The syntax of discourse functions in Greek: a non-configurational approach

This thesis offers an account of the syntactic properties of Focus-movement, Topicalisation and Clitic Left Dislocation (CLLD) in Greek. As these phenomena are central to discussions of the syntax-discourse interface, a significant part of this study pursues the question of the representation of the discourse functions of topic and focus and their relation to syntax.For the most part, the literature on the syntax of Focus-movement, Topicalisation and CLLD advocates that focus and topic are encoded in the Phrase Structure by distinct Func¬ tional Projections: Focus Phrase (FP) and Topic Phrase (TP). Foci and topics move to the Specifier of the relevant Projection to check their discourse features. The term Discourse Configurational Languages has been recently coined for languages that encode focus and topic through Phrase Structure configurations.With respect to the syntactic properties of the relevant structures, the Discourse Configurational approach assumes that Focus-movement, Topicalisation and CLLD instantiate three distinct syntactic operations; A-bar-movement, A-movement and base-generation respectively. This complex syntax enables a simple view of the syntax-discourse interface; there is an isomorphic relation between syntax and discourse, as each discourse function is associated with a distinct syntactic operation. Further, focus and topic are treated as syntactic features, specifying heads of Functional Projections.This thesis, in contrast, argues for a non-configurational approach. It shows that the claim that Focus-movement and Topicalisation instantiate A-bar-movement and A-movement respectively is based on insufficient evidence. This claim is motivated by the absence of weak crossover effects in Topicalisation and their presence in Focus-movement. However, this study argues that the weak crossover effect is not a valid diagnostic of the A/A-bar distinction, since some cases of Wh-questions, the prototypical instance of A-bar movement, do not give rise to weak crossover effect. Further, in the Discourse Configurational approach, CLLD is treated as an instance of base-generation rather than movement, because it does not license parasitic gaps. In this thesis, CLLD is analysed as adjunct extraction and it is shown that the unavailability of parasitic gaps is a general property of adjunct extraction. Further, this study demonstrates that Focus-movement, Topicalisation and CLLD exhibit the same syntactic properties and instantiate the same extraction mechanism. Thus, they are given a unified syntactic treatment.The argument that Focus-movement, Topicalisation and CLLD share the same syntax has implications for the architecture of the discourse-syntax interface. Unlike the Discourse Configurational approach, this syntactic analysis implies a non-isomorphic relation between syntax and discourse, as a single syntactic structure corresponds to more than one discourse function. Thus, the syntax of discourse constructions is independent of the discourse func¬ tions encoded. It is argued that the discourse evidence does not justify the incorporation of discourse functions in Phrase Structure or their treatment as syntactic features. Rather, focus and topic should be represented at a distinct level, independent of syntax, Information Structure.The analysis is couched in the framework of Head-driven Phrase Structure Grammar. The syntactic properties of extractions in Greek are readily captured by the HPSG mechanism of Unbounded Dependencies. The multidimensional nature of HPSG signs allows for the representation of discourse functions and a flexible mapping between syntax and discourse

Longitudinal L2 development of the English article in individual learners

We investigate the accuracy development of the English article by learners of English as a second language. The study focuses on individual learners, tracking their learning trajectories through their writings in the EF-Cambridge Open Language Database (EFCAMDAT), an open access learner corpus. We draw from 17,859 writings by 1,280 learners and ask whether article accuracy in individual learners fluctuates randomly or whether learners can be clustered according to their developmental trajectories. In particular, we apply k-means clustering to automatically cluster in a bottom up fashion learners with similar learning curves. We follow learners for a period covering one CEFR level. Given the relatively short learning window, the majority of learners follow a horizontal line. Nevertheless, we also identify groups of learners showing a power-function and U-shaped curve. Crucially, these groups are ‘hidden’ when the aggregate of learners is considered, a finding highlighting the importance of individual level analysis

Grammatical errors: what can we do about them?

Every second language (L2) speaker will make grammatical errors, irrespective of age, education, motivation or learning context. Errors often persist even after focused teaching of the relevant forms and rules and abundant exposure to input through immersion. Errors may persist even in the language of young learners immersed in mainstream education. It is important to recognise that grammatical errors do not, in any way, reflect the cognitive abilities or intelligence of these young learners. Grammatical errors arise because learners have difficulty processing L2 forms which do not have easily identifiable meaning. Learning activities helping learners to process the relevant forms correctly can improve their accuracy. Such grammar processing activities need to take into account the degree of similarity between the target L2 forms and the first language(s) of the learners. Young immigrant children acquiring the language of their host country through immersion in mainstream education require support in their L2. Online grammar activities incorporated in a blended learning environment can provide a personalised approach, without disrupting children’s attendance in the mainstream classroom

L1 influence on the acquisition order of English grammatical morphemes:A learner corpus study

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Cambridge University Press via http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0272263115000352We revisit morpheme studies to evaluate the long-standing claim for a universal order of acquisition. We investigate the L2 acquisition order of six English grammatical morphemes by learners from seven L1 groups across five proficiency levels. Data are drawn from approximately 10,000 written exam scripts from the Cambridge Learner Corpus. The study establishes clear L1 influence on the absolute accuracy of morphemes and their acquisition order, therefore challenging the widely held view that there is a universal order of acquisition of L2 morphemes. Moreover, we find that L1 influence is morpheme specific, with morphemes encoding language-specific concepts most vulnerable to L1 influence.EF Education First Researc

Dependency parsing of learner English

Current syntactic annotation of large-scale learner corpora mainly resorts to “standard parsers” trained on native language data. Understanding how these parsers perform on learner data is important for downstream research and application related to learner language. This study evaluates the performance of multiple standard probabilistic parsers on learner English. Our contributions are three-fold. Firstly, we demonstrate that the common practice of constructing a gold standard – by manually correcting the pre-annotation of a single parser – can introduce bias to parser evaluation. We propose an alternative annotation method which can control for the annotation bias. Secondly, we quantify the influence of learner errors on parsing errors, and identify the learner errors that impact on parsing most. Finally, we compare the performance of the parsers on learner English and native English. Our results have useful implications on how to select a standard parser for learner English

Μια ποιοτική έρευνα για τη συνεργασία μεταξύ των εκπαιδευτικών της προσχολικής και δημοτικής εκπαίδευσης αναφορικά με την μετάβαση των νηπίων με αναπηρία από το νηπιαγωγείο στο δημοτικό σχολείο

Η μετάβαση από το νηπιαγωγείο στο δημοτικό αποτελεί μια κρίσιμη περίοδο στην ανάπτυξη των παιδιών (Pianta, Rimm-Kauffman & Cox, 1999), ενώ οι εμπειρίες από τις μεταβάσεις αυτές αποτελούν καθοριστικούς παράγοντες της μελλοντικής προόδου και των ακαδημαϊκών επιτεύξεών τους (Fabian & Dunlop, 2007 · Peters, 2010 ). Για τους σκοπούς αυτής της εργασίας, ο όρος μετάβαση αναφέρεται σε μια διαδικασία αλλαγής που βιώνουν τα παιδιά και οι οικογένειές τους, όταν αλλάζουν βαθμίδες εκπαίδευσης, με σημαντικές διαφορές κάθε φορά στις πολιτικές, το πρόγραμμα σπουδών, τη μεθοδολογία διδασκαλίας, τα περιβάλλοντα, τους ρόλους και τις προσδοκίες (Klerfelt & Graneld, 1994). Αυτή η φάση της ζωής των παιδιών αναγνωρίζεται γενικά ως περίοδος με έντονες, γρήγορες και πολλαπλές αναπτυξιακές, κοινωνικές και θεσμικές αλλαγές (Vogler, Crivello & Woodhead, 2008) και ενώ η μετάβαση είναι αναμενόμενη και συνδεδεμένη με τη ζωή του κάθε παιδιού, ταυτόχρονα είναι και μια αγχωτική περίοδος για τα ίδια και τους γονείς τους. Η παρούσα ποιοτική μελέτη πραγματεύεται τη μετάβαση των παιδιών με αναπηρία από την προσχολική στη δημοτική εκπαίδευση. Στοχεύει στο να παράσχει μια γενική εικόνα των σχέσεων που αναπτύσσονται και των πρακτικών που υιοθετούνται από δασκάλους και νηπιαγωγούς. Αποσκοπεί στην επισήμανση των παραγόντων, των αντιλήψεων και πολιτικών που διαμορφώνουν τις σχέσεις μεταξύ των εκπαιδευτικών και καθορίζουν τις πρακτικές που αυτοί υιοθετούν κατά τη διαδικασία μετάβασης των μαθητών, με στόχο την κατανόηση, η οποία θα μας επιτρέψει να παρέμβουμε και να ανατρέψουμε τους παράγοντες που δημιουργούν την ευπάθεια, δρουν ανασταλτικά και δυσχεραίνουν τις εκπαιδευτικές μεταβάσεις και των ανάπηρων μαθητών από το νηπιαγωγείο στο δημοτικό (Crump & Slee, 2O15). Η μελέτη πραγματοποιήθηκε με εκπαιδευτικούς νηπιαγωγείων και δημοτικών του νομού Αττικής, κατά την έναρξη της σχολικής χρονιάς 2018-2019. Για τη συλλογή των στοιχείων επιλέχθηκε η ημιδομημένη συνέντευξη και η θεματική ανάλυση του περιεχομένου, για την ανάλυση των δεδομένων. Η επιλογή του Βιοοικολογικού μοντέλου (Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 2006) και η επικέντρωση στη μετάβαση ως μια βιοοικολογική έννοια, απηχεί τη θέση που θέλει την έρευνα, την πολιτική και την πρακτική να απομακρύνεται από μια ελλειμματική προσέγγιση και να ασπάζεται προσεγγίσεις βασισμένες στις δυνάμεις του ατόμου, στη συγκεκριμένη περίπτωση, όλων των εμπλεκομένων στη μετάβαση (Saleebey, 2006). Ερευνήθηκαν οι αντιλήψεις και οι πρακτικές μετάβασης που επιλέγονται από τους εκπαιδευτικούς των δύο πλαισίων, οι σχέσεις που αναπτύσσονται μεταξύ τους και η επίδραση αυτών στην μετάβαση των ανάπηρων μαθητών από το νηπιαγωγείο στο δημοτικό. Τα ευρήματα της έρευνας έδειξαν ότι οι δασκάλες και οι νηπιαγωγοί προσδιορίζουν τις μεταβάσεις ως καίριας σημασίας στην εκπαιδευτική πορεία των μαθητών αφού θέτει τις βάσεις της μετέπειτα σχολικής τους πορείας. Αναγνωρίζουν την αλλαγή ως κρίσιμο χαρακτηριστικό της μεταβατικής περιόδου, που συχνά αποτελεί πρόκληση για τους μαθητές και τους γονείς τους. Οι γονείς των μαθητών με αναπηρία, παρουσιάζονται με ψηλότερα επίπεδα άγχους, αφού εκτός από τη μετάβαση τους απασχολεί και η αναπηρία των παιδιών τους. Οι εκπαιδευτικοί αναγνωρίζουν την αξία ανάπτυξης συνεργατικών σχέσεων μεταξύ τους και την αναγκαιότητα αυτών για ομαλές εκπαιδευτικές μεταβάσεις. Οι πρακτικές που δηλώθηκαν αφορούν όλους τους μαθητές, χωρίς να γίνεται διάκριση για τους μαθητές με αναπηρία. Η ανταλλαγή πληροφοριών για την εξέλιξη και τη μάθηση των μαθητών και οι επισκέψεις των νηπίων στα δημοτικά, τον Ιούνιο, αναφέρθηκαν ως οι συχνότερες πρακτικές. Η μεταξύ τους επικοινωνία είναι κατά βάση τηλεφωνική, ενώ συναντήσεις για να εργαστούν από κοινού σε θέματα μετάβασης - σχεδιασμό μεταβατικών προγραμμάτων ή ανταλλαγή δοκιμασμένων μεθόδων και τεχνικών για αποτελεσματικές μεταβάσεις - δεν αναφέρθηκαν.The transition from kindergarten to primary school is a very critical period for the children development (Pianta, Rimm-Kauffman, Cox, 1999) meanwhile the experiences from this transition are crucial parameters for the children’s future progress and academic achievements (Fabian & Dunlop, 2007· Peters, 2010). For the purpose of this dissertation, the term transition refers to the children’s and families’ process of change from one education level to the other, where significant differences on the policies, curriculum, teaching methodology, environment, roles and expectations can be found (Klerfelt & Graneld, 1994). The transition from one education level to the other can be described as a period with intense, rapid and multiple developmental, social and institutional changes (Vogler, Crivello & Woodhead, 2008). Moreover, while this sift is anticipated and linked with the kids’ life, it can also be a very stressful period for them and their parents. This dissertation deals with the transition of the handicapper children from preschool to elementary education. It targets to provide a general view on the relationships developed and practices adopted by teachers and kindergarteners. It aims to understand the parameters, ideologies and practices that form the relationships among the teachers and define the practices that they adopt though the process of the student’s transition with ultimate goal the understanding of the factors that act as inhibitors and hamper the educational transition of disable pupils from kindergarten to elementary school (Crump & Slee, 2015). The research took place at the beginning of the new school year, in kindergartens and elementary schools in the prefecture of Attica. Semi-structured interview and thematic analysis of the content were selected for data collection and data analysis. The choice of the Bio-ecological model (Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 2006) and the focus on the transition as a bio-ecological concept, appeals the concept that claims that this policy and practices move away from a deficit approach and to adopt approaches based on the individual’s forces (Saleebey, 2006). Additionally, the transition practices chosen by teachers in both contexts, the relationships developed among them and the impact that these had on the transition of handicapped students from kindergarten to elementary school were investigated. It was also examined whether the characteristic of disability affect the quality of the relationships and ultimately the practices selected. The findings of the study show that the teachers and kindergarteners identify the transition crucial to the student’s educational path as they laid the fundamentals for their later schooling. They identify the change as a critical feature of this transitional period that frequently is a challenge for students and their parents. The parents of kids with disabilities are presented with high anxiety and stress levels not only because of the child’s transition to another educational level but also because of the child’s disability. It was common that teachers recognize the value of developing collaborative relationships with each other and the importance of this collaboration for smooth educational transitions. All the practices applied are referred to all the students, with no discrimination for students with disabilities. The exchange of information between the kindergarteners and the teachers regarding the student developments and the visits of the pupils to elementary schools in June were cited as the most common practices.The exchange of information and the communication was mainly by telephone, while meetings to work were focusing on transition issues, transition planning or exchange of proven methods and techniques for effective transitions