Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: In this paper we argue that language reform policy will fall along a continuum from less to more diversity depending on levels of internal stability and external threat and on governmental structure. By taking both domestic and international-level factors into consideration, we illustrate that variation in state-building strategies is a function of both levels. This approach challenges the idea that nationalism entails strict cultural homogenization by arguing that differences in threat environments, duration of state consolidation, and governmental institutional structures cause variation in the types of linguistic reforms enacted. We test our hypotheses with case studies of France, Romania, Italy, Turkey, and Switzerland, using contemporaneous historiographic work as well as more recent scholarly analysis. The cases of France, Romania, Italy, and Switzerland are more closely linked temporally, as the height of their national unification movements and attention to language policy occurs during the mid- to late-19th century. Romania, Switzerland, and Turkey extend our study into the 20th century, allowing us to demonstrate our hypotheses’ durability across time, while studying both Romania and Turkey indicates theoretical relevance outside of Western Europe.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed

Publication Type: Individual Poster
Abstract: Background and Aims: Joint attention (JA) occurs when two partners share attention to the same subject. According to some accounts JA plays a critical role in successful word learning (Baldwin, 1995). Recent findings however reveal word learning in the absence of JA (Akhtar, Jipson, & Callahan, 2001; Scofield & Behrend, 2004). One potential criticism of these studies is the immediate physical presence of the speaker. The studies reported here address this criticism by presenting novel words in the physical absence of a speaker.

Methods: Two-year-olds (N = 30, M = 32 Months) completed 5 trials, 4 experimental and 1 control. During each trial children viewed a short computer video which included a voiced-over audio track. In experimental trials a novel target object appeared on the screen and children heard 3 presentations (via the audio-track) of a novel word (e.g., “It’s a koba.”). The control trial was similar except that a neutral comment was presented 3 times (e.g., "Wow, Neat, Wow."). Following the 3 presentations the target disappeared and reappeared with 3 distracter objects. Children then heard (via the audio-track) a request to select the object that best corresponded to a novel word (e.g., "Where's the koba?").

Key Results: Results indicated that target selection was significantly higher in the experimental condition (77%) than in the control condition (53%) (p < .01) and as compared to chance (25%) (p < .001). In addition, target selection in the control condition was significantly higher than chance (p < .01). While target selection in the control condition revealed an influence of exposure, results clearly indicated that the strongest influence on target selection was provided by presence of a novel word.

Conclusions: Because children learned the novel word in the absence of joint attention and in the absence of the physical presence of a speaker, we conclude that neither is critical for successful word learning. The role of joint attention in word learning and the implications of these results for theories of language acquisition are discussed.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: The author of this auto-ethnographic study argues that the Falcon functions as a third-wave place with women constructing, reconstructiong, co-constructing, questioning and performing their identities and their feminisms in and around "The L Word," a cultural phenomenon that has taken the lesbian community by storm. This show is viewed by mass audiences/publics and it is important to examine the counter-public that has gathered around it to watch it, question it, perpetuate it, and critique it. The author uses third-wave feminism, poststructuralism and critical theory as a lens to inform this particular project.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: A cloze procedure was conducted on scripts from nine radio advertisements to establish information values for both function and content words in radio scripts. These data were then used to test the hypothesis that the information value for content words would be positively correlated with skin conductance change scores across variable time lags (1-4 seconds). Results support this prediction for six of the nine messages. Furthermore, support was found for the prediction that the duration of the optimal time lag would be positively correlated with the average information value of function words within the message after controlling for word rate in the message.