bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Effect of second-pond dairy effluent on turnip dry matter yield, nutritive characteristics, and mineral content
Authors: Jacobs J. L. , Ward G. N.
Published: September 2007

Dairy farms in southern Australia generally use a 2-pond system to manage dairy shed effluent. This system consists of a deep anaerobic first pond and a shallow aerobic second pond. The liquid in the second pond contains a range of nutrients that may have agronomic benefits for forages. The effect of applying second-pond dairy effluent to a summer turnip (Brassica rapa L.) crop over 3 consecutive summer periods was measured. Effluent was applied at 6 rates, 0, 15, 30, 45, 60, and 75 mm, approximately 6–8 weeks after turnips were sown each year. Turnips were assessed for dry matter (DM) accumulation, nutritive characteristics, and mineral content. In addition, total annual production for years 1 and 2 was calculated by including the DM accumulation from annual ryegrass grown from autumn to spring each year. Concentrations of nutrients within the effluent as an average over the 3 years were 31, 454, 20, and 149 kg/ML for phosphorus (P), potassium (K), sulfur (S), and nitrogen (N), respectively. In addition, effluent also contained 152 kg/ML of calcium (Ca), 225 kg/ML of magnesium (Mg), and 529 kg/ML of sodium (Na). Soil pH was generally unaffected with effluent application, while soil EC and total soluble salt (TSS) content increased with effluent addition. In the first year, application of effluent at 15 mm and higher resulted in increases in available K; however, in subsequent years, rates of 45 mm and higher led to an increase in available K, while for the control and lower effluent rates there was a marked decline in K status. In all years there was a linear increase (P < 0.05) in leaf, root, and total DM yields with applied effluent. For leaf, responses were 19, 50, and 26 kg DM per mm applied effluent and for roots, 10, 39, and 25 kg DM per mm applied effluent for years 1, 2, and 3, respectively. In years 2 and 3, turnip leaf crude protein (CP) content increased (P < 0.05) in a linear manner at rates of 0.046 and 0.044% per mm applied effluent, respectively. There was also a linear increase (P < 0.05) in turnip root CP in years 2 and 3 of 0.033 and 0.021% per mm applied effluent, respectively. In all years there was a linear increase (P < 0.05) in leaf K content, while for root K there was a quadratic trend (P < 0.05) for year 1 and a linear increase (P < 0.05) for years 2 and 3. The results from this study indicate that the use of dairy effluent can increase DM yield and improve the nutritive value of turnips through an increase in CP content. The data also indicate that this effect can be maintained over consecutive years, which in turn may provide greater flexibility for returning effluent to farm land. While results appear to indicate that the primary responses are due to N, further work is required to determine the effects of water and other nutrients within dairy effluent.
Sustained genetic control of wheat rust diseases in north-eastern Australia
Authors: Platz G. J. , Sheppard J. A.
Published: September 2007

Control of wheat rusts in north-eastern Australia has been based on resistance breeding since the early 1920s. It has been an enduring journey of discovery, disappointment, and achievement, which has culminated in a pool of knowledge and expertise upon which today’s plant breeders can efficiently target durable resistance to the major rust diseases. This paper outlines significant advances in genetic control of rusts in the region, with particular emphasis on the invaluable role played by the University of Sydney rust control program and its influence on wheat breeding in the region and throughout Australia.
MAP kinase phosphatase activity sets the threshold for thymocyte positive selection
Authors: Bettini Matthew L. , Kersh Gilbert J.
Published: September 2007

Phosphorylation of MAP kinases is important for proper translation of T cell antigen receptor (TCR) signals into thymocyte cell fates, but the role of MAP kinase phosphatase (MKP) activity in thymocyte development has not been characterized. To explore the role of MKP in thymocytes, we constructed a double mutant MKP-3 (DM-MKP3) that acts as a dominant-negative inhibitor of ERK- and JNK-specific MKP. Thymocytes developing in the presence of DM-MKP3 have enhanced frequencies of both CD4 and CD8 mature, single-positive cells and no increase in apoptosis. Expression of DM-MKP3 also results in an increased proportion of thymocytes with high levels of both CD69 and TCRβ, suggesting that the increased proportion of mature thymocytes is the result of an increased probability that CD4
+
CD8
+
cells will be positively selected. Thus, MKP activity controls thymocyte cell fate by regulating the threshold of TCR signaling that is able to induce positive selection.
ATPase activity of KaiC determines the basic timing for circadian clock of cyanobacteria
Authors: Terauchi Kazuki , Kitayama Yohko , Nishiwaki Taeko , Miwa Kumiko , Murayama Yoriko , Oyama Tokitaka , Kondo Takao
Published: September 2007

Self-sustainable oscillation of KaiC phosphorylation has been reconstituted
in vitro
, demonstrating that this cycle is the basic time generator of the circadian clock of cyanobacteria. Here we show that the ATPase activity of KaiC satisfies the characteristics of the circadian oscillation, the period length, and the temperature compensation. KaiC possesses extremely weak but stable ATPase activity (15 molecules of ATP per day), and the addition of KaiA and KaiB makes the activity oscillate with a circadian period
in vitro
. The ATPase activity of KaiC is inherently temperature-invariant, suggesting that temperature compensation of the circadian period could be driven by this simple biochemical reaction. Moreover, the activities of wild-type KaiC and five period-mutant proteins are directly proportional to their
in vivo
circadian frequencies, indicating that the ATPase activity defines the circadian period. Thus, we propose that KaiC ATPase activity constitutes the most fundamental reaction underlying circadian periodicity in cyanobacteria.
Western perspectives in applied linguistics in Africa
Authors: Makoni Sinfree , Meinhof Ulrike H.
Published: September 2007

The aim of this article is to analyze the nature of the historical and contemporary social contexts within which applied linguistics in Africa emerged, and is currently practiced. The article examines the challenges ‘local’ applied Linguistics in Africa is confronted with as it tries to amplify applied linguistic programs emanating from Europe and North America. The article argues that seemingly progressive applied linguistic projects interconnect in consolidating a western view of Africa in postcolonial Africa. In this way these projects end up mirroring the very theories which they seek to challenge.
Cognitive Perspectives on SLA
Authors: Ellis Nick C.
Published: September 2007

This paper outlines current cognitive perspectives on second language acquisition (SLA). The Associative-Cognitive CREED holds that SLA is governed by the same principles of associative and cognitive learning that underpin the rest of human knowledge. The major principles of the framework are that SLA is Construction-based, Rational, Exemplar-driven, Emergent, and Dialectic. Language learning involves the acquisition of constructions that map linguistic form and function. Competence and performance both emerge from the dynamic system that is the frequency-tuned conspiracy of memorized exemplars of use of these constructions, with competence being the integrated sum of prior usage and performance being its dynamic contextualized activation. The system is rational in that it optimally reflects prior first language (L1) usage. The L1 tunes the ways in which learners attend to language. Learned-attention transfers to L2 and it is this L1 entrenchment that limits the endstate of usage-based SLA. But these limitations can be overcome by recruiting learner consciousness, putting them into a dialectic tension between the conflicting forces of their current stable states of interlanguage and the evidence of explicit form-focused feedback, either linguistic, pragmatic, or metalinguistic, that allows socially scaffolded development. The paper directs the reader to recent review articles in these key areas and weighs the implications of this framework.
Grounding between figure-ground and foregrounding-backgrounding
Authors: Khalil Esam N.
Published: September 2007

The association that has been made between the discourse notion of grounding (viz. the foreground-background semantic structure) and the Gestalt notions of figure and ground has led to equating foreground with prominence — a surface structure property of discourse. Sorting out the terminological confusion, this article distinguishes grounding from the prominent ways in which it is signalled and shows that prominence is the textual counterpart of the perceptual distinction between figure and ground. It focuses on foregrounding-backgrounding as one manifestation of surface organization that makes linguistic structures more or less prominent, capturing the writer’s choice of a vantage point from which events and states of affairs are perceived and encoded.
Blending as a theoretical tool for poetic analysis
Authors: Calderón Quindós M.Teresa
Published: September 2007

The relation between Linguistics and Poetics has often been a controversial issue in Poetic Studies. With the advent of Cognitive Linguistics and its open disposition to consider any kind of discourse as interesting enough samples of human thought — and human thought being discovered to be of a figurative nature — doors have been widely opened to poetry. Despite the firm reluctance of some Literary sectors to move beyond traditional Poetics, the works by E. Semino, P. Stockwell, Gavins & Steen and M. Freeman are clear confirmation of the modern tendency to incorporate CL findings into poetic analysis. The present paper explores this relation once again. Based on the “unity-in-variety” aesthetic principle, it analyses the way Blending Theory provides the necessary resources to consider any single piece of the poem in the integration network. The paper also offers a systematic methodology — illustrated with a brief analysis of Seamus Heaney’s “Oracle” — which intends to make a contribution to the discipline of Poetics mainly in the educational field.
Olfactory and olfactory-mixed metaphors in print ads of perfume
Authors: Velasco-Sacristán Marisol , Fuertes Olivera Pedro A.
Published: September 2007

This paper claims that scents, alone and/or in combination with visual and/or verbal support, are made to function metaphorically in ads since they symbolize something different (i.e., sexuality, romanticism, etc.) from the physical odor directly conveyed by each fragrance (i.e., floral, woody, oriental, etc.). Drawing on Lakoff and Johnson’s assertion that metaphors are fundamentally nonlinguistic devices, on the application of metaphor theory to pictures and film, and on investigations into olfactory metaphors and synaesthesias, our empirical analyses have found first that odors in perfumes are not indexes but symbols which give rise to olfactory metaphors; secondly, that olfactory metaphors do not stand alone in print ads for perfume; and thirdly, that the advertiser (mostly the composite of copywriters and art directors) succeeds in using olfactory and olfactory-mixed metaphors, as part of the overall covert communication that permeates advertising.
Inconsistency in Technical Terminology
Authors: Saraireh Muhammad A.
Published: September 2007

Standardization is one of the basic elements of technical translation for proper communication among the users of the target language text. Consistency in signifier-signified correspondence is vital to maintain proper tandardization. However, there are many instances (in translation) in which stylistic variation and inconsistency in using lexical items are confused. The problem arises and becomes serious when inconsistency is mistakenly considered as stylistic variation. Stylistic variation is a very well known literary device to avoid repetition in texts by employing synonyms. Inconsistency arises when a signifier which has been employed in the target language to signify a new borrowed concept is alternately used with any of its synonyms. The translator may create a kind of confusion when he uses a synonym to signify the same concept rather than the assigned lexical item. Therefore, the reader may not be able to follow the progress of the text assuming that there is a different meaning for each synonym. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the different types of this phenomenon in English-Arabic translation.
Aspects of Textuality in Translating a History Book from Turkish into English
Authors: Aksoy Berrin
Published: September 2007

Abstract

History texts are regarded as a type of narrative whose existence is related to its textuality. Since a text is a linguistic unity possessing seven characteristics defined by De Beaugrande and Dressler, this aspect of historical texts should be taken into consideration in the translation. Thus, a textual and contextual approach to the text to be translated should be adopted by the translator in the process of translation. Also, the storylike narrative quality, the historian’s subjectivity and his linguistic preferences should not be neglected.

Another challenging issue in the translation of history texts is the transfer of realia. “Realia” which means cultural, ethnic or religious terms and objects can be expressed in the other language by means of several methods such as grouping them a) thematically, b) temporally, c) geographically and than using the translation methods such as transcription, substitution and neologisms or approximate translation according to the characteristic and the importance of the realia.

Résumé

Les textes historiques sont un type de narration, dont l’existence est liée à leur textualité. Comme un texte est une unité linguistique possédant sept caractéristiques définies par De Beaugrande et Dressler, cet aspect des textes historiques devrait être considéré lors de la traduction. Dès lors,une approche contextuelle et textuelle du texte à traduire doit être adoptée par le traducteur lors du processus de traduction. De même, l’istoire vue comme narration de qualité, la subjectivité de l’istorien et ses préférences linguistiques ne sont pas à négliger.

Un autre point problématique dans la traduction de textes historiques concerne le transfert des “realia” Les realia ont les termes et les objets culturels, ethniques ou religieux qui peuvent se traduire dans une autre langue au moyen de diverses méthodes tel le groupage (a) thématique, (b) temporel, (c) géographique, et puis en utilisant les méthodes de traduction comme la transcription, la substitution et les néologismes ou une traduction approximative selon la caractéristique et l’importance des “realia”.
The Discourse of Peace in Othello
Authors: Obeidat Hisham
Published: September 2007

Abstract

This paper addresses the way the metaphor of peace in Othello, act i, iii, 197–208, has been rendered into Arabic by three published translations (Ghazi (1979), Jabra (1980), and Mutran (1922)). The Duke in the ST deploys a cluster of personifications in the hope his audience (Brabantio) could accept a peaceful solution to the dilemma of Desdemona-Othello’s marriage. By way of comparison the ST against the TT, the paper argues that a) formal translation, in the case of dynamic text, would incur upon the ST violence, serious translation loss, and foreignizing the TT, b) equivalent effect in the sense of sameness is hard to maintain in cases of dynamic text like the one under consideration. In the process of negotiating the text, the translator is assumed to create a language capable of mediating the ST textual effects. In other words the translator’s main concern, I argue, is to reinstate in the TT a relevant/approximate experience that is relevant to the ST. In doing so s/he would eliminate the tension that arises in an undesirable literal translation.

Résumé

Cet article traite de la façon dont la métaphore relative à la aix ans Othello, acte i, iii, 197–208, a été rendue en langue arabe par trois traductions publiées, Ghazi (1979), Jabra (1980) et Mutran (1922). Le Duc dans le texte source déploie un éventail de personnifications dans l’espoir que son audience (Brabantio) puisse être en mesure d’accepter une solution pacifique au dilemme du mariage entre Desdémone et Othello.

Lors de la comparaison entre le texte source et le texte cible, les arguments avancées dans l’article sont les suivants: a) une traduction formelle dans le cas d’un texte dynamique pourrait subir une sérieuse perte traductionnelle sur la violence du texte source et donner une connotation étrangère au texte cible; b) l’effet d’quivalence dans le sens d’identité est difficile à préserver dans les cas d ún texte dynamique comme celui examiné ici.

Lors du traitement du texte, le traducteur est supposé de créer un langage capable d’aboutir à un compromis des effets textuels du texte source. En d’autres termes, le souci essentiel du traducteur, pour ma part, est de réintégrer dans le texte cible une expérience adéquate et approximative qui convienne au texte source. Ce faisant il éliminarait la tension sous-jacente d’une traduction litérale indésirable.
Postcolonial Approach to Translation
Authors: Ariole Victor C.
Published: September 2007

Abstract

Though African writers use foreign languages (English and French in particular) to mirror their society, these languages have been proved inadequate in conveying the message of the writers. Some writers have adapted the languages so much so that the original speakers found them difficult to understand. Translation has made the inadequacies very glaring.

This article presents two African authors translated by Euro-centric translators and the critique on their translation proves that the target audience set is an empty set in their conception. At most, the plausible target audience set could be elements of European background. Hence a postcolonial translation that still fails to identify with a specific target audience.

Résumé

Bien que les écrivains africains font usage des langues étrangères (anglais et français) pour refléter leur société, ces langues restent inadéquates à véhiculer les fonds du message de ces écrivains. Il y a parmi eux ceux qui ont adapté ces langues à tel point que les Anglais ou Français les reconnaissent mal. La traduction a révélé davantage ces insuffisances.

Cette présentation révèle le cas des deux auteurs traduits par des traducteurs euro-centriques et la critique de leur traduction fait preuve d’un ensemble vide au niveau des éléments de cible visée. A la rigueur, une cible européenne se voit contemplée. Ainsi, nous constatons une traduction post-coloniale parmi tant d’autres qui a du mal à viser une audience cible spécifique.
Language Teaching in Translator Training
Authors: Li Defeng
Published: September 2007

Abstract

In recent years there has been an increasing interest among translation scholars and practitioners alike in promoting translation professionalism and hence winning recognition for translation studies as an independent discipline. Many have convincingly and justly argued for the existence of a hardcore subject-matter knowledge for translation studies and have stressed the importance of this knowledge in the development of the students’ translational competence. Unfortunately, in this attempt, the importance of language competence and thus language training is unduly played down.

This article examines this issue by looking at translator training in Hong Kong. It

argues that the assumption of students L1 and L2 competence being adequate to study

translation immediately upon entering translation programs is unfounded and might be at

least partially responsible for students’ slow improvement in their translational compe-tence

throughout the program. Key issues for strengthening language training for transla-tion

students are also highlighted in this paper.

Résumé

Au cours des dernières années, il y a eu un intérêt accru parmi les professeurs de traduction et les traducteurs tendant à promouvoir le professionnalisme de la traduction, et donc obtenir la reconnaissance des études de traduction comme discipline indépendante. Avec conviction et raisonnablement, beaucoup ont présenté l’argument d’une connaissance approfondie dún domaine de base pour les études de traduction et ont souligné l’importance de cette connaissance dans le développement de la compétence traductionnelle des étudiants.

Malheureusement, lors de cette tentative, l’importance de la compétence linguistique, et donc de la formation linguistique est minimisée à mauvais escient.

Cet article examine cette question en étudiant la formation des traducteurs à Hong Kong. Son argument est que supposer une compétence suffisante des étudiants L1 et L2 pour étudier la traduction, dès leur entrée dans des programmes de traduction, n’est pas fondé et serait, au moins, partiellement responsable de la lenteur de leur progrès dans leur compétence translationnelle pendant leur programme dtudes.

Les questions essentielles destinées à renforcer la formation linguistique pour les étudiants en traduction sont aussi soulignées dans cet article.
Convergence and Divergence in Translating vs Interpreting Competence
Authors: alQinai Jamal
Published: September 2007

While most scholars stress that translation and interpreting essentially fulfil the same function, many-especially interpreters-consider that the two are incompatible professions. In a sense, translators deal with written language and have time to polish their work whereas interpreters deal with oral language and have no time to refine their output. Any supplementary knowledge, for example, terminological or world language, can be acquired during written translation but has to be acquired prior to interpreting.

A number of experimental studies were conducted by psycholinguists such as Treisman, Oleron, Goldman-Eisler and Gerver (1976). Their primary interest was the effect on performance of variables such as source language, speed of delivery, ear-voice span, noise, pauses, false startsetc. Later advances during the 1970’s and early 1980’s concentrated on the theoretical aspects and culminated in the so-called théorie du sens.

This paper tackles competence in English-Arabic translation and interpreting while highlighting similarities and differences at the textural and performance levels. It sets out by discussing the requirements of quality, audience reception, fluency and quantitative aspects of style such as output ratio and redundancy. A focal point of interest is performance constraints in simultaneous interpretation which include, among other things, personal and logistical factors, lack of a holistic approach, time lag, SL deficiencies, lexico-grammatical asymmetry as well as cultural and rhetorical divergence (including phatic communion). The study concludes with an overview of the compensation strategies employed by interpreters such as intonational clues, queuing, segmentation, approximation, syntactic adjustment, compression and ellipsis.
An Elementary Research into Vague Translation Method
Authors: Liu Kezhang
Published: September 2007

In this paper the author carries out an elementary research into the vague translation method and introduces his practical experiences of the vague translation method of Chinese poems and Chinese cis and the purpose of vague translation method.

The application of the vague translation method can help the translator to overcome the difficulties in translation and express the contents of the original perfectly. This method is suitable to translation of any language.
Typicality in the Use of English and Spanish Indefinite Quantifiers
Authors: Labrador Belén
Published: September 2007

Quantification is a topic that has traditionally and contemporarily drawn the attention of
numerous theoretical linguists, whose works are of great interest but slightly less useful-ness
when it comes to applying their results to applied multilingual fields, such as FLT
and translation. The aim of the present paper is to show the findings of an empirical
contrastive analysis that compares the behaviour of a set of English and Spanish quantifi-ers.
On the basis of a first assumption that words are polyfunctional and therefore the
mapping in the network of relationships across languages is not established among lexical
units but across functions, this study comes out of a large-scale research which identifies
a series of functions expressed by the most prototypical quantifiers in the two languages
involved. The results show that the language potentials related to quantification in English
and Spanish are similar to a great extent but there are significant differences concerning
their speech realisations. Both the functions expressed by the selected quantifiers and their
most frequent collocational patterns have been identified with a priority given to those
that are typical, thus facilitating the task for applied linguists, teachers and translators who
may benefit from a corpus-based description of the indefinite quantifiers.
Attitudes towards a literature-oriented translation curriculum
Authors: Lung Rachel , Yan Jackie
Published: September 2007

Abstract

This paper presents findings of a qualitative study with 27 subjects, of attitudes towards a literature-oriented translation curriculum. Based on four group and individual interviews guided by a common interview protocol, the authors presented and analysed the results of the study, with close reference to recurring quotes from our subjects. The feedback from the four groups displays a general consensus that literature training is constructive in enhancing cross-cultural awareness and the language competence of students. Relatively, however, the translation graduates have higher regard to the usefulness of literature training than the translation undergraduates do. The less mature group seems to have taken a short-term perspective about the uses of knowledge of literature to them as translator trainees. The more mature group, instead, takes a thorough perspective about the subtle uses of literary knowledge in consolidating the language skills and cultural knowledge for translators. Our observation suggests that two elements are crucial for a relatively allround curriculum: the imminent skills, and the subtle language training.

Résumé

Cet article présente les résultats d’une étude qualitative, realisée avec 27 sujets sur leurs attitudes envers un curriculum en traduction orienté vers la litérature. Basée sur des entretiens par groupe et individuels selon un protocol commun, les auteurs ont présenté et analysé les résultats de l’étude, avec une nette référence à des citations récurrentes de nos sujets. L’information en retour des quatre groupes présente un consensus général selon lequel la formation en littérature est constructive pour améliorer la sensibilisation interculturelle et la compétence linguistique des étudiants. Cependant, il est utile de noter que les diplomes en traduction accordent plus de valeur a l’utilité de la formation en littérature que les candidats en traduction. Le groupe moins avancé semble, en revanche, avoir adopté une perspective à court-terme a propos des usages qu’il peut faire des connaissances en littérature comme étudiant en traduction. Le groupe plus avancé, par contre, a une vue d’ensemble des usages subtils des connaissances en littérature destinées à consolider les capacités linguistiques et les connaissances culturelles pour les traducteurs. Notre observation tend à suggérer que deux elements sont essentiels dans un curriculum assez complet: les capacités immédiates, et la formation subtile des langues.
Sholem Aleichem in Tel Aviv
Authors: Waldinger Albert
Published: September 2007

Abstract

The above article traces the progress of the translation of Sholem Aleichem, one of the most highly regarded of Jewish writers — indeed, a Yiddish classic — into Hebrew. It is emphasized that this is “in family’’ translation, since Yiddish and Hebrew are sisters, with Hebrew older, religious (even pious) and prestigious while Yiddish is younger, somewhat secular and ordinary. The task, then, was to fashion a Hebrew in tune with secular reality while maintaining the elevation and richness of the Jewish Hebraic tradition, both linguistically and morally. Joseph Haim Brenner, Y. D. Berkovits and Arye Aharoni, the first two creative writers in their own right, have had to struggle with these problems of adaptation and the article concludes that translation must be responsive to the life of its people.

Resumé

Cet article décrit les traductions modernes de Sholem Aleichem, un des maîtres de la prose yiddish, en hébreu. On y a mis l’accent sur le fait que nous avons affaire à des traductions “en famille”, yiddish et hébreu, après tout, sont des soeurs, hébreu étant l’ancienne (“l’aînée”), la religieuse (même la pieuse) et celle pleine de prestige pendant que yiddish (“la cadette”) est laïque et quotidienne. Donc la tâche a été de façonner un hébreu en harmonie avec une réalité laïque (un nouvel État) qui néanmoins retiendrait l’élévation et la richesse linguistique et morale de la tradition juive. Josef Haim Brenner, Y. D. Berkovits et Arye Aharoni, les deux premiers étant des prosateurs “originaux”, devait confronter ces problèmes d’adaptation et l’article conclut qu’une traduction sensible à la vie du peuple en question est le meilleur.
Lexical relations in a cross-linguistic context
Authors: Varella Stavroula
Published: September 2007

Abstract

It can be proved that words passing across linguistic barriers are often nothing more than acoustic images whose original meaning cannot necessarily be fully grasped and adopted; that is, mere strings of sounds whose meaning is subject not only to some semantic restriction or specialization, but also to more unpredictable semantic shifts. Cross-linguistic communication, in the absence of perfect bilingualism, is prone to errors, misunderstandings, or, perhaps, creative assignments of meaning triggered by context. Such ‘errors’ become apparent and amuse only when a cross-linguistic semantic comparison is undertaken. This paper attempts to reveal some interesting lexical relations occurring cross-linguistically, for which some psycholinguistic and/ or cultural explanations will be explored.

Résumé

Il est possible de démontrer que les mots traversant les barrières linguistiques ne sont souvent rien d’autre que des images acoustiques dont la signification originale ne peut pas être nécessairement totalement comprise et adoptée. Ce sont de simples séquences de sons dont la signification est sujette, non seulement à une restriction ou à une spécialisation sémantique, mais aussi à des changements sémantiques plus imprévisibles. Une communication translinguistique, en l’absence d’un parfait bilinguisme, est prédisposée à des erreurs, à des malentendus ou, peutêtre, à des attributions créatives de signification, engendrées par le contexte. De telles « erreurs » ne deviennent apparentes et n’amusent que lorsqu’une comparaison sémantique translinguistique est entreprise.
Dutch Bare Plurals, Faded Partitives and Subject–Object Asymmetry
Authors: Oosterhof Albert M.
Published: September 2007

In this paper I focus on the semantics and distribution of Dutch bare plurals and faded partitives. It has been claimed in the literature that both types of noun phrases are indefinite, because they can occur in existential sentences. I discuss the semantic differences between faded partitives and bare plurals. It will be argued that bare plurals are ambiguous: they can take kind-referring or non-kind-referring (indefinite) interpretations, while faded partitives always take kind-referring readings. Our analysis makes it possible to handle subject-object asymmetries in the distribution of both types of noun phrases.
The Acquisition of the Weak–Strong Distinction
Authors: Hollebrandse Bart , Smits Erik-Jan
Published: September 2007

Drozd & van Loosbroek (1999) and Geurts (2003) recently introduced the weakstrong distinction into the discussion concerning the acquisition of quantification. They predict that children will start out interpreting all quantifiers as weak ones. Our experiment was set up to test this hypothesis. Using the Truth Value Judgement Task, 39 children (aged between four and seven) and 7 adults were asked to interpret the Dutch quantifier allemaal (‘all’) in pronominal position in an existential sentence, in which allemaal gets a strictly weak reading, or in floated position, in which allemaal gets a strong reading. The strong interpretation of the quantifier is taken as cointersective and the weak one as intersective, following Keenan (2002). Only three children behaved according to the prediction and interpreted allemaal as a weak quantifier when it is presented in a strong quantifier position. The other thirty-six children interpreted the quantifier allemaal as a strong quantifier, even when it occurs in an existential sentence. We’ll argue that, contrary to Drozd & van Loosbroek’s and Geurts’ expectation, these children do not interpret quantifiers as weak, but as strong. They do this even in constructions where the quantifier is obligatorily weak for adults. This can, however, be analyzed within Geurts’ proposal.
Linguistic structure and information organisation
Authors: von Stutterheim Christiane
Published: September 2007

This paper addresses the factors that distinguish very advanced learners from native speakers, investigating the difficulties which arise in overcoming the final thresholds in the learning process. Firstly, it compares different linguistic systems with respect to specific grammaticised categories, showing how these categories relate to patterns of information organisation at text level, with the assumption that the principles underlying these patterns form part of the learner’s linguistic knowledge. Secondly, it demonstrates that L2-learners who master the formal system of the target language to a near-perfect degree still have problems in applying forms in context in accordance with the principles of information organisation which grammaticised forms entail in the target language. The domains investigated are event-time structures. The languages investigated in the empirical study are Algerian Arabic, English, German, Spanish, and Norwegian, and advanced learner languages (English and German).
Tearing us apart again
Authors: McNamara Tim
Published: September 2007

Language testing research is an increasingly divided field, as it responds to the paradigm shifts in broader applied linguistics research. One the one hand, language testing validation research places a fundamental emphasis on the generalisability of results and the appropriateness of inferences based on observed learner performances. This involves a rigorous interrogation of the elicitation instruments, judgments, and observations used to make inferences about individual test takers. At the same time, input from non-measurement traditions are leading to the exploration of new insights into the limitations of such inferences, and to a greater understanding of the social values which imbue tests. This epistemological ferment is as much productive as problematic, and its implications extend to research in other areas of applied linguistics, including SLA.
Verb movement in the L2 acquisition of English by adult native speakers of French
Authors: Ayoun Dalila
Published: September 2007

This study investigates the acquisition of English verb movement phenomena by two groups of adult French native speakers: a group of secondary school students and a group of university students. A group of English native speakers served as controls. Participants were administered a written questionnaire composed of a controlled production task, a grammaticality judgment task, and a preference/grammaticality judgment task, to test acquisition of the syntactic properties associated with the verb movement parameter (Pollock 1989, 1997). Instead of substantiating the anecdotal evidence that suggests that adverb placement errors persist into very advanced stages of English L2 acquisition, the present data support the successful acquisition of English adverb placement by French native speakers. It is argued that the advanced group has acquired the appropriate L2 parametric value as measured by the controlled production task; while results on the other two tasks are explained by performance effects.
Exploring possession in simultaneous bilingualism
Authors: van der Linden Elisabeth , Blok-Boas Atie
Published: September 2007

Young children often express possession before they have mastered the linguistic means to express this notion in adult forms. In this paper we present evidence on the acquisition of possessive constructions in bilingual children acquiring a Germanic and a Romance language (i.e. Dutch/French and Dutch/Italian). In a multiple case study, we compare their acquisition with that of monolingual children and suggest that while the stages of acquisition in monolingual and bilingual children are largely the same, the possessive constructions of the bilingual children show signs of cross-linguistic influence. This influence goes mainly from Dutch (the dominant language) to the Romance language, but there are also signs of influence from the Romance language on Dutch. This is in contradiction to earlier claims (Hulk and Mueller 2000, 2001, for example), where influence is predicted to be unidirectional.
Cognitive task complexity and second language writing performance
Authors: Kuiken Folkert , Mos Maria , Vedder Ineke
Published: September 2007

This paper reports on a study in which two models proposed to explain the influence of cognitive task complexity on linguistic performance in L2 are tested and compared. The two models are Robinson’s Cognition Hypothesis (Robinson 2001a, 2001b) and Skehan and Foster’s Limited Attentional Capacity Model (Skehan 1998, Skehan and Foster 2001). Sixty-two Dutch university students of Italian performed two writing tasks with prompts of differing cognitive complexity. Linguistic performance was operationalized in terms of syntactic complexity, lexical variation and accuracy. The study provides partial support for the Cognition Hypothesis, in so far as the written products of the cognitively more demandings task turned out to be more accurate, with significantly lower error ratios per T-unit than those of the cognitively less demanding task. In addition stronger effects of cognitive task complexity were found for high-proficiency learners than for low-proficiency learners. No effects could be observed on measures of syntactic complexity or lexical variation.
Inversion as an artifact
Authors: Jordens Peter
Published: September 2007

Dutch is a so-called verb-second language, i.e. the finite verb typically occurs in second position with one constituent in initial position. The element in initial position is often the subject. However, if it is an adverb or an object, the subject occurs after the finite verb. This characteristic, known as ‘inversion’ is acquired in both child first- and adult second-language acquisition as a function of topicalization. Both learner varieties develop from a lexical system to a functional system. At the lexical stage, utterance structure is the result of predicate-argument structure interacting with principles of information structuring. The shift to a functional system comes as a result of the identification of the initial position in a sentence as a structural topic position. It coincides with the acquisition of auxiliary verbs (the category AUX) such that AUX + subject pronoun (subjP) functions as a topicalization device. Hence, inversion is an artifact. It is the result of a process of restructuring due to the acquisition of topicalization. Also the fact that both L1 and L2 Dutch learner systems seem to develop as the result of the interaction between predicate-argument structure and principles of information structuring explains why the process leading to the acquisition of ‘inversion’ takes place similarly in both children and adults.
Habits and rabbits
Authors: Fitzpatrick Tess
Published: September 2007

Word associations have traditionally been used in linguistic research as a means of accessing information about the organisation of the mental lexicon. A number of important studies have revealed differences in word association behaviour in the L1 and the L2, but have failed to find consistent behaviour patterns. The study reported here suggests that this failure might be due to two factors: the choice of stimulus words and the categorisation of responses, which impose artificial constraints on both association behaviour and the exploration of response types. In order to move the investigation of L2 word associations forward, this study compares native speaker responses to a specific set of stimuli with those of advanced non-native speakers. The types of association response made by each group of subjects are investigated by means of a retrospective interview, and patterns in response types are mapped. This results in a new method of categorising word association responses, and provides more precise insight into the differences between L1 and L2 association patterns.
Either it isnt or its not
Authors: Tagliamonte Sali A. , Smith Jennifer
Published: September 2007

The source dialects in Britain are critical to disentangling the history and development of varieties in North America and elsewhere. One feature which appears to provide a critical diagnostic, particularly for situating dialects geographically in Britain, is negative (neg) vs. auxiliary (aux) contraction with be, have and will. Use of aux contraction is said to be more prevalent in northern varieties. Using the comparative method and quantitative methodology, this paper provides a quantitative analysis of this feature in eight British communities, two in the south, six in more northern areas. The comparative cross-variety approach provides a number of different lines of evidence which can then be used for testing similarities and differences across varieties. First, there is a dramatic difference between neg/aux contraction with be compared to the other auxiliaries that is consistent across all the communities. In every location be has aux contraction, and in each case it has higher rates of aux contraction than will or have. Second, all the Scots varieties have categorical aux contraction with be, just as would be expected from the historical record. However, there is a marked difference across the same varieties with will. Third, in the four locales where there is variation between neg and aux contraction the choice of form can be explained by the influence of the preceding phonological environment. In sum, neg/aux contraction is a poor diagnostic for distinguishing varieties of British English on broad geographic grounds. In contrast, at other levels of grammar (morphology and syntax) there are broad similarities across northern varieties. We conclude that the type of linguistic feature targeted for investigation plays a critical role in determining the similarities and differences amongst varieties.
Stress and rhythm in the Nigerian accent of English
Authors: Udofot Inyang
Published: September 2007

This paper undertakes the investigation of the disposition to stress of Nigerian users of English and the nature of spoken Nigerian English rhythm. The subjects of the study were sixty Nigerians of varied socio-economic, educational and ethno-linguistic backgrounds and a native (British) English speaker, whose productions from reading a passage and speaking freely for three minutes on a common topic were analysed metrically and statistically, using a modified version of the Metrical Theory, the Wilcoxon Matched Pairs Signed Ranks Test and the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). In spite of earlier classifications, the study assumes the existence of three varieties of spoken Nigerian English characterized by their disposition to stress and speech rhythm: the “Non-Standard”, the “Standard” and the “Sophisticated” varieties, which are individually different but collectively similar yet different from Standard British English, represented by the control’s performance. The existence of the three varieties is confirmed by the data. The common performance features include a tendency to stress more syllables in words than the native speaker. This feature, which is traceable to the influence of the syllable-timing rhythm of the subjects’ mother tongues, tends to characterize the Nigerian accent of English; but whereas the Non-Standard Variety conforms to the syllable-timing description the Standard and Sophisticated Varieties require further investigation.
Putting back the horse before the cart
Authors: Mesthrie Rajend
Published: September 2007

A common assumption in studies of English world-wide is that speakers of an L2 frequently rely on the orthographic form of words in settling upon their pronunciation. I call this the “spelling form hypothesis”. This paper critically examines the assumptions behind this hypothesis and shows them to be implausible, and in fact fallacious for advanced interlanguages and fluent sub-varieties of a second language. Using data from Black South African English involving the equivalents of schwa in “standard” varieties (e.g. RP, General American and “cultivated” South African English), I argue that phonetic and orthographic forms often do not coincide. Furthermore, even where they coincide, other phonological factors than the use of spelling are usually at play.
Remarks on nominal grounding
Authors: Langacker Ronald W.
Published: September 2007

The problems posed by nominal structure and nominal reference are notoriously subtle and complex. Though fairly extensive, their treatment in Cognitive Grammar (CG) has thus far been partial, preliminary, and scattered in numerous publications. The synthesis attempted here can hardly overcome the first two limitations. It may however provide a useful way of framing the issues and suggest some promising lines of attack.
Evaluative that constructions
Authors: Hyland Ken , Tse Polly
Published: September 2007

The study of interpersonal features of academic texts, through which writers evaluate their material and engage their readers, has been one of the most productive areas of discourse studies of the past decade. Scholarly writing involves adopting a position and persuading readers of claims, and the linguistic resources used to achieve these goals have been described in terms of evaluation, stance and metadiscourse. A relatively overlooked interpersonal feature however is what we shall call evaluative that constructions, a structure which allows a writer to thematize attitudinal meanings and present an explicit statement of evaluation by presenting a complement clause within a super-ordinate clause. In this paper we explore the disciplinary variations in the frequencies, forms and functions of evaluative that structures in 240 research article abstracts from six disciplines. We find that this structure is widely employed in these abstracts, about once every five sentences, and is an important means of providing author comment and evaluation. Evaluative that therefore helps writers to manage their discourse in various ways and to signal a clear stance towards the information they present.