Syntactic Simplicity Research Articles

The Effects of Syntactic Simplification and Repetition on Listening Comprehension

The Effects of Syntactic Simplification and Repetition on Listening Comprehension

The effect of syntactic simplification on reading EST texts as L1 and L2

ABSTRACTThere has been a considerable suggestion in the literature that syntactic adaptation of a text would simplify it. This empirical study determined that the complexity of the syntax does not significantly affect the level of reading comprehension. While a complete conceptual and lexical analysis may be necessary for reading comprehension, a thorough syntactic analysis is not. This should be true for both expert and novice readers in a particular professional field, herein computer science.Using American (L1 or E1, English as a native language) and Dutch (L2 or E2, English as a second, nonnative language) computer science and humanities majors reading in EST (English for Science and Technology), it was found that there were no significant differences between subgroups reading an authentic (in original, unadapted form) computer science text and those reading a syntactically adapted text either in comprehension or in time across the four groups of subjects. These results indicate that syntactic simplification of an EST text is not a real simplification. Hence, technical writers and EST teachers might give priority to other more conceptual ways of rewriting texts.

Comprehensie van Vreemdtalige Input

Within a psycholinguistic approach to second language learning, an attempt is made to investigate the question of how morphology, syntax (word order phenomena), semantics and pragmatics affect the comprehension of Dutch sentences for normative learners of that language. When talking to nonnative language-learners, native spea-kers often tend to dehberately modify their speech -'simplify' it - in an attempt to make the target language more comprehensible. Omitting semantically redundant function words and copulas, or deliberate-ly modifying the word order in a sentence, are but a few characteris-tics of sucn 'simplifications'. In trying to determine whether, and what kinds of, linguistic simplifications promote comprehension, an important theoretical issue arises, namely, the relationship between linguistic (structural) and cognitive (ease of information processing) simplification. That one form of simplification is by no means a guarantee for the other form is an important assumption that forms the backbone to our approach. The results from research on morphological simplifications (omission of redundant function words in utterances) in two parallel experiments - an artificial and a natural language one (Dutch) - are discus-sed. They suggest that the presence of semantically redundant functi-on words is not experienced as bothersome "noise" in the successful inference of the meaning of unfamiliar utterances, as long as supra-segmental cues are present. The suprasegmental structure provides the listener/learner with cues for locating the potentially meaningful elements of such utterances. Research on syntactic simplifications is also discussed. Its aim was to examine the role and effect of syntactic and semantic cues on sen-tence interpretation. Two important questions were: (a) What are the processing strategies and cues responsible for the interpretation of Dutch sentences by native speakers, and how do they compare to those employed by nonnative speakers? (b) Are the processing stra-tegies and cues that are responsible and decisive for first language comprehension also those employed in second language comprehension? The performance of Dutch control subjects on a Dutch sentence interpretation task is presented, and hypotheses are put forward as to the locus and cause of eventual performance differences in a nonnative subject population (English learners of Dutch). Some relevant theoretical implications of our findings are also mentioned.

The partition model: a deductive database model

We present a new database model in which each attribute is modeled by a family of disjoint subsets of an underlying population of objects. Such a family is called a partitioning, and the set of all partitionings is turned into a lattice by appropriately defining product and sum. A database is seen as a function from a sublattice into the lattice of partitionings. The model combines the following features: (1) syntactic simplicity (essentially that of the relational model), (2) powerful means for the specification of semantic information (in the form of lattice equations), and (3) deductive capability (essentially that of set theory). The relational model of data and the basic constructs of semantic modeling can be embedded into our model in a simple and straightforward manner.

The acquisition of the present perfect: explaining differences in the speech of Scottish and American children.

ABSTRACTThis study assesses the role of frequency of input in the acquisition of the present perfect by Scottish and American children. Two questions were addressed: (1) Do adults speaking Scottish English use the present perfect more frequently in speech to children than those speaking American English? (2) If there is a difference in the frequency of input, how does this affect the course of development of this structure in the language of Scottish vs. American children? Cross-sectional data were collected from 12 Scottish and 12 American children aged 3; 0 to 6; 4 and from adults interacting with them in naturalistic settings. The data led to the conclusions that (1) Scottish adults use the present perfect construction in their speech to children much more frequently than American adults do; (2) Scottish children use the present perfect construction in their speech long before their American counterparts; and (3) frequency of input does play a major role in the timing and order of acquisition of the present perfect. However, its role appears to be an interactive one, in which it conspires with factors such as semantic, syntactic, and cognitive simplicity to make some forms easier to learn than others.

Simplification of Input: Topic Reinstatements and Their Effects on L2 Learners' Recognition and Recall

An experiment was designed to investigate how different types of topic reinstatements affected second language learners' recognition and recall of sentence topics in lectures. The variant reinstatement structures tested were repetition of the noun topic, rhetorical questions, synonyms, conditional clauses, and simple noun reiteration. The research question was whether syntactic simplicity or elaboration and redundancy would be more effective in promoting retention of the topic. Findings indicated that the redundant repeated noun was significantly better recognized than the simple noun, and was better recalled than the conditional or synonym. Learners with relatively low English proficiency tended to have poorer recall ability on the syntactically more complex structures.

The effect on language development of the special characteristics of speech addressed to children

Studies of adults' speech to children indicate that adults make a number of modifications in their speech when interacting with a young child and that some of these modifications may facilitate the child's language acquisition. Modified repetitions of the child's utterances, along with certain syntactic, semantic, and cognitive simplifications, appear to be potentially effective language-teaching devices. However, the special lexicon, phonological simplification, and higher pitch that also characterize this “baby-talk” style are much less likely to play important roles in the child's language learning. The child's role in affecting these modifications in adult speech is briefly discussed, and an optimal pattern of adult-child language interaction is suggested.

Diagnostic Laboratory Hematology.

The fourth edition of Prof George Cartwright's monograph of aboratory methodology maintains the tradition of excellence and timeliness of its forebearers. Comprehensiveness, clarity of organization, and syntactic simplicity have been the hallmarks of all editions. I treasured my copy of the first rendition (1954); it provided an uncluttered pathway through the proliferating foliage of laboratory hematology. Other texts of similar persuasion assumed too much biochemical background or too little bench experience; most clinicians found them either incomprehensible or tedious. I suspect that is why this book was written. By its very nature, hematology has been concerned with individual cells and their menstrum. Fortunately, blood is readily accessible and in ample volume to facilitate detailed study. It is little wonder that hematologists have led all other disciplines inside the cell in the pursuit of subcellular structures, intracellular metabolism, kinetics, etc. Diagnostic Laboratory Hematology has kept pace with the profusion of information.

DIAGNOSTIC LABORATORY HEMATOLOGY

The fourth edition of Prof George Cartwright's monograph of aboratory methodology maintains the tradition of excellence and timeliness of its forebearers. Comprehensiveness, clarity of organization, and syntactic simplicity have been the hallmarks of all editions. I treasured my copy of the first rendition (1954); it provided an uncluttered pathway through the proliferating foliage of laboratory hematology. Other texts of similar persuasion assumed too much biochemical background or too little bench experience; most clinicians found them either incomprehensible or tedious. I suspect that is why this book was written.