Language Acquisition Research Articles

Supervised and unsupervised learning models for pharmaceutical drug rating and classification using consumer generated reviews

Optimization of medication therapy depends on maximizing benefits and minimizing side effects of medications. This research showed how a joint approach using text mining, natural language processing, and machine learning can provide information for personalized and optimized medication therapy. Reviews on the benefits and side effects of prescription and over-the-counter medications were used to determine how well an integrated supervised and unsupervised learning could learn medication satisfaction. Supervised learning with naïve-Bayes, non-linear support vector machine with radial basis function kernels, and random forests with CART decision trees was measured by a micro-aggregated Matthews correlation coefficient and a macro-averaged F1 measure. Random forests outperformed support vector machines by almost 250% and naive-Bayes by 600% on the two evaluation metrics. All models did better with three rating levels, instead of five. Topic modelling and stacked cluster analysis were coupled with parts-of-speech tagging and text mining operations to establish a robust data preprocessing procedure to eliminate noisy features from the data. Unsupervised topic modelling and clustering represented an exploratory validation of how easy supervised classification would be. Well-defined latent topics were discovered including topics on “sleep quality”, “the opportunity to get back to work”, and “weight gain”. Overlapping clusters revealed that incorporating more information on social, demographic, or medical history variables could improve classifier performance. This research provided evidence that medication satisfaction can be learned with carefully designed joint supervised, unsupervised, and natural language learning techniques.

Multilingual Video Viewing Subtitle to Audio Translator

Abstract: The research outlines an innovative approach to translate and synthesize audio content from English to any language, enhancing accessibility and knowledge acquisition for diverse linguistic communities. It focuses on improving language comprehension among various groups in India, particularly aiding visually impaired individuals. The approach incorporates Hugging Face Transformers for more precise language translation alongside Google Text-to-Speech for audio conversion. Additionally, Pydub and FFmpeg commands efficiently handle audio processing tasks, while Pytube facilitates YouTube video downloads. The system includes a subtitle generation feature that synchronizes subtitles with translated audio chunks, offering a comprehensive multilingual viewing experience. This implementation emphasizes language translation, audio manipulation, video processing, and subtitle generation functionalities, all integrated with robust error handling and multithreading capabilities. This showcases significant progress in accessible andmultilingual content delivery, reaffirming our commitment to inclusive knowledge dissemination and communication.

Early trajectories and moderators of autistic language profiles: A longitudinal study in preschoolers.

Language development can greatly vary among autistic children. Children who struggle with language acquisition often face many challenges and experience lower quality of life. However, little is known about the early language trajectories of autistic preschoolers and their moderators. Autistic language can be stratified into three profiles. Language unimpaired experience little to no language difficulties; language impaired show significant difficulties in language; minimally verbal never develop functional language. In this study, we used a longitudinal sample of preschoolers with autism and with typical development (aged 1.5-5.7 years). We replicated the three language profiles through a data-driven approach. We also found that different factors modulated the language outcome within each group. For instance, non-verbal cognition at age 2.4 moderated the participants' attribution to each language profile. Moreover, early intervention moderated verbal outcome in the language impaired profile. In conclusion, we provided a detailed description of how autistic preschoolers acquire language, and what factors might influence their trajectories. Our findings could inspire more personalized intervention for early autistic language difficulties.

THÌ and LÀ Constructions in Vietnamese: A Study on Argument Structures

This study aims to shed light on the argument structure of the Vietnamese particles THÌ and LÀ, which function as markers of focused constituents and topic-comment structures, respectively. The research objectives are to identify the syntactic and semantic properties of constructions involving THÌ and LÀ, and to analyze their argument structures within the theoretical frameworks of construction grammar. Specifically, the constructional approach (Goldberg 1995, 2006) and radical construction grammar (Croft 2001) will be employed. The methodology involves collecting a corpus of naturally occurring data from various written sources. The data will undergo qualitative analysis to identify argument structure patterns associated with THÌ and LÀ constructions, as well as quantitative analysis of frequency and distribution. The expected findings will provide insights into the argument structures of these Vietnamese constructions, elucidating how focused constituents and topic-comment structures are marked. The study will evaluate the applicability of the chosen theoretical frameworks in accounting for the observed patterns. The findings have potential applications in natural language processing tasks requiring accurate recognition and interpretation of focused constituents and topic-comment structures, such as information extraction, machine translation, and language generation. Furthermore, the study may inform language teaching and acquisition by shedding light on the usage patterns of THÌ and LÀ in Vietnamese. The analysis is expected to contribute to a deeper understanding of argument structures in Vietnamese and potentially motivate extensions or modifications to the theoretical frameworks.

A Review of Teaching English for Business Purposes in Morocco

This study reviews the existing literature on English for Specific Purposes (ESP), with a particular emphasis on Business English, within the Moroccan context. By analyzing the findings from various studies, this work aims to draw significant conclusions about the field of ESP and Business English. It highlights the notable challenges faced in the Moroccan higher education system, such as the prevailing perception of the dominance of French in the job market, which negatively impacts student motivation and leads to compromised teaching standards. Furthermore, the study underscores the importance of a collaborative approach in curriculum development, advocating for the engagement of a broad range of stakeholders—educators, policymakers, industry representatives, and learners—to ensure ESP instruction is closely aligned with the requirements of the job market. Innovative teaching methodologies, like Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT), are recommended to boost student engagement and improve language acquisition. The findings of this study aim to contribute valuable insights and offer practical recommendations to enhance the teaching and effectiveness of ESP in Morocco, particularly in the domain of business English, to better prepare students for the challenges of the global and digitalized marketplace.

The use of Instagram to improve students' EFL Writing

Good communication makes it easier for us to connect with the community and other individuals with various backgrounds. Language is also a catalyst for us to understand ourselves and others, and is the key that opens the window of our world’s view. Every aspect on human life is very dependent on the proficiency of language skills. The goal of this paper was to see how the use of Instagram improved the students’ EFL writing ability. The method used to conduct this paper was Systematic Literature Review. There are 10 articles from various journals that are analyzed and synthetized to extract the data from. Based on the authors finding, the use of Instagram brought forth positive improvement on the students’ writing ability, as well as their motivation in language acquisition study.

How does basic psychological needs satisfaction contribute to EFL learners’ achievement and positive emotions? The mediating role of L2 self-concept

Based on an integrated framework of the self-determination theory and the control-value theory of achievement emotions, the current study investigated the impact of basic psychological needs (BPN) satisfaction on two types of educational outcomes, i.e., academic achievement and positive emotions in second language (L2) acquisition. This study also explored whether academic self-concept (L2 self-concept in this case) would mediate the effects of BPN satisfaction on L2 achievement and emotions. A total of 391 Chinese undergraduates studying English as a foreign language were recruited for the present study. They completed measures on basic psychological needs satisfaction, L2 self-concept (English self-concept in this case), English achievement, and positive academic emotions (i.e., enjoyment, pride, and hope). After controlling for demographics, structural equation modeling indicated that BPN satisfaction was positively associated with positive emotions and this association was partially mediated by English self-concept. More importantly, English self-concept fully mediated the positive impact of basic psychological needs satisfaction on English achievement. Our findings acknowledged BPN satisfaction as a contributor to desirable learning outcomes and highlighted the important role of L2 self-concept in second language acquisition. Satisfying students’ basic psychological needs and particularly maximizing their L2 self-concept have significant pedagogical implications for second language education.

The Impact of Quizlet on Vocabulary Achievement among Non-English Major Students at Dong Nai Technology University

This research aims to investigate the impact of Quizlet, a digital learning tool, on vocabulary achievement among non-English major students at Dong Nai Technology University. Vocabulary acquisition is a crucial aspect of language learning, particularly for non-English major students who often face challenges in mastering vocabulary. Quizlet, an online platform offering various interactive learning activities, has gained popularity as a supplementary tool in language learning contexts. This research aims to explore the effectiveness of Quizlet in enhancing vocabulary acquisition among non-English major students and its implications for language education at the university level. A quantitative analysis of pre-test/post-test scores is employed to provide comprehensive insights into the impact of Quizlet on vocabulary achievement. The findings contribute to understanding the potential of digital learning tools like Quizlet in supporting language learning and informing pedagogical practices for non-English major students.

Under the Vision of Situated Learning: Analysing the Influence of Educational Video Games on English Vocabulary Retention in Chinese Childrens Second Language Acquisition

This study will analyze the influence of educational video games on English vocabulary retention in Chinese childrens second language acquisition. This study base on the situated learning theory and the ABC reading which is both mobile and web-based is adopted as educational game in this research. This experiment takes the Chinese primary school students with an average age of 9-10 years old as experimental subjects, and set three groups of these Chinese students including the control group. By comparing the amounts of words they can remember at different times after learning, researchers can judge whether the educational video games have any influence on students' language learning. Through the experiment, We hypothesis that the video games will have a positive effect on childrens second language learning acquisition. On this basis, video games can be used as tools for language learning to provide more effective learning methods during the process of studying.

Influence of Dialect on the English Consonants Perception by English L2 learners: Evidence from Jiangsu Province for Chinese Native Speakers

The native language will have a negative transfer on the acquisition of second language. Dialects, as a branch of Chinese, also have an influence on English acquisition. The perception of consonants is one of the important foundations of English learning. This study will adopt discrimination as an experimental method to investigate whether there is a significant difference in the influence of different dialects on the perception of English consonants. Three major dialects in Jiangsu province will be taken as a study case to verify the hypothesis that there is a significant difference on the perception of English consonants in different dialects. This study will fill the gap in the overall research on the impact of three major dialects in Jiangsu province on the perception of English consonants, help English language learners with dialect background to reduce the influence of dialects on them and provide some teaching key points to teachers, especially for English language learners in Jiangsu province.

Overcoming Speech Anxiety in English Language Classrooms

This study investigates the impact of anxiety indicators on the speaking abilities of students in a bilingual junior high school setting, focusing on the challenges faced in English language usage within the classroom. Employing qualitative descriptive methods, including observations and interviews, the research encompassed 27 students and one English teacher. The analysis identified two predominant forms of anxiety affecting the students: a fear of making mistakes and a lack of self-confidence, which notably impaired their interaction in English with peers and educators. The study suggests implementing "English Day" activities as a strategic intervention to reduce linguistic anxiety and promote language skills, thereby improving students' communicative performance in English. This approach holds implications for enhancing language acquisition strategies in bilingual educational contexts.

The Use of Oxford’s Memory Strategies to Improve Vocabulary Learning Among Eleventh Grade EFL Students in Oman

Omani students must acquire English vocabulary to achieve educational qualifications and effectively communicate with English-speaking individuals, as vocabulary plays a crucial part in studying a foreign language and achieving academic success. Omani eleventh-grade students require assistance in employing effective ways for acquiring and retaining English vocabulary. They struggle with word retrieval in both spoken and written language. This study investigates the memory strategies utilised, preferred strategies, and influencing factors among eleventh grade EFL students in Oman. This study utilises an explanatory sequential mixed methods methodology. Convenience sampling was used to involve 126 students in this study. The researcher gathered data through a questionnaire, a semi-structured interview, and an observation checklist. The questionnaire data is analysed by descriptive statistical analysis, which includes calculating the mean and standard deviation. Thematic analysis is utilised for analysing the semi-structured interview data, while observation analysis is carried out to assess the classroom observation checklist. The findings showed that the most utilised category of methods is reviewing well (x=3.99), followed by employing actions (x=3.07). Interviews reveal that students favour utilising movies, visual aids, gaming, or competitive activities while interacting with their peers and friends. Additionally, CML tactics are predominantly utilised by teachers in their classrooms. The study results would assist educators in developing their vocabulary teaching strategies more efficiently, resulting in increased advantages for students. The curriculum developers could create tasks that enhance language acquisition.

Personalizing Students’ Digital Action Plans through Critical-Heutagogy Model for the Development of Critical Conscientization in Critical Reading

The advent of the digital age is unpredictably changing education and educational practices. With the wider availability of print and online materials, the language educator of the twenty-first century must expect her/his pupils to be more critical readers if they are to develop their critical consciousness in language acquisition. Consequently, the purpose of the study was to analyse the elements that impede students' capacity to increase their critical consciousness through critical reading, as well as the ways in which digital technology may alleviate the situation. In order to comprehend the reading practices of students, critical pedagogy and self-determined theory were applied. Utilizing a design-based research, design principles emerged that increased student engagement with texts, peers, and technology. As a result, a framework for enhancing students' proficiency and critical awareness in language teaching was developed.

Sociolinguistic analysis of code switching in medical register

The research work is associated with identifying an in-depth understanding about the ways that are used by patients and practitioners to handle the medical registers of language in medical communication. The research works focuses on the code-switching approaches in the medical communication that is important in patients. However, some challenges are associated with code switching usage in medical communication due to the usage of code switching along with its frequency as well as pattern of code switching. Previous researchers have focused on the impact of patient education level in code switching as well as the role of doctors to handle the approaches. The study is also supported by the concepts of theory of language acquisition device. However, previous research has not focused on the role of administration and leadership in that particular field. A descriptive research design is followed in order to collect primary data from the medical practitioners in order to generate further outcomes that can be valued in that particular research field. Software like IBM SPSS is used to generate results from the collected quantitative data.

EXPLORING THE COGNITIVE DIMENSIONS OF LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

Cognitive Linguistics, as an expanding discipline in language study, delves into language as a mental phenomenon, presenting a holistic approach that integrates linguistic and cognitive elements. Unlike traditional linguistics, which scrutinizes syntactical patterns, word structures, grammar rules, phonology, semantics, and lexical meanings, Cognitive Linguistics offers a comprehensive model that interweaves various closely connected theories. This study seeks to elucidate the manifestations of Cognitive Linguistics in language, providing scholars with a discerning analysis of existing theories. Furthermore, employing methods of descriptive and comparative analysis, this study aims to demonstrate the impact of Cognitive Linguistics on language processing and acquisition. It highlights its significance in second language acquisition while elucidating the underlying mental processes involved. The paper offers a succinct overview of this evolving discipline, encapsulating its unique characteristics within the encompassing term Cognitive Linguistics.

ENHANCING NEGOTIATION SKILLS WITHIN EDUCATIONAL SETTING

The study of negotiation skills within education extends beyond verbal communication to encompass cultural competence. Language instruction not only facilitates language acquisition but also fosters development of negotiation skills. Thus, the focus of the present study is on integrating negotiation skills training within the framework of English language instruction, in higher education in particular. The investigation carried out with the application of qualitative and quantitative research methodology, investigates the role of negotiation in educational contexts, discusses the significance of integrating negotiation skills training into higher education, evaluates the effectiveness of various teaching methods in enhancing students’ negotiation abilities, examines the relationship between negotiation and language acquisition. As a result, it can be stated that the integration of negotiation training into the education classroom holds immense potential for students (both academically and personally) in today’s globalized world, thus representing not only an educational imperative but also a societal necessity enabling students to navigate confidently in today’s increasingly complex and interconnected world.

Cross-linguistically consistent semantic and syntactic annotation of child-directed speech

AbstractCorpora of child speech and child-directed speech (CDS) have enabled major contributions to the study of child language acquisition, yet semantic annotation for such corpora is still scarce and lacks a uniform standard. Semantic annotation of CDS is particularly important for understanding the nature of the input children receive and developing computational models of child language acquisition. For example, under the assumption that children are able to infer meaning representations for (at least some of) the utterances they hear, the acquisition task is to learn a grammar that can map novel adult utterances onto their corresponding meaning representations, in the face of noise and distraction by other contextually possible meanings. To study this problem and to develop computational models of it, we need corpora that provide both adult utterances and their meaning representations, ideally using annotation that is consistent across a range of languages in order to facilitate cross-linguistic comparative studies. This paper proposes a methodology for constructing such corpora of CDS paired with sentential logical forms, and uses this method to create two such corpora, in English and Hebrew. The approach enforces a cross-linguistically consistent representation, building on recent advances in dependency representation and semantic parsing. Specifically, the approach involves two steps. First, we annotate the corpora using the Universal Dependencies (UD) scheme for syntactic annotation, which has been developed to apply consistently to a wide variety of domains and typologically diverse languages. Next, we further annotate these data by applying an automatic method for transducing sentential logical forms (LFs) from UD structures. The UD and LF representations have complementary strengths: UD structures are language-neutral and support consistent and reliable annotation by multiple annotators, whereas LFs are neutral as to their syntactic derivation and transparently encode semantic relations. Using this approach, we provide syntactic and semantic annotation for two corpora from CHILDES: Brown’s Adam corpus (English; we annotate $$\approx$$ ≈ 80% of its child-directed utterances), all child-directed utterances from Berman’s Hagar corpus (Hebrew). We verify the quality of the UD annotation using an inter-annotator agreement study, and manually evaluate the transduced meaning representations. We then demonstrate the utility of the compiled corpora through (1) a longitudinal corpus study of the prevalence of different syntactic and semantic phenomena in the CDS, and (2) applying an existing computational model of language acquisition to the two corpora and briefly comparing the results across languages.

Encourager la littératie au travers de l'album jeunesse lors de la prise en soins du langage d'enfants de 0 à 3 ans : état des lieux des pratiques actuelles en orthophonie.

Context: Numerous studies highlight the protective power of early parent-child interactions on language acquisition. In everyday life, shared book reading gives parents the greatest number of opportunities to support their child’s language development. However, despite existing recommendations on early literacy habits, many families are not familiar with children’s books. Because of their involvement in prevention, detection and intervention in case of language disorders, speech therapists are key to supporting parents with children's early literacy habits. Objective: In this study, we establish a picture of speech therapists’ knowledge of the use of children’s books to promote early childhood literacy in early language intervention. Methods: Speech therapists, working in France and taking care of children under 3 years old with language difficulties, completed a questionnaire assessing their sense of competency and their use of children’s books in session. Results: 173 speech therapists completed our questionnaire. The results show differences between the strategies used by speech therapists and the ones recommended in the literature. Conclusion: It reveals the necessity to help improve practices concerning children’s books in early intervention. In practice, it can help speech therapists support parents more efficiently in the shared reading habits.

Wh-Words: Existential or Universal Quantifiers in Child Mandarin?

Wh-words have been analysed as existential quantifiers (Chierchia in Logic in grammar: polarity, free choice, and intervention. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2013; Fox, in Sauerland U, Stateva P (eds) Presupposition and implicature in compositional semantics (Palgrave studies in pragmatics, language and cognition). Palgrave MacMillan, Houndmills, pp 71-120, 2007; Liao in Alternative and exhaustification: non-interrogative uses of Chinese wh-words. Harvard University, 2010) or universal quantifiers (Nishigauchi, in: Theoretical and applied linguistics at Kobe Shoin 2, Kobe Shoin Institute for Linguistic Sciences, 1999). These two accounts have distinct predictions on how children initially interpret wh-words. The universal account predicts that children should initially interpret wh-words as universal quantifiers, whereas the existential account anticipates that children should start out with the existential interpretation. To adjudicate between the two accounts, the present study was designed to explore pre-schoolers' semantic knowledge of wh-quantification. Specifically, it investigated the interpretation of the wh-word shenme 'what' with 4-and 5-year-old Mandarin-speaking children and a control group of adults. Using a Truth Value Judgment Task (Crain and Thornton in Investigations in universal grammar: a guide to experiments on the acquisition of syntax and semantics. MIT Press, Cambridge, 1998), Experiment 1 evaluated whether children interpret the wh-word shenme 'what' as closer in meaning to the polarity sensitive item renhe 'any' or the universal quantifier suoyou 'all' in the antecedent of ruguo 'if' conditionals. Using a Question-Answer Task, Experiments 2 & 3 respectively investigated whether children interpret shenme 'what' as closer in meaning to renhe 'any' or suoyou 'all' in two types of questions: yes-no questions with the particle ma and A-not-A questions. It was found that both children and adults interpret shenme 'what' as closer in meaning to renhe 'any' than suoyou 'all'. The findings suggest that Mandarin-speaking pre-schoolers already have adult-like semantic knowledge of wh-quantification: wh-words are existential quantifiers rather than universal quantifiers. Due to the paucity of primary linguistic input, children's early mastery of the non-interrogative wh-words appear to support the biolinguistic approach to language acquisition (Chomsky in Aspects of the theory of syntax. MIT Press, Cambridge, 1965; Pinker in Language learnability and language development. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1984; Crain et al. in Language acquisition from a biolinguistic perspective. Neurosci Biobehav Rev, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2016.09.004 ).

The Effect of Dopamine Stimulation Activities on English Language Learners: An Empirical Research

This study explores the perceptions of dopamine-stimulating activities among students and the challenges faced by teachers in implementing these activities in language education at Dai Nam University. A mixed-methods approach was employed, involving surveys and semi-structured interviews with 220 non-English major students and language teachers. The surveys assessed students' perceptions of various dopamine-stimulating activities, including gamified vocabulary acquisition courses, interactive language games, reward-based speaking activities, physical activity breaks, and project-based learning with rewards. Results indicate varying perceptions across academic years, with first-year students expressing the highest perceptions of effectiveness, followed by a decreasing trend in perceptions among higher-year students. Teachers reported challenges such as balancing novelty with meeting specific learning objectives, resource constraints, and classroom management difficulties. Qualitative data from semi-structured interviews with language teachers provided additional insights into the challenges and strategies encountered in implementing dopamine-stimulating activities. Themes emerged around the excitement and perceived effectiveness of these activities, specific activities utilized by teachers (such as interactive games, multimedia presentations, and real-world simulations), challenges faced, positive outcomes observed (including enhanced student engagement, participation, and language proficiency), and the need for flexibility and creativity in overcoming challenges. The study highlights the importance of considering students' perceptions and challenges faced by teachers in optimizing the effectiveness of dopamine-stimulating activities in language education. Tailored approaches to address varying perceptions and challenges are necessary to ensure meaningful engagement and promote effective language learning experiences. The findings contribute to the ongoing discourse on innovative pedagogical approaches in language education and offer practical implications for educators seeking to enhance student engagement and learning outcomes.