1,721,072 research outputs found
Reading Psychology English. Coping with Research Articles
No full textThe major purpose of this book is to bring together ongoing theoretical research in English for special academic purposes (ESAP) and the concrete reality of the reading classroom. The volume seeks to offer pedagogically minded insights into the current research on the process of reading in ESAP settings, and to provide the actual teaching scenarios complete with teaching suggestions and authentic materials for L2 learners of intermediate level who need to develop their reading skills in order to be able to read academic and research texts.
In bridging theory with practical pedagogy, the first part of the volume offers a detailed look at the theoretical background in presenting reading and other literacy skills as intertwined in second language acquisition (SLA). Highlights include aspects of the roles of ESAP teacher and learner – with a focus on motivation and needs analysis – and of the complex issue of the lexicogrammar threshold. Further, in the light of current research on genres pedagogy, both implications for teaching reading Research Articles and Abstracts are considered, as well as the modalities for outlining learning objectives and for evaluating students’ progress. Additionally, the question of autonomy in SLA is addressed. The book is grounded in a belief in the teachers’ abilities to translate research into context-sensitive instructional practice.
The second part of the book has been designed specifically for students of Psychology at Italian Universities, and adopts a learner-based approach suitable for both classroom use and self-study. Among the variety of instructional scenarios, aspects of reading and genre-based instruction have been selected that were most applicable to the predictable teaching/learning situation. The learning itineraries are designed to help students to become aware of their current reading strategies and to develop them through a variety of problem-solving task-based activities. The materials are authentic and relevant to the students’ interests. The focus is on the Research Articles, the pivotal genre in the scientific discourse community. This part of the volume is divided into three modules. The flexibility of modular planning makes it possible for the teacher to start with the module which is most suitable for the students’ level and the course length. The first module contains a nearly complete RA in order to offer the students a global perspective of the genre-text with which they have to become familiar. The main features of the RA are highlighted and communicative strategies are suggested. The second module focuses on the RA abstracts and the third gives a selection of a variety of RAs so as to present different types of research domains and lexical choices.
Within each module the aims of the tasks are always explained and the activities are graded. There are clearly labelled sections (language notes, word study, suggested procedure for summary writing, etc.), which allow the learners to select the appropriate areas for their needs. Introductory notes for students and an answer key for the exercises are provided
Chronic somatoparaphrenia: A follow-up study on two clinical cases
No full textSomatoparaphrenia consists in abnormal or bizarre verbal reports about some parts of the body. Such a pathological condition usually lasts for days or weeks and is variably associated with other cognitive defects. In the present paper we describe exceptionally long-lasting somatoparaphrenia in two focal brain-damaged patients: GA who had a right hemorrhagic fronto-parieto-temporal stroke and AC who developed a left ischemic parieto-occipital lesion. The presence and severity of somatoparaphrenia did not change in either patient during a 2-year follow-up, whereas the two patients showed different evolution of anosognosia for motor disorders, severity of extrapersonal neglect and cognitive impairments. Moreover, impairment of position sense was associated with somatoparaphrenia in one patient only; neither patient showed personal neglect. The reported clinical observations suggest that somatoparaphrenia can be observed as a body-related chronic disorder and can outlast other cognitive defects, even if it arose in conjunction with them
Latinas’ bilingual cultural identities and the reporting of abuse in US institutional settings
No full textAgainst the background of momentous societal changes, including the emergence of the Hispanic
(or Latino) minority that is transforming the landscape of the United States’ population, the present
study aims at investigating the outcomes of phenomena of bilingual and bicultural encounters
in US institutional settings, where the victim-survivors of domestic violence narrate their experience
of abuse either in (non-standard) English, or with the help of a Spanish-English interpreter.
A qualitative selection of sanitized interviews, both from socio-legal protection order interviews1*
(Trinch 2006, 2007), and from non-legalistic interviews for socio-psychological research (Brabeck
and Gunzman 2008) was analysed with a focus both on the communication accommodation strategies
enacted and on the interplay of bilingual/cultural aspects from a lingua-cultural perspective
(Riesager 2014. See infra 2.2.1).
In particular, the Communication Accommodation Theory (CAT) allowed for a more accurate
identification of the use of strategic forms of behaviour (convergence, divergence and maintenance)
enacted by Latina interviewees in the two different settings – the protection order interview
(POI) being the more face-threatening setting – to contrastively highlight their context-sensitive
specificity.
Issues of language contact and cultural hurdles were considered in an attempt to describe and
interpret aspects of the multifaceted scenario of Latinos’ lingua-cultural interactions in the US,
whose richness of cultural information – often transmitted through non-standard English varieties/
accents – is often lost or ineffective in institutional settings.
Such issues entail the coexistence of elements of societal patriarchal conservatism, gender-based
and ethnic discrimination, abuse-coping strategies, as well as efforts for self-empowerment and
innovation. A major role appears to be played by the Catholic Church, which is rapidly changing
its attitude towards gender roles.
Research outcomes both from field investigations and from a discourse analytical reframing of
such data can be practically relevant for socio-legal professional practice in those circumstances of
engagement, e.g. by helping professionals to focus on the protection order (PO) applicants’ needs
for special support and empathic advocacy in those bicultural and virtually bilingual settings
Promoting diachronic textual awareness through translation in an EAP collaborative workshop. Translating Aphasiology (1970) by M. Critchley - some theoretical issues
No full textThe starting point for the present study was the project of translating into Italian Critchley’s authoritative 1970 text in aphasiological research, Aphasiology and Other Aspects of Language. The project was set up in the Department of Cognitive Neurosciences (CogSci) of the Second University of Naples, and involved the participation of teachers of Language and Neuropsychology and
Ph.D. students of CogSci, thus creating a stimulating translational context in which interest for the informational content and attention to the discursive aspects of this scientific text both took place.
There were three the main teaching purposes: second-language (L2) awareness-raising through translation tasks, genre-consciousness-raising activities, and integrating content with academic language development (Content Based Instruction), which were undertaken through a collaborative workshop approach. At content level, a brief survey showed both the need for an abridged version of Aphasiology and/or a thematic selection from it – aimed at highlighting the state of the art in the 1960s, especially from a medical perspective – and the wish to revive topics no longer dealt with in CogSci.
When translating a 1970 monograph for a contemporary, well-informed and web-wired specialised audience, it is not easy to decide what a responsible mediation or transaction would be. At the linguistic level, an interesting question is whether to preserve or simplify the high level of metaphorical/rhetorical expression.
The paper will position itself on two levels: it will consider some theoretical issues, and it will evaluate implications for teaching, both illustrating teaching procedure and providing concrete examples
Teatro e propaganda politica nel ‘600 inglese
No full textNell'instabilità politico- religiosa dell'Europa di inizio Seicento, la propaganda ideologica era sovente affidata ai linguaggi del teatro. In questo studio si evidenzia l'interazione drammaturgica fra le conflittuali prospettive della Spagna dalle aspirazioni imperiali, e dell' Inghilterra segnata dallo scisma, che temeva l'invasione spagnola. Le allusioni a fatti contemporanei assumevano una maschera di non- referenzialità
Margaret Yorke: un giallo senza delitto
No full textA proposito del potere di rassicurazione della letteratura gialla si è detto che la scoperta e l'enucleazione del colpevole rafforzino catarticamente le coordinate socio-etiche della comunità, confermando valori mitici nazionali e qualità culturali stabili.Seppur diacronicamente valide per molte opere di detective e crime fiction, queste nozioni non descrivono la fiction di M.Yorke, che, come si evidenzierà in questo studio, si allontana dalle usuali modalità di costruzione del delitto per delineare dinamiche interpersonali quotidiane, di varia intensità, e lasciar spazio alla casualità
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