Language Behavior Research Articles

ECOLINGUISTIC REVIEW OF THE INTERNET LINGUOCYNICISMS

The purpose. The purpose of the article is to study of the impact of Internet communication on the language behaviour of users, the identification of specific linguistic changes and their shades in this environment, as well as the analyse the ecological consequences of these phenomena. Methodology. The research is based on the use of the ecolinguistic approach, which combines the methods of linguistics, ecology and cultural studies. Methods of analysis include descriptive analysis of language means, content analysis of Internet resources, as well as observation of the language practice of users. The use of a multi-method approach allows readers to get a comprehensive picture of the phenomenon of linguistics on the Internet. Methods such as analysis and synthesis of literature on the research problem, web scraping, analysis of social networks, discourse and content analysis were also used in the research. Scientific novelty. The article reveals a new aspect of language learning in the context of the modern digital environment. The study reveals unique linguistic features that occur online, such as language abbreviations, the use of emojis, and other forms of non-standard communication. The impact of these phenomena on language culture and ways of expressing thoughts and feelings is analyzed. The article analyzes for the first time the interaction between language practice in the online environment and the natural environment, highlighting the impact of the Internet language on the language ecosystem and cultural landscape in general. Changes in the presentation of language units to the public can be clearly traced through the ecolinguistic prism. In addition, language clogging is traced and ways to overcome linguocynicisms are provided. Conclusions. The results of the study indicate that the Internet significantly affects the evolution of language, creating new linguistic realities and changing the ways of communication. Awareness of these changes is important for the further development of linguistics and society as a whole. Investigating the ecolinguistic aspects of Internet linguocynicisms can be an important contribution to understanding the interaction between language, culture, and technology.

Autism, intelligence, language, and adaptive behavior, disentangling a complex relationship

IntroductionAutism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by a range of intellectual and language abilities. Its heterogeneity is acknowledged in modern diagnostics, complicating research and necessitating precision medicine and a multidimensional approach for individualized treatment and accurate assessment. Intellectual and language functioning influence adaptive skills and symptomatology. Thus, assessing adaptive functioning in a multidimensional and multi-informant manner is crucial, highlighting the importance of comprehensive evaluations. This study explores the interplay between autistic traits, demographic variables, IQ, adaptive functioning, and the applicability of ICD-11 classifications.MethodsWe analyzed data from the initial global evaluation of 60 diverse autistic children (aged 35 to 120 months; IQ range 16 to 118). Parent-reports using the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale (VABS-II) were compared with standardized assessments from the PsychoEducational Profile (PEP-3). Children’s intellectual levels were assessed using Griffiths Scales of Child Development (Griffiths III) and the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS-2) was used for autistic traits. They were further classified according to the ICD-11 diagnostic system, functional language, and intellectual functioning levels. Correlations among variables, group comparisons, and multivariate analyses were performed.ResultsThe analysis indicates a linear effect of IQ on all adaptive scales and the impact of autistic traits on directly measured adaptive functioning. A factorial effect was observed due to changes concerning specific age, intellectual, and linguistic levels, which do not completely align with ICD-11 categorization. Additionally, a negative correlation between intelligence and measured autistic traits was found. Parental age, education level, and age at childbirth were also found to affect various adaptive scales.DiscussionThe study questions the ICD-11’s proposed distinctions in IQ and language functioning for ASD, advocating for more refined categorization and developmental considerations. It underscores the intricate relationship between autistic traits, IQ, and communication skills, casting doubt on the precision of diagnostic tools across the spectrum. Parental reports and direct assessments are essential for comprehensive evaluation, with parental education and age influencing children’s behaviors and skills. The study calls for a nuanced approach to ASD assessment, integrating various metrics and sources of information for a detailed phenotyping necessary for personalized interventions and biological research.

W poszukiwaniu przyczyn wyrażania niechęci wobec dzieci w internecie

The article aims to highlight the phenomenon of adults expressing resentment towards children and to try to reach its causes. The subject of the study consists of the statements of internet users perceived through the prism of linguistic discourse analysis. The author distinguishes three groups of causes: cultural (individualism, freedom in way of life, egocentrism), social (child-centrism vs. loss of social contact with the child) and psychological (individual). Cultural reasons relate to the fact that people nowadays value freedom and don’t want to make sacrifices for children who they consider a disturbance to their orderly, ideal way of life and individualistic mindset. Social causes come in the form of two seemingly opposing ideas. The first is about protest against pressure to have and to like children, alongside the priority given to families with children. The second is about the loss of social contact with the child, caused by the change in the family model and the privatization of motherhood. Psychological causes are of an individual nature; they may be related to trauma and various hypersensitivities and often manifest in expressions of disgust towards children. The author draws attention to the normalization of rude language behavior and the escalation of expressed resentment, which raises questions about the possibility of age discrimination.

Testing the predictions of Chapman's five love languages theory: Does speaking a partner's primary love language predict relationship quality?

Chapman's claim that the key to marital happiness is "speaking" your partner's primary "love language" has been highly influential in pop culture and incorporated into therapeutic practice. However, the theory has not yet been empirically validated. The current study tests his theory, examining the hypothesis that satisfaction with one's partner's primary love language behavior predicts relationship satisfaction better than satisfaction with one's partner's nonprimary love language behavior. We recruited a sample (n = 696, M = 43.8 years, 70% married, 97.3% cohabitating) through Amazon CloudResearch. Chapman's hypothesis was not supported. Participants' satisfaction with their partners' primary love language behavior no better-predicted relationship satisfaction or perceived love than the lower-ranked love languages. Words of Affirmation and Quality Time better predicted perceived love and relationship satisfaction than participants' primary love language. These results replicate previous research and suggest that these should remain targets of intervention for relationship therapists.

Characteristics of early cognitive development in children with Williams syndrome: a prospective cohort study

To investigate the early cognitive development characteristics of children with Williams syndrome (WS) at different age stages. From September 2018 to June 2023, 106 children diagnosed with WS at the Department of Pediatric Health Care, Children's Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, aged 1 to <5 years, were prospectively enrolled. All children underwent Gesell developmental diagnostic assessments to analyze the cognitive development characteristics of WS children across different age groups. The average age of the 106 WS children was (3.1±1.2) years; 58 were male, and 48 were female. There were no significant differences in developmental levels between males and females in the five domains of gross motor skills, fine motor skills, language, personal-social skills, and adaptive behavior (P>0.05). The incidence rates of mild, moderate, severe, and profound developmental disabilities among children of different age groups showed no significant differences (P>0.05). Comparisons of developmental levels in gross motor skills, language, personal-social skills, and adaptive behavior among different age groups were also not statistically significant (P>0.05). With the increase of age, the developmental level of fine motor skills showed a decreasing trend (P<0.05). There were no significant differences in verbal IQ and non-verbal IQ within each age group of WS children (P>0.05). The overall developmental level of WS children stabilizes with age, and their early language abilities do not significantly exceed their non-verbal abilities.

Bridging the gap between preservice teachers’ theoretical and practical knowledge through simulations of teacher-parent interactions

ABSTRACT Teacher-parent communication is one of the domains in teacher education where the gap between theory and practice is evident. Although teacher-education programmes are responsible for developing preservice teachers’ (PSTs’) effective parent-teacher communication skills, such interactions are rarely practiced during the training. Simulation-Based Learning (SBL) is one of the ways to connect theory to practice. The current study analysed a PST’s language behaviour during an SBL lesson involving a parent-teacher interaction, to consider whether and in what way the SBL experience helped bridge the gap between PSTs’ theoretical and practical knowledge. A qualitative methodology was selected using a case-study approach. The PST whose language behaviour was examined was a 33-year-old woman retraining to become a kindergarten teacher. The data were collected via a workshop transcript, an interview, and a written reflection and were analysed using linguistic and content analyses. The findings demonstrate the role of SBL in advancing the crucial aspect of effective teacher-education programmes, namely, addressing the connection between theory and practice. The study’s theoretical contribution lies in underscoring the way in which simulation contributes to bridging the gap between PSTs’ theoretical and practical knowledge.

“I’m committed, not addicted.”: College students’ identity and communication about vaping

Objective Vaping is a relatively new phenomenon, and trends in social vaping behaviors are developing. The current study describes and explains how communication surrounding vaping shapes different aspects of a college student’s identity. Participants Twenty-seven male and female college students at a large Midwestern university were recruited to participate in five focus groups. Methods Focus group findings were interpreted through the lens of the communication theory of identity. Results College students’ communication of identity was manifest in the personalization of vaping devices, selling vaping devices as a relational activity, the social aspects of vaping addiction, the facetious language surrounding vaping, and perceptions of vaping tricks as “cringe.” Conclusions The findings revealed narrow perceptions of acceptable identities for users of vaping devices. Participants avoided labels of “being addicted” and leveraged discursive strategies such as humor, facetious language, othering, and re-framing behavior to fit a desirable identity.

The effect of speech and non-speech noise on comprehension of storybook reading for elementary school children

Children are generally more affected by surrounding noise than are adults, and are more disturbed by speech than by non-speech noise. Storybook reading, which is one of the main activities in school curricula, is known to improve children's language skills, social abilities, and behavior. However, classrooms are generally noisy environments, and the effectiveness of storybook reading in noise is unclear. This study aimed to investigate how noise affects storybook reading comprehension among elementary schoolchildren. A practiced speaker read picture books to 11 elementary school schoolchildren (age range, 6-9 years) under three listening conditions: quiet, speech noise (babble noise), and non-speech noise (noise recorded in a boiler room). A comprehension test (e.g., story flow, character behaviors, keywords) was conducted after each book was read. No significant difference in story comprehension scores was found among the listening conditions, likely because the visual information helped the children understand the stories even in noise. However, the story comprehension score under the speech noise condition was significantly higher for children who frequently played outside as compared with inside. These results suggest that children's comprehension of storybook reading in noise is affected by not only surrounding noise, but also the play area.

다문화 일반아동 및 언어발달지연아동의 정서행동적 특성과 언어능력 간 관계

This study examined the effects of emotional behavioral strengths (pro-social behavior), which are positive factors that can influence the effective communication of multicultural children, and difficulties (emotional symptoms, hyperactivity, conduct problems, peer problems) on language ability. Correlation analysis, regression analysis were conducted based on the data collected for multicultural children aged 4 to 7. As a result, there was a positive correlation between receptive language and pro-social behavior in the typically developing children, but the relationship between emotional behavioral factors and language was not significant in the children with language delayed group. It was confirmed that the pro-social behavior had a significant effect on the language ability of the group experiencing normal language development in multicultural children.

Monitorowanie procesu pisania w języku obcym. Analiza przerw z perspektywy Teorii Systemów Dynamicznych

The paper investigates the dynamic character of pausing behaviour in foreign language writing. In a longitudinal study on Polish learners of Swedish, pause length and frequency, as well as the interplay between pause length and the development of lexical diversity, syntactic complexity, accuracy, and fluency, were investigated. According to the assumptions of Dynamic Systems Theory, intra- and inter-subject variability were analysed. The study has shown that the mean length of pauses did not change during the three-year period of second language learning; however, the frequency of pauses significantly decreased, as demonstrated by the increasing number of words written between pauses. There was a considerable variation within subjects during the entire period, and even moderate inter-subject variability was noticed. The occurrence of longer pauses was almost always interconnected with a higher level of accuracy, syntactic complexity, and fluency. This interplay, however, could only be confirmed at the individual level, showing the necessity of following the development of a second language in individuals rather than for the entire group.

Intervention studies with group design targeting expressive phonology for children with developmental speech and language disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Phonological difficulties are prevalent in children with speech and/or language disorders and may hamper their later language outcomes and academic achievements. These children often form a significant proportion of speech and language therapists' caseloads. There is a shortage of information on evidence-based interventions for improving phonological skills in children and adolescents with speech and language disorder. The aim of this systematic literature review and meta-analysis was to systematically examine the effects of different intervention approaches on speech production accuracy and phonological representation skills in children with speech and language disorders. A preregistered systematic review (International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews ID: CRD42017076075) adhering to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines was completed. Seven electronic databases (PubMed, Web of Science, ERIC, PsychINFO, Cochrane Library, SCOPUS and Linguistics & Language Behavior Abstracts) were searched for studies related to oral language interventions with children with developmental speech and/or language disorder (mean age ranging from 3-18 years) published between January 2006 and August 2022. The included articles reported intervention studies with a group design in which speech production accuracy was the outcome measure. Studies were appraised using the Cochrane risk of bias tool, and individual effect sizes were calculated using standardised means differences when enough data was available. A meta-analysis was conducted obtaining the average standardised mean difference d. Heterogeneity, influence of possible moderator variables and publication bias were explored. The 23 studies that met the inclusion criteria presented low-medium risk of bias. Nine effect sizes were obtained from seven of these studies that presented a pre-post-test with a control group design. Medium-high average effect sizes were found in phonological accuracy. Heterogeneity was found between individual effect sizes. Significant moderator variables and publication bias were not detected. The results of this meta-analysis indicate positive effects on speech production accuracy. Based on this review, further improvements in the quality of reporting for intervention research are required in developing the evidence base for practice. What is already known on the subject An increasing number of interventions is available for children and adolescents with developmental speech and/or language disorders. Previous reviews suggest relatively low levels of evidence of interventions having phonology as an outcome measure. What this paper adds to the existing knowledge This review and meta-analysis summarise the intervention evidence from a substantial body of group design studies, indicating positive results from a range of interventions with phonological outcomes. It highlights the need to systematically implement and replicate different intervention procedures to understand factors that will maximise positive outcomes and to grow the evidence base for best practice. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this study? Tentative evidence is emerging for the effectiveness of various approaches in enhancing speech production accuracy skills of children and adolescents with developmental speech and/or language disorder.

The Appropriation of Religiousity in the 2024 Indonesian Presidential

Religious appropriation is a phenomenon that is continually reproduced in every electoral contestation. However, this context has not been discussed comprehensively in previous studies. In addition to responding to the shortcomings of previous studies, this study also focuses on explaining the characteristics, factors, and latent dangers of religious appropriation that occured in the 2024 Indonesian presidential election. This study reveals three important findings regarding the religious appropriation in the 2024 Indonesian presidential election. First, religious appropriation frequently manifests in the context of doctrine, language, and religious behaviors expressed outside the values and norms of religion. Second, cultural, spiritual, and structural factors have dominantly influenced the occurance of religious appropriation in the 2024 Indonesian presidential election. Third, the latent dangers of religious appropriation in the 2024 Indonesian presidential election often leads to intolerance, polarization, and persecution against religious communities even after the 2024 Indonesian presidential election. This study also recommends the importance of further studies that explain the attitudes of both formal and informal authorities in responding to religious appropriation in political contestation by conducting intensive interviews.

Language use in depressed and non-depressed mothers and their adolescent offspring

BackgroundApproximately 10% of mothers experience depression each year, which increases risk for depression in offspring. Currently no research has analysed the linguistic features of depressed mothers and their adolescent offspring during dyadic interactions. We examined the extent to which linguistic features of mothers' and adolescents' speech during dyadic interactional tasks could discriminate depressed from non-depressed mothers. MethodsComputer-assisted linguistic analysis (Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count; LIWC) was applied to transcripts of low-income mother-adolescent dyads (N = 151) performing a lab-based problem-solving interaction task. One-way multivariate analyses were conducted to determine linguistic features hypothesized to be related to maternal depressive status that significantly differed in frequency between depressed and non-depressed mothers and higher and lower risk offspring. Logistic regression analyses were performed to classify between dyads belonging to the two groups. ResultsThe results showed that linguistic features in mothers' and their adolescent offsprings' speech during problem-solving interactions discriminated between maternal depression status. Many, but not all effects, were consistent with those identified in previous research using primarily written text, highlighting the validity and reliability of language behaviour associated with depressive symptomatology across lab-based and natural environmental contexts. LimitationsOur analyses do not enable to ascertain how mothers' language behaviour may have influenced their offspring's communication patterns. We also cannot say how or whether these findings generalize to other contexts or populations. ConclusionThe findings extend the existing literature on linguistic features of depression by indicating that mothers' depression is associated with linguistic behaviour during mother-adolescent interaction.

Dynamic degree centrality in stroke-induced Broca's aphasia varies based on first language: A functional MRI study.

This study sought to explore dynamic degree centrality (DC) variability in particular regions of the brain in patients with poststroke Broca aphasia (BA) using a resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) approach, comparing differences between Uyghur and Chinese BA patients. This study investigated two factors, language and BA status, and divided patients into four groups: Uyghur aphasia patients (UA), Uyghur normal control subjects (UN), Chinese aphasia patients (CA), and Chinese normal subjects (CN) who underwent rs-fMRI analysis. Two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to calculate the comprehensive differences in dynamic DC among these four groups. Correlations between DC and language behavior were assessed with partial correlation analyses. Two-way ANOVA revealed comparable results for the results of pairwise comparisons of dynamic DC variability among the four groups in the right middle frontal gyrus/orbital part (ORBmid.R), right superior frontal gyrus/dorsolateral, and right precuneus (PCUN.R), with results as follows: UA<UN, CA>CN, UA<CA, and UN>CN (p<.05, with the exception of the p-values for UA and UN in superior frontal gyrus/dorsolateral). In contrast, the opposite results were observed for the right calcarine fissure and surrounding cortex (CAL.R, p<.05). The observed enhancement of dynamic DC variability in ORBmid.R and PCUN.R among Chinese BA patients and in CAL.R in Uyghur BA patients may be attributable to language network restructuring. Overall, these results suggest that BA patients who use different language families may exhibit differences in the network mechanisms that characterize observed impairments of language function.

Mapping the dimensions of family language policy for young children: the case of Emirati families

ABSTRACT The United Arab Emirates has a unique multilingual landscape with over 100 languages considered as the first languages of its population, English as the dominant lingua franca for communication among virtually all residents, and Arabic as the official language. The Emirati (native Arab citizens) families with young children have been in a unique sociolinguistic dilemma, and little is known about how they deal with the dilemma. This study aimed to address the gap. Individual ethnographic interviews were conducted with 20 Emirati families by trained Emirati ethnographic interviewers. Focused open and axial coding generated three dimensions of family literacy policy (FLP). Language ideology encapsulates the parents’ perception, assumption, and aspiration about Arabic and English and the child’s learning of the two languages. Language behavior features environmental control, motivational control, and task control concerning language education. Language metacognition foregrounds the parents’ evaluation of their child’s language learning and reflection on their own language behaviour. The three dimensions of FLP are reciprocally related. The three-dimensional model may serve as a useful conceptual framework for future investigation into FLP.

Orientation towards the vernacular and style-shifting as language behaviours in speech of first-generation Polish migrant communities speaking Norwegian in Norway.

This study describes the patterns of dialect use among L3 Norwegian speakers born in Poland who have migrated to Norway. We collected the data in the form of sociolinguistic interviews recorded in Tromsø and Oslo, two different dialect regions, in order to examine potential differences in acquisition of two dissimilar dialects in Norwegian by L3 speakers. The analyses focus on dialectal and accentual variation in their speech, and whether frequency of dialect use is dependent on selected sociocultural factors. We have found that some speakers, especially those scoring high for overall dialect use, also display style-shifting, i.e. they use dialect features from the region more frequently in unscripted speech as opposed to in more formal speech styles elicited through reading tasks or the wordlist reading tasks. This demonstrates that language learners are capable of developing sensitivity towards the vernacular form in an L3. Moreover, it shows that first-generation migrant communities in fact may be capable of developing their L2/L3/L4 language competencies in a similar way to L1 speakers, including at the level of sociolinguistic variation.

Seni Helah dan Perbahasan Belanjawan 2024: Analisis Pragmatik

The integrity of the administration of any governmentlargely depends on relevant and clear financial policies, for instance, Short-Term Plans or Annual Budgets. Periodically, the Annual Budget, the most important component of Parliamentary discourse, will be tabled for discussion, either to gain support or face criticism in both Houses of Representatives. Certainly, discussions and debates require politicians to master the art of rhetoric, analysis, and inference to navigate the dynamics of political legitimacy. For this purpose, the important document known as the Hansard serves as a substantial source, recording the strategies and art of Evasive Language in challenging-defending policies, addressing-mitigating issues, and strengthening-undermining the image that determines the integrity of the legitimacy of both the Governmentand and Opposition. However, previous corpus studies by Hansard on the topic of Evasive Response have focused only on the structural forms of debate. Therefore, employing three Pragmatic models, namely Harris’s Framework of Respons (1991), Thomas’s Notion of Implicator (1995), and Claymen’s Dimension of Resistance (2012), this qualitative study aims to analyse more complex, intense, and natural debate sessions, specifically the policy debate on the 2024 Budget. The findings reveal that all three types of Responses have some distinctive features, and their selection correlates with the scale of their impact on the image of the Government-Opposition. In addition, adhering to the Gricean Maxims (1975), the configuration of Evasive Language behavior is more easily defined and justified. Lastly, the discourse background at the policy level is more heterogeneous, thereby enriching the performative nature of Evasive Language.

Assessing Relative Linguistic Impairment With Model-Based Item Selection.

A picture naming test is presented that reveals impairment to specific mechanisms involved in the naming process, using accuracy scores on curated item sets. A series of psychometric validation experiments are reported. Using a computational model that enables estimation of item difficulty at the lexical and sublexical stages of word retrieval, two complimentary sets of items were constructed that challenge the respective psycholinguistic levels of representation. The difference in accuracy between these item sets yields the relative linguistic impairment (RLI) score. In a cohort of 91 people with chronic left-hemisphere stroke who enrolled in a clinical trial for anomia, we assessed psychometric properties of the RLI score and then used the new scale to make predictions about other language behaviors, lesion distributions, and functional activation during naming. RLI scores had adequate psychometric properties for clinical significance. RLI scores contained predictive information about spontaneous speech fluency, over and above accuracy. A dissociation was observed between performance on the RLI item sets and performance on the subtests of an independent language battery. Sublexical RLI was significantly associated with apraxia of speech and with lesions encompassing perisylvian regions, while lexical RLI was associated with lesions to deep white matter. The RLI construct was reflected in functional brain activity during naming, independent of overall accuracy, with a respective shift of activation between dorsal and ventral networks responsible for different aspects of word retrieval. The RLI assessment satisfies the psychometric requirements to serve as a useful clinical measure.

Modelling child comprehension: A case of suffixal passive construction in Korean

The present study investigates a computational model's ability to capture monolingual children's language behaviour during comprehension in Korean, an understudied language in the field. Specifically, we test whether and how two neural network architectures (LSTM, GPT-2) cope with a suffixal passive construction involving verbal morphology and required interpretive procedures (i.e., revising the mapping between thematic roles and case markers) driven by that morphology. To this end, we fine-tune our models via patching (i.e., pre-trained model + caregiver input) and hyperparameter adjustments, and measure their binary classification performance on the test sentences used in a behavioural study manifesting scrambling and omission of sentential components to varying degrees. We find that, while these models’ performance converges with the children's response patterns found in the behavioural study to some extent, the models do not faithfully simulate the children's comprehension behaviour pertaining to the suffixal passive, yielding by-model, by-condition, and by-hyperparameter asymmetries. This points to the limits of the neural networks’ capacity to address child language features. The implications of this study invite subsequent inquiries on the extent to which computational models reveal developmental trajectories of children's linguistic knowledge that have been unveiled through corpus-based or experimental research.

A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF BEHAVIOURAL CHANGES IN L1 LEARNERS DUE TO L2 NONVERBAL CUES

This systematic review explores the influence of second language (L2) nonverbal cues on first language (L1) behaviours among learners. While existing research has primarily focused on verbal proficiency, the integration of nonverbal communication—encompassing gestures, facial expressions, body posture, and vocal tone—into L2 learning remains under examined. This study investigates the phenomenon of superimposition, where L2 learners adopt nonverbal cues that subsequently shape their L1 interactions. Through an interdisciplinary lens incorporating psycholinguistics, cross-cultural communication, and second language acquisition theories, we identify significant behavioural changes in L1 communication patterns, emotional expressiveness, and social interaction styles. Key areas of impact include alterations in facial expressions, gestural behaviours, eye contact, and paralanguage. Utilizing psychometric tools such as self-report surveys, observational studies, and vocal analysis, this review highlights the complexities of nonverbal communication across languages and cultures. Ultimately, our findings underscore the necessity of understanding nonverbal cue integration to enhance cross-cultural communication and support multilingual individuals in navigating diverse interaction contexts.