EFL students’ perception of the use of text-to-speech synthesis in pronunciation learning

English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners usually find speaking particularly challenging. One way to improve speaking skills in a foreign language is to speak with native speakers of the target language as often as possible. However this is not always easy in places where the population of speakers of the target language is scarce. Language anxiety is another major hurdle that EFL learners need to overcome. Being afraid of making mistakes, students tend to be reluctant to speak in the classroom. Teachers who constantly correct students' errors can intensify the students' apprehension. A key challenge in EFL learning is that how adequate help can be provided to learners with limited teachers' intervention. This paper reports the design of a study on the use of text‐to‐speech (TTS) synthesis in English pronunciation learning with the aims to alleviate EFL students' language anxiety, and to empower them to learn pronunciation with limited teachers' support. The study adopts TTS synthesis as a pronunciation model in exercises focusing on the supra‐segmental level. While coverage of the segmental level is not planned in the study, TTS synthesis facilitates learners to learn pronunciation of unfamiliar words by listening to the synthesized speech. The research question of this study is whether TTS synthesis can help alleviate EFL students' language anxiety, resulting in improving students' perception towards English pronunciation learning. Six one‐hour sessions on English pronunciation are planned for a class of secondary 3 students over a two‐month period. The instructional design is based on the John Keller's work which emphasises the motivation design. Data about the students' perception on English pronunciation learning will be collected in the first and the last sessions for analysis. Selected students will be asked for any perception change on English pronunciation learning in the study and the reasons behind in subsequent interviews.published_or_final_versio

1H, 13C, and 15N resonance assignments for the tandem PHD finger motifs of human CHD4

The plant homeodomain (PHD) zinc finger is a structural motif of about 40–60 amino acid residues found in many eukaryotic proteins that are involved in chromatin-mediated gene regulation. The human chromodomain helicase DNA binding protein 4 (CHD4) is a multi-domain protein that harbours, at its N-terminal end, a pair of PHD finger motifs (dPHD) connected by a ~30 amino acid linker. This tandem PHD motif is thought to be involved in targeting CHD4 to chromatin via its interaction with histone tails. Here we report the 1H, 13C and 15N backbone and side-chain resonance assignment of the entire dPHD by heteronuclear multidimensional NMR spectroscopy. These assignments provide the starting point for the determination of the structure, dynamics and histone-binding properties of this tandem domain pair

Supporting the family as a whole: a needs assessment study on Cancer Families in Hong Kong

Powerpoint presentationConference Theme: East meets West: Expanding Frontiers and Diversitypublished_or_final_versio

mHealth in hyper-connected Hong Kong : examining attitudes and access to mobile devices and health information among older Chinese residents

202202 bcvcVersion of RecordOthersThis work was funded by a grant from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.Publishe

The Effects of a Positive Death Education Group on Psycho-Spiritual Outcomes for Chinese with Chronic Illness: A Quasi-Experimental Study

Traditionally, death is a taboo subject in Chinese culture. However, very few studies examine the effects of death education program on the psycho-spiritual outcomes among Chinese patients. This article reports on a quasi-experimental study on Chinese patients with chronic diseases who participated in a psycho-education group on positive death preparation. Findings revealed that participants in the intervention group (n = 81) reported significantly greater reduction in fear of death, death avoidance, greater increase in death acceptance, death preparation, tranquility and spiritual well-being at immediate post-intervention than the control group (n = 79). It is also found that levels of death-related fear and avoidance in the intervention group were significantly lower at 1–month follow-up when compared with baseline. This study challenges the assumption that Chinese people are not receptive to intervention that addresses issues of death and dying. Implications of conducting death education program among a culturally diverse population are discussed

New insights into DNA recognition by zinc fingers revealed by structural analysis of the oncoprotein ZNF217

Background: Classical zinc finger proteins are extremely abundant and interact with DNA using a well defined recognition code. Results: We solved the structure of ZNF217 bound to its cognate DNA. Conclusion: ZNF217 presents a unique DNA interaction pattern including a new type of protein-DNA contact. Significance: This study deepens our understanding of DNA recognition by classical zinc fingers. © 2013 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc

Identification of PTK6, via RNA sequencing analysis, as a suppressor of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is the most commonly observed histologic subtype of esophageal cancer. ESCC is believed to develop via accumulation of numerous genetic alterations, including inactivation of tumor suppressor genes and activation of oncogenes. We searched for transcripts that were altered in human ESCC samples compared with nontumor tissues. METHODS: We performed integrative transcriptome sequencing (RNA-Seq) analysis using ESCC samples from 3 patients and adjacent nontumor tissues to identify transcripts that were altered in ESCC tissue. We performed molecular and functional studies of the transcripts identified and investigated the mechanisms of alteration. RESULTS: We identified protein tyrosine kinase 6 (PTK6) as a transcript that was significantly down-regulated in ESCC tissues and cell lines compared with nontumor tissues or immortalized normal esophageal cell lines. The promoter of the PTK6 gene was inactivated in ESCC tissues at least in part via hypermethylation and histone deacetylation. Knockdown of PTK6 in KYSE30 ESCC cells using small hairpin RNAs increased their ability to form foci, migrate, and invade extracellular matrix in culture and form tumors in nude mice. Overexpression of PTK6 in these cells reduced their proliferation in culture and tumor formation in mice. PTK6 reduced phosphorylation of Akt and glycogen synthase kinase (GSK)3β, leading to activation of β-catenin. CONCLUSIONS: PTK6 was identified as a transcript that is down-regulated in human ESCC tissues via epigenetic modification at the PTK6 locus. Its product appears to regulate cell proliferation by reducing phosphorylation of Akt and GSK3β, leading to activation of β-catenin. Reduced levels of PTK6 promote growth of xenograft tumors in mice; it might be developed as a marker of ESCC. © 2012 AGA Institute.link_to_subscribed_fulltex