Parameters in television captioning for deaf and hard-of-hearing adults: effects of caption rate versus text reduction on comprehension

Caption rate and text reduction are factors that appear to affect the comprehension of captions by people who are deaf or hard of hearing. These 2 factors are confounded in everyday captioning; rate (in words per minute) is slowed by text reduction. In this study, caption rate and text reduction were manipulated independently in 2 experiments to assess any differential effects and possible benefits for comprehension by deaf and hard-of-hearing adults. Volunteers for the study included adults with a range of reading levels, self-reported hearing status, and different communication and language preferences. Results indicate that caption rate (at 130, 180, 230 words per minute) and text reduction (at 84%, 92%, and 100% original text) have different effects for different adult users, depending on hearing status, age, and reading level. In particular, reading level emerges as a dominant factor: more proficient readers show better comprehension than poor readers and are better able to benefit from caption rate and, to some extent, text reduction modifications.     

西德尼.哈里斯漫画

砂秘辱如.诬西德尼.哈里斯漫画@西德尼.哈里斯~~     

书写自己的生命华章

假如有人给你一支笔,一支密封的、纯色的水笔,里面有多少墨水你无法看到,很可能刚刚试着写几个字就能用干,也可能足够写一部或几部皇皇巨著,流传千古,使世事为之而改变。而这一切你在动笔之前无法知晓。     

Kinetics study on biomass pyrolysis for fuel gas production

INTRODUCTIONSincebiomassisanabundant,inexpensiveandrenewableresource ,itsconversiontosyn theticfuelsandchemicalproductsappearsat tractive.Amongallkindsofbiomassconversionroutes,pyrolysisisbeinggivenincreasingatten tionsincetheprocessissimpleandmaybeopti m…     

The Reflection of Cultural Differences in a Joint Performance

Cultureisoneofthemostdifficulttermstobewelldefined.NewWebstersDictionarysaysitisnotonly"theacquiredabilityofanindividualorapeopletorecognizeandappreciategenerallyacceptedestheticandintellectualachievementofcivilizationoraparticularstageorstagesofcivilizationasinthecaseofacertainnationorperiod"butalso"thetotalofhumanbehaviorpatternsandtechnologycommunicatedfromgene-rationtogeneration".Thelatterisananthropologicalandsociologicaldefinition,whichagreeswithLongmanModernEnglishDictionary'sthirddef…     

文化的核心

在中国,英语专业的学生通常要学很多门"外国文化"课,学得最多的是英国和美国文化概况.如今,不管是谁,只要对此加以关注,就不应该仅仅认识到文化课所传递信息的重要,更应该能明确列举出开设这些课所要达到的目标.     

Parental reactions to children's negative emotions: longitudinal relations to quality of children's social functioning

Relations between self-reported parental reactions to children's negative emotions (PNRs) and children's socially appropriate/problem behavior and negative emotionality were examined longitudinally. Evidence was consistent with the conclusion that relations between children's externalizing (but not internalizing) emotion and parental punitive reactions to children's negative emotions are bidirectional. Reports of PNRs generally were correlated with low quality of social functioning. In structural models, mother-reported problem behavior at ages 10-12 was at least marginally predicted from mother-reported problem behavior, children's regulation, and parental punitive or distress reactions. Moreover, parental distress and punitive reactions at ages 6-8 predicted reports of children's regulation at ages 8-10, and regulation predicted parental punitive reactions at ages 10-12. Father reports of problem behavior at ages 10-12 were predicted by earlier problem behavior and parental distress or punitive reactions; some of the relations between regulation and parental reactions were similar to those in the models for mother-reported problem behavior. Parental perceptions of their reactions were substantially correlated over 6 years. Some nonsupportive reactions declined in the early to mid-school years, but all increased into late childhood/early adolescence.     

On the Nature and Role of English in Asia

The present paper is divided into eight sections:introduction,the global diffusion of English,perceptions of the new varieties,the issue of intelligibility,features that cause unintelligibility,need for a broader pragmatics,and pedagogical impli- cations,and conclusion,followed by the references.Not surprisingly,the global spread of English has generated varying perspec- tives on the nature and functions of its acculturated varieties.Broadly speaking,the debate has divided scholars into two camps holding diametrically opposing views on the multiple versions of English.On the one hand,some scholars view variations as symp- toms of linguistic degeneration and deterioration;on the other hand,some scholars legitimize them as inevitable manifestations ne- cessitated by the demands of the new cultural contexts.The normative view of the former camp stems,at least partly,from the problems the new forms of English pose in terms of international intelligibility.It is in this context that the paper examines the traditional,one-sided,native speaker-centred idea of intelligibility and the recent two-sided view of intelligibility that places the onus on both the native speaker and the non-native speaker.The argument of the latter camp is based on the premise that the new varieties require a broader pragmatic framework,because universal pragmatics is inadequate to describe them satisfactorily. Thus,the camp advocates a need for a language specific pragmatics,and a comparative pragmatics,in addition to the traditional universal pragmatics.Logically,the debate on phonological,lexical,grammatical,and discourse structure variations,and their le- gitimacy has prompted English language teaching specialists to have a fresh look at the goals and objectives of teaching English in the countries of the outer and expanding circles,and accordingly prioritize the teaching of national and regional varieties over that of the so-called native varieties.Thus,the paradigms of independence and centrality of the new varieties are replacing the paradigms of their dependence and marginality.