scholarly journals Between Knowledge and Use of Iban and Malay Multiword Expression: An Insight into L1 and L2 Acquisition and Competence

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shanthi Nadarajan ◽  
Fiona Balan

This article examines usage and use of multiword expressions (MWE) among Iban youths in Sarawak. The questionnaire data were from 80 Iban youths who had to identify 15 MWE (similar, nearly similar and different) in Malay and Iban, and use them at the word, phrase and sentence levels. The findings revealed that close to 67% of the respondents could not recognise or use expressions in Iban, suggesting some loss of productive knowledge and language empowerment. However, respondents with recent schooling experience were able to use the expressions in Malay and reproduce them in written forms. Formal instruction and the written language have helped to extend local knowledge and use of MWE expressions for Iban youths. The study suggests that documentation, preservation and maintenance efforts stand to benefit when there is greater sharing and consciousness raising of common features between and among languages in the region.

2019 ◽  
Vol 62 (6) ◽  
pp. 1775-1786 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucía I. Méndez ◽  
Gabriela Simon-Cereijido

Purpose This study investigated the nature of the association of lexical–grammatical abilities within and across languages in Latino dual language learners (DLLs) with specific language impairment (SLI) using language-specific and bilingual measures. Method Seventy-four Spanish/English–speaking preschoolers with SLI from preschools serving low-income households participated in the study. Participants had stronger skills in Spanish (first language [L1]) and were in the initial stages of learning English (second language [L2]). The children's lexical, semantic, and grammar abilities were assessed using normative and researcher-developed tools in English and Spanish. Hierarchical linear regressions of cross-sectional data were conducted using measures of sentence repetition tasks, language-specific vocabulary, and conceptual bilingual lexical and semantic abilities in Spanish and English. Results Results indicate that language-specific vocabulary abilities support the development of grammar in L1 and L2 in this population. L1 vocabulary also contributes to L2 grammar above and beyond the contribution of L2 vocabulary skills. However, the cross-linguistic association between vocabulary in L2 and grammar skills in the stronger or more proficient language (L1) is not observed. In addition, conceptual vocabulary significantly supported grammar in L2, whereas bilingual semantic skills supported L1 grammar. Conclusions Our findings reveal that the same language-specific vocabulary abilities drive grammar development in L1 and L2 in DLLs with SLI. In the early stages of L2 acquisition, vocabulary skills in L1 also seem to contribute to grammar skills in L2 in this population. Thus, it is critical to support vocabulary development in both L1 and L2 in DLLs with SLI, particularly in the beginning stages of L2 acquisition. Clinical and educational implications are discussed.


Sociology ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 003803852097559 ◽  
Author(s):  
Insa Koch ◽  
Mark Fransham ◽  
Sarah Cant ◽  
Jill Ebrey ◽  
Luna Glucksberg ◽  
...  

This article examines how intensifying inequality in the UK plays out at a local level, in order to bring out the varied ways polarisation takes place ‘on the ground’. It brings a community analysis buttressed by quantitative framing to the study of economic, spatial and relational polarisation in four towns in the UK. We distinguish differing dynamics of ‘elite-based’ polarisation (in Oxford and Tunbridge Wells) and ‘poverty-based’ polarisation (in Margate and Oldham). Yet there are also common features. Across the towns, marginalised communities express a sense of local belonging. But tensions between social groups also remain strong and all towns are marked by a weak or ‘squeezed middle’. We argue that the weakness of intermediary institutions, including but not limited to the ‘missing middle’, and capable of bridging gaps between various social groups, provides a major insight into both the obstacles to, and potential solutions for, re-politicising inequality today.


2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (17) ◽  
pp. 4935-4951
Author(s):  
Say Young Kim ◽  
Lanfang Liu ◽  
Li Liu ◽  
Fan Cao

2010 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. 248-281 ◽  
Author(s):  
Conny Opitz

L1 attrition is increasingly being studied as a feature of bilingualism, taking into account the parallel process of L2 language acquisition in a migrant situation. Such situations may foster L1 attrition as a result of insufficient L1 input and competition or interaction with the language of the host community. In a study of 27 German late bilinguals resident in Ireland, the question of a possible interaction between the two language systems (German and English) is addressed. This paper reports on the results of two of the elicitation instruments used – a C-test as a measure of global language proficiency, and a verbal fluency task as a measure of lexical retrieval and bilingual dominance. The former is an unspeeded integrative task, while the latter taps lexical access as a function of the relative activation levels of the languages. The analysis focuses on the proficiency profiles of the bilingual participants vis-à-vis a German and an Irish control group to establish the level of L1 attrition and L2 acquisition, and the degree with which L1 and L2 proficiency correlate.


2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (5) ◽  
pp. 822-846 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Mickan ◽  
Kristin Lemhöfer

One challenge of learning a foreign language (L2) in adulthood is the mastery of syntactic structures that are implemented differently in L2 and one's native language (L1). Here, we asked how L2 speakers learn to process syntactic constructions that are in direct conflict between L1 and L2, in comparison to structures without such a conflict. To do so, we measured EEG during sentence reading in three groups of German learners of Dutch with different degrees of L2 experience (from 3 to more than 18 months of L2 immersion) as well as a control group of Dutch native speakers. They read grammatical and ungrammatical Dutch sentences that, in the conflict condition, contained a structure with opposing word orders in Dutch and German (sentence-final double infinitives) and, in the no-conflict condition, a structure for which word order is identical in Dutch and German (subordinate clause inversion). Results showed, first, that beginning learners showed N400-like signatures instead of the expected P600 for both types of violations, suggesting that, in the very early stages of learning, different neurocognitive processes are employed compared with native speakers, regardless of L1–L2 similarity. In contrast, both advanced and intermediate learners already showed native-like P600 signatures for the no-conflict sentences. However, their P600 signatures were significantly delayed in processing the conflicting structure, even though behavioral performance was on a native level for both these groups and structures. These findings suggest that L1–L2 word order conflicts clearly remain an obstacle to native-like processing, even for advanced L2 learners.


1994 ◽  
Vol 116 (3) ◽  
pp. 631-642 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Matovic ◽  
S. Oka ◽  
F. Durst

Laser-Doppler measurements of axial mean velocities and the corresponding rms values of turbulent velocity fluctuations are reported for premixed, axisymmetric, acetylene flames together with the probability density distributions of the turbulent velocity fluctuations. All this information provides an insight into the structure of the flow field. Characteristic zones of the flow field are defined that show common features for all acetylene flames studied by the authors. These features are discussed in the paper and are suggested to characterize, in general, interesting parts of the flames.


1996 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 728-730 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ken Hale
Keyword(s):  

AbstractThe contribution to L2-acquisition which comes from UG is conceptually distinct from that which comes from L1 (or from L1 and L2 jointly), but it is difficult to tease the two apart. The workings of deep, core principles (e.g., locality and subjacency) are so massively evident in L1 and L2 as to be of questionable use in the search for the contribution which is purely of UG.


2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 459-482 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susie Russak ◽  
Elinor Saiegh-Haddad

This article examines the effect of phonological context (singleton vs. clustered consonants) on full phoneme segmentation in Hebrew first language (L1) and in English second language (L2) among typically reading adults (TR) and adults with reading disability (RD) ( n = 30 per group), using quantitative analysis and a fine-grained analysis of errors. In line with earlier findings, overall mean scores revealed significant differences between the two groups. However, no qualitative differences were found. In both groups and languages, full phoneme segmentation overall scores for CVC stimuli were higher than CCVC stimuli. This finding does not align with previous findings, obtained from a phoneme isolation task, showing that isolation from a cohesive CV unit is the most difficult. A fine-grained analysis of errors was conducted to glean insight into this finding. The analysis revealed a preference for creating and preserving CV units in phoneme segmentation in both L1 and L2. This is argued to support the cohesion of the CV unit. The article argues that the effect of language-specific sub-syllabic representations on phonemic analysis may not be always observed in overall scores, yet it is reflected in specific patterns of phonological segmentation errors.


1988 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Jordens

In a recent paper, Clahsen and Muysken (1986) argue that children acquiring German as their first language have access to the 'move alpha' matrix when constructing a grammar for German. This should explain why children have SOV base order and the rule of verb-fronting from the very beginning. In this paper, it is argued that children's OV utterances cannot be related trans formationally to VO utterances. Initially, children acquire OV and VO with different sets of verbs.Clahsen and Muysken (1986) also claim that interlanguage rules of adult L2 learners are not definable in linguistic theory. Du Plessis et al. (1987) reply to this in arguing that the interlanguage rules of adults acquiring L2 German word order fall within the range of systems permitted by the Headedness parameter, the Proper Government parameter, and the Adjunction parameter. Therefore, these adult learners should have access to Universal Grammar (UG). It is argued here that it is not necessary to make this assumption. The L2-acquisition data can be easily accounted for within a simple model of L1-structural transfer.


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