utterance in words. The developmental language disorder group scored higher on subject omission errors (Cohen's d = 0.55) and lower on correct use of subject–verb agreement (Cohen's d = 0.48) than the typical language group. The threshold for impaired performance with the highest combination of specificity and sensitivity was 35th percentile. Conclusions Several indices of narrative microstructure appear to be valid metrics for documenting language development in children acquiring Gulf Arabic. Subject omission errors and correct use of subject–verb agreement differentiate children with typical and atypical levels of language development.

Production of Subject-Verb Agreement in Spanish as a Second Language

2003 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 196-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janet Nicol ◽  
Delia Greth
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Spanish Speakers ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Error Patterns ◽  
Verb Agreement ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Semantic Variables ◽  
Advanced Proficiency

Abstract. In this paper, we report the results of a study of English speakers who have learned Spanish as a second language. All were late learners who have achieved near- advanced proficiency in Spanish. The focus of the research is on the production of subject-verb agreement errors and the factors that influence the incidence of such errors. There is some evidence that English and Spanish subject-verb agreement differ in susceptibility to interference from different types of variables; specifically, it has been reported that Spanish speakers show a greater influence of semantic factors in their implementation of subject-verb agreement ( Vigliocco, Butterworth, & Garrett, 1996 ). In our study, all participants were tested in English (L1) and Spanish (L2). Results indicate nearly identical error patterns: these speakers show no greater influence of semantic variables in the computation of agreement when they are speaking Spanish than when they are speaking English.

Secondary Transfer Effect of Contact

2009 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 55-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas F. Pettigrew
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Dissonance ◽  
Experimental Research ◽  
Intergroup Contact ◽  
Transfer Effect ◽  
Evaluative Conditioning ◽  
Transfer Effects ◽  
Secondary Transfer ◽  
Primary Reduction

This paper reviews the evidence for a secondary transfer effect of intergroup contact. Following a contact’s typical primary reduction in prejudice toward the outgroup involved in the contact, this effect involves a further, secondary reduction in prejudice toward noninvolved outgroups. Employing longitudinal German probability samples, we found that significant secondary transfer effects of intergroup contact exist, but they were limited to specific outgroups that are similar to the contacted outgroup in perceived stereotypes, status or stigma. Since the contact-prejudice link is bidirectional, the effect is inflated when prior prejudice reducing contact is not controlled. The strongest evidence derives from experimental research. Both cognitive (dissonance) and affective (evaluative conditioning) explanations for the effect are offered.

Review of Foundations of Experimental Research. 3rd ed.

1983 ◽  
Vol 28 (10) ◽  
pp. 805-805
Author(s):  
Roger E. Kirk
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Research
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