The teachability of pragmatics in SLA: friends' humour through grice

The development of L2 learners’ pragmatic competence plays a key role in the achievement of communicative competence. Thus, we have designed an activity for students of English that aims to explain the generation of humour through language applying Grice’s model of conversational implicatures to four stretches of discourse from Friends. The analysis of the sample suggests that (1) the Gricean model is still a powerful tool to explain the generation of humorous situations by means of language, and (2) it is a useful device for second language learners to infer the correct meaning of language in real life situations.El desarrollo de la competencia pragmática en aprendices de lengua extrajera es fundamental en el logro de la competencia comunicativa. Por ello, hemos diseñado una actividad para estudiantes de inglés basada en la aplicación del modelo de implicaturas conversacionales de Grice a una serie de fragmentos de discurso de Friends. El análisis sugiere (1) que el modelo de Grice todavía explica eficazmente la generación de situaciones humorísticas a través del lenguaje, y (2) que es un instrumento útil para que los aprendices de lenguas extranjeras puedan inferir el significado correcto del lenguaje en situaciones reales

The Materiality of the Book: Another Turn of the Screw

Summary of themes presented throughout the 1994 Clinic on Library applications of Data Processing, April 10-12, 1994: Literary texts in an electronic age: Scholarly implications and library services.published or submitted for publicatio

Hacia la educación mediada por el modelo PARCE como estrategia socioemocional

This article comes from the research entitled: Educability mediated by the PARCE model as a social-emotional strategy in the classrooms of local public educational institutions. Its main objective was this: to identify the impact of teachability and educability generated by this pedagogical proposal, and how its effect is evidenced in the local school system of the department of Quindío, Colombia. To achieve this, it is necessary to delve deeper into the problems presented by practicum teachers in the public institutions of the area under study, within the framework of teachability, which allows proposing other didactic perspectives in pedagogical activities, as an input to promote learner’s emotional development and social skills. To this end, it is necessary to identify the problematic situations in classrooms that directly or indirectly affect school performance and environment in educational institutions.Este artículo proviene de la investigación titulada: Educabilidad mediada por el modelo PARCE como una estrategia socioemocional en las aulas de las instituciones educativas públicas locales. Su objetivo principal era este: identificar el impacto de la capacidad de enseñanza y educación generada por esta propuesta pedagógica, y cómo se evidencia su efecto en el sistema escolar local del departamento de Quindío, Colombia. Para lograr esto, es necesario profundizar en los problemas presentados por los profesores de práctica en las instituciones públicas del área de estudio, en el marco de la capacidad de enseñanza, lo que permite proponer otras perspectivas didácticas en las actividades pedagógicas, como un aporte para promover la emoción emocional del alumno. desarrollo y habilidades sociales. Para este fin, es necesario identificar las situaciones problemáticas en las aulas que afectan directa o indirectamente el desempeño escolar y el entorno en las instituciones educativas

A Progress/Status Report on the Teaching of Listening

It was the purpose of the present research to systematically study the teachability of listening. More specifically, answers to the following questions were sought: 1. Is enough known about listening so it can be taught? 2. How effectively and efficiently can it be taught

The history of transaction cost economics and its recent developments

The emergence of transaction cost economics (TCE) in the early 1970s with Oliver Williamson’s successful reconciliation of the so called neoclassical approach with Herbert Simon’s organizational theory can be considered an important part of the first cognitive turn in economics. The development of TCE until the late 1980s was particularly marked by treating the firm as an avoider of negative frictions, i.e., of transaction costs. However, since the 1990s TCE has been enriched by various approaches stressing the role of the firm in creating positive value, e.g., the literature on modularity. Hence, a second cognitive turn has taken place: the firm is no longer only seen as an avoider of negative costs but also as a creator of positive knowledge.transaction cost economics, Oliver Williamson, theory of the firm, modularity literature, cognitive turn

The R&D boundaries of the firm : a problem solving perspective

This paper considers, theoretically and empirically, how different organization modes are aligned to govern the efficient solving of technological problems. The data set is from the Chinese consumer electronics industry. Following the problem solving perspective (PSP) within the knowledge-based view (KBV), we develop and test several PSP and KBV hypotheses, whilst controlling for some relevant transaction cost economics (TCE) and other variables, in an examination of the determinants of the firms’ R&D organization choice. The results show that a firm’s existing knowledge base is the most important explanatory factor. Problem complexity and decomposability are also found to be important, but it is suggested, contrary to the view of PSP, that they are better treated as separate variables, and that equity-based alliances tend to be reserved for the most complex problems

Knowledge transfer from Portugal Telecom to OI: the role of expatriates

JEL classification: F2, M1The present study intends to explore the types of knowledge transferred from the headquarters to the subsidiary. As well as to clarify the role that expatriates play in the process of knowledge transfer. For this study, we used the case study of Portugal Telecom (parent) with the Brazilian Oi (subsidiary). Quantitative and qualitative methods were applied. In order to strengthen the results obtained with the quantitative methods (questionnaires), the expatriates who were involved in the project of knowledge transfer from Portugal Telecom to Oi were also interviewed. The study indicates that expatriates are actively involved in the areas of knowledge transfer. Finally, this study concludes with the limitations and suggestions for future research.O presente estudo pretende explorar os tipos de conhecimento transferido da casa mãe para a subsidiária. Bem como clarificar o papel que os expatriados desempenham no processo de transferência de conhecimento. Para este estudo é utilizado o caso de estudo da Portugal Telecom (casa mãe) com a brasileira Oi (subsidiária). Foram aplicados métodos quantitativos e qualitativos. Com o objectivo de fortalecer os resultados obtidos via questionário (quantitativos), foram também entrevistados expatriados que estiveram envolvidos no projecto de transferência de conhecimento da Portugal Telecom para a Oi. O estudo indica que os expatriados participam activamente nas áreas de transferência de conhecimento. Por fim, este estudo é concluído com as limitações e as sugestões para pesquisas futuras

Knowledge transfer from european multinational corporations to their subsidiaries in China: contextual perspectives and expatriate's roles

JEL classification: F2, M1This study aims to explore the factors impeding the knowledge transfer from European multinational corporations’ (MNC) headquarters to their subsidiaries in China. And the roles that the expatriates play in the process of knowledge transfer are also examined. A quantitative research method is adopted in this study. We collected 67 questionnaires in total responded by the European expatriates in China. The results indicate that the expatriates actively participate in a wide range of knowledge transfer areas and that seven factors related to various contexts are identified by the expatriates as the primary causes of the difficulties in the process of knowledge transfer. The analysis of the results, which is related to the overall contexts in China, is also presented. We conclude the study with the limitations and suggestions for future research.Esta tese investiga os fatores que impedem a transferência de conhecimento das sedes das Empresas Multinacionais Europeias (EME) para as suas subsidiárias chinesas. Investiga também o papel que os expatriados desempenham no processo de transferência de conhecimento. Esta investigação utilizou um método de pesquisa quantitativo. Foram recolhidos 67 questionários preenchidos por expatriados europeus. Os resultados indicam que os expatriados participam ativamente em várias áreas de transferência do conhecimento. Os expatriados identificaram sete fatores relacionados com vários contextos como causas primárias das dificuldades do processo de transferência de conhecimento. A tese apresenta a análise de resultados relacionando com o contexto geral da China. Concluímos com as limitações e sugestões para investigação futura

Instructed Interlanguage Development

Several theorists have claimed that interlanguage (IL) development in instructed (classroom) learners does not differ significantly from that in learners acquiring a second language (SL) naturalistically. The processses and/or sequences in SL development are held to be the same in both acquisitional contexts. Accordingly, some writers on language teaching have advocated provision of "natural" language learning experiences for classroom learners, and the elimination of structural grading, a focus on form and error correction, even for adults. This paper examines the evidence offered in support of the claims concerning instructed IL development. Some recent studies are summarized which illustrate the potential of formal instruction in four areas: (1) acquisition processes, (2) acquisition sequences, (3) rate of acquisition, and (4) level of ultimate SLA attainment. The conclusion is that the claimed similarities between instructed and naturalistic SL acquisition are based on insufficient and weak evidence, that instruction affects learning positively in three of the above four areas, and that the prescriptions for language teaching, therefore, are certainly premature and probably wrong

Bridging the Human-AI Knowledge Gap: Concept Discovery and Transfer in AlphaZero

Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems have made remarkable progress, attaining super-human performance across various domains. This presents us with an opportunity to further human knowledge and improve human expert performance by leveraging the hidden knowledge encoded within these highly performant AI systems. Yet, this knowledge is often hard to extract, and may be hard to understand or learn from. Here, we show that this is possible by proposing a new method that allows us to extract new chess concepts in AlphaZero, an AI system that mastered the game of chess via self-play without human supervision. Our analysis indicates that AlphaZero may encode knowledge that extends beyond the existing human knowledge, but knowledge that is ultimately not beyond human grasp, and can be successfully learned from. In a human study, we show that these concepts are learnable by top human experts, as four top chess grandmasters show improvements in solving the presented concept prototype positions. This marks an important first milestone in advancing the frontier of human knowledge by leveraging AI; a development that could bear profound implications and help us shape how we interact with AI systems across many AI applications.Comment: 61 pages, 29 figure