28 research outputs found
Intellectual humility and language attitudes: the case of Hebrew speakers’ views towards Arabic and multilingualism
No full textIntellectual humility (IH) remains a relatively novel concept, though past research indicates a relationship to open-mindedness, lower propensity towards political bias and amenability to engage with opposing viewpoints. Intellectual humility has shown mixed effects on foreign language learning (Moskowitz & Dewaele [2020]. The role of intellectual humility in foreign language enjoyment and foreign language classroom anxiety. Eurasian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 6, 521–541), though it has not been explored in relation to language attitudes. The current study investigates connections between IH and language attitudes among Hebrew L1 speakers. Treating multilingualism and Arabic as separate variables, a Hebrew survey was administered, adapted from the Comprehensive Intellectual Humility Scale (CIHS) (Krumrei-Mancuso & Rouse [2016]. The development and validation of the comprehensive intellectual humility scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 98(2), 209–221.) and a questionnaire on multilingualism (Tannenbaum et al. [2020]. Toward a new multilingual educational policy in Israel: Attitudes and perceptions of teachers and students. The Modern Language Journal, 104(3), 581–600.). Statistical analyses found that openness to revising one’s viewpoints predicted attitudes towards multilingualism, and respect for others’ viewpoints predicted attitudes towards Arabic. Qualitative data explored the charged topic of the status of Arabic in Israel, finding that responses contained themes of intellectual humility such as prosociality and respect for others’ viewpoints, lending support to the quantitative findings
How to Think Philosophically About Aging
No full textEveryone gets older, but not everyone plans for it. Even fewer people think about that planning philosophically. On the next episode of Why?, we are going to look closely at one author’s practical guidebook for elder care and consider it, not as practical exercise, but as a philosophical inquiry into getting older.
Sharona Hoffman is the Edgar A. Hahn Professor of Law, a Professor of Bioethics and the Co-Director of the Law-Medicine Center at Case Western Reserve University. In 2013, Sharona was selected by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for a scholar-in-residence fellowship in public health law. She has also twice spent a sabbatical semester as a Visiting Scholar at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2007 and 2014) and was a Visiting Scholar at Emory University in 2014 as well. She has published over sixty articles and book chapters on health law and civil rights issues. She is also the author of the book Aging with a Plan: How a Little Thought Today Can Vastly Improve Your Tomorrow (Praeger 2015).
This is the second time Sharona has been on Why? Her first episode “The Morality (and Legality) of Universal Healthcare” can be found here.https://commons.und.edu/why-radio-archive/1046/thumbnail.jp
The influence of student perception of teacher emotional intelligence and happiness on foreign language learning
No full textMost students have private beliefs and opinions about their foreign language teachers, who often assume the role of facilitator, authority figure, and lead motivator. Not only is the student/teacher relationship mutually involved and reciprocal, it is usually interwoven in complex ways. This study investigates how student perceptions of language teachers relate to student self-reported motivation and attitudes. Data were collected from high-intermediate to advanced level ESL/EFL students. General background information was gathered to control for factors such as the number of years of past English study and exposure outside of the classroom. An online questionnaire was administered consisting of sections about student perceptions of teacher emotional intelligence using an adapted version of the TEIQue 360° Short Form (Petrides & Furnham, 2006), student perceptions of teacher happiness using an adapted version of the Oxford Happiness Inventory (Argyle, Martin & Crossland, 1989), and student self-reported motivation and attitudes using an adapted form of the AMTB (Gardner, 1985). Respondents were also asked about their teacher’s classroom behavior, as past research has shown that teachers with a higher level of EI tend to be more enthusiastic and enjoy their students more (Dewaele & Mercer, 2017). The findings reveal that students who report a higher score for their teacher’s EI and happiness indices themselves show greater levels of motivation and positive feelings and lower levels of anxiety. The results indicate that while both teacher EI and happiness are influential, teacher EI matters more to students than teacher happiness. The aim of this project is threefold: to give students a voice, as they are rarely given a platform to honestly express their opinions of their teachers, to shed light on the complex student/teacher relationship and its potential influence on foreign language acquisition, and to offer practical suggestions for applied use by teachers in the FL classroom
Language teacher psychology Edited by S.Mercer, A.Kostoulas. Bristol: Multilingual Matters. 2018. 368 pages. Pb $149.95, ISBN 9781783099450
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Mandatory Arbitration: Alternative Dispute Resolution or Coercive Dispute Suppression?
No full textThe enforceability of mandatory arbitration policies contained in employment contracts between employees and their direct employers remains an open question, even after the Supreme Court\u27s 1991 decision in Gilmer v. Interstate Johnson Lane Corp. While Gilmer gave effect to a mandatory arbitration clause in a contract between a securities broker and his licensing exchange, the Court noted that the contract at issue was not an ordinary employment contract between employer and employee. The Court declined to decide whether arbitration agreements in ordinary employment contracts are per se enforceable under the Federal Arbitration Act or whether these provisions are exempt from the Act and therefore subject to closer judicial scrutiny.
Sharona Hoffman argues that arbitration provisions in ordinary employment contracts are beyond the scope of the Federal Arbitration Act, a conclusion consistent with the approach of the majority of courts of appeal which have considered this issue.
To demonstrate the continuing development of the law governing the enforcement of mandatory arbitration policies, the author details a recent case in which the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission challenged and successfully enjoined enforcement of a mandatory arbitration policy. The arbitration policy was vulnerable to attack because its provisions so clearly favored the employer and because pre-existing employees were forced to choose between keeping their jobs or prospectively agreeing to arbitrate nearly all disputes under the terms of the employer\u27s arbitration policy.
Hoffman concludes that while voluntary alternative dispute resolution schemes are enforceable, mandatory arbitration policies unilaterally imposed by employers upon employees may be voidable under both statutory law and the common law of contracts
Book Review : Understanding Second Language Acquisition, Second Edition
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Through the looking glass of student perception: how foreign language students see teacher trait emotional intelligence and why it matters
No full textThe aim of this study is to examine how students perceive teacher trait emotional intelligence (TEI) and how those perceptions relate to students’ own self-reported attitudes and motivation. Adult students of ESL/EFL were given an online questionnaire consisting of two parts: one to provide observer-reported data on their teacher’s trait emotional intelligence and the second to measure students’ own attitudes and motivation. In total, 129 participants of 28 nationalities took part. The results showed that the perceived teacher TEI domains of teacher sociability and teacher self-control were significant predictors of student positive feelings and attitudes towards the teacher. With this paper, we make the case that observer reports of teacher TEI by students could be a valuable tool in L2 instruction by offering teachers unique insight into their own classroom behavior, thereby increasing teacher self-awareness which could lead to improved classroom practices
The role of intellectual humility in foreign language enjoyment and foreign language classroom anxiety
No full textIntellectual humility (IH) involves a certain degree of selflessness and an accurate view of one’s own worth and abilities. To date, IH has not been explicitly researched as a variable in the study of foreign language (FL) learning. The present mixed-methods study aims to explore possible links between FL learners’ IH and their foreign language enjoyment (FLE) and foreign language classroom anxiety (FLCA). The survey was administered online entirely in Spanish and respondents were 163 adult Spanish L1 speakers enrolled in an EFL course at any level of proficiency. The research instrument was adapted from three established constructs: the CIHS (Comprehensive Intellectual Humility Scale) (Krumrei-Mancuso & Rouse, 2016), the FLE Short Form (Botes, Dewaele & Greiff, 2020) and the FLCA Short form scale (Dewaele & MacIntyre, 2014). Feedback on three open-ended questions provided qualitative data. Results show that IH has a mixed and complex relationship with FLE and FLCA, with some IH domains negatively predicting FLE and both positively and negatively predicting FLCA. The current research is an attempt to widen the range of psychological factors that might affect FL classroom emotions
Development of a biophysical screening model for gestational hypertensive diseases
No full textBackgroundTo investigate the possibility of using maternal biophysical parameters only in screening for the different types of gestational hypertensive diseases.MethodsA total of 969 pregnant women were randomly screened in first and second trimester, of which 8 developed Early-onset Preeclampsia, 29 Late-onset Preeclampsia, 35 Gestational Hypertension and 897 women had a normal outcome. An observational maternal hemodynamics assessment was done via standardized electrocardiogram-Doppler ultrasonography, Impedance Cardiography and bio-impedance, acquiring functional information on heart, arteries, veins and body fluid. Preliminary prediction models were developed to test the screening potential for early preeclampsia, late preeclampsia and gestational hypertension using a Partial Least Square Discriminant Analysis.ResultsA combined model using maternal characteristics with cardiovascular parameters in first and second trimester offers high screening performance with Area Under the Curve of 99,9% for Early-onset Preeclampsia, 95,3% for Late-onset Preeclampsia and 94% for Gestational Hypertension.ConclusionsUsing biophysical parameters as fundament for a new prediction model, without the need of biochemical parameters, seems feasible. However, validation in a large prospective study will reveal its true potential.The first author of this work is funded by a Ph.D. grant of the Agency for Innovation by Science and Technology (IWT) in Brussels, Belgium.
All authors are part of the Limburg Clinical Research Project (LCRP) at Hasselt
University, Belgium
