Sluicing phenomena

The paper shows that in various sluicing types, the wh-phrase in the sluicing sentence as well as its relatum in the antecedent clause must be F-marked, and it explains this observation with Schwarzschild's (1999) and Merchant's (1999) focus theory. According to the semantics of the wh-phrase, it will argue that the relatum of the wh-phrase is an indefinite expression that must allow a specific interpretation. Following Heusinger (1997, 2000), specificity will be defined as an anchoring relation between the discourse referent introduced by the indefinite expression and a discourse given item. Because specific indefinite expressions are always novel, contexts like the scope of definite DPs, the scope of thematic matrix predicates, and the scope of downward-monotonic quantifiers which all exhibit non-novel indefinites do not allow sluicing

On shared indefinite expressions in coordinative structures

The paper shows that shared indefinite expressions in coordinative constructions may differ with respect to their referential properties. This is due to their being either in a focused or in a nonfocused shared constituent. Their different information-structural status follows from Rooth's theory on focus interpretation. Thus it follows that focused shared constitutents must be beyond the actual coordination and that coordinative constructions with unfocused shared constituents can be represented as ellipsis. In a focused shared constituent indefinite expressions may have a specific and an non specific unique reading as well as an non specific distributive one. For the latter we outline the idea that subjects and objects in the actual coordination form a pair of sets to which a distributing operator is attached. The set formation is further supported by plural pronouns referring to the respective set and by plural verb agreement in subsequent expressions

Lehrkrafteinstellungen und -motivation als Mediatoren zwischen Ausbildungsqualität, Kooperation und Differenzierung im Unterricht

Heterogeneity in achievement characterizes many classrooms. Teachers can adapt to students’ varying achievement levels by engaging in differentiated instruction (DI). Applying this strategy adequately is influenced by perceived teacher training quality and collaboration. The current study examined the dimensional structure and predictors of DI as well as a mediation of both teachers’ attitudes and motivation. Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed a three-dimensional structure of DI. Teacher training and collaboration were proved to be predictors of DI. Expected success as a measure of motivation was confirmed as a mediator of perceived quality of teacher training on DI, but not the two attitude aspects perceived utility and costs. The relevance of the findings for teacher education and school as a workplace is discussed. (DIPF/Orig.)Leistungsheterogenität findet sich in vielen Schulklassen. Durch Differenzierung (DI) können Lehrkräfte auf die verschiedenen Leistungsniveaus eingehen, wobei der Einsatz dieser Strategie von wahrgenommener Ausbildungsqualität und Kooperation beeinflusst wird. Die vorliegende Studie untersuchte sowohl die Struktur und Prädiktoren von DI als auch Mediationseffekte durch Lehrkrafteinstellungen und -motivation. Konfirmatorische Faktorenanalysen bestätigten eine dreidimensionale Struktur von DI sowie die Ausbildungsqualität und Kooperation als Prädiktoren. Der erwartete Erfolg als ein Maß von Motivation wurde als Mediator zwischen wahrgenommener Ausbildungsqualität und DI von den Daten gestützt, allerdings nicht die Einstellungsaspekte wahrgenommene Nützlichkeit und Kosten. Die Relevanz der Ergebnisse für Lehrkraftausbildung und den Arbeitsplatz Schule wird diskutiert. (DIPF/Orig.

Information structure and the referential status of linguistic expression : workshop as part of the 23th annual meetings of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Sprachwissenschaft in Leipzig, Leipzig, February 28 - March 2, 2001

This volume comprises papers that were given at the workshop Information Structure and the Referential Status of Linguistic Expressions, which we organized during the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Sprachwissenschaft (DGfS) Conference in Leipzig in February 2001. At this workshop we discussed the connection between information structure and the referential interpretation of linguistic expressions, a topic mostly neglected in current linguistics research. One common aim of the papers is to find out to what extent the focus-background as well as the topic-comment structuring determine the referential interpretation of simple arguments like definite and indefinite NPs on the one hand and sentences on the other