第二语言习得的关键期假说与学校英语教学

年龄是外语语言学习中学习者个体差异的重要因素之一,本文简要介绍了语言习得的关键期假说的概念,及其中外学者对年龄因素与二语习得的关系的研究分析,探讨了年龄对第二语言习得产生影响的理论依据,并在此基础上指出了语言习得关键期的研究对我国小学英语教育的启示。     

Tests of specification in econometrics

This survey of recent developments in testing for misspecification of econometric models reviews procedures based on a method due to Hausman. Particular attention is given to alternative forms of the test, its relationship to classical test procedures, and its role in pre-test estimation.     

Two Samples Tests for Functional Data

Data in many experiments arises as curves and therefore it is natural to use a curve as a basic unit in the analysis, which is in terms of functional data analysis (FDA). Functional curves are encountered when units are observed over time. Although the whole function curve itself is not observed, a sufficiently large number of evaluations, as is common with modern recording equipment, is assumed to be available. In this article, we consider the statistical inference for the mean functions in the two samples problem drawn from functional data sets, in which we assume that functional curves are observed, that is, we consider the test if these two groups of curves have the same mean functional curve when the two groups of curves without noise are observed. The L ²-norm based and bootstrap-based test statistics are proposed. It is shown that the proposed methodology is flexible. Simulation study and real-data examples are used to illustrate our techniques.     

Hypothesis Tests for Covariance Analysis Models for Circular Data

We introduce covariance analysis models for circular dependent variables. In addition, we have also developed hypothesis tests to evaluate the significance of the parameters used. One of the tests is an extension of the Watson–Williams test. The tests performances have been evaluated using simulation studies.     

Finite Sample Modifications of the Granger Non Causality Test in Cointegrated Vector Autoregressions

This article deals with the Granger non causality test in cointegrated vector autoregressive processes. We propose a new testing procedure that yields an asymptotically standard distribution and performs well in small samples by combining the standard Wald test and the generalized inverse procedure. We also propose a few simple modifications to the test statistics in order to help our procedure perform better in finite samples. Monte Carlo simulations show that our procedure works better than the conventional approach.     

Unit Roots: Bayesian Significance Test

The unit root problem plays a central role in empirical applications in the time series econometric literature. However, significance tests developed under the frequentist tradition present various conceptual problems that jeopardize the power of these tests, especially for small samples. Bayesian alternatives, although having interesting interpretations and being precisely defined, experience problems due to the fact that that the hypothesis of interest in this case is sharp or precise. The Bayesian significance test used in this article, for the unit root hypothesis, is based solely on the posterior density function, without the need of imposing positive probabilities to sets of zero Lebesgue measure. Furthermore, it is conducted under strict observance of the likelihood principle. It was designed mainly for testing sharp null hypotheses and it is called FBST for Full Bayesian Significance Test.     

An Improved Test for Continuous Local Martingales

We present a new test for the “continuous martingale hypothesis”. That is, a test for the hypothesis that observed data are from a process which is a continuous local martingale. The basis of the test is an embedded random walk at first passage times, obtained from the well-known representation of a continuous local martingale as a continuous time-change of Brownian motion. With a variety of simulated diffusion processes our new test shows higher power than existing tests using either the crossing tree or the quadratic variation, including the situation where non-negligible drift is present. The power of the test in the presence of jumps is also explored with a variety of simulated jump diffusion processes. The test is also applied to two sequences of high-frequency foreign exchange trade-by-trade data. In both cases the continuous martingale hypothesis is rejected at times less than hourly and we identify significant dependence in price movements at these small scales.     

A Nonstochastic Interpretation of Reported Significance Levels

Tests of significance are often made in situations where the standard assumptions underlying the probability calculations do not hold. As a result, the reported significance levels become difficult to interpret. This article sketches an alternative interpretation of a reported significance level, valid in considerable generality. This level locates the given data set within the spectrum of other data sets derived from the given one by an appropriate class of transformations. If the null hypothesis being tested holds, the derived data sets should be equivalent to the original one. Thus, a small reported significance level indicates an unusual data set. This development parallels that of randomization tests, but there is a crucial technical difference: our approach involves permuting observed residuals; the classical randomization approach involves permuting unobservable, or perhaps nonexistent, stochastic disturbance terms.     

Testing for a Unit Root in a Time Series With a Changing Mean

This study considers testing for a unit root in a time series characterized by a structural change in its mean level. My approach follows the “intervention analysis” of Box and Tiao (1975) in the sense that I consider the change as being exogenous and as occurring at a known date. Standard unit-root tests are shown to be biased toward nonrejection of the hypothesis of a unit root when the full sample is used. Since tests using split sample regressions usually have low power, I design test statistics that allow the presence of a change in the mean of the series under both the null and alternative hypotheses. The limiting distribution of the statistics is derived and tabulated under the null hypothesis of a unit root. My analysis is illustrated by considering the behavior of various univariate time series for which the unit-root hypothesis has been advanced in the literature. This study complements that of Perron (1989), which considered time series with trends.