English Classroom Interaction between Slow Learners and Teachers : A case study of slow learners at primary level in Suzhou district, China

English classroom interaction between slow learners and teachers in a primary branch of a private school was studied. It aimed at observing and finding the everyday situation in English classrooms of China. It specifically explored challenges faced by slow learners and their teachers in English classroom interaction. Possible ways to promote the present situation were discussed. A qualitative case study design was applied to study four children and a teacher of English. Partly participant observation was used to explore repair and evaluation/ feedback in teacher-student talk, group work and strategies applied by the teacher in getting students¡¦ attention back to study. In addition, background information about informants was obtained from interview, informal conversations, school documents and records. The findings indicated that the main pattern of classroom interaction in this study was a typical Initiation-Response-Evaluation (IRE) type in which students did not initiate talk or activities. Within this pattern, the teacher used to initiate problems in students¡¦ talk and apply different strategies to help to repair them. Teacher¡¦s evaluation/ feedback was given according to different situations and influenced children. Group work was arranged by the teacher frequently in this study, which had its advantages in developing students¡¦ problem solving skills and cooperative learning strategy, but in the meantime, had its disadvantage in communication and attendance. Based on the findings, recommendations were made. Teachers should leave more time for slow learners in classroom talk and provide elicitations when it is necessary. Besides, teachers should plan group work very well and put efforts to ensure its quality of attendance (Hassanien 2007). Furthermore, English classroom interaction pattern needs to be shifted more towards students and let them become active participants, for example, give them more open-ended and collaborative working tasks in class. Teachers may keep themselves be aware of information on slow learner teaching from different sources. School principals and Bureau of Education may arrange some workshops on slow learner teaching for teachers. Besides, teachers of English should keep promoting their own listening, speaking, reading and writing abilities in English. If time and economy permit, Bureau of Education shall send more teachers to English speaking countries for English language training courses

Local versus regional-scale characteristics of monsoon onset and post-onset rainfall over Indonesia

The austral summer monsoon onset and post-onset rainfall and their associated low-level winds are analyzed during the August-February season over Indonesia from 1979 to 2006 using surface and satellite products as well as reanalyses and regional climate model simulations. Onset date is defined using a local agronomic definition. Its leading empirical orthogonal function is found to exhibit a regional-scale spatially-coherent signal across "monsoonal" Indonesia, i.e. mostly south of the Equator, with an asymmetric temporal behavior, such that delayed onsets are more intense than early ones. Associated anomalies in rainfall tend to weaken quickly after mid-to-late November or early December, especially over islands, while they tend to persist over ocean. This weakening is shown to be associated with the evolution of distinct weather types revealed by a kmeans cluster analysis. In particular, late onsets—usually related to warm El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events—are found to be accompanied by an increased prevalence of a weather type characterized by weak low-level daily-averaged winds across monsoonal Indonesia and increased (decreased) rainfall over most of the island orography and southern and western coasts (seas). The regional model simulations provide evidence that this land-sea rainfall contrast could be associated with an enhanced diurnal sea-land breeze circulation

Diurnal Cycle in Different Weather Regimes and Rainfall Variability over Borneo Associated with ENSO

The interannual variability of precipitation over the island of Borneo in association with El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) has been studied by using the Global Precipitation Climatology Centre (GPCC) gridded rain gauge precipitation, the NOAA Climate Prediction Center (CPC) Morphing Technique (CMORPH) satellite estimated precipitation, the Quick Scatterometer (QuikSCAT) satellite estimated sea winds, and the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP)–National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) reanalysis data. Analysis of the GPCC precipitation shows a dipolar structure of wet southwest versus dry central and northeast in precipitation anomalies associated with El Niño over Borneo Island during the austral summer [December–February (DJF)]. By using the 0.25° and 3-hourly CMORPH precipitation, it is found that rainfall over Borneo is strongly affected by the diurnal cycle of land–sea breezes. The spatial distribution of rainfall over Borneo depends on the direction of monsoonal winds. Weather typing analysis indicates that the dipolar structure of rainfall anomalies associated with ENSO is caused by the variability in the frequency of occurrence of different weather types. Rainfall is enhanced in the coastal region where sea breezes head against off-shore synoptic-scale low-level winds (i.e., in the lee side or wake area of the island), which is referred to here as the “wake effect.” In DJF of El Niño years, the northwesterly austral summer monsoon in southern Borneo is weaker than normal over the Maritime Continent and easterly winds are more frequent than normal over Borneo, acting to enhance rainfall over the southwest coast of the island. This coastal rainfall generation mechanism in different weather types explains the dipole pattern of a wet southwest versus dry northeast in the rainfall anomalies over Borneo Island in the El Niño years

A role for tropical tropospheric temperature adjustment to El Niño–Southern Oscillation in the seasonality of monsoonal Indonesia precipitation predictability

We describe the seasonality in the variability and predictability of Indonesian monsoonal climate, dominated by the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon, and interpret it in light of theories of the development of the global ENSO teleconnection which explain the evolution of the response of the tropical ocean atmosphere to ENSO’s perturbation. High predictability during the dry and transition seasons, which coincide with ENSO growth, is expected from the coherent large-scale response to ENSO’s initial perturbation. As the tropical ocean-atmosphere equilibrates to ENSO, and ENSO itself begins to decay, its direct influence diminishes, and regional features associated with the delayed response to ENSO become more prominent. Consistent with this interpretation, in a preliminary observational analysis of station data over Jawa we find that predictability is high during the growth phase of ENSO. We also find that at these regional scales there may be more predictability than previously thought as ENSO decays. Finally, we show that a simple one-tier prediction system, i.e., a system where the evolution of oceanic and atmospheric anomalies is internally consistent, better captures the intrinsic coupled nature of the ENSO teleconnection, compared to a two-tier system where the ocean forces the atmosphere, but does not respond to its feedback

Domain choice in an experimental nested modeling prediction system for South America

The purposes of this paper are to evaluate the new version of the regional model, RegCM3, over South America for two test seasons, and to select a domain for use in an experimental nested prediction system, which incorporates RegCM3 and the European Community-Hamburg (ECHAM) general circulation model (GCM). To evaluate RegCM3, control experiments were completed with RegCM3 driven by both the NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis (NNRP) and ECHAM, using a small control domain (D-CTRL) and integration periods of January–March 1983 (El Niño) and January–March 1985 (La Niña). The new version of the regional model captures the primary circulation and rainfall differences between the two years over tropical and subtropical South America. Both the NNRP-driven and ECHAM-driven RegCM3 improve the simulation of the Atlantic intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) compared to the GCM. However, there are some simulation errors. Irrespective of the driving fields, weak northeasterlies associated with reduced precipitation are observed over the Amazon. The simulation of the South Atlantic convergence zone is poor due to errors in the boundary condition forcing which appear to be amplified by the regional model. To select a domain for use in an experimental prediction system, sensitivity tests were performed for three domains, each of which includes important regional features and processes of the climate system. The domain sensitivity experiments were designed to determine how domain size and the location of the GCM boundary forcing affect the regional circulation, moisture transport, and rainfall in two years with different large scale conditions. First, the control domain was extended southward to include the exit region of the Andes low level jet (D-LLJ), then eastward to include the South Atlantic subtropical high (D-ATL), and finally westward to include the subsidence region of the South Pacific subtropical high and to permit the regional model more freedom to respond to the increased resolution of the Andes Mountains (D-PAC). In order to quantify differences between the domain experiments, measures of bias, root mean square error, and the spatial correlation pattern were calculated between the model results and the observed data for the seasonal average fields. The results show the GCM driving fields have remarkable control over the RegCM3 simulations. Although no single domain clearly outperforms the others in both seasons, the control domain, D-CTRL, compares most favorably with observations. Over the ITCZ region, the simulations were improved by including a large portion of the South Atlantic subtropical high (D-ATL). The methodology presented here provides a quantitative basis for evaluating domain choice in future studies

Hydrogeochemistry and quality assessment of shallow groundwater in the southern part of the yellow river alluvial plain (zhongwei section), northwest china

Statistical analyses, a Piper diagram, the saturation index and the correlations of chemical parameters were used to reveal the hydrogeochemistry and hydrogeochemical evolution of shallow groundwater in the southern part of the Zhongwei section of the Yellow River alluvial plain. The water quality for agricultural and domestic uses was also assessed in the study. The results suggest that the shallow groundwater in the study area is fresh to moderately mineralized water. Higher Ca2+ and HCO3- are observed in the less mineralized water, whereas Na+ and SO42- are common ions in the highly mineralized water. The major hydrochemical facies for groundwater with total dissolved solids (TDS) and lt;1 g/L are HCO3-Ca·Mg and HCO3-Ca·Na·Mg, and for groundwater with TDS and gt; 1 g/L, SO4·Cl-Na and SO4·Cl-Na·Mg·Ca are the predominant hydrochemical types. The main reactions in the groundwater system are the dissolution/precipitation of gypsum, fluorite, halite, calcite and dolomite. Cation exchange is also important in controlling the groundwater chemistry. The water samples assessed in the paper are of acceptable quality for agricultural use, but most of them are not fit for direct human consumption (drinking). TDS, total hardness (TH), Cl- and SO42- are the main indices that result in the poor drinking water quality. ResumenAnálisis estadísticos, un diagrama de Piper, el índice de saturación y la correlación de los parámetros químicos fueron utilizados para revelar la hidrogeoquímica y la evolución hidrogeoquímica de las aguas subterráneas poco profundas en la parte sur de la sección Zhongwei en la planicie aluvial del río Amarillo. La calidad del agua para el uso doméstico y agrícola también fue evaluada en este estudio. Los resultados sugieren que las aguas subterráneas poco profundas en el área de estudio son entre frescas y moderadamente mineralizadas. Un índice mayor de Ca2+ y HCO3- se observó en las aguas menos mineralizadas, mientras que Na+ y SO42- son iones comunes en las aguas altamente mineralizadas. Los perfiles hidroquímicos predominantes para las aguas subterráneas con Total de Sólidos Disueltos (TDS) and lt;1 g/L son HCO3-Ca·Mg y HCO3-Ca·Na·Mg, y para las aguas subterráneas con TDS and gt;1 g/L, SO4·Cl-Na y SO4·Cl-Na·Mg·Ca. Las mayores reacciones en el sistema de aguas subterráneas son la disolución/ precipitación de yeso, fluorita, halita, calcita y dolomita. El intercambio de cationes también es importante en el control de la química de las aguas subterráneas. Las muestras de agua evaluadas en este manuscrito son de calidad aceptable para el uso agrícola, pero la mayoría no son aptas para el consumo humano. El índice TDS, la dureza total del agua (TH), Cl- y SO42- son las razones principales que influyen en la baja calidad de esta agua