Plural Research Articles

PAUCITY AND MULTIPLICITY IN THE GLORIOUS QURAN: A MORPHOPRAGMATIC ANALYSIS

In this study, a morpho-pragmatic analysis of broken plural in the Glorious Quran is tackled to answer the question whether the types of broken plural can be replaced without affecting the meaning, and to achieve the aim that these various forms are utilized thoughtfully and creatively and are never used randomly. Accordingly, it is hypothesized in the present study that the broken plural multi forms in the Glorious Quran are selected sensibly and they function in a way that leads the reader to a scene of wider conceptual view and consideration. The value of this study lies in the endeavor to widen the horizon of the reader that the variety of broken plural forms in the Glorious Quran are much more meaningful than they look. This paves the way to consider many items in the Holly Quran as significant, worthwhile, and telling. To prove the hypothesis and achieve the aim, this paper adopts Dressler and Merlini-Barbaresi’s (1994) model in analyzing the chosen excerpts where language choices can be conceived at the level of pragmatics in relation to morphology. Eight Quranic texts are selected, analyzed, discussed, and conclusions are finally derived to assert that the various forms of broken plural in the Glorious Quran are manipulated exquisitely in an effective way.

Cross-linguistic influences of L1 on L2 morphosyntactic processing: An fNIRS study

This study examined how the morphological typology of second language (L2) learners' first language (L1) affected neural processing of L2 morphosyntactic knowledge. We used functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to examine adult L2 learners’ processing of English Subject-Verb number agreement (e.g., duck swims, ducks swim) during a picture-sentence matching task. Two English learner groups with contrasting L1s, Spanish (with rich inflectional morphology, n = 16) and Mandarin (with a lexical morphology, n = 18), were compared to native English speakers (n = 19). Both L2-learner groups demonstrated comparable accuracy on the picture-sentence matching task. However, neural results revealed L1 influence on L2 morphosyntactic processing. Mandarin-speaking English L2 learners showed greater neural activity in the left middle temporal gyrus (L-MTG) for singular (e.g., the duck swims) versus plural sentences (e.g., the ducks swim). Mandarin relies on semantic, rather than inflectional, information to infer number and L-MTG is involved in lexical-semantic processing, suggesting L1 influence on L2 inflectional processing. Spanish-speaking English L2 learners showed greater neural activity in areas including the right MTG and prefrontal cortex for the plural versus singular sentences whereas native English speakers showed greater activity for singular versus plural sentences. The plural form is morphologically marked in Spanish and greater neural activation for the plural rather than singular form suggests L1 influence. Importantly, cross-linguistic influences were only observed at the neural level, revealing that different neural activation patterns underpin similar behavioral results. Both L2-learner groups showed different patterns of neural activation corresponding to the specific linguistic features of their L1, indicating that L2 processing is affected by L1 characteristics in linguistically principled ways. This study advances our understanding of how morphosyntactically-distinct languages are organized and processed in adult L2 learners.

Metadiscourse Markers: Frequency and Errors Made by EFL Students

To present a skillfully written abstract, an author should apply some strategies. One of them is the application of Metadiscourse Markers, which provides readers with linguistic features that will help them quickly get the gist of the entire research. Studies have examined the metadiscourse markers in abstracts of theses and published article journals written by Indonesian, but only a few used a corpus-based approach and analyzed the errors simultaneously. This study, therefore, aimed at finding the frequency of Metadiscourse Markers and grammatical errors made by Accounting Department students of Kupang State Polytechnic in their final papers’ abstracts. A corpus-based approach was applied by using AntConc Version 3.5.9 concordance tool. The study showed that interactive markers occurred more frequently than interactional resources. Moreover, grammatical errors were related to applying punctuation (comma), plural forms, verb tenses, and modality. This study suggests the teaching material includes the features of Metadiscourse Markers in abstract writing and further emphasizes the grammar on topics where students performed errors.

Deixis Analysis on Article in CNN International

Each language, including English, uses deixis differently due to various distinct settings, such as grammatical restrictions and cultural or customary backgrounds in society. Descriptive qualitative research is the method used to analyze the data. As data-gathering instruments, human instruments and text analysis were used. All of which are used in written form to refer to the speaker, recipients, and references who are not speakers or recipients. According to the research, the personal pronoun deixis is most commonly used in the human subject's second, third, and possessive plural forms. Additionally, deixis with a temporal focus is used in CNN International articles as speech moments, and there are two different times: the "coding" and "receiving" times (the time of recovering information by the listener who is informed). Keywords: CNN International, Deixis, Pragmatics

Difficulties encountered by Francophone Teachers in the teaching of English Language in Cameroon Primary Schools

Abstract
 This study aims at earmarking some related issues regarding the teaching of English language to francophone pupils by francophone teachers. As regard the theoretical framework, the connectionism, acculturation and teaching-learning theories was used. The methodology in this study is the quantitative and qualitative approach and the random sampling technique is used in the selection of the population under study. The research instruments that are used are the interview and observation. The instruments were administered taking into consideration the pronunciation of sounds (phonology) pluralisation of nouns, sentence construction, the use of articles and tenses (morpho-syntax). A total of 73 teachers from six primary schools were interviewed and observed. The frequency distribution technique is used for analyzing data. Analyzing the data collected proves that the francophone teachers have difficulties in pronouncing some sounds in the English language. The teachers equally have difficulties in putting some nouns in their plural forms, constructing of sentences and correct use of articles and tenses. From the findings, the researcher made some recommendations. That a solid foundation should be laid during the initial training on the teaching of the English language. Secondly, in-service training should be encouraged for teachers already in the field. The researcher also suggested that Pedagogic Inspectors in charge of bilingualism should organize regular pedagogic seminar on English language for the francophone teachers.
 
 Keywords: Difficulties, ELT, Francophone Teachers 

Transfer Learning in Brain Tumor Detection: from AlexNet to Hyb-DCNN-ResNet

Detecting abnormalities in the human body with magnetic resonance imaging has long been a challenge in medical computer-aided diagnosis (CAD). This paper presents a comprehensive review of research focusing on transfer learning (TL) in brain tumor detection. Each work starts from collecting MR images and substantial strategies are applied when preprocessing data including data augmentation and image segmentation. Multiple pre-trained models from AlexNet to Hyb-DCNN-ResNet in the latest work are focused. And the results of binary and multiple class classification are compared chronologically. Three pre-trained models which are frequently used to attain a good performance in brain tumor detection are illustrated in detail. And these pre-trained models, GoogLeNet, VGG and ResNet, all are capable to help the proposed systems reach the accuracy of 99%. The challenges even after transferring apposite knowledge to the target domain still exist in pluralistic forms. But the essence of transfer learning can support interdisciplinary research to get better performance.

CONFLICT PRECEPTION PROS AND CONS OF MULTICULTURALISME EDUCATION IN INDONESIA

In addition, there is also a diversity of religions such as Islam, Christianity, Protestantism, Hinduism, Buddhism and various other beliefs. This diversity is also a form of pluralism and is a real form as part of multiculturalism. The plurality that exists in Indonesia is one of the characteristics of Indonesian society that we can be proud of. However, pluralism holds the potential for conflicts that can threaten the life of the nation and state This study aims to analyze multiculturalism and multicultural education in general, then will be presented in broad outline, regarding the views of the pros and cons who emerged as a reaction response to the concept of multiculturalism and the concept of multicultural education. This type of research is literature (Library Research) is research by collecting data that have relevance to the issues discussed, whether it comes from books or other written sources (papers, articles, journals or research reports). Data collection techniques conducted in this research is the determination of the issues discussed, digging information according to problems and data analysis. The result of this research can be concluded that (1) Multiculturalism is as a understanding and multicultural education is dimension of praxis of multiculturalism, (2) Implementation of multicultural education in Indonesia has not been done as expected because this discourse is relatively new and is still a matter of debate between leaders and experts. So this concept is new in the on going process and will continue to be tested in the field, (3) Differences in the opinion of multicultural education is due to various matters, especially related to the issue of beliefs and attitudes that are exclusive of the adherents, causing conflict

The Relevance of Deep Pluralism for China’s Foreign Policy

Abstract Deep pluralism describes a global society in which power, wealth, and cultural and political authority are distributed diffusely within a system that has high interaction capacity and is strongly interdependent. This concept has empirical and normative value for understanding China’s foreign policy. Empirically, it enables us to see that China has been a key driver of deep pluralism in its modern history. Normatively, it points to the importance of the contestation between consensual and contested forms of deep pluralism and the critical role China can play in this contestation. China is now facing choices between those motivated by raison d’etat (narrow self-interest) and raison de système (system-wide responsibility incorporating enlightened self-interest). For its professed goals of international peace and development, it is imperative that China promote a consensual form of deep pluralism in the spirit of raison de système. In the Asian region, where its regional policy is entangled with its US policy, this would require it to ameliorate contested deep pluralism in its policies towards the USA while adopting a consistent strategy of reassurance towards its neighbours.

ERROR ANALYSIS ON THE INTRODUCTION OF ENGLISH ACADEMIC WRITING BY CHINESE NON-ENGLISH MAJOR POSTGRADUATES AND WAYS TO IMPROVE THEIR WRITING ABILITIES

The ability to write English academic paper is a basic language skill that postgraduate students should master. This article was intended to analyze the errors in English academic writing made by Chinese non-English major postgraduates and find out ways to improve students’ writing abilities. The author selected one class randomly from the first-year postgraduate students of non-English major at North China Electric Power University (NCEPU). The class consisted 48 students and all of them could participate on the research. This study used quantitative and qualitative research methods in analyzing the data. The instrument of this research was iWrite 2.0 (an online system for automatically correcting English papers) correction and then the author collected the types and frequency of the errors. According to the results of iWrite 2.0, the author collected the error types into the following eight categories: subject-predicate disagreement, run-on sentences, missing conjunctions, incorrect use of nouns in singular and plural forms, verb tense errors, misuse of determiners, punctuation problems, and spelling errors. The results of this research showed that the main reason for the errors was the difference between the Chinese and English ways of thinking. In response, the author proposed three ways to help students improve their academic writing skills, namely, enhancing students’ basic knowledge and application ability of English, improving students’ subject knowledge and professional ability, and giving feedback from teachers.

‘Crying’ and ‘Children’ in Translations of the one Fragment of the Book of Proverbs: Possible Interpretation or the Digression from the Original?

Relevance of the problem . The subject matter related to the rendering of the Holy Writ is relevant, which is backed up in recent decades with the emerging of a large number of the Bible translations into different languages, as well as with the presence of certain fragments in the original that allow for the ambiguous interpretation. The material for the research is a fragment from the Book of Proverbs ( yassēr binḵā kî yēš tiqwā wǝ’el hǎmîṯô ’al tiśśā’ nap̄šeḵā ) (19: 18) (“Punish your son while there is hope, and do not be indignant with his cry”) in a number of the Bible translations (the Synodal translation, the King James Bible, etc.) into various languages, as well as an analysis of comments on them related to different historical periods. Scientific novelty. The paper proves the groundlessness of the statement about the interpolation of the lexeme “cry”, supposedly contained in the Russian Synodal Bible, caused by subjective reasons, and also considers the validity / wrongfulness of replacing the word “son” in it with the inclusive form “children” based on Jewish written sources. The method of the research. The article uses the method of comparative study of various translations of this fragment, identifying its interpretations contained in them and correlating them with the exegetics available in the Jewish tradition. General results: 1) The coincidence of rendering this fragment with that which we find in the King James Bible, while being different from its representation in a number of translations into other languages, allows us to put forward a hypothesis about its possible influence on the Russian text. 2) The availability of such interpretation among some interpreters, both ancient and modern, indicates in this case the absence of any deliberate distortion of the original in the Synodal translation. 3) The use of inclusive and gender-neutral forms for male people in relation to this fragment instead of those presented in the original should be qualified as a deviation from the original, since according to the norms of Biblical Hebrew, such use is permissible only when the word “ son ” is used in the plural form ( bānîm ), while in the singular it is not used in a similar sense.

Echoic Verbs as Means of Expressing Semelfactive/Multiplicative Meanings in Contemporary English

The article discusses the problem of semelfactive and multiplicative verbs in contemporary English. We state that most of semelfactive/multiplicative verbs are of sound-imitating origin. On the basis of four dictionaries (Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (2003), Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English (2000), Webster’s New World Dictionary of the American Language (2008), Webster Universal College Dictionary (1997)), 285 echoic verbs were singled out. Our intention was to study the echoic verbs as the main means of expressing either semelfactive or multiplicative, or both, meanings according to the context within the framework of Smith’s (1997) theory of aspect in which five situation types, namely states, activities, achievements, accomplishments, and semelfactives are distinguished. The results of the research contribute to the study of verbal plurality in English. According to the suggested semantic classification, the analyzed verbs were subdivided into three main groups: echoic verbs denoting a sound, the source of which is a person, a thing or nature. The results of the empirically-based study are reflected in the quantitative analysis of the English echoic verbs, which concludes that verbs denoting sounds caused by a thing are used most frequently, verbs denoting sounds produced by a living being are used more seldom, and verbs denoting sounds of nature are least commonly used. Echoic verbs can also be used as part of light verb constructions, where the singular form of a deverbal noun indicates a semelfactive meaning, while the plural form expresses a multiplicative one.

Feminism and Gandhi: imagining alternatives beyond Indian nuclearism

Abstract This article makes an important theoretical and empirical contribution to the growing literature on nuclearism, using the case-study of India. Despite sustained criticism of and organized resistance to Indian nuclearism for decades, nuclear weapons and power continue to enjoy a high degree of legitimacy, often attributed in part to a lack of articulations of alternative pathways beyond the world-view of nuclearism. Against this backdrop, I argue that a potential starting point for such a conversation in India specifically can be found in the incipient Gandhian undercurrents within Indian anti-nuclear feminist activism. After highlighting the limitations of existing attempts to coalesce Gandhian and feminist strands, I argue that a feminist-Gandhian ethic can be built around the themes of intersubjective self, emotions and ahimsa on which both these strands converge. I then illustrate how such a feminist-Gandhian ethic could help move India beyond nuclearism thanks to its capacity to facilitate more effective disaster scripting and a counter-hegemonic cultural alternative and to legitimize non-exploitative and pluralistic forms of techno-science, before concluding with its policy implications in India and beyond. Besides the addition of a regional world-view under the purview of global International Relations, this work augments a nascent strand of post-western IR theorizing which critically interrogates the binaries of the West / non-West.

A Multiple-Associations Approach to Teaching Technical Terms in English for Specific Purposes Courses

Teaching and learning of technical terms constitute a major problem for ESP instructors and students. To help the students learn, retain, apply and relate technical terms, a multiple-associations instructional approach that focuses on connecting the printed form of the technical term with its pronunciation (the hidden sounds, double and silent letters, and homophones), with its part of speech, singular or plural form, synonym or antonym, English and Arabic meanings, usage, component parts (prefixes, suffixes, roots), previously-encountered terms and others should be followed while presenting the new technical terms in business, computer science and engineering to the students. Categorization, association, and visualization skills and mnemonic approaches should be emphasized. Mind maps can be used to show those connections. Out of class, extensive listening and reading activities are also encouraged. Quizzes should require the students to make the multiple associations described in the article. The multiple-associations instructional approach proved to be effective in enhancing the learning of technical terms by EFL college students. Further recommendations for strategies that can be used in teaching multiple associations are given.

A look at the theoretical analysis of "Azerbaijan rengleri" and "Rast deramedi" in the works of Ramiz Zohrabov

Teqdim olunan meqalede görkemli musiqişünas-alim, Azerbaycan Respublikasının xalq artisti, senetşünaslıq üzre elmler doktoru, professor Ramiz Zöhrabovun “Azerbaycan rengleri” haqqında elmi-tedqiqat eserinin xüsusiyyetleri tedqiq edilmişdir. Melumdur ki, professor Ramiz Zöhrabov xalq musiqi yaradıcılığının araşdırılması istiqametinde bir çox elmi eserlerin müellifidir ve musiqişünasın “Azerbaycan rengleri” adlı kitabı da şifahi eneneli Azerbaycan professional musiqisinin esas janrları ile bağlıdır. Meqalede Azerbaycan renglerinin janr, lad-meqam ve melodik xüsusiyyetlerin tedqiqi meseleleri esas götürülmüşdür. Bundan ireli gelerek meqalede esas meqsed kimi vurğulanmışdır ki, R.Zöhrabov Azerbaycan renglerini şifahi eneneli Azerbaycan professional musiqisinin bir esas janrı kimi seciyyelendirmiş ve onların xüsusiyyetlerini elmi-nezeri aspektden araşdırmışdır. Onu da qeyd edek ki, müasir Azerbaycan musiqişünaslığında reng ve onun janrlarının tedqiqi meseleleri mehdud saydadır. Meqalede R.Zöhrabovun Azerbaycan renglerinin araşdırılması ile bağlı müddeaları tedqiq edilmiş ve esas prinsipleri işıqlandırılmışdır. Xüsusile bu janrın növleri olan diringi ve deramedin quruluş xüsusiyyetlerinin etraflı tedqiqi gosterilmisdir. Meqalenin metodologiyası nezeri ve tarixi melumatlara esaslanmış ve ireli sürülen fikirler müqayiseli şekilde etraflı tedqiq edilmişdir. Eyni zamanda R.Zöhrabovun yaradıcılığına istinaden “Rast deramedi”nin nezeri esaslarının tehlili meqam, melodik xüsusiyyetler, musiqi forması ve diger cehetler baxımından tehlile celb edilmişdir. Meqalede ilk defe olaraq, R.Zöhrabovun “Azerbaycan rengleri” adlı elmi-tedqiqat eserindeki ireli sürdüyü müddealar kompleks şekilde araşdırılmışdır. Bu zaman “Rast deramedi”nin nezeri cehetden tehlili xüsusile vurğulanmış ve lad-meqam esası ile melodik xüsusiyyetleri nezere çatdırılmışdır. Bele neticeye gelinmişdir ki, professor R.Zöhrabovun bu kitabı Azerbaycan renglerinin seciyyevi janr xüsusiyyetlerinin araşdırılması istiqametinde mühüm ehemiyyet kesb edir.

Семантические комплексы в российской антропологической лингвистике: смысловые единства и их составляющие

The author examines the notions of semantic binary complexes in Russian anthropological linguistics (linguoculturology) and counter-meanings (anti-concepts) of the highest level of abstractness “unhappiness”, “injustice” and “ungratefulness.” These notions have not yet been given due attention. There is a lack of unity of opinion regarding the essence of the contrasting members of the binomial and regarding the understanding of meaning and antithesis, where there are two main points of view: 1) the anti-concept opposes the concept on any basis; 2) the basis of the opposition of the concept and the anti-concept is exclusively an axiological feature. It is also established that the most significant difference between unhappiness and happiness is the greater specificity of the first, which at the linguistic level is manifested in the ability of the lexeme “neschastje” to take a plural form, which is impossible for “schastje”. If justice is an example of an abstract category, then its “antipode” – injustice is quite concrete: this is a certain state of affairs. Psychologically, injustice is ahead of justice in time of formation, and if for the abstract name “spravedlivost” the plural is a deviation from the norm, then the concreteness of the name “nespravedlivost” is evidenced by the ease with which it takes the form of the plural. The “nominative density” of lexical indicators of gratitude is not particularly high, but it certainly takes place. At the same time, ingratitude has no other means of expression other than those derived from the stem “nespravedliv-“. In the semantics of ingratitude, there are just as many, if not more, characteristics that are not associated with antonymic features common with gratitude. Thus, it can be argued that, psychologically, the formation of opposing pairs of higher-level concepts begins with a more specific negative counterterm, at the same time, the nominative density of the means of expressing the anti-concept does not necessarily exceed the nominative density of the concept.

Negative Transfer of Grammar in Chinese Students’ English Learning

In the present Chinese society, the population of second language learning students, especially English learners, is increasing due to the tendency of globalization. Because of different cultural backgrounds and language patterns, it is common for students to make grammar mistakes under the effect of negative transfer. Negative transfer in grammar can be divided into several features, including subject-verb disagreement, tense error, nouns and plural form error, incorrect use of prepositions, incorrect word collocation, and error in word order. The study of negative transfer is helpful to the development of English learning and English education. Therefore, this study reviews the Negative Transfer of Grammar in Chinese Students’ English Learning. The main findings include 1) subject-verb disagreement: grammatical disagreement, meaning disagreement, and proximity disagreement, in which grammatical disagreement is caused by negative transfer. 2) tense error: verb transformation errors and sentence structure errors. 3) nouns and plural form error: errors of “s” using and the misjudgment of the singular or plural of the subject. 4) incorrect use of prepositions: errors caused by prepositions that have the same meanings in Chinese but are distinguished more strictly in English. 5) incorrect word collocation: errors caused by cultural differences. People from different cultural backgrounds tend to be influenced by the word composition of their first language. 6) error in word order: introduces more complicated sentence structure that leads to errors, including transformation between statement and general question and place of adverb.

Etika Bertetangga Menurut Islam (Studi Kasus di Kelurahan Harjosari I Gang Budi Kota Medan)

Ethics is usually closely related to moral words which are terms from Latin, namely mos and in its plural form mores, which also means customs or ways of life of a person by doing good deeds (decency) and avoiding bad actions. It is closely related to socializing between humans and other communities, especially those in their environment which are very concerned, especially ethics in neighbors. Neighbor ethics in Islam is an obligation that must be carried out by every Muslim, both towards others and non-Muslims. This research has two problem formulations, namely: 1) How is Neighbor Ethics According to Islam? 2) How is the Application of Neighbor Ethics in Islam in the Village of Harjosari I Gang Budi? The results of research on Neighbor Ethics According to Islam are neighboring manners in Islam are guidelines and ethics in neighbors that need to be considered by Muslims. Neighbors are people who are around us who need to be respected and needed as well as possible. In Islamic teachings, the command to do good to neighbors is juxtaposed with the command to worship Allah and the prohibition of associating partners.

Implementasi Konsep Sajidin Dalam Surat Al-Hijr Ayat 98 Pada Dunia Pendidikan


 
 
 
 The word prostration in the Qur'an with its various forms, often experiences repetition in many verses, this indicates that the word has an important and deep meaning. This is what inspired the author to explore the concept of "sajidin" in the letter al Hijr verse 98 "wa kun minas sajidin" which means "be you among those who prostrate". The secret behind Allah's command in this verse will be discussed in this paper. The origin of the word sajidin is the plural form of sa>jid which means perpetrator. Prostrating means prostrating the noblest part parallel to the ground. Everything in nature prostrates to Allah in their respective situations and conditions, starting from plants, animals and even heavenly bodies. When a person prostrates, he prostrates his face at the level of his feet. This has a deep philosophical meaning, there is helplessness, the totality of surrender, submission and so on. The author tries to reveal the concept to adopt its values ​​so that it can be implied in the educational process in the hope that generations of sajidi>n mentality will be born.
 
 
 

Difficulties in Learning English Plural Formation by EFL College Students

Freshman students at the College of Languages and Translation received direct instruction in plural formation. Instruction covered regular plural nouns, irregular plural nouns, plural formation of words ending in –f, and –o, nouns that have the same plural and singular form, and words with Latin and foreign plurals. The students did all the exercises in the textbook, then took an immediate test a week after instruction and a delayed test at the end of the semester (3 months later). Responses were scored and a corpus of 3099 errors was collected from both tests. No significant differences were found in the amount and types of errors made by the students in the immediate and delayed tests. Results revealed that freshman students tended to regularize English plural formation and overgeneralize regular English plural morphemes (63.28%), i.e., they deleted the regular plural suffix from nouns ending in an –s or –es (35.37%) or tended to add the regular plural suffix to words that do not have it (27.91%). They also confused singular and plural endings of Latin words (15.07%). They either confused the singular and plural forms of the same Latin word or added a faulty Latin suffix to a Latin word or even a non-Latin word such as criterium, *curriculon, *natia, *salma, *petrolea. In other cases, they thought the singular and plural forms of a word were the same (7%). In addition, findings showed that the most difficult plurals to master were those of words that end with an –s or –es but have no singular form such as measles, news, pajamas, means, linguistics (28.85%); words with Latin plurals (21.85%); non-count nouns such as information, electricity, petroleum, salmon with no plural form (21.4%), and words that have a plural, but they thought they have no plural form such as nation, illness, infection, African (8.55%). Interference among the English plural morphemes themselves and confusing plural formation rules caused most errors. No interference from Arabic pluralization was found. Recommendations for improving students’ English plural formation competence are given.

Optical path length self-calibration method based on form measured surface data

High-precision measurement of lenses and mirrors of free-form surface figures is necessary owing to the increasing functionality of optical elements. Previously, we developed a nanoprofiler measurement technology. The nano-profiler calculates the form from a slope distribution on the measurement surface. The slope distribution is calculated from the measurement result of the optical system that directly measures the slope of the surface using laser light and a quadrant photodiode, as well as the rotary encoder output that indicates the position of the optical system and the object to be measured. The slope distribution and optical path length are required to calculate the form. The geometrical length is between the measured surface of the object and the photodetector's surface. The optical path length was designed to be 400 mm when the instrument was manufactured; however, because assembly errors were included, the optical path length must be calibrated to obtain measurements with higher accuracy. Therefore, we herein propose a multistep self-calibration method to calibrate the optical path length. In this method, a plurality of forms is measured on the surface to be measured while changing the optical path length by a known amount. The optical path length was estimated based on the results of the multiple form measurements. Before the evaluation was performed, the optimum measurement conditions for the evaluation were determined via simulation, and the optical path length was obtained from the actual measurement results under the optimum conditions. The results show that the optical path length is 399.698 mm, and the standard deviation of the calculated variation in the optical path length is 5.3 μm.