SAT Used Invented Language in the 1920s

In 1926, the standardized test known as the SAT was first administered. The version of the test was different from what it is now (of course), and the most amazing difference between what is was and what it is now is--in my humble opinion--the fact that the 1920s version included a section in which students translated an invented language. The Atlantic ran an article about it a couple weeks ago and include a sample section from that test.

I wish the SAT still had this type of information on the test. I remember being in a program at school where we had to translate a paragraph from Esperanto, and it took a lot of logic and step-by-step thinking to get through it. I don't think people give enough credit to what it takes to create or translate an invented language (and it helps that it's invented in exercises like these because it takes out some of the irregularities of natural languages that could make the process messier).

The following quote was taken from the article:

And while today's SAT has three core sections (Critical Reading, Math, and Writing), the SAT of 1926 had nine sub-tests, seven devoted to verbal skills and two devoted to math: Word Definitions, Arithmetical Problems, Word Classification, Antonyms, Number Series, Analogies, Logical Inference, Paragraph Reading, and Artificial Language. ... Still, the College Board's faux-netic language is a testament to how drastically educational priorities can change over time. In a world that increasingly emphasizes students' technical abilities, we take it for granted that math and verbal skills -- reasoning and communication -- should share the stage with each other. 1926, though, was a different time, with different educational goals.

Sure, I may have picked that quote for the 'faux-netic' in it, but the rest of it says something pretty important, too. I think it's interesting to think how much education has shifted (and still is shifting). It surprised me when I read this to realize how much of the test was devoted to verbal skills and how little was devoted to math. Our system seems to be almost the complete opposite today; even the verbal sections now often include elements of science or other disciplines (for example, reading a short essay about biology and responding to comprehension questions). I would like to get my hands on a full copy of one of those original SATs to see how the verbal sections were organized and what information each one targeted.

A Couple Study for Forensic Students

A student sent me a link to an interesting story shared on Fox News a couple months ago about how couples, when they are happy together, use similar language. The researchers involved in the study claim that even famous poets have a writing style that is similar to their significant other's when they are in a happy period of the relationship. People are taking this one step further to say that it might be possible to make predictions about the success rate of a couple's relationship based on a comparison of their writing styles and language usage. Here is a link to the original story.

What do you think? Is it possible to tell if a couple is happy together based on linguistic analysis? Is your language usage similar to that of your significant other?

I'm off to find a writing sample of my husband's to compare to mine...

Advantages of Multilingualism

The advantages of being able to speak more than one language have long been touted, but recently, with advances of scientific technology, the benefits of multilingualism are being studied in new ways with more specific findings of just how speaking more than one language can help us.

About a year-and-a-half ago, a study was released from Tel Aviv University that stated being multilingual helped fight off aging of the brain.  While their report doesn't list specifics, it hints that even taking the time to learn new languages in adulthood (even if you don't reach fluency) can still provide those same benefits.  Speaking more than one language basically provides exercise for your mental muscles.  If you're interested in the full article, you can find it here.

More recently, a study published in Psychological Science in January states that being multilingual helps reading skills in your native language.  The following sentence sums up the results of the study quite profoundly:

The findings suggest that after learning a second language, people never look at words the same way again.

Through eye-tracking studies, researchers found that bilingual (or multilingual) speakers took less time to process words that were cognates in their native and second languages.  This study is remarkable because it turns the metaphorical table to provide insights to how speaking more languages can lead you to being more fluent in your own, native tongue.  If you're interested in reading the full write-up published in Scientific American, you can find it here.

As I am writing this, my son is watching a bilingual show:

Both Dora the Explorer and Go, Diego, Go! provide dialogue primarily in English but have Spanish-speaking characters and include Spanish lyrics in memorable songs.  While I am glad children in America can get at least a little exposure to another language at a young age (though watching the show will, by no means, turn those children into bilingual speakers), I find myself wishing for an adult equivalent--a TV show that features a character who speaks another language so that I can get input without being completely lost in the plot.

I hope that if you have never considered learning a new language, these studies might inspire you to try to pick up a new language, whether it's through sitting in on a class or picking up a language textbook or listening to radio shows in another language online or watching movies in a foreign language.  If you are learning another language or have already learned another language, go ahead and thank yourself for taking care of your brain and allowing it to expand its neural connectivity.

Attitudes about Language: Banning the Dictionary

In Structures of English, we've been talking about attitudes people have toward language, especially toward particular words or accents in English.  Quite often, those attitudes are, unfortunately, on the negative side.  We tend to have feelings about words or constructions that should or should not be used in the English language and judge other people according to those feelings.  Yet, who has the right to dictate what words should or should not be used (or even belong) in the English language?

The English dictionary is a book set apart from other books in its long tradition of supplying definitions based on usage for words found in our language.  It is possibly the most useful reference book students, writers, readers, and language lovers can consult.  And yet... It was recently banned from a school for its inclusion of "colorful" language (read about it here).  Banning dictionaries takes the idea of banning books to a whole new level and makes me question just how attached American English speakers are to the idea of being able to monitor--and control--language use.

I would like to hear what other people think about this.  Should dictionaries be banned?  Further, should they be better censored for content if being published for use in elementary schools?  Or should dictionaries be allowed to grace bookshelves everywhere in their full glory?

Connection between Words and Gestures

What does language include?  When most people think of 'language,' they think immediately of the words and utterances that are spoken or written, but studying language as an entire system includes more than words and utterances because 'language' also includes the gestures we use to communicate.  I'm not talking about gestures in terms of recognized signs in the world's signed languages--I'm talking about the gestures we use as we speak to show what we mean beyond the words we select.

For example, when you're speaking with someone, and they tell you some surprising news, you might respond with, "Wow."  But more than that, you probably had some changes in your facial expression: wide eyes, open mouth, hands to cheeks--it depends on how surprising the news really was.  In a different scenario, suppose someone says something that angers you; maybe your eyes narrow, your fists clench, your body moves a step forward...  In written language, we like for the gestures to be included as part of texts: Imagine a novel being written with absolutely no descriptions given of how a character's body reacts in different situations.

A recent study on words and gestures (as reported by the NIDCD) shows that both these aspects of language are processed in the same area of the brain, further showing the connection between the two.

An interesting feature of gestures is that some are culturally conditioned (e.g., thumbs up, middle finger, "A-OK" sign where your thumb and first finger come together to form a circle) while others are more universally applied (e.g., taking a step backward when afraid, leaning toward someone you're interested in, bringing your eyebrows together when confused).  Perhaps these more universal gestures are at the basest level of communication for humans--if we all share them, it would be counterintuitive to say that we have to learn them.

What gestures do you know of from other cultures?  Or what gestures do you know of that are specific to Americans?

Special Gene for Language?

Scientists believe they have isolated the gene that makes it possible for humans to speak language; through experiments, they have found that the gene itself does not do anything.  Rather, the gene controls 116 other genes that work together to make language possible.  The human gene differs by only 2 of over 700 parts from the same gene in chimpanzees.

If you're interested, you can read about it on the NYTimes website: "Speech Gene Shows Its Bossy Nature".

Linguistics Braniacs

I've had several students ask about news on the proposed Linguistics Minor (and newly proposed linguistics courses); unfortunately, I don't have an update for you just yet.  If all goes well, the linguistics proposals will go up in front of the College Council this month.  I will post on the blog (and probably on the hallway walls outside my office) as soon as I know anything.  Keep your fingers crossed!

The spring course schedule is now online, so if you're interested in taking any of the linguistics courses that will be offered in the spring, check out that schedule.  Again, we have more linguistics courses than normal being offered all at once, so please register early if you are interested in the courses; otherwise, courses with no students (or few students) will be shut down.

Outside of the SFA Ling world, there are a couple studies that might interest you if you, like me, are fascinated by language and the brain.

The first deals with Broca's area, which is a vital part of your brain that deals with language production and perception.

The above image was taken from an article that focuses on how advertisers should work to target the different parts of their viewers' brains so that the ads will have maximum impact.  That, in and of itself, is interesting.  But the real article I wanted to draw attention to is "Study Sheds New Light on the Nature of Broca's Area in the Brain":

According to Sahin, the results help dispel a commonly taught notion that Broca's area handles expressive language (speaking) while another part of the cortex called Wernicke's area handles receptive language (reading and hearing).  This notion is still taught in many text books.

"Our task involved both reading and speaking, and we found that aspects of word identity, grammar and pronunciation are all computed within Broca's area.  Crucially, information about the identity of a printed word arrives in Broca's area very quickly after it is seen, in parallel with its arrival in Wernicke's ..." said Sahin.

If you have ever heard of or been around a person who has suffered a stroke or brain injury and was left with Broca's (or Wernicke's) aphasia, you may have heard these terms before.  One of the primary reasons Broca's area was associated with speaking (language production) is that the patients who suffered from Broca's aphasia are unable to express their thoughts with words.  They can draw pictures to show what they are thinking, but they cannot use words to coherently express their thoughts.

Another interesting article about language and the brain focuses on multilingualism.

The study under question in this article shows that your brain benefits from multilingualism; appropriately, the title of the article is "Brains benefit from multilingualism."  What that means is that now scientific findings are showing that there are measurable physiological advantages to being able to speak more than one language.  Studying other languages just got more interesting.

Speaking of multilingualism reminds me of a very funny video that proves linguists do have humor... when Ali G interviews Noam Chomsky.

Spring 2010 Linguistics Courses

I needed a bit of humor today.  I am having problems uploading updated blog entries to my faculty site, so I am moving our blog over to Blogger territory, which is more familiar for me.

While the final, official spring schedule has not yet been released, we do have a tentative schedule of linguistics courses for the spring:

ENG 344: Structures of English
  MWF  9:00-9:50        Sams, J
  MWF  11:00-11:50    Sams, J
  R         4:00-6:30 (?)  Sams, C

ENG 441: Linguistic Theory
  TR  11:00-12:15         Sams, J

Even though we will not be able to offer ALL the classes we had hoped for (notice Forensic Linguistics is missing...), we will be offering more sections of linguistics courses than have been offered in the past, which is very exciting.  But only if students sign up for the courses.  The R-night section of Structures will be a hybrid course, meaning that up to 50% of the course will take place online.

As a side note, both these courses would work for anyone interested in the proposed Linguistics Minor.  The minor could go up for approval with the College Council as soon as next month; I will update you as soon as I hear anything on that front.

In other news (yes, there is a world outside of SFA Linguistics), I came across a couple linguistic studies I thought you all might find interesting:

The Handwriting of Liars: a study finds that handwriting may be a better tool to find lies than gestures, vocal cues, and word choice.

Rethinking the Bee's Waggle Dance: a study shows that we may have been overestimating the importance of the bee's dance to indicate the location of food.