bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Cognitive & Pragmatic Aspects of Polycodedness of a Scientific Text, A Case Study of the Spanish Language
Authors: Dmitrichenkova Svetlana Vladimirovna , Anatolyevna Dolzhich Elena , Georgievna Popova Taisia
Published: November 2016

The aim of this study is to investigate the polycodedness of a Spanish scientific text as a result of interaction between codes of different semiotic systems and discourses. A polycode text focuses the fact of interaction of different codes, i.e. symbols, systems of symbols, signs and rules of their combinations with each other for the transmission, processing and storage of information in the form most adapted thereto. This term describes the phenomenon of textual heterogeneity at the level of form achieved through a mix of different semiotic systems, such as verbal and visual. In this sense, the phenomenon of polycodedness is directly related to the manifestations of interdiscursiveness. A particular attention is given to the synthesis of verbal and non-verbal means of communication, the consideration of polycode scientific texts in terms of their constituent cognitive structures that help to identify the essential properties of scientific text. The discursive and communicative approaches, being the leaders within the modern linguistics, comprise the methodological base of the research. At each stage of work, the methods that best meet the goals and objectives of the research were involved. Such methods include a discourse analysis, a method of classification and systematization, a method of quantitative analysis followed by a qualitative interpretation of the data. The emergence of a semiotically complicated text, in which the author's intention is realized simultaneously using both a verbal code and a variety of non-verbal means, is an evidence of major changes in the modes of transmitting information about the world. The material study is based on research papers and dissertations in Spanish on various branches of scientific knowledge defended at the Autonomous University of Madrid (Spain).Keywords: scientific text, discourse, polycodedness, verbal, non-verbal means
Posthuman Reconstruction of the World as a Simulation in Charles Stross’ Accelerando
Authors: Patra Indrajit , Krishan Rai Shri
Published: November 2016

In this paper my aim is to analyze the theme of simulation in Charles Stross’ hard science fiction novel titled ‘Accelerando’ (2005). The discussion shall start by pointing out the enormous significance of the ideas of simulation both in the world of pure science as well as in the fields of philosophy, arts and literature. We shall show by adopting an informational approach and by using the theoretical framework of Baudrillard’s ‘Simulacra and Simulation’ that science fiction novels like Charles Stross’ ‘Accelerando’ treat simulation not just as an abstract mathematical entity existing independently of human beings; rather they treat simulation as an indispensable step for mankind in their journey of ascension to the Posthuman plane of existence. This paper will also try to prove that Stross’ ‘Accelerando’ not only relies upon the description of the effects of use of many incomprehensibly powerful simulation technologies in various forms to produce the effect of estrangement upon the readers but it also implies that the very fabric of reality which deem to be real is composed of binary oppositions between different strands of contradistinctive signs and symbols which in a posthuman world will crumble together to give way to a Posthuman world replete with endless possibilities. This novel like many other contemporary hard science fiction novels implies that the reality is essentially indistinguishable from the simulation once the influence of human perception or consciousness is deducted from the equation and then the entire Universe can be interpreted as one gigantic computational entity consisting of myriads of quantum informational field operators through the manipulation of which we can derive a semblance of power indistinguishable from the actual one.Keywords: Science Fiction, Posthumanism, Simulacra and Simulation, Quantum Nature of Creation, Portrayal of Future
Gender, Scaffolding Mechanism and Output Complexity in Task-based Language Learning
Authors: Bahador Hamid , Zand-Moghadam Amir , Fanaie Maryam
Published: November 2016

The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of gender in Iranian EFL learners’ output complexity and scaffolding mechanism as they were performing the tasks. The participants were 18 intermediate learners from both genders who were selected based on a proficiency test and an interview. They were placed into three groups based on their gender. They were also assigned into nine different collaborative pairs and were required to perform four tasks while being tape-recorded for 36 sessions. The audio-recorded dialogues were then transcribed and divided into AS-units. Ohta’s (2001) seven types of scaffolding methods were used as a framework to analyze the data. The findings indicated that the interlocutors in female-female pairs scaffolded their struggling partners more than the other pairs and produced a more complex output; however, the interlocutors in male-male pairs underperformed the other groups. It can be concluded that gender plays an important role in EFL learners’ output complexity and scaffolding mechanisms they employ. Keywords: AS-units, gender, scaffolding mechanism, sociocultural approach, task-based language learning
Agrammatism and Other Aphasia-related Disorders in Moroccan Arabic Speaking Aphasics
Authors: Qorchi Bouchra , Bouchara Abdelaziz
Published: November 2016

This paper includes the participation of six Moroccan Arabic-speaking aphasics (four with Broca’s aphasia, one with Wernicke’s aphasia and one with global aphasia). In our work, we turn to a particular under-resourced Arabic Dialect, Moroccan Darija or Moroccan Arabic (MA), which is an agglutinative language; that is, a fairly large number of affixes may be added to the root. Negation, tense, aspect, person, number and gender are all expressed by affixes attached to the verb. The speech corpora were taken from samples collected from patients who have attended speech and language therapy sessions. The patients were presented with picture description, repetition and grammaticality judgement tasks in order to examine the extent of impairment on the phonological, lexical, semantic and morpho-syntactic levels. Although agrammatic production is usually described as impaired in all aspects of grammar and in all types of inflection, it was found out that the use of verbal and nominal bound morphemes was spared in the output of the subjects understudy. All the three groups in this study used appropriate verbal and nominal morphology, which does not support the traditional view of agrammatism as being amorphological.Keywords: Moroccan Arabic, Aphasia, Broca, Wernicke, Agrammatism, Bound morphemes-Substitution, Deletion
Russian Language in the Intercultural Communication Space: Modern Problem Paradigm
Authors: Kulikova Ella Germanovna , Kuznetsova Anna Vladimirovna , Zayats Pavel Vsevolodovich , Sarkisiyants Vladimir Rafaeliyevich
Published: November 2016

A special role belongs to cross-cultural communication in the modern world. An attempt to limit the problem of the Russian language in Russia just with linguistic aspects, and only to culturological and political ones in the post-Soviet Union space is deeply wrong because of the whole complex of factors, relevant to the current state of the language, including both its fundamental character for the Russian culture preservation and transference and its enduring role in preservation of Russia’s and neighbouring states’ information and national security. A problem of the link between generations is especially topical for Russia, as the Russian society and nation are disoriented in language as a field of meanings and styles, in axiological and ethical coordinates of the world picture. Detailed investigation of the factors affecting the development of the Russian language in the cross-cultural communication space is becoming strategically important in the aspect of ensuring national security of Russia and its national unity.Keywords: Russian language, cross-cultural communication, national security, language personality, language tolerance
Writer Identity in Narrative and Argumentative Genres: A Case of Korean Students in the United States
Authors: Lee Seongyong
Published: November 2016

This study investigated how three Korean ESL students constructed their writer identity in narrative and argumentative genres of writing. For this purpose, the qualitative data collected from interviews, observations and written documents for eight weeks were analyzed according to a social constructionist perspective as a philosophical framework and Ivanič’s approach to systemic functional linguistics as an analytic method. The results showed that the participants constructed a confident identity in narrative writing whereas they identified themselves with a less-confident writer in an argumentative genre. Accordingly, they adopted different strategies for the difficulties they were confronted with in two genres. In addition, while narrative essays showed their ownership of Korean culture as a sojourner in the U.S., argumentative essays revealed their ambivalent identity in an academic context. These findings shed light on the importance of a narrative writing task as a stepping stone for academic writing by empowering an L2 writer in terms of constructing an authoritative voice.Keywords: L2 writing, writer identity, genre-based writing
Influence of N. Gogol’s and M. Saltykov-Shchedrin’s Satire on Michail Bulgakov’s Prose
Authors: Petrenko Alexander Philippovich , Anatolyevna Petrenko Svetlana , Fedotova Irina Borisovna
Published: November 2016

The article is concerned with the study of literary relationships between the satire of the famous 20th-century Russian writer M. Bulgakov and the works by the Russian classics of the 19th century – N.V. Gogol and M.Y. Saltykov-Shchedrin. The article describes Gogol’s and Saltykov-Shchedrin’s influence on Bulgakov’s satirical poetics, especially in the period of his development as a writer. Special attention is given to the device of grotesque and the motives of mechanicalness and lifelessness, forming the artistic worlds of the writers under study. The authors note that the technical progress and the rapid development of mechanized production in the 20th century, combined with the satirical motive of primitivism, characteristic of Russian literature, left an imprint on the nature of Bulgakov’s grotesque. The writers at issue are united by such common feature of the satirical poetics as turning to fantasy, hyperbole, ‘strange and queer things’. The article shows the way Bulgakov perceived and embodied the principles of Gogol’s and Shchedrin’s world perception through the comic mixing of absurd, ghostly and real. Bulgakov’s way of seeing the world is characterized as ‘delirious reality’. At the same time, Bulgakov, as well as his literary teachers in the sphere of satire, showed oddness and divergence as regularity, while the comicality of fantasy in his works finally turns into the drama of reality.Keywords: satire, laughter, grotesque, mysticism, fantasy, zoomorphic metaphors
Grammatical Means of Temporality Expression in Translation
Authors: Merkibayev Tulegen Asylbekovich , Abdrakhman Gulnar Kabylkalymovna , Satkenova Zhaina Bagasharovna , Seisenbayeva Zhanar Aitbergenovna , Abayeva Madina Kabylkyzy
Published: November 2016

Creation problem of model of grammatical means of temporality expression in translation from English into Kazakh and Russian languages is considered in the article. At a choice of translation of transformations of aspectual-temporal categories of a verb from English into Kazakh and Russian languages it is considered not only grammatical compliance of categories of tense, but also the contextual use of a functional and semantic field of verbs, comparison of lexical temporality with positions of concepts, specific to each language world picture, with positions of modern philosophy and logic of language. Authors come to a conclusion that productive use of analytical forms in the Kazakh and English languages is the result of structural features of categories of tense and a type of English and Kazakh languages. Comparison of a phase of actions of a verb in English and Kazakh languages allows creation of reference model of grammatical means of expression of temporality in translation from English into Kazakh and Russian languages on the basis of a functional and semantic field of verbs, comparison of lexical temporality from positions specific on each language picture of the world.Keywords: temporality, category of tense, aspect in English and Kazakh languages, grammatical forms, literary translation, action
Meeting Students’ Expectations in an Arab ICLHE/EMI Context: Implications for ELT Education Policy and Practice
Authors: Al-Issa Ali S.M.
Published: November 2016

Students’ expectations have seldom received any attention in English Language Teaching (ELT) education research in the Arab World in general and in Integrated Content and Language in Higher Education (ICLHE)/English Medium Instruction (EMI) English for Academic Purposes (EAP) in particular, despite their importance for policy and practice. This mixed-method study investigates the expectations of 50 students attending an ICLHE/EMI EAP course at College of Law, Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) in the Sultanate of Oman. The results have shown that the students had course materials and content and course pedagogy and design implementation expectations. The results have further revealed that the teacher played a key role in meeting his students’ expectations through his effective teaching. The findings have important implications for ICLHE/EMI policy implementation in other similar local, regional and global contexts. Keywords: Students’ expectations; English Language for Law (1); Integrated Content and Language in Higher Education/English Medium Instruction; English Language Teaching; College of Law
Investigating the Use of Compliments and Compliment Responses in Persian: Effect of Educational Background
Authors: Shahidi Pour Vahid , Reza Zarei Gholam
Published: November 2016

The present study aimed at investigating the effect of the social variable of education on the use of compliments and compliment responses in Persian. To this end, a Discourse Completion Task (DCT) was administered to 200 native Persian speakers from different educational backgrounds. In general, the results revealed that participants tended to use explicit unbound semantic formula as well as non-compliment strategies to give compliments the most. However, they used future reference, contrast, request, and 'other' strategies the least. Furthermore, they followed accept, reject, and evade trend when replying to compliments. Surprisingly, the most common subcategory of compliment response strategy used by participants was downgrade. Return and appreciation tokens were the second and third most frequently used strategies. However, they never used reassignment and topic shift to respond to compliments. In particular, the results suggested the effect of education on determining compliments and compliment responses patterns. While lower educated people preferred non-compliment strategies, higher educated people preferred explicit semantic formula strategies to give compliments the most. In replying to compliments, downgrade occurred most frequently across different educational levels except PhD/MD level. PhD/MD holders used appreciation token the most. The second most frequently used compliment response strategy by all educational levels was return. However, despite minor differences, no marked difference was found among educational levels regarding the least frequent compliments and compliment responses. The findings can provide valuable insight into the cultural and socio-cultural factors affecting the way people compliment, perceive the compliments, and respond to the compliments made on them.Keywords: Pragmatic competence, Speech acts, Compliments, Compliment responses, Educational background
Evaluating Lexical Cohesion in Nigerian Newspaper Genres: Focus on the Editorials
Authors: Malah Zubairu , Tan Helen , Md Rashid Sabariah
Published: November 2016

Applied linguists paying scholarly attention to newspaper genres have often argued that findings emerging from such studies would be of pedagogical significance because most of the newspaper genres share certain conventional features with school genres. Similarly, this study explored lexical cohesion in newspaper editorials, and it is understood that the findings could help learners in handling persuasive writings. The study sought to identify the dominant sources of lexical cohesion in the editorials, and also to examine how lexical cohesion is utilized to achieve coherence in the editorials. Drawing on Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL), the study applied Eggins’ (2004) model of lexical cohesion and analyzed 30 editorial texts of 20, 354 words drawn from three major Nigerian newspapers: The Guardian, The Nation, and Vanguard. The analysis revealed 2, 685 ties across 849 sentences. The data demonstrated that the major types of lexical cohesion in the editorials include: repetition (49.5%), expectancy relations (15. 8%), class/sub-class (11%), and synonymy (10.8%). It was further revealed that lexical cohesion devices, which formed into chains (586) and isolated ties (837), were utilized in building coherence in the editorial texts. It was finally shown how findings of the study could be beneficial in ESP, EAP, and EGP learning, especially in persuasive writings.   Keywords: Editorials, Lexical cohesion, Newspaper Genres, Nigerian Newspapers, School Genres
Computer-assisted Language Learning for the Development of Listening Skills: A Case Study of Pre-university Russian as a Foreign Language
Authors: Lebedeva Maria Yu. , Koltakova E.V. , Khaleeva Olga N. , Rusetskaya M.N.
Published: November 2016

The research explores the effectiveness of using computer-assisted language learning (CALL) approach for the development of non-reciprocal listening skills in the context of studying Russian as a foreign language (RFL). Despite the fact that the influence of CALL on the development of listening skills has been well studied based on a case study of teaching other languages (especially English), a similar study in the context of teaching the Russian language is performed for the first time. The RFL students (N=68) and teachers (N=7) of the Preparatory Department in Russian took part in the intervention study. The students were divided into experimental and control groups. The research was conducted based on both qualitative and quantitative methods. The researchers focused the attention on two kinds of listening: listening for general information and selective listening. As the listening competence, and especially academic listening proficiency, is critically important for the students of the preparatory department,  he researchers’ target was to research ways of improving listening abilities with different approaches of using CALL.  The testing and assessment materials were developed and the statistics was collected for each kind of listening. In addition, the students of the experimental group were surveyed to identify their experiences from using CALL in the classroom. The research findings allowed concluding about the effectiveness of CALL application for developing listening for the detail skills, whereas in the general listening no significant effect was found. In addition, the study revealed specific complexities in the application of CALL in teaching listening in Russian.Keywords: computer-assisted language learning, web-based instruction, listening comprehension, blended learning, Russian as a foreign language
Genre Analysis of Ashbery’s “Sonnet”
Authors: Farsi Roghayeh
Published: November 2016

This study carries out genre analysis of John Ashbery’s poem, “Sonnet”. Swalesian genre analysis gives a systematic scrutiny into the moves a text makes to communicate its intentions to the members of a discourse unity. Investigating the applicability of genre analysis to a literary text and revealing its strong and weak points are the main targets of the paper. The paper casts light on the way Ashbery foregrounds the audience’s expectations molded by four competences: generic, stylistic, rhetoric-linguistic, and pragma-ideological. There is mention of the moves and steps the poet makes to communicate the text’s intention. The experiments “Sonnet” conducts on these competences render it a parody of sonnet and accord it coherence of foregrounding. The paper concludes “Sonnet” develops out of a paradox of communication as it tries to communicate to the audience that communication is, if not impossible, at least a difficult task.Keywords: Ashbery, genre analysis, foregrounding, sonnet, competence
Grammar and Gender: A Comparative Study of the Integration and Organisation of Meanings in Selected Male and Female-authored Proseworks
Authors: Najeem Dahunsi Toyese
Published: November 2016

Studies have established gender-based variations in human’s use of language, particularly in the areas of grammar and lexis.  This study investigated language use in prose-works involving male and female writers, aimed at finding out whether there were grammar related variations in the use of language by the selected male and female writers.  The framework adopted for analysis was the Hallidayan notion of Clause Complexes and Embedded Clauses and how writers made conscious choices from the grammar of logical meaning in their different narratives.  Five male-authored and five female-authored prose-works were selected for the study.  A part of each prose-work containing fifty (50) consecutive sentences was randomly excised and analysed into clause simplexes, clause complexes and embedded clauses, and the frequencies of these clause types were determined.  The result clearly showed that the male authors had higher frequencies of clause complexes than simplexes; whereas the female writers had lower frequencies of complexes but higher frequencies of simplexes.  It also showed higher frequencies of embedded clauses in male-authored texts than in female-authored ones. The results therefore suggested that narratives of male writers tend to be more syntactically complex (because of higher frequencies of clustered clauses and varying functional and semantic relationships among component clauses) and semantically complex (because of a much tighter integration of meanings through clause clustering and embedding).  The narratives of female writers, on the other hand, tend to be syntactically and semantically simple (with higher use of simplexes, but less use of complexes and embedded clauses).Keywords: Grammar, gender, clause complexes, clause simplexes, embedded clauses.
Integrating Russian Methods of Teaching Literature into the World Science and Practice
Authors: Benkovskaya Tatyana , Maydangalieva Zhumagul
Published: November 2016

The paper is aimed at solving one of the strategical tasks stated in the Russian literature teaching methods that is associated with its coming into the world science and practice – presentation and dissemination of the Russian experience in the sphere of literary development of school aged readers. The authors are historiographs and proceeding from the results of their research they first suggest considering the possible prospects of completing the task. The first prospect is associated with presentation of the conceptual model of today's Russian methodical system of literary development of schoolchildren in the world science; the second one – with dissemination of the Russian assessment criteria for variative models of the methodical system of literary development of schoolchildren in the world practice. The content of each prospect includes definition of keywords and the technique for implementation of the former. The prospects of presentation and dissemination of the Russian experience in the sphere of literary development of school aged readers that are suggested for implementation can make a considerable contribution to the world experience enriching it with grounded alternative scientific approaches to the assessment of modern condition of literary education in the foreign countries. The authors highlight creation of additional preconditions required for interaction in the area of development of methodology of the comparative science about the reader as one of the important parameter of the successful performance in bringing the prospects into life.Keywords: literary education, reader, structural constituents, conceptual model, variative model.
Cosmic Mysticism: Quest for the Absolute in the Works of Tagore and Sri Aurobindo
Authors: Samantaray Swati
Published: November 2016

Cosmic mysticism is an immediate experience of oneness with God by means of ecstatic and wordless contemplation. The Indian Renaissance poets Rabindranath Tagore and Sri Aurobindo are spiritual humanists who believe that the entire creation is pervaded by the presence of God. Their exceptional minds have an instinctive urge to synthesize and transform, transmute and transcend  the aspects of reality. They regard humans as a replica of the Divine Spirit and hence they value man's  ideals and aspirations. Their ways of depicting this is very different, albeit their works bear an analogous thematic purpose, which is cosmic mysticism. This paper  delineates the perception of cosmic mysticism in the works of Tagore and Aurobindo. The central theme of their writings – the spiritualization of earthly life – rests on their beliefs that God exists in all of Nature and that spiritual intuition makes it possible for every individual to become conscious of their own divinity. The poets display the cosmic trinity of mind, body and soul in their works and are committed to achieving cosmic consciousness and social amelioration.Keywords: Mysticism,  Divine, spirituality, nature, love, philosophy, inspiration, humanism
Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety among Iraqi Students and its Relation With Gender and Achievement
Authors: Talib Ali Taha , Fook Fei Wong
Published: November 2016

Language anxiety is always seen as debilitative factor that deters learners from successfully learning a foreign language. Although many studies have been reported on foreign language learners’ anxieties, little research, if any, has been undertaken on Iraqi postgraduate EFL learners. The objective of the present study is threefold: a) to investigate the factors contributing to foreign language classroom anxiety among Iraqi postgraduate EFL students, b) to investigate the difference between both genders in the level of anxiety and c) to investigate the relationship between the level of anxiety and the academic achievement of the students based on GPA. The study employed a mixed mode approach using survey questionnaire (AFLAQ)and semi-structured interview. The study reported that three factors such as communication apprehension, negative evaluation and test anxiety are anxiety-arousing factors with test anxiety has the greatest contribution. The study also reported that females show more anxiety compared to males. It was also shown that there is a negative correlation between language anxiety and academic achievement which means that students with high level of FL anxiety tend to yield lower grades and vice-versa. Keywords: Arabic Foreign Language Anxiety Questionnaire (AFLAQ), Anxiety factors, Gender differences, Academic achievement
Integrating Multiple and Focused Strategies for Improving Reading Comprehension and L2 Lexical Development of Iranian Intermediate EFL Learners
Authors: Nasri Mehdi , Biria Reza
Published: November 2016

Effective reading is essential for success in learning a foreign language. EFL learners, therefore, need to master a number of reading strategies to be able to comprehend text information. Strategic reading research has already evidenced the possibility of teaching comprehension strategies to enhance learner’ comprehension and metacognitive abilities. Further research is needed though to examine the procedures or methodologies through which the approach can be applied. This pretest-posttest quasi-experimental article aimed, firstly, to compare the effects of the two widespread methods of explicit teaching of comprehension strategies (focused vs. multiple) on EFL learner’ reading comprehension and lexical development and, secondly, to explore whether or not integration of fixed and multiple instructional techniques significantly improved intermediate EFL learners reading comprehension ability and lexical knowledge. To this end, four intact classes including 69 intermediate EFL learners in a language center in Isfahan were randomly assigned to one control and three experimental groups. The groups received the same amount of instruction, however differently, three receiving focused, multiple, and integrated strategy interventions respectively and the other receiving conventional reading-based instruction. The results revealed that while receiving focused strategy intervention did not offer a statistically significant advantage over the typical classroom setting, benefiting from multiple strategy intervention significantly improved the learners’ ability in reading comprehension. Moreover, the results asserted the efficacy of integrated strategy instruction in improving both reading comprehension and lexical development among Iranian intermediate EFL learners.Keywords: Focused strategy instruction, Lexical development, Multiple strategy instruction, Reading comprehension
The Majesty of Human Effort in Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea
Authors: Hameed Shakury Sabah Abdul
Published: November 2016

The purpose of this study is to discuss the effort of the leading character of Heminway’s The Old Man and the Sea, as an example of human effort, in a context which shows his sense of isolation in the society. Santiago’s awareness of his individual role in the universe permits him more authentic effort. The major task of the researcher is to discuss Santiago’s consistent effort to restore his character and thereby renew his life and be once again part of the community. The researcher’s interest is to show which goal Santiago tries to achieve: pride or endurance?Keywords: Santiago, majesty, pride, endurance, defeat, triumph, marlin
The Production of Yes/No Questions, Wh-Questions, and Embedded Clauses as Functional Categories at the Initial Stage of Child L2 Acquisition
Authors: Mobaraki Mohsen , Saed Amin
Published: November 2016

This is a longitudinal case study of two Farsi-speaking children learning English: ‘Bernard’ and ‘Melissa’, who were 7;4 and 8;4 at the start of data collection. The research deals with the presence or absence of functional categories (CP),in our case Yes/no questions, Wh-questions, and embedded clauses as well as their production rate in early stages of interlanguage development of the child second language (L2) acquisition of syntax. Some studies in the field of child second language acquisition regarding the production of functional categories (CP) are discussed. Examining data collected from the children’s spontaneous speech, the researcher’s diaries and translation and other tasks over a period of 20 months, the competing claims of the two most prominent hypotheses about early L2 grammars are tested: Vainikka& Young-Scholten’s (1996) Minimal Trees/Structure Building hypothesis and Schwartz & Sprouse’s (1996). Full Transfer/Full Access hypothesis. The conclusion is reached that Yes/no questions, Wh-questions, and embedded clauses as three functional categories are absent in early stages of interlanguage development of the child L2acquisition.Keywords: Functional categories, Child L2 acquisition, Minimal Trees/Structure Building hypothesis, Full transfer/fullaccess hypothesis, Yes/no questions and Wh-questions, Embedded clauses
Addressing the Question of Homophobia in Jordanian Public Discourse
Authors: El-Sharif Ahmad
Published: November 2016

This article investigates the question of homosexuality, homosexuals, and homophobia in the Jordanian public debate in the aftermath of an LGBTQIA meeting that was held secretly in Amman in May 2015. The main purpose of the article is to demonstrate the constituents and arguments which reproduce the public discourse on anti-homosexuality and anti-homosexuals and homophobia in Jordan. This purpose is reached by analysing 35 journal articles written in Standard Arabic in Jordanian public and open-access media. The analysis involves the qualitative analysis of the argument, processes, and themes used to represent homosexuality and homosexuals by the discourse producers. The analysis reveals that the question of homosexuality and homosexuals in Jordan can be addressed in terms of seven angles: the public anti-homosexuality and anti-homosexuals’ calls, the (Islamic) religious argument, protecting and reinforcing law and order, the argument of (homo)sexually-transmitted diseases, the calls of pro-homosexuality and pro-homosexuals and LGBTQIA’s rights activists, the homosexuals’ own self-representation, and the neutral scientific account and representation.Keywords: Jordan, homosexuality, homosexuals, homophobia, LGBTQIA, discourse analysis
Iranian Female Language Learners' Listening Strategy Preferences in Multimedia Environment
Authors: Talebi Eskandari Shabnam , Shirani Bidabadi Farinaz
Published: November 2016

Listening skill has been recently paid great attention comparing with the other three language skills since having communication is the first and most essential need. Language learners have been using the three different listening strategies (Cognitive, Meta-cognitive, and Socio-affective) to improve their listening skills in multimedia environments in particular. The main focus of this study is to determine the most preferable listening strategies employed in improving listening skills in multimedia environment by female Iranian English language learners. To achieve the goals, thirty female English language learners – twenty to twenty five - out of sixty were selected. In order to collect data IELTS test as pre-test and post-test questionnaire and interview were used. The result indicated that these language learners mainly employed meta-cognitive strategies the most in the multimedia environment. Thus, it is implied that the findings would be beneficial to the classroom practice, guide learners and lecturers as well as syllabus planners and material designersKeywords: Multimedia environments, Listening strategy, Meta-cognitive, cognitive, Socio-affective strategy
Peculiarities of Creating Foreign Students’ Lexical Competence
Authors: Sadenova Aigul Eskermesovna , Makanovna Yesbulatova Raushan , Orazakynkyzy Farida , Anuar Saule
Published: November 2016

Teaching of vocabulary includes several aspects of teaching content: linguistic, methodological and psychological. Teaching of vocabulary is a process which is inextricably entwined with understanding relations between new words and phonetic and grammar aspects of the language. On the one hand, simultaneous learning of two languages complicates the tasks set to the students, but, on the other hand, it simplifies the process. The complexity is in the scope of vocabulary to be remembered, as well as in the differences between grammar structures used in Russian and Kazakh. The simplification is in the fact that students are fully aware that lexical competence is formed gradually, and that every language has its lexical base required at the initial stage, and that such base is to be developed for mastering a specific language. Before identifying the methods of vocabulary semantization in the course of teaching a language to foreign students, students shall be offered active vocabulary, used to express their ideas orally and in written form, and passive vocabulary, used to perceive oral and written information. It is not possible to teach semantics only. It is necessary to create paradigmatic, syntactic and associative relations. The formation of lexical skills is connected with the solidity of vocabulary retention. In order to ensure reinforcement of the vocabulary learnt, the students shall be offered exercises contributing to the development of their skills of using vocabulary in listening, speaking, reading and writing. All above mentioned types of vocabulary semantization constitute a unified whole. Different ways of semantization are set forth for methodological purposes, to facilitate the achievement of the desired result. Translation and non-translation techniques for vocabulary presentation, as well as some tips and exercises, are given. The use of basic vocabulary at elementary and advanced levels is suggested. Certain methods for the semantization of vocabulary units are recommended.      Keywords: vocabulary, semantization, word building, translation and non-translation methods, vocabulary unit, translation and non-translation techniques
Representation of Oriental Travelees and Locus in Jurgen Wasim Frembgen’s Travelogue: The Closed Valley: With Fierce Friends in Pakistani Himalays
Authors: Gholi Ahmad
Published: November 2016

The oft despised and ignored genre of travel writing was recognized as worthy of scholarly investigation in 1970s thanks to Edward Said’s Orientalism, the wave of deconstructionism, and postcolonialism (Calzati, 2015). For these scholars, travel writers do not present a transparent window to an alien space and its residents even though they normally claim it. For them the representation of the traveled terrain and travelees is an ideological construction which is tainted with the travel writer’s ‘habitus’ and ‘field’ and crafted through fictional devices. In this regard, by drawing on postcolonial methodology, the current study seeks to evince how Frembgen in his travelogue, The Closed Valley: With Fierce Friends in Pakistani Himalayas which narrates his voyage to Harban, a far-flung mountainous region in Pakistan Himalaya, reproduces the pitfalls of previous Western travel writers when he depicts his destination and travelees in negative terms. From his perspective, his timeless traveled locus is rife with violence, yet a space to escape from dehumanizing ambience of the West. Additionally, for him the women in this tribal region are tyrannized by husbands and victimized by Muslim extremists. Last but not least, he portrays this remote oriental space as an object of curiosity which needs to be salvaged textually. Keywords: Travel Writing, Timeless, Escape, Women, Violence, Curiosity
EFL Teachers’ Epistemological Beliefs and Their Assessment Orientations
Authors: Mahmoud Ismail Ammar Abdullah
Published: November 2016

Epistemological beliefs—beliefs about the nature of knowledge, where it resides, and how knowledge is constructed and evaluated—have been the target of increased research interest lately. Heretofore, emphasis has been directed to language teaching/learning aspects and strategies. Language assessment practices have not yet received due attention in epistemic research literature. The current study examined the relationship between pre-service EFL teachers’ epistemological beliefs and their assessment orientations. Dimensions of epistemological beliefs were assessed via a questionnaire designed and validated by the researcher based on Schommer’s work. Two assessment orientations were examined including: (a) transmissive surface- processing orientation and (b) constructive deep-processing orientation. The study involved 114 preservice EFL teachers enrolled in the Professional Diploma in Teaching Program in the Abu Dhabi University, the United Arab Emirates. Results of the study showed that EFL teachers’ epistemological beliefs have a direct bearing on their assessment orientations and practices. EFL teachers with naive epistemological beliefs tended more to adopt surface-level assessment orientations whereas those with sophisticated epistemological beliefs showed more tendency to adopt deeper level approaches to assessment in language settings. Results are discussed in terms of backwash effects on foreign language instruction, curriculum development, and teacher education. Suggestions for further research are also discussed.Keywords: Epistemological beliefs, assessment orientations, surface processing, deep processing
Aquifer permeability change caused by a near‐field earthquake, Canterbury, New Zealand
Authors: Rutter H. K. , Cox S. C. , Dudley Ward N. F. , Weir J. J.
Published: November 2016

The MW 7.1 Darfield (Canterbury) earthquake, 4 September 2010, generated widespread hydrological effects in New Zealand ranging from instantaneous changes of piezometric levels, to more sustained postseismic changes in spring flow, river discharge and groundwater levels, and increased turbidity and declined yields of water abstracted from wells. Four years later, piezometric levels remained elevated in deeper (>40 m) aquifers along the north‐western (upper) side of the Canterbury Plains near the Greendale Fault, with changes in mean piezometric level reaching +13 m. Linear reservoir modeling (eigen modeling) suggests that sustained high groundwater was not the result of changes in abstraction or land surface recharge. Step‐drawdown tests at six wells within 15 km of Greendale Fault were carried out prior to the earthquake and were retested following fault rupture. Eden‐Hazel analysis of discharge/drawdown relationships discriminates potential sources of head losses, and how these changed (or otherwise) as a result of the earthquake. Objective application of Eden‐Hazel analysis provided confidence levels for the interpretation, including when step tests provide reliable/unreliable estimates of transmissivity change. Increases in both aquifer losses and well losses were observed in four wells, reflecting both a change in sediment transmissivity and decrease in well efficiency. At two locations, the data were unable to provide results that can be interpreted with confidence. As the majority of local groundwater flow occurs through high‐permeability open framework gravel lenses, we suggest that reduction in the permeability of these gravels, due to fine‐sediment incursion, is the cause of the reduction in transmissivity and increase in well losses.
Source region and growth analysis of narrowband Z‐mode emission at Saturn
Authors: Menietti J. D. , Yoon P. H. , Písa D. , Ye S.‐Y. , Santolík O. , Arridge C. S. , Gurnett D. A. , Coates A. J.
Published: November 2016

Intense Z‐mode emission is observed in the lower density region near the inner edge of the Enceladus torus at Saturn, where these waves may resonate with MeV electrons. The source mechanism of this emission, which is narrow‐banded and most intense near 5 kHz, is not well understood. We survey the Cassini Radio and Plasma Wave Science data to isolate several probable source regions near the inner edge of the Enceladus density torus. Electron phase space distributions are obtained from the Cassini Electron Spectrometer, part of the Cassini Plasma Spectrometer investigation. We perform a plasma wave growth analysis to conclude that an electron temperature anisotropy and possibly a weak loss cone can drive the Z mode as observed. Electrostatic electron acoustic waves and perhaps weak beam modes are also found to be unstable coincident with the Z mode. Quasi‐steady conditions near the Enceladus density torus may result in the observations of narrowband Z‐mode emission at Saturn.
Formation of ionospheric irregularities over Southeast Asia during the 2015 St. Patrick's Day storm
Authors: Spogli Luca , Cesaroni Claudio , Di Mauro Domenico , Pezzopane Michael , Alfonsi Lucilla , Musicò Elvira , Povero Gabriella , Pini Marco , Dovis Fabio , Romero Rodrigo , Linty Nicola , Abadi Prayitno , Nuraeni Fitri , Husin Asnawi , Le Huy Minh , Lan Tran Thi , La The Vinh , Pillat Valdir Gil , Floury Nicolas
Published: November 2016

We investigate the geospace response to the 2015 St. Patrick's Day storm leveraging on instruments spread over Southeast Asia (SEA), covering a wide longitudinal sector of the low‐latitude ionosphere. A regional characterization of the storm is provided, identifying the peculiarities of ionospheric irregularity formation. The novelties of this work are the characterization in a broad longitudinal range and the methodology relying on the integration of data acquired by Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers, magnetometers, ionosondes, and Swarm satellites. This work is a legacy of the project EquatoRial Ionosphere Characterization in Asia (ERICA). ERICA aimed to capture the features of both crests of the equatorial ionospheric anomaly (EIA) and trough (EIT) by means of a dedicated measurement campaign. The campaign lasted from March to October 2015 and was able to observe the ionospheric variability causing effects on radio systems, GNSS in particular. The multiinstrumental and multiparametric observations of the region enabled an in‐depth investigation of the response to the largest geomagnetic storm of the current solar cycle in a region scarcely reported in literature. Our work discusses the comparison between northern and southern crests of the EIA in the SEA region. The observations recorded positive and negative ionospheric storms, spread F conditions, scintillation enhancement and inhibition, and total electron content variability. The ancillary information on the local magnetic field highlights the variety of ionospheric perturbations during the different storm phases. The combined use of ionospheric bottomside, topside, and integrated information points out how the storm affects the F layer altitude and the consequent enhancement/suppression of scintillations.
Annual variations in the Martian bow shock location as observed by the Mars Express mission
Authors: Hall B. E. S. , Lester M. , Sánchez‐Cano B. , Nichols J. D. , Andrews D. J. , Edberg N. J. T. , Opgenoorth H. J. , Fränz M. , Holmström M. , Ramstad R. , Witasse O. , Cartacci M. , Cicchetti A. , Noschese R. , Orosei R.
Published: November 2016

The Martian bow shock distance has previously been shown to be anticorrelated with solar wind dynamic pressure but correlated with solar extreme ultraviolet (EUV) irradiance. Since both of these solar parameters reduce with the square of the distance from the Sun, and Mars' orbit about the Sun increases by ∼0.3 AU from perihelion to aphelion, it is not clear how the bow shock location will respond to variations in these solar parameters, if at all, throughout its orbit. In order to characterize such a response, we use more than 5 Martian years of Mars Express Analyser of Space Plasma and EneRgetic Atoms (ASPERA‐3) Electron Spectrometer measurements to automatically identify 11,861 bow shock crossings. We have discovered that the bow shock distance as a function of solar longitude has a minimum of 2.39RM around aphelion and proceeds to a maximum of 2.65RM around perihelion, presenting an overall variation of ∼11% throughout the Martian orbit. We have verified previous findings that the bow shock in southern hemisphere is on average located farther away from Mars than in the northern hemisphere. However, this hemispherical asymmetry is small (total distance variation of ∼2.4%), and the same annual variations occur irrespective of the hemisphere. We have identified that the bow shock location is more sensitive to variations in the solar EUV irradiance than to solar wind dynamic pressure variations. We have proposed possible interaction mechanisms between the solar EUV flux and Martian plasma environment that could explain this annual variation in bow shock location.