The purpose of this research project was to examine the linguistic and prosodic content of infant-directed speech to infants, and to explore the relationship that exists between the prosodic features and the content of this speech, and how this relationship changes over the first eight months after birth. Analyses were conducted on maternal infant-directed speech directed to infants across three age groups: 1, 4, and 8-month olds. Speech samples were taken from 75 mothers (n = 25 per group) and both coded for content and analyzed for pitch (Fo) characteristics. Linguistic analysis indicated overall significantly more Informational speech that either Affective or Contentless speech directed to infants in all three age groups. In addition, significant differences were found within and between Affective and Contentless speech, but these effects were also mediated by age. Significant differences were also found in the acoustic features of maternal infant-directed speech, mediated by both type of speech and age. Overall, these results suggest that maternal infant-directed speech varies in both linguistic content and prosodic features, and that the variation of these prosodic features is mediated by both the type of speech used and the age of the infant. / Master of Science

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 101-104).

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 101-104). Also available in print.

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 119-125).

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 119-125). Also available in print.

The focus of this quasi-experimental study was to examine the impact of explicit instruction of science comparison and contrast macro text structures plus micro text structures on the content learning, sentence comprehension, and reading comprehension of eighth-grade English Learners (ELs) and non-English Learners (non-ELs) in three inclusive science classrooms. Although the results of this study did not show significant differences between groups in sentence comprehension, reading comprehension, or science content learning, the treatment group increased and maintained their science content learning scores over time, while the scores of the comparison group declined from post-test to delayed post-test. In addition, the researcher sought to determine whether sentence combination scores were a predictor of reading comprehension scores. The results showed that sentence combination scores were good predictors for reading comprehension.

Although the term CLIL standing for Content and Language Integrated Learning appeared as early as in 1994, and the European Union recognized it very quickly as a prospective and effective way of learning and teaching languages, it seems neither to have been used extensively within the Czech education system, nor there appears to be a general awareness of the method. However, this approach represents a great opportunity for creating more authentic atmosphere within language classrooms and simultaneously teaching and learning a content subject. When speaking of CLIL, several factors must be considered, such as its objectives, principles, methodology, discourse and materials, furthermore we have to take into account the criteria for designing and analysing material for language teaching (of course also in the view of the chosen content subject principles and objectives). In order to raise the awareness of CLIL as an effective approach to language and subject content teaching and to partly supply the lack of CLIL-focused materials, this thesis aims to take into account all the factors and present and analyse them in logical sequences, so finally an effective piece of material usable in CLIL classes could be created and subsequently analysed and evaluated. The present thesis is divided into three parts...

The development of language and communication skills in young children is directly related to future academic success. Young children who are at risk for language impairment should, therefore, be identified as early as possible so that their language development may be optimised. Multilingualism, which has become a universal phenomenon, may mask the presence of language impairment if the pre-school teacher or speech-language therapist is not proficient in the young multilingual learner’s primary language. In some urban areas of South Africa, where many languages are represented in each pre-school classroom, it is likely that the teacher or therapist will lack proficiency in the primary language of quite a number of the pre-school learners. In these contexts, the language of mutual understanding is English and assessment of learners’ language behaviour will also be conducted in English. Against this background the aim of this study was to determine the feasibility of constructing a profile of typical English language behaviours for pre-school EAL learners in a circumscribed urban area. The profile is intended to provide speech-language therapists and pre-school teachers in collaborative practice with a dual-purpose tool: an instrument for identifying those learners who are at risk for language impairment/language learning disabilities, and a means of obtaining guidelines for the development of an appropriate programme for facilitating language development. The literature study reviewed the language diversity in South African pre-schools, and the role of speech-language therapists in these multilingual pre-schools. The aspects of language to be included in a profile of typical English language behaviours for young EAL learners were discussed. A quantitative descriptive research design was selected. The language database for 30 EAL pre-schoolers from a circumscribed geographical area was collected during 20 minutes of conversation between each pre-school participant and a trained speech-language therapist who acted as research fieldworker. The language data was analysed to identify typical language behaviours relating to language form, language content and language use. The results show that it was possible to construct a profile of typical English language behaviours for nine aspects of language form, one aspect of language content, and six aspects of language use. The information was used to construct two versions of a profile of typical English language behaviours, as well as a profile of risk indicators for language impairment in the specified group of EAL pre-schoolers. An action plan was designed to indicate the way in which these three profiles – the comprehensive profile, the essential classroom profile, and the profile of risk indicators – may be used by the collaborative team of speech-language therapist and pre-school teacher for language assessment, the identification of learners with language impairment, and the facilitation of language development for all EAL learners. / Thesis (DPhil (Communication Pathology))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology / Unrestricted

В условиях стремительного развития экономической глобализации все более частыми становятся различные межкультурные обмены, международная реклама, как носитель культурной коммуникации, широко проникает во все уголки общественной жизни, глубоко воздействуя на социальную культуру и сознание, воздействуя на жизнь людей. Однако из-за различий в культурном происхождении реклама иногда приводит к неожиданным негативным последствиям. Игнорирование национальных традиций может привести к неудаче рекламной кампании на территории этой страны. Для того, чтобы избежать маркетинговых неудач, представляется актуальным сосредоточить внимание на сравнительном анализе перевода рекламных текстов в России и Китае. / With the rapid development of economic globalization, various cross-cultural exchanges have become increasingly frequent. As the carrier of cultural exchanges, international advertising has widely penetrated into all aspects of public life, profoundly affecting social culture and consciousness, and affecting people's lives. However, due to the differences in cultural background, advertisements sometimes produce unexpected negative effects. Ignoring national traditions may lead to the failure of domestic advertising campaigns. In order to avoid marketing failure, it seems urgent to pay attention to the comparative analysis of Russian and Chinese advertising translation.