This is a list of some recent research of mine. Other work listed in my CV is available upon request. Please contact me for permission before using or distributing these materials.
Effects of distal prosody on novel word segmentation: A comparison of native and non-native English speakers
Co-authors: Carolyn Kroger, J. Devin McAuley
PDF: The latest version is available as a presentation at GALANA 2018.
Abstract: Research has found that, in addition to local prosodic cues occurring at or adjacent to a word boundary, prosodic temporal and pitch patterning in the distal (nonlocal) context also affects segmentation of (known or novel) lexical items (Dilley & McAuley, 2008; Morrill et al., 2015). The current study used an artificial language paradigm to examine the role of distal prosody in novel word segmentation for native and non-native English speakers. Participants initially heard a list of 12 disyllabic (target) words in a made-up language. They then listened to short utterances and reported how well (on a six-point scale) they heard target words that were either present or absent in the utterance. Native English speakers better recognized target words in congruent prosodic contexts than in incongruent contexts; in contrast, non-native English speakers did not show a congruency effect. Results suggest that although native English speakers use distal prosodic cues to group syllables into words, non-native English speakers seem to ‘ignore’ these cues, effectively recognizing the target words in both the congruent and incongruent conditions. Current work is considering how different linguistic backgrounds may influence individuals’ word recognition strategy for novel target words in artificial language paradigms.
Interactions between definiteness and number: Vietnamese children’s comprehension of definites
Co-authors: Hannah Forsythe, Cristina Schmitt
PDF: The latest version is available as a paper in the proceedings of BUCLD 42.
Abstract: Studies on children’s comprehension of definite DPs suggests that definiteness is difficult to acquire. However, most work has focused on languages with definite determiners and grammaticalized number. Vietnamese realizes number and definiteness in a different way: nouns are underspecified for both properties, addition of a classifier triggers a definite singular interpretation, and a classifier and pluralizer together trigger a definite plural interpretation.
We replicate an act-out task from Munn et al. (2006) testing comprehension of plural and singular definites by Vietnamese children ages 3 to 7. Contra results from English and Spanish, Vietnamese children make few definiteness errors, instead struggling with number. We argue that this difference arises from how children integrate number and definiteness when the task is difficult. Children acquiring languages with definite determiners and grammatical number (English, Spanish) sacrifice definiteness in favor of number, while those acquiring languages like Vietnamese prioritize definiteness, resulting in number errors.
Interactions between definiteness and number: The case of Vietnamese acquisition
PDF: The latest version is available as a manuscript.
Brief summary: Testing 42 Vietnamese speaking children (aged 2;7-5;7; mean 4;5) in an act out task, we have found that Vietnamese children know the interpretation of [Classifier-Noun] earlier than the pluralizers những/các and show a clear developmental pattern over time in their comprehension of the three NP types. Also, while the status of những is a controversial issue in the literature of Vietnamese linguistics, our results offer empirical evidence that những, like các, is treated as a definite.
Plurality in classifier languages: A view from Vietnamese pluralizers
Co-author: Cristina Schmitt
PDF: The latest version is available as a paper in the proceedings of BLS 42 (p. 153-74).
Brief summary: Within UG framework and DM approach, we develop an analysis that could account for the syntactic and (begin to account) for the semantic properties (especially the definite features) of the two Vietnamese lexical pluralizers những and các.
Effects of distal prosody on novel word segmentation: A comparison of native and non-native English speakers
Co-authors: Carolyn Kroger, J. Devin McAuley
PDF: The latest version is available as a presentation at GALANA 2018.
Abstract: Research has found that, in addition to local prosodic cues occurring at or adjacent to a word boundary, prosodic temporal and pitch patterning in the distal (nonlocal) context also affects segmentation of (known or novel) lexical items (Dilley & McAuley, 2008; Morrill et al., 2015). The current study used an artificial language paradigm to examine the role of distal prosody in novel word segmentation for native and non-native English speakers. Participants initially heard a list of 12 disyllabic (target) words in a made-up language. They then listened to short utterances and reported how well (on a six-point scale) they heard target words that were either present or absent in the utterance. Native English speakers better recognized target words in congruent prosodic contexts than in incongruent contexts; in contrast, non-native English speakers did not show a congruency effect. Results suggest that although native English speakers use distal prosodic cues to group syllables into words, non-native English speakers seem to ‘ignore’ these cues, effectively recognizing the target words in both the congruent and incongruent conditions. Current work is considering how different linguistic backgrounds may influence individuals’ word recognition strategy for novel target words in artificial language paradigms.
Interactions between definiteness and number: Vietnamese children’s comprehension of definites
Co-authors: Hannah Forsythe, Cristina Schmitt
PDF: The latest version is available as a paper in the proceedings of BUCLD 42.
Abstract: Studies on children’s comprehension of definite DPs suggests that definiteness is difficult to acquire. However, most work has focused on languages with definite determiners and grammaticalized number. Vietnamese realizes number and definiteness in a different way: nouns are underspecified for both properties, addition of a classifier triggers a definite singular interpretation, and a classifier and pluralizer together trigger a definite plural interpretation.
We replicate an act-out task from Munn et al. (2006) testing comprehension of plural and singular definites by Vietnamese children ages 3 to 7. Contra results from English and Spanish, Vietnamese children make few definiteness errors, instead struggling with number. We argue that this difference arises from how children integrate number and definiteness when the task is difficult. Children acquiring languages with definite determiners and grammatical number (English, Spanish) sacrifice definiteness in favor of number, while those acquiring languages like Vietnamese prioritize definiteness, resulting in number errors.
Interactions between definiteness and number: The case of Vietnamese acquisition
PDF: The latest version is available as a manuscript.
Brief summary: Testing 42 Vietnamese speaking children (aged 2;7-5;7; mean 4;5) in an act out task, we have found that Vietnamese children know the interpretation of [Classifier-Noun] earlier than the pluralizers những/các and show a clear developmental pattern over time in their comprehension of the three NP types. Also, while the status of những is a controversial issue in the literature of Vietnamese linguistics, our results offer empirical evidence that những, like các, is treated as a definite.
Plurality in classifier languages: A view from Vietnamese pluralizers
Co-author: Cristina Schmitt
PDF: The latest version is available as a paper in the proceedings of BLS 42 (p. 153-74).
Brief summary: Within UG framework and DM approach, we develop an analysis that could account for the syntactic and (begin to account) for the semantic properties (especially the definite features) of the two Vietnamese lexical pluralizers những and các.