How Well Can We Predict Second Language Learners’ Pronunciation Difficulties?

Mid-20th–century scholars argued that second language (L2) instruction should be rooted in a comparison of the structural characteristics of the first language (L1) and L2. Their enthusiasm for a “scientific” approach to errors reflected the view, based on the contrastive analysis hypothesis (CAH), that learners’ difficulties could be predicted through purely linguistic analyses. Pronunciation seemed particularly amenable to this treatment. If teachers knew their learners’ problems in advance, they could presumably design curricula and activities to address their students’ needs. Although it soon became clear that many aspects of CAH were seriously flawed, interest in a linguistic account of L2 pronunciation difficulties has persisted. This synthesis of empirical findings from pronunciation research demonstrates that the enthusiasm for error prediction has been misguided, largely because of 2 erroneous beliefs: the assumption of uniformity and the assumption of equal gravity. The need for an alternative perspective promoting evidence-based teaching practices is demonstrated

On the Difficulty of Defining “Difficult” in Second-Language Vowel Acquisition

Hierarchies of difficulty in second-language (L2) phonology have long played a role in the postulation and evaluation of learning models. In L2 pronunciation teaching, hierarchies are assumed to be helpful in the development of instructional strategies based on anticipated areas of difficulty. This investigation addressed the practicality of defining a pedagogically useful hierarchy of difficulty for English tense and lax close vowels (/i I u ʊ/) produced by Cantonese speakers. Unlike their English counterparts, Cantonese close tense-lax pairs are allophonic variants with [i u] occurring before alveolars and [I ʊ] before velars. Each tense-lax pair represents a “phonemic split” in which members of a single L1 category are realized contrastively in L2. Despite evidence that English tense-lax distinctions are challenging for Cantonese speakers, no previous empirical work has closely considered the problem from the standpoint of vowel intelligibility across multiple phonetic contexts and in different words sharing the same rhyme. In a picture-based word-elicitation task, 18 Cantonese-speaking participants produced 31 high-frequency CV and CVC words. Vowels were evaluated for intelligibility by phonetically-trained judges. A series of mixed-effects binary logistic models were fitted to the scores, with vowel quality, phonetic context (rhyme) and word as factors, and length of Canadian residence and daily use of English as co-variates. As expected, the general hierarchy of difficulty for vowels that emerged (/i/ > /u/ > /ʊ/ > /I/) was complicated by large differences across phonetic contexts. Results were not readily explicable in terms of transfer; moreover, different words with the same rhyme were not produced with equal intelligibility. The most serious modeling complication was the sizeable inter-speaker variability in difficulties, which could not be accounted for by model co-variates. Although some difficulties were roughly systematic at the group level, it is argued that establishing a pedagogically useful hierarchy on such data would prove intractable. Rather, L2 learners might be better served by assessment and instructional targeting of their individual problem areas than by a focus on errors predicted from hierarchies of difficulty

Citizenship Education for Adult Immigrants: Changes Over the Last Ten Years

During the past few years Citizenship and Immigration Canada has significantly changed the citizenship process by modifying the application procedure, eliminating many citizenship judge positions, introducing a multiple-choice test, and restructuring the citizenship ceremony itself. In order to assess the impact of these changes on citizenship education, we located and contacted citizenship programs across the country. For comparison purposes we followed much the same procedure used in a study conducted for the Secretary of State 10 years ago. The current study identified far fewer programs available to adult immigrants than in the past. Furthermore, since the last study the scope of the content in citizenship education programs has remained essentially unchanged in some instances or has been reduced in others. Recommendations are made for policy-makers.Depuis quelques années, Citoyenneté et Immigration Canada a modifié considérablement le processus d'obtention de la citoyenneté en apportant des changements à la procédure de demande, en éliminant plusieurs postes de juges de la citoyenneté, en y ajoutant une évaluation à choix multiples et en restructurant la cérémonie de remise des certificats de citoyenneté. Dans le but d'évaluer l'impact de ces changements sur l'éducation civique, nous avons identifié des programmes de la citoyenneté de par le pays et en avons contacté les responsables. Four faciliter la comparaison, nous avons suivi de près la même procédure qui a été employée lors d'une étude entreprise pour le Secrétaire d'État il y a 10 ans. Notre étude a noté que le nombre de programmes mis à la disposition des immigrants adultes a beaucoup diminué. De plus, depuis la dernière étude à ce sujet, l'envergure du contenu des programmes d'éducation civique a demeuré essentiellement inchangée dans certains cas, et a diminué dans d'autres. Nous offrons des recommandations aux initiateurs de programme

The Isolation of a New S-Methyl Benzothioate Compound from a Marine-Derived Streptomyces sp.

The application of an HPLC bioactivity profiling/microtiter plate technique in conjunction with microprobe NMR instrumentation and access to the AntiMarin database has led to the isolation of a new 1. In this example, 1 was isolated from a cytotoxic fraction of an extract obtained from marine-derived Streptomyces sp. cultured on Starch Casein Agar (SCA) medium. The 1D and 2D 1H NMR and ESIMS data obtained from 20 μg of compound 1 fully defined the structure. The known 2 was also isolated and readily dereplicated using this approach

Assessing cognitive bias in forensic decisions: a review and outlook

In recent years, a number of studies have demonstrated that forensic examiners can be biased by task-irrelevant contextual information. However, concerns relating to methodological flaws and ecological validity attenuate how much the current body of knowledge can be applied to real-life operational settings. The current review takes a narrative approach to synthesizing the literature across forensic science. Further, the review considers three main issues: (i) primary research on contextual bias within forensic science; (ii) methodological criticisms of this research; (iii) an alternative perspective that task-irrelevant contextual information does not always lead to error. One suggestion for future research is outlined, which is that studies on contextual bias in forensic decisions should be conducted in collaboration between forensic scientists and cognitive psychologists. Only then can rigorous and ecological valid experiments be created that will be able to assess how task-irrelevant contextual information influences forensic analysis and judgments in operationally valid settings

Postpartum physical intimate partner violence among women in rural Zambia

ObjectiveTo examine the demographic characteristics and mental health of women in rural Zambia who experienced physical intimate partner violence (IPV) postpartum.MethodsThe present secondary analysis was conducted using baseline data from an impact evaluation of a maternity waiting home intervention in rural Zambia. A quantitative household survey was conducted over 6 weeks, from midâ April to late May, 2016, at 40 rural health facility catchment areas among 2381 postpartum women (13 months after delivery; age â ¥15 years).ResultsA total of 192 (8.1%) women reported experiencing any type of physical IPV in the preceding 2 weeks; 126 had experienced severe physical IPV (had been kicked, dragged, beat, and/or choked by a husband or partner). High levels of depression were recorded for 174 (7.3%) women in the preceding 2 weeks. Being a female head of household was associated with an increased likelihood of experiencing severe physical IPV (aOR 2.64, 95% CI 1.70â 4.10). Women with high depression scores were also at an increased risk of experiencing any physical IPV (aOR 17.1, 95% CI 8.44â 34.9) and severe physical IPV (aOR 15.4, 95% CI 5.17â 45.9).ConclusionFuture work should consider the implications of government and educational policies that could impact the screening and treatment of pregnant women affected by all forms of physical IPV and depression in rural Zambia.Postpartum physical intimate partner violence among women in rural Zambia was associated with being a female head of household and high levels of depression.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/146407/1/ijgo12654.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/146407/2/ijgo12654_am.pd

Authors' response

No abstract available

Using vertically integrated projects to embed research-based education for sustainable development in undergraduate curricula

Purpose: This paper aims to share the University of Strathclyde’s experience of embedding research-based education for sustainable development (RBESD) within its undergraduate curricula through the use of an innovative pedagogy called Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP), originated at Georgia Institute of Technology. Design/methodology/approach: This paper discusses how aligning VIP with the SDG framework presents a powerful means of combining both research-based education (RBE) and education for sustainable development (ESD), and in effect embedding RBESD in undergraduate curricula. Findings: The paper reports on the University of Strathclyde’s practice and experience of establishing their VIP for Sustainable Development programme and presents a reflective account of the challenges faced in the programme implementation and those envisaged as the programme scales up across a higher education institution (HEI). Research limitations/implications: The paper is a reflective account of the specific challenges encountered at Strathclyde to date after a successful pilot, which was limited in its scale. While it is anticipated these challenges may resonate with other HEIs, there will also be some bespoke challenges that may not be discussed here. Practical implications: This paper offers a practical and scalable method of integrating SDG research and research-based education within undergraduate curricula. Social implications: The paper has the potential to deliver SDG-related impact in target communities by linking research-based teaching and learning with community outreach. Originality/value: The alignment of VIP with the SDG research area is novel, with no other FE institutions currently using this approach to embed SDG research-based teaching within their curricula. Furthermore, the interdisciplinary feature of the VIP programme, which is critical for SDG research, is a Strathclyde enhancement of the original model

Polarization Smoothing on the National Ignition Facility

We have recently implemented polarization smoothing (PS) on one quad of the NIF laser. Specially cut KDP and DKDP crystals at 420 x 420 mm sizes were used to scramble the incident 351 nm laser polarization over the beam aperture. The intensity contrast deduced from the measured focal spot images for one of the NIF beams is in very good agreement with the expected contrast. KDP and DKDP crystals are known to produce considerable amount of transverse stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) when irradiated with large beams at {approx}1-2 GW/cm2. In order to measure the transverse SRS, we attached optical fibers on the side of one of the PS crystals. The KDP PS crystal showed > 1 J/cm2 side scattered SRS at irradiances of 1.2 GW/cm2. The DKDP (70% deuteration level) PS crystal showed significantly less SRS. Detailed analysis of the SRS scattering in the PS crystal is in progress