Mastering Difficult Concepts Using Software to Support Learning: A Case Study in Teaching Mandarin Chinese

Set in the context of a first-semester undergraduate Mandarin Chinese curriculum, the Tones First case provides an illustration of how one might hurdle a formidable learning task using technological tools. The author examines extant curricula for opportunities to introduce complementary technology components. Thorough discussion of the software-activity design process is presented as well as an overview of the resulting application.     

Lucie Olbrechts-Tyteca's New Rhetoric

The New Rhetoric project featured an eleven-year collaboration between Lucie Olbrechts-Tyteca and Chaïm Perelman, which culminated with their 1958 magnum opus, Traité de l'argumentation: la nouvelle rhétorique. Scholars have long speculated about Olbrechts-Tyteca's role in the New Rhetoric project and her relationship with Chaïm Perelman. Building from the work of Barbara Warnick, a synchronic and diachronic analysis of their collaboration yields insight on the nature of their collaboration, putting a spotlight on the scholarship of Olbrechts-Tyteca and the role she played in the New Rhetoric project. Their collaboration pairs Perelman, the philosopher concerned about the human being reasoning, with Olbrechts-Tyteca, the literary critic who, using the theoretical frame of the New Rhetoric project, systematically developed the role of the comic in rhetorical theory.     

Examining the Impact of Social Identification with Music on Music Streaming Behavior

According to the Nielsen Music 360 Research Report, 67% of all music consumers in the United States used digital music streaming services to listen, discover, and share music online in 2014 (The Nielsen Company, 2014). As such, communications scholars and music industry professionals are beginning to recognize the importance of understanding the factors that influence digital music listener behavior. Therefore, this study proposes an expanded theory of planned behavior model (TPB) by incorporating social identification into the original TPB model framework in an effort to gain a better understanding of people’s intentions to use digital music streaming services as well as the amount of time spent listening to them.

Results suggest that both the original TPB and expanded TPB models can be successfully applied within the context of digital music streaming service use. Specifically, attitudes emerged as positive contributors to intention to use digital music streaming services, while social identification and behavioral intention emerged as positive contributors to streaming behavior. Both models also explained a larger percentage of intention to use digital music streaming services as compared to streaming behavior operationalized as total time spent listening. Thus, this study implies the practical importance of understanding the differences between what drives listener intentions as compared to what drives the actual amount of time listeners spend using digital music streaming services.