The resources required to have humans score extended written response items in English language learner (ELL) contexts has caused automated essay scoring (AES) to emerge as a desired alternative. However, these systems often rely heavily on indirect proxies of writing quality such as word, sentence, and essay lengths because of their strong correlation to scores (Vajjala, 2017). This has led to concern about the validity of the features used to establish the predictive accuracy of AES systems (Attali, 2007; Weigle, 2013). Reliance on construct-irrelevant features in ELL contexts also forfeits the opportunity to provide meaningful diagnostic feedback to test-takers or provide the second language acquisition (SLA) field with real insights (C.-F. E. Chen & Cheng, 2008). This thesis seeks to improve the validity and reliability of an AES system developed for ELL essays by employing a new set of features based on the acquisition order of English negation. Modest improvements were made to a baseline AES system's accuracy, showing the possibility and importance of engineering features relevant to the construct being assessed in ELL essays. In addition to these findings, a novel ordering of the sequence of English negation acquisition not previously described in SLA research emerged.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal

本文旨在探討英語人士在中文否定句的習得過程中，是否呈現系統性發展。本研究以訪問的方式進行語料的收集，以比較性問題引導語者產製否定句型。受訪者中八位在國立政治大學語言視聽中心學習中文，二位為長期居住在台灣之英語語者。十位語者的語言表現將視為一個整體，以Implicational Scaling的方法進行結果分析。 中文最主要的否定詞為「不」與「沒」。中文否定句不同於英文否定句在於中文否定句除必需考量句法結構之因素外，否定詞的選用尚必需考量語意因素。除傳統所認為「沒」乃由「不」所衍生出來，且「沒」適用於變化後的（inflected）動詞外，根據石毓智（1992）的分析，「不」與「沒」的使用，具有清楚的分工，「不」用來否定具「連續量」的字詞（word of continuous quantity），而「沒」用來否定具「離散量」的字詞（word of separate quantity）。此外，否定詞的使用，尚受限於被否定的字詞，其定量（fixed quantity）與非定量（non-fixed quantity）的約束。 就表面結構而言，受訪者總共產製了四十二個句型。將這些句型歸納成深層結構而後進行Implicational Scaling。研究結果顯示，英語人士依一系統性的發展順序習得中文之否定句。同時結果亦顯示學習乃由易到難，由普遍到特殊的發展順序。 / The present study aims to explore the developmental sequences of Chinese negation by adult English speakers. The study collects data by interviewing and uses comparative questions to elicit negative structures. Ten adult English speakers are interviewed in which eight study Chinese in The Language Center in Chengchi University and two work in Taiwan over ten years. It is hypothesized that most learners develop a language in a common sequence of steps even though there are deviations of individual speakers. Therefore, the ten informants are regarded as a whole to explore the developmental sequence of Chinese negation by Implicational Scaling. Two main negators in Mandarin Chinese are bu and mei. Traditionally, it is proposed that the two negators are in complementary distribution. Bu becomes to mei when the following verb is you or as an "inflected verb." Besides, according to Shi (1992), the two negators have definitely different functions: bu is used to negate words of continuous quantity and mei words of separate quantity. In addition, whether a word or a phrase is fixed-quantity one or non-fixed-quantity one also influences the occurrence with the negators. Accordingly, It is obviously that Chinese negative structures differ from English and is much more complicated than English. There are 42 surface structures of negation produced by the informants which are generalized into eighteen ones based on the rules of deep structures. And then they are scaled into an implicational ordering. The results are valid and we can infer the development of negation into several stages. Furthermore, it shows that negative structures which are specifically used in Chinese are acquired latter. Therefore, it is proposed that adult English speakers acquire Chinese negation in a common sequence, developing from general structures to specific ones.