Adaptation of a Vocabulary Test from British Sign Language to American Sign Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mann, Wolfgang; Roy, Penny; Morgan, Gary

2016-01-01

This study describes the adaptation process of a vocabulary knowledge test for British Sign Language (BSL) into American Sign Language (ASL) and presents results from the first round of pilot testing with 20 deaf native ASL signers. The web-based test assesses the strength of deaf children's vocabulary knowledge by means of different mappings of…

Sensitivity and Specificity of French Language and Processing Measures for the Identification of Primary Language Impairment at Age 5

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thordardottir, Elin; Kehayia, Eva; Mazer, Barbara; Lessard, Nicole; Majnemer, Annette; Sutton, Ann; Trudeau, Natacha; Chilingaryan, Gevorg

2011-01-01

Purpose: Research on the diagnostic accuracy of different language measures has focused primarily on English. This study examined the sensitivity and specificity of a range of measures of language knowledge and language processing for the identification of primary language impairment (PLI) in French-speaking children. Because of the lack of…

A Large-Scale Analysis of Variance in Written Language.

PubMed

Johns, Brendan T; Jamieson, Randall K

2018-01-22

The collection of very large text sources has revolutionized the study of natural language, leading to the development of several models of language learning and distributional semantics that extract sophisticated semantic representations of words based on the statistical redundancies contained within natural language (e.g., Griffiths, Steyvers, & Tenenbaum, ; Jones & Mewhort, ; Landauer & Dumais, ; Mikolov, Sutskever, Chen, Corrado, & Dean, ). The models treat knowledge as an interaction of processing mechanisms and the structure of language experience. But language experience is often treated agnostically. We report a distributional semantic analysis that shows written language in fiction books varies appreciably between books from the different genres, books from the same genre, and even books written by the same author. Given that current theories assume that word knowledge reflects an interaction between processing mechanisms and the language environment, the analysis shows the need for the field to engage in a more deliberate consideration and curation of the corpora used in computational studies of natural language processing. Copyright © 2018 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

The interface between spoken and written language: developmental disorders.

PubMed

Hulme, Charles; Snowling, Margaret J

2014-01-01

We review current knowledge about reading development and the origins of difficulties in learning to read. We distinguish between the processes involved in learning to decode print, and the processes involved in reading for meaning (reading comprehension). At a cognitive level, difficulties in learning to read appear to be predominantly caused by deficits in underlying oral language skills. The development of decoding skills appears to depend critically upon phonological language skills, and variations in phoneme awareness, letter-sound knowledge and rapid automatized naming each appear to be causally related to problems in learning to read. Reading comprehension difficulties in contrast appear to be critically dependent on a range of oral language comprehension skills (including vocabulary knowledge and grammatical, morphological and pragmatic skills).

Clips as a knowledge based language

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Harrington, James B.

1987-01-01

CLIPS is a language for writing expert systems applications on a personal or small computer. Here, the CLIPS programming language is described and compared to three other artificial intelligence (AI) languages (LISP, Prolog, and OPS5) with regard to the processing they provide for the implementation of a knowledge based system (KBS). A discussion is given on how CLIPS would be used in a control system.

Complex Problem Solving in L1 Education: Senior High School Students' Knowledge of the Language Problem-Solving Process

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

van Velzen, Joke H.

2017-01-01

The solving of reasoning problems in first language (L1) education can produce an understanding of language, and student autonomy in language problem solving, both of which are contemporary goals in senior high school education. The purpose of this study was to obtain a better understanding of senior high school students' knowledge of the language…

Transferred L1 Strategies and L2 Syntactic Structure in L2 Sentence Comprehension.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Koda, Keiko

1993-01-01

The application of language processing skills between 2 languages with dissimilar morphosyntactic features was investigated with 72 American university students learning Japanese. Results suggest that learners' first- and second-language knowledge both play a significant role and that the linguistic knowledge and coding capability for text…

Some Aspects of Developing Background Knowledge in Second Language Acquisition Revisited

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zashchitina, Galina; Moysyak, Natalia

2017-01-01

The article focuses on defining how background knowledge impacts on second-language acquisition by giving a brief overview of schema theory, the interaction of the basic modes of information processing. A challenge of dealing with culturally specific texts in second language acquisition is also touched upon. Different research-supported views on…

Semantic Structure in Vocabulary Knowledge Interacts With Lexical and Sentence Processing in Infancy.

PubMed

Borovsky, Arielle; Ellis, Erica M; Evans, Julia L; Elman, Jeffrey L

2016-11-01

Although the size of a child's vocabulary associates with language-processing skills, little is understood regarding how this relation emerges. This investigation asks whether and how the structure of vocabulary knowledge affects language processing in English-learning 24-month-old children (N = 32; 18 F, 14 M). Parental vocabulary report was used to calculate semantic density in several early-acquired semantic categories. Performance on two language-processing tasks (lexical recognition and sentence processing) was compared as a function of semantic density. In both tasks, real-time comprehension was facilitated for higher density items, whereas lower density items experienced more interference. The findings indicate that language-processing skills develop heterogeneously and are influenced by the semantic network surrounding a known word. © 2016 The Authors. Child Development © 2016 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

Learning Additional Languages as Hierarchical Probabilistic Inference: Insights from First Language Processing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pajak, Bozena; Fine, Alex B.; Kleinschmidt, Dave F.; Jaeger, T. Florian

2016-01-01

We present a framework of second and additional language (L2/L"n") acquisition motivated by recent work on socio-indexical knowledge in first language (L1) processing. The distribution of linguistic categories covaries with socio-indexical variables (e.g., talker identity, gender, dialects). We summarize evidence that implicit…

Teachers' Knowledge of Second Language and Curriculum: A Narrative Experience (Conocimiento de los profesores acerca de la segunda lengua y el currículo: una experiencia narrativa)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mendieta Aguilar, Jenny Alexandra

2011-01-01

This study was carried out with a group of three teachers who work for the foreign languages department of a private university in Colombia. It was aimed at unveiling and characterizing the narrative knowledge these teachers hold about language teaching and learning processes as well as the role this knowledge plays in the constant construction…

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.

Lexical Processing in School-Age Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Children with Specific Language Impairment: The Role of Semantics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Haebig, Eileen; Kaushanskaya, Margarita; Weismer, Susan Ellis

2015-01-01

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and specific language impairment (SLI) often have immature lexical-semantic knowledge; however, the organization of lexical-semantic knowledge is poorly understood. This study examined lexical processing in school-age children with ASD, SLI, and typical development, who were matched on receptive…

Artificial intelligence, expert systems, computer vision, and natural language processing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gevarter, W. B.

1984-01-01

An overview of artificial intelligence (AI), its core ingredients, and its applications is presented. The knowledge representation, logic, problem solving approaches, languages, and computers pertaining to AI are examined, and the state of the art in AI is reviewed. The use of AI in expert systems, computer vision, natural language processing, speech recognition and understanding, speech synthesis, problem solving, and planning is examined. Basic AI topics, including automation, search-oriented problem solving, knowledge representation, and computational logic, are discussed.

Translation between representation languages

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vanbaalen, Jeffrey

1994-01-01

A capability for translating between representation languages is critical for effective knowledge base reuse. A translation technology for knowledge representation languages based on the use of an interlingua for communicating knowledge is described. The interlingua-based translation process consists of three major steps: translation from the source language into a subset of the interlingua, translation between subsets of the interlingua, and translation from a subset of the interlingua into the target language. The first translation step into the interlingua can typically be specified in the form of a grammar that describes how each top-level form in the source language translates into the interlingua. In cases where the source language does not have a declarative semantics, such a grammar is also a specification of a declarative semantics for the language. A methodology for building translators that is currently under development is described. A 'translator shell' based on this methodology is also under development. The shell has been used to build translators for multiple representation languages and those translators have successfully translated nontrivial knowledge bases.

A Cognitive Neural Architecture Able to Learn and Communicate through Natural Language.

PubMed

Golosio, Bruno; Cangelosi, Angelo; Gamotina, Olesya; Masala, Giovanni Luca

2015-01-01

Communicative interactions involve a kind of procedural knowledge that is used by the human brain for processing verbal and nonverbal inputs and for language production. Although considerable work has been done on modeling human language abilities, it has been difficult to bring them together to a comprehensive tabula rasa system compatible with current knowledge of how verbal information is processed in the brain. This work presents a cognitive system, entirely based on a large-scale neural architecture, which was developed to shed light on the procedural knowledge involved in language elaboration. The main component of this system is the central executive, which is a supervising system that coordinates the other components of the working memory. In our model, the central executive is a neural network that takes as input the neural activation states of the short-term memory and yields as output mental actions, which control the flow of information among the working memory components through neural gating mechanisms. The proposed system is capable of learning to communicate through natural language starting from tabula rasa, without any a priori knowledge of the structure of phrases, meaning of words, role of the different classes of words, only by interacting with a human through a text-based interface, using an open-ended incremental learning process. It is able to learn nouns, verbs, adjectives, pronouns and other word classes, and to use them in expressive language. The model was validated on a corpus of 1587 input sentences, based on literature on early language assessment, at the level of about 4-years old child, and produced 521 output sentences, expressing a broad range of language processing functionalities.

Neural correlates of language comprehension in autism spectrum disorders: when language conflicts with world knowledge.

PubMed

Tesink, Cathelijne M J Y; Buitelaar, Jan K; Petersson, Karl Magnus; van der Gaag, Rutger Jan; Teunisse, Jan-Pieter; Hagoort, Peter

2011-04-01

In individuals with ASD, difficulties with language comprehension are most evident when higher-level semantic-pragmatic language processing is required, for instance when context has to be used to interpret the meaning of an utterance. Until now, it is unclear at what level of processing and for what type of context these difficulties in language comprehension occur. Therefore, in the current fMRI study, we investigated the neural correlates of the integration of contextual information during auditory language comprehension in 24 adults with ASD and 24 matched control participants. Different levels of context processing were manipulated by using spoken sentences that were correct or contained either a semantic or world knowledge anomaly. Our findings demonstrated significant differences between the groups in inferior frontal cortex that were only present for sentences with a world knowledge anomaly. Relative to the ASD group, the control group showed significantly increased activation in left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG) for sentences with a world knowledge anomaly compared to correct sentences. This effect possibly indicates reduced integrative capacities of the ASD group. Furthermore, world knowledge anomalies elicited significantly stronger activation in right inferior frontal gyrus (RIFG) in the control group compared to the ASD group. This additional RIFG activation probably reflects revision of the situation model after new, conflicting information. The lack of recruitment of RIFG is possibly related to difficulties with exception handling in the ASD group. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Role of Native-Language Knowledge in the Perception of Casual Speech in a Second Language

PubMed Central

Mitterer, Holger; Tuinman, Annelie

2012-01-01

Casual speech processes, such as /t/-reduction, make word recognition harder. Additionally, word recognition is also harder in a second language (L2). Combining these challenges, we investigated whether L2 learners have recourse to knowledge from their native language (L1) when dealing with casual speech processes in their L2. In three experiments, production and perception of /t/-reduction was investigated. An initial production experiment showed that /t/-reduction occurred in both languages and patterned similarly in proper nouns but differed when /t/ was a verbal inflection. Two perception experiments compared the performance of German learners of Dutch with that of native speakers for nouns and verbs. Mirroring the production patterns, German learners’ performance strongly resembled that of native Dutch listeners when the reduced /t/ was part of a word stem, but deviated where /t/ was a verbal inflection. These results suggest that a casual speech process in a second language is problematic for learners when the process is not known from the leaner’s native language, similar to what has been observed for phoneme contrasts. PMID:22811675

Developing a Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) Assessment for Preservice Teachers Learning to Teach English as a Foreign Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baser, Derya; Kopcha, Theodore J.; Ozden, M. Yasar

2016-01-01

This paper reports the development and validation process of a self-assessment survey that examines technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) among preservice teachers learning to teach English as a foreign language (EFL). The survey, called TPACK-EFL, aims to provide an assessment tool for preservice foreign language teachers that…

Neural Correlates of Language Comprehension in Autism Spectrum Disorders: When Language Conflicts with World Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tesink, Cathelijne M. J. Y.; Buitelaar, Jan K.; Petersson, Karl Magnus; van der Gaag, Rutger Jan; Teunisse, Jan-Pieter; Hagoort, Peter

2011-01-01

In individuals with ASD, difficulties with language comprehension are most evident when higher-level semantic-pragmatic language processing is required, for instance when context has to be used to interpret the meaning of an utterance. Until now, it is unclear at what level of processing and for what type of context these difficulties in language…

An Evaluation on English Language Education Process in Turkey from the Viewpoints of University Preparatory School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dincer, Ali; Takkac, Mehmet; Akahn, Suna

2010-01-01

Many studies on effective language teaching process draw attention to the importance of teacher roles in this process, and give advice teachers to have prior knowledge about what their students know before beginning the instruction. This study is intended to draw an effective English language teacher profile by taking into consideration first year…

A Natural Language Interface Concordant with a Knowledge Base.

PubMed

Han, Yong-Jin; Park, Seong-Bae; Park, Se-Young

2016-01-01

The discordance between expressions interpretable by a natural language interface (NLI) system and those answerable by a knowledge base is a critical problem in the field of NLIs. In order to solve this discordance problem, this paper proposes a method to translate natural language questions into formal queries that can be generated from a graph-based knowledge base. The proposed method considers a subgraph of a knowledge base as a formal query. Thus, all formal queries corresponding to a concept or a predicate in the knowledge base can be generated prior to query time and all possible natural language expressions corresponding to each formal query can also be collected in advance. A natural language expression has a one-to-one mapping with a formal query. Hence, a natural language question is translated into a formal query by matching the question with the most appropriate natural language expression. If the confidence of this matching is not sufficiently high the proposed method rejects the question and does not answer it. Multipredicate queries are processed by regarding them as a set of collected expressions. The experimental results show that the proposed method thoroughly handles answerable questions from the knowledge base and rejects unanswerable ones effectively.

Science education for sustainability, epistemological reflections and educational practices: from natural sciences to trans-disciplinarity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Colucci-Gray, Laura; Perazzone, Anna; Dodman, Martin; Camino, Elena

2013-03-01

In this three-part article we seek to establish connections between the emerging framework of sustainability science and the methodological basis of research and practice in science education in order to bring forth knowledge and competences for sustainability. The first and second parts deal with the implications of taking a sustainability view in relation to knowledge processes. The complexity, uncertainty and urgency of global environmental problems challenge the foundations of reductionist Western science. Within such debate, the proposal of sustainability science advocates for inter-disciplinary and inter-paradigmatic collaboration and it includes the requirements of post- normal science proposing a respectful dialogue between experts and non-experts in the construction of new scientific knowledge. Such a change of epistemology is rooted into participation, deliberation and the gathering of extended-facts where cultural framings and values are the hard components in the face of soft facts. A reflection on language and communication processes is thus the focus of knowledge practices and educational approaches aimed at sustainability. Language contains the roots of conceptual thinking (including scientific knowledge) and each culture and society are defined and limited by the language that is used to describe and act upon the world. Within a scenario of sustainability, a discussion of scientific language is in order to retrace the connections between language and culture, and to promote a holistic view based on pluralism and dialogue. Drawing on the linguistic reflection, the third part gives examples of teaching and learning situations involving prospective science teachers in action-research contexts: these activities are set out to promote linguistic integration and to introduce reflexive process into science learning. Discussion will focus on the methodological features of a learning process that is akin to a communal and emancipatory research process within a sustainability scenario.

Knowledge Intensive Programming: A New Educational Computing Environment.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Seidman, Robert H.

1990-01-01

Comparison of the process of problem solving using a conventional procedural computer programing language (e.g., BASIC, Logo, Pascal), with the process when using a logic programing language (i.e., Prolog), focuses on the potential of the two types of programing languages to facilitate the transfer of problem-solving skills, cognitive development,…

Language differences in verbal short-term memory do not exclusively originate in the process of subvocal rehearsal.

PubMed

Thorn, A S; Gathercole, S E

2001-06-01

Language differences in verbal short-term memory were investigated in two experiments. In Experiment 1, bilinguals with high competence in English and French and monolingual English adults with extremely limited knowledge of French were assessed on their serial recall of words and nonwords in both languages. In all cases recall accuracy was superior in the language with which individuals were most familiar, a first-language advantage that remained when variation due to differential rates of articulation in the two languages was taken into account. In Experiment 2, bilinguals recalled lists of English and French words with and without concurrent articulatory suppression. First-language superiority persisted under suppression, suggesting that the language differences in recall accuracy were not attributable to slower rates of subvocal rehearsal in the less familiar language. The findings indicate that language-specific differences in verbal short-term memory do not exclusively originate in the subvocal rehearsal process. It is suggested that one source of language-specific variation might relate to the use of long-term knowledge to support short-term memory performance.

Psycholinguistically Oriented Second Language Research.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Juffs, Alan

2001-01-01

Reviews recent research that investigates second language performance from the perspective of sentence processing (on-line comprehension studies) and word recognition. Concentrates on describing methods that employ reaction time measures as correlates of processing difficulty or knowledge representation. (Author/VWL)

Sentence processing in the cerebral cortex.

PubMed

Sakai, K L; Hashimoto, R; Homae, F

2001-01-01

Human language is a unique faculty of the mind. It has been the ultimate mystery throughout the history of neuroscience. Despite many aphasia and functional imaging studies, the exact correlation between cortical language areas and subcomponents of the linguistic system has not been established. One notable drawback is that most functional imaging studies have tested language tasks at the word level, such as lexical decision and word generation tasks, thereby neglecting the syntactic aspects of the language faculty. As proposed by Chomsky, the critical knowledge of language involves universal grammar (UG), which governs the syntactic structure of sentences. In this article, we will review recent advances made by functional neuroimaging studies of language, focusing especially on sentence processing in the cerebral cortex. We also present the recent results of our functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study intended to identify cortical areas specifically involved in syntactic processing. A study of sentence processing that employs a newly developed technique, optical topography (OT), is also presented. Based on these findings, we propose a modular specialization of Broca's area, Wernicke's area, and the angular gyrus/supramarginal gyrus. The current direction of research in neuroscience is beginning to establish the existence of distinct modules responsible for our knowledge of language.

Executable medical guidelines with Arden Syntax-Applications in dermatology and obstetrics.

PubMed

Seitinger, Alexander; Rappelsberger, Andrea; Leitich, Harald; Binder, Michael; Adlassnig, Klaus-Peter

2016-08-12

Clinical decision support systems (CDSSs) are being developed to assist physicians in processing extensive data and new knowledge based on recent scientific advances. Structured medical knowledge in the form of clinical alerts or reminder rules, decision trees or tables, clinical protocols or practice guidelines, score algorithms, and others, constitute the core of CDSSs. Several medical knowledge representation and guideline languages have been developed for the formal computerized definition of such knowledge. One of these languages is Arden Syntax for Medical Logic Systems, an International Health Level Seven (HL7) standard whose development started in 1989. Its latest version is 2.10, which was presented in 2014. In the present report we discuss Arden Syntax as a modern medical knowledge representation and processing language, and show that this language is not only well suited to define clinical alerts, reminders, and recommendations, but can also be used to implement and process computerized medical practice guidelines. This section describes how contemporary software such as Java, server software, web-services, XML, is used to implement CDSSs based on Arden Syntax. Special emphasis is given to clinical decision support (CDS) that employs practice guidelines as its clinical knowledge base. Two guideline-based applications using Arden Syntax for medical knowledge representation and processing were developed. The first is a software platform for implementing practice guidelines from dermatology. This application employs fuzzy set theory and logic to represent linguistic and propositional uncertainty in medical data, knowledge, and conclusions. The second application implements a reminder system based on clinically published standard operating procedures in obstetrics to prevent deviations from state-of-the-art care. A to-do list with necessary actions specifically tailored to the gestational week/labor/delivery is generated. Today, with the latest versions of Arden Syntax and the application of contemporary software development methods, Arden Syntax has become a powerful and versatile medical knowledge representation and processing language, well suited to implement a large range of CDSSs, including clinical-practice-guideline-based CDSSs. Moreover, such CDS is provided and can be shared as a service by different medical institutions, redefining the sharing of medical knowledge. Arden Syntax is also highly flexible and provides developers the freedom to use up-to-date software design and programming patterns for external patient data access. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Review of Knowledge Enhanced Electronic Logic (KEEL) Technology

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-09-01

compiled. Two KEEL Engine processing models are available for most languages : The “Normal Model” processes information as if it was processed on an... language also makes it easy to “see” the functional relationships and the dynamic (interactive) nature of the language , allows one to interact with...for the Accelerated Processing Model ( Patent number 7,512,581 (3/31/2009)). In June 2006, application US 11/446/801 was submitted to support

Vocabulary Knowledge Predicts Lexical Processing: Evidence from a Group of Participants with Diverse Educational Backgrounds

PubMed Central

Mainz, Nina; Shao, Zeshu; Brysbaert, Marc; Meyer, Antje S.

2017-01-01

Vocabulary knowledge is central to a speaker's command of their language. In previous research, greater vocabulary knowledge has been associated with advantages in language processing. In this study, we examined the relationship between individual differences in vocabulary and language processing performance more closely by (i) using a battery of vocabulary tests instead of just one test, and (ii) testing not only university students (Experiment 1) but young adults from a broader range of educational backgrounds (Experiment 2). Five vocabulary tests were developed, including multiple-choice and open antonym and synonym tests and a definition test, and administered together with two established measures of vocabulary. Language processing performance was measured using a lexical decision task. In Experiment 1, vocabulary and word frequency were found to predict word recognition speed while we did not observe an interaction between the effects. In Experiment 2, word recognition performance was predicted by word frequency and the interaction between word frequency and vocabulary, with high-vocabulary individuals showing smaller frequency effects. While overall the individual vocabulary tests were correlated and showed similar relationships with language processing as compared to a composite measure of all tests, they appeared to share less variance in Experiment 2 than in Experiment 1. Implications of our findings concerning the assessment of vocabulary size in individual differences studies and the investigation of individuals from more varied backgrounds are discussed. PMID:28751871

Generating structure from experience: A retrieval-based model of language processing.

PubMed

Johns, Brendan T; Jones, Michael N

2015-09-01

Standard theories of language generally assume that some abstraction of linguistic input is necessary to create higher level representations of linguistic structures (e.g., a grammar). However, the importance of individual experiences with language has recently been emphasized by both usage-based theories (Tomasello, 2003) and grounded and situated theories (e.g., Zwaan & Madden, 2005). Following the usage-based approach, we present a formal exemplar model that stores instances of sentences across a natural language corpus, applying recent advances from models of semantic memory. In this model, an exemplar memory is used to generate expectations about the future structure of sentences, using a mechanism for prediction in language processing (Altmann & Mirković, 2009). The model successfully captures a broad range of behavioral effects-reduced relative clause processing (Reali & Christiansen, 2007), the role of contextual constraint (Rayner & Well, 1996), and event knowledge activation (Ferretti, Kutas, & McRae, 2007), among others. We further demonstrate how perceptual knowledge could be integrated into this exemplar-based framework, with the goal of grounding language processing in perception. Finally, we illustrate how an exemplar memory system could have been used in the cultural evolution of language. The model provides evidence that an impressive amount of language processing may be bottom-up in nature, built on the storage and retrieval of individual linguistic experiences. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Does Project-Based Learning Enhance Iranian EFL Learners' Vocabulary Recall and Retention?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shafaei, Azadeh; Rahim, Hajar Abdul

2015-01-01

Vocabulary knowledge is an integral part of second/foreign language learning. Thus, using teaching methods that can help learners retain and expand their vocabulary knowledge is necessary to facilitate the language learning process. The current research investigated the effectiveness of an interactive classroom method, known as Project-Based…

Survey of Natural Language Processing Techniques in Bioinformatics.

PubMed

Zeng, Zhiqiang; Shi, Hua; Wu, Yun; Hong, Zhiling

2015-01-01

Informatics methods, such as text mining and natural language processing, are always involved in bioinformatics research. In this study, we discuss text mining and natural language processing methods in bioinformatics from two perspectives. First, we aim to search for knowledge on biology, retrieve references using text mining methods, and reconstruct databases. For example, protein-protein interactions and gene-disease relationship can be mined from PubMed. Then, we analyze the applications of text mining and natural language processing techniques in bioinformatics, including predicting protein structure and function, detecting noncoding RNA. Finally, numerous methods and applications, as well as their contributions to bioinformatics, are discussed for future use by text mining and natural language processing researchers.

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.…

The Power of Folk Linguistic Knowledge in Language Policy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Albury, Nathan John

2017-01-01

Just as an expanded view of language policy now affords agency to many more actors across society than authorities and linguists alone, it also accepts that the dispositions these agents bring to language affairs influence language policy processes and outcomes. However, this paper makes the case that language policy may also be guided, to some…

Language Learning Strategies and Styles among Iranian Engineering and Political Science Graduate Students Studying Abroad

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alireza, Shakarami; Abdullah, Mardziha H.

2010-01-01

Language learning strategies are used with the explicit goal of helping learners improve their knowledge and understanding of a target language. They are the conscious thoughts and behaviors used by students to facilitate language learning tasks and to personalize language learning process. Learning styles on the other hand, are "general…

Separability of Lexical and Morphological Knowledge: Evidence from Language Minority Children

PubMed Central

Shahar-Yames, Daphna; Eviatar, Zohar; Prior, Anat

2018-01-01

Lexical and morphological knowledge of school-aged children are correlated with each other, and are often difficult to distinguish. One reason for this might be that many tasks currently used to assess morphological knowledge require children to inflect or derive real words in the language, thus recruiting their vocabulary knowledge. The current study investigated the possible separability of lexical and morphological knowledge using two complementary approaches. First, we examined the correlations between vocabulary and four morphological tasks tapping different aspects of morphological processing and awareness, and using either real-word or pseudo-word stimuli. Thus, we tested the hypothesis that different morphological tasks recruit lexical knowledge to various degrees. Second, we compared the Hebrew vocabulary and morphological knowledge of 5th grade language minority speaking children to that of their native speaking peers. This comparison allows us to ask whether reduced exposure to the societal language might differentially influence vocabulary and morphological knowledge. The results demonstrate that indeed different morphological tasks rely on lexical knowledge to varying degrees. In addition, language minority students had significantly lower performance in vocabulary and in morphological tasks that recruited vocabulary knowledge to a greater extent. In contrast, both groups performed similarly in abstract morphological tasks with a lower vocabulary load. These results demonstrate that lexical and morphological knowledge may rely on partially separable learning mechanisms, and highlight the importance of distinguishing between these two linguistic components. PMID:29515486

The Social N400 effect: how the presence of other listeners affects language comprehension.

PubMed

Rueschemeyer, Shirley-Ann; Gardner, Tom; Stoner, Cat

2015-02-01

During conversation, it is necessary to keep track of what others can and cannot understand. Previous research has focused largely on understanding the time course along which knowledge about interlocutors influences language comprehension/production rather than the cognitive process by which interlocutors take each other's perspective. In addition, most work has looked at the effects of knowledge about a speaker on a listener's comprehension, and not on the possible effects of other listeners on a participant's comprehension process. In the current study, we introduce a novel joint comprehension paradigm that addresses the cognitive processes underlying perspective taking during language comprehension. Specifically, we show that participants who understand a language stimulus, but are simultaneously aware that someone sitting next to them does not understand the same stimulus, show an electrophysiological marker of semantic integration difficulty (i.e., an N400-effect). Crucially, in a second group of participants, we demonstrate that presenting exactly the same sentences to the participant alone (i.e. without a co-listener) results in no N400-effect. Our results suggest that (1) information about co-listeners as well as the speaker affect language comprehension, and (2) the cognitive process by which we understand what others comprehend mirrors our own language comprehension processes.

Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition. The Cambridge Applied Linguistics Series.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Coady, James, Ed.; Huckin, Thomas, Ed.

A collection of essays on second language vocabulary learning includes: "Historical Trends in Second Language Vocabulary Instruction" (Cheryl Boyd Zimmerman); "The Lexical Plight in Second Language Reading: Words You Don't Know, Words You Think You Know, and Words You Can't Guess" (Batia Laufer); "Orthographic Knowledge in L2 Lexical Processing: A…

Brain Bases of Morphological Processing in Young Children

PubMed Central

Arredondo, Maria M.; Ip, Ka I; Hsu, Lucy Shih-Ju; Tardif, Twila; Kovelman, Ioulia

2017-01-01

How does the developing brain support the transition from spoken language to print? Two spoken language abilities form the initial base of child literacy across languages: knowledge of language sounds (phonology) and knowledge of the smallest units that carry meaning (morphology). While phonology has received much attention from the field, the brain mechanisms that support morphological competence for learning to read remain largely unknown. In the present study, young English-speaking children completed an auditory morphological awareness task behaviorally (n = 69, ages 6–12) and in fMRI (n = 16). The data revealed two findings: First, children with better morphological abilities showed greater activation in left temporo-parietal regions previously thought to be important for supporting phonological reading skills, suggesting that this region supports multiple language abilities for successful reading acquisition. Second, children showed activation in left frontal regions previously found active in young Chinese readers, suggesting morphological processes for reading acquisition might be similar across languages. These findings offer new insights for developing a comprehensive model of how spoken language abilities support children’s reading acquisition across languages. PMID:25930011

Online Text Processing: A Study of Iranian EFL Learners' Vocabulary Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ahangar, Abbas Ali; Izadi, Mehri

2015-01-01

The internet has developed into an important source of knowledge in recent times. It is used not just for engaging and entertaining users, but also for promoting language learning, especially for English as a Second/Foreign Language (ESL and EFL) learners spending long hours using internet, 85% of all web pages are in English. This experimental…

Field Dependence/Independence Cognitive Styles: Are They Significant at Different Levels of Vocabulary Knowledge?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rostampour, Mohammad; Niroomand, Seyyedeh Mitra

2014-01-01

Cognitive styles influence the performance of language learners and can predict their success in the process of language learning. Considering field dependence/independence cognitive styles, this study aims at determining if they are significant in English vocabulary knowledge. A number of EFL university students took part in the study. The…

Improving Student Teachers' Knowledge-Base in Language Education through Critical Reading

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mulumba, Mathias Bwanika

2016-01-01

The emergence of the digital era is redefining education and the pedagogical processes in an unpredictable manner. In the midst of the increased availability of print and online resources, the twenty-first century language teacher educator expects her (or his) student teachers to be reading beings if they are to improve their knowledge-base in…

Natural Language Processing: A Tutorial. Revision

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-01-01

English in word-for-word language translations. An oft-repeated (although fictional) anecdote illustrates the ... English by a language translation program, became: " The vodka is strong but 3 the steak is rotten." The point made is that vast amounts of knowledge...are required for effective language translations. The initial goal for Language Translation was "fully-automatic high-quality translation" (FAHOT).

NASA/DOD Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion Research Project. Paper 50: From student to entry-level professional: Examining the role of language and written communications in the reacculturation of aerospace engineering students

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pinelli, Thomas E.; Barclay, Rebecca O.; Keene, Michael L.; Kennedy, John M.; Hecht, Laura F.

1995-01-01

When students graduate and enter the world of work, they must make the transition from an academic to a professional knowledge community. Kenneth Bruffee's model of the social construction of knowledge suggests that language and written communication play a critical role in the reacculturation process that enables successful movement from one knowledge community to another. We present the results of a national (mail) survey that examined the technical communications abilities, skills, and competencies of 1,673 aerospace engineering students, who represent an academic knowledge community. These results are examined within the context of the technical communications behaviors and practices reported by 2,355 aerospace engineers and scientists employed in government and industry, who represent a professional knowledge community that the students expect to join. Bruffee's claim of the importance of language and written communication in the successful transition from an academic to a professional knowledge community is supported by the responses from the two communities we surveyed. Implications are offered for facilitating the reacculturation process of students to entry-level engineering professionals.

Formalizing Knowledge in Multi-Scale Agent-Based Simulations

PubMed Central

Somogyi, Endre; Sluka, James P.; Glazier, James A.

2017-01-01

Multi-scale, agent-based simulations of cellular and tissue biology are increasingly common. These simulations combine and integrate a range of components from different domains. Simulations continuously create, destroy and reorganize constituent elements causing their interactions to dynamically change. For example, the multi-cellular tissue development process coordinates molecular, cellular and tissue scale objects with biochemical, biomechanical, spatial and behavioral processes to form a dynamic network. Different domain specific languages can describe these components in isolation, but cannot describe their interactions. No current programming language is designed to represent in human readable and reusable form the domain specific knowledge contained in these components and interactions. We present a new hybrid programming language paradigm that naturally expresses the complex multi-scale objects and dynamic interactions in a unified way and allows domain knowledge to be captured, searched, formalized, extracted and reused. PMID:29338063

Formalizing Knowledge in Multi-Scale Agent-Based Simulations.

PubMed

Somogyi, Endre; Sluka, James P; Glazier, James A

2016-10-01

Multi-scale, agent-based simulations of cellular and tissue biology are increasingly common. These simulations combine and integrate a range of components from different domains. Simulations continuously create, destroy and reorganize constituent elements causing their interactions to dynamically change. For example, the multi-cellular tissue development process coordinates molecular, cellular and tissue scale objects with biochemical, biomechanical, spatial and behavioral processes to form a dynamic network. Different domain specific languages can describe these components in isolation, but cannot describe their interactions. No current programming language is designed to represent in human readable and reusable form the domain specific knowledge contained in these components and interactions. We present a new hybrid programming language paradigm that naturally expresses the complex multi-scale objects and dynamic interactions in a unified way and allows domain knowledge to be captured, searched, formalized, extracted and reused.

Artificial Intelligence and CALL.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Underwood, John H.

The potential application of artificial intelligence (AI) to computer-assisted language learning (CALL) is explored. Two areas of AI that hold particular interest to those who deal with language meaning--knowledge representation and expert systems, and natural-language processing--are described and examples of each are presented. AI contribution…

Marketing and Languages: An Integrative Model.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McCall, Ian

1988-01-01

A framework is proposed for an integrated course in which knowledge of a language is consciously related to the processes of interpersonal communication and the cultural aspects of marketing and negotiation. (Editor)

Knowledge acquisition from natural language for expert systems based on classification problem-solving methods

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gomez, Fernando

1989-01-01

It is shown how certain kinds of domain independent expert systems based on classification problem-solving methods can be constructed directly from natural language descriptions by a human expert. The expert knowledge is not translated into production rules. Rather, it is mapped into conceptual structures which are integrated into long-term memory (LTM). The resulting system is one in which problem-solving, retrieval and memory organization are integrated processes. In other words, the same algorithm and knowledge representation structures are shared by these processes. As a result of this, the system can answer questions, solve problems or reorganize LTM.

The Cortical Organization of Lexical Knowledge: A Dual Lexicon Model of Spoken Language Processing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gow, David W., Jr.

2012-01-01

Current accounts of spoken language assume the existence of a lexicon where wordforms are stored and interact during spoken language perception, understanding and production. Despite the theoretical importance of the wordform lexicon, the exact localization and function of the lexicon in the broader context of language use is not well understood.…

Web-Based English Language Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sarica, Gulcin Nagehan; Cavus, Nadire

2008-01-01

Knowledge of another language is an advantage and it gives people to look at the world and in particular to the world's cultures with a broader perspective. Learning English as a second language is the process by which students learn it in addition to their native language. Today, internet is an important part of our lives as English. For this…

The Dual Language Program Planner: A Guide for Designing and Implementing Dual Language Programs.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Howard, Elizabeth R.; Olague, Natalie; Rogers, David

This guide offers a framework to facilitate the planning process for dual language programs, assuming at least a basic working knowledge of the central characteristics and essential features of dual language models. It provides an overview of the various models that serve linguistically diverse student populations, defining the term dual language…

What Is Linguistics? ERIC Digest. [Revised].

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

ERIC Clearinghouse on Languages and Linguistics, Washington, DC.

Linguistics is the study of language, as contrasted with knowledge of a specific language. Formal linguistics is the study of the structures and processes of language, or how it works and is organized. Different approaches to formal linguistics include traditional or prescriptive, structural, and generative or transformational perspectives. Formal…

Knowledge and Authority in Shift: A Linguistic Ethnography of Multilingual News Media in the Buryat Territories of Russia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Graber, Kathryn Elizabeth

2012-01-01

How might institutional projects to improve the status of minority languages and publics have unintended and contradictory consequences? This dissertation examines media and language practices in order to illuminate the everyday sociocultural processes by which the value of knowledge is figured. It focuses on news media institutions in the Buryat…

"Language Is the Skin of My Thought": Integrating Wikipedia and AI to Support a Guillotine Player

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lops, Pasquale; Basile, Pierpaolo; de Gemmis, Marco; Semeraro, Giovanni

This paper describes OTTHO (On the Tip of my THOught), a system designed for solving a language game, called Guillotine, which demands knowledge covering a broad range of topics, such as movies, politics, literature, history, proverbs, and popular culture. The rule of the game is simple: the player observes five words, generally unrelated to each other, and in one minute she has to provide a sixth word, semantically connected to the others. The system exploits several knowledge sources, such as a dictionary, a set of proverbs, and Wikipedia to realize a knowledge infusion process. The paper describes the process of modeling these sources and the reasoning mechanism to find the solution of the game. The main motivation for designing an artificial player for Guillotine is the challenge of providing the machine with the cultural and linguistic background knowledge which makes it similar to a human being, with the ability of interpreting natural language documents and reasoning on their content. Experiments carried out showed promising results. Our feeling is that the presented approach has a great potential for other more practical applications besides solving a language game.

The Role of Island Constraints in Second Language Sentence Processing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Eunah; Baek, Soondo; Tremblay, Annie

2015-01-01

This study investigates whether adult second language learners' online processing of "wh"-dependencies is constrained by island constraints on movement. Proficiency-matched Spanish and Korean learners of English completed a grammaticality judgment task and a stop-making-sense task designed to examine their knowledge of the relative…

Expert Knowledge, Distinctiveness, and Levels of Processing in Language Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bird, Steve

2012-01-01

The foreign language vocabulary learning research literature often attributes strong mnemonic potency to the cognitive processing of meaning when learning words. Routinely cited as support for this idea are experiments by Craik and Tulving (C&T) demonstrating superior recognition and recall of studied words following semantic tasks ("deep"…

Found in Translation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carrol, Gareth; Conklin, Kathy; Gyllstad, Henrik

2016-01-01

Formulaic language represents a challenge to even the most proficient of language learners. Evidence is mixed as to whether native and nonnative speakers process it in a fundamentally different way, whether exposure can lead to more nativelike processing for nonnatives, and how L1 knowledge is used to aid comprehension. In this study we…

The generic task toolset: High level languages for the construction of planning and problem solving systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chandrasekaran, B.; Josephson, J.; Herman, D.

1987-01-01

The current generation of languages for the construction of knowledge-based systems as being at too low a level of abstraction is criticized, and the need for higher level languages for building problem solving systems is advanced. A notion of generic information processing tasks in knowledge-based problem solving is introduced. A toolset which can be used to build expert systems in a way that enhances intelligibility and productivity in knowledge acquistion and system construction is described. The power of these ideas is illustrated by paying special attention to a high level language called DSPL. A description is given of how it was used in the construction of a system called MPA, which assists with planning in the domain of offensive counter air missions.

iSTAR: The International STudy on Astronomy Reasoning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tatge, Coty B.; Slater, Timothy F.; Slater, Stephanie J.

2015-08-01

This paper reports the first steps taken in the International STudy on Astronomy Reasoning (iSTAR). The iSTAR Project is an attempt to look beyond traditional wisdom and practices in astronomy education, to discover the ways in which cognitive abilities and human culture interact to impact individuals’ understanding of and relationship to astronomy content knowledge. In contrast to many international studies that seek to rank nations by student performance on standardized tests, the iSTAR Project seeks to find ways that culture may unexpectedly enhance performance in astronomy. Using the Test of Astronomy Standards (TOAST) as a reasonable, initial proxy for the content knowledge a well educated person might know in astronomy, the iSTAR team then defined culture as a construct with five components: practices, traditional knowledge, historical and genealogical relationships, place-based knowledge, and language. Given the complexity of this construct, Stage 1 of the project focuses on the cultural component of language, and assumed that prior to the collection of data from students, the process of translating the TOAST could provide valuable expert-based information on the impact of language on astronomy knowledge. As such, the work began with a study of the translation process. For each of the languages used in the testing phase of the iSTAR protocol, a succession of translators and analysts were engaged, including two educated, non-astronomer native speakers, a native speaking astronomer, and a native speaking linguistics expert. Multiple translations were analyzed in order to make relevant meaning of differences in the translations, and provide commentary on the ways in which metaphor, idiom, cultural history are embedded in the language, providing potential advantages in the learning of astronomy. The first test languages were German, Hawaiian, and American Sign Language, and initial findings suggest that each of these languages provide specific advantages, related to a reduction in astronomy vocabulary, and encoded directionality related to the cardinal directions and the celestial sphere.

Teaching Reading to English Language Learners: Insights from Linguistics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lems, Kristin; Miller, Leah D.; Soro, Tenena M.

2009-01-01

Written specifically for K-12 educators, this accessible book explains the processes involved in second-language acquisition and provides a wealth of practical strategies for helping English language learners (ELLs) succeed at reading. The authors integrate knowledge from two fields that often remain disconnected--linguistics and literacy--with a…

Teacher Knowledge of Basic Language Concepts and Dyslexia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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

2011-01-01

Roughly one-fifth of the US population displays one or more symptoms of dyslexia: a specific learning disability that affects an individual's ability to process written language. Consequently, elementary school teachers are teaching students who struggle with inaccurate or slow reading, poor spelling, poor writing, and other language processing…

Acquiring and Processing Verb Argument Structure: Distributional Learning in a Miniature Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wonnacott, Elizabeth; Newport, Elissa L.; Tanenhaus, Michael K.

2008-01-01

Adult knowledge of a language involves correctly balancing lexically-based and more language-general patterns. For example, verb argument structures may sometimes readily generalize to new verbs, yet with particular verbs may resist generalization. From the perspective of acquisition, this creates significant learnability problems, with some…

Insights into Student Listening from Paused Transcription

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sheppard, Beth; Butler, Brian

2017-01-01

Listening comprehension is an essential and challenging skill for language learners, and listening instruction can also be a challenge for language instructors, since they have little access to the listening process inside students' minds. Greater knowledge about what learners perceive when they listen could help language teachers better tailor…

Sound to Language: Different Cortical Processing for First and Second Languages in Elementary School Children as Revealed by a Large-Scale Study Using fNIRS

PubMed Central

Ojima, Shiro; Matsuba-Kurita, Hiroko; Dan, Ippeita; Tsuzuki, Daisuke; Katura, Takusige; Hagiwara, Hiroko

2011-01-01

A large-scale study of 484 elementary school children (6–10 years) performing word repetition tasks in their native language (L1-Japanese) and a second language (L2-English) was conducted using functional near-infrared spectroscopy. Three factors presumably associated with cortical activation, language (L1/L2), word frequency (high/low), and hemisphere (left/right), were investigated. L1 words elicited significantly greater brain activation than L2 words, regardless of semantic knowledge, particularly in the superior/middle temporal and inferior parietal regions (angular/supramarginal gyri). The greater L1-elicited activation in these regions suggests that they are phonological loci, reflecting processes tuned to the phonology of the native language, while phonologically unfamiliar L2 words were processed like nonword auditory stimuli. The activation was bilateral in the auditory and superior/middle temporal regions. Hemispheric asymmetry was observed in the inferior frontal region (right dominant), and in the inferior parietal region with interactions: low-frequency words elicited more right-hemispheric activation (particularly in the supramarginal gyrus), while high-frequency words elicited more left-hemispheric activation (particularly in the angular gyrus). The present results reveal the strong involvement of a bilateral language network in children’s brains depending more on right-hemispheric processing while acquiring unfamiliar/low-frequency words. A right-to-left shift in laterality should occur in the inferior parietal region, as lexical knowledge increases irrespective of language. PMID:21350046

Sound to language: different cortical processing for first and second languages in elementary school children as revealed by a large-scale study using fNIRS.

PubMed

Sugiura, Lisa; Ojima, Shiro; Matsuba-Kurita, Hiroko; Dan, Ippeita; Tsuzuki, Daisuke; Katura, Takusige; Hagiwara, Hiroko

2011-10-01

A large-scale study of 484 elementary school children (6-10 years) performing word repetition tasks in their native language (L1-Japanese) and a second language (L2-English) was conducted using functional near-infrared spectroscopy. Three factors presumably associated with cortical activation, language (L1/L2), word frequency (high/low), and hemisphere (left/right), were investigated. L1 words elicited significantly greater brain activation than L2 words, regardless of semantic knowledge, particularly in the superior/middle temporal and inferior parietal regions (angular/supramarginal gyri). The greater L1-elicited activation in these regions suggests that they are phonological loci, reflecting processes tuned to the phonology of the native language, while phonologically unfamiliar L2 words were processed like nonword auditory stimuli. The activation was bilateral in the auditory and superior/middle temporal regions. Hemispheric asymmetry was observed in the inferior frontal region (right dominant), and in the inferior parietal region with interactions: low-frequency words elicited more right-hemispheric activation (particularly in the supramarginal gyrus), while high-frequency words elicited more left-hemispheric activation (particularly in the angular gyrus). The present results reveal the strong involvement of a bilateral language network in children's brains depending more on right-hemispheric processing while acquiring unfamiliar/low-frequency words. A right-to-left shift in laterality should occur in the inferior parietal region, as lexical knowledge increases irrespective of language.

Integrating natural language processing and web GIS for interactive knowledge domain visualization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Du, Fangming

Recent years have seen a powerful shift towards data-rich environments throughout society. This has extended to a change in how the artifacts and products of scientific knowledge production can be analyzed and understood. Bottom-up approaches are on the rise that combine access to huge amounts of academic publications with advanced computer graphics and data processing tools, including natural language processing. Knowledge domain visualization is one of those multi-technology approaches, with its aim of turning domain-specific human knowledge into highly visual representations in order to better understand the structure and evolution of domain knowledge. For example, network visualizations built from co-author relations contained in academic publications can provide insight on how scholars collaborate with each other in one or multiple domains, and visualizations built from the text content of articles can help us understand the topical structure of knowledge domains. These knowledge domain visualizations need to support interactive viewing and exploration by users. Such spatialization efforts are increasingly looking to geography and GIS as a source of metaphors and practical technology solutions, even when non-georeferenced information is managed, analyzed, and visualized. When it comes to deploying spatialized representations online, web mapping and web GIS can provide practical technology solutions for interactive viewing of knowledge domain visualizations, from panning and zooming to the overlay of additional information. This thesis presents a novel combination of advanced natural language processing - in the form of topic modeling - with dimensionality reduction through self-organizing maps and the deployment of web mapping/GIS technology towards intuitive, GIS-like, exploration of a knowledge domain visualization. A complete workflow is proposed and implemented that processes any corpus of input text documents into a map form and leverages a web application framework to let users explore knowledge domain maps interactively. This workflow is implemented and demonstrated for a data set of more than 66,000 conference abstracts.

Investigating the Explicit Instruction of Apology Speech Act on Pragmatic Development of Iranian EFL Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rajabi, Shima; Azizifar, Akbar; Gowhary, Habib

2015-01-01

Learning a foreign language requires students to acquire both grammatical knowledge and socio-pragmatic rules of a language. Pragmatic competence as one of the most difficult aspects of language provides several challenges to L2 learners in the process of learning a foreign language. To overcome this problem, EFL teachers should find the most…

Multilingual Learners and Foreign Language Acquisition: Insights into the Effects of Prior Linguistic Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

de la Fuente, Anahí Alba; Lacroix, Hugues

2015-01-01

In foreign language classrooms we often find that, in addition to their mother tongue (L1), learners already speak--or are learning--at least one other language. As a result, they already have an array of linguistic and cognitive skills that may prove very useful if they are adequately exploited during the language learning process. However, in…

Sentence Comprehension in Children with Specific Language Impairment: Effects of Input Rate and Phonological Working Memory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Montgomery, James W.

2004-01-01

Many children with specific language impairment (SLI) exhibit sentence comprehension difficulties. In some instances, these difficulties appear to be related to poor linguistic knowledge and, in other instances, to inferior general processing abilities. Two processing deficiencies evidenced by these children include reduced linguistic processing…

The Process Genre Writing Approach; An Alternative Option for the Modern Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tudor, Emma

2017-01-01

"Writing involves knowledge about the language, the context in which writing happens and skills in using language. Writing development happens by drawing out the learners' potential and providing input to which learners respond" (Badger & White, 2000.) Taking this in to account, the Process Genre Approach in writing classes can be…

An Initial Investigation of the Neural Correlates of Word Processing in Preschoolers with Specific Language Impairment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Haebig, Eileen; Leonard, Laurence; Usler, Evan; Deevy, Patricia; Weber, Christine

2018-01-01

Purpose: Previous behavioral studies have found deficits in lexical--semantic abilities in children with specific language impairment (SLI), including reduced depth and breadth of word knowledge. This study explored the neural correlates of early emerging familiar word processing in preschoolers with SLI and typical development. Method: Fifteen…

L2 Processing of Plural Inflection in English

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Song, Yoonsang

2015-01-01

This study investigates (1) whether late second language (L2) learners can attain native-like knowledge of English plural inflection even when their first language (L1) lacks an equivalent and (2) whether they construct hierarchically structured representations during online sentence processing like native speakers. In a self-paced reading task,…

GALEN: a third generation terminology tool to support a multipurpose national coding system for surgical procedures.

PubMed

Trombert-Paviot, B; Rodrigues, J M; Rogers, J E; Baud, R; van der Haring, E; Rassinoux, A M; Abrial, V; Clavel, L; Idir, H

2000-09-01

Generalised architecture for languages, encyclopedia and nomenclatures in medicine (GALEN) has developed a new generation of terminology tools based on a language independent model describing the semantics and allowing computer processing and multiple reuses as well as natural language understanding systems applications to facilitate the sharing and maintaining of consistent medical knowledge. During the European Union 4 Th. framework program project GALEN-IN-USE and later on within two contracts with the national health authorities we applied the modelling and the tools to the development of a new multipurpose coding system for surgical procedures named CCAM in a minority language country, France. On one hand, we contributed to a language independent knowledge repository and multilingual semantic dictionaries for multicultural Europe. On the other hand, we support the traditional process for creating a new coding system in medicine which is very much labour consuming by artificial intelligence tools using a medically oriented recursive ontology and natural language processing. We used an integrated software named CLAW (for classification workbench) to process French professional medical language rubrics produced by the national colleges of surgeons domain experts into intermediate dissections and to the Grail reference ontology model representation. From this language independent concept model representation, on one hand, we generate with the LNAT natural language generator controlled French natural language to support the finalization of the linguistic labels (first generation) in relation with the meanings of the conceptual system structure. On the other hand, the Claw classification manager proves to be very powerful to retrieve the initial domain experts rubrics list with different categories of concepts (second generation) within a semantic structured representation (third generation) bridge to the electronic patient record detailed terminology.

The role of language in emotion: predictions from psychological constructionism

PubMed Central

Lindquist, Kristen A.; MacCormack, Jennifer K.; Shablack, Holly

2015-01-01

Common sense suggests that emotions are physical types that have little to do with the words we use to label them. Yet recent psychological constructionist accounts reveal that language is a fundamental element in emotion that is constitutive of both emotion experiences and perceptions. According to the psychological constructionist Conceptual Act Theory (CAT), an instance of emotion occurs when information from one’s body or other people’s bodies is made meaningful in light of the present situation using concept knowledge about emotion. The CAT suggests that language plays a role in emotion because language supports the conceptual knowledge used to make meaning of sensations from the body and world in a given context. In the present paper, we review evidence from developmental and cognitive science to reveal that language scaffolds concept knowledge in humans, helping humans to acquire abstract concepts such as emotion categories across the lifespan. Critically, language later helps individuals use concepts to make meaning of on-going sensory perceptions. Building on this evidence, we outline predictions from a psychological constructionist model of emotion in which language serves as the “glue” for emotion concept knowledge, binding concepts to embodied experiences and in turn shaping the ongoing processing of sensory information from the body and world to create emotional experiences and perceptions. PMID:25926809

Language and culture modulate online semantic processing.

PubMed

Ellis, Ceri; Kuipers, Jan R; Thierry, Guillaume; Lovett, Victoria; Turnbull, Oliver; Jones, Manon W

2015-10-01

Language has been shown to influence non-linguistic cognitive operations such as colour perception, object categorization and motion event perception. Here, we show that language also modulates higher level processing, such as semantic knowledge. Using event-related brain potentials, we show that highly fluent Welsh-English bilinguals require significantly less processing effort when reading sentences in Welsh which contain factually correct information about Wales, than when reading sentences containing the same information presented in English. Crucially, culturally irrelevant information was processed similarly in both Welsh and English. Our findings show that even in highly proficient bilinguals, language interacts with factors associated with personal identity, such as culture, to modulate online semantic processing. © The Author (2015). Published by Oxford University Press.

School Leadership along the Trajectory from Monolingual to Multilingual

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ascenzi-Moreno, Laura; Hesson, Sarah; Menken, Kate

2016-01-01

This article explores the critical role of school leaders in language policy change, and specifically in shifting their language education policies and practices from monolingual to multilingual. We examine the process of language policy change in three schools that were involved in a project aimed at increasing the knowledge base of school…

Linguistic and Literacy Predictors of Early Spelling in First and Second Language Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Keilty, Megan; Harrison, Gina L.

2015-01-01

Error analyses using a multidimensional measure were conducted on the misspellings of Kindergarten children speaking English as a first (EL1) and English as a second language (ESL) in order to detect any differences in early spelling ability between language groups. Oral vocabulary, syntactic knowledge, phonological processing, letter/word…

Language Issues in Literacy and Bilingual/Multicultural Education. Harvard Educational Review Reprint. Series No. 22.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Minami, Masahiko, Ed.; Kennedy, Bruce P., Ed.

This collection of articles related to language issues and literacy and bilingual and multicultural education include the following: "Three Processes in the Child's Acquisition of Syntax" (Roger Brown and Ursula Bellugi); "Pre-School Children's Knowledge of English Phonology" (Charles Read); "Stages in Language Development and Reading Exposure"…

Neurolinguistic Foundations to Methods of Teaching a Second Language.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Walsh, Terrence M.; Diller, Karl C.

Applied linguistic theory is examined in light of neuroscientific knowledge, especially in regard to the structure and function of the cerebral cortex, in order to illuminate the process and methods of teaching or learning language. Wernicke's Area and Broca's Area are parts of the brain that have been associated with language function.…

Seafood Processing: Unit F#3 Grade 5. Project COULD: Career Orientation Utilizing Language Development.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Coos County Intermediate Education District, North Bend, OR.

Project COULD (Career Orientation Utilizing Language Development) was developed as a means of building skills, knowledges, and attitudes on elementary children's previously acquired backgrounds. Children learn to speak the grammar and vocabulary characteristic of the language heard most frequently at home and in the immediate environment. A series…

Cross-Language Transfer of Orthographic Processing Skills: A Study of French Children Who Learn English at School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Commissaire, Eva; Duncan, Lynne G.; Casalis, Severine

2011-01-01

This study explores the nature of orthographic processing skills among French-speaking children in Grades 6 and 8 who are learning English at school as a second language (L2). Two aspects of orthographic processing skills are thought to form a convergent construct in monolingual beginning readers: word-specific knowledge (e.g. "rain-rane") and…

Comparative Studies on the Roles of Linguistic Knowledge and Sentence Processing Speed in L2 Listening and Reading Comprehension in an EFL Tertiary Setting

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oh, Eunjou

2016-01-01

The present study investigated the relative contributions of vocabulary knowledge, grammar knowledge, and processing speed to second language listening and reading comprehension. Seventy-five Korean university students participated in the study. Results showed the three tested components had a significant portion of shared variance in explaining…

Systems Biology Graphical Notation: Process Description language Level 1 Version 1.3.

PubMed

Moodie, Stuart; Le Novère, Nicolas; Demir, Emek; Mi, Huaiyu; Villéger, Alice

2015-09-04

The Systems Biological Graphical Notation (SBGN) is an international community effort for standardized graphical representations of biological pathways and networks. The goal of SBGN is to provide unambiguous pathway and network maps for readers with different scientific backgrounds as well as to support efficient and accurate exchange of biological knowledge between different research communities, industry, and other players in systems biology. Three SBGN languages, Process Description (PD), Entity Relationship (ER) and Activity Flow (AF), allow for the representation of different aspects of biological and biochemical systems at different levels of detail. The SBGN Process Description language represents biological entities and processes between these entities within a network. SBGN PD focuses on the mechanistic description and temporal dependencies of biological interactions and transformations. The nodes (elements) are split into entity nodes describing, e.g., metabolites, proteins, genes and complexes, and process nodes describing, e.g., reactions and associations. The edges (connections) provide descriptions of relationships (or influences) between the nodes, such as consumption, production, stimulation and inhibition. Among all three languages of SBGN, PD is the closest to metabolic and regulatory pathways in biological literature and textbooks, but its well-defined semantics offer a superior precision in expressing biological knowledge.

Neural reuse of action perception circuits for language, concepts and communication.

PubMed

Pulvermüller, Friedemann

2018-01-01

Neurocognitive and neurolinguistics theories make explicit statements relating specialized cognitive and linguistic processes to specific brain loci. These linking hypotheses are in need of neurobiological justification and explanation. Recent mathematical models of human language mechanisms constrained by fundamental neuroscience principles and established knowledge about comparative neuroanatomy offer explanations for where, when and how language is processed in the human brain. In these models, network structure and connectivity along with action- and perception-induced correlation of neuronal activity co-determine neurocognitive mechanisms. Language learning leads to the formation of action perception circuits (APCs) with specific distributions across cortical areas. Cognitive and linguistic processes such as speech production, comprehension, verbal working memory and prediction are modelled by activity dynamics in these APCs, and combinatorial and communicative-interactive knowledge is organized in the dynamics within, and connections between APCs. The network models and, in particular, the concept of distributionally-specific circuits, can account for some previously not well understood facts about the cortical 'hubs' for semantic processing and the motor system's role in language understanding and speech sound recognition. A review of experimental data evaluates predictions of the APC model and alternative theories, also providing detailed discussion of some seemingly contradictory findings. Throughout, recent disputes about the role of mirror neurons and grounded cognition in language and communication are assessed critically. Copyright © 2017 The Author. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Using narrative as a bridge: linking language processing models with real-life communication.

PubMed

Whitworth, Anne

2010-02-01

In chronic aphasia, maximizing generalization of improved language abilities from clinical tasks to everyday communication can require the same systematic planning process as the early stages of therapy, often drawing on additional areas of knowledge and successes from other clinical populations. The use of narrative structure is shown here to be a useful framework for building on the developments within sentence processing impairments in aphasia and creating a bridge to more real-life language tasks. An intervention based on narrative structure is described with two people with different language profiles and at different stages of the chronic aphasia spectrum. The insights gained in assessing language ability, underpinning intervention, and capturing therapeutic changes are demonstrated. Thieme Medical Publishers.

Language-guided visual processing affects reasoning: the role of referential and spatial anchoring.

PubMed

Dumitru, Magda L; Joergensen, Gitte H; Cruickshank, Alice G; Altmann, Gerry T M

2013-06-01

Language is more than a source of information for accessing higher-order conceptual knowledge. Indeed, language may determine how people perceive and interpret visual stimuli. Visual processing in linguistic contexts, for instance, mirrors language processing and happens incrementally, rather than through variously-oriented fixations over a particular scene. The consequences of this atypical visual processing are yet to be determined. Here, we investigated the integration of visual and linguistic input during a reasoning task. Participants listened to sentences containing conjunctions or disjunctions (Nancy examined an ant and/or a cloud) and looked at visual scenes containing two pictures that either matched or mismatched the nouns. Degree of match between nouns and pictures (referential anchoring) and between their expected and actual spatial positions (spatial anchoring) affected fixations as well as judgments. We conclude that language induces incremental processing of visual scenes, which in turn becomes susceptible to reasoning errors during the language-meaning verification process. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Relationship between Text Comprehension and Second Language Incidental Vocabulary Acquisition: A Matter of Topic Familiarity?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pulido, Diana

2007-01-01

The study reported in this article describes second language (L2) vocabulary learning outcomes associated with adult L2 reading comprehension processes, thus connecting L2 learning with the complex cognitive and linguistic processing involved in reading. The study aimed to determine whether background knowledge moderated the relationship between…

Proform-Antecedent Linking in Listeners with Language Impairments and Unimpaired Listeners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Engel, Samantha Michelle

2016-01-01

This dissertation explores how listeners extract meaning from personal and reflexive pronouns in spoken language. To be understood, words like her and herself must be linked to a prior element in the speech stream (or antecedent). This process draws on syntactic knowledge and verbal working memory processes. I present two original research studies…

The Role of Composing Process and Coherence/Cohesion in FFL Writing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yetis, Veda Aslim

2017-01-01

The aim of this paper is to examine the role of composing process and knowledge about coherence/cohesion in French foreign language writing skill. Research sample consists of 35 Turkish students studying French language teaching at a Turkish university. The participants were first given a test containing of three parts in order to determine their…

Processing Strategies by Beginning L2 Learners of English and Spanish: A Crosslinguistic Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brandl, Anel

2013-01-01

A central issue in second language acquisition (SLA) research is the relationship between morphosyntactic and lexical-semantic knowledge among L2 learners. It has been proposed that, L2 language acquisition starts with transfer of L1 semantic and morphosyntactic processing strategies; however, it has been observed that, at lower proficiency…

Understanding a technical language: A schema-based approach

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Falzon, P.

1984-01-01

Workers in many job categories tend to develop technical languages, which are restricted subjects of natural language. A better knowledge of these retrictions provides guidelines for the design of the restricted languages of interactive systems. Accordingly, a technical language used by air-traffic controllers in their communications with pilots was studied. A method of analysis is presented that allows the schemata underlying each category of messages to be identified. This schematic knowledge was implemented in programs, which assume that the goal-oriented aspect of technical languages (and particularly the restricted domain of discourse) limits the processes and the data necessary in order to understand the messages (monosemy, limited vocabulary, evocation of the schemata by some command words, absence of syntax). The programs can interpret, and translate into sequences of action, the messages emitted by the controllers.

Towards Automatic Treatment of Natural Language.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lonsdale, Deryle

1984-01-01

Because automated natural language processing relies heavily on the still developing fields of linguistics, knowledge representation, and computational linguistics, no system is capable of mimicking human linguistic capabilities. For the present, interactive systems may be used to augment today's technology. (MSE)

Attentional Processing of Input in Explicit and Implicit Conditions: An Eye-Tracking Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Indrarathne, Bimali; Kormos, Judit

2017-01-01

In this study we examined language learners' attentional processing of a target syntactic construction in written L2 input in different input conditions, the change in learners' knowledge of the targeted construction in these conditions, and the relationship between the change in knowledge and attentional processing. One hundred L2 learners of…

Hemispheric Asymmetry in Event Knowledge Activation During Incremental Language Comprehension: A Visual Half-Field ERP Study

PubMed Central

Metusalem, Ross; Kutas, Marta; Urbach, Thomas P.; Elman, Jeffrey L.

2016-01-01

During incremental language comprehension, the brain activates knowledge of described events, including knowledge elements that constitute semantic anomalies in their linguistic context. The present study investigates hemispheric asymmetries in this process, with the aim of advancing our understanding of the neural basis and functional properties of event knowledge activation during incremental comprehension. In a visual half-field event-related brain potential (ERP) experiment, participants read brief discourses in which the third sentence contained a word that was either highly expected, semantically anomalous but related to the described event, or semantically anomalous but unrelated to the described event. For both visual fields of target word presentation, semantically anomalous words elicited N400 ERP components of greater amplitude than did expected words. Crucially, event-related anomalous words elicited a reduced N400 relative to event-unrelated anomalous words only with left visual field/right hemisphere presentation. This result suggests that right hemisphere processes are critical to the activation of event knowledge elements that violate the linguistic context, and in doing so informs existing theories of hemispheric asymmetries in semantic processing during language comprehension. Additionally, this finding coincides with past research suggesting a crucial role for the right hemisphere in elaborative inference generation, raises interesting questions regarding hemispheric coordination in generating event-specific linguistic expectancies, and more generally highlights the possibility of functional dissociation between event knowledge activation for the generation of elaborative inferences and for linguistic expectancies. PMID:26878980

Hemispheric asymmetry in event knowledge activation during incremental language comprehension: A visual half-field ERP study.

PubMed

Metusalem, Ross; Kutas, Marta; Urbach, Thomas P; Elman, Jeffrey L

2016-04-01

During incremental language comprehension, the brain activates knowledge of described events, including knowledge elements that constitute semantic anomalies in their linguistic context. The present study investigates hemispheric asymmetries in this process, with the aim of advancing our understanding of the neural basis and functional properties of event knowledge activation during incremental comprehension. In a visual half-field event-related brain potential (ERP) experiment, participants read brief discourses in which the third sentence contained a word that was either highly expected, semantically anomalous but related to the described event (Event-Related), or semantically anomalous but unrelated to the described event (Event-Unrelated). For both visual fields of target word presentation, semantically anomalous words elicited N400 ERP components of greater amplitude than did expected words. Crucially, Event-Related anomalous words elicited a reduced N400 relative to Event-Unrelated anomalous words only with left visual field/right hemisphere presentation. This result suggests that right hemisphere processes are critical to the activation of event knowledge elements that violate the linguistic context, and in doing so informs existing theories of hemispheric asymmetries in semantic processing during language comprehension. Additionally, this finding coincides with past research suggesting a crucial role for the right hemisphere in elaborative inference generation, raises interesting questions regarding hemispheric coordination in generating event-specific linguistic expectancies, and more generally highlights the possibility of functional dissociation of event knowledge activation for the generation of elaborative inferences and for linguistic expectancies. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Inferring heuristic classification hierarchies from natural language input

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hull, Richard; Gomez, Fernando

1993-01-01

A methodology for inferring hierarchies representing heuristic knowledge about the check out, control, and monitoring sub-system (CCMS) of the space shuttle launch processing system from natural language input is explained. Our method identifies failures explicitly and implicitly described in natural language by domain experts and uses those descriptions to recommend classifications for inclusion in the experts' heuristic hierarchies.

Writing Strategy Instruction: Its Impact on Writing in a Second Language for Academic Purposes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

De Silva, Radhika

2015-01-01

Writing for academic purposes in a second/foreign language is a major challenge faced by many students at both secondary and tertiary levels. This suggests that displaying content knowledge and understanding of a subject through a second language is a very complex process. This article discusses the findings of a longitudinal intervention study…

Higher-order language dysfunctions as a possible neurolinguistic endophenotype for schizophrenia: Evidence from patients and their unaffected first degree relatives.

PubMed

Pawełczyk, Agnieszka; Łojek, Emila; Żurner, Natalia; Gawłowska-Sawosz, Marta; Pawełczyk, Tomasz

2018-05-31

The purpose of the study was to examine the presence of pragmatic dysfunctions in first episode (FE) subjects and their healthy first degree relatives as a potential endophenotype for schizophrenia. Thirty-four FE patients, 34 parents of the patients (REL) and 32 healthy controls (HC) took part in the study. Pragmatic language functions were evaluated with the Right Hemisphere Language Battery, attention and executive functions were controlled, as well as age and education level. The parents differed from HC but not from their FE offspring with regard to overall level of language and communication and the general knowledge component of language processing. The FE participants differed from HC in comprehension of inferred meaning, emotional prosody, discourse dimensions, overall level of language and communication, language processing with regard to general knowledge and communication competences. The FE participants differed from REL regarding discourse dimensions. Our findings suggest that pragmatic dysfunctions may act as vulnerability markers of schizophrenia; their assessment may help in the diagnosis of early stages of the illness and in understanding its pathophysiology. In future research the adoptive and biological parents of schizophrenia patients should be compared to elucidate which language failures reflect genetic vulnerability and which ones environmental factors. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Processing voiceless vowels in Japanese: Effects of language-specific phonological knowledge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ogasawara, Naomi

2005-04-01

There has been little research on processing allophonic variation in the field of psycholinguistics. This study focuses on processing the voiced/voiceless allophonic alternation of high vowels in Japanese. Three perception experiments were conducted to explore how listeners parse out vowels with the voicing alternation from other segments in the speech stream and how the different voicing statuses of the vowel affect listeners' word recognition process. The results from the three experiments show that listeners use phonological knowledge of their native language for phoneme processing and for word recognition. However, interactions of the phonological and acoustic effects are observed to be different in each process. The facilitatory phonological effect and the inhibitory acoustic effect cancel out one another in phoneme processing; while in word recognition, the facilitatory phonological effect overrides the inhibitory acoustic effect.

Monitoring Different Phonological Parameters of Sign Language Engages the Same Cortical Language Network but Distinctive Perceptual Ones.

PubMed

Cardin, Velia; Orfanidou, Eleni; Kästner, Lena; Rönnberg, Jerker; Woll, Bencie; Capek, Cheryl M; Rudner, Mary

2016-01-01

The study of signed languages allows the dissociation of sensorimotor and cognitive neural components of the language signal. Here we investigated the neurocognitive processes underlying the monitoring of two phonological parameters of sign languages: handshape and location. Our goal was to determine if brain regions processing sensorimotor characteristics of different phonological parameters of sign languages were also involved in phonological processing, with their activity being modulated by the linguistic content of manual actions. We conducted an fMRI experiment using manual actions varying in phonological structure and semantics: (1) signs of a familiar sign language (British Sign Language), (2) signs of an unfamiliar sign language (Swedish Sign Language), and (3) invented nonsigns that violate the phonological rules of British Sign Language and Swedish Sign Language or consist of nonoccurring combinations of phonological parameters. Three groups of participants were tested: deaf native signers, deaf nonsigners, and hearing nonsigners. Results show that the linguistic processing of different phonological parameters of sign language is independent of the sensorimotor characteristics of the language signal. Handshape and location were processed by different perceptual and task-related brain networks but recruited the same language areas. The semantic content of the stimuli did not influence this process, but phonological structure did, with nonsigns being associated with longer RTs and stronger activations in an action observation network in all participants and in the supramarginal gyrus exclusively in deaf signers. These results suggest higher processing demands for stimuli that contravene the phonological rules of a signed language, independently of previous knowledge of signed languages. We suggest that the phonological characteristics of a language may arise as a consequence of more efficient neural processing for its perception and production.

Finding the music of speech: Musical knowledge influences pitch processing in speech.

PubMed

Vanden Bosch der Nederlanden, Christina M; Hannon, Erin E; Snyder, Joel S

2015-10-01

Few studies comparing music and language processing have adequately controlled for low-level acoustical differences, making it unclear whether differences in music and language processing arise from domain-specific knowledge, acoustic characteristics, or both. We controlled acoustic characteristics by using the speech-to-song illusion, which often results in a perceptual transformation to song after several repetitions of an utterance. Participants performed a same-different pitch discrimination task for the initial repetition (heard as speech) and the final repetition (heard as song). Better detection was observed for pitch changes that violated rather than conformed to Western musical scale structure, but only when utterances transformed to song, indicating that music-specific pitch representations were activated and influenced perception. This shows that music-specific processes can be activated when an utterance is heard as song, suggesting that the high-level status of a stimulus as either language or music can be behaviorally dissociated from low-level acoustic factors. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A Quantitative Investigation of ESL Teacher Knowledge in Australian Adult Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yazdanpanah, Lilly K.

2015-01-01

English as a second language (ESL) teaching is partly a thinking process in which teacher knowledge plays a pivotal role in making instructional choices (Breen, Hird, Milton, Oliver, & Thwaite, 2001). The present study contributes to understandings of teacher knowledge by exploring the types of knowledge, which practicing teachers value in…

A Critical Reflection on Knowledge Hierarchies, Language and Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Langthaler, Margarita; Witjes, Nina; Slezak, Gabriele

2012-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the discussion about the developmental value of knowledge by reflecting on the "knowledge for development" (K4D) paradigm. In particular, it draws attention to the interaction between linguistic and communicative processes and the areas of power, knowledge and education. This is…

The Interface of Pacific and Other Knowledges in a Supplementary Education Site

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fairbairn-Dunlop, Peggy

2014-01-01

Because identity (language and culture) are central to Pacific knowledge and knowledge construction processes, Pacific students' educational experiences should be viewed through a cultural lens that sees Pacific knowledge and practices as valid and valued. This study explores the relationship between culture and educational outcomes as seen in how…

ISPE: A knowledge-based system for fluidization studies

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

Reddy, S.

1991-01-01

Chemical engineers use mathematical simulators to design, model, optimize and refine various engineering plants/processes. This procedure requires the following steps: (1) preparation of an input data file according to the format required by the target simulator; (2) excecuting the simulation; and (3) analyzing the results of the simulation to determine if all specified goals'' are satisfied. If the goals are not met, the input data file must be modified and the simulation repeated. This multistep process is continued until satisfactory results are obtained. This research was undertaken to develop a knowledge based system, IPSE (Intelligent Process Simulation Environment), that canmore » enhance the productivity of chemical engineers/modelers by serving as an intelligent assistant to perform a variety tasks related to process simulation. ASPEN, a widely used simulator by the US Department of Energy (DOE) at Morgantown Energy Technology Center (METC) was selected as the target process simulator in the project. IPSE, written in the C language, was developed using a number of knowledge-based programming paradigms: object-oriented knowledge representation that uses inheritance and methods, rulebased inferencing (includes processing and propagation of probabilistic information) and data-driven programming using demons. It was implemented using the knowledge based environment LASER. The relationship of IPSE with the user, ASPEN, LASER and the C language is shown in Figure 1.« less

Teaching Grammar through Task-Based Language Teaching to Young EFL Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yildiz, Mustafa; Senel, Mufit

2017-01-01

The present study investigates the effects of Task-Based Language Teaching on students' grammar knowledge in the field of teaching grammar. It has been studied with 32 students from 8th grade during a two-and-a-half-month process. Throughout this process, students firstly are applied a pre-test to examine their level and to confirm whether there…

The Languages of Learning: How Children Talk, Write, Dance, Draw, and Sing Their Understanding of the World.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gallas, Karen

Noting children's natural proclivity to interpret language freely and use that potential to expand and develop as learners, this book offers a new approach to understanding how young children communicate their knowledge of the world and how that understanding can transform the educative process. The book also describes the process of conducting…

Teaching foreign languages to technical students by means of educational online technologies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ivleva, Natalia V.; Fibikh, Ekaterina V.

2015-01-01

The article reveals new methods of effectiveness increase in teaching foreign languages to technical students using information and communication technologies and their practical implementation at the premises of the Foreign Languages Resource Center of Siberian State Aerospace University. Adoption of information and communication technologies to the educational process is based on students' independent language learning that encourages more productive development of language competences mastered by students and future specialists in a special area of technical knowledge as a whole.

Indigenous knowledge and languages in the teaching and learning of science: A focus on a rural primary school in Zimbabwe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shizha, Edward

Teachers are known for their "gate-keeping" roles in schools, especially in the classroom setting. They process and decide what "knowledge" is "valid" and "appropriate" for students. They also decide when and how the knowledge should be mediated to students. Their gate-keeping role marginalizes some forms of knowledge while validating and legitimating others. This qualitative and constructivist-interpretive case study is an exploration and description of ten rural primary school teachers' experiences in teaching science using indigenous perspectives in Zimbabwe. The purpose of the study was to discover and describe, using qualitative inquiry, how teachers incorporate indigenous knowledge and languages in teaching science in a rural primary school in Zimbabwe. The study also sought to understand teachers' mediation techniques in the process of bridging the cultural gap between formal science and indigenous knowledge that students bring into the classroom from home. In this study, I elicited, from teachers, their understanding of the interconnectedness of indigenous knowledge and Western science. I employed qualitative inquiry to collect data from them in their natural working environment, the school and the classroom. Purposive sampling was utilized to select ten teachers who were observed teaching two science lessons each. All the lessons were captured using a video recorder, which facilitated the collection of as much information as possible from events occurring in the classroom. Later, semi-structured interviews/conversations were audio-recorded from the same teachers to elicit their insights and experiences in teaching science using indigenous perspectives and languages. Policy documents and science syllabuses were also perused for information on what teachers were expected to teach in science. Inductive analysis was employed to interpret findings that resulted in thick and in-depth narratives. The findings from these narratives revealed differences and similarities in teachers' views and experiences, and their fears and concerns in using indigenous knowledge and languages to teach science in Zimbabwe. The conclusions derived from these findings, though specific to the teachers in this study, gave rise to policy and pedagogical recommendations for increasing the use of indigenous knowledge and languages in the science curriculum in Zimbabwe.

Knowledge-Based Object Detection in Laser Scanning Point Clouds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boochs, F.; Karmacharya, A.; Marbs, A.

2012-07-01

Object identification and object processing in 3D point clouds have always posed challenges in terms of effectiveness and efficiency. In practice, this process is highly dependent on human interpretation of the scene represented by the point cloud data, as well as the set of modeling tools available for use. Such modeling algorithms are data-driven and concentrate on specific features of the objects, being accessible to numerical models. We present an approach that brings the human expert knowledge about the scene, the objects inside, and their representation by the data and the behavior of algorithms to the machine. This "understanding" enables the machine to assist human interpretation of the scene inside the point cloud. Furthermore, it allows the machine to understand possibilities and limitations of algorithms and to take this into account within the processing chain. This not only assists the researchers in defining optimal processing steps, but also provides suggestions when certain changes or new details emerge from the point cloud. Our approach benefits from the advancement in knowledge technologies within the Semantic Web framework. This advancement has provided a strong base for applications based on knowledge management. In the article we will present and describe the knowledge technologies used for our approach such as Web Ontology Language (OWL), used for formulating the knowledge base and the Semantic Web Rule Language (SWRL) with 3D processing and topologic built-ins, aiming to combine geometrical analysis of 3D point clouds, and specialists' knowledge of the scene and algorithmic processing.

Reading disorders and dyslexia.

PubMed

Hulme, Charles; Snowling, Margaret J

2016-12-01

We review current knowledge about the nature of reading development and disorders, distinguishing between the processes involved in learning to decode print, and the processes involved in reading comprehension. Children with decoding difficulties/dyslexia experience deficits in phoneme awareness, letter-sound knowledge and rapid automatized naming in the preschool years and beyond. These phonological/language difficulties appear to be proximal causes of the problems in learning to decode print in dyslexia. We review data from a prospective study of children at high risk of dyslexia to show that being at family risk of dyslexia is a primary risk factor for poor reading and children with persistent language difficulties at school entry are more likely to develop reading problems. Early oral language difficulties are strong predictors of later difficulties in reading comprehension. There are two distinct forms of reading disorder in children: dyslexia (a difficulty in learning to translate print into speech) and reading comprehension impairment. Both forms of reading problem appear to be predominantly caused by deficits in underlying oral language skills. Implications for screening and for the delivery of robust interventions for language and reading are discussed.

The Role of L1 Conceptual and Linguistic Knowledge and Frequency in the Acquisition of L2 Metaphorical Expressions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Türker, Ebru

2016-01-01

This study investigates how figurative language is processed by learners of a second language (L2). With an experiment testing L2 comprehension of figurative expressions in three categories, each combining shared and unshared first language (L1) and L2 lexical representations and conceptual representations in a different way, the study…

Speed of Word Recognition and Vocabulary Knowledge in Infancy Predict Cognitive and Language Outcomes in Later Childhood

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marchman, Virginia A.; Fernald, Anne

2008-01-01

The nature of predictive relations between early language and later cognitive function is a fundamental question in research on human cognition. In a longitudinal study assessing speed of language processing in infancy, Fernald, Perfors and Marchman (2006 ) found that reaction time at 25 months was strongly related to lexical and grammatical…

Language Assessment Literacy as Self-Awareness: "Understanding" the Role of Interpretation in Assessment and in Teacher Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Scarino, Angela

2013-01-01

The increasing influence of sociocultural theories of learning on assessment practices in second language education necessitates an expansion of the knowledge base that teacher-assessors need to develop (what teachers need to know) and related changes in the processes of language teacher education (how they learn and develop it). Teacher assessors…

Bibliography of Research in Natural Language Generation

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-11-01

on 1397] Barbara J. Gross Focuing and description in Artifcial Intelligence (GWAI-88), Geseke, West natural language dialogues, In Joshi et al. (557...Proceedings of the Fifth Canadian Conference from information in a frame structure. Data and on Artificial Intelligence , pages Ŕ-24, London, Knowledge...generation workshops (IWNLGS, ENLGWS), natural language processing conferences (ANLP, TINLAP, SPEECH), artificial intelligence conferences (AAAI, SCA

Word Class Distinctions in Second Language Acquisition: An Experimental Study of L2 Spanish

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zyzik, Eve; Azevedo, Clara

2009-01-01

Although the problem of word class has been explored in numerous first language studies, relatively little is known about this process in SLA. The present study measures second language (L2) learners' knowledge of word class distinctions (e.g., noun vs. adjective) in a variety of syntactic contexts. English-speaking learners of Spanish from…

Speeded processing of grammar and tool knowledge in Tourette’s syndrome

PubMed Central

Walenski, Matthew; Mostofsky, Stewart H.; Ullman, Michael T.

2007-01-01

Tourette’s syndrome (TS) is a developmental disorder characterized by motor and verbal tics. The tics, which are fast and involuntary, result from frontal/basal-ganglia abnormalities that lead to unsuppressed behaviors. Language has not been carefully examined in TS. We tested the processing of two basic aspects of language: idiosyncratic and rule-governed linguistic knowledge. Evidence suggests that idiosyncratic knowledge (e.g., in irregular past-tense formation; bring-brought) is stored in a mental lexicon that depends on the temporal-lobe-based declarative memory system that also underlies conceptual knowledge. In contrast, evidence suggests that rule-governed combination (e.g., in regular past-tenses; walk + -ed) takes place in a mental grammar that relies on the frontal/basal-ganglia based procedural memory system, which also underlies motor skills such as how to use a hammer. We found that TS children were significantly faster than typically-developing control children at producing rule-governed past-tenses (slip-slipped, plim-plimmed, bring-bringed) but not irregular and other unpredictable past-tenses (bring-brought, splim-splam). They were also faster than controls at naming pictures of manipulated (hammer) but not non-manipulated (elephant) items. These data were not explained by a wide range of potentially confounding subject- and item-level factors. The results suggest that the processing of procedurally-based knowledge, both of grammar and of manipulated objects, is particularly speeded in TS. The frontal/basal-ganglia abnormalities may thus lead not only to tics, but to a wider range of rapid behaviors, including in the cognitive processing of rule-governed forms in language and other types of procedural knowledge. PMID:17493643

Beyond Capacity Limitations: Determinants of Word Recall Performance on Verbal Working Memory Span Tasks in Children With SLI

PubMed Central

Mainela-Arnold, Elina; Evans, Julia L.

2016-01-01

Reduced verbal working memory capacity has been proposed as a possible account of language impairments in specific language impairment (SLI). Studies have shown, however, that differences in strength of linguistic representations in the form of word frequency affect list recall and performance on verbal working memory tasks. This suggests that verbal memory capacity and long-term linguistic knowledge may not be distinct constructs. It has been suggested that linguistic representations in SLI are weak in ways that result in a breakdown in language processing on tasks that require manipulation of unfamiliar material. In this study, the effects of word frequency, long-term linguistic knowledge, and serial order position on recall performance in the competing language processing task (CLPT) were investigated in 10 children with SLI and 10 age-matched peers (age 8 years 6 months to 12 years 4 months). The children with SLI recalled significantly fewer target words on the CLPT as compared with their age-matched controls. The SLI group did not differ, however, in their ability to recall target words having high word frequency but were significantly poorer in their ability to recall words on the CLPT having low word frequency. Differences in receptive and expressive language abilities also appeared closely related to performance on the CLPT, suggesting that working memory capacity is not distinct from language knowledge and that degraded linguistic representations may have an effect on performance on verbal working memory span tasks in children with SLI. PMID:16378481

Conceptual dissonance: evaluating the efficacy of natural language processing techniques for validating translational knowledge constructs.

PubMed

Payne, Philip R O; Kwok, Alan; Dhaval, Rakesh; Borlawsky, Tara B

2009-03-01

The conduct of large-scale translational studies presents significant challenges related to the storage, management and analysis of integrative data sets. Ideally, the application of methodologies such as conceptual knowledge discovery in databases (CKDD) provides a means for moving beyond intuitive hypothesis discovery and testing in such data sets, and towards the high-throughput generation and evaluation of knowledge-anchored relationships between complex bio-molecular and phenotypic variables. However, the induction of such high-throughput hypotheses is non-trivial, and requires correspondingly high-throughput validation methodologies. In this manuscript, we describe an evaluation of the efficacy of a natural language processing-based approach to validating such hypotheses. As part of this evaluation, we will examine a phenomenon that we have labeled as "Conceptual Dissonance" in which conceptual knowledge derived from two or more sources of comparable scope and granularity cannot be readily integrated or compared using conventional methods and automated tools.

Knowledge Mobilization and Educational Research: Politics, Languages and Responsibilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fenwick, Tara, Ed.; Farrell, Lesley, Ed.

2011-01-01

How can educational research have more impact? What processes of knowledge exchange are most effective for increasing the uses of research results? How can research-produced knowledge be better "mobilized" among users such as practicing educators, policy makers, and the public communities? These sorts of questions are commanding urgent…

Direct brain recordings reveal hippocampal rhythm underpinnings of language processing.

PubMed

Piai, Vitória; Anderson, Kristopher L; Lin, Jack J; Dewar, Callum; Parvizi, Josef; Dronkers, Nina F; Knight, Robert T

2016-10-04

Language is classically thought to be supported by perisylvian cortical regions. Here we provide intracranial evidence linking the hippocampal complex to linguistic processing. We used direct recordings from the hippocampal structures to investigate whether theta oscillations, pivotal in memory function, track the amount of contextual linguistic information provided in sentences. Twelve participants heard sentences that were either constrained ("She locked the door with the") or unconstrained ("She walked in here with the") before presentation of the final word ("key"), shown as a picture that participants had to name. Hippocampal theta power increased for constrained relative to unconstrained contexts during sentence processing, preceding picture presentation. Our study implicates hippocampal theta oscillations in a language task using natural language associations that do not require memorization. These findings reveal that the hippocampal complex contributes to language in an active fashion, relating incoming words to stored semantic knowledge, a necessary process in the generation of sentence meaning.

Knowledge-Driven Event Extraction in Russian: Corpus-Based Linguistic Resources

PubMed Central

Solovyev, Valery; Ivanov, Vladimir

2016-01-01

Automatic event extraction form text is an important step in knowledge acquisition and knowledge base population. Manual work in development of extraction system is indispensable either in corpus annotation or in vocabularies and pattern creation for a knowledge-based system. Recent works have been focused on adaptation of existing system (for extraction from English texts) to new domains. Event extraction in other languages was not studied due to the lack of resources and algorithms necessary for natural language processing. In this paper we define a set of linguistic resources that are necessary in development of a knowledge-based event extraction system in Russian: a vocabulary of subordination models, a vocabulary of event triggers, and a vocabulary of Frame Elements that are basic building blocks for semantic patterns. We propose a set of methods for creation of such vocabularies in Russian and other languages using Google Books NGram Corpus. The methods are evaluated in development of event extraction system for Russian. PMID:26955386

Intensity of Multilingual Language Use Predicts Cognitive Performance in Some Multilingual Older Adults

PubMed Central

Keijzer, Merel; de Bot, Kees

2018-01-01

Cognitive advantages for bilinguals have inconsistently been observed in different populations, with different operationalisations of bilingualism, cognitive performance, and the process by which language control transfers to cognitive control. This calls for studies investigating which aspects of multilingualism drive a cognitive advantage, in which populations and under which conditions. This study reports on two cognitive tasks coupled with an extensive background questionnaire on health, wellbeing, personality, language knowledge and language use, administered to 387 older adults in the northern Netherlands, a small but highly multilingual area. Using linear mixed effects regression modeling, we find that when different languages are used frequently in different contexts, enhanced attentional control is observed. Subsequently, a PLS regression model targeting also other influential factors yielded a two-component solution whereby only more sensitive measures of language proficiency and language usage in different social contexts were predictive of cognitive performance above and beyond the contribution of age, gender, income and education. We discuss these findings in light of previous studies that try to uncover more about the nature of bilingualism and the cognitive processes that may drive an advantage. With an unusually large sample size our study advocates for a move away from dichotomous, knowledge-based operationalisations of multilingualism and offers new insights for future studies at the individual level. PMID:29783764

Harnessing Biomedical Natural Language Processing Tools to Identify Medicinal Plant Knowledge from Historical Texts.

PubMed

Sharma, Vivekanand; Law, Wayne; Balick, Michael J; Sarkar, Indra Neil

2017-01-01

The growing amount of data describing historical medicinal uses of plants from digitization efforts provides the opportunity to develop systematic approaches for identifying potential plant-based therapies. However, the task of cataloguing plant use information from natural language text is a challenging task for ethnobotanists. To date, there have been only limited adoption of informatics approaches used for supporting the identification of ethnobotanical information associated with medicinal uses. This study explored the feasibility of using biomedical terminologies and natural language processing approaches for extracting relevant plant-associated therapeutic use information from historical biodiversity literature collection available from the Biodiversity Heritage Library. The results from this preliminary study suggest that there is potential utility of informatics methods to identify medicinal plant knowledge from digitized resources as well as highlight opportunities for improvement.

Harnessing Biomedical Natural Language Processing Tools to Identify Medicinal Plant Knowledge from Historical Texts

PubMed Central

Sharma, Vivekanand; Law, Wayne; Balick, Michael J.; Sarkar, Indra Neil

2017-01-01

The growing amount of data describing historical medicinal uses of plants from digitization efforts provides the opportunity to develop systematic approaches for identifying potential plant-based therapies. However, the task of cataloguing plant use information from natural language text is a challenging task for ethnobotanists. To date, there have been only limited adoption of informatics approaches used for supporting the identification of ethnobotanical information associated with medicinal uses. This study explored the feasibility of using biomedical terminologies and natural language processing approaches for extracting relevant plant-associated therapeutic use information from historical biodiversity literature collection available from the Biodiversity Heritage Library. The results from this preliminary study suggest that there is potential utility of informatics methods to identify medicinal plant knowledge from digitized resources as well as highlight opportunities for improvement. PMID:29854223

Parallel deterioration to language processing in a bilingual speaker.

PubMed

Druks, Judit; Weekes, Brendan Stuart

2013-01-01

The convergence hypothesis [Green, D. W. (2003). The neural basis of the lexicon and the grammar in L2 acquisition: The convergence hypothesis. In R. van Hout, A. Hulk, F. Kuiken, & R. Towell (Eds.), The interface between syntax and the lexicon in second language acquisition (pp. 197-218). Amsterdam: John Benjamins] assumes that the neural substrates of language representations are shared between the languages of a bilingual speaker. One prediction of this hypothesis is that neurodegenerative disease should produce parallel deterioration to lexical and grammatical processing in bilingual aphasia. We tested this prediction with a late bilingual Hungarian (first language, L1)-English (second language, L2) speaker J.B. who had nonfluent progressive aphasia (NFPA). J.B. had acquired L2 in adolescence but was premorbidly proficient and used English as his dominant language throughout adult life. Our investigations showed comparable deterioration to lexical and grammatical knowledge in both languages during a one-year period. Parallel deterioration to language processing in a bilingual speaker with NFPA challenges the assumption that L1 and L2 rely on different brain mechanisms as assumed in some theories of bilingual language processing [Ullman, M. T. (2001). The neural basis of lexicon and grammar in first and second language: The declarative/procedural model. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 4(1), 105-122].

Rethinking clinical language mapping approaches: discordant receptive and expressive hemispheric language dominance in epilepsy surgery candidates.

PubMed

Gage, Nicole M; Eliashiv, Dawn S; Isenberg, Anna L; Fillmore, Paul T; Kurelowech, Lacey; Quint, Patti J; Chung, Jeffrey M; Otis, Shirley M

2011-06-01

Neuroimaging studies have shed light on cortical language organization, with findings implicating the left and right temporal lobes in speech processing converging to a left-dominant pattern. Findings highlight the fact that the state of theoretical language knowledge is ahead of current clinical language mapping methods, motivating a rethinking of these approaches. The authors used magnetoencephalography and multiple tasks in seven candidates for resective epilepsy surgery to investigate language organization. The authors scanned 12 control subjects to investigate the time course of bilateral receptive speech processes. Laterality indices were calculated for left and right hemisphere late fields ∼150 to 400 milliseconds. The authors report that (1) in healthy adults, speech processes activated superior temporal regions bilaterally converging to a left-dominant pattern, (2) in four of six patients, this was reversed, with bilateral processing converging to a right-dominant pattern, and (3) in three of four of these patients, receptive and expressive language processes were laterally discordant. Results provide evidence that receptive and expressive language may have divergent hemispheric dominance. Right-sided receptive language dominance in epilepsy patients emphasizes the need to assess both receptive and expressive language. Findings indicate that it is critical to use multiple tasks tapping separable aspects of language function to provide sensitive and specific estimates of language localization in surgical patients.

Statistical Learning of Two Artificial Languages Presented Successively: How Conscious?

PubMed Central

Franco, Ana; Cleeremans, Axel; Destrebecqz, Arnaud

2011-01-01

Statistical learning is assumed to occur automatically and implicitly, but little is known about the extent to which the representations acquired over training are available to conscious awareness. In this study, we focus on whether the knowledge acquired in a statistical learning situation is available to conscious control. Participants were first exposed to an artificial language presented auditorily. Immediately thereafter, they were exposed to a second artificial language. Both languages were composed of the same corpus of syllables and differed only in the transitional probabilities. We first determined that both languages were equally learnable (Experiment 1) and that participants could learn the two languages and differentiate between them (Experiment 2). Then, in Experiment 3, we used an adaptation of the Process-Dissociation Procedure (Jacoby, 1991) to explore whether participants could consciously manipulate the acquired knowledge. Results suggest that statistical information can be used to parse and differentiate between two different artificial languages, and that the resulting representations are available to conscious control. PMID:21960981

Integration of an OWL-DL knowledge base with an EHR prototype and providing customized information.

PubMed

Jing, Xia; Kay, Stephen; Marley, Tom; Hardiker, Nicholas R

2014-09-01

When clinicians use electronic health record (EHR) systems, their ability to obtain general knowledge is often an important contribution to their ability to make more informed decisions. In this paper we describe a method by which an external, formal representation of clinical and molecular genetic knowledge can be integrated into an EHR such that customized knowledge can be delivered to clinicians in a context-appropriate manner.Web Ontology Language-Description Logic (OWL-DL) is a formal knowledge representation language that is widely used for creating, organizing and managing biomedical knowledge through the use of explicit definitions, consistent structure and a computer-processable format, particularly in biomedical fields. In this paper we describe: 1) integration of an OWL-DL knowledge base with a standards-based EHR prototype, 2) presentation of customized information from the knowledge base via the EHR interface, and 3) lessons learned via the process. The integration was achieved through a combination of manual and automatic methods. Our method has advantages for scaling up to and maintaining knowledge bases of any size, with the goal of assisting clinicians and other EHR users in making better informed health care decisions.

Introduction to the special issue: parsimony and redundancy in models of language.

PubMed

Wiechmann, Daniel; Kerz, Elma; Snider, Neal; Jaeger, T Florian

2013-09-01

One of the most fundamental goals in linguistic theory is to understand the nature of linguistic knowledge, that is, the representations and mechanisms that figure in a cognitively plausible model of human language-processing. The past 50 years have witnessed the development and refinement of various theories about what kind of 'stuff' human knowledge of language consists of, and technological advances now permit the development of increasingly sophisticated computational models implementing key assumptions of different theories from both rationalist and empiricist perspectives. The present special issue does not aim to present or discuss the arguments for and against the two epistemological stances or discuss evidence that supports either of them (cf. Bod, Hay, & Jannedy, 2003; Christiansen & Chater, 2008; Hauser, Chomsky, & Fitch, 2002; Oaksford & Chater, 2007; O'Donnell, Hauser, & Fitch, 2005). Rather, the research presented in this issue, which we label usage-based here, conceives of linguistic knowledge as being induced from experience. According to the strongest of such accounts, the acquisition and processing of language can be explained with reference to general cognitive mechanisms alone (rather than with reference to innate language-specific mechanisms). Defined in these terms, usage-based approaches encompass approaches referred to as experience-based, performance-based and/or emergentist approaches (Amrnon & Snider, 2010; Bannard, Lieven, & Tomasello, 2009; Bannard & Matthews, 2008; Chater & Manning, 2006; Clark & Lappin, 2010; Gerken, Wilson, & Lewis, 2005; Gomez, 2002;

Do grammatical-gender distinctions learned in the second language influence native-language lexical processing?

PubMed Central

Kaushanskaya, Margarita; Smith, Samantha

2015-01-01

How does learning a second language influence native language processing? In the present study, we examined whether knowledge of Spanish – a language that marks grammatical gender on inanimate nouns – influences lexical processing in English – a language that does not mark grammatical gender. We tested three groups of adult English native speakers: monolinguals, emergent bilinguals with high exposure to Spanish, and emergent bilinguals with low exposure to Spanish. Participants engaged in an associative learning task in English where they learned to associate names of inanimate objects with proper names. For half of the pairs, the grammatical gender of the noun’s Spanish translation matched the gender of the proper name (e.g., corn-Patrick). For half of the pairs, the grammatical gender of the noun’s Spanish translation mismatched the gender of the proper noun (e.g., beach-William). High-Spanish-exposure bilinguals (but not monolinguals or low-Spanish-exposure bilinguals) were less accurate at retrieving proper names for gender-incongruent than for gender-congruent pairs. This indicates that second-language morphosyntactic information is activated during native-language processing, even when the second language is acquired later in life. PMID:26977134

Improving Clinical Practices for Children with Language and Learning Disorders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kamhi, Alan G.

2014-01-01

Purpose: This lead article of the Clinical Forum addresses some of the gaps that exist between clinical practice and current knowledge about instructional factors that influence learning and language development. Method: Topics reviewed and discussed include principles of learning, generalization, treatment intensity, processing interventions,…

Developing embodied cognition: insights from children’s concepts and language processing

PubMed Central

Wellsby, Michele; Pexman, Penny M.

2014-01-01

Over the past decade, theories of embodied cognition have become increasingly influential with research demonstrating that sensorimotor experiences are involved in cognitive processing; however, this embodied research has primarily focused on adult cognition. The notion that sensorimotor experience is important for acquiring conceptual knowledge is not a novel concept for developmental researchers, and yet theories of embodied cognition often do not fully integrate developmental findings. We propose that in order for an embodied cognition perspective to be refined and advanced as a lifelong theory of cognition, it is important to consider what can be learned from research with children. In this paper, we focus on development of concepts and language processing, and examine the importance of children's embodied experiences for these aspects of cognition in particular. Following this review, we outline what we see as important developmental issues that need to be addressed in order to determine the extent to which language and conceptual knowledge are embodied and to refine theories of embodied cognition. PMID:24904513

ISPE: A knowledge-based system for fluidization studies. 1990 Annual report

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

Reddy, S.

1991-01-01

Chemical engineers use mathematical simulators to design, model, optimize and refine various engineering plants/processes. This procedure requires the following steps: (1) preparation of an input data file according to the format required by the target simulator; (2) excecuting the simulation; and (3) analyzing the results of the simulation to determine if all ``specified goals`` are satisfied. If the goals are not met, the input data file must be modified and the simulation repeated. This multistep process is continued until satisfactory results are obtained. This research was undertaken to develop a knowledge based system, IPSE (Intelligent Process Simulation Environment), that canmore » enhance the productivity of chemical engineers/modelers by serving as an intelligent assistant to perform a variety tasks related to process simulation. ASPEN, a widely used simulator by the US Department of Energy (DOE) at Morgantown Energy Technology Center (METC) was selected as the target process simulator in the project. IPSE, written in the C language, was developed using a number of knowledge-based programming paradigms: object-oriented knowledge representation that uses inheritance and methods, rulebased inferencing (includes processing and propagation of probabilistic information) and data-driven programming using demons. It was implemented using the knowledge based environment LASER. The relationship of IPSE with the user, ASPEN, LASER and the C language is shown in Figure 1.« less

Case-based medical informatics

PubMed Central

Pantazi, Stefan V; Arocha, José F; Moehr, Jochen R

2004-01-01

Background The "applied" nature distinguishes applied sciences from theoretical sciences. To emphasize this distinction, we begin with a general, meta-level overview of the scientific endeavor. We introduce the knowledge spectrum and four interconnected modalities of knowledge. In addition to the traditional differentiation between implicit and explicit knowledge we outline the concepts of general and individual knowledge. We connect general knowledge with the "frame problem," a fundamental issue of artificial intelligence, and individual knowledge with another important paradigm of artificial intelligence, case-based reasoning, a method of individual knowledge processing that aims at solving new problems based on the solutions to similar past problems. We outline the fundamental differences between Medical Informatics and theoretical sciences and propose that Medical Informatics research should advance individual knowledge processing (case-based reasoning) and that natural language processing research is an important step towards this goal that may have ethical implications for patient-centered health medicine. Discussion We focus on fundamental aspects of decision-making, which connect human expertise with individual knowledge processing. We continue with a knowledge spectrum perspective on biomedical knowledge and conclude that case-based reasoning is the paradigm that can advance towards personalized healthcare and that can enable the education of patients and providers. We center the discussion on formal methods of knowledge representation around the frame problem. We propose a context-dependent view on the notion of "meaning" and advocate the need for case-based reasoning research and natural language processing. In the context of memory based knowledge processing, pattern recognition, comparison and analogy-making, we conclude that while humans seem to naturally support the case-based reasoning paradigm (memory of past experiences of problem-solving and powerful case matching mechanisms), technical solutions are challenging. Finally, we discuss the major challenges for a technical solution: case record comprehensiveness, organization of information on similarity principles, development of pattern recognition and solving ethical issues. Summary Medical Informatics is an applied science that should be committed to advancing patient-centered medicine through individual knowledge processing. Case-based reasoning is the technical solution that enables a continuous individual knowledge processing and could be applied providing that challenges and ethical issues arising are addressed appropriately. PMID:15533257

When Elephants Fly: Differential Sensitivity of Right and Left Inferior Frontal Gyri to Discourse and World Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Menenti, Laura; Petersson, Karl Magnus; Scheeringa, Rene; Hagoort, Peter

2009-01-01

Both local discourse and world knowledge are known to influence sentence processing. We investigated how these two sources of information conspire in language comprehension. Two types of critical sentences, correct and world knowledge anomalies, were preceded by either a neutral or a local context. The latter made the world knowledge anomalies…

Knowledge to Manage the Knowledge Society

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Minati, Gianfranco

2012-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to make evident the inadequateness of concepts and language based on industrial knowledge still used in current practices by managers to cope with problems of the post-industrial societies characterised by non-linear process of emergence and acquisition of properties. The purpose is to allow management to…

Morphophonemic Transfer in English Second Language Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ping, Sze Wei; Rickard Liow, Susan J.

2011-01-01

Malay (Rumi) is alphabetic and has a transparent, agglutinative system of affixation. We manipulated language-specific junctural phonetics in Malay and English to investigate whether morphophonemic L1-knowledge influences L2-processing. A morpheme decision task, "Does this "nonword" sound like a mono- or bi-morphemic English word?", was developed…

Linguistically Motivated Features for CCG Realization Ranking

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rajkumar, Rajakrishnan

2012-01-01

Natural Language Generation (NLG) is the process of generating natural language text from an input, which is a communicative goal and a database or knowledge base. Informally, the architecture of a standard NLG system consists of the following modules (Reiter and Dale, 2000): content determination, sentence planning (or microplanning) and surface…

Linguistic Skills and Speaking Fluency in a Second Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

De Jong, Nivja H.; Steinel, Margarita P.; Florijn, Arjen; Schoonen, Rob; Hulstijn, Jan H.

2013-01-01

This study investigated how individual differences in linguistic knowledge and processing skills relate to individual differences in speaking fluency. Speakers of Dutch as a second language ("N" = 179) performed eight speaking tasks, from which several measures of fluency were derived such as measures for pausing, repairing, and speed…

Information Extraction Using Controlled English to Support Knowledge-Sharing and Decision-Making

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-06-01

or language variants. CE-based information extraction will greatly facilitate the processes in the cognitive and social domains that enable forces...terminology or language variants. CE-based information extraction will greatly facilitate the processes in the cognitive and social domains that...processor is run to turn the atomic CE into a more “ stylistically felicitous” CE, using techniques such as: aggregating all information about an entity

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

Good-enough linguistic representations and online cognitive equilibrium in language processing.

PubMed

Karimi, Hossein; Ferreira, Fernanda

2016-01-01

We review previous research showing that representations formed during language processing are sometimes just "good enough" for the task at hand and propose the "online cognitive equilibrium" hypothesis as the driving force behind the formation of good-enough representations in language processing. Based on this view, we assume that the language comprehension system by default prefers to achieve as early as possible and remain as long as possible in a state of cognitive equilibrium where linguistic representations are successfully incorporated with existing knowledge structures (i.e., schemata) so that a meaningful and coherent overall representation is formed, and uncertainty is resolved or at least minimized. We also argue that the online equilibrium hypothesis is consistent with current theories of language processing, which maintain that linguistic representations are formed through a complex interplay between simple heuristics and deep syntactic algorithms and also theories that hold that linguistic representations are often incomplete and lacking in detail. We also propose a model of language processing that makes use of both heuristic and algorithmic processing, is sensitive to online cognitive equilibrium, and, we argue, is capable of explaining the formation of underspecified representations. We review previous findings providing evidence for underspecification in relation to this hypothesis and the associated language processing model and argue that most of these findings are compatible with them.

Lexical Processing in School-Age Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Children with Specific Language Impairment: The Role of Semantics.

PubMed

Haebig, Eileen; Kaushanskaya, Margarita; Ellis Weismer, Susan

2015-12-01

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and specific language impairment (SLI) often have immature lexical-semantic knowledge; however, the organization of lexical-semantic knowledge is poorly understood. This study examined lexical processing in school-age children with ASD, SLI, and typical development, who were matched on receptive vocabulary. Children completed a lexical decision task, involving words with high and low semantic network sizes and nonwords. Children also completed nonverbal updating and shifting tasks. Children responded more accurately to words from high than from low semantic networks; however, follow-up analyses identified weaker semantic network effects in the SLI group. Additionally, updating and shifting abilities predicted lexical processing, demonstrating similarity in the mechanisms which underlie semantic processing in children with ASD, SLI, and typical development.

Lexical Processing in School-Age Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Children with Specific Language Impairment: The Role of Semantics

PubMed Central

Haebig, Eileen; Kaushanskaya, Margarita; Weismer, Susan Ellis

2016-01-01

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and specific language impairment (SLI) often have immature lexical-semantic knowledge; however, the organization of lexical-semantic knowledge is poorly understood. This study examined lexical processing in school-age children with ASD, SLI, and typical development, who were matched on receptive vocabulary. Children completed a lexical decision task, involving words with high and low semantic network sizes and nonwords. Children also completed nonverbal updating and shifting tasks. Children responded more accurately to words from high than from low semantic networks; however, follow-up analyses identified weaker semantic network effects in the SLI group. Additionally, updating and shifting abilities predicted lexical processing, demonstrating similarity in the mechanisms which underlie semantic processing in children with ASD, SLI, and typical development. PMID:26210517

Template construction grammar: from visual scene description to language comprehension and agrammatism.

PubMed

Barrès, Victor; Lee, Jinyong

2014-01-01

How does the language system coordinate with our visual system to yield flexible integration of linguistic, perceptual, and world-knowledge information when we communicate about the world we perceive? Schema theory is a computational framework that allows the simulation of perceptuo-motor coordination programs on the basis of known brain operating principles such as cooperative computation and distributed processing. We present first its application to a model of language production, SemRep/TCG, which combines a semantic representation of visual scenes (SemRep) with Template Construction Grammar (TCG) as a means to generate verbal descriptions of a scene from its associated SemRep graph. SemRep/TCG combines the neurocomputational framework of schema theory with the representational format of construction grammar in a model linking eye-tracking data to visual scene descriptions. We then offer a conceptual extension of TCG to include language comprehension and address data on the role of both world knowledge and grammatical semantics in the comprehension performances of agrammatic aphasic patients. This extension introduces a distinction between heavy and light semantics. The TCG model of language comprehension offers a computational framework to quantitatively analyze the distributed dynamics of language processes, focusing on the interactions between grammatical, world knowledge, and visual information. In particular, it reveals interesting implications for the understanding of the various patterns of comprehension performances of agrammatic aphasics measured using sentence-picture matching tasks. This new step in the life cycle of the model serves as a basis for exploring the specific challenges that neurolinguistic computational modeling poses to the neuroinformatics community.

Teaching the Arts as a Second Language: A School-Wide Policy Approach to Arts Integration

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martin, Brittany Harker

2017-01-01

The arts can be used to teach, not just as activities that enhance learning, but also as the primary medium through which students process, acquire, and represent knowledge. This means the arts can function as a language. If we accept this metaphor, and we truly want students to be fluent in the artistic languages, then the arts can be taught in…

Some Implications of the Role of the Mother Tongue in Second Language Acquisition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Noor, Hashim H.

1994-01-01

Research on the role of the first language (L1) in second language (L2) learning is reviewed, offering historical background but focusing primarily on work within the last two decades. Attention is given mainly to two aspects of the L1-L2 relationship: positive transfer of knowledge from L1 in the process of learning L2, and negative transfer, or…

Explicit Performance in Girls and Implicit Processing in Boys: A Simultaneous fNIRS–ERP Study on Second Language Syntactic Learning in Young Adolescents

PubMed Central

Sugiura, Lisa; Hata, Masahiro; Matsuba-Kurita, Hiroko; Uga, Minako; Tsuzuki, Daisuke; Dan, Ippeita; Hagiwara, Hiroko; Homae, Fumitaka

2018-01-01

Learning a second language (L2) proceeds with individual approaches to proficiency in the language. Individual differences including sex, as well as working memory (WM) function appear to have strong effects on behavioral performance and cortical responses in L2 processing. Thus, by considering sex and WM capacity, we examined neural responses during L2 sentence processing as a function of L2 proficiency in young adolescents. In behavioral tests, girls significantly outperformed boys in L2 tests assessing proficiency and grammatical knowledge, and in a reading span test (RST) assessing WM capacity. Girls, but not boys, showed significant correlations between L2 tests and RST scores. Using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) and event-related potential (ERP) simultaneously, we measured cortical responses while participants listened to syntactically correct and incorrect sentences. ERP data revealed a grammaticality effect only in boys in the early time window (100–300 ms), implicated in phrase structure processing. In fNIRS data, while boys had significantly increased activation in the left prefrontal region implicated in syntactic processing, girls had increased activation in the posterior language-related region involved in phonology, semantics, and sentence processing with proficiency. Presumably, boys implicitly focused on rule-based syntactic processing, whereas girls made full use of linguistic knowledge and WM function. The present results provide important fundamental data for learning and teaching in L2 education. PMID:29568265

Neural basis of bilingual language control.

PubMed

Calabria, Marco; Costa, Albert; Green, David W; Abutalebi, Jubin

2018-06-19

Acquiring and speaking a second language increases demand on the processes of language control for bilingual as compared to monolingual speakers. Language control for bilingual speakers involves the ability to keep the two languages separated to avoid interference and to select one language or the other in a given conversational context. This ability is what we refer with the term "bilingual language control" (BLC). It is now well established that the architecture of this complex system of language control encompasses brain networks involving cortical and subcortical structures, each responsible for different cognitive processes such as goal maintenance, conflict monitoring, interference suppression, and selective response inhibition. Furthermore, advances have been made in determining the overlap between the BLC and the nonlinguistic executive control networks, under the hypothesis that the BLC processes are just an instantiation of a more domain-general control system. Here, we review the current knowledge about the neural basis of these control systems. Results from brain imaging studies of healthy adults and on the performance of bilingual individuals with brain damage are discussed. © 2018 New York Academy of Sciences.

Investigating the Effect of Contextual Clues on the Processing of Unfamiliar Words in Second Language Listening Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cai, Wei; Lee, Benny P. H.

2010-01-01

This study examines the effect of contextual clues on the use of strategies (inferencing and ignoring) and knowledge sources (semantics, morphology, world knowledge, and others) for processing unfamiliar words in listening comprehension. Three types of words were investigated: words with local co-text clues, global co-text clues and extra-textual…

Explicit Knowledge and Processes from a Usage-Based Perspective: The Developmental Trajectory of an Instructed L2 Learner

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roehr-Brackin, Karen

2014-01-01

This article considers explicit knowledge and processes in second language (L2) learning from a usage-based theoretical perspective. It reports on the long-term development of a single instructed adult learner's use of two L2 constructions, the German Perfekt of "gehen" ("go," "walk") and "fahren"…

Survey of Knowledge Representation and Reasoning Systems

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-07-01

processing large volumes of unstructured information such as natural language documents, email, audio , images and video [Ferrucci et al. 2006]. Using this...information we hope to obtain improved es- timation and prediction, data-mining, social network analysis, and semantic search and visualisation . Knowledge

Translating Culture: From Ethnographic Information to Educational Program.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jordan, Cathie

1985-01-01

Describes how anthropological knowledge has been applied in the Kamehameha Elementary Education Program (KEEP), a multidisciplinary educational research and development effort to create a successful language arts program for underachieving native Hawaiian children. Discusses the process of translating anthropological knowledge into effective…

[Big data, medical language and biomedical terminology systems].

PubMed

Schulz, Stefan; López-García, Pablo

2015-08-01

A variety of rich terminology systems, such as thesauri, classifications, nomenclatures and ontologies support information and knowledge processing in health care and biomedical research. Nevertheless, human language, manifested as individually written texts, persists as the primary carrier of information, in the description of disease courses or treatment episodes in electronic medical records, and in the description of biomedical research in scientific publications. In the context of the discussion about big data in biomedicine, we hypothesize that the abstraction of the individuality of natural language utterances into structured and semantically normalized information facilitates the use of statistical data analytics to distil new knowledge out of textual data from biomedical research and clinical routine. Computerized human language technologies are constantly evolving and are increasingly ready to annotate narratives with codes from biomedical terminology. However, this depends heavily on linguistic and terminological resources. The creation and maintenance of such resources is labor-intensive. Nevertheless, it is sensible to assume that big data methods can be used to support this process. Examples include the learning of hierarchical relationships, the grouping of synonymous terms into concepts and the disambiguation of homonyms. Although clear evidence is still lacking, the combination of natural language technologies, semantic resources, and big data analytics is promising.

Language at Three Timescales: The Role of Real-Time Processes in Language Development and Evolution.

PubMed

McMurray, Bob

2016-04-01

Evolutionary developmental systems (evo-devo) theory stresses that selection pressures operate on entire developmental systems rather than just genes. This study extends this approach to language evolution, arguing that selection pressure may operate on two quasi-independent timescales. First, children clearly must acquire language successfully (as acknowledged in traditional evo-devo accounts) and evolution must equip them with the tools to do so. Second, while this is developing, they must also communicate with others in the moment using partially developed knowledge. These pressures may require different solutions, and their combination may underlie the evolution of complex mechanisms for language development and processing. I present two case studies to illustrate how the demands of both real-time communication and language acquisition may be subtly different (and interact). The first case study examines infant-directed speech (IDS). A recent view is that IDS underwent cultural to statistical learning mechanisms that infants use to acquire the speech categories of their language. However, recent data suggest is it may not have evolved to enhance development, but rather to serve a more real-time communicative function. The second case study examines the argument for seemingly specialized mechanisms for learning word meanings (e.g., fast-mapping). Both behavioral and computational work suggest that learning may be much slower and served by general-purpose mechanisms like associative learning. Fast-mapping, then, may be a real-time process meant to serve immediate communication, not learning, by augmenting incomplete vocabulary knowledge with constraints from the current context. Together, these studies suggest that evolutionary accounts consider selection pressure arising from both real-time communicative demands and from the need for accurate language development. Copyright © 2016 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Web Ontologies to Categorialy Structure Reality: Representations of Human Emotional, Cognitive, and Motivational Processes

PubMed Central

López-Gil, Juan-Miguel; Gil, Rosa; García, Roberto

2016-01-01

This work presents a Web ontology for modeling and representation of the emotional, cognitive and motivational state of online learners, interacting with university systems for distance or blended education. The ontology is understood as a way to provide the required mechanisms to model reality and associate it to emotional responses, but without committing to a particular way of organizing these emotional responses. Knowledge representation for the contributed ontology is performed by using Web Ontology Language (OWL), a semantic web language designed to represent rich and complex knowledge about things, groups of things, and relations between things. OWL is a computational logic-based language such that computer programs can exploit knowledge expressed in OWL and also facilitates sharing and reusing knowledge using the global infrastructure of the Web. The proposed ontology has been tested in the field of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) to check if it is capable of representing emotions and motivation of the students in this context of use. PMID:27199796

Words as cultivators of others minds.

PubMed

Schilhab, Theresa S S

2015-01-01

The embodied-grounded view of cognition and language holds that sensorimotor experiences in the form of 're-enactments' or 'simulations' are significant to the individual's development of concepts and competent language use. However, a typical objection to the explanatory force of this view is that, in everyday life, we engage in linguistic exchanges about much more than might be directly accessible to our senses. For instance, when knowledge-sharing occurs as part of deep conversations between a teacher and student, language is the salient tool by which to obtain understanding, through the unfolding of explanations. Here, the acquisition of knowledge is realized through language, and the constitution of knowledge seems entirely linguistic. In this paper, based on a review of selected studies within contemporary embodied cognitive science, I propose that such linguistic exchanges, though occurring independently of direct experience, are in fact disguised forms of embodied cognition, leading to the reconciliation of the opposing views. I suggest that, in conversation, interlocutors use Words as Cultivators (WAC) of other minds as a direct result of their embodied-grounded origin, rendering WAC a radical interpretation of the Words as social Tools (WAT) proposal. The WAC hypothesis endorses the view of language as dynamic, continuously integrating with, and negotiating, cognitive processes in the individual. One such dynamic feature results from the 'linguification process', a term by which I refer to the socially produced mapping of a word to its referent which, mediated by the interlocutor, turns words into cultivators of others minds. In support of the linguification process hypothesis and WAC, I review relevant embodied-grounded research, and selected studies of instructed fear conditioning and guided imagery.

How vocabulary size in two languages relates to efficiency in spoken word recognition by young Spanish-English bilinguals

PubMed Central

Marchman, Virginia A.; Fernald, Anne; Hurtado, Nereyda

2010-01-01

Research using online comprehension measures with monolingual children shows that speed and accuracy of spoken word recognition are correlated with lexical development. Here we examined speech processing efficiency in relation to vocabulary development in bilingual children learning both Spanish and English (n=26; 2;6 yrs). Between-language associations were weak: vocabulary size in Spanish was uncorrelated with vocabulary in English, and children’s facility in online comprehension in Spanish was unrelated to their facility in English. Instead, efficiency of online processing in one language was significantly related to vocabulary size in that language, after controlling for processing speed and vocabulary size in the other language. These links between efficiency of lexical access and vocabulary knowledge in bilinguals parallel those previously reported for Spanish and English monolinguals, suggesting that children’s ability to abstract information from the input in building a working lexicon relates fundamentally to mechanisms underlying the construction of language. PMID:19726000

Knowledge Gateways: The Building Blocks.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hawkins, Donald T.; And Others

1988-01-01

Discusses the need for knowledge gateway systems to provide access to scattered information and the use of technologies in gateway building, including artificial intelligence and expert systems, networking, online retrieval systems, optical storage, and natural language processing. The status of four existing gateways is described. (20 references)…

Peculiarities of Teaching the Russian Language to Children of Immigrants

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kamalova, Lera A.; Zakirova, Venera G.

2016-01-01

The relevance of this study is due to migration processes in Russia, the emergence in Russian schools of migrant children. School practice shows that the education of migrant children the Russian language has its own specifics related to the problems of bilingualism (bilingualism), ethnic identification, insufficient knowledge of the Russian…

Medical Language Processing for Knowledge Representation and Retrievals

PubMed Central

Lyman, Margaret; Sager, Naomi; Chi, Emile C.; Tick, Leo J.; Nhan, Ngo Thanh; Su, Yun; Borst, Francois; Scherrer, Jean-Raoul

1989-01-01

The Linguistic String Project-Medical Language Processor, a system for computer analysis of narrative patient documents in English, is being adapted for French Lettres de Sortie. The system converts the free-text input to a semantic representation which is then mapped into a relational database. Retrievals of clinical data from the database are described.

Fostering Early Language with Infants and Toddlers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Honig, Alice Sterling

2014-01-01

This articles describes the learning process of infants and toddlers and provides tips that parents and caregivers can use to promote the development of rich language skills, as well as an abiding passion for learning. From the earliest days, talking with babies encourages their knowledge of words. Singing and reading books increases their…

Language Teacher Identity and the Domestication of Dissent: An Exploratory Account

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morgan, Brian

2016-01-01

In this article, the notion of dissent refers to a more critical, ideological orientation to advocacy for and by TESOL professionals. The notion of domestication refers to identity-forming practices in the knowledge base of language teacher education (LTE) and in professional certification processes that potentially displace this critical…

Sentence Repetition in Children with Specific Language Impairment: An Investigation of Underlying Mechanisms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Riches, Nick G.

2012-01-01

Background: Sentence repetition (SR) is a reliable clinical marker of specific language impairment (SLI). However, little is known about cognitive processes underpinning SR, or areas of breakdown in children with SLI. Aims: The study investigated which cognitive mechanisms were most closely involved in SR performance: syntactic knowledge,…

English Language Learners' Epistemic Beliefs about Vocabulary Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ziegler, Nathan E.

2014-01-01

There is a growing body of work that examines the epistemic beliefs of learners and the role those beliefs play in the development of their critical thinking and other cognitive processes (Hofer, 2001). This study examines the epistemic beliefs of English language learners, a population of learners that is relatively understudied on the topic of…

Child categorization

PubMed Central

Gelman, Susan A.; Meyer, Meredith

2013-01-01

Categorization is a process that spans all of development, beginning in earliest infancy yet changing as children’s knowledge and cognitive skills develop. In this review article, we address three core issues regarding childhood categorization. First, we discuss the extent to which early categories are rooted in perceptual similarity versus knowledge-enriched theories. We argue for a composite perspective in which categories are steeped in commonsense theories from a young age but also are informed by low-level similarity and associative learning cues. Second, we examine the role of language in early categorization. We review evidence to suggest that language is a powerful means of expressing, communicating, shaping, and supporting category knowledge. Finally, we consider categories in context. We discuss sources of variability and flexibility in children’s categories, as well as the ways in which children’s categories are used within larger knowledge systems (e.g., to form analogies, make inferences, or construct theories). Categorization is a process that is intrinsically tied to nearly all aspects of cognition, and its study provides insight into cognitive development, broadly construed. PMID:23440312

A development framework for distributed artificial intelligence

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Adler, Richard M.; Cottman, Bruce H.

1989-01-01

The authors describe distributed artificial intelligence (DAI) applications in which multiple organizations of agents solve multiple domain problems. They then describe work in progress on a DAI system development environment, called SOCIAL, which consists of three primary language-based components. The Knowledge Object Language defines models of knowledge representation and reasoning. The metaCourier language supplies the underlying functionality for interprocess communication and control access across heterogeneous computing environments. The metaAgents language defines models for agent organization coordination, control, and resource management. Application agents and agent organizations will be constructed by combining metaAgents and metaCourier building blocks with task-specific functionality such as diagnostic or planning reasoning. This architecture hides implementation details of communications, control, and integration in distributed processing environments, enabling application developers to concentrate on the design and functionality of the intelligent agents and agent networks themselves.

Bilingual performance on nonword repetition in Spanish and English.

PubMed

Summers, Connie; Bohman, Thomas M; Gillam, Ronald B; Peña, Elizabeth D; Bedore, Lisa M

2010-01-01

Nonword repetition (NWR) involves the ability to perceive, store, recall and reproduce phonological sequences. These same abilities play a role in word and morpheme learning. Cross-linguistic studies of performance on NWR tasks, word learning, and morpheme learning yield patterns of increased performance on all three tasks as a function of age and language experience. These results are consistent with the idea that there may be universal information-processing mechanisms supporting language learning. Because bilingual children's language experience is divided across two languages, studying performance in two languages on NWR could inform one's understanding of the relationship between information processing and language learning. The primary aims of this study were to compare bilingual language learners' recall of Spanish-like and English-like items on NWR tasks and to assess the relationships between performance on NWR, semantics, and morphology tasks. Sixty-two Hispanic children exposed to English and Spanish were recruited from schools in central Texas, USA. Their parents reported on the children's input and output in both languages. The children completed NWR tasks and short tests of semantics and morphosyntax in both languages. Mixed-model analysis of variance was used to explore direct effects and interactions between the variables of nonword length, language experience, language outcome measures, and cumulative exposure on NWR performance. Children produced the Spanish-like nonwords more accurately than the English-like nonwords. NWR performance was significantly correlated to cumulative language experience in both English and Spanish. There were also significant correlations between NWR and morphosyntax but not semantics. Language knowledge appears to play a role in the task of NWR. The relationship between performance on morphosyntax and NWR tasks indicates children rely on similar language-learning mechanisms to mediate these tasks. More exposure to Spanish may increase abilities to repeat longer nonwords. This knowledge may shift across levels of bilingualism. Further research is needed to understand this relationship, as it is likely to have implications for language teaching or intervention for children with language impairments.

Sociolinguistics and the Counselling Process

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Conville, Richard L.; Ivey, Allen E.

1975-01-01

Sociolinguistics is the study of language as part of culture and society. Counselling, basically a linguistic-communicative process, has too often failed to consider systematic knowledge from related fields. This article discusses basic concepts of sociolinguistics and considers their relation to the counselling process. (Author)

Science education researchers as orthographers: documenting Keiyo (Kenya) knowledge, learning and narratives about snakes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thomson, Norman

2003-01-01

Using Keiyo (Kenya) knowledge, learning and oral narratives about snakes, the paper advances the argument that science educators have a pivotal role as orthographers in 'preserving and promoting science for all'. Linguists, and a growing number of scientists, realize that in processes of globalisation, many indigenous languages and cultures are facing extinction, especially languages that remain unwritten, such as the Keiyo language. Within these languages are several thousand years of indigenous science education that include knowledge, teaching and learning about local environments. Science educators are a missing link in the ongoing conversations between biologists, linguists and indigenous cultures. Today, it is also known that reptiles are at greater risk for extinction than amphibians. In an area noted for its reptiles (Kenya's Rift Valley), Keiyo elders and students (n = 748) were interviewed or given a questionnaire to determine indigenous names for snakes and how Keiyo oral narratives of snakes are used in teaching and learning. They provided names for 19 of 34 (55%) snake species and 278 narratives that include snakes. The data are being used to document Keiyo language and construct relevant written science curriculum materials for Keiyo children

Cheminformatics Applications and Physicochemical Property ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The registration of new chemicals under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and new pesticides under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) requires knowledge of the process science underlying the transport and transformation of organic chemicals in natural ecosystems. The purpose of this presentation is to demonstrate how cheminformatics, using chemical terms language in combination with the output of physicochemical property calculators, can be employed to encode this knowledge and make it available to the appropriate decision makers. The encoded process science is realized through the execution of reaction libraries in simulators such as EPA’s Chemical Transformation Simulator (CTS). In support of the CTS, reaction libraries have, or are currently being developed for a number of transformation processes including hydrolysis, abiotic reduction, photolysis and disinfection by-product formation. Examples of how the process science in the peer-reviewed literature is being encoded will be presented. The purpose of this presentation is to demonstrate how cheminformatics, using chemical terms language in combination with the output of physicochemical property calculators, can be employed to encode this knowledge and make it available to the appropriate decision makers.

Cognitive Processes in Folk Ornithology: The Identification of Gulls. Working Papers of the Language Behavior Research Laboratory, No. 42.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hunn, Eugene

Recent studies of folk biology clearly reveal the detailed empirical knowledge of living things which is an important and characteristic element of pre-scientific cultures. This paper attempts a contribution to the study of such systems of knowledge by analyzing the comparable skills of a few American birdwatchers. The process of identification of…

On knowledge transfer management as a learning process for ad hoc teams

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iliescu, D.

2017-08-01

Knowledge management represents an emerging domain becoming more and more important. Concepts like knowledge codification and personalisation, knowledge life-cycle, social and technological dimensions, knowledge transfer and learning management are integral parts. Focus goes here in the process of knowledge transfer for the case of ad hoc teams. The social dimension of knowledge transfer plays an important role. No single individual actors involved in the process, but a collective one, representing the organisation. It is critically important for knowledge to be managed from the life-cycle point of view. A complex communication network needs to be in place to supports the process of knowledge transfer. Two particular concepts, the bridge tie and transactive memory, would eventually enhance the communication. The paper focuses on an informational communication platform supporting the collaborative work on knowledge transfer. The platform facilitates the creation of a topic language to be used in knowledge modelling, storage and reuse, by the ad hoc teams.

Extending Situated Language Comprehension (Accounts) with Speaker and Comprehender Characteristics: Toward Socially Situated Interpretation.

PubMed

Münster, Katja; Knoeferle, Pia

2017-01-01

More and more findings suggest a tight temporal coupling between (non-linguistic) socially interpreted context and language processing. Still, real-time language processing accounts remain largely elusive with respect to the influence of biological (e.g., age) and experiential (e.g., world and moral knowledge) comprehender characteristics and the influence of the 'socially interpreted' context, as for instance provided by the speaker. This context could include actions, facial expressions, a speaker's voice or gaze, and gestures among others. We review findings from social psychology, sociolinguistics and psycholinguistics to highlight the relevance of (the interplay between) the socially interpreted context and comprehender characteristics for language processing. The review informs the extension of an extant real-time processing account (already featuring a coordinated interplay between language comprehension and the non-linguistic visual context) with a variable ('ProCom') that captures characteristics of the language user and with a first approximation of the comprehender's speaker representation. Extending the CIA to the sCIA (social Coordinated Interplay Account) is the first step toward a real-time language comprehension account which might eventually accommodate the socially situated communicative interplay between comprehenders and speakers.

Extending Situated Language Comprehension (Accounts) with Speaker and Comprehender Characteristics: Toward Socially Situated Interpretation

PubMed Central

Münster, Katja; Knoeferle, Pia

2018-01-01

More and more findings suggest a tight temporal coupling between (non-linguistic) socially interpreted context and language processing. Still, real-time language processing accounts remain largely elusive with respect to the influence of biological (e.g., age) and experiential (e.g., world and moral knowledge) comprehender characteristics and the influence of the ‘socially interpreted’ context, as for instance provided by the speaker. This context could include actions, facial expressions, a speaker’s voice or gaze, and gestures among others. We review findings from social psychology, sociolinguistics and psycholinguistics to highlight the relevance of (the interplay between) the socially interpreted context and comprehender characteristics for language processing. The review informs the extension of an extant real-time processing account (already featuring a coordinated interplay between language comprehension and the non-linguistic visual context) with a variable (‘ProCom’) that captures characteristics of the language user and with a first approximation of the comprehender’s speaker representation. Extending the CIA to the sCIA (social Coordinated Interplay Account) is the first step toward a real-time language comprehension account which might eventually accommodate the socially situated communicative interplay between comprehenders and speakers. PMID:29416517

Acquiring and processing verb argument structure: distributional learning in a miniature language.

PubMed

Wonnacott, Elizabeth; Newport, Elissa L; Tanenhaus, Michael K

2008-05-01

Adult knowledge of a language involves correctly balancing lexically-based and more language-general patterns. For example, verb argument structures may sometimes readily generalize to new verbs, yet with particular verbs may resist generalization. From the perspective of acquisition, this creates significant learnability problems, with some researchers claiming a crucial role for verb semantics in the determination of when generalization may and may not occur. Similarly, there has been debate regarding how verb-specific and more generalized constraints interact in sentence processing and on the role of semantics in this process. The current work explores these issues using artificial language learning. In three experiments using languages without semantic cues to verb distribution, we demonstrate that learners can acquire both verb-specific and verb-general patterns, based on distributional information in the linguistic input regarding each of the verbs as well as across the language as a whole. As with natural languages, these factors are shown to affect production, judgments and real-time processing. We demonstrate that learners apply a rational procedure in determining their usage of these different input statistics and conclude by suggesting that a Bayesian perspective on statistical learning may be an appropriate framework for capturing our findings.

Towards a semantic lexicon for biological language processing

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

Verspoor, K.

It is well understood that natural language processing (NLP) applications require sophisticated lexical resources to support their processing goals. In the biomedical domain, we are privileged to have access to extensive terminological resources in the form of controlled vocabularies and ontologies, which have been integrated into the framework of the National Library of Medicine's Unified Medical Language System's (UMLS) Metathesaurus. However, the existence of such terminological resources does not guarantee their utility for NLP. In particular, we have two core requirements for lexical resources for NLP in addition to the basic enumeration of important domain terms: representation of morphosyntactic informationmore » about those terms, specifically part of speech information and inflectional patterns to support parsing and lemma assignment, and representation of semantic information indicating general categorical information about terms, and significant relations between terms to support text understanding and inference (Hahn et at, 1999). Biomedical vocabularies by and large commonly leave out morphosyntactic information, and where they address semantic considerations, they often do so in an unprincipled manner, for instance by indicating a relation between two concepts without indicating the type of that relation. But all is not lost. The UMLS knowledge sources include two additional resources which are relevant - the SPECIALIST lexicon, a lexicon addressing our morphosyntactic requirements, and the Semantic Network, a representation of core conceptual categories in the biomedical domain. The coverage of these two knowledge sources with respect to the full coverage of the Metathesaurus is, however, not entirely clear. Furthermore, when our goals are specifically to process biological text - and often more specifically, text in the molecular biology domain - it is difficult to say whether the coverage of these resources is meaningful. The utility of the UMLS knowledge sources for medical language processing (MLP) has been explored (Johnson, 1999; Friedman et al 2001); the time has now come to repeat these experiments with respect to biological language processing (BLP). To that end, this paper presents an analysis of ihe UMLS resources, specifically with an eye towards constructing lexical resources suitable for BLP. We follow the paradigm presented in Johnson (1999) for medical language, exploring overlap between the UMLS Metathesaurus and SPECIALIST lexicon to construct a morphosyntactic and semantically-specified lexicon, and then further explore the overlap with a relevant domain corpus for molecular biology.« less

Active Knowledge Structures for Natural Language Processing.

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-01-01

specialist belief: Assume there is a lambda-expression "(LAMBDA L) immed-type-ofL" and Z = ((LAMBDA L) immed-type-of L) ( thalassemia ), we can describe...SPEC) -> ([AVG-PERSON] -> (VAL-FOR) -> CGREEK-PLCE)3 This expresses the various levels of specialized knowledge of thalassemia , depending on

Evaluation of PROforma as a language for implementing medical guidelines in a practical context

PubMed Central

Sutton, David R; Taylor, Paul; Earle, Kenneth

2006-01-01

Background PROforma is one of several languages that allow clinical guidelines to be expressed in a computer-interpretable manner. How these languages should be compared, and what requirements they should meet, are questions that are being actively addressed by a community of interested researchers. Methods We have developed a system to allow hypertensive patients to be monitored and assessed without visiting their GPs (except in the most urgent cases). Blood pressure measurements are performed at the patients' pharmacies and a web-based system, created using PROforma, makes recommendations for continued monitoring, and/or changes in medication. The recommendations and measurements are transmitted electronically to a practitioner with authority to issue and change prescriptions. We evaluated the use of PROforma during the knowledge acquisition, analysis, design and implementation of this system. The analysis focuses on the logical adequacy, heuristic power, notational convenience, and explanation support provided by the PROforma language. Results PROforma proved adequate as a language for the implementation of the clinical reasoning required by this project. However a lack of notational convenience led us to use UML activity diagrams, rather than PROforma process descriptions, to create the models that were used during the knowledge acquisition and analysis phases of the project. These UML diagrams were translated into PROforma during the implementation of the project. Conclusion The experience accumulated during this study highlighted the importance of structure preserving design, that is to say that the models used in the design and implementation of a knowledge-based system should be structurally similar to those created during knowledge acquisition and analysis. Ideally the same language should be used for all of these models. This means that great importance has to be attached to the notational convenience of these languages, by which we mean the ease with which they can be read, written, and understood by human beings. The importance of notational convenience arises from the fact that a language used during knowledge acquisition and analysis must be intelligible to the potential users of a system, and to the domain experts who provide the knowledge that will be used in its construction. PMID:16597341

Evaluation of PROforma as a language for implementing medical guidelines in a practical context.

PubMed

Sutton, David R; Taylor, Paul; Earle, Kenneth

2006-04-05

PROforma is one of several languages that allow clinical guidelines to be expressed in a computer-interpretable manner. How these languages should be compared, and what requirements they should meet, are questions that are being actively addressed by a community of interested researchers. We have developed a system to allow hypertensive patients to be monitored and assessed without visiting their GPs (except in the most urgent cases). Blood pressure measurements are performed at the patients' pharmacies and a web-based system, created using PROforma, makes recommendations for continued monitoring, and/or changes in medication. The recommendations and measurements are transmitted electronically to a practitioner with authority to issue and change prescriptions. We evaluated the use of PROforma during the knowledge acquisition, analysis, design and implementation of this system. The analysis focuses on the logical adequacy, heuristic power, notational convenience, and explanation support provided by the PROforma language. PROforma proved adequate as a language for the implementation of the clinical reasoning required by this project. However a lack of notational convenience led us to use UML activity diagrams, rather than PROforma process descriptions, to create the models that were used during the knowledge acquisition and analysis phases of the project. These UML diagrams were translated into PROforma during the implementation of the project. The experience accumulated during this study highlighted the importance of structure preserving design, that is to say that the models used in the design and implementation of a knowledge-based system should be structurally similar to those created during knowledge acquisition and analysis. Ideally the same language should be used for all of these models. This means that great importance has to be attached to the notational convenience of these languages, by which we mean the ease with which they can be read, written, and understood by human beings. The importance of notational convenience arises from the fact that a language used during knowledge acquisition and analysis must be intelligible to the potential users of a system, and to the domain experts who provide the knowledge that will be used in its construction.

Semantically-based priors and nuanced knowledge core for Big Data, Social AI, and language understanding.

PubMed

Olsher, Daniel

2014-10-01

Noise-resistant and nuanced, COGBASE makes 10 million pieces of commonsense data and a host of novel reasoning algorithms available via a family of semantically-driven prior probability distributions. Machine learning, Big Data, natural language understanding/processing, and social AI can draw on COGBASE to determine lexical semantics, infer goals and interests, simulate emotion and affect, calculate document gists and topic models, and link commonsense knowledge to domain models and social, spatial, cultural, and psychological data. COGBASE is especially ideal for social Big Data, which tends to involve highly implicit contexts, cognitive artifacts, difficult-to-parse texts, and deep domain knowledge dependencies. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

SHRIF, a General-Purpose System for Heuristic Retrieval of Information and Facts, Applied to Medical Knowledge Processing.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Findler, Nicholas V.; And Others

1992-01-01

Describes SHRIF, a System for Heuristic Retrieval of Information and Facts, and the medical knowledge base that was used in its development. Highlights include design decisions; the user-machine interface, including the language processor; and the organization of the knowledge base in an artificial intelligence (AI) project like this one. (57…

Distinct cortical areas for names of numbers and body parts independent of language and input modality.

PubMed

Le Clec'H, G; Dehaene, S; Cohen, L; Mehler, J; Dupoux, E; Poline, J B; Lehéricy, S; van de Moortele, P F; Le Bihan, D

2000-10-01

Some models of word comprehension postulate that the processing of words presented in different modalities and languages ultimately converges toward common cerebral systems associated with semantic-level processing and that the localization of these systems may vary with the category of semantic knowledge being accessed. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate this hypothesis with two categories of words, numerals, and body parts, for which the existence of distinct category-specific areas is debated in neuropsychology. Across two experiments, one with a blocked design and the other with an event-related design, a reproducible set of left-hemispheric parietal and prefrontal areas showed greater activation during the manipulation of topographical knowledge about body parts and a right-hemispheric parietal network during the manipulation of numerical quantities. These results complement the existing neuropsychological and brain-imaging literature by suggesting that within the extensive network of bilateral parietal regions active during both number and body-part processing, a subset shows category-specific responses independent of the language and modality of presentation. Copyright 2000 Academic Press.

Natural language processing-based COTS software and related technologies survey.

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

Stickland, Michael G.; Conrad, Gregory N.; Eaton, Shelley M.

Natural language processing-based knowledge management software, traditionally developed for security organizations, is now becoming commercially available. An informal survey was conducted to discover and examine current NLP and related technologies and potential applications for information retrieval, information extraction, summarization, categorization, terminology management, link analysis, and visualization for possible implementation at Sandia National Laboratories. This report documents our current understanding of the technologies, lists software vendors and their products, and identifies potential applications of these technologies.

Perceptual recovery from consonant-cluster simplification in Korean using language-specific phonological knowledge.

PubMed

Cho, Taehong; McQueen, James M

2011-08-01

Two experiments examined whether perceptual recovery from Korean consonant-cluster simplification is based on language-specific phonological knowledge. In tri-consonantal C1C2C3 sequences such as /lkt/ and /lpt/ in Seoul Korean, either C1 or C2 can be completely deleted. Seoul Koreans monitored for C2 targets (/p/ or / k/, deleted or preserved) in the second word of a two-word phrase with an underlying /l/-C2-/t/ sequence. In Experiment 1 the target-bearing words had contextual lexical-semantic support. Listeners recovered deleted targets as fast and as accurately as preserved targets with both Word and Intonational Phrase (IP) boundaries between the two words. In Experiment 2, contexts were low-pass filtered. Listeners were still able to recover deleted targets as well as preserved targets in IP-boundary contexts, but better with physically-present targets than with deleted targets in Word-boundary contexts. This suggests that the benefit of having target acoustic-phonetic information emerges only when higher-order (contextual and phrase-boundary) information is not available. The strikingly efficient recovery of deleted phonemes with neither acoustic-phonetic cues nor contextual support demonstrates that language-specific phonological knowledge, rather than language-universal perceptual processes which rely on fine-grained phonetic details, is employed when the listener perceives the results of a continuous-speech process in which reduction is phonetically complete.

Liberal Entity Extraction: Rapid Construction of Fine-Grained Entity Typing Systems.

PubMed

Huang, Lifu; May, Jonathan; Pan, Xiaoman; Ji, Heng; Ren, Xiang; Han, Jiawei; Zhao, Lin; Hendler, James A

2017-03-01

The ability of automatically recognizing and typing entities in natural language without prior knowledge (e.g., predefined entity types) is a major challenge in processing such data. Most existing entity typing systems are limited to certain domains, genres, and languages. In this article, we propose a novel unsupervised entity-typing framework by combining symbolic and distributional semantics. We start from learning three types of representations for each entity mention: general semantic representation, specific context representation, and knowledge representation based on knowledge bases. Then we develop a novel joint hierarchical clustering and linking algorithm to type all mentions using these representations. This framework does not rely on any annotated data, predefined typing schema, or handcrafted features; therefore, it can be quickly adapted to a new domain, genre, and/or language. Experiments on genres (news and discussion forum) show comparable performance with state-of-the-art supervised typing systems trained from a large amount of labeled data. Results on various languages (English, Chinese, Japanese, Hausa, and Yoruba) and domains (general and biomedical) demonstrate the portability of our framework.

Liberal Entity Extraction: Rapid Construction of Fine-Grained Entity Typing Systems

PubMed Central

Huang, Lifu; May, Jonathan; Pan, Xiaoman; Ji, Heng; Ren, Xiang; Han, Jiawei; Zhao, Lin; Hendler, James A.

2017-01-01

Abstract The ability of automatically recognizing and typing entities in natural language without prior knowledge (e.g., predefined entity types) is a major challenge in processing such data. Most existing entity typing systems are limited to certain domains, genres, and languages. In this article, we propose a novel unsupervised entity-typing framework by combining symbolic and distributional semantics. We start from learning three types of representations for each entity mention: general semantic representation, specific context representation, and knowledge representation based on knowledge bases. Then we develop a novel joint hierarchical clustering and linking algorithm to type all mentions using these representations. This framework does not rely on any annotated data, predefined typing schema, or handcrafted features; therefore, it can be quickly adapted to a new domain, genre, and/or language. Experiments on genres (news and discussion forum) show comparable performance with state-of-the-art supervised typing systems trained from a large amount of labeled data. Results on various languages (English, Chinese, Japanese, Hausa, and Yoruba) and domains (general and biomedical) demonstrate the portability of our framework. PMID:28328252

The Development of Early Childhood Teachers' Language Knowledge in Different Educational Tracks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Strohmer, Janina; Mischo, Christoph

2015-01-01

Early childhood teachers should have extensive knowledge about language and language development, because these facets of professional knowledge are considered as important requirements for fostering language development in early childhood education settings. It is assumed that early childhood teachers acquire this knowledge during pre-service…

A Crosslinguistic, Crosscultural Analysis of Metaphors in Two Italian Sign Language (LIS) Registers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Russo, Tommaso

2005-01-01

This article deals with two main topics: the interplay of iconicity and metaphors in signed language discourse and the relevance of sociocultural knowledge for a full understanding of LIS metaphors. In metaphors, the iconic features of signs play a role in the creative process of determining a mental fit between two different domains. Iconicity…

Development of Morphological Awareness and Vocabulary Knowledge in Spanish-Speaking Language Minority Learners: A Parallel Process Latent Growth Curve Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kieffer, Michael J.; Lesaux, Nonie K.

2012-01-01

Despite acknowledgement of the limited English vocabularies demonstrated by many language minority (LM) learners, few studies have identified skills that relate to variation in vocabulary growth in this population. This study investigated the concurrent development of morphological awareness (i.e., students' understanding of complex words as…

Digging beneath the Surface Behavioral and Neural Indices of Lexical Access during Idiom Comprehension in Aphasia: A Multi-Modal Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brumm, Kathleen Patricia

2011-01-01

This project examines spoken language comprehension in Broca's aphasia, a non-fluent language disorder acquired subsequent to stroke. Broca's aphasics demonstrate impaired comprehension for complex sentence constructions. To account for this deficit, one current processing theory claims that Broca's patients retain intrinsic linguistic knowledge,…

Converting Data to Knowledge: One District's Experience Using Large-Scale Proficiency Assessment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davin, Kristin J.; Rempert, Tania A.; Hammerand, Amy A.

2014-01-01

The present study reports data from a large-scale foreign language proficiency assessment to explore trends across a large urban school district. These data were used in conjunction with data from teacher and student questionnaires to make recommendations for foreign language programs across the district. This evaluation process resulted in…

ArdenML: The Arden Syntax Markup Language (or Arden Syntax: It's Not Just Text Any More!)

PubMed Central

Sailors, R. Matthew

2001-01-01

It is no longer necessary to think of Arden Syntax as simply a text-based knowledge base format. The development of ArdenML (Arden Syntax Markup Language), an XML-based markup language allows structured access to most of the maintenance and library categories without the need to write or buy a compiler may lead to the development of simple commercial and freeware tools for processing Arden Syntax Medical Logic Modules (MLMs)

Indigenous Knowledge Construction and Experiential Learning of Taiwanese Aborigines

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Ying

2009-01-01

Indigenous peoples in Taiwan belong to the Austronesian racial group. Confined to their oral language tradition, knowledge about Taiwan aborigines based on written documents reflected the positionality of dominant ethnic groups. This qualitative study employed participatory research approach to explore the process of producing their own knowledge…

Individual differences in adult foreign language learning: the mediating effect of metalinguistic awareness.

PubMed

Brooks, Patricia J; Kempe, Vera

2013-02-01

In this study, we sought to identify cognitive predictors of individual differences in adult foreign-language learning and to test whether metalinguistic awareness mediated the observed relationships. Using a miniature language-learning paradigm, adults (N = 77) learned Russian vocabulary and grammar (gender agreement and case marking) over six 1-h sessions, completing tasks that encouraged attention to phrases without explicitly teaching grammatical rules. The participants' ability to describe the Russian gender and case-marking patterns mediated the effects of nonverbal intelligence and auditory sequence learning on grammar learning and generalization. Hence, even under implicit-learning conditions, individual differences stemmed from explicit metalinguistic awareness of the underlying grammar, which, in turn, was linked to nonverbal intelligence and auditory sequence learning. Prior knowledge of languages with grammatical gender (predominantly Spanish) predicted learning of gender agreement. Transfer of knowledge of gender from other languages to Russian was not mediated by awareness, which suggests that transfer operates through an implicit process akin to structural priming.

Written Language Disorders: Speech-Language Pathologists' Training, Knowledge, and Confidence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blood, Gordon W.; Mamett, Callie; Gordon, Rebecca; Blood, Ingrid M.

2010-01-01

Purpose: This study examined speech-language pathologists' (SLPs') perceptions of their (a) educational and clinical training in evaluating and treating written language disorders, (b) knowledge bases in this area, (c) sources of knowledge about written language disorders, (d) confidence levels, and (e) predictors of confidence in working with…

Natural language modeling

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

Sharp, J.K.

1997-11-01

This seminar describes a process and methodology that uses structured natural language to enable the construction of precise information requirements directly from users, experts, and managers. The main focus of this natural language approach is to create the precise information requirements and to do it in such a way that the business and technical experts are fully accountable for the results. These requirements can then be implemented using appropriate tools and technology. This requirement set is also a universal learning tool because it has all of the knowledge that is needed to understand a particular process (e.g., expense vouchers, projectmore » management, budget reviews, tax, laws, machine function).« less

"If We Lose Their Language We Lose Our History": Knowledge and Disposition in Maori Language Acquisition Policy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Albury, Nathan John

2018-01-01

Localising knowledge and dispositions helps to predict the likely success of top-down language policies. In so far as language acquisition is a pillar of language revitalisation policy, then community perspectives on learning a minority language deserve attention. This article presents the knowledge, dispositions, and ideas of around 1,300…

Early phonology revealed by international adoptees' birth language retention.

PubMed

Choi, Jiyoun; Broersma, Mirjam; Cutler, Anne

2017-07-11

Until at least 6 mo of age, infants show good discrimination for familiar phonetic contrasts (i.e., those heard in the environmental language) and contrasts that are unfamiliar. Adult-like discrimination (significantly worse for nonnative than for native contrasts) appears only later, by 9-10 mo. This has been interpreted as indicating that infants have no knowledge of phonology until vocabulary development begins, after 6 mo of age. Recently, however, word recognition has been observed before age 6 mo, apparently decoupling the vocabulary and phonology acquisition processes. Here we show that phonological acquisition is also in progress before 6 mo of age. The evidence comes from retention of birth-language knowledge in international adoptees. In the largest ever such study, we recruited 29 adult Dutch speakers who had been adopted from Korea when young and had no conscious knowledge of Korean language at all. Half were adopted at age 3-5 mo (before native-specific discrimination develops) and half at 17 mo or older (after word learning has begun). In a short intensive training program, we observe that adoptees (compared with 29 matched controls) more rapidly learn tripartite Korean consonant distinctions without counterparts in their later-acquired Dutch, suggesting that the adoptees retained phonological knowledge about the Korean distinction. The advantage is equivalent for the younger-adopted and the older-adopted groups, and both groups not only acquire the tripartite distinction for the trained consonants but also generalize it to untrained consonants. Although infants younger than 6 mo can still discriminate unfamiliar phonetic distinctions, this finding indicates that native-language phonological knowledge is nonetheless being acquired at that age.

Building an ontology of pulmonary diseases with natural language processing tools using textual corpora.

PubMed

Baneyx, Audrey; Charlet, Jean; Jaulent, Marie-Christine

2007-01-01

Pathologies and acts are classified in thesauri to help physicians to code their activity. In practice, the use of thesauri is not sufficient to reduce variability in coding and thesauri are not suitable for computer processing. We think the automation of the coding task requires a conceptual modeling of medical items: an ontology. Our task is to help lung specialists code acts and diagnoses with software that represents medical knowledge of this concerned specialty by an ontology. The objective of the reported work was to build an ontology of pulmonary diseases dedicated to the coding process. To carry out this objective, we develop a precise methodological process for the knowledge engineer in order to build various types of medical ontologies. This process is based on the need to express precisely in natural language the meaning of each concept using differential semantics principles. A differential ontology is a hierarchy of concepts and relationships organized according to their similarities and differences. Our main research hypothesis is to apply natural language processing tools to corpora to develop the resources needed to build the ontology. We consider two corpora, one composed of patient discharge summaries and the other being a teaching book. We propose to combine two approaches to enrich the ontology building: (i) a method which consists of building terminological resources through distributional analysis and (ii) a method based on the observation of corpus sequences in order to reveal semantic relationships. Our ontology currently includes 1550 concepts and the software implementing the coding process is still under development. Results show that the proposed approach is operational and indicates that the combination of these methods and the comparison of the resulting terminological structures give interesting clues to a knowledge engineer for the building of an ontology.

Automated knowledge generation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Myler, Harley R.; Gonzalez, Avelino J.

1988-01-01

The general objectives of the NASA/UCF Automated Knowledge Generation Project were the development of an intelligent software system that could access CAD design data bases, interpret them, and generate a diagnostic knowledge base in the form of a system model. The initial area of concentration is in the diagnosis of the process control system using the Knowledge-based Autonomous Test Engineer (KATE) diagnostic system. A secondary objective was the study of general problems of automated knowledge generation. A prototype was developed, based on object-oriented language (Flavors).

A Proposal of 3-dimensional Self-organizing Memory and Its Application to Knowledge Extraction from Natural Language

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sakakibara, Kai; Hagiwara, Masafumi

In this paper, we propose a 3-dimensional self-organizing memory and describe its application to knowledge extraction from natural language. First, the proposed system extracts a relation between words by JUMAN (morpheme analysis system) and KNP (syntax analysis system), and stores it in short-term memory. In the short-term memory, the relations are attenuated with the passage of processing. However, the relations with high frequency of appearance are stored in the long-term memory without attenuation. The relations in the long-term memory are placed to the proposed 3-dimensional self-organizing memory. We used a new learning algorithm called ``Potential Firing'' in the learning phase. In the recall phase, the proposed system recalls relational knowledge from the learned knowledge based on the input sentence. We used a new recall algorithm called ``Waterfall Recall'' in the recall phase. We added a function to respond to questions in natural language with ``yes/no'' in order to confirm the validity of proposed system by evaluating the quantity of correct answers.

Investigating Principals' Knowledge and Perceptions of Second Language Programs for English Language Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Padron, Yolanda N.; Waxman, Hersh C.

2016-01-01

This study examined principals' knowledge and perceptions of second language programs for English language learners (ELLs) operating in their schools. An open-ended survey and in-depth interviews were used to examine elementary school principals' knowledge of the second language programs implemented at their schools. The survey asked principals…

Pragmatic skills predict online counterfactual comprehension: Evidence from the N400.

PubMed

Kulakova, Eugenia; Nieuwland, Mante S

2016-10-01

Counterfactual thought allows people to consider alternative worlds they know to be false. Communicating these thoughts through language poses a social-communicative challenge because listeners typically expect a speaker to produce true utterances, but counterfactuals per definition convey information that is false. Listeners must therefore incorporate overt linguistic cues (subjunctive mood, such as in If I loved you then) in a rapid way to infer the intended counterfactual meaning. The present EEG study focused on the comprehension of such counterfactual antecedents and investigated if pragmatic ability-the ability to apply knowledge of the social-communicative use of language in daily life-predicts the online generation of counterfactual worlds. This yielded two novel findings: (1) Words that are consistent with factual knowledge incur a semantic processing cost, as reflected in larger N400 amplitude, in counterfactual antecedents compared to hypothetical antecedents (If sweets were/are made of sugar). We take this to suggest that counterfactuality is quickly incorporated during language comprehension and reduces online expectations based on factual knowledge. (2) Individual scores on the Autism Quotient Communication subscale modulated this effect, suggesting that individuals who are better at understanding the communicative intentions of other people are more likely to reduce knowledge-based expectations in counterfactuals. These results are the first demonstration of the real-time pragmatic processes involved in creating possible worlds.

The cortical organization of lexical knowledge: A dual lexicon model of spoken language processing

PubMed Central

Gow, David W.

2012-01-01

Current accounts of spoken language assume the existence of a lexicon where wordforms are stored and interact during spoken language perception, understanding and production. Despite the theoretical importance of the wordform lexicon, the exact localization and function of the lexicon in the broader context of language use is not well understood. This review draws on evidence from aphasia, functional imaging, neuroanatomy, laboratory phonology and behavioral results to argue for the existence of parallel lexica that facilitate different processes in the dorsal and ventral speech pathways. The dorsal lexicon, localized in the inferior parietal region including the supramarginal gyrus, serves as an interface between phonetic and articulatory representations. The ventral lexicon, localized in the posterior superior temporal sulcus and middle temporal gyrus, serves as an interface between phonetic and semantic representations. In addition to their interface roles, the two lexica contribute to the robustness of speech processing. PMID:22498237

Second teaching: An exploration of cognitive factors in small group physics learning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Novemsky, Lisa Forman

This inquiry was focused on an exploration of introductory physics teaching. Alan Van Heuvelen's Overview Case Study (OCS) physics was the pedagogical approach involving guided small group problem solving and stressing concepts first, before mathematics. Second teaching is a new pedagogical construct based on Vygotsky's ideas. Structured small group activity follows traditional instruction facilitating learning for non-traditional students. It is a model of structured small group activity designed to follow traditional instruction to facilitate the learning process for students who find a physics optic (way of seeing) and physics language foreign. In informal small group settins students describe, explain, elaborate, test, and defend ideas in their own familiar vernacular as they collaborate in solving problems. Collective wisdom of a collaborative group, somewhat beyond the level for each individual member, is created then recreated through self-correction. Students improved significantly in physics knowledge. In a classroom setting, small groups of non-traditional physics students engaged in second teaching were observed. Written explanations to conceptual physics questions were analyzed. Development of language usage in relationship to introductory physics concept learning was studied. Overall physics learning correlated positively with gains in language clarity thus confirming the hypothesis that language development can be linked with gains in physics knowledge. Males and females were found to be significantly different in this respect. Male gains in language clarity were closely coupled with physics learning whereas female gains in the two measures were not coupled. Physics discourse, particularly in relationship to force and motion, seems to resonate with natural developmentally acquired sex-typical male but not female discourse. Thus, for males but not for females, physics learning proceeds in a seamless fashion wherein knowledge gains are coupled with language development. Average frequency in use of the indeterminate pronoun it per person decreased. Reificiation of qualifying terms appeared in the form of a word-form problem. In the process of reifying adjectival properties students may be recapitulating the language-bound history of natural science.

Emergent Communities of Practice: Secondary Schools' Interaction with Primary School Foreign Language Teaching and Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Evans, Michael; Fisher, Linda

2012-01-01

The aim of this paper is to give an account of the response of secondary schools to the primary school foreign language teaching initiative recently introduced by the UK government. The paper also explores defining features of the process of cross-phase interaction and the role that knowledge and collaborative practice plays in generating change…

Second Language Acquisition of Reflexive Verbs in Russian by L1 Speakers of English

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alexieva, Petia Dimitrova

2012-01-01

This dissertation examines the process of acquisition of semantic classes of reflexive verbs (RVs) in Russian by L2 learners with a native language English. The purpose of this study is to bridge the gap between current linguistic knowledge and the pedagogical literature existing in English on reflexives in Russian. RVs are taught partially and…

Back Translating: An Integrated Approach to Focus Learners' Attention on Their L2 Knowledge Gaps

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhang, Yun; Gao, Cun

2014-01-01

Integration of the four language skills can be enhanced by focusing on back translating--translating an English text into the students' first language and then back into English. This article describes a three-step process for using back translation in reading classes as a way to help students identify gaps in their English competence.

Knowledge-based requirements analysis for automating software development

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Markosian, Lawrence Z.

1988-01-01

We present a new software development paradigm that automates the derivation of implementations from requirements. In this paradigm, informally-stated requirements are expressed in a domain-specific requirements specification language. This language is machine-understable and requirements expressed in it are captured in a knowledge base. Once the requirements are captured, more detailed specifications and eventually implementations are derived by the system using transformational synthesis. A key characteristic of the process is that the required human intervention is in the form of providing problem- and domain-specific engineering knowledge, not in writing detailed implementations. We describe a prototype system that applies the paradigm in the realm of communication engineering: the prototype automatically generates implementations of buffers following analysis of the requirements on each buffer.

An information extraction framework for cohort identification using electronic health records.

PubMed

Liu, Hongfang; Bielinski, Suzette J; Sohn, Sunghwan; Murphy, Sean; Wagholikar, Kavishwar B; Jonnalagadda, Siddhartha R; Ravikumar, K E; Wu, Stephen T; Kullo, Iftikhar J; Chute, Christopher G

2013-01-01

Information extraction (IE), a natural language processing (NLP) task that automatically extracts structured or semi-structured information from free text, has become popular in the clinical domain for supporting automated systems at point-of-care and enabling secondary use of electronic health records (EHRs) for clinical and translational research. However, a high performance IE system can be very challenging to construct due to the complexity and dynamic nature of human language. In this paper, we report an IE framework for cohort identification using EHRs that is a knowledge-driven framework developed under the Unstructured Information Management Architecture (UIMA). A system to extract specific information can be developed by subject matter experts through expert knowledge engineering of the externalized knowledge resources used in the framework.

Small Knowledge-Based Systems in Education and Training: Something New Under the Sun.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilson, Brent G.; Welsh, Jack R.

1986-01-01

Discusses artificial intelligence, robotics, natural language processing, and expert or knowledge-based systems research; examines two large expert systems, MYCIN and XCON; and reviews the resources required to build large expert systems and affordable smaller systems (intelligent job aids) for training. Expert system vendors and products are…

Knowledge Construction, Meaning-Making and Interaction in CLIL Science Classroom Communities of Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Evnitskaya, Natalia; Morton, Tom

2011-01-01

This paper draws on Wenger's model of community of practice to present preliminary findings on how processes of negotiation of meaning and identity formation occur in knowledge construction, meaning-making and interaction in two secondary Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) science classrooms. It uses a multimodal conversation analysis…

An Expedient Study on Back-Propagation (BPN) Neural Networks for Modeling Automated Evaluation of the Answers and Progress of Deaf Students' That Possess Basic Knowledge of the English Language and Computer Skills

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vrettaros, John; Vouros, George; Drigas, Athanasios S.

This article studies the expediency of using neural networks technology and the development of back-propagation networks (BPN) models for modeling automated evaluation of the answers and progress of deaf students' that possess basic knowledge of the English language and computer skills, within a virtual e-learning environment. The performance of the developed neural models is evaluated with the correlation factor between the neural networks' response values and the real value data as well as the percentage measurement of the error between the neural networks' estimate values and the real value data during its training process and afterwards with unknown data that weren't used in the training process.

Research in Knowledge Representation for Natural Language Understanding.

DTIC Science & Technology

1984-09-01

TYPE OF REPORT & PERIOO COVERED RESEARCH IN KNOWLEDGE REPRESENTATION Annual Report FOR NATURAL LANGUAGE UNDERSTANDING 9/1/83 - 8/31/84 S. PERFORMING...nhaber) Artificial intelligence, natural language understanding , knowledge representation, semantics, semantic networks, KL-TWO, NIKL, belief and...attempting to understand and react to a complex, evolving situation. This report summarizes our research in knowledge representation and natural language

Using music to study the evolution of cognitive mechanisms relevant to language.

PubMed

Patel, Aniruddh D

2017-02-01

This article argues that music can be used in cross-species research to study the evolution of cognitive mechanisms relevant to spoken language. This is because music and language share certain cognitive processing mechanisms and because music offers specific advantages for cross-species research. Music has relatively simple building blocks (tones without semantic properties), yet these building blocks are combined into rich hierarchical structures that engage complex cognitive processing. I illustrate this point with regard to the processing of musical harmonic structure. Because the processing of musical harmonic structure has been shown to interact with linguistic syntactic processing in humans, it is of interest to know if other species can acquire implicit knowledge of harmonic structure through extended exposure to music during development (vs. through explicit training). I suggest that domestic dogs would be a good species to study in addressing this question.

Temporal pattern processing in songbirds.

PubMed

Comins, Jordan A; Gentner, Timothy Q

2014-10-01

Understanding how the brain perceives, organizes and uses patterned information is directly related to the neurobiology of language. Given the present limitations, such knowledge at the scale of neurons, neural circuits and neural populations can only come from non-human models, focusing on shared capacities that are relevant to language processing. Here we review recent advances in the behavioral and neural basis of temporal pattern processing of natural auditory communication signals in songbirds, focusing on European starlings. We suggest a general inhibitory circuit for contextual modulation that can act to control sensory representations based on patterning rules. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Research accomplished at the Knowledge Based Systems Lab: IDEF3, version 1.0

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mayer, Richard J.; Menzel, Christopher P.; Mayer, Paula S. D.

1991-01-01

An overview is presented of the foundations and content of the evolving IDEF3 process flow and object state description capture method. This method is currently in beta test. Ongoing efforts in the formulation of formal semantics models for descriptions captured in the outlined form and in the actual application of this method can be expected to cause an evolution in the method language. A language is described for the representation of process and object state centered system description. IDEF3 is a scenario driven process flow modeling methodology created specifically for these types of descriptive activities.

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…

CE-SAM: a conversational interface for ISR mission support

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pizzocaro, Diego; Parizas, Christos; Preece, Alun; Braines, Dave; Mott, David; Bakdash, Jonathan Z.

2013-05-01

There is considerable interest in natural language conversational interfaces. These allow for complex user interactions with systems, such as fulfilling information requirements in dynamic environments, without requiring extensive training or a technical background (e.g. in formal query languages or schemas). To leverage the advantages of conversational interactions we propose CE-SAM (Controlled English Sensor Assignment to Missions), a system that guides users through refining and satisfying their information needs in the context of Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) operations. The rapidly-increasing availability of sensing assets and other information sources poses substantial challenges to effective ISR resource management. In a coalition context, the problem is even more complex, because assets may be "owned" by different partners. We show how CE-SAM allows a user to refine and relate their ISR information needs to pre-existing concepts in an ISR knowledge base, via conversational interaction implemented on a tablet device. The knowledge base is represented using Controlled English (CE) - a form of controlled natural language that is both human-readable and machine processable (i.e. can be used to implement automated reasoning). Users interact with the CE-SAM conversational interface using natural language, which the system converts to CE for feeding-back to the user for confirmation (e.g. to reduce misunderstanding). We show that this process not only allows users to access the assets that can support their mission needs, but also assists them in extending the CE knowledge base with new concepts.

Building and Sharing Knowledge Key Practice: What Do You Know, What Don't You Know, What Did You Learn? Research Report. ETS RR-15-24

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

O'Reilly, Tenaha; Deane, Paul; Sabatini, John

2015-01-01

In this paper we provide the rationale and foundation for the building and sharing knowledge key practice for the "CBAL"™ English language arts competency model. Building and sharing knowledge is a foundational literacy activity that enables students to learn and communicate what they read in texts. It is a strategic process that…

Measuring Teachers' Knowledge about Early Language and Literacy: Practical Implications and Considerations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hindman, Annemarie H.; Wasik, Barbara A.

2011-01-01

This study examined 1 tool for evaluating Head Start teachers' knowledge about early language and literacy. Results indicated that teachers varied in their knowledge. Teachers with more knowledge had more education, as did teachers who received language and literacy professional development. Teachers with greater knowledge also demonstrated higher…

[Spatio-Temporal Bioelectrical Brain Activity Organization during Reading Syntagmatic and Paradigmatic Collocations by Students with Different Foreign Language Proficiency].

PubMed

Sokolova, L V; Cherkasova, A S

2015-01-01

Texts or words/pseudowords are often used as stimuli for human verbal activity research. Our study pays attention to decoding processes of grammatical constructions consisted of two-three words--collocations. Russian and English collocation sets without any narrative were presented to Russian-speaking students with different English language skill. Stimulus material had two types of collocations: paradigmatic and syntagmatic. 30 students (average age--20.4 ± 0.22) took part in the study, they were divided into two equal groups depending on their English language skill (linguists/nonlinguists). During reading brain bioelectrical activity of cortex has been registered from 12 electrodes in alfa-, beta-, theta-bands. Coherent function reflecting cooperation of different cortical areas during reading collocations has been analyzed. Increase of interhemispheric and diagonal connections while reading collocations in different languages in the group of students with low knowledge of foreign language testifies of importance of functional cooperation between the hemispheres. It has been found out that brain bioelectrical activity of students with good foreign language knowledge during reading of all collocation types in Russian and English is characterized by economization of nervous substrate resources compared to nonlinguists. Selective activation of certain cortical areas has also been observed (depending on the grammatical construction type) in nonlinguists group that is probably related to special decoding system which processes presented stimuli. Reading Russian paradigmatic constructions by nonlinguists entailed increase between left cortical areas, reading of English syntagmatic collocations--between right ones.

A natural language query system for Hubble Space Telescope proposal selection

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hornick, Thomas; Cohen, William; Miller, Glenn

1987-01-01

The proposal selection process for the Hubble Space Telescope is assisted by a robust and easy to use query program (TACOS). The system parses an English subset language sentence regardless of the order of the keyword phases, allowing the user a greater flexibility than a standard command query language. Capabilities for macro and procedure definition are also integrated. The system was designed for flexibility in both use and maintenance. In addition, TACOS can be applied to any knowledge domain that can be expressed in terms of a single reaction. The system was implemented mostly in Common LISP. The TACOS design is described in detail, with particular attention given to the implementation methods of sentence processing.

Clinical, information and business process modeling to promote development of safe and flexible software.

PubMed

Liaw, Siaw-Teng; Deveny, Elizabeth; Morrison, Iain; Lewis, Bryn

2006-09-01

Using a factorial vignette survey and modeling methodology, we developed clinical and information models - incorporating evidence base, key concepts, relevant terms, decision-making and workflow needed to practice safely and effectively - to guide the development of an integrated rule-based knowledge module to support prescribing decisions in asthma. We identified workflows, decision-making factors, factor use, and clinician information requirements. The Unified Modeling Language (UML) and public domain software and knowledge engineering tools (e.g. Protégé) were used, with the Australian GP Data Model as the starting point for expressing information needs. A Web Services service-oriented architecture approach was adopted within which to express functional needs, and clinical processes and workflows were expressed in the Business Process Execution Language (BPEL). This formal analysis and modeling methodology to define and capture the process and logic of prescribing best practice in a reference implementation is fundamental to tackling deficiencies in prescribing decision support software.

Towards symbiosis in knowledge representation and natural language processing for structuring clinical practice guidelines.

PubMed

Weng, Chunhua; Payne, Philip R O; Velez, Mark; Johnson, Stephen B; Bakken, Suzanne

2014-01-01

The successful adoption by clinicians of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) contained in clinical information systems requires efficient translation of free-text guidelines into computable formats. Natural language processing (NLP) has the potential to improve the efficiency of such translation. However, it is laborious to develop NLP to structure free-text CPGs using existing formal knowledge representations (KR). In response to this challenge, this vision paper discusses the value and feasibility of supporting symbiosis in text-based knowledge acquisition (KA) and KR. We compare two ontologies: (1) an ontology manually created by domain experts for CPG eligibility criteria and (2) an upper-level ontology derived from a semantic pattern-based approach for automatic KA from CPG eligibility criteria text. Then we discuss the strengths and limitations of interweaving KA and NLP for KR purposes and important considerations for achieving the symbiosis of KR and NLP for structuring CPGs to achieve evidence-based clinical practice.

A methodology for extending domain coverage in SemRep.

PubMed

Rosemblat, Graciela; Shin, Dongwook; Kilicoglu, Halil; Sneiderman, Charles; Rindflesch, Thomas C

2013-12-01

We describe a domain-independent methodology to extend SemRep coverage beyond the biomedical domain. SemRep, a natural language processing application originally designed for biomedical texts, uses the knowledge sources provided by the Unified Medical Language System (UMLS©). Ontological and terminological extensions to the system are needed in order to support other areas of knowledge. We extended SemRep's application by developing a semantic representation of a previously unsupported domain. This was achieved by adapting well-known ontology engineering phases and integrating them with the UMLS knowledge sources on which SemRep crucially depends. While the process to extend SemRep coverage has been successfully applied in earlier projects, this paper presents in detail the step-wise approach we followed and the mechanisms implemented. A case study in the field of medical informatics illustrates how the ontology engineering phases have been adapted for optimal integration with the UMLS. We provide qualitative and quantitative results, which indicate the validity and usefulness of our methodology. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Computational Investigations of Multiword Chunks in Language Learning.

PubMed

McCauley, Stewart M; Christiansen, Morten H

2017-07-01

Second-language learners rarely arrive at native proficiency in a number of linguistic domains, including morphological and syntactic processing. Previous approaches to understanding the different outcomes of first- versus second-language learning have focused on cognitive and neural factors. In contrast, we explore the possibility that children and adults may rely on different linguistic units throughout the course of language learning, with specific focus on the granularity of those units. Following recent psycholinguistic evidence for the role of multiword chunks in online language processing, we explore the hypothesis that children rely more heavily on multiword units in language learning than do adults learning a second language. To this end, we take an initial step toward using large-scale, corpus-based computational modeling as a tool for exploring the granularity of speakers' linguistic units. Employing a computational model of language learning, the Chunk-Based Learner, we compare the usefulness of chunk-based knowledge in accounting for the speech of second-language learners versus children and adults speaking their first language. Our findings suggest that while multiword units are likely to play a role in second-language learning, adults may learn less useful chunks, rely on them to a lesser extent, and arrive at them through different means than children learning a first language. Copyright © 2017 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Words as cultivators of others minds

PubMed Central

Schilhab, Theresa S. S.

2015-01-01

The embodied–grounded view of cognition and language holds that sensorimotor experiences in the form of ‘re-enactments’ or ‘simulations’ are significant to the individual’s development of concepts and competent language use. However, a typical objection to the explanatory force of this view is that, in everyday life, we engage in linguistic exchanges about much more than might be directly accessible to our senses. For instance, when knowledge-sharing occurs as part of deep conversations between a teacher and student, language is the salient tool by which to obtain understanding, through the unfolding of explanations. Here, the acquisition of knowledge is realized through language, and the constitution of knowledge seems entirely linguistic. In this paper, based on a review of selected studies within contemporary embodied cognitive science, I propose that such linguistic exchanges, though occurring independently of direct experience, are in fact disguised forms of embodied cognition, leading to the reconciliation of the opposing views. I suggest that, in conversation, interlocutors use Words as Cultivators (WAC) of other minds as a direct result of their embodied–grounded origin, rendering WAC a radical interpretation of the Words as social Tools (WAT) proposal. The WAC hypothesis endorses the view of language as dynamic, continuously integrating with, and negotiating, cognitive processes in the individual. One such dynamic feature results from the ‘linguification process’, a term by which I refer to the socially produced mapping of a word to its referent which, mediated by the interlocutor, turns words into cultivators of others minds. In support of the linguification process hypothesis and WAC, I review relevant embodied–grounded research, and selected studies of instructed fear conditioning and guided imagery. PMID:26594187

Local plant names reveal that enslaved Africans recognized substantial parts of the New World flora.

PubMed

van Andel, Tinde R; van 't Klooster, Charlotte I E A; Quiroz, Diana; Towns, Alexandra M; Ruysschaert, Sofie; van den Berg, Margot

2014-12-16

How did the forced migration of nearly 11 million enslaved Africans to the Americas influence their knowledge of plants? Vernacular plant names give insight into the process of species recognition, acquisition of new knowledge, and replacement of African species with American ones. This study traces the origin of 2,350 Afro-Surinamese (Sranantongo and Maroon) plant names to those plant names used by local Amerindians, Europeans, and related groups in West and Central Africa. We compared vernacular names from herbarium collections, literature, and recent ethnobotanical fieldwork in Suriname, Ghana, Benin, and Gabon. A strong correspondence in sound, structure, and meaning among Afro-Surinamese vernaculars and their equivalents in other languages for botanically related taxa was considered as evidence for a shared origin. Although 65% of the Afro-Surinamese plant names contained European lexical items, enslaved Africans have recognized a substantial part of the neotropical flora. Twenty percent of the Sranantongo and 43% of the Maroon plant names strongly resemble names currently used in diverse African languages for related taxa, represent translations of African ones, or directly refer to an Old World origin. The acquisition of new ethnobotanical knowledge is captured in vernaculars derived from Amerindian languages and the invention of new names for neotropical plants from African lexical terms. Plant names that combine African, Amerindian, and European words reflect a creolization process that merged ethnobotanical skills from diverse geographical and cultural sources into new Afro-American knowledge systems. Our study confirms the role of Africans as significant agents of environmental knowledge in the New World.

Local plant names reveal that enslaved Africans recognized substantial parts of the New World flora

PubMed Central

van ‘t Klooster, Charlotte I. E. A.; Towns, Alexandra M.; Ruysschaert, Sofie; van den Berg, Margot

2014-01-01

How did the forced migration of nearly 11 million enslaved Africans to the Americas influence their knowledge of plants? Vernacular plant names give insight into the process of species recognition, acquisition of new knowledge, and replacement of African species with American ones. This study traces the origin of 2,350 Afro-Surinamese (Sranantongo and Maroon) plant names to those plant names used by local Amerindians, Europeans, and related groups in West and Central Africa. We compared vernacular names from herbarium collections, literature, and recent ethnobotanical fieldwork in Suriname, Ghana, Benin, and Gabon. A strong correspondence in sound, structure, and meaning among Afro-Surinamese vernaculars and their equivalents in other languages for botanically related taxa was considered as evidence for a shared origin. Although 65% of the Afro-Surinamese plant names contained European lexical items, enslaved Africans have recognized a substantial part of the neotropical flora. Twenty percent of the Sranantongo and 43% of the Maroon plant names strongly resemble names currently used in diverse African languages for related taxa, represent translations of African ones, or directly refer to an Old World origin. The acquisition of new ethnobotanical knowledge is captured in vernaculars derived from Amerindian languages and the invention of new names for neotropical plants from African lexical terms. Plant names that combine African, Amerindian, and European words reflect a creolization process that merged ethnobotanical skills from diverse geographical and cultural sources into new Afro-American knowledge systems. Our study confirms the role of Africans as significant agents of environmental knowledge in the New World. PMID:25453066

Language Acquisition in a Unification-Based Grammar Processing System Using a Real-World Knowledge Base.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Russell, Dale W.

An obstacle in Natural Language understanding is the existence of lexical gaps, i.e. words or word senses that are not in the lexicon of the system. This thesis describes the implementation of MURRAY, a learning mechanism which infers the properties of a new lexical item from its syntactical environment and infers its meaning based on context and…

Students and Teachers' Perceptions into the Viability of Mobile Technology Implementation to Support Language Learning for First Year Business Students in a Middle Eastern University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tayan, Bilal M.

2017-01-01

Advancements in technology have enabled us to learn, adapt and exploit our skills and knowledge in new ways. Appreciating the potential of technology may yet give growth and enrich the process of language education, particularly through a student-centred mobile learning environment. Consequently, a constructivist approach to learning can create…

The Struggle of Being Toba in Contemporary Argentina: Processes of Ethnic Identification of Indigenous Children in Contexts of Language Shift

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hecht, Ana Carolina

2012-01-01

The aim of this article is to study how children experience their ethnic identifications in relation to their knowledge of the Toba language through daily interactions with peers and adults (both indigenous and non-indigenous). The study is focused on an urban setting in Buenos Aires (Argentina) where monolingual (Spanish) practices are replacing…

Voice-enabled Knowledge Engine using Flood Ontology and Natural Language Processing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sermet, M. Y.; Demir, I.; Krajewski, W. F.

2015-12-01

The Iowa Flood Information System (IFIS) is a web-based platform developed by the Iowa Flood Center (IFC) to provide access to flood inundation maps, real-time flood conditions, flood forecasts, flood-related data, information and interactive visualizations for communities in Iowa. The IFIS is designed for use by general public, often people with no domain knowledge and limited general science background. To improve effective communication with such audience, we have introduced a voice-enabled knowledge engine on flood related issues in IFIS. Instead of navigating within many features and interfaces of the information system and web-based sources, the system provides dynamic computations based on a collection of built-in data, analysis, and methods. The IFIS Knowledge Engine connects to real-time stream gauges, in-house data sources, analysis and visualization tools to answer natural language questions. Our goal is the systematization of data and modeling results on flood related issues in Iowa, and to provide an interface for definitive answers to factual queries. The goal of the knowledge engine is to make all flood related knowledge in Iowa easily accessible to everyone, and support voice-enabled natural language input. We aim to integrate and curate all flood related data, implement analytical and visualization tools, and make it possible to compute answers from questions. The IFIS explicitly implements analytical methods and models, as algorithms, and curates all flood related data and resources so that all these resources are computable. The IFIS Knowledge Engine computes the answer by deriving it from its computational knowledge base. The knowledge engine processes the statement, access data warehouse, run complex database queries on the server-side and return outputs in various formats. This presentation provides an overview of IFIS Knowledge Engine, its unique information interface and functionality as an educational tool, and discusses the future plans for providing knowledge on flood related issues and resources. IFIS Knowledge Engine provides an alternative access method to these comprehensive set of tools and data resources available in IFIS. Current implementation of the system accepts free-form input and voice recognition capabilities within browser and mobile applications.

Language skills and nonverbal cognitive processes associated with reading comprehension in deaf children.

PubMed

Daza, María Teresa; Phillips-Silver, Jessica; Ruiz-Cuadra, María del Mar; López-López, Francisco

2014-12-01

The main aim of this study was to examine the relationship between language skills (vocabulary knowledge and phonological awareness), nonverbal cognitive processes (attention, memory and executive functions) and reading comprehension in deaf children. Participants were thirty prelingually deaf children (10.7 ± 1.6 years old; 18 boys, 12 girls), who were classified as either good readers or poor readers by their scores on two reading comprehension tasks. The children were administered a rhyme judgment task and seven computerized neuropsychological tasks specifically designed and adapted for deaf children to evaluate vocabulary knowledge, attention, memory and executive functions in deaf children. A correlational approach was also used to assess the association between variables. Although the two groups did not show differences in phonological awareness, good readers showed better vocabulary and performed significantly better than poor readers on attention, memory and executive functions measures. Significant correlations were found between better scores in reading comprehension and better scores on tasks of vocabulary and non-verbal cognitive processes. The results suggest that in deaf children, vocabulary knowledge and nonverbal cognitive processes such as selective attention, visuo-spatial memory, abstract reasoning and sequential processing may be especially relevant for the development of reading comprehension. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Language, Thinking and Action: Towards a Semio-Constructivist Approach in Physical Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wallian, Nathalie; Chang, Ching-Wei

2007-01-01

Background: Research about sport pedagogy has recently emerged as a significant interest in student reflective practice within the PE teaching/learning system. This learning process is considered as a type of knowledge of co-construction in action. This epistemological assumption postulates that the "knowledge-in-action" is the result of an active…

Indigenous Knowledge and Education from the Quechua Community to School: Beyond the Formal/Non-Formal Dichotomy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sumida Huaman, Elizabeth; Valdiviezo, Laura Alicia

2014-01-01

In this article, we propose to approach Indigenous education beyond the formal/non-formal dichotomy. We argue that there is a critical need to conscientiously include Indigenous knowledge in education processes from the school to the community; particularly, when formal systems exclude Indigenous cultures and languages. Based on ethnographic…

A New Measure for Assessing the Contributions of Higher Level Processes to Language Comprehension Performance in Preschoolers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hannon, Brenda; Frias, Sarah

2012-01-01

The present study reports the development of a theoretically motivated measure that provides estimates of a preschooler's ability to recall auditory text, to make text-based inferences, to access knowledge from long-term memory, and to integrate this accessed knowledge with new information from auditory text. This new preschooler component…

Phonemic Awareness versus Meaning Instruction in Beginning Reading: A Discussion.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Partridge, Susan

Two Schools of thought prominent in reading instruction are: (1) that reading is a language-based skill which requires the reader to have a sound knowledge of phonology and that this knowledge must be at an automatic level of information processing; and (2) that reading problems are the result of being overly attentive to phonetic and orthographic…

Assessing Bilingual Knowledge Organization in Secondary Science Classrooms =

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Jason S.

Improving outcomes for English language learners (ELLs) in secondary science remains an area of high need. The purpose of this study is to investigate bilingual knowledge organization in secondary science classrooms. This study involved thirty-nine bilingual students in three biology classes at a public high school in The Bronx, New York City. Methods included an in-class survey on language use, a science content and English proficiency exam, and bilingual free-recalls. Fourteen students participated in bilingual free-recalls which involved a semi-structured process of oral recall of information learned in science class. Free-recall was conducted in both English and Spanish and analyzed using flow-map methods. Novel methods were developed to quantify and visualize the elaboration and mobilization of ideas shared across languages. It was found that bilingual narratives displayed similar levels of organizational complexity across languages, though English recalls tended to be longer. English proficiency was correlated with narrative complexity in English. There was a high degree of elaboration on concepts shared across languages. Finally, higher Spanish proficiency correlated well with greater overlapping elaboration across languages. These findings are discussed in light of current cognitive theory before presenting the study's limitations and future directions of research.

Galen-In-Use: using artificial intelligence terminology tools to improve the linguistic coherence of a national coding system for surgical procedures.

PubMed

Rodrigues, J M; Trombert-Paviot, B; Baud, R; Wagner, J; Meusnier-Carriot, F

1998-01-01

GALEN has developed a language independent common reference model based on a medically oriented ontology and practical tools and techniques for managing healthcare terminology including natural language processing. GALEN-IN-USE is the current phase which applied the modelling and the tools to the development or the updating of coding systems for surgical procedures in different national coding centers co-operating within the European Federation of Coding Centre (EFCC) to create a language independent knowledge repository for multicultural Europe. We used an integrated set of artificial intelligence terminology tools named CLAssification Manager workbench to process French professional medical language rubrics into intermediate dissections and to the Grail reference ontology model representation. From this language independent concept model representation we generate controlled French natural language. The French national coding centre is then able to retrieve the initial professional rubrics with different categories of concepts, to compare the professional language proposed by expert clinicians to the French generated controlled vocabulary and to finalize the linguistic labels of the coding system in relation with the meanings of the conceptual system structure.

Language acquisition and use: learning and applying probabilistic constraints.

PubMed

Seidenberg, M S

1997-03-14

What kinds of knowledge underlie the use of language and how is this knowledge acquired? Linguists equate knowing a language with knowing a grammar. Classic "poverty of the stimulus" arguments suggest that grammar identification is an intractable inductive problem and that acquisition is possible only because children possess innate knowledge of grammatical structure. An alternative view is emerging from studies of statistical and probabilistic aspects of language, connectionist models, and the learning capacities of infants. This approach emphasizes continuity between how language is acquired and how it is used. It retains the idea that innate capacities constrain language learning, but calls into question whether they include knowledge of grammatical structure.

STEM learning research through a funds of knowledge lens

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Civil, Marta

2016-03-01

This article examines STEM learning as a cultural process with a focus on non-dominant communities. Building on my work in funds of knowledge and mathematics education, I present three vignettes to raise some questions around connections between in-school and out-of-school mathematics. How do we define competence? How do task and environment affect engagement? What is the role of affect, language, and cognition in different settings? These vignettes serve to highlight the complexity of moving across different domains of STEM practice—everyday life, school, and STEM disciplines. Based on findings from occupational interviews I discuss characteristics of learning and engaging in everyday practices and propose several areas for further research, including the nature of everyday STEM practices, valorization of knowledge, language choice, and different forms of engagement.

An Information Extraction Framework for Cohort Identification Using Electronic Health Records

PubMed Central

Liu, Hongfang; Bielinski, Suzette J.; Sohn, Sunghwan; Murphy, Sean; Wagholikar, Kavishwar B.; Jonnalagadda, Siddhartha R.; Ravikumar, K.E.; Wu, Stephen T.; Kullo, Iftikhar J.; Chute, Christopher G

Information extraction (IE), a natural language processing (NLP) task that automatically extracts structured or semi-structured information from free text, has become popular in the clinical domain for supporting automated systems at point-of-care and enabling secondary use of electronic health records (EHRs) for clinical and translational research. However, a high performance IE system can be very challenging to construct due to the complexity and dynamic nature of human language. In this paper, we report an IE framework for cohort identification using EHRs that is a knowledge-driven framework developed under the Unstructured Information Management Architecture (UIMA). A system to extract specific information can be developed by subject matter experts through expert knowledge engineering of the externalized knowledge resources used in the framework. PMID:24303255

Generalized event knowledge activation during online sentence comprehension

PubMed Central

Metusalem, Ross; Kutas, Marta; Urbach, Thomas P.; Hare, Mary; McRae, Ken; Elman, Jeffrey L.

2012-01-01

Recent research has demonstrated that knowledge of real-world eventsplays an important role inguiding online language comprehension. The present study addresses the scope of event knowledge activation during the course of comprehension, specifically investigating whether activation is limited to those knowledge elements that align with the local linguistic context.The present study addresses this issue by analyzing event-related brain potentials (ERPs) recorded as participants read brief scenariosdescribing typical real-world events. Experiment 1 demonstratesthat a contextually anomalous word elicits a reduced N400 if it is generally related to the described event, even when controlling for the degree of association of this word with individual words in the preceding context and with the expected continuation. Experiment 2 shows that this effect disappears when the discourse context is removed.These findings demonstrate that during the course of incremental comprehension, comprehenders activate general knowledge about the described event, even at points at which this knowledge would constitute an anomalous continuation of the linguistic stream. Generalized event knowledge activationcontributes to mental representations of described events, is immediately available to influence language processing, and likely drives linguistic expectancy generation. PMID:22711976

Learning procedures from interactive natural language instructions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Huffman, Scott B.; Laird, John E.

1994-01-01

Despite its ubiquity in human learning, very little work has been done in artificial intelligence on agents that learn from interactive natural language instructions. In this paper, the problem of learning procedures from interactive, situated instruction is examined in which the student is attempting to perform tasks within the instructional domain, and asks for instruction when it is needed. Presented is Instructo-Soar, a system that behaves and learns in response to interactive natural language instructions. Instructo-Soar learns completely new procedures from sequences of instruction, and also learns how to extend its knowledge of previously known procedures to new situations. These learning tasks require both inductive and analytic learning. Instructo-Soar exhibits a multiple execution learning process in which initial learning has a rote, episodic flavor, and later executions allow the initially learned knowledge to be generalized properly.

Galen: a third generation terminology tool to support a multipurpose national coding system for surgical procedures.

PubMed

Trombert-Paviot, B; Rodrigues, J M; Rogers, J E; Baud, R; van der Haring, E; Rassinoux, A M; Abrial, V; Clavel, L; Idir, H

1999-01-01

GALEN has developed a new generation of terminology tools based on a language independent concept reference model using a compositional formalism allowing computer processing and multiple reuses. During the 4th framework program project Galen-In-Use we applied the modelling and the tools to the development of a new multipurpose coding system for surgical procedures (CCAM) in France. On one hand we contributed to a language independent knowledge repository for multicultural Europe. On the other hand we support the traditional process for creating a new coding system in medicine which is very much labour consuming by artificial intelligence tools using a medically oriented recursive ontology and natural language processing. We used an integrated software named CLAW to process French professional medical language rubrics produced by the national colleges of surgeons into intermediate dissections and to the Grail reference ontology model representation. From this language independent concept model representation on one hand we generate controlled French natural language to support the finalization of the linguistic labels in relation with the meanings of the conceptual system structure. On the other hand the classification manager of third generation proves to be very powerful to retrieve the initial professional rubrics with different categories of concepts within a semantic network.

From specific examples to general knowledge in language learning.

PubMed

Tamminen, Jakke; Davis, Matthew H; Rastle, Kathleen

2015-06-01

The extraction of general knowledge from individual episodes is critical if we are to learn new knowledge or abilities. Here we uncover some of the key cognitive mechanisms that characterise this process in the domain of language learning. In five experiments adult participants learned new morphological units embedded in fictitious words created by attaching new affixes (e.g., -afe) to familiar word stems (e.g., "sleepafe is a participant in a study about the effects of sleep"). Participants' ability to generalise semantic knowledge about the affixes was tested using tasks requiring the comprehension and production of novel words containing a trained affix (e.g., sailafe). We manipulated the delay between training and test (Experiment 1), the number of unique exemplars provided for each affix during training (Experiment 2), and the consistency of the form-to-meaning mapping of the affixes (Experiments 3-5). In a task where speeded online language processing is required (semantic priming), generalisation was achieved only after a memory consolidation opportunity following training, and only if the training included a sufficient number of unique exemplars. Semantic inconsistency disrupted speeded generalisation unless consolidation was allowed to operate on one of the two affix-meanings before introducing inconsistencies. In contrast, in tasks that required slow, deliberate reasoning, generalisation could be achieved largely irrespective of the above constraints. These findings point to two different mechanisms of generalisation that have different cognitive demands and rely on different types of memory representations. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Foreign Language Teachers' Language Proficiency and Their Language Teaching Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Richards, Heather; Conway, Clare; Roskvist, Annelies; Harvey, Sharon

2013-01-01

Teachers' subject knowledge is recognized as an essential component of effective teaching. In the foreign language context, teachers' subject knowledge includes language proficiency. In New Zealand high schools, foreign languages (e.g. Chinese, French, German, Japanese and Spanish) have recently been offered to learners earlier in their schooling,…

Memory and Language in Middle Childhood in Individuals with a History of Specific Language Impairment

PubMed Central

Hesketh, Anne; Conti-Ramsden, Gina

2013-01-01

This study reports on the sensitivity of sentence repetition as a marker of specific language impairment (SLI) in different subgroups of children in middle childhood and examines the role of memory and grammatical knowledge in the performance of children with and without language difficulties on this task. Eleven year old children, 197 with a history of SLI and 75 typically developing (TD) peers were administered sentence repetition, phonological short term memory (PSTM) and grammatical morphology tasks. Children with a history of SLI were divided into four subgroups: specific language impairment, non-specific language impairment, low cognition with resolved language and resolved. Performance on the sentence repetition task was significantly impaired in all four subgroups of children with a history of SLI when compared to their age peers. Regression analyses revealed grammatical knowledge was predictive of performance for TD children and children with a history of SLI. However, memory abilities were significantly predictive of sentence repetition task performance for children with a history of SLI only. Processes involved in sentence repetition are more taxing of PSTM for individuals with a history of SLI in middle childhood in a way that does not appear to be the case for TD children. PMID:23409172

A proposal to describe a phenomenon of expanding language

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Swietorzecka, Kordula

Changes of knowledge, convictions or beliefs are subjects of interest in frame of so called epistemic logic. There are various proposed descriptions of a process (or its results) in which so a called agent may invent certain changes in a set of sentences that he had already chosen as a point of his knowledge, convictions or beliefs (and this is also considered in case of many agents). In the presented paper we are interested in the changeability of an agent's language which is by its own independent from already mentioned changes. Modern epistemic formalizations assume that the agent uses a fixed (and so we could say: static) language in which he expresses his various opinions which may change. Our interest is to simulate a situation when a language is extended by adding to it new expressions which were not known by the agent so he couldn't even consider them as subjects of his opinions. Actually such a phenomenon happens both in natural and scientific languages. Let us mention a fact of expanding languages in process of learning or in result of getting of new data about some described domain. We propose a simple idealization of extending sentential language used by one agent. Actually the language is treated as a family of so called n-languages which get some epistemic interpretation. Proposed semantics enables us to distinguish between two different types of changes - these which occur because of changing agent's convictions about logical values of some n-sentences - we describe them using one place operator C to be read it changes that - and changes that consist in increasing the level of n-language by adding to it new expressions. However the second type of change - symbolized by variable G - may be also considered independently of the first one. The logical frame of our considerations comes from and it was originally used to describe Aristotelian theory of substantial changes. This time we apply the mentioned logic in epistemology.

Research in Knowledge Representation for Natural Language Understanding

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-11-01

artificial intelligence, natural language understanding , parsing, syntax, semantics, speaker meaning, knowledge representation, semantic networks...TinB PAGE map M W006 1Report No. 4513 L RESEARCH IN KNOWLEDGE REPRESENTATION FOR NATURAL LANGUAGE UNDERSTANDING Annual Report 1 September 1979 to 31... understanding , knowledge representation, and knowledge based inference. The work that we have been doing falls into three classes, successively motivated by

Computer based extraction of phenoptypic features of human congenital anomalies from the digital literature with natural language processing techniques.

PubMed

Karakülah, Gökhan; Dicle, Oğuz; Koşaner, Ozgün; Suner, Aslı; Birant, Çağdaş Can; Berber, Tolga; Canbek, Sezin

2014-01-01

The lack of laboratory tests for the diagnosis of most of the congenital anomalies renders the physical examination of the case crucial for the diagnosis of the anomaly; and the cases in the diagnostic phase are mostly being evaluated in the light of the literature knowledge. In this respect, for accurate diagnosis, ,it is of great importance to provide the decision maker with decision support by presenting the literature knowledge about a particular case. Here, we demonstrated a methodology for automated scanning and determining of the phenotypic features from the case reports related to congenital anomalies in the literature with text and natural language processing methods, and we created a framework of an information source for a potential diagnostic decision support system for congenital anomalies.

Abstract knowledge versus direct experience in processing of binomial expressions

PubMed Central

Morgan, Emily; Levy, Roger

2016-01-01

We ask whether word order preferences for binomial expressions of the form A and B (e.g. bread and butter) are driven by abstract linguistic knowledge of ordering constraints referencing the semantic, phonological, and lexical properties of the constituent words, or by prior direct experience with the specific items in questions. Using forced-choice and self-paced reading tasks, we demonstrate that online processing of never-before-seen binomials is influenced by abstract knowledge of ordering constraints, which we estimate with a probabilistic model. In contrast, online processing of highly frequent binomials is primarily driven by direct experience, which we estimate from corpus frequency counts. We propose a trade-off wherein processing of novel expressions relies upon abstract knowledge, while reliance upon direct experience increases with increased exposure to an expression. Our findings support theories of language processing in which both compositional generation and direct, holistic reuse of multi-word expressions play crucial roles. PMID:27776281

Early language and executive skills predict variations in number and arithmetic skills in children at family-risk of dyslexia and typically developing controls

PubMed Central

Moll, Kristina; Snowling, Margaret J.; Göbel, Silke M.; Hulme, Charles

2015-01-01

Two important foundations for learning are language and executive skills. Data from a longitudinal study tracking the development of 93 children at family-risk of dyslexia and 76 controls was used to investigate the influence of these skills on the development of arithmetic. A two-group longitudinal path model assessed the relationships between language and executive skills at 3–4 years, verbal number skills (counting and number knowledge) and phonological processing skills at 4–5 years, and written arithmetic in primary school. The same cognitive processes accounted for variability in arithmetic skills in both groups. Early language and executive skills predicted variations in preschool verbal number skills, which in turn, predicted arithmetic skills in school. In contrast, phonological awareness was not a predictor of later arithmetic skills. These results suggest that verbal and executive processes provide the foundation for verbal number skills, which in turn influence the development of formal arithmetic skills. Problems in early language development may explain the comorbidity between reading and mathematics disorder. PMID:26412946

Metacognition in speech and language therapy for children with social (pragmatic) communication disorders: implications for a theory of therapy.

PubMed

Gaile, Jacqueline; Adams, Catherine

2018-01-01

Metacognition is a significant component of complex interventions for children who have developmental language disorders. Research into how metacognition operates in the content or process of developmental language therapy delivery is limited. Identification and description of proposed active therapy components, such as metacognition, may contribute to our understanding of how to deliver complex communication interventions in an optimal manner. To analyse aspects of metacognition during therapy derived from a manualized speech and language intervention (the Social Communication Intervention Programme-SCIP) as delivered to children who have social (pragmatic) communication disorder (SPCD) and to examine the dynamic process of delivering therapy. A purposive sample of eight filmed therapy sessions was selected from the video data corpus of intervention-arm participants within a randomized controlled trial. The child-therapist interactions during therapy sessions from five children (aged between 5;11 and 10;3) in the SCIP trial were transcribed. Filmed sessions represented a variety of communication profiles and SCIP therapy content. Starting from existing theory on metacognition, cycles of iterative analysis were performed using a mixed inductive-deductive qualitative analysis. A preliminary list of metacognitive content embedded in the intervention was developed into a metacognitive coding framework (MCF). A thematic analysis of the identified metacognitive content of the intervention was then carried out across the whole sample. Thematic analysis revealed the presence of metacognition in the content and delivery of SCIP intervention. Four main themes of metacognitive person, task and strategy knowledge, and monitoring/control were identified. Metacognition was a feature of how children's ability to monitor language, pragmatic and social interaction skills, in themselves and other people, was developed. Task design and delivery methods were found to play a particular role in adjusting the metacognitive content of the therapy activities. This study makes explicit the metacognitive content and delivery within a complex developmental communication intervention. Discussion of the findings about metacognitive content provides an explanation of how the skilled speech and language therapist manipulates task demands, person knowledge and therapy methods towards the therapy goal. Clinical applications of the metacognitive framework are discussed. We suggest that the process of making the tacit knowledge of the therapist explicit can contribute to the implementation of complex evidence-based interventions. © 2017 Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.

Structuration and acquisition of medical knowledge. Using UMLS in the conceptual graph formalism.

PubMed Central

Volot, F.; Zweigenbaum, P.; Bachimont, B.; Ben Said, M.; Bouaud, J.; Fieschi, M.; Boisvieux, J. F.

1993-01-01

The use of a taxonomy, such as the concept type lattice (CTL) of Conceptual Graphs, is a central structuring piece in a knowledge-based system. The knowledge it contains is constantly used by the system, and its structure provides a guide for the acquisition of other pieces of knowledge. We show how UMLS can be used as a knowledge resource to build a CTL and how the CTL can help the process of acquisition for other kinds of knowledge. We illustrate this method in the context of the MENELAS natural language understanding project. PMID:8130568

Speech endpoint detection with non-language speech sounds for generic speech processing applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McClain, Matthew; Romanowski, Brian

2009-05-01

Non-language speech sounds (NLSS) are sounds produced by humans that do not carry linguistic information. Examples of these sounds are coughs, clicks, breaths, and filled pauses such as "uh" and "um" in English. NLSS are prominent in conversational speech, but can be a significant source of errors in speech processing applications. Traditionally, these sounds are ignored by speech endpoint detection algorithms, where speech regions are identified in the audio signal prior to processing. The ability to filter NLSS as a pre-processing step can significantly enhance the performance of many speech processing applications, such as speaker identification, language identification, and automatic speech recognition. In order to be used in all such applications, NLSS detection must be performed without the use of language models that provide knowledge of the phonology and lexical structure of speech. This is especially relevant to situations where the languages used in the audio are not known apriori. We present the results of preliminary experiments using data from American and British English speakers, in which segments of audio are classified as language speech sounds (LSS) or NLSS using a set of acoustic features designed for language-agnostic NLSS detection and a hidden-Markov model (HMM) to model speech generation. The results of these experiments indicate that the features and model used are capable of detection certain types of NLSS, such as breaths and clicks, while detection of other types of NLSS such as filled pauses will require future research.

The Influence of Linguistic Proficiency on Masked Text Recognition Performance in Adults With and Without Congenital Hearing Impairment.

PubMed

Huysmans, Elke; Bolk, Elske; Zekveld, Adriana A; Festen, Joost M; de Groot, Annette M B; Goverts, S Theo

2016-01-01

The authors first examined the influence of moderate to severe congenital hearing impairment (CHI) on the correctness of samples of elicited spoken language. Then, the authors used this measure as an indicator of linguistic proficiency and examined its effect on performance in language reception, independent of bottom-up auditory processing. In groups of adults with normal hearing (NH, n = 22), acquired hearing impairment (AHI, n = 22), and moderate to severe CHI (n = 21), the authors assessed linguistic proficiency by analyzing the morphosyntactic correctness of their spoken language production. Language reception skills were examined with a task for masked sentence recognition in the visual domain (text), at a readability level of 50%, using grammatically correct sentences and sentences with distorted morphosyntactic cues. The actual performance on the tasks was compared between groups. Adults with CHI made more morphosyntactic errors in spoken language production than adults with NH, while no differences were observed between the AHI and NH group. This outcome pattern sustained when comparisons were restricted to subgroups of AHI and CHI adults, matched for current auditory speech reception abilities. The data yielded no differences between groups in performance in masked text recognition of grammatically correct sentences in a test condition in which subjects could fully take advantage of their linguistic knowledge. Also, no difference between groups was found in the sensitivity to morphosyntactic distortions when processing short masked sentences, presented visually. These data showed that problems with the correct use of specific morphosyntactic knowledge in spoken language production are a long-term effect of moderate to severe CHI, independent of current auditory processing abilities. However, moderate to severe CHI generally does not impede performance in masked language reception in the visual modality, as measured in this study with short, degraded sentences. Aspects of linguistic proficiency that are affected by CHI thus do not seem to play a role in masked sentence recognition in the visual modality.

Pre-Professional Students' Explicit Syntax Knowledge: Preliminary Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brimo, Danielle; Melamed, Tina

2017-01-01

Existing research concludes that educators have varying levels of language knowledge. Educators' varying levels of language knowledge may be related to the type of content knowledge they received while in school. The purpose of this study was to compare the performance of pre-professional speech-language pathology (SLP) students who have taken…

How Involved Are American L2 Learners of Spanish in Lexical Input Processing Tasks during Reading?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pulido, Diana

2009-01-01

This study examines the nature of the involvement load (Laufer & Hulstijn, 2001) in second language (L2) lexical input processing through reading by considering the effects of the reader-based factors of L2 reading proficiency and background knowledge. The lexical input processing aspects investigated were lexical inferencing (search), attentional…

Reflections on the Process of Bilingual Education in Latin America: A Perspective from Globalization

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Joya, Magdalena; Cerón, Alejandra

2013-01-01

This paper intends to explain how education can be understood as a process that involves the transmission of culture, knowledge, manners and values; meanwhile, globalization implies an evolving process of constructing a global system of languages. In this way, the relationship between the educational and economic systems can become stronger…

Knowledge-based simulation for aerospace systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Will, Ralph W.; Sliwa, Nancy E.; Harrison, F. Wallace, Jr.

1988-01-01

Knowledge-based techniques, which offer many features that are desirable in the simulation and development of aerospace vehicle operations, exhibit many similarities to traditional simulation packages. The eventual solution of these systems' current symbolic processing/numeric processing interface problem will lead to continuous and discrete-event simulation capabilities in a single language, such as TS-PROLOG. Qualitative, totally-symbolic simulation methods are noted to possess several intrinsic characteristics that are especially revelatory of the system being simulated, and capable of insuring that all possible behaviors are considered.

Improving Science and Vocabulary Learning of English Language Learners. CREATE Brief

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

August, Diane; Artzi, Lauren; Mazrum, Julie

2010-01-01

This brief reviews previous research related to the development of science knowledge and academic language in English language learners as well as the role of English language proficiency, learning in a second language, and first language knowledge in science learning. It also describes two successful CREATE interventions that build academic and…

Modeling evolution of the mind and cultures: emotional Sapir-Whorf hypothesis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perlovsky, Leonid I.

2009-05-01

Evolution of cultures is ultimately determined by mechanisms of the human mind. The paper discusses the mechanisms of evolution of language from primordial undifferentiated animal cries to contemporary conceptual contents. In parallel with differentiation of conceptual contents, the conceptual contents were differentiated from emotional contents of languages. The paper suggests the neural brain mechanisms involved in these processes. Experimental evidence and theoretical arguments are discussed, including mathematical approaches to cognition and language: modeling fields theory, the knowledge instinct, and the dual model connecting language and cognition. Mathematical results are related to cognitive science, linguistics, and psychology. The paper gives an initial mathematical formulation and mean-field equations for the hierarchical dynamics of both the human mind and culture. In the mind heterarchy operation of the knowledge instinct manifests through mechanisms of differentiation and synthesis. The emotional contents of language are related to language grammar. The conclusion is an emotional version of Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. Cultural advantages of "conceptual" pragmatic cultures, in which emotionality of language is diminished and differentiation overtakes synthesis resulting in fast evolution at the price of self doubts and internal crises are compared to those of traditional cultures where differentiation lags behind synthesis, resulting in cultural stability at the price of stagnation. Multi-language, multi-ethnic society might combine the benefits of stability and fast differentiation. Unsolved problems and future theoretical and experimental directions are discussed.

The role of primary caregiver vocabulary knowledge in the development of bilingual children’s vocabulary skills

PubMed Central

Buac, Milijana; Gross, Megan; Kaushanskaya, Margarita

2015-01-01

Purpose The current study examined the impact of environmental factors (SES, the percent of language exposure to English and to Spanish, and primary caregivers’ vocabulary knowledge) on bilingual children’s vocabulary skills. Method We measured vocabulary skills of 58 bilingual children between the ages of 5 and 7 who spoke Spanish as their native language and English as their second language. Data related to language environment in the home, specifically the percent of language exposure to each language and SES, were obtained from primary caregiver interviews. Primary caregivers’ vocabulary knowledge was measured directly using expressive and receptive vocabulary assessments in both languages. Results Multiple regression analyses indicated that primary caregivers’ vocabulary knowledge, the child’s percent exposure to each language, and SES were robust predictors of children’s English, but not Spanish, vocabulary skills. Conclusions These findings indicate that in the early school age, primary caregiver vocabulary skills have a stronger impact on bilingual children’s second-language than native-language vocabulary. PMID:24824882

Interactive natural language acquisition in a multi-modal recurrent neural architecture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heinrich, Stefan; Wermter, Stefan

2018-01-01

For the complex human brain that enables us to communicate in natural language, we gathered good understandings of principles underlying language acquisition and processing, knowledge about sociocultural conditions, and insights into activity patterns in the brain. However, we were not yet able to understand the behavioural and mechanistic characteristics for natural language and how mechanisms in the brain allow to acquire and process language. In bridging the insights from behavioural psychology and neuroscience, the goal of this paper is to contribute a computational understanding of appropriate characteristics that favour language acquisition. Accordingly, we provide concepts and refinements in cognitive modelling regarding principles and mechanisms in the brain and propose a neurocognitively plausible model for embodied language acquisition from real-world interaction of a humanoid robot with its environment. In particular, the architecture consists of a continuous time recurrent neural network, where parts have different leakage characteristics and thus operate on multiple timescales for every modality and the association of the higher level nodes of all modalities into cell assemblies. The model is capable of learning language production grounded in both, temporal dynamic somatosensation and vision, and features hierarchical concept abstraction, concept decomposition, multi-modal integration, and self-organisation of latent representations.

Computers for symbolic processing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wah, Benjamin W.; Lowrie, Matthew B.; Li, Guo-Jie

1989-01-01

A detailed survey on the motivations, design, applications, current status, and limitations of computers designed for symbolic processing is provided. Symbolic processing computations are performed at the word, relation, or meaning levels, and the knowledge used in symbolic applications may be fuzzy, uncertain, indeterminate, and ill represented. Various techniques for knowledge representation and processing are discussed from both the designers' and users' points of view. The design and choice of a suitable language for symbolic processing and the mapping of applications into a software architecture are then considered. The process of refining the application requirements into hardware and software architectures is treated, and state-of-the-art sequential and parallel computers designed for symbolic processing are discussed.

BOLD Response to Motion Verbs in Left Posterior Middle Temporal Gyrus during Story Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wallentin, Mikkel; Nielsen, Andreas Hojlund; Vuust, Peter; Dohn, Anders; Roepstorff, Andreas; Lund, Torben Ellegaard

2011-01-01

A primary focus within neuroimaging research on language comprehension is on the distribution of semantic knowledge in the brain. Studies have shown that the left posterior middle temporal gyrus (LPMT), a region just anterior to area MT/V5, is important for the processing of complex action knowledge. It has also been found that motion verbs cause…

Australian Pre-Service Teachers' Knowledge of Phonemic Awareness and Phonics in the Process of Learning to Read

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fielding-Barnsley, Ruth

2010-01-01

Recent Australian and international government reports refer to the importance of teacher knowledge in the sound structure of language and its relationship to beginning reading. In this study, a group of 162 pre-service teachers responded to a questionnaire including questions related to their attitudes towards using phonics instruction in the…

Powerful Learning Tools for ELLs: Using Native Language, Familiar Examples, and Concept Mapping to Teach English Language Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dong, Yu Ren

2013-01-01

This article highlights how English language learners' (ELLs) prior knowledge can be used to help learn science vocabulary. The article explains that the concept of prior knowledge needs to encompass the ELL student's native language, previous science learning, native literacy skills, and native cultural knowledge and life experiences.…

Teachers' Beliefs about the Role of Prior Language Knowledge in Learning and How These Influence Teaching Practices

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

De Angelis, Gessica

2011-01-01

The present study was developed to assess teachers' beliefs on (1) the role of prior language knowledge in language learning; (2) the perceived usefulness of language knowledge in modern society; and (3) the teaching practices to be used with multilingual students. Subjects were 176 secondary schoolteachers working in Italy (N = 103), Austria (N =…

Weak and Strong Novice Readers of English as a Foreign Language: Effects of First Language and Socioeconomic Status

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kahn-Horwitz, Janina; Shimron, Joseph; Sparks, Richard L.

2006-01-01

This study examined individual differences among beginning readers of English as a foreign language (EFL). The study concentrated on the effects of underlying first language (L1) knowledge as well as EFL letter and vocabulary knowledge. Phonological and morphological awareness, spelling, vocabulary knowledge, and word reading in Hebrew L1, in…

Generation of Signs within Semantic and Phonological Categories: Data from Deaf Adults and Children Who Use American Sign Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beal-Alvarez, Jennifer S.; Figueroa, Daileen M.

2017-01-01

Two key areas of language development include semantic and phonological knowledge. Semantic knowledge relates to word and concept knowledge. Phonological knowledge relates to how language parameters combine to create meaning. We investigated signing deaf adults' and children's semantic and phonological sign generation via one-minute tasks,…

Semantic based man-machine interface for real-time communication

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ali, M.; Ai, C.-S.

1988-01-01

A flight expert system (FLES) was developed to assist pilots in monitoring, diagnosing and recovering from in-flight faults. To provide a communications interface between the flight crew and FLES, a natural language interface (NALI) was implemented. Input to NALI is processed by three processors: (1) the semantics parser; (2) the knowledge retriever; and (3) the response generator. First the semantic parser extracts meaningful words and phrases to generate an internal representation of the query. At this point, the semantic parser has the ability to map different input forms related to the same concept into the same internal representation. Then the knowledge retriever analyzes and stores the context of the query to aid in resolving ellipses and pronoun references. At the end of this process, a sequence of retrievel functions is created as a first step in generating the proper response. Finally, the response generator generates the natural language response to the query. The architecture of NALI was designed to process both temporal and nontemporal queries. The architecture and implementation of NALI are described.

Cultivating Bilingual Learners' Language Arts Knowledge: A Framework for Successful Teaching

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Almaguer, Isela; Esquierdo, J. Joy

2013-01-01

It is essential to support bilingual learners' language and academic development; however, teaching second language learners English has taken precedence over teaching content area knowledge and vocabulary, specifically for language arts. The focus has shifted from content area instruction to primarily second language instruction due to an…

fMRI Syntactic and Lexical Repetition Effects Reveal the Initial Stages of Learning a New Language.

PubMed

Weber, Kirsten; Christiansen, Morten H; Petersson, Karl Magnus; Indefrey, Peter; Hagoort, Peter

2016-06-29

When learning a new language, we build brain networks to process and represent the acquired words and syntax and integrate these with existing language representations. It is an open question whether the same or different neural mechanisms are involved in learning and processing a novel language compared with the native language(s). Here we investigated the neural repetition effects of repeating known and novel word orders while human subjects were in the early stages of learning a new language. Combining a miniature language with a syntactic priming paradigm, we examined the neural correlates of language learning on-line using functional magnetic resonance imaging. In left inferior frontal gyrus and posterior temporal cortex, the repetition of novel syntactic structures led to repetition enhancement, whereas repetition of known structures resulted in repetition suppression. Additional verb repetition led to an increase in the syntactic repetition enhancement effect in language-related brain regions. Similarly, the repetition of verbs led to repetition enhancement effects in areas related to lexical and semantic processing, an effect that continued to increase in a subset of these regions. Repetition enhancement might reflect a mechanism to build and strengthen a neural network to process novel syntactic structures and lexical items. By contrast, the observed repetition suppression points to overlapping neural mechanisms for native and new language constructions when these have sufficient structural similarities. Acquiring a second language entails learning how to interpret novel words and relations between words, and to integrate them with existing language knowledge. To investigate the brain mechanisms involved in this particularly human skill, we combined an artificial language learning task with a syntactic repetition paradigm. We show that the repetition of novel syntactic structures, as well as words in contexts, leads to repetition enhancement, whereas repetition of known structures results in repetition suppression. We thus propose that repetition enhancement might reflect a brain mechanism to build and strengthen a neural network to process novel syntactic regularities and novel words. Importantly, the results also indicate an overlap in neural mechanisms for native and new language constructions with sufficient structural similarities. Copyright © 2016 the authors 0270-6474/16/366872-09$15.00/0.

NOUS: A Knowledge Graph Management System

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

Knowledge graphs represent information as entities and relationships between them. For tasks such as natural language question answering or automated analysis of text, a knowledge graph provides valuable context to establish the specific type of entities being discussed. It allow us to derive better context about newly arriving information and leads to intelligent reasoning capabilities. We address two primary needs: A) Automated construction of knowledge graphs is a technically challenging, expensive process; and B) The ability to synthesize new information by monitoring newly emerging knowledge is a transformational capability that does not exist in state of the art systems.

Implicit Knowledge, Explicit Knowledge, and Achievement in Second Language (L2) Spanish

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gutierrez, Xavier

2012-01-01

Implicit and explicit knowledge of the second language (L2) are two central constructs in the field of second language acquisition (SLA). In recent years, there has been a renewed interest in obtaining valid and reliable measures of L2 learners' implicit and explicit knowledge (e.g., Bowles, 2011; R. Ellis, 2005). The purpose of the present study…

Measuring Implicit and Explicit Linguistic Knowledge: What Can Heritage Language Learners Contribute?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bowles, Melissa A.

2011-01-01

Although claims about explicit and implicit language knowledge are central to many debates in SLA, little research has been dedicated to measuring the two knowledge types (R. Ellis, 2004, 2005). The purpose of this study was to validate the use of the battery of tests reported in Ellis (2005) to measure implicit and explicit language knowledge.…

A Primer for Problem Solving Using Artificial Intelligence.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schell, George P.

1988-01-01

Reviews the development of artificial intelligence systems and the mechanisms used, including knowledge representation, programing languages, and problem processing systems. Eleven books and 6 journals are listed as sources of information on artificial intelligence. (23 references) (CLB)

Abstracts of SIG Sessions.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Proceedings of the ASIS Annual Meeting, 1994

1994-01-01

Includes abstracts of 18 special interest group (SIG) sessions. Highlights include natural language processing, information science and terminology science, classification, knowledge-intensive information systems, information value and ownership issues, economics and theories of information science, information retrieval interfaces, fuzzy thinking…

What Artificial Intelligence Is Doing for Training.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kirrane, Peter R.; Kirrane, Diane E.

1989-01-01

Discusses the three areas of research and application of artificial intelligence: (1) robotics, (2) natural language processing, and (3) knowledge-based or expert systems. Focuses on what expert systems can do, especially in the area of training. (JOW)

Programming languages for synthetic biology.

PubMed

Umesh, P; Naveen, F; Rao, Chanchala Uma Maheswara; Nair, Achuthsankar S

2010-12-01

In the backdrop of accelerated efforts for creating synthetic organisms, the nature and scope of an ideal programming language for scripting synthetic organism in-silico has been receiving increasing attention. A few programming languages for synthetic biology capable of defining, constructing, networking, editing and delivering genome scale models of cellular processes have been recently attempted. All these represent important points in a spectrum of possibilities. This paper introduces Kera, a state of the art programming language for synthetic biology which is arguably ahead of similar languages or tools such as GEC, Antimony and GenoCAD. Kera is a full-fledged object oriented programming language which is tempered by biopart rule library named Samhita which captures the knowledge regarding the interaction of genome components and catalytic molecules. Prominent feature of the language are demonstrated through a toy example and the road map for the future development of Kera is also presented.

Thalamus and Language: What do we know from vascular and degenerative pathologies.

PubMed

Moretti, Rita; Caruso, Paola; Crisman, Elena; Gazzin, Silvia

2018-01-01

Language is a complex cognitive task that is essential in our daily life. For decades, researchers have tried to understand the different role of cortical and subcortical areas in cerebral language representations and language processing. Language-related cortical zones are richly interconnected with other cortical regions (particularly via myelinated fibre tracts), but they also participate in subcortical feedback loops within the basal ganglia (caudate nucleus and putamen) and thalamus. The most relevant thalamic functions are the control and adaptation of cortico-cortical connectivity and bandwidth for information exchange. Despite having the knowledge of thalamic and basal ganglionic involvement in linguistic operations, the specific functions of these subcortical structures remain rather controversial. The aim of this study is to better understand the role of thalamus in language network, exploring the functional configuration of basal network components. The language specificity of subcortical supporting activity and the associated clinical features in thalamic involvement are also highlighted.

An Approach for Automatic Generation of Adaptive Hypermedia in Education with Multilingual Knowledge Discovery Techniques

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alfonseca, Enrique; Rodriguez, Pilar; Perez, Diana

2007-01-01

This work describes a framework that combines techniques from Adaptive Hypermedia and Natural Language processing in order to create, in a fully automated way, on-line information systems from linear texts in electronic format, such as textbooks. The process is divided into two steps: an "off-line" processing step, which analyses the source text,…

Language structures used by kindergartners with cochlear implants: relationship to phonological awareness, lexical knowledge and hearing loss.

PubMed

Nittrouer, Susan; Sansom, Emily; Low, Keri; Rice, Caitlin; Caldwell-Tarr, Amanda

2014-01-01

Listeners use their knowledge of how language is structured to aid speech recognition in everyday communication. When it comes to children with congenital hearing loss severe enough to warrant cochlear implants (CIs), the question arises of whether these children can acquire the language knowledge needed to aid speech recognition, in spite of only having spectrally degraded signals available to them. That question was addressed in the present study. Specifically, there were three goals: (1) to compare the language structures used by children with CIs to those of children with normal hearing (NH); (2) to assess the amount of variance in the language measures explained by phonological awareness and lexical knowledge; and (3) to assess the amount of variance in the language measures explained by factors related to the hearing loss itself and subsequent treatment. Language samples were obtained and transcribed for 40 children who had just completed kindergarten: 19 with NH and 21 with CIs. Five measures were derived from Systematic Analysis of Language Transcripts: (1) mean length of utterance in morphemes, (2) number of conjunctions, excluding and, (3) number of personal pronouns, (4) number of bound morphemes, and (5) number of different words. Measures were also collected on phonological awareness and lexical knowledge. Statistics examined group differences, as well as the amount of variance in the language measures explained by phonological awareness, lexical knowledge, and factors related to hearing loss and its treatment for children with CIs. Mean scores of children with CIs were roughly one standard deviation below those of children with NH on all language measures, including lexical knowledge, matching outcomes of other studies. Mean scores of children with CIs were closer to two standard deviations below those of children with NH on two out of three measures of phonological awareness (specifically those related to phonemic structure). Lexical knowledge explained significant amounts of variance on three language measures, but only one measure of phonological awareness (sensitivity to word-final phonemic structure) explained any significant amount of unique variance beyond that, and on only one language measure (number of bound morphemes). Age at first implant, but no other factors related to hearing loss or its treatment, explained significant amounts of variance on the language measures, as well. In spite of early intervention and advances in implant technology, children with CIs are still delayed in learning language, but grammatical knowledge is less affected than phonological awareness. Because there was little contribution to language development measured for phonological awareness independent of lexical knowledge, it was concluded that children with CIs could benefit from intervention focused specifically on helping them learn language structures, in spite of the likely phonological deficits they experience as a consequence of having degraded inputs.

The Role of Cognitive Processes, Foundational Math Skill, and Calculation Accuracy and Fluency in Word-Problem Solving versus Pre-Algebraic Knowledge

PubMed Central

Fuchs, Lynn S.; Gilbert, Jennifer K.; Powell, Sarah R.; Cirino, Paul T.; Fuchs, Douglas; Hamlett, Carol L.; Seethaler, Pamela M.; Tolar, Tammy D.

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine child-level pathways in development of pre-algebraic knowledge versus word-problem solving, while evaluating the contribution of calculation accuracy and fluency as mediators of foundational skills/processes. Children (n = 962; mean 7.60 years) were assessed on general cognitive processes and early calculation, word-problem, and number knowledge at start of grade 2; calculation accuracy and calculation fluency at end of grade 2; and pre-algebraic knowledge and word-problem solving at end of grade 4. Important similarities in pathways were identified, but path analysis also indicated that language comprehension is more critical for later word-problem solving than pre-algebraic knowledge. We conclude that pathways in development of these forms of 4th-grade mathematics performance are more alike than different, but demonstrate the need to fine-tune instruction for strands of the mathematics curriculum in ways that address individual students’ foundational mathematics skills or cognitive processes. PMID:27786534

Growth in literacy, cognition, and working memory in English language learners.

PubMed

Lee Swanson, H; Orosco, Michael J; Lussier, Catherine M

2015-04-01

This cohort sequential study explored the components of working memory that underlie English reading and language acquisition in elementary school children whose first language is Spanish. To this end, children (N=410) in Grades 1, 2, and 3 at Wave 1 were administered a battery of cognitive (short-term memory [STM], working memory [WM], rapid naming, phonological processing, and random letter and number generation), vocabulary, and reading measures in both Spanish and English. These same measures were administered 1 and 2 years later. The results showed that (a) a three-factor structure (phonological STM, visual-spatial WM, and verbal WM) captured the data within both language systems, (b) growth in both the executive and STM storage components was uniquely related to growth in second language (L2) reading and language acquisition, and (c) the contribution of growth in the executive component of WM to growth in L2 processing was independent of growth in storage, phonological knowledge, inhibition, and rapid naming speed. The results suggested that growth in the phonological storage system does not supersede growth of the executive component of WM as a major contributor to growth in children's L2 reading and language. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Iconicity as structure mapping

PubMed Central

Emmorey, Karen

2014-01-01

Linguistic and psycholinguistic evidence is presented to support the use of structure-mapping theory as a framework for understanding effects of iconicity on sign language grammar and processing. The existence of structured mappings between phonological form and semantic mental representations has been shown to explain the nature of metaphor and pronominal anaphora in sign languages. With respect to processing, it is argued that psycholinguistic effects of iconicity may only be observed when the task specifically taps into such structured mappings. In addition, language acquisition effects may only be observed when the relevant cognitive abilities are in place (e.g. the ability to make structural comparisons) and when the relevant conceptual knowledge has been acquired (i.e. information key to processing the iconic mapping). Finally, it is suggested that iconicity is better understood as a structured mapping between two mental representations than as a link between linguistic form and human experience. PMID:25092669

A Process for the Representation of openEHR ADL Archetypes in OWL Ontologies.

PubMed

Porn, Alex Mateus; Peres, Leticia Mara; Didonet Del Fabro, Marcos

2015-01-01

ADL is a formal language to express archetypes, independent of standards or domain. However, its specification is not precise enough in relation to the specialization and semantic of archetypes, presenting difficulties in implementation and a few available tools. Archetypes may be implemented using other languages such as XML or OWL, increasing integration with Semantic Web tools. Exchanging and transforming data can be better implemented with semantics oriented models, for example using OWL which is a language to define and instantiate Web ontologies defined by W3C. OWL permits defining significant, detailed, precise and consistent distinctions among classes, properties and relations by the user, ensuring the consistency of knowledge than using ADL techniques. This paper presents a process of an openEHR ADL archetypes representation in OWL ontologies. This process consists of ADL archetypes conversion in OWL ontologies and validation of OWL resultant ontologies using the mutation test.

Lexical Familiarity and Processing Efficiency: Individual Differences in Naming, Lexical Decision, and Semantic Categorization

PubMed Central

Lewellen, Mary Jo; Goldinger, Stephen D.; Pisoni, David B.; Greene, Beth G.

2012-01-01

College students were separated into 2 groups (high and low) on the basis of 3 measures: subjective familiarity ratings of words, self-reported language experiences, and a test of vocabulary knowledge. Three experiments were conducted to determine if the groups also differed in visual word naming, lexical decision, and semantic categorization. High Ss were consistently faster than low Ss in naming visually presented words. They were also faster and more accurate in making difficult lexical decisions and in rejecting homophone foils in semantic categorization. Taken together, the results demonstrate that Ss who differ in lexical familiarity also differ in processing efficiency. The relationship between processing efficiency and working memory accounts of individual differences in language processing is also discussed. PMID:8371087

The native-language benefit for talker identification is robust in 7.5-month-old infants.

PubMed

Fecher, Natalie; Johnson, Elizabeth K

2018-04-26

Adults recognize talkers better when the talkers speak a familiar language than when they speak an unfamiliar language. This language familiarity effect (LFE) demonstrates the inseparable nature of linguistic and indexical information in adult spoken language processing. Relatively little is known about children's integration of linguistic and indexical information in speech. For example, to date, only one study has explored the LFE in infants. Here, we sought to better understand the maturation of speech processing abilities in infants by replicating this earlier study using a more stringent experimental design (eliminating a potential voice-language confound), a different test population (English- rather than Dutch-learning infants), and a new language pairing (English vs. Polish rather than Dutch vs. Italian or Japanese). Furthermore, we explored the language exposure conditions required for infants to develop an LFE for a formerly unfamiliar language. We hypothesized based on previous studies (including the perceptual narrowing literature) that infants might develop an LFE more readily than would adults. Although our findings replicate those of the earlier study-demonstrating that the LFE is robust in 7.5-month-olds-we found no evidence that infants need less language exposure than do adults to develop an LFE. We concluded that both infants and adults need extensive (potentially live) exposure to an unfamiliar language before talker identification in that language improves. Moreover, our study suggests that the LFE is likely rooted in early emerging phonology rather than shared lexical knowledge and that infants already closely resemble adults in their processing of linguistic and indexical information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Short-Term Memory and Aphasia: From Theory to Treatment.

PubMed

Minkina, Irene; Rosenberg, Samantha; Kalinyak-Fliszar, Michelene; Martin, Nadine

2017-02-01

This article reviews existing research on the interactions between verbal short-term memory and language processing impairments in aphasia. Theoretical models of short-term memory are reviewed, starting with a model assuming a separation between short-term memory and language, and progressing to models that view verbal short-term memory as a cognitive requirement of language processing. The review highlights a verbal short-term memory model derived from an interactive activation model of word retrieval. This model holds that verbal short-term memory encompasses the temporary activation of linguistic knowledge (e.g., semantic, lexical, and phonological features) during language production and comprehension tasks. Empirical evidence supporting this model, which views short-term memory in the context of the processes it subserves, is outlined. Studies that use a classic measure of verbal short-term memory (i.e., number of words/digits correctly recalled in immediate serial recall) as well as those that use more intricate measures (e.g., serial position effects in immediate serial recall) are discussed. Treatment research that uses verbal short-term memory tasks in an attempt to improve language processing is then summarized, with a particular focus on word retrieval. A discussion of the limitations of current research and possible future directions concludes the review. Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

Short-Term Memory and Aphasia: From Theory to Treatment

PubMed Central

Minkina, Irene; Rosenberg, Samantha; Kalinyak-Fliszar, Michelene; Martin, Nadine

2018-01-01

This article reviews existing research on the interactions between verbal short-term memory and language processing impairments in aphasia. Theoretical models of short-term memory are reviewed, starting with a model assuming a separation between short-term memory and language, and progressing to models that view verbal short-term memory as a cognitive requirement of language processing. The review highlights a verbal short-term memory model derived from an interactive activation model of word retrieval. This model holds that verbal short-term memory encompasses the temporary activation of linguistic knowledge (e.g., semantic, lexical, and phonological features) during language production and comprehension tasks. Empirical evidence supporting this model, which views short-term memory in the context of the processes it subserves, is outlined. Studies that use a classic measure of verbal short-term memory (i.e., number of words/digits correctly recalled in immediate serial recall) as well as those that use more intricate measures (e.g., serial position effects in immediate serial recall) are discussed. Treatment research that uses verbal short-term memory tasks in an attempt to improve language processing is then summarized, with a particular focus on word retrieval. A discussion of the limitations of current research and possible future directions concludes the review. PMID:28201834

The knowledge-learning-instruction framework: bridging the science-practice chasm to enhance robust student learning.

PubMed

Koedinger, Kenneth R; Corbett, Albert T; Perfetti, Charles

2012-07-01

Despite the accumulation of substantial cognitive science research relevant to education, there remains confusion and controversy in the application of research to educational practice. In support of a more systematic approach, we describe the Knowledge-Learning-Instruction (KLI) framework. KLI promotes the emergence of instructional principles of high potential for generality, while explicitly identifying constraints of and opportunities for detailed analysis of the knowledge students may acquire in courses. Drawing on research across domains of science, math, and language learning, we illustrate the analyses of knowledge, learning, and instructional events that the KLI framework affords. We present a set of three coordinated taxonomies of knowledge, learning, and instruction. For example, we identify three broad classes of learning events (LEs): (a) memory and fluency processes, (b) induction and refinement processes, and (c) understanding and sense-making processes, and we show how these can lead to different knowledge changes and constraints on optimal instructional choices. Copyright © 2012 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Knowledge Structure Measures of Reader's Situation Models across Languages: Translation Engenders Richer Structure

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Kyung; Clariana, Roy B.

2015-01-01

In order to further validate and extend the application of recent knowledge structure (KS) measures to second language settings, this investigation explores how second language (L2, English) situation models are influenced by first language (L1, Korean) translation tasks. Fifty Korean low proficient English language learners were asked to read an…

Culturally competent social work research: methodological considerations for research with language minorities.

PubMed

Casado, Banghwa Lee; Negi, Nalini Junko; Hong, Michin

2012-01-01

Despite the growing number of language minorities, foreign-born individuals with limited English proficiency, this population has been largely left out of social work research, often due to methodological challenges involved in conducting research with this population. Whereas the professional standard calls for cultural competence, a discussion of how to implement strategies for culturally competent research with language minorities is regrettably limited in the social work literature. This article is, to the authors' knowledge, one of the first within the field of social work to tie together unique methodological issues that may arise throughout the research conceptualization, development, and implementation process with this population. Strategies for how to overcome such issues are provided by adapting and expanding on a conceptual framework by Meleis. The incorporation of such research practices with language minorities has the potential to enhance trust and, thus, improve the recruitment and retention of this hard-to-reach population. More important, studies that aim to include such culturally responsive criteria may produce results that have improved validity and, thus, contribute to the advancement of knowledge regarding this population.

Systems Biology Graphical Notation: Entity Relationship language Level 1 Version 2.

PubMed

Sorokin, Anatoly; Le Novère, Nicolas; Luna, Augustin; Czauderna, Tobias; Demir, Emek; Haw, Robin; Mi, Huaiyu; Moodie, Stuart; Schreiber, Falk; Villéger, Alice

2015-09-04

The Systems Biological Graphical Notation (SBGN) is an international community effort for standardized graphical representations of biological pathways and networks. The goal of SBGN is to provide unambiguous pathway and network maps for readers with different scientific backgrounds as well as to support efficient and accurate exchange of biological knowledge between different research communities, industry, and other players in systems biology. Three SBGN languages, Process Description (PD), Entity Relationship (ER) and Activity Flow (AF), allow for the representation of different aspects of biological and biochemical systems at different levels of detail. The SBGN Entity Relationship language (ER) represents biological entities and their interactions and relationships within a network. SBGN ER focuses on all potential relationships between entities without considering temporal aspects. The nodes (elements) describe biological entities, such as proteins and complexes. The edges (connections) provide descriptions of interactions and relationships (or influences), e.g., complex formation, stimulation and inhibition. Among all three languages of SBGN, ER is the closest to protein interaction networks in biological literature and textbooks, but its well-defined semantics offer a superior precision in expressing biological knowledge.

Training community health workers to screen for cardiovascular disease risk in the community: experiences from Cape Town, South Africa

PubMed Central

Puoane, Thandi; Abrahams-Gessel, Shafika; Gaziano, Thomas A; Levitt, Naomi

2017-01-01

Summary Introduction This article describes a training process to equip community health workers (CHWs) with knowledge and skills to identify individuals at high risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) in a township in Cape Town. Methods: CHWs were employed by a non-governmental organisation (NGO) primarily focusing on non-communicable diseases (NCDs). They were trained in the theory of CVD, including physiological changes and related risk factors and in obtaining anthropometric and blood pressure measurements. Pre- and post-training tests assessed learning needs and the effectiveness of imparting knowledge about CVD, respectively. Results: Training increased knowledge about CVD risk factors. CHWs were able to screen and identify those at risk for CVD and refer them to health professionals for validation of scores. The initial one-week training was too short, given the amount of information covered. Some CHWs had difficulty with English as the primary instruction medium and as the only language in which tests were offered. Conclusion: Although CHWs could be trained to screen for CVD risk, increased training time was required to impart the knowledge. The language used during training and testing presented challenges for those trainees whose dominant, spoken language was not English. PMID:28759089

Semantic-syntactic partial word knowledge growth through reading.

PubMed

Wagovich, Stacy A; Hill, Margaret S; Petroski, Gregory F

2015-02-01

Incidental reading provides a powerful opportunity for partial word knowledge growth in the school-age years. The extent to which children of differing language abilities can use reading experiences to glean partial knowledge of words is not well understood. The purpose of this study was to compare semantic-syntactic partial word knowledge growth of children with higher language skills (HL group; overall language standard scores of 85 or higher) to that of children with relatively lower language skills (LL group; overall receptive or expressive standard score below 85). Thirty-two children, 16 per group, silently read stories containing unfamiliar nouns and verbs 3 times over a 1-week period. Semantic-syntactic partial word knowledge growth was assessed after each reading and 2-3 days later to assess retention. Over time, both groups showed significant partial word knowledge growth, with the HL group showing significantly more growth. In addition, both groups retained knowledge several days later. Regardless of language skill level, children benefit from multiple exposures to unfamiliar words in reading in their development and retention of semantic-syntactic partial word knowledge growth.

Identification and discrimination of bilingual talkers across languages1

PubMed Central

Winters, Stephen J.; Levi, Susannah V.; Pisoni, David B.

2008-01-01

This study investigated the extent to which language familiarity affects the perception of the indexical properties of speech by testing listeners’ identification and discrimination of bilingual talkers across two different languages. In one experiment, listeners were trained to identify bilingual talkers speaking in only one language and were then tested on their ability to identify the same talkers speaking in another language. In the second experiment, listeners discriminated between bilingual talkers across languages in an AX discrimination paradigm. The results of these experiments indicate that there is sufficient language-independent indexical information in speech for listeners to generalize knowledge of talkers’ voices across languages and to successfully discriminate between bilingual talkers regardless of the language they are speaking. However, the results of these studies also revealed that listeners do not solely rely on language-independent information when performing these tasks. Listeners use language-dependent indexical cues to identify talkers who are speaking a familiar language. Moreover, the tendency to perceive two talkers as the “same” or “different” depends on whether the talkers are speaking in the same language. The combined results of these experiments thus suggest that indexical processing relies on both language-dependent and language-independent information in the speech signal. PMID:18537401

Robust Resilience of the Frontotemporal Syntax System to Aging

PubMed Central

Samu, Dávid; Davis, Simon W.; Geerligs, Linda; Mustafa, Abdur; Tyler, Lorraine K.

2016-01-01

Brain function is thought to become less specialized with age. However, this view is largely based on findings of increased activation during tasks that fail to separate task-related processes (e.g., attention, decision making) from the cognitive process under examination. Here we take a systems-level approach to separate processes specific to language comprehension from those related to general task demands and to examine age differences in functional connectivity both within and between those systems. A large population-based sample (N = 111; 22–87 years) from the Cambridge Centre for Aging and Neuroscience (Cam-CAN) was scanned using functional MRI during two versions of an experiment: a natural listening version in which participants simply listened to spoken sentences and an explicit task version in which they rated the acceptability of the same sentences. Independent components analysis across the combined data from both versions showed that although task-free language comprehension activates only the auditory and frontotemporal (FTN) syntax networks, performing a simple task with the same sentences recruits several additional networks. Remarkably, functionality of the critical FTN is maintained across age groups, showing no difference in within-network connectivity or responsivity to syntactic processing demands despite gray matter loss and reduced connectivity to task-related networks. We found no evidence for reduced specialization or compensation with age. Overt task performance was maintained across the lifespan and performance in older, but not younger, adults related to crystallized knowledge, suggesting that decreased between-network connectivity may be compensated for by older adults' richer knowledge base. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Understanding spoken language requires the rapid integration of information at many different levels of analysis. Given the complexity and speed of this process, it is remarkably well preserved with age. Although previous work claims that this preserved functionality is due to compensatory activation of regions outside the frontotemporal language network, we use a novel systems-level approach to show that these “compensatory” activations simply reflect age differences in response to experimental task demands. Natural, task-free language comprehension solely recruits auditory and frontotemporal networks, the latter of which is similarly responsive to language-processing demands across the lifespan. These findings challenge the conventional approach to neurocognitive aging by showing that the neural underpinnings of a given cognitive function depend on how you test it. PMID:27170120

Language, Language Development and Teaching English to Emergent Bilingual Users: Challenging the Common Knowledge Theory in Teacher Education & K-12 School Settings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Faltis, Christian

2013-01-01

Popular views about language and how children and youth learn language are based mainly in cognitive approaches in support of a common knowledge theory of language development. This common theory feeds into the efforts to increase teacher and learner accountability as measured on narrow assessments of what it means to use language well and in…

Left prefrontal cortex activation during sentence comprehension covaries with grammatical knowledge in children.

PubMed

Knoll, L J; Obleser, J; Schipke, C S; Friederici, A D; Brauer, J

2012-08-01

Children's language skills develop rapidly with increasing age, and several studies indicate that they use language- and age-specific strategies to understand complex sentences. In the present experiment, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and behavioral measures were used to investigate the acquisition of case-marking cues for sentence interpretation in the developing brain of German preschool children with a mean age of 6 years. Short sentences were presented auditorily, consisting of a transitive verb and two case-marked arguments with canonical subject-initial or non canonical object-initial word order. Overall group results revealed mainly left hemispheric activation in the perisylvian cortex with increased activation in the inferior parietal cortex (IPC), and the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) for object-initial compared to subject-initial sentences. However, single-subject analysis suggested two distinct activation patterns within the group which allowed a classification into two subgroups. One subgroup showed the predicted activation increase in the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) for the more difficult object-initial compared to subject-initial sentences, while the other group showed the reverse effect. This activation in the left IFG can be taken to reflect the degree to which adult-like sentence processing strategies, necessary to integrate case-marking information, are applied. Additional behavioral data on language development tests show that these two subgroups differ in their grammatical knowledge. Together with these behavioral findings, the results indicate that the use of a particular processing strategy is not dependent on age as such, but rather on the child's individual grammatical knowledge and the ability to use specific language cues for successful sentence comprehension. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A novel way of integrating rule-based knowledge into a web ontology language framework.

PubMed

Gamberger, Dragan; Krstaçić, Goran; Jović, Alan

2013-01-01

Web ontology language (OWL), used in combination with the Protégé visual interface, is a modern standard for development and maintenance of ontologies and a powerful tool for knowledge presentation. In this work, we describe a novel possibility to use OWL also for the conceptualization of knowledge presented by a set of rules. In this approach, rules are represented as a hierarchy of actionable classes with necessary and sufficient conditions defined by the description logic formalism. The advantages are that: the set of the rules is not an unordered set anymore, the concepts defined in descriptive ontologies can be used directly in the bodies of rules, and Protégé presents an intuitive tool for editing the set of rules. Standard ontology reasoning processes are not applicable in this framework, but experiments conducted on the rule sets have demonstrated that the reasoning problems can be successfully solved.

Using Network-Based Language Analysis to Bridge Expertise and Cultivate Sensitivity to Differentiated Language Use in Interdisciplinary Geoscience Research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hannah, M. A.; Simeone, M.

2017-12-01

On interdisciplinary teams, expertise is varied, as is evidenced by differences in team members' language use. Developing strategies to combine that expertise and bridge differentiated language practices is especially difficult between geoscience subdisciplines as researchers assume they use a shared language—vocabulary, jargon, codes, linguistic styles. In our paper, we discuss a network-based approach used to identify varied expertise and language practices between geoscientists (n=29) on a NSF team funded to study how deep and surface Earth processes worked together to give rise to the Great Oxygenation Event. We describe how we modeled the team's expertise from a language corpus consisting of 220 oxygen-related terms frequently used by team members and then compared their understanding of the terms to develop interventions to bridge the team's expertise. Corpus terms were identified via team member interviews, observations of members' interactions at research meetings, and discourse analysis of members' publications. Comparisons of members' language use were based on a Likert scale survey that asked members to assess how they understood a term; how frequently they used a term; and whether they conceptualized a term as an object or process. Rather than use our method as a communication audit tool (Zwijze-Koning & de Jong, 2015), teams can proactively use it in a project's early stages to assess the contours of the team's differentiated expertise and show where specialized knowledge resides in the team, where latent or non-obvious expertise exists, where expertise overlaps, and where gaps are in the team's knowledge. With this information, teams can make evidence based recommendations to forward their work such as allocating resources; identifying and empowering members to serve as connectors and lead cross-functional project initiatives; and developing strategies to avoid communication barriers. The method also generates models for teaching language sensitivity to subdisciplinary colleagues by making visible the nuanced ways they use language to organize and communicate their research. Ultimately, understanding the impact of differentiated language use is an unmet need in Earth science research, and our method offers a unique way to visualize and understand how such use impacts team communication.

Phrase Units as Determinants of Visual Processing in Music Reading

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sloboda, John A.

1977-01-01

Keyboard musicians sight-read passages of music in which the amount of information about the presence of phrase units was systematically varied. Results suggest a clear analogy between the cognition of music and language, in that knowledge of abstract structure is of importance in the organization of immediate visual processing of text. (Editor/RK)

Linguistic Knowledge and Reasoning for Error Diagnosis and Feedback Generation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Delmonte, Rodolfo

2003-01-01

Presents four sets of natural language processing-based exercises for which error correction and feedback are produced by means of a rich database in which linguistic information is encoded either at the lexical or the grammatical level. (Author/VWL)

Form-Focused Discovery Activities in English Classes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ogeyik, Muhlise Cosgun

2011-01-01

Form-focused discovery activities allow language learners to grasp various aspects of a target language by contributing implicit knowledge by using discovered explicit knowledge. Moreover, such activities can assist learners to perceive and discover the features of their language input. In foreign language teaching environments, they can be used…

Generative and Item-Specific Knowledge of Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morgan, Emily Ida Popper

2016-01-01

The ability to generate novel utterances compositionally using generative knowledge is a hallmark property of human language. At the same time, languages contain non-compositional or idiosyncratic items, such as irregular verbs, idioms, etc. This dissertation asks how and why language achieves a balance between these two systems--generative and…

Levels of text comprehension in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD): the influence of language phenotype.

PubMed

Lucas, Rebecca; Norbury, Courtenay Frazier

2014-11-01

Many children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have reading comprehension difficulties, but the level of processing at which comprehension is most vulnerable and the influence of language phenotype on comprehension skill is currently unclear. We explored comprehension at sentence and passage levels across language phenotypes. Children with ASD and age-appropriate language skills (n = 25) demonstrated similar syntactic and semantic facilitation to typically developing peers. In contrast, few children with ASD and language impairments (n = 25) could read beyond the single word level. Those who could read sentences benefited from semantic coherence, but were less sensitive to syntactic coherence. At the passage level, the strongest predictor of comprehension was vocabulary knowledge. This emphasizes that the intimate relationship between language competence and both decoding skill and comprehension is evident at the sentence, as well as the passage level, for children with ASD.

The Extended Language Network: A Meta-Analysis of Neuroimaging Studies on Text Comprehension

PubMed Central

Ferstl, Evelyn C.; Neumann, Jane; Bogler, Carsten; von Cramon, D. Yves

2010-01-01

Language processing in context requires more than merely comprehending words and sentences. Important subprocesses are inferences for bridging successive utterances, the use of background knowledge and discourse context, and pragmatic interpretations. The functional neuroanatomy of these text comprehension processes has only recently been investigated. Although there is evidence for right-hemisphere contributions, reviews have implicated the left lateral prefrontal cortex, left temporal regions beyond Wernicke’s area, and the left dorso-medial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) for text comprehension. To objectively confirm this extended language network and to evaluate the respective contribution of right hemisphere regions, meta-analyses of 23 neuroimaging studies are reported here. The analyses used replicator dynamics based on activation likelihood estimates. Independent of the baseline, the anterior temporal lobes (aTL) were active bilaterally. In addition, processing of coherent compared with incoherent text engaged the dmPFC and the posterior cingulate cortex. Right hemisphere activations were seen most notably in the analysis of contrasts testing specific subprocesses, such as metaphor comprehension. These results suggest task dependent contributions for the lateral PFC and the right hemisphere. Most importantly, they confirm the role of the aTL and the fronto-medial cortex for language processing in context. PMID:17557297

Analogical reasoning in children with specific language impairment: Evidence from a scene analogy task.

PubMed

Krzemien, Magali; Jemel, Boutheina; Maillart, Christelle

2017-01-01

Analogical reasoning is a human ability that maps systems of relations. It develops along with relational knowledge, working memory and executive functions such as inhibition. It also maintains a mutual influence on language development. Some authors have taken a greater interest in the analogical reasoning ability of children with language disorders, specifically those with specific language impairment (SLI). These children apparently have weaker analogical reasoning abilities than their aged-matched peers without language disorders. Following cognitive theories of language acquisition, this deficit could be one of the causes of language disorders in SLI, especially those concerning productivity. To confirm this deficit and its link to language disorders, we use a scene analogy task to evaluate the analogical performance of SLI children and compare them to controls of the same age and linguistic abilities. Results show that children with SLI perform worse than age-matched peers, but similar to language-matched peers. They are more influenced by increased task difficulty. The association between language disorders and analogical reasoning in SLI can be confirmed. The hypothesis of limited processing capacity in SLI is also being considered.

Locating the global: culture, language and science education for indigenous students

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McKinley, Elizabeth

2005-02-01

The international literature suggests the use of indigenous knowledge (IK) and traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) contexts in science education to provide motivation and self-esteem for indigenous students is widespread. However, the danger of alienating culture (as knowledge) from the language in which the worldview is embedded seems to have been left out of the philosophical and pedagogical debates surrounding research and comment in the field. This paper argues that one of the main ways in which indigenous knowledge systems will survive and thrive is through the establishment of programmes taught through indigenous languages so that a dialectal relationship between language and knowledge is established that continues to act as the wellspring. The article concludes by reviewing the situation in Aotearoa New Zealand with respect to the indigenous population, Maori, and the recent science education initiatives in te reo Maori (Maori language).

ERP evidence for implicit L2 word stress knowledge in listeners of a fixed-stress language.

PubMed

Kóbor, Andrea; Honbolygó, Ferenc; Becker, Angelika B C; Schild, Ulrike; Csépe, Valéria; Friedrich, Claudia K

2018-06-01

Languages with contrastive stress, such as English or German, distinguish some words only via the stress status of their syllables, such as "CONtent" and "conTENT" (capitals indicate a stressed syllable). Listeners with a fixed-stress native language, such as Hungarian, have difficulties in explicitly discriminating variation of the stress position in a second language (L2). However, Event-Related Potentials (ERPs) indicate that Hungarian listeners implicitly notice variation from their native fixed-stress pattern. Here we used ERPs to investigate Hungarian listeners' implicit L2 processing. In a cross-modal word fragment priming experiment, we presented spoken stressed and unstressed German word onsets (primes) followed by printed versions of initially stressed and initially unstressed German words (targets). ERPs reflected stress priming exerted by both prime types. This indicates that Hungarian listeners implicitly linked German words with the stress status of the primes. Thus, the formerly described explicit stress discrimination difficulty associated with a fixed-stress native language does not generalize to implicit aspects of L2 word stress processing. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

People Use their Knowledge of Common Events to Understand Language, and Do So as Quickly as Possible

PubMed Central

McRae, Ken; Matsuki, Kazunaga

2011-01-01

People possess a great deal of knowledge about how the world works, and it is undoubtedly true that adults use this knowledge when understanding and producing language. However, psycholinguistic theories differ regarding whether this extra-linguistic pragmatic knowledge can be activated and used immediately, or only after a delay. The authors present research that investigates whether people immediately use their generalized knowledge of common events when understanding language. This research demonstrates that (i) individual isolated words immediately activate event-based knowledge; (ii) combinations of words in sentences immediately constrain people’s event-based expectations for concepts that are upcoming in language; (iii) syntax modulates people’s expectations for ensuing concepts; and (iv) event-based knowledge can produce expectations for ensuing syntactic structures. It is concluded that theories of sentence comprehension must allow for the rapid dynamic interplay among these sources of information. PMID:22125574

Reading the World through Words: Cultural Themes in Heritage Chinese Language Textbooks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Curdt-Christiansen, Xiao Lan

2008-01-01

This paper explores the social and cultural knowledge embedded in the textbooks for language and literacy education in a Chinese heritage language school, the Zhonguo School, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It examines how Chinese language arts textbooks introduce the child reader to cultural knowledge considered legitimate and valued in China as…

The Knowledge and Perceptions of Prospective Teachers and Speech Language Therapists in Collaborative Language and Literacy Instruction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilson, Leanne; McNeill, Brigid; Gillon, Gail T.

2015-01-01

Successful collaboration among speech and language therapists (SLTs) and teachers fosters the creation of communication friendly classrooms that maximize children's spoken and written language learning. However, these groups of professionals may have insufficient opportunity in their professional study to develop the shared knowledge, perceptions…

Bridging the Divide: Second Language Teachers, Pedagogy, Content Knowledge, and Technology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fryling, Margo J.

2013-01-01

This study examines the use of technology, pedagogy and content knowledge with second language teachers, and comparing Title 1 and non Title 1 schools. Technology can be used to provide unique learning opportunities for second language learners. Second language students can benefit from technology by practicing skills, increasing motivation,…

Documenting Indigenous Knowledge and Languages: Research Planning & Protocol.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leonard, Beth

2001-01-01

The author's experiences of learning her heritage language of Deg Xinag, an Athabascan language spoken in Alaska, serve as a backdrop for discussing issues in learning endangered indigenous languages. When Deg Xinag is taught by linguists, obvious differences between English and Deg Xinag are not articulated, due to the lack of knowledge of…

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…

Disconnection between Language and Culture: A Case Study of Iranian English Textbooks.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Majdzadeh, Mojgan

This paper asserts that lack of cultural knowledge related to English among Iranian students who pursue advanced education abroad affects their English language proficiency. It examines whether the disconnection between the English language and the culture of that language embodied in Iranian English textbooks hinders students' knowledge and use…

QPA-CLIPS: A language and representation for process control

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Freund, Thomas G.

1994-01-01

QPA-CLIPS is an extension of CLIPS oriented towards process control applications. Its constructs define a dependency network of process actions driven by sensor information. The language consists of three basic constructs: TASK, SENSOR, and FILTER. TASK's define the dependency network describing alternative state transitions for a process. SENSOR's and FILTER's define sensor information sources used to activate state transitions within the network. Deftemplate's define these constructs and their run-time environment is an interpreter knowledge base, performing pattern matching on sensor information and so activating TASK's in the dependency network. The pattern matching technique is based on the repeatable occurrence of a sensor data pattern. QPA-CIPS has been successfully tested on a SPARCStation providing supervisory control to an Allen-Bradley PLC 5 controller driving molding equipment.

Parenting Predictors of Cognitive Skills and Emotion Knowledge in Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Preschoolers

PubMed Central

Merz, Emily C.; Zucker, Tricia A.; Landry, Susan H.; Williams, Jeffrey M.; Assel, Michael; Taylor, Heather B.; Lonigan, Christopher J.; Phillips, Beth M.; Clancy-Menchetti, Jeanine; Barnes, Marcia A.; Eisenberg, Nancy; de Villiers, Jill

2014-01-01

This study examined the concurrent and longitudinal associations of parental responsiveness and inferential language input with cognitive skills and emotion knowledge among socioeconomically disadvantaged preschoolers. Parents and 2- to 4-year-old children (mean age = 3.21 years; N=284) participated in a parent-child free play session, and children completed cognitive (language, early literacy, early mathematics) and emotion knowledge assessments. One year later, children completed the same assessment battery. Parental responsiveness was coded from the videotaped parent-child free play sessions, and parental inferential language input was coded from transcripts of a subset of 127 of these sessions. All analyses controlled for child age, gender, and parental education, and longitudinal analyses controlled for initial skill level. Parental responsiveness significantly predicted all concurrent cognitive skills as well as literacy, math, and emotion knowledge one year later. Parental inferential language input was significantly positively associated with children's concurrent emotion knowledge. In longitudinal analyses, an interaction was found such that for children with stronger initial language skills, higher levels of parental inferential language input facilitated greater vocabulary development, whereas for children with weaker initial language skills, there was no association between parental inferential language input and change in children's vocabulary skills. These findings further our understanding of the roles of parental responsiveness and inferential language input in promoting children's school readiness skills. PMID:25576967

Can language acquisition be facilitated in cochlear implanted children? Comparison of cognitive and behavioral psychologists' viewpoints.

PubMed

Monshizadeh, Leila; Vameghi, Roshanak; Yadegari, Fariba; Sajedi, Firoozeh; Hashemi, Seyed Basir

2016-11-08

To study how language acquisition can be facilitated for cochlear implanted children based on cognitive and behavioral psychology viewpoints? To accomplish this objective, literature related to behaviorist and cognitive psychology prospects about language acquisition were studied and some relevant books as well as Medline, Cochrane Library, Google scholar, ISI web of knowledge and Scopus databases were searched. Among 25 articles that were selected, only 11 met the inclusion criteria and were included in the study. Based on the inclusion criteria, review articles, expert opinion studies, non-experimental and experimental studies that clearly focused on behavioral and cognitive factors affecting language acquisition in children were selected. Finally, the selected articles were appraised according to guidelines of appraisal of medical studies. Due to the importance of the cochlear implanted child's language performance, the comparison of behaviorist and cognitive psychology points of view in child language acquisition was done. Since each theoretical basis, has its own positive effects on language, and since the two are not in opposition to one another, it can be said that a set of behavioral and cognitive factors might facilitate the process of language acquisition in children. Behavioral psychologists believe that repetition, as well as immediate reinforcement of child's language behavior help him easily acquire the language during a language intervention program, while cognitive psychologists emphasize on the relationship between information processing, memory improvement through repetitively using words along with "associated" pictures and objects, motor development and language acquisition. It is recommended to use a combined approach based on both theoretical frameworks while planning a language intervention program.

Planning Literacy Environments for Diverse Preschoolers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dennis, Lindsay R.; Lynch, Sharon A.; Stockall, Nancy

2012-01-01

"Emergent literacy" is defined as the developmental process beginning at birth in which children acquire the foundation for reading and writing, including language, listening comprehension, concepts of print, alphabetic knowledge, and phonological awareness. The environment within which emergent literacy skills develop is also an important…

Complejidad en Educacion Ambiental.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gaudiano, Edgar Gonzalez

2000-01-01

Analyzes the complexity of our knowledge of environmental issues and their relationship with educational processes from an anti-essentialist point of view. The concept of complexity has several uses in everyday language where it is occasionally used to refer to something complicated or difficult. (Author/SAH)

Intelligent communication assistant for databases

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

Jakobson, G.; Shaked, V.; Rowley, S.

1983-01-01

An intelligent communication assistant for databases, called FRED (front end for databases) is explored. FRED is designed to facilitate access to database systems by users of varying levels of experience. FRED is a second generation of natural language front-ends for databases and intends to solve two critical interface problems existing between end-users and databases: connectivity and communication problems. The authors report their experiences in developing software for natural language query processing, dialog control, and knowledge representation, as well as the direction of future work. 10 references.

Symbolic dynamic filtering and language measure for behavior identification of mobile robots.

PubMed

Mallapragada, Goutham; Ray, Asok; Jin, Xin

2012-06-01

This paper presents a procedure for behavior identification of mobile robots, which requires limited or no domain knowledge of the underlying process. While the features of robot behavior are extracted by symbolic dynamic filtering of the observed time series, the behavior patterns are classified based on language measure theory. The behavior identification procedure has been experimentally validated on a networked robotic test bed by comparison with commonly used tools, namely, principal component analysis for feature extraction and Bayesian risk analysis for pattern classification.

[Changes in hemispheric asymmetry under intensive foreign language instruction].

PubMed

Bykova, L G; Smirnova, T I

1991-01-01

By means of dichotic listening test the study of perception dynamics was conducted in 20 persons during their intensive learning of French and German languages. Before the beginning of learning in all subjects, except three ones, the left hemisphere dominated in relation to verbal functions. In the process of learning in 84% of subjects activization of the opposite hemisphere was observed. In persons with the same initial level of language knowledge the success in colloquial practice was by expert evaluation as higher as bigger was the shift of the right ear coefficient at learning. The latter makes possible to evaluate quantitatively intellectual efforts spent in the process of learning. The authors suggest that such psychophysiological control of perception could be a support in solution of the problem of optimization of learning with the use of individual approach.

Unpacking knowledge translation in participatory research: a micro-level study.

PubMed

Lillehagen, Ida; Heggen, Kristin; Engebretsen, Eivind

2016-10-01

Funding bodies, policy makers, researchers and clinicians are seeking strategies to increase the translation of knowledge between research and practice. Participatory research encompasses a range of approaches for clinicians' involvement in research in the hope of increasing the relevance and usability of research. Our aim was to explore how knowledge is translated and integrated in participants' presentations and negotiations about knowledge. Twelve collaboration meetings were observed, and discussions between researchers and clinicians were recorded. The material was examined using the following analytical terms: knowledge object, knowledge form, knowledge position and knowledge tasks. We identified a recurring rhetorical pattern in translational processes that we call 'relevance testing': a strategy by which the participants attempt to create coherence and identify relevance across different contexts. The limitation of this translational strategy was a tendency to reinforce a 'two-communities' logic: re-establishing the separated worlds and rationales between clinicians and researchers. The 'translational work' that unfolds during discussions remains implicit. It may be that participants are unable to explicitly address and identify the knowledge translation processes because they lack necessary conceptual tools. Our results contribute to increased awareness about translational processes and provide a language through which barriers to translation can be addressed. © The Author(s) 2016.

Cognitive correlates of performance in advanced mathematics.

PubMed

Wei, Wei; Yuan, Hongbo; Chen, Chuansheng; Zhou, Xinlin

2012-03-01

Much research has been devoted to understanding cognitive correlates of elementary mathematics performance, but little such research has been done for advanced mathematics (e.g., modern algebra, statistics, and mathematical logic). To promote mathematical knowledge among college students, it is necessary to understand what factors (including cognitive factors) are important for acquiring advanced mathematics. We recruited 80 undergraduates from four universities in Beijing. The current study investigated the associations between students' performance on a test of advanced mathematics and a battery of 17 cognitive tasks on basic numerical processing, complex numerical processing, spatial abilities, language abilities, and general cognitive processing. The results showed that spatial abilities were significantly correlated with performance in advanced mathematics after controlling for other factors. In addition, certain language abilities (i.e., comprehension of words and sentences) also made unique contributions. In contrast, basic numerical processing and computation were generally not correlated with performance in advanced mathematics. Results suggest that spatial abilities and language comprehension, but not basic numerical processing, may play an important role in advanced mathematics. These results are discussed in terms of their theoretical significance and practical implications. ©2011 The British Psychological Society.

Examining EFL Teachers' Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge and the Adoption of Mobile-Assisted Language Learning: A Partial Least Square Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hsu, Liwei

2016-01-01

This study examines EFL (English as a foreign Language) teachers' technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) and how such knowledge affects the adoption of mobile-assisted language learning (MALL). A total of 158 in-service Taiwanese English teachers were surveyed. Two frameworks were employed to examine latent constructs: TPACK and the…

The Language Used to Articulate Content as an Aspect of Pedagogical Content Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chick, Helen

2015-01-01

Mathematical knowledge in classrooms is mediated through the use of both technical and informal language. This paper is a report of a study of the language use of teachers as they examine students' work and discuss teaching for the topic of fraction operations. This provides a window on their pedagogical content knowledge and also on the way in…

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.

Endogenous sources of variation in language acquisition.

PubMed

Han, Chung-Hye; Musolino, Julien; Lidz, Jeffrey

2016-01-26

A fundamental question in the study of human language acquisition centers around apportioning explanatory force between the experience of the learner and the core knowledge that allows learners to represent that experience. We provide a previously unidentified kind of data identifying children's contribution to language acquisition. We identify one aspect of grammar that varies unpredictably across a population of speakers of what is ostensibly a single language. We further demonstrate that the grammatical knowledge of parents and their children is independent. The combination of unpredictable variation and parent-child independence suggests that the relevant structural feature is supplied by each learner independent of experience with the language. This structural feature is abstract because it controls variation in more than one construction. The particular case we examine is the position of the verb in the clause structure of Korean. Because Korean is a head-final language, evidence for the syntactic position of the verb is both rare and indirect. We show that (i) Korean speakers exhibit substantial variability regarding this aspect of the grammar, (ii) this variability is attested between speakers but not within a speaker, (iii) this variability controls interpretation in two surface constructions, and (iv) it is independent in parents and children. According to our findings, when the exposure language is compatible with multiple grammars, learners acquire a single systematic grammar. Our observation that children and their parents vary independently suggests that the choice of grammar is driven in part by a process operating internal to individual learners.

Participation in the ICT era: Implementation without humiliation, misconception and false consciousness

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Halvorsen, Torill Aagot

2012-06-01

The national language of Tanzania is Kiswahili. However, Tanzania has two official languages: English, introduced in colonial times, and Kiswahili, the actual lingua franca spoken by 99 per cent of the population. Kiswahili websites and internet content are gradually increasing, and equipment is becoming more affordable. The research reported on here shows that especially academic staff with good knowledge in information and communication technology (ICT) are using Kiswahili more than others. This gives hope for the future. The language of instruction in Tanzania's higher education is however English only, resulting in students having to attend lectures and produce their coursework in a language they are not proficient in. Investigating whether University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) staff and students regard themselves as participants and contributors in a knowledge society, the author's findings suggest two simultaneous processes: (1) There are still remnants from the colonial system in terms of education and language; (2) At the same time ICT-competent staff and students already do participate in the ICT era in Kiswahili and tend to use Kiswahili in their work and studies. A high number of respondents say they use Kiswahili in most of their ICT communication. There is reason to ask: is the notion of English being the only ICT language possibly decreasing? This article builds on fieldwork conducted at UDSM in 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2011, in connection with the research project "ICT and Language in Tanzanian Higher Education".

Knowledge Base Editor (SharpKBE)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tikidjian, Raffi; James, Mark; Mackey, Ryan

2007-01-01

The SharpKBE software provides a graphical user interface environment for domain experts to build and manage knowledge base systems. Knowledge bases can be exported/translated to various target languages automatically, including customizable target languages.

A Computational Model of Linguistic Humor in Puns.

PubMed

Kao, Justine T; Levy, Roger; Goodman, Noah D

2016-07-01

Humor plays an essential role in human interactions. Precisely what makes something funny, however, remains elusive. While research on natural language understanding has made significant advancements in recent years, there has been little direct integration of humor research with computational models of language understanding. In this paper, we propose two information-theoretic measures-ambiguity and distinctiveness-derived from a simple model of sentence processing. We test these measures on a set of puns and regular sentences and show that they correlate significantly with human judgments of funniness. Moreover, within a set of puns, the distinctiveness measure distinguishes exceptionally funny puns from mediocre ones. Our work is the first, to our knowledge, to integrate a computational model of general language understanding and humor theory to quantitatively predict humor at a fine-grained level. We present it as an example of a framework for applying models of language processing to understand higher level linguistic and cognitive phenomena. © 2015 The Authors. Cognitive Science published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Cognitive Science Society.

Applying Standard Interfaces to a Process-Control Language

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Berthold, Richard T.

2005-01-01

A method of applying open-operating-system standard interfaces to the NASA User Interface Language (UIL) has been devised. UIL is a computing language that can be used in monitoring and controlling automated processes: for example, the Timeliner computer program, written in UIL, is a general-purpose software system for monitoring and controlling sequences of automated tasks in a target system. In providing the major elements of connectivity between UIL and the target system, the present method offers advantages over the prior method. Most notably, unlike in the prior method, the software description of the target system can be made independent of the applicable compiler software and need not be linked to the applicable executable compiler image. Also unlike in the prior method, it is not necessary to recompile the source code and relink the source code to a new executable compiler image. Abstraction of the description of the target system to a data file can be defined easily, with intuitive syntax, and knowledge of the source-code language is not needed for the definition.

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.

Reflective processes of practitioners in head and neck cancer rehabilitation: a grounded theory study.

PubMed

Caty, Marie-Ève; Kinsella, Elizabeth Anne; Doyle, Philip C

2016-12-01

This study systematically examined how experienced Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs) use the processes of reflection to develop knowledge relevant for practice in the context of head and neck cancer (HNC) rehabilitation. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 SLPs working in HNC rehabilitation in North America. Grounded theory methodology was adopted for data collection and analysis. The findings inform a preliminary reflective practice model that depicts the processes of reflection used by practitioners interviewed. Nine categories of reflective processes were identified by participant SLPs in terms of the processes of reflection: ongoing questioning, experimenting through trial and error, integrating knowledge from past cases, embracing surprise, thinking out of the box, being in the moment, consulting with colleagues, putting oneself in the patients' shoes, and discerning ethical issues. These findings provide empirical evidence that supports Schön's theory of reflective practice and contribute to knowledge about the ways in which SLPs use processes of reflection in the context of HNC rehabilitation. The findings of this study have implications for how SLPs perceive and consider their role as knowledge-users and knowledge producers in their day-to-day clinical work, as well as for building capacity for reflective practice.

Teachers' Professional Knowledge for Teaching English as a Foreign Language: Assessing the Outcomes of Teacher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

König, Johannes; Lammerding, Sandra; Nold, Günter; Rohde, Andreas; Strauß, Sarah; Tachtsoglou, Sarantis

2016-01-01

Despite an increasing research interest in subject-specific teacher knowledge, the scientific understanding regarding teachers' professional knowledge for teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL) is very limited. This study therefore applies standardized tests to directly assess content knowledge (CK), pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), and…

Developing and Validating a Survey of Korean Early Childhood English Teachers' Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Jung In

2015-01-01

The main purpose of this study is to develop and validate a valid measure of the early childhood (EC) English teacher knowledge. Through extensive literature review on second/foreign language (L2/FL) teacher knowledge, early childhood teacher knowledge and early childhood language teacher knowledge, and semi-structured interviews from current…

Emergent Literacy Skills in Preschool Children With Hearing Loss Who Use Spoken Language: Initial Findings From the Early Language and Literacy Acquisition (ELLA) Study.

PubMed

Werfel, Krystal L

2017-10-05

The purpose of this study was to compare change in emergent literacy skills of preschool children with and without hearing loss over a 6-month period. Participants included 19 children with hearing loss and 14 children with normal hearing. Children with hearing loss used amplification and spoken language. Participants completed measures of oral language, phonological processing, and print knowledge twice at a 6-month interval. A series of repeated-measures analyses of variance were used to compare change across groups. Main effects of time were observed for all variables except phonological recoding. Main effects of group were observed for vocabulary, morphosyntax, phonological memory, and concepts of print. Interaction effects were observed for phonological awareness and concepts of print. Children with hearing loss performed more poorly than children with normal hearing on measures of oral language, phonological memory, and conceptual print knowledge. Two interaction effects were present. For phonological awareness and concepts of print, children with hearing loss demonstrated less positive change than children with normal hearing. Although children with hearing loss generally demonstrated a positive growth in emergent literacy skills, their initial performance was lower than that of children with normal hearing, and rates of change were not sufficient to catch up to the peers over time.

Focus-on-form instructional methods promote deaf college students' improvement in English grammar.

PubMed

Berent, Gerald P; Kelly, Ronald R; Aldersley, Stephen; Schmitz, Kathryn L; Khalsa, Baldev Kaur; Panara, John; Keenan, Susan

2007-01-01

Focus-on-form English teaching methods are designed to facilitate second-language learners' noticing of target language input, where "noticing" is an acquisitional prerequisite for the comprehension, processing, and eventual integration of new grammatical knowledge. While primarily designed for teaching hearing second-language learners, many focus-on-form methods lend themselves to visual presentation. This article reports the results of classroom research on the visually based implementation of focus-on-form methods with deaf college students learning English. Two of 3 groups of deaf students received focus-on-form instruction during a 10-week remedial grammar course; a third control group received grammatical instruction that did not involve focus-on-form methods. The 2 experimental groups exhibited significantly greater improvement in English grammatical knowledge relative to the control group. These results validate the efficacy of visually based focus-on-form English instruction for deaf students of English and set the stage for the continual search for innovative and effective English teaching methodologies.

Input and Age-Dependent Variation in Second Language Learning: A Connectionist Account.

PubMed

Janciauskas, Marius; Chang, Franklin

2017-07-26

Language learning requires linguistic input, but several studies have found that knowledge of second language (L2) rules does not seem to improve with more language exposure (e.g., Johnson & Newport, 1989). One reason for this is that previous studies did not factor out variation due to the different rules tested. To examine this issue, we reanalyzed grammaticality judgment scores in Flege, Yeni-Komshian, and Liu's (1999) study of L2 learners using rule-related predictors and found that, in addition to the overall drop in performance due to a sensitive period, L2 knowledge increased with years of input. Knowledge of different grammar rules was negatively associated with input frequency of those rules. To better understand these effects, we modeled the results using a connectionist model that was trained using Korean as a first language (L1) and then English as an L2. To explain the sensitive period in L2 learning, the model's learning rate was reduced in an age-related manner. By assigning different learning rates for syntax and lexical learning, we were able to model the difference between early and late L2 learners in input sensitivity. The model's learning mechanism allowed transfer between the L1 and L2, and this helped to explain the differences between different rules in the grammaticality judgment task. This work demonstrates that an L1 model of learning and processing can be adapted to provide an explicit account of how the input and the sensitive period interact in L2 learning. © 2017 The Authors. Cognitive Science - A Multidisciplinary Journal published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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.

Language and emotions: emotional Sapir-Whorf hypothesis.

PubMed

Perlovsky, Leonid

2009-01-01

An emotional version of Sapir-Whorf hypothesis suggests that differences in language emotionalities influence differences among cultures no less than conceptual differences. Conceptual contents of languages and cultures to significant extent are determined by words and their semantic differences; these could be borrowed among languages and exchanged among cultures. Emotional differences, as suggested in the paper, are related to grammar and mostly cannot be borrowed. The paper considers conceptual and emotional mechanisms of language along with their role in the mind and cultural evolution. Language evolution from primordial undifferentiated animal cries is discussed: while conceptual contents increase, emotional reduced. Neural mechanisms of these processes are suggested as well as their mathematical models: the knowledge instinct, the dual model connecting language and cognition, neural modeling fields. Mathematical results are related to cognitive science, linguistics, and psychology. Experimental evidence and theoretical arguments are discussed. Dynamics of the hierarchy-heterarchy of human minds and cultures is formulated using mean-field approach and approximate equations are obtained. The knowledge instinct operating in the mind heterarchy leads to mechanisms of differentiation and synthesis determining ontological development and cultural evolution. These mathematical models identify three types of cultures: "conceptual" pragmatic cultures in which emotionality of language is reduced and differentiation overtakes synthesis resulting in fast evolution at the price of uncertainty of values, self doubts, and internal crises; "traditional-emotional" cultures where differentiation lags behind synthesis, resulting in cultural stability at the price of stagnation; and "multi-cultural" societies combining fast cultural evolution and stability. Unsolved problems and future theoretical and experimental directions are discussed.

Language-Independent and Language-Specific Aspects of Early Literacy: An Evaluation of the Common Underlying Proficiency Model.

PubMed

Goodrich, J Marc; Lonigan, Christopher J

2017-08-01

According to the common underlying proficiency model (Cummins, 1981), as children acquire academic knowledge and skills in their first language, they also acquire language-independent information about those skills that can be applied when learning a second language. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relevance of the common underlying proficiency model for the early literacy skills of Spanish-speaking language-minority children using confirmatory factor analysis. Eight hundred fifty-eight Spanish-speaking language-minority preschoolers (mean age = 60.83 months, 50.2% female) participated in this study. Results indicated that bifactor models that consisted of language-independent as well as language-specific early literacy factors provided the best fits to the data for children's phonological awareness and print knowledge skills. Correlated factors models that only included skills specific to Spanish and English provided the best fits to the data for children's oral language skills. Children's language-independent early literacy skills were significantly related across constructs and to language-specific aspects of early literacy. Language-specific aspects of early literacy skills were significantly related within but not across languages. These findings suggest that language-minority preschoolers have a common underlying proficiency for code-related skills but not language-related skills that may allow them to transfer knowledge across languages.

The role of cognitive processes, foundational math skill, and calculation accuracy and fluency in word-problem solving versus prealgebraic knowledge.

PubMed

Fuchs, Lynn S; Gilbert, Jennifer K; Powell, Sarah R; Cirino, Paul T; Fuchs, Douglas; Hamlett, Carol L; Seethaler, Pamela M; Tolar, Tammy D

2016-12-01

The purpose of this study was to examine child-level pathways in development of prealgebraic knowledge versus word-problem solving, while evaluating the contribution of calculation accuracy and fluency as mediators of foundational skills/processes. Children (n = 962; mean 7.60 years) were assessed on general cognitive processes and early calculation, word-problem, and number knowledge at start of Grade 2; calculation accuracy and calculation fluency at end of Grade 2; and prealgebraic knowledge and word-problem solving at end of Grade 4. Important similarities in pathways were identified, but path analysis also indicated that language comprehension is more critical for later word-problem solving than prealgebraic knowledge. We conclude that pathways in development of these forms of 4th-grade mathematics performance are more alike than different, but demonstrate the need to fine-tune instruction for strands of the mathematics curriculum in ways that address individual students' foundational mathematics skills or cognitive processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Proceedings of the international conference on cybernetics and societ

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

Not Available

1985-01-01

This book presents the papers given at a conference on artificial intelligence, expert systems and knowledge bases. Topics considered at the conference included automating expert system development, modeling expert systems, causal maps, data covariances, robot vision, image processing, multiprocessors, parallel processing, VLSI structures, man-machine systems, human factors engineering, cognitive decision analysis, natural language, computerized control systems, and cybernetics.

Tracking real-time neural activation of conceptual knowledge using single-trial event-related potentials.

PubMed

Amsel, Ben D

2011-04-01

Empirically derived semantic feature norms categorized into different types of knowledge (e.g., visual, functional, auditory) can be summed to create number-of-feature counts per knowledge type. Initial evidence suggests several such knowledge types may be recruited during language comprehension. The present study provides a more detailed understanding of the timecourse and intensity of influence of several such knowledge types on real-time neural activity. A linear mixed-effects model was applied to single trial event-related potentials for 207 visually presented concrete words measured on total number of features (semantic richness), imageability, and number of visual motion, color, visual form, smell, taste, sound, and function features. Significant influences of multiple feature types occurred before 200ms, suggesting parallel neural computation of word form and conceptual knowledge during language comprehension. Function and visual motion features most prominently influenced neural activity, underscoring the importance of action-related knowledge in computing word meaning. The dynamic time courses and topographies of these effects are most consistent with a flexible conceptual system wherein temporally dynamic recruitment of representations in modal and supramodal cortex are a crucial element of the constellation of processes constituting word meaning computation in the brain. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Comparison of LISP and MUMPS as implementation languages for knowledge-based systems

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

Curtis, A.C.

1984-01-01

Major components of knowledge-based systems are summarized, along with the programming language features generally useful in their implementation. LISP and MUMPS are briefly described and compared as vehicles for building knowledge-based systems. The paper concludes with suggestions for extensions to MUMPS which might increase its usefulness in artificial intelligence applications without affecting the essential nature of the language. 8 references.

Points of Departure: Developing the Knowledge Base of ESL and FSL Teachers for K-12 Programs in Canada

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Faez, Farahnaz

2011-01-01

In this paper I examine similarities and differences between the required knowledge base of teachers of English as a second language (ESL) and French as a second language (FSL) for teaching in Kindergarten through Grade 12 programs in Canada. Drawing on knowledge base frameworks in language teacher education (Freeman and Johnson, 1998; Richards,…

Children's Comprehension of Object Relative Sentences: It's Extant Language Knowledge That Matters, Not Domain-General Working Memory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rusli, Yazmin Ahmad; Montgomery, James W.

2017-01-01

Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine whether extant language (lexical) knowledge or domain-general working memory is the better predictor of comprehension of object relative sentences for children with typical development. We hypothesized that extant language knowledge, not domain-general working memory, is the better predictor. Method:…

Global Justice Protest Events and the Production of Knowledge about Differences

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Daro, Vinci E. F.

2009-01-01

Recent social movement activities--in particular, transnationally-coordinated global justice mobilizations--require participants to work across substantial differences in languages, cultural backgrounds, political visions, and organizing traditions. Negotiating such differences is an active, adaptive, and learning-intensive process. In contrast to…

Ontological Approach to Military Knowledge Modeling and Management

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-03-01

federated search mechanism has to reformulate user queries (expressed using the ontology) in the query languages of the different sources (e.g. SQL...ontologies as a common terminology – Unified query to perform federated search • Query processing – Ontology mapping to sources reformulate queries

Why is number word learning hard? Evidence from bilingual learners.

PubMed

Wagner, Katie; Kimura, Katherine; Cheung, Pierina; Barner, David

2015-12-01

Young children typically take between 18 months and 2 years to learn the meanings of number words. In the present study, we investigated this developmental trajectory in bilingual preschoolers to examine the relative contributions of two factors in number word learning: (1) the construction of numerical concepts, and (2) the mapping of language specific words onto these concepts. We found that children learn the meanings of small number words (i.e., one, two, and three) independently in each language, indicating that observed delays in learning these words are attributable to difficulties in mapping words to concepts. In contrast, children generally learned to accurately count larger sets (i.e., five or greater) simultaneously in their two languages, suggesting that the difficulty in learning to count is not tied to a specific language. We also replicated previous studies that found that children learn the counting procedure before they learn its logic - i.e., that for any natural number, n, the successor of n in the count list denotes the cardinality n+1. Consistent with past studies, we found that children's knowledge of successors is first acquired incrementally. In bilinguals, we found that this knowledge exhibits item-specific transfer between languages, suggesting that the logic of the positive integers may not be stored in a language-specific format. We conclude that delays in learning the meanings of small number words are mainly due to language-specific processes of mapping words to concepts, whereas the logic and procedures of counting appear to be learned in a format that is independent of a particular language and thus transfers rapidly from one language to the other in development. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Screening migrants for tuberculosis - a missed opportunity for improving knowledge and attitudes in high-risk groups: A cross-sectional study of Swedish-language students in Umeå, Sweden.

PubMed

Nkulu, Faustine K K; Hurtig, Anna-Karin; Ahlm, Clas; Krantz, Ingela

2010-06-17

Migrants from countries with a high-burden of tuberculosis (TB) are at a particular risk of contracting and developing the disease. In Sweden, new immigrants are routinely offered screening for the disease, yet very little is known about their beliefs about the disease which may affect healthcare-seeking behaviours. In this study we assessed recent immigrant students' knowledge of, and attitudes towards TB, and their relationship with the screening process. Data were collected over a one-year period through a survey questionnaire completed by 268 immigrants consecutively registered at two Swedish-language schools in Umeå, Sweden. Participants originated from 133 different countries and their ages varied between 16-63 years. Descriptive and multivariate logistic regression analyses were then performed. Though most of them (72%) were screened, knowledge was in general poor with several misconceptions. The average knowledge score was 2.7 +/- 1.3 (SD), (maximum = 8). Only 40 (15 %) of the 268 respondents answered at least half of the 51 knowledge items correctly. The average attitude score was 5.1 +/- 3.3 (SD) (maximum = 12) which meant that most respondents held negative attitudes towards TB and diseased persons. Up to 67% lacked knowledge about sources of information while 71% requested information in their vernacular. Knowledge level was positively associated with having more than 12 years of education and being informed about TB before moving to Sweden. Attitude was positively associated with years of education and having heard about the Swedish Communicable Disease Act, but was negatively associated with being from the Middle East. Neither knowledge nor attitude were affected by health screening or exposure to TB information after immigration to Sweden. Though the majority had contact with Swedish health professionals through the screening process, knowledge about tuberculosis among these immigrants was low with several misconceptions and negative attitudes. Information may currently be inaccessible to most of these immigrants due to the language barrier and unfamiliarity with the Swedish healthcare system. If TB education was included as a component of screening programmes, ensuring that it was tailored to educational background, addressed misconceptions and access problems, it could well help improve TB control in these communities.

Roles of Linguistic Knowledge, Metacognitive Knowledge and Metacognitive Strategy Use in Speaking and Listening Proficiency of Iranian EFL Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ghapanchi, Zargham; Taheryan, Atefeh

2012-01-01

This study examined the influence of language knowledge, metacognitive knowledge and metacognitive strategy use on speaking and listening proficiency. Ninety six freshman and sophomore Iranian university students (male = 6, female = 90) were participated in the study. Two kinds of questionnaire and one language knowledge test were administered.…

Evaluation, Use, and Refinement of Knowledge Representations through Acquisition Modeling

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pearl, Lisa

2017-01-01

Generative approaches to language have long recognized the natural link between theories of knowledge representation and theories of knowledge acquisition. The basic idea is that the knowledge representations provided by Universal Grammar enable children to acquire language as reliably as they do because these representations highlight the…

From Scribbles to Scrabble: Preschool Children’s Developing Knowledge of Written Language

PubMed Central

Puranik, Cynthia S.; Lonigan, Christopher J.

2011-01-01

The purpose of this study was to concurrently examine the development of written language across several writing tasks and to investigate how writing features develop in preschool children. Emergent written language knowledge of 372 preschoolers was assessed using numerous writing tasks. The findings from this study indicate that children possess a great deal of writing knowledge before beginning school. Children appear to progress along a continuum from scribbling to conventional spelling, and this progression is linear and task dependent. There was clear evidence to support the claim that universal writing features develop before language-specific features. Children as young as 3 years possess knowledge regarding universal and language-specific writing features. There is substantial developmental continuity in literacy skills from the preschool period into early elementary grades. Implications of these findings on writing development are discussed. PMID:22448101

A Spanish-Language Risk Perception Survey for Developing Diabetes: Translation Process and Assessment of Psychometric Properties.

PubMed

Joiner, Kevin L; Sternberg, Rosa Maria; Kennedy, Christine; Chen, Jyu-Lin; Fukuoka, Yoshimi; Janson, Susan L

2016-12-01

Create a Spanish-language version of the Risk Perception Survey for Developing Diabetes (RPS-DD) and assess psychometric properties. The Spanish-language version was created through translation, harmonization, and presentation to the tool's original author. It was field tested in a foreignborn Latino sample and properties evaluated in principal components analysis. Personal Control, Optimistic Bias, and Worry multi-item Likert subscale responses did not cluster together. A clean solution was obtained after removing two Personal Control subscale items. Neither the Personal Disease Risk scale nor the Environmental Health Risk scale responses loaded onto single factors. Reliabilities ranged from .54 to .88. Test of knowledge performance varied by item. This study contributes to evidence of validation of a Spanish-language RPS-DD in foreign-born Latinos.

Written Discourse in Scientific Communities: A conversation with two scientists about their views of science, use of language, role of writing in doing science, and compatibility between their epistemic views and language

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yore, Larry D.; Florence, Marilyn K.; Pearson, Terry W.; Weaver, Andrew J.

2006-02-01

This autobiographical case study of two scientists involved in earlier studies documents a profile of each scientist. These profiles were used to develop semi-structured interview protocols and email surveys for each scientist. The central issues of these data collections were whether these modern, evaluativist scientists believe that the review react revise process of publishing a peer-reviewed research report simply improves the quality of the language or actually changes the science, and how their metacognitive awareness and executive control were demonstrated in their science inquiry and science writing. The scientists served both as informants and co-authors. Both scientists believed that writing and revising research reports improved the science as well as the clarity of the text; that their use of absolutist language related to their beliefs about inquiry and not about science knowledge; that addressing comments about their writing forced them to assess, monitor, and regulate their science inquiries and research reports; and that traditional forms of knowledge about nature and natural events were valuable information sources that stress description rather than physical causality

The impact of second language learning on semantic and nonsemantic first language reading.

PubMed

Nosarti, Chiara; Mechelli, Andrea; Green, David W; Price, Cathy J

2010-02-01

The relationship between orthography (spelling) and phonology (speech sounds) varies across alphabetic languages. Consequently, learning to read a second alphabetic language, that uses the same letters as the first, increases the phonological associations that can be linked to the same orthographic units. In subjects with English as their first language, previous functional imaging studies have reported increased left ventral prefrontal activation for reading words with spellings that are inconsistent with their orthographic neighbors (e.g., PINT) compared with words that are consistent with their orthographic neighbors (e.g., SHIP). Here, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in 17 Italian-English and 13 English-Italian bilinguals, we demonstrate that left ventral prefrontal activation for first language reading increases with second language vocabulary knowledge. This suggests that learning a second alphabetic language changes the way that words are read in the first alphabetic language. Specifically, first language reading is more reliant on both lexical/semantic and nonlexical processing when new orthographic to phonological mappings are introduced by second language learning. Our observations were in a context that required participants to switch between languages. They motivate future fMRI studies to test whether first language reading is also altered in contexts when the second language is not in use.

Cognition and Health Literacy in Older Adults’ Recall of Self-Care Information

PubMed Central

Madison, Anna; Gao, Xuefei; Graumlich, James F.; Conner-Garcia, Thembi; Murray, Michael D.; Stine-Morrow, Elizabeth A. L.; Morrow, Daniel G.

2017-01-01

Abstract Purpose of the Study: Health literacy is associated with health outcomes presumably because it influences the understanding of information needed for self-care. However, little is known about the language comprehension mechanisms that underpin health literacy. Design and Methods: We explored the relationship between a commonly used measure of health literacy (Short Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults [STOFHLA]) and comprehension of health information among 145 older adults. Results: Results showed that performance on the STOFHLA was associated with recall of health information. Consistent with the Process-Knowledge Model of Health Literacy, mediation analysis showed that both processing capacity and knowledge mediated the association between health literacy and recall of health information. In addition, knowledge moderated the effects of processing capacity limits, such that processing capacity was less likely to be associated with recall for older adults with higher levels of knowledge. Implications: These findings suggest that knowledge contributes to health literacy and can compensate for deficits in processing capacity to support comprehension of health information among older adults. The implications of these findings for improving patient education materials for older adults with inadequate health literacy are discussed. PMID:26209450

The relationship between language use and depression: illuminating the importance of self-reflection, self-rumination, and the need for absolute truth.

PubMed

Şimşek, Ömer Faruk

2013-01-01

The main aim of the present study was to provide additional knowledge about the mediatory processes through which language relates to depression. Although previous research gave clear evidence that language is closely related to depression, the research on intervening variables in the relationship has been limited. The present investigation tested a structural equation model in which self-concept clarity and self-consciousness mediated the relationship between personal perceptions of language and depression. Since "the need for absolute truth" construct has been shown to be important in providing greater consistency in estimates of the relationships among the variables, it has been added to the model as a control variable. The results supported the model and showed that personal perceptions of language predicted self-concept clarity, which in turn predicted the participants' self-reflection and self-rumination. Self-reflection and self-rumination, in turn, predicted depression.

On the Composition of Public-Coin Zero-Knowledge Protocols

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-05-31

only languages in BPP have public-coin black-box zero-knowledge protocols that are secure under an unbounded (polynomial) number of parallel...only languages in BPP have public-coin black-box zero-knowledge protocols that are secure under an unbounded (polynomial) number of parallel repetitions...and Krawczyk [GK96b] show that only languages in BPP have constant-round public-coin (stand-alone) black-box ZK protocols with negligible soundness

Pragmatics & Language Learning. Volume 12

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kasper, Gabriele, Ed.; Nguyen, Hanh thi, Ed.; Yoshimi, Dina Rudolph, Ed.; Yoshioka, Jim K., Ed.

2010-01-01

This volume examines the organization of second language and multilingual speakers' talk and pragmatic knowledge across a range of naturalistic and experimental activities. Based on data collected on Danish, English, Hawai'i Creole, Indonesian, and Japanese as target languages, the contributions explore the nexus of pragmatic knowledge,…

Structural Principles or Frequency of Use? An ERP Experiment on the Learnability of Consonant Clusters

PubMed Central

Wiese, Richard; Orzechowska, Paula; Alday, Phillip M.; Ulbrich, Christiane

2017-01-01

Phonological knowledge of a language involves knowledge about which segments can be combined under what conditions. Languages vary in the quantity and quality of licensed combinations, in particular sequences of consonants, with Polish being a language with a large inventory of such combinations. The present paper reports on a two-session experiment in which Polish-speaking adult participants learned nonce words with final consonant clusters. The aim was to study the role of two factors which potentially play a role in the learning of phonotactic structures: the phonological principle of sonority (ordering sound segments within the syllable according to their inherent loudness) and the (non-) existence as a usage-based phenomenon. EEG responses in two different time windows (adversely to behavioral responses) show linguistic processing by native speakers of Polish to be sensitive to both distinctions, in spite of the fact that Polish is rich in sonority-violating clusters. In particular, a general learning effect in terms of an N400 effect was found which was demonstrated to be different for sonority-obeying clusters than for sonority-violating clusters. Furthermore, significant interactions of formedness and session, and of existence and session, demonstrate that both factors, the sonority principle and the frequency pattern, play a role in the learning process. PMID:28119642

Easing the transition between hospital and home: translating knowledge into action.

PubMed

Baumbusch, Jennifer; Semeniuk, Pat; McDonald, Heather; Khan, Koushambhi Basu; Reimer Kirkham, Sheryl; Tan, Elsie; Anderson, Joan M

2007-10-01

Knowledge translation is an interactive, dynamic approach to the uptake of evidence-based knowledge. In this article, the authors present a collaborative model for knowledge translation that grew out of a program of research focusing on the experiences of patients from ethnoculturally diverse groups as they were discharged home from hospital. Research findings highlight issues around gaps in the continuity of services and language and communication. The authors discuss a number of knowledge translation initiatives that were developed to address these gaps. Key to the success of this process has been a collaborative relationship between researchers and practitioners that is grounded in the shared goal of knowledge translation to support ethically sound decision-making in the delivery of health-care services.

Poor knowledge of methotrexate associated with older age and limited English-language proficiency in a diverse rheumatoid arthritis cohort

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Introduction Our objective was to determine rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients’ understanding of methotrexate and assess whether knowledge varies by age, education, English language proficiency, or other disease-related factors. Methods Adults with RA (n = 135) who were enrollees of an observational cohort completed a structured telephone interview in their preferred language between August 2007 and July 2009. All subjects who reported taking methotrexate were asked 11 questions about the medication in addition to demographics, education level, and language proficiency. Primary outcome was a total score below the 50th percentile (considered inadequate methotrexate knowledge). Bivariable and multivariable logistic regressions were performed. Covariates included demographics, language proficiency, education, and disease characteristics. Results Of 135 subjects, 83% were female, with a mean age of 55 ± 14 years. The majority spoke English (64%), followed by 22% Spanish and 14% Cantonese or Mandarin. Limited English language proficiency (LEP) was reported in 42%. Mean methotrexate knowledge score was 5.4 ± 2.6 (range, 0 to 10); 73 (54%) had a score lower than 5 (of 10). Age older than 55, less than high school education, LEP, better function, and biologic use were independently associated with poor knowledge. Conclusions In a diverse RA cohort, overall methotrexate knowledge was poor. Older age and limited proficiency in English were significant correlates of poor knowledge. Identification of language barriers and improved clinician-patient communication around methotrexate dosing and side effects may lead to improved safety and enhanced benefits of this commonly used RA medication. PMID:24432366

Capturing and Modeling Domain Knowledge Using Natural Language Processing Techniques

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-06-01

Intelligence Artificielle , France, May 2001, p. 109- 118 [Barrière, 2001] -----. “Investigating the Causal Relation in Informative Texts”. Terminology, 7:2...out of the flood of information, military have to create new ways of processing sensor and intelligence information, and of providing the results to...have to create new ways of processing sensor and intelligence information, and of providing the results to commanders who must take timely operational

Professionalism in Long-Term Care Settings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lubinski, Rosemary

2006-01-01

Speech-language pathologists who serve elders in a variety of long-term care settings have a variety of professional skills and responsibilities. Fundamental to quality service is knowledge of aging and communication changes and disorders associated with this process, institutional alternatives, and the changing nature of today's elders in…

The Relationship between User Expertise and Structural Ontology Characteristics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Waldstein, Ilya Michael

2014-01-01

Ontologies are commonly used to support application tasks such as natural language processing, knowledge management, learning, browsing, and search. Literature recommends considering specific context during ontology design, and highlights that a different context is responsible for problems in ontology reuse. However, there is still no clear…

Why Does Rapid Naming Predict Chinese Word Reading?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shum, Kathy Kar-man; Au, Terry Kit-fong

2017-01-01

Rapid automatized naming (RAN) robustly predicts early reading abilities across languages, but its underlying mechanism remains unclear. This study found that RAN associated significantly with processing speed but not with phonological awareness or orthographic knowledge in 89 Hong Kong Chinese second-graders. RAN overlaps more with processing…

Language experience changes subsequent learning

PubMed Central

Onnis, Luca; Thiessen, Erik

2013-01-01

What are the effects of experience on subsequent learning? We explored the effects of language-specific word order knowledge on the acquisition of sequential conditional information. Korean and English adults were engaged in a sequence learning task involving three different sets of stimuli: auditory linguistic (nonsense syllables), visual non-linguistic (nonsense shapes), and auditory non-linguistic (pure tones). The forward and backward probabilities between adjacent elements generated two equally probable and orthogonal perceptual parses of the elements, such that any significant preference at test must be due to either general cognitive biases, or prior language-induced biases. We found that language modulated parsing preferences with the linguistic stimuli only. Intriguingly, these preferences are congruent with the dominant word order patterns of each language, as corroborated by corpus analyses, and are driven by probabilistic preferences. Furthermore, although the Korean individuals had received extensive formal explicit training in English and lived in an English-speaking environment, they exhibited statistical learning biases congruent with their native language. Our findings suggest that mechanisms of statistical sequential learning are implicated in language across the lifespan, and experience with language may affect cognitive processes and later learning. PMID:23200510

Co-occurrence statistics as a language-dependent cue for speech segmentation.

PubMed

Saksida, Amanda; Langus, Alan; Nespor, Marina

2017-05-01

To what extent can language acquisition be explained in terms of different associative learning mechanisms? It has been hypothesized that distributional regularities in spoken languages are strong enough to elicit statistical learning about dependencies among speech units. Distributional regularities could be a useful cue for word learning even without rich language-specific knowledge. However, it is not clear how strong and reliable the distributional cues are that humans might use to segment speech. We investigate cross-linguistic viability of different statistical learning strategies by analyzing child-directed speech corpora from nine languages and by modeling possible statistics-based speech segmentations. We show that languages vary as to which statistical segmentation strategies are most successful. The variability of the results can be partially explained by systematic differences between languages, such as rhythmical differences. The results confirm previous findings that different statistical learning strategies are successful in different languages and suggest that infants may have to primarily rely on non-statistical cues when they begin their process of speech segmentation. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Representing Medical Knowledge in a Terminological Language is Difficult1

PubMed Central

Haimowits, Ira J.; Patil, Ramesh S.; Szolovits, Peter

1988-01-01

We report on an experiment to use a modern knowledge representation language, NIKL, to express the knowledge of a sophisticated medical reasoning program, ABEL. We are attempting to put the development of more capable medical programs on firmer representational grounds by moving from the ad hoc representations typical of current programs toward more principled representation languages now in use or under construction. Our experience with the project reported here suggests caution, however. Attempts at cleanliness and efficiency in the design of representation languages lead to a poverty of expressiveness that makes it difficult if not impossible to say in such languages what needs to be stated to support the application.

The semantic web and computer vision: old AI meets new AI

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mundy, J. L.; Dong, Y.; Gilliam, A.; Wagner, R.

2018-04-01

There has been vast process in linking semantic information across the billions of web pages through the use of ontologies encoded in the Web Ontology Language (OWL) based on the Resource Description Framework (RDF). A prime example is the Wikipedia where the knowledge contained in its more than four million pages is encoded in an ontological database called DBPedia http://wiki.dbpedia.org/. Web-based query tools can retrieve semantic information from DBPedia encoded in interlinked ontologies that can be accessed using natural language. This paper will show how this vast context can be used to automate the process of querying images and other geospatial data in support of report changes in structures and activities. Computer vision algorithms are selected and provided with context based on natural language requests for monitoring and analysis. The resulting reports provide semantically linked observations from images and 3D surface models.

Can language acquisition be facilitated in cochlear implanted children? Comparison of cognitive and behavioral psychologists’ viewpoints

PubMed Central

Monshizadeh, Leila; Vameghi, Roshanak; Yadegari, Fariba; Sajedi, Firoozeh; Hashemi, Seyed Basir

2016-01-01

AIM To study how language acquisition can be facilitated for cochlear implanted children based on cognitive and behavioral psychology viewpoints? METHODS To accomplish this objective, literature related to behaviorist and cognitive psychology prospects about language acquisition were studied and some relevant books as well as Medline, Cochrane Library, Google scholar, ISI web of knowledge and Scopus databases were searched. Among 25 articles that were selected, only 11 met the inclusion criteria and were included in the study. Based on the inclusion criteria, review articles, expert opinion studies, non-experimental and experimental studies that clearly focused on behavioral and cognitive factors affecting language acquisition in children were selected. Finally, the selected articles were appraised according to guidelines of appraisal of medical studies. RESULTS Due to the importance of the cochlear implanted child’s language performance, the comparison of behaviorist and cognitive psychology points of view in child language acquisition was done. Since each theoretical basis, has its own positive effects on language, and since the two are not in opposition to one another, it can be said that a set of behavioral and cognitive factors might facilitate the process of language acquisition in children. Behavioral psychologists believe that repetition, as well as immediate reinforcement of child’s language behavior help him easily acquire the language during a language intervention program, while cognitive psychologists emphasize on the relationship between information processing, memory improvement through repetitively using words along with “associated” pictures and objects, motor development and language acquisition. CONCLUSION It is recommended to use a combined approach based on both theoretical frameworks while planning a language intervention program. PMID:27872829

Distributed semantic networks and CLIPS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Snyder, James; Rodriguez, Tony

1991-01-01

Semantic networks of frames are commonly used as a method of reasoning in many problems. In most of these applications the semantic network exists as a single entity in a single process environment. Advances in workstation hardware provide support for more sophisticated applications involving multiple processes, interacting in a distributed environment. In these applications the semantic network may well be distributed over several concurrently executing tasks. This paper describes the design and implementation of a frame based, distributed semantic network in which frames are accessed both through C Language Integrated Production System (CLIPS) expert systems and procedural C++ language programs. The application area is a knowledge based, cooperative decision making model utilizing both rule based and procedural experts.

On the Use of Framed Knowledge in Language Comprehension.

DTIC Science & Technology

1978-09-01

knowledge In order to understand a certain stereotyped situation . We must , in other words , harmonize this idea with the opposite one of inodularhy. I...AD A Qb2 680 YAL E UNIV NEW HAVEN CONN DEPT OF cosPute. SCIENCE Fe’S 3/7 UNCLASSIFIED ON THE USE oc FRAMED KNOWLEDGE IN LANGUAGE COIflCHENSION.ftJ...DO JO? ~Jp~QDUC! L1GT3LY. ~~~~~~~~VERI# C) C.) w _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ON THE USE OF FRAMED KNOWLEDGE IN LANGUAGE COMPREHENSION Running t i t le

Neural correlates of Korean proverb processing: A functional magnetic resonance imaging study.

PubMed

Yi, You Gyoung; Kim, Dae Yul; Shim, Woo Hyun; Oh, Joo Young; Kim, Sung Hyun; Kim, Ho Sung

2017-10-01

The Korean language is based on a syntactic system that is different from other languages. This study investigated the processing area of the Korean proverb in comparison with the literal sentence using functional magnetic resonance imaging. In addition, the effect of opacity and transparency of proverbs on the activation pattern, when familiarity is set to the same condition, was also examined. The experimental stimuli included 36 proverbs and 18 literal sentences. A cohort of 15 healthy participants silently read each sentence for 6 s. A total of 18 opaque proverbs, 18 transparent proverbs, and 18 literal sentences were presented pseudo-randomly in one of three predesigned sequences. Compared with the literal sentences, a significant activation pattern was observed in the left hemisphere, including the left inferior frontal gyrus, in association with the proverbs. Compared with the transparent proverbs, opaque proverbs elicited more activation in the right supramarginal gyrus and precuneus. Our study confirmed that the left inferior frontal gyrus mediates the retrieval and/or selection of semantic knowledge in the Korean language. The present findings indicated that the right precuneus and the right supramarginal gyrus may be involved in abstract language processing.

The Shrinkage Model And Expert System Of Plastic Lens Formation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chang, Rong-Seng

1988-06-01

Shrinkage causes both the appearance & dimension defects of the injected plastic lens. We have built up a model of state equations with the help of finite element analysis program to estimate the volume change (shrinkage and swelling) under the combinations of injection variables such as pressure and temperature etc., then the personal computer expert system has been build up to make that knowledge conveniently available to the user in the model design, process planning, process operation and some other work. The domain knowledge is represented by a R-graph (Relationship-graph) model which states the relationships of variables & equations. This model could be compare with other models in the expert system. If the user has better model to solve the shrinkage problem, the program will evaluate it automatically and a learning file will be trigger by the expert system to teach the user to update their knowledge base and modify the old model by this better model. The Rubin's model and Gilmore's model have been input to the expert system. The conflict has been solved both from the user and the deeper knowledge base. A cube prism and the convex lens examples have been shown in this paper. This program is written by MULISP language in IBM PC-AT. The natural language provides English Explaination of know why and know how and the automatic English translation for the equation rules and the production rules.

Lost in Translation? Comparative Education Research and the Production of Academic Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mazenod, Anna

2018-01-01

The worth of academic knowledge tends to be tested against global metrics of citations and articles published in high-ranking English language academic journals. This paper examines academic knowledge production in three local fields of research with different national languages (English, Finnish and French). It focuses on knowledge production on…

An instrument to measure nurses' knowledge in palliative care: Validation of the Spanish version of Palliative Care Quiz for Nurses

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Background Palliative care is nowadays essential in nursing care, due to the increasing number of patients who require attention in final stages of their life. Nurses need to acquire specific knowledge and abilities to provide quality palliative care. Palliative Care Quiz for Nurses is a questionnaire that evaluates their basic knowledge about palliative care. The Palliative Care Quiz for Nurses (PCQN) is useful to evaluate basic knowledge about palliative care, but its adaptation into the Spanish language and the analysis of its effectiveness and utility for Spanish culture is lacking. Purpose To report the adaptation into the Spanish language and the psychometric analysis of the Palliative Care Quiz for Nurses. Method The Palliative Care Quiz for Nurses-Spanish Version (PCQN-SV) was obtained from a process including translation, back-translation, comparison with versions in other languages, revision by experts, and pilot study. Content validity and reliability of questionnaire were analyzed. Difficulty and discrimination indexes of each item were also calculated according to Item Response Theory (IRT). Findings Adequate internal consistency was found (S-CVI = 0.83); Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.67 and KR-20 test result of 0,72 reflected the reliability of PCQN-SV. The questionnaire had a global difficulty index of 0,55, with six items which could be considered as difficult or very difficult, and five items with could be considered easy or very easy. The discrimination indexes of the 20 items, show us that eight items are good or very good while six items are bad to discriminate between good and bad respondents. Discussion Although in shows internal consistency, reliability and difficulty indexes similar to those obtained by versions of PCQN in other languages, a reformulation of the items with lowest content validity or discrimination indexes and those showing difficulties with their comprehension is an aspect to take into account in order to improve the PCQN-SV. Conclusion The PCQN-SV is a useful Spanish language instrument for measuring Spanish nurses’ knowledge in palliative care and it is adequate to establish international comparisons. PMID:28545037

An instrument to measure nurses' knowledge in palliative care: Validation of the Spanish version of Palliative Care Quiz for Nurses.

PubMed

Chover-Sierra, Elena; Martínez-Sabater, Antonio; Lapeña-Moñux, Yolanda Raquel

2017-01-01

Palliative care is nowadays essential in nursing care, due to the increasing number of patients who require attention in final stages of their life. Nurses need to acquire specific knowledge and abilities to provide quality palliative care. Palliative Care Quiz for Nurses is a questionnaire that evaluates their basic knowledge about palliative care. The Palliative Care Quiz for Nurses (PCQN) is useful to evaluate basic knowledge about palliative care, but its adaptation into the Spanish language and the analysis of its effectiveness and utility for Spanish culture is lacking. To report the adaptation into the Spanish language and the psychometric analysis of the Palliative Care Quiz for Nurses. The Palliative Care Quiz for Nurses-Spanish Version (PCQN-SV) was obtained from a process including translation, back-translation, comparison with versions in other languages, revision by experts, and pilot study. Content validity and reliability of questionnaire were analyzed. Difficulty and discrimination indexes of each item were also calculated according to Item Response Theory (IRT). Adequate internal consistency was found (S-CVI = 0.83); Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.67 and KR-20 test result of 0,72 reflected the reliability of PCQN-SV. The questionnaire had a global difficulty index of 0,55, with six items which could be considered as difficult or very difficult, and five items with could be considered easy or very easy. The discrimination indexes of the 20 items, show us that eight items are good or very good while six items are bad to discriminate between good and bad respondents. Although in shows internal consistency, reliability and difficulty indexes similar to those obtained by versions of PCQN in other languages, a reformulation of the items with lowest content validity or discrimination indexes and those showing difficulties with their comprehension is an aspect to take into account in order to improve the PCQN-SV. The PCQN-SV is a useful Spanish language instrument for measuring Spanish nurses' knowledge in palliative care and it is adequate to establish international comparisons.

Natural Language Processing Methods and Systems for Biomedical Ontology Learning

PubMed Central

Liu, Kaihong; Hogan, William R.; Crowley, Rebecca S.

2010-01-01

While the biomedical informatics community widely acknowledges the utility of domain ontologies, there remain many barriers to their effective use. One important requirement of domain ontologies is that they must achieve a high degree of coverage of the domain concepts and concept relationships. However, the development of these ontologies is typically a manual, time-consuming, and often error-prone process. Limited resources result in missing concepts and relationships as well as difficulty in updating the ontology as knowledge changes. Methodologies developed in the fields of natural language processing, information extraction, information retrieval and machine learning provide techniques for automating the enrichment of an ontology from free-text documents. In this article, we review existing methodologies and developed systems, and discuss how existing methods can benefit the development of biomedical ontologies. PMID:20647054

Contributions of Domain-General Cognitive Resources and Different Forms of Arithmetic Development to Pre-Algebraic Knowledge

PubMed Central

Fuchs, Lynn S.; Compton, Donald L.; Fuchs, Douglas; Powell, Sarah R.; Schumacher, Robin F.; Hamlett, Carol L.; Vernier, Emily; Namkung, Jessica M.; Vukovic, Rose K.

2012-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the contributions of domain-general cognitive resources and different forms of arithmetic development to individual differences in pre-algebraic knowledge. Children (n=279; mean age=7.59 yrs) were assessed on 7 domain-general cognitive resources as well as arithmetic calculations and word problems at start of 2nd grade and on calculations, word problems, and pre-algebraic knowledge at end of 3rd grade. Multilevel path analysis, controlling for instructional effects associated with the sequence of classrooms in which students were nested across grades 2–3, indicated arithmetic calculations and word problems are foundational to pre-algebraic knowledge. Also, results revealed direct contributions of nonverbal reasoning and oral language to pre-algebraic knowledge, beyond indirect effects that are mediated via arithmetic calculations and word problems. By contrast, attentive behavior, phonological processing, and processing speed contributed to pre-algebraic knowledge only indirectly via arithmetic calculations and word problems. PMID:22409764

Towards a category theory approach to analogy: Analyzing re-representation and acquisition of numerical knowledge.

PubMed

Navarrete, Jairo A; Dartnell, Pablo

2017-08-01

Category Theory, a branch of mathematics, has shown promise as a modeling framework for higher-level cognition. We introduce an algebraic model for analogy that uses the language of category theory to explore analogy-related cognitive phenomena. To illustrate the potential of this approach, we use this model to explore three objects of study in cognitive literature. First, (a) we use commutative diagrams to analyze an effect of playing particular educational board games on the learning of numbers. Second, (b) we employ a notion called coequalizer as a formal model of re-representation that explains a property of computational models of analogy called "flexibility" whereby non-similar representational elements are considered matches and placed in structural correspondence. Finally, (c) we build a formal learning model which shows that re-representation, language processing and analogy making can explain the acquisition of knowledge of rational numbers. These objects of study provide a picture of acquisition of numerical knowledge that is compatible with empirical evidence and offers insights on possible connections between notions such as relational knowledge, analogy, learning, conceptual knowledge, re-representation and procedural knowledge. This suggests that the approach presented here facilitates mathematical modeling of cognition and provides novel ways to think about analogy-related cognitive phenomena.

Towards a category theory approach to analogy: Analyzing re-representation and acquisition of numerical knowledge

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Category Theory, a branch of mathematics, has shown promise as a modeling framework for higher-level cognition. We introduce an algebraic model for analogy that uses the language of category theory to explore analogy-related cognitive phenomena. To illustrate the potential of this approach, we use this model to explore three objects of study in cognitive literature. First, (a) we use commutative diagrams to analyze an effect of playing particular educational board games on the learning of numbers. Second, (b) we employ a notion called coequalizer as a formal model of re-representation that explains a property of computational models of analogy called “flexibility” whereby non-similar representational elements are considered matches and placed in structural correspondence. Finally, (c) we build a formal learning model which shows that re-representation, language processing and analogy making can explain the acquisition of knowledge of rational numbers. These objects of study provide a picture of acquisition of numerical knowledge that is compatible with empirical evidence and offers insights on possible connections between notions such as relational knowledge, analogy, learning, conceptual knowledge, re-representation and procedural knowledge. This suggests that the approach presented here facilitates mathematical modeling of cognition and provides novel ways to think about analogy-related cognitive phenomena. PMID:28841643

Using background knowledge for picture organization and retrieval

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Quintana, Yuri

1997-01-01

A picture knowledge base management system is described that is used to represent, organize and retrieve pictures from a frame knowledge base. Experiments with human test subjects were conducted to obtain further descriptions of pictures from news magazines. These descriptions were used to represent the semantic content of pictures in frame representations. A conceptual clustering algorithm is described which organizes pictures not only on the observable features, but also on implicit properties derived from the frame representations. The algorithm uses inheritance reasoning to take into account background knowledge in the clustering. The algorithm creates clusters of pictures using a group similarity function that is based on the gestalt theory of picture perception. For each cluster created, a frame is generated which describes the semantic content of pictures in the cluster. Clustering and retrieval experiments were conducted with and without background knowledge. The paper shows how the use of background knowledge and semantic similarity heuristics improves the speed, precision, and recall of queries processed. The paper concludes with a discussion of how natural language processing of can be used to assist in the development of knowledge bases and the processing of user queries.

LISP as an Environment for Software Design: Powerful and Perspicuous

PubMed Central

Blum, Robert L.; Walker, Michael G.

1986-01-01

The LISP language provides a useful set of features for prototyping knowledge-intensive, clinical applications software that is not found In most other programing environments. Medical computer programs that need large medical knowledge bases, such as programs for diagnosis, therapeutic consultation, education, simulation, and peer review, are hard to design, evolve continually, and often require major revisions. They necessitate an efficient and flexible program development environment. The LISP language and programming environments bullt around it are well suited for program prototyping. The lingua franca of artifical intelligence researchers, LISP facllitates bullding complex systems because it is simple yet powerful. Because of its simplicity, LISP programs can read, execute, modify and even compose other LISP programs at run time. Hence, it has been easy for system developers to create programming tools that greatly speed the program development process, and that may be easily extended by users. This has resulted in the creation of many useful graphical interfaces, editors, and debuggers, which facllitate the development of knowledge-intensive medical applications.

Statistical Learning is Related to Early Literacy-Related Skills

PubMed Central

Spencer, Mercedes; Kaschak, Michael P.; Jones, John L.; Lonigan, Christopher J.

2015-01-01

It has been demonstrated that statistical learning, or the ability to use statistical information to learn the structure of one’s environment, plays a role in young children’s acquisition of linguistic knowledge. Although most research on statistical learning has focused on language acquisition processes, such as the segmentation of words from fluent speech and the learning of syntactic structure, some recent studies have explored the extent to which individual differences in statistical learning are related to literacy-relevant knowledge and skills. The present study extends on this literature by investigating the relations between two measures of statistical learning and multiple measures of skills that are critical to the development of literacy—oral language, vocabulary knowledge, and phonological processing—within a single model. Our sample included a total of 553 typically developing children from prekindergarten through second grade. Structural equation modeling revealed that statistical learning accounted for a unique portion of the variance in these literacy-related skills. Practical implications for instruction and assessment are discussed. PMID:26478658

Cross-Sectional Evaluation of English Language Teachers' Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yuksel, Ismail; Yasin, Elif

2014-01-01

The current study aims to identify the language teachers' technological pedagogical content knowledge and to examine their competency levels in terms of gender, length of service, and workplace. This cross-sectional evaluation study was conducted with 124 language teachers in Eskisehir, Turkey. Participants were administered Technological…

Causal Connections between Mathematical Language and Mathematical Knowledge: A Dialogic Reading Intervention

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Purpura, David J.; Napoli, Amy R.; Wehrspann, Elizabeth A.; Gold, Zachary S.

2017-01-01

The acquisition of early mathematical knowledge is critical for successful long-term academic development. Mathematical language is one of the strongest predictors of children's early mathematical success. Findings from previous studies have provided correlational evidence supporting the importance of mathematical language to the development of…

Wikis for Building Content Knowledge in the Foreign Language Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pellet, Stephanie H.

2012-01-01

Most pedagogical applications of wikis in foreign language education draw on this collaborative tool to improve (formal) writing skills or to develop target language cultural sensitivity, missing largely on the opportunity to support student-developed L2 content knowledge. Seeking an alternative to traditional teacher-centered approaches, this…

Deaf College Students' Mathematical Skills Relative to Morphological Knowledge, Reading Level, and Language Proficiency

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kelly, Ronald R.; Gaustad, Martha G.

2007-01-01

This study of deaf college students examined specific relationships between their mathematics performance and their assessed skills in reading, language, and English morphology. Simple regression analyses showed that deaf college students' language proficiency scores, reading grade level, and morphological knowledge regarding word segmentation and…

Lexicons, contexts, events, and images: commentary on Elman (2009) from the perspective of dual coding theory.

PubMed

Paivio, Allan; Sadoski, Mark

2011-01-01

Elman (2009) proposed that the traditional role of the mental lexicon in language processing can largely be replaced by a theoretical model of schematic event knowledge founded on dynamic context-dependent variables. We evaluate Elman's approach and propose an alternative view, based on dual coding theory and evidence that modality-specific cognitive representations contribute strongly to word meaning and language performance across diverse contexts which also have effects predictable from dual coding theory. Copyright © 2010 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Where are aphasia theory and management “headed”?

PubMed Central

Tippett, Donna C.; Hillis, Argye E.

2017-01-01

The sequelae of post-stroke aphasia are considerable, necessitating an understanding of the functional neuroanatomy of language, cognitive processes underlying various language tasks, and the mechanisms of recovery after stroke. This knowledge is vital in providing optimal care of individuals with aphasia and counseling to their families and caregivers. The standard of care in the rehabilitation of aphasia dictates that treatment be evidence-based and person-centered. Promising techniques, such as cortical stimulation as an adjunct to behavioral therapy, are just beginning to be explored. These topics are discussed in this review. PMID:28713549

Where are aphasia theory and management "headed"?

PubMed

Tippett, Donna C; Hillis, Argye E

2017-01-01

The sequelae of post-stroke aphasia are considerable, necessitating an understanding of the functional neuroanatomy of language, cognitive processes underlying various language tasks, and the mechanisms of recovery after stroke. This knowledge is vital in providing optimal care of individuals with aphasia and counseling to their families and caregivers. The standard of care in the rehabilitation of aphasia dictates that treatment be evidence-based and person-centered. Promising techniques, such as cortical stimulation as an adjunct to behavioral therapy, are just beginning to be explored. These topics are discussed in this review.

Translation technology fills important niche.

PubMed

2007-06-01

Software systems that can interpret and translate foreign languages can augment existing services and be available immediately, when live interpreters or even phone services may not be. Knowledge of their capabilities and cost can help you narrow your decision. Systems will take you from registration process through triage to diagnosis. All systems will provide text and audio translation. The more sophisticated systems also offer video services and sign language for deaf patients. The cost can be more than $100,000, but local foundations may offer grants that will cover your expenses.

Adaptive Plasticity in the Healthy Language Network: Implications for Language Recovery after Stroke

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

Across the last three decades, the application of noninvasive brain stimulation (NIBS) has substantially increased the current knowledge of the brain's potential to undergo rapid short-term reorganization on the systems level. A large number of studies applied transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in the healthy brain to probe the functional relevance and interaction of specific areas for different cognitive processes. NIBS is also increasingly being used to induce adaptive plasticity in motor and cognitive networks and shape cognitive functions. Recently, NIBS has been combined with electrophysiological techniques to modulate neural oscillations of specific cortical networks. In this review, we will discuss recent advances in the use of NIBS to modulate neural activity and effective connectivity in the healthy language network, with a special focus on the combination of NIBS and neuroimaging or electrophysiological approaches. Moreover, we outline how these results can be transferred to the lesioned brain to unravel the dynamics of reorganization processes in poststroke aphasia. We conclude with a critical discussion on the potential of NIBS to facilitate language recovery after stroke and propose a phase-specific model for the application of NIBS in language rehabilitation. PMID:27830094

Schemata as a Reading Strategy.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mustapha, Zaliha

Reading is a multileveled, interactive, and hypothesis-generating process in which readers construct a meaningful representation of text by using their knowledge of the world and of language. If reading involves grasping the significance of an input depending on the reader's mental cognitive-perceptual situation, then there is a form of background…

LMOOCs, Classifying Design: Survey Findings from LMOOC Providers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beirne, Elaine; Mhichíl, Mairéad Nic Giolla; Cleircín, Gearóid Ó

2017-01-01

Many of the major Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) platforms support learning approaches which can be roughly categorised as transmission-based and asynchronous (Morris & Lambe, 2014), with limited forms of interactive elements. Language learning is viewed within this study as an active process which includes knowledge, skills, and cultural…

Implicit and Explicit Learning in Individuals with Agrammatic Aphasia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schuchard, Julia; Thompson, Cynthia K.

2014-01-01

Implicit learning is a process of acquiring knowledge that occurs without conscious awareness of learning, whereas explicit learning involves the use of overt strategies. To date, research related to implicit learning following stroke has been largely restricted to the motor domain and has rarely addressed implications for language. The present…

Impairment: The Case of Phonotactic Probability and Nonword Repetition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McKean, Cristina; Letts, Carolyn; Howard, David

2013-01-01

Purpose: In this study, the authors aimed to explore the relationship between lexical and phonological knowledge in children with primary language impairment (PLI) through the application of a developmental methodology. Specifically, they tested whether there is evidence for an impairment in the process of phonological abstraction in this group of…

Developing a New Thesaurus for Art and Architecture.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Petersen, Toni

1990-01-01

This description of the development of the Art and Architecture Thesaurus from 1979 to the present explains the processes and policies that were used to construct a language designed to represent knowledge in art and architecture, as well as to be a surrogate for the image and object being described. (EAM)

Metaphor, Multiplicative Meaning and the Semiotic Construction of Scientific Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Liu, Yu; Owyong, Yuet See Monica

2011-01-01

Scientific discourse is characterized by multi-semiotic construction and the resultant semantic expansions. To date, there remains a lack of analytical methods to explicate the multiplicative nature of meaning. Drawing on the theories of systemic functional linguistics, this article examines the meaning-making processes across language and…

Design of Automated Guidance to Support Effortful Revisions and Knowledge Integration in Science Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tansomboon, Charissa

2017-01-01

Students studying complex science topics can benefit from receiving immediate, personalized guidance. Supporting students to revise their written explanations in science can help students to integrate disparate ideas and develop a coherent, generative account of complex scientific topics. Using natural language processing to analyze student…

Knowledge of Some Derivational Processes in Two Samples of Bilingual Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marckworth, M. Lois

1978-01-01

A report on a study concerning the bilingual child in a monolingual community. It investigates the acquisition of a set of English derivational morphemes by bilingual children and the effect of external factors, such as school, exposure time, age and home, in the children's language experience. (AMH)

The Spelling Skills of French-Speaking Dyslexic Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Plisson, Anne; Daigle, Daniel; Montesinos-Gelet, Isabelle

2013-01-01

Learning to spell is very difficult for dyslexic children, a phenomenon explained by a deficit in processing phonological information. However, to spell correctly in an alphabetic language such as French, phonological knowledge is not enough. Indeed, the French written system requires the speller to acquire visuo-orthographical and morphological…

Chapter Three: A Child's Tale

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wolf, Maryanne; Gottwald, Stephanie

2016-01-01

Maryanne Wolf's early literacy knowledge is based on her research into deep reading and on periods of enlightened linguistic processes. In her own rich language of conveyance, she brought great inspiration to the Montessori teachers at the Columbia, South Carolina conference. Her presentation on the research of early reading, the acquisition of…

Statistical Learning Is Related to Early Literacy-Related Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Spencer, Mercedes; Kaschak, Michael P.; Jones, John L.; Lonigan, Christopher J.

2015-01-01

It has been demonstrated that statistical learning, or the ability to use statistical information to learn the structure of one's environment, plays a role in young children's acquisition of linguistic knowledge. Although most research on statistical learning has focused on language acquisition processes, such as the segmentation of words from…

Intercultural Knowledge, Awareness and Skills Observed in a Foreign Language Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Toyoda, Etsuko

2016-01-01

This article reports on findings from a research study conducted in a university-level Japanese course, which utilised intercultural learning approaches, methodologies and techniques. The purpose of the investigation was to assess student intercultural development as conceptualised in Deardorff's Process Model of Intercultural Competence.) The…

Community Intelligence in Knowledge Curation: An Application to Managing Scientific Nomenclature

PubMed Central

Zou, Dong; Li, Ang; Liu, Guocheng; Chen, Fei; Wu, Jiayan; Xiao, Jingfa; Wang, Xumin; Yu, Jun; Zhang, Zhang

2013-01-01

Harnessing community intelligence in knowledge curation bears significant promise in dealing with communication and education in the flood of scientific knowledge. As knowledge is accumulated at ever-faster rates, scientific nomenclature, a particular kind of knowledge, is concurrently generated in all kinds of fields. Since nomenclature is a system of terms used to name things in a particular discipline, accurate translation of scientific nomenclature in different languages is of critical importance, not only for communications and collaborations with English-speaking people, but also for knowledge dissemination among people in the non-English-speaking world, particularly young students and researchers. However, it lacks of accuracy and standardization when translating scientific nomenclature from English to other languages, especially for those languages that do not belong to the same language family as English. To address this issue, here we propose for the first time the application of community intelligence in scientific nomenclature management, namely, harnessing collective intelligence for translation of scientific nomenclature from English to other languages. As community intelligence applied to knowledge curation is primarily aided by wiki and Chinese is the native language for about one-fifth of the world’s population, we put the proposed application into practice, by developing a wiki-based English-to-Chinese Scientific Nomenclature Dictionary (ESND; http://esnd.big.ac.cn). ESND is a wiki-based, publicly editable and open-content platform, exploiting the whole power of the scientific community in collectively and collaboratively managing scientific nomenclature. Based on community curation, ESND is capable of achieving accurate, standard, and comprehensive scientific nomenclature, demonstrating a valuable application of community intelligence in knowledge curation. PMID:23451119

Community intelligence in knowledge curation: an application to managing scientific nomenclature.

PubMed

Dai, Lin; Xu, Chao; Tian, Ming; Sang, Jian; Zou, Dong; Li, Ang; Liu, Guocheng; Chen, Fei; Wu, Jiayan; Xiao, Jingfa; Wang, Xumin; Yu, Jun; Zhang, Zhang

2013-01-01

Harnessing community intelligence in knowledge curation bears significant promise in dealing with communication and education in the flood of scientific knowledge. As knowledge is accumulated at ever-faster rates, scientific nomenclature, a particular kind of knowledge, is concurrently generated in all kinds of fields. Since nomenclature is a system of terms used to name things in a particular discipline, accurate translation of scientific nomenclature in different languages is of critical importance, not only for communications and collaborations with English-speaking people, but also for knowledge dissemination among people in the non-English-speaking world, particularly young students and researchers. However, it lacks of accuracy and standardization when translating scientific nomenclature from English to other languages, especially for those languages that do not belong to the same language family as English. To address this issue, here we propose for the first time the application of community intelligence in scientific nomenclature management, namely, harnessing collective intelligence for translation of scientific nomenclature from English to other languages. As community intelligence applied to knowledge curation is primarily aided by wiki and Chinese is the native language for about one-fifth of the world's population, we put the proposed application into practice, by developing a wiki-based English-to-Chinese Scientific Nomenclature Dictionary (ESND; http://esnd.big.ac.cn). ESND is a wiki-based, publicly editable and open-content platform, exploiting the whole power of the scientific community in collectively and collaboratively managing scientific nomenclature. Based on community curation, ESND is capable of achieving accurate, standard, and comprehensive scientific nomenclature, demonstrating a valuable application of community intelligence in knowledge curation.

Neural differences in the processing of true and false sentences: insights into the nature of 'truth' in language comprehension.

PubMed

Marques, J Frederico; Canessa, Nicola; Cappa, Stefano

2009-06-01

The inquiry on the nature of truth in language comprehension has a long history of opposite perspectives. These perspectives either consider that there are qualitative differences in the processing of true and false statements, or that these processes are fundamentally the same and only differ in quantitative terms. The present study evaluated the processing nature of true and false statements in terms of patterns of brain activity using event-related functional-Magnetic-Resonance-Imaging (fMRI). We show that when true and false concept-feature statements are controlled for relation strength/ambiguity, their processing is associated to qualitatively different processes. Verifying true statements activates the left inferior parietal cortex and the caudate nucleus, a neural correlate compatible with an extended search and matching process for particular stored information. In contrast, verifying false statements activates the fronto-polar cortex and is compatible with a reasoning process of finding and evaluating a contradiction between the sentence information and stored knowledge.

STAR- A SIMPLE TOOL FOR AUTOMATED REASONING SUPPORTING HYBRID APPLICATIONS OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (DEC VAX VERSION)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Borchardt, G. C.

1994-01-01

The Simple Tool for Automated Reasoning program (STAR) is an interactive, interpreted programming language for the development and operation of artificial intelligence (AI) application systems. STAR provides an environment for integrating traditional AI symbolic processing with functions and data structures defined in compiled languages such as C, FORTRAN and PASCAL. This type of integration occurs in a number of AI applications including interpretation of numerical sensor data, construction of intelligent user interfaces to existing compiled software packages, and coupling AI techniques with numerical simulation techniques and control systems software. The STAR language was created as part of an AI project for the evaluation of imaging spectrometer data at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Programming in STAR is similar to other symbolic processing languages such as LISP and CLIP. STAR includes seven primitive data types and associated operations for the manipulation of these structures. A semantic network is used to organize data in STAR, with capabilities for inheritance of values and generation of side effects. The AI knowledge base of STAR can be a simple repository of records or it can be a highly interdependent association of implicit and explicit components. The symbolic processing environment of STAR may be extended by linking the interpreter with functions defined in conventional compiled languages. These external routines interact with STAR through function calls in either direction, and through the exchange of references to data structures. The hybrid knowledge base may thus be accessed and processed in general by either side of the application. STAR is initially used to link externally compiled routines and data structures. It is then invoked to interpret the STAR rules and symbolic structures. In a typical interactive session, the user enters an expression to be evaluated, STAR parses the input, evaluates the expression, performs any file input/output required, and displays the results. The STAR interpreter is written in the C language for interactive execution. It has been implemented on a VAX 11/780 computer operating under VMS, and the UNIX version has been implemented on a Sun Microsystems 2/170 workstation. STAR has a memory requirement of approximately 200K of 8 bit bytes, excluding externally compiled functions and application-dependent symbolic definitions. This program was developed in 1985.

STAR- A SIMPLE TOOL FOR AUTOMATED REASONING SUPPORTING HYBRID APPLICATIONS OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (UNIX VERSION)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Borchardt, G. C.

1994-01-01

The Simple Tool for Automated Reasoning program (STAR) is an interactive, interpreted programming language for the development and operation of artificial intelligence (AI) application systems. STAR provides an environment for integrating traditional AI symbolic processing with functions and data structures defined in compiled languages such as C, FORTRAN and PASCAL. This type of integration occurs in a number of AI applications including interpretation of numerical sensor data, construction of intelligent user interfaces to existing compiled software packages, and coupling AI techniques with numerical simulation techniques and control systems software. The STAR language was created as part of an AI project for the evaluation of imaging spectrometer data at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Programming in STAR is similar to other symbolic processing languages such as LISP and CLIP. STAR includes seven primitive data types and associated operations for the manipulation of these structures. A semantic network is used to organize data in STAR, with capabilities for inheritance of values and generation of side effects. The AI knowledge base of STAR can be a simple repository of records or it can be a highly interdependent association of implicit and explicit components. The symbolic processing environment of STAR may be extended by linking the interpreter with functions defined in conventional compiled languages. These external routines interact with STAR through function calls in either direction, and through the exchange of references to data structures. The hybrid knowledge base may thus be accessed and processed in general by either side of the application. STAR is initially used to link externally compiled routines and data structures. It is then invoked to interpret the STAR rules and symbolic structures. In a typical interactive session, the user enters an expression to be evaluated, STAR parses the input, evaluates the expression, performs any file input/output required, and displays the results. The STAR interpreter is written in the C language for interactive execution. It has been implemented on a VAX 11/780 computer operating under VMS, and the UNIX version has been implemented on a Sun Microsystems 2/170 workstation. STAR has a memory requirement of approximately 200K of 8 bit bytes, excluding externally compiled functions and application-dependent symbolic definitions. This program was developed in 1985.

Reply to David Kemmerer's "a critique of Mark D. Allen's 'the preservation of verb subcategory knowledge in a spoken language comprehension deficit'".

PubMed

Allen, Mark D; Owens, Tyler E

2008-07-01

Allen [Allen, M. D. (2005). The preservation of verb subcategory knowledge in a spoken language comprehension deficit. Brain and Language, 95, 255-264] presents evidence from a single patient, WBN, to motivate a theory of lexical processing and representation in which syntactic information may be encoded and retrieved independently of semantic information. In his critique, Kemmerer argues that because Allen depended entirely on preposition-based verb subcategory violations to test WBN's knowledge of correct argument structure, his results, at best, address a "strawman" theory. This argument rests on the assumption that preposition subcategory options are superficial syntactic phenomena which are not represented by argument structure proper. We demonstrate that preposition subcategory is in fact treated as semantically determined argument structure in the theories that Allen evaluated, and thus far from irrelevant. In further discussion of grammatically relevant versus irrelevant semantic features, Kemmerer offers a review of his own studies. However, due to an important design shortcoming in these experiments, we remain unconvinced. Reemphasizing the fact the Allen (2005) never claimed to rule out all semantic contributions to syntax, we propose an improvement in Kemmerer's approach that might provide more satisfactory evidence on the distinction between the kinds of relevant versus irrelevant features his studies have addressed.

Foreign Language Circles of Knowledge.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schiffer, Deana

1981-01-01

Describes use of Circles of Knowledge designed to generate excitement about foreign language learning as technique for individualized instruction. Includes guidelines for using, organizing, and implementing this method. (BK)

Incidental Learning of Gender Agreement in L2.

PubMed

Denhovska, Nadiia; Serratrice, Ludovica

2017-10-01

Incidental learning of grammar has been an area of interest for many decades; nevertheless, existing research has primarily focused on artificial or semi-artificial languages. The present study examines the incidental acquisition of the grammar of a natural language by exposing adult speakers of an ungendered L1 (English) to the gender agreement patterns in Russian (a language that was novel to the learners). Both receptive and productive knowledge and the mediating role of working memory (WM) in learning were measured. Speakers of the ungendered language were able to successfully acquire receptive but not productive grammatical knowledge in a new language under incidental exposure. WM was engaged in production but not in a grammaticality judgment task in the incidental learning condition, indicating cognitive effort during knowledge retrieval.

Specification, Design, and Analysis of Advanced HUMS Architectures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mukkamala, Ravi

2004-01-01

During the two-year project period, we have worked on several aspects of domain-specific architectures for HUMS. In particular, we looked at using scenario-based approach for the design and designed a language for describing such architectures. The language is now being used in all aspects of our HUMS design. In particular, we have made contributions in the following areas. 1) We have employed scenarios in the development of HUMS in three main areas. They are: (a) To improve reusability by using scenarios as a library indexing tool and as a domain analysis tool; (b) To improve maintainability by recording design rationales from two perspectives - problem domain and solution domain; (c) To evaluate the software architecture. 2) We have defined a new architectural language called HADL or HUMS Architectural Definition Language. It is a customized version of xArch/xADL. It is based on XML and, hence, is easily portable from domain to domain, application to application, and machine to machine. Specifications written in HADL can be easily read and parsed using the currently available XML parsers. Thus, there is no need to develop a plethora of software to support HADL. 3) We have developed an automated design process that involves two main techniques: (a) Selection of solutions from a large space of designs; (b) Synthesis of designs. However, the automation process is not an absolute Artificial Intelligence (AI) approach though it uses a knowledge-based system that epitomizes a specific HUMS domain. The process uses a database of solutions as an aid to solve the problems rather than creating a new design in the literal sense. Since searching is adopted as the main technique, the challenges involved are: (a) To minimize the effort in searching the database where a very large number of possibilities exist; (b) To develop representations that could conveniently allow us to depict design knowledge evolved over many years; (c) To capture the required information that aid the automation process.

Lexical and syntactic representations in the brain: An fMRI investigation with multi-voxel pattern analyses

PubMed Central

Fedorenko, Evelina; Nieto-Castañon, Alfonso; Kanwisher, Nancy

2011-01-01

Work in theoretical linguistics and psycholinguistics suggests that human linguistic knowledge forms a continuum between individual lexical items and abstract syntactic representations, with most linguistic representations falling between the two extremes and taking the form of lexical items stored together with the syntactic/semantic contexts in which they frequently occur. Neuroimaging evidence further suggests that no brain region is selectively sensitive to only lexical information or only syntactic information. Instead, all the key brain regions that support high-level linguistic processing have been implicated in both lexical and syntactic processing, suggesting that our linguistic knowledge is plausibly represented in a distributed fashion in these brain regions. Given this distributed nature of linguistic representations, multi-voxel pattern analyses (MVPAs) can help uncover important functional properties of the language system. In the current study we use MVPAs to ask two questions: 1) Do language brain regions differ in how robustly they represent lexical vs. syntactic information?; and 2) Do any of the language bran regions distinguish between “pure” lexical information (lists of words) and “pure” abstract syntactic information (jabberwocky sentences) in the pattern of activity? We show that lexical information is represented more robustly than syntactic information across many language regions (with no language region showing the opposite pattern), as evidenced by a better discrimination between conditions that differ along the lexical dimension (sentences vs. jabberwocky, and word lists vs. nonword lists) than between conditions that differ along the syntactic dimension (sentences vs. word lists, and jabberwocky vs. nonword lists). This result suggests that lexical information may play a more critical role than syntax in the representation of linguistic meaning. We also show that several language regions reliably discriminate between “pure” lexical information and “pure” abstract syntactic information in their patterns of neural activity. PMID:21945850

Lexical and syntactic representations in the brain: an fMRI investigation with multi-voxel pattern analyses.

PubMed

Fedorenko, Evelina; Nieto-Castañon, Alfonso; Kanwisher, Nancy

2012-03-01

Work in theoretical linguistics and psycholinguistics suggests that human linguistic knowledge forms a continuum between individual lexical items and abstract syntactic representations, with most linguistic representations falling between the two extremes and taking the form of lexical items stored together with the syntactic/semantic contexts in which they frequently occur. Neuroimaging evidence further suggests that no brain region is selectively sensitive to only lexical information or only syntactic information. Instead, all the key brain regions that support high-level linguistic processing have been implicated in both lexical and syntactic processing, suggesting that our linguistic knowledge is plausibly represented in a distributed fashion in these brain regions. Given this distributed nature of linguistic representations, multi-voxel pattern analyses (MVPAs) can help uncover important functional properties of the language system. In the current study we use MVPAs to ask two questions: (1) Do language brain regions differ in how robustly they represent lexical vs. syntactic information? and (2) Do any of the language bran regions distinguish between "pure" lexical information (lists of words) and "pure" abstract syntactic information (jabberwocky sentences) in the pattern of activity? We show that lexical information is represented more robustly than syntactic information across many language regions (with no language region showing the opposite pattern), as evidenced by a better discrimination between conditions that differ along the lexical dimension (sentences vs. jabberwocky, and word lists vs. nonword lists) than between conditions that differ along the syntactic dimension (sentences vs. word lists, and jabberwocky vs. nonword lists). This result suggests that lexical information may play a more critical role than syntax in the representation of linguistic meaning. We also show that several language regions reliably discriminate between "pure" lexical information and "pure" abstract syntactic information in their patterns of neural activity. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Children's Comprehension of Object Relative Sentences: It's Extant Language Knowledge That Matters, Not Domain-General Working Memory.

PubMed

Rusli, Yazmin Ahmad; Montgomery, James W

2017-10-17

The aim of this study was to determine whether extant language (lexical) knowledge or domain-general working memory is the better predictor of comprehension of object relative sentences for children with typical development. We hypothesized that extant language knowledge, not domain-general working memory, is the better predictor. Fifty-three children (ages 9-11 years) completed a word-level verbal working-memory task, indexing extant language (lexical) knowledge; an analog nonverbal working-memory task, representing domain-general working memory; and a hybrid sentence comprehension task incorporating elements of both agent selection and cross-modal picture-priming paradigms. Images of the agent and patient were displayed at the syntactic gap in the object relative sentences, and the children were asked to select the agent of the sentence. Results of general linear modeling revealed that extant language knowledge accounted for a unique 21.3% of variance in the children's object relative sentence comprehension over and above age (8.3%). Domain-general working memory accounted for a nonsignificant 1.6% of variance. We interpret the results to suggest that extant language knowledge and not domain-general working memory is a critically important contributor to children's object relative sentence comprehension. Results support a connectionist view of the association between working memory and object relative sentence comprehension. https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.5404573.

A Longitudinal Study of Lexical Development in Children Learning Vietnamese and English

PubMed Central

Pham, Giang; Kohnert, Kathryn

2013-01-01

This longitudinal study modeled lexical development among children who spoke Vietnamese as a first language (L1) and English as a second language (L2). Participants (n=33, initial mean age of 7.3 years) completed a total of eight tasks (four in each language) that measured vocabulary knowledge and lexical processing at four yearly time points. Multivariate hierarchical linear modeling was used to calculate L1 and L2 trajectories within the same model for each task. Main findings included (a) positive growth in each language, (b) greater gains in English resulting in shifts toward L2 dominance, and (c) different patterns for receptive and expressive domains. Timing of shifts to L2 dominance underscored L1 skills that are resilient and vulnerable to increases in L2 proficiency. PMID:23869741

The Rhetoric of Physics: AN Ethnography of the Research and Writing Processes in a Physics Laboratory.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Graves, Heather Ann Brodie

1992-01-01

This dissertation explores the extent to which rhetoric plays a role in the research and writing processes of physicists. It seeks to join the on-going conversation in the rhetoric of inquiry about the ways in which rhetorical forces shape all knowledge systems. Based on data collected during a six-month ethnography in a thin films laboratory, this study argues that these physicists use rhetoric in all stages of the knowledge creation process. After following the experimental process through all its stages from the inception of an experiment through to publication, this study maps out the types of heuristic devices employed by the physicists as they analyzed, interpreted, and presented their research data in a persuasive scientific article. In light of the insights gained from studying the dynamic interactions between physicists, this dissertation also comments on the theoretical and philosophical debates under discussion in the rhetoric of inquiry and the rhetoric of science. It examines current theories of language (as expressed by rhetoricians, critical theorists, and the physicists in this laboratory) to explore the relationship between reality and language, the role that rhetoric plays in knowledge creation in physics, and the ways in which reality and knowledge may be socially constructed. It concludes that these physicists use rhetorical invention strategies to interpret and present their data. It also argues that scientific knowledge is subject to rhetorical forces because it deals with contingent affairs--phenomena about which scientists advance propositions which appear to be true but about which there is no way to gain absolute certainty or truth. Finally, it concludes that rhetoric both is and is not epistemic in the physics research studied here, and it argues that instead of asking "Is rhetoric epistemic?" perhaps we might shift our attention to inquiring "When is rhetoric epistemic?".

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

ICAP: An Interactive Cluster Analysis Procedure for analyzing remotely sensed data. [to classify the radiance data to produce a thematic map

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wharton, S. W.

1980-01-01

An Interactive Cluster Analysis Procedure (ICAP) was developed to derive classifier training statistics from remotely sensed data. The algorithm interfaces the rapid numerical processing capacity of a computer with the human ability to integrate qualitative information. Control of the clustering process alternates between the algorithm, which creates new centroids and forms clusters and the analyst, who evaluate and elect to modify the cluster structure. Clusters can be deleted or lumped pairwise, or new centroids can be added. A summary of the cluster statistics can be requested to facilitate cluster manipulation. The ICAP was implemented in APL (A Programming Language), an interactive computer language. The flexibility of the algorithm was evaluated using data from different LANDSAT scenes to simulate two situations: one in which the analyst is assumed to have no prior knowledge about the data and wishes to have the clusters formed more or less automatically; and the other in which the analyst is assumed to have some knowledge about the data structure and wishes to use that information to closely supervise the clustering process. For comparison, an existing clustering method was also applied to the two data sets.

Mayo clinical Text Analysis and Knowledge Extraction System (cTAKES): architecture, component evaluation and applications

PubMed Central

Masanz, James J; Ogren, Philip V; Zheng, Jiaping; Sohn, Sunghwan; Kipper-Schuler, Karin C; Chute, Christopher G

2010-01-01

We aim to build and evaluate an open-source natural language processing system for information extraction from electronic medical record clinical free-text. We describe and evaluate our system, the clinical Text Analysis and Knowledge Extraction System (cTAKES), released open-source at http://www.ohnlp.org. The cTAKES builds on existing open-source technologies—the Unstructured Information Management Architecture framework and OpenNLP natural language processing toolkit. Its components, specifically trained for the clinical domain, create rich linguistic and semantic annotations. Performance of individual components: sentence boundary detector accuracy=0.949; tokenizer accuracy=0.949; part-of-speech tagger accuracy=0.936; shallow parser F-score=0.924; named entity recognizer and system-level evaluation F-score=0.715 for exact and 0.824 for overlapping spans, and accuracy for concept mapping, negation, and status attributes for exact and overlapping spans of 0.957, 0.943, 0.859, and 0.580, 0.939, and 0.839, respectively. Overall performance is discussed against five applications. The cTAKES annotations are the foundation for methods and modules for higher-level semantic processing of clinical free-text. PMID:20819853

A survey of functional programming language principles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Holloway, C. M.

1986-01-01

Research in the area of functional programming languages has intensified in the 8 years since John Backus' Turing Award Lecture on the topic was published. The purpose of this paper is to present a survey of the ideas of functional programming languages. The paper assumes the reader is comfortable with mathematics and has knowledge of the basic principles of traditional programming languages, but does not assume any prior knowledge of the ideas of functional languages. A simple functional language is defined and used to illustrate the basic ideas. Topics discussed include the reasons for developing functional languages, methods of expressing concurrency, the algebra of functional programming languages, program transformation techniques, and implementations of functional languages. Existing functional languages are also mentioned. The paper concludes with the author's opinions as to the future of functional languages. An annotated bibliography on the subject is also included.

Teacher Learning across Boundaries: A Challenge to the Legitimacy of Language Teachers' Disciplinary Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Han, Chunyan; Wu, Zongjie

2015-01-01

The legitimate forms of knowledge recognised for language teachers in Chinese universities are differentiated by strong academic boundaries, subject only to disciplinary authority and fashion. Classroom practice on the whole tends not to be informed by research. For many language teachers, a disconnect exists between the academic discipline in…

Constructing a Language Assessment Knowledge Base: A Focus on Language Assessment Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Inbar-Lourie, Ofra

2008-01-01

The competencies required for conducting assessment in the educational context have recently been reformulated in view of social constructivist perspectives and the acknowledgement of the role of classroom assessment in promoting learning. These changes have impacted the knowledge base language assessors need to obtain, and hence the contents of…

Knowledge, programming, and programming cultures: LISP, C, and Ada

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rochowiak, Daniel

1990-01-01

The results of research 'Ada as an implementation language for knowledge based systems' are presented. The purpose of the research was to compare Ada to other programming languages. The report focuses on the programming languages Ada, C, and Lisp, the programming cultures that surround them, and the programming paradigms they support.

Elementary Teachers' Science Knowledge and Instructional Practices: Impact of an Intervention Focused on English Language Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Okhee; Llosa, Lorena; Jiang, Feng; Haas, Alison; O'Connor, Corey; Van Booven, Christopher D.

2016-01-01

As part of a three-year curricular and professional development intervention focused on English language learners (ELLs), this study examined the intervention's effect on teachers' science knowledge and instructional practices after one year of implementation. The P-SELL (Promoting Science Among English Language Learners) intervention comprised…

Speech-Language Pathologists' Knowledge and Skills Regarding Hearing Aids.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Woodford, Charles M.

1987-01-01

Speech-language pathologists (n=49) and speech-language pathology graduate students (n=53) were administered a written examination on hearing aids and a practical examination concerning the functioning of two types of hearing aids. The majority lacked basic knowledge and skills necessary to assist hearing-impaired students with their hearing aids.…

A Study of Public Awareness of Speech-Language Pathology in Amman

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mahmoud, Hana; Aljazi, Aya; Alkhamra, Rana

2014-01-01

Background: Statistical levels of awareness and knowledge of speech-language pathology and of communication disorders are currently unknown among the public in the Middle East, including Jordan. Aims: This study reports the results of an investigation of public awareness and knowledge of speech-language pathology in Amman-Jordan. It also…

From Scribbles to Scrabble: Preschool Children's Developing Knowledge of Written Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Puranik, Cynthia S.; Lonigan, Christopher J.

2011-01-01

The purpose of this study was to concurrently examine the development of written language across different writing tasks and to investigate how writing features develop in preschool children. Emergent written language knowledge of 372 preschoolers was assessed using numerous writing tasks. The findings from this study indicate that children…

Testing of a Natural Language Retrieval System for a Full Text Knowledge Base.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bernstein, Lionel M.; Williamson, Robert E.

1984-01-01

The Hepatitis Knowledge Base (text of prototype information system) was used for modifying and testing "A Navigator of Natural Language Organized (Textual) Data" (ANNOD), a retrieval system which combines probabilistic, linguistic, and empirical means to rank individual paragraphs of full text for similarity to natural language queries…

Using Funds of Knowledge to Build Trust between a Teacher and Parents of Language-Delayed Preschoolers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gonzalez, Alissa Zoraida

2014-01-01

Preschool children with language delays often struggle to learn new concepts. Proven strategies such as modeling, prompting, reinforcing responses, direct teaching, and hands-on experience matter to young children with language delays. Also important are social interactions and shared experiences with more knowledgeable persons. Within a cultural…

A novel robust Arabic light stemmer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abainia, Kheireddine; Ouamour, Siham; Sayoud, Halim

2017-05-01

The stemming is the process of transforming a word into its root or stem, hence, it is considered as a crucial pre-processing step before tackling any task of natural language processing or information retrieval. However, in the case of Arabic language, finding an effective stemming algorithm seems to be quite difficult, since the Arabic language has a specific morphology, which is different from many other languages. Although, there exist several algorithms in literature addressing the Arabic stemming issue, unfortunately, most of them are restricted to a limited number of words, present some confusions between original letters and affixes, and usually employ dictionary of words or patterns. For that purpose, we propose the design and implementation of a novel Arabic light stemmer, which is based on some new rules for stripping prefixes, suffixes and infixes in a smart way. And in our knowledge, it is the first work dealing with Arabic infixes with regards to their irregular rules. The empirical evaluation was conducted on a new Arabic data-set (called ARASTEM), which was conceived and collected from several Arabic discussion forums containing dialectical Arabic and modern pseudo-Arabic languages. Hence, we present a comparative investigation between our new stemmer and other existing stemmers using Paice's parameters, namely: Under Stemming Index (UI), Over Stemming Index (OI) and Stemming Weight (SW). Results show that the proposed Arabic light stemmer maintains consistently high performances and outperforms several existing light stemmers.

Language in Context: MEG Evidence for Modality-General and -Specific Responses to Reference Resolution

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

Abstract Successful language comprehension critically depends on our ability to link linguistic expressions to the entities they refer to. Without reference resolution, newly encountered language cannot be related to previously acquired knowledge. The human experience includes many different types of referents, some visual, some auditory, some very abstract. Does the neural basis of reference resolution depend on the nature of the referents, or do our brains use a modality-general mechanism for linking meanings to referents? Here we report evidence for both. Using magnetoencephalography (MEG), we varied both the modality of referents, which consisted either of visual or auditory objects, and the point at which reference resolution was possible within sentences. Source-localized MEG responses revealed brain activity associated with reference resolution that was independent of the modality of the referents, localized to the medial parietal lobe and starting ∼415 ms after the onset of reference resolving words. A modality-specific response to reference resolution in auditory domains was also found, in the vicinity of auditory cortex. Our results suggest that referential language processing cannot be reduced to processing in classical language regions and representations of the referential domain in modality-specific neural systems. Instead, our results suggest that reference resolution engages medial parietal cortex, which supports a mechanism for referential processing regardless of the content modality. PMID:28058272

Brain. Conscious and Unconscious Mechanisms of Cognition, Emotions, and Language

PubMed Central

Perlovsky, Leonid; Ilin, Roman

2012-01-01

Conscious and unconscious brain mechanisms, including cognition, emotions and language are considered in this review. The fundamental mechanisms of cognition include interactions between bottom-up and top-down signals. The modeling of these interactions since the 1960s is briefly reviewed, analyzing the ubiquitous difficulty: incomputable combinatorial complexity (CC). Fundamental reasons for CC are related to the Gödel’s difficulties of logic, a most fundamental mathematical result of the 20th century. Many scientists still “believed” in logic because, as the review discusses, logic is related to consciousness; non-logical processes in the brain are unconscious. CC difficulty is overcome in the brain by processes “from vague-unconscious to crisp-conscious” (representations, plans, models, concepts). These processes are modeled by dynamic logic, evolving from vague and unconscious representations toward crisp and conscious thoughts. We discuss experimental proofs and relate dynamic logic to simulators of the perceptual symbol system. “From vague to crisp” explains interactions between cognition and language. Language is mostly conscious, whereas cognition is only rarely so; this clarifies much about the mind that might seem mysterious. All of the above involve emotions of a special kind, aesthetic emotions related to knowledge and to cognitive dissonances. Cognition-language-emotional mechanisms operate throughout the hierarchy of the mind and create all higher mental abilities. The review discusses cognitive functions of the beautiful, sublime, music. PMID:24961270

Assessing Metacognitive Knowledge in Web-Based Call: A Neural Network Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yeh, Siou-Wen; Lo, Jia-Jiunn

2005-01-01

The assessment of learners' metacognitive knowledge level is crucial when developing computer-assisted language learning systems. Currently, many systems assess learners' metacognitive knowledge level with pre-instructional questionnaires or metacognitive interviews. However, learners with limited language proficiency may be at a disadvantage in…

MAVEN-SA: Model-Based Automated Visualization for Enhanced Situation Awareness

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-11-01

34 methods. But historically, as arts evolve, these how to methods become systematized and codified (e.g. the development and refinement of color theory ...schema (as necessary) 3. Draw inferences from new knowledge to support decision making process 33 Visual language theory suggests that humans process...informed by theories of learning. Over the years, many types of software have been developed to support student learning. The various types of

Sentence understanding depends on contextual use of semantic and real world knowledge.

PubMed

Tune, Sarah; Schlesewsky, Matthias; Nagels, Arne; Small, Steven L; Bornkessel-Schlesewsky, Ina

2016-08-01

Human language allows us to express our thoughts and ideas by combining entities, concepts and actions into multi-event episodes. Yet, the functional neuroanatomy engaged in interpretation of such high-level linguistic input remains poorly understood. Here, we used easy to detect and more subtle "borderline" anomalies to investigate the brain regions and mechanistic principles involved in the use of real-world event knowledge in language comprehension. Overall, the results showed that the processing of sentences in context engages a complex set of bilateral brain regions in the frontal, temporal and inferior parietal lobes. Easy anomalies preferentially engaged lower-order cortical areas adjacent to the primary auditory cortex. In addition, the left supramarginal gyrus and anterior temporal sulcus as well as the right posterior middle temporal gyrus contributed to the processing of easy and borderline anomalies. The observed pattern of results is explained in terms of (i) hierarchical processing along a dorsal-ventral axis and (ii) the assumption of high-order association areas serving as cortical hubs in the convergence of information in a distributed network. Finally, the observed modulation of BOLD signal in prefrontal areas provides support for their role in the implementation of executive control processes. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From open source communications to knowledge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Preece, Alun; Roberts, Colin; Rogers, David; Webberley, Will; Innes, Martin; Braines, Dave

2016-05-01

Rapid processing and exploitation of open source information, including social media sources, in order to shorten decision-making cycles, has emerged as an important issue in intelligence analysis in recent years. Through a series of case studies and natural experiments, focussed primarily upon policing and counter-terrorism scenarios, we have developed an approach to information foraging and framing to inform decision making, drawing upon open source intelligence, in particular Twitter, due to its real-time focus and frequent use as a carrier for links to other media. Our work uses a combination of natural language (NL) and controlled natural language (CNL) processing to support information collection from human sensors, linking and schematising of collected information, and the framing of situational pictures. We illustrate the approach through a series of vignettes, highlighting (1) how relatively lightweight and reusable knowledge models (schemas) can rapidly be developed to add context to collected social media data, (2) how information from open sources can be combined with reports from trusted observers, for corroboration or to identify con icting information; and (3) how the approach supports users operating at or near the tactical edge, to rapidly task information collection and inform decision-making. The approach is supported by bespoke software tools for social media analytics and knowledge management.

Weak and strong novice readers of English as a foreign language: effects of first language and socioeconomic status.

PubMed

Kahn-Horwitz, Janina; Shimron, Joseph; Sparks, Richard L

2006-06-01

This study examined individual differences among beginning readers of English as a foreign language (EFL). The study concentrated on the effects of underlying first language (L1) knowledge as well as EFL letter and vocabulary knowledge. Phonological and morphological awareness, spelling, vocabulary knowledge, and word reading in Hebrew L1, in addition to knowledge of EFL letters and EFL vocabulary, were measured. The study also investigated the effect of socioeconomic background (SES) on beginning EFL readers. Participants included 145 fourth graders from three schools representing two socioeconomic backgrounds in the north of Israel. The results indicate that knowledge of English letters played a more prominent role than knowledge of Hebrew L1 components in differentiating between strong and weak EFL readers. The Linguistic Coding Differences Hypothesis was supported by L1 phonological awareness, word reading, and vocabulary knowledge appearing as part of discriminating functions. The presence of English vocabulary knowledge as part of the discriminant functions provides support for English word reading being more than just a decoding task for EFL beginner readers. Socioeconomic status differentiated the groups for EFL word recognition but not for EFL reading comprehension.

Query2Question: Translating Visualization Interaction into Natural Language.

PubMed

Nafari, Maryam; Weaver, Chris

2015-06-01

Richly interactive visualization tools are increasingly popular for data exploration and analysis in a wide variety of domains. Existing systems and techniques for recording provenance of interaction focus either on comprehensive automated recording of low-level interaction events or on idiosyncratic manual transcription of high-level analysis activities. In this paper, we present the architecture and translation design of a query-to-question (Q2Q) system that automatically records user interactions and presents them semantically using natural language (written English). Q2Q takes advantage of domain knowledge and uses natural language generation (NLG) techniques to translate and transcribe a progression of interactive visualization states into a visual log of styled text that complements and effectively extends the functionality of visualization tools. We present Q2Q as a means to support a cross-examination process in which questions rather than interactions are the focus of analytic reasoning and action. We describe the architecture and implementation of the Q2Q system, discuss key design factors and variations that effect question generation, and present several visualizations that incorporate Q2Q for analysis in a variety of knowledge domains.

Evidence-based interventions for reading and language difficulties: creating a virtuous circle.

PubMed

Snowling, Margaret J; Hulme, Charles

2011-03-01

BACKGROUND. Children may experience two very different forms of reading problem: decoding difficulties (dyslexia) and reading comprehension difficulties. Decoding difficulties appear to be caused by problems with phonological (speech sound) processing. Reading comprehension difficulties in contrast appear to be caused by problems with 'higher level' language difficulties including problems with semantics (including deficient knowledge of word meanings) and grammar (knowledge of morphology and syntax). AIMS. We review evidence concerning the nature, causes of, and treatments for children's reading difficulties. We argue that any well-founded educational intervention must be based on a sound theory of the causes of a particular form of learning difficulty, which in turn must be based on an understanding of how a given skill is learned by typically developing children. Such theoretically motivated interventions should in turn be evaluated in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to establish whether they are effective, and for whom. RESULTS. There is now considerable evidence showing that phonologically based interventions are effective in ameliorating children's word level decoding difficulties, and a smaller evidence base showing that reading and oral language (OL) comprehension difficulties can be ameliorated by suitable interventions to boost vocabulary and broader OL skills. CONCLUSIONS. The process of developing theories about the origins of children's educational difficulties and evaluating theoretically motivated treatments in RCTs, produces a 'virtuous circle' whereby theory informs practice, and the evaluation of effective interventions in turn feeds back to inform and refine theories about the nature and causes of children's reading and language difficulties. ©2010 The British Psychological Society.

A Comparison of Schools: Teacher Knowledge of Explicit Code-Based Reading Instruction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cohen, Rebecca A.; Mather, Nancy; Schneider, Deborah A.; White, Jennifer M.

2017-01-01

One-hundred-fourteen kindergarten through third-grade teachers from seven different schools were surveyed using "The Survey of Preparedness and Knowledge of Language Structure Related to Teaching Reading to Struggling Students." The purpose was to compare their definitions and application knowledge of language structure, phonics, and…

A Text Knowledge Base from the AI Handbook.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Simmons, Robert F.

1987-01-01

Describes a prototype natural language text knowledge system (TKS) that was used to organize 50 pages of a handbook on artificial intelligence as an inferential knowledge base with natural language query and command capabilities. Representation of text, database navigation, query systems, discourse structuring, and future research needs are…

Knowledge Acquisition and Management for the NASA Earth Exchange (NEX)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Votava, P.; Michaelis, A.; Nemani, R. R.

2013-12-01

NASA Earth Exchange (NEX) is a data, computing and knowledge collaboratory that houses NASA satellite, climate and ancillary data where a focused community can come together to share modeling and analysis codes, scientific results, knowledge and expertise on a centralized platform with access to large supercomputing resources. As more and more projects are being executed on NEX, we are increasingly focusing on capturing the knowledge of the NEX users and provide mechanisms for sharing it with the community in order to facilitate reuse and accelerate research. There are many possible knowledge contributions to NEX, it can be a wiki entry on the NEX portal contributed by a developer, information extracted from a publication in an automated way, or a workflow captured during code execution on the supercomputing platform. The goal of the NEX knowledge platform is to capture and organize this information and make it easily accessible to the NEX community and beyond. The knowledge acquisition process consists of three main faucets - data and metadata, workflows and processes, and web-based information. Once the knowledge is acquired, it is processed in a number of ways ranging from custom metadata parsers to entity extraction using natural language processing techniques. The processed information is linked with existing taxonomies and aligned with internal ontology (which heavily reuses number of external ontologies). This forms a knowledge graph that can then be used to improve users' search query results as well as provide additional analytics capabilities to the NEX system. Such a knowledge graph will be an important building block in creating a dynamic knowledge base for the NEX community where knowledge is both generated and easily shared.

The role of collaborative ontology development in the knowledge negotiation process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rivera, Norma

Interdisciplinary research (IDR) collaboration can be defined as the process of integrating experts' knowledge, perspectives, and resources to advance scientific discovery. The flourishing of more complex research problems, together with the growth of scientific and technical knowledge has resulted in the need for researchers from diverse fields to provide different expertise and points of view to tackle these problems. These collaborations, however, introduce a new set of "culture" barriers as participating experts are trained to communicate in discipline-specific languages, theories, and research practices. We propose that building a common knowledge base for research using ontology development techniques can provide a starting point for interdisciplinary knowledge exchange, negotiation, and integration. The goal of this work is to extend ontology development techniques to support the knowledge negotiation process in IDR groups. Towards this goal, this work presents a methodology that extends previous work in collaborative ontology development and integrates learning strategies and tools to enhance interdisciplinary research practices. We evaluate the effectiveness of applying such methodology in three different scenarios that cover educational and research settings. The results of this evaluation confirm that integrating learning strategies can, in fact, be advantageous to overall collaborative practices in IDR groups.

Use of internet technologies for students' communicative competence development in the process of professional foreign language study in technical universities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khasanova, A. N.

2017-01-01

Problems of mature thinking formation and development of foreign-language professional communicative competence of competitive graduates of technical universities are considered in the article. The most important factors influencing the achievement of high standard of knowledge, students' abilities and skills and increase of their abilities to establish deep meta-subject connections due to Internet technologies in the course of professional foreign language training are analyzed. The article is written on the basis of project material "Network School of National Research Nuclear University MEPhI" aimed at optimization of technological aspect of training. The given academic on-line program assigns to the teacher a part of an organizer who only coordinates creative, academic students' activity.

Language development in a non-vocal child.

PubMed

Rogow, S M

1994-01-01

Many children who cannot speak, comprehend both oral and written language. Having knowledge of language is not the same as being able to use language for social transactions. Non-vocal children learn to use augmented and assisted systems, but they experience specific difficulties in initiating and maintaining conversations and making use of the pragmatic functions of language. The purpose of this study was to investigate the semantic and syntactic knowledge of a child with severe multiple disabilities who can read and write and comprehend two languages, but does not initiate conversation. The study demonstrates that high levels of language comprehension and ability to read and write do not automatically transfer to conversational competence or narrative ability.

Cognition and Health Literacy in Older Adults' Recall of Self-Care Information.

PubMed

Chin, Jessie; Madison, Anna; Gao, Xuefei; Graumlich, James F; Conner-Garcia, Thembi; Murray, Michael D; Stine-Morrow, Elizabeth A L; Morrow, Daniel G

2017-04-01

Health literacy is associated with health outcomes presumably because it influences the understanding of information needed for self-care. However, little is known about the language comprehension mechanisms that underpin health literacy. We explored the relationship between a commonly used measure of health literacy (Short Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults [STOFHLA]) and comprehension of health information among 145 older adults. Results showed that performance on the STOFHLA was associated with recall of health information. Consistent with the Process-Knowledge Model of Health Literacy, mediation analysis showed that both processing capacity and knowledge mediated the association between health literacy and recall of health information. In addition, knowledge moderated the effects of processing capacity limits, such that processing capacity was less likely to be associated with recall for older adults with higher levels of knowledge. These findings suggest that knowledge contributes to health literacy and can compensate for deficits in processing capacity to support comprehension of health information among older adults. The implications of these findings for improving patient education materials for older adults with inadequate health literacy are discussed. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Detection of Practice Pattern Trends through Natural Language Processing of Clinical Narratives and Biomedical Literature

PubMed Central

Chen, Elizabeth S.; Stetson, Peter D.; Lussier, Yves A.; Markatou, Marianthi; Hripcsak, George; Friedman, Carol

2007-01-01

Clinical knowledge, best evidence, and practice patterns evolve over time. The ability to track these changes and study practice trends may be valuable for performance measurement and quality improvement efforts. The goal of this study was to assess the feasibility and validity of methods to generate and compare trends in biomedical literature and clinical narrative. We focused on the challenge of detecting trends in medication usage over time for two diseases: HIV/AIDS and asthma. Information about disease-specific medications in published randomized control trials and discharge summaries at New York-Presbyterian Hospital over a ten-year period were extracted using Natural Language Processing. This paper reports on the ability of our semi-automated process to discover disease-drug practice pattern trends and interpretation of findings across the biomedical and clinical text sources. PMID:18693810

UMLS content views appropriate for NLP processing of the biomedical literature vs. clinical text.

PubMed

Demner-Fushman, Dina; Mork, James G; Shooshan, Sonya E; Aronson, Alan R

2010-08-01

Identification of medical terms in free text is a first step in such Natural Language Processing (NLP) tasks as automatic indexing of biomedical literature and extraction of patients' problem lists from the text of clinical notes. Many tools developed to perform these tasks use biomedical knowledge encoded in the Unified Medical Language System (UMLS) Metathesaurus. We continue our exploration of automatic approaches to creation of subsets (UMLS content views) which can support NLP processing of either the biomedical literature or clinical text. We found that suppression of highly ambiguous terms in the conservative AutoFilter content view can partially replace manual filtering for literature applications, and suppression of two character mappings in the same content view achieves 89.5% precision at 78.6% recall for clinical applications. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Integration of object-oriented knowledge representation with the CLIPS rule based system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Logie, David S.; Kamil, Hasan

1990-01-01

The paper describes a portion of the work aimed at developing an integrated, knowledge based environment for the development of engineering-oriented applications. An Object Representation Language (ORL) was implemented in C++ which is used to build and modify an object-oriented knowledge base. The ORL was designed in such a way so as to be easily integrated with other representation schemes that could effectively reason with the object base. Specifically, the integration of the ORL with the rule based system C Language Production Systems (CLIPS), developed at the NASA Johnson Space Center, will be discussed. The object-oriented knowledge representation provides a natural means of representing problem data as a collection of related objects. Objects are comprised of descriptive properties and interrelationships. The object-oriented model promotes efficient handling of the problem data by allowing knowledge to be encapsulated in objects. Data is inherited through an object network via the relationship links. Together, the two schemes complement each other in that the object-oriented approach efficiently handles problem data while the rule based knowledge is used to simulate the reasoning process. Alone, the object based knowledge is little more than an object-oriented data storage scheme; however, the CLIPS inference engine adds the mechanism to directly and automatically reason with that knowledge. In this hybrid scheme, the expert system dynamically queries for data and can modify the object base with complete access to all the functionality of the ORL from rules.

Secondary Mathematics Teachers' Beliefs, Attitudes, Knowledge Base, and Practices in Meeting the Needs of English Language Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gann, Linda

2013-01-01

The research centered on secondary mathematics teachers' beliefs, attitudes, knowledge base, and practices in meeting the academic and language needs of English language learners. Using socio-cultural theory and social practice theory to frame the study, the research design employed a mixed methods approach incorporating self-reported surveys,…

Semantic Radical Knowledge and Word Recognition in Chinese for Chinese as Foreign Language Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Su, Xiaoxiang; Kim, Young-Suk

2014-01-01

In the present study, we examined the relation of knowledge of semantic radicals to students' language proficiency and word reading for adult Chinese-as-a-foreign language students. Ninety-seven college students rated their proficiency in speaking, listening, reading, and writing in Chinese, and were administered measures of receptive and…

From Cultural Knowledge to Intercultural Communicative Competence: Changing Perspectives on the Role of Culture in Foreign Language Teaching

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Piatkowska, Katarzyna

2015-01-01

Approaches to the concept of culture and teaching cultural competence in a foreign language classroom have been changing over the last decades. The paper summarises, compares, contrasts and evaluates four major approaches to teaching cultural competence in foreign language teaching, that is, knowledge-based approach, contrastive approach,…

Empowering Non-Licensed-in-English Language Teachers to Construct Professional Knowledge in Their Actual and Imagined Communities of Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aguirre-Garzón, Edgar Augusto; Castañeda-Peña, Harold Andrés

2017-01-01

Research has accumulated important knowledge over recent decades on how licensed language teachers develop and learn from cognitive and socio-cultural stances. Yet, relatively little evidence exists on how non-licensed-in-English language teachers (NLELTs) grow professionally in their communities. Similarly, few studies have yet investigated the…

Measuring Second Language Vocabulary Knowledge Using a Temporal Method

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tanabe, Masayuki

2016-01-01

The present study addressed the role of speed as a factor in tests of second language (L2) vocabulary knowledge, presupposing that speed of performance is important in actual language use. Research questions were: (a) Do learners with a larger vocabulary size answer faster on an L2 vocabulary breadth test than smaller vocabulary sized learners?;…

Vocabulary Knowledge and Growth in Immersion and Regular Language-Learning Programmes in Hong Kong

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lo, Yuen Yi; Murphy, Victoria A.

2010-01-01

The aim of this study was to investigate vocabulary knowledge and growth across two different language-learning programmes in Hong Kong. The two programmes compared were English immersion programmes (IM) and regular English second-language programmes (RL2). While previous research has identified an overall advantage to IM with respect to language…

Classroom Conversation Analysis and Critical Reflective Practice: Self-Evaluation of Teacher Talk Framework in Focus

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ghafarpour, Hajar

2017-01-01

The uniqueness of the Language Classroom and its complexity raises a need for foreign language teachers to develop necessary skills and knowledge to observe, analyse and evaluate their classroom discourse. Hence, interactional awareness of language teachers is an integral part of pedagogical and practical knowledge. In this article, the…

You don't have to believe everything you read: background knowledge permits fast and efficient validation of information.

PubMed

Richter, Tobias; Schroeder, Sascha; Wöhrmann, Britta

2009-03-01

In social cognition, knowledge-based validation of information is usually regarded as relying on strategic and resource-demanding processes. Research on language comprehension, in contrast, suggests that validation processes are involved in the construction of a referential representation of the communicated information. This view implies that individuals can use their knowledge to validate incoming information in a routine and efficient manner. Consistent with this idea, Experiments 1 and 2 demonstrated that individuals are able to reject false assertions efficiently when they have validity-relevant beliefs. Validation processes were carried out routinely even when individuals were put under additional cognitive load during comprehension. Experiment 3 demonstrated that the rejection of false information occurs automatically and interferes with affirmative responses in a nonsemantic task (epistemic Stroop effect). Experiment 4 also revealed complementary interference effects of true information with negative responses in a nonsemantic task. These results suggest the existence of fast and efficient validation processes that protect mental representations from being contaminated by false and inaccurate information.

Bilingual Students' Ideas and Conceptual Change about Slow Geomorphological Changes Caused by Water

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martínez, Patricia; Bannan, Brenda; Kitsantas, Anastasia

2012-01-01

This paper presents the results of an experiment investigating the development of elementary-school dual-language learners' conceptual knowledge about processes of erosion, deposition, and transportation caused by water movement. To elicit students' ideas, researchers asked students to answer four open-ended questions using written answers and/or…

The First R: Every Child's Right to Read. (Language and Literacy Series).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Graves, Michael F., Ed.; And Others

This book suggests that learning to read should be a right for all children. From this viewpoint, the book constructs a bridge between current knowledge of reading processes and educational practice by incorporating a comprehensive range of theory, practice, and research, and a solid foundation in education and psychological science. Topics…

Elementary Environmental Learning Packet K-3, Third Revised Edition. [Primary CEL Blocks, Student Activity Cards].

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brevard County School Board, Cocoa, FL.

This environmental education program consists of two levels: primary and intermediate. The learning materials are activity based and incorporate process and subject area skills with knowledge and concern for the environment. The program is also interdisciplinary including activities and skills from art, language arts, mathematics, music, science,…