Amina Klibi | University Of Carthage (original) (raw)

Papers by Amina Klibi

The present article reports on specific findings of neuroscience research in relation to language... more The present article reports on specific findings of neuroscience research in relation to language teaching and learning. It states that among the evidence-based approaches, reading aloud, think-pair-share, and intensive training are qualified as important procedures in promoting learning. This is made possible as they intervene in shaping neural networks causing changes to specific structures of the brain in ways which foster memory encoding. A prominent role of the nature of the teaching environment is advocated. The significance of monitoring the stress levels in the classroom setting is highlighted. Discussion then turns to what is recently described as neuromyths in the domains of teaching and learning. The article finally concludes with the importance of scepticism in interpreting scientific knowledge in order to prevent introducing misleading educational approaches based on loosed scientific facts.
Key words: Evidence-based practices, Intensive training, Neuromyths, Neuroscience, Reading aloud, Teaching and learning, Think-pair share

This study was designed to examine the impact of progressive aphasia on the multilingual brain. T... more This study was designed to examine the impact of progressive aphasia on the multilingual brain. The main objective was to verify the status of the first acquired language (L1; Tunisian Arabic) against the status of a lately acquired foreign language (L2; English). The study reports on the case of an elderly Tunisian patient presenting with a diagnosis of primary progressive aphasia caused by the onset of the Alzheimer disease. A set of picture-naming tasks was administred to the patient to examine his naming aptitude in L1 and L2 for the semantic categories of : Letters, Numbers, Plants, Animals, Body parts, Colors and Clothes. The case’s responses in L1 and L2 were qualitatively analysed and compared. Dissociation in performance was reported within the same linguistic system (L1/L2) as well as between both systems (L1 vs. L2) with L2 being the most affected after the neurodegenerative damage. An account was found in category-specificity of semantic knowledge. A difference in the grammatical gender of nouns between TA and English was suggested as a possible factor affecting the patient’s performance as well. The reported dissociations between L1 and L2 suggested their segregation at a cognitive level. This anatomical segregation could have important implications for the clinical and the teaching fields. Clinically, identifying the most deficient language after brain damage should direct the language pathologist towards treating it with a special care offering a better prognosis for the weaknesses. Pedagogically, foreign language teaching methods should focus on fortifing the anatomic segregation between languages while enhancing authenticity in the L2 learning environment. This will hopefully reduce the occurrence of negative language transfer from L1 to L2.
Key words: categorical effect of semantic knowledge, multilingual brain, primary progressive aphasia

Gaining insights from a wide range of disciplines, linguistics has become ''a prominent academic ... more Gaining insights from a wide range of disciplines, linguistics has become ''a prominent academic discipline throughout the world '' (Buttny. R, 1993). This position is mainly achieved through the shift from classical language description and application into tackling 'real world problems'. One important domain of such linguistic application is language pathology, hence, giving rise to the linguistic subfield 'Clinical Linguistics ". In Tunisia, the name of the field still not denotes what it really should. Within this frame is held the present paper entitled ''On the Contribution of Systemic Functional Linguistic Theory (SFL) to the study of Neurological Condition aphasia''. Its main aim is first to define aphasia and bring into the light the field of clinical linguistics. As theories are developing for the treatment and assessment of speech and language pathologies, a second important objective of the paper is to describe some of the applications of the systemic functional approach to the treatment of aphasic symptoms. Thereafter, the considered approach is compared to the psycholinguistic perspective which, for many decades, has dominated to a certain degree the essence of speech and language pathology. The description of the functional approach along with the comparison to the other perspective highlights to what extent the SFL framework can be privileged to some 'traditional' approaches used in the research on aphasia. However, this claim calls into question the validity of the use of methodological tools originating from traditional approaches in dealing with aphasia in current or future researches.

The aim of the present paper is to closely consider the notions of ''space'' and ''identity'' fro... more The aim of the present paper is to closely consider the notions of ''space'' and ''identity'' from two different perspectives of the human experience. We are most of all interested in the psychological realm to which we devote the major part. As such we intend to define a brain disorder known as schizophrenia in light of the duality of 'space and identity'. We consider aspects of the deterioration of these notions that interact to further accentuate the breakdown of the patient diagnosed with the disease. These notions can be altered by factors that are not essentially biological or psychological. We argue that technology does also interfere to rework these notions as such bringing about a less rigorous effect but, still, triggering a less balanced human experience to dwell. This does not entail the onset of schizophrenia. However, it may lay behind other psychological problems. These may share to some extent a fragmented character that turn out to reveal aspects of a schizophrenic nature.

The main issue of the article is due to language pathology matters. It presents a case study of a... more The main issue of the article is due to language pathology matters. It presents a case study of an aphasic patient. The objective is essentially to investigate the patient production in terms of paraphasia and the phenomenon of Category specific semantic deficit. The function of denomination is then analyzed on the basis o a visual stimulus. The type of aphasia discussed is 'conduction aphasia'. This choice is mainly rooted from the fact that it is mostly associated with the abundant production of paraphasias. Some results of the performed tasks indicate high concordance with theories dealing with linguistic deficits of aphasic patients. During the denomination task, the patient shows a high production of paraphasic errors of varied types. However, this task is unable to prove the existence of category specific semantic deficit. This is only achieved on the basis of the other tasks in which letter and number denomination show to be selectively well retained. A secondary objective is to study the same issues in French and to compare the findings with those discussed in the Tunisian dialect. The analysis proves that the linguistic deficit appears in both languages with certain differences.