Narrative Passages Research Articles

Unravelling the stylistic nuances: a comparative multidimensional analysis of amateur and professional translations of Legends of the Condor Heroes

Style research has always been an important field in corpus-based translation studies. However, the stylistic differences between amateur and professional translations of epic Chinese martial arts fiction have received limited attention in the existing literature. This study addresses this gap by examining the stylistic differences in amateur and professional translations of the novel Legends of the Condor Heroes, a representative work of this genre gaining popularity through fan-translation websites. Employing Biber’s multidimensional analysis, this study investigates fictional speech and narration in both amateur and professional translations. The findings reveal that amateur translations exhibit less variation between speech and narration, characterized by lower levels of involvement in dialog and reduced informational density in narrative passages. Moreover, amateur translations tend to employ more abstract language across both speech and narration compared to their professional counterparts. These stylistic disparities may influence readers’ comprehension and engagement with the text, potentially affecting their access to critical narrative elements. The study posits that the lack of professional training and experience, as well as the collaborative and open-source nature of amateur translation communities, may contribute to these observed differences in amateur translations. This research contributes to translation studies by examining stylistic differences between amateur and professional translations of Chinese martial arts fiction, potentially informing future studies on reader engagement and the reception of translated Chinese literature. The findings also highlight the importance of considering the impact of amateur translation practices on the dissemination and reception of popular genres in cross-cultural contexts.

A randomized controlled trial of a reading-based weight bias intervention.

Weight bias, or negative attitudes about larger bodies, is a prevalent issue associated with problems in psychological and physical health, as well as discriminatory behaviors and weight stigma. Literature is mixed regarding the efficacy of weight bias reduction efforts. This study sought to combine three elements that yielded promising results from previous studies (i.e., reductions in beliefs about controllability of weight, reductions in stereotypical beliefs, and promotion of empathy) in a reading-based intervention to reduce weight bias. Participants (N = 319) were randomized to read a third-person fictional narrative passage about a peer with obesity (intervention) or information on overweight and obesity (control). Linear mixed models controlling for body mass index and gender indicated the intervention was effective in producing reductions in overall weight bias and beliefs about controllability of weight from baseline to 1-month follow-up, but significant differences were not found in the domains of bias related to character disparagement or physical unattractiveness. This combination-approach reading intervention is a promising strategy to reduce weight bias; however, future work is needed to more effectively target negative weight-related attitudes pertaining to character and attractiveness. A reading-based intervention targeting controllability of weight, stereotypes, and empathy can produce reductions in overall weight bias compared with a control condition. Reductions in beliefs about controllability of weight were shown from the reading-based intervention. These findings may inform the development of programs to reduce negative attitudes about weight, which could help enhance quality of life and reduce risk for several mental health issues.

Developing a teacher agent to explore the role of gaze direction on young school children’s comprehension

Teachers’ gaze and school children’s language proficiency play a role for listening comprehension in the classroom. The influence of multimodal conditions on listening comprehension may be hard to study in a systematic manner with real speakers. The aim was to test the concept and feasibility of studying the influence of a speakers on passage comprehension performance in children using a digitally animated character. Twenty-four primary-school children were tested. A narrative passage was presented to the participants by a teacher agent. Half of the participants were randomized to a direct gaze condition and half to an averted gaze condition. The method is feasible with the intended population. We detected no differences in listening comprehension of the teacher agent’s gaze behavior in our sample. The concept works and it is feasible to test the effect of speaker gaze on children using the proposed methodology with some further development.

Silent and oral reading methods on improving English reading comprehension among generation alpha pupils

Reading comprehension enables each child to make meaning of the world. Therefore, it is important to develop this during the child’s primary years in school. Using ex post facto design, this study investigated the effects of reading methods on English reading comprehension of randomly selected 75 Grade 2 pupils in a private school in the Philippines. The scores of pupils who read two comparable narrative passages in oral and silent were compared. Paired t-test results revealed a significant difference between oral reading and silent reading. Silent reading had a greater positive effect on the comprehension of the pupils. Likewise, it was the most preferred reading method among the respondents. Focus group discussion with English teachers' results suggested that silent reading was preferred specifically because it helps in understanding the story better, remembering words, and concentrating given its quiet and peaceful nature. It is recommended that teachers employ sustained silent reading classroom practices such as Silent Reading Activity (SRA) Reading Laboratory, Genuine Love for Reading activities through the Four-pronged approach, and Drop Everything and Read time. These methods will help to support the reading needs and preference of the generation alpha pupils and to further strengthen the positive effects of silent reading on improving their reading comprehension.

Sharing peer advice: A case study of Chinese patients’ narratives in an online support group for mental health

Recent health communication studies have begun to look at online illness narratives, showing how narratives are used to report patients’ experience or to offer medical advice in various online contexts. However, few studies have sought to explore the communicative features of these online narratives in the Chinese context. Given the insufficient and uneven distribution of mental health resources and the intense stigma attached, an increasing number of Chinese patients with mental disorders are turning to online support groups (OSGs) for advice. We have limited understanding of Chinese patients’ lived experience or the potential of online illness narratives to be interpersonal tools for sharing advice. Drawing on computer-mediated discourse analysis, this study scrutinises narrative passages from a Chinese OSG to illustrate how individuals with mental illness interact in an online advisory context. The detailed analysis of narrative functions unpacks the potential of OSGs to provide storytelling opportunities for Chinese patients with mental disorders, allowing them to voice their concerns and experiences within the peer-to-peer network of relational understanding and support. This study also identifies a distinct feature of narrative activities in this online advisory context – the illness blog – and illustrates how its occurrence is related to the Chinese sociocultural values. This study can help raise awareness of illness narratives as a communication tool and facilitate culturally sensitive reactions of healthcare professionals towards patients’ narratives.

Representation of predictive inferences when multiple alternatives are available

ABSTRACT When a situation could lead to multiple mutually exclusive consequences, recent research shows that people automatically generate multiple predictive inferences in memory. Several theoretical mechanisms have been proposed to account for the generation of predictive inferences. One hypothesis is that inferences are minimally encoded, represented only by a set of semantic features related to the inferences or by a more general concept that covers the consequences of both inferences. A second hypothesis is that activation of the inferences is delayed because it is initially weak and requires time to build. In three experiments designed to examine these two hypotheses, participants read narrative passages that supported mutually exclusive consequences. Predictive inferences were not detected in working memory using a word-naming task, even at longer delays, but were detected using a short-term contradiction paradigm and, therefore, available as part of the discourse representation. The combined results indicate that predictive inferences are minimally encoded rather than their activation being delayed.

Лексические и синтаксические параметры академического текста: дискриминантный анализ

This article presents three mathematical models to differentiate academic texts from three subject discourses written in Russian (i.e., Philological, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences) which further enable design and automated profiling of corresponding typologies. Our models include 5 indices, one at surface level (i.e., sentence length) and 4 syntax features (i.e., mean verbs per sentence, mean adjectives per sentence, local noun overlap, and global argument overlap). We identified and validated the five statistically significant features out of 45 linguistic features extracted from our research corpus consisting of 91.185 tokens. The shortest sentence length is found in Russian language textbooks while the longest sentences are identified in Natural Science texts. The mean number of verbs, nouns, and adjectives per sentence is higher in Natural Science textbooks, whereas Mathematics discourse is characterized by the shortest word length, highest local noun overlap, and highest global argument overlap. We assign the metric differences between the three discourses to their functions: Natural Science texts are characterized by descriptions and narrative passages in contrast to Philology that is associated with opinions. Mathematical discourse operates with precise definitions, explanations and justifications thus exercising numerous overlaps. The discriminant analysis built on top of the features supports the development of text profilers targeting parametric analyses. The automation of these features and the provided formulas for classification enable the design and development of text profilers required for textbook writing and editing. Our findings are useful for professional linguists, technologists, and academic writers to select and modify texts for their target audience.

Тюркский свод в сборнике Прохора Коломнятина как источник по крымской и ближневосточной ономастике

This article discusses the onomastics, mainly toponymics and hydronymics, of the Crimean Khanate and the Near East, mentioned in the Turkic-Russian dictionary that along with several other unique phrasebooks and dictionaries is included into the manuscript collection of miscellaneous texts (“Tsvetnik”) compiled in 1668 by the Russian monk Prokhor Kolomniatin (State Historical Museum, Muzeiskoe sobr., no. 2803). This text contains a large number of narrative passages on various subjects and significantly exceeds the other dictionaries of “Tsvetnik” in terms of volume and completeness. The compiler recorded the lexis by ear, without using any written sources. Therefore, the toponyms are recorded closely to the spoken language pronunciation, and their interpretations reflect the perception of the seventeenth-century Crimean Khanate cultural realities by both the compiler and his local “respondents”.

Noun Composition in Narrative Passage

The morphology process in forming the words needs a formation component or element of words, an affixation process, a reduplication process, and a composition process. Composition is combining two or more words that create a new meaning. The problem focus of this research was basic composition in narrative passages with basic forms of nouns and adjectives. The method used in this research was the descriptive qualitative method. The researcher used this descriptive qualitative method to describe the basic composition form and affixed composition objectively. The data source used in this research was narrative passage research on the origins of the Jombang Regency. Data were in the form of Indonesian language composition. The research found categories of basic noun composition forms such as (N+N) and (N+Adj). The form of the adjective basic composition category found is (Adj + V) and (Adj + Adj).

Traditional medicinal plants used by hypertensive patients in Belize: a qualitative evaluation of beliefs and practices

BackgroundBelize is rich in rainforest and vast medicinal plants that have the potential for drug discoveries. Few studies have examined the use of medicinal plants in the management of chronic diseases in Belize. The present study appraised indigenous Belizeans' opinions, beliefs, and practices of medicinal plants used for hypertension management. Twenty-four hypertensive patients were interviewed using a semi-structured interview guide from January to May 2019. Interview results were transcribed using Microsoft Excel and loaded into qualitative data analysis (QDA) Miner Lite version 2.0.6 online software for coding. The integrated themes and sub-themes generated were presented in narrative passages and used to summarize study findings on medicinal plants used in the management of hypertension in Belize.ResultsFifteen medicinal plants belonging to 15 plant families were reported by the participants as medicinal plants used to manage hypertension. The plants include Annona muricata, Artocarpus altilis, Cecropia peltata, Ananas comosus, Cymbopogon andropogoneae, Uncaria tomentosa, Allium sativum, Bixa orellana, Moringa oleifera, Momordica charantia, and Cassia grandis. Leaves were the most commonly used plant part; decoction was the most common method of preparation, while ½ to 1 glass was the daily recommended dose. Mild side effects were reported, while antioxidant activity was the perceived efficacy.ConclusionHypertensive patients in Belize opined that medicinal plants and herbs were efficacious in lowering blood pressure, as evidenced by home monitoring and regular checkups at the hospital. They also reported minimal side effects in the use of the medicinal plants. There is a need for a comprehensive evaluation of Belize’s medicinal plants to unravel their potential for drug discovery.

Духовное возвышение, выраженное скрытыми нарративными процессами, в повести Ф.М. Достоевского «Вечный муж»

In Dostoevsky’s novel “The Eternal Husband”, the theme of spiritual elevation is conveyed by two implicit narrative processes developing in parallel with the explicit plot, based on the theme of revenge. Each of the two implicit narrative trajectories reveals the complex vertical spiritual growth of the victimized lover and the victim husband, respectively, which becomes a strategy for expressing the author’s intent. The three parallel narrative trajectories together reveal the multilayered themes of the story and the multilayered connotations of the text. Many vague places and “superfluous” details become clear and necessary with the introduction of hidden narrative passages that reveal the themes of fall and salvation.

Aoristic Drift and Narrative Perfect in Early Modern English

In the current study, data from A Corpus of English Dialogues (1560-1760) are used to consider contexts with the have-perfect and temporal adverbs of the definite past time such as yesterday, last night, ago. Data analysis is conducted within the framework of a usage-based approach, which gives evidence to the hypothesis that in Early Modern English the have-perfect in spoken register was gradually developing perfective semantics and that it followed the stages of generalization of meaning depending on the degree of event remoteness. Investigation of the instances where the have-perfect is used in narrative passages shows that the have-perfect in such contexts does not lose its pragmatic component of current relevance but is employed to highlight a crucial event out of a chain of past events. The paper proposes the hypothesis that the main mechanism preventing the have-perfect from further aoristicization is the operation of syntactic analogy within the syntactic paradigm of the present perfect, which had already fully developed by the time of Early Modern English.

"But what are you doing to help them learn?" Reflections on a Career Teaching Human anatomy and Physiology

This narrative study tells the teaching and learning story of the recently retired Dr. Peggy LePage, a longtime member of the Human Anatomy and Physiology Society with a career as a community college anatomy and biology professor spanning nearly three decades. Drawn from a lengthy narrative interview, this paper describes Dr. LePage’s background as a nontraditional student and explores her resilience as a woman in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). When Dr. LePage neared a breaking point early in her career, an encounter with a well-known advocate for active learning in science classrooms transformed her pedagogy. She also became involved with HAPS and never looked back. Narrative passages from her interview emphasize Dr. LePage’s persistence in STEM, her shift toward a teacher as learner mentality, and the benefits of learning communities for anatomy and physiology instructors.

Experimentally assessing the roles of grammatical aspect, lexical aspect and coreference patterns for the inference of temporal relations in English

The question of the roles of grammatical aspect and of lexical aspect for the inference of temporal relations has richly been investigated from a theoretical point of view in various fields of languages sciences. Nevertheless, previous studies do not formulate similar conclusions, and thus they trigger different predictions for experimental testing. In contrast, the role of coreference patterns did not receive as much attention as grammatical and lexical aspect have received. As such, in this study we experimentally assess the roles of grammatical aspect (perfective vs. imperfective), lexical aspect (activities vs. accomplishments) and coreference patterns (same vs. different agents) in English. By means of an annotation study, we establish that fewer chronological relations emerge in passages with the imperfective aspect and coreference of agents (i.e. the actions are performed by the same agent). Then, by means of a temporal evaluation task, we show that synchronous relations are favoured in narrative passages that describe activities and lack of coreference of agents (i.e. the actions are performed by different agents). To interpret the results, we suggest that the comprehenders’ inference of temporal relations is influenced on the one hand by linguistic biases and on the other hand by their expectations of coherence. We discuss the findings from a cross-linguistic perspective.

Mapping Usability Heuristics to Medical Ethical Principles in Clinical Decision Support Design

Human factors professionals voice concerns about the slow and uneven adoption of human-centered design (HCD) principles in healthcare. With good intentions and best efforts, human factors work in healthcare continues, but to understand and to be understood we must share a language that speaks to one another. One way to facilitate this understanding is by bringing attention to how we talk about decision-making approaches in medical ethics and HCD. Both disciplines suggest efforts should be participatory, guided by a set of principles applied thoughtfully, with critical consideration to context and trade-offs. Considering the connections between usability heuristics for design and medical ethical principles may offer a bridge between disciplines and their associated dialects. In this paper, we provide three representations mapping ethical principles to design principles, including usability heuristics: a word tree visualization, narrative passages, and a table format. We believe this mapping demonstrates both that ethical design is inherently human-centric and that human-centered design is ethical design.

Discorsi pubblici sul lavoro: fonti narrative dall’alto valore pedagogico-sociale

Is there a work and organizations’ethnography and anthropology that has passed and passes through words and discourses? Is it possible to extract from the analysis of public discourse about work the narration to outline an idea of work not only set up and carried out but also told, imagined, desired and above all educating? Printed paper, educational, scientific and political production can be considered very important sources to build a discourse about work and “popular pedagogy” and common sense connected to it in the sense of narration as historical and metabletic tool that contributes to individual and collective development. Words and speeches are epistemological frames and glances at the world have a connection with things. The word is not only a sign, it is also an image. The word brings, somewhat enigmatic, a connection with what it represents. Words therefore also have the power to produce transformations, to change the world, the way they see it and to represent it. Foucault had also written that words are fundamental codes behind a culture and influence experience and thought. Words and speeches about work, spoken and written, then, are a meta-narrative and can help to draw and dissect an unprecedented, alternative, parallel story. Also, a history of pedagogy of work is full of theories, models, methods but also of stories, of speeches of intellectuals, trade unionists, scholars, prominent figures, entrepreneurs who have dedicated their lives to the cause of a dignified and good work. For example, the speeches of Vittorio, Adriano Olivetti, the encyclicals of the different popes that have succeeded each other in history, the many aphorisms and speeches made by great entrepreneurs such as Cucinelli, Steve Jobs etc. that, in different ways, have helped to build an idea of work that - over the centuries - has profoundly changed. Starting from these reflections, the contribution aims to highlight the baggage of intangible assets and the implicit educational deposited in some exemplary narrative passages on the work that have helped to build collective stories and produce a shared sense, to give a specific identity to work and to propose its widespread representation with a high pedagogical-social value.

Creación y recepción artística en la obra narrativa de Adolfo Couve. Una aproximación desde la noción de amateur

El artículo explora el alcance interpretativo de la noción de amateur que la crítica utilizó para calificar el oficio de escritor de Adolfo Couve y, por extensión, las peculiaridades de su obra literaria. En base a los testimonios de su disciplina de trabajo y al análisis de algunos pasajes narrativos en que el autor describe la experiencia artística, se evalúa la pertinencia de dicha noción y se señalan los ámbitos en que esta se vuelve necesaria para comprender el ideario estético de Adolfo Couve.

«НЬЮГЕЙТСКИЙ КАЛЕНДАРЬ»: ПСИХОЛОГИЧЕСКАЯ РЕКОНСТРУКЦИЯ АНГЛИЙСКОЙ КРИМИНАЛЬНОЙ БИОГРАФИИ XVIII СТОЛЕТИЯ

The author of the article refers to one of the intellectual aspects of the genesis of English penitentiary reforms of the 18th century. The progressive increase in crime rate, which English society faced in the 18th century, became a popular trend in social discourse, being left off “board” of historical penology that developed till the middle of the 20th century in the line of the normativism approach. Historiographic schools traditionally treated the evolution of English criminal justice system of the 18th century as the history of sanctions and led complicated social processes to forming severe “vertical of subordination”. The dislocation of the vector of historical researches to interdisciplinary anthropological field led to the emergence of new methods of reconstructions of historical world. The author applied theoretical aspects and tools of “cultural-intellectual and new social history” and it helped to consider imperious relationships in the epoch of the reforming of criminal justice system in the mirror of representation in historical narratives in social-cultural context and reality of Great Britain in the 18th century. The aim of the following research is to analyze criminal biographies from the Newgate Calendar for comprehension of the psychology of a crime both in the point of view of its direct subjects and through the prism of literary and personal interpretation. To reach the goal the author solves the following tasks: - considers the phenomenon of crime from the point of view of their subjects, on the one hand, and the public in the search for universal forms of neutralization of criminal aggression and ways of realization of the punishment in the stated period, on the other; - analyzes the criminals’ psychological state and emotional reactions taking into account classical studies in criminal psychology; - shows the specifics of the manifestation and perception of violence and “crime and retribution” interpretation in the social and spiritual-intellectual contexts of the period In the framework of the study, the author resorts to both special historical and source study methods (biographical, historical synthesis, discursive analysis, interpretation of texts and sources), as well as to the tools of related humanitarian disciplines such as psychological anthropology (reconstruction of a criminal biography involving fundamental works of Z. Freud, E. Fromm, Yu.M. Antonyan). We conclude the following: First of all, Newgate histories performed the edifying function, reminding us of the inevitability of punishment and compulsory repentance of a criminal. Moralistic component helped the “Calendar” to create the reputation of reading, elevating the spirit and it frequently held pride of place on the bookshelves near the Bible. Secondly, The Newgate Calendar made the attitude to the essence of violence in human nature as a part of public discourse. It was a successful commercial project of replication of the examples of antisocial behavior: violence, fraud, adultery, sexual inversions were boldly included into the sphere of public representation. In fact, the combination of didactic discourses and narrative passages created compositional structure of every biography in proportion, fitting such criteria as provocativeness of the material, eccentricity of a criminal’s personality and the degree of his discrepancy to conventional social norms.

Predicting the effects of suspenseful outcome for automatic storytelling

Automatic story generation systems usually deliver suspense by including an adverse outcome in the narrative, in the assumption that the adversity will trigger a certain set of emotions that can be categorized as suspenseful. However, existing systems do not implement solutions relying on predictive models of the impact of the outcome on readers. A formulation of the emotional effects of the outcome would allow storytelling systems to perform a better measure of suspense and discriminate among potential outcomes based on the emotional impact. This paper reports on a computational model of the effect of different outcomes on the perceived suspense. A preliminary analysis to identify and evaluate the affective responses to a set of outcomes commonly used in suspense was carried out. Then, a study was run to quantify and compare suspense and affective responses evoked by the set of outcomes. Next, a predictive model relying on the analyzed data was computed, and an evolutionary algorithm for automatically choosing the best outcome was implemented. The system was tested against human subjects’ reported suspense and electromyography responses to the addition of the generated outcomes to narrative passages. The results show a high correlation between the predicted impact of the computed outcome and the reported suspense.

Comparison of Narrative Comprehension and Inference-Making Ability in Native Tamil Speakers in Monolingual and Bilingual Context

ABSTRACT The present study was carried out with 120 Native Tamil speakers to know the effects of age and instructional language on narrative comprehension and inference-making ability. Children from 3rd to 5th grades (8 to 11 years) were divided into Group A (n = 60; Monolinguals) and Group B (n = 60; Bilinguals). Seven questions were framed to assess literal content (2 questions), coherence inference (2 questions), simile comprehension (2 questions), and elaborative inference (1 question). Written responses were obtained from participants after listening to the audiotape of a narrative passage. Group A provided responses in Tamil after listening to the passage in Tamil, and Group B provided responses in Tamil and English after listening to passages in Tamil and English. The responses were scored by three speech-language pathologists and average scores were statistically analyzed. The scores of the statistical analysis showed a difference of performance only across age. Qualitative analysis of inference types showed literal and coherence inferences were easier to make than simile comprehension and elaborative inferences for all groups. The findings of the study highlight how the comprehension of the narrative macrostructure and inference making is affected by age and instructional language.