Communicative feedback in dialogue is an important mechanism that helps interlocutors coordinate their interaction. Listeners pro-actively provide feedback when they think that it is important for the speaker to know their mental state, and speakers pro-actively seek listener feedback when they need information on whether a listener perceived, understood or accepted their message. This paper pr...

On-line learning is one of the emerging needs of the information age. Access to education is going to become crucial for the success of our information society. Therefore a lot of potential is seen in distance learning and distributed virtual environments. The communicative character of the distributed virtual environments would allow for students and stuff to meet in social shared spaces and e...

One of the much discussed topics in building spoken dialogue systems is how to take the users into account when designing practical systems: given the more complex environment in which we have to interact with various automatic services, it is obvious that the systems are not only required to function impeccably in regard to their technical specification, but they should also fulfil requirement...

The attitude one has towards language learning determines the success or failure of learning the language. To this effect, this study aimed to explore EFL learners’ attitudes towards communicative language learning and the relationship between learners’ attitudes and English language achievement. To address these objectives, the study adopted a survey research design. Two hundred seventeen grad...

The attitude one has towards language learning determines the success or failure of learning the language. To this effect, this study aimed to explore EFL learners’ attitudes towards communicative language learning and the relationship between learners’ attitudes and English language achievement. To address these objectives, the study adopted a survey research design. Two hundred seventeen grad...

Nursing home residents with dementia face challenges in adapting to a new living environment and feeling at home. Due to communicative limitations, people with dementia after often left out of design processes. The aim of this study is to investigate the housing needs in relation to the interior design on the object level and design level. Based on the principles of practice development, seven ...

Knowledge management is crucial in engineering tasks in advanced manufacturing industries. Human-centred design of knowledge management applications requires a profound insight into the tasks of engineers and their need for support. In this paper we describe the iterative approach of the modelling of user tasks and needs and defining functional specifications, using a mix of methods such as Use...

PURPOSE To verify whether the use of a shorter filmed sample influences the results of pragmatic assessment in children with language impairment. METHODS Data was obtained from videotaped samples and protocols for pragmatic analysis of 30 children between 3 and 6 years old. Each 15-minute sample (total moment) was analyzed and divided into three moments with five minutes each (initial, medial...

This study explores the role of geographic visualization for supporting the implementation of climate change adaptation. Interviews and group discussions with planners and decision makers indicate that geographic visualization bears primary potential for communicative purposes. In order to respond to analytical needs a high level of interactivity including the exploration of background data and...