Text Reception Research Articles

How linguistic closure and verbal working memory relate to speech recognition in noise--a review.

The ability to recognize masked speech, commonly measured with a speech reception threshold (SRT) test, is associated with cognitive processing abilities. Two cognitive factors frequently assessed in speech recognition research are the capacity of working memory (WM), measured by means of a reading span (Rspan) or listening span (Lspan) test, and the ability to read masked text (linguistic closure), measured by the text reception threshold (TRT). The current article provides a review of recent hearing research that examined the relationship of TRT and WM span to SRTs in various maskers. Furthermore, modality differences in WM capacity assessed with the Rspan compared to the Lspan test were examined and related to speech recognition abilities in an experimental study with young adults with normal hearing (NH). Span scores were strongly associated with each other, but were higher in the auditory modality. The results of the reviewed studies suggest that TRT and WM span are related to each other, but differ in their relationships with SRT performance. In NH adults of middle age or older, both TRT and Rspan were associated with SRTs in speech maskers, whereas TRT better predicted speech recognition in fluctuating nonspeech maskers. The associations with SRTs in steady-state noise were inconclusive for both measures. WM span was positively related to benefit from contextual information in speech recognition, but better TRTs related to less interference from unrelated cues. Data for individuals with impaired hearing are limited, but larger WM span seems to give a general advantage in various listening situations.

RESEPSI PEMBACA TERHADAP UNSUR FAKTA CERITA DALAM NOVEL AYAT AYAT CINTA KARYA HABIBURRAHMAN ELSHYRAZI

This study aims to describe readers’ reception of story fact elements (character, plot, and setting) in Ayat-Ayat Cinta (AAC). The data sources were reception texts uploaded by readers and were downloaded through Google. The data analysis and interpretation employed a combination of two perspectives, i.e. text reception and hermeneutics. The findings show that readers respond to the elements in the reception with positive and negative tones. In general, however, they respond to the elements positively. The characters that most readers respond to are Fahri, Aisha, Maria, and Nurul. Readers respond to the plot of AAC holistically, but most of them respond to only parts of the plot. They respond to two settings, i.e. spatial and social settings. Keywords: readers’ reception, story fact

The Presentation of Word Formation in General Monolingual Dictionaries

Word formation in the dictionary belongs, at the latest since the contribution of Mug- dan (1984), to the topics frequently discussed by lexicographers. Unfortunately the results have not always been satisfactory. This applies both to the formulation of lexicographic theory and to the lexicographic practice because the lexicographic terms have the linguistic terms as point of depar- ture and questions are put as to how these phenomena should be presented in dictionaries. Instead, one should rather ask which information needs dictionary users experience in which types of user situations and then decide where and how items giving word formation can be presented in order to benefit the envisaged target user of a given dictionary. The lexicographic practice is also in an unsatisfactory position with regard to items giving word formation because the typical polyfunctional dictionaries have too many items giving word formation for text reception problems and far too few for text production problems or for the real general knowledge needs regarding word formation in the specific language. This paper gives suggestions regarding the theoretical approaches that could lead to a better user-directed lexico- graphic practice.

Devices for Information Presentation in Electronic Dictionaries

Electronic dictionaries should support dictionary users by giving them guidance in text production and text reception, alongside a user-definable offer of lexicographic data for cognitive purposes. In this article, we sketch the principles of an interactive and dynamic electronic dictionary aimed at text production and text reception guiding users in innovative ways, especially with respect to difficult, complicated or confusing issues. The lexicographer has to do a very careful analysis of the nature of the possible problems to suggest an optimal solution for a specific problem. We are of the opinion that there are numerous complex situations where users need more detailed support than currently available in e-dictionaries, enabling them to make valid and correct choices. For highly complex situations, we suggest guidance through a decision tree-like device. We assume that the solutions proposed here are not specific to one language only but can, after careful analysis, be applied to e-dictionaries in different languages across the world.

Indication criteria for cochlear implants and hearing aids: impact of audiological and non-audiological findings.

Owing to technological progress and a growing body of clinical experience, indication criteria for cochlear implants (CI) are being extended to less severe hearing impairments. It is, therefore, worth reconsidering these indication criteria by introducing novel testing procedures. The diagnostic evidence collected will be evaluated. The investigation includes postlingually deafened adults seeking a CI. Prior to surgery, speech perception tests [Freiburg Speech Test and Oldenburg sentence (OLSA) test] were performed unaided and aided using the Oldenburg Master Hearing Aid (MHA) system. Linguistic skills were assessed with the visual Text Reception Threshold (TRT) test, and general state of health, socio-economic status (SES) and subjective hearing were evaluated through questionnaires. After surgery, the speech tests were repeated aided with a CI. To date, 97 complete data sets are available for evaluation. Statistical analyses showed significant correlations between postsurgical speech reception threshold (SRT) measured with the adaptive OLSA test and pre-surgical data such as the TRT test (r=−0.29), SES (r=−0.22) and (if available) aided SRT (r=0.53). The results suggest that new measures and setups such as the TRT test, SES and speech perception with the MHA provide valuable extra information regarding indication for CI.

Processing Load Induced by Informational Masking Is Related to Linguistic Abilities

It is often assumed that the benefit of hearing aids is not primarily reflected in better speech performance, but that it is reflected in less effortful listening in the aided than in the unaided condition. Before being able to assess such a hearing aid benefit the present study examined how processing load while listening to masked speech relates to inter-individual differences in cognitive abilities relevant for language processing. Pupil dilation was measured in thirty-two normal hearing participants while listening to sentences masked by fluctuating noise or interfering speech at either 50% and 84% intelligibility. Additionally, working memory capacity, inhibition of irrelevant information, and written text reception was tested. Pupil responses were larger during interfering speech as compared to fluctuating noise. This effect was independent of intelligibility level. Regression analysis revealed that high working memory capacity, better inhibition, and better text reception were related to better speech reception thresholds. Apart from a positive relation to speech recognition, better inhibition and better text reception are also positively related to larger pupil dilation in the single-talker masker conditions. We conclude that better cognitive abilities not only relate to better speech perception, but also partly explain higher processing load in complex listening conditions.

New Measures of Masked Text Recognition in Relation to Speech-in-Noise Perception and Their Associations With Age and Cognitive Abilities

In this research, the authors aimed to increase the analogy between Text Reception Threshold (TRT; Zekveld, George, Kramer, Goverts, & Houtgast, 2007) and Speech Reception Threshold (SRT; Plomp & Mimpen, 1979) and to examine the TRT's value in estimating cognitive abilities that are important for speech comprehension in noise. The authors administered 5 TRT versions, SRT tests in stationary (SRT(STAT)) and modulated (SRT(MOD)) noise, and 2 cognitive tests: a reading span (RSpan) test for working memory capacity and a letter-digit substitution test for information-processing speed. Fifty-five adults with normal hearing (18-78 years, M = 44 years) participated. The authors examined mutual associations of the tests and their predictive value for the SRTs with correlation and linear regression analyses. SRTs and TRTs were well associated, also when controlling for age. Correlations for the SRT(STAT) were generally lower than for the SRT(MOD.) The cognitive tests were correlated to the SRTs only when age was not controlled for. Age and the TRTs were the only significant predictors of SRT(MOD). SRT(STAT) was predicted by level of education and some of the TRT versions. TRTs and SRTs are robustly associated, nearly independent of age. The association between SRTs and RSpan is largely age dependent. The TRT test and the RSpan test measure different nonauditory components of linguistic processing relevant for speech perception in noise.

On the Use of the Distortion-Sensitivity Approach in Examining the Role of Linguistic Abilities in Speech Understanding in Noise

Researchers have used the distortion-sensitivity approach in the psychoacoustical domain to investigate the role of auditory processing abilities in speech perception in noise (van Schijndel, Houtgast, & Festen, 2001; Goverts & Houtgast, 2010). In this study, the authors examined the potential applicability of the distortion-sensitivity approach for investigating the role of linguistic abilities in speech understanding in noise. The authors applied the distortion-sensitivity approach by measuring the processing of visually presented masked text in a condition with manipulated syntactic, lexical, and semantic cues and while using the Text Reception Threshold (George et al., 2007; Kramer, Zekveld, & Houtgast, 2009; Zekveld, George, Kramer, Goverts, & Houtgast, 2007) method. Two groups that differed in linguistic abilities were studied: 13 native and 10 non-native speakers of Dutch, all typically hearing university students. As expected, the non-native subjects showed substantially reduced performance. The results of the distortion-sensitivity approach yielded differentiated results on the use of specific linguistic cues in the 2 groups. The results show the potential value of the distortion-sensitivity approach in studying the role of linguistic abilities in speech understanding in noise of individuals with hearing impairment.

Wine and Words: A Trilingual Wine Dictionary for South Africa

The South African wine industry identified the need for a special-field on-line dic- tionary on viticulture and oenology in Afrikaans, English and isiXhosa. The dictionary provides information on wine terminology as well as linguistic information on the use of such terminology. The purpose of this article is to give a description of the project. The process of compiling the dic- tionary is described, from the co-operation between the wine industry and lexicographers to the intended target users and the choice of languages of the dictionary. Functions of the dictionary are discussed, with reference to specific user situations, namely text production, text reception and translation. A system of labels has been designed for the dictionary and its benefit for the user is explained. In assisting the user to make an informed choice of a term, the notion of proscriptive- ness has been followed in the presentation of information in the wine dictionary.

Reflections on Dictionaries Designed to Assist Users with Text Production in a Foreign Language*

After a discussion of a selected part of the existing theoretical literature, the concept of foreign-language text production is analysed within the framework of the broader concept of the foreign-language learning process. Two main types of foreign-language text production are discussed, i.e. text production with and without an outline in the learner's mother tongue, followed by an analysis of the kind of assistance dictionaries can provide to the user. The main conclusion drawn from this discussion is that a dictionary designed to assist a user with both types of text production should include both an L1–L2 word list and an L2 (or L2–L1) word list. On this basis, a proposal for the lexicographic data that should be included in the respective word lists is presented, and this data is then compared with the data needed to assist the user in foreign-language text reception. The conclusion is that it is quite possible to conceive bifunctional dictionaries that can provide assistance for both foreign-language text production and foreign-language text reception. Keywords: lexicography, learner's lexicography, learner's dictionaries, lexicographic functions, communication-orientated functions, foreignlanguage text reception, foreign-language text production, user characteristics, user needs, user situations, lexicographic data

Nuwe Woordeboek sonder Grense: A Typological and Communicative Bridge

Within the South African lexicographical context, there have been several pleas for Afrikaans learner's and school dictionaries that incorporate innovative strategies and provide for specific identified target users and their particular problems. Nuwe Woordeboek sonder Grense (NWSG) is an Afrikaans learner's dictionary that is aimed at a specific group of users, can be used for text reception and text production and forms part of an established textbook series. Through new strategies and adaptations, this dictionary tries to form a bridge between different typological categories and to be a functional instrument for use in the classroom. In accordance with the theo- retical formulation of dictionary functions, NWSG tries to further communication through initial support in and eventual assimilation of the foreign language. In this article, theoretical insights regarding learner's dictionaries as well as practical examples from NSWG are combined to illus- trate the possibilities of a more user-friendly product.

Cognitive Load During Speech Perception in Noise: The Influence of Age, Hearing Loss, and Cognition on the Pupil Response

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the influence of age, hearing loss, and cognitive ability on the cognitive processing load during listening to speech presented in noise. Cognitive load was assessed by means of pupillometry (i.e., examination of pupil dilation), supplemented with subjective ratings. Two groups of subjects participated: 38 middle-aged participants (mean age = 55 yrs) with normal hearing and 36 middle-aged participants (mean age = 61 yrs) with hearing loss. Using three Speech Reception Threshold (SRT) in stationary noise tests, we estimated the speech-to-noise ratios (SNRs) required for the correct repetition of 50%, 71%, or 84% of the sentences (SRT50%, SRT71%, and SRT84%, respectively). We examined the pupil response during listening: the peak amplitude, the peak latency, the mean dilation, and the pupil response duration. For each condition, participants rated the experienced listening effort and estimated their performance level. Participants also performed the Text Reception Threshold (TRT) test, a test of processing speed, and a word vocabulary test. Data were compared with previously published data from young participants with normal hearing. Hearing loss was related to relatively poor SRTs, and higher speech intelligibility was associated with lower effort and higher performance ratings. For listeners with normal hearing, increasing age was associated with poorer TRTs and slower processing speed but with larger word vocabulary. A multivariate repeated-measures analysis of variance indicated main effects of group and SNR and an interaction effect between these factors on the pupil response. The peak latency was relatively short and the mean dilation was relatively small at low intelligibility levels for the middle-aged groups, whereas the reverse was observed for high intelligibility levels. The decrease in the pupil response as a function of increasing SNR was relatively small for the listeners with hearing loss. Spearman correlation coefficients indicated that the cognitive load was larger in listeners with better TRT performances as reflected by a longer peak latency (normal-hearing participants, SRT50% condition) and a larger peak amplitude and longer response duration (hearing-impaired participants, SRT50% and SRT84% conditions). Also, a larger word vocabulary was related to longer response duration in the SRT84% condition for the participants with normal hearing. The pupil response systematically increased with decreasing speech intelligibility. Ageing and hearing loss were related to less release from effort when increasing the intelligibility of speech in noise. In difficult listening conditions, these factors may induce cognitive overload relatively early or they may be associated with relatively shallow speech processing. More research is needed to elucidate the underlying mechanisms explaining these results. Better TRTs and larger word vocabulary were related to higher mental processing load across speech intelligibility levels. This indicates that utilizing linguistic ability to improve speech perception is associated with increased listening load.

Leitura finita de um texto infinito: Galáxias de Haroldo de Campos

Este artigo examina o fragmento 45 das Galáxias de Haroldo de Campos em sua tradução francesa considerada como texto original. Na primeira parte, a autora interroga o aspecto meteórico do texto no intuito de demonstrar de que maneira o poema é ao mesmo tempo memória e devir da língua. Em um segundo momento, a questão da intertextualidade latente no fragmento é abordada como um saber sobre a literatura. Trata-se de mostrar, por meio de uma análise da aporia da tradução, que se o texto traz consigo um saber sobre a literatura, ele também comporta outros elementos cognitivos a serem decodificados em sua recepção. A escrita haroldiana é assim apreendida em sua reapropriação das estruturas barrocas.

Towards a Typology of Definitions for LSP Dictionaries

Definitions are the pivotal parts of dictionaries. Every lexicographer always strives to write definitions which are not only accurate but also comprehensible to dictionary users. Nevertheless, as shown in this paper, the definitions used in the current LSP dictionaries have not been able to suit the needs of their users. Therefore, it is necessary to create a typology of definitions for LSP dictionaries which can be referred to by lexicographers when writing definitions. The typology is created by implementing the lexicographical function theory which focuses on satisfying user needs. The typology takes into account both text production and text reception functions, as well as encyclopaedic and foreign language competences of the users. The proposed typology is expected to serve as a model which can be referred to by lexicographers when deciding on how to write definitions for LSP dictionaries in general, and ESP dictionaries in particular.

‘Metaphoring’ People out of this World: A Critical Discourse Analysis of a Chairman’s Statement of a UK Defense Firm

We introduce Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), an interdisciplinary approach to analysing written and spoken texts, which provides accounting researchers with a range of resources to analyze corporate narrative documents more systematically and in more detail from a linguistic perspective. CDA addresses how the content and the linguistic features of texts influence, and are in turn influenced, by the contexts of text production, distribution, reception and adaptation, and by the wider socio-economic context in which texts are embedded. We apply Fairclough’s (2003, 2006) Dialectic-Relational approach to the analysis of a chairman’s statement of a UK defence firm. The focus of analysis is on the grammatical devices used to represent organisational activities and outcomes in ways which obfuscate social agency (impersonalisation), and to evaluate social actors, entities, and social events (evaluation). We find that impersonalisation and evaluation are used strategically to guide organisational audiences’ interpretations of financial performance and to legitimise and normalise violence and destruction by depicting it in an abstract and sanitised manner.

Multimediale Revolution – Multimodaler Text: Eigenschaften multimodaler Texte anhand von Beispielen aus der Anzeigenwerbung

AbstractThe present article deals with the question of how - on the one hand - the current “multimedia revolution” changes our conceptions of text, text production and text reception, and which challenges arise from these changes for Applied Linguistics and for Communication Sciences on the other hand. The fact that in the construction of texts other codes are increasingly significant in addition to the verbal-linguistic code needs a wide and interdisciplinary perspective and the cooperation between linguistics and semiotics. From a perspective based on textual semiotics, the author intends to describe the characteristics and specifics of multimodal texts, in order to present a model for their description and characterization. The question which first arises is how the different codes which participate in the construction of the text interact, in what way they are connected and what their constitutive participation in the resulting superior meaning of the whole text is. These theoretical observations are finally illustrated by examples from print advertising, since print advertisements are understood as the epitome of multimodal super-texts, and because of the fact that the above described modifications and changes in our text world appear in a broad manner in texts of mass communication.

Access Routes of Internet Finance Dictionaries: Present Solutions and Future Opportunities

Lexicographers working on finance dictionaries have not properly exploited the fast development of the Internet. This is revealed by the poor utilization of the access routes found in current Internet finance dictionaries. Consequently, users cannot effectively and efficiently find answers to their lexicographical problems. Firstly, there are Internet finance dictionaries which lack technological features and can simply be called meagre Internet dictionaries. Secondly, there are Internet finance dictionaries which utilize so many technological features that users incur high lexicographical information costs. In order to create better access routes, a sound theoretical foundation has to be established. This article shows that the implementation of the modern theory of lexicographical functions, which focuses on the users, results in a better design for future Internet finance dictionaries. With the proper theoretical basis, lexicographers will be able to create state-ofthe-art dictionaries that can provide effective and efficient solutions to lexicographical problems. Keywords: Dictionary, Paper Dictionary, Internet Dictionary, Lsp Dictionary, Finance Dictionary, Financial Terms, Lexicography, Lexicographical Functions, Text Reception, User Needs, User Situation, Access Routes, Search Options, Lexicographical Information Costs

A Transtextual Approach to Lexicographic Functions

The development of theoretical lexicography clearly indicates a movement towards a more general recognition of the role of lexicographic functions. A consistent application of lexico-graphic functions has a major influence on the contents of dictionary articles but also on the data distribution and even the typological classification. In the discussion of lexicographic functions, the emphasis has primarily been on the central list of dictionaries. This article proposes an approach where outer texts are also selected and compiled in order to make an active contribution to achieving the lexicographic functions of a given dictionary. A distinction is made between func-tion-adhering and non-function-adhering outer texts. The function-adhering outer texts can further be divided into integrated and non-integrated function-adhering outer texts. With reference to the data distribution programme of a dictionary, it is suggested that in the planning of every diction-ary, provision should be made for a function allocation programme. This will ensure that the iden-tified functions of a given dictionary will be realised in both the central list and the outer texts. Keywords: back matter texts, central list, cognitive function, data distribution, frame structure, front matter texts, function allocation programme, function-adhering outer texts, functional text parts, integrated function-adhering outer texts, lexicographic functions, non-function-adhering outer texts, non-integrated function-adhering outer texts, outer texts, text production, text reception, transtextual approach

"Nuwe Woordeboek sonder Grense": A Typological and Communicative Bridge

Within the South African lexicographical context, there have been several pleas for Afrikaans learner's and school dictionaries that incorporate innovative strategies and provide for specific identified target users and their particular problems. Nuwe Woordeboek sonder Grense (NWSG) is an Afrikaans learner's dictionary that is aimed at a specific group of users, can be used for text reception and text production and forms part of an established textbook series. Through new strategies and adaptations, this dictionary tries to form a bridge between different typological categories and to be a functional instrument for use in the classroom. In accordance with the theo-retical formulation of dictionary functions, NWSG tries to further communication through initial support in and eventual assimilation of the foreign language. In this article, theoretical insights regarding learner's dictionaries as well as practical examples from NSWG are combined to illus-trate the possibilities of a more user-friendly product. Keywords: learner's dictionary, users, typology, bridge language, text reception, macrostructure, text production, micro-architecture, frame structure

Basic problems of learner's lexicography

In general, learner's dictionaries suffer from the fact that lexicography has been treated as a subdiscipline of linguistics and not as an independent discipline and that, correspondingly, no serious efforts have been made to develop a general theory of learner's dictionaries within the general theory of lexicography. Such a theory must undoubtedly be developed on the basis of the theory of lexicographic functions. Foreign language learning is a complex process and the very concept of a learner is in no way unambiguous. Dictionaries can be conceived to assist the learner in different aspects of the language-learning process. Accordingly, at least four main functions of a learner's dictionary can be distinguished corresponding to the following user situations: text reception in the foreign language, text production in the foreign language, conscious study of the foreign- language lexis and conscious study of the foreign-language grammar. Learner's dictionaries are, thus, not to be considered a special type of dictionaries, but constitute a more general category including various types of learner's dictionaries according to their functions or combination of functions. The great challenge to learner's lexicography is to conceive and compile dictionaries that assist the learner in as many aspects of the language-learning process as possible. Keywords: lexicography, learner's lexicography, learner's dictionaries, general theory of learner's lexicography, lexicographic functions, communication-orientated functions, knowledge-orientated functions, foreign-language text reception, foreign-language text production, assimilations of the foreign-language system, learners' characteristics, user needs, user situations, lexicographic data, lexicographic structures