1,721,012 research outputs found
Navigating the social identity of long covid
Full text linkLong covid is an urgent global public health problem. In the UK alone, experiencing it for a year or more is estimated to affect 405 000 people, with higher prevalence in deprived groups.1 Medical research into the pathophysiology of long covid, and how it can be treated is urgently needed, but it is also essential to consider social factors that may be implicated in the recovery of the millions of people with long covid across the world. It is not possible to holistically understand any individual’s experiences, without understanding their connection and place within the broader community around them. Research shows that social connections and belonging are essential determinants of health and wellbeing
Learning to design a mobile hunt on Actionbound: a complex task?
Full text linkThe research consisted in having an Actionbound mobile hunt for A1 learners of Dutch designed by a group of language Student Teachers (STs) within the framework of a second year course on foreign language teaching. The game was then implemented with two groups of fifth grade primary school pupils during their visit of the Hergé Museum in Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium. These two steps allowed our multidisciplinary research team to analyse the use of the app from the perspective of not only the players but also the creators of the game. Research data was collected throughout the study via questionnaires, observations, and a focus group. A qualitative analysis of the STs’ data allowed us to establish their digital profiles, thereby situating each of them in the digital integration process. The results suggest that integrating technology and content when designing a pedagogical activity is a complex task. Support and guidance from teacher trainers could therefore be recommended in order to propose a pertinent integration of technologies in the language classroom
Gossip about In-group and Out-group Norm Deviations
Full text linkGossip plays an essential role in our societies, and individuals gossip about others’ behavior for various reasons. While previous studies have consistently demonstrated that individuals are more willing to gossip about norm deviations, existing research has understudied the potential role of the group membership of gossip target (i.e., a person who is gossiped about) and gossip recipient (a person who is gossiped to) on the tendency to instigate gossip about norm deviation. We conducted a study (N = 1038) in which we orthogonally manipulated the group membership of a gossip target and a gossip recipient as well as types of target behavior (normative, negative norm deviation, and positive norm deviation), and tested several preregistered hypotheses regarding the willingness to gossip and gossip motivations. We found that individuals were more willing to gossip about negative and positive norm deviations compared to normative behavior regardless of the group membership of a gossip target and recipient, except when they consider gossiping about in-group negative norm deviation towards an out-group member. Gossip motivations substantially varied depending on the valence of norm deviation and the group membership
Promoting Prosociality: Testing the Potential of Moral Elevation and Moral Outrage
Full text linkThis thesis examines the effects of two specific moral emotions - moral elevation (experienced when witnessing a moral virtue) and moral outrage (experienced when witnessing a moral transgression) - on prosociality. While ample research has examined emotions such as sympathy and guilt, much less is known about moral elevation and moral outrage. Yet, their separate strands of research suggest that both moral elevation and moral outrage are promising emotions for promoting prosocial responses. Chapters 1 and 2 are theoretical chapters. Chapter 1 reviews the literatures on prosociality, moral emotions, and the effects of moral emotions on prosociality. Chapter 2 identifies and describes the key gaps in the moral elevation and moral outrage literatures. The key gaps in the literature and avenues for research include: (1) testing and comparing the specific and potentially distinctive prosocial outcomes of moral elevation and moral outrage, and (2) examining the specific component features of moral elevation and moral outrage, in particular focusing on the component features that have prosocial implications. Chapter 3 is a methodological chapter which reports three pilot studies testing the effects of emotion-inducing videos on feelings of moral elevation and feelings of moral outrage. The three pilot studies provide evidence for the effectiveness of the emotion-inducing stimuli used in this thesis.
Chapters 4 and 5 are empirical chapters which test the effects of moral elevation and moral outrage on prosocial outcomes, drawing on the appraisal tendency framework (Horberg et al., 2011). Specifically, to identify, for the first time, how moral elevation and moral outrage may affect the same or distinct prosocial intentions and behaviours, Chapters 4 and 5 report four studies testing the joint and independent effects of these two emotions on different types of prosocial outcomes. Comparing their effects in an experimental design enables a direct test of whether they increase helping behaviours generally (across moral domains), or whether their effects are more nuanced and depend on the salience of their associated sociomoral concern (i.e., benevolence concerns for elevation and justice concerns for outrage). Specifically, Study 1 examines benevolence-relevant intentions in the form of self-reported prosocial benevolence intentions. Study 2 examines justice-relevant intentions in the form of prosocial political action intentions following an inequality. Study 3 examines benevolence-relevant behaviour in the form of charitable donations. Study 4 examines justice-relevant behaviour in the form of third-party bystander compensation and punishment following unfairness. Results provide support for the appraisal tendency framework. Specifically, moral elevation promoted prosocial intentions and behaviours when outcomes were relevant to benevolence concerns (Studies 1 and 3). In contrast, moral outrage promoted prosocial intentions and behaviours when outcomes were relevant to justice concerns (Studies 2 and 4).
Chapters 6 and 7 examine the component features, rather than the behavioural outcomes of moral elevation and moral outrage. Chapter 6 reports two studies that explore the relationships between moral elevation and moral outrage and the behavioural activation and inhibition systems. The primary aim was to uncover whether moral elevation can be conceptualised as an approach-oriented emotion. Past research has already demonstrated that moral outrage is an approach-oriented emotion (Harmon-Jones, 2007). However, evidence for whether moral elevation can be conceptualised as an approach-oriented emotion is mixed. Results of both studies provide clear support for the notion that elevation is also an approach-oriented emotion. Specifically, individual differences in moral elevation were related to individual differences in the behavioural activation but not inhibition system. Furthermore, an elevation-inducing video, as compared to a control video, increased an approach-oriented state, as well as prosocial motivation.
Chapter 7 is the final empirical chapter. Chapter 7 reports two studies that explore the effects of moral elevation and moral outrage on two specific component features - stereotyping and self-focus. Study 7 demonstrates that sympathy (but not elevation or outrage) instigates undesirable paternalistic stereotypes. Study 8 shows that guilt (but not elevation or outrage) instigates relatively more self-focus than other-focus. These studies provide support for the distinctive roles of elevation and outrage as bases for more unqualified prosocial responses than are produced by sympathy or guilt.
Chapter 8 provides an integrative discussion of this thesis, highlighting the key findings, the theoretical and applied implications, the limitations, and the future directions of this research. The primary findings of this thesis are that moral elevation and moral outrage may be particularly effective strategies for mobilising people to want to help others. However, their prosocial effects are distinctive and therefore the emotions should be used appropriately. This thesis informs and extends important theoretical frameworks including the appraisal tendency framework (Horberg et al., 2011) and the model of moral emotion prototypicality (Haidt, 2003), as well as the moral elevation and moral outrage literatures more specifically. The findings have direct implications for end-users including charitable organisations. Specifically, this thesis provides insights into the types of emotion-based interventions that may be effective for promoting prosocial action. Chapter 8 concludes with a discussion of important and exciting avenues for future research which include applying an intergroup framework to this research as well as testing the effects of moral elevation and moral outrage on prosociality among children and adolescents
The role of mobile-assisted language learning in instructed second language acquisition : a mixed methods approach to the integration of MALL in language skills training in the Federation Wallonia-Brussels
No full textDigital technologies have transformed several aspects and domains of our society, among which language, language use and literacies, but also foreign language learning and teaching. The use of mobile technologies to support language learning has been studied for a few decades in the Mobile Language Learning (MALL) research field. In parallel, governments have started to support the integration of technologies in school curricula with, for example, in French-speaking Belgium, the introduction of digital literacies in learning outcomes. Yet, we have little knowledge about actual MALL practices in secondary schools in the Federation Wallonia-Brussels (FWB) or about how mobile technologies can be integrated in usual teaching and learning practices. The present thesis uses a mixed methods approach to investigate the potential role of mobile technologies in Instructed Second Language Acquisition (ISLA) and presents the results of three main studies conducted from 2015 to 2020. The first part of the dissertation aims to frame the research in its context, at the intersection of different fields of research, and to explore the FWB educational system, i.e. the learning environment in which most studies are conducted. Starting with a look into the ISLA research field and a focus on the integration and use of technologies in ILL, i.e. the world of CALL (Chapter 1), we then investigate the more recent field of MALL (Chapter 2) and several key aspects which are exploited in the studies of the research such as mobile attitudes, affordances, the evaluation of MALL activities, and the use of self-produced videos in oracy practices. We finally take a more institutional perspective and look into the place of (mobile) technologies in L2 learning and teaching in compulsory education in the FWB (Chapter 3). After the literature review, we detail the methodology (Chapter 4) adopted in each study developed in the multi-phase design, describe the MALL projects and activities co-created with teachers and/or researchers, and present three research paradigms selected to carry out the studies, viz. a mixed methods approach, teacher-researcher collaboration and an ecological perspective. The practical part of the research first seeks to understand its context by studying teachers‘ and learners’ declared uses of and attitudes towards MALL (Chapter 5). It therefore presents the descriptive results of a cross-sectional survey, whose questionnaire was distributed among upper-secondary FWB language teachers and learners in 2016. Additional qualitative data provides information on the educational context in which MALL could be used. This mixed-methods study is followed by a thematic comparison of its findings with the results of three complementary surveys on CALL & MALL uses carried out with teams of researchers in 2015, 2018 and 2020. The second study (Chapter 6) analyses the integration of mobile technologies in language skills training thanks to a cross-case synthesis of the results of four case studies conducted in collaboration with several researchers between 2017 and 2019. The first case study focuses on the design and evaluation of a writing mobile DDL app (TELL-OP app) for informal language learning. The second one looks into MALL integration among pre-service teachers with the co-creation of a mobile treasure hunt (De Avonturen van Hergé) focusing on the practice of reading strategies in primary education in the FWB. The last two case studies aimed to design and evaluate teacher training modules (formation 2 temps 3 mouvements) relating to the integration of (mobile) technologies in the practice of L2 productive skills in the FWB. The second edition of the module allowed to gather additional data from learners on their integration of the tool. The final case study (Chapter 7) zooms in on the integration and use of a video discussion app to support foreign language oracy practices in secondary education in French-speaking Belgium. The MALL project was implemented by four groups of learners and their three teachers for one school semester. The analyses focus on (1) the activities implemented in the projects, (2) the teachers’ perceptions on the project and their integration of technology, and (3) the learners’ perceptions and the task implementation process from their perspective. The main results, presented in the final part of the thesis (Chapter 8), show that, while actual MALL uses in FWB language classrooms are scarce, task-based MALL can promote the use of contemporary pedagogies, support ISLA research principles and foster the development of learners’ digital literacies. They suggest that three key factors need to be considered to align the use of MALL with ISLA principles: the mobile tool and its affordances, the task(s) designed for the learning activity, and the teacher and its multiple roles. It is also concluded that mobile tasks can be exploited at various levels of L2 proficiency to develop receptive and/or productive skills in different learning contexts. Besides, the findings reveal that perceptions on MALL have evolved throughout the research period and are generally positive, especially after teachers and learners have experienced MALL projects and had a recurrent use of tools in their practices. Nevertheless, the analyses indicate the need to consider some potential obstacles to effective mobile technology integration in language learning: (1) learners’ and teachers’ lack of digital literacies, (2) teachers’ difficulties in accompanying learners in the implementation of mobile tasks, and (3) the little attention drawn to the development of digital literacies when performing mobile tasks. Overall, the results of the three studies speak to the importance of developing specific MALL teacher training and support to ensure the implementation of sound practices in the foreign language classroom.(LALE - Langues et lettres) -- UCL, 202
Integrating a virtual reality application to simulate situated learning experiences in a foreign language course
No full textImmersion through Virtual Reality (VR) gives the subjective impression that the learner has a realistic experience (Dede, 2009). The pedagogical potential of VR provides the means of enabling constructivist places of contextualised learning. This paper aims to examine the potential the VR application Mondly may have to maximise interactivity and aid learners in proactively experiencing empirical conversations that emulate authentic contexts. The research took place in an undergraduate course Italian I (A1, Common European Framework of Reference for languages), offered by the Cyprus University of Technology. The present study adopts a quasi-experimental design to evaluate the impact of Mondly on Italian learning. Digital material is incorporated into the lesson to promote contextualised learning. An experimental group is subjected to learning through Mondly whereas a control group is subjected to conventional lectures utilising the same material as the experimental group
‘So close, yet so different’ : reflections on the multicultural course of Slavic languages
No full textThe complexity of language learning may be expanded to learning the languages belonging to the same language family, for example, Slavic languages. This paper reports on the reflection-on action research aimed at the increase of learners’ multicultural competence and enhancement of critical thinking at the interdisciplinary, blended course of Slavic languages and cultures. The course organized in modules is implemented in Moodle. Course content is designed by the teacher; however, Slavic languages are presented by native speakers of these languages. Learners have an opportunity to get familiar with Slavic languages, history, and culture from the presenters’ perspective, what generally results in the increase of learners’ multicultural competence and enhancement of critical thinking. Learning experience is intensified through reflective learner logs, which serve as a knowledge-sharing medium and cognitive learning.peerReviewe
ColloCaid: a tool to help academic English writers find the words they need
Full text linkThis short paper summarizes the development of ColloCaid, a text editor that supports writers with academic English collocations. After a brief introduction, the paper summarizes how the lexicographic database underlying ColloCaid was compiled, how text-editor integration was achieved, and results from initial user studies. The paper concludes by outlining future developments
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
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