Language Learning Motivation and Language Learning Strategies of Taiwanese EFL Students

[[abstract]]This study investigated the relationship between student motivation, both extrinsic and intrinsic, and learning strategies for English as a foreign language (EFL) students. Subjects were 46 Taiwanese undergraduate and graduate students of advanced EFL at a public university in the United States who were administered motivation and learning strategies questionnaires. Results reveal that total learning strategies were associated with motivational intensity, intrinsic motivation, and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation was associated with cognitive and metacognitive learning strategies, while extrinsic motivation was associated with memory and affective strategies. Compensation strategies were the most commonly used, and had little relationship to motivation. Social strategies had little relationship to either extrinsic or intrinsic motivation. Motivational intensity correlated moderately with intrinsic motivation, but had little relationship to extrinsic motivation. An appendix contains the survey questionnaire. Contains 42 references

Reclassifying the SILL: Validation Using Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis

For decades, the Strategy Inventory of Language Learning (SILL) has been extensively used in the previous studies on foreign/second language (L2) learners’ learning strategies, which have yielded a substantial amount of empirical findings in the field of L2. The conventional classification of the SILL questionnaire, however, has not gone without challenges, especially given the tremendous diversity of the EFL context. In this study, we revisited the SILL and reclassified the language learning strategies in this popular questionnaire. The data were collected in an EFL context in which a total of 282 Taiwanese senior high school students filled out the SILL questionnaire. Validity was the paramount concern during reclassifying and was demonstrated via exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmation factor analysis (CFA). EFA was first used to extract factors from the SILL, which helps to conceptualize the new classification. CFA was then performed to confirm the exploratory model. At the end of the study, the SILL was reclassified into the 6 dimensions which were labeled as: 1) Social Strategies, 2) Metacognitive Strategies (Type I), 3) Metacognitive Strategies (Type II), 4) Affective Strategies, 5) Cognitive Strategies and 6) Memory Strategies. Keywords: Language learning strategy, the Strategy Inventory of Language Learning, exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysi

Senior High School EFL Students’ L2 Motivational Configurations and Learning Outcomes: A Person-centered Approach

This study utilized a person-centered approach to explore senior high school EFL students’ motivations and their learning outcomes. Cluster analysis extracted four second language (L2) motivational configurations among the 922 participants: 1) the High Motive group which is characterized by high amount of L2 motivation, 2) the Performance-focused group which is characterized by low intrinsic motivation and a focus on examination scores, 3) the Socioculture-focused group characterized by low intrinsic motivation but an interest in the L2 culture, 4) and the Low Motive group characterized by low motivation. It was found that a good quality group was absent from this particular EFL context. The High Motive group and the Performance-focused group outperformed the other two groups in terms of the L2 learning outcomes. Integrative motivation emerged from the person-centered approach. Contextual factors such as the economic situation and influence of Confucianism were discussed in relation to the results. Keywords: Second language learning motivation, Motivational configuration, English as a foreign language, Learning outcomes, Person-centered approac

Transient Climate Response in Coupled Atmospheric–Ocean General Circulation Models

The equilibrium climate sensitivity (ECS) has a large uncertainty range among models participating in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) and has recently been presented as “inherently unpredictable.” One way to circumvent this problem is to consider the transient climate response (TCR). However, the TCR among AR4 models also differs by more than a factor of 2. The authors argue that the situation may not necessarily be so pessimistic, because much of the intermodel difference may be due to the fact that the models were run with their oceans at various stages of flux adjustment with their atmosphere. This is shown by comparing multimillennium-long runs of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies model, version E, coupled with the Hybrid Coordinate Ocean Model (GISS-EH) and the Community Climate System Model, version 4 (CCSM4) with what were reported to AR4. The long model runs here reveal the range of variability (~30%) in their TCR within the same model with the same ECS. The commonly adopted remedy of subtracting the “climate drift” is ineffective and adds to the variability. The culprit is the natural variability of the control runs, which exists even at quasi equilibration. Fortunately, for simulations with multidecadal time horizon, robust solutions can be obtained by branching off thousand-year-long control runs that reach “quasi equilibration” using a new protocol, which takes advantage of the fact that forced solutions to radiative forcing forget their initial condition after 30–40 yr and instead depend mostly on the trajectory of the radiative forcing

Clones of Ectopic Stem Cells in the Regeneration of Muscle Defects In Vivo

Little is known about whether clones of ectopic, non-muscle stem cells contribute to muscle regeneration. Stem/progenitor cells that are isolated for experimental research or therapeutics are typically heterogeneous. Non-myogenic lineages in a heterogeneous population conceptually may compromise tissue repair. In this study, we discovered that clones of mononucleated stem cells of human tooth pulp fused into multinucleated myotubes that robustly expressed myosin heavy chain in vitro with or without co-culture with mouse skeletal myoblasts (C2C12 cells). Cloned cells were sustainably Oct4+, Nanog+ and Stro1+. The fusion indices of myogenic clones were approximately 16–17 folds greater than their parent, heterogeneous stem cells. Upon infusion into cardio-toxin induced tibialis anterior muscle defects, undifferentiated clonal progenies not only engrafted and colonized host muscle, but also expressed human dystrophin and myosin heavy chain more efficaciously than their parent heterogeneous stem cell populations. Strikingly, clonal progenies yielded ∼9 times more human myosin heavy chain mRNA in regenerating muscles than those infused with their parent, heterogeneous stem cells. The number of human dystrophin positive cells in regenerating muscles infused with clonal progenies was more than ∼3 times greater than muscles infused with heterogeneous stem cells from which clonal progenies were derived. These findings suggest the therapeutic potential of ectopic myogenic clones in muscle regeneration

Impact of first-line protease inhibitors on predicted resistance to tipranavir in HIV-1-infected patients with virological failure

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Tipranavir (TPV) is a recently approved nonpeptidic protease inhibitor (PI) of HIV-1 and has been indicated for those infected with PIs-resistant HIV-1. However, in clinical practice, whether the HIV-1 from the patients with virological failure to the regimens containing first-line PIs remains susceptible to TPV/r may be questionable.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>To assess the resistance levels to TPV of HIV-1 from patients with treatment failure to first-line PIs, patients who experienced virological failure were tested for genotypic resistance of HIV-1 since August 2006 in National Taiwan University Hospital. Patients were enrolled for this analysis if their failed regimens contained > 12 weeks of atazanavir or lopinavir/ritonavir (defined as ATV group and LPV/r group, respectively), but were excluded if they experienced both or other PIs. The levels of genotypic resistance to TPV/r were determined by TPV mutation score.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Till May 2008, 21 subjects in ATV group and 20 subjects in LPV/r group were enrolled. The TPV mutation scores in subjects in LPV/r group were significantly higher than these in ATV group (median, 3 vs 1, P = 0.007). 95.2% subjects in ATV group and only 45% subjects in LPV/r group had an estimated maximal virological response to TPV/r (P < 0.001). The resistance levels to TPV/r correlated with the duration of exposure to first-line PIs, whether in ATV or LPV/r group.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Cross-resistance from first-line PIs may impede the effectiveness of TPV/r-containing salvage therapy. TPV/r should be used cautiously for patients with virological failure to LPV/r especially long duration of exposure.</p

Molecular typing of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolated from adult patients with tubercular spondylitis

Background/PurposeTuberculosis (TB) is endemic in Taiwan and usually affects the lung, spinal TB accounting for 1–3% of all TB infections. The manifestations of spinal TB are different from those of pulmonary TB. The purpose of this study was to define the epidemiological molecular types of mycobacterial strains causing spinal TB.MethodsWe retrospectively reviewed the medical charts of adult patients diagnosed with spinal TB from January 1998 to December 2007. Patients with positive culture results and/or pathological findings characteristic of TB were enrolled in this study. Spoligotyping was performed to type the Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates.ResultsA total of 38 patients with spinal TB were identified. Their mean age was 68 years, and their median duration of symptoms was 60 days (range 3–720 days). The lumbar and thoracic spine accounted for 76% of the sites involved. Thirteen specimens (from seven male and six female patients) were available for typing. Spoligotyping of these 13 specimens revealed three Beijing (23%) and 10 non-Beijing types (77%). The non-Beijing types included two EAI2 Manilla (15%), two H3 (15%), two unclassified (15%), and one each of BOVIS1, U, T2, and orphan type. No significant predominant strain was found in this study, and no drug-resistant Beijing strains were identified.ConclusionTB spondylitis was found to occur in older patients. Spoligotyping results showed that most of the TB spondylitis cases were caused by non-Beijing type Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Impact of Climate Drift on Twenty-First-Century Projection in a Coupled Atmospheric–Ocean General Circulation Model

Reducing climate drift in coupled atmosphere–ocean general circulation models (AOGCMs) usually requires 1000–2000 years of spinup, which has not been practical for every modeling group to do. For the purpose of evaluating the impact of climate drift, the authors have performed a multimillennium-long control run of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies model (GISS-EH) AOGCM and produced different twentieth-century historical simulations and subsequent twenty-first-century projections by branching off the control run at various stages of equilibration. The control run for this model is considered at quasi equilibration after a 1200-yr spinup from a cold start. The simulations that branched off different points after 1200 years are robust, in the sense that their ensemble means all produce the same future projection of warming, both in the global mean and in spatial detail. These robust projections differ from the one that was originally submitted to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report (AR4), which branched off a not-yet-equilibrated control run. The authors test various common postprocessing schemes in removing climate drift caused by a not-yet-equilibrated ocean initial state and find them to be ineffective, judging by the fact that they differ from each other and from the robust results that branched off an equilibrated control. The authors' results suggest that robust twenty-first-century projections of the forced response can be achieved by running climate simulations from an equilibrated ocean state, because memory of the different initial ocean state is lost in about 40 years if the forced run is started from a quasi-equilibrated state

Long-term results of intensity-modulated radiotherapy concomitant with chemotherapy for hypopharyngeal carcinoma aimed at laryngeal preservation

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The objective of this retrospective study is to investigate laryngeal preservation and long-term treatment results in hypopharyngeal carcinoma treated with intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) combined with chemotherapy.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Twenty-seven patients with hypopharyngeal carcinoma (stage II-IV) were enrolled and underwent concurrent chemoradiotherapy. The chemotherapy regimens were monthly cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil for six patients and weekly cisplatin for 19 patients. All patients were treated with IMRT with simultaneous integrated boost technique. Acute and late toxicities were recorded based on CTCAE 3.0 (Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The median follow-up time for survivors was 53.0 months (range 36-82 months). The initial complete response rate was 85.2%, with a laryngeal preservation rate of 63.0%. The 5-year functional laryngeal, local-regional control, disease-free and overall survival rates were 59.7%, 63.3%, 51.0% and 34.8%, respectively. The most common greater than or equal to grade 3 acute and late effects were dysphagia (63.0%, 17 of 27 patients) and laryngeal stricture (18.5%, 5 of 27 patients), respectively. Patients belonging to the high risk group showed significantly higher risk of tracheostomy compared to the low risk group (p = 0.014).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>After long-term follow-up, our results confirmed that patients with hypopharyngeal carcinoma treated with IMRT concurrent with platinum-based chemotherapy attain high functional laryngeal and local-regional control survival rates. However, the late effect of laryngeal stricture remains a problem, particularly for high risk group patients.</p

Association between amebic liver abscess and Human Immunodeficiency Virus infection in Taiwanese subjects

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Purpose</p> <p>Invasive amebiasis is an emerging parasitic disorder in Taiwan, especially in patients diagnosed with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Thirty-three Taiwanese subjects with amebic liver abscess (ALA) were examined and a possible correlation between ALA and HIV infection was investigated.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Among ALA patients, the proportion of HIV-positive individuals increased during the study period. ALA was the first major clinical presentation in 54% of HIV patients with ALA. Overall, 58% (14/24) of HIV-infected patients had a CD4+ count > 200 cells/μL and 82.1% (23/28) had no concurrent opportunistic infection or other evidence of HIV infection. There was no marked difference in clinical characteristics between HIV-positive and HIV-negative ALA patients except the level of leukocytosis.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>While the clinical characteristics described herein cannot be used to determine whether ALA patients have HIV infection, routine HIV testing is recommended in patients with ALA, even in the absence of HIV symptoms.</p