In previous research, covert contrast in child language has mainly been found in English-speaking and non-typically developing children. Since Dutch, like English, contrasts voiced and voiceless...Show moreIn previous research, covert contrast in child language has mainly been found in English-speaking and non-typically developing children. Since Dutch, like English, contrasts voiced and voiceless plosives, it is likely that Dutch speaking children also produce a covert contrast when learning to differentiate between these different plosives. In order to test this hypothesis a data sample from a Dutch child was used to measure and compare the voice onset time (VOT) of bilabial plosives, which were all transcribed as [p], but for which the target form was either voiced (/b/) or voiceless (/p/). A single-sample T-test with bootstrapping was performed to test the difference between the VOT means. Although the mean VOT for voiceless plosives which had a voiced target form was shorter than for plosives with a voiceless target, the difference was not significant, indicating that no covert contrast in VOT was present in this data. However, as the sample size was quite small, with only one subject and 74 utterances, no large-scale conclusions can be drawn for the Dutch population yet.Show less
This study explores the attitudes Dutch middle school children have towards the English language and what influence attitude has on their engagement with and their perceived proficiency of English....Show moreThis study explores the attitudes Dutch middle school children have towards the English language and what influence attitude has on their engagement with and their perceived proficiency of English. This was explored through a survey that combined quantitative and qualitative questions concerning the childrens’ engagement with English, self-reported proficiency and opinions on English inside and outside the classroom. The children with a positive attitude towards English engaged more with the language in private leisure time and usually perceived themselves to understand English decently. In contrast, the children with a negative attitude towards English avoided the language more in out-of-school settings and usually reported having difficulty understanding English. The attitude a child has towards English does influence the child’s engagement with and acquisition of the language, in spite of the fast amount of incidental exposure to English on the internet. Studying this aspect of language learning can help teachers to better understand why some children struggle to learn a new language and some children do not. It can also offer a new perspective on the methods of language learning in regards to using out-of-school sources, such as Youtube.Show less
Research master thesis | Linguistics (research) (MA)
open access
This thesis sets out to explore relationships between attitudes to language learning and context as influential factors on the production, and perceived offensiveness and acceptability of L2...Show moreThis thesis sets out to explore relationships between attitudes to language learning and context as influential factors on the production, and perceived offensiveness and acceptability of L2 English swearwords. Using a sample of 111 L1 Dutch, L2 secondary school learners of English, this study uses a three-part approach to further understand L2 English swearing behaviour. The participants first completed a production task. In this task they replied to six hypothetical text- messages following a DCT approach that were manipulated on speaker (authoritative/non- authoritative). Following this, they completed an attitudes task consisting of 24 stimuli to be able to shed further light on attitudes to L2 English learning and swearing as possible influential variable on L2 swearing behaviour. Lastly, based on previous studies by Dewaele (2004, 2016, 2017) and Jay & Janschewitz (2008), the participants completed a perception task in which they rated the perceived offensiveness and acceptability of four swearwords in 4 different contexts. These contexts were manipulated on speaker (authoritative/non-authoritative) and location (formal/informal). For the production task, the findings suggest that participants are more likely to use swearwords in a closed-DCT design. Further, an effect of speaker is found as significantly more swearwords were used when the participants were in conversation with a friend rather than a parent. Swearing, however, occurred rather infrequently, which is partly explained by the negative attitudes of the participants to the use of swearwords. Continuing, the results of the perception task revealed significant effects of speaker (p = 0.001) and location (p = 0.005) on offensiveness ratings, and a significant effect of speaker on acceptability ratings (p = 0.001). Further, a strong negative correlation was revealed between offensiveness and acceptability. Lastly, a comparison between the ratings of offensiveness by the participants and native speaker scales of offence (Millwood-Hargrave, 2000; McEnery, 2006; OFCOM, 2016) show that the non-native participants significantly rate offensiveness lower than native speakers. These results re-affirm findings by other researchers such as Dewaele (2004, 2016, 2017) and Jay & Janschewitz (2008), and indicate that ratings of acceptability are largely dependent on ratings of offensiveness.Show less
In this research we looked at whether infants (12- to 14-month-old) can succesfully use their lexical knowledge to aid them in acquiring an abstract grammatical rule about visually presented...Show moreIn this research we looked at whether infants (12- to 14-month-old) can succesfully use their lexical knowledge to aid them in acquiring an abstract grammatical rule about visually presented grammars. The infants in the known condition were unable to generalize this grammatical rule. However, there was learning in the nonsense condition.Show less
In this thesis, two factors were examined that could have an influence on the acquisition of English for bilinguals in the Dutch province of Friesland: lexical closeness and held attitudes. First,...Show moreIn this thesis, two factors were examined that could have an influence on the acquisition of English for bilinguals in the Dutch province of Friesland: lexical closeness and held attitudes. First, it is examined whether knowledge of Frisian helps children acquire English lexicon and, second, whether there is a correlation between the attitude towards English and the (self-perceived) proficiency in this language. This was examined on the basis of a vocabulary test and a questionnaire. The results have indicated that the lexical closeness between Frisian and English does not (necessarily) facilitate the lexical acquisition process of English, but that a positive attitude towards English does positively influence the acquisition of English.Show less
Due to a gap between gender language ideology and actual language use, knowledge of linguistic features that are indexed as feminine or masculine and their uses might not be as accurate as it could...Show moreDue to a gap between gender language ideology and actual language use, knowledge of linguistic features that are indexed as feminine or masculine and their uses might not be as accurate as it could be. This is problematic for learners of Japanese as a foreign language, for they require proper learning materials that focus on more than stereotypical norms in order to obtain pragmatic skills.Show less
