Age effects in first language attrition: speech perception by Korean-English bilinguals

This article has been awarded Open Materials and Open Data badges. All materials and data are publicly accessible via the Open Science Framework at https://osf.io/B2478 and at https://osf.io/G4C7Z. Learn more about the Open Practices badges from the Center for Open Science: https://osf.io/tvyxz/wiki.This study investigated how bilinguals’ perception of their first language (L1) differs according to age of reduced contact with L1 after immersion in a second language (L2). Twenty-one L1 Korean-L2 English bilinguals in the United States, ranging in age of reduced contact from 3 to 15 years, and 17 control participants in Korea were tested perceptually on three L1 contrasts differing in similarity to L2 contrasts. Compared to control participants, bilinguals were less accurate on L1-specific contrasts, and their accuracy was significantly correlated with age of reduced contact, an effect most pronounced for the contrast most dissimilar to L2. These findings suggest that the earlier bilinguals are extensively exposed to L2, the less likely they are to perceive L1 sounds accurately. However, this relationship is modulated by crosslinguistic similarity, and a turning point in L2 acquisition and L1 attrition of phonology appears to occur at around age 12.This research was supported by funding from the Ph.D. Program in Second Language Acquisition at the University of Maryland. The funding source was not involved in the design of the study, in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data, in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to submit the manuscript for publication. We thank Dr. Youngkyu Kim at Ewha Womans University for his substantial support and Ms. Irene Jieun Ahn (formerly at Ewha Womans University and currently at Michigan State University) for her help during data collection in Korea. (Ph.D. Program in Second Language Acquisition at the University of Maryland

Emotion word development in bilingual children living in majority and minority contexts

The lexicon of emotion words is fundamental to interpersonal communication. To examine how emotion word acquisition interacts with societal context, the present study investigated emotion word development in three groups of child Korean users aged 4–13 years: those who use Korean primarily outside the home as a majority language (MajKCs) or inside the home as a minority language (MinKCs), and those who use Korean both inside and outside the home (KCs). These groups, along with a group of L1 Korean adults, rated the emotional valence of 61 Korean emotion words varying in frequency, valence, and age of acquisition. Results showed KCs, MajKCs, and MinKCs all converging toward adult-like valence ratings by ages 11–13 years; unlike KCs and MajKCs, however, MinKCs did not show age-graded development and continued to diverge from adults in emotion word knowledge by these later ages. These findings support the view that societal context plays a major role in emotion word development, offering one reason for the intergenerational communication difficulties reported by immigrant families.Accepted manuscrip

The Risk Factors of COVID-19 Infection and Mortality among Older Adults in South Korea

Background This study aimed to identify the risk factors associated with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection and mortality among older adults in South Korea. Methods Using Korean National Health Insurance data from January 1, 2020, to March 31, 2022, we analyzed the impact of various factors, including age, comorbidity burden, and insurance type, on COVID-19 infection and mortality rates. Results Age was the most significant risk factor for mortality in older adults. A higher comorbidity burden was also associated with increased infection (odds ratio [OR]=1.33 for Charlson Comorbidity Index [CCI] ≥2, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.321–1.339) and mortality (OR=1.537 for CCI ≥2, 95% CI 1.459–1.618) rates. While Medical Aid recipients exhibited lower infection rates (OR=0.898, 95% CI 0.89–0.906) than National Health Insurance beneficiaries, they had higher mortality rates (OR=1.692, 95% CI 1.623–1.763). Conclusion These results emphasized the need to prioritize vaccination and allocate healthcare resources for older adults, particularly those with multiple comorbidities. Addressing socioeconomic disparities and ensuring equitable access to testing and healthcare services are crucial for mitigating the impact of COVID-19 on older adults

Materials for Chang & Ahn (2023)

Links related to the Korean corpora used in Chang and Ahn (2023, "Examining the role of phoneme frequency in first language perceptual attrition", Languages); see wiki. The materials for the study that this study follows up on (Ahn et al., 2017, "Age effects in first language attrition", Language Learning) are linked

Dataset for Chang & Ahn (2023)

Full dataset for Chang and Ahn (2023, "Examining the role of phoneme frequency in first language perceptual attrition", Languages), in Excel format (.xlsx) and PDF format. Sheet 1 of the Excel file provides a summary table of frequency data from the National Institute of Korean Language (NIKL) corpus; sheet 2, the by-word frequency data from the NIKL corpus; sheet 3, the by-chunk frequency data from the SUBTLEX-KR corpus (2022 version); and sheet 4, a key explaining each column/header of the spreadsheets in Sheets 1-3. The dataset for the study that this study follows up on (Ahn et al., 2017, "Age effects in first language attrition", Language Learning) is linked

Examining the role of phoneme frequency in first language perceptual attrition

In this paper, we follow up on previous findings concerning first language (L1) perceptual attrition to examine the role of phoneme frequency in influencing variation across L1 contrasts. We hypothesized that maintenance of L1 Korean contrasts (i.e., resistance to attrition) in L1 Korean-L2 English bilinguals would be correlated with frequency, such that better-maintained contrasts would also be more frequent in the L1. To explore this hypothesis, we collected frequency data on three Korean contrasts (/n/-/l/, /t/-/t*/, /s/-/s*/) and compared these data to perceptual attrition data from a speeded sequence recall task testing the perception and phonological encoding of the target contrasts. Results only partially supported the hypothesis. On the one hand, /n/-/l/, the best-maintained contrast, was the most frequent contrast overall. On the other hand, /n/-/l/ also evinced the greatest frequency asymmetry between the two members of the contrast (meaning that it was the least important to perceive accurately); furthermore, /s/-/s*/, which was less well maintained than /t/-/t*/, was actually more frequent than /t/-/t*/. These results suggest that disparities in perceptual attrition across contrasts cannot be attributed entirely to frequency differences. We discuss the implications of the findings for future research examining frequency effects in L1 perceptual change

Test-retest Reliability and Sensitivity to Change of a New Fall Risk Assessment System: A Pilot Study

Background : The new fall risk assessment (FRA) system is a composite and comprehensive assessment tool developed to predict the risk of falls. The aim of this pilot study was to examine the new FRA system’s test-retest reliability and sensitivity to change in community-dwelling older adults. Methods : This was an observational study with a test-retest design and an 8-week fall prevention exercise program. A sample of 28 community-dwelling older adults with a mean age of 73.0 years (range, 65–80 years) participated in the study. The new FRA system was administered twice within a 7-day period for test-retest reliability expressed as intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and standard error of measurement (SEM) assessment. Eighteen subjects of them completed the 8-week fall prevention exercise intervention to evaluate the new FRA system’s sensitivity to change. Results : In the evaluation of interrater reliability for the new FRA system, the ICC (95% confidence interval) of the total score was 0.77 (0.47–0.98), with good reliability. The SEM was 11.61 for the total FRA score. A good to excellent reliability was observed, with ICC levels of 0.73 to 0.91 for the 4 composite scores of the new FRA system. Following the 8-week exercise intervention, the mean total FRA score (effect size, 0.58) significantly increased (p=0.028). Conclusion : The new FRA system has generally moderate to excellent interrater reliability and reliable sensitivity to change in community-dwelling older adults. Our findings provide support for the reliability of the new FRA system in healthy older adults without a fall history

Fast size-exclusion chromatography at high temperature

We report on the size-exclusion chromatography (SEC) operated at high column temperature to reduce the analysis time. The column temperature was raised beyond the normal boiling point of the eluent and a sufficient column backpressure was applied to prevent the mobile phase from boiling by inserting a narrow bore tubing between the separation column and the detector. The narrow bore tubing also functions to cool the effluent down to the room temperature before it reaches the detector. Therefore, normal SEC detectors can be used without any modification. It was confirmed that the SEC analysis time could be shortened significantly by the high-temperature operation without serious deterioration in the resolution.close131

Synergetic Effects of Intronic Mature miR-944 and ΔNp63 Isoforms on Tumorigenesis in a Cervical Cancer Cell Line

miR-944 is located in an intron of the tumor protein p63 gene (TP63). miR-944 expression levels in cervical cancer tissues are significantly higher than in normal tissues and are associated with tumor size, International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage, lymph node metastasis, and survival. However, associations of miR-944 with its host gene, TP63, which encodes TAp63 and ΔNp63, in cervical cancer have not been fully investigated. A positive correlation between miR-944 and ΔNp63 mRNA expression was identified in cervical cancer tissues. Furthermore, when the expression of miR-944 and ΔNp63 was simultaneously inhibited, cell proliferation-, differentiation- epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT)-, transcription-, and virus-associated gene clusters were shown to be significantly more active according to functional annotation analysis. Cell viability and migration were more reduced upon simultaneous inhibition with anti-miR-944 or ΔNp63 siRNA than with inhibition with anti-miR-944 or ΔNp63 siRNA alone, or scramble. In addition, Western blot analysis showed that the simultaneous inhibition of miR-944 and ΔNp63 reduced EMT by increasing the expression of epithelial markers such as claudin and by decreasing mesenchymal markers such as N-cadherin and vimentin. Slug, an EMT transcription factor, was also decreased by the simultaneous inhibition of miR-944 and ΔNp63. Thus, associations between miR-944 and ΔNp63 in cervical cancer could help to elucidate the function of this intronic microRNA and its role in carcinogenesis