Search

Background: Shared reading is an important opportunity for parents and children to connect and learn, which can support later independent reading skills. Much of the research to date has examined shared reading as parents read physical print books with their children. This research has demonstrated that parents tend to engage in more activities that emphasise the meaning of the stories over the code (i.e., print). Here, we examine the focus of shared reading when parents are reading with their children on paper versus on a digital device and whether this differs across the preschool years. Methods: A total of 253 parents of children aged 0–5 years completed an online self‐report questionnaire. Parents reported on the frequency of engaging in meaning‐ versus code‐related activities during shared book reading on paper and on screen with their youngest child. We conducted a linear regression analysis contrasting code‐ versus meaning‐related activities on paper versus screen modality with age as a continuous variable. Results: Key to our objectives, parents reported engaging in meaning‐related activities more frequently during shared reading on paper versus on screens and in code‐related activities more frequently during shared reading on screens than on paper. These effects did not differ across age, although overall, parents reported engaging slightly more frequently in shared reading activities in general when their child was older. Conclusions: The findings show that parents are engaging with their children differently as they read together on paper versus screens. Consistent with prior research, we found that activities emphasising the meaning of stories dominate shared paper book reading experiences in the preschool years. Critically shared reading on screens tips this balance, with parents reporting more code‐related activities. These patterns identify the learning opportunities enabled by the affordances of shared reading on screens. Highlights: What is already known about this topicResearch to date on shared reading has shown that parents tend to focus on the meaning of the story (meaning‐related activities) over the features of the print (code‐related activities).This research has largely described how parents read on paper.Parents and children are increasingly reading on screens. What this paper addsWe found that parents report engaging in more meaning‐related activities when reading with their children on paper than on screens.Parents engage in more code‐related activities when reading with their children on screens than on paper.While we found that the frequency of shared reading activities in general increased slightly with the age of the children, the frequency of parental engagement in both types of shared reading activities is similar across the preschool years. Implications for theory, policy or practiceThe findings show that parents report engaging with their children differently as they read together on paper versus screens.Consistent with prior research, we found that when reading on paper, parents emphasise the meaning of stories during shared book reading experiences in the preschool years.In contrast, parents report more code‐related activities when doing shared reading on a screen than on paper. These findings suggest that the affordances offered by reading on screens shift the learning opportunities offered by shared reading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study traces the evolution of computer-assisted language learning (CALL) by investigating published research articles (RAs) in four major CALL journals: ReCALL, Computer Assisted Language Learning, Language Learning & Technology, and CALICO Journal. All 2,397 RAs published over four decades (1983-2019) were included in the pool of data, and the Google Scholar citation metric was adopted to assess the impact of the papers. By selecting the top 15% of widely cited papers from each individual year, we minimized the time bias between years, enabling a balanced narration of the history of CALL through a representative dataset of 426 high-impact RAs. To identify the evolution of research trends, the contexts, methodologies, theoretical underpinnings and research foci of all 426 RAs were investigated using NVivo 12 and AntConc. The analysis of the data yielded encouraging results such as the upward trend in the number of publications and the international reach of CALL in the last two decades, the physical or virtual presence of language learners with diverse language profiles, and the growing tendency to triangulate methodology for increased complexity. However, long-standing issues such as the heavy reliance on traditional research contexts, poor reporting practices of basic demographic information, the large number of atheoretical papers and the concentration on a limited number of research foci continue to pose challenges in CALL research. Based on the findings, the paper suggests solutions for the controversies and addresses key issues for future research in CALL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this conceptual work, we describe cross-disciplinary meaning and language related to the innovation phenomenon located in a business context. Our work attempts to find common meaning and language for innovation that can be applied across all business innovation projects irrespective of the business discipline, and to synthesize these common terms into an innovation communication and planning tool. The objective of providing a common meaning and language for innovation is to give practitioners, researchers, and stakeholders a shared communication platform, and common language and meaning that assist incumbents to discuss and collaborate during innovation projects without the boundaries created by siloed, nuanced, and discipline-specific understandings. The outcome of the paper is a conceptual framework and canvas tool constructed from universal meaning and language for business innovation with the aim of providing a set of common questions that business practitioners could ask during times of innovation. Furthermore, the Business Innovation Canvas provides new directions for future study and the development of tools that take advantage of common meaning and language to aid innovation practitioners and researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study examined the validity of the paper-and-pencil Implicit Association Test (IAT), and whether implicit preferences for English, as assessed by the paper-and-pencil IAT, can predict engagement, which indicates the degree of involvement and performance in English. Participants included university students (N = 322) who responded to the paper-and-pencil IAT and a self-report questionnaire assessing explicit preference, that is, the degree to which they perceive that they like learning English. The results indicated a small but significant correlation between implicit and explicit preferences. Female participants showed a more positive implicit preference for English than male participants. Additionally, students majoring in foreign languages showed a more positive implicit preference for English than non-foreign language majors. These results demonstrate the validity of the paper-and-pencil IAT. They also show that implicit preferences influence actual English test performance and that this relationship is mediated by engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to outline the initial pilot use of the client complexity matrix (CCM), an outcome measure developed for an NHS Adult Intellectual Disabilities Intensive Support Team (IST) in the West Midlands of England. Design/methodology/approach: A mixed method approach was used to report the results and evaluate the use of the CCM within this IST. The CCM was trialled for six months between January 2022 and June 2022. CCM scores pre and post IST intervention were analysed via t-test, and qualitative feedback from clinicians is detailed. Findings: Analysis suggests the CCM captures service success showing a significant decrease in complexity and risk post-intervention. Qualitative comments from clinicians were generally positive; however, there were requested changes regarding specific presentations, use of labels/language and for a digital version. Research limitations/implications: The tool is not co-constructed with the client. Because of this IST's caseload, the sample size was small. Only one clinician was asked to complete the CCM pre and post intervention. Future use of the measure will encourage two clinicians to complete the measure to evidence its inter-rater reliability. Each client's specific presentation was not explicitly analysed here. Practical implications: The CCM will be updated using the feedback from clinicians and from the peer review process. Research that examines the generalisability of this measure to other IST services would be beneficial. Originality/value: The CCM appears to fill a gap in outcome measurements for this IST service which looks at breadth and depth of client complexity and risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The introduction of mobile devices such as smartphones provides new opportunities to enhance the teaching–learning process of a foreign language. However, its use can affect not only the students' type and form of writing but also their ability to achieve the academic competencies targeted. Thus, aspects such as the development of linguistic and communicative competencies could be affected. In this paper, a comparative analysis of two different versions (a paper and a digital version) of the same learning task is carried out in order to analyze the impact of each on the development of students' linguistic and communicative competencies. The study is conducted with undergraduate students enrolled in a course called German II. Modern Language I (level A1.2, Common European Framework of Reference for Languages). The results obtained illustrate, on the one hand, the advantages of the paper version for developing students' linguistic competence and, on the other hand, that the digital version, despite facilitating students' interaction amongst each other, does not seem to be more suitable for developing students' communicative competence. Future studies will, therefore, focus on identifying those features that might increase the potential of the digital version for fostering the targeted competencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines whether the unique and common content of initial coin offering (ICO) white papers is related to ICO fund raising and post‐ICO trading activities. Based on the signalling theory, we expect that high‐quality ICOs can provide more unique content in their white papers to distinguish themselves from low‐quality ICOs because it may be costly for low‐quality ICOs to provide unique and specific information. Our results show that ICOs that have more unique or less common content in their white papers raise more funds or are subject to more active trading and higher market values in the post‐ICO period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Embodied theories of cognition consider many aspects of language and other cognitive domains as the result of sensory and motor processes. In this view, the appraisal and the use of concepts are based on mechanisms of simulation grounded on prior sensorimotor experiences. Even though these theories continue receiving attention and support, increasing evidence indicates the need to consider the flexible nature of the simulation process, and to accordingly refine embodied accounts. In this consensus paper, we discuss two potential sources of variability in experimental studies on embodiment of language: individual differences and context. Specifically, we show how factors contributing to individual differences may explain inconsistent findings in embodied language phenomena. These factors include sensorimotor or cultural experiences, imagery, context-related factors, and cognitive strategies. We also analyze the different contextual modulations, from single words to sentences and narratives, as well as the top-down and bottom-up influences. Similarly, we review recent efforts to include cultural and language diversity, aging, neurodegenerative diseases, and brain disorders, as well as bilingual evidence into the embodiment framework. We address the importance of considering individual differences and context in clinical studies to drive translational research more efficiently, and we indicate recommendations on how to correctly address these issues in future research. Systematically investigating individual differences and context may contribute to understanding the dynamic nature of simulation in language processes, refining embodied theories of cognition, and ultimately filling the gap between cognition in artificial experimental settings and cognition in the wild (i.e., in everyday life). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to embodied theories (including embodied, embedded, extended, enacted, situated, and grounded approaches to cognition), language representation is intrinsically linked to our interactions with the world around us, which is reflected in specific brain signatures during language processing and learning. Moving on from the original rivalry of embodied vs. amodal theories, this consensus paper addresses a series of carefully selected questions that aim at determining when and how rather than whether motor and perceptual processes are involved in language processes. We cover a wide range of research areas, from the neurophysiological signatures of embodied semantics, e.g., event-related potentials and fields as well as neural oscillations, to semantic processing and semantic priming effects on concrete and abstract words, to first and second language learning and, finally, the use of virtual reality for examining embodied semantics. Our common aim is to better understand the role of motor and perceptual processes in language representation as indexed by language comprehension and learning. We come to the consensus that, based on seminal research conducted in the field, future directions now call for enhancing the external validity of findings by acknowledging the multimodality, multidimensionality, flexibility and idiosyncrasy of embodied and situated language and semantic processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organization and structure is the key of social science academic paper writing. The theme contents, perspectives of analysis, narrative methods and language expression determine the organization and structure of the article. Thematic contents include political content, academic content and social content. Perspectives of analysis are macro, meso and micro. Narrative methods include descriptive narrative, explanatory narrative and constructive narrative. Language expression includes academic language, political language and literary language. Combination and arrangement of elements determine the style and characteristics of social science academic paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intersubjectivity is the proposition that human experience occurs in a world of shared and embodied understandings, mediated by culture and language. Nursing is fundamentally relational, and nursing research stems from an exchange between participants and researchers and indeed around the transaction of the patient and the nurse in the intersubjective space of clinical settings. Through the philosophical standpoints of Husserl, Merleau‐Ponty, Heidegger, and Gadamer we examine these differing philosophical constructs of intersubjectivity and the contribution of these positions to phenomenological nursing inquiry. Particular framings of intersubjectivity should influence the way researchers interact with their participants and data so that the chosen philosophy sits coherently within a research plan and methodology. This exploration of philosophical standpoints is extended through examples of, and reflections upon, the authors' experiences of intersubjectivity in our published phenomenological nursing studies and through dynamic interactions that characterise interpretive activities within a research team. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article responds to a conference call for papers that makes universalist assumptions about clause structures, assuming all languages in the world basically follow the same organizing principles in terms of clause structure, argument structure, and alignment. The article presents data from Tagalog to show how different a language can be from the assumed universal organizing principles to make the point that by imposing an Indo-European framework on non-Indo-European languages, we are overlooking the true diversity of language forms found in the world's languages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a conference titled "Transfer and Adaptation: Languages and Cultures in Dialogue (The Balkans from Late Antiquity to Early Modern Times)" that brought together scholars from various European countries. The conference focused on the investigation of the Balkan region during earlier historical periods, with an emphasis on the interaction between Byzantium and the Slavic world. The conference program included sessions on etymology and history of language, exchange of ideas, manuscript tradition and written culture, the movement of texts, and the multilingual Middle Ages. Several papers were presented on topics such as Slavic borrowings in Romanian, the etymology of a title in the Bulgarian language, and language contacts reflected in inscriptions from Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. The conference concluded with a guided tour of archaeological findings in Sofia. The text also discusses papers presented at a conference on manuscript tradition and written culture, which covered topics such as the introduction of Slavic scripts, the interpretation of Greek phrases in Slavonic translations, the reception of works by Dionysius the Areopagite in early Slavic literature, and the textual tradition of Old Church Slavonic translations. The conference also explored Graeco-Roman cultural ideas and texts in Bulgarian medieval literature. Scholars presented papers on subjects such as the reception of the Trojan War narrative in the medieval Slavic context, the representation of scholarly education in hagiography, and the distribution of Western texts among the South Slavs. The conference also highlighted the movement [Extracted from the article]

Learners' emotions profoundly affect foreign language acquisition. According to the control value theory, foreign language learning boredom is a kind of negative emotion. Foreign language learning boredom can dampen learners' interest in foreign language learning, reduce the efficiency of foreign language acquisition, and have a negative impact on foreign language learning. In view of this, the article aims to outline the influencing factors affecting the emergence of foreign language learning boredom and propose corresponding measures to alleviate it. It is hoped that this will reduce the negative impact of boredom on foreign language learning, improve the efficiency of foreign language learning, and reduce the resistance to foreign language learning. It is also used to refine foreign language classroom teaching, alleviate the negative impact of boredom in foreign language classrooms, and improve classroom efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High citations most often characterize quality research that reflects the foci of the discipline. This study aims to spotlight the most recent hot topics and the trends looming from the highly cited papers (HCPs) in Web of Science category of linguistics and language & linguistics with bibliometric analysis. The bibliometric information of the 143 HCPs based on Essential Citation Indicators was retrieved and used to identify and analyze influential contributors at the levels of journals, authors, and countries. The most frequently explored topics were identified by corpus analysis and manual checking. The retrieved topics can be grouped into five general categories: multilingual-related, language teaching, and learning related, psycho/pathological/cognitive linguistics-related, methods and tools-related, and others. Topics such as bi/ multilingual(ism), translanguaging, language/writing development, models, emotions, foreign language enjoyment (FLE), cognition, anxiety are among the most frequently explored. Multilingual and positive trends are discerned from the investigated HCPs. The findings inform linguistic researchers of the publication characteristics of the HCPs in the linguistics field and help them pinpoint the research trends and directions to exert their efforts in future studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Expressive vocabulary plays a vital role in child language development, and its assessment can be one of the essential indicators to identify language developmental delay, especially in children with Down syndrome. We developed a list of expressive vocabulary and compared the size and class of expressive vocabularies between typically developing and Down syndrome children. Materials and Methods: Expressive vocabulary of 150 children was examined in this study. A total of 120 typically developing Farsi-speaking children (in four age Groups, with a 6-month interval) and 30 children with Down syndrome (aged 24-48 months) participated in this study. The parents of the children filled out the form that included 636 words from different vocabulary classes. These classes were based on studies that investigated language development in Farsi-speaking children. Results: The expressive vocabulary size in Farsi-speaking children was significantly higher than in Down syndrome children (P≤0.001). There was no statistically significant difference between boys and girls regarding expressive vocabulary size in two Groups of children. The size of nouns in all age Groups is more than other classes, and the size of conjunctions in all age Groups is less than the other ones. A direct correlation was found between age and the size of expressive vocabulary. Conclusion: According to the study findings, the list of expressive vocabulary can detect delays in developing expressive vocabulary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: So far, many studies have investigated the extent and nature of the grammatical deficit in aphasia. However, to the best of our knowledge, this research is the first in the Persian language to inspect the comprehension of patients with Broca’s aphasia on diverse syntactically complex structures. Materials and Methods: To scrutinize the impact of task on aphasics’ performance, four age-, education- and gender-matched Persian-speaking patients with Broca’s aphasia were compared with their healthy matched controls regarding the two different tasks of grammatical judgment and figurine act-out task. The structures used to examine the subjects’ performance included agentive passive, subject cleft, object cleft, object relative clause, and object experiencer psychological verbs. Results: Our results which supported the trade-off hypothesis, showed that our subjects generally performed better in grammatical judgment task than in figurine act-out task (P≤0.05). Particularly in the second task, as our inner task comparison, the patients’ problems were more severe in object cleft, object experiencer, and object relative clauses: all structures whose interpretations need more cognitive load. Conclusion: Our findings put more weight on the interactive or constraint-based model of language processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The way a young child uses language has an impact on their future life. Early language acquisition is a determinant in adult employment, mental health and relationships with others. At the same time there is a broad evidence base that play and learning in the natural environment is beneficial for young children's physical, emotional, social and cognitive development. However, literature about how these two contributions to children's early development intersect and combine, in particular whether and how early language learning in children aged between 3 and 7 years might be enhanced in nature, is harder to find. For this paper, we undertook a systematic literature review to explore and report on research within this important area. Based on an in-depth study of 181 articles, we found that scant literature exists about how children's language is developed within natural environments. Although this appears to be a topic that is discussed in practice-oriented publications, it was found that very few researchers are focusing on and reporting within this area. Twelve papers were thoroughly analysed and three themes identified and discussed; desire to communicate, communication skills and literacy skills. This paper concludes by suggesting areas for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Language, Society & Communication / Llengua, Societat i Comunicació is the property of Llengua, Societat i Comunicacio and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

ChatGPT is a generative language model tool launched by OpenAI on November 30, 2022, enabling the public to converse with a machine on a broad range of topics. In January 2023, ChatGPT reached over 100 million users, making it the fastest-growing consumer application to date. This interview with ChatGPT is part 2 of a larger interview with ChatGPT. It provides a snapshot of the current capabilities of ChatGPT and illustrates the vast potential for medical education, research, and practice but also hints at current problems and limitations. In this conversation with Gunther Eysenbach, the founder and publisher of JMIR Publications, ChatGPT generated some ideas on how to use chatbots in medical education. It also illustrated its capabilities to generate a virtual patient simulation and quizzes for medical students; critiqued a simulated doctor-patient communication and attempts to summarize a research article (which turned out to be fabricated); commented on methods to detect machine-generated text to ensure academic integrity; generated a curriculum for health professionals to learn about artificial intelligence (AI); and helped to draft a call for papers for a new theme issue to be launched in JMIR Medical Education on ChatGPT. The conversation also highlighted the importance of proper "prompting." Although the language generator does make occasional mistakes, it admits these when challenged. The well-known disturbing tendency of large language models to hallucinate became evident when ChatGPT fabricated references. The interview provides a glimpse into the capabilities and limitations of ChatGPT and the future of AI-supported medical education. Due to the impact of this new technology on medical education, JMIR Medical Education is launching a call for papers for a new e-collection and theme issue. The initial draft of the call for papers was entirely machine generated by ChatGPT, but will be edited by the human guest editors of the theme issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Language interference is one of the most common problems in foreign language teaching. Language learners inevitably apply knowledge of their native language to a second language, which leads to linguistic interference. The more differences there are between the two languages, the more prominent the interference between them will be. This paper examines the key issues faced by Russian students learning English and English-speaking students learning Russian and suggests key areas of teaching needed in both disciplines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering that researchers can carry out subtle and complex ways of elaborating the words of others (BAZERMAN, 2011) in the writing of academic-scientific texts, we intend to examine, in this study, forms of dialogue with the words of others in the writing of scientific articles produced by young researchers. Based on theoretical assumptions of the Bakhtin Circle about the dialogical approach of language and on papers that discuss academic-scientific writing, we have analyzed a corpus composed of 10 scientific articles produced by master's students. The results have indicated that, in the process of appropriation of scientific writing by the young researcher, the dialogue with the word of another in its interdiscursive dimension is marked, in a stressed way, by quotative practices with arrangements that, in terms of form and content, are not always considered acceptable from the point of view of academic-scientific conventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pierre Swiggers (Hg.), Language, Grammar, and Erudition: From Antiquity to Modern Times. A collection of papers in honour of Alfons Wouters (Orbis Supplementa, Tome 44). [Extracted from the article]

Abstract Self-mention in academic writing has been studied extensively, especially from the point of view of rhetorical functions. In this paper I argue that rhetorical functions represent only one dimension of self-mention. Adding the dimensions of grammatical forms and of hedging and boosting, I propose a three-dimensional model of self-mention. I then employ the model in the analysis of three types of writing in the field of linguistics – L1 English, L1 Slovak (a typologically different language), and L2 English writing by Slovak authors. The study shows that authors employ various degrees of the three dimensions of self-mention to meet expectations of their readers while maintaining a balanced power of self-mention. The results suggest that some, but not all, discourse practices related to self-mention might be transferred to L2 English from one's L1. Highlights • Argues for a three-dimensional view of self-mention in academic writing. • Explores how writers exploit the three dimensions to meet readers' expectations. • Contrasts self-mention in L1 and L2 research articles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The four papers printed in this themed issue of the journal are on the general topic of seventeenth-century attempts to devise a philosophical language scheme or what was known as a 'real character'. Each article approaches the topic from a distinctive perspective: two of the papers focus on the work of a single thinker; a third paper examines the technical notations being concurrently developed in the areas of mathematics, music, and chemistry; and the fourth explores the way such schemes rest on semi-submerged and controversial assumptions about the nature of speech and writing. What is common to the four papers is a consensus that, while previous work in this area has tended to focus primarily on a handful of the fully worked-out schemes, there are rich avenues yet to be fully exploited if the scope of research is re-oriented towards the study of notational systems in the context of their specific application. It is in this sense that we invite readers to view our topic as an open cross-roads of intersecting avenues for study, rather than as a closed market-place for the display and comparison of the models available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Im ersten Teil des folgenden Aufsatzes wird die Situation des DaF-Unterrichts in Brasilien beschrieben und der Ansatz der critical literacy präsentiert, der den Fremdsprachenunterricht auch als Raum zur Förderung kritischen Denkens versteht und aus der brasilianischen Fremdsprachendidaktik kaum wegzudenken ist. Im zweiten Teil wird eine didaktische Sequenz zur Förderung des kritischen Denkens und des Fremdverstehens vorgestellt, bei der Texte aus Straßenzeitungen, die von obdachlosen Menschen geschrieben wurden, eingesetzt wurden. Außerdem wird die Erstellung von Profilen obdachloser Menschen aus einem der DACHL-Länder sowie der gedankliche Transfer zum Heimatland der Lernenden beschrieben. Die wichtigsten Studienergebnisse werden am Ende präsentiert. In the first part of this article the approach of critical literacy will be presented that plays an important role in Brazilian foreign language discussion and focuses on critical thinking when learning foreign languages. In the second part of the article a five-lesson plan to promote critical thinking in a German language class by using texts written by homeless people will be described. This includes the profile creation of German speaking homeless people and the transfer to the students' country. In the end the most important research results will be presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of my article is to analyse the language utilized by the media as a representation of the evolution of the rapports existing between social and linguistic changes. Starting from two articles from 1978 and 1996 I would like to reveal the linguistic characteristics of each period. The linguistic material described has hybrid features being situated between institutional political discourse and ordinary discourse practices. Thus, the printed media are the privileged place used to identify lexical habits concerning politics. The main conclusions of this analysis are connected to the dynamics of linguistic modifications. During the 1970's, one could notice the correspondence between political stability and linguistic stagnation while during the 1990's, language (mainly political vocabulary) proved to be unstable and innovative. In this way, these lexical changes are the logical product of a restructuring phase of the partisan offer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Attitudes to sign languages or language policies are often not overtly discussed or recorded but they influence deaf young people's educational opportunities and outcomes. Two qualitative studies from Scotland investigate the provision of British Sign Language as accommodation in public examinations. The first explores the views of deaf pupils and staff about the official system for face‐to‐face interpretation of exam papers. The second investigates a centrally translated digital paper with embedded video questions. Discussion focuses on contrasts between the USA and UK approaches to accommodations, raising issues of standardized technical terms in signed languages, the right to respond in sign, and candidate choice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Prize Paper Collections in the National Archives in Kew Gardens contain more than fifty-five Arabic letters and another two dozen accounts and other documents, which were seized in 1759 by British privateers as part of the loot on a Tuscan ship, set out from Livorno towards Alexandria. Virtually untouched since that time, they present a most exciting source of documentary Ottoman Arabic. The letters were written by Christian merchants trading in the Mediterranean and by Christian clergy in Rome to their co-religionists in Egypt and Turkey. This article presents an introduction to the Arabic Prize Papers, a short linguistic analysis of a preliminary corpus of eleven letters, the edition and translation of three sample letters. Particular attention is paid to the linguistic divergence between those letters written by merchants and those composed by church dignitaries, as well as to the sociolinguistic variation found in specific writers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study was to see if collaborative writing activities would impact each student's writing quality after getting engaged in an academic writing course for argumentative essays. The study enrolled 62 third-year English majors at the Faculty of Foreign Languages, Van Lang University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, 35 in the experimental group and 27 in the control group. The ages of the students ranged from 19 to 21. All teaching/learning activities, such as the selection of topics, brainstorming, or peer/lecturer feedback, applied to train the students of the two groups were similar except for the essay-composing stage. While the control-group students composed an essay individually, the experimental-group students conducted it collaboratively. That is, the group members composed an essay together. Data from pre-and post-tests of students' writing were analyzed to compare the students' writing quality. The study discovered that jointly authored papers performed much better than those written alone and that collaborative writing activity significantly affected each student's writing quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document is an introduction to a special issue of the Lodz Papers in Pragmatics journal, focusing on offensive language in digital perspectives. The issue aims to explore the various dimensions of offensive language online, including its sociocultural and pragmatic aspects, as well as the use of computational methodology to identify and classify offensive language types. The collection of papers also emphasizes the importance of promoting constructive dialogue and proposing potential solutions to mitigate the harmful effects of offensive language. The issue contains eleven papers that cover topics such as offensive language in media discussion forums, user-generated comments, online gaming, political discourse, and extremist messages. The authors come from various countries and have conducted research using different languages, including Czech, Lithuanian, Hebrew, and Kazakh. The goal of this special issue is to contribute to a more inclusive and understanding digital world. [Extracted from the article]

The report gives a concise account on the scientific papers presented at the national conference Communication, Culture, Identity, organized by the Department of Modern Languages and Business Communication, from the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, „Babeş-Bolyai” University, Cluj. The event was dedicated to the celebration of 20 years from the foundation of the Department of Modern Languages and Business Communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To explore a cohort of mental health nurses' views and experiences in developing and applying critical appraisal of research skills to identify helping and hindering factors. In accordance with evidence-based practice principles, there is an expectation that student (mental health) nurses will become competent in understanding research to make judgements about its trustworthiness and applicability in the clinical setting. This process is termed the 'critical appraisal of research' and it is deemed important to healthcare professionals because it facilitates the use of evidence from research to underpin practice. The study incorporated qualitative secondary research using thematic analysis and a poststructural lens. Following undertaking a module including tuition on the critical appraisal of research, a cohort of student mental health nurses' submitted essay reflections focusing on critical appraisal experiences were thematically analysed. The thematic analysis included both deductive and inductive components in adjunct to a poststructuralist analysis to explore influencing factors of language, meaning and subjectivity. The study identified there are both pedagogical factors and wider societal considerations influencing the critical appraisal of research experiences. Psychological and emotional factors, incorporating anxiety components were identified as a key barrier to engagement and understanding which has not previously been identified in comparable research. Enablers to the understanding and application of critical appraisal skills were identified as peer learning, accessing academic supervision, gaining a satisfaction of personal learning and self-directed learning with library skills support. The findings indicate that there are specific pedagogic considerations which can be applied when supporting mental health student nurses in developing and gaining skills in the critical appraisal of research. It is recommended that these are applied universally for nursing students and considered for other populations of healthcare students. • A key barrier to critical appraisal comprehension included anxiety experiences. • Satisfaction with learning promoted growth in knowledge. • Accessing academic supervision was perceived to enable progression immediately. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I agree wholeheartedly with the authors of "At Least One Black Sheep: Pragmatics and Mathematical Language" on their main thesis that the language of mathematics is permeated by phenomena that belong to pragmatics. I also agree with what they take to be the opposite view, which is presented in Mohan Ganesalingam's monograph The Language of Mathematics (2013). I think that the conflict is to a large extent terminological and has to do with what is meant by pragmatics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines the products of interlingual and intralingual translanguaging and qualitatively analyzes three origin-based lexical varieties in Japanese, wago (native Japanese words), kango (Sino-Japanese words), and gairaigo (foreign loanwords other than kango) in terms of how they have been complementing, competing against, or being in conflict with each other, how they engage word-formation processes as deep as morpheme-levels, and how they are perceived and manipulated by language users, including translators. This study shows that translanguaging has been practiced recursively and multi-directionally over a long period of time, yielding the phenomenon 'translanguaging sequel'. The qualitative study of a Japanese translation of a Korean poem reveals a translator's ideology-driven translanguaging practice that crosses not only interlingual but also intralingual boundaries, causing an international socio-political dispute. This study supports the view that translanguaging has been shaping and reshaping the norms of languages and language use. It also suggests the benefits of analyzing the products and traces of translanguaging in translated texts as well as the process of translanguaging during translation activities that can be promoted and implemented in language classrooms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the article, the editors offer information on how to submit articles for the October 2023 issue of the journal on the topic of child language teaching and therapy.

Multilingual controlled vocabularies are rare and often very limited in the choice of languages offered. TIIARA (Taxonomy for Image Indexing and RetrievAl) is a bilingual taxonomy developed for image indexing and retrieval. This controlled vocabulary offers indexers and image searchers innovative and coherent access points for ordinary images. The preliminary steps of the elaboration of the bilingual structure are presented. For its initial development, TIIARA included only two languages, French and English. As a logical follow-up, TIIARA was translated into eight languages--Arabic, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Mandarin Chinese, Italian, German, Hindi and Russian-- in order to increase its international scope. This paper briefly describes the different stages of the development of the bilingual structure. The processes used in the translations are subsequently presented, as well as the main difficulties encountered by the translators. Adding more languages in TIIARA constitutes an added value for a controlled vocabulary meant to be used by image searchers, who are often limited by their lack of knowledge of multiple languages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional news topic classification methods suffer from inaccurate text semantics, sparse text features, and low classification accuracy. Based on this, this paper proposes a news topic classification method based on Enhanced Language Representation with Informative Entities (ERNIE) and multi-feature fusion. A semantically more accurate representation of text embedding is obtained by ERNIE. In addition, this paper extracts word, context, and key sentence based on the news text. The key sentences of the news are obtained through the TextRank algorithm, which enables the model to focus on the content points of the news. Finally, this paper uses the attention mechanism to realize the fusion of multiple features. The proposed method is experimented on BBC News. The experimental results show that we achieve classification accuracies superior to those of the compared methods, while validating the structural validity of the proposed method. The method in this paper has a positive effect on promoting the research of news topic classification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses various reports published within the issue, including one by Michael Clyne on a number of fallacies that are linked with the Australian monolingual mindset and another by Yvette Slaughter and John Hajek on the provision of various languages in Victorian schools.

In this article I intend to show how Pickwick's trial in Dickens's novel The Pickwick Papers is characterized by a strategic use of address and reference forms that produce effects of discoursal incongruities during the opening and the evidence phase of the proceeding. The analysis reveals Dickens's ability to exploit socio-pragmatic features of the speaker-addressee and speaker-referent-addressee relationships in order to foreground the lawyers' manipulative discourse behaviour towards their addressees and referents. In so doing, the writer undermines the assumption according to which the courtroom is a polite setting characterized by the exchange of mutual respect and deference between participants. The manipulation of address strategies is mainly accomplished by violating the sociolinguistic rules expected in the legal setting or by producing a disjunction between the conventional meaning of honorifics and the speaker's pragmatic intention. The result is that many of the honorifics in the text assume a sarcastic function that contrasts with the politic behaviour prescribed by the courtroom. The manipulation of reference strategies, on the other hand, is accomplished by means of a skilful selection of words for the description of persons and events in a way congenial to the story as claimed and supported by the speaker, no matter how far from the truth this may be. Text evidence shows how the lawyer's referent-term selection denigrates the defendant and creates a mismatch between the reader's expectation of formal politeness in the courtroom and the interrogator's strategic use of a controlled but finally effective rudeness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In less than three decades, the concept 'cerebellar neurocognition' has evolved from a mere afterthought to an entirely new and multifaceted area of neuroscientific research. A close interplay between three main strands of contemporary neuroscience induced a substantial modification of the traditional view of the cerebellum as a mere coordinator of autonomic and somatic motor functions. Indeed, the wealth of current evidence derived from detailed neuroanatomical investigations, functional neuroimaging studies with healthy subjects and patients and in-depth neuropsychological assessment of patients with cerebellar disorders shows that the cerebellum has a cardinal role to play in affective regulation, cognitive processing, and linguistic function. Although considerable progress has been made in models of cerebellar function, controversy remains regarding the exact role of the 'linguistic cerebellum' in a broad variety of nonmotor language processes. This consensus paper brings together a range of different viewpoints and opinions regarding the contribution of the cerebellum to language function. Recent developments and insights in the nonmotor modulatory role of the cerebellum in language and some related disorders will be discussed. The role of the cerebellum in speech and language perception, in motor speech planning including apraxia of speech, in verbal working memory, in phonological and semantic verbal fluency, in syntax processing, in the dynamics of language production, in reading and in writing will be addressed. In addition, the functional topography of the linguistic cerebellum and the contribution of the deep nuclei to linguistic function will be briefly discussed. As such, a framework for debate and discussion will be offered in this consensus paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the following questions: What is reading all about, as our technical milieu becomes increasingly digital and our reading increasingly automated? What is entailed in closely reading a book, in studying and handling the book as an object? And what is the role of philosophy—and in reading philosophy—as we grapple with new technical modes of reading? Guided by philosopher Gilbert Simondon, this paper compares the language heuristics of large language models (LLM) with human reading practices, revealing parallel and diverging technical tactics, with the aim of increasing our understanding of how and why these algorithms are part of our technical reality. This comparison moves beyond concerns with automation and alienation, using Simondon's notions of technicity and transindividuality to philosophically analyze the nature of collaborative reading in a distraction economy, and the extent to which transformer neural network models achieve an implicit embodied or grounded sense of language-use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I will focus on some of the situations observed during a pilot project in which opportunities for language and learning occurred or could occur, and either were--or were not-used by the pupils. Based on an ecological perspective whereby language and learning are interrelated, this paper assumes that language is learned when used, and that the engagement of the learner in semiotically meaningful activities create possibilities for language use and language learning. The starting point for this paper is therefore hypothetical, in that, based on the observed examples, the paper examines the language and learning potential that the activities at the outdoor school have to offer pupils. How do you explore possibilities for language use and language learning? How do you discover correlations between possibilities for active engagement in meaningful activities and possibilities for language and learning? How can you tell if children are learning--and whether they are learning language--in the outdoor school? Many such theoretical and methodological questions appeared during the pilot project. This paper offers insight into a researcher's reflections on the research into 'opportunities for language use and language learning.' What happens when a researcher is allowed to participate in outdoor-school activities on an equal footing with other participants? This paper attempts to answer these questions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawn upon ELF awareness, this paper showcases instructional interventions performed by two practitioners working in two multilingual state schools in Greece. More specifically, guided by the lead author throughout the process, the two practitioners were initially initiated into the principles and processes of ELF awareness and relevant practices for inclusive multilingual classrooms. Subsequently, based on the criteria of authenticity and relevance, and taking into consideration their multilingual learners' background, they designed and conducted two original ELF-aware lessons focusing on the teaching of speaking and listening. The lessons exposed learners to real, spontaneous and authentically produced discourse of non-native English language speakers and engaged them into follow-up tasks and class discussions. These tasks and subsequent discussions focused on: a) an appreciation of the newly designed and taught lessons, b) the use of English as the shared of medium communication among speakers of diverse lingua-cultural backgrounds, c) issues of intelligibility and comprehensibility, and d) socio-cultural differences and similarities among different cultural groups. Through these ELF-aware lessons, practitioners aimed at assisting learners to: a) raise their awareness of language and language use, including languaging and translanguaging, and b) to bring their world knowledge and intercultural experiences into the classroom. In this paper, we describe the ELF-aware lessons and report findings which were received through practitioners' interviews and learners' reflective writing. We conclude with pedagogical implications connected with teacher education-programmes and materials development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]