Item Wording Research Articles

Narrative microstructure and macrostructure in adolescents with Down syndrome and Williams syndrome

Down syndrome (DS) and Williams syndrome (WS) are genetic neurodevelopmental disorders associated with intellectual disability, showing contrasting linguistic profiles with asymmetries in grammatical (DS weakness/WS strength) vs. pragmatic abilities (DS strength/WS weakness). The aim of the present study was to explore the linguistic profiles of 14 adolescents with DS and WS, and 14 typically developing controls (matched by chronological and verbal age) by comparing the microstructure and macrostructure of narratives and their possible dissociation. Participants watched an episode of the Tom and Jerry cartoon series and were asked to retell it. The videotaped narratives were transcribed and analyzed with the tools of the CHILDES Project and the Pragmatic Evaluation Protocol for Corpora (PREP-CORP). Microstructure was assessed by productivity at the grammatical level (number of utterances) and lexical level (number of word tokens), and complexity at the grammatical level (MLU) and lexical level (number of word types). Macrostructure was assessed by the number of story elements recalled at three levels: scenarios (global), episodes (integrated), and events (detailed). Results confirmed asymmetries in the linguistic profiles of both groups, with relative strengths of adolescents with DS in macrostructure despite relative weaknesses in microstructure. Conversely, adolescents with WS exhibited strengths in narrative microstructure, but failed to show better performance than the DS group in macrostructure. Following regression analyses, microstructure predicted macrostructure in typically developing adolescents, while no association was found between both levels in the profiles of adolescents with WS and DS, which was interpreted as an atypical dissociation.

Factors Associated with Abusive Head Trauma in Young Children Presenting to Emergency Medical Services Using a Large Language Model

Objectives Abusive head trauma (AHT) is a leading cause of death in young children. Analyses of patient characteristics presenting to Emergency Medical Services (EMS) are often limited to structured data fields. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Large Language Models (LLM) may identify rare presentations like AHT through factors not found in structured data. Our goal was to apply AI and LLM to EMS narrative documentation of young children to detect AHT. Methods This is a retrospective cohort study of EMS transports of children <36 months of age with a diagnosis of head injury from the 2018–2019 ESO Research Data Collaborative. Non-abusive closed head injury (NA-CHI) was distinguished from AHT and child maltreatment (AHT-CAN) through 2 expert reviewers; kappa statistic (k) assessed inter-rater reliability. A Natural Language Processing (NLP) framework using an LLM augmented with expert derived n-grams was developed to identify AHT-CAN. We compared test characteristics (sensitivity, specificity, negative predictive value (NPV)) between this NLP framework to a Generative Pretrained Transformer (GPT) or n-grams only models to detect AHT-CAN. Association of specific word tokens with AHT-CAN was analyzed using Pearson’s chi-square. Area Under the Receiver Operator Curve (AUROC) and Area Under the Precision-Recall Curve (AUPRC) are also reported. Results There were 1082 encounters in our cohort; 1030 (95.2%) NA-CHI and 52 (4.8%) AHT-CAN. Inter-rater agreement was substantial (k = 0.71). The augmented NLP framework had a specificity and sensitivity of 72.4% and 92.3%, respectively with a NPV of 99.5%. In comparison, the GPT model had a sensitivity of 69.2%, specificity of 97.1% and NPV of 98.4% and n-grams alone had a sensitivity of 53.8%, specificity of 62.0%, NPV of 96.4%. AUROC was 0.91 and AUPRC was 0.52. A total of 44 n-grams and bi-grams were positively associated with AHT-CAN including “domestic,” “various,” “bruise,” “cheek,” “multiple,” “doa,” “not respond,” “see EMS.” Conclusions AI and LLMs have high sensitivity and specificity to detect AHT-CAN in EMS free-text narratives. Words associated with physical signs of trauma are strongly associated with AHT-CAN. LLMs augmented with a list of n-grams may help EMS identify signs of trauma that aid in the detection of AHT in young children.

Texts of Different Emotional Classes and Their Topic Modeling

The article is devoted to studying verbalization specifics of various emotional states in the texts in the Russian language with the purpose to confirm or refute the hypothesis that texts of different emotional classes reflect the denotative situation not identically, which is reflected in thematic specifics and lexical content. The research material consisted of eight corpus texts in the Russian language, which were extracted from the public pages of the social network VKontakte. The texts were selected according to emotional hashtags that corresponded to eight basic emotions, according to H. Lцvheim’s model: anger, surprise, shame, enjoyment, disgust, distress, excitement, fear. The correspondence of emotion and hashtag was established in a preliminary psycholinguistic experiment. While analyzing the text collection, we used the method of computer thematic modeling to identify statistically non-random groups of words (topics). We applied the BERTopic neural network model to the collected data. As a result of the analysis, it was found that texts of 8 emotional classes contain an uneven number of topics, despite the fact that their number does not correlate directly with the amount of data: with a relatively small amount of data, there may be many topics, but in a voluminous corpus – few. The sets of words (tokens) that make up each non-random group (topic) differ in each subcorpora, reflecting the specifics of the denotative situation, which is formed under the influence of the emotional state of the speaker. The idea of diverse thematic “granularity” of texts of different emotional classes is theoretically justified.

Empowering informal caregivers and nurses to take a person-centred view: adaptation and clinical utility of the Integrated Palliative Outcome Scale (IPOS-Dem) for use in acute and community care settings

BackgroundDementia is a progressive and terminal illness. Symptoms are present for people with dementia across all stages, leading to poor quality of life and considerable carer burden. In acute and community care services, no holistic, person-centred outcome tools are available for nurses and informal caregivers to measure symptoms and needs from the person`s with dementia point of view. We therefore undertook validation (exploring semantic/conceptual equivalence, content validity, and views on clinical utility) for a measure (IPOS-Dem) in the community and acute care setting in Switzerland.MethodsThis was a rigorous, multi-step, cross-sectional, multi-method study conducted with nurses and relatives caring for people with dementia in the community and acute care setting. Multiple components were aligned: 1) forward and backward translation from German to Swiss German to achieve semantic equivalence; 2) focus groups to explore clinical utility and conceptual equivalence; 3) cognitive debriefing to review content validity. An expert review was included at the end of each phase.ResultsSix people from the public and 24 nurses/relatives were included. Semantic equivalence was achieved after making 14 changes to the wording of items. Participants judged the IPOS-Dem (CH) as a clinically useful intervention in the domains of appropriateness, accessibility, practicability, and acceptability for the following reasons: (1) it enables support for informal caregivers, (2) it provides an overview of the priorities of care, thus supporting symptom review, (3) it allows nurses with different qualifications to contribute critical observations, thus fostering communication and teamwork, and (4) it increases an awareness of change in symptoms throughout the disease trajectory. In the cognitive debriefing interviews, setting and respondent-dependent differences in the conceptual understanding of item descriptors were observed for 11 of 31 items.ConclusionIn this novel work, we demonstrate the newly-translated and culturally-adapted IPOS-Dem (CH) is a relevant and comprehensive measure for persons with mild to severe dementia. It can aid a generalist workforce across settings to assess palliative care-relevant symptoms and concerns.

Investigating the relationships among athlete leadership behaviours, perceptions of athlete leader fairness, and cohesion

ABSTRACT The purpose of the study was to examine athlete leader fairness in relation to athlete leadership behaviours and cohesion. Participants included 363 intercollegiate team sport athletes from Canada and the United States. Participants completed the Leadership Scale for Sports (Chelladurai & Saleh [1980]. Dimensions of leader behavior in sports: Development of a leadership scale. Journal of Sport Psychology, 2(1), 34–45. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsp.2.1.34) to assess athlete leadership, Group Environment Questionnaire (Eys, Carron, et al., [2007]. Item wording and internal consistency of a measure of cohesion: The Group Environment Questionnaire. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 29(3), 395–402. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsep.29.3.395) to measure cohesion, and a leader fairness inventory (Colquitt [2001]. On the dimensionality of organizational justice: A construct validation of a measure. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86(3), 386–400. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.86.3.386). Structural equation modelling was used to assess athlete leader fairness as a mediator in the relationship between athlete leadership behaviours and cohesion. Positive relationships were found between athlete leadership behaviours of training and instruction, social support, and positive feedback with dimensions of athlete leader fairness, whereas autocratic behaviour was found to have a negative relationship with athlete leader fairness. Procedural fairness was positively related to all dimensions of cohesion, and interpersonal fairness was positively related to ATG-S. Regarding indirect effects, significant effects were found between athlete leadership behaviours and cohesion through the mediators of procedural fairness and interpersonal fairness. From these findings, procedural fairness was identified as a full mediator between training and instruction and all dimensions of cohesion, and interpersonal fairness was identified as a full mediator in the following relationships: autocratic behaviour-to-ATG-S, social support-to-ATG-S, and positive feedback-to-ATG-S. The present findings provide support for athlete leaders as a source of leader fairness in team sport. The findings also suggest that fairness may help explain why leadership behaviours positively relate to cohesion, indicating that athlete leaders should provide fair leadership to their team members.

Maternal input, not transient elevated depression and anxiety symptoms, predicts 2-year-olds' vocabulary development.

Both the quantity and quality of the maternal language input are important for early language development. However, depression and anxiety can negatively impact mothers' engagement with their infants and their infants' expressive language abilities. Australian mother-infant dyads (N = 30) participated in a longitudinal study examining the effect of maternal language input when infants were 24 and 30 months and maternal depression and anxiety symptoms on vocabulary size. Half the mothers had elevated depression and anxiety symptoms during at least one point in the study (at 6, 12, 18, 24, or 30 months). The results showed that only maternal input measures (word tokens, types, and mean length of utterance) predicted vocabulary size. While no evidence was found that brief periods of maternal depression and anxiety negatively impacted early vocabulary development, the findings highlight the critical importance and possible mitigating effects of maintaining good quality mother-infant interactions during early development.

Keywords and Semantic Domains in Annual Global Risks Reports through the Past Decade

Incorporating keyword analysis and semantic domain analysis, the present study linguistically investigated ten Global Risks Reports published by the World Economic Forum (WEF) from 2013 to 2024. The corpus comprised 174,800 word types and 405,366 word tokens. Using the features of Wmatrix and the concordance and collocation tools in Sketch Engine, the study identified the top themes, semantic domains, and patterns prevalent in the ten reports. The semantic domain analysis revealed deep insights into the details of these themes, patterns, and the types of language used compared to the keyword analysis. The results showed the obvious interplay between politics, the economy, technology, and the environment, with minimal attention given to humanitarian and social dynamics. Economic risks appear to be the most pressing risks according to these reports, with every theme ultimately boiling down to the economic situation. Additionally, the reports discussed governments’ economics without addressing their impact on citizens and their socioeconomic conditions. This study could be a valuable contribution to the literature that could aid in the tracking of long-term linguistic choices found in risk reports using corpus linguistics. It could also serve as a valuable reference for governments, institutions, or corporations that seek to interpret and analyze global risk reports.

Cognitive testing in 19 countries to refine WHO's Sexual Health Assessment of Practices and Experiences.

To refine a standard questionnaire on sexual practices, experiences and health-related outcomes to improve its cross-cultural applicability and interpretability. We aimed to explore participants' willingness and ability to answer the draft questionnaire items, and determine whether items were interpreted as intended across diverse geographic and cultural environments. We conducted cognitive interviews (n = 645) in three iterative waves of data collection across 19 countries during March 2022-March 2023, with participants of diverse sex, gender, age and geography. Interviewers used a semi-structured field guide to elicit narratives from participants about their questionnaire item interpretation and response processes. Local study teams completed data analysis frameworks, and we conducted joint analysis meetings between data collection waves to identify question failures. Overall, we observed that participants were willing to respond to even the most sensitive questionnaire items on sexual biography and practices. We identified issues with the original questionnaire that (i)affected the willingness (acceptability) and ability (knowledge barriers) of participants to respond fully; and/or (ii)prevented participants from interpreting the questions as intended, including poor wording (source question error), cultural portability and very rarely translation error. Our revisions included adjusting item order and wording, adding preambles and implementation guidance, and removing items with limited cultural portability. We have demonstrated that a questionnaire exploring sexual practices, experiences and health-related outcomes can be comprehensible and acceptable by the general population in diverse global contexts, and have highlighted the importance of rigorous processes for the translation and cognitive testing of such a questionnaire.

Measuring Stakeholder Engagement in Statewide Primary Care Cardiovascular Health Improvement Cooperatives.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains a major national health challenge with significant disparities linked to socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, sex, and geography, prompting federal efforts to build statewide primary care quality improvement (QI) cooperatives to improve heart health. To be effective, cooperatives require high levels of member engagement and leaders need ways to assess engagement. The objective of this study was to develop and validate a novel Cooperative Member Survey to assess cooperative member engagement and assess the value of the cooperative to members across three statewide heart health QI cooperatives. The 14-item survey included fixed-response and open-ended questions and was developed through multiple iterative rounds across the three cooperatives to gain consensus on the wording of final items using a Delphi process. The survey then was administered to the key stakeholders in the three cooperatives. Findings from both the quantitative and qualitative items were analyzed and reported based on frequencies and emerging themes. The survey was then analyzed to determine factor structure and validity. Analysis revealed a two-factor structure which the research team identified as: (1) Cooperative Engagement, consisting of 11 items that measured how well the cooperative functioned overall, and (2) Cooperative Value, consisting of two items that assessed the perceived value of mutual learning and respect within the cooperative. This two-factor structure indicated that the Cooperative Member Survey successfully captured both the practical aspects of how the cooperative operates and the members' perceived benefits of their involvement. Successful QI cooperatives not only require efficient operations but also a sense of shared value among members. These findings suggest that cooperatives designed to improve public health outcomes may benefit from focusing not only on practical aspects of engagement but also on cultivating mutual respect and collective learning.

An Easily Accessible, Semi-Automated Approach to Creating Personalized Normative Feedback and Risk Feedback Graphics.

Personalized normative feedback interventions show efficacy in reducing health risk behaviors (e.g., alcohol use, sexual aggression). However, complex personalized normative feedback interventions may require manual methods of inputting participant data into graphics, which introduces error, and automated approaches require substantial technical costs and funding and may limit the types of feedback that can be provided. To make personalized normative feedback more accessible, we outline a method of using easily accessible software programs including IBM Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft PowerPoint, to create and display complex personalized normative feedback graphics. We also describe methods through which personalized normative feedback graphics can be created within a larger preventive intervention for alcohol and sexual assault in college men. We first provide step-by-step instructions for collecting data and then creating semi-automated syntax files within SPSS and Excel to merge participant data into complex personalized normative feedback graphics in Excel. To do so, we append annotated syntax in text and in supplemental material. Next, we outline the process of creating risk feedback graphics, whereby individual items or exact wording of items are displayed back to the participant. Finally, we provide guidance regarding the process of translating graphics from Excel for viewing via PowerPoint without having to manually update PowerPoint slides for each presentation. Via the described syntax and graphic generation, researchers are then able to create semi-automated personalized normative feedback and risk feedback graphics. This tutorial may help in increasing the dissemination of complex personalized normative feedback interventions.

Word Repetition and Isolation are Intertwined in Children's Early Language Experiences.

Infants experience language in the context of a dynamic environment in which many cues co-occur. However, experimenters often reduce language input to individual cues a priori without considering how children themselves may experience incoming information, leading to potentially inaccurate conclusions about how learning works outside of the lab. Here, we examined the shared temporal dynamics of two historically separated cues that are thought to support word learning: repetition of the same word in nearby utterances, and isolation of individual word tokens (i.e., single-word utterances). In a large database of North American English, we found that word repetition and isolation frequently co-occurred in children's natural language experiences, and the extent to which they did so was linked to words' earlier age of acquisition. This investigation emphasizes children's experiences in time as a way to understand the learning cues in the language environment, which may help researchers build learning theories that are grounded in real-world structure.

Cognitive dissonance in tuberculosis stigma: A mixed methods analysis of tuberculosis stigma measurement in South Africa.

The Patient and Community Perspectives Towards Tuberculosis are the most common measure of tuberculosis (TB) stigma in sub-Saharan Africa. The instrument and its sub-scales (patient and community) have been quantitatively validated but have not undergone qualitative exploration in South Africa. We explored whether the Patient Perspectives Towards Tuberculosis adequately represents stigma as experienced by people with TB in South Africa. We used mixed methods to explore differences between the lived experience of TB and the quantitative stigma score. Participants with rifampicin-resistant TB and HIV co-infection completed the quantitative scale. Among those, 30 also completed qualitative interviews about their experiences and perceptions of TB stigma. We used cognitive interviewing techniques to interrogate congruence between the two data sources. The scale demonstrated adequate factor structure with approximately normal distribution. Participants qualitatively described experiences and perceptions of stigma that contradicted their quantitative responses. The scale could not discriminate between participants who reported distressing experiences of TB stigma, and those who did not. Item wording caused confusion, and many elements of TB stigma most discussed by participants are not reflected in the scale. The Patient Perspectives Towards Tuberculosis lacks theoretical and experiential domains that are central to TB stigma in South Africa. Studies validating stigma scales in new populations should integrate a mixed-methods approach to ensure content validity.

Voices of Hope: Leveraging Think-Aloud Cognitive Interviews to Develop a Hope Assessment Tool for Young People Living with Chronic Health Conditions.

Hope is a universal, multidimensional, and nuanced concept that may have specific meaning for young people living with chronic health conditions anticipated to last into adulthood. We previously identified definitions of hope for youth living with chronic health conditions derived from young people's and their caregivers' own words. Here, we aimed to develop a hope assessment tool to facilitate the future evaluation of interventions to support wellness and health for young people growing up with chronic health conditions; Methods: We developed Likert-type scale questions using the young people's and caregivers' definitions of hope and applied the think-aloud cognitive interview method to assess understanding and to inform sequential iteration. Interviews were recorded and insights from participant interviews were analyzed thematically. In total, 11 youth (age 12-16 years) with various chronic health conditions completed surveys and interviews over three iteration cycles. Responses to the six-point Likert-scale questions ranged from 1 (none of the time) to 6 (all of the time) (median 5). All of the young people (n = 11) reported that they do things they enjoy, either all of the time or most of the time. In contrast, only 36% felt energetic, either all or most of the time. Three themes were identified: my body and hope; my identity, self-image, and hope; and my world and hope. In addition to gaining important feedback that allowed us to improve item word choice to maximize assessment tool understanding, we gained valuable insights into the multidimensional construct of hope. Thematic analysis revealed the importance of physical symptoms and identity to the meaning of hope in the context of a young person's life. Our new hope assessment tool derived from the young people's own definition of hope has face and content validity for use in clinical and research settings to evaluate hope among pediatric patients living with chronic health conditions.

Approach to Complementary Feeding and Infant Language Use: An Observational Study.

Emerging research suggests that a more infant-led approach to complementary feeding may confer benefits for child language, but these findings are based on parent report studies. Using an observational approach this study examines whether different complementary feeding experiences relate to infant language exposure and language use. Fifty-eight parents recorded a typical infant mealtime in the home (mean infant age = 14 months, SD = 4.15). Observations were coded to measure the prevalence of infant-led and parent-led feeding using the Family Mealtime Coding Scheme. Caregiver language use (word types and token directed at the child, mean length of utterances in child-directed speech, responsiveness and initiations) and the number of infant vocalisations were coded in ELAN using CHAT conventions and parents completed the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory short form as a measure of child language. Greater observed infant self-feeding was significantly associated with greater observed exposure to language from caregivers (r = 0.312 percentage of infant self-feeding correlated with caregiver word types directed at the child) and a greater number of infant vocalisations (r = 0.320 percentage of infant self-feeding correlated with number of child vocalisations produced). Structural Equation Modelling showed the relationship between infant self-feeding and infant vocalisations to be significantly mediated by enhanced quality and quantity of caregiver child-directed speech (model fit: χ2 [5] = 5.01, p = 0.415, CFI = 1.00 [NF = 0.98], RMSEA = 0.006). Differences in the approach to complementary feeding may shape infant's experiences in ways that support language exposure and use. Autonomy associated with infant self-feeding may enhance opportunities for social interaction.

Assessing the Parenting Stress Index-Short Form (PSI-SF) for Latinx Parents of Children with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Within Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling and Structural Equation Modeling-Based Generalizability Theory Frameworks

Although the Parenting Stress Index-Short Form (PSI-SF) is widely applicable, there has been a dearth of research on the psychometric properties and item wording effects associated with the cultural sensitivity of the instrument. This study investigated the psychometric properties, the factor structure, and the negative and positive item wording effects of PSI-SF for 96 Latinx parents of children with intellectual and developmental disabilities in the United States within exploratory structural equation modeling, and structural equation modeling-based generalizability theory frameworks. This study produces the following noteworthy findings. First, the ESEM bifactor model with negatively and positively phrased items best captured the theoretical frameworks underlying the structure of the PSI-SF. Second, adding method factors enhanced the model fits of all the factor models. Third, this study discovered several items with great proportions of method factors. This study recommended that the items with high proportions of method factors, which may likely be culturally insensitive to Latinx parents, be examined further and refined. With the use of accurately assessed PSI-SF scores, practitioners will be better able to support and empower Latinx parents of children with IDD and better meet their needs through the FIRME program, a parent advocacy initiative.

Arabic word tokenization system using the maximum matching model

Word tokenization is the first stage for higher-order Natural Language Processing (NLP) tasks like Part-of-Speech (PoS) tagging, parsing, and named entity recognition. The amount of text on the World Wide Web is growing daily in the present era of technology, necessitating the use of advanced instruments. Since more and more people speak Arabic around the world, Arabic language processing systems must be improved. Due to the writing style of Arabic with a lack of support for capitalization features and the use of compound words, it is difficult to perform word tokenization. This research paper proposes a novel Arabic word tokenization system based on the knowledge. To develop this system, a maximum matching model with its two variations, namely forward and reverse maximum matching is used. The proposed system is implemented in Python. The results produced during system evaluation report high performance.

Development of Digital Health Gender and Sexual Health Literacy scale

Abstract Introduction Health literacy, as the ability to obtain, process and understand health information, including gender and sexuality awareness, appears to be underdeveloped in terms of measurement tools and thematic materials. The literature indicates the existence of serious deficits in gender and sexual health literacy at all levels, with implications for relationships with citizens and patients. Methods Delphi study agreement was conducted and a pool of potential scale items was generated, reflecting a range of skills and abilities within each domain. Items were carefully worded to ensure clarity, cultural sensitivity and relevance to different gender identities and sexual orientations. Expert review and cognitive pre-testing were employed to refine item wording, assess content validity, and ensure that the 10-item scale was comprehensible and relevant to the target population. Results The theoretical development of the 10-item Digital Health Gender and Sexual Health Literacy Scale was successfully completed. The scale items were designed to provide a comprehensive measure of an individual’s ability to navigate the digital landscape for gender and sexual health information. Conclusions The theoretical validation of the Digital Health Gender and Sexual Health Literacy Scale (DiGeSHeL) provides the community with a promising tool to assess individuals’ confidence and ability to use digital technologies for sexual health information and resources. However, further research is needed to validate the scale and test its reliability with a diverse group of participants. Once validated, this scale could be a valuable tool for sexual health promotion programmes to identify gaps and evaluate the impact of digital literacy interventions. Key messages • Gender and sexual literacy are crucial for health. • Health literacy as six vital sign.

A default mode network subsystem supports both item and associative word encoding: Insights from a meta-analysis

Abstract Recent meta-analytic evidence has underscored the significant role of the default mode network (DMN) in facilitating item word encoding. This study builds on this finding through a comprehensive meta-analysis of fMRI-based subsequent memory studies that use words as stimuli. The results highlight several key functions within the DMN. Firstly, the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) subsystem of the DMN plays a pivotal role in enhancing successful word encoding, suggesting its vital involvement in the semantic processing of incoming verbal information. Secondly, the utility of the dmPFC subsystem extends beyond item word encoding to associative word encoding tasks, demonstrating its broad applicability in verbal information encoding. Thirdly, regions within the left inferior frontal cortex, a core component of the dmPFC subsystem, show increased activity during associative compared to item word encoding, emphasizing their role in integrating verbal information with contextual details. Contrary to previous research that linked the DMN with encoding interference—often attributed to the core subsystem’s tendency for mind-wandering—this study highlights the facilitative role of the dmPFC subsystem in memory encoding. The contrasting roles of the DMN subsystems, both interfering and facilitating, challenge traditional views and advocate for a more nuanced understanding of the network’s role in memory encoding.

Lexical frequency and target language input in the primary languages classroom

ABSTRACT This paper presents an exploratory study of L2 input in the primary languages classroom. Teacher talk in 33 videorecorded lessons taught to Year 3 French beginners by a specialist teacher of French was analysed, in order to document the extent and nature of L2 vocabulary input. Further analyses compared the lexis of teacher talk in this primary setting with high-frequency wordlists derived from two reference corpora designed to support the teaching of L2 French. Results showed that children were exposed to c 45,000 words (tokens) of French, reflecting a teacher vocabulary of c 650 lemmas. Intentionally taught lexis such as foods or animal names typically received massed practice, not always supplemented by distributed practice. The teachers’ partial but consistent use of French for classroom management contributed to a well-balanced distribution of word classes. There was considerable overlap with both reference wordlists, and divergence could largely be explained by the teacher’s choice of topics, and incidental use of French to personalise and engage childrens’ individual interests, as well as for classroom management purposes. In discussion, the need for careful planning and management of vocabulary instruction is highlighted, as well as the significant potential of L2 classroom management to enrich lexical input.

Development of the Compassionate Technology Scale for Professionals (CTS-P): value driven evaluation of digital mental health interventions

BackgroundCompassion is an essential and beneficial value in mental healthcare. However, how digital mental health interventions influence compassion in treatment has not been systematically investigated, due to the lack of appropriate measurement instruments. To address this gap, we developed the Compassionate Technology Scale for Professionals (CTS-P), aimed at mental health professionals.MethodsWe used Q-methodology, a method that combines quantitative and qualitative analysis to explore shared viewpoints on a particular topic, to select and refine items. Participants were 15 professionals from different areas of mental healthcare. In individual sessions, while thinking aloud, they sorted 35 statements on relevance for evaluating technology use on compassion. The statements were based on a scientific conceptualization of compassion with five elements. The sorting task was followed by a short interview to explore participants’ associations with compassion and technology.ResultsWith by-person factor analysis, we found three different viewpoints among participants, all with eigenvalues > 1 and with a total explained variance of 63.02%. We selected prioritized items of each viewpoint and for each theoretical element of compassion, resulting in a full scale (15 items) and a short scale (3 items). Based on qualitative input from participants, the scale was adapted to clarify its focus and the wording of items. While thinking aloud, participants shared benefits and critical notes regarding technology and compassion.DiscussionTogether with key stakeholders, we developed the CTS-P. Most participants prioritized the potential of technology to obtain more information and be closer to their client in facilitating compassion. The main critical note participants had was that technology is not necessary to support compassion at the therapist’s experiential level. This emphasizes the need to further explore how mental health professionals and technology can complement each other in a system of compassionate care. Future research should explore the factor structure, validity, and reliability of the scale through psychometric validation.ConclusionsThe CTS-P can make the extent to which technology for mental healthcare influences elements of compassion measurable and comparable. The scale can prove useful for prioritizing the value of compassion in both the development and use of digital mental health interventions.