What makes some sentences more difficult to process, and why? Memory- and expectation-based theories both attempt to explain sentence processing difficulties, and decades of sentence processing literature have found evidence in support of both theories. This dissertation further investigates these theories of sentence processing by exploring…

Given its complexity, abstractness, and central role in many logics, negation might be a conceptual accomplishment. Therefore, young children's gradual acquisition of negation words might be due to their undergoing a conceptual change that is necessary to represent logical meanings. However, it's also possible that expressing negation takes time…

Hidden structure refers to the units of organization that a child cannot directly observe when they are learning language (e.g. phonemes, morpheme boundaries, URs, phrases). In this dissertation, I propose a novel computational model that learns hidden structures in-tandem with the grammar. My model consists of two Maximum Entropy sub-models that…

Previous empirical research has shown that Portuguese children aged 4;0 to 6;0 are sensitive to the quality of stem-final vowels when acquiring the irregular plural forms of /l/-final words (acquisition order: plurals of /al, [epsilon]l, [Greek small reversed lunate sigma symbol]l, ul/ > plurals of /il/). This study presents a formal account of…

As an integral part of dynamic assessment, computerized dynamic assessment (CDA) offers learners computer-assisted automated mediation. Accordingly, the possible efficacy of corrective feedback seems to be enhanced with new technologies, such as artificial intelligence tools, that offer automatic corrective feedback. Using technology-enhanced…

Teaching and learning grammar has been a cornerstone of many German language courses. This article analyzes reviews of teaching and learning materials related to grammar, which were published in "Die Unterrichtspraxis/Teaching German" between 2000 and 2023, discussing general trajectories and highlighting works that remain relevant…

There is a long-standing argument about whether words or character morphemes are the functional units in reading Chinese. We propose a Character-Word Dual Function (CWDF) model of reading Chinese in which both characters and words are functional units that contribute differentially to orthographic and meaning processes in reading Chinese. Two…

With the proliferation of corpora, various syntactic analysis methodologies have been developed. However, syntactic analysis of Chinese sentences demands a theory that focuses more on word order and the interaction between content and function words, which is satisfied by pattern grammar theory. This study investigates the effectiveness of pattern…

How to approach grammar when teaching for proficiency in today's world language classrooms can be challenging and confusing. Many teachers wrongly believe that proficiency-based instruction means no attention to grammar, but this couldn't be less true! Many teachers feel so strongly about teaching grammar that they continue with outdated methods,…

Research has demonstrated that features of lexical and lexicogrammatical use are important predictors of productive second language (L2) proficiency (e.g. Kyle et al. 2018). While some features of lexical use have been studied with L2s other than English (e.g. Tracy-Ventura 2017), multivariate lexical and lexicogrammatical approaches in these L2s…

This exploratory paper intends to spark conversation and further investigation into the relational/ecological possibilities of English. English has ecological, colonial, and relational troubles baked into both its structure and usage--issues rarely addressed in environmental education. However, these problematics might be mitigated with playful…

The aim of this study was to examine the gender differences among EFL diploma students in grammar based on an English achievement test. This study was motivated by the observed challenges Saudi students face with mastering grammar, a crucial element of English proficiency that forms the basis of all four aspects of language: listening, speaking,…

Purpose: Children with developmental language disorder (DLD) have persistent language difficulties in complex syntax. To date, few studies have examined the effectiveness of syntactic training focusing on complex grammar, with no existing studies having been done in French. In English, the SHAPE CODING (SC) system, which combines shapes and colors…

Eventualities have been recognized as psychologically and linguistically relevant for more than 50 years. Psychologically, eventualities are complex bundles of information derived from our perceptions of the world. The question for linguists is how much of this complexity is reflected in our eventuality-denoting lexical entries and the…

The objective of question generation from knowledge graphs (KGQG) is to create coherent and answerable questions from a given subgraph and a specified answer entity. KGQG has garnered significant attention due to its pivotal role in enhancing online education. Encoder-decoder architectures have advanced traditional KGQG approaches. However, these…