Language technologies in speech-enabled second language learning games : from reading to dialogue

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2012.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 237-244).Second language learning has become an important societal need over the past decades. Given that the number of language teachers is far below demand, computer-aided language learning software is becoming a promising supplement to traditional classroom learning, as well as potentially enabling new opportunities for self-learning. The use of speech technologies is especially attractive to offer students unlimited chances for speaking exercises. To create helpful and intelligent speaking exercises on a computer, it is necessary for the computer to not only recognize the acoustics, but also to understand the meaning and give appropriate responses. Nevertheless, most existing speech-enabled language learning software focuses only on speech recognition and pronunciation training. Very few have emphasized exercising the student's composition and comprehension abilities and adopting language technologies to enable free-form conversation emulating a real human tutor. This thesis investigates the critical functionalities of a computer-aided language learning system, and presents a generic framework as well as various language- and domain-independent modules to enable building complex speech-based language learning systems. Four games have been designed and implemented using the framework and the modules to demonstrate their usability and flexibility, where dynamic content creation, automatic assessment, and automatic assistance are emphasized. The four games, reading, translation, question-answering and dialogue, offer different activities with gradually increasing difficulty, and involve a wide range of language processing techniques, such as language understanding, language generation, question generation, context resolution, dialogue management and user simulation. User studies with real subjects show that the systems were well received and judged to be helpful.by Yushi Xu.Ph.D

BGSU 1997-1998-1999 Undergraduate Catalog

Bowling Green State University undergraduate catalog for 1997-1998-1999.https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/catalogs/1011/thumbnail.jp

BGSU 1995-1996-1997 Undergraduate Catalog

Bowling Green State University undergraduate catalog for 1995-1996-1997.https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/catalogs/1012/thumbnail.jp

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)

Bowdoin College Catalogue (2002-2003)

https://digitalcommons.bowdoin.edu/course-catalogues/1283/thumbnail.jp

ICT in education in crisis contexts: an activity theoretical study of teaching and learning in Nepal during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic affected numerous learners around the world including Nepalese school children. These children experienced educational disruption arising from long school closures. Among other various educational models practiced during the COVID-19 pandemic to minimise such disruption, the use of ICT in education played an instrumental role. While a limited number of studies explore the use of technology during the pandemic in Nepalese secondary schools, none have yet explored in any depth how ICT was used and what affordances, i.e. action potentials of ICT, teachers perceived and acted upon. This study uses activity theory and the theory of affordances as a conceptual and methodological framework to explore the use of ICT in education during the COVID-19 pandemic in secondary schools and whether emerging affordances were acted upon by secondary school teachers. Remote classroom observations, focus groups and interviews with a variety of stakeholders were analysed using an activity theory-inspired coding scheme. The analysis indicates that a range of different educational practices such as Tole education, online teaching and learning among others were implemented during the COVID-19 crisis situation. Tole education is a neighbourhood-based approach that gathers children in a central location at the designated place (Tole) and holds regular learning sessions where pupils gather in small groups. Issues such as technological breakdowns, a shortage of good quality internet access at home, lack of engagement on the part of pupils, limited digital skills of teachers hindered the success of teaching during the pandemic. However, in attempts to resolve these issues, educational stakeholders such as teachers engaged with new initiatives. Consequently, educational and technological affordances emerged. Analysis of these emerging issues and affordances sheds light on issues and concerns pertaining to educational disruption in crisis situations and aids the framing of educational policies in such contexts

Computer language support programs for tertiary students : a contribution to educational linguistics

Bibliography leaves 240-258

Folk Vocal Techniques of Pontos and Epirus in Modern Greece: a Study in Reflexive Musical Ethnography

In this thesis I examine the vocal techniques employed by performers of contemporary Greek Pontic and Epirotic traditional music. Combining fieldwork analysis with personal experience, I have been able to demonstrate the underlying cognitive and physiological processes that inform these techniques. While anatomical considerations constitute a central focus of this analysis, I offer at the same time an appraisal of vocal bimusicality. The latter issue arises from my own particular perspectives, understandings and personal experience in diverse musical worlds. The objectives of this research are: a) to identify current vocal techniques in Pontic and Epirotic styles, paying special attention to the exceptional use of the larynx and the articulation/projection of vocalized sounds; b) to bridge the gap between theory and practice in studies of voice and vocal production; and c) to demonstrate how personal experience is relevant to ethnographic research in vocal music. In introducing the research field, chapter I of this study reflects on my role as a native researcher-performer and outlines my choice of case studies. The following chapter reviews the Cantometrics project and considers its relevance to Greek folk song. In addition, other scholarly literature pertinent to the present analysis is surveyed, while there is also consideration of fundamental anatomical and physiological issues. Chapters III and IV focus on the central points of analysis in the thesis with special emphasis on the vocal production of the Pontic and Epirotic styles. Employing verbatim quotations from: a) five co-workers in the Pontic style and b) five co-workers and one polyphonic group in the Epirotic style, I analyze the vocal production of these two Greek musical genres as currently performed. The main conclusions of the research refer to techniques such as: a) the movable larynx, b) the extensive use of the soft palate and upper chest area, c) the widening of the mouth, and d) the dropping of the jaw, which are equally discussed in detail. In the same vein, an analogy is drawn between the vocal production and the size of the musical intervals used in both traditions. Chapter V deals with my own learning processes in Greek folk culture and also in the two aspects of my musicality: the Pontic and Western operatic. Here I endeavour to locate myself among my co-workers and also to provide an 'insider's' view on the subject of bimusicality. I also comment upon the effect that ensues when moving from the Pontic to the operatic vocal style, that is to say, the consequences of changing musical systems and musical environments. The final chapter summarizes the findings of this monograph whose practice-based research is also accompanied by a DVD containing performances by co-workers and by audio examples. In these ways, I attempt to bridge the 'gap' between theory and practice in those aspects of vocal production that stem from an aural/oral musical tradition

Sinergitas Perguruan Tinggi dan Pemerintah Daerah Melalui Pemberdayaan Masyarakat dalam Menghadapi Revolusi Industri 4.0

SENADIMAS ke-4 diikuti oleh 185 presenter yang telah melalui tahap review ketat dan dinyatakan lolos untuk diseminarkan. Penyelenggaraan SENADIMAS tahun ini menampilkan dua pembicara yaitu Bapak Wayan Wiasthana Ika Putra, S.Sos., M.Si., yang saat ini menjabat sebagai Kepala Bappeda Provinsi Bali, dan Bapak Dr. rer.nat. I Wayan Karyasa, S.Pd., M.Sc, dari Universitas Pendidikan Ganesha yang seringkali dipercaya sebagai pembicara dan Pemonev DRPM Kemenristekdikti. Indonesia sebagai negara dengan kekayaan yang melimpah senantiasa menjadi bagian dari perkembangan dunia di era milenial sekarang ini. Kita tidak dapat memungkiri banyak satuan ukur yang dikeluarkan lembaga-lembaga independent baik dalam skala nasional maupun internasional yang menjadi tolok ukur perkembangan sebuah negara. Misalnya laporan tentang tingkat daya saing negara-negara di dunia (Global Competitiveness Index/GCI) yang disampaikan oleh World Economic Forum (WEF), untuk tahun 2018-2019 Indonesia berada pada peringkat 45, meningkat dari tahun sebelumnya yang berada pada peringkat 47. Dasar yang digunakan acuan pemeringkatan oleh WEF adalah 12 pilar guna mengukur daya saing yang menjadi penentu dari pertumbuhan jangka panjang dan faktor esensial dalam pertumbuhan ekonomi dan kesejahteraan. 12 pilar tersebut diantaranya adalah Insitusi (Insitutions), Infrastruktur (Infrastructure), Adopsi TIK (ICT adoption), Stabilitas Makroekonomi (Macroeconomic Stability), Kesehatan (health), Keterampilan (Skills), Pasar Produk (Product Market), Pasar Tenaga Kerja (Labour Market), Sistem Finansial (Financial System), Besaran pasar (Market Size), Dinamisme Bisnis (Business Dynamism) dan Kemampuan Inovasi (Innovation Capability). Data ini tentu menjadi arah bagi Institusi pendidikan tinggi dalam berkontribusi meningkatkan penilaian khususnya pada aspek peningkatan skills dan innovation capability sebagai perwujudan daya saing Indonesia secara internasional. Komitmen perguruan tinggi dalam berkontribusi meningkatkan peringkat Indonesia terhadap daya saing negara (GCI) dapat dilakukan melalui tridharma perguruan tinggi yaitu pendidikan dan pengajaran, penelitian, dan pengabdian kepada masyarakat. Di era millenial yang ditandai dengan revolusi industri 4.0 dan adanya prediksi Indonesia mengalami bonus demografi pada 2030-2040 menuntut kontribusi besar lembaga pendidikan tinggi untuk terus menjadi pendorong peningkatan daya saing bangsa. Sebagai sebuah institusi pendidikan, perguruan tinggi mempunyai kewajiban melakukan kajian dan penelitian untuk menggali rahasia alam. Penelitian merupakan salah satu dharma perguruan tinggi yang mempunyai peran strategis karena hasil penelitian dapat dimanfaatkan untuk pengembangan dharma yang lain yaitu pendidikan dan pengabdian masyarakat. Namun dalam tenyataannya, sebagian besar hasil penelitian di perguruan tinggi belum dimanfaatkan secara optimal, dan lebih banyak dimanfaatkan sebagai bahan pengembangan pembelajaran, atau bahkan sekadar menghasilkan laporan penelitian. Hasil penelitian yang kemudian diterapkan di masyarakat, masih sangat sedikit. Akibatnya meskipun banyak dilakukan penelitian, namun permasalahan di masyarakat tidak banyak yang terselesaikan

THE ROLE OF JAVANESE CULTURE IN CHARACTER BUILDING AT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Nowadays, character education becomes a major concern in Indonesia. Character development has been done by various strategy, but the results is yet to be seen. Character development should beginin elementary school in order that the children's charactercould formed early so that it could be developed until they are mature. One of the efforts of character building is integrating the local wisdom in learning. One of them is the Javanese culture. Javanese culture has a variety of rules called the "unggah-ungguh" that always give good models to the public community, especially to the Javanese. Along with the times, the Javanese culture that upholds ethics began to degraded and replaced by foreign cultures that came later. The parents’ roles in instilling the Javanese culture to their children also decreased gradually. This paper will examine the Javanese culture’s roles toward the character building in elementary schools’ students. Descriptive method supported by a depth review of the literature and the previous studies is used in this paper as a method. Based on the results of these reviews, we obtain some information about the types and mechanisms of Javanese culture in character building of students, especially elementary school students