Digital Commons Network^™

Palindromes From Perth 2, Jeff Grant

Word Ways

A palindrome filled account of the author's trip to Western Australia.

Gadsby: Wikip_Dia's Lost Lipogram, Tristan Miller

Word Ways

Ernest Vincent Wright's novel Gadsby is legendary among constrained writing enthusiasts. When it was first published in 1939, it was the single largest work of English literature not to contain the letter "e". It is hardly surprising, then, that the book's many reviewers and commentators have sought to pay tribute to it with some modest lipogrammatry of their own. This article tells the story of one such tribute and the years-long battle it sparked on the world's largest and most popular online encyclopedia.

"M" Bellishments, Steve Kahan

Word Ways

In the matching quiz that follows, twenty clues for targeted words have been supplied in each of two columns. Those in Column B can be manufactured from their appropriate counterparts in Column A by inserting the letter "m" into their interiors.

Mathematical Modeling In Word Games: Apportionment Of Letter Tiles, Benjamin Dickman

Word Ways

In mathematical modeling, the topic of apportionment provides powerful tools for the design of games. In particular, letter frequency based modeling can be used to compute appropriate letter distributions for a variety of word games. This paper will provide possible letter distributions for two different games: Scrabble and Boggle.

Poems- Part Ii, John Bannon

Word Ways

A collection of poems.

Equation Words, . Anil

Word Ways

In equation words, the letter values (A=1 to Z=26) can be punctuated into an equation without rearrangement as CAB (3=1+2) or ADD (1x4=4).

Search For A Minimal Panlist, . Anil

Word Ways

A PANLIST is a list that contains the alphabet. It's like a pangram but counts number of items, not letters, and the goal is to find the list with the fewest.

An Alphabet Of Three-L Lamas, A. Ross Eckler

Word Ways

Most people are familiar wit Ogden Nash's doggerel connecting priests, beasts and three-alarm fires (an updated version below). In the November 2012 Word Ways, Solomon Golomb created five L-variants; here is a gallimaufry covering most of the alphabet:

Instructions To Authors

Word Ways

The back cover and instructions to authors for this issue.

El Leñador, May 2015, El Leñador Staff

2015

El Leñador is an English and Spanish newspaper produced by Humboldt State University students. Our staff cover and provide news to Latinx and other diverse communities on campus and in Humboldt County. We are committed to providing relevant news and expanding the representations and stories told about people of color and other marginalized groups. Our work helps create more social, political and cultural diversity in local media.

El Leñador es un periodico en español y inglés producido por estudiantes de la Universidad Estatal de Humboldt. Nuestro personal cubre y provee noticias a la comunidad Latinx y otras comunidades diversas en …

Changing Relationship With The Land And One Another In Pindoyú, Paraguay, Kathryn E. Peters

Latin American Studies ETDs

This thesis is about agricultural transition in the face of globalization in the community of Pindoyú, Paraguay. Utilizing the extended case study method, the experiences of people of Pindoyú are documented through partcipant observation, individual and household interviews, and auto-ethnographies in order to illuminate theory on the articulation of modes of production, moral economy, and Marxist ecology. Rooted in Meillassouxs understanding of the domestic mode of production and Wolpe's extended view of the articulated modes of production, it argues that people in Pindoyú are participating in the capitalist mode of production while also practicing values incongruent with capitalist production. Findings …

A Quasi-Experimental Study Of Teaching Intercultural Sensitivity On Foreign Language Learning Motivation, Chunling Niu

Dissertations

Through an experimental intervention of a four-week cultural project based on the intergroup contact theory, this study sought to (a) explore the possible pedagogical effects on participants’ levels of Intercultural Sensitivity; and (b) investigate the complex interactions between learners’ Intercultural Sensitivity, Foreign Language Motivation, and their Language and Cultural Backgrounds. Sixty-eight Chinese learning students from a southcentral American university initially participated in the study, whereas only 43 participants completed the required activities and were pretested and posttested on Intercultural Sensitivity and Foreign Language Motivation. The 21 experimental group participants were instructed to complete four cultural assignments during February 2014, namely, …

Assessment Of Cultural Awareness In Communication Sciences And Disorders Students, Kimberly Green

Dissertations

As defined by Clinton (1996), cultural awareness is achieved when an individual becomes aware of the fact that culture can contribute to attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. Cultural awareness (CA) is dependent upon an individual’s awareness of one’s own culture to the same degree as the awareness of outside cultures. It can be viewed as a prerequisite to a more complex understanding of this somewhat ambiguous concept. The topic of this quantitative study involves an examination of the level of cultural awareness among students in communication sciences and disorders (CSD) programs in the state of Kentucky. This dissertation threads literature and …

The Influence Of Social Interactions With American Students On Intercultural Sensitivity Of International Students In Higher Education Institutions, Shahbaz Munawar

Dissertations

International student enrollment in the United States has seen a steady growth in the last decade. A problem exists that although higher education institutions are able to meet the academic needs of international students, they are not properly equipped to address the cultural challenges these international student populations face. This study focused on the importance of universities introducing initiatives that consider international students’ lives and cultural learning when at U.S. campuses. The purpose of the study was to measure the intercultural sensitivity of international students based on social factors such as social interaction with Americans and their living choice. Data …

Shakespeare And Boyhood: Early Modern Representations And Contemporary Appropriations, Marvin Tyler Sasser

Dissertations

This dissertation demonstrates that Shakespearean boyhood, both in early modern plays and contemporary reimaginings for young readers, critiques patriarchal and hegemonic ideals through the rhetoric and behavior of boy characters. Although critics have called Shakespeare’s boy characters indistinguishable, I find that they provide Shakespeare a unique resource to offer persuasive skepticism about heroic conventions, education, and political instability. This project begins by examining the lexical network of boy in order to chart its uses in early modern England. The subsequent three chapters establish how Shakespeare uses boys to comment on a range of ideal manhoods, such as the chivalrous …

Challenges Of Court Interpreting: Implications For Interpreter Education, Danny Wang, Lynn E. Grant

International Journal of Interpreter Education

This article aims to examine the findings of a research study into challenges faced by court interpreters in New Zealand. Despite the research being conducted on court interpreters who were based in New Zealand, implications of this article may also be applicable to overseas court interpreter educators and practitioners. The research included an online survey followed by interviews with practicing court interpreters. A total of 30 court interpreters throughout the country participated in the survey, and 11 volunteered to be interviewed. Survey respondents were asked about challenges encountered at work, including legal terminology, terminology in other domains, tag questions, and …

The “Art Of Rent”: Painters, Tourists, And Change In San Juan La Laguna, Guatemala, Laura Riddering

Sustainability and Social Justice

This qualitative case study explores artisanal painters’ views on tourism and their impacts on cultural change in San Juan la Laguna, Guatemala. They struggle with new cultural and economic identities through art. Painting is a way to overcome historical discrimination based on their identity, while they explore, develop, and communicate their cultural identities to themselves and outsiders. By selling paintings of cultural scenes that are of interest to them and to tourists, they strengthen their voices in the marketplace. Harvey’s (2002) concept of “space of hope” and Appadurai’s (2004) concept of “capacity to aspire” frame an understanding of this process …

The Knowledge Weapon: Ways Of Knowing, Annette Christine Boehm

Dissertations

This collection of poems explores the language of knowledge and instruction. While it can provide a sense of security, what we are given as ‘knowledge’ is frequently unreliable or even misleading, and used much like a weapon.

What Is Social Justice? Opening A Discussion, John M. Winslade

Journal of Critical Issues in Educational Practice

This paper is a record of a discussion on social justice that took place at California State University San Bernardino on January 23, 2013. It addresses the definition of what social justice is, what injustice is, and the significance of a concern for social justice for educators. Multiple viewpoints are included.

Understanding Early Intervention Services For Hispanic Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders, Valeria Font Zorrilla

Rehabilitation, Human Resources and Communication Disorders Undergraduate Honors Theses

Clear communication between speech-language pathologists and their clients and client’s families is essential for the success of therapy. A common language between therapist and client also facilitates the exchange of information, however this is not always possible. The purpose of this study was to develop a Fotonovela as an informative tool for Hispanic parents with children in the autism spectrum to use as an early intervention guide, to provide information on therapy services and to promote the understanding between professionals and culturally diverse populations. A Fotonovela is a pamphlet with photographs in the comic-book format that usually depicts a story …

The Inclusion Of Music Therapy In Speech-Language Interventions, Torry Farnell

Rehabilitation, Human Resources and Communication Disorders Undergraduate Honors Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate the inclusion of music in speech-language therapy. One hundred practicing speech-language pathologists (SLPs) participated in the study. There was no control for geographic location, length of time as an SLP, or work setting. A questionnaire devised from the research literature that gathered demographic information and the integration of music into speech-language therapy practices was used to gather data. It was electronically distributed via social media by means of a link that remained active for approximately six weeks. Data from the questionnaire was used descriptively to answer the questions of the study. The …

Domestic Violence Shelter Policies Across The State Of Florida, Kyra Nickell

HIM 1990-2015

Domestic violence shelters can vary greatly in the services available to victims and their families. The funding shelters receive can impact the shelter’s ability to provide specialized services. Since the availability of services might vary from shelter to shelter, victims can have different experiences based on their location. This cross-sectional study contacted representatives from nine shelters in the State of Florida and asked the representatives nine questions about the services which are available at their respective shelter. The findings from this research show that these nine shelters offer a greater number of services than the study expected. However, there is …

Convertible English, Richard Lederer

Word Ways

Because modern English has shed most of the flexional endings that distinguish grammatical functions, many of our words possess the lively ability to rail-jump from one part of speech to another without any basic change in form. This happy facility, variously called conversion or function shift, endows our vocabulary with vitality, power and a prolific source of new words.

On The Definition Of A Vowel, A. Ross Eckler

Word Ways

On page kd of Opperlans! Taal -& letterkunde (Querido, 2003), Battus (the pen name of Hugo Brandt Corstius) presents a new way to define a vowel in the Dutch language. He originally presented this argument in the journal Spektator (1972). The following is an adaptation to the English language.

Isu Today - May 6, 2015, Indiana State University, Communications And Marketing

University Announcements - ISU Today

No abstract provided.

Adapting The Standard Sir Disease Model In Order To Track And Predict The Spreading Of The Ebola Virus Using Twitter Data, Armin Smailhodzic

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

A method has been developed to track infectious diseases by using data mining of active Twitter accounts and its efficacy was demonstrated during the West African Ebola outbreak of 2014. Using a meme based n-gram semantic usage model to search the Twitter database for indications of illness, flight and death from the spread of Ebola in Africa, principally from Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. Memes of interest relate disease to location and severity and are coupled to the density of Tweets and re-Tweets. The meme spreads through the community of social users in a fashion similar to nonlinear wave propagation- …

Foreign Language Anxiety Among Japanese International Students In The U.S., Nana Okada

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This study aims to investigate the foreign language anxieties Japanese international students at American universities have and the relationship between these anxieties and length of stay in the U.S. 151 Japanese international students answered a modified version of the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (Horwitz, Horwitz & Cope, 1986) followed by demographic questions. The findings from the questionnaire were analyzed through SPSS 21 software. Results indicated a statistically significant relationship between students’ level of anxieties and the length of stay in the U.S. Implications for teachers and government officials in Japan, as well as for teachers and university administrators in …

Prospects For Improving Bilingual Education: An Analysis Of Conditions Surrounding Bilingual Education Programs In U.S. Public Schools, Jennifer A. Gorman

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Bilingual education is a subject of debate in education. Some claim that bilingual education programs are detrimental to students, but decades of research supports the benefits of bilingualism and bilingual education for both English Language Learners and monolingual English speakers. The U.S. does not have bilingual education programs in proportion to the needs that these programs could meet for students in public schools. If bilingualism is beneficial, then why do we not have more bilingual education programs? Research extensively covers the internal components of bilingual education programs but only touches on the effect of the external conditions necessary for program …

The Components Of Dehumanization, Aniuska M. Luna

Peace and Conflict Studies

Dehumanization is a complex, relational and subjective phenomenon. Studies on it primarily focus on how it enables abuse in the midst of conflict, or how it shapes perceptions of others. Scholars, however, have not deconstructed it into components. The current article breaks down dehumanization into three components: elements, characteristics, and dimensions. It is hoped that the discussion of the connection between the three can encourage additional discussions on how each of the components contributes to dehumanization and how that can help towards undermining it. Until the phenomenon is understood from its most basic to its most elaborate parts, undermining dehumanization …

Connectionist Perspectives On Language Learning, Representation And Processing., Marc F Joanisse, James L Mcclelland

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

The field of formal linguistics was founded on the premise that language is mentally represented as a deterministic symbolic grammar. While this approach has captured many important characteristics of the world's languages, it has also led to a tendency to focus theoretical questions on the correct formalization of grammatical rules while also de-emphasizing the role of learning and statistics in language development and processing. In this review we present a different approach to language research that has emerged from the parallel distributed processing or 'connectionist' enterprise. In the connectionist framework, mental operations are studied by simulating learning and processing within …