Number Of English Words Research Articles

(Dis)similarities between non-symbolic and symbolic number representations: Insights from vector space models

Empirical evidence in support of a shared system for non-symbolic and symbolic number processing has been inconclusive. The current study aims to address this question in a novel way, specifically by testing whether the efficient coding principle based on co-occurrence of number symbols in natural language holds for both non-symbolic and symbolic number processing. The efficient coding principle postulates that perception is optimized when stimuli frequently co-occur in a natural environment. We hypothesized that both numerical ratios and co-occurrence frequencies of symbolic numbers would significantly influence participants' performance on a non-symbolic and symbolic number comparison task. To test this hypothesis, we employed latent semantic analysis on a TASA corpus to quantify number co-occurrence in natural language and calculate language similarity estimates. We engaged 73 native English speakers (mean age = 19.36, standard deviation = 1.83) with normal or corrected vision and no learning disorders in a number comparison task involving non-symbolic (dot arrays) and symbolic stimuli (Arabic numerals and English number words). Results showed that numerical ratios significantly predicted participants' performances across all number formats (ps < 0.001). Language similarity estimates derived from everyday language also predicted performance on the non-symbolic task and the symbolic task involving number words (ps < 0.007). Our results highlight the complex nature of numerical processing, pointing to the co-occurrence of number symbols in natural language as an auxiliary factor in understanding the shared characteristics between non-symbolic and symbolic number representations. Given that our study focused on a limited number range (5 to 16) and a specific task type, future studies should explore a wider range of tasks and numbers to further test the role of the efficient coding principle in number processing.

Impact of gender on frequency of code-switching in Snapchat advertisements

Abstract Although the phenomenon of code-switching has been a subject of interest to sociolinguists since the 1970s, to date, little research has been conducted on the impact of gender on the frequency of code-switching, especially in oral communication. The current study is an attempt to bridge this gap by comparing code-switching instances in Snapchat advertisements made by 40 Saudi influencers (20 males and 20 females) who roughly belong to the same age group. The first 100 words made by each advertiser were included in the 4,000-word corpus. Although the female sample produced more instances of code-switching (n = 60) than males (n = 42), the hypothesis that there is a significant difference between males and females in the frequency of code-switching was rejected because the difference was not statistically significant either in the number of instances (p value = 0.116) or in the number of English words (p value = 0.149).

A sociolinguistic discourse analysis of assimilated English words: a usage-based model of language acquisition

This study will explore how some words from a different language get assimilated into the dialogues of a community or group which speaks a totally different language or dialect. The Angami Nagas community of Nagaland is adopted as the case in point for this study, for they use a number of English words in their regular speaking irrespective of being English educated or not. The study is qualitative based research and the methodology includes the research methods of interviews and document analyses. The study reveals that the understanding of an external language through the use of assimilated words by a community or group with diverse associations with the source language, can lead to a usage-based model of language acquisition. The study discloses that diversity in the articulation of assimilated words cannot be strictly ruled out even in the presence of precision in usage and meaning. It is also found that, overtime, some assimilated words, in its original essence, get attached and identified with a group of things by the user community. The study concludes on the success of using assimilated words within a community or group with accuracy or near accuracy and assigns it as a usage-based model of basic language assimilation which can get remodeled in future studies of more formal language learning. It infers that assimilated words from an external language, used in the correct context, can lead to successful conversation or speech in varying contexts as the words become part of the communication to convey concepts and thoughts. The numerous works on the Angami Nagas, by and large, deal with their socio-cultural, economic and political status as an ethnic community and particularly with mostly their contribution and standing during the British times. In a diverging trend, this study is a pioneering exploration of the sociolinguistic pattern among the Angami Nagas in employing assimilated English words and phrases in their everyday usage.

The Effectiveness of Authentic Materials in Improving Students' Vocabulary Mastery

This study aimed to gather empirical proof of how well reading authentic materials can help students with their vocabulary mastery of procedure text. This study attempted to determine how effective authentic materials aid students' vocabulary mastery of procedure text in order to obtain more information about the result. The research type of this study was quantitative research with a quasi-experimental study design. The instrument used was a vocabulary test. There were 20 multiple-choice questions on this test. 70 students made up the entire participant for this study. SPSS 22 was used to calculate the results of this study. The test of hypotheses revealed that alpha (α) was 0.05 and sig.2-tailed tailed (p) was 0.003. To put it another way, it indicates that the Ha (Alternative Hypothesis) is accepted while the H0 (Null Hypothesis) is rejected. It demonstrated the beneficial impact of using real materials on students' vocabulary retention of procedure text. The number of English words that students knew and could use in their daily activities improved as a result of their reading of authentic texts. The students also exhibited a greater desire to read. Students can use non-linguistic cues like layout, images, shades, signs, and the environment to their advantage.

Order processing of number symbols is influenced by direction, but not format.

This study probed the cognitive mechanisms that underlie order processing for number symbols, specifically the extent to which the direction and format in which number symbols are presented influence the processing of numerical order, as well as the extent to which the relationship between numerical order processing and mathematical achievement is specific to Arabic numerals or generalisable to other notational formats. Seventy adults who were bilingual in English and Chinese completed a Numerical Ordinality Task, using number sequences of various directional conditions (i.e., ascending, descending, mixed) and notational formats (i.e., Arabic numerals, English number words, and Chinese number words). Order processing was found to occur for ascending and descending number sequences (i.e., ordered but not non-ordered trials), with the overall pattern of data supporting the theoretical perspective that the strength and closeness of associations between items in the number sequence could underlie numerical order processing. However, order processing was found to be independent of the notational format in which the numerical stimuli were presented, suggesting that the psychological representations and processes associated with numerical order are abstract across different formats of number symbols. In addition, a relationship between the processing speed for numerical order judgements and mathematical achievement was observed for Arabic numerals and Chinese number words, and to a weaker extent, English number words. Together, our findings have started to uncover the cognitive mechanisms that could underlie order processing for different formats of number symbols, and raise new questions about the generalisability of these findings to other notational formats.

Semantic Anglicisms in French Internet Forum

Semantic assimilation is a many-sided and a multidimensional phenomenon assuming a number of analysis approaches. The article is a study of the semantic borrowing process due to either graphical or phonetic identity of lexical units. It discusses general semantic transformations of the English language borrowings alongside with the examples of semantic anglicisms in the French Internet discourse. The global tendency is that the French language is daily receipting quite a number of English words the Internet discourse being one of the leading media. To specify the borrowing patterns in the French language at the semantic level the net forum genre is chosen as a specific combination of oral and written speech features giving a most outstanding and evident picture of all linguistic tendencies. The work is an attempt to define what a semantic anglicism is and what linguistic mechanisms are involved in the process when French lexemes undergo semantic transformations due to their either graphical or phonetic likeness to English ones. The research topicality is conditioned by the nature of the global Internet discourse itself the latter being the speech type abundant in all kinds of borrowings anglicisms in particular. The research background is the legal French policy to defend the national language and the French linguists struggle against anglicisms overwhelming penetration into French. The analysis is also held through experimental French native speakers interviewing for the excessive use of English words and its expediency. The research methods are structural-semantic, comparative, statistical. The units under study are English language semantic borrowings in the French internet forum held by native French language speakers.

Two-digit number writing and arithmetic in Year 1 children: Does number word inversion matter?

Early mathematical development relies upon the ability to translate between spoken number words and Arabic digits. Few studies have investigated whether differences in number word structure influence transcoding and its relationship with mathematics. We tested number writing and arithmetic in 177 German-speaking and 309 English-speaking Year 1 children. In English number words the order of tens and units (e.g., twenty-five) follows the written order of the Arabic digits (e.g., 25), whereas German number words are inverted (e.g., ‘fünfundzwanzig’, five-and-twenty). Transcoding at the item level was strongly influenced by number word inversion. German-speaking children made more errors transcoding two-digit numbers. However, English-speaking children made more errors writing teens, which are exceptional in English because of their inverted structure. Nevertheless, number writing was a significant predictor of arithmetic in both languages highlighting a significant relationship between transcoding ability and arithmetic for languages with and without number word inversion.

Using scaffolded text with systematic progression of spelling patterns to promote Hispanic children’s early literacy

ABSTRACT This comparative, descriptive study examined the relationship between text-type use and early literacy outcomes of English language decoding ability. The representative sample was 80 grade 1 students receiving reading instruction using English language materials with a focus on the Spanish speaking, Hispanic English Language Learner (ELL) using scaffolded text when learning to read. The research aims were about specific pairwise comparisons. The comparisons were analyzed with t tests, noting the mean differences in correct number of English words decoded from a list of 253 words. Words correctly decoded were tallied for each student. There were three groups and two comparisons. Group 1: Hispanic, ELL receiving reading instruction using scaffolded text (ST)*. Group 2: Hispanic, ELL using non-scaffolded text (NST)*. Group 3: English only (EO) students using NST. Comparison 1: Group 1 and Group 2. Comparison 2: Group 1 and Group 3. Results show that Group 1 correctly decoded significantly more words than Group 2. Group 1 correctly decoded more words than Group 3; this difference was not statistically significant. Results of this study provide preliminary support for the use of scaffolded text in helping Hispanic ELL decode English text.

Magnitude processing of written number words is influenced by task, rather than notation

The extent to which task and notation influence the processing of numerical magnitude is under theoretical and empirical debate. To date, behavioural studies have yielded a mixed body of evidence. Using the case of written number words in English and Chinese, we re-examined this issue. Thirty-nine bilingual participants who showed a balanced profile of language dominance in English and Chinese completed three tasks of numerical processing (Magnitude Comparison, Numerical Matching, and Language Matching) with pure English, pure Chinese, and mixed notation number words. We conducted frequentist and Bayesian statistics on the data. Magnitude processing, as indexed by the numerical distance effect (NDE), was found to be dependent on task. Specifically, the NDE occurred in all notation conditions in the Magnitude Comparison Task and mixed notation trials in the Numerical Matching Task only. However, the data indicated that magnitude processing was independent of notation. Task and notation had an interactive influence on overall speed of processing, where participants responded to Chinese number words significantly faster than other notations for the Magnitude Comparison and Numerical Matching Tasks only. Finally, Bayesian analyses indicated that task and notation do not interact to affect magnitude processing. Specifically, the Bayes Factor and posterior model probabilities of the Bayesian ANOVA yielded strongest support for the model with three main effects (Task, Notation, Numerical Distance) and two two-way interactions (Task × Numerical Distance, Task × Notation). These findings highlight the critical role of task in numerical magnitude processing, provide support for a notation-independent account of magnitude processing, and suggest that linguistic/orthographic factors, combined with task, may interact to affect overall speed of processing.

More than simple facts: cross-linguistic differences in place-value processing in arithmetic fact retrieval.

Linguistic specificities such as the inversion property of number words (e.g., in German 43 is spoken dreiundvierzig, literally threeand forty) moderate Arabic number processing. So far, cross-linguistic studies have mostly focused on inversion-related effects on simple (e.g.,number comparison) and calculation-based (e.g.,multi-digit addition) magnitude processing of numerical information. Despite the assumption that multiplication facts are represented in verbal format, not much attention has been paid to inversion-related influences on multiplication fact retrieval. Accordingly, the current study evaluated inversion-related effects on the processing of place-value information in multiplication. In a verification paradigm, the decade consistency effect (i.e., more errors when the decade of a solution probe shares the decade digit with the correct solution) was larger for English- than German-speaking participants for table-related probes. Processing of decade digits might be prioritised in English-speaking participants because the decadedigit is named first in English number words, whereas in German number words the unitdigit is named first. Our results indicate that (1) the influence of specificities of a verbal number word formation on place-value processing generalise to arithmetic fact retrieval and (2) inversion of number words might even be advantageous in specific cases.

현대 폴란드어 신조어를 통해 바라 본 사회상 연구

Koh, Seung-hui. 2017. “A Study on the Social Aspect through Neologism in Modern Polish”. The Sociolinguistic Journal of Korea 25(3). 29~64. The purpose of this paper is to research the word formation and meaning of newly coined words in modern Polish, and to investigate latest social changes in present Poland reflected in these new words. This paper consists of two main sections. The first section describes the linguistic analysis of newly coined words of Polish origin and loanwords from various languages. A large number of English words have flowed into Polish for a variety of reasons. English loanwords occupied about 70% of the database in this study database. The second section examines the socio-cultural changes through an analysis of words in various fields. From the analysis of gathered lexical database we can confirm the acceptance phenomenon of the most frequently, sometimes excessively used English loanwords among the young generation in Poland and look over the changes in Polish society through each word.

Identity and semantic negative priming in rapid serial visual presentation streams.

In selective attention tasks, the efficiency of processing concurrently presented target and distractor stimuli in a given display is often influenced by the relationship these stimuli have with those in the previous display. When a to-be-attended target on a current trial (the probe trial) matches the ignored, non-target distractor on a previous trial (the prime trial), a response to the target is typically delayed compared with when the two stimuli are not associated. This negative priming (NP) phenomenon has been observed in numerous studies with traditional NP tasks presenting the target and distractor simultaneously in both the prime and probe trial couplets. Here, however, in four experiments using a mixture of stimulus types (letters, digits, English number words, and logographic Chinese number words), target and distractor stimuli were temporally separated in two rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) streams instead of concurrently presented. The findings provide a conceptual replication and substantial extension of a recent study by Wong (Plos One, 7, e37023, 2012), and suggest that active suppression of irrelevant distracting information is a more ubiquitous form of cognitive control than previously thought.

Mapping the acquisition of the number word sequence in the first year of school

Learning to count and to produce the correct sequence of number words in English is not a simple process. In NSW government schools taking part in Early Action for Success, over 800 students in each of the first 3 years of school were assessed every 5 weeks over the school year to determine the highest correct oral count they could produce. Rather than displaying a steady increase in the accurate sequence of the number words produced, the kindergarten data reported here identified clear, substantial hurdles in the acquisition of the counting sequence. The large-scale, longitudinal data also provided evidence of learning to count through the teens being facilitated by the semi-regular structure of the number words in English. Instead of occurring as hurdles to starting the next counting sequence, number words corresponding to some multiples of ten (10, 20 and 100) acted as if they were rest points. These rest points appear to be artefacts of how the counting sequence is acquired.

Random Movements Generation in Western and Eastern Cultures

Recent investigations document a space number association effect in decisional processes of left-to-right reading cultures. Here, we expanded on this issue by studying motor decisional processes in a group of bilingual Iranians (i.e., which read text from right to left and numbers from left to right) and a group of monolingual Australians, submitted to four different numerical cues (i.e., digits written in Arabic, digits written in East Arabic, English number words, Farsi number words). According to previous evidence, we found that both Arabic digits and English number words affect the performance of the Australian participants; on the contrary, no effect has been reported for all four codes in the performance of the Iranian participants. The current findings are discussed according to the absence of a consistence in the reading direction between numbers and words (i.e., Iranian participants) as well as the specific Inter Stimulus Interval (ISI) adopted for displaying all four codes.

Effects of pitch on auditory number comparisons

Three experiments investigated interactions between auditory pitch and the numerical quantities represented by spoken English number words. In Experiment 1, participants heard a pair of sequential auditory numbers in the range zero to ten. They pressed a left-side or right-side key to indicate if the second number was lower or higher in numerical value. The vocal pitches of the two numbers either ascended or descended so that pitch change was congruent or incongruent with number change. The error rate was higher when pitch and number were incongruent relative to congruent trials. The distance effect on RT (i.e., slower responses for numerically near than far number pairs) occurred with pitch ascending but not descending. In Experiment 2, to determine if these effects depended on the left/right spatial mapping of responses, participants responded "yes" if the second number was higher and "no" if it was lower. Again, participants made more number comparison errors when number and pitch were incongruent, but there was no distance×pitch order effect. To pursue the latter, in Experiment 3, participants were tested with response buttons assigned left-smaller and right-larger ("normal" spatial mapping) or the reverse mapping. Participants who received normal mapping first presented a distance effect with pitch ascending but not descending as in Experiment 1, whereas participants who received reverse mapping first presented a distance effect with pitch descending but not ascending. We propose that the number and pitch dimensions of stimuli both activated spatial representations and that strategy shifts from quantity comparison to order processing were induced by spatial incongruities.

Number Representation: A Question of Look? The Distance Effect in Comparison of English and Turkish Number Words

Cohen Kadosh found that Hebrew number words and Arabic digits elicited different distance effects. The numerical distance effect (i.e., faster reaction times and smaller error rates for numbers with larger distance to a standard number, e.g., 5) was smaller for number words than for digits. The author suggested that the result indicated a notation-dependent (i.e., nonabstract) numerical representation. Alternatively, however, it is possible that the distance effect was decreased by perceptual features of the Hebrew number words used as stimuli. To test this hypothesis, we replicated the study of Cohen Kadosh, but with English and Turkish number words compared to Arabic digits. The perceptual features of Turkish number words lead to the hypothesis that the opposite effect should be present: an increased distance effect for number words compared to Arabic digits. On the other hand, English number words show features similar to those of Hebrew number words, thus leading to the expectation of a decreased distance effect for them. Our results confirmed our hypotheses. We conclude that the distance effect can be influenced also by perceptual features in addition to the impact of numerical representations.

LONGER EFL VOCABULARY RETENTION: LEARNING IN CONTEXT OR IN ISOLATION?

This research aims to examine the effectiveness of two different vocabulary learning strategies on vocabulary retention. The first is learning words in isolation in which learners learn new words and their meanings presented in the form of word lists; and the second is learning words from context in which learners use clues in sentences in texts to generate meanings for the target words. In the instruction sessions, a group of senior high school students learning vocabulary in isolation was presented with a number of words in English and their meanings. Their task was to say and repeat the words and their meanings several times as they attempted to learn the new words and their meanings. The group of students learning words from context was presented with some texts containing the target words and was asked to find out the meanings of the target words by using clues in the texts. Recall tests were administered twice, a week and two weeks after the instruction sessions. For word retention, results of the recall tests revealed that learning words in isolation appeared to be more effective than learning words from context. Students learning words in isolation retained the target words and the meanings better than those in the other group.&lt;br /&gt;Keywords: Word Lists, Context, Vocabulary, Retention&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;

Why Johnny Can't Name His Colors

The way we commonly use color and number words in English makes it unnecessarily difficult for kids to learn the concepts

Explicating Numerical Information: When and How Fingers Support (or Hinder) Number Comprehension and Handling

Numbers are of enormous significance for modern society. They form the basis of currency and economic systems, of measurement and calculation, of engineering and the natural sciences, and, as a matter of course, lie at the heart of mathematics. Therefore, teaching mathematical skills plays an important role in preschool and school education. However, before children are able to perform their first symbolic algorithms such as multi-digit addition and multiplication they must have mastered two representational number systems: a verbal system (e.g., English number words) and a notational system (e.g., Arabic digits). The main competence that children have to acquire with these systems is to represent and handle the numerical information internally (Zhang and Norman, 1995). Using one's fingers for numerical tasks may indicate that parts of the internal processes still require external support and are not mastered adequately, but it would be erroneous to infer that finger strategies are not worthy of support. On the contrary: we argue that one's fingers, applied properly, provide a natural, and readily available toolkit for modeling numerical information and reflecting on numerical concepts (cf. Fuson and Secada, 1986; Carpenter et al., 1999; Wright et al., 2002; Guha, 2006; Andres et al., 2008). This position is exemplified for the acquisition of the verbal number system and for verbal processes involved in counting and calculating. Following Zhang and Norman's (1995) representational analysis of notational systems, we analyze which features of the verbal system can be accessed externally, which have to be represented internally, and how this may be supported – or hindered – by finger counting strategies.

Arithmetic rules and numeral format

This research examined adults’ performance of simple addition and multiplication involving rule-based zero and one problems (N+0=N, N×1=N, N×0=0) presented as Arabic digits (5×1; 0+4) or written English number words (five×one; zero+four). The results showed that digits and number words differed in their capacity to activate the zero and one rules: With Arabic numerals, N×0=0 was relatively difficult compared to the other zero and one problems. This may be understood as an interference effect from the competing N+0=N and N×1=N rules, an interpretation supported by the high rate of N×0=N errors with Arabic stimuli. In contrast, with word stimuli, N×0 items were among the fastest items and yielded a relatively low rate of N×0=N errors. The results provide evidence that problem encoding mechanisms and central calculation mechanisms are interactive rather than strictly additive processes.