No description available.

No description available.

Internationally, more and more people are learning Chinese as a second or foreign language. Many studies (Gardner, 1958; Spolsky, 1969; Dörnyei, 1994; Oxford & Shearin, 1996; Williams & Burden, 1997) have shown that learning motivation plays an important role in language learning, while language belief (Horwitz, 1988) determines the strategies and efforts learners are going to put into language learning. Both motivation and belief are key factors in successful language learning. This research carried out an investigation of the phenomenon of Chinese language learning in the Canadian context. Through in-depth, open-ended individual interviews with six students who were learning Chinese in a Canadian university, the researcher intended to listen to their actual experiences of Chinese language learning in order to examine their motivations for learning this language and to describe their beliefs about this language. The results showed Chinese language learners had a variety of motivations to learn the Chinese language, from cultural interest, communication with native Chinese speakers, travel, friendship, to job opportunities. These motivations came from their real life experiences with the Chinese people around them. As for the Chinese language, not all students thought it was difficult. All participants in this study believed listening and speaking was more important than reading and writing. They adopted many learning strategies to learn Chinese. The implications for Chinese language instructors as to how to motivate students and for the Chinese language students motivating themselves were also discussed.

No description available.

Internationally, more and more people are learning Chinese as a second or foreign language. Many studies (Gardner, 1958; Spolsky, 1969; Dörnyei, 1994; Oxford & Shearin, 1996; Williams & Burden, 1997) have shown that learning motivation plays an important role in language learning, while language belief (Horwitz, 1988) determines the strategies and efforts learners are going to put into language learning. Both motivation and belief are key factors in successful language learning. This research carried out an investigation of the phenomenon of Chinese language learning in the Canadian context. Through in-depth, open-ended individual interviews with six students who were learning Chinese in a Canadian university, the researcher intended to listen to their actual experiences of Chinese language learning in order to examine their motivations for learning this language and to describe their beliefs about this language. The results showed Chinese language learners had a variety of motivations to learn the Chinese language, from cultural interest, communication with native Chinese speakers, travel, friendship, to job opportunities. These motivations came from their real life experiences with the Chinese people around them. As for the Chinese language, not all students thought it was difficult. All participants in this study believed listening and speaking was more important than reading and writing. They adopted many learning strategies to learn Chinese. The implications for Chinese language instructors as to how to motivate students and for the Chinese language students motivating themselves were also discussed.

Abnormal death memorials are unofficial cenotaphs and burial places located in public space. They mark the sites of sudden tragic death and, therefore, include roadside memorials an internationally spread phenomenon that is a relatively new topic in the Folkloristics scholarship. This study is the first to explicitly discuss abnormal death memorials as both material culture objects and as objects of folk beliefs in the context of Ukrainian culture. Based on fieldwork done in Ukraine between 2005 and 2009, this thesis identifies the meaning and significance of contemporary memorials in Ukraine through people's attitudes. The results of the study show that positive attitudes towards abnormal death memorials are influenced by Ukrainian folk beliefs about bad death, the afterlife, and communication with the dead. Abnormal death memorials in Ukraine appear as metaphors of Ukrainian cosmology and changing folk beliefs about the worlds of the living and dead. The practice of erecting memorials in Ukraine seem to be a modification of a century long folk tradition of marking spots of bad death. / Ukrainian Folklore

This is a report of an investigation of aspects of preservice teachers� perceptions of teaching and learning English and mathematics and factors influencing them. The participants of the investigation were primary preservice teachers from two tertiary institutions of Victoria, one located inner city, and the other in a regional centre. Of the 349 participants, 163 were commencing and 186 were graduating from their degrees. Preservice teachers completed questionnaires indicating their intentions to use particular practices in their literacy and numeracy lessons. Thirty-one of the 349 surveyed voluntarily discussed key issues arising from the survey during semi-structured audiotaped sessions. Five lecturers responsible for the planning of the compulsory English and mathematics education units at both institutions were interviewed about the survey data and provided written documentation for their units as evidence of their coursework. Data analyses indicated that preservice teachers often considered practices equally appropriate for literacy and numeracy teaching and intended to use them in similar ways. It seemed that preservice teachers enter their degrees with strong opinions about teaching and learning based not only on their recollections of experiences as learners but also from more recent relevant experiences such as their dealings with children as babysitters, tutors, and classroom helpers. They also gained knowledge about teaching contexts from their informal but regular conversations with friends and family who teach. From the examination of the documentation for coursework and discussions with lecturers, it seemed that the content of the literacy and numeracy education units at the two institutions were similar. Overall, the data indicated that many of the preservice teachers� intentions were consistent with the intent of coursework especially when they described general teaching practices. However, in cases where practices were discipline-specific there were limited changes in preservice teachers� intentions even after completing their courses. The prospective teachers reported that they considered their recent salient experiences of teaching and their observations of teachers� practices in schools more influential than coursework.

This study aims at revealing the school culture and its professional development activities. In essence, it attempts to reveal the relationships among the context, teachers‘ beliefs, practices, and interactions. Little is documented as to how inservice teachers perceive English language teaching, how they actually teach, how they interact with colleagues, and how they continue to learn to teach in a Japanese learning environment. Using multiple data sources including interviews, observations, surveys, and documents of teachers in an English department, this yearlong study revealed that experiencing new teaching practices in classrooms was not sufficient for teacher learning toward professional development to occur in the school and department context. The teaching culture of this school was consistent and almost immutable throughout the study. Responses from these teachers revealed at least three rules for this particular teaching culture: (1) Managing students and managing various work took precedence over teaching; (2) Communication and collaboration centered on keeping pace with others and getting through the day, rather than solving teaching issues; (3) It was particularly important to teach the same way for the common test and to maintain classroom management. The teaching culture of this school was defined and sustained by teachers’ beliefs. As teachers worked together in this school culture, they identified with one another and shared the same beliefs about school norms and values, the subject matter, students, and other work. Thus, individual teachers prioritized their educational beliefs over any beliefs they may have brought to the context. Consequently, these teachers reinforced their beliefs, existing practices, and internal interactions in this school context. The study revealed that these EFL (English as a foreign language) teachers lacked many teacher learning opportunities in their context. Although the majority of teachers replied that they learned how to teach by watching other teachers in this school context, there had been only a few peer-observations throughout the yearlong study. Experienced teachers were reluctant to have their classes observed and critiqued, while young teachers socialized themselves to the norm of teaching as other experienced teachers did. It was evident that a few peer-observations only helped these young teachers master routine practices. In addition, experienced teachers reported that they had been teaching the same way based on their second language (L2) learning and initial teaching experiences. As long as they teach the same way according to the existing curriculum, they do not seem to need any new ideas. In fact, a majority of teachers continued to avoid attending workshops outside the school. In contrast, only a few teachers tried out new ideas, and then mainly in special classes. However, those teaching experiences were little reported or shared, and innovation remained marginalized in this school and department context. As a result, individual trial and error generated few teacher learning opportunities for professional development in this school and department context. The study described the teaching culture through comprehensive investigation of the relationships among context, beliefs, practices, and interactions. The study revealed the context-specific nature of beliefs, which prioritized managing students and various kinds of work over teaching the subject in this school context. As long as teachers maintain such beliefs, they choose not to participate in many teacher learning opportunities in this context. This study calls for reconceptualization of teacher development in school contexts. Future questions remain as to how teachers can be life-long learners in their workplace.

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston University

Background: In the United States, Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death for both men and women. According to National Vital Statistics Report (2009), heart disease was the number one killer in the United States and it can be prevented. The primary purpose of this study was to determine knowledge and health beliefs about CVD among selected undergraduate university students and find out the potential risk of developing CVD in this population. The secondary purpose was to assess the relationship between knowledge, health beliefs, and personal risks; the tertiary purpose was to determine the factors that predict the relationship between demographic variables and cardiovascular risk factors among these students. Methods: A cross-sectional, descriptive, and correlational survey design was used in this quantitative study. An existing knowledge and health belief instrument was adapted with the permission from the authors. In the 2012 Spring semester, over 600 undergraduates from Foundation of Human Health, First Aid and CPR, Medical Terminology, Math, History, and Geography classes at a mid-western university were surveyed to access knowledge and health beliefs about CVD. The Health Belief Model provided the theoretical framework for this study. Results: Demographic data provided descriptive overview of the participants in this study. Majority of the participants were whites, lived off campus, and were domestic students. Results from data analysis revealed that overall knowledge about cardiovascular disease was low among these university students. Individual health beliefs such as perceived susceptibility, severity, and barriers regarding CVD were low; however perceived benefits of preventing CVD were found high. Most of the undergraduate university students were at potential risk of developing cardiovascular disease. Smoking and stress causing CVD were lesser known among undergraduate university students. Time to cook healthy meals and unaffordability of buying healthy foods were significant barriers in protecting cardiovascular health among university students. There was a positive statistically significant correlation between CVD knowledge, knowledge subtypes, and health belief subscales. Correlations between knowledge and health beliefs were weaker while comparing to correlation between CVD knowledge and knowledge subtypes. Race/ethnicity, age, family history, international/national, live on/off campus, and number of health classes were the better predictors of cardiovascular knowledge, while perceived barrier was the strongest predictor of health belief about CVD among undergraduate university students.