Search results for "Linguistics"

Teacher agency within the Finnish CLIL context : tensions and resources

2017

Recent discussion indicates that the initial enthusiasm of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) teachers can be undermined by the demands of foreign-language mediated education. However, there is a lack of research on the resources and tensions that respectively support or limit the professional agency of CLIL teachers. By means of semi-structured interviews with fourteen participants, this study seeks to better understand how teacher agency is experienced by CLIL teachers working in Finnish primary schools. To examine tensions and resources in CLIL teachers’ work lives, a holistic and dynamic theoretical conceptualization of teacher agency is suggested, paying particular attenti…

Recycling a genre for news automation: The production of Valtteri the Election Bot

2020

Abstract The amount of available digital data is increasing at a tremendous rate. These data, however, are of limited use unless converted into a user-friendly form. We took on this task and built a natural language generation (NLG) driven system that generates journalistic news stories about elections without human intervention. In this paper, after presenting an overview of state-of-the-art technologies in NLG, we explain systematically how we identified and then recontextualized the determinant aspects of the genre of an online news story in the algorithm of our NLG software. In the discussion, we introduce the key results of a user test we carried out and some improvements that these re…

Professional Embodiment: Walking, Re-engagement of Desk Interactions, and Provision of Instruction during Classroom Rounds

2018

Abstract Unlike continuous whole-class (plenary) interaction, independent task work involves incipient teacher–student talk, as the teacher typically ‘makes rounds’ to engage in brief desk interactions with students. This article draws on multimodal conversation analysis to investigate how teacher movement during tasks offers resources for re-engaging in desk interactions and offering task-related guidance. The focus is on teachers’ walking trajectories and ways of positioning the body, and students’ orientation to them, in (i) (pre-)opening moments of a desk interaction, and (ii) during a subsequent instructional turn that guides students with the ongoing task. The analysis shows how the p…

Policing language in the world of new work : the commodification of workplace communication in organizational consulting

2021

Abstract This paper examines how the shift to knowledge and innovation economy has created new sites for the commodification of language and communication in the context of organizational consulting. The data come from a consultant-led development and training program of the management teams of a Finnish educational organization. In the study, the year-long training was videotaped (45 h) and followed ethnographically. By using rhetorical discourse analysis as a method, we examine how the consultant-led training activities present the role of language and communication in changing working life. The results show how the activities factualize the transformation of work and the centrality of la…

“Do you understand (me)?” negotiating mutual understanding by using gaze and environmentally coupled gestures between two deaf signing participants

2020

Abstract In this paper we explore the use of multimodal and multilingual semiotic resources in interactions between two deaf signing participants, a researcher and an asylum seeker. The focus is on the use of gaze and environmentally coupled gestures. Drawing on multimodal analysis and linguistic ethnography, we demonstrate how gaze and environmentally coupled gestures are effective semiotic resources for reaching mutual understanding. The study provides insight into the challenges and opportunities (deaf) asylum seekers, researchers, and employees of reception centres or the state may encounter because of the asymmetrical language competencies. Our concern is that such asymmetrical situati…

Generating incremental type services

2019

In this vision paper, we propose a method for generating fully functional incremental type services from declarations of type rules. Our general strategy is to translate type rules into Datalog, for which efficient incremental solvers are already available. However, many aspects of type rules don't naturally translate to Datalog and need non-trivial translation. We demonstrate that such translation may be feasible by outlining the translation rules needed for a language with typing contexts (name binding) and bidirectional type rules (local type inference). We envision that even rich type systems of DSLs can be incrementalized by translation to Datalog in the future.

A New Paradigm in Interactive Evolutionary Multiobjective Optimization

2020

Over the years, scalarization functions have been used to solve multiobjective optimization problems by converting them to one or more single objective optimization problem(s). This study proposes a novel idea of solving multiobjective optimization problems in an interactive manner by using multiple scalarization functions to map vectors in the objective space to a new, so-called preference incorporated space (PIS). In this way, the original problem is converted into a new multiobjective optimization problem with typically fewer objectives in the PIS. This mapping enables a modular incorporation of decision maker’s preferences to convert any evolutionary algorithm to an interactive one, whe…

2021

Fictosexuality, fictoromance, and fictophilia are terms that have recently become popular in online environments as indicators of strong and lasting feelings of love, infatuation, or desire for one or more fictional characters. This article explores the phenomenon by qualitative thematic analysis of 71 relevant online discussions. Five central themes emerge from the data: (1) fictophilic paradox, (2) fictophilic stigma, (3) fictophilic behaviors, (4) fictophilic asexuality, and (5) fictophilic supernormal stimuli. The findings are further discussed and ultimately compared to the long-term debates on human sexuality in relation to fictional characters in Japanese media psychology. Contexts f…

The effectiveness of the GoKoan e-learning platform in improving university students’ academic performance

2021

Abstract The GoKoan e-learning platform supports face-to-face training in an educational community. Its aim is to optimise the way and the time of study in order to improve academic performance. To evaluate the GoKoan platform’s effectiveness as a tool for improving academic performance, an experimental study was carried out using a sample of 171 university students enrolled in the psychology degree programme who were randomly assigned to the two different conditions (the experimental group: traditional learning + e-learning with the GoKoan platform; and the control group: traditional learning without e-learning). The findings showed that using GoKoan had a positive impact on the students’ …

Higher education instructors' intention to use educational video games: an fsQCA approach

2019

Educational video games (EVGs) offer instructors a myriad of opportunities to motivate and engage students in the learning process. Nevertheless, instructors can be influenced by barriers that prevent them from using EVGs in their courses (e.g. lack of expertise with EVGs). Instructors can also be influenced by different drivers that might increase their intention to use EVGs. This research analyses the effects of four variables (perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, attention, and relevance) as factors contributing or preventing the use of EVGs by instructors serving in Higher Education institutions. Data of 170 instructors, who were surveyed through an online questionnaire using a …