Dr. Kati e Sardinha will give an in-person research seminar 3:30-4:30pm\, March 1st\, 2024. The title and abstract for the talk can be found below.
< strong>Title: Using an inductive learning approach to train speake r-linguists in Kwak’wala grammar
Abstract: In this t alk\, I’ll discuss how we are using an inductive learning paradigm to teach Kwak’wala sentence structure. We approach language as a pairing of form an d meaning\, in which verbal predicates (form) refer to events (meaning). Th e key to understanding Kwak’wala sentence structure lies in concepts of eve nt structure. We begin by demonstrating one-to-one correspondences in activ e clauses between grammatical roles (subject\, instrumental object\, accusa tive object\, la-phrase\, ḵa-phrase) and event roles (Initiator\, Co-initi ator\, Non-initiator\, Location\, Reason). By altering these correspondence s in systematic ways\, we can derive internal-argument alternations and voi ce alternations. Causative alternations depend on whether a causal situatio n is construed as one or two events\, and whether one or both events are ex pressed as a predicate. This core content is supplemented with a corpus of 12 causal-sequence storyboards and an annotated verb dictionary.
Simi lar to many first-year linguistics courses\, the course we are developing i s organized as a sequence of structured datasets together with answer keys. We call this the “DOGS” method: students are presented with data (D) and a re prompted to make observations (O) of the data\, form generalizations (G) about their observations\, and reflect on the significance (S) of discover ed patterns. Grammatical knowledge is accumulated gradually\, together with a technical vocabulary for describing it. Compared with traditional deduct ive learning\, inductive learning tends to require greater investment of ti me and attention on the part of students. However\, it also tends to result in deeper learning and better retention of grammatical knowledge\, while s imultaneously teaching students how to do linguistic analysis. In this way\ , we aim to train speaker-linguists who will possess the tools necessary to accelerate Kwak’wala revitalization efforts.
CATEGORIES:Featured Events,Featured Homepage LOCATION:Totem Field Studio - Seminar Room (121) GEO:49.256140;-123.249035 URL;VALUE=URI:https://linguistics.ubc.ca/events/event/rs-0301/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/Vancouver BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0700 TZOFFSETTO:-0800 DTSTART:20231105T090000 TZNAME:PST END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE END:VCALENDAR