Detail-oriented cognitive style and social communicative deficits, within and beyond the autism spectrum: independent traits that grow into developmental interdependence

At the heart of debates over underlying causes of autism is the "Kanner hypothesis" that autistic deficits in social reciprocity, and a cognitive/perceptual 'style' favouring detail-oriented cognition, co-vary in autistic individuals. A separate line of work indicates these two domains are normally distributed throughout the population, with autism representing an extremity. This realisation brings the Kanner debate into the realm of normative co-variation, providing more ways to test the hypothesis, and insights into typical development; for instance, in the context of normative functioning, the Kanner hypothesis implies social costs to spatial/numerical prowess

Museums as disseminators of niche knowledge: Universality in accessibility for all

Accessibility has faced several challenges within audiovisual translation Studies and gained great opportunities for its establishment as a methodologically and theoretically well-founded discipline. Initially conceived as a set of services and practices that provides access to audiovisual media content for persons with sensory impairment, today accessibility can be viewed as a concept involving more and more universality thanks to its contribution to the dissemination of audiovisual products on the topic of marginalisation. Against this theoretical backdrop, accessibility is scrutinised from the perspective of aesthetics of migration and minorities within the field of the visual arts in museum settings. These aesthetic narrative forms act as modalities that encourage the diffusion of ‘niche’ knowledge, where processes of translation and interpretation provide access to all knowledge as counter discourse. Within this framework, the ways in which language is used can be considered the beginning of a type of local grammar in English as lingua franca for interlingual translation and subtitling, both of which ensure access to knowledge for all citizens as a human rights principle and regardless of cultural and social differences. Accessibility is thus gaining momentum as an agent for the democratisation and transparency of information against media discourse distortions and oversimplifications

Character analysis of oral activity: contact profiling

The article presents the results of our observations on syntactic, semantic and plot peculiarities of oral language activity, we find it justified to consider the above mentioned parameters as identification criteria for discovering characterological differences of Ukrainian-speaking and Russian-speaking objects of contact profiling. It describes the connection between mechanisms of psychological defenses as the character structural components, and agentive and non-agentive speech constructions, internal and external predicates. Localized and described plots of oral narratives inherent to representatives of different character types

La Integración del aprendizaje cooperativo en el aula

Abstract The purpose of this work is to integrate cooperative learning into a classroom of English as a Foreign Language in the first year of Primary Education in a Spanish school, and also to design a didactic proposal around the beginning of a level A1 / A2 of language proficiency, based on a communicative approach according to our context, using cooperative learning with the purpose of promoting foreign language learning. In order to achieve our target, we are going to investigate further about what cooperative learning is, learning about how to create a climate of cooperation in an educational institution and finally, how to integrate it into a specific classroom. Likewise, we will go through all those communicative approaches that will also take part of our methodological framework for the learning of a foreign language. As a key element of any didactic proposal, assessment will be designed coherently, not only focusing on the subject itself, but also taking cooperation into account, understanding cooperation as a target itself, as well as a means for learning. Once describing the context where the process of teaching and learning of English as a foreign language will take place, we will create a didactic proposal that will enhance that process of learning through cooperation as the supporting element of our methodology and our didactic sequenceGrado en Educación Primari

Комунікативні властивості імпровізації у сучасній музиці

The purpose of work is the improvisation phenomenon research in modern musical creativity and detection of its communicative properties. The research methodology is textual, comparative and typological, analytical and empirical approaches. Scientific novelty consists in definition of the immanent properties of improvisation, which are shown at various levels of musical communication. The research defines the system of communicative relationship between the composer, the performer and the listener, shown in modern music by means of improvisation. Conclusions. Improvisation manifested itself at all structural levels of musical communication, appearing in different functional manifestations – educational, interpretive and directly communication, which makes it a topical phenomenon in the modern musical creative work. Improvisation is the main way of performing the interpretation of the plaintext, acts as a communicative link between the performer and the composer, since it uses fixed elements and connections in the structure of composer's text as the organizing principle. Thus, improvisation is that particular parameter that helps to implement bilateral communication between participants of interpretational- communicative process of relationships composer-performer-listener.Целью работы - исследование феномена импровизации в современном музыкальном творчестве и выявления ее коммуникативных свойств. Методология. Применены текстологический, компаративно-типологический, аналитический и эмпирический подходы. Научная новизна заключается в определении имманентных свойств импровизации, проявляющихся на различных уровнях музыкальной коммуникации, определяется система коммуникативных взаимоотношений между композитором, исполнителем и слушателем, проявляющихся в современной музыке посредством импровизации. Выводы. Импровизация проявляет себя на всех структурных уровнях музыкальной коммуникации, выс- тупая в различных функциональных ипостасях – дидактической, интерпретативной и непосредственно коммуникативной, что делает ее актуальным явлением в условиях современного музыкального творчества. Импровизация является основным способом исполнительской интерпретации открытого текста, выступает в роли коммуникативного звена между исполнителем и композитором, поскольку использует в качестве организующего начала фиксированные элементы и связи в структуре композиторского текста. Таким образом, импровизация выступает именно тем параметром, который помогает осуществить двухстороннюю связь между участниками интерпретативно-коммуникативного процесса взаимоотношений композитор-исполнитель-слушатель.Метою роботи є дослідження феномена імпровізації у сучасній музичній творчості та виявлення її комунікативних властивостей. Методологія. Застосовані текстологічний, компаративно-типологічний, аналітичний та емпіричний підходи. Наукова новизна полягає у визначенні іманентних властивостей імпровізації, що проявляються на різних рівнях музичної комунікації; визначено систему комунікативних взаємовідносин між композитором, виконавцем і слухачем, що проявляються у сучасній музиці за допомогою імпровізації. Висновки. Імпровізація проявляє себе на всіх структурних рівнях музичної комунікації, виступаючи в різних функціональних іпостасях –дидактичній, інтерпретативній і безпосеред- ньо комунікативній, що робить її актуальним явищем в умовах сучасної музичної творчості. Імпровізація є основним способом виконавської інтерпретації відкритого тексту, виступає в ролі комунікативної ланки між виконавцем і композитором, оскільки використовує у якості організуючого фіксовані елементи і зв'язки в структурі композиторського тексту.Отже, імпровізація виступає саме тим параметром, який допомагає реалізувати двосторонній зв'язок між учасниками інтерпретативно-комунікативного процесу взаємовідносин композитор-виконавець-слухач

Socialising Epistemic Cognition

We draw on recent accounts of social epistemology to present a novel account of epistemic cognition that is ‘socialised’. In developing this account we foreground the: normative and pragmatic nature of knowledge claims; functional role that ‘to know’ plays when agents say they ‘know x’; the social context in which such claims occur at a macro level, including disciplinary and cultural context; and the communicative context in which such claims occur, the ways in which individuals and small groups express and construct (or co-construct) their knowledge claims. We frame prior research in terms of this new approach to provide an exemplification of its application. Practical implications for research and learning contexts are highlighted, suggesting a re-focussing of analysis on the collective level, and the ways knowledge-standards emerge from group-activity, as a communicative property of that activity

Rethinking one`s own culture

African people reflecting on their own situation will frequently find themselves in a dilemma to identify with western and traditional values. A case study of the Burji (Ethiopia and Kenya) examplifies this. First a description is given of the Burji actively dealing with their problems, trying among other things to keep Burjiness alive. Then in presenting a semiotic model it is shown how the phenomenon of their changing group identity (which is not grasped by theories of ethnic group or ethnicity) can be analyzed. The model presented may be useful for analyzing similar cases in the Third World

Proceedings of the International Workshop on EuroPLOT Persuasive Technology for Learning, Education and Teaching (IWEPLET 2013)

"This book contains the proceedings of the International Workshop on EuroPLOT Persuasive Technology for Learning, Education and Teaching (IWEPLET) 2013 which was held on 16.-17.September 2013 in Paphos (Cyprus) in conjunction with the EC-TEL conference. The workshop and hence the proceedings are divided in two parts: on Day 1 the EuroPLOT project and its results are introduced, with papers about the specific case studies and their evaluation. On Day 2, peer-reviewed papers are presented which address specific topics and issues going beyond the EuroPLOT scope. This workshop is one of the deliverables (D 2.6) of the EuroPLOT project, which has been funded from November 2010 – October 2013 by the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) of the European Commission through the Lifelong Learning Programme (LLL) by grant #511633. The purpose of this project was to develop and evaluate Persuasive Learning Objects and Technologies (PLOTS), based on ideas of BJ Fogg. The purpose of this workshop is to summarize the findings obtained during this project and disseminate them to an interested audience. Furthermore, it shall foster discussions about the future of persuasive technology and design in the context of learning, education and teaching. The international community working in this area of research is relatively small. Nevertheless, we have received a number of high-quality submissions which went through a peer-review process before being selected for presentation and publication. We hope that the information found in this book is useful to the reader and that more interest in this novel approach of persuasive design for teaching/education/learning is stimulated. We are very grateful to the organisers of EC-TEL 2013 for allowing to host IWEPLET 2013 within their organisational facilities which helped us a lot in preparing this event. I am also very grateful to everyone in the EuroPLOT team for collaborating so effectively in these three years towards creating excellent outputs, and for being such a nice group with a very positive spirit also beyond work. And finally I would like to thank the EACEA for providing the financial resources for the EuroPLOT project and for being very helpful when needed. This funding made it possible to organise the IWEPLET workshop without charging a fee from the participants.

The Blindness of Focusing. Pragmatic theories of communication and the challenge of validation

In this theoretical article it is argued that certain pragmatic approaches to language and communication are necessary to take into consideration when validating cultural, immanent 'objects' or cultural utterances. It is claimed that he very act of attention creates, as a direct co-effect, a problematic context. Hence, handling context is seen as crucial to validation as a process. So-called triadic theories of communication combine the three key aspects syntax, semantics, and pragmatics. It is argued that such theories offer perspectives and tools for analysing the dynamics of text and context, utterance and genre in different semiotic modes and channels. In the first part the concept of validity is discussed. Further some triadic theories are presented. Texts of Bakhtin and of Habermas on relations between a communicative (triadic) perspective and kinds of validities are discussed. A framework (a 'model') that integrates several of the discussed perspectives is then outlined and is used to clarify the concept of positioning. This concept is coined to enable combinations of more categorial (aspect dependent) and relational research designs. It is asked: Validating and/as positioning(s)? A brief example is given (just) to illustrate implications of a triadic perspective when working with validity. In the next main section some challenges, implications, and dilemmas are touched upon. The article ends suggesting that a double triadic framework of positioning has the potential to theorise validity claims connected to veracity, truth and normativity as well as critiquing possible weaknesses. By not just focusing figure (text or utterance), but even theorising ground (context or genre) and how the two relate, blindness might be reduced and validity increased