The effectiveness of explicit strategy instruction on the top level structure of a text

Thesis (M.Ed.)-- Brock University, 1995.

Les croyances des enseignants et des apprenants adultes quant à la rétroaction corrective à l’oral et la pratique réelle en classe de français langue étrangère en Égypte

Différentes études ont montré que le niveau des futurs enseignants, issus des écoles publiques, en français langue étrangère (FLE) en Égypte est assez faible. Ceux-ci font un grand nombre d’erreurs répétitives à l’oral. Quoique ce manque de précision langagière puisse être dû à plusieurs facteurs, il appert que la rétroaction soit une des variables contribuant à ce phénomène (comme le nombre d’étudiants en classe, la durée du cours, l’âge et la motivation des étudiants, les méthodes d’enseignement, etc.). La rétroaction corrective est généralement définie comme toute correction explicite ou implicite de la part de l’enseignant indiquant que la production de l’apprenant est erronée. Elle est considérée comme indispensable dans les classes de langues secondes (LS) (Shmidt, 1983, 2001 ; Long, 1991, 1996 ; Lightbown, 1998). Pour ces raisons, cette étude porte sur la rétroaction corrective et, plus spécifiquement, sur les croyances des enseignants et des apprenants quant à celle-ci, ainsi qu’à son utilisation dans les classes de FLE en Égypte. Les recherches antérieures indiquent que les croyances des enseignants quant à l’acte d’enseigner influencent leurs pratiques en classe, que les croyances des apprenants influencent leur motivation, leur niveau et leurs efforts déployés pour l’apprentissage de la langue, et qu’une divergence entre les croyances des professeurs et celles des apprenants peut entraîner des effets négatifs sur l’apprentissage de la langue cible, ce qui indique ainsi qu’il est de grande importance d’explorer les croyances. Ainsi, la présente étude vise à explorer les croyances des professeurs égyptiens et celles de leurs étudiants en ce qui a trait à la rétroaction corrective à l’oral, la différence entre ces croyances, et l’identification des pratiques réelles des professeurs afin de décrire à quel point celles-ci reflètent les croyances exprimées. Pour ce faire, un questionnaire a été administré à 175 étudiants et 25 professeurs appartenant à trois universités égyptiennes afin de déterminer leurs croyances déclarées. Des entrevues semi-dirigées et des observations directes ont été réalisées auprès de neuf des 25 professeurs participants pour mieux déterminer leurs croyances et leurs pratiques rétroactives. Les résultats obtenus ont révélé qu’il existe des divergences importantes entre les croyances des professeurs et celles des étudiants, d’un côté, et entre les croyances des professeurs et leur pratique, de l’autre côté. Par exemple, la plupart des étudiants ont déclaré leur opposition à l’utilisation de la reformulation alors que presque la moitié des professeurs ont indiqué être en faveur de cette même technique. Les professeurs ont indiqué que leur choix de techniques rétroactives dépend du type d’erreurs et qu’ils préfèrent inciter les apprenants à s’auto corriger. Cependant, ces mêmes professeurs ont utilisé la reformulation pour corriger la majorité des erreurs de leurs apprenants, quelle que soit leur nature. Nous parvenons ainsi à la conclusion que l’utilisation de la reformulation, qui fait l’objet d’une divergence au niveau des croyances, pourrait être à l’origine du manque de précision langagière rapporté par les chercheurs.

Canadian Bioethics Research and Scholarship: A Need for Explicit Leadership and Support by Research Funders

La tribune de l'éditeur / Editor's Soapbox

A non reductionist logicism with explicit definitions

This paper introduces and examines the logicist construction of Peano Arithmetic that can be performed into Leśniewski’s logical calculus of names called Ontology. Against neo-Fregeans, it is argued that a logicist program cannot be based on implicit definitions of the mathematical concepts. Using only explicit definitions, the construction to be presented here constitutes a real reduction of arithmetic to Leśniewski’s logic with the addition of an axiom of infinity. I argue however that such a program is not reductionist, for it only provides what I will call a picture of arithmetic, that is to say a specific interpretation of arithmetic in which purely logical entities play the role of natural numbers. The reduction does not show that arithmetic is simply a part of logic. The process is not of ontological significance, for numbers are not shown to be logical entities. This neo-logicist program nevertheless shows the existence of a purely analytical route to the knowledge of arithmetical laws.

CD-Systems of Restarting Automata Governed by Explicit Enable and Disable Conditions

We introduce a new mode of operation for CD-systems of restarting automata by providing explicit enable and disable conditions in the form of regular constraints. We show that, for each CD-system M of restarting automata and each mode m of operation considered by Messerschmidt and Otto, there exists a CD-system M' of restarting automata of the same type as M that, working in the new mode ed, accepts the language that M accepts in mode m. Further, we prove that in mode ed, a locally deterministic CD-system of restarting automata of type RR(W)(W) can be simulated by a locally deterministic CD-system of restarting automata of the more restricted type R(W)(W). This is the first time that a non-monotone type of R-automaton without auxiliary symbols is shown to be as expressive as the corresponding type of RR-automaton.

Replicated nil associations of digit ratio (2D:4D) and absolute finger lengths with implicit and explicit measures of aggression. 'Replicaci??n de asociaciones nulas del ratio del segundo y cuarto dedo (2D:4D) y la longitud absoluta de los dedos con medidas de agresi??n impl??citas y expl??citas'

Resumen tomado de la publicaci??n

Explicit and implicit assessment of gender roles

Resumen tomado de la publicaci??n

The influence of affective statements on performance on implicit and explicit memory tasks

Consumers are often exposed to brand names presented concurrently with information such as brand claims and warnings, prior to making product choices. As implicit memory has been implicated in the consumer choice process, two experiments were conducted to assess the influence of additional information, namely simple positive and negative statements, on implicit and explicit memory tasks. In Experiment 1, the mere presence of additional statements at study significantly reduced performance on a two-alternatives forced recognition task. However, the same manipulation had no effect on implicit preference judgement task performance. The valence of the accompanying information had no effect on either task. In Experiment 2, using modified implicit and explicit choice tasks, performance on the former was unaffected by statement valence, whereas the latter task was. Hence, positive priming was obtained for brand names previously shown with negative information. The results of the experiments are discussed in relation to both implicit memory and consumer choice.

Transfer across form and modality in implicit and explicit memory

Three experiments examined transfer across form (words/pictures) and modality (visual/ auditory) in written word, auditory word, and pictorial implicit memory tests, as well as on a free recall task. Experiment 1 showed no significant transfer across form on any of the three implicit memory tests,and an asymmetric pattern of transfer across modality. In contrast, the free recall results revealed a very different picture. Experiment 2 further investigated the asymmetric modality effects obtained for the implicit memory measures by employing articulatory suppression and picture naming to control the generation of phonological codes. Finally, Experiment 3 examined the effects of overt word naming and covert picture labelling on transfer between study and test form. The results of the experiments are discussed in relation to Tulving and Schacter's (1990) Perceptual Representation Systems framework and Roediger's (1990) Transfer Appropriate Processing theory.

Implicit and explicit processes in a second-language learning task

Two experiments examined the learning of a set of Greek pronunciation rules through explicit and implicit modes of rule presentation. Experiment 1 compared the effectiveness of implicit and explicit modes of presentation in two modalities, visual and auditory. Subjects in the explicit or rule group were presented with the rule set, and those in the implicit or natural group were shown a set of Greek words, composed of letters from the rule set, linked to their pronunciations. Subjects learned the Greek words to criterion and were then given a series of tests which aimed to tap different types of knowledge. The results showed an advantage of explicit study of the rules. In addition, an interaction was found between mode of presentation and modality. Explicit instruction was more effective in the visual than in the auditory modality, whereas there was no modality effect for implicit instruction. Experiment 2 examined a possible reason for the advantage of the rule groups by comparing different combinations of explicit and implicit presentation in the study and learning phases. The results suggested that explicit presentation of the rules is only beneficial when it is followed by practice at applying them.

Implicit and explicit knowledge bases in artificial grammar learning

Two experiments examined the claim for distinct implicit and explicit learning modes in the artificial grammar-learning task (Reber, 1967, 1989). Subjects initially attempted to memorize strings of letters generated by a finite-state grammar and then classified new grammatical and nongrammatical strings. Experiment 1 showed that subjects' assessment of isolated parts of strings was sufficient to account for their classification performance but that the rules elicited in free report were not sufficient. Experiment 2 showed that performing a concurrent random number generation task under different priorities interfered with free report and classification performance equally. Furthermore, giving different groups of subjects incidental or intentional learning instructions did not affect classification or free report.