With the increased use of digital materials, undergraduate writers in English as a foreign language (EFL) contexts have become more susceptible to plagiarism. In this study, the researchers designed a blended English writing course with an online writing tutorial system entitled DWright.The study examined the effectiveness of the online writing tool for helping a group of EFL sophomores in Taiwan develop plagiarism avoidance knowledge, paraphrasing skills, and citation abilities. Mixed-method data included pretest, posttest, and delayed test, a feedback sheet, writing assignments, interviews, and a post-course questionnaire, which reported increased awareness on plagiarism avoidance with evidence such as qualitative paraphrasing improvement and positive feedback on the use of DWright for developing plagiarism avoidance knowledge and citation competence. Pedagogical implications for researchers and instructors interested in blending online writing tutorials into their courses for plagiarism avoidance were also discussed.
This study provides a systematic literature review of 45 selected studies into computer‐supported collaborative learning and written communication from 2006 to 2018. A review of the methodologies and findings helps explain the complex issues in this area. The corpus was analyzed qualitatively for statements, and six themes were identified: feedback, engagement, depth of discussion, language development, affective learning, and the role of the instructor. Examples include the best tools and approaches for deeper discussions and feedback, the role of the instructor, and the best practices to facilitate extended task engagement. In addition, quantitative analyses of the results revealed that most collaboration was carried out within education or English language courses, was of a duration of 11 to 20 weeks, and the most frequent sample size was between 20 and 50 students. The findings from this review contribute to our understanding of English language learning behavior, engagement with technology, and the emotional involvement in collaborative writing with technology.
Characteristics of vowel productions of children with cerebral palsy (CP) were investigated with data from two 4-year-old children with CP and two typically-developing (TD) children in Mandarin-learning environment. Clear vowel productions from picture naming and natural conversation in three 50-minute audio recordings of each child were transcribed and analyzed. Seven parameters were examined: vowel duration of /a/, F2 slope in transition of CV sequence, cumulative change of F2 for vowel /a/, degree of nasalization in oral vowel (A1-P1), percent of jitter, percent of shimmer, and the signal to noise ratio (SNR). Major findings are: (1) The CP group showed shorter vowel duration of /a/; (2) TD group has larger F2 slope in CV transition; (3) No obvious differences were found between TD and CP groups in cumulative change of F2 for vowel /a/, degree of nasalization (A1-P1), and voice perturbation (percent of jitter, percent of shimmer, and SNR). Further study with more participants and with careful data selection can verify findings of this study in search for valid parameters to characterize vowel production of children with CP.
Vowel productions of 2 Mandarin-speaking children were audio recorded in their homes with picture naming tasks once every 3 months, from birth to 9 years old. The present study is the ninth year of a longitudinal observation. Major findings in this stage are: 1) The trend of decrease in formant values was continuously observed in the boy subject. As for the girl subject, it is not until nine years old, the obvious decrease in formant values was found, especially in F1; 2) F1 values are more stable than F2 values in both subjects. They appeared to acquire jaw movement sooner than tongue movement; 3) Throughout these 9 years, the variability of F1 is around 200-300Hz, and the variability of F2 is 500-700Hz in both subjects. No trend of decrease was found; 4) The trend of shrinkage in F1-F2 vowel area continues from 7 to 9 years old for the boy subject, but not for the girl subject; 5) There is a clear decline in fundamental frequencies at 8-9 years of age in the boy subject. Longitudinal data of vowel formant values from the same group of subjects provides important references for assessment and treatment of articulation disorders in children.
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