Linguistic Reasons Research Articles

Complex problem solving in L1 education: Senior high school students' knowledge of the language problem-solving process

ABSTRACTThe solving of reasoning problems in first language (L1) education can produce an understanding of language, and student autonomy in language problem solving, both of which are contemporary goals in senior high school education. The purpose of this study was to obtain a better understanding of senior high school students' knowledge of the language problem-solving process. Fifty-three 11th-grade high school students solved standard, comprehension, and linguistic reasoning problems. Before solving the problems, the participants had filled in open-ended questions inquiring about their knowledge regarding the effectiveness of a chosen problem-solving strategy. Content analysis of the responses indicated four categories and nine subcategories. The implications of the relatively few responses in the category of explicit knowledge of the language problem-solving process are discussed in the light of the changing needs of L1 students.

Alternancia de lenguas como estrategia de actividad de imagen en la comunicación médico-paciente en un consultorio gallego

This work explores code-switching from a sociopragmatic approach as facework in doctor-patient communication in Galicia (Spain), a bilingual speech community. The corpus used in this work was collected through audio-recordings and in-depth interviews in a clinic in this region, where Galician and Castilian are official languages and 95.8% of Galicians claim to understand and 86.9% to speak in a high level both these languages. This research is the first approach to provide answers about why physicians and patients employ code-switching, when there is apparently no linguistic reason (e.g., insufficient language proficiency) to do so. My hypothesis is that speakers accomplish other pragmatic strategies as facework when code-switching, in order to (re)define and (re)construct their identity. In regard to investigate this, I analyze two sequences with the same doctor. In the first one, both doctor and patient employ code-switching from Castilian to Galician as affiliation face and self-facework; while in the second sequence, only the patient employs code-switching from Galician to Castilian as self-facework.

Fuzzy logic, deductive rules of inference and linguistic reasoning on knowledge base

In this paper we introduce a notion of knowledge base consisting of statements with truth degree in which every statement may have several truth degrees. A set of rules of inference handling this kind of statements, a deductive reasoning method based on these rules will be considered. The consistency of the knowledge base will be also investigated.

Linguistic Reasoning Petri Nets for Knowledge Representation and Reasoning

This paper proposes a linguistic reasoning Petri net (LRPN) model and develops an ordered weighted linguistic reasoning (OWLR) algorithm for knowledge representation and reasoning. Linguistic production rules in the knowledge base of a decision support system are modeled by LRPNs, where the truth degrees of the propositions in the linguistic production rules and the certainty factors of the rules are represented by linguistic 2-tuples. Moreover, both local and global weights of knowledge rules are taken into account in the linguistic reasoning process. The developed OWLR algorithm can allow the rule-based expert systems modeled with LRPNs to execute knowledge reasoning in a more flexible and intelligent manner. Finally, a case study regarding production rescheduling is presented to show the effectiveness and benefits of the proposed LRPN model and the linguistic reasoning approach.

Ứng dụng đại số gia tử đốl sánh các giá trị ngôn ngữ

This paper interpretes some methods for comparison of linguistic values. There are the aggregation of hedge algebras, the if-then rules and the distance table between linguistic values. It can be used for linguistic reasoning in practical problems.

Gesture phase segmentation using support vector machines

An interaction between humans or between a human and a machine will be more effective if it is supported by gestures. In different levels of complexity, the communication system used in human interaction includes the use of gesture. In natural conversation, for instance, speakers use gestures for both to enhance the expressiveness of their speech and to support their own linguistic reasoning. The audience absorbs the content being transmitted also based on the speakers’ gesticulation. Thus, an analysis of gestures should add value to the purpose of the interaction. One of the concerns in the analysis of gestures is the problem arising from the segmentation of phases of a gesture (rest position, preparation, stroke, hold and retraction), which, from the standpoint of Gesture Theory, may reveal information on prosody and semantics of what is being said in a discourse. Finding an automation solution to this problem involves enabling the development of theoretical and application areas that are based on the analysis of human behavior and on the interpretation and generation of natural language. In this study, the problem of gesture phase segmentation is modeled as a problem of classification, and then support vector machine is employed to design a model able to learn the patterns of gesture that are inherent to each phase. This work presents two main highlights. The first is to address the limitations of the segmentation approach through the study of its performance in different scenarios that represent the complexity of analyzing patterns of human behavior. In this study, we reached an F-score around 0.9 for rest position and around 0.8 for stroke and preparation as segmentation results in the best cases. Moreover, it was possible to investigate how classification models are influenced by human behavior. The second highlight refers to the conduction of an analysis by considering the standpoint of specialists concerned with gesture phase segmentation in the area of Linguistics and Psycholinguistics, through which we obtained impressive results. Thus, in regard to the suitability of our approach, it is a feasible means of supporting the development of the Gesture Theory as well as the Computational Linguistics and Human Machine Interaction fields.

Arménienkarmir, sogdienkrmʾyret hébreukarmīl« rouge »

AbstractArmeniankarmir“red” has often been considered as deriving from East Iranian, thus speaking in favour of relations between Armenian and Sogdian, a Middle Iranian language spoken at considerable distance from Armenia. For the origin of Hebrewkarmīl, on the other hand, a Middle Persian “karmīr” has been suggested. In either case, the etymology would be Proto-Indo-European*ku̯ṛ́mi-“worm” (be it directly or as a borrowing from Sanskritkṛ́mi-) from which the colour term would be derived in a way parallel to Frenchvermeil“scarlet” fromver“worm”, thus a term referring to a red dye obtained from scale insects (cochineals). I argue thatkarmīris not a Middle Persian word for “red”, that Sogdian is unlikely to be the source of the Armenian and Hebrew words, and that an Indian origin is not probable either because of the specific features of the Indian scale insect dye. Conversely, Armenian scarlet was widely known and appreciated already in antiquity, so that, for historical as well as linguistic reasons, the origin of the word is likely to be an Iranian language within the region where Armenian was spoken.

Music: an exception to Creole exceptionalism? Cape Verdean national identity and creativity post-independence

This article focuses on the interrelationship between the Cape Verdean Creole (CVC) language and music as it has developed over time in literature, composition and performance experience. The written record demonstrates that, over time, a blend of scholar-practitioners, trained academics who often engaged in both the study and composition of lyrics and music, blurred the lines of the oral and written hierarchy in CVC, ultimately co-fashioning the relationship between language and music as essential to identity alongside the many existing creative practitioners working exclusively in the oral realm. Since independence, too, a major intellectual project of Cape Verdean writers has been to celebrate the work of practitioners in a scholarly fashion. Simultaneously, many practitioners have worked to reclaim and reinvigorate traditional music genres. This has contributed immensely to both the understanding and creative expression of Cape Verdean national identity, or caboverdianidade. This article also takes on an ethnographic inquiry into the creative process and aesthetic preferences that bring together CVC and Cape Verdean music. It becomes clear that CVC is widely considered by Cape Verdean songwriters to be the best language for composition and performance on a number of grounds – sonic, aesthetic, linguistic and sociopolitical reasons among them.

Learning to think like linguists: A think-aloud study of novice phonology students

A key learning outcome for undergraduate linguistics courses is for students to learn to reason scientifically about language. This article presents the findings from a think-aloud study of undergraduates in an introductory linguistics course who were in the process of learning linguistic reasoning about phonology. I describe the students’ developing concepts and make recommendations for instructors to help students develop fully formed linguistics concepts and the ability to think scientifically about language.

Synonymous terms in Lithuanian works of literary science in 1918–1940

The article deals with synonymous terms used in the works of the theory and history of literary science published in Lithuanian between 1918 and 1940 (i.e. period of independent Lithuania). The paper discusses extent of terminology synonymy, types of one-word synonyms according to root of terms and their origin, identifies the fate of synonymous terms. The work follows the opposition principle.Synonymy is characteristic to literary terminology of aforesaid time (about 40% one-word terms have one-word synonyms). That proves terminological statement, that synonymy is typical to the first stages of development of terminology in particular domain. Besides terms have been extracted from texts and that might determine greater amount of synonymy and other variation of terminology. Since the better part of sources investigated is textbooks and other works for learning/studies, the reason for some synonyms (especially international) might be a didactic one.Synonymic relations link co-rooted terms (48% of the lines of synonyms), not co-rooted terms (37%) as well as mixed ones (15%). Lines of synonyms comprise of Lithuanian synonyms and synonyms with borrowed root (mostly international one) (38%), only Lithuanian-origin synonyms (36%) or synonyms with borrowed root alone (26%).In accordance with the number of sources, international terms and hybrids with international root not always overtake Lithuanian synonyms. Besides some of the first ones have more than one Lithuanian synonym. From international and Lithuanian synonyms now in some cases international terms are used, in other cases – Lithuanian synonyms or both Lithuanian and international terms. Several former international and Lithuanian synonyms have different meanings at present.Lithuanian-origin synonyms reflect realized possibilities for terminologization and term formation. Words that were terminologizated, in general lexis had synonyms, the same with underlying words of terms derivatives. That is a linguistic reason for some synonymous terms.Surely, some terms of lines of synonyms were used just in one source, but there are terms among them that have remained.Usually the synonym that was used in a greater number of the sources (as well as in the sources of the thirties) has entrenched. An attempt to differentiate meanings of some synonyms is observable in the period investigated.From the side of regulation of terminology, synonymous terms investigated are both the reason for terminology harmonization (efforts to find best terms) and the result of it (a few terms naming one concept for the time being particularly in different sources). Some synonyms might occur due to attempt to avoid polysemy of terms.

Indigenous Languages, Identity and Legal Framework in Latin America: An Ecolinguistic Approach

The globalization process in which we are immersed endangers diversity, as we understand it in its broad context, on the planet. It therefore not only threatens biological plenitude but also cultural and linguistic wealth, which is decreasing rapidly (García, 2011: 506). That is why now more than ever it is essential to defend the right of all people to be different and to possess an identity, language being the most significant element of identification.The trend towards homogenization is a global reality and its effects can be seen in different areas or regions, including Latin America, the subject of this present study. The current Hispanic linguistic landscape is characterized by the coexistence of Spanish and a number of indigenous languages (Palacios, 2010: 503); however, such coexistence does not imply a de facto equality between Spanish —as the dominant language— and the minority ones. This linguistic imbalance causes many of these languages to be in danger of extinction, not due to linguistic reasons but as a result of different types of alterations which in turn cause disorder in society (Nette & Romaine, 2000: 79).This research addresses the situation of indigenous languages in three Latin American countries chosen as being representative of different multilingualism management models that exist in that region: Bolivia, Panama and Paraguay. This is a descriptive-analytical study whose main objective from a synchronic perspective is the enhancement of multilingualism in Latin America; i.e. the presentation of the region's indigenous languages as key elements of the identity and culture of indigenous peoples, and the transmission of a worldview and set of unique skills that could be lost forever, causing havoc to the planet's diversity and affecting not only their speech community, but in addition all humankind (Moure, 2012: 79).To achieve this objective, a comparative study of the legal framework of indigenous languages and their current sociolinguistic situation will be carried out, on the premise that the recognition of minority linguistic rights is the first step towards the preservation of multilingualism both in Latin America and at a global level, which implies the preservation and development by minorities of their own, genuine ways of understanding and communicating their reality.

Exploring the Echoes of Social Changes: Case Study of Language Infantilism

Infantilization is increasingly becoming one of the major trends in contemporary society. A remarkable feature of social trends is that they could influence changes of language. The changes driven by growing infantilism of speakers are identified in this paper. The aim of this work was to further extend current knowledge of extra linguistic reasons that affect linguistic behavior. A preliminary attempt to trace the areas of language where changes have been taking place is presented in order to illustrate the growing tendency towards language infantilism. The present analysis provides a possible explanation for the growing tendency to use linguistic strategies more typical of younger generations in adult speech. Thus, the paper synthesizes the results from several primary literature papers and produces an argument about language infantilism and its correlation with the social trends. Overall, this research is initiated to invite the discussion in the field of recent changes in the linguistic habits of society. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n6s3p315

EU Law Concepts as Legal Transplants: Linguistic Difficulties of Transferring EU Consumer Law Concepts into Ukrainian Legal System

This article’s purpose is to review certain EU legal concepts from a comparative law and linguistics perspective and to create guidelines for adapting these EU law concepts to the conceptual system of the member states. This article draws on comparative law studies for the theory of legal transplants and on linguistics for the methodology of terminology. After analyzing the EU legal concepts as a specific type of transplants, the article focuses on specific examples of legal transplantation from EU consumer protection law. In this process, the EU law is the source system and the Ukrainian law is the recipient. Based on the consumer protection law examples, this article identifies and explains the most common linguistic reasons for transplant failures, describes the possible legal outcome for the recipient legal system and proposes a possible solution using linguistic methods.

Geology, geodynamics and orogenic gold prospectivity modelling of the Paleoproterozoic Kumasi Basin, Ghana, West Africa

This paper describes the geology and tectonics of the Paleoproterozoic Kumasi Basin, Ghana, West Africa, as applied to predictive mapping of prospectivity for orogenic gold mineral systems within the basin. The main objective of the study was to identify the most prospective ground for orogenic gold deposits within the Paleoproterozoic Kumasi Basin. A knowledge-driven, two-stage fuzzy inference system (FIS) was used for prospectivity modelling. The spatial proxies that served as input to the FIS were derived based on a conceptual model of gold mineral systems in the Kumasi Basin. As a first step, key components of the mineral system were predictively modelled using a Mamdani-type FIS. The second step involved combining the individual FIS outputs using a conjunction (product) operator to produce a continuous-scale prospectivity map. Using a cumulative area fuzzy favourability (CAFF) curve approach, this map was reclassified into a ternary prospectivity map divided into high-prospectivity, moderate-prospectivity and low-prospectivity areas, respectively. The spatial distribution of the known gold deposits within the study area relative to that of the prospective and non-prospective areas served as a means for evaluating the capture efficiency of our model. Approximately 99% of the known gold deposits and occurrences fall within high- and moderate-prospectivity areas that occupy 31% of the total study area. The high- and moderate-prospectivity areas illustrated by the prospectivity map are elongate features that are spatially coincident with areas of structural complexity along and reactivation during D4 of NE–SW-striking D2 thrust faults and subsidiary structures, implying a strong structural control on gold mineralization in the Kumasi Basin. In conclusion, our FIS approach to mapping gold prospectivity, which was based entirely on the conceptual reasoning of expert geologists and ignored the spatial distribution of known gold deposits for prospectivity estimation, effectively captured the main mineralized trends. As such, this study also demonstrates the effectiveness of FIS in capturing the linguistic reasoning of expert knowledge by exploration geologists. In spite of using a large number of variables, the curse of dimensionality was precluded because no training data are required for parameter estimation.

KALBOS DIDAKTIKA: KALBOS UGDYMO PARADIGMŲ KAITA IR KALBOS MOKYMO(SI) LOGIKA

Docentė socialinių mokslų (edukologijos) daktarėLietuvos edukologijos universitetoLietuvių kalbos ir literatūros didaktikos katedraT. Ševčenkos g. 31, LT-03111 VilniusTel. (8 5) 233 08 52El. paštas: zita.nauckunaite@leu.ltStraipsnyje nagrinėjamas lingvistinis kalbos didaktikos aspektas. Aptariami lietuvių kalbos programų, sudarytų pagal sisteminę ir komunikacinę-integracinę kalbos ugdymo paradigmas, pranašumai ir trūkumai. Pagrindžiamas siekis atnaujinant lietuvių kalbos ir literatūros pagrindinio ugdymo programą (2015 m.) suderinti abi kalbos ugdymo paradigmas, kokybiškai nauju pavidalu grįžtant prie sisteminio kalbos ugdymo ir stiprinant sakytinės bei rašytinės kalbos vartojimą pagal komunikacinės-integracinės kalbos ugdymo paradigmos teorinę ir praktinę mintį. Atnaujinta lietuvių kalbos ugdymo programa remsis sinergetika kaip nauja moksline paradigma.

The Pauline Epistle to Philemon from Codex Vatican Arabic 13 (Ninth Century CE) Transcription and Study

Our aim in the present paper is to transcribe the Arabic translation of the Epistle to Philemon contained in Vat. Ar. 13 and analyse it from linguistic and translation viewpoints. This Arabic version shows that the translator based his translation on a Greek text, but he also made use of the Syriac version of the Peshīṭtā with a view to deciding on certain readings for exegetical or linguistic reasons. It is also possible that the translator used an intermediate secondary Aramaic text for revision purposes during the process of translating the Greek text into Arabic.

A new approach to uncertainty description through accomplishment membership functions

Human linguistic reasoning and statement logic are able to solve uncertain propositions. Similar capabilities are expected to be found on intelligent systems so they are provided with some sort of artificial logic evaluation. Many approaches to uncertainty measurement have been developed before, mainly referring to probability or possibility theories. Some conceptual restrictions are imposed by forcing a distribution function to be conceptually consistent. In this work, conditions imposed to possibility theory are relaxed and the theoretical perspective is oriented to degrees of accomplishment. Conceptual implications and their relation to numerical calculations with respect to a specific class of membership functions are presented. Relation to possibility theory and certainty measurement are discussed to show logical consistency, together with a synthetic numerical example which helps to elaborate conclusions about data dispersion and its relation to the accomplishment proposal.

BENVENISTE, LACAN E O ESTRUTURALISMO: SOBRE O SENTIDO ANTITÉTICO DAS PALAVRAS PRIMITIVAS

Este artigo pretende evidenciar determinados aspectos da leitura estruturalista de Benveniste sobre as fundamentações linguísticas encontradas em Freud, mais propriamente em seu texto “Sobre o sentido antitético das palavras primitivas”. Coloca-se em diálogo o artigo de Benveniste intitulado “Observações sobre a função da linguagem na descoberta freudiana” com as teorizações linguísticas apresentadas por Freud em seu texto supracitado. Busca-se, assim, uma interface entre os estudos linguísticos e psicanalíticos, problematizando a noção de língua primitiva trazida por Freud e confrontando-a com pressupostos da Linguística Estrutural defendida por Benveniste. A abordagem tecida é eminentemente teórica, buscando iluminar os pontos de divergência entre a concepção de linguagem na perspectiva de Freud e de Benveniste. Para atingir esse objetivo, buscou-se o estudo sobre a negação desenvolvida por Freud em seu texto “A negativa” e colocou-a em relação com as observações de Benveniste sobre o linguista Carl Abel, forte influência linguística no pensamento freudiano desenvolvido no texto “Sobre o sentido antitético das palavras primitivas”. Como conclusão, torna-se possível compreender que, se a língua é uma estrutura e um sistema, ela possui um caráter universal e a-histórico, o que contesta a tese freudiana sobre a existência de línguas primitivas.

INTERCULTURAL EDUCATION AS AN INTEGRAL PART OF MODERN LEARNING PROCESS

The process of the world globalization leads to the enlargement of intercultural and interlingual connections among the representatives of different countries, nations, religions and cultures. Herewith, there is a special interest towards the study of intercultural communication and its reflection in the educational sphere. That is why the problem of including cultural information into modern educational programmes and compilation of cutting edge teaching materials has acquired great importance. Modern methodical complexes acquaint students with the changing realities of the English-speaking countries and fixed expressions that describe various aspects of life. The main task is to avoid misunderstanding, caused not only by purely linguistic reasons but also by lack of cultural knowledge, misunderstanding or simply unfamiliarity with the key concept of the culture being studied. Taking into consideration the changing status of foreign languages as a source of intercommunication and mutual understanding, methodology underlines the necessity of intensification of pragmatic aspects of the language acquisition. Nowadays, the main purpose of the educational process is to get acquainted with the foreign language as a whole unit, including grammar and lexical data, as well as cross-cultural information. It helps to understand natural, historical and social realia, spiritual values and assists in the formation of the linguistic consciousness. At the present stage educational courses solve the problem of a textbook, as well as a reference resource, highlighting all the lexical, grammatical and cultural information, and meeting the students’ needs. These directories support effective lesson and make it possible to get deeper into the culture of the foreign language.

Eye movements of online Chinese learners

Although online tutorials are becoming commonplace for language teaching, very few studies to date have provided insights into learners’ behaviours in synchronous online interactions from their own perspective. 
 
 This study employs eyetracking technology to investigate ten learners’ attention during synchronous online language learning in a multimodal environment. The participants were learners of Chinese as a Foreign Language at beginners or lower-intermediate level. While learners took part in two different online activities, one focussing on reading, the other on interaction with others, their gaze focus was tracked, and in subsequent stimulated recall interviews the learners reflected on their engagement with the screen and their intentions while reading or speaking online.
 
 Our findings show that during reading tasks, when Pinyin transcriptions as well as Chinese characters were presented, all beginner and lower intermediate participants focused to some degree on the Pinyin. In the interactive task learners’ gaze was drawn to elements of the screen that were not immediately necessary for technical or linguistic reasons but that could be interpreted as containing social presence information, e.g. names listed and emoticons employed by other users.