We use vector space models (VSMs) as explicit models of word relations that influence the N400, and use this connection to predict N400 amplitude in an ERP study by Federmeier and Kutas (1999). We find that the VSM-based model is able to capture key elements of the authors’ manipulations and results, accounting for aspects of the results that are unexplained by cloze probability. This demonstra...

Participants read sentences presented one word at a time, half of which ended with a semantically incongruent ending. 1.5T functional magnetic resonance imaging data were collected from 11 participants, showing that the left posterior inferior temporal region, which has previously been termed the Language Formulation Area (LFA), responded to cloze probability. It is suggested, based on anatomic...

The notion of expectancy grammar as a key to understanding the nature of psychologically real processes that underlie language use is introduced by Oller (1979). A central issue in this notion is that expectancy generating systems are constructed and modified in the course of language acquisition. Thus, one of the characteristics of language proficiency is that it consists of such an expectancy...

Aim To determine whether single-word speechreading is sensitive to prior phrase context. Background We used a well-established Event Related Potential (ERP) paradigm to elicit the N400, a negative wave around 400 ms. The N400 reflects activation by lexical semantic features and is modulated by contextual integration. Methods Seventeen adult native English speakers participated. They were shown ...

More innovative test methods may measure language learners’ test performance more accurately, contributing to much fairer decisions. This study examined Iranian language learners’ performance on cloze-elide test as an innovative, integrative test method. It specifically focused on investigating whether personality types correlated with their performance and whether personality types could predi...

a contractual relationship is commonly based on statements, expectations, acts and omissions out of which some will, and others will not, give rise to contractual obligations. to avoid uncertainty as to what is agreed, the contract parties often enter into a written contract that is supposed to express the final agreement between them and prevent the parties from relying on rights and obligatio...

In a recent volume chronicling the historical evolution of assessment constructs and the way these are operationalised through language tests, Weir (2013b) noted how for much of the 20th century the teaching and testing of reading focused on lower-level processing to extract factual meaning at the clause and sentence level, rather than on higher-level processing to combine and integrate textbas...

s Scott Crossley Crowdsourcing text complexity models The current study builds on work by De Clercq et al. (2014) and Crossley et al. (2017) by using crowdsourcing techniques to collect human ratings of text comprehension, processing, and familiarity across a large corpus comprising a diverse variety of topic domains (science, technology, and history). Pairwise comparisons among the ratings wer...