This article offers a new reconstruction of the phonological history of pre-Old English, building on a potential parallelism between English, Frisian and North Germanic. Pivotal to the reconstruction is the development of PGmc * a , which is the target of eight different sound laws in the traditional theory. A combination of a conditional early fronting and rounding, followed by a gradual i -mutation impact, both with parallels in Frisian, and a relatively late seventh-century application of breaking before ‑ r C can account for most of the attested spellings of instances with PGmc * a in the language of the early Épinal and Erfurt glossaries. This approach is much simpler than the traditional theory and allows parallelisms to be (re)established between the earliest stages of Old English, Old Frisian and Old Norse.
<h4>Introduction</h4>Advanced telerehabilitation technology helps physiotherapists monitor the patient's treatment process after Total Knee Replacement. This study aimed to review the research on telerehabilitation after Total Knee Replacement, synthesize the findings related to their applications and features, and address evaluations made on them.<h4>Methods</h4>A systematic search was conducted in PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science from 2019 through 2023. The authors selected the articles based on keywords and criteria and reviewed them in terms of title, abstract, and full text. Full-text articles and English language, focusing on telerehabilitation for TKR patients, preferably including mobile health applications and consistent with the research question, were considered for more review. Then, the MMAT (mixed methods appraisal) tool was used to assess each article. Finally, the selected articles were evaluated. The systematic review was registered through PROSPERO with registration ID: PROSPERO CRD42024533040.<h4>Result</h4>After reviewing databases, 183 articles were retrieved, then 84 duplicate articles were removed. Of the remaining 99 articles, 40 were deleted after reviewing the title and abstract because they were grey literature or irrelevant to TKR surgery, and 41 were deleted after reviewing the full text. Finally, 18 articles were included in this study and analyzed. The United States was the most common country that developed a telerehabilitation system. The most common use of this technology has been in education, treatment, and subsequent monitoring. Sensor and wearable activity trackers are the most common equipment used in studies. The most common study designs were randomized controlled trials (RCT) and observational studies, each of which accounted for 9 (50%) and 4 (22.22%), respectively.<h4>Conclusion</h4>Telerehabilitation can be as effective as traditional rehabilitation in improving the condition of patients after TKA. However, it is suggested that improvements should always be made to achieve better results of telerehabilitation. Most of the TKA apps in the reviewed studies showed significant effectiveness. Information and communication technology are used to provide high-quality, low-cost, continuous treatments. Soon, telerehabilitation will play a more prominent role and will be more popular.
BackgroundAccurately measuring the health care needs of patients with different diseases remains a public health challenge for health care management worldwide. There is a need for new computational methods to be able to assess the health care resources required by patients with different diseases to avoid wasting resources.
ObjectiveThis study aimed to assessing dissatisfaction with allocation of health care resources from the perspective of patients with different diseases that can help optimize resource allocation and better achieve several of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), such as SDG 3 (“Good Health and Well-being”). Our goal was to show the effectiveness and practicality of large language models (LLMs) in assessing the distribution of health care resources.
MethodsWe used aspect-based sentiment analysis (ABSA), which can divide textual data into several aspects for sentiment analysis. In this study, we used Chat Generative Pretrained Transformer (ChatGPT) to perform ABSA of patient reviews based on 3 aspects (patient experience, physician skills and efficiency, and infrastructure and administration)00 in which we embedded chain-of-thought (CoT) prompting and compared the performance of Chinese and English LLMs on a Chinese dataset. Additionally, we used the International Classification of Diseases 11th Revision (ICD-11) application programming interface (API) to classify the sentiment analysis results into different disease categories.
ResultsWe evaluated the performance of the models by comparing predicted sentiments (either positive or negative) with the labels judged by human evaluators in terms of the aforementioned 3 aspects. The results showed that ChatGPT 3.5 is superior in a combination of stability, expense, and runtime considerations compared to ChatGPT-4o and Qwen-7b. The weighted total precision of our method based on the ABSA of patient reviews was 0.907, while the average accuracy of all 3 sampling methods was 0.893. Both values suggested that the model was able to achieve our objective. Using our approach, we identified that dissatisfaction is highest for sex-related diseases and lowest for circulatory diseases and that the need for better infrastructure and administration is much higher for blood-related diseases than for other diseases in China.
ConclusionsThe results prove that our method with LLMs can use patient reviews and the ICD-11 classification to assess the health care needs of patients with different diseases, which can assist with resource allocation rationally.
Computer applications to medicine. Medical informatics, Public aspects of medicine
English comparative modals are combinations of the adverbs rather, sooner and better with an auxiliary. There is recent consensus that the comparative modals rather and sooner have over time developed a different syntax and semantics than better. However, potential differences in the syntax of rather and sooner with respect to patterns of complementation haven’t been explored. This article reports the results of a corpus study of these two modals and finds that rather patterns like object-raising verbs, allowing a range of complements that are unavailable for sooner. Our analysis of these patterns draws on recent work in the Construction Grammar framework, with forays into its formal implementation, Sign-Based Construction Grammar, and we propose that rather differs from sooner in that it constitutes a micro-construction whose features are licensed by both the Modal Construction and the Object-Raising Construction, the latter a subtype of the Transitive Construction.
This article paper explores the evaluation of artificial intelligence (AI) in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) writing courses and the importance of calibration in writing evaluations. The role of calibration has received little attention in language contexts, while the role of artificial intelligence has gained increased attention in the last couple of years. This investigation, conducted from August 2022 to March 2023, involved eight TESOL students enrolled in an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) major at a Costa Rican public university, ten TESOL university professors, and one AI piece of software. It used a quantitative, quasi-experimental design, and a language elicitation data collection process. Data was collected by means of a rubric-based writing assessment. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Data analyses indicate that: 1) human-created paragraphs (X̄ = 7,56) and AI writing (X̄ = 7,61) yield similar results when evaluated; 2) some criteria may favor human creativity or computer, rule-oriented writing; and 3) professors’ ratings reveal inconsistencies when grading human writing in particular. These findings demonstrate that AI matches, at least to a basic level, human writing skills. Furthermore, data show that students may be falling behind in aspects such as grammar, vocabulary, and mechanics. Finally, the analysis indicates that professors’ grading lacks consistency, and a calibration model should be incorporated as part of regular training workshops.
Choosing a major is one of the most important decisions in one’s life. Understanding the aspects that intervene in this decision contribute to a better understanding of main motivational forces of English as a Foreign Language pre-service teachers. This qualitative descriptive study examined the personal, professional, and social motivations and experiences of 40 English as a Foreign Language pre-service teachers in the Mexican context that affected their decision to become English language teachers. Using an open written narrative (Language Learning History) instrument, participants wrote stories that showed the main reasons for choosing English teaching as a major. The results showed that personal and professional aspects including biographical experiences, a perceived ability to learn and teach English as well as teacher preparation program experiences are the most influential in this decision along with altruistic and intrinsic motives.
Investigating language practices of bilingual children and understanding how they process a novel L3 allow to contribute to epistemological debates on bilingualism. In the present study, Polish–English bilingual children were tested on their processing of subject-first (SVO) and object-first (OVS) sentences in Polish and German. The data collected in this exploratory study were analysed in light of learners’ different levels of bilingualism and language dominance. The results consistently indicate that higher proficiency in Polish as well as ability to process the challenging OVS sentences supports learners in processing L3 German as well. The findings provide useful insights on morphosyntactic processing abilities among both migrant and bilingual 2L1 children and shine light on their needs, which could further be used to inform educational policy in the UK.
Michael Lyvers, Natalie Holloway, Katarina Needham
et al.
Objectives University students in Australia report higher levels of stress than non‐students of the same age, with females reporting higher stress than males. The ability to successfully adapt to, and cope with, stressful situations and events, often referred to as resilience, requires social and interpersonal resources as well as the ability to effectively self‐regulate emotions. When such resources and abilities are deficient, responses to university stress are likely to be maladaptive. Deficient emotional self‐regulation is characteristic of individuals with the subclinical personality trait alexithymia, who also tend to suffer from social and interpersonal difficulties; thus students with alexithymia may be especially susceptible to university stress and associated adverse outcomes of low resilience. The present study examined resilience in relation to alexithymia, university stress, and two common outcomes of the latter in female university students: anxiety and problematic drinking. Method Validated self‐report measures of the relevant constructs were completed online by 136 female university students from two Australian universities. All participants indicated they had English‐language proficiency and no history of serious head injury or diagnosed psychological disorder. Results Serial mediation models indicated that resilience showed the predicted protective relationship to both problematic drinking and anxiety through lower levels of alexithymia and university stress. Conclusions Findings suggest that students who lack resilience are more likely to report stress at university, as well as associated adverse outcomes such as anxiety and problematic drinking, due to deficiencies in emotional self‐regulation and inadequate use of social and interpersonal resources for successful coping.
English lesson plan is a set of learning plans contains essential guidance for the teacher referring to English teaching material. Successful teaching is not determined by the learners’ achievement but also teaching process, which is prepared well by the teacher. It is the proof of teaching as transferring the knowledge. Referring to this case, this research was intended to find out the extent of the English lesson plan implementation by the teacher candidates of English department students as the learner of English as a foreign language. The implementation was observed engaging 65 students who were attending a microteaching class which was one of education compulsory and requirement subject at FKIP of HKBP Nommensen University. Quantitative research design was used to find out the extent of implementation English Lesson plan of the subject. The research found the level of the implementation at 15,19% at level of high, 27,69 % of moderate, 25,00% at low, and 32,11 of poor. It indicates that the English lesson plan implementation by the teacher candidates as the sample in this research was still low.
Special aspects of education, Language and Literature
This paper reports on how an undergraduate global leadership course was designed and implemented at a Japanese mid-sized private university to match the Japanese government’s initiative of fostering global individuals through education. By incorporating a flipped learning approach (Bergmann & Sam, 2012) and the content materials from a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), the university was able to offer a global leadership program to Japanese students with some “hidden” English language assistance. The language support was provided by employing Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), a pedagogical approach that is gaining global popularity (Coyle, Hood, & Marsh, 2010). Flipped learning was introduced to maximise the face-to-face class time for the activities to enhance active learning. Content learning was designed to be done online, before coming to every class. In order to support flipped learning and CLIL, ubiquitous learning was also incorporated to the program design. This paper also focuses on capturing the leadership program and develop the understanding of roles of each stakeholder by mapping human and nonhuman actors to see what resources were involved in manifesting this highly complex learning environment. The student perception on the leadership program was compared through interviews conducted in Weeks 4 and 14, to see if the program was successfully perceived as a leadership program, or perceived as just another English language program. Some implications of designing this type of multifunctional course are discussed to conclude the paper.
Theory and practice of education, Language acquisition
The main purposes of this article are to provide an overview of a research project on a longitudinal learner spoken corpus and to share procedures related to the transcription of learners’ utterances from audio files using automated speech recognition (ASR) technology (IBM Watson Speech-to-text). The data of the corpus were collected twice or thrice a year for three consecutive years from 2016, creating eight data collection points altogether. They were gathered from 120 secondary school students who had been learning English in an English as a Foreign Language context for three years. The students were asked to take a monologue speaking test, the Telephone Standard Speaking Test, consisting of various tasks. The overall discussion of the article focuses on the details of this project and highlights how a methodological approach of combining electronic learner language data and ASR technology is useful in constructing learner spoken corpora.
Purpose: Distal radial fracture is one of the most common fractures. Up to now, locking plates (LP) and external fixation (EF) are two conventional surgical approaches to type C radius fracture. Which method is superior has not yet reached a consensus. We try to assess the clinical effectiveness of the two interventions by this meta-analysis. Methods: We used network to search the PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Medical Library of randomized controlled clinical trials about the type C distal radius fractures performed according to the search strategy mentioned in Cochrane Handbook 5.1.0 from Jan. 2005 to Jan. 2016. Patients in the experimental group were used LP, in the control group were included EF and other surgical approaches. Publication language was restricted to English. Studies that patient population and surgical indication did not define had been excluded. Studies must report at least one of the outcomes as follow: radial inclination, palmar tilt, ulnar variance, range of wrist flexion and extension, and range of wrist supination and pronation. The trials in which participants included children were excluded. We used Jadad study scores to appraise the study. Results: Seven studies included 162 patients (LP group) and 190 patients (EF group). We compared the radial inclination, palmar tilt, ulnar variance, range of wrist flexion and extension, and range of wrist supination and pronation. The radial inclination were revealed a difference favoring LP over EF [WMD = 1.84, 95% CI (0.17, 3.50), p = 0.03] and the palmar tilt and ulnar variance was no significant difference between the two groups [(WMD = 3.61, 95% CI (0.00, 7.23), p = 0.05; WMD = 0.05, 95% CI (−0.99, 1.09), p = 0.93]. The functional activities of range of flexion and extension and range of supination and pronation between the two groups was no difference [WMD = 10.04, 95% CI (−6.88, 26.96), p = 0.24; WMD = 12.53, 95% CI (−9.99, 35.06), p = 0.28]. Conclusion: Locking plate and external fixation is feasible to heal radius type C fracture. We found the small difference between the two groups on imaging examination. The locking plate has the advantage on maintaining reduction, however no significant difference regarding outcomes has been found between the two groups. Keywords: Locking plate, External fixation, Type C, Distal radius fractures, Meta-analysis
The paper reports on a survey into the linguistic needs of law professionals in four European countries, with the aim of identifying their views on the importance and their use of foreign language skills as well as their preferences for ELP course content. The data, obtained from a questionnaire survey of 536 legal professionals from Poland, the Czech Republic, Croatia and Germany, show that while the respondents agree on many of the major points, there are also some differences conditioned by the respondents’ age and the specific tasks they perform in the legal profession. The article argues that these variables have to be taken into consideration in the LSP context because they determine some of the specific needs that need to be addressed in Legal English instruction. It is suggested that the findings about the lawyers’ self-perceived importance and preferred styles of learning are highly relevant for LSP practitioners, particularly when designing Legal English programmes and testing materials.
Language. Linguistic theory. Comparative grammar, Comparative law. International uniform law
Nowadays, learner autonomy is considered to be a multidimensional and diversified concept. A number of scientists have found support for the importance of learner autonomy but there is little empirical research on using different strategies for promoting and evaluating students’ autonomy. Accordingly, in order to become better language learners, students should plan, implement, and evaluate their own learning. This study aims at fostering and evaluating students’ autonomy by scaffolding their speaking practices through role plays in an English for Special Purposes (ESP) course. The research suggests that role-play strategies should help students develop their autonomy in acquiring ESP speaking skills. The study argues that developing autonomy is an efficient way to improve students’ performance in ESP speaking skills as it provides them with relevant scaffolding. This article provides theoretical grounding for autonomy. The entry-level and post-study speaking scores (IELTS test) are compared across experimental and control groups. A class-based training course of ESP speaking was offered in an institutional setting to 38 (15 male, 23 female) second-year students at a national research university in Russia. A special questionnaire was developed to assess learner autonomy in ESP speaking, which proved that role play promoted learner autonomy and encouraged students to master ESP speaking skills. The results of the study indicate that students who were developing their speaking skills via role play performed significantly better than their peers in the control group. The level of their English language competence improved. The role plays in the ESP speaking course proved to be a viable and productive teaching strategy for fostering autonomy among students.
Arturo E. Hernandez, Antígona Martínez, Kathryn J. Kohnert
For many years, researchers investigating the brain bases of bilingualism have concentrated on two basic questions. The first concerns the nature of language representation. That is, are a bilinguals' two languages represented in distinct or overlapping areas of the brain. The second basic question in the neuropsychology of bilingualism concerns the neural correlates of language switching, that is, the areas that are active when bilinguals switch from one language to the other. Performance between single-language and dual-language picture naming was compared in a group of six Spanish-English bilinguals using behavioral measures and functional magnetic resonance imaging. Participants showed slower reaction times and increased activation in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in the mixed language condition relative to single language condition. There was no evidence that each language was represented in different areas of the brain. Results are consistent with the view that language switching is a part of a general executive attentional system and that languages are represented in overlapping areas of the brain in early bilinguals.