Processing Subject-Object Ambiguities in the L2: A Self-Paced Reading Study With German L2 Learners of Dutch

The results of two self-paced reading experiments are reported, which investigated the online processing of subject-object ambiguities in Dutch relative clause constructions like Dat is de vrouw die de meisjes heeft/hebben gezien by German advanced second language (L2) learners of Dutch. Native speakers of both Dutch and German have been shown to have a preference for a subject versus an object reading of such temporarily ambiguous sentences, and so we provided an ideal opportunity for the transfer of first language (L1) processing preferences to take place. We also investigated whether the participants’ working memory span would affect their processing of the experimental items. The results suggest that processing decisions may be affected by working memory when task demands are high, and in this case the high working memory span learners patterned like the native speakers of lower working memory. However, when reading for comprehension alone and when only structural information was available to guide parsing decisions, working memory span had no effect on the L2 learners’ online processing, and this differed from the native speakers’ online processing even though the L1 and the L2 are highly comparable

from Language Learning

Syntactic complexity and ambiguity resolution in a free word order language: Behavioral and electrophysiological evidences from Basque

In natural languages some syntactic structures are simpler than others. Syntactically complex structures require further computation that is not required by syntactically simple structures. In particular, canonical, basic word order represents the simplest sentence-structure. Natural languages have different canonical word orders, and they vary in the degree of word order freedom they allow. In the case of free word order, whether canonical word order plays any role in processing is still unclear. In this paper, we present behavioral and electrophysiological evidence that simpler, canonical word order preference is found even in a free word order language.

Canonical and derived structures were compared in two self-paced reading and one ERPs experiment. Non-canonical sentences required further syntactic computation in Basque, they showed longer reading times and a modulation of anterior negativities and P600 components providing evidence that even in free word order, case-marking grammars, underlying canonical word order can play a relevant role in sentence processing. These findings could signal universal processing mechanisms because similar processing patterns are found in typologically very distant grammars.

We also provide evidence from syntactically fully ambiguous sequences. Our results on ambiguity resolution showed that fully ambiguous sequences were processed as canonical sentences. Moreover, when fully ambiguous sequences were forced to complex interpretation by means of the world knowledge of the participants, a frontal negativity distinguished simple and complex ambiguous sequences. Thus the preference of simple structures is presumably a universal design property for language processing, despite differences on parametric variation of a given grammar.

from Brain and Language

Reorganisation of cortical motor and language distribution in human brain

Conclusions: These findings support previous evidence indicating that cortical functional representations can change over time in humans, and suggest that these changes cannot be explained solely by lesion effects.

from the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry

Abnormal resting-state cortical coupling in chronic tinnitus

In the here presented data set we found strong support for an alteration of long-range coupling in tinnitus. Long-range coupling in the alpha frequency band was decreased for tinnitus patients while long-range gamma coupling was increased. These changes discriminate well between tinnitus and control participants. We propose a tinnitus model that integrates this finding in the current knowledge about tinnitus. Furthermore we discuss the impact of this finding to tinnitus therapies using Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS).

from BMC Neuroscience

Colorado post helps stem GIs’ hearing loss

The Colorado post is piloting an Army study to show whether additional hearing experts on staff and a sharper focus on prevention can cut down on hearing disabilities.

from Azstarnet.com

Can different languages be analyzed using the same model?

Spanish and Russian are relatively different languages, even if they historically share a common basis in the Indo-European family. The differences extend to the verbal system. Spanish has inherited a system that is relatively rich in forms from Latin. Russian, however, has a structure that is more similar to Classic Greek with a division based on the concept of aspect. David Westerholm, at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, compares the way past time is expressed in Spanish and in Russian and arrives at a new analysis model that can also be applied to other languages.

from EurekAlert.org

Electrophysiological study of the basal temporal language area: A convergence zone between language perception and production networks

CONCLUSION: The findings emphasize the multimodal nature of this region in speech perception. In the context of transient dysfunction, the patient’s lexical semantic processing network is disrupted, reducing spoken output to meaningless phoneme combinations. SIGNIFICANCE: This rare opportunity to study the BTLA “in vivo” demonstrates its pivotal role in lexico-semantic processing for speech production and its multimodal nature in speech perception.

from Clinical Neurophysiology

Enhancing the Reading Fluency and Comprehension of Children With Reading Disabilities in an Orthographically Transparent Language

Abstract
Breznitz (2006) demonstrated that Hebrew-speaking adults with reading disabilities benefited from a training in which reading rate was experimentally manipulated. In the present study, the authors examine whether silent reading training enhances the sentence reading rate and comprehension of children with reading disabilities and whether results found in Hebrew equally apply to an orthographically transparent language. Training results of 59 Dutch children with reading disabilities and normally achieving children show that children with reading disabilities are able to increase their sentence reading rate with high comprehension levels when pushed to do so with accelerated reading training. Posttest results show that transfer to routine reading is less strong for both accelerated and unaccelerated reading. Only accelerated training allows children with reading disabilities to read at high speed while maintaining high comprehension levels.

from the Journal of Learning Disabilities

Epidemiology of vertigo, migraine and vestibular migraine

Abstract Both migraine and vertigo are common in the general population with lifetime prevalences of about 16 % for migraine and 7 % for vertigo. Therefore, a concurrence of the two conditions can be expected in about 1.1 % of the general population by chance alone. However, recent epidemiological evidence suggests that the actual comorbidity is higher, namely 3.2 %. This can be explained by the fact that several dizziness and vertigo syndromes occur more frequently in migraineurs than in controls including benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, Meniere’s disease, motion sickness, cerebellar disorders and anxiety syndromes which may present with dizziness. In addition, there is increasing recognition of a syndrome called vestibular migraine (VM), which is vertigo directly caused by migraine. VM affects more than 1 % of the general population, about 10 % of patients in dizziness clinics and at least 9 % of patients in migraine clinics.
Clinically, VM presents with attacks of spontaneous or positional vertigo lasting seconds to days. Migrainous accompaniments such as headache, phonophobia, photophobia or auras are common but not mandatory. Cochlear symptoms may be associated but are mostly mild and non-progressive. During acute attacks one may find central spontaneous or positional nystagmus and, less commonly, unilateral vestibular hypofunction. In the symptom-free interval, vestibular testing adds little to the diagnosis as findings are mostly minor and non-specific. In the absence of controlled studies, treatment of VM is adopted from the migraine sphere comprising avoidance of triggers, stress management as well as pharmacotherapy for acute attacks and prophylaxis.

from the Journal of Neurology

The nature of skilled adult reading varies with type of instruction in childhood

Does the type of reading instruction experienced during the initial years at school have any continuing effect on the ways in which adults read words? The question has arisen in current discussions about computational models of mature word-reading processes. We tested predicted continuing effects by comparing matched samples of skilled adult readers of English who had received explicit phonics instruction in childhood and those who had not. In responding to nonwords that can receive alternative legitimate pronunciations, those adults having childhood phonics instruction used more regular grapheme-phoneme correspondences that were context free and used fewer vocabulary-based contextually dependent correspondences than did adults who had no phonics instruction. These differences in regularization of naming responses also extended to some low-frequency words. This apparent cognitive footprint of childhood phonics instruction is a phenomenon requiring consideration when researchers attempt to model adult word reading and when they select participants to test the models.

from Memory and Cognition

The influence of theme identifiability on false memories: Evidence for age-dependent opposite effects

In the present study, we used the Deese/Roediger-McDermott paradigm to analyze the relationship between theme identifiability of word lists and false memories in adults and children. We conducted two normative studies to determine the identifiability levels for critical unpresented words in 40 associative lists in adults and in 16 associative lists in children. Then, in three experiments, false memories for critical words that were either easy or hard to identify were analyzed in adults and in children 4-5 years old and 11-12 years old. Opposite results were found for adults and children. Lists with highly identifiable critical words produced fewer false memories for adults but more false memories for children. These results suggest that, if they can identify critical words, adults use an identify-to-reject strategy to edit out false memories, whereas, in children, theme identification does not lead to the use of such a monitoring strategy.

from Memory and Cognition

Promoting hearing health and the combined risk of noise-induced hearing loss and ototoxicity

Abstract
The ototoxicity of therapeutic drugs has been a concern in the field of audiology for many years. In comparison, only recently has the ototoxicity of chemicals found in the environment from contaminants in air, food or water, and in the workplace become a concern for audiologists and other health professionals. Studies have shown that some toxins can reach the inner ear through the bloodstream. They were found in the inner ear fluids and have caused damage to some of the inner ear structures and functions. The damage, however, is not always restricted to the cochlea. The onset, site, mechanism and extent of ototoxic damage caused by these toxins vary according to risk factors that include type of chemical, interactions, exposure level and duration of exposure as is the case with therapeutic drugs. Noise exposure has been reported to potentiate or interact synergistically with several toxins. Moreover, it makes the detection and diagnosis of the ototoxicity effect more challenging. The new evidence has prompted the proposal of new guidelines and standards on hearing loss prevention. In this paper, the implications of the studies on the effect of environmental and occupational toxins exposure on the auditory system are discussed. Recent guidelines and legislative developments and alternative strategies for preventing auditory effects of exposure to ototoxic chemicals are examined.

from Audiological Medicine

Estimating the influence of cochlear implantation on language development in children

Abstract
Research studies reviewed here have identified a wide variety of factors that may influence a child’s auditory, speech and language development following cochlear implantation. Intrinsic characteristics of the implanted child, including gender, family socioeconomic status, age at onset of hearing loss and pre-implant residual hearing may predispose a child to greater or lesser post-implant benefit. Intervention characteristics that may influence outcome include age of the child when deafness is identified and amplification and habilitation is initiated, the communication mode used with the child and the type of classroom/therapy employed. Characteristics of the implant itself include generation of technology used, the age of the child when implant stimulation is initiated, and the amount of time the child has used the implant. These factors interact in unpredictable ways, so that isolated correlations between predictor variables and outcome scores may be difficult to interpret. Results for two independent samples of children tested by different laboratories were compared using multiple regression analysis to take into account relationships among predictor variables. Implant age was a significant predictor, and children in both samples who received a cochlear implant sometime between their first and second birthday achieved oral receptive vocabulary levels within one standard deviation of hearing age-mates. Age at implant accounted for a similar proportion of variance in receptive vocabulary outcome scores in each sample. A unique predictor was then added to each analysis. The addition of pre-implant aided threshold not only increased the total predicted variance, but also increased the effect of implant age as a predictor variable. A different result was observed in the other sample, when the added predictor variable was non-verbal IQ, where the estimated contribution of implant age was reduced. Future studies are advised to control for independent contributions of implant age, non-verbal IQ, and pre-implant aided thresholds when examining expected outcomes.

from Audiological Medicine

Survey of complementary and alternative therapies used by children with specific learning difficulties (dyslexia)

Conclusions & Implications: Educational and health professionals should be aware that many dyslexic children use CAM. Parents of dyslexic children should be provided with evidence-based advice to help them make informed therapeutic choices.

from the International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders

Simple View of Reading in Down’s syndrome: the role of listening comprehension and reading skills

Conclusions & Implications: The Simple View of Reading model is confirmed for individuals with Down’s syndrome, although they do not show the reading profile of typically developing first graders; rather, they show an atypical profile similar to that of ‘poor comprehenders’ (Cain and Oakhill 2006). The crucial role of listening comprehension in Down’s syndrome is also discussed with reference to the educational implications.

from the International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders