Kathleen O'Brien Ramirez, Ph.D. | Université de Poitiers (original) (raw)

Papers by Kathleen O'Brien Ramirez, Ph.D.

During 24 silent and oral readings of Guy de Maupassant and Arthur C. Clarke short stories (1294 ... more During 24 silent and oral readings of Guy de Maupassant and Arthur C. Clarke short stories (1294 and 1516 words) by proficient multilinguals, movement of the left eye was tracked and utterances were recorded. Three hypotheses investigate universality in the reading ...

Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, Sage Publications, 2012

Authors: Joel Brown, Koomi Kim, K. O'Brien Ramirez. This article examines how a second-grader dem... more Authors: Joel Brown, Koomi Kim, K. O'Brien Ramirez.
This article examines how a second-grader demonstrates that reading is not about decoding letters and words in linear order but is a complex activity involving the reader's decisions with respect to several aspects of their knowledge of their language and how comprehension is key to transacting with texts. The paper observes and documents the reader's reading comprehension process using eye tracking and miscue analysis.

Alamargot, D., Leuwers, C., Caporossi, G., Pontart, V., Pagan, A., O’Brien Ramirez, K., Fayol, ... more Alamargot, D., Leuwers, C., Caporossi, G., Pontart, V., Pagan, A., O’Brien Ramirez, K., Fayol, M., & Chesnet, D. (2011). Analyse des mouvements oculaires au cours de la production de l’accord en nombre. In M. Audiffren & J. Chuquet (Eds.), Regards croisés sur la cognition : Du langage aux dynamiques sociales (pp. 175-192). Rennes : Presses Universitaires de Rennes.

Psychology Press., 2011

Book: Past, Present, and Future Contributions of Cognitive Writing Research to Cognitive Psychol... more Book:
Past, Present, and Future Contributions of Cognitive Writing Research to Cognitive Psychology
Edited by Virginia Wise Berninger

Part V: Cognitive Processes in Writing

Chapter 19|20 pages
Eye-Tracking Data During Written Recall: Clues to Subject–Verb Agreement Processing During Translation
Abstract
T his chapter describes how the analysis of eye-tracking data obtained dur-ing written sentence recall can contribute to understanding the nature of processing involved in the production of subject-verb agreement. Studies in this area have primarily analyzed the errors produced in response to sentences designed to trigger subject-verb agreement errors, also known as attraction errors (Francis, 1986). These errors consist of establishing agreement between the verb, conjugated in the present indicative, and the noun that immediately precedes it, such as “le chien des voisins mange(nt)” (the dog of the neighbors eats). This paradigm has led to an understanding of the infl uence of semantic, phonological, and syntactic processes in grammatical processing. It has provided arguments in favor of a two-level grammatical processing model in writing production. At the fi rst level, verb-ending number agreement is automatically activated by an immediately preceding noun (e.g., “voisins” activates the plural of “mangent” in the sentence “le chien des voisins mangent”). If the preceding noun is not the subject of the verb, an attraction error is possible. The second processing level consists of pregraphic control, which detects such an error before it is written, by reiterating the appropriate agreement rule. Various studies have measured pregraphic control (see Largy, Cousin, & Dédéyan, 2005, for a summary), but neither the temporal course of the process nor the exact nature of the mechanism involved has been clearly determined.

Cite this document
Denis Alamargot et al., « Eye Tracking Data during Written Recall: Clues to Subject-Verb Agreement Processing during Translation. », Hyper Article en Ligne - Sciences de l'Homme et de la Société, ID : 10.4324/9780203805312

NB: This book is in English. The full text is downloadable here in pdf. format and begins with ... more NB: This book is in English. The full text is downloadable here in pdf. format and begins with an abstract.

Résumé en français:
Nous avons procédé à l’enregistrement des mouvements de l’œil gauche et 24 lectures orales et silencieuses de contes de Guy de Maupassant et Arthur C. Clarke (1294 et 1516 mots) par des multilingues de haut niveau, les énoncés produits ont été aussi enregistrés. Trois hypothèses portaient sur l’universalité des processus de lecture. La lecture en Anglais et en Français est similaire du point de vue la vitesse de lecture, des erreurs de lecture, et des mouvements oculaires (chapitre 4). La lecture en langue première ou maternelle (L1) est similaire en vitesse, erreurs et mouvements oculaires à la lecture en langue seconde (L2) acquise plus tard (Chapitre 5). La lecture silencieuse était similaire à la lecture à voix haute pour la vitesse et les mouvements oculaires (chapitre 6). Les hypothèses étaient partiellement confirmées ; des implications sont proposées tant pour l’enseignement que pour la recherche.
La lecture silencieuse est significativement plus rapide que la lecture orale, avec une différence moyenne de 28,7%. La vitesse de lecture est similaire en Anglais et en Français, mais elle interagit différemment avec l’expérience du langage : les lecteurs L2 en Anglais lisent 50% plus lentement que les lecteurs L1, tandis qu’en Français, les lecteurs L2 lisent 13% plus vite.
Les scores de re-narration démontrent un léger avantage de compréhension pour la lecture orale par rapport à la lecture silencieuse, une étendue plus large après lecture orale qu’après lecture silencieuse, les lecteurs L1 ayant un léger avantage par rapport aux lecteurs L2, et ils amélioraient leurs scores après une seconde lecture. Interdire la relecture pour améliorer l’exactitude orale pouvait désavantager certains lecteurs : une seconde lecture orale en Anglais (mais pas en Français) induisait plus d’erreurs que la lecture initiale. Ceci exige une nouvelle étude avec des groupes étroitement contrôlés. Globalement, Les lectures en Anglais induisaient 36 % d’erreurs en plus par rapport aux lectures en Français.
Les durées moyennes des fixations étaient un peu plus longues pendant la lecture silencieuse que pendant la lecture à voix haute, et elles présentaient peu de variation entre la lecture en Anglais et en Français. Une part importante de la variation en vitesse de lecture (L1/L2, silencieuse/à voix haute) ne se reflète pas au niveau des durées moyennes des fixations oculaires, même si la dominance langagière présentait un effet en Français, avec des fixations lors de la lecture L1 18.6% plus courtes qu’en lecture L2.
La variation individuelle est un facteur. L’affect émotionnel, le style poétique, la construction syntaxique, et l’attention portée aux métaphores ont aussi été observés ces données EMMA. Une prochaine analyse de cette base de données devrait analyser les relations anaphoriques, les métaphores, la manière dont les textes renseignent, et la manière dont les lecteurs développent des relations narratives, sémantiques et pragmatiques dans un discours textuel complet.

Review of research and practice

O’Brien de Ramírez, K. (1999). Developmental processes in bilingualism as reflected in the code-s... more O’Brien de Ramírez, K. (1999). Developmental processes in bilingualism as reflected in the code-switching strategies of young language learners. Paper presented at the VIIIth International Congress for the Study of Child Language (IASCL), San Sebastian, Spain.

O’Brien de Ramírez, K. (1998). Dialect awareness: a ticket out of the low SES trap. Poster presen... more O’Brien de Ramírez, K. (1998). Dialect awareness: a ticket out of the low SES trap. Poster presented at the Fourth International Conference of the Association for Language Awareness (ALA), Cégep de Sainte-Foy, Quebec.

Funded Grants by Kathleen O'Brien Ramirez, Ph.D.

Cooperation for Science and Technology (COST: IS0 703), participation in researcher training work... more Cooperation for Science and Technology (COST: IS0 703), participation in researcher training workshops funded through grants from the European Commission: Learning to Write Effectively (Charles University, Prague 2010), ELDEL (Bratislava 2010), Eye&Pen (Poitiers 2011), Keystroke logging and eye tracking (Anvers, 2011).

Deaf/Hard of Hearing (D/HH) Southwestern Project - To Prepare Teachers of Students Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing - Federal Grant

Data collection and data management in a large-scale, longitudinal study with mixed quantitative ... more Data collection and data management in a large-scale, longitudinal study with mixed quantitative and qualitative design identifying factors in successful English language schooling of hearing-impaired students in grades K-8: Longitudinal Study of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students in Public Schools in Arizona, Colorado and California. Joint research: Arizona School for the Deaf and Blind and University of Arizona Department of School Psychology, Special Education and Rehabilitation. Principle investigators: Shirin Antia and Suzanne Reed.

Graduate Research Associate in Psycholinguistics. Investigated acquisition and use. English lexi... more Graduate Research Associate in Psycholinguistics. Investigated acquisition and use. English lexical access and syntax in language processing with Ken Forster on Masked Priming using D-Master and DMDX; Janet Nicol, Jason Barker, Inez Mendez-Anton on attachment, agreement, Norman/Saxon genitive, and Cross-linguistic picture naming, at The University of Arizona, Psycholinguistics West Laboratory.

Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, Sage Publications, 2012

Psychology Press., 2011

Part V: Cognitive Processes in Writing

Review of research and practice

Deaf/Hard of Hearing (D/HH) Southwestern Project - To Prepare Teachers of Students Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing - Federal Grant

O’Brien de Ramírez, K., & Yamashita, Y. (2002, April). What eye movements reveal about necessary ... more O’Brien de Ramírez, K., & Yamashita, Y. (2002, April). What eye movements reveal about necessary text modifications in early Japanese-English biliteracy. Paper presented at the Second Language Acquisition and Teaching (SLAT) Roundtable. Tucson, Arizona.

Society for Text and Discourse

Read&Answer is an application to study task-oriented reading activities. The application mimics p... more Read&Answer is an application to study task-oriented reading activities. The application mimics paper-and-pencil situations in which a reader interacts with one or more documents to perform a specific task, such as answering questions, writing an essay, or similar activities. Read&Answer presents documents and questions with a mask. The reader unmasks documents and questions so that only a piece of information is available at a time. This way the entire interaction between the reader and the documents on the task is recorded and can be analyzed.

H 0 : If reading is indeed a universal process, trends should be observable 1-across modes (silen... more H 0 : If reading is indeed a universal process, trends should be observable 1-across modes (silent/oral) 2-between subjects (L1/L2/L3)

O’Brien de Ramirez, K. (2000 June). Joining a linguistic community: An adapted form of Community ... more O’Brien de Ramirez, K. (2000 June). Joining a linguistic community: An adapted form of Community Language Learning. Methods workshop presented at the American Indian Language Development Institute (AILDI), Tucson, AZ.
https://aildi.arizona.edu/

NB: This presentation is in English. Resumen en francais: Ce travail, mené au laboratoire EMM... more NB: This presentation is in English.
Resumen en francais: Ce travail, mené au laboratoire EMMA (Tucson, University of Arizona), a été présenté en 2010 au sein du Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition et l'Apprentissage (CeRCA, UMR 6234, Université de Poitiers, France). Il regroupe trois études associant l'analyse des mouvements oculaires à celle des erreurs de lecture à l'oral. Bien que distincts, ces deux analyses offrent une approche complémentaire dans l'évaluation des capacités de lecture. Ainsi, une première étude s'est intéressée aux capacités de lecture d'un enfant de 6 ans. N'arrivant pas à lire à l'oral, cet enfant était jugé comme étant en difficulté d'apprentissage par ses professeurs. Une tâche de lecture compréhension associant texte et image, couplée à l'enregistrement des mouvements oculaires a été utilisée. Contre toute attente, les résultats montrent que les patterns de ses mouvements oculaires en lecture silencieuse sont cohérents avec une bonne compréhension. L'association de l'analyse des mouvements oculaires à celle des erreurs a permis de mettre en évidence qu'il y avait une correspondance entre la difficulté du texte et celle du pattern de mouvement oculaire (Yamashita, 2008), que l'enfant fixait les mots 70% du temps (Duckett, 2003), et que les erreurs étaient fixées "suffisamment" (Paulson, 2000).
Dans une deuxième étude, cette technique a été appliquée à la lecture des sous-titres à la télévision (Specker, 2008). Ainsi, il fût possible de suivre les mouvements du regard en lecture dynamique. Enfin, une étude portant sur l’universalité des patterns de lecture a été réalisé (O’Brien de Ramirez, 2008). Des participants plurilingues devaient lire des textes narratifs en langue maternelle et en langue seconde, soit en lecture silencieuse ou à haute voix. La vitesse de lecture, les erreurs de compréhension, ainsi que les durées des fixations ont été enregistrées. Les résultats montrent des effets liés aux émotions et à la compétence dans la langue, avec des temps de lecture plus longs en langue seconde qu’en langue maternelle en anglais mais pas en français. En revanche, les erreurs de lecture étaient plus nombreuses en langue seconde qu’en langue maternelle quelque soit la langue étudiée. De plus, les temps de lecture plus long en lecture à haute voix qu’en lecture silencieuse vont dans le sens d’effets liés au type de lecture. Ces résultats questionnent les modèles théoriques de la production orale, et suggèrent que de tels modèles devraient intégrer une étape tardive telle que l’accès phonologique dans la gestion des sorties.
L’ensemble de ces études démontre l’intérêt de l’association des analyses des mouvements oculaires à celle des erreurs de lecture, permettant d’avoir un angle d’étude microscopique sur les différents processus impliqués dans la lecture, et ainsi son utilité tant pour les chercheurs que pour les éducateurs""

Pagán, A., O'Brien Ramirez, K., Alamargot, D., Pontart, V., Chesnet, D., Fayol, M., Larocque, D. ... more Pagán, A., O'Brien Ramirez, K., Alamargot, D., Pontart, V., Chesnet, D., Fayol, M., Larocque, D. & Caporossi, G. (2011). The dynamics of processing subject verb-agreement in adults in French written production. Paper presented at International Conference on Reading, Spelling and Writing Development “Enhancing Literacy Development in European Languages”. Prague, Czech Republic.

Alamargot, D., Leuwers, C., Caporossi, G., Pontart, V., Pagán, A., O'Brien Ramirez, K., Chesnet, ... more Alamargot, D., Leuwers, C., Caporossi, G., Pontart, V., Pagán, A., O'Brien Ramirez, K., Chesnet, D., & Fayol, M. (2011). Analysis of eye-movements during number agreement in the case of written sentences production. 4th International Conference on Writing Research. Writing Research across Borders II. February 17-20. George Mason University. Washington D.C./Northern Virginia, USA

Alamargot, D., Leuwers, C., Caporossi, G., Pontart, V., Pagán, A., O'Brien Ramirez, K., Chesnet, ... more Alamargot, D., Leuwers, C., Caporossi, G., Pontart, V., Pagán, A., O'Brien Ramirez, K., Chesnet, D., & Fayol, M. (2011). Interest of on-line analysis for studying lexical and grammatical processing. International Conference on Reading, Spelling and Writing Development « Enhancing Literacy Development in European Languages ». June 4-5. Hilton Hotel, Prague, Czech Republic.

Pagán,, A., O'Brien Ramirez, K., Alamargot, D. & Fayol, M. (2011). Impact of phonological cues d... more Pagán,, A., O'Brien Ramirez, K., Alamargot, D. & Fayol, M. (2011). Impact of phonological cues during subject verb-agreement in written French: eye and pen movements analysis in adults. 4th International Conference on Writing Research. Writing Research across Borders II. February 17-20. George Mason University. Washington D.C./Northern Virginia, USA

O'Brien Ramirez, K., Pagán, A., Alamargot, D. & Fayol, M. (2011). On-line management of handwrit... more O'Brien Ramirez, K., Pagán, A., Alamargot, D. & Fayol, M. (2011). On-line management of handwriting in children (grade 5): Eye and pen movements as indicators of number agreement proceduralization. 4th International Conference on Writing Research. Writing Research across Borders II. February 17-20. George Mason University. Washington D.C./Northern Virginia, USA.

O’Brien Ramirez, K. (2010, November). A Comparison of fully contextualized English reading by Fre... more O’Brien Ramirez, K. (2010, November). A Comparison of fully contextualized English reading by French and English bilinguals. Presented to Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL France), Telecom, Paris Tech, France.

Ms. KATHLEEN O'BRIEN RAMIREZ: First, our plane was cancelled and the airport is closed in Prague ... more Ms. KATHLEEN O'BRIEN RAMIREZ: First, our plane was cancelled and the airport is closed in Prague and the dust is moving towards Prague, so the airport probably won't open in Prague. So we looked at trains but there are no trains. The trains are all sold out. And then we looked at buses and there are no buses and there's no hotels. And so we looked into renting a car. And we could get a car, but the insurance won't cover us to go to the Czech Republic. So right now we're still trying to figure things out.

O’Brien Ramirez, K. (2008, February). Invited speaker: Process Writing in Second Language Classro... more O’Brien Ramirez, K. (2008, February). Invited speaker: Process Writing in Second Language Classrooms. Department of Special Education, Kennesaw State University, Georgia.

O'Brien Ramirez, K. (2008, June) Research Roundtable Session: EMMA, Seeing Children Read. Eye Mov... more O'Brien Ramirez, K. (2008, June) Research Roundtable Session: EMMA, Seeing Children Read. Eye Movement Miscue Analysis Meeting, Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY.

O'Brien Ramirez, Kathleen & Elizabeth Specker (2008, Feb). "Eye fixation in Multilingual Reading"... more O'Brien Ramirez, Kathleen & Elizabeth Specker (2008, Feb). "Eye fixation in Multilingual Reading". Presented at the Language, Reading & Culture Colloquy, Tucson AZ, Feb. 28, 2008.

O’Brien Ramirez, K. (2007, June) Invited speaker: Spanish Language Teaching Method for Classrooms... more O’Brien Ramirez, K. (2007, June) Invited speaker: Spanish Language Teaching Method for Classrooms of All Ages. Modern Languages Department, North Carolina Central University, NC, USA.

EATAW is a scholarly forum which seeks to bring together those involved or interested in the teac... more EATAW is a scholarly forum which seeks to bring together those involved or interested in the teaching, tutoring, research, administration and development of academic writing in higher education in Europe.
Membership of EATAW is free, and is open to individuals from all over the world, not only from Europe.
EATAW's main aims include:
• Connecting teachers and scholars of academic writing through conferences and other means
• Raising awareness of the importance of teaching academic writing
• Developing European scholarship in academic writing
• Initiating projects to exchange experience and know-how about academic writing teaching

Cognitive Advantages of Multilingualism and Ethnic Diversity

Cited for violations by the United States Office of Civil Rights [1992 Underwood Consent Decree; ... more Cited for violations by the United States Office of Civil Rights [1992 Underwood Consent Decree; Alvarez v. TUSD & Jasso v. TUSD, Case No. 4:86-cv-00469-ACM, (D. Ariz. 1994)], Tucson Unified School District recognized its responsibility for desegregation and to provide equal education to all students. I was thus empowered to design and implement a Bilingual Education Program at Pistor Middle School in an 81% Hispanic urban public school (grades 6-8; ages 11-14). I hired teaching assistants, recruited and trained teachers in bilingual methodologies, instituted a program in English as a Second Language, coordinated placements and assessments, wore red on Tuesdays protest Arizona's movement towards English Only - I have never understood how anyone could believe that it is better to know less than to know more ... Then, after a solid Bilingual and ESL program was established, I went one giant step further, designed and put into action the first self-contained Bilingual Gifted Education Program at the Middle School level in the State of Arizona, the third such program in the United States. Living and working on the Mexican border, one quickly realizes that the immigrant population, often relegated to menial low-paying jobs, is populated with doctors, lawyers, engineers, and intellectual leaders who left their homes and communities and immigrated to America hoping to provide better economic opportunities for their children. They support their children's education and their children's schools. Establishing a Gifted Bilingual Education Program was the best was to ensure opportunities for these children to excel in Biology and Algebra while simultaneously learning English / Spanish through challenging and advanced content-area STEM curriculum. Absolutely marvelous for the students and the teachers, and it is still going strong today.

Gifted and Talented Education (GATE)
A school system may identify 10% to 15% or more of its student population as gifted and talented. A brief description of each area of giftedness or talent as defined by the Office of Gifted and Talented:
general intellectual ability or talent - high intelligence test score (usually two standard deviations above the mean), and high levels of vocabulary, memory, abstract work knowledge and abstract reasoning;
specific academic aptitude or talent in one area such as mathematics or language arts;
creative and productive thinking, the ability to produce new ideas;
leadership ability, the ability to direct individuals or groups to a common decision or action;
visual and performing arts, special talents in visual art, music, dance, drama, or other related studies;
psychomotor ability, such as practical, spatial, mechanical, and physical skills.

Having grown up in the hotel business, I worked my way through college in the Rooms Divisions of ... more Having grown up in the hotel business, I worked my way through college in the Rooms Divisions of Hyatt as a Front Office Manager, in Accounting for the Wyndham Westward Look Resort and in the Food & Beverage Divisions of Sheraton and Westin Corporations. In 1985 Loews Corporation hired me to assist in opening an award-winning resort hotel. The construction team won recognition for preserving the Sonoran Desert by transplanting delicate saguaro and by not encroaching more than 5 feet beyond the foundation. I visited the site in a hard hart, but shared an in-town office where I worked with the Director of Personnel to perfect job descriptions and interview 3000 applicants, filling 600 positions. As Benefits and Training Coordinator and Risk Manager, I advised and staffed department heads and oriented all new employees, testing restaurants and guest services, establishing standard operating and evaluation procedures, and shared information through meetings and newsletters. I negotiated fully paid health insurance benefits for our completely full time staff, making us a unique example in an industry famous for part-time entry-level minimum-wage employment with few benefits. The care taken in establishing a rewarding professional team environment created a healthy positive workplace and a successful resort hotel with competent, stable long-term employees, an welcome exception in the American tourist industry which often suffers from high-turnover. Go and stay - I recommend the Presidential Suite.