Designing and Piloting a Tool for the Measurement of the Use of Pronunciation Learning Strategies

What appears to be indispensable to drive the field forward and ensure that research findings will be comparable across studies and provide a sound basis for feasible pedagogic proposals is to draw up a classification of PLS and design on that basis a valid and reliable data collection tool which could be employed to measure the use of these strategies in different groups of learners, correlate it with individual and contextual variables, and appraise the effects of training programs. In accordance with this rationale, the present paper represents an attempt to propose a tentative categorization of pronunciation learning strategies, adopting as a point of reference the existing taxonomies of strategic devices (i.e. O'Malley and Chamot 1990; Oxford 1990) and the instructional options teachers have at their disposal when dealing with elements of this language subsystem (e.g. Kelly 2000; Goodwin 2001). It also introduces a research instrument designed on the basis of the classification that shares a number of characteristics with Oxford's (1990) Strategy Inventory for Language Learning but, in contrast to it, includes both Likert-scale and open-ended items. The findings of a pilot study which involved 80 English Department students demonstrate that although the tool requires considerable refinement, it provides a useful point of departure for future research into PLS

Parameterization of subgrid plume dilution for use in large-scale atmospheric simulations

A new model of plume dynamics has been developed for use as a subgrid model of plume dilution in a large-scale atmospheric simulation. The model uses mean wind, shear, and diffusion parameters derived from the local large-scale variables to advance the plume cross-sectional shape and area in time. Comparisons with a large eddy simulation of aircraft emission plume dynamics, with an analytical solution to the dynamics of a sheared Gaussian plume, and with measurements of aircraft exhaust plume dilution at cruise altitude show good agreement with these previous studies. We argue that the model also provides a reasonable approximation of line-shaped contrail dilution and give an example of how it can be applied in a global climate model

Adult beginner distance language learner perceptions and use of assignment feedback

This qualitative study examines perceptions and use of assignment feedback among adult beginner modern foreign language learners on higher education distance learning courses. A survey of responses to feedback on assignments by 43 Open University students on beginner language courses in Spanish, French, and German indicated that respondents can be classified into three groups: those who use feedback strategically by integrating it into the learning process and comparing it with, for example, informal feedback from interaction with native speakers, those who take note of feedback, but seem not to use it strategically, and those who appear to take little account of either marks or feedback. The first group proved to be the most confident and most likely to maintain their motivation in the longer term. The conclusion discusses some of the pedagogical and policy implications of the findings

Автодорожная сеть и проблема отходов

[For the English abstract and full text of the article please see the attached PDF-File (English version follows Russian version)].ABSTRACT The authors of the article systematize the processes of waste generation of the motor transport complex throughout the life cycle of the constructed and operated road. At the same time, variants of land, underground and aboveground lines, solid and liquid waste types, as well as factors affecting their quantitative indicators, and the features of the most waste-generating activities related to the road industry are differentiated. Keywords: road network, transport enterprises, construction, reconstruction, operation, waste.Текст аннотации на англ. языке и полный текст статьи на англ. языке находится в прилагаемом файле ПДФ (англ. версия следует после русской версии).Авторы статьи систематизируют процессы образования отходов автотранспортного комплекса на всем протяжении жизненного цикла построенной и эксплуатируемой дороги. При этом дифференцируются варианты наземных, подземных и надземных линий, твердых и жидких видов отходов, а также факторы, влияющие на их количественные показатели, и особенности наиболее отходообразующих видов работ, относящихся к автодорожной отрасли

Predicting language learners' grades in the L1, L2, L3 and L4: the effect of some psychological and sociocognitive variables

This study of 89 Flemish high-school students' grades for L1 (Dutch), L2 (French), L3 (English) and L4 (German) investigates the effects of three higher-level personality dimensions (psychoticism, extraversion, neuroticism), one lower-level personality dimension (foreign language anxiety) and sociobiographical variables (gender, social class) on the participants' language grades. Analyses of variance revealed no significant effects of the higher-level personality dimensions on grades. Participants with high levels of foreign language anxiety obtained significantly lower grades in the L2 and L3. Gender and social class had no effect. Strong positive correlations between grades in the different languages could point to an underlying sociocognitive dimension. The implications of these findings are discussed

The Catalogue for Astrophysical Turbulence Simulations (CATS)

Turbulence is a key process in many fields of astrophysics. Advances in numerical simulations of fluids over the last several decades have revolutionized our understanding of turbulence and related processes such as star formation and cosmic ray propagation. However, data from numerical simulations of astrophysical turbulence are often not made public. We introduce a new simulation-oriented database for the astronomical community: the Catalogue for Astrophysical Turbulence Simulations (CATS), located at www.mhdturbulence.com. CATS includes magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulent box simulation data products generated by the public codes athena++, arepo, enzo, and flash. CATS also includes several synthetic observational data sets, such as turbulent HI data cubes. We also include measured power spectra and three-point correlation functions from some of these data. We discuss the importance of open-source statistical and visualization tools for the analysis of turbulence simulations such as those found in CATS.D.C. acknowledges compute resources provided by NSF TRAC allocations TG-AST090110, TG-MCA07S014, and TG-AST140008. C.F. acknowledges funding provided by the Australian Research Council (Discovery Project DP170100603 and Future Fellowship FT180100495), the Australia-Germany Joint Research Cooperation Scheme (UA-DAAD), and high-performance computing resources provided by the Leibniz Rechenzentrum, the Gauss Centre for Supercomputing (grants pr32lo), and the Australian National Computational Infrastructure (grant ek9) in the framework of the National Computational Merit Allocation Scheme and the ANU Merit Allocation Scheme.and from the National Computational Infrastructure (NCI), which is supported by the Australian Government (award jh2). A.L. acknowledges the support of the NSF AST 1816234, NASA TCAN 144AAG1967, NASA ATP AAH7546 and the Flatiron Institute. J.C.'s work is supported by the National R&D Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea Grants funded by the Korean Government (NRF2016R1A5A1013277 and NRF-2016R1D1A1B02015014). P.M. acknowledges support for this work provided by NASA through Einstein Postdoctoral Fellowship grant number PF7-180164 awarded by the Chandra X-ray Center, which is operated by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory for NASA under contract NAS8-0306

The Physics of Star Cluster Formation and Evolution

© 2020 Springer-Verlag. The final publication is available at Springer via https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-020-00689-4.Star clusters form in dense, hierarchically collapsing gas clouds. Bulk kinetic energy is transformed to turbulence with stars forming from cores fed by filaments. In the most compact regions, stellar feedback is least effective in removing the gas and stars may form very efficiently. These are also the regions where, in high-mass clusters, ejecta from some kind of high-mass stars are effectively captured during the formation phase of some of the low mass stars and effectively channeled into the latter to form multiple populations. Star formation epochs in star clusters are generally set by gas flows that determine the abundance of gas in the cluster. We argue that there is likely only one star formation epoch after which clusters remain essentially clear of gas by cluster winds. Collisional dynamics is important in this phase leading to core collapse, expansion and eventual dispersion of every cluster. We review recent developments in the field with a focus on theoretical work.Peer reviewe