Another Look at Norris and Ortega (2000)

Since Norris and Ortega’s (2000) seminal work on the effectiveness of second language instruction, there has been a proliferation of meta-analyses in the field of applied linguistics. Subsequent meta-analysts, however, have uncritically followed the methodological choices made by Norris and Ortega. This paper suggests a critical reevaluation of the methodological procedures underlying the Norris and Ortega (2000) meta-analysis. I reexamined their procedures, and reassessed the 49 unique samples they used in their meta-analysis. In doing so, I identified three key methodological limitations with the study, pertaining, respectively, to (a) the data collection procedure, (b) the coding system, and (c) the statistical analysis. I argue that the lack of data quality inherent in the primary studies, the oversimplified coding scheme, and the inappropriate use of effect size statistics combine to compromise the validity of the conclusions Norris and Ortega have drawn from their meta-analysis. I subsequently provide alternative procedures which may yield a more empirically sound research synthesis, recommending, for future meta-analysts, the “best evidence synthesis‟ approach where conclusions are drawn from combining quantitative and qualitative analyses

The moderating role of socioeconomic status on motivation of adolescents’ foreign language learning strategy use

Previous research has amply established the link between motivation and learning strategy with regards to language learning. However, there have been few investigations into the role of socioeconomic status (SES) in second or foreign language learning. Using questionnaire data on an 8th grade cohort (N ¼ 203, female ¼ 110) from a large urban community in South Korea, we investigated SES as a moderator of the relationship between motivational orientation and language learning strategy use among adolescent students. A series of hierarchical linear models provided empirical evidence that, when drawing only on intrinsic motivation, low-SES adolescents tended to make relatively high use of social strategies. High-SES students, on the other hand, generally showed higher levels of effort, mastery goal orientation, and internal control, and they made greater use of cognitive, metacognitive, compensatory, and social strategies. These findings suggest that an adolescent's SES does affect the relationship between motivation and the use of various language learning strategies; they also suggest the need for greater fostering of low-SES students who are learning foreign languages

A Reading and Writing Placement Test: Design, Evaluation, and Analysis

Placement tests, along with the growing interest in their validation, have become increasingly important in English as a Second Language programs. To this end, the present paper illustrates procedures in designing a placement test and using it to evaluate students’ language ability by means of statistical analysis. 29 participants from three proficiency levels (beginning, intermediate, and advanced) took reading and writing placement test sections. Students’ performance at each proficiency level was analyzed separately and compared across proficiency levels. In addition, analyses of responses on a survey revealed a relationship between language learning attitudes and behaviors exhibited by the participants and their performance on the placement test. Through close examination of the process of placement test design, evaluation, and analysis, this paper provides practical guidelines for reading and writing placement testing

RECONSTRUCTION OF SOCIAL SCIENCE AND HUMANITIES THROUGH NARRATIVE

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present new directions and research strategies through critical analysis of the academic tendencies of existing social science and humanities. The narrative theory of human experience is adopted as a theoretical rationale for critical analysing existing social sciences and humanities. Since the 1970s and 1980s, the academic tendencies of the humanities and social sciences have been transformed into the narrative turn. We focus on the new integrity of humanities and social sciences in light of the narrative theory that approaches the totality of human life. The narrative theory for academic inquiry makes use of the position of Bruner, Polkinghorne, Ricoeur Methodology: We reviewed the literature related to the research topic and took an integrated approach to the philosophical analysis of core claims. Main Findings: As a result, the narrative theory has a characteristic approach to human life and experience as a whole, and it is possible to integrate by narrative ways of knowing. Implications/Applications: Based on this narrative theory, existing humanities and social sciences need to be reconstructed into narrative science. And a narrative method or narrative inquiry is useful as its specific inquiry method. As a narrative science, humanities and social sciences can be implemented by the integration of human experience and narrative epistemology. It has the advantage of integrating the atomized sub-sciences into the narrative of human experience according to this new method. Also, in-depth research on concrete exploration strategies is expected in the future

Another Look at Norris and Ortega (2000)

Since Norris and Ortega’s (2000) seminal work on the effectiveness of second language instruction, there has been a proliferation of meta-analyses in the field of applied linguistics. Subsequent meta-analysts, however, have uncritically followed the methodological choices made by Norris and Ortega. This paper suggests a critical reevaluation of the methodological procedures underlying the Norris and Ortega (2000) meta-analysis. I reexamined their procedures, and reassessed the 49 unique samples they used in their meta-analysis. In doing so, I identified three key methodological limitations with the study, pertaining, respectively, to (a) the data collection procedure, (b) the coding system, and (c) the statistical analysis. I argue that the lack of data quality inherent in the primary studies, the oversimplified coding scheme, and the inappropriate use of effect size statistics combine to compromise the validity of the conclusions Norris and Ortega have drawn from their meta-analysis. I subsequently provide alternative procedures which may yield a more empirically sound research synthesis, recommending, for future meta-analysts, the “best evidence synthesis‟ approach where conclusions are drawn from combining quantitative and qualitative analyses

Written Corrective Feedback as a Means to Validate the Selective Fossilization Hypothesis: Issues to Consider

Since Selinker (1972) coined the term fossilization to characterize the phenomenon in which second language (L2) learners cease to progress in the acquisition process, much effort (e.g., Bates & MacWhinney, 1981; Krashen, 1981, cited in Han & Odlin, 2006) has been made to research instances of such premature stabilization of deviant L2 forms both within and across learners. Nonetheless, as Birdsong (2003, cited in Han & Odlin, 2006) aptly points out, the term has been (mis)used by many simply as a “catch-all” term, i.e., a handy metaphor for describing any lack of progress in L2 learning, regardless of its nature. It is therefore not surprising that little has been achieved as far as the development of a comprehensive analytic model throughout almost forty years of fossilization research. Against this background, Han (2009) proposes the Selective Fossilization Hypothesis (SFH), seeking to account for the fossilizability of target L2 structures through establishing: (1) empirically operationalizable variables (i.e., first language (L1) markedness and L2 input robustness) and subvariables (i.e., frequency and variability); (2) a first-of-its-kind analytiical model of fossilization, whose “boundary conditions” still require further investigation

Mechanisms of Membrane Curvature Generation in Membrane Traffic

During the vesicular trafficking process, cellular membranes undergo dynamic morphological changes, in particular at the vesicle generation and fusion steps. Changes in membrane shape are regulated by small GTPases, coat proteins and other accessory proteins, such as BAR domain-containing proteins. In addition, membrane deformation entails changes in the lipid composition as well as asymmetric distribution of lipids over the two leaflets of the membrane bilayer. Given that P4-ATPases, which catalyze unidirectional flipping of lipid molecules from the exoplasmic to the cytoplasmic leaflets of the bilayer, are crucial for the trafficking of proteins in the secretory and endocytic pathways, changes in the lipid composition are involved in the vesicular trafficking process. Membrane remodeling is under complex regulation that involves the composition and distribution of lipids as well as assembly of proteins

ATPase reaction cycle of P4-ATPases affects their transport from the endoplasmic reticulum

P4‐ATPases belonging to the P‐type ATPase superfamily mediate active transport of phospholipids across cellular membranes. Most P4‐ATPases, except ATP9A and ATP9B proteins, form heteromeric complexes with CDC50 proteins, which are required for transport of P4‐ATPases from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to their final destinations. P‐type ATPases form autophosphorylated intermediates during the ATPase reaction cycle. However, the association of the catalytic cycle of P4‐ATPases with their transport from the ER and their cellular localization has not been studied. Here, we show that transport of ATP9 and ATP11 proteins as well as that of ATP10A from the ER depends on the ATPase catalytic cycle, suggesting that conformational changes in P4‐ATPases during the catalytic cycle are crucial for their transport from the ER