/library/oar/handle/123456789/5429 2026-06-12T12:48:12Z /library/oar/handle/123456789/145885 Title: How to write up interdisciplinary research in line with its theoretical underpinnings Authors: Schembri, Natalie Abstract: This guide aims to equip readers with practical advice on how to write up an interdisciplinary study in line with the theoretical underpinnings of interdisciplinary research. It will focus on how to write your text, explaining areas where it is important to highlight the interdisciplinary nature of your study. There are critical points in an IMRAD (Introduction, Methodology, Results, and Discussion) structure where this must be justified, highlighted, and brought to bear on your research problem. This guide will provide examples from relevant published research to illustrate how you can do this. It will also give you a basic understanding of the theory behind these textual practices. 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z /library/oar/handle/123456789/145884 Title: Critical events in bachelor's and taught master's dissertation writing : a case study and model Authors: Schembri, Natalie; Jahić Jašić, Alma Abstract: Dissertation writing at bachelor’s and master’s levels is a process presenting challenges that must be overcome for the successful completion of the degree programmes. Factors such as unclear expectations and the assumption of competence can generate situations jeopardising successful dissertation outcomes. This study applies an instrumental case study approach to chart the lived experience of one student’s dissertation writing journeys at undergraduate and taught master’s levels. It uses interviews, journey plots and email correspondence to provide insights identifying factors that feed into critical event scenarios during the writing process. Following thematic analysis, the themes Supervision, Feedback and University Regulations were identified and discussed in relation to the emotions in the journey plots of the two dissertations. A categorisation of critical event factors is provided and used for a tentative model of a critical event scenario in an attempt to contribute useful insights into dissertation writing pedagogy and related institutional policies.; Waqt il-proċess tal-kitba ta’ dissertazzjonijiet fuq livell ta’ Baċellerat jew Masters, l-istudenti jaffaċċjaw sfidi li jridu jissuperaw biex jispiċċaw il-kors. Jista’ jkollhom problemi serji biex ilestu l-kitba tad-dissertazzjoni u jgħaddu mill-kors jekk l-aspettazzjonijiet tagħna ma jkunux ċari jew jekk nassumu li l-istudenti diġà għandhom il-kapaċitajiet meħtieġa biex jagħmlu xogħolhom. Dan l-istudju juża l-ġrajjiet ta’ studenta li kitbet dissertazzjoni tal- Baċellerat u wara dissertazzjoni għall-kors ta’ taught masters biex jitfa’ dawl fuq il-proċess tal-kitba f’dawn il-livelli. Nużaw intervisti, plotts tal-proċess tal-kitba u korrispondenza bl-email biex nagħtu indikazzjonijiet ta’ ġrajjiet kritiċi waqt il-proċess tal-kitba. Analiżi tematika wriet li t-temi prinċipali li ħarġu mill-istudju kienu dawk tas-Superviżjoni, Feedback u r-Regolamenti tal-Università. Dawn iddiskutejniehom flimkien mal-emozzjonijiet li dehru fil-plotts talproċess tal-kitba. Ġbarna f’kategoriji l-fatturi li jagħtu xi ħjiel li jista’ jkun ta’ siwi għall-pedagoġija tal-kitba tad-dissertazzjonijiet u l-policies istituzzjonali relatati u ħloqna mudell tentattiv ta’ ġrajja kritika. 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z /library/oar/handle/123456789/145275 Title: Do hand gestures increase perceived prominence in naturally produced utterances? Authors: Paggio, Patrizia; Mitterer, Holger; Attard, Greta; Vella, Alexandra Abstract: This study investigates the effect of visually perceived gestures on the overall (multimodal) prominence of naturally occurring stimuli extracted from a multimodal corpus of Maltese conversations. Experiment participants were required to rate the prominence of target words in sentences presented to them as audiovisual and audio-only stimuli. In half of the stimuli, the target word was accompanied by a co-speech hand gesture. The results of the experiment show (i) that words produced with a co-speech gesture were rated as more prominent than words that were produced without one and (ii) that this was the case independently of whether raters could see those gestures (audiovisual condition) or not (audio-only condition). An acoustic analysis of the data shows that the presence of a co-occurring gesture has a significant effect on the pitch of the target vowel. The study suggests that gestures may provide the listener with an additional but not necessary cue to perceiving prominence. 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z /library/oar/handle/123456789/144842 Title: Investigating the post-vocalic /r/ in Maltese English and its potential intra- and inter-speaker variation Abstract: The postvocalic /r/ is a segment that is an object of much interest in several languages and dialects of English. This dissertation uses a set of eight speakers from the Corpus of Spoken Maltese English to find patterns in the realisation of the postvocalic /r/ that could indicate potential trends in the rhoticity of the dialect. While only 10.8% of the postvocalic /r/s measured across all speakers were realised as rhotic phonemes. All speakers had varying distributions of /r/ realisations, suggesting that rhoticity may be a continuum upon which Maltese English speakers may be found in multiple positions, indicating a somewhat large inter-speaker variation. This is reinforced by the fact that all speakers articulate postalveolar approximant /r/s, but only some articulate alveolar taps, which may indicate a broader pattern of /r/ loss across languages when compared to the previously common trill, which was articulated in the same contexts, thereby demonstrating inter-speaker variation. Intra-speaker variation is also present in the form of the frequency of /r/ articulation over time, as the first minute of each recording is decidedly less rhotic than the rest, which may suggest audience design is a factor. Description: B.A. (Hons)(Melit.) 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z