• Title/Summary/Keyword: Minimalist Approach

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Towards a Student-centred Approach to Translation Teaching

  • Almanna, Ali;Lazim, Hashim
    • Cross-Cultural Studies
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    • v.36
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    • pp.241-270
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    • 2014
  • The aim of this article is to review the traditional methodologies of teaching translation that concentrate on text-typologies and, as an alternative, to propose an eclectic multi-componential approach that involves a set of interdisciplinary skills with a view to improving the trainee translators' competences and skills. To this end, three approaches, namely a minimalist approach, a pre-transferring adjustment approach and a revision vs. editing approach are proposed to shift the focus of attention from teacher-centred approaches towards student-centred approaches. It has been shown that translator training programmes need to focus on improving the trainee translators' competences and skills, such as training them how to produce and select among the different versions they produce by themselves with justified confidence as quickly as they can (minimalist approach), adjust the original text semantically, syntactically and/or textually in a way that the source text supplely accommodates itself in the linguistic system of the target language (pre-transferring adjustment), and revise and edit others' translations. As the validity of the approach proposed relies partially on instructors' competences and skills in teaching translation, universities, particularly in the Arab world, need to invest in recruiting expert practitioners instead of depending mainly on bilingual teachers to teach translation.

A Cross-sectional View of the So-Called Mainstream Linguistic Theory ('주류파 언어이론'의 단면도)

  • Moon, Kyung-Hwan
    • Lingua Humanitatis
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    • v.7
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    • pp.57-92
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    • 2005
  • The main driving force behind Chomskyan theory of language that is gaining ground under the title of the "minimalist program" has been the urge to reduce the variety of natural languages to a minimal number of theoretical concepts and devices and to formulate the strongest possible hypothesis about linguistic structures. This has led to a long series of proposals of ever greater abstractness, with concomitant modifications in a number of theoretical constructs. The minimalist approach is the latest development of these constant changes, for which there is really "only one computational system and one lexicon," the differences among languages being reducible to parametric variation in "nonsubstantive parts of the lexicon"(Chomaky 1995:169-70). Chomsky thus differs, now more than ever, from other linguists by his sweepingly programmatic, rather than empirical, approach to language. The proposals he makes are too complicated to discuss here in any technical details. We rather focus on a series of lectures delivered by an ardent adherent of the minimalist program, with the view to demonstrating how this theory may mislead and distort the whole prospect of linguistic investigation. The rationale of the so-called 'minimalism' per se will be called into question.

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A Study on the Exceptional Cases to the Anti-Superiority Effect in Korean and Japanese: A Morpho-Syntactic Approach

  • Khym, Han-Gyoo
    • International Journal of Advanced Culture Technology
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    • v.5 no.1
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    • pp.9-16
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    • 2017
  • In an English multiple Wh-construction with two wh-words, only a higher-located wh-word in a sentence structure is allowed to pre-pose to the Spec of CP, which has been known as a Superiority Effect(SE). Contrary to English, Korean and Japanese have been known not to respect SE, and this phenomenon has been called an Anti-Superiority Effect(ASE). Recent studies including Takita et al(2007) and Harada(2015) among others, however, have suggested exceptional cases to ASE in Japanese, and attempted to explain them through a feature checking mechanism within the Minimalist Program(MP) by Chomsky(1995, 1998). Such explanations of MP, which are based on the abstract feature checking system, have recently been considered just as a kind of technicalia and should be backed up with further empirical evidence. In this paper, I show that there are also exceptions to ASE in Korean, and the exceptional cases to ASE both in Korean and Japanese can be well explainable based on the empirical evidence of Korean/Japanese morpho-syntax.

An English Tough-construction Resolution: A Minimalist Account

  • Hong, Sung-Shim
    • Language and Information
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    • v.13 no.1
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    • pp.127-143
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    • 2009
  • Tough-construction is, undoubtedly, one of the most puzzling syntactic problems in the history of transformational grammar. Various approaches have been proposed including Deletion approaches (Akmajian, 1972; Lasnik and Fiengo, 1974) and movement approaches. Among the movement approaches, Chomsky (1977; 1981) argues for movement of null Operator, and Hornstein (2001) argues for a two-step movement equipped with Sideward movement. Most recently, Schueler (2004) and Hartman (2009) each have also argued for a kind of movement approach. With the development of the Minimalist syntax (Chomsky, 1995; Chomsky, 2000; Chomsky, 2001), tough-construction, an age old problem in the description of grammar, turns into another round toward to a more satisfactory answer. By examining the most recent competing analyses of tough-constructions, this paper defends and extends Schueler's (2004) analysis, rather than Hartman's (2009) two step movement approach. Furthermore, this paper proposes that tough-subject originates from the intermediate CP internal Spec-TopicP position rather than from the iterated CP layer (Authier, 1992). This approach has more descriptive power than it was originally argued for in Schueler (2004) and is a step closer toward Minimalism insofar as the conception of government is no longer utilized.

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An MP Interpretation of EFL Learners′ Linguistic Behaviour

  • Kang, Ae-Jin
    • Korean Journal of English Language and Linguistics
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    • v.4 no.1
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    • pp.33-60
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    • 2004
  • This study was an attempt to present an appropriate way of interpreting L2 learners' linguistic behavior within Universal Grammar (UG) framework. Based on the Korean EFL adult learners' performance on the Subjacency violation sentences, the study suggested that the EFL learners are able to acquire subtle knowledge of target grammar and their linguistic behavior should be interpreted with the most recent version of UG theory, the Minimalist Program (MP) notion. The MP notion seems more plausible to accommodate incomplete L2 grammar while acknowledging UG-constrained interlanguage which the previous version, Principles and Parameters (P&P) approach, could not explain very well. The study observed no age-effects among the Korean EFL learners in their linguistic competence measured by the performance on the UG-constraint violation sentences. Having suggested that the MP notion can be a more reasonable tool to explain the EFL learners' linguistic behavior, the study introduced comprehensive hypotheses such as Constructionist Model (CM) and the Ontogeny Phylogeny Model (OPM).

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Derivational approach and representational approach in generative grammar (생성문법에서 도출적 접근과 표시적 접근)

  • Choe, Sook-Hee
    • English Language & Literature Teaching
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    • v.10 no.1
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    • pp.179-200
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    • 2004
  • The purpose of this study is to investigate the adequacy of derivational approach and representational approach to syntactic theories in generative grammar. As the generative grammar is based on the derivational process of syntactic theories, it is suggested that derivational approach is more valid than representational approach. Move, Economy Principle, Local Economy and Label-free Phrase Structure in Minimalist framework support the preference of derivational approach to representational approach with the elimination of computational complexity, minimality, and label-free phrase structure. Syntactic structure is considered as the result of the interaction of the properties of lexical items containing probe and economy conditions constrained by bare output conditions. On the other hand, Pseudogapping in Lasnik(1999) is analyzed in terms of Object Shift, that is, overt raising to Spec of $Agr_o$ and the PF deletion of VP in representational approach. Hence, it is suggested that the combination of derivational and representational approaches to syntactic theories can be admitted in generative grammar.

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A Study on Quantifier Raising. (양화사 인상 : ACD 구문을 중심으로)

  • 곽희신
    • Korean Journal of English Language and Linguistics
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    • v.2 no.4
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    • pp.471-494
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    • 2002
  • May(1985) argued that the regress problem of antecedent-contained deletion (ACD) construction could be resolved easily by positing QR. But the proposal has some conceptual and empirical problems. To resolve the problems of QR account on ACD, Hornstein(1994) suggested a new approach viz. LF A-movement approach. In the Minimalist framework, an object raises to the [Spec, Agro] to check the accusative case. Through this movement, the regress problem can be resolved naturally without QR. But the LF A-movement account has the same conceptual problem as the QR approach. In addition to the conceptual problem, it has also empirical problems which were pointed out by Kennedy(1997). To solve the problems, I propose that the object raise to [Spec Agro] overtly as Koizumi(1993, 1995) and Lasnik(1995) insisted. In addition to the proposal, I adopt another assumption that only the copy of a quantifier could become a variable by the vehicle change, which was suggested by Brody(1995). With the above proposals, the unnatural QR operation could be dispensed with and the conceptual and empirical problems which were made concerning the LF A-movement approach could be resolved.

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Government and Derivation in Korean Phonology

  • Park, Hee-Heon;David Michaels
    • Proceedings of the KSPS conference
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    • 1996.10a
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    • pp.117-122
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    • 1996
  • This paper proposes a derivational account of tensing and neutralization of obstruents in Korean within the theory of Government Phonology (GP) (Kaye, Lowenstamm and Vergnaud 1990, henceforth KLV; Park 1996). We begin by outling the relevant tensing and neutralization data in Korean. We point out several problems that need to be addressed in any account of these data. We then set out the central notions of GP, pointing out how adherence to the requirement that government relations remain constant throughout a derivation under the Projection Principle prevents a GP account of tensing and neutralization in Korean, which requires government relations to switch between lexical and phonetic representations. To address this problem, we propose abandoning the Projection Principle, extending lexical representations in GP along the lines of the Markedness Theory approach (Michaels 1989), and adopting the economy principles for derivation of the Minimalist approach (Chomsky 1993; Chomsky & Lasnik 1991). finally, we summarize the analysis of obstruent phenomena in Korean within GP extended in these ways.

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An Optimality-Theoretic Analysis of 'It'-Extraposition in English

  • Khym, Han-gyoo
    • International Journal of Advanced Culture Technology
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    • v.6 no.4
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    • pp.58-64
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    • 2018
  • The Extraposition phenomenon in English has been analyzed mainly through two approaches: a derivational approach under the Principles & Parameters framework (P&P) and a representational approach under the early Minimalist framework (MP). The first one tries to understand the phenomenon as a result of the movement of a Big Subject first to the end of a sentence which is then followed by the insertion of an expletive 'it' to the empty Subject position. On the other hand, the second one tries to understand it by way of assuming a Big Subject originally base-generated at the end of a sentence which is followed by the insertion of an expletive 'it' to the empty Subject position. The two approaches, however, are not free from theoretical defects at all: the full derivational approach was under controversy in terms of (1) the failure of the Binding Theory and (2) its inability to suggest anything about the marginal reading issue. On the while, the representational approach has been argued (1) to violate the thematic hierarchy that should be kept in D-structure, and (2) to be also unable to suggest the slightest difference in marginal reading issue as the first one. In this paper I focus mainly on analyzing the 'It'-Extraposition phenomenon in the Optimality Theory. I will show that by way of (i) some newly developed constraints such as Subj., and AHSubj. and (ii) a constraint hierarchy of Subj.>>AHSubj., the controversies of 'It-Extraposition' such as (1) the analysis of construction and (2) the very closely related issue of 'marginal reading issue' can be explained properly.