Linguistics and Language Essay Example for Free

Linguistics and Language Essay Language Comprehension †¢Language Production †¢Language Acquisition Psycholinguistics is a branch of cognitive science What will be covered in this class? †¢ How do we produce and recognize speech? †¢ How do we perceive words, letters, and sentences? †¢ How do we learn and recall information from texts? †¢ How can we improve texts to make them easier to understand? †¢ How does the brain function to process language? †¢ What are the causes and effects of reading disabilities? Is there language in other species? Central themes in psycholinguistics 1)  What knowledge of language is needed for us to use language? Tacit (implicit) knowledge vs. Explicit knowledge †¢ tacit: knowledge of how to perform something, but not aware of full rules †¢ explicit: knowledge of the processes of mechanisms in performing that thing 2)  What cognitive processes are involved in the ordinary use of language? How do we understand a lecture, read a book, hold a conversation? Cognitive processes: perception, memory, thinking, learning Some definitions of basic components of language: Semantics: The meaning of words and sentences Syntax: The grammatical arrangement of words in a sentence or phrase Phonology: The sound pattern of language Pragmatics: How language is used in a social context Examples from psycholinguistics Parsing garden path sentences The novice accepted the deal before he had a chance to check his finances, which put him in a state of conflict when he realized he had a straight flush. 1) The defendant examined by the lawyer turned out to be unreliable 2) The evidence examined by the lawyer turned out to be unreliable The process of parsing is the process of making decisions The effect of prior knowledge on comprehension The procedure is actually quite simple. First you arrange things into different groups. Of course, one pile may be sufficient depending on how much there is to do. If you have to go somewhere else due to lack of facilities, that is the next step; otherwise you are pretty well set. It is important not to overdo things. That is, it is better to do too few things at once than too many. In the short run this may not seem important, but complications can easily arise. A mistake can be expensive as well. At first the whole procedure will seem complicated. Soon, however, it will become just another facet of life. It is difficult to foresee any end to the necessity for this task in the immediate future, but then one never can tell. After the procedure is completed, one arranges the materials into different groups again. Then they can be put into their appropriate places. Eventually they will be used once more, and the whole cycle will then have to be repeated. However, that is part of life. Bransford amp; Johnson, 1973 Recall: No context: 2. 8 idea units out of a maximum of 18 Context afterwards: 2. 7 idea units Context before: 5. 8 idea units Child language development How many words do you know? Hint: Dictionary has about: 450,000 entries Test high school graduates: How many words do they know? About 45,000 english words About 60,000 including names and foreign words The average six year old knows about 13,000 words. Learning about 10 words per day since age 1. (One every 90 minutes) How much do we have to teach children to learn language? Do you have to teach a child to walk? Is it the same way of learning a language? My teacher holded the baby rabbits and we patted them I eated my dinner A brief history of psycholinguistics Wilhem Wundt (early 1900s) Interest in mental processes of language production Sentence as the primary unit of language †¢ Speech production is the transformation of complete thought processes into sequentially organized speech segments. Behaviorism (1920s-1950s) †¢ Rejected the focus on mental processes †¢ Measurement based on objective behavior (primarily in lab animals) †¢ How does experience (reward and punishment) shape behavior? B. F. Skinner: Children learn language through shaping (correction of speech errors) Associative chain theory: A sentence consists of a chain of associations between individual words in the sentence What’s wrong with the behaviorist approach? Noam Chomsky (1950s present) 1) Colorless green ideas sleep furiously 2) Furiously sleep ideas green colorless. 3)  George picked up the baby 4)  George picked the baby up. Almost every sentence uttered is a new combination of words The Poverty of stimulus argument: There is not enough information in the language samples given to children to account for the richnes and complexity of children’s language The pattern of development is not based on parental speech but on  innate  language knowledge Linguistic Diversity vs. Linguistic Universals Linguistic diversity There appears to be a lot of diversity among languages Even within languages there is diversity When are two languages different? We speak the same language if we can understand each other Exceptions: Norwegian and Swedish Cantonese and Mandarin Dialects within languages: The myth of pure language How/why do languages change? Why does there seem to be a correct English? Members of the dominant (most powerful) sub-culture tend to speak one dialect and may punish those who do not Linguistic Chauvinism Belief that one’s own language/dialect is the best of all possible languages Black English Vernacular (BEV) Study by William Labov Interviewed African-American street youth You know, like some people say if you’re good an’ sh*t, your spirit goin’ t’heaven . . . ‘n if you bad, your spirit goin’ to hell. Well, bullsh*t! Your spirit goin’ to hell anyway, good or bad. [Why? ] Why? I’ll tell you why. ‘Cause, you see, doesn’ nobody really know that it’s a God, y’know, ‘cause I mean I have seen black gods, white gods, all color gods, and don’t nobody know it’s really a God. An’ when they be sayin’ if you good, you goin’ t’heaven, tha’s bullsh*t, ‘cause you ain’t goin’ to no heaven, ‘cause it ain’t no heaven for you to go to. †¢ Place holders: There vs. It in the copula Copula: Is, Was optional †¢ Negatives: You ain’t goin’ to no heaven BEV just as linguistically complex as Standard American English We don’t see/understand the complexity in other languages Moral: All languages seem to permit as wide range of expressions as others Linguistic Universals What is in common with all languages? Sentences are built from words based on the same physiological processes †¢ All languages have words †¢ All humans have ways of making sounds. †¢ Languages tend to use a small set of phonemic sounds †¢ Phoneme: The minimal unit of sound that contributes to meaning How many phonemes in a language? English: 40 phonemes †¢ Range: Polynesian 11 to Khoisan 141 Discreteness Messages in human language (e. g. speech sounds) are made up of units of which there is a discrete (limited) number Arbitrariness The relationship between meaningful elements in language and their denotation is independent of any physical resemblance between the two. Words do not have to look or sound like what they describe Openness †¢ New linguistic messages are created freely and easily †¢ Languages are not constrained in a way so that there are a limited number of messages that can be created.

Kants Moral Principles Essay -- Kant Immanuel Philosophy Morals Essay

Kant's Moral Principles   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the Foundation of the Metaphysics of Morals, the author, Immanuel Kant, tries to form a base by rejecting all ethical theories that are connected to consequences, and then focusing on our ethical motivations and actions. Kant wants to derive good characters out of contingently right actions. He believes that everything is contingent (everything can have good or bad worth, depending on how it is used). So he is trying to find the supreme principal of morality in all his reasoning. Kant also believes that an action is right or wrong based solely on the reason by which it was performed. However, a Utilitarian, like John Mill, would reject Kant’s reasoning of originating good characters out of actions alone, and instead argue that if an action has bad consequences, then the action was morally wrong.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Kant believes that an action has moral worth only if it is done out of respect for our moral code. He names this moral action a ‘duty.’ Kant also believes that in determining the moral worth of an action, we need to look at the maxim by which it was performed. So, we need to look at one’s reason for doing an action to determine if it is a duty. If the reason for performing the action is justified, then the action is a duty. However, Kant says there are two different types of reasons for performing an action. Kant calls these reasons ‘imperatives.’ The first reason for performing an action, the hypothetical imperative, is based on consequences and on our personal preferences. They are also contingent, meaning that they can be good or bad depending on how they are used. People choose to perform a given action because of the hypothetical imperative. The second reason for performing an action according to Kant is called the categorical imperative. These are not based on our preferences, don’t deal with consequences of an action, and are derived a priori. They are completely separate from hypothetical imperatives. We all have knowledge of categorical imperatives before experiencing them first. They are kind of a second nature for us, which needs to be recognized according to Kant. These are the most important reason for performing an action. These imperatives also have the characteristics that Kant needs in order to make his point that all of our moral principals are categ orical, have absolute authority, and are independent o... ...t hope to predict the outcome of any given situation. It is impossible; there is no such thing as seeing the future. So by making a false promise to your friend, you have still done the morally wrong action, even though it will most likely save them some suffering. It did indeed take away their choices, so they can’t act in a way they want to act (going to class). I happen to agree with Kant’s idea here. I think that no matter what the consequences are, performing the right action is always the right thing to do.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Overall I think that Kant has better arguments because they are directed at the individual, not at society in whole. I also agree that the moral worth of actions is determined by the motivating principal of the action, not by the consequences, like John Mill. So I am a deontologist, for the most part. However, I also agree with some of the things that Mill has to say. So is there a way that we can combine the ideas of Mill and Kant together in order to form a perfect society in which everybody is happy? I don’t know the answer to this question, but we should all strive to do so, and we should start by respecting each other’s autonomy and treating others as ends.

“Still Life in Landscape” by Sharon Olds

Drunk driving is a known problem throughout the world, there are many accidents and deaths that occur each day because of stupidity and ignorance. In many cases families are torn apart and left heartbroken for the rest of their lives because of drunk driving. Drunk driving is the number one major cause of accidents and deaths on the road. Carelessness is responsible for drunk driving, and can be easily avoided, it can deal a great amount of pain and suffering and change the lives of many.The poem sets up a true meaning of what reality really is and can be seen and interpreted through the different perspectives by the child, reader and audience. The child in the poem in â€Å"Still Life in Landscape† by Sharon Olds interprets the poem as being reality and see’s for herself the dangers that exist. The child’s description of what she sees send a strong image to the reader that reality does exist and these things happen everyday.The gruesome imagery in this poem is u sed to make a strong statement about reality. All these examples can be explored even further. The author in â€Å"Still in Landscape† uses some very descriptive gruesome imagery to describe the scene of the car crash. The imagery that is used in this poem is intended to make a very strong impact on how reality is really displayed and what really goes on in the world. The author narrates the poem through the eyes of the child and describes what the child sees and feels. A woman was lying on the highway, on her back, with her head curled back and tucked under her shoulders so the back of her head touched her spine between her shoulder-blades, her clothes mostly accidented off, and her leg gone, a long bone sticking out of the stub of her thigh, my mother grabbed my head and turned it and clamped it into her chest, between her breasts†(Lines 3-13). The child is seeing reality at first hand and her mother can only grab her head and turn it clamped into her chest.The mother is not really protecting her child by just holding her but representing the endless number of bystanders in the world that do nothing about people that create and cause these tragedies. Throughout the poem in â€Å"Still Life in Landscape† the child is experiencing a true feeling of what reality really is. She sees the horrible scene of the crash site with the woman lying on her back with the back of her head touching her spine. â€Å"A woman was lying on the highway, on her back, with her head curled back and tucked under her shoulders so the back of her head touched her spine†(Lines 3-5).This description of what the child sees at the crash site makes you shiver and makes you feel query and makes you realize that this is really what goes on in the world. The consequences to drunk driving can be unforgettable when the outcome comes out to be death or pain to another family. Tragedy is happening all around us. We do not always see it. The cars do not always collide, bu t people still drive drunk. This problem will continue to grow, and people will continue to suffer. This is what reality is really about. But is there anyway to prevent situations like this?Will it ever stop? That is what the poem is addressing. Reality is that people die, all the time, due to stupidity and ignorance. Society usually believes only what it really wants to believe, it wants to ignore reality and live a healthy life without any circumstances, but that’s not how it is. If People witness or experience actual events of disaster or trauma only then do they really experience true reality. Carelessness can have a great impact on society or on an individual whether it showing up in drunk driving or any other problem related to reality.Works Cited Sharon Olds, The Upswept Room (2003) NY: Alfred A. Knopf, p. 23.

3 pasos para renovar sin entrevista la visa de turista

La renovacià ³n de la visa de turista para Estados Unidos puede hacerse siguiendo un trà ¡mite rà ¡pido y sencillo siempre que se realice dentro de plazo. En este artà ­culo se informa sobre quià ©nes no necesitan la visa de turista y por lo tanto no precisan renovarla. Tambià ©n cuà ¡ndo se tiene que renovar, si se tiene una, cà ³mo es el proceso, quà © 3 decisiones puede tomar el oficial consular y quà © no se debe hacer porque pone en peligro la visa y/o su renovacià ³n. Con esta informacià ³n serà ¡ fà ¡cil obtener la renovacià ³n del visado. Quià ©nes no necesitan una visa de turista para ingresar a Estados Unidos Es importante saber que las personas extranjeras que desean viajara a Estados Unidos como turistas o para recibir tratamiento mà ©dico necesitan de una visa B2 o la combinacià ³n de una B1/B2 de turista/negocios, si bien existen importantes excepciones: Mexicanos y extranjeros residentes en Mà ©xico que viven junto a la frontera pueden solicitar una tarjeta de cruce, tambià ©n conocida como visa là ¡ser. Pero sà ³lo sirve para un tiempo mà ¡s limitado que la visa de turista y tambià ©n està ¡ restringida a ingresos terrestres y no permite adentrarse ilimitadamente en territorio de los Estados Unidos.CanadiensesCiudadanos de 38 paà ­ses parte del Programa de Exencià ³n de Visas.   Entre esos 38 paà ­ses se encuentran, entre otros, Espaà ±a, Chile, Italia y Portugal, lo cual puede ser de interà ©s para muchos latinoamericanos que cuentan con doble nacionalidad, siendo una de ellas la de un paà ­s incluido ese ese Programa de Exencià ³n de Visas. Cuà ¡ndo es necesario renovar la visa de turista Si ya se tiene una visa de turista, conocida en algunos paà ­ses como de paseo o de placer, à ©sta tiene una vigencia limitada. Puede dejar de ser và ¡lida porque se aprueba por un nà ºmero limitado de ingresos y estos ya se han agotado o porque ya ha llegado su fecha de expiracià ³n (tambià ©n conocida como de vencimiento). En cualquiera de estos casos es necesario renovar la visa si se quiere viajar de nuevo a los Estados Unidos. El proceso es muy similar a los de peticià ³n por primera vez, pero con dos importantes novedades: el porcentaje de aprobacià ³n es mucho mà ¡s alto en las renovacionesen  algunos  casos no es necesaria la entrevista en el consulado. Estas circunstancias se han endurecido desde que el presidente Donald Trump entrà ³ en la Casa Blanca. 3 trà ¡mites para la renovacià ³n de la visa de turista americana Deben seguirse los siguientes pasos: En primer lugar, completar en là ­nea el documento DS-160.  La opcià ³n que aplica es la de visa renewal. Aunque el formulario està ¡ en inglà ©s, es posible ver una traduccià ³n al espaà ±ol colocando el cursor encima del texto que se quiere traducir. En segundo lugar, pagar la cuota correspondiente. El procedimiento de pago tiene variaciones de paà ­s a paà ­s por lo que se debe seguir las instrucciones del DS-160. Esta tarifa nunca se regresa, aunque la visa no sea aprobada. En tercer lugar, si es necesario cerrar una cita para la entrevista en la oficina consular, seguir el procedimiento. Si no es obligatorio, proceder a entregar la documentacià ³n como se seà ±ala en el formulario de internet.   Casos de exencià ³n de la entrevista para renovar la visa de turista americana La entrevista en el consulado o embajada es uno de los trà ¡mites que mà ¡s disgusta a los solicitantes de las visas de turista. Una de las razones es porque la necesidad de presentarse en el edificio consular obliga a dedicar buena parte de una maà ±ana a ese trà ¡mite o incluso mà ¡s, si hay que desplazarse a otra ciudad. Pero ademà ¡s, hay el factor subjetivo de los nervios. No todas las persona se ponen nerviosas, pero muchas sà ­, por no saber quà © le van a preguntar, por temor a dar una respuesta equivocada, etc. Por todo ello, la posibilidad de no tener que acudir a la entrevista es festejado por muchos solicitantes de la renovacià ³n de la visa. El  Programa de Exencià ³n de la Entrevista, conocido por sus siglas en inglà ©s de  IWP, que establecià ³ paulatinamente el gobierno del presidente Barack Obama permità ­a muchos casos de renovacià ³n sin necesidad de entrevista. Sin embargo, el  Ã‚  Donald Trump ha anulado esa waiver en muchos casos. Actualmente, estos son los lineamientos para no tener que presentarse a la entrevista durante la tramitacià ³n de la visa de turista americana: Nià ±os de 6 aà ±os o menoresPersonas mayores de 80 aà ±osPersonas cuya visa de turista haya expirado hace menos de 12 meses y que nunca hayan tenido problemas en las aduanas de EE.UU., nunca hayan sido detenidas y a las que nunca se les haya negado o anulado una visa americana. En todos los casos, las embajadas y consulados de Estados Unidos pueden decidir unilateralmente que un solicitante debe presentarse a la entrevista aà ºn cuando entre dentro de las excepciones que en teorà ­a permitirà ­an no tener que cumplir con ese propà ³sito. Quà © puede suceder durante el proceso de  renovacià ³n de la visa El oficial consular puede decidir: aprobar la visadeclarar un procedimiento administrativo, es decir, ni aprobacià ³n ni negacià ³nNegar la visa. ​ Las posibilidades de que esto suceda son pequeà ±as, ya que en los casos de renovacià ³n se produce menos de un dos por ciento de rechazo de entre todas las solicitudes. Pero sà ­ que es una posibilidad real. No obstante, es mucho menor a lo que sucede cuando se solicita por primera vez, donde el rechazo en general supera el 20 por ciento de las peticiones, si bien hay grandes diferencias segà ºn el consulado. Las causas por las que se produce un rechazo caen bà ¡sicamente dentro de dos grandes categorà ­as, causas que convierten a una persona en inelegible para la visa de turista y las que la convierten en inadmisible para ingresar a los Estados Unidos.   Si el problema se origina por una de estas à ºltimas causas, es aconsejable asesorarse con un abogado de inmigracià ³n especialista en waivers para analizar si es conveniente solicitar uno. A esto tambià ©n se le conoce como perdones o permisos. Quà © puede poner en peligro conservar la visa de turista Para evitar problemas muy desagradables e incluso sufrir la cancelacià ³n de la visa es conveniente saber la respuesta correcta a estas dos preguntas:  ¿es conveniente quedarse en EEUU el mà ¡ximo tiempo permitido? En este punto es de extrema importancia conocer las consecuencias, ya que desde el punto de vista migratorio son graves. Ademà ¡s, es importante saber  con quà © frecuencia se puede regresar  a Estados Unidos como turista ya que la mayorà ­a de los viajeros no son conscientes de que el ingreso a EE.UU. les puede ser negado por un oficial migratorio aunque, en teorà ­a, està ¡n movià ©ndose dentro de los parà ¡metros que marca la ley. Para mayor informacià ³n sobre cà ³mo obtener y conservar la visa, se recomienda tomar este  este quiz, trivial o test sobre visas. Este artà ­culo tiene una finalidad informativa. No es asesorà ­a legal para ningà ºn caso en particular.