Topic Difficulty: Collection and Query Formulation Effects

Several recent studies have explored the interaction effects between topics, systems, corpora, and components when measuring retrieval effectiveness. However, all of these previous studies assume that a topic or information need is represented by a single query. In reality, users routinely reformulate queries to satisfy an information need. In recent years, there has been renewed interest in the notion of “query variations” which are essentially multiple user formulations for an information need. Like many retrieval models, some queries are highly effective while others are not. This is often an artifact of the collection being searched which might be more or less sensitive to word choice. Users rarely have perfect knowledge about the underlying collection, and so finding queries that work is often a trial-and-error process. In this work, we explore the fundamental problem of system interaction effects between collections, ranking models, and queries. To answer this important question, we formalize the analysis using ANalysis Of VAriance (ANOVA) models to measure multiple components effects across collections and topics by nesting multiple query variations within each topic. Our findings show that query formulations have a comparable effect size of the topic factor itself, which is known to be the factor with the greatest effect size in prior ANOVA studies. Both topic and formulation have a substantially larger effect size than any other factor, including the ranking algorithms and, surprisingly, even query expansion. This finding reinforces the importance of further research in understanding the role of query rewriting in IR related tasks.

Learning the Disciplines Through Linguistic Feedback: Contribution to the Development of a Discipline-Specific, Formative Evaluation of Students’ Assignments

Students write to learn. Besides, enculturation to the disciplinary discourse happens during writing. Feedback on the assignments from the students scaffolds students’ writing development and learning paths. However, knowledge about the relationship between language, including argumentation in the discipline, on one hand, and the content of the discipline, on the other, is needed. This article is based on a socio-cultural approach to writing in the disciplines, and theory on feedback, and focuses on the relationship between the meso-level of texts (sentences, clauses, word choice) and the content of the discipline. We discuss how insight into the meso-level of texts may be used to improve and to develop feedback and formative evaluation. Cases from an intervention project in a Danish upper secondary school are included, and indicate that teachers and students assign a lower priority to feedback on the meso-level. This article claims that providing feedback on the meso-level strengthens writing development and students’ learning processes. To illustrate how this may be accomplished two texts are analyzed: one from a history class and one from a biology class.

Lexical Errors in English Students' Writing

This research analyzed lexical erros in writing of English students and focused on three types of errors; they were errors in literal translation, errors of word formation, and errors in word choice. This research aimed to explore the most frequent errors and the factors of errors made by English students. The design of this research was qualitative in which the data were colleted by using document in the form of students’ writings and interview. The informants of the research were thirty students majoring in English study program at Tadulako University. The result of this research showed that the most frequent errors made were in word choice and followed by errors in literal translation and errors in word formation. The factors causing the errors were students’ inability to consider the context of the topics when writing. They only focused on using dictionary, Google translate, or simply the words that they had in mind to express ideas in their writing. The students also never used words that were related to the topic in their daily interaction.

Van Dijk’s critical discourse analysis in the Narasi Mata Najwa program and the community response to the face-to-face learning in Indonesian

The purpose of this study is to analyze the critical discourse of Teun A. Van Dijk's model in the Narasi Mata Najwa program. The Narasi Mata Najwa program is a strategic forum for social groups, community groups to appear and discuss the discourses presented. The Narasi Mata Najwa program often invites figures from various circles of society, both from government figures and political figures. The Narasi Mata Najwa event is a discourse formation practice. Discourse refers to social activities that take place from various backgrounds in which the language unit appears. Critical discourse analysis using Van Dijk's model includes three aspects, namely macro structure, super structure, and microstructure. This research uses descriptive qualitative research method. The results of this research from Van Dijk's model examines the discourse that is used as a suggestion for opinion formation through word choice, sentence structure, and appropriate language style.Keywords: critical discourse analysis, Narasi Mata Najwa, community response

Language Contact, Cognition, and Cross-Linguistic Influence in the Greek Pentateuch

This study engages recent discussions concerning the description of the Greek of the LXX Pentateuch and the nature of source text interference. Research in contact linguistics and cognition provides a framework to describe the various phenomena observed, ranging from borrowing of linguistic material to the more widespread structural transfer. Processes such as pivot-matching and the cognitive aspects of word-choice transfer shed light on the mechanics of translation and issues such as the nature of cross-linguistic influence and a translator’s apparent inconsistencies. In this context, the intelligibility of specific renderings or their grammatical conventionality are not sufficient criteria for assessing cross-linguistic influence since its effects can be felt at the level of register or genre. This has important ramifications for the register or genre categorization of various textual units of the LXX Pentateuch and stylistic descriptions.

СТИЛІСТИЧНО МАРКОВАНА ЛЕКСИКА В РОМАНІ ТОМАСА БРУССІҐА “АM KÜRZEREN ЕNDE DER SONNENALLEE” ТА ЇЇ ВІДТВОРЕННЯ В УКРАЇНСЬКОМУ ПЕРЕКЛАДІ

The article deals with problems of literary translation on the lexical level. Translation strategies and techniques used to reproduce stylistically marked words and expressions of Thomas Brussig’s novel “Am kürzeren Ende der Sonnenallee” and the equivalency of their functions in the Ukrainian translation are explored. The word choice of the well known German author targeted at creating humorous or satirical tone in his novels constitutes his own individual style which is diffi cult to reproduce in other languages. That is why each new translation of his novel arouses a great interest of linguists and translatologists. The purpose of this article, therefore, was to classify the stylistically coloured vocabulary of the novel and to examine the lexical and stylistical choices of the translator S. Onufriv, especially the means chosen to render dialectisms, slang and jargon expressions, historical words from the GDR time, expressive personal nicknames, and denominations into Ukrainian. The main terms used in this article to describe the relation between the original text and its translation are “stylistic equivalency” and “stylistic density”, their application being explained based on the linguistic theories of translation (Fedorov, Retsker, Koller, Reiß). In the article, the comparative and descriptive methods as well as the quantitative estimations were used. Seven text fragments with 123 stylistically coloured expressions of lower register were chosen for our analysis. It revealed a higher stylistic density of the Ukrainian translation compared to the German text due to the use of stylistically lower vocabulary and Ukrainian dialect words used to substitute stylistically neutral words of the German author: 181 coloured words and expressions were found. The most important translation issues regarding the reproduction of dialect, slang words and of expressive names were defi ned. It was discovered that the eff ect caused by combining words of diff erent registers (formal and casual) had been lost in translation. Full stylistic equivalency of the youth slang translation as well as features of individual translator’s style were revealed. Several suggestions were made on how to avoid word-to-word translation in some places of the analyzed text fragments. To obtain the whole picture of formal translation equivalency, the tasks for further equivalency studies on other text levels were formulated. Key words: stylistically marked words and expressions, dialectisms, slang expressions, expressive personal nicknames and denominations, translation, stylistic equivalency, stylistic density

Quintilian on Effective Language

Books 8 and 9 of the Institutio take up the third major division of rhetoric, elocutio or effective rhetorical style. Here Quintilian offers an encyclopaedic review of choices and devices at the word, sentence, and passage level, providing examples of their functions and potential abuses. Book 8 covers three of the four virtues of style: correctness, clarity, and ornatus or force. Quintilian favours everyday usage in word choice and warns against the faults of monotony, excess, and offensiveness. He praises visualizing language (enargeia), demurs on sententiae or pithy expressions, and reviews amplifying tactics, such as placing an item in, at the top, or even beyond a rising series, leading to speechlessness. The final section reviews twelve tropes, with special attention to how metaphors are invented. Book 9 opens with a definition of figures of speech as departures from normal usage, and discusses how the form of an expression contributes to its function. It then covers the ‘figures of thought’ such as prosopopoeia and irony, and the syntactic figures or schemes including figures of repetition. The last part treats compositio, involving word order, sound, and rhythm. Using the metrical vocabulary of poetry, Quintilian analyses prosody in terms of the proportion of long to short syllables, creating the pace of a passage, and then discusses prose rhythm in terms of the comma, colon, and period. Overall, Quintilian’s rich and complex treatment of rhetorical style should fuel continuing investigations.

Gaya Bahasa Bidang Kesehatan dalam Iklan Layanan Masyarakat di Radio Kota Surakarta (Language Style of Health Field in Community Service Advertising on The Radio of Surakarta City)

Gaya bahasa merupakan salah satu kajian menarik pada linguistik deskriptif. Penulisan ini bertujuan untuk mendeskripsikan penggunaan gaya bahasa iklan layanan masyarakat di radio Kota Surakarta berpedoman pada pandangan gaya bahasa Gorys Keraf. Penulisan ini merupakan penulisan berjenis deskriptif kualitatif. Sumber data primer penulisan ini yaitu rekaman audio dan transkrip dari audio iklan layanan masyarakat di RRI Pro-2 FM, Solo Radio, dan PTPN Radio. Data yang digunakan berupa frasa, kalimat, dan ungkapan yang terdapat dalam iklan layanan masyarakat tersebut. Teknik pengumpulan data dalam penulisan ini meliputi teknik rekam, simak, catat, dan wawancara. Teknik analisis data menggunakan pendekatan stilistika dan analisis interaktif yang dicetuskan Milles Huberman. Hasil penulisan ini menunjukkan empat gaya bahasa bidang kesehatan pada iklan layanan masyarakat di radio Kota Surakarta, antara lain (1) gaya bahasa berdasarkan pilihan kata, (2) gaya bahasa berdasarkan nada, (3) gaya bahasa berdasarkan struktur kalimat, dan (4) gaya bahasa berdasarkan langsung tidaknya makna. Language style is one of the interesting studies in descriptive linguistics. This study aims to describe the use of public service advertising language style on radio in Surakarta City based on Gorys Keraf's stylistic view. This research is qualitative descriptive research. The primary data sources for this study were audio recordings and transcripts of community service advertising at RRI Pro-2 FM, Solo Radio, and PTPN Radio. The data used are in the form of phrases, sentences, and expressions contained in the community service advertising. Data collection techniques in this study include recording, listening, note-taking, and interviewing techniques. The data analysis technique used a stylistic approach and interactive analysis that was initiated by Milles Huberman. The results of this study indicate four styles of language in the health sector in community service advertising on radio in Surakarta, such as (1) language style based on word choice, (2) language style based on tone, (3) language style based on sentence structure, and (4) language style based on direct and indirect meaning.

Deconstructing Mason’s (un)safe (un)certainty

Barry Manson’s safe uncertainty framework has had a significant influence on the fields of systemic psychotherapy and systemic social work. His original 1993 paper has been cited more than 300 times, and a range of interpretations offered and applications proffered. I offer a deconstructive reading of Mason’s 1993 paper, in order to better understand this phenomenon. I focus on issues of style, rhetoric, expositional emphasis, and word choice – why does Mason choose ‘safe’ rather than ‘secure’? Using analysis by Boholm and colleagues, I set out the semantic pros and cons of using ‘safe’ and ‘secure,’ arguing that, on balance, ‘secure’ is the more appropriate word for Mason’s purposes. I then explore Mason’s reporting of practice, in particular the shift over time from indirect to direct reporting of speech. I argue this shift underpins efforts by Mason to clarify his use of safe uncertainty. Mason’s changing use of voice strongly supports the claim that his framework should not be applied to the analysis of, or responses to safeguarding, risk and protection dilemmas, for which more appropriate frameworks are available.