学生外语交际能力的个性差异

外语教学的目的不仅是为了让学生掌握语言知识，而且还要提高学生运用语言知识进行外语交际的能力。学生的个性差异与外语交际能力之间的关系是外语工作一直比较关注的问题。个人态度、动机、气质、性格等个性差异对外语交际能力的形成有着重要的影响作用。     

Gender Differences in the Relationship of Nascent Conservation and Reading Abilities

Abstract

Eighty five-year-old children were administered the Reading Recognition subtest of the Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAI ), the Concept Assessment Kit-Conservation (CAK), the Concepts About Print test (C AP), and Taking Inventory of Children’s Literary Background in a study of gender differences in the relationship of early conservation ability with reading and linguistic awareness. Regression analyses revealed a correlation of .72 between the C AK and PIAI for the girls, but the same coefficient was only - .10 for the boys. A similar difference also occurred in the relationship between the C AK and C AP. These findings and available evidence from other studies consistently support the hy pothesis that conservation ability is more highly correlated with performance on reading and reading-related tasks in girls than in boys.     

英汉口译中不同口译能力学生的笔记差异

为探讨口译员自身口译能力与笔记语言之间的差异,对大三、大四及研究生英语专业口译学生进行实验,结果发现:在笔记语言选择方面,大三学生与大四学生以源语为主;而研究生倾向于用目的语和符号笔记。根据研究结果,建议口译训练时,初学者笔记以源语为主。随着口译水平提高,口译笔记可逐渐向目的语和笔记符号过渡。     

Age Differences in Future Orientation and Delay Discounting

Age differences in future orientation are examined in a sample of 935 individuals between 10 and 30 years using a delay discounting task as well as a new self-report measure. Younger adolescents consistently demonstrate a weaker orientation to the future than do individuals aged 16 and older, as reflected in their greater willingness to accept a smaller reward delivered sooner than a larger one that is delayed, and in their characterizations of themselves as less concerned about the future and less likely to anticipate the consequences of their decisions. Planning ahead, in contrast, continues to develop into young adulthood. Future studies should distinguish between future orientation and impulse control, which may have different neural underpinnings and follow different developmental timetables.     

中外文化差异与大学外语教学中社会文化能力的培养

语言是化的载体，不同民族的化差异往往体现在语言和交际中，化因素常常构成人们学习外语的障碍。因此，大学英语的教学任务不只是培养学习的语言技能，它的教育功能还当体现在对学生的化能力的培养。本拟从化差异对外语教学的影响探讨化教学的具体内容，并给出了实践方法。     

Sex Differences in Mathematical Abilities: Commentary on the Math-Fact Retrieval Hypothesis

The hypothesis that a male advantage in speed of math-fact retrieval underlies the sex difference, favoring males, in mathematical abilities is unique and provocative. However, the hypothesis does not provide an explanation for the male advantage in mathematical domains, such as geometry, that do not require arithmetic, nor does it accommodate the sex differences in social and occupational interests that contribute to the sex difference in mathematical achievement. An alternative hypothesis focusing on the sex difference in three-dimensional spatial cognition is favored over the math-fact retrieval hypothesis.     

Age Differences in Support Processes in Conversations between Friends

The purpose of this study was to examine age differences in the use and effectiveness of social support processes emitted during conversations about real life negative events between preadolescent, adolescent, and adult friends. Age differences were found for 3 forms of support. Older supporters made more excuses and engaged in less distraction than preadolescent supporters, and adult supporters validated more excuses than younger supporters. Talking to friends alleviated negative affect in subjects of all ages, however factors predicting reductions in negative affect differed across age. Preadolescents felt better when friends distracted them from their problems, and adults felt better when friends helped them evade responsibility for their problems. Specific support processes did not predict affect changes for adolescents, but adolescent girls felt better after the conversation than adolescent boys. Results are explained in terms of age differences in self-validation and intimacy needs, experience co-constructing reality and providing social support, and refinement of social skills.     

经济全球化时代大学生跨文化能力的培养

本文主要基于经济全球化的时代背景，在对时下人们所普遍持有的外语能力就是跨文化能力的误识进行澄清的基础上，对经济全球化时代大学生所应具备的跨文化能力的内涵结构及其知识结构进行了全面深入的探析，以期对我国高等学校的素质教育改革起到借鉴作用。     

城乡教师学力差距现状、问题与对策

采用目的抽样与整群抽样相结合的方式对甘肃、河南、四川三省1354名教师的调查发现:农村教师的教育教学力明显落后于城市教师;农村教师的学习发展力明显落后于城市教师;城市教师的生活生存力显著低于农村教师;不同教龄教师的学习发展力的“波动”十分明显;不同学历教师学力都亟须提升.为此提出缩小城乡差距的政策建议:不仅要从宏观角度考虑城乡师资配备及教师生存保障问题,也要从微观角度关心不同层次教师的专业发展问题.     

Sex and Age Differences in Problems and Interests of Adolescents

The problems and interests of 1,366 adolescents were investigated using an instrument devised by Symond and later used by Harris and Kaczkowski. Findings of the various studies were compared to determine the validity of Symonds’ hypothesis that changes in the social and economic structure of society would immediately change the relative emphasis of these problems and interests. Certain problems and interests offered by the instrument did alter their position in the 32 years spanned by the four studies, but others seemed to be impervious to the influence of the changes of which Symonds spoke. The influence of regional and geographic differences in the samples used in the various studies is not known.     

Age Differences in the Impact of Employment on Antisocial Behavior

While research suggests that working more than 20 hr weekly is associated with greater antisocial behavior among middle‐ and upper‐class youth, some have argued that employment benefits at‐risk youth and leads to desistance from crime among youthful offenders. This study investigates the relation between hours worked, school attendance, and employment characteristics on antisocial behavior in a sample of approximately 1,300 juvenile offenders (ages 14–17 at baseline) tracked over 5 years. The combinations of high‐intensity employment and irregular school attendance, unemployment and irregular school attendance, and unemployment and not being enrolled in school are associated with significantly greater antisocial behavior, particularly during early adolescence. High‐intensity employment diminishes antisocial behavior only when accompanied by attending school.     

北京市新英源借词使用情况年龄差异研究

本研究采用问卷法对北京市常住人口进行社会分层调查,分析新英源借词使用情况的年龄差异,并结合对被试受教育程度、英语学习背景及语言态度等变量的相关分析,探究年龄差异存在的原因。     

非英语专业大学新生适应英语课能力的差异探究

中学英语教学与大学英语教学的衔接问题留给高等学校教育研究者很多思考。尤其是在大学英语一年级教学过程中中学与大学英语教学衔接的缺失比较明显。因此,在大学英语教学中了解学生学习上的特点,搞好中学英语学习和大学英语学习上的互相衔接,帮助学生逾越学习障碍,克服畏惧的情绪,在大学一年级阶段的教学中显得尤为重要。     

Age and Sex Differences in Perceptions of Networks of Personal Relationships

In this study, 549 youths in the fourth grade, seventh grade, tenth grade, and college completed Network of Relationship Inventories assessing their perceptions of their relationships with significant others. The findings were largely consistent with 7 propositions derived from major theories of the developmental courses of personal relationships. In particular, mothers and fathers were seen as the most frequent providers of support in the fourth grade. Same-sex friends were perceived to be as supportive as parents in the seventh grade, and were the most frequent providers of support in the tenth grade. Romantic partners moved up in rank with age until college, where they, along with friends and mothers, received the highest ratings for support. Age differences were also observed in perceptions of relationships with grandparents, teachers, and siblings. Finally, age differences in perceived conflict, punishment, and relative power suggested that there was a peak in tension in parent-child relationships in early and middle adolescence. Discussion centers around the role various relationships are perceived as playing at different points in development.     

Age Differences in Goal Concordance,Time Use,and Well-Being

The primary purpose of the present study was to investigate age differences in goal concordance, time use, and Well-Being. Past research has found that despite age-related decline in life circumstances (e.g., health), the Well-Being of older adults is as high as young adults. The present study used a novel approach to explore the Paradox of Well-Being. One hundred and seventy-seven adults participated in the study. They first generated their three most important personal strivings and rated levels of goal concordance for external, introjected, identified, and intrinsic reasons. Then, they reported their actual and ideal time use in 10 categories of activities in the past 24 hours. Finally, Well-Being was assessed by the Flourishing Scale and the Scale of Positive and Negative Experience (Diener, Wirtz, et al., 2010). Older adults did not differ from young adults in overall Well-Being. However, they held higher levels of goal concordance and were more likely to spend time in spirituality and religion-related activities than young adults. The relationships between goal concordance, time use, and Well-Being were examined separately for young and older adults. Implications were discussed to improve Well-Being for young and older adults.     

Age Differences in Adaptive Decision Making: The Role of Numeracy

The primary purposes of the present study were to examine age differences in adaptive decision making and to evaluate the role of numeracy in mediating the relationship between age and adaptive decision making. Adaptive decision making was assessed by the Cups task (Levin, Weller, Pederson, & Harshman, 2007 Levin , I. P. , Weller , J. A. , Pederson , A. A. , & Harshman , L. A. ( 2007 ). Age-related differences in adaptive decision making: Sensitivity to expect value in risky choice . Judgement and Decision Making , 2 ( 4 ), 225 – 233 .[Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Forty-six younger (18 to 24 years old) and 37 older adults (61 to 89 years old) completed the Cups task. In addition, the Numeracy Scale (Lipkus, Samsa, & Rimer, 2001 Lipkus , I. M ., Samsa , G. , & Rimer , B. K. ( 2001 ). General performance on a numeracy scale among highly educated samples . Medical Decision Making , 21 ( 1 ), 37 – 44 .[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) was used to measure individual numeric ability. Adaptive decision making was operationalized by the Expected Value sensitivity (i.e., the product of probability and outcome magnitudes) across the gain and the loss domains. Older adults had significantly lower Expected Value sensitivity than young adults. In addition, older adults demonstrated significantly lower numeracy than younger adults. Finally, numeracy partially mediated the relationship between age and adaptive decision making. It is suggested that older adults’ declined decision making may be partially due to their declined numeric abilities. Implications were discussed in numeracy education and public policies concerning older adults.     

Age and scientific productivity. Differences between fields of learning

This article analyzes the relationship between age and scientific productivity at Norwegian universities. Cross-sectional data indicate that publishing activity reaches a peak in the 45–49 year old age group and declines by 30 per cent among researchers over 60 years old. Large differences exist, however, between fields of learning. In the social sciences productivity remains more or less at the same level in all age groups. In the humanities publishing activity declines in the 55–59 year old age group, but it reaches a new peak in the group 60 years old and over. Productivity declines in the medical sciences among faculty members who are older than 55, while in the natural sciences, productivity continually decreases with increasing age.This article suggests that the differences between the various fields of learning arise from corresponding differences in the development of scientific disciplines. In fields where the production of new knowledge is fast and where new scientific methods and equipment are continuously introduced, researchers may have problems coping and thus become obsolescent. In fields where knowledge production occurs at a slower pace, e.g. the social sciences and the humanities, faculty may be productive throughout their careers. This explanation gains further support when looking at various natural and medical science disciplines. Older faculty members in physics are less productive than older researchers in mathematics, and older scientists in biomedicine are less productive than their colleagues of the same age in social medicine.     

Age and Sex Differences in Performance in an 11‐plus Selective Examination

The aim of the study was to investigate age and sex differences in performance in an 11‐plus selective examination. The sample was made up of 3460 pupils who were born in 1981 and who had sat the examination for the first time. Results based on a data set consisting of raw scores in Maltese, English, mathematics, social studies and religious knowledge showed a strong and consistent age effect in all five attainment measures: performance decreased with age from the ‘oldest’ pupils to the youngest’. In regard to sex differences, girls outperformed boys in Maltese, English and religion, with differences being most marked in the two languages. The performance of the two sexes in mathematics and social studies was very similar, with the boys’ performance being slightly, but not significantly, better. These age and sex effects were also evident in the proportions of pupils who passed or failed the examination. Older pupils tended to be more successful than younger pupils, and girls were more likely to pass the examination than boys.     

Relative Age Effect and Gender Differences in Physical Education Attainment in Norwegian Schoolchildren

The relative age effect (RAE) refers to that children born early in their year of birth show higher performance compared to children born late in the same cohort. The present study evaluated whether RAE exists within non-competitive physical education (PE) attainments, change in RAE magnitude with age, and possible gender differences. The results show a drop in PE attainment and a difference in number of high and low marks between the first and second half-year. Of the pupils who attained the highest mark, 73% were born in the first 6 months. In lower-secondary school, RAEs were larger in girls compared with boys. A possible explanation for the results is that the PE-teachers might be inspired by product-oriented criteria.     

Characterization of Age Differences in Error Types in a Multitrial Spatial Learning Task

Although increased age is associated with greater errors in spatial memory tasks, it is unclear if there are age differences in error types. To investigate this, 334 participants (ages 22–88) completed a task in which they remembered object locations across multiple study-test trials. Far and close error types were categorized based on the spatial proximity of recalled objects to their actual location. Younger adults showed a greater difference in the proportion of close and far errors, and middle-aged adults showed this pattern to a lesser extent. However, older adults committed close and far errors at an equal rate. Results revealed that all age groups reduced their far errors across trials, and task complexity similarly affected older and younger adults' error-type rates. Study time did not appear to predict error types. Overall, these results suggest that increased age is associated with more far errors, but that a reduction in these error types can occur through repeated learning trials.