8 research outputs found
Implicit attitudes in L2 motivation research: The case of learning English and Mandarin in Hong Kong
No full textThe field’s current understanding of L2 motivation is largely reliant on explicit self- reports (e.g. questionnaires and interviews). While such means have provided the L2 motivation field with a wealth of understanding, the underlying assumptions are that such attitudes take place in a conscious manner and that such representations are adequate. Recent developments have discussed these limitations and have called for a more in-depth and holistic understanding of the motivational psyche of L2 learners (e.g. Al-Hoorie, 2016a; Dörnyei, 2020). This thesis seeks to address this research lacuna by arguing for the inclusion of an implicit dimension into L2 motivation research, using the case of Hong Kong as an illustration.
This thesis is first made up of a systemic literature review which provided an empirical understanding of the unprecedented boom in published studies that occurred between 2005 – 2014. Studying the dataset that was made up of 416 publications allowed for an understanding of the L2 methodological and theoretical trends in the literature. While there were several key findings from this empirical review, specific to this thesis, the most significant lies in the identification of the lack of an implicit dimension in the field. Consequently, this shaped the premise for this thesis, namely to set forth the case for a subconscious dimension of L2 motivation research.
The selection of Hong Kong as a research location was motivated by its unique linguistic landscape. In order to better understand the situation, a qualitative pilot study that sought to determine Hong Kong’s viability as a location for unconscious motivation research was carried out. The qualitative results show that indeed, Hong Kong is loaded with ethnolinguistic tension. Regarding the participants’ attitudes towards the three languages, Cantonese was found to be synonymous with the Hong Kong identity and English was seen as a superior language that was associated with prestige and professional opportunities. In comparison, Mandarin held little relevance to the participants’ everyday lives. Upon further investigation, it was found that Fear of Assimilation was the main reason behind the participants’ lacklustre attitudes towards Mandarin. Overall, this qualitative pilot study offered an insight into the complexities underscoring Hong Kong’s unique, and loaded, linguistic environment; confirming Hong Kong’s suitability as a research location for this implicit line of research
Implicit attitudes in L2 motivation research: The case of learning English and Mandarin in Hong Kong
No full textThe field’s current understanding of L2 motivation is largely reliant on explicit self- reports (e.g. questionnaires and interviews). While such means have provided the L2 motivation field with a wealth of understanding, the underlying assumptions are that such attitudes take place in a conscious manner and that such representations are adequate. Recent developments have discussed these limitations and have called for a more in-depth and holistic understanding of the motivational psyche of L2 learners (e.g. Al-Hoorie, 2016a; Dörnyei, 2020). This thesis seeks to address this research lacuna by arguing for the inclusion of an implicit dimension into L2 motivation research, using the case of Hong Kong as an illustration.
This thesis is first made up of a systemic literature review which provided an empirical understanding of the unprecedented boom in published studies that occurred between 2005 – 2014. Studying the dataset that was made up of 416 publications allowed for an understanding of the L2 methodological and theoretical trends in the literature. While there were several key findings from this empirical review, specific to this thesis, the most significant lies in the identification of the lack of an implicit dimension in the field. Consequently, this shaped the premise for this thesis, namely to set forth the case for a subconscious dimension of L2 motivation research.
The selection of Hong Kong as a research location was motivated by its unique linguistic landscape. In order to better understand the situation, a qualitative pilot study that sought to determine Hong Kong’s viability as a location for unconscious motivation research was carried out. The qualitative results show that indeed, Hong Kong is loaded with ethnolinguistic tension. Regarding the participants’ attitudes towards the three languages, Cantonese was found to be synonymous with the Hong Kong identity and English was seen as a superior language that was associated with prestige and professional opportunities. In comparison, Mandarin held little relevance to the participants’ everyday lives. Upon further investigation, it was found that Fear of Assimilation was the main reason behind the participants’ lacklustre attitudes towards Mandarin. Overall, this qualitative pilot study offered an insight into the complexities underscoring Hong Kong’s unique, and loaded, linguistic environment; confirming Hong Kong’s suitability as a research location for this implicit line of research
The impact of Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP) on reading by nonnative speakers
No full textWith the proliferation of cell phones and other small handheld electronic devices, more and more people are using software that presents texts one word at a time. This trend can be attributed to the small screen sizes afforded by these modern electronics. Importantly, software companies often claim that such products, which present texts word-by-word, make reading more efficient, as reading speed is increased without sacrificing comprehension. Alongside this, nonnative speakers are often told to read more in their second language to improve their language skills. This leads to important questions about whether the manner in which reading is done is important. To address this, the current study explores the impact of word-by-word presentation of a text on nonnative reading comprehension, as well as on native speakers who provide a baseline of performance. Nonnative and native speakers were presented with a full text on a piece of paper to read naturally, as well as texts presented one word at a time at rates of 500-wpm and 1000-wpm. For native speakers, reading comprehension was impaired when single words were presented at rates of 500-wpm and 1000-wpm compared to natural reading. When compared to the native speakers, the nonnative speakers show the same pattern of impaired reading comprehension for words presented one at a time at rates of 500-wpm and 1000-wpm compared to natural reading
The Place of Total Physical Response and Cooperative Learning in Second Language Acquisition and in the Language Classroom
No full text50 p.Total Physical Response and Cooperative Learning are two constructivist teaching methods devised during the Twentieth Century to help strengthen Second Language Acquisition curriculum by incorporating the findings of brain research. The first method relies on having students pantomime words while saying them, and the second upon a system of elaborately structured group work. This paper examines the strengths and weaknesses of the two methods and compares them to prevalent nonconstructivist teaching techniques, in order to devise an ideal balance of the three. The author bases conclusions upon published documentation of the two constructivist methods and upon experience gleaned from an academic quarter as a student teacher in a high school Spanish class in Southwest Michigan.Ideally, methods must complement each other. This can be achieved by beginning academic units with TPR, ending them with CL, and structuring them with more traditional means.Portage Central High School. Portage, Michigan.Portage Central High School. Portage, Michigan
Types and Functions of Repetition in the Works of Howard Phillips Lovecraft
No full textIntroduction. Issues of the author’s writing style, means and methods of constructing an individual author’s artistic picture of the world have always been in the focus of attention of researchers. The object of this paper is H. P. Lovecraft’s stories, which are part of horror literature. The subject of the paper is repetition, which plays a special role in a literary text as a means of artistic expression. Conducting research is relevant for several reasons, like interest in the consideration of the functional aspects of the literary text as a whole, or to H. P. Lovecraft’s works in particular, as the horror genre of literature is one of the most popular in modern society. The purpose of this study is to identify the most productive types of repetitions and their pragmatic functions in the H. P. Lovecraft’s stories.Methodology and sources. General methods of this research are functional analysis of repetitions, supplemented by the quantitative method. Repetitions used in the stories are separated and analyzed based on their following functions: pragmatic focus, emotivity and rhythmization. The material of the study was the following works of the author: “Dagon”, “Beyond the Wall of Sleep’”, “The Music of Erich Zann”, “The Other Gods”, “The Hound”, “The Rats in the Walls”, “The Call of Cthulhu”, “The Descendant”, “The Dunwich Horror”.Results and discussion. Repetition is a significant element of H.P. Lovecraft’s writing style. In the analyzed works, repetitions are presented in various types: simple verbatim repetitions (contact and remote), anadiplosis, epanalepsis, synonymous, syntactic (lexical and syntactic parallelism). Lexico-semantic analysis of repetitions showed that the most frequent units in H.P. Lovecraft’s stories are such lexemes as “old” (125), “night” (95), “great” (85), “strange” (62), “gods” (48), “horror” (48). Their use can be attributed to the author’s desire to create a sense of "cosmic fear", to highlight the themes of ancient and hidden evil with “divine” forces. Functional analysis has shown that repetitions are most often used to highlight the most important elements of the text (pragmatic focus), convey the emotional states of the characters, create an appropriate emotional atmosphere (horror, fear), as well as rhythmic organization and stylistic imitation of religious discourse.Conclusion. Repetition as a stylistic figure is an important technique of pragmatic focusing and a significant element of the H.P. Lovecraft’s writing style, emerging in various structural variations and performing many functions
Antimicrobial-resistant patterns of Escherichia coli and Salmonella strains in the aquatic Lebanese environments
No full textThis study is the first to be conducted in Lebanon on the isolation and molecular characterization and the antimicrobial resistance profile of environmental pathogenic bacterial strains. Fifty-seven samples of seawater, sediment, crab, and fresh water were collected during the spring and summer seasons of 2003. The isolation of Escherichia coli and Salmonella using appropriate selective media revealed that 94.7percent of the tested samples were contaminated with one or both of the tested bacteria. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was then used to identify the species of both bacteria using various sets of primers. Many pathogenic E. coli isolates were detected by PCR out of which two were identified as O157:H7 E. coli. Similarly, the species of many of the Salmonella isolates was molecularly identified. The confirmed isolates of Salmonella and E. coli were then tested using the disk diffusion method for their susceptibility to four different antimicrobials revealing high rates of antimicrobial resistance. © 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Ammon A, 1999, J INFECT DIS, V179, P1274, DOI 10.1086-314715; *AOAC, 1995, OFF METH AN AOAC INT; ARAJ F, 2000, J MED LIBANAIS, V48, P221; BANWART CJ, 1989, BASIC FOOD MICROBIOL; Bielaszewska M, 1998, J CLIN MICROBIOL, V36, P2135; BROOK MG, 1994, EPIDEMIOL INFECT, V112, P63; Duijkeren E. van, 2003, Journal of Clinical Microbiology, V41, P3574, DOI 10.1128-JCM.41.8.3574-3578.2003; El-Fadel M., 2003, Management of Environmental Quality, V14, P353, DOI 10.1108-14777830310479441; GANNON VPJ, 1992, APPL ENVIRON MICROB, V58, P3809; Gillespie BE, 1997, J DAIRY SCI, V80, P471; Gray JT, 2001, BERL MUNCH TIERARZTL, V114, P370; GRIFFIN, 1991, EPIDEMIOLOGY REV, V13, P60; HOLMBERG SD, 1984, SCIENCE, V225, P833, DOI 10.1126-science.6382605; Huovinen P., 1999, ACTA VET SCADINAVI S, V96, P7; IRVINE KN, 1995, MODERN METHODS MODEL, P205; KARMALI MA, 1985, J INFECT DIS, V151, P775; LEE SJ, 1992, J GEN MICROBIOL, V138, P1843; Loynachan AT, 2004, J FOOD PROTECT, V67, P1484; Luk JM, 1997, J CLIN MICROBIOL, V35, P714; LUK JMC, 1993, J CLIN MICROBIOL, V31, P2118; Lukasova J, 2004, J VET MED B, V51, P77, DOI 10.1111-j.1439-0450.2004.00727.x; MCKEON DM, 1995, WATER RES, V29, P1902, DOI 10.1016-0043-1354(95)00013-B; National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards, 2000, M7A5 NCCLS, VM100-S10; NIEMI M, 1983, APPL ENVIRON MICROB, V45, P79; Osek J, 2002, VET MED-CZECH, V47, P149; Raveh D, 2003, J HOSP INFECT, V55, P196, DOI 10.1016-S0195-6701(03)00286-X; Reischl U, 2002, J CLIN MICROBIOL, V40, P2555, DOI 10.1128-JCM.40.7.2555-2565.2002; Sayah RS, 2005, APPL ENVIRON MICROB, V71, P1394, DOI 10.1128-AEM.71.3.1394-1404.2005; Schwartz T, 2003, FEMS MICROBIOL ECOL, V43, P325, DOI 10.1111-j.1574-6941.2003.tb01073.x; Senkel IA, 2003, J FOOD PROTECT, V66, P2237; Soto SM, 2003, ANTIMICROB AGENTS CH, V47, P421, DOI 10.1128-AAC.47.1.421-425.2003; Tauxe RV, 1996, HLTH ENV DIGEST, V10, P1; Wait DA, 2001, WATER SCI TECHNOL, V43, P139; WATSTESON Y, 2001, ACTA VET SCANDINAV S, V95, P79; Yoo S, 2004, J KOREAN MED SCI, V19, P15; Zann LP, 2000, STATE MARINE ENV REP16181
Post-larval development in deep-sea echinoderms
No full textThe post-larval phase is an essential period in the life history of marine invertebrates; vulnerable to high mortality, it ultimately influences the distribution and abundance of adult populations. The post metamorphic ontogenesis of thirty species of deep-sea echinoderms, belonging to three classes (Ophiuroidea, Asteroidea and Echinoidea), is described using scanning electron microscopy. The life history of Ophiocten gracilis is also examined as a case study for future research on post-larval organisms. The analysis of development in ophiuroids reveals that species can be identified from a very early post metamorphic stage, even in congeneric species, contrary to the findings of other authors. The ontogeny of homologous structures is similar within related groups, but may give rise to different adult structures indifferent taxa. The mouth papillae within the ophiurids are serially homologous, originating from the jaw, but the fourth mouth papilla may have a different origin. In the families Ophiactidae, Ophiacanthidae and Amphilepididae examined, the mouth papillae have different origins, as, for instance, the adoral shieldspine or tentacle scale. Data on the post-larval development of Ophiura affinis suggest that this species is more closely related to the genus Ophiocten and a change in the generic status is proposed. Ophiocten gracilis is a bathyal brittle star occurring on both sides of the North Atlantic and its life history is studied in the eastern side of the North Atlantic. In this area, O. gracilis spawns in February/March of each year producing a large number of eggs. Fecundity is estimated to be around 40,000 eggs/ind, with the population of the Hebridean Slope being able to produce probably up to 16 million eggs/m2. Post-larvae start settling in May and numbers settling reached over 3,200 post-larvae/m2. The settling speed of post-larvae in the water column is estimated to be around 500 m/day, settling faster in warmer than colder water. Settling speeds appear to be similar for post-larvae ranging from 0.6 to 0.9 mm in disk diameter. Size at settlement is around 0.6 mm in disk diameter and 5-6 arm segments. The settlement of post-larval O. gracilis on the bottom of the Hebridean Slope also represented a considerable fraction of the particulate organic carbon (POC) flux in the area, reaching over 7% of the total daily flux. This is likely to have a considerable impact in the benthic community as competition and predation and as an additional food source for demersal and benthic organisms. The occurrence of post-larvae of O. gracilis in sediment traps also represented a large problem for POC flux measurements, with ophiuroids consuming part of the flux. In future works with sediment traps, such errors must be taken into account and ophiuroids must be included in the total POC flux. The deep-sea juvenile asteroids of the NE Atlantic could be distinguished to species level from a very early stage of development. The ontogenesis of Porcellanaster ceruleus shows that this species is likely to undergo a shift in habitat and diet during the juvenile phase. This is evidenced by the appearance of the epiproctal cone, the changing of the furrow and apical spines, the early development of the cribriform organ adjacent to the madreporite and the appearance of sediment in the stomach. P. ceruleus is probably a predator on meiofauna and small macrofaunal organisms during the early stages of life, changing to a burrowed life style ingesting sediment particles. Most juvenile sea stars analysed during the present study showed wider bathymetric distribution than their adult counterparts, suggesting that events occurring during the early stages of life are important for the maintenance of the local population structure and diversity in the deep NE Atlantic.The post-metamorphic development of three deep-sea spatangoid echinoids is very similar, but the morphology and formation of fascioles facilitate the distinction of the species examined. Whereas in Hemiaster expergitus and Spatangus raschi the fascioles present in the post-larvae develop to form the adult fascioles, in Brissopsis lyrifera post-larvae there is a juvenile fasciole, which disappears during ontogenesis giving way to the adult fascioles. The function of the juvenile fasciole is unknown in B.lyrifera. The development of the periproct in all spatangoids examined is similar to that described by other authors, with the periproct being initially endocyclic and migrating towards the rear of the animal as development progresses. Post-larvae of the genus Echinus could not be separated into different species, which may be linked to the recent diversification of the genus in the North Atlantic. The widespread settlement of echinoderm post-larvae reported in the present thesis and in other works is thought to have been very important for the colonization of the deep-sea through the supply of stages to deeper areas and selection of pressure adapted animals and subsequent speciation
