Measured Language: Quantitative Studies of Acquisition, Assessment, and Variation

Measured Language: Quantitative Studies of Acquisition, Assessment, and Variation focuses on ways in which various aspects of language can be quantified and how measurement informs and advances our understanding of language. The metaphors and operationalizations of quantification serve as an important lingua franca for seemingly disparate areas of linguistic research, allowing methods and constructs to be translated from one area of linguistic investigation to another. Measured Language includes forms of measurement and quantitative analysis current in diverse areas of linguistic research from language assessment to language change, from generative linguistics to experimental psycholinguistics, and from longitudinal studies to classroom research. Contributors demonstrate how to operationalize a construct, develop a reliable way to measure it, and finally validate that measurement—and share the relevance of their perspectives and findings to other areas of linguistic inquiry. The range and clarity of the research collected here ensures that even linguists who would not traditionally use quantitative methods will find this volume useful.

Table of Contents:
IntroductionJeff Connor-Linton and Luke Wander Amoroso1. The Ubiquitous Oral versus Literate Dimension: A Survey of Multidimensional Studies Douglas Biber2. When Ethnicity Isn’t Just About EthnicityPenelope Eckert3. Does Language Zipf Right Along? Investigating Robustness in the Latent Structures of Usage and AcquisitionNick C. Ellis, Matthew Brook O’Donnell, and Ute Römer4. Subjectivity and Efficiency in Language Assessment: Explorations of a Compensatory Rating ApproachSteven J. Ross5. Subgrouping in Nusa Tenggara: The Case of Bima-Sumba Emily Gasser6. Young Learners’ Storytelling in Their First and Foreign Languages Yuko Goto Butler and Wei Zeng7. Measuring Quechua to Spanish Cross-Linguistic Influence Marilyn S. Manley8. Speedup versus Automatization: What Role Does Learner Proficiency Play? Jessica G. Cox and Anne M. Calderón9. Frequency Effects, Learning Conditions, and the Development of Implicit and Explicit Lexical Knowledge Phillip Hamrick and Patrick Rebuschat10. The Differential Role of Language Analytic Ability in Two Distinct Learning Conditions Nadia M. Profozic11. U-shaped Development: Definition, Exploration, and Falsifiable Hypotheses Hiroyuki Oshita12. Using Simulated Speech to Assess Japanese Learner Oral Proficiency Hitokazu Matsushita and Deryle Lonsdale13. Keys to College: Tracking English Language Proficiency and IELTS Test Scores in an International Undergraduate Conditional Admission Program in the United States Reese M. Heitner, Barbara J. Hoekje, and Patrick L. Braciszewski14. How Does Foreign Language Proficiency Change Over Time? Results of Data Mining Official Test Records Amber Bloomfield, Steven Ross, Megan Masters, Kassandra Gynther, and Stephen O’Connell15. The Development of Complexity in a Learner Corpus of German Colleen Neary-Sundquist Index