Term Evaluator: A Tool for Terminology Annotation and Evaluation

There are several methods and available tools for terminology extraction, but the quality of the extracted terms is not always high. Hence, an important consideration in terminology extraction is to assess the quality of the extracted terms. In this paper, we propose and make available a tool for annotating the correctness of terms extracted by three term-extraction tools. This tool facilitates term annotation by using a domain-specific dictionary, a set of filters, and an annotation memory, and allows for post-hoc evaluation. We present a study in which two human judges used the developed tool for term annotation. Their annotations were then analyzed to determine the efficiency of term extraction tools by measures of precision, recall, and F-score, and to calculate the inter-annotator agreement rate

Local-Global Vectors to Improve Unigram Terminology Extraction

The present paper explores a novel method that integrates efficient distributed representations with terminology extraction. We show that the information from a small number of observed instances can be combined with local and global word embeddings to remarkably improve the term extraction results on unigram terms. To do so, we pass the terms extracted by other tools to a filter made of the local-global embeddings and a classifier which in turn decides whether or not a term candidate is a term. The filter can also be used as a hub to merge different term extraction tools into a single higher-performing system. We compare filters that use the skipgram architecture and filters that employ the CBOW architecture for the task at hand

The Role of Repeated Exposure to Multimodal Input in Incidental Acquisition of Foreign Language Vocabulary

Prior research has reported incidental vocabulary acquisition with complete beginners in a foreign language (FL), within 8 exposures to auditory and written FL word forms presented with a picture depicting their meaning. However, important questions remain about whether acquisition occurs with fewer exposures to FL words in a multimodal situation and whether there is a repeated exposure effect. Here we report a study where the number of exposures to FL words in an incidental learning phase varied between 2, 4, 6, and 8 exposures. Following the incidental learning phase, participants completed an explicit learning task where they learned to recognize written translation equivalents of auditory FL word forms, half of which had occurred in the incidental learning phase. The results showed that participants performed better on the words they had previously been exposed to, and that this incidental learning effect occurred from as little as 2 exposures to the multimodal stimuli. In addition, repeated exposure to the stimuli was found to have a larger impact on learning during the first few exposures and decrease thereafter, suggesting that the effects of repeated exposure on vocabulary acquisition are not necessarily constant

The Effect of Content Retelling on Vocabulary Uptake from a TED Talk

This study investigates the potential benefits for incidental vocabulary acquisition of implementing a particular sequence of input-output-input activities. More specifically, EFL learners (n = 32) were asked to watch a TED Talks video, orally sum up its content in English, and then watch the video once more. A comparison group (n = 32) also watched the TED Talks video twice but were not required to sum it up in between. Immediate and delayed post-tests showed significantly better word-meaning recall in the former condition. An analysis of the oral summaries showed that it was especially words which learners attempted to use that stood a good chance of being recalled later. These findings are interpreted with reference to Swain’s (e.g., 1995) Output Hypothesis, Laufer and Hulstijn’s (2001) Involvement Load Hypothesis, and Nation and Webb’s (2011) Technique Feature Analysis. What makes the text-based output task in this experiment fundamentally different from many previous studies which have investigated the merits of text-based output activities is that it was at no point stipulated for the participants that they should use particular words from the input text. The study also illustrates the potential of TED Talks as a source of authentic audio-visual input in EFL classrooms

Reading Comprehension and Second Language Development in a Comprehension-Based ESL Program

How do experienced ESL instructors plan and organize their teaching practices to make curriculum innovations? The present research sought answers to this question in three different educational contexts, attempting to document the curriculum concepts, pedagogical knowledge, and processes of instructional planning that eight teachers used to create novel courses for adult ESL learners. Findings describe (1) four modes of planning and twelve cycles of information-gathering in the ESL curriculum planning of one teacher, (2) verification of this framework among four additional teachers, as well as (3) an additional framework for documenting teachers' orientations to curriculum content in second language writing instruction, accounting for three teachers' processes of accommodating an instructional innovation into their usual teaching practices