Evidence of Sensitivity to Structural Contrasts in the Literature on Children's Language Comprehension

1996 ◽  
Vol 39 (6) ◽  
pp. 1304-1314 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann Sutton
Keyword(s):  
Language Comprehension ◽  
Direct Evidence ◽  
Indirect Evidence ◽  
Detailed Examination ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Response Patterns ◽  
Developmental Sequence ◽  
Grammatical Structure ◽  
Grammatical Knowledge ◽  
Grammatical Structures

This paper reviews the developmental literature on grammatical knowledge in language comprehension in the preschool years from the perspective of sensitivity to structural contrasts. This concept differs from mastery of individual grammatical structures. Structural sensitivity focuses on increments of partial grammatical knowledge that can be observed in distinctive response patterns to contrasting grammatical structures. Direct evidence of sensitivity to structural contrasts is found in comprehension studies that measured differential responding. Indirect evidence of sensitivity can also be discovered by detailed examination of the data presented in several additional studies. The evidence suggests that there may be a developmental sequence of increasing sensitivity with age to finer distinctions and to more detailed aspects of grammatical structure. The notion of sensitivity to structural contrasts has implications for future research.

scholarly journals Genetic relationship and the case of Ma'a Mbugu

1983 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 195-232
Author(s):  
Sarah G. Thomason
Keyword(s):  
Language Development ◽  
Genetic Relationship ◽  
Final Section ◽  
Direct Evidence ◽  
Indirect Evidence ◽  
General Question ◽  
Grammatical Structure ◽  
Basic Vocabulary

This paper addresses the general question of genetic vs. nongenetic language development, in the context of a structural and historical discussion of Ma'a (Mbugu), a language with Cushitic basic vocabulary that is spoken in Tanzania. The grammatical structure of Ma'a is compared to characteristic Cushitic and Bantu structures. The conclusion that emerges from this comparison is that Ma'a probably does not have enough Cushitic grammar to qualify as a Cushitic language in the full genetic sense; and if it does not, its origin must be nongenetic. The final section of the paper seeks to determine the particular route of nongenetic development that Ma'a has followed, using the direct evidence of published comments about its speakers' history and the indirect evidence of comparison with other languages whose origin is nongenetic or, like Ma'a, on the borderline between genetic and nongenetic.

scholarly journals Assessment of grammar comprehension: Adaptation of TROG for Serbian language

Psihologija ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-132
Author(s):  
Darinka Andjelkovic ◽  
Nadezda Krstic ◽  
Maja Savic ◽  
Oliver Toskovic ◽  
Nevena Budjevac
Keyword(s):  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Language Change ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Grammatical Structure ◽  
Grammatical Development ◽  
Language Difficulties ◽  
Internal Inconsistency ◽  
Grammatical Structures

In this study we present our adaptation and preliminary standardization of Test for Reception of Grammar TROG (Bishop, 1989) for Serbian language. TROG is a receptive test of grammatical structures, constructed primarily for an assessment of grammatical development and detection of children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI). Due to the lack of standardized tests for language development in our clinical community, TROG is selected for adaptation as a test which includes two components relevant for discrimination of children with language difficulties: a) measure of receptive abilities and b) distinguishing knowledge of grammar from semantic aspect of comprehension. Preliminary standardization was done on a sample of 335 participants between 4 and 7 years of age, divided into 8 age subsamples. Since dynamic of language change at early ages is faster, age samples covered range of 3 months at the ages 4;0-4;2, 4;3-4;5, 4;6-4;8, 4;9-4;11, and range of 6 months at the ages 5;0-5;5, 5;6-5;11, 6;00-6;05, 6;06-6;11. Analyses have revealed that the first version of Serbian TROG is discriminative for the differences between age samples, but discrimination is smaller then it was expected. The test discriminates three age-samples (4;0-4;8, 4;9-5;5, and 5;6-6;11). It is easier for the children older then 5 years, which causes statistical significance of discrimination to tilt within a narrow margin around 0,05. Reliability of the whole instrument is estimated very high - between 0,86 and 0,91, depending on the method of estimation. However, reliability estimated for particular blocks (grammatical structure) revealed that internal consistency of blocks is not homogeneous. This finding prevents reliable estimation of competence for particular structures, and makes difficult to define which contrast is understood by a child and which is not. Furthermore, internal inconsistency of blocks may also be additional source of low discrimination of test for children older then 5. Further improvement of test, balancing of items and inclusion of additional grammatical structures in order to get a wider range of age discrimination is required. This will be done in future research.

scholarly journals Problems in Grammatical Structure: A Case Study of B.Ed. Student at the Education Department

sjesr ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 420-425
Author(s):  
Dr. Gulzar Ahmed ◽  
Dr. Syed Shafqat Ali Shah ◽  
Dr. Muhammad Nisar
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
English Language ◽  
Text Structure ◽  
Grammatical Structure ◽  
Education Department ◽  
Undergraduate Level ◽  
English Grammar ◽  
Grammatical Structures

English grammar is how words in the English language are translated into text. This includes the structure of words, phrases, clauses, and phrases, up to and including full-text structure. The main objective of the authors is to discover the difficulties of grammatical structures for students at the Department of Teacher Education. Shikarpur Shaikh Ayaz University. The students of B.Ed. undergraduate level of education department was selected as a data population. The fifty students were randomly selected from the education department. There is quantitative research underway. The researchers used a testing tool for a questionnaire. The student's collected data were analyzed by SPSS-Descriptive statistics.  Some of the challenges and problems are facing during the English Grammar lesson of B.Ed. students. The students have used the conditional verb and also the proper use of a phrasal verb that is one of the problems with students. The use of an article is also one of the fundamental problems for undergraduate students. Teachers should make it possible for students to practice these materials either through activity-based teaching or through the CLT method so that they can be more attentive to EFL learning and not focus on translation alone.

scholarly journals Support of Workplace Diversity Policies: The Role of Race, Gender, and Beliefs about Inequality

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Scarborough ◽  
Danny Lambouths ◽  
Allyson Holbrook
Keyword(s):  
Direct Evidence ◽  
Group Differences ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Workplace Diversity ◽  
Survey Experiment ◽  
Representation Of Women ◽  
Workplace Policies ◽  
Levels Of Support ◽  
Analyze Data

Workplace diversity policies are more effective when they are supported by managers and workers, but there is little direct evidence on how people feel about these policies or why they hold certain opinions. In this study, we analyze data from a survey experiment designed to assess public opinion about a range of workplace diversity policies. We examine how support for these policies among employed respondents varies by race, gender, and by the targeted population (i.e. whether the policies aim to improve the workplace representation of women or racial minorities). Using OLS regression models to analyze a diverse sample of employed persons participating in the survey, we find that women, blacks, and Latina/os are more supportive of diversity policies than men and whites, and a substantial portion of these gender/race differences can be explained by group-differences in the belief that discrimination causes inequality. In addition, we find that respondents report lower levels of support for workplace policies when these policies are framed as a mechanism to increase diversity than when they are framed as being needed to address discrimination or if no justification is given for the policy. Our findings highlight the role of inequality beliefs in shaping worker support for diversity policies, suggesting directions for future research on how such beliefs are developed.

scholarly journals Outcomes-Based Assessment and Learning: Trialling Change in a Postgraduate Civil Engineering Course

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-44
Author(s):  
Tamer El-Maaddawy ◽  
◽  
Christopher Deneen ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Student Learning ◽  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
Direct Evidence ◽  
Civil Engineering ◽  
Indirect Evidence ◽  
Assessment Instruments ◽  
Learning Framework ◽  
Assessment Tasks ◽  
Master Level ◽  
Teaching Learning

This paper aims to demonstrate how assessment tasks can function within an outcomes-based learning framework to evaluate student attainment of learning outcomes. An outcomes-based learning framework designed to integrate teaching, learning, and assessment activities was developed and implemented in a civil engineering master-level course. The assessment instruments for this course were designed together to form a deliberate, balanced, and practical approach to evaluating student attainment of learning outcomes within the outcomes-based learning initiative. Direct evidence of student learning was derived through analysis of student results in assessment tasks constructively aligned with intended outcomes of learning. Student feedback provided indirect evidence of student attainment of learning outcomes and confirmed the effectiveness of the learning approach implemented in the course under investigation. Results of the direct assessment instruments were, generally, consistent with the student self-perception confirming achievement of learning outcomes. Students tended, however, to overestimate the level of attainment of learning outcomes. Results of the present study are anticipated to assist educators and researchers to efficiently and effectively implement and evaluate outcomes-based learning in higher education thus improving educational quality and student learning

Diguanylate cyclase and phosphodiesterase interact to maintain the specificity of c-di-GMP signaling in the regulation of antibiotic synthesis in Lysobacter enzymogenes

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gaoge Xu ◽  
Lichuan Zhou ◽  
Guoliang Qian ◽  
Fengquan Liu
Keyword(s):  
Direct Evidence ◽  
Antibiotic Production ◽  
Indirect Evidence ◽  
Second Messenger ◽  
Antibiotic Biosynthesis ◽  
Diguanylate Cyclase ◽  
Signaling Specificity ◽  
Lysobacter Enzymogenes ◽  
Subsequent Investigation ◽  
Diguanylate Cyclases

Cyclic dimeric GMP (c-di-GMP) is a universal second messenger in bacteria. The large number of c-di-GMP-related diguanylate cyclases (DGCs), phosphodiesterases (PDEs) and effectors are responsible for the complexity and dynamics of c-di-GMP signaling. Some of these components deploy various methods to avoid undesired crosstalk to maintain signaling specificity. Synthesis of the antibiotic HSAF ( H eat S table A ntifungal F actor) in Lysobacter enzymogenes is regulated by a specific c-di-GMP signaling pathway that includes a PDE LchP and a c-di-GMP effector Clp (also a transcriptional regulator). In the present study, from among 19 DGCs, we identified a diguanylate cyclase, LchD, which participates in this pathway. Subsequent investigation indicates that LchD and LchP physically interact and that the catalytic center of LchD is required for both the formation of the LchD-LchP complex and HSAF production. All the detected phenotypes support that LchD and LchP dispaly local c-di-GMP signaling to regulate HSAF biosynthesis. Although direct evidence is lacking, our investigation, which shows that the interaction between a DGC and a PDE maintains the specificity of c-di-GMP signaling, suggests the possibility of the existence of local c-di-GMP pools in bacteria. Importance Cyclic dimeric GMP (c-di-GMP) is a universal second messenger in bacteria. Signaling of c-di-GMP is complex and dynamic, and it is mediated by a large number of components, including c-di-GMP synthases (diguanylate cyclases. DGCs), c-di-GMP degrading enzymes (phosphodiesterases, PDEs), and c-di-GMP effectors. These components deploy various methods to avoid undesired crosstalk to maintain signaling specificity. In the present study, we identified a DGC that interacted with a PDE to specifically regulate antibiotic biosynthesis in L. enzymogenes . We provide direct evidence to show that the DGC and PDE form a complex, and also indirect evidence to argue that they may balance a local c-di-GMP pool to control the antibiotic production. The results represent an important finding regarding the mechanism of a pair of DGC and PDE to control the expression of specific c-di-GMP signaling pathways.

Duration of Availability of Tritiated Thymidine Following Intraperitoneal Injection

1968 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-93
Author(s):  
W. K. BLENKINSOPP
Keyword(s):  
Cell Division ◽  
Intraperitoneal Injection ◽  
Deoxyribonucleic Acid ◽  
Direct Evidence ◽  
Tritiated Thymidine ◽  
Indirect Evidence ◽  
Acid Synthesis ◽  
Single Intraperitoneal Injection ◽  
Deoxyribonucleic Acid Synthesis

Much indirect evidence supports the assumption that tritiated thymidine does not label cells which enter the deoxyribonucleic acid synthesis phase (S) more than 1 h after injection. Direct evidence confirming this assumption was obtained by counting labelled epithelial nuclei in mice killed 1, 4 or 6 h after a single intraperitoneal injection of [3H]thymidine; colchicine was used to prevent the increase in number of labelled nuclei which would otherwise have occurred because of cell division. The proportion of cells labelled was the same at 1 h as at 4 or 6 h after injection of [3H]thymidine. Nuclei were regarded as labelled if they were overlaid by 4 grains or more; comparison of nuclear and background labelling indicated that nuclei overlaid by 3 grains or less represented background labelling.

Metamorphic Fluids in Orogenic Settings

Elements ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. 381-387 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katy A. Evans ◽  
Andrew G. Tomkins
Keyword(s):  
Phase Equilibria ◽  
Melting Temperature ◽  
Fluid Inclusions ◽  
Indirect Evidence ◽  
Ore Deposits ◽  
Variable Composition ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Temperature Cycle ◽  
Thermodynamic Models ◽  
Metamorphic Fluids

Metamorphic reactions within the Earth’s crust produce fluids of variable composition that play a major role in the evolution of continents. Metamorphic fluids facilitate reactions that alter crustal rheology, reduce melting temperature, cycle elements between geological reservoirs and form ore deposits. These fluids are relatively inaccessible, other than by study of fluid inclusions, so most studies rely on a combination of indirect evidence and predictive thermodynamic models to determine the characteristics and roles of the fluids. In this article, the origins, compositions, controlling phase equilibria, and roles of metamorphic fluids are reviewed, followed by a discussion of selected areas of current and future research.

scholarly journals The earliest record of Caribbean frogs: a fossil coquí from Puerto Rico

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 20190947 ◽  
Author(s):  
David C. Blackburn ◽  
Rachel M. Keeffe ◽  
María C. Vallejo-Pareja ◽  
Jorge Vélez-Juarbe
Keyword(s):  
Puerto Rico ◽  
Direct Evidence ◽  
Indirect Evidence ◽  
Distal Humerus ◽  
Greater Antilles ◽  
Terrestrial Vertebrates ◽  
Early Arrival ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Molecular Phylogenies ◽  
Additional Support

The nearly 200 species of direct-developing frogs in the genus Eleutherodactylus (the Caribbean landfrogs, which include the coquís) comprise an important lineage for understanding the evolution and historical biogeography of the Caribbean. Time-calibrated molecular phylogenies provide indirect evidence for the processes that shaped the modern anuran fauna, but there is little direct evidence from the fossil record of Caribbean frogs about their distributions in the past. We report a distal humerus of a frog from the Oligocene (approx. 29 Ma) of Puerto Rico that represents the earliest known fossil frog from any Caribbean island. Based on its prominent rounded distal humeral head, distally projecting entepicondyle, and reduced ectepicondyle, we refer it to the genus Eleutherodactylus . This fossil provides additional support for an early arrival of some groups of terrestrial vertebrates to the Greater Antilles and corroborates previous estimates based on molecular phylogenies suggesting that this diverse Caribbean lineage was present in the islands by the mid-Cenozoic.

Symbiotic relationships between worms and solitary rugose corals in the Late Ordovician

Paleobiology ◽  
1986 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert J. Elias
Keyword(s):  
North American ◽  
Direct Evidence ◽  
Indirect Evidence ◽  
Late Ordovician ◽  
Physical Contact ◽  
Taxonomic Affinity ◽  
External Wall ◽  
Symbiotic Relationships ◽  
Rugose Corals ◽  
History Of

Symbiotic relationships involving physical contact between worms and solitary rugosan polyps are recorded by the following structures in North American Late Ordovician corals: (1) Trypanites borings enclosed within septal swellings in two specimens, (2) vermiform grooves and openings along the external wall of one corallum, and (3) a chamber containing a unique brown tube within one individual. These features are indicative, respectively, of commensal boring polychaete annelids that penetrated through coralla, commensal epizoic worms of unknown taxonomic affinity that attached to the side of a polyp, and a tubicolous worm (possibly a polychaete) that was likely a parasitic endozoan. Symbionts comparable to the latter two types are also known from two specimens of Devonian solitary rugose corals.Indirect evidence suggests that symbioses between solitary rugosans and the worms that produced Trypanites borings as dwelling structures in the sides of coralla were relatively common. However, direct evidence that the hosts were alive has been found in only two corals. In both cases, worms bored through septa within the calices and came into contact with basal surfaces of the polyps, which secreted skeletal material that sealed off the intruders. The rarity of such structures suggests that the encounters were inadvertent. If boring worms favored upcurrent portions of objects in order to maximize feeding benefits and avoid sedimentation, their locations indicate that the concave sides of curved coralla faced toward prevailing currents when in life positions.“Opportunistic” worms are known to have attached to the sides of polyps only in rare instances when the hosts became temporarily exposed as a result of accidents or abnormalities. This indicates that coralla normally served to shield polyps from colonization by nonboring epizoans.Worms that apparently extended up through openings in basal surfaces of polyps likely obtained sustenance parasitically within the central cavities. They could have entered the hosts through their mouths, or via the calices when parts of the polyps detached from their coralla and contracted radially. The rarity of this type of relationship in solitary Rugosa suggests that the worms entered inadvertently.Symbioses involving physical contact between worms and polyps seem to have been rare throughout the history of solitary rugose corals. Both groups apparently tolerated such associations when they did occur, although the rugosans secreted structures in their coralla that served to isolate the symbionts. In doing so, they recorded the presence of worms not likely to be preserved as body fossils. The interpretation of such features provides information on the physiology and ethology of both organisms, on the history of symbiotic relationships, and on the diversity of soft-bodied organisms in ancient environments.

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