Focus

The validity of existing tectonic models for the area of Greece is examined in the light of the new recalculated parameters for earthquakes of the region (Makropoulos and Burton, 1981). Relocated hypocentral positions are extracted from the catalogue to form radial and vertical distance-depth cross-sections centred on a reference point near the mid-point of the Aegean Volcanic arc, and these are used to form a three dimensional topography of the base of earthquake occurrence below 60 km. Isodepth maps are extracted from this topography as both three and two dimensional map presentations. These maps reveal several significant features of deep-seated tectonic processes in the region. Isodepths exceeding 150 km are seen in the northwest Aegean, and these are more closely linked to the Sporadhes and Gulf of Thermaicos, rather than the North Aegean trough. The 150 km isodepths are also seen in the northeast Aegean straddling the Dardanelles; in the northeastern part of the Peloponnesus, ...

This paper examines the complex interplay between phrasal prosody, syntax, and meaning in English and Spanish, and explores its implication for second language acquisition (SLA). We present L2 data from L1 Spanish/L2 English learners which indicate that moving from syntax to prosody to encode the thetic/categorical distinction is far more challenging than moving from syntax to prosody to align the focused constituent with Nuclear Stress. On the other hand, L2 data from L1 English/L2 Spanish learners indicate that moving from prosody to syntax to encode the thetic/categorical distinction is far less challenging than moving from prosody to syntax to align the focused constituent with Nuclear Stress. We offer a grammatical account of this seemingly contradictory situation, in support of the view that second language learners acquire a grammatical system rather than isolated patterns.

Aim: The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of variability of attentional focus distance by self-talk on the learning of table tennis backhand. Methods: Therefore, 80 high school girls by mean age 16(+-0/62) yr. were randomly selected from sport school of Sanandaj and assigned to 5 groups. After pretest, the participants performed 180 forehand strokes during 6 sessions with repeating the words *slightly rotation* in the internal focus group *slightly open* in the near external focus group, *over the net* in the far external focus group, and each of the words *slightly rotation, slightly open, and over the net* respectively in each 2 sessions in the increasing distance of attentional focus group. Control group performed without self-talk during acquisition phase. Retention test was performed 48 hours after acquisition test in the same situation without self-talk, and after half an hour break, transfer test was done by changing the direction of target (parallel...

In the research reported here, we investigated the debiasing effect of mindfulness meditation on the sunk-cost bias. We conducted four studies (one correlational and three experimental); the results suggest that increased mindfulness reduces the tendency to allow unrecoverable prior costs to influence current decisions. Study 1 served as an initial correlational demonstration of the positive relationship between trait mindfulness and resistance to the sunk-cost bias. Studies 2a and 2b were laboratory experiments examining the effect of a mindfulness-meditation induction on increased resistance to the sunk-cost bias. In Study 3, we examined the mediating mechanisms of temporal focus and negative affect, and we found that the sunk-cost bias was attenuated by drawing one’s temporal focus away from the future and past and by reducing state negative affect, both of which were accomplished through mindfulness meditation

In this work we explore the A/A’-effects exhibited in topic fronting constructions in Spanish and
Turkish. Although typologically quite distinct, these languages show similar properties when
topics are preposed, especially as regards the binding interpretation of the fronted constituent.
Anaphors may either display argumental or non-argumental properties: binding improvement
and reconstruction. To explain the two effects we propose an analysis of fronted topics based
on movement to Spec-TP, as a consequence of feature inheritance. The different binding effects
are accounted for in terms of adjunction of anaphoric/pronominal features to functional heads,
namely v0 and T0. We also argue that the interaction of information focus and binding is crucial
to predict the interpretive properties of displaced elements both in Turkish and Spanish. This
analysis dispenses with the traditional distinction between A- and A’-positions.
Keywords: topic fronting, focus, binding, anaphoric features, feature inheritance

This study assesses and compares the performance of students studying French and English languages in language and literature courses in their various Departments at Emmanuel Alayande College of Education, Oyo in Oyo State. This study also focuses attention on possible ways of improving the performance of the students in the afore-mentioned courses. It also suggests ways by which their performance in the said courses could be improved. The study considered some students' results in the said courses over a period of three years (between 2010 and 2013). The collection of data was by the use of students' results and questionnaire that were administered randomly to a selected sample population of some students. For this study, sixty students were randomly selected in English Department while fifteen students were purposely selected in French Department. Interviews were conducted by the lecturers in charge of those courses with above seven years of experience in teaching these courses and some observations were also employed as secondary instruments. The data collected were analyzed using simple percentages. The findings show that students performed better in language courses than in literature courses.

Scholars use various terms for the phenomenon of discourse peak. Only in the last forty years have some scholars suggested different types of peak. This study explores the application of multiple types of peak in the book of Hebrews. The problem of peak in Hebrews is evident by the diverse assertions concerning linguistic peaks by Neeley (1987), Guthrie (1994), and Westfall (2005) and the discrepancies of these peaks with the chiastic centre in Hebrews 8 as asserted by Vaganay (1940), Vanhoye (1977, 1989), Neeley (1987, 63), Gelardini (2009) and Heath (2011). Until more refinement of the notion of discourse peak and uniformity of terms emerges, it may be helpful to analyse the peaks of biblical texts in light of their natures (thematic peak, climax, and apex).

This study investigates the linguistic realization of information structure (IS) in Turkish. Following Vallduví and Engdahl [Linguistics 34 (1996) 459], Hoffman (Hoffman, B., 1995. The Computational Analysis of the Syntax and Interpretation of “Free” Word Order in Turkish. Unpublished PhD dissertation, University of Pennsylvania), and Kılıçaslan (Kılıçaslan, Y., 1994. Information Packaging in Turkish. Unpublished MSc dissertation, University of Edinburgh), it is assumed that IS has a tripartite structure, consisting of topic, tail, and focus. The main claim of this paper is that syntax and phonology, by means of word order and prosody, are both responsible for the realization of the IS units. Thus, neither syntax nor phonology can be reduced to a secondary role. The word order–prosody interface reveals that presentational-focus and contrastive-focus are two distinct phenomena in Turkish, which are marked by different focusing strategies, i.e. syntactic and prosodic. It is shown that without drawing the distinction between the two types of focus, focusing phenomena in Turkish cannot be explained. This study also provides a schema representing the surface level structuring of IS in Turkish. At the same time, it is brought to light that in the interaction between specificity and IS, word order is employed in an extremely ‘free’ way to mark the ground elements. This empirical fact suggests that the relation between specificity and IS is far more complex in Turkish than suggested in the previous literature.