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This text critically examines traditional methodologies for teaching grammar in the context of Portuguese as a Foreign Language (PFL). It proposes an alternative, eclectic approach, which can be used in any foreign language. Drawing on evidence from research and pedagogical practices, it highlights areas for improvement in current approaches, such as the decontextualization of linguistic structures and insufficient gradual progression in exercises. The paper suggests a teaching framework based on Motivating-Grammaring-Applying (MGA), aiming to embed grammar learning in meaningful, communicative contexts and develop grammatical proficiency beyond mere rule memorization. The MGA model foregrounds the importance of authentic texts, student-centric discovery learning, and the application of learned structures in diverse communicative tasks. The paper further emphasizes the potential of digital tools and the importance of integrating grammar learning with other linguistic and cultural skills. Ultimately, this study encourages PFL teachers to diversify their pedagogical strategies and reconsider the role of grammar teaching in language learning, aiming at empowering students for effective communication in real-world contexts.

There is a need for a continued focus on language learning in advanced language classes beyond the foundations that are formed in the beginning and intermediate levels. Despite this need, little work exists on how to implement language-focused instruction in upper-level courses. As one possible solution, this paper outlines a functional, meaning-based approach to teaching language that could be easily adopted by all instructors, regardless of their professional training and/or research interests. As an example of this approach, the study described in this paper investigates the instruction of Subjunctive 1 through its function as indirect speech in a literary context. Eight participants in a fourth-semester German course engaged with the Subjunctive 1 form through a lesson focused on Kafka's authorial choices in the text "Vor dem Gesetz" that create a sense of uncertainty. This approach complements the traditional teaching of Subjunctive 1, such as in journalistic contexts, by centering it as a tool for meaning making in an author's lexicogrammatical toolkit. An analysis of pre/posttests that included both quantitative and qualitative data was used to assess the effectiveness of the approach. The results indicate an overall positive effect for the instruction but also individual variation by the learner. These findings support both the utility of and need for functional, meaning-based approaches in upper-level courses. Finally, I discuss how this type of approach could be adopted for any linguistic feature and by any instructor teaching advanced courses to support students' linguistic growth throughout the curriculum.

The purpose of this paper is to present the results of the analysis performed on the way in which grammar is presented in an English coursebook created by the Ministry of Education of Colombia (MEN) to provide contextualized material to learners in public school settings. The evaluation criteria to evaluate the grammar were developed considering elements from different frameworks. The focus of the evaluation was selected based on the role that grammar plays in the teaching and learning process in the given context. The results show that the coursebook has a noticing approach to grammar and forms-focused discovery activities are assigned to the students, in terms of the linguistic forms that are presented, it was found that the students have a lower level considering the learning outcomes that learners are intended to achieve as part of national language policies.

Despite undeniable advances in research on language learning strategies in the last several decades, empirical investigations of actions and thoughts that learners engage in to better understand and use grammar structures in different contexts, or grammar learning strategies (GLS), remain scarce. Moreover, there is a paucity of studies examining the effects of pedagogical interventions in this area, both with respect to the use of different types of GLS and the mastery of grammar structures in terms of explicit and implicit (automatized) knowledge. There is also no empirical evidence concerning the mediating role of individual difference (ID) factors in this respect. The paper outlines a study currently in progress that seeks to address all of these gaps. The first part is devoted to a brief overview of key issues related to the definition and classification of GLS as well as a synthesis of available research in this area. This is followed by a description of an intervention-based research project which explores the effects of strategies-based instruction (SBI) targeting GLS by English majors in Poland, also taking into account the moderating impact of selected ID variables. In particular, the methodology of the study is presented and the envisaged contributions of the intervention are considered.

The need for IT professionals with fluency in foreign languages becomes increasingly critical as the Kazakhstani government implements steps to foster IT innovation. However, there are structural, geographical and professional imbalances in the interaction of supply and demand for IT professionals who can speak a foreign language in the modern labour market which is the main problem that is currently hindering the growth of the IT sector in Kazakhstan. The aim of this study was to assess the development of subject communicative language competencies (a) in linguistic or grammatical ability and (b) in discourse ability in first-year students for the proposed author's innovative learning technique in the educational process as well as the appropriate technological and systematic procedures. A mixed-research method was used in this study. The study involved 365 learners in the "Informatics" direction at the International University of Information Technologies in Almaty, Kazakhstan during the school year 2021-2022. According to the findings, the experiment participants did not develop subject-related communicative language competencies. The results show that the degree of capability formation is not satisfactory. 52.8% is the basic level, 41.6% is the production point and only 5.8% is the high level. Positive dynamics shaping learners' subject-related language communication competencies were identified as a result of the implementation of innovative techniques. This paper contributes to the research on teaching IT students in developing countries and highlights the most important factors that contribute to improve the level of subject-related communicative language competencies of IT students.

This paper aims to explore the perception and usage of epicene pronouns in English among Chinese EFL teachers, as gender fair language becomes increasingly important for promoting inclusion, respect for identity and expression. This study employed a survey of 284 EFL teachers along with a follow-up written task to assess their views and actual use of epicene pronouns. The results indicate that while English teachers in China are familiar with the increase of "they" as an epicene pronoun, the use of "he or she" is their preferred choice in the survey, with generic "he" being more common in the written task. The study further reveals that the selection of the epicene pronoun is influenced by factors such as the antecedent type, social gender and the teachers' socio-cultural background. Promoting gender-fair language in L2 English teaching in China is crucial. Efforts are needed to increase awareness and usage of gender-neutral language among Chinese English teachers, emphasizing the importance of incorporating actual language use and adapting to grammatical changes.

This study fostered grammar learning outcomes of tenth-grade students and handled technological inclusivity by using Quizizz paper mode, especially in understanding and using simple past and present perfect tense. This study utilized four stages of classroom action research encompassing planning, implementation, observation and evaluation, and reflection, the researchers used pre-tests, post-tests, and questionnaires for collecting the data. The outcomes unveiled a substantial improvement in students' learning from 66.50 to 89.50. Furthermore, students displayed favorable reactions, affirming the power of Quizizz paper mode in addressing challenges in grammar learning due to its engaging nature, cost-effectiveness, and provision of real-time feedback. Additionally, it fostered inclusivity by allowing every student to participate, irrespective of their access to technology. Moreover, it allowed students to rest their eyes on electronic devices while combining physical and digital learning experiences. The findings of this study suggest that integrating technology-based platforms like Quizizz paper mode can enhance grammar mastery by promoting increased engagement and interactivity among students. based on those results, it is recommended that future researchers explore Quizizz paper mode for teaching various grammar topics or language skills by applying larger sample sizes and examining the prolonged impacts of this tool on students' mastery of grammar or other language skills.

Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) are a popular assessment method because they enable automated evaluation, flexible administration and use with huge groups. Despite these benefits, the manual construction of MCQs is challenging, time-consuming and error-prone. This is because each MCQ is comprised of a question called the "stem", a correct option called the "key" along with alternative options called "distractors" whose construction demands expertise from the MCQ developers. In addition, there are different kinds of MCQs such as Wh-type, Fill-in-the-blank, Odd one out, and many more needed to assess understanding at different cognitive levels. Automatic Question Generation (AQG) for developing heterogeneous MCQ stems has generally followed two approaches: semantics-based and machine-learning-based. Questions generated via AQG techniques can be utilized only if they are grammatically correct. Semantics-based techniques have been able to generate a range of different types of grammatically correct MCQs but require the semantics to be specified. In contrast, most machine-learning approaches have been primarily able to generate only grammatically correct Fill-in-the-blank/Cloze by reusing the original text. This paper describes a technique for combining semantic-based and machine-learning-based techniques to generate grammatically correct MCQ stems of various types for a technical domain. Expert evaluation of the resultant MCQ stems demonstrated that they were promising in terms of their usefulness and grammatical correctness.

Interpreting a seemingly simple function word like "or," "behind," or "more" can require logical, numerical, and relational reasoning. How are such words learned by children? Prior acquisition theories have often relied on positing a foundation of innate knowledge. Yet recent neural-network-based visual question answering models apparently can learn to use function words as part of answering questions about complex visual scenes. In this paper, we study what these models learn about function words, in the hope of better understanding how the meanings of these words can be learned by both models and children. We show that recurrent models trained on visually grounded language learn gradient semantics for function words requiring spatial and numerical reasoning. Furthermore, we find that these models can learn the meanings of logical connectives and and or without any prior knowledge of logical reasoning as well as early evidence that they are sensitive to alternative expressions when interpreting language. Finally, we show that word learning difficulty is dependent on the frequency of models' input. Our findings offer proof-of-concept evidence that it is possible to learn the nuanced interpretations of function words in a visually grounded context by using non-symbolic general statistical learning algorithms, without any prior knowledge of linguistic meaning.

Science educators now broadly recognize the multimodal nature of learning in science, where learners make meanings within modes (linguistic, mathematical, visual, and actional) by using the conventions of different sign systems or grammars in these modes. However, how teachers guide students to link and infer new meanings across modes, called "transduction" (Kress & Van Leeuwen, 2006. Reading images: The grammar of visual design. Routledge, p. 39), is less clear. This mapping of meanings across modes through realizing, generating, aligning, and coordinating meanings in representations is crucial to learning and communicating scientific concepts, inquiry processes, and reasoning. In this paper we propose a pragmatist account of how young students can be guided to achieve cohesion in this process. Drawing mainly on Peirce's (1998, The essential Peirce: Selected philosophical writings. Indiana University Press) theory of sign functions and affordances, we describe how, in practice, transduction entails a sequence of meaning-making steps across and within sign systems. For Peirce, sign systems in science enable inferential meaning-making within modes, but signs within these grammars can also prompt, support, and confirm meanings across modes. We analyze student learning in an elementary school astronomy class to identify how transduction is enacted and supported. We draw on micro-ethnographic analysis of the teacher's interactions with students and their artifacts to identify key transduction enablers. We found that young students can engage successfully in trans-modal reasoning if multiple conditions are met, with implications for science inquiry design in general and the teacher's key role in transduction guidance.

This paper reports on a young Korean boy's target-like and non-target-like uses of the Korean negation marker "ani" to express various types of negation in Korean, observed approximately between the ages of 2;2 and 2;5. Besides the target-like usage of "ani" as a sentential adverb for a 'no' response, he used "ani" in place of Korean short-form negation markers "an" and "mos," non-existential predicate "epsta," and prohibitive predicate "malta." Discussions regarding why the duration of his extended use of "ani" differed between the non-target-like uses and his placement of the negation marker are provided. Overall, such extended use of ani may have been a deliberate and practical strategy for him to express various types of negation in Korean when he did not yet acquire or was not able to readily retrieve the appropriate negation markers.

The present paper reports on the effectiveness and inclusiveness of human-delivered synchronous written corrective feedback (SWCF) in paired writing tasks. Replicating Yamashita, Study 2 and Study 3 each conducted a classroom-based quasi-experimental study in an English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) writing program at an American university. In Study 2, 50 learners were assigned to either of the two experimental groups (direct, indirect) or the control group based on their language analytical ability (LAA). All the three groups worked on two in-class computer-mediated animation description tasks in pairs for 50 minutes. The two experimental groups received either direct or indirect SWCF on their uses of the referential articles during the tasks, while the control group did not. Learners' article use was assessed with an animation description test and a sentence rewriting test on a pretest (one week prior to the treatment), posttest (a few days after), and delayed posttest (two weeks after). Inclusiveness of SWCF was explored by examining changes in performance of high LAA and low LAA learners separately. Study 3 recruited another cohort of 51 learners from the same writing program and replicated Study 2 with a modified test in place of the sentence rewriting test. Findings suggested that only the direct group improved to a greater extent than the control group, and this finding was found only in Study 2, potentially questioning the effectiveness of SWCF in this context. However, SWCF improved low LAA learners' article use to a comparable extent to high LAA learners, contributing to inclusive classroom teaching.

Community colleges across the United States are increasingly linguistically diverse, with populations that often include immigrant students who have grown up with a language other than English but have spent a significant part of their childhood in the U.S. and as such received a substantial part of their -K-12 education there. In this paper, we analyze perceived second language (L2) effects in essays written by multilingual "resident," i.e., immigrant, students enrolled in pre-credit bearing developmental and ESL writing courses. Focusing on a predominant set of grammatical patterns identified in previous research, this study compares the writings of L2 resident students to those of monolingual and international L2 students. Findings reveal that the age of arrival to the U.S. impacts grammatical patterns, with L2 resident students arriving after age 12 displaying residual grammatical L2 acquisition effects, as contrasted with earlier arrivals, whose writings resemble monolingual students' more closely. As familiarity with "standard" English patterns is unfortunately often viewed by community college instructors as indicative of "academic" writing ability, we argue that these findings indicate a need for community colleges to consider students' linguistic histories and their effects in order to interpret resident L2 students' writing skills correctly and to provide appropriate linguistic support for resident L2 students across the curriculum. Professional development that emphasizes critical language awareness is needed so that instructors can better understand and support linguistic diversity in their classrooms.

This paper reports on a pilot study with advanced EFL learners in Germany who were asked to use ProWritingAid (PWA) for a composition task in a German comprehensive school. PWA is an Automated Writing Evaluation (AWE) tool that provides writers with feedback on grammar, spelling mistakes, and writing style during the writing and editing process. Students' engagement with PWA's suggestions is documented with the help of screen capture software and a change tracker sheet. A coding grid, based on the three dimensions of learner engagement with AWE feedback, is developed in the process of analysing the data. Results indicate that there is cognitive engagement with AWE feedback even when learners reject suggestions for correction. It will be discussed whether episodes of cognitive engagement with AWE can be conceptualised as engagement with language according to Svalberg.

Lexical ability, an umbrella term to cover various knowledge and skills pertaining to words in print, is a key component in reading comprehension. Little is known how different facets of lexical ability jointly contribute to L2 reading comprehension and how the contributions may differ between higher- and lower-proficiency L2 learners. This study, based on 201 adults who had studied Chinese in China, explored direct and indirect effects of distinct facets of lexical ability on L2 reading comprehension. The participants completed three paper-pencil tasks that measured three facets of lexical ability, that is, morphological awareness, character knowledge, and vocabulary knowledge. Their short-term memory, grammatical knowledge, and reading comprehension were also measured. Separate sets of path analysis showed that higher- and lower-proficiency learners had distinct patterns of relationships. Whereas higher-proficiency learners relied more on morphological awareness and vocabulary knowledge in L2 Chinese reading comprehension, lower-proficiency learners drew largely upon their character knowledge.

Various studies have been conducted on applying intelligent recognition technology, especially speech recognition technology to improve English learning ability, mostly listening and speaking. However, few studies have touched on how image-to-text recognition technology can be used for writing. The present research was conducted to fill this gap by exploring the optimization of a deep-learning-based image captioning algorithm to facilitate English writing, so as to enable learners to break the time and space limitations and learn English writing (including sentence patterns, spelling, vocabulary, and grammar) anytime and anywhere by taking pictures. Therefore, this paper focused on image captioning based on CNN(Convolutional Neural Networks) and LSTM (Long Short-Term Memory), using DenseNet201 or Vision Transformer trained on the ImageNet-1K image classification dataset as the image encoder and LSTM as the decoder. First, pre-training was performed on the Flickr8k dataset. After selecting the best-trained model as the pre-trained weight model for the COCO dataset, fine-tuning optimization was performed on the COCO dataset, and the attention mechanism was used to design the ablation experiment. The BLEU-4, CIDEr, METEOR, and ROUGE evaluation indexes of the optimized model on the test set were 0.3437,1.121,0.2750, and 0.5117, respectively. The study results showed that the convergence of the model was accelerated and had better performance. The model was used to automatically caption 12 images that had never been used during the training process. The descriptions generated by the optimized image captioning algorithm have lexical and syntactic accuracy, and matched what the images expressed, showing that this improved algorithm could be used as a learning tool to help English learners improve lexical and syntactic acquisition to promote writing through the generated descriptions of the pictures taken anytime and anywhere in real-life situations.

The present meta-analysis investigated the effects of recasts along with a number of moderating variables on L2 development by meta-analysing the results of 24 primary studies. The findings revealed an overall medium effect size for the effectiveness of recasts (g = 0.70, 95% CI = 0.48-0.93). Furthermore, the findings indicated that recasts are equally effective for the development of L2 explicit and implicit knowledge. The results also yielded strong effect sizes for the short-term and long-term effects of recasts in foreign language (FL) compared to second language (SL) contexts where weak effect sizes were obtained for both long-term and short-term effects of recasts. Contrary to expectations, the findings did not indicate a significant difference between the effectiveness of partial and full recasts. The findings of the present study, therefore, shed further light on the effectiveness of recasts and suggest that recasts are effective techniques for the development of implicit and explicit L2 knowledge in FL contexts. The findings indicate that instructional context plays the most significant role in the efficacy of recasts. The implications of the study and considerations for interpreting the results will be discussed in the paper in the light of some theoretical justifications as well as a number of limitations of the present meta-analysis.

The first stage of combinatorial speech is better described as variable than uniform. Talk of variants obscures two different aspects of language (knowledge and use) and two different aspects of language development -- acquisition of the grammar (competence) and deployment of the grammar in speaking and listening (performance). Null subjects and Determiners are examples in English of early variability. The limited data in other languages make it impossible to make sweeping claims about early acquisition.

Artificial grammar learning (AGL) is an experimental paradigm frequently adopted to investigate the unconscious and conscious learning and application of linguistic knowledge. This paper will introduce ENIGMA (https://enigma-lang.org) as a free, flexible, and lightweight Web-based tool for running online AGL experiments. The application is optimized for desktop and mobile devices with a user-friendly interface, which can present visual and aural stimuli and elicit judgment responses with RT measures. Without limits in time and space, ENIGMA could help collect more data from participants with diverse personal and language backgrounds and variable cognitive skills. Such data are essential to explain complex factors influencing learners' performance in AGL experiments and answer various research questions regarding L1/L2 acquisition. The introduction of the core features in ENIGMA is followed by an example study that partially replicated Chen (Lang Acquis 27(3):331-361, 2020) to illustrate possible experimental designs and examine the quality of the collected data.

An existential clause is a clause that shows a proposition about the existence or an event. This paper aims to describe the structure of existential clauses, the types of existential clauses, and the constraints of noun phrases that fill the existence elements in Balinese. This study used the descriptive qualitative method. The data used are primary data taken from five Balinese language teachers. The Balinese language teachers elicited the data made by the first teacher. Written data from Balinese stories are also used to assist the oral data. The data analysis technique chosen is comparison, omission, and replacement. Some research results are found in this paper. The core structure of Balinese existential clauses is verb ada + existence, and the extended structure of Balinese existential clauses is verb ada + existence + extension. There are two types of existential clauses in Balinese: bare and extended existential clauses. The definiteness of a noun phrase filling the existence element determines the choice of existential or non-existential clauses. This paper is helpful as a reference for Balinese grammar, which concerns the existential clauses of Balinese. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is a critical appreciation of some of Gunther Kress's central (social) semiotic notions: i.e., motivation, materiality, rhetorical aptness and semiotic mode versus medium. These will be discussed in relation to four landmark models of sign-making and semiosis by Saussure, Peirce, Bühler and Jakobson. Based on these comments, the paper identifies the persistent difficulties current multimodality research faces in defining mode and in devising linguistically unbiased grammars of non-verbal modes. Finally, the argument is advanced that multimodal genre and discourse interpretation in particular deserve to be re-developed. The paper critiques Kress's insistence on motivation as a universal principle of sign use and his overemphasis on materiality to the detriment of grammar, while praising his overall (social) semiotic legacy for multimodality research as far-sighted and lastingly influential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Beiträge zur Geschichte der deutschen Sprache und Literatur is the property of De Gruyter 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.)

One characteristic of multilingual speakers is that in everyday life, they may integrate elements from their languages in the same sentence or discourse, a practice known as code-switching. This paper examines code-switching at the interfaces, in particular as related to information structure. Despite the fact that a core question of modern linguistic theory is how syntactic and information-structural theories interact in accounting for licensing of different grammatical phenomena, there has been relatively little literature on code-switching and information structure. In this paper, we provide an overview of the available literature on code-switching across different language combinations, focusing in particular on subject pronoun–verb switches, ellipsis, light verbs, topic/focus particles, and code-switching between sign languages. We argue that the study of the interplay between information structure and code-switching sheds light on our understanding of multilingual grammars and language competence more generally. In this regard, we discuss theoretical and methodological considerations to guide future studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent advancements in chatbots have provided students and academics with a new mode of how knowledge can be sourced and composed. Within a very short space of time, students and academics have flocked to use ChatGPT and other Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) platforms owing to their capable responses. Additionally, apart from the generative chatbots (such as ChatGPT and Gemini), AI writing tools for paraphrasing, summarising, and co-writing have also become capable and increasingly prevalent to such a degree that the public is spoilt for choice. Having conducted tests on popular chatbots and AI writing tools, it became clear that while programs like Turnitin are developing new algorithms to detect plagiarism and AI-generated content, the initial findings from this study suggest that this may be an increasingly difficult task. These tests were published on YouTube, and within a few weeks, the evidence garnered tens of thousands of views as students and educators seemed uncertain about the strengths, weaknesses, and legalities of these AI tools. What is clear is that we have passed the tipping point, and AI assistance is no longer just a grammar fixer. The implications of this are concerning and far-reaching, as plagiarism is already a significant problem in universities. This position paper reports on tests conducted using Turnitin software and AI writing tools such as ChatGPT and QuillBot. These real-world tests support the paper's position that it is becoming increasingly difficult to determine what constitutes original work in a world of GAI. The aim of this article is to provide evidence that educators who rely on similarity checking and AI detectors in their current form may inadvertently be supporting plagiarism rather than reducing it. A new method of academic plagiarism detection is proposed, utilizing large language models to generate and track ideas, thereby serving as an idea database. The proposed method focuses on the "understanding" of the work rather than on text similarity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper aims at providing an assessment of the new generation of dictionaries of the Karaim language prepared and published by Karaim speakers over the last two decades. Apart from that, the paper aims at providing a brief analysis of the already existing documentation of the Karaim language. The article is divided into two parts: firstly, the evaluation of the previously published dictionaries of Karaim language is provided; secondly, the new generation of dictionaries published by Karaim speakers, is being analysed, focussing on four works, namely two Polish-Karaim, one Russian-Karaim and one Lithuanian-Karaim dictionary. The dictionaries are being analysed by raising the same question in each case: what information in these dictionaries is provided about the Karaim language? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to put forth a short overview of the study in the Karaim language. Firstly, the position and importance of Karaim is stressed. Secondly, trends in research are demonstrated. Thirdly, general descriptions, grammars, and dictionaries are presented. The article highlights the most significant studies in the basic domains of Karaim linguistics such as phonetics and phonology, morphology, syntax, lexicology, and semantics. At the same time, the article formulates several postulates for tasks to be done. A selected bibliography of most relevant studies has also been included. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Djoussour El-maarefa is the property of Association of Arab Universities 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.)

With the dominance of the communicative approach in teaching English as a Foreign Language over the past several decades, translation as a mode of instruction has been excluded from the methodological rationale. Using translation was considered even harmful, as the predominant understanding among experts in the field was that translating is not conducive to thinking in the target language (L2). However, recent studies of some translation techniques in the field have shown the viability of learning core vocabulary especially terms and terminological multiword expressions in the mother tongue. That is true to a large extent for teaching English for Specific Purposes and particularly for teaching English for Academic Purposes. In the university settings, especially in former Eastern European countries, Bulgaria included in that number, the insufficient number of school hours has necessitated the use of flexible approaches to teaching English. This is in line with the main goal of teaching English for Academic Purposes – the best possible acquisition of new vocabulary by undergraduate students. This paper delves into the problem of the effectiveness of using translation techniques in teaching terminology to undergraduate bachelor students in the medical professions. The study's premise included testing and surveying two groups in the speciality of assistant pharmacists at the Medical College of the Medical University of Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Each group consisted of twelve students of similar levels in English, ascertained via a diagnostic test at baseline as being lower intermediate A2/ intermediate/B1 according to CEFR. One of the groups served as the control one and the other as the experimental one. The experiment consisted of teaching vocabulary items from a unit in a specialized textbook. The control group was provided with explanations in English only, while the experimental group had the terms and expressions explained in English and translated into Bulgarian. A test and a questionnaire were performed at the end of the experiment. The test, which covered randomly selected terms from the unit, showed that the experimental group faired slightly better than the control one. The questionnaire, given with some variance to both groups, showed that students do prefer to translate the terms and expressions, but also are aware of the fact that not all terminology can be adequately translated, so it cannot supersede entirely definitions and explanations in the foreign language. Therefore, it can be concluded that translation plays a crucial role in the cognitive processes of understanding EAP vocabulary in the target language. The current study corroborates findings by scholars from many countries. As a follow-up, it will be informative to gauge the effectiveness of the use of L1 (the mother tongue) in the explanation of grammar issues in L2 (the foreign language). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses shape grammar to conduct strategic research and innovative translation of existing wooden furniture designs. A traditional Chinese Ming-style recessed-leg table was used as an example to demonstrate its feasibility. The paper applies biological DNA genetic information to furniture products, and combines shape grammar to evolve and mutate them, thereby creating new forms of wooden furniture that maintain the original genes. A DNA gene pool of recessed-leg table was constructed, and an architectural queti replacement pool was constructed based on the rules of shape grammar as backup for subsequent experiments to replace part of the designed genes of the recessed-leg table. Shape grammar was used to deduce the recessed-leg table and generate three plans. A consumer questionnaire was established through the semantic differential method. After evaluating these three design plans, an optimal plan that meets market demand was selected, and modeling, rendering, and concept elaboration were performed. Finally, the paper takes Ming-style recessed-leg table as an example to demonstrate that it is effective and feasible to use shape grammar to guide the design and research of domestic wooden furniture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current paper describes atemporal complement clauses in Assamese, an IA language spoken in Assam (India). Cognitive Linguistics views grammar as motivated by embodied meaning. Thus, atemporal complementation reflects a conceptual shift from a temporal process to an atemporal thing because of which the verb in such a clause appears non-finite, and the situation is conceptualized through ‘summary scanning.’ Atemporal complementation may also involve the ‘Figure and Ground’ principle. The paper identifies five atemporal complementizers in Assamese, each with distinct grammatical and semantic properties, highlighting the link between grammar and the way speakers construe situations. The study further shows that atemporal complement clauses might retain some sequential scanning, defending the view that the distinction between summary and sequential scanning are not mutually exclusive as is claimed in Langacker (2008). The data for this paper has mainly come from the authors themselves who happen to be native speakers of Assamese. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the incorporation of shape grammar into architectural design education in an effort to facilitate the imitation of natural 2D patterns in basic design course. Shape grammar is a rule-based design methodology that permits designers and architects to produce complex designs by defining a set of transformation rules. This study investigates shape grammer with a comprehensive literature review and examines the effectiveness of teaching shape grammar using both manual techniques and the visual scripting program Grasshopper3D, a plug-in in Rhinoceros modelling software. The results indicate that the combination of hands-on exercises and digital tools improves students' comprehension of shape grammar and their ability to imitate natural 2D patterns in architectural design. By investigating the integration of shape grammar and the imitation of natural 2D patterns, this research paper aims to contribute to the advancement of architectural design education. It offers insights into effective teaching methods and the role of technology in enhancing students' comprehension of shape grammar and their ability to create designs inspired by natural patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The last few decades have seen growing interest in the field of disciplinary aesthetics. While the physical sciences and mathematics have attracted significant interest in this area, relatively little attention has been given to the aesthetic potential of learning about the structure of one's own native language. Within this paper, we bring together ideas from evolutionary aesthetics, philosophy, psychology and neuroscience to explore the question of what might characterize an aesthetics of grammar learning. The paper connects our previous empirical findings with theoretical developments across these disciplines. We argue that explicit grammar learning has a particular potential to evoke aesthetic experience due to its role as a mediator between procedural and declarative knowledge. We suggest that by facilitating the transformation from knowhow to knowledge, grammar learning has the potential to generate cognitive consonance, experienced as an aesthetic-epistemic feeling of fittingness. The discussion draws parallels between the characteristics of grammar and the properties of entities more traditionally conceived to be aesthetic (such as art works and performances). In particular, we note that meta-linguistic labels (grammar terms) provide concrete tokens which facilitate virtual models, supporting the transition from 'automatism' to 'conscious reflection'. The paper concludes by exploring the implications for the field of disciplinary aesthetics and for developing pedagogies which maximize the aesthetic potential of grammar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper engages in a dialogue with José Medina’s work on epistemic activism, adding the notion of ‘aesth-ethic activism’ to highlight the role aesthetics play in epistemic forms of resistance. Drawing from María Lugones’s concept of ‘transgressive hearing’ and my work on ‘grammars of listening’, the paper proposes that ‘radical listening’, in dialogue with Medina’s ‘radical testimony’, requires not only rendering voices audible but subverting the very criteria that govern audibility. Aesthetic resistance is seen as essential for this task. Through an analysis of the artwork Fósil Acústico by Colombian artists Santiago Reyes Villaveces and Daniel Villegas Vélez as ‘aesth-ethic activism’, the paper shows how art can create ‘epistemic frictions’ that challenge our sensibilities and open up liminal sites for complex communication across different epistemic systems. The installation, I show, calls for lingering in the ‘friction’ that makes meaning possible, while allowing sense to circulate in ways that resist signification. Ultimately, in dialogue with Medina and Lugones’s work, and inspired by Sylvia Wynter’s conception of aesthetics, the paper proposes rethinking the epistemic as grounded in the aesthetic and aesthetics as a deciphering practice of epistemic resistance that can make dominant codes of perception ‘consciously alterable’. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is the first detailed description of the exceptionally rich subsystem of verbal inflections that express imperfective aspect in Tacana, an endangered and underdescribed language from the Takanan family. The unusually high degree of elaboration of this system, which includes nine members in paradigmatic opposition, is achieved by co-expressing imperfective aspect with spatial meanings taken from two distinct categories: associated motion (with five values: 'going', 'coming', 'going back', 'coming back', 'wandering') and what I will call "associated posture" (with three values: 'standing', 'lying/bending', 'hanging'). The ninth member is a default imperfective marker that does not carry any spatial meaning. The paper challenges linguistic theories that consider grammatical(izable) concepts as belonging to a strictly limited range of notional domains from which motion and posture are excluded. Additionally, the paper provides strong support for a new comparative concept of "associated posture" in linguistics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sound of Qurʾān recitation will be studied with a new approach. As the Qurʾān is a sacred text, it is performed with an exalted voice. Its performance mode extends beyond ordinary speech, but at the same time it is clearly distinguished from singing. The investigation exemplifies that the holy text and its pronunciation rules, which are preserved in the rules of tajwīd, somewhat predetermine the sound of recitation – regardless of its recitation style. For this purpose, it is necessary to first grasp the grammatical and rhetorical structure of the text, then to apply the specific rules of pronunciation when reading the text, and finally to evaluate their realization in melodic modes of recitation. Musical and linguistic criteria must be considered equally when interpreting the sound of Qurʾān recitation. This paper considers nasalization (ghunna) not just as a phonetic feature of tajwīd but also as an ornamentation that can be performed musically in recitation, thus marking rhetorically significant passages in the holy text. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, dependency grammars have established themselves as valuable tools in theoretical and computational linguistics. To many linguists, dependency grammars and the more standard constituency-based formalisms are notational variants. We argue that, beyond considerations of formal equivalence, cognition may also serve as a background for a genuine comparison between these different views of syntax. In this paper, we review and evaluate some of the most common arguments and evidence employed to advocate for the cognitive or neural reality of dependency grammars in linguistics, psycholinguistics, or neurolinguistics. We then raise the possibility that the abilities to represent and track, alternatively or in parallel, constituency and dependency structures co-exist in human cognition and are constitutive of syntactic competence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Middle Chinese witnessed the existence of a large number of new grammatical constituents, some of which had already been developed in the mid and late Old Chinese language before thriving in middle ancient times. Among these, the syntactic functions of nouns in Middle Chinese were in the process of evolutional development. The paper aims to investigate the nature of noun evolution by analyzing the exemplified data. It is found that nouns in Middle Chinese grammar mainly serve as subjects, objects, and attributes, though their direct link with predicates became less frequent due to the extensive usage of the copula of shì是 (be). The development of nouns mainly consisted of prefixes and suffixes, such as the prefix ā 阿, which emerged with its crucial evolutional features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main goal of this article is to examine in detail an area of the grammar where standard Romanian, a Balkan Sprachbund language of the Romance phylum, and the Romance dialects of Southern Italy (here we used the dialect of Ragusa, in South-East Sicily) appear to converge, namely differential object marking (DOM). When needed, additional observations from non-Romance Balkan languages were also taken into account. Romanian and Ragusa use a prepositional strategy for differential marking, in a conjunctive system of semantic specifications, of which one is normally humanness/animacy. However, despite these unifying traits, this paper also focuses on important loci of divergence, some of which have generally been ignored in the previous literature. For example, Ragusa does not easily permit clitic doubling and shows differences in terms of binding possibilities and positions of direct objects, two traits that set it aside from both Romanian and non-Romance Balkan languages; additionally, as opposed to Romanian, its prepositional DOM strategy cannot override humanness/animacy. The comparative perspective we adopt allow us to obtain an in-depth picture of differential marking in the Balkan and Romance languages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some recent studies have posed the hypothesis according to which the grammatical stage that precedes the cultured trend of Brazilian Portuguese is Colonial Brazilian Portuguese, not Classical Portuguese. Therefore, there are still few works systematically comparing these two varieties. This is the goal of the present paper, which focuses on word order. By undertaking a corpus-based study using the same textual genre from the contemporary authors Eusébio de Matos and António Vieira, we have looked for all word order patterns while paying special attention to the X*VS order (with one or more constituents preceding the verb and a postverbal subject), given that it is quite typical of Classical Portuguese as a V2-like grammar, unlike the modern Portuguese grammars. We have observed that, although the colonial text follows the general trends of the classical language, it starts to depart from a V2-like grammar because it shows a higher frequency of non-V2 orders and a preference for informationally marked constructions involving internal positions to the clause. From a parameter hierarchy viewpoint, the main conclusion is that such differences represent frequency divergences which are consistent with nano- or microparametric changes which took place later. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

French liaison is a type of external sandhi involving the use of a special consonant-final allomorph before vowel-initial words. Consonants occurring at the end of these allomorphs are challenging for phonological theory because of evidence that their prosodic and segmental realization is intermediate between the realizations of word-final and word-initial consonants. This puzzling behavior of French liaison has been used to motivate new phonological and lexical representations, including floating consonants, lexical constructions and gradient symbolic representations. This paper proposes an alternative analysis: the variable realization of liaison is derived as a paradigm uniformity effect, assuming traditional phonological and lexical representations. In a Word1-Word2 sequence, the liaison consonant at the boundary between the two words ends up acquiring properties of both word-final and word-initial consonants because of a pressure to make contextual variants of Word1 and Word2 similar to their citation forms. The proposal is implemented in a probabilistic constraint-based grammar including paradigm uniformity constraints and is shown to account for the intermediate behavior of liaison both in terms of prosodic attachment and segmental realization. The paper provides evidence for two key predictions of this analysis, using judgment data on the prosodic attachment of liaison consonants in European French and phonetic data on the interaction between liaison and affrication in Quebec French. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper offers an overview of the oldest West Karaim written sources with a special focus on the Slavic lexical elements they contain. The main goal of the article is to present the phonetic adaptation processes these loanwords underwent and to answer the question from which Slavic languages they were borrowed. The Slavic linguistic material presented in this article was collected from manuscripts created in the first 100 years of the written history of West Karaim, i.e. in the period between 1671 and 1772. The year 1772, i.e. the year in which the First Partition of Poland took place, has been chosen as the closing time limit mainly because the second half of the 18th century was the time when Slavic-West Karaim bilingualism became a widespread phenomenon which, in turn, resulted in markedly different adaptation processes than in the early decades of these contacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper introduces Markas Lavrinovičius' most significant jobs in the Karaim cultural heritage preservation and revitalisation. Markas Lavrinovičius (1938-2011) was a Doctor of Science, Lithuanian Karaims' Hachan, and the Chairman of the Lithuanian Karaims' Religious Community. He was an active Karaim community member who made an important contribution to the language research and its revival. He described Karaim customs and traditions, compiled Karaim literary heritage, and prepared it for publication; he also described the Biblical stories in the Karaim language, translated relative Turkic-speaking nations' folk fairy tales into Karaim, and compiled and computerised the Russian-Karaim dictionary. In addition, the article contains a review of the Karaim language coursebook titled 100 karaj tiliniń üriatiuviu. Troch karaj sioziu ([100 Karaim language lessons. Trakai dialect]) - one of his most significant works, containing a thorough research on the Karaim grammar, conducted by Markas Lavrinovičius and Diana Lavrinovič. Despite being surrounded by non-Turkic languages for 625 years, the Karaim language Trakai dialect has managed to preserve its purity and remain untouched throughout the centuries. Unfortunately, it currently faces the threat of extinction. Therefore, teaching the mother tongue was Markas Lavrinovičius' ultimate goal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper gives information on the purpose and the contents of the Karay (Karaim) Language Online Conversational Courses for Foreigners, held between September and December in 2022. This course was joined by around 45 voluntary participants from various countries in Europe, Asia, and the USA. Two native speakers of Karay also helped this course participants by providing them with the correct pronunciation of the Karay literary language. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Operator precedence grammars (OPG) are context-free grammars (CFG) that are characterized by the absence of two adjacent non-terminal symbols in the body of each production (right-hand side). Operator precedence languages (OPL) are deterministic and context-free. Three possible precedence relations between pairs of terminal symbols are established for these languages. Many CFGs are not OPGs because the operator precedence cannot be applied to them as they do not comply with the basic rule. To solve this problem, we have conducted a thorough redefinition of the Left and Right sets of terminals that are the basis for calculating the precedence relations, and we have defined a new Leftmost set. The algorithms for calculating them are also described in detail. Our work's most significant contribution is that we establish precedence relationships between terminals by overcoming the basic rule of not having two consecutive non-terminals using an algorithm that allows building the operator precedence table for a CFG regardless of whether it is an OPG. The paper shows the complexities of the proposed algorithms and possible exceptions to the proposed rules. We present examples by using an OPG and two non-OPGs to illustrate the operation of the proposed algorithms. With these, the operator precedence table is built, and bottom-up parsing is carried out correctly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This text critically examines traditional methodologies for teaching grammar in the context of Portuguese as a Foreign Language (PFL). It proposes an alternative, eclectic approach, which can be used in any foreign language. Drawing on evidence from research and pedagogical practices, it highlights areas for improvement in current approaches, such as the decontextualization of linguistic structures and insufficient gradual progression in exercises. The paper suggests a teaching framework based on Motivating-Grammaring-Applying (MGA), aiming to embed grammar learning in meaningful, communicative contexts and develop grammatical proficiency beyond mere rule memorization. The MGA model foregrounds the importance of authentic texts, student-centric discovery learning, and the application of learned structures in diverse communicative tasks. The paper further emphasizes the potential of digital tools and the importance of integrating grammar learning with other linguistic and cultural skills. Ultimately, this study encourages PFL teachers to diversify their pedagogical strategies and reconsider the role of grammar teaching in language learning, aiming at empowering students for effective communication in real-world contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I explore the properties and the uses of the past participles in the Arbëresh variety of S. Nicola dell'Alto, an Albanian dialect still spoken in Southern Italy, which has been in contact with Italo-Romance varieties for more than five centuries. The data are discussed in comparison to standard Albanian and the contact language, Italian. In Albanian grammar, there is only one type of participle: the past participle. It has both verbal and adjectival properties. As a verbal form, the participle is used in compound and in periphrastic tenses, in combination with both the auxiliaries KAM 'have' and JAM 'be'. It can also be used in combination with other particles to create non-finite verbal forms such as gerund or infinitive or to build up temporal expressions. Finally, it can also be used after some modal impersonal verbs. Verbal participles never show agreement. Albanian participles can also be adjectival. All the adjectives derived by a participial verb take a linking article and always agree with the noun they modify in gender, number, Case and definiteness. The formal distinction of the verbal participles from adjectival participles seems to correlate with the aspectual properties of the construction: a verbal participle appears in eventive structures, whereas an adjectival participle occurs in stative structures. But, as we shall see, this is not always the case. Arbëresh participles have maintained the same morphological and syntactical properties of Albanian. They can be used both in stative and in eventive contexts, but in Arbëresh eventive passives, which are built up as in Italian rather than as in Albanian, the adjectival participles are always inflected. Agreement is obligatory in all the contexts where it is in Italian. This is a clear contact-induced change. The data presented in this paper show that Arbëresh, on the one hand, preserves features of Albanian grammar, whereas, on the other hand, it has undergone changes under the influence of the surrounding Italo-Romance varieties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper provides a critical assessment of research into Russian diachronic linguistics and Russian philology carried out by Italian Slavicists over the last thirty years. This article first examines how Italian scholars have understood and engaged with fundamental issues in the history of the Russian language, which have been at the centre of discussion on an international level. It then explores the advances made in Italian research on historical grammar and emphasises the peculiarity of the approach to textual criticism developed by Italian scholars and its relevance to Russian philology. Finally, the paper discusses major Italian contributions regarding specific issues in Russian diachronic linguistics and philology, which reveal innovative solutions to long-standing problems. While further exploration is necessary in several areas, in qualitative terms the hitherto accomplished research cannot but be positively assessed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The WeChat emoticon in China is a multimodal discourse comprising words, pictures, and other symbols. It figuratively represents communication purposes using static symbols, such as words and images and dynamic symbols, such as animation, in synchronisation with both parties' perceptive abilities. This paper analyses the construction of multimodal metaphors with WeChat emoticons as the corpus, based on the three meta-functional theories of visual grammar and the concept of cognitive linguistics, to improve communicators' metaphorical understanding of emoticons and thus promote communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]