Mayers-Scotten’s 4-M Model: A Qusai-Experimental Study of Pashto-English Morphological Ability

Bilingualism has been a myth for linguists and language policy and planning professionals for decades. Current study observes morphological ability and bilingual profile of L1 and L2 of Pashto mother-tongue children. Bilingual profile of the participants measured through bilingual language profile (BLP) tool. Both L1 and L2 children were tested before and after intervention. Morphological ability was measured through 4 M model. After 4 weeks of intervention, experimental child was able to read and write complex words with bridge morphemes. In contrast, controlled sample was not exposed to the intervention. The participants performed assigned language tasks and their performance-expressions were analyzed. Study confirms that early and late bridge morphemes are acquired and children have intelligibility of the language despite the fact that BLP shows low profile of the mother tongue. Significant effects of mother tongue were recorded in the participants’ performance. Effects of explicit morphological instruction was focused on identifying Pashto orthography and applying morphological ability on word formations. Findings reveal bilingual profile and patterns of morphological ability after didactic practice of intervention. Intervention contributed in developing Pashto orthography that was crucial for reading and writing proficiency. Direct impact on text-based inference and reading comprehension was another milestone of this qusai-experimental research. This model can be used for longitudinal studies.

Morphological Theory and Second Language Acquisition

Most of the world’s population speaks a second language. Most of the words in a language are multimorphemic. Thus, the study of second language acquisition and processing offers a key window onto the nature of morphological representation and morphological ability. This chapter examines the acquisition, representation, and processing of inflected, derived, and compound words in a second language. Perspectives on second language variability and accuracy are surveyed, as well as perspectives on the path of development of morphological knowledge in second language learners. The chapter highlights how linguistic theory and experimentation can be used to (a) advance the understanding of morphological representation and processing, and (b) probe what underlies morphological ability. Finally, this chapter addresses the question of how an integrated bilingual mental lexicon can both maximize interlingual connectivity and accommodate the morphological differences that exist between languages.

Morphological ability among monolingual and bilingual speakers in early childhood: The case of two Semitic languages

This study examines the possible effects of bilingualism, mother tongue and type of morphology on morphological awareness of Arabic- and Hebrew-speaking preschoolers (mean age – 5:4). Four groups of children participated in the study: (1) 50 Arabic-speaking monolingual speakers; (2) 50 Hebrew-speaking monolingual speakers; (3) 50 Arabic/Hebrew bilingual speakers; and (4) 50 Hebrew/Arabic bilingual speakers. Participants from the bilingual groups were sequential non-balanced bilingual speakers who started learning a second language at ages 3–4 in a bilingual Arabic/Hebrew kindergarten. All children performed two tasks on inflectional morphology and three tasks on derivational morphology in one or both languages. To examine inflectional morphology, domain plural nouns were chosen because of their linear nature in both Hebrew and Arabic and because inflectional plural-noun morphology is acquired very early. In derivational morphology, the focus was on the verbs because of their high token frequency, early acquisition compared to nominal morphology, and its importance for Semitic languages. The results demonstrate significant effects of mother tongue, bilingualism and type of morphology on the children’s performance. The better results were obtained in Hebrew-speaking monolinguals and in Arabic-speaking bilinguals. Monolingual Hebrew speakers performed better in Hebrew than Arabic-speakers did in Arabic. At the same time, Arabic-speaking bilingual children demonstrated significantly better results in Hebrew (second language) than Hebrew speakers did in Arabic (second language). Analysis of the findings also shows that differences in performance among the bilingual and monolingual groups seem to relate not only to psycholinguistic factors such as linguistic complexity but also to sociolinguistic factors (e.g. diglossia in Arabic).

Humble origins for a successful strategy: complete enrolment in early Cambrian olenellid trilobites

Trilobites are typified by the behavioural and morphological ability to enrol their bodies, most probably as a defence mechanism against adverse environmental conditions or predators. Although most trilobites could enrol at least partially, there is uncertainty about whether olenellids—among the most phylogenetically and stratigraphically basal representatives—could perform this behaviour because of their poorly caudalized trunk and scarcity of coaptative devices. Here, we report complete—but not encapsulating—enrolment for the olenellid genus Mummaspis from the early Cambrian Mural Formation in Alberta, the earliest direct evidence of this strategy in the fossil record of polymerid trilobites. Complete enrolment in olenellids was achieved through a combination of ancestral morphological features, and thus provides new information on the character polarity associated with this key trilobite adaptation.

FORMULATION OF POLYACRYLIC ACID-LAYERED DOUBLE HYDROXIDE COMPOSITE SYSTEM AS A SOIL CONDITIONER FOR WATER MANAGEMENT

An efficient strategy of soil-conditioner application was offered by incorporating a high molecular weight organic polymer (polyacrylic acid; PAA) into a soil-friendly inorganic material (layered double hydroxide; LDH). The prepared materials were characterized by different spectroscopic techniques to confirm the formed nanocomposite structure. The SEM images captured the morphological ability of PAA-LDH nanocomposites to absorb and keep water molecules during soil-water application. The IR analysis indicated an electrostatic grafting process between PAA units and LDH moieties. The platform of PAA-LDH nanocomposite formulation stabilized the soil aggregates and improved the water-stability.

Over 'Behang-Het-Zelvers' en 'Zelfbehangers'

The acquisition of WF-rules by children learning their mother-tongue has hardly been studied up to now for English or Dutch. Yet, it seemed to me that the acquisition of WF proceeds much more slowly than the acquisition of phonology, syntax and flexional morphology. To test this hypothesis a WF-test of 211 items was submitted to a sample of 109 thirteen-year-old children of different social categories and to a control group of 20 adults. An adapted version has been submitted later on to a sample of 80 sixteen-year-old adolescents. Both versions try to measure the knowledge of WF-rules, and not the knowledge of certain morpho-logically complex words. It appears from the test that the children master only half of the WF of Dutch : only 47 % of the items have been correctly formed, understood or judged. Even using a less rigid criterion - not mastery, but WF-ability in general - they don't do much better (55 %) . The lexical-morphological ability of the adolescents reaches 69 %; i.e. one fourth higher than that of the children. The proportion of normative answers rises from 39 % of all answers given by children over 54 % for the adolescents to 73 % for the adults. The author's conclusion that children - and to a lesser extent, adolescents -do not master Dutch WF-rules, is illustrated with the discussion of four test items. The author stresses the desirability of teaching WF-rules at the right age and of correctly distinguishing between knowledge of words-the norm- and knowledge of the rules to form and understand complex words, i.e. the language-system.