Search results for "First language"
showing 10 items of 112 documents
Measures of native and non-native rhythm in a quantity language.
2005
The traditional phonetic classification of language rhythm as stress-timed or syllable-timed is attributed to Pike. Recently, two different proposals have been offered for describing the rhythmic structure of languages from acoustic-phonetic measurements. Ramus has suggested a metric based on the proportion of vocalic intervals and the variability ( SD) of consonantal intervals. Grabe has proposed Pairwise Variability Indices (nPVI, rPVI) calculated from the differences in vocalic and consonantal durations between successive syllables. We have calculated both the Ramus and Grabe metrics for Latvian, traditionally considered a syllable rhythm language, and for Latvian as spoken by Russian l…
Ability for Voice Recognition Is a Marker for Dyslexia in Children
2014
A recent voice recognition experiment conducted by Perrachione, Del Tufo, and Gabrieli (2011) revealed that, in normal adult readers, the accuracy at identifying human voices was better in the participants’ mother tongue than in an unfamiliar language, while this difference was absent in a group of adults with dyslexia. This pattern favored a view of dyslexia as due to “fundamentally impoverished native-language phonological representations.” To further examine this issue, we conducted two voice recognition experiments, one with children with/without dyslexia, and the other with adults with/without dyslexia. Results revealed that children/adults with dyslexia were less accurate at identify…
Relationship Between the Linguistic Environments and Early Bilingual Language Development of Hearing Children in Deaf-parented Families
2013
We explored variation in the linguistic environments of hearing children of Deaf parents and how it was associated with their early bilingual language development. For that purpose we followed up the children's productive vocabulary (measured with the MCDI; MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory) and syntactic complexity (measured with the MLU10; mean length of the 10 longest utterances the child produced during videorecorded play sessions) in both Finnish Sign Language and spoken Finnish between the ages of 12 and 30 months. Additionally, we developed new methodology for describing the linguistic environments of the children (N = 10). Large variation was uncovered in both the amount…
Building blocks of fetal cognition: emotion and language
2010
Magnetoencephalography (MEG) can be effectively used to record fetal and neonatal cognitive abilities/functions by recording completely non-invasively the magnetic fields produced by the active neurons in the brain. During the last trimester and the first months of life, the cognitive capabilities related to emotion recognition and language acquisition develop rapidly. Latest research shows that already the newborn has advanced abilities related to processing emotional information and speech sounds. These abilities form the basis of the child's development towards mastering social tasks and native language. The possibilities of using fetal or neonatal MEG in studying these important abiliti…
Verso una dimensione narrativa delle mappe
2021
Tra il pensiero e la costruzione dell’architettura il disegno ha un ruolo baricentrico per connettere i diversi protagonisti di una realizzazione e per coinvolgere la collettività facendo percepire inedite prospettive. La scrittura si rivela utile per esplicitare ciò che nella grafica è sotteso e per stabilire un ordine nuovo nel ragionamento progettuale. I rapporti fra segni e significati si moltiplicano nei sistemi informativi recenti in cui si ha la sensazione di poter dire moltissimo (dati numerici e spaziali) ma a volte sfugge quella sintesi indispensabile per una interpretazione concreta, finalizzata alla costruzione di possibili esperienze fisiche. Per l’esplorazione dell’uso di dive…
Expert video exchanges in bilingual biology lessons - student’s intrinsic motivation and subject-specific interest
2019
This paper presents an instructional model to incorporate English-language communication between international practicing scientists and English learners into secondary science lessons. The aim was...
Interference in Dutch–French Bilinguals : Stimulus and Response Conflict in Intra- and Interlingual Stroop
2018
Abstract. In the present manuscript, we investigate the source of congruency effects in a group of Dutch–French bilinguals. In particular, participants performed a color-identification Stroop task, in which both (first language) Dutch and (second language) French distracting color words were presented in colors. The typical finding is impaired responding when the word and color are incongruent (e.g., “red” in blue) relative to congruent (e.g., “red” in red). This congruency effect is observed for both first and second language distracting color words. The current experiment used a 2-to-1 keypress mapping manipulation, which allows one to separate stimulus conflict (i.e., conflict between w…
“Too much grammar will kill you!” Teaching Spanish as a foreign language in Norway: What teachers say about grammar teaching
2019
Exam results show that many Norwegian students lack communicative competence in their second foreign language. This study investigates Spanish language instruction in Norway, in particular Spanish teachers’ opinions about grammar teaching, and why and how grammar is taught in lower and upper secondary school. Furthermore, the study explores whether common grammar teaching approaches are primarily explicit (rules provided) or implicit (rules not provided), inductive (language first) or deductive (rules first), and whether the language of instruction is primarily Norwegian or Spanish. The data comprise interviews with teachers and classroom observations, as well as teaching plans and other ma…
The Cultural Component in the First Language (L1) Teaching: Cultural Heritage, Identity and Motivation in Language Learning
2015
Abstract After almost three decades since the insertion of Catalan (Valencian) within the Valencian education system, its use hasn’t spread through all of the geographical domains and social scopes. In a context of language minorisation, an actual usage of a language is not guaranteed by just acquiring a sounder language competence. For a start we take into consideration a hipothesis defending that even though a comprehension of the goal culture in L2 is not just necessary for a significant use of the language within its society, we also have to realise the importance of the cultural import when using L1. We’ve framed our working field within some research projects which focus on the value …
Metalinguistic Development in First-Language Acquisition
1997
At a very early age, the child is able to manipulate language appropriately, both in its comprehension and its production. Later comes the ability to reflect upon and deliberately control its use. The emergence of these metalinguistic abilities must be distinguished from that of ordinary verbal communication. The key questions concerning this topic are: What is metalinguistics? What knowledge do metalinguistic abilities require? Are they conscious activities? And how do they develop? (also see the review by Tunmer in Volume 2 and by Nicholson in this volume.)