Identifying Congruent Pragmatic Relations in Procedural Texts

1998 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donia R. Scott ◽  
Judy Delin ◽  
Anthony F. Hartley
Keyword(s):  
Semantic Content ◽  
Automatic Generation ◽  
Structure Theory ◽  
Contrastive Analysis ◽  
Comparable Corpora ◽  
Household Products ◽  
French And English ◽  
Instructional Texts ◽  
Different Levels

In this paper, we present a methodology for the contrastive analysis of comparable corpora of instructional texts in different languages. The methodology is insensitive to the fact that the texts under comparison differ widely in their semantic content, and it can be reliably applied by multiple analysts. We show the results of an empirical study of cross-linguistic variation between Portuguese, French, and English instructions which follows this methodology. Using consumer instructions for ordinary household products in the three languages, we examine expressions of the two semantic relations, generation and enablement (cf. Goldman, 1970), and their available surface syntactic expressions. We examine the role of discourse perspective, as realised by rhetorical relations such as those employed within the framework of Rhetorical Structure Theory (RST), in further narrowing down the range of choices. We demonstrate that the three languages of study tolerate different levels of ambiguity, and prefer different forms of disambiguation and pragmatic signalling, attesting to the value of empirical methods for contrastive discourse study. The analysis was conducted with the aim of informing all levels of decision, from meaning to surface syntax, in the automatic generation of sets of instructional texts in those languages.

scholarly journals Contrastive analysis as a didactic tool: acquisition problems of the Spanish article in Slovene learners

Linguistica ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 397-410
Author(s):  
Gemma Santiago Alonso
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Short Story ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Contrastive Analysis ◽  
Linguistic Awareness ◽  
Slovene Language ◽  
Article Usage ◽  
Different Levels ◽  
Tool Acquisition

The aim of the paper is to present a semantically based approach to the teaching of the Spanish article usage from the point of view of contrastive analysis, taking into account the role of plurilingualism and the development of  the learner’s linguistic awareness, as envisaged by the CEFR. Dealing with the development of the linguistic awareness of the Slovene learners with regard to the acquisition of the Spanish article, we try to explain the uses of the Spanish article and the linguistic (or extralinguistic) mechanisms employed by the Slovene language to express definiteness on the basis of examples from Julio Cortazar's short story Las babas del diablo and its Slovene translation  by Vesna Velkovrh Bukilica. Also, the most problematic uses of the article with which Slovene learners may have problems –because of significant differences between Slovene and Spanish in the areas of grammar concerned – have been classified according to the different levels suggested in CEFR and in Plan Curricular of Instituto Cervantes. The final purpose of the study is to show the pedagogic implications of the use of contrastive analysis in language learning, especially in dealing with complex grammatical issues such as the acquisition of the Spanish article by Slovene learners.

The Role of Visual Distractors in the Simon Effect

2017 ◽  
Vol 64 (6) ◽  
pp. 387-397 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luisa Lugli ◽  
Stefania D’Ascenzo ◽  
Roberto Nicoletti ◽  
Carlo Umiltà
Keyword(s):  
Simon Effect ◽  
Simon Task ◽  
Automatic Generation ◽  
Spatial Code ◽  
Attentional Model ◽  
Previous Evidence ◽  
Spatial Stimulus ◽  
Attentional Resources ◽  
Code Changes

Abstract. The Simon effect lies on the automatic generation of a stimulus spatial code, which, however, is not relevant for performing the task. Results typically show faster performance when stimulus and response locations correspond, rather than when they do not. Considering reaction time distributions, two types of Simon effect have been individuated, which are thought to depend on different mechanisms: visuomotor activation versus cognitive translation of spatial codes. The present study aimed to investigate whether the presence of a distractor, which affects the allocation of attentional resources and, thus, the time needed to generate the spatial code, changes the nature of the Simon effect. In four experiments, we manipulated the presence and the characteristics of the distractor. Findings extend previous evidence regarding the distinction between visuomotor activation and cognitive translation of spatial stimulus codes in a Simon task. They are discussed with reference to the attentional model of the Simon effect.

Value-driven issues throughout the development of sociological theory

2020 ◽  
pp. 147-160
Author(s):  
Gulbarshyn Chepurko ◽  
Valerii Pylypenko
Keyword(s):  
Social Interactions ◽  
Social System ◽  
Sociological Theory ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Social Sphere ◽  
Technological Advances ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Different Levels

The paper examines and compares how the major sociological theories treat axiological issues. Value-driven topics are analysed in view of their relevance to society in times of crisis, when both societal life and the very structure of society undergo dramatic change. Nowadays, social scientists around the world are also witnessing such a change due to the emergence of alternative schools of sociological thought (non-classical, interpretive, postmodern, etc.) and, subsequently, the necessity to revise the paradigms that have been existed in sociology so far. Since the above-mentioned approaches are often used to address value-related issues, building a solid theoretical framework for these studies takes on considerable significance. Furthermore, the paradigm revision has been prompted by technological advances changing all areas of people’s lives, especially social interactions. The global human community, integral in nature, is being formed, and production of human values now matters more than production of things; hence the “expansion” of value-focused perspectives in contemporary sociology. The authors give special attention to collectivities which are higher-order units of the social system. These units are described as well-organised action systems where each individual performs his/her specific role. Just as the role of an individual is distinct from that of the collectivity (because the individual and the collectivity are different as units), so too a distinction is drawn between the value and the norm — because they represent different levels of social relationships. Values are the main connecting element between the society’s cultural system and the social sphere while norms, for the most part, belong to the social system. Values serve primarily to maintain the pattern according to which the society is functioning at a given time; norms are essential to social integration. Apart from being the means of regulating social processes and relationships, norms embody the “principles” that can be applied beyond a particular social system. The authors underline that it is important for Ukrainian sociology to keep abreast of the latest developments in the field of axiology and make good use of those ideas because this is a prerequisite for its successful integration into the global sociological community.

РЕГІОНАЛЬНИЙ МИТЕЦЬ В ІНОКУЛЬТУРНОМУ СЕРЕДОВИЩІ: ПРОБЛЕМА ФУНКЦІОНУВАННЯ

2020 ◽  
pp. 152-158
Author(s):  
Admink Admink ◽  
Сергій Виткалов ◽  
Валентина Вігула
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Local Population ◽  
Government Reform ◽  
Different Levels

Розглядається організаційно-культурна діяльність одного з помітних у регіональному просторі Західного Полісся фотомитця – Олександра Купчинського, а саме виставковий її вектор, втілений в презентації артефактів світового фотомистецтва; видавничий, розглянутий у  контексті  друку  різноманітних  фотоальбомів  із  творів експонентів, організація творчих зустрічей художньої інтелігенції міста з питань обговорення актуальних питань культурного розвитку, заснування фотоклубу тощо. Доводиться, що втрата зв’язку з Батьківщиною, у якій би формі це не відбувалося, не дозволяє митцю творчо самореалізуватися повною мірою. The importance and problematic range of local government reform in the regions of the country and ways of its solution in the field of culture are analyzed. The most effective steps are proposed for management structures at different levels to change attitudes of both the management and the local population regarding different cultural practices. Emphasis is placed on the role of sectoral methodological services in the implementation of this reform. The experience of other countries in activating the local population in this process is emphasized. An attempt has been made to offer effective, in the authors' opinion, solutions to the reform. Emphasis is placed on the educational factor.

THE ROLE OF METAPHOR IN HISTORICAL KNOWLEDGE

Cultural code ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 30-37
Author(s):  
MARIYA PETROVNA LAPTEVA ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Semantic Content ◽  
Cognitive Significance ◽  
Historical Knowledge ◽  
Positive Sense

The article continues the author's series of publications on the terminological apparatus of the historian. The problems of humanitarian science cannot have "final solutions". F.R.Ankersmith paid attention to the fact that the attitude to the role of metaphors knows not onli "ups" but also "downs". Exploring aspects of the conceptual arsenal associated with the explicit use of the metaphor. "Implicit use" refers to those semantic situations when a historian or another humanist enters into a kind of dialogue with other sciences, carrying out terminological borrowing. Since the semantic content of the term changes in this case, then, in essence, a metaphorical action takes place that does not require a special name. The article contains, the author's reflection on the circumstances and features of the use of metaphors. The author finds out how and why historiography becomes metaphorical. Referring to specialists who developed the cognitive basis of the theory of metaphor, the author analyzes different traditions of understanding what metaphor is. There is a search for a positive sense of metaphor usage with some ambiguity. Since the metaphor creates a new meaning of the word, its cognitive significance becomes unquestionable. By citing examples of various uses of metaphors in the texts of historians, the author shows how a metaphor helps clarify the uniqueness of historical situations.

The Synod of Pistoia and Vatican II

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shaun Blanchard
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Vatican Ii ◽  
High Water ◽  
Church Reform ◽  
Second Vatican Council ◽  
Vatican Council ◽  
Bible Reading ◽  
Different Levels ◽  
Continuity And Discontinuity

This book sheds further light on the nature of church reform and the roots of the Second Vatican Council (1962–65) through a study of eighteenth-century Catholic reformers who anticipated the Council. The most striking of these examples is the Synod of Pistoia (1786), the high-water mark of late Jansenism. Most of the reforms of the Synod were harshly condemned by Pope Pius VI in the bull Auctorem fidei (1794), and late Jansenism was totally discredited in the ultramontane nineteenth-century Church. Nevertheless, much of the Pistoian agenda—such as an exaltation of the role of bishops, an emphasis on infallibility as a gift to the entire Church, religious liberty, a simpler and more comprehensible liturgy that incorporates the vernacular, and the encouragement of lay Bible reading and Christocentric devotions—was officially promulgated at Vatican II. The career of Bishop Scipione de’ Ricci (1741–1810) and the famous Synod he convened are investigated in detail. The international reception (and rejection) of the Synod sheds light on why these reforms failed, and the criteria of Yves Congar are used to judge the Pistoian Synod as “true or false reform.” This book proves that the Synod was a “ghost” present at Vatican II. The council fathers struggled with, and ultimately enacted, many of the same ideas. This study complexifies the story of the roots of the Council and Pope Benedict XVI’s “hermeneutic of reform,” which seeks to interpret Vatican II as in “continuity and discontinuity on different levels” with past teaching and practice.

Aesthetics

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael N. Forster
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Approach ◽  
Semantic Content ◽  
Moral Values ◽  
Science And Religion ◽  
Individual Variability ◽  
German Romanticism ◽  
Philosophy Of Literature ◽  
Aesthetic Values

Aesthetics, or the philosophy of literature and art, was one of Herder’s main focuses. By valorizing these areas of culture (in comparison with others such as science and religion) and in several other ways he prepared the ground for German Romanticism. He also established many principles of great intrinsic importance: rejecting apriorism and systematization in aesthetics in favor of an empirical, non-systematic approach; insisting that arts such as sculpture and painting express meanings and therefore require interpretation; recognizing the central role of genre not only in literature but also in such arts; perceiving the deep historical, cultural, and even individual variability of literature and art in respect of semantic content, genre, moral values, and aesthetic values, plus the major implications this variability has for both interpretation and evaluation; developing a set of radical views concerning beauty; and emphasizing the importance of literature and art as means of moral pedagogy.

scholarly journals The Hierarchy of Walking Needs and the COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (14) ◽  
pp. 7461
Author(s):  
Mohammad Paydar ◽  
Asal Kamani Fard
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Urban Design ◽  
Public Spaces ◽  
Empirical Literature ◽  
The World ◽  
The Face ◽  
Current Context ◽  
Mode Of Transport ◽  
Different Levels

More than 150 cities around the world have expanded emergency cycling and walking infrastructure to increase their resilience in the face of the COVID 19 pandemic. This tendency toward walking has led it to becoming the predominant daily mode of transport that also contributes to significant changes in the relationships between the hierarchy of walking needs and walking behaviour. These changes need to be addressed in order to increase the resilience of walking environments in the face of such a pandemic. This study was designed as a theoretical and empirical literature review seeking to improve the walking behaviour in relation to the hierarchy of walking needs within the current context of COVID-19. Accordingly, the interrelationship between the main aspects relating to walking-in the context of the pandemic- and the different levels in the hierarchy of walking needs were discussed. Results are presented in five sections of “density, crowding and stress during walking”, “sense of comfort/discomfort and stress in regard to crowded spaces during walking experiences”, “crowded spaces as insecure public spaces and the contribution of the type of urban configuration”, “role of motivational/restorative factors during walking trips to reduce the overload of stress and improve mental health”, and “urban design interventions on arrangement of visual sequences during walking”.

Securing the future of statistics in Africa through National Strategies for the Development of Statistic

2020 ◽  
Vol 36 ◽  
pp. 15-25
Author(s):  
Ben Kiregyera
Keyword(s):  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Global Level ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Implementation Challenges ◽  
Statistical Systems ◽  
Development Agendas ◽  
Different Levels ◽  
Statistical Development

Adoption of development agendas at different levels – national, regional, continental, and global level – has led to an unprecedented increase in demand for official statistics. This increase has not only brought to the fore a litany of challenges facing National Statistical Systems (NSSs) in Africa but also it has created opportunities for strengthening statistical production and development. This paper underscores the need for countries to take full advantage of these opportunities and increase investments in statistics, undertake data innovation, and expand and diversify data ecosystems, leveraging on the foundations of the data revolution for sustainable development and in line with current international statistical frameworks. The paper posits that these improvements will not happen coincidentally nor through ad hoc, piecemeal and uncoordinated approaches. Rather they will happen through more systematic, coordinated and multi-sectoral approaches to statistical development. The National Strategy for the Development of Statistics (NSDS) is presented as a comprehensive and robust framework for building statistical capacity and turning around NSSs in African countries. The paper unpacks the NSDS; elaborates the NSDS processes including; mainstreaming sectors into the NSDS, the stages of the NSDS lifecycle and the role of leadership in the NSDS proces; highlights NSDS extension; presents the design and implementation challenges, and the key lessons learned from the NSDS processes in Africa in the last 15 years or so.

scholarly journals Exploring the effectiveness of a COVID-19 contact tracing app using an agent-based model

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonatan Almagor ◽  
Stefano Picascia
Keyword(s):  
High Rate ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Agent Based Model ◽  
Agent Based ◽  
The Social ◽  
Behavioural Factors ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Different Levels ◽  
User Rate

AbstractA contact-tracing strategy has been deemed necessary to contain the spread of COVID-19 following the relaxation of lockdown measures. Using an agent-based model, we explore one of the technology-based strategies proposed, a contact-tracing smartphone app. The model simulates the spread of COVID-19 in a population of agents on an urban scale. Agents are heterogeneous in their characteristics and are linked in a multi-layered network representing the social structure—including households, friendships, employment and schools. We explore the interplay of various adoption rates of the contact-tracing app, different levels of testing capacity, and behavioural factors to assess the impact on the epidemic. Results suggest that a contact tracing app can contribute substantially to reducing infection rates in the population when accompanied by a sufficient testing capacity or when the testing policy prioritises symptomatic cases. As user rate increases, prevalence of infection decreases. With that, when symptomatic cases are not prioritised for testing, a high rate of app users can generate an extensive increase in the demand for testing, which, if not met with adequate supply, may render the app counterproductive. This points to the crucial role of an efficient testing policy and the necessity to upscale testing capacity.

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