Production Of Utterances Research Articles

The problem of alignment

AbstractLarge language models (LLMs) produce sequences learned as statistical patterns from large corpora. Their emergent status as representatives of the advances in artificial intelligence (AI) have led to an increased attention to the possibilities of regulating the automated production of linguistic utterances and interactions with human users in a process that computer scientists refer to as ‘alignment’—a series of technological and political mechanisms to impose a normative model of morality on algorithms and networks behind the model. Alignment, which can be viewed as the superimposition of normative structure onto a statistical model, however, reveals a conflicted and complex history of the conceptualisation of an interrelationship between language, mind and technology. This relationship is shaped by and, in turn, influences theories of language, linguistic practice and subjectivity, which are especially relevant to the current sophistication in artificially produced text. In this paper, we propose a critical evaluation of the concept of alignment, arguing that the theories and practice behind LLMs reveal a more complex social and technological dynamic of output coordination. We examine this dynamic as a two-way interaction between users and models by analysing how ChatGPT4 redacts perceived ‘anomalous’ language in fragments of Joyce’s Ulysses. We then situate this alignment problem historically, revisiting earlier postwar linguistic debates which counterposed two views of meaning: as discrete structures, and as continuous probability distributions. We discuss the largely occluded work of the Moscow Linguistic School, which sought to reconcile this opposition. Our attention to the Moscow School and later related arguments by Searle and Kristeva casts the problem of alignment in a new light: as one involving attention to the social regulation of linguistic practice, including rectification of anomalies that, like the Joycean text, exist in defiance of expressive conventions. The “problem of alignment” that we address here is, therefore, twofold: on one hand, it points to its narrow and normative definition in current technological development and critical research and, on the other hand, to the reality of complex and contradictory relations between subjectivity, technology and language that alignment problems reveal.

Лингводидактическая модель дискурс-анализа

The study aims to develop a scientifically substantiated, theoretically validated, and practically tested linguodidactic model of discourse analysis. The paper analyzes the evolution of the discourse direction in foreign language teaching, marked by stages such as focusing on the formation of the discourse component of communicative competence, developing a discourse-oriented approach to foreign language teaching, viewing discourse as an independent object of foreign language education and creating models of professionally oriented foreign language education based on discourse analysis. The main directions in the study of discourse were analyzed, with a focus on concepts that formed the methodological basis for developing the linguodidactic model of discourse analysis, specifically linguistic and constructionist approaches to discourse analysis. The scientific novelty of the study lies in proposing the linguodidactic model of discourse analysis aimed at professionally oriented foreign language education, based on the theoretical understanding of the fundamental principles of discourse theory. The work uncovered relevant concepts in linguodidactics related to discourse analysis, providing a basis for extrapolating them to issues in foreign language education. The linguodidactic significance of the sociolinguistic approach to discourse analysis was identified in terms of directing students’ attention to the nuances of verbal interactions among representatives of different organizations and public institutions. The importance of critical discourse analysis and discursive psychology in linguodidactics was also noted, with discourse being viewed as a form of social practice. The linguodidactic model of discourse analysis developed in the study includes a system of interconnected methodological techniques, facilitating a phased transition from analyzing and interpreting meanings encapsulated in verbal and nonverbal components of professionally oriented foreign language discourse to the actual production of discursive utterances.

How dual-task interference on word production is modulated by the timing of the secondary task: evidence from errors in people with aphasia

ABSTRACT Background Utterance production is affected under dual-task conditions, but so far studies have shown an impact either on lexical or on phonological processes, but not on both simultaneously. Aims In the present study, we aimed at investigating how interference on lexical and phonological encoding is modulated by the timing of the concurrent task and by the attentional requirement (divided vs focused attention). Methods Participants with aphasia (PWA) underwent a picture naming task and an auditory detection task, with auditory stimuli presented at different stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs). The dual-task was performed under divided (Experiment 1) and focused attention (Experiment 2). Outcome & Results Omission errors increased under dual-task at early SOA only in Experiment 1 while phonological errors increased at later SOAs in both experiments. Conclusion These patterns of errors indicate that lexical and phonological processes are impacted under dual-task conditions, giving rise to an increase of specific types of errors at specific SOAs. They also show that very mild anomia may be more severe when assessed under dual-task conditions.

Does prosody contribute to the expression of the dialogism of the utterance?

Does prosody contribute to the expression of the dialogism of the utterance?

Time-course of phonetic (motor speech) encoding in utterance production

ABSTRACT Speaking involves the preparation of the linguistic content of an utterance and of the motor programs leading to articulation. The temporal dynamics of linguistic versus motor-speech (phonetic) encoding is highly debated: phonetic encoding has been associated either to the last quarter of an utterance preparation time (∼150ms before articulation), or to virtually the entire planning time, simultaneously with linguistic encoding. We (i) review the evidence on the time-course of motor-speech encoding based on EEG/MEG event-related (ERP) studies and (ii) strive to replicate the early effects of phonological-phonetic factors in referential word production by reanalysing a large EEG/ERP dataset. The review indicates that motor-speech encoding is engaged during at least the last 300ms preceding articulation (about half of a word planning lag). By contrast, the very early involvement of phonological-phonetic factors could be replicated only partially and is not as robust as in the second half of the utterance planning time-window.

Speech pauses in production of action language in Parkinson’s disease: A potential marker of mild cognitive impairment (S51.006)

<h3>Objective:</h3> To evaluate pauses before action utterances in Parkinson’s disease (PD) as a marker of cognitive function. <h3>Background:</h3> Speech is frequently impaired in PD, with longer pauses within and between utterances compared to controls. Action verb use is also impaired, but it is unclear if motor or cognitive dysfunction underlies this deficit. We hypothesized that production of utterances containing action verbs is more associated with cognitive than motor function, and may serve as a marker of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in PD. <h3>Design/Methods:</h3> 93 participants with PD and 8 older controls were asked to describe the cookie theft picture. We identified action utterances (AU, utterances containing an action verb) and non-action utterances (nonAU). Pauses &gt; 2 sec. were measured using <i>Praat(v5.3.72)</i>. To control for the amount of speech produced, the total duration of pauses was divided by number of utterances. Wilcoxon rank-sum test was used to compare linguistic variables between PD and controls. In the PD group, Spearman’s correlations between linguistic variables, motor severity (MDS-UPDRS Part-III) and global cognitive function (MoCA) were calculated. We ran a logistic regression model with the dependent variable cognitive status (MCI or normal cognition), and predictors linguistic markers, controlled for age, sex, words per minute and UPRDS. <h3>Results:</h3> Compared to controls, PD participants had significantly longer pauses before AU (p&lt;0.04) but not nonAU. UPRDS was not correlated with linguistic markers but MoCA was inversely correlated with pauses before AU (rho= −0.34, p=0.0004) and before nonAU (rho=−0.38, p=0.0001). Pauses before AU (OR 30.6 (95% CI=1.81–519.50), p=0.018) but not before nonAU were predictive of PD-MCI. <h3>Conclusions:</h3> In PD, pausing before AU in spontaneous speech is associated with cognitive function independent of motor severity. This linguistic variable was sensitive to PD-MCI and could be a useful marker of early cognitive decline in PD. Future investigation should explore the cognitive basis of this action related language deficit. <b>Disclosure:</b> Dr. Nascimento Andrade has nothing to disclose. Dr. Smith has received personal compensation in the range of $0-$499 for serving as a Consultant for PureTech. The institution of Dr. Smith has received research support from NIH. Dr. Smith has received personal compensation in the range of $0-$499 for serving as a single time expert panel discussion contributor with Acadia. Ms. Manxhari has nothing to disclose.

Influence of two-dimensional expiratory airflow variations on respiratory particle propagation during pronunciation of the fricative [f

Propagation of respiratory particles, potentially containing viable viruses, plays a significant role in the transmission of respiratory diseases (e.g., COVID-19) from infected people. Particles are produced in the upper respiratory system and exit the mouth during expiratory events such as sneezing, coughing, talking, and singing. The importance of considering speaking and singing as vectors of particle transmission has been recognized by researchers. Recently, in a companion paper, dynamics of expiratory flow during fricative utterances were explored, and significant variations of airflow jet trajectories were reported. This study focuses on respiratory particle propagation during fricative productions and the effect of airflow variations on particle transport and dispersion as a function of particle size. The commercial ANSYS-Fluent computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software was employed to quantify the fluid flow and particle dispersion from a two-dimensional mouth model of sustained fricative [f] utterance as well as a horizontal jet flow model. The fluid velocity field and particle distributions estimated from the mouth model were compared with those of the horizontal jet flow model. The significant effects of the airflow jet trajectory variations on the pattern of particle transport and dispersion during fricative utterances were studied. Distinct differences between the estimations of the horizontal jet model for particle propagation with those of the mouth model were observed. The importance of considering the vocal tract geometry and the failure of a horizontal jet model to properly estimate the expiratory airflow and respiratory particle propagation during the production of fricative utterances were emphasized.

Evaluation of English speaking proficiency under fixed speech rate: Focusing on utterances produced by Korean child learners of English*

This study attempted to test the hypothesis that Korean evaluators can score L2 speech appropriately, even when speech rate features are unavailable. Two perception experiments―preliminary and main―were conducted sequentially. The purpose of the preliminary experiment was to categorize English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) speakers into two groups―advanced learners and lower-level learners―based on the proficiency scores given by five human raters. In the main experiment, a set of stimuli was prepared such that the speech rate of all data tokens was modified to have a uniform speech rate. Ten human evaluators were asked to score the stimulus tokens on a 5-point scale. These scores were statistically analyzed to determine whether there was a significant difference in utterance production between the two groups. The results of the preliminary experiment confirm that higher-proficiency learners speak faster than lower-proficiency learners. The results of the main experiment indicate that under controlled speech-rate conditions, human raters can appropriately assess learner proficiency, probably thanks to the linguistic features that the raters considered during the evaluation process.

The Polish Language Is Not a Male-Chauvinistic Language (A Computer-Aided Research on the Polish Gender Category Presented in a Nutshell)

I took up the topic of grammatical gender in Polish due to the fact that the theories of 5, 7 and even 9 genders (including the so-called personal-masculine gender in plural) accepted in Poland since the second half of the 20th century give rise to unnecessary difficulties for foreigners attempting at correctly building Polish sentences such as Matka i dziecko nie mogli się sobą nacieszyć. (‘Mother and child could not stop enjoying each other’). The research I conducted as part of interactive linguistics (using the Prolog artificial intelligence language and the SEMANA platform) showed that the theory distinguishing the category of gender from the category of animacy (as in comparative Slavic linguistics) is more economical and gives better results (than the theory of 9 genders) both in the analysis and production of utterances. Additionally, due to the “personal-masculine” gender introduced into Polish grammar, there arose a debate on the possible “male-chauvinistic” character of the Polish language, and consequently of the entire Polish culture. In response to this, I argue that one should not too hastily identify grammatical categories with cognitive categories, especially since in all European languages I know, it is the masculine gender which is the unmarked gender (-feminine). It follows from this that the masculine gender has two meanings, one broad and more abstract (e.g., man as a human being in general) and one narrow indicating only men (e.g., man as a male person). Recently, however, the non-marked meaning of the masculine gender has been undermined by the so-called inclusive speech. In Polish, in the plural, the so-called masculine-personal form indicates either a group of men or a group of entities among which is at least one human being regardless of gender (in the utterance quoted above, in which the verb nie mogli (‘could not’) exhibits the so-called personal-masculine form, the feminine noun matka (‘mother’) and the neuter noun dziecko (‘child’) constitute a collective subject that occurs in grammatical agreement with the verb form in the masculine gender, acting as an exponent of the category of humanity (not “masculinity”). Thus, the so-called personal-masculine form is used with the unmarked gender meaning of a personal (or human) form (+human, feminine). The research I conducted shows that in contemporary Polish the category of gender has the following meanings: masculine, feminine, and neuter, and the category of animacy: inanimate (-animate), human animate (+animate, +human), and non-human or animal animate (+animate, -human).

Expository Discourse Production in School-Age Children across Two Scaffolded Tasks.

School-age children encounter expository discourse daily in the classroom, and skilled understanding and production of expository language is critical for academic success. The purpose of this study was to compare children's production of two types of expository discourse, generation and retell, while employing a scaffolded note-taking procedure to assist children in developing their samples. Twenty-six typically developing children, 9 to 12 years of age, participated in the study. For the expository generation task, children gave an explanation of a favorite activity, and for the retell task they viewed a video and provided an explanation of the information in the video. Overall, expository generation samples were longer and richer in content, but expository retell samples demonstrated greater lexical diversity. In addition, generation samples contained fewer grammatical errors than retell samples (trend), but measures of syntactic complexity, which were positively related across tasks, were not significantly different between sample types. Findings suggest that using a scaffolded procedure for supporting expository production resulted in (1) samples that were long enough for valid analysis of the children's language and (2) the production of utterances that, on average, were longer than reported in similar studies without scaffolding. The potential impact of comprehension on retell task performance is discussed.

Probabilistic modeling of rational communication with conditionals

While a large body of work has scrutinized the meaning of conditional sentences, considerably less attention has been paid to formal models of their pragmatic use and interpretation. Here, we take a probabilistic approach to pragmatic reasoning about indicative conditionals which flexibly integrates gradient beliefs about richly structured world states. We model listeners' update of their prior beliefs about the causal structure of the world and the joint probabilities of the consequent and antecedent based on assumptions about the speaker's utterance production protocol. We show that, when supplied with natural contextual assumptions, our model uniformly explains a number of inferences attested in the literature, including epistemic inferences, conditional perfection and the dependency between antecedent and consequent of a conditional. We argue that this approach also helps explain three puzzles introduced by Douven (2012) about updating with conditionals: depending on the utterance context, the listener's belief in the antecedent may increase, decrease or remain unchanged.

Attentional Demand of Motor Speech Encoding: Evidence From Parkinson's Disease.

While the involvement of attention in utterance planning is well established at the conceptual and lexical levels, the attentional demands of postlexical processes are still debated. This study investigates the involvement of attentional resources on motor speech encoding during utterance production in the context of Parkinson's disease (PD), a population allowing to assess if the attentional demands observed in a dual-task paradigm (the dual-task costs [DTCs]) are explained by postlexical difficulties and not solely by executive impairment. Speech production was analyzed in a dual-task paradigm with 30 participants presenting with motor speech disorders due to hypokinetic dysarthria in the context of PD. The dual-task comprised an automatic speech task in which participants recited the days of the week and two nonverbal tasks evaluating processing speed and inhibition. The severity of dysarthria and performance in several executive tests (inhibition, verbal fluency, and cognitive shifting) were used as potential predictors of the DTCs. Individuals with PD exhibited a DTC on the nonverbal tasks and on the speech task when the secondary task was inhibition (the most difficult one). Additionally, the severity of dysarthria and a poorer performance in cognitive shifting predicted a more severe DTC on speech rate. Finally, modulation of the magnitude of the DTCs was observed, depending on the difficulty of the nonverbal secondary task. The results suggest that, in PD, postlexical processes require attentional resources and cognitive shifting is related to dual-task performance in speech. https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.21265893.

Dialogic authorial academic language learning

This paper reenvisions academic language learning in the university from a dialogic authorial perspective inspired by the work of Bakhtin. I argue that language pedagogues have misappropriated the radical alternative Bakhtin poses for language learning in his critique of genre through adopting a Vygotskyian internalization approach to discourse and a post-structuralist interpretation of Bakhtinian dialogic discourse as intertextuality. I explore how genre pedagogy has adopted these misunderstandings of Bakhtin to prioritize students’ and scholars’ socialization within pre-existing, commonly accepted, shared, authoritative patterns of discourse. I claim that genre pedagogy tends to legitimize the practice of university writing curricula to postpone students’ engagement in meaning making, focusing on training over education. I explore the consequence of this prioritization on socialization and training in form for suppressing students’ dialogic addressivity to and problematization of the ideas of others, which is an essential for meaningful academic discourse. By contrast, a dialogic authorial approach to language learning prioritizes education through students’ and scholars’ ontological engagement in posing problems and authoring meaning in communion with others. The expectation is for language forms to become a necessary byproduct of the production of utterances that are meaningful to oneself and responsive to others. When focused on meaning, academic language forms become invisible except when there are challenges with intelligibility or modality. I argue for a radical rethinking of university language learning curricula in terms of a focus on voice and the “stylistics” of form to serve meaning making.

The Reshaping of Professional Discourse among Young Military Leaders during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Ukraine

The research aimed to outline the features of “new normal” communication behavior of young military leaders due to the COVID-19 pandemic influence. To study this critical problem we used some general scientific and empirical methods like literature analysis, synthesis and theoretical modelling, pedagogical experience, statistical data processing. The author found that the changes include development of closed and indirect forms, introduction of new lexical, grammatical, and stylistic units, fake information spread, misuse of information and communication technologies (ICT), periodical refusal to message with non-verbal tools. The findings show that professional discourse among young military leaders changes fast because of the COVID-19 pandemic. And the transformations involve different communication behavior, the more significant role of leaders in study group especially in the context of peer-to-peer learning, critical thinking development, independent production and comprehension of professional utterances, higher responsibility of a speaker. The experiment demonstrates that military officers and cadets are likely to cope with new “rules of the game” and they continue to carry out security tasks prioritizing discipline, considerable motivation, psychological readiness to high-risk conditions and adaptability to counteract dramatic challenges. The article is one of the early researches reviewing the features of young military leaders’ discourse and describing its current transformations. The research can contribute to developement of recommendations for professional discourse improvements and, consequently, to enhance the efficiency of professional activities of military officers.

COMMUNICATIVE-ACTIVITY APPROACH IMPLEMENTATION IN THE MODERN SYSTEM OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE LEARNING

The review of communicative activity key features realization approach in a modern system of foreign languages learning ​​has been carried out. It is defined that the communicative activity approach is based on the conceptual provisions of the activity and principles of communicative learning theory which gives students the opportunity to investigate problems independently, to observe, to analyze, to think critically, to argue and persuade the interlocutor as well as to make their own methods of learning a foreign language and to develop the ability to assess risks, to form constructive management of feelings, to use information and communication technologies, to interact in an adequate and creative way in all kinds of social and cultural contexts, to mobilize life experience, to apply basic / declarative knowledge and skills in practice, to create success situations, to form skills of self-control and mutual control. It is stated that modern paradigms of foreign language teaching outline the need to create conditions for active mastering of foreign language communication skills through the ability to understand and to achieve coherence in the reception and production of utterances within the communicatively significant speech formations. The main aspects of foreign language learning process on a communicative basis consider, namely: non-standard methods and forms of work that support students’ speech and mental activity and contribute to the maximum disclosure of their inner potential. It has been concluded that the effectiveness of communicatively oriented foreign language teaching depends on teachers’ understanding of the need to abandon authoritarian and scholastic methods and to apply teaching methods aimed at intensifying of the forming foreign language process and general cultural background of students in a creative way.

Behavioral and Brain Responses Highlight the Role of Usage in the Preparation of Multiword Utterances for Production.

Usage-based theories assume that all aspects of language processing are shaped by the distributional properties of the language. The frequency not only of words but also of larger chunks plays a major role in language processing. These theories predict that the frequency of phrases influences the time needed to prepare these phrases for production and their acoustic duration. By contrast, dominant psycholinguistic models of utterance production predict no such effects. In these models, the system keeps track of the frequency of individual words but not of co-occurrences. This study investigates the extent to which the frequency of phrases impacts naming latencies and acoustic duration with a balanced design, where the same words are recombined to build high- and low-frequency phrases. The brain signal of participants is recorded so as to obtain information on the electrophysiological bases and functional locus of frequency effects. Forty-seven participants named pictures using high- and low-frequency adjective-noun phrases. Naming latencies were shorter for high-frequency than low-frequency phrases. There was no evidence that phrase frequency impacted acoustic duration. The electrophysiological signal differed between high- and low-frequency phrases in time windows that do not overlap with conceptualization or articulation processes. These findings suggest that phrase frequency influences the preparation of phrases for production, irrespective of the lexical properties of the constituents, and that this effect originates at least partly when speakers access and encode linguistic representations. Moreover, this study provides information on how the brain signal recorded during the preparation of utterances changes with the frequency of word combinations.

Deployment of the formulaic utterance “how about∼” in task-based second language classroom discussions

AbstractFormulaic speech has long been of interest in studies of second language learning and pragmatic use as production and comprehension of formulaic utterances requires less processing and production effort and, therefore, allows for greater fluency. This study scrutinizes the sequential positions and actions of one formulaic utterance “how about∼” from the participants’ perspective. This conversation analytic study offers a fine-grained microanalysis of student interaction during classroom peer discussion activities. The data consist of over 54 h of video-recorded classroom interaction. Analysis revealed several positions and actions of “how about∼” as it occurs during peer discussions by Japanese learners of English. Emerging from analysis was a focus on how learners deploy this formulaic utterance to achieve various actions within sequences of interaction. Analysis revealed that participants used “how about∼” for (a) explicitly selecting next speaker, (b) shifting topics, (c) proposing a solution, and (d) suggesting alternative procedures. Although the formula was deployed to perform these four different actions, consistent throughout all instances was the disclosure of learner orientation to the progressivity of the task interaction. The findings show how language learners deploy this formulaic utterance in discussion tasks designed for language learning and highlights the pragmatic functions of this phrase.

Development of communicative competence through distance learning

The author defines the meaning of the term communicative competence, presets the structure of this characteristic and considers the development of its basic components by means of distance learning technologies. Relevant distance learning technologies are listed on the basis of teaching experience; the author evaluates their educational potential taking into consideration the fact that communicative competence includes speaking, writing, listening and reading skills, and the training process should involve the development of normative language aspects as well as skills in appropriateness of language use (on the level of perception and utterance production) in the specified context. Speaking skills are supposed to be the most significant in assessment of communicative competence development. The author shows that distance learning potential varies depending on the form of speaking (individual / pair / group / whole class interaction), describes current problems and the ways to solve them. The article considers educational principles which help to optimize the process of teaching and facilitate the efficient use of distance learning technologies for the development of communicative competence components. Distance learning prospects are analyzed on the ground of instrument potential, teachers and students experience. The following methods are used for the research: analysis and synthesis of scientific data, analysis of empirical data, questionnaire survey and participant observation. The results of the research can be applied for teaching foreign languages in organizations implementing distance learning courses.

Attention in post-lexical processes of utterance production: Dual-task cost in younger and older adults

There is a general agreement that speaking requires attention at least for conceptual and lexical processes of utterance production. However, conflicting results have been obtained with dual-task paradigms using either repetition tasks or more generally tasks involving limited loading of lexical selection. This study aimed to investigate whether post-lexical processes recruit attentional resources. We used a new dual-task paradigm in a set of experiments where a continuous verbal production task involved either high or low demand on lexical selection processes. Experiment 1 evaluates lexical and post-lexical processes with a semantic verbal fluency task, whereas Experiments 2 and 3 focus on post-lexical processes with a non-propositional speech task. In each experiment, two types of non-verbal secondary tasks were used: processing speed (simple manual reaction times) or inhibition (Go/No-go). In Experiment 1, a dual-task cost was observed on the semantic verbal fluency task and each non-verbal task. In Experiment 2, a dual-task cost appeared on the non-verbal tasks but not on the speech task. The same paradigm was used with older adults (Experiment 3), as increased effort in post-lexical processes has been associated with ageing. For older adults, a dual-task cost was also observed on the non-propositional verbal task when speech was produced with the inhibition non-verbal task. The results suggest an attentional cost on post-lexical processes and strategic effects in the resolution of the dual-task.

Measuring Collaboration Load With Pupillary Responses - Implications for the Design of Instructions in Task-Oriented HRI.

In face-to-face interaction, speakers establish common ground incrementally, the mutual belief of understanding. Instead of constructing “one-shot” complete utterances, speakers tend to package pieces of information in smaller fragments (what Clark calls “installments”). The aim of this paper was to investigate how speakers' fragmented construction of utterances affect the cognitive load of the conversational partners during utterance production and comprehension. In a collaborative furniture assembly, participants instructed each other how to build an IKEA stool. Pupil diameter was measured as an outcome of effort and cognitive processing in the collaborative task. Pupillometry data and eye-gaze behaviour indicated that more cognitive resources were required by speakers to construct fragmented rather than non-fragmented utterances. Such construction of utterances by audience design was associated with higher cognitive load for speakers. We also found that listeners' cognitive resources were decreased in each new speaker utterance, suggesting that speakers' efforts in the fragmented construction of utterances were successful to resolve ambiguities. The results indicated that speaking in fragments is beneficial for minimising collaboration load, however, adapting to listeners is a demanding task. We discuss implications for future empirical research on the design of task-oriented human-robot interactions, and how assistive social robots may benefit from the production of fragmented instructions.