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Since independence, the "Anglophone" and "Francophone" identities (both legacies of British and French colonialism, respectively) have remained the dominant national identity of Cameroonians. This linguistic national identity was formalized by the adoption of bilingualism at the dawn of independence and the enactment of English and French as the two official languages of the country. Nationalism and national integration in the Cameroonian context therefore revolve around the cohabitation of the aforementioned distinct linguistic and cultural identities, which harbors significant incompatibilities. This article probes into the effectiveness of the cohabitation model of nation-building in Cameroon and attempts a new alternative. A survey was conducted to sample the opinion of Cameroonians on national identity and nationalism in Cameroon. The results indicate there are enormous challenges with the implementation of the cohabitation model, which an overwhelming majority of respondent believe has a negative impact on national integration. A new approach dubbed "Civic-multicultural model" is proposed. This model is based on the "Kamerun Idea," which is a glaring reminder that before being "anglicized" by the British on the one side of the Mungo river, and "gallicized" by the French on the other side, the inhabitants offshore the "Rios dos Cameroes" were first "kamerunized" by the Germans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

The right to release the mortgage is one of the equitable rights enjoyed by the current debtor towards the mortgagee creditor in English law, which was established for him by the rules of justice and fairness. It is required for the current debtor to pay the amount of the loan debt represented by the debt secured by the mortgage and to terminate the mortgage on the mortgaged property as it is the natural way to pay the debt secured by the mortgage. As for the Iraqi Civil Law No. (40) of 1951 and the UAE Federal Civil Transactions Law No. (5) of 1985, they have identified two ways for the owner of the property to release the mortgage, the first is to fulfill the debt secured by the insurance mortgage, and the second is for the owner of the property to release the mortgaged property as an insurance mortgage or purify it. The research problem is reflected in the question of the permissibility of postponing the release of the mortgage for a reasonable period in the Iraqi and UAE laws, if it is in the interest of the current debtor. The most prominent results of the study are that English law allows the postponement of the current debtor's exercise of his right to release the mortgage, provided that this postponement is agreed upon by a contractual clause, which is not an arbitrary condition as long as the agreed period for the postponement is a reasonable period. The failure of the current debtor to exercise his right to release the mortgage also entails the mortgagee demanding the closure of the mortgage. The most important recommendations are the possibility of Iraqi and Emirati legislators benefiting from the provisions contained in the English law on the permissibility of postponing the release of the mortgage for a reasonable period, the mortgage contract shall include a condition that allows the mortgagor to agree with the mortgagee to postpone the period of release of the mortgage if this is in his interest and for a reasonable period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

The purpose of this research is to explore the students' perspectives on the effectiveness of Internet-based tools such as (Video platforms, mobile applications, online dictionaries, social media, and AI chatbots) in improving their pronunciation. The study also aims to explore what tools the students use the most, the difficulties they face while using these tools, and their suggestions to improve them. A questionnaire is used to collect the data. It combines both qualitative and quantitative questions. The participants of the research are 30 second year students of English at Ziane Achour University of Djelfa. The findings show that students positively perceive internet-based tools and that the majority value the benefits of these tools in their pronunciation learning. Youtube and language learning applications are the most used tools, students acknowledge that internet-based tools are flexible, easy, interactive, and offer authentic English content that help them learn the challenging features of pronunciation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

• The nutritional guidance provided by ChatGPT for polycystic ovary syndrome is of high quality. • The reliability of ChatGPT's nutritional advices needs to be improved. • Readability of answers is difficult with college level or above for both languages. • ChatGPT offers reliable answers but it cannot replace personalized medical advice. Patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) often have many questions about nutrition and turn to chatbots such as Chat Generative Pretrained Transformer (ChatGPT) for advice. This study aims to evaluate the reliability, quality, and readability of ChatGPT's responses to nutrition-related questions asked by women with PCOS. Frequently asked nutrition-related questions from women with PCOS were reviewed in both Turkish and English. The reliability and quality of the answers were independently evaluated by 2 authors and a panel of 10 expert dietitians, using modified DISCERN and global quality score. Additionally, the readability of the answers was calculated using frequently used readability formulas. The mean modified DISCERN scores for English and Turkish versions were 27.6±0.87 and 27.2±0.87, respectively, indicating a fair level of reliability in the responses (16–31 points or 40%–79%). According to the global quality score, 100% of the responses in English and 90.9% of the responses in Turkish were rated as high quality. The readability of responses was classified as "difficult to read" with the readership levels assessed at college level and above for both English and Turkish. The correlation and regression analyses indicated no relationship between reliability, quality, and readability in English. However, a significant relationship was observed between quality and readability indexes in Turkish (P <.05). Our results suggest that ChatGPT's responses to nutrition-related questions about PCOS are generally of high quality, but improvements in both reliability and readability are still necessary. Although ChatGPT can offer general information and guidance on nutrition for PCOS, it should not be considered a substitute for personalized medical advice from health care professionals for effective management of the syndrome. This study assessed the reliability, quality and readability of ChatGPT's responses to nutrition-related questions for women with PCOS in both English and Turkish. The responses demonstrated fair reliability, with mDISCERN scores averaging 27.6±0.87 for English and 27.2±0.87 for Turkish responses. All English responses and 90.9% of Turkish responses were classified as high quality. However, readability was very difficult being at college level and above. Although ChatGPT consistently provides high-quality information, it should not be a substitute for individualized medical guidance. List of Abbreviations: ChatGPT: Chat Generative Pretrained Transformer; mDISCERN: Modified DISCERN; PCOS: Polycystic ovary syndrome. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Can comprehenders use unexpected incoming information to revise their existing predictions on the fly? A recent study in Mandarin Chinese found that, upon hearing a prediction-inconsistent nominal classifier, listeners were able to rapidly revise their predictions and redirect their eye gaze towards a previously unexpected object. In the present study, we extended this finding to English using measure phrases (e.g. "a pile of"). Unlike Mandarin classifiers, measure phrases are not obligatory for nouns in English, which allows us to test whether comprehenders can quickly revise their predictions even when the relevant cue is not routinely present in the language. We found that, upon encountering a measure phrase that contradicts their initial prediction, listeners quickly redirected their eye gaze from the originally expected object to an unexpected object that was compatible with the new information. We propose that comprehenders can rapidly revise predictions in response to unexpected bottom-up input across languages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

We compared the benefit of production and drawing on recall of concrete and abstract words, using mixed- and pure-list designs. We varied stimulus and list types to examine whether the memory benefit from these strategies was sustained across these manipulations. For all experiments, the memory retrieval task was free recall. In Experiment 1, participants studied concrete and abstract words sequentially, with prompts to either silently-read, read aloud, write, or draw each target (intermixed). Reading aloud, writing, and drawing improved recall compared to silent reading, with drawing leading to the largest boost. Performance, however, was at floor in all but the drawing condition. In Experiment 2, the number of targets was reduced, and each strategy (between-subjects) was compared to silent-reading. We eliminated floor effects and replicated results from Experiment 1. In Experiment 3, we manipulated strategy in a pure-list-design. The drawing benefit was maintained while that from production was eliminated. In all experiments, recall was higher for concrete than abstract words that were drawn; no such effect was found for words produced. Results suggest that drawing facilitates memory by enhancing semantic elaboration, whereas the production benefit is largely perceptually based. Importantly, the memory benefit conferred by drawing at encoding, unlike production, cannot be explained by a distinctiveness account as it was relatively unaffected by study design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

When language abilities in aphasia are assessed in clinical and research settings, the standard practice is to examine each language of a multilingual person separately. But many multilingual individuals, with and without aphasia, mix their languages regularly when they communicate with other speakers who share their languages. We applied a novel approach to scoring language production of a multilingual person with aphasia. Our aim was to discover whether the assessment outcome would differ meaningfully when we count accurate responses in only the target language of the assessment session versus when we apply a translanguaging framework, that is, count all accurate responses, regardless of the language in which they were produced. The participant is a Farsi-German-English speaking woman with chronic moderate aphasia. We examined the participant's performance on two picture-naming tasks, an answering wh-question task, and an elicited narrative task. The results demonstrated that scores in English, the participant's third-learned and least-impaired language did not differ between the two scoring methods. Performance in German, the participant's moderately impaired second language benefited from translanguaging-based scoring across the board. In Farsi, her weakest language post-CVA, the participant's scores were higher under the translanguaging-based scoring approach in some but not all of the tasks. Our findings suggest that whether a translanguaging-based scoring makes a difference in the results obtained depends on relative language abilities and on pragmatic constraints, with additional influence of the linguistic distances between the languages in question. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Purpose: The primary aim of this study was to investigate how speechlanguage pathologists (SLPs) from Estonia, Finland, and Lithuania rate the significance of different features for diagnosing childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) in their languages. Method: An online survey was conducted among 197 Estonian, Finnish, and Lithuanian SLPs who have worked with children with CAS. The SLPs were asked to rate the significance of 63 features for CAS diagnosis in their respective language. Cross-linguistic patterns in diagnostic features were examined with simple correspondence analysis (SCA) and via descriptive statistics. Results: The ratings revealed six to seven diagnostic features that were considered very significant for CAS diagnosis by the majority of respondents in each country. The SCA highlighted differences between Lithuanian SLPs and Estonian and Finnish SLPs. Some possible language-specific associations were noted, such as palatalization errors for Lithuanian and Estonian and diphthong distortions for Estonian. The respondents from all countries rated highly those features that can easily be applied to most languages (e.g., groping) and gave lower ratings to features that may be influenced by the linguistic structure of different languages (e.g., word stress errors). Conclusions: Overall, SLPs provided high ratings to CAS features that occur universally across languages, whereas features specific to languages, such as prosody-related errors, were not as highly rated. Several language-specific features were highlighted, providing direction for future research and emphasizing the importance of language-specific considerations in CAS research and diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Fazang is a seminal figure for the tradition of Huayan Buddhism. Essay on the Golden Lion is the most widely translated into English of his writings. Yet systematic English-language scholarship on Fazang's Essay is relatively sparse. Scholars agree that the central focus of the Essay is the relation between principle and thing — a relation akin to the one between emptiness and form and, according to Fazang, also akin to the relation between the golden substance of a lion statue and the statue itself. Scholars disagree about what principle is. They also disagree about how Fazang conceptualizes the relation between principle and thing. This paper develops a novel interpretation for Fazang's conception of the principle-thing relation. The methodology involves situating Fazang's metaphor of the golden lion in relation to prior efforts, by Chinese Buddhists, to conceptualize the emptiness-form relation and using theoretical considerations, from some of Fazang's other writings, to interpret various remarks Fazang makes about his metaphor of the golden lion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) occurs in 8%-13% of reproductive-aged women and is associated with reproductive, metabolic, and psychological dysfunction. Overweight and obesity are prevalent and exacerbate the features of PCOS. The aim of this review is to evaluate the extent of evidence examining the physiological factors affecting energy homeostasis, which may impact weight gain, weight loss, and weight maintenance in PCOS, and identify research gaps and recommendations for future research. Literature searches using MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycInfo, AMED, CINAHL, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were conducted up to June 22, 2022. Abstracts, non–English-language articles, and reviews were excluded. A total of n = 78 (n = 55 energy intake and n = 23 energy expenditure) primary research papers were included. Papers with multiple outcomes of interest were counted as separate studies. Energy-intake studies (n = 89) focussed on assessing food, nutrient, or supplements stimuli and were grouped into the outcomes of gastrointestinal appetite hormones (n = 43), adipokines (n = 34), subjective appetite (n = 9), functional brain imaging (n = 3), and neuropeptides (n = 0). Energy-expenditure studies (n = 29) were grouped into total energy expenditure (n = 1), resting energy expenditure (n = 15), meal-induced thermogenesis (n = 3), nutrient oxidation (n = 5), and metabolic flexibility (n = 5). Across both energy-intake and -expenditure papers, 60% of the studies compared outcome responses in women with PCOS with a control group. Results were inconsistent, with 57% reporting no differences and 43% reporting altered responses in PCOS compared with controls, including blunted appetite hormone responses, metabolic inflexibility, and reduced energy expenditure. The authors identified that there is inconsistent, yet preliminary, evidence of possible altered physiological factors, which may impact energy balance and weight management. Further work is needed to act on the identified clinical and research gaps to support women with PCOS and health professionals in informing and achieving realistic weight-management goals for women with PCOS. Systematic Review Registration The protocol was prospectively registered on the Open Science Framework on February 16, 2021 (https://osf.io/9jnsm). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

English for Academic Purposes (EAP) courses have provided undergraduate students with a supporting structure for their research. After leaving these courses, students may write their senior theses or write for research journals or research symposiums. What genre knowledge and writing expertise will they gain through these activities and how? This paper examines the genre learning of a group of Chinese university students as they participated in three undergraduate research symposiums (URSs). The study reveals that they furthered genre knowledge across five domains—subject matter knowledge, formal genre knowledge, rhetorical knowledge, process knowledge, and genre awareness. They achieved these gains as they searched for appropriate research questions and analytical models, annotated and modelled Chinese research articles, experimented with new genre forms critically across lingua-cultural differences, negotiated with non-disciplinary raters and shifting rating criteria of the URSs, and managed their affect productively. Given the affordances of URSs, we conclude the study by suggesting ways to strengthen the ties between the EAP curriculum and URSs. • A study of genre learning of a group of Chinese university students. • Students participated in three undergraduate research symposiums. • Students furthered genre knowledge across five domains. • Genre learning was supported by translingual and affective mediations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Oral presentations in English are emphasized in higher education, yet verbal and visual communication often lack balance in academic training. Mastery of visual aids is as crucial as verbal expression, especially for nonnative English speakers. This research proposed a skill-building pedagogy to optimize dual-channel communication, involving 19 college students from a Southern Taiwanese University. A progressive instructional design incorporated English for Specific Academic Purposes, visual communication, and tech-tool applications. Verbal fluency and visual use were assessed to evaluate learning outcomes; perceptional changes were revealed. Data collection included presentation footage, surveys, and interviews. Results showed significant improvements in verbal fluency and visual mastery after multimodal reinforcement. Students' awareness and confidence grew with skill development, significantly changing their preparation stage perceptions. Presentation language, visualization skills, and technological tools empowered nonnative English speakers to overcome linguistic constraints through practice and feedback. This research highlighted the need for comprehensive training programs that empirically demonstrate how verbal and visual resources enhance each other during presentations. The findings validated that deliberate learning and conscious preparation in oral speech and visual techniques optimize communication. Enhancing English learners' multimodal expression skills prepares them for academic and professional success. [Display omitted] • Delivering English presentations requires verbal and visual skill-building. • Perceptional changes affect preparation stages and performance outcomes. • A new pedagogy addresses dual-channel communication and technological applications. • Content visualization and tool applications empower nonnative English-speaking presenters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

This paper presents current status of a Polish scientific journal Problemy Ekorozwoju/Problems of Sustainable Development, with unique position in the field of sustainable development research. Its mission is to promote interdisciplinary approaches to ecological, economic, technological as well as social and philosophical challenges in the pursuit of sustainable growth. Since its inception, the journal has consistently pursued ambitious scientific goals, capturing the attention of researchers and practitioners worldwide. What is important, the journal is not publishing local case studies, concentrated on international perspective. The publisher is Lublin University of Technology, from the year 2008 the journal has under patronage of the European Academy of Science and Art. The first number was published in 2006. Since that time we published over 750 papers in 38 numbers of the journal. Since there are no fees, it is also a chance to publish scientific papers in an international journal for scientists from poorer countries. The publication language is English. The journal has good and stable international scientific parameters, Impact Factor = 1.0 and CitiScore = 2.7, which allows us to be in the 3rd quartile of scientific journals. The level of rejection is very high, 83% in 2024. The journal is following COPE ethical standards. With rising number of submissions (almost 300 in 2024) the future of the journal looks promising. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

This study describes the transcultural adaptation of the Collaborative Model for Promoting Competence and Success for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (COMPASS) to Brazilian Portuguese (BP). A blind translation of the original version in English (OV) to the version in BP, blind back-translation of the BP version into English (BT), comparison of BT with OV to statistically verify the convergence (CO), minimum divergence (MD) and divergence of meaning (DM) between BT and OV, review of the BP version by a committee of experts, maintaining conceptual, idiomatic, semantic and cultural equivalence, and sending of the files to the author of the model, was carried out. 1372 items were translated from English to BP. After comparing BT/OV, 0.6% DM (9 items), 47.9% MD (657 items), and 51.5% CO (706 items) were found. 97 equivalences were made, 43 semantic and 54 conceptual. The author of the model received all files from steps 1 to 4. Having carried out this process, it is possible to state that COMPASS was transcultural adapted to BP. With the future availability of COMPASS in Brazil, we hope that it can contribute to the development of the quality of education for students with Autism Spectrum Disorder in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

In my research I examine the linguistic practices of Moroccans in Spain, many of whom speak Moroccan Arabic as well as Modern Standard Arabic, Tamazight, French, English and Spanish at varying levels of proficiency. As part of my research, I conducted a 10-month linguistic ethnography. I was able to rely on my native English and near-native Spanish language skills for my research, but it was also necessary to use Modern Standard Arabic and even Moroccan Arabic in my sociolinguistic nterviews. I possess limited working knowledge of Modern Standard Arabic and even more limited knowledge of Moroccan Arabic. In this paper, I discuss one instance of conducting a sociolinguistic interview in Moroccan Arabic and Modern Standard Arabic. I conduct a discursive analysis of the interactional positioning and linguistic resources in this 46-min interview based on a perspective of "spaces of linguistic non-understanding." I show how spaces of "linguistic semi-understanding" arise in the sociolinguistic interview which require the researcher to move beyond the genre of the interview. I also demonstrate how these spaces are intertwined with negotiations of social and cultural knowledge. Lastly, I highlight the challenges and opportunities afforded to researchers who work in communities and languages outside of their own. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

The article presents an exploratory cross-modal analysis of fluency profiles in spoken and written first (L1, Finnish) and second (L2, English) language production of the same language users. Our data come from two research projects, from which we identified 11 university students participating in both. The spoken tasks consisted of monologue picture description (analysed with Praat), and the written tasks were short argumentative essays (collected and analysed with keystroke logging software GGXLog). Based on commonly used measures to capture different aspects of spoken and written fluency, we used a set of 14 measures (seven for speech fluency, seven for writing fluency) to examine fluency across modes comprehensively. Four profiles were identified from the data: (1) fast and productive, (2) fast, (3) slow and productive, and (4) slow and reflective. Six speakers had the same profile in the L1 and L2, and seven writers had the same profile in the L1 and L2. Only one participant had the same profile in the L1 and L2 speaking and writing. The results suggest that the cross-modal differences are greater than the differences between languages. The modalities are inherently different, which is also reflected in individual variation between the modalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

To date, very little research has been conducted on the inclusiveness of CLIL for pupils with learning disorders. The current study investigated whether pupils with dyslexia may also benefit from a CLIL experience or whether reading disorders should rather be considered as a risk factor for attending CLIL. To address this question, 28 5th and 11th-grade pupils with diagnosed dyslexia and 112 matched controls were identified within a sample of over 800 participants recruited in French-speaking Belgium. A first analysis showed that CLIL pupils with dyslexia had similar participation rates as those schooled in traditional education. Secondly, our study provided no clear evidence for the intuition that dyslexia could have a more detrimental effect on French literacy in CLIL than in non-CLIL pupils. For the target language (i.e. Dutch or English), our findings were not entirely conclusive as to the linguistic advantage of CLIL pupils with dyslexia. Finally, the acquisition of academic content in a CLIL setting was comparable for both typically reading pupils and pupils with dyslexia. Overall, our findings suggest that there is no measurable disadvantage for pupils with dyslexia to attend CLIL, neither for language learning, nor for acquiring academic content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Infant neglect has substantial adverse effects on individual health throughout the lifespan. Prior to establishing effective interventions to reduce infant neglect, identifying reliable measurement tools applicable to the specific culture and context is necessary. Systematic review for measurement tools could provide assistance in this process, but such reviews are sparse. This study systematically identified all infant neglect measurement tools in the English and Chinese literature and reviewed them for the psychometric soundness, content, feasibility and the context in which they have been used (e.g., setting, culture). Guided by PRISMA and following a published protocol, we searched four databases to identify measurement tools of infant neglect. We conducted a quality assessment based on the latest COSMIN guidelines and a critical analysis of the characteristics of measurement tools. We reviewed both English and Chinese databases and this review identified 48 studies and evaluated 15 measurement tools for infant neglect. In general, the tools are psychometrically sound but differ in content and the context of application. Only three tools are designed for neglect and one tool is specifically designed for assessing infant neglect. Carefully selecting the optimal measurement tools for infant neglect is necessary because these tools differ in item content, reporter, and administrative setting. Highlights: Review conducted for existing literature on measurement tools for infant neglect. Only three tools are designed to assess neglect. One tool is specifically designed for assessing infant neglect. Reliable and culture-adapted tools are needed to measure infant neglect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

• Recent cross-domain research is highlighting the shared and unique early cognitive predictors of later achievements in language, reading, and mathematics. • Early cognitive predictors clustered together as expected as well as overlapped in non-obvious ways (e.g., math tasks cross-loaded with early language and literacy). • Kindergarten verbal and symbolic skills independently predicted grade 1 outcomes. • By grade two, early verbal skills continued to predict language grades as did grade 1 marks, whereas symbolic skills had indirect effects through grade 1. • Results are discussed in terms of screening practices across academic domains. Recently, cross-domain research has shown that some early cognitive precursors of language, reading, and mathematics overlap and predict one another. This study investigated how early cognitive predictors across domains could predict future academic skills across domains using data from 563 students in kindergarten to second grade (ages 5 to 8; 288 males; largely monolingual English). The roles of verbal, symbolic, and magnitude comparison skills as predictors of later academic grades for various language and math subjects were examined. Results found that Grade 1 marks were predicted by kindergarten verbal and symbolic skills, while Grade 2 marks were predicted by verbal skills and Grade 1 as well as indirectly by symbolic skills via Grade 1. Results are discussed in light of the overlapping relationships between language, reading, and mathematics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

This article analyzes the semantic headedness of English blends with distributional semantics methods. The semantic head of a blend is the source word that transfers its semantic information to the blend as a whole. For example, a sitcom is a kind of comedy. But is FedEx a kind of express , and is wi-fi a kind of fidelity ? We use corpus data and token-based semantic vector space modeling in order to address these questions. Specifically, we investigate whether Plag's ternary division of endocentric, exocentric, and coordinative compounds based on semantic headedness can also be applied to English blends, and whether the general tendency of semantic right-headedness can be observed for all three subtypes. We analyze a dataset of fifty-five blends and their respective source words, using data from the Corpus of Contemporary American English and the English Web Corpus 2021. We measure the degree of semantic similarity between each blend and its two source words. The results show that for most endocentric blends, the hypothesis of semantic right-headedness holds true. At the same time, exocentric blends and coordinative blends are shown to behave differently. We conclude that Plag's classification offers a useful point of departure for the semantic analysis of blends and that distributional semantics methods can provide new insights into their semantic behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

In this qualitative systematic meta-synthesis study, 57 studies from the international literature published between 2010 and 2024 on the use of voice-based artificially intelligent chatbots in English language learning were analyzed. The present study aimed to explore the most recent studies on this topic by investigating the theoretical frameworks, methodological and technological properties, user reports of chatbot usage experience, and pedagogical implementations. It sought to identify research and implementation trends for voice-based chatbots via qualitative data analysis methods. Based on the reviewed studies, this paper presents data-based pedagogical implications that align with the latest voice-based AI chatbot research trends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

This study used a mixed-methods approach to evaluate the efficacy of mobile-assisted language learning (MALL) in teaching English phrasal verbs (PVs) in a 12-week study. The participants were 122 EFL college students divided equally into an experimental and a control group. The experimental group was assigned PV learning on an iOS-based application (henceforth referred to as "app") for eight weeks; the control group learned the same PVs through paper-based material. Pre-tests, post-tests, and weekly class tests were conducted, and one-way ANOVAs were performed to evaluate the differences between the two groups using their pre-test and post-test scores, with repeated measures ANOVA used to analyse the learning gains in weekly tests. The results revealed that the experimental group significantly outperformed the control group in the post-test (F = 6.09, p =.015, Cohen's d = 0.45) and weekly tests (F = 31.68, p =.000). A Likert-scale-based e-questionnaire consisting of 19 items was administered to the experimental group to obtain their perceptions of the app's usefulness for learning English PVs. The overall results suggest that MALL, particularly with this specific mobile app, may enhance students' ability to understand and use English PVs, a key aspect of vocabulary skills. The findings can be used to encourage instructors to employ MALL for teaching the English lexicon for better learning outcomes in EFL settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

The aim of this study was to contribute to the field of computer-assisted language learning (CALL) by investigating the individualization of intentional vocabulary learning. A total of 118 Japanese-speaking university students studied 20 low-frequency English words using flashcard software over two learning sessions. The participants practiced retrieval of vocabulary under different learning schedules, with short or long time intervals between encounters of the same word in each learning session: Short–Short, Short–Long, Long–Short, and Long–Long. Two individual difference measures – learning efficiency and language aptitude – were examined as predictors of long-term second language (L2) vocabulary retention. Learning efficiency was operationalized as the number of trials needed to reach a learning criterion in each session, whereas a component of aptitude (rote memory ability) was measured by a subtest of Language Aptitude Battery for the Japanese. Multiple regression and dominance analyses were conducted to evaluate the relative importance of learning efficiency and language aptitude in predicting delayed vocabulary posttest scores. The results revealed that learning efficiency in the second learning session was the strongest predictor of vocabulary retention. Language aptitude, however, did not significantly predict vocabulary retention. Moreover, the predictive power of learning efficiency increased when the data were analyzed within each learning schedule, underscoring the need to assess learners' abilities under specific learning conditions for optimizing their computer-assisted learning performance. These findings not only inform the development of more effective, individualized CALL systems for L2 acquisition but also emphasize the importance of gauging individuals' abilities such as learning efficiency in a more flexible, context-sensitive manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

From less than three dozen in 1949, the number of small hydropower stations in the People's Republic of China grew to nearly ninety thousand by 1979. By the early 1980s, these stations were distributed across nearly 1,600 of China's 2,300 counties. In 770 counties, small hydropower was the primary source of rural electricity generation. This article offers a history and assessment of these developments, unsettling our traditional emphasis on large-scale hydroelectricity. The article begins by reconstructing the PRC's enormous investments in small hydropower from the 1950s to the early 1980s. This reconstruction, the first of its kind in the English language, not only helps reassess key periods and events in the history of the PRC but also establishes the position of small hydropower in the hydraulic history of the twentieth century. The article then turns to a discussion of the claimed impacts of small hydropower. As electricity became available for the first time in many parts of the Chinese countryside, it affected patterns of economic and social activity for hundreds of millions of people. Finally, the paper explores what the case of small hydropower can offer to conceptual and theoretical problems surrounding development, innovation, and the environment. Returning to the long-standing debate over scale and development, China's experience with small hydropower reminds us of the important role played by smaller-scale, appropriate, and self-reliant technologies in global energy history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on school education resulted in class disruption and fragmented online teaching. Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) was made compulsory in England in 2020, but the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on RSE is unclear. In this study, 16 teachers working in English secondary schools participated in online qualitative, semi-structured interviews on their experiences teaching RSE. Themes were identified using deductive and inductive codes as part of a thematic analysis process. Participants taught children aged 11–18 in independent, comprehensive and academy schools. Teachers found it difficult to deliver high quality RSE lessons because of concern that available material would be inappropriate for virtual delivery. Fragmentation of teaching also limited the development of pupil-teacher rapport, highlighted as key to effective RSE. Extra-curricular initiatives were also disrupted by the pandemic, persisting even after face-to-face teaching returned as schools focused on 'core' academic subjects. RSE teaching was seriously impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and although face to face teaching has resumed, healthy peer-on-peer relationships remain impacted by fragmented teaching. Ongoing prioritisation of RSE, and the appropriate use of digital resources, will support young people moving forward and help prepare for any future disruption of to face-to-face teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

The recent decades have seen enthusiastic calls for reconceptualizing English as a foreign language (EFL) education, taking into account the current socio-lingual status of English and how it is used genuinely for communication interculturally and internationally. However, a wide gap still exists between promulgation such as intelligibility over nativelikeness in pronunciation instruction and realities in the EFL classroom. The study investigated pre- and in-service teachers' cognition about accents and the incorporation of different accents in their classrooms. One hundred and sixty-six EFL teachers (89 pre-service and 77 in-service) from Hong Kong and Guangdong (a province in China) completed a questionnaire. Contrary to expectations, the teachers' overall attitude was neutral rather than positive towards General American (GA) / Received Pronunciation (RP)1 associated with EFL teachers' accents and EFL education. Only two thirds of the teachers were certain about which accents to use and to teach in listening and pronunciation lessons (i.e. as many as one third were uncertain). Also, the participants were neutral about incorporating non-GA/RP accents into EFL lessons, with around one third objecting to doing so. Although no differences were found between pre- and in-service teachers' cognition, additional analysis revealed that teachers' individual background variables, namely teaching experience, self-rated language proficiency, and knowledge of sound systems (IPA for English; pinyin for Mandarin), have significant correlations with their cognition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

We investigated whether learning and retaining vocabulary in a second language (L2) can be improved by leveraging a combination of memory enhancement techniques. Specifically, we tested whether combining retrieval practice, spacing, and related manipulations in a 'multidomain' pedagogical approach enhances vocabulary acquisition as compared to a typical learning approach. In a classroom-laboratory design, 48 Turkish university students studying L2 English were trained on 64 English words over 17 days. They were assigned to either a 'typical' study regimen of (re)studying the words on the first day (initial study) and last day (cramming) of training, or an 'optimized' regimen of retrieval practice (retrieving the words), moreover with feedback, spaced throughout the period, moreover with expanding gaps. The target words were tested before training (pre-test) and one and 11 days afterwards (post-tests). Mixed-effects modeling revealed a training-group by test-session interaction, due to greater improvements from optimized training (a striking 18 percentage-point accuracy increase from pre-test to both post-tests) than typical training (an 8 percentage-point increase). Further analyses showed that the optimized training advantages were mainly driven by high (rather than low) frequency words. Overall, the results suggest that a multidomain approach of combining different memory enhancement techniques can lead to substantial gains in both the learning and retention of L2 words, as compared to a typical study pattern. The findings have implications for L2 learning and pedagogy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Although research on content and language integrated learning (CLIL) has shown that CLIL instruction may enhance students' second or foreign language learning compared to regular foreign language instruction, there are also studies that have indicated similar language development between CLIL and non-CLIL students. However, CLIL can be organized and implemented in many different ways and thus, it is necessary to identify the specific features of various CLIL contexts when comparing learning outcomes. In this study, CLIL implementation at three Swedish upper secondary schools was explored and compared. Further, students' development of second language (L2) English productive academic vocabulary was compared over three years between CLIL groups at different schools as well as between CLIL and non-CLIL groups (n = 230), using corpus-based methods. The results revealed significant differences in the progression of L2 academic vocabulary between CLIL groups that may be attributed to substantial differences in CLIL implementation, e.g. with regard to the time allotted for CLIL, teacher availability and the balance between first language (L1) and L2. At the school where the CLIL group's L2 productive academic vocabulary progressed more than in other groups, both Swedish and English were languages of instruction, increasing the proportion of English over the three years; in the third year, English dominated as the language of instruction. The results indicated similar development of L2 academic vocabulary between CLIL and non-CLIL groups when CLIL implementation was very limited in scale and scope. Further, the results showed that apart from vocabulary, CLIL teachers of non-language subjects generally paid very little attention to other aspects of language. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

The present study examines the effects of pre-task explicit instruction on second language (L2) oral self-repair behaviour while controlling for the effects of working memory. The participants were 121 Iranian learners of English at incipient levels of language proficiency. Their working memory was measured using an operation span task and then they were randomly assigned to a control and an experimental group. Both groups performed a picture story-retelling task that was preceded by five minutes of planning time. During the planning time, the experimental group also received a grammar handout that explained English relative clauses. The instances of self-repairs were identified through stimulated recall interviews that immediately followed performance on the oral task. They were then classified into categories of global form repairs (FG-repairs), local form repairs (FL-repairs), and content repairs (C-repairs). A series of one-way ANCOVAs were run, the results of which indicated pre-task explicit instruction had significant and beneficial effects on FL-repairs and adverse effects on C-repairs. The covariate was only associated with repairing the target structure. The findings are discussed in light of the Extended Trade-off Hypothesis and confirm the view that pre-task explicit instruction tends to foster a focus on form at the expense of meaning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

This article argues that xing 性 in the Zhuangzi 莊子 should not be understood as "human nature" but as "human condition." It introduces the problem of interpreting xing as "human nature" by surveying relevant English-language literature before detailing the interpretive paradigm of Chinese accounts, showing how the latter's appropriation of the language of substance ontology hinders an accurate portrayal of Daoist xing. It argues that xing should be interpreted in connection to the concept of ming 命 understood as contingent, natural, and temporal "external conditions." It argues that xing are "internal conditions" that function in conjunction with ming as "external conditions" where "habit" (xi 習) mediates their interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

The perception of rhythmic patterns is crucial for the recognition of words in spoken languages, yet it remains unclear how these patterns are represented in the brain. Here, we tested the hypothesis that rhythmic patterns are encoded by neural activity phase-locked to the temporal modulation of these patterns in the speech signal. To test this hypothesis, we analyzed EEGs evoked with long sequences of alternating syllables acoustically manipulated to be perceived as a series of different rhythmic groupings in English. We found that the magnitude of the EEG at the syllable and grouping rates of each sequence was significantly higher than the noise baseline, indicating that the neural parsing of syllables and rhythmic groupings operates at different timescales. Distributional differences between the scalp topographies associated with each timescale suggests a further mechanistic dissociation between the neural segmentation of syllables and groupings. In addition, we observed that the neural tracking of louder syllables, which in trochaic languages like English are associated with the beginning of rhythmic groupings, was more robust than the neural tracking of softer syllables. The results of further bootstrapping and brain–behavior analyses indicate that the perception of rhythmic patterns is modulated by the magnitude of grouping alternations in the neural signal. These findings suggest that the temporal coding of rhythmic patterns in stress-based languages like English is supported by temporal regularities that are linguistically relevant in the speech signal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

This autoethnography explored how two third-grade dual language teacher partners (English/Spanish) managed challenges such as lack of leadership support, testing pressures, and English hegemony, to help their students grow personally and academically. Autoethnography was chosen as a method because it enables researchers to write evocatively through vivid images and powerful emotions, thus presenting a rich description of the world and its actors. Data collected in the study included reflections on memories, artifacts (pictures), and interviews. The author used a narrative and recursive process in which data generation and analysis occurred simultaneously throughout the writing process. The most salient and illustrative field notebook entries were selected to include in the final manuscript. Findings showed that teachers' cariño practices allowed them to exercise agency and to build strong teacher-student relationships. Cariño practices counteracted test-centric pressures, creating a safe learning environment that improved students' behavior and academic achievement. Safe classroom environments can be created through cariño practices, teacher agency, and positive teacher-student relationships. Trust and positive teacher-teacher relationships were also important contributors to student achievement. Finally, it was found that teacher agency not only impacted students' academic and behavioral growth but also improved teachers' abilities to deal with pressures and stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Since the existing machine solving methods of math word problems cannot adaptively understand the text of the problem with changing semantics, and have a limit in the improvement of solving accuracy, this paper proposed a machine solving method based on semantic understanding enhancement. Firstly, this method designed a semantically enhanced pre-training language model SeBERT to accurately understand the topic through a multi-granularity knowledge modeling strategy and continuous semantic integration strategy. Secondly, this method constructed the solution model SeBERT-PT, which adopted the solution structure of language model-pool-tree to effectively improve the semantic understanding deviation of word problems and the accuracy of understanding problems. Finally, it introduced a confidence-based judgment mechanism to directly determine the failure of solving untrustworthy predictions, ensure the accuracy of the solution, and improve the training efficiency of solving models. The experimental results show that the accuracy results on Chinese and English datasets are 85.7% and 77.9% respectively, which is superior to other baseline methods, especially on problems involving complex semantic understanding and logical reasoning. It has proved the effectiveness of the method in improving the accuracy of solving math word problems and demonstrates its wide applicability in cross-language environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Learning to read and write are essential academic skills that children develop during their early years of primary school. These skills are supported by various predictive indices that emerge in early childhood. This review has three main goals: to identify which factors are closely examined as predictors for reading and writing, specifically decoding and encoding skills, in different populations and languages (Objective 1); to assess the longitudinal relationship between these predictors and reading and writing skills (Objective 2), considering difficulties or disorders in these areas (Objective 3), during school-age. Using the PRISMA methodology, 81 articles were reviewed. As a first result, there is a significant difference in the number of studies investigating the relationship between predictors and reading (n = 75) compared to writing (n = 18). The most extensively studied predictors for both skills are phonological awareness, language skills, executive functions, rapid automatized naming, and non-verbal cognitive skills. English is the most studied language. Results indicated variability in the relationship between predictors and reading/writing, possibly due to differences in the analyzed populations, chosen outcome measures, and statistical analyses. Additionally, few studies explored the long-term connection between predictors and learning difficulties. In summary, recognizing the multifaceted nature of predictive factors for reading and writing is crucial, and early screening is important for tailored preventive interventions in case of early deficiencies. Future research should delve into writing, conduct cross-cultural studies with diverse languages, and explore the role of predictive factors in understanding reading and writing difficulties or disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

This paper addresses the analysis of sentence fragments, specifically the English negative polar response item no. Two main types of synchronic analysis have been proposed for present-day English – one in which yes and no are syntactically inert particles which substitute for a clause, the other in which they are the initial element of an elided clause. Using diachronic data from 15th- to 17th-century English, we argue that the emergence of a novel other-speaker question pattern involving no demonstrates that speakers of early English analysed interrogative polar no as the initial element of a clause with TP-ellipsis. This novel pattern has received little attention in the literature, yet this grammatical innovation is interesting because its emergence demonstrates how diachronic change can be used as a diagnostic for underlying grammatical structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

The study aims to evaluate the efficacy of mobile applications within language education, as well as to understand how this technology affects language learning outcomes and student perceptions. The research methodology rests on the development and testing of mobile technology interventions for learning English in an educational setting. The study used a mixed approach to analyze the data. This included a language proficiency test, such as the College English Test 4 (CET-4). Additionally, attitudes towards the mobile assisted environment for learning English by conducting a qualitative survey using a 5-point Likert scale were assessed. Two popular applications in China (Keke English and Lanren English) were used according to the research objectives. The study involved a sample of 190 students studying English as a foreign language (EFL) at three public colleges in China. The distribution of language proficiency levels in both the control and experimental groups showed differences in the preliminary test, while the experimental group demonstrated a slightly higher level of language proficiency. After the intervention, in the experimental group, there were significant improvements in various aspects of language proficiency. The improvement is evident in the post-test results of the experimental group, as reflected by a t-value of approximately 13.249. This result suggests the effectiveness of the intervention. Negative percentages (≈-50.0% and ≈-16.7%) indicate a decrease in the proportion of students with the B1 (intermediate) level after the intervention. Thus, some students managed to reach higher levels of language proficiency (B2, C1). The practical significance of the research findings lies in their potential to improve the practice of language teaching, especially in the context of English language teaching in Chinese colleges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Bilingual children's total vocabulary in each of their languages is often smaller than that of monolinguals. In their seminal study, Bialystok et al. (2010. 'Receptive vocabulary differences in monolingual and bilingual children.' Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 13 (4): 525–531) divided children's vocabulary into 'home' and 'school' words and found no differences in bilinguals' knowledge of 'school' words compared to monolinguals. In Study 1, we asked 292 parents and teachers to categorize words into 'home' or 'school' contexts, and in Study 2, we analyzed the vocabulary of 220 Polish-English bilingual and monolingual (English and Polish) children aged 4.5–7. The results show that bilinguals knew fewer 'home' and 'school' words than monolinguals in each language. However, bilinguals were likely to be exposed to these words either at home or at school, whereas monolinguals would hear them in both contexts. For a small subset of English words that bilinguals heard in both contexts, bilinguals showed similar performance to monolinguals. Our results provide evidence for exposure effects in vocabulary acquisition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Theories of word processing propose that readers are sensitive to statistical co-occurrences between spelling and meaning. Orthographic–semantic consistency (OSC) measures provide a continuous estimate of the statistical regularities between spelling and meaning. Here we examined Malay, an Austronesian language that is agglutinative. In Malay, stems are often repeated in other words that share a related meaning (e.g., sunyi / quiet; ke-sunyi-an / silence; makan / eat; makan - an / foods). The first goal was to expand an existing large Malay database by computing OSC estimates for 2,287 monomorphemic words. The second goal was to explore the impact of root family size and OSC on lexical decision latencies for monomorphemic words. Decision latencies were collected for 1,280 Malay words of various morphological structures. Of these, data from 1,000 monomorphemic words were analysed in a series of generalised additive mixed models (GAMMs). Root family size and OSC were significant predictors of decision latencies, particularly for lower frequency words. We found a facilitative effect of root family size and OSC. Furthermore, we observed an interaction between root family size and OSC in that an effect of OSC was only apparent in words with larger root families. This interaction has not yet been explored in English but has the potential to be a new benchmark effect to test distributional models of word processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

The subjective happiness scale (SHS) is a brief instrument used to measure global subjective happiness that has been translated from its original English to many other languages. To date, there is no reported translation of this scale into Malayalam, a language spoken by over 32 million people especially in the southern state of Kerala, India. In the present study, 656 community-dwelling older adults participating in the Kerala Einstein study (KES) completed the Malayalam version of the SHS. The Malayalam version demonstrated high internal consistency and good convergent validity, as assessed by comparison to measures of depression and anxiety. We also used factor analysis to determine that the Malayalam version of the SHS has a unidimensional structure, akin to the original English as well as other language adaptations. Our study adds to the repertoire of tools to measure happiness in non-English-speaking populations, enabling future research to explore the foundations of well-being across diverse cultures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Objective: Research demonstrates that college educated, English language dominant bilinguals underperform relative to English speaking monolinguals on tests of verbal ability. We investigated whether accepting responses in their two languages would reveal improved performance in bilinguals, and whether such improvement would be of sufficient magnitude to demonstrate the same performance level as monolinguals. Method: Participants were college students attending the same university. Spanish-English bilinguals were compared to English speaking monolinguals on the Bilingual Verbal Ability Tests (BVAT), which include Picture Vocabulary, Oral Vocabulary, and Verbal Analogies. Results: When given the opportunity to respond in Spanish to items failed in English, bilinguals obtained significantly higher scores on all three subtests, and their performance matched that of monolinguals on Oral Vocabulary and Verbal Analogies. Conclusion: An "either-language" scoring approach may enable optimal measurement of verbal abilities in bilinguals. We provide normative data for use in applying the either-language scoring approach on subtests of the BVAT. We discuss the findings in the context of clinical assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

We investigated the role of bilingual parents' language proficiency in their reports of their children's vocabulary size. Sixty-four Spanish-English bilingual mothers whose L1 was Spanish reported their bilingual children's English and Spanish vocabularies and 37 monolingual L1 English-speaking mothers reported their monolingual children's English vocabularies—both using the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development inventories. Expressive vocabularies were also assessed with a standardized, examiner-administered test. Spanish L1 mothers with limited English proficiency provided lower estimates of their children's English vocabulary than those with higher English proficiency—relative to the examiner-administered test score. Despite this effect of language proficiency on parent reports, the size of the observed difference in English vocabulary between monolingual children and bilingual children was not significantly different when estimated with a parent-report instrument than when estimated with an examiner-administered test. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Few studies have examined global foreign accent (GFA) in bilingual children, and little is known about how GFA changes over time and what factors determine change. Here, we examine GFA trajectories in Japanese–English bilingual returnees (Japanese children who returned to Japan after having lived in a majority English environment for several years). In two accent-rating tasks, first language (L1) speakers of English or Japanese rated returnee speech excerpts recorded at three time points over a five-year period. The ratings show a decrease in Japanese GFA one year after return to Japan, and an increase in English GFA, but only five years after return. These findings suggest rapid re-exposure effects of the L1 and relatively stable maintenance of the second language (L2). Changes varied by L2 English age of onset (AoO) and exposure to L2 English while abroad, suggesting a crucial role for these individual factors in transitory contexts such as returnee bilingualism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

This study reports on findings from two experiments investigating the interpretive patterns of overt pronouns in an embedded subject position with three types of matrix subjects (i.e. a referential NP, a quantified NP, or a wh -phrase) in Mandarin, English, and Japanese. According to the Overt Pronoun Constraint (OPC), overt pronouns in null-subject languages cannot have bound-variable interpretation, i.e. they cannot be bound by a quantified NP or a wh -phrase. This constraint has been assumed to be universal and accessible for learners at early stages of second language (L2) acquisition. The results of Experiment 1 show that, although Mandarin is a null-subject language, Mandarin and English native speakers as well as L2 learners of both languages demonstrated similar patterns of interpretation, accepting both coreference readings and bound-variable readings, the latter being contrary to the prediction of the OPC. The results of Experiment 2 show that Japanese native speakers differed from Mandarin native speakers in that the former accepted both coreference readings and bound-variable readings at chance levels. These findings clearly demonstrate that the OPC cannot be characterized as a property of null-subject languages generally, given the lack of effect in Mandarin, and there are cross-linguistic variations in interpretive patterns for overt pronouns among languages that exhibit the effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

This study examined number marking comprehension among Japanese learners of second language (L2) English, whose first language (L1) does not have an obligatory number marking system. The study conducted an online sentence comprehension experiment with 96 L1-Japanese learners and 32 native speakers of English, wherein participants engaged in a self-paced reading with Stroop-like number judgment tasks. Participants were required to determine the number of single words in stimuli (e.g. cat / cats, one word; the cats / the cat, two-word sets), and their judgment time was measured for singular and plural words. The results indicated that both groups took more time to judge single plural nouns, suggesting that Japanese L2 learners of English automatically activate plurality in online sentence comprehension as native speakers do. In contrast, neither group showed an interference effect of singularity in judging singular two-word noun sets (the cat), unless the singularity is explicitly marked by indefinite article (a cat). The lack of interference may be because of unmarkedness of singularity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

This study investigated the effects of spaced and massed repetition on the acquisition and retention of English /b/ and /p/ sounds among Saudi English as a foreign language (EFL) learners. Forty-nine university students participated in a quasi-experimental design comparing two learning conditions: massed repetition and spaced repetition. Participants were taught the pronunciation of 40 new English words containing the target sounds through video-based instruction. The experiment utilized a within-subjects design, where each participant in both the control and experimental groups was exposed to a total of 40 words: 20 words taught using massed repetition and 20 words taught using spaced repetition. Pronunciation performance was assessed through tests administered immediately after the treatment (Time 1) and after 4 weeks post-treatment (Time 2). The study also explored the interaction between repetition type and input variability by incorporating High Variability Phonetic Training and Low Variability Phonetic Training conditions. Results revealed significant differences between spaced and massed repetition, with spaced repetition showing superior outcomes in both immediate and delayed tests. The study revealed no significant differences were found between High Variability Phonetic Training and Low Variability Phonetic Training conditions. These findings contribute to our understanding of effective pronunciation training methods in EFL contexts and highlight the importance of distributed practice in language learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Purpose: The Digits-in-Noise (DIN) test is used widely in research and, increasingly, in remote hearing screening. The reported study aimed to provide basic evaluation data for browser-based DIN software, which allows remote testing without installation of an app. It investigated the effects of test language (Arabic vs. English) and test environment (lab vs. home) on DIN thresholds and test-- retest reliability. It also examined the effects of test language on the correlations between DIN and audiometric thresholds. Method: Fifty-two bilingual adults with normal hearing aged 18--35 years completed Arabic and English diotic DIN tests (two sessions in the lab and two sessions at home via the web). Effects of language and environment on DIN thresholds were assessed via paired t tests, while intraclass and Pearson's/ Spearman's correlation coefficients quantified test--retest reliability and relations to audiometric thresholds. Results: DIN thresholds were 0.74 dB higher (worse) for Arabic than English stimuli. Thresholds were 0.52 dB lower in the lab than at home, but the effect was not significant after correction for multiple comparisons. Intraclass and Pearson's correlation coefficients were too low for meaningful analysis due to the use of a normal-hearing sample with low between-subject variability in DIN and audiometric thresholds. However, exploratory analysis showed that absolute test--retest differences were low (< 1.2 dB, on average) for both languages and both test environments. Conclusions: Arabic DIN thresholds were a little higher than English thresholds for the same listeners. Employing home-based rather than lab-based testing may slightly elevate DIN thresholds, but the effect was marginal. Nonetheless, both factors should be considered when interpreting DIN data. Test--retest differences were low for both languages and environments. To support hearing screening, subsequent research in audiometrically diverse listeners is required, testing the reliability of DIN thresholds and relations to hearing loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Purpose: This report compares device use in a cohort of Spanish--English bilingual and English monolingual children who are deaf and hard of hearing, including children fitted with traditional hearing aids, cochlear implants (CIs), and/or bone-conduction hearing devices. Method: Participants were 84 Spanish--English bilingual children and 85 English monolingual children from clinical sites across the United States. The data represent a subset obtained in a larger clinical trial. Device use obtained via data logging was modeled as a function of language group, device type, child age, sex, and parental education. Results: Among children with traditional hearing aids, bilingual children wore their devices significantly fewer hours per day than monolingual children, but this group difference was not observed for children with CIs or boneconduction hearing devices. In the monolingual group, older children wore their devices significantly more hours than younger children, but this effect of age was not present in the bilingual group. Parent report was consistent with data logging for bilingual and monolingual children. Conclusions: Spanish--English bilingual hearing aid users wore their devices less than their English monolingual peers, particularly among older children. This group effect was not observed for children with CIs or bone-conduction hearing devices. Additional studies are needed to identify factors that contribute to device use among bilingual children with hearing aids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

This article presents the development of a specialized data set for analyzing Estonian metadiscourse markers in academic usage, extending Hyland's interpersonal metadiscourse model to a non–Indo-European language. Our goal is to show how metadiscourse, as a feature of a writing tradition, can reveal aspects of writing in languages other than English, complementing the traditionally Anglo-centric perspective in metadiscourse research. By analyzing 21 Estonian linguistics research articles, we offer a transparent procedure to address methodological issues in metadiscourse studies and demonstrate the need for language-specific adjustments in the framework. We introduce statistical methods for analyzing multidimensional associations among marker categories, linguistic level, and rhetorical text structure. The findings suggest that Hyland's metadiscourse model can be adjusted for specific languages, highlighting the influence of language structure on metadiscourse category variation and linguistic expression levels. The study reinforces that the distribution and manifestation of metadiscourse are shaped, among other factors, by unique writing traditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Purpose: The Parent--Enhanced Moved by Reading to Accelerate Comprehension in English (Parent EMBRACE) program offers a bilingual parent-training literacy intervention for Latino families. Within the context of shared book reading, the application leverages both the home language and technology to increase parent question-asking during shared reading. Research goals were to (a) examine the potential of the Parent EMBRACE tutoring system at teaching parents to increase the quantity and variety of their question-asking during shared book reading, (b) examine changes to parents' reading attitudes or motivation, and (c) examine whether children's reading attitude is correlated with parent interactions. Method: Twenty-one participants were randomized into three conditions: a digital storybook (DS) group (n = 7), an interactive storybook (EMBRACE) group (n = 6), and a parent-teaching interactive storybook (Parent EMBRACE) group (n = 8). Participants received iPads with digital storybooks for use during the intervention (in which the parent-teaching group received prompts from the app to ask questions while reading). Shared book reading assessments before and after the intervention involved hard-copy books, and behaviors were analyzed using video-recorded reading sessions before and after the intervention. Group differences were explored using descriptive analysis. Reading attitude and motivation were measured through pre- and post-intervention surveys. The relationship between parent interactions and reading attitudes was explored through regression. Results: Results indicate that after the intervention, four out of seven parents in the parent-teaching interactive storybook group asked more questions to their children. Parents' reading attitudes and motivations did not significantly change. There was a nonlinear relationship with parent interactions and children's reading attitude. Conclusion: Overall, the Parent EMBRACE tool shows feasibility and warrants further study on its efficacy as a linguistically responsive literacy-based language intervention for Latino parents to develop shared book reading strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Purpose: Phonologically complex targets (e.g., [pl-]) are understood to facilitate widespread gains following speech sound intervention, and yet, available research largely features word-initial clusters. The present study investigates intervention effects following treatment of complex clusters presented in wordfinal position. Importantly, this allows for an added layer of complexity via suffixes that mark tense and agreement. Method: Eight English-speaking children with speech sound disorder (SSD; 3;3-6;9 [years;months]) participated in 18 one-on-one intervention sessions. Intervention was completed via telepractice, as were all pre- and postintervention assessments. Intervention targets were word-final two-element consonant clusters that were unknown to the child prior to intervention. Targets were presented in verbs that were either monomorphemic (i.e., [-ks]; they mix) or bimorphemic (i.e., [-ks]; she pick/3s, marked for third-person singular). Results: All participants demonstrated change across multiple phonological measures. More stringently, six of eight participants demonstrated generalization to untreated sounds and untreated words immediately following intervention, including four of four children with monomorphemic targets. Importantly, positive changes for children with both target types were observed following a relatively short course of intervention (18 sessions over 6 weeks), and mastery of the target cluster was not required for phonological growth to occur. Conclusions: Results align with available work featuring word-initial complex targets and indicate that word-final consonant clusters are feasible, effective targets for English-speaking children with SSD. Findings similarly affirm the use of telepractice to deliver research-based interventions. Speech-language pathologists may thus integrate these findings with their clinical judgment and client perspectives to implement such targets in clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...