Ethics and Morality

2011 ◽  
pp. 9-25
Author(s):  
Bernd Carsten Stahl
Keyword(s):  
Ethical Theory ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
Computer Ethics ◽  
English Text ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Ethical Theories ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Academic Texts ◽  
Clear Solutions

Academic texts have to conform to certain standards, and one of these is to define the concepts they use. Texts dealing with ethics or morality therefore have to define what these concepts mean. In the case of English text about computer ethics, the definitions are usually done by contrasting the teleological and the deontological tradition. Another possibility is to talk about absolutist versus relativist ethical theories. Frequently, the terms ethics and morality are treated as equal. Arguably, texts on computer ethics are not meant to be expertises in ethics and many readers of these texts tend to be practically oriented. It is often argued that an introduction into the depth of ethical theory will do more to confuse these readers than help them. However, such arguments can be used to blend out problematic aspects of ethics and pretend that there are clear solutions to these problems when these are in fact contentious. This book chooses another route and will spend some time giving an introduction to normative terms that may be unfamiliar to many native English speakers. Furthermore, it will emphasise that the complexity of the problems warrants a more fine-grained use of the terms, and that it is useful to distinguish between ethics and morality.

Teaching Students to Use Text-Profilers

2012 ◽  
pp. 281-294
Author(s):  
Ingrid Barth ◽  
Esther Klein-Wohl
Keyword(s):  
High Frequency ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Innovative Strategy ◽  
Academic Texts ◽  
Learning English ◽  
College Or University

In this paper the authors suggest that teaching students to use freely available text-profiling software represents an innovative strategy and possible solution to needs of non-native English speakers who leave school without an adequate English vocabulary. First the research basis is described for a new text-profiler designed to help students acquire the high-frequency vocabulary they need in order to become effective readers of academic texts published in English. The authors then illustrate relative advantages of this tool and show how these features address specific issues related to learning English vocabulary at college or university. Finally pedagogic implications of teaching students to use text-profilers are presented and suggestions are offered for future directions.

Teaching Students to Use Text-Profilers

2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 86-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ingrid Barth ◽  
Esther Klein-Wohl
Keyword(s):  
High Frequency ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Innovative Strategy ◽  
Academic Texts ◽  
Learning English ◽  
College Or University

In this paper the authors suggest that teaching students to use freely available text-profiling software represents an innovative strategy and possible solution to needs of non-native English speakers who leave school without an adequate English vocabulary. First the research basis is described for a new text-profiler designed to help students acquire the high-frequency vocabulary they need in order to become effective readers of academic texts published in English. The authors then illustrate relative advantages of this tool and show how these features address specific issues related to learning English vocabulary at college or university. Finally pedagogic implications of teaching students to use text-profilers are presented and suggestions are offered for future directions.

Artificial Identity

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
James DiGiovanna
Keyword(s):  
Personal Identity ◽  
Moral Dilemmas ◽  
Self Awareness ◽  
Ethical Theories ◽  
Intentional States ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Persistence Conditions ◽  
Moral Problems ◽  
Extreme Change ◽  
At Will

Enhancement and AI create moral dilemmas not envisaged in standard ethical theories. Some of this stems from the increased malleability of personal identity that this technology affords: an artificial being can instantly alter its memory, preferences, and moral character. If a self can, at will, jettison essential identity-giving characteristics, how are we to rely upon, befriend, or judge it? Moral problems will stem from the fact that such beings are para-persons: they meet all the standard requirements of personhood (self-awareness, agency, intentional states, second-order desires, etc.) but have an additional ability—the capacity for instant change—that disqualifies them from ordinary personal identity. In order to rescue some responsibility assignments for para-persons, a fine-grained analysis of responsibility-bearing parts of selves and the persistence conditions of these parts is proposed and recommended also for standard persons who undergo extreme change.

The cognitive saliency of word associations of verbs of speech in English as a Lingua Franca interactions

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 417-443
Author(s):  
Yang Pang
Keyword(s):  
Common Ground ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
Target Language ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Cognitive Approach ◽  
Lingua Franca ◽  
Word Associations ◽  
Similar Word ◽  
Speech Communities

AbstractBuilding on the theoretical insights into the socio-cognitive approach to the study of interactions in which English is used as a lingua franca (ELF)), this paper reports on the idiosyncratic phenomenon that ELF speakers do not adhere to the norms of native speakers, but instead create their own particular word associations during the course of the interaction. Taking the verbs of speech talk, say, speak, and tell as examples, this study compares word associations from three corpora of native and non-native speakers. The findings of this study reveal that similar word associative patterns are produced and shared by ELF speech communities from different sociocultural backgrounds, and these differ substantially from those used by native English speakers. Idiom-like constructions such as say like, how to say, and speakin are developed and utilized by Asian and European ELF speakers. Based on these findings, this paper concludes that ELF speakers use the prefabricated expressions in the target language system only as references, and try to develop their own word associative patterns in ELF interactions. Moreover, the analysis of the non-literalness/metaphorical word associations of the verbs of speech in the Asian ELF corpus suggests that ELF speakers dynamically co-construct their shared common ground to derive non-literal/metaphorical meaning in actual situational context.

Speech Rate Is No Simple matter

1990 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 303-313 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tracey M. Derwing
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Speech Rate ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
Pause Time ◽  
Short Film ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Articulation Rate ◽  
Simple Matter ◽  
Communicative Success

Speech rate (articulation rate and pauses) was examined for its relation to communicative success. Native English speakers (NSs) were paired with other NSs and with non-native speakers (NNSs). The subjects viewed a short film, the content of which they were to relay to their two partners independently. Communicative success was measured through comprehension questions addressed to the listeners at the completion of the task. Analyses indicated that although a slight majority of NSs slowed their speech rate for NNSs, they did not adjust articulation rate, but did significantly increase pause time. Neither speech rate nor articulation rate varied over the course of the narrations. Contrary to intuition, the subjects who successfully communicated the story to NNSs did not adjust their speech rate, while those who had difficulty communicating with NNSs increased pause time significantly. The implications of the findings are discussed, and suggestions for further research are made.

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