Rozprawy doktorskie na temat „German language acquisition”

Linguists studying language acquisition often assume that once a first language is fully acquired, its mental linguistic representation remains constant and stable. Observations of native language attrition due to the influence of a dominant second language have led researchers to rethink the nature of the first language and consider the possibility that the mental representation of our first language may not be completely stable. The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate specific areas of the first language that may be particularly vulnerable to L1 attrition if exposed to a dominant L2. I test Sorace's (2003) Vulnerable Interface Hypothesis, and propose and test the Structural Overlap Hypothesis. The Vulnerable Interface Hypothesis for first language attrition claims that linguistic properties located in the interfaces between the linguistic computational system and external domains (e.g. discourse or pragmatics) are particularly vulnerable to attrition, while internal interfaces (e.g. the syntax-semantics interface) are only somewhat vulnerable to attrition. The domain of narrow syntax is assumed to remain stable unless the L1 begins to attrite in childhood (Montrul, 2008). The Structural Overlap Hypothesis assumes that properties which exhibit structural overlap between the L1 and L2 are more vulnerable to L1 attrition. The predictions of both hypotheses are tested using 15 L1 German adult attriters whose dominant L2 is English, in order to observe the degree of stability of the linguistic system in adult onset bilinguals. Four linguistic properties of German are examined, which are grouped in two pairings of a purely syntactic property with a grammatically related interface property. 15 monolingual L1 German speakers and 15 monolingual L1 English speakers serve as controls. The data obtained also shed light on a frequently debated question of attrition research, viz. whether L1 attrition is due to transfer from the L2, or a decrease in the linguistic processing capacity due to competition of a dominant L2, or both.

Typological approaches show striking differences in the morphosyntax and semantics of the language of motion that have implications for language acquisition presently examined in psycholinguistic research. This thesis examines the expression of voluntary and caused motion events by German and French children and adults. The results concerning the adults clearly show the expected typological patterns in these two language types (satellite- vs. Verb-framed). In German, semantic components (CAUSE, MANNER and PATH) are systematically expressed in compact structures. In French, however, lexicalization patterns vary strongly because the simultaneous expression of multiple semantic components requires subordinate elements such as gerunds. From a developmental point of view, children follow the same patterns: German children from six years on use compact syntactic patterns typical of their mother tongue enabling them to encode most of the time all necessary semantic components; in contrast, French children up to ten years express less information because they have difficulties producing the complex structures that are necessary to encode multiple semantic components. In addition to these language-specific determinants, the data also clearly show developmental progressions in both languages, showing the impact of general developmental determinants
L’étude de l’expression du mouvement dans un cadre typologique révèle des différences importantes dans la morphosyntaxe et la sémantique de l’expression du mouvement, dont les recherches en psycholinguistique commencent à étudier les implications pour l’acquisition du langage. Cette thèse examine l’expression du mouvement volontaire et provoqué chez des enfants et adultes français et allemands. Les résultats concernant les adultes montrent clairement l’utilisation des constructions typiques attendues pour chaque type de langue (langues à satellites- vs. à cadrage verbal). En allemand, les composantes sémantiques (CAUSE, MANIERE et TRAJECTOIRE) sont systématiquement exprimées dans des structures compactes. En revanche, les constructions sont très variables en français car l’expression simultanée de composantes multiples nécessite l’utilisation d’éléments subordonnés tels que les gérondifs. D’un point de vue développemental, les enfants suivent des parcours différents : en allemand, ils utilisent à partir de six ans des constructions compactes typiques de leur langue qui leur permettent d’exprimer le plus souvent toutes les composantes sémantiques nécessaires ; par contre, jusqu’à dix ans, les enfants français montrent de grandes difficultés à produire des énoncés complexes nécessaires pour exprimer plusieurs informations simultanément. Hormis ces facteurs typologiques, les données montrent également une progression avec l’âge dans les deux langues, montrant l’impact de facteurs cognitifs genéraux

Previous studies on the acquisition of verb inflection in normally developing children have revealed an astonishing pattern: children use correctly inflected verbs in their own speech but fail to make use of verb inflections when comprehending sentences uttered by others. Thus, a three-year old might well be able to say something like ‘The cat sleeps on the bed’, but fails to understand that the same sentence, when uttered by another person, refers to only one sleeping cat but not more than one. The previous studies that have examined children's comprehension of verb inflections have employed a variant of a picture selection task in which the child was asked to explicitly indicate (via pointing) what semantic meaning she had inferred from the test sentence. Recent research on other linguistic structures, such as pronouns or focus particles, has indicated that earlier comprehension abilities can be found when methods are used that do not require an explicit reaction, like preferential looking tasks. This dissertation aimed to examine whether children are truly not able to understand the connection the the verb form and the meaning of the sentence subject until the age of five years or whether earlier comprehension can be found when a different measure, preferential looking, is used. Additionally, children's processing of subject-verb agreement violations was examined. The three experiments of this thesis that examined children's comprehension of verb inflections revealed the following: German-speaking three- to four-year old children looked more to a picture showing one actor when hearing a sentence with a singular inflected verb but only when their eye gaze was tracked and they did not have to perform a picture selection task. When they were asked to point to the matching picture, they performed at chance-level. This pattern indicates asymmetries in children's language performance even within the receptive modality. The fourth experiment examined sensitivity to subject-verb agreement violations and did not reveal evidence for sensitivity toward agreement violations in three- and four-year old children, but only found that children's looking patterns were influenced by the grammatical violations at the age of five. The results from these experiments are discussed in relation to the existence of a production-comprehension asymmetry in the use of verb inflections and children's underlying grammatical knowledge.
Experimentelle Studien zum Erwerb der Verbflexion bei sprachunauffälligen Kindern haben ein überraschendes Muster aufgezeigt. Kinder im Alter von drei und vier Jahren verwenden Verbflexionsendungen anscheinend korrekt in ihrer eigenen Sprachproduktion, aber sie scheinen unfähig zu sein, Verbflexionen in den Äußerungen anderer zu verstehen. Ein Kind ist also problemlos in der Lage “Sie schläft auf dem Bett.” zu sagen, wenn es die Position von z. B. einer Katze beschreiben möchte. Gleichzeitig scheint es nicht zu verstehen, dass sich ein Satz wie “Sie schläft auf dem Bett” auf nur eine schlafende Katze und nicht mehrere bezieht. Das Verständnis von Sätzen, in denen der einzige Hinweis auf die Anzahl der Handelnden (den Numerus des Subjekts) die Verbflexion ist, wurde bislang nur mit ‘Zeige-Experimenten’ untersucht. In solchen Sprachtests soll das Kind durch eine Zeigegeste auf eines von zwei vorgegebenen Bildern explizit anzeigen wie es den vorgegebenen Satz verstanden hat. Aktuelle Studien, die das Verständnis von sprachlichen Elementen wie Pronomen und Fokuspartikeln bei Kindern untersucht haben, lassen erkennen, dass die Testmethodik einen erheblichen Einfluss auf die kindlichen Sprachverständnisfähigkeiten zu haben scheint. Wenn man Methoden verwendet, die keine explizite Reaktion von Seiten der Kinder verlangen, findet man korrektes Verständnis schon bei jüngeren Kindern. Das Ziel dieser Dissertation war es zu untersuchen, ob drei- und vierjährige Kinder tatsächlich nicht in der Lage sind die Beziehung zwischen Verbform (Art der Verbflexion) und Subjektbedeutung (Numerus des Subjekts) zu verstehen oder ob man korrektes Sprachverständnis in jüngeren Populationen finden kann, wenn eine alternative Testmethode, die Messung der Augenbewegungen, verwendet wird. Zusätzlich wurde untersucht ob Kinder im gleichen Alter Verletzungen der Subjekt-Verb-Kongruenz in auditiv präsentierten Sätzen entdecken. Drei Experimente dieser Dissertation, die das kindliche Sprachverständnis in Bezug auf Verbflexion untersucht haben bringen folgendes Muster zum Vorschein: Deutsch-sprachige Kinder im Alter von drei bis vier Jahren schauten mehr zu einem Bild, auf dem nur ein Akteur zu sehen war, wenn sie einen Satz mit einem singular flektierten Verb hörten (Sie streichelt eine Katze). Andererseits schauten sie mehr zu einem Bild, auf dem zwei Akteure zu sehen waren, wenn sie einen Satz mit einem plural flektierten Verb hörten (Sie streicheln eine Katze). Wenn sie hingegen gebeten wurden, auf das korrekte Bild zu zeigen, reagierten sie nicht besser als es der Zufall erwartet hätte, d.h.~sie waren nicht in der Lage einen Satz einem entsprechenden Bild zuzuordnen. Dieses Ergebnismuster deutet auf die Existenz von (methoden-abhängigen) Asymmetrien innerhalb einer sprachlichen Modalität, dem Sprach-verständnis, hin. Das vierte Experiment untersuchte die kindliche Sensitivität gegenüber der Verletzung von Subjekt-Verb-Kongruenz. Hier zeigte sich, dass das Blickverhalten von fünfjährigen Kindern von der Grammatikalität der Testsätze beeinflusst war, während keine Evidenz für das Erkennen von Grammatikalitätsverletzungen bei jüngeren Kindern gefunden werden konnte. Das asymmetrische Performanzmuster innerhalb der rezeptiven Modalität, das in dieser Arbeit gefunden wurde, erlaubt Rückschlüsse auf die Annahme einer Produktions-Verständnis-Aymmetrie und somit auch auf Theorien zur grammatischen Entwicklung bei Kindern.

Social and textual aspects of the language assimilation of German exile writers are studied. Major differences concern the length of their exile, their foreign language learning ability and their attitude to assimilating, and the primary sources are letters and diaries. Descriptive analysis is performed on the prose, mainly in the area of crosslinguistic influences. Despite their differing assimilation, the prose contains similar crosslinguistic influences. There are consistent changes in crosslinguistic influences during the course of language assimilation, initially determined by the extent of second language acquisition. However, language learning factors give way to social factors with crosslinguistic infuences ultimately governed by the functional independence of the second language. Lexically triggered code-switching is usually a step towards functionally motivated code-switching. Finally a tentative, schematic model of how the process of language assimilation causes and modifies crosslinguistic influences is proposed.
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

PONTIFÍCIA UNIVERSIDADE CATÓLICA DO RIO DE JANEIRO
COORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DO PESSOAL DE ENSINO SUPERIOR
Este trabalho objetivou investigar o uso das preposições locais por falantes nativos de língua portuguesa (LP) no processo de aquisição formal da língua alemã (AFLA) como segunda língua (L2). Para a sua realização, procedeu-se à seleção e análise de gramáticas de língua alemã (LA) e de LP, bem como de livros didáticos utilizados no processo de ensino-aprendizagem de LA. Além do referido material bibliográfico, esta pesquisa também contou com um corpus de dados em língua escrita, constituído a partir da elaboração de exercícios relacionados ao uso das preposições locais em alemão, os quais foram aplicados a alunos da 6ª série do ensino fundamental. Nesse sentido, o presente trabalho estruturou-se da seguinte forma: na introdução, delimita-se o tema e explica-se a motivação para este estudo; o capítulo 2 traz algumas teorias relacionadas ao fenômeno do bilingüismo; no capítulo 3, há uma investigação a respeito da forma como a categoria das preposições é abordada nas gramáticas selecionadas; o capítulo 4 detalha, entre os procedimentos adotados, a metodologia, o perfil dos informantes e as condições de aquisição da LA; o capítulo 5 refere-se aos materiais didáticos utilizados pelos alunos participantes da amostra; no capítulo 6, consta a análise dos dados obtidos; e, finalmente, no capítulo 7, tem-se as conclusões obtidas com a realização deste estudo.
This paper aims at investigating the use of local prepositions by native speakers of the Portuguese language in the process of formal acquisition of the German language as a second language. In order to perform this study, the selection and analysis of German and Portuguese language grammars, as well as educational books used in the process of German language teaching-learning, were carried out. In addition to the previously mentioned bibliographic material, this research also included a corpus of data in written language, extracted from exercises related to the use of local prepositions in German, which were applied to students of Secondary School. Thus, this paper was organized as follows: the Introduction outlines the theme and explains the motivation for this study; Chapter 2 refers to a number of theories related to the bilingualism phenomenon; Chapter 3 investigates the selected grammars´ approach to the categories of prepositions; Chapter 4 details, amongst the adopted procedures, the methodology, the profile of the participants and the conditions of acquisition of the German language; Chapter 5 examines the educational material used by the students participating of the sample; Chapter 6 analyzes the data obtained; and finally, Chapter 7 presents the conclusions achieved with this study.

There has been a sharp rise in study abroad participation over the last few decades (Institute for International Education, 2011), which can largely be explained by the rise of short-term study abroad programs. While there is much to be gained from participation in such programs, mid-length and year programs may offer the greatest benefits for linguistic gain (e.g. Brecht, Davidson & Ginsberg, 1996; Freed, 1995; Lafford, 2004; Vande Berg, 2003). Despite the advantages of longer stays, the percentage of students studying abroad for an entire year "has remained steady for over a decade" (Institute for International Education, 2011). Roughly four-percent of all students who study abroad choose to do so for an academic or calendar year. This statistic points to a problem with attracting students to pursue longer stays abroad. The Open Doors Report, prepared by the Institute for International Education, assumes a narrow view of study abroad by excluding data on American high school students. The present study attempts to fill a gap in the research by examining the overseas experiences of 14 American high school and gap year students who studied abroad in Germany during the academic year of 2011-2012. Data for this study was collected in the form of questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, the WebCAPE German placement test developed at Brigham Young University, and unofficial Oral Proficiency Interviews. The findings of the current study may help inform those involved in study abroad at both the high school and university levels. The purposes of this mixed-methods research, which is organized into three articles, are the following: 1) to investigate students' use of technology in a study abroad context, and examine how online communication might be indicative of participation in multiple Activity Systems (e.g. Engeström, 2011; Lantolf & Thorne, 2006; Leontiev, 2006), 2) to describe students' degree of participation in new Communities of Practice at German schools (Lave & Wenger, 1991; Wenger, 1998; 2000) and, 3) to investigate students' (re)construction of national and regional identities. The role that language proficiency and prior instruction in the target language might play in the study abroad context is explored across all three topics.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2014.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The following study focuses on communication problems which arise during medical consultation in Germany between immigrants with an inadequate language proficiency level and physicians, and on the negative effects of such miscommunication on the quality of health care. The study proposes the application of alternative teaching methods in integration courses – in particular suggestopaedia – to resolve these problems. As immigrants often suffer from acculturative stress suggestopaedic methods seem particularly appropriate because they help reducing negative mental attitudes (negative “suggestions”) by a multi-sensory preparation of learning materials. A didactised concept aiming to improve the overall ability of immigrants lacking language proficiency to interact in “Physician-Patient-Communication” is put forward in this study for the use in integration courses. It is assumed that enhancing the ability to ex-press oneself in the field of healthcare provision will reduce communication hindrances by reducing the fear of speaking during medical consultation and thus will lead to a better overall state of health among immigrants with an inadequate language proficiency level. The sug-gestopaedic methods implemented in the didactisation range from a suggestopaedic language text to a wide variety of exercises, which take into account the different channels of learning. A critical examination of the “can do” statements developed by the German “Goethe-Institut”, within the Framework “Curriculum for Integration Courses – German as a Second Language”, forms an important background for the didactisation presented in this study. The section on “Physician-Patient-Conversation” and its practical application in the textbook “Menschen” published by Hueber Verlag and used in integration courses are also closely considered.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die studie fokus op kommunikasieprobleme wat tydens mediese konsultasies in Duitsland ontstaan tussen immigrante met ontoereikende taalvaardigheid in Duits en doktors, en op die negatiewe gevolge van sulke wankommunikasie op die kwaliteit van gesondheidsorg. Die studie stel voor dat alternatiew onderrigmetodes in integrasiekursusse ingespan word, veral suggestopedagogiek, om dié problem die hoof te bied. Aangsien immigrante dikwels aan akkulturasiestres lei, word metodes wat op die suggesopedagogiek basseer as uiters toepaslik gesien deurdat negatiewe ingesteldhede met `n multisensoriese toepassing van leermateriaal bekamp kan word. `n Gedidaktiseerde konsep wat daarop gemik is om immigrante se algemene taalvaardighede te verbeter met betrekking tot dokter-pasient-kommunikasie word voorgestel vir gebruik in integrasiekursusse. Dit word veronderstel dat as die uitdrukvermoeë op die gebied van gesondheidsorg verbeter word, sal kommunikasiestruikelblokke verminder terwyl die die vrees om tydens `n mediese ondersoek te praat tot `n algemene verbetering in die gesondheidstoestand van immigrante met onvoldoiende taalvaardighede sal lei. Die metodes uit die suggestopedagogiek wat geïmplementeer word, strek van `n suggestopediese teks tot `n wye verskeidenheid oefeninge wat met verskillende leerstyle rekening hou. `n Kritiese ondersoek van die "kan“ beskrywings wat vir die "Kurrikulum vir Integrasiekursusse – Duits as Tweede Taal“ deur die Goethe Instituut ontwikkel is, maak deel uit van die belangrike agtergrond vir die didaktiese implementeringsvoorstelle van hierdie studie. Die afdeling "Dokter-Pasient-Gesprek“ en die praktiese toepassing daarvan in die teksboek "Menschen" wat deur die Hueber Verlag uitgegee is en in integrasiekursusse gebruik word, is ook onder die loep geneem.

This thesis investigates first languages (L1) influence on second language (L2) acquisition of long-distance wh-movement and related constraints governed by Universal Grammar. It thus seeks to integrate L2 syntactic knowledge into L2 knowledge at the syntax-semantics interface in order to find out more about the nature of L2 acquisition, thesis extends its body of research into L2 processing at the syntax-semantics interface. That being so, it allows us not only to explore an ultimate issue of whether L2 speakers have access to Universal Grammar but also to consider how grammar and meaning interact in real time. To this end, this thesis examines crossover phenomena in L2 English, by speakers of German and Korean. A series of experiments are employed in this research: an acceptability judgement task, a truth-value judgement task, and a self-paced reading task. Experiment 1 investigates whether L2 speakers have acquired syntactic knowledge of long-distance wh-movement in English. This experiment, in particular, examines whether L2 speakers are sensitive to locality conditions on wh-movement. Experiment 2 identifies whether semantic knowledge is facilitated by syntactic knowledge in L2 acquisition. Experiment 3–4 examine whether L2 speakers make use of syntax-semantics interface knowledge during online processing. The findings from Experiment 1–4 suggest that that L1 does not influence acquisition and processing of L2.

Thesis (MPhil)--University of Stellenbosch, 2006.
CD-ROM inside back cover. Title of CD-ROM: Ausländerfeindlichkeit in Deutschland : ein interaktives Leseprogramm für den fortgeschrittenen DAF-Unterricht. On title page: Master of Philosophy (Hypermedia for Language Learning). Bibliography. Also available via the Internet.

The general aim of this longitudinal study was to look at literacy acquisition of multilingual good and poor spellers (hereafter GS and PS) in German and French with a special emphasis on spelling. For this purpose GS and PS were selected in grade 2 in German and followed up to grade 4. The focus was on this period as in Luxembourg literacy is acquired through German from the first grade and written French from grade 3 on. The interval between grades 2 and 4 thus represents a critical period for written second language acquisition. The native language of the children, Germanic (e.g. Luxembourgish) or Romanophone (e.g. Portuguese), adds another linguistic characteristic. Research focused at the development of biliteracy but some multilingual aspects were analyzed.

Abstract The first two studies differentiate between top-level processes related to semantics (e.g. vocabulary) and bottom level processes implied in literacy (e.g. spelling). The first two studies established that the native language has an impact on reading comprehension as Germanic speaking children have an advantage on German tasks and Romanophone children an advantage on French tasks. By contrast, performances on bottom-level processes such as spelling and reading are not influenced by the native language. Structural equation models revealed that German top-level processes did not influence French top-level processes. Concerning bottom-level processes however, there was an influence from one academic year on the following as well as from German on French.

Abstract The last three studies focused on differences between biliterate GS and PS in German and in French. The third study examined the reading and spelling strategies (e.g. the application of orthographic rules) that both groups of children acquired in German and in French. Although GS outperformed PS, their overall reading and spelling performance patterns were different in German than in French. GS applied orthographic rules more systematically than PS in German. In French, both groups were strongly affected by frequency effects. The word frequency effect appeared clearly in French, showing that after one year of instruction children strongly rely on the orthographic lexicon for spelling and do not apply orthographic rules systematically. Study 4 establishes the link between the recognition and production of orthographic features. PS's performance is similar to GS's on orthographic judgments and for spelling they produce the same type of errors, showing GS and PS are sensitive to the underlying regularities of the orthography. However, PS produced more errors overall compared to GS. It seems that GS passed the level of automatic use of the most prominent response, whereas PS use the dominant responses as default spelling. In the last study, the emphasis was on GS and PS in French after two years of instruction in grade 4. GS and PS were re-classified to new groups according to their spelling performance in French. GS in French used more French specific phoneme-to-grapheme correspondences in a nonword dictation than PS. PS in French used more German phoneme-to-grapheme correspondences in the French and German nonword dictation. It seems that PS in French rely more on the phoneme-grapheme correspondences of the first acquired and thus dominant language (German). In the general discussion, the previously presented results are summarized and a theoretical model of bilingual spelling is proposed.
Doctorat en sciences psychologiques
info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Electropalatography (EPG) is a computer-based system that tracks and measures contact patterns between the tongue and palate during speech production. The present study is focused on how the lingua-palatal contact patterns of native English speakers learning German as a second language (L2) differ as a function of task type. The fricatives ich-Laut [ç] and ach-Laut [x] were used as the target sounds, placed in nonsense words, short sentences, and spontaneous speech. The productions of the fricatives in the varying speech tasks were gathered from 12 university students enrolled in their second semester of a university level course of German. Comparisons were made using electrode mappings, percentages of regional contact, duration, and center of gravity measures. Duration measures showed that nonsense words were found to have the greatest duration for both fricatives when compared to the other task types. Percentage of activation measures showed that [ç] presented with similar activation in the medial and posterior regions of the palate across task type, whereas the activation in medial and posterior regions for [x] were found to differ more significantly across task type. Specifically, short sentences and spontaneous speech had similar posterior activation, but differed in medial activation, while nonsense words were different in both regions. Center of gravity measures were also greater in short sentences and spontaneous speech compared to nonsense words for [x]. It is anticipated that the data and information in this thesis will provide insights into the role of linguistic task type and EPG technology as instructional tools for L2 learners.

In this study the effect of phonotactic constraints concerning word-initial consonant clusters in children with delayed phonological acquisition was explored. Twelve German-speaking children took part (mean age 5;1). The spontaneous speech of all children was characterized by the regular appearance of the error patterns fronting, e.g., Kuh (cow) → /tu:/, or stopping, e.g., Schaf (sheep) → /ta:f/, which were inappropriate for their chronological age. The children were asked to produce words (picture naming task, word repetition task) with initial consonant clusters, in which the application of the error patterns would violate phonotactic sequence constraints. For instance, if fronting would apply in /kl-/, e.g., Kleid (dress), it would be realized as the phontactically illegal consonant cluster /tl-/. The results indicate that phonotactic constraints affect word production in children with delayed phonological developments. Surprisingly, we found that children with fronting produced the critical consonants correctly significantly more often in word-initial consonant clusters than in words in which they appeared as singleton onsets. In addition, the results provide evidence for a similar developmental trajectory of acquisition in children with typical development and in children with delayed phonological acquisition. Keywords: Children with delayed phonological acquisition, phonotactic constraints, word-initial consonant clusters, fronting, stopping.

Previous second language (L2) acquisition research has assumed that L2 learners from a common first language (L1) have the same problems in an L2, ignoring the potential impact of a speaker's L1 dialect on L2 acquisition. This study examines the effects of L1 dialect on the acquisition of L2 German vowels. In particular, this thesis investigates two questions: 1) Do speakers from L1 dialects with vowel mergers perceive or produce vowel contrasts in the L1 and/or L2 differently than speakers from dialect areas without the same mergers? and 2) Are subjects' patterns of L1 perception or production paralleled in the L2? This thesis focuses on the vowel contrasts "pin"-"pen," "fail"-"fell," and "pool"-"pull"-"pole," which are merged (i.e., neutralized) in some environments in the Mississippi dialect, such that words like "him" and "hem" are heard or produced as the same word. Two groups of subjects participated: students from The University of Mississippi (the merging group) and students from Brigham Young University (BYU) (the non-merging group). Subjects completed a perceptual task and a production task. The perception task was a forced-choice identification task in which subjects heard English and German words and indicated which word they heard. In the production task, subjects read aloud German and English sentences. Results indicate that BYU subjects were significantly better than UMiss subjects at perceiving many vowel contrasts in English and German. Additionally, some perceptual patterns seemed to transfer to the L2, e.g., /ɪn/ and /ɛn/, were identified with similar accuracy in English and in German. In production, the groups differed significantly from each other in their production of many vowel contrasts, while acoustic analysis found no production mergers for either group in English or German. In two case studies, perception results and production results (as found by native speaker judgments), showed that vowel contrasts merged in English were also problematic in L2 German, though the problematic vowel was not necessarily the same. In sum, the UMiss speakers with mergers in their L1 dialect appeared to face different challenges than the BYU speakers when perceiving and producing German vowel contrasts. Results have implications for the L2 classroom and L2 research, suggesting that instructors may need different teaching strategies for speakers from merging dialects.

The main purpose of this study is to explore the effects of the use of games as a teaching strategy for raising the grammatical accuracy level of secondary students of German as a second language. This thesis seeks also to examine the effect of game-based grammar instruction on students’ motivation and classroom atmosphere. The participants in this study were divided into two groups, the Control and Experimental groups, and received 90 periods, over 18 weeks, of grammatical instruction by the same teacher. The teaching program was the same for both groups. The difference consisted in the use of game-based practice for the experimental group, while the control group performed traditional grammar-based practice only. Data were collected using the following instruments: grammar tests and examinations,a questionnaire on motivation, a questionnaire on classroom atmosphere, a questionnaire on the type of grammar practice, a questionnaire on the role of grammar and grammar instruction, focus group interviews with students, and the researcher’s field notes. While the main result does not support the hypothesis for significant improvement in grammatical accuracy by the experimental students as a result of game-based practice, their overall improved performance is a worthwhile achievement, particularly if it is linked to significant improvements in students’ motivation and classroom atmosphere.These positive results offer a notable incentive to language teachers to include games in their teaching of grammatical features, because the positive results of this experiment with regard to learners’ motivation, peer interaction, teacher-student interaction augur well for an eventual improvement also in the rate of grammatical accuracy.

Electropalatography (EPG) provides real-time visual biofeedback for linguapalatal contact during speech and swallowing. Historically, EPG has proved to be an effective tool for assessment and treatment of a variety of speech disorders across a wide age range. The present thesis is part of a larger study examining the effectiveness of using EPG in assisting second language (L2) learners to acquire the German fricatives , [x], and //. Real and nonsense word productions were collected from six native German speakers. Electrode activation levels were generally highest for and lowest for [x]. Even when considering the impact of vowel context, [x] consistently showed only trace linguapalatal contact. Further research regarding the use of EPG as a tool for second language acquisition may include the development of linguapalatal contact maps from which L2 learners can compare their production of , [x], and // to native production. It is hoped that the information contained in this thesis will expand the current uses of EPG as a tool to assist L2 learners in acquiring non-native speech sounds.

Die Dissertation untersucht die Entwicklung der prosodischen Struktur von Simplizia und Komposita im Deutschen. Ausgewertet werden langzeitlich erhobene Produktionsdaten von vier monolingualen Kindern im Alter von 12 bis 26 Monaten. Es werden vier Entwicklungsstufen angenommen, in denen jedoch keine einheitlichen Outputs produziert werden. Die Asymmetrien zwischen den verschiedenen Wörtern werden systematisch auf die Struktur des Zielwortes zurückgeführt. In einer optimalitätstheoretischen Analyse wird gezeigt, dass sich die Entwicklungsstufen aus der Umordnung von Constraints ergeben und dass dasselbe Ranking die Variation zwischen den Worttypen zu einer bestimmten Entwicklungsstufe vorhersagt.
The thesis investigates the development of the word-prosodic structure in child German. The database consists of longitudinal production data of four monolingal children aged between 12 and 26 months. It is argued in the thesis that the children pass through four developmental stages which are characterized by non-uniform outputs. The asymmetries in the output pattern are attributed to the proosdic shape of the target word. The thesis provides an optimality-theoretic analysis showing that a single ranking of constraints accounts for the variation in the output at a given stage.

Comprised of four essays, this collection of creative nonfiction focuses on facets of daily life and culture in Germany. The author recounts her experiences as she and her family assimilate into a foreign culture and adapt to using its language. The first essay tells of the family’s unexpected but rewarding sojourn in Germany after losing everything to Hurricane Katrina. The subsequent essays display a broader range of experiences and cultural observations upon the family’s return to Germany four years later. These include a narrative of the family’s move to a small town in central Germany, an interview with a local asparagus farmer and an account of the author’s children’s efforts to learn German.

El nostre treball de recerca té dues parts: una part teòrica inicial i l’estudi empíric que presentem a continuació. Obrim el bloc teòric amb un capítol dedicat a l’objecte d’estudi que centra la nostra investigació: la presència de l’L1 a l’aula de llengües estrangeres, en el qual abordem el tema des dels diferent àmbits que hi conflueixen: mètodes d’aprenentatge i teories lingüístiques; teories d’adquisició i d’aprenentatge, la sociolingüística i l’anàlisi conversacional (codeswitching). En el següent capítol ens centrem en la teoria del desenvolupament cognitiu des de l’òptica de la qual ens situem per al tractament del tema d’estudi: la Teoria Sociocultural, les bases de la qual se situen en l’obra de Vigotski. N’explicarem els orígens i els postulats principals que tenen una repercussió directa tant en la interpretació que hem donat a les nostres dades, com en el disseny que hem triat per a la nostra recerca, així com en els mètodes de recollida i d’anàlisi de dades que hem emprat. En el tercer capítol aprofundim en un dels aspectes més importants de la teoria vigotskiana, directament relacionat amb el nostre estudi: el llenguatge en tant que instrument mediador per al desenvolupament cognitiu humà. De totes les implicacions que es deriven d’aquesta idea, ens centrem en el paper mediador fonamental del discurs privat en l’autoregulació. Finalment, recollim en el darrer capítol del bloc teòric una revisió dels treballs més importants en l’àmbit de la recerca en l’aprenentatge de segones llengües, que observen el discurs dels aprenents des d’una perspectiva sociocultural i que s’han centrat en la incidència del discurs privat i/o de l’L1. Estudis que han estat referències directes per al plantejament i el desenvolupament de la nostra recerca, així com per a la interpretació que hem fet de les nostres dades.

Gegenstand der Dissertation ist die Untersuchung interlingualer lexikalischer Prozesse von Worterkennung und-zugriff bei ungarndeutschen Bilingualen, die Englisch als Fremdsprache erlernen, unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Rolle von Kognaten. Ziel der Studie ist es, die Prozesse lexikalischer Aktivierung in einem polyglotten System zu beschreiben und sowohl die mentalen Lexika, als auch die Verknüpfung und gegenseitige Aktivierung (z. B. durch 'direct word association' oder durch 'concept mediation') zu modellieren. Drei abhängige Variablen werden in einer quantitativen und qualitativen Analyse empirischer Daten untersucht: Genauigkeit, Antwortzeitlatenzen und phonologische Interferenz. Die Resultate der Experimente werden im Rahmen eines multilingualen Netzwerkmodells interpretiert.
The dissertation examines aspects of the interlingual lexical processes of word recognition and word retrieval in Hungarian-German bilinguals learning English as a foreign language, with particular respect to the role of cognates. The purpose of the study is to describe the process of lexical activaton in a polyglot system and to model the mental lexicons and the ways entries in the lexicons are connected and activated (e.g. activation through direct word association or through concept mediation). Three dependent variables are studied in quantitative and qualitative analysis of empirical data taken from experiments: rate of accurate responses, response latencies and phonological interference. The results of the experiments are interpreted in the framework of a multiple language network model.

The use of demonstrative adverbs is a function of making reference to a real or abstract location. In German, there are three principle demonstrative adverbs that are used spatially--hier, da, and dort. This thesis provides an overview of the primary theories proposed in the literature to explain the German hier/da/dort system of reference and examines those claims from the context of a study of L2 learners and L1 speakers combined with a corpus-based analysis of the frequency, distribution, and use of the demonstrative adverbs, both in isolation and in unison. The evidence from learner data, native speaker interpretations and grammaticality judgments, adult use corpora, and L1 child corpora all point to da as playing a more significant role than dort in the three-way spatial adverb system of German. Evidence from multiple sources points to the default hier `here' counterpart, there-like equivalent being da. While da is not always used to indicate a non-speaker location, this flexibility is not an indication of its primary or default role. Context often provides semantic information, and even if used in a semi-neutral manner, the use of da often suggests the possibility of a dort-type non-speaker location or of an abstract location/third location. The flexibility that da has in being used in non-contrastive locations or idiomatic expressions to refer to the location of the speaker does not discount the role da has as a primary means of indicating spatial differences in opposition to hier. The presence of dort enables a third location to be identified with a distinct spatial adverb, while hier appears to be highly restricted in its usage. Evidence from child L1 learners is congruent with this analysis. The frequency of da in child L1 learner speech cannot simply be explained by phonetic production, and the child L1 corpora show that dort is only chosen when da and hier are already present (three or more locations are referenced). Native speaker survey data concerning the three spatial adverbs under investigation indicate that locational situation affects the acceptance and interpretation of all three adverbs including da. Da is not shown to be a superfluous double, as it is neither consistently accepted at or near 100%, nor is its acceptance consistently near that of dort or hier. There is evidence that native speaker grammaticality judgments show regional variation when da is used to indicate a speaker location, with northern speakers tending to prefer hier and southern speakers tending to prefer da. L2 speakers show a greater variation from native speakers with respect to their acceptance and interpretations of da as compared with that of hier and dort. Non-native speakers were more likely to accept hier and less likely to accept da than were the native speakers in this study. Elementary, intermediate, and advanced L2 learners showed a significant difference in their acceptance rates of da in at least 50% of the items, while the group of highly-proficient L2 speakers of German showed a significant difference in their acceptance of da in only one item.

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Bachelors
Arts and Sciences
Psychology

Electropalatography (EPG) is a computer-based tracking system designed to provide real-time visual biofeedback of articulatory contacts occurring during speech production. Historically, EPG technology has proven functional within the treatment and assessment of speech disorders however, application of EPG technology to assist in second language learning has remained limited. The present thesis is part of a larger study examining the effectiveness of using EPG as an advanced instructional tool for assisting second language (L2) learners of German. Fricative productions ([ç], [x], /s/, and /∫/) within real words were gathered from 12 native English speakers enrolled in a second semester university level course to learn German. Speech productions from student participants were compared against native German speakers' productions collected in a previous study, using electrode mappings, percentages of regional contact, and center of gravity measures. These measures revealed different patterns of palatal contact between fricative sounds, between individual subjects, and cross-linguistically. Fricative sound mappings varied visually as speakers generally produced [ç] and [x] with significantly less palatal contact than when producing /s/ and /∫/. Variation across individual subjects was identified as some produced sounds with nearly no posterior palatal contact while others produced sounds asymmetrically or with decreased overall contact. Cross-linguistic differences were apparent as non-native German speakers frequently contacted greater numbers of electrodes with greater force, compared to the natives. It is anticipated that the information included in this thesis will provide insights into the role of EPG technology as an instructional tool for L2 learners.

Motivation and attitudes are considered as hypothetical psychological constructs in explaining both the process and outcome of second/foreign language learning. The taxonomy and categorization of second/foreign language motivation into integrative and instrumental motivation has long been established and dominated L2 motivation research in different educational contexts. According to Lambert (1972), Integrative motivation reflects an interest in learning another language because of a sincere and personal interest in the people and culture represented by the other language group. Instrumental motivation on the other hand, refers to the pragmatic and functional orientations in learning a foreign language. Gardner (1985) claimed that integrative motivation is the most important and predictable factor of excelling in a second language than the instrumental motivation. Nevertheless, this assumption that stresses the importance of integrative motivation over the instrumental one in predicting the level of success in learning a second language, has rather been challenged, and a set of controversial findings have been reported. This study sought to compare and investigate the motivational and attitudinal orientations of Sudanese undergraduate students towards learning English and German; in relation to the target language in question and gender differences. In addition, it intended to examine if there would be any correlation between students’ level of motivation and attitudes, and their self-assessed achievement in the target language. The sample of this study composed of 221 students from the Faculty of Arts, University of Khartoum, Sudan. 148 students from the department of English language, and 73 students from the department of German language have participated in the survey. Based on Gardner’s Attitude/Motivation Test Battery (AMTB), a survey scale has been constructed to measure students’ motivation and attitudes. The findings of the empirical investigation revealed that Sudanese students were relatively highly motivated and had favorable attitudes towards learning English and German, respectively. In line with the established literature in the field, the results demonstrated that Sudanese students were more instrumentally motivated to learn English. On the other hand, the students in the German department had more positive attitudes towards the German community and culture in comparison to the students of the English department. Gender differences have also been identified in the department of English only; where female students had a significantly higher level of motivation and were rather more integratively motivated to learn English than their male counterparts. Finally, the study could not indicate any correlation between students’ level of motivation and attitudes, and their achievement in the target language
Einführung in die Thematik Motivation und Einstellung als hypothetische psychologische Konstrukte spielen eine große Rolle sowohl für den Prozess und als auch für das Ergebnis eines Zweit/Fremdsprachenerwerbs (Gardner, 1985; Kleppin, 2001; Dörnyei, 2003; Riemer, 2001; Al-Busairi, 1990). Traditionell wird in der Fremdsprachenforschung zwischen integrativer und instrumenteller Motivation unterschieden. Integrative Motivation bezieht sich auf das Interesse an der Sprachgemeinschaft und ihrer Kultur, um sich mit der jeweiligen Kultur zu identifizieren und sich in diese zu integrieren. Dahingegen bezieht sich die instrumentelle Motivation auf die pragmatischen Gründe des Fremdsprachenlernens, wie z. B. das Erlernen, um eine erforderliche Prüfung zu bestehen oder um einen guten, besseren Job zu bekommen. Jedoch gingen Gardner (1985) in seinem sozio-pädagogischen Modell davon aus, dass die integrative Motivation den Lernerfolg stärker fördert und folglich zu besseren Lernergebnissen führt als die instrumentelle Motivation. Diese Konzeptualisierung und Dichotomisierung zwischen integrativer und instrumenteller Orientierung wird kontrovers diskutiert und wurde laut empirischer Untersuchungen vor allem im Falle des Englischen als globaler Sprache kritisiert. Die Problematik liegt darin, dass die Untersuchungen von Gardner ursprünglich in der Kanadischen, bilingualen, Französisch-Englischen Gesellschaft durchgeführt wurden und damit einen anderen Kontext betreffen als im Falle des normalen Erlernens einer Fremdsprache. Somit scheint das Konzept von integrativer Motivation im traditionellen Sinne beim Fremdsprachenerwerbsprozess weniger relevant zu sein, weil es in diesem Fall keine definierte Zielsprachengemeinschaft gibt, mit der man sich identifizieren und integrieren kann. Darüber hinaus zählen Einstellungen gegenüber der Zielfremdsprache, deren Sprachgemeinschaft und Lernatmosphäre als wichtige Faktoren, die bedeutend für den erfolgreichen Fremdsprachenerwerb sind (Candlin & Mercer, 2001). Motivation und Einstellung sind eng miteinander verbunden, die beim Sprachenlernen zusammenspielen und sich gegeneinseitig positiv auswirken. Brown (1994) argumentiert, dass positive Einstellungen günstig für den Erwerb einer Zweitsprache sind, und dass negative Einstellungen den Motivationsgrad vermindern und folglich aufgrund geringen Inputs und Interaktion zu einem unerfolgreichen Lernen führen können. Das erreichte Niveau und die Kompetenz in einer Zweit/Fremdsprache werden weitgehend zu den individuellen Persönlichkeitsunterschieden der Lernenden gezählt. Geschlechtsunterschiede werden als Einflussfaktoren beim Fremdsprachenerwerb betrachtet. Im allgemeinen wird in der Fremdsprachenforschung davon ausgegangen, dass weibliche Studierende einen höheren Motivationsgrad und positivere Einstellung besitzen (vgl., Csizer & Dörnyei, 2005; Gardner & Lambert, 1972). Dies wurde in einer Reihe von empirischen Studien in der Fremdsprachenforschung bestätigt. In der vorliegenden Arbeit soll dementsprechend diese grundlegende Thematik bezüglich der Rolle von Motivation und Einstellung beim Fremdsprachenerwerb nachgegangen werden. Es wird untersucht, inwiefern sudanesische Studierende motiviert und eingestellt sind, um Englisch und Deutsch zu lernen, und ob sie dabei eher integrativ oder instrumentell orientiert sind. Es wird ebenfalls untersucht, ob geschlechtsspezifische Unterschiede, so wie sprachbedingte Unterschiede zwischen der englischen und deutschen Abteilung vorliegen. Darüber hinaus wird ermittelt, ob es einen signifikanten Zusammenhang zwischen Motivationsgrad und Einstellung der Studierenden und ihrer selbst eingeschätzten Leistung gibt. Diese Arbeit ist von besonderer Bedeutung für die Fremdsprachenforschung im Sudan, da die meisten Studien dort sich auf Englisch beziehen, wohingegen diese Studie sich sowohl mit Englisch als auch mit Deutsch als Fremdsprache beschäftigt. Forschungshypothesen Diese Studie prüft sechs Haupthypothesen über die beiden Abteilungen sowie Subhypothesen für die jeweiligen Abteilungen, wobei Englisch- und Deutschstudierende miteinander verglichen und in einer zusammenhängenden Art und Weise betrachtet wurden. Die Hypothesen wurden wie folgt operationalisiert und formuliert: 1. Sudanesische Studierende sind relativ hoch motiviert beim Englisch- und Deutschlernen. 2. Sudanesische Studierende haben relativ positive Einstellungen gegenüber Englisch und Deutsch und folglich gegenüber der englischen und deutschen Sprachgemeinschaft und Kultur. 3. Sudanesische Studierende sind eher instrumentell motiviert beim Englisch- und Deutschlernen. 4. Es gibt statistische signifikante Unterschiede zwischen den Englisch- und Deutschstudierenden bezüglich ihrer Motivation und Einstellungen. 5. Es gibt signifikante geschlechtsspezifische Unterschiede bezüglich Motivation und Einstellungen gegenüber Englisch und Deutsch. 6. Es gibt einen signifikanten Zusammenhang zwischen dem Motivationsgrad, den Einstellungen der Studierenden und ihrer selbsteingeschätzten Leistung in Englisch und Deutsch. Methodisches Vorgehen Die Stichprobe dieser Untersuchung bestand aus insgesamt 221 Anglistik und Germanistikstudierenden in der Faculty of Arts an der Khartum Universität. 148 Probanden von insgesamt 273 wurden von der englischen Abteilung einbezogen. Wohingegen 73 von insgesamt 79 von der deutschen Abteilung an der Untersuchung teilgenommen haben. Die Stichprobe von der Germanistikabteilung war wesentlich kleiner im Verglich zu der Stichprobe der Anglistikabteilung. Dies hat mit Tatsache zu tun, dass es weniger Germanistikstudierende an der Universität Khartum gibt und somit diese Stichprobe trotzdem sehr repräsentativ ist. Die Messinstrumente der empirischen Untersuchung wurden anhand der relevanten Literaturrecherche und Gardner’s Attitude/Motivation Test Battery (AMTB) entwickelt. Die Items wurden zunächst in englischer Sprache verfasst und dann ins Arabische übersetzt, wobei die Rückübersetzung und die Inhalte von Experten im Bereich Psychologie und angewandter Linguistik überprüft wurden. Der Fragebogen bestand aus zwei Skalen: Der Motivationsskala zur Erfassung der integrativen und der instrumentellen Motivation. Die zweite Skala bestand ebenfalls aus zwei Subskalen zur Erfassung der Einstellungen gegenüber der Zielsprache und Kultur. Die Antwortmöglichkeiten sind auf einer fünfstufigen Schätzskala vorgegeben. Die Antwortalternativen sind wie folgt berechnet: Stimme stark zu (5 Punkte); stimme zu (4 Punkte); unentschieden (3 Punkte); stimme nicht zu (2 Punkte); und stimme stark nicht zu (1 Punkt), jedoch sind die negativen Items umgekehrt codiert. Die Fragebögen wurden in ihrer endgültigen Version im Arabischen eingesetzt, um so möglichst gleiche Verständlichkeit für alle Probanden zu gewährleisten. Forschungsergebnisse Die Ergebnisse der empirischen Untersuchung weisen daraufhin, dass sudanesische Englisch- und Deutschstudierende einen relativ hohen Motivationsgrad und positive Einstellungen gegenüber der englischen und deutschen Sprache haben. Die Englischstudierenden zeigten einen wesentlich höheren Durchschnitt der Motivation im Vergleich zu den Deutschstudierenden. Demgegenüber zeigten die Deutschstudierenden positivere Einstellungen als die Englischstudierenden gegenüber der Zielsprache. Konsistent zu anderen Untersuchungen lies sich mit der vorliegenden Studie belegen, dass im Sudan als Englisch-Studierende eher instrumentell motiviert sind Deutsch-Studierende. Darüber hinaus gab es signifikante Unterschiede zwischen den Germanistik- und Anglistikstudierenden bezüglich ihrer Einstellungen gegenüber der Zielsprachengemeinschaft zugunsten der Germanistikstudierenden. Was die Arten der Motivation betrifft, waren die Studierenden in beiden Abteilungen sowohl integrativ als auch instrumentell motiviert gegenüber der Zielsprache. Jedoch war der Durchschnittswert der integrativen Motivation höher als der der instrumentellen Motivation. Somit sind beide Stichproben eher integrativ motiviert gegenüber beider Sprachen, was unerwartet war vor allem im Falle des Englischen als Weltsprache, die eher mit instrumentellen Zwecken und Nützlichkeit verbunden wird. Signifikante geschlechtsspezifische Unterschiede wurden nur unter den Englischstudierenden nachgewiesen, wobei die weiblichen Studierenden einen deutlich höheren Motivationsgrad besassen und eher integrativ motiviert waren. Schlussfolgerungen Anhand der empirischen Befunde dieser Untersuchung kann man davon ausgehen, dass sowohl instrumentelle als auch integrative Motivation (beide gleichgewichtig) sich auf das Erlernen einer Fremdsprache auswirken. Dementsprechend ist die Rolle der Intensität und Stärke der Motivation beim Fremdsprachenlernen noch nicht oft erforscht worden, was als Folge der Beschäftigung mit der Polarisierung zwischen instrumenteller und integrativer Motivation zu sehen ist. Das Konzept der integrativen Motivation sollte erweitert und reininterpretiert werden, um in den Kontext des Fremdsprachenlernens zu passen. Solche neuen Konzepte wie imaginäre Sprachgemeinschaft oder ideelles Selbstbild, entwickelt von Dörnyei (2005), sind von Relevanz für das Fremdsprachenlernen, wobei die Studierenden anstreben in der Fremdsprache so kompetent wie ein Muttersprachler zu werden und sich nicht zwangsläufig in die Zielsprachengemeinschaft zu integrieren. Es wurden einige Einschränkungen bezüglich der Forschungsmethodik formuliert. Diese Studie und die daraus resultierenden Ergebnisse können von einer großen Bedeutung sein für die Fremdsprachendidaktik im Allgemeinen und für die englische und deutsche Sprache im Sudan ins Besondere. Auf dieser Basis wurden Schlussfolgerungen für zukunftsorientierte Untersuchungen zum Fremdsprachenlernen im Sudan abgeleitet

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Bachelors
Arts and Sciences
Psychology

The present dissertation focuses on the question whether and under which conditions infants recognise clauses in fluent speech and the role a prosodic marker such as a pause may have in the segmentation process. In the speech signal, syntactic clauses often coincide with intonational phrases (IPhs) (Nespor & Vogel, 1986, p. 190), the boundaries of which are marked by changes in fundamental frequency (e.g., Price, Ostendorf, Shattuck-Hufnagel & Fong, 1991), lengthening of the final syllable (e.g., Cooper & Paccia-Cooper, 1980) and the occurrence of a pause (Nespor & Vogel, 1986, p. 188). Thus, IPhs seem to be reliably marked in the speech stream and infants may use these cues to recognise them. Furthermore, corpus studies on the occurrence and distribution of pauses have revealed that there is a strong correlation between the duration of a pause and the type of boundary it marks (e.g., Butcher, 1981, for German). Pauses between words are either non-existent or short, pauses between phrases are a bit longer, and pauses between clauses and at sentence boundaries further increase in duration. This suggests the existence of a natural pause hierarchy that complements the prosodic hierarchy described by Nespor and Vogel (1986). These hierarchies on the side of the speech signal correspond to the syntactic hierarchy of a language. In the present study, five experiments using the Headturn preference paradigm (Hirsh-Pasek, Kemler Nelson, Jusczyk, Cassidy, Druss & Kennedy, 1987) were conducted to investigate German-learning 6- and 8-month-olds’ use of pauses to recognise clauses in the signal and their sensitivity to the natural pause hierarchy. Previous studies on English-learning infants’ recognition of clauses (Hirsh-Pasek et al., 1987; Nazzi, Kemler Nelson, Jusczyk & Jusczyk, 2000) have found that infants as young as 6 months recognise clauses in fluent speech. Recently, Seidl and colleagues have begun to investigate the status the pause may have in this process (Seidl, 2007; Johnson & Seidl, 2008; Seidl & Cristià, 2008). However, none of these studies investigated infants’ sensitivity to the natural pause hierarchy and especially the sensitivity to the correlation between pause durations and the respective within-sentence clause boundaries / sentence boundaries. To address these questions highly controlled stimuli were used. In all five experiments the stimuli were sentences consisting of two IPhs which each coincided with a syntactic clause. In the first three experiments pauses were inserted either at clause and sentence boundaries or within the first clause and the sentence boundaries. The duration of the pauses varied between the experiments. The results show that German-learning 6-month-olds recognise clauses in the speech stream, but only in a condition in which the duration of the pauses conforms to the mean duration of pauses found at the respective boundaries in German. Experiments 4 and 5 explicitly addressed the question of infants’ sensitivity to the natural pause hierarchy by inserting pauses at the clause and sentence boundaries only. Their durations were either conforming to the natural pause hierarchy or were being reversed. The results of these experiments provide evidence that 8-, but not 6-month-olds seem to be sensitive to the correlation of the duration of pauses and the type of boundary they demarcate. The present study provides first evidence that infants not only use pauses to recognise clause and sentence boundaries, but are sensitive to the duration and distribution of pauses in their native language as reflected in the natural pause hierarchy.
Die vorliegende Dissertation geht der Frage nach, ob und ab wann Deutsch lernende Kinder in der Lage sind, Clauses in gesprochener Sprache zu erkennen und welche Rolle dabei ein prosodischer Marker wie die Pause spielen kann. Im Sprachstrom sind syntaktische Clauses oft durch Intonationsphrasen (IPhs) repräsentiert (Nespor & Vogel, 1986). Die Grenzen solcher IPhs werden markiert durch Veränderungen in der Grundfrequenz (z.B., Price, Ostendorf, Shattuck-Hufnagel & Fong, 1991), die Längung der grenzfinalen Silbe (z.B., Cooper & Paccia-Cooper, 1980) und das Vorhandensein einer Pause (Nespor & Vogel, 1986, p. 188). Man kann also davon ausgehen, dass die Grenzen von IPhs zuverlässig markiert sind und Kleinkinder diese Hinweisreize zu deren Wahrnehmung nutzen. Ein weiterer Hinweis ist die Dauer einer Pause, die systematisch mit der Art der Grenze korreliert an der sie vorkommt (z.B., Butcher, 1981, fürs Deutsche). Es finden sich kaum oder gar keine Pausen zwischen Wörtern, etwas längere Pausen an Phrasengrenzen, noch längere Pausen an Clausegrenzen und die längsten Pausen an Satzgrenzen. Das legt die Existenz einer Natürlichen Pausenhierarchie nahe, die die prosodische Hierarchie (Nespor & Vogel, 1986) auf der Seite des Sprachsignals ergänzt. Diese prosodischen Hierarchien korrespondieren mit der syntaktischen Hierarchie einer Sprache. In der vorliegenden Studie werden fünf Experimente präsentiert, die mittels der Headturn Preference Methode (Hirsh-Pasek, Kemler Nelson, Jusczyk, Cassidy, Druss & Kennedy, 1987) durchgeführt wurden. Die Fragestellung war, ob Deutsch lernende 6 und 8 Monate alte Kinder Pausen nutzen, um Clauses im Sprachstrom zu erkennen und ob sie bereits sensitiv für die natürliche Pausenhierarchie sind. Vorläuferstudien (Hirsh-Pasek et al., 1987; Nazzi, Kemler Nelson, Jusczyk & Jusczyk, 2000) haben gezeigt, dass bereits 6 Monate alte Englisch lernende Kinder Clauses in der Sprache erkennen. Erstmals haben Seidl und Mitarbeiterinnen (Seidl, 2007; Johnson & Seidl, 2008; Seidl & Cristià, 2008) den Status der Pause in diesem Zusammenhang näher untersucht. Keine der genannten Studien hat jedoch die Sensitivität von Kindern gegenüber der natürlichen Pausenhierarchie und besonders die Sensitivität gegenüber der Korrelation von Pausendauer und Clause-, bzw. Satzgrenzen erforscht. Um dieser Frage nachzugehen, wurde in der vorliegenden Studie ein hoch kontrolliertes Stimulusmaterial verwendet: Sätze die aus zwei IPhs bestehen, welche jeweils einem syntaktischen Clause entsprechen. In den ersten drei Experimenten wurden Pausen zum einen an den Clause- und den Satzgrenzen und zum anderen innerhalb der ersten Clauses und an den Satzgrenzen eingefügt. Die Dauer der Pausen variierte zwischen den Experimenten. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass 6 Monate alte Kinder in der Lage sind, Clauses in gesprochener Sprache zu erkennen, aber nur ein einer Bedingung, in der die eingefügten Pausen eine Dauer hatten, die mit der natürlichen Sprache übereinstimmte. In den Experimenten 4 und 5 wurde explizit getestet, inwieweit die Kinder sensitiv gegenüber der natürlichen Pausenhierarchie sind. Dafür wurden Pausen nur noch an den Clause- und den Satzgrenzen eingefügt, die jeweilige Dauer der Pausen entsprach dabei einmal der Pausenhierarchie, zum anderen widersprachen sie ihr. Die Ergebnisse der beiden Experimente zeigen, dass 8 Monate alte Kinder, nicht jedoch 6 Monate alte Kinder, sensitiv für die Verbindung von Pausendauer und der jeweiligen prosodisch/syntaktischen Grenze sind. Die Ergebnisse der Dissertation zeigen erstmals, dass Kinder Pausen nicht nur nutzen, um Clauses in gesprochener Sprache zu erkennen, sondern dass sie auch sensitiv gegenüber Pausendauer und Pausenverteilung in ihrer Muttersprache sind und damit gegenüber der Natürlichen Pausenhierarchie.

The aim of this thesis is to investigate second language phonology through the question of phonological relatedness. Specifically, the study will examine whether phonological proximity between the mother tongue (Ll) and language to be acquired (L2) results in a more target-like pronunciation, or whether phonological similarity is detrimental to the acquisition process. Previous studies in L2 phonology have explored only the effect on acquisition when certain individual sounds are phonologically similar between the Ll and L2, and have concluded, in concordance with the Speech Learning Model (SLM) and Feature Assembly Model (FAH), that similarity is detrimental to the acquisition process. Ll transfer theory, however, hypothesises that similarities between whole language systems (that is, not only individual elements of those languages) will be a positive factor in second language acquisition (SLA). No previous SLA study has examined the consequences for acquisition when the Ll and L2 themselves, not only the certain individual sounds, are phonologically related (that is, the sound patterns of the Ll/L2 are related). The study described in this thesis aims to fill this gap in an investigation of the acquisition of L2 Zurich German consonants by Ll German speakers (phonologically close languages) and by Ll English speakers (phonologically distinct languages). Against a theoretical background of Ll transfer, two constraints on transfer are investigated empirically, namely language distance and markedness. L2 sounds are examined which are classified as similar/dissimilar, and marked/less marked for each Ll/L2 pair. An experimental approach is adopted, through the elicitation and recording of L2 speech, and the subsequent acoustic analysis of the phonemes. The thesis will argue that while an analysis of the individual sound level is certainly important in L2 phonological acquisition studies, it is the culmination of this level of analysis which makes an important contribution to the role of the Ll system in L2 phonological acquisition, and that this role cannot be abstracted from any such discussion. That is, the phonological proximity ofthe Ll and L2 sound systems is a significant part of successful acquisition, regardless of the similar/marked status of individual sounds.

Thesis (MA)-- Stellenbosch University, 2013.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The following thesis aims to contribute to the field of teaching German as a foreign language. It investigates the evolutionary history of Suggestopaedia, an alternative teaching method which originated during the late 1970s. The Bulgarian psychiatrist, Dr. Georgi Lozanov, discovered that relaxation and a stress-free environment promote both accelerated learning and memory retention. Further research proves that the combined elements and techniques of this method play a significant role to positively manipulate brain activity as well as individual perceptions, which could eventually result in the development of the personality. The author of this study analyses both the contributions and shortcomings of Suggestopaedia, reporting from personal experience gathered while teaching at a university in South Africa, and subsequently suggests an altered version of the suggestopaedic teaching ways. Various foreign language teaching methodologies are examined and evaluated while the main focus remains on Suggestopaedia and its principle of holistic learning. By exploiting the eclectic aspects of the suggestopaedic teaching method, this thesis investigates to what extent selected elements of different conventional methods can be integrated into Suggestopaedic teaching. Thereby the author ultimately proposes a holistic, enriched and modernized variant of Lozanovs Suggestopaedia for the teaching of German at schools in South Africa, by demonstrating practical examples executed at a private school.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie tesis poog om ʼn bydrae te lewer tot die gebied in die onderrig van Duits as ʼn vreemdetaal. Dit ondersoek die evolusionêre geskiedenis van Suggestopedie wat as „n onderrigmetode in die laat 1970‟s ontstaan het. Die Bulgaarse psigiater, dr. Georgi Lozanov, het bevind dat „n ontspanne en stresvrye omgewing beide versnelde leer en geheue retensie bevorder. Verdere navorsing toon dat die gekombineerde elemente en tegnieke van hierdie metode „n betekenisvolle rol speel om brein-aktiwiteit positief te manipuleer en individuele persepsies positief te beïnvloed, wat ten slotte ʼn persoonlikheidsontwikkeling tot gevolg kan hê. Die skrywer van hierdie studie analiseer sowel die bydrae asook die tekortkominge van Suggestopedie aan die hand van persoonlike ervaring wat versamel is tydens onderrig aan „n Suid-Afrikaanse universiteit. Hieruit word dan „n gewysigde weergawe van suggestopediese onderrig voorgestel. Verskeie vreemdetaal-onderrigmetodes word ondersoek en geassesseer, terwyl die fokus steeds op Suggestopedie en die beginsel van holistiese leer bly. Deur gebruik te maak van die eklektiese aspek van die suggestopediese leermetode, ondersoek die skrywer tot watter mate geselekteerde elemente van verskillende konvensionele metodes geintegreer kan word met Suggestopedie. Met bogenoemde navorsing inaggeneem, stel die skrywer gevolglik „n holistiese, verrykte en gemoderniseerde weergawe van Lozanov se Suggestopedie voor, aan die hand van praktiese voorbeelde wat by „n privaatskool toegepas is.

This dissertation study examined a broad question of whether computer-based grammar tutorials are effective and welcome tools to review grammar for language learners by investigating effects of three different modes of such tutorials on learners' knowledge and satisfaction. For this study, I developed experimental tutorials in three different modes (a static text with a voice-over narration, an animated text with a voice-over narration, and a recording of a real teacher) for two target structures of German grammar (regular verb conjugation and separable-prefix verbs). In total, there were more than 100 Elementary German students at two Midwestern universities, who participated in different stages of the study. The participants represented a mostly homogeneous group with characteristics that are common for college-level learners. There were two parallel experiments in this study that employed identical methods but focused on two different target structures. Thus, both experiments examined the effect of the three study tutorials on learners' knowledge and satisfaction, but Experiment 1 focused on the regular verb conjugation, whereas Experiment 2 focused on the separable-prefix verbs. For each experiment, the participants completed a pretest, worked with the assigned tutorial mode, completed a posttest, and filled out a number of questionnaires. The results of the analysis demonstrated that the study tutorials helped learners to significantly improve their knowledge of grammar; however, the mode of the tutorial did not make a difference. Likewise, all modes of tutorial received similar satisfaction ratings; however, additional qualitative analysis suggested that a considerable number of the participants preferred the animated mode. The findings of the study demonstrate that computer-based grammar tutorials can be effective and welcome tools to review grammar for language learners. Moreover, tutorials of this type can be a viable method of achieving the desired balance between the form- and meaning-focused activities in language classrooms. Also, such tutorials appeal to learners because they support more individualized learning.