Browsing by Author "Gudmestad, Aarnes"

Now showing 1 - 7 of 7
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    Advances in Research on Morphosyntax and Multicompetent Speakers of French and Spanish: Introduction to the Special Issue
    Gudmestad, Aarnes (MDPI, 2021-12-20)
    Historically, research on language acquisition among multicompetent speakers has devoted significant attention to the area of morphosyntax, compared to other domains of language (Ortega 2009, p [...]
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    Collocational Development during a Stay Abroad
    Edmonds, Amanda; Gudmestad, Aarnes (MDPI, 2021-01-12)
    The purpose of the current study was to explore if and how additional-language learners may show changes in phraseological patterns over the course of a stay in a target-language environment. In particular, we focused on noun+adjective combinations produced by a group of additional-language speakers of French at three points in time, spanning 21 months and including an academic year in France. We extracted each combination from a longitudinal corpus and determined frequency counts and two strength-of-association measures (Mutual information [MI] score and Log Dice) for each combination. Separate analyses were conducted for frequency and the strength-of-association measures, revealing that phraseological patterns are significantly predicted by adjective position in the case of all three measures, and that MI scores showed significant change over time. We interpret the results in light of past research that has reported contradictory findings concerning change in phraseological patterns following an immersion experience.
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    Language Attitudes and Reported Usage of the Standard and Vernacular Varieties of Guaraní in Paraguay
    Escobar, Stacy Rae (Virginia Tech, 2019-05-28)
    This study examines the languages attitudes surrounding the standard (Academic Guaraní) and vernacular (Jopará) varieties of Guaraní, as well as the reported language use for Spanish and the two varieties of Guaraní. The study addresses language attitudes as manifestations of pride, loyalty, and prestige and reported language usage characteristic of a dichotomy between high and low varieties (e.g. Loureiro-Rodríguez, 2008) in order to determine if similar language attitudes and linguistic norms are evident in this community. A survey was used to gather data from 10 students and 10 teachers who live and work in Altos de La Cordillera (a small town with rural and urban features). Contrary to the findings of previous research studies on the language attitudes associated with high and low varieties (e.g. Garrett, 2001), the participants of this study appear to show an all-round favorability for the standard variety of Guaraní (Academic Guaraní). Furthermore, the reported language use of Spanish, Jopará, and Academic Guaraní does not seem to provide evidence for a Spanish/Guaraní diglossia in this community nor does there appear to be a dichotomy between the high and low varieties of Guaraní such as what has historically existed between Spanish and Guaraní. The participants' language attitudes and patterns of reported language use are interpreted in relation to notions of solidarity, superiority, accommodation, and the relationship between adolescence and identity formation.
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    Moving Beyond the Native-Speaker Bias in the Analysis of Variable Gender Marking
    Gudmestad, Aarnes; Edmonds, Amanda; Metzger, Thomas (2021-08-09)
    In the current study, we respond to calls for reform in second language acquisition that center on the field's preoccupation with native-speaker and prescriptive targets as a benchmark for additional-language learning. In order to address these concerns, we examine the use and development of grammatical gender marking in additional-language Spanish in a prescriptive-independent manner. Specifically, we depart from previous analyses that have centered on accuracy and targetlikeness and we shift the object of analysis to the linguistic forms (i.e., feminine and masculine modifiers) that additional-language participants use. We adopt a variationist approach to explain how participants vary their use of modifier gender and how this use changes longitudinally. We argue that such an approach to studying additional languages allows us to offer new insights about the acquisition of grammatical gender marking in additional-language Spanish. We end by critically reflecting on some of the challenges that we encountered in trying to integrate this paradigm shift into the examination of a well-studied grammatical structure.
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    Near-Native Sociolinguistic Competence in French: Evidence from Variable Future-Time Expression
    Gudmestad, Aarnes; Edmonds, Amanda; Donaldson, Bryan; Carmichael, Katie (Canadian Association of Applied Linguistics, 2020)
    This study aims to advance the understanding of sociolinguistic competence among nearnative speakers and to further knowledge about the acquisition of variable structures. We conduct a quantitative analysis of variable future-time expression in informal conversations between near-native and native speakers of French. In addition to examining linguistic constraints that have been investigated in previous research, we build on prior work by introducing a new factor that enables us to consider the role that formality of the variants plays in the use of variable future-time expression. We conclude by comparing these new findings to those for the same dataset and other variable structures (namely, negation and interrogatives, Donaldson, 2016, 2017) and by advocating for more research that consists of multiple, complementary analyses of the same dataset.
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    On the role of the present indicative in variable future-time reference in Hexagonal French
    Gudmestad, Aarnes; Edmonds, Amanda; Donaldson, Bryan; Carmichael, Katie (University of Toronto Press, 2018)
    This study investigates variable future-time expression among native speakers of Hexagonal French who participated in informal conversations. The quantitative analysis is the first to examine the inflectional future, periphrastic future, and present indicative as separate forms in a single statistical model of French oral production. Results indicate that temporal distance and presence/absence of a temporal expression predict use of these verb forms. The second phase of the analysis focused on the use of the present indicative in future-time contexts. The examination of each instance of the present indicative shows that an immediate lexical temporal indicator is not necessary for this form to convey futurity and that future-time reference is often established at the discourse level and occasionally through apparent shared knowledge between the interlocutors. This investigation suggests the value of including the present indicative in the analysis of future-time reference in Hexagonal French in order to fully capture variation.
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    Speech style, syllable stress, and the second-language acquisition of Spanish /e/ and /o/
    Bland, Justin (Virginia Tech, 2016-04-13)
    This study examines the effects of speech style, syllable stress, and proficiency level on the production of the second-language (L2) Spanish vowels /e/ and /o/. The study addresses traditional descriptions of L2 Spanish (e.g. Stockwell & Bowen, 1965), which claim that English-speaking learners, unlike native speakers (NSs), reduce vowels in unstressed syllables and diphthongize /e/ and /o/ in stressed syllables. Additionally, it adds to previous research by investigating how speech style affects L2 Spanish vowels, how these effects change by course level, and how they compare to NS style-shifting. Data was gathered from 55 adult learners of Spanish (SLs) at three course levels, as well as 10 NSs of Spanish using two elicitation tasks at different levels of formality. A total of 7,740 word-medial tokens of /e/ and /o/ was extracted, and vowels' F1, F2, duration, and diphthongization were measured using Praat. ANOVA tests were run to determine the main and interaction effects of participant group, elicitation task, and syllable stress on these four response variables for each vowel. Significant main effects as well as interaction effects were found for group, task, and stress on the F1 and F2 of /e/ and /o/, as well as interaction effects, providing evidence that the SLs and NSs centralized their unstressed vowels, that /e/ and /o/ became more raised and peripheral as course level increased, and that the SLs at all levels peripheralized their vowels in formal speech.