scholarly journals Infants’ Lexical Processing Efficiency is Related to Vocabulary Size by One Year of Age

Infancy ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 342-366 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jill Lany ◽  
Michael Giglio ◽  
Madeleine Oswald
Keyword(s):  
Lexical Processing ◽  
Vocabulary Size ◽  
Processing Efficiency ◽  
One Year

scholarly journals Vocabulary size and auditory word recognition in preschool children

2016 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
FRANZO LAW ◽  
TRISTAN MAHR ◽  
ALISSA SCHNEEBERG ◽  
JAN EDWARDS
Keyword(s):  
Maternal Education ◽  
Lexical Processing ◽  
American English ◽  
Eye Gaze ◽  
Education Level ◽  
Vocabulary Size ◽  
Processing Efficiency ◽  
New Words ◽  
Gaze Patterns ◽  
Mainstream American English

ABSTRACTRecognizing familiar words quickly and accurately facilitates learning new words, as well as other aspects of language acquisition. This study used the visual world paradigm with semantic and phonological competitors to study lexical processing efficiency in 2- to 5-year-old children. Experiment 1 found this paradigm was sensitive to vocabulary-size differences. Experiment 2 included a more diverse group of children who were tested in their native dialect (either African American English or mainstream American English). No effect of stimulus dialect was observed. The results showed that vocabulary size was a better predictor of eye gaze patterns than was maternal education, but that maternal education level had a moderating effect; as maternal education level increased, vocabulary size was less predictive of lexical processing efficiency.

Exploring the Linguistic, Cognitive, and Social Skills Underlying Lexical Processing Efficiency as Measured by the Looking-while-Listening Paradigm

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Samuel RONFARD ◽  
Ran WEI ◽  
Meredith L. ROWE
Keyword(s):  
Social Skills ◽  
Language Development ◽  
Executive Functions ◽  
Lexical Processing ◽  
Fast Mapping ◽  
Vocabulary Size ◽  
Processing Efficiency ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Pragmatic Skills ◽  
Mapping Task

Abstract The looking-while-listening (LWL) paradigm is frequently used to measure toddlers’ lexical processing efficiency (LPE). Children's LPE is associated with vocabulary size, yet other linguistic, cognitive, or social skills contributing to LPE are not well understood. It also remains unclear whether LPE measures from two types of LWL trials (target-initial versus distractor-initial trials) are differentially associated with the abovementioned potential correlates of LPE. We tested 18- to 24-month-olds and found that children's word learning on a fast-mapping task was associated with LPE measures from all trials and distractor-initial trials but not target-initial trials. Children's vocabulary and pragmatic skills were both associated with their fast-mapping performance. Executive functions and pragmatic skills were associated with LPE measures from distractor-initial but not target-initial trials. Hence, LPE as measured by the LWL paradigm may reflect a constellation of skills important to language development. Methodological implications for future studies using the LWL paradigm are discussed.

Rapid shift in naming efficiency on a rapid automatic naming task by young Spanish-speaking English language learners

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 847-872
Author(s):  
Stephanie McMillen ◽  
Linda Jarmulowicz ◽  
Michael M. Mackay ◽  
D. Kimbrough Oller
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Repeated Measures ◽  
English Language ◽  
Lexical Processing ◽  
Naming Task ◽  
Processing Efficiency ◽  
Spanish Speaking ◽  
Rapid Shift

AbstractThe present study analyzed lexical processing efficiency in Spanish-speaking English language learners (ELLs) and their monolingual English-speaking peers from kindergarten through second grade. Specifically, changes in the patterns of speed and accuracy on a rapid object-naming task were evaluated across languages for the ELL children and across the groups of children. Repeated measures analysis of variance demonstrated that ELL children have a rapid shift in language processing efficiency from Spanish to English by the end of kindergarten. Results also showed that by the end of kindergarten ELL children were slightly faster and more accurate in English compared with their monolingual peers. This work provides perspective on how lexical processing is impacted by the development of a dual lexical system. We discuss how lexical density, strength of lexical connections, and environmental constraints may influence this rapid shift in lexical processing efficiency for young Spanish-speaking ELL children.

Infant statistical-learning ability is related to real-time language processing

2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 368-391 ◽  
Author(s):  
JILL LANY ◽  
AMBER SHOAIB ◽  
ABBIE THOMPSON ◽  
KATHARINE GRAF ESTES
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Statistical Learning ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Lexical Processing ◽  
Learning Ability ◽  
Artificial Language ◽  
Statistical Structure ◽  
Processing Efficiency ◽  
Sequential Structure

AbstractInfants are adept at learning statistical regularities in artificial language materials, suggesting that the ability to learn statistical structure may support language development. Indeed, infants who perform better on statistical learning tasks tend to be more advanced in parental reports of infants’ language skills. Work with adults suggests that one way statistical learning ability affects language proficiency is by facilitating real-time language processing. Here we tested whether 15-month-olds’ ability to learn sequential statistical structure in artificial language materials is related to their ability to encode and interpret native-language speech. Specifically, we tested their ability to learn sequential structure among syllables (Experiment 1) and words (Experiment 2), as well as their ability to encode familiar English words in sentences. The results suggest that infants' ability to learn sequential structure among syllables is related to their lexical-processing efficiency, providing continuity with findings from children and adults, though effects were modest.

scholarly journals Parsing preferences and individual differences in nonnative sentence processing: Evidence from eye movements

2021 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 129-151
Author(s):  
Yesi Cheng ◽  
Jason Rothman ◽  
Ian Cunnings
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Lexical Processing ◽  
English Studies ◽  
Processing Efficiency ◽  
L2 Processing ◽  
Attachment Preference ◽  
Ambiguity Advantage ◽  
L1 And L2 ◽  
Processing Mechanisms

AbstractUsing both offline and online measures, the present study investigates attachment resolution in relative clauses in English natives (L1) and nonnatives (L2). We test how relative clause resolution interacts with linguistic factors and participant-level individual differences. Previous L1 English studies have demonstrated a low attachment preference and also an “ambiguity advantage” suggesting that L1ers may not have as strong a low attachment preference as is sometimes claimed. We employ a similar design to examine this effect in L1 and L2 comprehension. Offline results indicate that both groups exhibit a low attachment preference, positively correlated with reading span scores and with proficiency in the L2 group. Online results also suggest a low attachment preference in both groups. However, our data show that individual differences influence online attachment resolution for both native and nonnatives; higher lexical processing efficiency correlates with quicker resolution of linguistic conflicts. We argue that the current findings suggest that attachment resolution during L1 and L2 processing share the same processing mechanisms and are modulated by similar individual differences.

Anbar: Collection and analysis of a large scale Urdu language Twitter corpus

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Bilal Tahir ◽  
Muhammad Amir Mehmood
Keyword(s):  
Computational Linguistics ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Temporal Frequency ◽  
Quality Data ◽  
User Characteristics ◽  
Vocabulary Size ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Social Analytics ◽  
One Year

 The confluence of high performance computing algorithms and large scale high-quality data has led to the availability of cutting edge tools in computational linguistics. However, these state-of-the-art tools are available only for the major languages of the world. The preparation of large scale high-quality corpora for low resource language such as Urdu is a challenging task as it requires huge computational and human resources. In this paper, we build and analyze a large scale Urdu language Twitter corpus Anbar. For this purpose, we collect 106.9 million Urdu tweets posted by 1.69 million users during one year (September 2018-August 2019). Our corpus consists of tweets with a rich vocabulary of 3.8 million unique tokens along with 58K hashtags and 62K URLs. Moreover, it contains 75.9 million (71.0%) retweets and 847K geotagged tweets. Furthermore, we examine Anbar using a variety of metrics like temporal frequency of tweets, vocabulary size, geo-location, user characteristics, and entities distribution. To the best of our knowledge, this is the largest repository of Urdu language tweets for the NLP research community which can be used for Natural Language Understanding (NLU), social analytics, and fake news detection.

scholarly journals Perceptual Connectivity Influences Toddlers’ Attention to Known Objects and Subsequent Label Processing

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 163
Author(s):  
Ryan E. Peters ◽  
Justin B. Kueser ◽  
Arielle Borovsky
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Lexical Processing ◽  
Target Item ◽  
Focused Attention ◽  
Vocabulary Size ◽  
Sensory Structure ◽  
Word Meanings ◽  
Perceptual Features ◽  
Before And After ◽  
High Connectivity

While recent research suggests that toddlers tend to learn word meanings with many “perceptual” features that are accessible to the toddler’s sensory perception, it is not clear whether and how building a lexicon with perceptual connectivity supports attention to and recognition of word meanings. We explore this question in 24–30-month-olds (N = 60) in relation to other individual differences, including age, vocabulary size, and tendencies to maintain focused attention. Participants’ looking to item pairs with high vs. low perceptual connectivity—defined as the number of words in a child’s lexicon sharing perceptual features with the item—was measured before and after target item labeling. Results revealed pre-labeling attention to known items is biased to both high- and low-connectivity items: first to high, and second, but more robustly, to low-connectivity items. Subsequent object–label processing was also facilitated for high-connectivity items, particularly for children with temperamental tendencies to maintain focused attention. This work provides the first empirical evidence that patterns of shared perceptual features within children’s known vocabularies influence both visual and lexical processing, highlighting the potential for a newfound set of developmental dependencies based on the perceptual/sensory structure of early vocabularies.

scholarly journals Selective Functional Network Changes following tDCS-augmented 2 Language Treatment in Primary Progressive Aphasia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuan Tao
Keyword(s):  
Lexical Processing ◽  
Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Primary Progressive Aphasia ◽  
Functional Network ◽  
Processing Efficiency ◽  
Progressive Aphasia ◽  
Primary Progressive ◽  
Language System ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Global Connectivity

Objective Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has shown promising results when used as an adjunct to behavioral training in neurodegenerative diseases. However, the underlying neural mechanisms are not understood and neuroimaging evidence from pre/post treatment has been sparse. In this study, we examined tDCS-induced neural changes in a language intervention study for primary progressive aphasia (PPA), a neurodegenerative syndrome with language impairment as the primary clinical presentation. Anodal tDCS was applied to the left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG). To evaluate the hypothesis that tDCS promotes system segregation, analysis focused on understanding tDCS-induced changes in the brain-wide functional network connectivity of the targeted LIFG MethodsResting-state fMRI data were obtained from 32 participants with PPA before and after receiving a written naming therapy, accompanied either by tDCS or sham stimulation. We focused on evaluating changes in the global connectivity of the stimulated LIFG-triangularis (LIFG-tri) region given its important role in lexical processing. Global connectivity was indexed by the graph-theoretic measure participation coefficient (PC) which quantifies a region’s level of system segregation. The values before and after treatment were compared for each condition (tDCS or Sham) as well as with age-matched healthy controls (n=19).Results Higher global connectivity of the LIFG-tri before treatment was associated with greater dementia severity. After treatment, the tDCS group showed a significant decrease in global connectivity whereas the Sham group’s did not change, suggesting specific neural effects induced by tDCS. Further examination revealed that the decrease was driven by reduced connectivity between the LIFG-tri and regions outside the perisylvian language area, consistent with the hypothesis that tDCS enhances the segregation of the language system and improves processing efficiency. Additionally, we found that these effects were specific to the LIFG-tri and not observed in other control regions.ConclusionsTDCS-augmented language therapy in PPA increased the functional segregation of the language system, a normalization of the hyper-connectivity observed before treatment. These findings add to our understanding of the nature of tDCS-induced neural changes in disease treatment and have applications for validating treatment efficacy and designing future tDCS and other non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) treatments.

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