Sentence complexity as an indicator of L2 learner’s listening difficulty

This paper investigates the effect of sentence complexity, specifically lexical and syntactic surprisal, on L2 listening difficulty. Psycholinguistic studies revealed that surprisal cases correlate with textual comprehension difficulty. Based on surprisal theory, these cases are less probable or expected, considering the precedent context, thus require more complex processing to comprehend. Little is known about the influence of the surprisal factor on L2 listening comprehension. We aim to examine this effect and propose to include these cases in captioning to assist L2 listeners. Since conventional captions include the whole transcript, we use Partial and Synchronized Caption (PSC) with limited textual clues, which allows for highlighting surprisal cases to reduce ambiguity. In our experiment, intermediate learners of English (undergraduates) were asked to transcribe and paraphrase videos containing surprisal cases. Results revealed that learners faced difficulty when encountering surprisal, which was partially addressed with the help of PSC, yet more assistance was required.

Les Rapports annuels du Réseau européen des migrations : Analyse comparée

This research analyses six Annual Reports (AR) written by the European Migration Network, in particular two general AR (written in English) and four AR depending on its French and Italian National Contact Points (written in French and in English, respectively). It aims at studying the way in which paratext — namely Peircean diagrams (maps, boxes and charts) — does not only contribute to a better textual comprehension by the target public as compared with AR in which these tools are rare or lacking, but also convey their authors’ opinion. Our hypothesis, verified during the analysis, consists of inferring that the EMN chooses official and reliable data to catch public’s attention, so not respecting neutrality which may deal with an official report of an institution. If the usage of Peircean diagrams is wider in the EMN AR than in its NCP AR, these tools represent reliability for institutions and politicians who may be interested in reading them, but they are also a source of authority for editors who write them. This research is based on the analysis of expert and institutional discourse (Maingueneau 2002; 2004; Maris 2002; Cussó & Gobin 2008) and on its pragmatic outcomes (Bouchard 2015; Espeland 2015).

Metode Memahami Hadis

Islam makes the tradition with function as explanatory of the verses are still global, verses still absolute, passages that require taqyid, verses still 'am require taskhsis. Hadith is also an urgent source in Islam, so Muslims should understand the true message of Islam which is delivered through the Prophet Muhammad. To be understood correctly, it is necessary to correct and comprehensive understanding, both through historical study, textuality, contextuality, muqaranah arriwayah, or with other approaches such as asbab wurud al Hadith and others. In addition to using several methods such as; Textual Comprehension, Understanding With Contextual way.Keywords: Hadith, Taqyid, methodsAbstrak: Islam menjadikan hadis dengan fungsi sebagai penjelas terhadap ayat-ayat yang masih global, ayat-ayat yang masih mutlak, ayat-ayat yang memerlukan taqyid, ayat-ayat yang masih ’am memerlukan taskhsis. Hadis juga merupakan sumber yang sangat urgen dalam Islam, maka hendaknya umat Islam memahami secara benar pesan-pesan agama Islam yang disampaikan melalui Nabi Muhammad Saw. Agar dipahami secara benar, maka perlu dilakukan pemahaman secara benar dan komprehensif, baik melalui telaah historis, tekstualitas, kontekstualitas, muqaranah arriwayah, atau dengan pendekatan lain seperti asbab wurud al hadis dan lain-lain. Selain menggunakan beberapa metode seperti; Pemahaman Tekstual, Pemahaman Dengan Cara Kontekstual.Kata Kunci: Hadis, Taqyid, metode

A compreensão de leitura textual como um instrumento de diagnóstico de pacientes com demência de Alzheimer leve e moderada

Resumo: A tarefa de reconto de histórias apresenta diferença entre idosos sem e com demência, pois aqueles lembram maior número de informações do que estes. Com o objetivo de verificar se, desde as etapas iniciais, os pacientes com Demência de Alzheimer (DA) leve e moderada se mostram sensíveis à tarefa de compreensão de leitura textual, analisaram-se 40 idosos: 25 com DAs prováveis, sendo 12 leves e 13 moderados; e 15 sem demência, com escolaridade de 4 anos ou mais. Os pacientes foram avaliados através do Mini-Exame do Estado Mental (MEEM), Questionário Sociodemográfico, Escala Reduzida de Depressão Geriátrica da Yesavage (GDS-15) e quatro histórias, com quatro frases cada, as quais apresentavam estrutura textual descritiva e narrativa. A compreensão textual mostrou ser uma tarefa sensível aos participantes com demência, cujo desempenho foi significativamente pior do que o dos idosos saudáveis. Não houve diferença estatisticamente significativa quanto às estruturas textuais das histórias. Contudo, à medida que aumentaram os elementos de estrutura narrativa nas histórias, os participantes sem demência e os com demência leve apresentaram melhora na recordação. Os tipos de acréscimos às histórias mais freqüentes no grupo com DA foram reconstrução e inferência. Os resultados sugerem que a avaliação das habilidades lingüísticas pode auxiliar no diagnóstico diferencial precoce da Demência. Palavras-chave: Demência de Tipo Alzheimer. Compreensão textual. Memória. Linguagem. Abstract: The task of recall stories presents a difference between the elderly with dementia and the ones without dementia because the first can remember a greater number of information than the latter. This study aimed to verify if patients with mild or moderate dementia are sensible to the task of textual reading comprehension since the first stages of the disease 40 elderly patients were analyzed: 25 with probable AD, from which 12 were mild and 13 were moderate, and 15 without dementia, with a minimum schooling of 4 years. The patients were evaluated through the MEEM, Sociodemographic Questionary and the GDS-15, besides four stories, each with four sentences, which presented a narrative and descriptive textual structure. The textual comprehension showed to be a sensitive task to the patients with dementia, whose performance was significantly worse than the one of the healthy elderly. There was no statistically significant difference regarding the textual structures of the stories. However, as the elements of narrative structure in the stories increased, the participants without dementia and the ones with mild dementia showed an improvement in remembering the stories. The kinds of additions to the stories that the patients with AD made more frequently were reconstruction and inference. The results suggest that the evaluation of the linguistic abilities may help in the early differential diagnosis of dementia. Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease. Textual comprehension. Memory. Language.