This thesis examines phonetic variation of /s/ in bilingual French and German gay and straight men. Previous studies have shown sibilant variation, specifically the voiceless sibilant /s/, to correlate with constructions of gay identity and 'gay sounding voices' in both production and perception. While most of this work concerns English, researchers have also explored /s/ variation and sexual orientation or non-normative masculinity in Afrikaans, Danish, Hungarian, and Spanish. Importantly, with the exception of only a small number of studies, this body of work has largely left the realm of /s/ variation and sexual orientation in bilingual speakers unexplored, and furthermore there is very little work which examines these voices in the context of French and German. The analyses show that some gay French and German men produce /s/ with a higher centre of gravity (CoG) and more negative skew than the straight speakers of the study, a result which dovetails with previous studies in languages such as English. Unlike English however, French and German listeners do not appear to associate /s/ variation with sexual orientation or (non)normative masculinities. I argue that the gay speakers who produce /s/ with a higher CoG than the other speakers of the study are doing so as a way to distance themselves from hegemonic masculinity. This thesis is structured into three stand-alone journal articles bookended with introductory and conclusion chapters which tie them together in the broader picture of /s/ variation and French/German speakers and listeners. The first of the three articles expands upon the previously established linguistic framework of indexing gayness by exploring /s/ variation in native and non-native speech, examining how the linguistic construction of gay identity interacts between their English production and the constraints of their native language. The data draws on read speech of 19 gay and straight French and German men across their L1 and L2 English to explore the social meaning of /s/. Results show that some gay speakers produce /s/ with a higher centre of gravity (CoG) and more negative skew than the straight speakers. These results are consistent with previous findings, which show sibilant variation to index sexual orientation in monolingual gay men's speech, and provide evidence of this feature correlating with sexual orientation in French and German. Furthermore, the results presented here call for a greater level of inquiry into how the gay speakers who employ this feature construct their gay identities beyond a purely gay/straight dichotomy. The second study reports the results of a cross-linguistic matched guise test examining the role of /s/ variation and pitch in judgements of sexual orientation and non-normative masculinity in English, French, and German listeners. Listeners responded to manipulations of /s/ and pitch in their native language and all other stimuli languages (English, French, German, and Estonian). All listener groups rate higher pitch stimuli as more gay and more effeminate sounding than lower pitch guises. However, only the English listeners hear [s+] guises as sounding more gay and more effeminate than the [s] or [s-] guises. This effect is seen not only in their native language, but across all stimuli languages. French and German listeners, despite previous evidence showing /s/ to vary according to sexual orientation in men's speech, do not hear [s+] guises as more gay or more effeminate in any of the stimuli languages including their native French or German. The final of the three articles takes the findings of the first two papers and attempts to reconcile the production/perception mismatch seen when comparing the results of the first two papers. The first article in this thesis revealed two groups of speakers which form the basis for analysis for this paper. The first group is a heterogeneous group of gay and straight speakers whose average /s/ productions are below 7,000 Hz ([s] speakers) and the second is a homogeneous group of gay speakers producing average /s/ CoG above 7,000 Hz ([s+] speakers). The analysis shows style shifting across task type with both groups of speakers producing higher /s/ CoG productions in L1 read speech contexts than any of the L2 speech contexts. Style shifting across conversation topic reveals that the [s+] speakers are producing higher /s/ CoG when discussing their coming out stories and topics of LGBT involvement. I argue that these [s+] speakers are employing these higher frequency /s/ variants to construct a very specific and identifiable gay persona, that of a counter-hegemonic effeminate gay man. This thesis is among the first to examine phonetic qualities of gay bilingual speakers and the ways in which they may index their sexual orientation. The inclusion of bilingual French and German speakers adds to our growing knowledge of ways in which these individuals navigate and construct their identities within both their L1 and, specifically, within an L2. In this regard, this thesis contributes to the growing body of knowledge concerning socioindexicality in L2 production more generally. This work thus speaks to these gaps within the sociolinguistic literature and provides strong evidence that /s/ variation is a valuable resource for some French and German men in the construction of a certain type of gay identity.

Basic reading skills in Czech language, bilingual primary school children This thesis focuses on reading issues in Czech language in bilingual school age children born and taught in Czech environment. The main aim is to map there reading and writing skills in Czech language of bilingual children who live and study at the primary school with one or both parents from foreign country. The theoretical part defines the different types of bilingualism. It introduces the current state of knowledge about its advantages and disadvantages define the specifics of our language and education system focusing on the problems of foreigners and bilingual children. The practical part presents a research study in which the author compares the performance of monolingual and bilingual children in test mapping a level of the basic reading and writing skills in Czech language. There were used tests such as test of reading with comprehension, reading of pseudowords, writing a dictation, and test of reading literacy with expert text. KEYWORDS bilingualism monolingvism children of aliens school children primary school Czech language reading writing reading skills information retrieval comparative methods

This study investigates the acquisition of English lexical stress by Cantonese-English bilingual children and compares the bilinguals with English monolingual children of the same age. The aim of this study is to find out how Cantonese-English bilingual children develop English lexical stress under the possible interaction of the two phonological systems. Two age groups were included: 2;06 and 3;0. Two acoustic correlates for lexical stress were measured: syllable duration and peak F0. Words in two language contexts were examined: disyllabic words in English speech and code-switched English words in Cantonese speech. / Data of eight bilingual children and seven monolingual children were used. All the bilingual data came from CHILDES database and monolingual data came from multiple sources. Disyllabic words were extracted from English utterances, and the stressed/unstressed syllable duration and peak F0 ratios were calculated to see how contrastive the stress patterns were. Results indicated that the monolingual children displayed a more contrastive stress pattern in both acoustic correlates, although syllable duration is found to be more reliable than peak F0 in stress distinction. Stress pattern in code-switched words were also analyzed. It was found that bilingual children displayed a stronger pitch difference in code-switched words, more contrastive than the patterns in their English speech. The results suggest that between 2;06 and 3;0, Cantonese-English bilingual children used less duration and pitch contrast for lexical stress than English monolingual children did, and they were slower in developing native-like lexical stress pattern during this period. On the other hand, Cantonese-English bilingual children used acoustic properties for lexical stress differently in the two language contexts, indicating that they possessed some kind of metalinguistic awareness at such an early age. / 本研究探索粵語和英語雙語兒童對英語詞重音的早期習得情況，並將雙語兒童與英語單語兒童進行對比討論。研究目的旨在探討雙語語音系統之間是否存在相互影響，以及此影響如何改變雙語兒童的語言韻律發展。研究對象包括處於2 歲6個月及3 歲這兩個年齡階段的粵英雙語及英語單語兒童。文章選取兒童自然對話中,位於句中位置的雙音節詞，對其音節時長和音高峰值進行測量。此外，本研究發現雙語兒童存在代碼轉換的現象，即在粵語表達中插入英語辭彙，因此本文同時也對被插入的英語辭彙的詞重音進行探究，以期對詞重音的雙語習得獲得更詳盡的瞭解。 / 本研究所用數據來自八名粵英雙語兒童和七名英語單語兒童。雙語兒童數據取自“兒童語言資料交換系統”（CHILDES）中的“香港雙語兒童語料庫”，單語兒童數據則來自多方資料。研究將所提取的雙音節詞的重音音節與非重音音節的時長及音高峰值分別測量之後，計算出重音音節與非重音音節的比值。比值越大表明兒童在產出中越能明顯區別重音音節與非重音音節，即對英語詞重音的掌握越好。 / 研究結果發現單語兒童的表現領先于雙語兒童，體現在單語兒童可以將重音與非重音音節的時長與音高明顯區分，而雙語兒童產出的雙音節詞中，重音音節和非重音音節在時長和音高方面的區別都不明顯。然而對於被插入粵語句子中的英語雙音節詞，雙語兒童卻能很好地區分開重音音節和非重音音節的音高 。 / 研究結果表明，在2 歲6 個月至3 歲之間的這段時間，粵語和英語雙語兒童對英語詞重音的習得逊於英語單語兒童。但另一方面，粵語和英語雙語兒童表現出對語言環境的敏感，可以根據語言環境和交流對象的不同改變對語音特徵的運用，展現出一定程度的元（後設）語言覺識。 / Li, Jingwen. / Thesis M.Phil. Chinese University of Hong Kong 2014. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 56-65). / Abstracts also in Chinese. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on 11, October, 2016). / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only.

Student Number : 0006815V - MA research report - School of Human and Community Development - Faculty of Humanities / In South Africa, the majority of children are bilingual and little research exists on the cognitive processes bilingual children use to spell. This has far-reaching and challenging implications for cognitive models of spelling. Specifically, bilingualism exhibits a pervasive influence on children’s literacy development (Bialystok, 2002). The majority of research on children’s spelling has been conducted internationally with monolingual English children. From international literature, cognitive processing (simultaneous processing and sequential processing) has been identified as an important area for consideration in the spelling acquisition process of English children (Kaufman & Kaufman, 1983b). Simultaneous processing is important for whole word spelling, whilst sequential processing is important for decoding letter sound correspondences. Cross-linguistic research demonstrates a bias towards one or the other spelling strategy may be tied to the depth of a language’s orthography, possibly due to the different demands the language orthography places on how children learn to spell (Frost et al., 1987; Wimmer & Hummer, 1990, 1994; Goswami et al., 1998). The present study examined the relationship between simultaneous and sequential processing and spelling in Grade 3 monolingual English-speaking children and bilingual Afrikaans-English speaking children at one point in time. Thirty bilingual Afrikaans-English children (Afrikaans first language, English second language) and were learning to spell in Afrikaans and in English simultaneously, and thirty monolingual (English first language) learning to spell in English. Simultaneous and sequential processing subtests of the Kaufman Assessment Battery (K-ABC) were administered to the monolingual and to the bilingual children. Monolingual Englishspeaking children received the English word and non-word spelling tests, while the bilingual Afrikaans-English children were asked to spell English and Afrikaans words and non-words (Klein, 1993). The results suggest that lexical (logographic or simultaneous) and non-lexical (alphabetic or sequential) routes are available in English and Afrikaans, but orthography did exert an influence on cognitive processing strategies. Sequential processing demonstrates a higher relationship than simultaneous processing with spelling in English and Afrikaans, although sequential processing contributes more to spelling in a shallow orthography, because the reliable relationship between spelling supports easier and faster computation than in an opaque orthography. Additionally, the results demonstrate that in the bilingual Afrikaans-English children spelling in a second language (L2) rely on spelling skills in a first language (L1), even when the same teaching strategies are used for spelling instruction. Orthography as a tool of academic literacy instruction, influences whether the transfer of spelling skills has a positive or negative influence on spelling in English as a second language in bilingual Afrikaans-English children with a transparent L1. A dual-route model that incorporates the influence of orthographic depth is supported (Seymour, Bunce & Evans, 1992). The present research study concludes that (1) simultaneous processing and sequential processing influence and predict the production of spelling in L1 and L2 in both English and Afrikaans alphabetic orthographies that differ in orthographic transparency, (2) orthographic demands of learning to spell in different orthographies varies and influences cognitive processing resources and decoding skills, which may provide an indication of a cumulative or challenging development of L2 spelling skills particularly when the L1 is transparent. The present research has implications for assessment, traditional spelling models and teaching bilingual children learning to spell in a second language, which is orthographically opaque relative to their transparent mother tongue.

Individuals who speak more than one language have been found to enjoy a number of benefits not directly associated with the use of the languages themselves. One of these benefits is that bilingual individuals appear to develop symptoms of dementia 4-5 years later than comparable individuals who speak just one language. Studies on this topic, however, do not consistently account for factors including if the individual learned their second language as a child or later in life, or their language proficiency. In an attempt to more carefully examine these variables, this study looks at structural and resting-state functional MRI scans of the default mode network, English and Spanish (where applicable) proficiency, language background, and demographics of young healthy adults who fall into one of three groups: early bilinguals, late bilinguals, and monolinguals. Of the three groups, late bilinguals were found to have a small but statistically significantly higher level of connectivity compared with early bilinguals in the region of the medial prefrontal cortex; patterns found examining number of languages and language proficiency in relation to functional connectivity and research group also supported this finding. These results indicate studying a language after adolescence could provide neuroprotective benefits of a nature that could potentially help delay symptoms of dementia. Age, gender, ethnicity, level of education, English language proficiency, and Spanish language use did not result in statistically significant findings, the latter of which challenges using frequency of language use to define bilingualism.

Es natural que la lengua materna de un bilingüe cambie. Sin embargo, si un individuo vive en un contexto donde se habla su segunda lengua como lengua mayoritaria, si usa constantemente su segunda lengua y si el uso de su lengua materna ha disminuido, es muy probable que se vea afectado por la atrición de las habilidades lingüísticas. Esta investigación se concentra en el estudio de la atrición léxica del español como lengua materna. Los participantes son mexicanos adultos con educación universitaria entre los 25 y los 35 años de edad, los participantes del grupo experimental (n=10) inmigraron a los Estados Unidos después de los 17 años de edad, y han vivido en este país entre 5 y 16 años. Los participantes del grupo de control (n=10) residen en México y nunca han vivido en un país de habla inglesa. Tres medidas se obtuvieron y analizaron estadísticamente para determinar si el grupo experimental está siendo afectado por la atrición de la lengua: en las medidas de diversidad y la sofisticación léxica los resultados de la investigación revelaron una diferencia estadísticamente significativa entre ambos grupos. Estos resultados resultan similares a los de Keijzer (2017), Schmid y Dusseldrop (2011); y Yilmaz y Schmid (2012). No hubo diferencia en la prueba de fluidez verbal. Los resultados no revelaron significancia de la edad, el tiempo de arribo y el sexo en la media de los resultados, y de la misma manera no se encontró una correlación de los resultados de las pruebas léxicas con el uso del idioma, debido quizá al tamaño de la muestra.

Cette thèse examine l’alternance en romani du Mexique de la copule si et des clitiques sujet -lo ; -li/-la ; -le. Il s’agit d’un phénomène linguistique absent de toutes les variétés romani parlées en Europe et qui selon Adamou (2013) s’est développé sous l’influence de l’espagnol dans les communautés romani installées en Amérique Latine depuis le 19e siècle. La présente étude s’appuie des données originales collectées auprès de locuteurs bilingues de la communauté de La Rinconada dans l’État de Veracruz au Mexique. En analysant un corpus oral spontané d’environ 16 heures et les réponses de 60 personnes à un questionnaire de choix de copule, j’ai pu dégager les variables qui sous-tendent l’emploi des copules en espagnol et romani. Les variables linguistiques décrites traditionnellement pour la variation des copules ser et estar en espagnol, comme par exemple le Cadre de référence et le Type de prédicat, s’avèrent aussi pertinentes pour comprendre l’emploi des copules romani. Les clitiques sujet romani sont particulièrement dynamiques dans les constructions de troisième personne affirmatives au présent où ils tendent à éclipser la copule romani traditionnelle si. Il est possible d’argumenter que cette expansion provoquée par le contact avec l’espagnol influence à son tour l’emploi des copules en espagnol. En effet, on observe parallèlement un dynamisme de la copule estar et son extension à des contextes précédemment occupés par la copule ser, une tendance plus générale documentée par ailleurs pour l’espagnol du Mexique. / This thesis examines the alternation in of the Romani copula si and the subject clitics lo; -li/-la; -le. It is a linguistic phenomenon that is absent from all the Romani varieties spoken in Europe and which according to Adamou (2013) has been developed under the influence of Spanish in the Romani communities who have settled in Latin America since the 19th century. This study has been possible thanks to the collection of original data from bilingual speakers of the community of La Rinconada in the State of Veracruz in Mexico. Based on the analysis of a spontaneous oral corpus of approximately 16 hours and responses from 60 participants to a questionnaire of copula choice, I was able to identify the variables underlying the use of copulas in both languages. The linguistic variables described for the variation of the copulas ser and estar in Spanish, as for example the frame of reference and the type of predicate, are also relevant to understand the use of copulas in Romani. However, it appears clearly that the Romani subject clitics are particularly dynamic in present affirmative constructions of third person where they tend to overshadow the traditional Romani copula si. It is possible to argue that this expansion that started under the influence of Spanish is now in turn influencing the use of Spanish copulas. Indeed, there is in parallel a dynamic use of the copula estar and extension to contexts previously covered by the copula ser, following a more general trend documented in Mexican Spanish.

Students learning English at school and another language at home comprise a rapidly growing segment of U.S. student populations. Language learners can benefit from using technology, but do not always use it advantageously (Katz & Gonzalez, 2016). Many studies address technology’s scholastic use, but few investigate how bilinguals use digital technology at home (Hinostroza, Matamala, Labbé, Claro, & Cabello, 2015), or what it means to them (Toboso-Martin, 2013). This qualitative multiple-case study focuses on the intersection between bilinguals, intergenerational learning, and digital technology. Specifically, it studies how bilingual, Hispanic family members interact around information and communication technology (ICT), and their attitudes toward ICT. Language patterns emerged during paired ICT use. Data were gathered from six Hispanic, bilingual families in the Midwestern U.S. through interviews, observation, and tasks where intergenerational pairs were asked to teach each other about ICT. This study adds to the literature on bilingualism, digital literacy, sociocultural theory, and intergenerational learning. Findings included parental ICT policies of vigilance, access, and trust. Findings support arguments that the digital divide persists as digital literacy. ICT both impeded and promoted intergenerational learning. Findings shed light on bilinguals’ contextualized linguistic needs, and echoed Vygotsky’s writings on gesture, internalized speech, and serial thought processing. English dominated as the language of ICT, but participants used Spanish and English to contextualize problems and negotiate meaning. Findings affirmed factors affecting the quality of ICT use. The author argues that Grosjean’s Complementarity Principle can be applied to digital literacy. Implications for parents, teachers, and researchers are given. Key words: bilingualism, families, intergenerational learning, information and communication technology (ICT), digital technology, digital literacy, home language practices, sociocultural theory, translanguaging

The present study investigated the hypothesis that later and/or early learners of English as a second language may exhibit an exaggerated or restricted degree of change in their production performance between clear and conversational speech styles for certain acoustic cues. Monolingual English talkers (MO), early Spanish-English bilinguals (EB) and late Spanish-English bilinguals (LB) were recorded using both clear and conversational speaking styles. The stimuli consisted of six target vowels /i, I, e, E, ae/ and /a/, embedded in /bVd/ context. All recorded target-word stimuli were isolated into words. Vowel duration was computed, and fundamental frequency (F0), and formant frequency values (F1-F4) were measured at 20%, 50%, and 80% of the vowel duration. Data from the MO and EB talkers indicates that these two groups are very similar in that they emphasize duration differences in clear speech, have similar spacing of vowels (static & dynamic properties), and have similar frequency changes in clear speech. Data from the LB talkers indicates that this group failed to emphasize differences in clear speech, particularly duration differences. In addition, the high-mid front vowels (/i, I, e/ and /E/) were found to be very poorly separated in the F1-F2 space for the LB talkers. In support of the hypothesis, the data showed that LB talkers exhibited a restricted degree of change in their production performance between clear and conversational speech styles for duration, as compared to monolingual talkers. Data analyzed for the EB talkers do not reveal systematic reductions in the degree of change in their production performance between clear and conversational speech styles, as compared to monolingual talkers.

This research examined whether bilingualism would accelerate or hinder the cognitive as well as academic development of the Korean American individuals in an Oregon school district by analyzing the standardized test scores at grades 3, 5, 7, and 9. Eleven monolingual and 27 bilingual students released the Survey of Basic Skills (SBS) as well as Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) scores for this study. The analyses of the test scores revealed that the Korean-American students in this school district were performing at a much higher level against the national norm (the 50th percentile), or the school district norm (the 75th percentile). The bilingual Korean-American students made far greater progress both cognitively and academically from grades 3 to 9 (CogAT: 76.0 %ILE- 87.0 %ILE, SBS Composite: 77.0 %ILE- 87.0 %ILE) than their monolingual counterparts who hovered around the 85th percentile against the national norm. It was learned that the bilingual Korean-Americans were both cognitively and academically as developed as their monolingual counterparts by the time they were in 5th grade. Telephone interviews conducted with 46 bilingual and 23 monolingual Korean-American high school students as well as 30 written questionnaires returned by their parents revealed that the Korean-American students in this particular school district could not become naturally bilingual, but that a commitment both by the students and their parents was necessary to maintain their ethnic language. The parents of the bilingual students were making more efforts to pass on the Korean language to their offspring than the parents of monolingual students. The Korean-American families were very much integrated into the social mainstream, and were trying to achieve educational as well as economic successes on American's terms while maintaining their ethnic identity.