This paper examines whether or not Chinese native speakers (CNSs) have difficulties in understanding English counterfactuals, whether CNSs have counterfactual reasoning problems in their own language, what the causes ...This paper examines whether or not Chinese native speakers (CNSs) have difficulties in understanding English counterfactuals, whether CNSs have counterfactual reasoning problems in their own language, what the causes of these difficulties may be, and the problems in teaching English subjunctives. It also proposes on how to improve CNSs’ English counterfactual comprehension.展开更多
Grounded upon the interactive relationship between intercultural communication(IC)and foreign language education and the recent gradual salience of communicative language teaching(CLT)in foreign language grammar learn...Grounded upon the interactive relationship between intercultural communication(IC)and foreign language education and the recent gradual salience of communicative language teaching(CLT)in foreign language grammar learning sectors,the study reported in this paper deals with the issue of teaching Korean grammar to non-native speakers in terms of teaching Korean as a foreign language(TKFL).This paper attempts to examine and analyze several Korean language textbooks prepared for foreign learners of Korean,which is used overseas,especially in Hong Kong(HK).It is also attempted to evaluate the textbooks in terms of CLT and communicative competence.By doing so,we can further understand the methods of Korean grammar instruction provided to foreigners as a second language or a foreign language.展开更多
The paper concerns the issue of ELF （English as a lingua franca） in the European and Asian context. The authors start from a brief conceptual perspective to shed light on salient aspects related to ELF. Then, this p...The paper concerns the issue of ELF （English as a lingua franca） in the European and Asian context. The authors start from a brief conceptual perspective to shed light on salient aspects related to ELF. Then, this paper discusses the study investigating the interactions among NNS （non-native speakers） of English in the naturalistic settings, namely in Zhangjiajie （China）, Masouri （Kalymnos/Greece）, and Unterwasser （Switzerland）. The main objective of the research based on the qualitative methodology was to analyze the ELF interactions from the linguistic point of view focusing on lexicogrammar and pragmatic features. The secondary objective was to establish whether the identified ELF features contributed to communication intelligibility. The obtained results indicated a few significant similarities with the Seidlhofer＇s list of the ELT characteristics. Furthermore, it was established in the study that the ELF features did not interfere with effective communication between interlocutors展开更多
The study attempts to explore native and non-native English speakers’attitudes towards accents and pronunciation-related issues.The sample group surveyed is composed of non-native English speakers,specifically,Italia...The study attempts to explore native and non-native English speakers’attitudes towards accents and pronunciation-related issues.The sample group surveyed is composed of non-native English speakers,specifically,Italian students studying at the University of Calabria(Italy)and native English speakers from Alberta University(Canada)and Florida Atlantic University(USA).An online link to a questionnaire was sent via email to all participants and was used as a research instrument to collect quantitative data.The research questions will investigate learners’attitudes in relation to the following aspects:accent and identity,beliefs about native/non-native accents,impact of pronunciation on communication,and learners’expectations towards pronunciation teaching.Firstly,mean scores in relation to the aforementioned aspects will be examined.Secondly,differences between native/non-native speakers’responses will be statistically analysed.Thirdly,non-native learners’responses will be correlated with their proficiency level in English to identify the extent to which language competence may affect learners’attitudes.The study aims to gain useful insights that may hopefully raise students and teachers’awareness of what models we expect learners to imitate and attain in the English language classroom,how appropriate and relevant these may be especially in the globalized English world where non-native speakers will increasingly use English in a diversity of forms to achieve their communicative goals.The preliminary results will be presented and pedagogical considerations suggested.展开更多
The intelligibility of Thai speakers’English pronunciation from Chinese listeners’perspectives have not been analyzed deeply in current researches.As is known to all,the interconnection between China and Thailand is...The intelligibility of Thai speakers’English pronunciation from Chinese listeners’perspectives have not been analyzed deeply in current researches.As is known to all,the interconnection between China and Thailand is greatly developed with the sup⁃port of‘One Belt and One Road initiative’.However,it is inevitable for non-native English speakers to encounter some pronuncia⁃tion problems,which would affect them to communicate with each other.As for Chinese English learners,Thai accent to some ex⁃tent would be a great challenge during the conversation with Thai speakers.In order to promote a better communication,it is neces⁃sary to analyze the origin of Thai speakers’English pronunciation problems.Therefore,this research based on the previous studies to categorize the common pronunciation problems among Thai speakers.However,there are numerous English learners in Thailand that have various language proficiency.In this respect,two Thai speakers with different IELTS scores have been selected for com⁃parison,and six postgraduate students in the Education University of Hong Kong are invited to serve as a listener.As a result,this research will base on the listeners’feedback to highlight some suggestions to enhance the intelligibility of Thai speakers’pronun⁃ciation.展开更多
This study examined the NNSs' ability of modifying their interlanguage utterances in modified comprehensible output to give response to other-initiation and self-initiation,which was studied in both NS-NNS and NNS...This study examined the NNSs' ability of modifying their interlanguage utterances in modified comprehensible output to give response to other-initiation and self-initiation,which was studied in both NS-NNS and NNS-NNS interactions.It was the qualitative study by using two different tasks which were picture-dictation task and opinion-exchange task to collect the data.There were 32 participants whose age ranged of 22 to 37.The author proposed two hypotheses based on his expectation that NNS-NNS interactions would provide more opportunities for NNS participants to give comprehensible output for other-initiated clarification requests and self-initiated clarification attempts than NS-NNS interactions.The author was good at using numbers to illustrate and describe the data in his writing.展开更多
An important concern with the deaf community is inability to hear partially or totally. This may affect the development of language during childhood, which limits their habitual existence. Consequently to facilitate s...An important concern with the deaf community is inability to hear partially or totally. This may affect the development of language during childhood, which limits their habitual existence. Consequently to facilitate such deaf speakers through certain assistive mechanism, an effort has been taken to understand the acoustic characteristics of deaf speakers by evaluating the territory specific utterances. Speech signals are acquired from 32 normal and 32 deaf speakers by uttering ten Indian native Tamil language words. The speech parameters like pitch, formants, signal-to-noise ratio, energy, intensity, jitter and shimmer are analyzed. From the results, it has been observed that the acoustic characteristics of deaf speakers differ significantly and their quantitative measure dominates the normal speakers for the words considered. The study also reveals that the informative part of speech in a normal and deaf speakers may be identified using the acoustic features. In addition, these attributes may be used for differential corrections of deaf speaker’s speech signal and facilitate listeners to understand the conveyed information.展开更多
Daisy Xiao,51,felt her hands trembling as she stood at her first Toastmasters Club meeting.Well aware of her shortcomings in English,it was why she thought she'd check outtheclub.For decades,Texas Dragon Toastmast...Daisy Xiao,51,felt her hands trembling as she stood at her first Toastmasters Club meeting.Well aware of her shortcomings in English,it was why she thought she'd check outtheclub.For decades,Texas Dragon Toastmasters Club,part of Toastmasters International,has helped people like Xiao improve their English and public speaking.The weekly meetings are more than just a place to improve your English and speech,however.They are also a place for sharing;a place where they can tell stories of personal struggles and improvement and let sometimes-stifled personalities shine through.展开更多
Flexible loudspeakers that can be easily distributed in the surrounding environment are essential for creating immersive experiences in human-machine interactions,as these devices can transmit acoustic information con...Flexible loudspeakers that can be easily distributed in the surrounding environment are essential for creating immersive experiences in human-machine interactions,as these devices can transmit acoustic information conveniently.In this paper,we present a flexible electret loudspeaker that offers numerous benefits,such as eco-friendly,easy fabrication,flexible customization,strong durability,and excellent outputs.The output sound pressure level(SPL)and frequency response characteristic are optimized according to the simulation and experiment results.At a distance of 50 meters,a large-size loudspeaker(50×40 cm^(2))can produce an average SPL of 60 dB(normal SPL range of human voices is between 40 to 70 dB).The frequency response of our loudspeaker is high and relatively consistent up to 15 kHz,which covers the normal frequency range of human voices(<8 kHz).As demonstrated in this work,our loudspeakers can be used for scalable applications,such as being integrated with curtains or hung up like posters,offering a promising and practical solution for creating better human-machine interaction experiences.展开更多
Integrating letters and sounds are essential for successful reading in alphabetic languages. It remains unclear if native speakers of non-alphabetic languages integrate letters and sounds in reading an alphabetic lan-...Integrating letters and sounds are essential for successful reading in alphabetic languages. It remains unclear if native speakers of non-alphabetic languages integrate letters and sounds in reading an alphabetic lan- guage in the same way as native alphabetic readers do. Chinese is a morpho-syllabic system （each character cor- responds to one syllable） and contrasts sharply with alphabetic languages such as English. Several fMRI studies have shown that native Chinese speakers apply their native language system to read English words. By using the cross- modal mismatch negativity （MMN） paradigm, we directly investigated letter-sound integration for reading in English among native Chinese speakers. To investigate the effect of native language background on letter-sound integration in second language reading, a group of native Korean English learners served as a comparison group. We compared MMN responses between an auditory only condition （only vowels presented） and two audiovisual conditions （AV0, vowel presented synchronously with the corresponding letter; AV200, the letter presented 200 ms before the corresponding vowel） for both native Chinese and native Korean speakers. Native Chinese speakers demonstrated significantly attenuated MMN amplitudes in audiovisual conditions compared with the auditory only condition, regardless of their phonological decoding speed. In con- trast, native Korean speakers showed amplified amplitude MMN in AV200 compared with that in the auditory only condition. The results suggest that native language may shape the brain responses of second language learners to reading a second language in the early stages. Native non- alphabetic language speakers may be unable to use visual information to facilitate their phonological processing in the early stage while naT：lye alphabetic language speakers are capable of integrating letter sounds automatically.展开更多
On December 9,2023,I was privileged to be honored and participate in the Dr.Chi Chao Chan Symposium on Global Collaboration of Eye Research as the Global Eye Genetic Consortium(GEGC)session,which was held in the 16th ...On December 9,2023,I was privileged to be honored and participate in the Dr.Chi Chao Chan Symposium on Global Collaboration of Eye Research as the Global Eye Genetic Consortium(GEGC)session,which was held in the 16th Congress of the Asia-Pacific Vitreo-Retina Society(APVRS)in Hong Kong.Along with my talk on“Global collaboration of eye research:personal experience”,other prominent international speakers provided their own perspectives on opportunities for networking,collaboration,and exchange of ideas with global leaders and experts in ophthalmic practice,research,and education.展开更多
This week promises a rich variety of thought-provoking sessions,covering emerging trends,global challenges and future opportunities.Inspiring speakers from across business,government,public,and private sectors spark p...This week promises a rich variety of thought-provoking sessions,covering emerging trends,global challenges and future opportunities.Inspiring speakers from across business,government,public,and private sectors spark passionate discussions and debates.I hope that like me,you are also excited at the prospect of encountering fresh ideas,opinions,and perspectives,and are ready to consider the role of standards in achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.展开更多
Chinese Telecom Companies Eye African Market Chinese telecom companies,showcasing innovative technologies and products at the Africa Tech Festival 2024 in South Africa,have set ambitious goals to expand their footprin...Chinese Telecom Companies Eye African Market Chinese telecom companies,showcasing innovative technologies and products at the Africa Tech Festival 2024 in South Africa,have set ambitious goals to expand their footprint in the rapidly growing African market.Held from 12 to 14 November at the Cape Town International Convention Centre in the country’s legislative capital,the festival-Africa’s largest and most influential telecom and technology event-attracted 15,000 attendees,over 300 exhibitors,and 450 speakers.展开更多
1 Quechua is a language family with nine variants(变体),numbering more than 10 million speakers in some countries:Chile,Ecuador,Bolivia,Colombia,Argentina and Peru.To understand the origins of the Quechua language,we ...1 Quechua is a language family with nine variants(变体),numbering more than 10 million speakers in some countries:Chile,Ecuador,Bolivia,Colombia,Argentina and Peru.To understand the origins of the Quechua language,we have to go back in time to a territory currently in Peru and Ecuador known as Chinchay Suyu.展开更多
Adversarial attacks have been posing significant security concerns to intelligent systems,such as speaker recognition systems(SRSs).Most attacks assume the neural networks in the systems are known beforehand,while bla...Adversarial attacks have been posing significant security concerns to intelligent systems,such as speaker recognition systems(SRSs).Most attacks assume the neural networks in the systems are known beforehand,while black-box attacks are proposed without such information to meet practical situations.Existing black-box attacks improve trans-ferability by integrating multiple models or training on multiple datasets,but these methods are costly.Motivated by the optimisation strategy with spatial information on the perturbed paths and samples,we propose a Dual Spatial Momentum Iterative Fast Gradient Sign Method(DS-MI-FGSM)to improve the transferability of black-box at-tacks against SRSs.Specifically,DS-MI-FGSM only needs a single data and one model as the input;by extending to the data and model neighbouring spaces,it generates adver-sarial examples against the integrating models.To reduce the risk of overfitting,DS-MI-FGSM also introduces gradient masking to improve transferability.The authors conduct extensive experiments regarding the speaker recognition task,and the results demonstrate the effectiveness of their method,which can achieve up to 92%attack success rate on the victim model in black-box scenarios with only one known model.展开更多
This paper investigates the impacts of intercultural experience through English as a lingua franca （ELF） on language attitudes, with the focus on Chinese speakers＇ narratives of ELF experience in relation to their ...This paper investigates the impacts of intercultural experience through English as a lingua franca （ELF） on language attitudes, with the focus on Chinese speakers＇ narratives of ELF experience in relation to their views of Englishes. The data retrieved through 769 questionnaires and 35 interviews with Chinese users of English revealed the impacts in four aspects. First, the lack of ELF experience helps to maintain the assumption that conformity to native English is necessary for interactants to understand each other. Second, ELF experience triggers the question about the exclusive connection between nativeness and intelligibility. Third, it raises challenges to the exclusive relevance of native English for successful intercultural communication. Fourth, it helps to develop an awareness of intercultural communication strategies as important for communicative effectiveness in the context of the diversity of English. Attitudes revealed in the four aspects all point to a concern with the issue what is intelligible English. This paper thus discusses intelligibility in relation to （non-） nativeness and the role of intercultural experience in making sense of the issue of intelligibility, which leads to the exploration of pedagogical implications of this study.展开更多
Tariq RahmanTariq Rahman earned his Ph.D in English from theUniversity of Sheffield in England.He did his post-doctoral research as a Fulbright scholar(1995-96)in the USA.He is presently National DistinguishedProfesso...Tariq RahmanTariq Rahman earned his Ph.D in English from theUniversity of Sheffield in England.He did his post-doctoral research as a Fulbright scholar(1995-96)in the USA.He is presently National DistinguishedProfessor at the Quaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad,Pakistan.Dr.Rahman is a highly published scholar havingmore than eighty research papers in academic journals and six booksto his credit.He is considered an authority on the politics and historyof languages and language policy in Pakistan.His book Language andPolitics in Pakistan(Oxford University Press,1996)is regarded as aclassic in the field and has been reprinted four times.His latest bookDenizens of Alien Worhls(Oxford University Press,2004)is on展开更多
文摘This paper examines whether or not Chinese native speakers (CNSs) have difficulties in understanding English counterfactuals, whether CNSs have counterfactual reasoning problems in their own language, what the causes of these difficulties may be, and the problems in teaching English subjunctives. It also proposes on how to improve CNSs’ English counterfactual comprehension.
文摘Grounded upon the interactive relationship between intercultural communication(IC)and foreign language education and the recent gradual salience of communicative language teaching(CLT)in foreign language grammar learning sectors,the study reported in this paper deals with the issue of teaching Korean grammar to non-native speakers in terms of teaching Korean as a foreign language(TKFL).This paper attempts to examine and analyze several Korean language textbooks prepared for foreign learners of Korean,which is used overseas,especially in Hong Kong(HK).It is also attempted to evaluate the textbooks in terms of CLT and communicative competence.By doing so,we can further understand the methods of Korean grammar instruction provided to foreigners as a second language or a foreign language.
文摘The paper concerns the issue of ELF （English as a lingua franca） in the European and Asian context. The authors start from a brief conceptual perspective to shed light on salient aspects related to ELF. Then, this paper discusses the study investigating the interactions among NNS （non-native speakers） of English in the naturalistic settings, namely in Zhangjiajie （China）, Masouri （Kalymnos/Greece）, and Unterwasser （Switzerland）. The main objective of the research based on the qualitative methodology was to analyze the ELF interactions from the linguistic point of view focusing on lexicogrammar and pragmatic features. The secondary objective was to establish whether the identified ELF features contributed to communication intelligibility. The obtained results indicated a few significant similarities with the Seidlhofer＇s list of the ELT characteristics. Furthermore, it was established in the study that the ELF features did not interfere with effective communication between interlocutors
文摘The study attempts to explore native and non-native English speakers’attitudes towards accents and pronunciation-related issues.The sample group surveyed is composed of non-native English speakers,specifically,Italian students studying at the University of Calabria(Italy)and native English speakers from Alberta University(Canada)and Florida Atlantic University(USA).An online link to a questionnaire was sent via email to all participants and was used as a research instrument to collect quantitative data.The research questions will investigate learners’attitudes in relation to the following aspects:accent and identity,beliefs about native/non-native accents,impact of pronunciation on communication,and learners’expectations towards pronunciation teaching.Firstly,mean scores in relation to the aforementioned aspects will be examined.Secondly,differences between native/non-native speakers’responses will be statistically analysed.Thirdly,non-native learners’responses will be correlated with their proficiency level in English to identify the extent to which language competence may affect learners’attitudes.The study aims to gain useful insights that may hopefully raise students and teachers’awareness of what models we expect learners to imitate and attain in the English language classroom,how appropriate and relevant these may be especially in the globalized English world where non-native speakers will increasingly use English in a diversity of forms to achieve their communicative goals.The preliminary results will be presented and pedagogical considerations suggested.
文摘The intelligibility of Thai speakers’English pronunciation from Chinese listeners’perspectives have not been analyzed deeply in current researches.As is known to all,the interconnection between China and Thailand is greatly developed with the sup⁃port of‘One Belt and One Road initiative’.However,it is inevitable for non-native English speakers to encounter some pronuncia⁃tion problems,which would affect them to communicate with each other.As for Chinese English learners,Thai accent to some ex⁃tent would be a great challenge during the conversation with Thai speakers.In order to promote a better communication,it is neces⁃sary to analyze the origin of Thai speakers’English pronunciation problems.Therefore,this research based on the previous studies to categorize the common pronunciation problems among Thai speakers.However,there are numerous English learners in Thailand that have various language proficiency.In this respect,two Thai speakers with different IELTS scores have been selected for com⁃parison,and six postgraduate students in the Education University of Hong Kong are invited to serve as a listener.As a result,this research will base on the listeners’feedback to highlight some suggestions to enhance the intelligibility of Thai speakers’pronun⁃ciation.
文摘This study examined the NNSs' ability of modifying their interlanguage utterances in modified comprehensible output to give response to other-initiation and self-initiation,which was studied in both NS-NNS and NNS-NNS interactions.It was the qualitative study by using two different tasks which were picture-dictation task and opinion-exchange task to collect the data.There were 32 participants whose age ranged of 22 to 37.The author proposed two hypotheses based on his expectation that NNS-NNS interactions would provide more opportunities for NNS participants to give comprehensible output for other-initiated clarification requests and self-initiated clarification attempts than NS-NNS interactions.The author was good at using numbers to illustrate and describe the data in his writing.
文摘An important concern with the deaf community is inability to hear partially or totally. This may affect the development of language during childhood, which limits their habitual existence. Consequently to facilitate such deaf speakers through certain assistive mechanism, an effort has been taken to understand the acoustic characteristics of deaf speakers by evaluating the territory specific utterances. Speech signals are acquired from 32 normal and 32 deaf speakers by uttering ten Indian native Tamil language words. The speech parameters like pitch, formants, signal-to-noise ratio, energy, intensity, jitter and shimmer are analyzed. From the results, it has been observed that the acoustic characteristics of deaf speakers differ significantly and their quantitative measure dominates the normal speakers for the words considered. The study also reveals that the informative part of speech in a normal and deaf speakers may be identified using the acoustic features. In addition, these attributes may be used for differential corrections of deaf speaker’s speech signal and facilitate listeners to understand the conveyed information.
文摘Daisy Xiao,51,felt her hands trembling as she stood at her first Toastmasters Club meeting.Well aware of her shortcomings in English,it was why she thought she'd check outtheclub.For decades,Texas Dragon Toastmasters Club,part of Toastmasters International,has helped people like Xiao improve their English and public speaking.The weekly meetings are more than just a place to improve your English and speech,however.They are also a place for sharing;a place where they can tell stories of personal struggles and improvement and let sometimes-stifled personalities shine through.
基金J.Z.acknowledges the funding support from the Science and Technology Development Fund,Macao SAR(FDCT)(File No.0059/2021/AFJ,0040/2021/A1)University of Macao(MYRG-GRG2023-00041-FST-UMDF,MYRG2022-00003-FST,SRG2021-00001-FST)+2 种基金Y.M.acknowledges the funding support from Hong Kong Research Grants Council(25228722)I.M.L.acknowledges the Start-up Research Grant from the University of Macao(SRG2022-00038-FST)the funding support from FDCT(File No.0119/2022/A3).
文摘Flexible loudspeakers that can be easily distributed in the surrounding environment are essential for creating immersive experiences in human-machine interactions,as these devices can transmit acoustic information conveniently.In this paper,we present a flexible electret loudspeaker that offers numerous benefits,such as eco-friendly,easy fabrication,flexible customization,strong durability,and excellent outputs.The output sound pressure level(SPL)and frequency response characteristic are optimized according to the simulation and experiment results.At a distance of 50 meters,a large-size loudspeaker(50×40 cm^(2))can produce an average SPL of 60 dB(normal SPL range of human voices is between 40 to 70 dB).The frequency response of our loudspeaker is high and relatively consistent up to 15 kHz,which covers the normal frequency range of human voices(<8 kHz).As demonstrated in this work,our loudspeakers can be used for scalable applications,such as being integrated with curtains or hung up like posters,offering a promising and practical solution for creating better human-machine interaction experiences.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(31221003)National Basic Research Program of China(2014CB846103)
文摘Integrating letters and sounds are essential for successful reading in alphabetic languages. It remains unclear if native speakers of non-alphabetic languages integrate letters and sounds in reading an alphabetic lan- guage in the same way as native alphabetic readers do. Chinese is a morpho-syllabic system （each character cor- responds to one syllable） and contrasts sharply with alphabetic languages such as English. Several fMRI studies have shown that native Chinese speakers apply their native language system to read English words. By using the cross- modal mismatch negativity （MMN） paradigm, we directly investigated letter-sound integration for reading in English among native Chinese speakers. To investigate the effect of native language background on letter-sound integration in second language reading, a group of native Korean English learners served as a comparison group. We compared MMN responses between an auditory only condition （only vowels presented） and two audiovisual conditions （AV0, vowel presented synchronously with the corresponding letter; AV200, the letter presented 200 ms before the corresponding vowel） for both native Chinese and native Korean speakers. Native Chinese speakers demonstrated significantly attenuated MMN amplitudes in audiovisual conditions compared with the auditory only condition, regardless of their phonological decoding speed. In con- trast, native Korean speakers showed amplified amplitude MMN in AV200 compared with that in the auditory only condition. The results suggest that native language may shape the brain responses of second language learners to reading a second language in the early stages. Native non- alphabetic language speakers may be unable to use visual information to facilitate their phonological processing in the early stage while naT：lye alphabetic language speakers are capable of integrating letter sounds automatically.
文摘On December 9,2023,I was privileged to be honored and participate in the Dr.Chi Chao Chan Symposium on Global Collaboration of Eye Research as the Global Eye Genetic Consortium(GEGC)session,which was held in the 16th Congress of the Asia-Pacific Vitreo-Retina Society(APVRS)in Hong Kong.Along with my talk on“Global collaboration of eye research:personal experience”,other prominent international speakers provided their own perspectives on opportunities for networking,collaboration,and exchange of ideas with global leaders and experts in ophthalmic practice,research,and education.
文摘This week promises a rich variety of thought-provoking sessions,covering emerging trends,global challenges and future opportunities.Inspiring speakers from across business,government,public,and private sectors spark passionate discussions and debates.I hope that like me,you are also excited at the prospect of encountering fresh ideas,opinions,and perspectives,and are ready to consider the role of standards in achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
文摘Chinese Telecom Companies Eye African Market Chinese telecom companies,showcasing innovative technologies and products at the Africa Tech Festival 2024 in South Africa,have set ambitious goals to expand their footprint in the rapidly growing African market.Held from 12 to 14 November at the Cape Town International Convention Centre in the country’s legislative capital,the festival-Africa’s largest and most influential telecom and technology event-attracted 15,000 attendees,over 300 exhibitors,and 450 speakers.
文摘1 Quechua is a language family with nine variants(变体),numbering more than 10 million speakers in some countries:Chile,Ecuador,Bolivia,Colombia,Argentina and Peru.To understand the origins of the Quechua language,we have to go back in time to a territory currently in Peru and Ecuador known as Chinchay Suyu.
基金The Major Key Project of PCL,Grant/Award Number:PCL2022A03National Natural Science Foundation of China,Grant/Award Numbers:61976064,62372137Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China,Grant/Award Number:LZ22F020007。
文摘Adversarial attacks have been posing significant security concerns to intelligent systems,such as speaker recognition systems(SRSs).Most attacks assume the neural networks in the systems are known beforehand,while black-box attacks are proposed without such information to meet practical situations.Existing black-box attacks improve trans-ferability by integrating multiple models or training on multiple datasets,but these methods are costly.Motivated by the optimisation strategy with spatial information on the perturbed paths and samples,we propose a Dual Spatial Momentum Iterative Fast Gradient Sign Method(DS-MI-FGSM)to improve the transferability of black-box at-tacks against SRSs.Specifically,DS-MI-FGSM only needs a single data and one model as the input;by extending to the data and model neighbouring spaces,it generates adver-sarial examples against the integrating models.To reduce the risk of overfitting,DS-MI-FGSM also introduces gradient masking to improve transferability.The authors conduct extensive experiments regarding the speaker recognition task,and the results demonstrate the effectiveness of their method,which can achieve up to 92%attack success rate on the victim model in black-box scenarios with only one known model.
文摘This paper investigates the impacts of intercultural experience through English as a lingua franca （ELF） on language attitudes, with the focus on Chinese speakers＇ narratives of ELF experience in relation to their views of Englishes. The data retrieved through 769 questionnaires and 35 interviews with Chinese users of English revealed the impacts in four aspects. First, the lack of ELF experience helps to maintain the assumption that conformity to native English is necessary for interactants to understand each other. Second, ELF experience triggers the question about the exclusive connection between nativeness and intelligibility. Third, it raises challenges to the exclusive relevance of native English for successful intercultural communication. Fourth, it helps to develop an awareness of intercultural communication strategies as important for communicative effectiveness in the context of the diversity of English. Attitudes revealed in the four aspects all point to a concern with the issue what is intelligible English. This paper thus discusses intelligibility in relation to （non-） nativeness and the role of intercultural experience in making sense of the issue of intelligibility, which leads to the exploration of pedagogical implications of this study.
文摘Tariq RahmanTariq Rahman earned his Ph.D in English from theUniversity of Sheffield in England.He did his post-doctoral research as a Fulbright scholar(1995-96)in the USA.He is presently National DistinguishedProfessor at the Quaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad,Pakistan.Dr.Rahman is a highly published scholar havingmore than eighty research papers in academic journals and six booksto his credit.He is considered an authority on the politics and historyof languages and language policy in Pakistan.His book Language andPolitics in Pakistan(Oxford University Press,1996)is regarded as aclassic in the field and has been reprinted four times.His latest bookDenizens of Alien Worhls(Oxford University Press,2004)is on
