Colorado Literacy Tutor as a support in learning and improving reading in L2 (English) for Polish children

The article below is a short presentation of Colorado Literacy Tutor (CLT ) to Polish readers. CLT is a computer program built to help children in developing literacy skills in English. The main advantage of CLT is the deployment of animated highly interactive interface that enhances both human-computer interaction and the student’s learning performance. Designed to help American children, CLT is capable to serve as a learning tool for all children who need to practice reading in English. Since teaching English to Polish children is common in almost all elementary schools and some kindergartens, CLT provides an ideal test bed for research on how Polish children acquire reading abilities in English. The main components of CLT are presented and their impact on reading acquisition is explained. A short preliminary report on author’s pilot study is also given.The article below is a short presentation of Colorado Literacy Tutor (CLT) to Polish readers. CLT is a computer program built to help children in developing literacy skills in English. The main advantage of CLT is the deployment of animated highly interactive interface that enhances both human-computer interaction and the student’s learning performance. Designed to help American children, CLT is capable to serve as a learning tool for all children who need to practice reading in English. Since teaching English to Polish children is common in almost all elementary schools and some kindergartens, CLT provides an ideal test bed for research on how Polish children acquire reading abilities in English. The main components of CLT are presented and their impact on reading acquisition is explained. A short preliminary report on author’s pilot study is also given

Joint attentional frames in computer assisted teaching of reading

This article is to explain how computer programs can teach children to read. The children-computer interaction is analyzed as a joint attentional frame. It is argued that children interact with computer and avatars (life-like characters) in educational programs because they treat them like other people (media equation) and act like in a joint attentional frame. The article consists of four parts. The first part is an introduction showing a broad background of this research. The second part presents current views on language acquisition in cognitive linguistics framework which is a Tomasello?s socio-pragmatic theory. The third part is an analysis of some educational programs in terms of joint attentional frame with emphasis on Colorado Literacy Tutor. The last part suggests that children do treat avatars as people because they perceive them like the self, which is a consequence of being brought up in a series of joint attentional frames.This article is to explain how computer programs can teach children to read. The children-computer interaction is analyzed as a joint attentional frame. It is argued that children interact with computer and avatars (life-like characters) in educational programs because they treat them like other people (media equation) and act like in a joint attentional frame. The article consists of four parts. The first part is an introduction showing a broad background of this research. The second part presents current views on language acquisition in cognitive linguistics framework which is a Tomasello?s socio-pragmatic theory. The third part is an analysis of some educational programs in terms of joint attentional frame with emphasis on Colorado Literacy Tutor. The last part suggests that children do treat avatars as people because they perceive them like the self, which is a consequence of being brought up in a series of joint attentional frames.

Computer assisted reading tutoring in L2 using Colorado Literacy Tutor

Successful tutorship of reading depends on several conditions. Teaching to read require well prepared method with scientific foundations. Children expect entertaining exercises supported with motivational system and a patient tutor who helps in perfecting the skills related to reading. At last, the whole tutorship should be scalable, so large groups of children and whole schools can learn to read step by step. Their progress should be observable for teachers, parents and researchers. Computer assisted reading tutoring may fulfill all these conditions. Colorado Literacy Tutor is a program especially designed to meet these expectations and this article is to explore its possibilities. Short report on pioneer testing of CLT on Polish children is also given.Successful tutorship of reading depends on several conditions. Teaching to read require well prepared method with scientific foundations. Children expect entertaining exercises supported with motivational system and a patient tutor who helps in perfecting the skills related to reading. At last, the whole tutorship should be scalable, so large groups of children and whole schools can learn to read step by step. Their progress should be observable for teachers, parents and researchers. Computer assisted reading tutoring may fulfill all these conditions. Colorado Literacy Tutor is a program especially designed to meet these expectations and this article is to explore its possibilities. Short report on pioneer testing of CLT on Polish children is also given.

Multimodal communication in career coaching sessions: lexical and gestural corpus study

In the paper we aim to describe multimodal communication in career coaching sessions using recorded natural, face-to-face interactions and corpus techniques. We look on how the specific context of communication influences the lexical and gestural behaviour of speakers in the dialogues between a professional career coach and a participant. Main topic of the conversation was participant’s future career. Spoken corpus of career coaching sessions was compared with standard spoken Polish corpus, to reveal four main categories of keywords: cognition verbs, words describing uncertainty and words indicating an abstract referent. Also some types and functions of gestures in career coaching were analysed with the use of NEUROGES coding system.The paper has been prepared within a research project funded by the Polish National Science Centre (decision DEC- 2011/03/D/HS6/05993)

Recording and transcription of speech and gesture in the narration of Polish adults and children

In the present paper, the experimental procedure, the details of sound and video recording set-up as well as the system for speech and gesture transciption and coding used in the Polish Cartoon Narration Corpus (PCNC) project are described. The audio-visual data come from a cartoon narration task performed by both children and adults. The recordings are transcribed orthographically and phonemically, and labelled for selected phenomena on a number of levels, including gesture, lexicon, prosody, and dialogue acts.In the present paper, the experimental procedure, the details of sound and video recording set-up as well as the system for speech and gesture transciption and coding used in the Polish Cartoon Narration Corpus (PCNC) project are described. The audio-visual data come from a cartoon narration task performed by both children and adults. The recordings are transcribed orthographically and phonemically, and labelled for selected phenomena on a number of levels, including gesture, lexicon, prosody, and dialogue acts

Μηχανισμοί αναπροσαρμογής συμβατικών όρων στις συμβάσεις ιδιωτικού και δημοσίου δικαίου

Η παρούσα εργασία καταπιάνεται με την αναπροσαρμογή των συμβατικών όρων, την επιγενόμενη, δηλαδή, μεταβολή του περιεχομένου τους, τόσο στο παραδοσιακό περιβάλλον των ιδιωτικών έννομων σχέσεων, όσο και στο πλαίσιο των συμβατικών σχέσεων που το ελληνικό κράτος αναπτύσσει με ιδιώτες. Αφού οριστεί η έννοια της «αναπροσαρμογής» και οριοθετηθεί από συγγενείς έννοιες, ακολουθεί η ταξινόμηση των μηχανισμών με τους οποίους αυτή επιτυγχάνεται σε τρεις κύριες κατηγορίες: στους μηχανισμούς αυτόνομης, νομοθετικής και δικαστικής αναπροσαρμογής. Τα τρία αυτά είδη μηχανισμών αναδεικνύονται στους άξονες γύρω από τους οποίους περιστρέφεται ολόκληρη η ανάλυση που ακολουθεί, η οποία διέρχεται πρώτα από τον χώρο του ιδιωτικού, και ύστερα από τον χώρο του δημοσίου δικαίου. Διερευνώνται επιμέρους προβληματικές που εγείρει το κάθε είδος μηχανισμού, ενίοτε με αφορμή το περιεχόμενο συγκεκριμένων δικαστικών αποφάσεων, ενώ μετά την επισκόπησή τους θίγεται και το ζήτημα της μεταξύ τους αλληλεπίδρασης. Η ροή της ανάλυσης είναι η ίδια για το ιδιωτικό και για το δημόσιο δίκαιο, αλλά μεγαλύτερη έκταση αφιερώνεται στο πρώτο, μιας και αποτελεί αυτονοήτως προνομιακό πεδίο εκδήλωσης του συμβατικού φαινομένου.The present thesis deals with the adjustment of contractual terms, i.e., the subsequent variation in their content, both within the traditional environment of private legal transactions and in the context of contractual relations established between the Greek state and private persons. After defining the concept of “adjustment” and separating it from related concepts, the thesis proceeds to classify the mechanisms by which adjustment is achieved into three main categories: autonomous (contractual), legislative and judicial. These three types of mechanisms become the themes around which the entire analysis is structured, starting with the field of private law and then moving on to public law. Special issues raised by each type of mechanism are explored, often occasioned by specific court rulings, while after their review, the question of their interaction is also addressed. The flow of the analysis follows the same pattern for both private and public law, yet more space is devoted to the former, since it forms the natural habitat of the contractual phenomenon

Aspects of gestural alignment in task-oriented dialogues

Aspects of gestural alignment in task-oriented dialogues Interlocutors in a conversation influence each other in a number of dimensions. This process may lead to observable changes in their communicative behaviour. The directions and profiles of these changes are often correlated with the quality of interaction and may predict its success. In the present study, the gestural component of communication is scrutinised for changes that may reflect the process of alignment. Two types of task-oriented dialogues between teenagers are recorded and annotated for gestures and their features. We hypothesize that the dialogue task type (collaborative vs. competitive), as well as certain culture-specific properties of alignment that differ between German and Polish pairs, may significantly influence the process of communication. In order to explore the data and detect tendencies in gestural behaviour, automatised annotation mining and statistical exploration have been used, including a moving frame approach aimed at the investigation of co-occurring strokes as well as re-occurring strokes and their features. Significant differences between German and Polish speakers, as well as between the two dialogue types, have been found in the number of gestures, stroke duration and amplitude.   Aspekty wzajemnego dopasowania gestykulacji w dialogach zadaniowych Uczestnicy konwersacji wpływają na siebie wzajemnie w wielu różnych wymiarach. Proces ten może prowadzić do obserwowalnych zmian w ich zachowaniach komunikacyjnych. Kierunek i charakter tych zmian często wiążą się z jakością interakcji i mogą pozwolić przewidzieć jej sukces. Celem niniejszego badania jest eksploracja gestowego składnika komunikacji pod kątem zjawisk, które mogą odzwierciedlać zjawisko wzajemnego dopasowania uczestników. Zarejestrowano dwa typy dialogów zadaniowych z udziałem nastolatków. Nagrania anotowano pod kątem gestów i ich cech. W badaniu postawiono hipotezę, iż typ zadania dialogowego (ukierunkowane na współpracę vs. na konkurencję), jak również pewne specyficzne cechy kulturowe dopasowania komunikacyjnego, które różnicują polskie i niemieckie pary rozmówców, mogą oddziaływać na proces komunikacji. W celu eksploracji danych oraz wykrycia tendencji cechujących zachowania gestowe, wykorzystano zautomatyzowane metody analizy anotacji oraz techniki statystyczne. Uwzględniono podejście oparte na ruchomych oknach czasowych, umożliwiające analizę współwystępowania jak i powtarzania gestów właściwych i ich właściwości. Wykazano istotne różnice między rozmówcami polskimi i niemieckimi oraz między typami zadań dialogowych w zakresie liczby gestów, czasu trwania oraz amplitudy gestu właściwego

Skuteczne usunięcie cewnika Swana-Ganza zapętlonego w prawej komorze serca. Opis przypadku

Invasive monitoring in anesthesia and cardiac surgery indispensablyaccompany complications of cardiac catheterization. Thepossibility of eliminating these complications and the ability tosolve the problems are the most important condition for successand value the cooperation between the anesthesiologist, cardiacsurgeron, radiological team and invasive cardiologists. In thispaper, we present a case of removal of a looped Swan-Ganzcatheter in the right ventricle around the papillary muscle usingintravascular manipulation.Powikłania cewnikowania serca nieodzownie towarzyszą monitorowaniu inwazyjnemu stosowanemu podczas anestezji u chorych kardiochirurgicznych. Możliwość eliminacji tychże powikłań, oraz umiejętność rozwiązania zaistniałych problemów są najistotniejszym warunkiem powodzenia i wartościują współpracę pomiędzy zespołem anestezjologicznym, kardiochirurgicznym, radiologicznym oraz kardiologów inwazyjnych. W niniejszej pracy przedstawiamy przypadek skutecznego usunięcia zapętlonego cewnika Swana Ganza w prawej komorze serca wokół mięśnia brodawkowatego za pomocą manipulacji wewnątrznaczyniowej. Słowa kluczowe: kardioanestezjologia, cewnik swana ganza, powikłania, funkcje poznawcz

Justify your alpha

Benjamin et al. proposed changing the conventional “statistical significance” threshold (i.e.,the alpha level) from p ≤ .05 to p ≤ .005 for all novel claims with relatively low prior odds. They provided two arguments for why lowering the significance threshold would “immediately improve the reproducibility of scientific research.” First, a p-value near .05provides weak evidence for the alternative hypothesis. Second, under certain assumptions, an alpha of .05 leads to high false positive report probabilities (FPRP2 ; the probability that a significant finding is a false positive