Personality dimensions, psychosocial-demographic variables, and English language competency in predicting level of acculturative stress among Turkish international students.

A sample of 229 Turkish international students studying in 17 universities throughout the United States participated in this online study. The main purpose of the study was to investigate acculturative stress based on students' demographics, personality, level of social connectedness, and English language competency. A hierarchical regression analysis indicated that marital status, English language competency, social connectedness, adjustment difficulties, neuroticism, and openness to experience were predictors of acculturative stress. Analysis of variance results showed that acculturative stress did not significantly differ by students' gender or age. Implications are discussed and suggestions for interventions and future research are provided. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Children's judgments of regular and irregular novel past-tense forms: New data on the English past-tense debate.

Is language governed by formal rules or by analogy to stored exemplars? The acquisition of the English past tense has long played a central role in this debate. In the present study, children rated the acceptability of a regular and an irregular past-tense form of each of 40 novel verbs (e.g., fleeped, flept) using a 5-point scale. The novel verbs were chosen to vary continuously along the orthogonal dimensions of (a) similarity to existing regular forms and (b) similarity to existing irregular forms. A developmental progression was observed whereby the acceptability of novel regulars was shown to increase as a function of similarity to existing regulars, with the magnitude of this effect increasing with age. The acceptability of novel irregulars was shown to increase as a function of similarity to existing irregulars, with no developmental changes observed. These findings are discussed in the light of 3 current models of past-tense acquisition: the single-route model (e.g., Bybee & Moder, 1983), the dual-route model (e.g., Prasada & Pinker, 1993), and the multiple-rules model (e.g., Albright & Hayes, 2003). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The intriguing role of spanish language vocabulary knowledge in predicting English reading comprehension.

This study explored a holistic model of English reading comprehension among a sample of 135 Spanish-English bilingual Latina and Latino 4th-grade students This model took into account Spanish language reading skills and language of initial literacy instruction. Controlling for language of instruction, English decoding skill, and English oral language proficiency, the authors explored the effects of Spanish language alphabetic knowledge, fluency, vocabulary knowledge, and listening comprehension on English reading comprehension. Results revealed a significant main effect for Spanish vocabulary knowledge and an interaction between Spanish vocabulary and English fluency, such that faster English readers benefited more from Spanish vocabulary knowledge than their less fluent counterparts. This study demonstrates the existence of literary skills transfer from the 1st to the 2nd language, as well as limits on such transfer. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A Cross-Linguistic Comparison of Children Learning to Read in English and Dutch.

The authors report on a cross-linguistic investigation of the reading skills of 6- to 11-year-old children of English (an opaque orthography) and of Dutch (a transparent orthography). Dutch children were relatively more accurate and faster than English children of the same age at reading words and nonwords and also faster to complete phoneme deletion tasks, but the language differences were smaller than expected and modified by age. The predictors of individual differences in reading were similar in the 2 languages; phoneme awareness (as measured by accuracy and response time measures) was a significant predictor of reading, whereas rapid naming of colors, animals, and objects was not. The authors conclude that phoneme awareness is a predictor of individual differences in reading skill in transparent as well as opaque orthographies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of pronouns in young children's acquisition of the English transitive construction.

Two studies investigating the linguistic representations underlying English-speaking 2 1/2-year-olds' production of transitive utterances are reported. The first study was a training study in which half the children heard utterances with full nouns as agent and patient, and half the children heard utterances with both pronouns (i.e., He's [verb]-ing it) and also full nouns. In subsequent testing, only children who had been trained with pronouns and nouns were able to produce a transitive utterance creatively with a nonce verb. The second study reported an analogous set of findings, but in comprehension. Together, the results of these 2 studies suggest that English-speaking children build many of their early linguistic constructions around certain specific lexical or morphological items and patterns, perhaps especially around particular pronoun configurations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The varieties of speech to young children.

This article examines caregiver speech to young children. The authors obtained several measures of the speech used to children during early language development (14-30 months). For all measures, they found substantial variation across individuals and subgroups. Speech patterns vary with caregiver education, and the differences are maintained over time. While there are distinct levels of complexity for different caregivers, there is a common pattern of increase across age within the range that characterizes each educational group. Thus, caregiver speech exhibits both long-standing patterns of linguistic behavior and adjustment for the interlocutor. This information about the variability of speech by individual caregivers provides a framework for systematic study of the role of input in language acquisition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Spoonish spanerisms: A lexical bias effect in spanish.

Lexical bias is the tendency for phonological errors to form existing words at a rate above chance. This effect has been observed in experiments and corpus analyses in Germanic languages, but S. del Viso, J. M. Igoa, and J. E. García-Albea (1991) found no effect in a Spanish corpus study. Because lexical bias plays an important role in the debate on interactivity in language production, the authors reconsidered its absence in Spanish. A corpus analysis, which considered relatively many errors and which used a method of estimating chance rate that is relatively independent of total error number, and a speech-error elicitation experiment provided converging evidence for lexical bias in Spanish. The authors conclude that the processing mechanisms underlying this effect hold cross-linguistically. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Native Spanish-Speaking Children Reading in English: Toward a Model of Comprehension.

A structural equation model of second language (L2; English) reading comprehension was tested on a sample of 135 Spanish-speaking 4th-grade English-language learners (ELLs). The model included 2 levels: decoding and oral language. English decoding measures included alphabetic knowledge and fluency. English oral language measures included vocabulary knowledge and listening comprehension. The model had reasonable goodness of fit. Decoding skills played a less predictive role than oral language proficiency. L2 listening comprehension made an independent, proximal contribution to L2 reading comprehension, whereas L2 vocabulary knowledge assumed both proximal and distal relationships with L2 reading comprehension. Results suggest that, given adequate L2 decoding ability, L2 vocabulary knowledge is crucial for improved English reading comprehension outcomes for Spanish-speaking ELLs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The development of bilingual children's early spelling in English.

By using an extended version of R. Treiman, M. Cassar, and A. Zukowski's (1994) flaps spelling task (wa_er, is it t or d in water?), the authors investigated the metalinguistic awareness of 6-year-old bilingual children from 3 different language backgrounds (LBs): English-LB (English-L1, Mandarin-L2), Chinese-LB (Mandarin-L1, English L2), and Malay-LB (Bahasa Malaysia-L1, English-L2). Treiman et al. found that unilingual English-speaking children's performance was poorer on flapped words than on control words and better on /d/ flaps than on /t/ flaps, suggesting phonology is salient even for beginners. The data for bilinguals revealed predictable group differences in the use of orthographic and phonological awareness for early spellings, even though the children were all attending the same English-medium kindergarten. Possible educational implications for linguistic minority children are briefly discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Language learning and concept acquisition: Foundational issues.

Reviews the book, Language Learning and concept acquisition: Foundational issues edited by William Demopoulos and Ausonio Marras (1986). This is a stimulating and informative book presenting various attempts to account for the highly regular nature of language acquisition. Although many of the individual chapters in this book are quite excellent, the book suffers from a lack of cohesiveness because: (1) the chapters vary tremendously in their complexity and completeness--some are written at an introductory level, whereas others assume the reader to have a highly sophisticated knowledge base; and (2) the editors make no attempt to tie the book together. There are no introductory or summary comments to the various sections in the book and, in fact, there is not even a proper foreword. This severely limits the usefulness of the book. Nevertheless, I would recommend this collection of readings to researchers and scholars in the fields of psychology, linguistics, philosophy, and the cognitive sciences. It contains many provocative ideas, and would be particularly useful to study in a seminar (or other group) setting. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cross-Modal Dynamic Capture: Congruency Effects in the Perception of Motion Across Sensory Modalities.

This study investigated multisensory interactions in the perception of auditory and visual motion. When auditory and visual apparent motion streams are presented concurrently in opposite directions, participants often fail to discriminate the direction of motion of the auditory stream, whereas perception of the visual stream is unaffected by the direction of auditory motion (Experiment 1). This asymmetry persists even when the perceived quality of apparent motion is equated for the 2 modalities (Experiment 2). Subsequently, it was found that this visual modulation of auditory motion is caused by an illusory reversal in the perceived direction of sounds (Experiment 3). This "dynamic capture" effect occurs over and above ventriloquism among static events (Experiments 4 and 5), and it generalizes to continuous motion displays (Experiment 6). These data are discussed in light of related multisensory phenomena and their support for a "modality appropriateness" interpretation of multisensory integration in motion perception. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Grammatical Gender Effects on Cognition: Implications for Language Learning and Language Use.

In 4 experiments, the authors addressed the mechanisms by which grammatical gender (in Italian and German) may come to affect meaning. In Experiments 1 (similarity judgments) and 2 (semantic substitution errors), the authors found Italian gender effects for animals but not for artifacts; Experiment 3 revealed no comparable effects in German. These results suggest that gender effects arise as a generalization from an established association between gender of nouns and sex of human referents, extending to nouns referring to sexuated entities. Across languages, such effects are found when the language allows for easy mapping between gender of nouns and sex of human referents (Italian) but not when the mapping is less transparent (German). A final experiment provided further constraints: These effects during processing arise at a lexical-semantic level rather than at a conceptual level. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stages in Chinese children's reading of English words.

Developmental stages in reading English words were examined among 118 Chinese children in Grades 2, 4, and 6 from a working-class elementary school in Tianjin, China. Proficiency in Chinese and English, ability to make orthographic analogies in both languages, and strategies in reading English words were assessed. Results suggest that Chinese children follow stages in alphabetic reading development similar to those of native English-speaking children: the prealphabetic stage, the partial alphabetic stage, and the full alphabetic stage. The use of orthographic analogy does not form a separate stage independent of the alphabetic decoding stages; rather, it is a concurrent option available to Chinese children from an early age. Children more readily made onset-vowel analogies than vowel-coda analogies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Helpful and hindering events in psychotherapy: A practice research network study.

This paper presents the findings of a psychotherapy process study conducted within the Pennsylvania Psychological Association Practice Research Network (PPA-PRN). The investigation was the product of a long-term collaborative effort, both in terms of the study design and implementation, between experienced clinicians of various theoretical orientations and full-time psychotherapy researchers. Based on a relatively large sample of clients seen in independent practice settings, close to 1,500 therapeutic events (described by clients and therapists as being particularly helpful or hindering) were collected. These events were coded by three independent observers using a therapy content analysis system. Among the findings, both clients and therapists perceived the fostering of self-awareness as being particularly helpful. The results also point to the importance of paying careful attention to the therapeutic alliance and other significant interpersonal relationships. The merits and difficulties of conducting scientifically rigorous and clinically relevant studies in naturalistic contexts are also discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Development of Reading in Children Who Speak English as a Second Language.

Patterns of reading development were examined in native English-speaking (L1) children and children who spoke English as a second language (ESL). Participants were 978 (790 L1 speakers and 188 ESL speakers) Grade 2 children involved in a longitudinal study that began in kindergarten. In kindergarten and Grade 2, participants completed standardized and experimental measures including reading, spelling, phonological processing, and memory. All children received phonological awareness instruction in kindergarten and phonics instruction in Grade 1. By the end of Grade 2, the ESL speakers' reading skills were comparable to those of L1 speakers, and ESL speakers even outperformed L1 speakers on several measures. The findings demonstrate that a model of early identification and intervention for children at risk is beneficial for ESL speakers and also suggest that the effects of bilingualism on the acquisition of early reading skills are not negative and may be positive. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age of acquisition: Its neural and computational mechanisms.

The acquisition of new skills over a life span is a remarkable human ability. This ability, however, is constrained by age of acquisition (AoA); that is, the age at which learning occurs significantly affects the outcome. This is most clearly reflected in domains such as language, music, and athletics. This article provides a perspective on the neural and computational mechanisms underlying AoA in language acquisition. The authors show how AoA modulates both monolingual lexical processing and bilingual language acquisition. They consider the conditions under which syntactic processing and semantic processing may be differentially sensitive to AoA effects in second-language acquisition. The authors conclude that AoA effects are pervasive and that the neural and computational mechanisms underlying learning and sensorimotor integration provide a general account of these effects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

浅析二语习得者英语写作中的负迁移现象

针对中国二语习得者在写作过程中出现的“中国式英语”现象,站在语言负迁移的角度,从词汇,句法,篇章层面剖析了这一现象出现的原因,并提出了解决策略。     

Effect of Asynchronous Earthquake Motion on Complex Bridges. I: Methodology and Input Motion

Based on observed damage patterns from previous earthquakes and a rich history of analytical studies, asynchronous input motion has been identified as a major source of unfavorable response for long-span structures, such as bridges. This study is aimed at quantifying the effect of geometric incoherence and wave arrival delay on complex straight and curved bridges using state-of-the-art methodologies and tools. Using fully parametrized computer codes combining expert geotechnical and earthquake structural engineering knowledge, suites of asynchronous accelerograms are produced for use in inelastic dynamic analysis of the bridge model. Two multi-degree-of-freedom analytical models are analyzed using 2,000 unique synthetic accelerograms with results showing significant response amplification due to asynchronous input motion, demonstrating the importance of considering asynchronous seismic input in complex, irregular bridge design. The paper, Part 1 of a two-paper investigation, presents the development of the input motion sets and the modeling and analysis approach employed, concluding with sample results. Detailed results and implications on seismic assessment are presented in the companion paper: Effect of Asynchronous Motion on Complex Bridges. Part II: Results and Implications on Assessment.     

Overgeneral autobiographical memory and traumatic events: An evaluative review.

Does trauma exposure impair retrieval of autobiographical memories? Many theorists have suggested that the reduced ability to access specific memories of life events, termed overgenerality, is a protective mechanism helping attenuate painful emotions associated with trauma. The authors addressed this question by reviewing 24 studies that assessed trauma exposure and overgenerality, examining samples with posttraumatic stress disorder, acute stress disorder, depression, traumatic event exposure, and other clinical disorders. Limitations are discussed, including variations in assessment of events, depression, and overgenerality and the need for additional comparison groups. Across studies, there was no consistent association between trauma exposure and overgenerality, suggesting that trauma exposure is unlikely to be the primary mechanism leading to overgenerality. Instead, psychopathology factors such as depression and posttraumatic stress appear to be more consistently associated with overgenerality. Alternative overgenerality theories may help identify key overgenerality mechanisms, improving current understanding of autobiographical memory processes underlying psychopathology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)