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Mediated receptive multilingualism: Estonian-Russian-Ukrainian case study
Abstract
This article introduces and defines the concept of mediated receptive multilingualism as a mode of multilingual communication which eases understanding between typologically distant languages through the medium of a language closely related to the target. In an experimental setting, Estonians without previous exposure to Ukrainian were quite successful in understanding Ukrainian texts via their knowledge of Russian. As expected, they made use of various language-specific elements to improve intelligibility, such as linguistic similarities between Russian and Ukrainian. However, a number of extra-linguistic factors were detected as influential predictors of success, especially metalinguistic awareness, exposure to Russian, exposure to various registers, experience with multilingual situations, learnability, and attitudes towards Ukrainian. These findings contest a static take on multilingual potential and point out the emergent nature of competencies and practices that become relevant in multilingual settings. Unconventional communicative modes – like mediated receptive multilingualism – may activate linguistic and sociolinguistic resources needed for establishing understanding in novel and potentially challenging communicative settings.
... In this study, we explore comprehension as a stage that may precede more encompassing linguistic competence. Extensive previous research on multilingualism asserts that even minimal exposure to target language, implicit knowledge of another language closely related to the target language, and perceived proximity between these languages jointly contribute to third language acquisition (in addition to the above cited works, also Gooskens 2007a; Gooskens et al. 2008;Bahtina-Jantsikene 2013;Swarte et al. 2013;Kaivapalu 2015;Branets et al. 2019;Branets & Backus 2020). ...
... Nevertheless, speakers of Estonian may reach an understanding of Ukrainian through their knowledge of Russian (Indo-European East-Slavic). Th is is why the mode is termed "mediated receptive multilingualism" (Branets et al. 2019). ...
... Th e same suggestion has been made in a series of other RM studies (Gooskens & Swarte 2007;Verschik 2012;Bahtina-Jantsikene 2013;Berthele & Wittlin 2013). Branets et al. (2019) discussed diff erent types of exposure to Russian in relation to understanding Ukrainian among Estonian speakers. Th e results of the Ukrainian comprehension tests were aff ected by four types of language exposure: a place of residence and its language environment, professional domain, a fi eld of study or specialisation, and individual exposure and its frequency. ...
In this study, we investigate the role of exposure to L2 Russian on comprehension of L3 Ukrainian by speakers of L1 Estonian, using the mediating knowledge of L2 Russian. The experiment involved 30 participants and the following materials: a questionnaire, C-test in Russian, word recognition and text comprehension tasks in Ukrainian. We demonstrate that in mediated receptive multilingualism medium to high levels of L2 exposure boost L3 comprehension regardless of measured L2 proficiency. However, exposure enhanced comprehension only on the word level and not on the text level, highlighting the importance of examining comprehension in a differentiated manner. The same restriction holds for targeted L2–L3 instructions, which were administered as a shortcut to increasing metalinguistic awareness between Russian and Ukrainian: these instructions improved L3 word-level but not text-level comprehension. Since in the absence of explicit instruction the role of exposure was more pronounced, we argue that exposure and instructions interact depending on the particular configurations of available resources, as language users attempt to understand another language. We conclude that exposure to medium language is a crucial factor that might significantly boost comprehension in the target language through increased metalinguistic awareness, either more directly or by creating opportunities for incidental learning.
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Artiklis analüüsime, kuidas eesti emakeele (L1) kõnelejad mõistavad ukraina keelt (L3) vene keele oskuse toel (L2) ehk millist rolli mängib kokkupuude vene keelega arusaamisel ukraina keelest.
Katses osales 30 inimest ja materjalid koosnesid: küsimustikust, vene keele C-testist ning ukraina keele sõnade äratundmise ja teksti mõistmise ülesannetest. Uuringu tulemused näitasid, et vahendatud retseptiivse mitmekeelsuse kontekstis mõjutab L2-ga kokkupuude L2-st ja L3-st arusaamist kindlal viisil. Kokkupuude vene keelega avaldas positiivset mõju nii vene keele C-testi tulemustele kui ka ukrainakeelsete sõnade äratundmisele. Ukrainakeelsete tekstide mõistmist kokkupuude vene keelega aga märgatavalt ei mõjutanud, mis toob esile, kui oluline on arusaamise hindamine eristaval viisil. Teisalt hõlbustas L3 sõnade äratundmist nii keskmine kui ka kõrgem L2-ga kokkupuute tase, millest järeldub, et isegi vähene kokkupuude suurendab metalingvistilist teadlikkust. Katse sisaldas kahte sellisest hüpoteesist lähtuvat lisatingimust, mille põhjal formaalsed juhised võimaldavad teist, konkreetsemat õppimisallikat: mõned osalejad said eelnevalt formaalseid juhiseid ukraina keelest ja teised mitte. Need selged juhised aitasid kahtlemata kaasa L3-st arusaamisele ning nende puudumisel oli L2-ga kokkupuute roll veelgi märgatavam. Võib järeldada, et kui keelekasutaja üritab teisest keelest aru saada, siis eelmainitud tegurid, nii otsesemad kui ka kaudsemad, toimivad üksteisest sõltuvalt ja muutuvad vähem või rohkem märgatavaks olenevalt saadaval olevate ressursside konkreetsetest asetustest.
... Receptive multilingualism involves both inherent intelligibility, where readers or listeners of one language are able to understand an unknown related language due to structural linguistic similarities, and acquired intelligibility, if they have learnt some (closely) related language (Gooskens 2019). An acquired lingua receptiva can apply to less related or unrelated languages, too (Muikku-Werner 2014); Branets et al. (2019) determine this mode of communication as mediated receptive multilingualism. Successful intercomprehension inevitably relies on various types of information: linguistic, communicative, contextual, socio-cognitive, etc. ...
... While some research has shown that dedicated teaching intervention may give results (cf. Branets et al. 2019;Golubović 2016), other studies indicate no significant improvement (cf. Bergsma et al. 2014). ...
... This unconventional communication form relies both on inherent intelligibility, i.e. when speakers of one language can understand unknown but related languages because of structural linguistic similarities, and on acquired intelligibility, i.e. when they have learnt the respective language [Gooskens 2019]. An acquired lingua receptiva can apply to less related or unrelated languages, too [Muikku-Werner 2014], and this is also known as mediated receptive multilingualism [Branets et al. 2019] which eases understanding between typologically distant languages through the medium of a language closely related to the target. ...
... We then present the experimental results in both modalities and analyze the influence of the linguistic factors on human performance, before we draw some general conclusions. 1 Only participants who indicated that they could read Cyrillics were presented with written tasks in Bulgarian [Golubović 2016: 75]. 2 I.e. historically (etymologically) related word pairs that still bear the same meaning in both languages. ...
This study contributes to a better understanding of receptive multilingualism by determining similarities and differences in successful processing of written and spoken cognate words in an unknown but (closely) related language. We investigate two Slavic languages with regard to their mutual intelligibility. The current focus is on the recognition of isolated Bulgarian words by Russian native speakers in a cognate guessing task, considering both written and audio stimuli. The experimentally obtained intercomprehension scores show a generally high degree of intelligibility of Bulgarian cognates to Russian subjects, as well as processing difficulties in case of visual vs. auditory perception. In search of an explanation, we examine the linguistic factors that can contribute to various degrees of written and spoken word intelligibility. The intercomprehension scores obtained in the online word translation experiments are correlated with (i) the identical and mismatched correspondences on the orthographic and phonetic level, (ii) the word length of the stimuli, and (iii) the frequency of Russian cognates. Additionally we validate two measuring methods: the Levenshtein distance and the word adaptation surprisal as potential pr
... For instance, in eastern Europe Russian used to be a compulsory subject taught at secondary schools. Although Russian is not structurally and lexically halfway between Estonian (a Finno-Ugric language) and Ukrainian (Slavic), Estonian listeners will understand a Ukrainian speaker, simply because Ukrainian and Russian are mutually intelligible, and Estonians have learned Russian at school (Branets et al. 2020). In this example, of course, the Ukrainian listener will not understand the Estonian speaker, so this would end as a case of one-way intelligibility. ...
... The number of BG participants is 11, aged between 19 and 37 years (average age 27) 9 with 10 females and 1 male . Even though these two groups differ considerably in size, statistical analyses based on fewer participants are particularly worthwhile for the practice of foreign language learning and teaching and in experiments involving specific target groups (Branets et al., 2020). In this study, when no statistical observations can be made, we report findings as percentages to indicate success rates based on collected material, bearing in mind that our results should be interpreted with caution as general trends. ...
The theme of this Special Issue of Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism is to gain further insight into (potentially) related populations of receptive bilinguals and their linguistic knowledge and behavior, with an attempt to see if a (partially) unified definition of receptive multilingualism is possible that encompasses the extant populations. This Special Issue examines the mental representations in receptive multilinguals and aims to provide a more nuanced and enriched understanding of receptive bilingual grammars to inform our collective understanding of the development of linguistic systems (i.e., grammars) across the lifespan.
Previous research on Estonian-Russian interaction suggests that lingua receptiva (LaRa), or Receptive Multilingualism, has the potential to create, boost or restore common ground, or mutual understanding, in situations where common ground is jeopardized. This mode is characterized by the simultaneous use of multiple languages as interlocutors each speak their mother tongue and count on the receptive skills of the other. Alignment in the LaRa mode was tested in a series of experiments. The use of various meta-communicative strategies provided insight into the mechanisms behind LaRa. Their distribution was influenced somewhat by L2 profi ciency and exposure to multilingual communicative situations. Interestingly, higher L2 knowledge was not a prerequisite for success. Moreover, it was the composition of the dyad rather than the characteristics of the individuals that had predictive power regarding communicative success.
Book synopsis: How are two or more languages learned and contained in the same mind or the same community? This handbook presents an up-to-date view of the concept of multi-competence, exploring the research questions it has generated and the methods that have been used to investigate it. The book brings together psychologists, sociolinguists, Second Language Acquisition (SLA) researchers, and language teachers from across the world to look at how multi-competence relates to their own areas of study. This comprehensive, state-of-the-art exploration of multi-competence research and ideas offers a powerful critique of the values and methods of classical SLA research, and an exciting preview of the future implications of multi-competence for research and thinking about language. It is an essential reference for all those concerned with language learning, language use and language teaching.
This article introduces and defines the notion lingua receptiva (LaRa) as a mode of multilingual communication in which interactants employ a language and/or a language variety different from their partner's and still understand each other without the help of any additional lingua franca. The quintessence of lingua receptiva is discussed in terms of pragmatic, psycholinguistic and language psychology approaches to multilingualism. Moreover, the occurrence of this mode is documented across various language families throughout time and in various discursive intercultures which it creates. Furthermore, three central characteristics are discussed, namely ideological barriers resulting in asymmetry, 'inference-making' mechanisms and the function of idiomatic expressions. Finally, lingua receptiva is compared to other multilingual modes, especially with English as lingua franca.
Artiklis käsitletakse kirjaliku eesti ja soome keele vastastikust mõistmist üksiksõna- ja tekstitasandil. Eesmärk on selgitada, kas ja kuidas eesti- ja soomekeelsed keelekasutajad mõistavad oma emakeele põhjal lähedast sugulaskeelt ilma sihtkeele õppimis- ja kasutuskogemuseta ning mille poolest erineb üksiksõnade mõistmine tervikteksti mõistmisest. Mõistmistestide vastuste ja osalejate eneserefleksiooni analüüsi keskmes on kahe sihtkeele mõistmise võimalik sümmeetria ning mõistmisprotsessi mõjutavad tegurid.
Tulemuste põhjal osutusid eestikeelsed keelekasutajad edukamaks üksiksõnatestis, eriti eesti ja soome keeles samatähenduslike kirjapildilt sarnaste sõnade ning laen- ja võõrsõnade mõistmisel, soomekeelsed keelekasutajad tervikteksti mõistmisel. Mõlema sihtkeele mõistmisel on otsustav keeltevahelise sarnasuse tunnetamine: toetutakse esmajoones eesti ja soome, aga ka muude varem õpitud keelte ja sihtkeele sarnasusele, seostades seda metalingvistiliste ja üldteadmistega ning kontrollides oletusi lause-, lõigu- ja tekstikontekstis. Kontekst toimib omalaadse filtrina, mis selekteerib keelekasutaja oletusi neid aktsepteerides või tagasi lükates. Mõistmisprotsessi komponentide jaotus ja suund varieeruvad indiviiditi ja sõltuvad paljuski osalejate varasematest teadmistest ja kogemustest.
Lähtö- ja kohdekielen samankaltaisuuden vaikutusta oppimiseen on paljon tutkittu. Lisätietoa kaivataan kuitenkin siitä, miten vastaavuuksista hyödytään ilman systemaattista opetusta. Esimerkiksi virolaisten ja suomalaisten keskinäisissä arkikeskusteluissa kunkin osallistujan on mahdollista käyttää omaa äidinkieltään, josta toinen onnistuu poimimaan yhteisiä elementtejä. Tällainen reseptiivinen monikielisyys kytkeytyy myös tekstien maailmaan: sukukielten toisiaan muistuttavien sanojen tiedetään auttavan luetun ymmärtämistä. Artikkelissa on tarkoitus selvittää, mitä sanoja suomalainen tunnistaa koherentista vironkielisestä tekstistä, onko samankaltaisuus ratkaisevassa asemassa vai tarjoutuuko muitakin selityksiä. Käännöstestin tuloksista tehtyjen havaintojen tukena ovat informanttien omat kuvaukset ymmärtämisen edellytyksistä.Odotuksenmukaisesti helpoimmin löydetään merkitykset kirjoitusasultaan likeisille vastineille, joita haetaan paitsi nykykielestä myös vanhahtavista sanoista tai yhteisistä lainasanoista. Aina edes samankaltaisuus ei riitä, jos koteksti ei tue tutuksi toteamista. Kiinnostavaa on se, että mikäli tekstistä kyetään rakentamaan yhtenäinen ja mielekäs – ei välttämättä kirjoittajan tarkoittama – jakso, jopa ilmiselvältä vaikuttava sukulaissana poistetaan tai käännetään ‘väärin’. Tuloksia arvioitaessa on siis muistettava ‘maallikkokääntäjän’ erilaiset, joko sanasta sanaan etenevät tai kokonaisuutta rakentavat käännösstrategiat.
Acquisition of a foreign language represents an intensively studied issue, its psychological foundation being based on the individual differences of various learners. The learning process depends on a series of factors: cognitive factors (language apttitude, learning strategies), affective factors (attitudes, motivation, anxiety), metacognitive factors, and demographic factors. We have chosen to analize how affective factors contribute to first year Psychology and Educational Sciences students’ English proficiency. They were tested with AMTB and an English language test. There were identified significant differences in how affective factors influence learning a foreign language between this category of students and those coming from a faculty of letters.
The present article deals with receptive multilingualism (RM) in communication between Estonian salespersons and Finnish customers in Tallinn. A historical background and general description of this communication is provided. It is argued that RM is an established practice in this type of communication and that a nation-state is not necessarily marginalizing communication that deviates from monolingual norms. The notion of mutual intelligibility is critically analysed, and the data confirm that understanding is not exclusively dependent on material similarities between closely related varieties. Accommodation and negotiation are present in both sides, yet strategies employed by Finnish and Estonian interlocutors differ. The distinction between inherent and acquired RM is relevant in Russian-Finnish communication which takes place in the same environment. Finally, further research questions are formulated.
The paper proposes, under the roof-concept of a method abbreviated PILaD, a combination of quantitative and qualitative procedures aiming to clarify the relationship of ``closely related languages'' (Voegelin and Harris 1951). The method is based on the functional-pragmatic theory of `Communicative Apparatus', a cross-linguistically operating interactive structure, which is modified by Lingua Receptiva communication. The data consist of 4 Russian-Ukrainian, 4 Polish-Ukrainian and 4 Polish-Russian conversations which were recorded with a digital camera and transcribed in a HIAT transcription format under the multiparty data program EXMARaLDA. Cases of `problematic understanding' defined in terms of problematic utterances are related to the total number of utterances in a discourse. The communicative success is compared across the three language constellations and refined down to every participant. Statistical analysis gives an overall picture of how receptive multilingualism works in the three language constellations. The findings reveal that receptive multilingual communication between Polish, Russian and Ukrainian interactants is generally successful, yet, not symmetric, but depends itself on the direction of intelligibility. A summary of the PILaD method and the data base are attached.
Successful speech perception requires that listeners map the acoustic signal to linguistic categories. These mappings are not only probabilistic, but change depending on the situation. For example, one talker's /p/ might be physically indistinguishable from another talker's /b/ (cf. lack of invariance). We characterize the computational problem posed by such a subjectively nonstationary world and propose that the speech perception system overcomes this challenge by (a) recognizing previously encountered situations, (b) generalizing to other situations based on previous similar experience, and (c) adapting to novel situations. We formalize this proposal in the ideal adapter framework: (a) to (c) can be understood as inference under uncertainty about the appropriate generative model for the current talker, thereby facilitating robust speech perception despite the lack of invariance. We focus on 2 critical aspects of the ideal adapter. First, in situations that clearly deviate from previous experience, listeners need to adapt. We develop a distributional (belief-updating) learning model of incremental adaptation. The model provides a good fit against known and novel phonetic adaptation data, including perceptual recalibration and selective adaptation. Second, robust speech recognition requires that listeners learn to represent the structured component of cross-situation variability in the speech signal. We discuss how these 2 aspects of the ideal adapter provide a unifying explanation for adaptation, talker-specificity, and generalization across talkers and groups of talkers (e.g., accents and dialects). The ideal adapter provides a guiding framework for future investigations into speech perception and adaptation, and more broadly language comprehension. (PsycINFO Database Record
(c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).
Brains, it has recently been argued, are essentially prediction machines. They are bundles of cells that support perception and action by constantly attempting to match incoming sensory inputs with top-down expectations or predictions. This is achieved using a hierarchical generative model that aims to minimize prediction error within a bidirectional cascade of cortical processing. Such accounts offer a unifying model of perception and action, illuminate the functional role of attention, and may neatly capture the special contribution of cortical processing to adaptive success. This target article critically examines this "hierarchical prediction machine" approach, concluding that it offers the best clue yet to the shape of a unified science of mind and action. Sections 1 and 2 lay out the key elements and implications of the approach. Section 3 explores a variety of pitfalls and challenges, spanning the evidential, the methodological, and the more properly conceptual. The paper ends (sections 4 and 5) by asking how such approaches might impact our more general vision of mind, experience, and agency.
The overall aim of this article is to argue that the functioning of every language system is based on a potential multilingual competence. The empirical basis for this is now broad enough to gain a comprehensive view on the overall competence of a multilingual individual. Moreover, increasing theoretical reflection has conferred an increasingly independent profile in the field of multilingualism research. In the main part of this article, a definition of multilingualism is proposed and related to the term “multicompetence.” The proposed definition of multilingualism, emerging from sociolinguistically rooted studies, distinguishes not only the classical social, institutional, and individual dimensions of observation but includes a new interaction dimension as well. The term “multicompetence” is then discussed in its historical development form on which psycholinguistics oriented studies. The European LINEE project tries to enlarge the concept of multicompetence with the aim of making it suitable for a sociolinguistic embedding. This usage-based approach is presented and further claims for more conceptual reflections in the field of multilingualism are made.
This study addresses the issue of the optimal number of gaps in C-Test passages. An English C-Test battery containing four passages each having 40 blanks was given to 104 undergraduate students of English. The data were entered into SPSS spreadsheet. Out of the complete data with 160 blanks seven additional datasets were constructed. In the first dataset the scores on the first five gaps in each passage were aggregated and the rest of the gaps were ignored, as if each passage had only five gaps. In the second dataset the scores on the first ten gaps were aggregated. In each subsequent dataset five more gas were added. The eight datasets were analyzed and their psychometric properties were compared. The results showed that as the number of gaps in each passage increases item discrimination, reliability and factorial validity of the test increase accordingly. The implications for C-Test application and use are discussed.
We measured mutual intelligibility of 16 closely related spoken languages in Europe. Intelligibility was determined for all 70 language combinations using the same uniform methodology (a cloze test). We analysed the results of 1833 listeners representing the mutual intelligibility between young, educated Europeans from the same 16 countries.
Lexical, phonological, orthographic, morphological and syntactic distances were computed as linguistic variables. We also quantified non-linguistic variables (e.g. exposure, attitudes towards the test languages). Using stepwise regression analysis the importance of linguistic and non-linguistic predictors for the mutual intelligibility in the 70 language pairs was assessed.
Exposure to the test language was the most important variable, overriding all other variables. Then, limiting the analysis to the prediction of inherited intelligibility, we analysed the results for a subset of listeners with no or little previous exposure to the test language. Linguistic distances, especially lexical distance, now explain a substantial part of the variance.
How are two or more languages learned and contained in the same mind or the same community? This handbook presents an up-to-date view of the concept of multi-competence, exploring the research questions it has generated and the methods that have been used to investigate it. The book brings together psychologists, sociolinguists, Second Language Acquisition (SLA) researchers, and language teachers from across the world to look at how multi-competence relates to their own areas of study. This comprehensive, state-of-the-art exploration of multi-competence research and ideas offers a powerful critique of the values and methods of classical SLA research, and an exciting preview of the future implications of multi-competence for research and thinking about language. It is an essential reference for all those concerned with language learning, language use and language teaching.
This chapter introduces the concept of linguistic multi-competence and sets the scene for the rest of the book. It looks first at issues of definition and then at three premises that have become part and parcel of multi-competence. The aim is to examine the ideas underlying multi-competence rather than to present new views of multi-competence or to summarise existing research, to be tackled in Chapter 2. Monolingual and bilingual perspective There are two alternative ways of looking at people who speak more than one language. On the one hand there is the monolingual perspective that sees second language (L2) users from the point of view of the monolingual first language (L1) user. In this case the second language is added on to the speaker’s first language, something extra; the L2 user’s proficiency in the second language is measured against the sole language of the monolingual; ideally the L2 user would speak the second language just like a native speaker. The research questions and methodology in classical second language acquisition (SLA) research are mostly concerned with this monolingual perspective and try to account for L2 users’ lack of success in learning how to speak like a monolingual L1 user. On the other hand there is the bilingual perspective that sees L2 users from the point of view of the person who speaks two or more languages. From this angle, the other languages are part of the L2 user’s total language system, each language potentially differing from that of someone who speaks it as a monolingual. It is beside the point whether the L2 user’s final ability is identical to that of a monolingual native speaker. Bilingualism and multilingualism research have mostly asked questions about how L2 users use the other languages and how the languages connect in multilingual communities, not about how L2 users compare with monolingual individuals and communities. One interpretation of the bilingual perspective is captured by the notion of multi-competence, glossed here as ‘the overall system of a mind or a community that uses more than one language’. Multi-competence thus covers the knowledge and use of two or more languages by the same individual or the same community. At some level, all the languages form part of one overall system, with complex and shifting relationships between them, affecting the first language as well as the others.
We administered six functional intelligibility tests, i.e., spoken and written versions of (i) an isolated word recognition test, (ii) a cloze test at the sentence level and (iii) a picture-to-text matching task at the paragraph level. The scores on these functional tests were compared with each other and with intersubjective measures obtained for the same materials through opinion testing, i.e., estimated and perceived intelligibility). The native language of the speakers and listeners belonged to one of three groups of European language families, i.e., Germanic (Danish, Dutch, English, German, Swedish, yielding 20 within-family pairs of different speaker and listener languages), Romance (French, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, yielding 20 language pairs) and Slavic (Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Polish, Slovak, Slovene, i.e., 30 pairs). Results from 13,566 participants were analyzed for the 70 within-family combinations of speaker and listener languages. The word recognition test and the cloze test revealed similar patterns of intelligibility but correlated poorly with the picture-to-text matching scores. Both measures of judged intelligibility (estimated and perceived) correlated highly with one another and with the functional test scores, especially those of the cloze test. We conclude that lay listeners are able to judge the intelligibility of a non-native test language from within their own language family. Moreover, participants understood written language better than the spoken forms. Advantages and disadvantages of the various intelligibility measures we used are discussed. We conclude that the written cloze procedure which we developed is the optimal cross-language intelligibility test in the European language area.
The article addresses the notion of language awareness in contact linguistics. The notion has recently become a focus in many neighboring disciplines such as language learning and teaching, multilingualism and multilingual identities, discursive aspects of multilingualism, heritage language research, early multilingualism, and some others. In contact linguistics language awareness has been dealt with mostly implicitly. The article takes the definition of language awareness (provided by Association of Language Awareness) as a point of departure and suggests that the link between language contacts and language awareness appears in the following topics: code-switching, multilingual conversation, and aspects of language choice; awareness of contact effects in language planning; language attitudes in multilingual communities; individual awareness and conscious use of contact-induced features; emergence of mixed languages; multilingual interaction and receptive multilingualism; multilingualism and emotions; and multilingual linguistic creativity. To date, there are few contact linguistic models that include language awareness. Some of them are discussed in the final section of the article: Heine and Kuteva’s (2005) notion of equivalence in contact-induced grammaticalization, Matras’ (2012) activity-oriented approach to multilingualism and probabilistic scale of awareness in various types of contact-induced effects, and Thomason’s (2007) idea of change by deliberate decision and negotiation as mechanisms of contact-induced language change.
Receptive multilingualism is a mode of interaction in which speakers with different linguistic backgrounds use their respective preferred languages while understanding the language of their interlocutor. The mechanisms and competences contributing to mutual understanding in this constellation are described by the concept of lingua receptiva (LaRa). Both concepts can refer to interactions in typologically close as well as distant languages (inherent or acquired LaRa) and to interactions where speakers use any language sufficiently understood by their interlocutor. This chapter argues that successful use of lingua receptiva (LaRa) in multilingual contexts both requires and contributes to language awareness. For individual LaRa users, the awareness needed consists of knowledge of the option to use this mode, basic receptive knowledge of the interlocutor’s language, conscious activation of receptive competencies, and sensitivity to the interlocutor’s level of comprehension and problems of reception during interaction. Using LaRa will conversely contribute to the language awareness of individuals, as LaRa forces speakers to consciously and often explicitly apply the required linguistic and interactive skills in practice. To promote successful use of the receptive multilingual mode in society, institutions need to develop explicit language and education policies incorporating LaRa as an independent language mode next to other multilingual modes of communication.
Finnish and Estonian are relatively closely related languages, which, however, are not considered unconditionally mutually intelligible. The present article discusses the mutual intelligibility of Finnish and Estonian and explores the means by which mutual understanding is created in actual Finnish-Estonian multilingual communication. The data consist of video-recorded informal conversations between Finns and Estonians belonging to a social network in which using both languages (Finnish and Estonian) is a common way of communication. The data are analyzed within the framework of conversation analysis using the concept of participation framework. An overview of informal Finnish-Estonian receptive multilingualism is provided and the language choices are discussed. It is demonstrated that participating in either language does not necessarily cause problems in interaction, and that the shared elements of the languages constitute one resource in creating mutual understanding. However, the participation is also actively facilitated for the participants not competent in both the languages. Receptive multilingualism is shown to be a group phenomenon in the studied data.
Business English as a lingua franca (BELF) is gaining popularity in international business and research domains. In the framework of the socio-cognitive approach, this article examines the role of metapragmatic expressions (MPEs) in creating common ground (CG) in BELF meeting interactions. Based on the data from one business meeting drawn from the Vienna-Oxford International Corpus of English, it is found that the speakers mainly employ four types of MPEs, i.e. commentaries, speech-action descriptions, message glosses and evidentials, as pre-emptive or corrective strategies when they are aware of potential or actual problems or difficulties in interactions. MPEs are intended to activate shared sense (e.g. previous agreement, mutual experiences and company policy) and current sense (e.g. different or new perspectives, evaluations and sympathy) to construct emergent CG of knowledge and emergent CG of affiliation to achieve mutual understanding in BELF meeting interactions.
In this monograph, Anatoliy V. Kharkhurin presents the results of his empirical investigation into the impact of multilingual practice on an individual’s creative potential. Until now, the relationship between these two activities has received little attention in the academic community. The book makes an attempt to resuscitate this theme and provides a solid theoretical framework supported by contemporary empirical research conducted in a variety of geographic, linguistic, and sociocultural locations. This study demonstrates that several factors - such as the multilinguals’ age of language acquisition, proficiency in these languages and experience with cultural settings in which these languages were acquired - have a positive impact on selective attention and language mediated concept activation mechanisms. Together, these facilitate generative and innovative capacities of creative thinking. This book will be of great interest not only to scholars in the fields of multilingualism and creativity, but also to educators and all those interested in enhancing foreign language learning and fostering creativity.
Since interest in research on multilingualism has steadily increased over the last 15 years metalinguistic awareness has been identified as one of the key factors of language learning, in particular in third language learning. Metalinguistic awareness has been studied in disciplines such as language pedagogy, developmental psychology and linguistics. In applied linguistics in the Dynamic Model of Multilingualism (Herdina and Jessner 2002) it has been identified as the most crucial component of the M(ultilingualism)-Factor which is an emergent property of the multilingual system. Hence multilingual awareness can change in dependence on the changing system. Two school context studies at Innsbruck University have focused on the development of multilingual awareness and it was shown that multilingual awareness plays a crucial role in multilingual learning both in primary school children and in older pupils.
Previous investigations of inter-Scandinavian intelligibility have shown that, in general, Norwegians are better at understanding the closely related languages Danish and Swedish than Danes and Swedes are at understanding Norwegian. This asymmetry is often explained by the strong position that dialects hold in Norway as opposed to in Denmark and Sweden. In Norway, the general public is more exposed to language variation than in Sweden and Denmark. Due to this exposure Norwegians are assumed to have higher language awareness and more possibilities for linguistic transfer than Swedes and Danes. This could make it easier for them to understand closely related language varieties. The aim of the present investigation is to get an answer to the question whether Norwegians are better at understanding Nordic varieties relative to linguistic distances than Danes. If it is indeed the case that Norwegians have more language awareness, we would expect them to be better than Danes at understanding varieties with the same linguistic distance to their native variety. Our results show that Norwegians are generally better at understanding Nordic language varieties than Danes are. However, this can be explained by linguistic distances and knowledge of the language varieties in the test. No evidence was found for more general language awareness among Norwegians than among Danes.
Second language (L2) researchers (Singleton and Little, 1991) have sug gested that C-tests, developed as norm-referenced measures for proficiency and placement testing (Klein-Braley, 1985), can be used in L2 vocabulary research. This article illustrates how researchers can bring to bear essentials of measurement theory on L2 research by weighing validity justifications pertaining to use of the C-test method for vocabulary assessment in L2 research. Validity is defined using the predominant framework from current measurement theory (Messick, 1989) and its relevance for L2 research is explained. The cornerstone of the definition is construct validity, which requires a definition of the construct to be measured - interlanguage vocabulary (i.e., vocabulary ability). A theoretical definition of vocabulary ability is presented and used to consider justifications for and against interpreting C-test performance as indicative of vocabulary ability. On the basis of evidence concerning construct validity and utility as well as the consequences of interpretations, the potentials and limitations of the C-test method for L2 vocabulary research are identified.
Speakers tend to attenuate information that is predictable or repeated. To what extent is this done automatically and egocentrically, because it is easiest for speakers themselves, and to what extent is it driven by the informational needs of addressees? In 20 triads of naive subjects, speakers told the same Road Runner cartoon story twice to one addressee and once to another addressee, counterbalanced for order (Addressee1/Addressee1/Addressee2 or Addressee1/Addressee2/Addressee1). Stories retold to the same (old) addressees were attenuated compared to those retold to new addressees; this was true for events mentioned, number of words, and amount of detail. Moreover, lexically identical expressions by the same speaker were more intelligible to another group of listeners when the expressions had been addressed to new addressees than when they had been addressed to old addressees. We conclude that speakers’ attenuating of information in spontaneous discourse is driven at least in part by addressees. Such audience design is computationally feasible when it can be guided by a “one-bit” model (my audience has heard this before, or not).
This report describes research in progress at Duisburg University on a modification of the cloze principle in language testing. Four problem areas in classical cloze tests are isolated and discussed, namely, text selection, test construction, scoring, and interpretation. The "C-tests" in the process of development use the theoretical basis underlying the classical cloze procedure, that is, the concept of an internalized grammar which is utilized in all language operations. The C-tests in English and German were developed according to the following criteria: (1) shorter texts producing at least 100 items; (2) no problems in choice of deletion rate and starting point; (3) deletions should be an absolutely representative sample of the elements of the text; (4) it should not favor examinees with special knowledge; (5) only exact scoring should be used; and (6) native speakers should obtain virtually perfect scores. Tests have been tried with native speakers and second language learners of both German and English. In the C-test, every second word is omitted; the first half of the deleted word is left standing. Examinees must supply the missing parts of the words and only correct restorations are counted as right. The current state of the research shows that the C-test has satisfactory test qualities for both first and second language learners. (AMH)
How do people decide what to say in context? Many theories of pragmatics assume that people have specialized knowledge that drives them to utter certain words in different situations. But these theories are mostly unable to explain both the regularity and variability in people's speech behaviors. Our purpose in this article is to advance a view of pragmatics based on complexity theory, which specifically explains the pragmatic choices speakers make in conversations. The concept of self-organized criticality sheds light on how a history of utterances and subtle details of a situation surrounding a conversation may directly specify language behavior. Under this view, pragmatic choice in discourse does not reflect the output of any dedicated pragmatic module but arises from a complex coordination or coupling between speakers and their varying communicative tasks.
The Ethnography of Communication presents the terms and concepts which are essential for discussing how and why language is used and how its use varies in different cultures. Presents the essential terms and concepts introduced and developed by Dell Hymes and others and surveys the most important findings and applications of their work. Draws on insights from social anthropology and psycholinguistics in investigating the patterning of communicative behavior in specific cultural settings. Includes two completely new chapters on contrasts in patterns of communication and on politeness, power, and politics. Incorporates a broad range of examples and illustrations from many languages and cultures for analyzing patterns of communicative phenomena.
⇒ NOT written, but spoken language. (Intuitions come from written.) ⇒ NOT meaning as thing, but use of linguistic forms for communicative functions o Direct att. in shared conceptual space - like gestures (but w/conventions) ⇒ NOT grammatical rules, but patterns of use => schemas o Constructions themselves as complex symbols "She sneezed him the ball" o NOT 'a grammar' but a structured inventory of constructions: continuum of regularity => idiomaticity Œ grammaticality = normativity • Many complexities = "unification" of constructions w/ incompatibilities o NOT innate UG, but "teeming modularity" (1) symbols, pred-arg structure, social intentions/speech acts, speech/phonology, categorization, etc. (2) diff. functions • not many language universals, but some due to universals of: human cognition, social cognition/attention, vocal-auditory processing.
Adults are notoriously poor second-language (L2) learners. A context that enables successful L2 acquisition is language immersion. In this study, we investigated the effects of immersion learning for a group of university students studying abroad in Spain. Our interest was in the effect of immersion on the native language (L1), English. We tested the hypothesis that immersion benefits L2 learning as a result of attenuated influence of the L1. Participants were English-speaking learners of Spanish who were either immersed in Spanish while living in Spain or exposed to Spanish in the classroom only. Performance on both comprehension and production tasks showed that immersed learners outperformed their classroom counterparts with respect to L2 proficiency. However, the results also revealed that immersed learners had reduced L1 access. The pattern of data is most consistent with the interpretation that the L1 was inhibited while the learners were immersed.
Sieb 5: Syntaktische Strukturen
- Berthele
Berthele, R. (2007). Sieb 5: Syntaktische Strukturen [5th Sieve: Syntactic structures]. In: B.
Hufeisen, N. Marx (Eds.), EuroComGerm -Die sieben Siebe. Germanische Sprachen lesen
lernen (pp. 167-180). Aachen: Shaker Verlag.
Experimental methods for measuring intelligibility of closely related language varieties
- Gooskens
Gooskens, C. S. (2013). Experimental methods for measuring intelligibility of closely related
language varieties. In: Robert Bayley, Richard Cameron and Ceil Lucas (Eds.), Handbook of
sociolinguistics (pp. 195-213). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Does German help speakers of Dutch to understand written and spoken Danish words? – The role of second language knowledge in decoding an unknown but related language
- Swarte
Всеслов’янські складники української мови [Pan-Slavic components of Ukrainian]
- Tyshchenko
The mutual intelligibility of Slavic languages as a source of support for the revival of the Sorbian language
- Sloboda
Sloboda, M. & Brankačkec, K. (2014). The mutual intelligibility of Slavic languages as a source of
support for the revival of the Sorbian language. In L. Fesenmeier (Ed.), Sprachminderheiten:
gestern, heute, morgen = Minoranze linguistiche: ieri, oggi, domani (pp. 25-44). Frankfurt
am Main: Lang.