Abstract Task-based language teaching is considered an effective way to achieve a harmony between grammar and communication. The present study investigates two different ways of teaching modal verbs: task-based versus traditional approaches. To this purpose, an Oxford Placement Test was administered to select 40 homogeneous participants out of a larger population who took this test. The selecte...

This paper presents some recent developments at DISTInfoMus Lab on multimodal and cross-modal processing of multimedia data streams with a particular focus on interactive systems exploiting Tangible Acoustic Interfaces (TAIs). In our research multimodal and cross-modal algorithms are employed for enhancing the extraction and analysis of the expressive information conveyed by gesture in non-verb...

“ba:y?d” as a persian lexeme is interwoven with modality, a semantic category and therefore has a complicated and thought- provoking semantic nature. this paper uses evidence from persian to investigate the usage of this lexeme and some of its semantic and pragmatic aspects in this language. the results indicate that this lexical category can convey a wide range of modal meanings in different c...

Studies on pointwise prediction of nonlinear time series have revealed some distinguishing features of nonlinear prediction. Being signiicantly diierent from linear prediction, the prediction accuracy for nonlinear time series depends on the current position in the state space. Furthermore, small perturbation in current position can lead to considerable errors in nonlinear prediction (see Yao a...

Abstract Task-based language teaching is considered an effective way to achieve a harmony between grammar and communication. The present study investigates two different ways of teaching modal verbs: task-based versus traditional approaches. To this purpose, an Oxford Placement Test was administered to select 40 homogeneous participants out of a larger population who took this test. The selecte...

In this paper, a computationally simple approach for damage localization and quantification in beam-like structures is proposed. This method is based on using modal flexibility curvature (MFC) and particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm. Analytical studies in the literature have shown that changes in the modal flexibility curvature can be considered as a sensitive and suitable criterion for...

This paper presents a “think-aloud” study investigating the ability of visually impaired participants to make comparisons between haptic and audio line graphs. Graphs with two data series were presented. One data series was explored with a PHANTOM haptic device, whilst the other was sonified using one of two data sound mappings. The results show that participants can make comparisons between th...

Modal parameter extraction of high speed shafts is of critical importance in mechanical design of turbo-pumps. Due to the complex geometry and peripheral components of turbo-pumps, difficulties can arise in determination of modal parameters. In this study, modal properties of a turbo-pump shaft, was studied by experimental modal analysis, and using different excitation techniques. An innovative...

A single leg hopping robot has been constructed which includes a clutch in series with the hip motor and a prototype Linear Multi-Modal Actuator (LMMA) at the knee. The single leg will be used to test how the different actuation methods can improve the behavioural diversity of the robot.