Playing video games is an activity that takes up an increasing amount of children’s and adolescent’s spare time. While some previous studies have highlighted the negative aspects of video games, little research has been carried out on the linguistic learning opportunities that video games present. This study primarily investigates if Swedish second language learners of English can increase their vocabulary proficiency in English with the use of video games. In order to answer the research questions, two quantitative data elicitation methods are used: a questionnaire which aims to gather attitudinal and behavioral data, and a Vocabulary Levels Test which elicits data about the participants’ receptive vocabulary proficiency. The participants consist of 25 students at an upper secondary school in Stockholm. The results show that participants who played video games scored higher on the Vocabulary Levels Test, indicating a higher receptive vocabulary proficiency. Furthermore, the results show that participants who played moderate to frequent amounts of time performed better in the Vocabulary Levels Test than infrequent players. The results also show that video games emphasizing co-operation and communication are preferable to use for vocabulary acquisition. Additionally, the study discusses if video games could be integrated into the Swedish upper secondary school system.

This paper is dedicated to the investigation of receptive transfer with a special focus on the comprehension of spoken utterances in nonfamiliar Slavic languages. It investigates the possibility of applying the concept of passive multilingualism to the field of Slavic languages. It is often assumed that closely related languages provide ideal conditions for mutual intelligibility. By means of positive transfer from a previously known language of the group, one can achieve a certain degree of passive knowledge in related languages, even if these have never been learned consciously. In this paper, however, it will be shown that spontaneous intercomprehensibility of spoken utterances within the group of Slavic languages is rather restricted. After a short outline of the peculiarities of receptive and auditive transfer phenomena, as opposed to productive and written transfer, the paper provides empirical evidence for the failure of comprehension at different stages of the perception process. / Series: WU Online Papers in International Business Communication / Series One: Intercultural Communication and Language Learning

Research has found that children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) show significant deficits in receptive language skills (Wiesmer, Lord, & Esler, 2010). One of the primary goals of applied behavior analytic intervention is to improve the communication skills of children with autism by teaching receptive discriminations. Both receptive discriminations and receptive language entail matching spoken words with corresponding objects, symbols (e.g., pictures or words), actions, people, and so on (Green, 2001). In order to develop receptive language skills, children with autism often undergo discrimination training within the context of discrete trial training. This training entails teaching the learner how to respond differentially to different stimuli (Green, 2001). It is through discrimination training that individuals with autism learn and develop language (Lovaas, 2003). The present study compares three procedures for teaching receptive discriminations: (1) simple/conditional (Procedure A), (2) conditional only (Procedure B), and (3) conditional discrimination of two target cards (Procedure C). Six children, ranging in age from 2-years-old to 5-years-old, with an autism diagnosis were taught how to receptively discriminate nine sets of stimuli. Results suggest that the extra training steps included in the simple/conditional and conditional only procedures may not be necessary to teach children with autism how to receptively discriminate. For all participants, Procedure C appeared to be the most efficient and effective procedure for teaching young children with autism receptive discriminations. Response maintenance and generalization probes conducted one-month following the end of training indicate that even though Procedure C resulted in less training sessions overall, no one procedure resulted in better maintenance and generalization than the others. In other words, more training sessions, as evident with the simple/conditional and conditional only procedures, did not facilitate participants’ ability to accurately respond or generalize one-month following training. The present study contributes to the literature on what is the most efficient and effective way to teach receptive discrimination during discrete trial training to children with ASD. These findings are critical as research shows that receptive language skills are predictive of better outcomes and adaptive behaviors in the future.

Comprehension of spoken language skills are often taken for granted in research concerning early childhood language acquisition in typically developing children. While the onset of early word comprehension arguably precedes word production, traditional research has focused on language production rather than comprehension. A similar trend of focussing on expression is evident in the field of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC). Traditionally, the role of AAC systems for individuals with little or no functional speech (LNFS) has been as an output mode for expressing messages. While this is an essential role and final outcome of AAC intervention strategies, the role of listeners is equally important. The comprehension of spoken language provides an essential foundation upon which language production competence can be built. AAC users' ability to comprehend spoken language is varied from age equivalent comprehension of spoken language to minimal comprehension. Some AAC users comprehend spoken language and therefore come to the AAC acquisition task with an established knowledge of spoken language. Others who experience difficulty comprehending spoken language require AAC as both input (receptive) and output (expressive) mode. Graphic symbols play a role in facilitating comprehension of messages either through facilitating the comprehension of the spoken language or the AAC symbols. The use of augmented input strategies like aided language stimulation is one type of instructional technique used in teaching graphic symbols to AAC users. Aided language stimulation refers to a technique in which a facilitator or communication partner combines the use of AAC with natural speech through simultaneously pointing to graphic symbols and speaking. The aim of this study was therefore to determine the impact of a three week long aided language stimulation program on the receptive language skills of children with LNFS. Four children participated in this multiple probe study. The aided language stimulation programme comprised three activities viz. arts and crafts, food preparation and story time activity. Each activity was repeated over duration of five subsequent sessions. Eight target vocabulary items were taught within each activity. The acquisition of all 24 target items were probed throughout the duration of the three week intervention period. The results indicated that all the participants acquired the target receptive vocabulary items. There were, however, variations in terms of the rate of acquisition. There was no statistically significant improvement in the general receptive language abilities of the participants. / Thesis (PhD (Augmentative and Alternative Communication))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Centre for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (CAAC) / unrestricted

TITLE: The Lexicon Evaluation of Children before their Enrolling in School AUTHOR: Lucie Durdilová DEPARTMENT: Special Education SUPERVISOR: Doc. PaedDr. Jiřina Klenková, Ph.D. Abstract: The submitted thesis is focused on evaluation of lexical - semantic levels of language in children in late pre-school age, it specifically follows up their achievement in parts of receptive and expressive vocabulary. The measurement is implemented through the diagnostic test method which was compiled on the basis of foreign inspiration drawn especially from anglophone linguistic ambience. The lexicon is measured in intact population and in children with specific language impairment with the aim to compare obtained data. Developed findings should help to increase efficiency of logopedic intervention in content part of the speech. The project is based on the fact that currently there are no useful update tests available in the Czech Republic for global evaluation of lexicon. Keywords: receptive vocabulary, expressive vocabulary, diagnostic test, pre-school age

Globalisation and technological advancements actualize the necessity for comprehensive English language proficiency. This highlights the importance of an effective English as a foreign language (EFL) education in order to meet this demand. Despite the broad scope of research in multimodal methods as an aid in a reading comprehension context, there is a significant gap, which is particularly evident in addressing students in grades four to six and especially from a Scandinavian perspective. This study employed a quasi-experimental design to investigate the impact of integrating dual multimodal methods (visual aid + text) on the acquisition of receptive vocabulary and reading comprehension proficiency of EFL students in Swedish compulsory school year six. The study also aimed to explore which proficiency levels among students benefit from the incorporation of visual aids. Forty-eight participants from two urban schools in Stockholm, Sweden, were divided into an intervention group (visuals + text) and a control group (text) before subsequently undergoing a pretest, posttest, and delayed posttest focused on receptive vocabulary acquisition. A reading comprehension assignment was carried out with the aim of evaluating participants' reading comprehension proficiency. The treatment was completed by the control and intervention group with the difference being that the latter received the assignment with visual aids. The results illustrate that the use of multimodal methods improved participants' reading comprehension proficiency and short-term vocabulary recall. However, in the long term, reliance on visual aids led to a decline in scores, while traditional text-based instruction showed further improvement. The results suggest that less proficient learners were aided to a greater extent by visual aids than highly proficient learners. These results shed light on the benefits and limitations of multimodal methods, emphasising the need for further research to assess their long-term effects and to further decide who they may aid or harm.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

El siguiente documento es la demostración de la elaboración de una estrategia de marketing digital a una micro empresa PYME agencia de viajes enfocada al turismo receptivo con el objetivo desarrollar presencia de marca y aumento de requerimiento de venta para un periodo de un año. El desarrollo de la estrategia digital está enfocado para aun público objetivo específico; y es una estrategia digital porque, en la época actual que se vive, es parte de las herramientas vitales para una empresa con una visión profesional y sostenible. Se hace un estudio de la industria del turismo del Perú con muestras financieras, numéricas, y la concepción de un entendimiento en base a fuerzas y condiciones de la industria; basado en información estadísticas nacional e internacional, noticias y congresos. Luego se estudia el estado actual de la empresa en ejes como capacidades, competencias, debilidades, estrategia, servicio, marketing, y resultados de las ventas. Siguiente, se desarrolla una estrategia digital que empieza por establecer una concepción estratégica de la empresa; continua con la propuesta de valor y servicio basado en la experiencia operativa de la empresa y en los perfiles de mercado de mayor potencial; y sigue la propia estrategia digital y las acciones sobre las herramientas digitales propuestas. Finalmente, se hace una evaluación financiera donde se considera un presupuesto propuesto y las proyecciones de las ventas; donde se concluye que la estrategia elaborada es viable para la empresa para el escenario objetivo de doce meses. / The following document is the demonstration of the development of a digital marketing strategy for a micro company travel agency focused on receptive tourism market with the aim of developing brand presence and increase of sales requirement for a one year period. The development of the digital strategy is focused for a specific target audience; and it is a digital strategy because, in the current age, it is part of the vital tools for a company with a professional and sustainable vision. A study of the tourism industry of Peru is made with financial, numerical samples, and the conception of an understanding based on forces and conditions of the industry; based on national and international statistics information, news and congresses. Then the current state of the company is studied in axes such as skills, competencies, weaknesses, strategy, service, marketing, and sales results. Next, a digital strategy is developed that begins by establishing a strategic conception of the company; continues with the proposal of value and service based on the operational experience of the company and on the market profiles with the greatest potential; and follows the digital strategy itself and the actions on the proposed digital tools. Finally, a financial evaluation is made where a proposed budget and sales projections are considered; where it is concluded that the strategy developed is viable for the company for the twelve month target scenario. / Trabajo de Investigación

No description available.

Este trabalho mostra que a suavização Gaussiana pode exercer outra função além da filtração. Considerando-se imagens binárias, este processo pode funcionar como uma espécie de marcador, que modifica as feições das fronteiras entre duas regiões homogêneas contrastantes. Tais feições são pontos de concavidades, de convexidades ou de bordas em linha reta. Ou seja, toda a informação necessária para se caracterizar a forma bidimensional de uma região. A quantidade de suavização realizada em cada ponto depende da configuração preto/branco que compõe a vizinhança onde este se situa. Isto significa que cada ponto sofre uma quantidade particular de modificação, a qual reflete a interface local entre o objeto e o fundo. Então, para detectar tais feições, basta quantificar a suavização em cada ponto. No entanto, a discriminação pixel a pixel exige que a distribuição Gaussiana apresente boa localização, o que só acontece em escalas muito baixas (σ≅0,5). Assim, propõe-se uma distribuição construída a partir da soma de duas Gaussianas. Uma é bem estreita para garantir a boa localização e a outra possui abertura irrestrita para representar a escala desejada. Para confirmar a propriedade de marcação dessa distribuição, são propostos três detectores de corners de contorno, os quais são aplicados à detecção de pontos dominantes. O primeiro utiliza a entropia de Shannon para quantificar a suavização em cada ponto. O segundo utiliza as probabilidades de objeto e de fundo contidos na vizinhança observada. O terceiro utiliza a diferença entre Gaussianas (DoG) para determinar a quantidade suavizada, porém com a restrição de que uma das versões da imagem tenha suavização desprezível, para garantir a boa localização. Este trabalho se fundamenta na física da luz e na visão biológica. Os ótimos resultados apresentados sugerem que a detecção de curvaturas do sistema visual pode ocorrer na retina. / This work shows that the Gaussian smoothing can have additional function to filtration. Considering the binary images, this process can operate as a kind of marker that changes the features of the boundaries between two contrasting homogeneous regions. These features are points of concavities, convexities or straight edges, which are all the necessary information to characterize the two-dimensional shape of a region. The amount of smoothing performed at each point depends on the black/white configuration that composes the neighborhood where the point is located. This means that each point suffers a particular modification, which reflects the local interface between object and background. Thus, to detect such features, one must quantify the smoothing at each point. However, pixel-wise discrimination requires that the Gaussian distribution does not suffer flattening, which occurs in very low scales (σ≅0.5), only. Thus, it is proposed a distribution built from the sum of two Gaussians. One must be very narrow to ensure good localization, and the other is free to represent the desired scale. To confirm the property of marking, three boundary based corner detectors are proposed, which are applied to the detection of dominant points. The first uses the Shannon\'s entropy to quantify the smoothing at each point. The second uses the probabilities of object and background contained in the local neighborhood. The third uses the difference of Gaussians (DoG) to determine the amount of smoothing. This Work relies on the physics of light and biological vision. The presented results are good enough to suggest that the curvature detection, in visual system, occurs in the retina.