对外汉语口语教学中面临的问题及思考

分析当前对外汉语口语课所肩负的任务,以及其中所存在的问题。某些口语课依然存在以讲授语言点为重点,而不是侧重语言技能的训练。教学进度与练习时间冲突。在语言环境不够真实的情况下,教学方法又太过传统。在教学实践中,各任课教师集体备课,协调词汇语法教学任务。以及走出课堂,充分利用学校和社会语言环境等方法对提高口语课的实效都很有帮助。     

Motivational variables involved in commitment of female soccer players at different competitive levels

Today more and more women are playing sport and choosing activities previously considered the exclusive domain of men, such as soccer. The main purpose of this study was to analyse the role of motivational variables (individual and team) regarding the commitment to and future expectations of playing higher levels of competition in a sample of female association soccer players (N = 117) at different levels of competition (local, regional and national leagues). Results confirm that the highest league shows high values in perception of success (ego orientation and task orientation), transactional psychological contract and future expectations. On the other hand, the local league produces high values in relational contracts. A path analysis tests a theoretical model with all the motivational variables as predictors of sporting commitment and future expectations. It shows the power of individual and team motivational variables in terms of predicting the involvement of women in soccer.     

Re‐asserting the place of context in explaining student (under‐)achievement

One popular view of student achievement is that the quality of teaching students receive plays an important part in whether or not they do well at school. In this article we draw attention to ‘context’ as a complementary explanation, particularly regarding achievement differences between students from different socio‐economic backgrounds. In making these observations, we utilise data from one Australian secondary school located in an economically depressed rural community. Drawing on the insights of Bourdieu, our focus is on the broader social and economic influences that can adversely position students and schools, as well as work to inform the institutional stance that schools take in relation to their students.     

mtDNA analysis of the human remains buried in the sarcophagus of Federico II

The sarcophagus containing the remains of Federico II, located in the Cathedral of Palermo (Sicily, Italy), was opened on 1998 to perform a multidisciplinary survey [1]. Next to the remains of Federico II and in close contact with them were laying two other skeletons belonging, according to historical records, to Pietro II di Aragona and to an anonymous person (“The Third Individual”), probably a woman. The bones appeared severely deteriorated. Chemical analysis performed on bone samples excluded that the bodies underwent some kind of embalming process. The analysis of mtDNA from bone samples taken from the three skeletons was successful in only one of the two labs involved. The HVR1-mtDNA sequence (region: from nt 16,035 to nt 16,395), obtained from the bone samples of Federico II and “The Third Individual” appear identical but bear double peaks at the same nucleotide positions, suggesting mixing (i.e. contamination) of different mtDNA types. The HVR1 sequence obtained from the bone sample of Pietro II di Aragona does not present double peaks and differ from the Cambridge Reference Sequence (CRS) at six nucleotide positions. Cloning experiment of the Federico II amplicon demonstrated that the mixed mtDNA types are only two: one identical to CRS, the other identical to the sequence of Pietro II di Aragona. A reconstruction of these data are proposed in the Discussion. Due to the problematic context in which this study was carried out (mixed and deteriorated biological material, failure to replicate results in two different labs), our results and reconstruction can only be offered on a tentative basis. It is hoped that the data presented in this study will reveal useful, for future comparison, if further molecular genetics research will be carried out on the royal dynasties that ruled Sicily in the early centuries of the past millennium.     

The Stability of Perceived Motor Competence of Primary School Children from Two Countries over One Year

ABSTRACT

Children’s positive perceived motor competence (PMC) provides motivation for physical activity. Theoretically young children (<8 years) have inflated PMC but as children cognitively develop, perceptions are hypothesized to decrease. This study investigated strength of PMC association over time, whether any change was negative (i.e. PMC decreased) and sex differences. A total of 198 children participated, 88 (44.4%) girls and 110 (55.6%) boys, aged 8.37–11.3 years at time point one (T1). Test–retest reliability using intraclass correlation was moderate for locomotor and moderate-to-good for object control perception. Hierarchical regression analysis showed PMC at T1 positively predicted significant variance one year later (T2) for locomotor (23.1%) and object control skill (5 items: 37.7%; 7 items: 39.9%). Whilst boys and girls differed on perception level there was no interaction between PMC and sex. Incongruent with previous theoretical perspectives this study identified stability in children’s PMC across an important developmental period.     

Effect of dual-attention task on attack and defensive actions in fencing

The objectives of this study were to investigate the effect that the presence of two stimuli that require two different responses (dual-attention) has both, on offensive reaction-response time to a light stimulus, and on defensive response time when the stimulus is a real fencing attack. Twenty-five elite fencers and a fencing master were included in the study. The equipment included four force plates adapted to a scaffold that served as a fencing piste. Two force plates were placed, at the start position, under the fencer’s feet and another two plates were placed under the master’s feet. The results demonstrate that choice reaction time to visual stimuli increases in dual-task conditions with respect to simple reaction time, whereas the mean horizontal force tends to decrease in dual-task. However, when the stimulus was an opponent’s movement, dual-task conditions did not have any effect on the time required to initiate a defensive action. The changes in reaction time when real movements were used as stimuli challenge the validity of the reaction time to visual stimuli paradigm as a predictor of performance in fencing. Also, the results obtained demonstrate that perceptual and attentional processes play a major role in fencer performance in real competition.     

Blinded by the sun: The role of prosumers as niche actors in incumbent firms’ adoption of solar power during sustainability transitions

While extant research discusses how niche innovations develop in protected market niches and trigger regime shifts along sustainability transition pathways, we know less about the direct role of different niche actors as competitors in affecting regime incumbents’ investments in niche innovations. This study addresses this gap and builds on Strategic Niche Management and the Multi-level Perspective to distinguish two different niche actors: prosumers on the demand-side applying a niche innovation in a disruptive way to regime incumbents’ business model, and new entrants on the supply-side applying the niche innovation symbiotically with the regime. We examine incumbent responses to these different niche actors in different competitive and policy environments. Studying the United States’ electricity industry's sustainability transition toward solar from 2010-2017, we find that as more niche actors enter, regime incumbents are more likely to invest in the niche innovation, but the effect is influenced by policy and competitiveness of the environment. In competitive environments, incumbents are more likely to respond to disruptive niche actors (prosumers), while in traditional monopoly-like markets they are more likely to respond to symbiotic niche actors. We also find that the prosumer effect is stronger when the time that policies in support of the niche innovation have existed is shorter, indicating a potential substituting relationship of niche actors and policy. Our work contributes to the extant literature by demonstrating that the interplay between different niche actors needs to be understood within the context of policy, and that considering policy without accounting for the competitive environment may omit an important aspect of how regime actors become active participants in sustainability transitions.