Search results for: second language teaching
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 6087

Search results for: second language teaching

2967 Analysis of the Discursive Dynamics of Preservice Physics Teachers in a Context of Curricular Innovation

Authors: M. A. Barros, M. V. Barros

Abstract:

The aim of this work is to analyze the discursive dynamics of preservice teachers during the implementation of a didactic sequence on topics of Quantum Mechanics for High School. Our research methodology was qualitative, case study type, in which we selected two prospective teachers on the Physics Teacher Training Course of the Sao Carlos Institute of Physics, at the University of Sao Paulo/Brazil. The set of modes of communication analyzed were the intentions and interventions of the teachers, the established communicative approach, the patterns and the contents of the interactions between teachers and students. Data were collected through video recording, interviews and questionnaires conducted before and after an 8 hour mini-course, which was offered to a group of 20 secondary students. As teaching strategy we used an active learning methodology, called: Peer Instruction. The episodes pointed out that both future teachers used interactive dialogic and authoritative communicative approaches to mediate the discussion between peers. In the interactive dialogic dimension the communication pattern was predominantly I-R-F (initiation-response-feedback), in which the future teachers assisted the students in the discussion by providing feedback to their initiations and contributing to the progress of the discussions between peers. Although the interactive dialogic dimension has been preferential during the use of the Peer Instruction method the authoritative communicative approach was also employed. In the authoritative dimension, future teachers used predominantly the type I-R-E (initiation-response-evaluation) communication pattern by asking the students several questions and leading them to the correct answer. Among the main implications the work contributes to the improvement of the practices of future teachers involved in applying active learning methodologies in classroom by identifying the types of communicative approaches and communication patterns used, as well as researches on curriculum innovation in physics in high school.

Keywords: curricular innovation, high school, physics teaching, discursive dynamics

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2966 'You’re Not Alone': Peer Feedback Practices for Cross-Cultural Writing Classrooms and Centers

Authors: Cassandra Branham, Danielle Farrar

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As writing instructors and writing center administrators at a large research university with a significant population of English language learners (ELLs), we are interested in how peer feedback pedagogy can be effectively translated for writing center purposes, as well as how various modes of peer feedback can enrich the learning experiences of L1 and L2 writers in these spaces. Although peer feedback is widely used in classrooms and centers, instructor, student, and researcher opinions vary in respect to its effectiveness. We argue that peer feedback - traditional and digital, synchronous and asynchronous - is an indispensable element for both classrooms and centers and emphasize that it should occur with both L1 and L2 students to further develop an array of reading and writing skills. We also believe that further understanding of the best practices of peer feedback in such cross-cultural spaces, like the classroom and center, can optimize the benefits of peer feedback. After a critical review of the literature, we implemented an embedded tutoring program in our university’s writing center in collaboration with its First-Year Composition (FYC) program and Language Institute. The embedded tutoring program matches a graduate writing consultant with L1 and L2 writers enrolled in controlled-matriculation composition courses where ELLs make up at least 50% of each class. Furthermore, this program is informed by what we argue to be some best practices of peer feedback for both classroom and center purposes, including expectation-based training through rubrics, modeling effective feedback, hybridizing traditional and digital modes of feedback, recognizing the significance the body in composition (what we call writer embodiment), and maximizing digital technologies to exploit extended cognition. After conducting surveys and follow-up interviews with students, instructors, and writing consultants in the embedded tutoring program, we found that not only did students see an increased value in peer feedback, but also instructors saw an improvement in both writing style and critical thinking skills. Our L2 participants noted improvements in language acquisition while our L1 students recognized a broadening of their worldviews. We believe that both L1 and L2 students developed self-efficacy and agency in their identities as writers because they gained confidence in their abilities to offer feedback, as well as in the legitimacy of feedback they received from peers. We also argue that these best practices situate novice writers as experts, as writers become a valued and integral part of the revision process with their own and their peers’ papers. Finally, the use of iPads in embedded tutoring recovered the importance of the body and its senses in writing; the highly sensory feedback from these multi-modal sessions that offer audio and visual input underscores the significant role both the body and mind play in compositional practices. After beginning with a brief review of the literature that sparked this research, this paper will discuss the embedded tutoring program in detail, report on the results of the pilot program, and will conclude with a discussion of the pedagogical implications that arise from this research for both classroom and center.

Keywords: English language learners, peer feedback, writing center, writing classroom

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2965 Using Variation Theory in a Design-based Approach to Improve Learning Outcomes of Teachers Use of Video and Live Experiments in Swedish Upper Secondary School

Authors: Andreas Johansson

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Conceptual understanding needs to be grounded on observation of physical phenomena, experiences or metaphors. Observation of physical phenomena using demonstration experiments has a long tradition within physics education and students need to develop mental models to relate the observations to concepts from scientific theories. This study investigates how live and video experiments involving an acoustic trap to visualize particle-field interaction, field properties and particle properties can help develop students' mental models and how they can be used differently to realize their potential as teaching tools. Initially, they were treated as analogs and the lesson designs were kept identical. With a design-based approach, the experimental and video designs, as well as best practices for a respective teaching tool, were then developed in iterations. Variation theory was used as a theoretical framework to analyze the planned respective realized pattern of variation and invariance in order to explain learning outcomes as measured by a pre-posttest consisting of conceptual multiple-choice questions inspired by the Force Concept Inventory and the Force and Motion Conceptual Evaluation. Interviews with students and teachers were used to inform the design of experiments and videos in each iteration. The lesson designs and the live and video experiments has been developed to help teachers improve student learning and make school physics more interesting by involving experimental setups that usually are out of reach and to bridge the gap between what happens in classrooms and in science research. As students’ conceptual knowledge also rises their interest in physics the aim is to increase their chances of pursuing careers within science, technology, engineering or mathematics.

Keywords: acoustic trap, design-based research, experiments, variation theory

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2964 The Mayan Calendar: An Ideology Laden and Worldview Changing Discourse

Authors: John Rosswell Cummings III

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This research examines the discourse ancient Maya ritual practice manifest and maintained through language in a contemporary society as led by a daykeeper— a Maya spiritual leader— with the objective of discovering if the Maya Calendar has an influence on worldview. Through an ethnography of communication and discursive analysis framework, this research examines the discourse of and around the Maya calendar through original research. Data collected includes the ceremonial performance of the Tzolkin ritual, a ritual that takes place every 13 days to ceremonially welcome one of the 20 Universal Forces. During the ceremony, participants supplicate, sacrifice, and venerate. This ritual, based off the Tzolkin cycle in the Mayan Calendar, contains strong, culture-binding ideologies. This research performs a close analysis of the 20 energies of the Tzolkin and their glyphs so as to gain a better understanding of current ideologies in Maya communities. Through a linguistic relativity frame of reference, including both the strong and weak versions, the 20 Universal Forces are shown to influence ways of life. This research argues that it is not just the native language, but the discourses native to the community as held through the calendar, influence thought and have the potential to offer an alternate worldview, thus shaping the cultural narrative which in return influences identity of the community. Research of this kind, on calendric systems and linguistic relativity, has the power to make great discoveries about the societies of the world and their worldviews.

Keywords: anthropological linguistics, discourse analysis, cultural studies, sociolinguistics

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2963 A Levinasian Perspective on the Field of Applied Ethics

Authors: Payman Tajalli, Steven Segal

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Applied ethics is an area of ethics which is looked upon most favorably as the most appropriate and useful for educational purposes; after all if ethics finds no application would any investment of time, effort and finance by the educational institutions be warranted? The current approaches to ethics in business and management often entail appealing to various types of moral theories and to this end almost every major philosophical approach has been enlisted. In this paper, we look at ethics through the philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas to argue that since ethics is ‘first philosophy’ it can neither be rule-based nor rule-governed, not something that can be worked out first and then applied to a given situation, hence the overwhelming emphasis on ‘applied ethics’ as a field of study in business and management education is unjustified. True ethics is not applied ethics. This assertion does not mean that teaching ethical theories and philosophies need to be abandoned rather it is the acceptance of the fact that an increase in cognitive awareness of such theories and ethical models and frameworks, or the mastering of techniques and procedures for ethical decision making, will not affect the desired ethical transformation in our students. Levinas himself argued for an ethics without a foundation, not one that required us to go ‘beyond good and evil’ as Nietzsche contended, rather an ethics which necessitates going ‘before good and evil'. Such an ethics does not provide us with a set of methods or techniques or a decision tree that enable us determine the rightness of an action and what we ought to do, rather it is about a way of being, an ethical posture or approach one takes in the inter-subjective relationship with the other that holds the promise of ethical conduct. Ethics in this Levinasian sense then is one of infinite and unconditional responsibility for the other person in relationship, an ethics which is not subject to negotiation, calculation or reciprocity, and as such it could neither be applied nor taught through conventional pedagogy with its focus on knowledge transfer from the teacher to student, and to this end Levinas offers a non-maieutic, non-conventional approach to pedagogy. The paper concludes that from a Levinasian perspective on ethics and education, we may need to guide our students to move away from the clear and objective professionalism of the management and applied ethics towards the murky individual spiritualism. For Levinas, this is ‘the Copernican revolution’ in ethics.

Keywords: business ethics, ethics education, Levinas, maieutic teaching, ethics without foundation

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2962 Study Skills Empowering Strategies to Enhance Second Year Diploma Accountancy Students’ Academic Performance

Authors: Mohamed Karodia

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Accountancy as a subject is one of the sciences that for many years has been perceived as a difficult subject to study and teach. Yet, it continuously attracts scholars graduating from school and entering Higher Education Institutions as a subject of choice and career. The teaching and learning of this subject have not been easy and has evolved and progressed over the past few decades however students still find it difficult to study and this has resulted in poor student achievement. In search of solutions, this study has considered the effect and efficacy that study skills have on the performance of Accountancy students and in particular students studying Second Year Diploma in Accountancy at the University of Johannesburg. These students appear to have a lack of appropriate study skills and as a result of these impacts on their performance in the courses, they are studying. This study also focuses on strategies to enhance Second Year Diploma Accountancy students’ academic performance. A literature review was conducted to investigate what scholarly literature suggests about study skills, in general, and in particular for Accountancy to be successful. In order to determine what study skills Second Year Accountancy students are applying when they learn and why they are failing the Accountancy examinations and formal class tests, the study adopted the quantitative research method. A questionnaire addressing various aspects of study skills, studying accountancy and studying, in general, was provided to 800 students studying Second Year Diploma in Accountancy at the University of Johannesburg’s Soweto Campus. The quantitative data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics in the form of proportions, frequencies, means, and standard deviations, t-tests to compare differences between two groups as well as correlations between variables. Based on the findings of this study, it is recommended that students are provided with courses in time management, procrastination, reading, note taking and writing, test preparation techniques as well as study attitude. Lecturers spend more time teaching students how to study in general as well as accountancy specifically preferably at the first-year level before proceeding to the second year. It is also recommended that the University implements a study skills course to assist the students with studying.

Keywords: accountancy, skills, strategies, study

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2961 The Roles of Mandarin and Local Dialect in the Acquisition of L2 English Consonants Among Chinese Learners of English: Evidence From Suzhou Dialect Areas

Authors: Weijing Zhou, Yuting Lei, Francis Nolan

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In the domain of second language acquisition, whenever pronunciation errors or acquisition difficulties are found, researchers habitually attribute them to the negative transfer of the native language or local dialect. To what extent do Mandarin and local dialects affect English phonological acquisition for Chinese learners of English as a foreign language (EFL)? Little evidence, however, has been found via empirical research in China. To address this core issue, the present study conducted phonetic experiments to explore the roles of local dialects and Mandarin in Chinese EFL learners’ acquisition of L2 English consonants. Besides Mandarin, the sole national language in China, Suzhou dialect was selected as the target local dialect because of its distinct phonology from Mandarin. The experimental group consisted of 30 junior English majors at Yangzhou University, who were born and lived in Suzhou, acquired Suzhou Dialect since their early childhood, and were able to communicate freely and fluently with each other in Suzhou Dialect, Mandarin as well as English. The consonantal target segments were all the consonants of English, Mandarin and Suzhou Dialect in typical carrier words embedded in the carrier sentence Say again. The control group consisted of two Suzhou Dialect experts, two Mandarin radio broadcasters, and two British RP phoneticians, who served as the standard speakers of the three languages. The reading corpus was recorded and sampled in the phonetic laboratories at Yangzhou University, Soochow University and Cambridge University, respectively, then transcribed, segmented and analyzed acoustically via Praat software, and finally analyzed statistically via EXCEL and SPSS software. The main findings are as follows: First, in terms of correct acquisition rates (CARs) of all the consonants, Mandarin ranked top (92.83%), English second (74.81%) and Suzhou Dialect last (70.35%), and significant differences were found only between the CARs of Mandarin and English and between the CARs of Mandarin and Suzhou Dialect, demonstrating Mandarin was overwhelmingly more robust than English or Suzhou Dialect in subjects’ multilingual phonological ecology. Second, in terms of typical acoustic features, the average duration of all the consonants plus the voice onset time (VOT) of plosives, fricatives, and affricatives in 3 languages were much longer than those of standard speakers; the intensities of English fricatives and affricatives were higher than RP speakers but lower than Mandarin and Suzhou Dialect standard speakers; the formants of English nasals and approximants were significantly different from those of Mandarin and Suzhou Dialects, illustrating the inconsistent acoustic variations between the 3 languages. Thirdly, in terms of typical pronunciation variations or errors, there were significant interlingual interactions between the 3 consonant systems, in which Mandarin consonants were absolutely dominant, accounting for the strong transfer from L1 Mandarin to L2 English instead of from earlier-acquired L1 local dialect to L2 English. This is largely because the subjects were knowingly exposed to Mandarin since their nursery and were strictly required to speak in Mandarin through all the formal education periods from primary school to university.

Keywords: acquisition of L2 English consonants, role of Mandarin, role of local dialect, Chinese EFL learners from Suzhou Dialect areas

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2960 Sensitivity to Misusing Verb Inflections in Both Finite and Non-Finite Clauses in Native and Non-Native Russian: A Self-Paced Reading Investigation

Authors: Yang Cao

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Analyzing the oral production of Chinese-speaking learners of English as a second language (L2), we can find a large variety of verb inflections – Why does it seem so hard for them to use consistent correct past morphologies in obligatory past contexts? Failed Functional Features Hypothesis (FFFH) attributes the rather non-target-like performance to the absence of [±past] feature in their L1 Chinese, arguing that for post puberty learners, new features in L2 are no more accessible. By contrast, Missing Surface Inflection Hypothesis (MSIH) tends to believe that all features are actually acquirable for late L2 learners, while due to the mapping difficulties from features to forms, it is hard for them to realize the consistent past morphologies on the surface. However, most of the studies are limited to the verb morphologies in finite clauses and few studies have ever attempted to figure out these learners’ performance in non-finite clauses. Additionally, it has been discussed that Chinese learners may be able to tell the finite/infinite distinction (i.e. the [±finite] feature might be selected in Chinese, even though the existence of [±past] is denied). Therefore, adopting a self-paced reading task (SPR), the current study aims to analyze the processing patterns of Chinese-speaking learners of L2 Russian, in order to find out if they are sensitive to misuse of tense morphologies in both finite and non-finite clauses and whether they are sensitive to the finite/infinite distinction presented in Russian. The study targets L2 Russian due to its systematic morphologies in both present and past tenses. A native Russian group, as well as a group of English-speaking learners of Russian, whose L1 has definitely selected both [±finite] and [±past] features, will also be involved. By comparing and contrasting performance of the three language groups, the study is going to further examine and discuss the two theories, FFFH and MSIH. Preliminary hypotheses are: a) Russian native speakers are expected to spend longer time reading the verb forms which violate the grammar; b) it is expected that Chinese participants are, at least, sensitive to the misuse of inflected verbs in non-finite clauses, although no sensitivity to the misuse of infinitives in finite clauses might be found. Therefore, an interaction of finite and grammaticality is expected to be found, which indicate that these learners are able to tell the finite/infinite distinction; and c) having selected [±finite] and [±past], English-speaking learners of Russian are expected to behave target-likely, supporting L1 transfer.

Keywords: features, finite clauses, morphosyntax, non-finite clauses, past morphologies, present morphologies, Second Language Acquisition, self-paced reading task, verb inflections

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2959 The Phonology and Phonetics of Second Language Intonation in Case of “Downstep”

Authors: Tayebeh Norouzi

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This study aims to investigate the acquisition process of intonation. It examines the intonation structure of Tokyo Japanese and its realization by Iranian learners of Japanese. Seven Iranian learners of Japanese, differing in fluency, and two Japanese speakers participated in the experiment. Two sentences were used to test the phonological and phonetic characteristics of lexical pitch-accent as well as the intonation patterns produced by the speakers. Both sentences consisted of similar words with the same number of syllables and lexical pitch-accents but different syntactic structure. Speakers were asked to read each sentence three times at normal speed, and the data were analyzed by Praat. The results show that lexical pitch-accent, Accentual Phrase (AP) and AP boundary tone realization vary depending on sentence type. For sentences of type XdeYwo, the lexical pitch-accent is realized properly. However, there is a rise in AP boundary tone regardless of speakers’ level of fluency. In contrast, in sentences of type XnoYwo, the lexical pitch-accent and AP boundary tone vary depending on the speakers’ fluency level. Advanced speakers are better at grouping words into phrases and produce more native-like intonation patterns, though they are not able to realize downstep properly. The non-native speakers tried to realize proper intonation patterns by making changes in lexical accent and boundary tone.

Keywords: intonation, Iranian learners, Japanese prosody, lexical accent, second language acquisition.

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2958 The Colombian Linguistic Landscape: A Study of Commercial Signs

Authors: Francia Martinez

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This study documents and demonstrates the profound impact of the high status of American English and culture in Colombian commercial landscape due to the globalization and commodification of English. It also documents and describes how Colombian advertisers make use of various language and visual mechanisms in the commercial linguistic landscape to convey messages, create an image with which the target audience can identify, and build a relationship with that target audience. The data (in the form of pictures) were collected in different cities in Colombia and were classified and organized into different categories for the reliability and validity of the analysis. The research questions were: do the ubiquity and high status of American English and culture play a major role in the Colombian commercial linguistic landscape? If so, how?, what roles do national and local culture and language (Spanish) play in the commercial linguistic landscape?, and what different linguistic and visual strategies do Colombian advertisers employ to reach their target audience? Based on data analysis and results, American and local culture and icons play a major role when Colombian advertisers create and design their commercial logos and ads to get consumers’ attention and establish a rapport with them in a successful way. In order to achieve their objectives, Colombian advertisers rely on creative linguistic and visual techniques in their ads, such as puns, humor, irony, comparisons, metaphors, mocking, exaggeration, parody, personification, sarcasm, satire, allusion, onomatopoeias, and imitation (copycat or cloning).

Keywords: Colombian ads, linguistic landscape, rhetorical devices, sociolinguistics

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2957 Investigating Classroom Teachers' Perceptions of Assessing U.S. College Students' L2 Chinese Oral Performance

Authors: Guangyan Chen

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This study examined Chinese teachers’ perceptions of assessing U.S. college students’ L2 (second language) Chinese oral performances at different levels. Ten oral performances were videotaped from which three were chosen as samples to represent three different proficiency levels based on professionals’ judgments according to the ACTFL proficiency guidelines. The three samples were shown to L2 Chinese teachers who completed questionnaires about their assessments for each speech sample. In total, 104 L2 Chinese teachers responded to each of the three samples. The Exploratory Factor Analyses (EFA) of the teachers’ responses revealed three similar rating criteria patterns for assessing the three levels of oral performances. The teachers’ responses to Samples 2 and 3 revealed five rating criteria: Global proficiency, Chinese conceptual framework, content richness, communication appropriateness, and communication clarity. The teachers’ responses to Sample 1 revealed four rating criteria: global proficiency, Chinese conceptual framework, communication appropriateness/content richness, and communication clarity. However, the analyses of variance (ANOVAs) revealed that the proficiency levels of the three oral performances differed significantly across all rating criteria. Therefore, the data suggests that L2 classroom teachers could use the similar rating criteria pattern to assess college-level L2 Chinese students’ oral performances at different proficiency levels.

Keywords: language assessment, L2 Chinese, oral performance, rating criteria

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2956 The Influence of Grammatical Gender on Socially Constructed Gender in English, Dutch, and German

Authors: Noah Brandon

Abstract:

Grammatical gender can create a restrictive roadblock for the usage of gender-inclusive language. This research describes grammatical gender structures used in English, Dutch, and German and considers how these structures restrict the implementation of gender inclusivity in spoken and written discourse. This restriction is measured by the frequency with which gender-inclusive & generic masculine forms are used and by the morphosyntactic complexity of the gender-inclusive forms available in these languages. These languages form a continuum of grammatical gender structures, with English having the least articulated structures and German having the most. This leads to a comparative analysis intended to establish a correlation between the complexity of gender structure and the difficulty of using gender-inclusive forms. English, on one side of the continuum, maintains only remnants of a formal grammatical gender system and imposes the fewest restrictions on the creation of neo-pronouns and the use of gender-inclusive alternatives to gendered agentive nouns. Next, the Dutch have a functionally two-gender system with less freedom using gender-neutral forms. Lastly, German, on the other end, has a three-gender system requiring a plethora of morphosyntactic and orthographic alternatives to avoid using generic masculine. The paper argues that the complexity of grammatical gender structures correlates with hindered use of gender-inclusive forms. Going forward, efforts will focus on gathering further data on the usage of gender-inclusive and generic masculine forms within these languages. The end goal of this research is to establish a definitive objective correlation between grammatical gender complexity and impediments in expressing socially constructed gender.

Keywords: sociolinguistics, language and gender, gender, Germanic linguistics, grammatical gender, German, Dutch, English

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2955 Action Research: Visual Dialogue: A Strategy for Managing Emotion of Autistic Students with Intellectual Disabilities

Authors: Tahmina Huq

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Action research equips teachers with the skills needed to work on a particular situation in their classroom. This paper aims to introduce a strategy, visual dialogue between student and teacher, used by the researcher to help autistic students with intellectual disabilities to regulate their immediate emotions to achieve their academic goals. This research has been conducted to determine whether teaching self-regulation strategies can be effective instead of segregating them. The researcher has identified that visual dialogue between the student and teacher is a helpful technique for teaching self-regulation. For this particular research, action research suits the purpose as the findings can be applied immediately in the classroom. Like many autistic students, the teacher had two 15 years old autistic students with intellectual disabilities in class who had difficulty in controlling their emotions and impulses. They expressed their emotions through aggressive behavior, such as shouting, screaming, biting teachers or any adult who was in their sight, and destroying school property. They needed two to four hours to recover from their meltdowns with the help of a psychologist. The students missed the classes as they were often isolated from the classroom and stayed in the calming room until they calmed down. This negatively affected their learning. Therefore, the researcher decided to implement a self-regulation strategy, a visual dialogue between students and teachers, instead of isolating them to recover from the meltdown. The data was collected through personal observations, a log sheet, personal reflections, and pictures. The result shows that the students can regulate their emotions shortly in the classroom (15 to 30 minutes). Through visual dialogue, they can express their feelings and needs in socially appropriate ways. The finding indicates that autistic students can regulate their emotions through visual dialogues and participate in activities by staying in the classroom. Thus it positively impacted their learning and social lives. In this paper, the researcher discussed the findings of exploring how teachers can successfully implement a self-regulation strategy for autistic students in classroom settings. The action research describes the strategy that has been found effective for managing the emotions of autistic students with intellectual disabilities.

Keywords: action research, self-regulation, autism, visual communication

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2954 Discursive Construction of Strike in the Media Coverage of Academic Staff Union of Universities vs Federal Government of Nigeria Industrial Conflict of 2013

Authors: Samuel Alaba Akinwotu

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Over the years, Nigeria’s educational system has greatly suffered from the menace of industrial conflict. The smooth running of the nation’s public educational institutions has been hampered by incessant strikes embarked upon by workers of these institutions. Even though industrial conflicts in Nigeria have enjoyed wide reportage in the media, there has been a dearth of critical examination of the language use that index the conflict’s discourse in the media. This study which is driven by a combination of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and Conceptual Metaphor (CM) examines the discursive and ideological features of language indexing the industrial conflict between the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) in 2013. It aims to identify and assess the conceptual and cognitive motivations of the stances expressed by the parties and the public and the role of the media in the management and resolution of the conflict. For data, media reports and readers’ comments were purposively sampled from six print and online news sources (The Punch, This Day, Vanguard, The Nation, Osun Defender and AITonline) published between July and December 2013. The study provides further insight into industrial conflict and proves to be useful for the management and resolution of industrial conflicts especially in our public educational institutions.

Keywords: industrial conflict, critical discourse analysis, conceptual metaphor, federal government of Nigeria, academic staff union of universities

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2953 The Efficacy of Clobazam for Landau-Kleffner Syndrome

Authors: Nino Gogatishvili, Davit Kvernadze, Giorgi Japharidze

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Background and aims: Landau Kleffner syndrome (LKS) is a rare disorder with epileptic seizures and acquired aphasia. It usually starts in initially healthy children. The first symptoms are language regression and behavioral disturbances, and the sleep EEG reveals abnormal epileptiform activity. The aim was to discuss the efficacy of Clobazam for Landau Kleffner syndrome. Case report: We report a case of an 11-year-old boy with an uneventful pregnancy and delivery. He began to walk at 11 months and speak with simple phrases at the age of 2,5 years. At the age of 18 months, he had febrile convulsions; at the age of 5 years, the parents noticed language regression, stuttering, and serious behavioral dysfunction, including hyperactivity, temper outbursts. The epileptic seizure was not noticed. MRI was without any abnormality. Neuropsychological testing revealed verbal auditory agnosia. Sleep EEG showed abundant left fronto-temporal spikes, reaching over 85% during non-rapid eye movement sleep (non-REM sleep). Treatment was started with Clobazam. After ten weeks, EEG was improved. Stuttering and behavior also improved. Results: Since the start of Clobazam treatment, stuttering and behavior improved. Now, he is 11 years old, without antiseizure medication. Sleep EEG shows fronto-temporal spikes on the left side, over 10-49 % of non-REM sleep, bioccipital spikes, and slow-wave discharges and spike-waves. Conclusions: This case provides further support for the efficacy of Clobazam in patients with LKS.

Keywords: Landau-Kleffner syndrome, antiseizure medication, stuttering, aphasia

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2952 Influence of the Induction Program on Novice Teacher Retention In One Specialized School in Nur-Sultan

Authors: Almagul Nurgaliyeva

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The phenomenon of novice teacher attrition is an urgent issue. The effective mechanisms to increase the retention rate of novice teachers relate to the nature and level of support provided at an employing site. This study considered novice teacher retention as a motivation-based process, which is based on a variety of support activities employed to satisfy novice teachers’ needs at an early career stage. The purpose of the study was to examine novice teachers’ perceptions of the effectiveness of the induction program and other support structure(s) at a secondary school in Nur-Sultan. The study was guided by Abraham Maslow’s (1943) theory of motivation. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs was used as a theoretical framework to identify the novice teachers’ primary needs and the extent to which the induction programs and other support mechanisms provided by the school administrators fulfill those needs. One school supervisor and eight novice teachers (four current and four former novice teachers) with a maximum of four years of teaching experience took part in the study. To investigate the perspectives and experiences of the participants, an online semi-structured interview was utilized. The responses were collected and analyzed. The study revealed four major challenges: educational, personal-psychological, sociological, and structural which are seen as the main constraints during the adaptation period. Four induction activities, as emerged from the data, are being carried out by the school to address novice teachers’ challenges: socialization activities, mentoring programs, professional development, and administrative support. These activities meet novice teachers’ needs and confront the challenges they face. Sufficient and adequate support structures provided to novice teachers during their first years of working experience is essential, as they may influence their decision to remain in the teaching profession, thereby reducing the attrition rate. The study provides recommendations for policymakers and school administrators about the structure and the content of induction program activities.

Keywords: beginning teacher induction, induction programme, orientation programmes, adaptation challenges, novice teacher retention

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2951 Using E-learning in a Tertiary Institution during Community Outbreak of COVID-19 in Hong Kong

Authors: Susan Ka Yee Chow

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The Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) reached Hong Kong in 2019 resulting in epidemic in late January 2020. Considering the epidemic development, tertiary institutions made announcements that all on-campus classes were suspended since 01/29/2020. In Tung Wah College, e-learning was adopted in all courses for all programmes. For the undergraduate nursing students, the contact hours and curriculum are bounded by the Nursing Council of Hong Kong to ensure core competence after graduation. Unlike the usual e-learning where students are allowed having flexibility of time and place in their learning, real time learning mode using Blackboard was used to mimic the actual classroom learning environment. Students were required to attend classes according to the timetable using online platform. For lectures, voice over PowerPoint file was the initial step for mass lecturing. Real time lecture was then adopted to improve interactions between teacher and students. Post-lecture quizzes were developed to monitor the effectiveness of lecture delivery. The seminars and tutorials were conducted using real time mode where students were separated into small groups with interactive discussions with teacher within the group. Live time demonstrations were conducted during laboratory sessions. All teaching sessions were audio/video recorded for students’ referral. The assessments including seminar presentation and debate were retained. The learning mode creates an atmosphere for students to display the visual, audio and written works in a non-threatening atmosphere. Other students could comment using text or direct voice as they desired. Real time online learning is the pedagogy to replace classroom contacts in the emergent and unforeseeable circumstances. The learning pace and interaction between students and students with teacher are maintained. The learning mode has the advantage of creating an effective and beneficial learning experience.

Keywords: e-learning, nursing curriculum, real time mode, teaching and learning

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2950 Relationship of Macro-Concepts in Educational Technologies

Authors: L. R. Valencia Pérez, A. Morita Alexander, Peña A. Juan Manuel, A. Lamadrid Álvarez

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This research shows the reflection and identification of explanatory variables and their relationships between different variables that are involved with educational technology, all of them encompassed in macro-concepts which are: cognitive inequality, economy, food and language; These will give the guideline to have a more detailed knowledge of educational systems, the communication and equipment, the physical space and the teachers; All of them interacting with each other give rise to what is called educational technology management. These elements contribute to have a very specific knowledge of the equipment of communications, networks and computer equipment, systems and content repositories. This is intended to establish the importance of knowing a global environment in the transfer of knowledge in poor countries, so that it does not diminish the capacity to be authentic and preserve their cultures, their languages or dialects, their hierarchies and real needs; In short, to respect the customs of different towns, villages or cities that are intended to be reached through the use of internationally agreed professional educational technologies. The methodology used in this research is the analytical - descriptive, which allows to explain each of the variables, which in our opinion must be taken into account, in order to achieve an optimal incorporation of the educational technology in a model that gives results in a medium term. The idea is that in an encompassing way the concepts will be integrated to others with greater coverage until reaching macro concepts that are of national coverage in the countries and that are elements of conciliation in the different federal and international reforms. At the center of the model is the educational technology which is directly related to the concepts that are contained in factors such as the educational system, communication and equipment, spaces and teachers, which are globally immersed in macro concepts Cognitive inequality, economics, food and language. One of the major contributions of this article is to leave this idea under an algorithm that allows to be as unbiased as possible when evaluating this indicator, since other indicators that are to be taken from international preference entities like the OECD in the area of education systems studied, so that they are not influenced by particular political or interest pressures. This work opens the way for a relationship between involved entities, both conceptual, procedural and human activity, to clearly identify the convergence of their impact on the problem of education and how the relationship can contribute to an improvement, but also shows possibilities of being able to reach a comprehensive education reform for all.

Keywords: relationships macro-concepts, cognitive inequality, economics, alimentation and language

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2949 Action Research for School Development

Authors: Beate Weyland

Abstract:

The interdisciplinary laboratory EDEN, Educational Environments with Nature, born in 2020 at the Faculty of Education of the Free University of Bolzano, is working on a research path initiated in 2012 on the relationship between pedagogy and architecture in the design process of school buildings. Between 2016 and 2018, advisory support activity for schools was born, which combined the need to qualify the physical spaces of the school with the need to update teaching practices and develop school organization with the aim of improving pupils' and teachers' sense of well-being. The goal of accompanying the development of school communities through research-training paths concerns the process of designing together pedagogical-didactic and architectural environments in which to stage the educational relationship, involving professionals from education, educational research, architecture and design, and local administration. Between 2019 and 2024, more than 30 schools and educational communities throughout Italy have entered into research-training agreements with the university, focusing increasingly on the need to create new spaces and teaching methods capable of imagining educational spaces as places of well-being and where cultural development can be presided over. The paper will focus on the presentation of the research path and on the mixed methods used to support schools and educational communities: identification of the research question, development of the research objective, experimentation, and data collection for analysis and reflection. School and educational communities are involved in a participative and active manner. The quality of the action-research work is enriched by a special focus on the relationship with plants and nature in general. Plants are seen as mediators of processes that unhinge traditional didactics and invite teachers, students, parents, and administrators to think about the quality of learning spaces and relationships based on well-being. The contribution is characterized by a particular focus on research methodologies and tools developed together with teachers to answer the issues raised and to measure the impact of the actions undertaken.

Keywords: school development, learning space, wellbeing, plants and nature

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2948 Information Technology Approaches to Literature Text Analysis

Authors: Ayse Tarhan, Mustafa Ilkan, Mohammad Karimzadeh

Abstract:

Science was considered as part of philosophy in ancient Greece. By the nineteenth century, it was understood that philosophy was very inclusive and that social and human sciences such as literature, history, and psychology should be separated and perceived as an autonomous branch of science. The computer was also first seen as a tool of mathematical science. Over time, computer science has grown by encompassing every area in which technology exists, and its growth compelled the division of computer science into different disciplines, just as philosophy had been divided into different branches of science. Now there is almost no branch of science in which computers are not used. One of the newer autonomous disciplines of computer science is digital humanities, and one of the areas of digital humanities is literature. The material of literature is words, and thanks to the software tools created using computer programming languages, data that a literature researcher would need months to complete, can be achieved quickly and objectively. In this article, three different tools that literary researchers can use in their work will be introduced. These studies were created with the computer programming languages Python and R and brought to the world of literature. The purpose of introducing the aforementioned studies is to set an example for the development of special tools or programs on Ottoman language and literature in the future and to support such initiatives. The first example to be introduced is the Stylometry tool developed with the R language. The other is The Metrical Tool, which is used to measure data in poems and was developed with Python. The latest literature analysis tool in this article is Voyant Tools, which is a multifunctional and easy-to-use tool.

Keywords: DH, literature, information technologies, stylometry, the metrical tool, voyant tools

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2947 The Use of Flipped Classroom as a Teaching Method in a Professional Master's Program in Network, in Brazil

Authors: Carla Teixeira, Diana Azevedo, Jonatas Bessa, Maria Guilam

Abstract:

The flipped classroom is a blended learning modality that combines face-to-face and virtual activities of self-learning, mediated by digital information and communication technologies, which reverses traditional teaching approaches and presents, as a presupposition, the previous study of contents by students. In the following face-to-face activities, the contents are discussed, producing active learning. This work aims to describe the systematization process of the use of flipped classrooms as a method to develop complementary national activities in PROFSAÚDE, a professional master's program in the area of public health, offered as a distance learning course, in the network, in Brazil. The complementary national activities were organized with the objective of strengthening and qualifying students´ learning process. The network gathers twenty-two public institutions of higher education in the country. Its national coordination conducted a survey to detect complementary educational needs, supposed to improve the formative process and align important content sums for the program nationally. The activities were organized both asynchronously, making study materials available in Google classrooms, and synchronously in a tele presential way, organized on virtual platforms to reach the largest number of students in the country. The asynchronous activities allowed each student to study at their own pace and the synchronous activities were intended for deepening and reflecting on the themes. The national team identified some professors' areas of expertise, who were contacted for the production of audiovisual content such as video classes and podcasts, guidance for supporting bibliographic materials and also to conduct synchronous activities together with the technical team. The contents posted in the virtual classroom were organized by modules and made available before the synchronous meeting; these modules, in turn, contain “pills of experience” that correspond to reports of teachers' experiences in relation to the different themes. In addition, activity was proposed, with questions aimed to expose doubts about the contents and a learning challenge, as a practical exercise. Synchronous activities are built with different invited teachers, based on the participants 'discussions, and are the forum where teachers can answer students' questions, providing feedback on the learning process. At the end of each complementary activity, an evaluation questionnaire is available. The responses analyses show that this institutional network experience, as pedagogical innovation, provides important tools to support teaching and research due to its potential in the participatory construction of learning, optimization of resources, the democratization of knowledge and sharing and strengthening of practical experiences on the network. One of its relevant aspects was the thematic diversity addressed through this method.

Keywords: active learning, flipped classroom, network education experience, pedagogic innovation

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2946 A Framework for Chinese Domain-Specific Distant Supervised Named Entity Recognition

Authors: Qin Long, Li Xiaoge

Abstract:

The Knowledge Graphs have now become a new form of knowledge representation. However, there is no consensus in regard to a plausible and definition of entities and relationships in the domain-specific knowledge graph. Further, in conjunction with several limitations and deficiencies, various domain-specific entities and relationships recognition approaches are far from perfect. Specifically, named entity recognition in Chinese domain is a critical task for the natural language process applications. However, a bottleneck problem with Chinese named entity recognition in new domains is the lack of annotated data. To address this challenge, a domain distant supervised named entity recognition framework is proposed. The framework is divided into two stages: first, the distant supervised corpus is generated based on the entity linking model of graph attention neural network; secondly, the generated corpus is trained as the input of the distant supervised named entity recognition model to train to obtain named entities. The link model is verified in the ccks2019 entity link corpus, and the F1 value is 2% higher than that of the benchmark method. The re-pre-trained BERT language model is added to the benchmark method, and the results show that it is more suitable for distant supervised named entity recognition tasks. Finally, it is applied in the computer field, and the results show that this framework can obtain domain named entities.

Keywords: distant named entity recognition, entity linking, knowledge graph, graph attention neural network

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2945 Learning in the Virtual Laboratory via Design of Automation Process for Wooden Hammers Marking

Authors: A. Javorova, J. Oravcova, K. Velisek

Abstract:

The article summarizes the experience of technical subjects teaching methodologies using a number of software products to solve specific assigned tasks described in this paper. Task is about the problems of automation and mechanization in the industry. Specifically, it focuses on introducing automation in the wood industry. The article describes the design of the automation process for marking wooden hammers. Similar problems are solved by students in CA laboratory.

Keywords: CA system, education, simulation, subject

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2944 Effect of a Chatbot-Assisted Adoption of Self-Regulated Spaced Practice on Students' Vocabulary Acquisition and Cognitive Load

Authors: Ngoc-Nguyen Nguyen, Hsiu-Ling Chen, Thanh-Truc Lai Huynh

Abstract:

In foreign language learning, vocabulary acquisition has consistently posed challenges to learners, especially for those at lower levels. Conventional approaches often fail to promote vocabulary learning and ensure engaging experiences alike. The emergence of mobile learning, particularly the integration of chatbot systems, has offered alternative ways to facilitate this practice. Chatbots have proven effective in educational contexts by offering interactive learning experiences in a constructivist manner. These tools have caught attention in the field of mobile-assisted language learning (MALL) in recent years. This research is conducted in an English for Specific Purposes (ESP) course at the A2 level of the CEFR, designed for non-English majors. Participants are first-year Vietnamese students aged 18 to 20 at a university. This quasi-experimental study follows a pretest-posttest control group design over five weeks, with two classes randomly assigned as the experimental and control groups. The experimental group engages in chatbot-assisted spaced practice with SRL components, while the control group uses the same spaced practice without SRL. The two classes are taught by the same lecturer. Data are collected through pre- and post-tests, cognitive load surveys, and semi-structured interviews. The combination of self-regulated learning (SRL) and distributed practice, grounded in the spacing effect, forms the basis of the present study. SRL elements, which concern goal setting and strategy planning, are integrated into the system. The spaced practice method, similar to those used in widely recognized learning platforms like Duolingo and Anki flashcards, spreads out learning over multiple sessions. This study’s design features quizzes progressively increasing in difficulty. These quizzes are aimed at targeting both the Recognition-Recall and Comprehension-Use dimensions for a comprehensive acquisition of vocabulary. The mobile-based chatbot system is built using Golang, an open-source programming language developed by Google. It follows a structured flow that guides learners through a series of 4 quizzes in each week of teacher-led learning. The quizzes start with less cognitively demanding tasks, such as multiple-choice questions, before moving on to more complex exercises. The integration of SRL elements allows students to self-evaluate the difficulty level of vocabulary items, predict scores achieved, and choose appropriate strategy. This research is part one of a two-part project. The initial findings will determine the development of an upgraded chatbot system in part two, where adaptive features in response to the integration of SRL components will be introduced. The research objectives are to assess the effectiveness of the chatbot-assisted approach, based on the combination of spaced practice and SRL, in improving vocabulary acquisition and managing cognitive load, as well as to understand students' perceptions of this learning tool. The insights from this study will contribute to the growing body of research on mobile-assisted language learning and offer practical implications for integrating chatbot systems with spaced practice into educational settings to enhance vocabulary learning.

Keywords: mobile learning, mobile-assisted language learning, MALL, chatbots, vocabulary learning, spaced practice, spacing effect, self-regulated learning, SRL, self-regulation, EFL, cognitive load

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2943 Leadership Effectiveness Compared among Three Cultures Using Voice Pitches

Authors: Asena Biber, Ates Gul Ergun, Seda Bulut

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Based on the literature, there are large numbers of studies investigating the relationship between culture and leadership effectiveness. Although giving effective speeches is vital characteristic for a leader to be perceived as effective, to our knowledge, there is no research study the determinants of perceived effective leader speech. The aim of this study is to find the effects of both culture and voice pitch on perceptions of leader's speech effectiveness. Our hypothesis is that people from high power distance countries will perceive leaders' speech effective when the leader's voice pitch is high, comparing with people from relatively low power distance countries. The participants of the study were 36 undergraduate students (12 Pakistanis, 12 Nigerians, and 12 Turks) who are studying in Turkey. National power distance scores of Nigerians ranked as first, Turks ranked as second and Pakistanis ranked as third. There are two independent variables in this study; three nationality groups that representing three levels of power distance and voice pitch of the leader which is manipulated as high and low levels. Researchers prepared an audio to manipulate high and low conditions of voice pitch. A professional whose native language is English read the predetermined speech in high and low voice pitch conditions. Voice pitch was measured using Hertz (Hz) and Decibel (dB). Each nationality group (Pakistan, Nigeria, and Turkey) were divided into groups of six students who listened to either the low or high pitch conditions in the cubicles of the laboratory. It was expected from participants to listen to the audio and fill in the questionnaire which was measuring the leadership effectiveness on a response scale ranging from 1 to 5. To determine the effects of nationality and voice pitch on perceived effectiveness of leader' voice pitch, 3 (Pakistani, Nigerian, and Turk) x 2 (low voice pitch and high voice pitch) two way between subjects analysis of variances was carried out. The results indicated that there was no significant main effect of voice pitch and interaction effect on perceived effectiveness of the leader’s voice pitch. However, there was a significant main effect of nationality on perceived effectiveness of the leader's voice pitch. Based on the results of Turkey’s HSD post-hoc test, only the perceived effectiveness of the leader's speech difference between Pakistanis and Nigerians was statistically significant. The results show that the hypothesis of this study was not supported. As limitations of the study, it is of importance to mention that the sample size should be bigger. Also, the language of the questionnaire and speech should be in the participant’s native language in further studies.

Keywords: culture, leadership effectiveness, power distance, voice pitch

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2942 Analysis of the Development of Communicative Skills After Participating in the Equine-Assisted-Therapy Program Step-By-Step in Communication

Authors: Leticia Souza Guirra, Márcia Eduarda Vieira Ramos, Edlaine Souza Pereira, Leticia Correa Celeste

Abstract:

Introduction: Studies indicate that equine-assisted therapy enables improvements in several areas of functioning that are impaired in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), such as social interaction and communication. Objective: The study proposes to analyze the development of dialogic skills of a verbal child with ASD after participating in the equine-assisted therapy Step By Step in Communication. Method: This is quantitative and qualitative research through a case study. It refers to a 6 years old child diagnosed with ASD belonging to a group of practitioners of the Brazilian National Equine-Assited-Therapy Association. The Behavioral Observation Protocol (PROC) was used to evaluate communicative skills before and after the intervention, which consisted of 24 sessions once a week. Results: All conversational skills increased their frequency, with participation in dialogue and initiation of interaction. The child also increases the habit of waiting for his turn and answering the interlocutor. The emission of topics not related to conversation and echolalia showed a significant decrease after the intervention. Conclusion: The studied child showed improvement in communicative skills after participating in the equine-assisted therapy Step By Step in Communication. Contributions: This study contributes to a greater understanding of the impact of equine-assisted therapy on the communicative abilities of children with ASD.

Keywords: equine-assisted-therapy, autism spectrum disorder, language, communication, language and hearing sciences

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2941 Enhancing EFL Learners' Motivation and Classroom Interaction through Self-Disclosure in Moroccan Higher Education

Authors: Mohsine Jebbour

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Motivation and classroom interaction are of prime significance for second/foreign language learning to take place effectively. Thus, a considerable amount of motivation and classroom interaction helps ensure students’ success in and continuation of learning the TL. One way to enhance students’ motivation and classroom interaction in the Moroccan EFL classroom then is through the use of self-disclosure. For the purposes of this study, self-disclosure has been defined as the verbal communication of positive personal information including opinions, feelings, experiences, family and friendship stories to classmates and teachers. This paper is meant to demonstrate that positive self-disclosure can serve as an effective tool for helping students develop favorable attitudes toward the EFL classroom (i.e., English courses, teacher of English, and classroom activities) and promoting their intrinsic motivation (IM to know and IM toward stimulation). A further objective is that since self-disclosure is reciprocal, when teachers of English reveal their personal information, students will uncover their personal matters in return. This will help ensure effective classroom participation, foster teacher-student communication, and encourage students to practice and hence improve their oral proficiency (i.e., the speaking skill). A questionnaire was used to collect data in this study. 164 undergraduate students (99 females and 65 males) from the department of English at the faculty of letters and humanities, Dher el Mehraz, Sidi Mohammed Ben Abd Allah University completed a questionnaire that assessed self-disclosure in relation to motivation (i.e., attitudes toward the learning situation and intrinsic motivation) and classroom interaction (i.e., teacher-student interaction, participation, and out-of-class communication) on a 1 to 5 scale with (1) Strongly Disagree and (5) Strongly Agree. The level of agreement on the positive dimension of self-disclosure was ranked first by the respondents. The hypothesis set at the very beginning of the study, which posited that positive self-disclosure is essential to enhancing motivation and classroom interaction in the EFL context, was confirmed. In this regard, the findings suggest that implementing self-disclosure in the Moroccan EFL classroom may serve as an effective tool to have positive affect of teacher, class and classroom activities. This in turn will encourage the learners to attend classes, enjoy the language learning activity, complete classroom assignments, participate in class discussions, and interact with their teachers and classmates. It is hoped that teachers benefit from the results of this study and hence encourage the use of positive self-disclosure to develop English language learning in the Moroccan context where opportunities of using English outside the classroom are limited.

Keywords: EFL classroom, classroom interaction, motivation, self-disclosure

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2940 Cognitive Translation and Conceptual Wine Tasting Metaphors: A Corpus-Based Research

Authors: Christine Demaecker

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Many researchers have underlined the importance of metaphors in specialised language. Their use of specific domains helps us understand the conceptualisations used to communicate new ideas or difficult topics. Within the wide area of specialised discourse, wine tasting is a very specific example because it is almost exclusively metaphoric. Wine tasting metaphors express various conceptualisations. They are not linguistic but rather conceptual, as defined by Lakoff & Johnson. They correspond to the linguistic expression of a mental projection from a well-known or more concrete source domain onto the target domain, which is the taste of wine. But unlike most specialised terminologies, the vocabulary is never clearly defined. When metaphorical terms are listed in dictionaries, their definitions remain vague, unclear, and circular. They cannot be replaced by literal linguistic expressions. This makes it impossible to transfer them into another language with the traditional linguistic translation methods. Qualitative research investigates whether wine tasting metaphors could rather be translated with the cognitive translation process, as well described by Nili Mandelblit (1995). The research is based on a corpus compiled from two high-profile wine guides; the Parker’s Wine Buyer’s Guide and its translation into French and the Guide Hachette des Vins and its translation into English. In this small corpus with a total of 68,826 words, 170 metaphoric expressions have been identified in the original English text and 180 in the original French text. They have been selected with the MIPVU Metaphor Identification Procedure developed at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. The selection demonstrates that both languages use the same set of conceptualisations, which are often combined in wine tasting notes, creating conceptual integrations or blends. The comparison of expressions in the source and target texts also demonstrates the use of the cognitive translation approach. In accordance with the principle of relevance, the translation always uses target language conceptualisations, but compared to the original, the highlighting of the projection is often different. Also, when original metaphors are complex with a combination of conceptualisations, at least one element of the original metaphor underlies the target expression. This approach perfectly integrates into Lederer’s interpretative model of translation (2006). In this triangular model, the transfer of conceptualisation could be included at the level of ‘deverbalisation/reverbalisation’, the crucial stage of the model, where the extraction of meaning combines with the encyclopedic background to generate the target text.

Keywords: cognitive translation, conceptual integration, conceptual metaphor, interpretative model of translation, wine tasting metaphor

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2939 Term Creation in Specialized Fields: An Evaluation of Shona Phonetics and Phonology Terminology at Great Zimbabwe University

Authors: Peniah Mabaso-Shamano

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The paper evaluates Shona terms that were created to teach Phonetics and Phonology courses at Great Zimbabwe University (GZU). The phonetics and phonology terms to be discussed in this paper were created using different processes and strategies such as translation, borrowing, neologising, compounding, transliteration, circumlocution among many others. Most phonetics and phonology terms are alien to Shona and as a result, there are no suitable Shona equivalents. The lecturers and students for these courses have a mammoth task of creating terminology for the different modules offered in Shona and other Zimbabwean indigenous languages. Most linguistic reference books are written in English. As such, lecturers and students translate information from English to Shona, a measure which is proving to be too difficult for them. A term creation workshop was held at GZU to try to address the problem of lack of terminology in indigenous languages. Different indigenous language practitioners from different tertiary institutions convened for a two-day workshop at GZU. Due to the 'specialized' nature of phonetics and phonology, it was too difficult to come up with 'proper' indigenous terms. The researcher will consult tertiary institutions lecturers who teach linguistics courses and linguistics students to get their views on the created terms. The people consulted will not be the ones who took part in the term creation workshop held at GZU. The selected participants will be asked to evaluate and back-translate some of the terms. In instances where they feel the terms created are not suitable or user-friendly, they will be asked to suggest other terms. Since the researcher is also a linguistics lecturer, her observation and views will be important. From her experience in using some of the terms in teaching phonetics and phonology courses to undergraduate students, the researcher noted that most of the terms created have shortcomings since they are not user-friendly. These shortcomings include terms longer than the English terms as some terms are translated to Shona through a whole statement. Most of these terms are neologisms, compound neologisms, transliterations, circumlocutions, and blends. The paper will show that there is overuse of transliterated terms due to the lack of Shona equivalents for English terms. Most single English words were translated into compound neologisms or phrases after attempts to reduce them to one word terms failed. In other instances, circumlocution led to the problem of creating longer terms than the original and as a result, the terms are not user-friendly. The paper will discuss and evaluate the different phonetics and phonology terms created and the different strategies and processes used in creating them.

Keywords: blending, circumlocution, term creation, translation

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2938 Parvi̇z Jabrail's Novel 'in Foreign Language': Delimitation of Postmodernism with Modernism

Authors: Nargiz Ismayilova

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The issue of modernism and the concept of postmodernism has been the focus of world researchers for many years, and there are very few researchers who have come to a common denominator about this term. During the independence period, the expansion of the relations of Azerbaijani literature with the world has led to the spread of many currents and tendencies formed in the West to the literary environment in our country. In this context, the works created in our environment are distinguished by their extreme richness in terms of subject matter and diversity in terms of genre. As an interesting example of contemporary postmodern prose in Azerbaijan, Parviz Jabrayil's novel "In a Foreign Language" pays attention with its more different plotline. The disagreement exists among the critics about the novel. Some are looking for high artistry in work; others are satisfied with the elements of postmodernism in work. Delimitation of the border between modernism and postmodernism can serve to carry out a deep scientific study of the novel. The novel depicts the world in the author's consciousness against the background of water shortage (thirst) in the Old City (Icharishahar). The author deconstructs today's Ichari Shahar mould. Along with modernism, elements of postmodernism occupy a large place in the work. When we look at the general tendencies of postmodernist art, we see that science and individuality are questioned, criticizing the sharp boundaries of modernism and the negativity of these restrictions, and modernism offers alternatives to artistic production by identifying its negatives and shortcomings in the areas of artistic freedom. The novel is extremely interesting in this point of view.

Keywords: concept of postmodernism, modernism, delimitation, political postmodernism, modern postmodern prose, Azerbaijani literature, novel, comparison, world literature, analysis

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