550,421 research outputs found

    How Do People Process Ambiguous Strings

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    This article combines ambiguity phenomenon with Chinese word segmentation to observe how human being conduct language processing to clarify ambiguity between overlapping ambiguity and combination ambiguity. Artificial intelligence will easily missegment these two strings, while the study tries to introduce optimality theory to discover possible base of these two types of ambiguity comprehended by general people. According to the result, the key to clarify ambiguity is context, idiomaticity and word frequency

    Teaching Ways and Learning Ways Revisited

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    In learning and teaching of languages, numerous theories have been put forward. These theories, normally influenced by developments in the fields of linguistics and psychology, have inspired several approaches to the teaching of second and foreign languages. This paper revisits English language teaching approaches, both traditional and modern, as well as learning styles and teaching styles. Such learning style models as The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI); Kolb’s Experiential Learning Model; the Felder-Silverman Learning Styles Model are explored in-depth in this paper. Keywords: teaching approach; learning style; teaching styl

    A Multiple Case Study of Chinese-English Translation Strategies

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    The purpose of this study is to investigate the differences of strategy patterns in Chinese-English translation by three translators with different expertise: the novice, the advanced student and the professional translator, as well as the effects of text types on translators’ strategies and cognitive performance. Cross-examining the TAPs, the Translog data and the interview shows that translators’ immediate reaction to the problem falls into three patterns: intuitional scheme, analytical scheme and instrumental scheme; Advanced student uses the largest number as well as the widest range of strategies; The novice turns most to the external tool—online dictionary for help. The higher the translator’s expertise and the more experiences s/he has, the more s/he uses the internal knowledge; Text types affect three translators’ strategies in different degree, and generally analytical scheme is more often used in poem than in the other two text types—the operating instruction and the advertisement. Translog data about average pause duration per word and the average pause ratio further validate that poem is the most cognitively demanding text

    The Use of Journal Writing and Reading Comprehension Texts During Pre-Writing in Developing EFL Students’ Academic Writing

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    This study aimed at investigating the effects of journal writing and reading comprehension practice during pre-writing on the development of the writing of college students enrolled in English as a foreign language (EFL) programme. A factorial design was manipulated, where subjects (n = 42) were randomly assigned to control and experimental groups. Existing scores on the students’ first semester writing achievement test were used to determine the writing proficiency levels of the subjects. Data were collected through administering two writing tests, an one-hour test and a 15-minutes free writing test. The results of these tests were analyzed using t-test to assess the relationship between writing fluency, complexity and accuracy. Descriptive statistics (means and standard deviations) and two multivariate analyses of variances (MANOVA) were further run in order to address the questions raised in the study. Findings of the study showed that there was no significant difference between journal writing and reading comprehension practice in improving the writing fluency, complexity and accuracy of the students. The MANOVA test run to test the interaction between the treatment (journal writing and reading comprehension texts) and the writing proficiency levels (low vs. high) on the writing fluency, complexity and accuracy showed no significant results. Recommendations for future research were provided at the end of the study

    Language Choice and Family Language Policy in Inter-Ethnic Marriages in South-Eastern Nigeria

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    Ensuring continuity in the intergenerational transmission of language is a crucial element in the process of its maintenance (Fishman,1991). The family has been identified as the bedrock of such social transmission thus raising questions about language choice which usually ignites emotional reactions especially in inter-ethnic marriages. This paper investigates the issue of language socialization and language choice in inter-ethnic marriages from a macro-sociolinguistic perspective involving the intersection of Efik-Ibibio, Igbo and Lokaa couples and children who are products of these unions, given that parents make decisions with regard to the family linguistic choices and children are the agents of socialization and change in language ecology and family dynamics. The study is rooted in Hyme's (1962) theory of ethnography of speaking which is concerned with the linguistic resources people use in context and the socially situated uses and meaning of language; what language to use in what place, to whom and upon what occasion etc and Giles' (1979) socio-psychological theory of accommodation which seeks to explain cognitive adjustments in the choice of language adopted by children. The study discovers that the motivation for indigenous language transmission is weaned as the family does not provide the bond to foster sufficient indigenous languages activities, therefore, children raised in inter-ethnic marriages are not balanced bilinguals. The study has implications for language shift and maintenance in Nigeria.Key words: Language choice; Inter-ethnic marriages; Code-mixing/switching; Linguistic ecology; Multilingualism; Family language polic

    Critical Discourse Analysis of News Reports on China’s Bullet-Train Crash

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    The purpose of critical discourse analysis is to study the relationship between language and the ideology embedded in the text of the dialectical aspect. Critical discourse analysis is an emerging method of discourse analysis, which assimilates the results of multi-disciplinary scientific research in linguistics, psychology, sociology, media studies and so on. It attaches importance to all the non- literary discourses, but it takes news discourses as its main research object. Based on Halliday’s three metafunctions, critical discourse analysis in this thesis is done on the basis of news reports about “China’s bullet-train crash” collected from Western media. Fairclough’s three-dimensional model is adopted in the analysis, including description, interpretation and explanation. The aims of the thesis are to reveal how the Western media construct China’s image by using the different linguistic tools, explore the relationship between this constructing mode and big social cultural context, and thus unhidden the ideology embedded behind the social news reports

    Enhancing Writing Skills: An Analytical Study of Obstacles in Writing at B.A. Level in Najran University, KSA

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    Academic writing demands a deliberate endeavor and a conscious effort to achieve a desirable efficiency in the academic pursuits of learners. Academic writing is considered perhaps the most challenging and difficult skill in terms of L2. This study critically explores the obstacles in academic writing faced by students and teachers alike at Najran University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. To investigate, a comprehensive questionnaire has been floated among professional teachers to get their expert opinions in order to identify some problems and form effective remedial strategies eventually. This paper will primarily focus on the two significant aspects of academic writing i.e. language skills (LS, Grammar etc.) and writing skills (WS, writing itself as a skill)

    ESl Lecturers’ Voices on Tell Me More

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    In the past, the cost of computers and courseware greatly restricted the use of computers in education. However, computers and courseware are now becoming important tools for learning in the institutions. In order to maximize the utilization of the courseware, it is important to get to know how the teachers perceive the use of the courseware in their classroom.  Therefore, this paper aims to investigate how ESL lecturers in a polytechnic in Malaysia perceive the ease of use, usefulness and suitability of a courseware named TELL ME MORE.  Data was collected via semi-structured interviews with four ESL lecturers at the polytechnic.  Findings show that ESL lecturers indicated positive perceptions on the ease of use, usefulness and suitability of the courseware.  However, it was found that the courseware is not quite suitable for the teaching and learning of writing.  Key words:  Innovative teaching; CALL; ESL; courseware; language learnin
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