Dr. Malcolm Awadajin Finney
Research And Other Scholarly Interests And Activities
Pidgin and Creole Languages
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Active research agenda on Creole languages (primarily Sierra Leone Krio), particularly focusing on issues of origin, development, and linguistic properties. Recently, I have expanded this line of research to explore possible relationships between Creoles and African American English (Ebonics). My scholarly activities in Creole languages span the different sub-disciplines of linguistics (phonology, morphology, syntax, and lexicon).
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Active participant in conferences organized by the Society for Pidgin and Creole Linguistics, the premier organization that promotes scholarly discussion on such languages, and have regularly presented papers at their annual conference.
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Currently the Krio resource person in the development of the "Atlas of Pidgin and Creole Language Structures" (APiCS) spearheaded by linguists associated with the Max Plansk Institute in Germany with other contributors including a group of internationally renowned Creolists. This venture intends to put together comparable synchronic data on linguistic properties (phonology, morphology, syntax, lexicon, and semantics) of a large number of Creole languages to determine which features are universally shared by Creole languages or sub-groups of Creole languages and which features are different.
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Engage in forensic linguistics involving Krio with a number of international groups. I offer expertise as linguist and native Krio speaker by analyzing recordings of Krio for evidence of proficiency (or lack of it) in Krio. I provide expert services as evaluator of translators' competence for international organizations.
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Contributor to the "Guidelines for the Use of Language Analysis in Relation to Questions of National Origin in Refugee Cases" (Developed by 19 linguists of international repute). This document has been endorsed by multiple professional organizations and has been published in multiple peer-reviewed international linguistics journals.
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Representative Krio publications and presentations include:
Publications
(2008): "The Origin, Historical Development, and Linguistic Properties of Krio (NetNotes on Krio Series)." Umeå Krio Research Centre, Department of Language Studies, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden ). [read]
(2007): "Universal and Substrate Influence on the Phonotactics and Syllable Structure of Krio." In Magnus Huber & Viveka Velupillai (eds) Synchronic and Diachronic Perspectives on Contact Languages ( Creole Languages Library Series 32), John Benjamins Publishing Company, 23-42. [read]
(2004): Tone assignment on Lexical Items of English and African Origin in Krio. In Genevieve Escure & Armin Schwegler (Eds.), Creoles, Contact and Language Change: Linguistics and Social Implications (pp. 221-236). John Benjamins. [read]
(2003): "Substratal Influence on the Morphosyntactic Properties of Krio." Linguistic Review, 2 (3), 58-83. [read]
(2002): "Compounding and Reduplication in Krio." Journal of West African Languages, Vol. 29, No. 2, 23-34. [read]
Presentations
"Syntactic Dependency and Instrumental Constructions in Krio: Distinguishing Serial Verb Constructions from Overt or Covert Coordinate Structures". To be presented at Society for Pidgin and Creole Linguistics Conference, San Francisco, California, January, 2009.
"Determining Country of Origin through Language Analysis: Asylum Cases Involving Sierra Leone Krio and English". Annual Conference of the Society for Pidgin and Creole Linguistics, Anaheim , California , January, 2007.
"Creoles as Mediums of Instruction: A Realistic or an Idealistic Notion?" Annual Conference of the Society for Pidgin and Creole Linguistics, Anaheim , California , January, 2007.
"Similarities and Differences between Complementation in Krio and Lexifier English and Implications for Syntactic Theory". Annual Conference of the Society for Pidgin and Creole Linguistics in Albuquerque , New Mexico , January, 2006.
"The Effects of Universals on the Syllable Structure of Krio". Annual Conference of the Society for Pidgin and Creole Linguistics in Oakland, California, January, 2005.
Book Review
2005: Reviewed text (for Journal of Pidgin & Creole Languages): Ingo Plag (Editor) (2003): Phonology and Morphology of Creole Languages . Tuebingen: Niemeyer.
Work in Progress
"The Influence of Lexifier English and West African Substrate Languages on Sentential Complementation in Krio: Implications for Creole Genesis."
Co-author of a manuscript text currently under contract with John Benjamins Publishing Company entitled: Krio: A Linguistic Analysis and Sociolinguistic Significance. (Authors : Malcolm Awadajin Finney & Sheikh-Umarr Kamarah)
Bilingual and Second Language Development
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My research in this area is empirical: I collect and evaluate data to determine how bilingual and second language skills develop, and which factors may facilitate or impede development of these skills. My research has addressed the development of a wide range of linguistic skills including phonology, morphology, syntax, pragmatics, and discourse skills with a focus on identifying properties of English that are problematic for non-native English speakers and the extent to which difficulty was influenced factors such as learners' linguistic backgrounds, degree of English competence, length and nature of prior English exposure (formal/informal), and identification with American culture.
Representative publications and presentations include:
(In Progress & in Collaboration with James Till & Mitra Baghdadi): "Effects of Competence, Exposure, and Linguistic Backgrounds on Accurate Production & Perception of English Pure Vowels by Native Japanese and Mandarin Speakers" [powerpoint]
(2006): (In Collaboration with James Till & Pat Noda) "Cross-Linguistic Differences and Difficulty in the Production and Perception of English Vowels by Native Speakers of Chinese and Japanese." Presented at the Rocky Mountain Modern Language Association Convention, Tucson, Arizona, October 14, 2006 [powerpoint]
(2003): Perception of Errors in Second Language Syntax: Acquisition or Processing Difficulties? Proceedings of 4th International Symposium on Bilingualism, Arizona State University, Tempe. [read]
2002. Effects of Spanish Pragmatic and Lexical Constraints in the Interpretation of L2 English Anaphora. Pragmatics, 12 (3), 297-328.
Finney, M. (2002): "Service Learning and Prospective Nonnative ESL Teachers: Drawbacks and Benefits." Academic Exchange Extra .
Finney, M. (1997): "Markedness, Operator Movement, and Discourse Effects in the Acquisition of Purpose Clause Constructions in A Second Language." Second Language Research 13 (1).
Book Review
2006: Book Notice for text: What is Morphology? By Mark Aronoff & Kristen Feldman. Notice was published in the internationally renowned linguistics Journal: Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 2005, p. xvii.
2003: Reviewed text (for Linguist List): Anna Giacalone Ramat (Editor) (2003) Typology and Second Language Acquisition.
2003: Reviewed Abstracts for the 4 th International Symposium on Bilingualism to be hosted by Arizona State University, Tempe, in April-May 2003.
2001: Reviewed text (for Linguist List): Roger Hawkins (2001): Second Language Syntax: A Generative Introduction .
2001: Reviewed text (for Linguist List): Larry Andrews (2001): Linguistics for L2 Teachers.
2000: Reviewed text (for Linguist List): Jasone Cenoz & Ulrike Jessner (editors)(2000): English in Europe : The Acquisition of a Third Language.
Susan M. Braidi (1999) The Acquisition of Second Language Syntax , Arnold , London (Co-published in the United States by Oxford University Press, New York ). Review done for Linguist List in Spring 1999.
Susan Gass (1997): Input, Interaction, and the Second Language Learner , Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. In TESL-Electronic Journal, Vol. 3, No. 1, October 1997.
Mentoring Students in Research
I actively engage students in research projects as collaborators or research assistants. I enjoy supervising theses and comprehensive projects, including the following representative titles:
M.A. Theses Directed
"The Efficacy of Explicit Instruction of Reading Comprehension Strategies to English Language Learners in Elementary School"
"Language Ideology and a Nation in Transition: The Implications of Peace in Sri Lanka"
Comprehensive Projects Supervised
"First Language Loss and Maintenance in an English-Arabic Bilingual Environment"
"Challenges and Benefits of Cooperative Learning in a Japanese as a Foreign Language Classroom"
"Effects of Motivation, Anxiety, Interaction, and Orientations on Language Achievement by L2 Learners at an Intensive English Language School"
"An Analysis of Code-Switching Behavior in Bilingual Spanish and English Speakers Based on the Matrix Language-Frame Model and Language Dominance"
"Differential Difficulty in the Use of the English Articles by Japanese Learners of English as a Second Language"
"The Effectiveness of Focus-on-Form Instruction on the Development of Writing Skills by English Language Learners"
"The Effect of Cultural Backgrounds on the Choice of Discourse Strategies in English by Native Mandarin Speakers"
"The Relationship between Personality traits and Second language development of ESL Learners"
"The Roles of Parental Attitudes and Involvement in Heritage Language Development and Maintenance among Children in Korean Immigrant Families"
"The Effects of Social Interaction and Acculturation on the Development of Second Language Syntax"
"The Adequacy of Training of Non-Native English Speaking Students in the CSULB MA TESOL Program for the Tasks of Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language"
"A Follow-Up on Former Language Minority Students: Effect of Type of Bilingual Educational Program on Educational and Affective Outcomes of Students"
"Two-Way Immersion Programs in the ABC school district: Before and After Prop 227"
"Communication Difficulties and Strategies Adopted by Second Language Learners in Intercultural Communication"
"Bilinguals' and Monolinguals' Attitudes Towards Instruction Alternatives for English Language Learners: Post-Proposition 227"
"Analysis of Cross-Linguistic/Cultural Influence on ESL Composition: A Case Study of Japanese Speakers"
"Cross-Cultural Pragmatics: Effects of Cross-Cultural Backgrounds and Social status on Request and Refusal Strategies in English by Native Speakers of Chinese, Korean and American English"
"The Effects of Exposure on the Development of Appropriate Complaint Expressions by Turkish Speakers"
"Attitudes and behaviors toward heritage language maintenance and the impact on children's heritage language development in Chinese immigrant families"
"Factors Influencing Code-Switching in Spanish-English Bilinguals"
"Bilingualism and Cognitive Functioning"
"Effects of Age and Cultural Orientation on Language Choice in Chinese-English Bilinguals"
"Perception Difficulties in the Acquisition of L2 Phonology"
"The Effects of Motivation and Personality Traits on the Development of English Speech by Native Vietnamese Speakers"