Non-standard Varieties Research Articles

Language awareness survey among university students

In this study we examined the linguistic awareness and dialect attitudes of university students studying at the University of Nyíregyháza. It is particularly important that the future teachers have a positive attitude towards the varieties of the Hungarian language and share their knowledge with their learners in an effective way. However, the results of various research studies show that in many cases, mother tongue education in schools does not build on a multi-standard approach to language varieties, and as a consequence, non-standard varieties are perceived more negatively than standard ones. The aim of this research is to find out what the university students in the research study know about the regional variation of language, conscious language use and how they view dialect speech. The study was conducted through an online questionnaire survey involving 70 respondents. As a starting point for the research, it was assumed that the respondents’ dialect attitudes and language awareness would be determined by their experiences at school, and thus negative attitudes towards dialect speech would be observed in their value judgments. It was also assumed that respondents would be less accepting of the occurrence of dialect phenomena in their own language use and in the speech habits of others in their locality. The results showed that the majority of the students surveyed did not have a negative opinion of dialect phenomena, so the first hypothesis was not confirmed. However, the second hypothesis was partially confirmed, as far fewer respondents acknowledged the occurrence of dialect phenomena in their own language use than in the speech of the people in their locality. Overall, the majority of respondents to the survey have a positive attitude towards linguistic diversity and strive to use the language consciously. It is hoped that the students surveyed here will adopt the right approach to teaching about linguistic diversity in their teaching practice, thus positively influencing learners’ attitudes towards dialects and linguistic diversity.

Analysis of the Use of Various Languages in Msme Digital Marketing on Instagram: Case Study of Pukis Kota Baru

The rapid development of technology requires MSME Entrepreneurs to be more creative and innovative. Instagram is one of the Social Media that is widely used in promoting their products today. Like the @pukiskotabaru account which uses Instagram as a digital marketing tool. The purpose of this study is to determine the type of use of language varieties in video content on the @pukiskotabaru Instagram account and assess the effectiveness of the use of language varieties by the @pukiskotabaru Instagram account in attracting attention and influencing consumers. In this study, researchers used qualitative methods with data collection techniques then used content analysis techniques, where researchers collected several video content to find several interesting posts or videos in the process of digital marketing of their products. The results of this study indicate that the use of language varieties in the video content of the @pukiskotabaru Instagram account consists of spoken language varieties, written language varieties, and nonstandard language varieties, the use of persuasive written language varieties and strong visuals to attract consumer interest and the use of these language varieties has proven to be quite effective in attracting attention and influencing consumers.

Navigating linguistic ideologies and market dynamics within China’s English language teaching landscape

Abstract This study explores the intricate interplay of linguistic ideologies, market dynamics, and linguistic habitus within the context of English language education in China. Analysis of Chinese English language teachers’ (CELTs) discourse on linguistic insecurity reveals a strong association between accentedness and incompetence, as well as between nativeness and teacher expertise. Despite dissatisfaction with nativeness-oriented criteria prevalent in the field, most CELTs reported experiencing anxiety due to the social stigma surrounding Mandarin-accented English. While certain Inner Circle English varieties are viewed as the most valuable capital, local and other non-Inner Circle varieties are considered the least valuable. Notably, Mandarin-accented English gains higher symbolic value than other perceived nonstandard English varieties beyond the teaching domain. This pricing mechanism within China’s English language teaching (ELT) landscape deviates from the price formation model of world Englishes proposed in previous work, which assigns a greater value to Outer Circle varieties than Expanding Circle varieties. By contextualizing CELTs’ experiences within broader language policies, this study illustrates how national interests, beyond the influence of Inner Circle publishers, intensify native-speakerism in China’s ELT market, thus emphasizing the intricate nature of explaining nuanced pricing patterns in the autonomous market within Expanding Circle contexts.

Students’ attitudes towards an instructor’s foreign accent and non-standard language variety

Abstract This study reports the outcomes of a speaker evaluation experiment conducted in a higher educational context in Flanders, in which we investigated the influence of language variety (Standard vs. Colloquial Dutch), accent (Flemish vs. Eastern European) and name (Flemish vs. Eastern European) on students’ perceptions of a female university instructor. The results suggest that participants exhibited a relatively high level of tolerance toward both non-conforming speech and non-conforming speakers. Whereas Colloquial Dutch scored lower than Standard Dutch on standardness, we observed no negative effects of Colloquial Dutch on the teacher’s didactic competence, status, or social attractiveness. We did not find any evidence of a negative bias triggered by an Eastern European name. Whereas the Eastern European accent did have a negative impact on the teacher’s social attractiveness, we did not find any evidence of an accent bias affecting judgements of the teacher’s didactic competence and status.

The emergence of vowel harmony in Armenian dialects

Abstract We find vowel harmony systems in many non-standard varieties of modern Armenian. It has been speculated that these may have acquired vowel harmony due to contact with Turkic varieties (Scala 2018). On the basis of an exploration of the synchrony and typology of Armenian vowel harmony, consideration of historical changes that could have caused harmony to develop, and evaluation of new data bearing on the origins of backness and rounding harmony in Oghuz, we propose that the vowel harmony systems of the modern Armenian dialects show evidence of having been influenced by Turkish, but the numerous differences between Armenian and Turkish vowel harmony point against a straightforward copying of the Turkish phonological system. We theorize that vowel harmony in Armenian arose due to a combination of language-internal and ‑external factors: vowel shifts in some Armenian dialects, alongside universal analytic and channel biases, provided the necessary preconditions for the development of vowel harmony by the 11th century AD, prior to the arrival of Turkic speakers in the Armenian homeland. Extensive contact with Turkic vowel systems may then have encouraged the phonologization of this assimilation process, but in strikingly different ways than are found in Turkic languages.

Request for confirmation sequences in Low German

Abstract This article examines request for confirmation (RfC) sequences in Low German (LoG) conversation, a dialect variety of German. The study is based on both a quantitative analysis of 200 RfC instances and a qualitative analysis of selected excerpts in the framework of conversation analysis (CA). As for the question design of RfCs, declarative and phrasal formats, as well as modulations and tags prevail in the LoG data. Concerning the response design, LoG is characterized as a polarity system in which language contact with the high variety plays a decisive role in the answer possibility space. In particular, High German response tokens are predominantly used as unmarked response types, while LoG response tokens are deployed as marked types. Moreover, LoG seems to be a language between the poles of token- and repeat-type languages. Full repeats index different degrees of ‘markedness’ in LoG interaction. Contrary to previous studies on polar answers, repeats in LoG are frequently deployed as unmarked responses in subordinate lines of actions. Repeats are also used as more marked answers after understanding displays. This article attempts to stress the importance of investigating non-standard languages and variety contact in CA, thereby addressing the monolingual bias in research on polar questions.

Immigrants’ attitudes towards varieties of American English

Abstract Native speakers of English commonly perceive some social variants of their language to be more prestigious than others. It is less clear, however, whether nonnative English speakers from immigrant communities come to internalize similar language stereotypes. The present study analysed, through a language attitude survey, a total of 40 Korean American college students’ reactions to tape-recorded samples of five socially stratified varieties of English commonly heard in the U.S. Results indicated that Korean American college students perceived a Standard American English (SAE) typical of broadcast English in the U.S. most favourably. Nonstandard varieties (regional and ethnic dialects), especially African American English, were judged as less favourable. SAE and its speaker was associated with positive qualities on rating scales, while nonstandard guises were rated less favourably on the same characteristics. This study provides a greater understanding of how different English varieties are perceived by an immigrant community in the U.S. and invites future studies of English language attitudes in other minority communities.

Quantum mechanical modeling of the multi-stage Stern–Gerlach experiment conducted by Frisch and Segrè

The multi-stage Stern–Gerlach experiment conducted by Frisch and Segrè includes two cascaded quantum measurements with a nonadiabatic flipper in between. The Frisch and Segrè experiment has been modeled analytically by Majorana without the nuclear effect and subsequently revised by Rabi with the hyperfine interaction. However, the theoretical predictions do not match the experimental observation accurately. Here, we numerically solve the standard quantum mechanical model, via the von Neumann equation, including the hyperfine interaction for the time evolution of the spin. Thus far, the coefficients of determination from the standard quantum mechanical model without using free parameters are still low, indicating a mismatch between the theory and the experiment. Non-standard variants that improve the match are explored for discussion.

Translating Non-standard Language

With the flowering of literary works written in a non-standard variety, especially in dialect, translation studies have tried to partially delineate theories, methods, and models to apply when translating these kinds of work. Despite this, translating a literary work written in dialect always represents a challenge for a translator. This difficulty is due to the main characteristics of dialects: they are spoken in a very restricted area and depict a specific cultural world. An example is represented by the language of Andrea Camilleri’s novels. In fact, by examining some linguistic features and expressions taken from the English translation of three of Camilleri’s detective novels, this paper offers an analysis of the linguistic choices made by the American translator Stephen Sartarelli, with a particular attention on Sicilian culture.

The impact of polish accents on guilt

The impact of Polish regional accents on guilt attribution was investigated in this study. Four recordings of suspect testimony were presented to one hundred and eighteen students who listened to a dialogue between a male middle-aged Polish police officer as an interviewer and a female young suspect. The current study aimed to examine how members of the same group perceive attitudes toward Polish nonstandard varieties of language in the courtroom. I also seeked to investigate stereotypes related to nonstandard Polish speakers as far as such factors as accuracy, creditability, deception, prestige, intelligence and likeability are concerned. Finally, this study aimed to find “the Polish accent of guilt”. The findings revealed that the suspect was assessed as being considerably more guilty while speaking with the Cracovian accent rather than Silesian, Podhale or Zamość accents. The Cracovian accent is the least credible and likeable of all accents which were examined in this study, but excels in the factor of prestige and intelligence. Podhale accent seems to be viewed as the most likeable. Zamość accent was rated the highest in intelligence.

Differential Object Marking in Structurally Complex Contexts in Spanish: Evidence from Bilingual and Monolingual Processing

This study examines whether Differential Object Marking (DOM) realization and word order in relative clauses (RCs) in Spanish affect processing and interpretation among monolinguals and highly proficient Catalan–Spanish bilinguals. RCs are parallel in Catalan and Spanish, but DOM is much more restricted in Catalan than in Spanish, and, interestingly, the distinction between subject and object RCs relies mainly on the presence/absence of DOM. To examine DOM optionality, we concentrate on the top portion of the animacy scale and test the human/non-human contrast. Exploring these two populations allows us to test whether they resort to different strategies for the following three reasons: (1) bilingualism places an increased burden on memory processes); (2) the partial overlap between both DOM systems might lead to the influence from Catalan into Spanish); and (3) optionality has been proposed to characterize bilingual grammars). Findings from a word-by-word non-cumulative self-paced reading task showed that DOM modulates RC processing. With [+human] obligatorily marked objects, both monolinguals and bilinguals read subject RCs faster than object RCs, suggesting a strategy favoring subject RCs. However, monolinguals solved the interpretation early while processing but bilinguals, despite the more restricted DOM character of Catalan, are sensitive to DOM albeit displaying delayed spill-over effects. With [−human] optionally marked objects, bilinguals performed faster than monolinguals. We suggest that the uneven experience with DOM in Catalan, particularly with the non-standard variety that frequently displays DOM and that our bilinguals also speak in everyday conversations, facilitates bilinguals’ adaptation to the optional marking of non-human objects in Spanish, much in the same manner that they accommodate the presence or absence of DOM with both human and non-human objects in other native language.

Evaluation of the study of control arms in randomized clinical trials of cancer.

11023 Background: Randomized clinical trials (RCTs) in cancer typically compare experimental to control arm regimens. The choice of an appropriate control (ctrl) arm can have a major impact on the expected success of an RCT. The frequency with which cancer RCTs use control arms based on established dosing and scheduling protocols has not been described. Methods: The HemOnc knowledgebase (KB) was used to identify systemic anti-cancer therapy (SACT) regimen variants, defined as regimens with identical components that differ in dosing, scheduling, and/or route. Non-cancer, nonrandomized, and non-SACT studies were excluded. Study publication year was used to define standard variants as those evaluated in the experimental arm of a positive phase 3 RCT >1 year prior to publication as a control arm, regardless of cancer type or context of treatment. Study-variant dyads were evaluated to determine whether the variant was standard. Success rates of RCTs with standard vs non-standard control arms were evaluated with Fisher’s exact test. Results: 5221 studies were associated with ≥1 named variant in the HemOnc KB, as of 2024-02-06. After exclusions, there were 3511 study-variant dyads (2386 studies; 1714 variants). The 9 most common regimens are shown in the Table. The median (IQR) number of variants per regimen was 2 (1-3); carboplatin & paclitaxel (CP) had the most variants (n=33). Across all control arm study-variant dyads, 2228/3492 (64%) utilized non-standard variants. For example, 60/97 studies (62%) of docetaxel as control used the 75 mg/m2 q3wk variant after it was established in 2000, whereas n=27 others used 19 non-standard variants. Trials that used a standard control arm had a numerically higher success rate, 45% vs 42% (OR 1.10, 95% CI 0.92-1.32). Conclusions: Non-standard regimen variants are frequently used in cancer RCTs. Reasons for this could include toxicity, patient convenience, or emerging data from smaller studies that establish comparable efficacy or improved toxicity to standard variants. However, the a priori efficacy of non-standard control arms is less rigorously established, and trials with standard control arms might be more successful. Future directions include quantifying the granular differences between standard and non-standard variants and investigating whether certain types of non-standard variation (e.g. fewer cycles, lower doses) associate with trial success rates. [Table: see text]

Online anti-immigrant discourse in Germany: ethnographically backed analysis of user comments

This article investigates discourse- and language-specific features of online anti-immigrant extreme speech in Germany. We analyze a context rich dataset collected and annotated through a collaborative effort involving fact-checkers, ethnographers and natural language processing (NLP) researchers. Using a bottom-up annotation scheme, we capture the nuances of the discourse and develop a typology of lexical innovations. The analysis combines thematic and critical discourse analysis with a linguistic perspective, revealing that direct forms of racism intertwine with argumentative forms of antagonism and playful word games within anti-immigrant discourses, in ways that center around narratives of victimhood and perceived threats from migrants. We further show how the specific conditions in Germany, including strict legal regulations of speech, have shaped the emergence of a non-standard language variety in and through anti-immigrant discourse, which helps the discourse community maintain group identity. The ethnographically backed analysis provides a granular understanding of the phenomenon of online extreme speech in the German context, contributing to the broader field of discourse studies and offering insights into the varieties within anti-immigrant discourse.

Familiarization with the phonetic diversity of the English language in the context of teaching students’ perception of authentic spoken language

Importance. Reception plays a significant role in the communication process in a foreign language and is reflected in the key documents that govern standards for foreign language education. As such, with increasing proficiency in a foreign language, the importance of utilizing authentic materials grows, and it becomes necessary for students to become familiar with non-standard (uncommon) varieties of the English language. This is not currently reflected in most educational settings, including language institutions. To address this issue, it is essential to justify the necessity for students to be acquainted with the phonetic variation of the English language and to consider matters related to clarifying the objectives and selection of accent teaching materials (in particular, developing criteria for selection). Additionally, it is important to explore effective methods and techniques as well as resources. The aim of the research is to identify the key invariant features of the accent and to investigate the impact of students’ understanding of phonetic variation on their direct comprehension of oral communication, to define the purpose, specific content, and to consider potential methods for designing such training.Research Methods. The study employed an analysis of the existing literature on the research topic, comparison, categorization, and generalization.Results and Discussion. The main characteristics of an accent and the impact of awareness of these characteristics on the perception of native-like foreign language speech are analyzed. The purpose of becoming familiar with phonetic variation is clarified, which involves, on the one hand, developing students' ability to comprehend native oral speech and, on the other, mastering research tools necessary for independent study of accents. Training content is explored, methods and techniques for familiarizing with phonetic variation are identified, and criteria for selecting learning materials are proposed.Conclusion. Targeted accent training contributes to the development of linguistic competence in general and an improved understanding of oral communication in particular. Due to the presence of multiple accents resulting from intercultural interaction, it is necessary to familiarize students with the basic characteristics of this phenomenon on the one hand and provide them with tools for self-study on the other. This is reflected in the content of training. The choice of methods to familiarize students with accents is limited by the localized nature of these accents. Training should focus on communication and the development of skills to understand authentic spoken language. This can be achieved through methods such as analysis, imitation, and transcription. The reliance on transcription for listening, the use of contrastive analysis, and the gradual increase in level of complexity, as well as the development of an academic community of learners, are all key factors contributing to the achievement of this goal.

The influence of isiBhaca on written isiXhosa of learners in the Senior Phase in Umzimkhulu

Learners in Umzimkhulu identify as amaBhaca and speak isiBhaca at home and with friends. However, at school, they use isiXhosa as a home language (HL) and first additional language (FAL). This article examines how isiBhaca influences isiXhosa in the educational space in Umzimkhulu. Research identified three schools across Umzimkhulu through which data were collected; using a qualitative approach, this article used document analysis and interviews for data collection. Data were gathered from 60 learners’ written essays and 6 teachers through semi-structured interviews. Findings revealed that isiBhaca influences written isiXhosa in Umzimkhulu. This was seen through the learners’ essays and teacher interviews. The conclusion of this study is that teachers should undergo standardised training on how to handle non-standard language speakers in class. At the same time, teachers should find a way of not disadvantaging learners who speak non-standard varieties and not encourage learners to develop negative attitudes towards their languages.Contribution: The contribution to the body of scholarship is the consideration of learners who speak dialects in the classroom and the view that teachers should be taught strategies to change their approach to teaching an HL. Teachers do not have to penalise learners for using non-standard languages, especially when they are non-standard varieties of the HL, which is mostly the standard language, but rather introduce them, for example, to the correct word in the standard language.

Auditives Dekodierungstraining zur Unterstützung der Dolmetscherausbildung: Die Rolle der deutschen Sprachvarietäten und der neuen Technologien

The paper aims to propose a reflection on the importance of German varieties in the preparation of interpreters. Like many other languages, German is classified as a pluricentric language, i. e. a language officially spoken in more than one centre or nation. This makes it a very variegated language that boasts a multitude of both standard and non-standard varieties. The task of interpreters who choose German as a foreign language is therefore to be able to understand and translate into another language what is spoken by native speakers of German, many of whom, according to the previous statement, often speak different varieties. To do this, the interpreters’ preparation must consider the inclusion of the different language varieties of both standard and non-standard German, especially at the level of auditory decoding, in order to facilitate the understanding of the message at a receptive level. Starting from the definition of a pluricentric language, this contribution will highlight the main difficulties of interpreters at the level of listening comprehension, most of which are found at the level of auditory decoding, before proposing training aimed at decoding the different varieties of standard and non-standard German realised through the use of new technologies.

Greek as an SAE language: Developing on the micro-orientation perspective

This paper considers the Greek language as a member of the Standard Average European (SAE) linguistic area as defined by Haspelmath (1998, 2001). After a brief presentation of the model, there follows a detailed analysis from this perspective of four selected features in Greek: relative clauses with relative pronouns, the “have”-perfect with a passive par- ticiple, participial passives, and negation. The approach applied focuses on specifics that concern standard and non-standard varieties, not only in the language system itself but also in its diachronic development. The results are then measured using Seiler’s (2019) classification of SAE features, with an eye to enriching the classification both empirically and theoretically.

Analysis of forced aligner performance on L2 English speech

There is growing interest in how speech technologies perform on L2 speech. Largely omitted from this discussion are tools used in the early data processing steps, such as forced aligners, that can introduce errors and biases. This study adds to the conversation and tests how well a model pre-trained for the alignment of L1 American English speech performs on L2 English speech. We test and discuss the impact of language variety, demographic factors, and segment type on the performance of the forced aligner. We also examine systematic errors encountered.Forty-five speakers representing nine L2 varieties were selected from the Speech Accent Archive and force aligned using the Montreal Forced Aligner. The phoneme-level boundary placements were manually corrected in order to assess differences between the automatic and manual alignments. Results show marked variation in the performance across language groups and segment types for the two metrics used to assess accuracy: Onset Boundary Displacement, a distance metric between the automatic and manual boundary placements, and Overlap Rate, which indicates to what extent the automatically aligned segment overlaps with the manually aligned segment. The highest accuracy on both measures was obtained for German and French, and lowest accuracy for Russian. The aligner's performance on all varieties was comparable to that on conversational American English and non-standard varieties of English. Furthermore, the percentage of boundary placements within 10 and 20 ms of the corrected boundary was similar to that observed between transcribers. Apart from errors due to variety mismatch, most issues encountered in the alignment were due to issues not exclusive to L2 speech such as inaccurate orthographic transcriptions, hesitations, specific voice qualities, and background noise.The results of this study can inform the use of automatic aligners on L2 English speech and provide a baseline of potential errors and information to help the development of more robust alignment tools for further development of automatic systems using L2 English.

Inappropriate Identities: Racialized Language Ideologies and Sociolinguistic Competence in a Study Abroad Context

Abstract This article examines cases where two study abroad students—Rita and Jack—problematized the normative use of specific dialectal variants by local native speakers at the end of their Spanish immersion program in Peru. Specifically, it explores what these cases reveal about second language learners’ sociolinguistic competence in a study abroad context involving their knowledge of native speaker norms and the contextual appropriateness of target language variation. An analysis of ethnographic data suggests that Rita and Jack interpreted the appropriate use of sociolinguistic variation from the local variety of Andean Spanish by drawing on prevalent racialized language ideologies in the host community that link non-standard variants to an indigenous identity imagined as incompetent in Spanish. These findings validate a need for alternative analytic frameworks that conceptualize second language learners’ development of sociolinguistic competence in terms of language ideologies rather than objective sets of normative native speaker practices. This study advances calls to develop L2 learners’ critical language awareness through curricular innovation and critical pedagogies in study abroad programs.

The role of minority language bilingualism in spotting agreement attraction errors: Evidence from Italian varieties.

Bilingual adaptations remain a subject of ongoing debate, with varying results reported across cognitive domains. A possible way to disentangle the apparent inconsistency of results is to focus on the domain of language processing, which is what the bilingual experience boils down to. This study delves into the role of the bilingual experience on the processing of agreement mismatches. Given the underrepresentation of minority bilingual speakers of non-standard varieties, we advance a unique comparative perspective that includes monolinguals, standard language bilinguals, and different groups of minority language bilinguals, taking advantage of the rich linguistic diversity of the Italian peninsula. This comparative approach can reveal the impact of various sociolinguistic aspects of the bilingual experience across different bilingual trajectories. We developed an auditory acceptability judgement task in Italian, featuring Subject-Verb agreement mismatches. Participants evaluated the stimuli on a 5-point Likert scale and reaction times were recorded. The results do not reveal significant differences between the speakers of standard languages: Italian monolinguals and Italian-Spanish bilinguals. Instead, significant differences are found between monolinguals and the two groups of minority language bidialectals, as well as between the bidialectal groups themselves: Italian-Pavese bidialectals were faster than both Italian-Agrigentino bidialectals and Italian monolinguals, while Italian-Agrigentino bidialectals were less accurate than both Italian-Pavese bidialectals and Italian monolinguals. This intricate picture is explained through variables associated with second language use and language switching. Our findings suggest that if bilingualism is viewed as a yes/no phenotype, it is unavoidable that the bilingual experience will remain a mystery linked to intensely debated results. If, however, one accepts that bilingual adaptations are shaped by the environmental ecology of each trajectory, variation across bilingual processing outcomes is unsurprising. Overall, we argue that specific sociolinguistic factors behind each bilingual experience can reveal where bilingual adaptations on language and cognition stem from.