Publications

The chapter provides an overview of a pilot virtual exchange project between US pre-service mainstream teachers and learners of English in Russia.

Background: Coherence is the quality which distinguishes discourse from a random collection of sentences. People with aphasia have been reported to produce less-coherent discourse than non-language-impaired speakers. It is largely unclear how coherence is established in natural language and what leads to its impairment in aphasia. 

Aims: This paper presents a cross-methodological investigation on coherence in discourse of Russian native speakers with and without aphasia. The purpose of this study was to examine the connection between language impairments in aphasia and different aspects of discourse coherence in order to determine the linguistic mechanisms that could be involved in establishing and maintaining it. 

Methods & Procedures: Coherence was operationalised as a combination of four aspects:  informativeness, clarity, connectedness, and understandability. Twenty participants were asked to retell the content of a short movie. The retellings were annotated using Rhetorical Structure Theory (RST), a formalistic framework for discourse-structure analysis. Next, they were evaluated for coherence on a four-point scale by trained raters. The ratings were compared between groups. A classification analysis was performed to determine whether the ratings could be predicted based on the macrolinguistic variables collected from the RST annotations and several microlinguistic variables previously linked to coherence. 

Results: Retellings produced by speakers with aphasia received lower ratings than those of control participants on all aspects of coherence. The results indicate that different combinations of microlinguistic and discourse-structure variables play a role in establishing each of the coherence aspects. 

Conclusions: Our results provided supporting evidence on coherence impairment in aphasia. Perception of a discourse as more or less coherent was associated with both micro- and macrolinguistic variables, with different combinations of variables relevant for each of the aspects. Furthermore, we found that discourse structure plays an important role, especially for understandability. We speculate that pragmatic knowledge shared by interlocutors may boost coherence of aphasic discourse.

Unlike stroke, neurosurgical removal of left-hemisphere gliomas acts upon a reorganized language network and involves brain areas rarely damaged by stroke. We addressed whether this causes the profiles of neurosurgeryand stroke-induced language impairments to be distinct. K-means clustering of language assessment data (neurosurgery cohort: N = 88, stroke cohort: N = 95) identified similar profiles in both cohorts. But critically, a cluster of individuals with specific phonological deficits was only evident in the stroke but not in the neurosurgery cohort. Thus, phonological deficits are less clearly distinguished from other language deficits after glioma surgery compared to stroke. Furthermore, the correlations between language production and comprehension scores at different linguistic levels were more extensive in the neurosurgery than in the stroke cohort. Our findings suggest that neurosurgery-induced language impairments do not correspond to those caused by stroke, but rather manifest as a ‘moderate global aphasia’ – a generalized decline of language processing abilities.

The article deals with general and particular patterns of solving the identification problem of attributional linguistics on the texts of written network communication. The problem of determining text authorship is solved by comparing a disputed text, the author of which, according to the conditions of the experiment, is unknown, with texts, the authors of which are known. The problem is solved for several discursive areas: online literature, corporate e-mail, short comments on posts on the entertainment portal. These discursive spheres have correlates with several functional styles of speech, fiction, official and colloquial, which makes it possible to identify the trends in textual attribution within the material of Internet communication. For the analysis of speech material, a holistic approach, the tool of which is linguistic modelling, is used. The choice of parameters describing the author’s individual style is rooted to considering text to be a product of an authentic language personality. Language personality is described using psycholinguistic (Yu.N. Karaulov), sociolinguistic and forensic linguistic (S.M. Vul, M. Coulthard, R. W. Shuy) methods. With the help of specialized software "KhoRom", researchers create mathematical models of the individual styles of the compared texts authors. As output the resource displays Pearson correlation coefficient, linear regression and Student’s criterion for the models of the two idiolects represented in compared texts, as well as each parameter metrics values. The software is only a part of the attribution algorithm. The obtained mathematical statistics should be analyzed by experts with the usage of methodological recommendations developed for the algorithm. On the basis of these models and their study, a number of conclusions about statistical patterns of an authorship study in various discursive spheres of electronic communication are made.

White matter makes up about fifty percent of the human brain. Maturation of white matter accompanies biological development and undergoes the most dramatic changes during childhood and adolescence. Despite the advances in neuroimaging techniques, controversy concerning spatial, and temporal patterns of myelination, as well as the degree to which the microstructural characteristics of white matter can vary in a healthy brain as a function of age, gender and cognitive abilities still exists. In a selective review we describe methods of assessing myelination and evaluate effects of age and gender in nine major fiber tracts, highlighting their role in higher-order cognitive functions. Our findings suggests that myelination indices vary by age, fiber tract, and hemisphere. Effects of gender were also identified, although some attribute differences to methodological factors or social and learning opportunities. Findings point to further directions of research that will improve our understanding of the complex myelination- behavior relation across development that may have implications for educational and clinical practice.

The article presents the results of a study aimed at clarifying the determinants that describe the petitioning activity of residents of East and West Germany. The research materials were 1036 petitions from the German-speaking segment of Change.org: 322 petitions (East Germany), 714 petitions (West Germany); 2012- 2018). Based on the analysis of electronic petitions, a thematic classifier was created that divided all petitions into 18 thematic groups (human rights, animal protection; culture, politics, migration issue, proposals for reforming certain areas of life, transport system, Internet, protection and support for people with disabilities and rare diseases, financial questions, environmental protection, housing issues, weapons / spirits / tobacco / drugs, healthcare, elderly people, education, sports, sustainable development). Statistically significant differences between eastern and western territories in a comparative analysis of petitions were found only in the animal protection thematic group. As a result of the study, it turned out that the bipolar construct “east-west”, rooted in the historical logic of the legacy of socialism and capitalism in the German territories, is not capable of explaining the logic of the petitioning activity of modern Germans. According to the results of the study, the historical heritage / separation factor is guessed in the socio-economic problems of the regions, but it is not decisive in determining the values and civic activism of German residents.

The aim of the study is to compare the strategies of the Russian and American media in justifying the need to comply with international obligations on atmosphere and climate protection in the context of solving national propaganda tasks and to describe their dominant propaganda models. The research methods comprise the technique of intent-analysis by Ushakova and Pavlova, as well as the technique of rhetorical deconstruction by Ibarra and Kitsuse. Empirical materials of the research include texts of the of Russian and American media (“Izvestia”, “Rossiyskaya Gazeta”, “Gazeta.Ru”, “The New York Times”, “The Washington Post”, “USA Today”: 104 articles; 01/01/2012 - 01/01/2017). It was found that the propaganda models of the Russian and American media correspond to the description of propaganda within the state by Ellul under the two-party system of the state: the ruling party conducts propaganda for itself, the opposition party conducts propaganda against the ruling party. The propaganda model of the American media in this area of information competition between the two states can be characterized as the “propaganda model of the leader”, and the propaganda model of the Russian media - the “opposition propaganda model”

This paper discusses approbation of an integrative attribution method for texts in the Russian language. The methodology goes after (Koppel, Schler 2003): computer program tries to imitate human expert work. So, it is based on interpretative language study with its objectification through mathematical statistics. The choice of parameters describing the author’s individual style is rooted to considering text to be a product of an authentic language personality. Language personality is described using psycholinguistic (Yu.N. Karaulov), sociolinguistic (M.Coulthard, R. W.Shuy) methods and the methodology of forensic linguistics (S.M. Vul, D.Wright). On the basis of the principles above, the software for attribution is created: http://khorom-attribution.ru/#/. As output the resource displays mathematical models of persons’ individual styles and the metrics for null hypothesis evaluation: Pearson correlation coefficient, linear regression and Student’s t-test. The functionality of the resource is aimed to solve an identification problem of text attribution for «closed class» (Juola 2008) with pair-wise comparison, but the resource can also be used in the personality diagnostics in forensic, philological and cultural researchers

The study looks into the problem of student–faculty communication. It addresses the issue of claimed scarcity of such interaction that exists despite the recognized benefits it can bring to students and instructors. It is suggested that examination and comparison of the participants’ interest and actual engagement in out-of-class communication (OCC) may shed light on this. Two populations from a university in Russia: 148 students and 35 instructors, were analyzed to measure their overall interest and engagement in OCC. The paper also addressed the question whether the studied populations are interested and engage in the same types of OCC. The results demonstrate that the reported overall interest in OCC was higher than the actual engagement in it among both groups of the respondents. Besides, students and faculty chose different types of OCC as most interest evincing and most frequently practiced. The research outcomes may help the parties concerned (scholars, teaching staff, educational managers and students) enhance understanding of the nature of OCC and its specifics and consider ways of harmonizing it in the best interests of all stakeholders.

Recent Applications of Financial Risk Modelling and Portfolio Management is a pivotal reference source that provides vital research on the use of modern data analysis as well as quantitative methods for developing successful portfolio and risk management techniques. While highlighting topics such as credit scoring, investment strategies, and budgeting, this publication explores diverse models for achieving investment goals as well as improving upon traditional financial modelling methods. This book is ideally designed for researchers, financial analysts, executives, practitioners, policymakers, academicians, and students seeking current research on contemporary risk management strategies in the financial sector.

The railway station is the most important chronotope of the 20th century. In times of industrialisation,

economic development, military confrontation between major powers, the images of a steam locomotive,

locomotive, and train met in a large body of literary and journalistic texts. The study of the railway discourse

is based on complex historical and semiotic meanings, which allow concluding about the properties of the

Russian cultural world, studying it from a new perspective. In the process of the research, the methods of the

theoretical level were used: the study and generalisation of scientific works, analysis and synthesis, induction

and deduction. The authors conducted a logical analysis of the collected material, developed new categories

of the image of a train as a “fiery demon”, “a locomotive of progress”, “house on wheels”. Semantic models of

perception of the train as a cultural space were interpreted. A discursive analysis of ideas that influenced the

semantic part of the concept of “railroad” in Russian culture was conducted. It was concluded that the image

of a train in literary creation has a dual character. Already at the stage of the construction of the railway, an

infernal model of its interpretation as a “serpent train/dragon” was formed, capable of destroying all living

things and taking them to the kingdom of death. At the same time, there are examples of a different type of

interpretation of the image of a train. Some researchers insist on its connection with the archetype of

“mother”, the idea of movement in a circle, return. In the post-Soviet space, the image of a train has not lost

its significance. It is still assimilated by mass culture, it enters into everyday life, without losing its ambivalent

character.

The paper describes the experience of introducing the Russian Error-Annotated English Learner Corpus in data-driven learning with regard to error-prone lexical items. The corpus data on confusables were selected and used for preparing teaching materials of two types: the traditional deductive approach and the DDL inductive instruction. Russian L1 first-year university students participated in the corresponding lessons. The results obtained from their pre/post-tests and questionnaires show improvement in the use of most of the target items as well as a positive attitude towards DDL but also point to issues related to DDL materials design and the development of the REALEC corpus.

The article deals with the autobiography of Paul Claudel in his essay Ma Con-version written in 1913 at the request of readers. The readers believe that his biography no longer belongs to him, so the experience of his conversion should be of common property. It reveals his confessional retrospective traits and self-awareness in “biographical” literary works. Different types of confession, features of preaching, self-expression and autobiography are interwoven in the essay. The language of the essay is poetic and polysemantic. Distance is manifested in many ways in Claudel’s works, from the explicit biographical author – “moi, Paul” to the literary author – “le poète”. The writer begins in a confessional, indecisive man-ner, but as he becomes more professional, he resorts to the “biographical author” less willing-ly, more often remaining on the sidelines as a literary author. There is less open reflection in the collection of works Conversations (1926–1937), so the poet discusses reality, but he does not describe his feelings and actions as he did when he was younger. Claudel's autobiography combines the sacred and the secular, while the intimate and the public act as a “preparatory” stage to a multi-volume exegetic “novel”.

The images of countries in the news of Russian media about the COVID-19 pandemic in the context of popular critical geopolitics were analyzed in the article. 465 texts of the Russian media (01.01.2019 - 03.20.2020) were identified based on the keyword “coronavirus” and processed using computer linguistics. For the eastern countries (China, Iran, South Korea and Japan) and the western (USA, Italy, Spain, France), as well as for “Russia”, semantic fields were reconstructed. Based on the analysis of semantic fields, the images of countries facing a pandemic were interpreted. It turned out that they write about the east in the context of a border beyond which there is a danger of infection. The image of the eastern countries in the news about the coronavirus is consistent with the prevailing media images of the east as a distant and little-known geopolitical space. The media discourse on the pandemic in China contains people and viruses as storytelling actors, which, according to the author of the article, may indicate the preservation of the outdated strategy of “demonization” of China (as a habitat for the infection).

Western countries in the media discourse on coronavirus are lined up in a hierarchy. The United States and France receive a personified representation directly related to their political leaders. Ordinary people suffering from coronavirus disappear in the US pandemic media discourse. All media attention is focused on President Trump. The image of the United States is constructed as an image of a hegemonic country. The image of France is semantically one of the most complex and ambivalent. The image of Spain is being reconstructed through the suffering of people in a pandemic, as well as through the participation of the state in protecting citizens from the infection. The image of Italy is constructed as the image of a close, sympathetic and vulnerable country.

Russia in the discourse of Russian media at the initial stage of the pandemic is being constructed as a resisting (not infected) territory. It turns out that the geopolitical media discourse in a pandemic preserves the most typical intentions.

The paper attempts to clarify the essence of logos as found in the teaching of Heraclitus. The author identifies meanings which Heraclitus attributes to the concept, investigates his suggested method of cognizing logos, and analyzes the benefits bestowed upon a human being by comprehension of logos. It is hypothesized that the Heraclitean logos is not an originating principle, like a supreme god or cosmic fire, but its attribute – the verbalized intelligence of being inherent both in the world as a whole and one’s soul. As a mental-verbal projection, logos is open not to the sensory organs or even reason, but to the intellectual intuition. Therefore, the knowledge of logos cannot be taught, but can be obtained through self-cognition. Comprehension of logos leads to following the universal, which, in polity’s life, is equal to the common good. However, according to Heraclitus, this is something attainable only by wise and virtuous, “the best”, not by wicked and ignorant majority.