1,720,958 research outputs found
Exploring the role of previously acquired languages in third language (L3) acquisition: a feature-based approach
No full textThis thesis explores the role of previously acquired languages in third language (L3) acquisition, providing evidence that L3 transfer is determined by the underlying structural similarities and differences between previously acquired languages and the target L3. The analysis proposes a ‘feature-based’ approach to L3 transfer studies, highlighting the importance of linguistic features and the way in which they are assembled in different languages.I examine the acquisition of null and overt arguments by L1 English-L2 Spanish-L3 Chinese earners [+SP], conducting a comparative analysis with a group of L1 English-L2 non-null subject language-L3 Chinese learners [-SP]. The three languages of the [+SP] participants are not typologically related, but the L1 and L2 have similarities related to subject pronouns in the L3. Null subjects are allowed in Spanish and Chinese (although there are syntactic differences) and overt subjects behave in a similar way in English and Chinese. Therefore, transfer can occur from the L1 or L2. A Written Production Task (WPT) and a Pronoun Interpretation Task (PIT) test the use and interpretation of arguments, and a Language Relations Questionnaire (LRQ) explores the learners’ perceptions of the relatedness between languages. The results show transfer from L1 English (overt pronouns) and L2 Spanish (null subjects), indicating that L3 transfer can occur from either the L1/L2, depending on the property being acquired (i.e. it is selective). Furthermore, the data shows that the [+SP] group outperform the [-SP] group with null subjects, indicating that reassembling features associated with null subjects is straightforward despite syntactic differences between the languages. In addition, learners’ perceptions of language relatedness do not play an important role for typologically unrelated languages. Therefore, the study concludes that future L3 transfer studies can make more specific predictions regarding the source of transfer if linguistic features are taken into account
Reexamining the acquisition of null subject pronouns in a second language: focus on referential and pragmatic constraints
No full textThis study re-examines the L2 acquisition of referential and pragmatic properties of null and overt subject pronouns by advanced English learners of Spanish under the assumption that both forms display levels of complexity at the syntax-pragmatics interface. Our main hypothesis is that null subjects should be as difficult to acquire as overt subjects, challenging current generative accounts (e.g. the ‘Interface Hypothesis’) in which the acquisition of null subjects is problem-free. Data obtained by a group of 20 advanced English speakers of Spanish in a Picture Verification Task and a Context-Matching Preference Task corroborate this hypothesis. Results show that L2 speakers over-accept null subjects and find it difficult to reject them when an overt pronoun is preferred by the controls. We propose that they may be using null subjects as a default form as they have an incomplete knowledge of the pragmatic constraints governing the use of pro in context
Testing the predictions of the Scalpel Model in L3/Ln acquisition: the acquisition of null and overt subjects in L3 Chinese
No full textThe Scalpel Model (SM) (Slabakova, 2016) argues that neither the L1 nor the L2 has a privileged status in L3 acquisition so transfer can occur from either the L1 or the L2 and on a property-by-property basis. We test these predictions by examining the acquisition of Chinese null and overt subjects by twenty-five L3 Chinese learners divided into two groups: L1 English-L2 Spanish-L3 Chinese learners and L1 English-L2 non-null subject language-L3 Chinese learners. Results from a Written Production Task and a Pronoun Interpretation Task show transfer from both background languages but for different properties supporting that transfer can, indeed, be partial in L3 acquisition. We argue that existing structural similarities between the background and the target languages are important as well
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
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
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
koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist
No full textWe have done our best to complete the author checklist relating to the use of animals in the hut study. Note that the objective for the hut study was to evaluate the IRS treatment applications for residual efficacy against Anopheles mosquitoes, including the local An. coluzzii mosquito population. Cows were only used to attract mosquitoes into the huts and no tests were carried out directly on the cows. The author checklist is intended for use with studies where experiments are carried out on animals, which is why we have had such difficulty in completing this for the hut study, as many of the questions do not relate to how the cows were used
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