Search results for: language problem

Authors: Guilherme Baldo Carlos

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The flexible job-shop scheduling problem (FJSP) is an NP-hard combinatorial optimization problem, which can be applied to model several applications in a wide array of industries. This problem will have its importance increase due to the shift in the production mode that modern society is going through. The demands are increasing and for products personalized and customized. This work aims to apply a meta-heuristic called a genetic algorithm (GA) to solve this problem. A GA is a meta-heuristic inspired by the natural selection of Charles Darwin; it produces a population of individuals (solutions) and selects, mutates, and mates the individuals through generations in order to find a good solution for the problem. The results found indicate that the GA is suitable for FJSP solving.

Keywords: genetic algorithm, evolutionary algorithm, scheduling, flexible job-shop scheduling

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Authors: O. Yeret

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Visual resources are all around us, especially in today's media-driven world, which gravitates, more and more, towards the visual. As a result, authentic resources, such as television advertisements, become testaments – authentic cultural materials – that reflect the landscape of certain groups and communities during a specific point in time. Engaging language students with popular advertisements can provide a great opportunity for developing cultural awareness, a component that is sometimes overlooked in the foreign language classroom. This paper will showcase practical examples of using Israeli Television Ads in various Modern Hebrew language courses. Several approaches for combining the study of language and culture, through the use of advertisements, will be included; for example, targeted assignments based on students' proficiency levels, such as: asking to recognize vocabulary words and answer basic information questions, as opposed to commenting on the significance of an ad and analyzing its particular cultural elements. The use of visual resources in the language classroom does not only enable students to learn more about the culture of the target language, but also to combine their language skills. Most often, interacting with an ad requires close listening and some reading (through captions or other data). As students analyze the ad, they employ their writing and speaking skills by answering questions in text or audio form. Hence, these interactions are able to elicit complex language use across the four domains: listening, speaking, writing, and reading. This paper will include examples of practical assignments that were developed for several Modern Hebrew language courses, together with the specific advertisements and questions related to them. Conclusions from the process and recent feedback notes received from students regarding the use of visual resources will be mentioned as well.

Keywords: authentic materials, cultural awareness, second language acquisition, visual resources

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Authors: Sukhvinder Singh

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Punjabi language is related to the languages of New Indo-Aryan group that, in turn, is related to the branch of Indo-European language family. Punjabi language covers the areas of Western part (that is in Pakistan) and Eastern part (the Punjab state, Haryana, Delhi Himachal and J&K) and abroad (particularly Canada, USA, U.K. and Arab Emirates), where it is spoken widely. Besides India and Pakistan, Punjabi is the third language spoken in Canada after English, French having more than one hundred millions speakers worldwide. It is the fourth language spoken in Canada after English, French, and Chinese. It is also being taught as second language in most of the community school of British Columbia. The total number of Punjabi speakers is more than one hundred millions including India, Pakistan and abroad. Punjabi has a long tradition of linguistic tradition. A large number of scholars have studied Punjabi at different linguistic levels. Various studies are devoted to its special phonological characteristics, especially the tone, which has now started disappearing in favour of aspiration, a rare example of a language change in progress in its reversal direction. This process of language change in progress in reversal is dealt with in this paper a change towards a loss of linguistic indigeneity. The tone being a distinctive linguistic feature of Punjabi language is getting lost due to the increasing influence of Hindi and English particularly in the speech Urban Punjabi and Punjabi settled abroad. In this paper, an attempt has been made to discuss the sociolinguistics and sociology of Punjabi language and Punjab to trace the initiation and progression of this change towards a loss of Linguistic Indigeneity.

Keywords: language change in reversal, reaspiration, detonalization, new Indo-Aryan group

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Authors: Lowai Abed

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The differences in languages play a big role in cross-cultural communication. If meanings are not translated accurately, the risk can be crucial not only on an interpersonal level, but also on the international and political levels. The use of metaphorical language by politicians can cause great confusion, often leading to statements being misconstrued. In these situations, it is the translators who struggle to put forward the intended meaning with clarity and this makes translation an important field to study and analyze when it comes to cross-cultural communication. Owing to the growing importance of language and the power of translation in politics, this research analyzes part of President Bush’s speech in 2001 in which he used the word “Crusade” which caused his statement to be misconstrued. The research uses a discourse analysis of cross-cultural communication literature which provides answers supported by historical, linguistic, and communicative perspectives. The first finding indicates that the word ‘crusade’ carries different meaning and significance in the narratives of the Western world when compared to the Middle East. The second one is that, linguistically, maintaining cultural meanings through translation is quite difficult and challenging. Third, when it comes to the cross-cultural communication perspective, the common and frequent usage of literal translation is a sign of poor strategies being followed in translation training. Based on the example of Bush’s speech, this paper hopes to highlight the weak practices in translation in cross-cultural communication which are still commonly used across the world. Translation studies have to take issues such as this seriously and attempt to find a solution. In every language, there are words and phrases that have cultural, historical and social meanings that are woven into the language. Literal translation is not the solution for this problem because that strategy is unable to convey these meanings in the target language.

Keywords: crusade, metaphor, mistranslation, war in terror

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Authors: Marina Petrova

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Language policy issues related to the preservation and development of the native languages of the Russian peoples and the state languages of the national republics are increasingly becoming the focus of recent attention of educators and parents, public and national figures. Is it legal to teach the national language or the mother tongue as the state language? Due to that dispute language phobia moods easily evolve into xenophobia among the population. However, a civilized, intelligent multicultural personality can only be formed if the country develops bilingualism and multilingualism, and languages as a political tool help to find ‘keys’ to sufficiently closed national communities both within a poly-ethnic state and in internal relations of multilingual countries. The purpose of this study is to design and theoretically substantiate an efficient model of language education in the innovatively developing Republic of Sakha. 800 participants from different educational institutions of Yakutia worked at developing a multilingual model of education. This investigation is of considerable practical importance because researchers could build a methodical system designed to create conditions for the formation of a cultural language personality and the development of the multilingual communicative competence of Yakut youth, necessary for communication in native, Russian and foreign languages. The selected methodology of humane-personal and competence approaches is reliable and valid. Researchers used a variety of sources of information, including access to related scientific fields (philosophy of education, sociology, humane and social pedagogy, psychology, effective psychotherapy, methods of teaching Russian, psycholinguistics, socio-cultural education, ethnoculturology, ethnopsychology). Of special note is the application of theoretical and empirical research methods, a combination of academic analysis of the problem and experienced training, positive results of experimental work, representative series, correct processing and statistical reliability of the obtained data. It ensures the validity of the investigation’s findings as well as their broad introduction into practice of life-long language education.

Keywords: intercultural communication, language policy, multilingual and multicultural education, the Sakha Republic of Yakutia

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Authors: Laissa Mae Francisco, John Rolex Ingreso, Anna Krizel Menguito, Criselda Robrigado, Rej Maegan Tuazon

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This study aims to determine and describe the existing relationship between number sense proficiency and problem-solving performance of grade seven students from Victorino Mapa High School, Manila. A paper pencil exam containing of 50-item number sense test and 5-item problem-solving test which measures their number sense proficiency and problem-solving performance adapted from McIntosh, Reys, and Bana were used as the research instruments. The data obtained from this study were interpreted and analyzed using the Pearson – Product Moment Coefficient of Correlation to determine the relationship between the two variables. It was found out that students who were low in number sense proficiency tend to be the students with poor problem-solving performance and students with medium number sense proficiency are most likely to have an average problem-solving performance. Likewise, students with high number sense proficiency are those who do excellently in problem-solving performance.

Keywords: number sense, performance, problem solving, proficiency

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Authors: Pei Chin Lim

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School of Mathematics and Science of Singapore Polytechnic offers a Basic Mathematics module to students who did not pass GCE O-Level Additional Mathematics. These students are weaker in Mathematics. In particular, they struggle with word problems and tend to leave them blank in tests and examinations. In order to improve students’ problem-solving skills, the school redesigned the Basic Mathematics module to incorporate Polya’s problem-solving methodology. During tutorial lessons, students have to work through learning activities designed to raise their metacognitive awareness by following Polya’s problem-solving process. To assess the effectiveness of the redesign, students’ working for a challenging word problem in the mid-semester test were analyzed. Sixty-five percent of students attempted to understand the problem by making sketches. Twenty-eight percent of students went on to devise a plan and implement it. Only five percent of the students still left the question blank. These preliminary results suggest that with regular exposure to an explicit and systematic problem-solving approach, weak students’ problem-solving skills can potentially be improved.

Keywords: mathematics education, metacognition, problem solving, weak students

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Authors: Marie-Josée Morneau

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A literacy-based approach, centred on the use of the language of instruction as a cognitive tool, can increase the L2 communication skills of French immersion students. Academic subject areas such as science and mathematics offer an authentic language learning context where students can become more proficient speakers while using specific vocabulary and language structures to learn, interact and communicate their reasoning, when provided the opportunities and guidance to do so. In this Canadian quasi-experimental study, the effects of teaching specific language elements during mathematic classes through literacy-based activities in Early French Immersion programming were compared between two Grade 7/8 groups: the experimental group, which received literacy-based teaching for a 6-week period, and the control group, which received regular teaching instruction. The results showed that the participants from the experimental group made more progress in their mathematical communication skills, which suggests that targeting L2 language as a cognitive tool can be beneficial to immersion learners who learn mathematic concepts and remind us that all L2 teachers are language teachers.

Keywords: mathematics, French immersion, literacy-based, oral communication, L2

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Authors: Jacqueline Żammit

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Recent research indicates that the utilization of right-brain strategies holds significant implications for the acquisition of language skills. Nevertheless, the utilization of visual culture as a means to stimulate these strategies and amplify language retention among adults engaging in second language (L2) learning remains a relatively unexplored area. This investigation delves into the impact of visual culture on activating right-brain processes during the initial stages of language acquisition, particularly in the context of teaching Maltese as a second language (ML2) to adult learners. By employing a qualitative research approach, this study convenes a focus group comprising twenty-seven educators to delve into a range of visual culture techniques integrated within language instruction. The collected data is subjected to thematic analysis using NVivo software. The findings underscore a variety of impactful visual culture techniques, encompassing activities such as drawing, sketching, interactive matching games, orthographic mapping, memory palace strategies, wordless picture books, picture-centered learning methodologies, infographics, Face Memory Game, Spot the Difference, Word Search Puzzles, the Hidden Object Game, educational videos, the Shadow Matching technique, Find the Differences exercises, and color-coded methodologies. These identified techniques hold potential for application within ML2 classes for adult learners. Consequently, this study not only provides insights into optimizing language learning through specific visual culture strategies but also furnishes practical recommendations for enhancing language competencies and skills.

Keywords: visual culture, right-brain strategies, second language acquisition, maltese as a second language, visual aids, language-based activities

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Authors: Jasmin Cowin, Amany Alkhayat

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This paper will concentrate on a comparative analysis of both the advantages and limitations of using digital learning resources (DLRs). DLRs covered will be Virtual Reality (VR), Mobile Learning (M-learning) and Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) together with their subset, Mobile Assisted Language Learning (MALL) in language education. In addition, best practices for language teaching and the application of established language teaching methodologies such as Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), the audio-lingual method, or community language learning will be explored. Education has changed dramatically since the eruption of the pandemic. Traditional face-to-face education was disrupted on a global scale. The rise of distance learning brought new digital tools to the forefront, especially web conferencing tools, digital storytelling apps, test authoring tools, and VR platforms. Language educators raced to vet, learn, and implement multiple technology resources suited for language acquisition. Yet, questions remain on how to harness new technologies, digital tools, and their ubiquitous availability while using established methods and methodologies in language learning paired with best teaching practices. In M-learning language, learners employ portable computing devices such as smartphones or tablets. CALL is a language teaching approach using computers and other technologies through presenting, reinforcing, and assessing language materials to be learned or to create environments where teachers and learners can meaningfully interact. In VR, a computer-generated simulation enables learner interaction with a 3D environment via screen, smartphone, or a head mounted display. Research supports that VR for language learning is effective in terms of exploration, communication, engagement, and motivation. Students are able to relate through role play activities, interact with 3D objects and activities such as field trips. VR lends itself to group language exercises in the classroom with target language practice in an immersive, virtual environment. Students, teachers, schools, language institutes, and institutions benefit from specialized support to help them acquire second language proficiency and content knowledge that builds on their cultural and linguistic assets. Through the purposeful application of different language methodologies and teaching approaches, language learners can not only make cultural and linguistic connections in DLRs but also practice grammar drills, play memory games or flourish in authentic settings.

Keywords: language teaching methodologies, computer-assisted language learning, mobile learning, virtual reality

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Authors: Lina Tenjo, Ilba Rodríguez

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The role of cultural identity in bilingual programs has been barely discussed in regards to SLA. This research focuses on providing relevant information that helps in having more knowledge about the experiences that an elementary student has during the second language learning process in a bilingual program within a multicultural context. This study explores the experience of 18 students in a dual language program, in a public elementary school in Northern Virginia, USA. It examines their dual language experience and the different ways this experience contributes to the formation of their cultural identity. The findings were studied with the purpose of determining the relationship between participants and certain aspects of cultural identity in a multicultural context. The reflections that originate from the voices of children are the key source that helps us to better understand the particular needs that young learners have during their participation in a DLP.

Keywords: acculturation, bilingual education, culture, dual language program, identity, second language acquisition

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Authors: Derkaoui Orkia, Lehireche Ahmed

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The topic of this article is to exploring the potentialities of a powerful optimization technique, namely Semidefinite Programming, for solving NP-hard problems. This approach provides tight relaxations of combinatorial and quadratic problems. In this work, we solve the maximum clique problem using this relaxation. The clique problem is the computational problem of finding cliques in a graph. It is widely acknowledged for its many applications in real-world problems. The numerical results show that it is possible to find a maximum clique in polynomial time, using an algorithm based on semidefinite programming. We implement a primal-dual interior points algorithm to solve this problem based on semidefinite programming. The semidefinite relaxation of this problem can be solved in polynomial time.

Keywords: semidefinite programming, maximum clique problem, primal-dual interior point method, relaxation

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Authors: Mehmet Hakan Karaata

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In this paper, we first coin a new graph theocratic problem with numerous applications. Second, we provide two algorithms for the problem. The first solution is using a brute-force techniques, whereas the second solution is based on an initial identification of the cycles in the given graph. We then provide a correctness proof of the algorithm. The applications of the problem include graph analysis, graph drawing and network structuring.

Keywords: algorithm, cycle, graph algorithm, graph theory, network structuring

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Authors: Jummai Aliyu Mohammed

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The Sapir-Whorfian hypothesis postulates that the structure of a language determines the way in which species of that language view the world. It also states that the culture of a people finds reflection in their language. Consequently language becomes a vehicle of thought; a channel through which negative stereotypes of women is created and also one through which such images are dispelled. Women are generally portrayed as weaker vessels and inferior to men; a position which draws a counter reaction from women through their writings. In their writings, they attempt to reinvent womanhood and liberate the woman from the hitherto negative light they were portrayed. This position best describes the term feminism which argues that women be given equal rights in all spheres of life as men. This paper attempts to evaluate Ba’s ‘So Long a Letter’ and Alkali’s ‘The Stillborn’ with the view to identify the relationship between language and feminism. In evaluating this relationship, the paper concludes that there are several factors responsible for the variation in the speech pattern of male and female. All of these factors favour the male gender and further condemns the woman to oppression. Although the writers come from two different cultural backgrounds, the works amplify feminism and captured them as apostles of feminism.

Keywords: feminism, language, politics, Sapir-Whorfian hypothesis

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Authors: Guerriche Amina

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The recent trends in foreign language teaching -influenced widely by the process of globalization, interculturalism, and global flows and migration- are leaning towards adopting an intercultural perspective to help in developing students who are global citizens able to effectively function across diverse boundaries (cultural, social, geographical). Researchers call for intercultural learning and teaching perspective that would foster and increase intercultural awareness and understanding (e.g., Guilherme, 2002; Byram et al., 2002). The present research aims at unfolding whether including the cultural dimension in foreign language instruction can help in developing students’ intercultural understanding and awareness. In doing so, a cultural pedagogical experiment was designed and conducted for the period of one year at the level of the university. Data were collected qualitatively and analyzed thematically. Results help in drawing important implications for educational institutions, foreign language teachers, and syllabus designers about the importance and effectiveness of perceiving foreign language instruction as a social activity that can nurture interculturally competent individuals who adequately respond to the demands of today’s intercultural and globalized societies.

Keywords: foreign language teaching, intercultural awareness, language and culture, intercultural understanding

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Authors: Davut Uysal

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Turkish higher education system has experienced some structural changes in recent decades, which resulted in the concentration on English language teaching as a foreign language at high education institutions. However, the number of studies examining the relationship between organizational culture and job satisfaction among language teachers at higher education institutions, who are the key elements of the teaching process, is very limited in the country. The main objective of this study is to find out the perceptions of English language instructors regarding organizational culture and its impact on their job satisfaction at School of Foreign Language, Anadolu University in Turkey. Questionnaire technique was used in data collection, and the collected data was analysed with the help of SPSS data analysis program. The findings of the study revealed that the respondents of the study had positive perceptions regarding current organizational culture indicating satisfaction with co-worker relations and administration, supervision support and the work itself, as well as their satisfaction with the available professional development opportunities provided by their institution. A significant relationship between overall organizational culture and job satisfaction was found in the study. This study also presents some key elements to increase the job satisfaction levels of the language teachers by managing corporate communication and to improve the organisational culture based on the findings of the study as they are two interrelated issues.

Keywords: corporate communication, English teacher, organizational culture, job satisfaction

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Authors: Hashini E. Mohottala

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We report the combine use of Wikispaces (WikiS) and Group Problem Solving (GPS) sessions conducted in the introductory level physics classes. As a part of this new teaching tool, some essay type problems were posted on the WikiS in weekly basis and students were encouraged to participate in problem solving without providing numerical final answers but the steps. Wikispace is used as a platform for students to meet online and create discussions. Each week students were further evaluated on problem solving skills opening up more opportunity for peer interaction through GPS. Each group was given a different problem to solve and the answers were graded. Students developed a set of skills in decision-making, problem solving, communication, negotiation, critical and independent thinking and teamwork through the combination of WikiS and GPS.

Keywords: group problem solving (GPS), wikispace (WikiS), physics education, learning

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Authors: Du T. Tran, Quyen T. L. Hoang

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The role of language learning strategies in second language acquisition has received increased attention across several disciplines in recent years. Language learning strategies have been shown to occur in many studies over the passing years with the aim of improving the efficiency of language learning. Following previous studies, this study endeavors to scrutinize language learning strategies employed by the students at Vo Minh Duc high school and the effect of motivation on students’ learning strategy choices. The responses are examined quantitatively and qualitatively to enhance their validity and reliability. Data are collected from 342 students’ responses to the questionnaire, interviews with ten teachers and fifteen students, and classroom observations. The findings reveal that students’ motivation has an enormous impact on the choice of language learning strategies. The results simultaneously show that students use many language learning strategies to enhance their communicative competence, but the most frequently used ones are cognitive and affective ones. Significant correlations among types of learning strategies and the influence of motivation on the choices of language learning strategies were consistent with previous studies. The study’s results are expected to be beneficial to teachers of English and students in terms of narrowing the gap between the students' language learning strategies and their teaching methodologies preferences and sketching out the best strategies to enhance students’ speaking skills. The implications of these findings and the importance of viewing learners holistically are discussed, and recommendations are made for ongoing research.

Keywords: learning strategies, speaking skills, memorization strategies, cognitive strategies, affective strategies

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Authors: M. Hemam, M. Djezzar, T. Djouad

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We are interested in the problem of building an ontology in a heterogeneous organization, by taking into account different viewpoints and different terminologies of communities in the organization. Such ontology, that we call multi-viewpoint ontology, confers to the same universe of discourse, several partial descriptions, where each one is relative to a particular viewpoint. In addition, these partial descriptions share at global level, ontological elements constituent a consensus between the various viewpoints. In order to provide response elements to this problem we define a multi-viewpoints knowledge model based on viewpoint and ontology notions. The multi-viewpoints knowledge model is used to formalize the multi-viewpoints ontology in description logics language.

Keywords: description logic, knowledge engineering, ontology, viewpoint

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Authors: Oluyomi A. Abioye

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The 21st century has been witnessing a lot of technological advancements and innovations, and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) happens to be one of them. Education is the cornerstone of any nation and the language in which it is delivered is the bedrock of any development. The French language is our choice in this study. French is a language of reference on the national and international scenes; however its teaching is clouded with myriads of problems. The output of students’ academic performance depends on to a large extent on the teaching and learning the process. The methodology employed goes a long way in contributing to the effectiveness of the teaching and learning the process. Therefore, with the integration of ICT, French teaching has to align with and adapt to this new digital era. An attempt is made to define the concept of ICT. Some of the challenges encountered in the teaching of French language are highlighted. Then it discusses the existing methods of French teaching and the integration of ICT in the teaching and learning of the same language. Then some prospects and challenges of ICT in the teaching and learning of French are discussed. Data collected from questionnaires administered among some students of some selected schools are analysed. Our findings revealed that only very few schools in Nigeria have the electronic and computer-mediated facilities to teach the French language. The paper concludes by encouraging 'savoir-faire' of ICT by the French teachers, an openness of students to this digital technology and adequate provision of electronic and computer-mediated gadgets by the Nigerian government to its educational institutions.

Keywords: French language in Nigeria, integration of ICT, prospects and challenges, teaching and learning

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Authors: Annie Gedion, Johan Severinus Tati, Jacinta Caroline Peter

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Syntax error analysis studies have a significant role in English language teaching especially in the second language. This study investigates the syntax errors in written composition by 50 multilingual ESL learners in Politeknik Kota Kinabalu Sabah, Malaysia. The subjects speak their own dialect, Malay as their second language and English as their third or foreign language. Data were collected from the written discourse in the form of descriptive essays. The subjects were asked to write in the classroom within 45 minutes. 15 categories of errors were classified into a set of syntactic categories and were analysed based on the five steps of the syntactic analysis procedure. The findings of the study showed that the mother tongue interference, as well as lack of vocabulary and grammar knowledge, were the major sources of syntax errors in the learners’ written composition. Learners should be exposed to the differentiation of Malay and English grammar to avoid interference and effective learning of second language writing.

Keywords: errors analysis, syntactic analysis, English as a second language, ESL writing

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Authors: Sourabh Joshi, Tarun Sharma, Anurag Sharma

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Ant Colony Optimization is heuristic Algorithm which has been proven a successful technique applied on number of combinatorial optimization problems. Two variants of Ant Colony Optimization algorithm named Ant System and Max-Min Ant System are implemented in MATLAB to solve travelling Salesman Problem and the results are compared. In, this paper both systems are analyzed by solving the some Travelling Salesman Problem and depict which system solve the problem better in term of cost and time.

Keywords: Ant Colony Optimization, Travelling Salesman Problem, Ant System, Max-Min Ant System

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Authors: Elleuch Imen

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In this paper, it propose a new approach for learning Arabic as a foreign language via audio-visual translation, particularly subtitling. The approach consists of developing video sequences appropriate to different levels of learning (from A1 to C2) containing conversations, quizzes, games and others. Each video aims to achieve a specific objective, such as the correct pronunciation of Arabic words, the correct syntactic structuring of Arabic sentences, the recognition of the morphological characteristics of terms and the semantic understanding of statements. The subtitled videos obtained can be incorporated into different Arabic second language learning tools such as Moocs, websites, platforms, etc.

Keywords: arabic foreign language, learning, audio-visuel translation, subtitled videos

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Authors: Boris Melnikov, Dmitrii Chaikovskii, Elena Melnikova

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The traveling salesman problem (TSP) is a well-known optimization problem that seeks to find the shortest possible route that visits a set of points and returns to the starting point. In this paper, we apply some heuristics of the TSP for the task of restoring the DNA matrix. This restoration problem is often considered in biocybernetics. For it, we must recover the matrix of distances between DNA sequences if not all the elements of the matrix under consideration are known at the input. We consider the possibility of using this method in the testing of distance calculation algorithms between a pair of DNAs to restore the partially filled matrix.

Keywords: optimization problems, DNA matrix, partially filled matrix, traveling salesman problem, heuristic algorithms

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Authors: Peter Mayeso Jiyajiya

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This paper discusses how the teaching of English as a foreign language in Malawi can enhance intercultural communication competence in a multicultural society. It argues that incorporation of intercultural communication in the teaching of English as a foreign language would improve cultural awareness in communication in the multicultural Malawi. The teaching of English in Malawi is geared towards producing students who would communicate in the global world. This entails the use of proper pedagogical approaches and instructional materials that prepare the students toward intercultural awareness. In view of this, the language teachers were interviewed in order to determine their instructional approaches to intercultural communication. Instructional materials were further evaluated to assess how interculturality is incorporated. The study found out that teachers face perceptual and technical challenges that hinder them from exercising creativity to incorporate interculturality in their lessons. This is also compounded by lack of clear direction in the teaching materials on cultural elements. The paper, therefore, suggests a holistic approach to the teaching of English language in Malawian school in which the diversity of culture in classrooms must be considered an opportunity for addressing students’ cultural needs that may be lacking in the instructional materials.

Keywords: cultural awareness, grammar, foreign language, intercultural communication, language teaching

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Authors: K. Adu Michael, K. Alese Boniface

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Developing a reliable and sustainable software products is today a big challenge among up–coming software developers in Nigeria. The inability to develop a comprehensive problem statement needed to execute proper requirements engineering process is missing. The need to describe the ‘what’ of a system in one document, written in a natural language is a major step in the overall process of Software Engineering. Requirements Engineering is a process use to discover, analyze and validate system requirements. This process is needed in reducing software errors at the early stage of the development of software. The importance of each of the steps in Requirements Engineering is clearly explained in the context of using detailed problem statement from client/customer to get an overview of an existing system along with expectations from the new system. This paper elicits inadequate Requirements Engineering principle as the major cause of poor software development in developing nations using a case study of final year computer science students of a tertiary-education institution in Nigeria.

Keywords: client/customer, problem statement, requirements engineering, software developers

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Authors: Shivani Tiwari, Prathibha Karanth, B. Rajashekhar

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Impairments of syntactic morphology are often considered central in children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI). In English and related languages, deficits of tense-related grammatical morphology could serve as a clinical marker of SLI. Yet, cross-linguistic studies on SLI in the recent past suggest that the nature and severity of morphosyntactic deficits in children with SLI varies with the language being investigated. Therefore, in the present study we investigated the morphosyntactic deficits in a group of children with SLI who speak Kannada, a morphologically complex Dravidian language spoken in Indian subcontinent. A group of 15 children with SLI participated in this study. Two more groups of typical developing children (15 each) matched for language and age to children with SLI, were included as control participants. All participants were assessed for morphosyntactic comprehension and expression using standardized language test and a spontaneous speech task. Results of the study showed that children with SLI differed significantly from age-matched but not language-matched control group, on tasks of both comprehension and expression of morphosyntax. This finding is, however, in contrast with the reports of English-speaking children with SLI who are reported to be poorer than younger MLU-matched children on tasks of morphosyntax. The observed difference in impairments of morphosyntax in Kannada-speaking children with SLI from English-speaking children with SLI is explained based on the morphological richness theory. The theory predicts that children with SLI perform relatively better in morphologically rich language due to occurrence of their frequent and consistent features that mark the morphological markers. The authors, therefore, conclude that language-specific features do influence manifestation of the disorder in children with SLI.

Keywords: specific language impairment, morphosyntax, Kannada, manifestation

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Authors: Narges Farokhshad, Milad Molazadeh, Saman Jamalabbasi, Hamed Babaei Giglou, Saeed Bibak

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The Persian language is an inflectional subject-object-verb language. This fact makes Persian a more uncertain language. However, using techniques such as Zero-Width Non-Joiner (ZWNJ) recognition, punctuation restoration, and Persian Ezafe construction will lead us to a more understandable and precise language. In most of the works in Persian, these techniques are addressed individually. Despite that, we believe that for text refinement in Persian, all of these tasks are necessary. In this work, we proposed a ViraPart framework that uses embedded ParsBERT in its core for text clarifications. First, used the BERT variant for Persian followed by a classifier layer for classification procedures. Next, we combined models outputs to output cleartext. In the end, the proposed model for ZWNJ recognition, punctuation restoration, and Persian Ezafe construction performs the averaged F1 macro scores of 96.90%, 92.13%, and 98.50%, respectively. Experimental results show that our proposed approach is very effective in text refinement for the Persian language.

Keywords: Persian Ezafe, punctuation, ZWNJ, NLP, ParsBERT, transformers

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Authors: Wai Ha Leung

Abstract:

Mother tongue language (MTL) curriculum is core to school education in most countries/regions' school curriculum. Through mother tongue language learning, students are expected to enhance their understanding of the nation's culture and foster the sense of cultural and ethnic identity. However, MTL education in Hong Kong is complicated by the colonial history. This study examines Hong Kong Chinese language teachers' perceptions of MTL education, and the implication on MTL curriculum development. The questionnaire was administrated to 97 teachers, and interviews were carried out on 17 teachers. Usually, MTL is both the tool with which knowledge and skills are taught and learned and the vehicle for students to learn about the traditions of the countries' literature and culture. In Hong Kong, 95% of the population is of Chinese descent. Traditionally, education in China was a mixture of philosophy, history, politics and literacy. Chinese as an MTL subject in pre-colonial Hong Kong has always been assigned the mission of developing students' cultural identity in addition to the development of linguistic proficiency. During the colonial period, the Chinese Language curriculum shifted to be more language skills based with less emphasis on Chinese culture and moral education. After the sovereignty of Hong Kong was returned to China in 1997, although a new curriculum was implemented in 2002, teaching and learning in school as well as public examinations seem to be remaining language skills oriented instead of culturally based. This deviation from the trend of both Chinese traditional education and global mother tongue language education makes some Chinese language teachers feel confused. In addition, there is comment that in general Hong Kong students' Chinese language proficiency is becoming weaker and weaker in recent years. Thus, effectiveness of the skills oriented language curriculum has come under question. How a language teacher views the aims and objectives of the language subject he or she is teaching has a direct effect on the curriculum delivery and pedagogies used. It is, therefore, important to investigate what is the language teachers' perception of MTL education, and whether the current school curriculum can meet the teachers' expectation as well as achieve the aims of MTL education. Given this context, this study explored the views of Hong Kong Chinese language teachers on MTL education. The data indicate that teachers showed a strong resentment towards the current curriculum. Results may have implications on mother tongue language curriculum development.

Keywords: Chinese language education, curriculum development, mother tongue language education, teachers' perception

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Authors: Dinesh Kumar Yadav

Abstract:

Short stories for language development are deeply rooted elsewhere in any language syllabus. Its relevance is manifold. The short stories have the power to take the students to the target culture directly from the classroom. It works as a crucial factor in enhancing language skills in different ways. This article is an outcome of an experimental study conducted for a month on the 12th graders where they were engaged in different creative and critical-thinking activities along with various tasks that ranged from knowledge level to application level. The sole purpose was to build up their confidence in speaking in the classroom as well as develop all their language skills simultaneously. With the start of the class in August 2021, the students' speaking skill and their confidence in speaking in the class was tested. The test was abruptly followed by a presentation of a short story from their culture. The students were engaged in different tasks related to the story. The PowerPoint slides, handouts with the story, and tasks on photocopy were used as tools whenever needed. A one-month class exclusively on speaking skills through sharing stories was found to be very helpful in developing confidence in the learners. The result was very satisfactory. A large number of students became responsive in the class. The proficiency level was not satisfactory; however, their effort to speak in class showed a very positive sign in language development.

Keywords: short stories, relevance, language enhancement, language proficiency

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