Search results for: teachers’ language insecurity

Authors: S. Biondi, V. Catania, R. Di Natale, A. R. Intilisano, D. Panno

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One of the major goals of Spoken Dialog Systems (SDS) is to understand what the user utters. In the SDS domain, the Spoken Language Understanding (SLU) Module classifies user utterances by means of a pre-definite conceptual knowledge. The SLU module is able to recognize only the meaning previously included in its knowledge base. Due the vastity of that knowledge, the information storing is a very expensive process. Updating and managing the knowledge base are time-consuming and error-prone processes because of the rapidly growing number of entities like proper nouns and domain-specific nouns. This paper proposes a solution to the problem of Name Entity Recognition (NER) applied to a SDS domain. The proposed solution attempts to automatically recognize the meaning associated with an utterance by using the PANKOW (Pattern based Annotation through Knowledge On the Web) method at runtime. The method being proposed extracts information from the Web to increase the SLU knowledge module and reduces the development effort. In particular, the Google Search Engine is used to extract information from the Facebook social network.

Keywords: spoken dialog system, spoken language understanding, web semantic, name entity recognition

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Authors: Narges Arsanious Kamel Arsanious

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A descriptive statistical analysis of the data showed that the most important factor evoking negative attitudes among teachers is student behavior. have been presented as useful models for understanding the risk factors and protective factors associated with the emergence of autistic traits. Although these "syndrome" forms of autism reach clinical thresholds, they appear to be distinctly different from the idiopathic or "non-syndrome" autism phenotype. Most teachers reported that kindergartens did not prepare them for the educational needs of children with autism, particularly in relation to non-verbal skills. The study is important and points the way for improving teacher inclusion education in Thailand. Inclusive education for students with autism is still in its infancy in Thailand. Although the number of autistic children in schools has increased significantly since the Thai government introduced the Education Regulations for Persons with Disabilities Act in 2008, there is a general lack of services for autistic students and their families. This quantitative study used the Teaching Skills and Readiness Scale for Students with Autism (APTSAS) to test the attitudes and readiness of 110 elementary school teachers when teaching students with autism in general education classrooms. To uncover the true nature of these co morbidities, it is necessary to expand the definition of autism to include the cognitive features of the disorder, and then apply this expanded conceptualization to examine patterns of autistic syndromes. This study used various established eye-tracking paradigms to assess the visual and attention performance of children with DS and FXS who meet the autism thresholds defined in the Social Communication Questionnaire. To study whether the autistic profiles of these children are associated with visual orientation difficulties ("sticky attention"), decreased social attention, and increased visual search performance, all of which are hallmarks of the idiopathic autistic child phenotype. Data will be collected from children with DS and FXS, aged 6 to 10 years, and two control groups matched for age and intellectual ability (i.e., children with idiopathic autism).In order to enable a comparison of visual attention profiles, cross-sectional analyzes of developmental trajectories are carried out. Significant differences in the visual-attentive processes underlying the presentation of autism in children with FXS and DS have been suggested, supporting the concept of syndrome specificity. The study provides insights into the complex heterogeneity associated with autism syndrome symptoms and autism itself, with clinical implications for the utility of autism intervention programs in DS and FXS populations.

Keywords: attitude, autism, teachers, sports activities, movement skills, motor skills

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Authors: Narges Arsanious Kamel Arsanious

Abstract:

A descriptive statistical analysis of the data showed that the most important factor evoking negative attitudes among teachers is student behavior. It have been presented as useful models for understanding the risk factors and protective factors associated with the emergence of autistic traits. Although these ‘syndrome’ forms of autism reach clinical thresholds, they appear to be distinctly different from the idiopathic or ‘non-syndrome’ autism phenotype. Most teachers reported that kindergartens did not prepare them for the educational needs of children with autism, particularly in relation to non-verbal skills. The study is important and points the way for improving teacher inclusion education in Thailand. Inclusive education for students with autism is still in its infancy in Thailand. Although the number of autistic children in schools has increased significantly since the Thai government introduced the Education Regulations for Persons with Disabilities Act in 2008, there is a general lack of services for autistic students and their families. This quantitative study used the Teaching Skills and Readiness Scale for Students with Autism (APTSAS) to test the attitudes and readiness of 110 elementary school teachers when teaching students with autism in general education classrooms. To uncover the true nature of these co morbidities, it is necessary to expand the definition of autism to include the cognitive features of the disorder, and then apply this expanded conceptualization to examine patterns of autistic syndromes. This study used various established eye-tracking paradigms to assess the visual and attention performance of children with DS and FXS who meet the autism thresholds defined in the Social Communication Questionnaire. To study whether the autistic profiles of these children are associated with visual orientation difficulties (sticky attention), decreased social attention, and increased visual search performance, all of which are hallmarks of the idiopathic autistic child phenotype. Data will be collected from children with DS and FXS, aged 6 to 10 years, and two control groups matched for age and intellectual ability (i.e., children with idiopathic autism). In order to enable a comparison of visual attention profiles, cross-sectional analyzes of developmental trajectories are carried out. Significant differences in the visual-attentive processes underlying the presentation of autism in children with FXS and DS have been suggested, supporting the concept of syndrome specificity. The study provides insights into the complex heterogeneity associated with autism syndrome symptoms and autism itself, with clinical implications for the utility of autism intervention programs in DS and FXS populations.

Keywords: attitude, autism, teachers, sports activities, movement skills, motor skills

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Authors: Pritha Niraj Arya

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Education plays a crucial role in societal evolution by promoting economic expansion and creativity. The varied demands of students in India’s higher education setting signify inclusive and efficient teaching methods. The present study examined how teaching styles, self-efficacy, and personality traits interact among Indian higher education faculty members and how these factors collectively affect pedagogical practices. Specifically, the research explored differences in personality traits -agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, openness, and extraversion- between teachers with high and low self-efficacy and examined how these traits shape teaching strategies, either student-focused or teacher-focused. Data collection took place for three months, ensuring confidentiality and ethical compliance. 268 faculty members from Indian higher education institutions participated in this comparative study. An online questionnaire was used to gather data in which participants completed three well-established tools: the approaches to teaching inventory, which measures teaching styles; the teacher self-efficacy questionnaire, which measures self-efficacy levels; and the big five inventory, which measures personality traits. The results showed that while teachers with low self-efficacy had higher levels of neuroticism, those with high self-efficacy scored much higher on traits such as agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness, and extraversion. Despite the traditional belief that high self-efficacy is only associated with student-focused teaching, the findings suggest that teachers with high self-efficacy have cognitive flexibility, which enables them to skillfully use both teacher-focused and student-focused approaches to cater to a wide range of classroom needs. Teachers with low self-efficacy, on the other hand, are less flexible and adopt fewer different strategies in their teaching practice. The findings challenge simplistic associations between self-efficacy and teaching strategies, emphasising that high self-efficacy promotes adaptability rather than a fixed preference for specific teaching methods. This adaptability is crucial in India’s diverse educational settings, where teachers must balance standardised curricula with the varied learning needs of students. This study highlights the importance of integrating personality traits and self-efficacy into teacher training programs. By promoting self-efficacy and tailoring professional development to consider individual personality traits, institutions can enhance teachers’ teaching flexibility, hence improving student engagement and learning outcomes. These findings have practical implications for teacher education, suggesting that adopting cognitive flexibility among teachers can improve instructional quality and classroom dynamics. To gain a deeper knowledge of how personality traits and self-efficacy impact teaching practices over time, future research should investigate causal relationships using longitudinal studies. Examining external factors like institutional policies, availability of resources, and cultural settings will help to clarify the dynamics at play. Furthermore, this study emphasises the need to strike a balance between teacher-focused and student-focused approaches to provide a comprehensive education that covers both conceptual understanding and the delivery of key information. This study offers insights into how the Indian educational system is changing and how, to achieve global standards, effective teaching techniques are becoming increasingly important. This study promotes the larger objective of educational excellence by exploring the interaction of internal and external factors impacting teaching styles and providing practical policy and practice recommendations.

Keywords: higher education, personality traits, self-efficacy, teaching styles

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Authors: Emilia A. Campayo-Munoz, Alberto Cabedo-Mas

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Music students have to face the challenges of musical practice -such as discipline in study, competitiveness, or performance anxiety- that require good emotional management to enable successful performance. However, few rigorous implementations focused on studying the influence of emotional skills in student's musical performance. Responding to this gap in the literature, this study aims to explore the relationship between emotional skills and musical performance in the context of elementary music education in conservatoires. Given the individual nature of the instrumental studies and the difficult availability of teachers to be trained in emotional education, it was decided to conduct a multiple case study in a Spanish music conservatoire. Author 1 carried out the implementation of the research with three 10-year-old students who were selected from her piano class. All of them attended the third year of their piano studies. The research processes consisted of the implementation of a set of specific and cross-sectional activities designed 'ad hoc' to be articulated in the subjects of individual instrument -piano- and ensemble in parallel to the contents of musical nature. The CE-360º questionnaire was used to measure different aspects of the students' emotional skills from a multi-angle perspective, each of the questionnaires being responded by oneself, three teachers and three peers, before and after the implementation. The data from the questionnaire were compared with the grades that the students obtained during the first and last quarter of the school year in the attended subjects. Acknowledging the complexity of emotional development, the results indicate possible relations between emotional skills and musical performance in music education in conservatoires. The results show that for the cases explored; there exists a relationship between emotional skills and musical performance. Although generalizations cannot be made, this study reinforces the need to further explore emotional development in instrumental teaching and suggest the importance of inviting teachers to reflect on the pedagogical practices extended in the conservatoires and to develop and implement those that promote the work of the students' emotions.

Keywords: conservatoires, emotional skills, music education, musical performance

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Authors: Salam M. H. Kareem

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Instructional or teaching procedures and their proper sequence are essential for high-quality learning outcomes. These actions are the path that the teacher takes during the learning process after setting the learning objectives. Teachers and specialists in the education field should include teaching procedures with putting in place an effective mechanism for the procedure’s implementation to achieve a logical sequence with the desired output of overall education process. Determining the sequence of these actions may be a strategic process outlined by a strategic educational plan or drawn by teachers with a high level of experience, enabling them to determine those logical procedures. While specific actions may be necessary for a specific form, many Physical Education (PE) teachers can work out on various sports disciplines. This study was conducted to investigate the impact of using the teaching sequence of the teaching pyramid in raising the level of enjoyment in swimming classes. Four months later of teaching swimming skills to the control and experimental groups of the study, we figured that using the tools shown in the teaching pyramid with the experimental group led to statistically significant differences in the positive tendencies of students to participate in the swimming classes by using the traditional procedures of teaching and using of successive procedures in the teaching pyramid, and in favor of the teaching pyramid, The students are influenced by enhancing their tendency to participate in swimming classes when the teaching procedures followed are sensitive to individual differences and are based on the element of pleasure in learning, and less positive levels of the tendency of students when using traditional teaching procedures, by getting the level of skills' requirements higher and more difficult to perform. The level of positive tendencies of students when using successive procedures in the teaching pyramid was increased, by getting the level of skills' requirements higher and more difficult to perform, because of the high level of motivation and the desire to challenge the self-provided by the teaching pyramid.

Keywords: physical education, swimming classes, teaching process, teaching pyramid

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Authors: Aber Aboalgasm, Rupert Ward, Ruth Taylor, Jonathan Glazzard

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Teaching art by digital means is a big challenge for the majority of teachers of art and artistic design courses in primary education schools. These courses can clearly identify relationships between art, technology, and creativity in the classroom .The aim of this article is to present a modern way of teaching art, using digital tools in the art classroom in order to improve creative ability in pupils aged between 9 and 11 years; it also presents a conceptual model for creativity based on digital art. The model could be useful for pupils interested in learning drawing and using an e-drawing package, and for teachers who are interested in teaching their students modern digital art, and improving children’s creativity. This model is designed to show the strategy of teaching art through technology, in order for children to learn how to be creative. This will also help education providers to make suitable choices about which technological approaches they should choose to teach students and enhance their creative ability. It is also expected that use of this model will help to develop social interactive qualities that may improve intellectual ability.

Keywords: digital tools, motivation, creative activity, education

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Authors: Shanthi Thomas

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This research paper presents the current practices of teacher professional development, perceived as beneficial by teachers themselves, in a private secondary school in Brunei Darussalam. This is part of the findings of a larger qualitative study on teacher empowerment, using ethnographic methods for data collection, i.e. participant observation, interviews and document analysis. The field work was carried out over a period of six months in 2013. An analysis of the field data revealed multiple pathways of teacher professional development existing in the school. The results indicate that school leaders, the teacher community in the school, students, and the teachers themselves were the agents in a school that facilitated teacher empowerment. Besides contributing to the knowledge base on teacher professional development, the results of this study provides directions for educational policy makers in their efforts to enhance professional development in secondary schools of similar characteristics. For school leaders and the teacher community, these findings offer guidelines for maximizing the opportunities for these professional development practices, by strengthening collegiality and by using the existing structures optimally for the benefit of all concerned.

Keywords: colleagues and the wider teacher community, school leaders, self-driven professional development, teacher professional development

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Authors: Zhen Cheng, Xinyu Dai, Shujian Huang, Jiajun Chen

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Recently, explanatory natural language inference has attracted much attention for the interpretability of logic relationship prediction, which is also known as explanation generation for Natural Language Inference (NLI). Existing explanation generators based on discriminative Encoder-Decoder architecture have achieved noticeable results. However, we find that these discriminative generators usually generate explanations with correct evidence but incorrect logic semantic. It is due to that logic information is implicitly encoded in the premise-hypothesis pairs and difficult to model. Actually, logic information identically exists between premise-hypothesis pair and explanation. And it is easy to extract logic information that is explicitly contained in the target explanation. Hence we assume that there exists a latent space of logic information while generating explanations. Specifically, we propose a generative model called Variational Explanation Generator (VariationalEG) with a latent variable to model this space. Training with the guide of explicit logic information in target explanations, latent variable in VariationalEG could capture the implicit logic information in premise-hypothesis pairs effectively. Additionally, to tackle the problem of posterior collapse while training VariaztionalEG, we propose a simple yet effective approach called Logic Supervision on the latent variable to force it to encode logic information. Experiments on explanation generation benchmark—explanation-Stanford Natural Language Inference (e-SNLI) demonstrate that the proposed VariationalEG achieves significant improvement compared to previous studies and yields a state-of-the-art result. Furthermore, we perform the analysis of generated explanations to demonstrate the effect of the latent variable.

Keywords: natural language inference, explanation generation, variational auto-encoder, generative model

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Authors: Andreas Johansson

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

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

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Authors: Sarthak Deshpande, Akshay Patil, Pradip Pandhare, Nikhil Wankhede, Rushali Deshmukh

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Among the highly significant duties for any language most effective is the sentiment analysis, which is also a key area of NLP, that recently made impressive strides. There are several models and datasets available for those tasks in popular and commonly used languages like English, Russian, and Spanish. While sentiment analysis research is performed extensively, however it is lagging behind for the regional languages having few resources such as Hindi, Marathi. Marathi is one of the languages that included in the Indian Constitution’s 8th schedule and is the third most widely spoken language in the country and primarily spoken in the Deccan region, which encompasses Maharashtra and Goa. There isn’t sufficient study on sentiment analysis methods based on Marathi text due to lack of available resources, information. Therefore, this project proposes the use of different ML/NLP models for the analysis of Marathi data from the comments below YouTube content, tweets or Instagram posts. We aim to achieve a short and precise analysis and summary of the related data using our dataset (Dates, names, root words) and lexicons to locate exact information.

Keywords: multilingual sentiment analysis, Marathi, natural language processing, text summarization, lexicon-based approaches

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Authors: Sadeq Al Yaari, Ayman Al Yaari, Adham Al Yaari, Montaha Al Yaari, Aayah Al Yaari, Sajedah Al Yaari

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Background: Validation of communication activities of daily living-second edition (CADL-2) and assessment of language-related functional activities (ALFA) tests is a critical investment decision, and activities related to language impairments often are underestimated. Literature indicates that age factors, and gender differences may affect the performance of the aphasics. Thus, understanding these influential factors is highly important to neuropsycholinguists and speech language pathologists (SLPs). Purpose: The goal of this study is twofold: (1) to in/validate CADL-2 and ALFA tests, and (2) to investigate whether or not the two assessment tests are reliable. Design: A comparative study is made between the results obtained from the analyses of the Arabic versions of CADL-2 and ALFA tests. Participants: The communication activities of daily-living and language-related functional activities were assessed from the obtained results of 100 adult aphasics (50 males, 50 females; ages 16 to 65). Procedures: Firstly, the two translated and standardized Arabic versions of CADL-2 and ALFA tests were introduced to the Arab aphasics under investigation. Armed with the new two versions of the tests, one of the researchers assessed the language-related functional communication and activities. Outcomes drawn from the obtained analysis of the comparative studies were then qualitatively and statistically analyzed. Main outcomes and Results: Regarding the validity of CADL-2 and ALFA, it is found that …. Is more valid in both pre-and posttests. Concerning the reliability of the two tests, it is found that ….is more reliable in both pre-and-posttests which undoubtedly means that …..is more trustable. Nor must we forget to indicate here that the relationship between age and gender was very weak due to that no remarkable gender differences between the two in both CADL-2 and ALFA pre-and-posttests. Conclusions & Implications: CADL-2 and ALFA tests were found to be valid and reliable tests. In contrast to previous studies, age and gender were not significantly associated with the results of validity and reliability of the two assessment tests. In clearer terms, age and gender patterns do not affect the validation of these two tests. Future studies might focus on complex questions including the use of CADL-2 and ALFA functionally; how gender and puberty influence the results in case the sample is large; the effects of each type of aphasia on the final outcomes, and measurements’ results of imaging techniques.

Keywords: CADL-2, ALFA, comparison, language test, arab aphasics, validity, reliability, neuropsycholinguistics, comparison

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Authors: Mohammed Zahid Akter

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In the studies of language change, mental factors including analogy, reanalysis, and frequency have received considerable attention as possible catalysts for language change. In comparison, relatively little is known regarding which functional domains or construction types are more amenable to these mental factors than others. In this regard, this paper will show with data from South Central (Kuki-Chin) Tibeto-Burman languages how language change interacts with certain functional domains or construction types. These construction types include transitivity, person marking, and polarity distinctions. Thus, it will be shown that transitive clauses are more prone to change than intransitive and ditransitive clauses, clauses with 1st person argument marking are more prone to change than clauses with 2nd and 3rd person argument marking, non-copular clauses are more prone to change than copular clauses, affirmative clauses are more prone to change than negative clauses, and standard negatives are more prone to change than negative imperatives. The following schematic structure can summarize these findings: transitive>intransitive, ditransitive; 1st person>2nd person, 3rd person; non-copular>copular; and affirmative>negative; and standard negative>negative imperatives. In the interest of space, here only one of these findings is illustrated: affirmative>negative. In Hyow (South Central, Bangladesh), the innovative and preverbal 1st person subject k(V)- occurs in an affirmative construction, and the archaic and postverbal 1st person subject -ŋ occurs in a negative construction. Similarly, in Purum (South Central, Northeast India), the innovative and preverbal 1st person subject k(V)- occurs in an affirmative construction, and the archaic and postverbal 1st person subject *-ŋ occurs in a negative construction. Like 1st person subject, we also see that in Anal (South Central, Northeast India), the innovative and preverbal 2nd person subject V- occurs in an affirmative construction, and the archaic and postverbal 2nd person subject -t(V) in a negative construction. To conclude, data from South Central Tibeto-Burman languages suggest that language change interacts with functional domains as some construction types are more susceptible to change than others.

Keywords: functional domains, Kuki-Chin, language change, south-central, Tibeto-Burman

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Authors: Elizaveta Startseva, Elena Notina, Irina Bykova, Valentina Ulyumdzhieva, Natallia Zhabo

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With the various existing models of intercultural communication that contain a vast number of stages for foreign language acquisition, there is a need for conscious perception of the foreign culture. Such a process is associated with the emergence of linguistic conflict with the consistent students’ desire to solve the problem of the language differences, along with cultural discrepancies. The aim of this study is to present the modern ways and methods of removing psycholinguistic conflict through skills development in professional translation and intercultural communication. The study was conducted in groups of 1-4-year students of Medical Institute and Agro-Technological Institute RUDN university. In the course of training, students got knowledge in such disciplines as basic grammar and vocabulary of the English language, phonetics, lexicology, introduction to linguistics, theory of translation, annotating and referencing media texts and texts in specialty. The students learned to present their research work, participated in the University and exit conferences with their reports and presentations. Common strategies of removing linguistic and cultural conflict can be attributed to the development of such abilities of a language personality as a commitment to communication and cooperation, the formation of cultural awareness and empathy of other cultures of the individual, realistic self-esteem, emotional stability, tolerance, etc. The process of mastering a foreign language and culture of the target language leads to a reduplication of linguistic identity, which leads to successive formation of the so-called 'secondary linguistic personality.' In our study, we tried to approach the problem comprehensively, focusing on the translation gaps for technical and non-technical language still missing such a typology which could classify all of the lacunas on the same principle. When obtaining the background knowledge, students learn to overcome the difficulties posed by the national-specific and linguistic differences of cultures in contact, i.e., to eliminate the gaps (to fill in and compensate). Compensation gaps is a means of fixing it, the initial phase of elimination, followed in some cases and some not is filling semantic voids (plenus). The concept of plenus occurs in most cases of translation gaps, for example in the transcription and transliteration of (intercultural and exoticism), the replication (reproduction of the morphemic structure of words or idioms. In all the above cases the task of the translator is to ensure an identical response of the receptors of the original and translated texts, since any statement is created with the goal of obtaining communicative effect, and hence pragmatic potential is the most important part of its contents. The practical value of our work lies in improving the methodology of teaching English for specific purposes on the basis of psycholinguistic concept of the secondary language personality.

Keywords: lacuna, language barrier, plenus, secondary language personality

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Authors: Mehmet Cogal

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Students with disabilities perform historically lower than their peers on standardized assessments. There needs to be more work in the literature providing strategies to improve student scores on standardized assessments and how they are connected to teacher in-service programs. This quantitative causal-comparative study measured the impact of a teacher in-service program geared toward special education teachers. The study was conducted at a small public charter school serving grades 6-12 in Massachusetts. The students were given a pre and post-test before and after the teacher in-service program. Data were collected from 34 students’ reading scores in grades six, seven, eight, and 10. A paired t-test was conducted to measure if there was an increase in reading scores after the teacher in-service program. The study assumed that the teachers had implemented the strategies they learned during the teacher in-service program. The study also had limitations, including a small sample size, and the findings may not be generalized for the entire special education population. Although the study indicated no significant difference in the test scores, the teacher in-service programs and their effects on student achievement can still be further investigated.

Keywords: student achievement, standardized testing, teacher in-service, special education

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Authors: Gani Pllana

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In the conditions of the rapid development of technics and technology in recent years, the cooperation of the scientific-technical language with the standard Albanian language is continuing with a higher intensity than before. We notice a vigor of enrichment in the vocabulary of technical terminology, due to the birth and formation of new fields and subfields of technics, technology, as computing, mechatronics, telemetry, a multitude of concepts many of which, on the one hand, are marked with names of the languages they come from, mainly from English, but on the other hand, they meet their needs with the lexical mother tongue composition (by common words being raised to terms) and with the activation of other layers, such as compound word terms. Thus, for example, in the field of computing, we notice in it the inclusion of the ordinary vocabulary for reproductive reasons, like mi, dritare, flamur, adresë, skedar (Engl: mouse, window, flag, address, file), and along with them, the compound word terms, serving to differentiate relevant concepts, like, adresë e hiperlidhjes, adresë e uebit, adresë relative, adresë virtuale (Engl. address hyperlink, web address, relative address, virtual address) etc.

Keywords: common words, Albanian language, technical terminology, standardization

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Authors: Hsi Wei

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Does the language we speak affect the way we think? This question has been discussed for a long time from different aspects. In this article, the issue is examined with an experiment on how speakers of different languages tend to do different sequencing when it comes to the size of general objects. An essential difference between the usage of English and Mandarin is the way we sequence the size of places or objects. In English, when describing the location of something we may say, for example, ‘The pen is inside the trashcan next to the tree at the park.’ In Mandarin, however, we would say, ‘The pen is at the park next to the tree inside the trashcan.’ It’s clear that generally English use the sequence of small to big while Mandarin the opposite. Therefore, the experiment was conducted to test if the difference of the languages affects the speakers’ ability to do the different sequencing. There were two groups of subjects; one consisted of English native speakers, another of Mandarin native speakers. Within the experiment, three nouns were showed as a group to the subjects as their native languages. Before they saw the nouns, they would first get an instruction of ‘big to small’, ‘small to big’, or ‘repeat’. Therefore, the subjects had to sequence the following group of nouns as the instruction they get or simply repeat the nouns. After completing every sequencing and repetition in their minds, they pushed a button as reaction. The repetition design was to gather the mere reading time of the person. As the result of the experiment showed, English native speakers reacted more quickly to the sequencing of ‘small to big’; on the other hand, Mandarin native speakers reacted more quickly to the sequence ‘big to small’. To conclude, this study may be of importance as a support for linguistic relativism that the language we speak do shape the way we think.

Keywords: language, linguistic relativism, size, sequencing

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Authors: Thapasya J., Rajesh Kumar

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Language plays complex roles in society. The previous studies on language and society explain their interconnected, complementary and complex interactions and, those studies were primarily focused on the variations in the language. Variation being the fundamental nature of languages, the question of personal and social identity navigated through language variation and established that there is an interconnection between language variation and identity. This paper analyses the sociolinguistic variation in language at the lexical level and how the lexical choice of the speaker(s) affects in shaping their identity. It obtains primary data from the lexicon of the Mappila dialect of Malayalam spoken by the members of Mappila (Muslim) community of Kerala. The variation in the lexical choice is analysed by collecting data from the speech samples of 15 minutes from four different age groups of Mappila dialect speakers. Various contexts were analysed and the frequency of borrowed words in each instance is calculated to reach a conclusion on how the variation is happening in the speech community. The paper shows how the lexical choice of the speakers could be socially motivated and involve in shaping and changing identities. Lexical items or vocabulary clearly signal the group identity and personal identity. Mappila dialect of Malayalam was rich in frequent use of borrowed words from Arabic, Persian and Urdu. There was a deliberate attempt to show their identity as a Mappila community member, which was derived from the socio-political situation during those days. This made a clear variation between the Mappila dialect and other dialects of Malayalam at the surface level, which was motivated to create and establish the identity of a person as the member of Mappila community. Historically, these kinds of linguistic variation were highly motivated because of the socio-political factors and, intertwined with the historical facts about the origin and spread of Islamism in the region; people from the Mappila community highly motivated to project their identity as a Mappila because of the social insecurities they had to face before accepting that religion. Thus the deliberate inclusion of Arabic, Persian and Urdu words in their speech helped in showing their identity. However, the socio-political situations and factors at the origin of Mappila community have been changed over a period of time. The social motivation for indicating their identity as a Mappila no longer exist and thus the frequency of borrowed words from Arabic, Persian and Urdu have been reduced from their speech. Apart from the religious terms, the borrowed words from these languages are very few at present. The analysis is carried out by the changes in the language of the people according to their age and found to have significant variations between generations and literacy plays a major role in this variation process. The need of projecting a specific identity of an individual would vary according to the change in the socio-political scenario and a variation in language can shape the identity in order to go with the varying socio-political situation in any language.

Keywords: borrowings, dialect, identity, lexical choice, literacy, variation

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Authors: Sopio Totibadze

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Although the legal framework of Georgia reflects the main principles of gender equality and is in line with the international situation, Georgia remains a male-dominated society. This means that men prevail in many areas of social, economic, and political life, which frequently gives women a subordinate status in society and the family. According to the latest studies, “violence against women and girls in Georgia is also recognized as a public problem, and it is necessary to focus on it”. Moreover, the Public Defender's report (2019) reveals that “in the last five years, 151 women were killed in Georgia due to gender and family violence”. Unfortunately, there are frequent cases of crimes based on gender-based oppression in Georgia, which pose a threat not only to women but also to people of any gender whose desires and aspirations do not correspond to the gender norms and roles prevailing in society. It is well-known that language is often used as a tool for gender oppression. Therefore, feminist and gender studies in linguistics ultimately serve to represent the problem, reflect on it, and propose ways to solve it. Together with technical advancement in communication, a new form of discrimination has arisen- hate language against women in electronic media discourse. Due to the nature of social media and the internet, messages containing hate language can spread in seconds and reach millions of people. However, only a few know about the detrimental effects they may have on the addressee and society. This paper aims to analyse the hateful comments directed at women on various media platforms to determine the linguistic strategies used while attacking women and the reasons why women may fall victim to this type of hate language. The data have been collected over six months, and overall, 500 comments will be examined for the paper. Qualitative and quantitative analysis was chosen for the methodology of the study. The comments posted on various media platforms have been selected manually due to several reasons, the most important being the problem of identifying hate speech as it can disguise itself in different ways- humour, memes, etc. The comments on the articles, posts, pictures, and videos selected for sociolinguistic analysis depict a woman, a taboo topic, or a scandalous event centred on a woman that triggered hate language towards the person to whom the post/article was dedicated. The study has revealed that a woman can become a victim of hatred directed at them if they do something considered to be a deviation from a societal norm, namely, get a divorce, be sexually active, be vocal about feministic values, and talk about taboos. Interestingly, people who utilize hate language are not only men trying to “normalize” the prejudiced patriarchal values but also women who are equally active in bringing down a "strong" woman. The paper also aims to raise awareness about the hate language directed at women, as being knowledgeable about the issue at hand is the first step to tackling it.

Keywords: femicide, hate language, media discourse, sociolinguistics

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Authors: S. Pesina, T. Solonchak

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An analysis of word semantics focusing on the invariance of advanced imagery in several pressing problems. Interest in the language of imagery is caused by the introduction, in the linguistics sphere, of a new paradigm, the center of which is the personality of the speaker (the subject of the language). Particularly noteworthy is the question of the place of the image when discussing the lexical, phraseological values and the relationship of imagery and metaphors. In part, the formation of a metaphor, as an interaction between two intellective entities, occurs at a cognitive level, and it is the category of the image, having cognitive roots, which aides in the correct interpretation of the results of this process on the lexical-semantic level.

Keywords: image, metaphor, concept, creation of a metaphor, cognitive linguistics, erased image, vivid image

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Authors: Geday Elias, Montaigne Etienne, Padilla Martine, Tollossa Degefa

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Smallholder farmers’ participation in agricultural value chain identified as a pathway to get out of poverty trap in Ethiopia. The smallholder dairy activities have a huge potential in poverty reduction through enhancing income, achieving food and nutritional security in the country. However, much less is known about the effects of smallholder’s participation in milk value chain on household food security and nutrition. This paper therefore, aims at evaluating the effects of smallholders’ participation in milk value chain on household food security taking in to account the four pillars of food security measurements (availability, access, utilization and stability). Using a semi-structured interview, a cross sectional farm household data collected from a randomly selected sample of 333 households (170 in Amhara and 163 in Oromia regions).Binary logit and propensity score matching( PSM) models are employed to examine the mechanisms through which smallholder’s participation in the milk value chain affects household food security where crop production, per capita calorie intakes, diet diversity score, and food insecurity access scale are used to measure food availability, access, utilization and stability respectively. Our findings reveal from 333 households, only 34.5% of smallholder farmers are participated in the milk value chain. Limited access to inputs and services, limited access to inputs markets and high transaction costs are key constraints for smallholders’ limited access to the milk value chain. To estimate the true average participation effects of milk value chain for participated households, the outcome variables (food security) of farm households who participated in milk value chain are compared with the outcome variables if the farm households had not participated. The PSM analysis reveals smallholder’s participation in milk value chain has a significant positive effect on household income, food security and nutrition. Smallholder farmers who are participated in milk chain are better by 15 quintals crops production and 73 percent of per capita calorie intakes in food availability and access respectively than smallholder farmers who are not participated in the market. Similarly, the participated households are better in dietary quality by 112 percents than non-participated households. Finally, smallholders’ who are participated in milk value chain are better in reducing household vulnerability to food insecurity by an average of 130 percent than non participated households. The results also shows income earned from milk value chain participation contributed to reduce capital’s constraints of the participated households’ by higher farm income and total household income by 5164 ETB and 14265 ETB respectively. This study therefore, confirms the potential role of smallholders’ participation in food value chain to get out of poverty trap through improving rural household income, food security and nutrition. Therefore, identified the determinants of smallholder participation in milk value chain and the participation effects on food security in the study areas are worth considering as a positive knock for policymakers and development agents to tackle the poverty trap in the study area in particular and in the country in general.

Keywords: effects, food security and nutrition, milk, participation, smallholders, value chain

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Authors: Geetanjali Gill

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International non-governmental organizations (INGOs) and development assistance donors have been implementing education projects in Sub-Saharan Africa and the global South that respond to gender-based inequities and that attempt to transform socio-cultural norms for greater gender equality in schools and communities. These efforts are in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal number four, quality education, and goal number five, gender equality. Some INGOs and donors have also championed the use of play-based pedagogies for improved and more gender equal education outcomes. The study used the qualitative methods of life history interviews and focus groups to gauge social norm change amongst male and female adolescents, families, and teachers in primary schools that have been using gender-responsive play-based pedagogies in Rwanda, Ghana, and Mozambique. School administrators and project managers from the INGO Right to Play International were consulted in the selection of two primary schools per country (in both rural and urban contexts), as well as the selection of ten male and ten female students in grades four to six in each school, using specific parameters of social norm adherence. The parents (or guardians) and grandparents of four male and four female students in each school who were determined to be ‘outliers’ in their adherence to social norms were also interviewed. Additionally, sex-specific focus groups were held with thirty-six teachers. The study found that gender-responsive play-based pedagogies positively impactedsocio-cultural norms that shape gender relations amongst adolescents, their families, and teachers. Female and male students who spoke about their beliefs about gender equality in the roles and educational and career aspirations of men/boys and women/girls made linkages to the play-based pedagogies and approaches used by their teachers. Also, the parents and grandparents of these students were aware of generational differences in gender norms, and many were accepting of changed gender norms. Teachers who were effectively implementing gender-responsive play-based pedagogies in their classrooms spoke about changes to their own gender norms and how they were able to influence the gender norms of parents and community members. Life history interviews were found to be well-suited for the examination of changes to socio-cultural norms and gender relations. However, an appropriate framing of questions and topics specific to each target group was instrumental for the collection of data on socio-cultural norms and gender. The findings of this study can spur further academic inquiry of linkages between gender norms and education outcomes. The findings are also relevant for the work of INGOs and donors in the global South and for the development of gender-responsive education policies and programs.

Keywords: education, gender equality, ghana, international development, life histories, mozambique, rwanda, socio-cultural norms, sub-saharan africa, qualitative research

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Authors: Mamunur Rashid, Jialin Yan

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The current years have witnessed a rapid evolution and integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in various fields, prominently influencing the education industry. Acknowledging this transformative wave, AI tools like ChatGPT and Grammarly have undeniably introduced perspectives and skills, enriching the educational experiences of higher education students. The prevalence of AI utilization in higher education also drives an increasing number of researchers' attention in various dimensions. Departments, offices, and professors in universities also designed and released a set of policies and guidelines on using AI effectively. In regard to this, the study targets exploring and analyzing graduate students' perspectives regarding AI guidelines set by teachers. A mixed-methods study will be mainly conducted in this study, employing in-depth interviews and focus groups to investigate and collect students' perspectives. Relevant materials, such as syllabi and course instructions, will also be analyzed through the documentary analysis to facilitate understanding of the study. Surveys will also be used for data collection and students' background statistics. The integration of both interviews and surveys will provide a comprehensive array of student perspectives across various academic disciplines. The study is anchored in the theoretical framework of self-determination theory (SDT), which emphasizes and explains the students' perspective under the AI guidelines through three core needs: autonomy, competence, and relatedness. This framework is instrumental in understanding how AI guidelines influence students' intrinsic motivation and sense of empowerment in their learning environments. Through qualitative analysis, the study reveals a sense of confusion and uncertainty among students regarding the appropriate application and ethical considerations of AI tools, indicating potential challenges in meeting their needs for competence and autonomy. The quantitative data further elucidates these findings, highlighting a significant communication gap between students and educators in the formulation and implementation of AI guidelines. The critical findings of this study mainly come from two aspects: First, the majority of graduate students are uncertain and confused about relevant AI guidelines given by teachers. Second, this study also demonstrates that the design and effectiveness of course materials, such as the syllabi and instructions, also need to adapt in regard to AI policies. It indicates that certain of the existing guidelines provided by teachers lack consideration of students' perspectives, leading to a misalignment with students' needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. More emphasize and efforts need to be dedicated to both teacher and student training on AI policies and ethical considerations. To conclude, in this study, graduate students' perspectives on teacher-provided AI guidelines are explored and reflected upon, calling for additional training and strategies to improve how these guidelines can be better disseminated for their effective integration and adoption. Although AI guidelines provided by teachers may be helpful and provide new insights for students, educational institutions should take a more anchoring role to foster a motivating, empowering, and student-centered learning environment. The study also provides some relevant recommendations, including guidance for students on the ethical use of AI and AI policy training for teachers in higher education.

Keywords: higher education policy, graduate students’ perspectives, higher education teacher, AI guidelines, AI in education

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Authors: Sarah Smail

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Algeria has been subject to countless conquests and invasions that resulted in having a diverse linguistic repertoire. The sociolinguistic situation of the country made linguistic landscape analysis pertinent. This in fact, has led to the growth of diverse linguistic landscape studies that mainly focused on identifying the sociolinguistic situation of the country through shop names analysis. The present research adds to the existing literature by offering another perspective to the analysis of signs by combining the physical and digital semiotic landscape. The powerful oil, gas and agri-food industries in Algeria make it interesting to focus on the commodification of natural resources for the sake of identifying the language and semiotic resources deployed in the Algerian public scene in addition to the identification of the visibility of linguistic inequalities and minorities in the business domain. The study discusses the semiotic landscape of three trade cities: Bejaia, Setif and Hassi-Messaoud. In addition to interviews conducted with business owners and graphic designers and questionnaires with business employees. Withal, the study relies on Gorter’s multilingual inequalities in public space (MIPS) model (2021) and Irvine and Gal’s language ideology and linguistic differentiation (2000). The preliminary results demonstrate the sociolinguistic injustice existing in the business domain, e.g., the exclusion of the official languages, the dominance of foreign languages, and the excessive use of the roman script.

Keywords: semiotic landscaping, digital scapes, language commodification, linguistic inequalities, business signage

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Authors: Ana C. Sanchez

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This paper will discuss some of the bilingual practices of Heritage Spanish speakers caused by living within two cultures and two languages, Spanish, the heritage language, and English, the dominant language. When two languages remain in contact for long periods, such as the case of Spanish and English, it is common that both languages can be affected by bilingual practices such as Spanglish, code-switching, borrowing, anglicisms and calques. Examples of these translingual practices will be provided, as well as HS speaker’s linguistic dialects, and the challenges they encounter with the standard variety used in the Spanish classroom.

Keywords: heritage, practices, Spanish, speakers translingual

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Authors: Marija Mihajlovic Pereira

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Teaching and learning a musical instrument is challenging for both teachers and students. Teachers generally use diverse strategies to resolve students' particular issues in a one-to-one context. Considering individual sessions as a supportive educational context, the teacher can play a decisive role in stimulating and promoting self-regulated learning strategies, especially with beginning learners. The teachers who promote self-controlling behaviors, strategic monitoring, and regulation of actions toward goals could expect their students to practice more qualitatively and consciously. When encouraged to adopt self-regulation habits, students' could benefit from greater productivity on a longer path. Founded on Bary Zimmerman's cyclical model that comprehends three phases - forethought, performance, and self-reflection, this work aims to articulate self-regulated and music learning. Self-regulated learning appeals to the individual's attitude in planning, controlling, and reflecting on their performance. Furthermore, this study aimed to present an observation grid for perceiving teaching instructions that encourage students' controlling cognitive behaviors in light of the belief that conscious promotion of self-regulation may motivate strategic actions toward goals in musical performance. The participants, two teachers, and two students have been involved in the social inclusion project in Lisbon (Portugal). The author and one independent inter-observer analyzed six video-recorded string instrument lessons. The data correspond to three sessions per teacher lectured to one (different) student. Violin (f) and violoncello (m) teachers hold a Master's degree in music education and approximately five years of experience. In their second year of learning an instrument, students have acquired reasonable skills in musical reading, posture, and sound quality until then. The students also manifest positive learning behaviors, interest in learning a musical instrument, although their study habits are still inconsistent. According to the grid's four categories (parent codes), in-class rehearsal frames were coded using MaxQda software, version 20, according to the grid's four categories (parent codes): self-regulated learning, teaching verbalizations, teaching strategies, and students' in-class performance. As a result, selected rehearsal frames qualitatively describe teaching instructions that might promote students' body and hearing awareness, such as "close the eyes while playing" or "sing to internalize the pitch." Another analysis type, coding the short video events according to the observation grid's subcategories (child codes), made it possible to perceive the time teachers dedicate to specific verbal or non-verbal strategies. Furthermore, a coding overlay analysis indicated that teachers tend to stimulate. (i) Forethought – explain tasks, offer feedback and ensure that students identify a goal, (ii) Performance – teach study strategies and encourage students to sing and use vocal abilities to ensure inner audition, (iii) Self-reflection – frequent inquiring and encouraging the student to verbalize their perception of performance. Although developed in the context of individual string instrument lessons, this classroom observation grid brings together essential variables in a one-to-one lesson. It may find utility in a broader context of music education due to the possibility to organize, observe and evaluate teaching practices. Besides that, this study contributes to cognitive development by suggesting a practical approach to fostering self-regulated learning.

Keywords: music education, observation grid, self-regulated learning, string instruments, teaching practices

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Authors: Supannee Pinmanee

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This article focuses on the strategies in the translation of terms of address for both referential and vocative functions from Thai to English from a cultural perspective. The discussion concerns the culture-specific ways in which Thai people use address terms that depend largely on social and conventional contexts, including pragmatic factors, for example, relationships between people, levels of formality, and attitudes. Examples used to illustrate the problems and proposed solutions were drawn from the media, the internet, the novels and the language used by Thai native speakers in expressing Thai address terms. The terms used in this area show very well not only the differences in language but also the different cultures and world views of the speakers of Thai and those of English. Thai has developed its own set of address terms, particularly kinship terms for non-relatives and the Thai royal terms. Some of Newmark’s procedures (1995) are used in the article to illustrate the task of translating Thai terms into English, a language that embodies a very different culture with its own set of address terms. However, no one strategy can be applied to serve all purposes and to translate all the intended senses. One particular term can be translated by several strategies, and which strategy to choose depends largely on one’s purposes and what requirement one needs to fulfill.

Keywords: translation, terms of address, Thai-English translation, Thai culture-specific terms of address, translation strategies

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Authors: Lucia Hrebeňárová, Jarmila Žolnová, Veronika Palková

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Inclusive education of students with special educational needs has been on the increase in the Slovak Republic, facing many challenges. Preparedness of teachers for inclusive education is one of the most frequent issues; teachers lack skills when it comes to the use of effective instruction depending on the individual needs of students, improvement of classroom management and social skills, and support of inclusion within the classroom. Social support is crucial for the school success of students within inclusive settings. The aim of the paper is to analyse perception of the frequency and importance of peer social support by students with special educational needs in inclusive education. The data collection tool used was the Child and Adolescent Social Support Scale (CASSS). The research sample consisted of 953 fourth grade students – 141 students with special educational needs educated in an inclusive setting and 812 students of the standard population. No significant differences were found between the students with special educational needs and the students without special educational needs in an inclusive setting when it comes to the perception of frequency and importance of social support of schoolmates and friends. However, the perception of frequency and importance of a friend’s social support was higher than the perception of frequency and importance of a classmate’s social support in both groups of students.

Keywords: inclusive education, peer social support, peer, student with special eEducational needs

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Authors: Amy Atkinson

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Teacher burnout and dissatisfaction is a concerning challenge for visual art (VA) programs within the western (Canadian) educational context, however VA programs who offer the International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum within international schools are thriving. The purpose of this research was to investigate the experiences of Canadian-educated seasoned VA teachers within a range of curriculums, administrative systems and locations focusing on issues related to the VA teaching experience such as viability of the artist-teacher relationship, teaching satisfaction and teacher burnout. Research was conducted using an auto-ethnography approach coupled with a comparative case study method using in-depth interviews. Insights were uncovered into VA teacher’s lived experience, values and decisions, occupational ideology, cultural knowledge, and perspectives. Research for creation methods were explored to develop a creative narrative to amplify teacher voice; endeavouring to make the obscure vivid, empathy possible, direct attention to individuality and locate the universal. Case study results sustain ethnographic observations revealing that VA teachers are experiencing more efficacy, satisfaction and success, with less burn out within the international school/IB context.

Keywords: international baccalaureate, autoethnography, teacher voice, visual arts

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Authors: Andrei Nosov

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This paper discusses the development directions of dialogue systems within the digitalisation of the railway industry, where technologies based on conversational AI are already potentially applied or will be applied. Conversational AI is one of the popular natural language processing (NLP) tasks, as it has great prospects for real-world applications today. At the same time, it is a challenging task as it involves many areas of NLP based on complex computations and deep insights from linguistics and psychology. In this review, we focus on dialogue systems and their implementation in the railway domain. We comprehensively review the state-of-the-art research results on dialogue systems and analyse them from three perspectives: type of problem to be solved, type of model, and type of system. In particular, from the perspective of the type of tasks to be solved, we discuss characteristics and applications. This will help to understand how to prioritise tasks. In terms of the type of models, we give an overview that will allow researchers to become familiar with how to apply them in dialogue systems. By analysing the types of dialogue systems, we propose an unconventional approach in contrast to colleagues who traditionally contrast goal-oriented dialogue systems with open-domain systems. Our view focuses on considering retrieval and generative approaches. Furthermore, the work comprehensively presents evaluation methods and datasets for dialogue systems in the railway domain to pave the way for future research. Finally, some possible directions for future research are identified based on recent research results.

Keywords: digitalisation, railway, dialogue systems, conversational AI, natural language processing, natural language understanding, natural language generation

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