Pub Date : 2023-11-02DOI: 10.1515/lingvan-2022-0092
Delia Belando
Abstract This paper aims to explore the use of the tap allophone [ɾ] in Received Pronunciation (RP) in word-internal and linking /r/ contexts over three decades (1940s–1960s) and considering three age cohorts (<35 years old, 35–54 years old, and ≥55 years old). A spoken corpus of formal register materials was compiled to conduct further perceptual and acoustic analysis and classify the articulation of /r/ into tap versus no tap. Results show a decreasing tendency of tap production across decades, and the initial stage of its replacement by the approximant variant. From a sociolinguistic perspective, tapped /r/ may have potentially changed its status, from an indicator to a marker. The fact that the tap allophone has become a sociolinguistic marker can encourage future research on intra-speaker variation. Women and middle-aged speakers (35–54 years old) are the ones leading this sound change, opting for the innovative approximant. This may be due to professional pressures or aspects of social identity, yet further research is needed. Furthermore, the word-internal context seems to favour the production of taps, which could be due to the general low frequency of linking /r/ and the formal register of the materials.
{"title":"Tapped /r/ in RP: a corpus-based sociophonetic study across the twentieth century","authors":"Delia Belando","doi":"10.1515/lingvan-2022-0092","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/lingvan-2022-0092","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This paper aims to explore the use of the tap allophone [ɾ] in Received Pronunciation (RP) in word-internal and linking /r/ contexts over three decades (1940s–1960s) and considering three age cohorts (<35 years old, 35–54 years old, and ≥55 years old). A spoken corpus of formal register materials was compiled to conduct further perceptual and acoustic analysis and classify the articulation of /r/ into tap versus no tap. Results show a decreasing tendency of tap production across decades, and the initial stage of its replacement by the approximant variant. From a sociolinguistic perspective, tapped /r/ may have potentially changed its status, from an indicator to a marker. The fact that the tap allophone has become a sociolinguistic marker can encourage future research on intra-speaker variation. Women and middle-aged speakers (35–54 years old) are the ones leading this sound change, opting for the innovative approximant. This may be due to professional pressures or aspects of social identity, yet further research is needed. Furthermore, the word-internal context seems to favour the production of taps, which could be due to the general low frequency of linking /r/ and the formal register of the materials.","PeriodicalId":55960,"journal":{"name":"Linguistics Vanguard","volume":"14 7","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135876115","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-27DOI: 10.1515/lingvan-2022-0165
Elizabeth Oakes
Abstract In 1960s American science fiction, representations of altered consciousness may function as a novum, framing how protagonists perceive and interact with the storyworld, motivating their actions, and estranging readers. Representations of these states are rooted in the lexical particulars of style, which became of central concern to the rising New Wave subgenre. As a result of the defamiliarized focalization of altered consciousness, estranged readers confront in fresh ways core sociocultural concerns of the era embedded in the thematics of the novels. For this reason, it is fruitful to ask how the language of altered consciousness can be characterized. What lexical elements defamiliarize the focalization giving rise to estrangement? This paper addresses this question through a computational literary linguistic approach. Quantifying the lexical composition of altered states with content analysis dictionaries and performing cluster analysis uncovers underlying similarities within a corpus of 1960s American science fiction novels. The language of altered consciousness is then identified as a language of estrangement through stylistic close reading. This provides one route into understanding how a novum may be constructed of language, estrange the reader, and prompt reexamination of the formerly familiar through staying with strangeness.
{"title":"Perceiving with strangeness: quantifying a style of altered consciousness as estrangement in a corpus of 1960s American science fiction","authors":"Elizabeth Oakes","doi":"10.1515/lingvan-2022-0165","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/lingvan-2022-0165","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract In 1960s American science fiction, representations of altered consciousness may function as a novum, framing how protagonists perceive and interact with the storyworld, motivating their actions, and estranging readers. Representations of these states are rooted in the lexical particulars of style, which became of central concern to the rising New Wave subgenre. As a result of the defamiliarized focalization of altered consciousness, estranged readers confront in fresh ways core sociocultural concerns of the era embedded in the thematics of the novels. For this reason, it is fruitful to ask how the language of altered consciousness can be characterized. What lexical elements defamiliarize the focalization giving rise to estrangement? This paper addresses this question through a computational literary linguistic approach. Quantifying the lexical composition of altered states with content analysis dictionaries and performing cluster analysis uncovers underlying similarities within a corpus of 1960s American science fiction novels. The language of altered consciousness is then identified as a language of estrangement through stylistic close reading. This provides one route into understanding how a novum may be constructed of language, estrange the reader, and prompt reexamination of the formerly familiar through staying with strangeness.","PeriodicalId":55960,"journal":{"name":"Linguistics Vanguard","volume":"1996 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136318817","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-24DOI: 10.1515/lingvan-2023-0031
Sofia Rüdiger, Claudia Lange
Abstract In this introduction, we provide a short rationale for the genesis of the special issue on “The language of science fiction” and introduce its main theme – science fiction, with particular consideration of the language of estrangement – and main methodological framework – corpus linguistics. In addition, we give an overview of the contributions and motivate their grouping into four parts: (1) the influence of science fiction on non-fictional language, (2) sociolinguistic variation, (3) science fiction and the mind, and (4) lexis and literature.
{"title":"Introduction to the special issue on “The language of science fiction”","authors":"Sofia Rüdiger, Claudia Lange","doi":"10.1515/lingvan-2023-0031","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/lingvan-2023-0031","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract In this introduction, we provide a short rationale for the genesis of the special issue on “The language of science fiction” and introduce its main theme – science fiction, with particular consideration of the language of estrangement – and main methodological framework – corpus linguistics. In addition, we give an overview of the contributions and motivate their grouping into four parts: (1) the influence of science fiction on non-fictional language, (2) sociolinguistic variation, (3) science fiction and the mind, and (4) lexis and literature.","PeriodicalId":55960,"journal":{"name":"Linguistics Vanguard","volume":"43 11","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135220247","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-19DOI: 10.1515/lingvan-2022-0168
Patricia Ronan, Gerold Schneider
Abstract “To boldly go where no man has gone before”, popularized by the science fiction series Star Trek , has provided an iconic example for the use of split infinitives. From its introduction, the series may have paved the way for the broader use of split infinitives in contemporary, informal English in spite of prescriptive grammars shunning the structure. The current qualitative and quantitative study is based on the general diachronic Corpus of Historical American English (COHA) and a specific telecinematic corpus (TV Corpus). It aims to trace genre influence in the use of split infinitives in sci-fi and television discourses. It asks whether the use of split infinitives in informal genres can be correlated with its prominent use in the Star Trek series. The current study finds that both raw and relative frequencies increase in the wake of Star Trek , as well as the probability of choice. Yet the clearest influence from Star Trek stems from the spread of the iconic to boldly go phrase.
{"title":"“To boldly go where no man has gone before”: how iconic is the <i>Star Trek</i> split infinitive?","authors":"Patricia Ronan, Gerold Schneider","doi":"10.1515/lingvan-2022-0168","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/lingvan-2022-0168","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract “To boldly go where no man has gone before”, popularized by the science fiction series Star Trek , has provided an iconic example for the use of split infinitives. From its introduction, the series may have paved the way for the broader use of split infinitives in contemporary, informal English in spite of prescriptive grammars shunning the structure. The current qualitative and quantitative study is based on the general diachronic Corpus of Historical American English (COHA) and a specific telecinematic corpus (TV Corpus). It aims to trace genre influence in the use of split infinitives in sci-fi and television discourses. It asks whether the use of split infinitives in informal genres can be correlated with its prominent use in the Star Trek series. The current study finds that both raw and relative frequencies increase in the wake of Star Trek , as well as the probability of choice. Yet the clearest influence from Star Trek stems from the spread of the iconic to boldly go phrase.","PeriodicalId":55960,"journal":{"name":"Linguistics Vanguard","volume":"78 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135666837","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-18DOI: 10.1515/lingvan-2022-0161
Francesco-Alessio Ursini, Giuseppe Samo
Abstract The goal of this paper is to offer an analysis of cyberpunk , steampunk , and other genre names related via the punk element. We study the emergence and popularity of these names among science fiction fans and scholars, comparing them with “mainstream” appreciators. We carry out a corpus study that analyses data extracted from textual corpora in four languages (English, German, French, and Italian) and encyclopedias (fandom communities, e.g., Aesthetics Wiki). We show that the proliferation of punk genre names tends to be closely related to science fiction and other (fan-)fiction communities, who display an emotive and intellectual investment in punk subgenres. We propose an analysis via a frame-theoretical model that shows how cyberpunk and related genre names can describe the core narrative themes of each subgenre. We then propose that punk genre names form sets of near-synonym words via their ability to describe fictional narratives featuring anti-authoritarian protagonists across different world settings and technologies. We conclude by discussing the consequences of our account for possible theories of genres, genre names, and linguistic studies focusing on science fiction and other fictional genres.
{"title":"<i>Cyberpunk</i>, <i>steampunk</i>, and all that <i>punk</i>: genre names and their uses across communities","authors":"Francesco-Alessio Ursini, Giuseppe Samo","doi":"10.1515/lingvan-2022-0161","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/lingvan-2022-0161","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The goal of this paper is to offer an analysis of cyberpunk , steampunk , and other genre names related via the punk element. We study the emergence and popularity of these names among science fiction fans and scholars, comparing them with “mainstream” appreciators. We carry out a corpus study that analyses data extracted from textual corpora in four languages (English, German, French, and Italian) and encyclopedias (fandom communities, e.g., Aesthetics Wiki). We show that the proliferation of punk genre names tends to be closely related to science fiction and other (fan-)fiction communities, who display an emotive and intellectual investment in punk subgenres. We propose an analysis via a frame-theoretical model that shows how cyberpunk and related genre names can describe the core narrative themes of each subgenre. We then propose that punk genre names form sets of near-synonym words via their ability to describe fictional narratives featuring anti-authoritarian protagonists across different world settings and technologies. We conclude by discussing the consequences of our account for possible theories of genres, genre names, and linguistic studies focusing on science fiction and other fictional genres.","PeriodicalId":55960,"journal":{"name":"Linguistics Vanguard","volume":"5 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135884269","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-12DOI: 10.1515/lingvan-2022-0160
Kajsa Törmä
Abstract Characters in science fiction TV have to move through the universe at the speed which the plot necessitates. In Star Trek , characters can beam from one location to another in an instant. In the visual modality, there is no continuous path of motion between the source and the goal, which would technically disqualify beam from most linguistic definitions of motion. This study aims to map out the usage patterns of beam and investigate whether or not it is linguistically construed as motion within the show. The study is based on a section of the TV Corpus (Davies, Mark. 2019. The TV Corpus. https://www.english-corpora.org/tv/ (accessed 28 May 2022)) consisting of all available episodes of all Star Trek TV series between 1966 and 2005 and uses a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods. The study found that beam is indeed used as a motion verb within the series. Its usage is also quite varied, denoting motion of many different figures in many different directions. The fact that we conceive of beaming as motion even though there is no continuous path might be partly explained by the etymology of beam , and partly by the embodied nature of language. Our current register makes it is hard to imagine transportation without movement.
{"title":"Subverting motion in science fiction? <i>Beam</i> in the <i>Star Trek</i> TV series","authors":"Kajsa Törmä","doi":"10.1515/lingvan-2022-0160","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/lingvan-2022-0160","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Characters in science fiction TV have to move through the universe at the speed which the plot necessitates. In Star Trek , characters can beam from one location to another in an instant. In the visual modality, there is no continuous path of motion between the source and the goal, which would technically disqualify beam from most linguistic definitions of motion. This study aims to map out the usage patterns of beam and investigate whether or not it is linguistically construed as motion within the show. The study is based on a section of the TV Corpus (Davies, Mark. 2019. The TV Corpus. https://www.english-corpora.org/tv/ (accessed 28 May 2022)) consisting of all available episodes of all Star Trek TV series between 1966 and 2005 and uses a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods. The study found that beam is indeed used as a motion verb within the series. Its usage is also quite varied, denoting motion of many different figures in many different directions. The fact that we conceive of beaming as motion even though there is no continuous path might be partly explained by the etymology of beam , and partly by the embodied nature of language. Our current register makes it is hard to imagine transportation without movement.","PeriodicalId":55960,"journal":{"name":"Linguistics Vanguard","volume":"81 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135923168","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-10DOI: 10.1515/lingvan-2022-0083
Chenggang Wu, Xin Mu
Abstract Sensory experience rating (SER) is a subjective semantic variable that measures the extent to which a word generates a sensory experience when a reader processes the word, and it has been explored in English, French, and Spanish. The present study collected the SERs of 1,130 Chinese words and explored the correlation between SER and other lexical and semantic variables. SER was significantly associated with concreteness, age of acquisition (AoA), context diversity, and word frequency. The results confirmed both the reliability and the validity of SER. However, SER failed to predict lexical decision performance in reaction time and accuracy rate. It is possible that SER is not as powerful in influencing word recognition as previous studies have assumed, at least for Chinese.
{"title":"Sensory experience ratings (SERs) for 1,130 Chinese words: relationships with other semantic and lexical psycholinguistic variables","authors":"Chenggang Wu, Xin Mu","doi":"10.1515/lingvan-2022-0083","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/lingvan-2022-0083","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Sensory experience rating (SER) is a subjective semantic variable that measures the extent to which a word generates a sensory experience when a reader processes the word, and it has been explored in English, French, and Spanish. The present study collected the SERs of 1,130 Chinese words and explored the correlation between SER and other lexical and semantic variables. SER was significantly associated with concreteness, age of acquisition (AoA), context diversity, and word frequency. The results confirmed both the reliability and the validity of SER. However, SER failed to predict lexical decision performance in reaction time and accuracy rate. It is possible that SER is not as powerful in influencing word recognition as previous studies have assumed, at least for Chinese.","PeriodicalId":55960,"journal":{"name":"Linguistics Vanguard","volume":"37 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136292997","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-06DOI: 10.1515/lingvan-2022-0151
Jochen Zeller
Abstract In a number of Bantu languages, object marking is correlated with a definite or specific interpretation of the agreeing object DP, and similar claims about the semantic effects of object marking have also been made for Zulu (Nguni; S42). This paper examines these claims by applying a range of diagnostic tests for (in)definiteness and (non-)specificity to sentences with object-marked objects in Zulu. The paper’s first finding is that agreeing objects in Zulu can violate the uniqueness requirement that holds for definite expressions, and can therefore appear in contexts in which definite DPs are not tolerated. The second finding is that object-marked objects in Zulu can take narrow scope in relation to intensional verbs and negation, in which case they are interpreted as (scopally) non-specific. Object marking in Zulu therefore cannot be regarded as a morphosyntactic device to mark definiteness or specificity. Rather, it is suggested that the interpretative effects of object marking follow from information structure: agreeing DPs in Zulu are obligatorily dislocated and hence appear outside the focus domain (the vP). Consequently, an agreeing object in Zulu is incompatible with semantic focus, which implies that it can (but crucially, does not have to) be interpreted as denoting a discourse-familiar referent.
{"title":"Agreeing objects in Zulu can be indefinite and non-specific","authors":"Jochen Zeller","doi":"10.1515/lingvan-2022-0151","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/lingvan-2022-0151","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract In a number of Bantu languages, object marking is correlated with a definite or specific interpretation of the agreeing object DP, and similar claims about the semantic effects of object marking have also been made for Zulu (Nguni; S42). This paper examines these claims by applying a range of diagnostic tests for (in)definiteness and (non-)specificity to sentences with object-marked objects in Zulu. The paper’s first finding is that agreeing objects in Zulu can violate the uniqueness requirement that holds for definite expressions, and can therefore appear in contexts in which definite DPs are not tolerated. The second finding is that object-marked objects in Zulu can take narrow scope in relation to intensional verbs and negation, in which case they are interpreted as (scopally) non-specific. Object marking in Zulu therefore cannot be regarded as a morphosyntactic device to mark definiteness or specificity. Rather, it is suggested that the interpretative effects of object marking follow from information structure: agreeing DPs in Zulu are obligatorily dislocated and hence appear outside the focus domain (the vP). Consequently, an agreeing object in Zulu is incompatible with semantic focus, which implies that it can (but crucially, does not have to) be interpreted as denoting a discourse-familiar referent.","PeriodicalId":55960,"journal":{"name":"Linguistics Vanguard","volume":"84 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135304066","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-09-13DOI: 10.1515/lingvan-2022-0115
Lee Drown, Nikole Giovannone, David B. Pisoni, Rachel M. Theodore
Abstract The goal of the current work was to develop and validate web-based measures for assessing English vocabulary knowledge. Two existing paper-and-pencil assessments, the Vocabulary Size Test (VST) and the Word Familiarity Test (WordFAM), were modified for web-based administration. In Experiment 1, participants ( n = 100) completed the web-based VST. In Experiment 2, participants ( n = 100) completed the web-based WordFAM. Results from these experiments confirmed that both tasks (1) could be completed online, (2) showed expected sensitivity to English frequency patterns, (3) exhibited high internal consistency, and (4) showed an expected range of item discrimination scores, with low frequency items exhibiting higher item discrimination scores compared to high frequency items. This work provides open-source English vocabulary knowledge assessments with normative data that researchers can use to foster high quality data collection in web-based environments.
{"title":"Validation of two measures for assessing English vocabulary knowledge on web-based testing platforms: long-form assessments","authors":"Lee Drown, Nikole Giovannone, David B. Pisoni, Rachel M. Theodore","doi":"10.1515/lingvan-2022-0115","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/lingvan-2022-0115","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The goal of the current work was to develop and validate web-based measures for assessing English vocabulary knowledge. Two existing paper-and-pencil assessments, the Vocabulary Size Test (VST) and the Word Familiarity Test (WordFAM), were modified for web-based administration. In Experiment 1, participants ( n = 100) completed the web-based VST. In Experiment 2, participants ( n = 100) completed the web-based WordFAM. Results from these experiments confirmed that both tasks (1) could be completed online, (2) showed expected sensitivity to English frequency patterns, (3) exhibited high internal consistency, and (4) showed an expected range of item discrimination scores, with low frequency items exhibiting higher item discrimination scores compared to high frequency items. This work provides open-source English vocabulary knowledge assessments with normative data that researchers can use to foster high quality data collection in web-based environments.","PeriodicalId":55960,"journal":{"name":"Linguistics Vanguard","volume":"36 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134990292","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-09-13DOI: 10.1515/lingvan-2022-0116
Lee Drown, Nikole Giovannone, David B. Pisoni, Rachel M. Theodore
Abstract Two measures for assessing English vocabulary knowledge, the Vocabulary Size Test (VST) and the Word Familiarity Test (WordFAM), were recently validated for web-based administration. An analysis of the psychometric properties of these assessments revealed high internal consistency, suggesting that stable assessment could be achieved with fewer test items. Because researchers may use these assessments in conjunction with other experimental tasks, the utility may be enhanced if they are shorter in duration. To this end, two “brief” versions of the VST and the WordFAM were developed and submitted to validation testing. Each version consisted of approximately half of the items from the full assessment, with novel items across each brief version. Participants ( n = 85) completed one brief version of both the VST and the WordFAM at session one, followed by the other brief version of each assessment at session two. The results showed high test-retest reliability for both the VST ( r = 0.68) and the WordFAM ( r = 0.82). The assessments also showed moderate convergent validity (ranging from r = 0.38 to 0.59), indicative of assessment validity. This work provides open-source English vocabulary knowledge assessments with normative data that researchers can use to foster high quality data collection in web-based environments.
{"title":"Validation of two measures for assessing English vocabulary knowledge on web-based testing platforms: brief assessments","authors":"Lee Drown, Nikole Giovannone, David B. Pisoni, Rachel M. Theodore","doi":"10.1515/lingvan-2022-0116","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/lingvan-2022-0116","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Two measures for assessing English vocabulary knowledge, the Vocabulary Size Test (VST) and the Word Familiarity Test (WordFAM), were recently validated for web-based administration. An analysis of the psychometric properties of these assessments revealed high internal consistency, suggesting that stable assessment could be achieved with fewer test items. Because researchers may use these assessments in conjunction with other experimental tasks, the utility may be enhanced if they are shorter in duration. To this end, two “brief” versions of the VST and the WordFAM were developed and submitted to validation testing. Each version consisted of approximately half of the items from the full assessment, with novel items across each brief version. Participants ( n = 85) completed one brief version of both the VST and the WordFAM at session one, followed by the other brief version of each assessment at session two. The results showed high test-retest reliability for both the VST ( r = 0.68) and the WordFAM ( r = 0.82). The assessments also showed moderate convergent validity (ranging from r = 0.38 to 0.59), indicative of assessment validity. This work provides open-source English vocabulary knowledge assessments with normative data that researchers can use to foster high quality data collection in web-based environments.","PeriodicalId":55960,"journal":{"name":"Linguistics Vanguard","volume":"212 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135739860","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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