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Prediction error is known to enhance priming effects for familiar syntactic structures. This project examines the effect of prediction error on the acquisition of new syntactic structures. In a three-day artificial language learning study, we will test whether encountering a novel structure with an unexpected verb also leads to better acquisition of that structure. This study is the second study of the project on the effect of verb surprisal on the acquisition of new syntactic structures. Relative to the first study, we will modify the experimental manipulation to establish stronger expectations for verbs to be structure-specific. On the first day, participants will be exposed to an artificial language in which verbs only ever occur with one type of structure. On the second day, the surprisal group will be exposed to items that violate these biases. Both groups will be tested on their structural knowledge on the second and third day, using both biased and novel (structure-neutral) verbs.

Prediction error is known to enhance priming effects for familiar syntactic structures. This project examines the effect of prediction error on the acquisition of new syntactic structures. In a three-day artificial language learning study, we will test whether encountering a novel structure with an unexpected verb also leads to better acquisition of that structure. This study is the second study of the project on the effect of verb surprisal on the acquisition of new syntactic structures. Relative to the first study, we will modify the experimental manipulation to establish stronger expectations for verbs to be structure-specific. On the first day, participants will be exposed to an artificial language in which verbs only ever occur with one type of structure. On the second day, the surprisal group will be exposed to items that violate these biases. Both groups will be tested on their structural knowledge on the second and third day, using both biased and novel (structure-neutral) verbs.

Strong spoken language skills are fundamental for literacy development when children start school, and for later academic achievement and life outcomes (Adolf & Hogan, 2019). In the current study, we implement usage-based theoretical frameworks (e.g., Ambridge & Lieven, 2015; Rowland et al., 2012) and findings from child language research (e.g., Huttenlocher et al., 2002; Hesketh et al., 2016; Vasilyeva, 2006; Vasilyeva et al., 2008) to assess the extent to which structured language input might enhance children’s language in a multilingual setting. We examine this question in children speaking Kannada, an understudied agglutinating language of South India, used by 70 million speakers. We build on the research that has established a strong role for implicit learning mechanisms and language production in learning syntactic structures (e.g., Chang et al., 2006; Hopman & MacDonald, 2018; Kidd, 2012), and we extend it to the learning of narrative structure (story grammar) (e.g., Silva et al. 2014; Silva & Cain, 2019). We designed a story-based spoken language study with a primary aim to examine the role of repeated exposure to structured narratives and targeted syntactic structures in enhancing their use in a diverse sample of multilingual children where the target language (Kannada) was a first or an additional language. Our secondary aim was to assess the feasibility of this method as an oral language intervention within a school setting.

Strong spoken language skills are fundamental for literacy development when children start school, and for later academic achievement and life outcomes (Adolf & Hogan, 2019). In the current study, we implement usage-based theoretical frameworks (e.g., Ambridge & Lieven, 2015; Rowland et al., 2012) and findings from child language research (e.g., Huttenlocher et al., 2002; Hesketh et al., 2016; Vasilyeva, 2006; Vasilyeva et al., 2008) to assess the extent to which structured language input might enhance children’s language in a multilingual setting. We examine this question in children speaking Kannada, an understudied agglutinating language of South India, used by 70 million speakers. We build on the research that has established a strong role for implicit learning mechanisms and language production in learning syntactic structures (e.g., Chang et al., 2006; Hopman & MacDonald, 2018; Kidd, 2012), and we extend it to the learning of narrative structure (story grammar) (e.g., Silva et al. 2014; Silva & Cain, 2019). We designed a story-based spoken language study with a primary aim to examine the role of repeated exposure to structured narratives and targeted syntactic structures in enhancing their use in a diverse sample of multilingual children where the target language (Kannada) was a first or an additional language. Our secondary aim was to assess the feasibility of this method as an oral language intervention within a school setting.

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 20 titles deal with the following topics: the role of crib talk in language acquisition; syntactic parsing strategies; a case study of the first use of words; how two modes of literature presentation affect oral language development; children's cognition and acquisition of selected syntactic structures; language use in constructing/testing social scientific theories; the functions of language in discussions; visual literacy as a factor in language development; form and function as a basis for referential development in children; discriminating synthetic speech sounds; assessing secondary school students' knowledge of prefixes; language within power relationships; a flexible child-talk code; developing spatial and syntactic transformations; the acquisition of five syntactic structures by elementary school children; the developmental relationship between comprehension and production of grammatical morphemes in preschool children; how preschool children sequence narrative events; classifying preschool children's uses of meaningful language on selected conceptual tasks; maternal self-repetition and child feedback; and the mastery of specific conjunctions by elementary school children. (RL)

We introduce here the notion of syntactic lattice algebra which is an analogy of the syntactic monoid and of the syntactic semiring. We present a unified approach to get those three structures.

THIS STUDY WAS MADE IN AN ATTEMPT TO DISCOVER HOW MUCH ENVIRONMENTAL STIMULATION IS NECESSARY FOR NORMAL LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT IN CHILDREN. THROUGH ANALYSIS OF TRANSFORMATIONAL GRAMMER, THE SYNTACTIC STRUCTURES OF TWENTY 5-YEAR-OLD CULTURALLY DEPRIVED NEGRO CHILDREN IN BALTIMORE WERE COMPARED TO THOSE OF A GROUP OF MIDDLE CLASS WHITE NURSERY SCHOOL CHILDREN IN BOSTON WHO WERE SUBJECTS OF A STUDY BY PAULA MENYUK. DIALECT DIFFERENCES WERE MINIMIZED BY A CONCEPT OF FUNCTIONAL EQUIVALENCE WHICH EQUATED STATEMENTS HAVING DIFFERENT WORDS BUT THE SAME MEANING. THE TOTAL NUMBER OF SENTENCES WHICH THE CHILDREN PRODUCED IN THE EXPERIMENTAL SESSION, THE TOTAL NUMBER OF DIFFERENT SYNTACTIC STRUCTURES USED, AND AN AVERAGE SENTENCE COMPLEXITY SCORE WERE TAKEN AS INDICES OF LINGUISTIC PERFORMANCE. A SUBSTANTIAL DIFFERENCE IN STRUCTURE USE WAS FOUND BETWEEN THE TWO GROUPS, WITH THE BOSTON GROUP USING MANY MORE SYNTACTIC STRUCTURES. THE NEGRO GROUP WAS NOT HOMOGENEOUS IN PERFORMANCE BUT HAD A WIDE RANGE OF DIFFERENCE IN COMPLEXITY AND NUMBER OF SYNTACTIC STRUCTURES USED. LARGE DIFFERENCES WITHIN THE NEGRO GROUP WOULD SUGGEST THAT ENVIRONMENT PLAYS A MAJOR ROLE IN LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT. IF LANGUAGE IS IMPLICATED IN THINKING BEHAVIOR, THEN IT IS POSSIBLE THAT THE DEGREE OF IMMATURITY IN LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT IN EARLY CHILDHOOD IS SIGNIFICANT IN THE CHILD'S GENERAL COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT. EXPLORATION IN THIS AREA IS CONTINUING. THE NEGRO SPEECH SAMPLE IS BEING INCREASED, AND A TABLE OF STRUCTURAL EQUIVALENTS BETWEEN STANDARD ENGLISH AND THE NONSTANDARD ENGLISH OF NEGRO CHILDREN IS BEING DEVELOPED. (MS)

The complex organization of syntax in hierarchical structures is one of the core design features of human language. Duality of patterning refers for instance to the organization of the meaningful elements in a language at two distinct levels: a combinatorial level where meaningless forms are combined into meaningful forms and a compositional level where meaningful forms are composed into larger lexical units. The question remains wide open regarding how such a structure could have emerged. Furthermore a clear mathematical framework to quantify this phenomenon is still lacking. The aim of this paper is that of addressing these two aspects in a self-consistent way. First, we introduce suitable measures to quantify the level of combinatoriality and compositionality in a language, and present a framework to estimate these observables in human natural languages. Second, we show that the theoretical predictions of a multi-agents modeling scheme, namely the Blending Game, are in surprisingly good agreement with empirical data. In the Blending Game a population of individuals plays language games aiming at success in communication. It is remarkable that the two sides of duality of patterning emerge simultaneously as a consequence of a pure cultural dynamics in a simulated environment that contains meaningful relations, provided a simple constraint on message transmission fidelity is also considered.

Purpose: Persian Subject Headings (PSH) is a standard national tool for subject cataloguing of Persian. This research aims to identify and analyze the PSH characteristics including syntactic and relational structures. Methodology: Coding agenda was developed according to the research questions and framework, and theoretical basis, especially theories of language and semantics. It is also revised by experts to fulfill the reliability. PSH (3ed edition) and two supplements (including 11233 records) and shared subject headings in the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) and PSH (including 9519 records) were defined as the research population. Random sample was selected to answer some sub-questions. Findings: Findings show that %86.17 of the subject headings are in natural language and %79.87 of them are both natural and pre-coordinated. Syntactic analysis of PSH indicates that nouns (%96.1) and noun phrases (%87) are dominant. There is a significant difference between two catalogs (LCSH and PSH) in terms of language (natural or artificial), use of scope notes and Library of Congress classification number. Also a significant difference was observed between the relational structures of these two catalogs. In conclusion, it is recommended that the errors need correction and the relational structures of PSH need to be enriched.

We assign binary and ternary error-correcting codes to the data of syntactic structures of world languages and we study the distribution of code points in the space of code parameters. We show that, while most codes populate the lower region approximating a superposition of Thomae functions, there is a substantial presence of codes above the Gilbert-Varshamov bound and even above the asymptotic bound and the Plotkin bound. We investigate the dynamics induced on the space of code parameters by spin glass models of language change, and show that, in the presence of entailment relations between syntactic parameters the dynamics can sometimes improve the code. For large sets of languages and syntactic data, one can gain information on the spin glass dynamics from the induced dynamics in the space of code parameters.

This study explored a novel higher strength and higher impact tolerant syntactic foam for composite sandwich structures. A unique microstructure was designed and realized through a unique manufacturing technology. The foam was fabricated by dispersing rubber latex coated microballoons into a nanoclay and milled microfiber reinforced epoxy matrix. Each component was designed to contribute to a desired property of the foam. The nanoparticle and microfiber served to increase the strength and stiffness (stronger and stiffener); the microballoon served as a light-weight filler (lighter); and the rubber coating served to increase the toughness and the impact tolerance (tougher). The manufacturing process for developing this unique microstructure was developed. Both low velocity impact test and four-point bending test were conducted on the foam core and sandwich beams. The test results showed a considerable increase in energy absorption capacity and the capacity for retaining the residual bending strength. This multi-phase material contained structures bridging over several length-scales. The SEM pictures showed that several mechanisms were activated to collaboratively absorb impact energy, including microballoon crushing, interfacial debonding, matrix cracking, rubber pinning, fiber pull-out, and fiber bridge-over. The localized and microscale damage insured that the sandwich beams retained its strength after the impact.

This study explored a novel higher strength and higher impact tolerant syntactic foam for composite sandwich structures. A unique microstructure was designed and realized through a unique manufacturing technology. The foam was fabricated by dispersing rubber latex coated microballoons into a nanoclay and milled microfiber reinforced epoxy matrix. Each component was designed to contribute to a desired property of the foam. The nanoparticle and microfiber served to increase the strength and stiffness (stronger and stiffener); the microballoon served as a light-weight filler (lighter); and the rubber coating served to increase the toughness and the impact tolerance (tougher). The manufacturing process for developing this unique microstructure was developed. Both low velocity impact test and four-point bending test were conducted on the foam core and sandwich beams. The test results showed a considerable increase in energy absorption capacity and the capacity for retaining the residual bending strength. This multi-phase material contained structures bridging over several length-scales. The SEM pictures showed that several mechanisms were activated to collaboratively absorb impact energy, including microballoon crushing, interfacial debonding, matrix cracking, rubber pinning, fiber pull-out, and fiber bridge-over. The localized and microscale damage insured that the sandwich beams retained its strength after the impact.

A Syntactic Analysis of Cambodian News Discourse on COVID-19 Outbreaks: Sentence Lengths and Structures as Predictors of Readability     Bunlot Khoy, Sotheara Suon & Bophan Khan, Royal University of Phnom Penh, Cambodia   The Sixth International Conference on Languages, Linguistics, Translation and Literature 9-10 October 2021 , Ahwaz For more information, please visit the conference website: WWW.LLLD.IR

This study addresses the following research questions: RQ1: Do second language (L2) learners show alignment and long-term learning in text-based chat interactions for multiple target structures? RQ2: Why does alignment and long-term learning vary across structures? Subquestion 1: What is the effect of familiarity with the target structures? Subquestion 2: What is the effect of conscious decisions?

This study addresses the following research questions: RQ1: Do second language (L2) learners show alignment and long-term learning in text-based chat interactions for multiple target structures? RQ2: Why does alignment and long-term learning vary across structures? Subquestion 1: What is the effect of familiarity with the target structures? Subquestion 2: What is the effect of conscious decisions?

Prediction error is known to enhance priming effects for familiar syntactic structures; it also strengthens the formation of new declarative memories. This project examines the effect of prediction error on the acquisition of new syntactic structures. In a three-day artificial language learning study, we will test whether encountering a novel structure with an unexpected verb leads to better acquisition of that structure. As a secondary question, we will test whether encountering a novel structure with an unexpected verb also leads to better memory for the context in which it is encountered.

Prediction error is known to enhance priming effects for familiar syntactic structures; it also strengthens the formation of new declarative memories. This project examines the effect of prediction error on the acquisition of new syntactic structures. In a three-day artificial language learning study, we will test whether encountering a novel structure with an unexpected verb leads to better acquisition of that structure. As a secondary question, we will test whether encountering a novel structure with an unexpected verb also leads to better memory for the context in which it is encountered.

A Syntactic Analysis of Cambodian News Discourse on COVID-19 Outbreaks: Sentence Lengths and Structures as Predictors of Readability Bunlot Khoy, Sotheara Suon & Bophan Khan, Faculty of Social sciences and Humanities, Royal University of Phnom Penh, Cambodia; Faculty of Social sciences and Humanities, Royal University of Phnom Penh, Cambodia & Institute of Foreign Languages, Royal University of Phnom Penh, Cambodia The purpose of the study is to conduct a syntactic analyis of news discourse published online in four popular Khmer newspapers in Cambodia. A sample of 60 articles on COVID-19 outbreaks published from 23 to 29 January 2020 were analysed qualitatively and quantitatively, and with the PAN Khmer Line Breaking Program used to separate Khmer words for word count the way English words are counted as Khmer writing conventions do not require a space in between words but phrases. The researchers used descriptive and inferential statistics to calculate and compare average lengths of the articles, paragraphs, and sentences. The study compared its results to subject-specific academic discourse for Grade 12 and undergraduate studies, and found no statistically significant difference in average sentence lengths between academic texts and the target articles, with sentences of the newspaper articles averaging 32.25 words, compared to 34.3 for the academic texts. Complex sentences were most commonly used, accounting for 44% of a total of 442 sentences in the study’s dataset. Based on the fndings, Khmer journalistic writers are recommended to reduce complexity of clauses and sentences in their written news pieces, observing the standard readability of under 20 words per sentence. Keywords: COVID-19, News Discourse, Readability, Syntactic Analysis, Sentence Structure   The Sixth International Conference on Languages, Linguistics, Translation and Literature 9-10 October 2021 , Ahwaz For more information, please visit the conference website: WWW.LLLD.IR

The current Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) launch vehicle has several metal based components that require a Thermal Protective System (TPS) be applied to the exterior surface to ensure its structural integrity and to protect the interior hardware from aerodynamic heating. TPS materials have distinct disadvantages associated with their use. One disadvantage to the application of TPS is that it can act as a debris source to the Space Shuttle Orbiter during flight and it also adds weight to the system without directly contributing any structural strength. One of the specific areas examined under this program was to replace a metal/TPS system with polymer based composites. A polymer matrix based sandwich composite was developed which had both structural and insulative properties to meet the high aerodynamic structural and heating load survival requirements. The SRB Nose Cap was selected as a candidate for this application. The sandwich system being qualified for this application is a carbon/epoxy outer and inner skin with a high strength-low thermal conductivity syntactic foam core.

The purpose of this study was to compare the performance of ninth-grade slow readers with ninth-grade good readers and with sixth grade readers on a test of syntactic comprehension. The significant difference between the ninth-grade good readers' and the ninth-grade slow readers' performance on A Test of Sentence Meaning (ATSM), developed by Albert D. Marcus, clearly shows that comprehension of syntactic structure is an element in total reading comprehension. The low correlation between the total reading scores and the ATSM score would seem to indicate that it is not an important factor in reading at this level. The correlation of .70 between reading and the ATSM indicates that comprehension of syntactic structures is an important reading factor for sixth grade readers even on a survey reading test. It is suggested that the great difference in the correlations between the sixth-grade readers and the ninth-grade readers indicates that although these two groups measure on The Nelson Reading Test to be very similar with the same range and almost the same means, they must differ in at least one important respect. (LL)

The purpose of this study was to compare the performance of ninth-grade slow readers with ninth-grade good readers and with sixth grade readers on a test of syntactic comprehension. The significant difference between the ninth-grade good readers' and the ninth-grade slow readers' performance on A Test of Sentence Meaning (ATSM), developed by Albert D. Marcus, clearly shows that comprehension of syntactic structure is an element in total reading comprehension. The low correlation between the total reading scores and the ATSM score would seem to indicate that it is not an important factor in reading at this level. The correlation of .70 between reading and the ATSM indicates that comprehension of syntactic structures is an important reading factor for sixth grade readers even on a survey reading test. It is suggested that the great difference in the correlations between the sixth-grade readers and the ninth-grade readers indicates that although these two groups measure on The Nelson Reading Test to be very similar with the same range and almost the same means, they must differ in at least one important respect. (LL)

The purpose of this study was to compare the performance of ninth-grade slow readers with ninth-grade good readers and with sixth grade readers on a test of syntactic comprehension. The significant difference between the ninth-grade good readers' and the ninth-grade slow readers' performance on A Test of Sentence Meaning (ATSM), developed by Albert D. Marcus, clearly shows that comprehension of syntactic structure is an element in total reading comprehension. The low correlation between the total reading scores and the ATSM score would seem to indicate that it is not an important factor in reading at this level. The correlation of .70 between reading and the ATSM indicates that comprehension of syntactic structures is an important reading factor for sixth grade readers even on a survey reading test. It is suggested that the great difference in the correlations between the sixth-grade readers and the ninth-grade readers indicates that although these two groups measure on The Nelson Reading Test to be very similar with the same range and almost the same means, they must differ in at least one important respect. (LL)

The existence of a developmental sequence for the acquisition of specific complex syntactic structures in English was investigated through an analysis of eight studies of Danish subjects. The studies involved Danish speaking subjects acquiring English as a second language at ages 7-10, 13, and 18. The evidence from these studies demonstrate a developmental sequence of linguistic stages with each of the structures acquired in sequential order. General syntactic principles are at work despite the different learning situations and learner skills. Gradual development, degrees of understanding, and the importance of contextual and interpersonal cues must be considered when evaluating variations in comprehension. The distinction between conceptual development and the mastery of the syntactic rules studied is discussed. Performance strategies relying on syntactic/semantic cues varying according to experimental setup and developmental stage are noted. (RW)

This study will assess learning of an artificial grammar in autistic and non autistic adults.

This is a pre-registration for a second study within the broader project.

This is a pre-registration for a second study within the broader project.

This is a pre-registration for a second study within the broader project.

This paper describes and gives the results of a psycholinguistic experiment investigating the impact of certain surface syntactic structures on the perception and memory of language. The basic assumption is that the content of an utterance must be its most salient aspect in memory. The for of an utterance, its surface grammar and phonology, must have some salience for memory, especially short-term, but nothing like that of content. Amy meaningful grammatical distinctions of markers should, therefore, be more salient in memory than meaningless ones. This experiment focuses exclusively on different varieties of one surface distinction: sentences whose underlying predicate surfaces as a verb versus those where the same predicate surfaces as some nominalization of that verb. The experiment consisted of administering to the subjects pairs of synonymous sentences, differing in the above manner and referred to as Critical Pairs (CP's), and five other types of sentences, included for comparing recognition performance on CP's to performance on other kinds of linguistic memory. The conclusion is that the surface syntactic differences manipulated here have little, if any, salience for memory, and that it is unlikely for such surface differences to have any semantic consequence. Such conclusions, however, do not necessarily generalize to other surface features. (Author/TL)

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 20 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: semantic constructivity in children's comprehension; text-based inferences generated by children in reading written discourse; a review of reading comprehension research; the psycholinguistic processes of beginning readers; the relationship between discourse structures and critical reading; information processing and retrieval of adult college students; the effects of anaphoric references, typographically modified organizers, and oral prequestioning on reading comprehension; word analysis strategies for reading; the effect of question order on reading achievement; sentence characteristics that influence the comprehensibility of text; the effect of chunking on the recall of written discourse; types of information addition in the psycholinguistic process of reading; the relationship of knowledge of given information to reading comprehension; prose learning as a function of adjunct questions and individual differences; and the relationship of language cues used in silent reading to the semantic and syntactic cues revealed in oral reading miscues. (GW)

The author begins this paper with, "Let us recognize as axiomatic the statement that sentences in natural languages have the properties of structured, organic wholes." She feels that this statement has several important theoretical consequences, the most interesting (in so far as the current controversy over "surfacism" is concerned) being pattern-meaning. It follows as a corollary of her opening statement that syntactic patterns have a meaning of their own, a meaning that is conditioned by, but not reducible to, the features of intercategorial relationships of the parts. The simplex "The thought frightened John" and its causative paraphrase "The thought made John frightened" are both simple in their deep structure because in each of the sentences each of the categorial relationships occurs just once. (See AL 002 096.) These two sentences differ in configuration properties, or pattern-meaning. The author explains the differences in pattern-meaning and discusses the effects of verbal clitics on pattern-meaning in Spanish. She feels that there is "no choice but to accept the fact that patterns have meanings, and the patterns with their inseparable meanings do fulfill communicative purposes." (DO)

In this report data are presented that challenge the difficulty ordering for anaphoric syntax (e. g., pronouns) proposed by Bormuth, Manning, Carr, and Pearson in 1970. It is suggested that any such difficulty ordering resulting from tests of the form proposed by Bormuth (1970) will have uncontrolled variability due to semantic factors that have yet to be carefully analyzed and controlled. (Author)

book cover of Syntactic-Structures

Three broad categories of comprehension skills (sentence, anaphora, and intersentence syntax) were divided into a total of 55 separate skills. Two different sentences or sentence pairs were written to incorporate each of the structures studied, and a four- or five-sentence paragraph was then written to incorporate each of these. Four question types (rote, transform, semantic substitute, and compound) were used to test comprehension of the structures; therefore, four test forms using these different question types were made for each paragraph. The subjects, fourth graders from an inner city, a suburban, and a rural school, were randomly divided so that 60 students responded to each question. The mean percentage of the students correctly answering the sentence comprehension questions was 73 percent; the anaphora comprehension questions, 77 percent; and the intersentence questions, 58 percent. The structures identified seemed to represent homogenous classes of behavior since the variation between questions measuring different skills was significantly greater than the variation between items measuring the same skill. The fact that the structures and question types differed significantly in difficulty was also taken as evidence that many of these skills may be hierarchically related. Tables and references are included. (CM)

A study designed to investigate to what extent ethno-linguistic background affects speech patterns and syntactic flexibility of grades one, four and six children from monolingual, bilingual-French and bilingual-German rural communities. A total of 216 randomly selected subjects were used; they were selected from nine rural Manitoba schools, and they were drawn in equal frequencies from grades one, four and six in each of the nine schools. The criterion measure for ability was Pintner Cunningham Primary Test for grade one, and the Pintner General Ability Test for grades four and six. All the language samples were segmented into minimal terminable units (T-units) single independent predications together with any subordinate clauses that may be grammatically related to it. The indices adopted for the study were differentiated on a dichotomous scale: positive and negative. Linguistic performance credited to the positive scale was assumed to indicate language maturity. Performance measured on the negative scale indicated deficiency in language development. Findings include: The only sentence-combining transformation categories favoring the grade six subjects were the Infinitive Phrase + Subject and the Coordinate transformations. Only two transformation categories showed any significant relationship to the sex variable; and the ability variable proved significant in all tested categories except Coordinate Structure transformations. (Author/CK)

This study assessed the effectiveness of 5 hours of training on 3-year-old children's comprehension and production of the passive, negative, possessive, and negative passive syntactic structures. A comprehension test identified 20 children who did not evidence understanding of these structures. Subjects were then randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. Experimental subjects received daily training while subjects in the control group received no training. Toys in different arrangements served as exemplars of the structures. A re-administration of the comprehension test to all children after 3 weeks showed significant improvement among experimental subjects, who also performed well on a test for production of these structures. (A drawing illustrating the experimental process and data obtained from the language comprehension tests are provided.) (Author/MF)

To study the development of syntax in the language of deaf students, the Test of Syntactic Ability was constructed and administered to approximately 450 deaf students (10-18 years old) and 60 normal children (8-10 years old). The test contained 22 subtests covering seven major syntactic structures: relativization, conjunction, complementation, pronominalization, question, formation, negation, and the verb system. Although results showed gradual improvement of deaf Ss' performance, the improvement was slight and the retardation in comparison to hearing Ss was large. Developmental stages for deaf Ss on the structures tended to parallel the stages reported for hearing children. Certain distinct structures, apparently rule ordered, were found to appear consistently in the language of the deaf Ss but rarely or never in the hearing Ss. Comparison of the deaf Ss' knowledge of the various structures with the appearance of those structures in a series of reading texts analyzed during the project revealed differences so large as to make it unlikely the deaf subjects could read the texts. It was concluded that instruments for the assessment of syntactic structure, and curriculum materials tailored to the language of deaf children, need to be developed. (Author/LS)

Noam Chomsky Syntactic Structures

Noam Chomsky Syntactic Structures

The current Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) launch vehicle has several metal based components that require a Thermal Protective System (TPS) be applied to the exterior surface to ensure its structural integrity and to protect the interior hardware from aerodynamic heating. TPS materials have distinct disadvantages associated with their use. One disadvantage to the application of TPS is that it can act as a debris source to the Space Shuttle Orbiter during flight and it also adds weight to the system without directly contributing any structural strength. One of the specific areas examined under this program was to replace a metal/TPS system with polymer based composites. A polymer matrix based sandwich composite was developed which had both structural and insulative properties to meet the high aerodynamic structural and heating load survival requirements. The SRB Nose Cap was selected as a candidate for this application. The sandwich system being qualified for this application is a carbon/epoxy outer and inner skin with a high strength-low thermal conductivity syntactic foam core.

Keeping vocabulary and content constant, it was determined whether syntactically more complex structures increase reading difficulty or whether all students, regardless of grade level, have the same syntactic skills and thus read with equal facility materials written at different syntactic maturity levels. One hundred and twenty randomly selected students from grades 4 through 12 in a Florida school system were the subjects. They were given prototypic passages about the making of aluminum as rewritten by typical fourth, eighth, and twelfth graders and skilled adults, exhibiting syntactic characteristics of the average performance at each age level. Every fifth word was deleted, and no paragraphs contained the first or last words deleted. The test was given without verbal instructions or assistance, and no time limit was set. Data were subjected to one-way analysis of variance. The results showed that grades 4, 10, and 11 differed significantly between the four levels of writing. Fourth, fifth, and sixth graders read fourth-grade writing best; eleventh graders read it with least facility. Students in grades 8 through 12 found eighth-grade writing easier to read than either the fourth-grade writing or the more difficult passages. References, tables, and the prototype passages are included. (Author/CL)

Keeping vocabulary and content constant, it was determined whether syntactically more complex structures increase reading difficulty or whether all students, regardless of grade level, have the same syntactic skills and thus read with equal facility materials written at different syntactic maturity levels. One hundred and twenty randomly selected students from grades 4 through 12 in a Florida school system were the subjects. They were given prototypic passages about the making of aluminum as rewritten by typical fourth, eighth, and twelfth graders and skilled adults, exhibiting syntactic characteristics of the average performance at each age level. Every fifth word was deleted, and no paragraphs contained the first or last words deleted. The test was given without verbal instructions or assistance, and no time limit was set. Data were subjected to one-way analysis of variance. The results showed that grades 4, 10, and 11 differed significantly between the four levels of writing. Fourth, fifth, and sixth graders read fourth-grade writing best; eleventh graders read it with least facility. Students in grades 8 through 12 found eighth-grade writing easier to read than either the fourth-grade writing or the more difficult passages. References, tables, and the prototype passages are included. (Author/CL)

Keeping vocabulary and content constant, it was determined whether syntactically more complex structures increase reading difficulty or whether all students, regardless of grade level, have the same syntactic skills and thus read with equal facility materials written at different syntactic maturity levels. One hundred and twenty randomly selected students from grades 4 through 12 in a Florida school system were the subjects. They were given prototypic passages about the making of aluminum as rewritten by typical fourth, eighth, and twelfth graders and skilled adults, exhibiting syntactic characteristics of the average performance at each age level. Every fifth word was deleted, and no paragraphs contained the first or last words deleted. The test was given without verbal instructions or assistance, and no time limit was set. Data were subjected to one-way analysis of variance. The results showed that grades 4, 10, and 11 differed significantly between the four levels of writing. Fourth, fifth, and sixth graders read fourth-grade writing best; eleventh graders read it with least facility. Students in grades 8 through 12 found eighth-grade writing easier to read than either the fourth-grade writing or the more difficult passages. References, tables, and the prototype passages are included. (Author/CL)

Keeping vocabulary and content constant, it was determined whether syntactically more complex structures increase reading difficulty or whether all students, regardless of grade level, have the same syntactic skills and thus read with equal facility materials written at different syntactic maturity levels. One hundred and twenty randomly selected students from grades 4 through 12 in a Florida school system were the subjects. They were given prototypic passages about the making of aluminum as rewritten by typical fourth, eighth, and twelfth graders and skilled adults, exhibiting syntactic characteristics of the average performance at each age level. Every fifth word was deleted, and no paragraphs contained the first or last words deleted. The test was given without verbal instructions or assistance, and no time limit was set. Data were subjected to one-way analysis of variance. The results showed that grades 4, 10, and 11 differed significantly between the four levels of writing. Fourth, fifth, and sixth graders read fourth-grade writing best; eleventh graders read it with least facility. Students in grades 8 through 12 found eighth-grade writing easier to read than either the fourth-grade writing or the more difficult passages. References, tables, and the prototype passages are included. (Author/CL)