A high-level language for rule-based modelling.

PubMed

Pedersen, Michael; Phillips, Andrew; Plotkin, Gordon D

2015-01-01

Rule-based languages such as Kappa excel in their support for handling the combinatorial complexities prevalent in many biological systems, including signalling pathways. But Kappa provides little structure for organising rules, and large models can therefore be hard to read and maintain. This paper introduces a high-level, modular extension of Kappa called LBS-κ. We demonstrate the constructs of the language through examples and three case studies: a chemotaxis switch ring, a MAPK cascade, and an insulin signalling pathway. We then provide a formal definition of LBS-κ through an abstract syntax and a translation to plain Kappa. The translation is implemented in a compiler tool which is available as a web application. We finally demonstrate how to increase the expressivity of LBS-κ through embedded scripts in a general-purpose programming language, a technique which we view as generally applicable to other domain specific languages.

A High-Level Language for Rule-Based Modelling

PubMed Central

Pedersen, Michael; Phillips, Andrew; Plotkin, Gordon D.

2015-01-01

Rule-based languages such as Kappa excel in their support for handling the combinatorial complexities prevalent in many biological systems, including signalling pathways. But Kappa provides little structure for organising rules, and large models can therefore be hard to read and maintain. This paper introduces a high-level, modular extension of Kappa called LBS-κ. We demonstrate the constructs of the language through examples and three case studies: a chemotaxis switch ring, a MAPK cascade, and an insulin signalling pathway. We then provide a formal definition of LBS-κ through an abstract syntax and a translation to plain Kappa. The translation is implemented in a compiler tool which is available as a web application. We finally demonstrate how to increase the expressivity of LBS-κ through embedded scripts in a general-purpose programming language, a technique which we view as generally applicable to other domain specific languages. PMID:26043208

Real-Time MENTAT programming language and architecture

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Grimshaw, Andrew S.; Silberman, Ami; Liu, Jane W. S.

1989-01-01

Real-time MENTAT, a programming environment designed to simplify the task of programming real-time applications in distributed and parallel environments, is described. It is based on the same data-driven computation model and object-oriented programming paradigm as MENTAT. It provides an easy-to-use mechanism to exploit parallelism, language constructs for the expression and enforcement of timing constraints, and run-time support for scheduling and exciting real-time programs. The real-time MENTAT programming language is an extended C++. The extensions are added to facilitate automatic detection of data flow and generation of data flow graphs, to express the timing constraints of individual granules of computation, and to provide scheduling directives for the runtime system. A high-level view of the real-time MENTAT system architecture and programming language constructs is provided.

Introduction to Python for CMF Authority Users

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pritchett-Sheats, Lori A.

This talk is a very broad over view of Python that highlights key features in the language used in the Common Model Framework (CMF). I assume that the audience has some programming experience in a shell scripting language (C shell, Bash, PERL) or other high level language (C/C++/ Fortran). The talk will cover Python data types, classes (objects) and basic programming constructs. The talk concludes with slides describing how I developed the basic classes for a TITANS homework assignment.

ANTLR Tree Grammar Generator and Extensions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Craymer, Loring

2005-01-01

A computer program implements two extensions of ANTLR (Another Tool for Language Recognition), which is a set of software tools for translating source codes between different computing languages. ANTLR supports predicated- LL(k) lexer and parser grammars, a notation for annotating parser grammars to direct tree construction, and predicated tree grammars. [ LL(k) signifies left-right, leftmost derivation with k tokens of look-ahead, referring to certain characteristics of a grammar.] One of the extensions is a syntax for tree transformations. The other extension is the generation of tree grammars from annotated parser or input tree grammars. These extensions can simplify the process of generating source-to-source language translators and they make possible an approach, called "polyphase parsing," to translation between computing languages. The typical approach to translator development is to identify high-level semantic constructs such as "expressions," "declarations," and "definitions" as fundamental building blocks in the grammar specification used for language recognition. The polyphase approach is to lump ambiguous syntactic constructs during parsing and then disambiguate the alternatives in subsequent tree transformation passes. Polyphase parsing is believed to be useful for generating efficient recognizers for C++ and other languages that, like C++, have significant ambiguities.

Word-Level and Sentence-Level Automaticity in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Learners: a Comparative Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ma, Dongmei; Yu, Xiaoru; Zhang, Haomin

2017-01-01

The present study aimed to investigate second language (L2) word-level and sentence-level automatic processing among English as a foreign language students through a comparative analysis of students with different proficiency levels. As a multidimensional and dynamic construct, automaticity is conceptualized as processing speed, stability, and…

Studying High-Level (L1-L2) Development and Use among Young People in Multilingual Stockholm: The Role of Perceptions of Ambient Sociolinguistic Variation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bijvoet, Ellen; Fraurud, Kari

2012-01-01

This article makes a case for studying the perceptions that young people have of the ways of speaking of both themselves and others on the supposition that constructions of ambient sociolinguistic variation have an impact on the language development and use of individual language users. Such a study is particularly relevant in multilingual…

A Simulation Model Articulation of the REA Ontology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Laurier, Wim; Poels, Geert

This paper demonstrates how the REA enterprise ontology can be used to construct simulation models for business processes, value chains and collaboration spaces in supply chains. These models support various high-level and operational management simulation applications, e.g. the analysis of enterprise sustainability and day-to-day planning. First, the basic constructs of the REA ontology and the ExSpect modelling language for simulation are introduced. Second, collaboration space, value chain and business process models and their conceptual dependencies are shown, using the ExSpect language. Third, an exhibit demonstrates the use of value chain models in predicting the financial performance of an enterprise.

Design and Construction of Computer-Assisted Instructional Material: A Handbook for Reading/Language Arts Teachers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Balajthy, Ernest

Intended for reading and language arts teachers at all educational levels, this guide presents information to be used by teachers in constructing their own computer assisted educational software using the BASIC programming language and Apple computers. Part 1 provides an overview of the components of traditional tutorial and drill-and-practice…

Written Language Skills of Entry-Level Accountants as Assessed by Experienced CPAs.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nelson, Sandra J.; Moncada, Susan; Smith, Douglas C.

1996-01-01

Surveys experienced Certified Public Accountants to examine their perceptions of the written language skills of entry-level accountants. Finds that written language fundamentals in word selection and usage, sentence and paragraph construction, and grammar and mechanics remain a problem for entry-level accountants. Notes the value of these findings…

Becoming a manual occupation? The construction of a therapy manual for use with language impaired children in mainstream primary schools.

PubMed

McCartney, Elspeth; Boyle, James; Bannatyne, Susan; Jessiman, Emma; Campbell, Cathy; Kelsey, Cherry; Smith, Jennifer; O'Hare, Anne

2004-01-01

The construction of therapy protocols for a large-scale randomized controlled trial comparing speech and language therapists and assistants, and group and individual therapy approaches for children aged 6-11 in mainstream schools is outlined. The aim was to outline the decision-making processes that led to the construction of the research therapy manual, and to give a preliminary report on compliance with the manual. A search of the research and professional literature and of published therapy materials was conducted to locate usable examples of effective language therapy for primary school children. Results were collated into a manual of therapy principles and activities to structure research intervention. The use of the manual with children (n=30) receiving individual or group direct therapy from a speech and language therapist in the first phase of intervention was audited. Very few high-level research studies were found, but the professional literature gave added information. Therapies for comprehension monitoring, vocabulary development, later grammar and narrative were adapted for the research intervention, and procedures compiled into a manual to guide research speech and language therapists and assistants. The audit of direct therapy suggested that the manual was useable, providing a suitable range of activities and materials for therapy intervention. Its use helped to record the therapy offered to research children, and formed a sound basis for discussion amongst speech and language therapists and between speech and language therapist/assistant pairs. The construction and use of a therapy manual allowed the provision of replicable therapy within the research project whilst maintaining flexibility.

Context recognition for a hyperintensional inference machine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Duží, Marie; Fait, Michal; Menšík, Marek

2017-07-01

The goal of this paper is to introduce the algorithm of context recognition in the functional programming language TIL-Script, which is a necessary condition for the implementation of the TIL-Script inference machine. The TIL-Script language is an operationally isomorphic syntactic variant of Tichý's Transparent Intensional Logic (TIL). From the formal point of view, TIL is a hyperintensional, partial, typed λ-calculus with procedural semantics. Hyperintensional, because TIL λ-terms denote procedures (defined as TIL constructions) producing set-theoretic functions rather than the functions themselves; partial, because TIL is a logic of partial functions; and typed, because all the entities of TIL ontology, including constructions, receive a type within a ramified hierarchy of types. These features make it possible to distinguish three levels of abstraction at which TIL constructions operate. At the highest hyperintensional level the object to operate on is a construction (though a higher-order construction is needed to present this lower-order construction as an object of predication). At the middle intensional level the object to operate on is the function presented, or constructed, by a construction, while at the lowest extensional level the object to operate on is the value (if any) of the presented function. Thus a necessary condition for the development of an inference machine for the TIL-Script language is recognizing a context in which a construction occurs, namely extensional, intensional and hyperintensional context, in order to determine the type of an argument at which a given inference rule can be properly applied. As a result, our logic does not flout logical rules of extensional logic, which makes it possible to develop a hyperintensional inference machine for the TIL-Script language.

An integrated framework for high level design of high performance signal processing circuits on FPGAs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benkrid, K.; Belkacemi, S.; Sukhsawas, S.

2005-06-01

This paper proposes an integrated framework for the high level design of high performance signal processing algorithms' implementations on FPGAs. The framework emerged from a constant need to rapidly implement increasingly complicated algorithms on FPGAs while maintaining the high performance needed in many real time digital signal processing applications. This is particularly important for application developers who often rely on iterative and interactive development methodologies. The central idea behind the proposed framework is to dynamically integrate high performance structural hardware description languages with higher level hardware languages in other to help satisfy the dual requirement of high level design and high performance implementation. The paper illustrates this by integrating two environments: Celoxica's Handel-C language, and HIDE, a structural hardware environment developed at the Queen's University of Belfast. On the one hand, Handel-C has been proven to be very useful in the rapid design and prototyping of FPGA circuits, especially control intensive ones. On the other hand, HIDE, has been used extensively, and successfully, in the generation of highly optimised parameterisable FPGA cores. In this paper, this is illustrated in the construction of a scalable and fully parameterisable core for image algebra's five core neighbourhood operations, where fully floorplanned efficient FPGA configurations, in the form of EDIF netlists, are generated automatically for instances of the core. In the proposed combined framework, highly optimised data paths are invoked dynamically from within Handel-C, and are synthesized using HIDE. Although the idea might seem simple prima facie, it could have serious implications on the design of future generations of hardware description languages.

StreamQRE: Modular Specification and Efficient Evaluation of Quantitative Queries over Streaming Data.

PubMed

Mamouras, Konstantinos; Raghothaman, Mukund; Alur, Rajeev; Ives, Zachary G; Khanna, Sanjeev

2017-06-01

Real-time decision making in emerging IoT applications typically relies on computing quantitative summaries of large data streams in an efficient and incremental manner. To simplify the task of programming the desired logic, we propose StreamQRE, which provides natural and high-level constructs for processing streaming data. Our language has a novel integration of linguistic constructs from two distinct programming paradigms: streaming extensions of relational query languages and quantitative extensions of regular expressions. The former allows the programmer to employ relational constructs to partition the input data by keys and to integrate data streams from different sources, while the latter can be used to exploit the logical hierarchy in the input stream for modular specifications. We first present the core language with a small set of combinators, formal semantics, and a decidable type system. We then show how to express a number of common patterns with illustrative examples. Our compilation algorithm translates the high-level query into a streaming algorithm with precise complexity bounds on per-item processing time and total memory footprint. We also show how to integrate approximation algorithms into our framework. We report on an implementation in Java, and evaluate it with respect to existing high-performance engines for processing streaming data. Our experimental evaluation shows that (1) StreamQRE allows more natural and succinct specification of queries compared to existing frameworks, (2) the throughput of our implementation is higher than comparable systems (for example, two-to-four times greater than RxJava), and (3) the approximation algorithms supported by our implementation can lead to substantial memory savings.

StreamQRE: Modular Specification and Efficient Evaluation of Quantitative Queries over Streaming Data*

PubMed Central

Mamouras, Konstantinos; Raghothaman, Mukund; Alur, Rajeev; Ives, Zachary G.; Khanna, Sanjeev

2017-01-01

Real-time decision making in emerging IoT applications typically relies on computing quantitative summaries of large data streams in an efficient and incremental manner. To simplify the task of programming the desired logic, we propose StreamQRE, which provides natural and high-level constructs for processing streaming data. Our language has a novel integration of linguistic constructs from two distinct programming paradigms: streaming extensions of relational query languages and quantitative extensions of regular expressions. The former allows the programmer to employ relational constructs to partition the input data by keys and to integrate data streams from different sources, while the latter can be used to exploit the logical hierarchy in the input stream for modular specifications. We first present the core language with a small set of combinators, formal semantics, and a decidable type system. We then show how to express a number of common patterns with illustrative examples. Our compilation algorithm translates the high-level query into a streaming algorithm with precise complexity bounds on per-item processing time and total memory footprint. We also show how to integrate approximation algorithms into our framework. We report on an implementation in Java, and evaluate it with respect to existing high-performance engines for processing streaming data. Our experimental evaluation shows that (1) StreamQRE allows more natural and succinct specification of queries compared to existing frameworks, (2) the throughput of our implementation is higher than comparable systems (for example, two-to-four times greater than RxJava), and (3) the approximation algorithms supported by our implementation can lead to substantial memory savings. PMID:29151821

University Level Second Language Readers' Online Reading and Comprehension Strategies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Park, Jaehan; Yang, Jaeseok; Hsieh, Yi Chin

2014-01-01

With the growing prevalence of Web 2.0 technologies and use of online resources in their classrooms, language learners have increasing exposure to online texts. In this study we attempted to understand how university level second language (L2) readers construct meaning when reading online. We investigated L2 readers' information-seeking strategies…

An Exercise in Exciting Visuals: Building and Displaying on a Foreign Language Kiosk.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ruling, Karl; Lide, Francis

Detailed, illustrated instructions are given for construction and decoration of an indoor foreign language kiosk to promote interest in foreign languages among students and teachers. The kiosk can be constructed in a home shop or possibly by a college theater department, high school woodworking department, or institutional physical plant. Once…

Study on evaluation of construction reliability for engineering project based on fuzzy language operator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shi, Yu-Fang; Ma, Yi-Yi; Song, Ping-Ping

2018-03-01

System Reliability Theory is a research hotspot of management science and system engineering in recent years, and construction reliability is useful for quantitative evaluation of project management level. According to reliability theory and target system of engineering project management, the defination of construction reliability appears. Based on fuzzy mathematics theory and language operator, value space of construction reliability is divided into seven fuzzy subsets and correspondingly, seven membership function and fuzzy evaluation intervals are got with the operation of language operator, which provides the basis of corresponding method and parameter for the evaluation of construction reliability. This method is proved to be scientific and reasonable for construction condition and an useful attempt for theory and method research of engineering project system reliability.

Multilayer network of language: A unified framework for structural analysis of linguistic subsystems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martinčić-Ipšić, Sanda; Margan, Domagoj; Meštrović, Ana

2016-09-01

Recently, the focus of complex networks' research has shifted from the analysis of isolated properties of a system toward a more realistic modeling of multiple phenomena - multilayer networks. Motivated by the prosperity of multilayer approach in social, transport or trade systems, we introduce the multilayer networks for language. The multilayer network of language is a unified framework for modeling linguistic subsystems and their structural properties enabling the exploration of their mutual interactions. Various aspects of natural language systems can be represented as complex networks, whose vertices depict linguistic units, while links model their relations. The multilayer network of language is defined by three aspects: the network construction principle, the linguistic subsystem and the language of interest. More precisely, we construct a word-level (syntax and co-occurrence) and a subword-level (syllables and graphemes) network layers, from four variations of original text (in the modeled language). The analysis and comparison of layers at the word and subword-levels are employed in order to determine the mechanism of the structural influences between linguistic units and subsystems. The obtained results suggest that there are substantial differences between the networks' structures of different language subsystems, which are hidden during the exploration of an isolated layer. The word-level layers share structural properties regardless of the language (e.g. Croatian or English), while the syllabic subword-level expresses more language dependent structural properties. The preserved weighted overlap quantifies the similarity of word-level layers in weighted and directed networks. Moreover, the analysis of motifs reveals a close topological structure of the syntactic and syllabic layers for both languages. The findings corroborate that the multilayer network framework is a powerful, consistent and systematic approach to model several linguistic subsystems simultaneously and hence to provide a more unified view on language.

Modular hardware synthesis using an HDL. [Hardware Description Language

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Covington, J. A.; Shiva, S. G.

1981-01-01

Although hardware description languages (HDL) are becoming more and more necessary to automated design systems, their application is complicated due to the difficulty in translating the HDL description into an implementable format, nonfamiliarity of hardware designers with high-level language programming, nonuniform design methodologies and the time and costs involved in transfering HDL design software. Digital design language (DDL) suffers from all of the above problems and in addition can only by synthesized on a complete system and not on its subparts, making it unsuitable for synthesis using standard modules or prefabricated chips such as those required in LSI or VLSI circuits. The present paper presents a method by which the DDL translator can be made to generate modular equations that will allow the system to be synthesized as an interconnection of lower-level modules. The method involves the introduction of a new language construct called a Module which provides for the separate translation of all equations bounded by it.

Development of the Tensoral Computer Language

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ferziger, Joel; Dresselhaus, Eliot

1996-01-01

The research scientist or engineer wishing to perform large scale simulations or to extract useful information from existing databases is required to have expertise in the details of the particular database, the numerical methods and the computer architecture to be used. This poses a significant practical barrier to the use of simulation data. The goal of this research was to develop a high-level computer language called Tensoral, designed to remove this barrier. The Tensoral language provides a framework in which efficient generic data manipulations can be easily coded and implemented. First of all, Tensoral is general. The fundamental objects in Tensoral represent tensor fields and the operators that act on them. The numerical implementation of these tensors and operators is completely and flexibly programmable. New mathematical constructs and operators can be easily added to the Tensoral system. Tensoral is compatible with existing languages. Tensoral tensor operations co-exist in a natural way with a host language, which may be any sufficiently powerful computer language such as Fortran, C, or Vectoral. Tensoral is very-high-level. Tensor operations in Tensoral typically act on entire databases (i.e., arrays) at one time and may, therefore, correspond to many lines of code in a conventional language. Tensoral is efficient. Tensoral is a compiled language. Database manipulations are simplified optimized and scheduled by the compiler eventually resulting in efficient machine code to implement them.

TraceContract: A Scala DSL for Trace Analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Barringer, Howard; Havelund, Klaus

2011-01-01

In this paper we describe TRACECONTRACT, an API for trace analysis, implemented in the SCALA programming language. We argue that for certain forms of trace analysis the best weapon is a high level programming language augmented with constructs for temporal reasoning. A trace is a sequence of events, which may for example be generated by a running program, instrumented appropriately to generate events. The API supports writing properties in a notation that combines an advanced form of data parameterized state machines with temporal logic. The implementation utilizes SCALA's support for defining internal Domain Specific Languages (DSLs). Furthermore SCALA's combination of object oriented and functional programming features, including partial functions and pattern matching, makes it an ideal host language for such an API.

Oral Language and Listening Comprehension: Same or Different Constructs?

PubMed

2017-05-24

The purpose of this study was to add to our understanding of the dimensionality of oral language in children and to determine whether oral language and listening comprehension are separate constructs in children enrolled in preschool (PK) through 3rd grade. In the spring of the school year, children from 4 states (N = 1,869) completed multiple measures of oral language (i.e., expressive and receptive vocabulary and grammar) and listening comprehension as part of a larger study of the language bases of reading comprehension. Initial confirmatory factor analysis found evidence that measures of oral language and listening comprehension loaded on two separate factors in PK through 3rd grade; however, these factors were highly correlated at all grades. These results suggest that oral language and listening comprehension are best characterized as a single oral language construct in PK through 3rd grade. The implications for early identification and intervention are discussed.

Validation of the AVM Blast Computational Modeling and Simulation Tool Set

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-08-04

by-construction" methodology is powerful and would not be possible without high -level design languages to support validation and verification. [1,4...to enable the making of informed design decisions.  Enable rapid exploration of the design trade-space for high -fidelity requirements tradeoffs...live-fire tests, the jump height of the target structure is recorded by using either high speed cameras or a string pot. A simple projectile motion

Thinking About Multiword Constructions: Usage-Based Approaches to Acquisition and Processing.

PubMed

Ellis, Nick C; Ogden, Dave C

2017-07-01

Usage-based approaches to language hold that we learn multiword expressions as patterns of language from language usage, and that knowledge of these patterns underlies fluent language processing. This paper explores these claims by focusing upon verb-argument constructions (VACs) such as "V(erb) about n(oun phrase)." These are productive constructions that bind syntax, lexis, and semantics. It presents (a) analyses of usage patterns of English VACs in terms of their grammatical form, semantics, lexical constituency, and distribution patterns in large corpora; (b) patterns of VAC usage in child-directed speech and child language acquisition; and (c) investigations of VAC free-association and psycholinguistic studies of online processing. We conclude that VACs are highly patterned in usage, that this patterning drives language acquisition, and that language processing is sensitive to the forms of the syntagmatic construction and their distributional statistics, the contingency of their association with meaning, and spreading activation and prototypicality effects in semantic reference. Language users have rich implicit knowledge of the statistics of multiword sequences. Copyright © 2017 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Owlready: Ontology-oriented programming in Python with automatic classification and high level constructs for biomedical ontologies.

PubMed

Lamy, Jean-Baptiste

2017-07-01

Ontologies are widely used in the biomedical domain. While many tools exist for the edition, alignment or evaluation of ontologies, few solutions have been proposed for ontology programming interface, i.e. for accessing and modifying an ontology within a programming language. Existing query languages (such as SPARQL) and APIs (such as OWLAPI) are not as easy-to-use as object programming languages are. Moreover, they provide few solutions to difficulties encountered with biomedical ontologies. Our objective was to design a tool for accessing easily the entities of an OWL ontology, with high-level constructs helping with biomedical ontologies. From our experience on medical ontologies, we identified two difficulties: (1) many entities are represented by classes (rather than individuals), but the existing tools do not permit manipulating classes as easily as individuals, (2) ontologies rely on the open-world assumption, whereas the medical reasoning must consider only evidence-based medical knowledge as true. We designed a Python module for ontology-oriented programming. It allows access to the entities of an OWL ontology as if they were objects in the programming language. We propose a simple high-level syntax for managing classes and the associated "role-filler" constraints. We also propose an algorithm for performing local closed world reasoning in simple situations. We developed Owlready, a Python module for a high-level access to OWL ontologies. The paper describes the architecture and the syntax of the module version 2. It details how we integrated the OWL ontology model with the Python object model. The paper provides examples based on Gene Ontology (GO). We also demonstrate the interest of Owlready in a use case focused on the automatic comparison of the contraindications of several drugs. This use case illustrates the use of the specific syntax proposed for manipulating classes and for performing local closed world reasoning. Owlready has been successfully used in a medical research project. It has been published as Open-Source software and then used by many other researchers. Future developments will focus on the support of vagueness and additional non-monotonic reasoning feature, and automatic dialog box generation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Type Specialization in Aldor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dragan, Laurentiu; Watt, Stephen M.

Computer algebra in scientific computation squarely faces the dilemma of natural mathematical expression versus efficiency. While higher-order programming constructs and parametric polymorphism provide a natural and expressive language for mathematical abstractions, they can come at a considerable cost. We investigate how deeply nested type constructions may be optimized to achieve performance similar to that of hand-tuned code written in lower-level languages.

Recommendations for a Retargetable Compiler.

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-03-01

register transfer or switchin circuit level of description. AHPL 4HPL was developed for use in teaching design . Descriptions in AHPL are non -redundant...ment sytex and semantics have bean oefined. 7he language is be- sicly non -procedural, with event conditions controlling groups of actions. There is...handling temporary variables and its lack of high level control constructs can be attributed to this. B-4 TCOLada [Cat78, SLN791 TCOL was designed by R

Keep meaning in conversational coordination

PubMed Central

Cuffari, Elena C.

2014-01-01

Coordination is a widely employed term across recent quantitative and qualitative approaches to intersubjectivity, particularly approaches that give embodiment and enaction central explanatory roles. With a focus on linguistic and bodily coordination in conversational contexts, I review the operational meaning of coordination in recent empirical research and related theorizing of embodied intersubjectivity. This discussion articulates what must be involved in treating linguistic meaning as dynamic processes of coordination. The coordination approach presents languaging as a set of dynamic self-organizing processes and actions on multiple timescales and across multiple modalities that come about and work in certain domains (those jointly constructed in social, interactive, high-order sense-making). These processes go beyond meaning at the level that is available to first-person experience. I take one crucial consequence of this to be the ubiquitously moral nature of languaging with others. Languaging coordinates experience, among other levels of behavior and event. Ethical effort is called for by the automatic autonomy-influencing forces of languaging as coordination. PMID:25520693

Multiple Languages in One Society: Categorisations of Language and Social Cohesion in Policy and Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dooly, Melinda; Unamuno, Virginia

2009-01-01

This article examines the way in which socially constructed notions of "language", "social cohesion" and "diversity" create tensions within different educational arenas, particularly concerning educational policies developed at administrative levels and the subsequent interpretation of these policies in the classroom.…

Contact, Attitude and Motivation in the Learning of Catalan at Advanced Levels

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hamilton, Colleen; Serrano, Raquel

2015-01-01

The theoretical complexity of current understandings of second language (L2) identity has brought the study of language learning motivations from basic concepts of intrinsic, integrative and instrumental motives to a more dynamic construct that interacts with background factors, learning contexts and proficiency levels. This cross-sectional study…

L-Py: An L-System Simulation Framework for Modeling Plant Architecture Development Based on a Dynamic Language

PubMed Central

Boudon, Frédéric; Pradal, Christophe; Cokelaer, Thomas; Prusinkiewicz, Przemyslaw; Godin, Christophe

2012-01-01

The study of plant development requires increasingly powerful modeling tools to help understand and simulate the growth and functioning of plants. In the last decade, the formalism of L-systems has emerged as a major paradigm for modeling plant development. Previous implementations of this formalism were made based on static languages, i.e., languages that require explicit definition of variable types before using them. These languages are often efficient but involve quite a lot of syntactic overhead, thus restricting the flexibility of use for modelers. In this work, we present an adaptation of L-systems to the Python language, a popular and powerful open-license dynamic language. We show that the use of dynamic language properties makes it possible to enhance the development of plant growth models: (i) by keeping a simple syntax while allowing for high-level programming constructs, (ii) by making code execution easy and avoiding compilation overhead, (iii) by allowing a high-level of model reusability and the building of complex modular models, and (iv) by providing powerful solutions to integrate MTG data-structures (that are a common way to represent plants at several scales) into L-systems and thus enabling to use a wide spectrum of computer tools based on MTGs developed for plant architecture. We then illustrate the use of L-Py in real applications to build complex models or to teach plant modeling in the classroom. PMID:22670147

L-py: an L-system simulation framework for modeling plant architecture development based on a dynamic language.

PubMed

Boudon, Frédéric; Pradal, Christophe; Cokelaer, Thomas; Prusinkiewicz, Przemyslaw; Godin, Christophe

2012-01-01

The study of plant development requires increasingly powerful modeling tools to help understand and simulate the growth and functioning of plants. In the last decade, the formalism of L-systems has emerged as a major paradigm for modeling plant development. Previous implementations of this formalism were made based on static languages, i.e., languages that require explicit definition of variable types before using them. These languages are often efficient but involve quite a lot of syntactic overhead, thus restricting the flexibility of use for modelers. In this work, we present an adaptation of L-systems to the Python language, a popular and powerful open-license dynamic language. We show that the use of dynamic language properties makes it possible to enhance the development of plant growth models: (i) by keeping a simple syntax while allowing for high-level programming constructs, (ii) by making code execution easy and avoiding compilation overhead, (iii) by allowing a high-level of model reusability and the building of complex modular models, and (iv) by providing powerful solutions to integrate MTG data-structures (that are a common way to represent plants at several scales) into L-systems and thus enabling to use a wide spectrum of computer tools based on MTGs developed for plant architecture. We then illustrate the use of L-Py in real applications to build complex models or to teach plant modeling in the classroom.

Word learning in adults with second-language experience: effects of phonological and referent familiarity.

PubMed

Kaushanskaya, Margarita; Yoo, Jeewon; Van Hecke, Stephanie

2013-04-01

The goal of this research was to examine whether phonological familiarity exerts different effects on novel word learning for familiar versus unfamiliar referents and whether successful word learning is associated with increased second-language experience. Eighty-one adult native English speakers with various levels of Spanish knowledge learned phonologically familiar novel words (constructed using English sounds) or phonologically unfamiliar novel words (constructed using non-English and non-Spanish sounds) in association with either familiar or unfamiliar referents. Retention was tested via a forced-choice recognition task. A median-split procedure identified high-ability and low-ability word learners in each condition, and the two groups were compared on measures of second-language experience. Findings suggest that the ability to accurately match newly learned novel names to their appropriate referents is facilitated by phonological familiarity only for familiar referents but not for unfamiliar referents. Moreover, more extensive second-language learning experience characterized superior learners primarily in one word-learning condition: in which phonologically unfamiliar novel words were paired with familiar referents. Together, these findings indicate that phonological familiarity facilitates novel word learning only for familiar referents and that experience with learning a second language may have a specific impact on novel vocabulary learning in adults.

Word learning in adults with second language experience: Effects of phonological and referent familiarity

PubMed Central

Kaushanskaya, Margarita; Yoo, Jeewon; Van Hecke, Stephanie

2014-01-01

Purpose The goal of this research was to examine whether phonological familiarity exerts different effects on novel word learning for familiar vs. unfamiliar referents, and whether successful word-learning is associated with increased second-language experience. Method Eighty-one adult native English speakers with various levels of Spanish knowledge learned phonologically-familiar novel words (constructed using English sounds) or phonologically-unfamiliar novel words (constructed using non-English and non-Spanish sounds) in association with either familiar or unfamiliar referents. Retention was tested via a forced-choice recognition-task. A median-split procedure identified high-ability and low-ability word-learners in each condition, and the two groups were compared on measures of second-language experience. Results Findings suggest that the ability to accurately match newly-learned novel names to their appropriate referents is facilitated by phonological familiarity only for familiar referents but not for unfamiliar referents. Moreover, more extensive second-language learning experience characterized superior learners primarily in one word-learning condition: Where phonologically-unfamiliar novel words were paired with familiar referents. Conclusions Together, these findings indicate that phonological familiarity facilitates novel word learning only for familiar referents, and that experience with learning a second language may have a specific impact on novel vocabulary learning in adults. PMID:22992709

A Case Study Exploring the Reading Engagement of Middle Grades English Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Protacio, Maria Selena

2017-01-01

This study investigates the reading engagement of four middle school English learners in their English or English as a Second Language classroom. Students with high levels of reading engagement are those who (a) are motivated to read, (b) use strategies when reading, (c) use reading as a way to construct meaning from texts, and (d) participate in…

STAR - A computer language for hybrid AI applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Borchardt, G. C.

1986-01-01

Constructing Artificial Intelligence application systems which rely on both symbolic and non-symbolic processing places heavy demands on the communication of data between dissimilar languages. This paper describes STAR (Simple Tool for Automated Reasoning), a computer language for the development of AI application systems which supports the transfer of data structures between a symbolic level and a non-symbolic level defined in languages such as FORTRAN, C and PASCAL. The organization of STAR is presented, followed by the description of an application involving STAR in the interpretation of airborne imaging spectrometer data.

Distinguishing discrete and gradient category structure in language: Insights from verb-particle constructions.

PubMed

Brehm, Laurel; Goldrick, Matthew

2017-10-01

The current work uses memory errors to examine the mental representation of verb-particle constructions (VPCs; e.g., make up the story, cut up the meat). Some evidence suggests that VPCs are represented by a cline in which the relationship between the VPC and its component elements ranges from highly transparent (cut up) to highly idiosyncratic (make up). Other evidence supports a multiple class representation, characterizing VPCs as belonging to discretely separated classes differing in semantic and syntactic structure. We outline a novel paradigm to investigate the representation of VPCs in which we elicit illusory conjunctions, or memory errors sensitive to syntactic structure. We then use a novel application of piecewise regression to demonstrate that the resulting error pattern follows a cline rather than discrete classes. A preregistered replication verifies these findings, and a final preregistered study verifies that these errors reflect syntactic structure. This provides evidence for gradient rather than discrete representations across levels of representation in language processing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Performance Assessment and the Components of the Oral Construct across Different Tasks and Rater Groups.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chalhoub-Deville, Micheline

This study investigated whether different groups of native speakers assess second language learners' language skills differently for three elicitation techniques. Subjects were six learners of college-level Arabic as a second language, tape-recorded performing three tasks: participating in a modified oral proficiency interview, narrating a picture…

MetaJC++: A flexible and automatic program transformation technique using meta framework

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beevi, Nadera S.; Reghu, M.; Chitraprasad, D.; Vinodchandra, S. S.

2014-09-01

Compiler is a tool to translate abstract code containing natural language terms to machine code. Meta compilers are available to compile more than one languages. We have developed a meta framework intends to combine two dissimilar programming languages, namely C++ and Java to provide a flexible object oriented programming platform for the user. Suitable constructs from both the languages have been combined, thereby forming a new and stronger Meta-Language. The framework is developed using the compiler writing tools, Flex and Yacc to design the front end of the compiler. The lexer and parser have been developed to accommodate the complete keyword set and syntax set of both the languages. Two intermediate representations have been used in between the translation of the source program to machine code. Abstract Syntax Tree has been used as a high level intermediate representation that preserves the hierarchical properties of the source program. A new machine-independent stack-based byte-code has also been devised to act as a low level intermediate representation. The byte-code is essentially organised into an output class file that can be used to produce an interpreted output. The results especially in the spheres of providing C++ concepts in Java have given an insight regarding the potential strong features of the resultant meta-language.

A hardware acceleration based on high-level synthesis approach for glucose-insulin analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Daud, Nur Atikah Mohd; Mahmud, Farhanahani; Jabbar, Muhamad Hairol

2017-01-01

In this paper, the research is focusing on Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus (T1DM). Since this disease requires a full attention on the blood glucose concentration with the help of insulin injection, it is important to have a tool that able to predict that level when consume a certain amount of carbohydrate during meal time. Therefore, to make it realizable, a Hovorka model which is aiming towards T1DM is chosen in this research. A high-level language is chosen that is C++ to construct the mathematical model of the Hovorka model. Later, this constructed code is converted into intellectual property (IP) which is also known as a hardware accelerator by using of high-level synthesis (HLS) approach which able to improve in terms of design and performance for glucose-insulin analysis tool later as will be explained further in this paper. This is the first step in this research before implementing the design into system-on-chip (SoC) to achieve a high-performance system for the glucose-insulin analysis tool.

A translator writing system for microcomputer high-level languages and assemblers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Collins, W. R.; Knight, J. C.; Noonan, R. E.

1980-01-01

In order to implement high level languages whenever possible, a translator writing system of advanced design was developed. It is intended for routine production use by many programmers working on different projects. As well as a fairly conventional parser generator, it includes a system for the rapid generation of table driven code generators. The parser generator was developed from a prototype version. The translator writing system includes various tools for the management of the source text of a compiler under construction. In addition, it supplies various default source code sections so that its output is always compilable and executable. The system thereby encourages iterative enhancement as a development methodology by ensuring an executable program from the earliest stages of a compiler development project. The translator writing system includes PASCAL/48 compiler, three assemblers, and two compilers for a subset of HAL/S.

Narrative Constructions for the Organization of Self Experience: Proof of Concept via Embodied Robotics

PubMed Central

Mealier, Anne-Laure; Pointeau, Gregoire; Mirliaz, Solène; Ogawa, Kenji; Finlayson, Mark; Dominey, Peter F.

2017-01-01

It has been proposed that starting from meaning that the child derives directly from shared experience with others, adult narrative enriches this meaning and its structure, providing causal links between unseen intentional states and actions. This would require a means for representing meaning from experience—a situation model—and a mechanism that allows information to be extracted from sentences and mapped onto the situation model that has been derived from experience, thus enriching that representation. We present a hypothesis and theory concerning how the language processing infrastructure for grammatical constructions can naturally be extended to narrative constructions to provide a mechanism for using language to enrich meaning derived from physical experience. Toward this aim, the grammatical construction models are augmented with additional structures for representing relations between events across sentences. Simulation results demonstrate proof of concept for how the narrative construction model supports multiple successive levels of meaning creation which allows the system to learn about the intentionality of mental states, and argument substitution which allows extensions to metaphorical language and analogical problem solving. Cross-linguistic validity of the system is demonstrated in Japanese. The narrative construction model is then integrated into the cognitive system of a humanoid robot that provides the memory systems and world-interaction required for representing meaning in a situation model. In this context proof of concept is demonstrated for how the system enriches meaning in the situation model that has been directly derived from experience. In terms of links to empirical data, the model predicts strong usage based effects: that is, that the narrative constructions used by children will be highly correlated with those that they experience. It also relies on the notion of narrative or discourse function words. Both of these are validated in the experimental literature. PMID:28861011

Narrative Constructions for the Organization of Self Experience: Proof of Concept via Embodied Robotics.

PubMed

Mealier, Anne-Laure; Pointeau, Gregoire; Mirliaz, Solène; Ogawa, Kenji; Finlayson, Mark; Dominey, Peter F

2017-01-01

It has been proposed that starting from meaning that the child derives directly from shared experience with others, adult narrative enriches this meaning and its structure, providing causal links between unseen intentional states and actions. This would require a means for representing meaning from experience-a situation model-and a mechanism that allows information to be extracted from sentences and mapped onto the situation model that has been derived from experience, thus enriching that representation. We present a hypothesis and theory concerning how the language processing infrastructure for grammatical constructions can naturally be extended to narrative constructions to provide a mechanism for using language to enrich meaning derived from physical experience. Toward this aim, the grammatical construction models are augmented with additional structures for representing relations between events across sentences. Simulation results demonstrate proof of concept for how the narrative construction model supports multiple successive levels of meaning creation which allows the system to learn about the intentionality of mental states, and argument substitution which allows extensions to metaphorical language and analogical problem solving. Cross-linguistic validity of the system is demonstrated in Japanese. The narrative construction model is then integrated into the cognitive system of a humanoid robot that provides the memory systems and world-interaction required for representing meaning in a situation model. In this context proof of concept is demonstrated for how the system enriches meaning in the situation model that has been directly derived from experience. In terms of links to empirical data, the model predicts strong usage based effects: that is, that the narrative constructions used by children will be highly correlated with those that they experience. It also relies on the notion of narrative or discourse function words. Both of these are validated in the experimental literature.

An Investigation Into Second Language Aptitude for Advanced Chinese Language Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Winke, Paula

2013-01-01

In this study I examine the construct of aptitude in learning Chinese as a second language (L2) to an advanced level. I test 2 hypotheses: first, that L2 aptitude comprises 4 components--working memory, rote memory, grammatical sensitivity, and phonemic coding ability--and second, that L2 aptitude affects learning both directly and indirectly…

The Early Maternal Linguistic Environment of Normal and Down's Syndrome (Mongoloid) Language Learning Children.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Buium, Nissan; Rynders, John

To demonstrate that the child learning language constructs his theory of language on the basis of the linguistic data available to him, this study investigated 21 linguistic parameters that Down's Syndrome and normal children are exposed to in their maternal linguistic environment. It was found that mothers produced certain levels of linguistic…

Using Conversation Analysis in the Second Language Classroom to Teach Interactional Competence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barraja-Rohan, Anne-Marie

2011-01-01

This article focuses on the use of conversation analysis (CA) to help teaching interactional competence in English to adult second language learners from lower to intermediate levels. To set the context, this article gives a brief overview on the use of CA in second language research as well as considering the construct of interactional competence…

Using Online Translators in the Second Language Classroom: Ideas for Advanced-Level Spanish

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Enkin, Elizabeth; Mejias-Bikani, Errapel

2016-01-01

In this paper, we discuss the benefits of using online translators in the foreign language classroom. Specifically, we discuss how faulty online translator output can be used to create activities that help raise metalinguistic awareness of second language grammar and of the differences between grammatical constructions in the first and second…

English as a Multicultural Language: Implications from a Study of Japan's Junior High Schools' English Language Textbooks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yamada, Mieko

2010-01-01

Applying Kachru and Nelson's model of English spread and their categorisation into Inner/Outer/Expanding Circles, this content analysis of English as a Foreign Language textbooks used in Japanese junior high schools investigates which countries were introduced and further studies how Japan's domestic diversity was constructed in those textbooks.…

A visual programming environment for the Navier-Stokes computer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tomboulian, Sherryl; Crockett, Thomas W.; Middleton, David

1988-01-01

The Navier-Stokes computer is a high-performance, reconfigurable, pipelined machine designed to solve large computational fluid dynamics problems. Due to the complexity of the architecture, development of effective, high-level language compilers for the system appears to be a very difficult task. Consequently, a visual programming methodology has been developed which allows users to program the system at an architectural level by constructing diagrams of the pipeline configuration. These schematic program representations can then be checked for validity and automatically translated into machine code. The visual environment is illustrated by using a prototype graphical editor to program an example problem.

Adaptation of a Control Center Development Environment for Industrial Process Control

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Killough, Ronnie L.; Malik, James M.

1994-01-01

In the control center, raw telemetry data is received for storage, display, and analysis. This raw data must be combined and manipulated in various ways by mathematical computations to facilitate analysis, provide diversified fault detection mechanisms, and enhance display readability. A development tool called the Graphical Computation Builder (GCB) has been implemented which provides flight controllers with the capability to implement computations for use in the control center. The GCB provides a language that contains both general programming constructs and language elements specifically tailored for the control center environment. The GCB concept allows staff who are not skilled in computer programming to author and maintain computer programs. The GCB user is isolated from the details of external subsystem interfaces and has access to high-level functions such as matrix operators, trigonometric functions, and unit conversion macros. The GCB provides a high level of feedback during computation development that improves upon the often cryptic errors produced by computer language compilers. An equivalent need can be identified in the industrial data acquisition and process control domain: that of an integrated graphical development tool tailored to the application to hide the operating system, computer language, and data acquisition interface details. The GCB features a modular design which makes it suitable for technology transfer without significant rework. Control center-specific language elements can be replaced by elements specific to industrial process control.

The development and psychometric properties of the American sign language proficiency assessment (ASL-PA).

PubMed

Maller, S; Singleton, J; Supalla, S; Wix, T

1999-01-01

We describe the procedures for constructing an instrument designed to evaluate children's proficiency in American Sign Language (ASL). The American Sign Language Proficiency Assessment (ASL-PA) is a much-needed tool that potentially could be used by researchers, language specialists, and qualified school personnel. A half-hour ASL sample is collected on video from a target child (between ages 6 and 12) across three separate discourse settings and is later analyzed and scored by an assessor who is highly proficient in ASL. After the child's language sample is scored, he or she can be assigned an ASL proficiency rating of Level 1, 2, or 3. At this phase in its development, substantial evidence of reliability and validity has been obtained for the ASL-PA using a sample of 80 profoundly deaf children (ages 6-12) of varying ASL skill levels. The article first explains the item development and administration of the ASL-PA instrument, then describes the empirical item analysis, standard setting procedures, and evidence of reliability and validity. The ASL-PA is a promising instrument for assessing elementary school-age children's ASL proficiency. Plans for further development are also discussed.

Grammatical Error Diagnosis in Fluid Construction Grammar: A Case Study in L2 Spanish Verb Morphology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beuls, Katrien

2014-01-01

Construction grammar (CG) has been proposed as an adequate grammatical formalism for building intelligent language tutoring systems because it is highly compatible with the learning strategies observed in second language learning. Unfortunately, the lack of computational CG implementations has made it impossible in the past to corroborate these…

Chinese EFL teachers' knowledge of basic language constructs and their self-perceived teaching abilities.

PubMed

Zhao, Jing; Joshi, R Malatesha; Dixon, L Quentin; Huang, Liyan

2016-04-01

The present study examined the knowledge and skills of basic language constructs among elementary school teachers who were teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in China. Six hundred and thirty in-service teachers completed the adapted Reading Teacher Knowledge Survey. Survey results showed that English teachers' self-perceived ability to teach vocabulary was the highest and self-perceived ability to teach reading to struggling readers was the lowest. Morphological knowledge was positively correlated with teachers' self-perceived teaching abilities, and it contributed unique variance even after controlling for the effects of ultimate educational attainment and years of teaching. Findings suggest that elementary school EFL teachers in China, on average, were able to display implicit skills related to certain basic language constructs, but less able to demonstrate explicit knowledge of other skills, especially sub-lexical units (e.g., phonemic awareness and morphemes). The high self-perceived ability of teaching vocabulary and high scores on syllable counting reflected the focus on larger units in the English reading curriculum.

Software engineering and Ada in design

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Oneill, Don

1986-01-01

Modern software engineering promises significant reductions in software costs and improvements in software quality. The Ada language is the focus for these software methodology and tool improvements. The IBM FSD approach, including the software engineering practices that guide the systematic design and development of software products and the management of the software process are examined. The revised Ada design language adaptation is revealed. This four level design methodology is detailed including the purpose of each level, the management strategy that integrates the software design activity with the program milestones, and the technical strategy that maps the Ada constructs to each level of design. A complete description of each design level is provided along with specific design language recording guidelines for each level. Finally, some testimony is offered on education, tools, architecture, and metrics resulting from project use of the four level Ada design language adaptation.

How Much Is Enough? Involving Occupational Experts in Setting Standards on a Specific-Purpose Language Test for Health Professionals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pill, John; McNamara, Tim

2016-01-01

This paper considers how to establish the minimum required level of professionally relevant oral communication ability in the medium of English for health practitioners with English as an additional language (EAL) to gain admission to practice in jurisdictions where English is the dominant language. A theoretical concern is the construct of…

Testing Math or Testing Language? The Construct Validity of the KeyMath-Revised for Children with Intellectual Disability and Language Difficulties

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rhodes, Katherine T.; Branum-Martin, Lee; Morris, Robin D.; Romski, MaryAnn; Sevcik, Rose A.

2015-01-01

Although it is often assumed that mathematics ability alone predicts mathematics test performance, linguistic demands may also predict achievement. This study examined the role of language in mathematics assessment performance for children with intellectual disability (ID) at less severe levels, on the KeyMath-Revised Inventory (KM-R) with a…

Cross-Compiler for Modeling Space-Flight Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

James, Mark

2007-01-01

Ripples is a computer program that makes it possible to specify arbitrarily complex space-flight systems in an easy-to-learn, high-level programming language and to have the specification automatically translated into LibSim, which is a text-based computing language in which such simulations are implemented. LibSim is a very powerful simulation language, but learning it takes considerable time, and it requires that models of systems and their components be described at a very low level of abstraction. To construct a model in LibSim, it is necessary to go through a time-consuming process that includes modeling each subsystem, including defining its fault-injection states, input and output conditions, and the topology of its connections to other subsystems. Ripples makes it possible to describe the same models at a much higher level of abstraction, thereby enabling the user to build models faster and with fewer errors. Ripples can be executed in a variety of computers and operating systems, and can be supplied in either source code or binary form. It must be run in conjunction with a Lisp compiler.

When the Second Language Takes the Lead: Neurocognitive Processing Changes in the First Language of Adult Attriters.

PubMed

Kasparian, Kristina; Steinhauer, Karsten

2017-01-01

Although research on multilingualism has revealed continued neuroplasticity for language-learning beyond what was previously expected, it remains controversial whether and to what extent a second language (L2) acquired in adulthood may induce changes in the neurocognitive processing of a first language (L1). First language (L1) attrition in adulthood offers new insight on neuroplasticity and the factors that modulate neurocognitive responses to language. To date, investigations of the neurocognitive correlates of L1 attrition and of factors influencing these mechanisms are still scarce. Moreover, most event-related-potential (ERP) studies of second language processing have focused on L1 influence on the L2, while cross-linguistic influence in the reverse direction has been underexplored. Using ERPs, we examined the real-time processing of Italian relative-clauses in 24 Italian-English adult migrants with predominant use of English since immigration and reporting attrition of their native-Italian (Attriters), compared to 30 non-attriting monolinguals in Italy (Controls). Our results showed that Attriters differed from Controls in their acceptability judgment ratings and ERP responses when relative clause constructions were ungrammatical in English, though grammatical in Italian. Controls' ERP responses to unpreferred sentence constructions were consistent with garden path effects typically observed in the literature for these complex sentences. In contrast, due to L2-English influence, Attriters were less sensitive to semantic cues than to word-order preferences, and processed permissible Italian sentences as outright morphosyntactic violations. Key factors modulating processing differences within Attriters were the degree of maintained L1 exposure, length of residence in the L2 environment and L2 proficiency - with higher levels of L2 immersion and proficiency associated with increased L2 influence on the L1. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration that high levels of L2 proficiency and exposure may render a grammatical sentence in one's native language ungrammatical. These group differences strongly point to distinct processing strategies and provide evidence that even a "stabilized" L1 grammar is subject to change after a prolonged period of L2 immersion and reduced L1 use, especially in linguistic areas promoting cross-linguistic influence.

Clinical Assistant Diagnosis for Electronic Medical Record Based on Convolutional Neural Network.

PubMed

Yang, Zhongliang; Huang, Yongfeng; Jiang, Yiran; Sun, Yuxi; Zhang, Yu-Jin; Luo, Pengcheng

2018-04-20

Automatically extracting useful information from electronic medical records along with conducting disease diagnoses is a promising task for both clinical decision support(CDS) and neural language processing(NLP). Most of the existing systems are based on artificially constructed knowledge bases, and then auxiliary diagnosis is done by rule matching. In this study, we present a clinical intelligent decision approach based on Convolutional Neural Networks(CNN), which can automatically extract high-level semantic information of electronic medical records and then perform automatic diagnosis without artificial construction of rules or knowledge bases. We use collected 18,590 copies of the real-world clinical electronic medical records to train and test the proposed model. Experimental results show that the proposed model can achieve 98.67% accuracy and 96.02% recall, which strongly supports that using convolutional neural network to automatically learn high-level semantic features of electronic medical records and then conduct assist diagnosis is feasible and effective.

What Is a Programming Language?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wold, Allen

1983-01-01

Explains what a computer programing language is in general, the differences between machine language, assembler languages, and high-level languages, and the functions of compilers and interpreters. High-level languages mentioned in the article are: BASIC, FORTRAN, COBOL, PILOT, LOGO, LISP, and SMALLTALK. (EAO)

Quantum Sets and Clifford Algebras

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Finkelstein, David

1982-06-01

The mathematical language presently used for quantum physics is a high-level language. As a lowest-level or basic language I construct a quantum set theory in three stages: (1) Classical set theory, formulated as a Clifford algebra of “ S numbers” generated by a single monadic operation, “bracing,” Br = {…}. (2) Indefinite set theory, a modification of set theory dealing with the modal logical concept of possibility. (3) Quantum set theory. The quantum set is constructed from the null set by the familiar quantum techniques of tensor product and antisymmetrization. There are both a Clifford and a Grassmann algebra with sets as basis elements. Rank and cardinality operators are analogous to Schroedinger coordinates of the theory, in that they are multiplication or “ Q-type” operators. “ P-type” operators analogous to Schroedinger momenta, in that they transform the Q-type quantities, are bracing (Br), Clifford multiplication by a set X, and the creator of X, represented by Grassmann multiplication c( X) by the set X. Br and its adjoint Br* form a Bose-Einstein canonical pair, and c( X) and its adjoint c( X)* form a Fermi-Dirac or anticanonical pair. Many coefficient number systems can be employed in this quantization. I use the integers for a discrete quantum theory, with the usual complex quantum theory as limit. Quantum set theory may be applied to a quantum time space and a quantum automaton.

Writing and compiling code into biochemistry.

PubMed

Shea, Adam; Fett, Brian; Riedel, Marc D; Parhi, Keshab

2010-01-01

This paper presents a methodology for translating iterative arithmetic computation, specified as high-level programming constructs, into biochemical reactions. From an input/output specification, we generate biochemical reactions that produce output quantities of proteins as a function of input quantities performing operations such as addition, subtraction, and scalar multiplication. Iterative constructs such as "while" loops and "for" loops are implemented by transferring quantities between protein types, based on a clocking mechanism. Synthesis first is performed at a conceptual level, in terms of abstract biochemical reactions - a task analogous to high-level program compilation. Then the results are mapped onto specific biochemical reactions selected from libraries - a task analogous to machine language compilation. We demonstrate our approach through the compilation of a variety of standard iterative functions: multiplication, exponentiation, discrete logarithms, raising to a power, and linear transforms on time series. The designs are validated through transient stochastic simulation of the chemical kinetics. We are exploring DNA-based computation via strand displacement as a possible experimental chassis.

Mediating Language Learning: Teacher Interactions with ESL Students in a Content-Based Classroom.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gibbons, Pauline

2003-01-01

Draws on constructs of "mediation" from sociocultural theory and "mode continuum" from systemic functional linguistics to investigate how student-teacher talk in a content-based classroom contributes to learners' language development. Shows how teachers mediate between students' linguistic levels in English and their…

Communicative Competence of the Fourth Year Students: Basis for Proposed English Language Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tuan, Vu Van

2017-01-01

This study on level of communicative competence covering linguistic/grammatical and discourse has aimed at constructing a proposed English language program for 5 key universities in Vietnam. The descriptive method utilized was scientifically employed with comparative techniques and correlational analysis. The researcher treated the surveyed data…

Ideology in Applied Linguistics for Language Teaching

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Waters, Alan

2009-01-01

It is contended that much of present-day applied linguistics for language teaching (ALLT) fails to mediate effectively, primarily because an ideological construction, emanating from a critical theory perspective, is too often imposed on everyday pedagogical practices. This has resulted in an exaggerated level of concern about the power imbalances…

F-Nets and Software Cabling: Deriving a Formal Model and Language for Portable Parallel Programming

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

DiNucci, David C.; Saini, Subhash (Technical Monitor)

1998-01-01

Parallel programming is still being based upon antiquated sequence-based definitions of the terms "algorithm" and "computation", resulting in programs which are architecture dependent and difficult to design and analyze. By focusing on obstacles inherent in existing practice, a more portable model is derived here, which is then formalized into a model called Soviets which utilizes a combination of imperative and functional styles. This formalization suggests more general notions of algorithm and computation, as well as insights into the meaning of structured programming in a parallel setting. To illustrate how these principles can be applied, a very-high-level graphical architecture-independent parallel language, called Software Cabling, is described, with many of the features normally expected from today's computer languages (e.g. data abstraction, data parallelism, and object-based programming constructs).

MATLAB implementation of a dynamic clamp with bandwidth >125 KHz capable of generating INa at 37°C

PubMed Central

Clausen, Chris; Valiunas, Virginijus; Brink, Peter R.; Cohen, Ira S.

2012-01-01

We describe the construction of a dynamic clamp with bandwidth >125 KHz that utilizes a high performance, yet low cost, standard home/office PC interfaced with a high-speed (16 bit) data acquisition module. High bandwidth is achieved by exploiting recently available software advances (code-generation technology, optimized real-time kernel). Dynamic-clamp programs are constructed using Simulink, a visual programming language. Blocks for computation of membrane currents are written in the high-level matlab language; no programming in C is required. The instrument can be used in single- or dual-cell configurations, with the capability to modify programs while experiments are in progress. We describe an algorithm for computing the fast transient Na+ current (INa) in real time, and test its accuracy and stability using rate constants appropriate for 37°C. We then construct a program capable of supplying three currents to a cell preparation: INa, the hyperpolarizing-activated inward pacemaker current (If), and an inward-rectifier K+ current (IK1). The program corrects for the IR drop due to electrode current flow, and also records all voltages and currents. We tested this program on dual patch-clamped HEK293 cells where the dynamic clamp controls a current-clamp amplifier and a voltage-clamp amplifier controls membrane potential, and current-clamped HEK293 cells where the dynamic clamp produces spontaneous pacing behavior exhibiting Na+ spikes in otherwise passive cells. PMID:23224681

Rules and construction effects in learning the argument structure of verbs.

PubMed

Demuth, Katherine; Machobane, Malillo; Moloi, Francina

2003-11-01

Theorists of language acquisition have long debated the means by which children learn the argument structure of verbs (e.g. Bowerman, 1974, 1990; Pinker, 1984, 1989; Tomasello, 1992). Central to this controversy has been the possible role of verb semantics, especially in learning which verbs undergo dative-shift alternation in languages like English. The learning problem is somewhat simplified in Bantu double object constructions, where all applicative verbs show the same order of postverbal objects. However, Bantu languages differ as to what that order is, some placing the benefactive argument first, and others placing the animate argument first. Learning the language-specific word-order restrictions on Bantu double object applicative constructions is therefore more akin to setting a parameter (cf. Hyams, 1986). This study examined 100 three- to eight-year-old children's knowledge of word order restrictions in Sesotho double object applicatives. Performance on forced choice elicited production tasks found that four-year-olds showed evidence of rule learning, although eight-year-olds had not yet attained adult levels of performance. Further investigation found lexical construction effects for three-year-olds. These findings suggest that learning the argument structure of verbs, even when lexical semantics is not involved, may be more sensitive to lexical construction effects than previously thought.

Mutation Testing for Effective Verification of Digital Components of Physical Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kushik, N. G.; Evtushenko, N. V.; Torgaev, S. N.

2015-12-01

Digital components of modern physical systems are often designed applying circuitry solutions based on the field programmable gate array technology (FPGA). Such (embedded) digital components should be carefully tested. In this paper, an approach for the verification of digital physical system components based on mutation testing is proposed. The reference description of the behavior of a digital component in the hardware description language (HDL) is mutated by introducing into it the most probable errors and, unlike mutants in high-level programming languages, the corresponding test case is effectively derived based on a comparison of special scalable representations of the specification and the constructed mutant using various logic synthesis and verification systems.

Cost evaluation of a DSN high level real-time language

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mckenzie, M.

1977-01-01

The hypothesis that the implementation of a DSN High Level Real Time Language will reduce real time software expenditures is explored. The High Level Real Time Language is found to be both affordable and cost-effective.

Viability of Construct Validity of the Speaking Modules of International Language Examinations (IELTS vs. TOEFL iBT): Evidence from Iranian Test-Takers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zahedi, Keivan; Shamsaee, Saeedeh

2012-01-01

The aim of the present research is to examine the viability of the construct validity of the speaking modules of two internationally recognized language proficiency examinations, namely IELTS and TOEFL iBT. High-stake standardized tests play a crucial and decisive role in determining the future academic life of many people. Overall obtained scores…

A direct-execution parallel architecture for the Advanced Continuous Simulation Language (ACSL)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Carroll, Chester C.; Owen, Jeffrey E.

1988-01-01

A direct-execution parallel architecture for the Advanced Continuous Simulation Language (ACSL) is presented which overcomes the traditional disadvantages of simulations executed on a digital computer. The incorporation of parallel processing allows the mapping of simulations into a digital computer to be done in the same inherently parallel manner as they are currently mapped onto an analog computer. The direct-execution format maximizes the efficiency of the executed code since the need for a high level language compiler is eliminated. Resolution is greatly increased over that which is available with an analog computer without the sacrifice in execution speed normally expected with digitial computer simulations. Although this report covers all aspects of the new architecture, key emphasis is placed on the processing element configuration and the microprogramming of the ACLS constructs. The execution times for all ACLS constructs are computed using a model of a processing element based on the AMD 29000 CPU and the AMD 29027 FPU. The increase in execution speed provided by parallel processing is exemplified by comparing the derived execution times of two ACSL programs with the execution times for the same programs executed on a similar sequential architecture.

Hardware/software codesign for embedded RISC core

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Peng

2001-12-01

This paper describes hardware/software codesign method of the extendible embedded RISC core VIRGO, which based on MIPS-I instruction set architecture. VIRGO is described by Verilog hardware description language that has five-stage pipeline with shared 32-bit cache/memory interface, and it is controlled by distributed control scheme. Every pipeline stage has one small controller, which controls the pipeline stage status and cooperation among the pipeline phase. Since description use high level language and structure is distributed, VIRGO core has highly extension that can meet the requirements of application. We take look at the high-definition television MPEG2 MPHL decoder chip, constructed the hardware/software codesign virtual prototyping machine that can research on VIRGO core instruction set architecture, and system on chip memory size requirements, and system on chip software, etc. We also can evaluate the system on chip design and RISC instruction set based on the virtual prototyping machine platform.

Time in Language, Language in Time

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Klein, Wolfgang

2008-01-01

Many millenia ago, a number of genetic changes endowed the human species with the remarkable capacity: (1) to construct highly complex systems of expressions--human languages; (2) to copy such systems, once created, from other members of the species; and (3) to use them for communicative and perhaps other purposes. This capacity is not uniform; it…

Interactive Supercomputing’s Star-P Platform

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Edelman, Alan; Husbands, Parry; Leibman, Steve

2006-09-19

The thesis of this extended abstract is simple. High productivity comes from high level infrastructures. To measure this, we introduce a methodology that goes beyond the tradition of timing software in serial and tuned parallel modes. We perform a classroom productivity study involving 29 students who have written a homework exercise in a low level language (MPI message passing) and a high level language (Star-P with MATLAB client). Our conclusions indicate what perhaps should be of little surprise: (1) the high level language is always far easier on the students than the low level language. (2) The early versions ofmore » the high level language perform inadequately compared to the tuned low level language, but later versions substantially catch up. Asymptotically, the analogy must hold that message passing is to high level language parallel programming as assembler is to high level environments such as MATLAB, Mathematica, Maple, or even Python. We follow the Kepner method that correctly realizes that traditional speedup numbers without some discussion of the human cost of reaching these numbers can fail to reflect the true human productivity cost of high performance computing. Traditional data compares low level message passing with serial computation. With the benefit of a high level language system in place, in our case Star-P running with MATLAB client, and with the benefit of a large data pool: 29 students, each running the same code ten times on three evolutions of the same platform, we can methodically demonstrate the productivity gains. To date we are not aware of any high level system as extensive and interoperable as Star-P, nor are we aware of an experiment of this kind performed with this volume of data.« less

Speech and Language Disorders in Kenyan Children: Adapting Tools For Regions With Few Assessment Resources

PubMed Central

Carter, Julie Anne; Murira, Grace; Gona, Joseph; Tumaini, Judy; Lees, Janet; Neville, Brian George; Newton, Charles Richard

2013-01-01

This study sought to adapt a battery of Western speech and language assessment tools to a rural Kenyan setting. The tool was developed for children whose first language was KiGiryama, a Bantu language. A total of 539 Kenyan children (males=271, females=268, ethnicity=100% Kigiryama. Data were collected from 303 children admitted to hospital with severe malaria and 206 age-matched children recruited from the village communities. The language assessments were based upon the Content, Form and Use (C/F/U) model. The assessment was based upon the adapted versions of the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, Test for the Reception of Grammar, Renfrew Action Picture Test, Pragmatics Profile of Everyday Communication Skills in Children, Test of Word Finding and language specific tests of lexical semantics, higher level language. Preliminary measures of construct validity suggested that the theoretical assumptions behind the construction of the assessments were appropriate and re-test and inter-rater reliability scores were acceptable. These findings illustrate the potential to adapt Western speech and language assessments in other languages and settings, particularly those in which there is a paucity of standardised tools. PMID:24294109

Analysis of English language learner performance on the biology Massachusetts comprehensive assessment system: The impact of english proficiency, first language characteristics, and late-entry ELL status

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mitchell, Mary A.

This study analyzed English language learner (ELL) performance on the June 2012 Biology MCAS, namely on item attributes of domain, cognitive skill, and linguistic complexity. It examined the impact of English proficiency, Latinate first language, first language orthography, and late-entry ELL status. The results indicated that English proficiency was a strong predictor of performance and that ELLs at higher levels of English proficiency overwhelmingly passed. The results further indicated that English proficiency introduced a construct-irrelevant variance on the Biology MCAS and raised validity issues for using this assessment at lower levels of English proficiency. This study also found that ELLs with a Latinate first language consistently had statistically significant lower performance. Late-entry ELL status did not predict Biology MCAS performance.

PaR-PaR Laboratory Automation Platform

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Linshiz, G; Stawski, N; Poust, S

2013-05-01

Labor-intensive multistep biological tasks, such as the construction and cloning of DNA molecules, are prime candidates for laboratory automation. Flexible and biology-friendly operation of robotic equipment is key to its successful integration in biological laboratories, and the efforts required to operate a robot must be much smaller than the alternative manual lab work. To achieve these goals, a simple high-level biology-friendly robot programming language is needed. We have developed and experimentally validated such a language: Programming a Robot (PaR-PaR). The syntax and compiler for the language are based on computer science principles and a deep understanding of biological workflows. PaR-PaRmore » allows researchers to use liquid-handling robots effectively, enabling experiments that would not have been considered previously. After minimal training, a biologist can independently write complicated protocols for a robot within an hour. Adoption of PaR-PaR as a standard cross-platform language would enable hand-written or software-generated robotic protocols to be shared across laboratories.« less

PaR-PaR laboratory automation platform.

PubMed

Linshiz, Gregory; Stawski, Nina; Poust, Sean; Bi, Changhao; Keasling, Jay D; Hillson, Nathan J

2013-05-17

Labor-intensive multistep biological tasks, such as the construction and cloning of DNA molecules, are prime candidates for laboratory automation. Flexible and biology-friendly operation of robotic equipment is key to its successful integration in biological laboratories, and the efforts required to operate a robot must be much smaller than the alternative manual lab work. To achieve these goals, a simple high-level biology-friendly robot programming language is needed. We have developed and experimentally validated such a language: Programming a Robot (PaR-PaR). The syntax and compiler for the language are based on computer science principles and a deep understanding of biological workflows. PaR-PaR allows researchers to use liquid-handling robots effectively, enabling experiments that would not have been considered previously. After minimal training, a biologist can independently write complicated protocols for a robot within an hour. Adoption of PaR-PaR as a standard cross-platform language would enable hand-written or software-generated robotic protocols to be shared across laboratories.

SIMS: addressing the problem of heterogeneity in databases

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arens, Yigal

1997-02-01

The heterogeneity of remotely accessible databases -- with respect to contents, query language, semantics, organization, etc. -- presents serious obstacles to convenient querying. The SIMS (single interface to multiple sources) system addresses this global integration problem. It does so by defining a single language for describing the domain about which information is stored in the databases and using this language as the query language. Each database to which SIMS is to provide access is modeled using this language. The model describes a database's contents, organization, and other relevant features. SIMS uses these models, together with a planning system drawing on techniques from artificial intelligence, to decompose a given user's high-level query into a series of queries against the databases and other data manipulation steps. The retrieval plan is constructed so as to minimize data movement over the network and maximize parallelism to increase execution speed. SIMS can recover from network failures during plan execution by obtaining data from alternate sources, when possible. SIMS has been demonstrated in the domains of medical informatics and logistics, using real databases.

Preservice and inservice teachers' knowledge of language constructs in Finland.

PubMed

Aro, Mikko; Björn, Piia Maria

2016-04-01

The aim of the study was to explore the Finnish preservice and inservice teachers' knowledge of language constructs relevant for literacy acquisition. A total of 150 preservice teachers and 74 inservice teachers participated in the study by filling out a questionnaire that assessed self-perceived expertise in reading instruction, knowledge of phonology and phonics, and knowledge of morphology. The inservice teachers outperformed the preservice teachers in knowledge of phonology and phonics, as well as morphology. Both groups' knowledge of morphology was markedly lower than their knowledge of phonology and phonics. Because early reading instruction does not focus on the morphological level of language but is phonics-based, this result was expected. However, the findings also revealed a lack of explicit knowledge of basic phonological constructs and less-than-optimal phonemic awareness skills in both groups. Problems in phonemic skills manifested mostly as responding to the phonological tasks based on orthographic knowledge, which reflects an overreliance on the one-to-one correspondence between graphemes and phonemes. The preservice teachers' perceptions of expertise were weakly related to their knowledge and skills. Among the inservice teachers, perceived expertise and knowledge of language constructs were completely unrelated. Although the study was exploratory, these findings suggest that within the Finnish teacher education there is a need to focus more on explicit content studies for language structures and the concepts relevant for literacy instruction, as well as phonological and phonemic skills.

High assurance SPIRAL

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Franchetti, Franz; Sandryhaila, Aliaksei; Johnson, Jeremy R.

2014-06-01

In this paper we introduce High Assurance SPIRAL to solve the last mile problem for the synthesis of high assurance implementations of controllers for vehicular systems that are executed in today's and future embedded and high performance embedded system processors. High Assurance SPIRAL is a scalable methodology to translate a high level specification of a high assurance controller into a highly resource-efficient, platform-adapted, verified control software implementation for a given platform in a language like C or C++. High Assurance SPIRAL proves that the implementation is equivalent to the specification written in the control engineer's domain language. Our approach scales to problems involving floating-point calculations and provides highly optimized synthesized code. It is possible to estimate the available headroom to enable assurance/performance trade-offs under real-time constraints, and enables the synthesis of multiple implementation variants to make attacks harder. At the core of High Assurance SPIRAL is the Hybrid Control Operator Language (HCOL) that leverages advanced mathematical constructs expressing the controller specification to provide high quality translation capabilities. Combined with a verified/certified compiler, High Assurance SPIRAL provides a comprehensive complete solution to the efficient synthesis of verifiable high assurance controllers. We demonstrate High Assurance SPIRALs capability by co-synthesizing proofs and implementations for attack detection and sensor spoofing algorithms and deploy the code as ROS nodes on the Landshark unmanned ground vehicle and on a Synthetic Car in a real-time simulator.

High level language for measurement complex control based on the computer E-100I

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zubkov, B. V.

1980-01-01

A high level language was designed to control the process of conducting an experiment using the computer "Elektrinika-1001". Program examples are given to control the measuring and actuating devices. The procedure of including these programs in the suggested high level language is described.

Performance of the Heavy Flavor Tracker (HFT) detector in star experiment at RHIC

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alruwaili, Manal

With the growing technology, the number of the processors is becoming massive. Current supercomputer processing will be available on desktops in the next decade. For mass scale application software development on massive parallel computing available on desktops, existing popular languages with large libraries have to be augmented with new constructs and paradigms that exploit massive parallel computing and distributed memory models while retaining the user-friendliness. Currently, available object oriented languages for massive parallel computing such as Chapel, X10 and UPC++ exploit distributed computing, data parallel computing and thread-parallelism at the process level in the PGAS (Partitioned Global Address Space) memory model. However, they do not incorporate: 1) any extension at for object distribution to exploit PGAS model; 2) the programs lack the flexibility of migrating or cloning an object between places to exploit load balancing; and 3) lack the programming paradigms that will result from the integration of data and thread-level parallelism and object distribution. In the proposed thesis, I compare different languages in PGAS model; propose new constructs that extend C++ with object distribution and object migration; and integrate PGAS based process constructs with these extensions on distributed objects. Object cloning and object migration. Also a new paradigm MIDD (Multiple Invocation Distributed Data) is presented when different copies of the same class can be invoked, and work on different elements of a distributed data concurrently using remote method invocations. I present new constructs, their grammar and their behavior. The new constructs have been explained using simple programs utilizing these constructs.

Assessing the cultural in culturally sensitive printed patient-education materials for Chinese Americans with type 2 diabetes.

PubMed

Ho, Evelyn Y; Tran, Henrietta; Chesla, Catherine A

2015-01-01

Type 2 diabetes affects Chinese Americans at an alarming rate. To address this health disparity, research in the area of cultural sensitivity and health literacy provides useful guidelines for creating culturally appropriate health education. In this article, we use discourse analysis to examine a group of locally available, Chinese- and English-language diabetes print documents from a surface level and deep structure level of culture. First, we compared these documents to research findings about printed health information to determine whether and how these documents apply current best practices for health literacy and culturally appropriate health communication. Second, we examined how diabetes as a disease and diabetes management is being constructed. The printed materials addressed surface level culture through the use of Chinese language, pictures, foods, and exercises. From a deeper cultural level, the materials constructed diabetes management as a matter of measurement and control that contrasted with previous research suggesting an alternative construction of balance. A nuanced assessment of both surface and deeper levels of culture is essential for creating health education materials that are more culturally appropriate and can lead to increased health literacy and improved health outcomes.

When the Second Language Takes the Lead: Neurocognitive Processing Changes in the First Language of Adult Attriters

PubMed Central

Kasparian, Kristina; Steinhauer, Karsten

2017-01-01

Although research on multilingualism has revealed continued neuroplasticity for language-learning beyond what was previously expected, it remains controversial whether and to what extent a second language (L2) acquired in adulthood may induce changes in the neurocognitive processing of a first language (L1). First language (L1) attrition in adulthood offers new insight on neuroplasticity and the factors that modulate neurocognitive responses to language. To date, investigations of the neurocognitive correlates of L1 attrition and of factors influencing these mechanisms are still scarce. Moreover, most event-related-potential (ERP) studies of second language processing have focused on L1 influence on the L2, while cross-linguistic influence in the reverse direction has been underexplored. Using ERPs, we examined the real-time processing of Italian relative-clauses in 24 Italian-English adult migrants with predominant use of English since immigration and reporting attrition of their native-Italian (Attriters), compared to 30 non-attriting monolinguals in Italy (Controls). Our results showed that Attriters differed from Controls in their acceptability judgment ratings and ERP responses when relative clause constructions were ungrammatical in English, though grammatical in Italian. Controls’ ERP responses to unpreferred sentence constructions were consistent with garden path effects typically observed in the literature for these complex sentences. In contrast, due to L2-English influence, Attriters were less sensitive to semantic cues than to word-order preferences, and processed permissible Italian sentences as outright morphosyntactic violations. Key factors modulating processing differences within Attriters were the degree of maintained L1 exposure, length of residence in the L2 environment and L2 proficiency – with higher levels of L2 immersion and proficiency associated with increased L2 influence on the L1. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration that high levels of L2 proficiency and exposure may render a grammatical sentence in one’s native language ungrammatical. These group differences strongly point to distinct processing strategies and provide evidence that even a “stabilized” L1 grammar is subject to change after a prolonged period of L2 immersion and reduced L1 use, especially in linguistic areas promoting cross-linguistic influence. PMID:28424634

Using a high-dimensional graph of semantic space to model relationships among words

PubMed Central

Jackson, Alice F.; Bolger, Donald J.

2014-01-01

The GOLD model (Graph Of Language Distribution) is a network model constructed based on co-occurrence in a large corpus of natural language that may be used to explore what information may be present in a graph-structured model of language, and what information may be extracted through theoretically-driven algorithms as well as standard graph analysis methods. The present study will employ GOLD to examine two types of relationship between words: semantic similarity and associative relatedness. Semantic similarity refers to the degree of overlap in meaning between words, while associative relatedness refers to the degree to which two words occur in the same schematic context. It is expected that a graph structured model of language constructed based on co-occurrence should easily capture associative relatedness, because this type of relationship is thought to be present directly in lexical co-occurrence. However, it is hypothesized that semantic similarity may be extracted from the intersection of the set of first-order connections, because two words that are semantically similar may occupy similar thematic or syntactic roles across contexts and thus would co-occur lexically with the same set of nodes. Two versions the GOLD model that differed in terms of the co-occurence window, bigGOLD at the paragraph level and smallGOLD at the adjacent word level, were directly compared to the performance of a well-established distributional model, Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA). The superior performance of the GOLD models (big and small) suggest that a single acquisition and storage mechanism, namely co-occurrence, can account for associative and conceptual relationships between words and is more psychologically plausible than models using singular value decomposition (SVD). PMID:24860525

Using a high-dimensional graph of semantic space to model relationships among words.

PubMed

Jackson, Alice F; Bolger, Donald J

2014-01-01

The GOLD model (Graph Of Language Distribution) is a network model constructed based on co-occurrence in a large corpus of natural language that may be used to explore what information may be present in a graph-structured model of language, and what information may be extracted through theoretically-driven algorithms as well as standard graph analysis methods. The present study will employ GOLD to examine two types of relationship between words: semantic similarity and associative relatedness. Semantic similarity refers to the degree of overlap in meaning between words, while associative relatedness refers to the degree to which two words occur in the same schematic context. It is expected that a graph structured model of language constructed based on co-occurrence should easily capture associative relatedness, because this type of relationship is thought to be present directly in lexical co-occurrence. However, it is hypothesized that semantic similarity may be extracted from the intersection of the set of first-order connections, because two words that are semantically similar may occupy similar thematic or syntactic roles across contexts and thus would co-occur lexically with the same set of nodes. Two versions the GOLD model that differed in terms of the co-occurence window, bigGOLD at the paragraph level and smallGOLD at the adjacent word level, were directly compared to the performance of a well-established distributional model, Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA). The superior performance of the GOLD models (big and small) suggest that a single acquisition and storage mechanism, namely co-occurrence, can account for associative and conceptual relationships between words and is more psychologically plausible than models using singular value decomposition (SVD).

The Grammar of Exchange: A Comparative Study of Reciprocal Constructions Across Languages

PubMed Central

Majid, Asifa; Evans, Nicholas; Gaby, Alice; Levinson, Stephen C.

2010-01-01

Cultures are built on social exchange. Most languages have dedicated grammatical machinery for expressing this. To demonstrate that statistical methods can also be applied to grammatical meaning, we here ask whether the underlying meanings of these grammatical constructions are based on shared common concepts. To explore this, we designed video stimuli of reciprocated actions (e.g., “giving to each other”) and symmetrical states (e.g., “sitting next to each other”), and with the help of a team of linguists collected responses from 20 languages around the world. Statistical analyses revealed that many languages do, in fact, share a common conceptual core for reciprocal meanings but that this is not a universally expressed concept. The recurrent pattern of conceptual packaging found across languages is compatible with the view that there is a shared non-linguistic understanding of reciprocation. But, nevertheless, there are considerable differences between languages in the exact extensional patterns, highlighting that even in the domain of grammar semantics is highly language-specific. PMID:21713188

A study of the effects of English language proficiency and scientific reasoning skills on the acquisition of science content knowledge of Hispanic English language learners and native English language-speaking students participating in grade 10 science classes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Torres, Hector Neftali, Sr.

2000-11-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of English language proficiency and levels of scientific reasoning skills of Hispanic English language learners and native English language speaking students on their acquisition of science content knowledge as measured by a state-wide standardized science test. The researcher studied a group of high school Hispanic English language learners and native English language speaking students participating in Grade 10 science classes. The language proficiency of the students was to be measured through the use of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) instrument. A Classroom Test of Scientific Reasoning developed by Lawson (1978) was administered in either English or Spanish to the group of Hispanic English language learners and in English to the group of native English language-speaking students in order to determine their levels of scientific reasoning skills. The students' acquisition of science content knowledge was measured through the use of statewide-standardized science test developed by the State's Department of Education. This study suggests that the levels of English language proficiency appear to influence the acquisition of science content knowledge of Hispanic English language learners in the study. The results of the study also suggest that with regards to scientific reasoning skills, students that showed high levels or reflective reasoning skills for the most part performed better on the statewide-standardized science test than students with intuitive or transitional reasoning skills. This assertion was supported by the studies conducted by Lawson and his colleagues, which showed that high levels of reasoning or reflective reasoning skills are prerequisite for most high school science courses. The findings in this study imply that high order English language proficiency combined with high levels of reasoning skills enhances students' abilities to learn science content subject matter. This lends support to Cummins' theoretical framework, which indicates that learning science content subject matter requires cognitive academic language proficiency (CALP). The study also indicates that CALP maybe the combination of high order English language proficiency and high levels of reasoning skills. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

Relaxation of selection, niche construction, and the Baldwin effect in language evolution.

PubMed

Yamauchi, Hajime; Hashimoto, Takashi

2010-01-01

Deacon has suggested that one of the key factors of language evolution is not characterized by an increase in genetic contribution, often known as the Baldwin effect, but rather by a decrease. This process effectively increases linguistic learning capability by organizing a novel synergy of multiple lower-order functions previously irrelevant to the process of language acquisition. Deacon posits that this transition is not caused by natural selection. Rather, it is due to the relaxation of natural selection. While there are some cases in which relaxation caused by some external factors indeed induces the transition, we do not know what kind of relaxation has worked in language evolution. In this article, a genetic-algorithm-based computer simulation is used to investigate how the niche-constructing aspect of linguistic behavior may trigger the degradation of genetic predisposition related to language learning. The results show that agents initially increase their genetic predisposition for language learning—the Baldwin effect. They create a highly uniform sociolinguistic environment—a linguistic niche construction. This means that later generations constantly receive very similar inputs from adult agents, and subsequently the selective pressure to retain the genetic predisposition is relaxed.

From gesture to sign language: conventionalization of classifier constructions by adult hearing learners of British Sign Language.

PubMed

Marshall, Chloë R; Morgan, Gary

2015-01-01

There has long been interest in why languages are shaped the way they are, and in the relationship between sign language and gesture. In sign languages, entity classifiers are handshapes that encode how objects move, how they are located relative to one another, and how multiple objects of the same type are distributed in space. Previous studies have shown that hearing adults who are asked to use only manual gestures to describe how objects move in space will use gestures that bear some similarities to classifiers. We investigated how accurately hearing adults, who had been learning British Sign Language (BSL) for 1-3 years, produce and comprehend classifiers in (static) locative and distributive constructions. In a production task, learners of BSL knew that they could use their hands to represent objects, but they had difficulty choosing the same, conventionalized, handshapes as native signers. They were, however, highly accurate at encoding location and orientation information. Learners therefore show the same pattern found in sign-naïve gesturers. In contrast, handshape, orientation, and location were comprehended with equal (high) accuracy, and testing a group of sign-naïve adults showed that they too were able to understand classifiers with higher than chance accuracy. We conclude that adult learners of BSL bring their visuo-spatial knowledge and gestural abilities to the tasks of understanding and producing constructions that contain entity classifiers. We speculate that investigating the time course of adult sign language acquisition might shed light on how gesture became (and, indeed, becomes) conventionalized during the genesis of sign languages. Copyright © 2014 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Constructing and Contesting Discourses of Heteronormativity: An Ethnographic Study of Youth in a Francophone High School in Canada

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dalley, Phyllis; Campbell, Mark David

2006-01-01

This article explores the possibilities and impossibilities of establishing queer discursive spaces within a minority-language high school. Data examined here are from a three-year study of language and identity in a Francophone high school in Ontario, Canada. As two members of the larger research team, we draw on our close observations of teenage…

The Whorfian time warp: Representing duration through the language hourglass.

PubMed

Bylund, Emanuel; Athanasopoulos, Panos

2017-07-01

How do humans construct their mental representations of the passage of time? The universalist account claims that abstract concepts like time are universal across humans. In contrast, the linguistic relativity hypothesis holds that speakers of different languages represent duration differently. The precise impact of language on duration representation is, however, unknown. Here, we show that language can have a powerful role in transforming humans' psychophysical experience of time. Contrary to the universalist account, we found language-specific interference in a duration reproduction task, where stimulus duration conflicted with its physical growth. When reproducing duration, Swedish speakers were misled by stimulus length, and Spanish speakers were misled by stimulus size/quantity. These patterns conform to preferred expressions of duration magnitude in these languages (Swedish: long/short time; Spanish: much/small time). Critically, Spanish-Swedish bilinguals performing the task in both languages showed different interference depending on language context. Such shifting behavior within the same individual reveals hitherto undocumented levels of flexibility in time representation. Finally, contrary to the linguistic relativity hypothesis, language interference was confined to difficult discriminations (i.e., when stimuli varied only subtly in duration and growth), and was eliminated when linguistic cues were removed from the task. These results reveal the malleable nature of human time representation as part of a highly adaptive information processing system. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Construction of an advanced software tool for planetary atmospheric modeling

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Friedland, Peter; Keller, Richard M.; Mckay, Christopher P.; Sims, Michael H.; Thompson, David E.

1993-01-01

Scientific model-building can be a time intensive and painstaking process, often involving the development of large complex computer programs. Despite the effort involved, scientific models cannot be distributed easily and shared with other scientists. In general, implemented scientific models are complicated, idiosyncratic, and difficult for anyone but the original scientist/programmer to understand. We propose to construct a scientific modeling software tool that serves as an aid to the scientist in developing, using and sharing models. The proposed tool will include an interactive intelligent graphical interface and a high-level domain-specific modeling language. As a testbed for this research, we propose to develop a software prototype in the domain of planetary atmospheric modeling.

Construction of an advanced software tool for planetary atmospheric modeling

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Friedland, Peter; Keller, Richard M.; Mckay, Christopher P.; Sims, Michael H.; Thompson, David E.

1992-01-01

Scientific model-building can be a time intensive and painstaking process, often involving the development of large complex computer programs. Despite the effort involved, scientific models cannot be distributed easily and shared with other scientists. In general, implemented scientific models are complicated, idiosyncratic, and difficult for anyone but the original scientist/programmer to understand. We propose to construct a scientific modeling software tool that serves as an aid to the scientist in developing, using and sharing models. The proposed tool will include an interactive intelligent graphical interface and a high-level domain-specific modeling language. As a test bed for this research, we propose to develop a software prototype in the domain of planetary atmospheric modeling.

The Wor(l)d is a Collage: Multi-Performance by Chinese Heritage Language Speakers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

He, Agnes Weiyun

2013-01-01

This study examines the simultaneous use of English and Chinese by speakers of Chinese as a heritage language (CHL). It focuses on spontaneous, dynamic, and high-density mixing of the two languages within the smallest building block of a speaking turn: the turn constructional unit (TCU). Drawing upon data from different age and proficiency groups,…

Vectorized algorithms for spiking neural network simulation.

PubMed

Brette, Romain; Goodman, Dan F M

2011-06-01

High-level languages (Matlab, Python) are popular in neuroscience because they are flexible and accelerate development. However, for simulating spiking neural networks, the cost of interpretation is a bottleneck. We describe a set of algorithms to simulate large spiking neural networks efficiently with high-level languages using vector-based operations. These algorithms constitute the core of Brian, a spiking neural network simulator written in the Python language. Vectorized simulation makes it possible to combine the flexibility of high-level languages with the computational efficiency usually associated with compiled languages.

Construction of language models for an handwritten mail reading system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morillot, Olivier; Likforman-Sulem, Laurence; Grosicki, Emmanuèle

2012-01-01

This paper presents a system for the recognition of unconstrained handwritten mails. The main part of this system is an HMM recognizer which uses trigraphs to model contextual information. This recognition system does not require any segmentation into words or characters and directly works at line level. To take into account linguistic information and enhance performance, a language model is introduced. This language model is based on bigrams and built from training document transcriptions only. Different experiments with various vocabulary sizes and language models have been conducted. Word Error Rate and Perplexity values are compared to show the interest of specific language models, fit to handwritten mail recognition task.

Variability, Negative Evidence, and the Acquisition of Verb Argument Constructions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Perfors, Amy; Tenenbaum, Joshua B.; Wonnacott, Elizabeth

2010-01-01

We present a hierarchical Bayesian framework for modeling the acquisition of verb argument constructions. It embodies a domain-general approach to learning higher-level knowledge in the form of inductive constraints (or overhypotheses), and has been used to explain other aspects of language development such as the shape bias in learning object…

SequenceL: Automated Parallel Algorithms Derived from CSP-NT Computational Laws

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cooke, Daniel; Rushton, Nelson

2013-01-01

With the introduction of new parallel architectures like the cell and multicore chips from IBM, Intel, AMD, and ARM, as well as the petascale processing available for highend computing, a larger number of programmers will need to write parallel codes. Adding the parallel control structure to the sequence, selection, and iterative control constructs increases the complexity of code development, which often results in increased development costs and decreased reliability. SequenceL is a high-level programming language that is, a programming language that is closer to a human s way of thinking than to a machine s. Historically, high-level languages have resulted in decreased development costs and increased reliability, at the expense of performance. In recent applications at JSC and in industry, SequenceL has demonstrated the usual advantages of high-level programming in terms of low cost and high reliability. SequenceL programs, however, have run at speeds typically comparable with, and in many cases faster than, their counterparts written in C and C++ when run on single-core processors. Moreover, SequenceL is able to generate parallel executables automatically for multicore hardware, gaining parallel speedups without any extra effort from the programmer beyond what is required to write the sequen tial/singlecore code. A SequenceL-to-C++ translator has been developed that automatically renders readable multithreaded C++ from a combination of a SequenceL program and sample data input. The SequenceL language is based on two fundamental computational laws, Consume-Simplify- Produce (CSP) and Normalize-Trans - pose (NT), which enable it to automate the creation of parallel algorithms from high-level code that has no annotations of parallelism whatsoever. In our anecdotal experience, SequenceL development has been in every case less costly than development of the same algorithm in sequential (that is, single-core, single process) C or C++, and an order of magnitude less costly than development of comparable parallel code. Moreover, SequenceL not only automatically parallelizes the code, but since it is based on CSP-NT, it is provably race free, thus eliminating the largest quality challenge the parallelized software developer faces.

Late Bilinguals Are Sensitive to Unique Aspects of Second Language Processing: Evidence from Clitic Pronouns Word-Order

PubMed Central

Rossi, Eleonora; Diaz, Michele; Kroll, Judith F.; Dussias, Paola E.

2017-01-01

In two self-paced reading experiments we asked whether late, highly proficient, English–Spanish bilinguals are able to process language-specific morpho-syntactic information in their second language (L2). The processing of Spanish clitic pronouns’ word order was tested in two sentential constructions. Experiment 1 showed that English–Spanish bilinguals performed similarly to Spanish–English bilinguals and revealed sensitivity to word order violations for a grammatical structure unique to the L2. Experiment 2 replicated the pattern observed for native speakers in Experiment 1 with a group of monolingual Spanish speakers, demonstrating the stability of processing clitic pronouns in the native language. Taken together, the results show that late bilinguals can process aspects of grammar that are encoded in L2-specific linguistic constructions even when the structure is relatively subtle and not affected for native speakers by the presence of a second language. PMID:28367130

Language and Reading Instruction in Early Years' Classrooms: The Knowledge and Self-Rated Ability of Australian Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stark, Hannah L.; Snow, Pamela C.; Eadie, Patricia A.; Goldfeld, Sharon R.

2016-01-01

This study sought to investigate the level of knowledge of language constructs in a cohort of Australian teachers and to examine their self-rated ability and confidence in that knowledge. Seventy-eight teachers from schools across the Australian state of Victoria completed a questionnaire which included items from existing measures, as well as…

Development of student performance assessment based on scientific approach for a basic physics practicum in simple harmonic motion materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Serevina, V.; Muliyati, D.

2018-05-01

This research aims to develop students’ performance assessment instrument based on scientific approach is valid and reliable in assessing the performance of students on basic physics lab of Simple Harmonic Motion (SHM). This study uses the ADDIE consisting of stages: Analyze, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation. The student performance assessment developed can be used to measure students’ skills in observing, asking, conducting experiments, associating and communicate experimental results that are the ‘5M’ stages in a scientific approach. Each grain of assessment in the instrument is validated by the instrument expert and the evaluation with the result of all points of assessment shall be eligible to be used with a 100% eligibility percentage. The instrument is then tested for the quality of construction, material, and language by panel (lecturer) with the result: 85% or very good instrument construction aspect, material aspect 87.5% or very good, and language aspect 83% or very good. For small group trial obtained instrument reliability level of 0.878 or is in the high category, where r-table is 0.707. For large group trial obtained instrument reliability level of 0.889 or is in the high category, where r-table is 0.320. Instruments declared valid and reliable for 5% significance level. Based on the result of this research, it can be concluded that the student performance appraisal instrument based on the developed scientific approach is declared valid and reliable to be used in assessing student skill in SHM experimental activity.

Brief report: High and low level initiations of joint attention, and response to joint attention: differential relationships with language and imitation.

PubMed

Pickard, Katherine E; Ingersoll, Brooke R

2015-01-01

Frequency of high-level (showing/pointing) and low-level (coordinated gaze shifts) behaviors on the Early Social Communication Scales are often used as a measure of joint attention initiations (IJA). This study examined the degree to which these skills and response to joint attention (RJA; e.g. gaze following) were differentially related to measures of language and imitation in 53 children with autism spectrum disorder between the ages of 22 and 93 months. High-level and low-level IJA were not associated with each other, and only high-level IJA was associated with RJA, and language and imitation measures. High-level IJA and RJA were unique predictors of imitation, while RJA was a unique predictor of language. Findings indicate that IJA involves distinct skills, with high-level behaviors more closely related to social-communication skills.

Assessing the Cultural in Culturally Sensitive Printed Patient Education Materials for Chinese Americans with Type 2 Diabetes

PubMed Central

Ho, Evelyn Y.; Tran, Henrietta; Chesla, Catherine A.

2014-01-01

Type 2 diabetes affects Chinese Americans at an alarming rate. To address this health disparity, research in the area of cultural sensitivity and health literacy provide useful guidelines for creating culturally appropriate health education. In this article, we use discourse analysis to examine a group of locally-available, Chinese and English language diabetes print documents from a surface and deep structure level of culture. First, we compared these documents to research findings about printed health information to determine if and how these documents apply current best practices for health literacy and culturally appropriate health communication. Second, we examined how diabetes as a disease and diabetes management is being constructed. The printed materials addressed surface level culture through the use of Chinese language, pictures, foods and exercises. From a deeper cultural level, the materials constructed diabetes management as a matter of measurement and control that contrasted with previous research suggesting an alternative construction of balance. A nuanced assessment of both surface and deeper levels of culture is essential for creating health education materials that are more culturally appropriate and can lead to increase health literacy and improved health outcomes. PMID:24446839

Personality and emotion-based high-level control of affective story characters.

PubMed

Su, Wen-Poh; Pham, Binh; Wardhani, Aster

2007-01-01

Human emotional behavior, personality, and body language are the essential elements in the recognition of a believable synthetic story character. This paper presents an approach using story scripts and action descriptions in a form similar to the content description of storyboards to predict specific personality and emotional states. By adopting the Abridged Big Five Circumplex (AB5C) Model of personality from the study of psychology as a basis for a computational model, we construct a hierarchical fuzzy rule-based system to facilitate the personality and emotion control of the body language of a dynamic story character. The story character can consistently perform specific postures and gestures based on his/her personality type. Story designers can devise a story context in the form of our story interface which predictably motivates personality and emotion values to drive the appropriate movements of the story characters. Our system takes advantage of relevant knowledge described by psychologists and researchers of storytelling, nonverbal communication, and human movement. Our ultimate goal is to facilitate the high-level control of a synthetic character.

A General Sparse Tensor Framework for Electronic Structure Theory

DOE PAGES

Manzer, Samuel; Epifanovsky, Evgeny; Krylov, Anna I.; ...

2017-01-24

Linear-scaling algorithms must be developed in order to extend the domain of applicability of electronic structure theory to molecules of any desired size. But, the increasing complexity of modern linear-scaling methods makes code development and maintenance a significant challenge. A major contributor to this difficulty is the lack of robust software abstractions for handling block-sparse tensor operations. We therefore report the development of a highly efficient symbolic block-sparse tensor library in order to provide access to high-level software constructs to treat such problems. Our implementation supports arbitrary multi-dimensional sparsity in all input and output tensors. We then avoid cumbersome machine-generatedmore » code by implementing all functionality as a high-level symbolic C++ language library and demonstrate that our implementation attains very high performance for linear-scaling sparse tensor contractions.« less

High level language-based robotic control system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rodriguez, Guillermo (Inventor); Kruetz, Kenneth K. (Inventor); Jain, Abhinandan (Inventor)

1994-01-01

This invention is a robot control system based on a high level language implementing a spatial operator algebra. There are two high level languages included within the system. At the highest level, applications programs can be written in a robot-oriented applications language including broad operators such as MOVE and GRASP. The robot-oriented applications language statements are translated into statements in the spatial operator algebra language. Programming can also take place using the spatial operator algebra language. The statements in the spatial operator algebra language from either source are then translated into machine language statements for execution by a digital control computer. The system also includes the capability of executing the control code sequences in a simulation mode before actual execution to assure proper action at execution time. The robot's environment is checked as part of the process and dynamic reconfiguration is also possible. The languages and system allow the programming and control of multiple arms and the use of inward/outward spatial recursions in which every computational step can be related to a transformation from one point in the mechanical robot to another point to name two major advantages.

High level language-based robotic control system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rodriguez, Guillermo (Inventor); Kreutz, Kenneth K. (Inventor); Jain, Abhinandan (Inventor)

1996-01-01

This invention is a robot control system based on a high level language implementing a spatial operator algebra. There are two high level languages included within the system. At the highest level, applications programs can be written in a robot-oriented applications language including broad operators such as MOVE and GRASP. The robot-oriented applications language statements are translated into statements in the spatial operator algebra language. Programming can also take place using the spatial operator algebra language. The statements in the spatial operator algebra language from either source are then translated into machine language statements for execution by a digital control computer. The system also includes the capability of executing the control code sequences in a simulation mode before actual execution to assure proper action at execution time. The robot's environment is checked as part of the process and dynamic reconfiguration is also possible. The languages and system allow the programming and control of multiple arms and the use of inward/outward spatial recursions in which every computational step can be related to a transformation from one point in the mechanical robot to another point to name two major advantages.

Functional and anatomical correlates of word-, sentence-, and discourse-level integration in sign language

PubMed Central

Inubushi, Tomoo; Sakai, Kuniyoshi L.

2013-01-01

In both vocal and sign languages, we can distinguish word-, sentence-, and discourse-level integration in terms of hierarchical processes, which integrate various elements into another higher level of constructs. In the present study, we used magnetic resonance imaging and voxel-based morphometry (VBM) to test three language tasks in Japanese Sign Language (JSL): word-level (Word), sentence-level (Sent), and discourse-level (Disc) decision tasks. We analyzed cortical activity and gray matter (GM) volumes of Deaf signers, and clarified three major points. First, we found that the activated regions in the frontal language areas gradually expanded in the dorso-ventral axis, corresponding to a difference in linguistic units for the three tasks. Moreover, the activations in each region of the frontal language areas were incrementally modulated with the level of linguistic integration. These dual mechanisms of the frontal language areas may reflect a basic organization principle of hierarchically integrating linguistic information. Secondly, activations in the lateral premotor cortex and inferior frontal gyrus were left-lateralized. Direct comparisons among the language tasks exhibited more focal activation in these regions, suggesting their functional localization. Thirdly, we found significantly positive correlations between individual task performances and GM volumes in localized regions, even when the ages of acquisition (AOAs) of JSL and Japanese were factored out. More specifically, correlations with the performances of the Word and Sent tasks were found in the left precentral/postcentral gyrus and insula, respectively, while correlations with those of the Disc task were found in the left ventral inferior frontal gyrus and precuneus. The unification of functional and anatomical studies would thus be fruitful for understanding human language systems from the aspects of both universality and individuality. PMID:24155706

From lumping to splitting and back again: Atypical social and language development in individuals with clinical-high-risk for psychosis, first episode schizophrenia, and autism spectrum disorders

PubMed Central

Solomon, Marjorie; Olsen, Emily; Niendam, Tara; Ragland, J. Daniel; Yoon, Jong; Minzenberg, Michael; Carter, Cameron S.

2011-01-01

Objective Individuals with autism and schizophrenia exhibit atypical language and social symptoms. The extent to which these symptoms are evident during development and in current functioning is unclear. Method Three groups of patients aged 11–20 diagnosed as clinical-high-risk for psychosis (CHR; n = 15), first episode psychosis (FEP; n = 16), and autism spectrum disorders (ASD; n = 20), plus typically developing individuals (TYP; n = 20) were compared on common autism parent-report questionnaires assessing social and language development and current functioning including the Social Communication Questionnaire, the Children’s Communication Checklist, and the Social Reciprocity Scale. Results All clinical groups demonstrated atypical social and language development, with social impairment highest in ASD. Twenty percent of participants with CHR and FEP met diagnostic criteria for ASD as assessed by parent-report. ASD exhibited greater current syntactic, and pragmatic language symptoms including delayed echolalia, pedantic speech, and deficits in appreciating irony and sarcasm. All clinical groups exhibited current deficits in social functioning. CHR and FE had similar and intermediate levels of functioning relative to ASD and TYP, with CHR generally scoring closer to TYP, providing construct validity for the CHR diagnostic label. Conclusions The results of this study suggest that ASDs, CHR, and FEP share common features of atypical neurodevelopment of language and social function. Evidence of impaired social reciprocity across both disorders and distinct language symptoms in ASDs provides important information for differential diagnosis and psychosis prevention, as well as leads for future investigations of comparative genetics and pathophysiology. PMID:21458242

Detecting Native Language Group Differences at the Subskills Level of Reading: A Differential Skill Functioning Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Li, Hongli; Suen, Hoi K.

2013-01-01

Differential skill functioning (DSF) exists when examinees from different groups have different probabilities of successful performance in a certain subskill underlying the measured construct, given that they have the same ability on the overall construct. Using a DSF approach, this study examined the differences between two native language…

Symbolic play of preschoolers with severe communication impairments with autism and other developmental delays: more similarities than differences.

PubMed

Thiemann-Bourque, Kathy S; Brady, Nancy C; Fleming, Kandace K

2012-05-01

Children with autism are often described as having deficient play skills, particularly symbolic play. We compared the play of 35 children with autism to 38 children with other developmental delays. All children were preschool-age and produced less than 20 different words. Results indicated no significant differences across the two groups in their play. Children with autism engaged in more conventional play, that is, putting objects together according to how the toys were constructed (e.g., pieces in a puzzle, lid on a teapot). Results also indicated high correlations between play, language, and cognitive measures. Findings indicate that play relates to language and cognitive levels yet may not discriminate children with autism and children with other developmental delays early in their development.

Symbolic Play of Preschoolers with Severe Communication Impairments with Autism and Other Developmental Delays: More Similarities than Differences

PubMed Central

Brady, Nancy C.; Fleming, Kandace K.

2011-01-01

Children with autism are often described as having deficient play skills, particularly symbolic play. We compared the play of 35 children with autism to 38 children with other developmental delays. All children were preschool-age and produced less than 20 different words. Results indicated no significant differences across the two groups in their play. Children with autism engaged in more conventional play, that is, putting objects together according to how the toys were constructed (e.g., pieces in a puzzle, lid on a teapot). Results also indicated high correlations between play, language, and cognitive measures. Findings indicate that play relates to language and cognitive levels yet may not discriminate children with autism and children with other developmental delays early in their development. PMID:21720725

Translation of Japanese Noun Compounds at Super-Function Based MT System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Xin; Ren, Fuji; Kuroiwa, Shingo

Noun compounds are frequently encountered construction in nature language processing (NLP), consisting of a sequence of two or more nouns which functions syntactically as one noun. The translation of noun compounds has become a major issue in Machine Translation (MT) due to their frequency of occurrence and high productivity. In our previous studies on Super-Function Based Machine Translation (SFBMT), we have found that noun compounds are very frequently used and difficult to be translated correctly, the overgeneration of noun compounds can be dangerous as it may introduce ambiguity in the translation. In this paper, we discuss the challenges in handling Japanese noun compounds in an SFBMT system, we present a shallow method for translating noun compounds by using a word level translation dictionary and target language monolingual corpus.

Learning to Construct Verbs in Navajo and Quechua

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Courtney, Ellen H.; Saville-Troike, Muriel

2002-01-01

Navajo and Quechua, both languages with a highly complex morphology, provide intriguing insights into the acquisition of inflectional systems. The development of the verb in the two languages is especially interesting, since the morphology encodes diverse grammatical notions, with the complex verb often constituting the entire sentence. While the…

(En)Countering Language Ideologies: Language Policing in the Ideospace of Facebook

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Phyak, Prem

2015-01-01

This paper takes language policing as an ideospace, a space where multiple language ideologies are constructed and contested. Drawing on critical language policy and linguistic anthropology, it unravels how participants in a Nepalese Facebook group construct and reproduce language ideologies that both challenge and impose homogeneity and…

The Human Brain Does Not Need High Levels of Motivation to Learn a Foreign Language: Motivation Has Had Its Day

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Green, Kieran

2016-01-01

Language is nature in action and something humans do. This literature review presents evidence from the literature that suggests that learning a foreign language in a classroom situation does not require high levels of student motivation. It is instead suggested that high levels of motivation are needed to make progress when a teacher is using…

Variation in spatial language and cognition: exploring visuo-spatial thinking and speaking cross-linguistically.

PubMed

Soroli, Efstathia

2012-08-01

Languages differ strikingly in how they encode spatial information. This variability is realized with spatial semantic elements mapped across languages in very different ways onto lexical/syntactic structures. For example, satellite-framed languages (e.g., English) express MANNER: in the verb and PATH: in satellites, while verb-framed languages (e.g., French) lexicalize PATH: in the verb, leaving MANNER: implicit or peripheral. Some languages are harder to classify into these categories, rather presenting equipollently framed systems, such as Chinese (serial-verb constructions) or Greek (parallel verb- and satellite-framed structures in equally frequent contexts). Such properties seem to have implications not only on the formulation/articulation levels, but also on the conceptualization level, thereby reviving questions concerning the language-thought interface. The present study investigates the relative impact of language-independent and language-specific factors on spatial representations across three typologically different languages (English-French-Greek) combining a variety of complementary tasks (production, non-verbal, and verbal categorization). The findings show that typological properties of languages can have an impact on both linguistic and non-linguistic organization of spatial information, open new perspectives for the investigation of conceptualization, and contribute more generally to the debate concerning the universal and language-specific dimensions of cognition.

Effects of Language Context on Ratings of Shy and Unsociable Behaviors in English Language Learning Children

PubMed Central

Ash, Andrea C.; Rice, Mabel L.; Redmond, Sean M.

2014-01-01

Purpose The primary goal of this study was to explore the effect of the language context on the socially withdrawn behaviors of school aged-children who are English Language Learners (ELLs) from middle to high SES backgrounds. This is one of the first studies to address the frequently confused concepts of shyness and unsociability as independent constructs within the ELL population. This study also investigated the feasibility of an experimental parent and child questionnaire that examines shyness and unsociability across native and English speaking contexts. Method Children and parents (34 ELL and 37 native English speaking) were administered an experimental questionnaire examining shy and unsociable behavior in native language and English-speaking contexts. Results Parents and children from the ELL group reported significantly higher ratings of shy behavior in English versus native language contexts, whereas unsociable ratings did not differ across language contexts. Conclusions Shyness and unsociability are distinguishable behaviors in ELL children and these constructs should be considered when examining withdrawal. Additionally, examining ELL children’s behavior across language contexts provides a valuable method for investigating language influenced behavioral problems. This study demonstrates the need for service providers to evaluate behavior across subtype and language context before pathologizing withdrawal in ELL children. PMID:24687767

Resumes de texte en langue maternelle et en langue seconde: Differences dans l'application des macroregles entre experts et etudiants de differents niveaux universitaires (Test Summaries in the Mother Tongue and in a Second Language: Differences in the Application of Macrorules between Experts and University Students of Various Levels).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Corbeil, Giselle

2001-01-01

Analyzes differences between experts and university students of various academic levels in the application of the macrorules of deletion, generalization, and construction of text summaries. Learners of French as a second language wrote summaries of a French text in French as well as in English, their mother tongue, while professors of French and…

Constructing Language Normativity through the Animation of Stance in Spanish Language Medical Consultations

PubMed Central

Vickers, Caroline H.; Deckert, Sharon K.; Goble, Ryan

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study is to examine the construction of language normativity as medical providers interact with patients and animate stance within Spanish language medical consultations. The context of the study is a clinic in which providers use Spanish to communicate with monolingual Spanish-speaking patients. This clinic is in the United States, an English-speaking macro-societal context. Findings indicate that providers who are second language users of Spanish animate stance and interact with patients in ways that English is constructed as normative and Spanish as marked. Implications include the need to consider how the construction of language normativity within medical consultations affects health outcomes. PMID:24156518

Validation of 2 Spanish-Language Scales to Assess HIV-Related Stigma in Communities.

PubMed

Franke, Molly F; Nelson, Adrianne K; Muñoz, Maribel; Cruz, Janeth Santa; Atwood, Sidney; Lecca, Leonid; Shin, Sonya S

2015-01-01

We report the psychometric properties of 2 Spanish-language scales designed to measure (1) opinions about HIV in the community and particularly among health care workers and (2) observed acts of stigma toward people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) by health care workers. The Opinions about HIV Scale included 3 components (policy, avoidance, and empathy) and 9 items, while an adapted version of the HIV/AIDS Stigma Instrument-Nurse, designed to capture acts of stigma, included 2 components (discrimination related to clinical care and refusal to share or exchange food/gifts). Scales demonstrated good reliability and construct validity. Relative to community health workers, treatment supporters were more likely to have stigmatizing opinions related to avoidance and empathy. We offer 2 Spanish-language scales that could be used to identify populations with high levels of stigmatizing opinions and behaviors toward PLWHA. Formal training of health care workers, especially treatment supporters, may raise awareness and reduce stigma toward HIV. © The Author(s) 2014.

BioPCD - A Language for GUI Development Requiring a Minimal Skill Set.

PubMed

Alvare, Graham Gm; Roche-Lima, Abiel; Fristensky, Brian

2012-11-01

BioPCD is a new language whose purpose is to simplify the creation of Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) by biologists with minimal programming skills. The first step in developing BioPCD was to create a minimal superset of the language referred to as PCD (Pythonesque Command Description). PCD defines the core of terminals and high-level nonterminals required to describe data of almost any type. BioPCD adds to PCD the constructs necessary to describe GUI components and the syntax for executing system commands. BioPCD is implemented using JavaCC to convert the grammar into code. BioPCD is designed to be terse and readable and simple enough to be learned by copying and modifying existing BioPCD files. We demonstrate that BioPCD can easily be used to generate GUIs for existing command line programs. Although BioPCD was designed to make it easier to run bioinformatics programs, it could be used in any domain in which many useful command line programs exist that do not have GUI interfaces.

Presentation of the Coding and Assessment System for Narratives of Trauma (CASNOT): Application in Spanish Battered Women and Preliminary Analyses.

PubMed

Fernández-Lansac, Violeta; Crespo, María

2017-07-26

This study introduces a new coding system, the Coding and Assessment System for Narratives of Trauma (CASNOT), to analyse several language domains in narratives of autobiographical memories, especially in trauma narratives. The development of the coding system is described. It was applied to assess positive and traumatic/negative narratives in 50 battered women (trauma-exposed group) and 50 nontrauma-exposed women (control group). Three blind raters coded each narrative. Inter-rater reliability analyses were conducted for the CASNOT language categories (multirater Kfree coefficients) and dimensions (intraclass correlation coefficients). High levels of inter-rater agreement were found for most of the language domains. Categories that did not reach the expected reliability were mainly those related to cognitive processes, which reflects difficulties in operationalizing constructs such as lack of control or helplessness, control or planning, and rationalization or memory elaboration. Applications and limitations of the CASNOT are discussed to enhance narrative measures for autobiographical memories.

Language as a whole - A new framework for linguistic knowledge integration. Comment on "Approaching human language with complex networks" by Cong and Liu

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Xinying

2014-12-01

Researchers have been talking about the language system theoretically for many years [1]. A well accepted assumption is that language is a complex adaptive system [2] which is hierarchical [3] and contains multiple levels along the meaning-form dimension [4]. Over the last decade or so, driven by the availability of digital language data and the popularity of statistical approach, many researchers interested in theoretical questions have started to try to quantitatively describe microscopic linguistic features in a certain level of a language system by using authentic language data. Despite the fruitful findings, one question remains unclear. That is, how does a whole language system look like? For answering this question, network approach, an analysis method emphasizes the macro features of structures, has been introduced into linguistic studies [5]. By analyzing the static and dynamic linguistics networks constructed from authentic language data, many macro and micro linguistic features, such as lexical, syntactic or semantic features have been discovered and successfully applied in linguistic typographical studies so that the huge potential of linguistic networks research has revealed [6].

Multilingual Children Increase Language Differentiation by Indexing Communities of Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

O'Shannessy, Carmel

2015-01-01

An area in need of study in child language acquisition is that of complex multilingual contexts in which there is little language separation by interlocutor or domain. Little is known about how multilingual children use language to construct their identities in each language or in both languages. Identity construction in monolingual contexts has…

Mapping between the OBO and OWL ontology languages.

PubMed

Tirmizi, Syed Hamid; Aitken, Stuart; Moreira, Dilvan A; Mungall, Chris; Sequeda, Juan; Shah, Nigam H; Miranker, Daniel P

2011-03-07

Ontologies are commonly used in biomedicine to organize concepts to describe domains such as anatomies, environments, experiment, taxonomies etc. NCBO BioPortal currently hosts about 180 different biomedical ontologies. These ontologies have been mainly expressed in either the Open Biomedical Ontology (OBO) format or the Web Ontology Language (OWL). OBO emerged from the Gene Ontology, and supports most of the biomedical ontology content. In comparison, OWL is a Semantic Web language, and is supported by the World Wide Web consortium together with integral query languages, rule languages and distributed infrastructure for information interchange. These features are highly desirable for the OBO content as well. A convenient method for leveraging these features for OBO ontologies is by transforming OBO ontologies to OWL. We have developed a methodology for translating OBO ontologies to OWL using the organization of the Semantic Web itself to guide the work. The approach reveals that the constructs of OBO can be grouped together to form a similar layer cake. Thus we were able to decompose the problem into two parts. Most OBO constructs have easy and obvious equivalence to a construct in OWL. A small subset of OBO constructs requires deeper consideration. We have defined transformations for all constructs in an effort to foster a standard common mapping between OBO and OWL. Our mapping produces OWL-DL, a Description Logics based subset of OWL with desirable computational properties for efficiency and correctness. Our Java implementation of the mapping is part of the official Gene Ontology project source. Our transformation system provides a lossless roundtrip mapping for OBO ontologies, i.e. an OBO ontology may be translated to OWL and back without loss of knowledge. In addition, it provides a roadmap for bridging the gap between the two ontology languages in order to enable the use of ontology content in a language independent manner.

Mapping between the OBO and OWL ontology languages

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Ontologies are commonly used in biomedicine to organize concepts to describe domains such as anatomies, environments, experiment, taxonomies etc. NCBO BioPortal currently hosts about 180 different biomedical ontologies. These ontologies have been mainly expressed in either the Open Biomedical Ontology (OBO) format or the Web Ontology Language (OWL). OBO emerged from the Gene Ontology, and supports most of the biomedical ontology content. In comparison, OWL is a Semantic Web language, and is supported by the World Wide Web consortium together with integral query languages, rule languages and distributed infrastructure for information interchange. These features are highly desirable for the OBO content as well. A convenient method for leveraging these features for OBO ontologies is by transforming OBO ontologies to OWL. Results We have developed a methodology for translating OBO ontologies to OWL using the organization of the Semantic Web itself to guide the work. The approach reveals that the constructs of OBO can be grouped together to form a similar layer cake. Thus we were able to decompose the problem into two parts. Most OBO constructs have easy and obvious equivalence to a construct in OWL. A small subset of OBO constructs requires deeper consideration. We have defined transformations for all constructs in an effort to foster a standard common mapping between OBO and OWL. Our mapping produces OWL-DL, a Description Logics based subset of OWL with desirable computational properties for efficiency and correctness. Our Java implementation of the mapping is part of the official Gene Ontology project source. Conclusions Our transformation system provides a lossless roundtrip mapping for OBO ontologies, i.e. an OBO ontology may be translated to OWL and back without loss of knowledge. In addition, it provides a roadmap for bridging the gap between the two ontology languages in order to enable the use of ontology content in a language independent manner. PMID:21388572

Cognitive aging and hearing acuity: modeling spoken language comprehension.

PubMed

Wingfield, Arthur; Amichetti, Nicole M; Lash, Amanda

2015-01-01

The comprehension of spoken language has been characterized by a number of "local" theories that have focused on specific aspects of the task: models of word recognition, models of selective attention, accounts of thematic role assignment at the sentence level, and so forth. The ease of language understanding (ELU) model (Rönnberg et al., 2013) stands as one of the few attempts to offer a fully encompassing framework for language understanding. In this paper we discuss interactions between perceptual, linguistic, and cognitive factors in spoken language understanding. Central to our presentation is an examination of aspects of the ELU model that apply especially to spoken language comprehension in adult aging, where speed of processing, working memory capacity, and hearing acuity are often compromised. We discuss, in relation to the ELU model, conceptions of working memory and its capacity limitations, the use of linguistic context to aid in speech recognition and the importance of inhibitory control, and language comprehension at the sentence level. Throughout this paper we offer a constructive look at the ELU model; where it is strong and where there are gaps to be filled.

Recurrent Word Combinations in EAP Test-Taker Writing: Differences between High- and Low-Proficiency Levels

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Appel, Randy; Wood, David

2016-01-01

The correct use of frequently occurring word combinations represents an important part of language proficiency in spoken and written discourse. This study investigates the use of English-language recurrent word combinations in low-level and high-level L2 English academic essays sourced from the Canadian Academic English Language (CAEL) assessment.…

Construct Relevant or Irrelevant? The Role of Linguistic Complexity in the Assessment of English Language Learners' Science Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Avenia-Tapper, Brianna; Llosa, Lorena

2015-01-01

This article addresses the issue of language-related construct-irrelevant variance on content area tests from the perspective of systemic functional linguistics. We propose that the construct relevance of language used in content area assessments, and consequent claims of construct-irrelevant variance and bias, should be determined according to…

English and Chinese languages as weighted complex networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sheng, Long; Li, Chunguang

2009-06-01

In this paper, we analyze statistical properties of English and Chinese written human language within the framework of weighted complex networks. The two language networks are based on an English novel and a Chinese biography, respectively, and both of the networks are constructed in the same way. By comparing the intensity and density of connections between the two networks, we find that high weight connections in Chinese language networks prevail more than those in English language networks. Furthermore, some of the topological and weighted quantities are compared. The results display some differences in the structural organizations between the two language networks. These observations indicate that the two languages may have different linguistic mechanisms and different combinatorial natures.

Downdrift in a Tone Language with Four Tone Levels.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clements, G. N.

1991-01-01

Many tone languages exhibit some form of downdrift or automatic downstep, the lowering of high tones separated by low tones. In extreme cases, the realization of high tones at the end of a domain (such as the sentence) may be lower than the realization of low tones at the beginning. Tone languages with this property are cross-level tone languages.…

A Twice-Told Tale: Voices of Resistance in a Borderlands Spanish Heritage Language Class

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Helmer, Kimberly Adilia

2013-01-01

Drawn from a two-year critical ethnography, the author explores how Mexican-origin students in a U.S. southwest charter high school resisted Spanish heritage language instruction. Resistance was rooted in students' perception that their teacher unfairly characterized their linguistic and social identities. Students also constructed their…

An integrated theory of language production and comprehension.

PubMed

Pickering, Martin J; Garrod, Simon

2013-08-01

Currently, production and comprehension are regarded as quite distinct in accounts of language processing. In rejecting this dichotomy, we instead assert that producing and understanding are interwoven, and that this interweaving is what enables people to predict themselves and each other. We start by noting that production and comprehension are forms of action and action perception. We then consider the evidence for interweaving in action, action perception, and joint action, and explain such evidence in terms of prediction. Specifically, we assume that actors construct forward models of their actions before they execute those actions, and that perceivers of others' actions covertly imitate those actions, then construct forward models of those actions. We use these accounts of action, action perception, and joint action to develop accounts of production, comprehension, and interactive language. Importantly, they incorporate well-defined levels of linguistic representation (such as semantics, syntax, and phonology). We show (a) how speakers and comprehenders use covert imitation and forward modeling to make predictions at these levels of representation, (b) how they interweave production and comprehension processes, and (c) how they use these predictions to monitor the upcoming utterances. We show how these accounts explain a range of behavioral and neuroscientific data on language processing and discuss some of the implications of our proposal.

Learning for Life, a Structured and Motivational Process of Knowledge Construction in the Acquisition/Learning of English as a Foreign Language in Native Spanish Speakers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mino-Garces, Fernando

2009-01-01

As language learning theory has shifted from a highly guided to a more open learning process, this paper presents the teaching/learning philosophy called Learning for Life (L for L) as a great way to motivate native Spanish speaker students learning English as a foreign language, and to help them be the constructors of their own knowledge. The…

Language and Social Identity Construction: A Study of a Russian Heritage Language Orthodox Christian School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moore, Ekaterina Leonidovna

2012-01-01

Grounded in discourse analytic and language socialization paradigms, this dissertation examines issues of language and social identity construction in children attending a Russian Heritage Language Orthodox Christian Saturday School in California. By conducting micro-analysis of naturally-occurring talk-in-interaction combined with longitudinal…

Higher Language Ability is Related to Angular Gyrus Activation Increase During Semantic Processing, Independent of Sentence Incongruency.

PubMed

Van Ettinger-Veenstra, Helene; McAllister, Anita; Lundberg, Peter; Karlsson, Thomas; Engström, Maria

2016-01-01

This study investigates the relation between individual language ability and neural semantic processing abilities. Our aim was to explore whether high-level language ability would correlate to decreased activation in language-specific regions or rather increased activation in supporting language regions during processing of sentences. Moreover, we were interested if observed neural activation patterns are modulated by semantic incongruency similarly to previously observed changes upon syntactic congruency modulation. We investigated 27 healthy adults with a sentence reading task-which tapped language comprehension and inference, and modulated sentence congruency-employing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). We assessed the relation between neural activation, congruency modulation, and test performance on a high-level language ability assessment with multiple regression analysis. Our results showed increased activation in the left-hemispheric angular gyrus extending to the temporal lobe related to high language ability. This effect was independent of semantic congruency, and no significant relation between language ability and incongruency modulation was observed. Furthermore, there was a significant increase of activation in the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) bilaterally when the sentences were incongruent, indicating that processing incongruent sentences was more demanding than processing congruent sentences and required increased activation in language regions. The correlation of high-level language ability with increased rather than decreased activation in the left angular gyrus, a region specific for language processing, is opposed to what the neural efficiency hypothesis would predict. We can conclude that no evidence is found for an interaction between semantic congruency related brain activation and high-level language performance, even though the semantic incongruent condition shows to be more demanding and evoking more neural activation.

Higher Language Ability is Related to Angular Gyrus Activation Increase During Semantic Processing, Independent of Sentence Incongruency

PubMed Central

Van Ettinger-Veenstra, Helene; McAllister, Anita; Lundberg, Peter; Karlsson, Thomas; Engström, Maria

2016-01-01

This study investigates the relation between individual language ability and neural semantic processing abilities. Our aim was to explore whether high-level language ability would correlate to decreased activation in language-specific regions or rather increased activation in supporting language regions during processing of sentences. Moreover, we were interested if observed neural activation patterns are modulated by semantic incongruency similarly to previously observed changes upon syntactic congruency modulation. We investigated 27 healthy adults with a sentence reading task—which tapped language comprehension and inference, and modulated sentence congruency—employing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). We assessed the relation between neural activation, congruency modulation, and test performance on a high-level language ability assessment with multiple regression analysis. Our results showed increased activation in the left-hemispheric angular gyrus extending to the temporal lobe related to high language ability. This effect was independent of semantic congruency, and no significant relation between language ability and incongruency modulation was observed. Furthermore, there was a significant increase of activation in the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) bilaterally when the sentences were incongruent, indicating that processing incongruent sentences was more demanding than processing congruent sentences and required increased activation in language regions. The correlation of high-level language ability with increased rather than decreased activation in the left angular gyrus, a region specific for language processing, is opposed to what the neural efficiency hypothesis would predict. We can conclude that no evidence is found for an interaction between semantic congruency related brain activation and high-level language performance, even though the semantic incongruent condition shows to be more demanding and evoking more neural activation. PMID:27014040

Exploring the Relationships between Independent Listening and Listening-Reading-Writing Tasks in Chinese Language Testing: Toward a Better Understanding of the Construct Underlying Integrated Writing Tasks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhu, Xinhua; Li, Xueyan; Yu, Guoxing; Cheong, Choo Mui; Liao, Xian

2016-01-01

Integrated assessment tasks have been increasingly used in language tests, but the underlying constructs of integrated tasks remain elusive. This study aimed to improve understanding of the construct of integrated writing tasks in Chinese Language examinations in Hong Kong by looking at the language competences measured in the…

Beliefs about language development: construct validity evidence.

PubMed

Donahue, Mavis L; Fu, Qiong; Smith, Everett V

2012-01-01

Understanding language development is incomplete without recognizing children's sociocultural environments, including adult beliefs about language development. Yet there is a need for data supporting valid inferences to assess these beliefs. The current study investigated the psychometric properties of data from a survey (MODeL) designed to explore beliefs in the popular culture, and their alignment with more formal theories. Support for the content, substantive, structural, generalizability, and external aspects of construct validity of the data were investigated. Subscales representing Behaviorist, Cognitive, Nativist, and Sociolinguistic models were identified as dimensions of beliefs. More than half of the items showed a high degree of consensus, suggesting culturally-transmitted beliefs. Behaviorist ideas were most popular. Bilingualism and ethnicity were related to Cognitive and Sociolinguistic beliefs. Identifying these beliefs may clarify the nature of child-directed speech, and enable the design of language intervention programs that are congruent with family and cultural expectations.

The Interplay between Attentional Strategies and Language Processing in High-Functioning Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Koolen, Sophieke; Vissers, Constance Th. W. M.; Hendriks, Angelique W. C. J.; Egger, Jos I. M.; Verhoeven, Ludo

2012-01-01

This study examined the hypothesis of an atypical interaction between attention and language in ASD. A dual-task experiment with three conditions was designed, in which sentences were presented that contained errors requiring attentional focus either at (a) low level, or (b) high level, or (c) both levels of language. Speed and accuracy for error…

College English Learners' Discursive Motivation Construction in China

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gu, Mingyue

2009-01-01

There are abundant studies of second/foreign language learning motivation. However, there appears to be insufficient research into how language learners' discourses mediate the construction of their learning/motivation. This paper investigated the discursive construction of two English language learners' motivation in a comprehensive university in…

Pyomo v5.0

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Woodruff, David; Hackebeil, Gabe; Laird, Carl Damon

Pyomo supports the formulation and analysis of mathematical models for complex optimization applications. This capability is commonly associated with algebraic modeling languages (AMLs), which support the description and analysis of mathematical models with a high-level language. Although most AMLs are implemented in custom modeling languages, Pyomo's modeling objects are embedded within Python, a full- featured high-level programming language that contains a rich set of supporting libraries.

Sex hormones affect language lateralisation but not cognitive control in normally cycling women.

PubMed

Hodgetts, Sophie; Weis, Susanne; Hausmann, Markus

2015-08-01

This article is part of a Special Issue "Estradiol and Cognition". Natural fluctuations of sex hormones during the menstrual cycle have been shown to modulate language lateralisation. Using the dichotic listening (DL) paradigm, a well-established measurement of language lateralisation, several studies revealed that the left hemispheric language dominance was stronger when levels of estradiol were high. A recent study (Hjelmervik et al., 2012) showed, however, that high levels of follicular estradiol increased lateralisation only in a condition that required participants to cognitively control (top-down) the stimulus-driven (bottom-up) response. This finding suggested that sex hormones modulate lateralisation only if cognitive control demands are high. The present study investigated language lateralisation in 73 normally cycling women under three attention conditions that differed in cognitive control demands. Saliva estradiol and progesterone levels were determined by luminescence immunoassays. Women were allocated to a high or low estradiol group. The results showed a reduced language lateralisation when estradiol and progesterone levels were high. The effect was independent of the attention condition indicating that estradiol marginally affected cognitive control. The findings might suggest that high levels of estradiol especially reduce the stimulus-driven (bottom-up) aspect of lateralisation rather than top-down cognitive control. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Two-Way Language Bridge: Co-Constructing Bilingual Language Learning Opportunities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martin-Beltran, Melinda

2010-01-01

Using a sociocultural theoretical lens, this study examines the nature of student interactions in a dual immersion school to analyze affordances for bilingual language learning, language exchange, and co-construction of language expertise. This article focuses on data from audio- and video-recorded interactions of fifth-grade students engaged in…

Data Automata in Scala

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Havelund, Klaus

2014-01-01

The field of runtime verification has during the last decade seen a multitude of systems for monitoring event sequences (traces) emitted by a running system. The objective is to ensure correctness of a system by checking its execution traces against formal specifications representing requirements. A special challenge is data parameterized events, where monitors have to keep track of the combination of control states as well as data constraints, relating events and the data they carry across time points. This poses a challenge wrt. efficiency of monitors, as well as expressiveness of logics. Data automata is a form of automata where states are parameterized with data, supporting monitoring of data parameterized events. We describe the full details of a very simple API in the Scala programming language, an internal DSL (Domain-Specific Language), implementing data automata. The small implementation suggests a design pattern. Data automata allow transition conditions to refer to other states than the source state, and allow target states of transitions to be inlined, offering a temporal logic flavored notation. An embedding of a logic in a high-level language like Scala in addition allows monitors to be programmed using all of Scala's language constructs, offering the full flexibility of a programming language. The framework is demonstrated on an XML processing scenario previously addressed in related work.

Parallel language constructs for tensor product computations on loosely coupled architectures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mehrotra, Piyush; Van Rosendale, John

1989-01-01

A set of language primitives designed to allow the specification of parallel numerical algorithms at a higher level is described. The authors focus on tensor product array computations, a simple but important class of numerical algorithms. They consider first the problem of programming one-dimensional kernel routines, such as parallel tridiagonal solvers, and then look at how such parallel kernels can be combined to form parallel tensor product algorithms.

Drawing Dynamic Geometry Figures Online with Natural Language for Junior High School Geometry

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wong, Wing-Kwong; Yin, Sheng-Kai; Yang, Chang-Zhe

2012-01-01

This paper presents a tool for drawing dynamic geometric figures by understanding the texts of geometry problems. With the tool, teachers and students can construct dynamic geometric figures on a web page by inputting a geometry problem in natural language. First we need to build the knowledge base for understanding geometry problems. With the…

LevelScheme: A level scheme drawing and scientific figure preparation system for Mathematica

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Caprio, M. A.

2005-09-01

LevelScheme is a scientific figure preparation system for Mathematica. The main emphasis is upon the construction of level schemes, or level energy diagrams, as used in nuclear, atomic, molecular, and hadronic physics. LevelScheme also provides a general infrastructure for the preparation of publication-quality figures, including support for multipanel and inset plotting, customizable tick mark generation, and various drawing and labeling tasks. Coupled with Mathematica's plotting functions and powerful programming language, LevelScheme provides a flexible system for the creation of figures combining diagrams, mathematical plots, and data plots. Program summaryTitle of program:LevelScheme Catalogue identifier:ADVZ Program obtainable from: CPC Program Library, Queen's University of Belfast, N. Ireland Program summary URL:http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk/summaries/ADVZ Operating systems:Any which supports Mathematica; tested under Microsoft Windows XP, Macintosh OS X, and Linux Programming language used:Mathematica 4 Number of bytes in distributed program, including test and documentation:3 051 807 Distribution format:tar.gz Nature of problem:Creation of level scheme diagrams. Creation of publication-quality multipart figures incorporating diagrams and plots. Method of solution:A set of Mathematica packages has been developed, providing a library of level scheme drawing objects, tools for figure construction and labeling, and control code for producing the graphics.

Working memory, situation models, and synesthesia

DOE PAGES

Radvansky, Gabriel A.; Gibson, Bradley S.; McNerney, M. Windy

2013-03-04

Research on language comprehension suggests a strong relationship between working memory span measures and language comprehension. However, there is also evidence that this relationship weakens at higher levels of comprehension, such as the situation model level. The current study explored this relationship by comparing 10 grapheme–color synesthetes who have additional color experiences when they read words that begin with different letters and 48 normal controls on a number of tests of complex working memory capacity and processing at the situation model level. On all tests of working memory capacity, the synesthetes outperformed the controls. Importantly, there was no carryover benefitmore » for the synesthetes for processing at the situation model level. This reinforces the idea that although some aspects of language comprehension are related to working memory span scores, this applies less directly to situation model levels. As a result, this suggests that theories of working memory must take into account this limitation, and the working memory processes that are involved in situation model construction and processing must be derived.« less

Working memory, situation models, and synesthesia

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Radvansky, Gabriel A.; Gibson, Bradley S.; McNerney, M. Windy

Research on language comprehension suggests a strong relationship between working memory span measures and language comprehension. However, there is also evidence that this relationship weakens at higher levels of comprehension, such as the situation model level. The current study explored this relationship by comparing 10 grapheme–color synesthetes who have additional color experiences when they read words that begin with different letters and 48 normal controls on a number of tests of complex working memory capacity and processing at the situation model level. On all tests of working memory capacity, the synesthetes outperformed the controls. Importantly, there was no carryover benefitmore » for the synesthetes for processing at the situation model level. This reinforces the idea that although some aspects of language comprehension are related to working memory span scores, this applies less directly to situation model levels. As a result, this suggests that theories of working memory must take into account this limitation, and the working memory processes that are involved in situation model construction and processing must be derived.« less

The Effects of Supplemental Sentence-Level Instruction for Fourth-Grade Students Identified as Struggling Writers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Furey, William M.; Marcotte, Amanda M.; Wells, Craig S.; Hintze, John M.

2017-01-01

The Language and Writing strands of the Common Core State Standards place a heavy emphasis on sentence-level conventions including syntax/grammar and mechanics. Interventions targeting these foundational skills are necessary to support struggling writers, as poorly developed sentence construction skills inhibit more complex writing tasks. This…

The Link between Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety, Second Language Tolerance of Ambiguity and Self-Rated English Proficiency among Chinese Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dewaele, Jean-Marc; Ip, Tsui Shan

2013-01-01

Previous research has suggested that high levels of Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety (FLCA) have a negative effect on foreign language learning (Horwitz, 2001; Lu & Liu, 2011) while moderate levels of Second Language Tolerance of Ambiguity (SLTA) are believed to boost foreign language learning (Ely, 1995). There is prima facie evidence that…

Proposal for constructing an advanced software tool for planetary atmospheric modeling

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Keller, Richard M.; Sims, Michael H.; Podolak, Esther; Mckay, Christopher P.; Thompson, David E.

1990-01-01

Scientific model building can be a time intensive and painstaking process, often involving the development of large and complex computer programs. Despite the effort involved, scientific models cannot easily be distributed and shared with other scientists. In general, implemented scientific models are complex, idiosyncratic, and difficult for anyone but the original scientist/programmer to understand. We believe that advanced software techniques can facilitate both the model building and model sharing process. We propose to construct a scientific modeling software tool that serves as an aid to the scientist in developing and using models. The proposed tool will include an interactive intelligent graphical interface and a high level, domain specific, modeling language. As a testbed for this research, we propose development of a software prototype in the domain of planetary atmospheric modeling.

Computer Music

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cook, Perry

This chapter covers algorithms, technologies, computer languages, and systems for computer music. Computer music involves the application of computers and other digital/electronic technologies to music composition, performance, theory, history, and perception. The field combines digital signal processing, computational algorithms, computer languages, hardware and software systems, acoustics, psychoacoustics (low-level perception of sounds from the raw acoustic signal), and music cognition (higher-level perception of musical style, form, emotion, etc.). Although most people would think that analog synthesizers and electronic music substantially predate the use of computers in music, many experiments and complete computer music systems were being constructed and used as early as the 1950s.

Linguistic Turn and Gendering Language in the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arimbi, Diah A.; Kwary, Deny A.

2016-01-01

Language constructs how humans perceive things. Since language is a human construction, it tends to be biased as it is mainly men's construction. Using gender perspectives, this paper attempts to discuss the imbalance in gender representations found in the examples given in an English learner's dictionary, that is, the "Cambridge Advanced…

HeatmapGenerator: high performance RNAseq and microarray visualization software suite to examine differential gene expression levels using an R and C++ hybrid computational pipeline.

PubMed

Khomtchouk, Bohdan B; Van Booven, Derek J; Wahlestedt, Claes

2014-01-01

The graphical visualization of gene expression data using heatmaps has become an integral component of modern-day medical research. Heatmaps are used extensively to plot quantitative differences in gene expression levels, such as those measured with RNAseq and microarray experiments, to provide qualitative large-scale views of the transcriptonomic landscape. Creating high-quality heatmaps is a computationally intensive task, often requiring considerable programming experience, particularly for customizing features to a specific dataset at hand. Software to create publication-quality heatmaps is developed with the R programming language, C++ programming language, and OpenGL application programming interface (API) to create industry-grade high performance graphics. We create a graphical user interface (GUI) software package called HeatmapGenerator for Windows OS and Mac OS X as an intuitive, user-friendly alternative to researchers with minimal prior coding experience to allow them to create publication-quality heatmaps using R graphics without sacrificing their desired level of customization. The simplicity of HeatmapGenerator is that it only requires the user to upload a preformatted input file and download the publicly available R software language, among a few other operating system-specific requirements. Advanced features such as color, text labels, scaling, legend construction, and even database storage can be easily customized with no prior programming knowledge. We provide an intuitive and user-friendly software package, HeatmapGenerator, to create high-quality, customizable heatmaps generated using the high-resolution color graphics capabilities of R. The software is available for Microsoft Windows and Apple Mac OS X. HeatmapGenerator is released under the GNU General Public License and publicly available at: http://sourceforge.net/projects/heatmapgenerator/. The Mac OS X direct download is available at: http://sourceforge.net/projects/heatmapgenerator/files/HeatmapGenerator_MAC_OSX.tar.gz/download. The Windows OS direct download is available at: http://sourceforge.net/projects/heatmapgenerator/files/HeatmapGenerator_WINDOWS.zip/download.

Tradeoffs in the design of a system for high level language interpretation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Osorio, F.C.C.; Patt, Y.N.

The problem of designing a system for high-level language interpretation (HLLI) is considered. First, a model of the design process is presented where several styles of design, e.g. turing machine interpretation, CISC architecture interpretation and RISC architecture interpretation are treated uniformly. Second, the most significant characteristics of HLLI are analysed in the context of different design styles, and some guidelines are presented on how to identify the most suitable design style for a given high-level language problem. 12 references.

A Linguistics Course on International Communication and Constructed Languages.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sherwood, Bruce Arne; Cheng, Chin-Chuan

A course on international communication and constructed languages is described. General topics covered in the course included the roles various national languages have played in international communication, special forms of English, language practices and policies in international organizations and conferences, and the history and classification…

The Construct of Language Proficiency.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Verhoeven, Ludo, Ed.; de Jong, John H. A. L., Ed.

A collection of essays on first and second language proficiency from the fields of psychology and linguistics includes the following: "Modeling and Assessing Language Proficiency" (John H. A. L. de Jong, Ludo Verhoeven); "The Construct of Grammar in Early Language Development" (Folkert Kuiken); "Dimensions in Grammatical Proficiency" (Wim H. J.…

Linguistic Minorities and the Multilingual Turn: Constructing Language Ownership through Affect in Cultural Production

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McLaughlin, Mireille

2016-01-01

The "multilingual turn" brings questions of language ownership to the forefront of debates about linguistic minority governance. Acadian minority cultural producers construct language ownership using multiple languages and targeting multilingual publics, but use ideologies of monolingualism to situate Acadian authenticity in place and…

Language time series analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kosmidis, Kosmas; Kalampokis, Alkiviadis; Argyrakis, Panos

2006-10-01

We use the detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA) and the Grassberger-Proccacia analysis (GP) methods in order to study language characteristics. Despite that we construct our signals using only word lengths or word frequencies, excluding in this way huge amount of information from language, the application of GP analysis indicates that linguistic signals may be considered as the manifestation of a complex system of high dimensionality, different from random signals or systems of low dimensionality such as the Earth climate. The DFA method is additionally able to distinguish a natural language signal from a computer code signal. This last result may be useful in the field of cryptography.

Second Language Grammatical Proficiency and Third Language Acquisition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moghtadi, Laleh; Koosha, Mansour; Lotfi, Ahmad Reza

2014-01-01

The main concern of the present study was to investigate the probable correlation between the bilinguals' second language grammatical proficiency level and their third language grammatical proficiency level. The current study was implemented on selecting a total of 100 Iranian female high school students studying at second grade from two…

The For English Speakers Tortuous and Difficult to Learn Prenominal Relative Modifier in German: A Means of Acquiring Grammar, Idiom, and Style?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Birch, Joan

The prenominal relative modifer construction (PREM) in German, while not a compulsory grammatical feature of the language, is a stylistic means of expression which native speakers use readily in non-casual speech and writing. Teaching the active use of this construction at the intermediate level of German study may be an effective means of helping…

CONSTRUCT: In Search of a Theory of Meaning. Technical Report No. 238.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, R. L.; And Others

A new language-processing system, CONSTRUCT, is described and defined as a question-answering system for elementary mathematical language using natural language input. The primary goal is said to be an attempt to reach a better understanding of the relationship between syntactic and semantic components of natural language. The "meaning…

Views of Constructed Languages, with Special Reference to Esperanto: An Experimental Study.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Edwards, John; MacPherson, Lynn

1987-01-01

A study of college faculty and student attitudes toward artificial languages, particularly Esperanto, found faculty more knowledgeable but less enthusiastic than students about the languages. Faculty were less likely to see practical benefits in the knowledge and use of constructed languages, and less interested in seeing them taught or learning…

Shared Places, Separate Spaces: Constructing Cultural Spaces through Two National Languages in Finland

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

From, Tuuli; Sahlström, Fritjof

2017-01-01

Finland is a bilingual country with 2 national languages, Finnish and Swedish. The Swedish-speaking school institution aims to protect the minority language by maintaining a monolingual school space. In this article, the construction of linguistic and ethnic difference in educational discourse and practice related to the national languages in…

Exploring Taiwanese Preservice Teachers' Identity Construction in the Context of Service-Learning: Conflict and Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tseng, Ming-i Lydia

2017-01-01

Language teacher identity (LTI) has gained prominence in second language education in the recent two decades, particularly the complexity of identity construction in the changing context shaped by local and global forces. This study adds to recent work on LTI by exploring how Asian teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) constructed their…

A High-Level Language for Modeling Algorithms and Their Properties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Akhtar, Sabina; Merz, Stephan; Quinson, Martin

Designers of concurrent and distributed algorithms usually express them using pseudo-code. In contrast, most verification techniques are based on more mathematically-oriented formalisms such as state transition systems. This conceptual gap contributes to hinder the use of formal verification techniques. Leslie Lamport introduced PlusCal, a high-level algorithmic language that has the "look and feel" of pseudo-code, but is equipped with a precise semantics and includes a high-level expression language based on set theory. PlusCal models can be compiled to TLA + and verified using the model checker tlc.

Tolerant (parallel) Programming

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

DiNucci, David C.; Bailey, David H. (Technical Monitor)

1997-01-01

In order to be truly portable, a program must be tolerant of a wide range of development and execution environments, and a parallel program is just one which must be tolerant of a very wide range. This paper first defines the term "tolerant programming", then describes many layers of tools to accomplish it. The primary focus is on F-Nets, a formal model for expressing computation as a folded partial-ordering of operations, thereby providing an architecture-independent expression of tolerant parallel algorithms. For implementing F-Nets, Cooperative Data Sharing (CDS) is a subroutine package for implementing communication efficiently in a large number of environments (e.g. shared memory and message passing). Software Cabling (SC), a very-high-level graphical programming language for building large F-Nets, possesses many of the features normally expected from today's computer languages (e.g. data abstraction, array operations). Finally, L2(sup 3) is a CASE tool which facilitates the construction, compilation, execution, and debugging of SC programs.

BioPCD - A Language for GUI Development Requiring a Minimal Skill Set

PubMed Central

Alvare, Graham GM; Roche-Lima, Abiel; Fristensky, Brian

2016-01-01

BioPCD is a new language whose purpose is to simplify the creation of Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) by biologists with minimal programming skills. The first step in developing BioPCD was to create a minimal superset of the language referred to as PCD (Pythonesque Command Description). PCD defines the core of terminals and high-level nonterminals required to describe data of almost any type. BioPCD adds to PCD the constructs necessary to describe GUI components and the syntax for executing system commands. BioPCD is implemented using JavaCC to convert the grammar into code. BioPCD is designed to be terse and readable and simple enough to be learned by copying and modifying existing BioPCD files. We demonstrate that BioPCD can easily be used to generate GUIs for existing command line programs. Although BioPCD was designed to make it easier to run bioinformatics programs, it could be used in any domain in which many useful command line programs exist that do not have GUI interfaces. PMID:27818582

Testing Math or Testing Language? The Construct Validity of the KeyMath-Revised for Children With Intellectual Disability and Language Difficulties.

PubMed

Rhodes, Katherine T; Branum-Martin, Lee; Morris, Robin D; Romski, MaryAnn; Sevcik, Rose A

2015-11-01

Although it is often assumed that mathematics ability alone predicts mathematics test performance, linguistic demands may also predict achievement. This study examined the role of language in mathematics assessment performance for children with intellectual disability (ID) at less severe levels, on the KeyMath-Revised Inventory (KM-R) with a sample of 264 children, in grades 2-5. Using confirmatory factor analysis, the hypothesis that the KM-R would demonstrate discriminant validity with measures of language abilities in a two-factor model was compared to two plausible alternative models. Results indicated that KM-R did not have discriminant validity with measures of children's language abilities and was a multidimensional test of both mathematics and language abilities for this population of test users. Implications are considered for test development, interpretation, and intervention.

Hi-LAB: A New Measure of Aptitude for High-Level Language Proficiency

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Linck, Jared A.; Hughes, Meredith M.; Campbell, Susan G.; Silbert, Noah H.; Tare, Medha; Jackson, Scott R.; Smith, Benjamin K.; Bunting, Michael F.; Doughty, Catherine J.

2013-01-01

Few adult second language (L2) learners successfully attain high-level proficiency. Although decades of research on beginning to intermediate stages of L2 learning have identified a number of predictors of the rate of acquisition, little research has examined factors relevant to predicting very high levels of L2 proficiency. The current study,…

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Morris, Karla

Although the high-performance computing (HPC) community increasingly embraces object-oriented programming (OOP), most HPC OOP projects employ the C++ programming language. Until recently, Fortran programmers interested in mining the benefits of OOP had to emulate OOP in Fortran 90/95. The advent of widespread compiler support for Fortran 2003 now facilitates explicitly constructing object-oriented class hierarchies via inheritance and leveraging related class behaviors such as dynamic polymorphism. Although C++ allows a class to inherit from multiple parent classes, Fortran and several other OOP languages restrict or prohibit explicit multiple inheritance relationships in order to circumvent several pitfalls associated with them. Nonetheless, whatmore » appears as an intrinsic feature in one language can be modeled as a user-constructed design pattern in another language. The present paper demonstrates how to apply the facade structural design pattern to support a multiple inheritance class relationship in Fortran 2003. As a result, the design unleashes the power of the associated class relationships for modeling complicated data structures yet avoids the ambiguities that plague some multiple inheritance scenarios.« less

Predicting language outcomes for children learning AAC: Child and environmental factors

PubMed Central

Brady, Nancy C.; Thiemann-Bourque, Kathy; Fleming, Kandace; Matthews, Kris

2014-01-01

Purpose To investigate a model of language development for nonverbal preschool age children learning to communicate with AAC. Method Ninety-three preschool children with intellectual disabilities were assessed at Time 1, and 82 of these children were assessed one year later at Time 2. The outcome variable was the number of different words the children produced (with speech, sign or SGD). Children’s intrinsic predictor for language was modeled as a latent variable consisting of cognitive development, comprehension, play, and nonverbal communication complexity. Adult input at school and home, and amount of AAC instruction were proposed mediators of vocabulary acquisition. Results A confirmatory factor analysis revealed that measures converged as a coherent construct and an SEM model indicated that the intrinsic child predictor construct predicted different words children produced. The amount of input received at home but not at school was a significant mediator. Conclusions Our hypothesized model accurately reflected a latent construct of Intrinsic Symbolic Factor (ISF). Children who evidenced higher initial levels of ISF and more adult input at home produced more words one year later. Findings support the need to assess multiple child variables, and suggest interventions directed to the indicators of ISF and input. PMID:23785187

The Theory of Adaptive Dispersion and Acoustic-phonetic Properties of Cross-language Lexical-tone Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alexander, Jennifer Alexandra

Lexical-tone languages use fundamental frequency (F0/pitch) to convey word meaning. About 41.8% of the world's languages use lexical tone (Maddieson, 2008), yet those systems are under-studied. I aim to increase our understanding of speech-sound inventory organization by extending to tone-systems a model of vowel-system organization, the Theory of Adaptive Dispersion (TAD) (Liljencrants and Lindblom, 1972). This is a cross-language investigation of whether and how the size of a tonal inventory affects (A) acoustic tone-space size and (B) dispersion of tone categories within the tone-space. I compared five languages with very different tone inventories: Cantonese (3 contour, 3 level tones); Mandarin (3 contour, 1 level tone); Thai (2 contour, 3 level tones); Yoruba (3 level tones only); and Igbo (2 level tones only). Six native speakers (3 female) of each language produced 18 CV syllables in isolation, with each of his/her language's tones, six times. I measured tonal F0 across the vowel at onset, midpoint, and offglide. Tone-space size was the F0 difference in semitones (ST) between each language's highest and lowest tones. Tone dispersion was the F0 distance (ST) between two tones shared by multiple languages. Following the TAD, I predicted that languages with larger tone inventories would have larger tone-spaces. Against expectations, tone-space size was fixed across level-tone languages at midpoint and offglide, and across contour-tone languages (except Thai) at offglide. However, within each language type (level-tone vs. contour-tone), languages with smaller tone inventories had larger tone spaces at onset. Tone-dispersion results were also unexpected. The Cantonese mid-level tone was further dispersed from a tonal baseline than the Yoruba mid-level tone; Cantonese mid-level tone dispersion was therefore greater than theoretically necessary. The Cantonese high-level tone was also further dispersed from baseline than the Mandarin high-level tone -- at midpoint and offglide only. The TAD cannot account for these results. A follow-up analysis indicates that tone-space size differs as a function of tone-language type: level-tone and contour-tone systems may not be comparable. Another analysis plots tones in an onset F0 x offglide F0 space (following Barry and Blamey, 2004). Preliminary results indicate that the languages' tones are well-separated in this space.

Heritage Language Learners' Perceptions of Acquiring and Maintaining the Spanish Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Torres, Kelly Moore; Turner, Jeannine E.

2017-01-01

The number of heritage language learners in American universities is increasing each year. Similar to monolingual students, this subgroup of learners is required to complete university level "foreign language" coursework, which can be a source of anxiety. Particularly, this subgroup of learners may experience high levels of anxiety due…

Language and reading instruction in early years' classrooms: the knowledge and self-rated ability of Australian teachers.

PubMed

Stark, Hannah L; Snow, Pamela C; Eadie, Patricia A; Goldfeld, Sharon R

2016-04-01

This study sought to investigate the level of knowledge of language constructs in a cohort of Australian teachers and to examine their self-rated ability and confidence in that knowledge. Seventy-eight teachers from schools across the Australian state of Victoria completed a questionnaire which included items from existing measures, as well as newly developed items. Consistent with a number of earlier Australian and international studies, teachers' explicit and implicit knowledge of basic linguistic constructs was limited and highly variable. A statistically significant correlation was found between (1) total self-rated ability and (2) years since qualification and experience teaching the early years of primary school; however, no relationship was found between self-rated ability and overall performance on knowledge items. Self-rated ability to teach phonemic awareness and phonics had no relationship with demonstrated knowledge in these areas. Teachers were most likely to rate their ability to teach skills including spelling, phonics, comprehension or vocabulary as either moderate or very good. This was despite most respondents demonstrating limited knowledge and stating that they did not feel confident answering questions about their knowledge in these areas. The findings from this study confirm that in the field of language and literacy instruction, there is a gap between the knowledge that is theoretically requisite, and therefore expected, and the actual knowledge of many teachers. This finding challenges current pre-service teacher education and in-service professional learning.

The Multifaceted Ecology of Language Play in an Elementary School EFL Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kang, Dae-Min

2017-01-01

Language play (LP) in second language (L2) classrooms has attracted increasing attention in recent years, but descriptions and explanations of LP construction in English as a foreign language (EFL) settings remain insufficient. This paper reports the discursive processes of LP construction in an elementary school EFL classroom in Korea. I found…

Asserting "Needs" and Claiming "Rights": The Cultural Politics of Community Language Education in England.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hall, Kathleen

2002-01-01

Discusses the paradox involved in constructing a language policy: language is invoked as a reified object associated with essentialist constructs of identity to stand for much more complex and changing patterns of language use. Considers this paradox from the perspective of a campaign led by Sikh parents to have Punjabi introduced into curriculum…

Distinguishing Discrete and Gradient Category Structure in Language: Insights from Verb-Particle Constructions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brehm, Laurel; Goldrick, Matthew

2017-01-01

The current work uses memory errors to examine the mental representation of verb-particle constructions (VPCs; e.g., "make up" the story, "cut up the meat"). Some evidence suggests that VPCs are represented by a cline in which the relationship between the VPC and its component elements ranges from highly transparent ("cut…

"I Would Study Harder if I Was a Girl": Gendered Narratives of Low-Achieving Male and High-Achieving Female EFL Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lu, Hangyan; Luk, Jasmine

2014-01-01

Informed by a social and critical turn of reading practices and a poststructuralist paradigm of gender, this study delved into the commonly held belief that reading and language learning is a feminine domain, and examined the connection between the construction of gendered subjectivities and English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) reading practices…

The Effects of Aircraft Noise on the Auditory Language Processing Abilities of English First Language Primary School Learners in Durban, South Africa

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hollander, Cara; de Andrade, Victor Manuel

2014-01-01

Schools located near to airports are exposed to high levels of noise which can cause cognitive, health, and hearing problems. Therefore, this study sought to explore whether this noise may cause auditory language processing (ALP) problems in primary school learners. Sixty-one children attending schools exposed to high levels of noise were matched…

How Much Input Is Enough? Correlating Comprehension and Child Language Input in an Endangered Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Meakins, Felicity; Wigglesworth, Gillian

2013-01-01

In situations of language endangerment, the ability to understand a language tends to persevere longer than the ability to speak it. As a result, the possibility of language revival remains high even when few speakers remain. Nonetheless, this potential requires that those with high levels of comprehension received sufficient input as children for…

Manchester visual query language

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oakley, John P.; Davis, Darryl N.; Shann, Richard T.

1993-04-01

We report a database language for visual retrieval which allows queries on image feature information which has been computed and stored along with images. The language is novel in that it provides facilities for dealing with feature data which has actually been obtained from image analysis. Each line in the Manchester Visual Query Language (MVQL) takes a set of objects as input and produces another, usually smaller, set as output. The MVQL constructs are mainly based on proven operators from the field of digital image analysis. An example is the Hough-group operator which takes as input a specification for the objects to be grouped, a specification for the relevant Hough space, and a definition of the voting rule. The output is a ranked list of high scoring bins. The query could be directed towards one particular image or an entire image database, in the latter case the bins in the output list would in general be associated with different images. We have implemented MVQL in two layers. The command interpreter is a Lisp program which maps each MVQL line to a sequence of commands which are used to control a specialized database engine. The latter is a hybrid graph/relational system which provides low-level support for inheritance and schema evolution. In the paper we outline the language and provide examples of useful queries. We also describe our solution to the engineering problems associated with the implementation of MVQL.

Turn-taking in Human Communication--Origins and Implications for Language Processing.

PubMed

Levinson, Stephen C

2016-01-01

Most language usage is interactive, involving rapid turn-taking. The turn-taking system has a number of striking properties: turns are short and responses are remarkably rapid, but turns are of varying length and often of very complex construction such that the underlying cognitive processing is highly compressed. Although neglected in cognitive science, the system has deep implications for language processing and acquisition that are only now becoming clear. Appearing earlier in ontogeny than linguistic competence, it is also found across all the major primate clades. This suggests a possible phylogenetic continuity, which may provide key insights into language evolution. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Modeling the Chinese language as an evolving network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liang, Wei; Shi, Yuming; Huang, Qiuling

2014-01-01

The evolution of Chinese language has three main features: the total number of characters is gradually increasing, new words are generated in the existing characters, and some old words are no longer used in daily-life language. Based on the features, we propose an evolving language network model. Finally, we use this model to simulate the character co-occurrence networks (nodes are characters, and two characters are connected by an edge if they are adjacent to each other) constructed from essays in 11 different periods of China, and find that characters that appear with high frequency in old words are likely to be reused when new words are formed.

Use of an AC induction motor system for producing finger movements in human subjects.

PubMed

Proudlock, F A; Scott, J J

1998-12-01

This report describes the set-up and evaluation of a novel system for producing precise finger movements, for tests of movement perception. The specifications were to construct a system using commercially available components that were easy to use but which offered both flexibility and also high precision control. The system was constructed around an industrial AC induction motor with an optical encoder, controlled by an AC servo digital control module that could be programmed using a simple, high-level language. This set-up fulfilled the requirements regarding position and velocity control for a range of movements and also the facility for the subject to move the joint voluntarily while still attached to the motor. However a number of problems were encountered, the most serious being the level of vibration and the inability to vary the torque during movements. The vibration was reduced to the point where it did not affect the subject, by the introduction of mechanical dampening using an anti-vibration coupling and a pneumatic splint. The torque control could not be modified during rotation and so the system could only be operated using constant torque for any given movement.

A review of BIM (Building Information Modeling) implementation in Indonesia construction industry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suryadinata Telaga, Abdi

2018-05-01

Construction projects in Indonesia have been growing rapidly in the last three years. Therefore, construction management is very important to ensure completion of construction projects are within schedule and budget. Utilization of building information modeling (BIM) can increase the efficiency of a construction project. However, the implementation of BIM in Indonesia is still not known. This paper is intended to review the implementation of BIM in Indonesia through literature analysis. To find BIM articles in Indonesia, Firstly, searching was limited to English articles published in reputed journals or conferences. However the results were limited, then the search was expanded to the article using Indonesian languages that published in journal and conference. Based on the number of articles, the results showed that BIM research in Indonesia is still in a dearth. Furthermore, BIM study cases were conducted in a limited location and within a small population. Nevertheless, the literature shared the conclusion that BIM can increase project efficiency, but the implementation was hindered by high initial investment cost, inadequate human resources, small demand, and technology resistant. The research contributes to providing a current reported level of BIM implementation in Indonesia. In the future research to study of BIM implementation comprehensively in Indonesia is eminent.

[The therapeutic drug monitoring network server of tacrolimus for Chinese renal transplant patients].

PubMed

Deng, Chen-Hui; Zhang, Guan-Min; Bi, Shan-Shan; Zhou, Tian-Yan; Lu, Wei

2011-07-01

This study is to develop a therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) network server of tacrolimus for Chinese renal transplant patients, which can facilitate doctor to manage patients' information and provide three levels of predictions. Database management system MySQL was employed to build and manage the database of patients and doctors' information, and hypertext mark-up language (HTML) and Java server pages (JSP) technology were employed to construct network server for database management. Based on the population pharmacokinetic model of tacrolimus for Chinese renal transplant patients, above program languages were used to construct the population prediction and subpopulation prediction modules. Based on Bayesian principle and maximization of the posterior probability function, an objective function was established, and minimized by an optimization algorithm to estimate patient's individual pharmacokinetic parameters. It is proved that the network server has the basic functions for database management and three levels of prediction to aid doctor to optimize the regimen of tacrolimus for Chinese renal transplant patients.

Exploring Language Choice and Identity Construction in "In-Between" Sites: Ethnic Media and Community Languages Schools in Australia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rubino, Antonia; Cruickshank, Ken

2016-01-01

Australian research on immigrant languages has paid little attention to interactional approaches to language alternation as identity construction, and sites other than the family and the mainstream school. We argue for the need of studies that take into account a wider range of sites, in particular "community" sites, and adopt…

"Do You Know Your Language?" How Teachers of Punjabi and Chinese Ancestries Construct Their Family Languages in Their Personal and Professional Lives.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beynon, June; Ilieva, Roumiana; Dichupa, Marela; Hirji, Shemina

2003-01-01

Focuses on how teachers of minority ancestries construct and represent their family language identities. Drawing on poststructural, postcolonial and sociocultural theory on culture, identity, and language, examined the complex nature of linguistic identities of 25 teachers of Chinese and 20 teachers of Punjabi ancestries. (Author/VWL)

Scientific inquiry as social and linguistic practice: Language socialization pathways in a ninth-grade physics class

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Braden, Sarah Katherine

English Language Learners (ELLs) in K-12 schools in the United States. have lower standardized test scores and lower high school graduation rates than their native-English speaking peers. Similar performance gaps exist for Latino/a students when compared to White non-Latino/a students, even if they are not identified as English learners and were schooled in the United States. Language minority students are also underrepresented in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields. Equity in access to STEM degrees and professions is a social justice issue with economic implications. STEM careers provide economic security for individuals and growth in STEM industries is important for the United States economy. As the demographics in the United States change to include more workers from language minority backgrounds, it has become even more imperative to ensure equitable access to STEM careers. Traditional approaches to studying equity for K-12 language minority students in the sciences focus on narrowly defined pedagogical methods aimed at improving the performance of language learners on science assessments. However, language socialization research using ethnographic methods suggests that students' classroom-based social positioning shapes their learning and their affiliation or disaffiliation with particular disciplines. Thus, this dissertation explores science expertise as a discursively constructed stance not as a set of acquired facts. In this dissertation research, I use ethnography and classroom discourse analysis to study peer group interactions and explore how language minority students either achieve or do not achieve science expert status in their physics lab groups. In order to trace the language socialization pathways of three Spanish-English bilingual Latina students, it was also necessary to document community-level norms related to academic success. The findings in this dissertation center on these two phenomena: classroom-level identities related to academic success during lab work and the experiences of language minority students as they navigated social interactions during lab tasks. Classroom-level findings suggest that students oriented to three local identities related to academic success: (1) the science expert, (2) the good student, and (3) the good assistant. Looking across the socialization pathways of the Latina students in the class revealed that their identities as Latinas and Spanish-speakers intersected with their ability to articulate science expert status in complicated ways. I conclude this dissertation with implications for research on Latino/as in STEM, classroom discourse studies, language socialization research, and science teacher education.

Language approaches used with deaf pupils in Scottish schools: 2001-2004.

PubMed

Grimes, Marian; Thoutenhoofd, Ernst D; Byrne, Delma

2007-01-01

In this article we address "language approach" data as a key variable in quantitative, large-scale research on educational achievement, focusing on our work for the Achievements of Deaf Pupils in Scotland (ADPS) project. The complexity of approaches is addressed, with a particular focus on a "no-exclusion" model of service. In this context 3 years of language-related data are discussed, using constructions of language variables that take into account the variability in deaf pupils' hearing loss levels, types of provision, and professional practice. We see this as a necessary first step toward offering a nuanced context for understanding patterns in the educational outcomes among the ADPS population to be reported in a later article. The ADPS data on language approach can reveal general patterns at macro levels: our analysis suggests that, in Scotland, the extent and quality of British Sign Language/English provision may be determined more by local factors than by linguistic requirements and that ostensibly responsive policies can mask a limited spectrum for pupils and their families. However, the ADPS data are insufficiently sensitive to detailed and local variations to reflect the full complexity of language situations over time-a situation which represents an ongoing challenge for all long-term, large-scale studies.

Burkean Tropes and Kuhnian Science: A Social Constructionist Perspective on Language and Reality.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schiappa, Edward

1993-01-01

Constructs a language-centered perspective toward the social-rhetorical construction of knowledge by juxtaposing Kenneth Burke's philosophy of language with Thomas S. Kuhn's philosophy of science. Discusses rhetoric's epistemic status and the social constructionist account of discourse production. (HB)

The multilingual matrix test: Principles, applications, and comparison across languages: A review.

PubMed

Kollmeier, Birger; Warzybok, Anna; Hochmuth, Sabine; Zokoll, Melanie A; Uslar, Verena; Brand, Thomas; Wagener, Kirsten C

2015-01-01

A review of the development, evaluation, and application of the so-called 'matrix sentence test' for speech intelligibility testing in a multilingual society is provided. The format allows for repeated use with the same patient in her or his native language even if the experimenter does not understand the language. Using a closed-set format, the syntactically fixed, semantically unpredictable sentences (e.g. 'Peter bought eight white ships') provide a vocabulary of 50 words (10 alternatives for each position in the sentence). The principles (i.e. construction, optimization, evaluation, and validation) for 14 different languages are reviewed. Studies of the influence of talker, language, noise, the training effect, open vs. closed conduct of the test, and the subjects' language proficiency are reported and application examples are discussed. The optimization principles result in a steep intelligibility function and a high homogeneity of the speech materials presented and test lists employed, yielding a high efficiency and excellent comparability across languages. The characteristics of speakers generally dominate the differences across languages. The matrix test format with the principles outlined here is recommended for producing efficient, reliable, and comparable speech reception thresholds across different languages.

Constructing a Second Language: Analyses and Computational Simulations of the Emergence of Linguistic Constructions from Usage

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ellis, Nick C.

2009-01-01

This article presents an analysis of interactions in the usage, structure, cognition, coadaptation of conversational partners, and emergence of linguistic constructions. It focuses on second language development of English verb-argument constructions (VACs: VL, verb locative; VOL, verb object locative; VOO, ditransitive) with particular reference…

Phonological Iconicity Electrifies: An ERP Study on Affective Sound-to-Meaning Correspondences in German

PubMed Central

Ullrich, Susann; Kotz, Sonja A.; Schmidtke, David S.; Aryani, Arash; Conrad, Markus

2016-01-01

While linguistic theory posits an arbitrary relation between signifiers and the signified (de Saussure, 1916), our analysis of a large-scale German database containing affective ratings of words revealed that certain phoneme clusters occur more often in words denoting concepts with negative and arousing meaning. Here, we investigate how such phoneme clusters that potentially serve as sublexical markers of affect can influence language processing. We registered the EEG signal during a lexical decision task with a novel manipulation of the words' putative sublexical affective potential: the means of valence and arousal values for single phoneme clusters, each computed as a function of respective values of words from the database these phoneme clusters occur in. Our experimental manipulations also investigate potential contributions of formal salience to the sublexical affective potential: Typically, negative high-arousing phonological segments—based on our calculations—tend to be less frequent and more structurally complex than neutral ones. We thus constructed two experimental sets, one involving this natural confound, while controlling for it in the other. A negative high-arousing sublexical affective potential in the strictly controlled stimulus set yielded an early posterior negativity (EPN), in similar ways as an independent manipulation of lexical affective content did. When other potentially salient formal features at the sublexical level were not controlled for, the effect of the sublexical affective potential was strengthened and prolonged (250–650 ms), presumably because formal salience helps making specific phoneme clusters efficient sublexical markers of negative high-arousing affective meaning. These neurophysiological data support the assumption that the organization of a language's vocabulary involves systematic sound-to-meaning correspondences at the phonemic level that influence the way we process language. PMID:27588008

The Effect of Number and Presentation Order of High-Constraint Sentences on Second Language Word Learning.

PubMed

Ma, Tengfei; Chen, Ran; Dunlap, Susan; Chen, Baoguo

2016-01-01

This paper presents the results of an experiment that investigated the effects of number and presentation order of high-constraint sentences on semantic processing of unknown second language (L2) words (pseudowords) through reading. All participants were Chinese native speakers who learned English as a foreign language. In the experiment, sentence constraint and order of different constraint sentences were manipulated in English sentences, as well as L2 proficiency level of participants. We found that the number of high-constraint sentences was supportive for L2 word learning except in the condition in which high-constraint exposure was presented first. Moreover, when the number of high-constraint sentences was the same, learning was significantly better when the first exposure was a high-constraint exposure. And no proficiency level effects were found. Our results provided direct evidence that L2 word learning benefited from high quality language input and first presentations of high quality language input.

Constructing Culturally Relevant Pedagogy in Chinese Heritage Language Classrooms: A Multiple-Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wu, Hsu-Pai

2011-01-01

Culturally relevant pedagogy uses cultural references to develop students' knowledge and identities thereby empowering them academically, socially and politically. This article examined how four Chinese heritage languages teachers constructed culturally relevant pedagogy in their language instructions. Qualitative cross-case analysis indicated…

The shape of the human language-ready brain

PubMed Central

Boeckx, Cedric; Benítez-Burraco, Antonio

2014-01-01

Our core hypothesis is that the emergence of our species-specific language-ready brain ought to be understood in light of the developmental changes expressed at the levels of brain morphology and neural connectivity that occurred in our species after the split from Neanderthals–Denisovans and that gave us a more globular braincase configuration. In addition to changes at the cortical level, we hypothesize that the anatomical shift that led to globularity also entailed significant changes at the subcortical level. We claim that the functional consequences of such changes must also be taken into account to gain a fuller understanding of our linguistic capacity. Here we focus on the thalamus, which we argue is central to language and human cognition, as it modulates fronto-parietal activity. With this new neurobiological perspective in place, we examine its possible molecular basis. We construct a candidate gene set whose members are involved in the development and connectivity of the thalamus, in the evolution of the human head, and are known to give rise to language-associated cognitive disorders. We submit that the new gene candidate set opens up new windows into our understanding of the genetic basis of our linguistic capacity. Thus, our hypothesis aims at generating new testing grounds concerning core aspects of language ontogeny and phylogeny. PMID:24772099

What language is the language-ready brain ready for?. Comment on "Towards a Computational Comparative Neuroprimatology: Framing the language-ready brain" by Michael A. Arbib

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Croft, William

2016-03-01

Arbib's computational comparative neuroprimatology [1] is a welcome model for cognitive linguists, that is, linguists who ground their models of language in human cognition and language use in social interaction. Arbib argues that language emerged via biological and cultural coevolution [1]; linguistic knowledge is represented by constructions, and semantic representations of linguistic constructions are grounded in embodied perceptual-motor schemas (the mirror system hypothesis). My comments offer some refinements from a linguistic point of view.

Influence of Grade Level on Perceptual Learning Style Preferences and Language Learning Strategies of Taiwanese English as a Foreign Language Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chen, Mei-Ling

2009-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate relationships between grade level, perceptual learning style preferences, and language learning strategies among Taiwanese English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students in grades 7 through 9. Three hundred and ninety junior high school students participated in this study. The instruments for data…

Implementation is crucial but must be neurobiologically grounded. Comment on “Toward a computational framework for cognitive biology: Unifying approaches from cognitive neuroscience and comparative cognition” by W. Tecumseh Fitch

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bornkessel-Schlesewsky, Ina; Schlesewsky, Matthias; Small, Steven L.

2014-09-01

From the perspective of language, Fitch's [1] claim that theories of cognitive computation should not be separated from those of implementation surely deserves applauding. Recent developments in the Cognitive Neuroscience of Language, leading to the new field of the Neurobiology of Language [2-4], emphasise precisely this point: rather than attempting to simply map cognitive theories of language onto the brain, we should aspire to understand how the brain implements language. This perspective resonates with many of the points raised by Fitch in his review, such as the discussion of unhelpful dichotomies (e.g., Nature versus Nurture). Cognitive dichotomies and debates have repeatedly turned out to be of limited usefulness when it comes to understanding language in the brain. The famous modularity-versus-interactivity and dual route-versus-connectionist debates are cases in point: in spite of hundreds of experiments using neuroimaging (or other techniques), or the construction of myriad computer models, little progress has been made in their resolution. This suggests that dichotomies proposed at a purely cognitive (or computational) level without consideration of biological grounding appear to be "asking the wrong questions" about the neurobiology of language. In accordance with these developments, several recent proposals explicitly consider neurobiological constraints while seeking to explain language processing at a cognitive level (e.g. [5-7]).

The Depiction of Men and Women within Iranian High School EFL Textbooks, Tested against Islamic Custom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Benham, Biook; Mozaheb, Mohammad Amin

2013-01-01

The construction of social identity is an interdisciplinary term, which is a favourite topic for many scholars worldwide. Religion and identity are intertwined regarding the concept of identity construction. In Iran, this relation can best be seen through English as a Foreign Language (EFL) textbooks. To achieve this, this study investigates the…

Layering Language and Novel Study Deepens Adolescent Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Saunders, Jane M.

2012-01-01

This article discusses the pedagogical practices of a middle level English teacher who teaches reading and writing skills creatively and recursively. By providing varied ways for students to construct knowledge and repeatedly grapple with difficult concepts, this teacher sustains an environment of collaborative inquiry whereby students internalize…

Empowerment of Refugees by Language: Can ESL Learners Affect the Target Culture?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tadayon, Fereshteh; Khodi, Ali

2016-01-01

Numerous studies have investigated the changing patterns of immigration, the growth of multicultural-multilingual societies, and the important role of language in identity construction. Unfortunately, the issue of identity construction is affected by a variety of factors such as language learning and acquisition underlying different contexts and…

Ideologies and Attitudes toward Sign Languages: An Approximation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Krausneker, Verena

2015-01-01

Attitudes are complex and little research in the field of linguistics has focused on language attitudes. This article deals with attitudes toward sign languages and those who use them--attitudes that are influenced by ideological constructions. The article reviews five categories of such constructions and discusses examples in each one.

Speech and language interventions for infants aged 0 to 2 years at high risk for cerebral palsy: a systematic review

PubMed Central

Chorna, Olena; Hamm, Ellyn; Cummings, Caitlin; Fetters, Ashley; Maitre, Nathalie L

2017-01-01

Aim We evaluated the level of evidence of speech, language, and communication interventions for infants at high-risk for, or with a diagnosis of, cerebral palsy (CP) from 0 to 2 years old. Method We performed a systematic review of relevant terms. Articles were evaluated based on the level of methodological quality and evidence according to A Measurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews (AMSTAR) and Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) guidelines. Results The search terms provided 17 publications consisting of speech or language interventions. There were no interventions in the high level of evidence category. The overall level of evidence was very low. Promising interventions included Responsivity and Prelinguistic Milieu Teaching and other parent–infant transaction frameworks. Interpretation There are few evidence-based interventions addressing speech, language, and communication needs of infants and toddlers at high risk for CP, and none for infants diagnosed with CP. Recommendation guidelines include parent–infant transaction programs. PMID:27897320

Universally Designed Text on the Web: Towards Readability Criteria Based on Anti-Patterns.

PubMed

Eika, Evelyn

2016-01-01

The readability of web texts affects accessibility. The Web Content Accessibility guidelines (WCAG) state that the recommended reading level should match that of someone who has completed basic schooling. However, WCAG does not give advice on what constitutes an appropriate reading level. Web authors need tools to help composing WCAG compliant texts, and specific criteria are needed. Classic readability metrics are generally based on lengths of words and sentences and have been criticized for being over-simplistic. Automatic measures and classifications of texts' reading levels employing more advanced constructs remain an unresolved problem. If such measures were feasible, what should these be? This work examines three language constructs not captured by current readability indices but believed to significantly affect actual readability, namely, relative clauses, garden path sentences, and left-branching structures. The goal is to see whether quantifications of these stylistic features reflect readability and how they correspond to common readability measures. Manual assessments of a set of authentic web texts for such uses were conducted. The results reveal that texts related to narratives such as children's stories, which are given the highest readability value, do not contain these constructs. The structures in question occur more frequently in expository texts that aim at educating or disseminating information such as strategy and journal articles. The results suggest that language anti-patterns hold potential for establishing a set of deeper readability criteria.

Construct Validity of the Nepalese School Leaving English Reading Test

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dawadi, Saraswati; Shrestha, Prithvi N.

2018-01-01

There has been a steady interest in investigating the validity of language tests in the last decades. Despite numerous studies on construct validity in language testing, there are not many studies examining the construct validity of a reading test. This paper reports on a study that explored the construct validity of the English reading test in…

Language Socialisation and the Construction of Socio-moral Meanings.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bhatia, Sunil

2000-01-01

Explores how language-based socialization patterns play an important role in caregiver's and children's construction of socio-moral meanings. Argues that through participation in communicative and narrative practices children begin to understand cultural meanings about morality. Demonstrates the mutual interdependence between construction of moral…

Behavioral and computational aspects of language and its acquisition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Edelman, Shimon; Waterfall, Heidi

2007-12-01

One of the greatest challenges facing the cognitive sciences is to explain what it means to know a language, and how the knowledge of language is acquired. The dominant approach to this challenge within linguistics has been to seek an efficient characterization of the wealth of documented structural properties of language in terms of a compact generative grammar-ideally, the minimal necessary set of innate, universal, exception-less, highly abstract rules that jointly generate all and only the observed phenomena and are common to all human languages. We review developmental, behavioral, and computational evidence that seems to favor an alternative view of language, according to which linguistic structures are generated by a large, open set of constructions of varying degrees of abstraction and complexity, which embody both form and meaning and are acquired through socially situated experience in a given language community, by probabilistic learning algorithms that resemble those at work in other cognitive modalities.

Prosodic development in middle childhood and adolescence in high-functioning autism.

PubMed

Lyons, Megan; Schoen Simmons, Elizabeth; Paul, Rhea

2014-04-01

The present study aims to investigate the perception and production of several domains of prosodic performance in a cross-sectional sample of preadolescents and adolescents with and without high-functioning autism (HFA). To look at the role of language abilities on prosodic performance, the HFA groups were subdivided based on "high" and "low" language performance on the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals-Fourth Edition (CELF-4) (Semel, Wiig, & Secord). Social and cognitive abilities were also examined to determine their relationship to prosodic performance. No significant differences were seen in prosody scores in the younger versus older subgroups in typically developing (TD) group with age-appropriate language. There was small but significant improvement in performance with age in the groups with HFA. Comparing performance at each age level across diagnostic groups showed that preteens with HFA and higher language levels perform similarly to their TD peers on all prosodic tasks, whereas those with lower language skills scored significantly worse than both their higher language and TD peers when looking at composite perception and production findings. Teens with HFA showed no deficits on perception tasks; however, those with low language levels had difficulty on several production tasks when compared to the TD group. Regression analyses suggested that, for the preteen group with HFA, language was the strongest predictor of prosodic perception, whereas nonverbal IQ was most highly predictive of prosodic production. For adolescents with HFA, social skills significantly contributed to the prediction of prosodic perception and, along with language abilities, predicted prosodic production. Implications of these findings will be discussed. © 2014 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

A Hierarchical Generative Framework of Language Processing: Linking Language Perception, Interpretation, and Production Abnormalities in Schizophrenia

PubMed Central

Brown, Meredith; Kuperberg, Gina R.

2015-01-01

Language and thought dysfunction are central to the schizophrenia syndrome. They are evident in the major symptoms of psychosis itself, particularly as disorganized language output (positive thought disorder) and auditory verbal hallucinations (AVHs), and they also manifest as abnormalities in both high-level semantic and contextual processing and low-level perception. However, the literatures characterizing these abnormalities have largely been separate and have sometimes provided mutually exclusive accounts of aberrant language in schizophrenia. In this review, we propose that recent generative probabilistic frameworks of language processing can provide crucial insights that link these four lines of research. We first outline neural and cognitive evidence that real-time language comprehension and production normally involve internal generative circuits that propagate probabilistic predictions to perceptual cortices — predictions that are incrementally updated based on prediction error signals as new inputs are encountered. We then explain how disruptions to these circuits may compromise communicative abilities in schizophrenia by reducing the efficiency and robustness of both high-level language processing and low-level speech perception. We also argue that such disruptions may contribute to the phenomenology of thought-disordered speech and false perceptual inferences in the language system (i.e., AVHs). This perspective suggests a number of productive avenues for future research that may elucidate not only the mechanisms of language abnormalities in schizophrenia, but also promising directions for cognitive rehabilitation. PMID:26640435

Relationships between narrative language samples and norm-referenced test scores in language assessments of school-age children.

PubMed

Danahy Ebert, Kerry; Scott, Cheryl M

2014-10-01

Both narrative language samples and norm-referenced language tests can be important components of language assessment for school-age children. The present study explored the relationship between these 2 tools within a group of children referred for language assessment. The study is a retrospective analysis of clinical records from 73 school-age children. Participants had completed an oral narrative language sample and at least one norm-referenced language test. Correlations between microstructural language sample measures and norm-referenced test scores were compared for younger (6- to 8-year-old) and older (9- to 12-year-old) children. Contingency tables were constructed to compare the 2 types of tools, at 2 different cutpoints, in terms of which children were identified as having a language disorder. Correlations between narrative language sample measures and norm-referenced tests were stronger for the younger group than the older group. Within the younger group, the level of language assessed by each measure contributed to associations among measures. Contingency analyses revealed moderate overlap in the children identified by each tool, with agreement affected by the cutpoint used. Narrative language samples may complement norm-referenced tests well, but age combined with narrative task can be expected to influence the nature of the relationship.

Analytic study of the Tadoma method: language abilities of three deaf-blind subjects.

PubMed

Chomsky, C

1986-09-01

This study reports on the linguistic abilities of 3 adult deaf-blind subjects. The subjects perceive spoken language through touch, placing a hand on the face of the speaker and monitoring the speaker's articulatory motions, a method of speechreading known as Tadoma. Two of the subjects, deaf-blind since infancy, acquired language and learned to speak through this tactile system; the third subject has used Tadoma since becoming deaf-blind at age 7. Linguistic knowledge and productive language are analyzed, using standardized tests and several tests constructed for this study. The subjects' language abilities prove to be extensive, comparing favorably in many areas with hearing individuals. The results illustrate a relatively minor effect of limited language exposure on eventual language achievement. The results also demonstrate the adequacy of the tactile sense, in these highly trained Tadoma users, for transmitting information about spoken language sufficient to support the development of language and learning to produce speech.

Learner Performance in Mandarin Immersion and High School World Language Programs: A Comparison

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Xu, Xiaoqiu; Padilla, Amado M.; Silva, Duarte M.

2015-01-01

This study compared the Mandarin performance of elementary immersion program students and high school world language program students in the same school district. A cross-sectional design was employed to gather information on Mandarin proficiency of fourth and fifth graders and Level 4 and Level 5 (AP Chinese) high school students who took the…

Predicting New Jersey High School Proficiency Test Results in Mathematics and Language Arts Using Community Demographic Data

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lynch, Christopher D.

2015-01-01

This study examined the relationship between the 2013 New Jersey High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA) Language Arts and Mathematics scores and school level data related to family human capital and community social capital found in the extant literature to influence student achievement on high-stakes standardized assessments. School level data…

Pattern Matcher for Trees Constructed from Lists

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

James, Mark

2007-01-01

A software library has been developed that takes a high-level description of a pattern to be satisfied and applies it to a target. If the two match, it returns success; otherwise, it indicates a failure. The target is semantically a tree that is constructed from elements of terminal and non-terminal nodes represented through lists and symbols. Additionally, functionality is provided for finding the element in a set that satisfies a given pattern and doing a tree search, finding all occurrences of leaf nodes that match a given pattern. This process is valuable because it is a new algorithmic approach that significantly improves the productivity of the programmers and has the potential of making their resulting code more efficient by the introduction of a novel semantic representation language. This software has been used in many applications delivered to NASA and private industry, and the cost savings that have resulted from it are significant.

Emulating multiple inheritance in Fortran 2003/2008

DOE PAGES

Morris, Karla

2015-01-24

Although the high-performance computing (HPC) community increasingly embraces object-oriented programming (OOP), most HPC OOP projects employ the C++ programming language. Until recently, Fortran programmers interested in mining the benefits of OOP had to emulate OOP in Fortran 90/95. The advent of widespread compiler support for Fortran 2003 now facilitates explicitly constructing object-oriented class hierarchies via inheritance and leveraging related class behaviors such as dynamic polymorphism. Although C++ allows a class to inherit from multiple parent classes, Fortran and several other OOP languages restrict or prohibit explicit multiple inheritance relationships in order to circumvent several pitfalls associated with them. Nonetheless, whatmore » appears as an intrinsic feature in one language can be modeled as a user-constructed design pattern in another language. The present paper demonstrates how to apply the facade structural design pattern to support a multiple inheritance class relationship in Fortran 2003. As a result, the design unleashes the power of the associated class relationships for modeling complicated data structures yet avoids the ambiguities that plague some multiple inheritance scenarios.« less

Saul: Towards Declarative Learning Based Programming

PubMed Central

Kordjamshidi, Parisa; Roth, Dan; Wu, Hao

2015-01-01

We present Saul, a new probabilistic programming language designed to address some of the shortcomings of programming languages that aim at advancing and simplifying the development of AI systems. Such languages need to interact with messy, naturally occurring data, to allow a programmer to specify what needs to be done at an appropriate level of abstraction rather than at the data level, to be developed on a solid theory that supports moving to and reasoning at this level of abstraction and, finally, to support flexible integration of these learning and inference models within an application program. Saul is an object-functional programming language written in Scala that facilitates these by (1) allowing a programmer to learn, name and manipulate named abstractions over relational data; (2) supporting seamless incorporation of trainable (probabilistic or discriminative) components into the program, and (3) providing a level of inference over trainable models to support composition and make decisions that respect domain and application constraints. Saul is developed over a declaratively defined relational data model, can use piecewise learned factor graphs with declaratively specified learning and inference objectives, and it supports inference over probabilistic models augmented with declarative knowledge-based constraints. We describe the key constructs of Saul and exemplify its use in developing applications that require relational feature engineering and structured output prediction. PMID:26635465

Saul: Towards Declarative Learning Based Programming.

PubMed

Kordjamshidi, Parisa; Roth, Dan; Wu, Hao

2015-07-01

We present Saul , a new probabilistic programming language designed to address some of the shortcomings of programming languages that aim at advancing and simplifying the development of AI systems. Such languages need to interact with messy, naturally occurring data, to allow a programmer to specify what needs to be done at an appropriate level of abstraction rather than at the data level, to be developed on a solid theory that supports moving to and reasoning at this level of abstraction and, finally, to support flexible integration of these learning and inference models within an application program. Saul is an object-functional programming language written in Scala that facilitates these by (1) allowing a programmer to learn, name and manipulate named abstractions over relational data; (2) supporting seamless incorporation of trainable (probabilistic or discriminative) components into the program, and (3) providing a level of inference over trainable models to support composition and make decisions that respect domain and application constraints. Saul is developed over a declaratively defined relational data model, can use piecewise learned factor graphs with declaratively specified learning and inference objectives, and it supports inference over probabilistic models augmented with declarative knowledge-based constraints. We describe the key constructs of Saul and exemplify its use in developing applications that require relational feature engineering and structured output prediction.

The language parallel Pascal and other aspects of the massively parallel processor

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Reeves, A. P.; Bruner, J. D.

1982-01-01

A high level language for the Massively Parallel Processor (MPP) was designed. This language, called Parallel Pascal, is described in detail. A description of the language design, a description of the intermediate language, Parallel P-Code, and details for the MPP implementation are included. Formal descriptions of Parallel Pascal and Parallel P-Code are given. A compiler was developed which converts programs in Parallel Pascal into the intermediate Parallel P-Code language. The code generator to complete the compiler for the MPP is being developed independently. A Parallel Pascal to Pascal translator was also developed. The architecture design for a VLSI version of the MPP was completed with a description of fault tolerant interconnection networks. The memory arrangement aspects of the MPP are discussed and a survey of other high level languages is given.

Second Language Studies Standard Course of Study and Grade Level Competencies, K-12. Revised

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, 2004

2004-01-01

The North Carolina Second Language Standard Course of Study establishes competency goals and objectives directing the teaching and learning of foreign language, heritage language, and classical language in North Carolina. This document sets high expectations for all students, it supports extended sequence of language learning and it takes into…

A high level language for a high performance computer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Perrott, R. H.

1978-01-01

The proposed computational aerodynamic facility will join the ranks of the supercomputers due to its architecture and increased execution speed. At present, the languages used to program these supercomputers have been modifications of programming languages which were designed many years ago for sequential machines. A new programming language should be developed based on the techniques which have proved valuable for sequential programming languages and incorporating the algorithmic techniques required for these supercomputers. The design objectives for such a language are outlined.

Workplace Communication in a Time of Transition: The Case of Hong Kong's Construction Industry.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Evans, Stephen

1999-01-01

Examines language in the workplace, specifically the construction industry in Hong Kong. Provides detailed information on language use in a professional context at the time of Hong Kong's return to China and shows that written communication is mainly in English, while spoken language is predominately Cantonese. (Author/VWL)

Interactional Competence: Challenges for Validity.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Young, Richard F.

One of the ways in which language testing interfaces with applied linguistics is in the definition and validation of the constructs that underlie language tests. When language testers and score users interpret scores on a test, they do so by implicit and explicit reference to the construct on which the test is based. Equally, when applied to new…

Languages and Institutions in the European Union. Mercator Working Papers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alcaraz, Manuel

This paper situates languages in the framework of European construction, analyzing problems resulting from the definition of languages' official status in the European Union (EU) juridical system. It explains that the process of European construction is historically defined by means of two distinct features (it is an open process, and at the same…

The Construction of Pro-Science and Technology Discourse in Chinese Language Textbooks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Liu, Yongbing

2005-01-01

This paper examines the pro-science and technology discourse constructed in Chinese language textbooks currently used for primary school students nationwide in China. By applying analytical techniques of critical discourse analysis (CDA), the paper critically investigates how the discourse is constructed and what ideological forces are manifested…

Thinking for Speaking and Cross-Linguistic Transfer in Preschool Bilingual Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nicoladis, Elena; Rose, Alyssa; Foursha-Stevenson, Cassandra

2010-01-01

Bilingual children sometimes produce constructions influenced by their other language (cross-linguistic transfer). Transfer can often be predicted by the existence of overlapping and ambiguous constructions in both languages. In this paper, we investigate whether cross-linguistic transfer occurs when overlapping constructions exist, but there are…

Automatic Compilation from High-Level Biologically-Oriented Programming Language to Genetic Regulatory Networks

PubMed Central

Beal, Jacob; Lu, Ting; Weiss, Ron

2011-01-01

Background The field of synthetic biology promises to revolutionize our ability to engineer biological systems, providing important benefits for a variety of applications. Recent advances in DNA synthesis and automated DNA assembly technologies suggest that it is now possible to construct synthetic systems of significant complexity. However, while a variety of novel genetic devices and small engineered gene networks have been successfully demonstrated, the regulatory complexity of synthetic systems that have been reported recently has somewhat plateaued due to a variety of factors, including the complexity of biology itself and the lag in our ability to design and optimize sophisticated biological circuitry. Methodology/Principal Findings To address the gap between DNA synthesis and circuit design capabilities, we present a platform that enables synthetic biologists to express desired behavior using a convenient high-level biologically-oriented programming language, Proto. The high level specification is compiled, using a regulatory motif based mechanism, to a gene network, optimized, and then converted to a computational simulation for numerical verification. Through several example programs we illustrate the automated process of biological system design with our platform, and show that our compiler optimizations can yield significant reductions in the number of genes () and latency of the optimized engineered gene networks. Conclusions/Significance Our platform provides a convenient and accessible tool for the automated design of sophisticated synthetic biological systems, bridging an important gap between DNA synthesis and circuit design capabilities. Our platform is user-friendly and features biologically relevant compiler optimizations, providing an important foundation for the development of sophisticated biological systems. PMID:21850228

Automatic compilation from high-level biologically-oriented programming language to genetic regulatory networks.

PubMed

Beal, Jacob; Lu, Ting; Weiss, Ron

2011-01-01

The field of synthetic biology promises to revolutionize our ability to engineer biological systems, providing important benefits for a variety of applications. Recent advances in DNA synthesis and automated DNA assembly technologies suggest that it is now possible to construct synthetic systems of significant complexity. However, while a variety of novel genetic devices and small engineered gene networks have been successfully demonstrated, the regulatory complexity of synthetic systems that have been reported recently has somewhat plateaued due to a variety of factors, including the complexity of biology itself and the lag in our ability to design and optimize sophisticated biological circuitry. To address the gap between DNA synthesis and circuit design capabilities, we present a platform that enables synthetic biologists to express desired behavior using a convenient high-level biologically-oriented programming language, Proto. The high level specification is compiled, using a regulatory motif based mechanism, to a gene network, optimized, and then converted to a computational simulation for numerical verification. Through several example programs we illustrate the automated process of biological system design with our platform, and show that our compiler optimizations can yield significant reductions in the number of genes (~ 50%) and latency of the optimized engineered gene networks. Our platform provides a convenient and accessible tool for the automated design of sophisticated synthetic biological systems, bridging an important gap between DNA synthesis and circuit design capabilities. Our platform is user-friendly and features biologically relevant compiler optimizations, providing an important foundation for the development of sophisticated biological systems.

[Validity criteria of a short test to assess speech and language competence in 4-year-olds].

PubMed

Euler, H A; Holler-Zittlau, I; Minnen, S; Sick, U; Dux, W; Zaretsky, Y; Neumann, K

2010-11-01

A psychometrically constructed short test as a prerequisite for screening was developed on the basis of a revision of the Marburger Speech Screening to assess speech/language competence among children in Hessen (Germany). A total of 257 children (age 4.0 to 4.5 years) performed the test battery for speech/language competence; 214 children repeated the test 1 year later. Test scores correlated highly with scores of two competing language screenings (SSV, HASE) and with a combined score from four diagnostic tests of individual speech/language competences (Reynell III, patholinguistic diagnostics in impaired language development, PLAKSS, AWST-R). Validity was demonstrated by three comparisons: (1) Children with German family language had higher scores than children with another language. (2) The 3-month-older children achieved higher scores than younger children. (3) The difference between the children with German family language and those with another language was higher for the 3-month-older than for the younger children. The short test assesses the speech/language competence of 4-year-olds quickly, validly, and comprehensively.

Spoken Spanish Language Development at the High School Level: A Mixed-Methods Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moeller, Aleidine J.; Theiler, Janine

2014-01-01

Communicative approaches to teaching language have emphasized the centrality of oral proficiency in the language acquisition process, but research investigating oral proficiency has been surprisingly limited, yielding an incomplete understanding of spoken language development. This study investigated the development of spoken language at the high…

A perspective on the advancement of natural language processing tasks via topological analysis of complex networks. Comment on "Approaching human language with complex networks" by Cong and Liu

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Amancio, Diego Raphael

2014-12-01

Concepts and methods of complex networks have been applied to probe the properties of a myriad of real systems [1]. The finding that written texts modeled as graphs share several properties of other completely different real systems has inspired the study of language as a complex system [2]. Actually, language can be represented as a complex network in its several levels of complexity. As a consequence, morphological, syntactical and semantical properties have been employed in the construction of linguistic networks [3]. Even the character level has been useful to unfold particular patterns [4,5]. In the review by Cong and Liu [6], the authors emphasize the need to use the topological information of complex networks modeling the various spheres of the language to better understand its origins, evolution and organization. In addition, the authors cite the use of networks in applications aiming at holistic typology and stylistic variations. In this context, I will discuss some possible directions that could be followed in future research directed towards the understanding of language via topological characterization of complex linguistic networks. In addition, I will comment the use of network models for language processing applications. Additional prospects for future practical research lines will also be discussed in this comment.

Reliability and Validity of a Japanese-language and Culturally Adapted Version of the Musculoskeletal Tumor Society Scoring System for the Lower Extremity.

PubMed

Iwata, Shintaro; Uehara, Kosuke; Ogura, Koichi; Akiyama, Toru; Shinoda, Yusuke; Yonemoto, Tsukasa; Kawai, Akira

2016-09-01

The Musculoskeletal Tumor Society (MSTS) scoring system is a widely used functional evaluation tool for patients treated for musculoskeletal tumors. Although the MSTS scoring system has been validated in English and Brazilian Portuguese, a Japanese version of the MSTS scoring system has not yet been validated. We sought to determine whether a Japanese-language translation of the MSTS scoring system for the lower extremity had (1) sufficient reliability and internal consistency, (2) adequate construct validity, and (3) reasonable criterion validity compared with the Toronto Extremity Salvage Score (TESS) and SF-36 using psychometric analysis. The Japanese version of the MSTS scoring system was developed using accepted guidelines, which included translation of the English version of the MSTS into Japanese by five native Japanese bilingual musculoskeletal oncology surgeons and integrated into one document. One hundred patients with a diagnosis of intermediate or malignant bone or soft tissue tumors located in the lower extremity and who had undergone tumor resection with or without reconstruction or amputation participated in this study. Reliability was evaluated by test-retest analysis, and internal consistency was established by Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Construct validity was evaluated using the principal factor analysis and Akaike information criterion network. Criterion validity was evaluated by comparing the MSTS scoring system with the TESS and SF-36. Test-retest analysis showed a high intraclass correlation coefficient (0.92; 95% CI, 0.88-0.95), indicating high reliability of the Japanese version of the MSTS scoring system, although a considerable ceiling effect was observed, with 23 patients (23%) given the maximum score. Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.87 (95% CI, 0.82-0.90), suggesting a high level of internal consistency. Factor analysis revealed that all items had high loading values and communalities; we identified a central role for the items "walking" and "gait" according to the Akaike information criterion network. The total MSTS score was correlated with that of the TESS (r = 0.81; 95% CI, 0.73-0.87; p < 0.001) and the physical component summary and physical functioning of the SF-36. The Japanese-language translation of the MSTS scoring system for the lower extremity has sufficient reliability and reasonable validity. Nevertheless, the observation of a ceiling effect suggests poor ability of this system to discriminate from among patients who have a high level of function.

An application of software design and documentation language. [Galileo spacecraft command and data subsystem

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Callender, E. D.; Clarkson, T. B.; Frasier, C. E.

1980-01-01

The software design and documentation language (SDDL) is a general purpose processor to support a lanugage for the description of any system, structure, concept, or procedure that may be presented from the viewpoint of a collection of hierarchical entities linked together by means of binary connections. The language comprises a set of rules of syntax, primitive construct classes (module, block, and module invocation), and language control directives. The result is a language with a fixed grammar, variable alphabet and punctuation, and an extendable vocabulary. The application of SDDL to the detailed software design of the Command Data Subsystem for the Galileo Spacecraft is discussed. A set of constructs was developed and applied. These constructs are evaluated and examples of their application are considered.

What if Reading is Easy but Unimportant? How Students’ Patterns of Affirming and Undermining Motivation for Reading Information Texts Predict Different Reading Outcomes

PubMed Central

Rosenzweig, Emily Q.; Wigfield, Allan

2016-01-01

Many affirming and undermining motivational constructs affect students as they read information texts, but few researchers have explored how these motivations are patterned within students. In this study we used cluster analysis to classify middle school students (n = 1,134) based on their patterns of self-efficacy, perceived difficulty, value, and devalue for reading school information texts. We then compared how the patterns predicted students’ language arts grades, science information text comprehension, and dedication to reading school information texts. We found and validated a four-cluster solution. One cluster included a pattern of high affirming and low undermining motivations, and another included low affirming and high undermining motivations. Students with these patterns earned the highest and lowest scores, respectively, on all outcomes. A third pattern showed high self-efficacy/low difficulty with low value/high devalue, and a fourth showed moderate levels of all four motivational constructs. Students with the high efficacy and devalue pattern showed high information text comprehension but relatively low dedication. Students with the moderate pattern showed high dedication but low initial information text comprehension. Students with these two patterns earned similar grades. We discuss the implications of our findings for motivation theories and for school instruction that involves information text reading. PMID:28496289

What if Reading is Easy but Unimportant? How Students' Patterns of Affirming and Undermining Motivation for Reading Information Texts Predict Different Reading Outcomes.

PubMed

Rosenzweig, Emily Q; Wigfield, Allan

2017-01-01

Many affirming and undermining motivational constructs affect students as they read information texts, but few researchers have explored how these motivations are patterned within students. In this study we used cluster analysis to classify middle school students (n = 1,134) based on their patterns of self-efficacy, perceived difficulty, value, and devalue for reading school information texts. We then compared how the patterns predicted students' language arts grades, science information text comprehension, and dedication to reading school information texts. We found and validated a four-cluster solution. One cluster included a pattern of high affirming and low undermining motivations, and another included low affirming and high undermining motivations. Students with these patterns earned the highest and lowest scores, respectively, on all outcomes. A third pattern showed high self-efficacy/low difficulty with low value/high devalue, and a fourth showed moderate levels of all four motivational constructs. Students with the high efficacy and devalue pattern showed high information text comprehension but relatively low dedication. Students with the moderate pattern showed high dedication but low initial information text comprehension. Students with these two patterns earned similar grades. We discuss the implications of our findings for motivation theories and for school instruction that involves information text reading.

Bayesian phylogenetic analysis supports an agricultural origin of Japonic languages

PubMed Central

Lee, Sean; Hasegawa, Toshikazu

2011-01-01

Languages, like genes, evolve by a process of descent with modification. This striking similarity between biological and linguistic evolution allows us to apply phylogenetic methods to explore how languages, as well as the people who speak them, are related to one another through evolutionary history. Language phylogenies constructed with lexical data have so far revealed population expansions of Austronesian, Indo-European and Bantu speakers. However, how robustly a phylogenetic approach can chart the history of language evolution and what language phylogenies reveal about human prehistory must be investigated more thoroughly on a global scale. Here we report a phylogeny of 59 Japonic languages and dialects. We used this phylogeny to estimate time depth of its root and compared it with the time suggested by an agricultural expansion scenario for Japanese origin. In agreement with the scenario, our results indicate that Japonic languages descended from a common ancestor approximately 2182 years ago. Together with archaeological and biological evidence, our results suggest that the first farmers of Japan had a profound impact on the origins of both people and languages. On a broader level, our results are consistent with a theory that agricultural expansion is the principal factor for shaping global linguistic diversity. PMID:21543358

Medical language proficiency: A discussion of interprofessional language competencies and potential for patient risk.

PubMed

Hull, Melodie

2016-02-01

In increasingly multilingual healthcare environments worldwide, ensuring accurate, effective communication is requisite. Language proficiency is essential, particularly medical language proficiency. Medical language is a universal construct in healthcare, the shared language of health and allied health professions. It is highly evolved, career-specific, technical and cultural-bound-a language for specific purposes. Its function differs significantly from that of a standard language. Proficiency requires at minimum, a common understanding of discipline-specific jargon, abstracts, euphemisms, abbreviations; acronyms. An optimal medical language situation demands a level of competency beyond the superficial wherein one can convey or interpret deeper meanings, distinguish themes, voice opinion, and follow directions precisely. It necessitates the use of clarity, and the ability to understand both lay and formal language-characteristics not essential to standard language. Proficiency influences professional discourse and can have the potential to positively or negatively affect patient outcomes. While risks have been identified when there is language discordance between care provider and patient, almost nothing has been said about this within care teams themselves. This article will do so in anticipation that care providers, regulators, employers, and researchers will acknowledge potential language-based communication barriers and work towards resolutions. This is predicated on the fact that the growing interest in language and communication in healthcare today appears to be rested in globalization and increasingly linguistically diverse patient populations. Consideration of the linguistically diverse healthcare workforce is absent. An argument will be posited that if potential risks to patient safety exist and there are potentials for disengagement from care by patients when health providers do not speak their languages then logically these language-based issues can also be true for a care team of mixed linguistic backgrounds. Members may disengage from each other or adverse events may occur as a result of misunderstanding or other language-based confounds. While the greater goal of the article is to address the issues of medical language across languages, English and medical English are used to illustrate points. Questions will be posed to stimulate thought and identify a need for research. Recommendations include collaboration between the health and language disciplines. Crown Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effects of Verb Semantics and Proficiency in Second Language Use of Constructional Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Hyunwoo; Rah, Yangon

2016-01-01

This study investigates the influence of the semantic heaviness of verbs (i.e., heavy or light verbs) and language proficiency on second language (L2) learners' use of constructional information in a sentence-sorting task and a corpus analysis. Previous studies employing a sentence-sorting task demonstrated that advanced L2 learners sorted English…

Foreign Language Anxiety as an Individual Difference Variable in Performance: From an Interactionist's Perspective.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Youngsang

This article addresses a research direction in which language professionals' research efforts can be invested to clarify the conceptual framework of the foreign language (FL) anxiety construct and develop an alternative measure to the construct. Current research on the effects of FL anxiety on learner performance has yielded inconsistent research…

Constructing Gender in an English Dominant Kindergarten: Implications for Second Language Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hruska, Barbara L.

2004-01-01

This article is part of a year-long ethnographic study conducted in an English dominant kindergarten in the United States. The classroom comprised 6 Spanish-bilingual English language learners and 17 native English speakers. The study was based on a theoretical framework that views language as the site for constructing social meaning and…

Redefining Professional Identity: The Voice of a Language Teacher in a Context of Collaborative Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pinho, Ana Sofia; Andrade, Ana Isabel

2015-01-01

Following a narrative and biographic approach, in this study, we present the case of an in-service language teacher and her professional learning trajectory in the context of the project "Languages and education: constructing and sharing training". This project aimed at the construction of a collaborative teacher education context for…

EFL Teachers' Identity (Re)Construction as Teachers of Intercultural Competence: A Language Socialization Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ortaçtepe, Deniz

2015-01-01

Adapting Norton's (2000) notion of investment as an analytical lens along with thematic analysis, this longitudinal/narrative inquiry explores how 2 EFL teachers' language socialization in the United States resulted in an identity (re)construction as teachers of intercultural competence. Baris and Serkan's language socialization in the United…

Oral Language and Listening Comprehension: Same or Different Constructs?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 2017

2017-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to add to our understanding of the dimensionality of oral language in children and to determine whether oral language and listening comprehension are separate constructs in children enrolled in preschool (PK) through 3rd grade. Method: In the spring of the school year, children from 4 states (N = 1,869)…

The functions of immediate echolalia in autistic children: a developmental perspective.

PubMed

McEvoy, R E; Loveland, K A; Landry, S H

1988-12-01

This study examined differences in the use of immediate echolalia by autistic children at different stages of language development. Eighteen autistic children, aged 4 to 12 years, were videotaped in play sessions with a parent and with an examiner. Data were collected on frequency of echolalia, percentage of language that was echolalic, functions of echolalia (Prizant & Duchan, 1981), chronological age, nonverbal mental age, and language level. Frequency of immediate echolalia varied with expressive language level but not with nonverbal mental age or chronological age. The percentage of language that was echolalic was high at early stages of language development but decreased as language skills improved. No significant relationships were found between number of functions and language level, chronological age, or nonverbal mental age. Although coding of functions was reliable, the validity of functional categories for echolalia was not strongly supported. Implications for autistic language development and for methodology in this area are discussed.

The Construct Validity of Language Aptitude: A Meta-Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Li, Shaofeng

2016-01-01

A meta-analysis was conducted to examine the construct validity of language aptitude by synthesizing the existing research that has been accumulated over the past five decades. The study aimed to provide a thorough understanding of the construct by aggregating the data reported in the primary research on its correlations with other individual…

The Development of the Causative Construction in Persian Child Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Family, Neiloufar; Allen, Shanley E. M.

2015-01-01

The acquisition of systematic patterns and exceptions in different languages can be readily examined using the causative construction. Persian allows four types of causative structures, including one productive multiword structure (i.e. the light verb construction). In this study, we examine the development of all four structures in Persian child…

The Construction of Cultural Values and Beliefs in Chinese Language Textbooks: A Critical Discourse Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Liu, Yongbing

2005-01-01

This article examines the discourses of cultural values and beliefs constructed in Chinese language textbooks currently used for primary school students nationwide in China. By applying story grammar analysis in the framework of critical discourse analysis, the article critically investigates how the discourses are constructed and what ideological…

Do semantic sentence constraint and L2 proficiency influence language selectivity of lexical access in native language listening?

PubMed

Lagrou, Evelyne; Hartsuiker, Robert J; Duyck, Wouter

2015-12-01

We investigated whether language nonselective lexical access in bilingual auditory word recognition when listening in the native language (L1) is modulated by (a) the semantic constraint of the sentence and (b) the second language (L2) proficiency level. We report 2 experiments in which Dutch-English bilinguals with different proficiency levels completed an L1 auditory lexical-decision task on the last word of low- and high-constraining sentences. The critical stimuli were interlingual homophones (e.g., lief [sweet] - leaf /li:f/). Participants recognized homophones significantly slower than matched control words. Importantly, neither the semantic constraint of the sentence, nor the proficiency level of the bilinguals interacted with this interlingual homophone effect. However, when we compared the slow and fast reaction times (RTs), we observed a reduction in the homophone interference effect when listening to high-constraining sentences in L1 for the slow RTs, but not for the fast RTs. Taken together, this provides strong evidence for a language-nonselective account of lexical access when listening in L1, and suggests that even when low-proficient bilinguals are listening to high-constraint sentences in L1, both languages of a bilingual are still activated. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Spatial congruence in language and species richness but not threat in the world's top linguistic hotspot.

PubMed

Turvey, Samuel T; Pettorelli, Nathalie

2014-12-07

Languages share key evolutionary properties with biological species, and global-level spatial congruence in richness and threat is documented between languages and several taxonomic groups. However, there is little understanding of the functional connection between diversification or extinction in languages and species, or the relationship between linguistic and species richness across different spatial scales. New Guinea is the world's most linguistically rich region and contains extremely high biological diversity. We demonstrate significant positive relationships between language and mammal richness in New Guinea across multiple spatial scales, revealing a likely functional relationship over scales at which infra-island diversification may occur. However, correlations are driven by spatial congruence between low levels of language and species richness. Regional biocultural richness may have showed closer congruence before New Guinea's linguistic landscape was altered by Holocene demographic events. In contrast to global studies, we demonstrate a significant negative correlation across New Guinea between areas with high levels of threatened languages and threatened mammals, indicating that landscape-scale threats differ between these groups. Spatial resource prioritization to conserve biodiversity may not benefit threatened languages, and conservation policy must adopt a multi-faceted approach to protect biocultural diversity as a whole.

jInv: A Modular and Scalable Framework for Electromagnetic Inverse Problems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Belliveau, P. T.; Haber, E.

2016-12-01

Inversion is a key tool in the interpretation of geophysical electromagnetic (EM) data. Three-dimensional (3D) EM inversion is very computationally expensive and practical software for inverting large 3D EM surveys must be able to take advantage of high performance computing (HPC) resources. It has traditionally been difficult to achieve those goals in a high level dynamic programming environment that allows rapid development and testing of new algorithms, which is important in a research setting. With those goals in mind, we have developed jInv, a framework for PDE constrained parameter estimation problems. jInv provides optimization and regularization routines, a framework for user defined forward problems, and interfaces to several direct and iterative solvers for sparse linear systems. The forward modeling framework provides finite volume discretizations of differential operators on rectangular tensor product meshes and tetrahedral unstructured meshes that can be used to easily construct forward modeling and sensitivity routines for forward problems described by partial differential equations. jInv is written in the emerging programming language Julia. Julia is a dynamic language targeted at the computational science community with a focus on high performance and native support for parallel programming. We have developed frequency and time-domain EM forward modeling and sensitivity routines for jInv. We will illustrate its capabilities and performance with two synthetic time-domain EM inversion examples. First, in airborne surveys, which use many sources, we achieve distributed memory parallelism by decoupling the forward and inverse meshes and performing forward modeling for each source on small, locally refined meshes. Secondly, we invert grounded source time-domain data from a gradient array style induced polarization survey using a novel time-stepping technique that allows us to compute data from different time-steps in parallel. These examples both show that it is possible to invert large scale 3D time-domain EM datasets within a modular, extensible framework written in a high-level, easy to use programming language.

An Investigation of Syntactic Priming among German Speakers at Varying Proficiency Levels

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ruf, Helena T.

2011-01-01

This dissertation investigates syntactic priming in second language (L2) development among three speaker populations: (1) less proficient L2 speakers; (2) advanced L2 speakers; and (3) LI speakers. Using confederate scripting this study examines how German speakers choose certain word orders in locative constructions (e.g., "Auf dem Tisch…

The Effects of Self-Determination on Learning Outcomes in a Blended Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Joo, Young Ju; Lim, Kyu Yon; Han, Sang Yoon; Ham, Yoo Kyoung; Kang, Aran

2013-01-01

The purpose of the paper is to examine whether the sub-constructs of self-determination, that is, learners' perceived level of autonomy, competence, and relatedness, predict learning flow, persistence, and achievement in a blended learning context. Participants are 102 adult learners who voluntarily registered for a Chinese language learning…

Shared Information Structure: Evidence from Cross-Linguistic Priming

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fleischer, Zuzanna; Pickering, Martin J.; McLean, Janet F.

2012-01-01

This study asked whether bilinguals construct a language-independent level of information structure for the sentences that they produce. It reports an experiment in which a Polish-English bilingual and a confederate of the experimenter took turns to describe pictures to each other and to find those pictures in an array. The confederate produced a…

Neural Correlates of Subliminal Language Processing

PubMed Central

Axelrod, Vadim; Bar, Moshe; Rees, Geraint; Yovel, Galit

2015-01-01

Language is a high-level cognitive function, so exploring the neural correlates of unconscious language processing is essential for understanding the limits of unconscious processing in general. The results of several functional magnetic resonance imaging studies have suggested that unconscious lexical and semantic processing is confined to the posterior temporal lobe, without involvement of the frontal lobe—the regions that are indispensable for conscious language processing. However, previous studies employed a similarly designed masked priming paradigm with briefly presented single and contextually unrelated words. It is thus possible, that the stimulation level was insufficiently strong to be detected in the high-level frontal regions. Here, in a high-resolution fMRI and multivariate pattern analysis study we explored the neural correlates of subliminal language processing using a novel paradigm, where written meaningful sentences were suppressed from awareness for extended duration using continuous flash suppression. We found that subjectively and objectively invisible meaningful sentences and unpronounceable nonwords could be discriminated not only in the left posterior superior temporal sulcus (STS), but critically, also in the left middle frontal gyrus. We conclude that frontal lobes play a role in unconscious language processing and that activation of the frontal lobes per se might not be sufficient for achieving conscious awareness. PMID:24557638

The Construction of New Political Identities through the Internationally Distributed English Learning Textbooks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Varzande, Mohsen

2015-01-01

Today, English education is very important but language learning has long been challenged since learning a second language is not only the mastery of its forms but also a process of identity construction and self-positioning in the second language. A review of recent studies shows that the cultural effects of learning English in the…

Role of Self-Identity and Self-Determination in English Learning among High School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhou, Wanying; Zhou, Mingming

2018-01-01

A considerable amount of research has investigated the separate roles of motivation and identity in language learning. This study aimed to examine these two important constructs jointly by exploring the relationship between motivation, identity processing styles, and English learning among high school students. The hypotheses were empirically…

Multistage Complexity in Language Proficiency Assessment: A Framework for Aligning Theoretical Perspectives, Test Development, and Psychometrics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Luecht, Richard M.

2003-01-01

This article contends that the necessary links between constructs and test scores/decisions in language assessment must be established through principled design procedures that align three models: (1) a theoretical construct model; (2) a test development model; and (3) a psychometric scoring model. The theoretical construct model articulates the…

Rapid Learning of an Abstract Language-Specific Category: Polish Children's Acquisition of the Instrumental Construction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dabrowska, Ewa; Tomasello, Michael

2008-01-01

Rapid acquisition of linguistic categories or constructions is sometimes regarded as evidence of innate knowledge. In this paper, we examine Polish children's early understanding of an idiosyncratic, language-specific construction involving the instrumental case--which could not be due to innate knowledge. Thirty Polish-speaking children aged 2; 6…

An examination of the language construct in NIMH's research domain criteria: Time for reconceptualization!

PubMed Central

Wolters, Maria K.; Whalley, Heather C.; Gountouna, Viktoria‐Eleni; Kuznetsova, Ksenia A.; Watson, Andrew R.

2016-01-01

The National Institute of Mental Health's Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) Initiative “calls for the development of new ways of classifying psychopathology based on dimensions of observable behavior.” As a result of this ambitious initiative, language has been identified as an independent construct in the RDoC matrix. In this article, we frame language within an evolutionary and neuropsychological context and discuss some of the limitations to the current measurements of language. Findings from genomics and the neuroimaging of performance during language tasks are discussed in relation to serious mental illness and within the context of caveats regarding measuring language. Indeed, the data collection and analysis methods employed to assay language have been both aided and constrained by the available technologies, methodologies, and conceptual definitions. Consequently, different fields of language research show inconsistent definitions of language that have become increasingly broad over time. Individually, they have also shown significant improvements in conceptual resolution, as well as in experimental and analytic techniques. More recently, language research has embraced collaborations across disciplines, notably neuroscience, cognitive science, and computational linguistics and has ultimately re‐defined classical ideas of language. As we move forward, the new models of language with their remarkably multifaceted constructs force a re‐examination of the NIMH RDoC conceptualization of language and thus the neuroscience and genetics underlying this concept. © 2016 The Authors. American Journal of Medical Genetics Part B: Neuropsychiatric Genetics Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. PMID:26968151

The relationship between information carrying words, memory and language skills in school age children with specific language impairment.

PubMed

Frizelle, Pauline; Harte, Jennifer; O'Sullivan, Kathleen; Fletcher, Paul; Gibbon, Fiona

2017-01-01

The receptive language measure information-carrying word (ICW) level, is used extensively by speech and language therapists in the UK and Ireland. Despite this it has never been validated via its relationship to any other relevant measures. This study aims to validate the ICW measure by investigating the relationship between the receptive ICW score of children with specific language impairment (SLI) and their performance on standardized memory and language assessments. Twenty-seven children with SLI, aged between 5;07 and 8;11, completed a sentence comprehension task in which the instructions gradually increased in number of ICWs. The children also completed subtests from The Working Memory Test Battery for children and The Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals- 4. Results showed that there was a significant positive relationship between both language and memory measures and children's ICW score. While both receptive and expressive language were significant in their contribution to children's ICW score, the contribution of memory was solely determined by children's working memory ability. ICW score is in fact a valid measure of the language ability of children with SLI. However therapists should also be cognisant of its strong association with working memory when using this construct in assessment or intervention methods.

The psycholinguistics of developing text construction.

PubMed

Berman, Ruth A

2008-11-01

This paper outlines functionally motivated quantifiable criteria for characterizing different facets of discourse--global-level principles, categories of referential content, clause-linking complex syntax, local linguistic expression and overall discourse stance--in relation to the variables of development, genre and modality. Concern is with later, school-age language development, in the conviction that the long developmental route of language acquisition can profitably be examined in the context of extended discourse. Findings are reviewed from a cross-linguistic project that elicited narrative and expository texts in both speech and writing at four age groups: (9-10 years, 12-13, 16-17 and adults). Clear developmental patterns emerge from middle childhood to adulthood, with significant shifts in adolescence; global-level text organization is mastered earlier in narratives than in expository essays, but the latter promote more advanced use of local-level lexicon and syntax; and spoken texts are more spread out than their denser written counterparts in clause-linkage, referential content and lexical usage. These and other findings are discussed in terms of the growth and reorganization of knowledge about types of discourse and text-embedded language use.

The cascade high productivity language

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Callahan, David; Chamberlain, Branford L.; Zima, Hans P.

2004-01-01

This paper describes the design of Chapel, the Cascade High Productivity Language, which is being developed in the DARPA-funded HPCS project Cascade led by Cray Inc. Chapel pushes the state-of-the-art in languages for HEC system programming by focusing on productivity, in particular by combining the goal of highest possible object code performance with that of programmability offered by a high-level user interface.

The African Language Program at Michigan State University.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dwyer, David

1979-01-01

Describes the African language program at Michigan State University, which provides (1) supervised, individualized instruction for high-demand languages, on two levels; (2) regular classroom instruction for Swahili and Hausa; and (3) non-credit, self-instructional programs for low-demand languages. Sample forms are appended. (AM)

Language Teacher Research in Asia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Farrell, Thomas S. C., Ed.

2006-01-01

The Language Teacher Research Series aims to connect research and practice by highlighting the insights that teachers themselves describe after examining their own practices. This first volume of the five-volume series presents research conducted by language teachers at all levels, from high school English teachers to English language teacher…

Facilitating hydrological data analysis workflows in R: the RHydro package

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buytaert, Wouter; Moulds, Simon; Skoien, Jon; Pebesma, Edzer; Reusser, Dominik

2015-04-01

The advent of new technologies such as web-services and big data analytics holds great promise for hydrological data analysis and simulation. Driven by the need for better water management tools, it allows for the construction of much more complex workflows, that integrate more and potentially more heterogeneous data sources with longer tool chains of algorithms and models. With the scientific challenge of designing the most adequate processing workflow comes the technical challenge of implementing the workflow with a minimal risk for errors. A wide variety of new workbench technologies and other data handling systems are being developed. At the same time, the functionality of available data processing languages such as R and Python is increasing at an accelerating pace. Because of the large diversity of scientific questions and simulation needs in hydrology, it is unlikely that one single optimal method for constructing hydrological data analysis workflows will emerge. Nevertheless, languages such as R and Python are quickly gaining popularity because they combine a wide array of functionality with high flexibility and versatility. The object-oriented nature of high-level data processing languages makes them particularly suited for the handling of complex and potentially large datasets. In this paper, we explore how handling and processing of hydrological data in R can be facilitated further by designing and implementing a set of relevant classes and methods in the experimental R package RHydro. We build upon existing efforts such as the sp and raster packages for spatial data and the spacetime package for spatiotemporal data to define classes for hydrological data (HydroST). In order to handle simulation data from hydrological models conveniently, a HM class is defined. Relevant methods are implemented to allow for an optimal integration of the HM class with existing model fitting and simulation functionality in R. Lastly, we discuss some of the design challenges of the RHydro package, including integration with big data technologies, web technologies, and emerging data models in hydrology.

Predicate Structures, Gesture, and Simultaneity in the Representation of Action in British Sign Language: Evidence From Deaf Children and Adults

PubMed Central

Cormier, Kearsy

2013-01-01

British Sign Language (BSL) signers use a variety of structures, such as constructed action (CA), depicting constructions (DCs), or lexical verbs, to represent action and other verbal meanings. This study examines the use of these verbal predicate structures and their gestural counterparts, both separately and simultaneously, in narratives by deaf children with various levels of exposure to BSL (ages 5;1 to 7;5) and deaf adult native BSL signers. Results reveal that all groups used the same types of predicative structures, including children with minimal BSL exposure. However, adults used CA, DCs, and/or lexical signs simultaneously more frequently than children. These results suggest that simultaneous use of CA with lexical and depicting predicates is more complex than the use of these predicate structures alone and thus may take deaf children more time to master. PMID:23670881

Diderot: a Domain-Specific Language for Portable Parallel Scientific Visualization and Image Analysis.

PubMed

Kindlmann, Gordon; Chiw, Charisee; Seltzer, Nicholas; Samuels, Lamont; Reppy, John

2016-01-01

Many algorithms for scientific visualization and image analysis are rooted in the world of continuous scalar, vector, and tensor fields, but are programmed in low-level languages and libraries that obscure their mathematical foundations. Diderot is a parallel domain-specific language that is designed to bridge this semantic gap by providing the programmer with a high-level, mathematical programming notation that allows direct expression of mathematical concepts in code. Furthermore, Diderot provides parallel performance that takes advantage of modern multicore processors and GPUs. The high-level notation allows a concise and natural expression of the algorithms and the parallelism allows efficient execution on real-world datasets.

From Informal Safety-Critical Requirements to Property-Driven Formal Validation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cimatti, Alessandro; Roveri, Marco; Susi, Angelo; Tonetta, Stefano

2008-01-01

Most of the efforts in formal methods have historically been devoted to comparing a design against a set of requirements. The validation of the requirements themselves, however, has often been disregarded, and it can be considered a largely open problem, which poses several challenges. The first challenge is given by the fact that requirements are often written in natural language, and may thus contain a high degree of ambiguity. Despite the progresses in Natural Language Processing techniques, the task of understanding a set of requirements cannot be automatized, and must be carried out by domain experts, who are typically not familiar with formal languages. Furthermore, in order to retain a direct connection with the informal requirements, the formalization cannot follow standard model-based approaches. The second challenge lies in the formal validation of requirements. On one hand, it is not even clear which are the correctness criteria or the high-level properties that the requirements must fulfill. On the other hand, the expressivity of the language used in the formalization may go beyond the theoretical and/or practical capacity of state-of-the-art formal verification. In order to solve these issues, we propose a new methodology that comprises of a chain of steps, each supported by a specific tool. The main steps are the following. First, the informal requirements are split into basic fragments, which are classified into categories, and dependency and generalization relationships among them are identified. Second, the fragments are modeled using a visual language such as UML. The UML diagrams are both syntactically restricted (in order to guarantee a formal semantics), and enriched with a highly controlled natural language (to allow for modeling static and temporal constraints). Third, an automatic formal analysis phase iterates over the modeled requirements, by combining several, complementary techniques: checking consistency; verifying whether the requirements entail some desirable properties; verify whether the requirements are consistent with selected scenarios; diagnosing inconsistencies by identifying inconsistent cores; identifying vacuous requirements; constructing multiple explanations by enabling the fault-tree analysis related to particular fault models; verifying whether the specification is realizable.

Total Immersion Language Program: A New Approach to Foreign Language Instruction. Technical Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morel, Stefano

A three-year experimental program established in 1966 in Spanish language instruction at the secondary level is reported in this study. Students at Commack High School North, New York, participated in a total immersion language program in Spanish, taking two to four classes of instruction in the target language per day. Classes included regular…

What Causes Reliance on English? Challenges and Instructional Suggestions in a Drive for Using a Target Language Only

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bae, Gyseon; Kim, Eunju

2008-01-01

Given the raised graduation requirement of the proficiency Enhancement Program (PEP) to attain proficiency levels of "2+," "2+," and "2," the importance of target language use has been highly emphasized across language schools at Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center (DLIFLC). This article discusses some of the challenges associated…

Equality marker in the language of bali

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wajdi, Majid; Subiyanto, Paulus

2018-01-01

The language of Bali could be grouped into one of the most elaborate languages of the world since the existence of its speech levels, low and high speech levels, as the language of Java has. Low and high speech levels of the language of Bali are language codes that could be used to show and express social relationship between or among its speakers. This paper focuses on describing, analyzing, and interpreting the use of the low code of the language of Bali in daily communication in the speech community of Pegayaman, Bali. Observational and documentation methods were applied to provide the data for the research. Recoding and field note techniques were executed to provide the data. Recorded in spoken language and the study of novel of Balinese were transcribed into written form to ease the process of analysis. Symmetric use of low code expresses social equality between or among the participants involves in the communication. It also implies social intimacy between or among the speakers of the language of Bali. Regular and patterned use of the low code of the language of Bali is not merely communication strategy, but it is a kind of communication agreement or communication contract between the participants. By using low code during their social and communication activities, the participants shared and express their social equality and intimacy between or among the participants involve in social and communication activities.

Environmental concept for engineering software on MIMD computers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lopez, L. A.; Valimohamed, K.

1989-01-01

The issues related to developing an environment in which engineering systems can be implemented on MIMD machines are discussed. The problem is presented in terms of implementing the finite element method under such an environment. However, neither the concepts nor the prototype implementation environment are limited to this application. The topics discussed include: the ability to schedule and synchronize tasks efficiently; granularity of tasks; load balancing; and the use of a high level language to specify parallel constructs, manage data, and achieve portability. The objective of developing a virtual machine concept which incorporates solutions to the above issues leads to a design that can be mapped onto loosely coupled, tightly coupled, and hybrid systems.

Knowledge modeling of coal mining equipments based on ontology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Baolong; Wang, Xiangqian; Li, Huizong; Jiang, Miaomiao

2017-06-01

The problems of information redundancy and sharing are universe in coal mining equipment management. In order to improve the using efficiency of knowledge of coal mining equipments, this paper proposed a new method of knowledge modeling based on ontology. On the basis of analyzing the structures and internal relations of coal mining equipment knowledge, taking OWL as ontology construct language, the ontology model of coal mining equipment knowledge is built with the help of Protégé 4.3 software tools. The knowledge description method will lay the foundation for the high effective knowledge management and sharing, which is very significant for improving the production management level of coal mining enterprises.

Length of Textual Response as a Construct-Irrelevant Response Strategy: The Case of Shell Language. Research Report. ETS RR-13-07

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bejar, Isaac I.; VanWinkle, Waverely; Madnani, Nitin; Lewis, William; Steier, Michael

2013-01-01

The paper applies a natural language computational tool to study a potential construct-irrelevant response strategy, namely the use of "shell language." Although the study is motivated by the impending increase in the volume of scoring of students responses from assessments to be developed in response to the Race to the Top initiative,…

Input Skewedness, Consistency, and Order of Frequent Verbs in Frequency-Driven Second Language Construction Learning: A Replication and Extension of Casenhiser and Goldberg (2005) to Adult Second Language Acquisition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nakamura, Daisuke

2012-01-01

Recent usage-based models of language acquisition research has found that three frequency manipulations; (1) skewed input (Casenhiser & Goldberg 2005), (2) input consistency (Childers & Tomasello 2001), and (3) order of frequent verbs (Goldberg, Casenhiser, & White 2007) facilitated construction learning in children. The present paper addresses…

The Social Construction of Age: Adult Foreign Language Learners. Second Language Acquisition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Andrew, Patricia

2012-01-01

This book explores the social construction of age in the context of EFL in Mexico. It is the first book to address the age factor in SLA from a social perspective. Based on research carried out at a public university in Mexico, it investigates how adults of different ages experience learning a new language and how they enact their age identities…

A COMPREHENSIVE PROGRAM IN ENGLISH FOR THE 7TH, 8TH AND 9TH GRADE --LITERATURE, LANGUAGE, COMPOSITION, FOR HONORS STUDENTS AND AVERAGE STUDENTS. PART 2, CONSTRUCTING ACHIEVEMENT TESTS DURING A SUMMER WORKSHOP FOR PARTIAL EVALUATION OF A PROJECT ENGLISH DEMON. CTR.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

HILLOCKS, GEORGE, JR.; KEARNEY, PATRICIA A.

THIS FINAL REPORT OF THE EUCLID ENGLISH DEMONSTRATION CENTER DESCRIBES THE CREATION OF A JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL ENGLISH PROGRAM IN LITERATURE, LANGUAGE, AND COMPOSITION. PART 1 OF THE REPORT DISCUSSES (1) THE PRODUCTION AND DEMONSTRATION OF 31 THEMATICALLY-DEVELOPED TEACHING UNITS, (2) A SERIES OF SHORT, CONCEPT-CENTERED CONFERENCES TO EDUCATE…

Verbal and nonverbal behavior of ability-grouped dyads

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jones, M. Gail; Carter, Glenda

In this study we describe the social interactions of ability-grouped dyads as they constructed knowledge of balance concepts to elucidate the relationship between interactions and conceptual growth. The verbal and nonverbal behaviors of 30 fifth-grade students were recorded as they completed three activities related to balance. These student interactions were examined within a framework of social cognition. For each dyad, characteristics of ability-grouped dyads were identified. Results revealed that high-achieving students effectively used prior experiences, maintained focus on the learning task, and were able to manipulate the equipment effectively to construct knowledge. Low-achieving students exhibited off-task behavior, lacked a metacognitive framework for organizing the learning tasks, centered on irrelevant features of the equipment, and were unable to use language effectively to mediate learning. Within low-high student dyads, high-achieving students typically modeled thinking processes and strategies for manipulating equipment. In addition, they focused the low-achieving students on the components of the tasks while verbally monitoring their progress, thus enabling low students to identify the critical features necessary for concept construction. These results highlighted the differences that students have in the use of language and tools. Low students' inefficient use of tools has implications for the ways science teachers structure lessons and group students for laboratory work.Received: 8 March 1993; Revised: 6 January 1994;

BEYSIK: Language description and handbook for programmers (system for the collective use of the Institute of Space Research, Academy of Sciences USSR)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Orlov, I. G.

1979-01-01

The BASIC algorithmic language is described, and a guide is presented for the programmer using the language interpreter. The high-level algorithm BASIC is a problem-oriented programming language intended for solution of computational and engineering problems.

Language Teacher Research in the Americas

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McGarrell, Hedy M., Ed.

2007-01-01

This volume in the Language Teacher Research Series (Thomas S. C. Farrell, series editor) presents research conducted by language teachers at all levels, from high school English teachers to English language teacher educators, reflecting on their practices. The countries represented in this book are Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador,…

GOAL - A test engineer oriented language. [Ground Operations Aerospace Language for coding automatic test

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mitchell, T. R.

1974-01-01

The development of a test engineer oriented language has been under way at the Kennedy Space Center for several years. The result of this effort is the Ground Operations Aerospace Language, GOAL, a self-documenting, high-order language suitable for coding automatic test, checkout and launch procedures. GOAL is a highly readable, writable, retainable language that is easily learned by nonprogramming oriented engineers. It is sufficiently powerful for use at all levels of Space Shuttle ground processing, from line replaceable unit checkout to integrated launch day operations. This paper will relate the language development, and describe GOAL and its applications.

Functional language and data flow architectures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ercegovac, M. D.; Patel, D. R.; Lang, T.

1983-01-01

This is a tutorial article about language and architecture approaches for highly concurrent computer systems based on the functional style of programming. The discussion concentrates on the basic aspects of functional languages, and sequencing models such as data-flow, demand-driven and reduction which are essential at the machine organization level. Several examples of highly concurrent machines are described.

Teaching Listening in Russian. Instructional Materials for the Less Commonly Taught Languages.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, Yonkers, NY.

The video-based exercises, designed at the Novice High to Intermediate High skill levels on the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages language proficiency scale, are aimed at developing non-interactive listening comprehension. The tapes used contain authentic broadcast Russian. Nothing is adapted. The trick to using real Russian is…

Neural systems supporting linguistic structure, linguistic experience, and symbolic communication in sign language and gesture.

PubMed

Newman, Aaron J; Supalla, Ted; Fernandez, Nina; Newport, Elissa L; Bavelier, Daphne

2015-09-15

Sign languages used by deaf communities around the world possess the same structural and organizational properties as spoken languages: In particular, they are richly expressive and also tightly grammatically constrained. They therefore offer the opportunity to investigate the extent to which the neural organization for language is modality independent, as well as to identify ways in which modality influences this organization. The fact that sign languages share the visual-manual modality with a nonlinguistic symbolic communicative system-gesture-further allows us to investigate where the boundaries lie between language and symbolic communication more generally. In the present study, we had three goals: to investigate the neural processing of linguistic structure in American Sign Language (using verbs of motion classifier constructions, which may lie at the boundary between language and gesture); to determine whether we could dissociate the brain systems involved in deriving meaning from symbolic communication (including both language and gesture) from those specifically engaged by linguistically structured content (sign language); and to assess whether sign language experience influences the neural systems used for understanding nonlinguistic gesture. The results demonstrated that even sign language constructions that appear on the surface to be similar to gesture are processed within the left-lateralized frontal-temporal network used for spoken languages-supporting claims that these constructions are linguistically structured. Moreover, although nonsigners engage regions involved in human action perception to process communicative, symbolic gestures, signers instead engage parts of the language-processing network-demonstrating an influence of experience on the perception of nonlinguistic stimuli.

Architecture Adaptive Computing Environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dorband, John E.

2006-01-01

Architecture Adaptive Computing Environment (aCe) is a software system that includes a language, compiler, and run-time library for parallel computing. aCe was developed to enable programmers to write programs, more easily than was previously possible, for a variety of parallel computing architectures. Heretofore, it has been perceived to be difficult to write parallel programs for parallel computers and more difficult to port the programs to different parallel computing architectures. In contrast, aCe is supportable on all high-performance computing architectures. Currently, it is supported on LINUX clusters. aCe uses parallel programming constructs that facilitate writing of parallel programs. Such constructs were used in single-instruction/multiple-data (SIMD) programming languages of the 1980s, including Parallel Pascal, Parallel Forth, C*, *LISP, and MasPar MPL. In aCe, these constructs are extended and implemented for both SIMD and multiple- instruction/multiple-data (MIMD) architectures. Two new constructs incorporated in aCe are those of (1) scalar and virtual variables and (2) pre-computed paths. The scalar-and-virtual-variables construct increases flexibility in optimizing memory utilization in various architectures. The pre-computed-paths construct enables the compiler to pre-compute part of a communication operation once, rather than computing it every time the communication operation is performed.

Cross-Language Measurement Equivalence of Parenting Measures for use with Mexican American Populations

PubMed Central

Nair, Rajni L.; White, Rebecca M.B.; Knight, George P.; Roosa, Mark W.

2009-01-01

Increasing diversity among families in the United States often necessitates the translation of common measures into various languages. However, even when great care is taken during translations, empirical evaluations of measurement equivalence are necessary. The current study demonstrates the analytic techniques researchers should use to evaluate the measurement equivalence of translated measures. To this end we investigated the cross-language measurement equivalence of several common parenting measures in a sample of 749 Mexican American families. The item invariance results indicated similarity of factor structures across language groups for each of the parenting measures for both mothers and children. Construct validity tests indicated similar slope relations between each of the four parenting measures and the outcomes across the two language groups for both mothers and children. Equivalence in intercepts, however, was only achieved for some outcomes. These findings indicate that the use of these measures in both within group and between group analyses based on correlation/covariance structure is defensible, but researchers are cautioned against interpretations of mean level differences across these language groups. PMID:19803604

A Constructionist Approach to Student Modelling: Tracing a Student's Constructions through an Agent-Based Tutoring Architecture

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beuls, Katrien

2013-01-01

Construction Grammar (CxG) is a well-established linguistic theory that takes the notion of a construction as the basic unit of language. Yet, because the potential of this theory for language teaching or SLA has largely remained ignored, this paper demonstrates the benefits of adopting the CxG approach for modelling a student's linguistic…

Reflexive Clitics in the Slavic and Romance Languages. A Comparative View from an Antipassive Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Medova, Lucie

2009-01-01

In this work, I offer a unified analysis of all the constructions that involve a reflexive clitic SE in Slavic and Romance languages. Next to canonical constructions, in which the reflexive clitic semantically identifies the two arguments of a transitive verb, cf. "John" SE "wash" means "John washes himself," there are constructions in which it is…

Beyond pragmatics: morphosyntactic development in autism.

PubMed

Eigsti, Inge-Marie; Bennetto, Loisa; Dadlani, Mamta B

2007-07-01

Language acquisition research in autism has traditionally focused on high-level pragmatic deficits. Few studies have examined grammatical abilities in autism, with mixed findings. The present study addresses this gap in the literature by providing a detailed investigation of syntactic and higher-level discourse abilities in verbal children with autism, age 5 years. Findings indicate clear language difficulties that go beyond what would be expected based on developmental level; specifically, syntactic delays, impairments in discourse management and increased production of non-meaningful words (jargon). The present study indicates a highly specific pattern of language impairments, and importantly, syntactic delays, in a group of children with autism carefully matched on lexical level and non-verbal mental age with children with developmental delays and typical development.

Conceptual Complexity and Apparent Contradictions in Mathematics Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gough, John

2007-01-01

Mathematics is like a language, although technically it is not a natural or informal human language, but a formal, that is, artificially constructed language. Importantly, educators use their natural everyday language to teach the formal language of mathematics. At times, however, instructors encounter problems when the technical words they use,…

START: a system for flexible analysis of hundreds of genomic signal tracks in few lines of SQL-like queries.

PubMed

Zhu, Xinjie; Zhang, Qiang; Ho, Eric Dun; Yu, Ken Hung-On; Liu, Chris; Huang, Tim H; Cheng, Alfred Sze-Lok; Kao, Ben; Lo, Eric; Yip, Kevin Y

2017-09-22

A genomic signal track is a set of genomic intervals associated with values of various types, such as measurements from high-throughput experiments. Analysis of signal tracks requires complex computational methods, which often make the analysts focus too much on the detailed computational steps rather than on their biological questions. Here we propose Signal Track Query Language (STQL) for simple analysis of signal tracks. It is a Structured Query Language (SQL)-like declarative language, which means one only specifies what computations need to be done but not how these computations are to be carried out. STQL provides a rich set of constructs for manipulating genomic intervals and their values. To run STQL queries, we have developed the Signal Track Analytical Research Tool (START, http://yiplab.cse.cuhk.edu.hk/start/ ), a system that includes a Web-based user interface and a back-end execution system. The user interface helps users select data from our database of around 10,000 commonly-used public signal tracks, manage their own tracks, and construct, store and share STQL queries. The back-end system automatically translates STQL queries into optimized low-level programs and runs them on a computer cluster in parallel. We use STQL to perform 14 representative analytical tasks. By repeating these analyses using bedtools, Galaxy and custom Python scripts, we show that the STQL solution is usually the simplest, and the parallel execution achieves significant speed-up with large data files. Finally, we describe how a biologist with minimal formal training in computer programming self-learned STQL to analyze DNA methylation data we produced from 60 pairs of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) samples. Overall, STQL and START provide a generic way for analyzing a large number of genomic signal tracks in parallel easily.

The Functional Communication Skills of Boys with Externalising Behaviour with and without Co-Occurring Language Difficulties

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mackie, Leila; Law, James

2014-01-01

Previous studies have highlighted a high level of language impairment (LI) and pragmatic language disorder (PLD) amongst children with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD). However, little is known regarding the impact of LI in the severity of PLD in this group. This study investigates the language and pragmatic language skills of…

Testing a Model of Teaching for Anxiety and Success for English Language Teaching

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Önem, Evrim; Ergenç, Iclal

2013-01-01

Much research has shown that there is a negative relationship between high levels of anxiety and success for English language teaching. This paper aimed to test a model of teaching for anxiety and success in English language teaching to affect anxiety and success levels at the same time in a control-experiment group with pre- and post-test study…

Foreign Language Anxiety in Saudi Classroom: A Case Study of Saudi Tertiary Female Students in Prince Sattam University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Balla, Asjad Ahmed Saeed

2017-01-01

This paper investigates the level of anxiety due to learning English as a foreign language. It tries to answer these questions: (1) Is anxiety a factor in hindering English proficiency? (2) Does anxiety lead to fear of communication? (3) Which type of anxiety is high among tertiary level female Saudi students? The Foreign Language Anxiety…

Measuring Second Language Proficiency with EEG Synchronization: How Functional Cortical Networks and Hemispheric Involvement Differ as a Function of Proficiency Level in Second Language Speakers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reiterer, Susanne; Pereda, Ernesto; Bhattacharya, Joydeep

2009-01-01

This article examines the question of whether university-based high-level foreign language and linguistic training can influence brain activation and whether different L2 proficiency groups have different brain activation in terms of lateralization and hemispheric involvement. The traditional and prevailing theory of hemispheric involvement in…

The Biology of Linguistic Expression Impacts Neural Correlates for Spatial Language

PubMed Central

Emmorey, Karen; McCullough, Stephen; Mehta, Sonya; Ponto, Laura L. B.; Grabowski, Thomas J.

2013-01-01

Biological differences between signed and spoken languages may be most evident in the expression of spatial information. PET was used to investigate the neural substrates supporting the production of spatial language in American Sign Language as expressed by classifier constructions, in which handshape indicates object type and the location/motion of the hand iconically depicts the location/motion of a referent object. Deaf native signers performed a picture description task in which they overtly named objects or produced classifier constructions that varied in location, motion, or object type. In contrast to the expression of location and motion, the production of both lexical signs and object type classifier morphemes engaged left inferior frontal cortex and left inferior temporal cortex, supporting the hypothesis that unlike the location and motion components of a classifier construction, classifier handshapes are categorical morphemes that are retrieved via left hemisphere language regions. In addition, lexical signs engaged the anterior temporal lobes to a greater extent than classifier constructions, which we suggest reflects increased semantic processing required to name individual objects compared with simply indicating the type of object. Both location and motion classifier constructions engaged bilateral superior parietal cortex, with some evidence that the expression of static locations differentially engaged the left intraparietal sulcus. We argue that bilateral parietal activation reflects the biological underpinnings of sign language. To express spatial information, signers must transform visual–spatial representations into a body-centered reference frame and reach toward target locations within signing space. PMID:23249348

Argumentation Text Construction by Japanese as a Foreign Language Writers: A Dynamic View of Transfer

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rinnert, Carol; Kobauashi, Hiroe; Katayama, Akemi

2015-01-01

This study takes a dynamic view of transfer as reusing and reshaping previous knowledge in new writing contexts to investigate how novice Japanese as a foreign language (JFL) writers draw on knowledge across languages to construct L1 and L2 texts. We analyzed L1 English and L2 Japanese argumentation essays by the same JFL writers (N = 19) and L1…

10 CFR Appendix D to Part 2 - Schedule for the Proceeding on Consideration of Construction Authorization for a High-Level Waste...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... Construction Authorization for a High-Level Waste Geologic Repository. D Appendix D to Part 2 Energy NUCLEAR... the Proceeding on Consideration of Construction Authorization for a High-Level Waste Geologic... Completion of NMSS and Commission supervisory review; issuance of construction authorization; NWPA 3-year...

10 CFR Appendix D to Part 2 - Schedule for the Proceeding on Consideration of Construction Authorization for a High-Level Waste...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... Construction Authorization for a High-Level Waste Geologic Repository. D Appendix D to Part 2 Energy NUCLEAR... the Proceeding on Consideration of Construction Authorization for a High-Level Waste Geologic... Completion of NMSS and Commission supervisory review; issuance of construction authorization; NWPA 3-year...

Neural Correlates of Subliminal Language Processing.

PubMed

Axelrod, Vadim; Bar, Moshe; Rees, Geraint; Yovel, Galit

2015-08-01

Language is a high-level cognitive function, so exploring the neural correlates of unconscious language processing is essential for understanding the limits of unconscious processing in general. The results of several functional magnetic resonance imaging studies have suggested that unconscious lexical and semantic processing is confined to the posterior temporal lobe, without involvement of the frontal lobe-the regions that are indispensable for conscious language processing. However, previous studies employed a similarly designed masked priming paradigm with briefly presented single and contextually unrelated words. It is thus possible, that the stimulation level was insufficiently strong to be detected in the high-level frontal regions. Here, in a high-resolution fMRI and multivariate pattern analysis study we explored the neural correlates of subliminal language processing using a novel paradigm, where written meaningful sentences were suppressed from awareness for extended duration using continuous flash suppression. We found that subjectively and objectively invisible meaningful sentences and unpronounceable nonwords could be discriminated not only in the left posterior superior temporal sulcus (STS), but critically, also in the left middle frontal gyrus. We conclude that frontal lobes play a role in unconscious language processing and that activation of the frontal lobes per se might not be sufficient for achieving conscious awareness. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press.

Professional expertise amongst speech-language therapists: "willing to share".

PubMed

Jackson, Bianca N; Purdy, Suzanne Carolyn; Cooper-Thomas, Helena

2017-09-18

Purpose The current healthcare environment provides several challenges to the existing roles of healthcare professionals. The value of the professional expert is also under scrutiny. The purpose of this paper is to generate a construction of professional expertise amongst practitioners in the current healthcare environment. It used the speech-language therapy community in New Zealand (NZ) as an example. Design/methodology/approach Speech-language therapists currently practicing in NZ completed an online survey including qualitative and quantitative components. The range of experience and work settings of participants ( n=119) was representative of the workforce. Findings Participants clearly identified being "highly experienced" and "having in-depth knowledge" as essential elements of professional expertise. Thematic analysis generated two interconnected themes of a professional expert being a personal leader and teacher, and a highly experienced, knowledgeable and skilful practitioner. Additionally, practitioners needed to be seen to contribute to the community in order to be known as experts. Clinical practice was valued differently from research generation. Originality/value This study is novel in exploring a construction of professional expertise amongst practitioners in a current healthcare community. Within that community, experts could be viewed as highly effective practitioners that visibly contribute to the professional community. The study draws attention to the role of reputation and the impacts of being a clinical teacher or leader compared with pursuing a research role. This could be particularly relevant in the promotion of evidence-based practice.

Language architecture and its import for evolution.

PubMed

Chomsky, Noam

2017-10-01

Inquiry into the evolution of some biological system evidently can proceed only as far as its nature is understood. Lacking such understanding, its manifestations are likely to appear to be chaotic, highly variable, and lacking significant general properties; and, accordingly, study of its evolution cannot be seriously undertaken. These truisms hold of the study of the human faculty of language FL just as for other biological systems. As discussed below, FL appears to be a shared human capacity in essentials, with options of variation of a kind to which we return. After a long lapse, the problem of evolution of language arose in mid-twentieth century when the first efforts were made to construct accounts of FL as a biological object, internal to an individual, with particular internal languages - I-languages in current terminology - as manifestations of FL. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Using early standardized language measures to predict later language and early reading outcomes in children at high risk for language-learning impairments.

PubMed

Flax, Judy F; Realpe-Bonilla, Teresa; Roesler, Cynthia; Choudhury, Naseem; Benasich, April

2009-01-01

The aim of the study was to examine the profiles of children with a family history (FH+) of language-learning impairments (LLI) and a control group of children with no reported family history of LLI (FH-) and identify which language constructs (receptive or expressive) and which ages (2 or 3 years) are related to expressive and receptive language abilities, phonological awareness, and reading abilities at ages 5 and 7 years. Participants included 99 children (40 FH+ and 59 FH-) who received a standardized neuropsychological battery at 2, 3, 5, and 7 years of age. As a group, the FH+ children had significantly lower scores on all language measures at 2 and 3 years, on selected language and phonological awareness measures at 5 years, and on phonological awareness and nonword reading at 7 years. Language comprehension at 3 years was the best predictor of later language and early reading for both groups. These results support past work suggesting that children with a positive family history of LLI are at greater risk for future language and reading problems through their preschool and early school-age years. Furthermore, language comprehension in the early years is a strong predictor of future language-learning status.

Test Review: Canadian Academic English Language (CAEL) Assessment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Malone, Margaret E.

2010-01-01

This article presents a review of the Canadian Academic English Language (CAEL) Assessment, a high stakes standardized test of the English language. It is a topic-based test that integrates listening, reading, writing and speaking. The test is designed to describe the level of English language proficiency of test takers planning to study at…

Computer Languages: A Practical Guide to the Chief Programming Languages.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sanderson, Peter C.

All the most commonly-used high-level computer languages are discussed in this book. An introductory discussion provides an overview of the basic components of a digital computer, the general planning of a computer programing problem, and the various types of computer languages. Each chapter is self-contained, emphasizes those features of a…

Becoming a Manual Occupation? The Construction of a Therapy Manual for Use with Language Impaired Children in Mainstream Primary Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McCartney, Elspeth; Boyle, James; Bannatyne, Susan; Jessiman, Emma; Campbell, Cathy; Kelsey, Cherry; Smith, Jennifer; O'Hare, Anne

2003-01-01

The construction of therapy protocols for a large-scale randomized controlled trial comparing speech and language therapists and assistants, and group and individual therapy approaches for children aged 6-11 in mainstream schools is outlined. The aim was to outline the decision-making processes that led to the construction of the research therapy…

Bilingualism: A Pearl to Overcome Certain Perils of Cochlear Implants

PubMed Central

Humphries, Tom; Kushalnagar, Poorna; Mathur, Gaurav; Napoli, Donna Jo; Padden, Carol; Rathmann, Christian; Smith, Scott

2014-01-01

Cochlear implants (CI) have demonstrated success in improving young deaf children’s speech and low-level speech awareness across a range of auditory functions, but this success is highly variable, and how this success correlates to high-level language development is even more variable. Prevalence on the success rate of CI as an outcome for language development is difficult to obtain because studies vary widely in methodology and variables of interest, and because not all cochlear implant technology (which continues to evolve) is the same. Still, even if the notion of treatment failure is limited narrowly to those who gain no auditory benefit from CI in that they cannot discriminate among ambient noises, the reported treatment failure rate is high enough to call into question the current lack of consideration of alternative approaches to ensure young deaf children’s language development. Recent research has highlighted the risks of delaying language input during critical periods of brain development with concomitant consequences for cognitive and social skills. As a result, we propose that before, during, and after implantation deaf children learn a sign language along with a spoken language to ensure their maximal language development and optimal long-term developmental outcomes. PMID:25419095

A Different Kind of Language: Prolog, Programming in Logic.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cabrol, D.

1986-01-01

Prolog is one of the most successful "very high level languages." Describes this programming language (a product of artificial intelligence research) and attempts to show how it functions by using some short examples to illustrate its essential features. (JN)

Active Learning: The Way Children Construct Knowledge.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hohmann, Mary; Weikart, David P.

2002-01-01

The High/Scope approach to early childhood education promotes the belief that active learning is fundamental to the development of human potential and occurs most effectively in settings that provide developmentally appropriate learning opportunities. Describes five ingredients of active learning (materials, manipulation, choice, language from…

The Systems Biology Markup Language (SBML): Language Specification for Level 3 Version 2 Core.

PubMed

Hucka, Michael; Bergmann, Frank T; Dräger, Andreas; Hoops, Stefan; Keating, Sarah M; Le Novère, Nicolas; Myers, Chris J; Olivier, Brett G; Sahle, Sven; Schaff, James C; Smith, Lucian P; Waltemath, Dagmar; Wilkinson, Darren J

2018-03-09

Computational models can help researchers to interpret data, understand biological functions, and make quantitative predictions. The Systems Biology Markup Language (SBML) is a file format for representing computational models in a declarative form that different software systems can exchange. SBML is oriented towards describing biological processes of the sort common in research on a number of topics, including metabolic pathways, cell signaling pathways, and many others. By supporting SBML as an input/output format, different tools can all operate on an identical representation of a model, removing opportunities for translation errors and assuring a common starting point for analyses and simulations. This document provides the specification for Version 2 of SBML Level 3 Core. The specification defines the data structures prescribed by SBML, their encoding in XML (the eXtensible Markup Language), validation rules that determine the validity of an SBML document, and examples of models in SBML form. The design of Version 2 differs from Version 1 principally in allowing new MathML constructs, making more child elements optional, and adding identifiers to all SBML elements instead of only selected elements. Other materials and software are available from the SBML project website at http://sbml.org/.

The cross-linguistic transfer of early literacy skills: the role of initial L1 and L2 skills and language of instruction.

PubMed

Cárdenas-Hagan, Elsa; Carlson, Coleen D; Pollard-Durodola, Sharolyn D

2007-07-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of initial first and second language proficiencies as well as the language of instruction that a student receives on the relationship between native language ability of students who are English language learners (ELLs) and their development of early literacy skills and the second language. This study investigated the development of early language and literacy skills among Spanish-speaking students in 2 large urban school districts, 1 middle-size urban district, and 1 border district. A total of 1,016 ELLs in kindergarten participated in the study. Students were administered a comprehensive battery of tests in English and Spanish, and classroom observations provided information regarding the Spanish or English language use of the teacher. Findings from this study suggest that Spanish-speaking students with high Spanish letter name and sound knowledge tend to show high levels of English letter name and sound knowledge. ELLs with low Spanish and English letter name and sound knowledge tend to show high levels of English letter name and sound knowledge when they are instructed in English. Letter name and sound identification skills are fairly highly positively correlated across languages in the beginning of the kindergarten year. In addition, phonological awareness skills appear to be the area with the most significant and direct transfer of knowledge, and language skills do not appear to be a factor in the development of phonological awareness. Finally, the relationship between oral language skills across languages was low, suggesting little relationship between oral language skills across languages at the beginning of the kindergarten year. Results from this study suggest that pedagogical decisions for ELLs should not only consider effective instructional literacy strategies but also acknowledge that the language of instruction for Spanish-speaking ELLs may produce varying results for different students.

Development and Validation of a Taiwanese Communication Progression in Science Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hsin, Ming-Chin; Chien, Sung-pei; Hsu, Yin-Shao; Lin, Chen-Yung; Yore, Larry D.

2016-01-01

Common core standards, interdisciplinary education, and discipline-specific literacy are common international education reforms. The constructive-interpretative language arts pairs (speaking-listening, writing-reading, representing-viewing) and the communication, construction, and persuasion functions of language are central in these movements.…

Tools reference manual for a Requirements Specification Language (RSL), version 2.0

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fisher, Gene L.; Cohen, Gerald C.

1993-01-01

This report describes a general-purpose Requirements Specification Language, RSL. The purpose of RSL is to specify precisely the external structure of a mechanized system and to define requirements that the system must meet. A system can be comprised of a mixture of hardware, software, and human processing elements. RSL is a hybrid of features found in several popular requirements specification languages, such as SADT (Structured Analysis and Design Technique), PSL (Problem Statement Language), and RMF (Requirements Modeling Framework). While languages such as these have useful features for structuring a specification, they generally lack formality. To overcome the deficiencies of informal requirements languages, RSL has constructs for formal mathematical specification. These constructs are similar to those found in formal specification languages such as EHDM (Enhanced Hierarchical Development Methodology), Larch, and OBJ3.

Language Learning as Linguistic Entrepreneurship: Implications for Language Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

De Costa, Peter; Park, Joseph; Wee, Lionel

2016-01-01

The growing emphasis on accountability, competitiveness, efficiency, and profit demonstrates how language education has been impacted by neoliberalism. To bring out the implications of neoliberalism on language education, we explore how language learning is increasingly constructed as a form of linguistic entrepreneurship, or "an act of…

Validity and reliability of the Brazilian version of the Work Ability Index questionnaire.

PubMed

Martinez, Maria Carmen; Latorre, Maria do Rosário Dias de Oliveira; Fischer, Frida Marina

2009-06-01

To evaluate the validity and reliability of the Portuguese language version of a work ability index. Cross sectional survey of a sample of 475 workers from an electrical company in the state of Sao Paulo, Southeastern Brazil (spread across ten municipalities in the Campinas area), carried out in 2005. The following aspects of the Brazilian version of the Work Ability Index were evaluated: construct validity, using factorial exploratory analysis, and discriminant capacity, by comparing mean Work Ability Index scores in two groups with different absenteeism levels; criterion validity, by determining the correlation between self-reported health and Work Ability Index score; and reliability, using Cronbach's alpha to determine the internal consistency of the questionnaire. Factorial analysis indicated three factors in the work ability construct: issues pertaining to 'mental resources' (20.6% of the variance), self-perceived work ability (18.9% of the variance), and presence of diseases and health-related limitations (18.4% of the variance). The index was capable of discriminating workers according to levels of absenteeism, identifying a significantly lower (p<0.0001) mean score among subjects with high absenteeism (37.2 points) when compared to those with low absenteeism (42.3 points). Criterion validity analysis showed a correlation between the index and all dimensions of health status analyzed (p<0.0001). Reliability of the index was high, with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.72. The Brazilian version of the Work Ability Index showed satisfactory psychometric properties with respect to construct validity, thus constituting an appropriate option for evaluating work ability in both individual and population-based settings.

Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Readiness: Ethno-linguistic and gender differences in high-school course selection patterns

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adamuti-Trache, Maria; Sweet, Robert

2014-03-01

The study examines science-related course choices of high-school students in the culturally diverse schools of the province of British Columbia, Canada. The analysis employs K-12 provincial data and includes over 44,000 students born in 1990 who graduated from high school by 2009. The research sample reflects the presence of about 27% of students for whom English is not a first language. We construct an empirical model that examines ethno-linguistic and gender differences in Grade 12 course choices while accounting for personal and situational differences among students. The study employs a course selection typology that emphasizes readiness for science, technology, engineering and math fields of study. Findings indicate that math- and science-related course selection patterns are strongly associated with ethnicity, qualified not only by gender and prior math and science achievement but also by the individual's grade level at entry to the system and enrollment in English as a Second Language program. Students who are more likely to engage in math and science courses belong to Asian ethno-linguistic groups and entered the provincial school system during the senior high-school years. We suggest that ethnic diversity and broader academic exposure may play a crucial role in changing the gender composition of science classrooms, university fields of study and science-related occupations.

Textbook presentations of weight: Conceptual difficulties and language ambiguities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Taibu, Rex; Rudge, David; Schuster, David

2015-06-01

The term "weight" has multiple related meanings in both scientific and everyday usage. Even among experts and in textbooks, weight is ambiguously defined as either the gravitational force on an object or operationally as the magnitude of the force an object exerts on a measuring scale. This poses both conceptual and language difficulties for learners, especially for accelerating objects where the scale reading is different from the gravitational force. But while the underlying physical constructs behind the two referents for the term weight (and their relation to each other) are well understood scientifically, it is unclear how the concept of weight should be introduced to students and how the language ambiguities should be dealt with. We investigated treatments of weight in a sample of twenty introductory college physics textbooks, analyzing and coding their content based on the definition adopted, how the distinct constructs were dealt with in various situations, terminologies used, and whether and how language issues were handled. Results indicate that language-related issues, such as different, inconsistent, or ambiguous uses of the terms weight, "apparent weight," and "weightlessness," were prevalent both across and within textbooks. The physics of the related constructs was not always clearly presented, particularly for accelerating bodies such as astronauts in spaceships, and the language issue was rarely addressed. Our analysis of both literature and textbooks leads us to an instructional position which focuses on the physics constructs before introducing the term weight, and which explicitly discusses the associated language issues.

How does language change as a lexical network? An investigation based on written Chinese word co-occurrence networks

PubMed Central

Chen, Heng; Chen, Xinying

2018-01-01

Language is a complex adaptive system, but how does it change? For investigating this process, four diachronic Chinese word co-occurrence networks have been built based on texts that were written during the last 2,000 years. By comparing the network indicators that are associated with the hierarchical features in language networks, we learn that the hierarchy of Chinese lexical networks has indeed evolved over time at three different levels. The connections of words at the micro level are continually weakening; the number of words in the meso-level communities has increased significantly; and the network is expanding at the macro level. This means that more and more words tend to be connected to medium-central words and form different communities. Meanwhile, fewer high-central words link these communities into a highly efficient small-world network. Understanding this process may be crucial for understanding the increasing structural complexity of the language system. PMID:29489837

How does language change as a lexical network? An investigation based on written Chinese word co-occurrence networks.

PubMed

Chen, Heng; Chen, Xinying; Liu, Haitao

2018-01-01

Language is a complex adaptive system, but how does it change? For investigating this process, four diachronic Chinese word co-occurrence networks have been built based on texts that were written during the last 2,000 years. By comparing the network indicators that are associated with the hierarchical features in language networks, we learn that the hierarchy of Chinese lexical networks has indeed evolved over time at three different levels. The connections of words at the micro level are continually weakening; the number of words in the meso-level communities has increased significantly; and the network is expanding at the macro level. This means that more and more words tend to be connected to medium-central words and form different communities. Meanwhile, fewer high-central words link these communities into a highly efficient small-world network. Understanding this process may be crucial for understanding the increasing structural complexity of the language system.

Language Learners' Acculturation Attitudes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rafieyan, Vahid; Orang, Maryam; Bijami, Maryam; Nejad, Maryam Sharafi; Eng, Lin Siew

2014-01-01

Learning a language involves knowledge of both linguistic competence and cultural competence. Optimal development of linguistic competence and cultural competence, however, requires a high level of acculturation attitude toward the target language culture. To this end, the present study explored the acculturation attitudes of 70 Iranian…

Validation of an instrument for assessing teacher knowledge of basic language constructs of literacy.

PubMed

Binks-Cantrell, Emily; Joshi, R Malatesha; Washburn, Erin K

2012-10-01

Recent national reports have stressed the importance of teacher knowledge in teaching reading. However, in the past, teachers' knowledge of language and literacy constructs has typically been assessed with instruments that are not fully tested for validity. In the present study, an instrument was developed; and its reliability, item difficulty, and item discrimination were computed and examined to identify model fit by applying exploratory factor analysis. Such analyses showed that the instrument demonstrated adequate estimates of reliability in assessing teachers' knowledge of language constructs. The implications for professional development of in-service teachers as well as preservice teacher education are also discussed.

The ANMLite Language and Logic for Specifying Planning Problems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Butler, Ricky W.; Siminiceanu, Radu I.; Munoz, Cesar A.

2007-01-01

We present the basic concepts of the ANMLite planning language. We discuss various aspects of specifying a plan in terms of constraints and checking the existence of a solution with the help of a model checker. The constructs of the ANMLite language have been kept as simple as possible in order to reduce complexity and simplify the verification problem. We illustrate the language with a specification of the space shuttle crew activity model that was constructed under the Spacecraft Autonomy for Vehicles and Habitats (SAVH) project. The main purpose of this study was to explore the implications of choosing a robust logic behind the specification of constraints, rather than simply proposing a new planning language.

[Psychometric properties and diagnostic value of 'lexical screening for aphasias'].

PubMed

Pena-Chavez, R; Martinez-Jimenez, L; Lopez-Espinoza, M

2014-09-16

INTRODUCTION. Language assessment in persons with brain injury makes it possible to know whether they require language rehabilitation or not. Given the importance of a precise evaluation, assessment instruments must be valid and reliable, so as to avoid mistaken and subjective diagnoses. AIM. To validate 'lexical screening for aphasias' in a sample of 58 Chilean individuals. SUBJECTS AND METHODS. A screening-type language test, lasting 20 minutes and based on the lexical processing model devised by Patterson and Shewell (1987), was constructed. The sample was made up of two groups containing 29 aphasic subjects and 29 control subjects from different health centres in the regions of Biobio and Maule, Chile. Their ages ranged between 24 and 79 years and had between 0 and 17 years' schooling. Tests were carried out to determine discriminating validity, concurrent validity with the aphasia disorder assessment battery, reliability, sensitivity and specificity. RESULTS. The statistical analysis showed a high discriminating validity (p < 0.001), an acceptable mean concurrent validity with aphasia disorder assessment battery (rs = 0.65), high mean reliability (alpha = 0.87), moderate mean sensitivity (69%) and high mean specificity (86%). CONCLUSION. 'Lexical screening for aphasias' is valid and reliable for assessing language in persons with aphasias; it is sensitive for detecting aphasic subjects and is specific for precluding language disorders in persons with normal language abilities.

Adult psychosocial outcomes of children with specific language impairment, pragmatic language impairment and autism

PubMed Central

Whitehouse, Andrew J O; Watt, Helen J; Line, E A; Bishop, Dorothy V M

2009-01-01

Background: The few studies that have tracked children with developmental language disorder to adulthood have found that these individuals experience considerable difficulties with psychosocial adjustment (for example, academic, vocational and social aptitude). Evidence that some children also develop autistic symptomatology over time has raised suggestions that developmental language disorder may be a high-functioning form of an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). It is not yet clear whether these outcomes vary between individuals with different subtypes of language impairment. Aims: To compare the adult psychosocial outcomes of children with specific language impairment (SLI), pragmatic language impairment (PLI) and ASD. Methods & Procedures: All participants took part in research as children. In total, there were 19 young adults with a childhood history of Specific Language Impairment (M age = 24;8), seven with PLI (M age = 22;3), 11 with high functioning ASD (M age = 21;9) and 12 adults with no history of developmental disorder (Typical; n = 12; M age = 21;6). At follow-up, participants and their parents were interviewed to elicit information about psychosocial outcomes. Outcomes & Results: Participants in the SLI group were most likely to pursue vocational training and work in jobs not requiring a high level of language/literacy ability. The PLI group tended to obtain higher levels of education and work in ‘skilled’ professions. The ASD participants had lower levels of independence and more difficulty obtaining employment than the PLI and SLI participants. All groups had problems establishing social relationships, but these difficulties were most prominent in the PLI and ASD groups. A small number of participants in each group were found to experience affective disturbances. The PLI and SLI groups showed lower levels of autistic symptomatology than the ASD group. Conclusions & Implications: The between-group differences in autistic symptomatology provide further evidence that SLI, PLI, and ASD are related disorders that vary along qualitative dimensions of language structure, language use and circumscribed interests. Childhood diagnosis showed some relation to adult psychosocial outcome. However, within-group variation highlights the importance of evaluating children on a case-by-case basis. PMID:19340628

Closing the Gap Between Specification and Programming: VDM++ and SCALA

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Havelund, Klaus

2011-01-01

We argue that a modern programming language such as Scala offers a level of succinctness, which makes it suitable for program and systems specification as well as for high-level programming. We illustrate this by comparing the language with the Vdm++ specification language. The comparison also identifies areas where Scala perhaps could be improved, inspired by Vdm++. We furthermore illustrate Scala's potential as a specification language by augmenting it with a combination of parameterized state machines and temporal logic, defined as a library, thereby forming an expressive but simple runtime verification framework.

Merging the Internet and Hypermedia in the English Language Arts.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reed, W. Michael; Wells, John G.

1997-01-01

Discussion of hypermedia and computer-mediated communication focuses on a project that merges a language arts Internet resource with a hypermedia-based knowledge construction approach to learning. Highlights include constructing a HyperCard-based program on Shakespeare's "Hamlet," gophers and search engines, downloading, collaborative…

Compiler writing system detail design specification. Volume 1: Language specification

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Arthur, W. J.

1974-01-01

Construction within the Meta language for both language and target machine specification is reported. The elements of the function language as a meaning and syntax are presented, and the structure of the target language is described which represents the target dependent object text representation of applications programs.

Assessment Measures for Specific Contexts of Language Use.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chalhoub-Deville, Micheline; Tarone, Elaine

A discussion of second language testing focuses on the need for collaboration among researchers in second language learning, teaching, and testing concerning development of context-appropriate language tests. It is argued that the nature of the proficiency construct in language is not constant, but that different linguistic, functional, and…

Comprehensible Input PLUS the Language Experience Approach: A Longterm Perspective.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moustafa, Margaret

1987-01-01

Assesses the results of using Comprehensible Input PLUS Language Experience Approach (CI plus LEA) to teach reading and language arts to non-native speakers in grades 4-6 in the early stages of language acquisition. Concludes that students demonstrated a high retention level as well as an ability to transfer what they had learned by reading…

Preface to MOST-ONISW 2009

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Doerr, Martin; Freitas, Fred; Guizzardi, Giancarlo; Han, Hyoil

Ontology is a cross-disciplinary field concerned with the study of concepts and theories that can be used for representing shared conceptualizations of specific domains. Ontological Engineering is a discipline in computer and information science concerned with the development of techniques, methods, languages and tools for the systematic construction of concrete artifacts capturing these representations, i.e., models (e.g., domain ontologies) and metamodels (e.g., upper-level ontologies). In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the application of formal ontology and ontological engineering to solve modeling problems in diverse areas in computer science such as software and data engineering, knowledge representation, natural language processing, information science, among many others.

Constructing Scientific Literacy in Inquiry-Based Communities of Science Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lewis, Kristen Adair

2010-01-01

English Language Learners and socioeconomically disadvantaged students were studied from an ethnographic perspective in this research study. These high school students were engaged in the study of local fresh water ecology with their teacher, the researcher. Transcribed audiotapes of students' discourse, their illustrated guides to…

English Bar as a Venue to Boost Students' Speaking Self-Efficacy at the Tertiary Level

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Liu, Mingxu

2013-01-01

Research in EFL and ESL has confirmed that self-efficacy affects language learners' choices of learning tasks, persistence, motivation and achievement. As a cognitive construct, self-efficacy can be strengthened by both outcomes of behaviors and input from the environment. This paper studies the effects of an English Bar, a self-access center for…

Judgments Concerning the Valence of Inter-Turn Silence across Speakers of American English, Italian, and Japanese

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roberts, Felicia; Margutti, Piera; Takano, Shoji

2011-01-01

The fact that people with minimal linguistic skill can manage in unfamiliar or reduced linguistic environments suggests that there are universal mechanisms of meaning construction that operate at a level well beyond the particular structure or semantics of any one language. The authors examine this possibility in the domain of discourse by…

A Review of Enterprise Architecture Use in Defence

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-09-01

dictionary of terms; • architecture description language; • architectural information (pertaining both to specific projects and higher level...UNCLASSIFIED 59 Z39.19 2005 Monolingual Controlled Vocabularies, National Information Standards Organisation, Bethesda: NISO Press, 2005. BABOK 2009...togaf/ Z39.19 2005 ANSI/NISO Z39.19 – Guidelines for the Construction, Format, and Management of Monolingual Controlled Vocabularies, Bethesda: NISO

Concurrent and Construct Validity of Oral Language Measures with School-Age Children with Specific Language Impairment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hoffman, LaVae M.; Loeb, Diane Frome; Brandel, Jayne; Gillam, Ronald B.

2011-01-01

Purpose: This study investigated the psychometric properties of 2 oral language measures that are commonly used for diagnostic purposes with school-age children who have language impairments. Method: Two hundred sixteen children with specific language impairment were assessed with the Test of Language Development--Primary, Third Edition (TOLD-P:3;…

Assessing the Impact of Short-Term Study Abroad on L2 Learners' Attitudes towards Spanish

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Artamonova, Tatiana

2017-01-01

Language attitudes, a multifaceted construct, can be broadly defined as evaluative views of a language and other relevant entities, including its speakers and associated cultures. Language attitudes are influential in second language (L2) acquisition as they relate to language learning motivation and achievement, perseverance in language study,…

XML: A Language To Manage the World Wide Web. ERIC Digest.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davis-Tanous, Jennifer R.

This digest provides an overview of XML (Extensible Markup Language), a markup language used to construct World Wide Web pages. Topics addressed include: (1) definition of a markup language, including comparison of XML with SGML (Standard Generalized Markup Language) and HTML (HyperText Markup Language); (2) how XML works, including sample tags,…

Teaching the Anxiety of Learning a Foreign Language That Influences High School Students in Learning French as a Second Foreign Language "The Case of Denizli"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kusçu, Ertan

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study is to determine the reasons of anxiety levels of high school students who learn French as a second foreign language. The sample of the study consisted of four hundred fifty-six students from two high schools in Denizli province in 2015-2016 academic year. In this study, the effects of variables such as learners' gender,…

Does Lateral Transmission Obscure Inheritance in Hunter-Gatherer Languages?

PubMed Central

Bowern, Claire; Epps, Patience; Gray, Russell; Hill, Jane; Hunley, Keith; McConvell, Patrick; Zentz, Jason

2011-01-01

In recent years, linguists have begun to increasingly rely on quantitative phylogenetic approaches to examine language evolution. Some linguists have questioned the suitability of phylogenetic approaches on the grounds that linguistic evolution is largely reticulate due to extensive lateral transmission, or borrowing, among languages. The problem may be particularly pronounced in hunter-gatherer languages, where the conventional wisdom among many linguists is that lexical borrowing rates are so high that tree building approaches cannot provide meaningful insights into evolutionary processes. However, this claim has never been systematically evaluated, in large part because suitable data were unavailable. In addition, little is known about the subsistence, demographic, ecological, and social factors that might mediate variation in rates of borrowing among languages. Here, we evaluate these claims with a large sample of hunter-gatherer languages from three regions around the world. In this study, a list of 204 basic vocabulary items was collected for 122 hunter-gatherer and small-scale cultivator languages from three ecologically diverse case study areas: northern Australia, northwest Amazonia, and California and the Great Basin. Words were rigorously coded for etymological (inheritance) status, and loan rates were calculated. Loan rate variability was examined with respect to language area, subsistence mode, and population size, density, and mobility; these results were then compared to the sample of 41 primarily agriculturalist languages in [1]. Though loan levels varied both within and among regions, they were generally low in all regions (mean 5.06%, median 2.49%, and SD 7.56), despite substantial demographic, ecological, and social variation. Amazonian levels were uniformly very low, with no language exhibiting more than 4%. Rates were low but more variable in the other two study regions, in part because of several outlier languages where rates of borrowing were especially high. High mobility, prestige asymmetries, and language shift may contribute to the high rates in these outliers. No support was found for claims that hunter-gatherer languages borrow more than agriculturalist languages. These results debunk the myth of high borrowing in hunter-gatherer languages and suggest that the evolution of these languages is governed by the same type of rules as those operating in large-scale agriculturalist speech communities. The results also show that local factors are likely to be more critical than general processes in determining high (or low) loan rates. PMID:21980394

Computational Workbench for Multibody Dynamics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Edmonds, Karina

2007-01-01

PyCraft is a computer program that provides an interactive, workbenchlike computing environment for developing and testing algorithms for multibody dynamics. Examples of multibody dynamic systems amenable to analysis with the help of PyCraft include land vehicles, spacecraft, robots, and molecular models. PyCraft is based on the Spatial-Operator- Algebra (SOA) formulation for multibody dynamics. The SOA operators enable construction of simple and compact representations of complex multibody dynamical equations. Within the Py-Craft computational workbench, users can, essentially, use the high-level SOA operator notation to represent the variety of dynamical quantities and algorithms and to perform computations interactively. PyCraft provides a Python-language interface to underlying C++ code. Working with SOA concepts, a user can create and manipulate Python-level operator classes in order to implement and evaluate new dynamical quantities and algorithms. During use of PyCraft, virtually all SOA-based algorithms are available for computational experiments.

A Counterexample Guided Abstraction Refinement Framework for Verifying Concurrent C Programs

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-05-24

source code are routinely executed. The source code is written in languages ranging from C/C++/Java to ML/ Ocaml . These languages differ not only in...from the difficulty to model computer programs—due to the complexity of programming languages as compared to hardware description languages —to...intermediate specification language lying between high-level Statechart- like formalisms and transition systems. Actions are encoded as changes in

Biocharts: a visual formalism for complex biological systems

PubMed Central

Kugler, Hillel; Larjo, Antti; Harel, David

2010-01-01

We address one of the central issues in devising languages, methods and tools for the modelling and analysis of complex biological systems, that of linking high-level (e.g. intercellular) information with lower-level (e.g. intracellular) information. Adequate ways of dealing with this issue are crucial for understanding biological networks and pathways, which typically contain huge amounts of data that continue to grow as our knowledge and understanding of a system increases. Trying to comprehend such data using the standard methods currently in use is often virtually impossible. We propose a two-tier compound visual language, which we call Biocharts, that is geared towards building fully executable models of biological systems. One of the main goals of our approach is to enable biologists to actively participate in the computational modelling effort, in a natural way. The high-level part of our language is a version of statecharts, which have been shown to be extremely successful in software and systems engineering. The statecharts can be combined with any appropriately well-defined language (preferably a diagrammatic one) for specifying the low-level dynamics of the pathways and networks. We illustrate the language and our general modelling approach using the well-studied process of bacterial chemotaxis. PMID:20022895

Proceedings of the Strategic Computing Natural Language Workshop Held in Marina del Rey, California on 1-2 May 1986.

DTIC Science & Technology

1986-05-01

more specific top level goals supporting this single broad objective are to produce technology that will: 1. enable the operation of military systems...the boundary between semantics and pragmatics. These are problems that arise in single sentences, even though one may have to look beyond the single ...instances of metonymy seem to require only type knowledge. (4) At the most abstract level, interpretation requires the constructive proof of a single

Critical English Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morrell, Ernest

2005-01-01

Language is foundational to all learning. Whether it is the medium for the communication of our thoughts or whether it comes from the texts we consume and produce, there is little doubt that we are constructed and we construct ourselves through language. For these reasons and more, the most important participants in our most important institutions…

Language, Power and Identity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wodak, Ruth

2012-01-01

How are identities constructed in discourse? How are national and European identities tied to language and communication? And what role does power have--power in discourse, over discourse and of discourse? This paper seeks to identify and analyse processes of identity construction within Europe and at its boundaries, particularly the diversity of…

A Process Approach to Literacy Using Dialogue Journals and Literature Logs with Second Language Learners.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reyes, Maria de la Luz

1991-01-01

Examines the ability of 10 sixth grade Hispanic bilingual students to construct meaning in dialogue journals and literature logs in their first and second languages. Finds that students are more effective in constructing meaning in dialogue journals than in literature logs. (MG)

What Causes Adverbial Infinitives to Spread? Evidence from Romance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schulte, K.

2007-01-01

It is cross-linguistically common for languages to undergo a diachronic increase in the range of adverbial notions that can be expressed by means of infinitival constructions, and the Romance languages are a good example of this process. Examining the development of adverbial "prepositional infinitive" constructions in Spanish, Portuguese and…

Definition of an auxiliary processor dedicated to real-time operating system kernels

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Halang, Wolfgang A.

1988-01-01

In order to increase the efficiency of process control data processing, it is necessary to enhance the productivity of real time high level languages and to automate the task administration, because presently 60 percent or more of the applications are still programmed in assembly languages. This may be achieved by migrating apt functions for the support of process control oriented languages into the hardware, i.e., by new architectures. Whereas numerous high level languages have already been defined or realized, there are no investigations yet on hardware assisted implementation of real time features. The requirements to be fulfilled by languages and operating systems in hard real time environment are summarized. A comparison of the most prominent languages, viz. Ada, HAL/S, LTR, Pearl, as well as the real time extensions of FORTRAN and PL/1, reveals how existing languages meet these demands and which features still need to be incorporated to enable the development of reliable software with predictable program behavior, thus making it possible to carry out a technical safety approval. Accordingly, Pearl proved to be the closest match to the mentioned requirements.

Impact of maternal education on cognitive and language scores at 18 to 24 months among extremely preterm neonates.

PubMed

Ko, Gary; Shah, Prakesh; Lee, Shoo K; Asztalos, Elizabeth

2013-10-01

To explore the association between maternal education levels and cognitive and language composite scores of the Bayley Scales of Infant Development, Third Edition at 18 to 24 months' corrected age in extremely preterm infants born at < 29 weeks of gestation. For infants born between 2005 and 2008, maternal education levels and the cognitive and language composite scores were collected. Analysis of covariance was used to determine the relationship between maternal education levels and composite scores after adjusting for neonatal and perinatal factors. For the study period, 457/524 (88%) infants were included in the analysis. With less than a high school education as reference, infants born to mothers with a high school education (adjusted mean difference [MD] = 5.4; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.9 to 10.0), with partial college or specialty training (MD 8.1; 95% CI 2.8 to 13.5), with a university degree or more (MD 12.6; 95% CI 8.2 to 17.0) had significantly higher cognitive scores. Similarly, infants born to mothers with a university degree or more had significantly higher language scores (MD 10.8; 95% CI 6.1 to 15.5). For infants born at <29 weeks' gestation, both cognitive and language scores were higher as maternal education increased from less than high school level to university or higher level. Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

A mission executor for an autonomous underwater vehicle

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lee, Yuh-Jeng; Wilkinson, Paul

1991-01-01

The Naval Postgraduate School has been conducting research into the design and testing of an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV). One facet of this research is to incrementally design a software architecture and implement it in an advanced testbed, the AUV II. As part of the high level architecture, a Mission Executor is being constructed using CLIPS (C Language Integrated Production System) version 5.0. The Mission Executor is an expert system designed to oversee progress from the AUV launch point to a goal area and back to the origin. It is expected that the executor will make informed decisions about the mission, taking into account the navigational path, the vehicle subsystem health, and the sea environment, as well as the specific mission profile which is downloaded from an offboard mission planner. Heuristics for maneuvering, avoidance of uncharted obstacles, waypoint navigation, and reaction to emergencies (essentially the expert knowledge of a submarine captain) are required. Many of the vehicle subsystems are modeled as objects using the CLIPS Object Oriented Language (COOL) embedded in CLIPS 5.0. Also, truth maintenance is applied to the knowledge base to keep configurations updated.

Programming biological models in Python using PySB.

PubMed

Lopez, Carlos F; Muhlich, Jeremy L; Bachman, John A; Sorger, Peter K

2013-01-01

Mathematical equations are fundamental to modeling biological networks, but as networks get large and revisions frequent, it becomes difficult to manage equations directly or to combine previously developed models. Multiple simultaneous efforts to create graphical standards, rule-based languages, and integrated software workbenches aim to simplify biological modeling but none fully meets the need for transparent, extensible, and reusable models. In this paper we describe PySB, an approach in which models are not only created using programs, they are programs. PySB draws on programmatic modeling concepts from little b and ProMot, the rule-based languages BioNetGen and Kappa and the growing library of Python numerical tools. Central to PySB is a library of macros encoding familiar biochemical actions such as binding, catalysis, and polymerization, making it possible to use a high-level, action-oriented vocabulary to construct detailed models. As Python programs, PySB models leverage tools and practices from the open-source software community, substantially advancing our ability to distribute and manage the work of testing biochemical hypotheses. We illustrate these ideas using new and previously published models of apoptosis.

Programming biological models in Python using PySB

PubMed Central

Lopez, Carlos F; Muhlich, Jeremy L; Bachman, John A; Sorger, Peter K

2013-01-01

Mathematical equations are fundamental to modeling biological networks, but as networks get large and revisions frequent, it becomes difficult to manage equations directly or to combine previously developed models. Multiple simultaneous efforts to create graphical standards, rule-based languages, and integrated software workbenches aim to simplify biological modeling but none fully meets the need for transparent, extensible, and reusable models. In this paper we describe PySB, an approach in which models are not only created using programs, they are programs. PySB draws on programmatic modeling concepts from little b and ProMot, the rule-based languages BioNetGen and Kappa and the growing library of Python numerical tools. Central to PySB is a library of macros encoding familiar biochemical actions such as binding, catalysis, and polymerization, making it possible to use a high-level, action-oriented vocabulary to construct detailed models. As Python programs, PySB models leverage tools and practices from the open-source software community, substantially advancing our ability to distribute and manage the work of testing biochemical hypotheses. We illustrate these ideas using new and previously published models of apoptosis. PMID:23423320

Rule-based simulation models

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nieten, Joseph L.; Seraphine, Kathleen M.

1991-01-01

Procedural modeling systems, rule based modeling systems, and a method for converting a procedural model to a rule based model are described. Simulation models are used to represent real time engineering systems. A real time system can be represented by a set of equations or functions connected so that they perform in the same manner as the actual system. Most modeling system languages are based on FORTRAN or some other procedural language. Therefore, they must be enhanced with a reaction capability. Rule based systems are reactive by definition. Once the engineering system has been decomposed into a set of calculations using only basic algebraic unary operations, a knowledge network of calculations and functions can be constructed. The knowledge network required by a rule based system can be generated by a knowledge acquisition tool or a source level compiler. The compiler would take an existing model source file, a syntax template, and a symbol table and generate the knowledge network. Thus, existing procedural models can be translated and executed by a rule based system. Neural models can be provide the high capacity data manipulation required by the most complex real time models.

Constructing a Voice in English as a Foreign Language: Identity and Engagement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nasrollahi Shahri, Mohammad Naseh

2018-01-01

Situated in an English as a foreign language (EFL) context, this study navigates the intersection of language learner identity and foreign language engagement. Specifically, drawing on the concept of voice (Canagarajah, 2013; Johnstone, 1996; Kramsch, 2003), Bakhtin's (1981) theory of language, and the notion of investment (Darvin & Norton,…

Tracking the Demographics of (Urban) Language Shift--An Analysis of South African Census Data

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Deumert, Ana

2010-01-01

This paper provides an analysis of language shift from African languages to English (and Afrikaans) in South Africa, using home language data from the South African population census (1996 and 2001). Although census data have been criticised for its "essentialist" construction of language, they nevertheless provide sociolinguists with a…

Language Planning as an Element of Religious Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Liddicoat, Anthony J.

2012-01-01

Language is central to the practice of religion and decisions about language use characterise the ways in which religious practice is constructed. In the religious domain, language is often viewed as having more than a communicative function and languages themselves may have the status of holy artefacts. This attribution of holiness plays a…

Learner Agency and the Use of Affordances in Language-Exchange Interactions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ahn, Tae youn

2016-01-01

Language exchange refers to a learning partnership between two learners with different native languages who collaborate to help each other improve their proficiency in the other's language. The purpose of this study is to examine the ways in which language-exchange participants activate learner agency to construct opportunities for learning in…

EFL Students' Attitudes toward Learning English Language: The Case Study of Kashan University Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eshghinejad, Shahrzad

2016-01-01

Attitude is considered as an essential factor influencing language performance and received considerable attention from both first and second language researchers. Al-Mamun, Rahman, Rahman, and Hossaim argue that attitude is the feeling people have about their own language. Thus, attitude to language is a construct that explains linguistic…

Language Learning Strategies and Language Self-Efficacy: Investigating the Relationship in Malaysia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wong, Mary Siew-Lian

2005-01-01

This study explored graduate pre-service teachers' language learning strategies and language self-efficacy and the relationship between these two constructs. Seventy-four graduate English-as-a-second-language (ESL) pre-service teachers (13 males, 61 females) from a teachers' college in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia, participated in this study. These…

Foreign Language Learners' Beliefs about CALL: The Case of a U.S. Midwestern University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sydorenko, Tetyana; Hsieh, Ching-Ni; Ahn, Seongmee; Arnold, Nike

2017-01-01

A significant body of research has examined language learners' attitudes toward particular technologies used in foreign language classrooms. However, literature is scarce on foreign language learners' beliefs toward computer-assisted language learning (CALL) in general. To narrow this gap, we investigated the constructs that compose a system of…

Relational Information Management Data-Base System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Storaasli, O. O.; Erickson, W. J.; Gray, F. P.; Comfort, D. L.; Wahlstrom, S. O.; Von Limbach, G.

1985-01-01

DBMS with several features particularly useful to scientists and engineers. RIM5 interfaced with any application program written in language capable of Calling FORTRAN routines. Applications include data management for Space Shuttle Columbia tiles, aircraft flight tests, high-pressure piping, atmospheric chemistry, census, university registration, CAD/CAM Geometry, and civil-engineering dam construction.

Dubbing Projects for the Language Learner: A Framework for Integrating Audiovisual Translation into Task-Based Instruction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Danan, Martine

2010-01-01

This article describes a series of exploratory L1 to L2 dubbing projects for which students translated and used editing software to dub short American film and TV clips into their target language. Translating and dubbing into the target language involve students in multifaceted, high-level language production tasks that lead to enhanced vocabulary…

Examination of the Relationship between Autonomy and English Achievement as Mediated by Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ghorbandordinejad, Farhad; Ahmadabad, Roghayyeh Moradian

2016-01-01

This study investigated the relationship between autonomy and English language achievement among third-grade high school students as mediated by foreign language classroom anxiety in a city in the north-west of Iran. A sample of 400 students (187 males, and 213 females) was assessed for their levels of autonomy and foreign language anxiety using…

What Languages to Include in Curriculum for Muslim Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Musharraf, Muhammad Nabeel

2015-01-01

Languages are tools that connect people globally and help them acquire knowledge. It is a highly critical decision to choose a language or a set of languages for inclusion in curriculum in a manner that would be most productive at personal, community and national level. What we need to see in our next generation has to be "sowed the seeds…

Using VCL as an Aspect-Oriented Approach to Requirements Modelling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Amálio, Nuno; Kelsen, Pierre; Ma, Qin; Glodt, Christian

Software systems are becoming larger and more complex. By tackling the modularisation of crosscutting concerns, aspect orientation draws attention to modularity as a means to address the problems of scalability, complexity and evolution in software systems development. Aspect-oriented modelling (AOM) applies aspect-orientation to the construction of models. Most existing AOM approaches are designed without a formal semantics, and use multi-view partial descriptions of behaviour. This paper presents an AOM approach based on the Visual Contract Language (VCL): a visual language for abstract and precise modelling, designed with a formal semantics, and comprising a novel approach to visual behavioural modelling based on design by contract where behavioural descriptions are total. By applying VCL to a large case study of a car-crash crisis management system, the paper demonstrates how modularity of VCL's constructs, at different levels of granularity, help to tackle complexity. In particular, it shows how VCL's package construct and its associated composition mechanisms are key in supporting separation of concerns, coarse-grained problem decomposition and aspect-orientation. The case study's modelling solution has a clear and well-defined modular structure; the backbone of this structure is a collection of packages encapsulating local solutions to concerns.

Medical knowledge and the improvement of vernacular languages in the Habsburg Monarchy: A case study from Transylvania (1770–1830)

PubMed Central

Sechel, Teodora Daniela

2012-01-01

In all European countries, the eighteenth century was characterised by efforts to improve the vernaculars. The Transylvanian case study shows how both codified medical language and ordinary language were constructed and enriched by a large number of medical books and brochures. The publication of medical literature in Central European vernacular languages in order to popularise new medical knowledge was a comprehensive programme, designed on the one hand by intellectual, political and religious elites who urged the improvement of the fatherland and the promotion of the common good by perfecting the arts and sciences. On the other hand, the imperial administration’s initiatives affected local forms of medical knowledge and the construction of vernacular languages. In the eighteenth century, the construction of vernacular languages in the Habsburg Monarchy took on a significant political character. However, in the process of building of the scientific and medical vocabulary, the main preoccupation was precision, clarity and accessibility of the neologisms being invented to encompass the medical phenomena being described. In spite of political conflicts among the ‘nations’ living in Transylvania, physicians borrowed words from German, Hungarian and Romanian. Thus they elevated several words used in everyday language to the upper social stratum of language use, leading to the invention of new terms to describe particular medical practices or phenomena. PMID:22595134

Language processing and executive functions in early treated adults with phenylketonuria (PKU).

PubMed

De Felice, Sara; Romani, Cristina; Geberhiwot, Tarekegn; MacDonald, Anita; Palermo, Liana

We provide an in-depth analysis of language functions in early-treated adults with phenylketonuria (AwPKUs, N = 15-33), as compared to age- and education-matched controls (N = 24-32; N varying across tasks), through: a. narrative production (the Cinderella story), b. language pragmatics comprehension (humour, metaphors, inferred meaning), c. prosody discrimination d. lexical inhibitory control and planning (Blocked Cyclic Naming; Hayling Sentence Completion Test, Burgess & Shallice, 1997). AwPKUs exhibited intact basic language processing (lexical retrieval, phonology/articulation, sentence construction). Instead, deficits emerged in planning and reasoning abilities. Compared to controls, AwPKUs were: less informative in narrative production (lower rate of Correct Information Units); slower in metaphorical understanding and inferred meaning; less accurate in focused lexical-search (Hayling test). These results suggest that i) executive deficits in PKU cannot be explained by an accumulation of lower-order deficits and/or general speed impairments, ii) executive functions engage dedicated neurophysiological resources, rather than simply being an emergent property of lower-level systems.

Important Constructs in Literacy Learning across Disciplines

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Foorman, Barbara R.; Arndt, Elissa J.; Crawford, Elizabeth C.

2011-01-01

Currently students who struggle with language and literacy learning are classified with various labels in different states--language learning disabilities, dyslexia, specific language impairment, and specific learning disability--in spite of having similar diagnostic profiles. Drawing on the research on comprehension of written language, we…

Towards an agent-oriented programming language based on Scala

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mitrović, Dejan; Ivanović, Mirjana; Budimac, Zoran

2012-09-01

Scala and its multi-threaded model based on actors represent an excellent framework for developing purely reactive agents. This paper presents an early research on extending Scala with declarative programming constructs, which would result in a new agent-oriented programming language suitable for developing more advanced, BDI agent architectures. The main advantage the new language over many other existing solutions for programming BDI agents is a natural and straightforward integration of imperative and declarative programming constructs, fitted under a single development framework.

ESL students learning biology: The role of language and social interactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jaipal, Kamini

This study explored three aspects related to ESL students in a mainstream grade 11 biology classroom: (1) the nature of students' participation in classroom activities, (2) the factors that enhanced or constrained ESL students' engagement in social interactions, and (3) the role of language in the learning of science. Ten ESL students were observed over an eight-month period in this biology classroom. Data were collected using qualitative research methods such as participant observation, audio-recordings of lessons, field notes, semi-structured interviews, short lesson recall interviews and students' written work. The study was framed within sociocultural perspectives, particularly the social constructivist perspectives of Vygotsky (1962, 1978) and Wertsch (1991). Data were analysed with respect to the three research aspects. Firstly, the findings showed that ESL students' preferred and exhibited a variety of participation practices that ranged from personal-individual to socio-interactive in nature. Both personal-individual and socio-interactive practices appeared to support science and language learning. Secondly, the findings indicated that ESL students' engagement in classroom social interactions was most likely influenced by the complex interactions between a number of competing factors at the individual, interpersonal and community/cultural levels (Rogoff, Radziszewska, & Masiello, 1995). In this study, six factors that appeared to enhance or constrain ESL students' engagement in classroom social interactions were identified. These factors were socio-cultural factors, prior classroom practice, teaching practices, affective factors, English language proficiency, and participation in the research project. Thirdly, the findings indicated that language played a significant mediational role in ESL students' learning of science. The data revealed that the learning of science terms and concepts can be explained by a functional model of language that includes: (1) the use of discourse to construct meanings, (2) multiple semiotic representations of the thing/process, and (3) constructing taxonomies and ways of reasoning. Other important findings were: talking about language is integral to biology teaching and learning, ESL students' prior knowledge of everyday words does not necessarily help them interpret written questions on worksheets, and ESL students' prior knowledge of concepts in their first language does not necessarily support concept learning in the second language.

Towards a Psychological Construct of Being Moved

PubMed Central

Menninghaus, Winfried; Wagner, Valentin; Hanich, Julian; Wassiliwizky, Eugen; Kuehnast, Milena; Jacobsen, Thomas

2015-01-01

The emotional state of being moved, though frequently referred to in both classical rhetoric and current language use, is far from established as a well-defined psychological construct. In a series of three studies, we investigated eliciting scenarios, emotional ingredients, appraisal patterns, feeling qualities, and the affective signature of being moved and related emotional states. The great majority of the eliciting scenarios can be assigned to significant relationship and critical life events (especially death, birth, marriage, separation, and reunion). Sadness and joy turned out to be the two preeminent emotions involved in episodes of being moved. Both the sad and the joyful variants of being moved showed a coactivation of positive and negative affect and can thus be ranked among the mixed emotions. Moreover, being moved, while featuring only low-to-mid arousal levels, was experienced as an emotional state of high intensity; this applied to responses to fictional artworks no less than to own-life and other real, but media-represented, events. The most distinctive findings regarding cognitive appraisal dimensions were very low ratings for causation of the event by oneself and for having the power to change its outcome, along with very high ratings for appraisals of compatibility with social norms and self-ideals. Putting together the characteristics identified and discussed throughout the three studies, the paper ends with a sketch of a psychological construct of being moved. PMID:26042816

Towards a psychological construct of being moved.

PubMed

Menninghaus, Winfried; Wagner, Valentin; Hanich, Julian; Wassiliwizky, Eugen; Kuehnast, Milena; Jacobsen, Thomas

2015-01-01

The emotional state of being moved, though frequently referred to in both classical rhetoric and current language use, is far from established as a well-defined psychological construct. In a series of three studies, we investigated eliciting scenarios, emotional ingredients, appraisal patterns, feeling qualities, and the affective signature of being moved and related emotional states. The great majority of the eliciting scenarios can be assigned to significant relationship and critical life events (especially death, birth, marriage, separation, and reunion). Sadness and joy turned out to be the two preeminent emotions involved in episodes of being moved. Both the sad and the joyful variants of being moved showed a coactivation of positive and negative affect and can thus be ranked among the mixed emotions. Moreover, being moved, while featuring only low-to-mid arousal levels, was experienced as an emotional state of high intensity; this applied to responses to fictional artworks no less than to own-life and other real, but media-represented, events. The most distinctive findings regarding cognitive appraisal dimensions were very low ratings for causation of the event by oneself and for having the power to change its outcome, along with very high ratings for appraisals of compatibility with social norms and self-ideals. Putting together the characteristics identified and discussed throughout the three studies, the paper ends with a sketch of a psychological construct of being moved.

Social construction of American sign language--English interpreters.

PubMed

McDermid, Campbell

2009-01-01

Instructors in 5 American Sign Language--English Interpreter Programs and 4 Deaf Studies Programs in Canada were interviewed and asked to discuss their experiences as educators. Within a qualitative research paradigm, their comments were grouped into a number of categories tied to the social construction of American Sign Language--English interpreters, such as learners' age and education and the characteristics of good citizens within the Deaf community. According to the participants, younger students were adept at language acquisition, whereas older learners more readily understood the purpose of lessons. Children of deaf adults were seen as more culturally aware. The participants' beliefs echoed the theories of P. Freire (1970/1970) that educators consider the reality of each student and their praxis and were responsible for facilitating student self-awareness. Important characteristics in the social construction of students included independence, an appropriate attitude, an understanding of Deaf culture, ethical behavior, community involvement, and a willingness to pursue lifelong learning.

Using Contests to Connect: A View from the Collegiate Level

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Belgum, Kirsten

2017-01-01

This article investigates how language contests can serve as an effective element of articulation in language education. Educators and researchers have reflected on how to facilitate the progress of language learners from high school to college through shared learning outcomes across institutional divides and by developing common guidelines for…

Incorporate Technology into the Modern Language Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Castleberry, Gwen Troxell; Evers, Rebecca B.

2010-01-01

This column describes how technology can enrich the learning environment provided by the modern language classroom. Typically, modern languages taught in U.S. public schools are French, Spanish, and German. A general broadening of high school graduation and college and professional school admission requirements to include a certain level of modern…

"Race" and the difficulties of language.

PubMed

Phillips, Debby A; Drevdahl, Denise J

2003-01-01

"Race," a construct created by scientists, is deeply ingrained in everyday discourses. Using postmodern theories to help us think through the complexities of language in relation to race, we come to understand that truths about race are changing, contingent, and contested products of cultural construction. It is impossible to understand or represent race as an object of study such that it can be known, yet untouched, by language. Health effects are one important consequence of race, particularly related to quality, access, marginalization, and privilege. Analyzing the effects of race bring it visibly into being, and makes evident how language shapes our understandings of the world and its human inhabitants.

Identity Construction and Reversal Conceptual Transfer among Iranian EFL Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gholaminejad, Razieh

2017-01-01

This article draws on a qualitative study which seeks to explore whether Iranian English as a foreign language learners experience any reversal conceptual transfer and whether they construct two identities as a result of learning a foreign language. The findings from the open-ended questionnaires distributed among 65 undergraduates at the…

Developing a User-Oriented Second Language Comprehensibility Scale for English-Medium Universities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Isaacs, Talia; Trofimovich, Pavel; Foote, Jennifer Ann

2018-01-01

There is growing research on the linguistic features that most contribute to making second language (L2) speech easy or difficult to understand. Comprehensibility, which is usually captured through listener judgments, is increasingly viewed as integral to the L2 speaking construct. However, there are shortcomings in how this construct is…

A Languacognitive Constructionist Approach to Intercultural Competence in Educational Settings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Strugielska, Ariadna; Piatkowska, Katarzyna

2017-01-01

The aim of this paper is to discuss intercultural competence (IC) from a languacognitive perspective, whose main assumption is the interface between language, cognition and culture manifested in meaning construction. The article first emphasizes the centrality of language in the process of meaning construction. As a result, in the following…

Preservice and Inservice Teachers' Knowledge of Language Constructs in Finland

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aro, Mikko; Björn, Piia Maria

2016-01-01

The aim of the study was to explore the Finnish preservice and inservice teachers' knowledge of language constructs relevant for literacy acquisition. A total of 150 preservice teachers and 74 inservice teachers participated in the study by filling out a questionnaire that assessed self-perceived expertise in reading instruction, knowledge of…

Points of Transition: Understanding the Constructed Identities of L2 Learners/Users across Time and Space

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Adawu, Anthony; Martin-Beltran, Melinda

2012-01-01

Using sociocultural and poststructuralist theoretical lenses, this study examines the narrative construction of language-learner identity across time and space. We applied cross-narrative methodologies to analyze language-learning autobiographies and interview data from three English users who had recently transitioned to a U.S. context for…

Creating Spaces for Constructing Practice and Identity: Innovations of Teachers of English Language to Young Learners in Vietnam

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nguyen, Chinh Duc

2017-01-01

The discourse on construction of practice and identity in language teaching has been situated in transnational contexts. However, not all teachers are provided with access to transnational spaces for professional development. Drawing on the concept of "multimembership" in "multicommunities", this study explores how Vietnamese…

Bantu Applicative Construction Types Involving *-Id: Form, Functions and Diachrony

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pacchiarotti, Sara

2016-01-01

This dissertation first addresses various shortcomings in definitions of "applicative" when compared to what is actually found across languages. It then proposes a four-way distinction among applicative constructions, relevant at least to Bantu, a large family of languages spoken in Sub-Saharan Africa. Because of the gradual nature of…

Indigenous Children's Use of Language during Play in Rural Northern Canadian Kindergarten Classrooms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eisazadeh, Nazila; Rajendram, Shakina; Portier, Christine; Peterson, Shelley Stagg

2017-01-01

This article reports on research examining the social purposes of Indigenous kindergarten children's language and their construction of Indigenous cultural knowledge within and through interactions with peers during dramatic play and play with construction materials. The participants are three teachers and 29 children from two rural northern…

HyperText MARCup: A Conceptualization for Encoding, De-Constructing, Searching, Retrieving, and Using Traditional Knowledge Tools.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wall, C. Edward; And Others

1995-01-01

Discusses the integration of Standard General Markup Language, Hypertext Markup Language, and MARC format to parse classified analytical bibliographies. Use of the resulting electronic knowledge constructs in local library systems as maps of a specified subset of resources is discussed, and an example is included. (LRW)

Preservice Teacher Knowledge of Basic Language Constructs in Canada, England, New Zealand, and the USA

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Washburn, Erin K.; Binks-Cantrell, Emily S.; Joshi, R. Malatesha; Martin-Chang, Sandra; Arrow, Alison

2016-01-01

The present study examined preservice teachers' (PSTs) knowledge of basic language constructs across four different English-speaking teacher preparations programs. A standardized survey was administered to participants from Canada (n = 80), England (n = 55), New Zealand (n = 26), and the USA (n = 118). All participants were enrolled in…

A Survey of Speech-Language-Hearing Therapists' Career Situation and Challenges in Mainland China.

PubMed

Lin, Qiang; Lu, Jianliang; Chen, Zhuoming; Yan, Jiajian; Wang, Hong; Ouyang, Hui; Mou, Zhiwei; Huang, Dongfeng; O'Young, Bryan

2016-01-01

The aim of this survey was to investigate the background of speech-language pathologists and their training needs to provide a profile of the current state of the profession in Mainland China. A survey was conducted of 293 speech-language therapists. The questionnaire used asked questions related to their career background and had a 24-item ranking scale covering almost all of the common speech-language-hearing disorders. A summary of the raw data was constructed by calculating the average ranking score for each answer choice in order to determine the academic training needs with the highest preference among the respondents. The majority of respondents were female, <35 years old and with a total service time of <5 years. More than three quarters of the training needs with the highest preference among the 24 items involved basic-level knowledge of common speech-language-hearing disorders, such as diagnosis, assessment and conventional treatment, but seldom specific advanced technology or current progress. The results revealed that speech-language therapists in Mainland China tend to be young, with little total working experience and at the first stage of their career. This may be due to the lack of systematic educational programs and national certification systems for speech-language therapists. © 2016 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Aptitude for Learning a Foreign Language.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sparks, Richard; Ganschow, Leonore

2001-01-01

Review research on foreign language aptitude and its measurement prior to 1990. Describes research areas in the 1990s, including affective variables, language learning strategies, learning styles as contributors to aptitude and aptitude as a cognitive construct affected by language variables. Reviews research on individual differences and the…

Teacher Educators' Personal Practical Knowledge of Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Swart, Fenna; de Graaff, Rick; Onstenk, Jeroen; Knezic, Dubravka

2018-01-01

This paper describes teacher educators' understanding of language for classroom communication in higher education. We argue that teacher educators who are aware of their personal practical knowledge of language have a better understanding of their students' language use and provide better support for knowledge construction. Personal practical…

Language and the Law: A Case for Linguistic Pragmatics. Sociolinguistic Working Paper Number 94.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Prince, Ellen F.

The emergence of a subfield of linguistics, linguistic pragmatics, whose goal is to discover the principles by which a hearer or reader understands a text or can construct a model based on the text, given the sentence-level competence to parse the text's sentences and assign logical forms to them, is discussed in the context of a court case in…

Teaching Language in Context. Second Edition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Derewianka, Beverly; Jones, Pauline

2016-01-01

Language is at the heart of the learning process. We learn through language. Our knowledge about the world is constructed in language-the worlds of home and the community, the worlds of school subjects, the worlds of literature, the worlds of the workplace, and so on. It is through language that we interact with others and build our identities.…

Reading and Language Learning: Crosslinguistic Constraints on Second Language Reading Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Koda, Keiko

2007-01-01

The ultimate goal of reading is to construct text meaning based on visually encoded information. Essentially, it entails converting print into language and then to the message intended by the author. It is hardly accidental, therefore, that, in all languages, reading builds on oral language competence and that learning to read uniformly requires…

The Internet, Language Learning, and International Dialogue: Constructing Online Foreign Language Learning Websites

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kartal, Erdogan; Uzun, Levent

2010-01-01

In the present study we call attention to the close connection between languages and globalization, and we also emphasize the importance of the Internet and online websites in foreign language teaching and learning as unavoidable elements of computer assisted language learning (CALL). We prepared a checklist by which we investigated 28 foreign…

Defining English Language Proficiency for Malaysian Tertiary Education: Past, Present and Future Efforts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Heng, Chan Swee

2012-01-01

Any attempt to define English language proficiency can never be divorced from the theories that describe the nature of language, language acquisition and human cognition. By virtue of such theories being socially constructed, the descriptions are necessarily value-laden. Thus, a definition of language proficiency can only, at best, be described as…

Language Policy in Japanese Ethnic Churches in Canada and the Legitimization of Church Member Identities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barrett, Tyler

2017-01-01

This paper is aimed at understanding the language policy of Japanese ethnic churches and the legitimization of church member identities in the midst of dominant languages in Canada. While church members often construct Japanese ethnic Christian churches with 'grassroots' language policies that seem to legitimize their Japanese language and…

The Role of a Language Scale for Infant and Preschool Assessment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zimmerman, Irla Lee; Castilleja, Nancy Flores

2005-01-01

The PLS-4 (Preschool Language Scale, 4th edition) is a psychometrically sound instrument constructed to assess language skills in children from birth to 6 years 11 months. It is a useful diagnostic and research tool that can be used to identify current comprehension and expressive language skills and can measure changes in language skills over…

The Stability of General Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety across English and French.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rodriguez, Maximo; Abreu, Orangel

2003-01-01

Examined the stability of the general foreign language classroom anxiety construct across English and French. Subjects were preservice teachers from two western universities in Venezuela majoring in these languages. (Author/VWL)

Marginal Words--Sophisticated Attitudinal Meaning Making Resources in the Vietnamese Language: Implications for the Shaping of Vietnamese Teaching in the Australian Curriculum: Languages (Vietnamese)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ngo, Thu Thi Bich

2014-01-01

Evaluation is an important aspect in communication in any language as it not only functions to express language users' evaluative stance but also to construct and maintain relations between interactants. In the teaching of languages in addition to English, paying attention to evaluative language contributes to an understanding of the…

Examining the English Language Policy for Ethnic Minority Students in a Chinese University: A Language Ideology and Language Regime Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Han, Yawen; De Costa, Peter I.; Cui, Yaqiong

2016-01-01

We focus on the learning of English in a Chinese university in Jiangsu and the university's preferential language policy, which allowed Uyghur minority students from Xinjiang to be enrolled despite their lower scores in the entrance examination. Guided by the constructs of language ideologies [Kroskrity, P. V. (2000). "Regimes of language:…

Languages and interfaces for facial animation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Magnenat-Thalmann, N.

1995-05-01

This paper describes high-level tools for specifying, controlling, and synchronizing temporal and spatial characteristics for 3D animation of facial expressions. The proposed approach consists of hierarchical levels of controls. Specification of expressions, phonemes, emotions, sentences, and head movements by means of a high-level language is shown. The various aspects of synchronization are also emphasized. Then, association of the control different interactive devices and media which allows the animator greater flexibility and freedom, is discussed. Experiments with input accessories such as the keyboard of a music synthesizer and gestures from the DataGlove are illustrated.

NGSANE: a lightweight production informatics framework for high-throughput data analysis.

PubMed

Buske, Fabian A; French, Hugh J; Smith, Martin A; Clark, Susan J; Bauer, Denis C

2014-05-15

The initial steps in the analysis of next-generation sequencing data can be automated by way of software 'pipelines'. However, individual components depreciate rapidly because of the evolving technology and analysis methods, often rendering entire versions of production informatics pipelines obsolete. Constructing pipelines from Linux bash commands enables the use of hot swappable modular components as opposed to the more rigid program call wrapping by higher level languages, as implemented in comparable published pipelining systems. Here we present Next Generation Sequencing ANalysis for Enterprises (NGSANE), a Linux-based, high-performance-computing-enabled framework that minimizes overhead for set up and processing of new projects, yet maintains full flexibility of custom scripting when processing raw sequence data. Ngsane is implemented in bash and publicly available under BSD (3-Clause) licence via GitHub at https://github.com/BauerLab/ngsane. Denis.Bauer@csiro.au Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

A comparison of hardware description languages. [describing digital systems structure and behavior to a computer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shiva, S. G.

1978-01-01

Several high level languages which evolved over the past few years for describing and simulating the structure and behavior of digital systems, on digital computers are assessed. The characteristics of the four prominent languages (CDL, DDL, AHPL, ISP) are summarized. A criterion for selecting a suitable hardware description language for use in an automatic integrated circuit design environment is provided.

The Use of English as Medium of Instruction at the Upper Basic Level (Primary Four to Junior High School) in Ghana: From Theory to Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Owu-Ewie, Charles; Eshun, Emma Sarah

2015-01-01

The language of education is crucial to learners' academic success. As a result, nations whose native languages are not the languages of education have promulgated language policies to solve communication problems in their school systems. Most multilingual nations have adopted bilingual education systems that recognize the child's native language…

LANGUAGE AND COGNITION IN THE YOUNG CHILD.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

ANISFELD, MOSHE

THE LITERATURE ON INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT APPEARS TO ATTRIBUTE TO THE YOUNG CHILD A HIGH LEVEL OF LINGUISTIC DEVELOPMENT AND A RELATIVELY LOW LEVEL OF DEVELOPMENT IN OTHER COGNITIVE SPHERES. IN AN ATTEMPT TO RESOLVE THIS DISCREPANCY, THE AUTHOR ADVANCED THE HYPOTHESIS THAT THE DESCRIPTIONS OF LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT ARE BASED ON AN ANALYSIS OF THE…

Portmanteau Constructions, Phrase Structure, and Linearization.

PubMed

Chan, Brian Hok-Shing

2015-01-01

In bilingual code-switching which involves language-pairs with contrasting head-complement orders (i.e., head-initial vs. head-final), a head may be lexicalized from both languages with its complement sandwiched in the middle. These so-called "portmanteau" sentences (Nishimura, 1985, 1986; Sankoff et al., 1990, etc.) have been attested for decades, but they had never received a systematic, formal analysis in terms of current syntactic theory before a few recent attempts (Hicks, 2010, 2012). Notwithstanding this lack of attention, these structures are in fact highly relevant to theories of linearization and phrase structure. More specifically, they challenge binary-branching (Kayne, 1994, 2004, 2005) as well as the Antisymmetry hypothesis (ibid.). Not explained by current grammatical models of code-switching, including the Equivalence Constraint (Poplack, 1980), the Matrix Language Frame Model (Myers-Scotton, 1993, 2002, etc.), and the Bilingual Speech Model (Muysken, 2000, 2013), the portmanteau construction indeed looks uncommon or abnormal, defying any systematic account. However, the recurrence of these structures in various datasets and constraints on them do call for an explanation. This paper suggests an account which lies with syntax and also with the psycholinguistics of bilingualism. Assuming that linearization is a process at the Sensori-Motor (SM) interface (Chomsky, 2005, 2013), this paper sees that word order is not fixed in a syntactic tree but it is set in the production process, and much information of word order rests in the processor, for instance, outputting a head before its complement (i.e., head-initial word order) or the reverse (i.e., head-final word order). As for the portmanteau construction, it is the output of bilingual speakers co-activating two sets of head-complement orders which summon the phonetic forms of the same word in both languages. Under this proposal, the underlying structure of a portmanteau construction is as simple as an XP in which a head X merges with its complement YP and projects an XP (i.e., X YP → [XP X YP]).

Portmanteau Constructions, Phrase Structure, and Linearization

PubMed Central

Chan, Brian Hok-Shing

2015-01-01

In bilingual code-switching which involves language-pairs with contrasting head-complement orders (i.e., head-initial vs. head-final), a head may be lexicalized from both languages with its complement sandwiched in the middle. These so-called “portmanteau” sentences (Nishimura, 1985, 1986; Sankoff et al., 1990, etc.) have been attested for decades, but they had never received a systematic, formal analysis in terms of current syntactic theory before a few recent attempts (Hicks, 2010, 2012). Notwithstanding this lack of attention, these structures are in fact highly relevant to theories of linearization and phrase structure. More specifically, they challenge binary-branching (Kayne, 1994, 2004, 2005) as well as the Antisymmetry hypothesis (ibid.). Not explained by current grammatical models of code-switching, including the Equivalence Constraint (Poplack, 1980), the Matrix Language Frame Model (Myers-Scotton, 1993, 2002, etc.), and the Bilingual Speech Model (Muysken, 2000, 2013), the portmanteau construction indeed looks uncommon or abnormal, defying any systematic account. However, the recurrence of these structures in various datasets and constraints on them do call for an explanation. This paper suggests an account which lies with syntax and also with the psycholinguistics of bilingualism. Assuming that linearization is a process at the Sensori-Motor (SM) interface (Chomsky, 2005, 2013), this paper sees that word order is not fixed in a syntactic tree but it is set in the production process, and much information of word order rests in the processor, for instance, outputting a head before its complement (i.e., head-initial word order) or the reverse (i.e., head-final word order). As for the portmanteau construction, it is the output of bilingual speakers co-activating two sets of head-complement orders which summon the phonetic forms of the same word in both languages. Under this proposal, the underlying structure of a portmanteau construction is as simple as an XP in which a head X merges with its complement YP and projects an XP (i.e., X YP → [XP X YP]). PMID:26733894

A functional language approach in high-speed digital simulation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ercegovac, M. D.; Lu, S.-L.

1983-01-01

A functional programming approach for a multi-microprocessor architecture is presented. The language, based on Backus FP, its intermediate form and the translation process are discussed and illustrated with an example. The approach allows performance analysis to be performed at a high level as an aid in program partitioning.

Dynamic Assessment of Children with Language Impairments: A Pilot Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hasson, Natalie; Botting, Nicola

2010-01-01

This article describes the construction of a procedure for dynamic assessment of the expressive grammar of children already identified with language impairments. Few instruments exist for the dynamic assessment of language, and those that have been developed have been largely used to successfully differentiate language impaired from culturally…

The Ideology of Interculturality in Japanese Language-in-Education Policy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Liddicoat, Anthony J.

2007-01-01

Language learning is frequently justified as a vehicle for promoting intercultural communication and understanding, and language-in-education policies have increasingly come to reflect this preoccupation in their rhetoric. This paper will examine the ways in which concepts relating to interculturality are constructed in Japanese language policy…

Fluid Identity Construction in Language Contact Zones: Metacognitive Reflections on "Kasi-Taal" Languaging Practices

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Makalela, Leketi

2014-01-01

This study investigated how semi-urban, multi-ethnic and multilingual students in the city of Johannesburg, South Africa, negotiate their new identities through languaging experiences. Metacognitive reflections of their recreated language spaces were collected through 20 written narratives, which were analysed using a universalist reductionist…

Language Teacher Noticing: A Socio-Cognitive Window on Classroom Realities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jackson, Daniel O.; Cho, Minyoung

2018-01-01

This article introduces the construct of teacher noticing, situates it in research on second language teacher cognition, and considers its implications for research on second language teacher training, acknowledging socio-cognitive perspectives on language learning and teaching. We then present a mixed-methods observational study that utilized…

Factors Underlying Second Language Reading Motivation of Adult EAP Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Komiyama, Reiko

2013-01-01

Characteristics of English for Academic Purposes students' second language (L2) motivation were examined by identifying underlying motivational factors. Using the motivation constructs created by first language reading researchers, a survey was developed and administered to 2,018 students from 53 English language programs in the U.S. Survey…

Drama Techniques in Language Learning.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maley, Alan; Duff, Alan

The drama activities in this teaching guide are designed to develop second language learning skills by constructing situations that require the student to concentrate on the meaning and emotional content of language rather than on its structure. In an attempt to involve the whole personality of the learner in the acquisition of language, the…

Pre-Service EFL Teachers' Beliefs about Foreign Language Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Altan, Mustafa Zulkuf

2012-01-01

Beliefs are central constructs in every discipline which deals with human behaviour and learning. In addition to learner beliefs about language learning, language teachers themselves may hold certain beliefs about language learning that will have an impact on their instructional practices and that are likely to influence their students' beliefs…

Technology Uses in Creating Second Language Learning Environments: When Learners Are Creators

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhang, Gaoming

2010-01-01

From a learner-as-creator perspective, this study investigates how second language learners use technology, especially computers and the Internet, to construct their language learning environments. This study also attempts to identify factors that affected the frequency of technology by second language learners. Participants were 102 Chinese…

Ownership of Language in Yucatec Maya Revitalization Pedagogy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Guerrettaz, Anne Marie

2015-01-01

This classroom-based study examined a Yucatec Maya language course for teachers and the pedagogical implementation of national language policy in Mexico. Analysis of this teacher education program focused on various dimensions of teachers' Maya-language expertise, the teaching of the emergent standard Maya, and hegemonic constructions of…

ProjectQ Software Framework

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Steiger, Damian S.; Haener, Thomas; Troyer, Matthias

Quantum computers promise to transform our notions of computation by offering a completely new paradigm. A high level quantum programming language and optimizing compilers are essential components to achieve scalable quantum computation. In order to address this, we introduce the ProjectQ software framework - an open source effort to support both theorists and experimentalists by providing intuitive tools to implement and run quantum algorithms. Here, we present our ProjectQ quantum compiler, which compiles a quantum algorithm from our high-level Python-embedded language down to low-level quantum gates available on the target system. We demonstrate how this compiler can be used to control actual hardware and to run high-performance simulations.

Semiotic diversity in utterance production and the concept of ‘language’

PubMed Central

Kendon, Adam

2014-01-01

Sign language descriptions that use an analytic model borrowed from spoken language structural linguistics have proved to be not fully appropriate. Pictorial and action-like modes of expression are integral to how signed utterances are constructed and to how they work. However, observation shows that speakers likewise use kinesic and vocal expressions that are not accommodated by spoken language structural linguistic models, including pictorial and action-like modes of expression. These, also, are integral to how speaker utterances in face-to-face interaction are constructed and to how they work. Accordingly, the object of linguistic inquiry should be revised, so that it comprises not only an account of the formal abstract systems that utterances make use of, but also an account of how the semiotically diverse resources that all languaging individuals use are organized in relation to one another. Both language as an abstract system and languaging should be the concern of linguistics. PMID:25092661

Second and foreign language listening: unraveling the construct.

PubMed

Tafaghodtari, Marzieh H; Vandergrift, Larry

2008-08-01

Identifying the variables which contribute to second and foreign language (L2) listening ability can provide a better understanding of the listening construct. This study explored the degree to which first language (L1) listening ability, L2 proficiency, motivation and metacognition contribute to L2 listening comprehension. 115 Persian-speaking English as a Foreign Language (EFL) university students completed a motivation questionnaire, the Language Learning Motivation Orientation Scale, a listening questionnaire, the Metacognitive Awareness Listening Questionnaire, and an English-language proficiency measure, as well as listening tests in English and Persian. Scores from all measures were subjected to descriptive, inferential, and correlational analyses. The results support the hypothesis that variability in L2 listening cannot be explained by either L2 proficiency or L1 listening ability; rather, a cluster of variables including L2 proficiency, L1 listening ability, metacognitive knowledge and motivation orientations can better explain variability in L2 listening ability.

Third Party Interaction in the Medical Context: Code-switching and Control

PubMed Central

Vickers, Caroline H.; Goble, Ryan; Deckert, Sharon K.

2015-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to examine the micro-interactional co-construction of power within Spanish language concordant medical consultations in California involving a third party family member. Findings indicate the third party instigates code-switching to English on the part of medical providers, a language that the patient does not understand, rendering the patient a non-participant in the medical consultation. In these consultations involving a third party family member, monolingual Spanish-speaking patients are stripped of control in ways that are similar to other powerless groups in medical consultations. Implications include the need to further examine how micro-level interactions reproduce societal ideologies and shape policy on the ground. PMID:27667896

Specification and Design Methodologies for High-Speed Fault-Tolerant Array Algorithms and Structures for VLSI.

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-06-01

evaluation and chip layout planning for VLSI digital systems. A high-level applicative (functional) language, implemented at UCLA, allows combining of...operating system. 2.1 Introduction The complexity of VLSI requires the application of CAD tools at all levels of the design process. In order to be...effective, these tools must be adaptive to the specific design. In this project we studied a design method based on the use of applicative languages

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Grote, D. P.

Forthon generates links between Fortran and Python. Python is a high level, object oriented, interactive and scripting language that allows a flexible and versatile interface to computational tools. The Forthon package generates the necessary wrapping code which allows access to the Fortran database and to the Fortran subroutines and functions. This provides a development package where the computationally intensive parts of a code can be written in efficient Fortran, and the high level controlling code can be written in the much more versatile Python language.

Design Guide for Secondary Schools in Asia. Educational Building Report 5.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Virochsiri, Xantharid

The official working languages of Unesco in the Asian region are English and French. Many of those concerned with the design and construction of schools for the children of the region do not speak either language and often read them only with difficulty. The design and construction ideas presented in this report are conveyed ideographically. The…

29 CFR 4.116 - Contracts for construction activity.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... painting and decorating of public buildings or public works.” This language corresponds to the language used in the Davis-Bacon Act to describe its coverage (40 U.S.C. 276a). The legislative history of the... the clearing of the site is to be followed by the construction of a public building or public work at...

Constructing Meaning: Think-Aloud Protocols of ELLs on English and Spanish Word Problems.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Celedon-Pattichis, Sylvia

This one-year qualitative study analyzed how nine middle school English language learners (ELLs) of Mexican descent constructed meaning on think-aloud protocols of Spanish and English word problems. Strategies used by these students to process information from English to their native language included translating to Spanish, reading the problem at…

Adult English Language Learners Constructing and Sharing Their Stories and Experiences: The Cultural and Linguistic Autobiography Writing Project

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Park, Gloria

2011-01-01

This article is the culmination of the Cultural and Linguistic Autobiography (CLA) writing project, which details narrative descriptions of adult English language learners' (ELLs') cultural and linguistic experiences and how those experiences may have influenced the ways in which these learners constructed and reconstructed their identities.…

Handling Agents and Patients: Representational Cospeech Gestures Help Children Comprehend Complex Syntactic Constructions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Theakston, Anna L.; Coates, Anna; Holler, Judith

2014-01-01

Gesture is an important precursor of children's early language development, for example, in the transition to multiword speech and as a predictor of later language abilities. However, it is unclear whether gestural input can influence children's comprehension of complex grammatical constructions. In Study 1, 3- (M = 3 years 5 months) and…

Identity Construction and Negotiation within and across School Communities: The Case of One English-as-a-New-Language (ENL) Student

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chen, Xiaoning

2010-01-01

Through a theoretical framework that builds on constructs of identity, community of practice, power relations, and investment (Blackledge & Pavlenko, 2001; Gee, 2001; Norton, 2000; Peirce, 1995; Wenger, 1998), this educational ethnographic study (Preissle, 1999) explores one English-as-a-new-language (ENL) student's identities within and across…

"No! The Lambs Can Stay Out Because They Got Cozies": Constructive and Destructive Sibling Conflict, Pretend Play, and Social Understanding.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Howe, Nina; Rinaldi, Christina M.; Jennings, Melissa; Petrakos, Harriet

2002-01-01

Investigated associations among constructive and destructive sibling conflict, pretend play, internal state language, and sibling relationship quality among sibling pairs with one kindergarten-age child. Found that specific resolution strategies were associated with conflict issues, aggression and internal state language, and that conflict issues…

Construct Validity in TOEFL iBT Speaking Tasks: Insights from Natural Language Processing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kyle, Kristopher; Crossley, Scott A.; McNamara, Danielle S.

2016-01-01

This study explores the construct validity of speaking tasks included in the TOEFL iBT (e.g., integrated and independent speaking tasks). Specifically, advanced natural language processing (NLP) tools, MANOVA difference statistics, and discriminant function analyses (DFA) are used to assess the degree to which and in what ways responses to these…

A Framework for Conducting ESL/EFL Construct Validation Studies.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mouw, John T.; Perkins, Kyle

The purpose for which a test is used and the examinees' stage of learning are two anchor points that are incorporated into a suggested framework for conducting construct validation studies for tests of students with English as a second language (ESL) or English as a foreign language (EFL). The framework includes the use of generalizability theory,…

Language Choice and Identity Construction in Peer Interactions: Insights from a Multilingual University in Hong Kong

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gu, Mingyue

2011-01-01

Informed by linguistic ecological theory and the notion of identity, this study investigates language uses and identity construction in interactions among students with different linguistic and cultural backgrounds in a multilingual university. Individual and focus-group interviews were conducted with two groups of students: Hong Kong (HK) and…

Space, Scale and Languages: Identity Construction of Cross-Boundary Students in a Multilingual University in Hong Kong

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gu, Mingyue Michelle; Tong, Ho Kin

2012-01-01

Drawing on the notions of scale and space, this paper investigates identity construction among a group of mainland Chinese cross-boundary students by analysing their language choices and linguistic practices in a multilingual university in Hong Kong. The research illustrates how movement across spaces by these students produces varying index…

Using a Dialogue System Based on Dialogue Maps for Computer Assisted Second Language Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Choi, Sung-Kwon; Kwon, Oh-Woog; Kim, Young-Kil; Lee, Yunkeun

2016-01-01

In order to use dialogue systems for computer assisted second-language learning systems, one of the difficult issues in such systems is how to construct large-scale dialogue knowledge that matches the dialogue modelling of a dialogue system. This paper describes how we have accomplished the short-term construction of large-scale and…

Frequency of Input and L2 Collocational Processing: A Comparison of Congruent and Incongruent Collocations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wolter, Brent; Gyllstad, Henrik

2013-01-01

This study investigated the influence of frequency effects on the processing of congruent (i.e., having an equivalent first language [L1] construction) collocations and incongruent (i.e., not having an equivalent L1 construction) collocations in a second language (L2). An acceptability judgment task was administered to native and advanced…

Constructing and Validating the Foreign Language Attitudes and Goals Survey (FLAGS)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cid, Eva; Granena, Gisela; Tragant, Elsa

2009-01-01

The present study describes the process that was followed in the construction and validation of the foreign language attitudes and goals survey (FLAGS), a new questionnaire based on qualitative data from Tragant and Munoz [Tragant, Munoz, C., 2000. "La motivacion y su relacion con la edad en un contexto escolar de aprendizaje de una lengua…

A Constructive Teaching Model in Learning Research Concept for English Language Teaching Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anwar, Khoirul

2015-01-01

This is a study to focus on analyzing the use of constructive teaching method toward the students' motivation in learning content subject of Introduction to Research of English Language Teaching. By using a mix-method of qualitative and quantitative analysis, the data are collected by using questionnaire and classroom observation. The…

The Effect of the Multiple-Choice Item Format on the Measurement of Knowledge of Language Structure

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Currie, Michael; Chiramanee, Thanyapa

2010-01-01

Noting the widespread use of multiple-choice items in tests in English language education in Thailand, this study compared their effect against that of constructed-response items. One hundred and fifty-two university undergraduates took a test of English structure first in constructed-response format, and later in three, stem-equivalent…

Levels of Understanding Language in Semiotics.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thomas, Donald W.

A course in semiotics developed and taught for 16 years at Brookline High School in Massachusetts is described. The course uses four published texts, a series of readings, experiments, language games, and exercises in an effort to broaden, objectify, and integrate the students' conception of language. It consists of four units: (1) signs,…

GLISP User's Manual. Revised.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Novak, Gordon S., Jr.

GLISP is a LISP-based language which provides high-level language features not found in ordinary LISP. The GLISP language is implemented by means of a compiler which accepts GLISP as input and produces ordinary LISP as output. This output can be further compiled to machine code by the LISP compiler. GLISP is available for several LISP dialects,…

Language Brokering, Autonomy, Parent-Child Bonding, Biculturalism, and Depression: A Study of Mexican American Adolescents from Immigrant Families

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Love, Julia A.; Buriel, Raymond

2007-01-01

This study examines the relationship between language brokering, parent-child bonding, perceived autonomy, biculturalism, and depression for Mexican American adolescents. It was hypothesized that adolescent language brokers who reported a strong parent-child bond and high levels of psychological autonomy, privilege, and responsibility would also…

Moviemaking for the Language Acquisition Classroom: Engage Your Students with an Instructional "Soap"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carlson, Gigi; Crowther, Judith

2004-01-01

Television melodrama, like grand opera, is constructed to formula. Character interactions are highly charged and plot dominates, initiating excitement, suspense, and raising questions around timeless and universal themes. Despite--or because of--their extreme nature, the soaps remain one of the longest-standing television genres, with the loyal…

"Blessed": Musical Talent, Smartness, & Figured Identities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hoffman, Adria R.

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study is to explore smartness and talent as social constructs. Drawing on Holland et al.'s (1998) figured identities, this article explores the figuring of abilities by elucidating the voices of African American high school chorus students. Critical Race Theory (CRT) helps to unpack normalized language and practices that…

The Role of Maternal Responsivity in the Development of Children with Intellectual Disabilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Warren, Steven F.; Brady, Nancy C.

2007-01-01

There is growing evidence that cumulative exposure to highly responsive parenting styles throughout the early childhood period may provide a variety of important child benefits in terms of language, cognitive, social, and emotional development. We view maternal responsivity as a dynamic construct of central importance to the development of…

Language and Identity Construction: The Case of a Refugee Digital Bricoleur

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Karam, Fares J.

2018-01-01

The United States is the biggest resettlement country of refugees referred by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees; however, educational resettlement efforts have been unsuccessful in responding to the needs of refugee students, and educational research has thus far presented a deficit-oriented narrative that ignores the skills and…

A Cognitive Framework in Teaching English Simple Present

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tian, Cong

2015-01-01

A Cognitive Grammar (CG) analysis of linguistic constructions has been claimed to be beneficial to second language teaching. However, little empirical research has been done to support this claim. In this study, two intact classes of Chinese senior high school students were given a 45-minute review lesson on the usages of the English simple…

Minority Languages Learned Informally: The Social Construction of Language Skills through the Discourse of Ontario Employers. NALL Working Paper.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goldberg, Michelle; Corson, David

Many immigrants, refugees, and aboriginal Canadians learn their own languages in the normal, informal way. These minority languages learned informally are not valued as a skill that yields returns in the labor market in the same way the official languages or formally learned languages do. What counts as a skill in a society, in a given point in…

What's the Target? A Folk Linguistic Study of Young Stockholmers' Constructions of Linguistic Norm and Variation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bijvoet, Ellen; Fraurud, Kari

2016-01-01

To account for the full range of language use in contemporary multilingual urban contexts, the notion of target language (TL) needs to be reconsidered. In studies of second language acquisition and language variation, taking TL for granted implies that people agree on what constitutes "good" language, or the standard norm. The TL of…

Constructing English as a Ugandan Language through an English Textbook

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stranger-Johannessen, Espen

2015-01-01

English is a national language in Uganda and is widely used in elite areas such as politics and business, but most Ugandans master English to only a limited degree. In this situation, English can be seen as either a foreign language or a second language--influencing how English is taught. One goal of language teaching espoused in this article is…

Developmental Diversity in the Academic Language-Learning Experiences of Adult English as a Second or Other Language Learners: A Constructive-Developmental Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ouellette-Schramm, Jennifer R.

2016-01-01

Academic language is a challenging yet increasingly important skill for Adult Basic Education/English as a Second or Other Language learners. Related to academic language learning is an adult's developmental perspective. Developmental perspectives have been shown to vary in adulthood and shape qualitatively distinct ways of reasoning and learning…

Assessing Measurement Invariance for Spanish Sentence Repetition and Morphology Elicitation Tasks.

PubMed

Kapantzoglou, Maria; Thompson, Marilyn S; Gray, Shelley; Restrepo, M Adelaida

2016-04-01

The purpose of this study was to evaluate evidence supporting the construct validity of two grammatical tasks (sentence repetition, morphology elicitation) included in the Spanish Screener for Language Impairment in Children (Restrepo, Gorin, & Gray, 2013). We evaluated if the tasks measured the targeted grammatical skills in the same way across predominantly Spanish-speaking children with typical language development and those with primary language impairment. A multiple-group, confirmatory factor analytic approach was applied to examine factorial invariance in a sample of 307 predominantly Spanish-speaking children (177 with typical language development; 130 with primary language impairment). The 2 newly developed grammatical tasks were modeled as measures in a unidimensional confirmatory factor analytic model along with 3 well-established grammatical measures from the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals-Fourth Edition, Spanish (Wiig, Semel, & Secord, 2006). Results suggest that both new tasks measured the construct of grammatical skills for both language-ability groups in an equivalent manner. There was no evidence of bias related to children's language status for the Spanish Screener for Language Impairment in Children Sentence Repetition or Morphology Elicitation tasks. Results provide support for the validity of the new tasks as measures of grammatical skills.

Semiotic diversity in utterance production and the concept of 'language'.

PubMed

Kendon, Adam

2014-09-19

Sign language descriptions that use an analytic model borrowed from spoken language structural linguistics have proved to be not fully appropriate. Pictorial and action-like modes of expression are integral to how signed utterances are constructed and to how they work. However, observation shows that speakers likewise use kinesic and vocal expressions that are not accommodated by spoken language structural linguistic models, including pictorial and action-like modes of expression. These, also, are integral to how speaker utterances in face-to-face interaction are constructed and to how they work. Accordingly, the object of linguistic inquiry should be revised, so that it comprises not only an account of the formal abstract systems that utterances make use of, but also an account of how the semiotically diverse resources that all languaging individuals use are organized in relation to one another. Both language as an abstract system and languaging should be the concern of linguistics. © 2014 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

Cognitive science in the era of artificial intelligence: A roadmap for reverse-engineering the infant language-learner.

PubMed

Dupoux, Emmanuel

2018-04-01

Spectacular progress in the information processing sciences (machine learning, wearable sensors) promises to revolutionize the study of cognitive development. Here, we analyse the conditions under which 'reverse engineering' language development, i.e., building an effective system that mimics infant's achievements, can contribute to our scientific understanding of early language development. We argue that, on the computational side, it is important to move from toy problems to the full complexity of the learning situation, and take as input as faithful reconstructions of the sensory signals available to infants as possible. On the data side, accessible but privacy-preserving repositories of home data have to be setup. On the psycholinguistic side, specific tests have to be constructed to benchmark humans and machines at different linguistic levels. We discuss the feasibility of this approach and present an overview of current results. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Exploring the effect of power law social popularity on language evolution.

PubMed

Gong, Tao; Shuai, Lan

2014-01-01

We evaluate the effect of a power-law-distributed social popularity on the origin and change of language, based on three artificial life models meticulously tracing the evolution of linguistic conventions including lexical items, categories, and simple syntax. A cross-model analysis reveals an optimal social popularity, in which the λ value of the power law distribution is around 1.0. Under this scaling, linguistic conventions can efficiently emerge and widely diffuse among individuals, thus maintaining a useful level of mutual understandability even in a big population. From an evolutionary perspective, we regard this social optimality as a tradeoff among social scaling, mutual understandability, and population growth. Empirical evidence confirms that such optimal power laws exist in many large-scale social systems that are constructed primarily via language-related interactions. This study contributes to the empirical explorations and theoretical discussions of the evolutionary relations between ubiquitous power laws in social systems and relevant individual behaviors.

Item-level psychometrics and predictors of performance for Spanish/English bilingual speakers on an object and action naming battery.

PubMed

Edmonds, Lisa A; Donovan, Neila J

2012-04-01

There is a pressing need for psychometrically sound naming materials for Spanish/English bilingual adults. To address this need, in this study the authors examined the psychometric properties of An Object and Action Naming Battery (An O&A Battery; Druks & Masterson, 2000) in bilingual speakers. Ninety-one Spanish/English bilinguals named O&A Battery items in English and Spanish. Responses underwent a Rasch analysis. Using correlation and regression analyses, the authors evaluated the effect of psycholinguistic (e.g., imageability) and participant (e.g., proficiency ratings) variables on accuracy. Rasch analysis determined unidimensionality across English and Spanish nouns and verbs and robust item-level psychometric properties, evidence for content validity. Few items did not fit the model, there were no ceiling or floor effects after uninformative and misfit items were removed, and items reflected a range of difficulty. Reliability coefficients were high, and the number of statistically different ability levels provided indices of sensitivity. Regression analyses revealed significant correlations between psycholinguistic variables and accuracy, providing preliminary construct validity. The participant variables that contributed most to accuracy were proficiency ratings and time of language use. Results suggest adequate content and construct validity of O&A items retained in the analysis for Spanish/English bilingual adults and support future efforts to evaluate naming in older bilinguals and persons with bilingual aphasia.

Shaving Bridges and Tuning Kitaraa: The Effect of Language Switching on Semantic Processing

PubMed Central

Hut, Suzanne C. A.; Leminen, Alina

2017-01-01

Language switching has been repeatedly found to be costly. Yet, there are reasons to believe that switches in language might benefit language comprehension in some groups of people, such as less proficient language learners. This study therefore investigated the interplay between language switching and semantic processing in groups with varying language proficiency. EEG was recorded while L2 learners of English with intermediate and high proficiency levels read semantically congruent or incongruent sentences in L2. Translations of congruent and incongruent target words were additionally presented in L1 to create intrasentential language switches. A control group of English native speakers was tested in order to compare responses to non-switched stimuli with those of L2 learners. An omnibus ANOVA including all groups revealed larger N400 responses for non-switched incongruent stimuli compared to congruent stimuli. Additionally, despite switches to L1 at target word position, semantic N400 responses were still elicited in both L2 learner groups. Further switching effects were reflected by an N400-like effect and a late positivity complex, pointing to possible parsing efforts after language switches. Our results therefore show that although language switches are associated with increased mental effort, switches may not necessarily be costly on the semantic level. This finding contributes to the ongoing discussion on language inhibition processes, and shows that, in these intermediate and high proficient L2 learners, semantic processes look similar to those of native speakers of English. PMID:28900402

Rolex: Resilience-oriented language extensions for extreme-scale systems

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lucas, Robert F.; Hukerikar, Saurabh

Future exascale high-performance computing (HPC) systems will be constructed from VLSI devices that will be less reliable than those used today, and faults will become the norm, not the exception. This will pose significant problems for system designers and programmers, who for half-a-century have enjoyed an execution model that assumed correct behavior by the underlying computing system. The mean time to failure (MTTF) of the system scales inversely to the number of components in the system and therefore faults and resultant system level failures will increase, as systems scale in terms of the number of processor cores and memory modulesmore » used. However every error detected need not cause catastrophic failure. Many HPC applications are inherently fault resilient. Yet it is the application programmers who have this knowledge but lack mechanisms to convey it to the system. In this paper, we present new Resilience Oriented Language Extensions (Rolex) which facilitate the incorporation of fault resilience as an intrinsic property of the application code. We describe the syntax and semantics of the language extensions as well as the implementation of the supporting compiler infrastructure and runtime system. Furthermore, our experiments show that an approach that leverages the programmer's insight to reason about the context and significance of faults to the application outcome significantly improves the probability that an application runs to a successful conclusion.« less

Rolex: Resilience-oriented language extensions for extreme-scale systems

DOE PAGES

Lucas, Robert F.; Hukerikar, Saurabh

2016-05-26

Future exascale high-performance computing (HPC) systems will be constructed from VLSI devices that will be less reliable than those used today, and faults will become the norm, not the exception. This will pose significant problems for system designers and programmers, who for half-a-century have enjoyed an execution model that assumed correct behavior by the underlying computing system. The mean time to failure (MTTF) of the system scales inversely to the number of components in the system and therefore faults and resultant system level failures will increase, as systems scale in terms of the number of processor cores and memory modulesmore » used. However every error detected need not cause catastrophic failure. Many HPC applications are inherently fault resilient. Yet it is the application programmers who have this knowledge but lack mechanisms to convey it to the system. In this paper, we present new Resilience Oriented Language Extensions (Rolex) which facilitate the incorporation of fault resilience as an intrinsic property of the application code. We describe the syntax and semantics of the language extensions as well as the implementation of the supporting compiler infrastructure and runtime system. Furthermore, our experiments show that an approach that leverages the programmer's insight to reason about the context and significance of faults to the application outcome significantly improves the probability that an application runs to a successful conclusion.« less

Transformation of Graphical ECA Policies into Executable PonderTalk Code

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Romeikat, Raphael; Sinsel, Markus; Bauer, Bernhard

Rules are becoming more and more important in business modeling and systems engineering and are recognized as a high-level programming paradigma. For the effective development of rules it is desired to start at a high level, e.g. with graphical rules, and to refine them into code of a particular rule language for implementation purposes later. An model-driven approach is presented in this paper to transform graphical rules into executable code in a fully automated way. The focus is on event-condition-action policies as a special rule type. These are modeled graphically and translated into the PonderTalk language. The approach may be extended to integrate other rule types and languages as well.

How to Talk Quick.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mosel, James N.

1968-01-01

Experiments in the Psychology Department of George Washington University suggest the possibility of constructing sub-languages of English which can accelerate communication. "Quickspeak," a restricted redundancy language, eliminates from natural language those linguistic cues which are reconstructable from those that remain. Principles…

Computer Programming Languages for Health Care

PubMed Central

O'Neill, Joseph T.

1979-01-01

This paper advocates the use of standard high level programming languages for medical computing. It recommends that U.S. Government agencies having health care missions implement coordinated policies that encourage the use of existing standard languages and the development of new ones, thereby enabling them and the medical computing community at large to share state-of-the-art application programs. Examples are based on a model that characterizes language and language translator influence upon the specification, development, test, evaluation, and transfer of application programs.

Flight program language requirements. Volume 3: Appendices

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1972-01-01

Government-sponsored study and development efforts were directed toward design and implementation of high level programming languages suitable for future aerospace applications. The study centered around an evaluation of the four most pertinent existing aerospace languages. Evaluation criteria were established, and selected kernels from the current Saturn 5 and Skylab flight programs were used as benchmark problems for sample coding. An independent review of the language specifications incorporated anticipated future programming requirements into the evaluation. A set of language requirements was synthesized from these activities.

Physical Resilience in Older Adults: Systematic Review and Development of an Emerging Construct.

PubMed

Whitson, Heather E; Duan-Porter, Wei; Schmader, Kenneth E; Morey, Miriam C; Cohen, Harvey J; Colón-Emeric, Cathleen S

2016-04-01

Resilience has been described in the psychosocial literature as the capacity to maintain or regain well-being during or after adversity. Physical resilience is a newer concept that is highly relevant to successful aging. Our objective was to characterize the emerging construct of resilience as it pertains to physical health in older adults, and to identify gaps and opportunities to advance research in this area. We conducted a systematic review to identify English language papers published through January 2015 that apply the term "resilience" in relation to physical health in older adults. We applied a modified framework analysis to characterize themes in implicit or explicit definitions of physical resilience. Of 1,078 abstracts identified, 49 articles met criteria for inclusion. Sixteen were letters or concept papers, and only one was an intervention study. Definitions of physical resilience spanned cellular to whole-person levels, incorporated many outcome measures, and represented three conceptual themes: resilience as a trait, trajectory, or characteristic/capacity. Current biomedical literature lacks consensus on how to define and measure physical resilience. We propose a working definition of physical resilience at the whole person level: a characteristic which determines one's ability to resist or recover from functional decline following health stressor(s). We present a conceptual framework that encompasses the related construct of physiologic reserve. We discuss gaps and opportunities in measurement, interactions across contributors to physical resilience, and points of intervention. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Gerontological Society of America 2015.

10 CFR Appendix D to Part 2 - Schedule for the Proceeding on Consideration of Construction Authorization for a High-Level Waste...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... Construction Authorization for a High-Level Waste Geologic Repository. D Appendix D to Part 2 Energy NUCLEAR.... D Appendix D to Part 2—Schedule for the Proceeding on Consideration of Construction Authorization for a High-Level Waste Geologic Repository. Day Regulation (10 CFR) Action 0 2.101(f)(8), 2.105(a)(5...

10 CFR Appendix D to Part 2 - Schedule for the Proceeding on Consideration of Construction Authorization for a High-Level Waste...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... Construction Authorization for a High-Level Waste Geologic Repository. D Appendix D to Part 2 Energy NUCLEAR.... D Appendix D to Part 2—Schedule for the Proceeding on Consideration of Construction Authorization for a High-Level Waste Geologic Repository. Day Regulation (10 CFR) Action 0 2.101(f)(8), 2.105(a)(5...

Language and Cognitive Predictors of Text Comprehension: Evidence from Multivariate Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Young-Suk

2015-01-01

Using data from children in South Korea (N = 145, M[subscript age] = 6.08), it was determined how low-level language and cognitive skills (vocabulary, syntactic knowledge, and working memory) and high-level cognitive skills (comprehension monitoring and theory of mind [ToM]) are related to listening comprehension and whether listening…

Depression in Aboriginal men in central Australia: adaptation of the Patient Health Questionnaire 9

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background While Indigenous Australians are believed to be at a high risk of psychological illness, few screening instruments have been designed to accurately measure this burden. Rather than simply transposing western labels of symptoms, this paper describes the process by which a screening tool for depression was specifically adapted for use across multiple Indigenous Australian communities. Method Potential depression screening instruments were identified and interrogated according to a set of pre-defined criteria. A structured process was then developed which relied on the expertise of five focus groups comprising of members from primary Indigenous language groups in central Australia. First, focus group participants were asked to review and select a screening measure for adaptation. Bi-lingual experts then translated and back translated the language within the selected measure. Focus group participants re-visited the difficult items, explored their meaning and identified potential ways to achieve equivalence of meaning. Results All five focus groups independently selected the Primary Health Questionnaire 9, several key conceptual differences were exposed, largely related to the construction of hopelessness. Together with translated versions of each instrument for each of the five languages, a single, simplified English version for use across heterogeneous settings was negotiated. Importantly, the ‘code’ and specific conceptually equivalent words that could be used for other Indigenous language groups were also developed. Conclusions The extensive process of adaptation used in this study has demonstrated that within the context of Indigenous Australian communities, across multiple language groups, where English is often a third or fourth language, conceptual and linguistic equivalence of psychological constructs can be negotiated. A validation study is now required to assess the adapted instrument’s potential for measuring the burden of disease across all Indigenous Australian populations. PMID:24139186

Language and Power: Korean-Chinese Students' Language Attitude and Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gao, F.

2009-01-01

Language is not only a method of communication, but also a mechanism of power. The ethnographic research reported in this article documents how a group of Korean students, who are participating in a bilingual Korean school in Northeast China, construct their language attitude and practice. Research findings indicate that the Korean students value…

The Inevitability of "Standard" English: Discursive Constructions of Standard Language Ideologies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davila, Bethany

2016-01-01

Although standard language ideologies have been well researched and theorized, the practices that lead to the reproduction and enactment of these ideologies deserve attention. Specifically, there remains a need to study language that both reveals reliance on standard language ideologies and perpetuates these ideologies within the field of writing…

Sentence Planning in Native and Nonnative Language: A Comparative Study of English and Korean

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Choe, Mun Hong

2010-01-01

This study discusses cognitive processes when speakers produce language in real time, with its focus on cross-linguistic differences in the procedural aspect of language use. It demonstrates that the syntactic characteristics of a language shape the speakers' overall process of sentence planning and production: how they construct sentential…

The Construction of Language Value and Legitimacy in Aboriginal Primary School Classrooms in Taiwan

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chang, Ya-Ling

2014-01-01

This study examines the means by which social actors at one largely Indigenous elementary school in Taiwan resolve the linguistic conflicts arising between official language policies and practical pedagogical practices. Special reference is made to Pangcah, an endangered indigenous language in contest with other languages, Mandarin inparticular,…