Gamifying Impromptu Speech for ESL/EFL Students

[EN] This paper outlines an impromptu speech activity entitled “Dented Helmet vs. Spambot” intended as part of any introductory public speaking course. The activity is designed to overcome specific affective and cognitive challenges of ESL/EFL students, in particular Chinese learners, and is inspired by the principles of gamification (Kapp, 2012) with core gaming elements such as “freedom to fail”, “rapid feedback”, and “storytelling”, The activity requires “Rory’s Story Cubes” (a set of nine six-sided dice designed to spark creativity) and a special set of slides. An exploratory assessment of the effectiveness of our proposed activity was conducted on a sample of Chinese EFL sophomores enrolled in an international branch campus of a U.S. university in China, with 81 students completing our questionnaire. Overall, our findings provided some initial support to the effectiveness of our activity in terms of strenghtening students’ ability to communicate orally “off the cuff”, promoting students’ understanding of the role of storytelling in effective presentations, fostering students’ understanding of the major organizational formats used in organizing speeches, and increasing students’ awareness of their nonverbal communication during oral presentations.Girardelli, D.; Barroero, P.; Gu, T. (2016). Gamifying Impromptu Speech for ESL/EFL Students. En 2nd. International conference on higher education advances (HEAD'16). Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 18-25. https://doi.org/10.4995/HEAD16.2015.2431OCS182

Impromptu speech gamification for ESL/EFL students

Courses: Any introductory undergraduate public-speaking course, in particular in ESL/EFL contexts Objectives: This single-class activity is intended to (1) build students’ ability to communicate orally “off the cuff;” (2) foster students’ understanding of the major organizational formats used in organizing speeches; and (3) increase students’ awareness of their nonverbal communication

Patient Bias in Sweden

Increasing diversity in the healthcare workforce has brought to the foreground the importance of addressing phenomena of racism, discrimination, and bias against healthcare workers of diverse backgrounds. This paper aims to contribute to the growing literature on patient bias by exploring the experiences of migrant physicians practicing in Sweden using thematic content analysis of 17 semi-structured interviews and applying microaggressions theory. Four themes pertaining to different forms of patient bias experienced by the respondents emerged from the transcripts such as refusal of care, questioning language competence, questioning medical competence, and ethnic jokes/stereotypes. Four additional themes dealing with strategies implemented by the respondents to cope with patient bias were also identified, namely confrontation avoidance, collaboration with Swedish healthcare staff, self-disclosure, and active listening. The findings elucidate the need to encourage inclusion in the workplace by providing opportunities for continuous language training and collegial support

The theory of planned behavior and chinese esl students’ in-class participation

Chinese demand for American-style education is on the rise as many Chinese students seek opportunities to gain a true global education in China. However, importing US education style in China is challenging. American education emphasizes the importance of students’ in-class participation; however, Chinese students’ reluctance to communicate in class is notoriously strong. To explain such reluctance, scholars have focused their attention on constructs such as “willingness to communicate” and “communication anxiety” (Ellis, 2012). In our study we proposed a different approach to understand Chinese ESL students’ in-class participation, by using the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB; Fishbein & Ajzen, 2010). TPB applies to any human behavior under volitional control and has been successfully applied in several fields, such as health psychology, sports, and marketing. Our theoretical TPB-based model was tested by administering a questionnaire to 133 Chinese university students enrolled in a Sino-American university located in South-East China. Data were analyzed using partial least squares (PLS) path modeling method (Hair, Hult, Ringle, & Sarstedt, 2014). Overall, our findings provided some initial support to our proposed model. The model accounted 39% of explained variance in intention to participate in class. The stronger predictors for students’ participation were attitudes toward participation and self-efficacy. Gender also appeared to play a role: Female students reported statistically stronger intentions to participate in class. In our future research we plan to further test our model and expand it by considering the contribution of additional constructs, such as face-saving and communication anxiety

The Theory of Planned Behavior and Chinese ESL Students’ In-class Participation

Chinese demand for American-style education is on the rise as many Chinese students seek opportunities to gain a true global education in China. However, importing US education style in China is challenging. American education emphasizes the importance of students’ in-class participation; however, Chinese students’ reluctance to communicate in class is notoriously strong. To explain such reluctance, scholars have focused their attention on constructs such as “willingness to communicate” and “communication anxiety” (Ellis, 2012). In our study we proposed a different approach to understand Chinese ESL students’ in-class participation, by using the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB; Fishbein & Ajzen, 2010). TPB applies to any human behavior under volitional control and has been successfully applied in several fields, such as health psychology, sports, and marketing. Our theoretical TPB-based model was tested by administering a questionnaire to 133 Chinese university students enrolled in a Sino-American university located in South-East China. Data were analyzed using partial least squares (PLS) path modeling method (Hair, Hult, Ringle, & Sarstedt, 2014). Overall, our findings provided some initial support to our proposed model. The model accounted 39% of explained variance in intention to participate in class. The stronger predictors for students’ participation were attitudes toward participation and self-efficacy. Gender also appeared to play a role: Female students reported statistically stronger intentions to participate in class. In our future research we plan to further test our model and expand it by considering the contribution of additional constructs, such as face-saving and communication anxiety

“Crossing the Rubicon”: Understanding Chinese EFL students’ volitional process underlying in-class participation with the theory of planned behaviour

An extended model based on the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) was used to study Chinese English as a foreign language (EFL) students’ in-class participation. The model included the core TPB constructs (behavioural intentions, attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control/self-efficacy) and 2 additional constructs (foreign language classroom anxiety and face-saving) frequently discussed in the literature about Chinese EFL classroom dynamics. A total of 199 Chinese students enrolled in a Sino-American international branch campus were surveyed. The results of a partial least squares (PLS) path modelling analysis revealed that attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control/self-efficacy, and face-saving explained 46% of the variance in intentions to participate in English in class. Perceived behavioural control/self-efficacy fully mediated the negative indirect effect of foreign language classroom anxiety on intentions. Pedagogical implications and future directions are discussed for implementation purposes

“Learning lords” and “ink in your stomach”: eliciting Chinese EFL students’ beliefs about classroom participation

Drawing from the theory of planned behavior, we conducted a belief elicitation study to gain insights on what considerations guide Chinese English-as-foreign-language students’ decision to participate in English during class. We used four semistructured focus groups (in Chinese) to explore salient beliefs from a total of 34 Chinese university students enrolled in a Sino-American international branch campus. Results suggest that participants considered attentive listening as an integral part of their decisions about classroom participation, probably given their precollege education experience. They also perceived participation to be an effective means to improve English skills and to acquire a Western mindset, but also a frustrating practice that can waste class time and generate anxiety. Finally, through verbal and nonverbal communication, both instructors and classmates played a crucial role in affecting these students’ intention to participate in English during class. Ultimately, we discuss practical pedagogical implications as well as relevant theoretical implications

Treatment with combined dabrafenib and trametinib in BRAFV600E-mutated metastatic malignant melanoma: a case of long-term complete response after treatment cessation

Here, we report the case of a patient, diagnosed with BRAFV600E-mutated metastatic malignant melanoma M1a, who achieved a complete metabolic response after 7 months of treatment with the combination of dabrafenib and trametinib. After 31 months, the treatment was interrupted for patient’s decision. To date October 2017, 18 months after the interruption of the treatment with the combination of dabrafenib and trametinib, follow-up Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scans are still documenting complete metabolic response

The carbonara-gate. Food porn and gastro-nationalism

This chapter focuses on gastro-nationalism, specifically in relation to food porn. In general, by food porn we mean the overabundance of discourses around food, which has spread in a reflective way among the different levels and scopes of cultural production, as well as the practice of photographing food and sharing the image on social media. Among the other effects, this also reflects on the overflow of culinary formats shown on television. The idea took shape when the image of food, including its symbolic value and the aesthetics of the dish, started to acquire a greater value than its creators and the techniques of its preparation (Stagi in Food Porn. L\u2019ossessione per il cibo in tv e sui social media. Egea, Milan, 2016)