William Wilson and Dr. Deryle Lonsdale, Linguistics Department Main Text Accurate and reliable L2 testing (or second language testing) is something that many entities rely on, including educational institutions, business enterprises, and the government. Researchers over the last several decades have proposed new testing methods, and a particularly promising venue is Elicited Imitation (EI). Simply […]
A Corpus-Based Evaluation of Usage Advice from the CSE and Chicago Style Manuals
Shelsea van Ornum and Professor Doris Dant, Linguistics and English Language Main Text Writers and editors are constantly faced with decisions about usage (the actual use of language), as opposed to grammar (the theoretical structure of language). To help writers and editors make these decisions, various organizations and language authorities have compiled manuals and handbooks that […]
The Problem with Chicago’s Possessives
Betsy Snider and Professor Doris Dant, Linguistics and English Language Main text American English has no official language rules; rather, it has guidelines of what is acceptable and what is not. These guidelines, or prescriptions, are found in grammar books such as usage books, dictionaries, and style guides. Grammar books are created and maintained by editors […]
Critical Factors in Standard English Acquisition
Adam Prestidge and Dr. William Eggington, Linguistics and English Language The ability to acquire Standard English is requisite for upward mobility in the United States. As English-language-learners are able to acquire command of a higher code, society rewards them with greater opportunities for success. For people who immigrate to the United States from Mexico, this […]
How do the Frequency of Prosodic Errors in the Speech of Non-Native English Speakers Influence Comprehensibility Ratings Given by Native Speakers of English?
Jonathan Porter and Dr. Mark Tanner Purpose The purpose of this project was to identify the degree to which prosodic features in English (primarily pausing, word stress, and sentence-final pitch) influence native speakers (NS) comprehensibility of non-native speech. Identifying the extent to which particular features of speech influence comprehensibility could have major ramifications on the […]
Text Messaging: An Analysis of Concise Strategies of Politeness
Jessica Evans and Dr. Wendy Baker, Linguistics and English Language Introduction The findings of this study have both theoretical and practical implications. Theoretically, this study helps in expanding our understanding of how new mediums such as texting differ from traditional forms of speech and writing (Baron, 2008). One of the important practical implications of this […]
The Etymologies of Noah Webster: Ridiculous or Revolutionary?
Dallin Bailey and Dr. Cynthia Hallen, Linguistics and English Language Main Text In addition to priceless definition writing, the famed lexicographer, Noah Webster, spent over a decade in research for the etymologies, or word origins, in his dictionary. Unfortunately, scholars and biographers often criticize his etymological work in the literature. The trend in these criticisms […]
Providing Corrective Feedback to Second Language Writers: What are Educators Currently Doing?
Emily B. Allen and Professor Norman Evans, Linguistics and English Language Main Text Demosthenes, a Greek orator and statesman, affirmed that “small opportunities are often the beginning of great enterprises.” I feel that my receipt of an ORCA grant has been one such small opportunity which has been the beginning of many great enterprises for me […]
Marshallese Corpus Project: The Marshallese Language Resource
Marco Mora Huizar and Dr. Heather Willson, Department of Linguistics and English Language The purpose of the Marshallese Corpus Project (MCP) is to create an extensive online corpus of Marshallese language texts to be used for research and other applications. Currently, there is a severe lack of resources for the study of the Marshallese language, […]
Judeo-Spanish in Thessaloniki: A Survey of the Speakers of the Dialect Today
Randall Craig Meister and Dr. David Eddington, Department of Linguistics and English Language “Pero Salonik no kanta mas1,” said an elderly speaker of Judeo-‐Spanish in Thessaloniki, as she reflected with me during a discussion concerning her life as a Sephardic Jew after World War II. This expression embodies the historical and cultural awareness of the […]