Search results for "GUI"
showing 10 items of 12462 documents
Investigating Syntactic Complexity in EFL Learners' Writing across Common European Framework of Reference Levels A1, A2, and B1
2019
Abstract The study investigates the linguistic basis of Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) levels in English as a foreign language (EFL) learners’ writing. Specifically, it examines whether CEFR levels can be distinguished with reference to syntactic complexity (SC) and whether the results differ between two groups of EFL learners with different first languages (Sindhi and Finnish). This sheds light on the linguistic comparability of the CEFR levels across L1 groups. Informants were teenagers from Pakistan (N = 868) and Finland (N = 287) who wrote the same argumentative essay that was rated on a CEFR-based scale. The essays were analysed for 28 SC indices with the L2 Syntactic Co…
Lexically specific vs. productive constructions in L2 Finnish
2020
ABSTRACTIt is assumed from a usage-based perspective that learner language constructions emerge from natural language use in social interaction through exemplar learning. In L1, young learners have been shown to develop their constructions from lexically specific, formulaic expressions into more productive, abstract schemas. A similar developmental path has been shown for L2 development, with some exceptions. The aim of the current study is to explore to what extent the default assumption holds for L2 learning. The development of two constructions was traced in four adults learning L2 Finnish. Free-response data, collected weekly over a period of 9 months, were used to investigate the produ…
The roles of linguistic confidence and integrative motivation on cross-cultural adaptation of Asian degree students Finland
2015
While cross-cultural adaptation of international students has become more and more popular topics in the field of intercultural communication, there are few studies related to students who come to non-native-English-speaking countries to study international programs. Specifically, the number of Asian students enrolling in international degree programs in Finland has been increasing recently. Besides other difficulties, language has become one of the most baffling issues in the process of both sociocultural adaptation and psychological adaptation of strangers in the host country (Maza, 1963). By narrowing the impacts of integrative motivation and linguistic confidence, they have drawn some r…
Current L2 self-concept of Finnish comprehensive school students : The role of grades, parents, peers, and society
2021
L2 (second/foreign language) motivation research in Finland has been scarce. Furthermore, international motivational research has focused more on ideal and ought-to selves, leaving the current L2 self-concept in the background. In the present study, we attempted to address this gap, exploring what shapes L1 (mother tongue) Finnish students' understanding of themselves as users and learners of L2s. Using structural equation modelling, we studied the relationships between students' (n = 1206) current L2 self-concept and parental encouragement, peer pressure, societal expectations, and grades. We further studied which of these factors are the best predictors of students' current L2 self-concep…
Prosody and fluency of Finland Swedish as a second language: Investigating global parameters for automated speaking assessment
2023
This study investigates prosody and fluency of Finland Swedish as a second language (L2). The main objective is to investigate global measures of prosody and fluency as predictors of overall oral proficiency, fluency, and pronunciation ratings. We analyzed parameters related to temporal fluency, timing (based on syllable durations), and f0 change from spontaneous speech produced by 30 native and 235 non-native speakers of Finland Swedish representing proficiency levels from beginner to intermediate. We used pairwise comparisons to investigate the differences between native speech (L1) and L2 samples from different proficiency levels. To study the predictability of ratings with acoustic para…
Healthcare professionals on the move: Investing in learning a new language for work
2021
Artikkelissa tarkastellaan maahanmuuton kielikysymyksiä Unkarista Suomeen ja Ruotsiin työllistyneiden terveydenhuollon ammattilaisten näkökulmasta. Neksusanalyyttisessä viitekehyksessä tutkitaan sitä investointia, jonka nämä työntekijät tekevät oppiakseen uutta, työssä tarvitsemaansa kieltä eli suomea tai ruotsia. Tutkimusasetelma on pitkittäinen, ja analyysi perustuu terveydenhuollon ammattilaisten sekä muutamien kielikoulutuksesta ja rekrytoinnista vastaavien henkilöiden haastatteluihin. Kirjoittajat aloittivat omat tutkimuksesta itsenäisesti mutta yhdistivät voimansa ennen toista aineistonkeruukierrosta. Tämän myötä analyysissa voitiin kattaa useampia kulttuurisia ja ajallisia ulottuvuuk…
New is not always costly: evidence from online processing of topic and contrast in Japanese.
2013
Two visual ERP experiments were conducted to investigate topic and contrast assigned by various cues such as discourse context, sentential position and marker during referential processing in Japanese. Experiment 1 showed that there was no N400-difference for new vs. given noun phrases (NPs) when the new NP was expected (contrastively focused) based on its preceding context and sentential position. Experiment 2 further revealed that the N400 for new NPs can be modulated by the NP’s contrastive meaning (exhausitivity) induced from the marker. Both experiments also showed that new NPs engendered an increased Late Positivity. The reduced N400 for new vs. given supports an expectation-based lin…
Introduzione alla lettura di Evelina Santangelo
2013
La rigorosa ricerca, che ha condotto Evelina Santangelo dalla scrittura, concentrata su frammenti di umane condizioni, della raccolta d’esordio L’Occhio cieco del mondo (Einaudi, Torino 2000) a quella calibratamente implicata nel reticolo sociale della sua ultima opera, Cose da pazzi (Einaudi, Torino 2012), va senza dubbio segnata all’attivo del romanzo italiano odierno. Dal pedinamento di esistenze minime dilatate da uno sguardo capace di distillare gli infintesimi sussulti di una realtà dolorante, e tuttavia non facilmente identificabile, la scrittrice è passata, con un percorso coerente, all’affondo nel lacerato e degradato tessuto sociale di Palermo. Ma l’esplorazione di un contesto amb…
Place Names along the Júcar/Xúquer River in the Land of València
2012
Tras abandonar la Mancha el Júcar entra en el País Valenciano y a partir de su confluencia con el Cabriel, discurre primero encajado entre gargantas y luego sobre el llano aluvial de la Ribera, donde se le llama Xúquer. A ambos lados del río encontramos una toponimia –muchas veces poco transparente– que deriva de las características físicas de este río, de la protección ante sus avenidas, o de la vigilancia de los pasos o los caminos que lo atraviesan. Así pues, no sólo se trata de hidrónimos, sino también de odónimos, orónimos y toponimia de carácter defensivo. La metodología que hemos seguido parte del Nomenclàtor Toponímic de la Comunitat Valenciana, que cuenta con más de 100.000 topónim…
L’opposizione alto/basso nella toponomastica dell’area subalpina
2015
Il contributo proposto esamina la presenza e la distribuzione di alcune serie toponimiche correlate ai concetti ‘alto’ e ‘basso’ sul territorio piemontese, cercando di evidenziare le possibili valenze a livello denotativo e connotativo. Le risorse offerte dal sistema ToP-GIS, elaborato all’interno del Centro Studi di Onomastica dell’Università di Torino, permettono un sistematico rilevamento dei dati e una lettura del territorio su più piani; nell’interpretazione del sistema si è adottata una prospettiva diacronica, illustrando le forme toponomastiche riconducibili a realtà linguistiche prelatine e a varietà romanze diverse dall’italiano. Insistendo sulle tracce medievali, si evidenzia inol…