| 1. |
- Donoso, Alejandra, 1976-
(författare)
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Expresiones de movimiento en español como segunda lengua y como lengua heredada : Conceptualización y entrega del Camino, la Manera y la Base
- 2016
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The current thesis is based on four individual studies which aim to account for the expression of motion events (ME) in Spanish and Swedish as first languages (L1), in Swedish as a second language (L2), and in Spanish as a heritage language (SHL). The data, resulting from audio-recordings of different sorts of stimuli, have been analyzed with special focus on (1) the most common structures used for referring to various types of ME, (2) the types and amount of information provided by the participants, in particular as regards the semantic components Path, Manner and Ground, and (3) grammatical aspect and types of syntactic structures resorted to, including the correlation between the two latter factors and speakers’ discursive preferences. Study 1 sets out to explore how Spanish and Swedish native speakers convey information about motion. The results show that the Swedish L1 speakers produced a wider range of descriptions concerning Manner and Path than the Spanish L1 speakers; furthermore, both groups delivered detailed Ground descriptions, although the Swedish native speakers expressed final destinations (endpoints) of ME to a greater extent. Study 2 aims to investigate to what extent Swedish L1 patterns for motion encoding are still at play in the acquisition of Spanish L2 even at advanced stages of L2 acquisition. The results show that the learner group used a larger amount of Path particles and Ground adjuncts (in particular those referring to endpoints) than did the Spanish natives; this finding supports the claim that L2 learners rely on the lexicalization patterns of their L1 when describing ME in an L2. As for Manner, the L2 speakers were found to express this component mainly outside the verb, and to deliver more information about Manner than the Spanish natives. Study 3 addresses the construal of ME in Swedish speakers of L2 Spanish, in particular concerning the encoding of motion endpoints and Manner of motion. The results show that the Swedish learners of Spanish exhibited the same, high frequencies of endpoint marking as did their monolingual Swedish peers, thus deviating from the Spanish native pattern. Moreover, the L2 speakers used the same amount of Manner verbs as did the Spanish natives but tended consistently to provide additional Manner information in periphrastic constructions. Finally, Study 4 sets out to analyze the ways in which L1 Spanish/L2 Swedish early and late bilinguals express ME in SHL. The aim is to show in which ways and to what extent the typological patterns for motion encoding in the L2 may impact on motion encoding in the L1 with regard to three parameters: (1) age of onset (AO) of the acquisition of L2, (2) length of residence (LoR) in the L2 environment and (3) contact level with the L1 (CL). The focus data, consisting of oral re-tellings produced by the bilinguals, were compared to analogous data produced by two control groups (native speakers of Spanish and Swedish) in order to analyze conflation patterns regarding Manner, Path and Ground information. The analysis points to the conclusion that both the individuals’ AO of L2 acquisition and their LoR in the L2 environment have affected their L1 conceptualization patterns while their CL plays a subordinate role. In summary, the findings lend support to the idea that the habitual conceptualization of events in the L1 influences L2 acquisition; conversely, the conceptual patterns of the L2 have an impact on L1 usage in bilinguals, especially in combination with an early AO and a long LoR.
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| 2. |
- Domange, Raphaël, 1983-
(författare)
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The vowels of Delhi English : Three studies in sociophonetics
- 2023
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Addressing the dearth of sociolinguistic variation research in the “new” varieties of English (D. Sharma, 2017b), this dissertation consists of a set of three sociophonetic studies on an urban dialect of Indian English. Relying upon community-based methods of data collection, this dissertation examines the vowels of an intergenerational sample of speakers from the upper-middle class neighbourhoods of Delhi. Each study of this compilation is guided by two principal goals. The first one is descriptive, that is to provide a detailed instrumental phonetic characterisation of the phonological vowels that compose the inventory of the variety. The second aim, which is historical, is to shed light of how Indian English carves its own diachronic trajectory, addressing issues relating to, for instance, diachronic stability and the transmission of language change across generations of speakers. Study I thus examines variation in the mid and low back rounded area of the vowel space, and seeks to draw relevant implications from the presence of lexical distributional “archaisms” (Wells, 1982, p. 626) in those vowels. Study II, on the other hand, is concerned with describing a chain-shift-like change in the short front vowels, and discusses the conditions of possibility for such change to occur in a mixed L1-L2 context. Lastly, Study III builds upon a complex allophonic “split” found and summarily described in Study II, and identifies this phenomenon as an element of historical convergence with geographically distant, unrelated, post-colonial varieties of English. Overall, several previously unreported features were found and described in detail in this dissertation, while important clarifications were also brought to areas that have been considered problematic in former descriptive works. Importantly, the studies also demonstrate that the variety under study and its patterns of variation seem to be, in general, amenable to the same kind of empirical analysis as other, so-called “native,” varieties of English, and call into question a number of ordinary assumptions on Indian English.
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| 3. |
- Smeds, Helena, 1972-
(författare)
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Blindness and Second Language Acquisition : Studies of Cognitive Advantages in Blind L1 and L2 speakers
- 2015
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The aim of this study is to investigate whether blind individuals display cognitive advantages over sighted individuals with regard to second language acquisition. Previous studies from neuropsychology have indicated that this is the case. It has been found that blind L1 speakers can compensate for loss of vision by developing better perceptual and cognitive skills compared to sighted individuals, skills that are highly relevant to language acquisition. These studies do not, however, investigate blind L2 speakers, for whom it is not clear whether these advantages are also found. In all, 80 adults participated in the study: 40 L2 speakers of Swedish (11 early blind, 9 late blind, 20 sighted, AO<18) and a matching group and subgroups of L1 speakers. These speakers underwent tests on speech perception in noise, accentedness in an L2 and memory functions. The results revealed that L2 speakers are at a great disadvantage perceiving speech in noise compared to L1 speakers, and that there was no advantage associated with blindness. In the L1 speakers group, however, the results revealed that the early blind had advantages compared to the late blind and sighted in white noise, but that both blind groups were more negatively affected by babble noise than the sighted. The results in relation to accentedness in an L2 revealed that there were no advantages associated with blindness. The results further revealed there were no advantages associated with blindness on the episodic memory test. The results did, however, reveal that the early blind performed significantly better than the late blind and sighted on all phonological short-term memory tests and that both the early and late blind were significantly better than the sighted on recognition memory for new words, irrespective of language background. The conclusion is that blindness is associated with advantages in, for example, ability to learn new words and syntax, acquisition rate, ultimate L2 attainment, and language aptitude.
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| 4. |
- Abrahamsson, Niclas, 1968-
(författare)
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Acquiring L2 Syllable Margins : Studies on the simplification of onsets and codas in interlanguage phonology
- 2001
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis deals with developmental, universal, grammatical, and functional factors involved in the acquisition of L2 syllable structure. More specifically, using speech data from Spanish and Chinese learners of Swedish, the thesis examines the production and development of syllable onsets and codas—that is, syllable margins. In doing so, the present work draws on various theoretical considerations and empirical findings from research on L1 and L2 acquisition, phonology and phonetics, language variation and language typology. The thesis includes three empirical studies, all of which are based on longitudinal conversational data. Study I deals with the acquisition of word-initial /sC(C)/ onsets by one native Spanish speaker, whereas Study II and Study III focus on the acquisition of word-final codas by three native Chinese speakers. Study I and Study II both showed that onset and coda length and phonetic environment are influential factors in the production of syllable structure, while sonority may not be as reliable a predictor of production difficulty. Next, both Study I and Study III provide evidence of a U-shaped rather than linear development of pronunciation accuracy. This pattern is interpreted as an effect of initial increase in fluency, with more focus on content and less on form. In addition, Study III showed that L2 proficiency is related to the epenthesis-deletion differential. An increasing ratio of epenthesis-to-deletion is the first-order indicator of increasing L2 proficiency during early stages of acquisition, but increased target-like production becomes the first-order indicator of development at later stages. Finally, Study III showed that learners are aware of potential ambiguity resulting from simplification in different grammatical/functional categories. Codas that are essential for the retention of semantic information are preserved through higher accuracy rates and higher relative levels of epenthesis errors.
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| 5. |
- Aktürk-Drake, Memet, 1977-
(författare)
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Phonological Adoption through Bilingual Borrowing : Comparing Elite Bilinguals and Heritage Bilinguals
- 2015
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In the phonological integration of loanwords, the original structures of the donor language can either be adopted as innovations or adapted to the recipient language. This dissertation investigates how structural (i.e. phonetic, phonological, morpho-phonological) and non-structural (i.e. sociolinguistic and psycholinguistic) factors interact in determining which of these two integration strategies is preferred. Factors that affect the accuracy of the structure’s perception and production in the donor language as a result of its acquisition as a second language are given special consideration. The three studies in the dissertation examine how the same phonological structure from different donor languages is integrated into the same recipient language Turkish by two different types of initial borrowers: elite bilinguals in Turkey and heritage bilinguals in Sweden. The three investigated structures are word-final [l] after back vowels, long segments in word-final closed syllables, and word-initial onset clusters. The main hypothesis is that adoption will be more prevalent in heritage bilinguals than in elite bilinguals. Four necessary conditions for adoption are identified in the analysis. Firstly, the donor-language structure must have high perceptual salience. Secondly, the borrowers must have acquired the linguistic competence to produce a structure accurately. Thirdly, the borrowers must have sufficient sociolinguistic incentive to adopt a structure as an innovation. Fourthly, prosodic structures require higher incentive to be adopted than segments and clusters of segments. The main hypothesis is partially confirmed. The counterexamples involve either cases where the salience of the structure was high in the elite bilinguals’ borrowing but low in the heritage bilinguals’ borrowing, or cases where the structure’s degree of acquisition difficulty was low. Therefore, it is concluded that structural factors have the final say in the choice of integration strategy.
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| 6. |
- Bylund Spångberg, Emanuel, 1979-
(författare)
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Age differences in first language attrition : A maturational constraints perspective
- 2008
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis investigates age-related differences in first language (L1) attrition in a second language (L2) setting. The thesis is based on four individual studies. The aim of each of the studies has been to examine aspects of age differences that to date have remained in the background of attrition research: Study I gives an overview of research on age differences in L1 attrition and suggests a reinterpretation of age effects in attrition, using as a point of departure critical period constructs. Study I also formulates hypotheses regarding the contour and timing of attrition susceptibility and its interplay with non-biological factors. Study II investigates L1 residual knowledge and L2 ultimate attainment in international adoptees. The results suggest that a) that L1 remnants may be found if relearning activities have taken place prior to testing; b) L2 learners who have experienced a complete cut-off in L1 contact do not attain higher L2 proficiency levels than learners who have stayed in contact with the L1. The results also indicate that the level of L1 reactivation and L2 ultimate attainment are related to age of adoption. Study III examines age effects on the retention of L1 event construal patterns. The results show that the onset of puberty is a turning point for the degree of conformity with native behaviour, i.e. those who arrived in the L2 setting before puberty were more likely to exhibit non-converging patterns than those who arrived after puberty. This finding suggests that in attrition conceptual proficiency is equally affected by age as are formal language skills. Finally, Study IV explores the role of language aptitude in prepubescent attriters. The results show that nativelike grammatical intuitions are connected to language aptitude, and that speakers with high levels of language aptitude rely less on L1 contact than do speakers with low levels of language aptitude in their retention of nativelike grammatical intuitions in the L1.
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| 7. |
- Stölten, Katrin, 1977-
(författare)
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The Effects of Age of Onset on VOT in L2 Aquisition and L1 Attrition : A Study of the Speech Production and Perception of Advanced Spanish-Swedish Bilinguals
- 2013
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis explores the role of age in second language (L2) acquisition and first language (L1) attrition. The focus is on Voice Onset Time (VOT) in the production and categorical perception of word-initial L1 and L2 stops in highly advanced L1 Spanish learners of L2 Swedish. Using as the point of departure a maturational constraints perspective and the Critical Period Hypothesis (CPH), Study I examines the impact of age of onset (AO) of L2 acquisition on the production of L2 Swedish voiceless stops. The results show that there are AO effects even in the speech of highly advanced L2 learners and that the incidence of nativelike L2 learners is considerably lower than earlier assumed. However, conclusions like these are only possible when speaking rate is accounted for, thereby highlighting the importance of speaking rate effects on VOT as a measure of nativelikeness. Like Study I, Study II reveals age effects on the same L2 learners’ categorical perceptions of L2 Swedish stops. Moreover, after combining the results with the data from Study I, the incidence of nativelike behavior drops remarkably with no late L2 learner performing within the range of native-speaker production and perception. The results suggest that L2 acquisition of phonetic/phonological aspects is especially sensitive to AO effects. It is concluded that theories on maturational constraints, including the CPH, cannot be refuted on the basis of the present data. Study III concerns the same participants’ production and perception of L1 Spanish stops. Age of reduced contact (ARC) is identified as an important predictor for L1 attrition and retention of voiceless stop production, although not of stop perception. This discrepancy is related to different activation thresholds as proposed by the Activation Threshold Hypothesis (ATH). It is further suggested that early bilinguals are more dependent on high-frequency L1 use than late bilinguals when compensating for age effects, but only in production.
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| 8. |
- Abrahamsson, Niclas, 1976-
(författare)
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On the Impact of Bariatric Surgery on Glucose Homeostasis
- 2016
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Obesity has grown to epidemic proportions, and in lack of efficient life-style and medical treatments, the bariatric surgeries are performed in rising numbers. The most common surgery is the Gastric Bypass (GBP) surgery, with the Biliopancreatic diversion with duodenal switch (DS) as an option for the most extreme cases with a BMI>50 kg/m2.In paper I 20 GBP-patients were examined during the first post-operative year regarding the natriuretic peptide, NT-ProBNP, which is secreted from the cardiac ventricles. Levels of NT-ProBNP quickly increased during the first post-surgery week, and later established itself on a higher level than pre-surgery.In paper II we report of 5 patient-cases after GBP-surgery with severe problems with postprandial hypoglycaemia that were successfully treated with GLP-1-analogs. The effect of treatment could be observed both symptomatically and in some cases using continuous glucose measuring systems (CGMS).In paper III three groups of subjects; 15 post-GBP patients, 15 post-DS, and 15 obese controls were examined for three days using CGMS during everyday life. The post-GBP group had high glucose variability as measured by MAGE and CONGA, whereas the post-DS group had low variability. Both post-operative groups exhibited significant time in hypoglycaemia, about 40 and 80 minutes per day <3.3mmol/l and 20 and 40 minutes < 2.8mmol/l, respectively, longer time for DS-group. Remarkably, only about 20% of these hypoglycaemic episodes were accompanied with symptoms.In Paper IV the hypoglycaemia counter regulatory system was investigated; 12 patients were examined before and after GBP-surgery with a stepped hypoglycaemic hyperinsulinemic clamp. The results show a downregulation of symptoms, counter regulatory hormones (glucagon, cortisol, epinephrine, norepinephrine, growth hormone), incretin hormones (GLP-1 and GIP), and sympathetic nervous response.In conclusion patients post bariatric surgery exhibit a downregulated counter regulatory response to hypoglycaemia, accompanied by frequent asymptomatic hypoglycaemic episodes in everyday life. Patients suffering from severe hypoglycaemic episodes can often be treated successfully with GLP-1-analogues.
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| 9. |
- Lundqvist, Martin
(författare)
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Insulin-antagonistic neurohormonal pathways in the development of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes
- 2023
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- According to the current paradigm, the development of type 2 diabetes is driven by insulin resistance and the gradual failure of beta cells to compensate for this by secreting adequate amounts of insulin. Obesity is an important risk factor for type 2 diabetes and is considered to influence disease development primarily by induction of insulin resistance, via mechanisms that have not been fully elucidated. Insulin-antagonistic, counter-regulatory neurohormonal pathways, including glucagon, cortisol (stimulated by the pituitary hormone ACTH), growth hormone and the autonomic nervous system have glucose-raising properties and constitute a physiological defense to hypoglycemia that is coordinated from the brain and brainstem. Glucose variations also trigger responses of several inflammatory mediators, that may also oppose the actions of insulin. The overarching aim of this thesis was to explore the importance of glucose-dependent dysregulation of these counter-regulatory pathways – hormonal, neural and inflammatory – in the development of type 2 diabetes. All selected papers in this thesis are based on data obtained during stepwise hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic-hypoglycemic clamps and hyperglycemic clamps, in which glucose levels are lowered or raised to prespecified target levels. In papers I and II, we found that overweight and insulin resistance was associated with cortisol/ACTH hyperreactivity to hypoglycemia and general hyperglucagonemia, insensitive to glucose-dependent suppression. Furthermore, in paper I, the autonomic nervous system was more rigid to glucose variations in overweight and insulin resistant individuals, with a failure to inhibit parasympathetic activity during hypoglycemia and an attenuated activity of sympathetic relative to parasympathetic activity during hyperglycemia. In paper III, cortisol/ACTH hyperreactivity was present already in individuals with prediabetes, with no further exacerbation in individuals with type 2 diabetes. By contrast, hyperglycemia-insensitive hyperglucagonemia and, in addition, general growth hormone downregulation was found to be more pronounced in individuals with type 2 diabetes. In paper IV, no unfavorably altered reactivity of inflammatory markers was found in obese compared to lean individuals. In conclusion, glucose-dependent dysregulation of several insulin-antagonistic neurohormonal pathways appears to be present at different stages of type 2 diabetes development and may drive disease development via aggravation of insulin resistance.
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