Taiwanese high school EFL teachers’ perceptions of their listening instruction

In 2015 an English listening test was included in the Taiwan College Entrance Examination. This paper reports on a small-scale study looking at the related pedagogical practices of senior high school teachers in Taiwan. First, the paper provides an overview of the second language listening pedagogy research literature, which indicates that strategies instruction has been found to outperform a comprehension-based approach (where learners listen then answer comprehension questions) both in terms of listening comprehension and development of learner affective characteristics, such as confidence and motivation. The paper then reports on the study which gathered data from Taiwanese teachers through a questionnaire and interviews to investigate their perceptions of their listening instruction. The results of the study suggest; 1) the common use of a comprehension-based approach; 2) that teachers commonly encounter affective problems among their learners, and; 3) that teachers often have a rather rudimentary knowledge of how to remediate their learners’ comprehension and affective difficulties. The study provides useful initial insights into the state of listening instruction in Taiwan high schools, and suggests a possible need for strategies instruction.published_or_final_versio

Os crimes ambientais no município de Serra - ES : aç~oes e contradições dos agentes envolvidos

A questão ambiental tem assumido papel cada vez mais importante, tanto pelo constante avanço da urbanização sobre os recursos naturais e transformação das paisagens, quanto pela necessidade de sua preservação e conservação para garantia de um meio ambiente ecologicamente equilibrado. Sendo o município de Serra, parte deste contexto, o presente trabalho se propõe a analisar a questão dos crimes ambientais e de suas relações com os espaços públicos municipais, identificando os espaços de ocorrências e suas principais consequências socioambientais, como forma de contribuir para uma redefinição de políticas públicas e de valorização dos recursos e dos espaços públicos municipais. A metodologia utilizada, além da pesquisa bibliográfica, foi o levantamento de dados junto às Varas Criminais do Fórum do município de Serra, por meio de consulta aos livros de registro de ações penais referentes ao período de 2005 a 2015. Por meio deles foram localizados os números dos processos de denúncias de crimes ambientais oferecidas pelo Ministério Público ao Judiciário (Ações Penais), o que permitiu a identificação das características particulares das ocorrências pesquisadas, propiciando assim uma análise dos crimes ambientais registrados. Do universo de 166 ações penais identificadas e pesquisadas, no período estudado, os tipos de crimes contra o meio ambiente que mais se destacaram foram os praticados contra a fauna, com 65 ações penais, seguido pelos crimes de poluição com 49 ações, e em seguida, os crimes praticados contra a flora, com 46 ações penais. Os espaços públicos, destacando-se os espaços livres e os espaços vegetados, foram apontados como os mais atingidos pelas ações de danos ao meio ambiente, registrando os maiores números de ocorrênciasThe environmental issue has assumed an increasingly important role, both by the constant advance of urbanization on the natural resources and transformation of the landscapes, as well as by the need of its preservation and conservation to guarantee an environmentally balanced environment. Being the municipality of Serra, part of this context, this paper proposes to analyze the issue of environmental crimes and their relations with municipal public spaces, identifying the spaces of occurrences and their main socio-environmental consequences, as a way to contribute to a redefinition of public policies and of valorization of the resources and the municipal public spaces. The methodology used, besides the bibliographical research, was the data collection with the Criminal Courts of the Forum of the municipality of Serra, through consultation to the books of registry of criminal actions referring to the period from 2005 to 2015. By means of these were located the numbers of the processes of denunciations of environmental crimes offered by the Public Ministry to the Judiciary (Criminal Actions), which allowed the identification of the particular characteristics of the investigated occurrences, thus providing an analysis of registered environmental crimes. Of the universe of 166 criminal actions identified and investigated during the period studied, the most important types of crimes against the environment were those against the fauna, with 65 criminal actions, followed by pollution crimes with 49 actions, and then, Crimes against flora, with 46 criminal actions. Public spaces, highlighting free spaces and vegetated spaces, were identified as the most affected by actions to damage the environment, recording the highest number of occurrence

Individual repeatability in the timing of river entry indicates the strong influence of photoperiod in the spawning migrations of iteroparous twaite shad Alosa fallax

The timing of entry into freshwater by mature anadromous fishes is an important component of their migration phenology. In iteroparous anadromous species, identifying the migration cues that influence the timing of entry into freshwater, and annual variability in these timings, is important in assessing the extent of individual repeatability. Here, passive acoustic telemetry tracked 71 twaite shad Alosa fallax (‘shad’) returning to the River Severn’s upper estuary over successive spawning seasons, providing individual information on river entry timing and the associated migration cues. The timing of shad returning to the river (defined as their first detection on an acoustic receiver in the upper estuary) was consistent between years and strongly predicted by photoperiod (as increasing day length), whereas water temperatures and flow rates were weak predictors and highly variable between years. Timings of river entry of individual shad were also consistent across consecutive spawning migrations, indicating high individual repeatability. The application of acoustic telemetry in this study thus revealed high repeatability in the timing of annual spawning migrations, which were cued mainly by increasing day length and that, being seasonally predictable, should ensure entry into freshwater with sufficient time to arrive in spawning areas when in-river environmental conditions are favourable

Utilisation of an operative difficulty grading scale for laparoscopic cholecystectomy

Background A reliable system for grading operative difficulty of laparoscopic cholecystectomy would standardise description of findings and reporting of outcomes. The aim of this study was to validate a difficulty grading system (Nassar scale), testing its applicability and consistency in two large prospective datasets. Methods Patient and disease-related variables and 30-day outcomes were identified in two prospective cholecystectomy databases: the multi-centre prospective cohort of 8820 patients from the recent CholeS Study and the single-surgeon series containing 4089 patients. Operative data and patient outcomes were correlated with Nassar operative difficultly scale, using Kendall’s tau for dichotomous variables, or Jonckheere–Terpstra tests for continuous variables. A ROC curve analysis was performed, to quantify the predictive accuracy of the scale for each outcome, with continuous outcomes dichotomised, prior to analysis. Results A higher operative difficulty grade was consistently associated with worse outcomes for the patients in both the reference and CholeS cohorts. The median length of stay increased from 0 to 4 days, and the 30-day complication rate from 7.6 to 24.4% as the difficulty grade increased from 1 to 4/5 (both p < 0.001). In the CholeS cohort, a higher difficulty grade was found to be most strongly associated with conversion to open and 30-day mortality (AUROC = 0.903, 0.822, respectively). On multivariable analysis, the Nassar operative difficultly scale was found to be a significant independent predictor of operative duration, conversion to open surgery, 30-day complications and 30-day reintervention (all p < 0.001). Conclusion We have shown that an operative difficulty scale can standardise the description of operative findings by multiple grades of surgeons to facilitate audit, training assessment and research. It provides a tool for reporting operative findings, disease severity and technical difficulty and can be utilised in future research to reliably compare outcomes according to case mix and intra-operative difficulty

Population‐based cohort study of outcomes following cholecystectomy for benign gallbladder diseases

Background The aim was to describe the management of benign gallbladder disease and identify characteristics associated with all‐cause 30‐day readmissions and complications in a prospective population‐based cohort. Methods Data were collected on consecutive patients undergoing cholecystectomy in acute UK and Irish hospitals between 1 March and 1 May 2014. Potential explanatory variables influencing all‐cause 30‐day readmissions and complications were analysed by means of multilevel, multivariable logistic regression modelling using a two‐level hierarchical structure with patients (level 1) nested within hospitals (level 2). Results Data were collected on 8909 patients undergoing cholecystectomy from 167 hospitals. Some 1451 cholecystectomies (16·3 per cent) were performed as an emergency, 4165 (46·8 per cent) as elective operations, and 3293 patients (37·0 per cent) had had at least one previous emergency admission, but had surgery on a delayed basis. The readmission and complication rates at 30 days were 7·1 per cent (633 of 8909) and 10·8 per cent (962 of 8909) respectively. Both readmissions and complications were independently associated with increasing ASA fitness grade, duration of surgery, and increasing numbers of emergency admissions with gallbladder disease before cholecystectomy. No identifiable hospital characteristics were linked to readmissions and complications. Conclusion Readmissions and complications following cholecystectomy are common and associated with patient and disease characteristics

The development and validation of a scoring tool to predict the operative duration of elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy

Background: The ability to accurately predict operative duration has the potential to optimise theatre efficiency and utilisation, thus reducing costs and increasing staff and patient satisfaction. With laparoscopic cholecystectomy being one of the most commonly performed procedures worldwide, a tool to predict operative duration could be extremely beneficial to healthcare organisations. Methods: Data collected from the CholeS study on patients undergoing cholecystectomy in UK and Irish hospitals between 04/2014 and 05/2014 were used to study operative duration. A multivariable binary logistic regression model was produced in order to identify significant independent predictors of long (> 90 min) operations. The resulting model was converted to a risk score, which was subsequently validated on second cohort of patients using ROC curves. Results: After exclusions, data were available for 7227 patients in the derivation (CholeS) cohort. The median operative duration was 60 min (interquartile range 45–85), with 17.7% of operations lasting longer than 90 min. Ten factors were found to be significant independent predictors of operative durations > 90 min, including ASA, age, previous surgical admissions, BMI, gallbladder wall thickness and CBD diameter. A risk score was then produced from these factors, and applied to a cohort of 2405 patients from a tertiary centre for external validation. This returned an area under the ROC curve of 0.708 (SE = 0.013, p  90 min increasing more than eightfold from 5.1 to 41.8% in the extremes of the score. Conclusion: The scoring tool produced in this study was found to be significantly predictive of long operative durations on validation in an external cohort. As such, the tool may have the potential to enable organisations to better organise theatre lists and deliver greater efficiencies in care

The Cholecystectomy As A Day Case (CAAD) Score: A Validated Score of Preoperative Predictors of Successful Day-Case Cholecystectomy Using the CholeS Data Set

Background Day-case surgery is associated with significant patient and cost benefits. However, only 43% of cholecystectomy patients are discharged home the same day. One hypothesis is day-case cholecystectomy rates, defined as patients discharged the same day as their operation, may be improved by better assessment of patients using standard preoperative variables. Methods Data were extracted from a prospectively collected data set of cholecystectomy patients from 166 UK and Irish hospitals (CholeS). Cholecystectomies performed as elective procedures were divided into main (75%) and validation (25%) data sets. Preoperative predictors were identified, and a risk score of failed day case was devised using multivariate logistic regression. Receiver operating curve analysis was used to validate the score in the validation data set. Results Of the 7426 elective cholecystectomies performed, 49% of these were discharged home the same day. Same-day discharge following cholecystectomy was less likely with older patients (OR 0.18, 95% CI 0.15–0.23), higher ASA scores (OR 0.19, 95% CI 0.15–0.23), complicated cholelithiasis (OR 0.38, 95% CI 0.31 to 0.48), male gender (OR 0.66, 95% CI 0.58–0.74), previous acute gallstone-related admissions (OR 0.54, 95% CI 0.48–0.60) and preoperative endoscopic intervention (OR 0.40, 95% CI 0.34–0.47). The CAAD score was developed using these variables. When applied to the validation subgroup, a CAAD score of ≤5 was associated with 80.8% successful day-case cholecystectomy compared with 19.2% associated with a CAAD score >5 (p < 0.001). Conclusions The CAAD score which utilises data readily available from clinic letters and electronic sources can predict same-day discharges following cholecystectomy

Towards individualizing instruction for less-proficient L2 listeners with unidirectional listening styles

Given growing opportunities for individualized learning facilitated by computer-based instruction, this study investigated the possibility of tailoring a unidirectional bottom-up or top-down instructional approach for lower-level L2 listeners with unidirectional listening styles (i.e., a shortcut from the currently advocated interactive bottom-up and top-down approach for all learners). The study examined the progress of four groups of learners: bottom-up dominant listeners mismatched with a top-down oriented strategies-based course; top-down dominant listeners mismatched with a bottom-up skills course; and top-down and bottom-up dominant listeners whose styles were matched with their respective courses. Drawing on learner-instruction matching theories and examining the probable origins of the listeners’ styles (experiential or biological), it was concluded that of the various permutations examined, the most likely candidate to progress in a unidirectional course was a listener with a predominantly bottom-up style, one whose style was caused mainly by a lack of awareness of top-down listening strategies (experiential origin), learning in a top-down oriented strategies-based course

The development of individual learners in an L2 listening strategies course

This study examined the idiosyncratic development of second language (L2) learners in a listening strategies course. The progress of four Taiwanese EFL learners was examined longitudinally through a variety of quantitative and qualitative techniques as the learners participated in a course combining direct instruction of strategies with their practice embedded in the class listening texts. The results showed how all learners developed a greater balance in their use of top-down and bottom-up strategies, chiefly by selectively integrating suitable strategies from the course into their listening repertoires. They also developed in a number of person-related and task-related areas, including their confidence, motivation and feeling of control over the listening process