The neural correlates of agrammatism: Evidence from aphasic and healthy speakers performing an overt picture description task

PubMed Central

Schönberger, Eva; Heim, Stefan; Meffert, Elisabeth; Pieperhoff, Peter; da Costa Avelar, Patricia; Huber, Walter; Binkofski, Ferdinand; Grande, Marion

2014-01-01

Functional brain imaging studies have improved our knowledge of the neural localization of language functions and the functional reorganization after a lesion. However, the neural correlates of agrammatic symptoms in aphasia remain largely unknown. The present fMRI study examined the neural correlates of morpho-syntactic encoding and agrammatic errors in continuous language production by combining three approaches. First, the neural mechanisms underlying natural morpho-syntactic processing in a picture description task were analyzed in 15 healthy speakers. Second, agrammatic-like speech behavior was induced in the same group of healthy speakers to study the underlying functional processes by limiting the utterance length. In a third approach, five agrammatic participants performed the picture description task to gain insights in the neural correlates of agrammatism and the functional reorganization of language processing after stroke. In all approaches, utterances were analyzed for syntactic completeness, complexity, and morphology. Event-related data analysis was conducted by defining every clause-like unit (CLU) as an event with its onset-time and duration. Agrammatic and correct CLUs were contrasted. Due to the small sample size as well as heterogeneous lesion sizes and sites with lesion foci in the insula lobe, inferior frontal, superior temporal and inferior parietal areas the activation patterns in the agrammatic speakers were analyzed on a single subject level. In the group of healthy speakers, posterior temporal and inferior parietal areas were associated with greater morpho-syntactic demands in complete and complex CLUs. The intentional manipulation of morpho-syntactic structures and the omission of function words were associated with additional inferior frontal activation. Overall, the results revealed that the investigation of the neural correlates of agrammatic language production can be reasonably conducted with an overt language production paradigm. PMID:24711802

Human task animation from performance models and natural language input

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Esakov, Jeffrey; Badler, Norman I.; Jung, Moon

1989-01-01

Graphical manipulation of human figures is essential for certain types of human factors analyses such as reach, clearance, fit, and view. In many situations, however, the animation of simulated people performing various tasks may be based on more complicated functions involving multiple simultaneous reaches, critical timing, resource availability, and human performance capabilities. One rather effective means for creating such a simulation is through a natural language description of the tasks to be carried out. Given an anthropometrically-sized figure and a geometric workplace environment, various simple actions such as reach, turn, and view can be effectively controlled from language commands or standard NASA checklist procedures. The commands may also be generated by external simulation tools. Task timing is determined from actual performance models, if available, such as strength models or Fitts' Law. The resulting action specification are animated on a Silicon Graphics Iris workstation in real-time.

Leveraging a Sorting Task as a Measure of Knowledge Structure in Bilingual Settings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tang, Hengtao; Clariana, Roy

2017-01-01

This descriptive exploratory study considers whether a simple sorting task can elicit readers' knowledge structure in learners' first and second language. In this investigation, knowledge structure is considered from a symbolic connectionist viewpoint as the fundamental pre-meaningful aspect of knowledge, where structure is the precursor of…

Le Carte Blanc or La Carte Blanche? Bilingual Children's Acquisition of French Adjective Agreement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nicoladis, Elena; Marchak, Kristan

2011-01-01

Because of less exposure to either language, bilingual children's language acquisition can be delayed relative to monolingual children in domains related to input frequency. This study predicted that the acquisition of gender agreement with adjectives in French would be delayed in bilingual children on a picture description task. The results…

Social and Cognitive Factors in Making Teacher-Led Classroom Discourse Relevant for Second Language Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Toth, Paul D.

2011-01-01

This study compares descriptive quantitative and qualitative data from 2 beginning, university-level second-language (L2) Spanish classes to demonstrate the benefits of teacher-led discourse organized as collaborative, whole-class tasks. In class, the teacher solicited target L2 forms through conversational questions to individuals with recasted…

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.

Papa Pig Just Left for Pigtown: Children's Oral and Written Picture Descriptions under Varying Instructions.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

De Temple, Jeanne M.; And Others

1991-01-01

Investigates the extent of variation in children's language performance in a picture description task arising from mode (oral or written) versus degree of demand for decontextualization. Finds that children manipulated the wide range of the oral form of the contextualized/decontextualized continuum more skillfully than the written form. Finds no…

Effect(s) of Language Tasks on Severity of Disfluencies in Preschool Children with Stuttering

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zamani, Peyman; Ravanbakhsh, Majid; Weisi, Farzad; Rashedi, Vahid; Naderi, Sara; Hosseinzadeh, Ayub; Rezaei, Mohammad

2017-01-01

Speech disfluency in children can be increased or decreased depending on the type of linguistic task presented to them. In this study, the effect of sentence imitation and sentence modeling on severity of speech disfluencies in preschool children with stuttering is investigated. In this cross-sectional descriptive analytical study, 58 children…

Language Arts & Science Sample Career Education Activities, Grades 7-12. Career Choices.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marion County Educational Service District, Salem, OR.

Designed to infuse career education with language arts and science, these teacher-developed activities for grades 7-12 are based on one of seven teacher competencies identified by an Oregon task force (see CE 019 665 for the project description). The activities in this document are based on teacher competency number 7: assist students to reject…

Language-Specific Attention Treatment for Aphasia: Description and Preliminary Findings.

PubMed

Peach, Richard K; Nathan, Meghana R; Beck, Katherine M

2017-02-01

The need for a specific, language-based treatment approach to aphasic impairments associated with attentional deficits is well documented. We describe language-specific attention treatment, a specific skill-based approach for aphasia that exploits increasingly complex linguistic tasks that focus attention. The program consists of eight tasks, some with multiple phases, to assess and treat lexical and sentence processing. Validation results demonstrate that these tasks load on six attentional domains: (1) executive attention; (2) attentional switching; (3) visual selective attention/processing speed; (4) sustained attention; (5) auditory-verbal working memory; and (6) auditory processing speed. The program demonstrates excellent inter- and intrarater reliability and adequate test-retest reliability. Two of four people with aphasia exposed to this program demonstrated good language recovery whereas three of the four participants showed improvements in auditory-verbal working memory. The results provide support for this treatment program in patients with aphasia having no greater than a moderate degree of attentional impairment. Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

Dramatic effects of speech task on motor and linguistic planning in severely dysfluent parkinsonian speech

PubMed Central

Van Lancker Sidtis, Diana; Cameron, Krista; Sidtis, John J.

2015-01-01

In motor speech disorders, dysarthric features impacting intelligibility, articulation, fluency, and voice emerge more saliently in conversation than in repetition, reading, or singing. A role of the basal ganglia in these task discrepancies has been identified. Further, more recent studies of naturalistic speech in basal ganglia dysfunction have revealed that formulaic language is more impaired than novel language. This descriptive study extends these observations to a case of severely dysfluent dysarthria due to a parkinsonian syndrome. Dysfluencies were quantified and compared for conversation, two forms of repetition, reading, recited speech, and singing. Other measures examined phonetic inventories, word forms, and formulaic language. Phonetic, syllabic, and lexical dysfluencies were more abundant in conversation than in other task conditions. Formulaic expressions in conversation were reduced compared to normal speakers. A proposed explanation supports the notion that the basal ganglia contribute to formulation of internal models for execution of speech. PMID:22774929

A Neurobehavioral Model of Flexible Spatial Language Behaviors

PubMed Central

Lipinski, John; Schneegans, Sebastian; Sandamirskaya, Yulia; Spencer, John P.; Schöner, Gregor

2012-01-01

We propose a neural dynamic model that specifies how low-level visual processes can be integrated with higher level cognition to achieve flexible spatial language behaviors. This model uses real-word visual input that is linked to relational spatial descriptions through a neural mechanism for reference frame transformations. We demonstrate that the system can extract spatial relations from visual scenes, select items based on relational spatial descriptions, and perform reference object selection in a single unified architecture. We further show that the performance of the system is consistent with behavioral data in humans by simulating results from 2 independent empirical studies, 1 spatial term rating task and 1 study of reference object selection behavior. The architecture we present thereby achieves a high degree of task flexibility under realistic stimulus conditions. At the same time, it also provides a detailed neural grounding for complex behavioral and cognitive processes. PMID:21517224

Program Predicts Time Courses of Human/Computer Interactions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vera, Alonso; Howes, Andrew

2005-01-01

CPM X is a computer program that predicts sequences of, and amounts of time taken by, routine actions performed by a skilled person performing a task. Unlike programs that simulate the interaction of the person with the task environment, CPM X predicts the time course of events as consequences of encoded constraints on human behavior. The constraints determine which cognitive and environmental processes can occur simultaneously and which have sequential dependencies. The input to CPM X comprises (1) a description of a task and strategy in a hierarchical description language and (2) a description of architectural constraints in the form of rules governing interactions of fundamental cognitive, perceptual, and motor operations. The output of CPM X is a Program Evaluation Review Technique (PERT) chart that presents a schedule of predicted cognitive, motor, and perceptual operators interacting with a task environment. The CPM X program allows direct, a priori prediction of skilled user performance on complex human-machine systems, providing a way to assess critical interfaces before they are deployed in mission contexts.

Adaptation of object descriptions to a partner under increasing communicative demands: a comparison of children with and without autism.

PubMed

Nadig, Aparna; Vivanti, Giacomo; Ozonoff, Sally

2009-12-01

This study compared the object descriptions of school-age children with high-functioning autism (HFA) with those of a matched group of typically developing children. Descriptions were elicited in a referential communication task where shared information was manipulated, and in a guessing game where clues had to be provided about the identity of an object that was hidden from the addressee. Across these tasks, increasingly complex levels of audience design were assessed: (1) the ability to give adequate descriptions from one's own perspective, (2) the ability to adjust descriptions to an addressee's perspective when this differs from one's own, and (3) the ability to provide indirect yet identifying descriptions in a situation where explicit labeling is inappropriate. Results showed that there were group differences in all three cases, with the HFA group giving less efficient descriptions with respect to the relevant context than the comparison group. More revealing was the identification of distinct adaptation profiles among the HFA participants: those who had difficulty with all three levels, those who displayed Level 1 audience design but poor Level 2 and Level 3 design, and those demonstrated all three levels of audience design, like the majority of the comparison group. Higher structural language ability, rather than symptom severity or social skills, differentiated those HFA participants with typical adaptation profiles from those who displayed deficient audience design, consistent with previous reports of language use in autism.

Experimental Evaluation of Concepts for Miqsture; An Online Interactive Language for Tactical Intelligence Processing

DTIC Science & Technology

1979-12-10

Review Collection Plan File. L... _.. Table 20 (Item 18) Items 76 17, and’ 78 compared three different METHODS for recording the outcomes of a task...3-1 3.2 Background ........ n. .... .............. ...... 3-1 3.3 Method Summary...aspects of descriptions of selected tasks from Army tactical Intelli- gence processing. The results provided indications of what query methods have

Syntactic processing as a marker for cognitive impairment in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

PubMed Central

Tsermentseli, Stella; Leigh, P. Nigel; Taylor, Lorna J.; Radunovic, Aleksandar; Catani, Marco; Goldstein, Laura H.

2016-01-01

Despite recent interest in cognitive changes in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), investigations of language function looking at the level of word, sentence and discourse processing are relatively scarce. Data were obtained from 26 patients with sporadic ALS and 26 healthy controls matched for age, education, gender, anxiety, depression and executive function performance. Standardized language tasks included confrontation naming, semantic access, and syntactic comprehension. Quantitative production analysis (QPA) was used to analyse connected speech samples of the Cookie Theft picture description task. Results showed that the ALS patients were impaired on standardized measures of grammatical comprehension and action/verb semantics. At the level of discourse, ALS patients were impaired on measures of syntactic complexity and fluency; however, the latter could be better explained by disease related factors. Discriminant analysis revealed that syntactic measures differentiated ALS patients from controls. In conclusion, patients with ALS exhibit deficits in receptive and expressive language on tasks of comprehension and connected speech production, respectively. Our findings suggest that syntactic processing deficits seem to be the predominant feature of language impairment in ALS and that these deficits can be detected by relatively simple language tests. PMID:26312952

Syntactic processing as a marker for cognitive impairment in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

PubMed

Tsermentseli, Stella; Leigh, P Nigel; Taylor, Lorna J; Radunovic, Aleksandar; Catani, Marco; Goldstein, Laura H

2015-01-01

Despite recent interest in cognitive changes in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), investigations of language function looking at the level of word, sentence and discourse processing are relatively scarce. Data were obtained from 26 patients with sporadic ALS and 26 healthy controls matched for age, education, gender, anxiety, depression and executive function performance. Standardized language tasks included confrontation naming, semantic access, and syntactic comprehension. Quantitative production analysis (QPA) was used to analyse connected speech samples of the Cookie Theft picture description task. Results showed that the ALS patients were impaired on standardized measures of grammatical comprehension and action/verb semantics. At the level of discourse, ALS patients were impaired on measures of syntactic complexity and fluency; however, the latter could be better explained by disease related factors. Discriminant analysis revealed that syntactic measures differentiated ALS patients from controls. In conclusion, patients with ALS exhibit deficits in receptive and expressive language on tasks of comprehension and connected speech production, respectively. Our findings suggest that syntactic processing deficits seem to be the predominant feature of language impairment in ALS and that these deficits can be detected by relatively simple language tests.

Data-driven approach to human motion modeling with Lua and gesture description language

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hachaj, Tomasz; Koptyra, Katarzyna; Ogiela, Marek R.

2017-03-01

The aim of this paper is to present the novel proposition of the human motion modelling and recognition approach that enables real time MoCap signal evaluation. By motions (actions) recognition we mean classification. The role of this approach is to propose the syntactic description procedure that can be easily understood, learnt and used in various motion modelling and recognition tasks in all MoCap systems no matter if they are vision or wearable sensor based. To do so we have prepared extension of Gesture Description Language (GDL) methodology that enables movements description and real-time recognition so that it can use not only positional coordinates of body joints but virtually any type of discreetly measured output MoCap signals like accelerometer, magnetometer or gyroscope. We have also prepared and evaluated the cross-platform implementation of this approach using Lua scripting language and JAVA technology. This implementation is called Data Driven GDL (DD-GDL). In tested scenarios the average execution speed is above 100 frames per second which is an acquisition time of many popular MoCap solutions.

Conversion of the TRACON operations concepts database into a formal sentence outline job task taxonomy.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1995-05-01

FAA Air Traffic Control Operations Concepts Volume VII.- TRACON Controllers (1989) developed by CTA, Inc., a technical description of the duties of a TRACON air traffic control specialist (ATCS), formatted in User Interface Language, was restructured...

The Pearl Side of Online Portfolios: A Descriptive Study on the Rich Experience of Using PearlTrees by Master Students of Teaching English as a Foreign Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Albaiz, Tahany

2016-01-01

Teaching English to ESL teachers is a challenging task for a number of reasons, the lack of connection between the target language and the native one being one of the most challenging factors (Ferlazzo & Sypnieski, 2013). Therefore, teachers are supposed to be innovators in creating the tools that could boost the learning process, as well as…

Communication Strategies of Adult ESL Learners: A Discourse Perspective.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clennell, Charles

1995-01-01

Examines the communication strategies used by adult second-language learners of English when performing contrasting pedagogic tasks. The article suggests that existing descriptions of communication strategies ignore the pragmatic function of such devices in interactive discourse and offers a reclassification that differentiates strategies…

A Hybrid Approach to Clinical Question Answering

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-11-01

participation in TREC, we submitted a single run using a hybrid Natural Language Processing ( NLP )-driven approach to accomplish the given task. Evaluation re...for the CDS track uses a variety of NLP - based techniques to address the clinical questions provided. We present a description of our approach, and...discuss our experimental setup, results and eval- uation in the subsequent sections. 2 Description of Our Approach Our hybrid NLP -driven method presents a

Decreasing Cognitive Load for Novice EFL Learners: Effects of Question and Descriptive Advance Organizers in Facilitating EFL Learners' Comprehension of an Animation-Based Content Lesson

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lin, Huifen; Chen, Tsuiping

2006-01-01

Cognitive load can be defined as the amount of mental effort that performing a specific task imposes on a learner's cognitive system. It can be measured by the number of new concepts embedded in a learning task. English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners, with their limited English proficiency and minimal entry knowledge of a subject matter,…

From General Game Descriptions to a Market Specification Language for General Trading Agents

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thielscher, Michael; Zhang, Dongmo

The idea behind General Game Playing is to build systems that, instead of being programmed for one specific task, are intelligent and flexible enough to negotiate an unknown environment solely on the basis of the rules which govern it. In this paper, we argue that this principle has the great potential to bring to a new level artificially intelligent systems in other application areas as well. Our specific interest lies in General Trading Agents, which are able to understand the rules of unknown markets and then to actively participate in them without human intervention. To this end, we extend the general Game Description Language into a language that allows to formally describe arbitrary markets in such a way that these specifications can be automatically processed by a computer. We present both syntax and a transition-based semantics for this Market Specification Language and illustrate its expressive power by presenting axiomatizations of several well-known auction types.

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.

A software toolbox for robotics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sanwal, J. C.

1985-01-01

A method for programming cooperating manipulators, which is guided by a geometric description of the task to be performed, is given. For this a suitable language must be used and a method for describing the workplace and the objects in it in geometric terms. A task level command language and its implementation for concurrently driven multiple robot arm is described. The language is suitable for driving a cell in which manipulators, end effectors, and sensors are controlled by their own dedicated processors. These processors can communicate with each other through a communication network. A mechanism for keeping track of the history of the commands already executed allows the command language for the manipulators to be event driven. A frame based world modeling system is utilized to describe the objects in the work environment and any relationships that hold between these objects. This system provides a versatile tool for managing information about the world model. Default actions normally needed are invoked when the data base is updated or accessed. Most of the first level error recovery is also invoked by the database by utilizing the concepts of demons. The package can be utilized to generate task level commands in a problem solver or a planner.

Driving Under the Influence (of Language).

PubMed

Barrett, Daniel Paul; Bronikowski, Scott Alan; Yu, Haonan; Siskind, Jeffrey Mark

2017-06-09

We present a unified framework which supports grounding natural-language semantics in robotic driving. This framework supports acquisition (learning grounded meanings of nouns and prepositions from human sentential annotation of robotic driving paths), generation (using such acquired meanings to generate sentential description of new robotic driving paths), and comprehension (using such acquired meanings to support automated driving to accomplish navigational goals specified in natural language). We evaluate the performance of these three tasks by having independent human judges rate the semantic fidelity of the sentences associated with paths. Overall, machine performance is 74.9%, while the performance of human annotators is 83.8%.

Perception of chemesthetic stimuli in groups who differ by food involvement and culinary experience.

PubMed

Byrnes, Nadia; Loss, Christopher R; Hayes, John E

2015-12-01

In the English language, there is generally a limited lexicon when referring to the sensations elicited by chemesthetic stimuli like capsaicin, allyl isothiocyanate, and eugenol, the orally irritating compounds found in chiles, wasabi, and cloves, respectively. Elsewhere, experts and novices have been shown to use language differently, with experts using more precise language. Here, we compare perceptual maps and word usage across three cohorts: experts with formal culinary education, naïve individuals with high Food Involvement Scale (FIS) scores, and naïve individuals with low FIS scores. We hypothesized that increased experience with foods, whether through informal experiential learning or formal culinary education, would have a significant influence on the perceptual maps generated from a sorting task conducted with chemesthetic stimuli, as well as on language use in a descriptive follow-up task to this sorting task. The low- and highFIS non-expert cohorts generated significantly similar maps, though in other respects the highFIS cohort was an intermediate between the lowFIS and expert cohorts. The highFIS and expert cohorts generated more attributes but used language more idiosyncratically than the lowFIS group. Overall, the results from the expert group with formal culinary education differed from the two naïve cohorts both in the perceptual map generated using MDS as well as the mean number of attributes generated. Present data suggest that both formal education and informal experiential learning result in lexical development, but the level and type of learning can have a significant influence on language use and the approach to a sorting task.

Perception of chemesthetic stimuli in groups who differ by food involvement and culinary experience

PubMed Central

Byrnes, Nadia; Loss, Christopher R.; Hayes, John E.

2015-01-01

In the English language, there is generally a limited lexicon when referring to the sensations elicited by chemesthetic stimuli like capsaicin, allyl isothiocyanate, and eugenol, the orally irritating compounds found in chiles, wasabi, and cloves, respectively. Elsewhere, experts and novices have been shown to use language differently, with experts using more precise language. Here, we compare perceptual maps and word usage across three cohorts: experts with formal culinary education, naïve individuals with high Food Involvement Scale (FIS) scores, and naïve individuals with low FIS scores. We hypothesized that increased experience with foods, whether through informal experiential learning or formal culinary education, would have a significant influence on the perceptual maps generated from a sorting task conducted with chemesthetic stimuli, as well as on language use in a descriptive follow-up task to this sorting task. The low- and highFIS non-expert cohorts generated significantly similar maps, though in other respects the highFIS cohort was an intermediate between the lowFIS and expert cohorts. The highFIS and expert cohorts generated more attributes but used language more idiosyncratically than the lowFIS group. Overall, the results from the expert group with formal culinary education differed from the two naïve cohorts both in the perceptual map generated using MDS as well as the mean number of attributes generated. Present data suggest that both formal education and informal experiential learning result in lexical development, but the level and type of learning can have a significant influence on language use and the approach to a sorting task. PMID:26516297

Conversion of the CTA, Inc., en route operations concepts database into a formal sentence outline job task taxonomy.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1993-01-01

FAA Air Traffic Control Operations Concepts Volume VI: ARTCC-Host En Route Controllers (1990) developed by CTA, Inc., a technical description of the duties of an En Route air traffic control specialist (ATCS), formatted in User Interface Language, wa...

Object orientation affects spatial language comprehension.

PubMed

Burigo, Michele; Sacchi, Simona

2013-01-01

Typical spatial descriptions, such as "The car is in front of the house," describe the position of a located object (LO; e.g., the car) in space relative to a reference object (RO) whose location is known (e.g., the house). The orientation of the RO affects spatial language comprehension via the reference frame selection process. However, the effects of the LO's orientation on spatial language have not received great attention. This study explores whether the pure geometric information of the LO (e.g., its orientation) affects spatial language comprehension using placing and production tasks. Our results suggest that the orientation of the LO influences spatial language comprehension even in the absence of functional relationships. Copyright © 2013 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Towards a visual modeling approach to designing microelectromechanical system transducers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dewey, Allen; Srinivasan, Vijay; Icoz, Evrim

1999-12-01

In this paper, we address initial design capture and system conceptualization of microelectromechanical system transducers based on visual modeling and design. Visual modeling frames the task of generating hardware description language (analog and digital) component models in a manner similar to the task of generating software programming language applications. A structured topological design strategy is employed, whereby microelectromechanical foundry cell libraries are utilized to facilitate the design process of exploring candidate cells (topologies), varying key aspects of the transduction for each topology, and determining which topology best satisfies design requirements. Coupled-energy microelectromechanical system characterizations at a circuit level of abstraction are presented that are based on branch constitutive relations and an overall system of simultaneous differential and algebraic equations. The resulting design methodology is called visual integrated-microelectromechanical VHDL-AMS interactive design (VHDL-AMS is visual hardware design language for analog and mixed signal).

Sensitivity of Narrative Organization Measures Using Narrative Retells Produced by Young School-Age Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Heilmann, John; Miller, Jon F.; Nockerts, Ann

2010-01-01

Analysis of children's productions of oral narratives provides a rich description of children's oral language skills. However, measures of narrative organization can be directly affected by both developmental and task-based performance constraints which can make a measure insensitive and inappropriate for a particular population and/or sampling…

Research into Practice: The Influence of Discourse Studies on Language Descriptions and Task Design in Published ELT Materials

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gilmore, Alex

2015-01-01

Discourse studies is a vast, multidisciplinary, and rapidly expanding area of research, embracing a range of approaches including discourse analysis, corpus analysis, conversation analysis, interactional sociolinguistics, critical discourse analysis, genre analysis and multimodal discourse analysis. Each approach offers its own unique perspective…

Gestalt Reasoning with Conjunctions and Disjunctions

PubMed Central

Dumitru, Magda L.; Joergensen, Gitte H.

2016-01-01

Reasoning, solving mathematical equations, or planning written and spoken sentences all must factor in stimuli perceptual properties. Indeed, thinking processes are inspired by and subsequently fitted to concrete objects and situations. It is therefore reasonable to expect that the mental representations evoked when people solve these seemingly abstract tasks should interact with the properties of the manipulated stimuli. Here, we investigated the mental representations evoked by conjunction and disjunction expressions in language-picture matching tasks. We hypothesised that, if these representations have been derived using key Gestalt principles, reasoners should use perceptual compatibility to gauge the goodness of fit between conjunction/disjunction descriptions (e.g., the purple and/ or the green) and corresponding binary visual displays. Indeed, the results of three experimental studies demonstrate that reasoners associate conjunction descriptions with perceptually-dependent stimuli and disjunction descriptions with perceptually-independent stimuli, where visual dependency status follows the key Gestalt principles of common fate, proximity, and similarity. PMID:26986760

Gestalt Reasoning with Conjunctions and Disjunctions.

PubMed

Dumitru, Magda L; Joergensen, Gitte H

2016-01-01

Reasoning, solving mathematical equations, or planning written and spoken sentences all must factor in stimuli perceptual properties. Indeed, thinking processes are inspired by and subsequently fitted to concrete objects and situations. It is therefore reasonable to expect that the mental representations evoked when people solve these seemingly abstract tasks should interact with the properties of the manipulated stimuli. Here, we investigated the mental representations evoked by conjunction and disjunction expressions in language-picture matching tasks. We hypothesised that, if these representations have been derived using key Gestalt principles, reasoners should use perceptual compatibility to gauge the goodness of fit between conjunction/disjunction descriptions (e.g., the purple and/ or the green) and corresponding binary visual displays. Indeed, the results of three experimental studies demonstrate that reasoners associate conjunction descriptions with perceptually-dependent stimuli and disjunction descriptions with perceptually-independent stimuli, where visual dependency status follows the key Gestalt principles of common fate, proximity, and similarity.

Use of modeling to identify vulnerabilities to human error in laparoscopy.

PubMed

Funk, Kenneth H; Bauer, James D; Doolen, Toni L; Telasha, David; Nicolalde, R Javier; Reeber, Miriam; Yodpijit, Nantakrit; Long, Myra

2010-01-01

This article describes an exercise to investigate the utility of modeling and human factors analysis in understanding surgical processes and their vulnerabilities to medical error. A formal method to identify error vulnerabilities was developed and applied to a test case of Veress needle insertion during closed laparoscopy. A team of 2 surgeons, a medical assistant, and 3 engineers used hierarchical task analysis and Integrated DEFinition language 0 (IDEF0) modeling to create rich models of the processes used in initial port creation. Using terminology from a standardized human performance database, detailed task descriptions were written for 4 tasks executed in the process of inserting the Veress needle. Key terms from the descriptions were used to extract from the database generic errors that could occur. Task descriptions with potential errors were translated back into surgical terminology. Referring to the process models and task descriptions, the team used a modified failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA) to consider each potential error for its probability of occurrence, its consequences if it should occur and be undetected, and its probability of detection. The resulting likely and consequential errors were prioritized for intervention. A literature-based validation study confirmed the significance of the top error vulnerabilities identified using the method. Ongoing work includes design and evaluation of procedures to correct the identified vulnerabilities and improvements to the modeling and vulnerability identification methods. Copyright 2010 AAGL. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Spatial language and converseness.

PubMed

Burigo, Michele; Coventry, Kenny R; Cangelosi, Angelo; Lynott, Dermot

2016-12-01

Typical spatial language sentences consist of describing the location of an object (the located object) in relation to another object (the reference object) as in "The book is above the vase". While it has been suggested that the properties of the located object (the book) are not translated into language because they are irrelevant when exchanging location information, it has been shown that the orientation of the located object affects the production and comprehension of spatial descriptions. In line with the claim that spatial language apprehension involves inferences about relations that hold between objects it has been suggested that during spatial language apprehension people use the orientation of the located object to evaluate whether the logical property of converseness (e.g., if "the book is above the vase" is true, then also "the vase is below the book" must be true) holds across the objects' spatial relation. In three experiments using sentence acceptability rating tasks we tested this hypothesis and demonstrated that when converseness is violated people's acceptability ratings of a scene's description are reduced indicating that people do take into account geometric properties of the located object and use it to infer logical spatial relations.

Bihemispheric tDCS enhances language recovery but does not alter BDNF levels in chronic aphasic patients.

PubMed

Marangolo, Paola; Fiori, Valentina; Gelfo, Francesca; Shofany, Jacob; Razzano, Carmelina; Caltagirone, Carlo; Angelucci, Francesco

2014-01-01

Several studies have shown that transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a useful tool to enhance language recovery in aphasia. It has also been suggested that modulation of the neurotrophin brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) might be part of the mechanisms involved in tDCS effects on synaptic connectivity. However, all language studies have previously investigated the effects using unihemispheric stimulation. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the role of bihemispheric tDCS on language recovery and BDNF serum levels. Seven aphasic persons underwent an intensive language therapy in two different conditions: real bihemispheric stimulation over the left and right Broca's areas and a sham condition. After the stimulation, patients exibited a significant recovery in three language tasks (picture description, noun and verb naming) compared to the sham condition which persisted in the follow-up session. No significant differences were found in BDNF serum levels after tDCS stimulation and in the follow-up session. However, a significant positive correlation was present for the real stimulation condition between percent changes in BDNF levels and in the verb naming task. The data suggest that this novel approach may potentiate the recovery of language in chronic aphasia. They also emphasize the importance to further investigate the role of possible biomarkers associated with tDCS treatment response in language recovery.

Job Language Performance Requirements for MOS 11H. Heavy Antiarmor Weapons Crewman. Reference Soldier’s Manual Dated 16 November 1979.

DTIC Science & Technology

1979-11-16

written content. The following are specific conditions found in this language task: Lists Information Descriptions Radiation readings off dosimeter ...m.nm.-vm4 ) mmM f n n m I--i -. -r MtO@g 4 4r 10 a P .4 ca oSl usm a 20 05-3 aui 0L -Z 2jS amw p VIL 11U0 u %310 0 c.a.c LoU & I.-1 M35 Z u -6 0 EIXU

Does Grammatical Aspect Affect Motion Event Cognition? A Cross-Linguistic Comparison of English and Swedish Speakers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Athanasopoulos, Panos; Bylund, Emanuel

2013-01-01

In this article, we explore whether cross-linguistic differences in grammatical aspect encoding may give rise to differences in memory and cognition. We compared native speakers of two languages that encode aspect differently (English and Swedish) in four tasks that examined verbal descriptions of stimuli, online triads matching, and memory-based…

Ask-Elle: An Adaptable Programming Tutor for Haskell Giving Automated Feedback

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gerdes, Alex; Heeren, Bastiaan; Jeuring, Johan; van Binsbergen, L. Thomas

2017-01-01

Ask-Elle is a tutor for learning the higher-order, strongly-typed functional programming language Haskell. It supports the stepwise development of Haskell programs by verifying the correctness of incomplete programs, and by providing hints. Programming exercises are added to Ask-Elle by providing a task description for the exercise, one or more…

Impact of cognitive function and dysarthria on spoken language and perceived speech severity in multiple sclerosis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feenaughty, Lynda

Purpose: The current study sought to investigate the separate effects of dysarthria and cognitive status on global speech timing, speech hesitation, and linguistic complexity characteristics and how these speech behaviors impose on listener impressions for three connected speech tasks presumed to differ in cognitive-linguistic demand for four carefully defined speaker groups; 1) MS with cognitive deficits (MSCI), 2) MS with clinically diagnosed dysarthria and intact cognition (MSDYS), 3) MS without dysarthria or cognitive deficits (MS), and 4) healthy talkers (CON). The relationship between neuropsychological test scores and speech-language production and perceptual variables for speakers with cognitive deficits was also explored. Methods: 48 speakers, including 36 individuals reporting a neurological diagnosis of MS and 12 healthy talkers participated. The three MS groups and control group each contained 12 speakers (8 women and 4 men). Cognitive function was quantified using standard clinical tests of memory, information processing speed, and executive function. A standard z-score of ≤ -1.50 indicated deficits in a given cognitive domain. Three certified speech-language pathologists determined the clinical diagnosis of dysarthria for speakers with MS. Experimental speech tasks of interest included audio-recordings of an oral reading of the Grandfather passage and two spontaneous speech samples in the form of Familiar and Unfamiliar descriptive discourse. Various measures of spoken language were of interest. Suprasegmental acoustic measures included speech and articulatory rate. Linguistic speech hesitation measures included pause frequency (i.e., silent and filled pauses), mean silent pause duration, grammatical appropriateness of pauses, and interjection frequency. For the two discourse samples, three standard measures of language complexity were obtained including subordination index, inter-sentence cohesion adequacy, and lexical diversity. Ten listeners judged each speech sample using the perceptual construct of Speech Severity using a visual analog scale. Additional measures obtained to describe participants included the Sentence Intelligibility Test (SIT), the 10-item Communication Participation Item Bank (CPIB), and standard biopsychosocial measures of depression (Beck Depression Inventory-Fast Screen; BDI-FS), fatigue (Fatigue Severity Scale; FSS), and overall disease severity (Expanded Disability Status Scale; EDSS). Healthy controls completed all measures, with the exception of the CPIB and EDSS. All data were analyzed using standard, descriptive and parametric statistics. For the MSCI group, the relationship between neuropsychological test scores and speech-language variables were explored for each speech task using Pearson correlations. The relationship between neuropsychological test scores and Speech Severity also was explored. Results and Discussion: Topic familiarity for descriptive discourse did not strongly influence speech production or perceptual variables; however, results indicated predicted task-related differences for some spoken language measures. With the exception of the MSCI group, all speaker groups produced the same or slower global speech timing (i.e., speech and articulatory rates), more silent and filled pauses, more grammatical and longer silent pause durations in spontaneous discourse compared to reading aloud. Results revealed no appreciable task differences for linguistic complexity measures. Results indicated group differences for speech rate. The MSCI group produced significantly faster speech rates compared to the MSDYS group. Both the MSDYS and the MSCI groups were judged to have significantly poorer perceived Speech Severity compared to typically aging adults. The Task x Group interaction was only significant for the number of silent pauses. The MSDYS group produced fewer silent pauses in spontaneous speech and more silent pauses in the reading task compared to other groups. Finally, correlation analysis revealed moderate relationships between neuropsychological test scores and speech hesitation measures, within the MSCI group. Slower information processing and poorer memory were significantly correlated with more silent pauses and poorer executive function was associated with fewer filled pauses in the Unfamiliar discourse task. Results have both clinical and theoretical implications. Overall, clinicians should demonstrate caution when interpreting global measures of speech timing and perceptual measures in the absence of information about cognitive ability. Results also have implications for a comprehensive model of spoken language incorporating cognitive, linguistic, and motor variables.

A Complex Network Approach to Stylometry

PubMed Central

Amancio, Diego Raphael

2015-01-01

Statistical methods have been widely employed to study the fundamental properties of language. In recent years, methods from complex and dynamical systems proved useful to create several language models. Despite the large amount of studies devoted to represent texts with physical models, only a limited number of studies have shown how the properties of the underlying physical systems can be employed to improve the performance of natural language processing tasks. In this paper, I address this problem by devising complex networks methods that are able to improve the performance of current statistical methods. Using a fuzzy classification strategy, I show that the topological properties extracted from texts complement the traditional textual description. In several cases, the performance obtained with hybrid approaches outperformed the results obtained when only traditional or networked methods were used. Because the proposed model is generic, the framework devised here could be straightforwardly used to study similar textual applications where the topology plays a pivotal role in the description of the interacting agents. PMID:26313921

Understanding and representing natural language meaning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Waltz, D. L.; Maran, L. R.; Dorfman, M. H.; Dinitz, R.; Farwell, D.

1982-12-01

During this contract period the authors have: (1) continued investigation of events and actions by means of representation schemes called 'event shape diagrams'; (2) written a parsing program which selects appropriate word and sentence meanings by a parallel process know as activation and inhibition; (3) begun investigation of the point of a story or event by modeling the motivations and emotional behaviors of story characters; (4) started work on combining and translating two machine-readable dictionaries into a lexicon and knowledge base which will form an integral part of our natural language understanding programs; (5) made substantial progress toward a general model for the representation of cognitive relations by comparing English scene and event descriptions with similar descriptions in other languages; (6) constructed a general model for the representation of tense and aspect of verbs; (7) made progress toward the design of an integrated robotics system which accepts English requests, and uses visual and tactile inputs in making decisions and learning new tasks.

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.

Natural-Language Parser for PBEM

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

James, Mark

2010-01-01

A computer program called "Hunter" accepts, as input, a colloquial-English description of a set of policy-based-management rules, and parses that description into a form useable by policy-based enterprise management (PBEM) software. PBEM is a rules-based approach suitable for automating some management tasks. PBEM simplifies the management of a given enterprise through establishment of policies addressing situations that are likely to occur. Hunter was developed to have a unique capability to extract the intended meaning instead of focusing on parsing the exact ways in which individual words are used.

Towards health care process description framework: an XML DTD design.

PubMed Central

Staccini, P.; Joubert, M.; Quaranta, J. F.; Aymard, S.; Fieschi, D.; Fieschi, M.

2001-01-01

The development of health care and hospital information systems has to meet users needs as well as requirements such as the tracking of all care activities and the support of quality improvement. The use of process-oriented analysis is of-value to provide analysts with: (i) a systematic description of activities; (ii) the elicitation of the useful data to perform and record care tasks; (iii) the selection of relevant decision-making support. But paper-based tools are not a very suitable way to manage and share the documentation produced during this step. The purpose of this work is to propose a method to implement the results of process analysis according to XML techniques (eXtensible Markup Language). It is based on the IDEF0 activity modeling language (Integration DEfinition for Function modeling). A hierarchical description of a process and its components has been defined through a flat XML file with a grammar of proper metadata tags. Perspectives of this method are discussed. PMID:11825265

Automatic classification of written descriptions by healthy adults: An overview of the application of natural language processing and machine learning techniques to clinical discourse analysis.

PubMed

Toledo, Cíntia Matsuda; Cunha, Andre; Scarton, Carolina; Aluísio, Sandra

2014-01-01

Discourse production is an important aspect in the evaluation of brain-injured individuals. We believe that studies comparing the performance of brain-injured subjects with that of healthy controls must use groups with compatible education. A pioneering application of machine learning methods using Brazilian Portuguese for clinical purposes is described, highlighting education as an important variable in the Brazilian scenario. The aims were to describe how to:(i) develop machine learning classifiers using features generated by natural language processing tools to distinguish descriptions produced by healthy individuals into classes based on their years of education; and(ii) automatically identify the features that best distinguish the groups. The approach proposed here extracts linguistic features automatically from the written descriptions with the aid of two Natural Language Processing tools: Coh-Metrix-Port and AIC. It also includes nine task-specific features (three new ones, two extracted manually, besides description time; type of scene described - simple or complex; presentation order - which type of picture was described first; and age). In this study, the descriptions by 144 of the subjects studied in Toledo 18 were used,which included 200 healthy Brazilians of both genders. A Support Vector Machine (SVM) with a radial basis function (RBF) kernel is the most recommended approach for the binary classification of our data, classifying three of the four initial classes. CfsSubsetEval (CFS) is a strong candidate to replace manual feature selection methods.

The effect of topiramate plasma concentration on linguistic behavior, verbal recall and working memory.

PubMed

Marino, S E; Pakhomov, S V S; Han, S; Anderson, K L; Ding, M; Eberly, L E; Loring, D W; Hawkins-Taylor, C; Rarick, J O; Leppik, I E; Cibula, J E; Birnbaum, A K

2012-07-01

This is the first study of the effect of topiramate on linguistic behavior and verbal recall using a computational linguistics system for automated language and speech analysis to detect and quantify drug-induced changes in speech recorded during discourse-level tasks. Healthy volunteers were administered a single, 100-mg oral dose of topiramate in two double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover studies. Subjects' topiramate plasma levels ranged from 0.23 to 2.81 μg/mL. We found a significant association between topiramate levels and impairment on measures of verbal fluency elicited during a picture description task, correct number of words recalled on a paragraph recall test, and reaction time recorded during a working memory task. Using the tools of clinical pharmacology and computational linguistics, we elucidated the relationship between the determinants of a drug's disposition as reflected in plasma concentrations and their impact on cognitive functioning as reflected in spoken language discourse. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

People can understand descriptions of motion without activating visual motion brain regions

PubMed Central

Dravida, Swethasri; Saxe, Rebecca; Bedny, Marina

2013-01-01

What is the relationship between our perceptual and linguistic neural representations of the same event? We approached this question by asking whether visual perception of motion and understanding linguistic depictions of motion rely on the same neural architecture. The same group of participants took part in two language tasks and one visual task. In task 1, participants made semantic similarity judgments with high motion (e.g., “to bounce”) and low motion (e.g., “to look”) words. In task 2, participants made plausibility judgments for passages describing movement (“A centaur hurled a spear … ”) or cognitive events (“A gentleman loved cheese …”). Task 3 was a visual motion localizer in which participants viewed animations of point-light walkers, randomly moving dots, and stationary dots changing in luminance. Based on the visual motion localizer we identified classic visual motion areas of the temporal (MT/MST and STS) and parietal cortex (inferior and superior parietal lobules). We find that these visual cortical areas are largely distinct from neural responses to linguistic depictions of motion. Motion words did not activate any part of the visual motion system. Motion passages produced a small response in the right superior parietal lobule, but none of the temporal motion regions. These results suggest that (1) as compared to words, rich language stimuli such as passages are more likely to evoke mental imagery and more likely to affect perceptual circuits and (2) effects of language on the visual system are more likely in secondary perceptual areas as compared to early sensory areas. We conclude that language and visual perception constitute distinct but interacting systems. PMID:24009592

Removing Bias towards World Englishes: The Development of a Rater Attitude Instrument Using Indian English as a Stimulus

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hsu, Tammy Huei-Lien

2016-01-01

This study explores the attitudes of raters of English speaking tests towards the global spread of English and the challenges in rating speakers of Indian English in descriptive speaking tasks. The claims put forward by language attitude studies indicate a validity issue in English speaking tests: listeners tend to hold negative attitudes towards…

Application of the Financial Industry Business Ontology (FIBO) for development of a financial organization ontology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Petrova, G. G.; Tuzovsky, A. F.; Aksenova, N. V.

2017-01-01

The article considers an approach to a formalized description and meaning harmonization for financial terms and means of semantic modeling. Ontologies for the semantic models are described with the help of special languages developed for the Semantic Web. Results of FIBO application to solution of different tasks in the Russian financial sector are given.

Metapragmatic explicitation ability in children with typical language development: development and validation of a novel clinical assessment.

PubMed

Collins, Anna; Lockton, Elaine; Adams, Catherine

2014-01-01

Speech-language practitioners recognise the importance of metapragmatic (MP) ability (the ability to explicitly reflect on pragmatic rules) in therapy for children with pragmatic and social communication difficulties. There is inconclusive evidence in the literature regarding both the development of metapragmatic ability in children with typical language and the expected levels of explicitation (reflection on pragmatic behaviours) in children's metapragmatic descriptions. The main purposes of this study were to investigate the reliability of a novel task of metapragmatic awareness (the Assessment of Metapragmatics or AMP) and to investigate typical developmental trends of metapragmatic ability and metapragmatic explicitation using the AMP task. Analysis of pooled data from 40 children with typical language development aged between six and eleven years and 48 children with communication impairments indicated that the AMP task had satisfactory internal consistency and inter-rater reliability. For children with typical language development, there was no relationship between gender and metapragmatic ability as measured by AMP. There was a linear relationship between age and AMP task scores and between age and explicitation. The scoring system used in the AMP task was sensitive to age-related changes in metapragmatic ability in a normative sample. The sophistication of metapragmatic awareness (explicitation) also increased with age. At age six years, children demonstrated metapragmatic awareness in their responses to 74% of AMP stimuli items; this increased to 95% of AMP items at ages 10-11 years. The AMP is a reliable measure of development in MP explicitation for children with satisfactory face validity in terms of acceptability to communication professionals and to child participants. From age six, children have some awareness of pragmatic acts and can identify and relate linguistic cues or pragmatic rules in atypical interactions of the type depicted in the AMP. The AMP task solicited significantly increased frequency of use of higher levels of MP explication beyond seven years of age in children with typical language development. Readers will explain the development, reliability and structure of a novel task that measures the ability of a child to understand and explain pragmatic rules. Readers will also identify age related changes in this ability in a sample of typically developing child participants. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Discourse Factors Influencing Spatial Descriptions in English and German

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vorwerg, Constanze; Tenbrink, Thora

The ways in which objects are referred to by using spatial language depend on many factors, including the spatial configuration and the discourse context. We present the results of a web experiment in which speakers were asked to either describe where a specified item was located in a picture containing several items, or which item was specified. Furthermore, conditions differed as to whether the first six configurations were specifically simple or specifically complex. Results show that speakers' spatial descriptions are more detailed if the question is where rather than which, mirroring the fact that contrasting the target item from the others in which tasks may not always require an equally detailed spatial description as in where tasks. Furthermore, speakers are influenced by the complexity of initial configurations in intricate ways: on the one hand, individual speakers tend to self-align with respect to their earlier linguistic strategies; however, also a contrast effect could be identified with respect to the usage of combined projective terms.

Simulation Experiment Description Markup Language (SED-ML) Level 1 Version 3 (L1V3).

PubMed

Bergmann, Frank T; Cooper, Jonathan; König, Matthias; Moraru, Ion; Nickerson, David; Le Novère, Nicolas; Olivier, Brett G; Sahle, Sven; Smith, Lucian; Waltemath, Dagmar

2018-03-19

The creation of computational simulation experiments to inform modern biological research poses challenges to reproduce, annotate, archive, and share such experiments. Efforts such as SBML or CellML standardize the formal representation of computational models in various areas of biology. The Simulation Experiment Description Markup Language (SED-ML) describes what procedures the models are subjected to, and the details of those procedures. These standards, together with further COMBINE standards, describe models sufficiently well for the reproduction of simulation studies among users and software tools. The Simulation Experiment Description Markup Language (SED-ML) is an XML-based format that encodes, for a given simulation experiment, (i) which models to use; (ii) which modifications to apply to models before simulation; (iii) which simulation procedures to run on each model; (iv) how to post-process the data; and (v) how these results should be plotted and reported. SED-ML Level 1 Version 1 (L1V1) implemented support for the encoding of basic time course simulations. SED-ML L1V2 added support for more complex types of simulations, specifically repeated tasks and chained simulation procedures. SED-ML L1V3 extends L1V2 by means to describe which datasets and subsets thereof to use within a simulation experiment.

Training and Personnel Systems Technology R and D Program Description FY 93

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-07-24

instructional strategies provide the best training in ICAT applications, and (c) demonstration of microcomputer authoring techniques for rapid development...learning strategies for language training, (b) develop a behavioral taxonomy to evaluate Military Intelligence (MI) performance and to characterize the...training requirements for collective tasks. In FY93, plans are to: (a) develop training strategies for sustaining command and control skills, and (b

Maternal Expansions of Child Language Relate to Growth in Children's Vocabulary

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Taumoepeau, Mele

2016-01-01

Using multi-level growth modeling, we examined the effect of several measures of maternal input on growth in children's word types from 15-54 months. Mothers and children engaged in a picture description task (N = 77) at 15, 24, 33, and 54 months; the frequency of children's observed word types at each wave was coded and additional independent…

Partially Overlapping Mechanisms of Language and Task Control in Young and Older Bilinguals

PubMed Central

Weissberger, Gali H.; Wierenga, Christina E.; Bondi, Mark W.; Gollan, Tamar H.

2012-01-01

The current study tested the hypothesis that bilinguals rely on domain-general mechanisms of executive control to achieve language control by asking if linguistic and nonlinguistic switching tasks exhibit similar patterns of aging-related decline. Thirty young and 30 aging bilinguals completed a cued language-switching task and a cued color-shape switching task. Both tasks demonstrated significant aging effects, but aging-related slowing and the aging-related increase in errors were significantly larger on the color-shape than on the language task. In the language task, aging increased language-switching costs in both response times and errors, and language-mixing costs only in response times. In contrast, the color-shape task exhibited an aging-related increase in costs only in mixing errors. Additionally, a subset of the older bilinguals could not do the color-shape task, but were able to do the language task, and exhibited significantly larger language-switching costs than matched controls. These differences, and some subtle similarities, in aging effects observed across tasks imply that mechanisms of nonlinguistic task and language control are only partly shared and demonstrate relatively preserved language control in aging. More broadly, these data suggest that age deficits in switching and mixing costs may depend on task expertise, with mixing deficits emerging for less-practiced tasks and switching deficits for highly practiced, possibly “expert” tasks (i.e., language). PMID:22582883

Automatic Authorship Detection Using Textual Patterns Extracted from Integrated Syntactic Graphs

PubMed Central

Gómez-Adorno, Helena; Sidorov, Grigori; Pinto, David; Vilariño, Darnes; Gelbukh, Alexander

2016-01-01

We apply the integrated syntactic graph feature extraction methodology to the task of automatic authorship detection. This graph-based representation allows integrating different levels of language description into a single structure. We extract textual patterns based on features obtained from shortest path walks over integrated syntactic graphs and apply them to determine the authors of documents. On average, our method outperforms the state of the art approaches and gives consistently high results across different corpora, unlike existing methods. Our results show that our textual patterns are useful for the task of authorship attribution. PMID:27589740

Automatic classification of written descriptions by healthy adults: An overview of the application of natural language processing and machine learning techniques to clinical discourse analysis

PubMed Central

Toledo, Cíntia Matsuda; Cunha, Andre; Scarton, Carolina; Aluísio, Sandra

2014-01-01

Discourse production is an important aspect in the evaluation of brain-injured individuals. We believe that studies comparing the performance of brain-injured subjects with that of healthy controls must use groups with compatible education. A pioneering application of machine learning methods using Brazilian Portuguese for clinical purposes is described, highlighting education as an important variable in the Brazilian scenario. Objective The aims were to describe how to: (i) develop machine learning classifiers using features generated by natural language processing tools to distinguish descriptions produced by healthy individuals into classes based on their years of education; and (ii) automatically identify the features that best distinguish the groups. Methods The approach proposed here extracts linguistic features automatically from the written descriptions with the aid of two Natural Language Processing tools: Coh-Metrix-Port and AIC. It also includes nine task-specific features (three new ones, two extracted manually, besides description time; type of scene described – simple or complex; presentation order – which type of picture was described first; and age). In this study, the descriptions by 144 of the subjects studied in Toledo18 were used,which included 200 healthy Brazilians of both genders. Results and Conclusion A Support Vector Machine (SVM) with a radial basis function (RBF) kernel is the most recommended approach for the binary classification of our data, classifying three of the four initial classes. CfsSubsetEval (CFS) is a strong candidate to replace manual feature selection methods. PMID:29213908

Repetition reduction during word and concept overlap in bilinguals

PubMed Central

Lam, Tuan Q.; Marian, Viorica

2015-01-01

In natural conversation, speakers often mention the same referents multiple times. While referents that have been previously mentioned are produced with less prominence than those that have not been mentioned, it is unclear whether prominence reduction is due to repetition of concepts, words, or a combination of the two. In the current study, we dissociate these sources of repetition by examining bilingual speakers, who have more than one word for the same concept across their two languages. Three groups of Korean-English bilinguals (balanced, English-dominant, and Korean-dominant) performed an event description task involving repetition of referents within a single language (i.e., repetition of word and concept) or across languages (i.e., repetition of concept only). While balanced bilinguals reduced prominence both within and across languages, unbalanced bilinguals only reduced prominence when repetition occurred within a language. These patterns suggest that the degree to which words and concepts are linked within a speaker’s language system determines the source of repetition reduction. PMID:26166943

SOCIAL MEDIA MINING SHARED TASK WORKSHOP.

PubMed

Sarker, Abeed; Nikfarjam, Azadeh; Gonzalez, Graciela

2016-01-01

Social media has evolved into a crucial resource for obtaining large volumes of real-time information. The promise of social media has been realized by the public health domain, and recent research has addressed some important challenges in that domain by utilizing social media data. Tasks such as monitoring flu trends, viral disease outbreaks, medication abuse, and adverse drug reactions are some examples of studies where data from social media have been exploited. The focus of this workshop is to explore solutions to three important natural language processing challenges for domain-specific social media text: (i) text classification, (ii) information extraction, and (iii) concept normalization. To explore different approaches to solving these problems on social media data, we designed a shared task which was open to participants globally. We designed three tasks using our in-house annotated Twitter data on adverse drug reactions. Task 1 involved automatic classification of adverse drug reaction assertive user posts; Task 2 focused on extracting specific adverse drug reaction mentions from user posts; and Task 3, which was slightly ill-defined due to the complex nature of the problem, involved normalizing user mentions of adverse drug reactions to standardized concept IDs. A total of 11 teams participated, and a total of 24 (18 for Task 1, and 6 for Task 2) system runs were submitted. Following the evaluation of the systems, and an assessment of their innovation/novelty, we accepted 7 descriptive manuscripts for publication--5 for Task 1 and 2 for Task 2. We provide descriptions of the tasks, data, and participating systems in this paper.

International confederation for cleft lip and palate and related craniofacial anomalies task force report: holistic outcomes.

PubMed

Broder, Hillary L

2014-11-01

Objective : This paper describes the process and outcomes of the 2013 American Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Association task force on Holistic Outcomes. The goals and membership of the task force are presented. Methods : Using internet communication, the group introduced themselves, shared ideas and information related to holistic assessment and implementation of using a validated holistic measure, the Child Oral Health Impact Profile (COHIP) at participating international sites. Results : Data from the sites were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Administration of the COHIP was successful. It varied from self-completion as well as verbal presentation due to language differences and a function of the short time period to complete collection. Additionally qualitative comments were reported by the task force site directors. Conclusions : Future directions for holistic assessment and communication among task force members and sites were discussed at the Congress and are presented in this report.

Microcode Verification Project.

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-05-01

numerical constant. The internal syntax for these minimum and maximum values is REALMIN and REALMAX. ISPSSIMP ISPSSIMP is the file simplifying bitstring...To be fair , it is quito clear that much of the ILbor Il tile verification task can be reduced If verification and. code development are carried out...basi.a of and the language we have chosen for both encoding our descriptions of machines and reasoning about the course of computations. Internally , our

Ways of looking ahead: hierarchical planning in language production.

PubMed

Lee, Eun-Kyung; Brown-Schmidt, Sarah; Watson, Duane G

2013-12-01

It is generally assumed that language production proceeds incrementally, with chunks of linguistic structure planned ahead of speech. Extensive research has examined the scope of language production and suggests that the size of planned chunks varies across contexts (Ferreira & Swets, 2002; Wagner & Jescheniak, 2010). By contrast, relatively little is known about the structure of advance planning, specifically whether planning proceeds incrementally according to the surface structure of the utterance, or whether speakers plan according to the hierarchical relationships between utterance elements. In two experiments, we examine the structure and scope of lexical planning in language production using a picture description task. Analyses of speech onset times and word durations show that speakers engage in hierarchical planning such that structurally dependent lexical items are planned together and that hierarchical planning occurs for both direct and indirect dependencies. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Corpus-Based Approaches to Language Description for Specialized Academic Writing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Flowerdew, John

2017-01-01

Language description is a fundamental requirement for second language (L2) syllabus design. The greatest advances in language description in recent decades have been done with the help of electronic corpora. Such language description is the theme of this article. The article first introduces some basic concepts and principles in corpus research.…

Individuation of objects and events: a developmental study.

PubMed

Wagner, Laura; Carey, Susan

2003-12-01

This study investigates children's ability to use language to guide their choice of individuation criterion in the domains of objects and events. Previous work (Shipley, E. F., & Shepperson, B. (1990). Countable entities: developmental changes. Cognition, 34, 109-136.) has shown that children have a strong bias to use a spatio-temporal individuation strategy when counting objects and that children will ignore a conflicting linguistic description in favor of this spatio-temporal bias. Experiment 1 asked children (3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds) and adults to count objects and events under different linguistic descriptions. In the object task, subjects counted pictures of familiar objects split into multiple pieces (as in Shipley, E. F., & Shepperson, B. (1990). Countable entities: developmental changes. Cognition, 34, 109-136.) and described either using an appropriate kind label (e.g. "car") or the general term "thing". In the event task, subjects watched short animated movies consisting of a goal-oriented event achieved via multiple, temporally separated steps. The events were described either with an appropriate telic predicate targeting the goal (e.g. "paint a flower") or with an atelic predicate targeting the steps in the process (e.g. "paint") and the subjects' task was to count the events. Relative to adults, children preferred a spatio-temporal counting strategy in both tasks; there was no difference among the three groups of children. However, children were able to significantly change their counting strategy to follow the linguistic description in the event but not the object task. Experiment 2 extended the object task to include counting of other types of non-spatio-temporal units such as sub-parts of objects and collections. Results showed that children could use the linguistic descriptions to guide their counting strategy for these new items, though they continued to show a bias for a spatio-temporal individuation strategy with the collections. We suggest potential cognitive origins for the spatio-temporal individuation bias and how it interacts with children's developing linguistic knowledge.

Color adaptation induced from linguistic description of color

PubMed Central

Zheng, Liling; Huang, Ping; Zhong, Xiao; Li, Tianfeng; Mo, Lei

2017-01-01

Recent theories propose that language comprehension can influence perception at the low level of perceptual system. Here, we used an adaptation paradigm to test whether processing language caused color adaptation in the visual system. After prolonged exposure to a color linguistic context, which depicted red, green, or non-specific color scenes, participants immediately performed a color detection task, indicating whether they saw a green color square in the middle of a white screen or not. We found that participants were more likely to perceive the green color square after listening to discourses denoting red compared to discourses denoting green or conveying non-specific color information, revealing that language comprehension caused an adaptation aftereffect at the perceptual level. Therefore, semantic representation of color may have a common neural substrate with color perception. These results are in line with the simulation view of embodied language comprehension theory, which predicts that processing language reactivates the sensorimotor systems that are engaged during real experience. PMID:28358807

Color adaptation induced from linguistic description of color.

PubMed

Zheng, Liling; Huang, Ping; Zhong, Xiao; Li, Tianfeng; Mo, Lei

2017-01-01

Recent theories propose that language comprehension can influence perception at the low level of perceptual system. Here, we used an adaptation paradigm to test whether processing language caused color adaptation in the visual system. After prolonged exposure to a color linguistic context, which depicted red, green, or non-specific color scenes, participants immediately performed a color detection task, indicating whether they saw a green color square in the middle of a white screen or not. We found that participants were more likely to perceive the green color square after listening to discourses denoting red compared to discourses denoting green or conveying non-specific color information, revealing that language comprehension caused an adaptation aftereffect at the perceptual level. Therefore, semantic representation of color may have a common neural substrate with color perception. These results are in line with the simulation view of embodied language comprehension theory, which predicts that processing language reactivates the sensorimotor systems that are engaged during real experience.

Age-Dependent Mesial Temporal Lobe Lateralization in Language FMRI

PubMed Central

Sepeta, Leigh N.; Berl, Madison M.; Wilke, Marko; You, Xiaozhen; Mehta, Meera; Xu, Benjamin; Inati, Sara; Dustin, Irene; Khan, Omar; Austermuehle, Alison; Theodore, William H.; Gaillard, William D.

2015-01-01

Objective FMRI activation of the mesial temporal lobe (MTL) may be important for epilepsy surgical planning. We examined MTL activation and lateralization during language fMRI in children and adults with focal epilepsy. Methods 142 controls and patients with left hemisphere focal epilepsy (Pediatric: epilepsy, n = 17, mean age = 9.9 ± 2.0; controls, n = 48; mean age = 9.1 ± 2.6; Adult: epilepsy, n = 20, mean age = 26.7 ± 5.8; controls, n = 57, mean age = 26.2 ± 7.5) underwent 3T fMRI using a language task (auditory description decision task). Image processing and analyses were conducted in SPM8; ROIs included MTL, Broca’s area, and Wernicke’s area. We assessed group and individual MTL activation, and examined degree of lateralization. Results Patients and controls (pediatric and adult) demonstrated group and individual MTL activation during language fMRI. MTL activation was left lateralized for adults but less so in children (p’s < 0.005). Patients did not differ from controls in either age group. Stronger left-lateralized MTL activation was related to older age (p = 0.02). Language lateralization (Broca’s and Wernicke’s) predicted 19% of the variance in MTL lateralization for adults (p = 0.001), but not children. Significance Language fMRI may be used to elicit group and individual MTL activation. The developmental difference in MTL lateralization and its association with language lateralization suggests a developmental shift in lateralization of MTL function, with increased left lateralization across the age span. This shift may help explain why children have better memory outcomes following resection compared to adults. PMID:26696589

Task-Based Language Teaching Online: A Guide for Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baralt, Melissa; Gómez, José Morcillo

2017-01-01

Technology-mediated task-based language teaching is the merger between technology and task-based language teaching (TBLT; González-Lloret & Ortega, 2014) and is arguably now an imperative for language education. As language classrooms are being redefined, training for how to set learners up to successfully do tasks online must be part of…

The adaptation of GDL motion recognition system to sport and rehabilitation techniques analysis.

PubMed

Hachaj, Tomasz; Ogiela, Marek R

2016-06-01

The main novelty of this paper is presenting the adaptation of Gesture Description Language (GDL) methodology to sport and rehabilitation data analysis and classification. In this paper we showed that Lua language can be successfully used for adaptation of the GDL classifier to those tasks. The newly applied scripting language allows easily extension and integration of classifier with other software technologies and applications. The obtained execution speed allows using the methodology in the real-time motion capture data processing where capturing frequency differs from 100 Hz to even 500 Hz depending on number of features or classes to be calculated and recognized. Due to this fact the proposed methodology can be used to the high-end motion capture system. We anticipate that using novel, efficient and effective method will highly help both sport trainers and physiotherapist in they practice. The proposed approach can be directly applied to motion capture data kinematics analysis (evaluation of motion without regard to the forces that cause that motion). The ability to apply pattern recognition methods for GDL description can be utilized in virtual reality environment and used for sport training or rehabilitation treatment.

Binding Task-Based Language Teaching and Task-Based Language Testing: A Survey into EFL Teachers and Learners' Views of Task-Based Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Panahi, Ali

2012-01-01

In most settings, task-based language teaching and testing have been dissociated from each other. That is why this study came to rethink of the learners' views towards awareness and implementation of task-based language teaching through IELTS listening tasks. To these objectives, after sketching instrumentation, the learners were divided into…

Numerical aerodynamic simulation facility. Preliminary study extension

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1978-01-01

The production of an optimized design of key elements of the candidate facility was the primary objective of this report. This was accomplished by effort in the following tasks: (1) to further develop, optimize and describe the function description of the custom hardware; (2) to delineate trade off areas between performance, reliability, availability, serviceability, and programmability; (3) to develop metrics and models for validation of the candidate systems performance; (4) to conduct a functional simulation of the system design; (5) to perform a reliability analysis of the system design; and (6) to develop the software specifications to include a user level high level programming language, a correspondence between the programming language and instruction set and outline the operation system requirements.

Hardware description languages

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tucker, Jerry H.

1994-01-01

Hardware description languages are special purpose programming languages. They are primarily used to specify the behavior of digital systems and are rapidly replacing traditional digital system design techniques. This is because they allow the designer to concentrate on how the system should operate rather than on implementation details. Hardware description languages allow a digital system to be described with a wide range of abstraction, and they support top down design techniques. A key feature of any hardware description language environment is its ability to simulate the modeled system. The two most important hardware description languages are Verilog and VHDL. Verilog has been the dominant language for the design of application specific integrated circuits (ASIC's). However, VHDL is rapidly gaining in popularity.

Motor speech signature of behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia: Refining the phenotype.

PubMed

Vogel, Adam P; Poole, Matthew L; Pemberton, Hugh; Caverlé, Marja W J; Boonstra, Frederique M C; Low, Essie; Darby, David; Brodtmann, Amy

2017-08-22

To provide a comprehensive description of motor speech function in behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD). Forty-eight individuals (24 bvFTD and 24 age- and sex-matched healthy controls) provided speech samples. These varied in complexity and thus cognitive demand. Their language was assessed using the Progressive Aphasia Language Scale and verbal fluency tasks. Speech was analyzed perceptually to describe the nature of deficits and acoustically to quantify differences between patients with bvFTD and healthy controls. Cortical thickness and subcortical volume derived from MRI scans were correlated with speech outcomes in patients with bvFTD. Speech of affected individuals was significantly different from that of healthy controls. The speech signature of patients with bvFTD is characterized by a reduced rate (75%) and accuracy (65%) on alternating syllable production tasks, and prosodic deficits including reduced speech rate (45%), prolonged intervals (54%), and use of short phrases (41%). Groups differed on acoustic measures derived from the reading, unprepared monologue, and diadochokinetic tasks but not the days of the week or sustained vowel tasks. Variability of silence length was associated with cortical thickness of the inferior frontal gyrus and insula and speech rate with the precentral gyrus. One in 8 patients presented with moderate speech timing deficits with a further two-thirds rated as mild or subclinical. Subtle but measurable deficits in prosody are common in bvFTD and should be considered during disease management. Language function correlated with speech timing measures derived from the unprepared monologue only. © 2017 American Academy of Neurology.

Classification of visual and linguistic tasks using eye-movement features.

PubMed

Coco, Moreno I; Keller, Frank

2014-03-07

The role of the task has received special attention in visual-cognition research because it can provide causal explanations of goal-directed eye-movement responses. The dependency between visual attention and task suggests that eye movements can be used to classify the task being performed. A recent study by Greene, Liu, and Wolfe (2012), however, fails to achieve accurate classification of visual tasks based on eye-movement features. In the present study, we hypothesize that tasks can be successfully classified when they differ with respect to the involvement of other cognitive domains, such as language processing. We extract the eye-movement features used by Greene et al. as well as additional features from the data of three different tasks: visual search, object naming, and scene description. First, we demonstrated that eye-movement responses make it possible to characterize the goals of these tasks. Then, we trained three different types of classifiers and predicted the task participants performed with an accuracy well above chance (a maximum of 88% for visual search). An analysis of the relative importance of features for classification accuracy reveals that just one feature, i.e., initiation time, is sufficient for above-chance performance (a maximum of 79% accuracy in object naming). Crucially, this feature is independent of task duration, which differs systematically across the three tasks we investigated. Overall, the best task classification performance was obtained with a set of seven features that included both spatial information (e.g., entropy of attention allocation) and temporal components (e.g., total fixation on objects) of the eye-movement record. This result confirms the task-dependent allocation of visual attention and extends previous work by showing that task classification is possible when tasks differ in the cognitive processes involved (purely visual tasks such as search vs. communicative tasks such as scene description).

The Canonical Robot Command Language (CRCL).

PubMed

Proctor, Frederick M; Balakirsky, Stephen B; Kootbally, Zeid; Kramer, Thomas R; Schlenoff, Craig I; Shackleford, William P

2016-01-01

Industrial robots can perform motion with sub-millimeter repeatability when programmed using the teach-and-playback method. While effective, this method requires significant up-front time, tying up the robot and a person during the teaching phase. Off-line programming can be used to generate robot programs, but the accuracy of this method is poor unless supplemented with good calibration to remove systematic errors, feed-forward models to anticipate robot response to loads, and sensing to compensate for unmodeled errors. These increase the complexity and up-front cost of the system, but the payback in the reduction of recurring teach programming time can be worth the effort. This payback especially benefits small-batch, short-turnaround applications typical of small-to-medium enterprises, who need the agility afforded by off-line application development to be competitive against low-cost manual labor. To fully benefit from this agile application tasking model, a common representation of tasks should be used that is understood by all of the resources required for the job: robots, tooling, sensors, and people. This paper describes an information model, the Canonical Robot Command Language (CRCL), which provides a high-level description of robot tasks and associated control and status information.

The Canonical Robot Command Language (CRCL)

PubMed Central

Proctor, Frederick M.; Balakirsky, Stephen B.; Kootbally, Zeid; Kramer, Thomas R.; Schlenoff, Craig I.; Shackleford, William P.

2017-01-01

Industrial robots can perform motion with sub-millimeter repeatability when programmed using the teach-and-playback method. While effective, this method requires significant up-front time, tying up the robot and a person during the teaching phase. Off-line programming can be used to generate robot programs, but the accuracy of this method is poor unless supplemented with good calibration to remove systematic errors, feed-forward models to anticipate robot response to loads, and sensing to compensate for unmodeled errors. These increase the complexity and up-front cost of the system, but the payback in the reduction of recurring teach programming time can be worth the effort. This payback especially benefits small-batch, short-turnaround applications typical of small-to-medium enterprises, who need the agility afforded by off-line application development to be competitive against low-cost manual labor. To fully benefit from this agile application tasking model, a common representation of tasks should be used that is understood by all of the resources required for the job: robots, tooling, sensors, and people. This paper describes an information model, the Canonical Robot Command Language (CRCL), which provides a high-level description of robot tasks and associated control and status information. PMID:28529393

The effect of fMRI task combinations on determining the hemispheric dominance of language functions.

PubMed

Niskanen, Eini; Könönen, Mervi; Villberg, Ville; Nissi, Mikko; Ranta-Aho, Perttu; Säisänen, Laura; Karjalainen, Pasi; Aikiä, Marja; Kälviäinen, Reetta; Mervaala, Esa; Vanninen, Ritva

2012-04-01

The purpose of this study is to establish the most suitable combination of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) language tasks for clinical use in determining language dominance and to define the variability in laterality index (LI) and activation power between different combinations of language tasks. Activation patterns of different fMRI analyses of five language tasks (word generation, responsive naming, letter task, sentence comprehension, and word pair) were defined for 20 healthy volunteers (16 right-handed). LIs and sums of T values were calculated for each task separately and for four combinations of tasks in predefined regions of interest. Variability in terms of activation power and lateralization was defined in each analysis. In addition, the visual assessment of lateralization of language functions based on the individual fMRI activation maps was conducted by an experienced neuroradiologist. A combination analysis of word generation, responsive naming, and sentence comprehension was the most suitable in terms of activation power, robustness to detect essential language areas, and scanning time. In general, combination analyses of the tasks provided higher overall activation levels than single tasks and reduced the number of outlier voxels disturbing the calculation of LI. A combination of auditory and visually presented tasks that activate different aspects of language functions with sufficient activation power may be a useful task battery for determining language dominance in patients.

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

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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

2016-01-01

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

The relationship between mathematics and language: academic implications for children with specific language impairment and English language learners.

PubMed

Alt, Mary; Arizmendi, Genesis D; Beal, Carole R

2014-07-01

The present study examined the relationship between mathematics and language to better understand the nature of the deficit and the academic implications associated with specific language impairment (SLI) and academic implications for English language learners (ELLs). School-age children (N = 61; 20 SLI, 20 ELL, 21 native monolingual English [NE]) were assessed using a norm-referenced mathematics instrument and 3 experimental computer-based mathematics games that varied in language demands. Group means were compared with analyses of variance. The ELL group was less accurate than the NE group only when tasks were language heavy. In contrast, the group with SLI was less accurate than the groups with NE and ELLs on language-heavy tasks and some language-light tasks. Specifically, the group with SLI was less accurate on tasks that involved comparing numerical symbols and using visual working memory for patterns. However, there were no group differences between children with SLI and peers without SLI on language-light mathematics tasks that involved visual working memory for numerical symbols. Mathematical difficulties of children who are ELLs appear to be related to the language demands of mathematics tasks. In contrast, children with SLI appear to have difficulty with mathematics tasks because of linguistic as well as nonlinguistic processing constraints.

Resisting attraction: Individual differences in executive control are associated with subject-verb agreement errors in production.

PubMed

Veenstra, Alma; Antoniou, Kyriakos; Katsos, Napoleon; Kissine, Mikhail

2018-04-19

We propose that attraction errors in agreement production (e.g., the key to the cabinets are missing) are related to two components of executive control: working memory and inhibitory control. We tested 138 children aged 10 to 12, an age when children are expected to produce high rates of errors. To increase the potential of individual variation in executive control skills, participants came from monolingual, bilingual, and bidialectal language backgrounds. Attraction errors were elicited with a picture description task in Dutch and executive control was measured with a digit span task, Corsi blocks task, switching task, and attentional networks task. Overall, higher rates of attraction errors were negatively associated with higher verbal working memory and, independently, with higher inhibitory control. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of the role of both working memory and inhibitory control in attraction errors in production. Implications for memory- and grammar-based models are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Foreign Language Students' Conversational Negotiations in Different Task Environments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hardy, Ilonca M.; Moore, Joyce L.

2004-01-01

This study examined the effect of structural and content characteristics of language tasks on foreign language learners' conversational negotiations. In a 2x2 Greco-Latin square design, degree of structural support of language tasks, students' degree of familiarity with German video segments, and task order were varied. Twenty-eight pairs of…

Tensoral for post-processing users and simulation authors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dresselhaus, Eliot

1993-01-01

The CTR post-processing effort aims to make turbulence simulations and data more readily and usefully available to the research and industrial communities. The Tensoral language, which provides the foundation for this effort, is introduced here in the form of a user's guide. The Tensoral user's guide is presented in two main sections. Section one acts as a general introduction and guides database users who wish to post-process simulation databases. Section two gives a brief description of how database authors and other advanced users can make simulation codes and/or the databases they generate available to the user community via Tensoral database back ends. The two-part structure of this document conforms to the two-level design structure of the Tensoral language. Tensoral has been designed to be a general computer language for performing tensor calculus and statistics on numerical data. Tensoral's generality allows it to be used for stand-alone native coding of high-level post-processing tasks (as described in section one of this guide). At the same time, Tensoral's specialization to a minute task (namely, to numerical tensor calculus and statistics) allows it to be easily embedded into applications written partly in Tensoral and partly in other computer languages (here, C and Vectoral). Embedded Tensoral, aimed at advanced users for more general coding (e.g. of efficient simulations, for interfacing with pre-existing software, for visualization, etc.), is described in section two of this guide.

SPARQL Assist language-neutral query composer

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background SPARQL query composition is difficult for the lay-person, and even the experienced bioinformatician in cases where the data model is unfamiliar. Moreover, established best-practices and internationalization concerns dictate that the identifiers for ontological terms should be opaque rather than human-readable, which further complicates the task of synthesizing queries manually. Results We present SPARQL Assist: a Web application that addresses these issues by providing context-sensitive type-ahead completion during SPARQL query construction. Ontological terms are suggested using their multi-lingual labels and descriptions, leveraging existing support for internationalization and language-neutrality. Moreover, the system utilizes the semantics embedded in ontologies, and within the query itself, to help prioritize the most likely suggestions. Conclusions To ensure success, the Semantic Web must be easily available to all users, regardless of locale, training, or preferred language. By enhancing support for internationalization, and moreover by simplifying the manual construction of SPARQL queries through the use of controlled-natural-language interfaces, we believe we have made some early steps towards simplifying access to Semantic Web resources. PMID:22373327

SPARQL assist language-neutral query composer.

PubMed

McCarthy, Luke; Vandervalk, Ben; Wilkinson, Mark

2012-01-25

SPARQL query composition is difficult for the lay-person, and even the experienced bioinformatician in cases where the data model is unfamiliar. Moreover, established best-practices and internationalization concerns dictate that the identifiers for ontological terms should be opaque rather than human-readable, which further complicates the task of synthesizing queries manually. We present SPARQL Assist: a Web application that addresses these issues by providing context-sensitive type-ahead completion during SPARQL query construction. Ontological terms are suggested using their multi-lingual labels and descriptions, leveraging existing support for internationalization and language-neutrality. Moreover, the system utilizes the semantics embedded in ontologies, and within the query itself, to help prioritize the most likely suggestions. To ensure success, the Semantic Web must be easily available to all users, regardless of locale, training, or preferred language. By enhancing support for internationalization, and moreover by simplifying the manual construction of SPARQL queries through the use of controlled-natural-language interfaces, we believe we have made some early steps towards simplifying access to Semantic Web resources.

Children's science learning: A core skills approach.

PubMed

Tolmie, Andrew K; Ghazali, Zayba; Morris, Suzanne

2016-09-01

Research has identified the core skills that predict success during primary school in reading and arithmetic, and this knowledge increasingly informs teaching. However, there has been no comparable work that pinpoints the core skills that underlie success in science. The present paper attempts to redress this by examining candidate skills and considering what is known about the way in which they emerge, how they relate to each other and to other abilities, how they change with age, and how their growth may vary between topic areas. There is growing evidence that early-emerging tacit awareness of causal associations is initially separated from language-based causal knowledge, which is acquired in part from everyday conversation and shows inaccuracies not evident in tacit knowledge. Mapping of descriptive and explanatory language onto causal awareness appears therefore to be a key development, which promotes unified conceptual and procedural understanding. This account suggests that the core components of initial science learning are (1) accurate observation, (2) the ability to extract and reason explicitly about causal connections, and (3) knowledge of mechanisms that explain these connections. Observational ability is educationally inaccessible until integrated with verbal description and explanation, for instance, via collaborative group work tasks that require explicit reasoning with respect to joint observations. Descriptive ability and explanatory ability are further promoted by managed exposure to scientific vocabulary and use of scientific language. Scientific reasoning and hypothesis testing are later acquisitions that depend on this integration of systems and improved executive control. © 2016 The British Psychological Society.

Assessing Measurement Invariance for Spanish Sentence Repetition and Morphology Elicitation Tasks.

PubMed

Kapantzoglou, Maria; Thompson, Marilyn S; Gray, Shelley; Restrepo, M Adelaida

2016-04-01

The purpose of this study was to evaluate evidence supporting the construct validity of two grammatical tasks (sentence repetition, morphology elicitation) included in the Spanish Screener for Language Impairment in Children (Restrepo, Gorin, & Gray, 2013). We evaluated if the tasks measured the targeted grammatical skills in the same way across predominantly Spanish-speaking children with typical language development and those with primary language impairment. A multiple-group, confirmatory factor analytic approach was applied to examine factorial invariance in a sample of 307 predominantly Spanish-speaking children (177 with typical language development; 130 with primary language impairment). The 2 newly developed grammatical tasks were modeled as measures in a unidimensional confirmatory factor analytic model along with 3 well-established grammatical measures from the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals-Fourth Edition, Spanish (Wiig, Semel, & Secord, 2006). Results suggest that both new tasks measured the construct of grammatical skills for both language-ability groups in an equivalent manner. There was no evidence of bias related to children's language status for the Spanish Screener for Language Impairment in Children Sentence Repetition or Morphology Elicitation tasks. Results provide support for the validity of the new tasks as measures of grammatical skills.

Advantages and disadvantages of intraoperative language tasks in awake surgery: a three-task approach for prefrontal tumors.

PubMed

Rofes, A; Spena, G; Miozzo, A; Fontanella, M M; Miceli, G

2015-12-01

Multidisciplinary efforts are being made to provide surgical teams with sensitive and specific tasks for language mapping in awake surgery. Researchers and clinicians have elaborated different tasks over time. A fair amount of work has been directed to study the neurofunctional correlates of some of these tasks, and there is recent interest in their standardization. However, little discussion exists on the advantages and disadvantages that each task poses from the perspective of the cognitive neuroscience of language. Such an approach may be a relevant step to assess task validity, to avoid using tasks that tap onto similar processes, and to provide patients with a surgical treatment that ensures maximal tumor resection while avoiding postoperative language deficits. An understanding of the language components that each task entails may also be relevant to improve the current assessments and the ways in which tasks are administered, and to disentangle neurofunctional questions. We reviewed 17 language mapping tasks that have been used in awake surgery. Overt production tasks have been a preferred choice over comprehension tasks. Tasks tapping lexico-semantic processes, particularly object-naming, maintain their role as gold standards. Automated speech tasks are used to detect speech errors and to set the amplitude of the stimulator. Comprehension tasks, reading and writing tasks, and tasks that assess grammatical aspects of language may be regularly administered in the near future. We provide examples of a three-task approach we are administering to patients with prefrontal lesions. We believe that future advances in this area are contingent upon reviewing gold standards and introducing new assessment tools.

Knowledge of the human body: a distinct semantic domain.

PubMed

Coslett, H Branch; Saffran, Eleanor M; Schwoebel, John

2002-08-13

Patients with selective deficits in the naming and comprehension of animals, plants, and artifacts have been reported. These descriptions of specific semantic category deficits have contributed substantially to the understanding of the architecture of semantic representations. This study sought to further understanding of the organization of the semantic system by demonstrating that another semantic category, knowledge of the human body, may be selectively preserved. The performance of a patient with semantic dementia was compared with the performance of healthy controls on a variety of tasks assessing distinct types of body representations, including the body schema, body image, and body structural description. Despite substantial deficits on tasks involving language and knowledge of the world generally, the patient performed normally on all tests of body knowledge except body part naming; even in this naming task, however, her performance with body parts was significantly better than on artifacts. The demonstration that body knowledge may be preserved despite substantial semantic deficits involving other types of semantic information argues that body knowledge is a distinct and dissociable semantic category. These data are interpreted as support for a model of semantics that proposes that knowledge is distributed across different cortical regions reflecting the manner in which the information was acquired.

User interfaces for computational science: A domain specific language for OOMMF embedded in Python

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beg, Marijan; Pepper, Ryan A.; Fangohr, Hans

2017-05-01

Computer simulations are used widely across the engineering and science disciplines, including in the research and development of magnetic devices using computational micromagnetics. In this work, we identify and review different approaches to configuring simulation runs: (i) the re-compilation of source code, (ii) the use of configuration files, (iii) the graphical user interface, and (iv) embedding the simulation specification in an existing programming language to express the computational problem. We identify the advantages and disadvantages of different approaches and discuss their implications on effectiveness and reproducibility of computational studies and results. Following on from this, we design and describe a domain specific language for micromagnetics that is embedded in the Python language, and allows users to define the micromagnetic simulations they want to carry out in a flexible way. We have implemented this micromagnetic simulation description language together with a computational backend that executes the simulation task using the Object Oriented MicroMagnetic Framework (OOMMF). We illustrate the use of this Python interface for OOMMF by solving the micromagnetic standard problem 4. All the code is publicly available and is open source.

Amnesic H.M.'s performance on the language competence test: parallel deficits in memory and sentence production.

PubMed

MacKay, Donald G; James, Lori E; Hadley, Christopher B

2008-04-01

To test conflicting hypotheses regarding amnesic H.M.'s language abilities, this study examined H.M.'s sentence production on the Language Competence Test (Wiig & Secord, 1988). The task for H.M. and 8 education-, age-, and IQ-matched controls was to describe pictures using a single grammatical sentence containing prespecified target words. The results indicated selective deficits in H.M.'s picture descriptions: H.M. produced fewer single grammatical sentences, included fewer target words, and described the pictures less completely and accurately than did the controls. However, H.M.'s deficits diminished with repeated processing of unfamiliar stimuli and disappeared for familiar stimuli-effects that help explain why other researchers have concluded that H.M.'s language production is intact. Besides resolving the conflicting hypotheses, present results replicated other well-controlled sentence production results and indicated that H.M.'s language and memory exhibit parallel deficits and sparing. Present results comport in detail with binding theory but pose problems for current systems theories of H.M.'s condition.

Teaching of science and language by elementary teachers who emphasize the integrated language approach: A descriptive study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blouch, Kathleen Kennedy

This research involved investigating the nature of science and language instruction in 13 elementary classrooms where teachers have restructured their language programs to reflect an integrated or holistic view of language instruction. The teachers were identified by school administrators and other professionals as teachers who have implemented instructional reforms described in the Pennsylvania Framework for Reading, Writing and Speaking Across the Curriculum (PCRPII), (Lytle & Botel, 1900). The instruction utilized by these teachers was described as atypical when compared to that of teachers utilizing the more traditional didactic skills oriented approach to language literacy. The research involved observing, recording and categorizing teaching behaviors during both science and language instruction. Videotaped observations were followed by analyses and descriptions of these behaviors. Interviews were also conducted to ascertain the basis for selection of the various instructional approaches. The instruction was compared on four dimensions: participation patterns, time the behaviors were practiced, type of tasks and levels of questioning. The instruction was then described in light of constructivist teaching practices: student collaboration, student autonomy, integration and higher order thinking. Constructivist practices differed among teachers for science and language instruction. During science instruction teachers spent more time involved in teacher-whole group participation patterns with more direct questioning as compared to language instruction in which children participated alone or in groups and had opportunity to initiate conversations and questions. Student inquiry was evidenced during language instruction more so than during science. The 13 teachers asked a variety of levels and types of questions both in science and language instruction. More hands-on science experiences were observed when science was taught separately compared to when integrated with the language instruction. Teachers also described professional changes that caused them to implement new practices. Each cited the importance of a significant person, who encouraged them to attempt new approaches. The research reveals that to produce significant reform in instruction (more so in science than in language) at the elementary school level, proactive support and encouragement by administrators is required. Involving practicing teachers in extensive - modeled - mentored professional development experiences is also required.

Performance of Language-Coordinated Collective Systems: A Study of Wine Recognition and Description

PubMed Central

Zubek, Julian; Denkiewicz, Michał; Dębska, Agnieszka; Radkowska, Alicja; Komorowska-Mach, Joanna; Litwin, Piotr; Stępień, Magdalena; Kucińska, Adrianna; Sitarska, Ewa; Komorowska, Krystyna; Fusaroli, Riccardo; Tylén, Kristian; Rączaszek-Leonardi, Joanna

2016-01-01

Most of our perceptions of and engagements with the world are shaped by our immersion in social interactions, cultural traditions, tools and linguistic categories. In this study we experimentally investigate the impact of two types of language-based coordination on the recognition and description of complex sensory stimuli: that of red wine. Participants were asked to taste, remember and successively recognize samples of wines within a larger set in a two-by-two experimental design: (1) either individually or in pairs, and (2) with or without the support of a sommelier card—a cultural linguistic tool designed for wine description. Both effectiveness of recognition and the kinds of errors in the four conditions were analyzed. While our experimental manipulations did not impact recognition accuracy, bias-variance decomposition of error revealed non-trivial differences in how participants solved the task. Pairs generally displayed reduced bias and increased variance compared to individuals, however the variance dropped significantly when they used the sommelier card. The effect of sommelier card reducing the variance was observed only in pairs, individuals did not seem to benefit from the cultural linguistic tool. Analysis of descriptions generated with the aid of sommelier cards shows that pairs were more coherent and discriminative than individuals. The findings are discussed in terms of global properties and dynamics of collective systems when constrained by different types of cultural practices. PMID:27729875

Attitudes toward Task-Based Language Learning: A Study of College Korean Language Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pyun, Danielle Ooyoung

2013-01-01

This study explores second/foreign language (L2) learners' attitudes toward task-based language learning (TBLL) and how these attitudes relate to selected learner variables, namely anxiety, integrated motivation, instrumental motivation, and self-efficacy. Ninety-one college students of Korean as a foreign language, who received task-based…

Structured Natural-Language Descriptions for Semantic Content Retrieval of Visual Materials.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tam, A. M.; Leung, C. H. C.

2001-01-01

Proposes a structure for natural language descriptions of the semantic content of visual materials that requires descriptions to be (modified) keywords, phrases, or simple sentences, with components that are grammatical relations common to many languages. This structure makes it easy to implement a collection's descriptions as a relational…

A Typology of Tasks for Mobile-Assisted Language Learning: Recommendations from a Small-Scale Needs Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Park, Moonyoung; Slater, Tammy

2014-01-01

In response to the research priorities of members of TESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages), this study investigated language learners' realworld tasks in mobile-assisted language learning (MALL) to inform the future development of pedagogic tasks for academic English as a second language (ESL) courses. The data included…

An Online Task-Based Language Learning Environment: Is It Better for Advanced- or Intermediate-Level Second Language Learners?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arslanyilmaz, Abdurrahman

2012-01-01

This study investigates the relationship of language proficiency to language production and negotiation of meaning that non-native speakers (NNSs) produced in an online task-based language learning (TBLL) environment. Fourteen NNS-NNS dyads collaboratively completed four communicative tasks, using an online TBLL environment specifically designed…

Measuring language lateralisation with different language tasks: a systematic review

PubMed Central

Thompson, Paul A.; Wilson, Alexander C.; Bishop, Dorothy V.M.; Woodhead, Zoe V.J.

2017-01-01

Language lateralisation refers to the phenomenon in which one hemisphere (typically the left) shows greater involvement in language functions than the other. Measurement of laterality is of interest both to researchers investigating the neural organisation of the language system and to clinicians needing to establish an individual’s hemispheric dominance for language prior to surgery, as in patients with intractable epilepsy. Recently, there has been increasing awareness of the possibility that different language processes may develop hemispheric lateralisation independently, and to varying degrees. However, it is not always clear whether differences in laterality across language tasks with fMRI are reflective of meaningful variation in hemispheric lateralisation, or simply of trivial methodological differences between paradigms. This systematic review aims to assess different language tasks in terms of the strength, reliability and robustness of the laterality measurements they yield with fMRI, to look at variability that is both dependent and independent of aspects of study design, such as the baseline task, region of interest, and modality of the stimuli. Recommendations are made that can be used to guide task design; however, this review predominantly highlights that the current high level of methodological variability in language paradigms prevents conclusions as to how different language functions may lateralise independently. We conclude with suggestions for future research using tasks that engage distinct aspects of language functioning, whilst being closely matched on non-linguistic aspects of task design (e.g., stimuli, task timings etc); such research could produce more reliable and conclusive insights into language lateralisation. This systematic review was registered as a protocol on Open Science Framework: https://osf.io/5vmpt/. PMID:29085748

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.

What Is Grammar and Why Teach It?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Greenbaum, Sidney

The word "grammar" can be used in many ways: a general theory of language description; a theory for describing one language; a description of a particular language, either in the form of a book (an "English grammar") or the contents of that book; an ideal as opposed to actual description of a language; the properties and processes of a language…

Language mapping with verbs and sentences in awake surgery: a review.

PubMed

Rofes, Adrià; Miceli, Gabriele

2014-06-01

Intraoperative language mapping in awake surgery is typically conducted by asking the patient to produce automatic speech and to name objects. These tasks might not map language with sufficient accuracy, as some linguistic processes can only be triggered by tasks that use verbs and sentences. Verb and sentence processing tasks are currently used during surgery, albeit sparsely. Medline, PubMed, and Web of Science records were searched to retrieve studies focused on language mapping with verbs/sentences in awake surgery. We review the tasks reported in the published literature, spell out the language processes assessed by each task, list the cortical and subcortical regions whose stimulation inhibited language processing, and consider the types of errors elicited by stimulation in each region. We argue that using verb tasks allows a more thorough evaluation of language functions. We also argue that verb tasks are preferable to object naming tasks in the case of frontal lesions, as lesion and neuroimaging data demonstrate that these regions play a critical role in verb and sentence processing. We discuss the clinical value of these tasks and the current limitations of the procedure, and provide some guidelines for their development. Future research should aim toward a differentiated approach to language mapping - one that includes the administration of standardized and customizable tests and the use of longitudinal neurocognitive follow-up studies. Further work will allow researchers and clinicians to understand brain and language correlates and to improve the current surgical practice.

Can autistic children read the mind of an animated triangle?

PubMed

Salter, Gemma; Seigal, Anna; Claxton, Melanie; Lawrence, Kate; Skuse, David

2008-07-01

Are children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), but normal-range intelligence, impaired on theory of mind skills measured by responses to abstract animations in the form of a computerized cartoon? Fifty-six cases and closely matched comparisons were tested. We rated verbal responses according to the length of their descriptions, their appropriateness and the children's use of 'mentalizing' terms. Children with ASD used 'mentalizing' language to describe the animations as well as comparisons, although the content of their descriptions was significantly less appropriate. Performance on this task was not well correlated with standardized measures of parent-reported behaviour or the child's interactions with an observer. The implications of our results are discussed in relation to previous studies that have used this methodology.

Where's Wally: the influence of visual salience on referring expression generation.

PubMed

Clarke, Alasdair D F; Elsner, Micha; Rohde, Hannah

2013-01-01

REFERRING EXPRESSION GENERATION (REG) PRESENTS THE CONVERSE PROBLEM TO VISUAL SEARCH: given a scene and a specified target, how does one generate a description which would allow somebody else to quickly and accurately locate the target?Previous work in psycholinguistics and natural language processing has failed to find an important and integrated role for vision in this task. That previous work, which relies largely on simple scenes, tends to treat vision as a pre-process for extracting feature categories that are relevant to disambiguation. However, the visual search literature suggests that some descriptions are better than others at enabling listeners to search efficiently within complex stimuli. This paper presents a study testing whether participants are sensitive to visual features that allow them to compose such "good" descriptions. Our results show that visual properties (salience, clutter, area, and distance) influence REG for targets embedded in images from the Where's Wally? books. Referring expressions for large targets are shorter than those for smaller targets, and expressions about targets in highly cluttered scenes use more words. We also find that participants are more likely to mention non-target landmarks that are large, salient, and in close proximity to the target. These findings identify a key role for visual salience in language production decisions and highlight the importance of scene complexity for REG.

Improving Language Production Using Subtitled Similar Task Videos

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arslanyilmaz, Abdurrahman; Pedersen, Susan

2010-01-01

This study examines the effects of subtitled similar task videos on language production by nonnative speakers (NNSs) in an online task-based language learning (TBLL) environment. Ten NNS-NNS dyads collaboratively completed four communicative tasks, using an online TBLL environment specifically designed for this study and a chat tool in…

Young Foreign Language Learners' Interactions during Task-Based Paired Assessments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Butler, Yuko Goto; Zeng, Wei

2014-01-01

Despite the popularity of task-based language teaching (TBLT) in foreign language (FL) education at elementary school, it remains unclear how young learners' FL abilities can best be evaluated with tasks. The present study seeks to understand developmental differences in interactions among elementary-school students during task-based language…

The Relation between Event Apprehension and Utterance Formulation in Children: Evidence from Linguistic Omissions

PubMed Central

Bunger, Ann; Trueswell, John C.; Papafragou, Anna

2011-01-01

The relation between event apprehension and utterance formulation was examined in children and adults. English-speaking adults and 4-year-olds viewed motion events while their eye movements were monitored. Half of the participants in each age group described each event (Linguistic task), whereas the other half studied the events for an upcoming memory test (Nonlinguistic task). All participants then completed a memory test in which they identified changes to manners of motion and path endpoints in target events. In the Nonlinguistic task, eye movements and memory responses revealed striking similarities across age groups. Adults and preschoolers attended to manner and path endpoints with similar timing, and in the memory test both successfully detected manner and path changes at similar rates. Substantial differences in production emerged between age groups in the Linguistic task: whereas adults usually mentioned both manners and paths in their event descriptions, preschoolers tended to omit one event component or the other. However, eyegaze patterns remained equivalent across the two age groups, with both children and adults allocating more attention to event components that they planned to talk about. Children in the Linguistic task were at chance in the memory test, whereas adults actually showed a memory benefit as compared to the Nonlinguistic task. We conclude that developmental differences in the description of motion events are not due to pure attentional differences between adults and children, but leave open the possibility that they stem from limitations that are solely linguistic in nature or that arise at the interface of attention and language production. PMID:22055989

The Effect of Focus on Form and Task Complexity on L2 Learners' Oral Task Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Salimi, Asghar

2015-01-01

Second Language learners' oral task performance has been one of interesting and research generating areas of investigations in the field of second language acquisition specially, task-based language teaching and learning. The main purpose of the present study is to investigate the effect of focus on form and task complexity on L2 learners' oral…

The Role of Task Type in Foreign Language Written Production: Focusing on Fluency, Complexity, and Accuracy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rezazadeh, Mohsen; Tavakoli, Mansoor; Rasekh, Abbas Eslami

2011-01-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of two task types on foreign language written production. Particularly it addressed the issue of how three aspects of language production (i.e. fluency, complexity, and accuracy) vary among two different task types (i.e. argumentative writing task and instruction writing task). One hundred sixty…

Opposite brain laterality in analogous auditory and visual tests.

PubMed

Oltedal, Leif; Hugdahl, Kenneth

2017-11-01

Laterality for language processing can be assessed by auditory and visual tasks. Typically, a right ear/right visual half-field (VHF) advantage is observed, reflecting left-hemispheric lateralization for language. Historically, auditory tasks have shown more consistent and reliable results when compared to VHF tasks. While few studies have compared analogous tasks applied to both sensory modalities for the same participants, one such study by Voyer and Boudreau [(2003). Cross-modal correlation of auditory and visual language laterality tasks: a serendipitous finding. Brain Cogn, 53(2), 393-397] found opposite laterality for visual and auditory language tasks. We adapted an experimental paradigm based on a dichotic listening and VHF approach, and applied the combined language paradigm in two separate experiments, including fMRI in the second experiment to measure brain activation in addition to behavioural data. The first experiment showed a right-ear advantage for the auditory task, but a left half-field advantage for the visual task. The second experiment, confirmed the findings, with opposite laterality effects for the visual and auditory tasks. In conclusion, we replicate the finding by Voyer and Boudreau (2003) and support their interpretation that these visual and auditory language tasks measure different cognitive processes.

Does grammatical aspect affect motion event cognition? A cross-linguistic comparison of English and Swedish speakers.

PubMed

Athanasopoulos, Panos; Bylund, Emanuel

2013-03-01

In this article, we explore whether cross-linguistic differences in grammatical aspect encoding may give rise to differences in memory and cognition. We compared native speakers of two languages that encode aspect differently (English and Swedish) in four tasks that examined verbal descriptions of stimuli, online triads matching, and memory-based triads matching with and without verbal interference. Results showed between-group differences in verbal descriptions and in memory-based triads matching. However, no differences were found in online triads matching and in memory-based triads matching with verbal interference. These findings need to be interpreted in the context of the overall pattern of performance, which indicated that both groups based their similarity judgments on common perceptual characteristics of motion events. These results show for the first time a cross-linguistic difference in memory as a function of differences in grammatical aspect encoding, but they also contribute to the emerging view that language fine tunes rather than shapes perceptual processes that are likely to be universal and unchanging. Copyright © 2012 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

The Effects of Mode and Task Complexity on Second Language Production

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vasylets, Olena; Gilabert, Roger; Manchón, Rosa M.

2017-01-01

Taking a psycholinguistic orientation within task-based language teaching scholarship, this study investigated the effects of mode (oral vs. written) and task complexity on second language (L2) performance. The participants were 78 Catalan/Spanish learners of English as a foreign language. Half of the participants performed the simple and complex…

Language Mediation in an L3 Classroom: The Role of Task Modalities and Task Types

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Payant, Caroline; Kim, YouJin

2015-01-01

Pedagogical tasks in language learning settings promote learner-learner interaction and provide second language (L2) learners with opportunities to process authentic input and produce output (Philp, Adams, & Iwashita, 2014). During these interactions, learners use their language repertoire to mediate their output (Swain & Lapkin, 2000).…

Learner Use of Holistic Language Units in Multimodal, Task-Based Synchronous Computer-Mediated Communication

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Collentine, Karina

2009-01-01

Second language acquisition (SLA) researchers strive to understand the language and exchanges that learners generate in synchronous computer-mediated communication (SCMC). Doughty and Long (2003) advocate replacing open-ended SCMC with task-based language teaching (TBLT) design principles. Since most task-based SCMC (TB-SCMC) research addresses an…

Abnormal functional lateralization and activity of language brain areas in typical specific language impairment (developmental dysphasia)

PubMed Central

De Guibert, Clément; Maumet, Camille; Jannin, Pierre; Ferré, Jean-Christophe; Tréguier, Catherine; Barillot, Christian; Le Rumeur, Elisabeth; Allaire, Catherine; Biraben, Arnaud

2011-01-01

Atypical functional lateralization and specialization for language have been proposed to account for developmental language disorders, yet results from functional neuroimaging studies are sparse and inconsistent. This functional magnetic resonance imaging study compared children with a specific subtype of specific language impairment affecting structural language (n=21), to a matched group of typically-developing children using a panel of four language tasks neither requiring reading nor metalinguistic skills, including two auditory lexico-semantic tasks (category fluency and responsive naming) and two visual phonological tasks based on picture naming. Data processing involved normalizing the data with respect to a matched pairs pediatric template, groups and between-groups analysis, and laterality indexes assessment within regions of interest using single and combined task analysis. Children with specific language impairment exhibited a significant lack of left lateralization in all core language regions (inferior frontal gyrus-opercularis, inferior frontal gyrus-triangularis, supramarginal gyrus, superior temporal gyrus), across single or combined task analysis, but no difference of lateralization for the rest of the brain. Between-group comparisons revealed a left hypoactivation of Wernicke’s area at the posterior superior temporal/supramarginal junction during the responsive naming task, and a right hyperactivation encompassing the anterior insula with adjacent inferior frontal gyrus and the head of the caudate nucleus during the first phonological task. This study thus provides evidence that this specific subtype of specific language impairment is associated with atypical lateralization and functioning of core language areas. PMID:21719430

Lexical access in a bilingual speaker with dementia: Changes over time.

PubMed

Lind, Marianne; Simonsen, Hanne Gram; Ribu, Ingeborg Sophie Bjønness; Svendsen, Bente Ailin; Svennevig, Jan; de Bot, Kees

2018-01-01

In this article, we explore the naming skills of a bilingual English-Norwegian speaker diagnosed with Primary Progressive Aphasia, in each of his languages across three different speech contexts: confrontation naming, semi-spontaneous narrative (picture description), and conversation, and at two points in time: 12 and 30 months post diagnosis, respectively. The results are discussed in light of two main theories of lexical retrieval in healthy, elderly speakers: the Transmission Deficit Hypothesis and the Inhibitory Deficit Theory. Our data show that, consistent with the participant's premorbid use of and proficiency in the two languages, his performance in his L2 is lower than in his L1, but this difference diminishes as the disease progresses. This is the case across the three speech contexts; however, the difference is smaller in the narrative task, where his performance is very low in both languages already at the first measurement point. Despite his word finding problems, he is able to take active part in conversation, particularly in his L1 and more so at the first measurement point. In addition to the task effect, we find effects of word class, frequency, and cognateness on his naming skills. His performance seems to support the Transmission Deficit Hypothesis. By combining different tools and methods of analysis, we get a more comprehensive picture of the impact of the dementia on the speaker's languages from an intra-individual as well as an inter-individual perspective, which may be useful in research as well as in clinical practice.

Effects of Communication Tasks on the Grammatical Relations Marked by Second Language Learners.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Newton, Jonathan; Kennedy, Graeme

1996-01-01

Examines the morpho-syntax of task-based interaction and reports some possible grammatical consequences of interaction in split and shared information tasks undertaken by adult second language learners of English. Results indicate that communication tasks for language learning can be designed to influence the use of particular linguistic…

Mind the Gap: Task Design and Technology in Novice Language Teachers' Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smits, Tom F. H.; Oberhofer, Margret; Colpaert, Jozef

2016-01-01

This paper focuses on the possibilities/challenges for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers designing tasks grounded in Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) and taking advantage of the affordances of technology--Interactive WhiteBoards (IWBs). Teachers have been shown to confuse tasks with exercises or activities. The interactive…

From "rest" to language task: Task activation selects and prunes from broader resting-state network.

PubMed

Doucet, Gaelle E; He, Xiaosong; Sperling, Michael R; Sharan, Ashwini; Tracy, Joseph I

2017-05-01

Resting-state networks (RSNs) show spatial patterns generally consistent with networks revealed during cognitive tasks. However, the exact degree of overlap between these networks has not been clearly quantified. Such an investigation shows promise for decoding altered functional connectivity (FC) related to abnormal language functioning in clinical populations such as temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). In this context, we investigated the network configurations during a language task and during resting state using FC. Twenty-four healthy controls, 24 right and 24 left TLE patients completed a verb generation (VG) task and a resting-state fMRI scan. We compared the language network revealed by the VG task with three FC-based networks (seeding the left inferior frontal cortex (IFC)/Broca): two from the task (ON, OFF blocks) and one from the resting state. We found that, for both left TLE patients and controls, the RSN recruited regions bilaterally, whereas both VG-on and VG-off conditions produced more left-lateralized FC networks, matching more closely with the activated language network. TLE brings with it variability in both task-dependent and task-independent networks, reflective of atypical language organization. Overall, our findings suggest that our RSN captured bilateral activity, reflecting a set of prepotent language regions. We propose that this relationship can be best understood by the notion of pruning or winnowing down of the larger language-ready RSN to carry out specific task demands. Our data suggest that multiple types of network analyses may be needed to decode the association between language deficits and the underlying functional mechanisms altered by disease. Hum Brain Mapp 38:2540-2552, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Integrated Task And Data Parallel Programming: Language Design

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Grimshaw, Andrew S.; West, Emily A.

1998-01-01

his research investigates the combination of task and data parallel language constructs within a single programming language. There are an number of applications that exhibit properties which would be well served by such an integrated language. Examples include global climate models, aircraft design problems, and multidisciplinary design optimization problems. Our approach incorporates data parallel language constructs into an existing, object oriented, task parallel language. The language will support creation and manipulation of parallel classes and objects of both types (task parallel and data parallel). Ultimately, the language will allow data parallel and task parallel classes to be used either as building blocks or managers of parallel objects of either type, thus allowing the development of single and multi-paradigm parallel applications. 1995 Research Accomplishments In February I presented a paper at Frontiers '95 describing the design of the data parallel language subset. During the spring I wrote and defended my dissertation proposal. Since that time I have developed a runtime model for the language subset. I have begun implementing the model and hand-coding simple examples which demonstrate the language subset. I have identified an astrophysical fluid flow application which will validate the data parallel language subset. 1996 Research Agenda Milestones for the coming year include implementing a significant portion of the data parallel language subset over the Legion system. Using simple hand-coded methods, I plan to demonstrate (1) concurrent task and data parallel objects and (2) task parallel objects managing both task and data parallel objects. My next steps will focus on constructing a compiler and implementing the fluid flow application with the language. Concurrently, I will conduct a search for a real-world application exhibiting both task and data parallelism within the same program m. Additional 1995 Activities During the fall I collaborated with Andrew Grimshaw and Adam Ferrari to write a book chapter which will be included in Parallel Processing in C++ edited by Gregory Wilson. I also finished two courses, Compilers and Advanced Compilers, in 1995. These courses complete my class requirements at the University of Virginia. I have only my dissertation research and defense to complete.

Association between lesion location and language function in adult glioma using voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping.

PubMed

Banerjee, Pia; Leu, Kevin; Harris, Robert J; Cloughesy, Timothy F; Lai, Albert; Nghiemphu, Phioanh L; Pope, Whitney B; Bookheimer, Susan Y; Ellingson, Benjamin M

2015-01-01

Management of language difficulties is an important aspect of clinical care for glioma patients, and accurately identifying the possible language deficits in patients based on lesion location would be beneficial to clinicians. To that end, we examined the relationship between lesion presence and language performance on tests of receptive language and expressive language using a highly specific voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping (VLSM) approach in glioma patients. 98 adults with primary glioma, who were pre-surgical candidates, were administered seven neurocognitive tests within the domains of receptive language and expressive language. The association between language performance and lesion presence was examined using VLSM. Statistical parametric maps were created for each test, and composite maps for both receptive language and expressive language were created to display the significant voxels common to all tests within these language domains. We identified clusters of voxels with a significant relationship between lesion presence and language performance. All tasks were associated with several white matter pathways. The receptive language tasks were additionally all associated with regions primarily within the lateral temporal lobe and medial temporal lobe. In contrast, the expressive language tasks shared little overlap, despite each task being independently associated with large anatomic areas. Our findings identify the key anatomic structures involved in language functioning in adult glioma patients using an innovative lesion analysis technique and suggest that expressive language abilities may be more task-dependent and distributed than receptive language abilities.

Measuring Grammatical Development in Bilingual Mandarin-English Speaking Children with a Sentence Repetition Task

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Woon, Chai Ping; Yap, Ngee Thai; Lim, Hui Woan; Wong, Bee Eng

2014-01-01

Sentence repetition (SR) tasks have been used to measure children's expressive language skills in normal and abnormal language development, and to examine the development of the speaking skills in second language acquisition, as well as to survey the proficiency of bilingual language development. Recently, SR tasks have been recognized as a…

Electrocorticographic language mapping with a listening task consisting of alternating speech and music phrases.

PubMed

Mooij, Anne H; Huiskamp, Geertjan J M; Gosselaar, Peter H; Ferrier, Cyrille H

2016-02-01

Electrocorticographic (ECoG) mapping of high gamma activity induced by language tasks has been proposed as a more patient friendly alternative for electrocortical stimulation mapping (ESM), the gold standard in pre-surgical language mapping of epilepsy patients. However, ECoG mapping often reveals more language areas than considered critical with ESM. We investigated if critical language areas can be identified with a listening task consisting of speech and music phrases. Nine patients with implanted subdural grid electrodes listened to an audio fragment in which music and speech alternated. We analysed ECoG power in the 65-95 Hz band and obtained task-related activity patterns in electrodes over language areas. We compared the spatial distribution of sites that discriminated between listening to speech and music to ESM results using sensitivity and specificity calculations. Our listening task of alternating speech and music phrases had a low sensitivity (0.32) but a high specificity (0.95). The high specificity indicates that this test does indeed point to areas that are critical to language processing. Our test cannot replace ESM, but this short and simple task can give a reliable indication where to find critical language areas, better than ECoG mapping using language tasks alone. Copyright © 2015 International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Characterization of atypical language activation patterns in focal epilepsy.

PubMed

Berl, Madison M; Zimmaro, Lauren A; Khan, Omar I; Dustin, Irene; Ritzl, Eva; Duke, Elizabeth S; Sepeta, Leigh N; Sato, Susumu; Theodore, William H; Gaillard, William D

2014-01-01

Functional magnetic resonance imaging is sensitive to the variation in language network patterns. Large populations are needed to rigorously assess atypical patterns, which, even in neurological populations, are a minority. We studied 220 patients with focal epilepsy and 118 healthy volunteers who performed an auditory description decision task. We compared a data-driven hierarchical clustering approach to the commonly used a priori laterality index (LI) threshold (LI < 0.20 as atypical) to classify language patterns within frontal and temporal regions of interest. We explored (n = 128) whether IQ varied with different language activation patterns. The rate of atypical language among healthy volunteers (2.5%) and patients (24.5%) agreed with previous studies; however, we found 6 patterns of atypical language: a symmetrically bilateral, 2 unilaterally crossed, and 3 right dominant patterns. There was high agreement between classification methods, yet the cluster analysis revealed novel correlations with clinical features. Beyond the established association of left-handedness, early seizure onset, and vascular pathology with atypical language, cluster analysis identified an association of handedness with frontal lateralization, early seizure onset with temporal lateralization, and left hemisphere focus with a unilateral right pattern. Intelligence quotient was not significantly different among patterns. Language dominance is a continuum; however, our results demonstrate meaningful thresholds in classifying laterality. Atypical language patterns are less frequent but more variable than typical language patterns, posing challenges for accurate presurgical planning. Language dominance should be assessed on a regional rather than hemispheric basis, and clinical characteristics should inform evaluation of atypical language dominance. Reorganization of language is not uniformly detrimental to language functioning. © 2014 American Neurological Association.

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

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

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

1982-01-01

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

The framing effect in a monetary gambling task is robust in minimally verbal language switching contexts.

PubMed

Korn, Christoph W; Heekeren, Hauke R; Oganian, Yulia

2018-04-01

Decision-making biases, in particular the framing effect, can be altered in foreign language settings (foreign language effect) and following switching between languages (the language switching effect on framing). Recently, it has been suggested that the framing effect is only affected by foreign language use if the task is presented in a rich textual form. Here, we assess whether an elaborate verbal task is also a prerequisite for the language switching effect on framing. We employed a financial gambling task that induces a robust framing effect but is less verbal than the classical framing paradigms (e.g., the Asian disease problem). We conducted an online experiment ( n = 485), where we orthogonally manipulated language use and language switching between trials. The results showed no effects of foreign language use or language switching throughout the experiment. This online result was confirmed in a laboratory experiment ( n = 27). Overall, we find that language switching does not reduce the framing effect in a paradigm with little verbal content and thus that language switching effects seem contingent on the amount of verbal processing required.

An initial framework for the language of higher-order thinking mathematics practices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Staples, Megan E.; Truxaw, Mary P.

2012-09-01

This article presents an examination of the language demands of cognitively demanding tasks and proposes an initial framework for the language demands of higher-order mathematics thinking practices. We articulate four categories for this framework: language of generalisation, language of comparison, language of proportional reasoning, and language of analysing impact. These categories were developed out of our collaborative work to design and implement higher-order thinking tasks with a group of Grade 9 (14- and 15-year-olds) teachers teaching in a linguistically diverse setting; analyses of student work samples on these tasks; and our knowledge of the literature. We describe each type of language demand and then analyse student work in each category to reveal linguistic challenges facing students as they engage these mathematical tasks. Implications for teaching and professional development are discussed.

Montreal-Toulouse Language Assessment Battery: evidence of criterion validity from patients with aphasia.

PubMed

Pagliarin, Karina Carlesso; Ortiz, Karin Zazo; Barreto, Simone dos Santos; Pimenta Parente, Maria Alice de Mattos; Nespoulous, Jean-Luc; Joanette, Yves; Fonseca, Rochele Paz

2015-10-15

The Montreal-Toulouse Language Assessment Battery - Brazilian version (MTL-BR) provides a general description of language processing and related components in adults with brain injury. The present study aimed at verifying the criterion-related validity of the Montreal-Toulouse Language Assessment Battery - Brazilian version (MTL-BR) by assessing its ability to discriminate between individuals with unilateral brain damage with and without aphasia. The investigation was carried out in a Brazilian community-based sample of 104 adults, divided into four groups: 26 participants with left hemisphere damage (LHD) with aphasia, 25 participants with right hemisphere damage (RHD), 28 with LHD non-aphasic, and 25 healthy adults. There were significant differences between patients with aphasia and the other groups on most total and subtotal scores on MTL-BR tasks. The results showed strong criterion-related validity evidence for the MTL-BR Battery, and provided important information regarding hemispheric specialization and interhemispheric cooperation. Future research is required to search for additional evidence of sensitivity, specificity and validity of the MTL-BR in samples with different types of aphasia and degrees of language impairment. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Impaired reasoning and problem-solving in individuals with language impairment due to aphasia or language delay

PubMed Central

Baldo, Juliana V.; Paulraj, Selvi R.; Curran, Brian C.; Dronkers, Nina F.

2015-01-01

The precise nature of the relationship between language and thought is an intriguing and challenging area of inquiry for scientists across many disciplines. In the realm of neuropsychology, research has investigated the inter-dependence of language and thought by testing individuals with compromised language abilities and observing whether performance in other cognitive domains is diminished. One group of such individuals is patients with aphasia who have an impairment in speech and language arising from a brain injury, such as a stroke. Our previous research has shown that the degree of language impairment in these individuals is strongly associated with the degree of impairment on complex reasoning tasks, such as the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task (WCST) and Raven’s Matrices. In the current study, we present new data from a large group of individuals with aphasia that show a dissociation in performance between putatively non-verbal tasks on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) that require differing degrees of reasoning (Picture Completion vs. Picture Arrangement tasks). We also present an update and replication of our previous findings with the WCST showing that individuals with the most profound core language deficits (i.e., impaired comprehension and disordered language output) are particularly impaired on problem-solving tasks. In the second part of the paper, we present findings from a neurologically intact individual known as “Chelsea” who was not exposed to language due to an unaddressed hearing loss that was present since birth. At the age of 32, she was fitted with hearing aids and exposed to spoken and signed language for the first time, but she was only able to acquire a limited language capacity. Chelsea was tested on a series of standardized neuropsychological measures, including reasoning and problem-solving tasks. She was able to perform well on a number of visuospatial tasks but was disproportionately impaired on tasks that required reasoning, such as Raven’s Matrices and the WAIS Picture Arrangement task. Together, these findings suggest that language supports complex reasoning, possibly due to the facilitative role of verbal working memory and inner speech in higher mental processes. PMID:26578991

Integrated Task and Data Parallel Programming

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Grimshaw, A. S.

1998-01-01

This research investigates the combination of task and data parallel language constructs within a single programming language. There are an number of applications that exhibit properties which would be well served by such an integrated language. Examples include global climate models, aircraft design problems, and multidisciplinary design optimization problems. Our approach incorporates data parallel language constructs into an existing, object oriented, task parallel language. The language will support creation and manipulation of parallel classes and objects of both types (task parallel and data parallel). Ultimately, the language will allow data parallel and task parallel classes to be used either as building blocks or managers of parallel objects of either type, thus allowing the development of single and multi-paradigm parallel applications. 1995 Research Accomplishments In February I presented a paper at Frontiers 1995 describing the design of the data parallel language subset. During the spring I wrote and defended my dissertation proposal. Since that time I have developed a runtime model for the language subset. I have begun implementing the model and hand-coding simple examples which demonstrate the language subset. I have identified an astrophysical fluid flow application which will validate the data parallel language subset. 1996 Research Agenda Milestones for the coming year include implementing a significant portion of the data parallel language subset over the Legion system. Using simple hand-coded methods, I plan to demonstrate (1) concurrent task and data parallel objects and (2) task parallel objects managing both task and data parallel objects. My next steps will focus on constructing a compiler and implementing the fluid flow application with the language. Concurrently, I will conduct a search for a real-world application exhibiting both task and data parallelism within the same program. Additional 1995 Activities During the fall I collaborated with Andrew Grimshaw and Adam Ferrari to write a book chapter which will be included in Parallel Processing in C++ edited by Gregory Wilson. I also finished two courses, Compilers and Advanced Compilers, in 1995. These courses complete my class requirements at the University of Virginia. I have only my dissertation research and defense to complete.

Language Tasks Using Touch Screen and Mobile Technologies: Reconceptualizing Task-Based CALL for Young Language Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pellerin, Martine

2014-01-01

This article examines how the use of mobile technologies (iPods and tablets) in language classrooms contributes to redesigning task-based approaches for young language learners. The article is based on a collaborative action research (CAR) project in Early French Immersion classrooms in the province of Alberta, Canada. The data collection included…

Digital systems design language

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shiva, S. G.

1979-01-01

Digital Systems Design Language (DDL) is implemented on the SEL-32 Computer Systems. The detaileds of the language, the translator, and the simulator, and the smulator programs are given. Several example descriptions and a tutorial on hardware description languages are provided, to guide the user.

[Assessment of sociocognitive functions in neurological patients Presentation of a French adaptation of two tools and implementation in frontal dementia].

PubMed

Ehrlé, Nathalie; Henry, Audrey; Pesa, Audrey; Bakchine, Serge

2011-03-01

This paper presents a French battery designed to assess emotional and sociocognitive abilities in neurological patients in clinical practice. The first part of this battery includes subtests assessing emotions: a recognition task of primary facial emotions, a discrimination task of facial emotions, a task of expressive intensity judgment, a task of gender identification, a recognition task of musical emotions. The second part intends to assess some sociocognitive abilities, that is mainly theory of mind (attribution tasks of mental states to others: false believe tasks of first and second order, faux-pas task) and social norms (moral/conventional distinction task, social situations task) but also abstract language and humour. We present a general description of the battery with special attention to specific methodological constraints for the assessment of neurological patients. After a brief introduction to moral and conventional judgments (definition and current theoretical basis), the French version of the social norm task from RJR Blair (Blair and Cipolotti, 2000) is developed. The relevance of these tasks in frontal variant of frontotemporal dementia (fvFTD is illustrated by the report of the results of a study conducted in 18 patients by the Cambridge group and by the personal study of a patient with early stage of vfFTD. The relevance of the diagnostic of sociocognitive impairment in neurological patients is discussed.

Language mapping in children using resting-state functional connectivity: comparison with a task-based approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gallagher, Anne; Tremblay, Julie; Vannasing, Phetsamone

2016-12-01

Patients with brain tumor or refractory epilepsy may be candidates for neurosurgery. Presurgical evaluation often includes language investigation to prevent or reduce the risk of postsurgical language deficits. Current techniques involve significant limitations with pediatric populations. Recently, near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) has been shown to be a valuable neuroimaging technique for language localization in children. However, it typically requires the child to perform a task (task-based NIRS), which may constitute a significant limitation. Resting-state functional connectivity NIRS (fcNIRS) is an approach that can be used to identify language networks at rest. This study aims to assess the utility of fcNIRS in children by comparing fcNIRS to more conventional task-based NIRS for language mapping in 33 healthy participants: 25 children (ages 3 to 16) and 8 adults. Data were acquired at rest and during a language task. Results show very good concordance between both approaches for language localization (Dice similarity coefficient=0.81±0.13) and hemispheric language dominance (kappa=0.86, p<0.006). The fcNIRS technique may be a valuable tool for language mapping in clinical populations, including children and patients with cognitive and behavioral impairments.

Assessing true and false belief in young children with cerebral palsy through anticipatory gaze behaviours: a pilot study.

PubMed

Clarke, Michael T; Loganathan, Deborah; Swettenham, John

2012-01-01

Children with a clinical description of cerebral palsy (CP) commonly experience cognitive and sensory difficulties that co-occur with motor impairment, and for some children this can include impairments in social communication. While research has begun to examine theory of mind abilities in children with CP, relatively little is known about social communication difficulties in this population. Assessing theory of mind abilities in children with CP using traditional procedures such as the classic Sally-Anne task can be problematic if performance is affected by physical difficulties in signalling responses and/or by cognitive and language demands inherent to the task itself. The central aim of this study therefore was to examine the potential of using a new action anticipation task and eye-tracking technique to assess implicit true and false belief understanding in four developmentally young children with quadriplegic cerebral palsy who had little or no functional speech, and one language age matched child with Down syndrome who did not have severe motor impairment. All children in this study consistently demonstrated anticipatory gaze behaviours in the context of the true belief task. One child with CP and the child with Down syndrome demonstrated anticipatory gaze behaviours indicative of an ability to attribute false belief. The findings are discussed in relation to the application of action anticipation and eye-tracking paradigms in research and clinical practice. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Content Familiarity, Task Repetition and Chinese EFL Learners' Engagement in Second Language Use

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Qiu, Xuyan; Lo, Yuen Yi

2017-01-01

Previous research has considered the effects of content familiarity and task repetition on second language (L2) performance, but few studies have looked at the effect of these factors on learners' engagement in task performance. This study explores the influence of content familiarity and task repetition on English as a foreign language (EFL)…

Digital systems design language. Design synthesis of digital systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shiva, S. G.

1979-01-01

The Digital Systems Design Language (DDL) is implemented on the SEL-32 computer systems. The details of the language, translator and simulator programs are included. Several example descriptions and a tutorial on hardware description languages are provided, to guide the user.

A New Paradigm for Individual Subject Language Mapping: Movie-Watching fMRI.

PubMed

Tie, Yanmei; Rigolo, Laura; Ozdemir Ovalioglu, Aysegul; Olubiyi, Olutayo; Doolin, Kelly L; Mukundan, Srinivasan; Golby, Alexandra J

2015-01-01

Functional MRI (fMRI) based on language tasks has been used in presurgical language mapping in patients with lesions in or near putative language areas. However, if patients have difficulty performing the tasks due to neurological deficits, it leads to unreliable or noninterpretable results. In this study, we investigate the feasibility of using a movie-watching fMRI for language mapping. A 7-minute movie clip with contrasting speech and nonspeech segments was shown to 22 right-handed healthy subjects. Based on all subjects' language functional regions-of-interest, 6 language response areas were defined, within which a language response model (LRM) was derived by extracting the main temporal activation profile. Using a leave-one-out procedure, individuals' language areas were identified as the areas that expressed highly correlated temporal responses with the LRM derived from an independent group of subjects. Compared with an antonym generation task-based fMRI, the movie-watching fMRI generated language maps with more localized activations in the left frontal language area, larger activations in the left temporoparietal language area, and significant activations in their right-hemisphere homologues. Results of 2 brain tumor patients' movie-watching fMRI using the LRM derived from the healthy subjects indicated its ability to map putative language areas; while their task-based fMRI maps were less robust and noisier. These results suggest that it is feasible to use this novel "task-free" paradigm as a complementary tool for fMRI language mapping when patients cannot perform the tasks. Its deployment in more neurosurgical patients and validation against gold-standard techniques need further investigation. Copyright © 2015 by the American Society of Neuroimaging.

A new paradigm for individual subject language mapping: Movie-watching fMRI

PubMed Central

Tie, Yanmei; Rigolo, Laura; Ovalioglu, Aysegul Ozdemir; Olubiyi, Olutayo; Doolin, Kelly L.; Mukundan, Srinivasan; Golby, Alexandra J.

2015-01-01

Background Functional MRI (fMRI) based on language tasks has been used in pre-surgical language mapping in patients with lesions in or near putative language areas. However, if the patients have difficulty performing the tasks due to neurological deficits, it leads to unreliable or non-interpretable results. In this study, we investigate the feasibility of using a movie-watching fMRI for language mapping. Methods A 7-min movie clip with contrasting speech and non-speech segments was shown to 22 right-handed healthy subjects. Based on all subjects' language functional regions-of-interest, six language response areas were defined, within which a language response model (LRM) was derived by extracting the main temporal activation profile. Using a leave-one-out procedure, individuals' language areas were identified as the areas that expressed highly correlated temporal responses with the LRM derived from an independent group of subjects. Results Compared with an antonym generation task-based fMRI, the movie-watching fMRI generated language maps with more localized activations in the left frontal language area, larger activations in the left temporoparietal language area, and significant activations in their right-hemisphere homologues. Results of two brain tumor patients' movie-watching fMRI using the LRM derived from the healthy subjects indicated its ability to map putative language areas; while their task-based fMRI maps were less robust and noisier. Conclusions These results suggest that it is feasible to use this novel “task-free” paradigm as a complementary tool for fMRI language mapping when patients cannot perform the tasks. Its deployment in more neurosurgical patients and validation against gold-standard techniques need further investigation. PMID:25962953

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.

Semantic biomedical resource discovery: a Natural Language Processing framework.

PubMed

Sfakianaki, Pepi; Koumakis, Lefteris; Sfakianakis, Stelios; Iatraki, Galatia; Zacharioudakis, Giorgos; Graf, Norbert; Marias, Kostas; Tsiknakis, Manolis

2015-09-30

A plethora of publicly available biomedical resources do currently exist and are constantly increasing at a fast rate. In parallel, specialized repositories are been developed, indexing numerous clinical and biomedical tools. The main drawback of such repositories is the difficulty in locating appropriate resources for a clinical or biomedical decision task, especially for non-Information Technology expert users. In parallel, although NLP research in the clinical domain has been active since the 1960s, progress in the development of NLP applications has been slow and lags behind progress in the general NLP domain. The aim of the present study is to investigate the use of semantics for biomedical resources annotation with domain specific ontologies and exploit Natural Language Processing methods in empowering the non-Information Technology expert users to efficiently search for biomedical resources using natural language. A Natural Language Processing engine which can "translate" free text into targeted queries, automatically transforming a clinical research question into a request description that contains only terms of ontologies, has been implemented. The implementation is based on information extraction techniques for text in natural language, guided by integrated ontologies. Furthermore, knowledge from robust text mining methods has been incorporated to map descriptions into suitable domain ontologies in order to ensure that the biomedical resources descriptions are domain oriented and enhance the accuracy of services discovery. The framework is freely available as a web application at ( http://calchas.ics.forth.gr/ ). For our experiments, a range of clinical questions were established based on descriptions of clinical trials from the ClinicalTrials.gov registry as well as recommendations from clinicians. Domain experts manually identified the available tools in a tools repository which are suitable for addressing the clinical questions at hand, either individually or as a set of tools forming a computational pipeline. The results were compared with those obtained from an automated discovery of candidate biomedical tools. For the evaluation of the results, precision and recall measurements were used. Our results indicate that the proposed framework has a high precision and low recall, implying that the system returns essentially more relevant results than irrelevant. There are adequate biomedical ontologies already available, sufficiency of existing NLP tools and quality of biomedical annotation systems for the implementation of a biomedical resources discovery framework, based on the semantic annotation of resources and the use on NLP techniques. The results of the present study demonstrate the clinical utility of the application of the proposed framework which aims to bridge the gap between clinical question in natural language and efficient dynamic biomedical resources discovery.

Using Nonword Repetition Tasks for the Identification of Language Impairment in Spanish-English Speaking Children: Does the Language of Assessment Matter?

PubMed Central

Gutiérrez-Clellen, Vera F.; Simon-Cereijido, Gabriela

2012-01-01

The purpose of this study was twofold: (a) to evaluate the clinical utility of a verbal working memory measure, specifically, a nonword repetition task, with a sample of Spanish-English bilingual children and (b) to determine the extent to which individual differences in relative language skills and language use had an effect on the clinical differentiation of these children by the measures. A total of 144 Latino children (95 children with typical language development and 49 children with language impairment) were tested using nonword lists developed for each language. The results show that the clinical accuracy of nonword repetition tasks varies depending on the language(s) tested. Test performance appeared related to individual differences in language use and exposure. The findings do not support a monolingual approach to the assessment of bilingual children with nonword repetition tasks, even if children appear fluent speakers in the language of testing. Nonword repetition may assist in the screening of Latino children if used bilingually and in combination with other clinical measures. PMID:22707854

Metanotes (Written Languaging) in a Translation Task: Do L2 Proficiency and Task Outcome Matter?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ishikawa, Masako

2015-01-01

Languaging has been identified as a contributor to language learning. Yet, compared to oral languaging, such as collaborative dialogs in contextualized settings, little seems to be known about written languaging. In order to fill this gap, this study investigates languaging in the form of "metanotes," that is, metatalk in a written…

Deaf children's non-verbal working memory is impacted by their language experience

PubMed Central

Marshall, Chloë; Jones, Anna; Denmark, Tanya; Mason, Kathryn; Atkinson, Joanna; Botting, Nicola; Morgan, Gary

2015-01-01

Several recent studies have suggested that deaf children perform more poorly on working memory tasks compared to hearing children, but these studies have not been able to determine whether this poorer performance arises directly from deafness itself or from deaf children's reduced language exposure. The issue remains unresolved because findings come mostly from (1) tasks that are verbal as opposed to non-verbal, and (2) involve deaf children who use spoken communication and therefore may have experienced impoverished input and delayed language acquisition. This is in contrast to deaf children who have been exposed to a sign language since birth from Deaf parents (and who therefore have native language-learning opportunities within a normal developmental timeframe for language acquisition). A more direct, and therefore stronger, test of the hypothesis that the type and quality of language exposure impact working memory is to use measures of non-verbal working memory (NVWM) and to compare hearing children with two groups of deaf signing children: those who have had native exposure to a sign language, and those who have experienced delayed acquisition and reduced quality of language input compared to their native-signing peers. In this study we investigated the relationship between NVWM and language in three groups aged 6–11 years: hearing children (n = 28), deaf children who were native users of British Sign Language (BSL; n = 8), and deaf children who used BSL but who were not native signers (n = 19). We administered a battery of non-verbal reasoning, NVWM, and language tasks. We examined whether the groups differed on NVWM scores, and whether scores on language tasks predicted scores on NVWM tasks. For the two executive-loaded NVWM tasks included in our battery, the non-native signers performed less accurately than the native signer and hearing groups (who did not differ from one another). Multiple regression analysis revealed that scores on the vocabulary measure predicted scores on those two executive-loaded NVWM tasks (with age and non-verbal reasoning partialled out). Our results suggest that whatever the language modality—spoken or signed—rich language experience from birth, and the good language skills that result from this early age of acquisition, play a critical role in the development of NVWM and in performance on NVWM tasks. PMID:25999875

Does a Speaking Task Affect Second Language Comprehensibility?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Crowther, Dustin; Trofimovich, Pavel; Isaacs, Talia; Saito, Kazuya

2015-01-01

The current study investigated task effects on listener perception of second language (L2) comprehensibility (ease of understanding). Sixty university-level adult speakers of English from 4 first language (L1) backgrounds (Chinese, Romance, Hindi, Farsi), with 15 speakers per group, were recorded performing 2 tasks (IELTS long-turn speaking task…

Task-Based Language Learning and Teaching: An Action-Research Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Calvert, Megan; Sheen, Younghee

2015-01-01

The creation, implementation, and evaluation of language learning tasks remain a challenge for many teachers, especially those with limited experience with using tasks in their teaching. This action-research study reports on one teacher's experience of developing, implementing, critically reflecting on, and modifying a language learning task…

Tracking Immanent Language Learning Behavior Over Time in Task-Based Classroom Work

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kunitz, Silvia; Marian, Klara Skogmyr

2017-01-01

In this study, the authors explore how classroom tasks that are commonly used in task-based language teaching (TBLT) are achieved as observable aspects of "local educational order" (Hester & Francis, 2000) through observable and immanently social classroom behaviors. They focus specifically on students' language learning behaviors,…

The Loyal Opposition Comments on Plan Domain Description Languages

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Frank, Jeremy; Golden, Keith; Jonsson, Ari

2003-01-01

In this paper we take a critical look at PDDL 2.1 as designers and users of plan domain description languages. We describe planning domains that have features which are hard to model using PDDL 2.1. We then offer some suggestions on domain description language design, and describe how these suggestions make modeling our chosen domains easier.

The Manu-Facturing of a Language.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Washabaugh, William

1980-01-01

Discusses Providence Island Sign Language (PSL), an autochthonous and relatively immature language of about 20 speakers. It is a nascent and evolving language whose description can produce rich results for linguistic theory. Such a description will also be an explanation of the phylogeny of a linguistic system. (Author/PJM)

Usage of fMRI for pre-surgical planning in brain tumor and vascular lesion patients: task and statistical threshold effects on language lateralization.

PubMed

Nadkarni, Tanvi N; Andreoli, Matthew J; Nair, Veena A; Yin, Peng; Young, Brittany M; Kundu, Bornali; Pankratz, Joshua; Radtke, Andrew; Holdsworth, Ryan; Kuo, John S; Field, Aaron S; Baskaya, Mustafa K; Moritz, Chad H; Meyerand, M Elizabeth; Prabhakaran, Vivek

2015-01-01

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a non-invasive pre-surgical tool used to assess localization and lateralization of language function in brain tumor and vascular lesion patients in order to guide neurosurgeons as they devise a surgical approach to treat these lesions. We investigated the effect of varying the statistical thresholds as well as the type of language tasks on functional activation patterns and language lateralization. We hypothesized that language lateralization indices (LIs) would be threshold- and task-dependent. Imaging data were collected from brain tumor patients (n = 67, average age 48 years) and vascular lesion patients (n = 25, average age 43 years) who received pre-operative fMRI scanning. Both patient groups performed expressive (antonym and/or letter-word generation) and receptive (tumor patients performed text-reading; vascular lesion patients performed text-listening) language tasks. A control group (n = 25, average age 45 years) performed the letter-word generation task. Brain tumor patients showed left-lateralization during the antonym-word generation and text-reading tasks at high threshold values and bilateral activation during the letter-word generation task, irrespective of the threshold values. Vascular lesion patients showed left-lateralization during the antonym and letter-word generation, and text-listening tasks at high threshold values. Our results suggest that the type of task and the applied statistical threshold influence LI and that the threshold effects on LI may be task-specific. Thus identifying critical functional regions and computing LIs should be conducted on an individual subject basis, using a continuum of threshold values with different tasks to provide the most accurate information for surgical planning to minimize post-operative language deficits.

Atypical cortical language organization in epilepsy patients: evidence for divergent hemispheric dominance for receptive and expressive language function.

PubMed

Eliashiv, Dawn S; Kurelowech, Lacey; Quint, Patti; Chung, Jeffrey M; Otis, Shirley M; Gage, Nicole M

2014-06-01

The central goal of presurgical language mapping is to identify brain regions that subserve cortical language function to minimize postsurgical language deficits. Presurgical language mapping in patients with epilepsy presents a key challenge because of the atypical pattern of hemispheric language dominance found in this population, with higher incidences of bilateral and right-biased language dominance than typical. In this prospective study, we combine magnetoencephalography with a panel of tasks designed to separately assess receptive and expressive function to provide a sensitive measure of language function in 15 candidates for resective surgery. We report the following: 4 of 15 patients (27%) showed left hemisphere dominance across all tasks, 4 of 15 patients (27%) showed right hemisphere dominance across all tasks, and 7 of 15 (46%) showed discordant language dominance, with right-dominant receptive and left-dominant expressive language. All patients with discordant language dominance showed this right-receptive and left-expressive pattern. Results provide further evidence supporting the importance of using a panel of tasks to assess separable aspects of language function. The clinical relevance of the findings is discussed, especially about current clinical operative measures for assessing language dominance, which use single hemisphere procedure (intracarotid amobarbital procedure and awake intraoperative stimulation) for determining language laterality.

106-17 Telemetry Standards Metadata Configuration Chapter 23

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-07-01

23-1 23.2 Metadata Description Language ...Chapter 23, July 2017 iii Acronyms HTML Hypertext Markup Language MDL Metadata Description Language PCM pulse code modulation TMATS Telemetry...Attributes Transfer Standard W3C World Wide Web Consortium XML eXtensible Markup Language XSD XML schema document Telemetry Network Standard

Vietnamese children and language-based processing tasks.

PubMed

Hwa-Froelich, Deborah A; Matsuo, Hisako

2005-07-01

Vietnamese children's performance on language-based processing tasks of fast-mapping (FM) word-learning and dynamic assessment (DA) word- and rule-learning tasks were investigated. Twenty-one first- and second-generation Vietnamese preschool children participated in this study. All children were enrolled in 2 Head Start programs in a large city in the Midwest. All children had passed a developmental assessment and routine speech, language, and hearing screenings. All participants were taught 4 invented monosyllabic words in an FM word task, an invented monosyllabic suffix rule (-po) meaning "a part of" in a DA rule task, and 4 invented bisyllabic words in a DA word task. Potential relationships among task performances were investigated. Receptive task performances, expressive task performances, and task totals were added to create receptive total, expressive total, and accumulated performance total (APT) scores. Relationships among receptive total, expressive total, and APT scores were also investigated. Significant correlations were found between FM word, DA rule, and the receptive total. The expressive total correlated with all task total scores, APT, age, and modifiability scores. Modifiability scores correlated with the two DA tasks, expressive total, and the APT. Findings indicate that FM word and the expressive total were positively correlated with most of the other tasks, composite totals, and age. Performance on language-based processing tasks may provide valuable information for separating typically developing Vietnamese preschool children from their peers with language disorders. Practitioners should consider linguistic characteristics of target stimuli. Comparisons should include task, receptive, expressive, and APT.

Effects of Hearing Status and Sign Language Use on Working Memory

PubMed Central

Sarchet, Thomastine; Trani, Alexandra

2016-01-01

Deaf individuals have been found to score lower than hearing individuals across a variety of memory tasks involving both verbal and nonverbal stimuli, particularly those requiring retention of serial order. Deaf individuals who are native signers, meanwhile, have been found to score higher on visual-spatial memory tasks than on verbal-sequential tasks and higher on some visual-spatial tasks than hearing nonsigners. However, hearing status and preferred language modality (signed or spoken) frequently are confounded in such studies. That situation is resolved in the present study by including deaf students who use spoken language and sign language interpreting students (hearing signers) as well as deaf signers and hearing nonsigners. Three complex memory span tasks revealed overall advantages for hearing signers and nonsigners over both deaf signers and deaf nonsigners on 2 tasks involving memory for verbal stimuli (letters). There were no differences among the groups on the task involving visual-spatial stimuli. The results are consistent with and extend recent findings concerning the effects of hearing status and language on memory and are discussed in terms of language modality, hearing status, and cognitive abilities among deaf and hearing individuals. PMID:26755684

Languaging in Translation Tasks Used in a University Setting: Particular Potential for Student Agency?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kallkvist, Marie

2013-01-01

This article explores the value of judiciously used first language (L1)-to-second language (L2) translation in meaning-focused, advanced-level academic language education. It examines languaging in the teacher-led discourse (TLD) that arises when translation tasks are used and compares it to languaging during the TLD engendered by 4 other…

The effects of ethnicity, musicianship, and tone language experience on pitch perception.

PubMed

Zheng, Yi; Samuel, Arthur G

2018-02-01

Language and music are intertwined: music training can facilitate language abilities, and language experiences can also help with some music tasks. Possible language-music transfer effects are explored in two experiments in this study. In Experiment 1, we tested native Mandarin, Korean, and English speakers on a pitch discrimination task with two types of sounds: speech sounds and fundamental frequency (F0) patterns derived from speech sounds. To control for factors that might influence participants' performance, we included cognitive ability tasks testing memory and intelligence. In addition, two music skill tasks were used to examine general transfer effects from language to music. Prior studies showing that tone language speakers have an advantage on pitch tasks have been taken as support for three alternative hypotheses: specific transfer effects, general transfer effects, and an ethnicity effect. In Experiment 1, musicians outperformed non-musicians on both speech and F0 sounds, suggesting a music-to-language transfer effect. Korean and Mandarin speakers performed similarly, and they both outperformed English speakers, providing some evidence for an ethnicity effect. Alternatively, this could be due to population selection bias. In Experiment 2, we recruited Chinese Americans approximating the native English speakers' language background to further test the ethnicity effect. Chinese Americans, regardless of their tone language experiences, performed similarly to their non-Asian American counterparts in all tasks. Therefore, although this study provides additional evidence of transfer effects across music and language, it casts doubt on the contribution of ethnicity to differences observed in pitch perception and general music abilities.

A Test for the Assessment of Pragmatic Abilities and Cognitive Substrates (APACS): Normative Data and Psychometric Properties

PubMed Central

Arcara, Giorgio; Bambini, Valentina

2016-01-01

The Assessment of Pragmatic Abilities and Cognitive Substrates (APACS) test is a new tool to evaluate pragmatic abilities in clinical populations with acquired communicative deficits, ranging from schizophrenia to neurodegenerative diseases. APACS focuses on two main domains, namely discourse and non-literal language, combining traditional tasks with refined linguistic materials in Italian, in a unified framework inspired by language pragmatics. The test includes six tasks (Interview, Description, Narratives, Figurative Language 1, Humor, Figurative Language 2) and three composite scores (Pragmatic Productions, Pragmatic Comprehension, APACS Total). Psychometric properties and normative data were computed on a sample of 119 healthy participants representative of the general population. The analysis revealed acceptable internal consistency and good test-retest reliability for almost every APACS task, suggesting that items are coherent and performance is consistent over time. Factor analysis supports the validity of the test, revealing two factors possibly related to different facets and substrates of the pragmatic competence. Finally, excellent match between APACS items and scores and the pragmatic constructs measured in the test was evidenced by experts' evaluation of content validity. The performance on APACS showed a general effect of demographic variables, with a negative effect of age and a positive effect of education. The norms were calculated by means of state-of-the-art regression methods. Overall, APACS is a valuable tool for the assessment of pragmatic deficits in verbal communication. The short duration and easiness of administration make the test especially suitable to use in clinical settings. In presenting APACS, we also aim at promoting the inclusion of pragmatics in the assessment practice, as a relevant dimension in defining the patient's cognitive profile, given its vital role for communication and social interaction in daily life. The combined use of APACS with other neuropsychological tests could also improve our understanding of the cognitive substrates of pragmatic abilities and their breakdown. PMID:26903894

Task-Based EFL Language Teaching with Procedural Information Design in a Technical Writing Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roy, Debopriyo

2017-01-01

Task-based language learning (TBLL) has heavily influenced syllabus design, classroom teaching, and learner assessment in a foreign or second language teaching context. In this English as foreign language (EFL) learning environment, the paper discussed an innovative language learning pedagogy based on design education and technical writing. In…

Using Trialogues to Measure English Language Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

So, Youngsoon; Zapata-Rivera, Diego; Cho, Yeonsuk; Luce, Christine; Battistini, Laura

2015-01-01

We explored the use of technology-assisted, trialogue-based tasks to measure the English language proficiency of students learning English as a second or foreign language. A presumed benefit of the system for language assessment is its suitability for use in scenario-based tasks that integrate multiple language skills. This integration allows test…

Balanced bilingualism and early age of second language acquisition as the underlying mechanisms of a bilingual executive control advantage: why variations in bilingual experiences matter

PubMed Central

Yow, W. Quin; Li, Xiaoqian

2015-01-01

Recent studies revealed inconsistent evidences of a bilingual advantage in executive processing. One potential source of explanation is the multifaceted experience of the bilinguals in these studies. This study seeks to test whether bilinguals who engage in language selection more frequently would perform better in executive control tasks than those bilinguals who engage in language selection less frequently. We examined the influence of the degree of bilingualism (i.e., language proficiency, frequency of use of two languages, and age of second language acquisition) on executive functioning in bilingual young adults using a comprehensive battery of executive control tasks. Seventy-two 18- to 25-years-old English–Mandarin bilinguals performed four computerized executive function (EF) tasks (Stroop, Eriksen flanker, number–letter switching, and n-back task) that measure the EF components: inhibition, mental-set shifting, and information updating and monitoring. Results from multiple regression analyses, structural equation modeling, and bootstrapping supported the positive association between age of second language acquisition and the interference cost in the Stroop task. Most importantly, we found a significant effect of balanced bilingualism (balanced usage of and balanced proficiency in two languages) on the Stroop and number–letter task (mixing cost only), indicating that a more balanced use and a more balanced level of proficiency in two languages resulted in better executive control skills in the adult bilinguals. We did not find any significant effect of bilingualism on flanker or n-back task. These findings provided important insights to the underlying mechanisms of the bilingual cognitive advantage hypothesis, demonstrating that regular experience with extensive practice in controlling attention to their two language systems results in better performance in related EFs such as inhibiting prepotent responses and global set-shifting. PMID:25767451

Balanced bilingualism and early age of second language acquisition as the underlying mechanisms of a bilingual executive control advantage: why variations in bilingual experiences matter.

PubMed

Yow, W Quin; Li, Xiaoqian

2015-01-01

Recent studies revealed inconsistent evidences of a bilingual advantage in executive processing. One potential source of explanation is the multifaceted experience of the bilinguals in these studies. This study seeks to test whether bilinguals who engage in language selection more frequently would perform better in executive control tasks than those bilinguals who engage in language selection less frequently. We examined the influence of the degree of bilingualism (i.e., language proficiency, frequency of use of two languages, and age of second language acquisition) on executive functioning in bilingual young adults using a comprehensive battery of executive control tasks. Seventy-two 18- to 25-years-old English-Mandarin bilinguals performed four computerized executive function (EF) tasks (Stroop, Eriksen flanker, number-letter switching, and n-back task) that measure the EF components: inhibition, mental-set shifting, and information updating and monitoring. Results from multiple regression analyses, structural equation modeling, and bootstrapping supported the positive association between age of second language acquisition and the interference cost in the Stroop task. Most importantly, we found a significant effect of balanced bilingualism (balanced usage of and balanced proficiency in two languages) on the Stroop and number-letter task (mixing cost only), indicating that a more balanced use and a more balanced level of proficiency in two languages resulted in better executive control skills in the adult bilinguals. We did not find any significant effect of bilingualism on flanker or n-back task. These findings provided important insights to the underlying mechanisms of the bilingual cognitive advantage hypothesis, demonstrating that regular experience with extensive practice in controlling attention to their two language systems results in better performance in related EFs such as inhibiting prepotent responses and global set-shifting.

Spatial language facilitates spatial cognition: Evidence from children who lack language input

PubMed Central

Gentner, Dedre; Özyürek, Asli; Gürcanli, Özge; Goldin-Meadow, Susan

2013-01-01

Does spatial language influence how people think about space? To address this question, we observed children who did not know a conventional language, and tested their performance on nonlinguistic spatial tasks. We studied deaf children living in Istanbul whose hearing losses prevented them from acquiring speech and whose hearing parents had not exposed them to sign. Lacking a conventional language, the children used gestures, called homesigns, to communicate. In Study 1, we asked whether homesigners used gesture to convey spatial relations, and found that they did not. In Study 2, we tested a new group of homesigners on a spatial mapping task, and found that they performed significantly worse than hearing Turkish children who were matched to the deaf children on another cognitive task. The absence of spatial language thus went hand-in-hand with poor performance on the nonlinguistic spatial task, pointing to the importance of spatial language in thinking about space. PMID:23542409

Task-Oriented Spoken Dialog System for Second-Language Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kwon, Oh-Woog; Kim, Young-Kil; Lee, Yunkeun

2016-01-01

This paper introduces a Dialog-Based Computer Assisted second-Language Learning (DB-CALL) system using task-oriented dialogue processing technology. The system promotes dialogue with a second-language learner for a specific task, such as purchasing tour tickets, ordering food, passing through immigration, etc. The dialog system plays a role of a…

Task Complexity, Language-Related Episodes, and Production of L2 Spanish Vowels

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Solon, Megan; Long, Avizia Y.; Gurzynski-Weiss, Laura

2017-01-01

This study tests the theoretical predictions regarding effects of increasing task complexity (Robinson, 2001a, 2001b, 2007, 2010; Robinson & Gilabert, 2007) for second language (L2) pronunciation. Specifically, we examine whether more complex tasks (a) lead to greater incidence of pronunciation-focused language-related episodes (LREs) and (b)…

Truth and probability in evolutionary games

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barrett, Jeffrey A.

2017-01-01

This paper concerns two composite Lewis-Skyrms signalling games. Each consists in a base game that evolves a language descriptive of nature and a metagame that coevolves a language descriptive of the base game and its evolving language. The first composite game shows how a pragmatic notion of truth might coevolve with a simple descriptive language. The second shows how a pragmatic notion of probability might similarly coevolve. Each of these pragmatic notions is characterised by the particular game and role that it comes to play in the game.

Resting-State Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging for Language Preoperative Planning

PubMed Central

Branco, Paulo; Seixas, Daniela; Deprez, Sabine; Kovacs, Silvia; Peeters, Ronald; Castro, São L.; Sunaert, Stefan

2016-01-01

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a well-known non-invasive technique for the study of brain function. One of its most common clinical applications is preoperative language mapping, essential for the preservation of function in neurosurgical patients. Typically, fMRI is used to track task-related activity, but poor task performance and movement artifacts can be critical limitations in clinical settings. Recent advances in resting-state protocols open new possibilities for pre-surgical mapping of language potentially overcoming these limitations. To test the feasibility of using resting-state fMRI instead of conventional active task-based protocols, we compared results from fifteen patients with brain lesions while performing a verb-to-noun generation task and while at rest. Task-activity was measured using a general linear model analysis and independent component analysis (ICA). Resting-state networks were extracted using ICA and further classified in two ways: manually by an expert and by using an automated template matching procedure. The results revealed that the automated classification procedure correctly identified language networks as compared to the expert manual classification. We found a good overlay between task-related activity and resting-state language maps, particularly within the language regions of interest. Furthermore, resting-state language maps were as sensitive as task-related maps, and had higher specificity. Our findings suggest that resting-state protocols may be suitable to map language networks in a quick and clinically efficient way. PMID:26869899

Task-Modality and L1 Use in EFL Oral Interaction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Azkarai, Agurtzane; del Pilar García Mayo, María

2015-01-01

This study examines whether task-modality (speaking vs. speaking+writing) influences first language (L1) use in task-based English as a foreign language (EFL) learner-learner interaction. Research on the topic has shown that different task-modality triggers different learning opportunities with collaborative speaking tasks drawing learners'…

Age-related differences in resolving semantic and phonological competition during receptive language tasks.

PubMed

Zhuang, Jie; Johnson, Micah A; Madden, David J; Burke, Deborah M; Diaz, Michele T

2016-12-01

Receptive language (e.g., reading) is largely preserved in the aging brain, and semantic processes in particular may continue to develop throughout the lifespan. We investigated the neural underpinnings of phonological and semantic retrieval in older and younger adults during receptive language tasks (rhyme and semantic similarity judgments). In particular, we were interested in the role of competition on language retrieval and varied the similarities between a cue, target, and distractor that were hypothesized to affect the mental process of competition. Behaviorally, all participants responded faster and more accurately during the rhyme task compared to the semantic task. Moreover, older adults demonstrated higher response accuracy than younger adults during the semantic task. Although there were no overall age-related differences in the neuroimaging results, an Age×Task interaction was found in left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), with older adults producing greater activation than younger adults during the semantic condition. These results suggest that at lower levels of task difficulty, older and younger adults engaged similar neural networks that benefited behavioral performance. As task difficulty increased during the semantic task, older adults relied more heavily on largely left hemisphere language regions, as well as regions involved in perception and internal monitoring. Our results are consistent with the stability of language comprehension across the adult lifespan and illustrate how the preservation of semantic representations with aging may influence performance under conditions of increased task difficulty. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Qualitative Differences between Bilingual Language Control and Executive Control: Evidence from Task-Switching

PubMed Central

Calabria, Marco; Hernández, Mireia; Branzi, Francesca M.; Costa, Albert

2012-01-01

Previous research has shown that highly proficient bilinguals have comparable switch costs in both directions when they switch between languages (L1 and L2), the so-called “symmetrical switch cost” effect. Interestingly, the same symmetry is also present when they switch between L1 and a much weaker L3. These findings suggest that highly proficient bilinguals develop a language control system that seems to be insensitive to language proficiency. In the present study, we explore whether the pattern of symmetrical switch costs in language switching tasks generalizes to a non-linguistic switching task in the same group of highly proficient bilinguals. The end goal of this is to assess whether bilingual language control (bLC) can be considered as subsidiary to domain-general executive control (EC). We tested highly proficient Catalan–Spanish bilinguals both in a linguistic switching task and in a non-linguistic switching task. In the linguistic task, participants named pictures in L1 and L2 (Experiment 1) or L3 (Experiment 2) depending on a cue presented with the picture (a flag). In the non-linguistic task, the same participants had to switch between two card sorting rule-sets (color and shape). Overall, participants showed symmetrical switch costs in the linguistic switching task, but not in the non-linguistic switching task. In a further analysis, we observed that in the linguistic switching task the asymmetry of the switch costs changed across blocks, while in the non-linguistic switching task an asymmetrical switch cost was observed throughout the task. The observation of different patterns of switch costs in the linguistic and the non-linguistic switching tasks suggest that the bLC system is not completely subsidiary to the domain-general EC system. PMID:22275905

A Domain Description Language for Data Processing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Golden, Keith

2003-01-01

We discuss an application of planning to data processing, a planning problem which poses unique challenges for domain description languages. We discuss these challenges and why the current PDDL standard does not meet them. We discuss DPADL (Data Processing Action Description Language), a language for describing planning domains that involve data processing. DPADL is a declarative, object-oriented language that supports constraints and embedded Java code, object creation and copying, explicit inputs and outputs for actions, and metadata descriptions of existing and desired data. DPADL is supported by the IMAGEbot system, which we are using to provide automation for an ecological forecasting application. We compare DPADL to PDDL and discuss changes that could be made to PDDL to make it more suitable for representing planning domains that involve data processing actions.

Incorporating Language Structure in a Communicative Task: An Analysis of the Language Component of a Communicative Task in the LINC Home Study Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lenchuk, Iryna

2014-01-01

The purpose of this article is to analyze a task included in the LINC Home Study (LHS) program. LHS is a federally funded distance education program offered to newcomers to Canada who are unable to attend regular LINC classes. A task, in which a language structure (a gerund) is chosen and analyzed, was selected from one instructional module of LHS…

Asthma management self-efficacy in parents of primary school-age children.

PubMed

Brown, Nicola; Gallagher, Robyn; Fowler, Cathrine; Wales, Sandra

2014-06-01

The aim of this study was to investigate asthma management self-efficacy in parents of primary school-age children with asthma and to explore possible associations between parent asthma management self-efficacy, parent and child characteristics, asthma task difficulty and asthma management responsibility. A cross-sectional descriptive survey of 113 parents was conducted to assess the level of parent asthma management self-efficacy, asthma task difficulty and confidence, asthma responsibility and socio-demographic characteristics. The findings indicate that parents had higher self-efficacy for attack prevention than attack management. Parents had higher self-efficacy for asthma management tasks that are simple, skills based and performed frequently such as medication administration and less confidence and greater difficulty with tasks associated with judgement and decision-making. Multivariate linear regression analysis identified English language, child asthma responsibility and parent education as predictors of higher asthma management self-efficacy, while an older child was associated with lower parent asthma management self-efficacy. The implications of these results for planning and targeting health education and self-management interventions for parents and children are discussed. © The Author(s) 2013.

Descriptive Metadata: Emerging Standards.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ahronheim, Judith R.

1998-01-01

Discusses metadata, digital resources, cross-disciplinary activity, and standards. Highlights include Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML); Extensible Markup Language (XML); Dublin Core; Resource Description Framework (RDF); Text Encoding Initiative (TEI); Encoded Archival Description (EAD); art and cultural-heritage metadata initiatives;…

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in Post-stroke Chronic Aphasia: The Impact of Baseline Severity and Task Specificity in a Pilot Sample

PubMed Central

Norise, Catherine; Sacchetti, Daniela; Hamilton, Roy

2017-01-01

Emerging evidence suggests that transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) can improve aspects of language production in persons with chronic non-fluent aphasia due to left hemisphere stroke. However, to date, studies exploring factors that predict response to tDCS in this or any patient population remain sparse, as are studies that investigate the specific aspects of language performance that are most responsive to stimulation. The current study explored factors that could predict recovery of language fluency and which aspects of language fluency could be expected to improve with the identified factor(s). We report nine patients who demonstrated deficits in fluency as assessed using the Cookie Theft picture description task of the Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination. In the treatment condition, subjects received a 2.0 mA current through 5 cm × 5 cm electrodes for 20 min at a site previously shown to elicit a patient-dependent optimal response to tDCS. They were then tested 2-weeks and 2-months after treatment. In the sham condition, a subset of these subjects were tested on the same protocol with sham instead of real tDCS. The current study assessed language fluency improvements in measures of production at the word-level and sentence level, grammatical accuracy, and lexical selection as a function of baseline aphasia severity. A more severe baseline language profile was associated with larger improvements in fluency at the word-level after real tDCS but not sham stimulation. These improvements were maintained at the 2-week follow-up. The results suggest that for at least some outcome measures, baseline severity may be an important factor in predicting the response to tDCS in patients with chronic non-fluent aphasia. Moving forward, the ability to identify patient factors that can predict response could help refine strategies for the administration of therapeutic tDCS, focusing attention on those patients most likely to benefit from stimulation. PMID:28611609

Students transcribing tasks: Noticing Fluency, Accuracy, and Complexity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stillwell, Christopher; Curabba, Brad; Alexander, Kamsin; Kidd, Andrew; Kim, Euna; Stone, Paul; Wyle, Christopher

2010-01-01

Student self-transcription can greatly enhance the power of tasks to promote language learning, for it allows students to re-examine their experience freed from the pressure of performing the task itself, so they can notice and reflect on the language used and encountered. This is a powerful step in language development because it allows for…

The Role of Affect in Intraindividual Variability in Task Performance for Young Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Butler, Yuko Goto

2017-01-01

Young learners (defined as children ages 5-12) of English as a foreign language are growing in number worldwide. At the policy level, foreign language (FL) programs for young learners are increasingly emphasizing the use of task-based language teaching (TBLT). In practice, however, designing and implementing tasks for young learners poses numerous…

The Relationship between Task Difficulty and Second Language Fluency in French: A Mixed Methods Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Préfontaine, Yvonne; Kormos, Judit

2015-01-01

While there exists a considerable body of literature on task-based difficulty and second language (L2) fluency in English as a second language (ESL), there has been little investigation with French learners. This mixed methods study examines learner appraisals of task difficulty and their relationship to automated utterance fluency measures in…

Reducing the language content in ToM tests: A developmental scale.

PubMed

Burnel, Morgane; Perrone-Bertolotti, Marcela; Reboul, Anne; Baciu, Monica; Durrleman, Stephanie

2018-02-01

The goal of the current study was to statistically evaluate the reliable scalability of a set of tasks designed to assess Theory of Mind (ToM) without language as a confounding variable. This tool might be useful to study ToM in populations where language is impaired or to study links between language and ToM. Low verbal versions of the ToM tasks proposed by Wellman and Liu (2004) for their scale were tested in 234 children (2.5 years to 11.9 years). Results showed that 5 of the tasks formed a scale according to both Guttman and Rasch models whereas all 6 tasks could form a scale according to the Rasch model only. The main difference from the original scale was that the Explicit False Belief task could be included whereas the Knowledge Access (KA) task could not. The authors argue that the more verbal version of the KA task administered in previous studies could have measured language understanding rather than ToM. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Task-Induced Development of Hinting Behaviors in Online Task-Oriented L2 Interaction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Balaman, Ufuk

2018-01-01

Technology-mediated task settings are rich interactional domains in which second language (L2) learners manage a multitude of interactional resources for task accomplishment. The affordances of these settings have been repeatedly addressed in computer-assisted language learning (CALL) literature mainly based on theory-informed task design…

The Meeting Point: Where Language Production and Working Memory Share Resources.

PubMed

Ishkhanyan, Byurakn; Boye, Kasper; Mogensen, Jesper

2018-06-07

The interaction between working memory and language processing is widely discussed in cognitive research. However, those studies often explore the relationship between language comprehension and working memory (WM). The role of WM is rarely considered in language production, despite some evidence suggesting a relationship between the two cognitive systems. This study attempts to fill that gap by using a complex span task during language production. We make our predictions based on the reorganization of elementary functions neurocognitive model, a usage based theory about grammatical status, and language production models. In accordance with these theories, we expect an overlap between language production and WM at one or more levels of language planning. Our results show that WM is involved at the phonological encoding level of language production and that adding WM load facilitates language production, which leads us to suggest that an extra task-specific storage is being created while the task is performed.

The Effects of Multimedia Task-Based Language Teaching on EFL Learners' Oral L2 Production

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

BavaHarji, Madhubala; Gheitanchian, Mehrnaz; Letchumanan, Krishnaveni

2014-01-01

This study examined the effects of tasks, with varying levels of complexity, i.e. simple, + complex and ++ complex tasks on EFL learners' oral production in a multimedia task-based language teaching environment. 57 EFL adult learners carried out a total of 12 tasks, in sets of four tasks within three different themes and different levels of…

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

PubMed Central

Inubushi, Tomoo; Sakai, Kuniyoshi L.

2013-01-01

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

Research into Practice: The Task-Based Approach to Instructed Second Language Acquisition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

East, Martin

2017-01-01

This article discusses the phenomenon of task-based language teaching (TBLT) in instructed additional language settings. It begins from the premise that, despite considerable theoretical and empirical support, TBLT remains a contested endeavour. Critics of TBLT argue that, particularly with regard to time-limited foreign language instructional…

Using Tasks to Assess Spanish Language Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Herrera Mosquera, Leonardo

2012-01-01

The methodology of Task-based teaching (TBT) has been positively regarded by many researchers and language teachers around the world. Yet, this language teaching methodology has been mainly implemented in English as a second language (ESL) classrooms and in English for specific purpose (ESP) courses; and more specifically with advanced-level…

Language Control in Bilinguals: Monolingual Tasks and Simultaneous Interpreting

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

De Groot, Annette M. B.; Christoffels, Ingrid K.

2006-01-01

The typical speech of (fluent) bilinguals in monolingual settings contains few switches into the non-target language. Apparently, bilinguals can control what language they output. This article discusses views on how bilinguals exert control over their two languages in monolingual tasks, where participants only have to implicate one of their…

Brain connectivity associated with cascading levels of language.

PubMed

Richards, Todd; Nagy, William; Abbott, Robert; Berninger, Virginia

2016-01-01

Typical oral and written language learners (controls) (5 girls, 4 boys) completed fMRI reading judgment tasks (sub-word grapheme-phoneme, word spelling, sentences with and without spelling foils, affixed words, sentences with and without affix foils, and multi-sentence). Analyses identified connectivity within and across adjacent levels (units) of language in reading: from subword to word to syntax in Set I and from word to syntax to multi-sentence in Set II). Typicals were compared to (a) students with dyslexia (6 girls, 10 boys) on the subword and word tasks in Set I related to levels of language impaired in dyslexia, and (b) students with oral and written language learning disability (OWL LD) (3 girls, 2 boys) on the morphology and syntax tasks in Set II, related to levels of language impaired in OWL LD. Results for typical language learners showed that adjacent levels of language in the reading brain share common and unique connectivity. The dyslexia group showed over-connectivity to a greater degree on the imaging tasks related to their levels of language impairments than the OWL LD group who showed under-connectivity to a greater degree than did the dyslexia group on the imaging tasks related to their levels of language impairment. Results for these students in grades 4 to 9 (ages 9 to 14) are discussed in reference to the contribution of patterns of connectivity across levels of language to understanding the nature of persisting dyslexia and dysgraphia despite early intervention.

Rethinking the connection between working memory and language impairment.

PubMed

Archibald, Lisa M D; Harder Griebeling, Katherine

2016-05-01

Working memory deficits have been found for children with specific language impairment (SLI) on tasks imposing increasing short-term memory load with or without additional, consistent (and simple) processing load. To examine the processing function of working memory in children with low language (LL) by employing tasks imposing increasing processing loads with constant storage demands individually adjusted based on each participant's short-term memory capacity. School-age groups with LL (n = 17) and typical language with either average (n = 28) or above-average nonverbal intelligence (n = 15) completed complex working memory-span tasks varying processing load while keeping storage demands constant, varying storage demands while keeping processing load constant, simple storage-span tasks, and measures of language and nonverbal intelligence. Teachers completed questionnaires about cognition and learning. Significantly lower scores were found for the LL than either matched group on storage-based tasks, but no group differences were found on the tasks varying processing load. Teachers' ratings of oral expression and mathematics abilities discriminated those who did or did not complete the most challenging cognitive tasks. The results implicate a deficit in the phonological storage but not in the central executive component of working memory for children with LL. Teacher ratings may reveal personality traits related to perseverance of effort in cognitive research. © 2015 Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.

The Effects of Blood Glucose Levels on Cognitive Performance: A Review of the Literature

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Feldman, Jolene; Barshi, Immanuel

2007-01-01

The purpose of this review paper is to discuss the research literature on the effects of blood glucose levels on executive and non-executive functions in humans. The review begins with a brief description of blood glucose, how it has been studied, previous syntheses of prior studies, and basic results regarding the role of blood glucose on cognitive functioning. The following sections describe work that investigated the effect of blood glucose on both non-executive and executive functions (e.g., sensory processing, psychomotor functioning, attention, vigilance, memory, language and communication, judgement and decision-making, and complex task performance). Within each section, summaries of the findings and challenges to the literature are included. Measurement conversions of blood glucose levels, blood glucose values, and associated symptoms are depicted. References to the types of tests used to investigate blood glucose and cognitive performance are provided. For more detailed descriptions of references within (and in addition to) this paper, an annotated bibliography is also provided. Several moderator variables including individual differences and contextual variables related to the effects of blood glucose levels on performance (e.g., age, gender, time of day, familiarity with the task and symptom awareness, expectancy effects, dose dependent effects, time dependent effects, task specific effects, rising and falling blood glucose levels, and speed and/or accuracy trade-offs) are addressed later in the paper. Some suggestions for future experimental methodologies are also made.

Resounding failure to replicate links between developmental language disorder and cerebral lateralisation

PubMed Central

Bishop, Dorothy V.M.

2018-01-01

Background It has been suggested that failure to establish cerebral lateralisation may be related to developmental language disorder (DLD). There has been weak support for any link with handedness, but more consistent reports of associations with functional brain lateralisation for language. The consistency of lateralisation across different functions may also be important. We aimed to replicate previous findings of an association between DLD and reduced laterality on a quantitative measure of hand preference (reaching across the midline) and on language laterality assessed using functional transcranial Doppler ultrasound (fTCD). Methods From a sample of twin children aged from 6;0 to 11;11 years, we identified 107 cases of DLD and 156 typically-developing comparison cases for whom we had useable data from fTCD yielding a laterality index (LI) for language function during an animation description task. Handedness data were also available for these children. Results Indices of handedness and language laterality for this twin sample were similar to those previously reported for single-born children. There were no differences between the DLD and TD groups on measures of handedness or language lateralisation, or on a categorical measure of consistency of left hemisphere dominance. Contrary to prediction, there was a greater incidence of right lateralisation for language in the TD group (19.90%) than the DLD group (9.30%), confirming that atypical laterality is not inconsistent with typical language development. We also failed to replicate associations between language laterality and language test scores. Discussion and Conclusions Given the large sample studied here and the range of measures, we suggest that previous reports of atypical manual or language lateralisation in DLD may have been false positives. PMID:29333343

Implementation of Task-Based Language Teaching in Chinese as a Foreign Language: Benefits and Challenges

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bao, Rui; Du, Xiangyun

2015-01-01

Task-based language teaching (TBLT) has been drawing increased attention from language teachers and researchers in the past decade. This paper focuses on the effects of TBLT on beginner learners of Chinese as a foreign language (CFL) in Denmark. Participatory observation and semi-structured interviews were carried out with 18 participants from two…

Contributions of Language and Memory Demands to Verbal Memory Performance in Language-Learning Disabilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Isaki, Emi; Spaulding, Tammie J.; Plante, Elena

2008-01-01

The purpose of this study is to investigate the performance of adults with language-based learning disorders (L/LD) and normal language controls on verbal short-term and verbal working memory tasks. Eighteen adults with L/LD and 18 normal language controls were compared on verbal short-term memory and verbal working memory tasks under low,…

On the Use of the Immediate Recall Task as a Measure of Second Language Reading Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chang, Yuh-Fang

2006-01-01

The immediate written recall task, a widely used measure of both first language (L1) and second language (L2) reading comprehension, has been advocated over traditional test methods such as multiple choice, cloze tests and open-ended questions because it is a direct and integrative assessment task. It has been, however, criticized as requiring…

Researching Pedagogic Tasks: Second Language Learning, Teaching, and Testing. Applied Linguistics and Language Study.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bygate, Martin; Skehan, Peter; Swain, Merrill

This book brings together a series of empirical studies into the use of pedagogical tasks for second language learning, with a view to better understanding the structure of tasks, their impact on students, and their use by teachers. This edited volume starts with an introduction to the background and key issues in the topic area. Each section…

Instrumentation Hardware Abstraction Language (IHAL) Handbook

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-01-01

1-1 1.1 The Range Commanders Council (RCC) and IHAL ....................................................... 1-1 1.2 Problem Description ...1-5 1.3.1 IHAL as a Description Language...Figure 2-6. Generic IHAL Device Schema Diagram ............................................................. 2-7 Figure 2-7. Device Description Schema

Usage of fMRI for pre-surgical planning in brain tumor and vascular lesion patients: Task and statistical threshold effects on language lateralization☆☆☆

PubMed Central

Nadkarni, Tanvi N.; Andreoli, Matthew J.; Nair, Veena A.; Yin, Peng; Young, Brittany M.; Kundu, Bornali; Pankratz, Joshua; Radtke, Andrew; Holdsworth, Ryan; Kuo, John S.; Field, Aaron S.; Baskaya, Mustafa K.; Moritz, Chad H.; Meyerand, M. Elizabeth; Prabhakaran, Vivek

2014-01-01

Background and purpose Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a non-invasive pre-surgical tool used to assess localization and lateralization of language function in brain tumor and vascular lesion patients in order to guide neurosurgeons as they devise a surgical approach to treat these lesions. We investigated the effect of varying the statistical thresholds as well as the type of language tasks on functional activation patterns and language lateralization. We hypothesized that language lateralization indices (LIs) would be threshold- and task-dependent. Materials and methods Imaging data were collected from brain tumor patients (n = 67, average age 48 years) and vascular lesion patients (n = 25, average age 43 years) who received pre-operative fMRI scanning. Both patient groups performed expressive (antonym and/or letter-word generation) and receptive (tumor patients performed text-reading; vascular lesion patients performed text-listening) language tasks. A control group (n = 25, average age 45 years) performed the letter-word generation task. Results Brain tumor patients showed left-lateralization during the antonym-word generation and text-reading tasks at high threshold values and bilateral activation during the letter-word generation task, irrespective of the threshold values. Vascular lesion patients showed left-lateralization during the antonym and letter-word generation, and text-listening tasks at high threshold values. Conclusion Our results suggest that the type of task and the applied statistical threshold influence LI and that the threshold effects on LI may be task-specific. Thus identifying critical functional regions and computing LIs should be conducted on an individual subject basis, using a continuum of threshold values with different tasks to provide the most accurate information for surgical planning to minimize post-operative language deficits. PMID:25685705

Full-body gestures and movements recognition: user descriptive and unsupervised learning approaches in GDL classifier

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hachaj, Tomasz; Ogiela, Marek R.

2014-09-01

Gesture Description Language (GDL) is a classifier that enables syntactic description and real time recognition of full-body gestures and movements. Gestures are described in dedicated computer language named Gesture Description Language script (GDLs). In this paper we will introduce new GDLs formalisms that enable recognition of selected classes of movement trajectories. The second novelty is new unsupervised learning method with which it is possible to automatically generate GDLs descriptions. We have initially evaluated both proposed extensions of GDL and we have obtained very promising results. Both the novel methodology and evaluation results will be described in this paper.

What and When Second-Language Learners Revise When Responding to Timed Writing Tasks on the Computer: The Roles of Task Type, Second Language Proficiency, and Keyboarding Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barkaoui, Khaled

2016-01-01

This study contributes to the literature on second language (L2) learners' revision behavior by describing what, when, and how often L2 learners revise their texts when responding to timed writing tasks on the computer and by examining the effects of task type, L2 proficiency, and keyboarding skills on what and when L2 learners revise. Each of 54…

Language proficiency and metacognition as predictors of spontaneous rehearsal in children.

PubMed

Bebko, James M; McMorris, Carly A; Metcalfe, Alisa; Ricciuti, Christina; Goldstein, Gayle

2014-03-01

Despite decades of research on fundamental memory strategies such as verbal rehearsal, the potential underlying skills associated with the emergence of rehearsal are still not fully understood. Two studies examined the relative roles of language proficiency and metamemory in predicting rehearsal use, as well as the prediction of metamemory performance by language proficiency. In Study 1, 59 children, 5 to 8 years old, were administered a serial recall task, 2 language measures, a nonverbal cognitive measure, and a rapid automatized naming (RAN) task. Language proficiency, RAN, and age were significant individual predictors of rehearsal use. In hierarchical regression analyses, language proficiency mediated almost completely the age → rehearsal use relation. In addition, automatized naming was a strong but partial mediator of the contribution of language proficiency to rehearsal use. In Study 2, 54 children were administered a metamemory test, a language measure, and a serial recall task. Metamemory skills and, again, language proficiency significantly predicted rehearsal use in the task. The predictive strength of metamemory skills was mediated by the children's language proficiency. The mutually supportive roles of automatized naming, language, and metamemory in the emergence of spontaneous cumulative verbal rehearsal are discussed in the context of the resulting model, along with the minimal roles of age and aspects of intelligence.

Combining Voxel-based Lesion-symptom Mapping (VLSM) With A-tDCS Language Treatment: Predicting Outcome of Recovery in Nonfluent Chronic Aphasia.

PubMed

Campana, Serena; Caltagirone, Carlo; Marangolo, Paola

2015-01-01

Most of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) studies in aphasia have already shown that significant changes in language performance could be improved by increased monitoring of the perilesional cortex in the left lesioned hemisphere with excitatory anodal tDCS (A-tDCS). However, no report to date has investigated which areas may be less predictable or may play a major role in the recovery from language impairment after brain stimulation. We investigated the relationship between the localization of damage in the left hemisphere and the amount of language recovery after A-tDCS. We conducted a Voxel-lesion mapping-symptom (VLSM) analysis on twenty non-fluent aphasics who underwent a language treatment in concomitance with left A-tDCS delivered over the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and a sham condition. Significant changes in language performance before and after the two conditions were examined in three language tasks (picture description, noun and verb naming). VLSM analysis revealed that damage to distinct left hemispheric structures and, in particular, to the basal ganglia, the insula and the superior and inferior longitudinal fasciculi, resulted in lower responses to A-tDCS in all language measures. Beneficial effects after A-tDCS over the left IFG depend on the anatomical integrity of different left subcortical structures among which are the white matter language pathways. Future studies combining different approaches on larger samples of subjects will further elucidate our understanding of how the human brain responds to tDCS. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Look Out World, Here We Come!

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Snyder, Barbara, Ed.

1984-01-01

The journal includes nine articles on the theme of a world view of foreign language teaching. They are: "The Foreign Language Articulation Task Force Survey: A Report" (Reid Baker); "Report of the Ohio Foreign Language Task Force" (Barbara Snyder); "The Akron Story Part I: Summer Foreign Language Camps" (John D. Durden and Sandra K. Strauber);…

Children's Language Assessment--Situational Tasks.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Conrad, Eva E.; And Others

The Children's Language Assessment-Situational Tasks (CLA-ST) was developed to collect language samples within a normally operating classroom. The language is taken on a cassette tape recorder, which is placed at the foot of a small table. At this table, in a committee setting, four children are engaged with a teacher in an activity similar to…

The Influence of Classroom Drama on Teachers' Language and Students' On-Task Behavior

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anderson, Alida; Berry, Katherine

2015-01-01

Teacher language and students' on-task behavior were examined in language arts lessons with and without classroom drama in two self-contained third grade classrooms for students with learning disabilities and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Language arts lessons that integrated classroom drama were associated with significantly higher…

Meaning-Based Scoring: A Systemic Functional Linguistics Model for Automated Test Tasks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gleason, Jesse

2014-01-01

Communicative approaches to language teaching that emphasize the importance of speaking (e.g., task-based language teaching) require innovative and evidence-based means of assessing oral language. Nonetheless, research has yet to produce an adequate assessment model for oral language (Chun 2006; Downey et al. 2008). Limited by automatic speech…

Languages without Borders: TESOL in a Transient World

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nero, Shondel

2012-01-01

In today's transient world, where a continual multidirectional flow of people, goods, and services has deterritorialized languages and their users, languages, especially English, are now without borders. In this context, English language teaching (ELT) as a profession is called to a new task. In this article, I examine this task by asking the…

Factors that Enhance English-Speaking Speech-Language Pathologists' Transcription of Cantonese-Speaking Children's Consonants

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lockart, Rebekah; McLeod, Sharynne

2013-01-01

Purpose: To investigate speech-language pathology students' ability to identify errors and transcribe typical and atypical speech in Cantonese, a nonnative language. Method: Thirty-three English-speaking speech-language pathology students completed 3 tasks in an experimental within-subjects design. Results: Task 1 (baseline) involved transcribing…

BASIC, Logo, and Pilot: A Comparison of Three Computer Languages.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maddux, Cleborne D.; Cummings, Rhoda E.

1985-01-01

Following a brief history of Logo, BASIC, and Pilot programing languages, common educational programing tasks (input from keyboard, evaluation of keyboard input, and computation) are presented in each language to illustrate how each can be used to perform the same tasks and to demonstrate each language's strengths and weaknesses. (MBR)

The Effect of Reading on Second-Language Learners' Production in Tasks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Collentine, Karina

2016-01-01

Tasks provide engaging ways to involve learners in meaningful, real-world activities with the foreign language (FL). Yet selecting classroom tasks suitable to learners' linguistic readiness is challenging, and task-based research is exploring the relationship between learners' overall abilities (e.g., reading, grammatical) and the complexity and…

Learner Attention to Form in ACCESS Task-Based Interaction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dao, Phung; Iwashita, Noriko; Gatbonton, Elizabeth

2017-01-01

This study explored the potential effects of communicative tasks developed using a reformulation of a task-based language teaching called Automatization in Communicative Contexts of Essential Speech Sequences (ACCESS) that includes automatization of language elements as one of its goals on learner attention to form in task-based interaction. The…

Implementing Task-Based Language Teaching to Integrate Language Skills in an EFL Program at a Colombian University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Córdoba Zúñiga, Eulices

2016-01-01

This article reports the findings of a qualitative research study conducted with six first semester students of an English as a foreign language program in a public university in Colombia. The aim of the study was to implement task-based language teaching as a way to integrate language skills and help learners to improve their communicative…

The Impact of Language Play-Oriented Tasks with Planned Focus on Form on Iranian EFL Learners' Accuracy in Controlled Writings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gholami, Javad; Gholizadeh, Mitra

2015-01-01

Language play and its effects on second language learning have been addressed by many scholars in recent years with instances of language play being identified both inside and outside the classroom. However, only a few have integrated language play with classroom tasks, and they just sufficed to the qualitative analyses of the learners'…

Age-related differences in idea generation and selection for propositional language.

PubMed

Madden, Daniel L; Sale, Martin V; Robinson, Gail A

2018-05-21

Conceptual preparation mechanisms such as novel idea generation and selection from amongst competing alternatives are critical for language production and may contribute to age-related language deficits. This study investigated whether older adults show diminished idea generation and selection abilities, compared to younger adults. Twenty younger (18-35 years) and 20 older (60-80 years) adults completed two novel experimental tasks, an idea generation task and a selection task. Older participants were slower than younger participants overall on both tasks. Importantly, this difference was more pronounced for task conditions with greater demands on generation and selection. Older adults were also significantly reduced on a semantic, but not phonemic, word fluency task. Overall, the older group showed evidence of age-related decline specific to idea generation and selection ability. This has implications for the message formulation stage of propositional language decline in normal aging.

The Subsystem of Numerals in Catalan Sign Language: Description and Examples from a Psycholinguistic Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fuentes, Mariana; Tolchinsky, Liliana

2004-01-01

Linguistic descriptions of sign languages are important to the recognition of their linguistic status. These languages are an essential part of the cultural heritage of the communities that create and use them and vital in the education of deaf children. They are also the reference point in language acquisition studies. Ours is exploratory…

Robotics/Automated Systems Task Analysis and Description of Required Job Competencies Report. Task Analysis and Description of Required Job Competencies of Robotics/Automated Systems Technicians.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hull, Daniel M.; Lovett, James E.

This task analysis report for the Robotics/Automated Systems Technician (RAST) curriculum project first provides a RAST job description. It then discusses the task analysis, including the identification of tasks, the grouping of tasks according to major areas of specialty, and the comparison of the competencies to existing or new courses to…

Fuzzy ontologies for semantic interpretation of remotely sensed images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Djerriri, Khelifa; Malki, Mimoun

2015-10-01

Object-based image classification consists in the assignment of object that share similar attributes to object categories. To perform such a task the remote sensing expert uses its personal knowledge, which is rarely formalized. Ontologies have been proposed as solution to represent domain knowledge agreed by domain experts in a formal and machine readable language. Classical ontology languages are not appropriate to deal with imprecision or vagueness in knowledge. Fortunately, Description Logics for the semantic web has been enhanced by various approaches to handle such knowledge. This paper presents the extension of the traditional ontology-based interpretation with fuzzy ontology of main land-cover classes in Landsat8-OLI scenes (vegetation, built-up areas, water bodies, shadow, clouds, forests) objects. A good classification of image objects was obtained and the results highlight the potential of the method to be replicated over time and space in the perspective of transferability of the procedure.

Toward a Framework for Linking Linguistic Knowledge and Writing Expertise: Interplay between SFL-Based Genre Pedagogy and Task-Based Language Teaching

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yasuda, Sachiko

2017-01-01

This article attempts to apply some systemic functional linguistic (SFL) concepts to task-based language teaching (TBLT) as a means of enriching the fields of learning, teaching, and evaluating writing in an additional language. The purposes are twofold. First, this article presents a concrete example concerning SFL-initiated genre-based tasks,…

The Effects of Task Type on The Quality of Resolving Language-Related Episodes and Vocabulary Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kaivanpanah, Shiva; Miri, Mowla

2017-01-01

This study examined how task type can affect the ways in which learners resolve lexical language-related episodes (LREs) and consequently how their vocabulary learning in the LREs is influenced. An intact class of Iranian learners (N = 24) of English as a foreign language were paired up to write a composition and complete a cloze task. The…

The Effects of Meaning-Focused Pre-Tasks on Beginning-Level L2 Writing in German: An Exploratory Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Abrams, Zsuzsanna; Byrd, David R.

2017-01-01

Most studies on task-based language learning focus on the oral performance of advanced level learners of English as a second language (ESL), while little research examines the written performance of beginning language learners in non-ESL contexts. This exploratory study aims to address this gap, by examining the effect of pre-writing tasks on…

Critical thinking about fables: examining language production and comprehension in adolescents.

PubMed

Nippold, Marilyn A; Frantz-Kaspar, Megan W; Cramond, Paige M; Kirk, Cecilia; Hayward-Mayhew, Christine; MacKinnon, Melanie

2015-04-01

This study was designed primarily to determine if a critical-thinking task involving fables would elicit greater syntactic complexity than a conversational task in adolescents. Another purpose was to determine how well adolescents understand critical-thinking questions about fables. Forty adolescents (N=20 boys and 20 girls; mean age=14 years) with typical language development answered critical-thinking questions about the deeper meanings of fables. They also participated in a standard conversational task. The syntactic complexity of their responses during the speaking tasks was analyzed for mean length of communication unit (MLCU) and clausal density (CD). Both measures of syntactic complexity, MLCU and CD, were substantially greater during the critical-thinking task compared with the conversational task. It was also found that the adolescents understood the questions quite well, earning a mean accuracy score of 80%. The critical-thinking task has potential for use as a new type of language-sampling tool to examine language production and comprehension in adolescents.

Language and False-Belief Task Performance in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder.

PubMed

Jeffrey Farrar, M; Seung, Hye Kyeung; Lee, Hyeonjin

2017-07-12

Language is related to false-belief (FB) understanding in both typically developing children and children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The current study examined the role of complementation and general language in FB understanding. Of interest was whether language plays similar or different roles in the groups' FB performance. Participants were 16 typically developing children (mean age = 5.0 years; mental age = 6.7) and 18 with ASD (mean age = 7.3 years; mental age = 8.3). Children were administered FB and language tasks (say- and think-complements), receptive and expressive vocabulary tests, and relative clauses. When mental age and receptive and expressive vocabulary were used as separate covariates, the typical control group outperformed the children with ASD in FB task performance. Chi-square analyses indicated that passing both complementation tasks was linked to the FB understanding of children with ASD. Children with ASD who passed FB tasks all passed say- and think-complement tasks. However, some children in the control group were able to pass the FB tasks, even if they failed the say- and think-complement tasks. The results indicate that children with ASD relied more on complement understanding to pass FB than typically developing children. Results are discussed regarding the developmental pathways for FB understanding.

Task Repetition Effects on L1 Use in EFL Child Task-Based Interaction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Azkarai, Agurtzane; García Mayo, María del Pilar

2017-01-01

Research has shown that tasks provide second language (L2) learners with many opportunities to learn the L2. Task repetition has been claimed to benefit L2 learning since familiarity with procedure and/or content gives learners the chance to focus on more specific aspects of language. Most research on task repetition has focused on adult…

Variation and Linguistic Theory.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bailey, Charles-James N.

This volume presents principles and models for describing language variation, and introduces a time-based, dynamic framework for linguistic description. The book first summarizes some of the problems of grammatical description encountered from Saussure through the present and then outlines possibilities for new descriptions of language which take…

Domain-general sequence learning deficit in specific language impairment.

PubMed

Lukács, Agnes; Kemény, Ferenc

2014-05-01

Grammar-specific accounts of specific language impairment (SLI) have been challenged by recent claims that language problems are a consequence of impairments in domain-general mechanisms of learning that also play a key role in the process of language acquisition. Our studies were designed to test the generality and nature of this learning deficit by focusing on both sequential and nonsequential, and on verbal and nonverbal, domains. Twenty-nine children with SLI were compared with age-matched typically developing (TD) control children using (a) a serial reaction time task (SRT), testing the learning of motor sequences; (b) an artificial grammar learning (AGL) task, testing the extraction of regularities from auditory sequences; and (c) a weather prediction task (WP), testing probabilistic category learning in a nonsequential task. For the 2 sequence learning tasks, a significantly smaller proportion of children showed evidence of learning in the SLI than in the TD group (χ2 tests, p < .001 for the SRT task, p < .05 for the AGL task), whereas the proportion of learners on the WP task was the same in the 2 groups. The level of learning for SLI learners was comparable with that of TD children on all tasks (with great individual variation). Taken together, these findings suggest that domain-general processes of implicit sequence learning tend to be impaired in SLI. Further research is needed to clarify the relationship of deficits in implicit learning and language.

Verbal memory and verbal fluency tasks used for language localization and lateralization during magnetoencephalography.

PubMed

Pirmoradi, Mona; Jemel, Boutheina; Gallagher, Anne; Tremblay, Julie; D'Hondt, Fabien; Nguyen, Dang Khoa; Béland, Renée; Lassonde, Maryse

2016-01-01

The aim of this study was to develop a presurgical magnetoencephalography (MEG) protocol to localize and lateralize expressive and receptive language function as well as verbal memory in patients with epilepsy. Two simple language tasks and a different analytical procedure were developed. Ten healthy participants and 13 epileptic patients completed two language tasks during MEG recording: a verbal memory task and a verbal fluency task. As a first step, principal component analyses (PCA) were performed on source data from the group of healthy participants to identify spatiotemporal factors that were relevant to these paradigms. Averaged source data were used to localize areas activated during each task and a laterality index (LI) was computed on an individual basis for both groups, healthy participants and patients, using sensor data. PCA revealed activation in the left temporal lobe (300 ms) during the verbal memory task, and from the frontal lobe (210 ms) to the temporal lobe (500 ms) during the verbal fluency task in healthy participants. Averaged source data showed activity in the left hemisphere (250-750 ms), in Wernicke's area, for all participants. Left hemisphere dominance was demonstrated better using the verbal memory task than the verbal fluency task (F1,19=4.41, p=0.049). Cohen's kappa statistic revealed 93% agreement (k=0.67, p=0.002) between LIs obtained from MEG sensor data and fMRI, the IAT, electrical cortical stimulation or handedness with the verbal memory task for all participants. At 74%, agreement results for the verbal fluency task did not reach statistical significance. Analysis procedures yielded interesting findings with both tasks and localized language-related activation. However, based on source localization and laterality indices, the verbal memory task yielded better results in the context of the presurgical evaluation of epileptic patients. The verbal fluency task did not add any further information to the verbal memory task as regards language localization and lateralization for most patients and healthy participants that would facilitate decision making prior to surgery. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Language acquisition is model-based rather than model-free.

PubMed

Wang, Felix Hao; Mintz, Toben H

2016-01-01

Christiansen & Chater (C&C) propose that learning language is learning to process language. However, we believe that the general-purpose prediction mechanism they propose is insufficient to account for many phenomena in language acquisition. We argue from theoretical considerations and empirical evidence that many acquisition tasks are model-based, and that different acquisition tasks require different, specialized models.

Language Testing and the Assessment of Dementia in Second Language Settings: A Case Study.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baker, Rosemary

1996-01-01

Reports on a patient of Japanese background with suspected dementia in an English-speaking geriatric unit. The subject was tested in Japanese using tasks such as naming, story recall, and processing by semantic category. Results demonstrate the potential contribution of information from language-based tasks in the person's preferred language to…

ECoG Gamma Activity during a Language Task: Differentiating Expressive and Receptive Speech Areas

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Towle, Vernon L.; Yoon, Hyun-Ah; Castelle, Michael; Edgar, J. Christopher; Biassou, Nadia M.; Frim, David M.; Spire, Jean-Paul; Kohrman, Michael H.

2008-01-01

Electrocorticographic (ECoG) spectral patterns obtained during language tasks from 12 epilepsy patients (age: 12-44 years) were analyzed in order to identify and characterize cortical language areas. ECoG from 63 subdural electrodes (500 Hz/channel) chronically implanted over frontal, parietal and temporal lobes were examined. Two language tasks…

Task Descriptions in Diagnostic Radiology. Research Report No. 7. Volume 4, Index of Tasks by Code Number and Extended Name.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gilpatrick, Eleanor

The fourth of four volumes in Research Report No. 7 of the Health Services Mobility Study (HSMS), this book contains the extended task names of all the tasks whose descriptions can be found in the three prior volumes. It serves as an index to all the tasks by listing the volume in which each task description appears. Chapter 1 of this volume…

Computerization of guidelines: towards a "guideline markup language".

PubMed

Dart, T; Xu, Y; Chatellier, G; Degoulet, P

2001-01-01

Medical decision making is one of the most difficult daily tasks for physicians. Guidelines have been designed to reduce variance between physicians in daily practice, to improve patient outcomes and to control costs. In fact, few physicians use guidelines in daily practice. A way to ease the use of guidelines is to implement computerised guidelines (computer reminders). We present in this paper a method of computerising guidelines. Our objectives were: 1) to propose a generic model that can be instantiated for any specific guidelines; 2) to use eXtensible Markup Language (XML) as a guideline representation language to instantiate the generic model for a specific guideline. Our model is an object representation of a clinical algorithm, it has been validated by running two different guidelines issued by a French official Agency. In spite of some limitations, we found that this model is expressive enough to represent complex guidelines devoted to diabetes and hypertension management. We conclude that XML can be used as a description format to structure guidelines and as an interface between paper-based guidelines and computer applications.

A Quasi-Universal Nonword Repetition Task as a Diagnostic Tool for Bilingual Children Learning Dutch as a Second Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boerma, Tessel; Chiat, Shula; Leseman, Paul; Timmermeister, Mona; Wijnen, Frank; Blom, Elma

2015-01-01

Purpose: This study evaluated a newly developed quasi-universal nonword repetition task (Q-U NWRT) as a diagnostic tool for bilingual children with language impairment (LI) who have Dutch as a 2nd language. The Q-U NWRT was designed to be minimally influenced by knowledge of 1 specific language in contrast to a language-specific NWRT with which it…

Connections between Secondary Mathematics Teachers' Beliefs and Their Selection of Tasks for English Language Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

de Araujo, Zandra

2017-01-01

The tasks teachers select impact students' opportunities to learn mathematics and teachers' beliefs influence their choice of tasks. Through the qualitative analysis of surveys, interviews and classroom artefacts from three secondary mathematics teachers, this study examined teachers' selection of mathematics tasks for English language learners…

Independent vs. Integrated Writing Tasks: A Comparison of Task Representation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Plakans, Lia

2010-01-01

As the field of second language writing embraces the authenticity and meaningfulness of connecting writing with other skills, language teachers and testers require greater understanding of how writers respond to as well as compose for integrated tasks. Research on integrated tasks is critical in highlighting how integration impacts students and…

The Crosstalk Hypothesis: Why Language Interferes with Driving

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bergen, Benjamin; Medeiros-Ward, Nathan; Wheeler, Kathryn; Drews, Frank; Strayer, David

2013-01-01

Performing two cognitive tasks at the same time can degrade performance for either domain-general reasons (e.g., both tasks require attention) or domain-specific reasons (e.g., both tasks require visual working memory). We tested predictions of these two accounts of interference on the task of driving while using language, a naturally occurring…

Disparate bilingual experiences modulate task-switching advantages: A diffusion-model analysis of the effects of interactional context on switch costs.

PubMed

Hartanto, Andree; Yang, Hwajin

2016-05-01

Drawing on the adaptive control hypothesis (Green & Abutalebi, 2013), we investigated whether bilinguals' disparate interactional contexts modulate task-switching performance. Fifty-eight bilinguals within the single-language context (SLC) and 75 bilinguals within the dual-language context (DLC) were compared in a typical task-switching paradigm. Given that DLC bilinguals switch between languages within the same context, while SLC bilinguals speak only one language in one environment and therefore rarely switch languages, we hypothesized that the two groups' stark difference in their interactional contexts of conversational exchanges would lead to differences in switch costs. As predicted, DLC bilinguals showed smaller switch costs than SLC bilinguals. Our diffusion-model analyses suggest that DLC bilinguals' benefits in switch costs are more likely driven by task-set reconfiguration than by proactive interference. Our findings underscore the modulating role of the interactional context of conversational exchanges in task switching. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Second Language Experience Facilitates Statistical Learning of Novel Linguistic Materials.

PubMed

Potter, Christine E; Wang, Tianlin; Saffran, Jenny R

2017-04-01

Recent research has begun to explore individual differences in statistical learning, and how those differences may be related to other cognitive abilities, particularly their effects on language learning. In this research, we explored a different type of relationship between language learning and statistical learning: the possibility that learning a new language may also influence statistical learning by changing the regularities to which learners are sensitive. We tested two groups of participants, Mandarin Learners and Naïve Controls, at two time points, 6 months apart. At each time point, participants performed two different statistical learning tasks: an artificial tonal language statistical learning task and a visual statistical learning task. Only the Mandarin-learning group showed significant improvement on the linguistic task, whereas both groups improved equally on the visual task. These results support the view that there are multiple influences on statistical learning. Domain-relevant experiences may affect the regularities that learners can discover when presented with novel stimuli. Copyright © 2016 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Second language experience facilitates statistical learning of novel linguistic materials

PubMed Central

Potter, Christine E.; Wang, Tianlin; Saffran, Jenny R.

2016-01-01

Recent research has begun to explore individual differences in statistical learning, and how those differences may be related to other cognitive abilities, particularly their effects on language learning. In the present research, we explored a different type of relationship between language learning and statistical learning: the possibility that learning a new language may also influence statistical learning by changing the regularities to which learners are sensitive. We tested two groups of participants, Mandarin Learners and Naïve Controls, at two time points, six months apart. At each time point, participants performed two different statistical learning tasks: an artificial tonal language statistical learning task and a visual statistical learning task. Only the Mandarin-learning group showed significant improvement on the linguistic task, while both groups improved equally on the visual task. These results support the view that there are multiple influences on statistical learning. Domain-relevant experiences may affect the regularities that learners can discover when presented with novel stimuli. PMID:27988939

Discriminating languages in bilingual contexts: the impact of orthographic markedness

PubMed Central

Casaponsa, Aina; Carreiras, Manuel; Duñabeitia, Jon A.

2014-01-01

Does language-specific orthography help language detection and lexical access in naturalistic bilingual contexts? This study investigates how L2 orthotactic properties influence bilingual language detection in bilingual societies and the extent to which it modulates lexical access and single word processing. Language specificity of naturalistically learnt L2 words was manipulated by including bigram combinations that could be either L2 language-specific or common in the two languages known by bilinguals. A group of balanced bilinguals and a group of highly proficient but unbalanced bilinguals who grew up in a bilingual society were tested, together with a group of monolinguals (for control purposes). All the participants completed a speeded language detection task and a progressive demasking task. Results showed that the use of the information of orthotactic rules across languages depends on the task demands at hand, and on participants' proficiency in the second language. The influence of language orthotactic rules during language detection, lexical access and word identification are discussed according to the most prominent models of bilingual word recognition. PMID:24860536

Linguistic Corpora and Language Teaching.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Murison-Bowie, Simon

1996-01-01

Examines issues raised by corpus linguistics concerning the description of language. The article argues that it is necessary to start from correct descriptions of linguistic units and the contexts in which they occur. Corpus linguistics has joined with language teaching by sharing a recognition of the importance of a larger, schematic view of…

A comparison of hardware description languages. [describing digital systems structure and behavior to a computer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shiva, S. G.

1978-01-01

Several high level languages which evolved over the past few years for describing and simulating the structure and behavior of digital systems, on digital computers are assessed. The characteristics of the four prominent languages (CDL, DDL, AHPL, ISP) are summarized. A criterion for selecting a suitable hardware description language for use in an automatic integrated circuit design environment is provided.

Implications of the Socio-Cultural Context for the Co-Construction of Talk in a Task-Based English as a Foreign Language Classroom in Japan

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stone, Paul

2012-01-01

In this article I investigate how Japanese students manage interaction together in a task-based English as a foreign language (EFL) classroom. Using methods from conversation analysis and focusing on the contextual dimensions of language, I analyse data from a real classroom task with a view to understanding the ways in which social processes and…

Multimodal assessment of hemispheric lateralization for language and its relevance for behavior.

PubMed

Piervincenzi, C; Petrilli, A; Marini, A; Caulo, M; Committeri, G; Sestieri, C

2016-11-15

Although different MRI-based techniques have been proposed to assess the hemispheric lateralization for language (HLL), the agreement across methods, and its relationship with language abilities, are still a matter of debate. In the present study we obtained measures of HLL using both task-evoked activity during the execution of three different protocols and task-free methods of functional [resting state functional connectivity (rs-FC)] and anatomical [diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) tractography] connectivity. Regional analyses focusing on the perisylvian language network were conducted to assess the consistency of HLL across techniques. In addition, following a multimodal approach, we identified macro-factors of lateralization and examined their relationship with language performance. Our findings indicate the existence of a negative relationship between the structural asymmetry of the direct segment of the arcuate fasciculus (AF) and the inter-hemispheric rs-FC of key nodes of the perisylvian network. Instead, despite all the language tasks exhibited a leftward pattern of asymmetry, measures of HLL derived from task-evoked activity did not show a direct relationship with those obtained with the two task-free methods. Furthermore, a robust brain-behavioral relationship was observed only with a specific macro-factor that combined HLL measures derived from all MRI techniques. In particular, general language performance was positively related to more symmetrical structural organization, stronger inter-hemispheric communication at rest but more lateralized activation of Wernicke's territory during production tasks. Our findings, while not supporting the existence of a direct relationship between indices of hemispheric lateralization for language derived from different MRI techniques, indicate that general language performance can be indexed using combined MRI measures. The same approach might prove successful for likewise complex human behaviours. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Identifying language impairment in bilingual children in France and in Germany.

PubMed

Tuller, Laurice; Hamann, Cornelia; Chilla, Solveig; Ferré, Sandrine; Morin, Eléonore; Prevost, Philippe; Dos Santos, Christophe; Abed Ibrahim, Lina; Zebib, Racha

2018-05-23

The detection of specific language impairment (SLI) in children growing up bilingually presents particular challenges for clinicians. Non-word repetition (NWR) and sentence repetition (SR) tasks have proven to be the most accurate diagnostic tools for monolingual populations, raising the question of the extent of their usefulness in different bilingual populations. To determine the diagnostic accuracy of NWR and SR tasks that incorporate phonological/syntactic complexity as discussed in recent linguistic theory. The tasks were developed as part of the Language Impairment Testing in Multilingual Settings (LITMUS) toolkit, in two different national settings, France and Germany, and investigated children with three different home languages: Arabic, Portuguese and Turkish. NWR and SR tasks developed in parallel were administered to 151 bilingual children, aged 5;6-8;11, in France and in Germany, to 64 children in speech-language therapy (SLT) and to 87 children not in SLT, whose first language (L1) was Arabic, Portuguese or Turkish. Children were also administered standardized language tests in each of their languages to determine likely clinical status (typical development (TD) or SLI), and parents responded to a questionnaire including questions about early and current language use (bilingualism factors) and early language development (risk factors for SLI). Monolingual controls included 47 TD children and 29 children with SLI. Results were subjected to inter-group comparisons, to diagnostic accuracy calculation, and to correlation and multiple regression analyses. In accordance with previous studies, NWR and SR identified SLI in the monolingual children, yielding good to excellent diagnostic accuracy. Diagnostic accuracy in bilingual children was fair to good, generally distinguishing children likely to have SLI from children likely to have TD. Accuracy was necessarily linked to the determination of clinical status, which was based on standardized assessment in each of the child's languages. Positive early development, a composite risk factor for SLI, and not variables related to language exposure and use, generally emerged as the strongest predictor of performance on the two tasks, constituting additional, independent support for the efficacy of NWR and SR in identifying impairment in bilingual children. NWR and SR tasks informed by linguistic theory are appropriate for use as part of the diagnostic process for identifying language impairment in bilingual children for whom the language of assessment is different from the home language, in diverse sociolinguistic contexts. © 2018 Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.

Hand specific representations in language comprehension.

PubMed

Moody-Triantis, Claire; Humphreys, Gina F; Gennari, Silvia P

2014-01-01

Theories of embodied cognition argue that language comprehension involves sensory-motor re-enactments of the actions described. However, the degree of specificity of these re-enactments as well as the relationship between action and language remains a matter of debate. Here we investigate these issues by examining how hand-specific information (left or right hand) is recruited in language comprehension and action execution. An fMRI study tested self-reported right-handed participants in two separate tasks that were designed to be as similar as possible to increase sensitivity of the comparison across task: an action execution go/no-go task where participants performed right or left hand actions, and a language task where participants read sentences describing the same left or right handed actions as in the execution task. We found that language-induced activity did not match the hand-specific patterns of activity found for action execution in primary somatosensory and motor cortex, but it overlapped with pre-motor and parietal regions associated with action planning. Within these pre-motor regions, both right hand actions and sentences elicited stronger activity than left hand actions and sentences-a dominant hand effect. Importantly, both dorsal and ventral sections of the left pre-central gyrus were recruited by both tasks, suggesting different action features being recruited. These results suggest that (a) language comprehension elicits motor representations that are hand-specific and akin to multimodal action plans, rather than full action re-enactments; and (b) language comprehension and action execution share schematic hand-specific representations that are richer for the dominant hand, and thus linked to previous motor experience.

Statistical word learning in children with autism spectrum disorder and specific language impairment.

PubMed

Haebig, Eileen; Saffran, Jenny R; Ellis Weismer, Susan

2017-11-01

Word learning is an important component of language development that influences child outcomes across multiple domains. Despite the importance of word knowledge, word-learning mechanisms are poorly understood in children with specific language impairment (SLI) and children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study examined underlying mechanisms of word learning, specifically, statistical learning and fast-mapping, in school-aged children with typical and atypical development. Statistical learning was assessed through a word segmentation task and fast-mapping was examined in an object-label association task. We also examined children's ability to map meaning onto newly segmented words in a third task that combined exposure to an artificial language and a fast-mapping task. Children with SLI had poorer performance on the word segmentation and fast-mapping tasks relative to the typically developing and ASD groups, who did not differ from one another. However, when children with SLI were exposed to an artificial language with phonemes used in the subsequent fast-mapping task, they successfully learned more words than in the isolated fast-mapping task. There was some evidence that word segmentation abilities are associated with word learning in school-aged children with typical development and ASD, but not SLI. Follow-up analyses also examined performance in children with ASD who did and did not have a language impairment. Children with ASD with language impairment evidenced intact statistical learning abilities, but subtle weaknesses in fast-mapping abilities. As the Procedural Deficit Hypothesis (PDH) predicts, children with SLI have impairments in statistical learning. However, children with SLI also have impairments in fast-mapping. Nonetheless, they are able to take advantage of additional phonological exposure to boost subsequent word-learning performance. In contrast to the PDH, children with ASD appear to have intact statistical learning, regardless of language status; however, fast-mapping abilities differ according to broader language skills. © 2017 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

The Influence of Language Anxiety on English Reading and Writing Tasks among Native Hebrew Speakers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Argaman, Osnat; Abu-Rabia, Salim

2002-01-01

Examined the influence of language anxiety as measured by a questionnaire on achievements in English writing and reading comprehension tasks. Subjects were native speakers of Hebrew, aged 12-13 years, learning English as a second language.(Author/VWL)

Young Learners' Interactional Development in Task-Based Paired-Assessment in Their First and Foreign Languages: A Case of English Learners in China

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Butler, Yuko Goto; Zeng, Wei

2015-01-01

In response to the growing interest in evaluating young learners' foreign language (FL) performance, this study aims to deepen our understanding of young learners' developmental differences in interaction during task-based paired-language assessments. To examine age effects separately from the effect of general language proficiency, we analysed…

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

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Danan, Martine

2010-01-01

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

Focus-on-Form and EFL Learners' Language Development in Synchronous Computer-Mediated Communication: Task-Based Interactions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eslami, Zohreh R.; Kung, Wan-Tsai

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to explore the occurrence of incidental focus-on-form and its effect on subsequent second language (L2) production of learners of different dyads in an online task-based language learning context. The participants included Taiwanese learners of English as a foreign language at different proficiency levels, and native…

Task Effects on Linguistic Complexity and Accuracy: A Large-Scale Learner Corpus Analysis Employing Natural Language Processing Techniques

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alexopoulou, Theodora; Michel, Marije; Murakami, Akira; Meurers, Detmar

2017-01-01

Large-scale learner corpora collected from online language learning platforms, such as the EF-Cambridge Open Language Database (EFCAMDAT), provide opportunities to analyze learner data at an unprecedented scale. However, interpreting the learner language in such corpora requires a precise understanding of tasks: How does the prompt and input of a…

Report of the Task Force on Testing Standards (TFTS) to the International Language Testing Association (ILTA).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

International Language Testing Association.

The Task Force on Testing Standards (TFTS) of the International Language Testing Association was charged to produce a report of an international survey of language assessment standards, to provide for exchange of information on standards and for development of a code of practice. Contact with individuals in both language testing and the broader…

Near-infrared spectroscopic study and the Wada test for presurgical evaluation of expressive and receptive language functions in glioma patients: with a case report of dissociated language functions.

PubMed

Sato, Yosuke; Uzuka, Takeo; Aoki, Hiroshi; Natsumeda, Manabu; Oishi, Makoto; Fukuda, Masafumi; Fujii, Yukihiko

2012-02-29

Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) has proven to be useful for the evaluation of language lateralization in healthy subjects, infants, and epileptic patients. This study for the first time investigated the expressive and receptive language functions separately, using NIRS in presurgical glioma patients. We also describe a special case with dissociated pattern of language functions. Ten glioma patients were examined. Using NIRS, the hemodynamic changes during a verb generation task or story listening task were measured in the cerebral hemisphere on either side covering the language areas. Following the NIRS study, the Wada test was performed in all the patients. The NIRS study revealed increases of oxyhemoglobin and decreases of deoxyhemoglobin in the language areas elicited by both tasks. In 9 patients, who were all right-handed, the expressive and receptive language functions were lateralized to the left hemisphere. The results of the NIRS study were completely consistent with those of the Wada test. In the remaining 1 patient with a right sided insular glioma, who was right-handed, the NIRS study revealed stronger activation of the right inferior frontal region during the verb generation task, and stronger activation of the left superior temporal region during the story listening task. This dissociated language function was validated by the Wada test and the postoperative neurological course. These results demonstrate that a NIRS study using our technique is extremely valuable for preoperative assessment of the language functions and exemplifies how a preoperative NIRS study can allow detection of unforeseen language lateralization. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effects of task complexity on activation of language areas in a semantic decision fMRI protocol.

PubMed

Lopes, Tátila Martins; Yasuda, Clarissa Lin; de Campos, Brunno Machado; Balthazar, Marcio L F; Binder, Jeffrey R; Cendes, Fernando

2016-01-29

Language tasks used for clinical fMRI studies may be too complex for some patients with cognitive impairments, and "easier" versions are sometimes substituted, though the effects on brain activity of such changes in task complexity are largely unknown. To investigate these differences, we compared two versions of an fMRI language comprehension protocol, with different levels of difficulty, in 24 healthy right-handed adults. The protocol contrasted an auditory word comprehension task (semantic decision) with a nonspeech control task using tone sequences (tone decision). In the "complex" version (CV), the semantic decision task required two complex semantic decisions for each word, and the tone decision task required the participant to count the number of target tones in each sequence. In the "easy" version (EV), the semantic task required only a single easier decision, and the tone task required only detection of the presence or absence of a target tone in each sequence. The protocols were adapted for a Brazilian population. Typical left hemisphere language lateralization was observed in 92% of participants for both CV and EV using the whole-brain lateralization index, and typical language lateralization was also observed for others regions of interest. Task performance was superior on the EV compared to the CV (p=0.014). There were many common areas of activation across the two version; however, the CV produced greater activation in the left superior and middle frontal giri, angular gyrus, and left posterior cingulate gyrus compared to the EV, the majority of which are areas previously identified with language and semantic processing. The EV produced stronger activation only in a small area in the posterior middle temporal gyrus. These results reveal differences between two versions of the protocol and provide evidence that both are useful for language lateralization and worked well for Brazilian population. The complex version produces stronger activation in several nodes of the semantic network and therefore is elected for participants who can perform well these tasks. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

"I'm Still Not Sure What a Task Is": Teachers Designing Language Tasks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Erlam, Rosemary

2016-01-01

Ellis (2003) identifies four key criteria that distinguish a "task" from the types of situational grammar exercises that are typically found in the more traditional language classroom. This study investigates how well teachers were able to design tasks that fulfilled these four criteria (Ellis, 2003) at the end of a year-long…

Korean College EFL Learners' Task Motivation in Written Language Production

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Bomin; Kim, Haedong

2016-01-01

The aims of the present study were to explore the effects of two different types of task conditions (topic choice vs. no choice) on the quality of written production in a second language (lexical complexity, syntactic complexity, and cohesion) and to investigate the effects of these two different task conditions on task motivation. This research…

Bilingual Children's Performance on Three Nonword Repetition Tasks: The Role of Language Experience and Ability

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Huls, Simone

2017-01-01

Nonword repetition (NWR) tasks represent one assessment tool for Specific Language Impairment (SLI). The use of such tasks has been established and verified for monolingual children. However, the diagnostic accuracy of NWR tasks for bilingual children has had variable results and must address several unique characteristics of this population. Gaps…

Second Language Learning with the Story Maze Task: Examining the Training Effect of Weaving through Stories

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Enkin, Elizabeth

2016-01-01

The maze task is a psycholinguistic experimental procedure that measures real-time incremental sentence processing. The task has recently been tested as a language learning tool with promising results. Therefore, the present study examines the merits of a contextualized version of this task: the story maze. The findings are consistent with…

The Effect of Writing Task and Task Conditions on Colombian EFL Learners' Language Use

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McDonough, Kim; Fuentes, César García

2015-01-01

This classroom study examines whether English L2 writers' language use differs depending on the writing task (operationalized as paragraph type), and task conditions (operationalized as individual or collaborative writing). The texts written by English L2 university students in Colombia (N = 26) in response to problem/solution and cause/effect…

Where Good Pedagogical Ideas Come From: The Story of an EAP Task

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Light, Justine; Ranta, Leila

2016-01-01

Teachers using a task-based language teaching (TBLT) approach are always searching for learning tasks that have the potential to prepare learners for the real world. In this article, we describe how an authentic academic assignment for graduate students in a teaching English as a second language (TESL) course was transformed into a task-based…

Effects of Tasks on Spoken Interaction and Motivation in English Language Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carrero Pérez, Nubia Patricia

2016-01-01

Task based learning (TBL) or Task based learning and teaching (TBLT) is a communicative approach widely applied in settings where English has been taught as a foreign language (EFL). It has been documented as greatly useful to improve learners' communication skills. This research intended to find the effect of tasks on students' spoken interaction…

The Effects of Task Complexity on Heritage and L2 Spanish Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Torres, Julio

2018-01-01

Manipulating cognitive demands on second language (L2) tasks, along with the provision of recasts and its effects on L2 development, has motivated recent inquiry within task-based research. However, empirical evidence remains inconclusive as to the impact of task complexity, and it is unknown how it may affect heritage language (HL) development.…

Designing for Teaching and Learning in an Open World: Task Supported Open Architecture Language Instruction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Derderian, Ani

2017-01-01

Concepts about tasks have been considered as the major part of analysis in different teaching approaches. Instructors are being more interested in the use of task-based instruction in foreign and second language teaching. Task-based instruction and teaching strategies are implemented by emphasizing meaning. The purpose of this paper is to…

[Gender perspective in health care teaching: a pending task].

PubMed

Arcos, Estela; Poblete, Johanna; Molina Vega, Irma; Miranda, Christian; Zúñiga, Yanira; Fecci, Ester; Rodríguez, Laura; Márquez, Myriam; Ramírez, Miguel

2007-06-01

Gender must be considered in the design and implementation of health policies to safeguard equity and accomplish sanitary objectives. To identify gender perspective in the curricula of five health care careers in the Universidad Austral de Chile. To identify the situation of women in the teaching profile of such curricula. An exploratory and descriptive study with a critical reading of the structure of the programs of 217 courses. Revision of official academic registries. Gender is usually not included in the curricula of health care careers. The generic language conceals female academics and students. There was a scarce inclusion of cross sectional issues such as collaborative work, interpersonal and democratic relationship, equity and critical analysis. There were no differences in academic achievements between female and male students. The contractual profile of female academics reproduces the gender inequity of the work market. The inclusion of gender is a pending task in the training of health care professionals.

Object-oriented sequence analysis: SCL--a C++ class library.

PubMed

Vahrson, W; Hermann, K; Kleffe, J; Wittig, B

1996-04-01

SCL (Sequence Class Library) is a class library written in the C++ programming language. Designed using object-oriented programming principles, SCL consists of classes of objects performing tasks typically needed for analyzing DNA or protein sequences. Among them are very flexible sequence classes, classes accessing databases in various formats, classes managing collections of sequences, as well as classes performing higher-level tasks like calculating a pairwise sequence alignment. SCL also includes classes that provide general programming support, like a dynamically growing array, sets, matrices, strings, classes performing file input/output, and utilities for error handling. By providing these components, SCL fosters an explorative programming style: experimenting with algorithms and alternative implementations is encouraged rather than punished. A description of SCL's overall structure as well as an overview of its classes is given. Important aspects of the work with SCL are discussed in the context of a sample program.

La Description des langues naturelles en vue d'applications linguistiques: Actes du colloque (The Description of Natural Languages with a View to Linguistic Applications: Conference Papers). Publication K-10.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ouellon, Conrad, Comp.

Presentations from a colloquium on applications of research on natural languages to computer science address the following topics: (1) analysis of complex adverbs; (2) parser use in computerized text analysis; (3) French language utilities; (4) lexicographic mapping of official language notices; (5) phonographic codification of Spanish; (6)…

DPADL: An Action Language for Data Processing Domains

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Golden, Keith; Clancy, Daniel (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

This paper presents DPADL (Data Processing Action Description Language), a language for describing planning domains that involve data processing. DPADL is a declarative object-oriented language that supports constraints and embedded Java code, object creation and copying, explicit inputs and outputs for actions, and metadata descriptions of existing and desired data. DPADL is supported by the IMAGEbot system, which will provide automation for an ecosystem forecasting system called TOPS.

Procedural Learning and Individual Differences in Language

PubMed Central

Lee, Joanna C.; Tomblin, J. Bruce

2014-01-01

The aim of the current study was to examine different aspects of procedural memory in young adults who varied with regard to their language abilities. We selected a sample of procedural memory tasks, each of which represented a unique type of procedural learning, and has been linked, at least partially, to the functionality of the corticostriatal system. The findings showed that variance in language abilities is associated with performance on different domains of procedural memory, including the motor domain (as shown in the pursuit rotor task), the cognitive domain (as shown in the weather prediction task), and the linguistic domain (as shown in the nonword repetition priming task). These results implicate the corticostriatal system in individual differences in language. PMID:26190949

English as a Foreign Language in Bilingual Language-minority Children, Children with Dyslexia and Monolingual Typical Readers.

PubMed

Bonifacci, Paola; Canducci, Elisa; Gravagna, Giulia; Palladino, Paola

2017-05-01

The present study was aimed at investigating literacy skills in English as a foreign language in three different groups of children: monolinguals with dyslexia (n = 19), typically developing bilinguals (language-minority) (n = 19) and a control group of monolinguals (Italian) (n = 76). Bilinguals were not expected to fail in English measures, and their gap with monolinguals would be expected to be limited to the instructional language, owing to underexposure. All participants were enrolled in Italian primary schools (fourth and fifth grades). A non-verbal reasoning task and Italian and English literacy tasks were administered. The Italian battery included word and non-word reading (speed and accuracy), word and non-word writing, and reading comprehension; the English battery included similar tasks, except for the non-word writing. Bilingual children performed similarly to typical readers in English tasks, whereas in Italian tasks, their performance was similar to that of typical readers in reading speed but not in reading accuracy and writing. Children with dyslexia underperformed compared with typically developing children in all English and Italian tasks, except for reading comprehension in Italian. Profile analysis and correlational analyses were further discussed. These results suggest that English as a foreign language might represent a challenge for students with dyslexia but a strength for bilingual language-minority children. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The influence of linguistic experience on pitch perception in speech and nonspeech sounds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bent, Tessa; Bradlow, Ann R.; Wright, Beverly A.

2003-04-01

How does native language experience with a tone or nontone language influence pitch perception? To address this question 12 English and 13 Mandarin listeners participated in an experiment involving three tasks: (1) Mandarin tone identification-a clearly linguistic task where a strong effect of language background was expected, (2) pure-tone and pulse-train frequency discrimination-a clearly nonlinguistic auditory discrimination task where no effect of language background was expected, and (3) pitch glide identification-a nonlinguistic auditory categorization task where some effect of language background was expected. As anticipated, Mandarin listeners identified Mandarin tones significantly more accurately than English listeners (Task 1) and the two groups' pure-tone and pulse-train frequency discrimination thresholds did not differ (Task 2). For pitch glide identification (Task 3), Mandarin listeners made more identification errors: in comparison with English listeners, Mandarin listeners more frequently misidentified falling pitch glides as level, and more often misidentified level pitch ``glides'' with relatively high frequencies as rising and those with relatively low frequencies as falling. Thus, it appears that the effect of long-term linguistic experience can extend beyond lexical tone category identification in syllables to pitch class identification in certain nonspeech sounds. [Work supported by Sigma Xi and NIH.

EDAC Test Collection Catalogue: A Description of Tests for Use in Bilingual Education Programs.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wolfsfeld, Lynn

The descriptions of 200 tests for a variety of language groups are designed for use with the test file maintained by the Evaluation, Dissemination, and Assessment Center for Bilingual Education (EDAC). The content areas covered include reading, mathematics, self-concept, language dominance, language proficiency, and intelligence. Tests are…

How the Potawatomi Language Lives: A Grammar of Potawatomi

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lockwood, Hunter Thompson

2017-01-01

This dissertation is a descriptive grammar of Potawatomi, a critically endangered Algonquian language now only spoken as a first language by a handful of elders in northern Wisconsin. Throughout, the goal is to present an authoritative linguistic description of Potawatomi by drawing on direct elicitation, a corpus of new texts gathered in close…

Bilinguals Use Language-Control Brain Areas More Than Monolinguals to Perform Non-Linguistic Switching Tasks

PubMed Central

Rodríguez-Pujadas, Aina; Sanjuán, Ana; Ventura-Campos, Noelia; Román, Patricia; Martin, Clara; Barceló, Francisco; Costa, Albert; Ávila, César

2013-01-01

We tested the hypothesis that early bilinguals use language-control brain areas more than monolinguals when performing non-linguistic executive control tasks. We do so by exploring the brain activity of early bilinguals and monolinguals in a task-switching paradigm using an embedded critical trial design. Crucially, the task was designed such that the behavioural performance of the two groups was comparable, allowing then to have a safer comparison between the corresponding brain activity in the two groups. Despite the lack of behavioural differences between both groups, early bilinguals used language-control areas – such as left caudate, and left inferior and middle frontal gyri – more than monolinguals, when performing the switching task. Results offer direct support for the notion that, early bilingualism exerts an effect in the neural circuitry responsible for executive control. This effect partially involves the recruitment of brain areas involved in language control when performing domain-general executive control tasks, highlighting the cross-talk between these two domains. PMID:24058456

Assessing working memory and language comprehension in Alzheimer's disease.

PubMed

MacDonald, M C; Almor, A; Henderson, V W; Kempler, D; Andersen, E S

2001-07-01

Studies of language impairments in patients with Alzheimer's disease have often assumed that impairments in linguistic working memory underlie comprehension deficits. Assessment of this hypothesis has been hindered both by vagueness of key terms such as "working memory" and by limitations of available working memory tasks, in that many such tasks either seem to have little relationship to language comprehension or are too confusing or difficult for Alzheimer's patients. Four experiments investigated the usefulness of digit ordering, a new task assessing linguistic working memory and/or language processing skill, in normal adults and patients with probable Alzheimer's disease. The digit ordering task was shown to be strongly correlated with the degree of dementia in Alzheimer's patients. The task correlated with measures of language processing on which patients and normal controls performed differently. The results are interpreted as indicating that linguistic representations, linguistic processing, and linguistic working memory are intertwined, such that a deficit of one (e.g., working memory) cannot be said to "cause" a deficit in the other. The implications of this approach are explored in terms of task demands in comprehension and memory measures, and interpretation of previous results in the literature. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.

Get rich quick: the signal to respond procedure reveals the time course of semantic richness effects during visual word recognition.

PubMed

Hargreaves, Ian S; Pexman, Penny M

2014-05-01

According to several current frameworks, semantic processing involves an early influence of language-based information followed by later influences of object-based information (e.g., situated simulations; Santos, Chaigneau, Simmons, & Barsalou, 2011). In the present study we examined whether these predictions extend to the influence of semantic variables in visual word recognition. We investigated the time course of semantic richness effects in visual word recognition using a signal-to-respond (STR) paradigm fitted to a lexical decision (LDT) and a semantic categorization (SCT) task. We used linear mixed effects to examine the relative contributions of language-based (number of senses, ARC) and object-based (imageability, number of features, body-object interaction ratings) descriptions of semantic richness at four STR durations (75, 100, 200, and 400ms). Results showed an early influence of number of senses and ARC in the SCT. In both LDT and SCT, object-based effects were the last to influence participants' decision latencies. We interpret our results within a framework in which semantic processes are available to influence word recognition as a function of their availability over time, and of their relevance to task-specific demands. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Language Learners' and Teachers' Perceptions of Task Repetition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ahmadian, Mohammad Javad; Mansouri, Seyyed Abbas; Ghominejad, Shiva

2017-01-01

This study examined how English language learners and teachers perceive and interpret task repetition (TR), and whether teachers' and learners' views about this pedagogic practice correspond. In addition, the study explored learners' cognitive and affective engagement with TR. We asked eight experienced language teachers to use a structured…

The Utility of Cognitive Plausibility in Language Acquisition Modeling: Evidence from Word Segmentation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Phillips, Lawrence; Pearl, Lisa

2015-01-01

The informativity of a computational model of language acquisition is directly related to how closely it approximates the actual acquisition task, sometimes referred to as the model's "cognitive plausibility." We suggest that though every computational model necessarily idealizes the modeled task, an informative language acquisition…

Sex Differences in Cerebral Laterality of Language and Visuospatial Processing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clements, A. M.; Rimrodt, S. L.; Abel, J. R.; Blankner, J. G.; Mostofsky, S. H.; Pekar, J. J.; Denckla, M. B.; Cutting, L. E.

2006-01-01

Sex differences on language and visuospatial tasks are of great interest, with differences in hemispheric laterality hypothesized to exist between males and females. Some functional imaging studies examining sex differences have shown that males are more left lateralized on language tasks and females are more right lateralized on visuospatial…

Dialect Usage as a Factor in Developmental Language Performance of Primary Grade School Children.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Levine, Madlyn A.; Hanes, Michael L.

This study investigated the relationship between dialect usage and performance on four language tasks designed to reflect features developmental in nature: articulation, grammatical closure, auditory discrimination, and sentence comprehension. Predictor and criterion language tasks were administered to 90 kindergarten, first-, and second-grade…

Language, Thought, and Real Nouns

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barner, David; Inagaki, Shunji; Li, Peggy

2009-01-01

We test the claim that acquiring a mass-count language, like English, causes speakers to think differently about entities in the world, relative to speakers of classifier languages like Japanese. We use three tasks to assess this claim: object-substance rating, quantity judgment, and word extension. Using the first two tasks, we present evidence…

Mix and Switch Effects in Bilingual Language Processing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Koeth, Joel T.

2012-01-01

This study utilized a novel task design in an effort to identify the source of the second language processing advantage commonly reported in mixed language conditions, investigate switch cost asymmetry in non-balanced bilinguals, and identify task-related variables that potentially contribute to inconsistent results across studies with similar…

Rethinking the Connection between Working Memory and Language Impairment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Archibald, Lisa M. D.; Harder Griebeling, Katherine

2016-01-01

Background: Working memory deficits have been found for children with specific language impairment (SLI) on tasks imposing increasing short-term memory load with or without additional, consistent (and simple) processing load. Aims: To examine the processing function of working memory in children with low language (LL) by employing tasks imposing…

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.

Task difficulty modulates brain-behavior correlations in language production and cognitive control: Behavioral and fMRI evidence from a phonological go/no-go picture-naming paradigm.

PubMed

Zhang, Haoyun; Eppes, Anna; Beatty-Martínez, Anne; Navarro-Torres, Christian; Diaz, Michele T

2018-06-19

Language production and cognitive control are complex processes that involve distinct yet interacting brain networks. However, the extent to which these processes interact and their neural bases have not been thoroughly examined. Here, we investigated the neural and behavioral bases of language production and cognitive control via a phonological go/no-go picture-naming task. Naming difficulty and cognitive control demands (i.e., conflict monitoring and response inhibition) were manipulated by varying the proportion of naming trials (go trials) and inhibition trials (no-go trials) across task runs. The results demonstrated that as task demands increased, participants' behavioral performance declined (i.e., longer reaction times on naming trials, more commission errors on inhibition trials) whereas brain activation generally increased. Increased activation was found not only within the language network but also in domain-general control regions. Additionally, right superior and inferior frontal and left supramarginal gyri were sensitive to increased task difficulty during both language production and response inhibition. We also found both positive and negative brain-behavior correlations. Most notably, increased activation in sensorimotor regions, such as precentral and postcentral gyri, was associated with better behavioral performance, in both successful picture naming and successful inhibition. Moreover, comparing the strength of correlations across conditions indicated that the brain-behavior correlations in sensorimotor regions that were associated with improved performance became stronger as task demands increased. Overall, our results suggest that cognitive control demands affect language production, and that successfully coping with increases in task difficulty relies on both language-specific and domain-general cognitive control regions.

Variability and Variation of L2 Grammar: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of German Learners' Performance on Two Tasks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Abrams, Zsuzsanna; Rott, Susanne

2017-01-01

Research on second language (L2) grammar in task-based language learning has yielded inconsistent results regarding the effects of task-complexity, prompting calls for more nuanced analyses of L2 development and task performance. The present cross-sectional study contributes to this discussion by comparing the performance of 245 learners of German…

Task Preference, Affective Response, and Engagement in L2 Use in a US University Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Phung, Linh

2017-01-01

While learners' engagement has been recognized as important for second language (L2) learning in task-based language teaching (TBLT), how engagement is manifest in learners' L2 use during task performance and how tasks can be designed to facilitate better engagement have not received enough attention in the L2 research. This study investigates the…

Investigating the extent of neuroplasticity: Writing in children with perinatal stroke.

PubMed

Woolpert, Darin; Reilly, Judy S

2016-08-01

The developing brain is remarkably plastic, as evidenced by language studies of children with perinatal stroke (PS). Despite initial delays and in contrast to adults with comparable lesions, children with PS perform comparably to their age-matched peers in free conversation by school age. Recent studies of spoken language in older children with PS have indicated limits to neural plasticity. Writing, a cognitively demanding and language dependent domain, is understudied in children with PS. Investigating writing development will provide another perspective on the continuing linguistic development in this population. Written language performance in 43 children with PS and 60 of their typically-developing (TD) peers was evaluated to further investigate the breadth and limits to neural plasticity. Two tasks of varying difficulty were administered: a picture description, which provided a referent to facilitate writing for the children, and a more challenging autobiographical narrative. Texts were analyzed across three broad writing dimensions - productivity, complexity, and linguistic accuracy. Group differences were primarily found on accuracy indices. Morphological accuracy was most impacted by early brain injury and older children with PS did not have higher morphological accuracy than their younger counterparts, suggesting limited development with age. There were no differences in performance based on hemisphere of lesion. In addition to enhancing our understanding of long-term language outcomes in children with PS, the results further illuminate the extent and limitations of early neural plasticity for language. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Biology of Linguistic Expression Impacts Neural Correlates for Spatial Language

PubMed Central

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

2013-01-01

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

Age of second language acquisition affects nonverbal conflict processing in children: an fMRI study.

PubMed

Mohades, Seyede Ghazal; Struys, Esli; Van Schuerbeek, Peter; Baeken, Chris; Van De Craen, Piet; Luypaert, Robert

2014-09-01

In their daily communication, bilinguals switch between two languages, a process that involves the selection of a target language and minimization of interference from a nontarget language. Previous studies have uncovered the neural structure in bilinguals and the activation patterns associated with performing verbal conflict tasks. One question that remains, however is whether this extra verbal switching affects brain function during nonverbal conflict tasks. In this study, we have used fMRI to investigate the impact of bilingualism in children performing two nonverbal tasks involving stimulus-stimulus and stimulus-response conflicts. Three groups of 8-11-year-old children--bilinguals from birth (2L1), second language learners (L2L), and a control group of monolinguals (1L1)--were scanned while performing a color Simon and a numerical Stroop task. Reaction times and accuracy were logged. Compared to monolingual controls, bilingual children showed higher behavioral congruency effect of these tasks, which is matched by the recruitment of brain regions that are generally used in general cognitive control, language processing or to solve language conflict situations in bilinguals (caudate nucleus, posterior cingulate gyrus, STG, precuneus). Further, the activation of these areas was found to be higher in 2L1 compared to L2L. The coupling of longer reaction times to the recruitment of extra language-related brain areas supports the hypothesis that when dealing with language conflicts the specialization of bilinguals hampers the way they can process with nonverbal conflicts, at least at early stages in life.

The Lexical Stroop Sort (LSS) picture-word task: a computerized task for assessing the relationship between language and executive functioning in school-aged children.

PubMed

Wilbourn, Makeba Parramore; Kurtz, Laura E; Kalia, Vrinda

2012-03-01

The relationship between language development and executive function (EF) in children is not well understood. The Lexical Stroop Sort (LSS) task is a computerized EF task created for the purpose of examining the relationship between school-aged children's oral language development and EF. To validate this new measure, a diverse sample of school-aged children completed standardized oral language assessments, the LSS task, and the widely used Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS; Zelazo, 2006) task. Both EF tasks require children to sort stimuli into categories based on predetermined rules. While the DCCS largely relies on visual stimuli, the LSS employs children's phonological loop to access their semantic knowledge base. Accuracy and reaction times were recorded for both tasks. Children's scores on the LSS task were correlated with their scores on the DCCS task, and a similar pattern of relationships emerged between children's vocabulary and the two EF tasks, thus providing convergent validity for the LSS. However, children's phonological awareness was associated with their scores on the LSS, but not with those on the DCCS. In addition, a mediation model was used to elucidate the predictive relationship between phonological awareness and children's performance on the LSS task, with children's vocabulary fully mediating this relationship. The use of this newly created and validated LSS task with different populations, such as preschoolers and bilinguals, is also discussed.

Language familiarity modulates relative attention to the eyes and mouth of a talker.

PubMed

Barenholtz, Elan; Mavica, Lauren; Lewkowicz, David J

2016-02-01

We investigated whether the audiovisual speech cues available in a talker's mouth elicit greater attention when adults have to process speech in an unfamiliar language vs. a familiar language. Participants performed a speech-encoding task while watching and listening to videos of a talker in a familiar language (English) or an unfamiliar language (Spanish or Icelandic). Attention to the mouth increased in monolingual subjects in response to an unfamiliar language condition but did not in bilingual subjects when the task required speech processing. In the absence of an explicit speech-processing task, subjects attended equally to the eyes and mouth in response to both familiar and unfamiliar languages. Overall, these results demonstrate that language familiarity modulates selective attention to the redundant audiovisual speech cues in a talker's mouth in adults. When our findings are considered together with similar findings from infants, they suggest that this attentional strategy emerges very early in life. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Comparative-Descriptive Study of Academic Vocabulary Specific Instruction on 3rd Grade English Language Learner Reading Scores

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ward, Shelley

2017-01-01

Language must be taught with academic vocabulary that is meaningful and that can be transferred between content and context. This comparative-descriptive research study examines how academic specific instruction increases students' learning of a second language acquisition (i.e., English). The conceptual framework of the study drew research…

Putting Practice into Words: The State of Data and Methods Transparency in Grammatical Descriptions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gawne, Lauren; Kelly, Barbara F.; Berez-Kroeker, Andrea L.; Heston, Tyler

2017-01-01

Language documentation and description are closely related practices, often performed as part of the same fieldwork project on an un(der)-studied language. Research trends in recent decades have seen a great volume of publishing in regards to the methods of language documentation, however, it is not clear that linguists' awareness of the…

Chomsky's Universal Grammar and Halliday's Systemic Functional Linguistics: An Appraisal and a Compromise

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bavali, Mohammad; Sadighi, Firooz

2008-01-01

Recent developments in theories of language (grammars) seem to share a number of tenets which mark a drastic shift from traditional disentangled descriptions of language: emphasis on a big number of discrete grammatical rules or a corpus of structure patterns has given way to a more unitary, explanatory powerful description of language informed by…

Should bilingual children learn reading in two languages at the same time or in sequence?

PubMed Central

Berens, Melody S.; Kovelman, Ioulia; Petitto, Laura-Ann

2013-01-01

Is it best to learn reading in two languages simultaneously or sequentially? We observed 2nd and 3rd grade children in two-way dual-language learning contexts: (i) 50:50 or Simultaneous dual-language (two languages within same developmental period) and (ii) 90:10 or Sequential dual-language (one language, followed gradually by the other). They were compared to matched monolingual English-only children in single-language English schools. Bilinguals (home language was Spanish only, English-only, or Spanish and English in dual-language schools), were tested in both languages, and monolingual children were tested in English using standardized reading and language tasks. Bilinguals in 50:50 programs performed better than bilinguals in 90:10 programs on English Irregular Words and Passage Comprehension tasks, suggesting language and reading facilitation for underlying grammatical class and linguistic structure analyses. By contrast, bilinguals in 90:10 programs performed better than bilinguals in the 50:50 programs on English Phonological Awareness and Reading Decoding tasks, suggesting language and reading facilitation for surface phonological regularity analysis. Notably, children from English-only homes in dual-language learning contexts performed equally well, or better than, children from monolingual English-only homes in single-language learning contexts. Overall, the findings provide tantalizing evidence that dual-language learning during the same developmental period may provide bilingual reading advantages. PMID:23794952

Dissociated language functions: a matter of atypical language lateralization or cerebral plasticity?

PubMed

Acioly, Marcus Andre; Gharabaghi, Alireza; Zimmermann, Christoph; Erb, Michael; Heckl, Stefan; Tatagiba, Marcos

2014-01-01

The left hemisphere is generally considered to harbor language functions. Atypical cortical language lateralization is mainly demonstrated in left-handed and ambidextrous individuals, whereas dissociated language functions have been reported in association with brain injuries as a part of the reorganization process. We present a thoughtful discussion on the underlying mechanisms of dissociated language functions through an illustrative case of dissociated expressive language. A 31-year-old left-handed woman presented with a recurrent left frontal glioma. Preoperative language functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) panel revealed right-sided dominance for two different language tasks (verbal fluency and visual naming), and the word chain task demonstrated maximal activation in the left hemisphere at the posterior margin of the tumor. The patient was operated on awake to assess language functions intraoperatively. Preoperative fMRI findings were confirmed revealing a task-specific dissociation of expressive language functions. Surgical resection was taken to the functional boundaries. Postoperatively, no language dysfunction occurred. Dissociated language functions are prone to occur in long-standing lesions. Different patterns of dissociation may be encountered due to interindividual particularities and cerebral plasticity. The presented patient is unique by demonstrating new insight into expressive language dissociation, emphasizing the role of a preoperative language fMRI panel and the capability of intraoperative language mapping for identifying special language networks. Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Control of Task Sequences: What Is the Role of Language?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mayr, Ulrich; Kleffner-Canucci, Killian; Kikumoto, Atsushi; Redford, Melissa A.

2014-01-01

It is almost a truism that language aids serial-order control through self-cuing of upcoming sequential elements. We measured speech onset latencies as subjects performed hierarchically organized task sequences while "thinking aloud" each task label. Surprisingly, speech onset latencies and response times (RTs) were highly synchronized,…

Microevaluating Learners' Task-Specific Motivation in a Task-Based Business Spanish Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Torres, Julio; Serafini, Ellen J.

2016-01-01

Scholars of task-based language teaching (TBLT) advocate for the identification of learners' communicative needs to inform syllabus design, particularly in language for specific purposes contexts (e.g., Long 2015). However, little research has applied TBLT principles in designing Spanish for specific purposes curricula. Moreover, despite the…

Research: Research in Language Arts Education: Notes on How It Works.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dilworth, Collett B., Jr.

1980-01-01

Provides an overview of different types of educational research in language arts, including the quasi-experiment, the controlled methodological experiment, the controlled descriptive experiment, the non-controlled description, and textual analysis. (RL)

Resting-State Seed-Based Analysis: An Alternative to Task-Based Language fMRI and Its Laterality Index.

PubMed

Smitha, K A; Arun, K M; Rajesh, P G; Thomas, B; Kesavadas, C

2017-06-01

Language is a cardinal function that makes human unique. Preservation of language function poses a great challenge for surgeons during resection. The aim of the study was to assess the efficacy of resting-state fMRI in the lateralization of language function in healthy subjects to permit its further testing in patients who are unable to perform task-based fMRI. Eighteen healthy right-handed volunteers were prospectively evaluated with resting-state fMRI and task-based fMRI to assess language networks. The laterality indices of Broca and Wernicke areas were calculated by using task-based fMRI via a voxel-value approach. We adopted seed-based resting-state fMRI connectivity analysis together with parameters such as amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation and fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (fALFF). Resting-state fMRI connectivity maps for language networks were obtained from Broca and Wernicke areas in both hemispheres. We performed correlation analysis between the laterality index and the z scores of functional connectivity, amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation, and fALFF. Pearson correlation analysis between signals obtained from the z score of fALFF and the laterality index yielded a correlation coefficient of 0.849 ( P < .05). Regression analysis of the fALFF with the laterality index yielded an R 2 value of 0.721, indicating that 72.1% of the variance in the laterality index of task-based fMRI could be predicted from the fALFF of resting-state fMRI. The present study demonstrates that fALFF can be used as an alternative to task-based fMRI for assessing language laterality. There was a strong positive correlation between the fALFF of the Broca area of resting-state fMRI with the laterality index of task-based fMRI. Furthermore, we demonstrated the efficacy of fALFF for predicting the laterality of task-based fMRI. © 2017 by American Journal of Neuroradiology.

Effects of Early Bilingual Experience with a Tone and a Non-Tone Language on Speech-Music Integration

PubMed Central

Asaridou, Salomi S.; Hagoort, Peter; McQueen, James M.

2015-01-01

We investigated music and language processing in a group of early bilinguals who spoke a tone language and a non-tone language (Cantonese and Dutch). We assessed online speech-music processing interactions, that is, interactions that occur when speech and music are processed simultaneously in songs, with a speeded classification task. In this task, participants judged sung pseudowords either musically (based on the direction of the musical interval) or phonologically (based on the identity of the sung vowel). We also assessed longer-term effects of linguistic experience on musical ability, that is, the influence of extensive prior experience with language when processing music. These effects were assessed with a task in which participants had to learn to identify musical intervals and with four pitch-perception tasks. Our hypothesis was that due to their experience in two different languages using lexical versus intonational tone, the early Cantonese-Dutch bilinguals would outperform the Dutch control participants. In online processing, the Cantonese-Dutch bilinguals processed speech and music more holistically than controls. This effect seems to be driven by experience with a tone language, in which integration of segmental and pitch information is fundamental. Regarding longer-term effects of linguistic experience, we found no evidence for a bilingual advantage in either the music-interval learning task or the pitch-perception tasks. Together, these results suggest that being a Cantonese-Dutch bilingual does not have any measurable longer-term effects on pitch and music processing, but does have consequences for how speech and music are processed jointly. PMID:26659377

Effects of Early Bilingual Experience with a Tone and a Non-Tone Language on Speech-Music Integration.

PubMed

Asaridou, Salomi S; Hagoort, Peter; McQueen, James M

2015-01-01

We investigated music and language processing in a group of early bilinguals who spoke a tone language and a non-tone language (Cantonese and Dutch). We assessed online speech-music processing interactions, that is, interactions that occur when speech and music are processed simultaneously in songs, with a speeded classification task. In this task, participants judged sung pseudowords either musically (based on the direction of the musical interval) or phonologically (based on the identity of the sung vowel). We also assessed longer-term effects of linguistic experience on musical ability, that is, the influence of extensive prior experience with language when processing music. These effects were assessed with a task in which participants had to learn to identify musical intervals and with four pitch-perception tasks. Our hypothesis was that due to their experience in two different languages using lexical versus intonational tone, the early Cantonese-Dutch bilinguals would outperform the Dutch control participants. In online processing, the Cantonese-Dutch bilinguals processed speech and music more holistically than controls. This effect seems to be driven by experience with a tone language, in which integration of segmental and pitch information is fundamental. Regarding longer-term effects of linguistic experience, we found no evidence for a bilingual advantage in either the music-interval learning task or the pitch-perception tasks. Together, these results suggest that being a Cantonese-Dutch bilingual does not have any measurable longer-term effects on pitch and music processing, but does have consequences for how speech and music are processed jointly.

The Experience of Teaching of Descriptive Geometry and Engineering Graphics in Russian Language as a Foreign Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Voronina, Marianna V.; Tretyakova, Zlata O.

2017-01-01

The article considers the peculiarities of training foreign students subject "Descriptive geometry and Engineering Graphics" in a modern engineering university of Russia. The relevance of the problem conditioned by the fact that virtually there are no special studies of teaching Descriptive Geometry and Engineering Graphics in Russian…

On the System of Person-Denoting Signs in Estonian Sign Language: Estonian Name Signs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Paales, Liina

2010-01-01

This article discusses Estonian personal name signs. According to study there are four personal name sign categories in Estonian Sign Language: (1) arbitrary name signs; (2) descriptive name signs; (3) initialized-descriptive name signs; (4) loan/borrowed name signs. Mostly there are represented descriptive and borrowed personal name signs among…

Production of Verb Tense in Agrammatic Aphasia: A Meta-Analysis and Further Data

PubMed Central

Faroqi-Shah, Yasmeen; Friedman, Laura

2015-01-01

In a majority of languages, the time of an event is expressed by marking tense on the verb. There is substantial evidence that the production of verb tense in sentences is more severely impaired than other functional categories in persons with agrammatic aphasia. The underlying source of this verb tense impairment is less clear, particularly in terms of the relative contribution of conceptual-semantic and processing demands. This study aimed to provide a more precise characterization of verb tense impairment by examining if there is dissociation within tenses (due to conceptual-semantic differences) and an effect of experimental task (mediated by processing limitations). Two sources of data were used: a meta-analysis of published research (which yielded 143 datasets) and new data from 16 persons with agrammatic aphasia. Tensed verbs were significantly more impaired than neutral (nonfinite) verbs, but there were no consistent differences between past, present, and future tenses. Overall, tense accuracy was mediated by task, such that picture description task was the most challenging, relative to sentence completion, sentence production priming, and grammaticality judgment. An interaction between task and tense revealed a past tense disadvantage for a sentence production priming task. These findings indicate that verb tense impairment is exacerbated by processing demands of the elicitation task and the conceptual-semantic differences between tenses are too subtle to show differential performance in agrammatism. PMID:26457004

Effects of context and word class on lexical retrieval in Chinese speakers with anomic aphasia.

PubMed

Law, Sam-Po; Kong, Anthony Pak-Hin; Lai, Loretta Wing-Shan; Lai, Christy

2015-01-01

Differences in processing nouns and verbs have been investigated intensely in psycholinguistics and neuropsychology in past decades. However, the majority of studies examining retrieval of these word classes have involved tasks of single word stimuli or responses. While the results have provided rich information for addressing issues about grammatical class distinctions, it is unclear whether they have adequate ecological validity for understanding lexical retrieval in connected speech which characterizes daily verbal communication. Previous investigations comparing retrieval of nouns and verbs in single word production and connected speech have reported either discrepant performance between the two contexts with presence of word class dissociation in picture naming but absence in connected speech, or null effects of word class. In addition, word finding difficulties have been found to be less severe in connected speech than picture naming. However, these studies have failed to match target stimuli of the two word classes and between tasks on psycholinguistic variables known to affect performance in response latency and/or accuracy. The present study compared lexical retrieval of nouns and verbs in picture naming and connected speech from picture description, procedural description, and story-telling among 19 Chinese speakers with anomic aphasia and their age, gender, and education matched healthy controls, to understand the influence of grammatical class on word production across speech contexts when target items were balanced for confounding variables between word classes and tasks. Elicitation of responses followed the protocol of the AphasiaBank consortium (http://talkbank.org/AphasiaBank/). Target words for confrontation naming were based on well-established naming tests, while those for narrative were drawn from a large database of normal speakers. Selected nouns and verbs in the two contexts were matched for age-of-acquisition (AoA) and familiarity. Influence of imageability was removed through statistical control. When AoA and familiarity were balanced, nouns were retrieved better than verbs, and performance was higher in picture naming than connected speech. When imageability was further controlled for, only the effect of task remained significant. The absence of word class effects when confounding variables are controlled for is similar to many previous reports; however, the pattern of better word retrieval in naming is rare but compatible with the account that processing demands are higher in narrative than naming. The overall findings have strongly suggested the importance of including connected speech tasks in any language assessment and evaluation of language rehabilitation of individuals with aphasia.

Effects of context and word class on lexical retrieval in Chinese speakers with anomic aphasia

PubMed Central

Law, Sam-Po; Kong, Anthony Pak-Hin; Lai, Loretta Wing-Shan; Lai, Christy

2014-01-01

Background Differences in processing nouns and verbs have been investigated intensely in psycholinguistics and neuropsychology in past decades. However, the majority of studies examining retrieval of these word classes have involved tasks of single word stimuli or responses. While the results have provided rich information for addressing issues about grammatical class distinctions, it is unclear whether they have adequate ecological validity for understanding lexical retrieval in connected speech which characterizes daily verbal communication. Previous investigations comparing retrieval of nouns and verbs in single word production and connected speech have reported either discrepant performance between the two contexts with presence of word class dissociation in picture naming but absence in connected speech, or null effects of word class. In addition, word finding difficulties have been found to be less severe in connected speech than picture naming. However, these studies have failed to match target stimuli of the two word classes and between tasks on psycholinguistic variables known to affect performance in response latency and/or accuracy. Aims The present study compared lexical retrieval of nouns and verbs in picture naming and connected speech from picture description, procedural description, and story-telling among 19 Chinese speakers with anomic aphasia and their age, gender, and education matched healthy controls, to understand the influence of grammatical class on word production across speech contexts when target items were balanced for confounding variables between word classes and tasks. Methods & Procedures Elicitation of responses followed the protocol of the AphasiaBank consortium (http://talkbank.org/AphasiaBank/). Target words for confrontation naming were based on well-established naming tests, while those for narrative were drawn from a large database of normal speakers. Selected nouns and verbs in the two contexts were matched for age-of-acquisition (AoA) and familiarity. Influence of imageability was removed through statistical control. Outcomes & Results When AoA and familiarity were balanced, nouns were retrieved better than verbs, and performance was higher in picture naming than connected speech. When imageability was further controlled for, only the effect of task remained significant. Conclusions The absence of word class effects when confounding variables are controlled for is similar to many previous reports; however, the pattern of better word retrieval in naming is rare but compatible with the account that processing demands are higher in narrative than naming. The overall findings have strongly suggested the importance of including connected speech tasks in any language assessment and evaluation of language rehabilitation of individuals with aphasia. PMID:25505810

Second Language Acquisition as Situated Practice: Task Accomplishment in the French Second Language Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mondada, Lorenza; Doehler, Simona Pekarek

2004-01-01

This article provides an empirically based perspective on the contribution of conversation analysis (CA) and sociocultural theory to our understanding of learners' second language (L2) practices within what we call a strong socio-interactionist perspective. It explores the interactive (re)configuration of tasks in French second language…

Can Integrated Skills Tasks Change Students' Learning Strategies and Materials?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wei, Wei

2017-01-01

The use of integrated skills tasks in language tests has been debated for many years and international English test developers such as Educational Testing Service (ETS) and Pearson Tests of English (PTE) already use such tests to assess English as a foreign language (EFL) learners' language proficiency. Empirical research has rarely investigated…

Turkmen Language Competencies for Peace Corps Volunteers in Turkmenistan.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tyson, David; Clark, Larry

This textbook is designed for use by Peace Corps volunteers learning Turkmen in preparation for serving in Turkmenistan. It takes a competency-based approach to language learning, focusing on specific tasks the learner will need to accomplish through language. Some competencies are related to work tasks and others to survival needs or social…

The Influence of Drama on Elementary Students' Written Narratives and On-Task Behavior

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anderson, Alida; Berry, Katherine A.

2014-01-01

Dramatic language arts integration (DLA) and conventional language arts (CLA) lessons were compared for their influence on third grade students' written narrative cohesion and on-task behavior in a self-contained, nonpublic elementary classroom. Participants included students (N = 14) with comorbid language-based learning disabilities (LD) and…

Language Creativity and Co-Emergence of Form and Meaning in Creative Writing Tasks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tin, Tan Bee

2011-01-01

Drawing on various theoretical approaches to creativity and the emergentist perspectives, this study examines the opportunities for creative language use and emergence of complex language in creative writing tasks with high formal constraints (acrostics) and those with looser formal constraints (similes). It indicates that formal constraints lead…

Learner Perspectives on Task Design for Oral-Visual eTandem Language Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

El-Hariri, Yasmin

2016-01-01

Constituting a more specific form of online collaboration, eTandem Language Learning (eTLL) shows great potential for non-formal, self-directed language learning. Research in this field, particularly regarding task design, is still scarce. Focusing on their beliefs and attitudes, this article examines what learners think about how…

Presentation-Practice-Production and Task-Based Learning in the Light of Second Language Learning Theories.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ritchie, Graeme

2003-01-01

Features of presentation-practice-production (PPP) and task-based learning (TBL) models for language teaching are discussed with reference to language learning theories. Pre-selection of target structures, use of controlled repetition, and explicit grammar instruction in a PPP lesson are given. Suggests TBL approaches afford greater learning…

The Cerebellum and Language: Evidence from Patients with Cerebellar Degeneration

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stoodley, Catherine J.; Schmahmann, Jeremy D.

2009-01-01

Clinical and imaging studies suggest that the cerebellum is involved in language tasks, but the extent to which slowed language production in cerebellar patients contributes to their poor performance on these tasks is not clear. We explored this relationship in 18 patients with cerebellar degeneration and 16 healthy controls who completed measures…

Attention to the Second Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wickens, Christopher D.

2007-01-01

Attention to a task, and the language it requires to be performed, can be described in relation to two theoretical models which have prompted research into the effects of task demands on learning and performance outside the field of second language acquisition (SLA). These are the SEEV (selection, effort, expectancy and value) model of selective…

Designing a VOIP Based Language Test

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Garcia Laborda, Jesus; Magal Royo, Teresa; Otero de Juan, Nuria; Gimenez Lopez, Jose L.

2015-01-01

Assessing speaking is one of the most difficult tasks in computer based language testing. Many countries all over the world face the need to implement standardized language tests where speaking tasks are commonly included. However, a number of problems make them rather impractical such as the costs, the personnel involved, the length of time for…

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…

Collaborative Tasks in Wiki-Based Environment in EFL Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zou, Bin; Wang, Dongshuo; Xing, Minjie

2016-01-01

Wikis provide users with opportunities to post and edit messages to collaborate in the language learning process. Many studies have offered findings to show positive impact of Wiki-based language learning for learners. This paper explores the effect of collaborative task in error correction for English as a Foreign Language learning in an online…

An Open-Sourced and Interactive Ebook Development Program for Minority Languages

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sheepy, Emily; Sundberg, Ross; Laurie, Anne

2017-01-01

According to Long (2014), genuine task-based pedagogy is centered around the real-world activities that learners need to complete using the target language. We are developing the OurStories mobile application to support learners and instructors of minority languages in the development of personally relevant, task-based learning resources. The…

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

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chalhoub-Deville, Micheline

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

On-Line Orthographic Influences on Spoken Language in a Semantic Task

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pattamadilok, Chotiga; Perre, Laetitia; Dufau, Stephane; Ziegler, Johannes C.

2009-01-01

Literacy changes the way the brain processes spoken language. Most psycholinguists believe that orthographic effects on spoken language are either strategic or restricted to meta-phonological tasks. We used event-related brain potentials (ERPs) to investigate the locus and the time course of orthographic effects on spoken word recognition in a…

Patterns of Tasks, Patterns of Talk: L2 Literacy Building in University Spanish Classes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gleason, Jesse; Slater, Tammy

2017-01-01

Second language (L2) classroom research has sought to shed light on the processes and practices that develop L2 learners' abilities [Nunan, D. 2004. "Task-based language teaching." London: Continuum; Verplaetse, L. 2014. "Using big questions to apprentice students into language-rich classroom practices." "TESOL…

Pragmatics of language and theory of mind in children with dyslexia with associated language difficulties or nonverbal learning disabilities.

PubMed

Cardillo, Ramona; Garcia, Ricardo Basso; Mammarella, Irene C; Cornoldi, Cesare

2017-03-15

The present study aims to find empirical evidence of deficits in linguistic pragmatic skills and theory of mind (ToM) in children with dyslexia with associated language difficulties or nonverbal learning disabilities (NLD), when compared with a group of typically developing (TD) children matched for age and gender. Our results indicate that children with dyslexia perform less well than TD children in most of the tasks measuring pragmatics of language, and in one of the tasks measuring ToM. In contrast, children with NLD generally performed better than the dyslexia group, and performed significantly worse than the TD children only in a metaphors task based on visual stimuli. A discriminant function analysis confirmed the crucial role of the metaphors subtest and the verbal ToM task in distinguishing between the groups. We concluded that, contrary to a generally-held assumption, children with dyslexia and associated language difficulties may be weaker than children with NLD in linguistic pragmatics and ToM, especially when language is crucially involved. The educational and clinical implications of these findings are discussed.

The Effects of Pre-Task Planning and On-line Planning on Fluency, Complexity, and Accuracy in L2 Monologic Oral Production.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yuan, Fangyuan; Ellis, Rod

2003-01-01

Investigated the effects of both pre-task and on-line planning on second language (L2) oral production. Results show that pre-task planning enhances grammatical complexity while on-line planning positively influences accuracy and grammatical complexity. Pre-task planners also produced more fluent and lexically varied language than the on-line…

Task-Based Language Teaching for Beginner-Level Learners of L2 French: An Exploratory Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Erlam, Rosemary; Ellis, Rod

2018-01-01

This study investigated the effect of input-based tasks on the acquisition of vocabulary and grammar by beginner-level learners of L2 French and reported the introduction of task-based teaching as an innovation in a state secondary school. The experimental group (n = 19) completed a series of focused input-based language tasks, taught by their…

Truck and bus driver task analysis

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1973-05-01

This report describes the tasks involved in driving large trucks and buses. The task descriptions are an extension of the task description developed by Human Resources Research Organization (HumRRO) for passenger car drivers and deal with those uniqu...

Using Open Geographic Data to Generate Natural Language Descriptions for Hydrological Sensor Networks.

PubMed

Molina, Martin; Sanchez-Soriano, Javier; Corcho, Oscar

2015-07-03

Providing descriptions of isolated sensors and sensor networks in natural language, understandable by the general public, is useful to help users find relevant sensors and analyze sensor data. In this paper, we discuss the feasibility of using geographic knowledge from public databases available on the Web (such as OpenStreetMap, Geonames, or DBpedia) to automatically construct such descriptions. We present a general method that uses such information to generate sensor descriptions in natural language. The results of the evaluation of our method in a hydrologic national sensor network showed that this approach is feasible and capable of generating adequate sensor descriptions with a lower development effort compared to other approaches. In the paper we also analyze certain problems that we found in public databases (e.g., heterogeneity, non-standard use of labels, or rigid search methods) and their impact in the generation of sensor descriptions.

Using Open Geographic Data to Generate Natural Language Descriptions for Hydrological Sensor Networks

PubMed Central

Molina, Martin; Sanchez-Soriano, Javier; Corcho, Oscar

2015-01-01

Providing descriptions of isolated sensors and sensor networks in natural language, understandable by the general public, is useful to help users find relevant sensors and analyze sensor data. In this paper, we discuss the feasibility of using geographic knowledge from public databases available on the Web (such as OpenStreetMap, Geonames, or DBpedia) to automatically construct such descriptions. We present a general method that uses such information to generate sensor descriptions in natural language. The results of the evaluation of our method in a hydrologic national sensor network showed that this approach is feasible and capable of generating adequate sensor descriptions with a lower development effort compared to other approaches. In the paper we also analyze certain problems that we found in public databases (e.g., heterogeneity, non-standard use of labels, or rigid search methods) and their impact in the generation of sensor descriptions. PMID:26151211

Better dual-task processing in simultaneous interpreters

PubMed Central

Strobach, Tilo; Becker, Maxi; Schubert, Torsten; Kühn, Simone

2015-01-01

Simultaneous interpreting (SI) is a highly complex activity and requires the performance and coordination of multiple, simultaneous tasks: analysis and understanding of the discourse in a first language, reformulating linguistic material, storing of intermediate processing steps, and language production in a second language among others. It is, however, an open issue whether persons with experience in SI possess superior skills in coordination of multiple tasks and whether they are able to transfer these skills to lab-based dual-task situations. Within the present study, we set out to explore whether interpreting experience is associated with related higher-order executive functioning in the context of dual-task situations of the Psychological Refractory Period (PRP) type. In this PRP situation, we found faster reactions times in participants with experience in simultaneous interpretation in contrast to control participants without such experience. Thus, simultaneous interpreters possess superior skills in coordination of multiple tasks in lab-based dual-task situations. PMID:26528232

Between-language repetition priming in antonym generation: evidence that translation-equivalent adjectives have shared conceptual representations across languages.

PubMed

Taylor, Randolph S; Francis, Wendy S

2017-03-01

Previous literature has demonstrated conceptual repetition priming across languages in bilinguals. This between-language priming effect is taken as evidence that translation equivalents have shared conceptual representations across languages. However, the vast majority of this research has been conducted using only concrete nouns as stimuli. The present experiment examined conceptual repetition priming within and between languages in adjectives, a part of speech not previously investigated in studies of bilingual conceptual representation. The participants were 100 Spanish-English bilinguals who had regular exposure to both languages. At encoding, participants performed a shallow processing task and a deep-processing task on English and Spanish adjectives. At test, they performed an antonym-generation task in English, in which the target responses were either adjectives presented at encoding or control adjectives not previously presented. The measure of priming was the response time advantage for producing repeated adjectives relative to control adjectives. Significant repetition priming was observed both within and between languages under deep, but not shallow, encoding conditions. The results indicate that the conceptual representations of adjective translation equivalents are shared across languages.

Leveraging workflow control patterns in the domain of clinical practice guidelines.

PubMed

Kaiser, Katharina; Marcos, Mar

2016-02-10

Clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) include recommendations describing appropriate care for the management of patients with a specific clinical condition. A number of representation languages have been developed to support executable CPGs, with associated authoring/editing tools. Even with tool assistance, authoring of CPG models is a labor-intensive task. We aim at facilitating the early stages of CPG modeling task. In this context, we propose to support the authoring of CPG models based on a set of suitable procedural patterns described in an implementation-independent notation that can be then semi-automatically transformed into one of the alternative executable CPG languages. We have started with the workflow control patterns which have been identified in the fields of workflow systems and business process management. We have analyzed the suitability of these patterns by means of a qualitative analysis of CPG texts. Following our analysis we have implemented a selection of workflow patterns in the Asbru and PROforma CPG languages. As implementation-independent notation for the description of patterns we have chosen BPMN 2.0. Finally, we have developed XSLT transformations to convert the BPMN 2.0 version of the patterns into the Asbru and PROforma languages. We showed that although a significant number of workflow control patterns are suitable to describe CPG procedural knowledge, not all of them are applicable in the context of CPGs due to their focus on single-patient care. Moreover, CPGs may require additional patterns not included in the set of workflow control patterns. We also showed that nearly all the CPG-suitable patterns can be conveniently implemented in the Asbru and PROforma languages. Finally, we demonstrated that individual patterns can be semi-automatically transformed from a process specification in BPMN 2.0 to executable implementations in these languages. We propose a pattern and transformation-based approach for the development of CPG models. Such an approach can form the basis of a valid framework for the authoring of CPG models. The identification of adequate patterns and the implementation of transformations to convert patterns from a process specification into different executable implementations are the first necessary steps for our approach.

The Immersion Effect

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-12-01

C.   METHODOLOGY ....................................................................................4 D.   LITERATURE REVIEW... Descriptions ................................................10 Table 3.   Interagency Language Roundtable Language Skill Level Table 4. Descriptions ...and cultural acquisition. METHODOLOGY D. In this project the author analyzed official documents associated with Military Information Support

FRED user's manual

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

Shilling, J.

1984-02-01

FRED, the friendly editor, is a screen-based structured editor. This manual is intended to serve the needs of a wide range of users of the FRED text editor. Most users will find it sufficient to read the introductory material in section 2, supplemented with the full command set description in section 3. Advanced users may wish to change the keystroke sequences which invoke editor commands. Section 4 describes how to change key bindings and how to define command macros. Some users may need to modify a language description or create an entirely new language description for use with FRED. Sectionmore » 5 describes the format of the language descriptions used by the editor, and describes how to construct a language grammar. Section 6 describes known portability problems of the FRED editor and should concern only system installation personnel. The editor points out syntax errors in the file being edited and does automatic pretty printing.« less

Altered cerebral activity associated with topiramate and its withdrawal in patients with epilepsy with language impairment: An fMRI study using the verb generation task.

PubMed

Tang, Yingying; Xia, Wei; Yu, Xiaofeng; Zhou, Bo; Wu, Xintong; Lui, Su; Luo, Chunyan; Huang, Xiaoqi; Ouyang, Luo; Chen, Qin; Gong, Qiyong; Zhou, Dong

2016-06-01

Topiramate (TPM) is well recognized for its negative effects on language in healthy volunteers and patients with epilepsy. The aim of this study was to investigate the brain activation and deactivation patterns in TPM-treated patients with epilepsy with language impairment and their dynamic alteration during TPM withdrawal using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with the verb generation task (VGT). Twelve patients with epilepsy experiencing subjective language disfluency after TPM add-on treatment (TPM-on) and thirty sex- and age-matched healthy controls (HCs) were recruited. All subjects received a battery of neuropsychological tests and an fMRI scan with the VGT. Withdrawal of TPM was attempted in all patients. Only six patients reached complete withdrawal without seizure relapses (TPM-off), and these patients underwent a reassessment of neuropsychological and neuroimaging tests. The neuropsychological tests demonstrated objective language impairments in TPM-on patients. Compared with the HCs, the bilateral medial prefrontal cortex and the posterior midline and lateral parts of the default mode network (DMN) (including the bilateral posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), the right medial prefrontal cortex, the right angular gyrus, the right inferior temporal gyrus, and the bilateral supramarginal gyrus) in TPM-on patients failed to deactivate during the VGT. Their task-induced activation patterns were largely similar to those of the HCs. After TPM withdrawal, partial improvement of both task-induced deactivation of the DMN (the left parahippocampal gyrus and the bilateral PCC) and task-related activation of the language network (the right middle frontal gyrus and the left superior occipital gyrus) was identified along with partial improvement of neuropsychological tests. Task-induced deactivation is a more sensitive neuroimaging biomarker for the impaired language performance in patients administered TPM than task-induced activation. Disruption and reorganization of the balance between the DMN and the cortical language networks are found along with reversible TPM-related language impairment. These results may suggest an underlying brain mechanism by which TPM affects cognitive function. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Choguita Rarámuri (Tarahumara) Language Description and Documentation: A Guide to the Deposited Collection and Associated Materials

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Caballero, Gabriela

2017-01-01

Choguita Rarámuri (Tarahumara) is a Uto-Aztecan language spoken in Northern Mexico of great typological, theoretical, and historical significance. This paper presents an overview and background of the Choguita Rarámuri language description and documentation project and provides a guide to the documentary collection emerging from this project. This…

Automatic Requirements Specification Extraction from Natural Language (ARSENAL)

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-10-01

designers, implementers) involved in the design of software systems. However, natural language descriptions can be informal, incomplete, imprecise...communication of technical descriptions between the various stakeholders (e.g., customers, designers, imple- menters) involved in the design of software systems...the accuracy of the natural language processing stage, the degree of automation, and robustness to noise. 1 2 Introduction Software systems operate in

Putting the Plain into Pain Language in English for Medical Purposes: Learner Inquiry into Patients' Online Descriptive Accounts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Plastina, Anna Franca

2016-01-01

The need to teach medical students plain language for their future engagement in pain communication can no longer be underestimated. Pain education has traditionally neglected the teaching of pain language, yet patients' descriptive accounts have been acknowledged as the standard in medical care. English for Medical Purposes (EMP) can make its…

A Proposed Pattern of Enterprise Architecture

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-02-01

consistent architecture descriptions. UPDM comprises extensions to both OMG’s Unified Modelling Language (UML) and Systems Modelling Language ( SysML ...those who use UML and SysML . These represent significant advancements that enable architecture trade-off analyses, architecture model execution...Language ( SysML ), and thus provides for architectural descriptions that contain a rich set of (formally) connected DoDAF/MoDAF viewpoints expressed

Timing of gazes in child dialogues: a time-course analysis of requests and back channelling in referential communication.

PubMed

Sandgren, Olof; Andersson, Richard; van de Weijer, Joost; Hansson, Kristina; Sahlén, Birgitta

2012-01-01

This study investigates gaze behaviour in child dialogues. In earlier studies the authors have investigated the use of requests for clarification and responses in order to study the co-creation of understanding in a referential communication task. By adding eye tracking, this line of research is now expanded to include non-verbal contributions in conversation. To investigate the timing of gazes in face-to-face interaction and to relate the gaze behaviour to the use of requests for clarification. Eight conversational pairs of typically developing 10-15 year olds participated. The pairs (director and executor) performed a referential communication task requiring the description of faces. During the dialogues both participants wore head-mounted eye trackers. All gazes were recorded and categorized according to the area fixated (Task, Face, Off). The verbal context for all instances of gaze at the partner's face was identified and categorized using time-course analysis. The results showed that the executor spends almost 90% of the time fixating the gaze on the task, 10% on the director's face and less than 0.5% elsewhere. Turn shift, primarily requests for clarification, and back channelling significantly predicted the executors' gaze to the face of the task director. The distribution of types of requests showed that requests for previously unmentioned information were significantly more likely to be associated with gaze at the director. The study shows that the executors' gaze at the director accompanies important dynamic shifts in the dialogue. The association with requests for clarification indicates that gaze at the director can be used to monitor the response with two modalities. Furthermore, the significantly higher association with requests for previously unmentioned information indicates that gaze may be used to emphasize the verbal content. The results will be used as a reference for studies of gaze behaviour in clinical populations with hearing and language impairments. © 2012 Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.

As naturalistic as it gets: subtitles in the English classroom in Norway

PubMed Central

Vulchanova, Mila; Aurstad, Lisa M. G.; Kvitnes, Ingrid E. N.; Eshuis, Hendrik

2015-01-01

This study aimed to investigate the effects of subtitles in the context of authentic material on second language comprehension and potentially, second language acquisition for Norwegian learners of English. Participants in the study were 49 17-year-old students and 65 16-year-old students, who were all native speakers of Norwegian learning English as an L2 in high school. Both age groups were divided into three Conditions, where one group watched an episode of the American animated cartoon Family Guy with Norwegian subtitles, one group with English subtitles, and one group watched the episode with no subtitles. On a comprehension questionnaire conducted immediately after watching the episode positive short-term effects of both native language (L1) and target language (L2) subtitles were found for both age groups. However, no differences in terms of the language of the subtitles were found in the older and more advanced group. Four weeks later the participants responded to a word definition task and a word recall task to investigate potential long-term effects of the subtitles. The only long-term effect was found in the word definition task and was modulated by age. We found, however, that native language subtitles impact negatively on performance on the comprehension task. The results from this study suggest that the mere presence of subtitles as an additional source of information enhances learners' comprehension of the plot and content in animated audio-visual material in their L2. The absence of differences in terms of the language of the subtitles in the more advanced group suggests that both intralanguage and interlanguage subtitles can aid target language comprehension in very advanced learners, most probably due to better consolidated vocabulary knowledge in that group. The two groups differed also on predictors of performance on the two lexical tasks. While in the less proficient younger group, vocabulary status best predicted performance on both tasks (vocabulary predicts vocabulary), for the very advanced older group, grammar was a stronger predictor, highlighting the importance of generic language competence and skills in L2 tasks for highly proficient L2 users. We also found an effect of written L2 skills on performance on both lexical tasks indicative of the role of orthography in vocabulary consolidation. PMID:25620938

Applications of Task-Based Learning in TESOL

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shehadeh, Ali, Ed.; Coombe, Christine, Ed.

2010-01-01

Why are many teachers around the world moving toward task-based learning (TBL)? This shift is based on the strong belief that TBL facilitates second language acquisition and makes second language learning and teaching more principled and effective. Based on insights gained from using tasks as research tools, this volume shows how teachers can use…

Using Public Speaking Tasks in English Language Teaching

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Iberri-Shea, Gina

2009-01-01

The purpose of this article is to provide suggestions for using public speaking tasks in English language teaching (ELT) and to highlight some of their many advantages. For the purpose of this article, the author will focus on two types of these tasks: student presentations and debates. Student presentations may consist of either individual or…

Narrative Abilities, Memory and Attention in Children with a Specific Language Impairment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Duinmeijer, Iris; de Jong, Jan; Scheper, Annette

2012-01-01

Background: While narrative tasks have proven to be valid measures for detecting language disorders, measuring communicative skills and predicting future academic performance, research into the comparability of different narrative tasks has shown that outcomes are dependent on the type of task used. Although many of the studies detecting task…

Cognitive Load Theory: An Empirical Study of Anxiety and Task Performance in Language Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chen, I-Jung; Chang, Chi-Cheng

2009-01-01

Introduction: This study explores the relationship among three variables--cognitive load, foreign language anxiety, and task performance. Cognitive load refers to the load imposed on working memory while performing a particular task. The authors hypothesized that anxiety consumes the resources of working memory, leaving less capacity for cognitive…

Text Characteristics of Task Input and Difficulty in Second Language Listening Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Revesz, Andrea; Brunfaut, Tineke

2013-01-01

This study investigated the effects of a group of task factors on advanced English as a second language learners' actual and perceived listening performance. We examined whether the speed, linguistic complexity, and explicitness of the listening text along with characteristics of the text necessary for task completion influenced comprehension. We…

Learner-Generated Content and Engagement in Second Language Task Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lambert, Craig; Philp, Jenefer; Nakamura, Sachiko

2017-01-01

This study investigates the benefits of designing second language (L2) learning tasks to operate on learner-generated content (related to actual content in their lives and experiences) as opposed to teacher-generated content typical of current approaches to L2 task design (fictitious ideas and events created to provide an opportunity for…

Collaborative Writing Tasks in the L2 Classroom: Comparing Group, Pair, and Individual Work

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dobao, Ana Fernandez

2012-01-01

This study investigates the benefits of collaborative writing tasks. Previous research from the perspective of the sociocultural theory of mind suggests that writing tasks completed in pairs offer learners an opportunity to collaborate in the solution of their language-related problems, co-construct new language knowledge, and produce…

The Impact of Differentiated Instructional Materials on English Language Learner (ELL) Students' Comprehension of Science Laboratory Tasks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Manavathu, Marian; Zhou, George

2012-01-01

Through a qualitative research design, this article investigates the impacts of differentiated laboratory instructional materials on English language learners' (ELLs) laboratory task comprehension. The factors affecting ELLs' science learning experiences are further explored. Data analysis reveals a greater degree of laboratory task comprehension…

Collaborative Tasks in Web Conferencing: A Case Study on Chinese Online

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Guo, Sijia; Möllering, Martina

2017-01-01

This case study aimed to explore best practice in applying task-based language teaching (TBLT) via a Web-conferencing tool, Blackboard Collaborate, in a beginners' online Chinese course by evaluating the pedagogical values and limitations of the software and the tasks designed. Chapelle's (2001) criteria for computer-assisted language learning…

Plasticity of illusory vowel perception in Brazilian-Japanese bilinguals.

PubMed

Parlato-Oliveira, Erika; Christophe, Anne; Hirose, Yuki; Dupoux, Emmanuel

2010-06-01

Previous research shows that monolingual Japanese and Brazilian Portuguese listeners perceive illusory vowels (/u/ and /i/, respectively) within illegal sequences of consonants. Here, several populations of Japanese-Brazilian bilinguals are tested, using an explicit vowel identification task (experiment 1), and an implicit categorization and sequence recall task (experiment 2). Overall, second-generation immigrants, who first acquired Japanese at home and Brazilian during childhood (after age 4) showed a typical Brazilian pattern of result (and so did simultaneous bilinguals, who were exposed to both languages from birth on). In contrast, late bilinguals, who acquired their second language in adulthood, exhibited a pattern corresponding to their native language. In addition, an influence of the second language was observed in the explicit task of Exp. 1, but not in the implicit task used in Exp. 2, suggesting that second language experience affects mostly explicit or metalinguistic skills. These results are compared to other studies of phonological representations in adopted children or immigrants, and discussed in relation to the role of age of acquisition and sociolinguistic factors.

A FUNCTIONAL NEUROIMAGING INVESTIGATION OF THE ROLES OF STRUCTURAL COMPLEXITY AND TASK-DEMAND DURING AUDITORY SENTENCE PROCESSING

PubMed Central

Love, Tracy; Haist, Frank; Nicol, Janet; Swinney, David

2009-01-01

Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), this study directly examined an issue that bridges the potential language processing and multi-modal views of the role of Broca’s area: the effects of task-demands in language comprehension studies. We presented syntactically simple and complex sentences for auditory comprehension under three different (differentially complex) task-demand conditions: passive listening, probe verification, and theme judgment. Contrary to many language imaging findings, we found that both simple and complex syntactic structures activated left inferior frontal cortex (L-IFC). Critically, we found activation in these frontal regions increased together with increased task-demands. Specifically, tasks that required greater manipulation and comparison of linguistic material recruited L-IFC more strongly; independent of syntactic structure complexity. We argue that much of the presumed syntactic effects previously found in sentence imaging studies of L-IFC may, among other things, reflect the tasks employed in these studies and that L-IFC is a region underlying mnemonic and other integrative functions, on which much language processing may rely. PMID:16881268

The neural language systems that support healthy aging: Integrating function, structure, and behavior

PubMed Central

Diaz, Michele T.; Rizio, Avery A.; Zhuang, Jie

2016-01-01

Although healthy aging is generally characterized by declines in both brain structure and function, there is variability in the extent to which these changes result in observable cognitive decline. Specific to language, age-related differences in language production are observed more frequently than in language comprehension, although both are associated with increased right prefrontal cortex activation in older adults. The current paper explores these differences in the language system, integrating them with theories of behavioral and neural cognitive aging. Overall, data indicate that frontal reorganization of the dorsal language stream in older adults benefits task performance during comprehension, but not always during production. We interpret these results in the CRUNCH framework (compensation-related utilization of neural circuits hypothesis), which suggests that differences in task and process difficulty may underlie older adults’ ability to successfully adapt. That is, older adults may be able to neurally adapt to less difficult tasks (i.e., comprehension), but fail to do so successfully as difficulty increases (i.e., production). We hypothesize greater age-related differences in aspects of language that rely more heavily on the dorsal language stream (e.g., syntax and production) and that recruit general cognitive resources that rely on frontal regions (e.g., executive function, working memory, inhibition). Moreover, there should be a relative sparing of tasks that rely predominantly on ventral stream regions. These results are both consistent with patterns of age-related structural decline and retention and with varying levels of difficulty across comprehension and production. This neurocognitive framework for understanding age-related differences in the language system centers on the interaction between prefrontal cortex activation, structural integrity, and task difficulty. PMID:28210287

Age of acquisition effects on the functional organization of language in the adult brain.

PubMed

Mayberry, Rachel I; Chen, Jen-Kai; Witcher, Pamela; Klein, Denise

2011-10-01

Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we neuroimaged deaf adults as they performed two linguistic tasks with sentences in American Sign Language, grammatical judgment and phonemic-hand judgment. Participants' age-onset of sign language acquisition ranged from birth to 14 years; length of sign language experience was substantial and did not vary in relation to age of acquisition. For both tasks, a more left lateralized pattern of activation was observed, with activity for grammatical judgment being more anterior than that observed for phonemic-hand judgment, which was more posterior by comparison. Age of acquisition was linearly and negatively related to activation levels in anterior language regions and positively related to activation levels in posterior visual regions for both tasks. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Narrative abilities, memory and attention in children with a specific language impairment.

PubMed

Duinmeijer, Iris; de Jong, Jan; Scheper, Annette

2012-01-01

While narrative tasks have proven to be valid measures for detecting language disorders, measuring communicative skills and predicting future academic performance, research into the comparability of different narrative tasks has shown that outcomes are dependent on the type of task used. Although many of the studies detecting task differences touch upon the fact that tasks place differential demands on cognitive abilities like auditory attention and memory, few studies have related specific narrative tasks to these cognitive abilities. Examining this relation is especially warranted for children with specific language impairment (SLI), who are characterized by language problems, but often have problems in other cognitive domains as well. In the current research, a comparison was made between a story retelling task (The Bus Story) and a story generation task (The Frog Story) in a group of children with SLI (n= 34) and a typically developing group (n= 38) from the same age range. In addition to the two narrative tasks, sustained auditory attention (TEA-Ch) and verbal working memory (WISC digit span and the Dutch version of the CVLT-C word list recall) were measured. Correlations were computed between the narrative, the memory and the attention scores. A group comparison showed that the children with SLI scored significantly worse than the typically developing children on several narrative measures as well as on sustained auditory attention and verbal working memory. A within-subjects comparison of the scores on the two narrative tasks showed a contrast between the tasks on several narrative measures. Furthermore, correlational analyses showed that, on the level of plot structure, the story generation task correlated with sustained auditory attention, while the story retelling task correlated with word list recall. Mean length of utterance (MLU) on the other hand correlated with digit span but not with sustained auditory attention. While children with SLI have problems with narratives in general, their performance is also dependent on the specific elicitation task used for research or diagnostics. Various narrative tasks generate different scores and are differentially correlated to cognitive skills like attention and memory, making the selection of a given task crucial in the clinical setting. © 2012 Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.

Asymmetric Switch Costs in Numeral Naming and Number Word Reading: Implications for Models of Bilingual Language Production.

PubMed

Reynolds, Michael G; Schlöffel, Sophie; Peressotti, Francesca

2015-01-01

One approach used to gain insight into the processes underlying bilingual language comprehension and production examines the costs that arise from switching languages. For unbalanced bilinguals, asymmetric switch costs are reported in speech production, where the switch cost for L1 is larger than the switch cost for L2, whereas, symmetric switch costs are reported in language comprehension tasks, where the cost of switching is the same for L1 and L2. Presently, it is unclear why asymmetric switch costs are observed in speech production, but not in language comprehension. Three experiments are reported that simultaneously examine methodological explanations of task related differences in the switch cost asymmetry and the predictions of three accounts of the switch cost asymmetry in speech production. The results of these experiments suggest that (1) the type of language task (comprehension vs. production) determines whether an asymmetric switch cost is observed and (2) at least some of the switch cost asymmetry arises within the language system.

Age-related differences in the brain areas outside the classical language areas among adults using category decision task.

PubMed

Cho, Yong Won; Song, Hui-Jin; Lee, Jae Jun; Lee, Joo Hwa; Lee, Hui Joong; Yi, Sang Doe; Chang, Hyuk Won; Berl, Madison M; Gaillard, William D; Chang, Yongmin

2012-03-01

Older adults perform much like younger adults on language. This similar level of performance, however, may come about through different underlying brain processes. In the present study, we evaluated age-related differences in the brain areas outside the typical language areas among adults using a category decision task. Our results showed that similar activation patterns were found in classical language processing areas across the three age groups although regional lateralization indices in Broca's and Wernicke's areas decreased with age. The greatest differences, however, among the three groups were found primarily in the brain areas not associated with core language functioning including the hippocampus, middle frontal gyrus, ventromedial frontal cortex, medial superior parietal cortex and posterior cingulate cortex. Therefore, the non-classical language areas may exhibit an age-related difference between three age groups while the subjects show a similar activation pattern in the core, primary language processing during a semantic decision task. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Asymmetric Switch Costs in Numeral Naming and Number Word Reading: Implications for Models of Bilingual Language Production

PubMed Central

Reynolds, Michael G.; Schlöffel, Sophie; Peressotti, Francesca

2016-01-01

One approach used to gain insight into the processes underlying bilingual language comprehension and production examines the costs that arise from switching languages. For unbalanced bilinguals, asymmetric switch costs are reported in speech production, where the switch cost for L1 is larger than the switch cost for L2, whereas, symmetric switch costs are reported in language comprehension tasks, where the cost of switching is the same for L1 and L2. Presently, it is unclear why asymmetric switch costs are observed in speech production, but not in language comprehension. Three experiments are reported that simultaneously examine methodological explanations of task related differences in the switch cost asymmetry and the predictions of three accounts of the switch cost asymmetry in speech production. The results of these experiments suggest that (1) the type of language task (comprehension vs. production) determines whether an asymmetric switch cost is observed and (2) at least some of the switch cost asymmetry arises within the language system. PMID:26834659

Different Plasticity Patterns of Language Function in Children With Perinatal and Childhood Stroke

PubMed Central

Tomberg, Tiiu; Kepler, Joosep; Laugesaar, Rael; Kaldoja, Mari-Liis; Kepler, Kalle; Kolk, Anneli

2014-01-01

Plasticity of language function after brain damage can depend on maturation of the brain. Children with left-hemisphere perinatal (n = 7) or childhood stroke (n = 5) and 12 controls were investigated using functional magnetic resonance imaging. The verb generation and the sentence comprehension tasks were employed to activate the expressive and receptive language areas, respectively. Weighted laterality indices were calculated and correlated with results assessed by neuropsychological test battery. Compared to controls, children with childhood stroke showed significantly lower mean scores for the expressive (P < .05) and receptive (P = .05) language tests. On functional magnetic resonance imaging they showed left-side cortical activation, as did controls. Perinatal stroke patients showed atypical right-side or bilateral language lateralization during both tasks. Negative correlation for stroke patients was found between scores for expressive language tests and laterality index during the verb generation task. (Re)organization of language function differs in children with perinatal and childhood stroke and correlates with neurocognitive performance. PMID:23748202

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

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Hyunwoo; Rah, Yangon

2016-01-01

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

Evaluating TBLT: The Case of a Task-Based Spanish Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

González-Lloret, Marta; Nielson, Katharine B.

2015-01-01

The need for foreign language education in the US has increased in recent years, and teaching methods based on traditional textbooks are unlikely to meet the real-world needs of current learners. As a response, interest in Language for Specific Purposes programs has grown and so has Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) methodology. This article…

Quantitative Analysis of Language Production in Parkinson's Disease Using a Cued Sentence Generation Task

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vanhoutte, Sarah; De Letter, Miet; Corthals, Paul; Van Borsel, John; Santens, Patrick

2012-01-01

The present study examined language production skills in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients. A unique cued sentence generation task was created in order to reduce demands on memory and attention. Differences in sentence production abilities according to disease severity and cognitive impairments were assessed. Language samples were obtained from 20…

Towards the Automatic Generation of Programmed Foreign-Language Instructional Materials.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Van Campen, Joseph A.

The purpose of this report is to describe a set of programs which either perform certain tasks useful in the generation of programed foreign-language instructional material or facilitate the writing of such task-oriented programs by other researchers. The programs described are these: (1) a PDP-10 assembly language program for the selection from a…

Investigating Sentence Processing and Language Segmentation in Explaining Children's Performance on a Sentence-Span Task

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mainela-Arnold, Elina; Misra, Maya; Miller, Carol; Poll, Gerard H.; Park, Ji Sook

2012-01-01

Background: Children with poor language abilities tend to perform poorly on verbal working memory tasks. This result has been interpreted as evidence that limitations in working memory capacity may interfere with the development of a mature linguistic system. However, it is possible that language abilities, such as the efficiency of sentence…

Task-Based Language Teaching in Online Ab Initio Foreign Language Classrooms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lai, Chun; Zhao, Yong; Wang, Jiawen

2011-01-01

Task-based language teaching (TBLT) has been attracting the attention of researchers for more than 2 decades. Research on various aspects of TBLT has been accumulating, including the evaluation studies on the implementation of TBLT in classrooms. The evaluation studies on students' and teachers' reactions to TBLT in the online courses are starting…

Bilingual Language Representation and Cognitive Processes in Translation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hatzidaki, Anna; Pothos, Emmanuel M.

2008-01-01

A "text"-translation task and a recognition task investigated the hypothesis that "semantic memory" principally mediates translation from a bilingual's native first language (L1) to her second language (L2), whereas "lexical memory" mediates translation from L2 to L1. This has been held for word translation by the revised hierarchical model (RHM)…

Introducing IoT and Wearable Technologies into Task-Based Language Learning for Young Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

de la Guia, Elena; Camacho, Vincent Lopez; Orozco-Barbosa, Luis; Brea Lujan, Victor M.; Penichet, Victor M. R.; Perez, Maria Lozano

2016-01-01

In the last few years, in an attempt to further motivate students to learn a foreign language, there has been an increasing interest in task-based teaching techniques, which emphasize communication and the practical use of language, thus moving away from the repetitive grammar-translation methods. Within this approach, the significance of…

Language Form, Task-Based Language Teaching, and the Classroom Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Batstone, Rob

2012-01-01

In this article, I examine some of the ideas about task-based language teaching (TBLT) which have emerged over the 17 years of the current editorship of ELTJ, focusing in particular on grammar and vocabulary, and enquiring to what degree these ideas take adequate account of classroom context. Over this period, TBLT scholars have built up a…

Using spoken words to guide open-ended category formation.

PubMed

Chauhan, Aneesh; Seabra Lopes, Luís

2011-11-01

Naming is a powerful cognitive tool that facilitates categorization by forming an association between words and their referents. There is evidence in child development literature that strong links exist between early word-learning and conceptual development. A growing view is also emerging that language is a cultural product created and acquired through social interactions. Inspired by these studies, this paper presents a novel learning architecture for category formation and vocabulary acquisition in robots through active interaction with humans. This architecture is open-ended and is capable of acquiring new categories and category names incrementally. The process can be compared to language grounding in children at single-word stage. The robot is embodied with visual and auditory sensors for world perception. A human instructor uses speech to teach the robot the names of the objects present in a visually shared environment. The robot uses its perceptual input to ground these spoken words and dynamically form/organize category descriptions in order to achieve better categorization. To evaluate the learning system at word-learning and category formation tasks, two experiments were conducted using a simple language game involving naming and corrective feedback actions from the human user. The obtained results are presented and discussed in detail.

Language affects symbolic arithmetic in children: the case of number word inversion.

PubMed

Göbel, Silke M; Moeller, Korbinian; Pixner, Silvia; Kaufmann, Liane; Nuerk, Hans-Christoph

2014-03-01

Specific language influences have been observed in basic numerical tasks such as magnitude comparison, transcoding, and the number line estimation task. However, so far language influences in more complex calculations have not been reported in children. In this translingual study, 7- to 9-year-old German- and Italian-speaking children were tested on a symbolic addition task. Whereas the order of tens and units in Italian number words follows the order of the Arabic notation, the order is inverted in German number words. For both language groups, addition problems were more difficult when a carry operation was needed, that is, when a manipulation within the place-value structure of the Arabic number system was particularly important. Most important, this carry effect was more pronounced in response latencies for children speaking German, a language with inverted verbal mapping of the place-value structure. In addition, independent of language group, the size of the carry effect was significantly related to verbal working memory. The current study indicates that symbolic arithmetic and the carry effect in particular are modulated by language-specific characteristics. Our results underline the fact that the structure of the language of instruction is an important factor in children's mathematical education and needs to be taken into account even for seemingly nonverbal symbolic Arabic tasks. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Is language necessary for human spatial reorientation? Reconsidering evidence from dual task paradigms.

PubMed

Ratliff, Kristin R; Newcombe, Nora S

2008-03-01

Being able to reorient to the spatial environment after disorientation is a basic adaptive challenge. There is clear evidence that reorientation uses geometric information about the shape of the surrounding space. However, there has been controversy concerning whether use of geometry is a modular function, and whether use of features is dependent on human language. A key argument for the role of language comes from shadowing findings where adults engaged in a linguistic task during reorientation ignored a colored wall feature and only used geometric information to reorient [Hermer-Vazquez, L., Spelke, E., & Katsnelson, A. (1999). Sources of flexibility in human cognition: Dual task studies of space and language. Cognitive Psychology, 39, 3-36]. We report three studies showing: (a) that the results of Hermer-Vazques et al. [Hermer-Vazquez, L., Spelke, E., & Katsnelson, A. (1999). Sources of flexibility in human cognition: Dual task studies of space and language. Cognitive Psychology, 39, 3-36] are obtained in incidental learning but not with explicit instructions, (b) that a spatial task impedes use of features at least as much as a verbal shadowing task, and (c) that neither secondary task impedes use of features in a room larger than that used by Hermer-Vazquez et al. These results suggest that language is not necessary for successful use of features in reorientation. In fact, whether or not there is an encapsulated geometric module is currently unsettled. The current findings support an alternative to modularity; the adaptive combination view hypothesizes that geometric and featural information are utilized in varying degrees, dependent upon the certainty and variance with which the two kinds of information are encoded, along with their salience and perceived usefulness.

The relation between working memory and language comprehension in signers and speakers.

PubMed

Emmorey, Karen; Giezen, Marcel R; Petrich, Jennifer A F; Spurgeon, Erin; O'Grady Farnady, Lucinda

2017-06-01

This study investigated the relation between linguistic and spatial working memory (WM) resources and language comprehension for signed compared to spoken language. Sign languages are both linguistic and visual-spatial, and therefore provide a unique window on modality-specific versus modality-independent contributions of WM resources to language processing. Deaf users of American Sign Language (ASL), hearing monolingual English speakers, and hearing ASL-English bilinguals completed several spatial and linguistic serial recall tasks. Additionally, their comprehension of spatial and non-spatial information in ASL and spoken English narratives was assessed. Results from the linguistic serial recall tasks revealed that the often reported advantage for speakers on linguistic short-term memory tasks does not extend to complex WM tasks with a serial recall component. For English, linguistic WM predicted retention of non-spatial information, and both linguistic and spatial WM predicted retention of spatial information. For ASL, spatial WM predicted retention of spatial (but not non-spatial) information, and linguistic WM did not predict retention of either spatial or non-spatial information. Overall, our findings argue against strong assumptions of independent domain-specific subsystems for the storage and processing of linguistic and spatial information and furthermore suggest a less important role for serial encoding in signed than spoken language comprehension. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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

Report of the MLA Task Force on Evaluating Scholarship for Tenure and Promotion

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Modern Language Association, 2007

2007-01-01

In 2004 the Executive Council of the Modern Language Association of America (MLA) created a task force to examine current standards and emerging trends in publication requirements for tenure and promotion in English and foreign language departments in the United States. To fulfill its charge, the task force reviewed numerous studies, reports, and…

Enhancing Negotiation of Meaning through Task Familiarity Using Subtitled Videos in an Online TBLL Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arslanyilmaz, Abdurrahman; Pedersen, Susan

2010-01-01

This study examines the effects of task familiarity through the use of subtitled videos on negotiation of meaning in an online task-based language learning (TBLL) environment. It explores the amount of negotiation of meaning produced by non-native speakers (NNSs) aimed at improving input comprehension to enhance second language acquisition. Ten…

Reading-Writing Integrated Tasks, Comprehensive Corrective Feedback, and EFL Writing Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhang, Xiaoyan

2017-01-01

The study examines whether there is any difference between the effects of a reading-writing integrated task and comprehensive corrective feedback (CF) on English as a foreign language (EFL) learners' writing development, and whether the input language in the integrated task makes a difference in L2 writing development over time and the language…

Construct Validity in TOEFL iBT Speaking Tasks: Insights from Natural Language Processing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kyle, Kristopher; Crossley, Scott A.; McNamara, Danielle S.

2016-01-01

This study explores the construct validity of speaking tasks included in the TOEFL iBT (e.g., integrated and independent speaking tasks). Specifically, advanced natural language processing (NLP) tools, MANOVA difference statistics, and discriminant function analyses (DFA) are used to assess the degree to which and in what ways responses to these…

Position Paper: Moving Task-Based Language Teaching Forward

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ellis, Rod

2017-01-01

The advocacy of task-based language teaching (TBLT) has met with resistance. The critiques of TBLT and the misconceptions that underlie them have already been addressed in Ellis (2009) and Long (2016). The purpose of this article is to move forward by examining a number of real problems that TBLT faces--such as how a "task" should be…

The Effect of Authentic Problem-Based Vocabulary Tasks on Vocabulary Learning of EFL Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mohammadi, Fateme Shir

2017-01-01

Language learners' cognitive engagement with the content in language classes has been advocated in the last few decades (Laufer & Hulstjin, 2001). To this end, the researcher designed authentic problem-based tasks which make use of learners' cognitive and metacognitive skills to solve real-life vocabulary tasks. Nelson vocabulary test was…

Time and Motion: Measuring the Effects of the Conceptual Demands of Tasks on Second Language Speech Production

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Robinson, Peter; Cadierno, Teresa; Shirai, Yasuhiro

2009-01-01

The Cognition Hypothesis (Robinson 2005) claims that pedagogic tasks should be sequenced for learners in an order of increasing cognitive complexity, and that along resource-directing dimensions of task demands increasing effort at conceptualization promotes more complex and grammaticized second language (L2) speech production. This article…

"Knowing What You Don't Know": Language Insight in Semantic Dementia.

PubMed

Savage, Sharon A; Piguet, Olivier; Hodges, John R

2015-01-01

Reduced insight commonly occurs in dementia and can be specific to one area of functioning. Despite recent models identifying a role for semantic memory, little investigation of insight has been conducted in semantic dementia (SD), with patients often described as being aware of their language problems. This study aims to investigate language insight in SD. Twenty-two SD (n = 11 severe, n = 11 mild-moderate) and 9 nonfluent primary progressive aphasic patients completed three experimental language tasks to assess knowledge and awareness of certain words. Skills in evaluating language were tested by comparing performance ratings on the Cookie Theft task with objective scoring. Awareness regarding the existence and previous use of certain words was tested using two additional tasks. While SD patients were as accurate as nonfluent patients in rating their own performance on the Cookie Theft immediately following the task, they were significantly poorer at evaluating the same content re-recorded, or other examples of poor language. Compared to nonfluent patients, severe SD patients also made more errors identifying previously known low frequency words. Lastly, when tested on labels for specific aspects of an object, only SD patients made errors regarding the existence, or their past knowledge, of certain words. SD patients show a general awareness of their language impairments, but have difficulty evaluating language content. These difficulties adversely affect the ability to reflect upon current and past language skills producing an under-awareness of language deficits. This mild, secondary form of anosognosia appears to increase with greater levels of semantic impairment.

Learner Agency and Its Effect on Spoken Interaction Time in the Target Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Knight, Janine; Barberà, Elena

2017-01-01

This paper presents the results of how four dyads in an online task-based synchronous computer-mediated (TB-SCMC) interaction event use their agency to carry out speaking tasks, and how their choices and actions affect time spent interacting in the target language. A case study approach was employed to analyse the language functions and cognitive…

Student Language Production, Second Language Tasks, and Instructional Scaffolding in an English-Based Curriculum in Vietnam: Realities and Hopes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pham, Thuong T. M.

2017-01-01

This dissertation investigates L2 student language production, task-based instruction, and teachers' scaffolding strategies in two special EFL classes in a Vietnamese university. Two English teachers and 73 students were studied as they participated in a nationwide educational project known as the Advanced Curriculum (AC), an initiative launched…

The Non-Word Repetition Task as a Clinical Marker of Specific Language Impairment in Spanish-Speaking Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Girbau, Dolors

2016-01-01

Forty native Spanish-speaking children (age 8;0-10;3), 20 with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) and 20 with Typical Language Development (TLD), received a battery of psycholinguistic tests, IQ, hearing screenings, and the Spanish Non-word Repetition Task (NRT). The children's repetition of 20 non-words was scored. The percentage of correct…

Debating Standard Language Ideology in the Classroom: Using the "Speak Good English Movement" to Raise Awareness of Global Englishes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rose, Heath; Galloway, Nicola

2017-01-01

In this article, we describe and evaluate an innovative pedagogical task designed to raise awareness of Global Englishes and to challenge standard language ideology in an English language classroom. The task encouraged the learning and debate of the controversial Speak Good English Movement, which campaigns for Singaporeans to use a…

How Can Writing Tasks Be Characterized in a Way Serving Pedagogical Goals and Automatic Analysis Needs?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Quixal, Martí; Meurers, Detmar

2016-01-01

The paper tackles a central question in the field of Intelligent Computer-Assisted Language Learning (ICALL): How can language learning tasks be conceptualized and made explicit in a way that supports the pedagogical goals of current Foreign Language Teaching and Learning and at the same time provides an explicit characterization of the Natural…

PETALL in Action: Latest Developments and Future Directions of the EU-Funded Project Pan-European Task Activities for Language Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lopes, António

2016-01-01

The Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) proposes Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) as an important strategy to develop the learners' linguistic competences along with their communicative skills. Since it is learner-centred and relies mostly on engaging learners in meaningful communicative interchanges in a foreign language, it allows…

Semi-Automated Methods for Refining a Domain-Specific Terminology Base

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-02-01

only as a resource for written and oral translation, but also for Natural Language Processing ( NLP ) applications, text retrieval, document indexing...Natural Language Processing ( NLP ) applications, text retrieval, document indexing, and other knowledge management tasks. The objective of this...also for Natural Language Processing ( NLP ) applications, text retrieval (1), document indexing, and other knowledge management tasks. The National

Bridges to Swaziland: Using Task-Based Learning and Computer-Mediated Instruction to Improve English Language Teaching and Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pierson, Susan Jacques

2015-01-01

One way to provide high quality instruction for underserved English Language Learners around the world is to combine Task-Based English Language Learning with Computer- Assisted Instruction. As part of an ongoing project, "Bridges to Swaziland," these approaches have been implemented in a determined effort to improve the ESL program for…

Task-Based Language Teaching and English for Academic Purposes: An Investigation into Instructor Perceptions and Practice in the Canadian Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Douglas, Scott Roy; Kim, Marcia

2014-01-01

English for Academic Purposes (EAP) programs designed to meet postsecondary English language proficiency requirements are a common pathway to higher education for students from non-English-speaking backgrounds. Grounded in a Canadian context, this study seeks to examine the prevalence of Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) in EAP, common examples…

Diagnostic Accuracy of Repetition Tasks for the Identification of Specific Language Impairment (SLI) in Bilingual Children: Evidence from Russian and Hebrew

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Armon-Lotem, Sharon; Meir, Natalia

2016-01-01

Background: Previous research demonstrates that repetition tasks are valuable tools for diagnosing specific language impairment (SLI) in monolingual children in English and a variety of other languages, with non-word repetition (NWR) and sentence repetition (SRep) yielding high levels of sensitivity and specificity. Yet, only a few studies have…

The Effect of Task Types on Foreign Language Learners' Social Presence in Synchronous Computer Mediated Communication (SCMC)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ko, Chao-Jung

2016-01-01

This study aims to clarify the relationship between task types and foreign language learners' social presence (SP) in text-based SCMC learning modes. The participants in this study comprised 38 high-intermediate level English as a foreign language (EFL) learners from different disciplines of a university in Taiwan. They were divided into two…

Do Women Really have More Bilateral Language Representation than Men?: A Meta-Analysis of Functional Imaging Studies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sommer, Iris E. C.; Aleman, Andre; Bouma, Anke; Kahn, Rene S.

2004-01-01

Sex differences in cognition are consistently reported, men excelling in most visuospatial tasks and women in certain verbal tasks. It has been hypothesized that these sex differences in cognition results from a more bilateral pattern of language representation in women than in men. This bilateral pattern of language representation in women is…

Oral-Performance Language Tasks for CSL Beginners in Second Life

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lan, Yu-Ju; Kan, Yu-Hsuan; Sung, Yao-Ting; Chang, Kuo-En

2016-01-01

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of different types of language tasks performed in Second Life (SL) on the oral performance of beginners of Chinese as a Second Language (CSL), focusing on oral accuracy. The 30 CSL beginners who participated in this study were randomly divided into two groups (n = 15 per group), required to…

Age-Related Differences in the Brain Areas outside the Classical Language Areas among Adults Using Category Decision Task

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cho, Yong Won; Song, Hui-Jin; Lee, Jae Jun; Lee, Joo Hwa; Lee, Hui Joong; Yi, Sang Doe; Chang, Hyuk Won; Berl, Madison M.; Gaillard, William D.; Chang, Yongmin

2012-01-01

Older adults perform much like younger adults on language. This similar level of performance, however, may come about through different underlying brain processes. In the present study, we evaluated age-related differences in the brain areas outside the typical language areas among adults using a category decision task. Our results showed that…

Genre-Based Tasks in Foreign Language Writing: Developing Writers' Genre Awareness, Linguistic Knowledge, and Writing Competence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yasuda, Sachiko

2011-01-01

This study examines how novice foreign language (FL) writers develop their genre awareness, linguistic knowledge, and writing competence in a genre-based writing course that incorporates email-writing tasks. To define genre, the study draws on systemic functional linguistics (SFL) that sees language as a resource for making meaning in a particular…

Rethinking Task Design for the Digital Age: A Framework for Language Teaching and Learning in a Synchronous Online Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hampel, Regina

2006-01-01

This article discusses a framework for the development of tasks in a synchronous online environment used for language learning and teaching. It shows how a theoretical approach based on second language acquisition (SLA) principles, sociocultural and constructivist theories, and concepts taken from research on multimodality and new literacies, can…

Domain-specific and domain-general constraints on word and sequence learning.

PubMed

Archibald, Lisa M D; Joanisse, Marc F

2013-02-01

The relative influences of language-related and memory-related constraints on the learning of novel words and sequences were examined by comparing individual differences in performance of children with and without specific deficits in either language or working memory. Children recalled lists of words in a Hebbian learning protocol in which occasional lists repeated, yielding improved recall over the course of the task on the repeated lists. The task involved presentation of pictures of common nouns followed immediately by equivalent presentations of the spoken names. The same participants also completed a paired-associate learning task involving word-picture and nonword-picture pairs. Hebbian learning was observed for all groups. Domain-general working memory constrained immediate recall, whereas language abilities impacted recall in the auditory modality only. In addition, working memory constrained paired-associate learning generally, whereas language abilities disproportionately impacted novel word learning. Overall, all of the learning tasks were highly correlated with domain-general working memory. The learning of nonwords was additionally related to general intelligence, phonological short-term memory, language abilities, and implicit learning. The results suggest that distinct associations between language- and memory-related mechanisms support learning of familiar and unfamiliar phonological forms and sequences.

Shared brain lateralization patterns in language and Acheulean stone tool production: a functional transcranial Doppler ultrasound study.

PubMed

Uomini, Natalie Thaïs; Meyer, Georg Friedrich

2013-01-01

The popular theory that complex tool-making and language co-evolved in the human lineage rests on the hypothesis that both skills share underlying brain processes and systems. However, language and stone tool-making have so far only been studied separately using a range of neuroimaging techniques and diverse paradigms. We present the first-ever study of brain activation that directly compares active Acheulean tool-making and language. Using functional transcranial Doppler ultrasonography (fTCD), we measured brain blood flow lateralization patterns (hemodynamics) in subjects who performed two tasks designed to isolate the planning component of Acheulean stone tool-making and cued word generation as a language task. We show highly correlated hemodynamics in the initial 10 seconds of task execution. Stone tool-making and cued word generation cause common cerebral blood flow lateralization signatures in our participants. This is consistent with a shared neural substrate for prehistoric stone tool-making and language, and is compatible with language evolution theories that posit a co-evolution of language and manual praxis. In turn, our results support the hypothesis that aspects of language might have emerged as early as 1.75 million years ago, with the start of Acheulean technology.

Language dominance in neurologically normal and epilepsy subjects: a functional MRI study.

PubMed

Springer, J A; Binder, J R; Hammeke, T A; Swanson, S J; Frost, J A; Bellgowan, P S; Brewer, C C; Perry, H M; Morris, G L; Mueller, W M

1999-11-01

Language dominance and factors that influence language lateralization were investigated in right-handed, neurologically normal subjects (n = 100) and right-handed epilepsy patients (n = 50) using functional MRI. Increases in blood oxygenation-dependent signal during a semantic language activation task relative to a non-linguistic, auditory discrimination task provided an index of language system lateralization. As expected, the majority of both groups showed left hemisphere dominance, although a continuum of activation asymmetry was evident, with nearly all subjects showing some degree of right hemisphere activation. Using a categorical dominance classification, 94% of the normal subjects were considered left hemisphere dominant and 6% had bilateral, roughly symmetric language representation. None of the normal subjects had rightward dominance. There was greater variability of language dominance in the epilepsy group, with 78% showing left hemisphere dominance, 16% showing a symmetric pattern and 6% showing right hemisphere dominance. Atypical language dominance in the epilepsy group was associated with an earlier age of brain injury and with weaker right hand dominance. Language lateralization in the normal group was weakly related to age, but was not significantly related to sex, education, task performance or familial left-handedness.

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

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

Project FARE task III report : urban mass transportation industry reporting system design : interim task III report for November 1972-June 1973 period. Part I - Task summary.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1973-06-01

This report contains a description of the proposed uniform reporting system for the urban mass transit industry. It is presented in four volumes: Part I - Task Summary contains a description of how Task III was accomplished and the conclusions and re...

Dynamical Integration of Language and Behavior in a Recurrent Neural Network for Human-Robot Interaction.

PubMed

Yamada, Tatsuro; Murata, Shingo; Arie, Hiroaki; Ogata, Tetsuya

2016-01-01

To work cooperatively with humans by using language, robots must not only acquire a mapping between language and their behavior but also autonomously utilize the mapping in appropriate contexts of interactive tasks online. To this end, we propose a novel learning method linking language to robot behavior by means of a recurrent neural network. In this method, the network learns from correct examples of the imposed task that are given not as explicitly separated sets of language and behavior but as sequential data constructed from the actual temporal flow of the task. By doing this, the internal dynamics of the network models both language-behavior relationships and the temporal patterns of interaction. Here, "internal dynamics" refers to the time development of the system defined on the fixed-dimensional space of the internal states of the context layer. Thus, in the execution phase, by constantly representing where in the interaction context it is as its current state, the network autonomously switches between recognition and generation phases without any explicit signs and utilizes the acquired mapping in appropriate contexts. To evaluate our method, we conducted an experiment in which a robot generates appropriate behavior responding to a human's linguistic instruction. After learning, the network actually formed the attractor structure representing both language-behavior relationships and the task's temporal pattern in its internal dynamics. In the dynamics, language-behavior mapping was achieved by the branching structure. Repetition of human's instruction and robot's behavioral response was represented as the cyclic structure, and besides, waiting to a subsequent instruction was represented as the fixed-point attractor. Thanks to this structure, the robot was able to interact online with a human concerning the given task by autonomously switching phases.

Motion Event Similarity Judgments in One or Two Languages: An Exploration of Monolingual Speakers of English and Chinese vs. L2 Learners of English.

PubMed

Ji, Yinglin

2017-01-01

Languages differ systematically in how to encode a motion event. English characteristically expresses manner in verb root and path in verb particle; in Chinese, varied aspects of motion, such as manner, path and cause, can be simultaneously encoded in a verb compound. This study investigates whether typological differences, as such, influence how first and second language learners conceptualize motion events, as suggested by behavioral evidences. Specifically, the performance of Chinese learners of English, at three proficiencies, was compared to that of two groups of monolingual speakers in a triads matching task. The first set of analyses regarding categorisation preferences indicates that participants across groups preferred the path-matched (rather than manner-matched) screens. However, the second set of analyses regarding reaction time suggests, firstly, that English monolingual speakers reacted significantly more quickly in selecting the manner-matched scenes compared with monolingual speakers of Chinese, who tended to use an approximately equal amount of time in making manner- and path-matched decisions, a finding that can arguably be mapped onto the typological difference between the two languages. Secondly, the pattern of response latency in low-level L2 learners looked more like that of monolingual speakers of Chinese. Only at intermediate and advanced levels of acquisition did the behavioral pattern of L2 learners become target-like, thus suggesting language-specific constraints from the L1 at an early stage of acquisition. Overall, our results suggest that motion event cognition may be linked to, among other things, the linguistic structure of motion description in particular languages.

Use of information-retrieval languages in automated retrieval of experimental data from long-term storage

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Khovanskiy, Y. D.; Kremneva, N. I.

1975-01-01

Problems and methods are discussed of automating information retrieval operations in a data bank used for long term storage and retrieval of data from scientific experiments. Existing information retrieval languages are analyzed along with those being developed. The results of studies discussing the application of the descriptive 'Kristall' language used in the 'ASIOR' automated information retrieval system are presented. The development and use of a specialized language of the classification-descriptive type, using universal decimal classification indices as the main descriptors, is described.

Predicting the language proficiency of Chinese student pilots within American airspace: Single-task versus dual-task English-language assessment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Noble, Clifford Elliott, II

2002-09-01

The problem. The purpose of this study was to investigate the ability of three single-task instruments---(a) the Test of English as a Foreign Language, (b) the Aviation Test of Spoken English, and (c) the Single Manual-Tracking Test---and three dual-task instruments---(a) the Concurrent Manual-Tracking and Communication Test, (b) the Certified Flight Instructor's Test, and (c) the Simulation-Based English Test---to predict the language performance of 10 Chinese student pilots speaking English as a second language when operating single-engine and multiengine aircraft within American airspace. Method. This research implemented a correlational design to investigate the ability of the six described instruments to predict the mean score of the criterion evaluation, which was the Examiner's Test. This test assessed the oral communication skill of student pilots on the flight portion of the terminal checkride in the Piper Cadet, Piper Seminole, and Beechcraft King Air airplanes. Results. Data from the Single Manual-Tracking Test, as well as the Concurrent Manual-Tracking and Communication Test, were discarded due to performance ceiling effects. Hypothesis 1, which stated that the average correlation between the mean scores of the dual-task evaluations and that of the Examiner's Test would predict the mean score of the criterion evaluation with a greater degree of accuracy than that of single-task evaluations, was not supported. Hypothesis 2, which stated that the correlation between the mean scores of the participants on the Simulation-Based English Test and the Examiner's Test would predict the mean score of the criterion evaluation with a greater degree of accuracy than that of all single- and dual-task evaluations, was also not supported. The findings suggest that single- and dual-task assessments administered after initial flight training are equivalent predictors of language performance when piloting single-engine and multiengine aircraft.

Effect(s) of Language Tasks on Severity of Disfluencies in Preschool Children with Stuttering.

PubMed

Zamani, Peyman; Ravanbakhsh, Majid; Weisi, Farzad; Rashedi, Vahid; Naderi, Sara; Hosseinzadeh, Ayub; Rezaei, Mohammad

2017-04-01

Speech disfluency in children can be increased or decreased depending on the type of linguistic task presented to them. In this study, the effect of sentence imitation and sentence modeling on severity of speech disfluencies in preschool children with stuttering is investigated. In this cross-sectional descriptive analytical study, 58 children with stuttering (29 with mild stuttering and 29 with moderate stuttering) and 58 typical children aged between 4 and 6 years old participated. The severity of speech disfluencies was assessed by SSI-3 and TOCS before and after offering each task. In boys with mild stuttering, The mean stuttering severity scores in two tasks of sentence imitation and sentence modeling were [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] respectively ([Formula: see text]). But, in boys with moderate stuttering the stuttering severity in the both tasks were [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] respectively ([Formula: see text]). In girls with mild stuttering, the stuttering severity in two tasks of sentence imitation and sentence modeling were [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] respectively ([Formula: see text]). But, in girls with moderate stuttering the mean stuttering severity in the both tasks were [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] respectively ([Formula: see text]). In both gender of typical children, the score of speech disfluencies had no significant difference between two tasks ([Formula: see text]). In preschool children with mild stuttering and peer non-stutters, performing the tasks of sentence imitation and sentence modeling could not increase the severity of stuttering. But, in preschool children with moderate stuttering, doing the task of sentence modeling increased the stuttering severity score.

Effectiveness of Focus-on-Forms Instruction: Different Outcomes on Constrained- and Free-Production Tasks?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Corbeil, Giselle

2005-01-01

The purpose of this study is to investigate how focus-on-forms instruction in second language teaching affects attention to forms in two different types of task: constrained and free production. These two different types of task were administered to 87 university students enrolled in a first-year French as a second language course before and after…

"Conversing" in French: The Effect of High-Stakes Environments on Oral Task Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

de Saint Léger, Diane; Storch, Neomy

2012-01-01

Tasks can vary in terms of difficulty and implementation conditions, and these in turn may affect the nature of the language produced by the learner. There have been a large number of studies which have investigated the effects of these task properties and implementation conditions on the language the learner produces. To date, results have been…

Poor Auditory Task Scores in Children with Specific Reading and Language Difficulties: Some Poor Scores Are More Equal than Others

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McArthur, Genevieve M.; Hogben, John H.

2012-01-01

Children with specific reading disability (SRD) or specific language impairment (SLI), who scored poorly on an auditory discrimination task, did up to 140 runs on the failed task. Forty-one percent of the children produced widely fluctuating scores that did not improve across runs (untrainable errant performance), 23% produced widely fluctuating…

Co-Speech Gesture Production in an Animation-Narration Task by Bilinguals: A Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oi, Misato; Saito, Hirofumi; Li, Zongfeng; Zhao, Wenjun

2013-01-01

To examine the neural mechanism of co-speech gesture production, we measured brain activity of bilinguals during an animation-narration task using near-infrared spectroscopy. The task of the participants was to watch two stories via an animated cartoon, and then narrate the contents in their first language (Ll) and second language (L2),…

Report from Middle-Earth: Fan Fiction Tasks in the EFL Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sauro, Shannon; Sundmark, Björn

2016-01-01

This study builds upon work in task-based language teaching and literary studies to explore the use of fan fiction as a pedagogical tool in a technology-enhanced university foreign language class. A task-based fan fiction project, The Blogging Hobbit, modelled on blog-based role-play storytelling found in online media fandoms, was carried out in a…

An Exploratory Study into Trade-Off Effects of Complexity, Accuracy, and Fluency on Young Learners' Oral Task Repetition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sample, Evelyn; Michel, Marije

2014-01-01

Studying task repetition for adult and young foreign language learners of English (EFL) has received growing interest in recent literature within the task-based approach (Bygate, 2009; Hawkes, 2012; Mackey, Kanganas, & Oliver, 2007; Pinter, 2007b). Earlier work suggests that second language (L2) learners benefit from repeating the same or a…

Investigating the Merits of Pair Work on a Text Editing Task in ESL Classes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Storch, Neomy

2007-01-01

Although the literature on language pedagogy encourages the use of pair work in the second language classroom, students sometimes seem reluctant to work in pairs, particularly on grammar-focused tasks. This study investigated the merits of pair work by comparing pair and individual work on an editing task and by analysing the nature of pair…

The Effectiveness of the Continuation Task on Second Language Learning of English Articles

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jiang, Lin

2015-01-01

This article aims to uncover how alignment in the continuation task affects second language (L2) learning of English articles. Two classes of 47 Chinese students participated in the study which employed a pretest-treatment-posttest research design and lasted for a period of 20 weeks. One class received the continuation task treatment, during which…

Comparing Task-Based Instruction and Traditional Instruction on Task Engagement and Vocabulary Development in Secondary Language Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Halici Page, Merve; Mede, Enisa

2018-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate and compare the impact of task-based instruction (TBI) and traditional instruction (TI) on the motivation and vocabulary development in secondary language education. The focus of the study was to also find out the perceptions of teachers about implementing these two instructional methods in their…

How Conception of Task Influences Approaches to Reading: A Study of Korean College Students Recalling an English Text

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Joh, Jeongsoon; Schallert, Diane l.

2014-01-01

This study examined how language learners' preconceptions about a task influence their approaches to second language reading and the sociocultural basis for such preconceptions. Participants were 30 students learning English at a Korean university. The researchers told half of the participants that they would do a recall task after reading an…

Dynamic partial reconfiguration of logic controllers implemented in FPGAs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bazydło, Grzegorz; Wiśniewski, Remigiusz

2016-09-01

Technological progress in recent years benefits in digital circuits containing millions of logic gates with the capability for reprogramming and reconfiguring. On the one hand it provides the unprecedented computational power, but on the other hand the modelled systems are becoming increasingly complex, hierarchical and concurrent. Therefore, abstract modelling supported by the Computer Aided Design tools becomes a very important task. Even the higher consumption of the basic electronic components seems to be acceptable because chip manufacturing costs tend to fall over the time. The paper presents a modelling approach for logic controllers with the use of Unified Modelling Language (UML). Thanks to the Model Driven Development approach, starting with a UML state machine model, through the construction of an intermediate Hierarchical Concurrent Finite State Machine model, a collection of Verilog files is created. The system description generated in hardware description language can be synthesized and implemented in reconfigurable devices, such as FPGAs. Modular specification of the prototyped controller permits for further dynamic partial reconfiguration of the prototyped system. The idea bases on the exchanging of the functionality of the already implemented controller without stopping of the FPGA device. It means, that a part (for example a single module) of the logic controller is replaced by other version (called context), while the rest of the system is still running. The method is illustrated by a practical example by an exemplary Home Area Network system.

Identifying risk for language impairment in children from linguistically diverse low-income schools.

PubMed

Jacobson, Peggy F; Thompson Miller, Suzanne

2017-12-07

To improve screening procedures for children in a linguistically diverse context, we combined tasks known to reveal grammatical deficits in children with language impairment (LI) with training to facilitate performance on a verb elicitation task. Sixty-four first grade children participated. The objective grammatical measures included elicitation of 12 past tense regular verbs preceded by a teaching phase (teach-test), the sentence recall (SR) subtest of the Clinical evaluation of language fundamentals (CELF-4), and a tally of all conjugated verbs from a narrative retell task. Given the widespread reliance on teacher observation for the referral of children suspected of having LI, we compared our results to the spoken language portion of the CELF-4 teacher observational rating scale (ORS). Using teacher observation as a reference for comparison, the past tense elicitation task and the SR task yielded strong discriminating power, but the verb tally was relatively weak. However, combining the three tasks yielded the highest levels of sensitivity (75%) and specificity (92%) than any single measure on its own. This study contributes to alternative assessment practices by highlighting the potential utility of adding a teaching component prior to administering informal grammatical probes.

Auditory Processing in Specific Language Impairment (SLI): Relations With the Perception of Lexical and Phrasal Stress.

PubMed

Richards, Susan; Goswami, Usha

2015-08-01

We investigated whether impaired acoustic processing is a factor in developmental language disorders. The amplitude envelope of the speech signal is known to be important in language processing. We examined whether impaired perception of amplitude envelope rise time is related to impaired perception of lexical and phrasal stress in children with specific language impairment (SLI). Twenty-two children aged between 8 and 12 years participated in this study. Twelve had SLI; 10 were typically developing controls. All children completed psychoacoustic tasks measuring rise time, intensity, frequency, and duration discrimination. They also completed 2 linguistic stress tasks measuring lexical and phrasal stress perception. The SLI group scored significantly below the typically developing controls on both stress perception tasks. Performance on stress tasks correlated with individual differences in auditory sensitivity. Rise time and frequency thresholds accounted for the most unique variance. Digit Span also contributed to task success for the SLI group. The SLI group had difficulties with both acoustic and stress perception tasks. Our data suggest that poor sensitivity to amplitude rise time and sound frequency significantly contributes to the stress perception skills of children with SLI. Other cognitive factors such as phonological memory are also implicated.

Characterising receptive language processing in schizophrenia using word and sentence tasks.

PubMed

Tan, Eric J; Yelland, Gregory W; Rossell, Susan L

2016-01-01

Language dysfunction is proposed to relate to the speech disturbances in schizophrenia, which are more commonly referred to as formal thought disorder (FTD). Presently, language production deficits in schizophrenia are better characterised than language comprehension difficulties. This study thus aimed to examine three aspects of language comprehension in schizophrenia: (1) the role of lexical processing, (2) meaning attribution for words and sentences, and (3) the relationship between comprehension and production. Fifty-seven schizophrenia/schizoaffective disorder patients and 48 healthy controls completed a clinical assessment and three language tasks assessing word recognition, synonym identification, and sentence comprehension. Poorer patient performance was expected on the latter two tasks. Recognition of word form was not impaired in schizophrenia, indicating intact lexical processing. Whereas single-word synonym identification was not significantly impaired, there was a tendency to attribute word meanings based on phonological similarity with increasing FTD severity. Importantly, there was a significant sentence comprehension deficit for processing deep structure, which correlated with FTD severity. These findings established a receptive language deficit in schizophrenia at the syntactic level. There was also evidence for a relationship between some aspects of language comprehension and speech production/FTD. Apart from indicating language as another mechanism in FTD aetiology, the data also suggest that remediating language comprehension problems may be an avenue to pursue in alleviating FTD symptomatology.

The Effects of Pre-Task, On-Line, and Both Pre-Task and On-Line Planning on Fluency, Complexity, and Accuracy--The Case of Iranian EFL Learners' Written Production

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Piri, Faramarz; Barati, Hossein; Ketabi, Saeed

2012-01-01

Previous studies on the effect of planning on language production have revealed that planning does have a positive effect on language performance in terms of fluency, complexity, and accuracy. The present study was an attempt to investigate the effects of pre-task, on-line, and both pre-task and on-line planning on fluency, accuracy, and…

Quantification and Systematic Characterization of Stuttering-Like Disfluencies in Acquired Apraxia of Speech.

PubMed

Bailey, Dallin J; Blomgren, Michael; DeLong, Catharine; Berggren, Kiera; Wambaugh, Julie L

2017-06-22

The purpose of this article is to quantify and describe stuttering-like disfluencies in speakers with acquired apraxia of speech (AOS), utilizing the Lidcombe Behavioural Data Language (LBDL). Additional purposes include measuring test-retest reliability and examining the effect of speech sample type on disfluency rates. Two types of speech samples were elicited from 20 persons with AOS and aphasia: repetition of mono- and multisyllabic words from a protocol for assessing AOS (Duffy, 2013), and connected speech tasks (Nicholas & Brookshire, 1993). Sampling was repeated at 1 and 4 weeks following initial sampling. Stuttering-like disfluencies were coded using the LBDL, which is a taxonomy that focuses on motoric aspects of stuttering. Disfluency rates ranged from 0% to 13.1% for the connected speech task and from 0% to 17% for the word repetition task. There was no significant effect of speech sampling time on disfluency rate in the connected speech task, but there was a significant effect of time for the word repetition task. There was no significant effect of speech sample type. Speakers demonstrated both major types of stuttering-like disfluencies as categorized by the LBDL (fixed postures and repeated movements). Connected speech samples yielded more reliable tallies over repeated measurements. Suggestions are made for modifying the LBDL for use in AOS in order to further add to systematic descriptions of motoric disfluencies in this disorder.

Bilingualism as a Model for Multitasking

PubMed Central

Poarch, Gregory J.; Bialystok, Ellen

2015-01-01

Because both languages of bilinguals are constantly active, bilinguals need to manage attention to the target language and avoid interference from the non-target language. This process is likely carried out by recruiting the executive function (EF) system, a system that is also the basis for multitasking. In previous research, bilinguals have been shown to outperform monolinguals on tasks requiring EF, suggesting that the practice using EF for language management benefits performance in other tasks as well. The present study examined 203 children, 8-11 years old, who were monolingual, partially bilingual, bilingual, or trilingual performing a flanker task. Two results support the interpretation that bilingualism is related to multitasking. First, bilingual children outperformed monolinguals on the conflict trials in the flanker task, confirming previous results for a bilingual advantage in EF. Second, the inclusion of partial bilinguals and trilinguals set limits on the role of experience: partial bilingual performed similarly to monolinguals and trilinguals performed similarly to bilinguals, suggesting that degrees of experience are not well-calibrated to improvements in EF. Our conclusion is that the involvement of EF in bilingual language processing makes bilingualism a form of linguistic multitasking. PMID:25821336

Mapping lexical-semantic networks and determining hemispheric language dominance: Do task design, sex, age, and language performance make a difference?

PubMed

Chang, Yu-Hsuan A; Javadi, Sogol S; Bahrami, Naeim; Uttarwar, Vedang S; Reyes, Anny; McDonald, Carrie R

2018-04-01

Blocked and event-related fMRI designs are both commonly used to localize language networks and determine hemispheric dominance in research and clinical settings. We compared activation profiles on a semantic monitoring task using one of the two designs in a total of 43 healthy individual to determine whether task design or subject-specific factors (i.e., age, sex, or language performance) influence activation patterns. We found high concordance between the two designs within core language regions, including the inferior frontal, posterior temporal, and basal temporal region. However, differences emerged within inferior parietal cortex. Subject-specific factors did not influence activation patterns, nor did they interact with task design. These results suggest that despite high concordance within perisylvian regions that are robust to subject-specific factors, methodological differences between blocked and event-related designs may contribute to parietal activations. These findings provide important information for researchers incorporating fMRI results into meta-analytic studies, as well as for clinicians using fMRI to guide pre-surgical planning. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Bilingualism as a Model for Multitasking.

PubMed

Poarch, Gregory J; Bialystok, Ellen

2015-03-01

Because both languages of bilinguals are constantly active, bilinguals need to manage attention to the target language and avoid interference from the non-target language. This process is likely carried out by recruiting the executive function (EF) system, a system that is also the basis for multitasking. In previous research, bilinguals have been shown to outperform monolinguals on tasks requiring EF, suggesting that the practice using EF for language management benefits performance in other tasks as well. The present study examined 203 children, 8-11 years old, who were monolingual, partially bilingual, bilingual, or trilingual performing a flanker task. Two results support the interpretation that bilingualism is related to multitasking. First, bilingual children outperformed monolinguals on the conflict trials in the flanker task, confirming previous results for a bilingual advantage in EF. Second, the inclusion of partial bilinguals and trilinguals set limits on the role of experience: partial bilingual performed similarly to monolinguals and trilinguals performed similarly to bilinguals, suggesting that degrees of experience are not well-calibrated to improvements in EF. Our conclusion is that the involvement of EF in bilingual language processing makes bilingualism a form of linguistic multitasking.

Network Controllability in the Inferior Frontal Gyrus Relates to Controlled Language Variability and Susceptibility to TMS.

PubMed

Medaglia, John D; Harvey, Denise Y; White, Nicole; Kelkar, Apoorva; Zimmerman, Jared; Bassett, Danielle S; Hamilton, Roy H

2018-06-08

In language production, humans are confronted with considerable word selection demands. Often, we must select a word from among similar, acceptable, and competing alternative words in order to construct a sentence that conveys an intended meaning. In recent years, the left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG) has been identified as critical to this ability. Despite a recent emphasis on network approaches to understanding language, how the LIFG interacts with the brain's complex networks to facilitate controlled language performance remains unknown. Here, we take a novel approach to understand word selection as a network control process in the brain. Using an anatomical brain network derived from high-resolution diffusion spectrum imaging (DSI), we computed network controllability underlying the site of transcranial magnetic stimulation in the LIFG between administrations of language tasks that vary in response (cognitive control) demands: open-response (word generation) vs. closed-response (number naming) tasks. We find that a statistic that quantifies the LIFG's theoretically predicted control of communication across modules in the human connectome explains TMS-induced changes in open-response language task performance only. Moreover, we find that a statistic that quantifies the LIFG's theoretically predicted control of difficult-to-reach states explains vulnerability to TMS in the closed-ended (but not open-ended) response task. These findings establish a link between network controllability, cognitive function, and TMS effects. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT This work illustrates that network control statistics applied to anatomical connectivity data demonstrate relationships with cognitive variability during controlled language tasks and TMS effects. Copyright © 2018 the authors.

The effects of bilingualism on toddlers’ executive functioning

PubMed Central

Poulin-Dubois, Diane; Blaye, Agnes; Coutya, Julie; Bialystok, Ellen

2015-01-01

Bilingual children have been shown to outperform monolingual children on tasks measuring executive functioning skills. This advantage is usually attributed to bilinguals’ extensive practice in exercising selective attention and cognitive flexibility during language use because both languages are active when one of them is being used. We examined whether this advantage is observed in 24-month-olds who have had much less experience in language production. A battery of executive functioning tasks and the cognitive scale of the Bayley test were administered to 63 monolingual and bilingual children. Native bilingual children performed significantly better than monolingual children on the Stroop task, with no difference between groups on the other tasks, confirming the specificity of bilingual effects to conflict tasks reported in older children. These results demonstrate that bilingual advantages in executive control emerge at an age not previously shown. PMID:21122877

Re-Envisioning the Roles, Tasks, and Contributions of Language Teachers in the Multilingual Era of Language Education Research and Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kubanyiova, Magdalena; Crookes, Graham

2016-01-01

This article lays out the proposition that the rapid changes in 21st-century society, in which multilingualism is the norm, have presented new challenges, questions, and resources with regard to the roles, tasks, and contributions of language teachers. In line with recent research developments and in keeping with tradition, we believe it helpful…

The Usual and the Unusual: Solving Remote Associates Test Tasks Using Simple Statistical Natural Language Processing Based on Language Use

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Klein, Ariel; Badia, Toni

2015-01-01

In this study we show how complex creative relations can arise from fairly frequent semantic relations observed in everyday language. By doing this, we reflect on some key cognitive aspects of linguistic and general creativity. In our experimentation, we automated the process of solving a battery of Remote Associates Test tasks. By applying…

Memory for Emotional Words in the First and the Second Language: Effects of the Encoding Task

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ferre, Pilar; Sanchez-Casas, Rosa; Fraga, Isabel

2013-01-01

Emotional words are better remembered than neutral words in the first language. Ferre, Garcia, Fraga, Sanchez-Casas and Molero (2010) found this emotional effect also for second language words by using an encoding task focused on emotionality. The aim of the present study was to test whether the same effect can also be observed with encoding tasks…

Atypical language organization in temporal lobe epilepsy revealed by a passive semantic paradigm

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE) is the most common type of focal epilepsy in adults and can be successfully cured by surgery. One of the main complications of this surgery however is a decline in language abilities. The magnitude of this decline is related to the degree of language lateralization to the left hemisphere. Most fMRI paradigms used to determine language dominance in epileptic populations have used active language tasks. Sometimes, these paradigms are too complex and may result in patient underperformance. Only a few studies have used purely passive tasks, such as listening to standard speech. Methods In the present study we characterized language lateralization in patients with MTLE using a rapid and passive semantic language task. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to study 23 patients [12 with Left (LMTLE), 11 with Right mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (RMTLE)] and 19 healthy right-handed controls using a 6 minute long semantic task in which subjects passively listened to groups of sentences (SEN) and pseudo sentences (PSEN). A lateralization index (LI) was computed using a priori regions of interest of the temporal lobe. Results The LI for the significant contrasts produced activations for all participants in both temporal lobes. 81.8% of RMTLE patients and 79% of healthy individuals had a bilateral language representation for this particular task. However, 50% of LMTLE patients presented an atypical right hemispheric dominance in the LI. More importantly, the degree of right lateralization in LMTLE patients was correlated with the age of epilepsy onset. Conclusions The simple, rapid, non-collaboration dependent, passive task described in this study, produces a robust activation in the temporal lobe in both patients and controls and is capable of illustrating a pattern of atypical language organization for LMTLE patients. Furthermore, we observed that the atypical right-lateralization patterns in LMTLE patients was associated to earlier age at epilepsy onset. These results are in line with the idea that early onset of epileptic activity is associated to larger neuroplastic changes. PMID:24885511

Neural organization of linguistic short-term memory is sensory modality-dependent: evidence from signed and spoken language.

PubMed

Pa, Judy; Wilson, Stephen M; Pickell, Herbert; Bellugi, Ursula; Hickok, Gregory

2008-12-01

Despite decades of research, there is still disagreement regarding the nature of the information that is maintained in linguistic short-term memory (STM). Some authors argue for abstract phonological codes, whereas others argue for more general sensory traces. We assess these possibilities by investigating linguistic STM in two distinct sensory-motor modalities, spoken and signed language. Hearing bilingual participants (native in English and American Sign Language) performed equivalent STM tasks in both languages during functional magnetic resonance imaging. Distinct, sensory-specific activations were seen during the maintenance phase of the task for spoken versus signed language. These regions have been previously shown to respond to nonlinguistic sensory stimulation, suggesting that linguistic STM tasks recruit sensory-specific networks. However, maintenance-phase activations common to the two languages were also observed, implying some form of common process. We conclude that linguistic STM involves sensory-dependent neural networks, but suggest that sensory-independent neural networks may also exist.

Brain Activation for Language Dual-Tasking: Listening to Two People Speak at the Same Time and a Change in Network Timing

PubMed Central

Buchweitz, Augusto; Keller, Timothy A.; Meyler, Ann; Just, Marcel Adam

2011-01-01

The study used fMRI to investigate brain activation in participants who were able to listen to and successfully comprehend two people speaking at the same time (dual-tasking). The study identified brain mechanisms associated with high-level, concurrent dual-tasking, as compared to comprehending a single message. Results showed an increase in the functional connectivity among areas of the language network in the dual task. The increase in synchronization of brain activation for dual-tasking was brought about primarily by a change in the timing of left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG) activation relative to posterior temporal activation, bringing the LIFG activation into closer correspondence with temporal activation. The results show that the change in LIFG timing was greater in participants with lower working memory capacity, and that recruitment of additional activation in the dual-task occurred only in the areas adjacent to the language network that was activated in the single task. The shift in LIFG activation may be a brain marker of how the brain adapts to high-level dual-tasking. PMID:21618666

Factors That Influence Fast Mapping in Children Exposed to Spanish and English

PubMed Central

Alt, Mary; Meyers, Christina; Figueroa, Cecilia

2015-01-01

Purpose The purpose of this study was to determine if children exposed to two languages would benefit from the phonotactic probability cues of a single language in the same way as monolingual peers and to determine if cross-linguistic influence would be present in a fast mapping task. Method Two groups of typically-developing children (monolingual English and bilingual Spanish-English) took part in a computer-based fast mapping task which manipulated phonotactic probability. Children were preschool-aged (N = 50) or school-aged (N = 34). Fast mapping was assessed through name identification and naming tasks. Data were analyzed using mixed ANOVAs with post-hoc testing and simple regression. Results Bilingual and monolingual preschoolers showed sensitivity to English phonotactic cues in both tasks, but bilingual preschoolers were less accurate than monolingual peers in the naming task. School-aged bilingual children had nearly identical performance to monolingual peers. Conclusions Knowing that children exposed to two languages can benefit from the statistical cues of a single language can help inform ideas about instruction and assessment for bilingual learners. PMID:23816663

What Box: A task for assessing language lateralization in young children.

PubMed

Badcock, Nicholas A; Spooner, Rachael; Hofmann, Jessica; Flitton, Atlanta; Elliott, Scott; Kurylowicz, Lisa; Lavrencic, Louise M; Payne, Heather M; Holt, Georgina K; Holden, Anneka; Churches, Owen F; Kohler, Mark J; Keage, Hannah A D

2018-07-01

The assessment of active language lateralization in infants and toddlers is challenging. It requires an imaging tool that is unintimidating, quick to setup, and robust to movement, in addition to an engaging and cognitively simple language processing task. Functional Transcranial Doppler Ultrasound (fTCD) offers a suitable technique and here we report on a suitable method to elicit active language production in young children. The 34-second "What Box" trial presents an animated face "searching" for an object. The face "finds" a box that opens to reveal a to-be-labelled object. In a sample of 95 children (1 to 5 years of age), 81% completed the task-32% with ≥10 trials. The task was validated (ρ = 0.4) against the gold standard Word Generation task in a group of older adults (n = 65, 60-85 years of age), though was less likely to categorize lateralization as left or right, indicative of greater measurement variability. Existing methods for active language production have been used with 2-year-old children while passive listening has been conducted with sleeping 6-month-olds. This is the first active method to be successfully employed with infants through to pre-schoolers, forming a useful tool for populations in which complex instructions are problematic.

Deception dissociates from false belief reasoning in deaf children: implications for the implicit versus explicit theory of mind distinction.

PubMed

de Villiers, Peter A; de Villiers, Jill G

2012-03-01

Deception is a controversial aspect of theory of mind, and researchers disagree about whether it entails an understanding of the false beliefs of one's opponent. The present study asks whether children with delayed language and delayed explicit false belief reasoning can succeed on explicit deception tasks. Participants were 45 orally taught deaf children with varying language delays aged 4.5-8 years and 45 hearing children aged 3.5-6 years. Participants received a battery of language, executive function, deception, and both verbal and low-verbal false belief tasks. The result reveal a dissociation of deception and false belief tasks: the deaf children are on par with their hearing peers on deception games, but show significant delays in false belief tasks even when the language demands are made minimal. Furthermore, different skills are predictors of success for the two types of task in the deaf children: language, and in particular complement syntax, is the best predictor of false belief reasoning; but executive function skills, especially inhibitory control, are the best predictors of deception. It is argued that deception at this level can be handled by behaviour rules without reference to mental states. © 2011 The British Psychological Society.

The Complex Nature of Bilinguals' Language Usage Modulates Task-Switching Outcomes

PubMed Central

Yang, Hwajin; Hartanto, Andree; Yang, Sujin

2016-01-01

In view of inconsistent findings regarding bilingual advantages in executive functions (EF), we reviewed the literature to determine whether bilinguals' different language usage causes measureable changes in the shifting aspects of EF. By drawing on the theoretical framework of the adaptive control hypothesis—which postulates a critical link between bilinguals' varying demands on language control and adaptive cognitive control (Green and Abutalebi, 2013), we examined three factors that characterize bilinguals' language-switching experience: (a) the interactional context of conversational exchanges, (b) frequency of language switching, and (c) typology of code-switching. We also examined whether methodological variations in previous task-switching studies modulate task-specific demands on control processing and lead to inconsistencies in the literature. Our review demonstrates that not only methodological rigor but also a more finely grained, theory-based approach will be required to understand the cognitive consequences of bilinguals' varied linguistic practices in shifting EF. PMID:27199800

Type of iconicity matters in the vocabulary development of signing children.

PubMed

Ortega, Gerardo; Sümer, Beyza; Özyürek, Aslı

2017-01-01

Recent research on signed as well as spoken language shows that the iconic features of the target language might play a role in language development. Here, we ask further whether different types of iconic depictions modulate children's preferences for certain types of sign-referent links during vocabulary development in sign language. Results from a picture description task indicate that lexical signs with 2 possible variants are used in different proportions by deaf signers from different age groups. While preschool and school-age children favored variants representing actions associated with their referent (e.g., a writing hand for the sign PEN), adults preferred variants representing the perceptual features of those objects (e.g., upward index finger representing a thin, elongated object for the sign PEN). Deaf parents interacting with their children, however, used action- and perceptual-based variants in equal proportion and favored action variants more than adults signing to other adults. We propose that when children are confronted with 2 variants for the same concept, they initially prefer action-based variants because they give them the opportunity to link a linguistic label to familiar schemas linked to their action/motor experiences. Our results echo findings showing a bias for action-based depictions in the development of iconic co-speech gestures suggesting a modality bias for such representations during development. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Natural Language Description of Emotion

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kazemzadeh, Abe

2013-01-01

This dissertation studies how people describe emotions with language and how computers can simulate this descriptive behavior. Although many non-human animals can express their current emotions as social signals, only humans can communicate about emotions symbolically. This symbolic communication of emotion allows us to talk about emotions that we…

Inner Speech's Relationship With Overt Speech in Poststroke Aphasia.

PubMed

Stark, Brielle C; Geva, Sharon; Warburton, Elizabeth A

2017-09-18

Relatively preserved inner speech alongside poor overt speech has been documented in some persons with aphasia (PWA), but the relationship of overt speech with inner speech is still largely unclear, as few studies have directly investigated these factors. The present study investigates the relationship of relatively preserved inner speech in aphasia with selected measures of language and cognition. Thirty-eight persons with chronic aphasia (27 men, 11 women; average age 64.53 ± 13.29 years, time since stroke 8-111 months) were classified as having relatively preserved inner and overt speech (n = 21), relatively preserved inner speech with poor overt speech (n = 8), or not classified due to insufficient measurements of inner and/or overt speech (n = 9). Inner speech scores (by group) were correlated with selected measures of language and cognition from the Comprehensive Aphasia Test (Swinburn, Porter, & Al, 2004). The group with poor overt speech showed a significant relationship of inner speech with overt naming (r = .95, p < .01) and with mean length of utterance produced during a written picture description (r = .96, p < .01). Correlations between inner speech and language and cognition factors were not significant for the group with relatively good overt speech. As in previous research, we show that relatively preserved inner speech is found alongside otherwise severe production deficits in PWA. PWA with poor overt speech may rely more on preserved inner speech for overt picture naming (perhaps due to shared resources with verbal working memory) and for written picture description (perhaps due to reliance on inner speech due to perceived task difficulty). Assessments of inner speech may be useful as a standard component of aphasia screening, and therapy focused on improving and using inner speech may prove clinically worthwhile. https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.5303542.

MIA - A free and open source software for gray scale medical image analysis

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Gray scale images make the bulk of data in bio-medical image analysis, and hence, the main focus of many image processing tasks lies in the processing of these monochrome images. With ever improving acquisition devices, spatial and temporal image resolution increases, and data sets become very large. Various image processing frameworks exists that make the development of new algorithms easy by using high level programming languages or visual programming. These frameworks are also accessable to researchers that have no background or little in software development because they take care of otherwise complex tasks. Specifically, the management of working memory is taken care of automatically, usually at the price of requiring more it. As a result, processing large data sets with these tools becomes increasingly difficult on work station class computers. One alternative to using these high level processing tools is the development of new algorithms in a languages like C++, that gives the developer full control over how memory is handled, but the resulting workflow for the prototyping of new algorithms is rather time intensive, and also not appropriate for a researcher with little or no knowledge in software development. Another alternative is in using command line tools that run image processing tasks, use the hard disk to store intermediate results, and provide automation by using shell scripts. Although not as convenient as, e.g. visual programming, this approach is still accessable to researchers without a background in computer science. However, only few tools exist that provide this kind of processing interface, they are usually quite task specific, and don’t provide an clear approach when one wants to shape a new command line tool from a prototype shell script. Results The proposed framework, MIA, provides a combination of command line tools, plug-ins, and libraries that make it possible to run image processing tasks interactively in a command shell and to prototype by using the according shell scripting language. Since the hard disk becomes the temporal storage memory management is usually a non-issue in the prototyping phase. By using string-based descriptions for filters, optimizers, and the likes, the transition from shell scripts to full fledged programs implemented in C++ is also made easy. In addition, its design based on atomic plug-ins and single tasks command line tools makes it easy to extend MIA, usually without the requirement to touch or recompile existing code. Conclusion In this article, we describe the general design of MIA, a general purpouse framework for gray scale image processing. We demonstrated the applicability of the software with example applications from three different research scenarios, namely motion compensation in myocardial perfusion imaging, the processing of high resolution image data that arises in virtual anthropology, and retrospective analysis of treatment outcome in orthognathic surgery. With MIA prototyping algorithms by using shell scripts that combine small, single-task command line tools is a viable alternative to the use of high level languages, an approach that is especially useful when large data sets need to be processed. PMID:24119305

MIA - A free and open source software for gray scale medical image analysis.

PubMed

Wollny, Gert; Kellman, Peter; Ledesma-Carbayo, María-Jesus; Skinner, Matthew M; Hublin, Jean-Jaques; Hierl, Thomas

2013-10-11

Gray scale images make the bulk of data in bio-medical image analysis, and hence, the main focus of many image processing tasks lies in the processing of these monochrome images. With ever improving acquisition devices, spatial and temporal image resolution increases, and data sets become very large.Various image processing frameworks exists that make the development of new algorithms easy by using high level programming languages or visual programming. These frameworks are also accessable to researchers that have no background or little in software development because they take care of otherwise complex tasks. Specifically, the management of working memory is taken care of automatically, usually at the price of requiring more it. As a result, processing large data sets with these tools becomes increasingly difficult on work station class computers.One alternative to using these high level processing tools is the development of new algorithms in a languages like C++, that gives the developer full control over how memory is handled, but the resulting workflow for the prototyping of new algorithms is rather time intensive, and also not appropriate for a researcher with little or no knowledge in software development.Another alternative is in using command line tools that run image processing tasks, use the hard disk to store intermediate results, and provide automation by using shell scripts. Although not as convenient as, e.g. visual programming, this approach is still accessable to researchers without a background in computer science. However, only few tools exist that provide this kind of processing interface, they are usually quite task specific, and don't provide an clear approach when one wants to shape a new command line tool from a prototype shell script. The proposed framework, MIA, provides a combination of command line tools, plug-ins, and libraries that make it possible to run image processing tasks interactively in a command shell and to prototype by using the according shell scripting language. Since the hard disk becomes the temporal storage memory management is usually a non-issue in the prototyping phase. By using string-based descriptions for filters, optimizers, and the likes, the transition from shell scripts to full fledged programs implemented in C++ is also made easy. In addition, its design based on atomic plug-ins and single tasks command line tools makes it easy to extend MIA, usually without the requirement to touch or recompile existing code. In this article, we describe the general design of MIA, a general purpouse framework for gray scale image processing. We demonstrated the applicability of the software with example applications from three different research scenarios, namely motion compensation in myocardial perfusion imaging, the processing of high resolution image data that arises in virtual anthropology, and retrospective analysis of treatment outcome in orthognathic surgery. With MIA prototyping algorithms by using shell scripts that combine small, single-task command line tools is a viable alternative to the use of high level languages, an approach that is especially useful when large data sets need to be processed.

Fluency-dependent cortical activation associated with speech production and comprehension in second language learners.

PubMed

Shimada, K; Hirotani, M; Yokokawa, H; Yoshida, H; Makita, K; Yamazaki-Murase, M; Tanabe, H C; Sadato, N

2015-08-06

This functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study investigated the brain regions underlying language task performance in adult second language (L2) learners. Specifically, we identified brain regions where the level of activation was associated with L2 fluency levels. Thirty Japanese-speaking adults participated in the study. All participants were L2 learners of English and had achieved varying levels of fluency, as determined by a standardized L2 English proficiency test, the Versant English Test (Pearson Education Inc., 2011). When participants performed the oral sentence building task from the production tasks administered, the dorsal part of the left inferior frontal gyrus (dIFG) showed activation patterns that differed depending on the L2 fluency levels: The more fluent the participants were, the more dIFG activation decreased. This decreased activation of the dIFG might reflect the increased automaticity of a syntactic building process. In contrast, when participants performed an oral story comprehension task, the left posterior superior temporal gyrus (pSTG) showed increased activation with higher fluency levels. This suggests that the learners with higher L2 fluency were actively engaged in post-syntactic integration processing supported by the left pSTG. These data imply that L2 fluency predicts neural resource allocation during language comprehension tasks as well as in production tasks. This study sheds light on the neural underpinnings of L2 learning by identifying the brain regions recruited during different language tasks across different modalities (production vs. comprehension). Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

An Architecture for Autonomic Web Service Process Planning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moore, Colm; Xue Wang, Ming; Pahl, Claus

Web service composition is a technology that has received considerable attention in the last number of years. Languages and tools to aid in the process of creating composite Web services have been received specific attention. Web service composition is the process of linking single Web services together in order to accomplish more complex tasks. One area of Web service composition that has not received as much attention is the area of dynamic error handling and re-planning, enabling autonomic composition. Given a repository of service descriptions and a task to complete, it is possible for AI planners to automatically create a plan that will achieve this goal. If however a service in the plan is unavailable or erroneous the plan will fail. Motivated by this problem, this paper suggests autonomous re-planning as a means to overcome dynamic problems. Our solution involves automatically recovering from faults and creating a context-dependent alternate plan. We present an architecture that serves as a basis for the central activities autonomous composition, monitoring and fault handling.

General-purpose abductive algorithm for interpretation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fox, Richard K.; Hartigan, Julie

1996-11-01

Abduction, inference to the best explanation, is an information-processing task that is useful for solving interpretation problems such as diagnosis, medical test analysis, legal reasoning, theory evaluation, and perception. The task is a generative one in which an explanation comprising of domain hypotheses is assembled and used to account for given findings. The explanation is taken to be an interpretation as to why the findings have arisen within the given situation. Research in abduction has led to the development of a general-purpose computational strategy which has been demonstrated on all of the above types of problems. This abduction strategy can be performed in layers so that different types of knowledge can come together in deriving an explanation at different levels of description. Further, the abduction strategy is tractable and offers a very useful tradeoff between confidence in the explanation and completeness of the explanation. This paper will describe this computational strategy for abduction and demonstrate its usefulness towards perceptual problems by examining problem-solving systems in speech recognition and natural language understanding.

South Korea: Language Policy and Planning in the Making

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Song, Jae Jung

2012-01-01

This monograph discusses South Korea's language situation in a language policy and planning context. This monograph consists of four parts. Part 1 presents a genetic, typological and sociolinguistic description of South Korea's national language, and an overview of minority languages, including English as well as other languages, recently…

FLAX: Flexible and Open Corpus-Based Language Collections Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fitzgerald, Alannah; Wu, Shaoqun; Marín, María José

2015-01-01

In this case study we present innovative work in building open corpus-based language collections by focusing on a description of the opensource multilingual Flexible Language Acquisition (FLAX) language project, which is an ongoing example of open materials development practices for language teaching and learning. We present language-learning…

Word Naming in the L1 and L2: A Dynamic Perspective on Automatization and the Degree of Semantic Involvement in Naming.

PubMed

Plat, Rika; Lowie, Wander; de Bot, Kees

2017-01-01

Reaction time data have long been collected in order to gain insight into the underlying mechanisms involved in language processing. Means analyses often attempt to break down what factors relate to what portion of the total reaction time. From a dynamic systems theory perspective or an interaction dominant view of language processing, it is impossible to isolate discrete factors contributing to language processing, since these continually and interactively play a role. Non-linear analyses offer the tools to investigate the underlying process of language use in time, without having to isolate discrete factors. Patterns of variability in reaction time data may disclose the relative contribution of automatic (grapheme-to-phoneme conversion) processing and attention-demanding (semantic) processing. The presence of a fractal structure in the variability of a reaction time series indicates automaticity in the mental structures contributing to a task. A decorrelated pattern of variability will indicate a higher degree of attention-demanding processing. A focus on variability patterns allows us to examine the relative contribution of automatic and attention-demanding processing when a speaker is using the mother tongue (L1) or a second language (L2). A word naming task conducted in the L1 (Dutch) and L2 (English) shows L1 word processing to rely more on automatic spelling-to-sound conversion than L2 word processing. A word naming task with a semantic categorization subtask showed more reliance on attention-demanding semantic processing when using the L2. A comparison to L1 English data shows this was not only due to the amount of language use or language dominance, but also to the difference in orthographic depth between Dutch and English. An important implication of this finding is that when the same task is used to test and compare different languages, one cannot straightforwardly assume the same cognitive sub processes are involved to an equal degree using the same task in different languages.

La formation aux techniques du travail universitaire et la notion de tache (Training in the Techniques of Academic Work and the Notion of Task).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Phillips, M. K.

1981-01-01

Discusses questions concerning training students in techniques of academic work and use of the English language in this context. These questions, currently researched at the English Language Center of King Abdulaziz University, focus on the notion of task as a minimal pedagogic unit, and on task-objective coordination criteria. Societe Nouvelle…

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.

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

Dissociable top-down anticipatory neural states for different linguistic dimensions.

PubMed

Ruz, María; Nobre, Anna C

2008-03-07

When preparing to perform a task, the brain settles into task-set states which are relevant for the selection of the appropriate task-rules and stimulus-response mappings. The way this selection takes place within the Language domain is not well understood. We used high-density electrophysiological recordings while participants were engaged in a task in which cues directed their attention to the orthography, phonology or semantics of upcoming target words (or to the shape of novel symbols). To study the specificity of the brain preparatory states to different goals within the language domain, we contrasted the topographical maps associated with the cues for these different tasks, and explored whether the need of task-set reconfiguration modulated this preparatory activity. As a complement to the topographical analyses, we compared the amplitude of the cue-locked ERPs across task conditions. The topographical maps differed only at the end of the epoch. During this time window, each task-cue generated distinct topographical activity, which was also different depending on whether it involved a switch in task-set or not. These results suggest that, when the time of target onset approaches, the generators of anticipatory-biasing brain states for different language tasks vary depending on the nature of the task.

A preliminary comparison of Cantonese and American-English as taste languages.

PubMed

O'Mahony, M; Tsang, T

1980-05-01

Groups of monolingual American-English speaking Americans of Chinese descent were compared with Cantonese/American-English bilingual Chinese living in America to examine their taste descriptions for a set of aqueous solutions. Cantonese, unlike other languages, did not appear to differ greatly from American-English in its general taste descriptive strategy and depth of vocabulary, although Cantonese speakers had a tendency to use 'glutamic' as a descriptive term for monosodium glutamate.

Development of Critical Thinking Skills through Writing Tasks: Challenges Facing Maritime English Students at Aqaba College, AlBalqa Applied University, Jordan

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alidmat, Ali Odeh Hammoud; Ayassrah, Mohamed Ayed

2017-01-01

Teaching English for Special Purposes (ESP) in a context where English is taught as a Foreign Language (EFL) is no easy task. There is in fact extensive research reporting on challenges facing both teacher and student in the Foreign Language classroom where language skills must be learnt outside their usual context. Even more challenging is…

An Exploratory Study of Teaching Tasks in English as a Foreign Language Education. Research Report. ETS RR-17-56

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Turkan, Sultan; Timpe-Laughlin, Veronika; Papageorgiou, Spiros

2017-01-01

Due to rising demand for qualified teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL), interest in issues pertaining to the language proficiency of these teachers has increased. However, research focusing on the teaching tasks that EFL teachers engage in for the purposes of EFL instruction is scant. The present study aims to address this gap in the…

From PPP and CALL/MALL to a Praxis of Task-Based Teaching and Mobile Assisted Language Use

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jarvis, Huw

2015-01-01

Two of the most significant trends in TESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages) over the last twenty years or so are the rise of task­-based language teaching (TBLT) and the growth of technology. With TBLT there is a challenging of more traditional structure-based models of delivery, and the increased capacity and mobility of…

Classification and Counter-Classification of Language on Saint Barthelemy.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pressman, Jon F.

1998-01-01

Analyzes the use of metapragmatic description in the ethnoclassification of language by native speakers on the Franco-Antillean island of Saint Barthelemy. A prevalent technique for metapragmatic description based on honorific pronouns that reflects the varied geolinguistic and generational attributes of the speakers is described. (Author/MSE)

Computer hardware description languages - A tutorial

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shiva, S. G.

1979-01-01

The paper introduces hardware description languages (HDL) as useful tools for hardware design and documentation. The capabilities and limitations of HDLs are discussed along with the guidelines needed in selecting an appropriate HDL. The directions for future work are provided and attention is given to the implementation of HDLs in microcomputers.

Two Types of Definites in Natural Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schwarz, Florian

2009-01-01

This thesis is concerned with the description and analysis of two semantically different types of definite articles in German. While the existence of distinct article paradigms in various Germanic dialects and other languages has been acknowledged in the descriptive literature for quite some time, the theoretical implications of their existence…

An Introduction to the Resource Description Framework.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miller, Eric

1998-01-01

Explains the Resource Description Framework (RDF), an infrastructure developed under the World Wide Web Consortium that enables the encoding, exchange, and reuse of structured metadata. It is an application of Extended Markup Language (XML), which is a subset of Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML), and helps with expressing semantics.…

Hardware acceleration and verification of systems designed with hardware description languages (HDL)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wisniewski, Remigiusz; Wegrzyn, Marek

2005-02-01

Hardware description languages (HDLs) allow creating bigger and bigger designs nowadays. The size of prototyped systems very often exceeds million gates. Therefore verification process of the designs takes several hours or even days. The solution for this problem can be solved by hardware acceleration of simulation.

Towards a Bernsteinian Language of Description for Mathematics Classroom Discourse

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Straehler-Pohl, Hauke; Gellert, Uwe

2013-01-01

This article aims at developing an external language of description to investigate the problem of why particular groups of students are systematically not provided access to school mathematical knowledge. Based on Basil Bernstein's conceptualisation of power in classification, we develop a three-dimensional model that operationalises the…

Composing Models of Geographic Physical Processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hofer, Barbara; Frank, Andrew U.

Processes are central for geographic information science; yet geographic information systems (GIS) lack capabilities to represent process related information. A prerequisite to including processes in GIS software is a general method to describe geographic processes independently of application disciplines. This paper presents such a method, namely a process description language. The vocabulary of the process description language is derived formally from mathematical models. Physical processes in geography can be described in two equivalent languages: partial differential equations or partial difference equations, where the latter can be shown graphically and used as a method for application specialists to enter their process models. The vocabulary of the process description language comprises components for describing the general behavior of prototypical geographic physical processes. These process components can be composed by basic models of geographic physical processes, which is shown by means of an example.

Perceived Conventionality in Co-speech Gestures Involves the Fronto-Temporal Language Network.

PubMed

Wolf, Dhana; Rekittke, Linn-Marlen; Mittelberg, Irene; Klasen, Martin; Mathiak, Klaus

2017-01-01

Face-to-face communication is multimodal; it encompasses spoken words, facial expressions, gaze, and co-speech gestures. In contrast to linguistic symbols (e.g., spoken words or signs in sign language) relying on mostly explicit conventions, gestures vary in their degree of conventionality. Bodily signs may have a general accepted or conventionalized meaning (e.g., a head shake) or less so (e.g., self-grooming). We hypothesized that subjective perception of conventionality in co-speech gestures relies on the classical language network, i.e., the left hemispheric inferior frontal gyrus (IFG, Broca's area) and the posterior superior temporal gyrus (pSTG, Wernicke's area) and studied 36 subjects watching video-recorded story retellings during a behavioral and an functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiment. It is well documented that neural correlates of such naturalistic videos emerge as intersubject covariance (ISC) in fMRI even without involving a stimulus (model-free analysis). The subjects attended either to perceived conventionality or to a control condition (any hand movements or gesture-speech relations). Such tasks modulate ISC in contributing neural structures and thus we studied ISC changes to task demands in language networks. Indeed, the conventionality task significantly increased covariance of the button press time series and neuronal synchronization in the left IFG over the comparison with other tasks. In the left IFG, synchronous activity was observed during the conventionality task only. In contrast, the left pSTG exhibited correlated activation patterns during all conditions with an increase in the conventionality task at the trend level only. Conceivably, the left IFG can be considered a core region for the processing of perceived conventionality in co-speech gestures similar to spoken language. In general, the interpretation of conventionalized signs may rely on neural mechanisms that engage during language comprehension.

Perceived Conventionality in Co-speech Gestures Involves the Fronto-Temporal Language Network

PubMed Central

Wolf, Dhana; Rekittke, Linn-Marlen; Mittelberg, Irene; Klasen, Martin; Mathiak, Klaus

2017-01-01

Face-to-face communication is multimodal; it encompasses spoken words, facial expressions, gaze, and co-speech gestures. In contrast to linguistic symbols (e.g., spoken words or signs in sign language) relying on mostly explicit conventions, gestures vary in their degree of conventionality. Bodily signs may have a general accepted or conventionalized meaning (e.g., a head shake) or less so (e.g., self-grooming). We hypothesized that subjective perception of conventionality in co-speech gestures relies on the classical language network, i.e., the left hemispheric inferior frontal gyrus (IFG, Broca's area) and the posterior superior temporal gyrus (pSTG, Wernicke's area) and studied 36 subjects watching video-recorded story retellings during a behavioral and an functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiment. It is well documented that neural correlates of such naturalistic videos emerge as intersubject covariance (ISC) in fMRI even without involving a stimulus (model-free analysis). The subjects attended either to perceived conventionality or to a control condition (any hand movements or gesture-speech relations). Such tasks modulate ISC in contributing neural structures and thus we studied ISC changes to task demands in language networks. Indeed, the conventionality task significantly increased covariance of the button press time series and neuronal synchronization in the left IFG over the comparison with other tasks. In the left IFG, synchronous activity was observed during the conventionality task only. In contrast, the left pSTG exhibited correlated activation patterns during all conditions with an increase in the conventionality task at the trend level only. Conceivably, the left IFG can be considered a core region for the processing of perceived conventionality in co-speech gestures similar to spoken language. In general, the interpretation of conventionalized signs may rely on neural mechanisms that engage during language comprehension. PMID:29249945

English-Language Writing Instruction in Poland

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reichelt, Melinda

2005-01-01

Second language writing scholars have undertaken descriptions of English-language writing instruction in a variety of international settings, describing the role of various contextual factors in shaping English-language writing instruction. This article describes English-language writing instruction at various levels in Poland, noting how it is…

The counting abilities of children with specific language impairment: a comparison of oral and gestural tasks.

PubMed

Fazio, B B

1994-04-01

This study examined the counting abilities of preschool children with specific language impairment compared to language-matched and mental-age-matched peers. In order to determine the nature of the difficulties SLI children exhibited in counting, the subjects participated in a series of oral counting tasks and a series of gestural tasks that used an invented counting system based on pointing to body parts. Despite demonstrating knowledge of many of the rules associated with counting, SLI preschool children displayed marked difficulty in counting objects. On oral counting tasks, they showed difficulty with rote counting, displayed a limited repertoire of number terms, and miscounted sets of objects. However, on gestural counting tasks, SLI children's performance was significantly better. These findings suggest that SLI children have a specific difficulty with the rote sequential aspect of learning number words.

Language knowledge and event knowledge in language use

PubMed Central

Willits, Jon A.; Amato, Michael S.; MacDonald, Maryellen C.

2018-01-01

This paper examines how semantic knowledge is used in language comprehension and in making judgments about events in the world. We contrast knowledge gleaned from prior language experience (“language knowledge”) and knowledge coming from prior experience with the world (“world knowledge”). In two corpus analyses, we show that previous research linking verb aspect and event representations have confounded language and world knowledge. Then, using carefully chosen stimuli that remove this confound, we performed four experiments that manipulated the degree to which language knowledge or world knowledge should be salient and relevant to performing a task, finding in each case that participants use the type of knowledge most appropriate to the task. These results provide evidence for a highly context-sensitive and interactionist perspective on how semantic knowledge is represented and used during language processing. PMID:25791750

Language knowledge and event knowledge in language use.

PubMed

Willits, Jon A; Amato, Michael S; MacDonald, Maryellen C

2015-05-01

This paper examines how semantic knowledge is used in language comprehension and in making judgments about events in the world. We contrast knowledge gleaned from prior language experience ("language knowledge") and knowledge coming from prior experience with the world ("world knowledge"). In two corpus analyses, we show that previous research linking verb aspect and event representations have confounded language and world knowledge. Then, using carefully chosen stimuli that remove this confound, we performed four experiments that manipulated the degree to which language knowledge or world knowledge should be salient and relevant to performing a task, finding in each case that participants use the type of knowledge most appropriate to the task. These results provide evidence for a highly context-sensitive and interactionist perspective on how semantic knowledge is represented and used during language processing. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Broca's area and the language instinct.

PubMed

Musso, Mariacristina; Moro, Andrea; Glauche, Volkmar; Rijntjes, Michel; Reichenbach, Jürgen; Büchel, Christian; Weiller, Cornelius

2003-07-01

Language acquisition in humans relies on abilities like abstraction and use of syntactic rules, which are absent in other animals. The neural correlate of acquiring new linguistic competence was investigated with two functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies. German native speakers learned a sample of 'real' grammatical rules of different languages (Italian or Japanese), which, although parametrically different, follow the universal principles of grammar (UG). Activity during this task was compared with that during a task that involved learning 'unreal' rules of language. 'Unreal' rules were obtained manipulating the original two languages; they used the same lexicon as Italian or Japanese, but were linguistically illegal, as they violated the principles of UG. Increase of activation over time in Broca's area was specific for 'real' language acquisition only, independent of the kind of language. Thus, in Broca's area, biological constraints and language experience interact to enable linguistic competence for a new language.

Nondeclarative learning in children with specific language impairment: predicting regularities in the visuomotor, phonological, and cognitive domains.

PubMed

Mayor-Dubois, C; Zesiger, P; Van der Linden, M; Roulet-Perez, E

2014-01-01

Ullman (2004) suggested that Specific Language Impairment (SLI) results from a general procedural learning deficit. In order to test this hypothesis, we investigated children with SLI via procedural learning tasks exploring the verbal, motor, and cognitive domains. Results showed that compared with a Control Group, the children with SLI (a) were unable to learn a phonotactic learning task, (b) were able but less efficiently to learn a motor learning task and (c) succeeded in a cognitive learning task. Regarding the motor learning task (Serial Reaction Time Task), reaction times were longer and learning slower than in controls. The learning effect was not significant in children with an associated Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD), and future studies should consider comorbid motor impairment in order to clarify whether impairments are related to the motor rather than the language disorder. Our results indicate that a phonotactic learning but not a cognitive procedural deficit underlies SLI, thus challenging Ullmans' general procedural deficit hypothesis, like a few other recent studies.

Modular hardware synthesis using an HDL. [Hardware Description Language

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

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

1981-01-01

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

The carbohydrate sequence markup language (CabosML): an XML description of carbohydrate structures.

PubMed

Kikuchi, Norihiro; Kameyama, Akihiko; Nakaya, Shuuichi; Ito, Hiromi; Sato, Takashi; Shikanai, Toshihide; Takahashi, Yoriko; Narimatsu, Hisashi

2005-04-15

Bioinformatics resources for glycomics are very poor as compared with those for genomics and proteomics. The complexity of carbohydrate sequences makes it difficult to define a common language to represent them, and the development of bioinformatics tools for glycomics has not progressed. In this study, we developed a carbohydrate sequence markup language (CabosML), an XML description of carbohydrate structures. The language definition (XML Schema) and an experimental database of carbohydrate structures using an XML database management system are available at http://www.phoenix.hydra.mki.co.jp/CabosDemo.html kikuchi@hydra.mki.co.jp.

The role of verbal labels on flexible memory retrieval at 12-months of age.

PubMed

Taylor, Gemma; Liu, Hao; Herbert, Jane S

2016-11-01

The provision of verbal labels enhances 12-month-old infants' memory flexibility across a form change in a puppet imitation task (Herbert, 2011), although the mechanisms for this effect remain unclear. Here we investigate whether verbal labels can scaffold flexible memory retrieval when task difficulty increases and consider the mechanism responsible for the effect of language cues on early memory flexibility. Twelve-month-old infants were provided with English, Chinese, or empty language cues during a difficult imitation task, a combined change in the puppet's colour and form at the test (Hayne et al., 1997). Imitation performance by infants in the English language condition only exceeded baseline performance after the 10-min delay. Thus, verbal labels facilitated flexible memory retrieval on this task. There were no correlations between infants' language comprehension and imitation performance. Thus, it is likely that verbal labels facilitate both attention and categorisation during encoding and retrieval. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Individual differences in control of language interference in late bilinguals are mainly related to general executive abilities

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Background Recent research based on comparisons between bilinguals and monolinguals postulates that bilingualism enhances cognitive control functions, because the parallel activation of languages necessitates control of interference. In a novel approach we investigated two groups of bilinguals, distinguished by their susceptibility to cross-language interference, asking whether bilinguals with strong language control abilities ("non-switchers") have an advantage in executive functions (inhibition of irrelevant information, problem solving, planning efficiency, generative fluency and self-monitoring) compared to those bilinguals showing weaker language control abilities ("switchers"). Methods 29 late bilinguals (21 women) were evaluated using various cognitive control neuropsychological tests [e.g., Tower of Hanoi, Ruff Figural Fluency Task, Divided Attention, Go/noGo] tapping executive functions as well as four subtests of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale. The analysis involved t-tests (two independent samples). Non-switchers (n = 16) were distinguished from switchers (n = 13) by their performance observed in a bilingual picture-naming task. Results The non-switcher group demonstrated a better performance on the Tower of Hanoi and Ruff Figural Fluency task, faster reaction time in a Go/noGo and Divided Attention task, and produced significantly fewer errors in the Tower of Hanoi, Go/noGo, and Divided Attention tasks when compared to the switchers. Non-switchers performed significantly better on two verbal subtests of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (Information and Similarity), but not on the Performance subtests (Picture Completion, Block Design). Conclusions The present results suggest that bilinguals with stronger language control have indeed a cognitive advantage in the administered tests involving executive functions, in particular inhibition, self-monitoring, problem solving, and generative fluency, and in two of the intelligence tests. What remains unclear is the direction of the relationship between executive functions and language control abilities. PMID:20180956

Adolescents with and without gestational cocaine exposure: Longitudinal analysis of inhibitory control, memory and receptive language.

PubMed

Betancourt, Laura M; Yang, Wei; Brodsky, Nancy L; Gallagher, Paul R; Malmud, Elsa K; Giannetta, Joan M; Farah, Martha J; Hurt, Hallam

2011-01-01

Preclinical studies of gestational cocaine exposure (GCE) show evidence of changes in brain function at the anatomical, physiological, and behavioral levels, to include effects on developing dopaminergic systems. In contrast, human studies have produced less consistent results, with most showing small effects or no effects on developmental outcomes. Important changes in brain structure and function occur through adolescence, therefore it is possible that prenatal cocaine exposure has latent effects on neurocognitive (NC) outcome that do not manifest until adolescence or young adulthood. We examined NC function using a set of 5 tasks designed to tap 4 different systems: inhibitory control, working memory, receptive language, and incidental memory. For each NC task, data were collected longitudinally at ages 12, 14.5 and 17 years and examined using generalized estimating equations. One hundred and nine children completed at least two of the three evaluations. Covariates included in the final model were assessment number, gender, participant age at first assessment, caregiver depression, and two composites from the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME), Environmental Stimulation and Parental Nurturance. We found no cocaine effects on inhibitory control, working memory, or receptive language (p=0.18). GCE effects were observed on incidental face memory task (p=0.055), and GCE by assessment number interaction effects were seen on the incidental word memory task (p=0.031). Participant performance on inhibitory control, working memory, and receptive language tasks improved over time. HOME Environmental Stimulation composite was associated with better receptive language functioning. With a larger sample size smaller differences between groups may have been detected. This report shows no evidence of latent effects of GCE on inhibitory control, working memory, or receptive language. GCE effects were observed on the incidental face memory task, and GCE by assessment number interaction effects was seen on the incidental word memory task. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Effects of Synchronous Text-Based Computer-Mediated Communication Tasks on the Development of L2 and Academic Literacy: A Mixed Methods Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Li, Jinrong

2012-01-01

The dissertation examines how synchronous text-based computer-mediated communication (SCMC) tasks may affect English as a Second Language (ESL) learners' development of second language (L2) and academic literacy. The study is motivated by two issues concerning the use of SCMC tasks in L2 writing classes. First, although some of the alleged…

Using functional transcranial Doppler ultrasonography to assess language lateralisation: Influence of task and difficulty level

PubMed Central

Badcock, Nicholas A.; Nye, Abigail; Bishop, Dorothy V. M.

2011-01-01

Language is lateralised to the left hemisphere in most people, but it is unclear whether the same degree and direction of lateralisation is found for all verbal tasks and whether laterality is affected by task difficulty. We used functional transcranial Doppler ultrasonography (fTCD) to assess the lateralisation of language processing in 27 young adults using three tasks: word generation (WG), auditory naming (AN), and picture story (PS). WG and AN are active tasks requiring behavioural responses whereas PS is a passive task that involves listening to an auditory story accompanied by pictures. We also examined the effect of task difficulty by a post hoc behavioural categorisation of trials in the WG task and a word frequency manipulation in the AN task. fTCD was used to measure task-dependent blood flow velocity changes in the left and right middle cerebral arteries. All of these tasks were significantly left lateralised: WG, 77% of individuals left, 5% right; AN, 72% left: 4% right; PS, 56% left: 0% right. There were significant positive relationships between WG and AN (r = 0.56) as well as AN and PS (r = .76) but not WG and PS (r = −0.22). The task difficulty manipulation affected accuracy in both WG and AN tasks, as well as reaction time in the AN task, but did not significantly influence laterality indices in either task. It is concluded that verbal tasks are not interchangeable when assessing cerebral lateralisation, but that differences between tasks are not a consequence of task difficulty. PMID:23098198

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