Codes and Creativity
Asynchronous Session
Creating a Multinational Perspective in the Language Acquisition Classroom: A Case Study from the Saudi Arabian Drilling Academy View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Carlise Wynne
This paper focuses on the use of a variety of integrated technological platforms including instructional technology as well as artificial intelligence (AI) to foster a multinational perspective among English language learners at the Saudi Arabian Drilling Academy. Given the multinational workforce represented in the Oil and Gas industry within Saudi Arabia, it is imperative that all workers, from the custodial staff to management, understand the differences in cultures represented within the industry. The use of AI technology as well as targeted materials aimed at exposing students to a variety of cultures serves as the framework for not only acquiring English, but understanding nuances in culture that will assist the student in navigating the linguistic and cultural nuances of a multinational workplace. We explore materials designed to help students understand the various cultures represented in the workforce (both technologically enhanced as well as low tech) and how we use those materials to prepare students to be contributing members of a multinational industry.
Nominative Case of the Embedded Subjects in Control Structures in Modern Standard Arabic and English within Chomsky’s Minimalism View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Youmna Abu El 'ela
Case Theory (Chomsky, 1986) is universal by which each argument within the syntactic structure is assigned case. It is intertwined with Theta Theory (Chomsky, 1981) which requires each argument to be assigned only one theta role. Thus, such theta-marked constituents are visible to case assignment in accordance with the Visibility Condition (Chomsky, 1986). Case assignment is universal as observed in English and Modern Standard Arabic (MSA); nevertheless, arguments are assigned case by different means due to the different morphological systems of each language, in light of Chomsky’s Principles and Parameters (1980) and Minimalism (1995). The paper adopts an explanatory comparative approach conducted on the control structure (i.e., ʔarada: want class) in both English and MSA in light of a unified framework (Chomsky’s minimalism, 1995). In English, only the matrix subjects in control structures carry the nominative case through agreement with the tense feature under the head tense (T). However, the study observes that although the embedded clausal complement in MSA introduced by the infinitival particle ʔan: to lacks tense, its embedded subject carries the nominative case. Therefore, the study hypothesizes that this nominative case carried by the embedded subjects is closely related to the phi-features valued via Agree operation, in accordance with the Split-INFL hypothesis (Pollock, 1989; Chomsky, 1989). However, similarly to English, when the subject precedes the infinitival particle ʔan: to at the surface structure, it carries case assigned by the available case assigner but carries the same theta role assigned at the deep structure.
BIG Emotions and the Storms Within Us: How to Process and Find of Sense of Belonging Through Visualization View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Shannon Mc Carthy
Some days feel stormy, a day that can be marked by turmoil, rage, and wildness– BIG emotions that can be challenging to pinpoint and communicate. This paper dissects a recently self-published book that speaks to children (reading levels 4-7) about their BIG emotions and how to work with them. Though simple in words, this book provides a healthy message to young readers and a gateway for adults to explore emotional outlets. The book focuses on using sensory and cognitive behavioral cues in children (and adults) to easily visualize and begin to instill into a coping and healing process. Interwoven within the paper is the creator's journey, with reflection on linguistics, design, and storytelling. From the International Journal of Mental Health Systems “Half of all mental disorders start by 14 years and are usually preceded by non-specific psychosocial disturbances potentially evolving in any major mental disorder and accounting for 45% of the global burden of disease across the 0–25 age span". Exercises inspired by the book that can be introduced to anyone experiencing BIG emotions to help process and form a sense of belonging and stronger social interaction are also shared.
Featured Between the Binaries of Arabic and the Complexities of Food and Family: Code Switching and Discourse Analysis in Ethnographic Writing and Fieldwork View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Iman Afify
Humans use language to create reality by giving meaning to aspects of experiences from a specific point of view, as individuals take up particular subject positions and produce themselves through language. I argue that it is more important to convey the right image from a local perspective to an international reader, especially when conducting fieldwork in a place where its language is gendered and hierarchal. In the process of turning my fieldwork encounters into coherent academic writing, I needed to make sure that the essence of the Egyptian Arabic language spoken during my fieldwork was caught within the lines of my MA thesis chapters. I used code switching and different forms of discourse analysis during my writing of the thesis, and used fieldwork methodologies of unstructured interviews, small talk, and recorded discussions to grasp the Arabic language essence during my fieldwork. My main purpose of this aspect of my MA on food and family through the themes of memory, sensoria, gender, kinship, and social representation, was to understand how the binaries of the Arabic language affected the agency and positionality of both me and my interlocutors when discussing food stuffs and familial relations. I argue that due to the gender division of the Arabic language, my research was confined within binary limitations that I overcome by interpreting the essential meaning of the context instead of simply transliterating the words from Arabic to English.
Reviewing Humanities Programs at Concordia College: A Case Study View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Karla Knutson, Gay Rawson
American liberal arts universities provide an undergraduate education designed to equip students for responsible global civic engagement; humanities disciplines are foundational to this approach, providing methodology, pedagogy, and models of cross-disciplinary inquiry. We offer a case study of the status of humanities programs at one such institution. In an effort to provide an exemplar for scholars at institutions facing similar challenges, we describe our experiences as faculty facilitators of a review of humanities programs. Initiated by university administrators, the review served dual purposes: to meet institutional accreditation requirements and to benefit from data collection and reflection. Our process involved writing an initial report synthesizing faculty perspectives, a site visit by an outside consultant who provided a written report, and a series of meetings for faculty and administrators to identify future initiatives and actions. This paper outlines our methods for gathering data and reflects on and offers suggestions about themes regarding the future of humanities education that emerged during the process. These themes include articulating the value of the humanities; perceptions of the humanities as impractical; collaborations with other disciplines like the sciences, technology, and business; scarcity of financial resources; administrative viewpoints; disciplinary differences; and ongoing challenges of student recruitment at a time when many Americans question the value of the humanities. This study explores how faculty and administrators at a liberal arts institution collaborate to envision new directions for the humanities, stimulating a conversation about how to review humanities programs to assess their value and effectiveness.
Enabling Interdisciplinary Learning and Research through AI-driven Transliteration of Historical Documents View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Simina Frincu, Manuela Zănescu
The 4.0 revolution, the unprecedented AI advances, the cutting-edge technologies have irreversibly shaped the teaching, learning and research contexts to respond to the modern scholars’ and students’ needs and expectations. Interdisciplinary methods have become a requisite for Higher Education stakeholders and are likely to produce faster and more complex knowledge acquisition and research results. Using the literature review method, we set the general framework and highlight the advantages of blended approaches to engage and prepare students and support scholar endeavors. Our case study focuses on the challenges and opportunities arising from the collaborative research carried out within the ROTLA project – the transliteration of 19th century Romanian texts written in transitional (Cyrillic-Latin) alphabet using machine learning. Converting these documents into texts accessible to present day readership aligns with Europe’s digital decade and purpose to offer more innovative products and services especially to Generation Z characterized by technology attachment. The elaboration process of such applications allows teaching computer science students how to deal with enormous datasets processed to retrieve various information, how to integrate digital resources and technologies, or how to turn available information into ready-to-use data formats while familiarizing them with the Romanian language history. To history, linguistics, or translation studies students, it provides a hands-on experience encouraging the attainment of linguistic and IT skills. The outcome presents clear benefits for scholars seeking information on the origins of a discipline and for libraries looking to pairing digital archives with innovative technologies to offer users immediate access to historical documents content.
