Tokyo University of Foreign Studies

Abstract:Truscott [Truscott, J., 1996. The case against grammar correction in L2 writing classes. Language Learning 46, 327–369; Truscott, J., 1999. The case for “the case for grammar correction in L2 writing classes”: a response to Ferris. Journal of Second Language Writing 8, 111–122] laid down the challenge to teacher educators and teachers to justify their faith in written corrective feedback (CF) with hard evidence from studies that have investigated its effects on subsequent writing. The study reported in this article set out to provide evidence that CF is effective in an EFL context. Using a pre-test–immediate post-test–delayed post-test design, it compared the effects of focused and unfocused written CF on the accuracy with which Japanese university students used the English indefinite and definite articles to denote first and anaphoric reference in written narratives. The focused group received correction of just article errors on three written narratives while the unfocused group received correction of article errors alongside corrections of other errors. Both groups gained from pre-test to post-tests on both an error correction test and on a test involving a new piece of narrative writing and also outperformed a control group, which received no correction, on the second post-test. The CF was equally effective for the focused and unfocused groups. This study, together with a few other recent studies, indicates that written CF is effective, at least where English articles are concerned, and thus strengthens the case for teachers providing written CF.

Abstract:Southern and eastern African populations that speak non-Bantu languages with click consonants are known to harbour some of the most ancient genetic lineages in humans, but their relationships are poorly understood. Here, we report data from 23 populations analysed at over half a million single-nucleotide polymorphisms, using a genome-wide array designed for studying human history. The southern African Khoisan fall into two genetic groups, loosely corresponding to the northwestern and southeastern Kalahari, which we show separated within the last 30,000 years. We find that all individuals derive at least a few percent of their genomes from admixture with non-Khoisan populations that began ∼1,200 years ago. In addition, the East African Hadza and Sandawe derive a fraction of their ancestry from admixture with a population related to the Khoisan, supporting the hypothesis of an ancient link between southern and eastern Africa.

Abstract:在本文中,我报告的一项研究的结果that investigated non-native speaker interaction in a three dimensional (3D) virtual world that incorporates avatars and text chat known as Active Worlds. Analysis of the chat transcripts indicated that the 24 intermediate level EFL participants were able to undertake a variety of tasks through target language interaction. Moreover, I found evidence in the corpus that over 3 chat sessions the subjects employed transactional communication strategies (424) and also interactional strategies (382). Further analysis revealed that instances of negotiation of meaning focusing on lexis occurred. However, negotiation was infrequent across the 3 task types administered. Task type appeared to influence the quantity of negotiation, with more negotiation occurring in the decision-making task than in the jigsaw and opinion-exchange tasks. In addition, post-study questionnaires indicated that the avatars enhanced the subjects' sense of telepresence and that the learners...

Abstract:三种类型的韩国年代的喉手势tops, affricates and fricatives were studied by use of a fiberscope. The glottal images were recorded in the form of a 16 mm black and white movie, and the speech signal was simultaneously recorded on magnetic tape. The data were obtained from two native speakers of the Seoul dialect for utterances of the phonological forms /CV/ and /VCV/ in isolation, where C represented one of the consonants /P, p, ph, T, t, th, K, k, kh, C, c, ch, S, sh/ and V the vowel /i/ or /e/. It is concluded that both the forced type and the aspirated type are characterized by some positive inherent laryngeal gestures: for the forced type, these are the completely adducted state of the vocal folds before· the articulatory explosion, stiffening of the vocal folds and their abrupt relaxation near the voice onset, and increasing subglottal pressure and/or lowering of the glottis immediately before the explosion; and for the aspirated type, the positive abduction of the vocal folds and the heightened subglottal pressure. On the contrary, the lax type is characterized by not having any of these positive laryngeal gestures.