Type Token Research Articles

A Comparative Look at South and North Korean English Education Based on the Analysis of Textbook Corpus

A good foreign language curriculum consolidates the three important principles: sequence, continuity and integration. Since English textbooks are the incarnation of the curriculum used in foreign language classrooms, a comparative investigation of the principles in English textbook corpus enlightens differences in English education of South Korea (SK) and North Korea (NK). To this end, the current study analyzes how graded sets of vocabulary are distributed to discover the sequence in the textbooks, and what the repetition rate is by looking into Standardized Type Token Ratio (STTR) to find out the continuity in the textbooks, and what keyword list is in both positive and negative keyword list of the NK corpus against the SK corpus to elicit integration property of the curriculum. The findings are: (1) NK textbooks are structural in sequence, and no such structural sequence is found in SK textbooks. (2) SK textbooks recycle vocabulary more frequently than NK textbooks, and this leads to more rote memorization activities in NK textbooks. (3) NK textbooks are more integrated with other academic subjects such as science, geography and ideology.

Discourse Characteristics in Aphasia Beyond the Western Aphasia Battery Cutoff.

This study examined discourse characteristics of individuals with aphasia who scored at or above the 93.8 cutoff on the Aphasia Quotient subtests of the Western Aphasia Battery-Revised (WAB-R; Kertesz, 2007). They were compared with participants without aphasia and those with anomic aphasia. Participants were from the AphasiaBank database and included 28 participants who were not aphasic by WAB-R score (NABW), 92 participants with anomic aphasia, and 177 controls. Cinderella narratives were analyzed using the Computerized Language Analysis programs (MacWhinney, 2000). Outcome measures were words per minute, percent word errors, lexical diversity using the moving average type-token ratio (Covington, 2007b), main concept production, number of utterances, mean length of utterance, and proposition density. Results showed that the NABW group was significantly different from the controls on all measures except MLU and proposition density. These individuals were compared to participants without aphasia and those with anomic aphasia. Individuals with aphasia who score above the WAB-R Aphasia Quotient cutoff demonstrate discourse impairments that warrant both treatment and special attention in the research literature.

Lexical Features of Teacher Talk in English Classrooms in Senior High Schools

AbstractEnglish as a Foreign Language (EFL) in Indonesia has been taught since elementary schools. As the only setting for EFL learners to learn English formally, the students of Senior High Schools are in the 7th to 9th year in acquiring English as a foreign language. As non-native English teachers who has been teaching English for years, English teachers in Indonesia are supposed to be the source of language input for learners. This article explores lexical features of teacher talk as an input in EFL classrooms in 8th year of senior high schools of English language classrooms. Type token ratio and parts of speech as some particular modified input of teacher talk are used to see lexical density in English classrooms. This study was conducted by descriptive method with qualitative approach. The data of the present study were taken from classroom observations equipped with audio recordings. The result revealed the variants of type token ratio among the teachers and lexical variety that teachers’ oral input. The variety of lexical features of teacher talk from will be discussed to examine type token ration, lexical density and proportion of the use of nouns and verbs.(176 words)

The Influence of Teacher Talk toward Students’ Attitude to Speak English

This research aimed at identifying the formal and interactional features of teacher talk in the classroom interaction during teaching and learning process. The research employed mixed methods research design. In this case, the researcher applied QUAN-qual model. The subjects consist of two English teachers and the fourth year students of English Education Department of Tarbiyah and Teacher Training Faculty at State Islamic University of Alauddin Makassar. The researcher collected the data using interview, questionnaire, passive participant observation which was analysed by using formal features and interactional features analysis. The research result indicated that the type token ratio of the teachers was low. It revealed that the vocabulary they used in delivering the material less varied. Then, the mean length utterance for Teacher A was 8.85 wpu and for the Teacher B was 12.06 wpu. It meant that teacher A delivered shorter utterances and Teacher B produced longer utterances. The Teacher A and B used more procedural questions than convergent and divergent questions in interacting in the classroom. The teachers provided interactional feedback when addressing students in the classroom. In terms of attitude, the students had positive attitude toward teacher talk. It was highly approved by the result of questionnaire where the students were favourable to the teacher talk. In addition, the students were motivated to speak English if the teacher encouraged them to speak English. Keywords : Influence,Teacher Talk, Students’ Attitude,Speak English

Micro and macrostructure discourse analysis in persons with idiopathic Parkinson’s disease

ABSTRACTObjectives: Studies analyzing the macrostructure and microstructure in the narrative samples of participants with Parkinson’s disease (PD) are limited in the Indian context. This study investigates the micro and macrostructure discourse analysis by using a picture elicited narrative discourse task in Kannada speaking persons with idiopathic PD.Method: Two groups comprising 12 Kannada-speaking individuals with idiopathic PD in the age range of 60–85 years and 12 neuro-typical individuals matched on age, sex, socioeconomic status, language, dialect, and knowledge of other languages participated in the study. To assess their discourse skills, participants were provided with a series of eight pictures to narrate a story for a minimum of 2–3 min. All the samples were transcribed orthographically and were divided into communication units. The communication units were analyzed in terms of micro and macro structures. The macrostructure analysis included the measures such as initial event (IE), an action aiming at resolving at resolving problem (ARP), and outcome of action (OA). The microstructure analysis included the proportion of content words (PCW), proportion of functional words (PFW), proportion of morphemes (PM), total number of different words (NDW) and type token ratio (TTR).Results: The results revealed that there was a significant difference between the two groups on several of the macro and microstructure measures. Specifically there was a significant difference on ARP, PCW, PFW, NDW and TTR.Conclusion: Based on the results it can be concluded that the micro and certain aspects of macrostructure discourse skills of Kannada speakers with idiopathic PD were affected. Thus, in addition to speech impairment, language structure is also affected in persons with PD.

The phraseological dimension in interlanguage complexity research

This article reports on the first results of a large-scale research programme that aims to define and circumscribe the construct of phraseological complexity and to theoretically and empirically demonstrate its relevance for second language theory. Within this broad agenda, the study has two main objectives. First, it investigates to what extent measures of phraseological complexity can be used to describe second language (L2) performance at different proficiency levels. Second, it compares measures of phraseological complexity with traditional measures of syntactic and lexical complexity. Variety and sophistication are postulated to be the first two dimensions of phraseological complexity, which is approached via relational co-occurrences, i.e. co-occurring words that appear in a specific structural or syntactic relation (e.g. adjective + noun, adverbial modifier + verb, verb + direct object). Phraseological diversity is operationalized as root type–token ratio computed for each syntactic relation. Two methods are tested to approach phraseological sophistication. First, sophisticated word combinations are defined as academic collocations that appear in the Academic Collocation List (Ackermann and Chen, 2013). Second, it is approximated with the average pointwise mutual information score as this measures has been shown to bring out word combinations made up of closely associated medium to low-frequency (i.e. advanced or sophisticated) words. The study reveals that unlike traditional measures of syntactic and lexical complexity, measures of phraseological sophistication can be used to describe L2 performance at the B2, C1 and C2 levels of the Common European Framework of References for Languages (CEFR), thus suggesting that essential aspects of language development from upper-intermediate to very advanced proficiency level may be situated in the phraseological dimension.

The effect of methylphenidate-OROS® on the narrative ability of children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Background and objectiveChildren with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) experience difficulty with expressive language, including form (e.g. grammatical construction) and content (e.g. coherence). The current study aimed to investigate the effect of methylphenidate-Osmotic Release Oral System® (MPH-OROS®) on the narrative ability of children with ADHD and language impairment, through the analysis of microstructure and macrostructure narrative elements.MethodIn a single group off–on medication test design, narratives were obtained from 12 children with ADHD, aged 7–13 years, using wordless picture books. For microstructure, number of words, type–token ratio and mean length of utterance were derived from narrative samples using Systematic Analysis of Language Transcripts conventions. For macrostructure, the narratives were coded according to the Narrative Scoring Scheme, which includes seven narrative characteristics, as well as a composite score reflecting the child’s overall narrative ability.ResultsThe administration of MPH-OROS® resulted in a significant difference in certain aspects of language macrostructure: cohesion and overall narrative ability. Little effect was noted in microstructure elements.ConclusionWe observed a positive effect of stimulant medication on the macrostructure, but not on the microstructure, of narrative production. Although stimulant medication improves attention and concentration, it does not improve all aspects of language abilities in children with ADHD. Language difficulties associated with ADHD related to language content and use may be more responsive to stimulant medication than language form, which is likely to be affected by cascading effects of inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity beginning very early in life and to progress over a more protracted period. Therefore, a combination of treatments is advocated to ensure that children with ADHD are successful in reaching their full potential.

Lexical diversity in narrative discourse of children with specific language impairment

Children with specific language impairment (SLI) exhibit significant difficulties in acquiring, processing and using new words. Analysis of spontaneous speech is a useful tool in assessing the development and use of the lexicon in children with SLI. Measures of lexical diversity are commonly used methods in the evaluation of lexical efficiency in spontaneous speech. The aim of this study was to evaluate the differences in overall lexical diversity and semantic words diversity between children with SLI and typically developing children. The sample consisted of 115 children between five and eight years of age, divided into two groups, 60 children diagnosed with SLI and 55 typically developing children. A sample of spontaneous speech was obtained through the task of story retelling. Fairy tale 'Cinderella' was used as a stimulus task. Lexical diversity and semantic words diversity were calculated with Type Token Ratio (TTR - Chotlos, 1944; Templin, 1957). The results showed that children with SLI had significantly lower score of lexical diversity in spontaneous speech compared with typically developing children. Difficulties with lexical diversity in children with SLI were found in both, overall lexical diversity (p≤0.00) and semantic words diversity (p≤0.00). Also, difficulties with lexical diversity in children with SLI, comparing with typically developed children, were confirmed in both age groups, preschool (p≤0.00) and early school age (p≤0.00). Children with SLI had deficits in the use of all classes of words. The difficulties were manifested in the production of semantic words, as well as in the production of words that have no specific meaning (pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions). Also, deficits in the use of different words in discourse characterized children with SLI in both age groups (preschool and early school age).

Closing the Gaps—Some Notes on the Making of Perspectives

This special issue revolves around two main problems that need disentangling: the emic–etic debate and the insider–outsider problem. As the appointed discussant to the workshop in which this issue’s papers were first presented, I noted the emergence of some related and recurring problems on which I further elaborate in this article. These problems can be summed up as differences in methods and theories in various disciplines that create “gaps” between their results. Moreover, there are problems concerning matters of scale, type–token relations, questions about the relations between the public and private character of religion, the seemingly inevitable ambiguities of relativism and, finally, the various modes of discourse on religion\s.

Online processing of Verb–Argument Constructions: lexical decision and meaningfulness

abstractThis paper discusses how patterns of construction usage, implicitly learned over lifelong experience, tune the language processing system for fluent interactive lexical, syntactic, and semantic access. It reports on three experiments that investigate online processing of Verb–Argument Constructions (VACs) and the degree to which this is effected by (i) verb frequency in the language, (ii) verb frequency in the VAC, (iii) VAC-verb contingency, and (iv) verb prototypicality in terms of centrality within the VAC semantic network. Experiment 1 tested lexical decision of VAC exemplars presented as successive verb–preposition pairs. Experiment 2 tested lexical decision of VAC exemplars presented as arbitrarily interrupted verb–adverb–preposition pairs. Experiment 3 had participants judge whether two-word utterances were meaningful or not. All of the experiments show effects of Verb Frequency and Verb-VAC frequency: learners have rich implicit statistical knowledge of verb-VAC type–token frequency that guides processing. Lexical decision is additionally driven by semantic prototypicality (but not VAC-verb contingency ΔPcw), whereas meaning judgment is affected by VAC-verb contingency ΔPcw (but not semantic prototypicality). These findings, I argue, index the spreading activation of unconscious meaning representation in lexical decision in comparison to the election of a unitary interpretation in conscious comprehension. I conclude that speeded automatic VAC processing involves rich associations, tuned by verb type and token frequencies, their contingencies of usage, and their histories of prototypical and specific interpretations which interface syntax, lexis, and semantics.

VACs in Usage

Language LearningVolume 66, Issue S1 p. 69-97 Article VACs in Usage First published: 25 May 2016 https://doi.org/10.1111/lang.3_12177Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Supporting Information Additional Supporting Information may be found in the online version of this article at the publisher's website: Filename Description lang3_12177-sup-0001-SupMat.pdf1.9 MB Table S3.1 Similarity Matrix for the Top 15 Verbs in the ‘V about n’ VAC from the BNC Using the WordNet Path Similarity Measure Table S3.2 Degree Distributions for Networks in Figures S3.7, S3.8, and S3.9, Based on ‘V about n’ Data Table S3.3 Values for 18 ‘V preposition n’ VACs on Metrics of Zipfian Distribution and Verb Form Selectivity Table S3.4 Top 20 Verbs in the ‘V across n’ VAC Semantic Network by Degree and Betweenness Centrality Figure S3.1 Part of the COBUILD Grammar Patterns entry for ‘V about n’ (Francis et al., 1996, p. 145). Figure S3.2 Precision analysis interface shown reviewing a sample of ‘V about n’ sentences extracted from the BNC. Figure S3.3 Representation of a sentence incorrectly identified as an instance of the ‘V about n’ VAC. Figure S3.4 Recall results for an early stage exploratory search of the ‘V about n’ VAC in BNCweb. Figure S3.5 Representation of a correct ‘V about n’ sentence excluded by initial search graph. Figure S3.6 Search complexities introduced by complex conjunctive relations in noun and verb phrases. Figure S3.7 Semantic similarity network for the top 15 verbs in the ‘V about n’ VAC using the WordNet Path Similarity measure. Figure S3.8 Semantic similarity network for the top 15 verbs in the ‘V about n’ VAC using the WordNet WUP Similarity measure. Figure S3.9 Semantic similarity network for the top 15 verbs in the ‘V about n’ VAC using the DISCO Similarity measure. Figure S3.10 Schematic summary of the VAC usage analyses. Figure S3.11 Frequency versus rank (left), log Frequency versus log rank (center), and log binned frequency against log cumulative frequency (right) type–token frequency distributions for ‘V across n.’ Figure S3.12 Semantic similarity network for the ‘V across n’ VAC. Figure S3.13 Degree distribution of the semantic network for ‘V across n.’ Figure S3.14 Degree distributions of the VAC semantic networks. Figure S3.15 Degree versus frequency for the top 30 most frequent verbs in the VACs ‘V about n’ to ‘V into n.’ Figure S3.16 Degree versus frequency for the top 30 most frequent verbs in the VACs ‘V like n’ to ‘V with n.’ Please note: The publisher is not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting information supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing content) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article. Volume66, IssueS1Special Issue: Language Learning Monograph Series: Usage-based Approaches to Language Acquisition and Processing: Cognitive and Corpus Investigations of Construction GrammarJune 2016Pages 69-97 RelatedInformation

Word retrieval in picture descriptions produced by individuals with Alzheimer’s disease

ABSTRACTWhat can tests of single-word production tell us about word retrieval in connected speech? We examined this question in 20 people with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and in 20 cognitively intact individuals. All participants completed tasks of picture naming and semantic fluency and provided connected speech through picture descriptions. Picture descriptions were analyzed for total word output, percentages of content words, percentages of nouns, and percentages of pronouns out of all words, type–token ratio of all words and type–token ratio of nouns alone, mean frequency of all words and mean frequency of nouns alone, and mean word length. Individuals with AD performed worse than did cognitively intact individuals on the picture naming and semantic fluency tasks. They also produced a lower proportion of content words overall, a lower proportion of nouns, and a higher proportion of pronouns, as well as more frequent and shorter words on picture descriptions. Group differences in total word output and type–token ratios did not reach significance. Correlations between scores on tasks of single-word retrieval and measures of retrieval in picture descriptions emerged in the AD group but not in the control group. Scores on a picture naming task were associated with difficulties in word retrieval in connected speech in AD, while scores on a task of semantic verbal fluency were less useful in predicting measures of retrieval in context in this population.

Preschool Teachers’ Implementation of Vocabulary Strategies During Shared Reading: a Comparative Study

ABSTRACTResearch Findings: Shared reading is reported to be the single best instructional practice for emergent literacy skills. Vocabulary instruction practices implemented during shared reading by both Head Start (HS) teachers and teachers from more affluent private school settings were compared to determine whether there were differences between the 2 groups of teachers in their implementation of research-based practices. HS teachers implemented vocabulary instruction practices during shared reading more often, and chose different words to instruct, than private school teachers. Whereas 78% of HS teachers provided some vocabulary instruction during shared reading, only 59% of private school teachers did so. Among those teachers who provided vocabulary instruction during shared reading, HS teachers used significantly more contextualization strategies for word instruction than private school teachers. These findings suggest that preschool teachers who work with children from high-needs backgrounds use vocabulary instruction during shared reading as a way to bolster children’s vocabularies more frequently than teachers working in private preschools that serve children from more privileged backgrounds. Extratextual language was also compared, and private school teachers had a higher mean length of utterance and type–token ratio than the HS teachers. Practice or Policy: Professional development is recommended for preschool teachers to increase the implementation of best practices for vocabulary instruction during shared reading.

Effect of time of day on language in healthy ageing and Alzheimer's disease.

To investigate whether narrative discourse followed a diurnal pattern across one ten-hour day in healthy ageing people and those with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease (AD). Ten healthy ageing people and ten clinically labelled with probable AD were recruited. Measurements of language and cognition were collected across one day at 9am, 12pm, 3pm and 6pm. Language samples were evaluated for quantity (total utterances and words per minute) and quality: mazes or fillers, repetitions and revisions, abandoned utterances and type token ratio or percentage of different words to total words. The healthy ageing group performed significantly better on cognitive measures across the day than the AD group. At all times the healthy ageing group produced significantly longer narrative samples that were significantly less aborted and revised than the AD group. Additionally, both groups demonstrated declining narrative performance as the day progressed. Based on these results, time of day may be an additional factor that moderates narrative performance. This change in narrative ability may have an effect on making a proper diagnosis, therapeutic effectiveness and patient interactions, therefore affecting quality of care.

Lexical diversity in Parkinson's disease.

BackgroundParkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative syndrome of the basal ganglia (BG) believed to disrupt cortical-subcortical pathways critical to motor, cognitive and expressive language function. Recent studies have shown subtle deficits in expressive language performance among individuals with PD even in the earliest stage of the disease. The objective of this study was to use measures of lexical diversity to examine expressive language performance during discourse production in a sample of individuals with PD.MethodsTwelve individuals with idiopathic Parkinson’s disease (PD) were compared to twelve matched, neurologically intact controls on measures of lexical diversity. Three minute discourse samples describing a typical day were collected and analyzed for lexical diversity with the CHILDES program using measures of type token ratio (TTR) and voc-D (D).ResultsComparisons of three minute discourse samples indicated non-significant differences between individuals with PD and controls in word productivity (387 vs 356; p = .48). Similarly, there were also non-significant differences on measures of lexical diversity between the two groups (TTR = .45 vs.44; p = .50 and D 74 vs 68; p = .23).ConclusionsThese results suggest that lexical diversity during discourse production among individuals with PD is similar to non-neurological controls. These findings indicate that lexical diversity is an aspect of expressive language performance that is not impacted by the disease process in the earliest stages.

An Evaluation of Reading Comprehension of Expository Text in Adults With Traumatic Brain Injury

This project was conducted to obtain information about reading problems of adults with traumatic brain injury (TBI) with mild-to-moderate cognitive impairments and to investigate how these readers respond to reading comprehension strategy prompts integrated into digital versions of text. Participants from 2 groups, adults with TBI (n = 15) and matched controls (n = 15), read 4 different 500-word expository science passages linked to either a strategy prompt condition or a no-strategy prompt condition. The participants' reading comprehension was evaluated using sentence verification and free recall tasks. The TBI and control groups exhibited significant differences on 2 of the 5 reading comprehension measures: paraphrase statements on a sentence verification task and communication units on a free recall task. Unexpected group differences were noted on the participants' prerequisite reading skills. For the within-group comparison, participants showed significantly higher reading comprehension scores on 2 free recall measures: words per communication unit and type-token ratio. There were no significant interactions. The results help to elucidate the nature of reading comprehension in adults with TBI with mild-to-moderate cognitive impairments and endorse further evaluation of reading comprehension strategies as a potential intervention option for these individuals. Future research is needed to better understand how individual differences influence a person's reading and response to intervention.

Translator’s style or translational style? A corpus-based study of style in translated Chinese novels

The present paper is an investigation of the style in translated Chinese novels by Howard Goldblatt, a research professor who has translated many modern and contemporary Chinese novels into English, in accordance with the corpus methodology proposed by Baker. The translations of Gladys Yang, another renowned translator of Chinese literature, are taken as a comparable corpus. The results show that the statistics provided by corpus tools, such as standardized type–token ratio, mean sentence length, frequencies of reporting verbs and optional use of reporting that are not so significant for differentiating translators’ styles. The authors propose that the translator’s style be categorized into two sub-types: S-type (source text type) and T-type (target text type). The former refers to the regularities manifested in the distinctive strategies adopted by the translators in coping with specific source language phenomena in all their translations, while the latter focuses on the habitual linguistic behaviour of individual translators. Additionally, it shows that the T-type translator’s style seems, based on the present corpus statistics, to belong to the translational style or translation universals – that is, to the universal features of the translated language; while the S-type is of more significance in translation studies. Finally, a multiple-complex model of comparison is proposed for the study of translator’s style.

Lexical access and lexical diversity in first language attrition

This paper presents an investigation of lexical first language (L1) attrition, asking how a decrease in lexical accessibility manifests itself in long-term residents in a second language (L2) environment. We question the measures typically used in attrition studies (formal tasks and type–token ratios) and argue for an in-depth analysis of free spoken data, including factors such as lexical frequency and distributional measures. The study is based on controlled, elicited and free data from two populations of attriters of L1 German (L2 Dutch and English) and a control population (n = 53 in each group). Group comparisons and a Discriminant Analysis show that lexical diversity, sophistication and the distribution of items across the text in free speech are better predictors of group membership than formal tasks or elicited narratives. Extralinguistic factors, such as frequency of exposure and use or length of residence, have no predictive power for our results.

Contextual effects on the conversations of mothers and their children with language impairment

ABSTRACTTwenty-four mothers and their preschool children with language impairment participated in two 12-min sessions of toy play and book reading that were transcribed to yield maternal mean length of utterance in morphemes (MLU-m), type token ratio (TTR), and maternal interaction style (directive vs. responsive). Maternal MLU-m was significantly longer during book reading than during toy play, whereas TTR was similar across contexts. In contrast, children's MLU-m was similar across contexts, whereas TTR was higher during book reading. Mothers used an eliciting style characterized by more commands and questions during toy play than during book reading. Only maternal MLU-m predicted children's expressive language skills (i.e., a composite score of two standardized language tests). The implications include sampling both book reading and play interactions because they provide differential opportunities for conversation and language productivity.

Effects of text length on lexical diversity measures: Using short texts with less than 200 tokens

Despite the importance of lexical diversity (LD) in L2 speaking and writing performance, LD assessment measures are known to be affected by the number of words analyzed in the text. This study aims to identify LD measures that are least affected by text length and can be used for the analysis of short L2 texts (50–200 tokens). We compared the type–token ratio, Guiraud index, Maas, measure of textual lexical diversity (MTLD), D, and HD–D to assess their robustness in relation to text length variation. Spoken texts of 200 tokens from 38 L2 English learners at the lower–intermediate-level were divided into segments of 50–200 tokens and the text length impact was examined. We found that MTLD was least affected by text length across most ranges, but was somewhat affected across 50–150 and 50–200 tokens. We further observed low correlations between equal-sized texts for up to 100 tokens. These results suggest that MTLD can be used with texts of more than 100 tokens and MTLD values can be compared between texts across 100 and 200 tokens. We also showed that D and HD–D produced similar results for texts; this indicates that D and HD–D are comparable.