Pointed Trees Of Projective Spaces

We introduce a smooth projective variety T(d,n) which compactifies the space of configurations of it distinct points oil affine d-space modulo translation and homothety. The points in the boundary correspond to n-pointed stable rooted trees of d-dimensional projective spaces, which for d = 1, are (n + 1)-pointed stable rational curves. In particular, T(1,n) is isomorphic to ($) over bar (0,n+1), the moduli space of such curves. The variety T(d,n) shares many properties with (M) over bar (0,n+1). For example, as we prove, the boundary is a smooth normal crossings divisor whose components are products of T(d,i) for i \u3c n and it has an inductive construction analogous to but differing from Keel\u27s for (0,n+1). This call be used to describe its Chow groups and Chow motive generalizing [Trans. Airier. Math. Soc. 330 (1992), 545-574]. It also allows us to compute its Poincare polynomials, giving all alternative to the description implicit in [Progr. Math., vol. 129, Birkhauser, 1995, pp. 401-417]. We give a presentation of the Chow rings of T(d,n), exhibit explicit dual bases for the dimension I and codimension 1 cycles. The variety T(d,n) is embedded in the Fulton-MacPherson spaces X[n] for any smooth variety X, and we use this connection in a number of ways. In particular we give a family of ample divisors on T(d,n) and an inductive presentation of the Chow motive of X[n]. This also gives an inductive presentation of the Chow groups of X[n] analogous to Keel\u27s presentation for (M) over bar (0,n+1), solving a problem posed by Fulton and MacPherson

Is light reading enough to fully acquire academic language? The bridge hypothesis

The Bridge Hypothesis states that pleasure reading acts as a bridge between conversational and academic language, providing the competence that makes demanding texts more comprehensible. In two studies, D. Gardner argues that pleasure reading does not play a role in helping children understand academic texts, but a close look at the data shows that Gardner's evidence actually supports the Bridge Hypothesis.&nbsp

REMARKS ON LANGUAGE ACQUISITION AND LITERACY: LANGUAGE ACQUISITION AND TEACHING, FREE READING, "TEST-PREP" AND ITS CONSEQUENCES, THE USE OF THE FIRST LANGUAGE, WRITING, AND THE GREAT NATIVE SPEAKER TEACHER DEBATE

This paper reviews the arguments for comprehensible input (the"comprehension hypothesis" and discusses some of itsapplications to beginning and intermediate language teaching,including free voluntary reading as a bridge from conversationalto academic language. The comprehension hypothesis providessome guidance on the proper use of the first language in secondlanguage teaching and helps explain what writing can andcannot do. Finally, the comprehension hypothesis contributes tothe Great Native Speaker Teacher debate: We want teachers (1)to understand language acquisition, (2) to understand languagepedagogy, and (3) to speak the language well. My point is thatnumber (3) alone is not enough, even if the teacher is a nativespeaker.Keywords: comprehensible input, language acquisition,TPR, Natural Approach, TPRS, shelteredsubject matter teaching, free voluntary reading,writin

COMMENTARY: CAN FREE READING TAKE YOU ALL THE WAY? A RESPONSE TO COBB (2007)

Cobb (2007) argues that free reading cannot provide L2 readers with sufficient opportunities for acquiring vocabulary in order to reach an adequate level of reading comprehension of English texts. In this paper, we argue that (1) Cobb severely underestimates the amount of reading even a very modest reading habit would afford L2 readers, and therefore underestimates the impact of free reading on L2 vocabulary development; and (2) Cobb’s data show that free reading is in fact a very powerful tool in vocabulary acquisition

the effects and efficiency of hearing stories on vocabulary acquisition by students of German as a second foreign language in Japan

The usual approach to vocabulary learning is to present students with a list of words to be memorized, present them in the context of a text, and then provide exercises to “reinforce” the vocabulary. The purpose of these studies with beginning level German-as-a-foreign language university students in Japan was to determine whether beginning level students with limited vocabulary in German could sustain their interest in hearing a story for over 20 minutes, and to determine how much vocabulary could be gained just from hearing stories, without a list to memorize and supplementary vocabulary exercises. The first experiment showed that hearing a story had a higher acquisition/learning rate than a list method. The second and third experiments showed that supplementary focus on form activities were not worthwhile on vocabulary acquisition/learning, and that the rate of acquisition/learning was .10 words per minute during the seven weeks. It appears to be the case that students acquire six words per hour when they hear stories, while they learn 2.4 words per hour in traditional classes

Evidence from neurolinguistic methodologies: can it actually inform linguistic/ language acquisition theories and translate to evidence-based applications?

This special issue is a testament to the recent burgeoning interest by theoretical linguists, language acquisitionists and teaching practitioners in the neuroscience of language. It offers a highly valuable, state-of-the-art overview of the neurophysiological methods that are currently being applied to questions in the field of second language (L2) acquisition, teaching and processing. Research in the area of neurolinguistics has developed dramatically in the past twenty years, providing a wealth of exciting findings, many of which are discussed in the papers in this volume. The goal of this commentary is twofold. The first is to critically assess the current state of neurolinguistic data from the point of view of language acquisition and processing—informed by the papers that comprise this special issue and the literature as a whole—pondering how the neuroscience of language/processing might inform us with respect to linguistic and language acquisition theories. The second goal is to offer some links from implications of exploring the first goal towards informing language teachers and the creation of linguistically and neurolinguistically-informed evidence-based pedagogies for non-native language teaching

Teaching Intercultural Competence in Translator Training

In this position paper we define an interculturally competent translator as one that demonstrates a high level of intercultural knowledge, skills, attitude and flexibility throughout his or her professional engagements. We argue that to attain this goal in translator training intercultural competence needs to be introduced into the curriculum explicitly and in a conceptually clear manner. In this article we provide an overview of earlier attempts at discussing the role of intercultural communication in translator training curricula and we discuss the various pedagogical and practical challenges involved. We also look at some future challenges, identifying increasing societal diversity as both a source of added urgency into intercultural training and a challenge for traditional biculturally based notions of translators’ intercultural competence and we argue for the central role of empathy. Finally, and importantly, we introduce the contributions to the special issue

Open Problems on Central Simple Algebras

We provide a survey of past research and a list of open problems regarding central simple algebras and the Brauer group over a field, intended both for experts and for beginners.Comment: v2 has some small revisions to the text. Some items are re-numbered, compared to v