Submitted Theses
Thesis: The relationship between speech perception and word learning at the initial state of second language acquisitionPhD: Samra AlispahicSubmission year: 2017 Supervisors: Paola Escudero CoEDL node: Western Sydney University CoEDL program: Processing Abstract: The goal of most adult second language (L2) learners is to confidently and efficiently communicate in their target L2. However, this task is not easy. In order to produce new L2 words a learner first needs to perceive the sounds that comprise these words. Considered effortless in one’s native language (L1), distinguishing novel L2 phonemes can be quite difficult for adult learners, and difficulties in L2 speech perception are often attributed to the negative transfer effects of the L1. Research suggests that the size of the L2 vowel inventory relative to the L1 inventory may affect the discrimination and acquisition of L2 vowels. Specifically, if the L1 has a smaller L1 vowel inventory than the L2 this may obstruct L2 vowel perception, while if the L1 has a larger vowel inventory it often facilitates vowel perception. However, the Second Language Linguistic Perception (L2LP) model specifies that it is the L1-L2 acoustic relationships that predict L2 vowel perception, regardless of L1 vowel inventory size. |
Thesis: The core of Mangarla grammarPhD: Brigitte AgnewSubmission year: 2020 Supervisors: Nick Thieberger CoEDL node: University of Melbourne CoEDL program: Archiving/Shape Abstract: Mangarla is a Pama-Nyungan language of the Marrngu subgroup, originally spoken in the Great Sandy Desert of Western Australia. Today, the language is severely endangered with a small number of speakers living in disparate communities outside of traditional lands. This work describes the core grammatical features of Mangarla and examines its linguistic connections to other languages in the region, both related and typologically unrelated, providing insight into the fluidity of individual language varieties in contact. |
Thesis: Temporal, aspectual and modal expression in Anindilyakwa, the language of the Groote Eylandt Archipelago, Australia
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Thesis: The phonetics and phonology of the Lopit languagePhD: Rosey BillingtonSubmission year: 2017 Supervisors: Janet Fletcher & Brett Baker CoEDL node: University of Melbourne CoEDL program: Processing Abstract: This thesis is an investigation of the sound system of Lopit, an Eastern Nilotic (Nilo-Saharan) language traditionally spoken in South Sudan. The primary aim of this study is to develop a phonetically-based description of aspects of Lopit segmental and tonal phonology, with a focus on the Dorik variety of the language. |
Thesis: Semantic scaffolding: the co-construction of visualization meaning through reader experiencePhD: Lydia ByrneSubmission year: 2018 Supervisors: Daniel Angus & Janet Wiles CoEDL node: University of Queensland CoEDL program: Technology Abstract: This thesis is an investigation of the sound system of Lopit, an Eastern Nilotic (Nilo-Saharan) language traditionally spoken in South Sudan. The primary aim of this study is to develop a phonetically-based description of aspects of Lopit segmental and tonal phonology, with a focus on the Dorik variety of the language. Open access: https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:c72c9b3
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Thesis: The Ngkolmpu Language with special reference to distributed exponencePhD: Matthew CarrollSubmission year: 2016 Supervisors: Nicholas Evans & I Wayan Arka CoEDL node: Australian National University CoEDL program: Shape Abstract: The Ngkolmpu language of southern New Guinea is notable for the remarkable extent to which grammatical values are distributed across multiple morphosyntactic systems in the language. This is most apparent in the extremely complex inflectional morphology of verbs, where the exponence of morphosyntactic feature values is distributed over a number of inflectional sites, such that determining the exact value of any given feature requires unification at multiple structural locations. Moreover, this phenomenon is not restricted to the inflectional morphology, and permeates the morphology, syntax and semantics of the language. This thesis provides the first comprehensive description of the phonology, morphology and nominal and clausal syntax of Ngkolmpu. |
Thesis: Placing spatial language and cognition in context through an investigation of Bininj Kunwok navigation talk
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Thesis: Symbolic Play and Language Acquisition: The Dynamics of Infant-Caretaker Communication during Symbolic Play
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Thesis: Allies and adversaries: categories in Murrinhpatha speaking children's talkPhD: Lucinda DavidsonSubmission year: 2018 Supervisors: Gillian Wigglesworth, Barbara Kelly, Rachel Nordlinger & Joe Blythe CoEDL node: University of Melbourne CoEDL program: Learning Abstract: This thesis investigates the linguistic and cultural resources that eight Indigenous children draw on when they pursue affiliative and disaffiliative actions in talk with peers. These children are L1 speakers of Murrinhpatha, a traditional Australian language spoken in and around the remote Aboriginal community of Wadeye, in the north of Australia. Just as the linguistic context these children are growing up in is unique, so is their sociocultural context. While increasingly informed by Western culture, Murrinhpatha speaking society at Wadeye is still to a large degree organised around traditional Aboriginal identity categories, involving connections to ‘country’ and ‘totem’, as well as more universal categories such as gender. |
Thesis: Alyawarr children's variable present temporal reference expression in two, closely-related languages of Central AustraliaPhD: Sally DixonSupervisors: Jane Simpson, Gillian Wigglesworth, Catherine Travis & Johanna Rendle-ShortSubmission year: 2017 CoEDL node: University of Queensland CoEDL program: Shape Abstract: In a small, remote central Australian community, young children go about their daily lives mainly speaking Alyawarr English (AlyE), a new Central Australian contact language. At school they are acquiring Standard Australian English (SAE) as a second language. Much of what they encounter in SAE will seem familiar and much will be obviously different. In between, there will be many subtle differences that are possibly harder to detect, parse and maintain. This study investigates this remarkable bi-varietal language use, considering whether separate ‘codes’ are indeed evidenced, how they can be quantitatively modelled, and what they tell us about the impact of formal similarity between languages and emerging bilingualism. Open access: https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/handle/1885/125033 |
Thesis: Variation in Raga A quantitative and qualitative study of the language of North Pentecost, Vanuatu
Supervisors: Nick Evans Submission year: 2020 CoEDL node: Australian National University CoEDL program: Wellsprings Abstract: If we are to understand global linguistic diversity, we must first understand the mechanisms which engender and maintain it. This is what the Wellsprings of Linguistic Diversity project (Australian National University, 2014-2019) aims to examine by studying variation in small communities of the Australasia-Pacific region. Within the framework of the Wellsprings project, this thesis investigates the existence and spread of linguistic variation in the speech community of Raga, on the island of Pentecost, in linguistically diverse Vanuatu. It is primarily a field study, firmly grounded in the survey of social and linguistic data collected in 2015-2017 in north Pentecost, from 58 men and women representing three generations of speakers. This thesis examines variables in three different linguistic domains: use of possessive classifiers (morpho-syntactic); frequency of borrowing from Bislama and nativisation strategies (lexical); and deletion of the phonemic velar fricative (phonological). Quantitative analysis has confirmed intergenerational and intergender variation for the lexical and phonological variables. In a corpus demonstrating an overall low rate of borrowing (1.6%), the findings show that women and younger speakers borrow more frequently from Bislama than the other speakers. Young men are more prone to deleting the velar fricative, perhaps modelling their speech on consonant-dropping prestigious older men. Raga presents no regional diversity and little innovation from the reconstructed proto forms. These features set the language apart within the Vanuatu high-diversity context, and this study also investigates the mechanisms of uniformisation that inhibit the spread of innovative variants in this community of 6,500 speakers. Several factors combine to favour the linguistic conservatism exhibited by Raga. Endogamous marriage practices, maintenance of strong ties with relatives over long distances and generations, reliance on customary mutual obligations, high socio-historical status of the Raga society, and practice of a single religion all impact on the homogeneity of avoana ata raga 'the language of Raga'. With the notable exception of Meyerhoff's studies of Nkep (Meyerhoff 2015, 2016, 2017a, 2017b), there has been little attempt at probing linguistic variability in the recorded natural speech of diverse speakers of a language of Vanuatu. This thesis adds to the body of research that addresses this gap. The thesis also highlights the value of investigating languages in their social context, and in close collaboration with native speakers. This bottom-up approach is essential in identifying and untangling the factors at play in the complex history of Vanuatu's linguistic diversity. Open access: https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/handle/1885/205516 |
Thesis: The role of the native language in non-native perception and spoken word recognition: English vs. Spanish learners of PortuguesePhD: Jaydene ElvinSubmission year: 2016 Supervisors: Anne Cutler CoEDL node: Western Sydney University CoEDL program: Processing Abstract: The ultimate goal for adult learners of a second language (L2) is successful communication. If learners cannot perceive, recognise and produce sounds and words in the L2 they may struggle to understand speakers of that language, who may in turn struggle to understand L2 learners. Not all learners will attain the same level of proficiency and even when immersed in the L2 environment, difficulties in L2 speech perception, spoken word recognition and L2 production persist. These difficulties in L2 speech are often attributed to the influence of the native language on the acquisition of L2 speech perception, spoken word recognition and production. This thesis investigates the role of the native language in Australian English (AusE) and Iberian Spanish (IS) listeners’ non-native vowel perception and spoken word recognition of Brazilian Portuguese (BP) and the interrelation between these two abilities. The thesis also investigates whether or not individual listeners follow different developmental patterns when perceiving and recognising BP. Open access: https://researchdirect.westernsydney.edu.au/islandora/object/uws%3A37801 |
Thesis: Nominal and pronominal morphology of Ngardi: A Ngumpin-Yapa language of Western AustraliaMPhil: Thomas EnneverSubmission year: 2018 Supervisors: Felicity Meakins & Mary Laughren CoEDL node: University of Queensland CoEDL program: Evolution Abstract: This thesis is a comprehensive analysis of the nominal and pronominal morphology of Ngardi, an endangered Pama-Nyungan language of the Ngumpin-Yapa subgroup spoken in the western regions of the Tanami Desert in Western Australia. On the basis of the author’s 2016–2017 recordings of grammatical elicitation and narratives and pre-existing legacy materials of Lee Cataldi, Tom Green and Tasaku Tsunoda; this thesis provides a detailed analysis of two core aspects of the Ngardi grammatical system: nominal case morphology and subclasses (Chapters 2 and 3); and the complex system of pronominal clitics (Chapter 4). The culmination of these three chapters is a unified analysis of the interaction of the nominal and pronominal systems and their role in Ngardi morphosyntax. Open access: https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:6a962d8 |
Thesis: A description of the rhythm of Barunga Kriol using rhythm metrics and an analysis of vowel reductionMPhil: Amit GermanSubmission year: 2018 Supervisors: Caroline Jones, Rachel Hendery, Ann Burchfield & Vincent Aubanel CoEDL node: Western Sydney University CoEDL program: Learning Abstract: Kriol is an English-lexifier creole language spoken by over 20,000 children and adults in the Northern parts of Australia, yet much about the prosody of this language remains unknown. This thesis provides a preliminary description of the rhythm and patterns of vowel reduction of Barunga Kriol - a variety of Kriol local to Barunga Community, NT – and compares it to a relatively standard variety of Australian English. The thesis is divided into two studies. Study 1, the Rhythm Metric Study, describes the rhythm of Barunga Kriol and Australian English using rhythm metrics. Study 2, the Vowel Reduction Study, compared patterns of vowel reduction in Barunga Kriol and Australian English. This thesis contributes the first in depth studies of vowel reduction patterns and rhythm using rhythm metrics in any variety of Kriol or Australian English. The research also sets an adult baseline for metric results and patterns of vowel reduction for Barunga Kriol and Australian English, useful for future studies of child speech in these varieties. As rhythm is a major contributor to intelligibility, the findings of this thesis have the potential to inform teaching practice in English as a Second Language. Open access: https://researchdirect.westernsydney.edu.au/islandora/object/uws%3A50582 |
Thesis: Inspired by nature: timescale-free and grid-free event-based computing with spiking neural networksPhD: Ting Ting Amy GibsonSubmission year: 2018 Supervisors: Janet Wiles & Ola Olsson CoEDL node: University of Queensland CoEDL program: Technology Abstract: Computer vision is enjoying huge success in visual processing applications such as facial recognition, Inspired by biological systems, neuromorphic devices provide a new way to record visual data. These devices typically have parallel arrays of sensors which operate asynchronously. They have particular potential for robotics due to their low latency, efficient use of bandwidth and low power requirements. There are a variety of neuromorphic devices for detecting different sensory information; this thesis focuses on using the Dynamic Vision Sensor (DVS) for visual data collection. Open access: https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:298c623 |
Thesis: Evolving spatial and temporal lexicons across different cognitive architecturesPhD: Scott HeathSubmission year: 2016 Supervisors: Janet Wiles & David Ball CoEDL node: University of Queensland CoEDL program: Technology Abstract: Communication between mobile robots requires a transfer of symbols, where each symbol signifies a meaning. However, in typical applications, meaning has been ascribed to the symbols by the engineers that have programmed the robots. This thesis explores an alternative: the use of algorithms and representations that allow mobile robots to evolve a shared set of symbols where the meanings of the symbols are derived from the robots' sensors and cognition. Open access: https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:377716 |
Thesis: Universal and language-specific processing : the case of prosody
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Thesis: Prosody, prominence and segments in Djambarrpuyŋu
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Thesis: A grammar of Kunbarlang
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Thesis: Language In My Mouth: Linguistic Variation in the Nmbo Speech Community of Southern New Guinea
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Thesis: Morphs in search of meaning: Southeast Solomonic transitive morphology in diachronic perspective
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Thesis: Distributional Learning of Lexical Tone and Musical Pitch by Naive and Experienced Adult LearnersPhD: Jia Hoong OngSubmission year: 2016 Supervisors: Anne Cutler CoEDL node: Western Sydney University CoEDL program: Processing Abstract: Language and music are two human universals that share many commonalities, including processes of statistical and distributional learning in acquiring knowledge of those domains. This thesis is concerned with the role of distributional learning in the acquisition of pitch-based building blocks of speech and music. In a series of five studies, questions of theoretical and empirical interest will be examined, whether: (i) distributional learning can be used to acquire lexical tone and musical pitch; (ii) domain-general or domain-specific pitch experience facilitates distributional learning of pitch; and (iii) distributional learning plays a role in cross-domain transfer. The results of all five studies suggest that distributional learning can be used to acquire the foundations of speech and music; using distributional learning, adult learners either shift existing category boundaries to which the perceptual items assimilate or form new categories if the perceptual items are not assimilated to any native (linguistic or musical) categories. While distributional learning appears to be sensitive to top-down interferences and is modulated by domain-specific experience, it is nonetheless a powerful learning mechanism that is generalisable across domain. This thesis thus advances our understanding of speech and music by providing evidence for the commonality between the two in terms of a common learning mechanism and shared pitch processing, both of which are compatible with accounts of a common origin for language and music. Open access: https://researchdirect.westernsydney.edu.au/islandora/object/uws%3A37579 |
Thesis: Verbal morphology and syntax of Mudburra: an Australian Aboriginal language of the Northern TerritoryMPhil: David OsgarbySubmission year: 2018 Supervisors: Rob Pensalfini & Felicity Meakins CoEDL node: University of Queensland CoEDL program: Evolution & Shape Abstract: MPhil thesis described the verbal morphology and syntax of Mudburra, a neighbouring but unrelated Aboriginal language also spoken in the Northern Territory. Open access: https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:ce2247a |
Thesis: Revitalisation of an Australian Aboriginal Language: Archival Utterances as Scaffolding for Independent Adult Language Learning
PhD: Mark RichardsSubmission year: 2019 Supervisors: Caroline Jones CoEDL node: Western Sydney University CoEDL program: Learning Abstract: Increasingly, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities are seeking to maintain, revitalise and reawaken their traditional languages. In contexts where there are few fluent speakers of the languages or few learning resources, this can present particular challenges. The goal of this thesis is to investigate how adult community members can be supported towards greater independence as language learners and teachers in their communities. This was explored in the context of Jilkminggan, a remote Aboriginal community in the western area of the Northern Territory, 135 km south-east of Katherine. A design-based methodology was adopted to investigate learning in its natural context, involving community members in resource creation across several iterations and allowing for a more collaborative approach to the research. The research was conducted in three phases. Open access: https://researchdirect.westernsydney.edu.au/islandora/object/uws%3A55583 |
Thesis: Perception and production of Cantonese tones by speakers with different linguistic experiencesPhD: Mengyue WuSubmission year: 2017 Supervisors: Janet Fletcher & Brett Baker CoEDL node: University of Melbourne CoEDL program: Processing Abstract: This study investigates the perception and production of Cantonese tones by speakers who differ systematically in their native prosodic systems and language learning experiences. These include native Cantonese speakers, Mandarin speakers (L1 tone language), English speakers (L1 non-tone language), English speakers who are intermediate Mandarin learners (L1 non-tone, L2 tone experience). Results suggest that both L1 and L2 prosodic experiences shape the perception and production of a new tone system. Mandarin learners outperform native Mandarin speakers in discrimination and imitation of Cantonese tones. Non-native perception and production abilities are positively linked for speakers with tone experience in either a first or a second language, while no correlation is found with English monolinguals. Open access: https://minerva-access.unimelb.edu.au/handle/11343/194205 |
Thesis: Rescuing a Language from Extinction: Documentation and Practical Steps for the Revitalisation of (Western) Yugur
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