Are Canadian adolescents happy？ A gender-based analysis of a nationally representative survey

In this study, the authors analyzed data from a nationally representative survey of youth to study happiness amongst Canadian adolescents aged 12-17. Testing for differences in the level of happiness between female and male adolescents was conducted. Following this, multivariate analysis was employed to determine which factors were associated with adolescent happiness. The authors determined that the level of happiness appeared to vary between the genders, as the males reported a higher level of happiness than the females. However, the difference between the genders in terms of reported happiness was modest. The authors detected some gender differences in regards to determinants of happiness. The study＇s theoretical and practical implications are also considered.     

Determinants of Malaysian adult learners＇ distance learning

This study attempts to identify the factors perceived to be important in choosing an Institution of Higher Learning （IHL） for distance learning. One thousand five hundred questionnaires were distributed to the first year students in the social sciences distance learning programs and 980 valid responses were received of Malaysian public university. The results show that the top three factors influencing their preferred institution are qualification recognition IHL, future career advancement, and personal satisfaction. The results of this study provide insights to the IHL, employers and academics on the nature and relative importance of the factors perceived important for adult learners in the selection of their preferred IHL.     

Students＇ mental health： Personal and university determinants

The present study was to examine the effects of personal and university bounded factors in students mental health in north of Fars province, Iran. The effects of these factors on university students＇ psychopathology within a survey design were investigated among 300 participants--94 males and 206 females, who were selected through random sampling method and the degrees of their mental health, were measured by SCL-90-R checklist. Overall findings supported that gender, marital status, socioeconomic status as personal factors, and type of university as within university factor would influence students＇ mental health. So males, married, and students with moderate and high socioeconomic status had more significant better mental health situation than females, singles and those with low socioeconomic status. Finally, ethnicity, dormitory and non-dormitory residence, native or non-native being, discipline, school and faculty, and academic performance variables were not effective on students＇ mental health significantly. Here, it was suggested an explanatory triangle model for university students＇ mental health explanation with respect to gendered and socio-cultural contexts and their implications in clinical and educational settings.     

Gender Roles: Biases or Differences?

This paper aims to probe into the two distinct gender roles—males and females—in several ways,and further answers the question"what on earth cause the salient differentiation in gender roles,biases or differences?"In conclusion,the author holds that it is the physiological and psychological differences in the two sexes that result in the differed distribution of such vari ous duties which males and females are supposed to fulfill as the current society has expected.     

Identity and ESL Pedagogical Implications of Hip-Hop/ Rap Music

Since its naissance back into the 70s of the last century,Hip-Hop and Rap music has been utilized as a channel for identity expression and formation by African Americans especially urban youth.From a sociolinguistic point of view,it is through the use of a particular language register–generally termed as African American English(AAE)–that the rappers get to portrait,narrate and elaborate their own ideologies closely concerning various aspects of their life and status.Broadly,the influence of Hip-Hop culture has gained it major momentum among urban youth across the globe.In countries where English is used as a foreign language(EFL),Hip-Hop is well received by young speakers who wish to express their own personality and alleviate pressures from schools,family and society(Li,2004).Given the multiplicity of features in Hip-Hop texts,this article argues that it can be informative to EFL in general and English pronunciation teaching in particular.     

What should count as worthwhile knowledge in determining a curriculum for supporting out-of-school children and youth？

Due to the increasing number of children and youth dropping out of school, the Malawi government came up with a strategy to address their learning needs through non-formal means in its EFA plan. This resulted in the introduction of a three-year cycle pilot programme known as Complementary Basic Education （CBE）. Funded by GTZ, a German funding agency, the CBE programme has since entered its second year of implementation. This paper reports an evaluation study of the CBE programme so far, with a view of highlighting some of the challenges affecting its implementation. Using a qualitative methodology, the study found that the programme is in many respects, potentially beneficial to various groups of stakeholders including learners, their parents and the community in general. However, the study finds that the major setback in achieving this potential lies in the differences in perception of what should count as curriculum for the CBE programme between providers and beneficiaries. There is a mismatch between ＂needs＂ as perceived by learners and community members on the one hand, and ＂needs＂ as perceived by the providers on the other hand. The paper discusses some of the issues that the providers need to respond to if CBE implementation is going to be beneficial to the livelihood needs of the learners and the immediate community.     

A Study on Intercultural Business Negotiation-Based on a Case

Enlightened by excellent works of some well-known anthropologists such as Hofstede and Hall, the author tries to conduct a tentative study on the differences between negotiation styles adopted by Chinese negotiators and those from western countries like America due to different cultures to which they are exposed. The main goal of this paper then is to identify these differences in the hope that understanding and trust can be established as a precondition for a long-lasting mutually beneficial cooperation between China and other countries. As for the research method, the paper mainly adopts a qualitative study with a case from real business negotiations.     

A Künstlerroman:On the Growth Process of the Protagonist in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

A Künstlerroman is a literary genre that focuses on the psychological and moral growth of the protagonist from youth to adulthood, and in which character change is thus extremely important. A portrait of the artist as a young man as a Künstlerroman also shows the growth process of the protagonist from childhood to youth. The paper aims to point out the growth process of the protagonist focusing on the text. Especially, from the two aspects: content and form. The content and the form together reflect the growth process of the protagonist and the development of his personality, so we also see the protagonist was destined to be mature and at last decided to escape his home, exile himself and began his new life with the purpose of art.     

语言的性别差异及其成因(英文)

It is widely acknowledged that men and women are different from each other in their individuality,value image and status,which lead to the variations in their language styles and language uses.This thesis will mainly discuss the speech differences between men and women,differences between linguistic representations of men and women,and possible explanations on language differences related to gender.By analyzing these differences,we found that the different roles men and women play as well as the different status they enjoy are the main reasons of these differences.Language and social reality are closely connected.Language not only reflects reality but also helps to construct reality.The roles women play in the society as well as their social status foredoom their discriminated "famine" language.     

An Analysis of Physical Fitness Differences in Soccer,Handball,and Basketball

This study focuses on the evaluation of the differences of physical fitness among soccer players, handball players, and basketball players, and the investigation of the physical fitness structures of those players. The participants consisted of 160 elite players selected from university teams. Fourteen tests related to health and motor fitness were conducted. The results were subjected to a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) to test the mean vector differences among the three groups of different sport. Nine out of the fourteen tests were of significantly discriminating results regarding to different group, which include side step, abdominal strength, shuttle running, 100m running, pull-up, 1,500m running, trunk flexion, grip strength and broad jump, as determined by a stepwise regression approach. MANOVA showed that there was a significant difference (p< 0.001) of the mean vectors of the 9 tests among the three events. Discriminant function analysis showed that three discriminant functions were s     

Facing Challenges of Early Biliteracy： Struggle or Success Within the Taiwanese Mixed Families

This study examines the micro-contextual factors related to early bilingualism in Taiwan that might enhance or hinder children＇s language acquisition. The major research method was ethnography. Data were gathered from two groups of mixed children--non-language-delayed and language-delayed--from families with Southeast Asian immigrant mothers. The theoretical framework used was new literacy studies. Similarities and differences were both found in the home literacy contexts of the delayed and non-delayed groups. Father-child literacy events and the mother＇s language orientation upon arrival seemed to be nearly identical. The differences between the two groups consisted of certain aspects of the home language environments. The home literacy contexts of the language-delayed group appeared to be more restricted in terms of language diversity, mother-child literacy events, and the mother＇s Chinese proficiency, social circles, and attitude toward school. Bilingualism did not seem to cause delays in language development in Taiwanese children.     

Gender Differences on the Use of Amplifiers in Academic Writings

This study aims to investigate the use of amplifiers in term of gender and disciplinary groups in academic research arti cles,which is based on the British Academic Written English Corpus(BAWE).18 amplifiers were examined across two dimen sions:gender and disciplinary groups.The results show amplifiers are more common in males’ academic writings than in those of females in general,amplifiers are used more often in AH discipline.However,not all amplifiers show significant gender differ ences between men and women.Six words show a significant difference between male and female writers:pretty,by far,perfect ly,quite,a great deal,totally,which are used more often by males.However,the interesting is in LS discipline,most amplifiers are used more often by female than male writers and males tend to use by far more frequently than females.     

Effects of virtual education on academic culture： Perceived advantages and disadvantages

The perceived advantages and disadvantages of courses taught in online and face-to-face learning environments were explored for students taking an accounting and a data collection and analysis course. Both courses were taught in a face-to-face learning environment at the main or satellite campus. It was hypothesized that there would be statistically significant differences in the perceived advantages and disadvantages of courses taught in online and face-to-face learning environments. Results showed statistically significant differences between perceived advantages and disadvantages for both learning environments. Findings suggest that there are differences between the perception of advantages and disadvantages for online and face-to-face learning environments.     

Narrative Time in Alice Munro’s Short Stories

Alice Munro is a well-known contemporary Canadian writer.She departs from the traditional linear development but employs a seemingly random narrative line as a structural device in her story-telling.In the five short stories,"Material","Walk er Brothers Cowboy","The Moons of Jupiter","Miles City,Montana"and"Something I’ve Been Meaning to Tell you",Mun ro manipulates the use of disconnected narrative time to deal with rites of passage.Free from the conventional time schemes,she expresses her vision in multiple themes and leaves the story open for readers.     

Perceived Dwelling Environment, Social Environment and Interpersonal Relationship of a Group of Inhabitants of Own Houses Adjacent to Eastern Metropolitan Bypass of Kolkata

Kolkata＇s eastern expansion has been accelerated by the construction of the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass and the various connectors are connected the main city to the bypass. Permanent dwellers of a locality generally live together in such a way that they share the basic conditions of a community life and develop a strong positive feeling for the locality which finally becomes a part of their respective self-identity. The present investigation has been designed to study the perceived dwelling environment, social environment and interpersonal relationship of a group of inhabitants of own houses adjacent to EM Bypass of Kolkata. Accordingly, 200 adult inhabitants （100 male and 100 female） were randomly selected as subjects from own houses adjacent to EM Bypass of Kolkata. General Information Schedule, Perceived Dwelling Environment Questionnaire, Perceived Social Environment Questionnaire and Perceived Interpersonal Relationship Questionnaire were administered to them. The findings reveal that the inhabitants perceive the dwelling environment unfavorably, on the contrary, they perceive the social environment favorably. They are also maintaining good interpersonal relationship with neighbors. Those who are living in the same environment of above five years perceive the environment more favorable than those who are living in the same environment of below five years.     

Expressed emotion： Is it cross-culturally psychological construct——The study in Iran

It is clear from past research that family atmosphere influences the course of many mental illness such as schizophrenia. EE （emotional express） is a measure of emotional response of a relative towards a person with a diagnosed health problem （Lobbon, et al., 2006）. EE has three aspects like critical, hostile, and emotionally over-involved attitudes that relatives have toward patients. The goals of this study is to investigate EE＇s role in Eastern countries especially in Iran, compared to Western countries. 120 schizophrenia patients and their key relatives are selected to answer the family questionnaire. The results indicated that in Iranian families are regarded to emotionally over involvement attitude more seen than western countries. Parents who were emotional over involvement report self- blaming and more controlling parents than other parents. When the EE in Iranian families were compared to western countries, the differences were clear. For instance, in western countries hostile and critical attitude were more than Iranian families. In addition, they are less self-blaming and controlling their patients. But in Eastern countries mental illness is viewed as the fate or predestination, so there are fewer attempts to follow up therapeutic interventions. It is important to note that the role of culture is explored in explaining the specific manner in which EE relates to relapse among Iranian families, also for programming and family psycho- education interventions.     

Register Analysis of English for housekeeping

Introduction Register is one of the cores of Functive Linguistics. It offers three decisive factors in language, that is, Field, Tenor and Mode. This paper plans to say something on the theory of register and analyze a short passage from the point of register. Register analysis as a stage of ESP movement took place mainly in 1960s and early 1970s. The representatives of this stage were Barber, Halliday, Ewer, Latorre and some others. Halliday and Hasan define register as “variation acco…     

Experiences and benefits of positron emitted tomography-computed tomography （PET-CT） combined with video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery （VATS） in the diagnosis of Stage 1 sarcoidosis

Background： The purpose of this study was to describe our experiences and analyze the benefits of video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery （VATS） combined with positron emitted tomography （PET）-computed tomography （CT） in the diagnosis of patients with early （Stage 1） sarcoidosis. Methods： From 1995 to 2006, seven patients （two males, five females）, with ages ranging from 26 to 58 years, were impressed with Stage 1 sarcoidosis （mediastinal or hilar lymph nodes involvements without lung involvement） by histological examination of intrathoracic lymph nodes （LNs） and/or lung parenchyma taken＇from VATS biopsy. Three of them received PET or PET-CT evaluation. VATS was approached from the right and left side in one and six patients, respectively, according to the locations of their lesions. Results： All the VATS biopsied LNs or lung specimens were adequate for establishing diagnosis. Mediastinal LNs were taken from Groups 3, 4 in four, Group 7 in two, and Groups 5, 6 in one of them. Hilar LNs biopsies were performed in four cases. Lung biopsy was performed in all but two cases. All of them were expressed pathologically or radiologically as Stage 1 sarcoidosis. PET-CT revealed high emission signals over these affected LNs. These patients received oral steroid treatment or follow up only. All of them were followed up from 5 months to 11 years with satisfactory results. Conclusion： VATS biopsy is a minimally invasive, safe and effective procedure. It can be used as a diagnostic altermative of transbronchial lung biopsy （TBLB）, and can harvest larger and more areas of specimens than mediastinoscopy for staging patients with sarcoidosis. PET-CT can provide us more accurate information about the characteristics and localization of these lesions before biopsy. VATS combined with PET-CT can provide more accurate and earlier diagnosis of patients with unknown intrathoracic lesions, including the sarcoidosis.     

The perspective of six Malaysian students on playing video games： Beneficial or detrimental？

This study provides a glimpse into understanding the potential benefits as well as harm of playing video games from the perspective of six Malaysian secondary school students, aged 16-17 years old. The rationale of the study is to enable parents, educators, administrators and policy makers to develop a sound understanding on the impact of playing video games before making any judgment on the contemporary youth culture. Thus, further decision on the acceptance of video games as a new innovation in school or at home could be considered. Although this study is not very extensive, the findings suggest that playing video games contributes to cognitive, social, motivational and emotional development. However, potential harms do exist. Parents play an important role in guiding their children either directly or indirectly, as indicated by the respective students. Caution is advised in the interpretation of the study＇s findings as it is solely based on the perspectives of the students, as the first person＇s views. Nevertheless, each student has their very own perspective on the impact of video games on them.     

A qualitative investigation of trainees＇ adjustment in Japan：A case study of trainees from Indonesia

In Japan, there is a residence status known as “the trainee”. This is the status for residents who undertake “activities to learn and acquire the technology, skills, or knowledge at public or private organizations in Japan”. With the introduction of the Industrial Training Program in 1993, trainees have been permitted to extend their stay in Japan for education and employment purposes up to a maximum of three years. This study aims to investigate the adjustment styles of trainees and to consider the changes in their attitudes toward Japan in the course of this adjustment. Six male Indonesian trainees （mean age=23.83） were invited to a semi-structured interview. They were employed at the same factory, involved in the manufacture of car components, and were trainees in their first-, second-, and third-years. The interview mainly focused on the trainees＇ Japanese language skills, the changes in their images of Japan or Japanese people, the communication between them and their Japanese colleagues, and the difficulties they encountered during their stay in Japan. The results revealed that there were clear differences between the first, second, and third trainees. As the trainees＇ Japanese language skills improved, their communication with the Japanese colleagues increased. Subsequently, they developed more positive images of Japan and Japanese people and hoped to have more informal communication with Japanese people.