The linguistics of gender

This chapter explores grammatical gender as a linguistic phenomenon. First, I define gender in terms of agreement, and look at the parts of speech that can take gender agreement. Because it relates to assumptions underlying much psycholinguistic gender research, I also examine the reasons why gender systems are thought to emerge, change, and disappear. Then, I describe the gender system of Dutch. The frequent confusion about the number of genders in Dutch will be resolved by looking at the history of the system, and the role of pronominal reference therein. In addition, I report on three lexical- statistical analyses of the distribution of genders in the language. After having dealt with Dutch, I look at whether the genders of Dutch and other languages are more or less randomly assigned, or whether there is some system to it. In contrast to what many people think, regularities do indeed exist. Native speakers could in principle exploit such regularities to compute rather than memorize gender, at least in part. Although this should be taken into account as a possibility, I will also argue that it is by no means a necessary implication

2013 Undergraduate Research Symposium Program

The program for Salem State University\u27s Undergraduate Research Symposium on May 2, 2013.https://digitalcommons.salemstate.edu/crca_researchday/1005/thumbnail.jp

Using green vaccination to brighten the agronomic future

Crop plants host a variety of pests and diseases that can ultimately reduce agricultural productivity. Current methods of pest and disease control depend largely on pesticides. However, the use of chemicals alone is increasingly regarded as unsustainable due to the development of resistance and the introduction of stricter European regulation. There is a need, therefore, to reduce their use and to pursue the development of new Integrated Pest (and disease) Management (IPM) strategies. Research that focuses on the role that the plant’s immune system can play against these biological threats provides another potential source for future IPM strategies. Plants have sophisticated ways to defend themselves effectively and some stimuli can augment their innate immune capacity to resist future diseases. This phenomenon is known as priming of defence. Studies, mainly in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, have unravelled the molecular and physiological mechanisms of this apparent plant ‘vaccination’. This article describes recent findings and provides the ingredients for the “right formulation” in order to integrate green vaccination as a tool for the second green revolution

A developmental study of the role of category information in word identification

The studies reported here were generated out of the hypothesis that category information about a word is initially activated prior to identification of the word. Three experiments investigated the role of category information in word identification by 3rd graders, 6th graders, and adults using a serial two-choice classification paradigm. Semantic properties of lists of words and target search instructions were varied to assess the facilitation of the categorical homogeneity of the nontarget words on target word identification. Experiments 1 and 2 required subjects to identify words as exemplars or not of a predefined category as soon as possible. The target words were in lists of categorically homogeneous and categorically heterogeneous nontarget words. Nontarget categories were different from target categories

Recognition of Characters from Streaming Videos

Non

Another look at the function of מַשָּׂא in prophetic literature

Abstract: A number of investigative studies have been conducted on the meaning and function of מַשָּׂא in the prophetic literature of the Hebrew Scriptures, some of which include comprehensive reviews of previous attempts to explain the use of this term either lexically (cf. Sellin 1930; Procksch 1930; de Boer 1948; Lambert 1955; Tsevat 1958; Naudé 1969; Calvin & Owen 1989) or as a form-critical tag (cf. Weis 1992; Melugin & Sweeney 1994; Sweeney 1996; Floyd 2002) with the latest study conducted by M.J. Boda (2006: 338-357), which classifies מַשָּׂא as an editorial marker. This article seeks to expand on previous attempts to explain the purpose of מַשָּׂא by categorizing the occurrence of מַשָּׂא in line with its various semantic domains. In the approach, a summative overview of the key suggestions of the term מַשָּׂא will provide a conceptual background for the investigation. Following this, the use of מַשָּׂא is systematically analysed in its various textual contexts throughout the Hebrew Scriptures to identify how this term was applied in popular speech, literature and translation. From this analysis, an attempt will be made to categorize מַשָּׂא into specific semantic domains and to determine how the sense in which מַשָּׂא is used in prophetic literature compares. The study concludes with a proposition that מַשָּׂא functions as a literary device to bind maśśā’-prophesies together intertextually into a virtual corpus

Lexical and semantic representations in the acquisition of L2 cognate and non-cognate words: Evidence from two learning methods in children

How bilinguals represent words in two languages and which mechanisms are responsible for second language acquisition are important questions in the bilingual and vocabulary acquisition literature. This study aims to analyze the effect of two learning methods (picture-based vs. word-based method) and two types of words (cognates and noncognates) in early stages of children’s L2 acquisition. Forty-eight native speakers of European Portuguese, all sixth graders (mean age= 10.87 years; SD= 0.85), participated in the study. None of them had prior knowledge of Basque (the L2 in this study). After a learning phase in which L2 words were learned either by a picture- or a word-based method, children were tested in a backward-word translation recognition task at two times (immediately vs. one week later). Results showed that the participants made more errors when rejecting semantically-related than semantically-unrelated words as correct translations (semantic interference effect). The magnitude of this effect was higher in the delayed test condition regardless of the learning method. Moreover, the overall performance of participants from the word-based method was better than the performance of participants from the picture-word method. Results were discussed concerning the most significant bilingual lexical processing models

Research and the National Literacy Strategy

This paper outlines the research evidence underpinning the National Literacy Strategy that was implemented in England in 1998. The paper summarises what the Strategy comprises and identifies several 'predisposing' influences. These were the international data on primary school pupils' reading performance, school effectiveness research and the findings from literacy programmes with underachieving pupils in the USA and Australia. School inspections provided additional evidence. The early success of the National Literacy Project provided a 'precipitating' influence, as it reflected much of what was implied in the other sources of research evidence. The main aspects of the National Literacy Strategy are discussed and the relevant research findings are indicated. The broadly complementary nature of these sources is noted and the paper concludes by suggesting that the Strategy offers the promise of significantly raising standards and of improving the life-chances of thousands of children

The approach to reading

First published in 1952, this pamphlet explores the fundamental and far-reaching values of reading, and considers the nature, purpose and place of a full reading programme in the school curriculum. It advocates for the achievement of a balanced school reading program which includes learning to read, understanding that reading leads to improved social competence, and promotes reading as a valuable leisure activity. It discusses approaches to determining reading readiness, preparing for reading and developing reading interests, as well as providing methods and materials for the teaching of reading in the primary grades

A Study of Self-Disclosure and Awareness

This study was an attempt to replicate the findings of a 2013 experiment that found self-disclosure can be influenced through priming (Grecco, Robbins, Bartoli & Wolff). The study also concluded that their participants were unaware of the priming effects the experiment had on them. This study challenged this conclusion by manipulating depth of processing across priming conditions as a way of assessing conscious processing of the primes. The priming influence on self-disclosure was not replicated in the present study. Additionally, this study was unable to find a significant main effect of depth. A significant result was found in a memory assessment, suggesting that participants were processing the primes differently at different levels of depth