Resilience is essential for long-term autonomous agents. Swarm behaviors seen in bees, ants, birds, fish, and others are interesting because they resiliently perform complex coordinated tasks like foraging, nest-selection, flocking and escaping predators without centralized control or coordination. Conventionally, mimicking swarm behaviors with robots requires researchers to study actual behaviors, derive mathematical models, and implement these models as state machines. Since the conventional approach is time-consuming and cumbersome, this dissertation uses a grammatical evolution algorithm with Behavior Trees (BTs) to evolve behaviors that are resilient to different perturbations for foraging and nest maintenance tasks. The modular, reactive, and readable properties of BTs make it an excellent controller for implementing swarm behaviors. Our method is based on the author's master's thesis work on a core algorithm called Grammatical Evolution algorithm for Evolution of Swarm bEhaviors using Behavior Trees (GEESE-BT). The GEESE-BT algorithm can be used to evolve swarm behaviors for interesting multiagent problems, but the solutions require ad hoc fitness functions tailored to the specific problems. This dissertation presents the BeTr-GEESE algorithm, which replaces ad hoc fitness functions with direct feedback from the BT modules. BeTr-GEESE learns more efficiently than GEESE-BT. The modular, subtask-specific programs produced by BeTr-GEESE can be exchanged through lateral transfer to perform missions that require sequential execution of subtasks. Lateral transfer produces resilient performance in divisible and additive group tasks like foraging and nest maintenance. However, the behaviors of successful groups must exhibit temporal locality, meaning that an agent must persist in behavior long enough to perform essential functions but also means that agents cannot persist too long or evolution is too slow. A biologically inspired enhancement of using multiple genes with BeTr-GEESE allowed a fixed population of heterogeneous agents to accomplish tasks with high resilience power and efficiency. The last part of the dissertation complements the empirical approach used in designing resilient swarms using grammatical evolution. Goal specification and verification are vital to designing resilient artificial agents. Finite trace Linear Temporal Logic ($LTL_f$) is a potent way of specifying goals, but synthesizing planners that guarantee the goals are satisfied can be computationally prohibitive. This dissertation shows that goals specified using a subset of finite trace Linear Temporal Logic ($LTL_f$) can be decomposed into an equivalent BT that leads to a relaxed behavior synthesis problem in which a wide range of planners can be used to generate effective behaviors that satisfy the goal specification.

The role that grammar should occupy in the teaching of the Spanish language, and of languages in general, has varied throughout history. From taking a central role in the grammar-translation method to positioning grammar on the periphery and implicitly teaching it in the communicative approach. The teaching of grammar is part of the training of students once they pass the introductory and most basic level of the language, so we will study how this process occurs in the classrooms of a couple of schools in the region of Skåne. For this we will make a distinction between the teaching of grammar explicitly and the implicit teaching of it. Our research is based on the testimonies of two professors with extensive academic competence on the subject and with a large number of years of experience. Through semi-structured interviews, we had access to detailed information about the choice of the way in which they work, and we corroborated that they favor explicit grammar teaching because, according to our informants, this provides solid knowledge, saves time and effort to students to form grammatical structures, students request it and have a positive attitude towards it and it motivates them. It is also the form that gives the best results for learning the language, in combination with the advantages of the communicative approach, affirm the teachers interviewed. Another aspect in our research that our informants confirm is the lack of materials for the formal teaching of grammar, since said material is almost non-existent in manuals for language teaching, so the responsibility to find, and in many cases create these materials rests with the teachers. This aspect together with the fact that the choice to teach explicit grammar in class may lead to more research that has an echo in the Skolverket curricula so that materials that cover these needs are developed. On the other hand, based on the information collected by our informants, we can say that it does not seem necessary to us that there is a sharp dichotomy between the grammar-translation method and the communicative approach, but rather that both methods be reconciled in a harmonious way. That is to say, that the best of both methods is taken advantage of without having to choose between one or the other in a clear way. Our research can serve to guide such future research.

Grammatical gender is a complex classification system and is often referred to as one of the most difficult grammatical categories for second language (L2) speakers to master. Previous research has focused on anticipatory processing of grammatical gender cues in first language (L1) speakers of various gendered languages (French, Spanish, Dutch, etc.) and has found that speakers use gender information from a preceding determiner to facilitate access to a gender-congruent noun (e.g., Dussias et al., 2013; Lew-Williams & Fernald, 2010). These findings have been consistently found among speakers of various languages when they were presented with congruent vs. incongruent determiner phrases (DPs), subsequently collapsing across grammatical genders (e.g., congruent: la maison and le bateau vs. incongruent: *le maison vs. *la bateau). Responses to individual genders cues in Spanish has been teased apart (masculine vs. feminine) as well as the effect of inhibitory control on gender processing (Beatty-Martínez, et al., 2020). A correlation between grammatical gender error recovery and increased inhibitory control was found. The current dissertation aims to dissect the processing and underlying neural mechanisms associated with masculine and feminine grammatical gender in L1 French, simultaneous French-English, and L1 English-L2 French speakers. A series of three experiments were conducted. The first two experiments used a masked priming lexical decision task where participants were presented with congruent (e.g., la maison) and incongruent (*le maison) DPs. The first experiment employed a behavioural version of the task and the second experiment focused on event-related brain potentials (ERPs). At a behavioural level, there was no indication of grammatical gender cue use. However, ERP results show that L1 speakers employ distinct processing mechanisms for feminine (P200; *le maison) incongruencies compared to feminine congruencies (la maison). The final experiment consisted of a self-paced reading task, where participants read sentences with congruent and incongruent DPs and an AX-CPT task as a measure of inhibitory control. L1 French and simultaneous French-English speakers exhibit processing difficulties with the incongruent feminine condition (*le maison) compared to the congruent feminine condition (la maison), as well as with the incongruent masculine condition (*la bateau) compared to the congruent masculine condition (le bateau). On the other hand, L2 speakers only show difficulty with the incongruent feminine condition in relation to the congruent feminine condition. Further, there was no relationship between inhibitory control and grammatical gender processing across groups. Overall, the results reflect an intricate picture of grammatical gender processing in French speakers. At a lexical level, L1 French speakers likely process incongruent feminine DPs as a lexical clash, potentially implementing further cognitive resources during processing. At a syntactic level, L1 French and simultaneous French-English speakers show processing difficulties behaviourally to gender incongruencies. L2 speakers seem to employ the use of masculine grammatical gender cues, implying that it is perhaps the presence of a feminine noun causing processing difficulty due to a feature mismatch. These results indicate that masculine and feminine genders employ distinct processing mechanisms and may be accessed in a contrasting manner.

No description available.

No description available.

If most scholars tend to agree that the native language of a speaker does influence the way they will understand the reality around them, the question becomes ambiguous when it comes to bilingual speakers’ cognition. How is their reality affected by the combination of their languages? This study aimed at exploring this question under the angle of grammatical gender. Adult simultaneous early bilingualsin French and Swedish were asked, in an innovative experiment, to match a culturally neutral item to a voice. In a second experiment, the same participants were asked to match a culturally loaded item to a voice. In both experiments, items were carefully chosen according to their grammatical gender. Results indicate that grammatical gender was not a predictor of voice assignment. However, the perceived cultural stereotypes of the items used in the second experiment appeared to be a robust predictor of voice assignment. Findings suggest thus that grammatical gender does not affect how simultaneous early bilingualism French and Swedish would conceptualise artifacts, but cultural gender would.

Thesis (M.A. (English Studies)) -- University of Limpopo, 2022 / This study explores written grammar errors committed by UL first entering non-native English language students. The problem is that the standard of English among nonnative English language students does not seem to improve due to the recurrence of errors, and this has always occupied the attention of many L2 researchers. First year English language lecturers participated in the study; they were interviewed by the researcher to better understand issues related to errors committed by the students. The study is underpinned by Error Analysis theory. Content Analysis (CA) was employed to analyse the qualitative data obtained from the 30 students’ assignment scripts to obtain grammatical errors in the following: word classes, sentences, tense, punctuation, and paragraphing. The findings indicate that English non-native students committed errors in punctuation, sentence structure, noun, pronoun, subject-verb agreement– determiner–, spelling-, logical connectors-, contraction-, preposition-, incomplete sentence and wrong topic sentences errors. It recommends that the Department of Languages should introduce an annual English language competency test at the beginning of each year to access students’ English competency level. This will allow the ELLs to revise and develop teaching materials according to the language needs of the first-year students in the university

<p>The category of grammatical gender has gained considerable attention in the linguistic literature. Previous studies focused primarily on describing the often very complex system of genders in particular languages, on the understanding of the category <em>per se</em> (e.g. the origin of gender differentiation) or the acquisition of grammatical gender and the processing of this category in language production.</p> <p>In contrast, the present dissertation looks at grammatical gender from a cognitive point of view. For the sake of this dissertation, <em>cognitive perspective</em> is defined as the assumption that human language cannot be separated from the way human beings perceive the world since language and thought are inextricably related. This approach also implies that research cannot be limited to theoretical explorations, but rather, that it must employ experimental methods and use research tools traditionally associated with other disciplines to collect data about authentic language use. All studies included in this thesis concentrate on the topic of grammatical gender, but they approach the category from a variety of perspectives.</p> <p>It was found that the grammatical gender, at least to some degree, shapes the worldview of speakers of those languages in which the category operates, since the gender of the personification of concepts usually agrees with the grammatical gender of the respective nouns. In the context of translation, grammatical gender proved to be much more challenging than had been expected; there were many mistakes found in the translation product and many hesitations observed in the translation process.</p> <p>The findings of the studies included in this thesis add to the general understanding of the complexities of the category of grammatical gender and its relationship to the way language users perceive the world. What is more, the investigations and proposals presented here emphasize the need for a more interdisciplinary approach to the study of grammatical gender.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

The correct use of morphological suffixes in obligatory contexts reflects linguistic knowledge and competence of speakers. Grammatical knowledge is acquired during a child’s period of primary language acquisition, and may be partial or incomplete due to normal linguistic variation found during acquisition, due to a child’s level of progression through typical chronological development, or due to the presence of language disorders, like specific language impairment (SLI). In the current study, we ask whether characteristics of verbs make it more or less likely that children will correctly use an inflectional morpheme. The morphemes of interest in the current study were third person singular –s (3S) and past tense –ed (ED). Data for analysis were taken from a database of spontaneous language samples collected from 40 children (20 with SLI and 20 developing typically; Hoover, Storkel, & Rice, 2012). Spontaneous language samples were analyzed for the presence or absence of each morpheme in obligatory contexts. For each word item, the uninflected base word was additionally analyzed for a number of phonological and lexical variables. After comparing children with SLI to typically developing peers group differences emerged with respect to the effect of phonological and lexical variables. Moreover, different variables were determined to predict the 3S and ED morphemes. The results are discussed highlighting relevant theoretical and clinical implications.

Over the past decades a considerable number of works have observed differences in the phonetic realization of nouns and verbs. The guiding question in most relevant research is whether such differences are caused by grammatical category per se, or are triggered by more general processes of phonetic implementation that impact nouns and verbs differently. Most studies argue for the latter and focus on one particular process or variable, which is advocated to be responsible for the acoustic differences observed. Among the processes mentioned are pre-boundary lengthening, accentuation, and frequency-induced reduction. Due to the focus on monofactorial explanations, an overview and contextualization of the different processes interacting with the noun-verb distinction is yet missing. The present paper aims to fill this gap. This goal is pursed by providing an in-depth discussion of how grammatical category interacts with a number of different processes that affect acoustic realization. To that end results from the literature on the topic are synthesized with new acoustic analyses of noun-verb homophones from spontaneous speech. The analysis shows that differences in acoustic realization between nouns and verbs are caused by the complex interplay of a number of different processes, defying simple, monofactorial explanations.