Syntactic complexity in Finnish-background EFL learners’ writing at CEFR levels A1–B2

2022 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ghulam Abbas Khushik ◽  
Ari Huhta
Keyword(s):  
Unit Length ◽  
Sentence Length ◽  
Length Variation ◽  
Syntactic Complexity ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Verb Phrases ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Automated Tools ◽  
Complex Nominals

Abstract The increasing importance of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) has led to research on the linguistic characteristics of its levels, as this would help the application of the CEFR in the design of teaching materials, courses, and assessments. This study investigated whether CEFR levels can be distinguished with reference to syntactic complexity (SC). 14- and 17-year-old Finnish learners of English (N=397) wrote three writing tasks which were rated against the CEFR levels. The ratings were analysed with multi-facet Rasch analysis and the texts were analysed with automated tools. Findings suggest that the clearest separators at lower CEFR levels (A1–A2) were the mean sentence and T-unit length, variation in sentence length, infinitive density, clauses per sentence or T-unit, and verb phrases per T-unit. For higher levels (B1–B2) they were modifiers per noun phrase, mean clause length, complex nominals per clause, and left embeddedness. The results support previous findings that the length of and variation in the longer production units (sentences, T-units) are the SC indices that most clearly separate the lower CEFR levels, whereas the higher levels are best distinguished in terms of complexity at the clausal and phrasal levels.

scholarly journals A Study of Syntactic Complexity in Language Production by Chinese-Speaking Older Adults

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 79
Author(s):  
Xinmiao Liu ◽  
Haiyan Wang
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Verbal Fluency ◽  
Language Production ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Sentence Length ◽  
Syntactic Complexity ◽  
Font Size ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Subordinate Clauses ◽  
The Mean

<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: ??; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;" lang="EN-US"><em>The syntactic complexity of language production changes as a result of ageing. In this study, we made a comparison between Chinese-speaking older and younger adults in terms of the syntactic complexity in spoken language production. To assess the level of syntactic complexity of language production, we applied the traditional measures of syntactic complexity such as sentence length, verbal fluency and the distribution of subordinate clauses. Results indicated that older adults showed a decline in the mean number of clauses, the proportion of right-branching clauses and verbal fluency. These findings indicate that there was a decline in syntactic complexity in spoken language production among Chinese-speaking older adults.</em></span>

scholarly journals Syntactic Complexity of EFL Chinese Students’ Writing

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sue Wang ◽  
Tammy Slater
Keyword(s):  
Language Proficiency ◽  
English Learners ◽  
Chinese Students ◽  
Syntactic Complexity ◽  
Sentence Level ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
English Major ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Complex Nominals ◽  
Development Assessment

<p>Syntactic complexity as an indicator in the study of English learners’ language proficiency has been frequently employed in language development assessment. Using the Syntactic Complexity Analyzer, developed by Lu (2010), this article collected data representing the syntactic complexity indexes from the writing of Chinese non-English major students and from the writing of proficient users of English on a similar task. The results indicate that there is a significant difference in the use of complex nominals, the mean length of sentences, and the mean length of clauses between the writings of EFL Chinese students and more proficient users. This study provides suggestions for EFL writing teaching, particularly writing at the sentence level.</p>

Comparison of Heffner Criteria and Light Criteria in Differentiating Exudative and Transudative Pleural Effusion

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 141-145
Author(s):  
Krishna Chandra Devkota ◽  
S Hamal ◽  
PP Panta
Keyword(s):  
Pleural Effusion ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Pleural Space ◽  
Sectional Study ◽  
Inclusion Criteria ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Medical College ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Exudative Pleural Effusion

Pleural effusion is present when there is >15ml of fluid is accumulated in the pleural space. It can be divided into two types; exudative and transudative pleural effusion. Tuberculosis and parapneumonic effusion are the common cause of exudative pleural effusion whereas heart failure accounts for most of the cases of transudative pleural effusion. This study was a hospital based cross sectional study performed at Nepal Medical College during the period of January 2016-December 2016. A total of 50 patients who fulfilled the inclusion criteria were enrolled. Pleural effusion was confirmed by clinical examination and radiology. After confirmation of pleural effusion, pleural fluid was aspirated and was analysed for protein, LDH, cholesterol. The Heffner criteria was compared with Light criteria to classify exudative or transudative pleural effusion. Among 50 patients, 30 were male and 20 were female. The mean age of patient was 45.4±21.85 years. The sensitivity and specificity of using Light criteria to detect the two type of pleural effusion was 100% and 90.9%, whereas using Heffner criteria was 94.87%, 100% respectively(P<0.01). There are variety of causes for development of pleural effusion and no one criteria is definite to differentiate between exudative or transudative effusion. In this study Light criteria was more sensitive whereas Heffner criteria was more specific to classify exudative pleural effusion. Hence a combination of criteria might be useful in case where there is difficulty to identify the cause of pleural effusion.

Of Reformed Versifying

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neil Rhodes
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Faerie Queene ◽  
Classical Literature ◽  
Native Form ◽  
Christian Doctrine ◽  
English Verse ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Mean ◽  
The Faerie Queene ◽  
Stylistic Ideal

This chapter examines how the development of English poetry in the second half of the sixteenth century is characterized by the search for an appropriate style. In this context, ‘reformed versifying’ may be understood as a reconciliation of high and low in which the common is reconfigured as a stylistic ideal of the mean. That development can be traced in debates about prosody where an alternative sense of ‘reformed versifying’ as adapting classical metres to English verse is rejected in favour of native form. At the same time Sidney recuperates poetry by reforming it as an agent of virtue. Reformation and Renaissance finally come together in Spenser, who realizes Erasmus’ aim of harmonizing the values of classical literature with Christian doctrine, and reconciles the foreign and the ‘homewrought’. The Faerie Queene of 1590 represents the triumph of the mean in both style and, through its celebration of marriage, in substance.

scholarly journals Evaluating the Effects of Sediment Transport on Pipe Flow Resistance

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (15) ◽  
pp. 2091
Author(s):  
Vito Ferro ◽  
Alessio Nicosia
Keyword(s):  
Velocity Profile ◽  
Pipe Flow ◽  
Power Distribution ◽  
Flow Resistance ◽  
Unit Length ◽  
Particle Diameter ◽  
Self Similarity ◽  
Sediment Size ◽  
The Mean ◽  
The Relationship

In this paper, the applicability of a theoretical flow resistance law to sediment-laden flow in pipes is tested. At first, the incomplete self-similarity (ISS) theory is applied to deduce the velocity profile and the corresponding flow resistance law. Then the available database of measurements carried out by clear water and sediment-laden flows with sediments having a quasi-uniform sediment size and three different values of the mean particle diameter Dm (0.88 mm, 0.41 mm and 0.30 mm) are used to calibrate the parameter of the power-velocity profile). The fitting of the measured local velocity to the power distribution demonstrates that (i) for clear flow the exponent δ) can be estimated by the equation of Castaing et al. and (ii) for the sediment-laden flows δ is related to the diameter Dm. A relationship for estimating the parameter Гv obtained by the power-velocity profile) and that Гf of the flow resistance law) is theoretically deduced. The relationship between the parameter Гv, the head loss per unit length and the pipe flow Froude number is also obtained by the available sediment-laden pipe flow data. Finally, the procedure to estimate the Darcy–Weisbach friction factor is tested by the available measurements.

scholarly journals Signal-mediated nuclear transport in proliferating and growth-arrested BALB/c 3T3 cells.

1991 ◽  
Vol 115 (4) ◽  
pp. 933-939 ◽  
Author(s):  
C M Feldherr ◽  
D Akin
Keyword(s):  
High Cell Density ◽  
Unit Length ◽  
3T3 Cells ◽  
Proliferating Cells ◽  
Gold Particles ◽  
Nuclear Uptake ◽  
Large Particles ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Transport Channels ◽  
Relative Uptake

Mediated transport across the nuclear envelope was investigated in proliferating and growth-arrested (confluent or serum starved) BALB/c 3T3 cells by analyzing the nuclear uptake of nucleoplasmin-coated colloidal gold after injection into the cytoplasm. Compared with proliferating cells the nuclear uptake of large gold particles (110-270 A in diameter, including the protein coat) decreased 5.5-, 33-, and 78-fold, respectively, in 10-, 14-17-, and 21-d-old confluent cultures; however, the relative uptake of small particles (total diameter 50-80 A) did not decrease with increasing age of the cells. This finding suggests that essentially all pores remain functional in confluent populations, but that most pores lose their capacity to transport large particles. By injecting intermediate-sized gold particles, the functional diameters of the transport channels in the downgraded pores were estimated to be approximately to 130 and 110 A, in 14-17- and 21-d-old cultures, respectively. In proliferating cells, the transport channels have a functional diameter of approximately 230 A. The mean diameters of the pores (membrane-to-membrane distance) in proliferating and confluent cells (728 and 712 A, respectively) were significantly different at the 10%, but not the 5%, level. No differences in pore density (pore per unit length of membrane) were detected. Serum-deprived cells (7-8 d in 1% serum or 4 d in 0.5% serum) also showed a significant decrease in the nuclear uptake of large, but not small, gold particles. Thus, the permeability effects are not simply a function of high cell density but appear to be growth related. The possible functional significance of these findings is discussed.

scholarly journals Genetic gain in the breeding program of common beans at IAC from 1989 to 2007

2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 329-336 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alisson Fernando Chiorato ◽  
Sérgio Augusto Morais Carbonell ◽  
Roland Vencovsky ◽  
Nelson da Silva Fonseca Júnior ◽  
José Baldin Pinheiro
Keyword(s):  
Grain Yield ◽  
Common Bean ◽  
Genetic Gain ◽  
Grain Quality ◽  
The State ◽  
Breeding Program ◽  
Common Beans ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Second Period

The goal of the present work was to evaluate the genetic gain obtained in grain yield for the common bean genotypes from 1989 until 2007, at the Instituto Agronômico de Campinas, in the state of São Paulo. Genetic gain has been separated into two research periods; the first, from 1989 to 1996, and the second, from 1997 to 2007. In the first period, a genetic gain of 1.07 % per year was obtained, whereas for the second period, the gain was zero. However, the mean yield of the evaluated lines was approximately 1000 kg ha-1 superior to the figures obtained in the first period. The main cause for the absence of genetic gain in the second period is that the focus of the breeding program was changed to grain quality. The individualized analysis of the genotypes with carioca grains in the second period indicated the lack of genetic gain during the investigated period.

Addressing common errors and misconceptions in integral calculus with clickers and classroom voting

2019 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 71-85
Author(s):  
Kelly Cline ◽  
Holly Zullo ◽  
David A Huckaby
Keyword(s):  
Correct Answer ◽  
Group Discussion ◽  
Multiple Choice ◽  
Small Group Discussion ◽  
Multiple Choice Questions ◽  
Integral Calculus ◽  
Common Features ◽  
Incorrect Answer ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Mean

Abstract Common student errors and misconceptions can be addressed through the method of classroom voting, in which the instructor presents a multiple-choice question to the class, and after a few minutes for consideration and small-group discussion, each student votes on the correct answer, using a clicker or a phone. If a large number of students have voted for one particular incorrect answer, the instructor can recognize and address the issue. In order to identify multiple-choice questions that are especially effective at provoking common errors and misconceptions, we recorded the percentages of students voting for each option on each question used in 25 sections of integral calculus, taught by 7 instructors, at 4 institutions, over the course of 12 years, on a collection of 172 questions. We restricted our analysis to the 115 questions which were voted on by at least 5 different classes. We present the six questions that caused the largest percentages of students to vote for a particular incorrect answer, discuss how we used these questions in the classroom, and examine the common features of these questions. Further, we look for correlations between question characteristics and the mean percentage of students voting for common errors on these questions, and we find that questions based on general cases have higher percentages of students voting for common errors.

scholarly journals Distribution of twin kHz QPOs in LMXBs

2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (S290) ◽  
pp. 327-328
Author(s):  
D. H. Wang ◽  
L. Chen
Keyword(s):  
Common Property ◽  
Periodic Oscillation ◽  
Quasi Periodic Oscillation ◽  
Mean Values ◽  
Orbital Frequency ◽  
Low Mass ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Mean ◽  
X Ray Binaries ◽  
Z Sources

AbstractWith kilohertz quasi-periodic oscillation (kHz QPO) sources in neutron star low mass X-ray binaries (NS-LMXBs) published up to now, we analyze the centroid frequency (ν) distribution of twin kHz QPOs. We find that Atoll and Z sources show the similar distributions of ν1 and ν2, which indicate that twin kHz QPOs may be the common property of NS-LXMBs and have the similar physical origins. The mean values of ν1 and ν2 in Atoll sources are higher than those in Z sources, and we consider that this may because the QPO signals are sheltered by the thicken accretion disk or corona in Z sources. The maximums of ν2 in both Atoll and Z sources are the same order as the Keplerian orbital frequency of the NS surface, so kHz QPOs could occur near the NS surface.

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