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Measures of Syntactic Complexity in L2 Arabic OPIs Across ACTFL's Advanced Level
No full textAn L2 learner’s language proficiency is composed of several facets such as linguistic complexity, fluency, and accuracy (CAF). Measuring these facets across proficiency levels can be challenging. Perhaps as a result, even widely adopted oral proficiency scales lack clear, operationalized definitions of these three constructs. To highlight the need for more empirical and granular profiles of oral proficiency in terms of these constructs, I discuss some possible deficiencies in the oral proficiency guidelines of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL). I then attempt to create a clearer profile of Advanced-level speech in terms of one aspect of proficiency-- syntactic complexity (SC). To do this, I analyze 16 officially rated OPIs with ratings ranging from Intermediate-high (IH) to Advanced-high (AH) in terms of several metrics of syntactic complexity to identify if any measures of SC were predictive of a student’s proficiency level. This analysis confirmed that the ratio of subordinate clauses to independent clauses in an interviewee’s speech is significantly correlated with his/her proficiency ratings at or near the Advanced level (p = .05). Other measures of syntactic complexity, such as the use of subordinate clauses in isolation and the length of subordinate clauses were not predictive of a student’s proficiency rating. The latter findings confirm the multiplex nature of complexity and underscore the need to consider multiple facets of proficiency together. It further indicates that distinctions between sublevels of the ACTFL scale may not always be statistically significant or even apparent when measured in terms of one metric of complexity in isolation. Ultimately, I suggest additional research directions and pedagogical implications that could help students further develop their SC and help researchers assess its connection to proficiency ratings. I do this with an eye toward the future of automated proficiency scoring in Arabic in the coming years
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The Status and Vitality of Moroccan Tamazight and Darija
No full textVarious social and political factors determine language status and vitality. These factors are fluid and change over time, making status harder to measure. However, through an overview of the recent political and educational history, and current events in Morocco, I chart the status changes of Darija (Moroccan Arabic) and Tamazight (Berber) using the UNESCO language vitality framework. The results show that Tamazight is shifting in its respective status and vitality. In contrast, Darija, while maintaining linguistic vitality demographically and historically, lacks institutional support. This lack of institutional support has implications for key vitality factors and stems from its subordinate place in relation to Standard Arabic. Tamazight, after the recent history of marginalization, is beginning to enjoy increased institutional support. The result is an increase in Tamazight broadcasting and textbooks as well as the appointment of an Amazigh Prime Minister. However, despite this support, Tamazight is still in a demographic decline, and it remains to be seen whether government interventions will slow or reverse this language shift
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
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Metathesis of Stop-Sibilant Clusters in Modern Hebrew: A Perceptual Investigation
No full textIn binyan hitpa'el, the reflexive and reciprocal verbal conjugation in Modern Hebrew, the /t/ of the /hit-/ prefix categorically metathesizes with a following sibilant (/s/, /z/, /∫/, or /t⁀s/), giving forms like [histakel] instead of expected forms like *[hitsakel]. It has been theorized that this metathesis may be perceptual, serving to place the /-t-/ in prevocalic position where it can be better perceived by listeners, the direction of metathesis being the more common sibilant + stop sequence in Modern Hebrew (Hume 2004), or that it may be auditory, based on a tendency for the sibilant noise to decouple from the rest of the speech stream, resulting in listener confusion about the place of the sibilant within the word (Blevins & Garrett 2004). Based on data from a speech perception experiment using English speakers, who listened to masked stimuli similar to hitpa'el verbs, I argue that Blevins & Garrett (2004)'s account is correct, with English speaking listeners evincing a tendency to misperceive stop + sibilant sequences as sibilant + stop sequences, despite the higher frequency of stop + sibilant sequences in English.Release after 01-Aug-201
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Superheavy Syllables in Jordanian Arabic; a Case Against a Language-Wide Trimoraic Ban
No full textThis study argues for the existence of a three-way weight distinction in Jordanian Arabic. It challenges a previous claim made by Broselow et al. (1995) that a trimoraic ban is active in Levantine dialects of Arabic. Khattab and Al-Tamimi’s (2014) study on Lebanese Arabic similarly claims support for the trimoraic ban. This study offers another analysis for observed shortening in Jordanian Arabic. While previous studies relied on affixation patterns to elicit a trimoraic syllable or considered syllables where the coda consonant also occupied the onset position of the following syllable, the current study isolates the role of geminate consonants to the coda position and considers bimoraic and trimoraic syllable contrasts with affixation as a separate variable. It is found that affixation and phrase position have a significant effect on the duration of the coda consonants.The crux of this, Khattab and Al-Tamimi’s, and Broselow et al.’s arguments revolves around the idea that phonetic measures can be taken as indicators of underlying phonological configurations. Specifically, it is assumed that differences in the duration of trimoraic syllables should correspond to differences in moraic structure when compared with bimoraic syllables. Shortening in the trimoraic syllable would indicate a phonological ban on superheavy (trimoraic syllables) via a process proposed by Broselow et al. known as Mora-Sharing. This study identifies the trimoraic syllables CVVG and CVCC, explains their moraic count, and then compares the prosodic duration measurements to comparable bimoraic syllables. Other variables are controlled and measured including emphasis, gemination, and stress
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
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Evaluating Arabic Textbooks: Authenticity of Genres and Vocabulary
No full textTextbooks play a central role in foreign language curriculum setting and teaching (Littlejohn, 1998; Harwood, 2010). With textbooks structuring up to 90% of the foreign language curriculum (Tyson & Woodward, 1989), it is critical to ask if materials are authentic, and expose students to language with a “real audience” and a “real message” (Morrow, 1977, p.13). These texts are proven to provide the best opportunities for second language (L2) acquisition (Mishan, 2005). The L2 authenticity debate since moved beyond textual authenticity, and considers the role of the learner and context in constructing authenticity (i.e. Breen, 1983). Still others question authenticity as a construct, and instead champion goals for teaching and learning over the reality of materials (i.e. Tatsuki, 2006). This approach prizes matching what learners need to accomplish in a foreign language over introducing authentic materials for their own sake. It is unclear if foreign language textbooks have caught up to this debate, and consider authenticity of materials as well as how students might apply textbook content when interacting, reading, listening, and understanding language outside of the L2 classroom. Study of Arabic as a Foreign Language (AFL) textbooks remains especially neglected due to a lack of resources and focused research on the topic (Bergman, 2009).
The studies in this dissertation add to this body of literature by incorporating textual, learner, and classroom authenticity, as well as a post authenticity perspective, to ask how well textbooks prepare learners for success. Broadly, this dissertation asks the following research questions: (1) Are genres and topics presented to students before study abroad helpful in interacting with the genres and topics they actually encounter?; (2) Does textbook vocabulary prepare students to read texts in genres and language varieties surveys tell us they want to read? (3) Does textbook vocabulary in the most popular Arabic textbooks prepare students with the vocabulary they are most likely to meet in a natural language environment?
Results of this dissertation will shed light on gaps between texts and vocabulary students need to read, write, and communicate, and those provided to them by textbooks. This collection of articles is one of the few exploring how well textbooks prepare learners for future success as language learners. This dissertation is then of interest to not only Arabic teachers, curriculum designers, and program directors, but also to those who focus on textbooks and language learning in general.Release after 07/31/202
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Get PDFWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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