199 research outputs found
English language learning through viewing television: An investigation of comprehension, incidental vocabulary acquisition, lexical coverage, attitudes, and captions
No full textIn the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) setting it may be a challenge to obtain the second language input necessary for language learning. A potential source of input may be episodes of television; however, little previous research has been done indicating whether episodes are a suitable source of aural input for EFL learning. Past research has concentrated on short videos of a type that learners might not choose to learn English from. The experimental design employed in this thesis expands upon earlier methodologies by employing full-length episodes of television intended for an English-speaking audience. The thesis is comprised of five studies investigating aspects of language learning through viewing television. The first study examines comprehension gains from the first to the tenth episode viewed, comprehension across 10 episodes viewed, and the effects of vocabulary knowledge on comprehension. The results showed significant comprehension gains from the first to the final episode viewed. Comprehension scores across the eight intervening episodes were all higher than the initial episode but scores were episode-dependent. The results also showed small to moderate correlations between vocabulary knowledge and comprehension for each of the 10 episodes. The second study investigated the effects of viewing over 7 hours of television on incidental vocabulary learning, and the effects of the frequency and range of occurrence of lower frequency words within the episodes on vocabulary learning. Two tests measuring knowledge of form-meaning connection at differing sensitivities were used to assess vocabulary knowledge. Results showed vocabulary gains of approximately six words on both tests. Frequency of occurrence was found to have a medium-size correlation with vocabulary gains. No significant relationship was found between range of occurrence and acquisition. The third study examined whether increased lexical coverage leads to increased comprehension of television and greater incidental vocabulary learning. Results showed that comprehension improved with increased lexical coverage for six of the 10 episodes. In these episodes, participants with approximately 94% lexical coverage were found to have higher comprehension scores than participants with less lexical coverage. Results showed no significant relationship between incidental vocabulary acquisition and lexical coverage. In the fourth study, two surveys examined language learners‟ attitudes towards learning English through viewing episodes of television. One survey followed each episode and examined learners‟ beliefs about: their enjoyment of the episode, the usefulness of studying English through viewing the episode, their level of learning from the episode, and their comprehension of the episode. For all items, mean responses were significantly higher following the final episode than following the first episode. On the survey that followed viewing all the episodes, participants had generally favorable attitudes towards language learning through viewing television. The fifth study investigated how the presence of captions affected the aspects of language learning examined in Studies 1 to 4. The most salient finding from this study was that the presence of captions improved comprehension for episodes early in the viewing process and for difficult episodes. Taken as a whole, this thesis shows the value of using episodes of television for language learning
Science-specific technical vocabulary in science fiction-fantasy texts: A case for ‘language through literature’
No full textBook reviews: Historical Incidence of the Larger Land Mammals in the Broader Eastern Cape
No full textBook Title: Historical Incidence of the Larger Land Mammals in the Broader Eastern Cape, 2nd edn, Book Author: C.J. Skead:Book Editors: A.F. Boshoff, G.I.H Kerley and P.H. Lloyd. Centre for African Conservation Ecology, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University Port Elizabeth. 2007. Price R490. ISBN 1 920176 08 X
The Corncrake in the Aftergrass: poetry practice, cultures and contexts in post-conflict Northern Ireland
No full textHow do I, as a poet living and working in Northern Ireland, transcend the polemics and pietism of difference in a sustained contribution to ongoing conversations of conviction within and beyond Northern Ireland’s cultures and contexts?
My thesis investigates whether contemporary poetry practice can go beyond the polemics and pietism of difference in contributing to conversations of conviction both within and outside cultures and contexts in Northern Ireland. It explores how I find my voice and vocation in poetry amid the culture of poetry in post-conflict Northern Ireland. I situate my work creatively, culturally, and experientially, drawing on the lives and works of Seamus Heaney, Michael Longley, and W.R. Rodgers. Their work serves as an overarching narrative to my life and work against the backdrop of conflict and post-conflict life in Northern Ireland. My primary sources are my poetry; I reflect on the development of my creative writing and how my poetry functions as public work within the canon of Ulster poetry. I examine my poetry practice as my response to life in Northern Ireland beyond the Belfast Agreement of 1998. Therefore, this thesis analyses how my poetry functions as public work, within an established canon and in contemporary cultures and contexts.
I analyse my poetry practice as public work through the lenses of Semiotics and Reader Response Theory, which I compare and combine to create meaningful intersections exploring: text beyond the author, creativity beyond conflict, readers’ contexts beyond the writer’s contexts, and the reader’s role in making meaning of the text. This is an exploration of contradictions and intersections. Beyond Good Friday, there is the uneasy silence, the void that characterizes the in-camera acts of Holy Saturday. Similarly, beyond the Good Friday Agreement, there is an uncomfortable silence, the void representing the in-camera acts of peace where people say nothing, aware of the need to ‘whatever you say, you say nothing’ (Heaney). This narrative includes ‘The Corncrake in the Aftergrass’ (Heaney), in which the research aims to uncover some of the reasons behind the rhyme
Teaching formulaic sequences in an English-language class: The effects of explicit instruction versus coursebook instruction
No full textThis study investigates the relative effectiveness of different teaching approaches
on the learning of formulaic sequences. Three comparisons were made in this
study: the effects of explicit teaching of formulaic sequences versus teaching embedded
in traditional coursebook instruction, the effects of the degree of salience
of the sequences in the coursebook on learning, and the effects of explicit teaching
of formulaic sequences with context versus teaching without context. Sixtynine
formulaic sequences occurring in an English as a Foreign Language (EFL)
coursebook were selected for the study. The participants were 60 low-proficiency
university students majoring in technology in Vietnam. Participants were quasirandomly
assigned to one of three groups: control, no-context learning, and
sentence-context learning. Learning was measured by two multiple-choice tests
of receptive knowledge of form and meaning. Findings indicated that although
explicit instruction was effective, the degree of salience in traditional coursebook
instruction had no significant effects on learning formulaic sequences. Explicit
teaching combined with incidental exposure to formulaic sequences in the
coursebook was superior to the traditional coursebook instruction approach in the
classroom setting. Furthermore, the results from explicit instruction with context
sentences did not differ significantly from those of instruction without context.
Explanations for the findings and pedagogical applications are offered
Toward a consensus definition of pathological video-gaming: a systematic review of psychometric assessment tools
No full textPathological video-gaming, or its proposed DSM-V classification of "Internet Use Disorder", is of increasing interest to scholars and practitioners in allied health disciplines. This systematic review was designed to evaluate the standards in pathological video-gaming instrumentation, according to Cicchetti (1994) and Groth-Marnat's (2009) criteria and guidelines for sound psychometric assessment. A total of 63 quantitative studies, including eighteen instruments and representing 58,415 participants, were evaluated. Results indicated that reviewed instrumentation may be broadly characterized as inconsistent. Strengths of available measures include: (i) short length and ease of scoring, (ii) excellent internal consistency and convergent validity, and (iii) potentially adequate data for development of standardized norms for adolescent populations. However, key limitations included: (a) inconsistent coverage of core addiction indicators, (b) varying cut-off scores to indicate clinical status, (c) a lack of a temporal dimension, (d) untested or inconsistent dimensionality, and (e) inadequate data on predictive validity and inter-rater reliability. An emerging consensus suggests that pathological video-gaming is commonly defined by (1) withdrawal, (2) loss of control, and (3) conflict. It is concluded that a unified approach to assessment of pathological video-gaming is needed. A synthesis of extant research efforts by meta-analysis may be difficult in the context of several divergent approaches to assessment.Daniel L. King, Maria C. Haagsma, Paul H. Delfabbro, Michael Gradisar, Mark D. Griffith
Diachronic modeling of the population within the medieval Greater Angkor Region settlement complex
No full text9 pagesAngkor is one of the world’s largest premodern settlement complexes (9th to 15th centuries CE), but to date, no comprehensive demographic study has been completed, and key aspects of its population and demographic history remain unknown. Here, we combine lidar, archaeological excavation data, radiocarbon dates, and machine learning algorithms to create maps that model the development of the city and its population growth through time. We conclude that the Greater Angkor Region was home to approximately 700,000 to 900,000 inhabitants at its apogee in the 13th century CE. This granular, diachronic, paleodemographic model of the Angkor complex can be applied to any ancient civilization.We wish to thank the APSARA National Authority for permission to conduct remote sensing and collaborative field investigations. We thank M. So and M. Dana for administrative support. We thank E. Lustig and T. Lustig for comments and suggestions on aspects of economic geography and M. E. Smith and C. Isendahl for reading and offering comments on an earlier draft of this paper. Funding: Much of the work on research, planning, and writing of this manuscript was undertaken with the support of the University of Oregon Global Oregon Faculty Collaboration Fund, supported by the Global Studies Institute in the UO Office of International Affairs. Parts of this research have been funded by the Rust Family Foundation, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Postdoctoral Fellowship, the National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Awards (no. 1638137), the ACLS-Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Program in Buddhist Studies, Australian Research Council Discovery Grant DP1092663, Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Researcher Award DE150100756, Australian Research Council Discovery Grant DP170102574, and the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement nos. 639828 and 866454). Author contributions: S.K. and A.K.C. contributed to the planning of this research. S.K., A.K.C., M.H., and S.O. drafted the manuscript. S.K., A.K.C., D.E., M.T.S., M.P., G.P.M., R.F., and P.H. edited the manuscript. S.K., A.A.L., M.H., J.N.-W., D.E., P.W., and S.O. contributed to the analysis. S.K., A.K.C., P.H., and M.P. compiled the data. S.K., A.K.C., P.H., G.P.M., R.F., D.E., C.P., and M.P. contributed data. S.K., M.H., and A.A.L. designed the figures. All authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript. Competing interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests. Data and materials availability: All data needed to evaluate the conclusions in the paper are present in the paper and/or the Supplementary Materials. Additional data related to this paper maybe requested from the authors
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