Le Traitement Prototypique

1996 ◽  
Vol 55 ◽  
pp. 187-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marzena Watorek
Keyword(s):  
Production Process ◽  
Language Production ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Advanced Learners ◽  
Differential Processing ◽  
Main Structure ◽  
Picture Description ◽  
Description Task ◽  
Linguistic Means ◽  
Temporal Adverbs

This paper presents results from a study of the language production of native speakers and advanced learners. Four groups often speakers (native French, native Italian, Italian learners of French, French learners of Italian) performed a picture description task, and a comparison was made between the information contained in the productions of natives vs. learners, and the linguistic means used to convey this information. It was found that the processing of identical chunks of information ranged along a continuum from the analytic to the synthetic, from learners to natives, respectively. Two examples of this differential processing are discussed in detail: firstly, the division of the discourse into main structure and side structure, and secondly, the locating of entities in the picture. The former distinction emerges much more clearly in learner than in native production, and for the latter function, learners resort more frequently than native speakers to temporal adverbs such as puis/più and particles such as aussi/anche, in addition to purely spatial means. Overall, it is shown that learners have a more neutral way of processing the task (Von Strutterheim's "prototypische Bearbeitung"), and it is argued in conclusion that it is precisely this charactristic of learner production which allows insights into both the structure of (descriptive) discourse and the language production process.

Arabic plurals and root and pattern morphology in Palestinian and Egyptian heritage speakers

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elabbas Benmamoun ◽  
Abdulkafi Albirini ◽  
Silvina Montrul ◽  
Eman Saadah
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Word Formation ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Good Grasp ◽  
Arabic Morphology ◽  
Picture Description ◽  
Arabic Dialects ◽  
Description Task ◽  
Palestinian Arabic ◽  
Linguistic Approaches

This study investigates heritage speakers’ knowledge of plural formation in their colloquial varieties of Arabic, which use both concatenative and non-concatentative modes of derivation. In the concatenative derivation, a plural suffix attaches to the singular stem (muhandis ‘engineer-sg.’ → muhandis-iin ‘engineer-pl’); in the non-concatenative, the relation between the singular (gamal ‘camel’) and the plural (gimaal ‘camels’) typically involves vocalic and prosodic alternations with the main shared similarity between the two forms being the consonantal root (e.g., g-m-l). In linguistic approaches, non-concatenative patterns have been captured in different ways, though the earliest and most recognizable approach involves the mapping of a consonantal root onto a plural template. We investigated heritage speakers’ knowledge of the root and pattern system in two independent experiments. In Experiment 1, oral narratives were elicited from 20 heritage speakers and 20 native speakers of Egyptian and Palestinian Arabic. In Experiment 2, another group of 24 heritage speakers and 24 native speakers of the same dialects completed an oral picture-description task. The results of the two experiments show that heritage speakers’ knowledge of the root and pattern system of Arabic is not target-like. Yet, they have a good grasp of the root and template as basic units of word formation in their heritage Arabic dialects. We discuss implications for debates about the acquisition of the root and pattern system of Arabic morphology.

From a concept to a word in a syntactically complete sentence: An fMRI study on spontaneous language production in an overt picture description task

NeuroImage ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 61 (3) ◽  
pp. 702-714 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marion Grande ◽  
Elisabeth Meffert ◽  
Eva Schoenberger ◽  
Stefanie Jung ◽  
Tobias Frauenrath ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Language Production ◽  
Spontaneous Language ◽  
Fmri Study ◽  
Picture Description ◽  
Description Task

THE ACQUISITION AND INTERPRETATION OF ENGLISH LOCATIVE CONSTRUCTIONS BY NATIVE SPEAKERS OF KOREAN

2001 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 207-219 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Bley-Vroman ◽  
Hye-Ri Joo
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Test Instrument ◽  
Locative Alternation ◽  
Ground Object ◽  
Picture Description ◽  
Equivalent Test ◽  
Description Task ◽  
Korean Learners ◽  
Korean Learners Of English

The English locative alternation relates sentences of the type John loaded hay onto the wagon to those of the type John loaded the wagon with hay. Some locative verbs occur in both of these patterns, others in only one or the other. It is known that there are differences among languages with respect to which verbs are possible. The present research focuses on the constructional meaning of the locative alternation and on the constraints governing verbs that can participate in the alternation. One characteristic of the “ground-object” locative is that the object tends to be viewed as completely affected. This is known as the holism effect. Additionally, English has certain narrow constraints on the verbs that can occur in the two constructions. This study investigates whether native speakers of Korean learning English develop knowledge of the holism effect in the English locative and knowledge of the narrow constraints. English native speakers and Korean learners of English participated in a forced-choice picture-description task. Native speakers of Korean also judged an equivalent test instrument in Korean. The primary results are these: When given a ground-object structure, both learners and English native speakers preferentially chose a ground-holism picture. We interpret this as a reflection of the holism effect: Learners, like native speakers, have knowledge of this aspect of the constructional meaning of the locative. English native speakers also show their knowledge of the narrow conflation classes by rejecting ground-object structures containing verbs that are not permitted in this structure, even if the picture would be appropriate. Korean learners show no effect for narrow verb class. We interpret this as showing that the learners have not achieved native-speaker knowledge of the narrow classes. Korean uses a different basis for verb classification.

scholarly journals Cross-Sectional Analysis of Picture Descriptions of Healthy Young and Older Adults

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Fall 2019) ◽  
pp. 132-145
Author(s):  
Johémie Boucher ◽  
Antoine Slegers ◽  
Simona M. Brambati
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Speech Production ◽  
Language Production ◽  
Connected Speech ◽  
Vocabulary Size ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Broad Variety ◽  
Picture Description ◽  
Description Task ◽  
Sectional Analysis

It is poorly understood whether and how normal aging affects different aspects of connected speech production, such as fluency, informativity, efficiency, and vocabulary use. The present study cross-sectionally investigates the effects of age on a broad variety of language production measures, using connected speech samples elicited by the two most frequently used picture description tasks. Twenty-six young (20-25 y.o.) and twenty-two older participants (55-90 y.o.) were included in this study. Speech samples were transcribed using the CLAN program and eight measures were extracted. Our results indicate that, in a picture description task, older adults produce more disruptions to fluency, but that lexical diversity, informativity, and efficiency of speech remain unaffected by age. The use of less frequent words by older adults might reflect a larger vocabulary size. These findings have implications for future studies assessing changes in connected speech production, in both healthy and clinical populations.

scholarly journals Einfluss von Tempus und Aspekt auf die Wahl der Verbformen in schriftlichen Texten russischsprachiger Deutschlerner

2019 ◽  
Vol 62 ◽  
pp. 32-51
Author(s):  
Irina Mikhaylina
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Transfer Effects ◽  
Temporal Perspective ◽  
Advanced Learners ◽  
Tense And Aspect ◽  
Grammatical Aspect ◽  
Verb Forms ◽  
Temporal Clauses ◽  
Linguistic Means

This article investigates the influence of tense and aspect on the choice of verb forms in texts written by Russian-speaking learners of German. Through eight written narrations, each produced by advanced learners of German with L1-Russian and German native speakers, the use of verb forms and relevant linguistic means (perfect markers, temporal adverbs and temporal clauses) was compared and analysed. The study shows that even very advanced Russian-speaking learners of German could not meet target language preferences in German. They tended to deploy a different temporal perspective than German native speakers (simple past instead of present tense) and they also showed an overuse of the perfect tense, especially when describing completed actions. These differences compared to the preferences of German native speakers can be explained as transfer effects from the L1 of Russian-speaking learners since – unlike in German – the grammatical aspect in Russian is obligatory and its perfective form offers an effective tool to express completeness.  

Discourse characteristics of patients with mild Alzheimer's disease: Analysis of a picture description task and a procedural explanation task.

2001 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 152-161
Author(s):  
Rumi Honda ◽  
Harumi Matuura ◽  
Yoko Takatuki ◽  
Toshiko S. Watamori ◽  
Noriko Kamakura
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Picture Description ◽  
Description Task ◽  
Disease Analysis

Identification of Mild Cognitive Impairment Among Chinese Based on Multiple Spoken Tasks

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Tianqi Wang ◽  
Yin Hong ◽  
Quanyi Wang ◽  
Rongfeng Su ◽  
Manwa Lawrence Ng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Mild Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Memory Load ◽  
Lexical Retrieval ◽  
Semantic Fluency ◽  
Late Fusion ◽  
Single Task ◽  
Sentence Repetition ◽  
Picture Description ◽  
Description Task

Background: Previous studies explored the use of noninvasive biomarkers of speech and language for the detection of mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Yet, most of them employed single task which might not have adequately captured all aspects of their cognitive functions. Objective: The present study aimed to achieve the state-of-the-art accuracy in detecting individuals with MCI using multiple spoken tasks and uncover task-specific contributions with a tentative interpretation of features. Methods: Fifty patients clinically diagnosed with MCI and 60 healthy controls completed three spoken tasks (picture description, semantic fluency, and sentence repetition), from which multidimensional features were extracted to train machine learning classifiers. With a late-fusion configuration, predictions from multiple tasks were combined and correlated with the participants’ cognitive ability assessed using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). Statistical analyses on pre-defined features were carried out to explore their association with the diagnosis. Results: The late-fusion configuration could effectively boost the final classification result (SVM: F1 = 0.95; RF: F1 = 0.96; LR: F1 = 0.93), outperforming each individual task classifier. Besides, the probability estimates of MCI were strongly correlated with the MoCA scores (SVM: –0.74; RF: –0.71; LR: –0.72). Conclusion: Each single task tapped more dominantly to distinct cognitive processes and have specific contributions to the prediction of MCI. Specifically, picture description task characterized communications at the discourse level, while semantic fluency task was more specific to the controlled lexical retrieval processes. With greater demands on working memory load, sentence repetition task uncovered memory deficits through modified speech patterns in the reproduced sentences.

An exploratory study on pro-drop in a written description task in L2 Spanish

2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
An Vande Casteele ◽  
Alejandro Palomares Ortiz
Keyword(s):  
Language Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Spanish Speakers ◽  
Control Group ◽  
L2 Spanish ◽  
Spanish Language Learners ◽  
Description Task ◽  
Experimental Group ◽  
Written Description

Abstract The present article aims at investigating the pro-drop phenomenon in L2 Spanish. The phenomenon of pro-drop or null subject is a typological feature of some languages, which are characterized by an implicit subject in cases of topic continuity. More specifically, behaviour regarding subject (dis)continuity in Spanish differs from French. This paper will offer a contrastive analysis on subject realisation by French learners of L2 Spanish compared to L1 Spanish speakers. So, the goal of this pilot study is to see if a different functioning in pro-drop in the mother tongue also influences the L2. The study is based upon a written description task presented to the two groups of participants: the experimental group of French mother tongue L2 Spanish language learners and the control group of Spanish native speakers.

scholarly journals A Corpus-Based Study on the Use of the Logical Connector ‘Thus’ in the Academic Writing of Turkish EFL Learners

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 64
Author(s):  
Serpil Ucar ◽  
Ceyhun Yukselir
Keyword(s):  
Likelihood Ratio ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
American English ◽  
Advanced Learners ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Log Likelihood ◽  
Log Likelihood Ratio ◽  
Effect Relation ◽  
Academic Genre

This research was conducted to investigate how frequently Turkish advanced learners of English use the logical connector ‘thus’ in their academic prose and to investigate whether it was overused, underused or misused semantically in comparison to English native speakers. The data were collected from three corpora; Corpus of Contemporary American English and 20 scientific articles of native speakers as control corpora, and 20 scientific articles of Turkish advanced EFL learners. The raw frequencies, frequencies per million words, frequencies per text and log-likelihood ratio were measured so as to compare varieties across the three corpora. The findings revealed that Turkish learners of English showed underuse in the use of the connector ‘thus’ in their academic prose compared to native speakers. Additionally, they did not demonstrate misuse in the use of the connector ‘thus’. Nevertheless, non-native learners of English tended to use this connector in a resultative role (cause-effect relation) more frequently whereas native speakers used it in appositional and summative roles more as well as its resultative role. Furthermore, the most frequent occurrences of ‘thus’ have been in academic genre.

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