Digital Commons Network^™

Invoking The Influence Of Emotion In Central Auditory Processing To Improve The Treatment Of Speech Impairments, Safa Alqudah, Maha Zaitoun, Sara Alqudah

Saudi Medical Journal

Objectives: To explore the benefits of invoking unconscious sentiment to improve the treatment of stuttering and misarticulation. Methods: This cross-sectional study of 80 participants with speech issues (44 patients with misarticulation and 36 with stuttering) who underwent comprehensive speech and hearing evaluations to confirm and diagnose speech difficulties. Speech and language pathologists then calculated either the percentage of correctly pronounce sounds in misarticulation cases or stuttering severity index-4 scores in cases of stuttering following the use of therapeutic stimuli recorded with familiar and non-familiar voices of similar linguistic and phonetic complexity. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to compare the …

Mental Health Support For The Spanish-Speaking Community, America Yvonne Gutierrez Solorio

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Mariposa Wellness Center in Watsonville, CA empowers its mental health community through wellness, meaningful activity, and community connection. The purpose of the report is to focus and empower individuals on the long-existing issue of the lack of mental health support for the Spanish-speaking community. This report focuses on the importance of Hispanic individuals having access to proper mental health support in their community. The contributing factors in this report range from language barriers and stigma created within mental health illnesses to the lack of education. In addition, this report focuses on numerous consequences Hispanics face as they struggle with finding …

Latino/A Student Perspectives On Literacy Practices Affecting College Readiness, Danira Vanessa Cantu

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative collective case study examines how pre-collegiate literacy practices affect Latino/a student college success. Conducted at a South Texas border-region University, this study utilized a sample of six Latino/a students enrolled in a freshman level composition course. A focus group was used to explore how academic and social literacy practices play a part in college readiness for these transitioning college students. Additionally, personal narratives were conducted as a form of counternarrative. Modeled on the theoretical framework of removing racism from school structures and closing race-related academic divides, findings included the need for social and cultural acceptance, classroom adaptability, and …

Cowboy Conversations, Abraham Garza

Theses and Dissertations

I have always had a profound interest in the past; how that past affects the present, and ultimately, anticipating how the present will affect the future. Circumstances change, but the lessons we’ve learned will, inevitably, determine how we handle impending events. Using fiction as a platform, my intent is to reveal, through each chapter, how one’s past dictates future decisions.

I have been working with a vaquero, my wife’s grandfather, who was raised on different South Texas ranches. Taking odd jobs from stall boy to ranch hand, and horse trainer, his unique experiences will illustrate period-based scenarios that emphasize his …

Duet Phonology And Syntax Of The Red-Crowned Parrots In South Texas, Abigail Pozulp

Theses and Dissertations

Bird behavioral interaction systems show a preference for temporal precision. This preference is exemplified in the way many species avoid masking of vocal signals. Antiphonal duetting in songbirds suggest that overlapping notes are a sign of poor temporal coordination which can signify a weak pairbond, a possible cue for conspecifics seeking to usurp territories or mates. However, parrots (Psittacidae) are accomplished yet understudied duetters in nature. I recorded antiphonal duets produced by a wild population of red-crowned parrots (Amazona viridigenalis) in Brownsville, Texas. Temporal and acoustic variation of signals was assessed within and across a sample of mated …

Media Paratext And Constitutional Interpretation, Benjamin J. Priester

Faculty Articles

In the fields of media studies and fan studies, the concept of paratext is an analytical paradigm for understanding how audiences consume and interpret media texts, such as a novel or movie. Amid today's media-rich society, it is all but impossible to encounter a media text in isolation. Rather, we also invariably interact with a wide variety of associated paratexts, from official materials like trailers or marketing to unofficial materials like reviews or fan reactions, which play a role in shaping our interpretation of the core media text. This concept of media paratext provides a compelling analogy for constitutional interpretation. …

Assigning Assessment Accommodations To English Learners: A Phenomenological Study, Heather May Villalobos Pavia

Dissertations

The English learner (EL) student population has grown steadily for the past 20 years. During this time, the use of standardized assessments has increased as well. Teacher understanding of assessment accommodations that best support ELs is low, despite the research that shows the unreliability of standardized achievement tests that measure the academic achievement of ELs. The purpose of this qualitative, phenomenological study was to examine how 10 teachers engage in the assessment accommodation selection process. Teachers were intentionally selected from intermediate elementary grades where the most native (primary/home) language accommodations are available on state assessments. Data were collected through surveys, …

Heartbeat In The Sole: A Study Of How Appalachian Dance Preserves, Shapes, And Enriches The Culture In Which It Is Performed, Rachel Marlowe

Master's Theses

The purpose of this research was to both provide space for and aid in the preservation of stories of southern Appalachian dancers. Southern Appalachian dance, also referred to as flat-footing, buck dancing or clogging depending on the region and the individual, is a tradition often passed from family member to family member and in social environments or communal gatherings. In collecting and grouping these stories, the researcher hoped to identify and categorize the impact that southern Appalachian dance in southern Appalachia had on what the dancers perceive as their personal values and successes. The researcher used a short demographic survey …

Enhancing The Relationship Between Students And Teachers In A Socially Distanced World By Humanizing Online Education: A Guide For Higher Education Instructors, Gilma Linette Ramirez Reyes

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

To maintain and continue to build long-lasting professional, educational, and personal relationships, this project provides a formal academic way of teaching for instructors, but it also that reflects what the heart of teaching should be about. It shows how instructors can facilitate care and demonstrate genuine positive intentions to their students when facilitating learning in an online environment. This goes beyond the only course content materials presented and moves to an educational experience that is cultivated through the student-instructor community.

The humanizing approach to online instruction for this project is defined as the center of communication and presence which includes …

The Effects Of Audio/Visual Stimulation And Virtual Reality To Increase The Rate Of Retention In First Semester Freshmen Graphic Communications Students, Hanna Gibson

All Theses

In March of 2020, the world entered the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving educators to answer the question, "how do we teach in a virtual environment?". This was especially difficult for deeply rooted STEM programs such as Graphic Communications at Clemson University. This research aims to analyze multiple methods of virtual teaching for correlation between enhanced retention rates.

This thesis attempts to solve the problem facing global STEM educators when they are attempting to prepare material for students in a virtual environment. This is achieved by presenting them with how different methodologies impact the retention rate on freshmen level students enrolled in …

The Relationship Of L2 Proficiency And L1 Reading Academic Performance Prior To Formal L1 Literacy Instruction In Foreign Language Immersion Settings, Andrew David Mckay Jr

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study is to explore the statistical nature of the linguistic interdependence hypothesis (Cummins, 1976, 2017) in the spring of 2nd grade of students in foreign language immersion programs. Specifically, the interdependent relationship between L2 language proficiency levels and L1 reading academic performance in an environment where L1 is the majority language and L2 is the target language for instruction with students who have yet to receive formal reading instruction in the L1. The Continua Model of Biliteracy was used to frame the existing research on language acquisition. An experimental ex post facto design using archival data …

Risk Perception And Response Among International Students Of The University Of Southern Mississippi, Elida Lopes Souza Rocha

Master's Theses

Given the exposure of university campuses to hazards, disaster mitigation is a critical element of higher education policy. Although U.S. higher education institutions are leaders in the global education market, emergency warning systems give little consideration to how international students perceive risk, prepare for hazards, or access warning technologies available to them. This poses several questions regarding the suitability of hazards mitigation practices and the welfare of international students.

This thesis investigates the relationship between USM international students and natural hazards. Responses from online surveys and semi-structured interviews data were analyzed through qualitative and quantitative methods to document the extent …

A Systematic Review Of Parent Training Effects Children's Use Of Augmentative And Alternative Communication Systems, Mia Constransitch

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) are communication systems used when someone cannot express their needs with naturally spoken speech. For children who use AAC, parent training is an essential part because it teaches the parents how to use the device and encourages their child to use the device. A systematic review was completed to explore the literature regarding parent training for parents whose children are AAC users, and how the training impacts the child's success using the AAC system. The results from this can be used to explore if parent training is effective and if there is a need for …

Early Prediction Of Hate Speech Propagation, Ken-Yu Lin, Roy Ka-Wei Lee, Wei Gao, Wen-Chih Peng

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Online hate speech has disrupted the social connectedness in online communities and raises public safety concerns in our societies. Motivated by this rising issue, researchers have developed many machine learning and deep learning methods to detect hate speech in social media automatically. However, most of the existing automated solutions have focused on detecting hate speech in a single post, neglecting the network and information propagation effects of social media platforms. Ideally, the content moderators would want to identify the hateful posts and monitor posts and threads that are likely to induce hate. This paper aims to address this research gap …

Utilizing The Radsm Process: Developing An Unobtrusive Measure Of Cohesion, Zachary Lee Rahner

Theses and Dissertations

In this study, verbal indicators produced following the RADSM process were used to code transcript data collected from 62 three-person teams playing a cooperative bridge crew simulator. A training dataset, consisting of 88 mission transcripts, and a testing dataset, consisting of 39 mission transcripts, were created from the data. Multilevel modeling was employed to develop a linear-regression algorithm to predict/measure team task and social cohesion. The findings revealed that task cohesion perceptions are linked to the proportion of speech dedicated to information requests and instructions, whereas social cohesion perceptions are associated with the proportion of speech dedicated to amusing and …

Evolutionary Algorithms For Function Model Synthesis, Amaninder Singh Gill

Theses and Dissertations

Function modelling plays an essential role in the systematic design process. Designers are trained in the academia trained on function models, yet the acceptance of function models in the industry remains sparse. A possible reason is that there is a lack of computational support for synthesizing function models. The research presented in this dissertation aims to fill that gap. A conceptual proof of function model synthesis using a Genetic Algorithm (GA) is initially presented. Thereafter a priori rules to evaluate function model have been developed. These rules do not rely on a designer conveying designer intent to the algorithm, which …

Measuring Cross-Cultural Engagement Of Those Using The Growing Participator Approach, Cheryl Lea Cross

Theses and Dissertations

The Growing Participator Approach (GPA) is a language-learning approach used among global professionals living cross-culturally. Developer Greg Thomson claims that through the GPA, learners grow as active participants in their new culture by learning language primarily in relationship. Because cultural participation is central to GPA, measuring social engagement is the most appropriate form of evaluation. This research seeks to answer the questions: (1) Does focused language learning using the GPA correspond with a high degree of social integration in the host community? (2) Does the use of scales from other academic fields help evaluate social engagement for language learners?

For …

The Iconicity And Non-Arbitrariness Of Body Locations In Four Unrelated Sign Languages, John Samson

Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, I show that universally, there is a strong tendency for signs located on the body to have an iconic or non-arbitrary motivation, especially in their original form. I analyze sign language dictionaries from four unrelated sign languages and establish an iconic or non-arbitrary link between the form of the signs and their meaning, and classify those links according to 8 categories of body location iconicity and 3 categories of non-arbitrariness. The strength of this tendency depends on the percentage of signs that are shown to have an iconic or non-arbitrary link. For the data analyzed here this …

English As A Foreign Language Preservice Teachers’ Technology Integration In Teaching Speaking Skills: A Study From Indonesia, I Putu Indra Kusuma

Dissertations

The novel coronavirus, namely COVID-19, has drastically forced schools and universities around the globe to implement emergency remote teaching (henceforth, ERT) in online forms. During this ERT, the personal computer, internet-accessible devices, and computer programs have expanded the opportunities of language learners to obtain more authentic materials and learning experiences. Moreover, technology enables students to record and store their speaking performance in digital forms, accommodating a new reform in English language teaching. Very little is known about how English as a foreign language (henceforth, EFL) preservice teachers, especially student teachers, implement technology in teaching speaking skills during their practice teaching. …

Book Review: Intercultural Perspectives On Research Writing, Edited By Pilar Mur-Dueñas And Jolanta Šinkūnienė (Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 2018), David Sánchez-Jiménez

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Enhancing The Performance Of Text Mining, Farah Mahmoud Al Shanik

All Dissertations

The amount of text data produced in science, finance, social media, and medicine is growing at an unprecedented pace. The raw text data typically introduces major computational and analytical obstacles (e.g., extremely high dimensionality) to data mining and machine learning algorithms. Besides, the growth in the size of text data makes the search process more difficult for information retrieval systems, making retrieving relevant results to match the users’ search queries challenging. Moreover, the availability of text data in different languages creates the need to develop new methods to analyze multilingual topics to help policymakers in governmental and health systems to …

Teacher Knowledge, Perceptions, And Language Orientations Towards Oral Language Instruction In A Dual Language Classroom, Lucy A. Montalvo

Theses and Dissertations

Dual language (DL) schools provide literacy in students’ native languages; however, it is unknown if there is a focus on oral language (OL) development, an essential component for emergent bilinguals’(EB) literacy development. The purpose of this mixed-methods case study is to understand what DL teachers in Virginia know about OL instruction when providing literacy instruction to EB students. This study also explored DL teachers’ perceptions and language orientations towards OL instruction in a DL classroom. The Holistic Biliteracy Framework by Escamilla et al. (2014) provided a research-based pedagogical model to compare teachers’ knowledge on OL instruction. The Language Orientation Framework …

Complex Predicates In Southern Turkmen: A Role And Reference Grammar Analysis, Nathaniel Andrew Shaver

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis uses the concepts of nexus and juncture, as articulated by Role and Reference Grammar, to examine complex verbal constructions found in four collected texts. These texts were collected from four Southern Turkmen (or Turkmen of Afghanistan) speakers. Through transcribing, glossing, and analyzing these texts, a number of complex predicates were identified. These were then described according to their various nexus juncture types. Three nexus juncture varieties were represented in the collected texts. These include clausal coordination, clausal subordination, and core cosubordination. Although not represented in the texts, it was possible to elicit three other provisional nexus juncture varieties. …

Theorizing A Catholic Hispanic-Serving Institution (C-Hsi) Identity Through Latinx Theological Lenses Of Lo Cotidiano And Traditioning, Gina A. Garcia, John Decostanza Jr, Jaqueline Romo

Journal of Catholic Education

As the students entering U.S. colleges and universities become increasingly diverse, the number of Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI's) continues to increase. Catholic colleges and universities, similarly, are seeing an increase in student diversity on campus, with an emergence of Catholic HSIs as well. As the number of Catholic colleges and universities in the United States that are HSI-eligible increases they must grapple with what it means to be both Catholic and Hispanic-serving. The purpose of this article is to propose a U.S. Catholic HSI (C- HSI) identity that brings together the extensive literatures on Catholic identity and HSI identity through the …

“Fake It!”: An Exploration Of Cinematography, Societal Expectations, And Artist Collaboration, Sullivan Perry

Undergraduate Honors Theses

An exploration of cinematography, societal expectations, and artist collaboration, “Fake It!” challenges the traditional definition of art. Part one follows the journey of creating a music video for an original song titled “Fake It!” by the band Model City. Location, lighting, camera, and editing choices are explained and connected to the song's themes of teenage angst, regret, and a rejection of societal norms. Part two explores the process of creating art by translating the hexadecimal color values from the music video into a new musical composition. This is accomplished through a mathematical process that converts the computer-identified RGB letters and …

The Legislative Recipe: Syntax For Machine-Readable Legislation, Megan Ma, Bryan Wilson

Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property

Legal interpretation is a linguistic venture. In judicial opinions, for example, courts are often asked to interpret the text of statutes and legislation. As time has shown, this is not always as easy as it sounds. Matters can hinge on vague or inconsistent language and, under the surface, human biases can impact the decision-making of judges. This raises an important question: what if there was a method of extracting the meaning of statutes consistently? That is, what if it were possible to use machines to encode legislation in a mathematically precise form that would permit clearer responses to legal questions? …

Writing Black Characters Out Of The Margins Of Fantasy With Secrets Of Candeo, Julienne Parks

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The crawling pace that the production of diverse fantasy books has set for itself continues to reveal that Black characters and the representation of Blackness in fiction is lacking in a detrimental way. Specifically speaking, this thesis focuses on the prevalent lack of Black characters in the fantasy genre, where Black people are cast as minor characters to a white protagonist’s story like Angela Johnson from Harry Potter; cast as abominations of anti-Black stereotypes in monsters like the Uruk-hai of Lord of the Rings; and cast as side(kick) characters like Vetch from Earthsea, aka Black characters who are …

The Haitian Méringue Through Stylized Piano Compositions From 1880-1930, William Leroy Harned

Dissertations

This study primarily describes the Haitian méringue from a historical analysis and a collective musical analysis of digital editions published from 2016 to 2020 that include previously unavailable piano compositions from Haiti’s first composers. Secondarily, this study clarifies the performance practice of innovative rhythmic notations from Haiti and Puerto Rico to indicate a relaxed syncopation of the tresillo-based five-beat syncopated rhythm. The history of the development of the méringue involves the creolization of mainly European and African dances. Comparison with compositions of origin dances reveals common structures between them. The European salon style inspired these Haitian compositions that resemble Romantic …

A Literature Review Of Paid Sick Leave And Disparate Populations In The United States During The Covid Pandemic, Jessica Davies

Capstone Experience: Master of Public Health

The COVID pandemic is providing many public health and health policy learning opportunities to identify disparities among women, minorities, and underserved/distressed populations and inform subsequent policy-level strategies. It is recommended people stay home when they are sick; yet, not all people have access to paid sick leave. Individuals are left with the unfortunate decision to lose pay or go to work when they are ill. This is disconcerting in any given year with the annual flu illness and other communicable diseases; however, especially concerning during the COVID pandemic given the high virus transmissibility. Paid sick leave is not universally accessible …

An Investigation Of Principals’ Social Justice Leadership And Black Male Academic Achievement, Brain L. Gibson

All Dissertations

Black males in K-12 school systems across the nation continue to face formidable challenges such as low graduation rates, overrepresentation in special education, high out-of-school suspension rates, and underperformance in the classroom (Bryan, 2020; Grace & Nelson, 2019; Johnson & Bryan, 2017; Powell, 2018). Despite decades of research devoted to addressing the educational and social injustices Black males face, many scholars contend that such attention has resulted in minimal change, and a revised narrative for managing the state of Black males is needed (Adedoyin et al., 2019; Carter, 2019; Johnson & Bryan, 2017).

Some scholars have insisted that the academic …