Università del Salento: ESE - Salento University Publishing
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La persona-scienziato e la fenomenologia del soggettivismo epistemologico = The person-science and the phenomenology of epistemological subjectivism
No full textThis paper revolves around a contradiction: science is subjective and scientists are people with their own styles and emotions that are part of the production of knowledge. Phenomenology, contacting the sociology of science, offers a redefined vision of science: scientific progress rests on paradigmatic rewinds that fully involve the subjectivist sphere of the scientific community and of scientists as person-scientists
VARIMA and the RNN weather predictions Comparison in Irbid city
Get PDFThis research aims to compare two weather forecasting models: the Au- toregressive Integrated Moving Average Model and the Recurrent Neural Network model. Analysis and forecasting of boundary layer variables in the city of Irbid is performed based on historical data for many weather variables. The performance of both models is evaluated using the root mean square pre- diction error (normalized RMSPE) to predict each variable separately. The results showed that the Recurrent Neural Network model was superior to the Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average Model in predicting five variables out of the six variables used in the study
Social media and online informal learning of English. University language students’ preferences, attitudes and perceptions
Get PDFThe emergence of Web 2.0 technologies has significantly influenced informal language learning, offering learners greater control and autonomy over their educational journey. Within this context, social media and networking platforms have become integral to the informal learning landscape, fostering collaborative learning environments and facilitating knowledge sharing among users. Despite their initial design not being education-centric, these platforms have become prominent elements in modern e-learning environments, operating outside the control of traditional educational institutions. Building upon these trends, this research paper investigates the preferences, perceptions and attitudes of Italian university language students, particularly those at the University of Salento, towards the role of social media in learning English. Using a questionnaire inspired by the IECoL tool (Pavesi et al. 2023), administered to 213 language students, the current study seeks to explore the extent to which students use social media to enhance their English language proficiency. The findings aim to contribute insights into the evolving dynamics of informal language learning in the digital age and into the implications for language education practices
Writing out (of) darkness: The Bastilles of England; or, The Lunacy Law at Work by Louisa Lowe (1883)
Get PDFLouisa Lowe’s The Bastilles of England; or, the Lunacy Law at Work (1883) details the conditions of patients before, during and after their confinement in mental asylums. Based on Lowe’s personal experience, the text helped draw public attention to institutional and medical practices which claimed to act in the interest of patients (and of their health), while it kept them “out of sight, out of mind”, thereby relegating them to “dark corners of the land” – the mental asylums. Whether private or pauper, English madhouses recalled atrocious places of confinement and torture such as the Bastilles of pre-revolutionary France had been. Drawing upon a popular analogy, that between the French jail and the English mental asylum, Lowe exposed and sought to dismantle a profoundly and dangerously corrupted system. Page after page, she depicted the intricacies of one of Britain’s most embarrassing and execrable legal practices – the operation of the lunacy laws, and to such an aim, images of darkness proved crucial. Lowe wrote about them; she wrote out of and against them and shed light on ideological as well as cultural and gender-related darknesses. Her treatise helped pave the way towards social responsibility, mutual help and understanding, honesty and moral integrity to vindicate that primary right to individual freedom which the lunacy laws at work – the Bastilles of late-Victorian England – were yet to recognise. This study investigates Lowe’s narrative and narrative strategy in a text that is a precious, however largely neglected testimony of fin de siècle cultural and social activism.
Do socioeconomic determinants influence metalinguistic awareness of multiple language learners? A case study in the multilingual region of South Tyrol
Get PDFResearch on multiple language learning has shown that through the interaction of several language systems, high-level metacognitive features such as metalinguistic awareness (MeLA) are particularly pronounced. MeLA, as the ability to consciously reflect on language, has proven to be a catalyst for further language acquisition and language maintenance, closely tied to an awareness of the intricate relationships between language systems. However, this triggers an exploration into whether additional factors may affect the development of MeLA as a pivotal metacognitive characteristic in multiple language learning processes. The present MeLA-SES study, following a longitudinal investigation in South Tyrol, explores the potential relationship between adolescent multiple language learners’ MeLA and their socioeconomic status (SES). The primary focus of the longitudinal study was to examine the MeLA development across the three curricular languages and investigate how learners with different metalinguistic skills decode a novel language system. While the initial study revealed an interconnectedness of metalinguistic knowledge, demonstrating a facilitative effect on decoding strategies, the present investigation, indicates a link between participants' MeLA development and their families’ SES. Positive correlations were found among several SES factors, with the most robust association identified between the books-at-home measure and participants' MeLA scores. Additionally, the study revealed that the participants with a migration background, who constituted a small minority in this research, had low SES values on average but medium to higher MeLA scores. In these cases, it was assumed that despite less favorable SES factors, MeLA could develop well due to the interaction of even more language systems that these participants have in their minds
What drives L2 viewers’ informal access to English? A case study on audiovisual input
Get PDFIn recent years, several dubbing countries have experienced a change in the way audiovisual (AV) products and other media are accessed in terms of preferred languages and supports. A similar trend appears to be underway in Italy, where younger audiences increasingly access subtitled telecinematic materials and a variety of online media in English. While much research to date has focused on informal second language (L2) practices and the potential of media input for language learning, only a few studies have extensively examined participants’ underlying reasons for exposure. To address this under-researched area, the present study investigates Italian university students’ informal experience with various AV genres and the reasons behind their habits. The data form part of a larger-scale investigation (the PRIN project “The Informalisation of English Language Learning Through the Media”) and were collected through a questionnaire administered to 1,091 students from various disciplines at a medium-sized Italian university. Viewers’ reasons for accessing English-language audiovisuals are examined from both an etic and an emic perspective, based on multiple-choice and open-ended questions, and are complemented by data on the frequency and intensity of access, preferred genres, and viewing modalities. The findings reveal a desire to improve one’s L2 skills and seek knowledge, but also a desire for entertainment and a growing appreciation of English, which enhances viewers’ engagement with AV products. Additionally, accessibility affects viewers’ choices, which differ across AV genres. The study prompts further reflection on the growing media affordances and evolving L2 learning environments in contemporary Italy
Rifiuti radioattivi: parliamone, senza pregiudizi nè guerre di religione
Get PDFQuando in Italia si parla di rifiuti radioattivi emergono tante paure e pregiudizi, quasi sempre per insufficiente conoscenza di concetti di base e di informazioni puntuali, a volte purtroppo anche per malafede. Molto spesso le argomentazioni scientifiche sono ignorate o vengono travisate, sull'onda di paure mai sopite e puntualmente evocate dalla parola "nucleare". In questo contributo proverò ad esporre una serie di concetti che spero possano essere utili ai meno esperti per chiarire alcuni capisaldi, indispensabili per la comprensione della problematica legata all'esistenza, produzione, gestione e smaltimento dei rifiuti radioattivi, che con un anglicismo divenuto di uso comune vengono spesso denominati come radwaste. In alcuni casi, per amor di chiarezza sarò costretto a ricorrere a delle semplificazioni, sacrificando un po' il rigore all'efficacia della comunicazione. Mostrerò infine alcuni recenti sviluppi della ricerca sui sistemi di monitoraggio radiologico di tali rifiuti, condotti nell'ambito di progetti europei e volti alla modernizzazione delle tecnologie ed all'informatizzazione dei processi
Does place still matter? Reconfiguring local journalism in the age of platforms: a narrative literature review
Get PDFLocal journalism is attracting significant international scholarly attention, particularly considering the digital transformations reshaping the media landscape. This narrative literature review paper aims to synthesise and examine contributions to the discourse on local journalism, focusing on the challenges and opportunities presented by the blurring and intersecting boundaries between geographic, digital, and news production places, which struggle to engage each other. Local journalism, characterised by its inherent proximity, is pivotal to exploring the contemporary complex sense of place. Starting from the concepts of proximity and locality, it will explore the multifaced nature of local journalism, not without definitional ambiguities, especially considering the development of digital media which has inevitably affected conceptions and experiences of "local". In this context, exploring the relationship between journalism and geography is essential. However, the concept of placeification ‒ valuing how digital news environments are become significant places ‒ highlights how digital sites do not replace physical spaces but rather extend the ways in which local journalism creates a sense of place and community. News production sites can also be places of local journalism, becoming meaningful places not only for journalists, but for the community itself. What is noted is that these debates on local journalism struggle to dialogue with each other. Thus, the paper advocates the idea of "situating local journalism" as a theoretical framework for future research, emphasising the importance of examining how local journalism emerges through the intersection of geographic, digital and news production places, to deepen the tensions between adaptation and resistance of local journalism in the context of digital transformation