The Development of Color Categories in Two Languages: A Longitudinal Study.

This study unites investigations into the linguistic relativity of color categories with research on children's category acquisition. Naming, comprehension, and memory for colors were tracked in 2 populations over a 3-year period. Children from a seminomadic equatorial African culture, whose language contains 5 color terms, were compared with a group of English children. Despite differences in visual environment, language, and education, they showed similar patterns of term acquisition. Both groups acquired color vocabulary slowly and with great individual variation. Those knowing no color terms made recognition errors based on perceptual distance, and the influence of naming on memory increased with age. An initial perceptually driven color continuum appears to be progressively organized into sets appropriate to each culture and language. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Bridging the generation gap between text planning and linguistic realization

Text planning is traditionally done as a separate process, independent of linguistic realization. However, I show in this paper that it is essential for a text planner to know the linguistic consequences of its actions. The choice of how to realize an element affects how much information is conveyed (e.g., “Floyd arrived safely in Boston” vs. “Floyd landed safely at Logan”) and what other information can be added (e.g., “Peter was deciding for an hour” vs. *“Peter made a decision for an hour”). The choice of realization also affects how the relative salience of the elements being expressed will be perceived (e.g., “The green car is in the garage” vs. “The car in the garage is green”). I have defined an intermediate level of representation for text planning, called the Text Structure. It is an abstract linguistic level that reflects germane linguistic constraints while abstracting away from syntactic detail. This representation allows the text planner to have greater control over the decisions, so that it can take advantage of the expressiveness of language to convey subtleties of meaning. More importantly, the Text Structure allows the generation process overall to be incremental, since it ensures that the text plan being composed will always be expressible in the language. La planification de textes est habituellement réalisée séparément, sans tenir compte de la réalisation linguistique. Cependant, ľauteur demontre dans cet article qu'il est essentiel à un planificateur de textes de connai̊tre les conséquences linguistiques de ses actions. Le choix de la méhode de réalisation ?un élément influe sur la quantité?informations qui est transmise (par ex.: 〈〈 Floyd est arrivé sain et sauf à Boston 〉〉 et 〈〈 Floyd a atterri sain et sauf àľaéroport Logan 〉〉) et sur quelle autre information peut ětre ajoutée. Le choix de la méthode de réalisation influe également sur la façon dont les caractères saillants des ééments qui sont exprimés seront perçus (par ex.: 〈〈 la voiture verte est dans le garage 〉〉 et 〈〈 la voiture dans le garage est verte 〉〉). L'auteur a défini un niveau intérmediaire de représentation pour la planification de textes qu'il a appelé structure de texte. Il; s'agit ?'un niveau linguistique abstrait qui refléte les contraintes linguistiques appropriées tout en s'éloignant du détail syntaxique. Cette représentation permet au planificateur de textes ?avoir un meilleur contrǒle des décisions, et done de tirer profit de la force ?expression du langage afin de tenir compte des subtiliés de sens. Plus important encore, la structure de texte permet au processus de génération ?ětre incrémentiel, car elle s'assure que le plan de texte en voie de composition soit toujours exprimable dans le langage.     

Linguistic Knowledge, Processing Speed, and Metacognitive Knowledge in First- and Second-Language Reading Comprehension: A Componential Analysis.

The authors report results of a study into the role of components of first-language (L1; Dutch) and second-language (L2; English) reading comprehension. Differences in the contributions of components of L1 and L2 reading comprehension are analyzed, in particular processing speed in L1 and L2. Findings indicate that regression weights of the L1 and L2 components are different. Although correlations between most processing speed components and reading comprehension are substantial, there are no unique contributions to the explanation of either L1 or L2 reading comprehension when linguistic and metacognitive knowledge are accounted for. In addition, L1 reading comprehension is shown to have a large contribution to L2 reading comprehension, supporting theories of L1-L2 transfer of reading skills. Results are discussed from a developmental perspective. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Aspects of social and emotional competence in adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Social and emotional competence were evaluated using self-report and behavioral measures in adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and controls. Adults with ADHD viewed themselves as less socially competent but more sensitive toward violations of social norms than controls. Films depicting emotional interactions were used to assess linguistic properties of free recall and perceived emotional intensity. Although adults with ADHD used more words to describe the scenes, they used fewer emotion-related words, despite rating the emotions depicted as more intense than did controls. In contrast, no group differences for words depicting social or cognitive processes were observed. Overall, adults with ADHD appear more aware of their problems in social versus emotional skills. Findings may have implications for improving the psychosocial functioning of these adults. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

群决策中基于语言评价信息的TOPSIS方法

针对基于语言评价信息的群决策问题,提出了一种新的TOPSIS方法。依据传统的TOPSIS方法的基本思路,首先将语言决策矩阵转换为规范决策矩阵;其次,通过变量转换关系对有序语言短语集中的有序语言短语进行"量化",构造与原语言决策矩阵"等价的导出"决策矩阵,并利用算术加权平均算法对所得到的导出决策矩阵进行群的集结;然后对所得到的决策矩阵构造理想点和负理想点,计算每个方案的相对接近度,根据得到的相对接近度对方案进行排序从而确定最优方案。最后通过一个算例说明了该方法的有效性和实用性。     

浅谈交际英语教学法与我国国情的结合

在英语广泛传播的现今,一些非英语国家在得到经济效益的同时,也面临着随之而来的文化危机.因此,英语教师在介绍英语语言和文化的同时,也应该认识到坚持和保护本民族文化的重要性.寻找既能提高学生英语水平,又能培养其民族归属感的英语教学法迫在眉睫,本文对当今比较流行的交际英语教学法如何与我国具体国情相结合进行了研究,并提出了几点建议.     

谈语料库在理工类院校英语教育中的应用研究

针对中国理工类院校英语教育的现实情况,探索了语料库研究在大学英语教学课堂的应用价值,希望为大学教育阶段的英语学习者指明培养语言意识、进行自主学习的可行性道路。研究了语料库在词汇语法学习以及写作教学等方面的作用,并且指出目前国内语料库应用的实际困难以及可能的发展方向。认为:语料库的教学应用能够令学习者增进语感、了解某类语法规律或某种语言现象、形成较强的语言意识;教师更可以通过语料库应用研究促进教学方式多元化,进一步推动英语教育教学改革。     

从"语用"到"实践"语言哲学的发展趋势

＂语用转向＂与＂实践转向＂的关系是语言哲学研究中的一个前沿问题。本文从根本上理清了人们对＂语用转向＂与＂实践转向＂的关系,指出了当今语言哲学的发展趋势是＂实践转向＂。该研究丰富了马克思主义哲学理论研究,拓展了马克思主义哲学理论的实践观,对于发展和建设马克思主义语言哲学理论具有一定意义。     

基于用户偏好的垂直搜索算法

提出并研究、实现了基于用户偏好的垂直搜索算法(PVSA)。以领域特征为基本出发点,PVSA借助领域主题偏好向量、领域元数据权重因子、检索名词差异化、行业词典库更新等4项策略,有效地挖掘、表征用户的领域个性化偏好,以此为基础构建基于用户偏好的垂直搜索算法。实验结果表明了PVSA算法的有效性和可行性。     

术语“AIDS(艾滋病)”全称应用考察

本文考察表明,部分汉语辞书未能规范应用AIDS全称。辞书确定术语规范形式应根据国家标准、政府的法规性规定、科技界的应用通例、权威或通行的汉语辞书的模式进行;语文辞书中的术语规范应用在词汇、概念、词条3个层面上分别要求。