Digital Commons Network^™

Imhbco (In My Humble But Correct Opinion), Rick Anderson

Against the Grain

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Room Acoustics On Comprehension Of Foreign-Accented Speech By Native And Non-Native English-Speaking Listeners, Zhao Peng, Kristin E. Hanna, Brenna N. Boyd, Lily M. Wang

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

In a previous study by the authors, reverberation time (RT) and background noise level (BNL) were both found to have negative effects on native and non-native English-speaking listeners in comprehending English speech produced by native American-English-speaking talkers. Comprehension scores were adjusted for listeners’ baseline English proficiency levels. In the present study, instead of native English-speaking talkers, two native Mandarin Chinese talkers (one male, one female) with similar English spoken proficiency were recruited to produce the same speech materials used in the previous study. A similar methodology was adopted to conduct speech comprehension tests on three groups of listeners: 1) native …

If Rumors Were Horses, Katina Strauch

Against the Grain

No abstract provided.

English As The Lingua Franca In Transnational Higher Education, S Wilkins, J Urbanovič

Plymouth Institute of Education

Although there seems to be a wide held assumption that transnational higher education programs have to be taught in English to be legitimate “international” programs, there are a few examples globally of international branch campuses that teach in languages other than English. Using seven institutional case studies from around the world, the research seeks to identify the motives of universities for establishing campuses abroad that deliver degree programs in languages other than English. The problems and issues experienced by these institutions are examined and their future prospects are considered. The main motives of the seven featured institutions for establishing campuses …

Gammatone And Mfcc Features In Speaker Recognition, Wison Burgos

Theses and Dissertations

The feature analysis component of an Automated Speaker Recognition (ASR) system plays a crucial role in the overall performance of the system. There are many feature extraction techniques available, but ultimately we want to maximize the performance of these systems. From this point of view, the algorithms developed to compute feature components are analyzed. Current state-of-the-art ASR systems perform quite well in a controlled environment where the speech signal is noise free. The objective of this thesis investigates the results that can be obtained when you combine Mel-Frequency Cepstral Coefficients (MFCC) and Gammatone Frequency Cepstral Coefficients (GFCC) as feature components …

English As A Second Language: Writing Challenges, Self-Assessment, And Interest In For-Credit Esl Courses At Southeastern University, Katherine M. Jones

Selected Honors Theses

Whether Chinese, French, Swahili, Hindi, or English, learning a language requires time and dedication. One of the more challenging languages to learn is English, yet English is becoming more prevalent around the globe. According to a statement by Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, Inc. (TESOL), English is now “the most widely taught language in the world” (“Position Statement on English as a Global Language”). Many individuals are striving not only to learn English but also to master it. These individuals include businessmen, doctors, politicians, scholars, athletes, and students. As English is swiftly becoming the international lingua franca …

Validity And Reliability Of An Arabic Version Of The Modified Dental Anxiety Scale In Saudi Adults, Maha A. Bahammam, Mona H. Hassan

Saudi Medical Journal

OBJECTIVES: To test the reliability and validity of an Arabic version of the modified dental anxiety scale (MDAS), and to correlate it with other demographic data. METHODS: The original English version of the MDAS was translated into Arabic, and then translated back into English by experienced bilingual professionals. Four hundred and seventy-four patients referred to dental clinics for treatment at the Faculty of Dentistry Hospital, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from November 2012 to June 2013 participated in the study. The assessment tool included questions regarding demographic characteristics, frequency of dental visits, the Arabic version of the MDAS, and the …

A Process Failure Theory Of Statutory Interpretation, Mark Seidenfeld

William & Mary Law Review

Despite all that has been written about the choice between purposivist, intentionalist, and textualist approaches to statutory interpretation, to date the literature has not provided a justification for the common judicial practice of relying on intent-based inquiries in some cases and disavowing those approaches for textualism in others. This Article fills that void and, in doing so, lays out a new “legislative process failure” theory of statutory interpretation that has the potential to move the debate beyond a simple choice between textual and intent-based interpretation. This Article argues that Congress and the courts comprise different linguistic communities when they interpret …

How Much Exposure To English Is Necessary For A Bilingual Toddler To Perform Like A Monolingual Peer In Language Tests?, Allegra Cattani, Kirsten Abbot-Smith, Rafalla Farag, Andrea Krott, Frédérique Arreckx, Ian Dennis, Caroline Floccia

School of Psychology

Background Bilingual children are under-referred due to an ostensible expectation that they lag behind their monolingual peers in their English acquisition. The recommendations of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT) state that bilingual children should be assessed in both the languages known by the children. However, despite these recommendations, a majority of speech and language professionals report that they assess bilingual children only in English as bilingual children come from a wide array of language backgrounds and standardized language measures are not available for the majority of these. Moreover, even when such measures do exist, they are …

Review Essay--Bilingual Education In The United States: An Idea Whose Time Has Come, S.I. Strong

Journal of Legal Education

No abstract provided.

Central Asia's Shrinking Connectivity Gap: Implications For U.S. Strategy, Roman Muzalevsky Mr.

Books, Monographs & Collaborative Studies

View the Executive Summary

The United States is witnessing a transformation of Central Asia—a critical yet highly understudied and misunderstood area of the world, which is seeing growing influence of China, India, and Russia. The agendas of these actors, as well as the United States, Japan, the EU, Turkey, and Iran, among others, have enabled Central and South Asian countries to shrink their connectivity gaps dramatically in the last 2 decades, aiding the U.S. grand strategy of advancing global connectivity. However, they could also potentially undermine a multidirectional connectivity and limit development choices for the Central Asian states, generating challenges …

Mentoring An Esl Student Through A Nursing Program: A Case Study, Rebecca Retzer

Graduate Research Projects

No abstract provided.

What 30 Years Of Chevron Teach Us About The Rest Of Statutory Interpretation , Abbe R. Gluck

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Chevron At The Roberts Court: Still Failing After All These Years, Jack M. Beermann

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Vireo-Tno @ Trecvid 2014: Multimedia Event Detection And Recounting (Med And Mer), Chong-Wah Ngo, Yi-Jie Lu, Hao Zhang, Ting Yao, Chun-Chet Tan, Lei Pang, Maaike De Boer, John Schavemaker, Klamer Schutte, Wessel Kraaij

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

This paper presents an overview and comparative analysis of our systems designed for TRECVID 2014 [1] multimedia event detection (MED) and recounting (MER) tasks, including all sub-tasks for Pre-Specified (PS) event detection, all sub-tasks except 100Ex for Ad-Hoc (AH) event detection, and 010Ex sub-task for both PS and AH event recounting. Multimedia Event Detection (MED) : Our main focus for the MED task is on the study of a new zero-example system, which aims to solve the 000Ex and SQ problems. The system can run either fully automatically or semi-automatically. Specifically, we test the automatic run in 000Ex submission and …

“No One Has Ever Seen God” (John 1:18): Not Seeing Yet Believing In The Gospel Of John, Kevin Armbrust

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Armbrust, Kevin L. “ ‘No One Has Ever Seen God’ (John 1:18): Not Seeing Yet Believing in the Gospel of John.” Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary, 2014. 242 pp.

Only a few New Testament texts explicitly state that Jesus is θεός (“God”). John explicitly indicates that Jesus is God not once or twice, but three times. These three statements appear at the beginning of the Gospel’s prologue (1:1), at the end of the prologue (1:18), and just before the Gospel’s conclusion (20:28; cf. 20:30–31). John’s strategically placed statements thus form an end-to-end double inclusio. References to Jesus as God over against …

A Quasi-Classical Logic For Classical Mathematics, Henry Nikogosyan

Honors College Theses

Classical mathematics is a form of mathematics that has a large range of application; however, its application has boundaries. In this paper, I show that Sperber and Wilson’s concept of relevance can demarcate classical mathematics’ range of applicability by demarcating classical logic’s range of applicability. Furthermore, I introduce how to systematize Sperber and Wilson’s concept of relevance into a quasi-classical logic that can explain classical logic’s and classical mathematics’ range of applicability.

Academic Affairs Division Newsletter, November 2014, San Jose State University

Academic Affairs Division Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Moral Issues In The Recent History Of The Bulgarian Orthodox Church, Ivelina Nikolova

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Over the past centuries Bulgarian people experienced severe religious and ethnic threats due to which they have developed defense mechanisms and a strong sense of sympathy for persecuted ethnic and social groups. In recent history, this reflex was manifested most clearly in the behavior of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church in defense of the Bulgarian Jews. At the same time two other events, however, reveal its controversial image that caused it a severe damage. In recent years, many Bulgarians are seeking the moral dimensions of these phenomena that influence the spirituality and morality of the younger generations.

Stakeholders' Perceptions Of Parental Involvement And Home-School Connections In A South Texas Border Town, Cynthia A. Lopez

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Latinos have a high amount of individuals residing in poverty, and, yet, are still the fastest growing minority group in the nation (Gandara & Contreras, 2009; National Council of La Raza, 2014). For some families, living in poverty and the need to earn a living prevents parents from being actively involved in their children’s education (Moreno & Gaytan, 2013). Therefore, the need to form alliances with parents is critical. Partnerships with parents must be formed to better understand the necessities of these children. Consequently, educators should convey to parents the significance of forming links between the home and school. Moreover, …

Derrida And Comparative Philosophy, Steven Burik

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This article argues that Derrida’s thinking is relevant to comparative philosophy. To illustrate this, at various stages classical Daoism is compared with Derrida’s thought, to highlight Derrida’s “applicability” and to see how using Derrida can contribute to new interpretations of Daoism. The article first looks into Derrida’s engagement (or lack thereof) with non-Western thought, and then proceeds to his extensive work regarding language and translation, comparing this with views on classical Chinese language and translation of key Daoist characters. It then explores Derrida’s efforts at opening up philosophy to its outside, and argues that he was very much concerned with …

Toward A Posthuman Education, Nathan Snaza, Peter Appelbaum, Siân Bayne, Dennis Carlson, Marla Morris, Nikki Rotas, Jennifer Sandlin, Jason Wallin, John A. Weaver

Curriculum, Foundations & Reading: Faculty Publications

The text of our manifesto will introduce posthumanism to a curriculum studies audience and propose new directions for curriculum theory and educational research more broadly. Following a description of what is variously called the “posthuman condition” or the “posthuman era,” our manifesto outlines the main theoretical features of posthumanism with particular attention to how it challenges or problematizes the nearly ubiquitous assumptions of humanism. In particular, we focus on how posthumanism responds to the history of Western humanism’s justification and encouragement of colonialism, slavery, the objectification of women, the thoughtless slaughter of non-human animals, and ecological devastation. We dwell on …

On Joint Modeling Of Topical Communities And Personal Interest In Microblogs, Tuan-Anh Hoang, Ee Peng Lim

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

In this paper, we propose the Topical Communities and Personal Interest (TCPI) model for simultaneously modeling topics, topical communities, and users’ topical interests in microblogging data. TCPI considers different topical communities while differentiating users’ personal topical interests from those of topical communities, and learning the dependence of each user on the affiliated communities to generate content. This makes TCPI different from existing models that either do not consider the existence of multiple topical communities, or do not differentiate between personal and community’s topical interests. Our experiments on two Twitter datasets show that TCPI can effectively mine the representative topics for …

Linguistic Analysis Of Toxic Behavior In An Online Video Game, Haewoon Kwak, Telefonica

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

In this paper we explore the linguistic components of toxic behavior by using crowdsourced data from over 590 thousand cases of accused toxic players in a popular match-based competition game, League of Legends. We perform a series of linguistic analyses to gain a deeper understanding of the role communication plays in the expression of toxic behavior. We characterize linguistic behavior of toxic players and compare it with that of typical players in an online competition game. We also find empirical support describing how a player transitions from typical to toxic behavior. Our findings can be helpful to automatically detect and …

Imagespirit: Verbal Guided Image Parsing, Ming-Ming Cheng, Shuai Zheng, Wen-Yan Lin, Vibhav Vineet, Paul Sturgess, Nigel Crook, Niloy J. Mitra, Philip Torr

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Humans describe images in terms of nouns and adjectives while algorithms operate on images represented as sets of pixels. Bridging this gap between how humans would like to access images versus their typical representation is the goal of image parsing, which involves assigning object and attribute labels to pixels. In this article we propose treating nouns as object labels and adjectives as visual attribute labels. This allows us to formulate the image parsing problem as one of jointly estimating per-pixel object and attribute labels from a set of training images. We propose an efficient (interactive time) solution. Using the extracted …

Chevron At The Roberts Court: Still Failing After All These Years, Jack M. Beermann

Faculty Scholarship

This article looks at how Chevron deference has fared at the Supreme Court since John G. Roberts became Chief Justice. The article looks at Chevron deference at the Roberts Court from three distinct angles. First, the voting records of individual Justices in cases citing Chevron are examined to shed light on the strength of each Justice’s commitment to deference to agency statutory construction. Second, a select sample of opinions citing Chevron are qualitatively examined to see whether the Roberts Court has been any more successful than its predecessor in constructing a coherent Chevron doctrine. Third, the article looks closely at …

The Future Now: Canada's Libraries, Archives, And Public Memory, Patricia Demers, Guylaine Beaudry, Pamela Bjornson, Michael Carroll, Carol Couture, Charlotte Gray, Judith Hare, Ernie Ingles, Eric Ketelaar, Gerald Mcmaster, Ken Roberts

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

Our title boldly asserts that the future must be acknowledged. We are not assuming the role of prophets, but rather of alert communicators. The library and archive sector needs institutional reform to improve efficiencies, foster more effective collaboration, and provide clearer, more reliable leadership. The Report synthesizes what we have heard and learned from Canadians. It conveys verbal and visual snapshots of transformative, energetic, forceful cultural institutions, either already flourishing or in planning stages. It also underlines the urgency of the present moment when disregard or neglect must be challenged and countered. First and foremost, in the digital era, libraries …

Editorial (Quaker Studies Vol. 5, Issue 1), Pink Dandelion

Quaker Studies

No abstract provided.

The Role Of Linguistic Ability And Business Expertise For Turn-Taking In Intercultural Business Communication, Misa Fujio

Global Advances in Business Communication

Taking turns in intercultural business meetings is sometimes very challenging for non-native speakers. This study, based on simulated business meetings, investigated what factors are more influential when taking turns, with a special focus on linguistic ability and business experience. In the current study, 12 participants were divided into three groups, each of which consisted of a native speaker of American English, a Japanese businessperson and two Japanese university students. The data were analysed both quantitatively (such as floor-holding time or speech rate) and qualitatively (such as discourse analysis). The analysed results indicated that the participants’ linguistic ability was the strongest …

Meeting At The Crossroads: Bringing Together Scholarship Across Disciplinary And Geographic Boundaries, David A. Victor

Global Advances in Business Communication

No abstract provided.