Negotiation for Meaning Routines in Audio SCMC Interactions: An Expanded Framework

Negotiation for meaning, in response to instances of non-understanding, plays an important role in SLA. Meaning negotiation routines in face-to-face classroom interactions have been identified by Varonis and Gass. Smith expands the model to adapt it to text chat CMC environments. In the past decade, synchronous audio CMC has become commonly used for online language teaching, but its affordances are different from text chat CMC. Therefore, it is necessary to examine what meaning negotiation routines are in language learners’ oral interactions in this new online learning environment. In this study, participants were invited to complete two information gap tasks in which target lexical items were embedded to elicit learners’ negotiation for meaning and then they participated in a stimulated recall interview. Based on the analysis of students’ oral interactions in synchronous audio CMC, the authors propose two new possible stages in negotiation for meaning routines and demonstrate how different modes of communication can affect language learning online

Online Language Teacher Skills and Roles in an Audio-Graphic Conferencing Classroom

Many institutions and individual teachers are moving from traditional face-to-face classrooms to online teaching. Traditional classroom language teachers need to understand why online teaching is different from classroom teaching before they acquire new skills and explore new pedagogies for online teaching. This study aims to identify the differences between teaching online and in face-to-face classrooms, and explore what new skills and roles beginner online language teachers need to develop in order to become successful language teachers in online classrooms. Audio-graphic conferencing classrooms are usually a basic form of online teaching and the starting point for many face-to-face teachers to move to online teaching. This study collects data from an OU-Live EAP tutorial in the Open University UK. Four critical incidents were selected from an online tutorial and analysed through multimodal discourse analysis based on the Model of Instructor Roles by Berge (2005) and the Skills Pyramid by Hampel and Stickler (2005). A video-stimulated recall interview was conducted to elicit the online tutor’s rationale for his actions in the four critical incidents. The major findings of the study include: (a) three major differences between teaching online and in face-to-face classrooms, including technical differences, lack of non-verbal cues, and multimodality in online learning environments; (b) two suggestions for the Skills Pyramid on ‘dealing with the possibilities and constraints of the system’ and ‘online socialization skill’ (Hampel and Stickler, 2005); and (c) two suggestions for the Model of Instructor Roles the on pedagogical role and the technical role of online language teachers (Berge, 1995). Recommendations for online teacher training and future research topics are presented in the end

Occupational Therapy in Hand Rehabilitation

Department of Rehabilitation Science

An empirical study of the impact of internet financial reporting on stock prices

This study examines the economic consequences of internet financial reporting (IFR) in Taiwan. The results show that the stock prices of IFR firms change more quickly than those of the non-FR firms using Akaike’s (1969) Final Prediction Error (FPE) methodology. Second, the results from the event study methodology show that the cumulative abnormal returns of the firms with IFR are significantly higher than those of the firms without IFR. Lastly, the results indicate that firms with a higher degree of information transparency yield a higher abnormal return on theirstock prices

Conservación del Venado de las Pampas (Ozotoceros bezoarticus leucogaster) en los bajos submeridionales de Santa Fe, Argentina: un índice para monitorear factores de amenaza y su implementación en el período 1998-2009

La población santafesina de Ozotoceros bezoarticus, es la más pequeña y amenazada de Argentina. Su estado crítico requiere de un monitoreo continuo, y de acciones efectivas de conservación que sean direccionadas con el mejor criterio posible. En este trabajo se propone un índice de amenazas (IA) para un monitoreo periódico, siendo éste de fácil empleo, tanto para la toma de información a campo como para su análisis en gabinete y su interpretación. Se seleccionaron 8 amenazas directas o factores que las favorecen, y el área de distribución actual fue grillada con 29 celdas de 25 km2. Cada celda posee su propio IA, indicando finalmente qué celda está más afectada por factores de amenaza que otras. Se implementó el IA usando información de los años 1998, 2003 y 2009. Se encontró un aumento de celdas con IAs altos o muy altos entre períodos analizados. Respecto a la distribución de celdas con diferente nivel priorizado de IA, se observó que las principales áreas que presentan mayores presiones para la especie resultan las periferias, lindando a las rutas provinciales. Contrastando los IAs y la distribución recientemente de O. bezoarticus, se indica como prioridad: a) disminuir presiones en cuatro celdas (19, 20, 21 y 22) a fin de evitar una probable fragmentación de la población por presiones antropogénicas; b) trabajar sobre las celdas con Medio y Bajo IA (principalmente las celdas 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15, 16 y 17) a fin de que no se incrementen presiones a la especie; y c) trabajar en la erradicación de Sus scrofa en las celdas 7, 10, 11, 12, 17, 22, 26 y 27.Fil: Pautasso, Andrés. Museo Provincial de Ciencias Naturales “Florentino Ameghino”; ArgentinaFil: Raimondi, Vanina Belén. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales “Bernardino Rivadavia”; ArgentinaFil: Li Puma, María Cecilia. Secretaría de Ambiente y Desarrallo Sustentable de la Nación; Argentin

The Bereavement Guilt Scale:Development and preliminary validation

The rationale, development, and validation of the Bereavement Guilt Scale (BGS) are described in this article. The BGS was based on a theoretically developed, multidimensional conceptualization of guilt. Part 1 describes the generation of the item pool, derived from in-depth interviews, and review of the scientific literature. Part 2 details statistical analyses for further item selection (Sample 1, N = 273). Part 3 covers the psychometric properties of the emergent-BGS (Sample 2, N = 600, and Sample 3, N = 479). Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that a five-factor model fit the data best. Correlations of BGS scores with depression, anxiety, self-esteem, self-forgiveness, and mode of death were consistent with theoretical predictions, supporting the construct validity of the measure. The internal consistency and test-retest reliability were also supported. Thus, initial testing or examination suggests that the BGS is a valid tool to assess multiple components of bereavement guilt. Further psychometric testing across cultures is recommended

THE EFFECTS OF THE PANDEMIC CRISIS ON TOURISM. A QUALITATIVE SURVEY ON THE OPINIONS OF TOUR OPERATORS IN SICILY

The COVID-19 pandemic crisis has had direct effects on social relationships. Tourism activities are by definition linked to the interaction among human beings, beginning with a physical movement of a person from a habitually-frequented environment to one or more destinations. Any denial of mobility, therefore, negates the tourist experience. After briefly discussing the effects of the COVID-19 crisis on the tourism system and hospitality, this work presents a qualitative survey by means of a thematic analysis approach. The study investigates tourism professionals operating in Sicily, across different tourism sectors and in various segments of the market (cultural, luxury, nautical, rural, and slow tourism). The operators were asked questions about their experiences of the pandemic, with its negative impact, and their expectations and prospects. The abilities to adapt to the new normal and build resilience are often related to offering sustainable products and services, which are characterized by a more robust relationship with the territory and local economy

Craft and Virtue in Plato\u27s Early Dialogues

Ancient philosophers are preoccupied with the idea of craft (technê)—art, expertise, skill, and not infrequently translated as knowledge or science. The idea is often seen by ancient thinkers as the pinnacle of rational agency and offers them a vital paradigm for thinking about the world and our place within it. One longstanding tradition is the view that virtue shares important features with the sort of expertise involved in practicing a craft. In this thesis, I investigate the relationship between craft and virtue in Plato, focusing especially on the early dialogues. The overarching aim of this thesis is to demonstrate that Plato’s thinking about craft is central to his views on virtue, including how he develops particular virtues like wisdom and justice as the basis for political rule. In the first half of this thesis (Chapters 1 and 2), I present the ways in which Plato’s understanding of craft (and the diverse and wide set of examples that come to embody the idea for him) serves as a fruitful model of knowledge for developing the nature and structure of virtue, as well as illuminates key psychological features of the virtuous person. In the second half of this thesis (Chapters 3 and 4), I focus on another important way in which Plato relies on the idea of craft to think about virtue. This is in the context of his account of political rule. Here, I focus not on the idea of craft as a model of knowledge, but on how the sort of knowledge fit for political rule (e.g. wisdom, justice) relates to ordinary crafts, the latter represent the existing branches of expertise in various areas of human pursuit. I make the case that Plato understands the nature of political rule as an architectonic form of knowledge—a master knowledge fit to preside over ordinary crafts for the sake of promoting human welfare

Negotiation For Meaning In Audio And Video Synchronous Computer-mediated Communication

After the outbreak of Covid-19 across the world, video conferencing tools have been widely used for online teaching all over the world. In synchronous computer-mediated communication (SCMC), where text, audio, video, and many other semiotic resources are simultaneously available, a huge challenge for interlocutors is how they can make good use of modes for their communication. Different modes of communication afforded by different types of technology can affect the way people communicate, and thus affecting the process of second language acquisition. Therefore, this study focuses on meaning negotiation episodes and aims to explore the following two research questions: (1) How do students negotiate meaning in audio SCMC and in video SCMC? (2) What roles do multiple modes and semiotic resources play in meaning negotiation episodes in video SCMC? Four dyads of Chinese postgraduate English language learners performed two types of lexically seeded information gap tasks in audio and video SCMC environments respectively. Meaning negotiation episodes were identified for data analysis. Video stimulated recall interviews were conducted to obtain participants' thoughts during meaning negotiation episodes. Three types of data analysis were carried out, including: (1) an interaction analysis of all audio SCMC negotiated interactions; (2) a statistical analysis of students’ gaze directions during meaning negotiation episodes in video SCMC; and (3) a multimodal analysis of students' verbal interactions, gaze directions, facial expressions, and gestures. The three types of in-depth analyses have led to the important findings. The study has proposed expanded meaning negotiation routines specifically for audio and video SCMC. The gaze analysis discovers a statistically significant positive relationship between the amount of time interlocutors spend looking at each other’s video images and the success of meaning negotiation. The multimodal analysis has revealed different levels of multimodal communicative competence and identified a range of relationships between different mode(s) in video SCMC

Stress Promotes Drug Seeking Through Glucocorticoid-Dependent Endocannabinoid Mobilization in the Prelimbic Cortex

Background Clinical reports suggest that rather than directly driving cocaine use, stress may create a biological context within which other triggers for drug use become more potent. We hypothesize that stress-induced increases in corticosterone “set the stage” for relapse by promoting endocannabinoid-induced attenuation of inhibitory transmission in the prelimbic cortex (PL). Methods We have established a rat model for these stage-setting effects of stress. In this model, neither a stressor (electric footshock) nor stress-level corticosterone treatment alone reinstates cocaine seeking following self-administration and extinction, but each treatment potentiates reinstatement in response to an otherwise subthreshold cocaine priming dose (2.5 mg/kg, intraperitoneal). The contributions of endocannabinoid signaling in the PL to the effects of stress-level corticosterone on PL neurotransmission and cocaine seeking were determined using intra-PL microinfusions. Endocannabinoid-dependent effects of corticosterone on inhibitory synaptic transmission in the rat PL were determined using whole-cell recordings in layer V pyramidal neurons. Results Corticosterone application attenuated inhibitory synaptic transmission in the PL via cannabinoid receptor type 1 (CB1R)– and 2-arachidonoylglycerol–dependent inhibition of gamma-aminobutyric acid release without altering postsynaptic responses. The ability of systemic stress-level corticosterone treatment to potentiate cocaine-primed reinstatement was recapitulated by intra-PL injection of corticosterone, the CB1R agonist WIN 55,212-2, or the monoacylglycerol lipase inhibitor URB602. Corticosterone effects on reinstatement were attenuated by intra-PL injections of either the CB1R antagonist, AM251, or the diacylglycerol lipase inhibitor, DO34. Conclusions These findings suggest that stress-induced increases in corticosterone promote cocaine seeking by mobilizing 2-arachidonoylglycerol in the PL, resulting in CB1R-mediated attenuation of inhibitory transmission in this brain region