“Welcome to America”: Immigrants’ perceptions of welcomeness as a factor in L2 acquisition

Màster de Lingüística Aplicada i Adquisició de Llengües en Contextos Multilingües, Departament de Filologia Anglesa i Alemanya, Universitat de Barcelona, Curs: 2018-2019, Tutor: Elsa TragantThe present study seeks to gain new insights into the L2 acquisition process of immigrants learning English in the United States by investigating the hypothesized role of a new construct in SLA: Welcomeness. Welcomeness refers to the L2 learner’s perceptions of the L2 community’s attitudes toward the learner—particularly the extent to which the L2 learner feels respected, accepted, and supported by the L2 community. Drawing on the theoretical framework of Gardner’s (1985b) Integrative Motivation complex, the investigation aimed to explore whether Welcomeness is a distinct construct, whether it can be reliably measured, and what its relationship might be to other factors in L2 acquisition. Data were collected via a sociolinguistic questionnaire specifically developed for this study, which was distributed to 29 immigrant English learners in Nashville, Tennessee. Factor analysis and assessment of internal reliability found evidence that Welcomeness is a distinct, measurable construct. Further statistical analysis found a positive relationship between Welcomeness and learners’ self-reported English proficiency, as well as their intention to continue residing in the United States for the foreseeable future. The directionality of these relationships, however, was unable to be assessed. The paper concludes with several caveats and ideas for future research into the impact of Welcomeness on immigrants’ L2 acquisition

Optical processing for distributed sensors in control of flexible spacecraft

A recent potential of distributed image processing is discussed. Applications in the control of flexible spacecraft are emphasized. Devices are currently being developed at NASA and in universities and industries that allow the real-time processing of holographic images. Within 5 years, it is expected that, in real-time, one may add or subtract holographic images at optical accuracy. Images are stored and processed in crystal mediums. The accuracy of their storage and processing is dictated by the grating level of laser holograms. It is far greater than that achievable using current analog-to-digital, pixel oriented, image digitizing and computing techniques. Processors using image processing algebra can conceptually be designed to mechanize Fourier transforms, least square lattice filters, and other complex control system operations. Thus, actuator command inputs derived from complex control laws involving distributed holographic images can be generated by such an image processor. Plans are revealed for the development of a Conjugate Optics Processor for control of a flexible object