The Dutch LESLLA Corpus

Abstract This paper describes the Dutch LESLLA data and its curation. LESLLA stands for Low-Educated Second Language and Literacy Acquisition. The data was collected for research in this field and would have been disappeared if it were not saved. Within the CLARIN project Data Curation Service the data was made into a spoken language resource and made available to other researchers

The CLARIN Knowledge Centre for Atypical Communication Expertise

In this chapter we introduce the CLARIN Knowledge Centre for Atypical Communication Expertise. The mission of ACE is to support researchers engaged in languages which pose particular challenges for analysis; for this, we use the umbrella term “atypical communication”. This includes language use by second-language learners, people with language disorders or those suffering from lan-guage disabilities, and languages that pose unique challenges for analysis, such as sign languages and languages spoken in a multilingual context. The chapter presents details about the collaborations and outreach of the centre, the services offered, and a number of showcases for its activities

Emerging Constructions in the L2 Italian Spoken by Low Literate Migrants

The emergence of autonomous interlanguage constructions is widely recognised in the literature on L2 Italian. These constructions involve the overgeneralisation of functional forms learners are in the process of acquiring, e.g., siamo in siamo mangiare ‘be:1PL eat:INF’ (target Italian: mangiamo ‘eat:1PL’); facciamo in facciamo cucinare ‘do:1PL cook:INF’ (target Italian: cuciniamo ‘cook:1PL’); per in piaciare per uscire fuori ‘like:INF for go:INF out’ (target Italian: mi piace uscire fuori ‘to.me like:3SG go:INF out’. ‘Be’/‘do’ forms are assigned a morphosyntactic function to convey temporal/aspectual/person information instead of inflecting the verb, while per ‘for’ is a generic subordinating marker. Based on new corpus data, I claim that such constructions may correlate with a learners’ degree of first language (L1) literacy. In detail, and consistent with, both literate and non-literate learners overgeneralise functional forms while working on the newly acquired morphosyntax; this shows that the non-literates are perfectly able to subconsciously identify functional forms in the input. Non-literates, however, show a stronger tendency than literates to select lexical-syntactic sub-patterns

The development of verbal strategies in L2 Italian of low/non-literate adult learners

I present the results of a research conducted in Palermo, Italy (the 'gateway to Europe' in the new migrations crossing the Mediterranean Sea) between 2017 and 2019.A conspicuous feature in new migrations is widespread illiteracy and low schooling rates, especially in the case of migrants coming from sub-Saharan Africa or Bangladesh. This research focused on the acquisition of verbal morphosyntax in adult learners with limited or no literacy in a language of origin upon arrival on Italian shores

Non-target do-constructions in the L2 Italian of adult migrants

In the recent migration towards Europe, adults’ low-/non-literacy/schooling is a significant factor. Moreover, migrants experience social marginalisation and, hence, they are low-exposed to the target language. Whether these sociolinguistic variables produce differences in L2 acquisition still needs to be verified, since research on migrants’ L2s (in particular morphosyntax) is still peripheral. This lack of attention not only deprived second language acquisition of the social relevance that characterised its beginnings (Young-Scholten 2013), but is also problematic at the theoretical level, as working with convenience samples undermines the reliability of the research results (Tarone et al. 2009). Against this background, a longitudinal data collection was conducted at the Palermo University (Italy, 2018-2019) which involved the recording and transcription of 20 West African migrants’ speech. Data analysis, conducted in Klein/Perdue’s (1997) functionalist framework, brought to light non-target constructions involving overgeneralisation of items learners are in the process of acquiring (e.g. auxiliaries), to cover the functional spaces of other forms not yet acquired. The attention is focus on a do-construction that so far has escaped the attention of the specialists: io fare:INF cucinare:INF ‘I do cook’. I propose that fare ‘do’ expresses ‘activity’/‘verbiness’ instead of the lacking target morphosyntax. Similar constructions were observed in L2 Dutch and English (Starren 2001; Vainikka et al. 2017). This specific pattern would remain unnoticed by analysing only language classes or, in general, highly educated learners

Vulnerability in acquisition, language impairments in Dutch: Creating a VALID data archive

The VALID Data Archive is an open multimedia data archive (under construction) with data from speakers suffering from language impairments. We report on a pilot project in the CLARIN-NL framework in which five data resources were curated. For all data sets concerned, written informed consent from the participants or their caretakers has been obtained. All materials were anonymized. The audio files were converted into wav (linear PCM) files and the transcriptions into CHAT or ELAN format. Research data that consisted of test, SPSS and Excel files were documented and converted into CSV files. All data sets obtained appropriate CMDI metadata files. A new CMDI metadata profile for this type of data resources was established and care was taken that ISOcat metadata categories were used to optimize interoperability. After curation all data are deposited at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics Nijmegen where persistent identifiers are linked to all resources. The content of the transcriptions in CHAT and plain text format can be searched with the TROVA search engin

Vulnerability in Acquisition, Language Impairments in Dutch: Creating a VALID Data Archive

Vulnerability in Acquisition, Language Impairments in Dutch: Creating a VALID Data Archive Klatter, J.; van Hout, R.; van den Heuvel, H.; Fikkert, P.; Baker, A.E.; de Jong, J.; Wijnen, F.; Sanders, E.; Trilsbeek, P. General rights It is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), other than for strictly personal, individual use, unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons). Disclaimer/Complaints regulations If you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, please let the Library know, stating your reasons. In case of a legitimate complaint, the Library will make the material inaccessible and/or remove it from the website. Please Ask the Library: https://uba.uva.nl/en/contact, or a letter to: Library of the University of Amsterdam, Secretariat, Singel 425, 1012 WP Amsterdam, The Netherlands. You will be contacted as soon as possible. Abstract The VALID Data Archive is an open multimedia data archive (under construction) with data from speakers suffering from language impairments. We report on a pilot project in the CLARIN-NL framework in which five data resources were curated. For all data sets concerned, written informed consent from the participants or their caretakers has been obtained. All materials were anonymized. The audio files were converted into wav (linear PCM) files and the transcriptions into CHAT or ELAN format. Research data that consisted of test, SPSS and Excel files were documented and converted into CSV files. All data sets obtained appropriate CMDI metadata files. A new CMDI metadata profile for this type of data resources was established and care was taken that ISOcat metadata categories were used to optimize interoperability. After curation all data are deposited at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics Nijmegen where persistent identifiers are linked to all resources. The content of the transcriptions in CHAT and plain text format can be searched with the TROVA search engine

The Linguistic Integration of Adult Migrants / L’intégration linguistique des migrants adultes

This volume provides a comprehensive report on a symposium organised by the Council of Europe (Strasbourg) in 2016 in the context of its human rights agenda. Its purpose was to explore some of the ways in which scientific evidence can inform the development and implementation of policy and practice designed to support the linguistic integration of adult migrant