Search results for: natural language understanding
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 14994

Search results for: natural language understanding

12864 Examining Professional Challenges for School Social Work in Swedish Elementary Schools: A Focus Group Study

Authors: Maria Kjellgren, Sara Lilliehorn, Urban Markström

Abstract:

Critical components that influence the role and performance of school social workers in Swedish elementary schools will be described and analysed, such as formal regulations, professional self-understanding, and the SSWs’ role in the interplay between professional domains involved in elementary school. The data collection was conducted through four semi-structured focus group interviews with a total of 22 SSWs in four different regions in Sweden. The result reveals three main challenges for the School Social Worker (SSW): (1) To navigate in a pedagogic and medical arena within a multidisciplinary team, (2) To manage ambiguity without any formal regulations and unclear settings and leadership and finally, (3) To negotiate tasks at different levels, with a health promotional and preventive focus, where the SSW ends up, mainly in remedial work with individual children. The results also disclosed that SSWs hold a vague professional self-understanding position with a little formal mandate to perform their work.

Keywords: school social worker, multidisciplinary team, counselling, professional self-understanding, formal regulations

Procedia PDF Downloads 68
12863 Teacher Training for Bilingual Education of Deaf Students in Brazil

Authors: Mara Aparecida De Castilho Lopes. Maria Eliza Mattosinho Bernardes

Abstract:

The education of deaf individuals in Brazil is grounded in the bilingual approach, which presupposes Brazilian Sign Language (Libras) as the first language for these students. In this perspective, Portuguese should be taught as a second language in its written form, ensuring that deaf students also have access to various academic subjects in sign language. Brazilian legislation (Federal Decree No. 5626 of 2005) mandates the teaching of Brazilian Sign Language in university teacher training programs, but there is no pre-established minimum workload. As a result, there is a significant disparity in the teaching and quality of teacher education across the Brazilian territory. Added to this fact is the general lack of awareness within society regarding the linguistic status of Libras, leading to a shortage of competent teachers for its use and instruction, particularly in higher education. Recently, Federal Law No. 14191 of 2021 established bilingual education for the deaf as a mode of instruction, indicating the need for adjustments in teacher training within higher education teacher preparation programs. Given this context, the objective of the present study was to analyze the teaching proposals for Brazilian Sign Language for students in teacher training programs at public universities in Brazil, presenting alternatives to overcome the current models and academic pathways of teaching and learning. In addition to analyzing Brazilian teaching models, an analysis of a continuing education model for teachers in a French institution was also conducted - considering the historical Franco-Brazilian path of deaf education in Brazil. The analysis of the current teacher training model for deaf education in Brazil revealed that initial exposure to sign language and its linguistic structure is not sufficient to provide future teachers with opportunities to reflect on bilingual teaching methods and practices, as seen in other definitions of bilingualism - bilingual education for proficient listeners in two oral languages. As a result, a training proposal was developed for an experimental interdisciplinary course, integrating the curriculum of an initial and continuing teacher training program alongside the Alfredo Bossi Chair at the University of São Paulo. This proposal is structured into three disciplines, which constitute consecutive moments in teacher education: Fundamental Aspects of Brazilian Sign Language, Bilingual Teaching Methodology, and Teaching Investigation Project - interdisciplinary engagement in the field of deafness. The last offered discipline represents an interdisciplinary supervised internship proposal, considering the multi-professional context that constitutes deaf education within a bilingual approach. In interdisciplinary work within the field of deafness, dialogue between teachers and other professionals who work with deaf students from different perspectives - teachers, speech therapists, and sign language interpreters - is frequently necessary. Through alternative avenues, these actions aim to direct the linguistic development of deaf students within their learning processes. Based on the innovative curriculum proposal described here, the intention is to contribute to the enhancement of teacher education in Brazil, with the goal of ensuring bilingual education for deaf students.

Keywords: bilingual education, teacher training, historical-cultural approach, interdisciplinary education, inclusive education

Procedia PDF Downloads 91
12862 Multilingualism in Medieval Romance: A French Case Study

Authors: Brindusa Grigoriu

Abstract:

Inscribing itself in the field of the history of multilingual communities with a focus on the evolution of language didactics, our paper aims at providing a pragmatic-interactional approach on a corpus proposing to scholars of the international scientific community a relevant text of early modern European literature: the first romance in French, The Conte of Flore and Blanchefleur by Robert d’Orbigny (1150). The multicultural context described by the romance is one in which an Arab-speaking prince, Floire, and his Francophone protégée, Blanchefleur, learn Latin together at the court of Spain and become fluent enough to turn it into the language of their love. This learning process is made up of interactional patterns of affective relevance, in which the proficiency of the protagonists in the domain of emotive acts becomes a matter of linguistic and pragmatic emulation. From five to ten years old, the pupils are efficiently stimulated by their teacher of Latin, Gaidon – a Moorish scholar of the royal entourage – to cultivate their competencies of oral expression and reading comprehension (of Antiquity classics), while enjoying an ever greater freedom of written expression, including the composition of love poems in this second language of culture and emotional education. Another relevant parameter of the educational process at court is that Latin shares its prominent role as a language of culture with French, whose exemplary learner is the (Moorish) queen herself. Indeed, the adult 'First lady' strives to become a pupil benefitting from lifelong learning provided by a fortuitous slave-teacher with little training, her anonymous chambermaid and Blanchefleur’s mother, who, despite her status of a war trophy, enjoys her Majesty’s confidence as a cultural agent of change in linguistic and theological fields. Thus, the two foreign languages taught at Spains’s court, Latin and French – as opposed to Arabic -, suggest a spiritual authority allowing the mutual enrichment of intercultural pioneers of cross-linguistic communication, in the aftermath of religious wars. Durably, and significantly – if not everlastingly – the language of physical violence rooted in intra-cultural solipsism is replaced by two Romance languages which seem to embody, together and yet distinctly, the parlance of peace-making.

Keywords: multilingualism, history of European language learning, French and Latin learners, multicultural context of medieval romance

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12861 A Contemplative Concept of Existence in Existentialism and in the Notion of the Absurd

Authors: Mohammad Motiee

Abstract:

The present study aims at presenting Samuel Beckett's attempts to pierce the world of knowledge and understanding with a hope to approach it though he knew it is unattainable. To know about Beckett more and to get the idea about the notion of the absurd, we found it necessary to find the real meaning of existence both in the notion of the absurd and in Existentialism. Among many philosophers, as is evident in this paper, who worked on the concept of existence, Beckett reveals a very peculiar path by which some labelled him a mere absurdist. In this study, we tried to show that unlike this label and also unlike many philosophers' premise, Beckett did not assign his contemplation on the boundaries of existence but to find a way to retreat from it. This is the only way for him to find the real meaning of Self. While Existentialism advocates primary existence, Beckett's Absurdity appreciates a reliable being in a realm out of limits of the world. The Absurd person has no tendency to put himself in the barriers of time and language. Time imprisons one in the frame of days and nights, the solid dimensions in which the Self cannot be evidenced. Beckett shows sadly how the boundaries and dimensions blind the being and how the absurd meaning of existence arises from such a limit in the mundane realm.

Keywords: existence, absurdity, existentialism, self, alienation, being

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12860 Moving Beyond the Limits of Disability Inclusion: Using the Concept of Belonging Through Friendship to Improve the Outcome of the Social Model of Disability

Authors: Luke S. Carlos A. Thompson

Abstract:

The medical model of disability, though beneficial for the medical professional, is often exclusionary, restrictive and dehumanizing when applied to the lived experience of disability. As a result, a critique of this model was constructed called the social model of disability. Much of the language used to articulate the purpose behind the social model of disability can be summed up within the word inclusion. However, this essay asserts that inclusiveness is an incomplete aspiration. The social model, as it currently stands, does not aid in creating a society where those with impairments actually belong. Rather, the social model aids in lessening the visibility, or negative consequence of, difference. Therefore, the social model does not invite society to welcome those with physical and intellectual impairments. It simply aids society in ignoring the existence of impairment by removing explicit forms of exclusion. Rather than simple inclusion, then, this essay uses John Swinton’s concept of friendship and Jean Vanier’s understanding of belonging to better articulate the intended outcome of the social model—a society where everyone can belong.

Keywords: belong, community, differently-able, disability, exclusion, friendship, inclusion, normality

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12859 The Use of Graphic Design Elements for Design of Newspaper for Women

Authors: Pibool Waijittragum

Abstract:

This paper has its objectives to reveal contents and personality suitable to women’s newspapers. The research methodology employed in this study is the questionnaire which is derived from a literature review related to newspapers, graphic elements method for print media design and 12 sample sizes of different daily newspapers. In order to acquire an in-depth understanding and comprehensible view of desirable for a women’s newspaper design, graphic elements that related to that personality as well as other preferable elements for a women’s newspaper, including seven editorial Many Thai newspapers were offer a women’s documentary and column space. With its feminine looks, most of them appeared with warm tones and friendly mood through their headlines, contents, illustrations and graphics. The study found that most desirable personalities for a women’s newspaper design in Thailand are: Modern, Chic and Natural. Each personality has significant graphic elements as follows: 1. Modern: significant elements of modern personality comprises of the composition with graduation pattern which creates attractiveness by using an anomalous alignment layout grid and outstanding structure to create focal points and dynamic movement. Dark to black color that has narrowed, limited hue coupled with bright color tones. The round shape of the Thai font style was suitable for this concept. Such Thai fonts have harmonious proportion and consistent stroke with the urban-polite look. 2. Chic: significant elements of chic personality comprises of the proper composition with distinctive scale, using rhythmic repetition and a contrast of scale to draw in reader attention. Vivid and bright color tones with extensive hues coupled with similar color tones and round shape of the Thai font style with a light stroke and consistent line. 3. Natural: significant elements of natural personality comprises of the proper composition using rhythmic repetition that creates a focal point through striking images and harmonious perspective. Warm color tones with restricted hues that appear to look natural. Duo tone color was suitable through the gradually increasing gradient. The Thai style with hand writing font was suitable through the inconsistent stroke. There are 10 types of daily content that were revealed to be the most desirable for Thai women readers, these are: Daily News, Economics News, Education News, Entertainment News, International news, Political News, Public Health News, Scientific News, Social News and Sports News. As well, there are 16 topics identified as very desirable for Thai women readers, such as: Art and Culture, Automobile, Classified, Special Scoop, Editorial, Advertisement, Entertainment, Health and Quality of Life, History, Horoscope, Lifestyle and Fashion, Literature, Nature - Environment and Tourism, Night Life, Stars and Jet Set Gossip, Women’s Issue.

Keywords: women behaviors, feminine looks, newspaper design, news content

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12858 Effect of Distance Education Students Motivation with the Turkish Language and Literature Course

Authors: Meva Apaydin, Fatih Apaydin

Abstract:

Role of education in the development of society is great. Teaching and training started with the beginning of the history and different methods and techniques which have been applied as the time passed and changed everything with the aim of raising the level of learning. In addition to the traditional teaching methods, technology has been used in recent years. With the beginning of the use of internet in education, some problems which could not be soluted till that time has been dealt and it is inferred that it is possible to educate the learners by using contemporary methods as well as traditional methods. As an advantage of technological developments, distance education is a system which paves the way for the students to be educated individually wherever and whenever they like without the needs of physical school environment. Distance education has become prevalent because of the physical inadequacies in education institutions, as a result; disadvantageous circumstances such as social complexities, individual differences and especially geographical distance disappear. What’s more, the high-speed of the feedbacks between teachers and learners, improvement in student motivation because there is no limitation of time, low-cost, the objective measuring and evaluation are on foreground. In spite of the fact that there is teaching beneficences in distance education, there are also limitations. Some of the most important problems are that : Some problems which are highly possible to come across may not be solved in time, lack of eye-contact between the teacher and the learner, so trust-worthy feedback cannot be got or the problems stemming from the inadequate technological background are merely some of them. Courses are conducted via distance education in many departments of the universities in our country. In recent years, giving lectures such as Turkish Language, English, and History in the first grades of the academic departments in the universities is an application which is constantly becoming prevalent. In this study, the application of Turkish Language course via distance education system by analyzing advantages and disadvantages of the distance education system which is based on internet.

Keywords: distance education, Turkish language, motivation, benefits

Procedia PDF Downloads 436
12857 Gender Differences in Communication Styles: An Analysis of the Language of Earnings Conference Calls

Authors: Chiara De Amicis, Sonia Falconieri, Mesut Tastan

Abstract:

In this study, we analyze the language employed by Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) during earnings conference calls from a gender perspective. We find evidences that conference calls held by female CEOs and/or CFOs exhibit a higher level of optimism compared to conference calls held by male CEOs and/or CFOs. Moreover, female managers tend to present and discuss firm performances with less vagueness as compared to their male colleagues. We then observe the market reaction around each earnings conference call: while manager optimism is perceived as a good signal by investors, manager vagueness significantly dampens the market reaction around the call. Whether the gender of the CEO and/or the CFO delivering the conference call affects investors’ perceptions about the firm performance is still an open question. Some evidences show that the language employed by female managers conveys more valuable information for market participants as compared to the language employed by their male counterparts. This study contributes to a growing literature in finance and accounting that uses textual analysis to assess the informativeness of corporate disclosure. To our knowledge, this is the first paper that aims at answering the question whether the gender of firm’s top managers does matter when it comes to assess the informativeness of corporate spoken communication. We believe that our results will be of relevance for future research in the field. Moreover, our evidence may be used in support of the debate if a larger participation by women in the management of companies should be encouraged or not.

Keywords: conference calls, even study, gender, market reaction, textual analysis

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12856 The Process of Irony Comprehension in Young Children: Evidence from Monolingual and Bilingual Preschoolers

Authors: Natalia Banasik

Abstract:

Comprehension of verbal irony is an example of pragmatic competence in understanding figurative language. The knowledge of how it develops may shed new light on the understanding of social and communicative competence that is crucial for one's effective functioning in the society. Researchers agree it is a competence that develops late in a child’s development. One of the abilities that seems crucial for irony comprehension is theory of mind (ToM), that is the ability to understand that others may have beliefs, desires and intentions different from one’s own. Although both theory of mind and irony comprehension require the ability to understand the figurative use of the false description of the reality, the exact relationship between them is still unknown. Also, even though irony comprehension in children has been studied for over thirty years, the results of the studies are inconsistent as to the age when this competence are acquired. The presented study aimed to answer questions about the developmental trajectories of irony comprehension and ascribing function to ironic utterances by preschool children. Specifically, we were interested in how it is related to the development of ToM and how comprehension of the function of irony changes with age. Data was collected from over 150 monolingual, Polish-speaking children and (so far) thirty bilingual children speaking Polish and English who live in the US. Four-, five- and six-year-olds were presented with a story comprehension task in the form of audio and visual stimuli programmed in the E-prime software (pre-recorded narrated stories, some of which included ironic utterances, and pictures accompanying the stories displayed on a touch screen). Following the presentation, the children were then asked to answer a series of questions. The questions checked the children’s understanding of the intended utterance meaning, evaluation of the degree to which it was funny and evaluation of how nice the speaker was. The children responded by touching the screen, which made it possible to measure reaction times. Additionally, the children were asked to explain why the speaker had uttered the ironic statement. Both quantitive and qualitative analyses were applied. The results of our study indicate that for irony recognition there is a significant difference among the three age groups, but what is new is that children as young as four do understand the real meaning behind the ironic statement as long as the utterance is not grammtically or lexically complex also, there is a clear correlation of ToM and irony comprehension. Although four-year olds and six-year olds understand the real meaning of the ironic utterance, it is not earlier than at the age of six when children start to explain the reason of using this marked form of expression. They talk about the speaker's intention to tell a joke, be funny, or to protect the listener's emotions. There are also some metalinguistic references, such as "mommy sometimes says things that don't make sense and this is called a metaphor".

Keywords: child's pragmatics, figurative speech, irony comprehension in children, theory of mind and irony

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12855 Language Development and Growing Spanning Trees in Children Semantic Network

Authors: Somayeh Sadat Hashemi Kamangar, Fatemeh Bakouie, Shahriar Gharibzadeh

Abstract:

In this study, we target to exploit Maximum Spanning Trees (MST) of children's semantic networks to investigate their language development. To do so, we examine the graph-theoretic properties of word-embedding networks. The networks are made of words children learn prior to the age of 30 months as the nodes and the links which are built from the cosine vector similarity of words normatively acquired by children prior to two and a half years of age. These networks are weighted graphs and the strength of each link is determined by the numerical similarities of the two words (nodes) on the sides of the link. To avoid changing the weighted networks to the binaries by setting a threshold, constructing MSTs might present a solution. MST is a unique sub-graph that connects all the nodes in such a way that the sum of all the link weights is maximized without forming cycles. MSTs as the backbone of the semantic networks are suitable to examine developmental changes in semantic network topology in children. From these trees, several parameters were calculated to characterize the developmental change in network organization. We showed that MSTs provides an elegant method sensitive to capture subtle developmental changes in semantic network organization.

Keywords: maximum spanning trees, word-embedding, semantic networks, language development

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12854 Technology Optimization of Compressed Natural Gas Home Fast Refueling Units

Authors: Szymon Kuczynski, Krystian Liszka, Mariusz Laciak, Andrii Oliinyk, Robert Strods, Adam Szurlej

Abstract:

Despіte all glоbal ecоnоmіc shіfts and the fact that Natural Gas іs recоgnіzed wоrldwіde as the maіn and the leadіng alternatіve tо оіl prоducts іn transpоrtatіоn sectоr, there іs a huge barrіer tо swіtch passenger vehіcle segment tо Natural gas - the lack оf refuelіng іnfrastructure fоr Natural Gas Vehіcles. Whіle іnvestments іn publіc gas statіоns requіre establіshed NGV market іn оrder tо be cоst effectіve, the market іs nоt there due tо lack оf refuelіng statіоns. The key tо sоlvіng that prоblem and prоvіdіng barrіer breakіng refuelіng іnfrastructure sоlutіоn fоr Natural Gas Vehіcles (NGV) іs Hоme Fast Refuelіng Unіts. Іt оperates usіng Natural Gas (Methane), whіch іs beіng prоvіded thrоugh gas pіpelіnes at clіents hоme, and electrіcіty cоnnectіоn pоіnt. Іt enables an envіrоnmentally frіendly NGV’s hоme refuelіng just іn mіnutes. The underlyіng technоlоgy іs a patented technоlоgy оf оne stage hydraulіc cоmpressоr (іnstead оf multіstage mechanіcal cоmpressоr technоlоgy avaіlable оn the market nоw) whіch prоvіdes the pоssіbіlіty tо cоmpress lоw pressure gas frоm resіdentіal gas grіd tо 200 bar fоr іts further usage as a fuel fоr NGVs іn the mоst ecоnоmіcally effіcіent and cоnvenіent fоr custоmer way. Descrіptіоn оf wоrkіng algоrіthm: Twо hіgh pressure cylіnders wіth upper necks cоnnected tо lоw pressure gas sоurce are placed vertіcally. Іnіtіally оne оf them іs fіlled wіth lіquіd and anоther оne – wіth lоw pressure gas. Durіng the wоrkіng prоcess lіquіd іs transferred by means оf hydraulіc pump frоm оne cylіnder tо anоther and back. Wоrkіng lіquіd plays a rоle оf pіstоns іnsіde cylіnders. Mоvement оf wоrkіng lіquіd іnsіde cylіnders prоvіdes sіmultaneоus suctіоn оf a pоrtіоn оf lоw pressure gas іntо оne оf the cylіnder (where lіquіd mоves dоwn) and fоrcіng оut gas оf hіgher pressure frоm anоther cylіnder (where lіquіd mоves up) tо the fuel tank оf the vehіcle / stоrage tank. Each cycle оf fоrcіng the gas оut оf the cylіnder rіses up the pressure оf gas іn the fuel tank оf a vehіcle wіth 2 cylіnders. The prоcess іs repeated untіl the pressure оf gas іn the fuel tank reaches 200 bar. Mоbіlіty has becоme a necessіty іn peоple’s everyday lіfe, whіch led tо оіl dependence. CNG Hоme Fast Refuelіng Unіts can become a part fоr exіstіng natural gas pіpelіne іnfrastructure and becоme the largest vehіcle refuelіng іnfrastructure. Hоme Fast Refuelіng Unіts оwners wіll enjоy day-tо-day tіme savіngs and cоnvenіence - Hоme Car refuelіng іn mіnutes, mоnth-tо-mоnth fuel cоst ecоnоmy, year-tо-year іncentіves and tax deductіbles оn NG refuelіng systems as per cоuntry, reduce CО2 lоcal emіssіоns, savіng cоsts and mоney.

Keywords: CNG (compressed natural gas), CNG stations, NGVs (natural gas vehicles), natural gas

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12853 Effect of Corrugating Bottom Surface on Natural Convection in a Square Porous Enclosure

Authors: Khedidja Bouhadef, Imene Said Kouadri, Omar Rahli

Abstract:

In this paper numerical investigation is performed to analyze natural convection heat transfer characteristics within a wavy-wall enclosure filled with fluid-saturated porous medium. The bottom wall which has the wavy geometry is maintained at a constant high temperature, while the top wall is straight and is maintained at a constant lower temperature. The left and right walls of the enclosure are both straight and insulated. The governing differential equations are solved by Finite-volume approach and grid generation is used to transform the physical complex domain to a computational regular space. The aim is to examine flow field, temperature distribution and heat transfer evolutions inside the cavity when Darcy number, Rayleigh number and undulations number values are varied. The results mainly indicate that the heat transfer is rather affected by the permeability and Rayleigh number values since increasing these values enhance the Nusselt number; although the exchanges are not highly affected by the undulations number.

Keywords: grid generation, natural convection, porous medium, wavy wall enclosure

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12852 Natural Frequency Analysis of a Porous Functionally Graded Shaft System

Authors: Natural Frequency Analysis of a Porous Functionally Graded Shaft System

Abstract:

The vibration characteristics of a functionally graded (FG) rotor model having porosities and micro-voids is investigated using three-dimensional finite element analysis. The FG shaft is mounted with a steel disc located at the midspan. The shaft ends are supported on isotropic bearings. The FG material is composed of a metallic (stainless-steel) and ceramic phase (zirconium oxide) as its constituent phases. The layer wise material property variation is governed by power law. Material property equations are developed for the porosity modelling. Python code is developed to assign the material properties to each layer including the effect of porosities. ANSYS commercial software is used to extract the natural frequencies and whirl frequencies for the FG shaft system. The obtained results show the influence of porosity volume fraction and power-law index, on the vibration characteristics of the ceramic-based FG shaft system.

Keywords: Finite element method, Functionally graded material, Porosity volume fraction, Power law

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12851 Understanding Social Networks in Community's Coping Capacity with Floods: A Case Study of a Community in Cambodia

Authors: Ourn Vimoil, Kallaya Suntornvongsagul

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Cambodia is considered as one of the most disaster prone countries in South East Asia, and most of natural disasters are related to floods. Cambodia, a developing country, faces significant impacts from floods, such as environmental, social, and economic losses. Using data accessed from focus group discussions and field surveys with villagers in Ba Baong commune, prey Veng province, Cambodia, the research would like to examine roles of social networks in raising community’s coping capacity with floods. The findings indicate that social capital play crucial roles in three stages of floods, namely preparedness, response, and recovery to overcome the crisis. People shared their information and resources, and extent their assistances to one another in order to adapt to floods. The study contribute to policy makers, national and international agencies working on this issue to pay attention on social networks as one factors to accelerate flood coping capacity at community level.

Keywords: social network, community, coping capacity, flood, Cambodia

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12850 Role of Natural Products in Drug Discovery of Anti-Biotic and Anti-Cancer Agents

Authors: Sunil Kumar

Abstract:

For many years, small organic molecules derived naturally from microbes and plants have delivered a number of expedient therapeutic drug agents. The search for naturally occurring lead compounds has continued in recent years as well, with the constituents of marine flora and fauna along with those of telluric microorganisms and plants being investigated for their anti-bacterial and anti-cancer activities. It has been observed that such promising lead molecules incline to promptly generate substantial attention among scientists like synthetic organic chemists and biologists. Subsequently, the availability of a given precious natural product sample may be enriched, and it may be possible to determine a preliminary idea of structure-activity relationships to develop synthetic analogues. For instance, anti-tumor drug topotecan is a synthetic chemical compound similar in chemical structure to camptothecin which is found in extracts of Camptotheca acuminate. Similarly, researchers at AstraZeneca discovered anti-biotic pyrrolamide through a fragment-based lead generation approach from kibdelomycin, which is isolated from Staphylococcus aureuss.

Keywords: anticancer, antibiotic, lead molecule, natural product, synthetic analogues

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12849 Visualized Flow Patterns around and inside a Two-Sided Wind-Catcher in the Presence of Upstream Structures

Authors: M. Afshin, A. Sohankar, M. Dehghan Manshadi, M. R. Daneshgar, G. R. Dehghan Kamaragi

Abstract:

In this paper, the influence of an upstream structure on the flow pattern within and around the wind-catcher is experimentally investigated by smoke flow visualization techniques. Wind-catchers are an important part of natural ventilation in residential buildings or public places such as shopping centers, libraries, etc. Wind-catchers might be also used in places of high urban densities; hence their potential to provide natural ventilation in this case is dependent on the presence of upstream objects. In this study, the two-sided wind-catcher model was based on a real wind-catcher observed in the city of Yazd, Iran. The present study focuses on the flow patterns inside and outside the isolated two-sided wind-catcher, and on a two-sided wind-catcher in the presence of an upstream structure. The results show that the presence of an upstream structure influences the airflow pattern force and direction. Placing a high upstream object reverses the airflow direction inside the wind-catcher.

Keywords: natural ventilation, smoke flow visualization, two-sided wind-catcher, flow patterns

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12848 Learning Physics Concepts through Language Syntagmatic Paradigmatic Relations

Authors: C. E. Laburu, M. A. Barros, A. F. Zompero, O. H. M. Silva

Abstract:

The work presents a teaching strategy that employs syntagmatic and paradigmatic linguistic relations in order to monitor the understanding of physics students’ concepts. Syntagmatic and paradigmatic relations are theoretical elements of semiotics studies and our research circumstances and justified them within the research program of multi-modal representations. Among the multi-modal representations to learning scientific knowledge, the scope of action of syntagmatic and paradigmatic relations belongs to the discursive writing form. The use of such relations has the purpose to seek innovate didactic work with discourse representation in the write form before translate to another different representational form. The research was conducted with a sample of first year high school students. The students were asked to produce syntagmatic and paradigmatic of Newton’ first law statement. This statement was delivered in paper for each student that should individually write the relations. The student’s records were collected for analysis. It was possible observed in one student used here as example that their monemes replaced and rearrangements produced by, respectively, syntagmatic and paradigmatic relations, kept the original meaning of the law. In paradigmatic production he specified relevant significant units of the linguistic signs, the monemas, which constitute the first articulation and each word substituted kept equivalence to the original meaning of original monema. Also, it was noted a number of diverse and many monemas were chosen, with balanced combination of grammatical (grammatical monema is what changes the meaning of a word, in certain positions of the syntagma, along with a relatively small number of other monemes. It is the smallest linguistic unit that has grammatical meaning) and lexical (lexical monema is what belongs to unlimited inventories; is the monema endowed with lexical meaning) monemas. In syntagmatic production, monemas ordinations were syntactically coherent, being linked with semantic conservation and preserved number. In general, the results showed that the written representation mode based on linguistic relations paradigmatic and syntagmatic qualifies itself to be used in the classroom as a potential identifier and accompanist of meanings acquired from students in the process of scientific inquiry.

Keywords: semiotics, language, high school, physics teaching

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12847 From Script to Film: The Fading Voice of the Screenwriter

Authors: Ana Sofia Torres Pereira

Abstract:

On January 15th 2015, Peter Bart, editor in chief of Variety Magazine, published an article in the aforementioned magazine posing the following question “Are screenwriters becoming obsolete in Hollywood?” Is Hollywood loosing its interest in well plotted, well written scripts crafted by professionals? That screenwriters have been undervalued, forgotten and left behind since the begging of film, is a well-known fact, but ate they now at the brink of extinction? If fiction films are about people, stories, so, simply put, all about the script, what does it mean to say that the screenwriter is becoming obsolete? What will be the consequences of the possible death of the screenwriter for the cinema world? All of these questions lead us to an ultimate one: What is the true importance of a screenwriter? What can a screenwriter do that a director, for instance, can’t? How should a script be written and read in order not to become obsolete? And what about those countries, like Portugal, for example, in which the figure of the screenwriter is yet to be heard and known? How can screenwriters find their voice in a world driven by the tyrannical voice of the Director? In a demanding cinema world where the Director is considered the author of a film, it’s important to know where we can find the voice of the screenwriter, the true language of the screenplay and the importance this voice and specific language might have for the future of story telling and of film. In a paper that admittedly poses more questions than answers, I will try to unveil the importance a screenplay might have in Hollywood, in Portugal and in the cinema and communication world in general.

Keywords: cinema, communication, director, language, screenplay, screenwriting, story

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12846 The Libyc Writing

Authors: S. Ait Ali Yahia

Abstract:

One of the main features of the Maghreb is its linguistic richness. The multilingualism is a fact which always marked the Maghreb since the beginning of the history up to know. Since the arrival of the Phoenicians, followed by the Carthaginians, Romans, and Arabs, etc, there was a social group in the Maghreb which controlled two kinds of idioms. The libyc one remained, despite everything, the local language used by the major part of the population. This language had a support of written transmission attested by many inscriptions. Among all the forms of the Maghreb writing, this alphabet, however, continues to cause a certain number of questions about the origin and the date of its appearance. The archaeological, linguistic and historical data remain insufficient to answer these questions. This did not prevent the researchers from giving an opinion. In order to answer these questions we will expose here the various assumptions adopted by various authors who are founded on more or less explicit arguments. We will also speak about the various forms taken by the libyc writing during antiquity.

Keywords: the alphabet libyc, Eastern libyc, Western libyc, multilingualism

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12845 Future Outlook and Current Situation for Security of Gas Supply in Eastern Baltic Region

Authors: Ando Leppiman, Kati Kõrbe Kaare, Ott Koppel

Abstract:

The growing demand for gas has rekindled a debate on gas security of supply due to supply interruptions, increasing gas prices, transportation and distribution bottlenecks and a growing reliance on imports over longer distances. Security of supply is defined mostly as an infrastructure package to satisfy N-1 criteria. In case of Estonia, Finland, Latvia, and Lithuania all the gas infrastructure is built to supply natural gas only from one single supplier, Russia. In 2012, almost 100% of natural gas to the Eastern Baltic Region was supplied by Gazprom. under such circumstances infrastructure N-1 criteria does not guarantee security of supply. In the Eastern Baltic Region, the assessment of risk of gas supply disruption has been worked out by applying the method of risk scenarios. There are various risks to be tackled in Eastern Baltic States in terms of improving security of supply, such as single supplier risk, physical infrastructure risk, regulatory gap, fair price, and competition. The objective of this paper is to evaluate the energy security of the Eastern Baltic Region within the framework of the European Union’s policies and to make recommendations on how to better guarantee the energy security of the region.

Keywords: security of supply, supply routes for natural gas, energy balance, diversified supply options, common regulative package

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12844 Praetical and Theoretical Study on Characteristic Landscape Construction of Tujia Village in Xiaguping, Shennongjia Forestry Distric

Authors: Tingting Chen, Shouliang Zhao

Abstract:

Compared with other regions, the construction for villages and towns in regions inhabited by minority nationality shall be deeply rooted in natural and cultural endowment in locality, and more importance shall be attached to building of characteristics. In this kind of area, landscape design is very important for its character and tradition. By empirical study in Shennongjia Area, some findings could be summarized as below. There are unique natural and cultural resources in Shennongjia Forestry District; during transformation on style and features of Tujia Village, Xiaguping, special style and features have been successfully shaped through 4 strategies: (1) highlighting Tujia Culture and architectural style in west region of Hubei Province; (2) merging with local natural environment; (3) introducing system of rural coordination architect; and (4) making great efforts to design and construct environmental embellishments with village and town symbols.

Keywords: rural coordination architect, special style and features, characteristic landscape, villages and towns in regions inhabited by minority nationality

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12843 Public and Private Domains: Contradictions and Covenants in Evolution of Game Policy

Authors: Mingzhu Lyu, Runlei Ren, Xinyu Dai, Jiaxuan Pi, Kanghua Li

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The study of video game policy in China has been divided into two branches: "pedagogy" and "game industry". The binary perspective of policy reveals the "contradictory" side of policy performance. Based on this suspicion, this paper constructs a three-dimensional sequence of time, content and institutions of game policy, and establishes the "contradictory" aspects of policy performance between 1949 and 2019. A central-level database of game policies, clarifying that our game policies follow a shift from reactive response to proactive guidance, stigmatization and de-stigmatization, the evolutionary logic. The study found that the central government has always maintained a strict requirement and prudent guidance for game policy, and the deep contradictions in game policy stem from the essential conflict between the natural amusement of games and the seriousness of the educational system, and the Chinese government's use of the understanding of the public and private domains and the Managing of the conflict.

Keywords: game industry, gaming policy, public domain, private domain

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12842 Damping and Stability Evaluation for the Dynamical Hunting Motion of the Bullet Train Wheel Axle Equipped with Cylindrical Wheel Treads

Authors: Barenten Suciu

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Classical matrix calculus and Routh-Hurwitz stability conditions, applied to the snake-like motion of the conical wheel axle, lead to the conclusion that the hunting mode is inherently unstable, and its natural frequency is a complex number. In order to analytically solve such a complicated vibration model, either the inertia terms were neglected, in the model designated as geometrical, or restrictions on the creep coefficients and yawing diameter were imposed, in the so-called dynamical model. Here, an alternative solution is proposed to solve the hunting mode, based on the observation that the bullet train wheel axle is equipped with cylindrical wheels. One argues that for such wheel treads, the geometrical hunting is irrelevant, since its natural frequency becomes nil, but the dynamical hunting is significant since its natural frequency reduces to a real number. Moreover, one illustrates that the geometrical simplification of the wheel causes the stabilization of the hunting mode, since the characteristic quartic equation, derived for conical wheels, reduces to a quadratic equation of positive coefficients, for cylindrical wheels. Quite simple analytical expressions for the damping ratio and natural frequency are obtained, without applying restrictions into the model of contact. Graphs of the time-depending hunting lateral perturbation, including the maximal and inflexion points, are presented both for the critically-damped and the over-damped wheel axles.

Keywords: bullet train, creep, cylindrical wheels, damping, dynamical hunting, stability, vibration analysis

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12841 Assessing Livelihood Vulnerability to Climate Change and Adaptation Strategies in Rajanpur District, Pakistan

Authors: Muhammad Afzal, Shahbaz Mushtaq, Duc-Anh-An-Vo, Kathryn Reardon Smith, Thanh Ma

Abstract:

Climate change has become one of the most challenging environmental issues in the 21st century. Climate change-induced natural disasters, especially floods, are the major factors of livelihood vulnerability, impacting millions of individuals worldwide. Evaluating and mitigating the effects of floods requires an in-depth understanding of the relationship between vulnerability and livelihood capital assets. Using an integrated approach, sustainable livelihood framework, and system thinking approach, the study developed a conceptual model of a generalized livelihood system in District Rajanpur, Pakistan. The model visualizes the livelihood vulnerability system as a whole and identifies the key feedback loops likely to influence the livelihood vulnerability. The study suggests that such conceptual models provide effective communication and understanding tools to stakeholders and decision-makers to anticipate the problem and design appropriate policies. It can also serve as an evaluation technique for rural livelihood policy and identify key systematic interventions. The key finding of the study reveals that household income, health, and education are the major factors behind the livelihood vulnerability of the rural poor of District Rajanpur. The Pakistani government tried to reduce the livelihood vulnerability of the region through different income, health, and education programs, but still, many changes are required to make these programs more effective especially during the flood times. The government provided only cash to vulnerable and marginalized families through income support programs, but this study suggests that along with the cash, the government must provide seed storage facilities and access to crop insurance to the farmers. Similarly, the government should establish basic health units in villages and frequent visits of medical mobile vans should be arranged with advanced medical lab facilities during and after the flood.

Keywords: livelihood vulnerability, rural communities, flood, sustainable livelihood framework, system dynamics, Pakistan

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12840 Language and Communication of Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Highlights on Both the Issues around Requesting-Information Skills and the Procedures for Teaching These Skills

Authors: Amaal Almigal

Abstract:

Neurotypical children learn to ask questions from natural exposure and this skill is fundamental for their academic success. However, children with autism spectrum disorder may not learn to ask in the same way due to earlier communication impairments, and some may need to use Augmentative and Alternative Communication systems (AAC) to ask questions. This paper aims to highlight issues related to questioning skills in children with autism giving a specific attention to asking questions within preverbal or minimally verbal children. Different procedures have been employed to teach these children, including AAC users, to ask questions. Therefore, these procedures will also be discussed to administrate how they were used and what they were aimed to teach. This paper also provides a suggested procedure to assist preverbal or minimally verbal children to ask questions using an iPad application for communication (Proloquo2Go) as AAC. This suggested procedure was used with 3 children with autism. Initial results will be discussed to clarify ways in which this procedure was used with each child based on his skills and which questioning skills each child has acquired using this procedure.

Keywords: AAC, autism, communication, information, iPad, requesting

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12839 The Feminine Disruption of Speech and Refounding of Discourse: Kristeva’s Semiotic Chora and Psychoanalysis

Authors: Kevin Klein-Cardeña

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For Julia Kristeva, contra Lacan, the instinctive body refuses to go away within discourse. Neither is the pre-Oedipal stage of maternal fusion vanquished by the emergence of language and with it, the law of the father. On the contrary, Kristeva argues, the pre-symbolic ambivalently haunts the society of speech, simultaneously animating and threatening the very foundations of signification. Kristeva invents the term “the semiotic” to refer to this continual breaking-through of the material unconscious onto the scene of meaning. This presentation examines Kristeva’s semiotic as a theoretical gesture that itself is a disruption of discourse, re-presenting the ‘return of the repressed’ body in theory—-the breaking-through of the unconscious onto the science of meaning. Faced with linguistic theories concerned with abstract sign-systems as well as Lacanian doctrine privileging the linguistic sign unequivocally over the bodily drive, Kristeva’s theoretical corpus issues the message of a psychic remainder that disrupts with a view toward replenishing theoretical accounts of language and sense. Reviewing Semiotic challenge across these two levels (the sense and science of language), the presentation suggests that Kristeva’s offerings constitute a coherent gestalt, providing an account of the feminist nature of her dual intervention. In contrast to other feminist critiques, Kristeva’s gesture hinges on its restoration of the maternal contribution to subjectivity. Against the backdrop of ‘phallogocentric’ and ‘necrophilic’ theories that strip language of a subject and strip the subject of a body, Kristeva recasts linguistic study through a metaphor of life and birthing. Yet the semiotic fragments the subject it produces, dialoguing with an unconscious curtailed by but also exceeding the symbolic order of signification. Linguistics, too, becomes fragmented in the same measure as it is more meaningfully renewed by its confrontation with the semiotic body. It is Kristeva’s own body that issues this challenge, on both sides of the boundary between the theory and the theorized. The Semiotic becomes comprehensible as a project unified by its concern to disrupt and rehabilitate language, the subject, and the scholarly discourses that treat them.

Keywords: Julia kristeva, the Semiotic, french feminism, psychoanalysic theory, linguistics

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12838 Men of Congress in Today’s Brazil: Ethnographic Notes on Neoliberal Masculinities in Support of Bolsonaro

Authors: Joao Vicente Pereira Fernandez

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In the context of a democratic crisis, a new wave of authoritarianism prompts domineering male figures to leadership posts worldwide. Although the gendered aspect of this phenomenon has been reasonably documented, recent studies have focused on high-level commanding posts, such as those of president and prime-minister, leaving other positions of political power with limited attention. This natural focus of investigation, however powerful, seems to have restricted our understanding of the phenomenon by precluding a more thorough inquiry of its gendered aspects and its consequences for political representation as a whole. Trying to fill this gap, in recent research, we examined the election results of Jair Bolsonaro’s party for the Legislative Branch in 2018. We found that the party's proportion of non-male representatives was on average, showing it provided reasonable access of women to the legislature in a comparative perspective. However, and perhaps more intuitively, we also found that the elected members of Bolsonaro’s party performed very gendered roles, which allowed us to draw the first lines of the representative profiles gathered around the new-right in Brazil. These results unveiled new horizons for further research, addressing topics that range from the role of women for the new-right on Brazilian institutional politics to the relations between these profiles of representatives, their agendas, and political and electoral strategies. This article aims to deepen the understanding of some of these profiles in order to lay the groundwork for the development of the second research agenda mentioned above. More specifically, it focuses on two out of the three profiles that were grasped predominantly, if not entirely, from masculine subjects during our last research, with the objective of portraying the masculinity standards mobilized and promoted by them. These profiles –the entrepreneur and the army man – were chosen to be developed due to their proximity to both liberal and authoritarian views, and, moreover, because they can possibly represent two facets of the new-right that were integrated in a certain way around Bolsonaro in 2018, but that can be reworked in the future. After a brief introduction of the literature on masculinity and politics in times of democratic crisis, we succinctly present the relevant results of our previous research and then describe these two profiles and their masculinities in detail. We adopt a combination of ethnography and discourse analysis, methods that allow us to make sense of the data we collected on our previous research as well as of the data gathered for this article: social media posts and interactions between the elected members that inspired these profiles and their supporters. Finally, we discuss our results, presenting our main argument on how these descriptions provide a further understanding of the gendered aspect of liberal authoritarianism, from where to better apprehend its political implications in Brazil.

Keywords: Brazilian politics, gendered politics, masculinities, new-right

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12837 The Effect of the Environmental Activities of Organizations on Financial Performance

Authors: Fatemeh Khalili Varnamkhasti

Abstract:

Natural administration has outside impacts such that companies regularly respect natural input as a fetched with no clear advantage. In this manner, in case natural security can bring financial benefits, showing that natural security and financial interface are in concordance, companies will effectively fulfill their obligation to ensure the environment. Contamination is, for the most part, related to the squandering of assets, misplaced vitality, and crude materials not completely utilized. Contamination avoidance and clean innovation, as inner organizational hones, can offer assistance to play down taken toll and to develop economic aptitudes for the long run, whereas outside organizational hones (item stewardship and maintainability vision) can offer assistance to coordinated partner sees into trade operations and to define future commerce directions. Taken together, these practices can drive shareholder esteem while at the same time contributing to a more feasible world. On the off chance that the company's budgetary execution is nice, it'll draw in financial specialists to contribute and progress the company's execution. In this way, budgetary execution is additionally the determinant of the progression of a company. This can be because the monetary back gotten by the company gets to be the premise for the running of trade forms in the future. Moreover, A green picture can assist firms in pulling in more clients by influencing shopper choices and moving forward with buyer brand dependability. Numerous shoppers need to purchase items from ecologically inviting firms, in spite of the fact that there are, of course, a few who will not pay premium costs for green items.

Keywords: environmental activities, financial performanance, advantage, clients

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12836 Effect of Timing and Contributing Factors for Early Language Intervention in Toddlers with Repaired Cleft Lip and Palate

Authors: Pushpavathi M., Kavya V., Akshatha V.

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Introduction: Cleft lip and palate (CLP) is a congenital condition which hinders effectual communication due to associated speech and language difficulties. Expressive language delay (ELD) is a feature seen in this population which is influenced by factors such as type and severity of CLP, age at surgical and linguistic intervention and also the type and intensity of speech and language therapy (SLT). Since CLP is the most common congenital abnormality seen in Indian children, early intervention is a necessity which plays a critical role in enhancing their speech and language skills. The interaction between the timing of intervention and factors which contribute to effective intervention by caregivers is an area which needs to be explored. Objectives: The present study attempts to determine the effect of timing of intervention on the contributing maternal factors for effective linguistic intervention in toddlers with repaired CLP with respect to the awareness, home training patterns, speech and non-speech behaviors of the mothers. Participants: Thirty six toddlers in the age range of 1 to 4 years diagnosed as ELD secondary to repaired CLP, along with their mothers served as participants. Group I (Early Intervention Group, EIG) included 19 mother-child pairs who came to seek SLT soon after corrective surgery and group II (Delayed Intervention Group, DIG) included 16 mother-child pairs who received SLT after the age of 3 years. Further, the groups were divided into group A, and group B. Group ‘A’ received SLT for 60 sessions by Speech Language Pathologist (SLP), while Group B received SLT for 30 sessions by SLP and 30 sessions only by mother without supervision of SLP. Method: The mothers were enrolled for the Early Language Intervention Program and following this, their awareness about CLP was assessed through the Parental awareness questionnaire. The quality of home training was assessed through Mohite’s Inventory. Subsequently, the speech and non-speech behaviors of the mothers were assessed using a Mother’s behavioral checklist. Detailed counseling and orientation was done to the mothers, and SLT was initiated for toddlers. After 60 sessions of intensive SLT, the questionnaire and checklists were re-administered to find out the changes in scores between the pre- and posttest measurements. Results: The scores obtained under different domains in the awareness questionnaire, Mohite’s inventory and Mothers behavior checklist were tabulated and subjected to statistical analysis. Since the data did not follow normal distribution (i.e. p > 0.05), Mann-Whitney U test was conducted which revealed that there was no significant difference between groups I and II as well as groups A and B. Further, Wilcoxon Signed Rank test revealed that mothers had better awareness regarding issues related to CLP and improved home-training abilities post-orientation (p ≤ 0.05). A statistically significant difference was also noted for speech and non-speech behaviors of the mothers (p ≤ 0.05). Conclusions: Extensive orientation and counseling helped mothers of both EI and DI groups to improve their knowledge about CLP. Intensive SLT using focused stimulation and a parent-implemented approach enabled them to carry out the intervention in an effectual manner.

Keywords: awareness, cleft lip and palate, early language intervention program, home training, orientation, timing of intervention

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12835 Deictic Expressions in Selected Football Commentaries

Authors: Vera Ofori Akomah

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There is no society without language. In football, language serves as a tool for communication. The football language and meaning of activities are largely revealed through the utterances of football commentators. The linguistic subfield of pragmatics is related to the study of meaning. Pragmatics shows that the interpretation of utterances not only depends on linguistic knowledge but also depends on knowledge about the context of the utterance, knowledge about the status of those involved such as the intent of the speaker, the place, and time of the utterance. Pragmatics analysis comes in several forms and one of such is Deixis. In football commentating, commentators often use deitic expressions in building utterances. The researcher intends to analyse deixis contained in three selected football commentaries through the use of Levinson’s deixis theory. This research is a qualitative study with content analysis as its method. This is because this study focuses on deitic expressions in football commentaries. The data of this study are utterances from English commentaries from 2016 El Classico match between Barcelona and Real Madrid, 2018 FIFA World Cup: Portugal vs Spain and 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifier: Ghana v Nigeria. The result of the study reveals that there are five kinds of deixis which are person deixis (divided into three: the first person, the second person and the third person), place deixis, time deixis, discourse deixis and social deixis.

Keywords: pragmatics analysis, football commentary, deixis, types of deixis

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