32 research outputs found
Anxiety and enjoyment among young teenagers learning English as a foreign language outdoors: a mixed-methods study
Purpose: The aim of this study is to explore how outdoor education can influence foreign language anxiety (FLA) and foreign language enjoyment (FLE) when young teenagers are learning a foreign language (FL). We applied a dynamic perspective to investigate if using English in an outdoor context would reduce FLA and boost FLE, leading to a stronger willingness to communicate (WTC) in the FL. Design/methodology/approach: The design was a pre-post intervention study with an experimental group (EG) and a control group (CG). Both groups engaged in fluency-oriented activities during a six-week intervention. The EG conducted the activities outdoors whereas the CG conducted them in their classrooms. A mixed-methods approach was applied collecting data through student questionnaires and group interviews with both students and their English teachers. Observations and recordings of participants’ speech were also conducted.
Findings: Statistical analyses indicated a small effect of the intervention for both FLA and FLE but the difference in gain scores between groups was found to be non-significant. The qualitative data revealed a strong appreciation of the outdoor experience in English.
Originality/value: Most previous studies have investigated emotions in FL learning inside the classroom. The current study investigates emotions in FL learning among young teenagers in an outdoor environment
Overview of Sun photometer measurements of aerosol properties in Scandinavia and Svalbard
An overview on the data of columnar aerosol properties measured in Northern Europe is provided. Apart from the necessary data gathered in the Arctic, the knowledge of the aerosol loading in nearby areas (e.g. sub-Arctic) is of maximum interest to achieve a correct analysis of the Arctic aerosols and transport patterns. This work evaluates data from operational sites with sun photometer measurements belonging either to national or international networks (AERONET, GAW-PFR) and programs conducted in Scandi- navia and Svalbard. We enumerate a list of sites, measurement type and periods together with observed aerosol properties. An evaluation and analysis of aerosol data was carried out with a review of previous results as well. Aerosol optical depth (AOD) and Ångström exponent (AE) are the current parameters with suf␣cient long-term records for a ␣rst evaluation of aerosol properties. AOD (500 nm) ranges from 0.08 to 0.10 in Arctic and sub-Arctic sites (Ny-Ålesund: 0.09; Andenes: 0.10; Sodankylä: 0.08), and it is somewhat higher in more populated areas in Southern Scandinavia (AOD about 0.10e0.12 at 500 nm). On the Norwegian coast, aerosols show larger mean size (AE � 1.2 at Andenes) than in Finland, with continental climate (AE � 1.5 at Sodankylä). Columnar particle size distributions and related parameters derived from inversion of sun/sky radiances were also investigated. This work makes special emphasis in the joint and collaborative effort of the various groups from different countries involved in this study. Part of the measurements presented here were involved in the IPY projects Polar-AOD and POLARCAT
Towards operational satellite based atmospheric monitoring in Norway SatMoNAir.
The SatMoNAir project [NSC contract nr. JOP.12.12.2] builds on a previous NRS 'følgemiddel'-project, called `Roadmap towards EarthCARE and Sentinel 5 precursor', within which NILU and met.no developed a strategy for how best to prepare themselves for future European satellite missions for measuring atmospheric composition, with respect to their national monitoring, weather predictions and research tasks. Three specific topics were considered particularly relevant: a. Aerosols ¿Climate effects in Scandinavia and polar regions: analysis of episodes with high aerosol loads for Klif reporting, b. the Use of satellite based ozone measurements in national reporting, and c. Satellite based Air Quality monitoring of remote areas for EMEP reporting. Results from the work performed are described in this report. The outcomes of the project have been utilized in support of the National monitoring of greenhouse gases and aerosols (see Myhre et al., 2012), the atmospheric ozone layer (see Svendby et al., 2012), and have been reported to EMEP
Aerosol decadal trends - Part 1: In-situ optical measurements at GAW and IMPROVE stations
Currently many ground-based atmospheric stations
include in-situ measurements of aerosol physical and
optical properties, resulting in more than 20 long-term
(>10 yr) aerosol measurement sites in the Northern Hemisphere
and Antarctica. Most of these sites are located at remote
locations and monitor the aerosol particle number concentration,
wavelength-dependent light scattering, backscattering,
and absorption coefficients. The existence of these
multi-year datasets enables the analysis of long-term trends
of these aerosol parameters, and of the derived light scattering
A° ngstro¨m exponent and backscatter fraction. Since the
aerosol variables are not normally distributed, three different
methods (the seasonal Mann-Kendall test associated with the
Sen’s slope, the generalized least squares fit associated with
an autoregressive bootstrap algorithm for confidence intervals,
and the least-mean square fit applied to logarithms of
the data) were applied to detect the long-term trends and their
magnitudes. To allow a comparison among measurement
sites, trends on the most recent 10 and 15 yr periods were calculated.
No significant trends were found for the three continental
European sites. Statistically significant trends were
found for the two European marine sites but the signs of the
trends varied with aerosol property and location. Statistically
significant decreasing trends for both scattering and absorption
coefficients (mean slope of −2.0%yr−1) were found for
most North American stations, although positive trends were
found for a few desert and high-altitude sites. The difference
in the timing of emission reduction policy for the Europe
and US continents is a likely explanation for the decreasing
trends in aerosol optical parameters found for most American
sites compared to the lack of trends observed in Europe. No
significant trends in scattering coefficient were found for the
Arctic or Antarctic stations, whereas the Arctic station had
a negative trend in absorption coefficient. The high altitude
Pacific island station of Mauna Loa presents positive trends
for both scattering and absorption coefficients
Aerosol decadal trends (II): In-situ aerosol particle number concentrations at GAW and ACTRIS stations
We have analysed the trends of total aerosol particle
number concentrations (N) measured at long-term measurement
stations involved either in the Global Atmosphere
Watch (GAW) and/or EU infrastructure project ACTRIS.
The sites are located in Europe, North America, Antarctica,
and on Pacific Ocean islands. The majority of the sites
showed clear decreasing trends both in the full-length time
series, and in the intra-site comparison period of 2001–2010,
especially during the winter months. Several potential driving
processes for the observed trends were studied, and even
though there are some similarities between N trends and air
temperature changes, the most likely cause of many northern
hemisphere trends was found to be decreases in the anthropogenic
emissions of primary particles, SO2 or some coemitted
species. We could not find a consistent agreement
between the trends of N and particle optical properties in the
few stations with long time series of all of these properties.
The trends of N and the proxies for cloud condensation nuclei
(CCN) were generally consistent in the few European
stations where the measurements were available. This work
provides a useful comparison analysis for modelling studies
of trends in aerosol number concentrations