Chinese Tertiary Students' Willingness to Communicate in English

With the growing number of students from China who study abroad, many initially struggle to engage with native English speakers due to limited opportunities to develop oral English skills within their homeland (Gu and Maley, 2008). The reasons why Chinese students' may exhibit varied levels of motivation to engage with others when they study abroad is not well understood. This thesis has employed MacIntyre's "Willingness to Communicate" pyramid model (MacIntyre et al., 1998) as a theoretical model to underpin this study. An 18 month longitudinal study was carried out upon a group of 24 tertiary students from China who were undertaking an undergraduate degree in Britain. Qualitative data were gathered by means of carrying out 60 interviews employing a multi-lingual platform. The study sought to understand the factors which may influence the reasons for the changes in students' Willingness to Communicate and Communicative self-confidence as they studied in Britain and also to identify any additional variables influencing them. The results of this research showed there to be a wide range of factors influencing Chinese students' L2 communicative behaviour. Some of these factors were linked to their home and education background in China. Others were linked to how they responded to others in English within differing communicative contexts. This study concluded that Willingness to Communicative within a Chinese context to be a complex phenomena as Chinese students may respond to interlocutors in differing ways. Hence, this study has contributed to our understanding of Chinese learners of English in that a wide range of variables have been identified, which may impact upon Chinese students' communicative behaviour. The model which MacIntyre and his associates formed, was found to be a helpful model in comprehending Chinese student's L2 communicative behaviour. However, this study has developed MacIntyre's model by identifying other culturally specific factors which were not covered. This research has also enhanced our comprehension of Chinese students' communicative behaviour within authentic English speaking environments, with both native and non native English speakers. Finally, this study has highlighted that there are significant cognitive factors which also impact upon Chinese students' Willingness to Communicate, suggesting the need to undertake additional future research in order to further investigate this area

The school leaving age: a historical study, with particular reference to legislation relating to school leaving up to 1944

The first three chapters examine the school leaving age in elementary and secondary schools before the establishmentof a national compulsory elementary system of education between 1870 and 1880. When elementary education had become compulsory there was a minimum school leaving age of ten which was related to a minimum standard of education. The remaining chapters are mainly concerned with the legislation which raised the minimum leaving age from ten to fifteen with the provision for it to be raised to sixteen. There are, however, two chapters which survey the school leaving age in secondary schools at the end of the nineteenth century and developments in these schools up to the Second World War. Although legislation relating to the school leaving age applied almost entirely to elementary education, these two chapters provide an important link in the main theme; for the final minimum leaving age was closely related to the leaving age which had been considered desirable, though not legally enforced, in secondary education. This study, in which special consideration has been given to the legislation concerned with the raising of the school leaving age, shows how an educational question with social and economic implications was increasingly linked with political issues. The attitude of parents, employers, teachers and other pressure groups are examined. Changes in public opinion are noted. The concluding chapter attempts to review the main facets in the overall process of raising the school leaving age

Living apart, losing sympathy? How neighbourhood context affects attitudes to redistribution and to welfare recipients

Rising levels of income inequality have been directly linked to rising levels of spatial segregation. In this paper, we explore whether rising segregation may in turn erode support for the redistributive policies of the welfare state, further increasing levels of inequality – a form of positive feedback. The role of the neighbourhood has been neglected in attitudes research but, building on both political geography and ‘neighbourhood effects’ literatures, we theorise that neighbourhood context may shape attitudes through the transmission of attitudes directly and through the accumulation of relevant knowledge. We test this through multilevel modelling of data from England on individual attitudes to redistribution in general and to welfare benefit recipients in particular. We show that the individual factors shaping these attitudes are quite different and that the influence of neighbourhood context also varies as a result. The findings support the idea that neighbourhood context shapes attitudes, with the knowledge accumulation mechanism likely to be the more important. Rising spatial segregation would appear to erode support for redistribution but to increase support for welfare recipients – at least in a context where the dominant media discourse presents such a stigmatising image of those on welfare benefits

Welfare conditionality, inequality and unemployed people with alternative values

Labour and Conservatives’ claims that welfare conditionality is ‘fair’ rely upon an empirically unsupported assumption that almost-equal opportunities can exist alongside starkly unequal outcomes. Fifty interviews examined in-depth a diverse sample’s values, views about work and welfare, and labour market choices. Respondents’ views on equality strongly influenced their views on conditionality and what they considered acceptable labour market behaviour. ‘Alternative’ unemployed respondents, who rejected politicians’ suggestions they ‘should work’, nevertheless favoured an equal society with work obligations and often undertook voluntary work. The article concludes that policymakers should be more sensitive to Jobseeker’s Allowance claimants’ diverse moralities and motivations

Conceiving time?: women who do or do not conceive

This article explores the importance of time for an understanding of women's experiences of reproductive identity. In order to do this we draw on data from two separate qualitative research projects. The first project is concerned with the experiences of conception, pregnancy, childbirth and early motherhood in primagravidae, whilst the second focuses on the experiences of individuals (especially women) who defined themselves (at the time of the fieldwork, or some time previously) as 'involuntarily childless' and/or 'infertile'. These two areas are usually treated as separate; however this article explores similarities between them in terms of time and medicalisation. Our central concern then is with exploring the similarities of experience for women who do or do not conceive

How lesson study is used in initial teacher education: an international review of literature

© 2022 The Authors. Published by Taylor & Francis. This is an open access article available under a Creative Commons licence. The published version can be accessed at the following link on the publisher’s website: https://doi.org/10.1080/13664530.2022.2063937This article focuses on the use of lesson study (LS) in initial teacher education (ITE) from a mapping review of international research published in peer-reviewed journals. This method enables identification of characteristic features of the research field along with any gaps in the existing evidence base. The authors map out variations in ITE LS practices by employing a seven-dimensional framework of LS to illustrate the range and draw conclusions about the design and use of LS in ITE. They conclude that LS is an example of teacher enquiry-based practice, identified by researchers as one of the means of building the capacity for a self-improving education system. LS and related practices play a crucial role in preparing teachers to adopt a research orientation to their own practice. However, the article also discusses the organisational challenges and the balance between acquiring skills and reflection for beginning teachers when introducing LS into ITE

The Poor ‘Sociological Imagination’ of the Rich: Explaining Attitudinal Divergence towards Welfare, Inequality and Redistribution

Quantitative research has tended to explain attitudinal divergence towards welfare and redistribution through self-interested rationalities. However, such an approach risks abstracting individuals from the structural determinants of resource allocation and biographical experience. With that in mind, this paper draws on a qualitative study of fifty individuals experiencing relative deprivation and affluence in the UK and New Zealand to examine how lived experiences of inequality affect attitude formation towards welfare and redistribution. Scenario-driven vignettes were used to stimulate an applied discussion of abstract principles pertaining to welfare and inequality. Use of this methodological device proffered novel insight into the phenomenological effects of material position on public attitudes and policy preferences in a comparative context. The findings suggest that affluent individuals are less likely to acknowledge systemic features shaping socio-economic life. As a result, they exhibit a poor sociological imagination that is deployed in distinct and patterned ways to make sense of, and at times justify, economic restructuring. By contrast, those living in relative deprivation are more likely to advance accounts of intergroup relations and social location that emphasise the structuration of (dis-) advantage. Based on the findings, policy and political implications are considered for welfare and redistribution amidst rising structural inequality

Crime at the intersection of rail and retail

This chapter examines shoplifting at rail station shops over a 12 month period in England and Wales. Key findings were: shoplifting is concentrated at particular stations; the top 20 stations account for 85% of shoplifting. Clear temporal patterns were evident; shoplifting was higher on weekdays and during holidays with higher levels of travel; shoplifting is lower when there is a reduced rail service. There was no clear relationship between shoplifting rates outside of a station at shops nearby, and shoplifting within a rail station. It is suggested a correlation may occur for medium and smaller size stations. Large stations may attract offenders in their own right without other shops being nearby. The similarities observed between shoplifting patterns at rail stations and those at non-rail station shops suggest the learning from successful crime prevention measures applied outside of the rail environment could successfully transferred to rail stations

Social presence and dishonesty in retail

Self-service checkouts (SCOs) in retail can benefit consumers and retailers, providing control and autonomy to shoppers independent from staff, together with reduced queuing times. Recent research indicates that the absence of staff may provide the opportunity for consumers to behave dishonestly, consistent with a perceived lack of social presence. This study examined whether a social presence in the form of various instantiations of embodied, visual, humanlike SCO interface agents had an effect on opportunistic behaviour. Using a simulated SCO scenario, participants experienced various dilemmas in which they could financially benefit themselves undeservedly. We hypothesised that a humanlike social presence integrated within the checkout screen would receive more attention and result in fewer instances of dishonesty compared to a less humanlike agent. This was partially supported by the results. The findings contribute to the theoretical framework in social presence research. We concluded that companies adopting self-service technology may consider the implementation of social presence in technology applications to support ethical consumer behaviour, but that more research is required to explore the mixed findings in the current study.<br/

Comparing cost-effectiveness of surface water flood management interventions in a UK catchment

This is the final published version. Available from Wiley via the DOI in this record.Despite significant consequences caused by recent events, surface water flooding has historically been of lower priority relative to fluvial and coastal risks in UK flood management. Legislation and research proposes a variety of innovative interventions to address this; however, widespread application of these remains a challenge due to a number of institutional, economic, and technical barriers. This research applies a framework capable of fast and high-resolution assessment of intervention cost-effectiveness as an opportunity to improve available evidence and encourage uptake of interventions through analysing permutations of type, scale, and distribution in urban catchments. Fast assessment of many scenarios is achieved using a cellular automata flood model and a simplified representation of interventions. Conventional and green strategies are examined across a range of design standard and high-magnitude rainfall events in an urban catchment. Results indicate high-volume rainwater capture interventions demonstrate a significant reduction in estimated annual damage costs, and localised surface water drainage interventions exhibit high cost-effectiveness for damage reduction. Analysis of performance across a wide range of return periods enhances available evidence for option comparison decision support and provides a basis for future resilience assessment of interventions.Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC