English Speaking and Listening Assessment Project - Baseline. Bangladesh

This study seeks to understand the current practices of English Language Teaching (ELT) and assessment at the secondary school level in Bangladesh, with specific focus on speaking and listening skills. The study draws upon prior research on general ELT practices, English language proficiencies and exploration of assessment practices, in Bangladesh. The study aims to provide some baseline evidence about the way speaking and listening are taught currently, whether these skills are assessed informally, and if so, how this is done. The study addresses two research questions: 1. How ready are English Language Teachers in government-funded secondary schools in Bangladesh to implement continuous assessment of speaking and listening skills? 2. Are there identifiable contextual factors that promote or inhibit the development of effective assessment of listening and speaking in English? These were assessed with a mixed-methods design, drawing upon prior quantitative research and new qualitative fieldwork in 22 secondary schools across three divisions (Dhaka, Sylhet and Chittagong). At the suggestion of DESHE, the sample also included 2 of the ‘highest performing’ schools from Dhaka city. There are some signs of readiness for effective school-based assessment of speaking and listening skills: teachers, students and community members alike are enthusiastic for a greater emphasis on speaking and listening skills, which are highly valued. Teachers and students are now speaking mostly in English and most teachers also attempt to organise some student talk in pairs or groups, at least briefly. Yet several factors limit students’ opportunities to develop skills at the level of CEFR A1 or A2. Firstly, teachers generally do not yet have sufficient confidence, understanding or competence to introduce effective teaching or assessment practices at CEFR A1-A2. In English lessons, students generally make short, predictable utterances or recite texts. No lessons were observed in which students had an opportunity to develop or demonstrate language functions at CEFR A1-A2. Secondly, teachers acknowledge a washback effect from final examinations, agreeing that inclusion of marks for speaking and listening would ensure teachers and students took these skills more seriously during lesson time. Thirdly, almost two thirds of secondary students achieve no CEFR level, suggesting many enter and some leave secondary education with limited communicative English language skills. One possible contributor to this may be that almost half (43%) of the ELT population are only at the target level for students (CEFR A2) themselves, whilst approximately one in ten teachers (12%) do not achieve the student target (being at A1 or below). Fourthly, the Bangladesh curriculum student competency statements are generic and broad, providing little support to the development of teaching or assessment practices. The introduction and development of effective teaching and assessment strategies at CEFR A1-A2 requires a profound shift in teachers’ understanding and practice. We recommend that: 1. Future sector wide programmes provide sustained support to the develop teachers' competence in teaching and assessment of speaking and listening skills at CEFR A1-A2 2. Options are explored for introducing assessment of these skills in terminal examinations 3. Mechanisms are identified for improving teachers own speaking and listening skills 4. Student competency statements within the Bangladesh curriculum are revised to provide more guidance to teachers and students

Halogen chemistry reduces tropospheric O3 radiative forcing

Tropospheric ozone (O3) is a global warming gas, however the lack of a firm observational record since the preindustrial period means that estimates of its radiative forcing (RFTO3) rely on model calculations. Recent observational evidence shows that halogens are pervasive in the troposphere and need to be represented in chemistry-transport models for an accurate simulation of present-day O3. Using the GEOS-Chem model we show that tropospheric halogen chemistry is more active in the present-day than in the pre-industrial. This is due to increased oceanic iodine emissions driven by increased surface O3, higher anthropogenic emissions of bromo-carbons and an increased flux of bromine from the stratosphere. We calculate pre-industrial to present-day increases in the tropospheric O3 burden of 113 Tg without halogens but only 95 Tg with, leading to a reduction in RFTO3 from 0.432 to 0.366 W m−2. We attribute ~ 40 % of this reduction to the ocean-atmosphere iodine feedback, ~ 30 % to increased anthropogenic halogens in the troposphere and ~ 30 % to increased bromine flux from the stratosphere. This reduction of RFTO3 (0.066 W m−2) is greater than that from stratospheric ozone (~ 0.05 W m−2). Estimates of RFTO3 that fail to consider halogen chemistry are likely overestimates (~ 20 %)

Clinical Placements: The Perspectives of UK Physiotherapy Students on How Prepared they were by their University for their First Clinical Placements: an example of one HEI

Background. Clinical placements are an integral component of physiotherapy education as they give physiotherapy students the opportunity to apply their academic knowledge and skills and at the same time universities aim to provide an education that responds to the demands of practice settings.Objective. This study aims to investigate the perceptions of second year physiotherapy students on a range of aspects regarding their university’s education as a preparation for their first clinical placement.Method. Second-year physiotherapy students were invited to participate in a survey before and after engaging in their first clinical placement. Domains covered by the survey were: knowledge and skills, professionalism, communication, inter-professional awareness, and stress, coping and support.Results. The findings revealed that although the students felt prepared with regard to their anatomy, physiology, manual handling and treatment strategies they felt unprepared in patient record keeping, clinical reasoning, goal setting and communicating with families and carers.Conclusion. Universities can do much to ease their students’ path into the clinical setting and create a seamless transition from academic life to the world of practice. Possible ways in which this could be achieved are discussed

Influence of Soil and Rain on the Levels of Inorganic Anions in Amaranth Leaves from Selected Parts of Kenya

The aim of this work was to determine the level of inorganic anions (NO3-, Cl-, SO42-, PO43-, F- and I-) in the leaves of two species of amaranth (Amaranthus hypochondriacus and Amaranthus cruentus) planted in Kenya. The mean levels of inorganic anions, nitrate (NO3-), chloride (Cl-), sulphate (SO42-), phosphate (PO43-), fluoride (F-) and iodide (I-), in the soil from four study regions (Kenyatta University (KU), Bureti, Kisii and Elgon) of Kenya were quantitatively determined. The levels were determined using spectrophotometric, potentiometric and titrimetric methods. The mean levels of  Cl-, SO42-, PO43-, NO3-, F- and I- in soils ranged from 1146.54 to 2733.31 mg/100 g, 1821.60 to 2185.33 mg/100 g, 828.54 to 1111.36 mg/100 g, 1015.55 to 1910.66 mg/100 g, 66.95 to 79.77 mg/100 g and  8.00 to 12.57 mg/kg respectively. The levels of most anions in leaves of A. hypochondriacus and A. cruentus were not significantly different. The means levels of the anions in leaves of the two species indicated that Cl- ion had range of 503.74 to 673.81 mg/100 g, SO42- 701.61 to 955.17 mg/100 g, PO43 532.36 to 629.46 mg/100 g, NO3- 495.79 to 880.99 mg/100 g, F- 7.22 to 9.67 mg/100 g while I- ranged from 2.54 mg/kg to 5.26 mg/kg dry weight. The levels of all inorganic anions determined were found to be within the allowed daily intake (ADI) values. Based on the results of this study, it is recommended that leaves and grains from both species of amaranthus grown in most regions in Kenya may be consumed for nutritional requirements. The consumption of between 250 g and 300 g of fresh amaranthus leaves is sufficient to provide the required daily intake of all the anions considered in this study for all healthy individuals. Keywords: Amaranth, Anions, Amaranthus, Tonui

A high pressure investigation of the order-disorder phase transition and accompanying spin crossover in [FeL1₂](ClO₄)₂ (L1 = 2,6-bis{3-methylpyrazol-1-yl}-pyrazine)

A high pressure single crystal X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy study has revealed a similar mechanism for both thermal and pressure-induced spin crossover in [FeL12](ClO4)2 (L1 = 2,6-bis{3-methylpyrazol-1-yl}-pyrazine) and the concomitant anion order-disorder transition