三本院校英语口语课堂改革与教学方法初探

在英语作为第二语言的学习中,听、说是中国学生学习中普遍存在的薄弱环节,尤其是口语,受到语言环境的局限,更是其中最薄弱却难以突破的瓶颈。在学生们普遍基础薄弱、自律性较差的三本院校中,提高学生口语水平的难度就更大。文章以陕西科技大学镐京学院口语教学改革为例,详细介绍了镐京学院口语教学的探索过程,通过对不同阶段成败的分析,选择参与大规模的口语集中训练的学生展开调研,通过对结果进行对比分析得出结论,为英语口语课堂建设及教学方法提出建议。     

Spanish Language Children and Teen Books Focusing on Human Sexuality and Reproductive Health

Talking to children and teens about sexuality is difficult for most parents, especially for those whose primary language is Spanish. Teens who come to the United States from Spanish speaking countries are also at a disadvantage because of a language barrier. Many times there is a lack of high quality Spanish materials that have been reviewed on the topic of sex and reproductive health. There are serious consequences of unplanned teen pregnancies to communities such as poverty, low educational attainment and other health disparities. This bibliography reviews human sexuality titles in Spanish for both children and teens. Professionals in the healthcare or medical libraries, school librarians, public librarians and academic librarians will find this bibliography valuable for the purposes of educating the public and developing their institution’s collection.     

The Millennials: How and Why They Are Using Public Libraries. Reporting from Kyrgyzstan,the United States and Italy

Abstract

The Millennial Generation, sometimes referred to as Gen X—those young men and women born between 1981 and 1996—are the first generation of “digital natives.” This column reports on how their use of technology has changed public library services in Kyrgyzstan, the United States and Italy.     

Academic Libraries and Autism Spectrum Disorder: What Do We Know?

This paper examines the rising rates of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in children in the United States (1 in 59), and explores the role academic libraries can play in helping college students with ASD. A literature review of how different types of libraries (school, public, academic) support students with ASD indicates research in this area in general is lacking. Findings point to lack of adequate training and awareness for librarians and staff, resources, services and spaces are universal challenges. Several initiatives that academic libraries and librarians may consider in helping students with ASD are identified and described.     

International Students' Acquisition of Library Research Skills:

This study examined international students' acquisition of library research skills in relation to their English language proficiency. The experimental study involved 13 students who were studying English at the Florida State University Center for Intensive English Studies (FSU-CIES) during the 1987 Spring semester. Results of the Pearson Product Moment Test showed a moderate correlation (r = .43) between the students' exit TOEFL scores and the posttest library skills scores. Other findings were: (1) The students mastered 80% of the material taught as measured by Shannon Entropy; (2) Lack of command of the English language, lack of self-sufficiency, and absence of the conceptual awareness of library research were major obstacles to comprehension of the material.     

Is there Lingua Franca in informal scientific communication? Evidence from language distribution of scientific tweets

Language distribution in scientific communication reflects the influence of different languages on science in global perspective. The study, based on over 450 thousand scientific tweets of all publications indexed by Scopus in June 2015, reveals the language distribution in informal scientific communication. Moreover, this result is compared with the language distribution in formal scientific communication reflected in scientific publications. Results show: (1) The language of scientific tweets is concentrated in English (91%), Japanese (2.4%) and Spanish (1.7%), while the language of scientific publications is concentrated in English (90.6%), Chinese (5%) and German (1.1%). (2) Both scientific tweets and scientific publications present disciplinary differences in language distribution, reflecting the different amount of attention that authors of different languages have on certain disciplines. (3) Except Saudi Arabia, investigated countries all over the world, regardless of whether their native language is English or not, all have English scientific tweets in the dominant position. For the vast majority of these countries, the native language scientific tweets only rank the second position. (4) Overall, 26% of tweeters use more than one language to tweet scientific products, while 49% of scientific tweeters tweet everything in English only. The results indicate that English has undoubtedly become the lingua franca in informal scientific communication.     

International developments: The North Carolina foreign language center: A public library service

The North Carolina Foreign Language Center is a centralized multilingual public library which serves all residents of North Carolina. Local library patrons have direct access to its materials and services. Residents elsewhere can borrow materials and use its reference capabilities via InterLibrary Loan. The NCFLC is funded by the North Carolina State Library using L.S.C.A. funds. The NCFLC can serve as a model for other states with a low population density of non‐English or limited‐English speaking people. By making foreign language resources available through one library, North Carolina provides a wide selection of such materials and can afford the services of a full‐time librarian to manage the collection.     

引文分析近十年国际情报学与图书馆学研究热点

文章运用Histcite引文索引分析软件,以Web of Science中的SSCI(Social Science Citation Index)为数据来源,以类别INFORMATION SCIENCE LIBRARY SCIENCE为研究对象,对2002年至2011年国际情报学与图书馆学研究的5 684篇文献进行引文分析,对结果进行对比研究并进行定量分析与可视化分析。研究结果表明,美国等西方国家是情报学与图书馆学研究的主要力量;文献中英语文献占主导地位;情报学与图书馆学研究的热点主要集中在数字图书馆、公共图书馆、图书馆的服务评价、图书馆2.0等领域。     

Reaching a Moving Target: How Local TV Stations are Using Digital Tools to Connect With Generation C

Local television in the United States is experiencing dramatic changes due to shifts in viewership and digital technologies. This study examined the extent to which a sample of local television stations in the United States are meeting the demands and needs of Generation C/Millennials through the use of social media, mobile technology, and other online communication tools. The major finding of this study was that television stations have a growing repertoire of social media and other connectivity tools with which to engage their viewers, but that stations in larger markets are making fuller use of interactive technologies.     

Decisión 2016: Comparative Analysis of Journalistic Role Performance on Spanish- and English-language TV Networks

ABSTRACT

This study is one of the first to compare journalistic role performances of English– and Spanish–language TV networks during the 2016 U.S. primaries. Previous research finds that the corporate structure of Spanish–language media in the United States is looking more like its English–language counterparts and that Latino journalists share the norm of objectivity. Meanwhile, research suggests that individuals of different ethnicities turn to different communication channels and that this divergence can be explained by the degree of alignment in linguistic and cultural orientation. In this study, we therefore assess how linguistic differences of TV networks impact journalistic culture during the presidential primaries in 2016. As a crucial component of journalistic culture, we focus on journalistic role performance and find important distinctions: Findings reveal that the greater coverage of presidential candidates as sources on English-language networks have significant consequences for the roles journalists perform. Results suggest that the Spanish–language networks performed significantly more civic journalism roles than their English–language counterparts that perform an interventionist and service role. These differences are discussed alongside different audience-orientation of the networks that reflect deep racial and ethnic divides.     

A Correlational Study of Foreign Language Anxiety and Library Anxiety Among Non-native Speakers of English: A Case Study in a Malaysian Public University

This study examines the correlation of the dimensions of foreign language anxiety and library anxiety among undergraduates at a public university in Malaysia. The Malay translated versions of the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) and the Library Anxiety Scale (LAS) were completed by 147 students pursuing a Foundation in Science course. Analysis revealed a significant correlation in all the dimensions of library anxiety with three of the dimensions of foreign language anxiety, namely speaking anxiety, self-evaluation anxiety, and learner anxiety. The findings in this study will enable librarians to be aware of the anxieties faced by students which can help in the planning and delivery of services and instruction.     

Andragogy and Teaching English as a Foreign Language in China

This study investigated the possibility of whether Western andragogy could be practiced in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) in China. A well-accepted instrument was modified and utilized for this study. Chinese teachers of English used andragogy to some extent such as personalizing instruction, relating to experience, assessing student needs, and climate building. The findings showed these teachers taught the lower levels of taxonomy, which are characterized by rote learning, memorization, knowledge transmitting, lecture, and focusing on exams. These teaching methods run contrary to Western democratic approaches characterized by negotiating curricular priorities with students, giving out learning contracts instead of exams, and involving students when planning lessons. The Western style of teaching is believed to contribute to the communicative movement (or collaborative learning process) when it comes to learning a foreign language such as English.     

The English language in scientific publishing

Adapting to market changes after World War II, the German scientific publishing house Springer-Verlag decided to publish in the English language long before setting up offices in the United States. This material was adapted from Springer-Verlag: History of a Scientific Publishing House, Volume 2, 1945–1992, and appears with the permission of the publishers.     

Public speaking procrastination as a correlate of public speaking communication apprehension and self‐perceived public speaking competence

In the present study, the relationship between public speaking procrastination and communication apprehension, and the relationship between public speaking procrastination and self‐perceived public speaking competence were investigated. A significant, positive correlation was found between public speaking procrastination and communication apprehension. A significant, negative correlation was found between public speaking procrastination and self‐perceived public speaking competence. The implications of public speaking procrastination for students and their instructors are discussed along with “anti‐procrastination “ pedagogical strategies.     

For the Public Good or Just Good Publicity? Celebrity Diplomacy and the Ethics of Representation

Celebrities in recent years have taken on a more active role in communicating global humanitarian crises to the American public. This role at times shifts between journalist, advocate, philanthropist, and personal publicist. This article evaluates how three of the most well-known celebrities in this genre in the United States—Angelina Jolie, George Clooney, and Bono—differ in their method of speaking about these issues, focusing on how their public discourse adds to, or detracts from, citizens' abilities to understand, discuss, and respond to the issues presented in the public sphere. Through critical discourse analysis, similarities and differences are teased out and placed within the context of previous research on celebrity diplomacy and humanitarian crises, in order to evaluate the usefulness of such performances for the U.S. public as democratic citizens and for the victims of foreign suffering the celebrities purport to represent.     

Information literacy supporting student motivation and performance: Course-level analyses

Examining data from over 3000 students in 102 course sections across seven colleges of a large, public, research intensive university in the United States, this study investigates the relationships between information literacy (IL) and course-level academic performance and student perceptions of their learning environments. The results provide evidence of the following: 1) students who synthesize information and communicate the results tend to perceive higher levels of motivation than students who do so less often; 2) there is a significant positive relationship between synthesizing information and communicating the results and course level learning gains. The results point to the efficacy of IL being integrated into learning disciplinary course content, as well as the benefit of prioritizing high-order IL activities, such as synthesizing information, over other the aspects of IL, such as searching or formatting citations.     

英国公共部门信息再利用模式分析

英国在公共部门信息再利用方面取得的成绩有目共睹,可与美国的公共部门信息再利用相提并论。英国的公共部门信息再利用在发展过程中形成了自己的特点,构建了独有的英国公共部门信息再利用模式。该模式特点是：有力的监管环境、设立专门的监管机构、鼓励公众积极参与、利用先进的信息技术。该模式存在的问题是：规则中的某些术语不明确、监管机构没有真正的制裁权、地方政府缺乏对公共部门信息政策的支持。     

The role of videotaped feedback in the instruction of public speaking: A quantitative synthesis of published empirical research

This article summarizes published experimental studies dealing with the use of video taping to provide feedback to students in public speaking courses. Meta‐analytic procedures were used to summarize twelve published studies. Results of the analysis indicate that the use of videotaping to provide feedback to students in public speaking courses results in better content of student speeches, greater acquisition of public speaking skills, better performance on objective tests, and more positive attitudes toward the course in public speaking. In addition to these positive effects, no statistically significant increase in anxiety is experienced by students when video technology is utilized in the classroom to provide feedback to students in public speaking courses.