AGRAMMATISM in APHASICS and NORMALS Language Deficits

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

AGRAMMATISM in APHASICS and NORMALS Language Deficits Agrammatism in Aphasics and Normals 1 Running head: AGRAMMATISM IN APHASICS AND NORMALS Language Deficits, Localization, and Grammar: Evidence for a Distributive Model of Language Breakdown in Aphasics and Normals Frederic Dick and Elizabeth Bates Jennifer Aydelott Utman Center for Research in Language and Department of Center for Research in Language, University of Cognitive Science, California, San Diego, and University of California, San Diego Department of Experimental Psychology, Oxford University Beverly Wulfeck Nina Dronkers Center for Research in Language and VA Northern California Health Care System Department of Language and Communicative Disorders, San Diego State University Morton Ann Gernsbacher Department of Psychology and The Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison This is a pre-print of an article in press in Psychological Review Corresponding Author: Frederic Dick Center for Research in Language Department of Cognitive Science UCSD 9500 Gilman Drive, Mail Code 0526 La Jolla, CA 92037-0526 [email protected] Agrammatism in Aphasics and Normals 2 Abstract discoveries launched a century of debate (still unresolved) revolving around the nature of these and Selective deficits in aphasics' grammatical other contrasting forms of aphasia, and their neural production and comprehension are often cited as correlates. Although any dichotomy is an evidence that syntactic processing is modular and oversimplification when it is applied to questions of localizable in discrete areas of the brain (e.g., this magnitude, the poles of this debate have been Grodzinsky, 2000). In this paper, we review a large defined (and can still be defined) in terms of the body of experimental evidence suggesting that theorist’s stand on three related issues: localization, morphosyntactic deficits can be observed in a number transparency of mapping, and domain specificity. of aphasic and neurologically intact populations. We present new data showing that receptive Localizationists argue in favor of the idea that agrammatism is found not only over a range of language (and/or specific subcomponents of aphasic groups, but is also observed in neurologically language) is represented and processed in one or intact normals processing under stressful conditions. more bounded regions of the brain. This belief, which We suggest that these data are most compatible with a has continuous and explicit roots in Franz Gall’s domain-general account of language, one that doctrine of phrenology (Fodor, 1983; Gall, 1810), is emphasizes the interaction of linguistic distributions usually accompanied by two corollaries: (a) there is a with the properties of an associative processor transparent mapping between specific functions (i.e., working under normal or suboptimal conditions. specific behaviors, experiences, and/or domains of knowledge) and the neural regions that mediate those functions, and (b) these neural regions are dedicated exclusively to the functional domains that they serve Introduction (e.g., an area that mediates grammar is not involved in other forms of sequenced perceptual or motor The primary purpose of this paper is to provide behavior). If one accepts these assumptions, then it is empirical arguments in support of a new view of meaningful to describe a given stretch of tissue as a language deficits and their neural correlates, “language zone” or even a “grammar zone”. particularly in the realm of syntax. "Selective" syntactic deficits are often cited as evidence that the The alternative to localization is sometimes cast human brain contains a bounded and well-defined in negative terms, i.e., as “nonlocalization.” Early faculty or module dedicated exclusively to the nonlocalizationists used terms like “holism” representation and/or processing of syntax (Caplan & (Goldstein, 1948), “equipotentiality”, and “mass Waters, 1999; Grodzinsky, 1995a, 1995b, 2000; action” (Lashley, 1950), to describe their alternative Pinker, 1994). Here, we present a wide range of view, emphasizing a lack of specificity in cortical experimental evidence (both new and old) showing organization for language. These amorphous terms that such deficits are more accurately—and have not outlived their authors, and with good reason: parsimoniously—characterized as interactions It is now indisputable that the brain is a highly between specific linguistic environments and a differentiated organ at birth, with substantial division domain-general (as opposed to language-specific) of labor from one region to another (Clancy, processor. Darlington, & Finlay, 2000; Elman, Bates, Johnson, Karmiloff-Smith, Parisi, & Plunkett 1996). The link between brain injury and aphasia has been known for at least 3000 years (O'Neill, 1980). The modern alternative to classic localization For more than 100 years, we have also known that embraces this central tenet, but casts it in a different aphasia is more likely following injuries to the left form: complex functions like language emerge from side of the brain, and that different kinds of aphasia the conjoint activity of many brain regions which may can result depending on the nature of the injury and be spatially discontinuous and widely distributed. For its locus within the left hemisphere (Goodglass, present purposes, we will use the term “distributivity” 1993). Paul Broca was the first to associate deficits in to describe this alternative to the localizationist view. language production with damage to an anterior Distributivity almost always coexists with the region of the left hemisphere, now known as “Broca’s rejection of transparent mapping and domain area”. Carl Wernicke is credited with the subsequent specificity: A given region may be relevant for discovery of a contrasting form of aphasia, language, participate in language, and even be characterized by a comprehension deficit in the essential for language, but its relationship to language presence of fluent speech, usually associated with is not transparent, nor is it dedicated exclusively to damage to a posterior region of the left hemisphere the processing of language or any of its that is now called “Wernicke’s area”. These subcomponents. Instead, the regions involved in Agrammatism in Aphasics and Normals 3 language processing are also involved in the were explained along sensorimotor lines, rooted in mediation of processes that language shares with rudimentary principles of neuroanatomy. For other domains, including specific forms of memory, example, the symptoms associated with damage to attention, perception and motor planning. From this Broca’s area were referred to collectively as motor point of view, it is no more appropriate to refer to a aphasia: slow and effortful speech, with a reduction in participating region as a “language zone” or a grammatical complexity, despite the apparent “grammar zone” than it would be to refer to the elbow preservation of speech comprehension at a clinical as a “tennis organ”. level. This definition made sense in view of the fact that Broca’s area lies in frontal cortex, anterior to Our goal in this paper is to provide evidence in what we now refer to as the “motor strip”. favor of a distributive approach to grammar, and against the claim that deficits in the processing of Conversely, the symptoms associated with grammar necessarily derive from damage to a damage to Wernicke’s area were defined collectively localized, bounded, and self-contained module or as sensory aphasia: moderate to severe problems in organ dedicated exclusively to this aspect of speech comprehension in the presence of fluent but language. We will show that (a) deficits in empty speech and moderate to severe word-finding grammatical processing (both receptive and problems. This characterization also made sense to expressive) are not restricted to any single type of early neurologists, because Wernicke’s area lies in aphasia, and hence are not associated with damage to posterior cortex, at the interface between auditory specific regions; and (b) the specific profile of cortex and the various sensory association areas that deficits referred to as “receptive agrammatism” can were presumed to mediate or contain word meaning. be reproduced by testing college students under Isolated problems with repetition were further adverse processing conditions (e.g., temporal and/or ascribed to fibers that link Broca’s and Wernicke’s spectral degradation of the acoustic signal), area; other syndromes involving the selective sparing suggesting that these grammatical deficits may have or impairment of reading or writing were proposed, causes that lie outside of the linguistic domain. We with speculations about the fibers that connect visual will review recent evidence on both these points, and cortex with the classical language areas (for an will also provide two new sets of data in their influential and highly critical historical review, see support. The first involves a large group of aphasic Head, 1926). patients, who vary in their symptom profiles as well as the nature and location of their lesions. The This classification of aphasia types in terms of second involves a large sample of college students sensory and motor “centers” still appears in many who are tested on the same stimuli under one of nine medical texts, perhaps because of its appealing different stress conditions. In both these data sets, we neuroanatomical simplicity. However, as Sigmund target what has been called the “core data” of Freud pointed out in his remarkably prescient book agrammatism (Hickok & Avrutin,
Recommended publications
  • On the Role of Inflectional Morphology in Agrammatism
    Chapter 3 On the Role of Inflectional Morphology in Agrammatism Ria de Bleser & Josef Bayer 1. Introduction There is an ongoing debate in gencrative linguistics as to the place 0 f mor­ phology, and in particular of inflection, in a model of grammar. We have argued in de Bleser and Bayer (1986) that lexical rnorphology is an appropriate framework to explain data from certain aphasic patients who show dissocia­ tiOIlS between a retained Illorphophonological lexicon and a disrupted syn­ tactic and semantic system. Our purpose here is to show how lexical morphology can also explain data from argrammatic aphasics in an elegant and consistent way. The performance of three German-speaking agrammatics in various experimental tasks demonstrates a surprisingly good command over inflected forms in addition to other aspects of morphology in the face of a relatively impoverished syntax. The elicited data are incompatible with those accounts of agrammatism which assume a total abolition 0 f morphosyntax or a deficit in accessing bound morphemes. The data also contradict explana­ tions which take agrammatism to be a processing disorder, ",bile syntactic representations are largely preserved. Retention of a rich lexicon by agram­ matics may account for both their morphosyntactic abilities and their deficit(s) in syntax proper. 2. Two Ways of Locating Morphology in Generative Grammar For the purpose of this c~apfer, we make a simplified distinction between two classes of generative theories, (a) the split morphology theories (SMT) and (b) the lexical morphology theories (LMT). With SMT, we refer to models 45 ·1 \\ hr,lr !,'cdlc Ililkltionalnlorphology outside of the lexicon and in a compo­ UvlT as a theoretical account.
    [Show full text]
  • Grammatical and Lexical Pronoun Dissociation in French Speakers with Agrammatic Aphasia: a Usage-Based Account and REF-Based Hypothesis
    Journal of Neurolinguistics 44 (2017) 1e16 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Neurolinguistics journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jneuroling Grammatical and lexical pronoun dissociation in French speakers with agrammatic aphasia: A usage-based account and REF-based hypothesis * Byurakn Ishkhanyan a, , Halima Sahraoui b, Peter Harder c, Jesper Mogensen d, Kasper Boye a a Department of Nordic Studies and Linguistics, University of Copenhagen, Njalsgade 120, 2300 Copenhagen, Denmark b OCTOGONE-Lordat E.A. 4156, University of Toulouse, Toulouse Brain Science Institute (ISCT), 5, Allee Antonio Machado, 31058 Toulouse Cedex 9, France c Department of English, Germanic and Romance Studies, University of Copenhagen, Njalsgade 128, 2300 Copenhagen, Denmark d The Unit for Cognitive Neuroscience (UCN), Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen, Øster Farimagsgade 2A, 1353 Copenhagen, Denmark article info abstract Article history: Background: Pronouns have been shown to be impaired in agrammatic production but not Received 31 May 2016 Received in revised form 2 February 2017 all types of pronouns are equally affected. For instance, clitic pronouns are more impaired Accepted 9 February 2017 than non-clitic ones. A usage-based theory of grammatical status suggests a reclassification Available online 20 February 2017 of pronouns into grammatical and lexical and predicts that grammatical pronouns are more impaired in agrammatic production. Besides, the reorganization of elementary Keywords: functions (REF) model, which describes the underlying neurocognitive processes of post- Agrammatism injury recovery, explores the variability across individuals with agrammatism. Pronouns Aims: The current study hypothesizes that those pronouns that by the usage-based theory Aphasia of grammatical status are grammatical are more affected than the lexical ones in agram- Grammar matic speech.
    [Show full text]
  • Sv and Vs Total Interrogatives in Ibero-Romance: the Role of Phonetically Unrealised Elements in Agrammatism
    Poznań Studies in Contemporary Linguistics 45(2), 2009, pp. 223–243 © School of English, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland doi:10.2478/v10010-009-0013-7 SV AND VS TOTAL INTERROGATIVES IN IBERO-ROMANCE: THE ROLE OF PHONETICALLY UNREALISED ELEMENTS IN AGRAMMATISM SILVIA MARTÍNEZ -FERREIRO Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona [email protected] ABSTRACT This paper aims to characterise difficulties with the order VS in agrammatic speech. To fulfill this aim, we test the production of yes/no questions in 15 agrammatic subjects and 15 matched non-damaged control native speakers of Catalan, Galician and Spanish. The Ibero-Romance va- rieties under investigation are null subject languages, i.e. they allow post-verbal subjects with in- dependence of the nature of the verb (Rizzi 1982; Belletti 1988; Belletti and Leonini 2004). This is due to the possibility of licensing a null pronominal subject, an “associate” (Chomsky 1995), in the pre-verbal position. The elicitation of yes/no questions provides us with a suitable testing ground since both the orders SV and VS are accepted. Even though our agrammatic sample re- vealed mastery of yes/no questions to a level of 67.78% crosslinguistically, their pattern of re- sponse diverged from non-pathological adult-like usage (with the SV option preferred by agrammatics). Since the projection of the CP-field is required with independence of subject placement (Rizzi 1997, 2002), structural accounts (Tree-Pruning Hypothesis, Friedmann and Grodzinsky 1997) seem to suffer from some shortcomings in accounting for these results. We explore the possibility that the systematic avoidance of the VS order derives from its involve- ment of an additional expletive pro in pre-verbal position.
    [Show full text]
  • Aphasia and Syntax William Matchin1 & Corianne Rogalsky2
    Aphasia & Syntax 1 Aphasia and Syntax William Matchin1 & Corianne Rogalsky2 1Department of Communication Sciences & Disorders, University of South Carolina 2College of Health Solutions, Arizona State University This is a draft of a chapter to be included in the forthcoming Handbook of Experimental Syntax edited by Jon Sprouse (Oxford University Press), due for publication in 2020. Last updated April 2020. 1 Introduction The representations, operations, and principles of syntactic theories are generally held to be informative about how language is represented in the human brain (Chomsky, 1965; Sprouse and Hornstein, 2015). For this reason, there is powerful potential for research on the nature of linguistic deficits due to brain damage, or aphasia, to inform syntactic theory. This is particularly so given that there exist disorders that appear to impair core aspects of language, such as agrammatism. Likewise, researchers and clinicians that seek to characterize the deficits in patients with aphasia and to develop assessment and treatment protocols can in principle greatly benefit from the insights into the nature of language provided by syntactic theory. However, there is currently little interaction between theoretical syntax and aphasiology. This is likely due to several reasons, including sociological ones such as the lack of researchers proficient in both fields and ineffective communication among researchers from these very different traditions. However, we suspect that there are deeper reasons for this disconnect. In particular, we suggest two fundamental obstacles: (i) a lack of insight into how grammatical operations apply to real-time sentence processing, and (ii) a focus by syntactic theories on grammatical operations, principles and modules that do not line up well with the currency of functional neuroimaging and neuropsychology: the cortical area.
    [Show full text]
  • A Discission of Linguistic Approaches to Agrammatic Disorders
    Adam Szczegielniak 2005 Manuscript, Harvard University [email protected] http://scholar.harvard.edu/adam A discussion of “linguistic” approaches to agrammatic disorder studies1 I. Introduction This paper is intended to be an overview of a trend in research into agrammatism. However, it is not going to be a totally indiscriminate or unbiased overview - mostly because the size of the literature does not allow this. My primary goal is not so much to provide a database of research into agrammatism, but to give a snapshot of a direction in research of brain damaged ‘agrammatic’ subjects that I consider influential. I will argue that there are inherent problems with this avenue of research. However, this paper is not an attempt at arguing that research into syntactic performance of agrammatics is meaningless. I believe that one can use patient syntactic performance to forward certain models of linguistic functional architecture, however, it has to be done in a way scientific inquiry is usually done: one constructs a hypothesis which is empirically verifiable, then it is tested and either confirmed or refuted. Unfortunately, this simple practice used often in hard sciences seems to have been abandoned for a different approach where researchers arbitrarily designate a set of evidence and then provide an account for it without considering potential counter-evidence and more importantly potentially simpler accounts. Giving a novel account for a small subset of data that revises well established theories is not something unusual, relativity is a good example. However, I will argue that this is not the case with theories of agrammatism.
    [Show full text]
  • Agrammatism in Arabic
    CROSS LINGUISTIC APHASIA STUDY AGRAMMATISM IN ARABIC Pr Nacira ZELLAL Accord programme 91 MDU 177 207 P L A N INTRODUCTION I- SUBJECTS : Agrammatic and Control Subjects II- DISCOURSE ANALYSIS II-1 Morpheme Errors and Distributions II-2 Distribution of Grammatical Categories in the Texts II-3 Distribution of Major Class Lexical Items II-4 Syntactic Structures Used II-5 Discourse choice - Use of Direct and Indirect Style - Use of Tenses - Pronominal/Nominal Reference II-6 Production Parameters - Rate of Production - Phrase Length II-7 Comprehension Check II-8 Writing III- DISCUSSION IV- ARABIC GRAMMATICAL SKETCH V- ARABIC-LANGUAGE MATERIALS: Aphasic and Control Subjects V-1 Arabic Transcription Phonetic system V-2 Aphasic Subject Interlinear Transcription V-3 Control Subject Interlinear Transcription 208 I- SUBJECTS : Agrammatic and Control Subjects Subjects for the present study are A.P (agrammatic patient) and C.S (control subject). I-1 Agrammatic Patient, A.P A.P comes from Setif, a town situated in East Center of Algeria. He lives in Algiers, he is 57 years old, employee in a national organism, married and father of 11 children. He is observed in Neurology Service of Professor GRID, at Mustapha Hospital of Algiers, for a repeated motor deficit with loss of language. He precisely presents three episodes of right superior member motor deficit, associated with aphasia, headache « in cask » and faintings. a- Neurological status - E E G : slow anomalies of slow theta type at the level of left fork diffusing sometimes at right on a profile with a normal bottom. - Cerebral Objective Tomodensitometry: two areas are characterized by hypodensity phenomenon: one left parietal and one temporo-occipital.
    [Show full text]
  • COPULA and AUXILIARY PATTERNS from the CONVERSATIONAL SPEECH of NONFLUENT APHASICS by Pamelia F
    COPULA AND AUXILIARY PATTERNS FROM THE CONVERSATIONAL SPEECH OF NONFLUENT APHASICS by Pamelia F. O·Cannell. Ph.D. State University of New York Alvirda Farmer, Ph.D. San Jose State University and Carolyn Estepa, M.S. Ithaca College ABSTRACT Copula and auxiliary verb usage in the conversational speech often nonfluent aphasics was analyzed. Ofparticular interest was the question of consistency in patterns of use of these lingflistic structures in spontaneous speech. The relationship between copula/auxiliary verb usage and the variables ofseverity, self-correction, semantic and phonological/articulatory error was examined. and a comparison of these results with those obtained by Schnitzer (1974) was made. Results indicated inconsisTent and variable patferns of usage/deletion of these verb forms and no significant relationships with any of the other variables were obtained. The results are discussed in terms of the need for caution in generalizing from single subjecT research and the needfor individualized assessment and treatment strategies. The question ofthe nature ofthe language handicap represented by nonfluent aphasia is also discussed. Several research techniques developed from the area of linguistics have been used to analyze language patterns in adult aphasics. A significant number of studies have used a single-subject research design (Green. 1969; Goodglass, et al. 1972; Kehoe and Whitaker, 1973; Lesser, 1973; Schnitzer, 1974; Schnitzer and Martin, 1974; Ulatowska and Richardson, 1974). While detailed analyses of single cases provide valuable information, there is some question as to the validity of generalizations about aphasic language which derive from single-subject research. Examples of inconsistent language performance in aphasic subjects are numerous.
    [Show full text]
  • Breakdown at the Morphological Level in Agrammatism
    Stem-, Spraak- en Taalpathologie 32.8310/05/1301-37 Vol. 13, 2005, No. 1, pp. 37-48 © Nijmegen University Press Breakdown at the morphological level in agrammatism Ria De Bleser1, Frank Burchert1 and Philip Rausch2 1Potsdam University, Germany, 2University of Vienna, Austria In this study, we intend to take a closer look at the morphological deficit observed in agrammatism from the two perspectives of language production and language comprehension. In order to be able to assess the influence of the syntactic context on the patients’ ability to correctly produce and comprehend morphological material, we administered several tests to a group of German- speaking agrammatic patients. Some of these tests aimed at assessing the agrammatic subjects’ morphological abilities in production and comprehension in morpholexical tasks (such as structural analysis of compounds and nominal plural formation), whereas others were intended to provide information on the patients’ capacity to make use of morphology in syntactic contexts of dif- fering degrees of complexity (case assignment in prepositional phrases, noun phrases, canonical and non-canonical sentences; interpretation of ambiguously and unambiguously case-marked constituents in canonical and non-canonical position). The results show that the agrammatic patients were generally able to exploit morphology in both production and comprehension in the mor- pholexical tasks and in local or canonical syntactic structures. Performance deteriorated, however, when the production or interpretation of morphological markers depended on more complex syntactic configurations. We argue that the breakdown of morphology in agrammatism must thus be considered as the con- sequence of an underlying syntactic deficit and that the results further provide neurolinguistic evidence for theories of Lexical Morphology.
    [Show full text]
  • Agrammatism and Functional Categories*
    University of Calgary PRISM: University of Calgary's Digital Repository Calgary (Working) Papers in Linguistics Volume 14, Fall 1991 1991-09 Agrammatism and functional categories* Shelstad, Lorraine University of Calgary Shelstad, L. (1991). Agrammatism and functional categories*. Calgary Papers in Linguistics, 14(Fall), 67-84. http://hdl.handle.net/1880/51348 journal article Downloaded from PRISM: https://prism.ucalgary.ca Agrammatism and functional categories* Lorraine Shelstad Department of Linguistics University of Calgary ABSTRACT. The loss of function words and grammatical morphemes in agrammatism has been investigated by a number of researchers. Different theories have been put forth by Goodglass (1968), Kean (1977), and Grodzinsky (1984), as well as several others. One of the problems they faced was that these function words and morphemes did not form a natural class in syntactic theory. The three theories mentioned will be reviewed. The implications of a new theory of syntax (Fukui 1986) for the study of agrammatic speech will then be examined in the hopes that they will encourage further research in this particular area. 1.0 INTRODUCTION Broca's aphasia is a syndrome resulting from damage to the anterior portion of the brain's left hemisphere. The accompanying speech deficits include poor articulation, substitution and deletion of sounds, and impairment in the formation of synlactic patterns. The latter symptom is known as agrammatism. One of the most striking characteristics of agrammatism is the omission of function words (such as English the) and grammatical morphemes (for example, -ed) causing speech to sound telegraphic. There have been several popular theories regarding the deficit or deficits causing this type of speech.
    [Show full text]
  • AGRAMMATISM in APHASIA: PRODUCTION and COMPREHENSION of ASPECT by ENGLISH-SPEAKING BROCA's APHASICS by KAREN LEE COLE BIEBER, B.A., M.A
    AGRAMMATISM IN APHASIA: PRODUCTION AND COMPREHENSION OF ASPECT BY ENGLISH-SPEAKING BROCA'S APHASICS by KAREN LEE COLE BIEBER, B.A., M.A. A THESIS IN SPEECH AND HEARING SCIENCES Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Texas Tech University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE IN SPEECH AND HEARING SCIENCES Approv.ed Accepted December, 1992 ACKNOWLEDGE:MENTS ~ v" ,. I It is a pleasure to acknowledge the support - both professional and personal-of a number of individuals. They have made the past three years in the Department of Communication Disorders both challenging and enjoyable. I am very grateful to Dr. Curt E. Hamre, who was not only my thesis committee chairman, a consistently helpful critic and editor, but an exemplary teacher. He was never less than enthusiastic to read my research at all its stages along the way and offer frequent advice. I found his kind comments to be especially encouraging. I am also indebted to committee member Dr. William E. Ham for allowing me to extend his study to the population of aphasics and for devoting a great deal of time to helping me with statistical analysis of the data. He was generous, as well, in allowing me access to his computer and office on a number of occasions to run subjects for the study. I am appreciative of committee member Dr. John Muma for his input and for quickly getting his comments back to me so I could make the necessary corrections. Special thanks must also be extended to the individuals who served as subjects in this study and to their families for their eager participation.
    [Show full text]
  • Jean Berko Gleason Curriculum Vitae
    Jean Berko Gleason Curriculum Vitae Biographical Summary Jean Berko Gleason is one of the world’s leading experts on children’s language. She currently is professor emerita in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Boston University and is also a faculty member and former director of BU's Graduate Program in Applied Linguistics. She has been a visiting scholar at Stanford University, Harvard, and the Linguistics Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in Budapest. She received her undergraduate and graduate degrees from Harvard/Radcliffe. She has been president of the International Association for the Study of Child Language, and is the author and editor of leading textbooks on language development and psycholinguistics. She created the Wug Test, the best known experimental study of children’s language acquisition. She has published more than 125 articles on aphasia, language attrition, language development in children, gender differences in parents' speech, and cross-cultural differences. Her work is frequently cited in the professional literature, and has been featured in the popular press and on television. She is currently featured in the PBS award-winning online Nova Science Now series “The Secret Life of Scientists” as well as on the Web at the World Science Festival. Office: Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, 64 Cummington Mall, Boston MA 02215 http://www.bu.edu/psych/faculty/gleason/ Contact: Phone: (617) 864-5095 Email preferred: [email protected] Education: A.B. History and
    [Show full text]
  • Investigating the Agrammatic Production of Canonical and Non-Canonical Sentences Cross-Linguistically
    Advances in Language and Literary Studies ISSN: 2203-4714 www.alls.aiac.org.au Investigating the Agrammatic Production of Canonical and Non-Canonical Sentences Cross-Linguistically Mohammad Harun* Comilla University, Bangladesh Corresponding Author: Mohammad Harun, E-mail: [email protected] ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Article history Research on agrammatism has revealed that the nature of linguistic impairment is systematic Received: October 22, 2019 and interpretable. Non-canonical sentences are more impaired than those of canonical sentences. Accepted: December 11, 2019 Previous studies on Japanese (Hiroshi et al. 2004; Chujo 1983; Tamaoka et al. 2003; Nakayama Published: February 29, 2020 1995) report that aphasic patients take longer Response Time (RT) and make more mistakes Volume: 11 Issue: 1 in producing non-canonical sentences compared to that of canonical sentences. The present Advance access: February 2020 research investigates the production impairments of canonical and non-canonical sentences cross-linguistically focusing on Bangla, Japanese, German and English aphasic patients. While Bangla, Japanese, German have relatively flexible word order, and hence allow freer phrasal Conflicts of interest: None movement, English exemplifies less freedom in word order patterns, and does not allow as much Funding: None movement as the former three. We hypothesized that Bangla agrammatic patients would have more impairments in producing non-canonical sentences than those of canonical counterparts, while the production of canonical sentences is not completely devoid of impairments too. Primary Key words: data were collected from Bangla agrammatic patients, and secondary data from Japanese, Bangla Agrammatism, German and English were exploited for cross-linguistic comparison. The findings show that (Non-)Canonicity, Bangla agrammatic speakers have severe impairments in producing passive sentences, although Passive Sentences, the production of active ones are not completely devoid of impairments.
    [Show full text]