Bricolage assembling

2011 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 345-370 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carmen Santamaría García
Keyword(s):  
Conversation Analysis ◽  
Corpus Linguistics ◽  
American English ◽  
Contextual Information ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Santa Barbara ◽  
Contrastive Study ◽  
Near Future ◽  
Sound Files

This article illustrates the use of spoken corpora for a contrastive study of casual conversation in English and Spanish. It models an eclectic methodology for cross-linguistic comparison at the level of discourse, specifically of exchange structures, by drawing upon analytic resources from corpus linguistics (CL), conversation analysis (CA) and discourse analysis (DA). This combination of perspectives presents challenges and limitations which will be discussed and exemplified through a case study that explores agreement and disagreement sequences. English data have been retrieved from the Santa Barbara Corpus of Spoken American English (SBCSAE; cf. Du Bois et al. 2000, 2003) and Spanish data from Corpus Oral de Referencia del Español Contemporáneo (CORLEC). The case study reveals the need for spoken corpora to include complete conversations, discourse annotation, sound files and detailed contextual information. This means a step forward from corpora of spoken language to discourse corpora and a challenge for CL, CA and DA in the near future.

scholarly journals Affirmative Cue Words in Task-Oriented Dialogue

2012 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agustín Gravano ◽  
Julia Hirschberg ◽  
Štefan Beňuš
Keyword(s):  
Computational Methods ◽  
Predictive Power ◽  
American English ◽  
Contextual Information ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Dialogue Systems ◽  
Spoken Dialogue Systems ◽  
Standard American English ◽  
Task Oriented ◽  
Cue Words

We present a series of studies of affirmative cue words—a family of cue words such as “okay” or “alright” that speakers use frequently in conversation. These words pose a challenge for spoken dialogue systems because of their ambiguity: They may be used for agreeing with what the interlocutor has said, indicating continued attention, or for cueing the start of a new topic, among other meanings. We describe differences in the acoustic/prosodic realization of such functions in a corpus of spontaneous, task-oriented dialogues in Standard American English. These results are important both for interpretation and for production in spoken language applications. We also assess the predictive power of computational methods for the automatic disambiguation of these words. We find that contextual information and final intonation figure as the most salient cues to automatic disambiguation.

Colloquialization in journalistic writing

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 104-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph Rühlemann ◽  
Martin Hilpert
Keyword(s):  
Corpus Linguistics ◽  
American English ◽  
Discourse Markers ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
Discourse Marker ◽  
Written Text ◽  
New Perspective ◽  
Diachronic Development ◽  
New Evidence

Abstract Recent analyses of written text types have discovered significant frequency increases of colloquial or conversational elements, such as contractions, personal pronouns, questions or the progressive. This trend is often referred to as colloquialization. This paper presents a new perspective on colloquialization, with a special focus on the discourse marker well. The paper is divided into two parts. In the first part, we present new evidence of colloquialization on the basis of the TIME Magazine Corpus (Davies 2007), which allows analyses of diachronic change in recent written American English. The focus of our analysis is on highly frequent “inserts” (Biber et al. 1999: 56), which are elements such as discourse markers (e.g., well and oh), backchannels (yeah, uh-huh, etc.), and hesitators (uh and um, etc.). We conclude that inserts significantly increase diachronically in TIME. In the second part of the paper, we focus on the element well in its function as a discourse marker. Through a combination of quantitative and qualitative analytical steps, we analyze its diachronic development in terms of its structural contexts and its pragmatic functions, fleshing out how the process of colloquialization has affected its usage in recent written American English. We argue that the integration of corpus linguistic and pragmatic methods in this case study represents a new step towards the field of corpus pragmatics, that is, “the rapprochement between corpus linguistics and pragmatics and an integration of their key methodologies” (Rühlemann and Aijmer 2014: 23).

Statistical approach for describing failures and lifetimes of water mains

1998 ◽  
Vol 38 (6) ◽  
pp. 209-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jianhua Lei ◽  
Sveinung Sægrov
Keyword(s):  
Data Base ◽  
Ductile Iron ◽  
Counting Process ◽  
Statistical Approach ◽  
Process Models ◽  
Average Lifetime ◽  
Maintenance Practice ◽  
Water Mains ◽  
Near Future

This paper demonstrates the statistical approach for describing failures and lifetimes of water mains. The statistical approach is based on pipe inventory data and the maintenance data registered in the data base. The approach consists of data pre-processing and statistical analysis. Two classes of statistical models are applied, namely counting process models and lifetime models. With lifetime models, one can estimate the probability which a pipe will fail within a time horizon. With counting process models one can see the deteriorating (or improving) trend in time of a group of “identical” pipes and their rates of occurrence of failure (ROCOF). The case study with the data base from Trondheim municipality (Norway) demonstrates the applicability of the statistical approach and leads to the following results: 1). In the past 20 years, Trondheim municipality has experienced approximately 250 to 300 failures per year. However, the number of failures per year will significantly increase in the near future unless better maintenance practice is implemented now. 2). Unprotected ductile iron pipes have a higher probability of failures than other materials. The average lifetime of unprotected ductile iron pipes is approximately 30 to 40 years shorter than the lifetime of a cast iron pipe. 3). Pipes installed 1963 and 1975 are most likely to fail in the future; 4) The age of a pipe does not play a significant role for the remaining lifetime of the pipe; 5). After 2 to 3 failures, a pipe enters a fast-failure stage (i.e., frequent multiple between failures).

scholarly journals ArcGIS Urban: an application for plan assessment

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ellen Soward ◽  
Jianling Li
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Spatial Context ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Planning Profession ◽  
Gis Tools ◽  
Comprehensive Plans ◽  
Near Future ◽  
The City

AbstractMost cities in the United States rely on zoning to address important planning-related issues within their jurisdictions. Planners often use GIS tools to analyze these issues in a spatial context. ESRI’s ArcGIS Urban software seeks to provide the planning profession with a GIS-based solution for various challenges, including zoning’s impacts on the built environment and housing capacity.This research explores the use of ArcGIS Urban for assessing the existing zoning and comprehensive plans in meeting the projected residential growth in the near future using the City of Arlington, Texas as a case study. The exploration provides examples and lessons for how ArcGIS Urban might be used by planners to accomplish their tasks and highlights the capabilities and limitations of ArcGIS Urban in its current stand. The paper is concluded with some suggestions for future studies.

Effects of corrosion on a steel bowstring bridge in marine environment: A case-study of assessment and retrofit

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 121-137
Author(s):  
Michele Fabio Granata
Keyword(s):  
Corrosion Protection ◽  
Marine Environment ◽  
Spray Coating ◽  
Thermal Spray Coating ◽  
In Situ Tests ◽  
Limit States ◽  
Intervention Measures ◽  
Near Future

The case-study of a steel bowstring bridge set in a marine environment and highly damaged by corrosion is presented. The bridge was built in 2004 and was repainted for corrosion protection in 2010. Despite the recent construction and the maintenance interventions, many structural elements like hangers are highly damaged by corrosion with decreasing performance in terms of serviceability and ultimate limit states. A deep investigation was carried out in order to assess the bridge and to establish the necessary retrofit actions to be carried out in the near future. In-situ tests reveal the reduced performance of the original steel in terms of strength and corrosion protection, together with the inefficiency of the successive maintenance interventions. The paper presents assessment of the bridge and retrofit measures, including replacement of the hangers and galvanization through thermal spray coating technology, in order to increase its service life. The results of the investigations and the intervention measures are outlined and discussed.

scholarly journals Towards Zero Emissions Noosa

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (17) ◽  
pp. 4679
Author(s):  
Carina Anderson ◽  
Robert Passey ◽  
Jeremy De Valck ◽  
Rakibuzzaman Shah
Keyword(s):  
Community Engagement ◽  
Focal Point ◽  
Contextual Information ◽  
Renewable Electricity ◽  
Community Group ◽  
Course Of Action ◽  
Engagement Process ◽  
Set Up ◽  
External Consultant

This paper reports on a case study of the community group Zero Emissions Noosa, whose goal is for 100% renewable electricity in the Noosa Shire (Queensland, Australia) by 2026. Described within this paper are the processes used by Zero Emissions Noosa to set up their zero emissions plan, involving community engagement and the use of an external consultant. The external consultant was employed to produce a detailed report outlining how to successfully achieve zero emissions from electricity in the Noosa Shire by 2026. This paper explains how and why the community engagement process used to produce the report was just as important as the outcomes of the report itself. Modeling was undertaken, and both detailed and contextual information was provided. Inclusion of the community in developing the scenario parameters for the modeling had a number of benefits including establishing the context within which their actions would occur and focusing their efforts on options that were technically feasible, financially viable and within their capabilities to implement. This provided a focal point for the community in calling meetings and contacting stakeholders. Rather than prescribing a particular course of action, it also resulted in a toolbox of options, a range of possible solutions that is flexible enough to fit into whatever actions are preferred by the community. The approach and outcomes discussed in this paper should, therefore, be useful to other communities with similar carbon emission reduction goals.

Alliances and arguments: A case study of a child with persisting speech difficulties in peer play

2012 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alison Tempest ◽  
Bill Wells
Keyword(s):  
Conversation Analysis ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Peer Interactions ◽  
Free Play ◽  
Social Competencies ◽  
Linguistic Strategies ◽  
The Social ◽  
Interactional Analysis ◽  
Communication Needs

The ability to argue and to create alliances with peers are important social competencies for all children, including those who have speech, language and communication needs. In this study, we investigated the management of arguments and alliances by a group of 5-year-old male friends, one of whom has a persisting speech difficulty (PSD). Twelve argument episodes that arose naturally during video-recorded free play at school were analysed, using Conversation Analysis. Overall the data show that the child with PSD was just as likely as one of his friends to be included in, or excluded from, play alliances. Detailed analysis of two episodes reveals that the child with PSD competently used a range of linguistic devices in and around arguments and that his speech difficulties apparently did not impact on his ability to form alliances. This study highlights the need for those of us who work with children to take account of peer interactions and to consider the linguistic strategies that children employ when participating in peer talk and play: the social world in which inclusion and exclusion are accomplished. The study also illustrates the value of qualitative micro-interactional analysis as a research tool for investigating social inclusion and exclusion.

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