Um Estudo Sobre Interpretações e Representações de Números Racionais em uma Escola Pública de Educação de Surdos em Santa Maria/RS

ResumoO presente trabalho parte da seguinte questão: quais entendimentos são mobilizados por estudantes surdxs em tarefas sobre números racionais utilizando o material manipulável tangram? Diante disso, tem-se por objetivo analisar registros de representação semiótica mobilizados por estudantes surdxs do 1º ano do Ensino Médio, em uma escola estadual bilíngue de Santa Maria/RS, considerando uma sequência de tarefas envolvendo números racionais nas interpretações parte-todo, medida e operador. Para tanto, caracteriza-se como uma pesquisa qualitativa na forma de um estudo de caso com produção de dados orientada pelos princípios da análise de conteúdo. Nessa perspectiva constitui-se quatro categorias: parte-todo, equivalência, medida e operador. Quanto a parte-todo constata-se que a partir da conversão da representação figural icônica para numérica fracionária, sua compreensão deu-se principalmente. Na equivalência de números racionais verifica-se a relevância de tratamentos figurais na representação icônica, por meio da mobilização de registros das peças do tangram. Em relação a medida conclui-se que houve compreensão no espaço unidimensional, ao identificar os números racionais correspondentes aos valores das áreas abordadas como a distância de um certo ponto até a origem na reta numérica, e no espaço bidimensional, a partir da medida da área de figuras. No operador, observa-se reduções de áreas de figuras geométricas quadradas, evidenciando tratamentos figurais na representação icônica. Por fim, destaca-se ampliação do repertório linguístico dxs estudantes referentes aos conceitos/conteúdos matemáticos, tendo em vista a convenções de sinais institucionalizados durante a dinamização da sequência. Palavras-chave: Educação de Surdos. Ensino Médio. Tangram. Parte-Todo. Medida. Operador. AbstractThe present paper starts from the following question: what understandings are mobilized by deaf students in tasks about rational numbers using the manipulable tangram material? Therefore, the objective is to analyze semiotic representation records mobilized by deaf students of the first year of high school, in a bilingual state school in Santa Maria/RS, considering a sequence of tasks involving rational numbers in the interpretations part-whole, measure and operator. For this purpose, it is characterized as a qualitative research in the form of a case study with data production guided by the principles of content analysis. From this perspective, four categories are constituted: part-whole, equivalence, measure and operator. As for the whole-part it is found that from the conversion of the iconic figural representation to fractional numerical, its understanding took place mainly. In the equivalence of rational numbers, the relevance of figurative treatments in iconic representation is verified through the mobilization of records of tangram pieces. With respect the measurement, it can be concluded that there was understanding in one-dimensional space, by identifying the rational numbers corresponding to the values of the approached areas as the distance from a certain point to the origin in the numerical line, and in two-dimensional space, from the measurement of the area of figures. In the operator, there are reductions in areas of square geometric figures, showing figurative treatments in the iconic representation. Finally, we highlight the expansion of the linguistic repertoire of students referring to mathematical concepts/contents, in view of the conventions of institutionalized signals during the dynamization of the sequence. Keywords: Deaf Education. High School. Tangram. Part Whole. Measure. Operator.

Novel vocalizations are understood across cultures

Linguistic communication requires speakers to mutually agree on the meanings of words, but how does such a system first get off the ground? One solution is to rely on iconic gestures: visual signs whose form directly resembles or otherwise cues their meaning without any previously established correspondence. However, it is debated whether vocalizations could have played a similar role. We report the first extensive cross-cultural study investigating whether people from diverse linguistic backgrounds can understand novel vocalizations for a range of meanings. In two comprehension experiments, we tested whether vocalizations produced by English speakers could be understood by listeners from 28 languages from 12 language families. Listeners from each language were more accurate than chance at guessing the intended referent of the vocalizations for each of the meanings tested. Our findings challenge the often-cited idea that vocalizations have limited potential for iconic representation, demonstrating that in the absence of words people can use vocalizations to communicate a variety of meanings.

Strategies, Difficulties, and Written Communication in Solving a Mathematical Problem

In an age where we live surrounded by technology, it is increasingly important to develop capabilities that differentiate us from “machines”. The habit of solving problems can help us develop some of them, including the ability to solve problems, and stimulate critical thinking. It is, therefore, important to propose tasks of a diverse nature in the classroom, and to invest more in mathematical problem-solving by students. For students to solve those problems, it is essential that they know different strategies to use and it is necessary that the teacher can identify the difficulties experienced by students in solving mathematical problems, so the teacher can help students overcome them. This article aims to identify the strategies students use to solve a problem, acknowledge the difficulties students experience, and characterize students’ written communication in their answers. To achieve these objectives, the answers to a mathematical problem which was solved by students of three 12th grade classes were collected and analyzed. In the resolutions analyzed, the strategy students used the most was the construction of schemes/figures. Regarding the difficulties, they were felt more at the level of information selection, as the students tended to add data that were neither in the statement nor could be deduced from it. Finally, when communicating their answers in writing, over half of the students did it with a high level of clarity, and the most frequently used type of justification was the exclusive use of schemes. In addition, the type of representation most used by the students was iconic representation.

ICONIC REPRESENTATION OF BALOCH CULTURE: A SEMIOTIC ANALYSIS

The present paper analyzes cultural attires and appearances of Marri and Bugti tribes in Balochistan to find out latent meanings attached to these artifacts. In doing so, the study uses Peirce’s framework of semiotics- an iconic perspective. The analysis has been carried out with the help of close reading (Semiotic perspective) of the cultural images and appearances. The results reveal underlying multi-meanings attached to these images and appearances. The findings reflect the richness and diversity of Marri and Bugti cultures and the invisible representational meanings of these objects. This research endeavor may be helpful to promote pluralism, harmony and enhance intercultural awareness necessary for understanding cultural diversities within and across societies. More so, future researchers can explore cultural objects and appearances of Punjabi, Sindhi, Pashtuns, Urdu speaking, and Saraiki people by applying various frameworks of semiotics.

Revealing What Is Dear: The Post-Earthquake Iconization of the Dharahara, Kathmandu

On April 25, 2015, central Nepal was struck by a magnitude 7.8 earthquake that killed over 9,000 people and displaced 2.8 million. The image of the Dharahara, a nineteenth-century minaret that collapsed during the quake, quickly became for many Nepalis an iconic representation not only of the disaster but also of a national determination to recover and rebuild. Drawing upon media and literary discourse in the Nepali language, this article asks why the Dharahara tower, rather than the country's severely damaged World Heritage sites, loomed so large in the Nepali imagination in the immediate aftermath of the April 2015 earthquake, and why it became a rallying point for a resurgence of Nepali hill nationalism.

Stardust

This chapter considers the deep-rooted association of glamour with magic powers. Glamour’s bestowal of mystique on objects, people, and emotions depends on a more fundamental goal of inspiring magical thinking, an aspect of glamour that seeks to preserve the experience of enchantment in a disenchanted world. The Hollywood phenomena of star worship and iconic representation are discussed as secular religious practices that have developed in response to the changing conditions of modernity. The chapter shows how three conventional symbols of divinity—haloes, crowns, and veils—contribute to the idolization of a star and find expression in film music according to its own sonic vocabulary.

On the Impact of Information Technologies on Society: an Historical Perspective through the Game of Chess

The game of chess as always been viewed as an iconic representationof intellectual prowess. Since the very beginning of computerscience, the challenge of being able to program a computer capableof playing chess and beating humans has been alive and used both asa mark to measure hardware/software progresses and as an ongoingprogramming challenge leading to numerous discoveries. In the earlydays of computer science it was a topic for specialists. But ascomputers were democratized, and the strength of chess enginesbegan to increase, chess players started to appropriate tothemselves these new tools. We show how these interactions betweenthe world of chess and information technologies have been herald ofbroader social impacts of information technologies. The game ofchess, and more broadly the world of chess (chess players,literature, computer softwares and websites dedicated to chess,etc.), turns out to be a surprisingly and particularly sharpindicator of the changes induced in our everyday life by theinformation technologies. Moreover, in the same way that chess is amodelization of war that captures the raw features of strategicthinking, chess world can be seen as small society making the studyof the information technologies impact easier to analyze and tograsp.