Distinct Grammars and their Role in Interlanguage Development

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Aparecida de Araújo Oliveira

2016-07-01

Full Text Available The expression of temporality encompasses the concepts of tense and aspect, typically conveyed by lexical and inflectional morphemes that usually vary from language to language. This kind of cross-linguistic distinctions often affects L2 learning. In this paper I discuss the role of the Portuguese grammar in the acquisition of the English present perfect tense by eighteen Brazilian EFL learners. I compared patterns found in interlanguage data to L2 patterns, and, as expected, L1 phonology affected learners’ production of regular past tenses, especially in early interlanguage. As for form-function mappings, besides L2 patterns, learners created two major meaning categories of current relevance, based on persisting / non-persisting situations, which were systematically conveyed by forms that resembled their L1 grammar. Durative events and states (imperfective situations persisting into the present were expressed by present tenses, while all aspectual categories of concluded (perfective situations were encoded by past tenses. Specific adverbials were used in each category

Addressing grammar in the interaction task-based learning environment

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Davis Brent M.

2017-01-01

Full Text Available One of the major problems in language teaching is developing grammatical accuracy. This paper proposes that using error correction based on a functional grammar in a task-based learning approach may be a suitable solution. Towards this end an emic (using categories intrinsic to the language functional grammar of the verb phrase is proposed and a description of how this fits into the focus on form component of task-based learning is provided.

CHR grammars

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christiansen, Henning

2005-01-01

A grammar formalism based upon CHR is proposed analogously to the way Definite Clause Grammars are defined and implemented on top of Prolog. These grammars execute as robust bottom-up parsers with an inherent treatment of ambiguity and a high flexibility to model various linguistic phenomena....... The formalism extends previous logic programming based grammars with a form of context-sensitive rules and the possibility to include extra-grammatical hypotheses in both head and body of grammar rules. Among the applications are straightforward implementations of Assumption Grammars and abduction under...... integrity constraints for language analysis. CHR grammars appear as a powerful tool for specification and implementation of language processors and may be proposed as a new standard for bottom-up grammars in logic programming....

CHR Grammars

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christiansen, Henning

A grammar formalism based upon CHR is proposed analogously to the way Definite Clause Grammars are defined and implemented on top of Prolog. These grammars execute as robust bottom-up parsers with an inherent treatment of ambiguity and a high flexibility to model various linguistic phenomena....... The formalism extends previous logic programming based grammars with a form of context-sensitive rules and the possibility to include extra-grammatical hypotheses in both head and body of grammar rules. Among the applications are straightforward implementations of Assumption Grammars and abduction under...... integrity constraints for language analysis. CHR grammars appear as a powerful tool for specification and implementation of language processors and may be proposed as a new standard for bottom-up grammars in logic programming....

Grammar and Grammaring: Toward Modes for English Grammar Teaching in China

Science.gov (United States)

Nan, Chengyu

2015-01-01

The value of grammar instruction in foreign language learning and teaching has been a focus of debate for quite some time, which has resulted in different views on grammar and grammar teaching as well as different teaching approaches based on different perspectives or in different language learning contexts. To explore some modes for grammar…

A longitudinal study of lexical and grammar development in deaf Italian children provided with early cochlear implantation.

Science.gov (United States)

Chilosi, Anna Maria; Comparini, Alessandro; Scusa, Maria Flora; Orazini, Laura; Forli, Francesca; Cipriani, Paola; Berrettini, Stefano

2013-01-01

A growing number of studies on deaf children with cochlear implant (CI) document a significant improvement in receptive and expressive language skills after implantation, even if they show language delay when compared with normal-hearing peers. Data on language acquisition in CI Italian children are still scarce and limited to only certain aspects of language. The purpose of this study is to prospectively describe the trajectories of language development in early CI Italian children, with particular attention to the transition from first words to combinatorial speech and to acquisition of complex grammar in a language with rich morphology, such as Italian. Six children, with profound prelingual deafness, provided with CI, between 16 and 24 months of age were prospectively assessed and followed over a mean period of up to 34.8 months postimplant. During follow-up, each child received between four to five individual language evaluations through a combination of indirect procedures (parent reports of early lexical and grammar development) and direct ones (administration of standardized receptive and expressive language tests with Italian norms and collection of spontaneous language samples). In relation to chronological age, the acquisition of expressive vocabulary was delayed. However, considering the duration of hearing experience, most CI participants showed an earlier start and faster growth of expressive rather than receptive vocabulary in comparison with typically developing children. This quite atypical result persisted right up until the end of the follow-up. The acquisition of expressive grammar was delayed relative to chronological age, though all but one CI participant achieved the expected grammar level after approximately 3 years of CI use. In addition, the rate of grammar acquisition was not homogeneous during development, showing two different paces: one comparable with normal hearing in the transition from holophrastic to primitive combinatorial speech

Grammar and Context in Functional Discourse Grammar

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Hengeveld, K.; Mackenzie, J.L.

2014-01-01

This article presents a proposal for the organization of the Contextual Component in Functional Discourse Grammar. A guiding principle in this proposal is that, given the fact that Functional Discourse Grammar is a theory of grammar, the Contextual Component should provide the information that is

Grammar in 3D: on linguistic theory design

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Contreras García, L.

2013-01-01

Each model of grammar represents linguistic phenomena differently. The main architectural tenets of a grammatical framework determine whether it makes use of devices such as mismatches, empty categories or derivation. This study develops a metatheoretical methodology for the assessment of and

Teaching Grammar

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Crawford, William J.

2013-01-01

Grammar is a component in all language skills: reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Teachers need to know rules of grammar (teacher knowledge) as well as techniques that help students use grammar effectively and effortlessly (teaching knowledge). Using reflective practice to help teachers become comfortable with teaching grammar, this…

LL-regular grammars

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Nijholt, Antinus

1980-01-01

Culik II and Cogen introduced the class of LR-regular grammars, an extension of the LR(k) grammars. In this paper we consider an analogous extension of the LL(k) grammars called the LL-regular grammars. The relation of this class of grammars to other classes of grammars will be shown. Any LL-regular

Distributional learning aids linguistic category formation in school-age children.

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Hall, Jessica; Owen VAN Horne, Amanda; Farmer, Thomas

2018-05-01

The goal of this study was to determine if typically developing children could form grammatical categories from distributional information alone. Twenty-seven children aged six to nine listened to an artificial grammar which contained strategic gaps in its distribution. At test, we compared how children rated novel sentences that fit the grammar to sentences that were ungrammatical. Sentences could be distinguished only through the formation of categories of words with shared distributional properties. Children's ratings revealed that they could discriminate grammatical and ungrammatical sentences. These data lend support to the hypothesis that distributional learning is a potential mechanism for learning grammatical categories in a first language.

Automating 3D reconstruction using a probabilistic grammar

Science.gov (United States)

Xiong, Hanwei; Xu, Jun; Xu, Chenxi; Pan, Ming

2015-10-01

3D reconstruction of objects from point clouds with a laser scanner is still a laborious task in many applications. Automating 3D process is an ongoing research topic and suffers from the complex structure of the data. The main difficulty is due to lack of knowledge of real world objects structure. In this paper, we accumulate such structure knowledge by a probabilistic grammar learned from examples in the same category. The rules of the grammar capture compositional structures at different levels, and a feature dependent probability function is attached for every rule. The learned grammar can be used to parse new 3D point clouds, organize segment patches in a hierarchal way, and assign them meaningful labels. The parsed semantics can be used to guide the reconstruction algorithms automatically. Some examples are given to explain the method.

Forest Grammar(Ⅰ)

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张松懋

1994-01-01

Forest grammar,a new type of high-dimensional grammar,is proposed in this paper,of which both the left and the right parts of every production are concatenations of tree structures.A classification of forest grammar is studied,especially,a subclass of the forest grammar,i.e.the context-sensitive forest grammar,and one of its subclasses is defined,called the weak precedence forest grammar.

Grammar-translation and CLT in L2 Grammar Teaching

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缪杉莎

2013-01-01

This paper puts forward to compare teaching method between grammar-translation and CLT in grammar teaching. Gram⁃mar leaning is a basic concept in English learning as grammar is an important element in a communicative approach to language. This paper discussed CLT method can help and encourage student to study, however, grammar-translation method is able to under⁃stand.

Logical Entity Level Sentiment Analysis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Petersen, Niklas Christoffer; Villadsen, Jørgen

2017-01-01

We present a formal logical approach using a combinatory categorial grammar for entity level sentiment analysis that utilizes machine learning techniques for efficient syntactical tagging and performs a deep structural analysis of the syntactical properties of texts in order to yield precise resu...

COGNITIVE-COMMUNICATIVE PERSONALITY CATEGORY IN THE KAZAKH LANGUAGE

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Orynay Sagingalievna Zhubaeva

2018-02-01

Full Text Available The purpose of the research is to reveal the character of anthropocentricity of grammatical categories in their meaning and functioning. Materials and methods. According to the research objectives and goals, the methods used were as follows: the descriptive method, general scientific methods of analysis and synthesis, cognitive analysis, method of experiment, contextual analysis, structural-semantic analysis, transformation technique, comparative analysis. Results. For the first time in the Kazakh linguistics the substantial aspect of grammatical categories is characterized being a result of both conceptualization and categorization processes. Based on generalization and the comparative analysis of nature and forms of the human factor reflection in the Kazakh grammatical categories there has been revealed the national-cultural specific character of grammatical categories. Practical implications. The research materials can be used in theoretical courses onf grammar and linguistics, as well as in the development of special courses on cognitive linguistics, cognitive grammar, etc.

Functional and cognitive grammars

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Anna Siewierska

2011-01-01

This paper presents a comprehensive review of the functional approach and cognitive approach to the nature of language and its relation to other aspects of human cognition. The paper starts with a brief discussion of the origins and the core tenets of the two approaches in Section 1. Section 2 discusses the similarities and differences between the three full-fledged structural functional grammars subsumed in the functional approach： Halliday＇s Systemic Functional Grammar （SFG）, Dik＇s Functional Grammar （FG）, and Van Valin＇s Role and Reference Grammar （RRG）. Section 3 deals with the major features of the three cognitive frameworks： Langacker＇s Cognitive Grammar （CG）, Goldberg＇s Cognitive Construction Grammar （CCG）, and Croft＇s Radical Construction Grammar （RCG）. Section 4 compares the two approaches and attempts to provide a unified functional-cognitive grammar. In the last section, the author concludes the paper with remarks on the unidirectional shift from functional grammar to cognitive grammar that may indicate a reinterpretation of the traditional relationship between functional and cognitive models of grammar.

Strong systematicity through sensorimotor conceptual grounding: an unsupervised, developmental approach to connectionist sentence processing

Science.gov (United States)

Jansen, Peter A.; Watter, Scott

2012-03-01

Connectionist language modelling typically has difficulty with syntactic systematicity, or the ability to generalise language learning to untrained sentences. This work develops an unsupervised connectionist model of infant grammar learning. Following the semantic boostrapping hypothesis, the network distils word category using a developmentally plausible infant-scale database of grounded sensorimotor conceptual representations, as well as a biologically plausible semantic co-occurrence activation function. The network then uses this knowledge to acquire an early benchmark clausal grammar using correlational learning, and further acquires separate conceptual and grammatical category representations. The network displays strongly systematic behaviour indicative of the general acquisition of the combinatorial systematicity present in the grounded infant-scale language stream, outperforms previous contemporary models that contain primarily noun and verb word categories, and successfully generalises broadly to novel untrained sensorimotor grounded sentences composed of unfamiliar nouns and verbs. Limitations as well as implications to later grammar learning are discussed.

Essential French grammar

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Thacker, Mike

2014-01-01

Essential French Grammar is an innovative reference grammar and workbook for intermediate and advanced undergraduate students of French (CEFR levels B2 to C1). Its clear explanations of grammar are supported by contemporary examples and lively cartoon drawings.  Each chapter contains: * real-life language examples in French, with English translations * a 'key points' box and tables that summarise grammar concepts * a variety of exercises to reinforce learning * a contemporary primary source or literary extract to illustrate grammar in context. To aid your understanding, this book also contains a glossary of grammatical terms in French and English, useful verb tables and a key to the exercises. Together, these features all help you to grasp complex points of grammar and develop your French language skills.

Vector grammars and PN machines

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蒋昌俊

1996-01-01

The concept of vector grammars under the string semantic is introduced.The dass of vector grammars is given,which is similar to the dass of Chomsky grammars.The regular vector grammar is divided further.The strong and weak relation between the vector grammar and scalar grammar is discussed,so the spectrum system graph of scalar and vector grammars is made.The equivalent relation between the regular vector grammar and Petri nets (also called PN machine) is pointed.The hybrid PN machine is introduced,and its language is proved equivalent to the language of the context-free vector grammar.So the perfect relation structure between vector grammars and PN machines is formed.

The Nature of Grammar

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王楠

2012-01-01

This paper describes the nature of grammar as "universalness". The universal grammar indicates that all the languages in the world have identical grammar. This is discussed from three aspects, which gives insight into grammar acquisition.

Presenting New Grammar

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

WU Cai-ling; WANG Xi

2015-01-01

More and more researchers have now agreed upon the necessity of teaching grammar, but it still remains controversial as how to teach the forms, with the central consideration of not to harm the meaning-focused communicative teaching method. In this essay, one of the issues in grammar teaching will be discussed as how to present new grammar to learners, through evaluating and modifying a particular presentation activity in a grammar-teaching textbook.

Grammar! A Conference Report.

Science.gov (United States)

King, Lid, Ed.; Boaks, Peter, Ed.

Papers from a conference on the teaching of grammar, particularly in second language instruction, include: "Grammar: Acquisition and Use" (Richard Johnstone); "Grammar and Communication" (Brian Page); "Linguistic Progression and Increasing Independence" (Bernardette Holmes); "La grammaire? C'est du bricolage!" ("Grammar? That's Hardware!") (Barry…

Understanding the Models of Grammar

OpenAIRE

Mahaputri, Ratna Andhika

2013-01-01

This article provides comprehensive explanation about several models of grammar. The first model of grammar which is explained is considered from the functional grammar and associated with the American linguist Noam Chomsky that is Transformational Grammar. This model of grammar is consisted of three components they are phrase structure rule, the lexicon, and transformation. The second model of grammar which is explained in this article is Minimalist Grammar. This article also compares her...

Compiler generation based on grammar inheritance

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Aksit, Mehmet; Mostert, Rene; Haverkort, Boudewijn R.H.M.

1990-01-01

The concept of grammar inheritance is introduced. Grammar inheritance is a structural organization of grammar rules by which a grammar inherits rules from ancestor grammars or may have its own rules inherited by descendant grammars. Grammar inheritance supports reusability and extensibility of

Group Grammar

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Adams, Karen

2015-01-01

In this article Karen Adams demonstrates how to incorporate group grammar techniques into a classroom activity. In the activity, students practice using the target grammar to do something they naturally enjoy: learning about each other.

Closure properties of Watson-Crick grammars

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Zulkufli, Nurul Liyana binti Mohamad; Turaev, Sherzod; Tamrin, Mohd Izzuddin Mohd; Azeddine, Messikh

2015-12-01

In this paper, we define Watson-Crick context-free grammars, as an extension of Watson-Crick regular grammars and Watson-Crick linear grammars with context-free grammar rules. We show the relation of Watson-Crick (regular and linear) grammars to the sticker systems, and study some of the important closure properties of the Watson-Crick grammars. We establish that the Watson-Crick regular grammars are closed under almost all of the main closure operations, while the differences between other Watson-Crick grammars with their corresponding Chomsky grammars depend on the computational power of the Watson-Crick grammars which still need to be studied.

Learn Grammar in Games

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孟静

2007-01-01

Grammar learning has often been regarded as a structure based activity .Grammar games which are worth paying attention to and implementing in the classroom can help learner to learn and recall a grammar material in a pleasant, entertaining way and motivate learners,promote the communicative competence and generate the fluency. In this essay, the author compares the use of games in learning grammar with some traditional techniques for grammar presentation and revision, in order to find the advantages of using games. Also the author discusses how to choose appropriate games and when to use games.

Subverting the grammar

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bárbara Amaral da Silva

2015-03-01

Full Text Available From the notion of parody, credibility and legitimacy, coming mainly from studies in discourse analysis, and ideas from the sociolinguistic we intend to develop a brief comparison between the Expositive Grammar – Advanced Course (46st ed.:1926 of Eduardo Carlos Pereira, who initially presents itself as a merely descriptive grammar, and the Portuguese Grammar by the Confused Method, written by Mendes Fradique (4st ed.: 1985. We observed that the first one claims to be “expositive” when it is cle­arly prescriptive. The work of Mendes Fradique uses humor and irony to parody pres­criptive grammars, criticizing the “good use”. In order to prove the above statement, we selected some of the concepts presented by those works, checking the position taken by each one. Among them is the very concept of grammar, language etc.

A Brief Survey of Grammar

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

陈福生

1984-01-01

@@ There are two kinds of grammar, prescriptive grammar and descriptive grammar. The prescriptive grammar gives orders how a language ought to be used rather than simply describing how it is used.This type of grammar lays down a lot of rules for the student to follow but the gifted philologist Edward Sapir points out that all grammatical rules leak. This type of grammar also warns the student against what are called ‘Shall-nots', but these ‘Shall-nots' are more likely to cause the student muchconcern rather than helping him to exprese his ideas in English. On the contrary, the descriptive grammar just describes how a language is used.

How to Do Things with Grammar: Rhetorical Function of Some Grammatical Categories in English

Science.gov (United States)

Pizziconi, Sergio

2012-01-01

The debate on the role of grammar training in the language curriculum has shown that, at least in the last five decades, a part of the disagreement between the supporters of the opposite camps is based on conflicting assumptions about the meaning and sense of some of the terms of the discussion. Three of them will be considered in this…

Teaching Grammar

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Michael Swan

2008-01-01

@@ The trouble with teaching grammar is that we are never quite sure whether it works or not:its effects are uncertain and hard to assess.Michael Swan looks at grammar teaching and the carry-over to spontaneous production by students.

Grammar

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

JeanetteDeCarrico; DianeLarsen-Freeman

2004-01-01

When it comes to definitions of grammar,confusion abounds.One problem is that the word grammar means different things to different people.For many,the term sugges tsa list of do's and don't's,rules that tell us we should say It is I,not It is me,that we should not say ain't,or that weshould avoid ending a sentence with a preposition.For oth

SERIOUS GRAMMAR CAN BE FUN

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

1996-01-01

IntroductionToday many Chinese students think of English grammar as an unpopular and difficult part of theirEnglish lessons Even more worryingly,that attitude is one they have usually picked up from theirteachers.Namely,grammar seems to be hard work for EFL teachers and students.So should grammarteaching be abolishedWhy do many teachers and students take a negative attitude toward grammarInthis paper,first,I will attempt to discuss the place of grammar in EFL teaching.Next,I will outline thetraditional methods of grammar teaching and the results of this kind of grammar teaching.Finally,I willput forward some suggestions on how to make grammar teaching more interesting in Chinese classrooms.

Combinatorial chemistry

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, John

1994-01-01

An overview of combinatorial chemistry is presented. Combinatorial chemistry, sometimes referred to as `irrational drug design,' involves the generation of molecular diversity. The resulting chemical library is then screened for biologically active compounds.......An overview of combinatorial chemistry is presented. Combinatorial chemistry, sometimes referred to as `irrational drug design,' involves the generation of molecular diversity. The resulting chemical library is then screened for biologically active compounds....

Effect of X-Word Grammar and Traditional Grammar Instruction on Grammatical Accuracy

Science.gov (United States)

Livingston, Sue; Toce, Andi; Casey, Toce; Montoya, Fernando; Hart, Bonny R.; O'Flaherty, Carmela

2018-01-01

This study first briefly describes an instructional approach to teaching grammar known as X-Word Grammar and then compares its effectiveness in assisting students in achieving grammatical accuracy with traditionally taught grammar. Two groups of L2 pre-college students were taught using curricula and practice procedures in two different grammar…

Grammar

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

JeanetteDecarrico; DianeLarsen-Freeman

2004-01-01

Previous sections have reviewed issues in describing grammar, issues that were mainly concerned with what to describe, how to describe it and how to account for differing approaches and their implications in terms of theory and pedagogy in applied linguistics. But however precise and thorough researchers may attempt to be in addressing these issues, there are certain limitations to descriptions of grammar given in isolation from all other parts of the language system

Spoken Grammar for Chinese Learners

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

徐晓敏

2013-01-01

Currently, the concept of spoken grammar has been mentioned among Chinese teachers. However, teach-ers in China still have a vague idea of spoken grammar. Therefore this dissertation examines what spoken grammar is and argues that native speakers’ model of spoken grammar needs to be highlighted in the classroom teaching.

Information packaging in Functional Discourse Grammar

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Niels Smit

2007-07-01

Full Text Available

The paper addresses the modelling of information packaging in Functional Discourse Grammar (FDG, in particular the treatment of Topic, Comment and Focus. Current FDG has inherited the traditional Functional Grammar (FG representation of these categories as functions, which attach to Subacts of evocation. However, arguments of a formal, notional and descriptive nature can be advanced against pragmatic function assignment and in favour of an alternative analysis in which informational and evocational structures are dissociated so as to command their own primitives. In the context of a model of discourse knowledge organisation in which communicated contents are associated with packaging instructions that tell the Addressee how to treat the evoked knowledge, it is argued that focality can be modelled by means of a Focus operator that can attach to various constituents at the Interpersonal Level. Topicality, on the other hand, concerns binomial and monomial modes of presenting communicated contents. This can be rendered by means of the dedicated informational units Topic (Top and Comment (Cm, that interact in frames.

Phonology without universal grammar.

Science.gov (United States)

Archangeli, Diana; Pulleyblank, Douglas

2015-01-01

The question of identifying the properties of language that are specific human linguistic abilities, i.e., Universal Grammar, lies at the center of linguistic research. This paper argues for a largely Emergent Grammar in phonology, taking as the starting point that memory, categorization, attention to frequency, and the creation of symbolic systems are all nonlinguistic characteristics of the human mind. The articulation patterns of American English rhotics illustrate categorization and systems; the distribution of vowels in Bantu vowel harmony uses frequencies of particular sequences to argue against Universal Grammar and in favor of Emergent Grammar; prefix allomorphy in Esimbi illustrates the Emergent symbolic system integrating phonological and morphological generalizations. The Esimbi case has been treated as an example of phonological opacity in a Universal Grammar account; the Emergent analysis resolves the pattern without opacity concerns.

k-visit Attribute Grammars

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielson, Hanne Riis; Skyum, S.

1981-01-01

It is shown that any well-defined attribute grammar is k-visit for some k. Furthermore, it is shown that given a well-defined grammar G and an integer k, it is decidable whether G is k-visit. Finally it is shown that the k-visit grammars specify a proper hierarchy with respect to translations...

Explicit teaching of grammar and improvement in the grammar of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Explicit teaching of grammar and improvement in the grammar of student writing. J Parkinson. Abstract. No Abstract. Full Text: EMAIL FREE FULL TEXT EMAIL FREE FULL TEXT · DOWNLOAD FULL TEXT DOWNLOAD FULL TEXT. Article Metrics. Metrics Loading ... Metrics powered by PLOS ALM

Strictness Analysis for Attribute Grammars

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rosendahl, Mads

1992-01-01

interpretation of attribute grammars. The framework is used to construct a strictness analysis for attribute grammars. Results of the analysis enable us to transform an attribute grammar such that attributes are evaluated during parsing, if possible. The analysis is proved correct by relating it to a fixpoint...... semantics for attribute grammars. An implementation of the analysis is discussed and some extensions to the analysis are mentioned....

French grammar in context

CERN Document Server

Jubb, Margaret

2013-01-01

Instructors' edition without answer keysDiscount of 20% offered when 10 ebooks are sold- e.g. they will be sold for 263.60/ £151.90 instead of 329.50/£189.90French Grammar in Context presents a unique and exciting approach to learning grammar. Authentic texts from a rich variety of sources, literary and journalistic, are used as the starting point for the illustration and explanation of key areas of French grammar. Each point is consolidated with a wide range of written and spoken exercises. Grammar is presented not as an end in itself, but as a

Forest Grammar (Ⅱ)

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

张松懋

1994-01-01

The syntactic parsing algorithm of weak precedence forest grammar has been introduced and the correctness and unambiguity of this algorithm have been proved. An example is given to the syntactic parsing procedure of weak precedence forest grammar.

Analyzing Ambiguity of Context-Free Grammars

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brabrand, Claus; Giegerich, Robert; Møller, Anders

2007-01-01

It has been known since 1962 that the ambiguity problem for context-free grammars is undecidable. Ambiguity in context-free grammars is a recurring problem in language design and parser generation, as well as in applications where grammars are used as models of real-world physical structures. We...... observe that there is a simple linguistic characterization of the grammar ambiguity problem, and we show how to exploit this to conservatively approximate the problem based on local regular approximations and grammar unfoldings. As an application, we consider grammars that occur in RNA analysis...

Importance of Grammar in English Teaching

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赵天毓

2011-01-01

Grammar teaching is one of the most difficult and important points in the middle school. However, there exist some problems with present grammar teaching, such as students＇ poor knowledge of grammar, improper teaching methods and the ignorance of grammar

TEACHING GRAMMAR IN CONTEXT: WHY AND HOW?

OpenAIRE

Noor Maulidiyah

2017-01-01

Grammar is an important component of English. Without grammar, it is not possible to communicate meaning successfully. Therefore, teachers and educators have to pay close attention to teaching grammar effectively. Based on the writer‘s experience in teaching grammar using the traditional way, many students still had difficulty in acquiring the grammar points. The grammar meetings were not effective, and the students did not thoroughly understand the grammar exercises. The students seemed bore...

Generic Graph Grammar: A Simple Grammar for Generic Procedural Modelling

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christiansen, Asger Nyman; Bærentzen, Jakob Andreas

2012-01-01

in a directed cyclic graph. Furthermore, the basic productions are chosen such that Generic Graph Grammar seamlessly combines the capabilities of L-systems to imitate biological growth (to model trees, animals, etc.) and those of split grammars to design structured objects (chairs, houses, etc.). This results...

On Construction Grammar

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XIAO Kunxue

2005-01-01

Constructionist approach with its brand-new perspective has begun to demonstrate its dynamic power. This paper attempts to review the basic ideas, achievements and comparison with generative grammar of Construction Grammar and generalize some problems and future research prospects.

How to Learn English Grammar?

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

肖琳燃

2017-01-01

Grammar is an aspect of language about which learners have different opinions. Some learners are very interested in ifnding out or learning grammar rules and doing lots of grammar exercises. Others hate grammar and think it is the most boring part of learning a new language. Whatever opinion you have, however, you cannot escape from grammar; it is in every sentence you read or write, speak or hear. Grammar is simply the word for the rules that people follow when they use a language. We need those rules in the same way as we need the rules in a game. If there are no rules, or if everybody follows their own rules, the game would soon break down. It's the same with language; without rules we would not be able to communicate with other people. So you cannot escape from grammar, but the key question here is: what is the best way to learn grammar? You can learn the rules of a game by simply playing the game. You will certainly make mistakes; you may even get hurt. Eventually, however, you will know how to play. Of course, the rules of a language are very much more complicated than the rules of any game, but in fact this is exactly how you learned your own language. Nobody taught you the rules of your mother tongue as you were growing up but now you never make a grammar mistake.

A Task-driven Grammar Refactoring Algorithm

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Ivan Halupka

2012-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents our proposal and the implementation of an algorithm for automated refactoring of context-free grammars. Rather than operating under some domain-specific task, in our approach refactoring is perfomed on the basis of a refactoring task defined by its user. The algorithm and the corresponding refactoring system are called mARTINICA. mARTINICA is able to refactor grammars of arbitrary size and structural complexity. However, the computation time needed to perform a refactoring task with the desired outcome is highly dependent on the size of the grammar. Until now, we have successfully performed refactoring tasks on small and medium-size grammars of Pascal-like languages and parts of the Algol-60 programming language grammar. This paper also briefly introduces the reader to processes occurring in grammar refactoring, a method for describing desired properties that a refactored grammar should fulfill, and there is a discussion of the overall significance of grammar refactoring.

Grammar Games: A Case for Instructionist Game Models to Enhance Grammar Awareness and Accuracy

Science.gov (United States)

Raftery, Brian; Santos, Jennifer

2015-01-01

Based on our own experiences teaching grammar in developmental writing classes and classes not dedicated to writing instruction, along with a history of scholarship that indicates a need for grammar pedagogies (e.g., Dougherty, 2012), instructor-designed grammar games can likely help facilitate learning about these mechanics of writing while…

The Teaching of English Grammar

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

祖凤霞

2009-01-01

Acquiring the grammar system is vital in the foreign language learning, and there has always been the debate on how learners can best acquire the English grammar. Inthis paper, two methods for teaching grammar will be presented--traditional practice and consciousness-raising. Both thetwo methods have their ad-vantages and disadvantages. But in practice, it is a better idea to combine different methods to make grammar teaching more effective. In addition, the consideration of different individual learners is also very important.

Classroom Grammar Teaching for Adult Learners

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

石怡

2014-01-01

As Wight (1999, p.33) pointed out to“know a language was to know the grammar of it”, hence grammar teaching is usually the main approach in second or foreign language teaching. This paper presents an analysis from three aspects to il-lustrate why classroom grammar teaching benefits adult learners. However, if grammar is overstated, some negative results will occur. Therefore a balance between grammar teaching and communicative skill teaching is need, as is a balance between accuracy and fluency.

Procedure Of Teaching Grammar Using Memory Enhancement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Herri Susanto

2011-11-01

Full Text Available Teaching grammar has been regarded as a process of understanding from the context. It means a teacher teaches the pupils contextually more than just the rules. However, I have my own experience that teaching grammar methods must depend on the purposes of learning grammar. Some people learn grammar as a means to fulfill the syllabus needs for schools but other people learn grammar for special purposes out of school syllabus, such as for entrance test. For these reasons, the methods of teaching grammar should be different. The students who learn grammar based on the school syllabus probably needs longer procedure of learning that usually uses contextual teaching through listening, speaking, writing, and reading. Nevertheless, students who learn grammar for test need shorter procedure of learning such as memorizing. Therefore, I propose giving a workshop of teaching grammar using memory enhancement as another alternative teaching grammar method. This workshop would show the class that grammar can be learnt through memory enhancement process, i.e.; mind map, music, memory technique and drill to boost up students understanding for test preparation.

Teaching Grammar and Testing Grammar in the English Primary School: The Impact on Teachers and Their Teaching of the Grammar Element of the Statutory Test in Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar (SPaG)

Science.gov (United States)

Safford, Kimberly

2016-01-01

The research examined the impact on teachers of the grammar element of a new statutory test in Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar (SPaG) in primary schools in England. The research aimed to evaluate the nature and the extent of changes to the teaching of grammar and to wider literacy teaching since the introduction of the test in 2013. The research…

Regular extensions of some classes of grammars

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nijholt, Antinus

Culik and Cohen introduced the class of LR-regular grammars, an extension of the LR(k) grammars. In this report we consider the analogous extension of the LL(k) grammers, called the LL-regular grammars. The relations of this class of grammars to other classes of grammars are shown. Every LL-regular

The Necessity of Grammar Teaching

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Fengjuan

2010-01-01

Mastering grammar is the foundation in the proficiency of a language. Grammar teaching is also an essential part of language teaching. However, with the communicative approach was introduced into China, many foreign language teachers gradually make little of grammar teaching. In terms of the theory of linguistics, this paper specifically explores…

A communicative grammar of English

CERN Document Server

Leech, Geoffrey

2013-01-01

A Communicative Grammar of English has long been established as a grammar innovative in approach, reliable in coverage, and clear in its explanations. This fully revised and redesigned third edition provides up-to-date and accessible help to teachers, advanced learners and undergraduate students of English. Part One looks at the way English grammar varies in different types of English, such as 'formal' and 'informal', 'spoken' and 'written'; Part Two focuses on the uses of grammar rather than on grammatical structure and Part Three provides a handy alphabetically arranged guide to

Structural priming, action planning, and grammar.

Science.gov (United States)

MacDonald, Maryellen C; Weiss, Daniel J

2017-01-01

Structural priming is poorly understood and cannot inform accounts of grammar for two reasons. First, those who view performance as grammar + processing will always be able to attribute psycholinguistic data to processing rather than grammar. Second, structural priming may be simply an example of hysteresis effects in general action planning. If so, then priming offers no special insight into grammar.

Applications of combinatorial optimization

CERN Document Server

Paschos, Vangelis Th

2013-01-01

Combinatorial optimization is a multidisciplinary scientific area, lying in the interface of three major scientific domains: mathematics, theoretical computer science and management. The three volumes of the Combinatorial Optimization series aims to cover a wide range of topics in this area. These topics also deal with fundamental notions and approaches as with several classical applications of combinatorial optimization. "Applications of Combinatorial Optimization" is presenting a certain number among the most common and well-known applications of Combinatorial Optimization.

TEACHING GRAMMAR IN CONTEXT: WHY AND HOW?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Noor Maulidiyah

2017-04-01

Then the paper explains the concept of context in teaching grammar and describes the reasons for teaching grammar in context. The last part of the paper demonstrates how grammar is taught in context. These sample lessons are taken from different sources based on experts when teaching grammar in context.Teaching grammar in context is more useful and can help the students to master English better.

Concepts of combinatorial optimization

CERN Document Server

Paschos, Vangelis Th

2014-01-01

Combinatorial optimization is a multidisciplinary scientific area, lying in the interface of three major scientific domains: mathematics, theoretical computer science and management.  The three volumes of the Combinatorial Optimization series aim to cover a wide range  of topics in this area. These topics also deal with fundamental notions and approaches as with several classical applications of combinatorial optimization.Concepts of Combinatorial Optimization, is divided into three parts:- On the complexity of combinatorial optimization problems, presenting basics about worst-case and randomi

Effect of the Implicit Combinatorial Model on Combinatorial Reasoning in Secondary School Pupils.

Science.gov (United States)

Batanero, Carmen; And Others

1997-01-01

Elementary combinatorial problems may be classified into three different combinatorial models: (1) selection; (2) partition; and (3) distribution. The main goal of this research was to determine the effect of the implicit combinatorial model on pupils' combinatorial reasoning before and after instruction. Gives an analysis of variance of the…

Style representation in design grammars

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ahmad, Sumbul; Chase, Scott Curland

2012-01-01

The concept of style is relevant for both the analysis and synthesis of designs. New styles are often formed by the adaptation of previous ones based on changes in design criteria and context. A formal characterization of style is given by shape grammars, which describe the compositional rules...... underlying a set of designs. Stylistic change can be modelled by grammar transformations, which allow the transformation of the structure and vocabulary of a grammar that is used to describe a particular style. In order for grammars to be useful beyond a single application, they should have the capability...... to be transformed according to changing design style needs. Issues of formalizing stylistic change necessitate a lucid and formal definition of style in the design language generated by a grammar. Furthermore, a significant aspect of the definition of style is the representation of aesthetic qualities attributed...

A Case for Explicit Grammar Instruction in English as Second/Foreign Language Classrooms

Science.gov (United States)

Williams, Kent

2013-01-01

This paper will provide a review of research--regarding explicit grammar instruction--that groups recent studies into three main categories and then sub-categorizes these studies under key terms in second language acquisition (SLA) research. The overall purpose of this paper is to argue that in light of these issues, recent studies have shown that…

French grammar for dummies

CERN Document Server

Mazet, Veronique

2013-01-01

The easy way to master French grammar French Grammar For Dummies is a logical extension and complement to the successful language learning book, French For Dummies. In plain English, it teaches you the grammatical rules of the French language, including parts of speech, sentence construction, pronouns, adjectives, punctuation, stress and verb tenses, and moods. Throughout the book, you get plenty of practice opportunities to help you on your goal of mastering basic French grammar and usage. Grasp the grammatical rules of French including parts of speech, sentenc

The History of Modern Chinese Grammar Studies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Peverelli, P.J.

2015-01-01

This book discusses the way Chinese scholars developed a national grammar. Chinese didnt develop grammar until Chinas contact with Western grammar books in the 19th Century. The first indigenous grammar was published in 1889. It included some traditional notions, but mainly imitated European

A Learning Algorithm for Multimodal Grammar Inference.

Science.gov (United States)

D'Ulizia, A; Ferri, F; Grifoni, P

2011-12-01

The high costs of development and maintenance of multimodal grammars in integrating and understanding input in multimodal interfaces lead to the investigation of novel algorithmic solutions in automating grammar generation and in updating processes. Many algorithms for context-free grammar inference have been developed in the natural language processing literature. An extension of these algorithms toward the inference of multimodal grammars is necessary for multimodal input processing. In this paper, we propose a novel grammar inference mechanism that allows us to learn a multimodal grammar from its positive samples of multimodal sentences. The algorithm first generates the multimodal grammar that is able to parse the positive samples of sentences and, afterward, makes use of two learning operators and the minimum description length metrics in improving the grammar description and in avoiding the over-generalization problem. The experimental results highlight the acceptable performances of the algorithm proposed in this paper since it has a very high probability of parsing valid sentences.

Ambiguity Detection Methods for Context-Free Grammars

NARCIS (Netherlands)

H.J.S. Basten (Bas)

2007-01-01

textabstractThe Meta-Environment enables the creation of grammars using the SDF formalism. From these grammars an SGLR parser can be generated. One of the advantages of these parsers is that they can handle the entire class of context-free grammars (CFGs). The grammar developer does not have to

Machine Translation Using Constraint-Based Synchronous Grammar

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

WONG Fai; DONG Mingchui; HU Dongcheng

2006-01-01

A synchronous grammar based on the formalism of context-free grammar was developed by generalizing the first component of production that models the source text. Unlike other synchronous grammars,the grammar allows multiple target productions to be associated to a single production rule which can be used to guide a parser to infer different possible translational equivalences for a recognized input string according to the feature constraints of symbols in the pattern. An extended generalized LR algorithm was adapted to the parsing of the proposed formalism to analyze the syntactic structure of a language. The grammar was used as the basis for building a machine translation system for Portuguese to Chinese translation. The empirical results show that the grammar is more expressive when modeling the translational equivalences of parallel texts for machine translation and grammar rewriting applications.

Snowball Throwing in Teaching Grammar

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yanuarti Apsari

2018-05-01

Full Text Available The aims of this study are to describe the implementation of snowball throwing in teaching grammar and to investigate the benefits of applying snowball throwing. The research was conducted at STKIP Siliwangi Bandung. This study applied qualitative research involving one class consisting of second semester students in English Department who were taking the subject of foundation of English Grammar. The data were obtained from classroom observation and students’ interview. The findings showed that there are seven stages in implementing snowball throwing in teaching grammar. The stages consist of preparing teaching material, forming group, re-explaining the material to the member of the group, formulating question, tossing the ball, answering questions and evaluating teaching and learning process. In addition, the findings also revealed that there are some benefits from applying snowball throwing in teaching grammar such as improving students’ comprehension in learning grammar, creating enjoyable learning atmosphere, increasing students’ vocabulary, developing students’ speaking skill, developing students’ cooperation skill and increasing students’ participation in the class.

Researches on Problems in College Students'Grammar Learning and Countermeasures%Researches on Problems in College Students' Grammar Learning and Countermeasures

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

廖芳

2016-01-01

Grammar is the guiding rules of language, and a good mastery of grammar is the basis of English learning. This paper starts from the problems in college students' current grammar learning and put forwards some strategies to improve their English grammar.

Grammar and Teaching ESL

Science.gov (United States)

Morrissey, Glenda; Young, Barbara N.

2005-01-01

The variety of theories relating to teaching ESL learners leads to contradictory ideas about teaching a second language. This paper focuses on the continuing importance of grammar in teaching and the current resurgence in interest in returning to grammar as an important component in the classroom.

REFLECTIONS ON GRAMMAR TEACHING

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

2000-01-01

This article aims to answer three questions:(1)Why there exists a discrepancy between the learner’sgrammar knowledge and their communicative skills?(2)What problems are there with grammar tests andteaching?(3)How should grammar be taught as"away of talking"rather than"a description of rules"?

GRAMMAR IN LANGUAGE TEACHING

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Jiang Nongxin

2003-01-01

@@ 1 Definition of grammar Grammar is the science dealing with the systematic rules of a language, its forms, inflections, syntax, and the art of using them correctly. It is summarized from language use and practice, and reflects the logic of thinking in people's speech or writing.

HIGHER ORDER THINKING IN TEACHING GRAMMAR

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Citra Dewi

2017-04-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper discussed about how to enhance students’ higher order thinking that should be done by teacher in teaching grammar. Usually teaching grammar was boring and has the same way to learn like change the pattern of sentence into positive, negative and introgative while the students’ need more various way to develop their thinking. The outcome of students’ competence in grammar sometimes not sufficient enough when the students’ occured some test international standart like Test of English Foreign Language, International English Language Testing. Whereas in TOEFL test it needed higher order thinking answer, so teacher should develop students’ higher order thingking in daily teaching grammar in order to make the students’ enhance their thinking are higher. The method was used in this paper by using field study based on the experience of teaching grammar. It can be shown by students’ toefl score was less in stucture and written expression. The result of this paper was after teacher gave some treatments to enhance students’ higher order thinking in teaching grammar, the students’ toefl scores are sufficient enough as a part of stucture and written expression. It can concluded that it needed some strategies to enhancce students higher order thinking by teaching grammar it can make students’ higher toefl score. Teachers should be creative and inovative to teach the students’ started from giving the students’ question or test in teaching grammar.

Visual artificial grammar learning by rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta): exploring the role of grammar complexity and sequence length.

Science.gov (United States)

Heimbauer, Lisa A; Conway, Christopher M; Christiansen, Morten H; Beran, Michael J; Owren, Michael J

2018-03-01

Humans and nonhuman primates can learn about the organization of stimuli in the environment using implicit sequential pattern learning capabilities. However, most previous artificial grammar learning studies with nonhuman primates have involved relatively simple grammars and short input sequences. The goal in the current experiments was to assess the learning capabilities of monkeys on an artificial grammar-learning task that was more complex than most others previously used with nonhumans. Three experiments were conducted using a joystick-based, symmetrical-response serial reaction time task in which two monkeys were exposed to grammar-generated sequences at sequence lengths of four in Experiment 1, six in Experiment 2, and eight in Experiment 3. Over time, the monkeys came to respond faster to the sequences generated from the artificial grammar compared to random versions. In a subsequent generalization phase, subjects generalized their knowledge to novel sequences, responding significantly faster to novel instances of sequences produced using the familiar grammar compared to those constructed using an unfamiliar grammar. These results reveal that rhesus monkeys can learn and generalize the statistical structure inherent in an artificial grammar that is as complex as some used with humans, for sequences up to eight items long. These findings are discussed in relation to whether or not rhesus macaques and other primate species possess implicit sequence learning abilities that are similar to those that humans draw upon to learn natural language grammar.

Analyzing Ambiguity of Context-Free Grammars

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brabrand, Claus; Giegerich, Robert; Møller, Anders

2010-01-01

It has been known since 1962 that the ambiguity problem for context-free grammars is undecidable. Ambiguity in context-free grammars is a recurring problem in language design and parser generation, as well as in applications where grammars are used as models of real-world physical structures. We...... observe that there is a simple linguistic characterization of the grammar ambiguity problem, and we show how to exploit this by presenting an ambiguity analysis framework based on conservative language approximations. As a concrete example, we propose a technique based on local regular approximations...

Grammar Teaching in Chinese Tertiary Education

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

LAN Hui-hui

2016-01-01

Grammar teaching, as one essential aspect of English language teaching (ELT), has been and continues to be an area of some controversy and debates, which entails the emergency of diverse classroom practices for language teachers:Focus on Form or Focus on FormS. Connected with the specific context of grammar teaching in Chinese higher education, this paper tends to re-consider the place of grammar teaching in the classroom, and come up with some feasible approaches to instructing grammar so as to make appropriate connections between grammatical forms and the meanings.

Reframing the English Grammar Schools Debate

Science.gov (United States)

Morris, Rebecca; Perry, Thomas

2017-01-01

In October 2015 the Department for Education (DfE) permitted a grammar school in Tonbridge, Kent, to open up an annexe in Sevenoaks, 10 miles away. Amidst claims that the annexe was essentially a new grammar school, the decision reignited an old debate about the value of academically-selective "grammar" schools in England. The intensity…

Some Key Principles for Developing Grammar Skills

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

张威

2008-01-01

Grammar is sometimes defined aft"the way words are put together to make correct sentences"(Ur,2004,P.75).The aim of teaching grammar is to raise the rates of the correctness of language use and help the students transfer the isolated language points to apply language.In this essay，the author introduces two kinds of Conlnlon methods in English grammar class. And there are some key principles in grammar teaching.

GenoCAD Plant Grammar to Design Plant Expression Vectors for Promoter Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Coll, Anna; Wilson, Mandy L; Gruden, Kristina; Peccoud, Jean

2016-01-01

With the rapid advances in prediction tools for discovery of new promoters and their cis-elements, there is a need to improve plant expression methodologies in order to facilitate a high-throughput functional validation of these promoters in planta. The promoter-reporter analysis is an indispensible approach for characterization of plant promoters. It requires the design of complex plant expression vectors, which can be challenging. Here, we describe the use of a plant grammar implemented in GenoCAD that will allow the users to quickly design constructs for promoter analysis experiments but also for other in planta functional studies. The GenoCAD plant grammar includes a library of plant biological parts organized in structural categories to facilitate their use and management and a set of rules that guides the process of assembling these biological parts into large constructs.

Implicit Learning of Recursive Context-Free Grammars

Science.gov (United States)

Rohrmeier, Martin; Fu, Qiufang; Dienes, Zoltan

2012-01-01

Context-free grammars are fundamental for the description of linguistic syntax. However, most artificial grammar learning experiments have explored learning of simpler finite-state grammars, while studies exploring context-free grammars have not assessed awareness and implicitness. This paper explores the implicit learning of context-free grammars employing features of hierarchical organization, recursive embedding and long-distance dependencies. The grammars also featured the distinction between left- and right-branching structures, as well as between centre- and tail-embedding, both distinctions found in natural languages. People acquired unconscious knowledge of relations between grammatical classes even for dependencies over long distances, in ways that went beyond learning simpler relations (e.g. n-grams) between individual words. The structural distinctions drawn from linguistics also proved important as performance was greater for tail-embedding than centre-embedding structures. The results suggest the plausibility of implicit learning of complex context-free structures, which model some features of natural languages. They support the relevance of artificial grammar learning for probing mechanisms of language learning and challenge existing theories and computational models of implicit learning. PMID:23094021

Implicit learning of recursive context-free grammars.

Science.gov (United States)

Rohrmeier, Martin; Fu, Qiufang; Dienes, Zoltan

2012-01-01

Context-free grammars are fundamental for the description of linguistic syntax. However, most artificial grammar learning experiments have explored learning of simpler finite-state grammars, while studies exploring context-free grammars have not assessed awareness and implicitness. This paper explores the implicit learning of context-free grammars employing features of hierarchical organization, recursive embedding and long-distance dependencies. The grammars also featured the distinction between left- and right-branching structures, as well as between centre- and tail-embedding, both distinctions found in natural languages. People acquired unconscious knowledge of relations between grammatical classes even for dependencies over long distances, in ways that went beyond learning simpler relations (e.g. n-grams) between individual words. The structural distinctions drawn from linguistics also proved important as performance was greater for tail-embedding than centre-embedding structures. The results suggest the plausibility of implicit learning of complex context-free structures, which model some features of natural languages. They support the relevance of artificial grammar learning for probing mechanisms of language learning and challenge existing theories and computational models of implicit learning.

Implicit learning of recursive context-free grammars.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martin Rohrmeier

Full Text Available Context-free grammars are fundamental for the description of linguistic syntax. However, most artificial grammar learning experiments have explored learning of simpler finite-state grammars, while studies exploring context-free grammars have not assessed awareness and implicitness. This paper explores the implicit learning of context-free grammars employing features of hierarchical organization, recursive embedding and long-distance dependencies. The grammars also featured the distinction between left- and right-branching structures, as well as between centre- and tail-embedding, both distinctions found in natural languages. People acquired unconscious knowledge of relations between grammatical classes even for dependencies over long distances, in ways that went beyond learning simpler relations (e.g. n-grams between individual words. The structural distinctions drawn from linguistics also proved important as performance was greater for tail-embedding than centre-embedding structures. The results suggest the plausibility of implicit learning of complex context-free structures, which model some features of natural languages. They support the relevance of artificial grammar learning for probing mechanisms of language learning and challenge existing theories and computational models of implicit learning.

The Importance of English Grammar Teaching at College

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

孙丽伟

2012-01-01

This paper attempts to elaborate the importance of grammar teaching at college through the four linguistic skills: listening, speaking, reading,and writing.The nature of grammar determines the significance of grammar teaching. This paper shows the importance of grammar teaching from its relationship with listening,speaking,reading and writing.

A Survey of Grammar Instruction from Scholastic Perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Peng, Yanghua

2017-01-01

The study of grammar has been paid much attention and the grammar instruction becomes an emphasis and key problem in English language teaching and learning. How to instruct students grammar appropriately becomes controversial for some English teachers increasingly. Some linguistics, theorists and teachers hold that the grammar instruction should…

Functional discourse grammar: pragmatic aspects

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hannay, M.; Hengeveld, K.; Brisard, F.; Östman, J.O.; Verschueren, J.

2009-01-01

This chapter introduces Functional Discourse Grammar, focusing on the way in which this model is capable of accounting for the grammatical encoding of pragmatic distinctions and for the typological variation found in this area of grammar.

An Evaluation of the Grammar Teaching Material

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

张可科

2013-01-01

　　Of the many issues surrounding grammar, perhaps the hottest debate is whether to teach it or not. We review briefly argu⁃ments against and in support of grammar teaching before examining current grammar approaches in second language teaching.

English grammar a university course

CERN Document Server

Downing, Angela

2014-01-01

This best-selling comprehensive descriptive grammar forms a complete course, ideal for all students studying English Language ,whether on a course or for self-study. Broadly based on Hallidayan systemic-functional grammar but also drawing on cognitive linguistics and discourse analysis, English Grammar is accessible, avoiding overly theoretical or technical explanations.Divided into 12 self-contained chapters based around language functions, each chapter is divided into units of class-length material. Key features include:Numerous authentic texts from a wide range of sources, both spoken and w

What English Teachers Need to Know about Grammar.

Science.gov (United States)

Murdick, William

1996-01-01

Suggests that English teachers need to know that grammar is a difficult subject; know what children know about grammar; know that grammatical error is complex; and know more about language than just grammar. Concludes with the advice of Noam Chomsky--that grammar should be taught for its own intrinsic interest. (RS)

Ch(k) grammars: A characterization of LL(k) languages

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Becvar, J.; Nijholt, Antinus; Soisalon-Soininen, E.

In this paper we introduce the class of so called Ch(k) grammars [pronounced "chain k grammars"]. This class of grammars is properly contained in the class of LR(k) grammars and it properly contains the LL(k) grammars. However, the family of Ch[k) languages coincides with the family of LL(k)

Chargaff's "Grammar of Biology": New Fractal-like Rules

OpenAIRE

Yamagishi, Michel Eduardo Beleza; Herai, Roberto H.

2011-01-01

Chargaff once said that "I saw before me in dark contours the beginning of a grammar of Biology". In linguistics, "grammar" is the set of natural language rules, but we do not know for sure what Chargaff meant by "grammar" of Biology. Nevertheless, assuming the metaphor, Chargaff himself started a "grammar of Biology" discovering the so called Chargaff's rules. In this work, we further develop his grammar. Using new concepts, we were able to discovery new genomic rules that seem to be invaria...

English Grammar Workbook For Dummies

CERN Document Server

O'Sullivan, Nuala

2010-01-01

English Grammar Workbook For Dummies, UK Edition is grammar First Aid for anyone wanting to perfect their English and develop the practical skills needed to write and speak correctly. Each chapter focuses on key grammatical principles, with easy-to-follow theory and examples as well as practice questions and explanations. From verbs, prepositions and tenses, to style, expressions and tricky word traps, this hands-on workbook is essential for both beginners looking to learn and practise the basics of English grammar, and those who want to brush up skills they already have - quickly, easily, and

Practising French grammar a workbook

CERN Document Server

Dr Roger Hawkins; Towell, Richard

2015-01-01

This new edition of Practising French Grammar offers a set of varied and accessible exercises for developing a practical awareness of French as it is spoken and written today. The lively examples and authentic texts and cartoons have been updated to reflect current usage. A new companion website provides a wealth of additional interactive exercises to help consolidate challenging grammar points. Practising French Grammar provides concise summaries of key grammatical points at the beginning of each exercise, as well as model answers to the exercises and translations of difficult words, making i

Teachers'Perceptions of Teaching Grammar in Young Learners'Classroom%Teachers' Perceptions of Teaching Grammar in Young Learners' Classroom

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

余媛

2016-01-01

The present essay studies the role of grammar in young learners' classroom, perceived by the English teachers in China. The study gives a detailed description of what the role of grammar is like in young learners' classroom, by interviewing primary school teachers both from a city in a developed coastal city and a less developed city in central China. It highlights the differences in the perceptions of teachers on the prominence of grammar in their classes. These differences may indicate regional disparity and potential factors for teachers' teaching approaches to grammar instruction.

CLIMB grammars: three projects using metagrammar engineering

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Fokkens, A.S.; Avgustinova, T.; Zhang, Yi

2012-01-01

This paper introduces the CLIMB (Comparative Libraries of Implementations with Matrix Basis) methodology and grammars. The basic idea behind CLIMB is to use code generation as a general methodology for grammar development in order to create a more systematic approach to grammar development. The

On Determinatives and the Category-Function Distinction: A Reply to Brett Reynolds

Science.gov (United States)

Lenchuk, Iryna; Ahmed, Amer

2014-01-01

This article examines the arguments made in the article "Determiners, Feline Marsupials, and the Category-Function Distinction: A Critique of ELT Grammars" by Brett Reynolds recently published in the "TESL Canada Journal" (2013). In our response, we demonstrate that the author's arguments are problematic on both…

LR-parsing of Extended Context-free Grammars

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Madsen, Ole Lehrmann; Kristensen, Bent Bruun

1976-01-01

To improve the readability of a grammar it is common to use extended context free grammars (ECFGs) which are context free grammars (CFGs) extended with the repetition operator (*), the alternation operator (¦) and parentheses to express the right hand sides of the productions. The topic treated h...

Grammar in Context using Comprehended Input

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mariam Mohamed Nor

2014-03-01

Full Text Available There have been so many ongoing disputes on different approaches to teaching grammar. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of teaching grammar using Gass comprehended Input technique (GCI (1997 (implicit and to explore the undergraduates’ perception on the GCI technique. The respondents consisted of 30 undergraduates’ who are currently pursuing their Bachelor of English. Using the qualitative method, the research instrument was a set of 23- item interview and content analysis of the students’ written work. Results showed that the teaching of grammar using explicit instructions was more preferred than implicit instruction for complex components in grammatical rules. However, implicit instruction is equally effective regardless of the proficiency levels to enable pedagogy to be executed. It is also noted that there is lots of room for improvement, since the undergraduates have a weak grasp of the basic tense aspect of English grammar. Therefore, the Malaysian Ministry of Education should consider having grammar formally taught in isolation as what was practised previously.

Introducing English grammar

CERN Document Server

Borjars, Kersti

2013-01-01

Answering key questions such as 'Why study grammar?' and 'What is standard English?', Introducing English Grammar guides readers through the practical analysis of the syntax of English sentences. With all special terms carefully explained as they are introduced, the book is written for readers with no previous experience of grammatical analysis. It is ideal for all those beginning their study of linguistics, English language or speech pathology, as well as students with primarily literary interests who need to cover the basics of linguistic analysis. The approach taken is in line with current research in grammar, a particular advantage for students who may go on to study syntax in more depth. All the examples and exercises use real language taken from newspaper articles, non-standard dialects and include excerpts from studies of patients with language difficulties. Students are encouraged to think about the terminology as a tool kit for studying language and to test what can and cannot be described using thes...

The Grammar Movie Project

Science.gov (United States)

Kreutner, Edith

2015-01-01

In this case study, I will show how directing a movie on grammar can help students improve their oral skills as well as their language competency, team working and planning skills, and also teach them about learning itself. I will present an innovative teaching project that uses the medium of film to get students engaged with grammar and that aims…

Drama Grammar: Towards a Performative Postmethod Pedagogy

Science.gov (United States)

Even, Susanne

2011-01-01

This article presents the original concept of drama grammar, the synthesis of grammar instruction and drama pedagogy, which integrates both structural and communicative paradigms through a dialectic combination of acting and linguistic analysis. Based on the principles of drama pedagogy, drama grammar makes use of techniques from the performing…

Conceptualisations of "Grammar Teaching": L1 English Teachers' Beliefs about Teaching Grammar for Writing

Science.gov (United States)

Watson, Annabel Mary

2015-01-01

This paper reports on an investigation of L1 English teachers' conceptual and evaluative beliefs about teaching grammar, one strand of a larger Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)-funded investigation into the impact of contextualised grammar teaching [RES-062-23-0775]. Thirty-one teachers in English secondary schools were interviewed…

Missionary Pragmalinguistics: Father Diego Luis de Sanvitores’ grammar within the tradition of Philippine grammars

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Winkler, A.P.

2016-01-01

The grammar written in Latin, in 1668, by the Jesuit missionary Father Diego Luis de Sanvitores (1627-1672) is the oldest description we have of Chamorro, a language spoken on the Mariana islands. The grammar received a number of bad reviews and as a consequence has become neglected and almost

Does Teaching Grammar Really Hinder Students＇ Speaking Abilities？

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Kazumi Araki

2015-01-01

In the history of formal English education in Japan, grammar used to be the mainstream. In the secondary education system, teachers used to spend many hours teaching grammar to the students. However, it has been replaced by the aural/oral method of teaching a foreign language. There was even a remark that teaching grammar hinders students from communicating fluently. Literally, there was a time when grammar was set aside in formal English education. However, the author noticed that in grammar classes, the students speak English more loudly and confidently without much hesitation than in other types of English classes. One of the reasons is that they are not worried about the contents of the speeches. They are simply concentrating on the forms. They are not afraid of making major mistakes, and the errors they make are minor so they do not feel embarrassed in public. The atmosphere of the grammar classes is very positive and the students enjoy speaking English. In this paper, the author shows how grammar classes can contribute to the acquisition of the students＇ speaking abilities and manners. ＂Learning grammar was a precious experience＂, one student reported after the course.

Grammar and Its Teaching: Challenging the Myths

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Diane Larsen-Freeman

2008-01-01

@@ Grammar is often misunderstood in the language teaching field.The misconception lies in the view that grammar is a collection of arbitrary rules about static structures in the language.Further questionable claims are that the structures do not have to be taught,learners will acquire them on their own,or if the structures are taught,the lessons that ensue will he boring.Consequently,communicative and proficiency-based teaching approaches sometimes unduly limit grammar instruction.Of the many claims about grammar that deserve to be called myths,this digest will challenge ten.

Combinatorial commutative algebra

CERN Document Server

Miller, Ezra

2005-01-01

Offers an introduction to combinatorial commutative algebra, focusing on combinatorial techniques for multigraded polynomial rings, semigroup algebras, and determined rings. The chapters in this work cover topics ranging from homological invariants of monomial ideals and their polyhedral resolutions, to tools for studying algebraic varieties.

Dynamic combinatorial chemistry

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Otto, Sijbren; Furlan, Ricardo L.E.; Sanders, Jeremy K.M.

2002-01-01

A combinatorial library that responds to its target by increasing the concentration of strong binders at the expense of weak binders sounds ideal. Dynamic combinatorial chemistry has the potential to achieve exactly this. In this review, we will highlight the unique features that distinguish dynamic

Abductive Logic Grammars

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christiansen, Henning; Dahl, Veronica

2009-01-01

By extending logic grammars with constraint logic, we give them the ability to create knowledge bases that represent the meaning of an input string. Semantic information is thus defined through extra-grammatical means, and a sentence's meaning logically follows as a by-product of string rewriting....... We formalize these ideas, and exemplify them both within and outside first-order logic, and for both fixed and dynamic knowledge bases. Within the latter variety, we consider the usual left-to-right derivations that are traditional in logic grammars, but also -- in a significant departure from...

The equivalence problem for LL- and LR-regular grammars

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nijholt, Antinus

1982-01-01

The equivalence problem for context-free grammars is "given two arbitrary grammars, do they generate the same language?" Since this is undecidable in general, attention has been restricted to decidable subclasses of the context-free grammars. For example, the classes of LL(k) grammars and real-time

Distributional Cues to Grammatical Categorization: Acquiring Categories in a Miniature Artificial Grammar

Science.gov (United States)

Reeder, Patricia A.

2010-01-01

A crucial component of language acquisition involves organizing words into grammatical categories and discovering relations between them. The organization of words into categories, and the generalization of patterns from some seen word combinations to novel ones, account for important aspects of the expansion of linguistic knowledge in the early…

Recovering grammar relationships for the Java language specification

NARCIS (Netherlands)

R. Lämmel (Ralf); V. Zaytsev (Vadim)

2011-01-01

textabstractGrammar convergence is a method that helps in discovering relationships between different grammars of the same language or different language versions. The key element of the method is the operational, transformation-based representation of those relationships. Given input grammars for

Performance Grammars

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Robinson, Jane J

1974-01-01

.... The theory of systematic variation affords better direction for gathering data on rule-governed language use and a means for representing the results in formal grammars that predict speech behavior...

Relativity in Combinatorial Gravitational Fields

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mao Linfan

2010-04-01

Full Text Available A combinatorial spacetime $(mathscr{C}_G| uboverline{t}$ is a smoothly combinatorial manifold $mathscr{C}$ underlying a graph $G$ evolving on a time vector $overline{t}$. As we known, Einstein's general relativity is suitable for use only in one spacetime. What is its disguise in a combinatorial spacetime? Applying combinatorial Riemannian geometry enables us to present a combinatorial spacetime model for the Universe and suggest a generalized Einstein gravitational equation in such model. Forfinding its solutions, a generalized relativity principle, called projective principle is proposed, i.e., a physics law ina combinatorial spacetime is invariant under a projection on its a subspace and then a spherically symmetric multi-solutions ofgeneralized Einstein gravitational equations in vacuum or charged body are found. We also consider the geometrical structure in such solutions with physical formations, and conclude that an ultimate theory for the Universe maybe established if all such spacetimes in ${f R}^3$. Otherwise, our theory is only an approximate theory and endless forever.

DEVELOPING A SOUND POLICY FOR THE TREATMENT OF GRAMMAR

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

2001-01-01

Should grammar be taught at all?Is it a hindrance or anaid?Communicative language teaching approach seems to havecast doubts on the value of grammar teaching.The present paperargues that the positive effect of grammar in College Englishteaching and learning should not be overlooked.Grammar servesas a means to the final achievement of language proficiency.Itis time for language teachers to reconsider the role of grammarand to come up with a more appropriate and thus,moreeffective treatment of grammar in College English teaching.

Discovery of cell-type specific DNA motif grammar in cis-regulatory elements using random Forest.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Xin; Lin, Peijie; Ho, Joshua W K

2018-01-19

It has been observed that many transcription factors (TFs) can bind to different genomic loci depending on the cell type in which a TF is expressed in, even though the individual TF usually binds to the same core motif in different cell types. How a TF can bind to the genome in such a highly cell-type specific manner, is a critical research question. One hypothesis is that a TF requires co-binding of different TFs in different cell types. If this is the case, it may be possible to observe different combinations of TF motifs - a motif grammar - located at the TF binding sites in different cell types. In this study, we develop a bioinformatics method to systematically identify DNA motifs in TF binding sites across multiple cell types based on published ChIP-seq data, and address two questions: (1) can we build a machine learning classifier to predict cell-type specificity based on motif combinations alone, and (2) can we extract meaningful cell-type specific motif grammars from this classifier model. We present a Random Forest (RF) based approach to build a multi-class classifier to predict the cell-type specificity of a TF binding site given its motif content. We applied this RF classifier to two published ChIP-seq datasets of TF (TCF7L2 and MAX) across multiple cell types. Using cross-validation, we show that motif combinations alone are indeed predictive of cell types. Furthermore, we present a rule mining approach to extract the most discriminatory rules in the RF classifier, thus allowing us to discover the underlying cell-type specific motif grammar. Our bioinformatics analysis supports the hypothesis that combinatorial TF motif patterns are cell-type specific.

RAISING YOUNG LEARNERS‟ AWARENESS OF GRAMMAR THROUGH CREATIVE LANGUAGE ACTIVITIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. Murni Wahyanti

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Current developments in foreign language teaching have shown the need to reconsider the role of grammar. It is argued that grammar understanding can promote more precise use of the foreign language. This belief has led to an increased interest in grammar teaching, including grammar teaching for young learners. In teaching English to young learners, activities that can promote grammar awareness are needed. The activities should be presented in context to make sure that the meaning is clear. The activities should also be creatively designed in order to challenge students‘ motivation and involvement. Grammar activities presented creatively in meaningful contexts are useful for noticing the language patterns. This paper focuses on the changing status of grammar, the importance of grammar in the young learner classroom, and how to raise grammar awareness through creative language activities. It also reports the result of a small-scale study on implementing grammarawareness activities for teaching English to Elementary School students.

Combinatorial Nano-Bio Interfaces.

Science.gov (United States)

Cai, Pingqiang; Zhang, Xiaoqian; Wang, Ming; Wu, Yun-Long; Chen, Xiaodong

2018-06-08

Nano-bio interfaces are emerging from the convergence of engineered nanomaterials and biological entities. Despite rapid growth, clinical translation of biomedical nanomaterials is heavily compromised by the lack of comprehensive understanding of biophysicochemical interactions at nano-bio interfaces. In the past decade, a few investigations have adopted a combinatorial approach toward decoding nano-bio interfaces. Combinatorial nano-bio interfaces comprise the design of nanocombinatorial libraries and high-throughput bioevaluation. In this Perspective, we address challenges in combinatorial nano-bio interfaces and call for multiparametric nanocombinatorics (composition, morphology, mechanics, surface chemistry), multiscale bioevaluation (biomolecules, organelles, cells, tissues/organs), and the recruitment of computational modeling and artificial intelligence. Leveraging combinatorial nano-bio interfaces will shed light on precision nanomedicine and its potential applications.

EXPLAIN AND EXPLORE——THE INDUCTIVE APPROACH TO EFL GRAMMAR INSTRUCTION

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

YuGuoxing

2004-01-01

The new role of grammar instruction now is based on the increasing understandings that grammar per se is a comprehensive conglomerate. The paper examines the inductive approach to EFL grammar instruction. It starts with some theoretical considerations on inductive approach to formal grammar instruction, followed by its methodological considerations such as how to deal with grammar generalizations and exceptions, learner variables, and grammar complexity, and proposes a sensitive and dynamic balance of explorations and explanations in EFL grammar instruction.

A Communicative Approach to College English Grammar Teaching and Learning

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

LI Yong-xian

2016-01-01

In response to the misconception that Communicative Language Teaching means no teaching of grammar, it is argued that grammar is as important as traffic rules for safe and smooth traffic on the road. To achieve appropriate and effective commu-nication, a communicative approach to college grammar teaching and learning is proposed. Both teachers and learners should change their attitudes toward and conceptions about grammar teaching and learning;additionally, teaching grammar in the com-pany of reading and writing helps learners learn and acquire grammar in meaningful contexts.

Teachers' Perceptions about Grammar Teaching

Science.gov (United States)

Thu, Tran Hoang

2009-01-01

This study investigates English as a second language (ESL) teachers' beliefs in grammar teaching. A 32-item questionnaire was administered to 11 ESL teachers in a language school in California. The results show that the participants generally believe that the formal study of grammar is essential to the eventual mastery of a foreign or second…

Grammars with two-sided contexts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mikhail Barash

2014-05-01

Full Text Available In a recent paper (M. Barash, A. Okhotin, "Defining contexts in context-free grammars", LATA 2012, the authors introduced an extension of the context-free grammars equipped with an operator for referring to the left context of the substring being defined. This paper proposes a more general model, in which context specifications may be two-sided, that is, both the left and the right contexts can be specified by the corresponding operators. The paper gives the definitions and establishes the basic theory of such grammars, leading to a normal form and a parsing algorithm working in time O(n^4, where n is the length of the input string.

Linearly Ordered Attribute Grammar Scheduling Using SAT-Solving

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bransen, Jeroen; van Binsbergen, L.Thomas; Claessen, Koen; Dijkstra, Atze

2015-01-01

Many computations over trees can be specified using attribute grammars. Compilers for attribute grammars need to find an evaluation order (or schedule) in order to generate efficient code. For the class of linearly ordered attribute grammars such a schedule can be found statically, but this problem

Preschool Children Differentiation According to the Lingua- Grammatical Categories Development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Z. V. Polivara

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The parallel existence of languages and cultures brings forward the necessity of studying this linguistic phenomenon and designing special methods of speech development for the bilingual children. The particular attention should be given to the preschool age, for according to A. A. Leontyev’s study, the parallel acquiring of two languages often results in insufficient development of socio-linguistic speech standards. The research is devoted to the phenomenon of the two language systems coexistence in a bilingual person’s consciousness, both of them functioning and encoding the same subjects and phenomena. The peculiarities of language interference are described with the reference to the Russian-Tatar bilingual environment. The author believes that the bilingual interference problems are not caused by the phonetic and grammar system differences of the two languages. To find out the potential source of inter-language transition and interrelations between the native and non-native languages, it is necessary to identify the cognitive, neurolinguistic and psycho-linguistic aspects. Therefore, the regional phenomenon of mass bilingualism among the Tatar population is examined by the author in the framework of the psycho-linguistic and cognitive approaches. The paper presents the model of the lexical and grammar categories formation based on differentiated preschool teaching of the bilingual children. The proposed model makes it possible to overcome the limited viewpoint on the general speech dysfunctions, as well as the specifics of lexical and grammar categories development. It can be used for the further development of educational programs in psycho-linguistics, ethno-linguistics, onto-linguistics, cognitive linguistics, social-linguistics, contrastive linguistics and the language theory by means of extending the teaching course content. 

XPath Node Selection over Grammar-Compressed Trees

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sebastian Maneth

2013-11-01

Full Text Available XML document markup is highly repetitive and therefore well compressible using grammar-based compression. Downward, navigational XPath can be executed over grammar-compressed trees in PTIME: the query is translated into an automaton which is executed in one pass over the grammar. This result is well-known and has been mentioned before. Here we present precise bounds on the time complexity of this problem, in terms of big-O notation. For a given grammar and XPath query, we consider three different tasks: (1 to count the number of nodes selected by the query, (2 to materialize the pre-order numbers of the selected nodes, and (3 to serialize the subtrees at the selected nodes.

Constraints and Logic Programming in Grammars and Language Analysis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christiansen, Henning

2014-01-01

Constraints are an important notion in grammars and language analysis, and constraint programming techniques have been developed concurrently for solving a variety of complex problems. In this chapter we consider the synthesis of these branches into practical and effective methods for language...... methods that combine constraints with logic grammars such as Definite Clause Grammars and CHR Grammars, and show also a direct relationship to abductive reasoning....

Integer and combinatorial optimization

CERN Document Server

Nemhauser, George L

1999-01-01

Rave reviews for INTEGER AND COMBINATORIAL OPTIMIZATION ""This book provides an excellent introduction and survey of traditional fields of combinatorial optimization . . . It is indeed one of the best and most complete texts on combinatorial optimization . . . available. [And] with more than 700 entries, [it] has quite an exhaustive reference list.""-Optima ""A unifying approach to optimization problems is to formulate them like linear programming problems, while restricting some or all of the variables to the integers. This book is an encyclopedic resource for such f

Teaching English Grammar Through Communicative Language Teaching Approach

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

王玮

2013-01-01

Grammar is an important part of language learning. In order for students to have a functional knowledge of a language (in other words, that they can spontaneously produce language) they must have at least some knowledge about the grammatical con⁃structs of the language in question. How grammar can be taught? Considering various second language teaching methods, teaching grammar through Communicative Language Teaching Approach is the most talked. Emphasis in this article is put on the applica⁃tion of Communicative Language Teaching Approach in grammar teaching in college English classes.

A Contrastive Study of Two Approaches to Teach Grammar

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Cai; Lin

2007-01-01

There are many kinds of methods of teaching grammar, no matter what they are, these approaches can generally be classified into two approaches-deductive and inductive. What an appropriate grammar teaching approach is by examining the inductive and deductive approaches to grammar teaching and learning. It starts with the definitions of inductive and deductive approaches to grammar teaching, followed by a contrastive study of these two approaches in terms of both the bases and the application. Finally, it explores the inductive approach and outlines the benefits of this approach and suggests an alternative view of grammar teaching.

Teaching Children Foreign-Language Grammar: Are Authentic Materials Appropriate?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Olga Malova

2016-10-01

Full Text Available The paper discusses authentic materials as a resource for teaching grammar to young learners. Difficulties in foreign-language grammar learning for Russian pupils are presented, and typical challenges are described. The paper provides a pre-/post-intervention study of the development of children’s grammar skills. The research question is, “How does one use authentic materials for teaching grammar in an English as a foreign language (EFL classroom?” A qualitative method is used to assess the learning outcomes of using authentic materials in teaching grammar to eight–nine-year-old pupils (the second year of studying English.

Unsupervised grammar induction of clinical report sublanguage

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kate Rohit J

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Clinical reports are written using a subset of natural language while employing many domain-specific terms; such a language is also known as a sublanguage for a scientific or a technical domain. Different genres of clinical reports use different sublaguages, and in addition, different medical facilities use different medical language conventions. This makes supervised training of a parser for clinical sentences very difficult as it would require expensive annotation effort to adapt to every type of clinical text. Methods In this paper, we present an unsupervised method which automatically induces a grammar and a parser for the sublanguage of a given genre of clinical reports from a corpus with no annotations. In order to capture sentence structures specific to clinical domains, the grammar is induced in terms of semantic classes of clinical terms in addition to part-of-speech tags. Our method induces grammar by minimizing the combined encoding cost of the grammar and the corresponding sentence derivations. The probabilities for the productions of the induced grammar are then learned from the unannotated corpus using an instance of the expectation-maximization algorithm. Results Our experiments show that the induced grammar is able to parse novel sentences. Using a dataset of discharge summary sentences with no annotations, our method obtains 60.5% F-measure for parse-bracketing on sentences of maximum length 10. By varying a parameter, the method can induce a range of grammars, from very specific to very general, and obtains the best performance in between the two extremes.

Unsupervised grammar induction of clinical report sublanguage.

Science.gov (United States)

Kate, Rohit J

2012-10-05

Clinical reports are written using a subset of natural language while employing many domain-specific terms; such a language is also known as a sublanguage for a scientific or a technical domain. Different genres of clinical reports use different sublaguages, and in addition, different medical facilities use different medical language conventions. This makes supervised training of a parser for clinical sentences very difficult as it would require expensive annotation effort to adapt to every type of clinical text. In this paper, we present an unsupervised method which automatically induces a grammar and a parser for the sublanguage of a given genre of clinical reports from a corpus with no annotations. In order to capture sentence structures specific to clinical domains, the grammar is induced in terms of semantic classes of clinical terms in addition to part-of-speech tags. Our method induces grammar by minimizing the combined encoding cost of the grammar and the corresponding sentence derivations. The probabilities for the productions of the induced grammar are then learned from the unannotated corpus using an instance of the expectation-maximization algorithm. Our experiments show that the induced grammar is able to parse novel sentences. Using a dataset of discharge summary sentences with no annotations, our method obtains 60.5% F-measure for parse-bracketing on sentences of maximum length 10. By varying a parameter, the method can induce a range of grammars, from very specific to very general, and obtains the best performance in between the two extremes.

ncRNA consensus secondary structure derivation using grammar strings.

Science.gov (United States)

Achawanantakun, Rujira; Sun, Yanni; Takyar, Seyedeh Shohreh

2011-04-01

Many noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) function through both their sequences and secondary structures. Thus, secondary structure derivation is an important issue in today's RNA research. The state-of-the-art structure annotation tools are based on comparative analysis, which derives consensus structure of homologous ncRNAs. Despite promising results from existing ncRNA aligning and consensus structure derivation tools, there is a need for more efficient and accurate ncRNA secondary structure modeling and alignment methods. In this work, we introduce a consensus structure derivation approach based on grammar string, a novel ncRNA secondary structure representation that encodes an ncRNA's sequence and secondary structure in the parameter space of a context-free grammar (CFG) and a full RNA grammar including pseudoknots. Being a string defined on a special alphabet constructed from a grammar, grammar string converts ncRNA alignment into sequence alignment. We derive consensus secondary structures from hundreds of ncRNA families from BraliBase 2.1 and 25 families containing pseudoknots using grammar string alignment. Our experiments have shown that grammar string-based structure derivation competes favorably in consensus structure quality with Murlet and RNASampler. Source code and experimental data are available at http://www.cse.msu.edu/~yannisun/grammar-string.

ACRE: Absolute concentration robustness exploration in module-based combinatorial networks

KAUST Repository

Kuwahara, Hiroyuki; Umarov, Ramzan; Almasri, Islam; Gao, Xin

2017-01-01

To engineer cells for industrial-scale application, a deep understanding of how to design molecular control mechanisms to tightly maintain functional stability under various fluctuations is crucial. Absolute concentration robustness (ACR) is a category of robustness in reaction network models in which the steady-state concentration of a molecular species is guaranteed to be invariant even with perturbations in the other molecular species in the network. Here, we introduce a software tool, absolute concentration robustness explorer (ACRE), which efficiently explores combinatorial biochemical networks for the ACR property. ACRE has a user-friendly interface, and it can facilitate efficient analysis of key structural features that guarantee the presence and the absence of the ACR property from combinatorial networks. Such analysis is expected to be useful in synthetic biology as it can increase our understanding of how to design molecular mechanisms to tightly control the concentration of molecular species. ACRE is freely available at https://github.com/ramzan1990/ACRE.

ACRE: Absolute concentration robustness exploration in module-based combinatorial networks

KAUST Repository

Kuwahara, Hiroyuki

2017-03-01

To engineer cells for industrial-scale application, a deep understanding of how to design molecular control mechanisms to tightly maintain functional stability under various fluctuations is crucial. Absolute concentration robustness (ACR) is a category of robustness in reaction network models in which the steady-state concentration of a molecular species is guaranteed to be invariant even with perturbations in the other molecular species in the network. Here, we introduce a software tool, absolute concentration robustness explorer (ACRE), which efficiently explores combinatorial biochemical networks for the ACR property. ACRE has a user-friendly interface, and it can facilitate efficient analysis of key structural features that guarantee the presence and the absence of the ACR property from combinatorial networks. Such analysis is expected to be useful in synthetic biology as it can increase our understanding of how to design molecular mechanisms to tightly control the concentration of molecular species. ACRE is freely available at https://github.com/ramzan1990/ACRE.

Fast Parsing using Pruning and Grammar Specialization

OpenAIRE

Rayner, Manny; Carter, David

1996-01-01

We show how a general grammar may be automatically adapted for fast parsing of utterances from a specific domain by means of constituent pruning and grammar specialization based on explanation-based learning. These methods together give an order of magnitude increase in speed, and the coverage loss entailed by grammar specialization is reduced to approximately half that reported in previous work. Experiments described here suggest that the loss of coverage has been reduced to the point where ...

On an extension of a combinatorial identity

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

to an infinite family of 4-way combinatorial identities. In some particular cases we get even 5-way combinatorial identities which give us four new combinatorial versions of. Göllnitz–Gordon identities. Keywords. n-Color partitions; lattice paths; Frobenius partitions; Göllnitz–Gordon identities; combinatorial interpretations. 1.

A comprehensive French grammar

CERN Document Server

Price, Glanville

2013-01-01

Characterized by clear and accessible explanations, numerous examples and sample sentences, a new section on register and tone, and useful appendices covering topics including age and time, A Comprehensive French Grammar, Sixth Edition is an indispensable tool for advanced students of French language and literature.A revised edition of this established, bestselling French grammarIncludes a new section on register and medium and offers expanded treatment of French punctuationFeatures numerous examples and sample sentences, and useful appendices covering topics including age, time, and dimension

The structure of modern standard French a student grammar

CERN Document Server

Hansen, Maj-Britt Mosegaard

2016-01-01

This book is an advanced student's grammar of French that integrates traditional grammar with knowledge and insights from modern linguistics. It assumes some prior knowledge of French grammar but is designed to be accessible to those with no background in linguistics.

Nonparametric combinatorial sequence models.

Science.gov (United States)

Wauthier, Fabian L; Jordan, Michael I; Jojic, Nebojsa

2011-11-01

This work considers biological sequences that exhibit combinatorial structures in their composition: groups of positions of the aligned sequences are "linked" and covary as one unit across sequences. If multiple such groups exist, complex interactions can emerge between them. Sequences of this kind arise frequently in biology but methodologies for analyzing them are still being developed. This article presents a nonparametric prior on sequences which allows combinatorial structures to emerge and which induces a posterior distribution over factorized sequence representations. We carry out experiments on three biological sequence families which indicate that combinatorial structures are indeed present and that combinatorial sequence models can more succinctly describe them than simpler mixture models. We conclude with an application to MHC binding prediction which highlights the utility of the posterior distribution over sequence representations induced by the prior. By integrating out the posterior, our method compares favorably to leading binding predictors.

English Grammar and Thai University Students: An Insurmountable Linguistic Battle?

Science.gov (United States)

Saengboon, Saksit

2017-01-01

This study aimed at investigating English grammar knowledge of a group of Thai university students. The three main research questions revolved around their knowledge of English grammar, the kinds of difficulties they had encountered in using the grammar as well as their perceptions of the roles of grammar in using English. The participants were…

Analyses of Common Grammar Mistakes in High-school English

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Yang Liou

2017-01-01

English has an important position in the basic education stage as a language subject. English teaching requires students to have the abilities of listening, speaking, reading and writing in high school. If students want to learn these skills well, they should not only memorize vocabularies, but also master grammar knowledge. This paper illustrates the importance of English grammar for learning English and lists the common grammar mistakes. It also introduces some skills of learning English grammar.

An Attempt to Employ Diagrammatic Illustrations in Teaching English Grammar: Pictorial English Grammar

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kaoru Takahashi

2013-08-01

Full Text Available In order for intermediate students poor at English grammar to enjoy learning it, a unique methodology has been improved in the classroom. In this article illustrated vehicles relevant to the five basic sentence patterns are presented in order to show how helpful this method is to understand English grammar. Also, more enhanced areas of this theory are discussed, which clarifies the feasibility of this methodology. The items to be introduced in my method are gerund, the passive voice, the relative pronoun and so on.

Using a Linguistic Theory of Humour in Teaching English Grammar

Science.gov (United States)

Abdulmajeed, Rufaidah Kamal; Hameed, Sarab Khalil

2017-01-01

Teachers who teach a new language grammar do not usually have the time and the proper situation to introduce humour when starting a new topic in grammar. There are many different opinions about teaching grammar. Many teachers seem to believe in the importance of grammar lessons devoted to a study of language rules and practical exercises. Other…

French grammar and usage

CERN Document Server

Hawkins, Roger

2015-01-01

Long trusted as the most comprehensive, up-to-date and user-friendly grammar available, French Grammar and Usage is a complete guide to French as it is written and spoken today. It includes clear descriptions of all the main grammatical phenomena of French, and their use, illustrated by numerous examples taken from contemporary French, and distinguishes the most common forms of usage, both formal and informal.Key features include:Comprehensive content, covering all the major structures of contemporary French User-friendly organisation offering easy-to-find sections with cross-referencing and i

English Grammar For Dummies

CERN Document Server

Ward, Lesley J

2009-01-01

If you're confused by commas, perplexed by pronouns, and plain terrified by tenses, English Grammar For Dummies will put your fears to rest. Packed with expert guidance, it covers everything from sentence basics to rules even your English teacher didn't know - if you want to brush up on your grammar, this is the only guide you'll ever need. Discover how to: avoid common grammatical errors; get to grips with apostrophes; structure sentences correctly; use verbs and find the right tense; and decide when to use slang or formal English.  

Essential grammar for today's writers, students, and teachers

CERN Document Server

Sullivan, Nancy

2014-01-01

This innovative grammar text is an ideal resource for writers, language students, and current and future classroom teachers who need an accessible "refresher" in a step-by-step guide to essential grammar. Rather than becoming mired in overly detailed linguistic definitions, Nancy Sullivan helps writers and students understand and apply grammatical concepts and develop the skills they need to enhance their own writing. Along with engaging discussions of both contemporary and traditional terminology, Sullivan's text provides clear explanations of the basics of English grammar and a highly practical, hands-on approach to mastering the use of language. Complementing the focus on constructing excellent sentences, every example and exercise set is contextually grounded in language themes. Teachers, students, and writers will appreciate the streamlined, easy-to-understand coverage of essential grammar, as well as the affordable price. This is an ideal textbook for future teachers enrolled in an upper-level grammar c...

Grammar as a Programming Language. Artificial Intelligence Memo 391.

Science.gov (United States)

Rowe, Neil

Student projects that involve writing generative grammars in the computer language, "LOGO," are described in this paper, which presents a grammar-running control structure that allows students to modify and improve the grammar interpreter itself while learning how a simple kind of computer parser works. Included are procedures for…

The equivalence problem for LL- and LR-regular grammars

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nijholt, Antinus; Gecsec, F.

It will be shown that the equivalence problem for LL-regular grammars is decidable. Apart from extending the known result for LL(k) grammar equivalence to LLregular grammar equivalence, we obtain an alternative proof of the decidability of LL(k) equivalence. The equivalence prob]em for LL-regular

Shape Grammars for Innovative Hybrid Typological Design

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Al-kazzaz, Dhuha; Bridges, Alan; Chase, Scott Curland

2010-01-01

This paper describes a new methodology of deriving innovative hybrid designs using shape grammars of heterogeneous designs. The method is detailed within three phases of shape grammars: analysis, synthesis and evaluation. In the analysis phase, the research suggests that original rules of each...... design component are grouped in subclass rule sets to facilitate rule choices. Additionally, adding new hybrid rules to original rules expands the options available to the grammar user. In the synthesis phase, the research adopts state labels and markers to drive the design generation. The former...... is implemented with a user guide grammar to ensure hybridity in the generated design, while the latter aims to ensure feasible designs. Lastly evaluation criteria are added to measure the degree of innovation of the hybrid designs. This paper describes the derivation of hybrid minaret designs from a corpus...

Left-forbidding cooperating distributed grammar systems

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Goldefus, F.; Masopust, Tomáš; Meduna, A.

2010-01-01

Roč. 411, 40-42 (2010), s. 3661-3667 ISSN 0304-3975 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10190503 Keywords : cooperating distributed grammar system * cooperating derivation mode * left-forbidding grammar * generative power * descriptional complexity Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics Impact factor: 0.838, year: 2010 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304397510003440

Studying Grammar in the Technological Age

Science.gov (United States)

Ediger, Marlow

2012-01-01

When being a student in grade school as well as in high school (1934-1946), grammar was heavily emphasized in English/language arts classes, particularly in grades four through the senior year in high school. Evidently, teachers and school administrators then saw a theoretical way to assist pupils in writing achievement. Grammar and writing were…

Propelling Students into Active Grammar Participation

Science.gov (United States)

Jurhill, Dennis A.

2011-01-01

"O! this learning, what a thing it is." -W. Shakespeare, "The Taming of the Shrew." The aim of this action research was to find out if active grammar involvement amongst students might lead to better results. My approach was to activate my students during grammar instruction by using cooperative learning: that is a form of…

Teaching english grammar through interactive methods

OpenAIRE

Aminova N.

2016-01-01

The article is devoted for the effective ways of teaching grammar. Actuality of the theme is justified as it sets conditions for revealing high progress in teaching a foreign language and for developing effective methods which can be helpful for foreign language teachers. Different progressive methods of teaching English grammar are given in this paper as well.

Perspectives on object manipulation and action grammar for percussive actions in primates.

Science.gov (United States)

Hayashi, Misato

2015-11-19

The skill of object manipulation is a common feature of primates including humans, although there are species-typical patterns of manipulation. Object manipulation can be used as a comparative scale of cognitive development, focusing on its complexity. Nut cracking in chimpanzees has the highest hierarchical complexity of tool use reported in non-human primates. An analysis of the patterns of object manipulation in naive chimpanzees after nut-cracking demonstrations revealed the cause of difficulties in learning nut-cracking behaviour. Various types of behaviours exhibited within a nut-cracking context can be examined in terms of the application of problem-solving strategies, focusing on their basis in causal understanding or insightful intentionality. Captive chimpanzees also exhibit complex forms of combinatory manipulation, which is the precursor of tool use. A new notation system of object manipulation was invented to assess grammatical rules in manipulative actions. The notation system of action grammar enabled direct comparisons to be made between primates including humans in a variety of object-manipulation tasks, including percussive-tool use. © 2015 The Author(s).

High-level methodologies for grammar engineering, introduction to the special issue

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Denys Duchier

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Grammar Engineering is the task of designing and implementing linguistically motivated electronic descriptions of natural language (so-called grammars. These grammars are expressed within well-defined theoretical frameworks, and offer a fine-grained description of natural language. While grammars were first used to describe syntax, that is to say, the relations between constituents in a sentence, they often go beyond syntax and include semantic information. Grammar engineering provides precise descriptions which can be used for natural language understanding and generation, making these valuable resources for various natural language applications, including textual entailment, dialogue systems, or machine translation. The first attempts at designing large-scale resource grammars were costly because of the complexity of the task (Erbach et al. 1990 and of the number of persons that were needed (see e.g. Doran et al. 1997. Advances in the field have led to the development of environments for semi-automatic grammar engineering, borrowing ideas from compilation (grammar engineering is compared with software development and machine learning. This special issue reports on new trends in the field, where grammar engineering benefits from elaborate high-level methodologies and techniques, dealing with various issues (both theoretical and practical.

The contribution of phonological short-term memory to artificial grammar learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Andrade, Jackie; Baddeley, Alan

2011-05-01

Three experiments investigated the contribution of phonological short-term memory (STM) to grammar learning by manipulating rehearsal during study of an auditory artificial grammar made up from a vocabulary of spoken Mandarin syllables. Experiment 1 showed that concurrent, irrelevant articulation impaired grammar learning compared with a nonverbal control task. Experiment 2 replicated and extended this finding, showing that repeating the grammatical strings at study improved grammar learning compared with suppressing rehearsal or remaining silent during learning. Experiment 3 found no effects of rehearsal on grammar learning once participants had learned the component syllables. The findings suggest that phonological STM aids artificial grammar learning via effects on vocabulary learning.

Evolving stochastic context-free grammars for RNA secondary structure prediction

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Anderson, James WJ; Tataru, Paula Cristina; Stains, Joe

2012-01-01

Background Stochastic Context-Free Grammars (SCFGs) were applied successfully to RNA secondary structure prediction in the early 90s, and used in combination with comparative methods in the late 90s. The set of SCFGs potentially useful for RNA secondary structure prediction is very large, but a few...... to structure prediction as has been previously suggested. Results These search techniques were applied to predict RNA secondary structure on a maximal data set and revealed new and interesting grammars, though none are dramatically better than classic grammars. In general, results showed that many grammars...... with quite different structure could have very similar predictive ability. Many ambiguous grammars were found which were at least as effective as the best current unambiguous grammars. Conclusions Overall the method of evolving SCFGs for RNA secondary structure prediction proved effective in finding many...

Understanding the Complex Processes in Developing Student Teachers' Knowledge about Grammar

Science.gov (United States)

Svalberg, Agneta M.-L.

2015-01-01

This article takes the view that grammar is driven by user choices and is therefore complex and dynamic. This has implications for the teaching of grammar in language teacher education and how teachers' cognitions about grammar, and hence their own grammar teaching, might change. In this small, interpretative study, the participants--students on…

Towards a Pedagogy of Grammar Instruction

Science.gov (United States)

Richards, Jack C.; Reppen, Randi

2014-01-01

Grammar can be viewed both as knowledge and as ability. When viewed as knowledge, the focus is on rules for sentence formation. When viewed as ability, the focus is on how grammar is used as a resource in the creation of spoken and written texts. Twelve principles are proposed as the basis for a pedagogy that focusses on acquiring learning to use…

Grammar and Usage: History and Myth

Science.gov (United States)

Watson, Ken

2010-01-01

The paper first traces the history of thinking about language from the Greek writers of the fifth century BC to the development of the first Greek grammar in about 100 BC. Since the glories of Ancient Greek literature predate the development of grammar, there is every reason to doubt the received wisdom that one must have an explicit knowledge of…

An Exploration of the Relationship between Vietnamese Students' Knowledge of L1 Grammar and Their English Grammar Proficiency

Science.gov (United States)

Tran, Tammie M.

2010-01-01

The problem. This research study explores an important issue in the field of TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) and second language acquisition (SLA). Its purpose is to examine the relationship between Vietnamese students' L1 grammar knowledge and their English grammar proficiency. Furthermore, it investigates the extent to…

An Overview of the Nigel Text Generation Grammar.

Science.gov (United States)

1983-04-01

34 76b, Hudson 76, Halliday 81, de Joia 80, Fawcett 80].3 1.2. Design Goals for the Grammar Three kinds of goals have guided the work of creating Nigel...Davey 79] Davey, A., Discourse Production, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 1979. [ de Joia 80] de Joia , A., and A. Stenton, Terms in Systemic...1 1.1. The Text Generation Task as a Stimulus for Grammar Design .........................1I -1.2. Design Goals for the Grammar

A constraint-based bottom-up counterpart to definite clause grammars

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christiansen, Henning

2004-01-01

A new grammar formalism, CHR Grammars (CHRG), is proposed that provides a constraint-solving approach to language analysis, built on top of the programming language of Constraint Handling Rules in the same way as Definite Clause Grammars (DCG) on Prolog. CHRG works bottom-up and adds the following......, integrity constraints, operators a la assumption grammars, and to incorporate other constraint solvers. (iv)~Context-sensitive rules that apply for disambiguation, coordination in natural language and tagger-like rules....

Grammar-Based Specification and Parsing of Binary File Formats

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

William Underwood

2012-03-01

Full Text Available The capability to validate and view or play binary file formats, as well as to convert binary file formats to standard or current file formats, is critically important to the preservation of digital data and records. This paper describes the extension of context-free grammars from strings to binary files. Binary files are arrays of data types, such as long and short integers, floating-point numbers and pointers, as well as characters. The concept of an attribute grammar is extended to these context-free array grammars. This attribute grammar has been used to define a number of chunk-based and directory-based binary file formats. A parser generator has been used with some of these grammars to generate syntax checkers (recognizers for validating binary file formats. Among the potential benefits of an attribute grammar-based approach to specification and parsing of binary file formats is that attribute grammars not only support format validation, but support generation of error messages during validation of format, validation of semantic constraints, attribute value extraction (characterization, generation of viewers or players for file formats, and conversion to current or standard file formats. The significance of these results is that with these extensions to core computer science concepts, traditional parser/compiler technologies can potentially be used as a part of a general, cost effective curation strategy for binary file formats.

Combinatorial Hybrid Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Jesper Abildgaard; Wisniewski, Rafal; Grunnet, Jacob Deleuran

2008-01-01

indicates for a given face the future simplex. In the suggested definition we allow nondeterminacy in form of splitting and merging of solution trajectories. The combinatorial vector field gives rise to combinatorial counterparts of most concepts from dynamical systems, such as duals to vector fields, flow......, flow lines, fixed points and Lyapunov functions. Finally it will be shown how this theory extends to switched dynamical systems and an algorithmic overview of how to do supervisory control will be shown towards the end....

Measuring strategic control in artificial grammar learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Norman, Elisabeth; Price, Mark C; Jones, Emma

2011-12-01

In response to concerns with existing procedures for measuring strategic control over implicit knowledge in artificial grammar learning (AGL), we introduce a more stringent measurement procedure. After two separate training blocks which each consisted of letter strings derived from a different grammar, participants either judged the grammaticality of novel letter strings with respect to only one of these two grammars (pure-block condition), or had the target grammar varying randomly from trial to trial (novel mixed-block condition) which required a higher degree of conscious flexible control. Random variation in the colour and font of letters was introduced to disguise the nature of the rule and reduce explicit learning. Strategic control was observed both in the pure-block and mixed-block conditions, and even among participants who did not realise the rule was based on letter identity. This indicated detailed strategic control in the absence of explicit learning. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

How Should English Grammar Be Taught in Middle Schools By Wang Shikun

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

王仕坤

2014-01-01

This paper mainly deals with the idea that whether grammar teaching should be weakened or not ,the importance of grammar teaching,the present situation of grammar and some suggestions on how to teach grammar ,aiming at the improvement of English teaching and learning.

A brief analysis of the necessity of grammar teaching in CLT

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

胡晓; 王榛

2017-01-01

Grammar teaching is the important component of communicative language teaching, and also the teaching content of communicative approach. This study is going to analyze the status of English grammar learning, the theoretical basis of CLT, and some difficulties with regard to grammar education in China, while discussing teachers might try to adjust the current grammar approach in communicative English teaching.

cDREM: inferring dynamic combinatorial gene regulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Wise, Aaron; Bar-Joseph, Ziv

2015-04-01

Genes are often combinatorially regulated by multiple transcription factors (TFs). Such combinatorial regulation plays an important role in development and facilitates the ability of cells to respond to different stresses. While a number of approaches have utilized sequence and ChIP-based datasets to study combinational regulation, these have often ignored the combinational logic and the dynamics associated with such regulation. Here we present cDREM, a new method for reconstructing dynamic models of combinatorial regulation. cDREM integrates time series gene expression data with (static) protein interaction data. The method is based on a hidden Markov model and utilizes the sparse group Lasso to identify small subsets of combinatorially active TFs, their time of activation, and the logical function they implement. We tested cDREM on yeast and human data sets. Using yeast we show that the predicted combinatorial sets agree with other high throughput genomic datasets and improve upon prior methods developed to infer combinatorial regulation. Applying cDREM to study human response to flu, we were able to identify several combinatorial TF sets, some of which were known to regulate immune response while others represent novel combinations of important TFs.

Flexible Processing and the Design of Grammar

Science.gov (United States)

Sag, Ivan A.; Wasow, Thomas

2015-01-01

We explore the consequences of letting the incremental and integrative nature of language processing inform the design of competence grammar. What emerges is a view of grammar as a system of local monotonic constraints that provide a direct characterization of the signs (the form-meaning correspondences) of a given language. This…

Reading and Grammar Learning through Mobile Phones

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Shudong; Smith, Simon

2013-01-01

This paper describes an ongoing language-learning project, three years into its development. We examine both the feasibility and the limitations of developing English reading and grammar skills through the interface of mobile phones. Throughout the project, reading and grammar materials were regularly sent to students' mobile phones. Students read…

Combinatorial designs constructions and analysis

CERN Document Server

Stinson, Douglas R

2004-01-01

Created to teach students many of the most important techniques used for constructing combinatorial designs, this is an ideal textbook for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses in combinatorial design theory. The text features clear explanations of basic designs, such as Steiner and Kirkman triple systems, mutual orthogonal Latin squares, finite projective and affine planes, and Steiner quadruple systems. In these settings, the student will master various construction techniques, both classic and modern, and will be well-prepared to construct a vast array of combinatorial designs. Design theory offers a progressive approach to the subject, with carefully ordered results. It begins with simple constructions that gradually increase in complexity. Each design has a construction that contains new ideas or that reinforces and builds upon similar ideas previously introduced. A new text/reference covering all apsects of modern combinatorial design theory. Graduates and professionals in computer science, applie...

GRAMMAR IN TEFL: A CRITIQUE OF INDONESIAN HIGH SCHOOL TEXTBOOKS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peter Collins

2006-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract: The aim of this paper is to critically assess the presentation of English grammar in textbooks used in secondary schools in Indonesia. The influence of the Communicative Approach is in evidence in the books examined, and yet the importance of explicit grammar instruction is not ignored, reflecting the view of many today that grammatical forms cannot be successfully learnt merely on the basis of comprehensible input. Despite recognition of its central role, the grammar instruction presented in the textbooks invites questions as to its linguistic adequacy and accuracy. Writers often seem unwilling to take on board the insights recorded in the influential and authoritative descriptive grammars of recent years, continuing to accept tacitly the principles exposed in Traditional Grammar.

The Role of Simple Semantics in the Process of Artificial Grammar Learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Öttl, Birgit; Jäger, Gerhard; Kaup, Barbara

2017-10-01

This study investigated the effect of semantic information on artificial grammar learning (AGL). Recursive grammars of different complexity levels (regular language, mirror language, copy language) were investigated in a series of AGL experiments. In the with-semantics condition, participants acquired semantic information prior to the AGL experiment; in the without-semantics control condition, participants did not receive semantic information. It was hypothesized that semantics would generally facilitate grammar acquisition and that the learning benefit in the with-semantics conditions would increase with increasing grammar complexity. Experiment 1 showed learning effects for all grammars but no performance difference between conditions. Experiment 2 replicated the absence of a semantic benefit for all grammars even though semantic information was more prominent during grammar acquisition as compared to Experiment 1. Thus, we did not find evidence for the idea that semantics facilitates grammar acquisition, which seems to support the view of an independent syntactic processing component.

Missionary Pragmalinguistics: Father Diego Luis de Sanvitores’ grammar (1668) within the tradition of Philippine grammars

OpenAIRE

Winkler, A.P.

2016-01-01

The grammar written in Latin, in 1668, by the Jesuit missionary Father Diego Luis de Sanvitores (1627-1672) is the oldest description we have of Chamorro, a language spoken on the Mariana islands. The grammar received a number of bad reviews and as a consequence has become neglected and almost forgotten. The main point of criticism has been that Sanvitores used the Latin grammatical framework to explain a language that in many ways does not fit this framework. In this thesis it is argued inst...

Language Practice with Multimedia Supported Web-Based Grammar Revision Material

Science.gov (United States)

Baturay, Meltem Huri; Daloglu, Aysegul; Yildirim, Soner

2010-01-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the perceptions of elementary-level English language learners towards web-based, multimedia-annotated grammar learning. WEBGRAM, a system designed to provide supplementary web-based grammar revision material, uses audio-visual aids to enrich the contextual presentation of grammar and allows learners to…

A few thoughts about teaching listening and grammar

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

吴西

2014-01-01

Listening and grammar are the most difficult subjects for both teacher and students. This passage discussed how to visual aid and brain storming in the listening class;and the importance of confidence in the grammar teaching and learning.

On the Balance of Grammar and Communication Teaching for Chinese Students

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

秦耀咏

2002-01-01

To the problem of neglecting grammar teaching when the Communicative approach is encouraged,this paper tries to analyze the position of teaching grammar and put forward some suggestions on how to balance grammar and communication teaching.

Spoken Grammar and Its Role in the English Language Classroom

Science.gov (United States)

Hilliard, Amanda

2014-01-01

This article addresses key issues and considerations for teachers wanting to incorporate spoken grammar activities into their own teaching and also focuses on six common features of spoken grammar, with practical activities and suggestions for teaching them in the language classroom. The hope is that this discussion of spoken grammar and its place…

Probe into Methods of Teaching English Grammar

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

刘春华

2011-01-01

@@ 1 Definition of grammar People sometlmes descibe grammaras the "rules" of a language, to be accurate,grammar is the science dealing with thesystematic rules of a language,its forms,inflections,syntax,and the rules of usingthem correctly.It is summarized from lan-guage use and practice,and reflects thelogic of thinking in people's speech orwriting.

Categorial compositionality: a category theory explanation for the systematicity of human cognition.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Steven Phillips

Full Text Available Classical and Connectionist theories of cognitive architecture seek to explain systematicity (i.e., the property of human cognition whereby cognitive capacity comes in groups of related behaviours as a consequence of syntactically and functionally compositional representations, respectively. However, both theories depend on ad hoc assumptions to exclude specific instances of these forms of compositionality (e.g. grammars, networks that do not account for systematicity. By analogy with the Ptolemaic (i.e. geocentric theory of planetary motion, although either theory can be made to be consistent with the data, both nonetheless fail to fully explain it. Category theory, a branch of mathematics, provides an alternative explanation based on the formal concept of adjunction, which relates a pair of structure-preserving maps, called functors. A functor generalizes the notion of a map between representational states to include a map between state transformations (or processes. In a formal sense, systematicity is a necessary consequence of a higher-order theory of cognitive architecture, in contrast to the first-order theories derived from Classicism or Connectionism. Category theory offers a re-conceptualization for cognitive science, analogous to the one that Copernicus provided for astronomy, where representational states are no longer the center of the cognitive universe--replaced by the relationships between the maps that transform them.

Categorial compositionality: a category theory explanation for the systematicity of human cognition.

Science.gov (United States)

Phillips, Steven; Wilson, William H

2010-07-22

Classical and Connectionist theories of cognitive architecture seek to explain systematicity (i.e., the property of human cognition whereby cognitive capacity comes in groups of related behaviours) as a consequence of syntactically and functionally compositional representations, respectively. However, both theories depend on ad hoc assumptions to exclude specific instances of these forms of compositionality (e.g. grammars, networks) that do not account for systematicity. By analogy with the Ptolemaic (i.e. geocentric) theory of planetary motion, although either theory can be made to be consistent with the data, both nonetheless fail to fully explain it. Category theory, a branch of mathematics, provides an alternative explanation based on the formal concept of adjunction, which relates a pair of structure-preserving maps, called functors. A functor generalizes the notion of a map between representational states to include a map between state transformations (or processes). In a formal sense, systematicity is a necessary consequence of a higher-order theory of cognitive architecture, in contrast to the first-order theories derived from Classicism or Connectionism. Category theory offers a re-conceptualization for cognitive science, analogous to the one that Copernicus provided for astronomy, where representational states are no longer the center of the cognitive universe--replaced by the relationships between the maps that transform them.

Associative Cognitive CREED for Successful Grammar Learning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrias Tri Susanto

2016-06-01

Full Text Available This research article reports a qualitative study which was conducted to investigate ways successful EFL learners learned English grammar. The subjects of this research were eight successful EFL learners from six different countries in Asia: China, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam. The data was collected by interviewing each subject in person individually at an agreed time and place. The result showed that all the grammar learning processes described by the subjects were closely linked to the framework of Associative Cognitive CREED. There were also some contributing factors that could be integrally combined salient to the overall grammar learning process. However, interestingly, each subject emphasized different aspects of learning.

Business Rules Definition for Decision Support System Using Matrix Grammar

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Eva Zámečníková

2016-06-01

Full Text Available This paper deals with formalization of business rules by formal grammars. In our work we focus on methods for high frequency data processing. We process data by using complex event platforms (CEP which allow to process high volume of data in nearly real time. Decision making process is contained by one level of processing of CEP. Business rules are used for decision making process description. For the business rules formalization we chose matrix grammar. The use of formal grammars is quite natural as the structure of rules and its rewriting is very similar both for the business rules and for formal grammar. In addition the matrix grammar allows to simulate dependencies and correlations between the rules. The result of this work is a model for data processing of knowledge-based decision support system described by the rules of formal grammar. This system will support the decision making in CEP. This solution may contribute to the speedup of decision making process in complex event processing and also to the formal verification of these systems.

Difficulties in Teaching and Learning Grammar in an EFL Context

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Mekhlafi, Abdu Mohammed; Nagaratnam, Ramani Perur

2011-01-01

The role of grammar instruction in an ESL/EFL context has been for decades a major issue for students and teachers alike. Researchers have debated whether grammar should be taught in the classroom and students, for their part, have generally looked upon grammar instruction as a necessary evil at best, and an avoidable burden at worst. The paper…

Communicating Grammatically: Evaluating a Learner Strategy Website for Spanish Grammar

Science.gov (United States)

Cohen, Andrew D.; Pinilla-Herrera, Angela; Thompson, Jonathan R.; Witzig, Lance E.

2011-01-01

After a brief introduction to language learner strategies and grammar strategies as a subcategory, it is pointed out that research on the use of grammar strategies by learners of a second language (L2) has been limited. The article then describes the construction of a website with strategies for learning and performing Spanish grammar, with a…

Enhancing Empirical Research for Linguistically Motivated Precision Grammars

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Fokkens, A.S.

2014-01-01

Grammars of natural language are highly complex objects. This complexity is reflected in formal analyses found in both syntactic theory and computational grammars. In particular, there are two factors that make it notoriously difficult to make strong assertions about analyses for natural language

TG Grammar's Implications for the Foreign Language Teaching

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

殷彩

2009-01-01

Chomsky's Transformational-Generative (TG) grammar is another revolution to linguistics after Saussure's strueturalism, and it plays an important role in the modem linguistics. Introducing the research perspective and method of TG grammar, this paper analyses its implications for the foreign language teaching.

On the Equivalence of Formal Grammars and Machines.

Science.gov (United States)

Lund, Bruce

1991-01-01

Explores concepts of formal language and automata theory underlying computational linguistics. A computational formalism is described known as a "logic grammar," with which computational systems process linguistic data, with examples in declarative and procedural semantics and definite clause grammars. (13 references) (CB)

Metagrammar Engineering: Towards systematic exploration of implemented grammars

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Fokkens, A.S.

2011-01-01

When designing grammars of natural language, typically, more than one formal analysis can account for a given phenomenon. Moreover, because analyses interact, the choices made by the engineer influence the possibilities available in further grammar development. The order in which phenomena are

A Pure Object-Oriented Embedding of Attribute Grammars

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sloane, A.M.; Kats, L.C.L.; Visser, E.

2010-01-01

Attribute grammars are a powerful specification paradigm for many language processing tasks, particularly semantic analysis of programming languages. Recent attribute grammar systems use dynamic scheduling algorithms to evaluate attributes by need. In this paper, we show how to remove the need for a

Negotiated Grammar Transformation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

V. Zaytsev (Vadim)

2012-01-01

htmlabstractIn this paper, we study controlled adaptability of metamodel transformations. We consider one of the most rigid metamodel transformation formalisms — automated grammar transformation with operator suites, where a transformation script is built in such a way that it is essentially meant

Combinatorial structures to modeling simple games and applications

Science.gov (United States)

Molinero, Xavier

2017-09-01

We connect three different topics: combinatorial structures, game theory and chemistry. In particular, we establish the bases to represent some simple games, defined as influence games, and molecules, defined from atoms, by using combinatorial structures. First, we characterize simple games as influence games using influence graphs. It let us to modeling simple games as combinatorial structures (from the viewpoint of structures or graphs). Second, we formally define molecules as combinations of atoms. It let us to modeling molecules as combinatorial structures (from the viewpoint of combinations). It is open to generate such combinatorial structures using some specific techniques as genetic algorithms, (meta-)heuristics algorithms and parallel programming, among others.

Indirect Positive Evidence in the Acquisition of a Subset Grammar

Science.gov (United States)

Schwartz, Misha; Goad, Heather

2017-01-01

This article proposes that second language learners can use indirect positive evidence (IPE) to acquire a phonological grammar that is a subset of their L1 grammar. IPE is evidence from errors in the learner's L1 made by native speakers of the learner's L2. It has been assumed that subset grammars may be acquired using direct or indirect negative…

Dynamic combinatorial libraries : new opportunities in systems chemistry

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hunt, Rosemary A. R.; Otto, Sijbren; Hunt, Rosemary A.R.

2011-01-01

Combinatorial chemistry is a tool for selecting molecules with special properties. Dynamic combinatorial chemistry started off aiming to be just that. However, unlike ordinary combinatorial chemistry, the interconnectedness of dynamic libraries gives them an extra dimension. An understanding of

Handbook of graph grammars and computing by graph transformation

CERN Document Server

Engels, G; Kreowski, H J; Rozenberg, G

1999-01-01

Graph grammars originated in the late 60s, motivated by considerations about pattern recognition and compiler construction. Since then, the list of areas which have interacted with the development of graph grammars has grown quite impressively. Besides the aforementioned areas, it includes software specification and development, VLSI layout schemes, database design, modeling of concurrent systems, massively parallel computer architectures, logic programming, computer animation, developmental biology, music composition, visual languages, and many others.The area of graph grammars and graph tran

Dwie (antyfilozoficzne „gramatyki” Wittgensteina [Two (anti philosophical grammars of Ludwig Wittgenstein

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Adam Nowaczyk

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Wittgenstein is the author of two conceptions of “grammar”, that were meant to be tools of reaching the same goal: discrediting of the traditional, i.e. “metaphysical” questions of philosophy. His early conception concerns logical grammar being the language of logic notation, which is devoid of logical constants. This idea was supported by the ontological thesis that there are no logical objects. In fact, it was not indispensable for achieving the intended purpose, since the elimination of philosophical problems was provided by the semantic argument that the only sensible statements are those of the natural sciences. The second concept of grammar, presented in the writings of the later Wittgenstein, seems more ambiguous. Grammar is a set of rules of the language game, having a status of grammatical statements. Examples of such statements are diverse, and desirable, according to the authors, reformulation of them all into concrete orders or prohibitions seems problematic. In the Investigations Wittgenstein distinguishes between deep and surface grammar, which serves to determine the proper task of philosophy as description of the deep grammar (especially the grammar of philosophically relevant words. In this sense New Philosophy is a kind of philosophical grammar. Wittgensteinian grammar is also anti-philosophical, as it aims at the elimination of erroneous (pseudometaphysical claims derived from misleading forms of surface grammar. Despite the differences in the concepts of language and grammar in the early and late Wittgenstein, he has not changed his critical approach to the traditional philosophical questions.

Kiss my asterisk a feisty guide to punctuation and grammar

CERN Document Server

Baranick, Jenny

2014-01-01

Grammar has finally let its hair down! Unlike uptight grammar books that overwhelm us with every single grammar rule, Kiss My Asterisk is like a bikini: it's fun, flirty, and covers only the most important bits. Its lessons, which are 100 percent free of complicated grammar jargon, have been carefully selected to include today's most common, noticeable errors—the ones that confuse our readers or make them wonder if we are, in fact, smarter than a fifth grader. What is the proper use of an apostrophe? When should an ellipsis be used instead of an em dash? Why do we capitalize President Obama bu

Boltzmann Oracle for Combinatorial Systems

OpenAIRE

Pivoteau , Carine; Salvy , Bruno; Soria , Michèle

2008-01-01

International audience; Boltzmann random generation applies to well-defined systems of recursive combinatorial equations. It relies on oracles giving values of the enumeration generating series inside their disk of convergence. We show that the combinatorial systems translate into numerical iteration schemes that provide such oracles. In particular, we give a fast oracle based on Newton iteration.

Nigel: A Systemic Grammar for Text Generation.

Science.gov (United States)

1983-02-01

presumed. Basic references on the systemic framework include [Berry 75, Berry 77, Halliday 76a, Halliday 76b, Hudson 76, Halliday 81, de Joia 80...Edinburgh, 1979. [do Joia 80] de Joia , A., and A. Stanton, Terms in Systemic Linguistics, Batsford Academic and Educational, Ltd., London, 1980. -’C...1 A Grammar for Text Generation- -The Challenge ................................. 1 *1.2 A Grammar for Text Generation--The Design

The Role of Grammar Instruction in Language Teaching

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

无

2001-01-01

@@ The role of grammar instruction in foreign or second language acquisition is one of the most con troversial issues in foreign/second language teach ing and learning research. The advocators of gram mar instruction argue that grammar should be the core of language instruction and formal instruction enhances formal accuracy. On the other hand, crit ics naintain that the grammar knowledge has lim ited uses and may hinder the students from acquir ing the communicative competence and efficiency. Undoubtedly these two extreme theories often put teachers into a dilemma. What theory should they believe then? Do they accept the one and ignore the other?

Combinatorial Interpretation of General Eulerian Numbers

OpenAIRE

Tingyao Xiong; Jonathan I. Hall; Hung-Ping Tsao

2014-01-01

Since 1950s, mathematicians have successfully interpreted the traditional Eulerian numbers and $q-$Eulerian numbers combinatorially. In this paper, the authors give a combinatorial interpretation to the general Eulerian numbers defined on general arithmetic progressions { a, a+d, a+2d,...}.

The minimalist grammar of action

Science.gov (United States)

Pastra, Katerina; Aloimonos, Yiannis

2012-01-01

Language and action have been found to share a common neural basis and in particular a common ‘syntax’, an analogous hierarchical and compositional organization. While language structure analysis has led to the formulation of different grammatical formalisms and associated discriminative or generative computational models, the structure of action is still elusive and so are the related computational models. However, structuring action has important implications on action learning and generalization, in both human cognition research and computation. In this study, we present a biologically inspired generative grammar of action, which employs the structure-building operations and principles of Chomsky's Minimalist Programme as a reference model. In this grammar, action terminals combine hierarchically into temporal sequences of actions of increasing complexity; the actions are bound with the involved tools and affected objects and are governed by certain goals. We show, how the tool role and the affected-object role of an entity within an action drives the derivation of the action syntax in this grammar and controls recursion, merge and move, the latter being mechanisms that manifest themselves not only in human language, but in human action too. PMID:22106430

USING PREZI PRESENTATION AS INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIAL IN ENGLISH GRAMMAR CLASSROOM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rahmat Yusny

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Utilizing digital technology as a medium for educational instruction has now become one of the 21 century pedagogy trends. Numerous researches suggested that using digital technology provides positive impacts as it gives more access to resources for the learning. In Foreign language pedagogy, using digital technology fosters learners’ autonomy by self-managing the amount of learning inputs outside the classroom. However, many studies emphasize more on the communicative and the vast resources accessible for the learners. Very limited attention given to the impact of the visual aid that focuses on aesthetic values of instructional design. English Grammar is one of many subjects that often received complaints by learners and claimed as a “boring” subject. Many English teachers especially in developing countries still utilize traditional method in teaching grammar. They introduce sentence structure using grammar formulas. Although, this method is still very popular, it often considered monotonous by many learners. This paper discusses about the study of using Prezi.com presentation to deliver grammar instruction materials in an English language classroom. From the study, it was found that the majority of the students involved in the study are fond of the materials and the post-test results showed grammar mastery improvement after receiving a grammar lesson that shows instructional materials using prezi. On the other hand, the control class that uses only writing boards and worksheets showed less improvement. This research provides new technique in developing grammar instruction design using a web tool called Prezi in enhancing the display of the instruction material. The experiment was given to students of English Language Education. The result of the study shows students’ positive perception toward the use of Prezi in English grammar instructional material.

Data-Driven Learning and Awareness-Raising: An Effective Tandem to Improve Grammar in Written Composition?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

María Luisa Pérez Cañado

2006-09-01

Full Text Available The present paper, framed within the ECTS scheme currently being piloted at the University of Jaén, reports on a study carried out in the second semester of the academic year 2004-5 with English Philology freshmen at this University. One of its aims, described in an initial section of the paper, was to determine whether the use of Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL, and Data-Driven Learning (DDL, could help raise awareness of and thus remediate the grammar weaknesses of such pupils under four categories (articles, verb tenses, verbal complementation, and prepositions. The procedure, outlined subsequently, involved using DDL to raise awareness of the main grammar mistakes in these headings, which had been previously identified in first year students’ production through the use of an UCLEE-error-tagged written learner corpus. Two one-hour seminars were employed weekly, each one with a group of 40 students, to raise awareness of these mistakes with the help of web-based resources. Four were the steps undertaken: initial attempts on the part of the students to identify the mistakes in the seven headings; a session provided by the authors on CALL as a means to raise awareness of, identify, and solve written mistakes; use of these electronic resources to contrast their initial error identification; and explicit correction of the mistakes in each category. The results and implications, discussed in a final section, highlight that DDL and awareness-raising – albeit in some categories more than in others – indeed constitute an effective tandem when it comes to improving grammatical aspects in written composition at University level.

On the interaction of Linguistic Typology and Functional Grammar

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rijkhoff, J.

2002-01-01

of adjectives as a distinct word class. Conversely it will be shown that facts from many different languages have played an important role in the development of a layered model of the noun phrase in Functional Grammar and how currently these facts are used to test hypotheses concerning parallels between NPs...... empirical research in a wide variety of languages as practiced in the context of linguistic typology and one particular theory, Simon Dik's theory of Functional Grammar. In my view, the relationship between Functional Grammar and linguistic typology is an excellent example of the fruitful combination...... of theory driven data collection and data driven hypothesis formation. Furthermore, typological facts do not only serve to confirm the theory of Functional Grammar, but they also serve as a heuristics for an extension of the theory.Research conducted within the wider theoretical framework of Dik...

Grammar for College Writing: A Sentence-Composing Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Killgallon, Don; Killgallon, Jenny

2010-01-01

Across America, in thousands of classrooms, from elementary school to high school, the time-tested sentence-composing approach has given students tools to become better writers. Now the authors present a much anticipated sentence-composing grammar worktext for college writing. This book presents a new and easier way to understand grammar: (1) Noun…

Combinatorial optimization on a Boltzmann machine

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Korst, J.H.M.; Aarts, E.H.L.

1989-01-01

We discuss the problem of solving (approximately) combinatorial optimization problems on a Boltzmann machine. It is shown for a number of combinatorial optimization problems how they can be mapped directly onto a Boltzmann machine by choosing appropriate connection patterns and connection strengths.

Combinatorial synthesis of natural products

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, John

2002-01-01

Combinatorial syntheses allow production of compound libraries in an expeditious and organized manner immediately applicable for high-throughput screening. Natural products possess a pedigree to justify quality and appreciation in drug discovery and development. Currently, we are seeing a rapid...... increase in application of natural products in combinatorial chemistry and vice versa. The therapeutic areas of infectious disease and oncology still dominate but many new areas are emerging. Several complex natural products have now been synthesised by solid-phase methods and have created the foundation...... for preparation of combinatorial libraries. In other examples, natural products or intermediates have served as building blocks or scaffolds in the synthesis of complex natural products, bioactive analogues or designed hybrid molecules. Finally, structural motifs from the biologically active parent molecule have...

Tumor-targeting peptides from combinatorial libraries*

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Ruiwu; Li, Xiaocen; Xiao, Wenwu; Lam, Kit S.

2018-01-01

Cancer is one of the major and leading causes of death worldwide. Two of the greatest challenges infighting cancer are early detection and effective treatments with no or minimum side effects. Widespread use of targeted therapies and molecular imaging in clinics requires high affinity, tumor-specific agents as effective targeting vehicles to deliver therapeutics and imaging probes to the primary or metastatic tumor sites. Combinatorial libraries such as phage-display and one-bead one-compound (OBOC) peptide libraries are powerful approaches in discovering tumor-targeting peptides. This review gives an overview of different combinatorial library technologies that have been used for the discovery of tumor-targeting peptides. Examples of tumor-targeting peptides identified from each combinatorial library method will be discussed. Published tumor-targeting peptide ligands and their applications will also be summarized by the combinatorial library methods and their corresponding binding receptors. PMID:27210583

Current Developments in Research on the Teaching of Grammar

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Hossein Nassaji; Sandra Fotos

2006-01-01

@@ With the rise of communicative methodology in the late 1970s, the role of grammar instruction in second language learning was downplayed, and it was even suggested that teaching grammar was not only unhelpful but might actually be detrimental.

STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TO EXPLICIT GRAMMAR TEACHING AND ITS RELATIONAHIP TO COMMUNICATION

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

2000-01-01

Grammar teaching is greatly emphasised in English language teaching in China, but does it really attain the goal the students desire? An investigation was made with overseas students about their attitudes to explicit grammar teaching. The investigation reveals that grammar teaching should focus on developing the learners’ communicative ability more than presenting and explaining grammatical rules.

Grammar Maturity Model

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zaytsev, V.; Pierantonio, A.; Schätz, B.; Tamzalit, D.

2014-01-01

The evolution of a software language (whether modelled by a grammar or a schema or a metamodel) is not limited to development of new versions and dialects. An important dimension of a software language evolution is maturing in the sense of improving the quality of its definition. In this paper, we

REEP Grammar Favorites.

Science.gov (United States)

Arlington County Public Schools, VA. REEP, Arlington Education and Employment Program.

This document provides the Arlington Education and Employment Program's (REEP) favorite techniques for teaching English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) grammar. The focus, levels, and materials needed are presented for each of the techniques as well as the steps to follow. (Adjunct ERIC Clearinghouse for ESL Literacy Education) (Author/VWL)

Neural Meta-Memes Framework for Combinatorial Optimization

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Li Qin; Lim, Meng Hiot; Ong, Yew Soon

In this paper, we present a Neural Meta-Memes Framework (NMMF) for combinatorial optimization. NMMF is a framework which models basic optimization algorithms as memes and manages them dynamically when solving combinatorial problems. NMMF encompasses neural networks which serve as the overall planner/coordinator to balance the workload between memes. We show the efficacy of the proposed NMMF through empirical study on a class of combinatorial problem, the quadratic assignment problem (QAP).

Grammar-Supported 3d Indoor Reconstruction from Point Clouds for As-Built Bim

Science.gov (United States)

Becker, S.; Peter, M.; Fritsch, D.

2015-03-01

The paper presents a grammar-based approach for the robust automatic reconstruction of 3D interiors from raw point clouds. The core of the approach is a 3D indoor grammar which is an extension of our previously published grammar concept for the modeling of 2D floor plans. The grammar allows for the modeling of buildings whose horizontal, continuous floors are traversed by hallways providing access to the rooms as it is the case for most office buildings or public buildings like schools, hospitals or hotels. The grammar is designed in such way that it can be embedded in an iterative automatic learning process providing a seamless transition from LOD3 to LOD4 building models. Starting from an initial low-level grammar, automatically derived from the window representations of an available LOD3 building model, hypotheses about indoor geometries can be generated. The hypothesized indoor geometries are checked against observation data - here 3D point clouds - collected in the interior of the building. The verified and accepted geometries form the basis for an automatic update of the initial grammar. By this, the knowledge content of the initial grammar is enriched, leading to a grammar with increased quality. This higher-level grammar can then be applied to predict realistic geometries to building parts where only sparse observation data are available. Thus, our approach allows for the robust generation of complete 3D indoor models whose quality can be improved continuously as soon as new observation data are fed into the grammar-based reconstruction process. The feasibility of our approach is demonstrated based on a real-world example.

Explicit Grammar Instruction in L2 Learners’Writing Development:Effective or Ineffective?

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

田秀峰

2012-01-01

　　It has long been in dispute about whether explicit grammar teaching is more effective in second language learning or implicit grammar teaching is. However, there are more than one factor to take into consideration while discussing which way is better for L2 learners. This short essay aims at depicting three respects concerning grammar teaching, namely learning context, language learners’beliefs and needs, and grammar instruction. When educators and practitioners try to adopt grammar instruction either implicitly or explicitly in L2 learners’writing development, they probably need to consider the above three factors and to find out the best way to produce more effective teaching results among their students

The autonomy of grammar and semantic internalism

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dobler Tamara

2014-01-01

Full Text Available In his post-Tractatus work on natural language use, Wittgenstein defended the notion of what he dubbed the autonomy of grammar. According to this thought, grammar - or semantics, in a more recent idiom - is essentially autonomous from metaphysical considerations, and is not answerable to the nature of things. The argument has several related incarnations in Wittgenstein’s post-Tractatus writings, and has given rise to a number of important insights, both critical and constructive. In this paper I will argue for a potential connection between Wittgenstein’s autonomy argument and some more recent internalist arguments for the autonomy of semantics. My main motivation for establishing this connection comes from the fact that the later Wittgenstein’s comments on grammar and meaning stand in opposition to some of the core assumptions of semantic externalism.

Number systems and combinatorial problems

OpenAIRE

Yordzhev, Krasimir

2014-01-01

The present work has been designed for students in secondary school and their teachers in mathematics. We will show how with the help of our knowledge of number systems we can solve problems from other fields of mathematics for example in combinatorial analysis and most of all when proving some combinatorial identities. To demonstrate discussed in this article method we have chosen several suitable mathematical tasks.

Interactive Russian Grammar: The Case System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rimma Gam

2009-01-01

Full Text Available My paper addresses a problem many of us in North American college language programs confront regularly, the solution to which regularly and frustratingly remains just out of our reach. I refer to the teaching of the most basic and most crucial element of Russian grammar, namely, its case system, and teaching it to our students whose native language, English, does not have such a system. As I teach the Russian cases, I see vividly the disconnect between grammar presented for students (simplified, episodic, based on the "pick it up along the way" principle and the learned papers on Russian grammar by linguists, which are barely comprehensible to a non-linguist. Materials in the middle are lacking-materials to help a literature professor acting as a "de facto" language instructor understand and address the needs of students as they learn this crucial segment of basic Russian grammar. This core element of Russian grammar is presented to students in the first year of college language study, is revisited in the second year, and very often by the third year students either manage to completely block it out from their memory (as if it were some traumatic experience that happened "a long time ago"-that is, before .summer break-but most importantly due to the lack of practice or demonstrate a partial or even complete lack of understanding or misunderstanding of this system forcing us to deal with it again in the third year. Not only is it frustrating for both the students and the language instructor; but from the point of view of their overall proficiency, the lack of control of the case system holds our students back. There can be no talk of advanced language proficiency without a complete and automatic mastery of this basic system. Unfortunately, regardless of the specific textbooks used, the students very often manage not to have a general idea and mastery of this system even by the third year of study.

Introduction to combinatorial geometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gabriel, T.A.; Emmett, M.B.

1985-01-01

The combinatorial geometry package as used in many three-dimensional multimedia Monte Carlo radiation transport codes, such as HETC, MORSE, and EGS, is becoming the preferred way to describe simple and complicated systems. Just about any system can be modeled using the package with relatively few input statements. This can be contrasted against the older style geometry packages in which the required input statements could be large even for relatively simple systems. However, with advancements come some difficulties. The users of combinatorial geometry must be able to visualize more, and, in some instances, all of the system at a time. Errors can be introduced into the modeling which, though slight, and at times hard to detect, can have devastating effects on the calculated results. As with all modeling packages, the best way to learn the combinatorial geometry is to use it, first on a simple system then on more complicated systems. The basic technique for the description of the geometry consists of defining the location and shape of the various zones in terms of the intersections and unions of geometric bodies. The geometric bodies which are generally included in most combinatorial geometry packages are: (1) box, (2) right parallelepiped, (3) sphere, (4) right circular cylinder, (5) right elliptic cylinder, (6) ellipsoid, (7) truncated right cone, (8) right angle wedge, and (9) arbitrary polyhedron. The data necessary to describe each of these bodies are given. As can be easily noted, there are some subsets included for simplicity

From LL-regular to LL(1) grammars: Transformations, covers and parsing

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nijholt, Antinus

1982-01-01

In this paper it is shown that it is possible to transform any LL-regular grammar G into an LL(1) grammar G' in such a way that parsing G' is as good as parsing G. That is, a parse of a sentence of grammar G can be obtained with a simple string homomorphism from the parse of a corresponding sentence

Introduction to combinatorial designs

CERN Document Server

Wallis, WD

2007-01-01

Combinatorial theory is one of the fastest growing areas of modern mathematics. Focusing on a major part of this subject, Introduction to Combinatorial Designs, Second Edition provides a solid foundation in the classical areas of design theory as well as in more contemporary designs based on applications in a variety of fields. After an overview of basic concepts, the text introduces balanced designs and finite geometries. The author then delves into balanced incomplete block designs, covering difference methods, residual and derived designs, and resolvability. Following a chapter on the e

Linearly Ordered Attribute Grammars : With Automatic Augmenting Dependency Selection

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Binsbergen, L. Thomas; Bransen, Jeroen; Dijkstra, Atze

2015-01-01

Attribute Grammars (AGs) extend Context-Free Grammars with attributes: information gathered on the syntax tree that adds semantics to the syntax. AGs are very well suited for describing static analyses, code-generation and other phases incorporated in a compiler. AGs are divided into classes based

What is the Spirit of the English Grammar Teaching?

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Haijiang Zhao

2016-01-01

In China,English is a foreign language,not a second language.Chinese students can't learn English well without learning its gram?mar first.As for English teachers,the most important is to help the students to grasp the spirit of English grammar learning.

The Effectiveness of Teaching Traditional Grammar on Writing Composition at the High School Level

Science.gov (United States)

Jaeger, Gina

2011-01-01

Traditional grammar instruction is a challenging element of the English curriculum; both students and teachers struggle with the rules and dull nature of grammar. However, understanding grammar is important because students need to understand the language they speak in order to be effective communicators, and teachers provide grammar instruction…

Use of combinatorial chemistry to speed drug discovery.

Science.gov (United States)

Rádl, S

1998-10-01

IBC's International Conference on Integrating Combinatorial Chemistry into the Discovery Pipeline was held September 14-15, 1998. The program started with a pre-conference workshop on High-Throughput Compound Characterization and Purification. The agenda of the main conference was divided into sessions of Synthesis, Automation and Unique Chemistries; Integrating Combinatorial Chemistry, Medicinal Chemistry and Screening; Combinatorial Chemistry Applications for Drug Discovery; and Information and Data Management. This meeting was an excellent opportunity to see how big pharma, biotech and service companies are addressing the current bottlenecks in combinatorial chemistry to speed drug discovery. (c) 1998 Prous Science. All rights reserved.

Triumph through Texting: Restoring Learners' Interest in Grammar

Science.gov (United States)

Hedjazi Moghari, Mona; Marandi, S. Susan

2017-01-01

It is usually the case that learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) are exposed to language materials in class only, and of course in such a short space of time, they do not always find enough chance to practice English grammar features and become aware of their grammar mistakes. As a potential solution to this problem, the current study…

Access, Rank, and Select in Grammar-compressed Strings

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Belazzougui, Djamal; Cording, Patrick Hagge; Puglisi, Simon J.

2015-01-01

Given a string S of length N on a fixed alphabet of σ symbols, a grammar compressor produces a context-free grammar G of size n that generates S and only S. In this paper we describe data structures to support the following operations on a grammar-compressed string: access(S,i,j) (return substring...... consecutive symbols from S. Alternatively, we can achieve \\O(logτN+m/logσN) query time using \\O(nτlogτ(N/n)logN) bits of space, matching a lower bound stated by Verbin and Yu for strings where N is polynomially related to n when τ = log ε N. For rank and select we describe data structures of size \\O...

Impact of Consciousness-Raising Activities on Young English Language Learners' Grammar Performance

Science.gov (United States)

Fatemipour, Hamidreza; Hemmati, Shiva

2015-01-01

Grammar Consciousness-Raising (GCR) is an approach to teaching of grammar which learners instead of being taught the given rules, experience language data. The data challenge them to rethink, restructure their existing mental grammar and construct an explicit rule to describe the grammatical feature which the data illustrate (Ellis, 2002). And…

Asessing for Structural Understanding in Childrens' Combinatorial Problem Solving.

Science.gov (United States)

English, Lyn

1999-01-01

Assesses children's structural understanding of combinatorial problems when presented in a variety of task situations. Provides an explanatory model of students' combinatorial understandings that informs teaching and assessment. Addresses several components of children's structural understanding of elementary combinatorial problems. (Contains 50…

Dynamic combinatorial chemistry with diselenides and disulfides in water

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Brian; Sørensen, Anne; Gotfredsen, Henrik

2014-01-01

Diselenide exchange is introduced as a reversible reaction in dynamic combinatorial chemistry in water. At neutral pH, diselenides are found to mix with disulfides and form dynamic combinatorial libraries of diselenides, disulfides, and selenenylsulfides. This journal is......Diselenide exchange is introduced as a reversible reaction in dynamic combinatorial chemistry in water. At neutral pH, diselenides are found to mix with disulfides and form dynamic combinatorial libraries of diselenides, disulfides, and selenenylsulfides. This journal is...

A Python-based Interface for Wide Coverage Lexicalized Tree-adjoining Grammars

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wang Ziqi

2015-04-01

Full Text Available This paper describes the design and implementation of a Python-based interface for wide coverage Lexicalized Tree-adjoining Grammars. The grammars are part of the XTAG Grammar project at the University of Pennsylvania, which were hand-written and semi-automatically curated to parse real-world corpora. We provide an interface to the wide coverage English and Korean XTAG grammars. Each XTAG grammar is lexicalized, which means at least one word selects a tree fragment (called an elementary tree or etree. Derivations for sentences are built by combining etrees using substitution (replacement of a tree node with an etree at the frontier of another etree and adjunction (replacement of an internal tree node in an etree by another etree. Each etree is associated with a feature structure representing constraints on substitution and adjunction. Feature structures are combined using unification during the combination of etrees. We plan to integrate our toolkit for XTAG grammars into the Python-based Natural Language Toolkit (NLTK: nltk.org. We have provided an API capable of searching the lexicalized etrees for a given word or multiple words, searching for a etree by name or function, display the lexicalized etrees to the user using a graphical view, display the feature structure associated with each tree node in an etree, hide or highlight features based on a regular expression, and browsing the entire tree database for each XTAG grammar.

What do animals learn in artificial grammar studies?

Science.gov (United States)

Beckers, Gabriël J L; Berwick, Robert C; Okanoya, Kazuo; Bolhuis, Johan J

2017-10-01

Artificial grammar learning is a popular paradigm to study syntactic ability in nonhuman animals. Subjects are first trained to recognize strings of tokens that are sequenced according to grammatical rules. Next, to test if recognition depends on grammaticality, subjects are presented with grammar-consistent and grammar-violating test strings, which they should discriminate between. However, simpler cues may underlie discrimination if they are available. Here, we review stimulus design in a sample of studies that use particular sounds as tokens, and that claim or suggest their results demonstrate a form of sequence rule learning. To assess the extent of acoustic similarity between training and test strings, we use four simple measures corresponding to cues that are likely salient. All stimulus sets contain biases in similarity measures such that grammatical test stimuli resemble training stimuli acoustically more than do non-grammatical test stimuli. These biases may contribute to response behaviour, reducing the strength of grammatical explanations. We conclude that acoustic confounds are a blind spot in artificial grammar learning studies in nonhuman animals. Copyright © 2016 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Fourier analysis in combinatorial number theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shkredov, Il'ya D

2010-01-01

In this survey applications of harmonic analysis to combinatorial number theory are considered. Discussion topics include classical problems of additive combinatorics, colouring problems, higher-order Fourier analysis, theorems about sets of large trigonometric sums, results on estimates for trigonometric sums over subgroups, and the connection between combinatorial and analytic number theory. Bibliography: 162 titles.

Fourier analysis in combinatorial number theory

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shkredov, Il' ya D [M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow (Russian Federation)

2010-09-16

In this survey applications of harmonic analysis to combinatorial number theory are considered. Discussion topics include classical problems of additive combinatorics, colouring problems, higher-order Fourier analysis, theorems about sets of large trigonometric sums, results on estimates for trigonometric sums over subgroups, and the connection between combinatorial and analytic number theory. Bibliography: 162 titles.

A Theoretical Glimpse at Issues of Grammar Teaching

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

朱海涛

2012-01-01

When it comes to the description of the status of grammar in the field of second language teaching now,recent literature bears witness a good deal of discussion about a ’grammar revival’. More recently,theoretical perspectives on language teaching and learning have changed. The possibilities and feasibility of integrating form - focus instruction and meaningful communicative activities in the communicative language classroom have been explored.

The elements of grammar in 90 minutes

CERN Document Server

Hollander, Robert

2011-01-01

An eminent scholar explains the essentials of English grammar to those who never studied the basics as well as those who need a refresher course. Inspired by Strunk & White's classic The Elements of Style, this user-friendly guide focuses exclusively on grammar, explaining the individual parts of speech and their proper arrangement in sentence form. A modest investment of 90 minutes can provide readers of all ages with simple but important tools that will improve their communication skills. Dover (2011) original publication.

The Role of Teaching Grammar in First Language Education

Science.gov (United States)

Demir, Sezgin; Erdogan, Ayse

2018-01-01

Grammar; while originating from the natural structure of the language also is the system which makes it possible for different language functions meet within the body of common rules especially communication. Having command of the language used, speaking and writing it correctly require strong grammar knowledge actually. However only knowing the…

John Ash and the Rise of the Children's Grammar

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Navest, Karlijn Marianne

2011-01-01

From the second half of the eighteenth century onwards a knowledge of grammar served as an important marker of class in England. In order to enable their children to rise in society, middle-class parents expected their sons and daughters to learn English grammar. Since England did not have an

Automated Diagnosis of Otitis Media: Vocabulary and Grammar

Science.gov (United States)

Kuruvilla, Anupama; Hoberman, Alejandro; Kovačević, Jelena

2013-01-01

We propose a novel automated algorithm for classifying diagnostic categories of otitis media: acute otitis media, otitis media with effusion, and no effusion. Acute otitis media represents a bacterial superinfection of the middle ear fluid, while otitis media with effusion represents a sterile effusion that tends to subside spontaneously. Diagnosing children with acute otitis media is difficult, often leading to overprescription of antibiotics as they are beneficial only for children with acute otitis media. This underscores the need for an accurate and automated diagnostic algorithm. To that end, we design a feature set understood by both otoscopists and engineers based on the actual visual cues used by otoscopists; we term this the otitis media vocabulary. We also design a process to combine the vocabulary terms based on the decision process used by otoscopists; we term this the otitis media grammar. The algorithm achieves 89.9% classification accuracy, outperforming both clinicians who did not receive special training and state-of-the-art classifiers. PMID:23997759

Multiword Constructions in the Grammar.

Science.gov (United States)

Culicover, Peter W; Jackendoff, Ray; Audring, Jenny

2017-07-01

There is ample evidence that speakers' linguistic knowledge extends well beyond what can be described in terms of rules of compositional interpretation stated over combinations of single words. We explore a range of multiword constructions (MWCs) to get a handle both on the extent of the phenomenon and on the grammatical constraints that may govern it. We consider idioms of various sorts, collocations, compounds, light verbs, syntactic nuts, and assorted other constructions, as well as morphology. Our conclusion is that MWCs highlight the central role that grammar plays in licensing MWCs in the lexicon and the creation of novel MWCs, and they help to clarify how the lexicon articulates with the rest of the grammar. Copyright © 2017 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Solid-Phase Synthesis of Small Molecule Libraries using Double Combinatorial Chemistry

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, John; Jensen, Flemming R.

1997-01-01

The first synthesis of a combinatorial library using double combinatorial chemistry is presented. Coupling of unprotected Fmoc-tyrosine to the solid support was followed by Mitsunobu O-alkylation. Introduction of a diacid linker yields a system in which the double combinatorial step can be demons......The first synthesis of a combinatorial library using double combinatorial chemistry is presented. Coupling of unprotected Fmoc-tyrosine to the solid support was followed by Mitsunobu O-alkylation. Introduction of a diacid linker yields a system in which the double combinatorial step can...

Local formulae for combinatorial Pontryagin classes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gaifullin, Alexander A

2004-01-01

Let p(|K|) be the characteristic class of a combinatorial manifold K given by a polynomial p in the rational Pontryagin classes of K. We prove that for any polynomial p there is a function taking each combinatorial manifold K to a cycle z p (K) in its rational simplicial chains such that: 1) the Poincare dual of z p (K) represents the cohomology class p(|K|); 2) the coefficient of each simplex Δ in the cycle z p (K) is determined solely by the combinatorial type of linkΔ. We explicitly describe all such functions for the first Pontryagin class. We obtain estimates for the denominators of the coefficients of the simplices in the cycles z p (K)

Multiple Grammars and the Logic of Learnability in Second Language Acquisition.

Science.gov (United States)

Roeper, Tom W

2016-01-01

The core notion of modern Universal Grammar is that language ability requires abstract representation in terms of hierarchy, movement operations, abstract features on words, and fixed mapping to meaning. These mental structures are a step toward integrating representational knowledge of all kinds into a larger model of cognitive psychology. Examining first and second language at once provides clues as to how abstractly we should represent this knowledge. The abstract nature of grammar allows both the formulation of many grammars and the possibility that a rule of one grammar could apply to another grammar. We argue that every language contains Multiple Grammars which may reflect different language families. We develop numerous examples of how the same abstract rules can apply in various languages and develop a theory of how language modules (case-marking, topicalization, and quantification) interact to predict L2 acquisition paths. In particular we show in depth how Germanic Verb-second operations, based on Verb-final structure, can apply in English. The argument is built around how and where V2 from German can apply in English, seeking to explain the crucial contrast: "nothing" yelled out Bill/(*)"nothing" yelled Bill out in terms of the necessary abstractness of the V2 rule.

Vega-Lite: A Grammar of Interactive Graphics.

Science.gov (United States)

Satyanarayan, Arvind; Moritz, Dominik; Wongsuphasawat, Kanit; Heer, Jeffrey

2017-01-01

We present Vega-Lite, a high-level grammar that enables rapid specification of interactive data visualizations. Vega-Lite combines a traditional grammar of graphics, providing visual encoding rules and a composition algebra for layered and multi-view displays, with a novel grammar of interaction. Users specify interactive semantics by composing selections. In Vega-Lite, a selection is an abstraction that defines input event processing, points of interest, and a predicate function for inclusion testing. Selections parameterize visual encodings by serving as input data, defining scale extents, or by driving conditional logic. The Vega-Lite compiler automatically synthesizes requisite data flow and event handling logic, which users can override for further customization. In contrast to existing reactive specifications, Vega-Lite selections decompose an interaction design into concise, enumerable semantic units. We evaluate Vega-Lite through a range of examples, demonstrating succinct specification of both customized interaction methods and common techniques such as panning, zooming, and linked selection.

Heterogenous phase as a mean in combinatorial chemistry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abdel-Hamid, S.G.

2007-01-01

Combinatorial chemistry is a rapid and inexpensive technique for the synthesis of hundreds of thousands of organic compounds of potential medicinal activity. In the past few decades a large number of combinatorial libraries have been constructed, and significantly supplement the chemical diversity of the traditional collections of the potentially active medicinal compounds. Solid phase synthesis was used to enrich the combinatorial chemistry libraries, through the use of solid supports (resins) and their modified forms. Most of the new libraries of compounds appeared recently, were synthesized by the use of solid-phase. Solid-phase combinatorial chemistry (SPCC) is now considered as an outstanding branch in pharmaceutical chemistry research and used extensively as a tool for drug discovery within the context of high-throughput chemical synthesis. The best pure libraries synthesized by the use of solid phase combinatorial chemistry (SPCC) may well be those of intermediate complexity that are free of artifact-causing nuisance compounds. (author)

Construction Morphology and the Parallel Architecture of Grammar

Science.gov (United States)

Booij, Geert; Audring, Jenny

2017-01-01

This article presents a systematic exposition of how the basic ideas of Construction Grammar (CxG) (Goldberg, 2006) and the Parallel Architecture (PA) of grammar (Jackendoff, 2002]) provide the framework for a proper account of morphological phenomena, in particular word formation. This framework is referred to as Construction Morphology (CxM). As…

Spoken Grammar: An Urgent Necessity in the EFL Context

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Al-wossabi, Sami A.

2014-01-01

Recent studies in corpus linguistics have revealed apparent inconsistencies between the prescriptive grammar presented in EFL textbooks and the type of grammar used in the speech of native speakers. Such variations and learning gaps deprive EFL learners of the actual use of English and delay their oral/aural developmental processes. The focus of…

MIFT: GIFT Combinatorial Geometry Input to VCS Code

Science.gov (United States)

1977-03-01

r-w w-^ H ^ß0318is CQ BRL °RCUMr REPORT NO. 1967 —-S: ... MIFT: GIFT COMBINATORIAL GEOMETRY INPUT TO VCS CODE Albert E...TITLE (and Subtitle) MIFT: GIFT Combinatorial Geometry Input to VCS Code S. TYPE OF REPORT & PERIOD COVERED FINAL 6. PERFORMING ORG. REPORT NUMBER...Vehicle Code System (VCS) called MORSE was modified to accept the GIFT combinatorial geometry package. GIFT , as opposed to the geometry package

Combinatorial optimization theory and algorithms

CERN Document Server

Korte, Bernhard

2018-01-01

This comprehensive textbook on combinatorial optimization places special emphasis on theoretical results and algorithms with provably good performance, in contrast to heuristics. It is based on numerous courses on combinatorial optimization and specialized topics, mostly at graduate level. This book reviews the fundamentals, covers the classical topics (paths, flows, matching, matroids, NP-completeness, approximation algorithms) in detail, and proceeds to advanced and recent topics, some of which have not appeared in a textbook before. Throughout, it contains complete but concise proofs, and also provides numerous exercises and references. This sixth edition has again been updated, revised, and significantly extended. Among other additions, there are new sections on shallow-light trees, submodular function maximization, smoothed analysis of the knapsack problem, the (ln 4+ɛ)-approximation for Steiner trees, and the VPN theorem. Thus, this book continues to represent the state of the art of combinatorial opti...

Combinatorial stresses kill pathogenic Candida species

Science.gov (United States)

Kaloriti, Despoina; Tillmann, Anna; Cook, Emily; Jacobsen, Mette; You, Tao; Lenardon, Megan; Ames, Lauren; Barahona, Mauricio; Chandrasekaran, Komelapriya; Coghill, George; Goodman, Daniel; Gow, Neil A. R.; Grebogi, Celso; Ho, Hsueh-Lui; Ingram, Piers; McDonagh, Andrew; De Moura, Alessandro P. S.; Pang, Wei; Puttnam, Melanie; Radmaneshfar, Elahe; Romano, Maria Carmen; Silk, Daniel; Stark, Jaroslav; Stumpf, Michael; Thiel, Marco; Thorne, Thomas; Usher, Jane; Yin, Zhikang; Haynes, Ken; Brown, Alistair J. P.

2012-01-01

Pathogenic microbes exist in dynamic niches and have evolved robust adaptive responses to promote survival in their hosts. The major fungal pathogens of humans, Candida albicans and Candida glabrata, are exposed to a range of environmental stresses in their hosts including osmotic, oxidative and nitrosative stresses. Significant efforts have been devoted to the characterization of the adaptive responses to each of these stresses. In the wild, cells are frequently exposed simultaneously to combinations of these stresses and yet the effects of such combinatorial stresses have not been explored. We have developed a common experimental platform to facilitate the comparison of combinatorial stress responses in C. glabrata and C. albicans. This platform is based on the growth of cells in buffered rich medium at 30°C, and was used to define relatively low, medium and high doses of osmotic (NaCl), oxidative (H 2O2) and nitrosative stresses (e.g., dipropylenetriamine (DPTA)-NONOate). The effects of combinatorial stresses were compared with the corresponding individual stresses under these growth conditions. We show for the first time that certain combinations of combinatorial stress are especially potent in terms of their ability to kill C. albicans and C. glabrata and/or inhibit their growth. This was the case for combinations of osmotic plus oxidative stress and for oxidative plus nitrosative stress. We predict that combinatorial stresses may be highly signif cant in host defences against these pathogenic yeasts. PMID:22463109

Designing an Intelligent Mobile Learning Tool for Grammar Learning (i-MoL

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Munir Shuib

2015-01-01

Full Text Available English is the most important second language in most non-English speaking countries, including Malaysia. A good English proficiency comes from good grasp of grammar. To conquer the problems of low English proficiency among Malaysians, it is important to identify the key motivators that could facilitate the process of grammar learning. In this digital age, technology can play a very important role and mobile technology could be one of it. Thus, this study aims at designing a mobile learning tool, namely the Intelligent Mobile Learning Tool for Grammar Learning (i-MoL to act as the “on-the-go” grammar learning support via mobile phones. i-MoL helps reinforce grammar learning through mobile phone with game-like applications, inquiry-based activities and flashcard-like information. The intelligent part of i-MoL lies in its ability to map the mobile-based grammar learning content to individual’s preferred learning styles based on Felder-Silverman Learning Style Model (FSLSM. The instructional system design through the ADDIE model was used in this study as a systematic approach in designing a novel and comprehensive mobile learning tool for grammar learning. In terms of implications, this study provides insights on how mobile technologies can be utilized to meet the mobility demand among language learners today.

Modeling the Nature of Grammar and Vocabulary Trajectories From Prekindergarten to Third Grade.

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Hui; Logan, Jessica A; Jia, Rongfang

2018-04-17

This study investigated the longitudinal development of 2 important contributors to reading comprehension, grammar, and vocabulary skills. The primary interest was to examine the trajectories of the 2 skill areas from preschool to 3rd grade. The study involved a longitudinal sample of 420 children from 4 sites. Language skills, including grammar and vocabulary, were assessed annually with multiple measures. Multivariate latent growth curve modeling was used to examine the developmental trajectories of grammar and vocabulary, to test the correlation between the 2 domains, and to investigate the effects of demographic predictors on language growth. Results showed that both grammar and vocabulary exhibited decelerating growth from preschool to Grade 2. In Grade 3, grammar growth further flattened, whereas vocabulary continued to grow stably. Growth of vocabulary and grammar were positively correlated. Demographic characteristics, such as child gender and family socioeconomic status, were found to predict the intercept but not the slope of the growth trajectories. Children's growth in grammar skills is differentiated in a number of important ways from their growth in vocabulary skills. Results of this study suggest the need to differentiate these dimensions of language when seeking to closely examine growth from preschool to primary grades.

Toward Chemical Implementation of Encoded Combinatorial Libraries

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, John; Janda, Kim D.

1994-01-01

The recent application of "combinatorial libraries" to supplement existing drug screening processes might simplify and accelerate the search for new lead compounds or drugs. Recently, a scheme for encoded combinatorial chemistry was put forward to surmount a number of the limitations possessed...

Where Is She? Gender Occurrences in Online Grammar Guides

Science.gov (United States)

Amare, Nicole

2007-01-01

This article examines seven online grammar guides for instances of linguistic sexism. The grammar sentences from .edu Websites were analyzed based on NCTE's "Guidelines for Gender-Fair Use of Language" (2002) using the criteria of generic he and man; titles, labels, and names; gender stereotypes; order of mention (firstness); and ratio of male to…

Linguistics deviation, a tool for teaching English grammar: evidence ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

We have always advocated that those teaching the Use of English must seek out novel ways of teaching the grammar of English to take out the drudgery of the present approach. Here, we proposed using Linguistic deviation as a tool for teaching English grammar. This approach will produce students who are both strong in ...

A New Approach for Proving or Generating Combinatorial Identities

Science.gov (United States)

Gonzalez, Luis

2010-01-01

A new method for proving, in an immediate way, many combinatorial identities is presented. The method is based on a simple recursive combinatorial formula involving n + 1 arbitrary real parameters. Moreover, this formula enables one not only to prove, but also generate many different combinatorial identities (not being required to know them "a…

Grammar and vocabulary for First and First for schools with answers

CERN Document Server

Thomas, Barbara; Matthews, Laura

2015-01-01

Grammar and Vocabulary reference and practice for the revised Cambridge English: First (FCE) and Cambridge English: First (FCE) for Schools from 2015 Cambridge Grammar and Vocabulary for First and First for Schools provides complete coverage of the grammar and vocabulary needed for the Cambridge First exams, and develops listening skills at the same time. It includes the full range of First and First for Schools exam tasks from the Reading and Use of English, Writing and Listening papers, and contains helpful grammar explanations. This edition is updated for the new exam to be introduced from 2015. It is informed by the Cambridge Learner Corpus to ensure that the language tackles real learner errors. The accompanying listening material is available online for download.

Grammar Engineering Support for Precedence Rule Recovery and Compatibility Checking

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bouwers, E.; Bravenboer, M.; Visser, E.

2007-01-01

A wide range of parser generators are used to generate parsers for programming languages. The grammar formalisms that come with parser generators provide different approaches for defining operator precedence. Some generators (e.g. YACC) support precedence declarations, others require the grammar to

DIFFICULTIES IN TEACHING AND LEARNING GRAMMAR IN AN EFL CONTEXT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abdu Mohammed Al-Mekhlafi

2011-07-01

Full Text Available The role of grammar instruction in an ESL/EFL context has been for decades a major issue for students and teachers alike. Researchers have debated whether grammar should be taught in the classroom and students, for their part, have generally looked upon grammar instruction as a necessary evil at best, and an avoidable burden at worst. The paper reports a study undertaken to investigate the difficulties teachers face in teaching grammar to EFL students as well as those faced by students in learning it, in the teachers' perception. The study aimed to find out whether there are significant differences in teachers' perceptions of difficulties in relation to their gender, qualification, teaching experience, and the level they teach in school, thus providing insights into their own and their students' difficulties. Mean scores and t-test were used to interpret the data. The main findings are reported with implications.

Combinatorial methods with computer applications

CERN Document Server

Gross, Jonathan L

2007-01-01

Combinatorial Methods with Computer Applications provides in-depth coverage of recurrences, generating functions, partitions, and permutations, along with some of the most interesting graph and network topics, design constructions, and finite geometries. Requiring only a foundation in discrete mathematics, it can serve as the textbook in a combinatorial methods course or in a combined graph theory and combinatorics course.After an introduction to combinatorics, the book explores six systematic approaches within a comprehensive framework: sequences, solving recurrences, evaluating summation exp

English Language Teaching Methods: State of the Art in Grammar Instruction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rusdiana Junaid

2014-02-01

Full Text Available The teaching of grammar has fluctuated and shifted over years. This paper addresses issues such as different ways of teaching grammar, changes in ideas, and practices at the present stage of its development as well as the current state of the art in grammar instruction. Several grammar textbooks which were published in different years also are looked at in order to discover the extent of change in terms of the materials used to teach grammar from time to time. A considerable array of English language teaching methods is available for teacher to utilize since 1980s. Before deciding to employ a particular method, however, educational practitioners need to take several things into consideration such as the objectives of the instruction, the needs, the interests, the expectation, the age, and the level of the learners, and the available supporting facilities. Equally important, the possible constraints such as the environment where the students are learning, the time, and the expectation of the institution are also needed to be considered.

The Effects of Using Online Concordancers on Teaching Grammar

Science.gov (United States)

Türkmen, Yasemin; Aydin, Selami

2016-01-01

Studies conducted so far have mainly focused on the effects of online concordancers on teaching vocabulary, while there is a lack of research focusing on the effects of online concordancers on teaching and learning grammar. Thus, this study aims to review the studies on the effects of online concordancers on teaching and learning grammar and how…

Effect of Direct Grammar Instruction on Student Writing Skills

Science.gov (United States)

Robinson, Lisa; Feng, Jay

2016-01-01

Grammar Instruction has an important role to play in helping students to speak and write more effectively. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of direct grammar instruction on the quality of student's writing skills. The participants in this study included 18 fifth grade students and two fifth grade teachers. Based on the results…

Concept-Based Grammar Teaching: An Academic Responds to Azar

Science.gov (United States)

Hill, Kent

2007-01-01

This response to Azar (this volume) intends to discuss from an academic's perspective the main points raised in her paper (i.e., grammar-based instruction and its relation to focus on form and error correction) and, to encourage a more concept-based approach to grammar instruction (CBT). A CBT approach to language development argues that the…

The Effectiveness of Grammar Learning in Impro ving Reading Comprehension of English Majors

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

田晓

2015-01-01

The importance of grammar knowledge has al-ways been neglected in reading comprehension. To help English teachers and learners see the value of grammar analysis, this pa-per, therefore, explores the correlation between grammar and reading comprehension. Forty-four freshmen of English majors were involved in the experiment, completing two tests of grammar and reading comprehension respectively, and it was followed by a personal interview for some exceptional cases after a week. The result of data analysis shows that grammar analysis accompanying with vocabulary, emotion, as well as other factors produce an ef-fect on learners’reading comprehension to a certain degree. It is suggested that language teachers as well as learners therefore should attach importance to learning grammatical knowledge.

Does complexity matter? Meta-analysis of learner performance in artificial grammar tasks.

Science.gov (United States)

Schiff, Rachel; Katan, Pesia

2014-01-01

Complexity has been shown to affect performance on artificial grammar learning (AGL) tasks (categorization of test items as grammatical/ungrammatical according to the implicitly trained grammar rules). However, previously published AGL experiments did not utilize consistent measures to investigate the comprehensive effect of grammar complexity on task performance. The present study focused on computerizing Bollt and Jones's (2000) technique of calculating topological entropy (TE), a quantitative measure of AGL charts' complexity, with the aim of examining associations between grammar systems' TE and learners' AGL task performance. We surveyed the literature and identified 56 previous AGL experiments based on 10 different grammars that met the sampling criteria. Using the automated matrix-lift-action method, we assigned a TE value for each of these 10 previously used AGL systems and examined its correlation with learners' task performance. The meta-regression analysis showed a significant correlation, demonstrating that the complexity effect transcended the different settings and conditions in which the categorization task was performed. The results reinforced the importance of using this new automated tool to uniformly measure grammar systems' complexity when experimenting with and evaluating the findings of AGL studies.

Generative Graph Grammar of Neo-Vaiśeṣika Formal Ontology (NVFO)

Science.gov (United States)

Tavva, Rajesh; Singh, Navjyoti

NLP applications for Sanskrit so far work within computational paradigm of string grammars. However, to compute 'meanings', as in traditional śā bdabodha prakriyā-s, there is a need to develop suitable graph grammars. Ontological structures are fundamentally graphs. We work within the formal framework of Neo-Vaiśeṣika Formal Ontology (NVFO) to propose a generative graph grammar. The proposed formal grammar only produces well-formed graphs that can be readily interpreted in accordance with Vaiśeṣ ika Ontology. We show that graphs not permitted by Vaiśeṣ ika ontology are not generated by the proposed grammar. Further, we write Interpreter of these graphical structures. This creates computational environment which can be deployed for writing computational applications of Vaiśeṣ ika ontology. We illustrate how this environment can be used to create applications like computing śā bdabodha of sentences.

The priming of basic combinatory responses in MEG.

Science.gov (United States)

Blanco-Elorrieta, Esti; Ferreira, Victor S; Del Prato, Paul; Pylkkänen, Liina

2018-01-01

Priming has been a powerful tool for the study of human memory and especially the memory representations relevant for language. However, although it is well established that lexical access can be primed, we do not know exactly what types of computations can be primed above the word level. This work took a neurobiological approach and assessed the ways in which the complex representation of a minimal combinatory phrase, such as red boat, can be primed, as evidenced by the spatiotemporal profiles of magnetoencephalography (MEG) signals. Specifically, we built upon recent progress on the neural signatures of phrasal composition and tested whether the brain activities implicated for the basic combination of two words could be primed. In two experiments, MEG was recorded during a picture naming task where the prime trials were designed to replicate previously reported combinatory effects and the target trials to test whether those combinatory effects could be primed. The manipulation of the primes was successful in eliciting larger activity for adjective-noun combinations than single nouns in left anterior temporal and ventromedial prefrontal cortices, replicating prior MEG studies on parallel contrasts. Priming of similarly timed activity was observed during target trials in anterior temporal cortex, but only when the prime and target shared an adjective. No priming in temporal cortex was observed for single word repetition and two control tasks showed that the priming effect was not elicited if the prime pictures were simply viewed but not named. In sum, this work provides evidence that very basic combinatory operations can be primed, with the necessity for some lexical overlap between prime and target suggesting combinatory conceptual, as opposed to syntactic processing. Both our combinatory and priming effects were early, onsetting between 100 and 150ms after picture onset and thus are likely to reflect the very earliest planning stages of a combinatory message

Using Webquest in Learning Grammar: Students' Perceptions in Higher Education

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Ira Irzawati

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Webquest is an internet based learning tool that can be used by students in learning English. This study investigates students’ perceptions about the use of Webquest to support learning grammar in Higher Education. Seventy-two of second semester students were involved as participants in this study. Questionnaire and interview were used to collect the data. The data were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. The result of this study revealed that students had positive perceptions toward the use of Webquest in learning grammar. They believed that Webquest can be used as one of effective internet based learning tools in studying grammar.

The place of exclamatives and miratives in grammar: a functional discourse grammar view

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Olbertz, H.

2012-01-01

The concept of mirativity has come to interfere in the recently developed framework of Functional Discourse Grammar with what would be considered to be exclamative elsewhere. In addition, the concept of exclamative itself turns out to be ill-defined in various studies within the functional paradigm.

The Effects of Communicative Grammar Teaching on Students' Achievement of Grammatical Knowledge and Oral Production

Science.gov (United States)

Ho, Pham Vu Phi; The Binh, Nguyen

2014-01-01

So far the students of Le Hong Phong Junior High School have been taught grammar with GTM (Grammar-Translation Method), which just prepares learners for conventional grammar-paper tests. Despite their considerable knowledge of grammar, the students fail to use the language they have learnt to communicate in real-life situations. The purpose of…

Automated Understanding of Financial Statements Using Neural Networks and Semantic Grammars

OpenAIRE

Markovitch, J. S.

1995-01-01

This article discusses how neural networks and semantic grammars may be used to locate and understand financial statements embedded in news stories received from on-line news wires. A neural net is used to identify where in the news story a financial statement appears to begin. A grammar then is applied to this text in an effort to extract specific facts from the financial statement. Applying grammars to financial statements presents unique parsing problems since the dollar amounts of financi...

Tracking Down the Origins of Ambiguity in Context-Free Grammars

NARCIS (Netherlands)

H.J.S. Basten (Bas)

2010-01-01

htmlabstractContext-free grammars are widely used but still hindered by ambiguity. This stresses the need for detailed detection methods that point out the sources of ambiguity in a grammar. In this paper we show how the approximative Noncanonical Unambiguity Test by Schmitz can be extended to

Sensing the Sentence: An Embodied Simulation Approach to Rhetorical Grammar

Science.gov (United States)

Rule, Hannah J.

2017-01-01

This article applies the neuroscientific concept of embodied simulation--the process of understanding language through visual, motor, and spatial modalities of the body--to rhetorical grammar and sentence-style pedagogies. Embodied simulation invigorates rhetorical grammar instruction by attuning writers to the felt effects of written language,…

Information theory and artificial grammar learning: inferring grammaticality from redundancy.

Science.gov (United States)

Jamieson, Randall K; Nevzorova, Uliana; Lee, Graham; Mewhort, D J K

2016-03-01

In artificial grammar learning experiments, participants study strings of letters constructed using a grammar and then sort novel grammatical test exemplars from novel ungrammatical ones. The ability to distinguish grammatical from ungrammatical strings is often taken as evidence that the participants have induced the rules of the grammar. We show that judgements of grammaticality are predicted by the local redundancy of the test strings, not by grammaticality itself. The prediction holds in a transfer test in which test strings involve different letters than the training strings. Local redundancy is usually confounded with grammaticality in stimuli widely used in the literature. The confounding explains why the ability to distinguish grammatical from ungrammatical strings has popularized the idea that participants have induced the rules of the grammar, when they have not. We discuss the judgement of grammaticality task in terms of attribute substitution and pattern goodness. When asked to judge grammaticality (an inaccessible attribute), participants answer an easier question about pattern goodness (an accessible attribute).

Compiling a corpus-based dictionary grammar: an example for ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

In this article it is shown how a corpus-based dictionary grammar may be compiled — that is, a mini-grammar fully based on corpus data and specifically written for use in and inte-grated with a dictionary. Such an effort is, to the best of our knowledge, a world's first. We exem-plify our approach for a Northern Sotho ...

A Grammar of Bih

Science.gov (United States)

Nguyen, Tam Thi Minh

2013-01-01

Bih is a Chamic (Austronesian) language spoken by approximately 500 people in the Southern highlands of Vietnam. This dissertation is the first descriptive grammar of the language, based on extensive fieldwork and community-based language documentation in Vietnam and written from a functional/typological perspective. The analysis in this work is…

A grammar of Lepcha

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Plaisier, Heleen

2006-01-01

This book is a descriptive grammar of Lepcha, a Tibeto-Burman language spoken in Sikkim, Darjeeling district in West Bengal in India, in Ilam district in Nepal, and in a few villages of Samtsi district in south-western Bhutan. The data for this study were collected during several sojourns amongst

You're a good structure, Charlie Brown: the distribution of narrative categories in comic strips.

Science.gov (United States)

Cohn, Neil

2014-01-01

Cohn's (2013) theory of "Visual Narrative Grammar" argues that sequential images take on categorical roles in a narrative structure, which organizes them into hierarchic constituents analogous to the organization of syntactic categories in sentences. This theory proposes that narrative categories, like syntactic categories, can be identified through diagnostic tests that reveal tendencies for their distribution throughout a sequence. This paper describes four experiments testing these diagnostics to provide support for the validity of these narrative categories. In Experiment 1, participants reconstructed unordered panels of a comic strip into an order that makes sense. Experiment 2 measured viewing times to panels in sequences where the order of panels was reversed. In Experiment 3, participants again reconstructed strips but also deleted a panel from the sequence. Finally, in Experiment 4 participants identified where a panel had been deleted from a comic strip and rated that strip's coherence. Overall, categories had consistent distributional tendencies within experiments and complementary tendencies across experiments. These results point toward an interaction between categorical roles and a global narrative structure. © 2014 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Graph Grammar-Based Multi-Frontal Parallel Direct Solver for Two-Dimensional Isogeometric Analysis

KAUST Repository

Kuźnik, Krzysztof

2012-06-02

This paper introduces the graph grammar based model for developing multi-thread multi-frontal parallel direct solver for two dimensional isogeometric finite element method. Execution of the solver algorithm has been expressed as the sequence of graph grammar productions. At the beginning productions construct the elimination tree with leaves corresponding to finite elements. Following sequence of graph grammar productions generates element frontal matri-ces at leaf nodes, merges matrices at parent nodes and eliminates rows corresponding to fully assembled degrees of freedom. Finally, there are graph grammar productions responsible for root problem solution and recursive backward substitutions. Expressing the solver algorithm by graph grammar productions allows us to explore the concurrency of the algorithm. The graph grammar productions are grouped into sets of independent tasks that can be executed concurrently. The resulting concurrent multi-frontal solver algorithm is implemented and tested on NVIDIA GPU, providing O(NlogN) execution time complexity where N is the number of degrees of freedom. We have confirmed this complexity by solving up to 1 million of degrees of freedom with 448 cores GPU.

Environmental Peace Education in Foreign Language Learners' English Grammar Lessons

Science.gov (United States)

Arikan, Arda

2009-01-01

English language teachers create contexts to teach grammar so that meaningful learning occurs. In this study, English grammar is contextualized through environmental peace education activities to raise students' awareness of global issues. Two sources provided data to evaluate the success of this instructional process. Fourth-year pre-service…

Analysis and design of algorithms for combinatorial problems

CERN Document Server

Ausiello, G

1985-01-01

Combinatorial problems have been from the very beginning part of the history of mathematics. By the Sixties, the main classes of combinatorial problems had been defined. During that decade, a great number of research contributions in graph theory had been produced, which laid the foundations for most of the research in graph optimization in the following years. During the Seventies, a large number of special purpose models were developed. The impressive growth of this field since has been strongly determined by the demand of applications and influenced by the technological increases in computing power and the availability of data and software. The availability of such basic tools has led to the feasibility of the exact or well approximate solution of large scale realistic combinatorial optimization problems and has created a number of new combinatorial problems.

Grammar Is a System That Characterizes Talk in Interaction.

Science.gov (United States)

Ginzburg, Jonathan; Poesio, Massimo

2016-01-01

Much of contemporary mainstream formal grammar theory is unable to provide analyses for language as it occurs in actual spoken interaction. Its analyses are developed for a cleaned up version of language which omits the disfluencies, non-sentential utterances, gestures, and many other phenomena that are ubiquitous in spoken language. Using evidence from linguistics, conversation analysis, multimodal communication, psychology, language acquisition, and neuroscience, we show these aspects of language use are rule governed in much the same way as phenomena captured by conventional grammars. Furthermore, we argue that over the past few years some of the tools required to provide a precise characterizations of such phenomena have begun to emerge in theoretical and computational linguistics; hence, there is no reason for treating them as "second class citizens" other than pre-theoretical assumptions about what should fall under the purview of grammar. Finally, we suggest that grammar formalisms covering such phenomena would provide a better foundation not just for linguistic analysis of face-to-face interaction, but also for sister disciplines, such as research on spoken dialogue systems and/or psychological work on language acquisition.

Inductive vs. Deductive Grammar Instruction and the Grammatical Performance of EFL Learners

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fatemeh Behjat

2008-02-01

Full Text Available Learning a foreign language offers a great challenge to students since it involves learning different skills and subskills. Quite a few number of researches have been done so far on the relationship between gender and learning a foreign language. On the other hand, two major approaches in teaching grammar have been offered by language experts, inductive and deductive. The present study examines which method of teaching grammar is more fruitful for Iranian male and female students. For this purpose, 150 freshman students, 110 females and 40 males, majoring in English were selected from all available students at Abadeh and Shiraz Azad universities. All the subjects took the NTC's grammar test prior to the instruction as pre-test. Then, they were divided into two groups and were taught grammar inductively and deductively in each group for one semester. At the end of the instruction, the same test was taken as post-test. The comparison between the students' pre and post-test indicated that there was a significant improvement in their knowledge of grammar. By the way, through a two-way ANOVA, it was found out that males learned grammar better when they were taught inductively and females showed a better performance when they were taught deductively.

Dissection of combinatorial control by the Met4 transcriptional complex.

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Lee, Traci A; Jorgensen, Paul; Bognar, Andrew L; Peyraud, Caroline; Thomas, Dominique; Tyers, Mike

2010-02-01

Met4 is the transcriptional activator of the sulfur metabolic network in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Lacking DNA-binding ability, Met4 must interact with proteins called Met4 cofactors to target promoters for transcription. Two types of DNA-binding cofactors (Cbf1 and Met31/Met32) recruit Met4 to promoters and one cofactor (Met28) stabilizes the DNA-bound Met4 complexes. To dissect this combinatorial system, we systematically deleted each category of cofactor(s) and analyzed Met4-activated transcription on a genome-wide scale. We defined a core regulon for Met4, consisting of 45 target genes. Deletion of both Met31 and Met32 eliminated activation of the core regulon, whereas loss of Met28 or Cbf1 interfered with only a subset of targets that map to distinct sectors of the sulfur metabolic network. These transcriptional dependencies roughly correlated with the presence of Cbf1 promoter motifs. Quantitative analysis of in vivo promoter binding properties indicated varying levels of cooperativity and interdependency exists between members of this combinatorial system. Cbf1 was the only cofactor to remain fully bound to target promoters under all conditions, whereas other factors exhibited different degrees of regulated binding in a promoter-specific fashion. Taken together, Met4 cofactors use a variety of mechanisms to allow differential transcription of target genes in response to various cues.

Negative Transfer of L1 on English Grammar Learning in SLA

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

马秀琳

2015-01-01

At present,many scholars pay more attention to the positive transfer of native language on the English learning,while ignoring the negative transfer of L1 on English grammar learning.Therefore native transfer of L1 often appears on English grammar learning.This paper aims to point out that the negative transfer of L1 has a profound and vast influence on the English grammar learning,to find out the countermeasures to reduce the influence of negative transfer of L1 and finally to bring the benefits to the following relative studies.

Grammar-Lexicon Distinction in a Neurocognitive Context

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ishkhanyan, Byurakn

hypotheses and testing them through using various methods. The grammar-lexicon distinction and working memory are thus central topics of this thesis. The results suggest a potential for a successful integration of the two theories. The findings further provide evidence for Boye & Harder’s (2012......) understanding of the grammar-lexicon distinction, and for the involvement of working memory in language production, as the REF-model would predict. As a starting point for integrating the two theories, the present thesis gives directions for future research on the neurocognitive underpinning of language and its...... relation to working memory....

Bifurcation-based approach reveals synergism and optimal combinatorial perturbation.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Yanwei; Li, Shanshan; Liu, Zengrong; Wang, Ruiqi

2016-06-01

Cells accomplish the process of fate decisions and form terminal lineages through a series of binary choices in which cells switch stable states from one branch to another as the interacting strengths of regulatory factors continuously vary. Various combinatorial effects may occur because almost all regulatory processes are managed in a combinatorial fashion. Combinatorial regulation is crucial for cell fate decisions because it may effectively integrate many different signaling pathways to meet the higher regulation demand during cell development. However, whether the contribution of combinatorial regulation to the state transition is better than that of a single one and if so, what the optimal combination strategy is, seem to be significant issue from the point of view of both biology and mathematics. Using the approaches of combinatorial perturbations and bifurcation analysis, we provide a general framework for the quantitative analysis of synergism in molecular networks. Different from the known methods, the bifurcation-based approach depends only on stable state responses to stimuli because the state transition induced by combinatorial perturbations occurs between stable states. More importantly, an optimal combinatorial perturbation strategy can be determined by investigating the relationship between the bifurcation curve of a synergistic perturbation pair and the level set of a specific objective function. The approach is applied to two models, i.e., a theoretical multistable decision model and a biologically realistic CREB model, to show its validity, although the approach holds for a general class of biological systems.

Morphological Constraints on Cerebellar Granule Cell Combinatorial Diversity.

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Gilmer, Jesse I; Person, Abigail L

2017-12-13

Combinatorial expansion by the cerebellar granule cell layer (GCL) is fundamental to theories of cerebellar contributions to motor control and learning. Granule cells (GrCs) sample approximately four mossy fiber inputs and are thought to form a combinatorial code useful for pattern separation and learning. We constructed a spatially realistic model of the cerebellar GCL and examined how GCL architecture contributes to GrC combinatorial diversity. We found that GrC combinatorial diversity saturates quickly as mossy fiber input diversity increases, and that this saturation is in part a consequence of short dendrites, which limit access to diverse inputs and favor dense sampling of local inputs. This local sampling also produced GrCs that were combinatorially redundant, even when input diversity was extremely high. In addition, we found that mossy fiber clustering, which is a common anatomical pattern, also led to increased redundancy of GrC input combinations. We related this redundancy to hypothesized roles of temporal expansion of GrC information encoding in service of learned timing, and we show that GCL architecture produces GrC populations that support both temporal and combinatorial expansion. Finally, we used novel anatomical measurements from mice of either sex to inform modeling of sparse and filopodia-bearing mossy fibers, finding that these circuit features uniquely contribute to enhancing GrC diversification and redundancy. Our results complement information theoretic studies of granule layer structure and provide insight into the contributions of granule layer anatomical features to afferent mixing. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Cerebellar granule cells are among the simplest neurons, with tiny somata and, on average, just four dendrites. These characteristics, along with their dense organization, inspired influential theoretical work on the granule cell layer as a combinatorial expander, where each granule cell represents a unique combination of inputs

Transfer and access to universal grammar in adult second language acquisition

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sauter, Kim

2002-01-01

Summary This dissertation focuses on the roles of first language transfer and Universal Grammar in adult second (or foreign) language acquisition. It contributes to the ongoing debate whether second language acquisition is constrained by Universal Grammar. According to generative linguists,

Comparison of Context-free Grammars Based on Parsing Generated Test Data

NARCIS (Netherlands)

B. Fischer (Bernd); R. Lämmel (Ralf); V. Zaytsev (Vadim); U. Aßmann; J. Saraiva; A.M. Sloane

2011-01-01

textabstractThere exist a number of software engineering scenarios that essentially involve equivalence or correspondence assertions for some of the context-free grammars in the scenarios. For instance, when applying grammar transformations during parser development---be it for the sake of

The Role of Grammar in the Writing Curriculum: A Review of the Literature

Science.gov (United States)

Myhill, Debra; Watson, Annabel

2014-01-01

For most Anglophone countries, the history of grammar teaching over the past 50 years is one of contestation, debate and dissent: and 50 years on we are no closer to reaching a consensus about the role of grammar in the English/Language Arts curriculum. The debate has been described through the metaphor of battle and grammar wars (Kamler, 1995;…

Maximization of Tsallis entropy in the combinatorial formulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suyari, Hiroki

2010-01-01

This paper presents the mathematical reformulation for maximization of Tsallis entropy S q in the combinatorial sense. More concretely, we generalize the original derivation of Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution law to Tsallis statistics by means of the corresponding generalized multinomial coefficient. Our results reveal that maximization of S 2-q under the usual expectation or S q under q-average using the escort expectation are naturally derived from the combinatorial formulations for Tsallis statistics with respective combinatorial dualities, that is, one for additive duality and the other for multiplicative duality.

Jack superpolynomials: physical and combinatorial definitions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Desrosiers, P.; Mathieu, P.; Lapointe, L.

2004-01-01

Jack superpolynomials are eigenfunctions of the supersymmetric extension of the quantum trigonometric Calogero-Moser-Sutherland Hamiltonian. They are orthogonal with respect to the scalar product, dubbed physical, that is naturally induced by this quantum-mechanical problem. But Jack superpolynomials can also be defined more combinatorially, starting from the multiplicative bases of symmetric superpolynomials, enforcing orthogonality with respect to a one-parameter deformation of the combinatorial scalar product. Both constructions turn out to be equivalent. (author)

Torus actions, combinatorial topology, and homological algebra

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bukhshtaber, V M; Panov, T E

2000-01-01

This paper is a survey of new results and open problems connected with fundamental combinatorial concepts, including polytopes, simplicial complexes, cubical complexes, and arrangements of subspaces. Attention is concentrated on simplicial and cubical subdivisions of manifolds, and especially on spheres. Important constructions are described that enable one to study these combinatorial objects by using commutative and homological algebra. The proposed approach to combinatorial problems is based on the theory of moment-angle complexes recently developed by the authors. The crucial construction assigns to each simplicial complex K with m vertices a T m -space Z K with special bigraded cellular decomposition. In the framework of this theory, well-known non-singular toric varieties arise as orbit spaces of maximally free actions of subtori on moment-angle complexes corresponding to simplicial spheres. It is shown that diverse invariants of simplicial complexes and related combinatorial-geometric objects can be expressed in terms of bigraded cohomology rings of the corresponding moment-angle complexes. Finally, it is shown that the new relationships between combinatorics, geometry, and topology lead to solutions of some well-known topological problems

A stochastic context free grammar based framework for analysis of protein sequences

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Nebel Jean-Christophe

2009-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background In the last decade, there have been many applications of formal language theory in bioinformatics such as RNA structure prediction and detection of patterns in DNA. However, in the field of proteomics, the size of the protein alphabet and the complexity of relationship between amino acids have mainly limited the application of formal language theory to the production of grammars whose expressive power is not higher than stochastic regular grammars. However, these grammars, like other state of the art methods, cannot cover any higher-order dependencies such as nested and crossing relationships that are common in proteins. In order to overcome some of these limitations, we propose a Stochastic Context Free Grammar based framework for the analysis of protein sequences where grammars are induced using a genetic algorithm. Results This framework was implemented in a system aiming at the production of binding site descriptors. These descriptors not only allow detection of protein regions that are involved in these sites, but also provide insight in their structure. Grammars were induced using quantitative properties of amino acids to deal with the size of the protein alphabet. Moreover, we imposed some structural constraints on grammars to reduce the extent of the rule search space. Finally, grammars based on different properties were combined to convey as much information as possible. Evaluation was performed on sites of various sizes and complexity described either by PROSITE patterns, domain profiles or a set of patterns. Results show the produced binding site descriptors are human-readable and, hence, highlight biologically meaningful features. Moreover, they achieve good accuracy in both annotation and detection. In addition, findings suggest that, unlike current state-of-the-art methods, our system may be particularly suited to deal with patterns shared by non-homologous proteins. Conclusion A new Stochastic Context Free

Functional Orientation and Practice of Inductive and Deductive Approaches to Grammar Teaching in EFL

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

邵阳

2011-01-01

To solve the ambiguous understanding of Grammar Teaching position,based on explicit grammatical knowledge,this paper discusses the grammar position in EFL,compares both its pros and cons between deductive and inductive approaches,and indicates that grammar teaching by either approach alone has disadvantages,should adopt a combination technique.

Pre-Service English Teachers’ Beliefs Towards Grammar And Its Teaching At Two Turkish Universities

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İsmail Zeki DİKİCİ

2012-07-01

Full Text Available This paper examines pre-service English teachers’ beliefs towards grammar studying at two Turkish Universities. A total of 90 pre-service English teachers, 57 of whom were studying at Muğla University and 33 of whom were studying at Onsekiz Mart University in Turkey, were involved in this study. The research participants completed two questionnaires. The aim of this paper is to look into pre-service English teachers’ beliefs towards grammar and its teaching as well as their knowledge on the metalanguage of grammar. The findings reveal that although a great majority of the participants favour the use of metalanguage in teaching grammar, and support the deductive grammar teaching practises, they themselves still have serious problems even with the most basic grammatical terminology.

REA's handbook of English grammar, style, and writing

CERN Document Server

REA, The Editors of

1992-01-01

The ability to write and speak correctly and effectively is a prerequisite for doing well in all subjects, including the physical and social sciences, math and the liberal arts. Writing and speaking skills become even more important when seeking a job and trying to succeed in a chosen career. This easy-to-understand, straightforward English handbook does not use the hard-to-understand technical jargon usually found in English grammar books. Instead, this handbook provides hundreds of examples from which it is possible to easily see what is correct and what is incorrect in all areas of English grammar and writing. Learn quickly and easily: 1. Rules and exceptions in grammar, 2. Spelling and proper punctuation, 3. Common errors in sentence structure, 4. 2,000 examples of correct usage, and 5. Effective writing skills. Complete practice exercises with answers follow each chapter.The handbook covers the following in detail: nouns, verbs, adjectives, paragraphs, composition, punctuation, spelling, and much more. A...

Current Issues in the Teaching of Grammar: An SLA Perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Ellis, Rod

2006-01-01

The study of how learners acquire a second language (SLA) has helped to shape thinking about how to teach the grammar of a second language. There remain, however, a number of controversial issues. This paper considers eight key questions relating to grammar pedagogy in the light of findings from SLA. As such, this article complements…

Noticing Grammar in L2 Writing and Problem-Solving Strategies

Science.gov (United States)

Geist, Monika

2017-01-01

Noticing plays an important role for second language acquisition. Since the formulation of the output hypothesis (Swain, 1985), it has been proven that producing output can lead to noticing. Studies on noticing have revealed little focus on grammar, and an in-depth investigation of grammar noticing has not been conducted so far. Studies into…

Strategies Study On Communicative Awareness-raising Approachof Grammar Teaching for English Majors

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

吴俊芳; 童心

2013-01-01

The traditional grammar teaching method can’t make learners communicate in real contexts accurately and luently.The author will probe the effects of communicative approach applied in grammar teaching in this essay.

Freshman Students‟ Attitudes and Behavior towards Advanced Grammar and Composition Teaching

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Romel M. Aceron

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Teaching English advanced grammar and composition to college students is important as it provides them with high level of understanding and competence in the language. It guides them in putting words together into sentences and makes them orally produce sounds clearly and effectively. This paper aims to determine the attitudes and behavior towards advanced grammar and composition teaching among freshman college students of Batangas State University. Descriptive method of research has been used to analyze and interpret data. The following instruments such as self-made questionnaire, focus group discussion, data analysis, interview guide, have been utilized to gather data. To analyze and interpret data, mean scores have been used. Pearson’s (r Product Moment Correlation Method has been utilized to treat the null hypothesis with regard to the attitudes and behavior of the students towards advanced grammar and composition teaching. Based on the findings of the study, the students sometimes understand and feel the subject matters, i.e., morphology, phonology, grammar and usage, and mechanics and composition writing. They are also sometimes ready in particular lesson and activity which are given to them in class. The study also reveals that there is no significant relationship between the students’ attitudes and behavior towards AGCT. In this regard, college students taking advanced grammar and composition course must be well-motivated to understand, and must have the readiness to perform the activities entail in the subject areas of morphology, phonology, grammar and usage, and mechanics and composition writing through teacher’s varied approaches, strategies, researches, and integration.

Learning of pitch and time structures in an artificial grammar setting.

Science.gov (United States)

Prince, Jon B; Stevens, Catherine J; Jones, Mari Riess; Tillmann, Barbara

2018-04-12

Despite the empirical evidence for the power of the cognitive capacity of implicit learning of structures and regularities in several modalities and materials, it remains controversial whether implicit learning extends to the learning of temporal structures and regularities. We investigated whether (a) an artificial grammar can be learned equally well when expressed in duration sequences as when expressed in pitch sequences, (b) learning of the artificial grammar in either duration or pitch (as the primary dimension) sequences can be influenced by the properties of the secondary dimension (invariant vs. randomized), and (c) learning can be boosted when the artificial grammar is expressed in both pitch and duration. After an exposure phase with grammatical sequences, learning in a subsequent test phase was assessed in a grammaticality judgment task. Participants in both the pitch and duration conditions showed incidental (not fully implicit) learning of the artificial grammar when the secondary dimension was invariant, but randomizing the pitch sequence prevented learning of the artificial grammar in duration sequences. Expressing the artificial grammar in both pitch and duration resulted in disproportionately better performance, suggesting an interaction between the learning of pitch and temporal structure. The findings are relevant to research investigating the learning of temporal structures and the learning of structures presented simultaneously in 2 dimensions (e.g., space and time, space and objects). By investigating learning, the findings provide further insight into the potential specificity of pitch and time processing, and their integrated versus independent processing, as previously debated in music cognition research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Textual, Genre and Social Features of Spoken Grammar: A Corpus-Based Approach

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Carmen Pérez-Llantada

2009-02-01

Full Text Available This paper describes a corpus-based approach to teaching and learning spoken grammar for English for Academic Purposes with reference to Bhatia’s (2002 multi-perspective model for discourse analysis: a textual perspective, a genre perspective and a social perspective. From a textual perspective, corpus-informed instruction helps students identify grammar items through statistical frequencies, collocational patterns, context-sensitive meanings and discoursal uses of words. From a genre perspective, corpus observation provides students with exposure to recurrent lexico-grammatical patterns across different academic text types (genres. From a social perspective, corpus models can be used to raise learners’ awareness of how speakers’ different discourse roles, discourse privileges and power statuses are enacted in their grammar choices. The paper describes corpus-based instructional procedures, gives samples of learners’ linguistic output, and provides comments on the students’ response to this method of instruction. Data resulting from the assessment process and student production suggest that corpus-informed instruction grounded in Bhatia’s multi-perspective model can constitute a pedagogical approach in order to i obtain positive student responses from input and authentic samples of grammar use, ii help students identify and understand the textual, genre and social aspects of grammar in real contexts of use, and therefore iii help develop students’ ability to use grammar accurately and appropriately.

Existential Grammar for Composition.

Science.gov (United States)

Merchant, Frank

The teaching of grammar has been in sad decline since medieval times, when it included the whole skill of creating in language. Our textbook community has moved through a series of ineffective fashions, from those of Fries to post-Chomsky. All have presumed to replace prescriptive rules with realistic explanations. But all have fallen, like the…

Towards a Rationale for Research into Grammar Teaching in Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Fontich, Xavier; Camps, Anna

2014-01-01

This article hopes to bring new insights to the debate about the effect of grammar knowledge on language use, especially writing. It raises the question of the need to look more closely at the following three questions: (1) What is the aim of grammar teaching?; (2) How capable are students of conceptualising about language and how is their…

Functional Grammar and Its Implications for English Teaching and Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Feng, Zhiwen

2013-01-01

Functional grammar has received more and more attention from domestic scholars in the world of linguistics since 1970s, but it is still new to most EFL teachers. In spite of controversies about its applications into classroom teaching, this new grammar model has its own advantages and can facilitate EFL students to achieve academic success. This…

ULTRA: Universal Grammar as a Universal Parser.

Science.gov (United States)

Medeiros, David P

2018-01-01

A central concern of generative grammar is the relationship between hierarchy and word order, traditionally understood as two dimensions of a single syntactic representation. A related concern is directionality in the grammar. Traditional approaches posit process-neutral grammars, embodying knowledge of language, put to use with infinite facility both for production and comprehension. This has crystallized in the view of Merge as the central property of syntax, perhaps its only novel feature. A growing number of approaches explore grammars with different directionalities, often with more direct connections to performance mechanisms. This paper describes a novel model of universal grammar as a one-directional, universal parser. Mismatch between word order and interpretation order is pervasive in comprehension; in the present model, word order is language-particular and interpretation order (i.e., hierarchy) is universal. These orders are not two dimensions of a unified abstract object (e.g., precedence and dominance in a single tree); rather, both are temporal sequences, and UG is an invariant real-time procedure (based on Knuth's stack-sorting algorithm) transforming word order into hierarchical order. This shift in perspective has several desirable consequences. It collapses linearization, displacement, and composition into a single performance process. The architecture provides a novel source of brackets (labeled unambiguously and without search), which are understood not as part-whole constituency relations, but as storage and retrieval routines in parsing. It also explains why neutral word order within single syntactic cycles avoids 213-like permutations. The model identifies cycles as extended projections of lexical heads, grounding the notion of phase. This is achieved with a universal processor, dispensing with parameters. The empirical focus is word order in noun phrases. This domain provides some of the clearest evidence for 213-avoidance as a cross

Linguistic grammar learning and DRD2-TAQ-IA polymorphism.

Science.gov (United States)

Wong, Patrick C M; Ettlinger, Marc; Zheng, Jing

2013-01-01

As research into the neurobiology of language has focused primarily on the systems level, fewer studies have examined the link between molecular genetics and normal variations in language functions. Because the ability to learn a language varies in adults and our genetic codes also vary, research linking the two provides a unique window into the molecular neurobiology of language. We consider a candidate association between the dopamine receptor D2 gene (DRD2) and linguistic grammar learning. DRD2-TAQ-IA polymorphism (rs1800497) is associated with dopamine receptor D2 distribution and dopamine impact in the human striatum, such that A1 allele carriers show reduction in D2 receptor binding relative to carriers who are homozygous for the A2 allele. The individual differences in grammatical rule learning that are particularly prevalent in adulthood are also associated with striatal function and its role in domain-general procedural memory. Therefore, we reasoned that procedurally-based grammar learning could be associated with DRD2-TAQ-IA polymorphism. Here, English-speaking adults learned artificial concatenative and analogical grammars, which have been respectively associated with procedural and declarative memory. Language learning capabilities were tested while learners' neural hemodynamic responses were simultaneously measured by fMRI. Behavioral learning and brain activation data were subsequently compared with the learners' DRD2 (rs1800497) genotype. Learners who were homozygous for the A2 allele were better at concatenative (but not analogical) grammar learning and had higher striatal responses relative to those who have at least one A1 allele. These results provide preliminary evidence for the neurogenetic basis of normal variations in linguistic grammar learning and its link to domain-general functions.

Combinatorial matrix theory

CERN Document Server

Mitjana, Margarida

2018-01-01

This book contains the notes of the lectures delivered at an Advanced Course on Combinatorial Matrix Theory held at Centre de Recerca Matemàtica (CRM) in Barcelona. These notes correspond to five series of lectures. The first series is dedicated to the study of several matrix classes defined combinatorially, and was delivered by Richard A. Brualdi. The second one, given by Pauline van den Driessche, is concerned with the study of spectral properties of matrices with a given sign pattern. Dragan Stevanović delivered the third one, devoted to describing the spectral radius of a graph as a tool to provide bounds of parameters related with properties of a graph. The fourth lecture was delivered by Stephen Kirkland and is dedicated to the applications of the Group Inverse of the Laplacian matrix. The last one, given by Ángeles Carmona, focuses on boundary value problems on finite networks with special in-depth on the M-matrix inverse problem.

The Influence of Texting Language on Grammar and Executive Functions in Primary School Children.

Science.gov (United States)

van Dijk, Chantal N; van Witteloostuijn, Merel; Vasić, Nada; Avrutin, Sergey; Blom, Elma

2016-01-01

When sending text messages on their mobile phone to friends, children often use a special type of register, which is called textese. This register allows the omission of words and the use of textisms: instances of non-standard written language such as 4ever (forever). Previous studies have shown that textese has a positive effect on children's literacy abilities. In addition, it is possible that children's grammar system is affected by textese as well, as grammar rules are often transgressed in this register. Therefore, the main aim of this study was to investigate whether the use of textese influences children's grammar performance, and whether this effect is specific to grammar or language in general. Additionally, studies have not yet investigated the influence of textese on children's cognitive abilities. Consequently, the secondary aim of this study was to find out whether textese affects children's executive functions. To investigate this, 55 children between 10 and 13 years old were tested on a receptive vocabulary and grammar performance (sentence repetition) task and various tasks measuring executive functioning. In addition, text messages were elicited and the number of omissions and textisms in children's messages were calculated. Regression analyses showed that omissions were a significant predictor of children's grammar performance after various other variables were controlled for: the more words children omitted in their text messages, the better their performance on the grammar task. Although textisms correlated (marginally) significantly with vocabulary, grammar and selective attention scores and omissions marginally significantly with vocabulary scores, no other significant effects were obtained for measures of textese in the regression analyses: neither for the language outcomes, nor for the executive function tasks. Hence, our results show that textese is positively related to children's grammar performance. On the other hand, use of textese does

Using Games in Primary Schools for Effective Grammar Teaching: a Case Study from Sebha

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Mustafa Mubarak Pathan

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Teaching and learning a foreign language like English is not easy task. The situation become more difficult when the learners are primary school children and teaching and learning focus is grammar, an activity often regarded as ‘boring, ‘uninteresting’ and ‘’tedious’. However, one’s mastery over a language is determined by the appropriate use of language by that individual following grammatical rules and failing to follow the rules of grammar marks one’s use of language as erroneous. Therefore, systematic attempt is done to teach grammatical rules and structures to the language learners from the beginning of language teaching and learning process. However, the success or failure of learning, mastering and using the grammatical rules and structures is largely determined by the technique and approach used by the grammar teacher to teach. The leaner-cantered, interesting, motivating technique of grammar teaching is believed to generate positive results whereas traditional, teacher-centered, uninteresting, uninvolving method is believed to be a cause of failure for learners to learn and master grammar rules and structures. Therefore, the grammar teaching technique, which involves language learners, to maximum, in learning in amusing and creative way, motivating, challenging and stimulating his/her mental processes, and reducing classroom anxiety and fear, is desired and recommended for fruitful language teaching and learning process. In this respect, the present paper discusses the effectiveness of using games for teaching grammar to primary school students as a technique which could easily be utilised and exploited for maximum benefits for learners. The study is based on the practical experiment done on the students of two primary schools in Sebha city of Libya using grammar games. The results, which proved to be fruitful and positive, are discussed as a basis for the argument in support of using games for teaching grammar to school

The Influence of Texting Language on Grammar and Executive Functions in Primary School Children.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chantal N van Dijk

Full Text Available When sending text messages on their mobile phone to friends, children often use a special type of register, which is called textese. This register allows the omission of words and the use of textisms: instances of non-standard written language such as 4ever (forever. Previous studies have shown that textese has a positive effect on children's literacy abilities. In addition, it is possible that children's grammar system is affected by textese as well, as grammar rules are often transgressed in this register. Therefore, the main aim of this study was to investigate whether the use of textese influences children's grammar performance, and whether this effect is specific to grammar or language in general. Additionally, studies have not yet investigated the influence of textese on children's cognitive abilities. Consequently, the secondary aim of this study was to find out whether textese affects children's executive functions. To investigate this, 55 children between 10 and 13 years old were tested on a receptive vocabulary and grammar performance (sentence repetition task and various tasks measuring executive functioning. In addition, text messages were elicited and the number of omissions and textisms in children's messages were calculated. Regression analyses showed that omissions were a significant predictor of children's grammar performance after various other variables were controlled for: the more words children omitted in their text messages, the better their performance on the grammar task. Although textisms correlated (marginally significantly with vocabulary, grammar and selective attention scores and omissions marginally significantly with vocabulary scores, no other significant effects were obtained for measures of textese in the regression analyses: neither for the language outcomes, nor for the executive function tasks. Hence, our results show that textese is positively related to children's grammar performance. On the other hand

Abstract Interpretation Using Attribute Grammar

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rosendahl, Mads

1990-01-01

This paper deals with the correctness proofs of attribute grammars using methods from abstract interpretation. The technique will be described by defining a live-variable analysis for a small flow-chart language and proving it correct with respect to a continuation style semantics. The proof...

Combinatorial identities for tenth order mock theta functions

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

44

which lead us to one 4-way and one 3-way combinatorial identity. ... mock theta functions, partition identities and different combinatorial parameters, see for ... 3. Example 1.1. There are twelve (n + 1)–color partitions of 2: 21, 21 + 01, 11 + 11, ...

Grammar Correction in the Writing Centre: Expectations and Experiences of Monolingual and Multilingual Writers

Science.gov (United States)

Eckstein, Grant

2016-01-01

Although most writing centres maintain policies against providing grammar correction during writing tutorials, it is undeniable that students expect some level of grammar intervention there. Just how much students expect and receive is a matter of speculation. This article examines the grammar-correction issue by reporting on a survey of L1, L2,…

On the combinatorial foundations of Regge-calculus

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Budach, L.

1989-01-01

Lipschitz-Killing curvatures of piecewise flat spaces are combinatorial analogues of Lipschitz-Killing curvatures of Riemannian manifolds. In the following paper rigorous combinatorial representations and proofs of all basic results for Lipschitz-Killing curvatures not using analytic arguments are given. The principal tools for an elementary representation of Regge calculus can be developed by means of basic properties of dihedral angles. (author)

Combinatorial Speculations and the Combinatorial Conjecture for Mathematics

OpenAIRE

Mao, Linfan

2006-01-01

Combinatorics is a powerful tool for dealing with relations among objectives mushroomed in the past century. However, an more important work for mathematician is to apply combinatorics to other mathematics and other sciences not merely to find combinatorial behavior for objectives. Recently, such research works appeared on journals for mathematics and theoretical physics on cosmos. The main purpose of this paper is to survey these thinking and ideas for mathematics and cosmological physics, s...

Deriving a probabilistic syntacto-semantic grammar for biomedicine based on domain-specific terminologies.

Science.gov (United States)

Fan, Jung-Wei; Friedman, Carol

2011-10-01

Biomedical natural language processing (BioNLP) is a useful technique that unlocks valuable information stored in textual data for practice and/or research. Syntactic parsing is a critical component of BioNLP applications that rely on correctly determining the sentence and phrase structure of free text. In addition to dealing with the vast amount of domain-specific terms, a robust biomedical parser needs to model the semantic grammar to obtain viable syntactic structures. With either a rule-based or corpus-based approach, the grammar engineering process requires substantial time and knowledge from experts, and does not always yield a semantically transferable grammar. To reduce the human effort and to promote semantic transferability, we propose an automated method for deriving a probabilistic grammar based on a training corpus consisting of concept strings and semantic classes from the Unified Medical Language System (UMLS), a comprehensive terminology resource widely used by the community. The grammar is designed to specify noun phrases only due to the nominal nature of the majority of biomedical terminological concepts. Evaluated on manually parsed clinical notes, the derived grammar achieved a recall of 0.644, precision of 0.737, and average cross-bracketing of 0.61, which demonstrated better performance than a control grammar with the semantic information removed. Error analysis revealed shortcomings that could be addressed to improve performance. The results indicated the feasibility of an approach which automatically incorporates terminology semantics in the building of an operational grammar. Although the current performance of the unsupervised solution does not adequately replace manual engineering, we believe once the performance issues are addressed, it could serve as an aide in a semi-supervised solution. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

THE USE OF THE GRAMMAR-TRANSLATION METHOD IN CHINA

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

1994-01-01

Introduction Among the plethora of foreign language teaching methods and approaches there are the grammar-translation method, the direct method, the audiolingual method and the communicative approach to name but a few. Of the major methods, grammar-translation gets the most criticism and is thought to be obsolete. However, in my view it is suitable for China given the country’s present language learning situation, and, in practice, is not at all ineffectual.

Grammar Learning Strategies and Language Attainment: Seeking a Relationship

OpenAIRE

Pawlak Mirosław

2009-01-01

Despite major advances in research on language learning strategies, there are still areas that have received only scant attention, and one of them is undoubtedly learning grammar. The paper contributes to the paucity of empirical investigations in this domain by presenting the findings of a study which sought to investigate the relationship between the use of grammar learning strategies (GLS) reported by 142 English Department students and target language attainment, operationalized as their ...

How to describe grammar and vocabulary in ELT

CERN Document Server

Liu, Dilin

2013-01-01

Language description plays an important role in language learning/teaching because it often determines what specific language forms, features, and usages are taught and how. A good understanding of language description is vital for language teachers and material writers and should constitute an important part of their knowledge. This book provides a balanced treatment of both theory and practice. It focuses on some of the most important and challenging grammar and vocabulary usage questions. Using these questions as examples, it shows how theory can inform practice and how grammar and vocab

Performance of children with developmental dyslexia on high and low topological entropy artificial grammar learning task.

Science.gov (United States)

Katan, Pesia; Kahta, Shani; Sasson, Ayelet; Schiff, Rachel

2017-07-01

Graph complexity as measured by topological entropy has been previously shown to affect performance on artificial grammar learning tasks among typically developing children. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of graph complexity on implicit sequential learning among children with developmental dyslexia. Our goal was to determine whether children's performance depends on the complexity level of the grammar system learned. We conducted two artificial grammar learning experiments that compared performance of children with developmental dyslexia with that of age- and reading level-matched controls. Experiment 1 was a high topological entropy artificial grammar learning task that aimed to establish implicit learning phenomena in children with developmental dyslexia using previously published experimental conditions. Experiment 2 is a lower topological entropy variant of that task. Results indicated that given a high topological entropy grammar system, children with developmental dyslexia who were similar to the reading age-matched control group had substantial difficulty in performing the task as compared to typically developing children, who exhibited intact implicit learning of the grammar. On the other hand, when tested on a lower topological entropy grammar system, all groups performed above chance level, indicating that children with developmental dyslexia were able to identify rules from a given grammar system. The results reinforced the significance of graph complexity when experimenting with artificial grammar learning tasks, particularly with dyslexic participants.

Systemic functional grammar in natural language generation linguistic description and computational representation

CERN Document Server

Teich, Elke

1999-01-01

This volume deals with the computational application of systemic functional grammar (SFG) for natural language generation. In particular, it describes the implementation of a fragment of the grammar of German in the computational framework of KOMET-PENMAN for multilingual generation. The text also presents a specification of explicit well-formedness constraints on syntagmatic structure which are defined in the form of typed feature structures. It thus achieves a model of systemic functional grammar that unites both the strengths of systemics, such as stratification, functional diversification

Manipulating Combinatorial Structures.

Science.gov (United States)

Labelle, Gilbert

This set of transparencies shows how the manipulation of combinatorial structures in the context of modern combinatorics can easily lead to interesting teaching and learning activities at every level of education from elementary school to university. The transparencies describe: (1) the importance and relations of combinatorics to science and…

Cubical version of combinatorial differential forms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kock, Anders

2010-01-01

The theory of combinatorial differential forms is usually presented in simplicial terms. We present here a cubical version; it depends on the possibility of forming affine combinations of mutual neighbour points in a manifold, in the context of synthetic differential geometry.......The theory of combinatorial differential forms is usually presented in simplicial terms. We present here a cubical version; it depends on the possibility of forming affine combinations of mutual neighbour points in a manifold, in the context of synthetic differential geometry....

Some experience of shielding calculations by combinatorial method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Korobejnikov, V.V.; Oussanov, V.I.

1996-01-01

Some aspects of the compound systems shielding calculations by a combinatorial approach are discussed. The effectiveness of such an approach is based on the fundamental characteristic of a compound system: if some element of the system have in itself mathematical or physical properties favorable for calculation, these properties may be used in a combinatorial approach and are lost when the system is being calculated in the whole by a direct approach. The combinatorial technique applied is well known. A compound system are being splitting for two or more auxiliary subsystems (so that calculation each of them is a more simple problem than calculation of the original problem (or at last is a soluble problem if original one is not). Calculation of every subsystem are carried out by suitable method and code, the coupling being made through boundary conditions or boundary source. The special consideration in the paper is given to a fast reactor shielding combinatorial analysis and to the testing of the results received. (author)

Input-Based Approaches to Teaching Grammar: A Review of Classroom-Oriented Research.

Science.gov (United States)

Ellis, Rod

1999-01-01

Examines the theoretical rationales (universal grammar, information-processing theories, skill-learning theories) for input-based grammar teaching and reviews classroom-oriented research (i.e., enriched-input studies, input-processing studies) that has integrated this option. (Author/VWL)

Connectivity of the hippocampus and Broca's area during acquisition of a novel grammar.

Science.gov (United States)

Kepinska, Olga; de Rover, Mischa; Caspers, Johanneke; Schiller, Niels O

2018-01-15

Following Opitz and Friederici (2003) suggesting interactions of the hippocampal system and the prefrontal cortex as the neural mechanism underlying novel grammar learning, the present fMRI study investigated functional connectivity of bilateral BA 44/45 and the hippocampus during an artificial grammar learning (AGL) task. Our results, contrary to the previously reported interactions, demonstrated parallel (but separate) contributions of both regions, each with their own interactions, to the process of novel grammar acquisition. The functional connectivity pattern of Broca's area pointed to the importance of coherent activity of left frontal areas around the core language processing region for successful grammar learning. Furthermore, connectivity patterns of left and right hippocampi (predominantly with occipital areas) were found to be a strong predictor of high performance on the task. Finally, increasing functional connectivity over time of both left and right BA 44/45 with the right posterior cingulate cortex and the right temporo-parietal areas points to the importance of multimodal and attentional processes supporting novel grammar acquisition. Moreover, it highlights the right-hemispheric involvement in initial stages of L2 learning. These latter interactions were found to operate irrespective of the task performance, making them an obligatory mechanism accompanying novel grammar learning. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Journalism Writing Course: Evaluation of Hybrid versus Online Grammar Instruction

Science.gov (United States)

Moore, Jensen; Jones, Khristen

2015-01-01

This study examined introductory journalism writing courses and compared hybrid (part online/part classroom) versus online grammar instruction. The hybrid structure allowed for grammar topics to be taught online, with a pretest following, and then reviewing missed/difficult pretest concepts in class prior to a posttest. The quasi-experimental…

Template-based generation of natural language expressions with Controlled M-Grammar

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Appelo, Lisette; Leermakers, M.C.J.; Rous, J.H.G.

1993-01-01

A method is described for the generation of related natural-language expressions. The method is based on a formal grammar of the natural language in question, specified in the Controlled M-Grammar (CMG) formalism. In the CMG framework the generation of an utterance is controlled by a derivation

Solid-Phase Synthesis of Small Molecule Libraries using Double Combinatorial Chemistry

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, John; Jensen, Flemming R.

1997-01-01

The first synthesis of a combinatorial library using double combinatorial chemistry is presented. Coupling of unprotected Fmoc-tyrosine to the solid support was followed by Mitsunobu O-alkylation. Introduction of a diacid linker yields a system in which the double combinatorial step can be demons...

Network Analysis with Stochastic Grammars

Science.gov (United States)

2015-09-17

rules N = 0 //non-terminal index clusters = cluster(W) //number of clusters drive the number S productions //cluster function described in text...Essa, “Recognizing multitasked activities from video using stochastic context-free grammar,” AAAI/IAAI, pp. 770–776, 2002. [18] R. Nevatia, T. Zhao

A Grammar of Logba (Ikpana)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dorvlo, Kofi

2008-01-01

This dissertation presents a comprehensive description of the grammar of Logba, one of the fourteen Ghana-Togo Mountain (GTM) languages spoken by approximately 7,500 speakers on the Southeastern frontier of the Ghana-Togo border. It is the outcome of fifteen months research in Logba speaking

Using conceptual metaphor and functional grammar to explore how language used in physics affects student learning

Science.gov (United States)

Brookes, David T.; Etkina, Eugenia

2007-06-01

This paper introduces a theory about the role of language in learning physics. The theory is developed in the context of physics students and physicists talking and writing about the subject of quantum mechanics. We found that physicists’ language encodes different varieties of analogical models through the use of grammar and conceptual metaphor. We hypothesize that students categorize concepts into ontological categories based on the grammatical structure of physicists’ language. We also hypothesize that students overextend and misapply conceptual metaphors in physicists’ speech and writing. Using our theory, we will show how, in some cases, we can explain student difficulties in quantum mechanics as difficulties with language.

Using conceptual metaphor and functional grammar to explore how language used in physics affects student learning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eugenia Etkina

2007-05-01

Full Text Available This paper introduces a theory about the role of language in learning physics. The theory is developed in the context of physics students and physicists talking and writing about the subject of quantum mechanics. We found that physicists’ language encodes different varieties of analogical models through the use of grammar and conceptual metaphor. We hypothesize that students categorize concepts into ontological categories based on the grammatical structure of physicists’ language. We also hypothesize that students overextend and misapply conceptual metaphors in physicists’ speech and writing. Using our theory, we will show how, in some cases, we can explain student difficulties in quantum mechanics as difficulties with language.

The Effect of MALL-Based Tasks on EFL Learners' Grammar Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Khodabandeh, Farzaneh; Alian, Jalal ed-din; Soleimani, Hassan

2017-01-01

Many studies have confirmed the importance of tasks on language learning. Nowadays, many teachers apply different kinds of tasks in their classrooms. The current study investigated the effect of mobile assisted language learning tasks (MALL) on participants' English grammar learning. The researcher administered a pre-validated grammar test to 90…

Linguistic grammar learning and DRD2-TAQ-IA polymorphism.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Patrick C M Wong

Full Text Available As research into the neurobiology of language has focused primarily on the systems level, fewer studies have examined the link between molecular genetics and normal variations in language functions. Because the ability to learn a language varies in adults and our genetic codes also vary, research linking the two provides a unique window into the molecular neurobiology of language. We consider a candidate association between the dopamine receptor D2 gene (DRD2 and linguistic grammar learning. DRD2-TAQ-IA polymorphism (rs1800497 is associated with dopamine receptor D2 distribution and dopamine impact in the human striatum, such that A1 allele carriers show reduction in D2 receptor binding relative to carriers who are homozygous for the A2 allele. The individual differences in grammatical rule learning that are particularly prevalent in adulthood are also associated with striatal function and its role in domain-general procedural memory. Therefore, we reasoned that procedurally-based grammar learning could be associated with DRD2-TAQ-IA polymorphism. Here, English-speaking adults learned artificial concatenative and analogical grammars, which have been respectively associated with procedural and declarative memory. Language learning capabilities were tested while learners' neural hemodynamic responses were simultaneously measured by fMRI. Behavioral learning and brain activation data were subsequently compared with the learners' DRD2 (rs1800497 genotype. Learners who were homozygous for the A2 allele were better at concatenative (but not analogical grammar learning and had higher striatal responses relative to those who have at least one A1 allele. These results provide preliminary evidence for the neurogenetic basis of normal variations in linguistic grammar learning and its link to domain-general functions.

Metrical presentation boosts implicit learning of artificial grammar.

Science.gov (United States)

Selchenkova, Tatiana; François, Clément; Schön, Daniele; Corneyllie, Alexandra; Perrin, Fabien; Tillmann, Barbara

2014-01-01

The present study investigated whether a temporal hierarchical structure favors implicit learning. An artificial pitch grammar implemented with a set of tones was presented in two different temporal contexts, notably with either a strongly metrical structure or an isochronous structure. According to the Dynamic Attending Theory, external temporal regularities can entrain internal oscillators that guide attention over time, allowing for temporal expectations that influence perception of future events. Based on this framework, it was hypothesized that the metrical structure provides a benefit for artificial grammar learning in comparison to an isochronous presentation. Our study combined behavioral and event-related potential measurements. Behavioral results demonstrated similar learning in both participant groups. By contrast, analyses of event-related potentials showed a larger P300 component and an earlier N2 component for the strongly metrical group during the exposure phase and the test phase, respectively. These findings suggests that the temporal expectations in the strongly metrical condition helped listeners to better process the pitch dimension, leading to improved learning of the artificial grammar.

Accessing Specific Peptide Recognition by Combinatorial Chemistry

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Li, Ming

Molecular recognition is at the basis of all processes for life, and plays a central role in many biological processes, such as protein folding, the structural organization of cells and organelles, signal transduction, and the immune response. Hence, my PhD project is entitled “Accessing Specific...... Peptide Recognition by Combinatorial Chemistry”. Molecular recognition is a specific interaction between two or more molecules through noncovalent bonding, such as hydrogen bonding, metal coordination, van der Waals forces, π−π, hydrophobic, or electrostatic interactions. The association involves kinetic....... Combinatorial chemistry was invented in 1980s based on observation of functional aspects of the adaptive immune system. It was employed for drug development and optimization in conjunction with high-throughput synthesis and screening. (chapter 2) Combinatorial chemistry is able to rapidly produce many thousands...

DEVELOPING DIGITAL ENGLISH GRAMMAR MATERIALS FOR THE SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Agnes Santi Widiati

2017-04-01

Full Text Available English has become the tool for communication among the people across countries, and schools are competing to provide English for the students as early as possible. There are plenty ready-to-use digital English modules in the market today; however, they are not relevant with the English syllabus of the primary or secondary schools. The teaching is focused on the four skills directed for communication. As such, grammar is not presented as a part of the English lessons; but only when needed to support the four skills. The absence of systematic design of English grammar lesson makes their grammar mastery weak. To fix this, the writers develop grammar materials for the secondary school, specifically for the tenth graders. Young people love working with computers or other kinds of modern gadgets, so the materials developed in this research are in the digital form, both usable by teachers at school and by students independently via the Internet. Based on the needs assessment executed in high schools in Surabaya, Sidoarjo, and Malang, the researchers have obtained the inputs about the grammar topics needed and the types of exercises preferred by the students. Articulate Storyline 2 software is used to develop the materials supported by animation and voice recording. Each module covers the objectives, description, exercises equipped with feedbacks, and quizzes with scores to measure the achievement of the objectives.

Supporting intra-group social metacognitive activities with technology: A grammar learning game

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Molenaar, I.; Horvers, A.; Desain, P.W.M.

2017-01-01

This study investigates the effects of a technology enhanced collaborative grammar learning activity on students sentence parsing and formulation. These types of collaborative learning activities for grammar education are expected to support more effective learning. Yet, effective intra-group social

On restricted context-free grammars

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Dassow, J.; Masopust, Tomáš

2012-01-01

Roč. 78, č. 1 (2012), s. 293-304 ISSN 0022-0000 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10190503 Keywords : context-free grammars * derivation restriction * normal forms Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics Impact factor: 1.000, year: 2012 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022000011000572

Bits of Experience in the Oral Practice of Teaching Grammar

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

王敏

2002-01-01

English learners may have such experience that most of them can't be able to speak English apropriately and fluently even if they have gained a lot of grammar knowledge. The approach of teaching grammar discussed in this paper focuses on training students' communicative ability. And it is benefical to stimulating the activeness and interest of students and fostering the ability to solve the problems independently.

The effect of event repetition on the production of story grammar in children's event narratives.

Science.gov (United States)

Feltis, Brooke B; Powell, Martine B; Roberts, Kim P

2011-03-01

This study examined the effect of event repetition on the amount and nature of story-grammar produced by children when recalling the event. Children aged 4 years (N=50) and 7 years (N=56) participated in either 1 or 6 occurrences of a highly similar event where details varied across the occurrences. Half the children in each age and event group recalled the last/single occurrence 5-6 days later and the other half recalled the last/single occurrence after 5-6 weeks (the final and single occurrence was the same). Children's free recall responses were classified according to the number and proportion of story-grammar elements (Stein & Glenn, 1979-setting, initiating event, internal response, plan, attempt, direct consequence, and resolution) as well as the prevalence of causal links between the individual story-grammar elements. More story-grammar detail and more links between individual story-grammar elements were reported about the final compared to single occurrence. The amount of story-grammar increased with age and decreased over time. Further, an interaction was revealed such that the effect of retention interval on the production of story-grammar was negligible for older children who experienced the repeated event. Event repetition has a beneficial effect on the production of children's story-grammar content in situations where event details varied from occasion to occasion. This study highlights the importance of eliciting free recall when conducting evidential interviews with child witnesses about repeated events. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Immune-Stimulating Combinatorial Therapy for Prostate Cancer

Science.gov (United States)

2016-10-01

Overlap: None 20 90061946 (Drake) Title: Epigenetic Drugs and Immuno Therapy for Prostate Cancer (EDIT-PC) Effort: 1.2 calendar months (10% effort...AWARD NUMBER: W81XWH-15-1-0667 TITLE: Immune-Stimulating Combinatorial Therapy for Prostate Cancer PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Robert Ivkov...Stimulating Combinatorial Therapy for Prostate Cancer 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER 5b. GRANT NUMBER W81XWH-15-1-0667 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 6. AUTHOR(S

The relationship between grammar and the psychological ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The relationship between grammar and the psychological processing of language. ... manner in which speakers perceive and psycholinguistically process information. ... order, metaphorical extensions, processing constraints, end-focus theory

Developmental Constraints on Learning Artificial Grammars with Fixed, Flexible and Free Word Order

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Iga Nowak

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Human learning, although highly flexible and efficient, is constrained in ways that facilitate or impede the acquisition of certain systems of information. Some such constraints, active during infancy and childhood, have been proposed to account for the apparent ease with which typically developing children acquire language. In a series of experiments, we investigated the role of developmental constraints on learning artificial grammars with a distinction between shorter and relatively frequent words (‘function words,’ F-words and longer and less frequent words (‘content words,’ C-words. We constructed 4 finite-state grammars, in which the order of F-words, relative to C-words, was either fixed (F-words always occupied the same positions in a string, flexible (every F-word always followed a C-word, or free. We exposed adults (N = 84 and kindergarten children (N = 100 to strings from each of these artificial grammars, and we assessed their ability to recognize strings with the same structure, but a different vocabulary. Adults were better at recognizing strings when regularities were available (i.e., fixed and flexible order grammars, while children were better at recognizing strings from the grammars consistent with the attested distribution of function and content words in natural languages (i.e., flexible and free order grammars. These results provide evidence for a link between developmental constraints on learning and linguistic typology.

Teachers' Attitudes towards Teaching English Grammar: A Scale Development Study

Science.gov (United States)

Polat, Murat

2017-01-01

In most ELT classes, the importance of grammar, how it should be taught or how much it should be integrated into language teaching are still matters of discussion. Considering this fact, learning teachers' attitudes towards teaching grammar is significantly valuable for researchers. This study thus aimed to design a scale that identifies teachers'…

Density of Visual Input Enhancement and Grammar Learning: A Research Proposal

Science.gov (United States)

Tran, Thu Hoang

2009-01-01

Research in the field of second language acquisition (SLA) has been done to ascertain the effectiveness of visual input enhancement (VIE) on grammar learning. However, one issue remains unexplored: the effects of VIE density on grammar learning. This paper presents a research proposal to investigate the effects of the density of VIE on English…

On the Cut-off Point for Combinatorial Group Testing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fischer, Paul; Klasner, N.; Wegener, I.

1999-01-01

is answered by 1 if Q contains at least one essential object and by 0 otherwise. In the statistical setting the objects are essential, independently of each other, with a given probability p combinatorial setting the number k ... group testing is equal to p* = 12(3 - 5), i.e., the strategy of testing each object individually minimizes the average number of queries iff p >= p* or n = 1. In the combinatorial setting the worst case number of queries is of interest. It has been conjectured that the cut-off point of combinatorial...

Nouns, verbs, objects, actions, and abstractions: local fMRI activity indexes semantics, not lexical categories.

Science.gov (United States)

Moseley, Rachel L; Pulvermüller, Friedemann

2014-05-01

Noun/verb dissociations in the literature defy interpretation due to the confound between lexical category and semantic meaning; nouns and verbs typically describe concrete objects and actions. Abstract words, pertaining to neither, are a critical test case: dissociations along lexical-grammatical lines would support models purporting lexical category as the principle governing brain organisation, whilst semantic models predict dissociation between concrete words but not abstract items. During fMRI scanning, participants read orthogonalised word categories of nouns and verbs, with or without concrete, sensorimotor meaning. Analysis of inferior frontal/insula, precentral and central areas revealed an interaction between lexical class and semantic factors with clear category differences between concrete nouns and verbs but not abstract ones. Though the brain stores the combinatorial and lexical-grammatical properties of words, our data show that topographical differences in brain activation, especially in the motor system and inferior frontal cortex, are driven by semantics and not by lexical class. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Multiple Grammars and the Logic of Learnability in L2

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tom W Roeper

2016-02-01

Full Text Available The goal of this article is to enhance the technical description of multi-lingual speakers in terms of a theoryof Multiple Grammars where more than one language utilizes a grammar. The challenge of V2 and itsimplications for interfaces from the perspective of the L2 learner is the focus. A number of constructionsare considered including: Quotation, Topicaliation, Empty subjects and Objects, Expletives, and Subject-auxiliary inversoni.

Teaching Grammar through Task-Based Language Teaching to Young EFL Learners

Science.gov (United States)

Yildiz, Mustafa; Senel, Mufit

2017-01-01

The present study investigates the effects of Task-Based Language Teaching on students' grammar knowledge in the field of teaching grammar. It has been studied with 32 students from 8th grade during a two-and-a-half-month process. Throughout this process, students firstly are applied a pre-test to examine their level and to confirm whether there…

Contemporary Tutorial Call: Using Purpose-Built Video as a Grammar Tutor

Science.gov (United States)

Merlo, Jarrad R.; Gruba, Paul A.

2015-01-01

Despite an increased emphasis on form-focused instruction (FFI), the use of the computer as a grammar tutor has remained largely unexamined for nearly two decades. With new technologies at hand, there is a need to take a fresh look at online grammar tutors and link designs more strongly to contemporary second language acquisition (SLA) principles…

Graph Grammar-Based Multi-Frontal Parallel Direct Solver for Two-Dimensional Isogeometric Analysis

KAUST Repository

Kuźnik, Krzysztof; Paszyński, Maciej; Calo, Victor M.

2012-01-01

at parent nodes and eliminates rows corresponding to fully assembled degrees of freedom. Finally, there are graph grammar productions responsible for root problem solution and recursive backward substitutions. Expressing the solver algorithm by graph grammar

Grammar Texts and Consumerist Subtexts

Science.gov (United States)

Sokolik, M. E.

2007-01-01

While several checklists exist for the evaluation of ESL/EFL textbooks, none includes suggestions for looking for specific biases, especially those found in the content of examples and sample sentences. Growing awareness in publishing has reduced problems in the presentation of gender-based and racial biases in most ESL/EFL grammar textbooks, but…

Transformational Grammar and Cognitive Psycholinguistics.

Science.gov (United States)

Lester, Mark

1973-01-01

An overview of Noam Chomsky's theories about transformational grammar and phonology is given. Since Chomsky was interested in characterizing what it is to know a language, the ways in which we demonstrate knowledge of our native language are discussed in detail. Particular emphasis is placed on describing how the transformational approach actually…

Readings in Applied Transformational Grammar.

Science.gov (United States)

Lester, Mark, Ed.

This volume contains nineteen essays, dealing with various aspects of transformational grammar, by scholars such as Noam Chomsky, Eric H. Lenneberg, and Leon Jakobovits. These essays have been reprinted from sources such as "College English" and "Language Learning" and are intended for the most part for a nontechnical audience. The anthology is…

Infinitary Combinatory Reduction Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ketema, Jeroen; Simonsen, Jakob Grue

2011-01-01

We define infinitary Combinatory Reduction Systems (iCRSs), thus providing the first notion of infinitary higher-order rewriting. The systems defined are sufficiently general that ordinary infinitary term rewriting and infinitary ¿-calculus are special cases. Furthermore,we generalise a number...

Consistent Parameter and Transfer Function Estimation using Context Free Grammars

Science.gov (United States)

Klotz, Daniel; Herrnegger, Mathew; Schulz, Karsten

2017-04-01

This contribution presents a method for the inference of transfer functions for rainfall-runoff models. Here, transfer functions are defined as parametrized (functional) relationships between a set of spatial predictors (e.g. elevation, slope or soil texture) and model parameters. They are ultimately used for estimation of consistent, spatially distributed model parameters from a limited amount of lumped global parameters. Additionally, they provide a straightforward method for parameter extrapolation from one set of basins to another and can even be used to derive parameterizations for multi-scale models [see: Samaniego et al., 2010]. Yet, currently an actual knowledge of the transfer functions is often implicitly assumed. As a matter of fact, for most cases these hypothesized transfer functions can rarely be measured and often remain unknown. Therefore, this contribution presents a general method for the concurrent estimation of the structure of transfer functions and their respective (global) parameters. Note, that by consequence an estimation of the distributed parameters of the rainfall-runoff model is also undertaken. The method combines two steps to achieve this. The first generates different possible transfer functions. The second then estimates the respective global transfer function parameters. The structural estimation of the transfer functions is based on the context free grammar concept. Chomsky first introduced context free grammars in linguistics [Chomsky, 1956]. Since then, they have been widely applied in computer science. But, to the knowledge of the authors, they have so far not been used in hydrology. Therefore, the contribution gives an introduction to context free grammars and shows how they can be constructed and used for the structural inference of transfer functions. This is enabled by new methods from evolutionary computation, such as grammatical evolution [O'Neill, 2001], which make it possible to exploit the constructed grammar as a

Assessing Primary Literacy through Grammar Tests

Science.gov (United States)

Hodgson, John

2017-01-01

Originally an editorial for "English in Education," this short article summarises key issues in the imposition of a separate test for grammar, punctuation and spelling. It illustrates the poor foundations, lack of clarity and distortion of curriculum which invalidate the test.

A Tentative Analysis of the Origin of Middle Chinese Grammar and Its Historical Position

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Liu Shizhen

2007-10-01

Full Text Available Middle Chinese is thelanguage used in the period from the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Sui Dynasty. Inrecent years researches of Middle Chinese have attracted scholars’ attention.While it inherited some characteristics from the grammar of Ancient Chinese,the morphology and syntax of Middle Chinese underwent obvious elimination andnew birth, an important content which laid the foundation for the furtherevolution of the Early Modern Chinese Grammar. Numerous grammatical phenomenonstarted to appear in Tang and Song Dynasties. The grammar was going through achange in which new forms replaced old ones, thus being the mediator ininheriting the archaic and beginning the early modern grammar, and thereforeoccupying an important position in the history of Chinese.

Combinatorial Libraries of Bis-Heterocyclic Compounds with Skeletal Diversity

OpenAIRE

Soural, Miroslav; Bouillon, Isabelle; Krchňák, Viktor

2008-01-01

Combinatorial solid-phase synthesis of bis-heterocyclic compounds, characterized by the presence of two heterocyclic cores connected by a spacer of variable length/structure, provided structurally heterogeneous libraries with skeletal diversity. Both heterocyclic rings were assembled on resin in a combinatorial fashion.

Combinatorial Quantum Field Theory and Gluing Formula for Determinants

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Reshetikhin, N.; Vertman, B.

2015-01-01

We define the combinatorial Dirichlet-to-Neumann operator and establish a gluing formula for determinants of discrete Laplacians using a combinatorial Gaussian quantum field theory. In case of a diagonal inner product on cochains we provide an explicit local expression for the discrete

Mobile-Assisted Grammar Exercises: Effects on Self-Editing in L2 Writing

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Zhi; Hegelheimer, Volker

2013-01-01

In this paper, we report on the development and implementation of a web-based mobile application, "Grammar Clinic," for an ESL writing class. Drawing on insights from the interactionist approach to Second Language Acquisition (SLA), the Noticing Hypothesis, and mobile-assisted language learning (MALL), "Grammar Clinic" was…

The Role of Simple Semantics in the Process of Artificial Grammar Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Öttl, Birgit; Jäger, Gerhard; Kaup, Barbara

2017-01-01

This study investigated the effect of semantic information on artificial grammar learning (AGL). Recursive grammars of different complexity levels (regular language, mirror language, copy language) were investigated in a series of AGL experiments. In the with-semantics condition, participants acquired semantic information prior to the AGL…

TRAINING TREE ADJOINING GRAMMARS WITH HUGE TEXT CORPUS USING SPARK MAP REDUCE

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Vijay Krishna Menon

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Tree adjoining grammars (TAGs are mildly context sensitive formalisms used mainly in modelling natural languages. Usage and research on these psycho linguistic formalisms have been erratic in the past decade, due to its demanding construction and difficulty to parse. However, they represent promising future for formalism based NLP in multilingual scenarios. In this paper we demonstrate basic synchronous Tree adjoining grammar for English-Tamil language pair that can be used readily for machine translation. We have also developed a multithreaded chart parser that gives ambiguous deep structures and a par dependency structure known as TAG derivation. Furthermore we then focus on a model for training this TAG for each language using a large corpus of text through a map reduce frequency count model in spark and estimation of various probabilistic parameters for the grammar trees thereafter; these parameters can be used to perform statistical parsing on the trained grammar.

Teachers’ Attitudes towards Teaching English Grammar: A Scale Development Study

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Murat Polat

2017-12-01

Full Text Available In most ELT classes, the importance of grammar, how it should be taught or how much it should be integrated into language teaching are still matters of discussion. Considering this fact, learning teachers’ attitudes towards teaching grammar is significantly valuable for researchers. This study thus aimed to design a scale that identifies teachers’ attitudes towards the role of grammar in the process of teaching English, to pilot it, and to find out the psychometric qualities like reliability and validity of the scale designed. The scale was developed in two phases; it was first aimed to explore the factor structure of the scale, then to confirm the structure gained from the exploration of the items. The study was carried out in 2015 and 247 volunteer language teachers from 3 state universities in Eskişehir and Kütahya were included. The results of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses revealed that the scale developed in this study was a considerably valid and reliable data collection tool including three factors. Finally, the analyses indicated that gender and graduate faculties did not create significant differences whereas age and the degrees obtained by the teachers created a considerable difference on language teachers’ attitudes towards grammar teaching (p<.05

Combinatorial Libraries of Bis-Heterocyclic Compounds with Skeletal Diversity

Science.gov (United States)

Soural, Miroslav; Bouillon, Isabelle; Krchňák, Viktor

2009-01-01

Combinatorial solid-phase synthesis of bis-heterocyclic compounds, characterized by the presence of two heterocyclic cores connected by a spacer of variable length/structure, provided structurally heterogeneous libraries with skeletal diversity. Both heterocyclic rings were assembled on resin in a combinatorial fashion. PMID:18811208

Combinatorial Cis-regulation in Saccharomyces Species

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Aaron T. Spivak

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Transcriptional control of gene expression requires interactions between the cis-regulatory elements (CREs controlling gene promoters. We developed a sensitive computational method to identify CRE combinations with conserved spacing that does not require genome alignments. When applied to seven sensu stricto and sensu lato Saccharomyces species, 80% of the predicted interactions displayed some evidence of combinatorial transcriptional behavior in several existing datasets including: (1 chromatin immunoprecipitation data for colocalization of transcription factors, (2 gene expression data for coexpression of predicted regulatory targets, and (3 gene ontology databases for common pathway membership of predicted regulatory targets. We tested several predicted CRE interactions with chromatin immunoprecipitation experiments in a wild-type strain and strains in which a predicted cofactor was deleted. Our experiments confirmed that transcription factor (TF occupancy at the promoters of the CRE combination target genes depends on the predicted cofactor while occupancy of other promoters is independent of the predicted cofactor. Our method has the additional advantage of identifying regulatory differences between species. By analyzing the S. cerevisiae and S. bayanus genomes, we identified differences in combinatorial cis-regulation between the species and showed that the predicted changes in gene regulation explain several of the species-specific differences seen in gene expression datasets. In some instances, the same CRE combinations appear to regulate genes involved in distinct biological processes in the two different species. The results of this research demonstrate that (1 combinatorial cis-regulation can be inferred by multi-genome analysis and (2 combinatorial cis-regulation can explain differences in gene expression between species.

The Association between Expressive Grammar Intervention and Social and Emergent Literacy Outcomes for Preschoolers with SLI

Science.gov (United States)

Washington, Karla N.

2013-01-01

Purpose: To determine whether (a) expressive grammar intervention facilitated social and emergent literacy outcomes better than no intervention and (b) expressive grammar gains and/or initial expressive grammar level predicted social and emergent literacy outcomes. Method: This investigation was a follow-up to a recently published study exploring…

Attribute And-Or Grammar for Joint Parsing of Human Pose, Parts and Attributes.

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Park, Seyoung; Nie, Xiaohan; Zhu, Song-Chun

2017-07-25

This paper presents an attribute and-or grammar (A-AOG) model for jointly inferring human body pose and human attributes in a parse graph with attributes augmented to nodes in the hierarchical representation. In contrast to other popular methods in the current literature that train separate classifiers for poses and individual attributes, our method explicitly represents the decomposition and articulation of body parts, and account for the correlations between poses and attributes. The A-AOG model is an amalgamation of three traditional grammar formulations: (i)Phrase structure grammar representing the hierarchical decomposition of the human body from whole to parts; (ii)Dependency grammar modeling the geometric articulation by a kinematic graph of the body pose; and (iii)Attribute grammar accounting for the compatibility relations between different parts in the hierarchy so that their appearances follow a consistent style. The parse graph outputs human detection, pose estimation, and attribute prediction simultaneously, which are intuitive and interpretable. We conduct experiments on two tasks on two datasets, and experimental results demonstrate the advantage of joint modeling in comparison with computing poses and attributes independently. Furthermore, our model obtains better performance over existing methods for both pose estimation and attribute prediction tasks.

Conferences on Combinatorial and Additive Number Theory

CERN Document Server

2014-01-01

This proceedings volume is based on papers presented at the Workshops on Combinatorial and Additive Number Theory (CANT), which were held at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York in 2011 and 2012. The goal of the workshops is to survey recent progress in combinatorial number theory and related parts of mathematics. The workshop attracts researchers and students who discuss the state-of-the-art, open problems, and future challenges in number theory.

Fast Combinatorial Algorithm for the Solution of Linearly Constrained Least Squares Problems

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Van Benthem, Mark H.; Keenan, Michael R.

2008-11-11

A fast combinatorial algorithm can significantly reduce the computational burden when solving general equality and inequality constrained least squares problems with large numbers of observation vectors. The combinatorial algorithm provides a mathematically rigorous solution and operates at great speed by reorganizing the calculations to take advantage of the combinatorial nature of the problems to be solved. The combinatorial algorithm exploits the structure that exists in large-scale problems in order to minimize the number of arithmetic operations required to obtain a solution.

Making sense of syntax – Innate or acquired? Contrasting universal grammar with other approaches to language acquisition

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Christian Kliesch

2012-05-01

Full Text Available Proponents of a Universal Grammar argue that humans are born with a dedicated language system that shapes and restricts the number of grammars found in human languages (Chomsky, 2005. It is essentially innate and has a genetic manifestation. Such an innate system is necessary because human grammars are too complex to be passed on through social interactions and probabilistic learning alone. However, this view is contested by a combination of emergentist approaches and a number of studies suggest that many of the core assumptions of Universal Grammar are either unnecessary or do not hold. Furthermore, this review will explore theoretical criticism of the Universal Grammar research programme.

Dynamic Systems Theory and Universal Grammar: Holding up a Turbulent Mirror to Development in Grammars

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Plaza-Pust, Carolina

2008-01-01

Research over the last decades has shown that language development in its multiple forms is characterized by a succession of stable and unstable states. However, the variation observed is neither expected nor can it be accounted for on the basis of traditional learning concepts conceived of within the Universal Grammar (UG) paradigm. In this…

Simultaneous Disulfide and Boronic Acid Ester Exchange in Dynamic Combinatorial Libraries

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Sanna L. Diemer

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Dynamic combinatorial chemistry has emerged as a promising tool for the discovery of complex receptors in supramolecular chemistry. At the heart of dynamic combinatorial chemistry are the reversible reactions that enable the exchange of building blocks between library members in dynamic combinatorial libraries (DCLs ensuring thermodynamic control over the system. If more than one reversible reaction operates in a single dynamic combinatorial library, the complexity of the system increases dramatically, and so does its possible applications. One can imagine two reversible reactions that operate simultaneously or two reversible reactions that operate independently. Both these scenarios have advantages and disadvantages. In this contribution, we show how disulfide exchange and boronic ester transesterification can function simultaneous in dynamic combinatorial libraries under appropriate conditions. We describe the detailed studies necessary to establish suitable reaction conditions and highlight the analytical techniques appropriate to study this type of system.

The association between expressive grammar intervention and social and emergent literacy outcomes for preschoolers with SLI.

Science.gov (United States)

Washington, Karla N

2013-02-01

To determine whether (a) expressive grammar intervention facilitated social and emergent literacy outcomes better than no intervention and (b) expressive grammar gains and/or initial expressive grammar level predicted social and emergent literacy outcomes. This investigation was a follow-up to a recently published study exploring the impact of grammatical language intervention on expressive grammar outcomes for preschoolers with specific language impairment (SLI). Twenty-two 3- to 5-year-old preschoolers received ten 20-minute intervention sessions addressing primary deficits in grammatical morphology. Participants' social and emergent literacy skills were not targeted. Twelve children awaiting intervention, chosen from the same selection pool as intervention participants, served as controls. Blind assessments of social and emergent literacy outcomes were completed at preintervention, immediately postintervention, and 3 months postintervention. Only intervention participants experienced significant gains in social and emergent literacy outcomes and maintained these gains for 3 months postintervention. Expressive grammar gains was the only single significant predictor of these outcomes. Expressive grammar intervention was associated with broad impacts on social and emergent literacy outcomes that were maintained beyond the intervention period. Gains in expressive grammar predicted these outcomes. Social and emergent literacy skills were positively affected for preschoolers with SLI during a grammatical language intervention program.

Dynamic combinatorial libraries: from exploring molecular recognition to systems chemistry.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Jianwei; Nowak, Piotr; Otto, Sijbren

2013-06-26

Dynamic combinatorial chemistry (DCC) is a subset of combinatorial chemistry where the library members interconvert continuously by exchanging building blocks with each other. Dynamic combinatorial libraries (DCLs) are powerful tools for discovering the unexpected and have given rise to many fascinating molecules, ranging from interlocked structures to self-replicators. Furthermore, dynamic combinatorial molecular networks can produce emergent properties at systems level, which provide exciting new opportunities in systems chemistry. In this perspective we will highlight some new methodologies in this field and analyze selected examples of DCLs that are under thermodynamic control, leading to synthetic receptors, catalytic systems, and complex self-assembled supramolecular architectures. Also reviewed are extensions of the principles of DCC to systems that are not at equilibrium and may therefore harbor richer functional behavior. Examples include self-replication and molecular machines.

Combinatorial Micro-Macro Dynamical Systems

OpenAIRE

Diaz, Rafael; Villamarin, Sergio

2015-01-01

The second law of thermodynamics states that the entropy of an isolated system is almost always increasing. We propose combinatorial formalizations of the second law and explore their conditions of possibilities.

Phrasal alignment in Functional Discourse Grammar

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Rijn, M.

2011-01-01

Although the term is alignment is typically associated with morphosyntactic expression of arguments of the Clause, alignment is also relevant to units of the Phrase. In Functional Discourse Grammar a basic distinction is made between two kinds of dependency relations obtaining both within Phrases

What exactly is Universal Grammar, and has anyone seen it?

Science.gov (United States)

Dąbrowska, Ewa

2015-01-01

Universal Grammar (UG) is a suspect concept. There is little agreement on what exactly is in it; and the empirical evidence for it is very weak. This paper critically examines a variety of arguments that have been put forward as evidence for UG, focussing on the three most powerful ones: universality (all human languages share a number of properties), convergence (all language learners converge on the same grammar in spite of the fact that they are exposed to different input), and poverty of the stimulus (children know things about language which they could not have learned from the input available to them). I argue that these arguments are based on premises which are either false or unsubstantiated. Languages differ from each other in profound ways, and there are very few true universals, so the fundamental crosslinguistic fact that needs explaining is diversity, not universality. A number of recent studies have demonstrated the existence of considerable differences in adult native speakers' knowledge of the grammar of their language, including aspects of inflectional morphology, passives, quantifiers, and a variety of more complex constructions, so learners do not in fact converge on the same grammar. Finally, the poverty of the stimulus argument presupposes that children acquire linguistic representations of the kind postulated by generative grammarians; constructionist grammars such as those proposed by Tomasello, Goldberg and others can be learned from the input. We are the only species that has language, so there must be something unique about humans that makes language learning possible. The extent of crosslinguistic diversity and the considerable individual differences in the rate, style and outcome of acquisition suggest that it is more promising to think in terms of a language-making capacity, i.e., a set of domain-general abilities, rather than an innate body of knowledge about the structural properties of the target system.

What exactly is Universal Grammar, and has anyone seen it?

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Ewa eDabrowska

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Universal Grammar (UG is a suspect concept. There is little agreement on what exactly is in it; and the empirical evidence for it is very weak. This paper critically examines a variety of arguments that have been put forward as evidence for UG, focussing on the three most powerful ones: universality (all human languages share a number of properties, convergence (all language learners converge on the same grammar in spite of the fact that they are exposed to different input, and poverty of the stimulus (children know things about language which they could not have learned from the input available to them. I argue that these arguments are based on premises which are either false or unsubstantiated. Languages differ from each other in profound ways, and there are very few true universals, so the fundamental crosslinguistic fact that needs explaining is diversity, not universality. A number of recent studies have demonstrated the existence of considerable differences in adult native speakers’ knowledge of the grammar of their language, including aspects of inflectional morphology, passives, quantifiers, and a variety of more complex constructions, so learners do not in fact converge on the same grammar. Finally, the poverty of the stimulus argument presupposes that children acquire linguistic representations of the kind postulated by generative grammarians; constructionist grammars such as those proposed by Tomasello, Goldberg and others can be learned from the input. We are the only species that has language, so there must be something unique about humans that makes language learning possible. The extent of crosslinguistic diversity and the considerable individual differences in the rate, style and outcome of acquisition suggest that it is more promising to think in terms of a language-making capacity, i.e. a set of domain-general abilities, rather than an innate body of knowledge about the structural properties of the target system.

Phonological Memory and the Acquisition of Grammar in Child L2 Learners

Science.gov (United States)

Verhagen, Josje; Leseman, Paul; Messer, Marielle

2015-01-01

Previous studies show that second language (L2) learners with large phonological memory spans outperform learners with smaller memory spans on tests of L2 grammar. The current study investigated the relationship between phonological memory and L2 grammar in more detail than has been done earlier. Specifically, we asked how phonological memory…

Parallel communicating grammar systems with context-free components are Turing complete for any communication model

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Wilkin Mary Sarah Ruth

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Parallel Communicating Grammar Systems (PCGS were introduced as a language-theoretic treatment of concurrent systems. A PCGS extends the concept of a grammar to a structure that consists of several grammars working in parallel, communicating with each other, and so contributing to the generation of strings. PCGS are usually more powerful than a single grammar of the same type; PCGS with context-free components (CF-PCGS in particular were shown to be Turing complete. However, this result only holds when a specific type of communication (which we call broadcast communication, as opposed to one-step communication is used. We expand the original construction that showed Turing completeness so that broadcast communication is eliminated at the expense of introducing a significant number of additional, helper component grammars. We thus show that CF-PCGS with one-step communication are also Turing complete. We introduce in the process several techniques that may be usable in other constructions and may be capable of removing broadcast communication in general.

The relation between receptive grammar and procedural, declarative, and working memory in specific language impairment.

Science.gov (United States)

Conti-Ramsden, Gina; Ullman, Michael T; Lum, Jarrad A G

2015-01-01

What memory systems underlie grammar in children, and do these differ between typically developing (TD) children and children with specific language impairment (SLI)? Whilst there is substantial evidence linking certain memory deficits to the language problems in children with SLI, few studies have investigated multiple memory systems simultaneously, examining not only possible memory deficits but also memory abilities that may play a compensatory role. This study examined the extent to which procedural, declarative, and working memory abilities predict receptive grammar in 45 primary school aged children with SLI (30 males, 15 females) and 46 TD children (30 males, 16 females), both on average 9;10 years of age. Regression analyses probed measures of all three memory systems simultaneously as potential predictors of receptive grammar. The model was significant, explaining 51.6% of the variance. There was a significant main effect of learning in procedural memory and a significant group × procedural learning interaction. Further investigation of the interaction revealed that procedural learning predicted grammar in TD but not in children with SLI. Indeed, procedural learning was the only predictor of grammar in TD. In contrast, only learning in declarative memory significantly predicted grammar in SLI. Thus, different memory systems are associated with receptive grammar abilities in children with SLI and their TD peers. This study is, to our knowledge, the first to demonstrate a significant group by memory system interaction in predicting grammar in children with SLI and their TD peers. In line with Ullman's Declarative/Procedural model of language and procedural deficit hypothesis of SLI, variability in understanding sentences of varying grammatical complexity appears to be associated with variability in procedural memory abilities in TD children, but with declarative memory, as an apparent compensatory mechanism, in children with SLI.

Grammar-based Automatic 3D Model Reconstruction from Terrestrial Laser Scanning Data

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Q.; Helmholz, P.; Belton, D.; West, G.

2014-04-01

The automatic reconstruction of 3D buildings has been an important research topic during the last years. In this paper, a novel method is proposed to automatically reconstruct the 3D building models from segmented data based on pre-defined formal grammar and rules. Such segmented data can be extracted e.g. from terrestrial or mobile laser scanning devices. Two steps are considered in detail. The first step is to transform the segmented data into 3D shapes, for instance using the DXF (Drawing Exchange Format) format which is a CAD data file format used for data interchange between AutoCAD and other program. Second, we develop a formal grammar to describe the building model structure and integrate the pre-defined grammars into the reconstruction process. Depending on the different segmented data, the selected grammar and rules are applied to drive the reconstruction process in an automatic manner. Compared with other existing approaches, our proposed method allows the model reconstruction directly from 3D shapes and takes the whole building into account.

On Definitions and Existence of Combinatorial Entropy of 2d Fields

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Forchhammer, Søren Otto; Shtarkov, Yuri; Justesen, Jørn

1998-01-01

Different definitions of combinatorial entropy is presented and conditions for their existence examined.......Different definitions of combinatorial entropy is presented and conditions for their existence examined....

A Hierarchical and Contextual Model for Learning and Recognizing Highly Variant Visual Categories

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

formulation of this model below. 3.1 Stochastic Context Free Grammars Stochastic Context Free Grammars (SCFG) were extensively studied by Chomsky ... Chomsky , 1956) in the 1950’s in his work on modeling the structure of language. A Context Free Grammar (CFG) represents a language of patterns, defining the...16 Chi, Z. and Geman, S. (1998). Estimation of probabilistic context-free grammars. Computational Linguistics, 24(2). 42 Chomsky , N. (1956). Three

"I'll Take Commas for $200": An Instructional Intervention Using Games to Help Students Master Grammar Skills

Science.gov (United States)

Bullard, Sue Burzynski; Anderson, Nancy

2014-01-01

Effective writing requires mastering grammar. For journalists, this mastery is critical because research shows poor grammar erodes media credibility. College writing instructors say students do not understand basic grammar concepts, and greater numbers of students are enrolling in remedial writing classes. This quasi-experimental mixed methods…

German Grammar in the Students' Words: The "Essentialization" of German Grammar by American College-Level Learners

Science.gov (United States)

Chavez, Monika

2011-01-01

This study of 134 college-level learners of German, enrolled in four years of instruction, showed them to "essentialize" German grammar when asked to describe it to a hypothetical friend. Kubota defined the term essentialization to capture learners' views of the target culture. Its main characteristic is the presupposition of "essential, stable,…

Enabling high performance computational science through combinatorial algorithms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boman, Erik G; Bozdag, Doruk; Catalyurek, Umit V; Devine, Karen D; Gebremedhin, Assefaw H; Hovland, Paul D; Pothen, Alex; Strout, Michelle Mills

2007-01-01

The Combinatorial Scientific Computing and Petascale Simulations (CSCAPES) Institute is developing algorithms and software for combinatorial problems that play an enabling role in scientific and engineering computations. Discrete algorithms will be increasingly critical for achieving high performance for irregular problems on petascale architectures. This paper describes recent contributions by researchers at the CSCAPES Institute in the areas of load balancing, parallel graph coloring, performance improvement, and parallel automatic differentiation

Enabling high performance computational science through combinatorial algorithms

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Boman, Erik G [Discrete Algorithms and Math Department, Sandia National Laboratories (United States); Bozdag, Doruk [Biomedical Informatics, and Electrical and Computer Engineering, Ohio State University (United States); Catalyurek, Umit V [Biomedical Informatics, and Electrical and Computer Engineering, Ohio State University (United States); Devine, Karen D [Discrete Algorithms and Math Department, Sandia National Laboratories (United States); Gebremedhin, Assefaw H [Computer Science and Center for Computational Science, Old Dominion University (United States); Hovland, Paul D [Mathematics and Computer Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory (United States); Pothen, Alex [Computer Science and Center for Computational Science, Old Dominion University (United States); Strout, Michelle Mills [Computer Science, Colorado State University (United States)

2007-07-15

The Combinatorial Scientific Computing and Petascale Simulations (CSCAPES) Institute is developing algorithms and software for combinatorial problems that play an enabling role in scientific and engineering computations. Discrete algorithms will be increasingly critical for achieving high performance for irregular problems on petascale architectures. This paper describes recent contributions by researchers at the CSCAPES Institute in the areas of load balancing, parallel graph coloring, performance improvement, and parallel automatic differentiation.

Route description in Iwaidja: grammar and conceptualisation of motion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cris Edmonds-Wathen

2016-09-01

Full Text Available This study focussed on the effect of grammar of Iwaidja, an indigenous Australian language, on mathematical conceptualisation. It investigated route description in Iwaidja. Spatial concepts such as direction, height and movement in relation to another object are briefly described using examples. Differences between English and Iwaidja are used to illustrate the some of the impact of grammar on mathematical conceptualisation. The implications are discussed in terms of how understanding these grammatical features can help teachers, especially when children are not fluent in the language of instruction, as well as providing keys to cross-linguistic investigations of mathematical cognition.

An Evaluation of Universal Grammar and the Phonological Mind.

Science.gov (United States)

Everett, Daniel L

2016-01-01

This paper argues against the hypothesis of a "phonological mind" advanced by Berent. It establishes that there is no evidence that phonology is innate and that, in fact, the simplest hypothesis seems to be that phonology is learned like other human abilities. Moreover, the paper fleshes out the original claim of Philip Lieberman that Universal Grammar predicts that not everyone should be able to learn every language, i.e., the opposite of what UG is normally thought to predict. The paper also underscores the problem that the absence of recursion in Pirahã represents for Universal Grammar proposals.

Combinatorial Mathematics: Research into Practice

Science.gov (United States)

Sriraman, Bharath; English, Lyn D.

2004-01-01

Implications and suggestions for using combinatorial mathematics in the classroom through a survey and synthesis of numerous research studies are presented. The implications revolve around five major themes that emerge from analysis of these studies.

The relationship between strategic control and conscious structural knowledge in artificial grammar learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Norman, Elisabeth; Scott, Ryan B; Price, Mark C; Dienes, Zoltan

2016-05-01

We address Jacoby's (1991) proposal that strategic control over knowledge requires conscious awareness of that knowledge. In a two-grammar artificial grammar learning experiment all participants were trained on two grammars, consisting of a regularity in letter sequences, while two other dimensions (colours and fonts) varied randomly. Strategic control was measured as the ability to selectively apply the grammars during classification. For each classification, participants also made a combined judgement of (a) decision strategy and (b) relevant stimulus dimension. Strategic control was found for all types of decision strategy, including trials where participants claimed to lack conscious structural knowledge. However, strong evidence of strategic control only occurred when participants knew or guessed that the letter dimension was relevant, suggesting that strategic control might be associated with - or even causally requires - global awareness of the nature of the rules even though it does not require detailed knowledge of their content. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Recent advances in combinatorial biosynthesis for drug discovery

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Sun H

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Huihua Sun,1,* Zihe Liu,1,* Huimin Zhao,1,2 Ee Lui Ang1 1Metabolic Engineering Research Laboratory, Institute of Chemical and Engineering Sciences, Agency for Science, Technology and Research, Singapore; 2Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA *These authors contributed equally to this work Abstract: Because of extraordinary structural diversity and broad biological activities, natural products have played a significant role in drug discovery. These therapeutically important secondary metabolites are assembled and modified by dedicated biosynthetic pathways in their host living organisms. Traditionally, chemists have attempted to synthesize natural product analogs that are important sources of new drugs. However, the extraordinary structural complexity of natural products sometimes makes it challenging for traditional chemical synthesis, which usually involves multiple steps, harsh conditions, toxic organic solvents, and byproduct wastes. In contrast, combinatorial biosynthesis exploits substrate promiscuity and employs engineered enzymes and pathways to produce novel “unnatural” natural products, substantially expanding the structural diversity of natural products with potential pharmaceutical value. Thus, combinatorial biosynthesis provides an environmentally friendly way to produce natural product analogs. Efficient expression of the combinatorial biosynthetic pathway in genetically tractable heterologous hosts can increase the titer of the compound, eventually resulting in less expensive drugs. In this review, we will discuss three major strategies for combinatorial biosynthesis: 1 precursor-directed biosynthesis; 2 enzyme-level modification, which includes swapping of the entire domains, modules and subunits, site-specific mutagenesis, and directed evolution; 3 pathway-level recombination. Recent examples of combinatorial biosynthesis employing these

The "Contextual Contact" in Grammar Microteachings in Teaching English as a Foreign Language: A Teacher Training Perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Sarigöz, Iskender Hakki

2015-01-01

The grammar microteachings carried out by trainees in teacher education is a critical issue due to the fact that the teaching of grammar has always been a controversial issue throughout the foreign language teaching (FLT) acculturation. There is always some negative reaction to isolated teaching of grammar in communicative language teaching…

A Comparative Study on Beliefs of Grammar Teaching between High School English Teachers and Students in China

Science.gov (United States)

Deng, Fangfang; Lin, Yuewu

2016-01-01

Grammar is "a system of rules governing the conventional arrangement and relationship of words in a sentence" (Brown 1994) which can facilitate the acquisition of a foreign language and is conducive for cultivating comprehensive language competence. Most teachers regard grammar as a frame of English learning. The grammar teaching beliefs…

Spoken grammar awareness raising: Does it affect the listening ability of Iranian EFL learners?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mojgan Rashtchi

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Advances in spoken corpora analysis have brought about new insights into language pedagogy and have led to an awareness of the characteristics of spoken language. Current findings have shown that grammar of spoken language is different from written language. However, most listening and speaking materials are concocted based on written grammar and lack core spoken language features. The aim of the present study was to explore the question whether awareness of spoken grammar features could affect learners’ comprehension of real-life conversations. To this end, 45 university students in two intact classes participated in a listening course employing corpus-based materials. The instruction of the spoken grammar features to the experimental group was done overtly through awareness raising tasks, whereas the control group, though exposed to the same materials, was not provided with such tasks for learning the features. The results of the independent samples t tests revealed that the learners in the experimental group comprehended everyday conversations much better than those in the control group. Additionally, the highly positive views of spoken grammar held by the learners, which was elicited by means of a retrospective questionnaire, were generally comparable to those reported in the literature.

Single-View 3D Scene Reconstruction and Parsing by Attribute Grammar.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Xiaobai; Zhao, Yibiao; Zhu, Song-Chun

2018-03-01

In this paper, we present an attribute grammar for solving two coupled tasks: i) parsing a 2D image into semantic regions; and ii) recovering the 3D scene structures of all regions. The proposed grammar consists of a set of production rules, each describing a kind of spatial relation between planar surfaces in 3D scenes. These production rules are used to decompose an input image into a hierarchical parse graph representation where each graph node indicates a planar surface or a composite surface. Different from other stochastic image grammars, the proposed grammar augments each graph node with a set of attribute variables to depict scene-level global geometry, e.g., camera focal length, or local geometry, e.g., surface normal, contact lines between surfaces. These geometric attributes impose constraints between a node and its off-springs in the parse graph. Under a probabilistic framework, we develop a Markov Chain Monte Carlo method to construct a parse graph that optimizes the 2D image recognition and 3D scene reconstruction purposes simultaneously. We evaluated our method on both public benchmarks and newly collected datasets. Experiments demonstrate that the proposed method is capable of achieving state-of-the-art scene reconstruction of a single image.

Combinatorial designs a tribute to Haim Hanani

CERN Document Server

Hartman, A

1989-01-01

Haim Hanani pioneered the techniques for constructing designs and the theory of pairwise balanced designs, leading directly to Wilson''s Existence Theorem. He also led the way in the study of resolvable designs, covering and packing problems, latin squares, 3-designs and other combinatorial configurations.The Hanani volume is a collection of research and survey papers at the forefront of research in combinatorial design theory, including Professor Hanani''s own latest work on Balanced Incomplete Block Designs. Other areas covered include Steiner systems, finite geometries, quasigroups, and t-designs.

A quark interpretation of the combinatorial hierarchy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Enqvist, Kari.

1979-01-01

We propose a physical interpretation of the second level of the combinatorial hierarchy in terms of three quarks, three antiquarks and the vacuum. This interpretation allows us to introduce a new quantum number, which measures electromagnetic mass splitting of the quarks. We extend our argument by analogue to baryons, and find some SU(3) and some new mass formulas for baryons. The generalization of our approach to other hierarchy levels is discussed. We present also an empirical mass formula for baryons, which seems to be loosely connected with the combinatorial hierarchy. (author)

Combinatorial techniques to efficiently investigate and optimize organic thin film processing and properties.

Science.gov (United States)

Wieberger, Florian; Kolb, Tristan; Neuber, Christian; Ober, Christopher K; Schmidt, Hans-Werner

2013-04-08

In this article we present several developed and improved combinatorial techniques to optimize processing conditions and material properties of organic thin films. The combinatorial approach allows investigations of multi-variable dependencies and is the perfect tool to investigate organic thin films regarding their high performance purposes. In this context we develop and establish the reliable preparation of gradients of material composition, temperature, exposure, and immersion time. Furthermore we demonstrate the smart application of combinations of composition and processing gradients to create combinatorial libraries. First a binary combinatorial library is created by applying two gradients perpendicular to each other. A third gradient is carried out in very small areas and arranged matrix-like over the entire binary combinatorial library resulting in a ternary combinatorial library. Ternary combinatorial libraries allow identifying precise trends for the optimization of multi-variable dependent processes which is demonstrated on the lithographic patterning process. Here we verify conclusively the strong interaction and thus the interdependency of variables in the preparation and properties of complex organic thin film systems. The established gradient preparation techniques are not limited to lithographic patterning. It is possible to utilize and transfer the reported combinatorial techniques to other multi-variable dependent processes and to investigate and optimize thin film layers and devices for optical, electro-optical, and electronic applications.

Combinatorial Techniques to Efficiently Investigate and Optimize Organic Thin Film Processing and Properties

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hans-Werner Schmidt

2013-04-01

Full Text Available In this article we present several developed and improved combinatorial techniques to optimize processing conditions and material properties of organic thin films. The combinatorial approach allows investigations of multi-variable dependencies and is the perfect tool to investigate organic thin films regarding their high performance purposes. In this context we develop and establish the reliable preparation of gradients of material composition, temperature, exposure, and immersion time. Furthermore we demonstrate the smart application of combinations of composition and processing gradients to create combinatorial libraries. First a binary combinatorial library is created by applying two gradients perpendicular to each other. A third gradient is carried out in very small areas and arranged matrix-like over the entire binary combinatorial library resulting in a ternary combinatorial library. Ternary combinatorial libraries allow identifying precise trends for the optimization of multi-variable dependent processes which is demonstrated on the lithographic patterning process. Here we verify conclusively the strong interaction and thus the interdependency of variables in the preparation and properties of complex organic thin film systems. The established gradient preparation techniques are not limited to lithographic patterning. It is possible to utilize and transfer the reported combinatorial techniques to other multi-variable dependent processes and to investigate and optimize thin film layers and devices for optical, electro-optical, and electronic applications.

The blue book of grammar and punctuation an easy-to-use guide with clear rules, real-world examples, and reproducible quizzes

CERN Document Server

Straus, Jane; Stern, Tom

2014-01-01

A revised and updated new edition of the bestselling workbook and grammar guide The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation is a concise, entertaining workbook and guide to English grammar, punctuation, and usage. This user-friendly resource includes simple explanations of grammar, punctuation, and usage; scores of helpful examples; dozens of reproducible worksheets; and pre- and post-tests to help teach grammar to students of all ages. Appropriate for virtually any age range, this authoritative guide makes learning English grammar and usage simple and fun. This updated Eleventh Edition reflects

Validity of a parent-report measure of vocabulary and grammar for Spanish-speaking toddlers.

Science.gov (United States)

Thal, D; Jackson-Maldonado, D; Acosta, D

2000-10-01

The validity of the Fundación MacArthur Inventario del Desarrollo de Habilidades Comunicativas: Palabras y Enunciados (IDHC:PE) was examined with twenty 20- and nineteen 28-month-old, typically developing, monolingual, Spanish-speaking children living in Mexico. One measure of vocabulary (number of words) and two measures of grammar (mean of the three longest utterances and grammatical complexity score) from the IDHC:PE were compared to behavioral measures of vocabulary (number of different words from a language sample and number of objects named in a confrontation naming task) and one behavioral measure of grammar (mean length of utterance from a language sample). Only vocabulary measures were assessed in the 20-month-olds because of floor effects on the grammar measures. Results indicated validity for assessing expressive vocabulary in 20-month-olds and expressive vocabulary and grammar in 28-month-olds.

eLearning Mobile App for Android and Ios "English Grammar Learn & Test"

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anca-Georgiana FODOR

2016-11-01

Full Text Available This article is aiming to present the architecture and few elements from the developing cycle of "English Grammar Learn & Test" app. This is an e-learning tool for people who want to improve their English Grammar and Vocabulary. The app was approved by Google Play and Apple Store and it is available for free on both platforms as following: Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.labsterzz.english_tests iOS: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/english-grammar-learn-test/id1126468980 The app already reached350.000 users, it is rated at 4.43out of maximum 5.0 in Google Play Store. Since mid-June 2016, we launched the app also in the Apple Store iOS devices.

Cooperative Business Education - 7725 (Reinforcing Knowledge of Grammar): Department 48 - Course 7725.08.

Science.gov (United States)

Dade County Public Schools, Miami, FL.

The essential elements of grammar required to write business letters, memorandums, and reports are covered in this quinmester course. The course consists of a complete grammar review and the learning of proofreading skills for students in the Cooperative Business Education program in Dade County High Schools. Instruction techniques include group…

Using dual-task methodology to dissociate automatic from nonautomatic processes involved in artificial grammar learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Hendricks, Michelle A; Conway, Christopher M; Kellogg, Ronald T

2013-09-01

Previous studies have suggested that both automatic and intentional processes contribute to the learning of grammar and fragment knowledge in artificial grammar learning (AGL) tasks. To explore the relative contribution of automatic and intentional processes to knowledge gained in AGL, we utilized dual-task methodology to dissociate automatic and intentional grammar- and fragment-based knowledge in AGL at both acquisition and at test. Both experiments used a balanced chunk strength grammar to assure an equal proportion of fragment cues (i.e., chunks) in grammatical and nongrammatical test items. In Experiment 1, participants engaged in a working memory dual-task either during acquisition, test, or both acquisition and test. The results showed that participants performing the dual-task during acquisition learned the artificial grammar as well as the single-task group, presumably by relying on automatic learning mechanisms. A working memory dual-task at test resulted in attenuated grammar performance, suggesting a role for intentional processes for the expression of grammatical learning at test. Experiment 2 explored the importance of perceptual cues by changing letters between the acquisition and test phase; unlike Experiment 1, there was no significant learning of grammatical information for participants under dual-task conditions in Experiment 2, suggesting that intentional processing is necessary for successful acquisition and expression of grammar-based knowledge under transfer conditions. In sum, it appears that some aspects of learning in AGL are indeed relatively automatic, although the expression of grammatical information and the learning of grammatical patterns when perceptual similarity is eliminated both appear to require explicit resources. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

Confidence and Competence among Community College Students: Self-Efficacy and Performance in Grammar

Science.gov (United States)

Collins, Steve; Bissell, Kimberly

2004-01-01

Proper grammar is crucial for effective communication. Two surveys of students in an introductory writing course sought to identify predictors of grammar ability. Students demonstrated a limited grasp of the language, struggling with such issues as the distinction between "it's" and "its." Women performed better than men at the beginning of the…

Improving language mapping in clinical fMRI through assessment of grammar.

Science.gov (United States)

Połczyńska, Monika; Japardi, Kevin; Curtiss, Susan; Moody, Teena; Benjamin, Christopher; Cho, Andrew; Vigil, Celia; Kuhn, Taylor; Jones, Michael; Bookheimer, Susan

2017-01-01

Brain surgery in the language dominant hemisphere remains challenging due to unintended post-surgical language deficits, despite using pre-surgical functional magnetic resonance (fMRI) and intraoperative cortical stimulation. Moreover, patients are often recommended not to undergo surgery if the accompanying risk to language appears to be too high. While standard fMRI language mapping protocols may have relatively good predictive value at the group level, they remain sub-optimal on an individual level. The standard tests used typically assess lexico-semantic aspects of language, and they do not accurately reflect the complexity of language either in comprehension or production at the sentence level. Among patients who had left hemisphere language dominance we assessed which tests are best at activating language areas in the brain. We compared grammar tests (items testing word order in actives and passives, wh -subject and object questions, relativized subject and object clauses and past tense marking) with standard tests (object naming, auditory and visual responsive naming), using pre-operative fMRI. Twenty-five surgical candidates (13 females) participated in this study. Sixteen patients presented with a brain tumor, and nine with epilepsy. All participants underwent two pre-operative fMRI protocols: one including CYCLE-N grammar tests (items testing word order in actives and passives, wh-subject and object questions, relativized subject and object clauses and past tense marking); and a second one with standard fMRI tests (object naming, auditory and visual responsive naming). fMRI activations during performance in both protocols were compared at the group level, as well as in individual candidates. The grammar tests generated more volume of activation in the left hemisphere (left/right angular gyrus, right anterior/posterior superior temporal gyrus) and identified additional language regions not shown by the standard tests (e.g., left anterior

Combinatorial Dyson-Schwinger equations and inductive data types

Science.gov (United States)

Kock, Joachim

2016-06-01

The goal of this contribution is to explain the analogy between combinatorial Dyson-Schwinger equations and inductive data types to a readership of mathematical physicists. The connection relies on an interpretation of combinatorial Dyson-Schwinger equations as fixpoint equations for polynomial functors (established elsewhere by the author, and summarised here), combined with the now-classical fact that polynomial functors provide semantics for inductive types. The paper is expository, and comprises also a brief introduction to type theory.

LeadMine: a grammar and dictionary driven approach to entity recognition

Science.gov (United States)

2015-01-01

Background Chemical entity recognition has traditionally been performed by machine learning approaches. Here we describe an approach using grammars and dictionaries. This approach has the advantage that the entities found can be directly related to a given grammar or dictionary, which allows the type of an entity to be known and, if an entity is misannotated, indicates which resource should be corrected. As recognition is driven by what is expected, if spelling errors occur, they can be corrected. Correcting such errors is highly useful when attempting to lookup an entity in a database or, in the case of chemical names, converting them to structures. Results Our system uses a mixture of expertly curated grammars and dictionaries, as well as dictionaries automatically derived from public resources. We show that the heuristics developed to filter our dictionary of trivial chemical names (from PubChem) yields a better performing dictionary than the previously published Jochem dictionary. Our final system performs post-processing steps to modify the boundaries of entities and to detect abbreviations. These steps are shown to significantly improve performance (2.6% and 4.0% F1-score respectively). Our complete system, with incremental post-BioCreative workshop improvements, achieves 89.9% precision and 85.4% recall (87.6% F1-score) on the CHEMDNER test set. Conclusions Grammar and dictionary approaches can produce results at least as good as the current state of the art in machine learning approaches. While machine learning approaches are commonly thought of as "black box" systems, our approach directly links the output entities to the input dictionaries and grammars. Our approach also allows correction of errors in detected entities, which can assist with entity resolution. PMID:25810776

Effective intervention for expressive grammar in children with specific language impairment.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith-Lock, Karen M; Leitao, Suze; Lambert, Lara; Nickels, Lyndsey

2013-01-01

Children with specific language impairment are known to struggle with expressive grammar. While some studies have shown successful intervention under laboratory conditions, there is a paucity of evidence for the effectiveness of grammar treatment in young children in community settings. To evaluate the effectiveness of a school-based intervention programme for expressive grammar in 5-year-olds with specific language impairment. Thirty-four 5-year-old children attending a specialized school for children with language impairment participated in the study. Nineteen children received treatment for expressive grammar (experimental group) and 15 children received a control treatment. Treatment consisted of weekly 1-h sessions of small group activities in a classroom setting for 8 weeks. Techniques included direct instruction, focused stimulation, recasting and imitation. Results were analysed at the group level and as a case series with each child as their own control in a single-subject design. There was a significant difference in grammatical performance pre- and post-treatment for children who received grammar treatment (Cohen's d = 1.24), but not for a group of children who received a control treatment. Further, no difference in performance was found in the equivalent time period prior to treatment, nor for an untreated target. Treatment success was more pronounced in children without articulation difficulties which interfered with their ability to produce the grammatical targets (Cohen's d = 1.66). Individual analyses indicated the treatment effect was significant for the majority of children. Individually targeted intervention delivered in small groups in a classroom setting was effective in improving production of expressive grammatical targets in 5-year-old children with specific language impairment. © 2013 Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.

Solving the neutron diffusion equation on combinatorial geometry computational cells for reactor physics calculations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Azmy, Y. Y.

2004-01-01

An approach is developed for solving the neutron diffusion equation on combinatorial geometry computational cells, that is computational cells composed by combinatorial operations involving simple-shaped component cells. The only constraint on the component cells from which the combinatorial cells are assembled is that they possess a legitimate discretization of the underlying diffusion equation. We use the Finite Difference (FD) approximation of the x, y-geometry diffusion equation in this work. Performing the same combinatorial operations involved in composing the combinatorial cell on these discrete-variable equations yields equations that employ new discrete variables defined only on the combinatorial cell's volume and faces. The only approximation involved in this process, beyond the truncation error committed in discretizing the diffusion equation over each component cell, is a consistent-order Legendre series expansion. Preliminary results for simple configurations establish the accuracy of the solution to the combinatorial geometry solution compared to straight FD as the system dimensions decrease. Furthermore numerical results validate the consistent Legendre-series expansion order by illustrating the second order accuracy of the combinatorial geometry solution, the same as standard FD. Nevertheless the magnitude of the error for the new approach is larger than FD's since it incorporates the additional truncated series approximation. (authors)

Grammar of Binding in the languages of the world: Innate or learned?

Science.gov (United States)

Cole, Peter; Hermon, Gabriella; Yanti

2015-08-01

Languages around the world often appear to manifest nearly identical grammatical properties, but, at the same time, the grammatical differences can also be great, sometimes even seeming to support Joos's (1958) claim that "languages can differ from each other without limit and in unpredictable way" (p. 96). This state of affairs provides a puzzle for both nativist approaches to language like Generative Grammar that posit a fixed "Universal Grammar", and for approaches that minimize the contribution of innate grammatical structure. We approach this puzzling state of affairs by looking at one area of grammar, "Binding", the system of local and long distance anaphoric elements in a language. This is an area of grammar that has long been central to the Generative approach to language structure. We compare the anaphoric systems found in "familiar" (European-like) languages that contain dedicated classes of bound and free anaphors (pronouns and reflexives) with the anaphoric systems in endangered Austronesian languages of Indonesia, languages in which there is overlap or no distinction between pronouns and reflexives (Peranakan Javanese and Jambi Malay). What is of special interest about Jambi anaphora is not only that conservative dialects of Jambi Malay do not distinguish between pronouns and reflexives, but that Jambi anaphora appear to constitute a live snapshot of a unitary class of anaphora in the process of grammaticalization as a distinct system of pronouns and reflexives. We argue that the facts of Jambi anaphora cannot be explained by theories positing a Universal Grammar of Binding. Thus, these facts provide evidence that complex grammatical systems like Binding cannot be innate. Our results from Austronesian languages are confirmed by data from signed and creole languages. Our conclusion is that the human language learning capacity must include the ability to model the full complexity found in the syntax of the world's languages. From the perspective of child

Artificial grammar learning in individuals with severe aphasia.

Science.gov (United States)

Zimmerer, Vitor C; Cowell, Patricia E; Varley, Rosemary A

2014-01-01

One factor in syntactic impairment in aphasia might be damage to general structure processing systems. In such a case, deficits would be evident in the processing of syntactically structured non-linguistic information. To explore this hypothesis, we examined performances on artificial grammar learning (AGL) tasks in which the grammar was expressed in non-linguistic visual forms. In the first experiment, AGL behavior of four aphasic participants with severe syntactic impairment, five aphasic participants without syntactic impairment, and healthy controls was examined. Participants were trained on sequences of nonsense stimuli with the structure A(n)B(n). Data were analyzed at an individual level to identify different behavioral profiles and account for heterogeneity in aphasic as well as healthy groups. Healthy controls and patients without syntactic impairment were more likely to learn configurational (item order) than quantitative (counting) regularities. Quantitative regularities were only detected by individuals who also detected the configurational properties of the stimulus sequences. By contrast, two individuals with syntactic impairment learned quantitative regularities, but showed no sensitivity towards configurational structure. They also failed to detect configurational structure in a second experiment in which sequences were structured by the grammar A(+)B(+). We discuss the potential relationship between AGL and processing of word order as well as the potential of AGL in clinical practice. © 2013 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

The Lattice-Valued Turing Machines and the Lattice-Valued Type 0 Grammars

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juan Tang

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Purpose. The purpose of this paper is to study a class of the natural languages called the lattice-valued phrase structure languages, which can be generated by the lattice-valued type 0 grammars and recognized by the lattice-valued Turing machines. Design/Methodology/Approach. From the characteristic of natural language, this paper puts forward a new concept of the l-valued Turing machine. It can be used to characterize recognition, natural language processing, and dynamic characteristics. Findings. The mechanisms of both the generation of grammars for the lattice-valued type 0 grammar and the dynamic transformation of the lattice-valued Turing machines were given. Originality/Value. This paper gives a new approach to study a class of natural languages by using lattice-valued logic theory.

TEACHING GRAMMAR-IN-CONTEXT AND ITS IMPACT IN MINIMIZING STUDENTS’ GRAMMATICAL ERRORS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yadhi Nur Amin

2015-11-01

Full Text Available This study is conducted to determine the effectiveness of teaching grammar-in-context to minimize students‘ grammatical errors in writing. The design of the study was a quasi-experimental with a non-randomized pretest-posttest control group. The samples of the study were taken from the population of the tenth-grade students. The control group was taught by conventional grammar which was separately given with writing skills. Likewise, the experimental one was treated by teaching grammar-in-context. The results of the study showed that the mean score in the post-test was higher than that in the pretest; and the mean score of experimental group increased 16.20 point after the treatment. This result indicated that teaching grammarin-context is considered to be effective in minimizing students‘ grammatical errors in writing.

The Problem of Grammar Teaching: A Case Study of the Relationship between a Teacher's Beliefs and Pedagogical Practice

Science.gov (United States)

Watson, Annabel

2015-01-01

Through a case study of a first-language English teacher's approach to teaching writing, the significance of conceptual and affective beliefs about grammar for pedagogical practice is explored. The study explores a perceived dichotomy between grammar and creativity, examining a belief that attention to grammar is separate and secondary to the…

The Combinatorial Rigidity Conjecture is False for Cubic Polynomials

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Henriksen, Christian

2003-01-01

We show that there exist two cubic polynomials with connected Julia sets which are combinatorially equivalent but not topologically conjugate on their Julia sets. This disproves a conjecture by McMullen from 1995.......We show that there exist two cubic polynomials with connected Julia sets which are combinatorially equivalent but not topologically conjugate on their Julia sets. This disproves a conjecture by McMullen from 1995....

Grammar predicts procedural learning and consolidation deficits in children with Specific Language Impairment.

Science.gov (United States)

Hedenius, Martina; Persson, Jonas; Tremblay, Antoine; Adi-Japha, Esther; Veríssimo, João; Dye, Cristina D; Alm, Per; Jennische, Margareta; Bruce Tomblin, J; Ullman, Michael T

2011-01-01

The Procedural Deficit Hypothesis (PDH) posits that Specific Language Impairment (SLI) can be largely explained by abnormalities of brain structures that subserve procedural memory. The PDH predicts impairments of procedural memory itself, and that such impairments underlie the grammatical deficits observed in the disorder. Previous studies have indeed reported procedural learning impairments in SLI, and have found that these are associated with grammatical difficulties. The present study extends this research by examining consolidation and longer-term procedural sequence learning in children with SLI. The Alternating Serial Reaction Time (ASRT) task was given to children with SLI and typically developing (TD) children in an initial learning session and an average of three days later to test for consolidation and longer-term learning. Although both groups showed evidence of initial sequence learning, only the TD children showed clear signs of consolidation, even though the two groups did not differ in longer-term learning. When the children were re-categorized on the basis of grammar deficits rather than broader language deficits, a clearer pattern emerged. Whereas both the grammar impaired and normal grammar groups showed evidence of initial sequence learning, only those with normal grammar showed consolidation and longer-term learning. Indeed, the grammar-impaired group appeared to lose any sequence knowledge gained during the initial testing session. These findings held even when controlling for vocabulary or a broad non-grammatical language measure, neither of which were associated with procedural memory. When grammar was examined as a continuous variable over all children, the same relationships between procedural memory and grammar, but not vocabulary or the broader language measure, were observed. Overall, the findings support and further specify the PDH. They suggest that consolidation and longer-term procedural learning are impaired in SLI, but that these

Grammar Predicts Procedural Learning and Consolidation Deficits in Children with Specific Language Impairment

Science.gov (United States)

Hedenius, Martina; Persson, Jonas; Tremblay, Antoine; Adi-Japha, Esther; Veríssimo, João; Dye, Cristina D.; Alm, Per; Jennische, Margareta; Tomblin, J. Bruce; Ullman, Michael T.

2011-01-01

The Procedural Deficit Hypothesis (PDH) posits that Specific Language Impairment (SLI) can be largely explained by abnormalities of brain structures that subserve procedural memory. The PDH predicts impairments of procedural memory itself, and that such impairments underlie the grammatical deficits observed in the disorder. Previous studies have indeed reported procedural learning impairments in SLI, and have found that these are associated with grammatical difficulties. The present study extends this research by examining the consolidation and longer-term procedural sequence learning in children with SLI. The Alternating Serial Reaction Time (ASRT) task was given to children with SLI and typically-developing (TD) children in an initial learning session and an average of three days later to test for consolidation and longer-term learning. Although both groups showed evidence of initial sequence learning, only the TD children showed clear signs of consolidation, even though the two groups did not differ in longer-term learning. When the children were re-categorized on the basis of grammar deficits rather than broader language deficits, a clearer pattern emerged. Whereas both the grammar impaired and normal grammar groups showed evidence of initial sequence learning, only those with normal grammar showed consolidation and longer-term learning. Indeed, the grammar-impaired group appeared to lose any sequence knowledge gained during the initial testing session. These findings held even when controlling for vocabulary or a broad non-grammatical language measure, neither of which were associated with procedural memory. When grammar was examined as a continuous variable over all children, the same relationships between procedural memory and grammar, but not vocabulary or the broader language measure, were observed. Overall, the findings support and further specify the PDH. They suggest that consolidation and longer-term procedural learning are impaired in SLI, but that

Adaptable Grammars for Non-Context-Free Languages

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christiansen, Henning

2009-01-01

languages that are considered as prototype representatives of non-context-free phenomena in natural languages. We define a grammar formalism with these characteristics and show how it can be implemented in logic programming in a surprisingly straightforward way, compared with the expressive...

Construction Grammar as a tool for diachronic analysis

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Fried, Mirjam

2009-01-01

Roč. 1, č. 2 (2009), s. 262-291 ISSN 1876-1933 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z90610518 Keywords : grammatical change * gradualness of change * internal reconstruction * Construction Grammar Subject RIV: AI - Linguistics

A Grammar of Spoken Brazilian Portuguese.

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas, Earl W.

This is a first-year text of Portuguese grammar based on the Portuguese of moderately educated Brazilians from the area around Rio de Janeiro. Spoken idiomatic usage is emphasized. An important innovation is found in the presentation of verb tenses; they are presented in the order in which the native speaker learns them. The text is intended to…

English Grammar for Students of French.

Science.gov (United States)

Morton, Jacqueline

This grammar is a self-study manual intended to aid native speakers of English who are beginning the study of French. It is designed to supplement the French textbook, not to replace it. The common grammatical terms that are necessary for learning to speak and write French are explained in English and illustrated by examples in both French and…

“Grammar-translation” method, a linguistic historic err or of perspective: origins, dynamics and inconsistencies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Camilo Andrés Bonilla Carvajal

2013-07-01

Full Text Available The Grammar-Translation method is frequently referred to as the traditional ineffective approach par excellence. Such view is often justified by the claim that before the Audiolingual method oral performance in foreign language was not reached, and language classes were reduced to memorizing grammar rules and lists of vocabulary. Nevertheless, this opinion is derived from unproved claims, mainly made by misinformed authors for they offer no compelling empirical evidence to validate their restrictive descriptions where translation is shown as an invalid metacognitive strategy. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate that Grammar-Translation is merely an arbitrary historic label, developed by methodologists and theoreticians to encompass the history of language teaching from 1790 through 1950. References to Grammar-Translation are critically reviewed to make evident they are biased inferences based on partial evidence to account for the existence of any such methodology. The assumption that Grammar-Translation did exist, and that it is the negative model of teaching practices that should be better avoided at all costs, might reflect an unconstructive and unfounded ideological interest of mainstream theoreticians and unsuspecting teachers.

The construction of combinatorial manifolds with prescribed sets of links of vertices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gaifullin, A A

2008-01-01

To every oriented closed combinatorial manifold we assign the set (with repetitions) of isomorphism classes of links of its vertices. The resulting transformation L is the main object of study in this paper. We pose an inversion problem for L and show that this problem is closely related to Steenrod's problem on the realization of cycles and to the Rokhlin-Schwartz-Thom construction of combinatorial Pontryagin classes. We obtain a necessary condition for a set of isomorphism classes of combinatorial spheres to belong to the image of L. (Sets satisfying this condition are said to be balanced.) We give an explicit construction showing that every balanced set of isomorphism classes of combinatorial spheres falls into the image of L after passing to a multiple set and adding several pairs of the form (Z,-Z), where -Z is the sphere Z with the orientation reversed. Given any singular simplicial cycle ξ of a space X, this construction enables us to find explicitly a combinatorial manifold M and a map φ:M→X such that φ * [M]=r[ξ] for some positive integer r. The construction is based on resolving singularities of ξ. We give applications of the main construction to cobordisms of manifolds with singularities and cobordisms of simple cells. In particular, we prove that every rational additive invariant of cobordisms of manifolds with singularities admits a local formula. Another application is the construction of explicit (though inefficient) local combinatorial formulae for polynomials in the rational Pontryagin classes of combinatorial manifolds

Dendrimer-based dynamic combinatorial libraries

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Chang, T.; Meijer, E.W.

2005-01-01

The aim of this project is to create water-sol. dynamic combinatorial libraries based upon dendrimer-guest complexes. The guest mols. are designed to bind to dendrimers using multiple secondary interactions, such as electrostatics and hydrogen bonding. We have been able to incorporate various guest

Computational Complexity of Combinatorial Surfaces

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vegter, Gert; Yap, Chee K.

1990-01-01

We investigate the computational problems associated with combinatorial surfaces. Specifically, we present an algorithm (based on the Brahana-Dehn-Heegaard approach) for transforming the polygonal schema of a closed triangulated surface into its canonical form in O(n log n) time, where n is the

Combinatorial auctions for electronic business

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

R. Narasimhan (Krishtel eMaging) 1461 1996 Oct 15 13:05:22

(6) Information feedback: An auction protocol may be a direct mechanism or an .... transparency of allocation decisions arise in resolving these ties. .... bidding, however more recently, combinatorial bids are allowed [50] making ...... Also, truth revelation and other game theoretic considerations are not taken into account.

Combinatorial Proofs and Algebraic Proofs

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Permanent link: https://www.ias.ac.in/article/fulltext/reso/018/07/0630-0645. Keywords. Combinatorial proof; algebraic proof; binomial identity; recurrence relation; composition; Fibonacci number; Fibonacci identity; Pascal triangle. Author Affiliations. Shailesh A Shirali1. Sahyadri School Tiwai Hill, Rajgurunagar Pune 410 ...

Polyhedral and semidefinite programming methods in combinatorial optimization

CERN Document Server

Tunçel, Levent

2010-01-01

Since the early 1960s, polyhedral methods have played a central role in both the theory and practice of combinatorial optimization. Since the early 1990s, a new technique, semidefinite programming, has been increasingly applied to some combinatorial optimization problems. The semidefinite programming problem is the problem of optimizing a linear function of matrix variables, subject to finitely many linear inequalities and the positive semidefiniteness condition on some of the matrix variables. On certain problems, such as maximum cut, maximum satisfiability, maximum stable set and geometric r

Grammar Is the Heart of Language: Grammar and Its Role in Language Learning among Finnish University Students

Science.gov (United States)

Saaristo, Pekka

2015-01-01

This article presents and discusses views on grammar and its role in formal language learning amongst Finnish university students. The results are based on a questionnaire which was distributed to students at the University of Jyväskylä as part of institutional action research. The background to the project was a feeling amongst some teachers of…

THE USE OF GRAMMAR TRANSLATION METHOD IN TEACHING ENGLISH

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Catharina Elmayantie

2015-09-01

Full Text Available This study aims to describe the patterns of Grammar Translation Method (GTM and to know the reasons why the teachers used the method. Descriptive qualitative method was applied. The subjects were two English teachers at the seventh grade of SMP Negeri 1 Palangka Raya. It was used observation and questionnaires to collect the data. The data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing were applied for data analysis. The findings show nine major patterns of GTM applied: (1 The classes were taught mainly in mother tongue; (2 the vocabulary was taught in the form of lists of isolated words; (3 the grammar provided the rules for putting words together; (4 it focused on the form and inflection of words; (5 the reading difficult classical texts were begun early; (6 it was little attention to the content of the texts; (7 the drills were exercises in translating; (8 it was little attention to pronunciation; and (9 it focused on accuracy. Meanwhile, the reasons of the teachers used the method are: (1 It is suitable for the students; (2 it helps the students comprehend the text; (3 it  improves the vacabulary; and (4 by using this method teaching-learning activities work well. Keywords: English subject, grammar translation method, teaching-learning activities

Designing a Competence-Based Syllabus for Turkish Speaking Learners of English in Terms of Accessibility to Universal Grammar

Science.gov (United States)

Seker, Emrullah

2016-01-01

This study focuses on designing an English grammar syllabus for Turkish speaking English learners, which is based on the assumption that learning English grammar will be simpler and easier for Turkish speaking learners if it is introduced in a way by which they can achieve accessibility to Universal Grammar. In this study, I analyze almost all…

The Application of Communicative Approach toEnglish Grammar Teaching%交际法在英语语法教学中的应用

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

李梅

2008-01-01

How to teach English grammar effectively is an important subject of the comprehensive course for English majors.The Communicative approach must be applied to the English grammar teaching.This paper illustrates the features of communicative grammar teaching and necessity of applying communicative approach to English Grammar Teaching and how to apply communicative approach to English Grammar Teaching.In classroom teaching,a variety of communicative situations should be created without dull teaching;a colorful of classroom activities should be designed;real situation communicative practices should be intensified to make English grammar teaching active and efficient.

Teaching English tense and aspect with the help of cognitive grammar: An empirical study

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Jakub Bielak

2011-10-01

Full Text Available Form-focused instruction is usually based on traditional practical/pedagogical grammar descriptions of grammatical features. The comparison of such traditional accounts with cognitive grammar (CG descriptions seems to favor CG as a basis of pedagogical rules. This is due to the insistence of CG on the meaningfulness of grammar and its detailed analyses of the meanings of particular grammatical features. The differences between traditional and CG rules/descriptions are exemplified by juxtaposing the two kinds of principles concerning the use of the present simple and present progressive to refer to situations happening or existing at speech time. The descriptions provided the bases for the instructional treatment in a quasi-experimental study exploring the effectiveness of using CG descriptions of the two tenses, and of their interplay with stative (imperfective and dynamic (perfective verbs, and comparing this effectiveness with the value of grammar teaching relying on traditional accounts found in standard pedagogical grammars. The study involved 50 participants divided into three groups, with one of them constituting the control group and the other two being experimental ones. One of the latter received treatment based on CG descriptions and the other on traditional accounts. CG-based instruction was found to be at least moderately effective in terms of fostering mostly explicit grammatical knowledge and its effectiveness turned out be comparable to that of teaching based on traditional descriptions.

Paths and partitions: Combinatorial descriptions of the parafermionic states

Science.gov (United States)

Mathieu, Pierre

2009-09-01

The Zk parafermionic conformal field theories, despite the relative complexity of their modes algebra, offer the simplest context for the study of the bases of states and their different combinatorial representations. Three bases are known. The classic one is given by strings of the fundamental parafermionic operators whose sequences of modes are in correspondence with restricted partitions with parts at distance k -1 differing at least by 2. Another basis is expressed in terms of the ordered modes of the k -1 different parafermionic fields, which are in correspondence with the so-called multiple partitions. Both types of partitions have a natural (Bressoud) path representation. Finally, a third basis, formulated in terms of different paths, is inherited from the solution of the restricted solid-on-solid model of Andrews-Baxter-Forrester. The aim of this work is to review, in a unified and pedagogical exposition, these four different combinatorial representations of the states of the Zk parafermionic models. The first part of this article presents the different paths and partitions and their bijective relations; it is purely combinatorial, self-contained, and elementary; it can be read independently of the conformal-field-theory applications. The second part links this combinatorial analysis with the bases of states of the Zk parafermionic theories. With the prototypical example of the parafermionic models worked out in detail, this analysis contributes to fix some foundations for the combinatorial study of more complicated theories. Indeed, as we briefly indicate in ending, generalized versions of both the Bressoud and the Andrews-Baxter-Forrester paths emerge naturally in the description of the minimal models.

An ERP study of structural anomalies in native and semantic free artificial grammar: evidence for shared processing mechanisms.

Science.gov (United States)

Tabullo, Ángel; Sevilla, Yamila; Segura, Enrique; Zanutto, Silvano; Wainselboim, Alejandro

2013-08-21

Artificial grammars have been widely applied to the study of sequential learning in language, but few studies have directly compared the neural correlates of artificial and native grammar processing. In this study, we examined Event Related Potentials (ERPs) elicited by structural anomalies in semantic-free artificial grammar sequences and sentences in the subjects' native language (Spanish). Although ERPs differed during early stages, we observed similar posterior negativities (N400) and P600 effects in a late stage. We interpret these results as evidence of at least partially shared neural mechanisms for processing of language and artificial grammars. We suggest that in both the natural and artificial grammars, the N400 and P600 components we observed can be explained as the result of unfulfilled predictions about incoming stimuli. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Combinatorial algebra syntax and semantics

CERN Document Server

Sapir, Mark V

2014-01-01

Combinatorial Algebra: Syntax and Semantics provides a comprehensive account of many areas of combinatorial algebra. It contains self-contained proofs of  more than 20 fundamental results, both classical and modern. This includes Golod–Shafarevich and Olshanskii's solutions of Burnside problems, Shirshov's solution of Kurosh's problem for PI rings, Belov's solution of Specht's problem for varieties of rings, Grigorchuk's solution of Milnor's problem, Bass–Guivarc'h theorem about the growth of nilpotent groups, Kleiman's solution of Hanna Neumann's problem for varieties of groups, Adian's solution of von Neumann-Day's problem, Trahtman's solution of the road coloring problem of Adler, Goodwyn and Weiss. The book emphasize several ``universal" tools, such as trees, subshifts, uniformly recurrent words, diagrams and automata.   With over 350 exercises at various levels of difficulty and with hints for the more difficult problems, this book can be used as a textbook, and aims to reach a wide and diversified...

Category Theory Approach to Solution Searching Based on Photoexcitation Transfer Dynamics

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Makoto Naruse

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Solution searching that accompanies combinatorial explosion is one of the most important issues in the age of artificial intelligence. Natural intelligence, which exploits natural processes for intelligent functions, is expected to help resolve or alleviate the difficulties of conventional computing paradigms and technologies. In fact, we have shown that a single-celled organism such as an amoeba can solve constraint satisfaction problems and related optimization problems as well as demonstrate experimental systems based on non-organic systems such as optical energy transfer involving near-field interactions. However, the fundamental mechanisms and limitations behind solution searching based on natural processes have not yet been understood. Herein, we present a theoretical background of solution searching based on optical excitation transfer from a category-theoretic standpoint. One important indication inspired by the category theory is that the satisfaction of short exact sequences is critical for an adequate computational operation that determines the flow of time for the system and is termed as “short-exact-sequence-based time.” In addition, the octahedral and braid structures known in triangulated categories provide a clear understanding of the underlying mechanisms, including a quantitative indication of the difficulties of obtaining solutions based on homology dimension. This study contributes to providing a fundamental background of natural intelligence.

Supporting French Teachers for a Paradigm Shift in Grammar Education: A Teacher Trainer's Perspective

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Thibeault, Joël

2016-01-01

This article presents a series of pedagogical workshops that was offered over two years to a cohort of 50 teachers practising in Ontarian French schools. Focusing on grammar teaching, the workshops' objectives were to: (a) contribute to the teachers' development of linguistic knowledge consistent with the grammar under new provincial standards and…

On defining semantics of extended attribute grammars

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Madsen, Ole Lehrmann

1980-01-01

Knuth has introduced attribute grammars (AGs) as a tool to define the semanitcs of context-free languages. The use of AGs in connection with programming language definitions has mostly been to define the context-sensitive syntax of the language and to define a translation in code for a hypothetic...

Combinatorial methods for advanced materials research and development

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cremer, R.; Dondorf, S.; Hauck, M.; Horbach, D.; Kaiser, M.; Krysta, S.; Kyrylov, O.; Muenstermann, E.; Philipps, M.; Reichert, K.; Strauch, G. [Rheinisch-Westfaelische Technische Hochschule Aachen (Germany). Lehrstuhl fuer Theoretische Huettenkunde

2001-10-01

The applicability of combinatorial methods in developing advanced materials is illustrated presenting four examples for the deposition and characterization of one- and two-dimensionally laterally graded coatings, which were deposited by means of (reactive) magnetron sputtering and plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. To emphasize the advantages of combinatorial approaches, metastable hard coatings like (Ti,Al)N and (Ti,Al,Hf)N respectively, as well as Ge-Sb-Te based films for rewritable optical data storage were investigated with respect to the relations between structure, composition, and the desired materials properties. (orig.)

Markov's theorem and algorithmically non-recognizable combinatorial manifolds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shtan'ko, M A

2004-01-01

We prove the theorem of Markov on the existence of an algorithmically non-recognizable combinatorial n-dimensional manifold for every n≥4. We construct for the first time a concrete manifold which is algorithmically non-recognizable. A strengthened form of Markov's theorem is proved using the combinatorial methods of regular neighbourhoods and handle theory. The proofs coincide for all n≥4. We use Borisov's group with insoluble word problem. It has two generators and twelve relations. The use of this group forms the base for proving the strengthened form of Markov's theorem

Aligning English grammar testing with European language standards

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Bodrič Radmila

2015-01-01

Full Text Available In recent years, foreign language testing has gained in significance with the advent of The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (2001 (CEFR, a European language document which set comparable standards for learning, teaching and assessing foreign languages. The CEFR was used to set the research aim of this paper - testing grammar at level B2. The main aim of the research was to determine grammatical competence at level B2 and additional aims included: (a determining which particular areas of grammar need to be learned by students at level B2, (b formulating grammatical descriptors for each individual area of grammar, (c determining the test’s threshold level which would fulfil the criteria for grammatical competence at level B2, and (d determining the extent to which students have mastered the given areas. The pre-testing was followed by the main testing on the sample of 164 students in two secondary schools. The results indicated that the quantity and quality of grammatical competence was lower than expected: 47% of the population failed to fulfil the basic level of grammatical competence. The causes may be attributed to the factors of a subjective and objective nature. Level B2 is demanding qualitatively as well as quantitatively, regarding both the formal and the functional complexity and scope of language use, which requires intensive language production, high levels of motivation and sound working habits in order to master the given grammatical structures.

Creation Myths of Generative Grammar and the Mathematics of Syntactic Structures

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Pullum, Geoffrey K.

Syntactic Structures (Chomsky [6]) is widely believed to have laid the foundations of a cognitive revolution in linguistic science, and to have presented (i) the first use in linguistics of powerful new ideas regarding grammars as generative systems, (ii) a proof that English was not a regular language, (iii) decisive syntactic arguments against context-free phrase structure grammar description, and (iv) a demonstration of how transformational rules could provide a formal solution to those problems. None of these things are true. This paper offers a retrospective analysis and evaluation.

An Investigation into Post-Secondary Students' Understanding of Combinatorial Questions

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Bulone, Vincent William

2017-01-01

The purpose of this dissertation was to study aspects of how post-secondary students understand combinatorial problems. Within this dissertation, I considered understanding through two different lenses: i) student connections to previous problems; and ii) common combinatorial distinctions such as ordered versus unordered and repetitive versus…

Design and spectroscopic reflectometry characterization of pulsed laser deposition combinatorial libraries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schenck, Peter K.; Bassim, Nabil D.; Otani, Makoto; Oguchi, Hiroyuki; Green, Martin L.

2007-01-01

The goal of the design of pulsed laser deposition (PLD) combinatorial library films is to optimize the compositional coverage of the films while maintaining a uniform thickness. The deposition pattern of excimer laser PLD films can be modeled with a bimodal cos n distribution. Deposited films were characterized using a spectroscopic reflectometer (250-1000 nm) to map the thickness of both single composition calibration films and combinatorial library films. These distribution functions were used to simulate the composition and thickness of multiple target combinatorial library films. The simulations were correlated with electron-probe microanalysis wavelength-dispersive spectroscopy (EPMA-WDS) composition maps. The composition and thickness of the library films can be fine-tuned by adjusting the laser spot size, fluence, background gas pressure, target geometry and other processing parameters which affect the deposition pattern. Results from compositionally graded combinatorial library films of the ternary system Al 2 O 3 -HfO 2 -Y 2 O 3 are discussed

A new evolutionary algorithm with LQV learning for combinatorial problems optimization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Machado, Marcelo Dornellas; Schirru, Roberto

2000-01-01

Genetic algorithms are biologically motivated adaptive systems which have been used, with good results, for combinatorial problems optimization. In this work, a new learning mode, to be used by the population-based incremental learning algorithm, has the aim to build a new evolutionary algorithm to be used in optimization of numerical problems and combinatorial problems. This new learning mode uses a variable learning rate during the optimization process, constituting a process known as proportional reward. The development of this new algorithm aims its application in the optimization of reload problem of PWR nuclear reactors, in order to increase the useful life of the nuclear fuel. For the test, two classes of problems are used: numerical problems and combinatorial problems. Due to the fact that the reload problem is a combinatorial problem, the major interest relies on the last class. The results achieved with the tests indicate the applicability of the new learning mode, showing its potential as a developing tool in the solution of reload problem. (author)

Sequential learning in individuals with agrammatic aphasia: evidence from artificial grammar learning.

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Schuchard, Julia; Thompson, Cynthia K

2017-01-01

We examined sequential learning in individuals with agrammatic aphasia ( n = 12) and healthy age-matched participants ( n = 12) using an artificial grammar. Artificial grammar acquisition, 24-hour retention, and the potential benefits of additional training were examined by administering an artificial grammar judgment test (1) immediately following auditory exposure-based training, (2) one day after training, and (3) after a second training session on the second day. An untrained control group ( n = 12 healthy age-matched participants) completed the tests on the same time schedule. The trained healthy and aphasic groups showed greater sensitivity to the detection of grammatical items than the control group. No significant correlations between sequential learning and language abilities were observed among the aphasic participants. The results suggest that individuals with agrammatic aphasia show sequential learning, but the underlying processes involved in this learning may be different than for healthy adults.

Enumeration of Combinatorial Classes of Single Variable Complex Polynomial Vector Fields

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dias, Kealey

A vector field in the space of degree d monic, centered single variable complex polynomial vector fields has a combinatorial structure which can be fully described by a combinatorial data set consisting of an equivalence relation and a marked subset on the integers mod 2d-2, satisfying certain...

Dendritic Cytoskeletal Architecture Is Modulated by Combinatorial Transcriptional Regulation in Drosophila melanogaster.

Science.gov (United States)

Das, Ravi; Bhattacharjee, Shatabdi; Patel, Atit A; Harris, Jenna M; Bhattacharya, Surajit; Letcher, Jamin M; Clark, Sarah G; Nanda, Sumit; Iyer, Eswar Prasad R; Ascoli, Giorgio A; Cox, Daniel N

2017-12-01

Transcription factors (TFs) have emerged as essential cell autonomous mediators of subtype specific dendritogenesis; however, the downstream effectors of these TFs remain largely unknown, as are the cellular events that TFs control to direct morphological change. As dendritic morphology is largely dictated by the organization of the actin and microtubule (MT) cytoskeletons, elucidating TF-mediated cytoskeletal regulatory programs is key to understanding molecular control of diverse dendritic morphologies. Previous studies in Drosophila melanogaster have demonstrated that the conserved TFs Cut and Knot exert combinatorial control over aspects of dendritic cytoskeleton development, promoting actin and MT-based arbor morphology, respectively. To investigate transcriptional targets of Cut and/or Knot regulation, we conducted systematic neurogenomic studies, coupled with in vivo genetic screens utilizing multi-fluor cytoskeletal and membrane marker reporters. These analyses identified a host of putative Cut and/or Knot effector molecules, and a subset of these putative TF targets converge on modulating dendritic cytoskeletal architecture, which are grouped into three major phenotypic categories, based upon neuromorphometric analyses: complexity enhancer, complexity shifter, and complexity suppressor. Complexity enhancer genes normally function to promote higher order dendritic growth and branching with variable effects on MT stabilization and F-actin organization, whereas complexity shifter and complexity suppressor genes normally function in regulating proximal-distal branching distribution or in restricting higher order branching complexity, respectively, with spatially restricted impacts on the dendritic cytoskeleton. Collectively, we implicate novel genes and cellular programs by which TFs distinctly and combinatorially govern dendritogenesis via cytoskeletal modulation. Copyright © 2017 by the Genetics Society of America.

Grammar-Based Multi-Frontal Solver for One Dimensional Isogeometric Analysis with Multiple Right-Hand-Sides

KAUST Repository

Kuźnik, Krzysztof

2013-06-01

This paper introduces a grammar-based model for developing a multi-thread multi-frontal parallel direct solver for one- dimensional isogeometric finite element method. The model includes the integration of B-splines for construction of the element local matrices and the multi-frontal solver algorithm. The integration and the solver algorithm are partitioned into basic indivisible tasks, namely the grammar productions, that can be executed squentially. The partial order of execution of the basic tasks is analyzed to provide the scheduling for the execution of the concurrent integration and multi-frontal solver algo- rithm. This graph grammar analysis allows for optimal concurrent execution of all tasks. The model has been implemented and tested on NVIDIA CUDA GPU, delivering logarithmic execution time for linear, quadratic, cubic and higher order B-splines. Thus, the CUDA implementation delivers the optimal performance predicted by our graph grammar analysis. We utilize the solver for multiple right hand sides related to the solution of non-stationary or inverse problems.

The English Definite Article: What ESL/EFL Grammars Say and What Corpus Findings Show

Science.gov (United States)

WonHo Yoo, Isaiah

2009-01-01

To ascertain whether what ESL/EFL grammars say is informed by what scholars discuss in the literature and supported by what corpus findings actually show, this paper first presents a brief overview of the literature on the English definite article and then compares popular ESL/EFL grammars' coverage of "the" and corpus findings on definite article…

Study of Applying Cognitive Linguistic Theory into Japanese Grammar Teaching——Taking Causative Sentence as an Example

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Zhang Yu[1

2016-01-01

The traditional Japanese grammar teaching often only pays attention to the interpretation of syntax and the integrity of grammar structure. This violates the cultivation of communicative competence, and is not in conformity with the society’s requirements of applied foreign language talents. Cognitive linguistics theory, which links language form with semantic concept, reveals the internal relation of man’s thinking and language. If we can subtly apply cognitive linguistic theory into Japanese grammar teaching to explore the cognitive process in the speakers’ brain while expressing, we can get a good understanding of diffi cult points and “special case”. This paper explores the introductory methods and efficacy of the cognitive linguistics theory applied in Japanese grammar teaching method, by lecturing causative sentences an example.

Metabolic network analysis-based identification of antimicrobial drug targets in category A bioterrorism agents.

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Yong-Yeol Ahn

Full Text Available The 2001 anthrax mail attacks in the United States demonstrated the potential threat of bioterrorism, hence driving the need to develop sophisticated treatment and diagnostic protocols to counter biological warfare. Here, by performing flux balance analyses on the fully-annotated metabolic networks of multiple, whole genome-sequenced bacterial strains, we have identified a large number of metabolic enzymes as potential drug targets for each of the three Category A-designated bioterrorism agents including Bacillus anthracis, Francisella tularensis and Yersinia pestis. Nine metabolic enzymes- belonging to the coenzyme A, folate, phosphatidyl-ethanolamine and nucleic acid pathways common to all strains across the three distinct genera were identified as targets. Antimicrobial agents against some of these enzymes are available. Thus, a combination of cross species-specific antibiotics and common antimicrobials against shared targets may represent a useful combinatorial therapeutic approach against all Category A bioterrorism agents.

The emergence of grammar in very-low-birth-weight Finnish children at two years of age.

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Stolt, Suvi; Matomäki, Jaakko; Haataja, Leena; Lapinleimu, Helena; Lehtonen, Liisa

2013-03-01

It is not well understood how grammar emerges in very-low-birth-weight (VLBW) children. The main aim of the present study was to gain information on the emergence of grammar in this group at 2 ; 0. The Finnish version of the Communicative Development Inventory was used to collect data from VLBW children (N = 156) and full-term controls (N = 146). At a group level, the grammatical skills of the VLBW children were significantly weaker than those of the controls. However, when the effect of lexicon size and premature birth on the emergence of grammar was analyzed in detail, few significant differences were found between the groups. The results suggest that even though grammar emerges more slowly for the VLBW children, it emerges in a manner comparable to that of the controls, when the effect of lexicon size is taken into consideration.

Exploring the outcomes of a novel computer-assisted treatment program targeting expressive-grammar deficits in preschoolers with SLI.

Science.gov (United States)

Washington, Karla N; Warr-Leeper, Genese; Thomas-Stonell, Nancy

2011-01-01

The impact of a newly designed computer-assisted treatment (C-AT) program, My Sentence Builder, for the remediation of expressive-grammar deficits in children with specific language impairment (SLI) was explored. This program was specifically designed with features to directly address expressive-grammar difficulties, thought to be associated with hypothesized deficits in verbal working memory (VWM). Thirty-four preschoolers with deficits in expressive-grammar morphology participated. Using the randomization procedure of consecutive sampling, participants were recruited. Twenty-two participants were consecutively assigned to one of two treatment groups, C-AT or non C-AT (nC-AT). The nC-AT utilized conventional language stimulation procedures containing features which have been traditionally used to address expressive-grammar deficits. A group of equivalent children awaiting treatment and chosen from the same sample of children as the treatment participants served as a control group. Blind assessments of outcomes were completed pre-, post-, and 3-months post-treatment in a formal and informal context. C-AT and nC-AT participants significantly outperformed controls pre-to-post to 3-months post-treatment in both assessment contexts. No significant differences in treatment gains were found between C-AT and nC-AT. Results suggested that treatments designed to directly address expressive-grammar deficits were better than no treatment for preschool SLI. Further, use of a C-AT program may be another feasible treatment method for this disorder population. As a result of this activity, the reader will recognize that: (1) expressive-grammar treatment is better than no treatment for immediate and continued language growth, (2) use of a C-AT program containing specific features designed to directly address expressive-grammar deficits is another viable, but not necessarily a better treatment option for the remediation of expressive-grammar deficits in preschool children with SLI

A human-assisted computer generated LA-grammar for simple ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies ... of computer programs to generate Left Associative Grammars (LAGs) for natural languages is described. The generation proceeds from examples of correct sentences and needs ...

A BRIEF HINDI REFERENCE GRAMMAR. PRELIMINARY VERSION.

Science.gov (United States)

GUMPERZ, JOHN J.; MISRA, VIDYA NIWAS

THIS BRIEF OUTLINE OF HINDI PHONOLOGY AND GRAMMAR IS INTENDED FOR FIRST AND SECOND YEAR STUDENTS OF HINDI WHO HAVE SOME PREVIOUS KNOWLEDGE OF THE ORAL AND WRITTEN LANGUAGE BUT WHO MAY HAVE HAD NO PREVIOUS TRAINING IN LINGUISTIC TERMINOLOGY. THE AUTHORS HAVE THEREFORE EMPHASIZED SIMPLICITY AND READABILITY RATHER THAN EXHAUSTIVENESS OR ORIGINALITY…

Teacher beliefs and practices of grammar teaching: focusing on ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

focused communicative approaches over the years, studies report that most language teachers still follow transmission-based grammar-oriented approaches. It is known that the success of any curriculum innovation is dependent on teachers.

Excuse me, your participle's dangling how to use grammar to make your writing powers soar

CERN Document Server

DePino, Catherine

2013-01-01

Excuse Me, Your Participle's Dangling will give you all the bare essentials of grammar that you need to write like a pro. If you're a businessperson, college student, or ESL student seeking a user-friendly grammar book that aims to make you a better writer, this book is for you!

Combinatorial vector fields and the valley structure of fitness landscapes.

Science.gov (United States)

Stadler, Bärbel M R; Stadler, Peter F

2010-12-01

Adaptive (downhill) walks are a computationally convenient way of analyzing the geometric structure of fitness landscapes. Their inherently stochastic nature has limited their mathematical analysis, however. Here we develop a framework that interprets adaptive walks as deterministic trajectories in combinatorial vector fields and in return associate these combinatorial vector fields with weights that measure their steepness across the landscape. We show that the combinatorial vector fields and their weights have a product structure that is governed by the neutrality of the landscape. This product structure makes practical computations feasible. The framework presented here also provides an alternative, and mathematically more convenient, way of defining notions of valleys, saddle points, and barriers in landscape. As an application, we propose a refined approximation for transition rates between macrostates that are associated with the valleys of the landscape.

Logging to Facilitate Combinatorial System Testing

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kruse, P.M.; Prasetya, I.S.W.B.; Hage, J; Elyasov, Alexander

2014-01-01

Testing a web application is typically very complicated. Imposing simple coverage criteria such as function or line coverage is often not sufficient to uncover bugs due to incorrect components integration. Combinatorial testing can enforce a stronger criterion, while still allowing the

Combinatorial computational chemistry approach to the design of metal catalysts for deNOx

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Endou, Akira; Jung, Changho; Kusagaya, Tomonori; Kubo, Momoji; Selvam, Parasuraman; Miyamoto, Akira

2004-01-01

Combinatorial chemistry is an efficient technique for the synthesis and screening of a large number of compounds. Recently, we introduced the combinatorial approach to computational chemistry for catalyst design and proposed a new method called ''combinatorial computational chemistry''. In the present study, we have applied this combinatorial computational chemistry approach to the design of precious metal catalysts for deNO x . As the first step of the screening of the metal catalysts, we studied Rh, Pd, Ag, Ir, Pt, and Au clusters regarding the adsorption properties towards NO molecule. It was demonstrated that the energetically most stable adsorption state of NO on Ir model cluster, which was irrespective of both the shape and number of atoms including the model clusters

Towards a construction grammar account of the distributive PO in Polish

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Adam Przepiórkowski

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Towards a construction grammar account of the distributive PO in Polish Polish distributive constructions involving the form po are well known for their syntactic and semantic idiosyncrasy. The aim of this paper is to show that, contrary to the received wisdom, two different lexemes po take part in such constructions: a preposition and an adnumeral operator. This explains some of the idiosyncratic behaviour, namely, the apparent ability of po to combine with different grammatical cases. A preliminary Construction Grammar analysis is proposed which eschews the potential problem of missed generalisations that such a dual account of po might engender.

Balancing focused combinatorial libraries based on multiple GPCR ligands

Science.gov (United States)

Soltanshahi, Farhad; Mansley, Tamsin E.; Choi, Sun; Clark, Robert D.

2006-08-01

G-Protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) are important targets for drug discovery, and combinatorial chemistry is an important tool for pharmaceutical development. The absence of detailed structural information, however, limits the kinds of combinatorial design techniques that can be applied to GPCR targets. This is particularly problematic given the current emphasis on focused combinatorial libraries. By linking an incremental construction method (OptDesign) to the very fast shape-matching capability of ChemSpace, we have created an efficient method for designing targeted sublibraries that are topomerically similar to known actives. Multi-objective scoring allows consideration of multiple queries (actives) simultaneously. This can lead to a distribution of products skewed towards one particular query structure, however, particularly when the ligands of interest are quite dissimilar to one another. A novel pivoting technique is described which makes it possible to generate promising designs even under those circumstances. The approach is illustrated by application to some serotonergic agonists and chemokine antagonists.