The present study is based on the theoretical assumptions that frequency of characters and their structural components, as well as the frequency types of structural components, are important to enable learners of Chinese as a foreign language (CFL) to discover the underlying structure of Chinese characters. In the CFL context, since reliable target language input is limited largely to textbook materials and teacher instruction, it is important to more rigorously examine the inventory of Chinese characters that is typically presented in CFL textbooks. The purpose of this study was to systematically describe and classify Chinese characters from ten CFL textbooks designed for college and adult beginning learners. The main focus was to compare the textbooks in the following areas: explicit orthographic decomposition instruction, character frequency selection, radical combination frequency, radical semantic transparency, radical positional regularity among different character graphic structures, phonetic element reliability, and phonetic component combination frequency. To accomplish the analysis required for this study, a special character database was created. Dictionaries were used to classify character characteristics, and documented frequency lists were used to classify the character usage frequency. The findings revealed that most textbooks rarely include explicit orthographic decomposition instruction in the vocabulary lists or lessons, while over 40% of the characters in most of the textbooks did not combine with other characters to form words. In addition, analysis of frequency lists created over time revealed that the ten textbooks generally contain many high frequency characters. Furthermore, the results indicated that 60% of the characters in the database were classified by relatively few radicals (17%), with most radicals appearing on the left side of the characters. Relatively reliable phonetic analogy groups appeared frequently. About half of the characters are semantic-phonetic compound characters. Less than 10% of the characters in the textbooks are semantic-phonetic compound characters that contain semantically transparent radicals and reliable phonetic elements. The results of the study suggest that textbook writers should consider integrating orthographic decomposition and component frequency materials into their textbooks, as systematic instruction in textbooks is generally lacking. Teachers should also be mindful of emphasizing the high frequency characters that are consistently featured in all textbooks, as well as the frequently appearing radicals and left-right internal structure of many of the characters. In this way, students will early on develop a firm foundation of the principles governing Chinese orthography.

<p>The aim of this study was to identify the strategies used to render the literary dialect in A State of Independence into the Swedish translation. In order to systematically study the translation solutions, a number of ‘coupled pairs’ consisting of source text ‘problems’ and target text ‘solutions’ were extracted from the original text and the translation. The ‘coupled pairs’ were then analysed in order to detect regularities in the translation solutions. The study showed that the major strategy used by the translator was the use of ‘eye-dialect’, i.e. non-standard spellings that simulate non-standard speech. Moreover, some passages in the translation had been standardised, whereas eye-dialectal spellings were found in other passages where the original did not contain any non-standard features. Finally, a comparative count of dialectally marked utterances in both texts was made. The count showed that the dialectal markers were in the majority in the translation, which might indicate that the translator has tried to compensate for the lack of equivalent target language features.</p>

Building robust recognition systems requires a careful understanding of the effects of error in sensed features. Error in these image features results in a region of uncertainty in the possible image location of each additional model feature. We present an accurate, analytic approximation for this uncertainty region when model poses are based on matching three image and model points, for both Gaussian and bounded error in the detection of image points, and for both scaled-orthographic and perspective projection models. This result applies to objects that are fully three- dimensional, where past results considered only two-dimensional objects. Further, we introduce a linear programming algorithm to compute the uncertainty region when poses are based on any number of initial matches. Finally, we use these results to extend, from two-dimensional to three- dimensional objects, robust implementations of alignmentt interpretation- tree search, and ransformation clustering.

Neural networks underpinning working memory demonstrate sign language specific components possibly related to differences in temporary storage mechanisms. A processing approach to memory systems suggests that the organisation of memory storage is related to type of memory processing as well. In the present study, we investigated for the first time semantic, phonological and orthographic processing in working memory for sign- and speech-based language. During fMRI we administered a picture-based 2-back working memory task with Semantic, Phonological, Orthographic and Baseline conditions to 11 deaf signers and 20 hearing non-signers. Behavioural data showed poorer and slower performance for both groups in Phonological and Orthographic conditions than in the Semantic condition, in line with depth-of-processing theory. An exclusive masking procedure revealed distinct sign-specific neural networks supporting working memory components at all three levels of processing. The overall pattern of sign-specific activations may reflect a relative intermodality difference in the relationship between phonology and semantics influencing working memory storage and processing.

A central issue in word recognition is how readers retrieve and select the right representation among others in the mental lexicon. Recently, it has been claimed that recognition of individual words is influenced by the degree to which the words possess unique vs. shared letters or sounds relative to other words, that is, whether the words have few or several neighbors. Research on so-called neighborhood density effects advances understanding of the organization and operation of the mental lexicon. Orthographic neighborhood effects have been claimed to be facilitative, but recent studies of visual word recognition have led to a revised understanding of the nature of the orthographic neighborhood density effect. Through a reexamination of orthographic and phonological neighborhood density effects, the specific objective of the present research is to understand how orthographic and phonological representations interact across two different writing systems, i.e., English (an alphabetic orthography) and Chinese (a morphosyllabic orthography). The phenomena were studied using a joint behavioral (lexical decision) and neural imaging approach (near infrared spectroscopy, or NIRS). Orthographic and phonological (more, specifically, homophone) neighborhood density were manipulated in three lexical decision experiments with English and three with Chinese readers. After different sources of facilitative inter-lexicon connections were controlled, orthographic and phonological neighborhood density effects were found to be inhibitory in both writing systems. Inhibitory neighborhood density effects were also confirmed in two NIRS experiments of English and Chinese. The present research provided a better control of lexical characteristics than was the case in previous research on neighborhood effects and found a clear and consistent pattern of neighborhood density effects. This research supports interactive-activation models of word recognition rather than parallel-distributed models, given the evidence for lateral inhibition indexed by inhibitory neighborhood density effects. As such, the present study furthers the understanding of the organization and operation of the mental lexicon.

The meaning of term &ldquo / representation&rdquo / has shifted in both relevancy and definition in the discipline of architecture with the introduction of computational design technologies. The assumption of this study is that the selected mode of representation has the power to affect the process of design and even the production of architecture. At the present time, while the discipline is witnessing a change in its tendencies and terminologies, such as from drawing to 3D modeling, from construction to fabrication, and from geometry to topology, it is crucial to look at the &ldquo / conventions&rdquo / of architectural representation that are identified through &ldquo / projections,&rdquo / and particularly the &ldquo / orthographic set&rdquo / . This study aims to challenge the prejudices against the &ldquo / orthographic set&rdquo / that consider it to be an ineffective or inadequate tool for representation in the contemporary practice of architecture following the emergence of &ldquo / digitization&rdquo / . It is the claim of this thesis that the &ldquo / orthographic set&rdquo / is actually a methodology that is still powerful in the visualization of the &ldquo / rational&rdquo / thinking processes of design, and is still a highly pertinent technique in the representation and production of architecture. With the arrival of computational design technologies to the practice of architecture, the &ldquo / visibility&rdquo / of its representations have started to blur / and considering the dialectics between architectural representation and the architectural object, while Modern Architecture can be assessed as the transformation of the orthographic set into a declaration of a stylistic manifesto, in the digital age the question arises of what makes architecture visible, and whether it is possible to come up with a &ldquo / new&rdquo / definition of style.

Remediation of skills deficient in students with dyslexia typically occurs via withdrawal interventions focusing on phonological awareness and letter-sound knowledge. While one-on-one interventions are widely used, little attention has been paid to the alternative teaching approach of integrating multiple linguistic component interventions within the classroom. Accordingly, this study aims to examine the effectiveness of using word study within the classroom on the spelling skills of students with dyslexia. The study was divided into two parts: 1) examining the efficacy of incorporating a small group multiple linguistic intervention within the classroom on the spelling skills of 9-year-old students with dyslexia, and if there were similar effects for reading abilities; and 2) analysing the effects of word study instruction at the whole group level on student spelling. Two case study students (both 9-years of age) with dyslexia underwent small group multiple linguistic intervention, and were monitored for 8 weeks (3 days/week; 20 minutes/session) using baseline, intervention and post-intervention probes. Whole group word study instruction was enacted in a Year 4/5 classroom for 8 weeks (1 day/week; 1 hour/session), and the spelling performance of the 9-year-old students (i.e., n = 7) were compared to same age students from a control classroom (i.e., n = 7) in pre-post assessments. Both small group intervention case study students demonstrated significant improvements in spelling, yet minimal improvement was seen for reading. Whole group comparisons indicated no significant improvement. The findings for this study have implications for: a) research on effective interventions for older children with dyslexia, and b) the practical use of spelling interventions that are designed to co-exist within classroom instruction.

We examined the relationship between orthographic processing and spelling in French immersion children. Study 1 included 148 first graders and they were assessed on orthographic processing and spelling in English and French. In Study 2, we followed 69 second graders for two years. Orthographic processing and spelling in English and French were administered in second and third grade. In Study 3, we analyzed the spelling errors made by the third graders in Study 2. In Study 1, we found a within-language relationship in English and French between orthographic processing and spelling. Cross-language transfer from French orthographic processing to English spelling was also observed. In Study 2, Grade 2 English spelling predicted gains in Grade 3 English and French orthographic processing. Study 3 showed that children made transfer errors when spelling in English and French. Overall, the current research highlights the importance of orthographic processing and spelling in French immersion children.

With the introduction of a computational design environment, architectural design and representation processes witness a radical transition from the analog to the digital medium, that may be asserted to initiate a paradigm shift affecting both. In this new design environment, extending the instrumentality of computer-aided processes to the generative use of computational tools and procedures, architectural design and representation processes are subject to mutual alterations, challenged with computational design strategies such as parametric design, associative geometry, generative diagrams, scripting and algorithmic procedures. Computational design approaches proceed with the definition of a mathematical model based on the numeric definition of relations and equations, substituting the conventional visual/orthographic representation. This thesis aims to inquire the outcomes of assuming non-visual/numeric representation as a strategy in the therefore redefined process of architectural representation. Through the generative logic embedded in the mathematical model, attention shifts from form to process. This emphasis on process rather than the formal outcome, aids the experimentation of a desired indeterminacy, coming forth in dynamic, non-linear design processes, blurring the boundaries between different phases of design, and of representation. The intentional search for a generative design process liberated from the visual/formal determinism of the conventional design approach, initiates a conscious delay in the definition of form, and thus of visual representation. The thesis discusses the potentials presented by generative mathematical models defined with the aid of computational design tools, and the ways in which they alter and inform architectural design and representation.

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