Open Programming Language Interpreters

Context: This paper presents the concept of open programming language interpreters and the implementation of a framework-level metaobject protocol (MOP) to support them. Inquiry: We address the problem of dynamic interpreter adaptation to tailor the interpreter's behavior on the task to be solved and to introduce new features to fulfill unforeseen requirements. Many languages provide a MOP that to some degree supports reflection. However, MOPs are typically language-specific, their reflective functionality is often restricted, and the adaptation and application logic are often mixed which hardens the understanding and maintenance of the source code. Our system overcomes these limitations. Approach: We designed and implemented a system to support open programming language interpreters. The prototype implementation is integrated in the Neverlang framework. The system exposes the structure, behavior and the runtime state of any Neverlang-based interpreter with the ability to modify it. Knowledge: Our system provides a complete control over interpreter's structure, behavior and its runtime state. The approach is applicable to every Neverlang-based interpreter. Adaptation code can potentially be reused across different language implementations. Grounding: Having a prototype implementation we focused on feasibility evaluation. The paper shows that our approach well addresses problems commonly found in the research literature. We have a demonstrative video and examples that illustrate our approach on dynamic software adaptation, aspect-oriented programming, debugging and context-aware interpreters. Importance: To our knowledge, our paper presents the first reflective approach targeting a general framework for language development. Our system provides full reflective support for free to any Neverlang-based interpreter. We are not aware of any prior application of open implementations to programming language interpreters in the sense defined in this paper. Rather than substituting other approaches, we believe our system can be used as a complementary technique in situations where other approaches present serious limitations

This progressive production: Agency, durability and keeping it contemporary

This is an Author's Accepted Manuscript of an article published in Performance Research: A Journal of the Performing Arts, 17(5), 71-77, 2012 [copyright Taylor & Francis], available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/13528165.2012.728447.Tino Sehgal is a Berlin based Anglo-German conceptual artist who creates ‘constructed situations’; a process whereby he hands over the delivery of the work to selected ‘interpreters’ or in the case of the Tate Modern (London) 2012 commission, to ‘participants’, who he rehearses and supports to carry out the instructions which embody his vision. Each time a Sehgal work is presented, it is animated by those he has asked and paid to participate, for an audience who are often called upon to engage with a question or conversation. In taking this approach, Sehgal explicitly rejects the idea of the artist as a making of objects. However, unlike the sorts of transitory and ephemeral works of art created in the 1970s which were a deliberate challenge to the commodification of art and by extension the artist, Sehgal constructs situations for other reasons which will be explored in this article. This article will also start to consider how dependence on interpreters or participants extends, transforms or circumscribes authorial control. It will begin to consider the extent to which the construction of live artworks that potentially exceed the life time and certainly the physical presence of the maker represent long-term duration. Does such an approach extend the field of influence and the potential for lasting impact? What impact does duration have on the re-enactor/interpreters capacity to comply with the artist's instructions and what investment do they have in embodying another's artistic vision, particularly if they are required to do so for an extended period of time

Paying for Language Services in Medicare: Preliminary Options and Recommendations

Discusses how the federal government could design payment systems for language services in Medicare, and offers preliminary recommendations for implementing such programs

The effect of informational load on disfluencies in interpreting: a corpus-based regression analysis

This article attempts to measure the cognitive or informational load in interpreting by modelling the occurrence rate of the speech disfluency uh(m). In a corpus of 107 interpreted and 240 non-interpreted texts, informational load is operationalized in terms of four measures: delivery rate, lexical density, percentage of numerals, and average sentence length. The occurrence rate of the indicated speech disfluency was modelled using a rate model. Interpreted texts are analyzed based on the interpreter's output and compared with the input of non-interpreted texts, and measure the effect of source text features. The results demonstrate that interpreters produce significantly more uh(m) s than non-interpreters and that this difference is mainly due to the effect of lexical density on the output side. The main source predictor of uh(m) s in the target text was shown to be the delivery rate of the source text. On a more general level of significance, the second analysis also revealed an increasing effect of the numerals in the source texts and a decreasing effect of the numerals in the target texts

The Sound of Success: Efficient and Effective Language Services Becoming a Reality in Some Hospitals

Outlines outcomes of and lessons learned from the Speaking Together initiative to apply performance measures and improvement practices to enhance hospital language services. Online toolkit provides a detailed guide with sample forms and other resources

Towards a Re-Definition of Government Interpreters' Agency Against a Backdrop of Sociopolitical and Cultural Evolution: A Case of Premier's Press Conferences in China

The sociopolitical and cultural evolution as a result of the Reform and Opening up in 1978, facilitated not least by the inexorable juggernaut of globalization and technological advancement, has revolutionized the way China engages domestically and interacts with the outside world. The need for more proactive diplomacy and open engagement witnessed the institutionalization of the interpreter-mediated premier's press conferences. Such a discursive event provides a vital platform for China to articulate its discourse and rebrand its image in tandem with the profound changes signaled by the Dengist reform. This chapter investigates critically how political press conference interpreting and interpreters' agency in China are impacted in relation to such dramatic transformations. It is revealed that, while interpreters are confronted with seemingly conflicting expectations, in actual practice they are often able to negotiate a way as highly competent interpreting professionals with the additional missions of advancing China's global engagement and safeguarding China's national interests