Listening comprehension and strategy use: a longitudinal exploration

This paper examines the development of strategy use over 6 months in two lower-intermediate learners of L2 French in secondary schools in England. These learners were selected from a larger sample on the basis of their scores on a recall protocol completed after listening to short passages at two time points: one was consistently a high scorer; the other one, a low scorer. Qualitative data on these two learners’ strategic behaviour were gathered at the two time points from verbal reports made by learners while they were completing a multiple-choice listening task. Our results show a high degree of stability of strategy use over the time period, with pre-existing differences between the high and low scorer persisting. The theoretical and pedagogical implications of these findings are discussed

Using the language laboratory to develop the listening ability of adult learners of English by means of practice in the perception of stress

This thesis is concerned with specific aspects of two general problems : firstly, the inability of teachers and students to utilize the potential of the language laboratory to maximum effect, and secondly, the inability of many learners of English to acquire a confident understanding of spoken English. The language laboratory was designed as a class teaching aid according to certain principles of language learning and its use is limited and defined by the facilities it provides and the conditions upon its use. Since supplementary use of the language laboratory may lead to under-exploitation of facilities, there needs to be investigation into areas of language training, suggested by current research in related fields, in which the language laboratory can play a fully integrated training role. Recent work on speech perception and child language development suggests that stress and rhythm, as prosodic features, are important perceptual factors in the rapid and efficient understanding of connected English speech, and, consequently, that an absence of accurate stress perception may reduce the listener's decoding ability. An attempt is made in this thesis to develop materials for training in stress perception, and to test techniques for their exploitation which are especially suited to use in the language laboratory. The thesis begins with a consideration of problems and aims, and than continues in Chapter Two with a review of the main issues regarding language laboratory use found in the literature. There then follows a discussion on the exploitation of specific facilities offered by the language laboratory, and the conditions upon their successful use. In Chapter Three, teacher and student use of the language laboratory is observed and assessed in live sessions in four language schools in Britain. The following two chapters, Chapter Four and Chapter Five, are concerned with the perception of stress and rhythm, and its role in understanding connected English speech. After a brief review of the literature and research on models of speech perception and understanding, and on child language development, in which their relevance to second language learning is discussed, recent research is presented, which indicates the importance of stress and rhythm in the accurate decoding of connected speech. Its bearing on second language training is considered, together with the problems of testing listening comprehension. There follow the reports of a series of experiments in which the ability of native speakers and learners of English to perceive and produce different spacing and pacing patterns of stress was tested, as well as the effect of varying the spacing and pacing of stress on the understanding of connected speech. The next two chapters, Chapter Six and Chapter Seven, link language laboratory use and stress perception in the design of a battery of materials, the purpose of which is to train learners in the perception of stress at word and utterance levels. The battery, in the form of a complete course, is then tested in order to assess its value in improving listening comprehension ability in learners of English, and the degree to which it exploits language laboratory facilities. The final chapter, Chapter Eight, attempts to relate the conclusions formed to the larger process of receptive and productive language development within the language laboratory context, and to the place of the stress perception materials in a complete language course

The sociology, taxonomy and ecology of the passifloras and factors influencing the long-term storage and germination of their seed

The longevity and long-term storage of Passiflora seed are investigated. Dehydrated seed were stored at temperatures from 30°C to -196°C for periods of up to five and a half years. It was determined that seed from most species should be treated as semiorthodox for seed storage purposes, but seed from species in the section Quadrangularis should be treated as semi-recalcitrant. High temperatures during fruit maturation of P. subpeltata were shown to induce seed coat-imposed dormancy. The presence of seed coat-imposed dormancy was confirmed in seed of two other Passiflora species. Prolonged periods of seed washing in tepid water were shown to be successful in breaking seed coat-imposed dormancy. Factors influencing the successful germination of quiescent Passiflora seed were investigated. The seed coat morphology of Passiflora species produced by interspecific hybridisation was found to be in keeping with the variations found in seed produced by intra-specific hybridisation. The seed coat morphology of Passiflora cultivars was found to be an intermediary of the seed coat morphology of their parents. A new classification of the genus Passiflora using only the morphological features of their seed is presented using seed from 360 accessions. The results of this study support the karyotypic evidence of x = 6 and x = 9 and otherwise shadow the conventional taxonomic classification of Passiflora, with the exception of species in the subgenus Astrophea and sections Quadrangularis, Serratifolia, Passiflora, and Tiliifolia in the subgenus Passiflora. The seed coat morphology of Passiflora species is compared with that of Adenia species and the probability of parallel evolution of Passiflora from several ancient archetypal Adenia species is proposed. Aspects of the sociology and ecology of Passiflora species are presented. Evidence of insect and plant mimicry is demonstrated. Detailed descriptions of new Passiflora species and subspecies are presented

Trece malezas nuevas en Isla Cedros, Baja California, México

Background and Aims: Cedros Island is the southernmost outpost of the California Floristic Province, the largest island in the Californian archipelago, and home to a suite of endemic plants and animals. As such, it is an important resource within the Pacific Islands Biosphere Reserve, with many management concerns. The goal of this study was to document newly arrived plant species on Cedros Island, Baja California, Mexico.Methods: From the 8th to the 11th February 2019 we visited Cedros Island and made observations of plants around Cedros Village using the platform NaturaLista (iNaturalist).Key results: Thirteen new plant taxa were detected around Cedros village, all were non-native. These discoveries follow a very recently published checklist on the flora and suggest that new non-native plants are arriving rapidly. Conclusions: Recommended management implications include monitoring and eradication of new species, particularly at inhabited areas, and with priority given to highly invasive species such as Cenchrus setaceus and C. ciliaris.Antecedentes y Objetivos: Isla Cedros es el límite sur de la Provincia Florística de California, la isla más grande en el archipiélago californiano, y hogar de varias plantas y animales endémicos. Como tal es un recurso importante dentro de la Reserva de la Biosfera Islas del Pacífico de la Península de Baja California con muchos desafíos de manejo. El objetivo de este estudio es documentar las especies de plantas recién llegadas a Isla Cedros, Baja California, México.Métodos: Entre el 8 y el 11 de febrero 2019, visitamos la Isla Cedros e hicimos observaciones usando la plataforma NaturaLista (iNaturalist).Resultados clave: Trece nuevos taxa de plantas fueron detectados cerca del pueblo de Cedros, y todos eran no-nativos. Estos descubrimientos siguen la muy reciente publicación de un listado florístico, sugiriendo que las nuevas especies no-nativas son de reciente establecimiento.Conclusiones: Las implicaciones recomendadas para el manejo de la isla incluyen el monitoreo y la erradicación de estas especies nuevas, particularmente en áreas habitadas, dando prioridad a las especies más invasivas como Cenchrus setaceus y C. ciliaris

Plants of the Colonet Region, Baja California, Mexico, and a Vegetation Map of Colonet Mesa

The Colonet region is located at the southern end of the California Floristic Province, in an area known to have the highest plant diversity in Baja California. A preliminary list of vouchered specimens is developed for the area, and a vegetation map for Colonet Mesa is presented. The Colonet region has at least 435 vascular plant taxa, of which 383 are native to Baja California, and 52 are endemic or nearly endemic. This list includes five local endemic taxa known only from the Colonet region, 18 taxa on the California Native Plant Society List 1B of taxa that are rare, threatened, or endangered in California and elsewhere, and three on the Mexican NOM 059 list of protected taxa. The Mexican federal government has proposed to build a major port and a new city at Colonet. To understand the potential impact of the port on the regional biodiversity, we examine three areas---a Footprint area which will presumably be highly affected by the port, the Mesa area which contains all the known vernal pools, and a Buffer area surrounding the other two areas. The large Buffer shows the greatest number of native and endemic taxa, followed by the Mesa. The Footprint has two species of high conservation concern that are not represented elsewhere in the study area. The vegetation map of Colonet Mesa confirms the presence of large vernal pools and shows extensive maritime chaparral, neither of which has been reported from elsewhere in northwest Baja California. This report documents the high plant biodiversity of the region and highlights the rare and unique species and vegetation types of Colonet Mesa

Удосконалення технології варених ковбас з використанням горохової пасти

Використання білкових препаратів рослинногота тваринного походження при виготовленні м’ясопродуктів в теперішній час є дуже актуальним. Оскільки не один білок рослинного чи тваринного походження не відповідає повністю формулі збалансованого харчування, створити більш повноцінні продукти харчування можна завдяки комбінації білків, лімітованим по різним амінокислота

Research into practice: listening strategies in an instructed classroom setting

This paper considers research and practice relating to listening in instructed classroom settings, limiting itself to what might be called unidirectional listening (Macaro, Graham & Vanderplank 2007) – in other words, where learners listen to a recording, a TV or radio clip or lecture, but where there is no communication back to the speaker(s). A review of the literature relating to such listening reveals a tendency for papers to highlight two features in their introductory lines: first, the acknowledged importance of listening as a skill underpinning second language (L2) acquisition more broadly, and second, the relative paucity of research into listening compared with the skills of speaking, reading or writing. In the last ten years or so, however, there has been a growth in the number of studies conducted in the field, as evidenced in Vandergrift's review in 2007 and Vanderplank's more recent overview (2013). Consequently, my view is that it is possible to identify from that research certain key principles in relation to listening within instructed settings, particularly regarding listening strategies

Copulation behaviour of Glossina pallidipes (Diptera: Muscidae) outside and inside the female, with a discussion of genitalic evolution

artículo (arbitrado)--Universidad de Costa Rica. Escuela de Biología, 2007If species-specific male genitalia are courtship devices under sexual selection by cryptic female choice, then species-specific aspects of the morphology and behaviour of male genitalia should often function to stimulate the female during copulation. The morphology and behaviour of the complex, species-specific male genitalia of the tsetse fly, Glossina pallidipes Austen, were determined from both direct observations and dissections of flash-frozen copulating pairs; and we found that some male genitalic traits probably function to stimulate the female, while others function to restrain her. The male clamps the ventral surface of the female’s abdomen tightly with his powerful cerci. Clamping does not always result in intromission. Clamping bends the female’s body wall and her internal reproductive tract sharply, posteriorly and dorsally, and pinches them tightly. Males performed sustained, complex, stereotyped, rhythmic squeezing movements with his cerci that were not necessary to mechanically restrain the female and appeared instead to have a stimulatory function. Six different groups of modified setae, on and near the male’s genitalia, rub directly against particular sites on the female during squeezing. The designs of these setae correlate with the force with which they press on the female and the probable sensitivity of the female surfaces that they contact. As expected under the hypothesis that these structures are under sexual selection by female choice, several traits suspected to have stimulatory functions have diverged in G. pallidipes and its close relative, G. longipalpis. Additional male non-genitalic behaviour during copulation, redescribed more precisely than in previous publications, is also likely to have a courtship function. The elaborate copulatory courtship behaviour and male genitalia may provide the stimuli that previous studies showed induce female ovulation and resistance to remating.Universidad de Costa RicaUCR::Vicerrectoría de Docencia::Ciencias Básicas::Facultad de Ciencias::Escuela de Biologí

Status of the isolated, threatened Valle de la Trinidad round-tailed ground squirrel, Baja California, Mexico

In 1927 Lawrence M. Huey described a new subspecies of round-tailed ground squirrel (Xerospermophilus tereticaudus apricus) from the southernmost extreme of the species, in the geographically isolated valley ‘Valle de la Trinidad’ in Baja California, Mexico. The valley has been subject to extensive agricultural conversion and severe overgrazing, which had already begun when X. t. apricus was described. Despite the loss of natural habitat, a single remaining population of this isolated subspecies was re-discovered in 2015. Acoustic surveys documented individuals at 195 of 456 points sampled. The population does not appear to be adversely affected and may actually benefit from some disturbance from cattle. The densest populations were found in open communities of large leguminous trees or shrubs, principally mesquite, which may be critical seasonal diet components. Conservation considerations are discussed

First year experience (FYE): International students’ experiences

International students confront a range of challenges during their transition to living and studying in Australia. Despite these challenges over 80% of international students reported high satisfaction with their life and study within Australia. This qualitative study reports on the experiences of 53 first year international students at ECU. Participants were students from across a range of study areas who responded to an online or face to face survey. Participants were required to respond to four questions which were analysed thematically to provide a summary of their experiences. Survey questions included their positive and negative experiences of being a first year student at ECU and changes that they suggested be considered by the university. Thematic analysis revealed a range of issues, most of which were reflected in previous research, however a range of ECU specific issues were also revealed, for example, resources and timetabling. This introductory research has provided initial data for developing future research. The cognitive nature of the survey may have limited the responses of participants. It is recommended that future research consider interviews with international students to review social and emotional issues