We model the differences between declarative and interrogative intonation in Chinese with Stem-ML, an intonation description language combined with an algorithm for translating tags into quantitative prosody. Our study shows that the diverse surface patterns can be accounted for by two consistent gestures: 1. Interrogative intonation has a higher phrase curve than declarative intonation; 2. Sen...

This paper discusses the feature checking mechanism of interrogative sentences in Japanese and Korean. We first focus on a phenomenon of omitting question markers in informal speech in Japanese and attempt to provide an account for it within the framework of Principles and Parameters approach. We argue that question markers can be omitted only if interrogative features of the sentence can be pr...

In our quest to design and develop more effective natural language processing systems, our user models are becoming more sophisticated. But we have not gone far enough. The notion of a user model can be extended to social groups and subculture to produce group models. In this paper we use ILP techniques to learn interrogative subculture idioms. From those idioms we produce a model of the interr...

The present study aimed at investigating the relationship between interpersonal intelligence of Iranian bilingual and multilingual EFL learners and their reading comprehension achievement. To do so, 60 intermediate EFL students were selected from a group of 80 based on their OPT scores. They were non-randomly divided into two experimental groups. Data collection took place during the summer sem...

The primary goal of this paper is to investigate whether interrogative suggestibility is related to certain personality traits in an Estonian sample of subjects (N = 61; 20 men and 41 women; mean age = 20.6 years; SD = 2.98). Results show that the means and standard deviations for different suggestibility scores in a sample of the Estonian population were all lower compared with those obtained ...

Frequency evidence, which we can write as p(x), the probability of x occurring, concerns itself simply with the overall distribution of linguistic phenomenon x – such as whether informal written English has a higher proportion of interrogative clauses than formal written English. In order to calculate frequency evidence we must define x, i.e. decide how to identify interrogative clauses. We mus...

To design for users’ values, one must first elicit those values. This paper describes research on detection of values in texts and describes applications to design. Expert, crowdsourced, and automatic content analysis offer non-intrusive ways of learning about users’ values that can serve as accompaniments or alternatives to interrogative methods such as surveys, interviews, and focus groups.

The present study sought to investigate the evidence for cross-linguistic transfer in a partial English immersion and non-immersion educational setting. To this end, a total of 145 first, third and fifth graders in a partial English immersion program and 95 students from the same grade levels in a non-immersion program were chosen. Six different English and Persian tests were administered: the ...