Le sentiment d'efficacité personnelle et l'apprentissage des langues

La théorie du sentiment d’efficacité personnelle (Bandura, 1997/2003) enrichit, d'un point de vue pratique, la dimension didactique et pédagogique de l’enseignement/apprentissage des langues. Selon Bandura, l’un des facteurs de réussite d’une performance est cette capacité à percevoir les compétences dont on dispose pour les mobiliser ensuite efficacement dans une situation précise. Dans le cadre de l’apprentissage des langues, l’apprenant possède des compétences linguistiques, mais c’est la mobilisation de ces dernières, par le biais d’un choix de stratégies, qui permet de réaliser la performance. L’enseignant peut favoriser l’accroissement de cette capacité de perception et de croyance à travers les modalités de réalisation des tâches proposées à ses élèves. L’objectif de cet article est d’illustrer deux sources d’accroissement du sentiment d'efficacité personnelle, à savoir : l’expérience active de maîtrise et l’expérience vicariante. Afin de mesurer le potentiel et les limites de ces sources, le compte-rendu d'une recherche-action, menée dans un lycée hôtelier de la Vallée d’Aoste en Italie durant le cours de langue et littérature françaises des classes de première et deuxième année, permettra d'enrichir la dimension théorique par un regard pratique et critique sur cette théorie.Self-efficacy, theorized by the Canadian psychologist Bandura, contributes to new perspectives on the pedagogical practices of language learning and teaching. According to Bandura, one of the success factors for linguistic performance is the capacity to perceive the skills we have to use in a precise situation. In language learning, the learner possesses some language knowledge, but it is the choice of appropriate strategies that allows this knowledge to be transformed into skills or performance. The teacher can favour this choice through the design of the tasks proposed to students. In this paper, we illustrate two primary sources of self-efficacy: mastery of experiences and vicarious experiences. In order to assess the potential and limitations of these sources, action research was conducted during a French course in a vocational high school in the Aosta Valley in Italy. The theoretical dimension of this paper is thus enriched by a practical and critical look at this theory

« Au commencement était l’émotion » : Introduction

« Dans les Écritures, il est écrit : “Au commencement était le Verbe.”Non ! Au commencement était l’émotion.Le Verbe est venu ensuite pour remplacer l’émotion. »Louis-Ferdinand Céline vous parle, 1957. Les récents colloques ou workshops sur les émotions dans l’apprentissage des langues affichent un intérêt actuel pour ce concept transdisciplinaire. L’apprentissage n’est plus uniquement analysé d’un point de vue cognitif, mais dans une perspective plus élargie où l’émotion a une influence non ..

Émotions épistémiques et créativité dans la formation enseignante : un duo gagnant ?

L’importance des émotions dans la créativité a été mise en évidence dans la littérature. Néanmoins, dans ce contexte, plus rares sont les recherches qui se sont intéressées à une catégorie particulière d’émotions : les émotions épistémiques. Ces dernières désignent tous les états affectifs émanant d’activités cognitives (Scheffler, 2010 ; Silvia, 2010) et notamment dans un contexte d’appropriation des connaissances (Pekrun et al., 2017). Cette contribution vise à évaluer dans quelle mesure ces émotions sont effectivement impliquées dans des contextes créatifs, et si elles le sont, avec quelle intensité. Des données ont été récoltées dans un contexte de formation à la créativité chez des futurs enseignants. Durant la formation à deux techniques de créativité, les participants ont tenu un carnet de bord dans lequel ils pouvaient rapporter les émotions ressenties (Botella et al., 2017) et répondu à des questionnaires mesurant les émotions épistémiques qu’ils avaient ressenties durant leur participation aux différentes techniques de créativité. Nos résultats suggèrent que les participants ont effectivement ressenti des émotions épistémiques durant des techniques de créativité, en particulier de la curiosité, de l’enthousiasme et dans une moindre mesure de la surprise. Les carnets de bord suggèrent que les premières émotions ressenties pouvaient être parfois négatives (telles que de la peur ou de l’anxiété) mais qu’au fur et à mesure de l’avancée dans la technique de créativité, celles-ci se transformaient en émotions positives telles que la joie ou l’intérêt.The importance of emotions, both positive and negative, in creativity has been highlighted in the literature. Nevertheless, in this context, few studies have been focusing on epistemic emotions. These refer to all affective states emanating from cognitive activities (Scheffler, 2010; Silvia, 2010) and particularly in a context of knowledge appropriation (Pekrun et al., 2017). This research aims to study 1) whether these emotions are involved in creative contexts and 2) if so, to which intensity. Data was collected during a course on creativity for future teachers. Participants were asked to participate to two creativity technics and to 1) keep a logbook to report the emotions they felt during these activities (Botella et al., 2017) and 2) to answer a questionnaire measuring the intensity of their epistemic emotions. Results suggest that participants actually experienced epistemic emotions during the creativity techniques. More specifically they felt curiosity, enthusiasm and, to a lesser extent, surprise. These results are corroborated by the logbooks, which further explain the emotional process felt in a creative context: while the first emotions felt were sometimes negative (such as fear or anxiety), these were transformed into positive emotions such as enjoyment or interest as the creative technique progressed

Synchronous timing of abrupt climate changes during the last glacial period.

Abrupt climate changes during the last glacial period have been detected in a global array of palaeoclimate records, but our understanding of their absolute timing and regional synchrony is incomplete. Our compilation of 63 published, independently dated speleothem records shows that abrupt warmings in Greenland were associated with synchronous climate changes across the Asian Monsoon, South American Monsoon, and European-Mediterranean regions that occurred within decades. Together with the demonstration of bipolar synchrony in atmospheric response, this provides independent evidence of synchronous high-latitude-to-tropical coupling of climate changes during these abrupt warmings. Our results provide a globally coherent framework with which to validate model simulations of abrupt climate change and to constrain ice-core chronologies

Synchronous timing of abrupt climate changes during the last glacial period

Many geographically dispersed records from across the globe reveal the occurrence of abrupt climate changes, called interstadial events, during the last glacial period. These events appear to have happened at the same time, but the difficulty of determining absolute dates in many of the records have made that proposition difficult to prove. Corrick et al. present results from 63 precisely dated speleothems that confirm the synchrony of those interstadial events. Their results also provide a tool with which to validate model simulations of abrupt climate change and calibrate other time series such as ice-core chronologies.Science, this issue p. 963Abrupt climate changes during the last glacial period have been detected in a global array of palaeoclimate records, but our understanding of their absolute timing and regional synchrony is incomplete. Our compilation of 63 published, independently dated speleothem records shows that abrupt warmings in Greenland were associated with synchronous climate changes across the Asian Monsoon, South American Monsoon, and European-Mediterranean regions that occurred within decades. Together with the demonstration of bipolar synchrony in atmospheric response, this provides independent evidence of synchronous high-latitude–to-tropical coupling of climate changes during these abrupt warmings. Our results provide a globally coherent framework with which to validate model simulations of abrupt climate change and to constrain ice-core chronologies

Viability and stress protection of chronic lymphoid leukemia cells involves overactivation of mitochondrial phosphoSTAT3Ser 727

International audienceChronic lymphoid leukemia (CLL) is characterized by the accumulation of functionally defective CD5-positive B lymphocytes. The clinical course of CLL is highly variable, ranging from a long-lasting indolent disease to an unpredictable and rapidly progressing leukemia requiring treatment. It is thus important to identify novel factors that reflect disease progression or contribute to its assessment. Here, we report on a novel STAT3-mediated pathway that characterizes CLL B cells-extended viability and oxidative stress control. We observed that leukemic but not normal B cells from CLL patients exhibit constitutive activation of an atypical form of the STAT3 signaling factor, phosphorylated on serine 727 (Ser 727) in the absence of detectable canonical tyrosine 705 (Tyr 705)-dependent activation in vivo. The Ser 727 -phosphorylated STAT3 molecule (pSTAT3Ser 727) is localized to the mitochondria and associates with complex I of the respiratory chain. This pSer 727 modification is further controlled by glutathione-dependent antioxidant pathway(s) that mediate stromal protection of the leukemic B cells and regulate their viability. Importantly, pSTAT3Ser 727 , but neither Tyr705-phosphorylated STAT3 nor total STAT3, levels correlate with prolonged in vivo CLL B cells survival. Furthermore, STAT3 activity contributes to the resistance to apoptosis of CLL, but not normal B cells, in vitro. These data reveal that mitochondrial (Mt) pSTAT3Ser 727 overactivity is part of the antioxidant defense pathway of CLL B cells that regulates their viability. Mt pSTAT3Ser 727 appears to be a newly identified cell-protective signal involved in CLL cells survival. Targeting pSTAT3Ser 727 could be a promising new therapeutic approach

The treatment response of chronically hepatitis C virus-infected patients depends on interferon concentration but not on interferon gene expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells.

International audienceThe current treatment of chronic hepatitis C is based on pegylated alpha interferon (PEG-IFN-α) and ribavirin. The aim of this study was to identify biological and clinical variables related to IFN therapy that could predict patient outcome. The study enrolled 47 patients treated with PEG-IFN and ribavirin combined therapy. The interferon concentration was measured in serum by a bioassay. The expression of 93 interferon-regulated genes in peripheral blood mononuclear cells was quantified by real-time quantitative reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) before and after 1 month of treatment. The interferon concentration in the serum was significantly lower in nonresponders than in sustained virological responders. Moreover, a significant correlation was identified between interferon concentration and interferon exposition as well as body weight. The analysis of interferon-inducible genes in peripheral blood mononuclear cells among the genes tested did not permit the prediction of treatment outcome. In conclusion, the better option seems to be to treat patients with weight-adjusted PEG-IFN doses, particularly for patients with high weight who are treated with PEG-IFN-α2a. Although the peripheral blood mononuclear cell samples are the easiest to obtain, the measurement of interferon-inducible genes seems not be the best strategy to predict treatment outcome