Cultural contrasts and commonalities in inspiring language teaching

Inspiring teaching is the kind of pedagogy that motivates pupils to study autonomously, in their own time, of their own volition beyond the classroom, and may be particularly important for long-term endeavours such as learning a second language. This study aimed to find out the prevalence and nature of inspiring English language teaching in the state school systems in two Asian contexts, Guangzhou, China and Jakarta, Indonesia, using an open-item survey which asked learners to nominate and describe inspiring teachers they had had in school. Seven of these teachers were then visited in their schools, interviewed and observed teaching in class. The response to the survey (n = 279) indicated that inspiring teaching was probably not common but when it did occur, learners usually recalled that the teacher had a wide range of qualities, though some systematic differences were noted between Chinese and Indonesian respondents. Cultural differences were even more noticeable in the observed lessons, suggesting that the teachers worked hard to ensure their practice was contextually appropriate. All the teachers evinced an intrinsic motivation to teach, indicating that this factor might underlie inspiring pedagogy wherever it takes place. We argue for more research on inspiring teaching to complement that on motivational strategies

Non-small cell lung cancer biomarkers: Discovery using mab proteomics.

Background: A challenge in the treatment of lung cancer is the lack of early, pre-symptomatic diagnosis. Here, we describe the application of monoclonal antibody proteomics approach to profile the natural plasma proteome for the discovery of lung cancer biomarkers. Methods: We produced large monoclonal antibody (mAb) libraries directed against the natural form of complex mixtures of protein antigens present in the plasma of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Lung cancer specific biomarkers in the plasma were detected via high throughput ELISA with mAbs. Antigen identification and specificity of the selected antibodies was determined using immunoprecipitation followed by mass spectrometric analysis. The presence of the biomarkers in non-small cell lung cancer tissues was validated by immunohistochemistry. Results: Differential profiling of plasma proteomes of four clinical collections, totalling 301 patients with lung cancer and 235 healthy controls, identified twenty four monoclonal antibodies recognizing protein biomarkers specific for NSCLC. The majority of the selected mAbs detect antigens present in non-small cell lung cancer cells in-situ. Our study confirms previously reported circumstantial evidences for the association with lung cancer for four of the identified biomarkers and provides an independent validation in larger multi-centric clinical collection for the association of their plasma concentrations to the presence of lung cancer. Multivariate analysis of the biomarker results generated with one of these collections (214 NSCLC cases of which 128 in stage I and 169 healthy controls) yielded a five biomarkers classifier that could discriminate NSCLC cases from healthy controls with 77% sensitivity and 87% specificity. The performance of the classifier was validated in an independent collection and combination with well known a NSCLC biomarkers showed additive effect and combined performance of 84 % sensitivity at 95 % specificity. Conclusions: Using the mAb proteomics approach we have identified a panel of monoclonal antibodies associated with specific protein biomarkers that could be readily transferred to a simple screening test for the early detection of non-small cell lung cancer

Introduction: Exploratory Practice: Explorations in language teacher education and continuing professional development

This chapter introduces the theoretical concepts of Exploratory Practice. These include working for quality of life, understanding, puzzlement, collegiality, mutual development, sustainability and continuity, and integrating research into pedagogy. The Introduction gives an overview of the chapters contained in the volume, each of which applies one or more of these principles to practice, and thus develops the theoretical impact of Exploratory Practice