Quantifying the Relationship Between Child and Caregiver Speech Using Generalized Estimating Equations: The Case of \u27only\u27

One of the difficulties involved in modelling longitudinal data is that repeated measurements over time introduce a violation of independence. Standard Generalized Linear Models are not robust to this violation. However, Generalized Estimating Equations (GEEs) take correlations between data points into consideration making them useful for such tasks. This paper examines the use of GEEs to model the relationship between child-directed and child-produced speech, focusing on the role of input in the acquisition of only. The study shows that the frequency of occurrence of only in child-directed speech is a significant predictor of the frequency of occurrence of only in child-produced speech

Modelling Exposure and Input in Language Acquisition

Acquiring the focus-sensitive particle 'only' requires children to integrate information from multiple different domains. Specifically, they must (i) segment and store sound forms and come to understand that constituents in Focus typically bear focal accent; (ii) figure out the linear and grammatical distribution of 'only'; (iii) figure out that 'only' introduces a restriction on a set of possibilities; and (iv) construct a set of alternatives. Previous examinations of this learning problem show that children exhibit non-target-like behaviour until later stages of development (Crain et al., 1992; Crain et al., 1994; Gualmini et al., 2003; Kim, 2011; Notley et al., 2009; Paterson et al., 2003; Paterson et al., 2006; Philip & Lynch, 2000). The difficulty children have is often attributed to either lacking requisite syntactic knowledge or the inability to construct a set of alternatives. Using a novel approach, the current project aims to shed light on the issues by investigating the role of exposure and input in the acquisition of 'only'. Chapter 2 provides a theoretical analysis from the perspective of Jackendoff’s Parallel Architecture (Jackendoff, 1997, 2002a, 2017), and argues that an approach which advocates for a direct interface between language and cognition can better account for the properties of 'only'. Chapter 3 offers a critical review of the previous studies along with an overview of the learning problem and a discussion of exposure and input. Results from the corpus study in Chapter 4 show that across development, the frequency of 'only' in caregiver speech is a significant predictor of the frequency of 'only' in child speech, and that the distribution of 'only' is similar in caregiver and child utterances. Finally, results from the modelling study in Chapter 5 indicate that learners are biased toward different distributional cues in the input, and that this bias changes over the course of development as a function of the learner’s grammar in combination with evidence corresponding to particular hypotheses about the interpretation of utterances containing 'only'

Hungarian information structure: a comparison of Lexical-Functional Grammar and cartography

A comparison of a Lexical-Functional Grammar analysis and a Cartography-based analysis of information structure suggests that Lexical-Functional Grammar can better account for phenomena associated with information structure. Also, Lexical-Functional Grammar seems to better capture the fact that the subject and topic roles do not have to coincide. Ultimately, Cartography lacks a method of expressing the interactions with respect to syntax, semantics, and prosody in a systematic way. This is because Cartography deals with information structure as a phenomenon of the peripheries. Principles and Parameters based theories such as Cartography do not exhibit an interface between PF and LF, which is important for Hungarian. In Hungarian, prosody can affect scope-based interpretation. Lexical-Functional Grammar on the other hand, fully integrates c-structure, f-structure, i-structure, and p-structure in the Correspondence Architecture allowing for an interface between all of these components. Thus, Lexical-Functional Grammar is better suited to deal with the phenomena associated with information structure in Hungarian.Ye

The relationship between synchronic and diachronic linguistic processes: a discussion of language acquisition and language contact

The present study investigates the relationship between synchronic processes in Second Language Acquisition and diachronic processes in Language Contact. The focus is on examining laryngeal contrasts in the L2 acquisition of English stops by native speakers of Dutch, and the hypothesized Romance/Germanic contact situation which is argued to have resulted in the Dutch laryngeal system. Using van Coetsem's (1988) framework, the investigation reveals that there are indeed similarities. Furthermore, a re-examination of the acquisition data (originally presented in Simon, 2009, 2011) shows that a more detailed account must be made to claim that there is a relationship between synchronic and diachronic processes. Moreover, I argue that for the Uniformitarian Principle to hold true, theories must make the same predictions regarding both language acquisition and language contact data

The acquisition of l2 information structure in Hungarian': the salience of position vs. prosody

Bibliography: p. 120-131.Includes a copy of Ethics Review form. Original with original copy of Partial Copyright Licence.The current project investigates the L2 acquisition of focus structure in Hungarian' by native speakers of English. The study is designed to answer the question: Which is a more salient cue for English speakers to focus structure in Hungarian': position or prosody? Perceptual salience is the ease of hearing or perceiving a given linguistic feature, unit, or structure (DeKeyser and Goldschneider 2005:47). Results show no significant differences between the Position group and the Prosody group on overall accuracy scores and reaction times. However, the interaction of various linear word orders with other variables shows interesting significant results with respect the learners ' processing of word order

Development of the global inflammatory bowel disease visualization of epidemiology studies in the 21st century (GIVES-21)

Abstract Background There is a rapid increase in the incidence of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) in newly industrialized countries, yet epidemiological data is incomplete. We herein report the methodology adopted to study the incidence of IBD in newly industrialized countries and to evaluate the effect of environmental factors including diet on IBD development. Methods Global IBD Visualization of Epidemiology Studies in the 21st Century (GIVES-21) is a population-based cohort of newly diagnosed persons with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis in Asia, Africa, and Latin America to be followed prospectively for 12 months. New cases were ascertained from multiple sources and were entered into a secured online system. Cases were confirmed using standard diagnostic criteria. In addition, endoscopy, pathology and pharmacy records from each local site were searched to ensure completeness of case capture. Validated environmental and dietary questionnaires were used to determine exposure in incident cases prior to diagnosis. Results Through November 2022, 106 hospitals from 24 regions (16 Asia; 6 Latin America; 2 Africa) have joined the GIVES-21 Consortium. To date, over 290 incident cases have been reported. All patients have demographic data, clinical disease characteristics, and disease course data including healthcare utilization, medication history and environmental and dietary exposures data collected. We have established a comprehensive platform and infrastructure required to examine disease incidence, risk factors and disease course of IBD in the real-world setting. Conclusions The GIVES-21 consortium offers a unique opportunity to investigate the epidemiology of IBD and explores new clinical research questions on the association between environmental and dietary factors and IBD development in newly industrialized countries

TRENDS IN INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASE INCIDENCE AND PREVALENCE ACROSS EPIDEMIOLOGIC STAGES: A GLOBAL SYSTEMATIC REVIEW WITH META-ANALYSIS

Abstract BACKGROUND Rising incidence and prevalence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) observed historically in early-industrialized regions now also appear in newly-industrialized and emerging regions. The epidemiology of IBD has been proposed to progress across epidemiologic stages: 1. Emergence (low incidence and prevalence); 2. Acceleration in Incidence (rapid rising incidence); and 3. Compounding Prevalence (stabilizing incidence, rapid rising prevalence). AIM To gather real-world data on the incidence and prevalence of IBD and characterize global regions in each epidemiologic stage by meta-analyses. METHODS Two previous systematic reviews (database inception–2010; 2010–2016) were updated with a search of MEDLINE, Embase, PubMed, and Web of Science (2017–2023) to identify all population-based studies reporting the incidence or prevalence of Crohn’s disease (CD) or ulcerative colitis (UC). International partners provided a secondary review of the included studies from their local regions. Incidence and prevalence rates (per 100,000 population), stratified by epidemiologic stage, were meta-analyzed to determine pooled rates with associated 95% confidence intervals (95%CI). A Cochrane Q test was used to investigate differences between epidemiologic stages for both CD and UC. RESULTS After assessing 1,250 manuscripts, a total of 491 studies (439 incidence, 228 prevalence) from 80 global regions spanning 1920-2022 were identified by the systematic review (Figure 1). All data identified with our search strategy are available to view in an open-access, online interactive data repository (https://gives21.shinyapps.io/dashboard/) created with Shiny for R. The pooled incidence of CD and UC per 100,000 person-years rose from 0.28 (95%CI: 0.21, 0.36) and 0.57 (95%CI: 0.47, 0.69) in Stage 1 to 2.13 (95%CI: 1.88, 2.42) and 4.05 (95%CI: 3.65, 4.50) in Stage 2 to 9.34 (95%CI: 8.73, 9.99) and 14.07 (95%CI: 13.09, 15.12) in Stage 3 (Table 1). Similarly, the pooled prevalence of CD and UC per 100,000 persons rose from 1.96 (95%CI: 1.41, 2.74) and 6.35 (95%CI: 4.45, 9.07) in Stage 1 to 22.18 (95%CI: 17.96, 27.38) and 45.36 (95%CI: 37.84, 54.38) in Stage 2 to 186.18 (95%CI: 163.18, 212.42) and 255.92 (95%CI: 230.60, 284.02) in Stage 3 (Table 1). Subgroup analysis confirmed differences in both incidence and prevalence for CD and UC between epidemiologic stages (p<0.001). DISCUSSION This is the most comprehensive systematic review on the incidence and prevalence of IBD. The amalgamated real-world data from this study highlight the rising global burden of IBD across three distinct epidemiologic stages: 1. Emergence, 2. Acceleration in Incidence, and 3. Compounding Prevalence. Figure 1 Systematic review study selection flowchart including a brief overview of two previous systematic reviews: Molodecky, N.A. et al. Gastroenterology. 2012;142(1):46-54 and Ng, S.C. et al. Lancet. 2017;390(10114):2769-78. Table 1 Pooled incidence and prevalence rates per 100,000 population for Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. Cochrane Q subgroup analysis for difference in estimates between epidemiologic stages. † Represents the number of study-subregion groups used in the calculation of pooled rates and their 95% confidence intervals