Linguistics Final

The phonological loop helps us to...

capture our earliest exposure to hearing new words in our second language

Which one of the following language learning settings will most completely allow you to choose your study materials and your times you want to study?

autodidactic setting

One advantage that adults have over children in acquiring language is ___.

control over the learning environment

Who is most likely to employ a tactile-gestural modality for linguistic communication?

People who are deaf and blind

In English, we don't say the sounds [g] and [d] together at the start of a word. What strategies might we expect an English speaker to use when first trying to say the Polish word gdakać (meaning "cackle")? which begins with the consonant cluster [gd]? There are two correct answers. You must select BOTH to get full credit.

- Deleting the first of the two sounds: "dak-atch" - Inserting a vowel in between the two sounds: "guh-dak-atch"

In English, we don't say the sounds [g] and [n] together at the start of a word (remember that sounds are different than spelling!). Which two strategies would we expect an English speaker to use when saying the German word "Gnitze" (gnat)? There are TWO correct answers to this question. You should mark both.

- Inserting a vowel in between the two sounds: "guh-nitz-uh" - Deleting one of the two sounds: "nitz-uh"

Which of the following describe typical differences between language acquisition and language learning? SELECT ALL THAT APPLY.

- Learning requires conscious effort, while acquisition is done through unconscious effort. - Acquisition takes place in a natural environment, while learning takes place in a controlled environment. - Acquisition of language components takes place in a naturally determined order, whereas learning of language components takes place in an order determined by a planned out set of learning goals.

If I have a list of 15 words, what strategies should I employ in learning those words? Choose ALL of the answers that are effective language-learning techniques.

- Make myself flash cards and test myself on the words - Say the words out loud as I study them. - Go through the same words again and again. Repetition will help with learning. - Draw pictures of the words I am learning.

A native English speaker is learning a language that allows the cluster [mn] at the start of a syllable, a cluster that is not allowed to start syllables in English. What are some good strategies for learning how to produce that cluster? There are two correct answers. You must select BOTH to get full credit.

- Paying close attention to avoid inserting an extra vowel between the two sounds. - Practicing producing those sounds together in a place where they are allowed in English- like between two words.

Which of the following are potential advantages of multilingualism? Select ALL answers that apply.

- Superior performance in reading social cues - Lower chance of acquiring dementia in old age - Superior impulse control - faster recovery from certain kinds of brain injury

The three features that we use to describe pulmonic consonants are...

- Voicing - place of articulation - manner of articulation

The three features that we use to distinguish the vowel sounds of English are...

- jaw height - frontness - rounding

Arrange the given English speech sounds from least sonorant to most sonorant.

1 (least sonorant) - [d] as in dog 2 - [v] as in vixen 3 - [n] as in nibble 4 (most sonorant) - [j] as in yes

About what percentage of people in the world are multi-lingual?

70%

Here is the inventory of vowel sounds in Turkish, predominantly spoken in Turkey. Based on the information in this chart and your knowledge of English vowels, what can you conclude?

A Turkish speaker learning English may have difficulty learning to distinguish between vowel heights.

Many errors in children's language acquisition involve overgeneralization. All of the following are examples of overgeneralization except for which one? (In other words, which of the following is NOT an example of overgeneralization in a child acquiring English?)

A child mispronounces the word vegetable and instead says "begetable"

The Hizaji Arabic word for "turtles" is: سلاحف It is pronounced like this. [ salaːħif ] A. Give two ways that you might mispronounce this word. B. For each of the ways that you identified in A, explain why you might make that pronunciation error. C. For each of the ways that you identified in A, explain (based on what we've talked about in class) how you would go about learning to produce the word correctly. (Explain a strategy for getting the correct pronunciation in the first place. Do not just say "practice")

A. I might mispronounce the word by making the vowel sound [æ] instead of [a]. I might also mispronounce the word by making the sound [h] instead of [ħ]. B. Both of these are examples of mispronouncing individual sounds. I may mistake the sound for a sound in English, or I might recognize that the sound is new but not know how to produce it with my mouth. C. To learn to produce [a], I would begin by producing [æ] and lower my jaw slightly. To learn to produce [ħ], I would begin by producing [h] and constrict the airflow slightly more forward in my mouth in order to produce a voiceless pharyngeal fricative rather than a voiceless glottal fricative.

Here is the consonant inventory for Bengali (a language spoken in Bangladesh). (Note that this chart is not arranged in exactly the same way as the the official IPA chart, but it is very similar, and the row and column labels match those that you are familiar with.) Choose one sound that is used in Bengali but not in English. We recommend that you look at the chart of English sounds at the back of your book to remind yourself of which speech sounds are used in English. There are several options of sounds that are used in Bengali and not English, but you should only pick one!! A. Describe the sound. (Tell the three features that identify the sound that you have chosen.) B. Explain how English speakers might learn to produce that sound, based on a sound they already know.

A. The sound I have chosen is a voiceless palatal fricative. B. English speakers might learn to produce this sound by making the sound [s], a voiceless alveolar fricative, and moving the point of contact of their tongue back in their mouth to produce a palatal sound rather than an alveolar sound. NOTE: (As an aside, starting with English's post-alveolar fricative would make a more natural point than the alveolar fricative, right?)

The following is the name "Ammi'ammar": 800px-Panel_Almaqah_Louvre_DAO18.jpg It is read right-to-left and contains four separate symbols which stand for m-'-m-r. Given this information, how would you best characterize this writing system?

Abjad

The following is the word [semkat], which is the name of the letter that makes the [s] sound. nabataean.png It is read right-to-left and contains four separate symbols which stand for s-m-k-t. Given this information, how would you best categorize this writing system?

Abjad

The following is the word [nūpur]: Hindi - nūpur.png It contains three consonant symbols. The first two consonants have vowel diacritics attached to them. These symbols stand for nū-pu-r. Given this information, how would you best characterize this writing system?

Abugida

Which of the following components of language is the most difficult part to master in a second language?

All aspects of language learning can be relatively easier or more complex in different ways. In any language learning experience, you are likely to find aspects of each component of the language easy, and other aspects difficult.

The following is the word [talgida], meaning "carved". These are seven separate symbols which stand for t-a-l-g-i-d-a. Given this information, how would you best categorize this writing system?

Alphabet

Amharic is one of the main languages spoken in Ethiopia. All four of the answer choices give true information about ways that Amharic differs from English. Given that all of them are true, which one is likely to cause the most difficulty for an English speaker learning to pronounce Amharic?

Amharic has ejective consonants.

When do children first begin to acquire information about their native language?

Before birth, by hearing the language spoken in the environment around their mothers

Which of the following describes errors that children and adults make when they are working on a new language?

Both children and adults make errors at all levels of linguistic structure.

What is the syllable structure of the word "taught"? (Remember that syllable structure is determined by sounds, not spelling.)

CVC

What is the syllable structure of the English word "chord"? (Remember that syllable structure is determined by sounds, not spelling.)

CVCC

What is the syllable structure of the word jumped? (Remember that syllable structure is determined by sounds, not spelling.)

CVCCC

Cherokee is an Iroquoian language spoken by the Cherokee people of North America. All four of the answer choices give true information about ways that Cherokee differs from English. Given that all of them are true, which one is likely to cause the most difficulty for an English speaker learning to pronounce Cherokee?

Cherokee has six tones.

In class, we discussed many different stages for language development and the ages at which children reach these stages. Which of the following is a correct explanation of the relationship between the ages and stages?

Children go through the stages of language development in the same order, but there is wide variation in exactly what age an individual child enters and leaves each stage. Some variation is no cause for concern.

Adults often make errors in their second language for which of the following reasons?

Differences between patterns in the first language and patterns in the second language.

Which of the following is true about diphthongs?

Diphthongs happen when two vowels are pronounced right next to each other so that speakers perceive them as being only one vowel, like in the English words my and wow.

Imagine a child who is acquiring English and is at the two-word stage of language learning. The child has a dog, and the dog leaves the room. An older child might describe that situation by saying, "The doggy is gone!" but a child at the two-word stage can't produce a long sentence like that. What is this younger child most likely to say instead?

Doggy gone!

When is the easiest time to acquire a language?

During the critical period of development.

The Spanish word que and the English letter name K (kay) are pronounced very similarly, but there is a slight difference in the pronunciation of the first consonant. Match the word to the correct pronunciation.

English "K" - [k^hej] Spanish "que" - [ke]

What best describes the phonotactic rules for syllable structure of English?

English allows many kinds of syllables, with varying numbers of consonants at beginning and end.

Consider the vowel indicated by the symbol [Y]. (Look at your IPA chart in order to identify what sound is indicated by that symbol!) A native English speaker is likely to have trouble with this vowel for which of the following reasons?

English does not have any front rounded vowels.

Here is a vowel chart of the vowel sounds in Hebrew. Based on this chart as well as your knowledge about English vowels, which can you conclude?

English has more vowel heights than Hebrew.

Which of the following correctly describes use of long vowels and nasal vowels in English?

English speakers produce both long vowels and nasal vowels, but English does not use vowel length or vowel nasality to determine the meaning of a word.

Which of the following is correct about reading words in the writing system of a language you are studying?

Even languages written using very similar writing systems typically don't use them the same way, so students often experience interference errors in reading in their second language.

Suppose that you want to learn a new language because the company you work for has an office in a foreign country, and in order to do your job, you need to be able to use the materials produced by the employees in that office. In this situation, your motivation is

Extrinsic and Instrumental

True or false: Multilingual children perform worse in school than monolingual children do.

False. We have no strong evidence that multilingual children do either better or worse than monolingual children in school.

How long has multilingualism been prevalent in human society?

For hundreds of thousands of years. Even the earliest hunter gatherer communities were most likely multilingual.

Here are two signs in Turkish Sign Language. On the left you see a sign that means 'smart' and on the right you see a sign that means 'foolish' or 'not smart.' (In the pictures, the white arrows indicate how the hand moves during the sign.) These signs are very similar, but they differ in one key way. Which of these is the main difference between these two signs?

Hand orientation

In Korean, there is a distinction between [t] (as in [tal] "moon") and [tʰ] (as in [tʰal] "mask"). Which would we expect to be difficult for an English speaker learning to speak Korean? We would expect an English speaker learning Korean to...

Have difficulty learning to produce [tal] correctly.

In Hawaiian, the English word "Christmas" was borrowed as "Kalikimaka". This is because...

Hawaiian has fewer sounds than English, and doesn't have all the sounds in the English word "Christmas"

Suppose that your motivation for language learning is strongly integrative. Which of the following language learning settings is most likely to work well with your motivation?

Immersion language learning

When do children reach the stage of having fully complex adult command of their native language?

In the late teenage years

Select a language that you have studied in the past. Explain why you studied that language, and, depending on the reason you give, tell whether your motivation was intrinsic, extrinsic, instrumental, or integrative.

In the past, I studied French. I chose French because I had to take three years of either French or Spanish to graduate high school with honors, and if I took French, I got to go to France! My motivation was extrinsic and instrumental.

We have discussed the fact that different languages are relatively more complex and less complex in many different ways. Keeping that idea in mind, which of the following is the best description of sound systems in the world's languages?

Languages differ wildly in how many sounds they have, with some languages having fewer than 15 sounds, and others having more than 150 sounds.

Which of the following statements best describes the ways that language is stored and processed in the brain?

Linguistic processing takes place in language centers in the left side of the brain.

You have the sound [g] in a language you already speak. Imagine that you want to learn to produce the sound [ɣ]. Which of these directions will help you? (Be sure to look at the IPA chart to help remind yourself about how each of these sounds is articulated.)

Make a [g], but push air through a narrow space instead of stopping it.

You have the sound [k] in your language. You want to learn to produce the sound [c]. Which of these directions will help you? (Be sure to look at the IPA chart to help remind yourself about how each of these sounds is articulated.)

Make a [k], but then push your tongue forward in the mouth.

Suppose that you are learning a language that has the [ɯ] sound, but your native language does not have this sound. (Look at your IPA chart to see the properties of the [ɯ] sound!) Suppose that your native language does have [u] and [æ]. Which set of instructions will help you figure out how to produce this new sound?

Make a [u] sound, and then spread your lips.

Give two important features of a good dictionary, as described in Chapter 4 of the textbook, and tell why each feature is important. [Note that while you are welcome to look at the book when writing your answer, you may not quote directly from the book. In order to receive credit for this question, you must explain ideas in your own way in order to demonstrate understanding.]

One important feature of a good dictionary is that the dictionary you're using is fairly recent. Words will inevitably change and evolve over time in any language. Even as a native English speaker, I'd probably have a hard time understanding a dictionary from 1800; and if I was using that dictionary to learn English words, people would likely have a hard time understanding some of the words I learned because they're no longer in use in society. Another important feature of a good dictionary is the inclusion of the pronunciation of words. Many languages don't follow the same rules for how to pronounce certain arrangements of letters, and some languages have sets of letters that you may not be familiar with. For example, it would be important for someone learning English to be able to see how to pronounce the sound that the letter combination "sh" makes.

What airstream do the majority of speech sounds in human languages use?

Pulmonic

Which of these language processing tasks is performed in Broca's area in the brain?

Putting words in the correct order

Although we wouldn't want to say that some languages are absolutely easier or harder to learn than any other language, it does seem to be true that certain languages are easier to learn based on your native language. All of these are reasons why it is easier to learn a language related to your native language except for which one? (In other words, you should choose the option that is NOT a reason it is easier to learn a language related to your native language.)

Related languages are likely to have the same rules for spelling.

As we saw, there are hundreds of signed languages that are used in communities all around the world. Which of the following descriptions best explains how signed languages are related to spoken languages?

Signed languages and spoken languages are both organized in the same ways and according to the same principles. The only structural difference is that we use different features to describe the articulations of signed languages and the articulations of spoken languages.

Which of the following is true about vowel length?

Some languages use vowel length to determine the meaning of a word.

Which of the following is a correct statement about lexical knowledge?

Speakers of a language typically have receptive knowledge of more words than they have productive knowledge of.

The following is the word [tahaye]: Screen Shot 2017-09-26 at 5.15.42 PM.png These are three separate symbols which stand for ta-ha-ye. Given this information, how would you best characterize this writing system?

Syllabary

Which of the following is the best correct description of the IPA (international phonetic alphabet)?

The IPA is a system that uses symbols and diacritics to uniquely describe each sound that has been attested in human language.

One of the challenges that children face in acquiring their first language is that they are still developing cognitive capacity. Which of the following kinds of errors indicates that the child may have limited cognitive resources for language production?

The child uses shortened sentences, for example saying "Daddy cookie mouth" instead of saying "Daddy has a cookie in his mouth."

When we did the cereal names exercise, we came up with a number of possible English syllable onsets. Here are some of the ones that we came up with: [ bl ] [ kɹ ] [ fɹ ] [ tw ] [ tɹ ] [ fl ] [ bɹ ] [ gɹ ] [ kw ] What is one generalization that can we draw from these data?

The first consonant in a cluster must be less sonorant than the second.

Vibration in speech sounds originates in...

The glottis

It is possible to learn a new language without learning the writing system for that language. However, learning the writing system can be helpful in some situations. Which of the following is a reason that it can be important to know about a language's writing system when you are using a dictionary?

The language you're studying may have a writing system that is organized in a different manner than your native language's writing system, and you need to be familiar with the order that the symbols will appear in the dictionary in order to look words up.

How many words do you have to have in your productive vocabulary in order to become a proficient user of a language?

The number of words that most people use in day-to-day conversation, about 2,000

When making a nasal vowel, like in French, which of the following is occurring?

The velum is relaxed, allowing air to pass through both the oral cavity and the nasal cavity.

Phonation is the earliest stage of speech sound production in infants. What do infants do during phonation?

They begin to learn to correlate particular mouth movements with the sounds that those mouth movements make.

How would you best describe the difference between the sounds [n] and [z]?

They differ in manner, but not in place or voicing.

How would you best describe the difference between the sounds [β] and [ɸ]?

They differ in voicing, but not in place or manner.

Consider these two words: madder, matter How do the pronunciations of these two words differ in American English?

They don't differ.

In class, we watched a video of two young children at the canonical babbling stage of language development (7 - 10 months). What behavior did they show us that is typical of canonical babbling?

They repeat the same syllables over and over, practicing the same consonant-vowel pairs repeatedly.

What does the position of the velum tell you about this vowel?

This is an oral vowel.

One of the suggestions we discussed in class for learning words in a new language is to put signs with the words you want to learn around your home, for example, giving your dog a sign on his collar with the word for 'dog,' labeling your window with the word for 'window' and so on. What about this strategy helps lead to successful word learning?

This strategy engages visualization, or creating a mental image of the word, and association, or connecting words to experiences. These are both ways to help move knowledge from short-term to long-term memory. Additionally, it is important to engage as many of your senses as possible when learning new words. This creates a multi-sensory experience. You are able to see what the word means, hear the word if you say it out loud, and even touch the item.

As we discussed in class, different languages allow different kinds of syllable onsets. Here are some of the syllable onsets allowed in Polish. (This list is not complete, but it is enough to draw correct conclusions about Polish onsets.) [st] [vd] [zb] [zg] [kt] [db] [tk] [pt] [zv] [fx] [vz] [ʂf] [bʑ] [gʐ] [pʂ] [kɕ] Based on this data and your knowledge of English, which of the following claims is correct?

Unlike English, Polish allows syllable onset clusters with two fricatives.

Imagine that you want to learn a language but that you have a very restrictive schedule and unpredictable free time that you can devote to work on language learning. Which of the following is most likely to be a good fit for your needs?

Using an online language learning program

English has the speech sound [ð] at the beginning of words like "this" and "that." However, many languages don't have this speech sound. Native French speakers learning to speak English often replace [ð] with [z]: "zis" and "zat." Native Hebrew speakers learning to speak English often replace [ð] with [d]: "dis" and "dat." What can you conclude?

When they are learning to speak English, French and Hebrew speakers both make pronunciation errors based on interference from their native languages.

One language learning technique is to make your own study lists with pictures illustrating the words you are learning. All of the following are reasons that this technique is likely to help you learn new vocabulary except for which one? (In other words, select the one that is NOT a reason that study lists with pictures will help you to learn new words.)

You can use this study message on your own without interacting with anyone else

Match the following IPA transcriptions to the correct English spelling. (Three of the IPA transcriptions are for English words, and two are not transcriptions of English words.)

[fɪŋgəɹ] - finger [fɪgjəɹ] - figure [fɪngər] - this is not a word in english [fɪkʃən] - fiction [fɪgəɹ] - this is not a word in english

Pick the symbol that correctly identifies the sound being produced in this picture.

[i]

A native English speaker is learning a language that contains the sound [q], a sound that does not exist in English. Which of these sounds will this speaker be most likely to produce instead of [q]?

[k]

In English, speakers reduce unstressed vowels. Imagine an English speaker who is learning Japanese. Based on interference, how would we expect the English speaker to mispronounce the Japanese word for "strangely," [kuɕi̥kumo] ? Look carefully to see what the difference are between the answer choices.

[kəɕəkumo]

Look at the image above. Based on the positions of the articulators, select the symbol that correctly identifies the sound being produced by the speaker in this picture.

[s]

When a doctor wants to look at a patient's tonsils, the doctor will often say, "Say Ah!" in order to see down the patient's throat better. Which IPA symbol shows the best sound to make in order to let the doctor look down your throat? (Think about what you would have to do with your articulators in order to make each of these sounds.)

[ɑ]

Match each of the three major types of writing system with the unit that its symbols represent.

alphabet - sounds syllabary - syllables Meaning-based (Logographic) system - words

Speech sounds that are produced when a narrow stream of air is forced between two articulators in the vocal tract are called

fricatives

I hope that you have a lot of fun in this course while you are learning about language learning! That means I hope that you are...

intrinsically motivated to be successful in the class.

What do the following sounds have in common? [ʊ] [Y] [œ] [ɔ]

lip shape

What do these sounds have in common? [ʃ] [ʒ] [ɸ] [ʕ]

manner of articulation

Describe the vowel being produced in this picture

mid-high back vowel

Look at the image above. Based on the positions of the articulators, what is the manner of articulation of the sound being produced by the speaker in the picture?

nasal

What do the following sounds have in common? [g] [ɣ] [L] [x]

place of articulation

Imagine that you are a member of a choir. Your choir is learning a song in Italian, a language which you do not speak. Your choir director speaks a line of the song aloud to you, and you repeat the line back, even though you don't understand what it meant. Why are you able to do so?

the phonological loop

The phonotactics of German require that all stops and fricatives at the end of words are voiceless. Imagine a German speaker learning to speak English. Based on interference from German, how would you expect this German speaker to pronounce the English word "dog"?

the way English speakers pronounce "dock"

Tell how many speech sounds are in each English word.

tooth - 3 string - 5 cough - 3 knee - 2

Look at the image above. Based on the positions of the articulators, select the description that correctly describes the sound being produced by the speaker in this image.

voiced palatal stop

Africates are...

when two consonant sounds are perceived by speakers as one consonant sound, like the first sound in the English word joy