Foreign Language Anxiety in Taiwanese Student Interpreters

Although anxiety has been found to be a key variable in both interpretation performance and second language (L2) acquisition, there has been virtually no dialogue between these two fields. In order to bridge this gap, this study investigated Taiwanese undergraduate student interpreters’ foreign language (FL) anxiety using Horwitz, Horwitz et al.’s (1986) Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale. Results showed that (1) Taiwanese student interpreters did have FL anxiety despite the language facility expected from them; (2) the scope of their FL anxiety was slightly less prevalent than regular Asian L2 learners, as widespread as American L2 learners, and more far-reaching than European L2 learners; and (3) the level of their FL anxiety was slightly less severe than in most of the university students from several cultural groups with various L2s, except for American college students of Arabic and Russian. Implications for pedagogy and future research are suggested.Bien que le rôle déterminant de l’anxiété ait été démontré autant en situation d’interpération que dans le cadre de l’acquisition d’une langue seconde (L2), pratiquement aucun dialogue n’a été établi entre ces deux domaines. Afin de combler ce vide, la présente étude analyse l’anxiété liée à l’usage d’une langue étrangère (LE) chez des étudiants en interprétariat de Taïwan au cours de leurs premières années universitaires. La mesure de l’anxiété est fondée sur l’échelle d’anxiété en classe de langue étrangère mise au point par Horwitz, Horwitz et al. (1986). Les résultats ont révélé : a) que malgré leur aptitude pour les langues, qui était attendue, ces étudiants éprouvaient une anxiété liée à l’usage d’une LE ; b) que la prévalence de cette anxiété était lègèrement moins importante que chez des apprenants asiatiques en L2, aussi importante que chez des apprenants américains en L2 et beaucoup plus importante que chez les apprenants européens en L2 ; c) que leur anxiété était légèrement moins intense que chez la plupart des étudiants d’appartenances culturelles diverses, toutes langues cibles confondues, à l’exception des étudiants américains de l’arabe et du russe. Enfin, la présente étude discute des implications pédagogiques de ces résultats et propose des orientations de recherches futures

Foreign Language Anxiety and Student Interpreters’ Learning Outcomes: Implications for the Theory and Measurement of Interpretation Learning Anxiety

Although anxiety has been documented as an important variable in both interpretation performance and second language acquisition, there has been virtually no research on the interconnections between the anxiety reactions induced by these two cross-linguistic / cultural endeavors. A review of the literature on anxiety and interpretation performance finds that most of the existing studies have treated the anxiety induced by interpretation as a transfer of other general types of anxieties, such as trait anxiety, without considering the probable role of second language anxiety in interpretation performance. In order to determine the role of foreign language anxiety in 213 Chinese-English interpretation students’ learning outcomes, which were indexed by the participants’ mid-term exam scores and semester grades, this study employed Spielberger’s (1983) Trait Anxiety Inventory to measure the students’ trait anxiety, while utilizing Horwitz, Horwitz et al.’s (1986) Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) to measure the participants’ foreign language anxiety. Results of correlation analyses showed that a) trait anxiety was not related to either mid-term exam scores or semester grades, b) foreign language anxiety was significantly and negatively associated with both outcome measures, c) after controlling for the effect of trait anxiety, the relationship between foreign language anxiety and interpretation learning outcomes remained significant, and d) a vast majority of the FLCAS items had significant and negative associations with both outcome measures. Implications for developing a theory of and a measurement instrument for interpretation learning anxiety are suggested.Bien que le rôle déterminant de l’anxiété ait été démontré autant en situation d’interprétation que dans le cadre de l’acquisition d’une langue seconde (L2), peu de travaux ont été menés sur les liens pouvant exister entre les formes d’anxiété respectivement induites par ces deux situations, toutes deux translinguistiques et transculturelles. Les principales études menées jusqu’à présent sur l’anxiété en situation d’interprétation tendent à considérer l’anxiété d’un interprète comme l’expression d’autres formes d’anxiété, par exemple l’anxiété constitutive. Elles ne tiennent pas compte de la probable influence de l’anxiété due à l’utilisation d’une langue étrangère en situation d’interprétation. Le présent article fait état d’une étude qui visait à déterminer l’influence de l’anxiété liée à l’utilisation d’une langue étrangère sur les résultats d’apprentissage obtenus par 213 étudiants en interprétation chinois-anglais. Les résultats examinés étaient les résultats de mi-session et les résultats finaux. Deux échelles ont été employées, celle de Spielberger (1983 ; State-Trait Anxiety Inventory), pour évaluer l’anxiété caractérielle, et celle de Horwitz, Horwitz et al. (1986 ; Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale, FLCAS), pour évaluer l’anxiété liée à l’utilisation d’une langue étrangère. Les analyses de corrélation ont montré : a) qu’il n’y avait aucune corrélation entre l’anxiété caractérielle et les résultats d’apprentissage examinés ; b) qu’il existait une corrélation négative significative entre l’anxiété due à l’utilisation d’une langue étrangère et les résultats d’apprentissage ; c) qu’une fois l’effet d’anxiété de trait neutralisé, la corrélation entre l’anxiété due à l’utilisation d’une langue étrangère et les résultats d’apprentissage était toujours significative ; d) que la grande majorité des items de l’échelle FLCAS sont corrélés négativement et de façon significative avec les résultats d’apprentissage examinés. En conclusion, les implications théoriques et expérimentales (instrument de mesure) relatives à l’anxiété liée à l’apprentissage de l’interprétation sont abordées

Occupational Commitment Under Conditions of Social Change: The Case of Professional Marine Engineering in Taiwan

The thesis is concerned with investigating the area of occupational commitment to marine engineering of students from various levels of higher education in maritime institutions. From a general description of socioeconomic change and its relationship to the seafaring profession, the study focuses on the case of Taiwan. A review of literature on commitment demonstrates that commitment may vary as the social-economy changes over time. As technology changes, ships' officers, more specifically marine engineers, are required by shipowners to be educated to degree level. The emphasis in this study is upon the commitment to the shipping industry of young engineering students at university. The theoretical model established takes individual intentions, willingness to study, and occupational commitment, as the dependent variables while students' demographic backgrounds, personal needs and values are taken as the independent variables. The theoretical model is tested with the aid of data from questionnaires administered to a sample of engineering students from various levels of academic institutions. The SPSS statistical package, including factor analysis and chi-squares, is employed on the data analysis. One result is that traditional Chinese cultural values, including "studying is superior to all other professions", and the current entrance examination system for Taiwanese universities, predominate in students "willingness to study", which in turn, affects the occupational commitment of engineering students. Another result shows that the "willingness to study" of students in seafaring-oriented departments is not related to their "occupational commitment". Marine Engineering at sea is not perceived as being able to satisfy the higher level needs of graduates. To overcome this disparity, the job characteristics of ships' engineer officers need redesigning to create a more challenging work context for graduate marine engineers. If, for whatever the reason, the job of the seagoing marine engineer cannot be redesigned to satisfy graduate engineers then the only alternative is to recruit non-graduate seagoing engineers from five year junior colleges.National Taiwan Ocean Universit

A DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM FOR ASSESSING CONVEYANCE OPTIONS AND MODELING PASSENGER FLOW IN AIRPORT TERMINALS

This dissertation focuses on the use of passenger conveyance systems and modeling passenger flow in airport terminals. The successfully designed airport concourse must perform at a level that meets the needs of its users - the passengers. In this research, we propose a database design methodology that allows key conveyance statistics to be analyzed within specific locations across the airport terminal. Using passenger conveyance observations collected at five North American airports, the database enables airport planners, operators and consultants to assess passenger behavior and conveyance device performance. Results from this section of the research were in direct support of the Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP). In both vertical and horizontal mode choice analysis, two logistic models are developed to serve as predictors to examine the relationship between passenger characteristics and their choice of conveyance system and analyze the probabilities of a passenger choosing different conveyance devices in airport terminals. Our analyses through logistic models show that passengers tend not to use moving walkway with increasing number of rollers. It is important for airport planners to provide an appropriate level of service (LOS) for airport passengers. To estimate potential congestion and meet service-level requirements in a concourse, we develop a series of simulation models to estimate the occupancy of any designated area (or footprint) within a concourse. Specifically, factors such as the number of gates, flight arrivals, aircraft size and gate configuration are considered in simulation models. We identify significant factors that affect the congestion and establish a service level design standard matrix in the footprint area. We also introduce zones inside the concourse and examine how various diversions (concessions, restaurants, etc.) within the concourse and the capacity of departure lounge in each gate affect passenger congestion in each zone. Finally, we combine the database and mode choice models into two comprehensive concourse simulation models: (1) concourse with moving walkway (2) concourse with vertical transition devices (escalator, elevator and stairs). We use these models to estimate passenger occupancy and the resulting LOS. This research provides an understanding into how various concourse operation strategies affect when and how passenger congestion forms within the terminal

Structural Break or Asymmetry? An Empirical Study of the Stock Wealth Effect on Consumption

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether the stock wealth effect of consumption exhibits structural change(s) or behaves asymmetrically over business cycles. We first perform a general test of linearity for the behavior of aggregate consumption in response to changes in stock wealth based on Hamilton's (2001) approach. When a nonlinear relation is discovered, we move on to investigate the source(s) of this nonlinearity. We consider two types of nonlinearity: structural break and asymmetry. It is of interest to policy makers whether the sensitivity of consumption to changes in households' financial wealth shows a significant shift over time due to institutional and policy changes, and whether consumption is likely to decline more due to stock wealth shrinkage when the economy is in a downturn, as has been found in investmeconsumption, stock wealth, asymmetric effect, structural change

Canine Parvovirus Type 2

Canine parvovirus (CPV) enteritis is characterized by intestinal hemorrhage with severe bloody diarrhea. The causative agent, CPV‐2, was first identified in the late 1970s. CPV is a nonenveloped, linear, single‐stranded DNA virus with a genome of approximately 5 kb, and it belongs to the genus Parvovirus, together with feline panleukopenia virus, mink enteritis virus, raccoon parvovirus, and porcine parvovirus. An antigenic variant, CPV‐2a, identified within a few years after the emergence of CPV‐2, and another variant, CPV‐2b, began appearing in the canine population in 1984. In 2000, a novel antigenic variant, CPV‐2c, was first detected in Italy. This chapter focuses on the history, viral evolution, epidemiology, pathogenesis, clinical signs, diagnosis, vaccination, and prevention of CPV‐2

Septic Shock after Conservative Management for Placenta Accreta

SummaryObjectiveThe rate of placenta accreta has risen in the last three decades due to the increasing rate of cesarean section. Placenta accreta usually results in severe postpartum hemorrhage requiring massive blood transfusion and postpartum hysterectomy. Conservative treatment is an alternative in selected patients to preserve fertility and decrease postpartum hemorrhage, but the risks of conservative treatment have seldom been described.Case ReportA 39-year-old woman with placenta accreta diagnosed during cesarean section was treated conservatively. Persistent puerperal fever with leukocytosis developed during the postpartum period in spite of long-term antibiotic treatment. Evacuation of the retained placenta resulted in septic shock, which occurred immediately after dilatation and curettage. An uneventful recovery was achieved after use of strong antibiotics and fluid challenge.ConclusionAt present, there is no consensus about the optimal treatment for placenta accreta. Conservative treatment appears to be an alternative in selected patients, but the complications such as sepsis should be carefully identified and appropriately managed

Self-Limited versus Delayed Resolution of Acute Inflammation: Temporal Regulation of Pro-Resolving Mediators and MicroRNA

Mechanisms underlying delays in resolution programs of inflammation are of interest for many diseases. Here, we addressed delayed resolution of inflammation and identified specific microRNA (miR)-metabolipidomic signatures. Delayed resolution initiated by high-dose challenges decreased miR-219-5p expression along with increased leukotriene B4 (5-fold) and decreased (~3-fold) specialized pro-resolving mediators, e.g. protectin D1. Resolvin (Rv)E1 and RvD1 (1 nM) reduced miR-219-5p in human macrophages, not shared by RvD2 or PD1. Since mature miR-219-5p is produced from pre-miRs miR-219-1 and miR-219-2, we co-expressed in human macrophages a 5-lipoxygenase (LOX) 3′UTR-luciferase reporter vector together with either miR-219-1 or miR-219-2. Only miR-219-2 reduced luciferase activity. Apoptotic neutrophils administered into inflamed exudates in vivo increased miR-219-2-3p expression and PD1/NPD1 levels as well as decreased leukotriene B4. These results demonstrate that delayed resolution undermines endogenous resolution programs, altering miR-219-2 expression, increasing pro-inflammatory mediators and compromising SPM production that contribute to failed catabasis and homeostasis