Use Of Spoken Language Research Articles

홈쇼핑 방송의 한일 커뮤니케이션 연구－쇼핑호스트를 둘러싼 담화공간을 중심으로－

Although a person may have outstanding linguistic abilities, there are cases where they do not have the ability to communicate in a specific context within society. This research will focus on the speech of home shopping network hosts, which is one of many types of communication scenarios and will observe the differences in the linguistic actions of Korean and Japanese hosts. Observation revealed that in both countries the hosts used honorifics but honorifics can be said to have been used more in Japanese and improper language was hard to find in Japanese even in use of spoken language. Also, as hosts of these programs communicated with the viewers and also with fellow hosts, there were differences in speech used with viewers and also when talking to themselves in Korean or Japanese. The results found in the research was done while focusing on a specific field but it gives us a hint of the difference in linguistic actions between speakers and listeners and also with participants within Korea and Japan. The structure of language in Korean and Japanese are similar so it may be easy to think that linguistic actions would be similar but there needs to be care in not causing potential problems due to misunderstandings. This research focuses on a small part of society when focusing on television home shopping hosts but later through accumulated research, there is anticipation of finding more differences in linguistic actions between Korean and Japanese..

<em>Mehubarot</em>: A Peep without a Show

The Israeli television series Mehubarot (Connected, 2009) follows five Israeli women who use their performance before the camera—through both visual and spoken texts—as a means of biographical representation which blends public and private aspects of their daily lives. This article examines the use of spoken language as a central tool for signaling sincerity and closeness on the series’ visual stage, focusing on the unique setting of Israeli society and the exclusive genre of a televised diary in its written and spoken modes.

Measuring Syntactic Complexity in Spoken and Written Learner Language: Comparing the Incomparable?

Spoken and written language are two modes of language. When learners aim at higher skill levels, the expected outcome of successful second language learning is usually to become a fluent speaker and writer who can produce accurate and complex language in the target language. There is an axiomatic difference between speech and writing, but together they form the essential parts of learners’ L2 skills. The two modes have their own characteristics, and there are differences between native and nonnative language use. For instance, hesitations and pauses are not visible in the end result of the writing process, but they are characteristic of nonnative spoken language use. The present study is based on the analysis of L2 English spoken and written productions of 18 L1 Finnish learners with focus on syntactic complexity. As earlier spoken language segmentation units mostly come from fluency studies, we conducted an experiment with a new unit, the U-unit, and examined how using this unit as the basis of spoken language segmentation affects the results. According to the analysis, written language was more complex than spoken language. However, the difference in the level of complexity was greatest when the traditional units, T-units and AS-units, were used in segmenting the data. Using the U-unit revealed that spoken language may, in fact, be closer to written language in its syntactic complexity than earlier studies had suggested. Therefore, further research is needed to discover whether the differences in spoken and written learner language are primarily due to the nature of these modes or, rather, to the units and measures used in the analysis.

‘FEMINA PROTERVA, RUDE, INDOCTA […], CHI T’HA INSEGNATO A PARLAR IN QUESTO MODO?’ WOMEN’S ‘VOICES’ AND LINGUISTIC VARIETIES IN SIXTEENTH- AND SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY WRITTEN TEXTS

This interdisciplinary essay brings together the history of linguistic thought and the history of women, investigating how women’s ‘voices’ (here taken to mean women’s use of spoken language in everyday life) were presented and described in a variety of literary works in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Italy. By examining an array of primary sources that range from poetry to theatre plays, from conduct literature texts to prose writings, women’s habits in speech are discussed in relation to some of the existing linguistic varieties in use at the time in the peninsula, focusing especially on the native vernacular, the literary language — as it was codified in particular thanks to Bembo’s Prose della volgar lingua (1525) — and Latin. Given that their use of spoken language was meant to be natural and devoid of embellishments, whenever women ventured beyond their usual linguistic contexts, they could easily be accused of affectation and artificiality in their speech.

LEAPing on with language: An on-line language programme to support classroom teachers and parents of primary school children (aged 5–11 years)

The Leaping on with Language programme provides a combination of strategies and activities to accelerate children's spoken language use from simple sentences to complex language. Using a conversational philosophy it expands the building blocks of language (vocabulary, grammar, speech), whilst emphasising the importance of developing independent social communication and acknowledging a child's developing self esteem and self identity between the ages of 4–11. Three pilot projects evaluated the programme with a total of 51 delegates. The outcomes were hugely positive. Changes in behaviour were reported from the 3rd pilot 1 month later. Comments regarding the length of training, practical strategies and more film clips were implemented. Leaping on with language is now a free to access resource available on line.

Perceptual learning in the laboratory versus real-world conversational interaction

Understanding perceptual learning effects under novel acoustic circumstances, e.g., situations of hearing loss or cochlear implantation, constitutes a critical goal for research in the hearing sciences and for basic perceptual research surrounding spoken language use. These effects have primarily been studied in traditional laboratory settings using stationary subjects, pre-recorded materials, and a restricted set of potential subject responses. In the present series of experiments, we extended this paradigm to investigate perceptual learning in a situated, interactive, real-world context for spoken language use. Experiments 1 and 2 compared the learning achieved by normal-hearing subjects experiencing real-time cochlear implant acoustic simulation in either conversation or traditional feedback-based computer training. In experiment 1, we found that interactive conversational subjects achieved perceptual learning equal to that of laboratory-trained subjects for speech recognition in the quiet, but neither group generalized this learning to other domains. Experiment 2 replicated the learning findings for speech recognition in quiet and further demonstrated that subjects given active perceptual exposure were able to transfer their perceptual learning to a novel task, gaining significantly more benefit from the availability of semantic context in an isolated word recognition task than subjects who completed conventional laboratory-based training.

Image schemas and mimetic schemas in cognitive linguistics and gesture studies

Image schemas have been a fundamental construct in cognitive linguistics, providing grounds for psychological, philosophical, as well as linguistic research. Given the focus in cognitive linguistics on embodied experience as a fundamental basis for language structure and meaning, the employment of image schemas in the analysis of gesture with speech is a logical extension. However, given their level of abstraction, to what degree do image schemas provide a useful explanatory tool for researching the concrete, physically embodied details of gestures? This article considers the answer to this question and then turns to a more recent theoretical development that complements the picture by encompassing a different realm of cognitive and linguistic phenomena. This research, on ‘mimetic schemas’, is shown to have great potential for thinking about some known phenomena of gesture in a new way. Schema research on these different levels thus provides a useful means to analyze behavior in another modality involved in spoken language use, namely the visual.

10 Diary Entries [2010-12

This work is an exploration into a personal use of spoken language though a predefined process intended to mirror that of my painting practice. A similar process of self-imposed limitation is applied with the aim of suggesting both an autobiographical residue of my own thinking, and open up a potential dialogue for the reader. A series of ten quotations taken from a painting diary are paired with words and punctuation from a series of books that I own. This process has been repeated until all ten quotations have been paired, one word and punctuation mark at a time, creating lists of footnotes, the suggestion being that language has been acquired in this manner. The relationship between word and associated footnote becomes the source of play, frustration or familiarity. The intention is to demonstrate that this deterministic process far from being reductive in its effect, has resulted in the words being read either as part of a whole or reintegrated and reoriented into something new through a process of appropriation rather that engenderment. The hope is that this procedural limitation can act as a trigger for the reader to resequence and reconfigure the references through association and connection that might say something about them in terms of age, taste and perhaps even prejudice. While painting is the subject of the quotations, the implication is that this is constructed by material from another source. This has a distancing effect, which I hope has drawn some parallels with the process of making a painting itself. The footnotes have become detached for the quotations and are free to be re-cited, and act less to affirm or underline and more of leave a trace.

Nonword Repetition as a Predictor of Long-Term Speech and Language Skills in Children With Cochlear Implants

The rapid phonological processing skills of children with cochlear implants early in life (ages 8-10), as measured by nonword repetition performance, will predict their language development 8 years later (ages 16-18). This core processing ability will also correlate with concurrent measures of language at both ages of testing. Understanding the causes of the wide range of performance in pediatric cochlear implant users currently constitutes a major barrier to clinical and research progress in the field. Research into children's neurocognitive abilities such as working memory capacity and verbal rehearsal speed, in addition to conventional demographic variables, has shown that these foundational skills play a key role in determining outcomes. Here, we investigate the impact of rapid phonological processing, an ability which is critical in spoken language use, for children with cochlear implants. Fifty-two deaf children with cochlear implants completed a battery of 14 clinical and research measures of language, neurocognitive, and nonword repetition skills in 2 testing sessions 8 years apart. Performance on the nonword repetition task at both testing sessions correlated significantly with concurrent language abilities. Importantly, nonword repetition accuracy at age 8 to 10 also significantly predicted performance on measures of language ability at age 16 to 18 in a wide range of domains, from speech intelligibility to sentence recognition in noise. These relations were significant even when other neurocognitive measures were controlled. Early nonword repetition performance in children with cochlear implants predicts later language development and, therefore, may identify those children at high risk for poor outcomes.

Progress of diagnosis and treatment of Rett syndrome

Rett syndrome (RTT) is a disorder characterized by regression of spoken language and hand use, distinctive hand stereotypies, accompanying with severe psychomotor developmental retardation and retrogression.RTT becomes recognizable at 6-18 months and female are absolutely susceptive.MECP2 mutations are closely related to the development of RTT.Revised diagnostic criteria for RTT (2010) ensure a high degree of homogeneity in cases enrolled in treatment and clinical studies throughout the world.As for the treatment, no crucial advancement has been clinically applied recently, but some valuable basic research is in progress.This paper reviews the genetic research, clinical diagnosis and treatment of RTT, and promotes understanding of the new diagnostic criteria and basic research. Key words: Rett syndrome; Psychomotor disorders; Diagnosis; Therapy; MECP2 gene

Understanding Deafhood: In Search of Its Meanings

The authors argue that Deafhood (a term coined by Dr. Paddy Ladd) is an open-ended concept with an essentialist core. They describe how deaf people who have attended their Deafhood lectures and workshops have perceived different aspects of the Deafhood concept, and compare the basic tenets of Deafhood and criticisms on Deafhood to theories and criticisms on feminist essentialisms. The authors find that the vagueness and wideness of the Deafhood concept is one of its strengths, though they also find that it is in some respects problematic to combine and unite ontology and liberation theory in one concept. They further suggest that the ontological aspects of Deafhood need to be foregrounded. The question of essentialism inherent in the Deafhood concept is also briefly discussed with regard to hearing people, the use of spoken language, and the use of amplification technology and cochlear implants.

Longitudinal Follow-Up of Children With Autism Receiving Targeted Interventions on Joint Attention and Play

This study examines the cognitive and language outcomes of children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) over a 5-year period after receiving targeted early interventions that focused on joint attention and play skills. Forty children from the original study (n = 58) had complete data at the 5-year follow-up. In all, 80% of children had achieved functional use of spoken language with baseline play level predicting spoken language at the 5-year follow-up. Of children who were using spoken language at age 8 years, several baseline behaviors predicted their later ability, including earlier age of entry into the study, initiating joint attention skill, play level, and assignment to either the joint attention or symbolic play intervention group. Only baseline play diversity predicted cognitive scores at age 8 years. This study is one of the only long-term follow-up studies of children who participated in preschool early interventions aimed at targeting core developmental difficulties. The study findings suggest that focusing on joint attention and play skills in comprehensive treatment models is important for long-term spoken language outcomes.

CDKL5 mutations in early epileptic encephalopathy and in atypical forms of Rett syndrome

Rett syndrome (RTT, MIM #312750) is a neurodevelopmental disorder defined by a distinct set of clinical features, notably a regression that robs the affected individuals of spoken language and volitional hand use [1]. Additionally, affected people develop characteristic hand stereotypies that are classically wringing or washing in nature, although they make take on a variety of forms such as clapping, finger rubbing, or hand mouthing. Gait is also impaired or absent: Those who can walk display a characteristic dyspraxic gait. Most affected individuals are girls, which is one of the features that lead to the discovery of the genetic cause for the majority of cases, mutations in Methyl-CpG-Binding Protein 2 (MECP2) [2]. Ninety-five percent of people who fulfill the clinical criteria for typical, or classic RTT have mutations in MECP2 [3]. In addition to the defining clinical characteristics outlined above, people with typical RTT have a number of additional clinical features such as irregular awake breathing patterns, growth failure, sleep disruption, dystonia, and scoliosis. The majority of individuals have seizures at some point in their life and have grossly abnormal electroencephalograms. Seizure onset is typically in school age and is very rare amongst infants. In contrast to the pattern of seizures found in people with typical RTT, a subset of individuals have been identified who have some features of RTT but have severe, early-onset epilepsy [4]. Mutations in MECP2 are not typically found in these variants, which have been termed early seizure variant [1]. In the last couple of years mutations in a different genetic locus, Cyclin dependent kinase 2 (CDKL5), have been identified in people with severe infantile epilepsy with infantile spasms and early infantile epileptic encephalopathy (EIEE2, MIM#300672), some of whom have also been characterized as having the early seizure variant of RTT [5,6]. In this issue of Journal of Pediatric Epilepsy, Martinez et al. [7] describe a Spanish experience looking for CDKL5 mutations in a cohort of people characterized as having atypical RTT but lacking mutations in MECP2. They screened 53 of the collection of 150 people lacking MECP2 mutations and found de novo genetic changes in eight individuals. Seven of the eight individuals presented had relatively early onset of seizures (between 25 days and 3 yr), however, this is a later and more variable presentation of seizure onset than has been previously reported, with seizures typically starting in the first 1-3 mo of life [8,9]. The authors also attempt *Address for correspondence: Jeffrey L. Neul, Duncan Neurological Research Institute, 1250 Moursund Street, Suite 1250.018, Houston, TX 77030, USA. Tel.: +1 832 824 8808; Fax: +1 832 824 8858; E-mail: jneul@bcm.edu. Journal of Pediatric Epilepsy 1 (2012) 3–4 DOI 10.3233/PEP-2012-002 IOS Press 3

Enhancing the Application and Evaluation of a Discrete Trial Intervention Package for Eliciting First Words in Preverbal Preschoolers with ASD

This study evaluates the effectiveness of an intervention package including a discrete trial program (Rapid Motor Imitation Antecedent Training (Tsiouri and Greer, J Behav Educat 12:185-206, 2003) combined with parent education for eliciting first words in children with ASD who had little or no spoken language. Evaluation of the approach includes specific intervention targets and functional spoken language outcomes (Tager-Flusberg et al., J Speech Lang Hear Res 52:643-652, 2009). Results suggest that RMIA, with parent training, catalyzes development of verbal imitation and production for some children. Three of five participants acquired word production within the DTT framework and achieved milestones of early functional spoken language use (Tager-Flusberg et al., J Speech Lang Hear Res 52:643-652, 2009). The implications of these findings for understanding the role of discrete trial approaches to language intervention are discussed.

A portable, real-time vocoder: Technology and preliminary perceptual learning findings.

Transformed or vocoded acoustic signals paralleling the processing of cochlear implants have proven extremely useful for simulating aural perception in deaf CI users with normal hearing participants. The benefits of current perceptual studies with vocoded stimuli are limited, however, in their ecological validity and direct applicability to the everyday challenges faced by CI users. Normal hearing subjects listen for relatively short periods of time to isolated, prerecorded words or sentences; therefore, their perceptual learning occurs without the semantic context, visual support, and conversational interplay that normally accompanies spoken language use. In this paper, the development of a new device, which enables vocoded speech research to overcome many of these limitations, is described. This technology carries out vocoding signal transformations in real-time, with very short delays, and is small enough to fit in a participant’s pocket. The portable, real-time vocoder (PRTV) therefore allows subjects to experience vocoded acoustics while freely interacting with their environment and the people in it, potentially for extended periods of time. Preliminary investigation of perceptual learning with the PRTV has demonstrated its efficacy: improvements of up to 15% in open-set word recognition accuracy were found in 3 NH listeners after 1.5 h of interactive use.

Assessing Listening Skills in Children with Cochlear Implants: Guidance for Speech-Language Pathologists

Assessing Listening Skills in Children with Cochlear Implants: Guidance for Speech-Language Pathologists

Rose and primary English: are the shackles really off?

This article offers a critical appraisal of some of the Rose Report's recommendations for the primary English curriculum. It is divided into two parts. The first discusses the strengths and weaknesses of the recommendations whilst raising questions about their potential to bring about urgently needed curriculum renewal. The second is a reflective study of a short, intensive teaching programme recently conducted with a Year 6 class which used a children's story to improve writing performance. Dramatic activities and a progressive model for questioning texts made use of pedagogical strategies which were designed to engage children's enjoyment and motivation whilst also ensuring that developmental gains were made in spoken language, thinking and writing. The head teacher who initiated the project had already embarked on a series of new approaches to the curriculum which happened to coincide with Rose's recommendations to make greater use of spoken language and drama in reading and writing development. It is suggested that such approaches can make a strong impact upon children's learning across several areas. However, what is left unresolved is the question of whether high stakes testing and literacy prescriptions will continue to inhibit the real potential which exists for curriculum change.

Outcomes From Cochlear Implantation for Child and Family: Parental Perspectives

While cochlear implantation is an increasingly routine provision for profoundly deaf children in many countries, parents still require information about the procedure and likely outcomes in order to make an informed decision. Other parents can provide them with the insights of those who have undergone the process themselves and observed outcomes at first hand.The parents of 101 consecutively implanted children completed the questionnaire: Children with cochlear implants: parental perspectives. Average age at implantation was 4.7 years: range 1.3–12.4 years, with 86% percent congenitally deaf, and 14% acquired deafness. Parents responded to 74 statements on a Likert scale; the responses exploring the process of implantation have been reported in a previous paper. Those responses reporting the outcomes for children and families following implantation are analysed in this paper.Parents reported that they were largely satisfied with the outcomes from implantation: that their children developed greater confidence, were more independent, that the use of spoken language had developed greatly and that communication within the family had improved. The children did not need more support from their parents than before implantation and the support parents were giving was more productive.However, there still remained concerns: parents needed to be patient as progress took time, and a number remained concerned about future education and felt that outcomes from implantation had not met their expectations.The children were considered reliant on their implant systems and hence on the optimal functioning of the technology; this demands long-term management to ensure that those dealing with the technology on a daily basis have the skills and equipment to manage them optimally. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Specific language impairment and developmental dyslexia: The same or different?

Specific language impairment and developmental dyslexia: The same or different?

Parents' Views on Changing Communication After Cochlear Implantation

We sent questionnaires to families of all 288 children who had received cochlear implants at one center in the United Kingdom at least 5 years previously. Thus, it was a large, unselected group. We received 142 replies and 119 indicated that the child and family had changed their communication approach following cochlear implantation. In 113 cases the change was toward spoken language and in 6 cases the change was toward signed communication. Parents were asked to respond to statements about communication with their deaf child, and their responses indicated that parents wanted the most effective means of communication and one that their child would find most useful in the future. Findings that emerged from parents' comments indicated that the change toward greater use of spoken language was child-led and driven by increased audition. Parents also valued the contribution of signed communication.