Connectionist Approaches To Clinical Problems in Speech and Language


Book Description

Connectionist accounts of language acquisition, processing, and dissolution proliferate despite attacks from some linguists, cognitive scientists, and engineers. Although the networks of exquisitely interconnected perceptrons postulated by PDP theorists may not be anatomically homologous with actual brain anatomy, a growing body of research suggests that the posited network functions can support many human behaviors. This volume brings together contributors with a variety of backgrounds and perspectives to explore, for the first time, the clinical implications of whole-language connectionist models. Demonstrating that these models are powerful and have explained many phenomena of language acquisition, language therapy, and speech processing, especially at the engineering level, they focus specifically on applications of connectionist theory to delayed language, aphasia, phonological acquisition, and speech perception. Connectionist models, they conclude, offer a new interpretive framework for the discussion of information processing in humans and other animals that will be of great utility to all those who study language and seek to intervene in language disorders.




Handbook of Clinical Linguistics


Book Description

The new edition of the leading reference work on Clinical Linguistics, fully updated with new research and developments in the field The Handbook of Clinical Linguistics, Second Edition provides a timely and authoritative survey of this interdisciplinary field, exploring the application of linguistic theory and method to the study of speech and language disorders. Containing 42 in-depth chapters by an international panel of established and rising scholars, this classic volume addresses a wide range of pathologies while offering valuable insights into key theory and research, multilingual and cross-linguistics factors, analysis and assessment methods, and more. Now in its second edition, The Handbook of Clinical Linguistics features nine entirely new chapters on clinical corpus linguistics, multimodal analysis, cognition and language, the linguistics of sign languages, clinical phonotactics, typical and nontypical phonological development, clinical phonology and phonological assessment, and two chapters on instrumental analysis of voice and speech production. Revised and expanded chapters incorporate new research in clinical linguistics and place greater emphasis on specific speech disorders, connections to literacy, and multilingualism. This invaluable reference works: Reflects the latest developments in new research and data, as well as changing perspectives about the priorities and future of the field Features new and revised chapters throughout, many with new authors or authorial teams Offers well-rounded coverage of the major areas of the speech sciences in the study of communication disorders Discusses how mainstream theories and descriptions of language are influenced by clinical research Building on the success of the first edition, The Handbook of Clinical Linguistics, Second Edition, is an indispensable resource for researchers and advanced students across all areas of speech-language sciences, including speech disorders, speech pathology, speech therapy, communication disorders, cognitive linguistics, and neurolinguistics.




Issues in Applying SLA Theories toward Reflective and Effective Teaching


Book Description

A reflective teacher as a growth-minded person seeks opportunities to continue professional development. Reflection not only ignites a teacher’s desire for improvement, but also inspires continuous learning. Through an accurate grasp of self-assessment, confidence, self-appraisal, a reflective practitioner can plant the seeds of effective teaching. This book aims to guide EFL teachers to teach language reflectively and effectively. It includes two parts, the first focuses on the SLA theories and their impact on language teaching and the second centers on the reflective and effective teaching of language components and skills. The editors hope this book will be helpful to those wishing to become effective teachers since this results in nurturing learners’ cravings to learn in a safe and supportive environment. Contributors are: Maryam Azarnoosh, Anne Burns, Graham V. Crookes, Michael R.W. Dawson, Richard R. Day, Akram Faravani, Dorothy Gillmeister, Christine C. M. Goh, Hamid Reza Kargozari, John M. Levis, John I. Liontas, Shawn Loewen, Parviz Maftoon, Jennifer Majorana, Shannon McCrocklin, Hossein Nassaji, Ulugbek Nurmukhamedov, Luke Plonsky, Nima Shakouri, Jun Tian, Laurens Vandergrift, Constance Weaver, and Mitra Zeraatpishe.




Experience-Based Language Acquisition


Book Description

Almost from the very beginning of the digital age, people have sought better ways to communicate with computers. This research investigates how computers might be enabled to understand natural language in a more humanlike way. Based, in part, on cognitive development in infants, we introduce an open computational framework for visual perception and grounded language acquisition called Experience-Based Language Acquisition (EBLA). EBLA can watch a series of short videos and acquire a simple language of nouns and verbs corresponding to the objects and object-object relations in those videos. Upon acquiring this protolanguage, EBLA can perform basic scene analysis to generate descriptions of novel videos. The general architecture of EBLA is comprised of three stages: vision processing, entity extraction, and lexical resolution. In the vision processing stage, EBLA processes the individual frames in short videos, using a variation of the mean shift analysis image segmentation algorithm to identify and store information about significant objects. In the entity extraction stage, EBLA abstracts information about the significant objects in each video and the relationships among those objects into internal representations called entities. Finally, in the lexical acquisition stage, EBLA extracts the individual lexemes (words) from simple descriptions of each video and attempts to generate entity-lexeme mappings using an inference technique called cross-situational learning. EBLA is not primed with a base lexicon, so it faces the task of bootstrapping its lexicon from scratch.




Language


Book Description

As speakers of different languages interact, language contact will occur. Language contact will necessarily lead to language change for both parties involved in such contact. As languages change, the issue of competence becomes problematic. Who has the right to say what language will be taught in schools, or what kind of language will be published in the press and spoken in the media in a world where languages constantly change? The articles in this collection refer to several language areas in Europe, from the North (Scandinavia), the South (Spain / Balkan), the East (Ukraine / Russia), as well as the Center (Austria / Germany) and includes one contribution on Canada. They present different cases of language competence and assessment, languages in contact in different settings, and language changes which are related to applied linguistics, both from a sociolinguistic and an educational linguistic point of view. (Series: Poetry - Truth - Language / Dichtung - Wahrheit - Sprache - Vol. 11)




Aphasia Rehabilitation: Clinical Challenges


Book Description

Aphasia Rehabilitation: Challenging Clinical Issues focuses on specific aphasia symptoms and clinical issues that present challenges for rehabilitation professionals. These topics are typically not addressed as separate topics, even in clinical texts. This heavily clinical text will also include thorough discussions of theoretical underpinnings. For chapters that focus on specific clinical challenges, practical suggestions to facilitate clinical application and maximize clinical usefulness. This resource integrates theoretical and practical information to aid a clinician in planning treatment for individuals with aphasia.




Handbook of Identity Theory and Research


Book Description

Identity is one of the most extensively studied constructs in the social sciences. Yet, despite the wealth of findings across many disciplines, identity researchers remain divided over such enduring fundamental questions as: What exactly is identity, and how do identity processes function? Do people have a single identity or multiple identities? Is identity individually or collectively oriented? Personally or socially constructed? Stable or constantly in flux? The Handbook of Identity Theory and Research offers the rare opportunity to address the questions and reconcile these seeming contradictions, bringing unity and clarity to a diverse and fragmented literature. This exhaustive reference work emphasizes the depth and complexity of identity processes and domains and presents perspectives from many different theoretical schools and empirical approaches. Contributing authors provide perspectives from psychology (e.g., narrative, social identity theory, neo-Eriksonian) and from other disciplines (e.g., sociology, political science, ethnic studies); and the editors highlight the links between chapters that provide complementary insights on related subjects. In addition to covering identity processes and categories that are well-known to the field, the Handbook tackles many emerging issues, including: - Identity development among adopted persons. - Identity processes in interpersonal relationships. - Effects of globalization on cultural identity. - Transgender experience and identity. - Consumer identity and shopping behavior. - Social identity processes in xenophobia and genocide. The Handbook of Identity Theory and Research lends itself to a wealth of uses by scholars, clinicians, and graduate students across many disciplines, including social, developmental, and child/school psychology; human development and family studies; sociology; cultural anthropology; gender, ethnic, and communication studies; education; and counseling.




Classification of Developmental Language Disorders


Book Description

Chapters written by leading authorities offer current perspectives on the origins and development of language disorders. They address the question: How can the child's linguistic environment be restructured so that children at risk can develop important adaptive skills in the domains of self-care, social interaction, and problem solving? This theory-based, but practical book emphasizes the importance of accurate definitions of subtypes for assessment and intervention. It will be of interest to students, researchers, and practitioners in the field of developmental language disorders.







Aphasia Rehabilitation


Book Description

As a consequence of the disability movement, the thinking generated by the World Health Organization's classification of disability and functioning, and an upturn in concern for the long-term consequences of aphasia, it has become apparent that two distinctive pathways for the treatment of aphasia have emerged over the past decade. The first (and most traditional) involves assessment and management directed toward lessening the effects of the impairment of aphasia, while the second pathway focuses less on specific language than on the psychosocial consequences of aphasia. This unique text specifically contrasts impairment- and consequences-focused treatment with the aim of providing clinicians with a level playing field that permits them to evaluate for themselves the relative contributions that each approach provides, to evaluate their relative strengths and weaknesses, and finally to seek common ground. An opening chapter sets the scene, while the heart of the book, based on real cases, concerns five meticulously described, yet hypothetical individuals with aphasia. In each of the cases, detailed descriptions and assessment results are provided and clinical management plans, representing each approach, are presented internationally by recognized expert clinicians.