This pilot study explored the linguistic gains of intermediate level Spanish learners who completed community-based learning at a Spanish-speaking seniors center. Leamers had the opportunity, rare in foreign-language ...This pilot study explored the linguistic gains of intermediate level Spanish learners who completed community-based learning at a Spanish-speaking seniors center. Leamers had the opportunity, rare in foreign-language instruction, to discuss topics from their textbook in authentic native/non-native dyads. The interactions also allowed the seniors to fulfill an identified community needed by socializing in Spanish. Analyses of a post-service survey revealed that learners assessed the experience positively, because they spoke Spanish creatively. Seniors were described as cooperative and fun interlocutors, suggesting that age difference minimally affected the interactions. Direct observation revealed that learners managed to produce L2 Spanish output in connected speech for an extended period of time. Likewise, the seniors enjoyed a moment of socialization and first language use while sharing their views on the topics of discussion with the young visitors. Seniors＇ active participation likely encouraged learners to cope with sudden switches of topics that required negotiating for meaning and pushing the still limited interlanguages. A new service leaming study proposes to investigate the use of native/non-native dyads in Spanish in fulfilling a dual function： socialization and first language maintenance for the seniors at the center and language learning for the students.展开更多
The importance of teacher talk in EFL （English as a foreign language） class has aroused much attention in China since the late 1990s. On a basis of classroom discourse analysis, this paper has observed 14 courses wi...The importance of teacher talk in EFL （English as a foreign language） class has aroused much attention in China since the late 1990s. On a basis of classroom discourse analysis, this paper has observed 14 courses with 21 hours in total from advanced and fundamental grades in an English department. The classroom observation has been transcribed to analyze the features of teacher talk in various English courses in terms of five dimensions--discourse quantity, questioning types, feedback manners, interactional modification features, and conversation chains, It is found that on average there is significant difference in those five dimensions between fundamental and advanced courses. In terms of discourse quantity, the teacher talk has occupied more than 80% of the total talk amount and the total teacher talk in advanced courses is more than that in fundamental ones; the number of display questions is much more than that of referential questions; evaluative feedbacks are more than discursive ones; all of the teachers prefer to employ confirmation checks to modify students＇ answer, and half of the conversational chains are IRF （Initial-Response-Follow-up） structure while another half are full of complicated chains. The paper then provides some suggestions and implications for EFL teaching in the light of these findings.展开更多
In this paper, the authors propose a method that incorporates mechanisms for handling ambiguity in speech and the ability of humans to create associations, and for formulating conversations based on rule base knowledg...In this paper, the authors propose a method that incorporates mechanisms for handling ambiguity in speech and the ability of humans to create associations, and for formulating conversations based on rule base knowledge and common knowledge. Go beyond the level that can be achieved, using only conventional natural language processing and vast repositories of sample patterns. In this paper, the authors propose a method for computer conversation sentences generated using newspaper headlines as an example of how the common knowledge and associative ability are applied.展开更多
OBJECTIVE: To introduce diagram of Nine-mansions in which another diagram named Xian-Tu is nested together with the mathematical knowledge hidden in them. METHODS: Exploring with algebraic method the diagram of Nine-m...OBJECTIVE: To introduce diagram of Nine-mansions in which another diagram named Xian-Tu is nested together with the mathematical knowledge hidden in them. METHODS: Exploring with algebraic method the diagram of Nine-mansions and diagram of Xian-Tu nested in it and comparing the diagrams with the eight-pointed-star veins. It widely exists in the Neolithic Age's antiques found in China. RESULTS: The golden rectangle and golden spiral were found hidden in the diagrams and they show close relationship with eight-pointed-star veins. CONCLUSION: The mathematical knowledge does exists in the diagram of Nine-mansions and Xian-Tu, which may mean something for Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) for its discourse on Nine-mansions and Eight-winds obviously employed the diagram of Nine-mansions for its medical purpose.展开更多
Using two months of mixed-gender chat room discourse records from eight Chinese college students and results of questionnaires from 80 students, this study observed a consistent pattern in the gender discourse in soci...Using two months of mixed-gender chat room discourse records from eight Chinese college students and results of questionnaires from 80 students, this study observed a consistent pattern in the gender discourse in social-based computer-mediated contexts. In both the chat room observation and survey, the study found that males chatted more about women, video games, and sports, while females chatted more about friendship and other small matters. When surveyed, the college students indicated they believed that females chatted more than males, but a quantitative sentence count during chat found males used more sentences. In the chat room, males used more Chinese phonetic symbols and pseudonym inventions than females. Females used more emotion icons and creative language and, when chatting with a male with whom they were familiar, they showed their power and used gender-neutral expressions more often. Both males and females preferred to fashion their chat room pseudonyms so as to attract the opposite gender and demonstrate their personal qualities. The implications for the construction of gendered language in cyberspace were discussed and suggestions for foreign language teaching are given.展开更多
文摘This pilot study explored the linguistic gains of intermediate level Spanish learners who completed community-based learning at a Spanish-speaking seniors center. Leamers had the opportunity, rare in foreign-language instruction, to discuss topics from their textbook in authentic native/non-native dyads. The interactions also allowed the seniors to fulfill an identified community needed by socializing in Spanish. Analyses of a post-service survey revealed that learners assessed the experience positively, because they spoke Spanish creatively. Seniors were described as cooperative and fun interlocutors, suggesting that age difference minimally affected the interactions. Direct observation revealed that learners managed to produce L2 Spanish output in connected speech for an extended period of time. Likewise, the seniors enjoyed a moment of socialization and first language use while sharing their views on the topics of discussion with the young visitors. Seniors＇ active participation likely encouraged learners to cope with sudden switches of topics that required negotiating for meaning and pushing the still limited interlanguages. A new service leaming study proposes to investigate the use of native/non-native dyads in Spanish in fulfilling a dual function： socialization and first language maintenance for the seniors at the center and language learning for the students.
文摘The importance of teacher talk in EFL （English as a foreign language） class has aroused much attention in China since the late 1990s. On a basis of classroom discourse analysis, this paper has observed 14 courses with 21 hours in total from advanced and fundamental grades in an English department. The classroom observation has been transcribed to analyze the features of teacher talk in various English courses in terms of five dimensions--discourse quantity, questioning types, feedback manners, interactional modification features, and conversation chains, It is found that on average there is significant difference in those five dimensions between fundamental and advanced courses. In terms of discourse quantity, the teacher talk has occupied more than 80% of the total talk amount and the total teacher talk in advanced courses is more than that in fundamental ones; the number of display questions is much more than that of referential questions; evaluative feedbacks are more than discursive ones; all of the teachers prefer to employ confirmation checks to modify students＇ answer, and half of the conversational chains are IRF （Initial-Response-Follow-up） structure while another half are full of complicated chains. The paper then provides some suggestions and implications for EFL teaching in the light of these findings.
文摘In this paper, the authors propose a method that incorporates mechanisms for handling ambiguity in speech and the ability of humans to create associations, and for formulating conversations based on rule base knowledge and common knowledge. Go beyond the level that can be achieved, using only conventional natural language processing and vast repositories of sample patterns. In this paper, the authors propose a method for computer conversation sentences generated using newspaper headlines as an example of how the common knowledge and associative ability are applied.
基金Supported by PACS key course project of Shanghai Municipal Education Commission and Shanghai Municipal Education Commission to Scientific Innovation Research Funds Project (No. 11YZ116)
文摘OBJECTIVE: To introduce diagram of Nine-mansions in which another diagram named Xian-Tu is nested together with the mathematical knowledge hidden in them. METHODS: Exploring with algebraic method the diagram of Nine-mansions and diagram of Xian-Tu nested in it and comparing the diagrams with the eight-pointed-star veins. It widely exists in the Neolithic Age's antiques found in China. RESULTS: The golden rectangle and golden spiral were found hidden in the diagrams and they show close relationship with eight-pointed-star veins. CONCLUSION: The mathematical knowledge does exists in the diagram of Nine-mansions and Xian-Tu, which may mean something for Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) for its discourse on Nine-mansions and Eight-winds obviously employed the diagram of Nine-mansions for its medical purpose.
文摘Using two months of mixed-gender chat room discourse records from eight Chinese college students and results of questionnaires from 80 students, this study observed a consistent pattern in the gender discourse in social-based computer-mediated contexts. In both the chat room observation and survey, the study found that males chatted more about women, video games, and sports, while females chatted more about friendship and other small matters. When surveyed, the college students indicated they believed that females chatted more than males, but a quantitative sentence count during chat found males used more sentences. In the chat room, males used more Chinese phonetic symbols and pseudonym inventions than females. Females used more emotion icons and creative language and, when chatting with a male with whom they were familiar, they showed their power and used gender-neutral expressions more often. Both males and females preferred to fashion their chat room pseudonyms so as to attract the opposite gender and demonstrate their personal qualities. The implications for the construction of gendered language in cyberspace were discussed and suggestions for foreign language teaching are given.
