Use of Automatic Chinese Character Decomposition and Human Gestures for Chinese Calligraphy Robots

Conventional Chinese calligraphy robots often suffer from the limited sizes of predefined font databases, which prevent the robots from writing new characters. This paper presents a robotic handwriting system to address such limitations, which extracts Chinese characters from textbooks and uses a robot’s manipulator to write the characters in a different style. The key technologies of the proposed approach include the following: (1) automatically decomposing Chinese characters into strokes using Harris corner detection technology and (2) matching the decomposed strokes to robotic writing trajectories learned from human gestures. Briefly, the system first decomposes a given Chinese character into a set of strokes and obtains the stroke trajectory writing ability by following the gestures performed by a human demonstrator. Then, it applies a stroke classification method that recognizes the decomposed strokes as robotic writing trajectories. Finally, the robot arm is driven to follow the trajectories and thus write the Chinese character. Seven common Chinese characters have been used in an experiment for system validation and evaluation. The experimental results demonstrate the power of the proposed system, given that the robot successfully wrote all the testing characters in the given Chinese calligraphic style

El proyecto de aula una alternativa para el aprendizaje del inglés como segunda lengua en el English Support Centre del Colombo Hebreo

Licenciado (a) en Lenguas ModernasPregrad

An Investigation of the Role of Guided Reading in Proficient First Grade Reader\u27s In-School Writing

This participant observation research study explored relationships between the role of guided reading and in-school writing of three proficient first-grade literacy learners during the first eight months of the 2007-08 school-year. Portraits of each student as a literacy learner were developed through case studies. Those individual case studies were then analyzed for themes in a cross-case analysis. Data were collected regarding text encountered during the guided reading sessions that occurred in the classroom and also in the form of writing artifacts produced by the three students during the writing workshop portion of their school day. Additional data collected included student interviews (both formal and informal), and formal interviews with parents/guardians of the three participants. Three areas of specific interest included student views of what constituted a written composition, student development of orthography, and the student use of literary language. Findings regarding the student view of what constituted a written composition included student experimentation with various forms of writing including a listing of facts on a given topic and personal narratives. Over the course of the study, all students developed intrinsic reasons for writing that were unique to the individual student. Regarding orthography, each student entered first-grade having already developed many complex understandings of English orthography. The specific spelling patterns and specific words negotiated by each of the three students varied according to the individual student. The final area of observation was the student use of literary language. All three students incorporated elements of literary language into their personal writing prior to the time that same literary language was encountered by them in their guided reading lessons. Implications included that classrooms need to strike a balance between the structuring of time for literacy instruction and freedom given to students regarding topics of interest and genre of writing. Also, understanding and valuing the various journeys traveled by literacy learners needs to become a focus of professional development provided to classroom teachers

Word Study Instruction and its Impact on Students\u27 Writing in Third Grade

I am interested in studying the interactions of word study and students transferring that knowledge into writing. My research question is: How does word study impact students\u27 strategies in word construction in writing workshop for third graders identifying words in isolation below grade level

The translation of children's literature: Ideology and cultural adaptations. Captain Underpants as a case study

The aim of this research is to explore cultural differences in the children’s publishing industry in the USA and Spain and the impact these have on translation, and to develop a case study of the translation of Dav Pilkey’s Captain Underpants series into Spanish from a cultural and linguistic perspective. The main aim of this dissertation is to demonstrate the ways in which ranges of meaning are narrowed, expanded or refracted in children’s literature translation and how they affect early readers’ understanding of the text (as more or less subversive), modelling all this as a dynamic rather than static system. Bakhtin’s concept of dialogism is applied to the Captain Underpants texts to show that the translation process is a continuum, never a finalized project, which can - and does - change with time.This dissertation explores the ways in which the translator of the Captain Underpants series, Miguel Azaola, negotiates the pressures and constraints, be they political, historical, cultural, editorial, commercial, or linguistic, which are imposed upon him via ideology, commissioning editors and the publishing industry. All translations imply a certain level of manipulation of the original text, and the translation of a subversive text written for a younger audience is even more vulnerable to change, due to the existing power imbalance between adults and children and the potential of humour as a tool for undermining or reinforcing social control. The Captain Underpants books mock and challenge authority-figures and the structures of the adult world (parents, teachers, political and religious institutions). These books provide a carnivalesque context that enables children to establish a dialogue with the text through which to question societal norms that have been learnt in school and at home. This dissertation examines how humour and references to food have been translated into Spanish in this context. It also points out the dilemmas posed by retaining the original pictures in the translated text, and how the lack of a supporting cultural peritext affects not only the visual meaning of the text as a whole but also children’s reading experience and their perception of the books as cultural artefacts. Translation loss in children’s literature can be attributed to linguistic difficulties of capturing meanings or stylistic features. However, it may also reflect societal attitudes towards childhood and cultural differences. The history of publishing for children in Spain and the didactic mission of the publishing house (El Barco de Vapor) have had a strong impact on the translation of this series. Examples of the manifestation of this impact include domesticated names, loss of word-play, discrepancies between pictures and texts, and the almost complete deletion of the dual readership (adult and child). Translation has diminished the potential subversive elements of the target text, resulting in a significant reduction of humour. By adopting an interdisciplinary theoretical framework, in which theories from children’s literature, translation studies, reader response and studies on recent Spanish publishing trends are integrated, this thesis aims to make a scholarly contribution to the hitherto neglected study of the translation of contemporary children’s literature into Spanish. Highlighting throughout the differences in the textual content and children’s responses to the translated texts, this thesis explores the editor’s and translator’s decision-making processes and the challenges posed by translation for younger readers

The Narratology of Comic Art

By placing comics in a lively dialogue with contemporary narrative theory, The Narratology of Comic Art builds a systematic theory of narrative comics, going beyond the typical focus on the Anglophone tradition. This involves not just the exploration of those properties in comics that can be meaningfully investigated with existing narrative theory, but an interpretive study of the potential in narratological concepts and analytical procedures that has hitherto been overlooked. This research monograph is, then, not an application of narratology in the medium and art of comics, but a revision of narratological concepts and approaches through the study of narrative comics. Thus, while narratology is brought to bear on comics, equally comics are brought to bear on narratology.Peer reviewe

Poetry in Motion: A study of poetry in the kindergarten settings of Aotearoa, New Zealand

This thesis, ‘Poetry in Motion’, explores the ways in which poetry aligns to the cultural capital of kindergarten settings. The research also unravels the role and purposes of poetry for kindergarten children. The research context is the kindergartens of the Napier Kindergarten Association, Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand. Napier kindergartens are state funded to provide education and care for children aged two to five years, with qualified registered teachers. This ethnographic study highlights the links between poetry and the arts for young children. The rich interconnections that teachers and children have made between poetry and education become transparent. The kindergarten movement in New Zealand owes its pedagogical origins to Friedrich Froebel in 19th century Germany. Cultural influences from America, Europe, Britain, Japan, and the indigenous Māori culture are evident in the poetry in current use. In New Zealand all early childhood services base their teaching on the national Early Childhood Education (ECE) curriculum, Te Whāriki (Ministry of Education [MoE], 1996). This aspirational curriculum document reflects the bicultural commitment of New Zealand to value the partnership between the indigenous Māori people and others of Aotearoa, New Zealand. One of the themes from this study is how teachers’ own cultural knowledge and traditions influence the poetry they choose in their work with young children. Some warm provocations are offered to the wider early childhood world about how poetry could be cultivated. The study also identifies areas where further research is needed to understand the creative process of poetry writing for young children and teachers

Facilitation Of Language Acquisition Viewed Through An Interpretative Lens: The Role Of Authenticity

A paradigm is the conceptual framework or lens one uses to view reality. The field of speech-language pathology is traditionally rooted in the empirical paradigm, which believes that language can be fragmented into isolated skills and taught in a hierarchal fashion. This belief has resulted in service delivery models that remove students from naturalistic contexts for decontextualized exercises. Progress in language acquisition is measured objectively. The empirical belief is exemplified by the accountability requirements in special education law (e.g., IEP). It is compounded by the realities of public school speech-language pathologists (SLPs), such as high caseload numbers, multiple buildings, and paperwork/meetings required. These realities, viewed through the empirical paradigm, frequently cause SLP\u27s to feel ineffective with students. The interpretative paradigm views language acquisition holistically. It takes into account contextual/personal factors involved in a child\u27s communication success. This belief encourages SLPs to facilitate language acquisition in authentic environments (e.g., classroom), using a collaborative service delivery model. In this paradigm, qualitative research methods are valued. This methodology views language as a dynamic phenomenon that cannot be separated from the context and culture of an individual. The purpose of this study was to rethink the role of context in the facilitation of language acquisition by SLPs. Writing conferences were held with three third grade students diagnosed with language learning impairments. Authentic inquiry, critical moment teaching, and scaffolding were used to facilitate language growth and measured qualitatively. The growth was described in relation to the student\u27s IEP goals/objectives. A rich description of the findings showed that authentic contexts and techniques do support language growth for students with language learning impairments. Fieldnotes, teacher/student/SLP interviews, and student artifacts were used to triangulate the data from transcribed conferences. A discussion on realistic ways that SLPs can use authentic contexts, goals, and techniques with students to best understand language ensues. Suggestions on ways to transfer qualitative data to the objective requirements of IEPs are given. The study encourages school-based SLP\u27s the view their position through an interpretative lens to facilitate systematic change in the child\u27s communicative context