PSYCHOLINGUISTICS

Investigating Linguistic Abilities and its Relationship with Empathy, Emotional Intelligence and Cognitive Flexibility

2023-05-27T19:14:11+03:00

Purpose. Languages play an important role in shaping our brain and personality. Numerous studies in the past have found that bilingual and trilingual individuals outperform monolinguals on certain cognitive assessments. In some studies, monolinguals have outperformed the other two groups on emotional tests. Most of the studies have reported mixed findings on this topic, making it difficult to draw conclusions.

Procedure. For the first time, the present study attempts to examine linguistic ability, empathy, emotional intelligence and cognitive flexibility in an Indian sample of 90 participants (M_age= 26.86 years, SD = 7.45) (28 monolingual, 30 bilingual and 32 trilingual). Each of the participants completed the Interpersonal Reactivity Index Questionnaire, Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire – Short Form and Colour Stroop Test on PEBL (Psychology Experiment Building Language) software.

Results. One – Way ANOVA revealed statistically significant results for Empathy [F(2,87) = 218.84, p < 0.001], Emotional Intelligence [F(2,87) = 232.19, p < 0.001] and Cognitive Flexibility [F(2,87) = 27.05, p < 0.001]. Mean empathy score was 38.67 for monolingual group, 65.86 for bilingual group and 81.25 for trilingual group. Mean emotional intelligence score was 76.32 for monolinguals, 151.93 for bilinguals and 195.15 for trilingual group. Mean conflict score was 253.24 for monolinguals, 108.29 for bilinguals and 20.64 for trilingual group. Pairwise comparisons and Tukey’s HSD displayed differences across groups, with the trilingual group outperforming the other two groups on all three variables. Results from this study showed large effect sizes (η²): 0.84 for EI, 0.83 for empathy and 0.38 for cognitive flexibility.

Conclusions. Findings from this study highlight the important role played by languages and the associated benefits they offer. Participants speaking more languages dominated this study as they had better empathy, emotional intelligence and cognitive flexibility when compared to their monolingual counterparts.

Dynamic Models of Multilingualism on the Territory of Western Ukraine

2023-05-27T19:13:47+03:00

The purpose of the article is to study lexical units, with the help of which it becomes possible to build up the models of multilingualism, which are dominant among the population on the territory of Western Ukraine.

Methods. Theoretical methods – categorical and structurally-functional analysis of the texts, the methods of systematization, modeling, generalization; empirical ones – the analysis of lexical units, the experiment. For the purpose of studying the models of multilingualism we used “The Methodology of studying the models of multilingualism on the territory of Western Ukraine (by the influence of Russian, English and German” (Mykhalchuk & Ivashkevych, 2022).

Results. Dynamic models of multilingualism on the territory of Western Ukraine are: the Model of Balanced Ambilingualism and the Model of Unbalanced or Asymmetric Bilingualism. There are two types of Balanced Ambilingualism: (1) the Model of Ambilingual Balanced Bilingualism. It emphasizes that both language systems are developed to the highest level of perfect mastery of the language as mastering a native one; (2) the Model of Non-Ambilingual Balanced Bilingualism implies that both language systems aren’t at the same level of their development. Unbalanced or Asymmetric Bilingualism is presented by two sub-models: (1) Transitional Bilingualism; (2) Stable Dominant Multilingualism.

Conclusions. Any multilingual system is not reduced to the summation of different monolingual systems. Multilingual psycholinguistic systems of the person are open ones. The bilingual’s metalinguistic abilities show a strengthening effect when the person is studying not only the second, but also the third or more languages. Accumulating such advantages as cognitive variability (mobility), metalinguistic abilities, metapragmatic and sociocultural “awareness”, multilinguals also accumulate some disadvantages: a deficit in the level of language proficiency due to interlanguage interactions; limitations in language acquisition and language efforts.

The Impact of the Online Project-Based Learning on Students’ Communication, Engagement, Motivation, and Academic Achievement

2023-05-27T19:13:39+03:00

Purpose. Project-based learning (PBL) is a student-centered environment that emphasizes a dynamic classroom approach. It is founded on the idea that students gain a deeper understanding by actively tackling difficulties and issues from the real world. Students gain knowledge in a subject by devoting a significant amount of time to researching and solving a challenging question or interesting issue.

Methods & Procedure. PBL was used in online classes during the pandemic of COVID-19. The study concentrated on projects that were created by students themselves under the guidance of teachers with the aim of determining their impact on their communication, engagement, motivation, and academic accomplishment in L2 acquisition context. The sample of the study that consisted of 100 EFL college students deployed this methodology in their weekly lectures.

Results. The results show that PBL can have some positive effect on the entire spectrum of parameters under consideration as well as have a substantial impact on communication, engagement, motivation, and academic performance in online education. The findings clearly show that PBL can be a useful methodology for L2 acquisition and can provide students with various challenging activities and topics that increase their motivation and engagement, and thus, academic achievement.

Constraints Based Behaviours in EFL Mastery of English Education Students

2023-05-27T19:14:03+03:00

Purpose. This manuscript is a result of a research that aims at identifying Constraints Based Behaviours in EFL (English as a Foreign Language) Mastery.

Methods and procedure. This scientific research result manuscript has data obtained descriptively and analysed qualitativelyso that qualitative descriptive method is used. Graduade students of English Education Study Program, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education as its subjects have to do real behaviours for overcoming the constraints to master the EFL that has been learnt to decode and encode messages for having solution of problem through activities that have not been realized because of the constraints. Its specific target is realization of the university students’ behaviours supporting their English competence/knowledge and performance/skill. They have to realize main points of activities based on their problems in learning that foreign language to be behaviours based on the constraints in mastering that international language. This is to identify the students’ constraints to hopefully be overcome by the English education students and lecturers. The students are intended to freely use their English so that they do have the foreign language skills: receptive and productive skills.

Results. Resultsof the research indicate thatthe English education students sometimes learn English, use/produce it so that they can understand/comprehend it, develop their skills, and always improve their English. English skill that they master most is Reading. They master oral English more than visual one and most of them do English speaking skill/activities and they in mastering the English have most constraints on reading skill.

Conclutions. English education students experienced most constraints on Reading Skill, have behaviours for overcaming the constraints, and then can master most that skill. Thus, constraints based behaviours of English education students in EFL mastery are identified through their experiences consistently.

Using Online Orton-Gillingham Lessons to Teach Reading Comprehension and Word Recognition to Preschool Children at Risk for Dyslexia

2023-05-27T19:13:55+03:00

Purpose. The purpose of this study was to gain insight into the potential effects of online Orton-Gillingham-based instruction on improving some reading skills among children identified at risk for dyslexia.

Methods. This study employed a quantitative approach using a quasi-experimental, pre-test and post-test and follow up design to investigate the effects of Orton-Gillingham-based instruction on reading comprehension and word recognition among preschool children at risk for dyslexia. Sixty children were chosen. Children received 3 training sessions a week, lasting between 40 and 45 min: (10) minutes for auditory training, (15) minutes for visual training, (10) for motor training and (10) minutes for pairing training.

Results. The results indicated that using Orton-Gillingham method increased reading comprehension and word recognition among Arabic-speaking children at risk for dyslexia.

Conclusion. Online Orton-Gillingham-based instruction was effective in improving some reading skills among children identified at risk for dyslexia. It is recommended that this method to be incorporated in into the curriculum in order to best-teach children at risk for dyslexia and other LDs. Teachers, particularly who are concerned with teaching reading to those type of children should be equipped with adequate knowledge and information about Orton-Gillingham-based instruction.

Variability of the Linguistic Consciousness development of an Individual in the Artificial Bilingualism Conditions

2023-05-27T19:13:31+03:00

Purpose. The purpose of this study was to outline the variable markers of the individual linguistic awareness/consciousness development in the conditions of artificial bilingualism.

Methods. The main method of the study was the method of selective observation with the fixation of markers of the linguistic awareness development and qualitative indicators of respondents' mastery of English as a foreign language in the artificial bilingualism conditions. Potential standards of passive-mechanical (imitation) and active (cognitive-communicative) models of artificial bilingualism were used for comparison. Markers of the respondents’ linguistic awareness were subject to monitoring: language knowledge, culture and speaking skills (at a level sufficient for formulating and expressing thoughts in the process of interpersonal communication in a foreign language), manifestations of language socialization (mastering the norms of listening, perceiving and speaking in a foreign language at a level sufficient for communication and coordination of semantic codes of communication subjects).The obtained data were subjected to content analysis, which made it possible to evaluate the markers of the development of the respondents’ linguistic awareness in the artificial bilingualism conditions and to reveal the level of using a foreign language in communication. In order to statistically confirm the significance of the obtained data, the method of one-factor variance analysis (Fisher’s φ-criterion) was used. A multidimensional procedure of cluster analysis (K-means clustering) was also used, which made it possible to distinguish subsets of the levels of the linguistic awareness development among the respondents of the research project.

Results. The results of the data analysis of the research project proved that the differences between the experimental and control groups of junior high school students in identifying markers of linguistic awareness are reliably significant relative to individual predictors of the logical ordering of speech-thinking dimensions of language awareness (at p ≤ 0.05).Respondents of the experimental group demonstrate better results in listening, understanding the content of oral expression in a familiar everyday context and in communicative competences. The dominance of markers of an average level of linguistic awareness development among younger schoolchildren was also recorded.

Conclusions. In the realities of permanent transformations of the modern information society, bilingualism appears as a predictor of foreign language mastery at a level sufficient for communication and exchange of ideas with other subjects of linguistic activity. Language (and foreign language in particular) is not only a communication tool, but also a way of perceiving, organizing and encoding (or decoding) the surrounding reality. In this context, linguistic awareness is interpreted as an invariant of possible schemes of mastering reality, which is most suitable for the purposes of communication between people. The analysis of markers of the junior high school students’ linguistic awareness development proved that when an active (cognitive-communicative) model of artificial bilingualism is implemented, the respondents demonstrate statistically better results in listening, understanding the content of oral expression in a familiar everyday context and in identifying communicative competences.

An Optimality-Theoretic Analysis of Some Phonological Errors Produced by Saudi Female Learners of the English Language

2023-05-27T19:14:19+03:00

Purpose. The purpose of this study was to investigate the phonological errors associated with consonant and vowel pronunciation made by Saudi learners of the English language in light of the optimality hypothesis. In addition, transfer and contrastive analysis hypotheses are discussed, which justify why Saudi English language learners make phonological errors.

Methods. Thirty Saudi female students in their first semester in the English language department at Qassim University were randomly selected. They were examined on their pronunciation of over 30 words from a list of twenty sentences. Each participant was individually recorded using a sensitive microphone, and all recordings were transcribed using IPA symbols and compared to the English transcription to identify the correct and incorrect pronunciation. Each participant filled out a consent form before to having their pronunciation recorded.

Results. The majority of errors committed by Saudi English learners are attributable to the substitution of foreign sounds with the closest native sounds. In addition, Saudi English learners tend to add a glottal stop to non-onset syllables and insert a vowel to break clusters of three or more obstruent consonants. This finding is due to the fact that their native language is an onset language and lacks clusters of three or more obstruent consonants. The descriptive tables in addition to the Pareto charts of these errors are provided.

Conclusions. Overall, results from this study support optimality theory, transfer, and contrastive analysis hypotheses. Moreover, this study contributes to the growing literature on the investigation of phonological errors produced by Arab learners of English, particularly Saudi learners. This study proposes that Saudi English learners listen attentively to English native speakers to correct phonological errors. In addition, Saudi English learners should record their pronunciation during discussions and replay them in order to identify their mistakes and avoid them in the future.

The Psycholinguistic Aspects of Global Bilingualism Against the Background of the Society Digitalization Process in Ukraine and Slovak Republic

2023-05-27T19:13:15+03:00

ABSTRACT

Purpose. The purpose of the experimental study is to identify the tendencies of the global bilingualism development in the Ukrainian and Slovak languages based on the English loanwords functioning in the individual consciousness of their speakers. The novelty of the research is setting up the main features of the global bilinguialism where the young people are the social stratum that represents the basis of the language changes and reacts to the social processes leading to the new perception of the English loanwords that is relevant nowadays. The main hypothesis of the research is the statement about the expansion of the global bilingualism trends connected with the intensive use of the digital technologies. It causes language code switching and the blurring of the languge pictures of the world.

Methods. The main method of the research is psycholinguistic, more precisely, the free associative experiment and its essence to offer the respondent the stimuli, in our case, the English loanwords, with the aim of evoking appropriate associations.

Presedure. The respondents were given a written list of the stimulus words and they had to write down the first word that comes to their mind when responding to the stimuli. For the Ukrainian and Slovak respondents the list consisted of such English loanwords from the area of the social networking: Ukr. контент, Sl. kontent (content); Ukr. скріншот, Sl. skrinshot (screenshot); Ukr. iнтерфейс, Sl. interfeis (interface); Ukr. xештег, Sl. haštag (hashtag); Ukr. чат, Sl. čat (chat); Ukr. клік, Sl. klik (click); Ukr. лайк, Sl. like (like); Ukr. паблік, Sl. public (public).The experiment was conducted two times in 2019 and in 2022 in the Ukrainian and Slovak universities at non-language faculties where the respondents at the age of 17–21 took part: 200 Ukrainian and 200 Slovak students, 100 women and 100 men.

Results. There have been four groups of the associations given by the Ukrainians and Slovaks: the same loanword, the other English loanword, the unassimilated English word, the word of the native language. The number of the associations in different groups is dissimilar. The Slovaks gave more associations in English, the Ukrainians had more associations in Ukrainian. The both groups have the tendency to increase the number of the associations expressed with the English words, which are connected with the process of the global bilingualism development caused by the society digitalization era.

Conclusions. Due to the globalization processes that are taking place all over the world, the perception of the loanwords is changing. The English language is perceived as an integral part of everyday life. According to the results of the experiments conducted in 2019 and 2022 we can observe the emergence of the associations in English, which indicates the development of a special type of bilingualism, namely global, which is connected with the internationalization of the English language in the world, as well as the peculiarities of its perception. The development of the global bilingualism causes the interaction of two language codes in the consciousness of the individual. The English language is penetrating into the speech of the Ukrainian and Slovak people, changing thinking in the globalizing society. Thus, the shift in the self-concept can affect the transformation in the language picture of the world, that confirms the research hypothesis.

Second Language Students' Revision During Translating Medical and Literary Texts: A Psycholinguistics Perspective

2023-05-27T19:13:23+03:00

Introduction. Cognitive processes have been extensively examined in the literature of translation studies to identify what goes on in students’ minds when they translate from one language into another. Such investigations targeted translators’ pauses over different texts from their native language into a foreign language. However, identifying translators’ revisions of different types of text remains sufficiently unexplored in the translation studies literature.

Goals. This paper attempts to examine Arab students’ translation behaviors (self-revision or self-correction in particular) during the translation of a text from their second language (English) into their first language (Arabic) and vice versa. It also aims to reveal how revising a translated text is moderated by the variety of directionality and text type. To this end, 27 Arab native students were asked to translate two types of texts: literary and medical texts from English into Arabic and from Arabic into English over a keystroke logging program (Inputlog). Their behaviors were video-recorded using a video screenshot program. After translation, four students were invited to take a stimulated recall interview by viewing their behaviors in the video and were requested to verbalize what they were thinking of when they deleted and/or inserted text during translation assignments.

Results. The results from the quantitative analysis showed that text type and L1-L2 directionality have significant effects on students’ cognitive processes. In addition, qualitative analyses obtained from MAXQDA revealed that students' translators encountered difficulties in many areas such as creativity-demanding problems, lexical problems, comprehensibility problems, spelling problems (for only Arabic-English directionality), and syntactic problems.

Conclusion. Many cognitive process difficulties were identified which were related to psycholinguistics issues that need to be tackled in the translation studies.

Connotations of Animal Metaphors in the Jordanian Context

2023-05-27T19:15:23+03:00

Purpose. This paper examines the connotations of the most common ten animal metaphors in the Jordanian context as perceived by Jordanian Arabic speakers.

Methods. The data were collected in three stages. First, the principal researcher shared a post on his Facebook account in which he asked his Jordanian-Arabic speaking virtual friends to report in a comment the most common animal metaphors they use. The researchers compiled 115 comments/responses with 1106 animal metaphor tokens. Second, the received tokens were used to identify the most common animal metaphors. Third, in order to identify the set of connotations of each animal metaphor, the researchers distributed a questionnaire to 137 (43 males and 94 females) students at The University of Jordan in which the respondents were asked to report when each of them tends to use each animal metaphor and for what connotations. Based on the received responses, a preliminary list of connotations was prepared. Finally, the proposed connotations were subjected to a validation process by two Jordanian-Arabic speaking linguists from the Department of English at the University of Jordan. Most of their judgments were compatible with those of the researchers and when there was an overlap, amendments were made to amalgamate the connotations together.

Results. The findings show that the ten most common animal metaphors in the Jordanian context are (1) X IS A MONKEY, (2) X IS A DONKEY, (3) X IS A COW, (4) X IS A SNAKE, (5) X IS A DOG, (6) X IS A PIG, (7) X IS A BEAR, (8) X IS A DUCK, (9) X IS AN OWL, and (10) X IS A DEER. They have a total of 39 connotations. X IS A MONKEY is used to convey five connotations, the most common of which is hyperactivity. As for X IS A DONKEY, it has four connotations with stupidity being its most common connotation. X IS A COW has six connotations and it is mainly associated with obesity, especially when referring to females. X IS A SNAKE connotes being toxic and deceitful. With regard to X IS A DOG, it is associated mostly with ill-mannerisms. X IS A PIG has three connotations and it is mostly linked with being deceitful. As for X IS A BEAR, it has four connotations with its most frequent connotation being fat. X IS A DUCK has three connotations and it is associated mostly with being pretty with a beautiful body. X IS AN OWL has three connotations and it is linked mostly with being pessimistic. Finally, X IS A DEER has three connotations with being characterized by beauty as its most common connotation.

Conclusions. The study concludes that animal metaphors are culturally loaded and that the environment we live in shapes the way we view animals and the way we use them metaphorically.

Psycholinguistic Models of Explanation Vital Values of Ukrainians

2023-05-27T19:14:51+03:00

The purpose of the study was to identify psycholinguistic models of the explication of salutary values of Ukrainians of different ages (from 18 to 65+) during the large-scale aggression of Russia against Ukraine in the specified period.

Research methodology. The survey was conducted in two stages using the questionnaire “Welcoming Values of Ukrainians”: in the first stage, 28 or 100% of people aged 18 to 55 took part in the survey, in the second stage 51 or 100% of respondents aged 18 to 69 years old. 89 respondents (in two stages of the survey) were asked to answer 2 questions and complete 2 tasks; question 1 – “What were your life values BEFORE February 24, 2022? Describe”, question 2 – “What are your life values now AFTER exposure to mediatization? Describe”.

According to the results of processing the received data, it was established that the subjects have different psycholinguistic models of explication of the vital values of Ukrainians during the large-scale aggression of Russia against Ukraine.

Conclusions. Indeed, nine (at the first stage) and eight (at the second stage) different psycholinguistic models function in the worldview of Ukrainian respondents of different ages, which were explained by eight (at the first stage) and thirteen (at the second stage) verbal markers.

The Contribution of Rapid Automatized Naming Skills and Phonological Awareness to Arabic Language Reading Fluency: A Path Analysis

2023-05-27T19:15:31+03:00

Purpose. The aim of this study was to investigate the contribution of rapid automatized naming skills (RAN) and phonological awareness (PA) to Arabic language reading fluency(RF).

Methods. A quantitative, cross-sectional and descriptive method was employed, with the main focus on the contribution of rapid automatized naming skills and phonological awareness to Arabic language reading fluency. A cross-sectional study was performed for all children in six prim art schools located in Makka. A convenience sampling method was used to recruit children. For children to be included in this study, there were some criteria: (a) to have no academic or developmental disabilities; (b) Both gender (males and females). Questionnaires were distributed to the children with the help of classroom teachers. All questions must be answered and responded to. A total of 360 participants aged 6–10 years took part in this study: 280 males (77.7%, age mean = 8.9, SD = 3.27), and 80 females (22.3%, age mean = 9.2, SD = 2.44).

Results. The first main finding of the current research is that the correlations between RAN, PA and reading fluency were significant. In the final model, PA was directly and positively predictive of RAN (β = 0.664, p = 0.000) and RAN was directly and strongly related to RF (β = 0.623, p = 0.000). PA explained 52.3% of variance of RF. RAN explained 51.8% of variance of RF. PA and RAN together explained 69.9% of variance of RF.

Conclusions. The findings of this study add to our knowledge of the contribution of PA and RAN to RF, as well as the complex intralingual relationship between PA and RAN.

Verbalized Images of “Women in Ukrainian Politics” by Student Youth

2023-05-27T19:15:15+03:00

The purpose of the study is the empirical explication and interpretation of the psychosemantic structures of the verbalized images of “women in Ukrainian politics” (“successful” and “unsuccessful”) in the gender perspective of comparative analysis.

Research methods and techniques. In the research process, the following methods were systematically used: (1) theoretical methods – analysis of scientific literature, synthesis, interpretation and generalization of data; (2) empirical methods – mathematical scaling of verbal stimuli “a successful woman in Ukrainian politics” (first stage of the research) and “an unsuccessful woman in Ukrainian politics” (second stage of the research) using the standard semantic differential of Ch. Osgood; 3) methods of mathematical statistics – primary statistical analysis of quantitative data, the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, the non-parametric Mann-Whitney U test.

The results. On the basis of factor analysis and interpretation of its results, in the general sample, a greater cognitive complexity of the verbalized image of a “successful woman in Ukrainian politics” compared to the image of an “unsuccessful woman in Ukrainian politics” was found. At the first stage of the research, the psychosemantic factor “Moral attractiveness” was singled out as the dominant psychosemantic factor in the sub-sample of young females, and “Influential mind” in the sub-sample of young men. This was interpreted as a speech projection of “maternal” (feminine) traits on the generalized image of a successful female politician for female students and “paternal” (masculine) qualities for male students. At the second stage, the more heterogeneous factor “General unacceptability” was explained as the leading factor in both subsamples. Despite the same name, the differences between its individual descriptors in the subsamples made it possible to ascertain gender specificities, in particular the manifestations of ageism among young men. Controversy between conscious verbal characteristics and latent gender stereotypes of the studied student youth is also revealed and described.

Conclusions. Qualitative and quantitative comparative analysis of psychosemantic structures, explicated in subsamples formed according to gender criteria, made it possible to substantiate and reveal the age and gender characteristics of students, which are manifested in their politically oriented speech and language activity.

Semantics of Sound in Poetry Originals and Translations

2023-05-27T19:14:43+03:00

Introduction. The paper deals with some aspects of poetry sound instrumentation as system of sound images belonging to the synsemantic image level of a poem, in view of psycholinguistic experimental studies aimed at clarifying the semantics and symbolism of sound in everyday and artistic speech, which contribute to a more complete interpretation and proper pre-translation analysis of a poetic work in order to achieve its adequate translation and analysis of the quality of the result obtained.

Methods. Among the main methods used are structural and systemic analysis of a poetic work and its translation, including semantic, stylistic, rhythmic and intonation, logical-syntactic and other types of analysis; descriptive, explanatory and compiling methods with elements of semantic and stylistic analysis; comparative method for disclosing the actualization of sound images in the poetics of the compared linguistic cultures; contextual analysis to study the actualization of phonetic semantics within different contexts as well as such a method of psycholinguistic analysis as factor analysis (principal components method) to determine the features of semantics of the poetic original and translated texts.

Results. The work describes the functional potentials of sound images in a poetic work that are relevant for its interpretation, pre-translation analysis and translation; it shows the mechanisms of the functioning of sound images, which are based on sound symbolism, alliteration, sound imitation, sound repetitions and sound semantics in general, the validity of which is confirmed by relevant psycholinguistic studies of different years by scientists of various countries; ways of translating the sound images of poetic works from English to Ukrainian and vice versa are revealed and it is also proposed to introduce into scientific circulation the concept of contextual sound semantics, which is behind the phenomenon that is one of the indicators of a full-fledged translation. The article examines a number of issues that have not been worked out so far and that are related to the translational reproduction of the semantics of sounds, the main functions of sound relevant for translation and some other form-forming image components of a poetic work are studied taking into account their understudied aspects. The sound instrumentation of the poem is defined as a combination of euphonic means organizing poetic speech that can acquire appropriate meanings directly in the poetic discourse and belong to the dominant images of the verse.

Conclusions. The dominant images of a poetic work may include sound-image components of a poem, which require a functional approach during translation. In order to achieve an adequate translation, it is important to find out during the pre-translation analysis what semantic or expressive function and in what way the sound image performs and whether it is included in the dominant images of the poetic work in order to reproduce it taking into account its significance in the image hierarchy of the work and its image semantics in a specific work as well as in the corresponding language culture that is revealed by applying appropriate methods and using psycholinguistic experiments data.

Evaluation of L2 Listening Comprehension: In Pursuit of New Measurement Units

2023-05-27T19:14:59+03:00

Purpose. Second language (L2) listening comprehension remains one of the most under researched problems in field largely due to the corresponding methodological difficulties. This study focuses on the development of such a measurement unit that considers the actual grammatical completeness and does not distort the factual semantics of the perceived text – listening comprehension unit.

Methods and procedure of research. The concept of listening comprehension unit is developed based on a structural-ontological approach, which is a tool for systemic description of the multidisciplinary subject matter fields. To validate listening comprehension units, a study was carried out on a sample of 38 English L2 learners. Study participants were grouped according to their IELTS results, and listening comprehension unit scores were compared with idea unit ones.

Results. The obtained empirical data were processed with One-way ANOVA test and proper results support the following conclusions. First, listening comprehension units can be used to measure and differentiate levels of L2 listening comprehension of short texts. Secondly, the study demonstrates a higher differential sensitivity of listening comprehension units compared to idea units in L2 listening comprehension levels diagnostics.

Conclusions. First, listening comprehension units can be used to measure and differentiate levels of L2 listening comprehension of short texts. Secondly, our study demonstrates a higher differential sensitivity of listening comprehension units compared to idea units in L2 listening comprehension levels diagnostics. In our opinion, another advantage of using listening comprehension units is that this tool also allows one to look differently at the semantic structure of the listening comprehension process. In turn, this might open new psycholinguistic, pedagogical and didactic perspectives in the field.

I Want to Marry *the Merchant Banker: An Exploratory Self-Paced Reading Experiment on Arab Learners’ Processing of English Articles

2023-05-27T19:15:07+03:00

Purpose. This study explores the processing of English articles by native speakers of Hejazi Arabic, a language with articles. The research aims to answer the question of whether offline (explicit) knowledge of specificity in English article choice mirrors online (implicit) knowledge. Existing research has found that Hejazi-Arabic learners of English misuse articles in the indefinite specific context when answering a written task; however, their performance is target-like in all other contexts of article use, which indicates that their production may be sensitive to specificity, similar to the production of learners from languages that do not include articles. Little has been done, though, to explore this phenomenon using online measures.

Methods. To answer the research question, 68 speakers of Hejazi-Arabic were recruited alongside 23 native English speakers. The participants and native English speakers completed an article elicitation task and self-paced reading task.

Results. The results of the article elicitation task show learners’ overuse of the in the indefinite specific context, which is consistent with the findings of existing research. Similarly, the real-time processing results indicate that there is a wider gap in reaction times between natives and L2 learners in the indefinite specific context, suggesting that learners’ online performance is not on target in this context.

Conclusion. The study concludes that Hejazi Arabic speakers’ online knowledge of English articles show some resemblance to their offline knowledge. Theoretical implications and methodological issues are also discussed.

Quantifying Hyperbole: Explicit Estimates of Exaggerated Utterances

2023-05-27T19:14:35+03:00

Purpose. People are exposed to exaggeration in some form every day. They must comprehend and interpret the hyperbole, or conversational overstatement, to which they are exposed. Research suggests that people cognitively correct hyperbolic utterances using information retrieved from memory to generate estimates of what really occurred in the situation or event and the sampling of memory traces during the interpretation of utterances is influenced by the form and contextual elements of the utterance.

Methods. In three experiments, participants were presented with texts containing information described in a literal or hyperbolic manner (e.g., “I caught a fish” vs. “I caught a fish the size of a whale”) and asked for explicit estimates of value (e.g., number, size, duration). The form (Experiment 1), context (Experiment 2), and speaker (Experiment 3) of an utterance were all predicted to influence the estimates that people generated.

Results. It was found that the presence of hyperbole, as well as information about the context and speaker, had a reliable impact on participants’ quantitative estimates.

Conclusions. The form, context, and speaker of an utterance all appear to influence the estimates that people generated. Such results are consistent with the notion that people cognitively correct hyperbolic utterances using information retrieved from memory to generate estimates about what really happens in the situation or event. Future research should be aimed at designing experiments that can investigate these memory traces more directly.

Psychological Peculiarities of Understanding Brand Name in Form of Personal Name

2023-05-27T19:14:27+03:00

Purpose. The purpose of this study is to analyze the psychological peculiarities of understanding the brand name in the form of a personal name, to determine the trends and regularities of the brand name influence on the image of the nomination object and consumer expectations.

Research methods and techniques. Theoretical methods (deductive, inductive, analysis, synthesis, generalization) were used to build an empirical concept for studying the psychological peculiarities of understanding the brand name in the form of a personal name. The empirical study was conducted with a controlled association test and scaling. An oral survey in the form of an interview was used to collect information, and a content analysis was used to process the results. Mathematical data processing was carried out using primary statistics. In addition, interpretive methods were applied to explain the results obtained in terms of primary assumptions and references.

Results. It was found that consumers in a rational understanding of a brand are guided by its name in a third and sometimes in almost half of the cases. Brand name has the most importance for women and the least for children. The influence of the name on the object of the nomination at the stage of emotional identification is most felt by women and children, although for men the emotional understanding of brand names also significantly prevails over the rational one. Some correlations between experience and the influence of the brand name were recorded. Strong emotional perception of brand names in the form of an exotic or modern name was observed.

Conclusions. The brand name in the form of a personal name significantly affects the image of the nomination object and forms the corresponding expectations. Emotional understanding guides rational understanding. Both the rational and emotional impact of the brand name on the object of nomination is more significant for women than for men. In children, emotional interpretation dominates the rational almost three times.

Quantum-Holistic Nature of Speech Generation and Perception (Hypothetical Justification)

2023-05-27T19:15:39+03:00

Introduction. In the article, the author hypothesizes that the processes of generation and perception of speech of future journalists have quantum-holistic characteristics. The study was carried out using theoretical and praxeological methods. The practical part of the study is devoted to trying to prove the hypothesis that the processes of generation and perception of speech of future journalists have quantum-holistic characteristics.

The methodology of the practical part has several research procedures, which were carried out in three stages. In the first stage, the subjects (N = 43) wrote down for 10 seconds 10 words that came to mind; in the second stage, the subjects (N = 27) performed the task of writing five sentences in 180 seconds that came to mind, the experimenter read six times the text of the prayer "Our Father" in Ukrainian. The subjects did not hear the prayer read. In the third stage, the influence of the experimental suggestion of the experimenter, who was at a distance of 450-600 km from the subjects (N = 24), on their associative verbal reactions during the description of the images presented by the subjects was measured. All reactions were interpreted in tables and diagrams recorded in the International Repository of: 1) Social Science Research Network (SSRN) on February 12, 2022 (http://ssrn.com/abstract=4034175) and 2) Mendeley Data Search on February 18, 2022 (Kholod, Alexandr (2022), “For_article_Kholod_A_Quantum-holistic_2022”). Date, V1, doi: 10.17632 / gzsk33ykxv.1). The age of the subjects ranged from 18 (19) to 19 (20) years in two groups of students majoring in journalism.

Conclusion. It was found that from the standpoint of the holistic concept, the associative verbal reactions of the subjects have their inherent quantum verbal centers (QVC) and verbal peripheries (VP).

All procedures conducted in human studies complied with the ethical standards of the Ethics Committee of the International Editorial Board of the Scientific Journal of Social Communications: Theory and Practice (Rec No. 2 of 28 February 2002).

Theory of L1 Acquisition and Speech Development of Children in Ontogenesis: Methodology, Concept, Practice

2023-05-27T19:15:47+03:00

Goal. To describe and present the new scientific theory developed by the co-authors - a system of generalized facts, knowledge and experience regarding the disclosure of the versatility of the genesis of psycholinguistic phenomena characteristic of preschool children.

Methods. A complex of theoretical methods of analysis, research synthesis and generalization of a large number of sources was used: firstly, theoretical and conceptual approaches to children’s language and speech and its purposeful formation and development; secondly, empirical data obtained by various scientists working in this issue, as well as data of the own empirical research.

Results. The main postulates of the theory of L1 acquisition and speech development presented as an integration of modern interdisciplinary knowledge and practice of the research and project activities, synthesized with a scientific purpose in a set of 14 modules: (1) vector of speech operations and speech actions development; (2) the place and role of systematic learning in L1 acquisition and speech development; (3) the role of implicit language and other types of knowledge in the formation of speech operations; (4) the role of metalanguage and metaspeech knowledge, reflection on speech and objectification of language in the formation of speech acts; (5) levels of awareness in the formation of speech acts; (6) the relationship between speech operations and actions and speech and language abilities, that is, language competences and speech competences; (7) interdependence of linguistic, psycholinguistic and psychological units in the development of speech activity; (8) the role and place of psycholinguistic units in the development of speech; (9) the role and place of psychological units in the formation of speech activity; (10) the role and place of language units in the formation of speech activity; (11) relationship between speaking and learning activities; (12) psycholinguistic prerequisites for the formation of speech activity; (13) psycholinguistic and didactic conditions for purposeful formation of speech activity; (14) relationship of speech operations with other types of operations.

Conclusions. The presented theory is an internally non-contradictory system of scientific concepts, views and ideas of its developers, which in a generalized form reveal the essential properties and regular connections of such a psycholinguistic reality as the evolution of the individual language of preschoolers and children’s speech, on the basis of which their explanation is achieved. This theory as an integrative set of principles not only reflects the understanding presented in world science, but is also based on empirical research, on a deep insight into the essence of the genesis of speech phenomena, which occurs in the child’s psycholinguistic nature.

The Concept of “Native Language” in the Minds of Ukrainians

2023-05-27T19:15:55+03:00

Goal. To study individual perceptions and personal meanings of the concept of “native language” in the minds of Ukrainians in the period from 2019 to now.

Methods. Conceptual analysis (linguistic cultural theory (Karasik, 2002; Vorkachev, 2001)), comparative analysis (research of functional and cultural and value criteria for interpretation of the concept of “native language”), free and directed associative experiments (research of the conceptual and figurative components of the semantic space of the concept, value aspect Values), research synthesis, wording of conclusions. In an empirical study, 146 people aged 25-45 years later; Period of experiment: April 2019 – April 2021.

Results. The concept of “native language” is defined as a multidimensional mental formation having three aspects of meaning: figurative, desirable and value. He is qualified as a peculiar mental structure, which is the result of mental processes and human states (as part of collective unconscious and individual conscious and unconscious processes). A comparable analysis of the interpretation of the concept “native language” within linguistics, psychology, philosophy, culturology, sociology, a nominative field of the concept is structured. During the conceptual analysis, the structure of the concept “native language”: central (nuclear) and peripheral components were determined.

Conclusions. Associations “First Language”, “Language of the country” are reduced to the structure of the nucleus of the concept, since they generalize universal, national-cultural, socio-group and individual-personality ideas. The periphery of the concept of “native language” are less relevant to the carriers of a particular language and culture Permanent, figurative and other types of associations that outlines the individual experience of the respondent and are not typical (9.3%): “sumy language”, “surzhik”, “lightweight language” etc. In the awareness of the concept of “mother language” prevails the associations of speakers on a functional criterion based on a social basis and represents the level of perfection of language proficiency, the activity of its use in various spheres of communication, course of thinking processes by language. The cultural and value criterion is also taken into account by Ukrainians, but to a lesser extent (association “parent language”, “mother language”, “language of the country”, “the Language of the People”). The value aspect of the semantic space of the concept “native language” is described by respondents as a “safe”, “habitual”, “natural”, “sincere”, etc. The results of psycholinguistic analysis also show the possibility of awareness of the man of two native languages through the mixing of functional and cultural and value approaches to the interpretation of the concept of “native language”.

Representation of COLOR Concept in the French Phraseological Picture of the World and its Perception by Ukrainian Francophone Students

2023-05-27T19:16:03+03:00

Purpose. The purpose of the research was to present the typical features and individual differences of verbal perception and understanding of COLOR concept by French-speaking Ukrainian students. To realize the goal, we set the task to identify the ethno-cultural specificity of the representation of COLOR concept in the French phraseological picture of the world and analyze the peculiarities of verbal perception of the connotative content of achromatic and polychromatic colors in the composition of phraseological units by students-francophones.

Research methods and techniques. The semantic-cognitive method, the psycholinguistic approach (free associative experiment), the technique of frequency-statistical characteristics, the method of component analysis, the linguacultural analysis, the system analysis and the research synthesis were used in the research.

Results. According to the results of investigation, the phraseological coloratives are a national realia and a cultural prototype. Color is a specific mental symbol that is verbalized and conveys a certain psychoemotional state of an individual. The coloratives which are directly related to the visual perception of the world constitute a psychoemotional component of the conceptual and linguistic picture of the world. The COLOR concept is actualized by emosems. Among the coloratives of phraseological nominations achromic (white and black) as well as polychrome (blue) are most represented in the psychological consciousness of the French language. Polychrome and achromic colors are correlated with certain emotions, character traits, psychophysical state. It has been established that the French cultural tradition is characterized by bioarchetypic correspondences between individual colors and certain symbolic meanings. A certain psychoemotional state corresponds to a certain color. Thoughts, feelings and associative states of a person are presented in the form of a color palette.

Conclusions. As a result of the free associative experiment and the method of analysis of psychosemantics of color names it was established that coloratives were a verbal symbol of carriers of sociocultural information that could reflect the hidden processes and laws of the linguistic picture of the world through the phraseological system. Colors with a negative connotation (74.42%) (red, black, blue, green, white, yellow, pink) predominate over colors with a positive connotation (25.58%) (pink, white, blue, green). The obtained results indicate that to a large extent the association «color – psychoemotional state» in the French phraseological picture of the world coincides with the ideas of Ukrainian students about psychoemotional states expressed by the French phraseologisms. The phraseological fond with color components shows a powerful semantic and cognitive potential, the study of which deserves great attention from linguists, psychologists and psycholinguists on the way to a comprehensive study of human speech activity.

Associative-Verbal Qualification of Sensory Ethnic Stereotypes Made by Modern Ukrainian Language Native Speakers

2023-05-27T19:16:11+03:00

Aim. The goal is to form a generalized associative ethnic portrait of the consciousness of modern Ukrainians by studying the deep laws of sensory correlations of the space of human consciousness in general and linguistic consciousness in particular, presenting the ethnolinguistic and cultural community, as well as the system of its linguistic perceptual stereotypes.

Methods. The main tools chosen are the methods of semantic-differential scales, the psycholinguistic method of directed associative experiment, the contextual method, the methods of observation, analysis, systematization, generalization and the method of quantitative calculations. A comprehensive methodology based on the consolidation of search, experimental, analytical, evaluation and generalizing approaches was applied.

Results. The associative series of stimulus words are modeled which determine the standards of verbalizers of sensory perception. The directions are clarified in which the formation of perceptual standards takes place. The factors of inconsistencies of reactions to the stimulus in the western and eastern regions respondents are outlined. The linguistic stereotypes of the sensory level are distinquished which exist in the linguistic consciousness of modern Ukrainians

Conclusions. The results of the directed associative experiment matched expectations: the respondents actualized the main verbalizers of perceptual modes with those provided by the language objectification system which are nominal entities that define vision standards, representing the most relevant characteristics for respondents, determine the standards of visual perception and represent a generalized associative ethnic portrait of the linguistic consciousness of 21st century Ukrainians, as well the system of his cultural perceptual stereotypes. The results obtained are the basis for a deeper understanding of the patterns and trends in the development of the Ukrainian language in the projection on human consciousness, it also will help organize the results of internal reflective experience, and description of Ukrainian linguistic culture will be possible as well.

Specificity of Internet Texts Understanding in Youth Age

2023-05-27T19:16:19+03:00

Objective. The article presents the results of studying the specifics of Internet texts understanding by young readers. Athors have done scientifically based analysis of the specifics of Internet texts understanding texts at a young age, depending on the level of experience of Internet using, thinking and speech development, and the level of internet-oriented personality. The regularities of the dynamics of understanding success at each stage of the comprehension process have been revealed.

Materials & Methods. Theoretical (deduction, induction, analysis, synthesis, generalization, systematization), empirical (experiment, method of semantic and pragmatic interpretations, content analysis; subjective scaling, multimedia experiment, tests (Ebbinghaus test, method of “Establishing regularities” by B.L. Pokrovsky, KOT by V.N. Buzyn, E.F. Vanderlik) and statistical methods (primary statistics, correlation analysis) were used for this purpose. The sample of the experiment consisted of 120 males and females. The study of the specifics of understanding were conducted by the author's method “Success of understanding the texts of the Internet”. This method is presented in the article. Also, authors were used the author’s method “Experience and orientation of the Internet user” to determine the level of experience of Internet using and the level of internet-oriented personality. Interpretive methods were based on specific principles of systemic, activity, cognitive, psycholinguistic, genetic approaches. Young age was chosen because this period young people starts to get work experience, to form career ambitions, to get the first experience of professional training at the workplace. People of this age actively use the Internet at home and often at work. Some of them are confident in their Internet competence. They don’t even think about what is it depends on, what is it determined by, and how effective is their communication on the Internet.

Results. The indicators of the success of Internet texts understanding were determined in a sample of young people depending on the level of experience of Internet using, thinking and speech development and internet-oriented personality. Correlations were also established between the success of Internet texts understanding at a young age and the these subjective factors.

Conclusions. It was found that the success of young people’s Internet texts understanding at the stage of interpretation is only from 16.3% to 29.1% of the content load. It has been established that the readers with the high level of internet-oriented personality and thinking and speech development, understand more content of the text. But the influence of the factor of experience of Internet using on the success of understanding is almost twice as weak. The adequacy of the assessment of the Internet texts understanding is also related to the level of thinking and speech development and the internet-oriented personality. However, under the influence of the investigated factors, this indicator deteriorates from 79.7% to 60.2% due to the effect of unjustified confidence of users with a high level of development. The consistency of the emotional attitude at a young age is more determined by the specificity of the Internet texts than by these subjective factors. The correlations are insignificant, and the level of emotional understanding is quite low, up to 17.7%. So, it need to form of special skills for working with internet text to improve the success of understanding. It has been proven that the most difficult thing in Internet texts understanding for young people are the emotional understanding, predicting from the illustration and interpreting the semantic load of the texts. To improve these and other indicators of understanding, corrective and developmental work is recommended. The priorities of this work should be exercises for the development of thinking and speech and awareness of the motivation for using cyberspace, becaust these factors have the most strong impact on the process of understanding in youth.

Neuropsycholinguistic Foundations Diagnostics of Features of Development of Preconditions Teaching Writing to Children with Autism

2023-05-27T19:16:27+03:00

Goal. The article in accordance with the purpose of the study highlights the results of theoretical justification and development of diagnostic methods aimed at determining the state of formation invariant successively-simultaneous syntheses to further provide the most accurate choice of how to prepare children with autism to master writing.

Methods and techniques. Achieving the goal of the study was realized through the use of a set of general scientific, neuropsychological, neuropsycholinguistic methods and statistical calculation according to Student’s criteria to assess the reliability of differences between percentages in small samples. The sample consisted of children diagnosed with autism, who were not found to have disorders of auditory and visual analyzers, initially preserved intelligence, the maximum possible development of oral speech and who had significant difficulties in preparing to master the skill of writing.

Results. Based on the doctrine of the multi-functionality of the cerebral cortex and the sequential-simultaneous nature of providing various types of activities, a diagnostic technique was developed, the system of tasks of which was aimed at researching the state of development of perceptual, mnestic, thinking-speech levels of synthetic structures in children with autism. For the first time, on the basis of the analysis, comparison and generalization of the obtained experimental materials, general and distinctive characteristics of the strategy of perception and processing of information by children with autism were revealed. The general characteristic is that the neuropsychological sequential-simultaneous system, which is involved in the operationalization of writing in children with autism, is mainly at a low level of development.

It was confirmed that most children have a strategy of a consistent way of perceiving and processing information, the dominance of which, however, led to significant difficulties in performing diagnostic tasks with complex stimuli in simultaneously combined values. At the same time, subgroups of children were identified who more successfully performed diagnostic tasks, the content of which required the use of a mostly simultaneous, holistic strategy or who had a certain degree of harmonious development of sequential-simultaneous structures. It is proved that the establishment of the leading type of synthetic activity allows to determine the optimal strategy of differentiated application of methods of formation of writing skills in children with autism at the initial stage of corrective and preventive work.

Conclusions. The generalization of the analysis of the obtained results shows that, although the vast majority of children with autism have a strategy of consistent information processing, a necessary condition for their preparation for mastering writing should be to provide appropriate conditions for further development sequential actions and operations with the simultaneous formation of a simultaneous strategy, because mastering writing for all children with autism will have the effect of simultaneity from the beginning. The means of development of simultaneous structures is an indirect way of stimulating the central departments of visual, kinesthetic, tactile and vestibular analyzers with the use of neuropsychological methods and techniques. At the same time, corrective and preventive work can be carried out on the basis of the Gestalt-frame approach, based on the position of units of intermediate form of language, the development of which is ensured by simultaneous activities.

The use of these methods in correctional and preventive work will help children with autism to master optical ideographic images of words, sentences, syllables and automated motor engrams with a gradual transition to mastering sound-letter analysis and synthesis, which form the psychological basis of writing.