Positional and qualitative asymmetries of consonant clusters in Greek L1

The paper examines the realization of consonant clusters in prosodically faithful forms in Greek L1. Longitudinal naturalistic data reveal that children tend to simplify clusters to either the unmarked or to the initial member of the cluster. Apart from being simplified, clusters begin being faithfully realized by the age of 1;10. The aim here is to demonstrate that child language variation is not random but depends on phonological principles and is attributed to the activation of multiple parallel grammars during the acquisition process.

/s/ clusters in child speech: New evidence from Greek

In this paper we challenge the ideas promoted by various cross-linguistic theoretical as well as experimental studies regarding the role of /s/ in consonant cluster formation. Most studies opt for markedness and extrametricality accounts which label the marked nature of /s/; this marked nature results in /s/ being deleted in child speech. However, the developmental data discussed here demonstrate different developmental paths in which /s/ appears massively in child Greek in all cluster types and all word positions. Such data cannot be accounted for in terms of markedness or extrametricality. Rather, they are analyzed by means of the Three Scales Model (TSM) which assesses cluster formation in terms of three distinct scales. Under the TSM clusters are determined by gradual perfection/ acceptability

L1 transfer in L2 learning: compound forms in the speech of Turkish learners of Greek

This paper investigates the capacities of Turkish learners of Greek to form one-word compounds. Using an off-line experimental task we tested the mechanisms involved in the formation of existing and novel compounds in Greek. The results revealed that Turkish learners of Greek draw from the same pool of repair mechanisms as native speakers do in order to form compounds. The findings further highlighted that word formation accuracy is attributed to the level of language proficiency as well as the typological relevance between the learners’ L1 and the target L2 language

Asymmetries of consonant sequences in perception and production: affricates vs. /s/ clusters

This paper investigates the behavior of Greek affricates as opposed to other clusters consisting of /s/ + obstruent and obstruent + /s/ sequences. An experimental task testing the perception of /s/ clusters demonstrated a fixed preference for the preservation of affricates over obstruent +/s/ over /s/ + obstruent clusters. Subjects showed a strong tendency to break up consonantal sequences, while they retained affricates intact. This linguistic behavior is attributed to two factors: a) identity of place of articulation of the members of the examined consonantal sequences and b) satisfaction of the scale of consonantal strength in these sequences. 

Οντογένεση του λόγου: ανάπτυξη σε στάδια ή σταδιακή ανάπτυξη;

Στο παρόν άρθρο προσπελάζουμε το ρόλο του σταδίου ως όρου ο οποίος έχει καθορίσει τη γνωστική ανάπτυξη, γενικά, και τη γλωσσική ανάπτυξη, ειδικά (και χρησιμοποιείται εκτενώς στην εγχώρια και διεθνή βιβλιογραφία) ιδωμένο μέσα από την παρουσίαση και ανάλυση αναπτυξιακών γλωσσικών δεδομένων. Συγκεκριμένα, παρουσιάζουμε τα μείζονα θεωρητικά μοντέλα τα οποία – στο πλαίσιο διαφορετικών επιστημονικών προσανατολισμών – χρησιμοπoίησαν εμμέσως ή αμέσως την έννοια του σταδίου με στόχο την ερμηνεία της σειράς της γλωσσικής ανάπτυξης και έπειτα προχωρούμε σε μια κριτική θεώρηση του σταδίου. Στη συνέχεια, παρουσιάζουμε τους άξονες μιας θεωρητικής πρότασης, εναλλακτικής της θεωρίας των σταδίων, αυτής του Μοντέλου των Πολλαπλών Παράλληλων Γραμματικών, η οποία ενσωματώνει τα σημαντικότερα χαρακτηριστικά της θεωρίας των σταδίων και ερμηνεύει όψεις της γλωσσικής ανάπτυξης, κυρίως την ποικιλία και την γλωσσική απόκλιση, στις οποίες η θεωρία των σταδίων έδωσε ελάχιστο χώρο. Η συζήτησή μας βασίζεται σε συγχρονικά δεδομένα παιδιών προσχολική ηλικίας από την κατάκτηση της μορφοφωνολογίας της ελληνικής καθώς και την εκμάθηση της πρώτης από διάφορες ομάδες αλλόγλωσσων ομιλητών. Η συζήτηση επεκτείνεται στην εξέταση του βαθμού εφαρμοστικότητας του Μοντέλου των Πολλαπλών Παράλληλων Γραμματικών για την ερμηνεία της διαχρονικής εξέλιξης αλλά και συγχρονικής διάστασης της γλώσσας

A handbook on experiential education: pedagogical guidelines for teachers and parents

This Handbook relates to the EXPEDUCOM that is a project risen from the needs to meet the requirements of the modern world via developing and implementing innovative educational practices related to experience-based pedagogical approach addressed to children aged 3-12. The project outcomes target at strengthening the professional profile of in-service educators as well as students - future teachers by developing pedagogical guidelines on experiential education, open educational tools-real life cases, offering training for improvement of professional and communicative skills, improving curricula of pre- school, primary and teacher training institutions. This handbook constitutes an approach for investigating the theoretical and practical training strategies from the perspective of experiential education. The purpose of this paper aims to provide theoretical and practical tools useful in early education specialists and primary education by developing practical strategies component, to support the development of educational activities and research to adapt permanently instructive approach to the specific demands of contemporary society. Due to changes at multiple curricular authors develop paradigms for training future teachers and introduce the need for activity planning, implementation and evaluation of training through experiential learning activities, thereby contributing directly to improving interactive teaching strategies. Given the above, this handbook is organized as follows: Part A. General framework on experiential learning What is experiential learning? (Concept; Characteristics of experiential based learning; The principals of experiential orientation; Experiential based learning stages; Teacher roles; Children roles; Integration of experiential learning in teaching); Overview of conceptual foundations on the experiential based learning (Instructional models for the experiential learning theory; Dewey’s foundations for the experiential based learning; Implications of Vygotsky’s ideas on learning process; Bruner’s conceptual contribution to the experiential based learning; The Jean Piaget’s perspective; Kolb's experiential learning theory); Citizenship and 21st century education (An overview of 21st century skills education; What kind of citizens are needed in the Netherlands in the 21st century?); Different approaches of experiential education (Reggio Emilia Approach; High Scope Approach and the perspective of the Modern School Movement) Part B. International research report on experiential learning approaches Part C. Examples of experiential based learning developed in different countries structured as case studies on experiential education in kindergarten and case studies on experiential education in primary school. This handbook aims to provide the necessary and adequate information regarding experiential learning and teaching and is directed to parents, students and educators of preschool and primary school children. More specifically, the outcomes of the project directly address teachers working in kindergartens and primary schools; students of pre-school and primary education; teacher trainers, researchers at universities providing pre-school and/or primary education; parents or anybody interested in education of children aged 3-12.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Deletion and Insertion: Two pathways towards Optimality

(No abstract available

Asymmetries in /s/ cluster production and their implications for language learning and language teaching

In this paper we demonstrate that different two-member cluster types exhibit different simplification strategies in Greek child speech. We argue that such differences mirror variable degrees of cluster coherence and, therefore, presuppose distinct phonological representations. We suggest that cluster coherence is due to the combination and satisfaction of specific factors; first, the position of each cluster member, i.e. whether it is the initial or the second member, second, the featural synthesis of the obstruent member of the cluster and, third, the satisfaction of the Sonority Scale.     

Multiple Parallel Grammars in the Acquisition of Stress in Greek L1

This dissertation focuses on the acquisition of stress in Greek L1. It investigates phonological development in a language with a lexical accent system where the position of stress is determined by the phonology-morphology interface. It demonstrates that the acquisition of stress in lexical accent systems proceeds differently compared to languages with less complex or non-lexical accentual systems. The production of multiple truncated outputs of variable prosodic shape as well as faithfully produced forms during the same phases of phonological development led to the conclusion that children employ multiple parallel grammars generated by the permutation of universal and innate constraints, or else follow several developmental paths, during the acquisition process. This implies that language development does not proceed in a strictly stage-like fashion as was assumed until now. It is argued that learning proceeds in three major phases. In the first phase, the child grammar is in a state where all markedness constraints dominate all faithfulness constraints. This is the initial ranking proposed by Tesar and Smolensky (2000). Given this initial ranking, we have an explanation as to how children proceed from unmarked and, consequently, easy to produce forms to more marked and difficult structures. During the second developmental phase, constraint permutation results in a radical expansion of grammars. Constraint permutation provides a huge number of grammars. In language acquisition, all possible rankings predict all possible developmental paths children follow in their task of acquiring the phonology of their language. However, the Greek data showed that during the second major learning phase children adopt only 30 grammars out of a total of 1.015.104.368.000 (!) grammars that permutation of the 15 constraints provides. Moreover, not all children followed all of these 30 grammars; rather, they employ grammars which are related to the first state of acquisition where MARKEDNESS >> FAITHFULNESS and the final state where roughly FAITHFULNESS >> MARKEDNESS. The fully faithful or adult grammar is also available to the child during this second phase where multiple grammars are generated, since it is one of the grammars provided by factorial typology. In the same phase and depending on the order of acquisition, grammars can be activated and deactivated in parallel. More specifically, if learning proceeds without regressive steps, the number of accessed grammars may decrease gradually, leading to the use of only one grammar, that is, the fully faithful adult grammar. However, if regressions to earlier stages of development do occur, then grammars may be activated and deactivated in parallel during this second phase of development. This is possible until positive evidence and frequency effects of child-directed speech leads the child to the adoption of the 'correct' final grammar. Both of these distinct developmental patterns characterize the phonological development of Greek children. In the third phase of phonological development, Greek children are considered to have reached the final state of the adult grammar. In the current study, I also deviate from the traditional definition of stage in L1 acquisition (Fikkert 1994a; Demuth and Fee 1995) that views stages as developmental phases, which exhibit a unified linguistic behavior on the children's part. I assume that a stage refers to a phase in language acquisition associated with a set of grammars that share specific typological characteristics. This redefinition of the notion of 'stage' leaves room for the occurrence of variation and regression. Output variation further challenges the idea of the trochaic bias according to which there is a universal tendency for disyllabic trochees in child speech cross-linguistically. The multiple parallel grammars model developed here refers to production but has important implications, on the one hand, for perception, since it makes the prediction that the latter may be characterized by multiple grammars as well and, on the other hand, for the study of synchrony and diachrony, given that it can provide a unified account of synchronic, diachronic and language change phenomena.Ph.D.Title page and summary in Dutch. Summary in Greek. Main body of work and appendices in English."Universiteit Leiden.