18,297 results on '"Structural Analysis"'
Search Results
2. Conversational Spanish Curriculum for Teachers of Migrant Children.
- Author
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Florida State Dept. of Education, Tallahassee. Migratory Child Div. and Wilkins, Ernest
- Abstract
The guide consists of 15 units to teach conversational Spanish to teachers of migrant children. Using directed conversations and patterned responses, the units cover exchanging common greetings, asking and answering questions, introducing yourself and telling where you work, making statements and answering questions about certain personal characteristics or conditions (i.e., beautiful, tired, handsome, congenial), asking "why", forming negative sentences, interviewing a child, using numbers, making and responding to requests, using the past tense of any verb, talking and discussing with the migrant parents, time orientation, and using the imperfect tense. Each unit includes the performance objectives, a review, task assignments, structure note, and a culture note. The structure note briefly discusses the structure of verbs, phrases, adjectives, or idiomatic expressions. The culture notes give some background information on cultural factors which influence the migrant child's language, attitudes, feelings, or behavior. (NQ)
- Published
- 2024
3. A Speech Act Analysis of Polite Verb-Forms in Romance.
- Author
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Rivero, Maria-Luisa
- Abstract
The properties of one of the structures of politeness in the romance languages, the deference system connected with the use of conditional tenses, are analyzed in this paper. Although only Spanish examples are given, the conclusions also apply to French, Italian and Roumanian. The first part of the paper analyzes politeness in relation to its applicability to different illocutionary acts together with the types of sentences that may express them; the second part relates the conclusions of the first part to linguistic theory. Politeness is possible only in those speech acts in which greater control is assigned to the hearer than the speaker, and where the hearer must do something. Therefore, assertions, commands or acts of granting permission cannot be uttered in the polite form, whereas making suggestions or giving advice can be. Sentences with performative verbs or intonation contours and conditional markers fit easily into a linguistic formal theory of semantics. The case of conveyed illocutionary forces is more problematic. This form of politeness is contextual or pragmatic. This separation into two areas, however, seems artificial, since the rules that have been considered seem to function in a similar way and under similar conditions whether "semantic" or "pragmatic." (CFM)
- Published
- 1976
4. The Symbolic Evocation of Occupational Prestige. Institute for Research on Poverty Discussion Papers.
- Author
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Wisconsin Univ., Madison. Inst. for Research on Poverty., Nilson, Linda Burzotta, and Edelman, Murray
- Abstract
The special language of particular occupations, the role playing of those who practice them, and the terms in which the communications media and the general public refer to them evoke problematic cognitions about occupational functions and practitioner traits that determine an occupation's high or low social standing. Perceptions of occupations rest heavily on stereotypes that are often class based and occur in sets, each stereotypic feature connoting others in the set as well. Race, ethnicity, sex, class subculture, level of attractiveness and kind of personality are common components of such sets. Linguistic evocations encourage a focus upon the special procedures of high prestige occupations rather than on the achievement of demonstrable results, which are expected from low prestige occupations. The various levels of the occupational hierarchy systematically reinforce each other's high or low standing and also systematically legitimize inequalities in the allocation of values in society as a whole. (Author/TA)
- Published
- 1976
5. Southern White English: The Changing Verb Phrase.
- Author
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Feagin, Louise Crawford
- Abstract
In a sociolinguistic study of the verb phrase in Southern White English, a pattern of change in progress was observed. The 14 variables studied showed that certain variants were increasing, others decreasing, and yet others stable across time within the community, and that each variable's change was progressing in a wave sensitive to age, social class, sex, and rural/urban origins. It is possible that these apparent changes were a reflection of age grading, since there are no earlier records of speech in that community. However, the variants that are decreasing are all older forms of English than those which are increasing and are dying or nonexistent outside Southern White and Black English. This suggests that age grading is not the primary factor here, but rather language change moving through the community. The variables examined were the standard and nonstandard variants of NP plural agreement; plural "was,""is"; singular "don't"; irregular preterits and past participles; "ain't"; negative concord; passive "be" and "got"; perfective "done"; "a+verb+ing"; double modals; "liketa"; and negative inversion. The data base consisted of tape-recorded interviews with 65 natives of Anniston, Alabama, and nearby rural areas. The informants were teenagers and adults over 65 of the working and upper classes. (Author/AM)
- Published
- 1976
6. Assessing Writing Ability of ESL College Freshman.
- Author
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Davidson, David M.
- Abstract
To help assess the writing ability of college freshmen studying English as a second language (ESL), this study was undertaken to identify particular structures of subordination associated with writing maturity and to develop a diagnostic instrument to test student control of those structures. Following sentence-generating principles of transformational grammar, the developed examination, entitled Test of Ability to Subordinate (TAS), offers test items in the form of pairs or triads of kernel or "core" sentences which students are asked to combine into one sentence by filling in missing words in a given sentence frame. The 50-item, limited-response examination was administered to a number of ESL college freshmen along with the Michigan Test of English Language Proficiency and a composition exercise. The TAS correlated .86 with scores on the Michigan Test and .74 with composition scores. The study suggests that: (l) certain structures of subordination appear to be critical elements of overall writing ability; (2) it is possible to construct valid objective tests which ask students to actively engage in writing sentences as well as in a cognitive process required in free writing; and (3) the ability to produce certain transformations through sentence combining is indicative of the ability to perform these transformations during the normal writing process. (Author)
- Published
- 1976
7. Ellipsis and the Structure of Expectation. San Jose State Occasional Papers in Linguistics, Vol. 1, November, 1975.
- Author
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San Jose State Univ., CA. Linguistics Program. and Ross, Robert N.
- Abstract
This paper discusses one way of exploring how we perceive and understand the connections between some parts of texts, or between one sentence and the whole discourse. Understanding ellipsis involves non-syntactic understanding; the semantic structure is responsible for our understanding of elliptical sentences and encoding the knowledge contained in them. These covert pieces of information are referred to as "structures of expectation." The structures of expectation responsible for our comprehension of connected discourse can be demonstrated by showing how explicit arguments satisfying our expectations are supplied by information given later in the text. The approach was tested in an experiment in which several groups of people were given three sets of sentences with the structure: "A did X. B did Y." Subjects were asked to explain the situation in each set by drawing inferences about the relation between the two parts of each set. One clue to ways of relating the pairs of sentences is stress; another is argument-sharing. This type of analysis can teach us something about the structures underlying our inferences from the manifest content of texts. (Author/AM)
- Published
- 1975
8. Media in Contemporary American Cultural Studies.
- Author
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Markham, David
- Abstract
A strategy for teaching the liberal arts in collegs should include the study of American culture through the mass media as a major component. In an age of exploitative media messages and low audiovisual literacy on the part of the mass of media consumers, liberal education must be altered to include training in sophisticated media consumption. Such training can be accomplished through classroom structural analysis of the interrelationships between the culture and the view of that culture as projected by the media. A starting point can be the structural polarity of "abundance/scarcity," since the culture and the media reflect both the high standard of American living and the inflated desires of the citizens. Such media study can lead students to examine their own assumptions, values, and socio-political views so that they can more intelligently consume media messages. (CH)
- Published
- 1973
9. New Directions in Mass Communication Research.
- Author
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Zettl, Herbert
- Abstract
The current state of disarray in mass communication research can be cleared up by the orderly application of more careful media research procedures. Semiotics and structural analysis promise some advances in media studies, but these methods are limited when applied to peculiar qualities of time in film and television. A more fruitful approach includes a consideration of existential and experiential media phenomena. If existential phenomena (light, space, time, motion, and sound) are juxtaposed with the experiential (the instantaneousness and irrevocability of "media moments," the irreducibility of experience, and media event context), it is possible to begin to make deeper, meaningful observations about the basic theory of various forms of media. The details of this approach remain to be developed. (CH)
- Published
- 1973
10. Comparison of Content Structure and Cognitive Structure in the Learning of Probability.
- Author
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Geeslin, William E.
- Abstract
Digraphs, graphs, and task analysis were used to map out the content structure of a programed text (SMSG) in elementary probability. Mathematical structure was defined as the relationship between concepts within a set of abstract systems. The word association technique was used to measure the existing relations (cognitive structure) in S's memory with respect to the probability theory present in the text. The purpose of this study was to measure the influence of content structure (mathematical structure) of the text on the Ss' cognitive structure. Control and experimental Ss (N=34) were high school (grades 9-12) subjects recruited from study halls and mathematics classes in one high school. Experimental Ss (N=20) studied the probability text while the others studied a programed text on an unrelated mathematical topic. For subjects in the experimental group, a strong similarity between the representation of content structure and cognitive structure was found. The structure methodology used in this study appears to be applicable to many aspects of research on learning mathematical structures and might be a helpful tool in formative evaluation of mathematics curricula. The data on content structure and cognitive structure seem to suggest ways to improve the text to further student learning of structure. (JP)
- Published
- 1974
11. A Test of Perception of Agnate Sentence Relationships. Studies in Language Education, Report No. 10.
- Author
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Georgia Univ., Athens. Dept. of Language Education. and O'Donnell, Roy C.
- Abstract
This test was designed to measure awareness of the relationship existing between sentences that are similar in specific semantic content but different in syntactic structure. The test consists of twenty-five items of the three-option multiple-response type, with the stem of each item being a "pattern" sentence to be matched with one of the three options. A variety of syntactic structures and alternatives is involved, including options among infinitive, gerund, and noun clause constructions or among relative clause, adjective, participle, and appositive constructions; deletion or retention of optional elements; initial or final order of elements; and active or passive constructions. Some option sentences differ from pattern sentences in respect to one structural feature, while others differ in respect to several features. Although the "Agnate Sentences Test" appears to have acceptable validity and reliability, a more refined instrument should be developed which focuses on the types of syntactic constructions and the quality of the option sentences. Tables of findings, a brief bibliography, and an appendix containing the complete test are included. (JM)
- Published
- 1974
12. Some Methods for Examining Content Structure and Cognitive Structure in Mathematics Instruction.
- Author
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Shavelson, Richard J.
- Abstract
Reform in science and mathematics has moved from rote learning of facts and computation skills toward the learning of a structure of a subject matter. At present there is little empirical evidence to support any contentions that there is a match between the subject-structure taught and the cognition in subjects' memories resulting from the instruction. This paper presents methods for examining subject-matter structure in prose material and methods for examining representation of a subject-matter structure in subjects' memories. Data bearing on the validity of structural interpretations of these measures are examined. Such measures provide methods which might be used to evaluate the extent to which a mathematics curriculum communicates the structure it has been developed to communicate. (JP)
- Published
- 1974
13. An Analysis of Content Structure and Cognitive Structure in the Context of a Probability Unit.
- Author
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Geeslin, William E.
- Abstract
This study examines the correspondence between a representation of subject-matter structure and a representation of the cognitive structure in students as a result of instruction. Eighty-seven eighth-grade students were assigned randomly to experimental and control treatments. The experimental students (N = 43) studied from a programmed text on probability developed by the School Mathematics Study Group (SMSG). The control group (N - 44) studied from a programmed text on factors and prime numbers. Digraphs, graphs and task analysis were used to map out the content structure. A word association test (WA) was used to measure the existing cognitive structure. The WA test, an achievement test and an attitude measure were given before, after and at a delayed post-experiment time. The results indicate that: (1) eighth-grade students were unfamiliar with the concepts of probability; (2) instruction in probability changed subjects' cognitive structure concerning concepts in probability; (3) the experimental group learned a significant portion of the structure of probability as a matter of instruction while the control group learned almost nothing; and (4) this learning of structure was retained until the retention-test time. (JP)
- Published
- 1974
14. Representation of Subject Matter in Teachers' and Students' Memories.
- Author
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Stanton, George and Pelavin, Sol
- Abstract
This study investigates relationships between differences in students' achievement and differences obtained by a technique held to yield a reasonably valid representation of students' memory structures of a particular subject matter. Also investigated was the nature of the flow of information between curriculum materials, teachers, and students. This was achieved by a comparison of the digraphs of content structure and the graphs constructed by the teachers and the students. The subjects were five mathematics teachers (grades 7-10) and their six classes (student n = 109). The content used was a curriculum package on operational systems which involved one lecture and a seven-page booklet for students to study. Students and teachers on the average reflected the content structure of the subject in their constructed graphs. There were differences in achievement corresponding to the correctness of students' graphs of the content structure, but these differences also reflected variations among the teachers' graphs. (JP)
- Published
- 1974
15. The Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville Protocol Materials Development Project.
- Author
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Love, Theresa R.
- Abstract
The results of a project which investigated the speech of black respondents enrolled in the intermediate grades are described. From the data, materials and audio tapes were developed that could be used in helping preservice and inservice teachers identify morphological and syntactic features of black dialect. The concepts used in developing the materials were that (1) enough people speak black dialect to give credence to the thesis that they comprise a separate and distinct speech community; (2) there is systematic variety in the kind of English which these persons speak; and (3) black dialect speakers frequently alternate between general academic English practices and those of the variant dialect. Thirteen speech features were studied, including the omission of "s" to indicate the third person singular, the formation of the past and perfect tense of verbs, zero copula, auxiliary "be," negative "be," formation of the plurals of nouns, formation of the possessive case of nouns, the pronominal appositive, variant forms of pronouns, the existential "it," multiple negation, overinflection, and inverted word order in indirect questions. (HOD)
- Published
- 1973
16. Does Anybody Need Reed and Kellogg Any More?
- Author
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Fisher, Martha A.
- Abstract
Sentence analysis by the Reed and Kellogg technique of diagraming can present the exact function of every clause in the sentence, of every phrase in the clause, and of every word in the phrase. Furthermore, it can teach the pupil to look through the literary order and discover the logical order, and it is from the teacher that the student learns the rules of logical order before he can write. What happens, however, is that this method, being prescriptive--first the rules, the forms and then the "stuffing"--intimidates the students so that they write very reluctantly and awkwardly. Collaborative learning, on the other hand, provides an opportunity for the students to help each other to write before a teacher lays down the rules. First the students are encouraged to write freely, uncriticized. Next, the students are encouraged to share their writings with each other for feedback, and then they proceed with editing. Teachers in this situation become tutors who help students with their problems in editing. At this point the teacher may, for purposes of elucidating sentence analysis, use Kellogg and Reed, but not as the point of departure. (HOD)
- Published
- 1973
17. A Visual/Analytical History of the Silent Cinema (1895-1930).
- Author
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Petric, Vladimir
- Abstract
The proposed project, mentioned in Vladimir Petric's articles "From Written Film History to Visual Film History," is a book intended as a teaching vehicle for college and university film courses and involving shot-by-shot analysis and evaluation of films as primary study material. Cinematic values are emphasized both because cinematic visual language was almost entirely developed and mastered during the silent film era and because considerable material already exists on contextual or thematic analysis of major films. The films chosen for screening exemplify the various styles of significant filmmakers and the schools to which they belong. Each film is studied analytically, focusing on the formal structure of the work. Material in the 16 chapters follows the technical and stylistic development of the medium, with the general approach being historical. Chapter topics range from the birth of cinema to the avant-garde of the 1920's. (JM)
- Published
- 1974
18. Word Identification for ESL [English as a Second Language] Readers.
- Author
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Bristol Community Coll., Fall River, MA. and Narang, Virginia
- Abstract
Word identification involves many possible strategies in order for the reader to familiarize himself with vocabulary to gain meaning. One strategy is the development of sight vocabulary; another is phonetic analysis, which includes sound-symbol correspondence, syllabication, and accent; and a final strategy is structural analysis, which includes roots, compound words, inflected endings, prefixes, suffixes, and contractions. The reader, however, should not become totally dependent on these strategies; such dependency could result in serious problems. Elementary level English as a Second Language (ESL) readers will have varying degrees of difficulty in identifying words, depending on the nature of their native script and the transfer to English print. Word identification may or may not be an important aspect to a reading program for the individual reader. It is important, however, that the ESL reader be familiar with the multitude of ways of identifying words in order to gain meaning. (Author)
- Published
- 1974
19. From Written Film History to Visual Film History.
- Author
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Petric, Vladimir
- Abstract
The poor quality of most university courses in film history is due to several factors, among them the fact that there is insufficient analytical documentation and direct cinematic illustration in existent written film histories. These histories examine films on a thematic level, offering noncinematic interpretation such as literary meaning, social significance, philosophical connotation, and the historical paraphernalia surrounding films. To partially resolve this problem, serious film research on classic films and specific cinematic styles should be undertaken, and archives of film classics should be established which allow repeated viewings of films and parts of films in the close structural analysis of sequences. In addition, a cinematic methodology including direct investigation of the formal strategy of certain groups of films should be permitted. A proposed project, the visual/analytical history of silent cinema, would involve films as primary study material, accompanied by shot-by-shot analysis and evaluation. (JM)
- Published
- 1974
20. The Role of Semantics in Sentence-Processing.
- Author
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Dell, Gary S.
- Abstract
In order to explore the effect of semantic organization on the comprehension of sentences, this research, based on the hypothesis that fully grammatical sentences would be processed more easily than anomalous sentences, depended on data provided by 20 paid college students serving in individual sessions. Each student listened to 30 tape-recorded sentences-15 fully grammatical and 15 anomalous--through one speaker of a stereo system, and pressed a finger key as rapidly as possible on presentation of a tape-recorded click (at 4, 5, 8, 10, or 12 seconds) through the second speaker in the silent period following each sentence. Students then repeated each sentence verbatim 20 seconds after its presentation to insure perception of both sentence and click. Analysis of variance for reaction times yielded a significant effect for semantic relations. Reaction times for anomalous sentences showed a strong linear downward trend, but those for grammatical sentences did not. Data support the hypothesis that the semantic organization of a sentence affects the ease with which it is processed. The effect of semantic organization seems to occur immediately after, not as, the full sentence is heard. (JM)
- Published
- 1974
21. Lexical Relationships and Foreign Language Teaching.
- Author
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St. Clair, Robert
- Abstract
The nature of common language errors for learners of second languages is explored, and it is found that the errors cannot adequately be explained in terms of the theory of language interference. A new rationale for these errors can come from an investigation of the perceptual strategies common to error analysis, and thus it is postulated that researchers and educators should shift their emphasis away from interference theory toward error analysis theory. One of the immediate consequences of promoting the error analysis theory is that language teachers must be made aware of the role that the processes of lexical incorporation, inchoation, and causation play in the acquisition of language. Another consequence lies in the realization that language teachers must provide the learner with pertinent semantic information in order to allow him to adequately process speech events. (Author/LG)
- Published
- 1974
22. Sentence Repetition Task.
- Author
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Anastasiow, Nicholas J. and Hanes, Michael L.
- Abstract
Designed as a diagnostic tool for assisting early childhood and kindergarten teachers, the Sentence Repetition Task seeks to distinguish children who speak a different dialect and are normal in language development from children who speak a different dialect and are developmentally delayed. This technique is based on the work of Menyuk (1964), Slobin (1967), and Baratz (1969). The instrument focuses on whether a child is repeating abstract terms (Function Words Correct), is developmentally delayed (Function Word Omission), or is reconstructing (word is changed to an equivalent form in poverty vernacular). Sentences were designed to yield two scores, the Reconstruction Score and the Function Word Omission Score. Included in this document are discussions of previous research, explanation of procedures for administering the instrument, mean scores derived from studies of a sample of low socioeconomic status children in New York City, sentences, lists of function and reconstruction words, scoring rules and key, and references. (JM)
- Published
- 1974
23. Children's Discrimination Learning as a Function of Differences in Materials: A Proposed Explanation.
- Author
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Wisconsin Univ., Madison. Research and Development Center for Cognitive Learning., Ghatala, Elizabeth S., and Levin, Joel R.
- Abstract
The present study affords an explanation for the consistent, but not always statistically significant, pattern showing superior verbal discrimination learning performance for low- as compared to high-frequency words. In a frequency judgment task it was found that relative to high-frequency words, low-frequency words for which subjects (sixth graders) knew the meanings produced apparent frequency measures consistent with superior verbal discrimination learning, while low-frequency words that were known to the children did not. The results, taken together with those based on comparisons of pictures and high-frequency words, lend themselves to a modified Weber's law interpretation of stimulus material differences in discrimination learning. (Author)
- Published
- 1974
24. Tonal Accents in Low German.
- Author
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Grundt, Alice Wyland
- Abstract
This paper argues that the origin of the tonal accents in Low German, Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian can be explained on the basis of segmental circumstances, that they may be considered as secondary in the historical development of these languages, and that they arise when the redundant tonal transition in centering diphthongs becomes distinctive when such diphthongs monophthongize. As a corollary, it is argued that centering diphthongs which become tonal monophthongs arise as a result of the disturbance of the timing of disyllabic sequences with one medial consonant. The argument is based on (1) phonetic studies, and (2) historical and comparative examination of Germanic dialects. (Author/AM)
- Published
- 1975
25. Surface Structure and the Centrality of Syntax.
- Author
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Rivero, Maria-Luisa and Walker, Douglas C.
- Abstract
This paper examines the status of surface structure in transformational grammar, and the way that surface structure mediates the contacts between the phonological and semantic components of the grammar. Surface structure refers not to a single but to at least four distinct notions that do not necessarily define a homogeneous level of representation: output of the syntactic component, input to the phonological component, phonetic structure, and the level at which surface structure constraints are stated. Based on a survey of the literature, the conclusions include the necessity of direct links between deeper syntax and phonology, the influence of phonology on various syntactic operations, the need for phonetic information in certain semantic interpretation rules, and the lack of homogeneity among surface structure constraints. Finally, there is a recurrent influence of prosodic and morphological phenomena which motivate the revisions needed in the general organization of a grammar because they limit the types of interaction between the various grammatical domains. (Author)
- Published
- 1975
26. Reports 9, the Yugoslav Serbo-Croatian - English Contrastive Project.
- Author
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Zagreb Univ. (Yugoslavia)., Center for Applied Linguistics, Arlington, VA., Filipovic, Rudolf, Filipovic, Rudolf, Zagreb Univ. (Yugoslavia)., and Center for Applied Linguistics, Arlington, VA.
- Abstract
The ninth volume in this series contains seven articles dealing with various aspects of English - Serbo-Croatian contrastive analysis. They are: "A Note on Modifiers of Comparatives in English and Serbo-Croatian," by Wayles Browne; "Superlative Structures in English and Their Correspondents in Serbo-Croatian," by Vladimir Ivir; "Semantic Aspects of Adjective Comparison in English and Serbo-Croatian," by Vladimir Ivir; "Passive Sentences in English and Serbo-Croatian," by Ljiljana Mihailovic; "The Definite Determiner in English and Serbo-Croatian," by Olga Miseska Tomic; "English and Serbo-Croatian WH-Words, Their Derivatives and Correlates," by Olga Miseska Tomic; and "An Annotated Bibliography of Research in Scientific and Technical Language," by L. Selinker, L. Trimble, and T. Huckin. (AM)
- Published
- 1974
27. Purpose and Structure: Learner-Centered Reform in a Multi-Functional System.
- Author
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Berry, Paul and Francis, John Bruce
- Abstract
This paper describes a conceptual framework that can order the host of changes occuring in institutional structure as a consequence of recent learner-centered reform in postsecondary education. Several schemata are examined, and a functional systematization of structures suggested; however, none of these purports to be a completely satisfactory model that can explicate the interactions of the complex institutional structures of contemporary post-secondary education. The major purpose of this paper is to find a pattern in all of the changes to develop explanatory frameworks, based on societal expectation, internal organization, and the political process. (Author/MJM)
- Published
- 1975
28. Spanish Vowel Sandhi.
- Author
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Hutchinson, Sandra Pinkerton and Hutchinson, Sandra Pinkerton
- Abstract
The effects of syllable timing and syllable sequence type on vowel sandhi in Spanish are investigated in this paper. It is argued that structuralist and generative treatments of vowel sandhi, which are characterized by generalizations about vowel "shortening" and dropping and glide formation, are inadequate because they focus exclusively on segmental phenomena. These analyses ignore the interplay between suprasegmental and segmental phenomena. Generative analyses are also forced to a rule-ordering strategy that, it is argued, is inappropriate for the level of the derivation where the rules apply. The analysis offered here, supported by phonetic evidence, accounts for syllable timing and syllable sequence type, thereby allowing one general statement about the segmental changes that contiguous vowels undergo in sandhi. This eliminates the need for a rule-ordering strategy. The present analysis shows vowel sandhi to be a consequence of suprasegmental timing and syllable sequence type imposed over a two-syllable domain. (Author/KM)
- Published
- 1974
29. The Functional Properties of Language.
- Author
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Garvin, Paul L.
- Abstract
This paper asks whether the imprecision and complexity of natural language, as opposed to the language of science or logic, represent flaws or essential functional properties. It is argued that ambiguity can be manipulated by the speaker through environmentally derived characteristics. A discussion follows on the study of the functions of language as conceived by the Prague school, and the effect of functional linguistics on American sociolinguistics. While both schools agree on a definition of the term "functions of language," the central problem is a disagreement in the approach to the study of language functions. The Prague school postulates a specific number of functions on the basis of a particular theoretical understanding of the speech act, while the American school believes that language functions should be discovered rather than postulated. As only extensive further research can lead to a definitive theory of language functions, it is hoped that the significance of the functions of language will be recognized, and that the study of functional linguistics will benefit structural linguistics as well. (AM)
- Published
- 1974
30. Policies for Higher Education. General Report.
- Author
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Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, Paris (France).
- Abstract
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) organized a Conference on Future Structure of Post-Secondary Education, Paris, June 1973. The central concern of the conference was to examine the advent of mass higher education in its main patterns and characteristics and to identify alternative policy measures for facilitating the overall structural transformation of the system towards meeting its new objectives in the context of social and economic development. This document reports conference proceedings and papers presented, covering overall issues in the development of future structures of postsecondary education, accessibility to postsecondary education and employment, nontraditional forms of study in postsecondary education, the structure of studies and the place of research in mass higher education, and the planning and financing of postsecondary education. (MJM)
- Published
- 1974
31. 'While'-Clauses in English.
- Author
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Legum, Stanley Emanuel
- Abstract
Constraining linguistic metatheory by demanding that it allow the construction of grammars for all the frequently occurring idiolects of standard American English is shown to narrow the choices among competing theoretical positions. In this way data from a nonhomogeneous speech community are used to illuminate rather than cloud a theoretical question. "While"-clauses are taken as exemplary of the class of English adverbial clauses in general and temporal clauses in particular. In surface structure, "while"-clauses are shown to be Chomsky adjoined to the verb phrase if postposed and to be attached directly to the S-node if preposed or medial. Following M. Geis (1970) the internal structure is shown to be that of an adverbial relative clause. A rule of Oblique Equi-NP Deletion is motivated to account for subjectless "while"-clauses. Two alternative deep structure sources for "while"-clauses are discussed: The higher-S and lower-S analyses. Data from 345 native speakers of English are shown to require the construction of three distinct grammatical descriptions of the constraints on Oblique Equi-NP Deletion. Requiring that linguistic theory allow just these grammars to be written eliminates the possibility of constructing grammars in which no rules are extrinsically ordered. The higher-S analysis is shown to require a serious violation of the Strict Cycle Condition, while the lower-S analysis is shown to require the use of an ad hoc category and to predict the existence of a dialect of dubious existence. (Author/KM)
- Published
- 1975
32. Equational Sentence Structure in Eskimo.
- Author
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Hofmann, Th. R. and Hofmann, Th. R.
- Abstract
A comparison of the syntactic characteristics of mathematical equations and Eskimo syntax is made, and a proposal that Eskimo has a level of structure similar to that of equations is described. P:t performative contrast is reanalyzed. Questions and speculations on the formal treatment of this type of structure in transformational grammar, and its treatment in semantic theory, are examined. (Author/KM)
- Published
- 1974
33. Perception of Agnate Sentence Relationships by Pupils in Grades Four, Eight, and Eleven. Studies in Language Education. Report No. 14.
- Author
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Georgia Univ., Athens. Dept. of Language Education. and O'Donnell, Roy C.
- Abstract
The Agnate Sentences Test was designed to measure awareness of the relationship between sentences that are similar in semantic content but different in syntactic structure. In this study, developmental differences in the ability to decode written syntax are observed by means of this test which was administered to 63 4th graders, 65 8th graders, and 66 11th graders. Data showing the proportion of subjects in each grade who chose each option of the various items are presented in 25 tables. Comments on the syntax of the sentences and possible interpretations of test results are given in short paragraphs following the tables. It is concluded that although the test results do show something about developmental differences in ability to decode written syntax, exactly what they show about decoding ability and what the implications are for analysis or reading comprehension are questions that require further investigation. (TS)
- Published
- 1975
34. Le quantificateur et le syntagme nominal (The Quantifier and the Noun Phrase). Montreal Working Papers in Linguistics, Vol. 2.
- Author
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McNamer, Patrick F. and McNamer, Patrick F.
- Abstract
The syntactic relationship between the quantifier and the noun phrase (NP) and the function of the quantifier in the sentence are studied. In the first part of the paper, the theories of several linguists concerning the structure of the NP that includes a quantifier are reviewed. In parts 2 and 3 a syntactic description of the quantifier is presented, in which the quantifier is introduced in the deep structure as part of a noun phrase. Examples from French, English, Japanese, Chinese, and Thai are used throughout. (PMP)
- Published
- 1974
35. The Object Complement in 'Bahasa Malaysia.' Colorado Research in Linguistics, No. 4.
- Author
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Colorado Univ., Boulder. Dept. of Linguistics. and Devillers, Colette
- Abstract
Together with a study of object complements, a succinct description of the Malay classifier construction is given. Object complementation is studied in a generative-transformational framework. For sentence object complements, four types of surface structure are proposed, but it is claimed that two types of deep structure trees underlie the sentence object complement construction. Two informants, one from Selangor State and the other from Malacca State, were used for the study. (Author/KM)
- Published
- 1974
36. Parsing English. Course Notes for a Tutorial on Computational Semantics, March 17-22, 1975.
- Author
-
Wilks, Yorick
- Abstract
The course in parsing English is essentially a survey and comparison of several of the principal systems used for understanding natural language. The basic procedure of parsing is described. The discussion of the principal systems is based on the idea that "meaning is procedures," that is, that the procedures of application give a parsed structure its significance. Natural language systems should be content- rather than structure-motivated, i.e. they should be concerned with linguistic problems revealed by parsing rather than with the relation of the proposed structure of the system to the structures of other systems. Within this framework, Winograd's understanding system, SHRDLU, is described and discussed, as are the second generation systems of Simmons, Schank, Colby and Wilks. A subsequent discussion compares all these systems. Concluding remarks outline immediate problems, including the need for a good memory model and the use of texts, rather than individual example sentences, for investigation. (CLK)
- Published
- 1975
37. Detecting Syntactic Ambiguity: Three Augmented Transition Network Techniques.
- Author
-
Herman, L. Russell
- Abstract
When a grammar is expressed in augmented transition network (ATN) form, the problem of detecting syntactic ambuguity reduces to finding all possible paths through the ATNs. Each successfully terminating path through the ATN generates an acceptable parsing of the input string. Two ATN forms, minimal-node and pseudo-tree, are described along with the conventions for traversing each. The two forms are compared in regard to efficient use of computer time and space and in regard to appropriateness for each of the three path-finding techniques. Three techniques are discussed for finding all acceptable paths through ATNs. The techniques are "Backtracking,""Simultaneous Parallel Analysis," and "Amputate And Re-enter." Relative merits of the three techniques are discussed in terms of computer execution time, required data storage, programmer time, and amenability of the program to modification. A rudimentary ATN-based parser for English has been written in SPITBOL to test the implementation of these techniques. (Author)
- Published
- 1975
38. Modifying English as a Second Language Materials (for Instructing ABE Students).
- Author
-
New York State Education Dept., Albany. Bureau of Continuing Education Curriculum Development.
- Abstract
This manual is designed to assist teachers of adult education in the task of modifying commercially available ESL materials as a means of providing their students with sufficient, meaningful practice. The manual is divided into two parts. Part 1 is an introduction to the basic principles underlying sentence structure. This theory is considered essential for teaching the language effectively. Part 2 presupposes a working knowlege of the theory presented in Part 1, and provides practice in the application of the theories to the process of modifying typical ESL materials. A companion publication, "Placement Guide to Accompany 'Modifying English as a Second Language Materials,'" contains objectives for the manual, quizzes to measure the degree to which objectives have been realized, and means of locating the reader's appropriate point of entry into the course of study. It also allows the package to be used as a programmed self-study course. (Author/AM)
- Published
- 1974
39. Learning: Theoretic Foundations of Linguistic Universals. Social Science Working Paper No. 60.
- Author
-
California Univ., Irvine. School of Social Sciences. and Wexler, Kenneth
- Abstract
Some aspects of a theory of grammar are presented which derive from a formal theory of language acquisition. One aspect of the theory is a universal constraint on analyzability known as the Freezing Principle, which supplants a variety of constraints proposed in the literature. A second aspect of the theory is the Invariance Principle, a constraint on the relationship between semantic and syntactic structure that makes verifiable predictions of syntactic universals. The relationship between the notion of "explanatory adequacy" of a theory of grammar and the learnability of a class of transformational grammars is discussed. (Author)
- Published
- 1974
40. A Demystification of Syntactic Drift. Montreal Working Papers in Linguistics, Vol. 3.
- Author
-
Montreal Univ. (Quebec)., Quebec Univ., Montreal., McGill Univ., Montreal (Quebec)., and Koch, Monica
- Abstract
This paper addresses itself to the question of why the English language should have levelled almost all of its inflections, and what the relationship is between the breakdown of the case system and the rise of fixed word-order, prepositional phrases, and verb periphrases. The explanation proposed for the phenomenon of syntactic drift is considered superior to the traditional explanation of the erosive effect of phonological change, and to the postulation of a metacondition responsible for the proliferation of free-standing segments rather than bound morphemes. First of all it is shown that Old English and Modern English are structurally more similar than has traditionally been assumed, that changes evident in Modern English can be traced from the earliest documentations of Old English. It is further shown that the answer cannot be found within the history of English, but rather, that the independent but parallel developments which take place in related languages are due to the structural features of the protolanguage, in this case, the Indo-European protolanguage. Finally it is shown that, while word-order change is not the sole cause of syntactic changes, it can be called upon to relate many diachronic developments which have until now defied explanation. (Author/AM)
- Published
- 1974
41. A Study of Korean Causatives. Working Papers in Linguistics, Vol. 6, No. 4.
- Author
-
Hawaii Univ., Honolulu. Dept. of Linguistics. and Patterson, Betty Soon Ju
- Abstract
This paper proposes that some but not all "I" causatives in Korean are analyzable, and argues that case markers in Korean are not merely surface phenomena, but are semantically and syntactically significant. The types of Korean causatives are introduced, as well as the major problems involved in their analysis. Previous generative works are summarized. The relationship between "I" and "ha" causatives is investigated; some syntactic and semantic properties of the two causatives are compared and utilized as criteria for evaluating the hypotheses considered. The phenomenon of surface case markers is also investigated, with particular attention to "ha" causatives, and the shapes of the underlying structures for the types of causatives are determined. (Author/AM)
- Published
- 1974
42. A Deviant Phonological System of English. Papers and Reports on Child Language Development, No. 8.
- Author
-
Stanford Univ., CA. Committee on Linguistics. and Lorentz, James P.
- Abstract
This is a report on the deviant phonological system of a 4-year-old child. Although this system is characterized by deletions, assimilations, simplifications, and distortions, there is a regularity in the system which lends itself to systematic phonological analysis. Based on an examination of sample phonological deviations, the following rules are generalized. (1) In word initial environments: nasals, /1/, and /h/ are not distorted; stops are not deleted, but voiceless stops are generally unaspirated; all other segments are realized as either [1] or [w], except voiced 'predental' fricatives, which are reduced to stops, and initial preconsonantal fricatives which are deleted. (2) In word final and word medial environments: word final consonants are deleted when they follow another consonant; word final or medial fricatives after syllabic nuclei are deleted if voiced, or realized as [h] if they are voiceless; word final or medial stops occurring between syllabic nuclei are reduced to glottal stop if voiceless, or deleted completely if voiced; in word final position before silence or a word which begins with a consonant, stops are generally reduced in the same manner, but to a much lesser degree. Such a study is deemed important because it provides information for further phonological research. (Author/AM)
- Published
- 1974
43. Learning the Structure of Causative Verbs: A Study in the Relationship of Cognitive, Semantic and Syntactic Development. Papers and Reports on Child Language Development, No. 8.
- Author
-
Stanford Univ., CA. Committee on Linguistics. and Bowerman, Melissa
- Abstract
This is a study of the kinds of processes involved in learning the meaning of individual lexical items, and in particular how the acquisition of lexical meaning is related to the cognitive structuring of events on the one hand and the ability to produce syntactic paraphrases of a word's meaning and other related constructions on the other. It is proposed that errors involving the use of noncausative verbs in a causative sense come about through inference of a derivational or inclusive relationship between causative verbs and their noncausative counterparts and through a generalization by analogy with these causative verbs. It is further argued that when a child first begins to use causative verbs, they are essentially unanalyzed forms, i.e., the child uses a linguistic form without being aware of its internal structure. The evidence that unanalyzed forms have been analyzed is the creation of novel forms which are made up of same or similar components combined according to the same rules. Thus, a fundamental distinction is made between cognitive knowledge and knowledge of a linguistic structure. (AM)
- Published
- 1974
44. Word Formation: The Anarchy of the Art.
- Author
-
Beard, Robert
- Abstract
This is a state-of-the-art review of word formative morphology. The paper surveys three loosely knit 'schools' of word formation: (1) the Generative school, (2) the Continental school, and (3) the Slavicist school. It points out that much work in word formation is being duplicated because of a lack of coordination and communication between the respective schools. The paper concludes with a list of the 10 most perplexing problems facing word formationists today: (1) semantic-syntactic asymmetry, (2) derivational gaps, (3) lexicalization, (4) semiproductivity, (5) rule order, (6) derivational direction or 'motivatn,' (7) the apparently ineluctable ad hocness in the derivation of relative adjectives and some noun compounds, (8) the location of the word formation component in the grammar, (9) confusion of nongenerable and nonoccurring forms, and (10) the problem of currency (how to determine which of several generable forms with appropriate meanings will in fact gain currency). The problems are discussed in the text and associated with appropriate references in the bibliography. (Author)
- Published
- 1974
45. New Mexican Spanish Verb Forms.
- Author
-
Bowen, J. Donald
- Abstract
This paper presents a morphophonemic analysis of the characteristics that distinguish verb structure in New Mexican Spanish from that of Standard Spanish. Verb structure and classification are discussed, and verbs are analyzed as being composed of four components: stem, thematic vowel, tense-aspect, and person-number. Verbs are classified as regular or irregular according to deviations in these four components. The following phonological rules and tendencies are proposed as highlighting significant points of contrast between Standard and New Mexican Spanish: /yy/ becomes /y/; /cy/ becomes /c/; /y/ drops if the first vowel is stressed and is higher or more front than the second (excluding/u/); /Vr#/ becomes /Vre#/; /gw/ becomes /w/; New Mexican Spanish avoids certain Standard Spanish consonant clusters and sequences; New Mexican Spanish has patterned reductions in the normal stream of speech. The paper concludes that verb patterns in New Mexican Spanish identify it as a distinctive dialect of Standard Spanish; that these modifications are logical and produce more regular patterns; and that New Mexican Spanish deserves to be counted among the prestige dialects of Modern Spanish. (AM)
- Published
- 1974
46. The Structure and Use of Language, Panel 2; Conference on Studies in Reading (Washington, D.C., August, 1974).
- Author
-
National Inst. of Education (DHEW), Washington, DC. and Smith, Marshall S.
- Abstract
The problem of this conference panel was to determine the interaction between the structural properties of text and the cognitive processes involved in comprehension. This panel report contains sections on the organization of the message in the communication system, the information readers derive from a message and how well they derive it, the process of going from sound (or print) to meaning, knowledge growth and use, and bilingualism. The last section consists of models of the process of extracting meaning from discourse, including models of language understanding and computer models of language acquisition. Lists of priorities and recommendations and of references are included. (JM)
- Published
- 1975
47. A Contrastive Study of English and Thai.
- Author
-
Defense Language Inst., Monterey, CA. and Defense Language Inst., Monterey, CA.
- Abstract
This contrastive analysis of English and Thai is designed to introduce ESL teachers to many of the differences between Thai and English. The material is intended to assist the teacher in defining the problems that Thai speakers are likely to have in learning English. The introduction includes background information on Thailand and its people. Part one deals with phonology, including segmental and suprasegmental features. Part two deals with morphology, part three with sentence structure, part four with verb phrases, and part five with non phrases. Part six discusses vocabulary problems Thai speakers encounter in learning English. (AM)
- Published
- 1974
48. A Contrastive Study of English and Mandarin Chinese.
- Author
-
Defense Language Inst., Monterey, CA. and Defense Language Inst., Monterey, CA.
- Abstract
This contrastive analysis of English and Mandarin Chinese is designed to introduce ESL teachers to many of the fundamental differences between Chinese and English. This material is intended to assist the teacher in defining the problems that Chinese speakers are likely to have in learning English. The introduction includes information on the various dialects and subdialects of Chinese. Part one deals with phonology, including segmental and suprasegmental features. Part two deals with morphology, part three with sentence patterns, part four with verb phrases, and part five with noun phrases. Part six discusses vocabulary problems Chinese speakers encounter in learning English. (AM)
- Published
- 1974
49. Preliminary Error Analysis: Russians Using English.
- Author
-
Light, Richard L. and Warshawsky, Diane
- Abstract
This paper reports results of a preliminary analysis of the errors made by Russian exchange students learning English at S.U.N.Y. in Albany. Error samples are taken from a taped panel discussion containing prepared and spontaneous speech, from a TOEFL test, and from a quiz. Errors are divided into intralingual, or those reflecting general characteristics of rule learning, and developmental, or those illustrating attempts to build hypotheses about English from limited knowledge. Most of the errors were of the intralingual type. An area of specific difficulty was the use of the article; this is shown to be due to a confusion about English syntax, rather than interference from Russian. Problems of interference from French and Spanish are also examined. The structural approach is suggested as a possible source of error, as well as the practice of having idioms memorized without attention to their syntactic contexts. (AM)
- Published
- 1974
50. A Contrastive Study of English and Arabic.
- Author
-
Defense Language Inst., Monterey, CA. and Defense Language Inst., Monterey, CA.
- Abstract
This is a contrastive analysis of English and Modern Literary Arabic. Part one deals with phonology, including suprasegmentals and orthography. Part two deals with morphology, part three with sentence structure, part four with verb phrases, and part five with noun phrases. These sections emphasize structures that present problems to the Arabic-speaking student learning English. Part six is concerned with the meaning and usage of individual English words that are difficult for Arab students. A subject index and a word index conclude the volume. (AM)
- Published
- 1974
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