In order to find out more about figure-ground relationships in motion events, the central question for this study was whether describing a figure-ground motion event influences the degree to which...Show moreIn order to find out more about figure-ground relationships in motion events, the central question for this study was whether describing a figure-ground motion event influences the degree to which participants remember a video. Choi, Goller, Hong, Ansorge and Yun (2018) found a difference between German and Korean speakers with regard to how they encode different aspects of figure-ground relationships in their speech. This study aims to build on the findings of Choi et al. (2018) and make a small contribution to the question how figure-ground relationships are encoded in speakers’ minds in different languages. To investigate this, 54 target videos were created, divided over 9 different categories that all depicted a different motion type. Two versions of each video were created, one depicting a canonical direction of motion and the other a reverse direction. In the first part of the experiment, the description task, two groups of participants were given a different task. The motion description group (18 participants, L1 Dutch, 16 participants L2 English, 2 participants L2 French, Bulgarian and/or Japanese) was asked to describe the motions they saw in a video, the object description group (24 participants, L1 Dutch, L2 English, 10 participants L2 French, German, Italian and/or Swedish) got the task to describe the objects. Participants filled out a language background questionnaire during part two, the intermission, and in part three, the recall task, participants from both groups had to judge whether they had seen a video during the first part or not. For each category in the recall task there were 2 true videos (videos participants had seen before in the description task) and 4 deviant videos (videos they had not seen before in the description task). A repeated measures ANOVA was conducted for which proportion correct, category type, exposure status (true or deviant), canonicity (canonical or reverse) and participant group (motion or object description) were entered as variables. The results showed that while there was no difference between the groups, there were differences between the put over/under category and the hook category, the put on loose support and the put through category, the put on tight attachment and put through, and the put through and hook category, and whether the videos were true or deviant. I conclude that these factors influence the amount of correct judgments the participants make and discuss what the implications for these conclusions might be in the context of the influence of language on cognition.Show less
The present study explored the attitudes of secondary school teachers and non-teachers towards different degrees of Dutch-accented English and whether there was a difference in attitudes between...Show moreThe present study explored the attitudes of secondary school teachers and non-teachers towards different degrees of Dutch-accented English and whether there was a difference in attitudes between these groups. In addition to this, it investigated whether there were certain pronunciation features that would lead to a lower grade. This was tested through an online survey consisting of two parts, namely a listening task and an open-ended question. The listening task asked the participants to grade a total of twelve recordings on a scale from 1 to 10 and to motivate their answer as to why they gave a certain grade. The recordings consisted of two native speakers and ten speakers with different degrees of Dutch accentedness. The degree of accentedness was determined by three people who had listened to the recordings beforehand and these recordings were then categorized into three different groups based on the degree of accentedness. These three groups consisted of (1) native speakers/light Dutch-accented English, (2) medium-Dutch accented English, and (3) heavy Dutch-accented English. The survey ended with an open-ended question which asked the participants wat they thought was the most important aspect to be taught when teaching a foreign language. The results showed that teachers graded most of the recordings (77.8%) higher than the non-teachers, though there was only a small difference. Furthermore, the results showed that both the teachers’ and non-teachers’ grades were lower for the medium- and heavy-accented Dutch Englishes than they were for the native speakers/lightly-accented Dutch Englishes. When asked why a certain grade was given, however, pronunciation only came up 25.8% of the time in the teachers’ answers and only 16.4% of the time in the non-teachers’ answers. A similar pattern was found in the open-ended question, where pronunciation as an important aspect of language learning came up 21.4% of the time in the teachers’ answers and 26.8% in the non-teachers’ answers.Show less
This study aims to clarify the general attitudes of Dutch people towards the usage of anglicisms in Dutch. To this end the function and presence of anglicisms in Dutch are analysed, followed by the...Show moreThis study aims to clarify the general attitudes of Dutch people towards the usage of anglicisms in Dutch. To this end the function and presence of anglicisms in Dutch are analysed, followed by the creation and distribution of a survey that presents ten frequently used anglicisms in Dutch. The results of the survey display an overall neutral stance towards the presence and usage of anglicisms in Dutch, with some interesting outcomes considering the age, education level, and province of origin of the participants.Show less
Word-final clusters have been reported to develop earlier than word-initial clusters for children learning English (Kirk & Demuth, 2005),German (Lleo & Prinz, 1996), and Dutch (Levelt, et...Show moreWord-final clusters have been reported to develop earlier than word-initial clusters for children learning English (Kirk & Demuth, 2005),German (Lleo & Prinz, 1996), and Dutch (Levelt, et al.,2000). This is opposite to the development of singleton consonants which generally develop in word-initial position first, e.g. /m, n, t/ (Mennen et al., 2006). In this study I investigated the possible role of frequency in the acquisition of consonant onset and coda clusters. The hypothesis was that the frequency of the input of adult child-directed speech which here was a child’s name (repeated by caregivers many times a day and directly to a child) influences the child’s ability to acquire certain type of consonant clusters. Ideally Floortje would acquire onset clusters before codas and Max would acquire coda clusters before onset ones. The evidence collected however, suggests that there is no immediate association between a child’s name and the acquisition of consonant clusters in words. So here, the frequency accounts do not seem to provide a satisfactory explanation for the two way developmental path of cluster acquisition. Nevertheless, the research may be treated as a pilot study and will hopefully stimulate further exploration of the problem.Show less
Within the linguistic field, structural or syntactic priming has been investigated for L1 and L2 speakers. Studies show mixed results for the role of the mother language and the duration of the...Show moreWithin the linguistic field, structural or syntactic priming has been investigated for L1 and L2 speakers. Studies show mixed results for the role of the mother language and the duration of the priming effect. This thesis carried out an experiment with English and German L2 speakers of Dutch in comparison to native speakers of Dutch in a two-day structural priming task for relative clauses and prepositional phrases. The results show that priming works among English L2 speak-ers of Dutch, but not among the other two language groups. The priming effects for the English participants lasted at least one day, which indicates implicit learning as a result of long-term priming. A time-pressure component did not impact the effect of priming among the native speakers. The study adds to the existing body of knowledge of structural priming and confirms the existence of a difference in priming effects for familiar or unfamiliar syntactic structures in the L1 of the participant.Show less
This study considers the main research gaps that are important for future studies regarding the improvement of the quality of interlingual live subtitling. To identify these gaps, this thesis...Show moreThis study considers the main research gaps that are important for future studies regarding the improvement of the quality of interlingual live subtitling. To identify these gaps, this thesis provides a literature review of the available research on this topic, as well as an updated outline of the current situation of interlingual live subtitling in the Netherlands.Show less
This study investigates the acquisition of gender agreement between determiner- noun-adjective by Spanish L2 speakers whose L1 is Dutch, and tests the effect of language proficiency by comparing...Show moreThis study investigates the acquisition of gender agreement between determiner- noun-adjective by Spanish L2 speakers whose L1 is Dutch, and tests the effect of language proficiency by comparing beginner- intermediate- advanced Dutch speakers of Spanish. Earlier research on second language acquisition, like research on the Feature Reassembly Hypothesis (Hwang and Lardiere 2013; Lardiere 2009) that states that acquisition of uninterpretable features like grammatical gender pose difficulty, together with the differences between languages when it comes to their gender systems, have led to this study. Both Dutch and Spanish have grammatical gender with a binary system. This system is particularly transparent in Spanish gender, since nouns ending in –o tend to be masculine and nouns ending in –a feminine. Whereas in Dutch the gender system is less transparent, based on common gender (de) or neuter gender (het). Given this background, how is the acquisition of gender agreement between determiner- noun- adjective by Spanish L2 speakers whose L1 is Dutch? Comparing beginner, intermediate and advanced Dutch L2 learners of Spanish, which has been done in earlier investigations on English L2 learners of Spanish (Sagarra and Herschensohn 2011), gives us an insight on the effect of proficiency. I used the Leiden Learner Corpus (LLC), a collection of data from Dutch learners of Romance languages to extract determiner- noun-adjective combinations, produced by Dutch speaking participants who are studying Spanish as their L2 or L3 at Leiden University (n= 27; 10 beginners, 6 intermediate and 11 advanced). An overall better performance on gender agreement by higher proficiency levels was found. The performance on gender agreement between determiner- noun was better than the performance on gender agreement between determiner- noun- adjective. This research creates a new angle on the acquisition of gender agreement between the determiner- noun- adjective structure because it is the first study on a new language pair: Dutch- Spanish.Show less
The early modern period, spanning from c. 1500-1750 A.D., is a turbulent era for the maritime trade and the maritime landscape as a whole. Developments in shipbuilding techniques and international...Show moreThe early modern period, spanning from c. 1500-1750 A.D., is a turbulent era for the maritime trade and the maritime landscape as a whole. Developments in shipbuilding techniques and international economics means that already existing trade-routes expand and the rise of intercontinental trade and large conglomerates. The increasing importance of maritime trade is also visible in the archaeological record which shows a steady rise in the amount of shipwrecks during this period. Advances in modern technology and an ever increasing amount of fishing vessels means that these wrecks also get uncovered at a higher rate than ever before. Researching this ever growing amount of maritime archaeological sites with limited means has proven to be a challenge and many ships remain unpublished when they eventually degrade. Furthermore, when ships do get researched they are often treated as single individual sites with an outdated view of what a shipwreck assemblage actually is. Often the intangible aspects and the bigger picture are ignored. This thesis therefore aimed to research the trade-route for a large number of shipwrecks by looking at their assemblage. At the same time, the aim was to research these assemblages as efficiently as possible by using the classification system created by Reinders in the 80’s. The results show that researching trade-routes via shipwreck assemblages gives a much more detailed view of each ship’s trade-route. It is important though to first research each aspect individually to prevent any bias, before combining the results to come to a conclusion. Furthermore, the importance of the intangible aspects of a shipwreck’s assemblage becomes clear during the scope of this thesis as the information gained from this is often even more valuable than that gained from the tangible. The results also show that using the functional classification system created by Reinders makes researching shipwreck assemblages far easier and more efficient. It is even possible to link the categories from this system to specific trade-route identifying features. However, the classification system would benefit further defining its categories.Show less
Objectives: This thesis is a replication study of previous work on Spanish-English code-switching (Stadthagen-González, Parafita Couto, Párraga and Damian, 2017) and focuses on comparative...Show moreObjectives: This thesis is a replication study of previous work on Spanish-English code-switching (Stadthagen-González, Parafita Couto, Párraga and Damian, 2017) and focuses on comparative judgments, with regard to adjective-noun order in Papiamento-Dutch code-switched utterances. It examines the predictions of adjective-noun order derived from two different theoretical models: the Minimalist Program (Cantone & MacSwan, 2009) and the Matrix Language Framework (Myers-Scotton, 2002). In Dutch, adjectives are prenominal, like ‘zwarte hond’ (‘black dog’), whereas in Papiamento, adjectives are mostly post-nominal, as in ‘kachó pretu’ (literally: ‘dog black’). The Matrix Language Framework (MLF) posits that the word order in code-switched sentences must follow the word order of the Matrix Language (determined by finite verb morphology) (Myers-Scotton, 2002). However, according to Cantone and MacSwan (2009) within the Minimalist Program (MP), the word order depends on the adjective’s language. Methodology and analysis: To evaluate these predictions, 10 monolingual base sentences were modified into 40 code-switched items, consistent with the MP, the MLF, with both or none of the theoretical models. Data was gathered by a 2-Alternative Forced Choice (2AFC) task, concentrating explicitly on switches in adjective-noun word order and was analysed using Thurstone’s Law of Comparative Judgment (Thurstone, 1927). Conclusions: Results of the thirty-seven bilinguals that participated in this experiment, indicate that both the language of the verb as well as the language of the adjective are used to determine word order in code-switched sentences and these results do not differ much from those of the similar study regarding Spanish-English bilinguals (Stadthagen-González et.al., 2017). Evidence showed that neither of the two theoretical models can fully account for the acceptability of adjective-noun switches. Implications: A suggestion would be to combine the insights of both the Minimalist Program and the Matrix Language Framework to be able to understand grammaticality in code-switching, as already proposed by Stadthagen-González et.al., (2017).Show less
Previous studies have indicated that native and non-native listeners’ attention to differences in segments and lexical tones is heightened when language context is removed. Do they also display...Show morePrevious studies have indicated that native and non-native listeners’ attention to differences in segments and lexical tones is heightened when language context is removed. Do they also display greater sensitivity to intonational differences in the absence of language context? To examine this question, this thesis tests the ability of Dutch and Mandarin listeners to identify Mandarin questions and statements that differ only in intonation in three different levels of language context: no language context, a neutral language context, and a constraining language context. All listeners were found to identify questions and statements better with each increasing level of language context. This suggests that the presence of a meaningful semantic context facilitates the perception of intonational meaning. Moreover, Mandarin listeners were better at identifying questions and statements than non-native listeners in sentences with language context. But the difference between Mandarin and Dutch listeners’ abilities was minimal in sentences without language context. This result suggests that the effect of language experience on intonation perception is diminished at the lower auditory processing level.Show less
Research master thesis | Linguistics (research) (MA)
open access
Previous studies have found that non-standard language varieties are at risk of discrimination in legal contexts. Additionally, slow speech has been shown to be less credible than normal speech....Show morePrevious studies have found that non-standard language varieties are at risk of discrimination in legal contexts. Additionally, slow speech has been shown to be less credible than normal speech. However, little is known about how accent and speech rate interact. In order to investigate this phenomenon further, this thesis examines how Dutch listeners judge utterances on a seven-point scale when presented with auditory stimuli in two accents of Dutch (Standard Dutch and Moroccan Dutch) and two speech rates (normal and slow). Contrary to previous studies indicating that non-standard language is perceived as less credible, the results of this study revealed that listeners generally perceive both accents as equally credible at a normal speed. Slower speech was judged as less credible in both varieties, but Standard Dutch was given lower ratings overall. The results suggest that what has previously been established for slow speech in languages such as English also holds true for Dutch, and may have adverse consequences for individuals in contact with the law.Show less
The popular musical genre known as hip-hop was introduced in the Netherlands in the 1980s; over the years the Dutch developed their own particular type of hip-hop known as Nederhop. According to...Show moreThe popular musical genre known as hip-hop was introduced in the Netherlands in the 1980s; over the years the Dutch developed their own particular type of hip-hop known as Nederhop. According to Gazzah (2008), Nederhop is merely the 'regular' variant of Dutch hip-hop, as immigrants of Moroccan descent participating in the Nederhop scene have created a new subgenre called Maroc-hop using elements from Moroccan traditional music. This work provides information on these musical genres as well as an overview of the languages and processes involved in the creation of Nederhop and Maroc-hop. By investigating the way lyrics are set to music, and how rhyme is used in both subgenres I attempt to identify the linguistic components that distinguish Nederhop from Maroc-hop.Show less
The phonetic-pragmatic interface has provided linguistics with an interesting question that the literature has not yet been able to answer conclusively: Does intonation directly communicate meaning...Show moreThe phonetic-pragmatic interface has provided linguistics with an interesting question that the literature has not yet been able to answer conclusively: Does intonation directly communicate meaning? This thesis describes an exploratory elicitation experiment in which the effects of two pragmatic dimensions on the production of Dutch intonation is examined within three core meanings: “testing”, “selection”, “selection plus”. The productions of native speakers – realised on two-syllable proper names – were recorded in four pragmatic dimension combinations: default or vocative (orientation), and formal or informal (politeness). The meanings and pragmatic dimensions were embodied in situational contexts that served to elicit individual intonation contours for each meaning configuration. Additionally, the effect of word length was considered in a secondary experiment by employing one- and three-syllable proper names in a constant pragmatic environment. Results show a main effect of orientation across core meanings caused by different contextual variables. Politeness yielded only one main effect as a result of the configuration of speaker-hearer relations. Productions were found to be consistent across word lengths. The effects of the pragmatic dimensions are of definite influence on the production of Dutch intonation contours, but they could not be generalised across core meanings due to context discrepancies, indicating the importance of situational background.Show less
This thesis provides an exploratory account of white lies in Dutch. There is no literature explicitly dedicated to white lies in the Dutch language. This gap provides the starting point for this...Show moreThis thesis provides an exploratory account of white lies in Dutch. There is no literature explicitly dedicated to white lies in the Dutch language. This gap provides the starting point for this exploratory study which aims to contribute to a wider research agenda investigating the definition of lying and how different types of lies may be distinguished in different contexts and cultures. The main research question of this thesis is: How are white lies used by native speakers of Dutch? A two-part investigation, consisting of a questionnaire and a role-play, shows that native speakers of Dutch use white lies in everyday conversations. White lies are used to benefit both the speaker and the hearer, but they are also used to avoid undesirable scenarios.Show less
Dutch speakers have differing ways of pronouncing the English loanword . This thesis attempts to research these different pronunciations, through auditory analysis using phonetics, and through...Show moreDutch speakers have differing ways of pronouncing the English loanword . This thesis attempts to research these different pronunciations, through auditory analysis using phonetics, and through formant measurements. Additionally, Dutch speakers’ evaluations of the different phonetic realisations of were researched. 15 Dutch speakers were interviewed, and their ways of pronouncing noted. The results show, among other things, which form of pronunciation of was most used by the participants; the degree of consistency in pronunciation per participant (using a newly-developed technique called the IVS-technique); the formant measurements of the vowels participants used for in ; and the participants’ attitudes towards specific pronunciations of .Show less
