Refereed Journal Papers

[kaneko-01:2011]

E. Kaneko. The Effects of the Noun Phrase Accessibility Hierarchy and Other Factors on Spontaneous Production of L2 Relative Clauses at Different Proficiency Levels. Japan Association of College English Teachers (JACET) Journal, 52:31-50, 2011.

Abstract The production of a relative clause (RC) by second language (L2) learners in relation to the Noun Phrase Accessibility Hierarchy (NPAH), which refers to an implicational relationship among different types of RCs, is a well researched area in second language acquisition. However, how L2 proficiency affects spontaneous use of RCs is relatively unaddressed. This study investigates how the NPAH effects (Comrie, 2007) interact with learner proficiency in spontaneous speech. RC samples created by learners at four different proficiency levels were excerpted from a spoken corpus compiled in Japan, and accuracy and frequency of these RCs were examined. The results indicate that overall, L2 learners tend to use a less marked (or easier) RC type. However, it has further become evident that the NPAH has a differential influence on the production of RCs depending on proficiency levels. In the present research, learners at a particular level overuse a formulaic template, “ generic noun + (relative pronoun) + animate subject + verb, ” thus creating a more marked, or difficult type of RC with higher accuracy. This can be characterized as a communicative strategy by an adult L2 speaker who has to maintain face-to-face communication.

[naomi-o-01:2011]

Naomi Ogasawara. Acoustic analysis of voice onset time in Taiwan Mandarin and Japanese. Concentric: Studies in Linguistics, 37(2):155-178, 7 2011.

Taiwan Humanities Citation Index Core journal

Refereed Proceedings Papers

[jginsbur-01:2011]

Jason Ginsburg. A Wikipedia-based English-language reference and teaching tool. In John Brine and Debopriyo Roy, editors, Proceedings of the 2nd Annual ACM Chapter Conference on eLearning and Technical Documentation: International Transactions on eLearning and Usability (University of Aizu): 2011, Volume 2, Issue 1, pages 14-17, 2011.

This paper describes software under development that automatically extracts information from corpora that can be useful for language learners and language researchers. This software provides users with lists of words (extracted from several large corpora) that are frequently used in various English genres. In addition, the software extracts the following types of information from Wikipedia: 1) word frequency: users can view lists of frequent words, 2) word forms: users can view different morphological forms of target words, 3) part of speech information: users can view the part of speech distribution of target words, and 3) example paragraphs: users can view sample paragraphs containing different usages of target words.

[jginsbur-02:2011]

Jason Ginsburg. A Wikipedia-based corpus reference tool. In Vitaly Klyuev and Alexander Vazhenin, editors, Proceedings of the Joint International Conference on Human-Centered Computer Environments, HCCE 2012, pages 14-18. ACM, ACM, 2012.

This paper describes a dictionary-like reference tool that is designed to help users find information that is similar to what one would find in a dictionary when looking up a word, except that this information is extracted automatically from large corpora. For a particular vocabulary item, a user can view frequency information, part-of-speech distribution, word-forms, definitions, example paragraphs and collocations. All of this information is extracted automatically from corpora and most of this information is extracted from Wikipedia. Since Wikipedia is a massive corpus covering a diverse range of general topics, this information is probably very representative of how target words are used in general. This project has applications for English language teachers and learners, as well as for language researchers.

[jginsbur-03:2011]

Jason Ginsburg. Automatic generation of English lesson materials for native speakers of Japanese. In Vitaly Klyuev and Alexander Vazhenin, editors, Proceedings of the Joint International Conference on Human-Centered Computer Environments, HCCE 2012, pages 1-7. ACM, ACM, 2012.

This paper describes a computer program, a Lesson Material Builder, that is designed to automatically generate editable lesson materials for teaching English to speakers of Japanese. This program has two functions, a) an Exercise Creator, and b) a Vocabulary Quiz Creator. The Exercise Creator automatically creates an editable reading exercise document, from an input text, in which target vocabulary words are highlighted and definitions in Japanese are provided. Taking a reading exercise, of the sort produced by the Exercise Creator, the Vocabulary Quiz Creator can create vocabulary quizzes that require students to match vocabulary words with their definitions.

[jginsbur-04:2011]

Ian Wilson, Emiko Kaneko, Paul Lyddon, Kiyomi Okamoto, and Jason Ginsburg. Nonsense-syllable sound discrimination ability correlates with second language (L2) proficiency. In Proceedings of the 17th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences (ICPhS XVII), pages 2133-2136, 2011.

Sound discrimination helps babies acquire the vocabulary, morphology and syntax of their first language. Researchers have also shown a relationship between sound discrimination ability and second language (L2) experience. In this research, we investigated the correlation between the sound discrimination ability of low-intermediate level, adult Japanese learners of English and various measures of their L2 proficiency, including the TOEIC (IP) test, grammar and vocabulary tests, and a motivation measure. Firstly, our results showed a strong correlation between nonsense-syllable consonant sound discrimination ability and the listening comprehension results of the TOEIC test. Secondly, a moderate correlation was found between overall sound discrimination and such L2 proficiency measures as vocabulary, grammar, and reading ability. Finally, we found that vowels were more difficult to discriminate than consonants; in particular, the vowel in a VC syllable was the most difficult to dis criminate, whereas the consonant in a CV syllable was the easiest to discriminate. We interpret our results to mean that, for low-intermediate level L2 learners, a simple 10-minute sound discrimination test can serve as a reasonably reliable tool for placement of students into different class levels, especially listening and reading classes.

[wilson-02:2011]

I. Wilson, E. Kaneko, P. Lyddon, K. Okamoto, and J. Ginsburg. Nonsense-syllable sound discrimination ability correlates with second language (L2) proficiency. In Proceedings of the 17th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences (ICPhS XVII), pages 2133-2136, 2011.

Sound discrimination helps babies acquire the vocabulary, morphology and syntax of their first language. Researchers have also shown a relationship between sound discrimination ability and second language (L2) experience. In this research, we investigated the correlation between the sound discrimination ability of low-intermediate level, adult Japanese learners of English and various measures of their L2 proficiency, including the TOEIC (IP) test, grammar and vocabulary tests, and a motivation measure. Firstly, our results showed a strong correlation between nonsense-syllable consonant sound discrimination ability and the listening comprehension results of the TOEIC test. Secondly, a moderate correlation was found between overall sound discrimination and such L2 proficiency measures as vocabulary, grammar, and reading ability. Finally, we found that vowels were more difficult to discriminate than consonants; in particular, the vowel in a VC syllable was the most difficult to discriminate, whereas the consonant in a CV syllable was the easiest to discriminate. We interpret our results to mean that, for low-intermediate level L2 learners, a simple 10-minute sound discrimination test can serve as a reasonably reliable tool for placement of students into different class levels, especially listening and reading classes.

Unrefereed Papers

[wilson-01:2011]

Y. Yaguchi, N. Horiguchi, and I. Wilson. Mapping phonemes to midsagittal tongue images for pronunciation learning (translation of Japanese title). IEICE Technical Report of Pattern Recognition and Media Understanding (PRMU) and Signal Processing (SP), 2012.

Supporting the development of a system for pronunciation learning, this paper reports an inspection of the trajectory of speech sentences in a feature space that is constructed from midsagittal tongue images and frame-wise speech sounds. One objective of this research is to estimate tongue shape and position from speech sounds, so we focus on determining how to construct and arrange from these feature spaces. Experimental results indicate similar trajectories for given streams of speech sounds between the two feature spaces of midsagittal tongue images and frame-wise speech sounds. Although the accuracy of phoneme recognition is poor from a feature space of midsagittal tongue images only, we also consider the possibility of extracting exemplar tongue images for a given sound by using a mixed feature space of tongue images and speech sounds. Chapters in Book

[brine-01:2011]

John Brine and Hiroshi Saito. Web-based logic circuit design course: Implementation issues, pages 8-14. JALT CALL SIG, 2011.

Since 2008, researchers at the University of Aizu, Japan and FPT University, Hanoi, Vietnam have been collaborating to implement a web-based computer science course in Logic Circuit Design and a supporting English language course (Brine & Johnson, 2008). Logic Circuit Design is a topic in Computer Science concerned with the design of integrated circuits. In this paper, we will describe our experience preparing and delivering the course. In this implementation, flexible language acquisition tools (FLAX) (Wu, Franken, & Witten, 2009) were intended to assist computer science students in studying and analyzing the English necessary for the Logic Circuit Design course. We report on the organizational, curricular, and technical aspects of the implementation and use of open source software tools (FLAX and Moodle) in supporting the Logic Circuit Design course. Difficulties in implementing the course will be described.

[rozycki-01:2011]

W. Rozycki, U. Connor, L. Pylitt, and L. Logio. English language and the medical profession: Instructing and assessing the communication skills of international physicians, volume 5 of Innovation and Leadership in English Language Teaching, pages 111-132. Emerald, 2011.

Grants

[kaneko-02:2011]

E. Kaneko. Working Memory Span and Oral Proficiency of English as a Second Language: Implications for Automatically Graded Speaking Tests, 2011.

Grant-in-Aid (C) from the Japan Society for Promotion of Science (JSPS)

[naomi-o-02:2011]

Naomi Ogasawara. The role of phonological timing in speech production and segmentation, 8 2011.

From: Junior Researcher Grant, National Science Council, Taiwan (#100-2410-H-003100, August 1, 2011 to July 31, 2012, 652,000 TWD equivalent to 22,490 USD)

[rozycki-02:2011]

W. Rozycki. Grant in aid for scientific research, JSPS, 2011-2013.

[wilson-03:2011]

I. Wilson. JSPS Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (Acad. Research Subsidies) KAKENHI 23520467, 2011-2014.

Academic Activities

[jginsbur-05:2011]

Jason Ginsburg, 2011.

Anonymous reviewer of 2 articles for Lingua

[jginsbur-06:2011]

Jason Ginsburg, 2011.

Reviewer for the Linguistics Society of America Annual Meeting

[jginsbur-07:2011]

Jason Ginsburg, 2011.

Anonymous reviewer of an article for Linguistic Inquiry

[naomi-o-03:2011]

Naomi Ogasawara, 5 2011.

Presentation at the 161st Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, Seattle, Washington, U.S.A., May 25, 2011: "Production and perception of voice onset time cues in spoken Japanese and Taiwan Mandarin"

[naomi-o-04:2011]

Naomi Ogasawara and Psyche Chiu, 5 2011.

Presentation at the 161st Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, Seattle, Washington, U.S.A., May 25, 2011: "The interaction between tone and intonation in Mandarin aphasics speech"

[rozycki-03:2011]

W. Rozycki, 2011.

Chair, Professional Communication Society, Japan Chapter

[wilson-04:2011]

I. Wilson, March 2012.

Speech Research Using Ultrasound, Invited lecture presented at the Sophia University Phonetics Laboratory, Tokyo, Japan.

[wilson-05:2011]

I. Wilson, March 2012.

Reviewer, Phonology (journal).

[wilson-06:2011]

E. Kaneko, I. Wilson, and Y. Abe, December 2011.

Refereed Presentation, Gemination of final consonants in English nonsense words: The effects of orthography, vowel duration, and borrowers' L2 proficiency on loanword adaptation. At International Conference on Phonetics and Phonology (ICPP 2011), Kyoto.

Ph.D., Master and Graduation Theses

[wilson-07:2011]

Miyuki Yoshizawa. Influence of L1 Japanese dialect and L2 English TOEIC level on L2 English pitch range. Graduation thesis, School of Computer Science and Engineering, March 2012.

Thesis Adviser: I. Wilson, Referee: Prof. Y. Yaguchi

[wilson-08:2011]

Atsushi Ueno. Articulatory setting of the tongue for eastern versus western Japanese. Graduation thesis, School of Computer Science and Engineering, March 2012.

Thesis Adviser: I. Wilson, Referee: Prof. Y. Yaguchi

[wilson-09:2011]

Naoya Horiguchi. How L2 Pronunciation Learners Interpret Articulation Instructions: An Ultrasound Study of the Tongue. Master thesis, Graduate School of Computer Science and Engineering, March 2012.

Thesis Adviser: I. Wilson, Referees: Prof. K. Markov and Prof. M. Cohen

[wilson-10:2011]

Miyuki Sakuma. Correlation between schwa pronunciation and perceived speaking skill of Japanese EFL learners. Graduation thesis, School of Computer Science and Engineering, March 2012.

Thesis Adviser: I. Wilson, Referee: Prof. Y. Yaguchi

Others

[jginsbur-08:2011]

Jason Ginsburg. Review of `Panagiotidis, E. Phoevos (Ed.). 2010. The complementizer phase: Subjects and operators. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.', Published online on the LINGUIST List, http://linguistlist.org/issues/22/22-2098.html,

[jginsbur-09:2011]

Jason Ginsburg. Review of `Stroik, Thomas S. 2009. Locality in Minimalist Syntax. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.', Canadian Journal of Linguistics 57. 156-159,

[jginsbur-10:2011]

Jason Ginsburg. Review of `Rooryck, Johan and Guido Vanden Wyngaerd. 2011.

Dissolving Binding Theory. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.', Published online on the LINGUIST List, http://linguistlist.org/issues/23/23-1792.html,