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The aim of this paper is to provide insights into the readability, structure, and tone of monetary policy communication in the case of the National Bank of the Republic of North Macedonia (NBRNM), a small and open economy operating under an exchange rate anchor. The results indicate the NBRNM generally communicates with a neutral tone while its communication is complex in terms of syntax and structure. The dominant topic is inflation and financial markets, followed by monetary policy, economic growth, and the foreign exchange market. Further, topic proportions and tone are analyzed in relation to key macroeconomic indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Young Romance speakers can structure their sentences by dislocating multiple constituents to the left periphery, resulting in non-canonical word orders. Production data, however, show that this ordering is rigid: only SOV sequences are attested, an observation reminiscent of Superiority. The first goal of the paper is to replicate this observation in comprehension; the second is to derive the Subject-over-Object pattern in terms of Intervention, with the additional assumption that only nested chains count as interveners. Three experiments are reported here. Experiment 1 and Experiment 2 show that SOVs interpretations are systematically favored over OSV and that not only Number features, but also a [+Topic] feature help to overcome intervention. Experiment 3 addresses a potential confound related to the clitic. These results integrate existing intervention-based accounts, traditionally built on relatives, providing not only new evidence coming from matrix clauses, but also investigating the role of information-structure features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research has highlighted the existence of expletive(-like) elements in various languages that are related to discourse, serving as fillers for designated topic/focus positions and/or contributing specific discourse–pragmatic effects. Such elements pose a number of challenges and opportunities, both for our overall conception of expletives and for our understanding of the syntax–discourse interface, although work in this area to date has mainly focused on the phenomenon in individual varieties. In this study, we critically survey the current state-of-the art on this topic and discuss four main areas where we see particular challenges and opportunities for research: (i) categories and definitions, (ii) typological correlations, (iii) theoretical modelling and (iv) language change. Overall, this article brings together a broad array of empirical findings and theoretical approaches on the phenomenon of discourse-related expletives and highlights the many avenues for future work in this area.

The paper analyzes the citation impact of Library and Information Science (LIS) research articles published in 31 leading international LIS journals in 2015. The main research question is: to what degree do authors' disciplinary composition in association with topic, methodology, and type of contribution affect their citation impact? The impact is analyzed in terms of the number of citations received and their authority, using outlier normalization and subfield normalization. Quantitative content analysis is used to analyze article characteristics including topic, methodology, type of contribution, and the disciplinary composition of their author teams. The citations received by the articles are traced from 2015 to May 2021. Citing document authority is measured by the citations they had received up to May 2021. The overall finding was that authors' disciplinary composition is significantly associated with citation scores. The differences in citation scores between disciplinary compositions appeared typically within information retrieval and scientific communication. In both topics LIS and computer science jointly received significantly higher citation scores than many disciplines like LIS alone or humanities in information retrieval; or natural sciences, medicine, or social sciences alone in scientific communication. The paper is original in reporting a joint analysis of content characteristics, authorship composition, and impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In research on second language (L2) processing, the processing of reference has been highlighted as a domain of particular difficulty, but the source of the difficulty is not well understood. The present study examines whether differences in the pronominal systems of the first language (L1) and L2 impact processing. We take a novel approach, testing a group of intermediate-advanced L2 learners in both their L1 (Mandarin Chinese) and L2 (English), allowing us to directly examine whether L2 learners show similar or different patterns when processing the L1 and L2. We also test a group of L1 English speakers. The study focused on two topicality-related factors, subjecthood and pronominalization, that have been shown to increase the prominence of an entity in the discourse, making it more likely that an entity in subject position (subjecthood) or an entity that has been referred to with a pronoun (pronominalization) will be considered as an antecedent for a subsequent pronoun. We developed a picture verification task with visual-world eye-tracking in both English and Chinese. This task provides a measure of both pronoun interpretation and online processing. Results showed subtle differences in how subjecthood and pronominalization are weighted in English and Chinese as L1s: pronominalization played a stronger role in L1 Chinese than in L1 English both in the interpretation measure and in the eye-movement data. The results for the L2 English learners showed an interesting pattern in which their results were more similar to the L1 English results on the measure of pronoun interpretation, but were more similar to the L1 Chinese results in the eye-movement data. These results show successful use of discourse cues in L2 pronoun interpretation but differences between L1 and L2 speakers during processing. It is proposed that decreased sensitivity to morphosyntactic information that is not present in the L1 (case on pronouns) leads to differences in L2 referential processing, in line with proposals that L2 learners face challenges with integrating different kinds of linguistic information online, particularly morphosyntactic information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The life realities of the people make up the vital content of folklore. As mentioned above, human life is related to folklore from the cradle to the grave. This relationship is direct and not indirect. In other words, folklore is closely related to situations in human life and is an organic part of it. A lullaby is played at the cradle, a song is sung at the grave; those who come into the world and those who leave the world are admired and cherished. Such commonality, which unites life and death, stands out as the philosophy of unity of the people in the creativity of the people. Folklore topics are taken from life. More precisely, the theme of folklore genres was created on life events. Folkloric patterns, which closely accompany ritual actions in the old culture, are gradually separated from it, and the ceremony loses its meaning after the ceremony is separated from its origin. But still, although not with the old solemnity, he continues to live without severing the relationship with a certain situation of the rhythms of life that he was connected to at the beginning. Some folklore examples are already preserved as archival material or exhibited as museum exhibits. In the article, folklore is investigated and analyzed as an indicator of ancient culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of the present study is to assess the gender‐specific differences in the presentation and outcomes following Talar OsteoPeriostic grafting from the Iliac Crest (TOPIC) between male and female patients. Methods: A prospective comparative analysis was performed comparing consecutive female and male patients having been treated by the press‐fit TOPIC procedure. Clinical comparative assessment preoperatively and at 12 months of follow‐up included determination of the Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) scores for pain during walking (primary outcome), at rest and during stair‐climbing. The Foot and Ankle Outcome Score (FAOS) was also assessed. A computed tomography (CT) scan was performed for lesion size, morphology and localization determination preoperatively as well as 10–12 weeks postoperatively to assess the union of the osteotomy site and at 1 year postoperatively to assess consolidation of the graft as well as intra‐graft cyst development. Results: A total of 48 patients (30 women, 18 men) were eligible for inclusion. Both men and women demonstrated significant functional improvements postoperatively concerning the clinical outcomes with no significant differences between men and women (n.s.) except for a significantly greater improvement in postoperative FAOS pain scores in women. Men presented with OLTs significantly larger in both surface area (208 mm2 for males versus 155 mm2 for females, p < 0.05) as well as lesion volume (3.0 cm3 for males versus 1.8 cm3 for females, p < 0.05). At 1‐year postoperatively, all patients showed graft consolidation. Cyst formation was present in 11 females (37% of the group) and 10 males (59% of the group), respectively (n.s.). Conclusion: Both males and females showed clinically relevant improvements in the clinical outcomes after undergoing the TOPIC procedure with significant differences in preoperative lesion size. The TOPIC procedure is a good treatment strategy for large OLTs in both men and women. Level of Evidence: Level III, comparative prospective clinical cohort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One important activity in conceptual ethics and conceptual engineering involves proposing to associate a new semantics with an existing word. Many philosophers think that one important way to evaluate such a proposal concerns whether it preserves the "topic" picked out by the existing word, and several have offered competing proposals concerning what is required to preserve topic. Our paper is focused on the conceptual ethics question of how conceptual engineers should use the term 'topic continuity'. We provide and defend a context-sensitive answer to this question. Our answer is motivated by the idea that there are several distinct considerations that we can reasonably care about (and which many conceptual engineers already do care about) in thinking about "topic continuity", and, moreover, that how best to weigh them against each other can vary from context to context. On our proposal, 'topic continuity' can function as a useful representational device that enables coordination by inquirers with respect to these concerns. We conclude by locating our account in a broader way of thinking about topic continuity across a range of inquiries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study investigated the depth of machine learning's capacity to perform prediction tasks. The study used textual data, specifically the daily actions of cryptocurrency (Bitcoin) dealers, which were found in news articles. The data was employed merely because it produced crowd knowledge of trade from News articles that affected the market price trend. For the goal of making predictions, 4073 pre-processed, scraped news articles from CNBC's market section website were analysed using the Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) model and its variation, the Supervised Latent Dirichlet Allocation Model (sLDA). The document-term matrix and "k" with different values ranging from 3 to 200 were used to train and test the models. The study used four metrics for evaluation because of our multinomial classification method: mean absolute percentage error (MAPE), mean absolute error (MAE), root mean square error (RMSE), and R2. The outcome demonstrated that for label prediction for unlabeled new documents, the sLDA model performed better than the LDA model plus (classification or regression model). The response variable, which was tagged "users' or traders' interest," was the daily closing price of each corresponding document. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Bulletin of the L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University. Journalism Series is the property of L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University 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.)

Copyright of Grafica: Journal of Graphic Design / Documents de Disseny Gràfic is the property of Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona 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.)

Copyright of Matica Srpska Journal of Philology & Linguistics / Zbornik Matice Srpske za Filologiju i Lingvistiku is the property of Matica srpska 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.)

Purpose This study aimed to analyze the research trends of the Korean Journal of Medical Education (KJME) since it became an English-language journal. Methods A total of 274 articles published in KJME from 2016 to 2023 were analyzed. All article types were included in the analysis. NetMiner ver. 4.0 (Cyram Inc., Korea) was used for the main keyword and topic modeling analysis. Results Of the 274 articles, 170 (62%) and 104 (38%) were by domestic and international authors, respectively. The main keywords with high frequency were “students,” “learning,” “experience,” “pandemic,” and “perception.” Three topics were derived using topic matching analysis: “residents’ perception and attitude of the pandemic,” “assessment of learning and achievement,” and “learning experiences in the pandemic.” Conclusion Since the shift to English-language journals, medical education research has witnessed an increase in the number of articles published by international authors. Research on postgraduate education has increased. Research topics are relevant to situations such as the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. These findings can help researchers select research topics and encourage them to submit their research to the journal.

Purpose: This study aimed to analyze the research trends of the Korean Journal of Medical Education (KJME) since it became an English-language journal. Methods: A total of 274 articles published in KJME from 2016 to 2023 were analyzed. All article types were included in the analysis. NetMiner ver. 4.0 (Cyram Inc., Korea) was used for the main keyword and topic modeling analysis. Results: Of the 274 articles, 170 (62%) and 104 (38%) were by domestic and international authors, respectively. The main keywords with high frequency were “students,” “learning,” “experience,” “pandemic,” and “perception.” Three topics were derived using topic matching analysis: “residents’ perception and attitude of the pandemic,” “assessment of learning and achievement,” and “learning experiences in the pandemic.” Conclusion: Since the shift to English-language journals, medical education research has witnessed an increase in the number of articles published by international authors. Research on postgraduate education has increased. Research topics are relevant to situations such as the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. These findings can help researchers select research topics and encourage them to submit their research to the journal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of International Journal of Arabic-English Studies (IJAES) is the property of International Journal of Arabic-English Studies (IJAES) 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.)

Left peripheral topics and foci often differ with respect to resumption: in languages such as Italian, Tzotzil Maya, and Warlpiri, while fronted topics may be co-indexed with a pronominal form in the corresponding argument position, fronted foci correspond to a gap. However, this contrast does not universally apply. In languages such as Anyi and Baule, two Kwa languages of Côte d'Ivoire, subjects and animate objects must be resumed by a pronoun whenever they appear in the left periphery – independent of information structure. The question is whether this instance of cross-linguistic variation arises through differences in the syntax of left peripheral positions in various languages or in the conditions of resumption. The present study examines data from Kwa languages and concludes that the difference lies in the conditions of resumption, which are orthogonal to the syntactic differences between topics and foci. Resumptives have a dual nature in these languages, serving as anaphoric constants (true resumptives) in topicalization and as bound variables (apparent resumptives) in focus constructions. A survey of the relevant facts in further Kwa languages reveals that resumption is determined by factors that are independent from information structure and relate to the recoverability of empty argument positions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Danilo II is considered a genuine representative of Hesychasm in Serbian medieval literature. Among the numerous elements of the hesychastic tradition recognized in the prose of this writer (Lives of Serbian Кings and Аrchbishops), the least scholarly attention has been paid to apophatism and the connection of this term with the topos of ineffability. The terms apophatism and the topos of ineffability are used in the work in the context of the principles of building a literary work, focusing on their role in structuring individual hagiography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A research topic is a subject or problem that an investigator is interested in research. The starting point of any research project that is successful is a well-defined subject of research. The selection of topics is an ongoing approach in which investigators analyse, describe, classify, and refine their ideas. For the ease of selection of topics particularly in the field of Ayurveda, Authors have created an acronym ‘TOPIC’ as a guiding tool for the selection of the area of research. The components of the TOPIC criterion are Textual & Time-bound; Objectivity & Outcome measures; Planning & Pragmatic; Innovative & Interesting and Contemporarily relevant & Consent, highlight useful points for the easy selection of the topic for the research by the novice.

Social networks have become a powerful communication tool, with millions of people exchanging information, opinions, and experiences daily. Companies, organizations, and even people have turned this tool into a marketing platform to position themselves and gain popularity. However, not only do companies present products or services to society, but society also provides feedback. This feedback also has a significant impact. It is impossible to process all this vast information manually in time, but it is crucial. This information is precious even to governmental or public entities such as universities. Potential future students will use social media to learn about the general feel of the institution. Therefore, this study presents a new dataset called CEIMaT2021, which compiles all tweets in Spanish related to the Technical School of Industrial Engineering of the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (ETSII-UPM). This dataset is designed for two main tasks of Online Reputation Management: 1) automatic detection of topics and 2) polarity. Furthermore, this study shows that the BETO model obtains better performance for topic detection for these tasks. Meanwhile, the MarIA model obtains better results for polarity detection.

The effects of learner‐ and task‐related variables on second language (L2) writing syntactic complexity (SC) have been extensively investigated. However, previous research has rarely assessed the reliability of computational tools for analyzing the SC of L2 spoken production, and we know less about the effects of such variables on L2 speaking SC. Using data from the International Corpus Network of Asian Learners of English, this study explores data preprocessing issues for preparing L2 English speech samples for automated SC analysis, evaluates the reliability of L2 Syntactic Complexity Analyzer on preprocessed L2 English speech samples, and examines the effects of proficiency, first language (L1) background, and topic on L2 speaking SC. Our manual analysis of 30 random speech samples identified several issues that can be addressed through preprocessing to improve the accuracy of automated SC analysis. Results from multiple linear mixed‐effects models revealed significant effects of proficiency, L1 background, and topic on the mean length of clause, the number of complex AS‐units per AS‐unit, and the number of dependent clauses and complex nominals per clause in L2 learners' spoken production. Our findings have useful implications for L2 speaking pedagogy and assessment as well as future L2 speaking SC research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study compared topics, impact, disciplines, and research methods in articles published from 2016 to 2020 between Scientometrics and Journal of Informetrics (JOI) to provide referential data for researchers and understand developments in scientometric research. Regarding similarities between Scientometrics and JOI, the results revealed that authors affiliated with management-related institutes accounted for the largest group of researchers and were predominantly listed as the first authors. Methodology was the second most common topic, and the proportion of studies increased during the study period. Most researchers preferred combining various methods to analyze publications from different sources. Regarding the main differences between the two journals, articles on research-based communication and metrics and indicators dominated Scientometrics and JOI, respectively. Authors working for scientometric institutes were the second largest group of authors in JOI, whereas computer science authors were the second largest group in Scientometrics. The average impact of articles for each topic in JOI was higher than that of articles in Scientometrics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the syntactic–pragmatic behavior of two expletive-like elements, namely a and chiru, in Fornese and Cilentano, two Romance varieties spoken in Northern and Southern Italy, respectively. We argue that a and chiru are not bona fide expletive subjects but discourse-pragmatic expletives, which mark zero aboutness or the absence of an aboutness referent in an utterance. The investigation of Fornese and Cilentano points towards the existence of a sub-class of null-subject languages where aboutness as a discourse feature must be structurally satisfied by merging an overt or null topic in the syntactic spine of the clause. In the absence of such an element—for example, in thetic clauses—a discourse-pragmatic expletive is externally merged as a last-resort strategy to satisfy [uAboutness]. We argue that, in these null-subject languages, the satisfaction of the discourse feature [uAboutness] is an LF requirement, which is subject to a parametric choice. We show that, in Fornese, "default" [aboutness] is satisfied in SubjP, which is the canonical syntactic position for overt subjects within a cartographic approach. In Cilentano, on the other hand, [aboutness] is satisfied in a higher position within the C-domain, namely ShiftP, the canonical syntactic position that hosts overt aboutness/shift topics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Referents with a topical or focused status have been shown to be preferable antecedents in real-time resolution of pronouns. However, it remains unclear regarding whether topicality and focus compete for prominence when co-present in the same narrative, and if so, how differential prominence affects prosodic realization of a subsequent pronoun. Building upon the general understanding that stress on pronouns signals an unusual, less accessible interpretation, we take advantage of the conditional bi-clausal construction in conjunction with homophonic 3rd person pronouns in Chinese. We manipulated the information status of two referents that were introduced into a six-clause narrative in succession, specifically (i) Topic and (ii) Focus, and also (iii) the Reference of the Pronoun (either the first or second referent). Our acoustic analyses showed that pronouns were produced with higher F0s when the first referent was topicalized than when it was not topicalized under conditions where the second referent was focused. Pronouns referring back to the first referent were uttered longer when the referent was not topicalized than when it was topicalized. These results suggest accessibility statuses of referents vary dynamically in response to different prominence-lending cues, and these variations can be captured by the prosodic features of a following pronoun. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Idioms are a colourful and fascinating aspect of English which are commonly used in all types of language, formal and informal, spoken and written. Despite the emerging theoretical accounts of idioms up to now, little attention has been paid to teaching and learning idiomatic expressions in English as a Foreign Language, English for Specific Purposes or English for Academic Purposes classroom. Developing idiomatic competence among English language learners in Slovakia remains a formidable challenge. Second-year undergraduates of the study programmes ‘Teacher Training of English Language and Literature’ (single major study) and ‘Teacher Training of English Language and Literature (double major study) need to master different types of idioms within one-term course in ‘English Lexicology and Phraseology’. Their language skills will increase rapidly if they can understand and use them confidently and correctly. The communication role of idiomatic comparisons is often neglected, as well. The aim of the paper is to find out their level of knowledge of standard idiomatic comparisons at the beginning and the end of the course. The paper intends to reveal how students of different nationalities – Slovak, Hungarian, Russian and Ukrainian – are able to explain the meaning of similes used in example sentences in English or their mother tongue. Altogether 51 students are tested twice via tests focused on similes, and their results are compared via a statistical t-Test. The results from the initial test show that their knowledge of idiomatic comparisons was not very wide. However, the results from the final test prove that they were motivated to learn idioms, and thus they extended their knowledge of idiomatic comparisons significantly. In addition, the paper suggests some implications for teaching and learning similes and phraseological units in general.

The present study examined the effect of language background and topic on productive formulaic competence. Guided by usage-based theory of language learning, this study used a distribution-based approach to the examination of the native-likeness of formulaic usage in English timed argumentative writing. Six indices informed by a large-scale native corpus were chosen to gauge the frequency and association strength of bigrams and trigrams in a total of 778 English timed independent argumentative essays on two topics by 100 native speaker writers, 210 English as a foreign language (EFL) writers and 79 English as a second language (ESL) writers in Asia. Results of a series of linear mixed-effects regression analyses showed that, while EFL writers scored lower on most of the indices than both NS writers and ESL writers, ESL writers did not differ much from NS writers in their use of n-grams across topics. Meanwhile, the topic that was deemed more cognitively demanding and of a stronger technical nature elicited more native-like performance in bigram and trigram use across all three language groups. Findings of the study highlight the important effect of input on the development of formulaic competence in a second language, offer empirical support to the use of cognitively complex topics in second language writing practice, and carry important implications for L2 writing pedagogy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Individual differences in children's social communication have been shown to mediate the relationship between poor vocabulary or grammar and behavioural difficulties. Moreover, there is increasing evidence that social communication skills predict difficulties with peers over and above vocabulary and grammar scores. The essential social communicative skills needed to maintain positive peer relationships revolve around conversation. Children with weaker conversation skills are less likely to make and maintain friendships. While helping all children to participate actively in collaborative conversations is part of school curricula, evidence-based training on how to achieve this is rarely provided for teachers. In this review, we first provide an overview of the key components of conversation skills and the cognitive abilities required to maintain them. We then present a narrative review of randomised controlled trials and experimental studies that either trained child conversation skills or included conversation skills in both training and outcome measures. Most of the studies focussed on training conversational ability in autistic children. The general finding was that verbally fluent autistic children improve following conversation training on blind-assessed reciprocal conversational ability. Only two studies were found that trained conversation skills in typically developing children with adequate controls and outcome measures, which directly assessed conversational proficiency. Both studies focussed on typically developing children who, at baseline, were in the weaker third of the mainstream classroom. Importantly, training not only improved the conversational ability of these children, it also improved their rates of lunchtime interaction with peers and their peer popularity ratings. We argue that there is considerable potential for supporting conversation skills in the classroom as a universal or Tier 1 intervention. Future research should explore whether conversation skills training would benefit the whole classroom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Tele-assessment (TA) has the potential to enhance access to speech therapy. This preliminary study aimed to investigate the impact of assessment mode (face-to-face [FTF] vs. TA) on the microstructure level and chosen topics of personal narratives produced by Arabic-speaking and Hebrew-speaking school-age children living in Israel. We also investigated whether performance variations, if evident, could be attributed to the children's language/culture. Methods: Eighty-nine 10-year-old children, 38 Arabic-speaking and 51 Hebrew-speaking, living in Israel, participated in this study. Forty participants were assigned to a TA group (via Zoom) and 49 to a FTF group. All participants were assessed using the Global TALES protocol, generating six personal narratives each. The narratives were analyzed regarding the following microstructural measures: total number of words, total number of utterances (TNU), number of different words, and mean length of utterance in words (MLU-W). Additionally, each narrative was categorized into a topic according to the Global TALES protocol. Results: The analysis revealed no significant main effect of assessment mode on any of the microstructure measures. However, a significant interaction effect between language/culture and assessment mode was found for TNU and MLU-W, with a significant main effect for TNU exclusively in the Arabic narratives, with the Arabic-speaking children producing more utterances through FTF compared to TA. Across language/culture groups, there was a significant effect of assessment mode on the chosen topic. Additionally, there were significantly higher scores in the Hebrew compared to the Arabic narratives in all microstructure measures, and language/culture also influenced the chosen topics. Conclusions: The results support the feasibility of TA mode for assessing personal narratives in school-aged children, using the Global TALES protocol. However, the results also suggest that TA results may be affected by the language/culture of the narrator. Finally, the findings highlight the potential influence of TA on the chosen topics of personal narratives, perhaps due to a decrease in the quality of communication in TA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose/Introduction: Narrative language skills are critical for effective social interactions and academic success. Consequently, narratives are regularly an aspect of assessment and intervention for children with communication impairments, supporting the need for information about typical development from children across cultures. Development of coherent personal narratives is associated with growth of both one's individual identity and cultural identity which are linked to psychological well-being. The topics and contents of children's personal stories can provide insight into cultural influences on what children consider important, how they interpret experiences, and their values and beliefs, which in turn contribute to their developing individual and cultural self-identity. The purpose of this study was to investigate the topics and content of personal narratives told by typically developing 10-year-old children from East Asian and Western English-speaking cultures. Methods: There were 20 children in each of three East Asian language groups – Mandarin, Cantonese, and Korean; and 62 children in the English-speaking groups (22 in the USA and 20 each in the Australian and New Zealand groups). In each group, half were boys and half were girls. Children responded to prompts from the Global TALES protocol to elicit personal narratives. All language samples were transcribed, translated, and coded for topic choices using qualitative content analysis in collaborative discussions by the four authors, who included an English-speaking author from the USA (C.E.W.), and three authors, who are native speakers of the three East Asian languages, Mandarin (K.-M.C.), Cantonese (A.M.-Y.W.), and Korean (J.P.L.). Results: Results on topics in stories from East Asian and Western English-speaking cultures are described in relation to literature on anthropology. English-speaking children and East Asian children in this study talked about similar topics in their personal narratives, but the frequency of these topics within their stories varied. Possible explanations for differences in story topics are discussed within a framework on cultural dimensions. Conclusion: Evaluation of the topics of children's personal narratives provides insight into what is important to the children and the way they view their worlds. This information may inform clinical approaches to assessment and intervention with children with communication impairments, encouraging clinicians to go beyond analysis of language structure to consider multiple factors that influence communicative competence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Wolof (Niger-Congo), focus is expressed morphosyntactically via specific focus constructions. This article deals with two of them, namely the subject-focus and the complement-focus constructions. I propose to analyse them as copulaless cleft constructions of the form focus | topic, that is, constructions in which the focus and the topic are juxtaposed. In such clefts, the topic of the sentence is expressed by means of a noun phrase which is headed by the definite article la when the focus corresponds to the syntactic object, and by the morpheme a when the focus corresponds to the syntactic subject of the sentence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Automatic text summarization (ATS) plays a significant role in Natural Language Processing (NLP). Abstractive summarization produces summaries by identifying and compressing the most important information in a document. However, there are only relatively several comprehensively evaluated abstractive summarization models that work well for specific types of reports due to their unstructured and oral language text characteristics. In particular, Chinese complaint reports, generated by urban complainers and collected by government employees, describe existing resident problems in daily life. Meanwhile, the reflected problems are required to respond speedily. Therefore, automatic summarization tasks for these reports have been developed. However, similar to traditional summarization models, the generated summaries still exist problems of informativeness and conciseness. To address these issues and generate suitably informative and less redundant summaries, a topic-based abstractive summarization method is proposed to obtain global and local features. Additionally, a heterogeneous graph of the original document is constructed using word-level and topic-level features. Experiments and analyses on public review datasets (Yelp and Amazon) and our constructed dataset (Chinese complaint reports) show that the proposed framework effectively improves the performance of the abstractive summarization model for Chinese complaint reports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]