Talk2Me: Automated linguistic data collection for personal assessment.

Language is one the earliest capacities affected by cognitive change. To monitor that change longitudinally, we have developed a web portal for remote linguistic data acquisition, called Talk2Me, consisting of a variety of tasks. In order to facilitate research in different aspects of language, we provide baselines including the relations between different scoring functions within and across tasks. These data can be used to augment studies that require a normative model; for example, we provide baseline classification results in identifying dementia. These data are released publicly along with a comprehensive open-source package for extracting approximately two thousand lexico-syntactic, acoustic, and semantic features. This package can be applied arbitrarily to studies that include linguistic data. To our knowledge, this is the most comprehensive publicly available software for extracting linguistic features. The software includes scoring functions for different tasks.

Preparation of a Protocol for Instrumental Assessment of Speech (PRAINF) based on psychometric and linguistic criteria. / Elaboração de um Protocolo de Avaliação Instrumental da Fala (PRAINF) baseado em critérios linguísticos e psicométricos.

OBJECTIVE: Propose a protocol for instrumental assessment of adult speech considering psychometric and linguistic criteria. METHODS: The choice of words was based on previously defined Brazilian Portuguese linguistic criteria after a search on the "Portal da Língua Portuguesa" database using the Portuguese Orthographic Vocabulary (VOP). The defined linguistic criteria considered grammatical class, vowel context, number of syllables, stress, and presence of words in the daily life of Brazilian adults. The choice of the images to represent the words considered the criteria of imageability, clearness, and cultural aspects. The words and images were rigorously evaluated by 13 non-specialist judges and six specialist judges. After being examined by the judges, the words were tested in adults through instrumental assessment. RESULTS: The protocol was composed of 19 words and images, with prevalence of nouns over adjectives. Each word included one target sound in Onset Medial position, in the context precedent and following the vowel [a], trisyllabic and paroxytone words. The adults that attended the instrumental assessments succeeded in producing the list of words spontaneously. The data obtained through the assessments provided adequate analysis. CONCLUSION: This study provided additional information on psychometric and linguistic criteria in addition to providing a protocol for instrumental assessment of adult speech.

OBJETIVO: Propor um protocolo para avaliação instrumental da fala de adultos, considerando critérios linguísticos e psicométricos. MÉTODO: A escolha das palavras para compor o protocolo foi baseada em critérios linguísticos do Português Brasileiro (PB), previamente definidos, após busca no banco de dados do Portal da Língua Portuguesa, utilizando o Vocabulário Ortográfico Português (VOP). Os critérios definidos foram em relação à classe gramatical, ao contexto vocálico, ao número de sílabas, à tonicidade e à presença das palavras no cotidiano dos adultos brasileiros. A escolha das figuras para representarem as palavras levou em consideração os critérios de imageabilidade, clareza da figura e aspectos culturais da imagem. RESULTADOS: O instrumento foi composto por 19 palavras/figuras, prevalecendo substantivos em relação aos adjetivos, cada palavra contemplando um fonema-alvo na posição de Onset Medial, no contexto vocálico seguinte e precedente à vogal [a], trissílabas e paroxítonas. As palavras e figuras passaram por criteriosa avaliação de 13 juízes não especialistas e 6 juízes especialistas. Após a fase de apreciação pelos juízes, as palavras foram testadas em adultos mediante avaliação instrumental. Os adultos que realizaram as avaliações instrumentais conseguiram produzir a lista de palavras espontaneamente, e os dados obtidos através das avaliações possibilitaram adequada análise. CONCLUSÃO: Este estudo forneceu informações a respeito de critérios psicométricos e linguísticos, e disponibilizou um protocolo para avaliação instrumental de fala para adultos.

Elaboração de um Protocolo de Avaliação Instrumental da Fala (PRAINF) baseado em critérios linguísticos e psicométricos / Preparation of a Protocol for Instrumental Assessment of Speech (PRAINF) based on psychometric and linguistic criteria

RESUMO Objetivo Propor um protocolo para avaliação instrumental da fala de adultos, considerando critérios linguísticos e psicométricos. Método A escolha das palavras para compor o protocolo foi baseada em critérios linguísticos do Português Brasileiro (PB), previamente definidos, após busca no banco de dados do Portal da Língua Portuguesa, utilizando o Vocabulário Ortográfico Português (VOP). Os critérios definidos foram em relação à classe gramatical, ao contexto vocálico, ao número de sílabas, à tonicidade e à presença das palavras no cotidiano dos adultos brasileiros. A escolha das figuras para representarem as palavras levou em consideração os critérios de imageabilidade, clareza da figura e aspectos culturais da imagem. Resultados O instrumento foi composto por 19 palavras/figuras, prevalecendo substantivos em relação aos adjetivos, cada palavra contemplando um fonema-alvo na posição de Onset Medial, no contexto vocálico seguinte e precedente à vogal [a], trissílabas e paroxítonas. As palavras e figuras passaram por criteriosa avaliação de 13 juízes não especialistas e 6 juízes especialistas. Após a fase de apreciação pelos juízes, as palavras foram testadas em adultos mediante avaliação instrumental. Os adultos que realizaram as avaliações instrumentais conseguiram produzir a lista de palavras espontaneamente, e os dados obtidos através das avaliações possibilitaram adequada análise. Conclusão Este estudo forneceu informações a respeito de critérios psicométricos e linguísticos, e disponibilizou um protocolo para avaliação instrumental de fala para adultos.

ABSTRACT Objective Propose a protocol for instrumental assessment of adult speech considering psychometric and linguistic criteria. Methods The choice of words was based on previously defined Brazilian Portuguese linguistic criteria after a search on the "Portal da Língua Portuguesa" database using the Portuguese Orthographic Vocabulary (VOP). The defined linguistic criteria considered grammatical class, vowel context, number of syllables, stress, and presence of words in the daily life of Brazilian adults. The choice of the images to represent the words considered the criteria of imageability, clearness, and cultural aspects. The words and images were rigorously evaluated by 13 non-specialist judges and six specialist judges. After being examined by the judges, the words were tested in adults through instrumental assessment. Results The protocol was composed of 19 words and images, with prevalence of nouns over adjectives. Each word included one target sound in Onset Medial position, in the context precedent and following the vowel [a], trisyllabic and paroxytone words. The adults that attended the instrumental assessments succeeded in producing the list of words spontaneously. The data obtained through the assessments provided adequate analysis. Conclusion This study provided additional information on psychometric and linguistic criteria in addition to providing a protocol for instrumental assessment of adult speech.

Using leap motion to investigate the emergence of structure in speech and language.

In evolutionary linguistics, experiments using artificial signal spaces are being used to investigate the emergenceof speech structure. These signal spaces need to be continuous, non-discretized spaces from which discrete unitsand patterns can emerge. They need to be dissimilar from-but comparable with-the vocal tract, in order tominimize interference from pre-existing linguistic knowledge, while informing us about language. This is a hardbalance to strike. This article outlines a new approach that uses the Leap Motion, an infrared controller that canconvert manual movement in 3d space into sound. The signal space using this approach is more flexible than signalspaces in previous attempts. Further, output data using this approach is simpler to arrange and analyze. Theexperimental interface was built using free, and mostly open- source libraries in Python. We provide our sourcecode for other researchers as open source.

Recursos tecnológicos y digitales para la gestión del lenguaje científico en español / Technological and digital resources for management of scientific language in Spanish

En este artículo se hace un repaso de algunas de las tecnologías del lenguaje existentes en la actualidad, especialmente de las que están más relacionadas (o pueden estarlo) con el lenguaje científico en español. Además de señalar la relevancia de algunas tecnologías, por ejemplo las que hacen posible la existencia de recursos enlazados, nos centramos en los dos principales modelos teóricos y prácticos relacionados con la lexicografía de internet, especialmente la que ofrece una panorámica completa, ya que no solo reflexiona sobre la naturaleza de esta y las características principales de sus productos -es decir, de los diccionarios en línea o diccionarios de internet- sino que también ofrece innovaciones y modelos de negocio que explican la conexión clara y diáfana entre la gestión del lenguaje científico en español y la economía basada en el conocimiento

This article is a review of some of the existing language technologies today, especially those that are more related to (or can be) with scientific language in Spanish. In addition to point out the relevance of some technologies, for example those that make possible the existence of linked resources, we focus on two main models and skills related to the lexicography of internet, especially one that offers a complete panoramic view since it not only reflects on the nature of it and the main features of its products -i. e. , dictionaries online or dictionaries of internet- but also offers innovations and business models that explain the clear and transparent connection between the management of the scientific language in Spanish and knowledgebased economy

Easy-to-read texts for students with intellectual disability: linguistic factors affecting comprehension.

BACKGROUND: The use of 'easy-to-read' materials for people with intellectual disabilities has become very widespread but their effectiveness has scarcely been evaluated. In this study, the framework provided by Kintsch's Construction-Integration Model (1988) is used to examine (i) the reading comprehension levels of different passages of the Spanish text that have been designed following easy-to-read guidelines and (ii) the relationships between reading comprehension (literal and inferential) and various linguistic features of these texts. METHOD: Sixteen students with mild intellectual disability and low levels of reading skills were asked to read easy-to-read texts and then complete a reading comprehension test. The corpus of texts was composed of a set of forty-eight pieces of news selected from www.noticiasfacil.es, a Spanish digital newspaper that publishes daily journalistic texts following international guidelines for the design of easy-to-read documents (IFLA, Tronbacke B. (1997) Guidelines for Easy-to-read Materials. IFLA, The Hague). RESULTS: Participants correctly answered 80% of the comprehension questions, showing significantly higher scores for literal questions than for inferential questions. The analyses of the texts' linguistic features revealed that the number of coreferences was the variable that best predicted literal comprehension, but contrary to what the previous literature seemed to indicate, the relationship between the two variables was inverse. In the case of inferential comprehension, the number of sentences was a significant negative predictor; that is, the higher the sentence density, the lower the ability of these students to find relationships between them. The effects of the rest of linguistic variables, such as word frequency and word length, on comprehension were null. CONCLUSIONS: These results provide preliminary empirical support for the use of easy-to-read texts but bring into question the validity of some popular design guidelines (e.g. augmenting word frequency) to optimally match texts and reading levels of students with intellectual disability. Two factors are suggested as contributing to the effect of sentence density on inferential comprehension: (i) long texts present higher conceptual density, so there are more ideas to store, retrieve and integrate, which increases the demand on inferential reasoning and (ii) long texts are perceived as difficult, which affects reading motivation and, consequently, induces passive reading strategies. The need for further research to elucidate the origin of our main findings with a larger and more heterogeneous sample of students with intellectual disability is highlighted.

Invariance levels across language versions of the PISA 2009 reading comprehension tests in Spain / Evaluación de la invarianza entre las versiones lingüísticas de las pruebas de comprensión lectora PISA 2009 en España

Background: The PISA project provides the basis for studying curriculum design and for comparing factors associated with school effectiveness. These studies are only valid if the different language versions are equivalent to each other. In Spain, the application of PISA in autonomous regions with their own languages means that equivalency must also be extended to the Spanish, Galician, Catalan and Basque versions of the test. The aim of this work was to analyse the equivalence among the four language versions of the Reading Comprehension Test (PISA 2009). Method: After defining the testlet as the unit of analysis, equivalence among the language versions was analysed using two invariance testing procedures: multiple group mean and covariance structure analyses for ordinal data and ordinal logistic regression. Results: The procedures yielded concordant results supporting metric equivalence across all four language versions: Spanish, Basque, Galician and Catalan. Conclusions: The equivalence supports the estimated reading literacy score comparability among the language versions used in Spain (AU)

Antecedentes: el proyecto PISA es la base de estudios y comparaciones sobre diseño curricular y factores de eficacia educativa, que solo son posibles si se garantiza la equivalencia entre las versiones idiomáticas de las pruebas. La aplicación de PISA en comunidades autónomas con lengua propia extiende el cumplimiento de la equivalencia a las versiones lingüística utilizadas en España: español, gallego, catalán y vasco. El objetivo de este trabajo fue analizar la equivalencia de la Prueba de Comprensión Lectora (PISA 2009) entre las 4 versiones idiomáticas. Método: tras definir el testlet como unidad de análisis se analizó la equivalencia entre versiones utilizando dos procedimientos de estudio de la invarianza: las estructuras de medias y covarianzas multigrupo para datos ordinales y la regresión logística ordinal. Resultados: los procedimientos arrojaron resultados concordantes que permiten avalar la equivalencia métrica entre versiones idiomáticas tanto con referencia al español, como entre los idiomas vasco, gallego y catalán. Conclusiones: la equivalencia respalda la comparabilidad de las estimaciones de competencia lectora entre las versiones lingüísticas utilizadas en España (AU)

"Voices of the people": linguistic research among Germany's prisoners of war during World War I.

This paper investigates the history of the Royal Prussian Phonographic Commission, a body that collected and archived linguistic, ethnographic, and anthropological data from prisoners-of-war (POWs) in Germany during World War I. Recent literature has analyzed the significance of this research for the rise of conservative physical anthropology. Taking a complementary approach, the essay charts new territory in seeking to understand how the prison-camp studies informed philology and linguistics specifically. I argue that recognizing philological commitments of the Phonographic Commission is essential to comprehending the project contextually. My approach reveals that linguists accommodated material and contemporary evidence to older text-based research models, sustaining dynamic theories of language. Through a case study based on the Iranian philologist F. C. Andreas (1846-1930), the paper ultimately argues that linguistics merits greater recognition in the historiography of the behavioral sciences.

SUBTLEX-ESP: Spanish word frequencies based on film subtitles

Estudios recientes han mostrado que las estimaciones de frecuencia de las palabras obtenidas de los subtítulos de películas y series de televisión predicen mejor los resultados de los experimentos de reconocimiento de palabras que la tradicional estimación de frecuencia basada en libros y periódicos. En este estudio presentamos una lista de frecuencias de las palabras basada en los subtítulos para el español, uno de los idiomas más extendidos en el mundo. La frecuencia de los subtítulos fue obtenida a partir de un corpus de 41 millones de palabras tomadas de películas y series de televisión (de entre los años 1990 y 2009). Además, las frecuencias fueron validadas al correlacionarlas con los tiempos de reacción de dos megaestudios realizados sobre 2764 palabras cada uno (con las tareas de decisión léxica y lectura en voz alta). La frecuencia de los subtítulos explicaban un 6% más de la varianza que las frecuencias escritas en la tarea de decisión léxica y un 2% extra en lectura en voz alta(AU)

Recent studies have shown that word frequency estimates obtained from films and television subtitles are better to predict performance in word recognition experiments than the traditional word frequency estimates based on books and newspapers. In this study, we present a subtitle-based word frequency list for Spanish, one of the most widely spoken languages. The subtitle frequencies are based on a corpus of 41M words taken from contemporary movies and TV series (screened between 1990 and 2009). In addition, the frequencies have been validated by correlating them with the RTs from two megastudies involving 2,764 words each (lexical decision and word naming tasks). The subtitle frequencies explained 6% more of the variance than the existing written frequencies in lexical decision, and 2% extra in word naming(AU)

An online calculator to compute phonotactic probability and neighborhood density on the basis of child corpora of spoken American English.

An online calculator was developed (www.bncdnet.ku.edu/cml/info_ccc.vi) to compute phonotactic probability--the likelihood of occurrence of a sound sequence--and neighborhood density--the number of phonologically similar words--on the basis of child corpora of American English (Kolson, 1960; Moe, Hopkins, & Rush, 1982) and to compare its results to those of an adult calculator. Phonotactic probability and neighborhood density were computed for a set of 380 nouns (Fenson et al., 1993) using both the child and adult corpora. The child and adult raw values were significantly correlated. However, significant differences were detected. Specifically, child phonotactic probability was higher than adult phonotactic probability, especially for high-probability words, and child neighborhood density was lower than adult neighborhood density, especially for words with high-density neighborhoods. These differences were reduced or eliminated when relative measures (i.e., z scores) were used. Suggestions are offered regarding which values to use in future research.

Invariance detection within an interactive system: a perceptual gateway to language development.

In this article, we hypothesize that invariance detection, a general perceptual phenomenon whereby organisms attend to relatively stable patterns or regularities, is an important means by which infants tune in to various aspects of spoken language. In so doing, we synthesize a substantial body of research on detection of regularities across the domains of speech perception, word segmentation, word-referent mapping, and grammar learning. In addition, we outline our framework for how invariance detection might serve as a perceptual gateway to more sophisticated communication by providing a foundation for subsequent emergent capacities. We test our hypothesis using the domain of word mapping as a case in point, emphasizing its epigenetic nature: Word mapping is rooted in the real-time interactions between the infant and the physical world. The present account offers an alternative to prior theories of early language development and helps to link the field of early language development with more general perceptual processes.

Procesamiento léxico-semántico en el síndrome de Williams / Lexico-semantic processing in Williams syndrome

Las personas con síndrome de Williams, un trastorno genético del neurodesarrollo, se caracterizan por buenas habilidades lingüísticas en comparación con otras habilidades cognitivas, enmarcadas en un cuadro de discapacidad intelectual. Poseen un buen vocabulario y utilizan con frecuencia palabras raras o de escaso uso. Eso ha llevado a algunos autores a considerar que estas personas poseen un sistema léxico-semántico peculiar y diferente del de las personas con desarrollo típico. En este estudio se pone a prueba esta hipótesis comparando la ejecución de un grupo de jóvenes con SW con otro grupo control en varias tareas léxico-semánticas, entre ellas las de fluidez semántica y fonológica. Los resultados muestran que el sistema léxico-semántico de las personas con SW no parece ser diferente al de los controles, pues los ejemplares que producen son similares a los de los sujetos control, tanto en lo que se refi ere a la frecuencia de las palabras, como a su longitud o a la tipicidad de los ejemplares de las categorías (AU)

People with Williams syndrome, a neurodevelopmental genetic syndrome, typically have good language skills as compared to other cognitive abilities, as far as intellectual disability is concerned. They have a large vocabulary and they frequently use uncommon or rarely-used words. This has led some authors to consider that they have a peculiar semantic system, different from that of people with typical development. In this study, we tested this hypothesis by comparing the performance of a group of young adults with Williams syndrome to a control group using various lexico-semantic tasks, including semantic and phonological fluency. The results indicate that the semantic system of people with Williams syndrome does not seem to differ much from those in the control group because the words they produced were similar to those of the control group with regard to word frequency, length or the typicality of the responses within the categories (AU)

Evaluation of unsupervised semantic mapping of natural language with Leximancer concept mapping.

The Leximancer system is a relatively new method for transforming lexical co-occurrence information from natural language into semantic patterns in a nunsupervised manner. It employs two stages of co-occurrence information extraction-semantic and relational-using a different algorithm for each stage. The algorithms used are statistical, but they employ nonlinear dynamics and machine learning. This article is an attempt to validate the output of Leximancer, using a set of evaluation criteria taken from content analysis that are appropriate for knowledge discovery tasks.

A web-based interface to calculate phonotactic probability for words and nonwords in English.

Phonotactic probability refers to the frequency with which phonological segments and sequences of phonological segments occur in words in a given language. We describe one method of estimating phonotactic probabilities based on words in American English. These estimates of phonotactic probability have been used in a number of previous studies and are now being made available to other researchers via a Web-based interface. Instructions for using the interface, as well as details regarding how the measures were derived, are provided in the present article. The Phonotactic Probability Calculator can be accessed at http://www.people.ku.edu/-mvitevit/PhonoProbHome.html.

New figures for a Web-accessible database of the 1,945 basic Japanese kanji, fourth edition.

On the basis of calculations using the latest lexical database produced by Amano and Kondo (2000), the fourth edition of a Web-accessible database of characteristics of the 1,945 basic Japanese kanji was produced by including the mathematical concepts of entropy, redundancy, and symmetry and by replacing selected indexes found in previous editions (Tamaoka, Kirsner, Yanase, Miyaoka, & Kawakami, 2002). The kanji database in the fourth edition introduces seven new figures for kanji characteristics: (1) printed frequency, (2) lexical productivity, (3) accumulative lexical productivity, (4) symmetry for lexical productivity, (5) entropy, (6) redundancy, and (7) numbers of meanings for On-readings and Kun-readings. The file of the fourth edition of the kanji database may be downloaded from the Psychonomic Society Web archive, http://www.psychonomics.org/archive/.

Cognitive facilitation associated with Chinese brush handwriting: the case of symmetric and asymmetric Chinese characters.

Chinese calligraphic handwriting involves a process of visual spatial structuring of the characters as well as the motor control of the brush to follow specific character configurations through a projection of the cognitive images of the character. Previous research has shown that Chinese calligraphic handwriting facilitates perceptual and cognitive abilities. Reading Chinese characters with geometric features also facilitates cognitive processing. This study investigated Chinese calligraphic handwriting effect on cognitive facilitation measured by responses to asymmetric and asymmetric Chinese characters. 11 participants performed Chinese calligraphic handwriting for 30 min. and had their reaction time and error rate taken before and after the writing session. The reaction time to asymmetric characters was significantly shortened after Chinese calligraphic handwriting. These results confirm the general Chinese calligraphic handwriting effect on cognitive facilitation, but the asymmetric characters seem to result in greater such effects than the symmetric characters.

The NITE XML Toolkit: flexible annotation for multimodal language data.

Multimodal corpora that show humans interacting via language are now relatively easy to collect. Current tools allow one either to apply sets of time-stamped codes to the data and consider their timing and sequencing or to describe some specific linguistic structure that is present in the data, built over the top of some form of transcription. To further our understanding of human communication, the research community needs code sets with both timings and structure, designed flexibly to address the research questions at hand. The NITE XML Toolkit offers library support that software developers can call upon when writing tools for such code sets and, thus, enables richer analyses than have previously been possible. It includes data handling, a query language containing both structural and temporal constructs, components that can be used to build graphical interfaces, sample programs that demonstrate how to use the libraries, a tool for running queries, and an experimental engine that builds interfaces on the basis of declarative specifications.

Toward a better understanding of the perception of self-produced speech.

UNLABELLED: The subject of how humans hear their own voices while speaking has received sporadic attention. Previous investigations suggest that the voice is heard substantially via bone conduction, implying a different transfer function to the ear--perhaps a low-pass filter--than for purely air-conducted vocalizations. Determining the characteristics of the transfer function of self-produced speech might contribute to a better understanding of self-perception. Such information may have important implications for treating articulation disorders. The efficacy of training discrimination during the remediation of articulation disorders remains unclear, perhaps because clients are asked to discriminate either speech of others or recorded self-speech samples not readily recognized as their own. This study was conducted to determine preference for filtered self-monitored speech in a delayed feedback paradigm. Participants made immediate comparisons of their real-time speech to delayed-recorded filtered self-speech samples. Participants demonstrated a clear preference for low-pass filtered speech, supporting earlier findings, but we were unable to determine the transfer function itself. LEARNING OUTCOMES: As a result of this activity, the learner will be able to describe some reasons why an individual's tape recorded speech typically sounds different to him/her from his/her own, live speech. As a result of this activity, the learner will be able to describe some potential applications for an accurately-characterized transfer function for self-produced speech.

Perceptual defense in anxiety disorders.

Prior research by MacLeod and Rutherford (1992) indicates that anxious subjects could have perceptual strategies different from nonanxious subjects. 42 verbal stimuli of six types (disease, social anxiety, panic, agoraphobia, obsessive-compulsive, and neutral) were tachistoscopically presented to three groups of subjects, aged 18 to 60 years: Panic Disorder group (n=21: 13 women and 8 men), and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder group (n=20: 14 women and 6 men), recruited from an outpatient clinic, and a Control group (n=22: 14 women and 8 men), recruited among students and hospital staff. The times required for correct identification were generally longer for anxious subjects but quicker for stimuli specifically related to their disorder. The data could indicate a two-step perceptual strategy or two distinct ways of perceiving, usually, a generalized perceptual defense for a majority of anxiety-loaded stimuli, but also a selectively facilitated processing for stimuli specific to the disorder.

Propuesta de mejoramiento del programa de semántica castellana de la mención de castellano de la carrera de Lingüística e Idiomas: Universidad Mayor de San Andrés / Proposal of improvement of the program of Castilian semantica of the castilian mention of the linguistica race and languages, Universidad Mayor de San Andrés

Dentro de las diversas ciencias existentes, la linguistica se define como la ciencia del lenguaje, es decir, el de estudiar el lenguaje como instrumento de comunicación y al mismo tiempo como conocimiento científico. Es así, que partiendo de este concepto la Carrera de Lingüística e Idiomas tiene la obligación de difundir y explicar a la sociedad en su conjunto el significado de la ciencia lingúística. En la actualidad el profesional lingüísta de dedica casi por entero a la investigación, sin embargo, éste debe estar orientado también a planificar, diseñar, desarrollar, evaluar y adecuar políticas lingüísticas, sobre todo, en un país eminentemente plurilingüe como el nuestro. Por tanto, creemos que para poder cumplir con estas tareas debemos contar con un plan de estudios claro, preciso, pertinente y sobre todo bien estructurado. lamentablemente, pudimos observar que esto no sucede por loq ue fue necesario contribuir al mejoramiento del programa de la asignatura de semántica castellana para mejora la calidad de enseñanza-aprendizaje de los estudiantes y de eta manera responder al perfil profesional lanteado por la carrera y al mismo tiempo demostrar que el trabajo en equipo es indispensable.