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Gsep Research Symposium Proceedings - 2024

GSEP Research Symposium

The 8th Annual GSEP Research Symposium, was themed "Dismantling Barriers between Research and Practice: Shining a Light on Global Interdisciplinary Solutions," took place on July 18-19, 2024, at the picturesque Château d'Hauteville in Saint-Légier-La Chiésaz, Switzerland.

The annual symposium is hosted by the Pepperdine University Graduate School of Education and Psychology (GSEP). The symposium served as a dynamic platform for students, faculty, alums, and staff to come together and explore innovative ideas across multiple disciplines. Featuring 69 selected presentations under five distinct tracks, the proceedings showcase groundbreaking research, foster meaningful discussions, and promote professional development.

The symposium aimed to bridge …

“Not The Player Nor The Coach”: Considerations For Peer-Tutor Education In Heritage Language Writing Centers, Agustina Carando, Claire J. Lozano

The Writing Center Journal

This study analyzes the experiences of undergraduate peer-tutors in a heritage language writing center (HLWC) located at a large public university in the United States. As former heritage language (HL) students themselves, tutors have to navigate the complexities of being bilingual advocates for their tutees while promoting the linguistic ideals of the academic community, where literacy expectations can be more rigid. In order to delve into their experiences at the center, this qualitative investigation examines the end-of- term reflections of 19 Spanish HL tutors working at a Spanish HLWC, addressing the following questions: (1) How do tutors perceive their role …

Aligning Human And Computational Coherence Evaluations, Jia Peng Lim, Hady Wirawan Lauw

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Automated coherence metrics constitute an efficient and popular way to evaluate topic models. Previous work presents a mixed picture of their presumed correlation with human judgment. This work proposes a novel sampling approach to mining topic representations at a large scale while seeking to mitigate bias from sampling, enabling the investigation of widely used automated coherence metrics via large corpora. Additionally, this article proposes a novel user study design, an amalgamation of different proxy tasks, to derive a finer insight into the human decision-making processes. This design subsumes the purpose of simple rating and outlier-detection user studies. Similar to the …

Young Children’S Directed Question Asking In Preschool Classrooms, Michelle Wong, Koeun Choi, Libby Barak, Elizabeth Lapidow, Jennifer Austin, Patrick Shafto, Elizabeth Bonawitz

Department of Linguistics Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Question asking is a prevalent aspect of children’s speech, providing a means by which young learners can rapidly gain information about the world. Previous research has demonstrated that children exhibit sensitivity to the knowledge state of potential informants in laboratory settings. However, it remains unclear whether and how young children are inclined to direct questions that support learning deeper content to more knowledgeable informants in naturalistic classroom contexts. In this study, we examined children’s question-asking targets (adults, other preschoolers, self-talk) during an open-play period in a US preschool classroom and assessed how the cognitive and linguistic characteristics of questions varied …

Liberal Attitude Reports, Tomasz Zyglewicz

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Attitude reports are sentences such as “Tomasz thinks the Earth is flat” or “Susan wantsvice cream.” It is commonly assumed that the main reason people use them is to make sense of the reportee’s behavior: to explain their past actions, or predict future ones. To play this role effectively, attitude reports have to accurately describe what is going on in the reportee’s head. Let’s call attitue reports that do not meet this condition “Liberal attitude reports.” For example: Alice is a vegan doctor who thinks that every vegan should take a B12 supplements. It is felicitous to say to your …

Controlling Emotional Text To Speech Using Complex Adverbial Phrases, Zainab T. Akande

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study investigates the usage of adverbial modifiers from audiobook data as a resource for training speech synthesizers with a greater range of speech descriptions. The Tacotron2 text-to-speech (TTS) model was used for the purposes of this study. Utilizing the LibriTTS dataset, the Tacotron2 model is trained under two experimental conditions: one incorporating adverbial modifiers into the input text and the other without. The dataset preprocessing involves embedding descriptions using word embeddings and encoding speaker IDs with machine learning techniques. Additionally, the model architecture includes a prosody encoder inspired by prior research. Evaluation of the trained models involves subjective assessments …

Factors Affecting Pretonic Deletion In English Syllables: A Corpus Study, Whitney Barnett-Rhodes

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

One type of variation in pronunciation that is associated with fast and/or conversational speech is massive reduction, in which entire syllables are deleted. We focus on a subtype of massive reduction, pretonic vowel deletion, where the vowel in an unstressed syllable is deleted and the flanking consonants form an onset cluster, V --> φ / C__C, such as the word Columbus reduced to the two-syllable pronunciation [klʌmbəs], resulting in the onset cluster [kl]. The main question asks what predictors are associated with pretonic vowel deletion. Furthermore, we evaluate the Lexicalist Hypothesis and Sonority Projection as explanations of the phenomenon. …

Preschoolers’ Generation Of Quantity Implicatures, André Eliatamby

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation uses the developing child as a window into the mechanisms and representations that allow us to understand the meaning of utterances in their contexts. I present three studies investigating 4- and 5-year-olds’ ability to generate two types of “quantity implicatures,” classic scalar implicatures with some that imply not all, and free choice inferences that arise with sentences like “Larry is allowed to have cake or ice-cream.” Together, the studies suggest a close relationship between pragmatic development and word learning, something not appreciated in existing literature. In the first study investigating some, I show that preschoolers interpret …

Cognitive Flexibility And Stability In Bilingual Older Adults, Lia Pazuelo

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Lifelong bilingual individuals develop expertise in language-switching, requiring a delicate balance between cognitive stability—safeguarding goals from interference—and cognitive flexibility—adapting goals to changing demands. While some studies demonstrate the transferability of these skills to non-linguistic tasks, signifying bilingualism's impact on cognitive processes, others find no direct correlation between non-linguistic task-switching and bilingualism. Our study investigated the cognitive processes underlying bilingual speakers' performance on a switching task, exploring whether varying degrees of bilingual experience in older adults result in different tendencies towards stability (e.g., lower mixing cost and response congruency effect) or flexibility (e.g., smaller switching costs). By treating the bilingual experience …

Musical Semiotics In Kate Soper’S Ipsa Dixit (2010–2016), Scott A. Miller

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation analyzes the six parts of Kate Soper’s Ipsa Dixit (2010–2016). While individual parts have received some music theoretical attention, this is the first analysis of the entire Pulitzer Prize-nominated work. Ambiguity and contingency are major themes of Ipsa Dixit, and by treating each part independently and in combination, I hope to honor Ipsa’s contingent status as a unified work comprised of six complete works. Soper’s libretto unifies an assemblage of texts with adaptations of Aristotle to investigate the intersections of language and music with authority, veracity, and (un)intelligibility.

I theorize that Soper’s “philosophy-opera” dramatizes the formation of …

Getting To The Point: Contrasting Directness And Warmth In Motivational Embodied Conversational Agents, Michael O'Mahony, Cathy Ennis, Robert Ross

Conference papers

Enhancing long-term engagement with conversational agents remains a significant challenge. Controlling the perceived warmth or directness of an agent’s personality through the style of its generated text could be used to increase user likeability. This paper reports an investigation of a Wizard-of-Oz (WoZ) mediated study of two variants of a motivational embodied conversational agent to measure user perception of and attitudes towards warmth in interaction style. Results show a significant effect of users preferring an agent with a "more direct" personality for this scenario, though this effect is in many ways nuanced.

Makna Penamaan Sajian Ritual Kabasa Dari Perspektif Gastrolinguistik, Lilik Rita Lindayani, Rasiah Rasiah, Rahmawati Azi, Wa Ode Sifatu, Syahrun Syahrun, La Sawali La Sawali

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

This article is about Munanese (an ethnic group in Southeast Sulawesi) traditional dish kabasa as a form of referential support to the gastrodiplomacy trend. Kabasa is a part of the haroa ritual that features a range of dishes with various ingredients, which is strongly connected to various aspects of the community such as social position, psychology, and environment. In this study, a combination between linguistics as language science and gastronomy which examines food within its culture is considered effective for investigating the semantics of the naming pattern of kabasa dishes in order to document this unique culinary tradition and introduce …

Upacara Adat Rambu Solo’: Antara Gengsi Dan Urgensi, Ghana Aldila Septiani G, Mochammad Mansur, Salsabila Dwi Saputri

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

Rambu Solo’ is one of the most expensive traditional funerals in the world. This has created a general impression that Rambu Solo’ must always be lavishly performed, although in reality it can be adjusted to the bereaved family’s financial circumstances. This research seeks to explain how Rambu Solo’ can be motivated by both urgency and prestige using Abraham Maslow’s humanistic psychology theory. This research applied the qualitative method. Data were collected by interviewing a traditional leader named Ambe Tawang with the aid of a local interpreter, Baharuddin Palepong, who lived in Lembang Palesan, Tana Toraja, South Sulawesi. After collection, the …

Toponimi Nama Pantai Di Belitung, Filia Filia

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

This research examines the toponymy of beaches in Belitung using the socio-onomastic approach. The names of beaches in Belitung Regency were studied using written and oral data. The written data was obtained from three maps, i.e., the map from the Geospatial Information Agency, the geological map of Belitung and the digital Google Maps. The oral data was obtained through interviews with resource persons and informants in Belitung. Based on map searches and interviews, seven beach names and the origin of their names have been obtained, as follows (i) Tanjung Tinggi Beach, (ii) Tanjung Pendam Beach, (iii), Penyabong Beach, (iv) Tanjung …

Kajian Konseptual Silabel Ritme Gandang Minangkabau, Aryuda Fakhleri Fallen, Yudi Sukmayadi, Tati Narawati

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

This article tryes to initiate the concept of Minangkabau rhythm syllables, which is a method in music learning related to audiation in rhythm learning, the urgency in this study explores the basic elements of the audiation system that can be applied to music learning related to rhythm syllables based on local approaches, taking into account previous concepts that have been popular in recent schools. In West Sumatra, the concepts of syllable rhythm such as Zoltan Kodaly, Kannokol, American Style Syllables, and Edwin Gordon are not so popular, but environments such as schools and art studios have their own ways of …

Kendhangan Nartosabdan Pembentuk Karakteristik Gending Semarangan, Nanda Indah Nur Risqia, Suyoto Suyoto

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

The research aims to reveal the factors which contribute to the unique characteristics of Semarangan gending. Analysis involved four theories: Rahayu Supanggah’s garap theory, Stenberg’s creativity theory, C. A. van Peursen’s cultural development theory, and Marc Benamou’s rasa theory. There were three stages of data collection: literature study, observation, and interview. Results show three main characteristics of Semarangan gending: irama and laya, garap ricikan, and vocal garap. The tabuhan from this ricikan shows integration of musical styles from other areas, such as Yogyakarta, Banyumas, Surakarta, and East Java. In Semarangan gending, there are rasa …

Ekspresi Bahasa Evaluatif Pada Artikel Ilmiah Berbahasa Indonesia, Ahmad Fadly, Untung Yuwono, Sonya Puspasari Suganda

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

Authors of scientific articles are faced with two opposing demands: objectivity and critical evaluation when expressing reality and truth. To date, no evaluative language mapping has been performed on Indonesian scientific articles which can accurately describe an article’s degree of objectivity so that it can be used as a tool for objectivizing and negotiating truth. Using the appraisal framework, this research aims to identify and examine these two opposing orientations as they appear in Indonesian scientific articles. The qualitative approach was applied to perform in-depth analysis of interpersonal functions in scientific articles. Data in the form of Indonesian scientific articles …

Scandal In Japan Transgression, Performance And Ritual, I Ketut Surajaya Prof. Dr.

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

No abstract provided.

Pandangan Tentang Praktik Bedah Plastik Dalam Artikel Opini Di Surat Kabar Korea Tahun 2010–2019, Putu Pramania Adnyana, Abdul Muta'ali, Sonya Puspasari Suganda

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

This research aims to reveal Korean’s perspectives on plastic surgery practices through a corpus-based text analysis of Korean online newspapers. The research used quantitative and qualitative methods to observe keywords, significant collocates, and semantic preference. The data used were 106 opinion articles about plastic surgery in Chosun Ilbo and Donga Ilbo (2010–2019). Keyword analysis shows that the most frequently used keywords are seonghyeong (189 times) and seonghyeongsusul (116 times). Analysis of significant collocates and semantic preferences revealed that plastic surgery was frequently discussed in relation to body parts, people (collocate yeoseong (women), junggukin (Chinese), hwanja (patient), gwangganggek (tourist)), country (collocate …

Ritual Bela Diri Kutau Dalam Masyarakat Desa Suro, Kabupaten Musi Rawas, Aulini Lidiantari, Roza Muliati, Nursyirwan Nursyirwan, Rosta Minawati

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

This paper discusses the Kutau martial arts ritual practiced by the people of Suro Village, Muara Beliti District, Musi Rawas Regency, South Sumatra Province. Kutau is one of the ancestral heritages consisting of a set of rituals. Kutau takes the form of traditional martial arts that has been developed by the Suro Village community. Applying the qualitative approach, this study aimed to systematically document all forms of rituals in Kutau and its functions within the Suro community. Data were collected through observation, interviews, and documentation, which were then analyzed using Victor Turner’s ritual approach and Talcot Parsons’ function approach. Results …

Colorado's Multilingual Learners And The Read Act: A Critical Discourse Analysis, Brooke K. Sassi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation critically examines the Colorado Reading to Ensure Academic Development Act (READ Act) through the lens of Critical Discourse Analysis, focusing on the discursive construction of the Act and its impact on educational opportunities for multilingual learners. The study explores the role of power and knowledge in shaping the READ Act and addresses the ideological tensions and power imbalances that arise from a policy primarily designed for monolingual, English-speaking students. Drawing on personal experiences and extensive research, this analysis highlights the shortcomings of a phonics-heavy approach mandated by the READ Act, particularly for multilingual learners who require a more …

Undergraduate Students’ Experiences And Perceptions Of Foreign Language Education, Miho Hamamoto

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the United States, the enrollments of undergraduate and graduate students in language courses other than English have been continuously decreasing in recent years. Previous research proves that there are diverse benefits that learning a language offers, and it is evident that language education is crucial in this globalized world. However, many universities and colleges in the United States are eliminating foreign language programs, which can deprive students of a crucial opportunity to engage in language learning. Thus, the purpose of this study was to explore undergraduate students’ experiences and perceptions of foreign language education, and the study was guided …

The Impact Of The First Language Usage For Chinese Undergraduate International Students, Qiunan Liu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

English as the “lingua franca” serves as a bridge across diverse nations, cultures, and economies and plays an important role in modern society, which has increased the number of English language learners around the world. In the United States, over 30% of international students are from China, with the majority being undergraduate students. A significant number of Chinese students need to enroll in English learning courses when they attend universities in the U.S. due to insufficient English language test scores. Chinese international students often incorporate their first language (L1) when they are learning English in the U.S. Therefore, understanding the …

Principal Agency 50 Years After The Lau Decision: Building And Sustaining Bilingual Education Programs For Asian Languages, Kevin M. Wong, Zhongfeng Tian

Education Division Scholarship

This study examined how three champion principals of Asian language dual language bilingual education (DLBE) programs—Cantonese, Korean, and Mandarin—in California have navigated the oscillating language-in-education policies after the Lau decision. We explored principals' various roles through a lens of agency in a social justice leadership framework, specifically considering the opportunities and challenges for agentive leadership from three different phases: foregrounding and engaging, planning and implementing, and evaluating and sustaining. Findings demonstrate that the success of DLBE programs goes beyond the overarching language policies that supposedly enable bilingual education; rather it hinges on the bottom-up commitment, collaboration and resilience of principals, …

Promoting Emergent Literacy In Preschool Through Extended Discourse: Covert Translanguaging In A Mandarin Immersion Environment, Robin E. Harvey, Kevin M. Wong

Education Division Scholarship

Rich oral language practices, including the opportunity and ability to participate in cognitively and linguistically challenging extended discourse, are foundational to early literacy development. To meet children’s needs in their first exposure to the languages of schooling, educators may engage students in extended discourse multilingually. The current study focuses on student-centered translanguaging conversations to examine strategies that preschool teachers employ to support young children’s emerging bilingual and biliteracy development in a Mandarin immersion preschool serving primarily nonheritage learners of Mandarin in the United States. Findings indicate that, despite the school’s Mandarin-only policy, teachers engaged in covert translanguaging practices to extend …

Lsp Needs Analysis In The Context Of International Minor League Baseball, Julia Moore

University Honors Theses

Examining the language and cultural needs of international minor league baseball players through the lens of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) this study utilizes applied linguistics and sports sociology and aims to inform player development strategies to enhance on- and off-field communication. Survey data was gathered on language use preferences, focusing on players' attitudes and behaviors in professional settings. Ethical considerations included surveys in English and Spanish and voluntary participation, with data collected at the Oakland Athletics Complex in Mesa, Arizona, from 18 out of 20 players.

Findings reveal that players recognize the importance of English proficiency for effective gameplay …

Batavia In The19th Century: A Russian Diplomat's Criticism Of The Capital Society And The Colonial System Of The Dutch East Indies, Ahmad Fahrurodji

International Review of Humanities Studies

ABSTRACT This article analyzes the traces of diplomatic relations between the Russian Empire and the Dutch East Indies in the late 19th century. The views and criticisms of the Russian Consul in Batavia became one of the important milestones of cultural relations between the two nations in the future. This research is a cultural history research using historical research method and structural approach. The documents used are diplomatic reports that have been published in the original language (Russian). By using the theory of hermeneutics, this article aims to see how Batavia and the people in it interacted and acted from …

Haiga In The Borderland: Sociolinguistic Perception And Variable Production Among Bilinguals In El Paso, Elyana Amparan

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The linguistic variant haiga in the Ciudad Juárez, Mexico – El Paso, Texas border region is often a stigmatized feature within the bilingual community. This non-standard form, derived from haya (the present subjunctive of haber “to be” in Spanish) carries negative social connotations and is often perceived as incorrect. Our aim was to investigate the use and attitudes towards haiga in the bilingual population at the U. S. – Mexico border. A text infilling task was employed to elicit the use of haiga and an attitude elicitation task using memes was used to investigate the participants attitudes towards the form. …

Teachers’ Self-Reported Practices Of Teaching Academic Writing In Pakistani Universities, Hafiz Yar

Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies ETDs

This study has explored teachers’ self-reported practices of teaching academic writing in Pakistani universities. The English language based developmental literacy courses in Pakistani undergraduate degrees are offered as part of the curricula rather than through specialized language centers. The three-course progression of developmental English literacy in Pakistani undergraduate curricula aims to develop academic writing proficiency besides effective business communication and technical report writing skills.

This study has used generic qualitative research methodology (Caelli et al., 2003; Kahlke, 2014; Kostere & Kostere, 2021), snowball sampling for participant recruitment, and a combination of survey and one-to-one semi structured interviews for data collection. …

Cancer Care Terminology In African Languages, Hannah Simba, Miriam Mutebi, Moses Galukande, Yahya Mahamat-Saleh, Elom Aglago, Adamu Addissie, Lidya Genene Abebe, Justina Onwuka

General Surgery, East Africa

Importance: Effective communication between patients and health care teams is essential in the health care setting for delivering optimal cancer care and increasing cancer awareness. While the significance of communication in health care is widely acknowledged, the topic is largely understudied within African settings.

Objective: To assess how the medical language of cancer and oncology translates into African languages and what these translations mean within their cultural context.

Design, etting, and participants: In this multinational survey study in Africa, health professionals, community health workers, researchers, and scientists involved in cancer care and research and traditional healers were invited to participate …