Granularity in the Semantics of Comparison

This paper makes the novel observation that definite comparatives, such as the bigger circle, impose restrictions on the cardinality of the comparison class (CC) against which their truth conditions are evaluated. We show that the corpus frequency counts of definite comparatives sharply drop when the comparison class used for their interpretation is formed by more than two individuals. Two alternative theories of these distributional facts are considered and tested experimentally through an acceptability judgment task. According to the first theory, the 2-Individuals Theory, definite comparatives presuppose that the CC is of cardinality 2; under the second theory, the 2-Degrees Theory, the meaning of the comparative is evaluated against a granularity γ that maps the individuals in the CC to degrees in the relevant adjectival scale, and definite comparatives presuppose that the set of the degrees resulting from this mapping is of cardinality 2. Our experimental results show that definite comparative descriptions are most frequent and felicitous when evaluated against comparison classes with two individuals, but also that acceptability drops off with higher cardinalities in a gradient manner that is sensitive to granularity. Taken together, these findings argue against the 2-Individuals theory of definite comparatives and lend support to the 2-Degrees theory.

The Effect of STEM-PjBL and Discovery Learning on Improving Students' Problem-Solving Skills of Impulse and Momentum Topic

This study aims to investigate the effect of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics-Project Based Learning (STEM-PjBL) and discovery learning on students' problem-solving abilities. The research is a Quasi-Experiment with a Nonequivalent Pretest-Posttest Control Group Design. The participants involved are 53 students of class X from a high school in Malang, where 28 students studied with STEM-PjBL, and 25 students studied with discovery learning. This research was conducted on the subject of impulse and momentum. In this analysis, researchers have developed problem-solving tools with a particular field approach to impulse and momentum topics in order to obtain an instrument with a reliability of 0.81. This instrument collects student problem-solving data before and after learning both in the experimental class and in the comparison class. Problem-solving skills data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. The results showed a significant difference in the scores of students' problem-solving abilities in the experimental class and the comparison class (p<0.05). The problem-solving ability in the experimental class (Md=78.74) was higher than the comparison class (Md=70.00). In STEM-PjBL learning, students are better trained and challenged to solve problems in everyday life. Compared to the comparison class, learning in the experimental class is more able to accommodate students' ideas and make students more interested in learning. In conclusion, STEM-PjBL has a significant positive effect on improving students' problem-solving abilities rather than discovery learning.

Warm (for Winter): Inferring comparison classes for gradable adjectives

The meaning of an utterance can change depending on the context. Yet, what counts as context is often only implicit in everyday conversation. The utterance “it’s warm outside” signals that the temperature outside is relatively high, but the temperature could be high relative to a number of different comparison classes: other days of the year, other weeks, other seasons, etc. Theories of context-sensitive language use agree that the comparison class is a crucial feature of meaning understanding, but little is known about how a listener decides upon a comparison class. We extend a Bayesian model of pragmatic reasoning to be able to reason flexibly about the comparison class intended by the speaker and test the qualitative predictions of this model using a large-scale free-production experiment. We then quantitatively synthesize the model and data using Bayesian data analysis, which further reveals that usage frequency and a preference for basic-level categories are two main contributors to comparison class inference. The methods and results we present open the door to studying richer aspects of context-sensitive language understanding.

Informational goals, sentence structure, and comparison class inference

Understanding a gradable adjective (e.g., big) requires making reference to a comparison class, a set of objects or entities against which the referent is implicitly compared (e.g., big for a Great Dane), but how do listeners decide upon a comparison class? Simple models of semantic composition stipulate that the adjective combines with a noun, which necessarily be- comes the comparison class (e.g., “That Great Dane is big” means big for a Great Dane). We investigate an alternative hypothesis built on the idea that the utility of a noun in an adjectival utterance can be either for reference (getting the listener to attend to the right object) or predication (describing a property of the referent). Therefore, we hypothesize that when the presence of a noun N can be explained away by its utility in reference (e.g., being in the subject position: “That N is big”), it is less likely to set the comparison class. Across three pre-registered experiments, we find evidence that listeners use the noun as a cue to infer comparison classes consistent with a trade-off between reference and predication. This work highlights the complexity of the relation between the form of an utterance and its meaning.

Gradability

The sense of “good” that has been of principal interest to philosophers and that is the focus of chapters 3, 4, and 5 is evaluative “good.” Hereafter, the modifier “evaluative” is dropped. “Good” is a gradable adjective. Accordingly, chapter 3 examines the semantics of gradable adjectives. The chapter argues that “good” is the unmarked member of an antonym pair of relative gradable adjectives, the marked member being (evaluative) “bad.” The lexical meaning of “good” is associated with a non-significant degree on an open scale of unspecified value. In tokenings of sentences of the form “x is good,” the degree associated with “good” is modulated to a significant degree. Significance of degree is a quantity that exceeds the upper bound of a range of numeric values based on a contextually determined comparison class.

PENGARUH SAINS DAN TEKNOLOGI TERHADAP KEBIASAAN SAINS ANAK DI TAMAN KANAK-KANAK

The main issues of this research is how the influence of science and technology to the science habits of students of the kindergarden. The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of science and technology on the habits of science of kindergarden students on integrative science subjects. The research method used is quasi experimental research method. In this study, an integrative scientific study focused on the use of science and technology in the classroom. Throughout the study, student learning is based on integrative science learning to determine the effect of science and technology on the science habits of kindergarden students compared to the comparison class. The results showed that there was a significant difference between the science and technology learning class on the science habits of kindergarden students with the comparison class. The average experimental group showed better attitudes towards science and technology (75% favorable; 23% no different; 2% unfavorable) than the control group (20% favorable; 65% not different; 15% unfavorable). The use of science and technology of kindergarden students needs to be accompanied and directed well.Isu-isu pokok penelitian ini adalah bagaimana pengaruh sains dan teknologi terhadap kebiasaan-kebiasaan sains anak di taman kanak-kanak. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui pengaruh sains dan teknologi terhadap kebiasaan-kebiasaan sains anak taman kanak-kanak pada mata pelajaran saintifik integratif. Metode penelitian yang digunakan adalah metode penelitian kuasi eksperimen. Dalam penelitian ini dilakukan pembelajaran saintifik integratif yang lebih menitikberatkan pada penggunaan sains dan teknologi di kelas. Sepanjang penelitian, pembelajaran anak didasarkan pada pembelajaran sainstifik integratif untuk mengetahui pengaruh sains dan teknologi terhadap kebiasaan-kebiasaan sains anak taman kanak-kanak dibandingkan dengan kelas pembanding. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa terdapat perbedaan yang signifikan antara kelas pembelajaran sains dan teknologi terhadap kebiasaan-kebiasaan sains anak taman kanak-kanak dengan kelas pembandingnya. Rata-rata kelompok eksperimen menunjukan sikap yang lebih baik terhadap sains dan teknologi (75% menguntungkan; 23% tidak berbeda; 2% tidak menguntungkan) daripada kelompok kontrol (20% menguntungkan; 65% tidak berbeda; 15% tidak menguntungkan). Penggunaan sains dan teknologi anak taman kanak-kanak perlu dilakukan pendampingan dan arahan secara baik.

PERBEDAAN HASIL BELAJAR MATEMATIKA DARI PENERAPAN JIGSAW DAN TSTS PADA SISWA KELAS XI SMAN 1 AMBARAWA

The 2013 curriculum requires students to learn from anyone including their peers. There are several learning models that emphasize this, including Jigsaw and TSTS (Two Stay Two Stray). This study aims to compare learning results from the application of the two models to students of class XI of SMAN 1 Ambarawa. Sampling with cluster random sampling resulted in a sample of students of class XI MIPA 1 as an experimental class and students of class XI MIPA 2 as a comparison class. A quasi-experimental study with the design of The Randomized Control Group Pretest-Posttest Design was carried out on mathematics learning on the material derivative from algebraic functions. Test different mean initial ability of students by using the Mann-Whitney test produces a significant value of 0.443 (more than 0.05), meaning that the initial conditions of both classes are balanced. The hypothesis test with the Mann-Whitney test produced a significant amount of 0.029 (less than 0.05), with the average in the experimental class (76.81) higher, than the comparison class average (73.79). Therefore, it can be concluded that the application of jigsaw produces the results of mathematics learning in class XI students of SMAN 1 Ambarawa better than the application of TSTS

Superlative Modifiers as Modified Superlatives

The superlative modifiers at least and at most are quite famous, but their cousins at best, at the latest, at the highest, etc., are less well-known. This paper is devoted to the entire family. New data is presented illustrating the productivity of the pattern, identifying a generalization delimiting it, and showing that the cousins, too, have the pragmatic effects that have attracted so much attention to at least and at most. To capture the productivity, I present a new decomposition of at least into recombinable parts. Most notable is the at-component (silent in some languages), which takes advantage of the comparison class argument of the superlative to produce the set of possibilities involved in the ignorance implicatures that superlative modifiers are known for. A side-effect is a new view on gradable predicates, accounting for uses like 88 degrees is too hot.

Surprise-Predicates, Strong Exhaustivity and Alternative Questions

Factive emotive verbs like surprise and disappoint disallow the strongly exhaustive reading of wh-questions and do not embed alternative questions (nor polar questions) (Guerzoni & Sharvit 2007; Lahiri 1991; a.o.). This paper develops a novel account of this correlation by exploiting a property of surprise-type verbs so-far overlooked in the question literature: their focus-sensitivity. These verbs are treated as degree constructions where the comparison term –the selected type of answer to the question– must be a member of the comparison class C shaped by focus. Strongly exhaustive answers of wh-questions do not match the comparison class and are thus ruled out. Alternative questions fail to produce a suitable C both for strongly and for weakly exhaustive answers and are, hence, entirely disallowed.