Relevant Language Research Articles

Machine Learning Model-Based English Project Learning and Functional Research

Under the background of the rapid development of machine learning and information technology, traditional classroom mode is gradually replaced by media classroom. To tackle abstract and incomprehensible problems and restricted practical teaching in practical teaching, online classroom design principle is utilized to embody the classroom optimization and design principle of English language teaching from the perspective of machine learning based on English project learning. Based on the advantages of digitization, deep learning algorithm is used to establish classroom application model by information input. Besides, English language and relevant language application scenarios are presented from the perspective of machinery. The simulated textbook contents and relevant extended knowledge points are displayed in classrooms by online teaching. The current advantages of Internet communication are combined with machine learning algorithms for field simulations and calculations on the relevant course content of English subjects. The actual operation process in the English learning process is realized through the online form of the network. It ensures the stability and transmission accuracy of online classrooms, reduces information omission and loss during data transmission, and obtains the optimal solution for data simulation in real-time scenarios. Relevant researches demonstrate that machine learning combined with online classroom design breaks through the face-to-face book teaching in traditional classrooms by the dynamic demonstration of life and actual work scenes and entity innovations as well as design. Besides, it stimulates students’ interest in English courses, enhances the overall learning rate, promotes more significant effects of English project learning, and is conducive to the cultivation of comprehensive language talents in the new age.

Spectral processing deficits appear to underlie developmental language disorders

More than 50 years of research has suggested something is awry in the auditory functioning of children with language disorders, yet there remains no consensus on exactly what the problem is. To address this gap in knowledge, we have proposed a model termed the Auditory Bases of Phonological Acquisition. This model is based on the language feature known as dual patterning, which describes two levels of structure: one consisting of meaningful words and how they can be combined and the other consisting of word-internal, meaningless units and how they can be combined. We hypothesized that acquisition of this second level—phonological structure—is most affected by deficits in auditory functions, especially those involving the spectral domain. To test this hypothesis, we assessed children with and without language disorders between 7 and 10 years old on their abilities to detect spectral and temporal modulation and to perform relevant language tasks. The largest group differences were found at younger ages for spectral modulation detection (SMD). SMD thresholds were also found to correlate most strongly with language measures, especially those based on phonological structure. Outcomes suggest that keen sensitivity to spectral structure in the speech signal is necessary for acquiring precise phonological representations.

A Systematic Review of the Chinese-English Translation of Public Signs

To understand the current status of Chinese-English public sign translation research in China, we analyzed 137 published studies in the past 15 years and found that public sign translation research in China has developed progressively from the nascent stage in 2005 to its climax in 2014 and then began to decline to date. Public signs translation research has attracted the attention of many scholars, and fruitful results have been achieved in terms of research content, which covers the definition, features, functions, translation errors, translation principles, strategies, and the theories applied to C-E public signs translation. However, there are still many deficiencies in related research, such as the repetition of research content, the limited scope of investigation, and the lack of a clear distinction between what constitutes a feature and a translation principle of public signs. The study suggests that future research content on public sign translation should be in-depth and more diversified. Also, more public sign translation experts should be trained to improve their translation quality, and the related supervisory body should intensify their supervision. Future researchers should extend their investigations to include other public signs in thematic areas such as menus, museums, folk gardens, culture-specific items, and theory development as studies in these areas are limited. It is hoped that the research findings will offer insight into the problems and gaps in related research and help facilitate the development of relevant language policies, translation theories, and methods for the translation and study of public signs.

Organizations and Employees Say “I do” to Work from Home during the Pandemic: A Sentiment Analysis of Twitter

Social media platforms like Twitter have become an integral part of daily life. Twitter is emerging as a powerful digital platform for people to express their emotions and opinions on varied events and issues with the world. Working from home during the coronavirus lockdown is one phenomenon that has affected billions across the world, generating intense debates and polarizing global factions. This study aimed to analyze the sentiments of the Indian workforce about their work from home experience imposed during the coronavirus lockdown. To this end, a total 10,400 relevant English language tweets were collected from Twitter. Sentiment analysis and social network analysis were performed on the retrieved tweets. The results indicated that though the sentiments of the tweets were about consistently distributed among the three principal categories (positive, negative and neutral), there was a predominance of positivity towards working from home due to the coronavirus lockdown. Further, social network analysis of the tweets unraveled varied clusters indicating employee’s sentiments towards the pandemic-induced work from home policy.

Locating and Identifying Third-Party Decision-Makers.

The use of third-party decision-makers such as proxies and surrogates for incapacitated patients has become widespread in the United States. More recently, lawmakers and ethicists have grappled with the challenge of rendering decisions for unbefriended individuals without an identified third-party decision-maker. Far less attention has been paid to the question of how to determine whether a patient is, in fact, unbefriended. Jurisdictions vary regarding how much effort must be invested by clinicians in locating an appropriate decision-maker and also regarding how certain must clinicians be of the identity of apparent decision-makers before acceding to their decisions. This article collects in tabular form the relevant state statutory language on this subject. A decision-relative, context-based approach for addressing these questions as they arise in clinical practice is then proposed, with application in several composite cases.

영화영어에서 감정과 언어와의 관계가 학습에 미치는 영향에 관한 연구

The purpose of this case study is to investigate how interrelatedness between emotion and language influences the learning of English through movies. To do this, three advanced college students majoring in English were asked to watch a romantic movie, The Choice (2016), and then to participate in a conversation analysis, a subsequent discussion of those results with a researcher, and finally an interview. The conversation analysis showed that all the participants chose emotional expressions based on the movie storyline; however, they failed to see the relevant language patterns in the emotional expressions. The following discussion indicated that participants tended to focus on the relevant language forms or patterns of the emotional expressions. In the interview, all the participants agreed with this new emotion-based language method and mentioned that they learned pragmatic meanings from the language forms they already knew. One of the participants commented that they found it hard to find the relevant language forms in the emotional expressions without the teacher''s help. However, the participants agree that interrelatedness between emotion and language would positively support their language learning.

An international scoping review of rangers' precarious employment conditions.

Protecting wildlife and other natural resources requires engaging and empowering local communities, ensuring compliance with rules, and ongoing monitoring and research. At the frontline of these efforts are rangers. Despite their critical role in maintaining the integrity of parks and protected areas, rangers across the world are exposed to precarious employment conditions and hazardous work environments. We conducted an international scoping review to understand which employment and working conditions are examined in the context of the ranger occupation and to assess whether the concept of precarious employment is used in the conservation, criminological, and environmental sustainability literature on rangers. We reviewed publications from Web of Knowledge, Scopus, ProQuest, and Medline, and grey literature for relevant English language articles published between 2000 and 2021. Our findings are based on the analysis of 98 included studies. We found that the most commonly discussed aspect of rangers’ employment and working conditions was the hazardous social and physical work environment, although this was often accompanied by severe income inadequacy, employment insecurity, and a lack of social security, regulatory support, and workplace rights. Such employment and working conditions can cause adverse impacts on rangers’ mental and physical health, well-being, and safety, and are also detrimental to their ability to adequately protect biodiversity. We conclude by outlining the need for sustainable solutions and additional research based on established conceptualizations of the precarious employment concept and other related concepts. Lastly, we suggest that governments should acknowledge the importance of rangers through their recognition as essential workers and provide greater support to improve their employment conditions.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10669-022-09845-3.

Construct validity for computational linguistic metrics in individuals at clinical risk for psychosis: Associations with clinical ratings

Language deficits are prevalent in psychotic illness, including its risk states, and are related to marked impairment in functioning. It is therefore important to characterize language impairment in the psychosis spectrum in order to develop potential preventive interventions. Natural language processing (NLP) metrics of semantic coherence and syntactic complexity have been used to discriminate schizophrenia patients from healthy controls (HC) and predict psychosis onset in individuals at clinical high-risk (CHR) for psychosis. To date, no studies have yet examined the construct validity of key NLP features with respect to clinical ratings of thought disorder in a CHR cohort. Herein we test the association of key NLP metrics of coherence and complexity with ratings of positive and negative thought disorder, respectively, in 60 CHR individuals, using Andreasen's Scale of Assessment of Thought, Language and Communication (TLC) Scale to measure of positive and negative thought disorder. As hypothesized, in CHR individuals, the NLP metric of semantic coherence was significantly correlated with positive thought disorder severity and the NLP metrics of complexity (sentence length and determiner use) were correlated with negative thought disorder severity. The finding of construct validity supports the premise that NLP analytics, at least in respect to core features of reduction of coherence and complexity, are capturing clinically relevant language disturbances in risk states for psychosis. Further psychometric study is required, in respect to reliability and other forms of validity.

Effectiveness of mobile apps to improve urinary incontinence: a systematic review of randomised controlled trials

IntroductionPelvic floor exercises are effective in the treatment of urinary incontinence (UI) and are routinely prescribed, along with bladder training, by primary healthcare providers as first line conservative management. Mobile phone applications are increasingly popular within the healthcare setting and can provide opportunities for patients to complete treatments at home. To date, there has not been a systematic review examining outcomes from randomised controlled trials on the effectiveness of mobile applications to improve UI.MethodsA systematic review of randomized controlled trials evaluating the effectiveness of mobile applications to improve UI was carried out according to the PRISMA reporting guidelines. The online databases MEDLINE, Embase, PsychINFO, CINAHL, Web of Science, Scopus, The Cochrane Library, Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI), Google Scholar were searched for papers published between 2007 to 2020. Keywords and MeSH terms were used to identify relevant English language studies. The quality and risk of bias within included studies was assessed by two independent reviewers, RCT JBI critical appraisal tool. Due to heterogeneity in the outcome of studies, a meta-analysis of the data could not be conducted.FindingsFour studies reported an improvement in the outcome assessed post-intervention, suggesting that using mobile phone applications for pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT) was an acceptable and valid intervention to improve UI.ConclusionMobile applications for PFMT indicated that increase adherence to treatment and decrease UI. The integration of this treatment modality into current practice is recommended. Mobile phone applications for PFMT show promise in the conservative management of UI. Further research is required to support the use of this technology in the conservative management of UI.

Evaluation of Going Global in the “Theoretical Framework for Evaluating POA-Based Teaching Materials”

Oriented by the theoretical framework for evaluating POA-based materials, this paper aims to evaluate Going Global from three dimensions: appropriate productive objectives, effective enabling activities and successful attainment of productive objectives by collecting interview data of six teachers, questionnaire of students and students’ works. The results show that Going Global embodies the concept of POA textbook evaluation. It has the following advantages: each unit set appropriate productive objectives which help students to have clear mind about what they need do in the unit learning; the textbook provides various related input materials and task types to assist students’ accomplishment of unit objectives; the teaching material itself stimulates students’ interest and enhances the internal driving force of students’ study. The possible disadvantage is that the gradual progress of the difficulty among the units in the same level textbooks still needs to be improved. In addition, the teaching material is deficient in the cultivation of basic language skills, and lacks relevant language training, which needs further improvement.

Association between markers of oxidative stress and cognitive functioning in schizophrenia

High levels of oxidative stress have been implicated in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. Our objectives were to review the association between oxidative stress markers and neurocognitive functioning in schizophrenia. Electronic search of MEDLINE, ProQuest, Scopus, and Google Scholar databases was carried out in September 2022 to identify relevant English language articles. Articles identified were grouped under the following themes: comparison of oxidative stress or antioxidant biomarkers between patients with schizophrenia and general population, association between biomarkers of oxidative stress and cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia, and clinical trials evaluating the effect of antioxidant compounds on cognitive functioning in schizophrenia. We reviewed 36 eligible papers: 30 observational studies and 6 intervention trials. Marked heterogeneity was noted in patient population, oxidative stress markers examined, and cognitive measures. Majority (83.3%) of the observational studies were cross-sectional in design; half of them (50%) were conducted on chronic, stable, medicated patients. Most of the observational studies showed increased levels of oxidative stress biomarkers and decreased antioxidant activity in schizophrenia compared to controls. A significant positive association was noted between markers of antioxidant activity and cognitive performance in this group. Treatment trials of antioxidant agents showed positive but inconsistent evidence for benefits on cognitive measures and clinical symptomatology in schizophrenia. Our findings are broadly consistent with the redox imbalance hypothesis in schizophrenia. The significant associations noted between antioxidant markers and cognitive functioning may have key neurobiological and therapeutic implications.

Risk of bias in non-randomized observational studies assessing the relationship between proton-pump inhibitors and adverse kidney outcomes: a systematic review.

Background:Proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs) are widely prescribed as acid-suppression therapy. Some observational studies suggest that long-term use of PPIs is potentially associated with certain adverse kidney outcomes. We conducted a systematic literature review to assess potential bias in non-randomized studies reporting on putative associations between PPIs and adverse kidney outcomes (acute kidney injury, acute interstitial nephritis, chronic interstitial nephritis, acute tubular necrosis, chronic kidney disease, and end-stage renal disease).Methods:We searched the medical literature within 10 years of 17 December 2020. Pre-specified criteria guided identification of relevant English language articles for assessment. Risk of bias on an outcome-specific basis was evaluated using the Risk of Bias in Non-randomized Studies of Interventions (ROBINS-I) tool by two independent reviewers.Results:Of 620 initially identified records, 26 studies met a priori eligibility criteria and underwent risk of bias assessment. Nineteen studies were judged as having a moderate risk of bias for reported adverse kidney outcomes, while six studies were judged as having a serious risk of bias (mainly due to inadequate control of confounders and selection bias). We were unable to determine the overall risk of bias in two studies (one of which was assessed as having a moderate risk of bias for a different adverse kidney outcome) due to insufficient information presented. Effect estimates for PPIs in relation to adverse kidney outcomes varied widely (0.24–7.34) but associations mostly showed increased risk.Conclusion:Using ROBINS-I, we found that non-randomized observational studies suggesting kidney harm by PPIs have moderate to serious risk of bias, making it challenging to establish causality. Additional high-quality, real-world evidence among generalizable populations are needed to better understand the relation between PPI treatment and acute and chronic kidney outcomes, accounting for the effects of varying durations of PPI treatment, self-treatment with over-the-counter PPIs, and potential critical confounders.

Symposium

Background:‘Heat-not-burn’ tobacco products (HnB) are electronic devices that heat processed tobacco instead of combusting it to supposedly deliver an aerosol with fewer toxicants than in cigarette smoke.MethodsLiterature search was performed using MedLine, PubMed, PsycINFO and Embase for relevant English language articles published upto September 2020ResultsAs of February 2020, heated tobacco products were sold in at least 52 countries and the market for such products is anticipated to expand by 60% over the next 10 to 15 years. Total sales for HTPs in 2016 were US$ 2.1 billion, and they are expected to reach US$ 17.9 billion by 2021. The susceptibility to trying HnB (25.1%) was higher than for traditional cigarettes (19.3%), but lower than for e-cigarettes (29.1%). It has been seen that the awareness about HnB was higher in Japan and Korea compared to the western world. The concentration of TSNAs (Nitrosamines) was one fifth and CO was one hundredth of those of conventional combustion cigarettes in some studies. The levels of toxicants were at least 62% lower than in cigarette smoke and particulate matter (PM) was 75% lower than in conventional cigarette smoke. But it does not render that they are less harmful and it has lead to dual use with combustible cigarettes and marketing strategies directed towards youth.ConclusionThere is dearth of research regarding the effects on health and the claims of HTP emissions. The scientific evidence has revealed that there is no risk-free level of exposure to tobacco smoke. It should fall under the same comprehensive smoke-free policies applied to conventional tobacco cigarettes. Strict regulations are required for monitoring use among youth and on false marketing practices of tobacco industry.

Formation of professionally oriented competence of students in the context of modern approaches to teaching a foreign language

The article examines the problem of development of professionally oriented competence of students when mastering of the “Foreign Language” course in the non-linguistic higher education institutions. It has been noted that modern standards of higher education require the use of a professionally oriented approach to teaching academic disciplines including the “Foreign Language” courses. The foreign language education of a future specialist should have at most pragmatic or professional and practical approach and be provided with an appropriate educational and methodological complex as well as defined forms of educational activity which involves the creation of modern programmes for the foreign language course and the effective forms and methods of their implementation. This process should take place purposefully and gradually from the first years of a student’s studies at a higher education institution and be closely related to the content of professional disciplines. It was determined that the application of a professionally oriented approach in the educational process requires certain programmatic changes in the goals and objectives of a specialist education. The aim of specialist training according to modern standards is primarily connected with the formation of foreign language communicative competence in the areas of situational and professional communication which involves the acquisition of such practical skills and abilities that allow to use a foreign language in various types of language and speech activities (speaking, listening, reading and writing). Accordingly, the method of teaching a foreign language should be based on a balanced combination of theory and practice as well as the use of traditional and innovative teaching methods. It was found out that contextual, communicative and interactive approaches are the most effective and appropriate to the specifics of professionally oriented education. The combination of these methods allows to form professionally oriented competencies by involving students in the active educational and cognitive activities. As a result of the conducted research it has been proved that when teaching a foreign language to students of higher education institutions just the quasi-professional (simulated) forms of language learning are the most effective as they provide an opportunity not only to acquire relevant foreign language knowledge and skills, but also to practice certain models of future professional activity.

Modifying Group Interpersonal Psychotherapy for Peripartum Adolescents in Sub-Saharan African Context: Reviewing Differential Contextual and Implementation Considerations

Background This study describes adaptation and modification of World Health Organization (WHO) recommended group interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT-G) for depressed peripartum adolescents. The adaptation process includes accommodating contextual factors and strategies to address intervention implementation barriers, such as engagement problems with adolescents, caregivers, and providers, and stigma and dearth of mental health specialists. The modifications include and adolescent relevant iterations to the therapy format and content. Methods A multi-stakeholder led two-stage intervention adaptation and modification process integrating mixed qualitative methods were used with pregnant and parenting adolescents, their partners, and health care workers. In-depth interviews focusing on personal, relationship, social, and cultural barriers experienced by adolescents were carried out modeled on the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research. Focus group discussions with depressed adolescents on their experiences, feedback from caregivers, partners, health workers inform focused modifications. An IPT expert committee of three practitioners, along with UNICEF adolescent officer, and mental health policy expert from Ministry of Health and representative community advisory body reviewed the adaptations and modifications made to the WHO IPT-G manual. Discussion Integration of mental health needs of peripartum adolescents as demonstrated in the stakeholder engagement process, adaptation of key terms into locally relevant language, determination of number of sessions, and user-centric design modifications to digitize a brief version of group interpersonal psychotherapy are presented.

Utilizing community engagement studios to inform clinical trial design at a Center of Excellence for Alzheimer’s Disease

Despite the disproportionate burden of Alzheimer's disease in older adults of color, the scientific community continues to grapple with underrepresentation of racial and ethnic minorities in clinical research. Our Center of Excellence for Alzheimer's Disease (CEAD) collaborated with a local community partner to conduct community engagement (CE) studios to effectively involve our community of diverse older adults in the early planning stages of a clinical trial. Given the COVID-19 pandemic, the in-person studio format was adapted to allow for virtual, real-time participation. Our objective is to describe the process and feasibility of conducting virtual CE studios in an older adult population. Ninety percent of participants were non-Hispanic Black community-dwelling woman aged 60 years and older. The overall background and proposed clinical trial design was presented to the participants who then made recommendations regarding potential recruitment strategies, the use of culturally relevant language to describe the study, and logistical recommendations to improve participation and retention among community members. Our CEAD successfully conducted virtual CE studios during the COVID-19 pandemic, by partnering with a community-based organization, to engage community stakeholders about clinical trial design. CEADs are in a unique position to implement CE studios to better support patient access to clinical trials.

Conflict Mobilization in Russian Social Media Communities As an Actual Practice of Protest Communication: Collective and Personal Dimension

From the standpoint of communicative approach conflict mobilization is considered in the article as an actual practice of protest communication in modern Russia. The parameters of the collective-personal dimension of conflict mobilization in the most popular social networks among Russian users: VKontakte, Odnoklassniki, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook are presented. Major forms of social group members online participation in protest actions, interaction means of conflict mobilization communities and the formation of Internet solidarity have been characterized with such criteria as publication volume and frequency. Selective factual and emotional-psychological argumentation with elements of defamation of opponents is concluded to prevail in the communicative behavior of the addresser. Frequent implementation of phatic strategy through consolidating appeals to community members with elements of idealization and glorification of protest actors is revealed. The addresser's self-presentation strategy is noted to be applied rather rarely; it is actualized mainly through their identification with the collective position of the group and the mass addressee. It has been established that the addressee is characterized by active self-presentation through the presentation of a subjective position opposed to a mutual opponent, is distinguished by an appeal to ethical and emotional argumentation, a variety of phatic tactics. The article reveals the relevant language means of implementing the identified strategies, shows the features of the text structure of mobilization posts.

Об одном опыте составления фразеологического словаря, его стилевых аспектах и прикладном значении для перевода

This article studies an experience of making an English-to-Russian and Russian-to-English dictionary of set expressions implemented as an application for mobile devices. Here we elaborate on its basic ideas and requirements used in modern interpreting. Further, we provide key facts about the dictionary, its structure and organization, describe the compilation process including how we established criteria for choosing relevant language units, as well as highlight their analysis method with reference to different sources. Further, considering the stylistic gradation of target-language semantic analogues in relation to source-language units offered in the dictionary, we give a separate emphasis to difficulties experienced when determining the register of set phrases. Additionally, we cover a number of their aspects which may be taken into account to decide on a stylistic category. We identify typical features of some registers and suggest criteria for differentiating between set expressions in terms of their style. Our theoretical observations are accompanied by the comparison of English and Russian units specifying their similarities and differences that were noted when composing the dictionary. Its solutions are considered from the perspective of popular interpreting techniques with regard to set phrases: use of existing target-language analogues, literal translation, and conveyance of connotative equivalents. We also promote experimental approaches that intend to help translators in their work. In conclusion, we summarize the novelties of the dictionary, estimate its user-friendliness and applicability to the practical aspects of translation and interpreting, and make suppositions about its future potential.

Identifying Aircraft Maintenance Trainees' English Language Learning Needs

In the quest to develop an exceptional Aviation English (AE) module for aircraft maintenance engineers (AMEs), it is imperative to determine the specific English language learning needs of those majoring in aircraft maintenance. This study aimed to identify the English language skills AMEs use in their workplace. Meanwhile, the findings allowed module developers and language instructors to tailor a content-specific module that met future AMEs' language needs and helped improve their language proficiency. The qualitative study was performed at the University Kuala Lumpur Malaysian Institute of Aviation Technology (UniKL MIAT). Data were collected using three types of instruments, namely i) interviews; ii) interaction analysis, and iii) text analysis. Based on data collected from six respondents, the findings showed that AMEs require special attention in improving their writing and technical writing ability. Besides, reading is another skill that needs special attention. Those involved in aircraft maintenance must read technical manuals, give instructions, and have good comprehension ability to minimise miscommunication and misinterpretation. Furthermore, although listening and speaking skills are exceptional skills, maintenance engineers' need to master reading comprehension and writing is more than other engineering-related positions. The investigation revealed that aircraft maintenance trainees must be equipped with relevant language skills. The findings would help course module developers and language instructors produce modules that meet the aviation trainees' needs.

Проблемы и опыт создания учебника по иностранному языку для неязыкового вуза

The purpose of the study is to describe the basic principles of designing a textbook that meets the modern requirements of the theory and practice of teaching English for Specific Purposes (ESP). The authors analysed the available educational materials for language teaching at an aviation university, described the criteria for their evaluation and proposed a variant of a textbook concept. Scientific novelty of the study lies in identifying approaches to the design of a foreign language textbook in a professional area that forms students’ foreign language communicative competence (learner-centered approach) and methodologically organises the language and speech material of the textbook (teacher-centered approach). The results have shown that author’s textbooks should be communicative, professionally and personally oriented, include authentic and relevant language material, take into account students’ language skills.