Little is known about the mechanisms underlying the relation between perceived teacher emotional support and intrinsic motivation to learn English. The primary purpose of this quantitative, cross-sectional correlation study was to examine the mediating effects of foreign language enjoyment, anxiety, and self-efficacy on the relationship between Chinese college students’ perceptions of teacher emotional caring and intrinsic motivation in EFL classrooms. Undergraduates (N = 1,464) enrolled in six public four-year universities in mainland China completed five student self-report questionnaires. Data were analyzed using an ordinary least squares (OLS) regression-based path analysis with the PROCESS macros for SPSS and utilizing the Amos program version 26.0 for structural equation modeling (SEM) with maximum likelihood method. Five specific indirect effects of emotional support from teachers on intrinsic motivation to learn English were tested. Specifically, the five indirect effects (or mediating) pathways were hypothesized as: (1) teacher emotional support to enjoyment to intrinsic motivation, (2) teacher emotional support to anxiety to intrinsic motivation, (3) teacher emotional support to self-efficacy to intrinsic motivation, (4) teacher emotional support to enjoyment to self-efficacy to intrinsic motivation, and (5) teacher emotional support to anxiety to self-efficacy to intrinsic motivation. Results of mediation analyses revealed that foreign language enjoyment and anxiety independently mediated the relationship between teacher emotional support and intrinsic motivation to learn English. However, self-efficacy did not independently mediate the effect of teacher emotional caring on intrinsic motivation. Further, there was evidence of mediating pathways from teacher emotional support to intrinsic motivation through enjoyment then to self-efficacy as well as anxiety then to self-efficacy. Additionally, when estimating the mediation model, the results are the same whether SEM or an OLS regression is used. The findings of the present research make a contribution to the SLA motivation literature and add additional support for the Self-Determination Theory (SDT). I discuss implications and limitations as well as recommendations for future search.

The purpose of this study was to observe college students’ behavior on five selftailored, multiple choice exams throughout a semester in relation to: a) metacognitive ability, b) self-efficacy expectations, and c) test anxiety. Additionally, the effect of a selftailoring procedure on exam scores and content validity of the tests was observed. Selftailored testing was defined as an option in which students selected up to five questions they wanted to omit from being scored on an exam. Students’ metacognitive ability was defined as the percentage of incorrectly answered questions out of the total number omitted. Ninety-nine college students from two sections of an educational psychology undergraduate course participated in this study. Eighty students completed the study; seventy-one used an option to omit questions on all exams. Before taking exam 1, students answered measures of self-efficacy and test anxiety. After completing each of the five course exams, students marked on the back of their answer sheet up to five questions they wanted to be omitted from scoring. After exam 5, students answered a questionnaire that addressed their perception of the self-tailoring procedure. MANOVA, repeated measures ANOVA, Pearson correlations, t-test and one-way ANOVA were conducted. Students made a statistically significant increase in their scores on all exams by using the questions omitting procedure. There was a statistically significant linear increase of percentages of incorrectly answered questions out of the total number omitted across five exams. Frequency of items that students omitted from scoring were significantly negatively correlated with item difficulty values. The content validity of the test was affected on two out of five exams based on cognitive level of items and on three out of five exams based on chapter coverage. Students’ self-efficacy expectations and test anxiety were not related to the likelihood to apply the self-tailoring procedure or to the degree of success students had in applying the procedure.The study provided a new perspective on self-tailored tests in college classroom with implications for teaching, assessment, and students’ metacognitive abilities.

Surface heterogeneities cause differential heating that can generate mesoscale convective boundaries, sometimes leading to cloud development and enhanced localized precipitation. A preferred cloud pattern has been identified across Maryland and the Delmarva Peninsula region from 1998-2006 through the detection of cumuliform clouds on days when synoptic-scale forcing is weak. Hourly visible Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) imagery data are used to identify convective cloud masses. This allows quantitative description of the frequency and spatiotemporal extent of the clouds, helping forecasters gain insight into when and where they are likely to develop. Despite the inability to determine the underlying causes of the distinct cloud pattern, primarily due to the complex land cover, results indicate that the land receives significantly higher average total cloud cover than the Chesapeake Bay with Delaware receiving the highest average total cloud cover per state. Average total precipitation amounts follow this same trend on synoptically-weak days.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.