Multilingual Services Research Articles

USING MULTILINGUAL ANALYTICS TO EXPLORE THE USAGE OF A LEARNING PORTAL IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

Learning analytics is a domain constantly evolving throughout the last years, due to the acknowledgement of its importance. Learning analytics may be applied in a variety of different cases but their role in understanding the multilingual requirements of users of learning portals is of an outstanding significance. As the adaptation of existing portals in multilingual environments is a cost and time-consuming aspect of the development of a portal, the outcomes of learning analytics may provide the requirements on which further multilingual services of a portal will be built, ensuring their efficiency. This paper aims to identify and interpret the behavior of users from developing countries in a multilingual learning portal using the log files of the portal by applying the methodology defined in a previous work by Stoitsis et al. (2012). The paper also aims to identify the aspects which should be further studied by future related works, by focusing on specific regions and countries, which exhibit special interest for further adaptation of the portal to additional multilingual environments.

Multilingual needs and expectations in digital libraries

PurposeThis study aims to survey academic users in order to identify their needs and expectations about multilingual information processing when they interact with digital libraries. The study specifically aims to determine the disparities in needs and expectations when users speak different languages.Design/methodology/approachA survey was designed to fill in the gaps in the knowledge about academic users' multilingual needs and expectations for digital libraries. The survey questionnaire incorporates questions about different aspects of the participants' multilingual needs and expectations covering multilingual needs, the multilingual behavior, often‐used multilingual information resources, and desired functions for the multilingual services, retrieval and interfaces in digital libraries. The results are obtained through statistical analyses and clustering methods.FindingsOverall, participants exhibited many multilingual needs during their academic activities. They often require multilingual information when they access academic databases or web information. Frequently, participants use online translation resources and tools, but they are not satisfied with the translation quality. Participants want many multilingual capabilities in digital libraries; they also want more sophisticated multilingual search interfaces. However, participants from different countries or who speak different languages show significant differences in their multilingual needs and expectations of digital libraries. This study's three user groups demonstrated clear differences in all aspects of multilinguality examined, as did the three latent groups identified through the clustering methods.Originality/valueFew studies have examined the multilingual information process in digital libraries from the point of view of academic users. This study draws its inputs directly from real academic users from different countries and provides insights into multilinguality in digital libraries.

Multilingual and Multicultural Library Services in Korea

Multilingual and Multicultural Library Services in Korea

Official Languages and Multiculturalism: The ‘Other’ Languages

This article investigates the connections and tensions between Canada’s policy of multiculturalism, its official status as a bilingual country, and the multilingual nature of its society. Taking the dramatically growing ‘third group’ (Canadians of immigrant background who are neither Anglophone nor Francophone) as an example, the article seeks to show that in theory, the guarantee of linguistic rights for individuals and groups is based on both non-instrumental and instrumental language rights. In addition to the language rights approach, other viewpoints such as the politics of recognition and constitutional patriotism are addressed. In practice, while at the federal level official bilingualism is pragmatically justifiable (for the government to function successfully, the number of working languages needs to be limited), at the regional level, measures which more adequately reflect the diversity of Canada’s multicultural society could and should be taken. These measures may include multilingual services for the largest minority groups, options to enhance language retention, specific provisions protecting the individuals’ right to retain and use their language, as well as various other commitments to supporting and encouraging a multilingual environment.

Improving cell broadcasting scheme to support multi-lingual service in wireless networks

In this paper we propose a new problem named energy-efficient multi-lingual cell broadcasting(EEML-CB) to support multi-lingual service in cell broadcasting system. We prove that the problem is NP-hard and then propose ILP model as well as a greedy algorithm named smart multi-lingual cell broadcasting (SMCB). We evaluated our heuristic by simulations.

International collaboration and the management of linguistic resources at a diaspora festival in Okinawa

This article uses Jernudd and Neustupný's (1987) theory of language management to address the planning, management and distribution of linguistic resources at the 4th Worldwide Uchinaanchu Festival (WUF), a diaspora festival held in Okinawa, Japan. WUF organizers – from Okinawa and diaspora communities abroad – were concerned with both international collaboration in language planning and language planning for future international collaboration. Without the former, festival planners would not have been able to provide adequate multilingual resources and services to all WUF participants. Planners' language management efforts not only enabled participants to connect with the homeland, but also helped foster an awareness of the collaborative role they might play in the planning and implementation of future events in the Okinawan diaspora. The article draws on several sources of multilingual data and reveals that micro-language planning for diaspora events is a challenging, yet rewarding, undertaking. Because of their common heritage, planners and participants alike are all major stakeholders in the outcome of language management actions taken at diaspora festivals.

Marketing, management and performance: multilingualism as commodity in a tourism call centre

This paper focuses on the ways an institution of the new economy—a tourism call centre in Switzerland—markets, manages and performs multilingual services. In particular, it explores the ways multilingualism operates as a strategic and managerial tool within tourism call centres and how the institutional regulation of language practices intersects with issues of power, economic interests and the reproduction of essentialist views of language. Furthermore, this paper highlights some of the ideological tensions between the performance of authenticity through language and the struggles over the definition of legitimate speakers.

Locating public libraries in a multicultural city: A spatial mismatch?

Locating public libraries in a multicultural city: A spatial mismatch?

Impact of a Media Campaign for Disaster Mental Health Counseling in Post-September 11 New York

After the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, the New York State Office of Mental Health (NYOMH) initiated a three-phase multifaceted, multilingual media campaign that advertised the availability of counseling services. This study evaluated the association between patterns of spending within this campaign and the volume of calls received and referred to a counseling program. Spending on television, radio, print, and other advertising was examined, as was the corresponding volume of calls to the NetLife hotline seeking referrals to counseling services. From September 2001 to December 2002, $9.38 million was spent on Project Liberty media campaigns. Call volumes increased during months when total monthly expenditures peaked. Initially, flyers, billboards, and other material items accounted for most monthly expenses. Over time, spending for television and radio advertisements increased, whereas other advertising declined. Temporal patterns show that in periods after an increase in media spending, call volumes increased independently of other sentinel events such as the one-year anniversary of the attacks. Sustained advertising through multiple media outlets appeared to be effective in encouraging individuals to seek mental health services.

Design Considerations for Multilingual Web Sites

The most powerful marketing, service, and information-distribution tool a library has today is its Web site, but providing Web content in many languages is complex. Before allocating scarce technical and financial resources, it is valuable to learn about writing systems, types of writing, how computers render and represent writing systems, and to study potential problem areas and their possible solutions. The accepted Web standard for presenting languages is Unicode and a full understanding of its history and the coding tools it provides is essential to making appropriate decisions for specific multilingual and internationalization projects. Actual coding examples, as well as a sampling of existing multilingual library services, also serve to illuminate the path of implementation.

MEMPHIS: A mobile agent-based system for enabling acquisition of multilingual content and providing flexible format internet premium services

Mobile Agent technology is an interesting concept for large network-based system structures. In this paper we describe a Java-based agent environment which integrates agent execution platforms into World Wide Web servers promoting a world wide infrastructure for Mobile Agents. This system has been developed within the framework of MEMPHIS IST project, which involves the definition, development and validation of a new system for commercially significant multilingual premium services, focused on thin clients such as mobile phones, Personal Digital Assistants, etc. The concept relies on the extraction of multilingual information from various web-based content sources in different formats. The system is composed by three different Modules, namely the Acquisition, the Transformation and the Distribution Module. The content acquisition is based on dynamic user profiles. The acquired content is transformed into a meta-representation, which enables content storage independent both of source and destination format and language. The output format is based on the requirements of employed thin client terminals and the output document is distributed via the appropriate networks. The end-user receives the required information as premium services via the chosen output medium. The system supports both pull and push services. An evaluation of the system is also presented.

図書館システム 図書館システム更新に伴う考察

Tottori University has updated its library system in March 2005. Many of the experiences gained through the renewal will be described. It is firmly believed that the system update will be successfully made only when chief library staff are thoroughly proficient in their work. The present report deals with our current status including the personal authentication in our new library system and the multilingual service for our students from abroad.

Planning for Multilingual Chat Reference Service in a Suburban Public Library System

SUMMARY Recent immigrants are settling not only in urban centers, but are dispersing throughout the suburban landscape. For many of these new immigrants, the local public library can provide a vital connection to the American Dream, if only librarians can effectively reach them. This article discusses the planning for multilingual chat reference service (currently English, Spanish, and Chinese) and some of the issues and challenges that librarians face in a suburban public library system.

Multilinguality in voice activated information services: The P502 EURESCOM project

The paper describes the multilingual system developed within the framework of the P502 EURESCOM project. The system described provides information about major telephone services available in the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Portugal in five languages. We present the results of a number of experiments carried out in the five countries, aiming to try and answer some fundamental questions concerned with the exploitation of a multilingual service. Both technological and interface design issues have been investigated and several alternatives have been tested. We compared speech recognition accuracy and successful transaction completion rates of GSM and PSTN networks, and evaluated cross-country and cross-language effects. Using a new methodological approach to assessment, a powerful predictive model was developed. This model allowed users’ subjective ratings to be predicted from objective measurements. The results showed that an average Transaction Success rate of more than 92% was obtained when speech recognisers exhibiting good Word Recognition Accuracy were coupled to suitable dialogue interfaces in the IVR system.

Developments in Systran

Systran, the European Commission's multilingual machine translation system, is a fast service which is available to all Commission officials. The computer cannot match the skills of the professional translator, who must continue to be responsible for all texts which are legally binding or which are for publication. But machine translation can deal, in a matter of minutes, with short‐lived documents, designed, say, for information or preparatory work, and which are required urgently. It can also give a broad view of a paper in an unfamiliar language, so that an official can decide how much, if any, of it needs to go to translators. In this way, much time can be saved for a translation service which is already facing a relentless increase in the volume of its work and which will have to cope with the new languages of an enlarged European Union. We have set up a post‐editing service to correct machine texts for users who cannot do this in their own departments. Raw machine translation is only one of a number of multilingual services now being made available. The switch to personal computers throughout the Commission, and the greater use of increasingly reliable electronic mail, also means that other forms of help can be given. First, a bridge has been created between Systran and Celex (the multilingual data base containing Community legislation). Secondly, and only in recent months, Eurodicautom (the Commission's multilingual terminology data bank) has been incorporated in the Systran dictionaries. With this link, it will be easy to look up technical terms in a given language and have them returned in one or more other languages. A survey has shown how officials use Systran and has enabled us to identify their needs. In all these ways, Systran is making excellent progress as a means of rapid communication between the many departments of a multilingual Commission. Our aim is to enhance the quality of Systran, to broaden its application to the languages of the Community and to explain and vigorously promote its use.

DOCUMENT SUPPLY IN A MULTICULTURAL SOCIETY: THE ALBERTA, CANADA EXPERIENCE

Alberta is particularly representative of the multicultural nature of Canadian society. With over 40% of its population neither British nor French and ethno‐cultural groups expressing desires to preserve their heritage, a multilingual library service programme was instituted in Alberta to provide reading materials in languages other than French and English. The service's collection encompasses thirty languages with holdings being notified to local libraries via printed catalogues and libraries requesting titles to satisfy local needs. The service is seen as constantly evolving in line with changing user needs, utilizing consultation to assist libraries in analyzing and identifying ethnic requirements and undertaking studies to ensure satisfactory service development.

Ethnic Differences in Contraceptive Use in Sri Lanka

In Sri Lanka in 1975, the majority Sinhalese had a much higher use of contraception than either the Sri Lanka Tamils or the Moors. This study uses a national sample of women of childbearing age gathered by the Sri Lanka World Fertility Survey in 1975 to assess four possible reasons for differential contraceptive use: (1) differences in socioeconomic position; (2) cultural differences; (3) minority status; and (4) differential access to family planning services. The first three explanations focus on differences in the demand for contraception while the fourth explanation focuses on differences in the availability of contraceptives. The socioeconomic, cultural, and minority status hypotheses fail to explain the higher contraceptive use among the Sinhalese. The evidence is consistent with the idea that ethnic differences in contraceptive use were largely caused by differential access to family planning services.

Multilingual Programs on Victorian Radio

Although the last eight or nine years have seen a considerable expansion in the provision of multilingual services, the ethnic audience still seems to suffer an element of under-representation in all three sectors of radio broadcasting. This paper examines the situation relating to the provision of programs in community languages other than English transmitted by radio broadcasting stations in Victoria. Data relating to stations, languages, hours broadcast and program content are presented together with a detailed comparative description of these items and of the different operative structures relating to the provision of multilingual programming in the three sectors of broadcasting where ‘ethnic’ radio seems to be regarded as a somewhat second class service.

The Canadian Experience

Multiculturalism is a part of Canadian government policy and as such has been incorporated into the program of the National Film Board of Canada. Extracted here Is a research report by Carolyn Dartnell, 1979 graduate of the Australian Film and Television School, on the multicultural program of the NFB. Also, Dan lannuzzi writes about Toronto's new multilingual TV service.

Unexploited Market Unexplored Medium

The Ethnic TV Review Panel has recommended that the proposed new multicultural and multilingual TV service be part financed by advertising. This has raised questions about the size of the multicultural advertising market and what affect it wilt have on the foreign language press.