Volume 5

Full issue of Volume 5 of Papers & Publications

The MEET Project: Engaging Students in Pre-Departure Socialisation and Learning for Study Abroad

This paper explores the aims, operation and outcomes of the MEET project (Maximise Erasmus Exchange Together), a project which commenced in the Department of Languages, DIT in the 2014/2015 academic year, and contributes to wider discussion on learning in study abroad (SA) contexts. The staff-led MEET initiative sought to engage students more effectively in their preparation for year abroad study and work placements. It brought together approximately twenty 20 students in second-year and fourth-year of BA (Hons) programmes in Languages and International Business or Tourism as well as Erasmus students from a variety of different programmes, who were studying at the Dublin Institute of Technology. Students took on group leadership roles to organise and deliver a range of co-curricular and extra-curricular social and cultural events, for which and at which particular language-learning activities were undertaken. Questionnaires, semi-structured interviews and empirical observations attest to the value for student learning and confidence of the interventions and actions undertaken. The findings suggest that student preparedness for work and study abroad programmes, in themselves significant transition and transformative experiences, is enhanced when students are more consciously engaged in concerted efforts to initiate and reflect on their own learning and behaviours prior to SA experiences. The research also highlights issues around student motivation and willingness to engage with non-programme related learning and reflects on individualised learning pathways. The research will be of particular interest to those involved in language and intercultural teaching and learning, and to those preparing students for study and work placements abroad

From Disability to Usability in Online Instruction

This article is a primer on the work needed to ensure accessibility in online instruction. It discusses different disabilities, reviews relevant laws and standards, and explores the relationship between accessibility and the principles of universal design. The article introduces a number of best practices for creating accessibility in online instruction

An Enhancement Method for Japanese-English Automated Translation

We present a method for improving existing statistical machine translation methods using a knowledge base compiled from a bilingual corpus as well as sequence alignment and pattern matching techniques from the area of machine learning and bioinformatics. An alignment algorithm identifies similar sentences, which are then used to construct a better word order for the translation. Our preliminary test results indicate a significant improvement of the translation quality.

Linguistics 2016 APR Self-Study & Documents

UNM Linguistics APR self-study report, review team report, response report, and initial action plan for Fall 2016, fulfilling requirements of the Higher Learning Commission