Acquiring Sociolinguistic Variation by De Vogelaer Gunther;Katerbow Matthias; & Matthias Katerbow

Author:De Vogelaer, Gunther;Katerbow, Matthias; & Matthias Katerbow
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Co.
Published: 2017-10-02T09:53:05+00:00

Table 3. Success in translation across the two varieties assessed on the basis of 20 features, with special reference to relativization

translation to the standard variety translation to the dialect

overall relativization: overall relativization:

x out of 20 percentage targeted form was der x out of 20 percentage targeted form was wo

Beth 15 75% der 17 85% die

Loren 11 55% wer 12 60% wer

Stan 17 85% der 18 90% wo

Table 3 summarizes the different results and the major differences between the model learners’ results on the translation task. Beth has good knowledge of both varieties in general but shows an imbalance in relativization in favour of the standard German pattern. Loren has substantial knowledge of both varieties but also a considerable zone of uncertainty about how constructions compete between the two varieties and differ from those in her first language. Stan, finally, has very balanced and clearly separated knowledge about the two varieties, and shows standard–dialect variation in very specific constructions.

A more detailed look at the translation task reveals that not all features are equally easily obtained. Table 4 displays how the three learners deal with the different target features according to subgroup by calculating and showing each learner’s number of achieved features for each subgroup in a range from 0 (no chosen feature reached) to 1 (all chosen features reached). A complete list with detailed information for all features coded is made available in the Appendix.

The three participants do not show difficulties with the few lexical features chosen and largely master the phonological differences between the varieties as well. The gaps between the translation scores of Beth, Stan and Loren are the result of different performance with respect to the more complex target constructions on the morphological and syntactic levels.

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