Why does the production of some learners not grammaticalize?

In this paper we follow two beginning learners of English, Andrea and Santo, over a period of 2 years as they develop means to structure the declarative utterances they produce in various production tasks, and then we look at the following problem: In the early stages of acquisition, both learners develop a common learner variety; during these stages, we see a picture of two learner varieties developing similar regularities determined by the minimal requirements of the tasks we examine. Andrea subsequently develops further morphosyntactic means to achieve greater cohesion in his discourse. But Santo does not. Although we can identify contexts where the grammaticalization of Andrea's production allows him to go beyond the initial constraints of his variety, it is much more difficult to ascertain why Santo, faced with the same constraints in the same contexts, does not follow this path. Some lines of investigation into this problem are then suggested

The basic variety (or: Couldn't natural languages be much simpler?)

In this article, we discuss the implications of the fact that adult second language learners (outside the classroom) universally develop a well-structured, efficient and simple form of language–the Basic Variety (BV). Three questions are asked as to (1) the structural properties of the BV, (2) the status of these properties and (3) why some structural properties of ‘fully fledged’ languages are more complex. First, we characterize the BV in four respects: its lexical repertoire, the principles according to which utterances are structured, and temporality and spatiality expressed. The organizational principles proposed are small in number, and interact. We analyse this interaction, describing how the BV is put to use in various complex verbal tasks, in order to establish both what its communicative potentialities are, and also those discourse contexts where the constraints come into conflict and where the variety breaks down. This latter phenomenon provides a partial answer to the third question,concerning the relative complexity of ‘fully fledged’ languages–they have devices to deal with such cases. As for the second question, it is argued firstly that the empirically established continuity of the adult acquisition process precludes any assignment of the BV to a mode of linguistic expression (e.g., ‘protolanguage’) distinct from that of ‘fully fledged’ languages and, moreover, that the organizational constraints of the BV belong to the core attributes of the human language capacity, whereas a number of complexifications not attested in the BV are less central properties of this capacity. Finally, it is shown that the notion of feature strength, as used in recent versions of Generative Grammar, allows a straightforward characterization of the BV as a special case of an I-language, in the sense of this theory. Under this perspective, the acquisition of an Ilanguage beyond the BV can essentially be described as a change in feature strength

Performance in Private Clubs: Criteria Utilized by Managers

As the first step toward developing performance benchmarks for non profit private clubs, the authors identify the criteria that club managers use to evaluate club performance. Responses from 254 club managers across the US. indicate that all 16 performance criteria included in the survey were utilized to some extent, but the top three were membership satisfaction, quality of services offered, and quality of staff

The use of technology to enhance zoological parks

Technology can be used in a zoological setting to improve visitor experience, increase research opportunities, and enhance animal welfare. Evaluating the quality of these technological innovations and their use by nonhuman and human counterparts is a critical part of extending the uses of technology to enhance animal welfare and visitor experience at zoological parks. Survey data from a small sample of institutions housing primates suggest that computers, television, radio, and sprinklers are the most prevalent types of technological enrichment currently used. Survey respondents were positive about the technology implemented, stating a desire to increase its use. Zoo Biol 30:487–497, 2011. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/86919/1/20353_ftp.pd

Spectroscopic Characterization of Oceanic Dissolved Organic Matter Isolated By Reverse Osmosis Coupled With Electrodialysis

Oceanic dissolved organic matter (DOM) is one of the largest pools of reduced carbon on Earth, yet DOM remains poorly chemically characterized. Studies to determine the chemical nature of oceanic DOM have been impeded by the lack of efficient and non-fractioning methods to recover oceanic DOM. Here, a DOM fraction (~40 to 86% recovery) was isolated using reverse osmosis/electrodialysis (RO/ED) and analyzed by solid-state 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Samples were obtained from biogeochemically distinct environments: photobleached surface gyre, productive coastal upwelling zone, oxygen minimum, North Atlantic Deep Water, and North Pacific Deep Water. A ubiquitous ‘background’ refractory carbon pool was apparent throughout the ocean and dominated in the deep Pacific Ocean. Advanced NMR spectral editing revealed that condensed aromatic and quaternary anomeric carbons contribute to this deep refractory DOC pool, the quaternary anomeric carbons being a newly identified and potentially important component of bio-refractory carbohydrate-like carbon. Additionally, our results support the multi-pool (e.g. 3-pool: labile, semi-labile, and refractory) conceptual model of marine DOM biogeochemistry. Surface samples, hypothesized to be enriched in labile and semi-labile DOM, were enriched in carbohydrate-like material consistent with prior studies. High carboxyl signals in the deep Pacific support the hypothesis that a major fraction of the refractory pool consists of carboxyl-rich alicyclic molecules (CRAM)