The Many Functions of Discourse Particles: A Computational Model of Pragmatic Interpretation

We present a connectionist model for the interpretation of discourse\ud particles in real dialogues that is based on neuronal\ud principles of categorization (categorical perception, prototype\ud formation, contextual interpretation). It can be shown that\ud discourse particles operate just like other morphological and\ud lexical items with respect to interpretation processes. The description\ud proposed locates discourse particles in an elaborate\ud model of communication which incorporates many different\ud aspects of the communicative situation. We therefore also\ud attempt to explore the content of the category discourse particle.\ud We present a detailed analysis of the meaning assignment\ud problem and show that 80%– 90% correctness for unseen discourse\ud particles can be reached with the feature analysis provided.\ud Furthermore, we show that ‘analogical transfer’ from\ud one discourse particle to another is facilitated if prototypes\ud are computed and used as the basis for generalization. We\ud conclude that the interpretation processes which are a part of\ud the human cognitive system are very similar with respect to\ud different linguistic items. However, the analysis of discourse\ud particles shows clearly that any explanatory theory of language\ud needs to incorporate a theory of communication processes

The Effect of Communicative Language Teaching on Students' Speaking Skill

The aims of this research were to find out whether there are good response and improvement of students' speaking skill between before and after being taught through Communicative Language Teaching (CLT). The samples of this research were the VIII A and VIII B class of the Eighth Grade of SMP Negeri 21 Tangerang in academic year 2015/2016. The researcher used non-equivalent control group design. The instrument was oral test. The result of the research showed that there was improvement of the students' speaking skill in actively communicative by using CLT. The result of t-test showed that t was bigger than ttable. The result of tcount was 4.2105 and ttable was 2.0021. It means that the researcher's hypothesis (H1), there is significant difference of post-test scores between experiment class and control class is accepted. The average score of pre-test in experiment class is 67.33 while the average score of pre-test in control class is 66.50. The average of the post-test score in experiment class was 83.00 while the average of the post-test score in control class was 75.00. It showed that CLT can improve the students' speaking skill

Culture and rapport promotion in service encounters: protecting the ties that bind

The present study aimed at investigating possible cultural effects on the perceived importance of interactional concerns in service encounters. Individual values were examined to establish an explanatory framework for any effects that might emerge. Hong Kong Chinese and Filipinos participated in the present study by rating the importance of 12 interactional concerns in five hypothetical scenarios involving service provision. “Rapport promotion” was the only consistent factor of interactional concerns to emerge from the five scenarios in each of the two cultural groups. The dimensions of individual values, labeled “Conservation” and “Self-Transcendence” by Schwartz (1992), significantly predicted a respondent’s level of rapport promotion across all scenarios, with self-transcendence partially unpackaging the cultural difference that emerged in one of the service scenarios. We use these results to support a model of communication in service provision that predicts communication concerns as arising from cultural socialization for personal characteristics and situational features of the encounter, leading to the petitioner’s being more dependent on the good will of the service provider

Freedom, Reason and History: The Hegelian heritage in Gadamer and Habermas.

Freedom, Reason and History: The Hegelian heritage in Gadamer and Habermas. This essay aims at an elaboration of the theme of freedom by taking into account Gadamer"s and Habermas"s appropriation of Hegel. I will approach this theme by dividing it into three main topics: 1) The question of historical reconstruction of the idea(s) of freedom, 2) The question of justification of the idea of freedom, 3) The question of application (of the idea of freedom). The question of historical reconstruction will deal with the Gadamerian appropriation of Hegel"s idea of freedom in his concept of tradition. This will be confronted with Habermas"s twofold critique against Gadamer. Habermas claims that "tradition" could not be understood in a critical, that means, freedom-oriented way. He also claims that even a critical tradition would be one of many traditions, which leads to relativism. The question of justification will deal with Habermas"s and Gadamer"s approach to Hegel"s conception of freedom through recognition. The Habermasian approach to the Hegelian theme is a non-contextualised one, thereby aiming at a non-relative foundation for critical thinking. The third topic relates to the Gadamerian and also Habermasian question of how to apply a certain (non-contextual) freedom-based concept of recognition to different contexts. These last two topics relates to a Habermasian question of how to critically examine the freedom-potentials of a given context by using "freedom through recognition" as an ideal type, or standard

The "unknown territory" of goal-setting: Negotiating a novel interactional activity within primary care doctor-patient consultations for patients with multiple chronic conditions.

Goal-setting is widely recommended for supporting patients with multiple long-term conditions. It involves a proactive approach to a clinical consultation, requiring doctors and patients to work together to identify patient’s priorities, values and desired outcomes as a basis for setting goals for the patient to work towards. Importantly it comprises a set of activities that, for many doctors and patients, represents a distinct departure from a conventional consultation, including goal elicitation, goal-setting and action planning. This indicates that goal-setting is an uncertain interactional space subject to inequalities in understanding and expectations about what type of conversation is taking place, the roles of patient and doctor, and how patient priorities may be configured as goals. Analysing such spaces therefore has the potential for revealing how the principles of goal-setting are realised in practice. In this paper, we draw on Goffman’s concept of ‘frames’ to present an examination of how doctors’ and patients’ sense making of goal-setting was consequential for the interactions that followed. Informed by Interactional Sociolinguistics, we used conversation analysis methods to analyse 22 video-recorded goal-setting consultations with patients with multiple long-term conditions. Data were collected between 2016 and 2018 in three UK general practices as part of a feasibility study. We analysed verbal and non-verbal actions for evidence of GP and patient framings of consultation activities and how this was consequential for setting goals. We identified three interactional patterns: GPs checking and reframing patients’ understanding of the goal-setting consultation, GPs actively aligning with patients’ framing of their goal, and patients passively and actively resisting GP framing of the patient goals. These reframing practices provided “telling cases” of goal-setting interactions, where doctors and patients need to negotiate each other’s perspectives but also conflicting discourses of patient-centredness, population-based evidence for treating different chronic illnesses and conventional doctor-patient relations

Relating descriptors of the Finnish school scale to the CEF overall scales for communicative activities

Peer reviewe

English Syllabus Redesigning for Information System Class: Creating Literacy-based Learning Activities of STMIK AMIKOM Purwokerto

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menemukan masalah serta kebutuhan mahasiswa Sistem Informasi STMIK Amikom Purwokerto dalam mempelajari Bahasa Inggris. Penelitian ini juga memiliki tujuan untuk membuat ulang silabus Bahasa Inggris untuk mereka serta mengetahui keakuratan silabus berdasarkan saran dari para ahli. Penelitian ini mengacu pada penelitian kualitatif atau khususnya penelitian studi kasus. Ada enam langkah penelitian. Langkah pertama adalah dengan metode studi pustakayaitu mengumpulkan, mengobservasi, menganalisa kurikulum Bahasa Inggris di STMIK Amikom Purwokerto. Hasilnya penulis menemukan kurikulum Bahasa Inggris di STMIK Amikom Purwokerto adalah kurikulum yang bertujuan pada pemahaman pengetahuan dan keahlian yang sesuai dengan kebutuhan hidup mahasiswa sehari-hari.Langkah yang kedua adalah dengan metode yang sama studi pustaka yaitu mengumpulkan, mengobservasi, menganalisa silabus Bahasa Inggris di STMIK Amikom Purwokerto. Ada dua bagian yang dianalisis yaitu analisis format dan analisis isi. Langkah yang ketiga adalah melakukan analisis kebutuhan mahasiswa dalam belajar Bahasa Inggris. Instrumen yang digunakan adalah kuesioner yaitu untuk mengumpulkan informasi tentang kesulitan serta kebutuhan mahasiswa dalam mempelajari Bahasa Inggris. Langkah yang keempat adalah membuat ulang silabus. Ada beberapa hal yang harus diperbaiki yaitu; (a) merumuskan ulang kompetensi dasar yang ingin dicapai, (b) merumuskan ulang standar kompetensi yang ingin dicapai, (c) menyusun topik dan material berdasarkan tingkat kesulitan, (d) merumuskan aktifitas belajar, (e) menciptakan indikator, alat evaluasi dan alokasi waktu. Langkah yang kelima adalah mengadakan validasi isi berdasarkan penilaian para ahli