Non-linguistic Variables Research Articles

Spatial location does not consistently constrain perceptual learning in speech

Recent research showed selectivity of perceptual learning in speech to linguistic variables and non-linguistic variables. With regard to the latter Keetels et al. (2016) reported that perceptual learning for one spatial location does not fully generalize to another. This spatial selectivity has been suggested to indicate that learning may target non-linguistic representations. We test whether spatial selectivity is a general property of perceptual learning or whether it is related to specific design choices, such as using a single nonword throughout the study. Therefore, we aimed to replicate spatial selectivity with a paradigm that makes use of a larger set of word and nonword stimuli. However, in three experiments, one in-person and two web-based, no effect of spatial selectivity was observed. A Bayesian analysis suggests that the null hypothesis is better supported by the data than the alternative hypothesis based on the previously reported effect size. Repercussions for the debate about pre-lexical representations in speech processing are discussed.

Subjective versus objective language proficiency measures in the investigation of bilingual effects on cognitive control

Purpose: Bilingual language experience is thought to confer non-linguistic benefits in general cognition including improved cognitive control. These bilingual effects are most often observed in samples of bilinguals who are highly proficient in both languages. However, across the majority of previous studies, assessments of language proficiency are exclusively subjective. While evidence supports that subjective and objective measures of language proficiency are correlated, no studies have explored whether the use of either measure impacts on model results when investigating bilingual effects on cognitive control. Methodology: Mandarin-English bilingual young adults completed both subjective and objective assessments of language proficiency and a Simon task to measure differences in cognitive control. Data and Analysis: Data were analyzed using linear mixed-effects models to best account for differences in linguistic and non-linguistic variables as well as the repeated-measures nature of the Simon task. Findings and Conclusions: We report no evidence in support of improved cognitive control associated with higher levels of language proficiency. Crucially, results did not differ when either subjective or objective measures were included in our models. Results support that both subjective and objective assessments of language proficiency may be equivalent when modeling bilingual effects on cognitive control. Originality: This study is the first direct investigation of the influence of the proficiency assessment method on model results. Implications: The findings of this study have implications for the assessment of language proficiency in future investigations of bilingual effects.

Modeling the bilingual advantage: Do results differ between analysis methods?

Whether bilingualism results in improved executive function is controversial. According to some researchers, putative bilingual advantages can be explained by individual differences in unmeasured non-linguistic variables. Additionally, commonly used models containing exclusively fixed-effects do not account for the data structure inherent in multi-trial behavioral tasks. Mixed-effects models by contrast address both of these issues, allowing for a more valid test of the bilingual advantage hypothesis. The present study aimed to assess whether the choice of analysis method impacted on results when investigating the bilingual advantage in executive function. Simon task data from Mandarin-English speaking Chinese adolescents were analyzed using separate fixed and mixed-effects models. Comparisons between models revealed considerable differences in the pattern of results. Most notable was the observation that a number of previously significant main effects on task performance were no longer significant in a mixed model accounting for the inclusion of multiple trials for each participant. Implications for the bilingual advantage are discussed.

Fear of a Black Language: A Radical Language Policy Perspective to the Afrobarometer

Aim/Purpose: This paper complicates Black English-speaking Quebecers by mapping them to the poli-tics of multilingualism, through attempting to join Black and African thinkers on the dialectics of linguistic (in)securities. In particular, it joins “Francophone” and “Anglo-phone” Caribbean intellectuals: Édouard Glissant and Edward Kamau Brathwaite, in dialogue with Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, a pan-African intellectual. Background: Official language policies, ideologies, and practices within Canada and Quebec contribute to the marginalization of the Black population, in particular Black English-speakers in Quebec, as a double minority. Language is an important intersectional factor effecting the wellbeing of Black English-speaking Quebecers as it plays a significant role in their “experiences” of racial discrimination. Methodology: To challenge various forms of hegemonies and obscuration of violence that positivist logics engender through quantitative means; this paper aligns with emerging approaches critical quantitative approaches. Binary logistic regression model based on linguistic variables (home language practice) and non-linguistic variables (country, age, agency, trust) is employed to predict absence or presence of linguistic security using SPSS. Findings: The results of the logistic analysis indicate that the five-predictor model provided a sta-tistically significant prediction of linguistic security, χ2(5, n = 3891) = 114.759, p < 0.001. This is points to how individual language policy operates in a “complex ecological rela-tionship among a wide range of linguistic and non-linguistic elements, variables, and fac-tors.” A critical implication of this is for language to be taken seriously, in newer rounds of the Afrobarometer, as it was in former years. This would entail challenging the nation-state framework of the Afrobarometer. Impact on Society: Language policies historically, and in present times, are tools of linguistic hegemony, colonial violence, and repression. Thinking about how language policy operates beyond nation-state borders with Caribbean and Pan- Africanist thinkers, in relation multilingual being, carves new possibilities for linguistic securities.

Graded bilingual effects on attentional network function in Chinese high school students

AbstractEffective communication in multilingual environments requires bilinguals to constantly monitor linguistic cues. It is hypothesized that the constant need to monitor may result in improved attention. However, previous investigations have reported mixed, often null results, with positive findings attributed to non-linguistic variables. To address these issues, we investigated whether higher levels of bilingualism were associated with improved attentional function in a sample of culturally and socioeconomically homogenous Mandarin–English speaking bilingual adolescents. Participants completed the Attention Network Task to assess attentional network function. Data were analyzed using linear mixed-effects models in order to account for nontrivial differences. Mixed results provide partial support for domain general cognitive benefits associated with higher levels of bilingualism. Both improved and reduced performance differed based on the specific dimension of bilingualism and the attentional network assessed. Findings support the conclusion that separable dimensions of bilingual language experience assert different influences on attentional network function.

Language contact in historical documents: the identification and co-occurrence of Egyptian transfer features in Greek documentary papyri

AbstractThe Egyptian-Greek contact situation has lasted almost a thousand years and many documents have been preserved to us from this period. In this paper, we apply a new quantitative approach to this rich corpus of documentary papyri to map the relationships between the linguistic variables (the variant spellings) and several non-linguistic variables. A multidimensional scaling of the co-occurrences of the linguistic variables shows that there is a strong association between most of the Greek variant spellings that can be explained by Egyptian phonological transfer, while others do not typically co-occur with them. Several new linguistic variables not yet connected to Egyptian phonological transfer also show a strong relation with the first group of features, some of them representing the same phonological transfer processes. A comparison of the contexts in which these variables are used allows us to further substantiate this observation: several of the previously and newly Egyptian-associated variables turn out to have a strong correlation with bilingual Egyptian-Greek documents or occur in Egyptian dominated environments. The spelling variants are chronologically dependent and different features are typically associated with different historical periods illustrating changes taking place in the Egyptian Greek contact variety over time. A multiple correspondence analysis shows that the variables strongly interact, illustrating the importance of a multifactorial approach combining various linguistic and non-linguistic factors.

Rasch analysis and differential item functioning of English language anxiety scale (ELAS) across sex in Egyptian context

BackgroundEnglish language anxiety (ELA) is a prevalent phenomenon in language education. It is one of the most commonly investigated non-linguistic variables in studies of language learning. Accordingly, numerous studies have paid great attention to the factors leading to FLA.MethodsAs instruments of ELA have not been subjected to a rigorous test of item response theory (IRT), this study conducted such analysis using the Rasch rating scale model. ELAS scale developed using classical testing theory (CTT), which consists of 32 items measuring four sub-scales (listening, speaking, reading and writing anxiety), was analysed using IRT. WINSTEPS software and SPSS version 26 were used to examine the psychometric properties, sex differential item functioning (DIF) and Rasch analysis of the ELAS in the Egyptian context. A total of 604 participants were recruited for data collection.ResultsThe main findings indicated that the scale yielded a good approximation of Rasch assumptions and appears to be a valid and reliable tool. DIF was computed using the Mantel–Haenszel (MH) method and Welch’s t-test, which indicated that no sex bias was detected for any item of the ELAS.ConclusionsThis paper presents a promising ELA instrument characterized by adequate validity, reliability and objectivity in addition to potential for precise use in comparison between males and females because it is invariant across sex.

Flertalsformer af ari-ord i den færøske talesprogsbank

The aim of this article is to investigate dialectal variation of plural endings of ari-words in Faroese, i.e., masculine words with ari-ending in singular. Such words for example lærari ‘teacher’ may get different plural endings in spoken Faroese: ar, ir, a, and R (lærarar, lærarir, lærara, læraR). In the written language there is only one correct plural form which is ar: lærarar. The empirical material in this article is picked up from a corpus of spoken language, Føroyskur talumálsbanki, which is a corpus management and analysis system for annotated corpora. The article is also a study of the usability of the corpus concerning dialectal variation in spoken Faroese. The result of the correlation shows that the non-standardized ir-variant is most frequent in the corpus. Here I investigate the variation by correlating them with two non-linguistic variables, place, and age.

From the field into the lab: causal approaches to the evolution of spatial language

Abstract Striking variation exists in preferences for specific spatial linguistic strategies among different speech communities. Increasing evidence now suggests that this might not simply be a result of neutral drift, but rather a form of linguistic adaptation to the local social, cultural, or physical environment. Recent studies indicate that different factors like topography, subsistence style, and bilingualism successfully predict the choice of spatial frames of reference (FoR) on linguistic and non-linguistic tasks. However, the exact causal relationships between these variables and the cultural evolutionary mechanisms behind the selection of one FoR strategy over another are still not fully understood. In this paper, we argue that to arrive at a more mechanistic and causal understanding of the cultural evolution of spatial language, observations from descriptive fieldwork should be combined with experimental and computational methods. In the framework we present, causal relationships between linguistic and non-linguistic variables (such as FoR choice and topography) can be isolated and systematically tested in order to shed light on how sociotopographic factors motivate the variation in spatial language we observe cross-linguistically. We discuss experimental results from behavioral studies and computer simulations that illustrate how this approach can deliver empirical findings that go beyond simple correlations.

MULTI-LAYER INFERENCE FUZZY TSUKAMOTO DETERMINING LAND SUITABILITY CLASS OF COCOA PLANTS

Determining the land suitability class of plants specifically cocoa (Theobroma cacao) is significant to do because each plant has a different characteristic of growth. This research aims at implementing the algorithm to determine the land suitability class of cocoa plants using the Multi-Layer Inference Fuzzy Tsukamoto (MLIFT). This research uses 18 input variables including 15 non-linguistic variables or crisp and the rest are linguistic ones or fuzzy as the data of growth requirements of cocoa plants. Generally, the algorithm used consists of three main steps those are fuzzification, Tsukamoto inference machine, and defuzzification consisting of three layers. The first layer covers seven inference engines, while each of the second and the third ones only consists of one inference engine. The concept of inference process in Fuzzy Tsukamoto is calculating the weighted average of each result of the nference process. Based on the testing result, it can be concluded that the multi-layer inference Fuzzy Tsukamoto for determining the land suitability class of cocoa plants has an accuracy level amounted 97%.

The Diphthong in Variationist Studies of Brazilian Portuguese: A Systematic Literature Review

This study presents a systematic literature review of the monophthongization of the diphthong <ei> in Brazilian Portuguese. Monophthongization is a sound change by which a diphthong becomes a single vowel. Thus, the output of, for example, the word beira (‘edge’) can be b[eɪ̯]ra or b[e]ra. Our primary sources, 10 Master’s theses that analyzed this phenomenon using quantitative sociolinguistic methodologies, focus on individually describing a region’s variety of Portuguese. However, the results were never systematically related to each other. Consequently, these works do not present a comprehensive overview of the production of <ei> in Brazilian Portuguese. Therefore, this systematic review gathers and unifies information dispersed in these studies, aiming to offer an overview of this optional phenomenon. The overall results demonstrate that the following context was the relevant linguistic variable, while the speaker’s educational level and dialect variation are the relevant non-linguistic variables for the application of the monophthongization rule.

Ethiosemitic languages: Classifications and classification determinants

The present study addresses three concerns: (1) presents the areal classification of Ethiosemitic languages; (2) identifies major determinants of the distance among the languages; (3) challenges previous genealogical classifications of Ethiosemitic languages. To address these objectives, cluster analyses were performed on randomly selected 147 word lists. Multidimensional scaling was employed for the cluster validation. The cluster analyses performed on the phonetic and lexical distance matrices show that Ethiosemitic languages can be classified into six major groups: {Chaha, Gura, Gumer, Ezha, Mesqan, Muher}, {Amharic, Argobba}, {Endegagn, Inor, Gyeto}, {Wolane, Silt'e, Zay}, {Dobbi, Kistane}, and {Ge'ez, Tigrigna, Tigre}. Harari has an unstable position that swings based on the type of classification parameter used. The areal classifications obtained from the analyses fairly match the genealogical classifications previously proposed by historical linguists, resulting in a significant degree of overlap between the areal and genealogical classifications. The study further examined selected linguistic and non-linguistic variables that underpin the distance among Ethiosemitic languages, using Multiple Linear Regression. The results of the regression analyses show that lexical diffusion among Ethiosemitic languages, geographical distance and diffusion of phonetic features from Oromo to the Ethiosemitic languages are the major determinants of the distance among Ethiosemitic languages.

Short-term and long-term study abroad: The impact on language learners’ intercultural communication, L2 confidence, and sense of L2 self

ABSTRACT Study abroad (SA) has recently become an increasingly popular option for language learners who wish to engage in an immersive educational experience while living in a different culture, but not all SA programmes are created equal. Length of time can vary significantly, from a days or weeks up to a year or more spent in the target culture, and this can affect not only linguistic development but also non-linguistic factors such as intercultural communication, confidence using the second/foreign language (L2), and a sense of L2 self. The purpose of this study was to examine how two groups of Japanese learners of English going abroad for different lengths of time (one month (n = 79) and one year (n = 70) respectively) were affected across a range of non-linguistic variables. Pre- and post-SA survey data were collected, and results indicate that both groups achieved significant benefits in increased L2 speaking confidence and a strengthening of sense of an ideal L2 self, while also undergoing a weakening of ought-to L2 self. However, the degree of change was not uniform across groups. Moreover, the short-term SA participants demonstrated a decrease in ethnocentricity whereas the long-term participants did not.

Non-Linguistic Variables as Predictors of Students Performance in French Language in Calabar Education Zone, Cross River State, Nigeria

This study aimed at examining non-linguistic variables as predictors of students’ performance in French language in Calabar education zone of Cross River State, Nigeria. Two sub-variables: school supportiveness and home supportiveness were used to formulate the hypotheses for the study. Survey research design was adopted for the study while the simple random, proportionate and purposive sampling techniques were used to select 288 junior secondary school three students from 7 public secondary schools in the zone. Non-linguistic variables questionnaire (NLVQ) and French language Performance Test (PLLT) were the instruments used for data collection. The simple linear regression was the statistical technique adopted to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The results revealed that school supportiveness can significantly predict students’ performance in French language while home supportiveness did not predict performance in French language. From the findings of the study, conclusion was drawn and recommendation proffered. Keywords: Ca labar education zone, non-linguistic variables, school supportiveness, home supportiveness DOI : 10.7176/JEP/10-8-04 Publication date :March 31 st 2019

Line Length in Old English Poetry: A Chronological and Stylistic Criterion

This article presents the first systematic, quantitative assessment of line length in Old English poetry. Its aim is to determine whether line length can be used as a reliable criterion in studies pertaining to relative chronology and authorship attribution. Our findings indicate that line length is a rather complicated criterion, which is affected not only by language change, but also by subject matter and other non-linguistic variables. Nevertheless, we conclude that critical application of the criterion of line length can yield substantial insights into the dating and authorship of Old English poetry.

How well can intelligibility of closely related languages in Europe be predicted by linguistic and non-linguistic variables?

Abstract We measured mutual intelligibility of 16 closely related spoken languages in Europe. Intelligibility was determined for all 70 language combinations using the same uniform methodology (a cloze test). We analysed the results of 1833 listeners representing the mutual intelligibility between young, educated Europeans from the same 16 countries. Lexical, phonological, orthographic, morphological and syntactic distances were computed as linguistic variables. We also quantified non-linguistic variables (e.g. exposure, attitudes towards the test languages). Using stepwise regression analysis the importance of linguistic and non-linguistic predictors for the mutual intelligibility in the 70 language pairs was assessed. Exposure to the test language was the most important variable, overriding all other variables. Then, limiting the analysis to the prediction of inherent intelligibility, we analysed the results for a subset of listeners with no or little previous exposure to the test language. Linguistic distances, especially lexical distance, now explain a substantial part of the variance.

Exploring the interplay between Iranian EFL learners’ first language (L1) literacy resources and their performance on L2 receptive skills

The purpose of the present research was to examine what role first language (L1) non-linguistic variables (literacy related resources) could play in predicting second language (L2) reading and listening comprehension performance in an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) context. Drawing on a nonrandom purposive sampling strategy, the participants were selected from senior high school students in Iran. Data were analyzed usingbivariate correlations between the variables andalso multiple regressions in order to look at the relative contribution of literacy related resources (with five factors: participants’ number of overall books at home, number of children’s and adults’ books available, computer ownership, and newspaper subscription among families) on L2 reading and listening comprehension. The findings indicated that the correlations between these literacy resources, on the one hand, and L2 listening and reading comprehension, on the other, were statistically significant. Moreover, the results indicated that the number of children’s books was the strongest predictor of listening and reading comprehension. The obtained results are discussed in terms of their relationship with the extant literature and implications for TESOL, especially with regard to the role of non-linguistic variables in acquiring second language reading and listening.

Linguistic Proficiency: A Quantitative Approach to Immigrant and Heritage Speakers of Danish

Abstract This paper presents a corpus-based quantitative study on linguistic proficiency of approx. 300 immigrant and heritage speakers of Danish in North America and Argentina, aiming at the question whether linguistic proficiency is connected to ‘immigrant generation’ (i.e. the difference between speakers who migrated as adults with a fully acquired language competence and foreign-born heritage speakers) or the sociocultural setting, or both. The large data base at hand provides a rare opportunity to compare developments within the same minority language in different places, representing different sociocultural settings for the immigrant or heritage speakers and, accordingly, different language ecologies. The study relies on the Corpus of American Danish (1.6 million tokens, including both words and non-word utterances). Based on this data set, the paper explores the distribution of 13 linguistic and non-linguistic variables representing linguistic proficiency (i.e. Danish words, L2 words, word-internal codeswitching, type-token ratio, empty and filled pauses, self-interruption, lengthening, speech rate, word length, runlength and the ratio of main and subclauses) by applying Factor Analysis as a statistical tool. On an empirically solid basis, the paper concludes that (a) the sociolinguistic setting is the crucial factor in the development of linguistic proficiency and (b) linguistic proficiency is a non-universal cognitive phenomenon.

The contribution of basic linguistic skills to handwriting among fifth-grade Arabic-speaking children

Previous research has attempted to characterise the contribution of motor, cognitive, and linguistic variables to handwriting. In this study, we aimed at assessing the contribution of basic linguistic skills (namely phonological processing, orthographic knowledge and morphology awareness) to the three dimensions of handwriting (i.e. legibility, speed and spelling) in the same participants. For this purpose, 200 normally developing fifth-grade children, in whom motor variables are hypothesised to play little role in handwriting, participated in this study. Handwriting (text copy and dictation) and other linguistic measures (testing phonology, orthography and morphology) were subjected to regression analyses. These showed that the same linguistic measures contributed differently to the various dimensions of handwriting and explained 26%, 13% and 57% of the variance in legibility, speed and spelling respectively. These findings indicated that legibility and speed were relatively poorly explained and emphasise the need to include other linguistic and non-linguistic variables in the study of handwriting in this age group. Future research on Arabic should developmentally investigate handwriting from earlier stages of skill acquisition and assess the contribution of linguistic, cognitive and motor factors, not only to text copy and dictation but also to other tasks such as free writing and written expression.

Language Policies and Linguistic Culture in Galicia

National language policy which is implemented from the top is perceived as official legislation designed to influence people's linguistic lives . In the Castilian-dominated Galician linguistic landscape, this paper examines the impact of last thirty years' top-down language policies on the “linguistic culture” (Schiffman, 1996) of the Galicians and analyses the role of grassroots level actors or agents who play a significant role in interpreting and implementing language policy on the ground. Linguistic culture, as Schiffman (2006, p. 112) describes it, is the “sum totality of ideas, values, beliefs, attitudes, prejudices, myths, religious strictures, and all the other cultural ‘baggage' that speakers bring to their dealings with language from their culture”. This will inevitably lead us to an examination of the essential macro level linguistic and non-linguistic variables such as socio-political, socio-economic, socio-cultural, sociolinguistic factors present in the Galician society influencing the ideological construct and revitalisation practices of the community. Concurrently, this article offers a brief overview of the sociolinguistic history of Galician, as a means of contextualising existing debates related to language policies since the outset of the Galician Autonomy. It starts with a discussion on the significance of the 1983 Linguistic Normalisation Act, the immediate effects it had on Galician and on its public visibility which will be further related to the various understandings of notions such as linguistic normalisation and societal bilingualism which have been an integral part of LPP discourse over the course of last three decades. To conclude, the chapter will also offer a critical account of the recent developments in grassroots level Galician language activism such as the creation of Galician medium pre-primary immersion schools through co-operative mobilisations and crowd-sourcing; these schools came about as a reaction to the contemporary state-imposed language policies from the present centre-right wing government (2009-present).