Neural Based Statement Classification for Biased Language

Biased language commonly occurs around topics which are of controversial nature, thus, stirring disagreement between the different involved parties of a discussion. This is due to the fact that for language and its use, specifically, the understanding and use of phrases, the stances are cohesive within the particular groups. However, such cohesiveness does not hold across groups. In collaborative environments or environments where impartial language is desired (e.g. Wikipedia, news media), statements and the language therein should represent equally the involved parties and be neutrally phrased. Biased language is introduced through the presence of inflammatory words or phrases, or statements that may be incorrect or one-sided, thus violating such consensus. In this work, we focus on the specific case of phrasing bias, which may be introduced through specific inflammatory words or phrases in a statement. For this purpose, we propose an approach that relies on a recurrent neural networks in order to capture the inter-dependencies between words in a phrase that introduced bias. We perform a thorough experimental evaluation, where we show the advantages of a neural based approach over competitors that rely on word lexicons and other hand-crafted features in detecting biased language. We are able to distinguish biased statements with a precision of P=0.92, thus significantly outperforming baseline models with an improvement of over 30%. Finally, we release the largest corpus of statements annotated for biased language.Comment: The Twelfth ACM International Conference on Web Search and Data Mining, February 11--15, 2019, Melbourne, VIC, Australi

A Web Content Management and Personalization Model Using One-to-One Strategy for Higher Educational Institutions

This research explored a Web content management and personalization model for higher educational institutions. Through a review of literature and data collected from users, it formulated a conceptual model for Web content management and personalization. The study used the Web site of School of Technology at Eastern Illinois University as a typical case from which to develop the model for higher educational institutions. Understanding the factors influencing user attitudes about the adoption of new Web technologies is extremely important. Such an understanding can help Web developers develop a theoretical framework for a Web model as well as identify its components. Cognizant of user-centered design principles, the study surveyed School of Technology students to assess their attitudes and expectations about applying one-to-one marketing strategy to the School\u27s Web site and to identify the content of the site. Based on the survey results, it formulated design guidelines that helped ascertain the one-to-one Web marketing strategy for the model. Finally, the study formulated a conceptual Web content management and personalization model in Unified Modeling Language formats

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT FOR BUSINESS ORIENTED FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING AND LEARNING

A research team from two universities and two IT companies took the challenge of developing a business foreign languages program implemented in a web environment, aiming the effectiveness of the communication in a working multicultural environment, using foreign languages. The online educational portal for applied foreign languages teaching and learning addressing the cross-cultural dimension represents the core of the Romanian academic research project (eMulticult), financed under the national Romanian research scheme (National Council for Project Management - Partnership Program). The present contribution summarizes the concepts and the methodology of the project, aiming at increasing professionals’ adaptability to a specific corporate cultural environment in order to create conditions for openness, tolerance, harmony and cooperation in the working and social environment. The studies will end up in creating a knowledge portal for the development of adequate cultural attitudes and skills specific to a foreign language professional environment. The project develops a holistic approach for the design of a conceptual framework based on a web educational model for foreign language acquisition and the internalization of its cultural values and the implementation of the model in a virtual environment using an adequate pedagogical approach and complex training tools. The foreign language educational model makes reference to the Anderson’s and Krathwohl’s taxonomy, articulating it with the dimensions of the specific corporate culture. The web based paradigm and tools of the educational model will facilitate for the beneficiaries the online learning process. The originality of this approach consists in the synergy among various views and models such as person oriented education, multicultural approach, use of the virtual environment for providing educational services. The portal integrates educational packages for individual beneficiaries, virtual classes, formal or informal educational networks, and the tools for e-content developing. The educational platform offers the premise for building the empathic attitude, through a deep understanding of the own cultural matrix and a greater permeability to the behavior and values of another cultural & organizational environment, increasing the degree of communication and integration at European level.Foreign language teaching, cross-cultural approach, educational model, training engineering

Web Annotation in English Language Arts: Online Dialogue as a Platform to Support Student Comprehension of Texts

This study explores how web annotation—through a process of online reading, writing in the margins, and replying to others’ comments—influences student dialogue in ways that research suggests are associated with improved comprehension. Viewing data through a dialogic lens, and using a qualitative, multiple case study design to observe two high school English Language Arts teachers and their students, this inquiry was guided by the following research questions: (a) How do English Language Arts teachers use web annotation to support student comprehension of texts? (b) To what extent, if any, does web annotation appear to support student comprehension of texts? and (c) How do English Language Arts teachers and students perceive the usefulness of web annotation in supporting student comprehension of texts? Both teachers in this study implemented web annotation practices with hopes of getting their students to engage in meaningful dialogue about texts, and that goal was evident in how they structured web annotation activities so students could drive the discussion and how they both tried to build upon students’ online discussions during subsequent face-to-face (F2F) class discussions. Despite such dialogic intentions, analysis of web annotations based on indices associated with high-level thinking and textual understanding revealed that, generally speaking, web annotation discussions did not exhibit rich dialogue. Additionally, there was a widespread lack of textual connections—annotations that connected a text to other texts, to the reader’s emotions or personal experiences, or to experiences the students shared as a class—evident in students’ annotations. However, discussions in which the teacher gave specific requirements for the number of annotations and replies and provided specific writing prompts tended to result in a higher prevalence of the indicators related to increased textual understanding. Although web annotation did not generally result in a substantial increase in these measures, findings revealed that students found great value in seeing and being able to interact with their peers’ thoughts about texts and that teachers saw enough benefits for student learning that they planned to continue its use going forward. Recommendations invite teachers to explore ways to establish a dialogic culture in their classroom and to make intentional decisions for inclusion of web annotation—or any other digital tool—based on sound pedagogy and on the learning goals they set with their students; approaching technology implementation in this way places teachers and pedagogy at the center of the process, helping them to leverage the affordances digital technologies provide. Recommendations for future research include focused examinations of (a) the thinking and composing processes students undergo as they annotate on the web; (b) the impact web annotations have on specific learning outcomes, potentially using comprehensive reading comprehension assessments; and (c) methods for web annotation use in elementary, higher education, or adult learning settings

Using object-based activities and an online inquiry platform to support learners’ engagement with their heritage language and culture

Heritage language education is distinct from the field of second language acquisition due to having the concept of identity always at its core (Leeman, Rabin, & Roman-Mendoza, 2012). This paper draws on this concept and presents an action research study focusing on the teaching and learning of Greek as a heritage language in the context of Supplementary Education in the UK. The main aim of the study is to support young learners in gaining an understanding of how language is intertwined with social and cultural aspects. The study took place in two Greek Supplementary Schools in UK during the academic year 2015-16. The participants are learners of Greek language attending pre-GCSE, GCSE and A’Level classes (13-17 years old). For the purposes of this study, the learners used mobile and web-based technologies, i.e. nQuire-It platform (http://www.nquire-it. org), to explore their environment through specific missions. The study involved a number of classroom sessions, attendance of an inter-generational objecthandling workshop run by educators based at the British Museum at each of the two schools, and also participation in a museum visit. The paper presents this study and shares some preliminary findings and insights regarding the integration of mobile technologies within heritage language learning and teaching

Segmenting Tables via Indexing of Value Cells by Table Headers

Correct segmentation of a web table into its component regions is the essential first step to understanding tabular data. Our algorithmic solution to the segmentation problem relies on the property that strings defining row and column header paths uniquely index each data cell in the table. We segment the table using only “logical layout analysis” without resorting to any appearance features or natural language understanding. We start with a CSV table that preserves the 2- dimensional structure and contents of the original source table (e.g., an HTML table) but not font size, font weight, and color. The indexing property of table headers implies a four-quadrant partitioning of the table about a minimum index point. The algorithm finds the index point through an efficient guided search. Experimental results on a 200-table benchmark demonstrate the generality of the algorithm in handling a variety of table styles and forms

Imaginary Friends: Using Guided Imagery, Line Drawings and Webquests to Incorporate Culture into the Foreign Language Curriculum

This paper examines the integration of authentic cultural experience into the foreign language curriculum through the use of guided imagery, line drawings, and a WebQuest designed to facilitate the creation of an imaginary friend living within a country where the target language is spoken. The student uses these techniques to vicariously communicate with and experience a proscribed facet of that imaginary friend’s life. Through the use of the guided imagery and web-based research, the student will breathe life into a black and white line drawing by coloring in an appropriate complexion and by giving the character a name which would typically be found within the imaginary character’s country of origin. In addition to learning about the culture of the friend’s country, the student will inadvertently be creating relevance for learning the language of this friend thereby stimulating a natural desire to study in order to communicate with greater ease and understanding. Within the parameters of the WebQuest, the student will be directed to produce various artifacts which are then shared in a culminating activity where the students introduce their “friends” to the larger group of participants. Lesson plans for the project are given in detail and implications for the use of this project are considered in terms of its flexibility and potential application to any foreign language classroom at any level or age group

Not Just Ensemble Films: Six Degrees, Webs, Multiplexity and the Rise of Network Narratives

In a scene from Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's 2006 film Babel, one afternoon a deaf-mute Japanese girl, Chieko, gossips in sign language with a school friend via her mobile phone's web cam. The scene's linguistically estranged nature encapsulates how language in itself is a technology, a system which reaches across borders of silence to allow understanding. We are only able to interpret language through shared knowledge of its systems and, in many cases, through the aid of devices which collapse the barriers of proximity in time, space, and in this case, vision. It is indicative of the contemporary paradigm of network society that this scene occurs within a film which explores worldwide repercussions of (mis)communication, and that Babel belongs within a genre which in recent years has frequently thematised systems of interconnection, exploiting digital narrative technologies and in effect practicing Fredric Jameson's concept "cognitive mapping" (Jameson 54). However, while they may appear to value difference and diversity, in many cases these films use cognitive mapping as a tool for totalisation, divulging narratives of smoothed-out differences and equalised circumstances. Within this emergent paradigm of interconnectedness continues the problem of how to relay the postmodern promise of endless complexity, without subordinating difference to a simplified reduction of totality

Using cyber capabilities to inform and influence

As the world evolves and becomes more technical, the need for traditional messaging techniques diminishes. The need of the military to be able to dynamically target an individual or group with specific messages in order to inform or influence grows exponentially every year. This need also increases as the United States shifts its military focus from uneducated Third World countries to countries with established infrastructure and large cyber footprints. The military must be able to use the cyber domain to inform or influence a target audience to achieve a desired effect by disseminating a message, attributable or non-attributable, through use of the Web, e-mail or social media. The ability to understand the topology of the Internet is key to targeting a specific audience and to do this an understanding of geolocation is key. To target a specific audience with a message we must understand where they are located to understand culture, customs, and language. With cyberspace quickly becoming a dominant factor in the information environment, how can the military use the cyber domain to inform or influence a target audience to achieve a desired effect by disseminating a message, either attributable or non-attributable through the web, e-mail or social mediahttp://archive.org/details/usingcybercapabi1094527908Major, United States ArmyApproved for public release; distribution is unlimited

Web-Based New Literacies and EFL Curriculum Design in Teacher Education: A Design Study for Expanding EFL Student Teachers’ Language-Related Literacy Practices in an Egyptian Pre-service Teacher Education Programme

With the dominance of the Web in education and English language learning, new literacies have emerged. This thesis is motivated by the assumption that these literacies need to be integrated into the Egyptian pre-service EFL teacher education programmes so that EFL student teachers can cope with the new reality of language teaching/learning. Therefore, the main objective of the present study is to develop a theoretical understanding of the relationship between Web-based new literacies and the teaching of TESOL in a way that supports the possibility of expanding Egyptian pre-service EFL student teachers’ language-related literacy practices by integrating some Web-based new literacies into their education programme, with specific reference to the context of Assiut University College of Education (AUCOE). This requires accomplishing minor objectives represented in: (1) identifying the range of those Web-based new literacies that Egyptian EFL student teachers need in this ICT-dominated age; (2) identifying those Web-based facilities beneficial to them, and why and how they can be beneficial; and (3) generating framework for EFL curriculum design based on both literature and empirical data. To accomplish this, a design-based research (DBR) methodology drawing on a pragmatic epistemology is developed and employed as the main research paradigm informing this design study. Thus, the research design involves a flexible three-stage research framework: (1) the preliminary phase, which acts as a theoretical and empirical foundation for the whole study, and informs a preliminary design framework; it involves reviewing relevant literature and obtaining empirical data through documentary analysis (100 documents), online questionnaire (n=50), and semi-structured interviews (n=19); (2) the prototyping phase that involves two iterations (36 participants in the first iteration, and 30 in the second) conducted in the Egyptian context to test the proposed design framework. Each iteration acts as a micro-cycle of the whole design study, and thus involves its own objectives, learning design, research methodology and procedures (in line with the main DBR methodology), and results; (3) the assessment/reflective phase which, based on the prototyping phase results, presents a final design framework for expanding EFL student teachers’ language-related literacy practices. This has implications for the EFL curriculum design process within the Egyptian context in general, and AUCOE in particular. Results indicate that throughout the two iterations, it has become evident that the process of expanding EFL student teachers’ language-related literacy practices by integrating some Web-based new literacies into the AUCOE pre-service programme is quite feasible once some design principles are considered. Some significant conclusions and educational implications are provided, along with some main contributions to knowledge in TESOL/TEFL, language-learning theory, research methodology, and educational practice as far as the Egyptian context of pre-service EFL teacher education is concerned.Egyptian government Ministry of Higher Education represented by the Egyptian Culture & Educational Bureau in Londo