The purpose of this investigation is to examine the effects of certain factors on adults auditory comprehension of complex sentences conjoined with before and after. The factors investigated are: conjunction choice, order of mention, clause placement, and general-knowledge constraints. The sentences used in the study fall into four syntactic categories (Before-1, Before-2, After-1, After-2) and two semantic categories (constrained by general knowledge and unconstrained). Sixteen subjects each participated in two tasks designed to elicit varying reaction times. Stimuli consisted of 160 pre-recorded sentences describing 40 sequences of two events, with corresponding slide illustrations. Reaction time to task stimuli was recorded to the nearest hundredth of a second. Square roots of the reaction times were subjected to analysis of variance. Results indicate that only the placement of the main clause produces a significant effect on subjects' responses, thus lending support to a growing body of data which suggests that the main clause holds a privileged position in the comprehension of complex sentences. Results are discussed with respect to experimental design, previous research and theories of sentence comprehension. / Medicine, Faculty of / Audiology and Speech Sciences, School of / Graduate

LD2668 .T4 1966 C345 / Master of Science

No description available.

This thesis has explored the effects of sentence combining on the writing of English-speaking Freshman writing students at Taylor University, Upland, Indiana, to establish local base-line data for future research with sentence combining on ESL students. Under the assumption that regular practice in sentence combining would result in improved ability in written communication, four classes of students at two levels were pre-tested using the cloze procedure on three short passages of college-entrance-level reading material. Two classes were taught sentence combining techniques through the semester, one exclusively and one as an adjunct to other rhetorical. concerns. Two were taught with an emphasis on global writing processes. All were again post-tested using the cloze procedure at the end of the semester and asked to write a time-limited essay.An analysis of covariance was done to purge the residual scores of the pretest influence since random assignment of experimental and control groups was not possible. Statistically significant improvement among those taught sentence combining was noted.Having established statistical validity among a native, English-speaking control population the implication for ESL would be that the assumption now needs to be taken to the next level, applying the form and techniques of this study to an ESL population.In order to prepare for such a further step in research, some restructuring of materials would be necessary. The cloze tests (3 pre- and 3 post-tests) from this study need to be re-scored by acceptable answer as well as exact answer scoring procedure. Frequency lists of acceptable answers for each blank need to be established. For the pre- and posttests of the ESL population, the same cloze test passages could be used and scored by clozentropy -- weighing acceptable answers according to their frequency in the native speaker pretest. Then statistical significance of the technique on the teaching of writing in ESL by means of the technique of sentence combining could be determined either verifying or nullifying the hypothesis that the same conclusions would be reached with ESL students.Were similar findings to be reached in research with an ESL population, the importance of practice in sentence-level manipulation practice in techniques of sentence-combining would appear to be worth noting, Incorporation of sentence combining into a teaching of writing syllabus would seem to be a logical, pedagogically sound practice.

This study is a partial replication of Davison & Lutz's (1984) experiment. It was designed to test if L1 word order and English proficiency are involved in non-native speakers' sentence processing. This study concentrates on the roles of syntax and pragmatics/semantics in sentence processing. By comparing two corresponding syntactic structures with similar meanings but different forms in context, we can detect the different degrees of the salient property of a certain NP. The perception of the salient NP is related to the definition of the sentence topic, which functions as the link between the sentence and the discourse. The salient NP can be identified by applying our linguistic knowledge, syntactic rules, and our real world knowledge, pragmatic principles,. The choice of syntactic structure is conditioned heavily by pragmatic principles. It is believed that response times correspond to the degrees of salience.Sixty international students participated in the experiment. Stimulus sentences were presented with a computer program and response times were recorded in seconds by the computer automatically. A cloze test was given for the measuring of English proficiency.The data collected were analyzed with SPSS-X. The MANOVA was carried out to compare the differences between VO/OV language types, target sentences (transformed and untransformed ones), five types of syntactic constructions, and the interactions ofword order by target sentences, target sentences by syntactic constructions, and L1 word order by target sentences by syntactic constructions. The response times for English proficiency were used as a post hoc variable. Significance was set at .05.The results revealed that there was a significant difference across five syntactic constructions (p < .05). The other tests were not significant. Two important limitations on this study are problems arising out of randomization parameters in the experiment, and the lack of lower level English proficiency subjects. / Department of English

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Linguistics and Philosophy, 1980. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND HUMANITIES. / Bibliography: leaves 256-259. / by Marcia Christine Linebarger. / Ph.D.

published_or_final_version / Psychology / Master / Master of Philosophy