Fuzzy Coherence : Making Sense of Continuity in Hypertext Narratives

Hypertexts are digital texts characterized by interactive hyperlinking and a fragmented textual organization. Increasingly prominent since the early 1990s, hypertexts have become a common text type both on the Internet and in a variety of other digital contexts. Although studied widely in disciplines like hypertext theory and media studies, formal linguistic approaches to hypertext continue to be relatively rare. This study examines coherence negotiation in hypertext with particularly reference to hypertext fiction. Coherence, or the quality of making sense, is a fundamental property of textness. Proceeding from the premise that coherence is a subjectively evaluated property rather than an objective quality arising directly from textual cues, the study focuses on the processes through which readers interact with hyperlinks and negotiate continuity between hypertextual fragments. The study begins with a typological discussion of textuality and an overview of the historical and technological precedents of modern hypertexts. Then, making use of text linguistic, discourse analytical, pragmatic, and narratological approaches to textual coherence, the study takes established models developed for analyzing and describing conventional texts, and examines their applicability to hypertext. Primary data derived from a collection of hyperfictions is used throughout to illustrate the mechanisms in practice. Hypertextual coherence negotiation is shown to require the ability to cognitively operate between local and global coherence by means of processing lexical cohesion, discourse topical continuities, inferences and implications, and shifting cognitive frames. The main conclusion of the study is that the style of reading required by hypertextuality fosters a new paradigm of coherence. Defined as fuzzy coherence, this new approach to textual sensemaking is predicated on an acceptance of the coherence challenges readers experience when the act of reading comes to involve repeated encounters with referentially imprecise hyperlinks and discourse topical shifts. A practical application of fuzzy coherence is shown to be in effect in the way coherence is actively manipulated in hypertext narratives.Hyperteksti on yleisnimi digitaaliselle tekstityyppille joka rakentuu yleensä suhteellisen lyhyistä, lukijan tekemien valintojen mukaan järjestyvistä osista. Hypertekstit yleistyivät 1990-luvun alussa erityisesti Internetin vaikutuksesta, ja tänä päivänä suuri osa tietokoneen ruudulta luettavista teksteistä onkin hypertekstejä. Hypertekstien piirteitä on tutkittu viimeisten 20 vuoden aikana erityisesti hypertekstiteorian ja mediatutkimuksen oppialoilla, mutta niiden kielitieteellinen tutkimus on monelta osin edelleen alkuvaiheessa. Tutkimus tarkastelee koherenssin eli tekstin eheyden rakentumista hyperteksteissä ja erityisesti hypertekstitarinoissa. Koherenssilla tarkoitetaan lukijalähtöistä kokemusta tekstin rakenteellisesta mielekkyydestä, eli lukijan vaikutelmaa tekstin eri osien kuulumisesta yhteen mielekkäänä kokonaisuutena. Hypertekstin osalta koherenssimuodostuksen keskeinen ongelma liittyy hyperlinkkien viittaussuhteiden epätarkkuuteen, epäsuoran vuorovaikutustilanteen dynamiikkaan ja tekstin pirstaleisen rakenteen synnyttämään kokemukseen temaattisesta epäjatkuvuudesta. Aihetta tarkastellaan tekstilingvistiikan, diskurssianalyysin, pragmatiikan ja narratologian teorioiden lähtökohdista. Tutkimus esittelee hyperlinkkien viittaussuhteiden tulkintaan liittyvät eri mekanismit primäärimateriaalista nostetuin esimerkein, korostaen erityisesti teoriamallien soveltuvuuden eroja hypertekstien ja perinteisten lineaaristen tekstien välillä. Tutkimuksen tuloksena todetaan että hypertekstuaalinen tekstityyppi on synnyttämässä uuden lukutavan, joka edellyttää koherenssin käsitteen uudelleenarviointia. Tämä uusi koherenssin erityistyyppi, jota tutkimuksessa kutsutaan nimellä fuzzy coherence eli sumea koherenssi, perustuu toistuvien pienten koherenssiongelmien hyväksymiseen osana lukukokemusta. Erityisesti hypertekstikirjallisuuden piirissä sumeaa koherenssia voidaan hyödyntää myös kerronnallisena keinona

Applied and Computational Linguistics

Розглядається сучасний стан прикладної та комп’ютерної лінгвістики, проаналізовано лінгвістичні теорії 20-го – початку 21-го століть під кутом розмежування різних аспектів мови з метою формалізованого опису у електронних лінгвістичних ресурсах. Запропоновано критичний огляд таких актуальних проблем прикладної (комп’ютерної) лінгвістики як укладання комп’ютерних лексиконів та електронних текстових корпусів, автоматична обробка природної мови, автоматичний синтез та розпізнавання мовлення, машинний переклад, створення інтелектуальних роботів, здатних сприймати інформацію природною мовою. Для студентів та аспірантів гуманітарного профілю, науково-педагогічних працівників вищих навчальних закладів України

Feasibility of using citations as document summaries

The purpose of this research is to establish whether it is feasible to use citations as document summaries. People are good at creating and selecting summaries and are generally the standard for evaluating computer generated summaries. Citations can be characterized as concept symbols or short summaries of the document they are citing. Similarity metrics have been used in retrieval and text summarization to determine how alike two documents are. Similarity metrics have never been compared to what human subjects think are similar between two documents. If similarity metrics reflect human judgment, then we can mechanize the selection of citations that act as short summaries of the document they are citing. The research approach was to gather rater data comparing document abstracts to citations about the same document and then to statistically compare those results to several document metrics; frequency count, similarity metric, citation location and type of citation. There were two groups of raters, subject experts and non-experts. Both groups of raters were asked to evaluate seven parameters between abstract and citations: purpose, subject matter, methods, conclusions, findings, implications, readability, andunderstandability. The rater was to identify how strongly the citation represented the content of the abstract, on a five point likert scale. Document metrics were collected for frequency count, cosine, and similarity metric between abstracts and associated citations. In addition, data was collected on the location of the citations and the type of citation. Location was identified and dummy coded for introduction, method, discussion, review of the literature and conclusion. Citations were categorized and dummy coded for whether they refuted, noted, supported, reviewed, or applied information about the cited document. The results show there is a relationship between some similarity metrics and human judgment of similarity.Ph.D., Information Studies -- Drexel University, 200

Intertextuality and ideology in interpreter-mediated communication : the case of the European Parliament

This doctoral thesis explores simultaneous interpreting (SI) as a social practice by investigating EU institutional hegemony and interpreter axiology in the institutional setting of the European Parliament (EP). Theoretical research is complemented by a corpus study of the interplay between these two forces in SI-mediated EP plenary debates. A multilayered understanding of discourse as a set of practices is developed before exploring the relationship between ideology and axiology manifest in discourse manifest in text. Bakhtin's term dialogised heteroglossia is used in this context to refer to the centripetal forces and centrifugal forces of language. The Gramscian theory of hegemony as shifting alliances is applied to EU institutional hegemony, before the concept of axiology is introduced to address subjective interpreter ethics and evaluation. Corpus analysis concentrates on intertextuality (manifest and latent intertextuality), lexical repetition of key institutional terms; and metaphor strings characteristic of EU institutional hegemony. Results suggest that EU institutional hegemony is strengthened by SI, and that interpreter mediation in the form of interpreter axiology occurs and is constrained by institutional hegemony. This `socially orientated' approach therefore contradicts the conduit view of communication. In this study, the simultaneous interpreter is shown to be an additional subjective actor in heteroglot communication

Designing Embodied Interactive Software Agents for E-Learning: Principles, Components, and Roles

Embodied interactive software agents are complex autonomous, adaptive, and social software systems with a digital embodiment that enables them to act on and react to other entities (users, objects, and other agents) in their environment through bodily actions, which include the use of verbal and non-verbal communicative behaviors in face-to-face interactions with the user. These agents have been developed for various roles in different application domains, in which they perform tasks that have been assigned to them by their developers or delegated to them by their users or by other agents. In computer-assisted learning, embodied interactive pedagogical software agents have the general task to promote human learning by working with students (and other agents) in computer-based learning environments, among them e-learning platforms based on Internet technologies, such as the Virtual Linguistics Campus (www.linguistics-online.com). In these environments, pedagogical agents provide contextualized, qualified, personalized, and timely assistance, cooperation, instruction, motivation, and services for both individual learners and groups of learners. This thesis develops a comprehensive, multidisciplinary, and user-oriented view of the design of embodied interactive pedagogical software agents, which integrates theoretical and practical insights from various academic and other fields. The research intends to contribute to the scientific understanding of issues, methods, theories, and technologies that are involved in the design, implementation, and evaluation of embodied interactive software agents for different roles in e-learning and other areas. For developers, the thesis provides sixteen basic principles (Added Value, Perceptible Qualities, Balanced Design, Coherence, Consistency, Completeness, Comprehensibility, Individuality, Variability, Communicative Ability, Modularity, Teamwork, Participatory Design, Role Awareness, Cultural Awareness, and Relationship Building) plus a large number of specific guidelines for the design of embodied interactive software agents and their components. Furthermore, it offers critical reviews of theories, concepts, approaches, and technologies from different areas and disciplines that are relevant to agent design. Finally, it discusses three pedagogical agent roles (virtual native speaker, coach, and peer) in the scenario of the linguistic fieldwork classes on the Virtual Linguistics Campus and presents detailed considerations for the design of an agent for one of these roles (the virtual native speaker)

Lingvistiskā variācija elektroniskajā akadēmiskajā diskursā

Promocijas darbā ir atspoguļota jauna īpaša angļu valodas diskursa veida, kas notiek akadēmiskajās aprindās ar datora starpniecību, leksisko un gramatisko formu sastopamības variācijas teorētiskā un empīriskā izpēte. Ir izstrādāta oriģināla elektroniskā akadēmiskā diskursa (EAD) definīcija. EAD piemīt specifiskas lingvistiskās īpašības, kas to atšķir no citiem angļu valodas diskursa veidiem. Ir piedāvāta oriģināla tipoloģiska EAD klasifikācija. Ir norādīti seši tipiskākie EAD veidi: akadēmiskie e-pasti, sinhronās konferences, tiešsaistes diskusijas, emuāri, hiperteksti un elektroniskie semināri. Katra EAD veida raksturošanai tika izveidoti seši specializēti tekstu sakopojumi. Lingvistisko leksisko un gramatisko formu sastopamības daudzdimensiju analīze (Biber 1988) tika izmantota kā galvenais kvantitatīvais izpētes paņēmiens. Būtiskas izmaiņas ir atklātas piecdesmit piecu leksisko un gramatisko formu. Pretēji tradicionālajam uzskatam, ka elektroniskais akadēmiskais diskurss būtiski nemainās, pētījumā iegūtie rezultāti pierāda būtisku multidimensiju variāciju dažādu EAD veidu lingvistisko līdzekļu sastopamības biežumā. Šajā pētījumā iegūtie rezultāti var būt noderīgi pētījumu veicējiem, kas pēta elektroniskās valodas atšķirības, valodas pasniedzējiem un citiem speciālistiem lietišķajā valodniecībā.The dissertation presents the undertaken theoretical and empirical research investigating a new specific type of English discourse that takes place in academic settings and is mediated by computer. An original definition of computer-mediated academic discourse (CMAD) has been elaborated. The author has demonstrated that CMAD has specific linguistic characteristics distinguishing it from other types of English discourse. An original typological classification of CMAD has been proposed. The following six most typical types of CMAD have been distinguished: academic e-mails, synchronous conferencing, online discussions, weblogs, hypertexts and computer-mediated seminars. Six specialised corpora were complied to represent each type of CMAD. Multidimentional analysis of variance of linguistic features (Biber 1988) was applied as the main quantitative research method. Considerable changes have been revealed in the use of fifty-five types of linguistic features in the corpus. Contrary to the traditional view, which regards academic discourse mediated by computer not significantly varying, the research results provide the evidence of significant multidimensional variation in the frequency of appearance of linguistic features in different types of CMAD. The findings obtained in the present research may be of interest to the researchers investigating varieties of computer-mediated language, language educators and other specialists in applied linguists

Lingvistiskā variācija elektroniskajā akadēmiskajā diskursā

Promocijas darbā ir atspoguļota jauna īpaša angļu valodas diskursa veida, kas notiek akadēmiskajās aprindās ar datora starpniecību, leksisko un gramatisko formu sastopamības variācijas teorētiskā un empīriskā izpēte. Ir izstrādāta oriģināla elektroniskā akadēmiskā diskursa (EAD) definīcija. EAD piemīt specifiskas lingvistiskās īpašības, kas to atšķir no citiem angļu valodas diskursa veidiem. Ir piedāvāta oriģināla tipoloģiska EAD klasifikācija. Ir norādīti seši tipiskākie EAD veidi: akadēmiskie e-pasti, sinhronās konferences, tiešsaistes diskusijas, emuāri, hiperteksti un elektroniskie semināri. Katra EAD veida raksturošanai tika izveidoti seši specializēti tekstu sakopojumi. Lingvistisko leksisko un gramatisko formu sastopamības daudzdimensiju analīze (Biber 1988) tika izmantota kā galvenais kvantitatīvais izpētes paņēmiens. Būtiskas izmaiņas ir atklātas piecdesmit piecu leksisko un gramatisko formu. Pretēji tradicionālajam uzskatam, ka elektroniskais akadēmiskais diskurss būtiski nemainās, pētījumā iegūtie rezultāti pierāda būtisku multidimensiju variāciju dažādu EAD veidu lingvistisko līdzekļu sastopamības biežumā. Šajā pētījumā iegūtie rezultāti var būt noderīgi pētījumu veicējiem, kas pēta elektroniskās valodas atšķirības, valodas pasniedzējiem un citiem speciālistiem lietišķajā valodniecībā.The dissertation presents the undertaken theoretical and empirical research investigating a new specific type of English discourse that takes place in academic settings and is mediated by computer. An original definition of computer-mediated academic discourse (CMAD) has been elaborated. The author has demonstrated that CMAD has specific linguistic characteristics distinguishing it from other types of English discourse. An original typological classification of CMAD has been proposed. The following six most typical types of CMAD have been distinguished: academic e-mails, synchronous conferencing, online discussions, weblogs, hypertexts and computer-mediated seminars. Six specialised corpora were complied to represent each type of CMAD. Multidimentional analysis of variance of linguistic features (Biber 1988) was applied as the main quantitative research method. Considerable changes have been revealed in the use of fifty-five types of linguistic features in the corpus. Contrary to the traditional view, which regards academic discourse mediated by computer not significantly varying, the research results provide the evidence of significant multidimensional variation in the frequency of appearance of linguistic features in different types of CMAD. The findings obtained in the present research may be of interest to the researchers investigating varieties of computer-mediated language, language educators and other specialists in applied linguists

Analyzing Digital Literacy Demands, Practices, and Discourses within a Library Computer Programming Club for Children

abstract: Among researchers, educators, and other stakeholders in literacy education, there has been a growing emphasis on developing literacy pedagogies that are more responsive to the ways young people experience literacy in their everyday lives, which often make use of digital media and other technologies for exchanging meaning. This dissertation project sought to explore the nature of these digital-age literacies in the context of children learning through and about new technologies. Conducting a year-long, multimethod observational study of an out-of-school library-based program designed to engage students in self-directed learning around the domain of computer programming, this project was framed around an analysis of digital-age literacies in design, discourse, and practice. To address each of these areas, the project developed a methodology grounded in interpretive, naturalistic, and participant-observation methodologies in collaboration with a local library Code Club in a metropolitan area of the Southwestern U.S between September 2016 and December 2017. Participants in the project included a total of 47 students aged 8-14, 3 librarians, and 3 parents. Data sources for the project included (1) artifactual data, such as the designed interfaces of the online platforms students regularly engaged with, (2) observational data such as protocol-based field notes taken during and after each Code Club meeting, and (3) interview data, collected during qualitative interviews with students, parents, and library facilitators outside the program. These data sources were analyzed through a multi-method interpretive framework, including the multimodal analysis of digital artifacts, qualitative coding, and discourse analysis. The findings of the project illustrate the multidimensional nature of digital-age literacy experiences as they are rendered “on the screen” at the content level, “behind the screen” at the procedural level, and “beyond the screen” at the contextual level. The project contributes to the literature on literacy education by taking an multi-method, interdisciplinary approach to expand analytical perspectives on digital media and literacy in a digital age, while also providing an empirical account of this approach in a community-embedded context of implementation.Dissertation/ThesisDoctoral Dissertation Learning, Literacies and Technologies 201