Effects of First Language Background and Learning Experience in Perceiving Mandarin Lexical Tones: Learners and Nonlearners From English- and Japanese-Speaking Backgrounds

Purpose: This research compared individuals from two first language (L1) backgrounds (English and Japanese) to determine how they may differ in their perception of Mandarin tones (Tones 1 vs. 2 [T1–T2], Tones 1 vs. 3 [T1–T3], Tones 1 vs. 4 [T1–T4], Tones 2 vs. 3 [T2–T3], Tones 2 vs. 4 [T2–T4], Tones 3 vs. 4 [T3–T4]) on account of their L1. Method: The participants included two groups of learners of Mandarin (23 English speakers, 18 Japanese speakers), two groups of nonlearners of Mandarin (24 English speakers, 21 Japanese speakers), and a control group of 10 Mandarin speakers. A four-alternative forced-choice discrimination task that included 360 trials was presented in three blocks of 120 trials. Results: The native Mandarin group was more accurate in their tonal discrimination of all six tone pairs than all the nonnative groups. While Japanese nonlearners generally outperformed English nonlearners in their overall perception of Mandarin lexical tones, L1-based differences were less extensive for the two groups of learners. Both learner groups were least accurate on T2–T3 and most accurate on T3–T4. Conclusion: The results suggest that with classroom experience, English speakers can overcome their initial disadvantage and learn lexical tones in a new language as successfully as speakers of Japanese with classroom experience.

Theatre for All

At the crossroads of ESL education and drama there lies a relatively unexplored issue facing schools. Little research exists proposing and examining the efficacy of pedagogy designed to serve students without an English-as-a-first-language background. Through the lens of Ontario’s education system wherein students of all language backgrounds are expected to learn together in subject classrooms, the impacts of existing ESL focused pedagogy were tested in this mixed environment. Using existing linguistic analysis techniques focused around rhythm and pause, the development of students’ performance of dramatic text who followed this pedagogy was measured against a control group in an attempt to ascertain whether this pedagogy has merit in the classroom, and what still needs to be done to create more inclusive and effective drama classrooms in the province of Ontario.

PERSEPSI MAHASISWA TERHADAP SOLIDARITAS SOSIAL DAN INTEGRASI BANGSA (Survei Kualitatif Pada Mahasiswa FISIP Universitas Lampung)

Researches conducted by the Indonesian Institute of Science (LIPI) and the Indonesian National Counter-Terrorism Agency (BNPT) have revealed that students in some of the major universities in Indonesia have become potentially radical. This study aims to: (a) find out students' perceptions on social solidarity; (b) understand the student perceptions on national integration; (c) analyze the potential of being radical among the students. We conducted a qualitative survey to analyze the student’s perception of radicalism, social integration, and national integration. The study results show that: first, the majority of informants have a positive perception toward social solidarity to their fellow citizens in the community who have a different social, cultural, religious, ethnicity and language background. Second, the majority of informants have a very positive perception of national integration. Third, there is no indication of increasing radical behavior among FISIP University of Lampung’s students.

The Implementation of Online Accent Reduction Software to Improve Pronunciation of English and Arabic Department Students

The objective of this study is to implement accent reduction software in English pronunciation teaching. This study employed an experimental approach. There were forty students recruited from the English and Arabic departments. The students were split into two classes, with one class being treated as an experimental class and another class as a controlled class. Each class consisted of twenty students, ten English department students, and the other ten Arabic department students. We administered an experimental class with twelve meeting treatments using the Elsa accent reduction software to teach English pronunciation. Meanwhile, the controlled class was not given any treatments. The results show that there was a significant difference between the result of the pre-test and post-test of the students' pronunciations that were taught with the accent reduction software. It was found that the mean score of the experimental class was significantly improved from 53.12 to 85.44 after they were given the treatment. Meanwhile, the control group's mean score was also improved, but it was not significant from 49.33 to 59.11. Our study highlighted that the use of accent reduction software in teaching English pronunciations could help students to improve their English pronunciations. The students were able to imitate an English sound from the software. The limitation of this study is that we did not compare the results of English and Arabic students’ ability in pronunciations after the use of the software. Future studies are recommended to compare pronunciations between English and Arabic students through the use of the software to understand language background might affect the treatment.

The effects of iconicity and conventionalisation on word order preferences

Of the 6 possible orderings of the 3 main constituents of language (subject, verb and object), two —- SOV and SVO —- are predominant cross-linguistically. Previous research using the silent gesture paradigm in which hearing participants produce or respond to gestures without speech, has shown that different factors such as reversibility, salience and animacy can affect the preferences for different orders. Here, we test whether participants’ preferences for orders that are conditioned on the semantics of the event change depending on i) the iconicity of individual gestural elements and ii) the prior knowledge of a conventional lexicon. Our findings demonstrate the same preference for semantically-conditioned word order found in previous studies, specifically that SOV and SVO are preferred differentially for different types of events. We do not find that iconicity of individual gestures affects participants’ ordering preferences, however we do find that learning a lexicon leads to a stronger preference for SVO-like orders overall. Finally, we compare our findings from English speakers, using an SVO-dominant language, with data from speakers of an SOV-dominant language, Turkish. We find that, while learning a lexicon leads to an increase in SVO preference for both sets of participants, this effect is mediated by language background and event type, suggesting that an interplay of factors together determine preferences for different ordering patterns. Taken together, our results support a view of word order as a gradient phenomenon responding to multiple biases.

Aspects of the Language and Thought of Four-Year-Old Maori Children: a Study Based on Bierwisch's Componential Analysis of a Set of Adjectives

<p>Using an analysis developed by the linguist Manfred Bierwisch of the semantic components of the set of spatial adjectives, big, little, long, short, high, low, wide, narrow, deep, shallow, far, near, thick, thin, fat, thin, tall and short, four series of tests were constructed in order to determine whether differences existed in the meaning systems of Maori and of Pakeha four-year-old children with respect to these words, and whether Maori and Pakeha performances were similar across all four series. The series were: (a) A word recognition series testing for components of meaning in which pairs of components were placed in binary opposition. (b) An implication series testing for understanding of the concepts referred to by the words of the set. (c) An anomaly series, designed to elicit words of the set and to explore the children's understanding of the use of words. (d) A feature series which explored the children's implicit understanding of normativity and proportion. In addition the children were asked to do a drawing of something big and something little. Their mothers were also interviewed in order to collect information about a number of background variables such as mother's education, father's occupation and the language background of the child. Maori and Pakeha samples were established by asking the mothers to give the ethnic identity of the child. The main findings were that the Pakeha performed better than the Maori sample on recognition of the set of target words but this difference did not reach a level of statistical significance. Two words of the set, low and wide were recognised significantly more often by Pakeha than by Maori. With regard to the range of the words of the set elicited the Pakeha children produced a greater variety of words but, again, this difference was not statistically significant. The two samples performed about equally with regard to comprehension of the concepts signified by the words of the set. Nor was any important difference detected in the feature series or the drawings. An analysis of choice patterns showed no significant difference between the two samples. These results were interpreted to mean that the four-year-old Maori children in the sample did not exhibit cognitive deficit relative to the Pakehas even though they showed differences in word recognition and word use. Nor were they hampered in their access to the meaning of the words in the study by acquaintance with the Maori language. In order to assess the possible effects of various background factors, measures of word recognition, concepts, and strategies (choice patterns) were correlated with the background variables. The age of the child was significantly associated with the concept scores and with number of words elicited. Father's occupation was associated significantly with words recognised in the Pakeha sample but not in the Maori sample. In addition to exploring possible Maori-Pakeha differences in interpretation of words and concepts, the semantic feature acquisition hypothesis was examined and found to be inadequate as an explanation of the acquisition of words and meaning. An alternative multi-level model based on a hierarchy of preferred interpretations was developed to suggest the way in which the words of the set and their meanings are acquired by the young child.</p>

Aspects of the Language and Thought of Four-Year-Old Maori Children: a Study Based on Bierwisch's Componential Analysis of a Set of Adjectives

<p>Using an analysis developed by the linguist Manfred Bierwisch of the semantic components of the set of spatial adjectives, big, little, long, short, high, low, wide, narrow, deep, shallow, far, near, thick, thin, fat, thin, tall and short, four series of tests were constructed in order to determine whether differences existed in the meaning systems of Maori and of Pakeha four-year-old children with respect to these words, and whether Maori and Pakeha performances were similar across all four series. The series were: (a) A word recognition series testing for components of meaning in which pairs of components were placed in binary opposition. (b) An implication series testing for understanding of the concepts referred to by the words of the set. (c) An anomaly series, designed to elicit words of the set and to explore the children's understanding of the use of words. (d) A feature series which explored the children's implicit understanding of normativity and proportion. In addition the children were asked to do a drawing of something big and something little. Their mothers were also interviewed in order to collect information about a number of background variables such as mother's education, father's occupation and the language background of the child. Maori and Pakeha samples were established by asking the mothers to give the ethnic identity of the child. The main findings were that the Pakeha performed better than the Maori sample on recognition of the set of target words but this difference did not reach a level of statistical significance. Two words of the set, low and wide were recognised significantly more often by Pakeha than by Maori. With regard to the range of the words of the set elicited the Pakeha children produced a greater variety of words but, again, this difference was not statistically significant. The two samples performed about equally with regard to comprehension of the concepts signified by the words of the set. Nor was any important difference detected in the feature series or the drawings. An analysis of choice patterns showed no significant difference between the two samples. These results were interpreted to mean that the four-year-old Maori children in the sample did not exhibit cognitive deficit relative to the Pakehas even though they showed differences in word recognition and word use. Nor were they hampered in their access to the meaning of the words in the study by acquaintance with the Maori language. In order to assess the possible effects of various background factors, measures of word recognition, concepts, and strategies (choice patterns) were correlated with the background variables. The age of the child was significantly associated with the concept scores and with number of words elicited. Father's occupation was associated significantly with words recognised in the Pakeha sample but not in the Maori sample. In addition to exploring possible Maori-Pakeha differences in interpretation of words and concepts, the semantic feature acquisition hypothesis was examined and found to be inadequate as an explanation of the acquisition of words and meaning. An alternative multi-level model based on a hierarchy of preferred interpretations was developed to suggest the way in which the words of the set and their meanings are acquired by the young child.</p>

Speech and Language Therapy Service for Multilingual Children: Attitudes and Approaches across Four European Countries

Educational equality and the reduction of discrimination are among the UN’s Sustainability Goals. Previous studies as well as policy recommendations suggest that the extent to which these are implemented in the field of speech and language therapy for multilingual children depends on sufficient knowledge and material. To this end, an online survey was carried out with 300 Speech and Language Therapists (SLTs) from Austria, Germany, Italy, and Switzerland, investigating their attitudes and approaches regarding the service provision for multilingual children. Their responses were analyzed taking the SLTs’ language background, experience, and country of origin into account. Results were interpreted in the context of country-specific SLT service-related policies and SLT training as well as migration history. There seems to be a gap between the SLTs’ knowledge about the specific requirements for providing Speech Language Therapy (SLT) for multilingual children and their common practice, which—despite the continuous need of further training—points to sufficient awareness but a lack of materials or resources. We found experience in working with multilingual children to be the most influential factor on attitudes and approaches towards multilingualism. This suggests the importance of improving pre-exam and early-career professional experience to foster SLTs’ development of mindful attitudes and appropriate approaches towards multilingualism in their clinical practice.

Native-like Performance of Pragmatic Features: Speech Acts in Spanish

This study had as its goal to investigate how nonnative speakers (NNSs) of Spanish were able to perform pragmatics which in various ways resembled that of native speakers (NSs). The study focused on three advanced NNSs of Spanish who had contributed data six years earlier to a corpus of NS and NNS speech acts of complimenting, apologizing and refusing. The purpose was to do a contrastive analysis comparing the pragmatic performance of NNSs and NSs in order to capture both similarities and areas where highly competent NNSs displayed knowledge gaps, however subtle. The subjects responded to a language background questionnaire regarding their learning of Spanish and also completed a learning style preference survey. They were then asked to revisit their earlier performance in pragmatics from the corpus data and to describe the strategies that they used to produce their highly-rated performance in Spanish pragmatics at that time. The findings revealed ways in which the three subjects differentially imitated NS behavior, and provided insights as to how they arrived at native-like behavior in their facial expressions, use of clicks, physical contact practices, colloquial language, and cursing. The subjects’ reported learning style preferences appeared to be generally consistent with the strategies that they reported using for dealing with the pragmatic features of interest, such as the way that they dealt with cursing.