3,200 research outputs found
Co-certification: a new direction for external assessment?
No full textThe major European testing agencies have calibrated their exams to the levels of language proficiency described in the Common European Framework. In Italy, where the Framework has been enthusiastically embraced, external exams are now frequently used within the state education system as they are believed to provide reliable, widely recognized independent assessment. But although these exams vary greatly, it is not always easy to find one which is entirely appropriate for a specific learning context.
This article describes an experiment in 'co-certification', in which the University of Venice worked with Trinity College London to make an existing exam more appropriate for university students. This involved replacing 'creative writing' with 'critical writing' in the portfolio and the controlled written exam, and ensuring a 'university dimension' for the oral interview. The article reports on the modifications, and considers candidates' results from the perspectives of validity, washback and impact. It concludes that there may be other contexts in which co-certification is both possible and desirable
Which English for a modern languages faculty?
No full textThis article is an investigation of how the CEFR can be used as a reference in university language courses, and how it could fit the modular approach adopted by the 'nuovo ordinamento.' It includes a needs analysis based on questionnaires completed by students at the end of the 'vecchio ordinamento', and points to a more integrated approach to teaching through the 'esercitazioni' and 'moduli' which together make up the language course
Rapporteur’s report – innovative geotechnologies for energy transition
No full textThe 9th Society for Underwater Technology (SUT) International Conference on Offshore Site Investigation and Geotechnics (OSIG) closed with a Rapporteur’s report given by the author. This paper provides a record of that report, transcribed from a video recording. The presentation slides are shown as Figures.</p
DEFRApH - Sample collection and handling procedures
No full textAll chemical and biogeochemical process in the sea are affected by the acidity of the water. Acidity is therefore fundamental property of seawater. The growing concern that the acidity of the oceans might be increasing has revealed weaknesses in our knowledge of this fundamental property and its variation in space and time. In 2008 the DEFRApH project (DEFRA contract ME4133) was initiated to provide this missing information in UK related waters. It required sampling for and analysis of the total inorganic carbon and total alkalinity content of samples. This reports documents the procedures sued for sampling. A companion document Hartman Dumousseaud and Roberts (NOC Internal Document No. 01) describes in detail the analytical procedures used and the calculation of the results
Protection, pathogenesis and phenotypic plasticity in Plasmodium falciparum malaria.
No full textWhy does Plasmodium falciparum cause severe illness in some but not all infections? How is clinical immunity acquired? These questions have intrigued investigators since the clinical epidemiology of malaria was first described. The search for answers to both questions has highlighted the changes that take place at the surface of infected red blood cells during the last half of the erythrocytic cycle. These changes specify the antigenic and adhesive or cytoadherence phenotypes for the infected cell. Now the antigenic and adhesive phenotypes appear to be linked and together undergo clonal variation. In this article David Roberts, Beverley-Ann Biggs, Graham Brown and Christopher Newbold explain how clonal phenotypic variation and the linkage between adhesive and antigenic types contribute to our understanding of naturally acquired immunity and of pathogenesis of severe malaria
Author Correction:Prefrontal cortical ChAT-VIP interneurons provide local excitation by cholinergic synaptic transmission and control attention (Nature Communications, (2019), 10, 1, (5280), 10.1038/s41467-019-13244-9)
No full textThe original version of this Article contained an error in the spelling of the author Wilma D.J. van de Berg, which was incorrectly given as Wilma D.J. van den Berg. This has now been corrected in both the PDF and HTML versions of the Article.</p
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