Home About us Contact
|
Home About us Contact | ||
|
|
||
Word Order (word + order)
Selected AbstractsFEATURE-BASED KOREAN GRAMMAR UTILIZING LEARNED CONSTRAINT RULESCOMPUTATIONAL INTELLIGENCE, Issue 1 2005So-Young Park In this paper, we propose a feature-based Korean grammar utilizing the learned constraint rules in order to improve parsing efficiency. The proposed grammar consists of feature structures, feature operations, and constraint rules; and it has the following characteristics. First, a feature structure includes several features to express useful linguistic information for Korean parsing. Second, a feature operation generating a new feature structure is restricted to the binary-branching form which can deal with Korean properties such as variable word order and constituent ellipsis. Third, constraint rules improve efficiency by preventing feature operations from generating spurious feature structures. Moreover, these rules are learned from a Korean treebank by a decision tree learning algorithm. The experimental results show that the feature-based Korean grammar can reduce the number of candidates by a third of candidates at most and it runs 1.5 , 2 times faster than a CFG on a statistical parser. [source] Prosodic structure and syntactic acquisition: the case of the head-direction parameterDEVELOPMENTAL SCIENCE, Issue 2 2003Anne Christophe We propose that infants may learn about the relative order of heads and complements in their language before they know many words, on the basis of prosodic information (relative prominence within phonological phrases). We present experimental evidence that 6,12-week-old infants can discriminate two languages that differ in their head direction and its prosodic correlate, but have otherwise similar phonological properties (i.e. French and Turkish). This result supports the hypothesis that infants may use this kind of prosodic information to bootstrap their acquisition of word order. [source] The Role of Explicit Information in Instructed SLA: An On-Line Study with Processing Instruction and German Accusative Case InflectionsDIE UNTERRICHTSPRAXIS/TEACHING GERMAN, Issue 1 2009Hillah Culman The present study reports the findings of an experiment on the effects of explicit information on the learning of German case markings. Fifty-nine learners of first- and second-year German received computer-based processing instruction on German accusative case marking and word order. These learners were divided into two groups: one received explicit information on the nature and form of case marking in German prior to the treatment, and one group did not. We measured the effects of explicit information by tracking correct responses on the computer as participants made their way through the activities. Analyses revealed that explicit information had an effect: those who received explicit information began to correctly respond to stimulus sentences (i.e., began to correctly indicate who did what to whom) sooner than those who did not. These results contradict previous research and suggest a hidden role for explicit information within processing instruction. [source] An fMRI study of canonical and noncanonical word order in GermanHUMAN BRAIN MAPPING, Issue 10 2007Jörg Bahlmann Abstract Understanding a complex sentence requires the processing of information at different (e.g., phonological, semantic, and syntactic) levels, the intermediate storage of this information and the unification of this information to compute the meaning of the sentence information. The present investigation homed in on two aspects of sentence processing: working memory and reanalysis. Event-related functional MRI was used in 12 healthy native speakers of German, while they read sentences. Half of the sentences had unambiguous initial noun-phrases (masculine nominative, masculine accusative) and thus signaled subject-first (canonical) or object-first (noncanonical) sentences. Noncanonical unambiguous sentences were supposed to entail greater demand on working memory, because of their more complex syntactic structure. The other half of the sentences had case-ambiguous initial noun-phrases (feminine gender). Only the second unambiguous noun-phrase (eighth position in the sentences) revealed, whether a canonical or noncanonical word order was present. Based on previous data it was hypothesized that ambiguous noncanonical sentences required a recomputation of the sentence, as subjects would initially commit to a subject first reading. In the respective contrasts two main areas of brain activation were observed. Unambiguous noncanonical sentences elicited more activation in left inferior frontal cortex relative unambiguous canonical sentences. This was interpreted in conjunction with the greater demands on working memory in the former condition. For noncanonical ambiguous relative to canonical ambiguous sentences, an activation of the left supramarginal gyrus was revealed, which was interpreted as a reflection of the reanalysis-requirements induced by this condition. Hum Brain Mapp, 2007. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Positive Evidence Versus Explicit Rule Presentation and Explicit Negative Feedback: A Computer-Assisted StudyLANGUAGE LEARNING, Issue 1 2004Cristina Sanz The facilitative role of explicit information in second Language acquisition has been supported by a significant body of research (Alanen, 1995; Carroll & Swain, 1993; de Graaff, 1997; DeKeyser, 1995; Ellis, 1993; Robinson, 1996, 1997), but counterevidence is also available (Rosa & O'Neill, 1999; VanPatten & Oikkenon, 1996). This experimental study investigates the effects of computer-delivered, explicit information on the acquisition of Spanish word order by comparing four groups comprised of [+/,Explanation] and [+/,Explicit Feedback]. Results showed that all groups improved significantly and similarly on interpretation and production tests. It is suggested that explicit information may not necessarily facilitate second Language acquisition and that exposing learners to task-essential practice is sufficient to promote acquisition. [source] Word Order Patterns and Principles: An OverviewLINGUISTICS & LANGUAGE COMPASS (ELECTRONIC), Issue 5 2009Jae Jung Song Over the last several decades, word order has established itself as one of the most recurrent research topics in linguistic typology, generating insightful theories and data. This work provides an overview of recent word order research carried out within the broad framework of linguistic typology, highlighting some of the major word order patterns, and theories that have been proposed to explain them. The trend among recent studies on word order is that more and more attention is being directed towards developing processing-based explanations. There also seems to be a tension between unifying and multiple principles (or explanations). [source] Information Structure and Syntactic StructureLINGUISTICS & LANGUAGE COMPASS (ELECTRONIC), Issue 4 2009Betty J. Birner This article explores the interface between syntactic structure and information structure , in particular, the broad generalizations that can be made between certain noncanonical word orders and information-structural constraints on their use. Various ways of implementing the distinction between ,given' and ,new' information are described, and several classes of word orders (such as preposings, postposings, argument reversals, and clefts) are discussed in terms of the information-status constraints to which they are sensitive. It is argued that classes of related word orders share related constraints but that , both cross-linguistically and within a single language , there are also construction-specific constraints on the correlation between word order and information status. [source] Processes of Language Acquisition in Children With Autism: Evidence from Preferential LookingCHILD DEVELOPMENT, Issue 2 2007Lauren D. Swensen Two language acquisition processes (comprehension preceding production of word order, the noun bias) were examined in 2- and 3-year-old children (n=10) with autistic spectrum disorder and in typically developing 21-month-olds (n=13). Intermodal preferential looking was used to assess comprehension of subject,verb,object word order and the tendency to map novel words onto objects rather than actions. Spontaneous speech samples were also collected. Results demonstrated significant comprehension of word order in both groups well before production. Moreover, children in both groups consistently showed the noun bias. Comprehension preceding production and the noun bias appear to be robust processes of language acquisition, observable in both typical and language-impaired populations. [source] Information Structure and Syntactic StructureLINGUISTICS & LANGUAGE COMPASS (ELECTRONIC), Issue 4 2009Betty J. Birner This article explores the interface between syntactic structure and information structure , in particular, the broad generalizations that can be made between certain noncanonical word orders and information-structural constraints on their use. Various ways of implementing the distinction between ,given' and ,new' information are described, and several classes of word orders (such as preposings, postposings, argument reversals, and clefts) are discussed in terms of the information-status constraints to which they are sensitive. It is argued that classes of related word orders share related constraints but that , both cross-linguistically and within a single language , there are also construction-specific constraints on the correlation between word order and information status. [source] | |||||||||||||