Reconstructing Native Language Typology from Foreign Language Usage

Linguists and psychologists have long been studying cross-linguistic transfer, the influence of native language properties on linguistic performance in a foreign language. In this work we provide empirical evidence for this process in the form of a strong correlation between language similarities derived from structural features in English as Second Language (ESL) texts and equivalent similarities obtained from the typological features of the native languages. We leverage this finding to recover native language typological similarity structure directly from ESL text, and perform prediction of typological features in an unsupervised fashion with respect to the target languages. Our method achieves 72.2% accuracy on the typology prediction task, a result that is highly competitive with equivalent methods that rely on typological resources.Comment: CoNLL 201

Modeling Language Variation and Universals: A Survey on Typological Linguistics for Natural Language Processing

Linguistic typology aims to capture structural and semantic variation across the world's languages. A large-scale typology could provide excellent guidance for multilingual Natural Language Processing (NLP), particularly for languages that suffer from the lack of human labeled resources. We present an extensive literature survey on the use of typological information in the development of NLP techniques. Our survey demonstrates that to date, the use of information in existing typological databases has resulted in consistent but modest improvements in system performance. We show that this is due to both intrinsic limitations of databases (in terms of coverage and feature granularity) and under-employment of the typological features included in them. We advocate for a new approach that adapts the broad and discrete nature of typological categories to the contextual and continuous nature of machine learning algorithms used in contemporary NLP. In particular, we suggest that such approach could be facilitated by recent developments in data-driven induction of typological knowledge

A Corpus-based Exploration of the Differences between Native and Non-native Texts in Academic English

This thesis explores the differences between native and non-native texts in academic English. The analysis was conducted on a corpus built by gathering scientific articles in the field of linguistics, written by academics coming from six different language backgrounds (English representing the native speakers; Croatian, German, Italian, Polish and Spanish representing the non-native speakers). The corpus was examined with the help of corpus analysis software (TagAnt and AntConc). The aim of the research was to determine whether there are differences between the native and non-native academic authors writings. If such dissimilarities were to be found, the subsequent aim was to discover which forms they take, how salient they are and what they might indicate when it comes to characterizing the writings of the native and non-native speakers of English. The findings point to some differences with regard to some of the aspects analyzed in the two general batches of examined texts (i.e. native speakers vs non-native speakers)

A Corpus-based Exploration of the Differences between Native and Non-native Texts in Academic English

This thesis explores the differences between native and non-native texts in academic English. The analysis was conducted on a corpus built by gathering scientific articles in the field of linguistics, written by academics coming from six different language backgrounds (English representing the native speakers; Croatian, German, Italian, Polish and Spanish representing the non-native speakers). The corpus was examined with the help of corpus analysis software (TagAnt and AntConc). The aim of the research was to determine whether there are differences between the native and non-native academic authors writings. If such dissimilarities were to be found, the subsequent aim was to discover which forms they take, how salient they are and what they might indicate when it comes to characterizing the writings of the native and non-native speakers of English. The findings point to some differences with regard to some of the aspects analyzed in the two general batches of examined texts (i.e. native speakers vs non-native speakers)

Kulturelle Vielfalt in Lehrwerken des Deutschen und des Finnischen als Zweitsprache

In der Masterarbeit wird die Behandlung der kulturellen Vielfalt in den Lehrwerken für Deutsch und Finnisch als Zweitsprache, Wo ist Paula? Kursbuch 1 und Kielikarhu 1 untersucht. Ziel ist zu verstehen, wie Minderheitskulturen und -gruppen in diesen Lernmaterialien sowohl durch Texte als auch durch Bilder dargestellt werden. Die Methodologie der Studie basiert auf einer Lehrwerkanalyse, die Textanalyse und vergleichende Analysemethoden kombiniert. Dies ermöglicht eine tiefe Untersuchung der Struktur, Themen und kulturellen Elemente der Bücher. In der Definition des Begriffs kulturelle Vielfalt wird ein breiter Ansatz gewählt, der alle Kulturen umfasst, die nicht ausschließlich auf die finnische oder deutsche Kultur beschränkt sind. Es ist wichtig zu beachten, dass die Analyse sich nur auf schriftliches Material konzentriert und Audioaufnahmen so wie andere Multimediaelemente außer Acht lässt. Dies kann die Vollständigkeit der Analyse einschränken, insbesondere wenn man mögliche Akzente und Betonungen berücksichtigt, die nicht bewertet werden können. Zusammenfassend lässt sich sagen, dass in beiden Lehrwerken verschiedene Kulturen vorgestellt werden, aber ihre Darstellung ist nicht immer tiefgreifend oder umfassend. Dies kann zu vereinfachten Vorstellungen und zur Verstärkung von Stereotypen führen. Da sowohl Finnland als auch Deutschland multikulturelle Länder sind, ist es wichtig, dass Schulmaterialien diese Vielfalt widerspiegeln. Lehrwerke sollten ein vielfältiges und realistisches Bild verschiedener Kulturen bieten, und Schüler:innen sollten die Möglichkeit haben, über ihre eigenen kulturellen Erfahrungen zu sprechen und sie mit anderen zu teilen. Dies hilft, Gemeinschaft und Verständnis zwischen verschiedenen Kulturen aufzubauen

Moacir Santos ghostwriter : the composition of film scores in the north-american period

Orientador: Claudiney Rodrigues CarrascoTese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de ArtesResumo: A presente tese discute uma parte específica da obra de Moacir Santos (1926-2006), que está temporalmente localizada nas primeiras décadas que o compositor fixou residência nos Estados Unidos, entre 1967 e 1985. Por essa época Santos teve uma relevante atuação como compositor em produções audiovisuais norte-americanas, participando de filmes como Love in the Pacific (1968), Africa Erotica (1970) e Final Justice (1985). A pesquisa se baseou, como ponto de partida, na dissertação de mestrado do mesmo autor, que trata das trilhas musicais assinadas por Moacir Santos no Brasil na década de 1960, período imediatamente anterior à sua ida para os EUA. A partir desses resultados preliminares, pretendeu-se analisar suas composições para produtos audiovisuais norte-americanos. As trilhas musicais dos filmes que Santos recebeu crédito formal foram minuciosamente estudadas e todas as inserções musicais foram transcritas em notação musical. Dessa forma, foi possível identificar as principais características dos processos composicionais de Moacir em sua carreira como compositor de trilhas musicais. Além disso, também foi de grande importância para a pesquisa averiguar sua participação como ghostwriter em projetos não-creditados, desmitificando especulações comumente associadas à essa produçãoAbstract: This dissertation aims to discuss a specific part of the work of Moacir Santos (1926-2006), which is temporarily located in the first decades that the composer fixed residence in the United States, between 1967 and 1985. By that time, Santos established a relevant performance as a composer in American audiovisual productions, participating in films as Love in the Pacific (1968), Africa Erotica (1970) and Final Justice (1985). The research was based, as a starting point, in the Masters dissertation of the same author, which deals with the analysis of film scores signed by Moacir Santos in Brazil in the 1960s, period immediately prior to his move to the U.S. From these preliminary results standpoint, his compositions for North-American audiovisual products were analyzed. The films scores in which Santos received formal credit were thoroughly studied and all cues were transcribed to musical notation. In this way, it was possible to identify the main characteristics of his compositional processes as a film music composer. In addition, it was also of great importance for the research to find out about his participation as a ghostwriter in non-credited productions, demystifying speculations commonly associated to this part of Santos careerDoutoradoMúsica, Teoria, Criação e PráticaDoutor em Música2013/23992-9FAPES