To Show or Not to Show: The Effects of Item Stems and Answer Options on Performance on a Multiple-Choice Listening Comprehension Test

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Yanagawa, Kozo; Green, Anthony

2008-01-01

The purpose of this study is to examine whether the choice between three multiple-choice listening comprehension test formats results in any difference in listening comprehension test performance. The three formats entail (a) allowing test takers to preview both the question stem and answer options prior to listening; (b) allowing test takers to…

Impact of stimulus-related factors and hearing impairment on listening effort as indicated by pupil dilation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ohlenforst, Barbara; Zekveld, Adriana A.; Lunner, Thomas

2017-01-01

Previous research has reported effects of masker type and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) on listening effort, as indicated by the peak pupil dilation (PPD) relative to baseline during speech recognition. At about 50% correct sentence recognition performance, increasing SNRs generally results...... in declining PPDs, indicating reduced effort. However, the decline in PPD over SNRs has been observed to be less pronounced for hearing-impaired (HI) compared to normal-hearing (NH) listeners. The presence of a competing talker during speech recognition generally resulted in larger PPDs as compared......-talker masker) on the PPD during speech perception. Twenty-five HI and 32 age-matched NH participants listened to sentences across a broad range of SNRs, masked with speech from a single talker (-25 dB to +15 dB SNR) or with stationary noise (-12 dB to +16 dB). Correct sentence recognition scores and pupil...

Show small close comfort and listen - How to overcome barriers in the use of social media

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Verjans, Steven

2011-01-01

Verjans, S. (2011, 23 November). Show small close comfort and listen - How to overcome barriers in the use of social media. Presentation at the SVEA Final Conference "Next Generation Learning - How to Integrate Social Media in Vocational and Adult Training", Brussels, Belgium.

THE CORRELATION BETWEEN STUDENTS’ FREQUENCY OF LISTENING TO ENGLISH SONGS AND THEIR LISTENING ACHIEVEMENT

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Elvira Rosyida M. R.

2016-04-01

Full Text Available This study is aimed at investigating whether there is a significant correlation between students’ frequency of listening to English songs and their listening achievement This study was conducted at the first year students of State Senior High School 9 Bandarlampung, Lampung. A descriptive quantitative was employed in this study which used ex-post facto design and the data were taken from questionnaire, semi-structured interview, and listening test. The data were analyzed by using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS version 16.0. The hypothesis was tested by using Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient. The test result showed that there is a significant correlation between students’ frequency of listening to English songs and their listening achievement. From the result of interview, it showed that most of the students believe that by having high frequency of listening to English songs, it helps them in recognizing the spoken language and get high score in listening ability.Keywords: listening to English song, listening ability, frequency of listening

Subjective Evaluation of Sound Quality for Normal-hearing and Hearing-i,paired Listeners

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Nielsen, Lars Bramsløw

1992-01-01

11 hearing-impaired (HI) and 12 normal-hearing (NH) subjects have performed sound quality ratings on 6 perceptual scales (Loudness, Clarity, Sharpness, Fullness, Spaciousness and Overall judgement). The signals for the rating experiment consisted of running speech and music with or without......, but the normal-hearing group was slightly more reliable. There were significant differences between stimuli and between subjects, with stimuli affecting the ratings the most. Normal-hearing and hearing-impaired subjects showed similar trends, but normal-hearing listeners were generally more sensitive, i...

Who's Listening to Victims? Nurses' Listening Styles and Domestic Violence Screening

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Chapin, John; Froats, Ted, Jr.; Hudspeth, Trey

2013-01-01

The current study applies the Listening Styles Profile (LSP16) to nurses and nursing students. Compared to a control group (n = 102), nurses (n = 188) and nursing students (n = 206) show marked differences in listening styles. The majority of participants were people-oriented listeners. People-oriented nurses tend to be more knowledgeable about…

Non-expert listeners show decreased heart rate and increased blood pressure (fear bradycardia) in response to atonal music.

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Proverbio, Alice M; Manfrin, Luigi; Arcari, Laura A; De Benedetto, Francesco; Gazzola, Martina; Guardamagna, Matteo; Lozano Nasi, Valentina; Zani, Alberto

2015-01-01

Previous studies suggested that listening to different types of music may modulate differently psychological mood and physiological responses associated with the induced emotions. In this study the effect of listening to instrumental classical vs. atonal contemporary music was examined in a group of 50 non-expert listeners. The subjects' heart rate and diastolic and systolic blood pressure values were measured while they listened to music of different style and emotional typologies. Pieces were selected by asking a group of composers and conservatory professors to suggest a list of the most emotional music pieces (from Renaissance to present time). A total of 214 suggestions from 20 respondents were received. Then it was asked them to identify which pieces best induced in the listener feelings of agitation, joy or pathos and the number of suggested pieces per style was computed. Atonal pieces were more frequently indicated as agitating, and tonal pieces as joyful. The presence/absence of tonality in a musical piece did not affect the affective dimension of pathos (being touching). Among the most frequently cited six pieces were selected that were comparable for structure and style, to represent each emotion and style. They were equally evaluated as unfamiliar by an independent group of 10 students of the same cohort) and were then used as stimuli for the experimental session in which autonomic parameters were recorded. Overall, listening to atonal music (independent of the pieces' emotional characteristics) was associated with a reduced heart rate (fear bradycardia) and increased blood pressure (both diastolic and systolic), possibly reflecting an increase in alertness and attention, psychological tension, and anxiety. This evidence fits with the results of the esthetical assessment showing how, overall, atonal music is perceived as more agitating and less joyful than tonal one.

Non-expert listeners show decreased heart rate and increased blood pressure (fear bradycardia in response to atonal music

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Alice Mado eProverbio

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Previous studies suggested that listening to different types of music may modulate differently psychological mood and physiological responses associated with the induced emotions. In this study the effect of listening to instrumental classical vs. atonal contemporary music was examined in a group of 50 non-expert listeners. The subjects’ heart rate and diastolic and systolic blood pressure values were measured while they listened to music of different style and emotional typologies. Pieces were selected by asking a group of composers and conservatory professors to suggest a list of the most emotional music pieces (from Renaissance to present time. A total of 214 suggestions from 20 respondents was received. Then it was asked them to identify which pieces best induced in the listener feelings of agitation, joy or pathos and the number of suggested pieces per style was computed. Atonal pieces were more frequently indicated as agitating, and tonal pieces as joyful. The presence/absence of tonality in a musical piece did not affect the affective dimension of pathos (being touching. Among the most frequently cited six pieces were selected that were comparable for structure and style, to represent each emotion and style. They were equally evaluated as unfamiliar by an independent group of 10 students of the same cohort and were then used as stimuli for the experimental session in which autonomic parameters were recorded. Overall, listening to atonal music (independent of the pieces’ emotional characteristics was associated with a reduced heart rate (fear bradycardia and increased blood pressure (both diastolic and systolic, possibly reflecting an increase in alertness and attention, psychological tension, and anxiety. This evidence fits with the results of the aesthetical assessment showing how, overall, atonal music is perceived as more agitating and less joyful than tonal one.

Non-expert listeners show decreased heart rate and increased blood pressure (fear bradycardia) in response to atonal music

Science.gov (United States)

Proverbio, Alice M.; Manfrin, Luigi; Arcari, Laura A.; De Benedetto, Francesco; Gazzola, Martina; Guardamagna, Matteo; Lozano Nasi, Valentina; Zani, Alberto

2015-01-01

Previous studies suggested that listening to different types of music may modulate differently psychological mood and physiological responses associated with the induced emotions. In this study the effect of listening to instrumental classical vs. atonal contemporary music was examined in a group of 50 non-expert listeners. The subjects’ heart rate and diastolic and systolic blood pressure values were measured while they listened to music of different style and emotional typologies. Pieces were selected by asking a group of composers and conservatory professors to suggest a list of the most emotional music pieces (from Renaissance to present time). A total of 214 suggestions from 20 respondents were received. Then it was asked them to identify which pieces best induced in the listener feelings of agitation, joy or pathos and the number of suggested pieces per style was computed. Atonal pieces were more frequently indicated as agitating, and tonal pieces as joyful. The presence/absence of tonality in a musical piece did not affect the affective dimension of pathos (being touching). Among the most frequently cited six pieces were selected that were comparable for structure and style, to represent each emotion and style. They were equally evaluated as unfamiliar by an independent group of 10 students of the same cohort) and were then used as stimuli for the experimental session in which autonomic parameters were recorded. Overall, listening to atonal music (independent of the pieces’ emotional characteristics) was associated with a reduced heart rate (fear bradycardia) and increased blood pressure (both diastolic and systolic), possibly reflecting an increase in alertness and attention, psychological tension, and anxiety. This evidence fits with the results of the esthetical assessment showing how, overall, atonal music is perceived as more agitating and less joyful than tonal one. PMID:26579029

Impacts of Authentic Listening Tasks upon Listening Anxiety and Listening Comprehension

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Melanlioglu, Deniz

2013-01-01

Although listening is the skill mostly used by students in the classrooms, the desired success cannot be attained in teaching listening since this skill is shaped by multiple variables. In this research we focused on listening anxiety, listening comprehension and impact of authentic tasks on both listening anxiety and listening comprehension.…

Depletion of the heaviest stable N isotope is associated with NH4+/NH3 toxicity in NH4+-fed plants.

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Ariz, Idoia; Cruz, Cristina; Moran, Jose F; González-Moro, María B; García-Olaverri, Carmen; González-Murua, Carmen; Martins-Loução, Maria A; Aparicio-Tejo, Pedro M

2011-05-16

In plants, nitrate (NO3-) nutrition gives rise to a natural N isotopic signature (δ15N), which correlates with the δ15N of the N source. However, little is known about the relationship between the δ15N of the N source and the 14N/15N fractionation in plants under ammonium (NH4+) nutrition. When NH4+ is the major N source, the two forms, NH4+ and NH3, are present in the nutrient solution. There is a 1.025 thermodynamic isotope effect between NH3 (g) and NH4+ (aq) which drives to a different δ15N. Nine plant species with different NH4+-sensitivities were cultured hydroponically with NO3- or NH4+ as the sole N sources, and plant growth and δ15N were determined. Short-term NH4+/NH3 uptake experiments at pH 6.0 and 9.0 (which favours NH3 form) were carried out in order to support and substantiate our hypothesis. N source fractionation throughout the whole plant was interpreted on the basis of the relative transport of NH4+ and NH3. Several NO3--fed plants were consistently enriched in 15N, whereas plants under NH4+ nutrition were depleted of 15N. It was shown that more sensitive plants to NH4+ toxicity were the most depleted in 15N. In parallel, N-deficient pea and spinach plants fed with 15NH4+ showed an increased level of NH3 uptake at alkaline pH that was related to the 15N depletion of the plant. Tolerant to NH4+ pea plants or sensitive spinach plants showed similar trend on 15N depletion while slight differences in the time kinetics were observed during the initial stages. The use of RbNO3 as control discarded that the differences observed arise from pH detrimental effects. This article proposes that the negative values of δ15N in NH4+-fed plants are originated from NH3 uptake by plants. Moreover, this depletion of the heavier N isotope is proportional to the NH4+/NH3 toxicity in plants species. Therefore, we hypothesise that the low affinity transport system for NH4+ may have two components: one that transports N in the molecular form and is associated with

Depletion of the heaviest stable N isotope is associated with NH4+/NH3 toxicity in NH4+-fed plants

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-01

Background In plants, nitrate (NO3-) nutrition gives rise to a natural N isotopic signature (δ15N), which correlates with the δ15N of the N source. However, little is known about the relationship between the δ15N of the N source and the 14N/15N fractionation in plants under ammonium (NH4+) nutrition. When NH4+ is the major N source, the two forms, NH4+ and NH3, are present in the nutrient solution. There is a 1.025 thermodynamic isotope effect between NH3 (g) and NH4+ (aq) which drives to a different δ15N. Nine plant species with different NH4+-sensitivities were cultured hydroponically with NO3- or NH4+ as the sole N sources, and plant growth and δ15N were determined. Short-term NH4+/NH3 uptake experiments at pH 6.0 and 9.0 (which favours NH3 form) were carried out in order to support and substantiate our hypothesis. N source fractionation throughout the whole plant was interpreted on the basis of the relative transport of NH4+ and NH3. Results Several NO3--fed plants were consistently enriched in 15N, whereas plants under NH4+ nutrition were depleted of 15N. It was shown that more sensitive plants to NH4+ toxicity were the most depleted in 15N. In parallel, N-deficient pea and spinach plants fed with 15NH4+ showed an increased level of NH3 uptake at alkaline pH that was related to the 15N depletion of the plant. Tolerant to NH4+ pea plants or sensitive spinach plants showed similar trend on 15N depletion while slight differences in the time kinetics were observed during the initial stages. The use of RbNO3 as control discarded that the differences observed arise from pH detrimental effects. Conclusions This article proposes that the negative values of δ15N in NH4+-fed plants are originated from NH3 uptake by plants. Moreover, this depletion of the heavier N isotope is proportional to the NH4+/NH3 toxicity in plants species. Therefore, we hypothesise that the low affinity transport system for NH4+ may have two components: one that transports N in the

Depletion of the heaviest stable N isotope is associated with NH4+/NH3 toxicity in NH4+-fed plants

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Martins-Loução Maria A

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background In plants, nitrate (NO3- nutrition gives rise to a natural N isotopic signature (δ15N, which correlates with the δ15N of the N source. However, little is known about the relationship between the δ15N of the N source and the 14N/15N fractionation in plants under ammonium (NH4+ nutrition. When NH4+ is the major N source, the two forms, NH4+ and NH3, are present in the nutrient solution. There is a 1.025 thermodynamic isotope effect between NH3 (g and NH4+ (aq which drives to a different δ15N. Nine plant species with different NH4+-sensitivities were cultured hydroponically with NO3- or NH4+ as the sole N sources, and plant growth and δ15N were determined. Short-term NH4+/NH3 uptake experiments at pH 6.0 and 9.0 (which favours NH3 form were carried out in order to support and substantiate our hypothesis. N source fractionation throughout the whole plant was interpreted on the basis of the relative transport of NH4+ and NH3. Results Several NO3--fed plants were consistently enriched in 15N, whereas plants under NH4+ nutrition were depleted of 15N. It was shown that more sensitive plants to NH4+ toxicity were the most depleted in 15N. In parallel, N-deficient pea and spinach plants fed with 15NH4+ showed an increased level of NH3 uptake at alkaline pH that was related to the 15N depletion of the plant. Tolerant to NH4+ pea plants or sensitive spinach plants showed similar trend on 15N depletion while slight differences in the time kinetics were observed during the initial stages. The use of RbNO3 as control discarded that the differences observed arise from pH detrimental effects. Conclusions This article proposes that the negative values of δ15N in NH4+-fed plants are originated from NH3 uptake by plants. Moreover, this depletion of the heavier N isotope is proportional to the NH4+/NH3 toxicity in plants species. Therefore, we hypothesise that the low affinity transport system for NH4+ may have two components: one that

The Impact of Authentic Listening Materials on Elementary EFL Learners’ Listening Skills

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Masoud Khalili Sabet

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Listening is one of the most pivotal skills, though; it is unjustly neglected throughout the literature. It was previously considered as passive skill but now those myths have been demystified. Therefore seeking the innovative trends for teaching and developing listening for EFL students are taken for granted. Lack of adequate exposure to listening and dearth of attention with regard to these issues sets the ground for authentic listening materials to fill the cited gaps in Iranian context. There have been controversial ideas based on studies in dealing with authentic listening materials. Their results ranged from totally abstinence to completely utilizing. This study intends to investigate the impact of authentic listening materials on listening skills of Elementary students at university level. To this aim, sixty students of university were randomly assigned to two groups. One group   was exposed to and received authentic listening materials (experimental group and the other groups received simplified listening materials (control group. A proficiency test (consisted of two sub-tests; listening comprehension and listening perception was used as a pretest to measure the students’ potential differences at outset of study. After the instruction sessions the same proficiency test was administered for both groups. Besides students feedback survey was given to experimental group to evaluate their attitudes and opinions regarding the materials. Analysis of quantitative study and comparing the mean scores of two groups via t-test showed that students who were exposed to authentic materials performed better in posttest. The analysis of feedback survey also denoted their satisfaction and positive attitudes to authentic listening materials.

Formation of simple nitrogen hydrides NH and NH2 at cryogenic temperatures through N + NH3→ NH + NH2 reaction: dark cloud chemistry of nitrogen.

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Nourry, Sendres; Krim, Lahouari

2016-07-21

Although NH3 molecules interacting with ground state nitrogen atoms N((4)S) seem not to be a very reactive system without providing additional energy to initiate the chemical process, we show through this study that, in the solid phase, at very low temperature, NH3 + N((4)S) reaction leads to the formation of the amidogen radical NH2. Such a dissociation reaction previously thought to occur exclusively through UV photon or energetic particle irradiation is in this work readily occurring just by stimulating the mobility of N((4)S)-atoms in the 3-10 K temperature range in the solid sample. The N((4)S)-N((4)S) recombination may be the source of metastable molecular nitrogen N2(A), a reactive species which might trigger the NH3 dissociation or react with ground state nitrogen atoms N((4)S) to form excited nitrogen atoms N((4)P/(2)D) through energy transfer processes. Based on our obtained results, it is possible to propose reaction pathways to explain the NH2 radical formation which is the first step in the activation of stable species such as NH3, a chemical induction process that, in addition to playing an important role in the origin of molecular complexity in interstellar space, is known to require external energy supplies to occur in the gas phase.

Effects of Noise on Speech Recognition and Listening Effort in Children with Normal Hearing and Children with Mild Bilateral or Unilateral Hearing Loss

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Lewis, Dawna; Schmid, Kendra; O'Leary, Samantha; Spalding, Jody; Heinrichs-Graham, Elizabeth; High, Robin

2016-01-01

Purpose: This study examined the effects of stimulus type and hearing status on speech recognition and listening effort in children with normal hearing (NH) and children with mild bilateral hearing loss (MBHL) or unilateral hearing loss (UHL). Method Children (5-12 years of age) with NH (Experiment 1) and children (8-12 years of age) with MBHL,…

The Effect of Metacognitive Listening Strategy Training on EFL Learners’ Listening Sub-skills Performance

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Hassan Dousti

2013-05-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study is to examine the impact of metacognitive listening strategy instruction on the listening sub-skills performance of the Iranian pre-intermediate EFL learners at the Foreign Language Center, Imam Ali University. The current study has been conducted with 64 participants. They were assigned into two groups randomly, an experimental group (n: 32 and a control group (n: 32. To determine the listening comprehension ability of the participants, a listening comprehension pretest based on the listening sub-skills was administered to the participants before the experiment. Then, the experimental group received an eight-week treatment on metacognitive listening strategies. After the treatment phase, a posttest was given to the participants in both the experimental and control group. The results of the independent t-test showed that there is a statistically significant difference (3.29>2; df = 62 between the posttest scores of the experimental group and the control group. Metacognitive strategy training promoted students’ listening comprehension remarkably; therefore, it should be integrated into the listening instruction programs to help language learners become more effective listeners.

Learning to listen: Listening Strategies and Listening Comprehension of Islamic Senior High School Students

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DESMA YULISA

2018-05-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this research was to identify the correlation and the influence between listening strategies and listening comprehension. The eleventh grade students were selected as participants of this study. The instruments used in this research were listening strategies questionaire adapted from Lee (1997 and modified by Ho (2006 (as cited Golchi, 2012, and listening comprehension test conducted to measure students’ listening comprehension. Pearson product moment, regression analysis, R-square were used to find out the correlation and the influence between variables. The result revealed that there was a significant correlation between listening strategies and listening comprehension with r = .516. Besides, there was also a significant influence of listening strategies on listening comprehension with 26.6 %. This study could have implications for English language teachers, course designers, learners, and text book writers.

Differences in Perception of Musical Stimuli among Acoustic, Electric, and Combined Modality Listeners.

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Prentiss, Sandra M; Friedland, David R; Nash, John J; Runge, Christina L

2015-05-01

Cochlear implants have shown vast improvements in speech understanding for those with severe to profound hearing loss; however, music perception remains a challenge for electric hearing. It is unclear whether the difficulties arise from limitations of sound processing, the nature of a damaged auditory system, or a combination of both. To examine music perception performance with different acoustic and electric hearing configurations. Chord discrimination and timbre perception were tested in subjects representing four daily-use listening configurations: unilateral cochlear implant (CI), contralateral bimodal (CIHA), bilateral hearing aid (HAHA) and normal-hearing (NH) listeners. A same-different task was used for discrimination of two chords played on piano. Timbre perception was assessed using a 10-instrument forced-choice identification task. Fourteen adults were included in each group, none of whom were professional musicians. The number of correct responses was divided by the total number of presentations to calculate scores in percent correct. Data analyses were performed with Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis of variance and linear regression. Chord discrimination showed a narrow range of performance across groups, with mean scores ranging between 72.5% (CI) and 88.9% (NH). Significant differences were seen between the NH and all hearing-impaired groups. Both the HAHA and CIHA groups performed significantly better than the CI groups, and no significant differences were observed between the HAHA and CIHA groups. Timbre perception was significantly poorer for the hearing-impaired groups (mean scores ranged from 50.3-73.9%) compared to NH (95.2%). Significantly better performance was observed in the HAHA group as compared to both groups with electric hearing (CI and CIHA). There was no significant difference in performance between the CIHA and CI groups. Timbre perception was a significantly more difficult task than chord discrimination for both the CI and CIHA

NH3 and NH4+ permeability in aquaporin-expressing Xenopus oocytes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Holm, Lars M.; Jahn, Thomas Paul; Møller, Anders Laurell Blom

2005-01-01

We have shown recently, in a yeast expression system, that some aquaporins are permeable to ammonia. In the present study, we expressed the mammalian aquaporins AQP8, AQQP9, AQP3, AQP1 and a plant aquaporin TIP2;1 in Xenopus oocytes to study the transport of ammonia (NH3) and ammonium (NH4+) under...... inwards currents carried by NH4+. This conductivity increased as a sigmoid function of external [NH3]: for AQP8 at a bath pH (pH(e)) of 6.5, the conductance was abolished, at pH(e) 7.4 it was half maximal and at pH(e) 7.8 it saturated. NY4+ influx was associated with oocyte swelling. In comparison, native...... oocytes as well as AQP1 and tip2;1-expressing oocytes showed small currents that were associated with small and even negative volume changes. We conclude that AQP8, AQP9, AQP3, and TIP2;1, apart from being water channels, also support significant fluxes of NH3. These aquaporins could support NH4...

Developing L2 Listening Fluency through Extended Listening-Focused Activities in an Extensive Listening Programme

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Chang, Anna C-S.; Millett, Sonia

2016-01-01

This study investigates the effects on developing L2 listening fluency through doing extended listening-focused activities after reading and listening to audio graded readers. Seventy-six EFL university students read and listened to a total of 15 graded readers in a 15-week extensive listening programme. They were divided into three groups (Group…

Teaching Listening.

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Mendelsohn, David J.

1998-01-01

Review of research on trends in teaching second-language listening focuses primarily on strategy instruction and a strategy-based approach but also refers to developments in terms of listening and "high-tech contexts," interactive listening, and academic listening. Classroom listening textbooks are discussed, with attention to the mismatch between…

(Criative Listening: proposals for the development of music listening in basic education

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Helena Lopes da Silva

2017-01-01

Full Text Available During the years 2015 and 2016 we coordinated a research entitled Mediated and expanded listening for high school music classes: Dialogues between Murray Schafer and Luciano Berio, which proposed structuring methodological approaches to develop and expand the musical listening of young people who are at school having as a start point the dialogue between listening strategies proposed by Murray Schafer and the work of Luciano Berio. For the construction of a pedagogical-musical approach centered on listening the teaching strategies to expand the listening proposed by Schafer (2011 were mapped as well as four musical pieces by the composer Luciano Berio were analyzed. Our hypothesis was that the use of the teaching strategies proposed by Schafer for the active appreciation of Berio repertoire could enhance the development of a renewed musical listening, which would require from the students and the teacher an extension or a expansion of concepts of what they understand by «music». The results showed that the young participants expressed interest in the contemporary repertoire as they were being instrumentalized by the developed mediation activities. Mediation was carried out through active listening proposals through creative action on the sounds around us and on the selected repertoire. The experience of listening to music is a creative activity and has intensive demands on your exercise. It is an inner process of knowledge and discovery that should be considered central in the training of music teachers.

Listening is my bugbear: Why Iranian L2 learners keep underperforming in the listening module

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Novid Armiun

2017-10-01

Full Text Available This paper shares the results of a study into the way Iranian TEF or TEFAQ candidates treat the listening comprehension as a skill as well as their awareness and exploitation of metacognitive strategies while listening to an audio document. A Persian translation of the Metacognitive Awareness Listening Questionnaire (MALQ was used in addition to another questionnaire specifically developed for this research in order to gage how important candidates think listening in L2 is compared to the other skills, how much time they spent on practicing listening, and how often they take advantage of authentic documents to improve their listening. Not only did the results show an underestimation of the listening comprehension skill by the majority of Iranian L2 learners, but they also pointed to significant differences in the way men and women exercised their ears and treated the incoming audio stream. The paper concludes that learners’ awareness of listening strategies needs to be raised through classroom instruction and frequent exploitation of authentic documents outside the classroom setting should be encouraged.

Listening Journals for Extensive and Intensive Listening Practice

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Schmidt, Anthony

2016-01-01

In this article, Anthony Schmidt presents results from his research on listening instruction in a second language. Schmidt reveals that throughout the history of English language teaching (ELT), most students have never been taught how to listen. It was not just listening, but the need to do this listening in conjunction with an approach that…

Sound localization in noise in hearing-impaired listeners.

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Lorenzi, C; Gatehouse, S; Lever, C

1999-06-01

The present study assesses the ability of four listeners with high-frequency, bilateral symmetrical sensorineural hearing loss to localize and detect a broadband click train in the frontal-horizontal plane, in quiet and in the presence of a white noise. The speaker array and stimuli are identical to those described by Lorenzi et al. (in press). The results show that: (1) localization performance is only slightly poorer in hearing-impaired listeners than in normal-hearing listeners when noise is at 0 deg azimuth, (2) localization performance begins to decrease at higher signal-to-noise ratios for hearing-impaired listeners than for normal-hearing listeners when noise is at +/- 90 deg azimuth, and (3) the performance of hearing-impaired listeners is less consistent when noise is at +/- 90 deg azimuth than at 0 deg azimuth. The effects of a high-frequency hearing loss were also studied by measuring the ability of normal-hearing listeners to localize the low-pass filtered version of the clicks. The data reproduce the effects of noise on three out of the four hearing-impaired listeners when noise is at 0 deg azimuth. They reproduce the effects of noise on only two out of the four hearing-impaired listeners when noise is at +/- 90 deg azimuth. The additional effects of a low-frequency hearing loss were investigated by attenuating the low-pass filtered clicks and the noise by 20 dB. The results show that attenuation does not strongly affect localization accuracy for normal-hearing listeners. Measurements of the clicks' detectability indicate that the hearing-impaired listeners who show the poorest localization accuracy also show the poorest ability to detect the clicks. The inaudibility of high frequencies, "distortions," and reduced detectability of the signal are assumed to have caused the poorer-than-normal localization accuracy for hearing-impaired listeners.

A study of the effects of active listening on listening attitudes of middle managers.

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Kubota, Shinya; Mishima, Norio; Nagata, Shoji

2004-01-01

The present study was conducted to clarify the direct effects of active listening (AL) training given to middle managers in a local government. Altogether, 345 middle managers participated in 13 AL training sessions over two years. We developed the Inventive Experiential Learning (IEL) method, and used it as the central training method in this study. To investigate how well the participants learned AL, we asked the middle managers to answer a shorter version of the Active Listening Attitude Scale (ALAS) consisting of two subscales-i.e. "Listening Attitude" and "Listening Skill"-before training, one month after and three months after training. Altogether, 284 middle managers answered the questionnaire three times. The scores of each subscale were analyzed by repeated measurement analysis of variance. The participants were divided into three groups using the percentile values of the original sample of ALAS, i.e. low-score group (-24%), medium-score group (25-75%) and high-score group (76%-), and the proportionate changes were examined. The results showed both the "Listening Attitude" and "Listening Skill" subscales increased significantly after training. Analysis of the percentiles showed that the proportion of the low-score group decreased and that of the high-score group increased in both subscales, from one to three months after training. These changes are considered to indicate that the participants have learned AL although they attended AL training for only one day.

NH4+-NH3 removal from simulated wastewater using UV-TiO2 photocatalysis: effect of co-pollutants and pH.

Science.gov (United States)

Vohra, M S; Selimuzzaman, S M; Al-Suwaiyan, M S

2010-05-01

The main objective of the present study was to investigate the efficiency of titanium dioxide (TiO2) assisted photocatalytic degradation (PCD) process for the removal of ammonium-ammonia (NH4(+)-NH3) from the aqueous phase and in the presence of co-pollutants thiosulfate (S2O3(2-)) and p-cresol (C6H4CH3OH) under varying mixed conditions. For the NH4(+)-NH3 only PCD experiments, results showed higher NH4 -NH3 removal at pH 12 compared to pH 7 and 10. For the binary NH4(+)-NH3/S2O3(2-) studies the respective results indicated a significant lowering in NH4(+)-NH3 PCD in the presence of S2O32- at pH 7/12 whereas at pH 10 a marked increase in NH4(+)-NH3 removal transpired. A similar trend was noted for the p-cresol/NH4(+)-NH3 binary system. Comparing findings from the binary (NH4(+)-NH3/S2O3(2-) and p-cresol/NH4(+)-NH3) and tertiary (NH4(+)-NH3/S2O3(2-)/p-cresol) systems, at pH 10, showed fastest NH4(+)-NH3 removal transpiring for the tertiary system as compared to the binary systems, whereas both the binary systems indicated comparable NH4(+)-NH3 removal trends. The respective details have been discussed.

Listening Effectively.

Science.gov (United States)

Freshour, Frank W.

1987-01-01

Research indicates that people spend roughly 45 to 65 percent of their waking moments listening to other persons. To help administrators improve their listening effectiveness, a format to develop a profile of personal listening styles is provided. The strengths and weaknesses of six different listening styles are explored along with ways to…

THE TECHNIQUES IN TEACHING LISTENING SKILL

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hidayah Nor

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Listening is very important skill in language because by listening students can produce language like speaking and writing by vocabulary that they get from listening. The English teacher of MAN 3 Banjarmasin used some techniques in teaching listening using the facilities in language laboratory such as tape cassette, television, and VCD/DVD. This research described the techniques in teaching listening skill of the Islamic high school students. The subjects of this study were an English teacher and 48 students of the tenth grade at MAN 3 Banjarmasin in Academic Year 2009/2010. To collect the data, it was used some techniques such as observation, interview, and documentary. Then all data were analyzed using descriptive method qualitatively and quantitatively, by concluding inductively. The result indicates that the techniques in teaching listening applied by the English teacher of the tenth grade students at MAN 3 Banjarmasin in Academic Year 2009/2010 are: Information Transfer, Paraphrasing and Translating, Answering Questions, Summarizing, Filling in Blanks, and Answering to Show Comprehension of Messages. The students’ ability of listening comprehension using six techniques is categorized in very high, high, and average levels. Keywords: listening techniques, teaching listening skill

A study of Chinese university EFL learners’ foreign language listening anxiety, listening strategy use and academic listening performance

OpenAIRE

Liu, Meihua; Thondhlana, Juliet

2015-01-01

The present study examined foreign language (FL) listening anxiety and listening strategy use in relation to the FL listening comprehension performance of 1702 undergraduate EFL learners from 5 universities in China. The findings were: (1) more than half of the students generally did not feel anxious when listening to English, were low in English listening proficiency, and were not confident in or satisfied with their English listening proficiency, and usually moderately used different types ...

Imaging a multidimensional multichannel potential energy surface: Photodetachment of H(-)(NH3) and NH4 (.).

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Qichi; Song, Hongwei; Johnson, Christopher J; Li, Jun; Guo, Hua; Continetti, Robert E

2016-06-28

Probes of the Born-Oppenheimer potential energy surfaces governing polyatomic molecules often rely on spectroscopy for the bound regions or collision experiments in the continuum. A combined spectroscopic and half-collision approach to image nuclear dynamics in a multidimensional and multichannel system is reported here. The Rydberg radical NH4 and the double Rydberg anion NH4 (-) represent a polyatomic system for benchmarking electronic structure and nine-dimensional quantum dynamics calculations. Photodetachment of the H(-)(NH3) ion-dipole complex and the NH4 (-) DRA probes different regions on the neutral NH4 PES. Photoelectron energy and angular distributions at photon energies of 1.17, 1.60, and 2.33 eV compare well with quantum dynamics. Photoelectron-photofragment coincidence experiments indicate dissociation of the nascent NH4 Rydberg radical occurs to H + NH3 with a peak kinetic energy of 0.13 eV, showing the ground state of NH4 to be unstable, decaying by tunneling-induced dissociation on a time scale beyond the present scope of multidimensional quantum dynamics.

On the importance of listening comprehension.

Science.gov (United States)

Hogan, Tiffany P; Adlof, Suzanne M; Alonzo, Crystle N

2014-06-01

The simple view of reading highlights the importance of two primary components which account for individual differences in reading comprehension across development: word recognition (i.e., decoding) and listening comprehension. While assessments and interventions for decoding have been the focus of pedagogy in the past several decades, the importance of listening comprehension has received less attention. This paper reviews evidence showing that listening comprehension becomes the dominating influence on reading comprehension starting even in the elementary grades. It also highlights a growing number of children who fail to develop adequate reading comprehension skills, primarily due to deficient listening comprehension skills (i.e., poor comprehenders). Finally we discuss key language influences on listening comprehension for consideration during assessment and treatment of reading disabilities.

Rapid ammonia gas transport accounts for futile transmembrane cycling under NH3/NH4+ toxicity in plant roots.

Science.gov (United States)

Coskun, Devrim; Britto, Dev T; Li, Mingyuan; Becker, Alexander; Kronzucker, Herbert J

2013-12-01

Futile transmembrane NH3/NH4(+) cycling in plant root cells, characterized by extremely rapid fluxes and high efflux to influx ratios, has been successfully linked to NH3/NH4(+) toxicity. Surprisingly, the fundamental question of which species of the conjugate pair (NH3 or NH4(+)) participates in such fluxes is unresolved. Using flux analyses with the short-lived radioisotope (13)N and electrophysiological, respiratory, and histochemical measurements, we show that futile cycling in roots of barley (Hordeum vulgare) seedlings is predominately of the gaseous NH3 species, rather than the NH4(+) ion. Influx of (13)NH3/(13)NH4(+), which exceeded 200 µmol g(-1) h(-1), was not commensurate with membrane depolarization or increases in root respiration, suggesting electroneutral NH3 transport. Influx followed Michaelis-Menten kinetics for NH3 (but not NH4(+)), as a function of external concentration (Km = 152 µm, Vmax = 205 µmol g(-1) h(-1)). Efflux of (13)NH3/(13)NH4(+) responded with a nearly identical Km. Pharmacological characterization of influx and efflux suggests mediation by aquaporins. Our study fundamentally revises the futile-cycling model by demonstrating that NH3 is the major permeating species across both plasmalemma and tonoplast of root cells under toxicity conditions.

Role of Active Listening and Listening Effort on Contralateral Suppression of Transient Evoked Otoacousic Emissions.

Science.gov (United States)

Kalaiah, Mohan Kumar; Theruvan, Nikhitha B; Kumar, Kaushlendra; Bhat, Jayashree S

2017-04-01

The present study aimed to investigate the effect of active listening and listening effort on the contralateral suppression of transient evoked otoacoustic emissions (CSTEOAEs). Twenty eight young adults participated in the study. Transient evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAEs) were recorded using 'linear' clicks at 60 dB peSPL, in three contralateral noise conditions. In condition 1, TEOAEs were obtained in the presence of white noise in the contralateral ear. While, in condition 2, speech was embedded into white noise at +3, -3, and -9 dB signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and delivered to the contralateral ear. The SNR was varied to investigate the effect of listening effort on the CSTEOAE. In condition 3, speech was played backwards and embedded into white noise at -3 dB SNR. The conditions 1 and 3 served as passive listening condition and the condition 2 served as active listening condition. In active listening condition, the participants categorized the words in to two groups (e.g., animal and vehicle). CSTEOAE was found to be largest in the presence of white noise, and the amount of CSTEOAE was not significantly different between active and passive listening conditions (condition 2 and 3). Listening effort had an effect on the CSTEOAE, the amount of suppression increased with listening effort, when SNR was decreased from +3 dB to -3 dB. However, when the SNR was further reduced to -9 dB, there was no further increase in the amount of CSTEOAE, instead there was a reduction in the amount of suppression. The findings of the present study show that listening effort might affect CSTEOAE.

Listening Heads

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Kok, I.A.

2013-01-01

The thesis explores individual differences in listening behavior and how these differences can be used in the development and evaluation of listener response prediction models for embodied conversational agents. The thesis starts with introducing methods to collect multiple perspectives on listening

Active Listening Improve Your Ability to Listen and Lead

CERN Document Server

(CCL), Center for Creative Leadership

2011-01-01

Active listening is a person's willingness and ability to hear and understand. At its core, active listening is a state of mind that involves paying full and careful attention to the other person, avoiding premature judgment, reflecting understanding, clarifying information, summarizing, and sharing. By learning and committing to the skills and behaviors of active listening, leaders can become more effective listeners and, over time, improve their ability to lead.

Dichotic listening performance predicts language comprehension.

Science.gov (United States)

Asbjørnsen, Arve E; Helland, Turid

2006-05-01

Dichotic listening performance is considered a reliable and valid procedure for the assessment of language lateralisation in the brain. However, the documentation of a relationship between language functions and dichotic listening performance is sparse, although it is accepted that dichotic listening measures language perception. In particular, language comprehension should show close correspondence to perception of language stimuli. In the present study, we tested samples of reading-impaired and normally achieving children between 10 and 13 years of age with tests of reading skills, language comprehension, and dichotic listening to consonant-vowel (CV) syllables. A high correlation between the language scores and the dichotic listening performance was expected. However, since the left ear score is believed to be an error when assessing language laterality, covariation was expected for the right ear scores only. In addition, directing attention to one ear input was believed to reduce the influence of random factors, and thus show a more concise estimate of left hemisphere language capacity. Thus, a stronger correlation between language comprehension skills and the dichotic listening performance when attending to the right ear was expected. The analyses yielded a positive correlation between the right ear score in DL and language comprehension, an effect that was stronger when attending to the right ear. The present results confirm the assumption that dichotic listening with CV syllables measures an aspect of language perception and language skills that is related to general language comprehension.

Effects of Hearing Loss on Dual-Task Performance in an Audiovisual Virtual Reality Simulation of Listening While Walking.

Science.gov (United States)

Lau, Sin Tung; Pichora-Fuller, M Kathleen; Li, Karen Z H; Singh, Gurjit; Campos, Jennifer L

2016-07-01

Most activities of daily living require the dynamic integration of sights, sounds, and movements as people navigate complex environments. Nevertheless, little is known about the effects of hearing loss (HL) or hearing aid (HA) use on listening during multitasking challenges. The objective of the current study was to investigate the effect of age-related hearing loss (ARHL) on word recognition accuracy in a dual-task experiment. Virtual reality (VR) technologies in a specialized laboratory (Challenging Environment Assessment Laboratory) were used to produce a controlled and safe simulated environment for listening while walking. In a simulation of a downtown street intersection, participants completed two single-task conditions, listening-only (standing stationary) and walking-only (walking on a treadmill to cross the simulated intersection with no speech presented), and a dual-task condition (listening while walking). For the listening task, they were required to recognize words spoken by a target talker when there was a competing talker. For some blocks of trials, the target talker was always located at 0° azimuth (100% probability condition); for other blocks, the target talker was more likely (60% of trials) to be located at the center (0° azimuth) and less likely (40% of trials) to be located at the left (270° azimuth). The participants were eight older adults with bilateral HL (mean age = 73.3 yr, standard deviation [SD] = 8.4; three males) who wore their own HAs during testing and eight controls with normal hearing (NH) thresholds (mean age = 69.9 yr, SD = 5.4; two males). No participant had clinically significant visual, cognitive, or mobility impairments. Word recognition accuracy and kinematic parameters (head and trunk angles, step width and length, stride time, cadence) were analyzed using mixed factorial analysis of variances with group as a between-subjects factor. Task condition (single versus dual) and probability (100% versus 60%) were within

Listening Effort With Cochlear Implant Simulations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pals, Carina; Sarampalis, Anastasios; Başkent, Deniz

2013-01-01

Purpose: Fitting a cochlear implant (CI) for optimal speech perception does not necessarily optimize listening effort. This study aimed to show that listening effort may change between CI processing conditions for which speech intelligibility remains constant. Method: Nineteen normal-hearing

Teaching Listening

Science.gov (United States)

Nemtchinova, Ekaterina

2013-01-01

Ekaterina Nemtchinova's book "Teaching Listening" explores different approaches to teaching listening in second language classrooms. Presenting up-to-date research and theoretical issues associated with second language listening, Nemtchinova explains how these new findings inform everyday teaching and offers practical suggestions…

Improved motor sequence retention by motionless listening.

Science.gov (United States)

Lahav, Amir; Katz, Tal; Chess, Roxanne; Saltzman, Elliot

2013-05-01

This study examined the effect of listening to a newly learned musical piece on subsequent motor retention of the piece. Thirty-six non-musicians were trained to play an unfamiliar melody on a piano keyboard. Next, they were randomly assigned to participate in three follow-up listening sessions over 1 week. Subjects who, during their listening sessions, listened to the same initial piece showed significant improvements in motor memory and retention of the piece despite the absence of physical practice. These improvements included increased pitch accuracy, time accuracy, and dynamic intensity of key pressing. Similar improvements, though to a lesser degree, were observed in subjects who, during their listening sessions, were distracted by another task. Control subjects, who after learning the piece had listened to nonmusical sounds, showed impaired motoric retention of the piece at 1 week from the initial acquisition day. These results imply that motor sequences can be established in motor memory without direct access to motor-related information. In addition, the study revealed that the listening-induced improvements did not generalize to the learning of a new musical piece composed of the same notes as the initial piece learned, limiting the effects to musical motor sequences that are already part of the individual's motor repertoire.

Listening Niches across a Century of Popular Music

Science.gov (United States)

Krumhansl, Carol Lynne

2017-01-01

This article investigates the contexts, or “listening niches”, in which people hear popular music. The study spanned a century of popular music, divided into 10 decades, with participants born between 1940 and 1999. It asks about whether they know and like the music in each decade, and their emotional reactions. It also asks whether the music is associated with personal memories and, if so, with whom they were listening, or whether they were listening alone. Finally, it asks what styles of music they were listening to, and the music media they were listening with, in different periods of their lives. The results show a regular progression through the life span of listening with different individuals (from parents to children) and with different media (from records to streaming services). A number of effects found in previous studies were replicated, but the study also showed differences across the birth cohorts. Overall, there was a song specific age effect with preferences for music of late adolescence and early adulthood; however, this effect was stronger for the older participants. In general, music of the 1940s, 1960s, and 1980s was preferred, particularly among younger participants. Music of these decades also produced the strongest emotional responses, and the most frequent and specific personal memories. When growing up, the participants tended to listen to the older music on the older media, but rapidly shifted to the new music technologies in their late teens and early 20s. Younger listeners are currently listening less to music alone than older listeners, suggesting an important role of socially sharing music, but they also report feeling sadder when listening to music. Finally, the oldest listeners had the broadest taste, liking music that they had been exposed to during their lifetimes in different listening niches. PMID:28424637

Modeling auditory perception of individual hearing-impaired listeners

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jepsen, Morten Løve; Dau, Torsten

showed that, in most cases, the reduced or absent cochlear compression, associated with outer hair-cell loss, quantitatively accounts for broadened auditory filters, while a combination of reduced compression and reduced inner hair-cell function accounts for decreased sensitivity and slower recovery from...... selectivity. Three groups of listeners were considered: (a) normal hearing listeners; (b) listeners with a mild-to-moderate sensorineural hearing loss; and (c) listeners with a severe sensorineural hearing loss. A fixed set of model parameters were derived for each hearing-impaired listener. The simulations...

Factors of the active listening of preschool children

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Purić Daliborka S.

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Active listening is a communication skill which is crucial for the development of cooperative relationships in the group, culture of friendship and fellowship, it is also important for the development of literacy skills and talent for speaking. Furthermore, it contributes to the improvement of the level of knowledge, skills and school achievement, as well as to the development of self-confidence of children. Developing of active listening is an important task in the activities with children of preschool age. In this paper, the author, wanting to determine the importance of the factors of active listening of preschool children, examines how preschool teachers (N = 198: (a evaluate the importance of certain elements of active listening that relate to the speaker and the listener, and (b estimate their role in the process of developing active listening skills of preschool children as an essential element of successful interpersonal communication. Results of the survey show that preschool teachers attach greater importance to the factors of active listening related to the listener (attention, listening skill, interest in the subject, than to the factors related to the speaker (motivation for listening, quality of the narrative. More than two-thirds of surveyed preschool teachers (172 or 86.9% define its impact on the stimulation of active listening of children as significant. Work experience and professional qualifications as independent variables significantly influence the attitudes of preschool teachers about the importance of their impact in stimulating active listening. Preschool teacher is a key element of the training of preschool children in the area of the basic communication skills of active listening. In this sense, the results of our survey show that in the context of academic study programs for education of preschool teachers special attention is given to the communication skills and to their role in the development of active listening

Effective identification of (NH4)2CO3 and NH4HCO3 concentrations in NaHCO3 regeneration process from desulfurized waste.

Science.gov (United States)

Govindan, Muthuraman; Karunakaran, Kannan; Nallasamy, Palanisami; Moon, Il Shik

2015-01-01

This work describes the quantitative analysis of (NH4)2CO3 and NH4HCO3 using a simple solution phase titration method. Back titration results at various (NH4)2CO3-NH4HCO3 ratios demonstrated that 6:4 ratio caused a 3% error in their differentiation, but very high errors were found at other ratios. A similar trend was observed for the double indicator method, especially when strong acid HCl was used as a titrant, where still less errors (2.5%) at a middle ratio of (NH4)2CO3-NH4HCO3 was found. Remaining ratios with low (NH4)2CO3 (2:8, 4:6) show high +ve error (found concentration is less) and high (NH4)2CO3 (7:3, 8:2, and 9:1) show high -ve error (found concentration is higher) and vice versa for NH4HCO3. In replacement titration using Na2SO4, at both higher end ratios of (NH4)2CO3-NH4HCO3 (2:8 and 9:1), both -ve and +ve errors were minimized to 75% by partial equilibrium arrest between (NH4)2CO3 and NH2COONH4, instead of more than 100% observed in back titration and only double indicator methods. In the presence of (NH4)2SO4 both -ve and +ve error% are completely reduced to 3±1 at ratios 2:8, 4:6, and 6:4 of (NH4)2CO3-NH4HCO3, which demonstrates that the equilibrium transformation between NH2COONH4 and (NH4)2CO3 is completely controlled. The titration conducted at lower temperature (5 °C) in the presence of (NH4)2SO4 at higher ratios of (NH4)2CO3-NH4HCO3 (7:3, 8:2,and 9:1) shows complete minimization of both -ve and +ve errors to 2±1%, which explains the complete arresting of equilibrium transformation. Finally, the developed method shows 2±1% error in differentiation of CO3(2-) and HCO3(-) in the regeneration process of NaHCO3 from crude desulfurized sample. The developed method is more promising to differentiate CO3(2-) and HCO3(-) in industrial applications. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Intercultural Listening: Measuring Listening Concepts with the LCI-R

Science.gov (United States)

Janusik, Laura; Imhof, Margarete

2017-01-01

Listening is an integral part of communication, yet more research is conducted on the speaker as opposed to the listener. Previous research established a general schema of listening as a concept-driven behavior with four factors (Imhof & Janusik, 2006). Further testing by Bodie (2010) confirmed the factor structure and reduced the number of…

Listeners' and Performers' Shared Understanding of Jazz Improvisations.

Science.gov (United States)

Schober, Michael F; Spiro, Neta

2016-01-01

This study explores the extent to which a large set of musically experienced listeners share understanding with a performing saxophone-piano duo, and with each other, of what happened in three improvisations on a jazz standard. In an online survey, 239 participants listened to audio recordings of three improvisations and rated their agreement with 24 specific statements that the performers and a jazz-expert commenting listener had made about them. Listeners endorsed statements that the performers had agreed upon significantly more than they endorsed statements that the performers had disagreed upon, even though the statements gave no indication of performers' levels of agreement. The findings show some support for a more-experienced-listeners-understand-more-like-performers hypothesis: Listeners with more jazz experience and with experience playing the performers' instruments endorsed the performers' statements more than did listeners with less jazz experience and experience on different instruments. The findings also strongly support a listeners-as-outsiders hypothesis: Listeners' ratings of the 24 statements were far more likely to cluster with the commenting listener's ratings than with either performer's. But the pattern was not universal; particular listeners even with similar musical backgrounds could interpret the same improvisations radically differently. The evidence demonstrates that it is possible for performers' interpretations to be shared with very few listeners, and that listeners' interpretations about what happened in a musical performance can be far more different from performers' interpretations than performers or other listeners might assume.

Mindful Music Listening Instruction Increases Listening Sensitivity and Enjoyment

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, William Todd

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of mindful listening instruction on music listening sensitivity and music listening enjoyment. A pretest--posttest control group design was used. Participants, fourth-grade students (N = 42) from an elementary school in a large city in the Northeastern United States, were randomly assigned to two…

Crystal structure and characterization of the novel NH+⋯N hydrogen bonded polar crystal [NH2(CH2)4NH][BF4

Science.gov (United States)

Wojtaś, M.; Gaģor, A.; Czupiński, O.; Medycki, W.; Jakubas, R.

2012-03-01

Dielectric properties and phase transitions of the piperazinium tetrafluoroborate ([NH2(CH2)4NH][BF4], abbreviated as PFB) crystal are related to the one-dimensional arrangement of the cations linked by the bistable NH+⋯N hydrogen bonds and molecular motions of the [BF4]- units. The crystal structure of [NH2(CH2)4NH][BF4] is monoclinic at room temperature with the polar space group Pn. The polar/acentric properties of the room temperature phase IV have been confirmed by the piezoelectric and pyroelectric measurements. DSC measurements show that the compound undergoes three first-order structural phase transitions: at 421/411 K (heating/cooling), at 386/372 K and at 364/349 K. 1H and 19F NMR measurements indicate the reorientational motions of [BF4]- anions and piperazinium(+) cations as well as the proton motion in the hydrogen-bonded chains of piperazine along the [001] direction. Over the phase I the isotropic reorientational motions or even self-diffusion of the cations and anions are expected. The conductivity measurements in the vicinity of the II-I PT indicate a superionic phase over the phase I.

Listeners' and performers' shared understanding of jazz improvisations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael F Schober

2016-11-01

Full Text Available This study explores the extent to which a large set of musically experienced listeners share understanding with a performing saxophone-piano duo, and with each other, of what happened in three improvisations on a jazz standard. In an online survey, 239 participants listened to audio recordings of three improvisations and rated their agreement with 24 specific statements that the performers and a jazz-expert commenting listener had made about them. Listeners endorsed statements that the performers had agreed upon significantly more than they endorsed statements that the performers had disagreed upon, even though the statements gave no indication of performers' levels of agreement. The findings show some support for a more-experienced-listeners-understand-more-like-performers hypothesis: Listeners with more jazz experience and with experience playing the performers' instruments endorsed the performers' statements more than did listeners with less jazz experience and experience on different instruments. The findings also strongly support a listeners-as-outsiders hypothesis: Listeners' ratings of the 24 statements were far more likely to cluster with the commenting listener's ratings than with either performer's. But the pattern was not universal; particular listeners even with similar musical backgrounds could interpret the same improvisations radically differently. The evidence demonstrates that it is possible for performers' interpretations to be shared with very few listeners, and that listeners’ interpretations about what happened in a musical performance can be far more different from performers’ interpretations than performers or other listeners might assume.

Listening to Learn: The Status of Listening Activities in Secondary Instrumental Ensemble Classes

Science.gov (United States)

Prichard, Stephanie

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine the status of listening activities as part of middle and high school instrumental music instruction. Research questions addressed teachers' beliefs in the importance of listening, outcomes associated with listening, type and frequency of listening activities, presence of guided listening, and challenges…

Rapid Ammonia Gas Transport Accounts for Futile Transmembrane Cycling under NH3/NH4+ Toxicity in Plant Roots1[C][W

Science.gov (United States)

Coskun, Devrim; Britto, Dev T.; Li, Mingyuan; Becker, Alexander; Kronzucker, Herbert J.

2013-01-01

Futile transmembrane NH3/NH4+ cycling in plant root cells, characterized by extremely rapid fluxes and high efflux to influx ratios, has been successfully linked to NH3/NH4+ toxicity. Surprisingly, the fundamental question of which species of the conjugate pair (NH3 or NH4+) participates in such fluxes is unresolved. Using flux analyses with the short-lived radioisotope 13N and electrophysiological, respiratory, and histochemical measurements, we show that futile cycling in roots of barley (Hordeum vulgare) seedlings is predominately of the gaseous NH3 species, rather than the NH4+ ion. Influx of 13NH3/13NH4+, which exceeded 200 µmol g–1 h–1, was not commensurate with membrane depolarization or increases in root respiration, suggesting electroneutral NH3 transport. Influx followed Michaelis-Menten kinetics for NH3 (but not NH4+), as a function of external concentration (Km = 152 µm, Vmax = 205 µmol g–1 h–1). Efflux of 13NH3/13NH4+ responded with a nearly identical Km. Pharmacological characterization of influx and efflux suggests mediation by aquaporins. Our study fundamentally revises the futile-cycling model by demonstrating that NH3 is the major permeating species across both plasmalemma and tonoplast of root cells under toxicity conditions. PMID:24134887

Impact of Noise Reduction Algorithm in Cochlear Implant Processing on Music Enjoyment.

Science.gov (United States)

Kohlberg, Gavriel D; Mancuso, Dean M; Griffin, Brianna M; Spitzer, Jaclyn B; Lalwani, Anil K

2016-06-01

Noise reduction algorithm (NRA) in speech processing strategy has positive impact on speech perception among cochlear implant (CI) listeners. We sought to evaluate the effect of NRA on music enjoyment. Prospective analysis of music enjoyment. Academic medical center. Normal-hearing (NH) adults (N = 16) and CI listeners (N = 9). Subjective rating of music excerpts. NH and CI listeners evaluated country music piece on three enjoyment modalities: pleasantness, musicality, and naturalness. Participants listened to the original version and 20 modified, less complex versions created by including subsets of musical instruments from the original song. NH participants listened to the segments through CI simulation and CI listeners listened to the segments with their usual speech processing strategy, with and without NRA. Decreasing the number of instruments was significantly associated with increase in the pleasantness and naturalness in both NH and CI subjects (p  0.05): this was true for the original and the modified music segments with one to three instruments (p > 0.05). NRA does not affect music enjoyment in CI listener or NH individual with CI simulation. This suggests that strategies to enhance speech processing will not necessarily have a positive impact on music enjoyment. However, reducing the complexity of music shows promise in enhancing music enjoyment and should be further explored.

NH AND Mg INDEX TRENDS IN ELLIPTICAL GALAXIES

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Serven, Jedidiah; Worthey, Guy; Toloba, Elisa; Sanchez-Blazquez, Patricia

2011-01-01

We examine the spectrum in the vicinity of the NH3360 index of Davidge and Clark, which was defined to measure the NH absorption around 3360 A and shows almost no trend with velocity dispersion, unlike other N-sensitive indices, which show a strong trend. Computing the effect of individual elements on the integrated spectrum with synthetic stellar population integrated spectra, we find that, while being well correlated with nitrogen abundance, NH3360 is almost equally well anti-correlated with Mg abundance. This prompts the definition of two new indices, Mg3334, which is mostly sensitive to magnesium, and NH3375, which is mostly sensitive to nitrogen. Rather surprisingly, we find that the new NH3375 index shows a trend versus optical absorption feature indices that is as shallow as the NH3360 index. We hypothesize that the lack of a strong index trend in these near-UV indices is due to the presence of an old metal-poor component of the galactic population. Comparison of observed index trends and those predicted by models shows that a modest fraction of an old, metal-poor stellar population could easily account for the observed flat trend in these near-UV indices while still allowing substantial N abundance increase in the larger galaxies.

How Spoken Language Comprehension is Achieved by Older Listeners in Difficult Listening Situations.

Science.gov (United States)

Schneider, Bruce A; Avivi-Reich, Meital; Daneman, Meredyth

2016-01-01

Comprehending spoken discourse in noisy situations is likely to be more challenging to older adults than to younger adults due to potential declines in the auditory, cognitive, or linguistic processes supporting speech comprehension. These challenges might force older listeners to reorganize the ways in which they perceive and process speech, thereby altering the balance between the contributions of bottom-up versus top-down processes to speech comprehension. The authors review studies that investigated the effect of age on listeners' ability to follow and comprehend lectures (monologues), and two-talker conversations (dialogues), and the extent to which individual differences in lexical knowledge and reading comprehension skill relate to individual differences in speech comprehension. Comprehension was evaluated after each lecture or conversation by asking listeners to answer multiple-choice questions regarding its content. Once individual differences in speech recognition for words presented in babble were compensated for, age differences in speech comprehension were minimized if not eliminated. However, younger listeners benefited more from spatial separation than did older listeners. Vocabulary knowledge predicted the comprehension scores of both younger and older listeners when listening was difficult, but not when it was easy. However, the contribution of reading comprehension to listening comprehension appeared to be independent of listening difficulty in younger adults but not in older adults. The evidence suggests (1) that most of the difficulties experienced by older adults are due to age-related auditory declines, and (2) that these declines, along with listening difficulty, modulate the degree to which selective linguistic and cognitive abilities are engaged to support listening comprehension in difficult listening situations. When older listeners experience speech recognition difficulties, their attentional resources are more likely to be deployed to

Does Listening to Mozart Affect Listening Ability?

Science.gov (United States)

Bowman, Becki J.; Punyanunt-Carter, Narissra; Cheah, Tsui Yi; Watson, W. Joe; Rubin, Rebecca B.

2007-01-01

Considerable research has been conducted testing Rauscher, Shaw, and Ky's (1993) Mozart Effect (ME). This study attempts to replicate, in part, research that tested the ME on listening comprehension abilities. Also included in this study is an examination of control group issues in current day research. We hypothesized that students who listen to…

Developing an Instrument for Iranian EFL Learners’ Listening Comprehension Problems and Listening Strategies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sara Noroozi

2014-06-01

Full Text Available In the body of literature on listening strategies to EFL learners, what seems to be lacking is that the focus is on teaching listening strategies to learners with little attention to their listening comprehension problems. No local research has been conducted on the nature of the Iranian tertiary level students' EFL listening comprehension problems or strategies. Therefore, no instrument is available to investigate these constructs. This paper reports the findings of a study that made an attempt to develop and test an instrument that will aid researchers identify students’ specific listening problems and listening strategy repertoire. The instrument was developed by integrating and validating the available instruments in the related literature. The two developed questionnaires were: the Listening Comprehension Problems Questionnaire (LCPQ and the Listening Strategy Use Questionnaire (LSUQ. Problems related to designing and testing this instrument is shared and the modifications made to it are presented. The instrument is expected to be useful for researchers interested to study the area of EFL listening in a similar setting.

Music Listening Is Creative

Science.gov (United States)

Kratus, John

2017-01-01

Active music listening is a creative activity in that the listener constructs a uniquely personal musical experience. Most approaches to teaching music listening emphasize a conceptual approach in which students learn to identify various characteristics of musical sound. Unfortunately, this type of listening is rarely done outside of schools. This…

Foreign Language Listening Anxiety and Listening Performance: Conceptualizations and Causal Relationships

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Xian

2013-01-01

This study used structural equation modeling to explore the possible causal relations between foreign language (English) listening anxiety and English listening performance. Three hundred participants learning English as a foreign language (FL) completed the foreign language listening anxiety scale (FLLAS) and IELTS test twice with an interval of…

Activation and Functional Connectivity of the Left Inferior Temporal Gyrus during Visual Speech Priming in Healthy Listeners and Listeners with Schizophrenia.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Chao; Zheng, Yingjun; Li, Juanhua; Zhang, Bei; Li, Ruikeng; Wu, Haibo; She, Shenglin; Liu, Sha; Peng, Hongjun; Ning, Yuping; Li, Liang

2017-01-01

Under a "cocktail-party" listening condition with multiple-people talking, compared to healthy people, people with schizophrenia benefit less from the use of visual-speech (lipreading) priming (VSP) cues to improve speech recognition. The neural mechanisms underlying the unmasking effect of VSP remain unknown. This study investigated the brain substrates underlying the unmasking effect of VSP in healthy listeners and the schizophrenia-induced changes in the brain substrates. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, brain activation and functional connectivity for the contrasts of the VSP listening condition vs. the visual non-speech priming (VNSP) condition were examined in 16 healthy listeners (27.4 ± 8.6 years old, 9 females and 7 males) and 22 listeners with schizophrenia (29.0 ± 8.1 years old, 8 females and 14 males). The results showed that in healthy listeners, but not listeners with schizophrenia, the VSP-induced activation (against the VNSP condition) of the left posterior inferior temporal gyrus (pITG) was significantly correlated with the VSP-induced improvement in target-speech recognition against speech masking. Compared to healthy listeners, listeners with schizophrenia showed significantly lower VSP-induced activation of the left pITG and reduced functional connectivity of the left pITG with the bilateral Rolandic operculum, bilateral STG, and left insular. Thus, the left pITG and its functional connectivity may be the brain substrates related to the unmasking effect of VSP, assumedly through enhancing both the processing of target visual-speech signals and the inhibition of masking-speech signals. In people with schizophrenia, the reduced unmasking effect of VSP on speech recognition may be associated with a schizophrenia-related reduction of VSP-induced activation and functional connectivity of the left pITG.

Integrated of Mobile Phone as Interactive Media in Extensive Listening

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Kodir Al-Baekani Abdul

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Learning English is the most difficult to learn by students, especially in learning of listening aspect. This research aims to investigate the process of listening activity in the classroom using mobile phone as interactive media in extensive listening and how the students’ responds of learning listening using mobile phone as an interactive media in extensive listening. Methodology of this research is descriptive qualitative. The subject of this research is Private Senior High School Muhammadiyah Karawang with 30 students as the sample of this research. The data analysis of this research uses the result of observation, interview, and documentation. Observation is used to know the learning process in classroom. Interview is used to know the students’ respond in learning process. While documentation is used to strengthen the data. The result of observation class shows that the process of teaching and learning listening as follows: (1 the teacher begins learning within 10 minutes, (2 the main activity using mobile phone in learning listening within 25 minutes, and (2 the final activity: the teacher gives a test to measure the students’ ability in listening comprehension. Meanwhile, the result of interview with the students shows that students mentioned convenience and interesting using mobile phone (37% and accessed in anywhere and anytime (30%, easiness (17%, authenticity (10%, and usefulness and fun (7% to use their mobile phone in English listening.

A Comparative Study of Authentic Listening Materials and their Simplified Versions on the Listening Comprehension and Motivation of Iranian EFL Learners

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Hossein Vossoughi

2010-11-01

Full Text Available The present study was an attempt, to empirically investigate if there was any significant difference between authentic listening materials and their simplified version in terms of the listening comprehension of Iranian EFL learners. To this end, two groups of thirty subjects were chosen. One group received authentic listening materials and the other group received the same topic in simplified version through ten sessions. The subjects studied Top Notch Book, level 3. The listening parts were followed with seven listening comprehension questions to assess the listening comprehension of the subjects. Then, at the end of the course, the listening comprehension scores of the two groups were compared by a T-Test. The result showed that simplified demonstration of materials had a benefit over the use of authentic version. A questionnaire was also given to the subjects at the beginning and at the end of the course to find out their motivation toward using authentic or simplified materials. The result indicated that there was no significant difference between two groups in terms of motivation.

The Effect of Mindful Listening Instruction on Listening Sensitivity and Enjoyment

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, William Todd

2012-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of Mindful Listening Instruction on Music Listening Sensitivity and Music Listening Enjoyment. The type of mindfulness investigated in this study was of the social-psychological type, which shares both commonalities with and distinctions from meditative mindfulness. Enhanced context awareness,…

The Impact of Mobile Learning on Listening Anxiety and Listening Comprehension

Science.gov (United States)

Rahimi, Mehrak; Soleymani, Elham

2015-01-01

This study aimed at investigating the impact of mobile learning on EFL learners' listening anxiety and listening comprehension. Fifty students of two intermediate English courses were selected and sampled as the experimental (n = 25) and control (n = 25) groups. Students' entry level of listening anxiety was assessed by foreign language listening…

Structural determinants of NH3 and NH4+ transport by mouse Rhbg, a renal Rh glycoprotein.

Science.gov (United States)

Abdulnour-Nakhoul, Solange; Le, Trang; Rabon, Edd; Hamm, L Lee; Nakhoul, Nazih L

2016-12-01

Renal Rhbg is localized to the basolateral membrane of intercalated cells and is involved in NH 3 /NH 4 + transport. The structure of Rhbg is not yet resolved; however, a high-resolution crystal structure of AmtB, a bacterial homolog of Rh, has been determined. We aligned the sequence of Rhbg to that of AmtB and identified important sites of Rhbg that may affect transport. Our analysis positioned three conserved amino acids, histidine 183 (H183), histidine 342 (H342), and tryptophan 230 (W230), within the hydrophobic pore where they presumably serve to control NH 3 transport. A fourth residue, phenylalanine 128 (F128) was positioned at the upper vestibule, presumably contributing to recruitment of NH 4 + We generated three mutations each of H183, H342, W230, and F128 and expressed them in frog oocytes. Immunolabeling showed that W230 and F128 mutants were localized to the cell membrane, whereas H183 and H342 staining was diffuse and mostly intracellular. To determine function, we compared measurements of NH 3 /NH 4 + and methyl amine (MA)/methyl ammonium (MA + )-induced currents, intracellular pH, and surface pH (pHs) among oocytes expressing the mutants, Rhbg, or injected with H 2 O. In H183 and W230 mutants, NH 4 + -induced current and intracellular acidification were inhibited compared with that of Rhbg, and MA-induced intracellular alkalinization was completely absent. Expression of H183A or W230A mutants inhibited NH 3 /NH 4 + - and MA/MA + -induced decrease in pHs to the level observed in H 2 O-injected oocytes. Mutations of F128 did not significantly affect transport of NH 3 or NH 4 + These data demonstrated that mutating H183 or W230 caused loss of function but not F128. H183 and H342 may affect membrane expression of the transporter.

Tempo Preferences of Different Age Music Listeners.

Science.gov (United States)

LeBlanc, Albert; And Others

1988-01-01

Measures the effect of four levels of tempo on the self-reported preferences of six different age-groups for traditional jazz music listening examples. Stated that listener age exerted a strong influence on overall preference scores. Reported an analysis of variance showing that there is a significant preference for increasingly faster tempo at…

Developing an Instrument for Iranian EFL Learners' Listening Comprehension Problems and Listening Strategies

Science.gov (United States)

Noroozi, Sara Sara; Sim, Tam Shu; Nimehchisalem, Vahid; Zareian, Gholamreza

2014-01-01

In the body of literature on listening strategies to EFL learners, what seems to be lacking is that the focus is on teaching listening strategies to learners with little attention to their listening comprehension problems. No local research has been conducted on the nature of the Iranian tertiary level students' EFL listening comprehension…

The Role of Task and Listener Characteristics in Second Language Listening

Science.gov (United States)

Brunfaut, Tineke; Révész, Andrea

2015-01-01

This study investigated the relationship between second language (L2) listening and a range of task and listener characteristics. More specifically, for a group of 93 nonnative English speakers, the researchers examined the extent to which linguistic complexity of the listening task input and response, and speed and explicitness of the input, were…

A Correlation Study between EFL Strategic Listening and Listening Comprehension Skills among Secondary School Students

Science.gov (United States)

Amin, Iman Abdul-Reheem; Amin, Magdy Mohammad; Aly, Mahsoub Abdul-Sadeq

2011-01-01

The present study was undertaken to investigate the correlation between EFL students strategic listening and their listening comprehension skills. Eighty secondary school students participated in this study. Participants' strategic listening was measured by a Strategic Listening Interview (SLI), a Strategic Listening Questionnaire (SLQ) and a…

An Overview of Teaching Listening in Islamic Tertiary Level of Education

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Andang Saehu

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The ultimate aim of this paper is to depict listening activities in teaching Basic Listening designed by lecturers in an EFL classroom observation of Islamic tertiary level of education in Indonesia. Qualitative methods, used to collect and analyze data gained from observation and interview. The result showed that the lecturer designed various activities in teaching Basic Listening in the EFL class, which they were set up in three stages: pre-listening, while-listening, and post-listening. The activities in the pre-listening were aimed at generating students’ interest, activating student’s prior knowledge, and trying to anticipate any difficult vocabularies.  The while-listening stage is to invite students to be involved at listening through various physical movements, such as story telling, dialogue, listening to songs, and drama. The post-listening stage is to internalize what they have heard with other language skills and to check students’ comprehension. 

Improved GaSb surfaces using a (NH4)2S/(NH4)2S04 solution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Murape, D.M.; Eassa, N.; Nyamhere, C.; Neethling, J.H.; Betz, R.; Coetsee, E.; Swart, H.C.; Botha, J.R.; Venter, A.

2012-01-01

Bulk (1 0 0) n-GaSb surfaces have been treated with a sulphur based solution ((NH 4 ) 2 S/(NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 ) to which sulphur has been added, not previously reported for the passivation of GaSb surfaces. Au/n-GaSb Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) fabricated on the treated material show significant improvement compared to that of the similar SBDs on the as-received material as evidenced by the lower ideality factor (n), higher barrier height (φ b ) and lower contact resistance obtained. Additionally, the reverse leakage current, although not saturating, has been reduced by almost an order of magnitude at −0.2 V. The sample surfaces were studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The native oxide, Sb–O, present on the as-received material is effectively removed on treating with ([(NH 4 ) 2 S/(NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 ]+S) and (NH 4 ) 2 S. Analysis of the as-received surface by XPS, prior to and after argon sputtering, suggests that the native oxide layer is ≤8.5 nm.

Different transport behaviors of NH4 (+) and NH3 in transmembrane cyclic peptide nanotubes.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Mingming; Fan, Jianfen; Xu, Jian; Weng, Peipei; Lin, Huifang

2016-10-01

Two water-filled transmembrane cyclic peptide nanotubes (CPNTs) of 8×cyclo-(WL)n=4,5/POPE were chosen to investigate the dependences of the transport properties of the positive NH4 (+) and neutral NH3 on the channel radius. Molecular dynamic simulations revealed that molecular charge, size, ability to form H-bonds and channel radius all significantly influence the behaviors of NH4 (+) and NH3 in a CPNT. Higher electrostatic interactions, more H-bonds, and water-bridges were found in the NH4 (+) system, resulting in NH4 (+) meeting higher energy barriers, while NH3 can enter, exit and permeate the channels effortlessly. This work sheds a first light on the differences between the mechanisms of NH4 (+) and NH3 moving in a CPNT at an atomic level. Graphical Abstract Snapshot of the simulation system of NH4 (+)_octa-CPNT with an NH4 (+) initially positioned at one mouth of the tube, PMF profiles for single NH4 (+) ion and NH3 molecule moving through water-filled transmembrane CPNTs of 8×cyclo-(WL)n=4,5/POPE and sketch graphs of the possible H-bond forms of NH3 and NH4 (+) with the neighboring water.

Rhythmic Density Affects Listeners' Emotional Response to Microtiming

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Olivier Senn

2017-10-01

– Study A investigates the effect of fixed time displacements within and between the parts played by different musicians. Listeners (n = 160 reacted negatively to irregularities within the drum track, but the mutual displacement of bass vs. drums did not have an effect.– Study B develops three metrics to calculate the average microtiming magnitude in a musical excerpt. The experiment showed that listeners' (n = 160 emotional responses to expert performance microtiming aligned with each other across styles, when microtiming magnitude was adjusted for rhythmic density. This indicates that rhythmic density is a unifying moderator for listeners' emotional response to microtiming in swing and funk.– Study C used the data from both experiments in order to compare the effect of fixed microtiming displacements (from Study A with scaled versions of the originally performed microtiming patterns (from Study B. It showed that fixed snare drum displacements irritated expert listeners more than the more flexible deviations occurring in the original performances. This provides some evidence that listeners' emotional response to microtiming deviations not only depends on the magnitude of the deviations, but also on the kind and origin of the microtiming patterns (fixed lab displacements vs. flexible performance microtiming.

Crystal structure and characterization of the novel NH+⋯N hydrogen bonded polar crystal [NH2(CH2)4NH][BF4

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wojtaś, M.; Gagor, A.; Czupiński, O.; Medycki, W.; Jakubas, R.

2012-01-01

Dielectric properties and phase transitions of the piperazinium tetrafluoroborate ([NH 2 (CH 2 ) 4 NH][BF 4 ], abbreviated as PFB) crystal are related to the one-dimensional arrangement of the cations linked by the bistable NH + ⋯N hydrogen bonds and molecular motions of the [BF 4 ] − units. The crystal structure of [NH 2 (CH 2 ) 4 NH][BF 4 ] is monoclinic at room temperature with the polar space group Pn. The polar/acentric properties of the room temperature phase IV have been confirmed by the piezoelectric and pyroelectric measurements. DSC measurements show that the compound undergoes three first-order structural phase transitions: at 421/411 K (heating/cooling), at 386/372 K and at 364/349 K. 1 H and 19 F NMR measurements indicate the reorientational motions of [BF 4 ] − anions and piperazinium(+) cations as well as the proton motion in the hydrogen-bonded chains of piperazine along the [001] direction. Over the phase I the isotropic reorientational motions or even self-diffusion of the cations and anions are expected. The conductivity measurements in the vicinity of the II–I PT indicate a superionic phase over the phase I. - Graphical abstract: It must be emphasized that the titled compound represents the first organic–inorganic simple salt containing the single-protonated piperazinium cation which was studied by means of the wide variety of experimental techniques. A survey of Cambridge Structural Database (CSD version 5.32 (November 2010) and updates (May 2011)) for structure containing the piperazinium cations yields 248 compounds with the doubly protonated piperazinium(2+) cations and only eight compounds with the singly protonated piperazinium(+) cations. Among these structures only one is the hybrid organic–inorganic material. This is piperazinium nitrate characterized structurally. The crystal packing of [NH 2 (CH 2 ) 4 NH][BF 4 ], phase IV. The dashed lines stand for the hydrogen bonds. The hydrogen bonds to BF4 groups are not included for

A review of the studies on listening comprehension in the second language

OpenAIRE

Fukuda, Michiko

2003-01-01

Few studies have been done on the listening comprehension processing, especially in second language. However, recent studies show that listening comprehension is considered as an active and cognitive process. This paper overviews studies on listening comprehension in the second language by presenting some models of listening comprehension processing. Then, listening comprehension was studied from cognitive psychology and educational point of view. Finally, the direction of future researches o...

Pre-listening stage and teaching listening from the adult learner’s perspective

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Ždímalová, Hana; Anýžová, P.

2012-01-01

Roč. 24, č. 2 /supplementary issue/ (2012), s. 23-38 ISSN 1210-0196. [New Ways to Teaching and Learning . Hrade Králové, 14.09.2012-15.09.2012] Institutional support: RVO:68378092 Keywords : listening comprehension * listening instruction * communicative competence * pre-listening stage Subject RIV: AI - Linguistics

Helping Students Develop Listening Comprehension

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cárdenas Beltrán Melba Libia

2000-08-01

Full Text Available Listening practice is often neglected or handled inappropriately in the teachinglearning process. This poses problem because listening is an integral part of conversations. Oral skills without equally welldeveloped listening abilities are of little practical value. In this article, I will take a look at issues related to the area of listening that may be considered when guiding students toward developing listening comprehension.

The Art of Listening in an Educational Perspective—Listening reception in the mother tongue

OpenAIRE

Adelmann, Kent

2012-01-01

The purpose is to contribute to the theory and practice of listening reception as one of the four language arts in Swedish as a school subject. The object of inquiry is The Art of Listening (Adelmann 2009) as a Swedish example from a Scandinavian context, compared to mainstream listening research in the USA. The problem explored is: How can we, as researchers and teachers, handle some of the problems within international listening research and adapt listening research to a Scandinavian contex...

On the Relationship between the IELTS Listening and Listening in Academic English Programs

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Masood Khalili Sabet

2017-04-01

Full Text Available The challenge for many teachers teaching in academic English programs is, on the one hand, to actualize the objectives of their course and on the other hand, prepare their students for the important international tests such as IELTS and TOEFLE. The current study seeks to reconcile this challenge by drawing on the relationship between the IELTS listening and listening in academic English programs. The requirements of the two domains were compared through a semi – structured interview with five participating academic English instructors from two state universities of Iran. It was found that whilst IELTS listening bears a little bit of resemblance to the one aspect of academic listening - the literal understanding, there are also some very significant differences. The findings suggests that the type of listening the IELTS requires is different from academic listening in terms of pragmatic understanding, the integration of skills, multiplicity of texts for listening, information literacy and the concept of construct irrelevant variance. The findings also indicate the overall usefulness of the IELTS preparation practices within academic English courses.

Effects of listening comprehension training on listening and reading

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Aarnoutse, C.A.J.; Van den Bos, K.P.; Brand-Gruwel, S.

1998-01-01

In this study the effects of providing text strategy instruction in a listening mode on listening and reading comprehension of experimental and control groups of 9- to 11-year-old poor readers were examined. All students were very poor in decoding and poor in reading comprehension. In addition, half

Headphone listening habits and hearing thresholds in swedish adolescents

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Stephen E Widen

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction: The aim of this study was to investigate self-reported hearing and portable music listening habits, measured hearing function and music exposure levels in Swedish adolescents. The study was divided into two parts. Materials and Methods: The first part included 280 adolescents, who were 17 years of age and focused on self-reported data on subjective hearing problems and listening habits regarding portable music players. From this group, 50 adolescents volunteered to participate in Part II of the study, which focused on audiological measurements and measured listening volume. Results: The results indicated that longer lifetime exposure in years and increased listening frequency were associated with poorer hearing thresholds and more self-reported hearing problems. A tendency was found for listening to louder volumes and poorer hearing thresholds. Women reported more subjective hearing problems compared with men but exhibited better hearing thresholds. In contrast, men reported more use of personal music devices, and they listen at higher volumes. Discussion: Additionally, the study shows that adolescents listening for ≥3 h at every occasion more likely had tinnitus. Those listening at ≥85 dB LAeq, FF and listening every day exhibited poorer mean hearing thresholds, reported more subjective hearing problems and listened more frequently in school and while sleeping. Conclusion: Although the vast majority listened at moderate sound levels and for shorter periods of time, the study also indicates that there is a subgroup (10% that listens between 90 and 100 dB for longer periods of time, even during sleep. This group might be at risk for developing future noise-induced hearing impairments.

Cognitive Style and EFL Learners’ Listening Comprehension Ability

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Mandana Yousefi

2011-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract     The current study aimed to investigate whether, and to what extent, there is a relationship between field independence / dependence cognitive styles and Iranian EFL learners' listening comprehension ability. For this purpose, a sample population of 131 Subjects was randomly selected.  A battery of tests including: a the Group Embedded Figures Test (1971, b the TOFEL listening test (1995, c the listening task preference questionnaire, and d the Michigan ECPE test (1996 were administered. The data analysis showed that the correlation between the TOFEL and the GEFT scores for FD learners (both males and females was significant(r =0.70, and higher scores on the GEFT led to an increase in the FD learners TOFEL scores. Conducting one-way and two-way ANOVAs, it was suggested that while there was a relationship between cognitive style and listening comprehension (F= 18.02 and also no relationship between sex and listening comprehension (F=0.267, the interactional effect was significant (f = 7.03. Therefore, sex can be regarded as a source of performance difference in listening comprehension but not by itself and it seems that the interaction of sex and cognitive style can have a stronger effect on this skill. Regarding the learners’ preference toward the different parts of the TOEFL listening section, most  learners favored the short conversations, informal assessment, and one item/one conversation, however, the FI ones did better on the longer conversations of the second and the third parts of the TOEFL listening test. Keywords: Cognitive style, Field dependence, Field independence, Listening comprehension.

Towards a semiotics of listening

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

van Leeuwen, Theo

2014-01-01

A study of listening as active participation, focusing on the use of listening shots in films and piano and drums accompaniment in jazz music......A study of listening as active participation, focusing on the use of listening shots in films and piano and drums accompaniment in jazz music...

Listeners as co-narrators.

Science.gov (United States)

Bavelas, J B; Coates, L; Johnson, T

2000-12-01

A collaborative theory of narrative story-telling was tested in two experiments that examined what listeners do and their effect on the narrator. In 63 unacquainted dyads (81 women and 45 men), a narrator told his or her own close-call story. The listeners made 2 different kinds of listener responses: Generic responses included nodding and vocalizations such as "mhm." Specific responses, such as wincing or exclaiming, were tightly connected to (and served to illustrate) what the narrator was saying at the moment. In experimental conditions that distracted listeners from the narrative content, listeners made fewer responses, especially specific ones, and the narrators also told their stories significantly less well, particularly at what should have been the dramatic ending. Thus, listeners were co-narrators both through their own specific responses, which helped illustrate the story, and in their apparent effect on the narrator's performance. The results demonstrate the importance of moment-by-moment collaboration in face-to-face dialogue.

Music Engineering as a Novel Strategy for Enhancing Music Enjoyment in the Cochlear Implant Recipient.

Science.gov (United States)

Kohlberg, Gavriel D; Mancuso, Dean M; Chari, Divya A; Lalwani, Anil K

2015-01-01

Enjoyment of music remains an elusive goal following cochlear implantation. We test the hypothesis that reengineering music to reduce its complexity can enhance the listening experience for the cochlear implant (CI) listener. Normal hearing (NH) adults (N = 16) and CI listeners (N = 9) evaluated a piece of country music on three enjoyment modalities: pleasantness, musicality, and naturalness. Participants listened to the original version along with 20 modified, less complex, versions created by including subsets of the musical instruments from the original song. NH participants listened to the segments both with and without CI simulation processing. Compared to the original song, modified versions containing only 1-3 instruments were less enjoyable to the NH listeners but more enjoyable to the CI listeners and the NH listeners with CI simulation. Excluding vocals and including rhythmic instruments improved enjoyment for NH listeners with CI simulation but made no difference for CI listeners. Reengineering a piece of music to reduce its complexity has the potential to enhance music enjoyment for the cochlear implantee. Thus, in addition to improvements in software and hardware, engineering music specifically for the CI listener may be an alternative means to enhance their listening experience.

Ultrasonic irradiation-promoted one-pot synthesis of CH3NH3PbBr3 quantum dots without using flammable CH3NH2 precursor

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Han; Wang, Chunlei; Lv, Changgui; Xu, Shuhong; Zhu, Li; Zhang, Ruohu; Cui, Yiping

2017-02-01

At present, the CH3NH3PbBr3 quantum dots (QDs) reported in the literature usually contain two synthesis steps: the initial preparation of CH3NH3Br via the reaction of flammable CH3NH2 and HBr, together with the subsequent formation of CH3NH3PbBr3 QDs. To avoid the use of dangerous CH3NH2, this work develops a novel one-pot method for synthesizing CH3NH3PbBr3 QDs using safe and commercially available reactants (CH3NH3Cl, KBr and PbCl2). It is found that ultrasonic treatment plays a key role during the synthesis of CH3NH3PbBr3 QDs. Without ultrasonic irradiation, it is not possible to synthesize CH3NH3PbBr3 QDs under heating or vigorous stirring. Aliquots of samples taken at different ultrasonic irradiation time intervals show a time-dependent redshift in the emission wavelength. This suggests the formation of CH3NH3PbCl3 QDs first, followed by the formation of CH3NH3PbBr3 QDs through ultrasonically promoted halide exchange. Moreover, mixed CH3NH3PbCl x Br3-x QDs with a tunable emission wavelength can also be prepared through this one-pot method by controlling the ultrasonic irradiation time. In comparison to the previous two-step method, the current one-pot method is simpler, less time-consuming and does not use flammable CH3NH2. The as-prepared CH3NH3PbBr3 QDs show a comparable photoluminescence (PL) quantum yield (QY) to that of the literature. What is more, the ultrasonic time-controlled emission wavelength of CH3NH3PbCl x Br3-x QDs also provides an alternative way of tuning QD emission to the traditional way of controlling the halide ratios.

Listening to Red

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Sinazo Mtshemla

Full Text Available Following a distinction John Mowitt draws between hearing (and phonics, and listening (and sonics, this article argues that the dominant notion of listening to sound was determined by the disciplinary framework of South African history and by the deployment of a cinematic documentary apparatus, both of which have served to disable the act of listening. The conditions of this hearing, and a deafness to a reduced or bracketed listening (Chion via Schaeffer that would enable us to think the post in post-apartheid differently, is thus at the centre of our concerns here. We stage a series of screenings of expected possible soundtracks for Simon Gush's film and installation Red, simultaneously tracking the ways that sound - and particularly music and dialogue - can be shown to hold a certain way of thinking both the political history of South Africa and the politics of South African history. We conclude by listening more closely to hiss and murmur in the soundtrack to Red and suggest this has major implications for considering ways of thinking and knowing.

Student's Second-Language Grade May Depend on Classroom Listening Position.

Science.gov (United States)

Hurtig, Anders; Sörqvist, Patrik; Ljung, Robert; Hygge, Staffan; Rönnberg, Jerker

2016-01-01

The purpose of this experiment was to explore whether listening positions (close or distant location from the sound source) in the classroom, and classroom reverberation, influence students' score on a test for second-language (L2) listening comprehension (i.e., comprehension of English in Swedish speaking participants). The listening comprehension test administered was part of a standardized national test of English used in the Swedish school system. A total of 125 high school pupils, 15 years old, participated. Listening position was manipulated within subjects, classroom reverberation between subjects. The results showed that L2 listening comprehension decreased as distance from the sound source increased. The effect of reverberation was qualified by the participants' baseline L2 proficiency. A shorter reverberation was beneficial to participants with high L2 proficiency, while the opposite pattern was found among the participants with low L2 proficiency. The results indicate that listening comprehension scores-and hence students' grade in English-may depend on students' classroom listening position.

Active listening: The key of successful communication in hospital managers.

Science.gov (United States)

Jahromi, Vahid Kohpeima; Tabatabaee, Seyed Saeed; Abdar, Zahra Esmaeili; Rajabi, Mahboobeh

2016-03-01

One of the important causes of medical errors and unintentional harm to patients is ineffective communication. The important part of this skill, in case it has been forgotten, is listening. The objective of this study was to determine whether managers in hospitals listen actively. This study was conducted between May and June 2014 among three levels of managers at teaching hospitals in Kerman, Iran. Active Listening skill among hospital managers was measured by self-made Active Listening Skill Scale (ALSS), which consists of the key elements of active listening and has five subscales, i.e., Avoiding Interruption, Maintaining Interest, Postponing Evaluation, Organizing Information, and Showing Interest. The data were analyzed by IBM-SPSS software, version 20, and the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient, the chi-squared test, and multiple linear regressions. The mean score of active listening in hospital managers was 2.32 out of 3.The highest score (2.27) was obtained by the first-level managers, and the top managers got the lowest score (2.16). Hospital mangers were best in showing interest and worst in avoiding interruptions. The area of employment was a significant predictor of avoiding interruption and the managers' gender was a strong predictor of skill in maintaining interest (p < 0.05). The type of management and education can predict postponing evaluation, and the length of employment can predict showing interest (p < 0.05). There is a necessity for the development of strategies to create more awareness among the hospital managers concerning their active listening skills.

Zn(II) coordination polymer of an in situ generated 4-pyridyl (4Py) attached bis(amido)phosphate ligand, [PO2(NH4Py)2]- showing preferential water uptake over aliphatic alcohols.

Science.gov (United States)

Gupta, Arvind K; Nagarkar, Sanjog S; Boomishankar, Ramamoorthy

2013-08-14

Two polymorphic 2D-coordination polymers of composition [ZnL(HCO2)]∞ were synthesized from an in situ generated ligand [PO2(NH(4)Py)2](-) (L(-)). The ligand L(-) was generated by a facile metal-assisted P-N bond hydrolysis reaction from the corresponding phosphonium salt 1, [P(NH(4)Py)4]Cl, or from the neutral phosphoric triamide 2, [PO(NH(4)Py)3]. The de-solvated sample of the polymer [ZnL(HCO2)]∞ features polar micropores and shows a type I isotherm for CO2 sorption whereas a type II behaviour was observed for N2. The vapour sorption isotherm of the de-solvated sample of [ZnL(HCO2)]∞ shows preferential adsorption of water vapour over aliphatic alcohols.

Listening Skills. Instructor/Lesson Guide.

Science.gov (United States)

Decker, Carol; And Others

This instructor/lesson guide provides instructional materials for a 4-hour course in listening skills in the workplace. Stated objectives are to help students to become more effective listeners, to assist students in obtaining an understanding of how effective they are as listeners, and to assist students in identifying bad listening habits. Two…

Instructional Improvement Listening Handbook. Secondary Level.

Science.gov (United States)

Crapse, Larry

Stressing that the importance of listening carefully cannot be underestimated, this handbook describes the process of listening (including the five components--previous knowledge, listening material, physiological activity, attention, and intellectual activity), some barriers to efficient listening, and bad and good listening habits. It also…

Active listening in medical consultations: development of the Active Listening Observation Scale (ALOS-global).

OpenAIRE

Fassaert, T.; Dulmen, S. van; Schellevis, F.; Bensing, J.

2007-01-01

OBJECTIVE: Active listening is a prerequisite for a successful healthcare encounter, bearing potential therapeutic value especially in clinical situations that require no specific medical intervention. Although generally acknowledged as such, active listening has not been studied in depth. This paper describes the development of the Active Listening Observation Scale (ALOS-global), an observation instrument measuring active listening and its validation in a sample of general practice consulta...

Imaging a multidimensional multichannel potential energy surface: Photodetachment of H{sup −}(NH{sub 3}) and NH{sub 4}{sup −}

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hu, Qichi; Johnson, Christopher J.; Continetti, Robert E., E-mail: hguo@umn.edu, E-mail: rcontinetti@ucsd.edu [Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, California 92093-0340 (United States); Song, Hongwei; Guo, Hua, E-mail: hguo@umn.edu, E-mail: rcontinetti@ucsd.edu [Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131 (United States); Li, Jun [School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044 (China)

2016-06-28

Probes of the Born-Oppenheimer potential energy surfaces governing polyatomic molecules often rely on spectroscopy for the bound regions or collision experiments in the continuum. A combined spectroscopic and half-collision approach to image nuclear dynamics in a multidimensional and multichannel system is reported here. The Rydberg radical NH{sub 4} and the double Rydberg anion NH{sub 4}{sup −} represent a polyatomic system for benchmarking electronic structure and nine-dimensional quantum dynamics calculations. Photodetachment of the H{sup −}(NH{sub 3}) ion-dipole complex and the NH{sub 4}{sup −} DRA probes different regions on the neutral NH{sub 4} PES. Photoelectron energy and angular distributions at photon energies of 1.17, 1.60, and 2.33 eV compare well with quantum dynamics. Photoelectron-photofragment coincidence experiments indicate dissociation of the nascent NH{sub 4} Rydberg radical occurs to H + NH{sub 3} with a peak kinetic energy of 0.13 eV, showing the ground state of NH{sub 4} to be unstable, decaying by tunneling-induced dissociation on a time scale beyond the present scope of multidimensional quantum dynamics.

Listening Comprehension in Middle-Aged Adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Sommers, Mitchell S

2015-06-01

The purpose of this summary is to examine changes in listening comprehension across the adult lifespan and to identify factors associated with individual differences in listening comprehension. In this article, the author reports on both cross-sectional and longitudinal changes in listening comprehension. Despite significant declines in both sensory and cognitive abilities, listening comprehension remains relatively unchanged in middle-aged listeners (between the ages of 40 and 60 years) compared with young listeners. These results are discussed with respect to possible compensatory factors that maintain listening comprehension despite impaired hearing and reduced cognitive capacities.

Bivariate and Multivariate Associations between Trait Listening Goals and Trait Communicator Preferences

Science.gov (United States)

Keaton, Shaughan A.; Keteyian, Robert V.; Bodie, Graham D.

2014-01-01

This article provides validity evidence for a measure of listening goals by showing theoretically consistent relationships with an existing communication preference questionnaire. Participants (N = 257) were administered trait measures for listening goals and communicator preferences. The four listening goals--relational, task-oriented,…

Parallel Changes in Intracellular Water Volume and pH Induced by NH3/NH4+ Exposure in Single Neuroblastoma Cells

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Víctor M. Blanco

2013-12-01

not sufficient to trigger these responses. Inhibition of glutamine synthetase partially blocked the NH4Cl-induced swelling. Conclusions: A quantitative description of the osmotic changes produced by exposure to NH3/NH4+ in single neurons and glial cells shows that ∼35 to 45% of the initial cell swelling can be explained by intracellular accumulation of NH4+ due to rapid permeation and protonation of NH3. Another∼23% of the swelling can be accounted for by rapid glutamine accumulation. The results are discussed in terms of basic cell physiology and their potential relevance to the pathophysiology of hyperammonemic cellular brain edema.

THE EFFECT OF SELECTIVE LISTENING AND LISTENING METHODSES BY NOTE-TAKING ON LISTENING COMPREHENSION SKILL OF SIXTH GRADE STUDENTS

OpenAIRE

Dilek CERAN

2015-01-01

Listening which is actively used beginning from birth in social life and learning process has a changeable quality as in other skill areas. The effective role of listening, especially in the process of education, makes the development of this skill essential in a certain program and a systematic way. Applying listening methods and techniques, teaching students how to use them consciously and effectively will result in achievement of targeted goals in this process. In this research, in order t...

COMMUNICATIVE LISTENING IN THE LANGUAGE LABORATORY

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Nani Tiono

2001-01-01

Full Text Available Language laboratory actually is advantageous for ESL teaching-learning process. In the language lab, students can improve their language skill, especially their listening skill, since most of the activities done there deal with listening comprehension. However, ESL students often feel bored when they study at the language lab because they only do monotonous activities there. Thus, teacher should make a lively lab atmosphere through interactive listening; that is, by creating communicative listening tasks for the students. Through this communicative listening tasks, students will not only listen, but also interact with either the teacher or the other students so that they feel as if they do the real life listening. These communicative listening tasks will also help students to improve both their proficiency in language components (vocabulary and pronunciation and in language skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing.

Active versus passive listening to auditory streaming stimuli: a near-infrared spectroscopy study

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Remijn, Gerard B.; Kojima, Haruyuki

2010-05-01

We use near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) to assess listeners' cortical responses to a 10-s series of pure tones separated in frequency. Listeners are instructed to either judge the rhythm of these ``streaming'' stimuli (active-response listening) or to listen to the stimuli passively. Experiment 1 shows that active-response listening causes increases in oxygenated hemoglobin (oxy-Hb) in response to all stimuli, generally over the (pre)motor cortices. The oxy-Hb increases are significantly larger over the right hemisphere than over the left for the final 5 s of the stimulus. Hemodynamic levels do not vary with changes in the frequency separation between the tones and corresponding changes in perceived rhythm (``gallop,'' ``streaming,'' or ``ambiguous''). Experiment 2 shows that hemodynamic levels are strongly influenced by listening mode. For the majority of time windows, active-response listening causes significantly larger oxy-Hb increases than passive listening, significantly over the left hemisphere during the stimulus and over both hemispheres after the stimulus. This difference cannot be attributed to physical motor activity and preparation related to button pressing after stimulus end, because this is required in both listening modes.

NH2+ implantations induced superior hemocompatibility of carbon nanotubes.

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Meixian; Li, Dejun; Zhao, Mengli; Zhang, Yiteng; Deng, Xiangyun; Geng, Dongsheng; Li, Ruying; Sun, Xueliang; Gu, Hanqing; Wan, Rongxin

2013-05-01

NH2+ implantation was performed on multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) prepared by chemical vapor deposition. The hemocompatibility of MWCNTs and NH2+-implanted MWCNTs was evaluated based on in vitro hemolysis, platelet adhesion, and kinetic-clotting tests. Compared with MWCNTs, NH2+-implanted MWCNTs displayed more perfect platelets and red blood cells in morphology, lower platelet adhesion rate, lower hemolytic rate, and longer kinetic blood-clotting time. NH2+-implanted MWCNTs with higher fluency of 1 × 1016 ions/cm2 led to the best thromboresistance, hence desired hemocompatibility. Fourier transfer infrared and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analyses showed that NH2+ implantation caused the cleavage of some pendants and the formation of some new N-containing functional groups. These results were responsible for the enhanced hemocompatibility of NH2+-implanted MWCNTs.

Pragmatics in ESL classroom: its importance in listening skills

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Presotto, Leticia

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This article aims at discussing the importance of Pragmatics in ESL classroom, more specifically in listening tasks. In order to base our study, we present an overview of some pragmatic theories which relies on the notion of inference, like Grice (1975 and Sperber and Wilson (1995. Then, we discuss about the importance of Pragmatics among language teaching and listening skill. In this section, we highlight some important aspects that have to be considered in teaching a second language focusing in listening activities. Finally, we analyze the listening section of TOEFL exam. Here, we show how Pragmatics is present and its importance to the students who take this specific test

Teaching Effective Second Language Listening

OpenAIRE

Lieske, Carmella

2007-01-01

In Japan, listening is given focused attention in the second language (L2) classroom.This paper begins by reviewing the nature of listening as well as the processinginvolved when listening. Content validity, purposefulness and transferability,listening or memory considerations, a teaching or testing orientation, and authenticlistening are discussed. By examining these five elements of effective listeningmaterials and also factors that affect comprehension, instructors can evaluatetextbooks an...

Music Engineering as a Novel Strategy for Enhancing Music Enjoyment in the Cochlear Implant Recipient

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Gavriel D. Kohlberg

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Objective. Enjoyment of music remains an elusive goal following cochlear implantation. We test the hypothesis that reengineering music to reduce its complexity can enhance the listening experience for the cochlear implant (CI listener. Methods. Normal hearing (NH adults (N=16 and CI listeners (N=9 evaluated a piece of country music on three enjoyment modalities: pleasantness, musicality, and naturalness. Participants listened to the original version along with 20 modified, less complex, versions created by including subsets of the musical instruments from the original song. NH participants listened to the segments both with and without CI simulation processing. Results. Compared to the original song, modified versions containing only 1–3 instruments were less enjoyable to the NH listeners but more enjoyable to the CI listeners and the NH listeners with CI simulation. Excluding vocals and including rhythmic instruments improved enjoyment for NH listeners with CI simulation but made no difference for CI listeners. Conclusions. Reengineering a piece of music to reduce its complexity has the potential to enhance music enjoyment for the cochlear implantee. Thus, in addition to improvements in software and hardware, engineering music specifically for the CI listener may be an alternative means to enhance their listening experience.

Social and Emotional Function of Music Listening: Reasons for Listening to Music

Science.gov (United States)

Gurgen, Elif Tekin

2016-01-01

Problem Statement: The reasons that people listen to music have been investigated for many years. Research results over the past 50 years have showed that individual musical preference is influenced by multiple factors. Many studies have shown throughout that music has been used to induce emotional states, express, activate, control emotions,…

Perceiving active listening activates the reward system and improves the impression of relevant experiences.

Science.gov (United States)

Kawamichi, Hiroaki; Yoshihara, Kazufumi; Sasaki, Akihiro T; Sugawara, Sho K; Tanabe, Hiroki C; Shinohara, Ryoji; Sugisawa, Yuka; Tokutake, Kentaro; Mochizuki, Yukiko; Anme, Tokie; Sadato, Norihiro

2015-01-01

Although active listening is an influential behavior, which can affect the social responses of others, the neural correlates underlying its perception have remained unclear. Sensing active listening in social interactions is accompanied by an improvement in the recollected impressions of relevant experiences and is thought to arouse positive feelings. We therefore hypothesized that the recognition of active listening activates the reward system, and that the emotional appraisal of experiences that had been subject to active listening would be improved. To test these hypotheses, we conducted functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) on participants viewing assessments of their own personal experiences made by evaluators with or without active listening attitude. Subjects rated evaluators who showed active listening more positively. Furthermore, they rated episodes more positively when they were evaluated by individuals showing active listening. Neural activation in the ventral striatum was enhanced by perceiving active listening, suggesting that this was processed as rewarding. It also activated the right anterior insula, representing positive emotional reappraisal processes. Furthermore, the mentalizing network was activated when participants were being evaluated, irrespective of active listening behavior. Therefore, perceiving active listening appeared to result in positive emotional appraisal and to invoke mental state attribution to the active listener.

Listening strategies instruction

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nogueroles López, Marta

2017-01-01

, who presented similar level of Spanish, needs, educational and cultural background, but did not receive such a training. The listening strategies instruction consisted in integrating the development of listening strategies into a regular course of Spanish as a foreign language. Data referring...

Music Listening and Stress in Daily Life-a Matter of Timing.

Science.gov (United States)

Linnemann, Alexandra; Wenzel, Mario; Grammes, Jennifer; Kubiak, Thomas; Nater, Urs M

2018-04-01

Despite increasing evidence suggesting that music listening in daily life has stress-reducing effects, studies mostly rely on subjective, retrospective data on music listening. Thus, the temporal dynamics underlying the stress-reducing effect of music listening remain unclear. Therefore, we aimed to examine the temporal dynamics of the associations between stress and music listening by assessing subjective and objective data on music in daily life. An exploratory Ambulatory Assessment study examining a total of 60 participants (37 women), aged 18 to 34 years (M = 22.4 years, SD = 3.5) was conducted. For 1 week, participants answered questions on music listening and stress six times per day via an electronic diary device, which additionally objectively sampled the exact time point of music listening and its duration. Self-reports on mere music listening were associated with lower stress reports, whereas objectively assessed data was not. However, concerning duration of music listening, both subjective and objective data on music listening showed associations between a minimum of 20 min of music listening and lower stress reports. Concerning the latency, objective data on music listening revealed that the association between stress reports and music listening occurs in a time-delayed manner. Although the study design does not allow for causal inferences, substantial associations among subjectively and objectively assessed data on music listening were found to differentially affect the experience of stress after music listening. In particular, when focusing on the temporal dynamics, objectively assessed data allowed for a more fine-grained analysis. In consequence, subjectively and objectively reported data on music listening should be assessed jointly when investigating effects of music listening on health. Experimental research with rigorous methodological control is required in order to corroborate our findings in a laboratory setting.

Listening as a Perceived and Interactive Activity: Understanding the Impact of Verbal Listening Responses

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, Bradford

2012-01-01

This sequenced activity encourages active engagement with the idea that listening and speaking are not inherently separate or one-way activities. Listening involves both verbal, and nonverbal responses and perceptions of effective listening are tied to these patterns of response. These patterns of response impact both the immediate communication…

Listening Diary in the Digital Age: Students' Material Selection, Listening Problems, and Perceived Usefulness

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Cheryl Wei-yu

2016-01-01

The current study reports on a group of Taiwanese college students' first-person diary accounts of their private, transactional listening activities outside the classroom. Issues related to students' material selection, listening problems, and perceived usefulness of keeping a listening diary were explored. It was found that most students chose…

Listeners' processing of a given reduced word pronunciation variant directly reflects their exposure to this variant: Evidence from native listeners and learners of French.

Science.gov (United States)

Brand, Sophie; Ernestus, Mirjam

2018-05-01

In casual conversations, words often lack segments. This study investigates whether listeners rely on their experience with reduced word pronunciation variants during the processing of single segment reduction. We tested three groups of listeners in a lexical decision experiment with French words produced either with or without word-medial schwa (e.g., /ʀvy/ and /ʀvy/ for revue). Participants also rated the relative frequencies of the two pronunciation variants of the words. If the recognition accuracy and reaction times (RTs) for a given listener group correlate best with the frequencies of occurrence holding for that given listener group, recognition is influenced by listeners' exposure to these variants. Native listeners' relative frequency ratings correlated well with their accuracy scores and RTs. Dutch advanced learners' accuracy scores and RTs were best predicted by their own ratings. In contrast, the accuracy and RTs from Dutch beginner learners of French could not be predicted by any relative frequency rating; the rating task was probably too difficult for them. The participant groups showed behaviour reflecting their difference in experience with the pronunciation variants. Our results strongly suggest that listeners store the frequencies of occurrence of pronunciation variants, and consequently the variants themselves.

The Mediating Effect of Listening Metacognitive Awareness between Test-Taking Motivation and Listening Test Score: An Expectancy-Value Theory Approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Jian

2017-01-01

The present study investigated test-taking motivation in L2 listening testing context by applying Expectancy-Value Theory as the framework. Specifically, this study was intended to examine the complex relationships among expectancy, importance, interest, listening anxiety, listening metacognitive awareness, and listening test score using data from a large-scale and high-stakes language test among Chinese first-year undergraduates. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the mediating effect of listening metacognitive awareness on the relationship between expectancy, importance, interest, listening anxiety, and listening test score. According to the results, test takers' listening scores can be predicted by expectancy, interest, and listening anxiety significantly. The relationship between expectancy, interest, listening anxiety, and listening test score was mediated by listening metacognitive awareness. The findings have implications for test takers to improve their test taking motivation and listening metacognitive awareness, as well as for L2 teachers to intervene in L2 listening classrooms.

The Mediating Effect of Listening Metacognitive Awareness between Test-Taking Motivation and Listening Test Score: An Expectancy-Value Theory Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jian Xu

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The present study investigated test-taking motivation in L2 listening testing context by applying Expectancy-Value Theory as the framework. Specifically, this study was intended to examine the complex relationships among expectancy, importance, interest, listening anxiety, listening metacognitive awareness, and listening test score using data from a large-scale and high-stakes language test among Chinese first-year undergraduates. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the mediating effect of listening metacognitive awareness on the relationship between expectancy, importance, interest, listening anxiety, and listening test score. According to the results, test takers’ listening scores can be predicted by expectancy, interest, and listening anxiety significantly. The relationship between expectancy, interest, listening anxiety, and listening test score was mediated by listening metacognitive awareness. The findings have implications for test takers to improve their test taking motivation and listening metacognitive awareness, as well as for L2 teachers to intervene in L2 listening classrooms.

"Listening Is an Act of Love": Learning Listening through StoryCorps

Science.gov (United States)

Simmons, Nathaniel; Tenzek, Kelly E.

2016-01-01

The importance of listening continues to be reinforced within professional, personal, and popular cultural contexts. Despite the attention employers, teachers, scholars, and various popular outlets attend to listening, engaging students in activities that practice such skills remain challenging. Understanding that interpersonal competence requires…

Student’s Second-Language Grade May Depend on Classroom Listening Position

Science.gov (United States)

Sörqvist, Patrik; Ljung, Robert; Hygge, Staffan; Rönnberg, Jerker

2016-01-01

The purpose of this experiment was to explore whether listening positions (close or distant location from the sound source) in the classroom, and classroom reverberation, influence students’ score on a test for second-language (L2) listening comprehension (i.e., comprehension of English in Swedish speaking participants). The listening comprehension test administered was part of a standardized national test of English used in the Swedish school system. A total of 125 high school pupils, 15 years old, participated. Listening position was manipulated within subjects, classroom reverberation between subjects. The results showed that L2 listening comprehension decreased as distance from the sound source increased. The effect of reverberation was qualified by the participants’ baseline L2 proficiency. A shorter reverberation was beneficial to participants with high L2 proficiency, while the opposite pattern was found among the participants with low L2 proficiency. The results indicate that listening comprehension scores—and hence students’ grade in English—may depend on students’ classroom listening position. PMID:27304980

Why do we listen to music? A uses and gratifications analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Lonsdale, Adam J; North, Adrian C

2011-02-01

Four 'uses and gratifications' studies investigated peoples' reasons for listening to music (Study 1); and whether these reasons differ significantly from those associated with other leisure activities (Study 2). In Study 3, an open-ended, qualitative research design was used to investigate why people listen to music. In Study 4, a cross-sectional design was used to investigate the possibility that people of different ages might listen to music for different reasons. Findings showed that there are a number of reasons why participants listen to music, comparison of which indicated that participants listen to music primarily to manage/regulate their moods. Comparison with other leisure activities indicated that for the most part, listening to music was rated better than other leisure activities at serving an individual's different needs. This versatility may explain why music is so important to people. Evidence was also found to suggest that the reasons for listening to music may change as people grow older. ©2010 The British Psychological Society.

Let's Take a Trip: Exploring the Effect of Listening Styles

Science.gov (United States)

Dailey, Stephanie L.

2014-01-01

Listening is a core component of developing effective communication skills. Thus, a common objective of many basic communication courses is to help students become better listeners (Johnson & Long, 2007). Often, the teacher's goal is to show students that there are different listening styles or preferences and that people decode messages…

Reading and listening in people with aphasia: effects of syntactic complexity.

Science.gov (United States)

DeDe, Gayle

2013-11-01

The purpose of this study was to compare online effects of syntactic complexity in written and spoken sentence comprehension in people with aphasia (PWA) and adults with no brain damage (NBD). The participants in Experiment 1 were NBD older and younger adults (n = 20 per group). The participants in Experiment 2 were 10 PWA. In both experiments, the participants read and listened to sentences in self-paced reading and listening tasks. The experimental materials consisted of object cleft sentences (e.g., It was the girl who the boy hugged.) and subject cleft sentences (e.g., It was the boy who hugged the girl.). The predicted effects of syntactic complexity were observed in both Experiments 1 and 2: Reading and listening times were longer for the verb in sentences with object compared to subject relative clauses. The NBD controls showed exaggerated effects of syntactic complexity in reading compared to listening. The PWA did not show different modality effects from the NBD participants. Although effects of syntactic complexity were somewhat exaggerated in reading compared with listening, both the PWA and the NBD controls showed similar effects in both modalities.

Role of NH3 and NH4+ transporters in renal acid-base transport.

Science.gov (United States)

Weiner, I David; Verlander, Jill W

2011-01-01

Renal ammonia excretion is the predominant component of renal net acid excretion. The majority of ammonia excretion is produced in the kidney and then undergoes regulated transport in a number of renal epithelial segments. Recent findings have substantially altered our understanding of renal ammonia transport. In particular, the classic model of passive, diffusive NH3 movement coupled with NH4+ "trapping" is being replaced by a model in which specific proteins mediate regulated transport of NH3 and NH4+ across plasma membranes. In the proximal tubule, the apical Na+/H+ exchanger, NHE-3, is a major mechanism of preferential NH4+ secretion. In the thick ascending limb of Henle's loop, the apical Na+-K+-2Cl- cotransporter, NKCC2, is a major contributor to ammonia reabsorption and the basolateral Na+/H+ exchanger, NHE-4, appears to be important for basolateral NH4+ exit. The collecting duct is a major site for renal ammonia secretion, involving parallel H+ secretion and NH3 secretion. The Rhesus glycoproteins, Rh B Glycoprotein (Rhbg) and Rh C Glycoprotein (Rhcg), are recently recognized ammonia transporters in the distal tubule and collecting duct. Rhcg is present in both the apical and basolateral plasma membrane, is expressed in parallel with renal ammonia excretion, and mediates a critical role in renal ammonia excretion and collecting duct ammonia transport. Rhbg is expressed specifically in the basolateral plasma membrane, and its role in renal acid-base homeostasis is controversial. In the inner medullary collecting duct (IMCD), basolateral Na+-K+-ATPase enables active basolateral NH4+ uptake. In addition to these proteins, several other proteins also contribute to renal NH3/NH4+ transport. The role and mechanisms of these proteins are discussed in depth in this review.

Identifying Information Focuses in Listening Comprehension

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Hong-yan

2011-01-01

The study explains the process of learners' listening comprehension within Halliday's information theory in functional grammar, including the skills of identifying focuses while listening in college English teaching. Identifying information focuses in listening is proved to improve the students' communicative listening ability by the means of a…

Molecular beam epitaxy of GaN(0001) utilizing NH3 and/or NH+x ions: Growth kinetics and defect structure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, N.; Powell, R.C.; Kim, Y.; Greene, J.E.

1995-01-01

Gas-source molecular beam epitaxy (GS-MBE), utilizing Ga and NH 3 , and reactive-ion MBE (RIMBE), incorporating both thermal NH 3 and low-energy NH + x ions, were used to grow single crystal GaN(0001) layers on Al 2 O 3 (0001) at temperatures T s between 700 and 850 degree C with deposition rates of 0.2--0.5 μm h -1 . The RIMBE experiments were carried out with incident NH + x /Ga flux ratios J NH + x /J Ga =1.9--3.2 and NH + x acceleration energies E NH + x =45--90 eV. Plan-view and cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy analyses showed that the primary defects in the GS-MBE films were threading dislocations having either pure edge or mixed edge/screw characteristics with Burgers vectors bar b=1/3 left-angle 2 bar 1 bar 10 right-angle, basal-plane stacking faults with displacement vectors bar R=1/6 left-angle 02 bar 23 right-angle, and prismatic stacking faults with bar R=1/2 left-angle bar 1101 right-angle. In the case of RIMBE films, no stacking faults or residual ion-induced defects were observed with E NH + x =45 eV and T s ≥800 degree C. However, increasing E NH + x to ≥60 eV at T s =800 degree C gave rise to the formation of residual ion-induced point-defect clusters observable by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Increasing T s to 850 degree C with E NH + x ≥60 eV resulted in the ion-induced defects aggregating to form interstitial basal and prismatic dislocation loops, whose number densities depended upon the ion flux, with Burgers vectors 1/2 left-angle 0001 right-angle and 1/3 left-angle 2 bar 1 bar 10 right-angle, respectively. (Abstract Truncated)

Active listening in medical consultations: development of the Active Listening Observation Scale (ALOS-global).

Science.gov (United States)

Fassaert, Thijs; van Dulmen, Sandra; Schellevis, François; Bensing, Jozien

2007-11-01

Active listening is a prerequisite for a successful healthcare encounter, bearing potential therapeutic value especially in clinical situations that require no specific medical intervention. Although generally acknowledged as such, active listening has not been studied in depth. This paper describes the development of the Active Listening Observation Scale (ALOS-global), an observation instrument measuring active listening and its validation in a sample of general practice consultations for minor ailments. Five hundred and twenty-four videotaped general practice consultations involving minor ailments were observed with the ALOS-global. Hypotheses were tested to determine validity, incorporating patients' perception of GPs' affective performance, GPs' verbal attention, patients' self-reported anxiety level and gender differences. The final 7-item ALOS-global had acceptable inter- and intra-observer agreement. Factor analysis revealed one homogeneous dimension. The scalescore was positively related to verbal attention measured by RIAS, to patients' perception of GPs' performance and to their pre-visit anxiety level. Female GPs received higher active listening scores. The results of this study are promising concerning the psychometric properties of the ALOS-global. More research is needed to confirm these preliminary findings. After establishing how active listening differentiates between health professionals, the ALOS-global may become a valuable tool in feedback and training aimed at increasing listening skills.

IMPROVING LISTENING SKILL TO FAIRYTALES USING A HAND PUPPETS MEDIA

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Desy Sugianto

2017-05-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this research was to describe the increase the ability of listening to fairy tales using hand puppets media in grade III State Elementary School 16 Sungai Ringin Sintang year 2016/2017. The approach of this study was a qualitative descriptive form of classroom action research. The result showed that (1 the puppets media enhanced students’ listening skills very well, seen from students’ active and enthusiastic participation; (2 the listening skill in the first cycle gained the average of 63.78 and reached 72.42 in cycle two. This showed an increase of learning outcome from the first to the second cycle of 8.64 points. The general completeness level in the first cycle was 60.71% with satisfactory categories and in the second cycle reached 85.71% in both categories; (3 The response of students to the application of a hand puppet media was very good. This shows that the use of hand puppets media while listening to fairy tales is a way that can attract students’ attention.

Strategy-based listening and pragmatic comprehension

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Corsetti, Cristiane Ruzicki

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This article addresses the role of strategy-based listening as an alternative methodological approach to develop pragmatic comprehension in L2 contexts. Pragmatic comprehension refers to the understanding of speech acts and conversational implicatures. Listening comprehension comprises both bottom-up and top-down processes. Strategy-based listening encompasses the activation of pragmatic knowledge through pre-listening activities and the development of specific listening micro-skills. An empirical project which included a classroom project carried out with a group of eight learners preparing for the IELTS examination in 2009 corroborated the following assumptions: in order to achieve listening proficiency, learners need practice in making inferences as semantic and pragmatic inferences are embedded in verbal communication; semantic and pragmatic aspects affecting the meaning of utterances can be highlighted via comprehension activities focusing on specific listening subskills. The results of the classroom project suggested that strategy-based listening is potentially capable of directly enhancing pragmatic comprehension but were inconclusive with regards to pragmatic production

Measuring listening-related effort and fatigue in school-aged children using pupillometry.

Science.gov (United States)

McGarrigle, Ronan; Dawes, Piers; Stewart, Andrew J; Kuchinsky, Stefanie E; Munro, Kevin J

2017-09-01

Stress and fatigue from effortful listening may compromise well-being, learning, and academic achievement in school-aged children. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) typical of those in school classrooms on listening effort (behavioral and pupillometric) and listening-related fatigue (self-report and pupillometric) in a group of school-aged children. A sample of 41 normal-hearing children aged 8-11years performed a narrative speech-picture verification task in a condition with recommended levels of background noise ("ideal": +15dB SNR) and a condition with typical classroom background noise levels ("typical": -2dB SNR). Participants showed increased task-evoked pupil dilation in the typical listening condition compared with the ideal listening condition, consistent with an increase in listening effort. No differences were found between listening conditions in terms of performance accuracy and response time on the behavioral task. Similarly, no differences were found between listening conditions in self-report and pupillometric markers of listening-related fatigue. This is the first study to (a) examine listening-related fatigue in children using pupillometry and (b) demonstrate physiological evidence consistent with increased listening effort while listening to spoken narratives despite ceiling-level task performance accuracy. Understanding the physiological mechanisms that underpin listening-related effort and fatigue could inform intervention strategies and ultimately mitigate listening difficulties in children. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Improving Speaking by Listening Cultivating English Thinking and Expression--Probe into the Teaching of "Business English Listening"

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Sun, Wencheng

2009-01-01

The comprehensive listening curriculum occupies an important position in elementary teaching stage for English major. How could we arrange the listening class better? Considering the characteristics of comprehensive listening curriculum for English major, teachers can help students improve speaking by listening, cultivating their thinking and…

Expanding Music Listening Experience through Drawing

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Yo-Jung

2016-01-01

Drawing while listening to music provides an opportunity for students to imagine and associate, leading to holistic listening experience. The personal qualitative listening experience triggered by music can be revealed in their drawings. In the process of representing of the listening experience through drawing, students can also increase their…

Listening comprehension in preschoolers: the role of memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Florit, Elena; Roch, Maja; Altoè, Gianmarco; Levorato, Maria Chiara

2009-11-01

The current study analyzed the relationship between text comprehension and memory skills in preschoolers. We were interested in verifying the hypothesis that memory is a specific contributor to listening comprehension in preschool children after controlling for verbal abilities. We were also interested in analyzing the developmental path of the relationship between memory skills and listening comprehension in the age range considered. Forty-four, 4-year-olds (mean age = 4 years and 6 months, SD = 4 months) and 40, 5-year-olds (mean age = 5 years and 4 months, SD = 5 months) participated in the study. The children were administered measures to evaluate listening comprehension ability (story comprehension), short-term and working memory skills (forward and backward word span), verbal intelligence and receptive vocabulary. Results showed that both short-term and working memory predicted unique and independent variance in listening comprehension after controlling for verbal abilities, with working memory explaining additional variance over and above short-term memory. The predictive power of memory skills was stable in the age range considered. Results also confirm a strong relation between verbal abilities and listening comprehension in 4- and 5-year-old children.

A listening test system for automotive audio - listeners

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Choisel, Sylvain; Hegarty, Patrick; Christensen, Flemming

2007-01-01

A series of experiments was conducted in order to validate an experimental procedure to perform listening tests on car audio systems in a simulation of the car environment in a laboratory, using binaural synthesis with head-tracking. Seven experts and 40 non-expert listeners rated a range...... of stimuli for 15 sound-quality attributes developed by the experts. This paper presents a comparison between the attribute ratings from the two groups of participants. Overall preference of the non-experts was also measured using direct ratings as well as indirect scaling based on paired comparisons...

Measuring listening effort: driving simulator versus simple dual-task paradigm.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Yu-Hsiang; Aksan, Nazan; Rizzo, Matthew; Stangl, Elizabeth; Zhang, Xuyang; Bentler, Ruth

2014-01-01

The dual-task paradigm has been widely used to measure listening effort. The primary objectives of the study were to (1) investigate the effect of hearing aid amplification and a hearing aid directional technology on listening effort measured by a complicated, more real world dual-task paradigm and (2) compare the results obtained with this paradigm to a simpler laboratory-style dual-task paradigm. The listening effort of adults with hearing impairment was measured using two dual-task paradigms, wherein participants performed a speech recognition task simultaneously with either a driving task in a simulator or a visual reaction-time task in a sound-treated booth. The speech materials and road noises for the speech recognition task were recorded in a van traveling on the highway in three hearing aid conditions: unaided, aided with omnidirectional processing (OMNI), and aided with directional processing (DIR). The change in the driving task or the visual reaction-time task performance across the conditions quantified the change in listening effort. Compared to the driving-only condition, driving performance declined significantly with the addition of the speech recognition task. Although the speech recognition score was higher in the OMNI and DIR conditions than in the unaided condition, driving performance was similar across these three conditions, suggesting that listening effort was not affected by amplification and directional processing. Results from the simple dual-task paradigm showed a similar trend: hearing aid technologies improved speech recognition performance, but did not affect performance in the visual reaction-time task (i.e., reduce listening effort). The correlation between listening effort measured using the driving paradigm and the visual reaction-time task paradigm was significant. The finding showing that our older (56 to 85 years old) participants' better speech recognition performance did not result in reduced listening effort was not

The Power of the Listening Ear

Science.gov (United States)

Campbell, Robyn

2011-01-01

Communicating effectively is a skill that must be taught and practiced--and the act of listening is a large part of this skill. According to the "International Journal of Listening," listening skills are imperative to reading comprehension and are valuable enough for "38 out of the 51 government entities to include listening skills as part of…

DEVELOPING PODCAST OF ENGLISH SONG AS MEDIA FOR ELT LISTENING

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Amirudin Latif

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract: Listening is one of the fundamental language skills.Based on the pre survey research, many students at Senior High School were not interested in listening course.This research tried to develop podcast of English song (PES as the media in order to help the teacher in the teaching of listening and make the students interested in listening course. The type of the reseacher is developmental research.The steps of this research are self evaluation, expert review and one-to-one, small group, and field test. The subjects of this research are the students of SMAN 03 Metro and SMK Muhammadiyah 03 Metro. The researcher collected the data by giving some questionnaires to the expert review and students to find out whether the media is applicable and suitable or not. The result showed that: first, most of the studentsfelt fun and enjoyable in the learning process of listening course. Second, PES media was applicable, the students were active, very enthusiastic, excited with PES media.   Key Words: English song, Listening media, Podcast.

Process-based modelling of NH3 exchange with grazed grasslands

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Móring, Andrea; Vieno, Massimo; Doherty, Ruth M.; Milford, Celia; Nemitz, Eiko; Twigg, Marsailidh M.; Horváth, László; Sutton, Mark A.

2017-09-01

In this study the GAG model, a process-based ammonia (NH3) emission model for urine patches, was extended and applied for the field scale. The new model (GAG_field) was tested over two modelling periods, for which micrometeorological NH3 flux data were available. Acknowledging uncertainties in the measurements, the model was able to simulate the main features of the observed fluxes. The temporal evolution of the simulated NH3 exchange flux was found to be dominated by NH3 emission from the urine patches, offset by simultaneous NH3 deposition to areas of the field not affected by urine. The simulations show how NH3 fluxes over a grazed field in a given day can be affected by urine patches deposited several days earlier, linked to the interaction of volatilization processes with soil pH dynamics. Sensitivity analysis showed that GAG_field was more sensitive to soil buffering capacity (β), field capacity (θfc) and permanent wilting point (θpwp) than the patch-scale model. The reason for these different sensitivities is dual. Firstly, the difference originates from the different scales. Secondly, the difference can be explained by the different initial soil pH and physical properties, which determine the maximum volume of urine that can be stored in the NH3 source layer. It was found that in the case of urine patches with a higher initial soil pH and higher initial soil water content, the sensitivity of NH3 exchange to β was stronger. Also, in the case of a higher initial soil water content, NH3 exchange was more sensitive to the changes in θfc and θpwp. The sensitivity analysis showed that the nitrogen content of urine (cN) is associated with high uncertainty in the simulated fluxes. However, model experiments based on cN values randomized from an estimated statistical distribution indicated that this uncertainty is considerably smaller in practice. Finally, GAG_field was tested with a constant soil pH of 7.5. The variation of NH3 fluxes simulated in this way

Newnes short wave listening handbook

CERN Document Server

Pritchard, Joe

2013-01-01

Newnes Short Wave Listening Handbook is a guide for starting up in short wave listening (SWL). The book is comprised of 15 chapters that discuss the basics and fundamental concepts of short wave radio listening. The coverage of the text includes electrical principles; types of signals that can be heard in the radio spectrum; and using computers in SWL. The book also covers SWL equipment, such as receivers, converters, and circuits. The text will be of great use to individuals who want to get into short wave listening.

Comparative genomic and physiological analysis of nutrient response to NH4+, NH4+:NO3- and NO3- in barley seedlings.

Science.gov (United States)

Lopes, Marta S; Araus, José L

2008-09-01

Long-term differences in photosynthesis, respiration and growth of plants receiving distinct nitrogen (N) sources imply that N metabolism generates signals that regulate metabolism and development. The molecular basis of these signals remains unclear. Here we studied the gene expression profiles of barley (Hordeum vulgare L. cv. Graphic) seedlings fertilized either with ammonium (NH4+), with ammonium and nitrate (NH4+:NO3-), or with nitrate (NO3-) only. Our transcriptome analysis after 48 h of growth in these N sources showed major changes in the expression of genes involved in N metabolism (nitrate reductase), signalling (protein kinases and protein phosphatases), photosynthesis (chlorophyll a/b-binding protein and a PsbQ domain), where increases in NO3- as compared with NH4+ were observed. Moreover, NH4+ assimilation induced genes participating in C and sugars metabolism (phosphoglycerate kinase, glucosyltranferase and galactokinase), respiration (cytochrome c oxidase), protein fate (heat shock proteins) and development (MTN3-like protein). These changes in gene expression could well explain the long-term growth depression observed in NH4+ plants. Even if a few genes participating in protein fate (proteases) and development (OsNAC5) were upregulated in NH4+ as compared with NH4+:NO3-, the general pattern of expression was quite similar between these two N sources. Taken together, these results indicated that other downstream mechanisms should be involved in the synergetic long-term response of NH4+:NO3-.

EFFECTS OF COOPERATIVE LEARNING METHOD ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF LISTENING COMPREHENSION AND LISTENING SKILLS

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Abdülkadir

2017-04-01

Full Text Available In this study, the effect of the learning together technique, which is one of the cooperative learning methods, on the development of the listening comprehension and listening skills of the secondary school eighth grade students was investigated. Regarding the purpose of the research, experimental and control groups consisting of 75 students from, Yakutiye district Şair Nef'i Secondary School and Palandöken District, Alparslan Secondary School of Erzurum province were selected. Socio-economic statuses and success rates were taken into consideration when selecting the experimental and control groups. 'Listening-Comprehension Achievement Test' was applied to measure the listening skills of the experimental and control groups. In terms of pre-test scores, it was determined that the listening skills of the experiment and control group were similar. The selected experimental groups were taught by the learning together technique of cooperative learning method for seven weeks and the control group was taught in the traditional way. As a result of the research, the 'Listening-Comprehension Achievement Test', which was applied as the pre-test to the experimental and control groups, was applied again as the final test. When the findings obtained from the research were examined, it was determined that the students in the experimental group were more successful than the students in the control group in terms of post - test achievement scores. When the results of the study are examined, it can be said that the learning together technique, which is one of the cooperative learning methods, is more effective than the traditional learning method in improving the listening comprehension and the listening skills of the eighth grade students in Turkish class.

Communication: Listening and Responding. Affective 4.0.

Science.gov (United States)

Borgers, Sherry B., Comp.; Ward, G. Robert, Comp.

This module is designed to provide practice in listening effectively and in responding to messages sent by another. The module is divided into two sets of activities, the first is the formation of a triad enabling the student to investigate the following: do you listen, listening and the unrelated response, incomplete listening, listening for…

What makes listening difficult? Factors affecting second language listening comprehension

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

idioms in the passage on listening comprehension. The American Heritage Dictionary (2000) defines idiom as “an expression consisting of two or more...years of age and spoke English without a noticeable foreign accent had significantly poorer word recognition scores than monolingual listeners for...of reference: The experience of the Dutch CEFR Construct Project. Language Assessment Quarterly, 3(1), 3–30. American Heritage Dictionary of the

The Impact of Cooperative Listening Materials Adaptation on Listening Comprehension Performance of Iranian EFL Learners

Science.gov (United States)

Ghassemi, Mojtaba

2013-01-01

Listening comprehension has gained more prominence in EFL/ESL classes. Due to this prominence, scholars have tried to shed light on different ways of improving learners' listening comprehension. One of these ways is using listening strategies. There is still a controversy over the effective role of these strategies in improving listening…

Self-Efficacy and Academic Listening

Science.gov (United States)

Graham, Suzanne

2011-01-01

This paper takes as its starting point the difficulties inherent in listening in a second language. It argues that self-efficacy, broadly defined as the belief in one's ability to carry out specific tasks successfully, is crucial to the development of effective listening skills, and that listening strategy instruction has the potential to boost…

Use of listening strategies for the speech of individuals with dysarthria and cerebral palsy.

Science.gov (United States)

Hustad, Katherine C; Dardis, Caitlin M; Kramper, Amy J

2011-03-01

This study examined listeners' endorsement of cognitive, linguistic, segmental, and suprasegmental strategies employed when listening to speakers with dysarthria. The study also examined whether strategy endorsement differed between listeners who earned the highest and lowest intelligibility scores. Speakers were eight individuals with dysarthria and cerebral palsy. Listeners were 80 individuals who transcribed speech stimuli and rated their use of each of 24 listening strategies on a 4-point scale. Results showed that cognitive and linguistic strategies were most highly endorsed. Use of listening strategies did not differ between listeners with the highest and lowest intelligibility scores. Results suggest that there may be a core of strategies common to listeners of speakers with dysarthria that may be supplemented by additional strategies, based on characteristics of the speaker and speech signal.

A liquid-based eutectic system: LiBH4·NH 3-nNH3BH3 with high dehydrogenation capacity at moderate temperature

KAUST Repository

Tan, Yingbin

2011-01-01

A novel eutectic hydrogen storage system, LiBH4·NH 3-nNH3BH3, which exists in a liquid state at room temperature, was synthesized through a simple mixing of LiBH 4·NH3 and NH3BH3 (AB). In the temperature range of 90-110 °C, the eutectic system showed significantly improved dehydrogenation properties compared to the neat AB and LiBH 4·NH3 alone. For example, in the case of the LiBH4·NH3/AB with a mole ratio of 1:3, over 8 wt.% hydrogen could be released at 90 °C within 4 h, while only 5 wt.% hydrogen released from the neat AB at the same conditions. Through a series of experiments it has been demonstrated that the hydrogen release of the new system is resulted from an interaction of AB and the NH3 group in the LiBH4·NH3, in which LiBH4 works as a carrier of ammonia and plays a crucial role in promoting the interaction between the NH3 group and AB. The enhanced dehydrogenation of LiBH 4·NH3/AB may result from the polar liquid state reaction environments and the initially promoted formation of the diammoniate of diborane, which will facilitate the B-H⋯H-N interaction between LiBH4·NH3 and AB. Kinetics analysis revealed that the rate-controlling steps of the dehydrogenation process are three-dimensional diffusion of hydrogen at temperatures ranging from 90 to 110 °C. This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.

Increase in Ice Nucleation Efficiency of Feldspars, Kaolinite and Mica in Dilute NH3 and NH4+-containing Solutions

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, A.; Marcolli, C.; Luo, B.; Krieger, U. K.; Peter, T.

2017-12-01

Semivolatile species present in the atmosphere are prone to adhere to mineral dust particle surfaces during long range transport, and could potentially change the particle surface properties and its ice nucleation (IN) efficiency. Immersion freezing experiments were performed with microcline (K-feldspar), known to be highly IN active, suspended in aqueous solutions of ammonia, (NH4)2SO4, NH4HSO4, NH4NO3, NH4Cl, Na2SO4, H2SO4, K2SO4 and KCl to investigate the effect of solutes on the IN efficiency. Freezing of emulsified droplets investigated with a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) showed that the heterogeneous ice nucleation temperatures deviate from the water activity-based IN theory, describing heterogeneous ice nucleation temperatures as a function of solution water activity by a constant offset with respect to the ice melting point curve (Zobrist et al. 2008). IN temperatures enhanced up to 4.5 K were observed for very dilute NH3 and NH4+-containing solutions while a decrease was observed as the concentration was further increased. For all solutes with cations other than NH4+, the IN efficiency decreased. An increase of the IN efficiency in very dilute NH3 and NH4+-containing solutions followed by a decrease with increasing concentration was also observed for sanidine (K-feldspar) and andesine (Na/Ca-feldspar). This is an important indication towards specific chemical interactions between solutes and the feldspar surface which is not captured by the water activity-based IN theory. A similar trend is present but less pronounced in case of kaolinite and mica, while quartz is barely affected. We hypothesize that the hydrogen bonding of NH3 molecules with surface -OH groups could be the reason for the enhanced freezing temperatures in dilute ammonia and ammonium containing solutions as they could form an ice-like overlayer providing hydrogen bonding groups for ice to nucleate on top of it. This implies to possibilities of enhanced IN efficiency, especially

The Effect of a Listening Education Course on the Listening Behaviors of Prospective Turkish Teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Aytan, Talat

2016-01-01

This study aims to determine the effect of a listening education course on the listening behaviors of prospective Turkish teachers. The participants of the study are 45 prospective teachers who are studying at a state university in Istanbul and taking a listening education course. The study is an experimental study in the model of "one group…

[Japanese learners' processing time for reading English relative clauses analyzed in relation to their English listening proficiency].

Science.gov (United States)

Oyama, Yoshinori

2011-06-01

The present study examined Japanese university students' processing time for English subject and object relative clauses in relation to their English listening proficiency. In Analysis 1, the relation between English listening proficiency and reading span test scores was analyzed. The results showed that the high and low listening comprehension groups' reading span test scores do not differ. Analysis 2 investigated English listening proficiency and processing time for sentences with subject and object relative clauses. The results showed that reading the relative clause ending and the main verb section of a sentence with an object relative clause (such as "attacked" and "admitted" in the sentence "The reporter that the senator attacked admitted the error") takes less time for learners with high English listening scores than for learners with low English listening scores. In Analysis 3, English listening proficiency and comprehension accuracy for sentences with subject and object relative clauses were examined. The results showed no significant difference in comprehension accuracy between the high and low listening-comprehension groups. These results indicate that processing time for English relative clauses is related to the cognitive processes involved in listening comprehension, which requires immediate processing of syntactically complex audio information.

The Relationship between Listening Strategies Used by Egyptian EFL College Sophomores and Their Listening Comprehension and Self-Efficacy

Science.gov (United States)

Kassem, Hassan M.

2015-01-01

The present study explored listening strategy use among a group of Egyptian EFL college sophomores (N = 84). More specifically, it aimed to identify 1) the strategies used more often by participants, 2) the relationship between listening strategy use, and listening comprehension and self-efficacy, and 3) differences in listening comprehension and…

Benefits of listening to a recording of euphoric joint music making in polydrug abusers

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Thomas Hans Fritz

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Background and AimsListening to music can have powerful physiological and therapeutic effects. Some essential features of the mental mechanism underlying beneficial effects of music are probably strong physiological and emotional associations with music created during the act of music making. Here we tested this hypothesis in a clinical population of polydrug abusers in rehabilitation listening to a previously performed act of physiologically and emotionally intense music making.MethodsPsychological effects of listening to self-made music that was created in a previous musical feedback intervention were assessed. In this procedure, participants produced music with exercise machines which modulate musical sounds (Jymmin.ResultsThe data showed a positive effect of listening to the recording of joint music making on self-efficacy, mood, and a readiness to engage socially. Furthermore, the data showed the powerful influence of context on how the recording evoked psychological benefits. The effects of listening to the self-made music were only observable when participants listened to their own performance first; listening to a control music piece first caused effects to deteriorate. We observed a positive correlation between participants’ mood and their desire to engage in social activities with their former training partners after listening to the self-made music. This shows that the observed effects of listening to the recording of the single musical feedback intervention are influenced by participants recapitulating intense pleasant social interactions during the Jymmin intervention. ConclusionsListening to music that was the outcome of a previous musical feedback (Jymmin intervention has beneficial psychological and probably social effects in patients that had suffered from polydrug addiction, increasing self-efficacy, mood, and a readiness to engage socially. These intervention effects, however, depend on the context in which the music

The Brain Dynamics of Rapid Perceptual Adaptation to Adverse Listening Conditions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Erb, J.; Henry, M.J.; Eisner, F.; Obleser, J.

2013-01-01

Listeners show a remarkable ability to quickly adjust to degraded speech input. Here, we aimed to identify the neural mechanisms of such short-term perceptual adaptation. In a sparse-sampling, cardiac-gated functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) acquisition, human listeners heard and repeated

Second and foreign language listening: unraveling the construct.

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Tafaghodtari, Marzieh H; Vandergrift, Larry

2008-08-01

Identifying the variables which contribute to second and foreign language (L2) listening ability can provide a better understanding of the listening construct. This study explored the degree to which first language (L1) listening ability, L2 proficiency, motivation and metacognition contribute to L2 listening comprehension. 115 Persian-speaking English as a Foreign Language (EFL) university students completed a motivation questionnaire, the Language Learning Motivation Orientation Scale, a listening questionnaire, the Metacognitive Awareness Listening Questionnaire, and an English-language proficiency measure, as well as listening tests in English and Persian. Scores from all measures were subjected to descriptive, inferential, and correlational analyses. The results support the hypothesis that variability in L2 listening cannot be explained by either L2 proficiency or L1 listening ability; rather, a cluster of variables including L2 proficiency, L1 listening ability, metacognitive knowledge and motivation orientations can better explain variability in L2 listening ability.

The Effect of Listening to English Songs on Iranian EFL Pre-intermediate Learners’ Listening Comprehension

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Mahin Rezaei

2015-05-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study was to find out whether listening to English songs can improve pre-intermediate EFL learners’ listening comprehension. To this end, a non-randomized pretest-posttest control group design as one of the quasi-experimental research designs was employed. The sample of the study consisted of 40 male and female English learners from two classes in an Institute in Marand, Iran. The two classes were randomly assigned into the experimental and control groups.  Then, a PET test was used to check the homogeneity of both groups. The listening section of PET was also considered as the pretest of the study. Then, fifteen English songs were used in the experimental group during the treatment period. Each session, within 45 minutes, one song was played for and practiced with the learners. Meanwhile, the control group had their usual teacher -fronted class without listening to songs. At the end, both groups were post tested on their listening comprehension using the listening section of another version of PET. The collected data were analyzed using Independent-Samples and Paired-Samples t-tests. The results revealed a statistically significant improvement in the performance of the experimental group. It is implied that songs are not only an entertaining tool but they can also be used as a pedagogic material in improving learners’ listening comprehension.

Learning to Listen: Teaching an Active Listening Strategy to Preservice Education Professionals

Science.gov (United States)

McNaughton, David; Hamlin, Dawn; McCarthy, John; Head-Reeves, Darlene; Schreiner, Mary

2008-01-01

The importance of parent-teacher communication has been widely recognized; however, there is only limited research on teaching effective listening skills to education professionals. In this study, a pretest-posttest control group design was used to examine the effect of instruction on the active listening skills of preservice education…

THE CORRELATION BETWEEN STUDENTS’ FREQUENCY OF LISTENING TO ENGLISH SONGS AND THEIR LISTENING ACHIEVEMENT

OpenAIRE

Elvira Rosyida M. R.

2016-01-01

This study is aimed at investigating whether there is a significant correlation between students’ frequency of listening to English songs and their listening achievement This study was conducted at the first year students of State Senior High School 9 Bandarlampung, Lampung. A descriptive quantitative was employed in this study which used ex-post facto design and the data were taken from questionnaire, semi-structured interview, and listening test. The data were analyzed by using Statistical ...

Refinement of hydrogen positions in (NH4)2SeO4

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Loose, A.; Mel'nik, G.; Zink, N.; Wozniak, K.; Dominiak, P.; Smirnov, L.S.; Pawlukojc, A.; Shuvalov, L.A.

2005-01-01

The crystal structure of ammonium selenate has been studied by means of single crystal X-ray and neutron diffraction with the purpose of the refinement of hydrogen positions. The refined hydrogen positions obtained by single crystal neutron diffraction show that N-H bond lengths form a regular tetrahedron in an ammonium ion. The single crystal X-ray diffraction data show that N-H bond lengths are shorter than those obtained by neutron diffraction and are not equal between themselves. Thus, the comparison of the results of X-ray and neutron diffraction allows one to suggest that the shorter N-H bond lengths by X-ray diffraction reflect the distribution of the electron charge density of ammonium ions within the (NH 4 ) 2 SeO 4 crystal lattice

ASSESSING LISTENING IN THE LANGUAGE CLASSROOM

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Kristanti Ayuanita

2013-05-01

Full Text Available The importance of listening in language learning can hardly be overestimated. In classrooms, students always do more listening than speaking. Listening competence is universally “larger” than other competence. Listening is not a oneway street. It is not merely the process of a unidirectional receiving of audible symbols one facet – the first step – 0f listening comprehension is the psychomotor process of receiving sound waves through the ear and transmitting nerve impulses to the brain. Every classroom lesson involves some form of assessment, whether it is in the form of informal, unplanned, and intuitive teacher processing and feedback, or in formal, prepared, scored tests.

Heterolytic cleavage of ammonia N-H bond by bifunctional activation in silica-grafted single site Ta(V) imido amido surface complex. Importance of the outer sphere NH3 assistance

KAUST Repository

Gouré, Eric

2011-01-01

Ammonia N-H bond is cleaved at room temperature by the silica-supported tantalum imido amido complex [(≡SiO)2Ta(NH)(-NH2)], 2, if excess ammonia is present, but requires 150 °C to achieve the same reaction if only one equivalent NH3 is added to 2. MAS solid-state 15N NMR and in situ IR spectroscopic studies of the reaction of either 15N or 2H labeled ammonia with 2 show that initial coordination of the ammonia is followed by scrambling of either 15N or 2H among ammonia, amido and imido groups. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations with a cluster model [{(μ-O)[(H3SiO) 2SiO]2}Ta(NH)(-NH2)(NH3)], 2 q·NH3, show that the intramolecular H transfer from Ta-NH2 to TaNH is ruled out, but the H transfers from the coordinated ammonia to the amido and imido groups have accessible energy barriers. The energy barrier for the ammonia N-H activation by the Ta-amido group is energetically preferred relative to the Ta-imido group. The importance of excess NH3 for getting full isotope scrambling is rationalized by an outer sphere assistance of ammonia acting as proton transfer agent, which equalizes the energy barriers for H transfer from coordinated ammonia to the amido and imido groups. In contrast, additional coordinated ammonia does not favor significantly the H transfer. These results rationalize the experimental conditions used. © The Royal Society of Chemistry and the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique 2011.

Task Context Influences Brain Activation during Music Listening

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Andjela Markovic

2017-06-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we examined brain activation in subjects during two music listening conditions: listening while simultaneously rating the musical piece being played [Listening and Rating (LR] and listening to the musical pieces unconstrained [Listening (L]. Using these two conditions, we tested whether the sequence in which the two conditions were fulfilled influenced the brain activation observable during the L condition (LR → L or L → LR. We recorded high-density EEG during the playing of four well-known positively experienced soundtracks in two subject groups. One group started with the L condition and continued with the LR condition (L → LR; the second group performed this experiment in reversed order (LR → L. We computed from the recorded EEG the power for different frequency bands (theta, lower alpha, upper alpha, lower beta, and upper beta. Statistical analysis revealed that the power in all examined frequency bands increased during the L condition but only when the subjects had not had previous experience with the LR condition (i.e., L → LR. For the subjects who began with the LR condition, there were no power increases during the L condition. Thus, the previous experience with the LR condition prevented subjects from developing the particular mental state associated with the typical power increase in all frequency bands. The subjects without previous experience of the LR condition listened to the musical pieces in an unconstrained and undisturbed manner and showed a general power increase in all frequency bands. We interpret the fact that unconstrained music listening was associated with increased power in all examined frequency bands as a neural indicator of a mental state that can best be described as a mind-wandering state during which the subjects are “drawn into” the music.

How Setting Goals Enhances Learners’ Self-Efficacy Beliefs in Listening Comprehension

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Liliana Ballesteros Muñoz

2014-04-01

Full Text Available This article outlines a study that explores the relationship between SMART goal setting (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-based and learning English in Colombia concerning a foreign language learners’ self-efficacy beliefs in listening. The participants were seventh and ninth grade students of two schools in Bogotá, Colombia. The results revealed that self-efficacy was highly positive when related to goal setting as students were able to set SMART goals to improve their listening comprehension and learners showed improvement in self-efficacy beliefs and felt more motivated while completing listening tasks related to songs. Furthermore this study shows that goal setting training can be incorporated successfully into the English as a foreign language classroom.

The Active Listening Room Simulator: Part 2

OpenAIRE

Naqvi, Amber; Rumsey, Francis

2001-01-01

This paper presents the results of computer simulation of active reflectors in a reference listening room which are used to create artificial reflections in a two speaker, stereo listening configuration. This formulates the second phase of experiments in the active listening room project involving the analysis of computer modeling results and loudspeaker selection based on free field response. The aim of this project is to create a truly variable listening condition in a reference listening r...

Evidence of across-channel processing for spectral-ripple discrimination in cochlear implant listeners.

Science.gov (United States)

Won, Jong Ho; Jones, Gary L; Drennan, Ward R; Jameyson, Elyse M; Rubinstein, Jay T

2011-10-01

Spectral-ripple discrimination has been used widely for psychoacoustical studies in normal-hearing, hearing-impaired, and cochlear implant listeners. The present study investigated the perceptual mechanism for spectral-ripple discrimination in cochlear implant listeners. The main goal of this study was to determine whether cochlear implant listeners use a local intensity cue or global spectral shape for spectral-ripple discrimination. The effect of electrode separation on spectral-ripple discrimination was also evaluated. Results showed that it is highly unlikely that cochlear implant listeners depend on a local intensity cue for spectral-ripple discrimination. A phenomenological model of spectral-ripple discrimination, as an "ideal observer," showed that a perceptual mechanism based on discrimination of a single intensity difference cannot account for performance of cochlear implant listeners. Spectral modulation depth and electrode separation were found to significantly affect spectral-ripple discrimination. The evidence supports the hypothesis that spectral-ripple discrimination involves integrating information from multiple channels. © 2011 Acoustical Society of America

Biopesticide activity of sugarcane associated rhizobacteria: Ochrobactrum intermedium strain NH-5 and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia strain NH-300 against red rot under field conditions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muhammad Nadeem HASSAN

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Colletotrichum falcatum is the major fungal pathogen causing sugarcane red rot. Four antagonistic bacterial strains exhibiting biocontrol activity against this pathogen in greenhouse conditions were characterized for production of different antifungal metabolites and biocontrol determinants to elucidate the mechanism of action involved in their antagonistic activity. The strains were also evaluated under field conditions to assess their biocontrol potential. All the strains produced hydrogen cyanide (HCN, and volatile and diffusible antibiotics. In addition, the Ochrobactrum intermedium strain NH-5 produced siderophores and the broad spectrum antibiotic 2, 4-diacetylphloroglucinol (2,4-DAPG; Pseudomonas sp. NH-203 produced siderophores, and Pseudomonas sp. NH-276 produced protease. Two strains, Ochrobactrum intermedium NH-5 and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia NH-300, exhibited good biocontrol activity, suppressing red rot by 44–52% on two sugarcane varieties, SPF-234 and Co-1148, in field experiments. The strains gave consistent results in three consecutive years and showed potential to be used as biopesticides.

Improving Students' Listening Skills. Idea Paper No. 23.

Science.gov (United States)

Newton, Terry

Although listening has been shown to be the most frequent communication activity, and students desperately need listening training, the educational system usually ignores listening. After citing 10 bad listening habits which interfere with good aural communication and describing the characteristics of effective listeners, this paper offers 12…

The Key Role of Listening in Business: A Story of the Singapore Insurance Industry.

Science.gov (United States)

Goby, Valerie Priscilla; Lewis, Justus Helen

2000-01-01

Examines how listening is perceived by people in Singapore involved in insurance. Finds that all categories of respondents apart from students ranked listening as more important than writing or speaking; and all categories of respondents consider insurance agents to possess less than the desired degree of listening competence. Shows how each group…

Listening: A Virtue Account

Science.gov (United States)

Rice, Suzanne; Burbules, Nicholas C.

2010-01-01

Background Context: Despite its significance for learning, listening has received very little attention in the philosophy of education literature. This article draws on the philosophy and educational thought of Aristotle to illuminate characteristics of good listening. The current project is exploratory and preliminary, seeking mainly to suggest…

Extensive Listening 2.0 with Foreign Language Podcasts

Science.gov (United States)

Alm, Antonie

2013-01-01

This article investigates the use of podcasts for out-of-class listening practice. Drawing on Vandergrift and Goh's metacognitive approach to extensive listening, it discusses their principles for listening projects in the context of podcast-based listening. The study describes a class of 28 intermediate German students, who listened to…

Rydberb bonding in (NH4)2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boldyrev, A.I.; Simons, J.

1992-01-01

Chemical binding of two monovalent Rydberg species to form a singlet-state Rydberg dimer molecule is predicted to be possible Ab initio electronic structure methods that include electron correlation (at levels up through QCISD(T)/6-31++G** MP2(full)/6-31++G** + ZPE) are shown to be essential to achieving a proper description of such bonding. The (NH 4 ) molecule, selected as the prototype for this study, is shown to be bound with respect to its Rydberg-species fragments, 2NH 4 by 7.5-9.7 kcal/mol, depending on the level of treatment of electron correlation, and to be electronically stable (by ca.4 eV) with respect to (NH 4 ) 2 + at the neutral's equilibrium geometry. The (NH 4 ) 2 Rydberg dimer is thermodynamically unstable with respect to 2NH 3 + H 2 by 86-89 kcal/mol mol yet possesses all real vibrational frequencies; it is thus a metastable molecular held together by a weak Rydberg bond. The dissociation energy of the (NH 4 ) 2 + cation to form NH 4 + + NH 4 is found to be larger than that of the neutral (NH 4 ) 2 . 12 refs., 4 figs., 9 tabs

Can We Teach Effective Listening? An Exploratory Study

Science.gov (United States)

Caspersz, Donella; Stasinska, Ania

2015-01-01

Listening is not the same as hearing. While hearing is a physiological process, listening is a conscious process that requires us to be mentally attentive (Low & Sonntag, 2013). The obvious place for scholarship about listening is in communication studies. While interested in listening, the focus of this study is on effective listening.…

A MODEL OF EFL LISTENING MATERIALS DEVELOPMENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mochamad Zaenuri

2015-12-01

Full Text Available In oral communication, listening skill is important because communication does not take place successfully if the message stated is not understood. To master the skill, learners should learn it. Therefore, good listening materials are needed. However, English teachers often find it difficult to teach listening skills because the listening materials are not adequately available. Besides, if the materials are available, they are not appropriate with the students’ needs and the curriculum. In that case, English teachers need to develop listening materials by themselves. For this, they should have knowledge of materials development. This paper presents ideas and tips for English teachers how to develop good and applicable listening materials.

Empirical Validation of Listening Proficiency Guidelines

Science.gov (United States)

Cox, Troy L.; Clifford, Ray

2014-01-01

Because listening has received little attention and the validation of ability scales describing multidimensional skills is always challenging, this study applied a multistage, criterion-referenced approach that used a framework of aligned audio passages and listening tasks to explore the validity of the ACTFL and related listening proficiency…

Predictors of burnout and health status in Samaritans' listening volunteers.

Science.gov (United States)

Roche, Adeline; Ogden, Jane

2017-12-01

Samaritan listening volunteers provide emotional support to people in distress or suicidal. Samaritans' has high volunteer turnover, which may be due to burnout. This study evaluated the role of demographic and psychosocial factors in predicting Samaritans listening volunteers' burnout and health status. Samaritans' listening volunteers (n = 216) from seven branches across UK completed an online survey to assess their levels of burnout (emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation, personal accomplishment), subjective health status, coping, empathy and social support. Overall, listeners showed low levels of burnout and good health. Regression analysis revealed that higher emotional exhaustion was predicted by younger age and avoidant coping style; higher depersonalisation was predicted by lower empathy fantasy and higher avoidant coping style; lower personal accomplishment scores were predicted by higher empathy personal distress and worse health status was predicted by more hours per week spent on listening duties, lower social support and higher avoidant coping style. Overall, different factors influenced different facets of burnout. However, higher use of avoidant coping style consistently predicted higher burnout and worse health status, suggesting avoidant coping is an important target for intervention.

Synthesis of 15N-enriched urea (CO(15NH22 from 15NH3, CO, and S in a discontinuous process

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. R. Sant Ana Filho

2012-12-01

Full Text Available CO(15NH22 enriched with the stable isotope 15N was synthesized based on a reaction involving CO, 15NH3, and S in the presence of CH3OH. The method differs from the industrial method; a stainless steel reactor internally lined with polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE was used in a discontinuous process under low pressure and temperature. The yield of the synthesis was evaluated as a function of the parameters: the amount of reagents, reaction time, addition of H2S, liquid solution and reaction temperature. The results showed that under optimum conditions (1.36, 4.01, and 4.48 g of 15NH3, CO, and S, respectively, 40 ml CH3OH, 40 mg H2S, 100 ºC and 120 min of reaction 1.82 g (yield 76.5% of the compound was obtained per batch. The synthesized CO(15NH22 contained 46.2% N, 0.55% biuret, melting point of 132.55 ºC and did not exhibit isotopic fractionation. The production cost of CO(15NH22 with 90.0 at. % 15N was US$ 238.60 per gram.

Investigating Norms of Listening in Classrooms

Science.gov (United States)

Sangster, Pauline; Anderson, Charles

2009-01-01

Previous research into listening has tended to focus on individual processing rather than on how sociocultural contexts mediate the nature and quality of listening. This article draws on a study involving observations of listening lessons conducted by ten English teachers regarded as skilled practitioners, interviews with these teachers and with…

Sensorineural hearing loss degrades behavioral and physiological measures of human spatial selective auditory attention

Science.gov (United States)

Dai, Lengshi; Best, Virginia; Shinn-Cunningham, Barbara G.

2018-01-01

Listeners with sensorineural hearing loss often have trouble understanding speech amid other voices. While poor spatial hearing is often implicated, direct evidence is weak; moreover, studies suggest that reduced audibility and degraded spectrotemporal coding may explain such problems. We hypothesized that poor spatial acuity leads to difficulty deploying selective attention, which normally filters out distracting sounds. In listeners with normal hearing, selective attention causes changes in the neural responses evoked by competing sounds, which can be used to quantify the effectiveness of attentional control. Here, we used behavior and electroencephalography to explore whether control of selective auditory attention is degraded in hearing-impaired (HI) listeners. Normal-hearing (NH) and HI listeners identified a simple melody presented simultaneously with two competing melodies, each simulated from different lateral angles. We quantified performance and attentional modulation of cortical responses evoked by these competing streams. Compared with NH listeners, HI listeners had poorer sensitivity to spatial cues, performed more poorly on the selective attention task, and showed less robust attentional modulation of cortical responses. Moreover, across NH and HI individuals, these measures were correlated. While both groups showed cortical suppression of distracting streams, this modulation was weaker in HI listeners, especially when attending to a target at midline, surrounded by competing streams. These findings suggest that hearing loss interferes with the ability to filter out sound sources based on location, contributing to communication difficulties in social situations. These findings also have implications for technologies aiming to use neural signals to guide hearing aid processing. PMID:29555752

Evaluation of the phase composition of (NH4)2SO4 + (NH4)H2PO4 mixtures by X-ray diffractometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ortiz, Angel L.; Cumbrera, Francisco L.; Perez, Jose; Vas, Beatriz del; Perez, Eduardo

2009-01-01

The phase composition of standard (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 + (NH 4 )H 2 PO 4 mixtures was investigated by X-ray diffractometry (XRD) using the internal-standard, reference-intensity-ratio, and Rietveld methods. It was found that the Rietveld method yields the most accurate phase-composition measurements, with an average error of ∼2 wt.%. It was also found that the internal-standard method is only effective in determining the phase composition if the calibration curve for (NH 4 )H 2 PO 4 is used, giving an average error of ∼6.5 wt.%. On the contrary, the internal-standard method with the calibration curve of the (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 phase and the reference-intensity-ratio method are not valid. The inappropriateness of these two methods was attributed to graininess in the (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 phase, with the attendant deviation of its diffracted intensities from the theoretical values. Direct scanning electron microscopy observations of the morphology of the powder particles in the mixtures showed clear evidence of the large agglomerates formed because the individual powder particles are partially sintered together during milling, thus corroborating the graininess determined by the XRD analyses. Finally, the implications of the present study for the quantitative phase-composition analysis of (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 + (NH 4 )H 2 PO 4 mixtures, which are of great technological importance for the fire prevention industry, are discussed.

Listen and the question of silence

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Doubinsky, Sebastien

2018-01-01

Listen is a film about words, but around words. The words become useless and are surrounded by silence. And the whole film is constructed on this silence, which builds up like an unbreakable wall. The question is thus: what are we listening to? What should we listen to? And maybe, even more crucial...

The Effect of Transcribing on Elementary Iranian EFL Learners’ Listening Comprehension

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammad Afsharrad

2015-12-01

Full Text Available This study is motivated by the gap existing between theory and practice in teaching listening. Most of the techniques used to teach listening put more emphasis on top-down processing while listeners’ problems are more of perceptive ones (bottom-up. In order to address the pervasive decoding problem in listening, this study suggests using transcribing exercise as an input enhancement device and investigates its effect on beginning learners’ listening ability. To this end, 31 learners participated in the study. The control group did not have any transcribing practice while the experimental group received transcribing exercise. In the data analysis step, an independent samples t test was employed to compare the two groups. The results show that transcribing has a significant positive effect on beginning learners’ listening comprehension. The findings of the study as well as advantages of transcribing exercise are discussed. Implications of the study and scope for future research are also addressed.

DESIGNING PODCAST FOR STUDENTS: A PROTOTYPE FOR TEACHING ENGLISH IN LISTENING CLASS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Delsa Miranty

2016-09-01

Full Text Available In the context of language education, listening is recognized as the first skill that learnt by the students in the EFL classroom. However, some problems are commonly found in the process of learning to listen the material in form of English. Students are usually less confident and often confuse to start to listen the material in the EFL classroom. To minimize this problem, this study is aimed at discovering alternative tool in learning listening material by using Podcast. Four instruments were chosen to reveal students’ listening skill, they were: direct observation, questionnaire, interview and test. Direct observation was conducted three times, Likert Scale with five options was applied for questionnaires, close interview was conducted at the end of teaching learning process and the tests were conducted to check the students understanding of the materials. Moreover this research used one class in the third semester of English department in Untirta. The result of this research showed two things. First, there was effectiveness of using Podcast in the laboratory, since it has high score, for normalization gain score and the students finally had nice and good communication in the laboratory, the students have many time to download, listen, analysis and discuss the materials from Podcast with their team, out of the laboratory before they came to the laboratory. Second, there were good responses from the students since they got many advantages after using Podcast as the tool in the listening class, by applying podcast in the listening class. It started since the students were allowed to download, listen and give comments in the web blog about materials in critical listening from www.critical listening Podcast 2016.word press. Finally, by using Podcast, the English teacher also help the students to build their interaction skill and students’ self-confidence to improve their critical listening.

Active listening in medical consultations: development of the Active Listening Observation Scale (ALOS-global).

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Fassaert, T.; Dulmen, S. van; Schellevis, F.; Bensing, J.

2007-01-01

OBJECTIVE: Active listening is a prerequisite for a successful healthcare encounter, bearing potential therapeutic value especially in clinical situations that require no specific medical intervention. Although generally acknowledged as such, active listening has not been studied in depth. This

Listening and Legos[TM

Science.gov (United States)

Morris, Pamela

2012-01-01

This simple exercise, performed in teams, gives students practice in listening to instructions, particularly when there are restrictions for the communication. The teams compete in a limited amount of time to build a Lego[TM] structure based on the instructions of one team member. Which team listens the best and is most successful?

Detection and identification of monaural and binaural pitch contours in dyslexic listeners

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Santurette, Sébastien; Poelmans, Hanne; Luts, Heleen

2010-01-01

of dyslexic listeners to Huggins' pitch (HP). The present study clarified whether impaired binaural pitch perception is found in dyslexia. Results from a pitch contour identification test, performed in 31 dyslexic listeners and 31 matched controls, clearly showed that dyslexics perceived HP as well...

Across-frequency combination of interaural time difference in bilateral cochlear implant listeners

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Antje eIhlefeld

2014-03-01

Full Text Available The current study examined how cochlear implant (CI listeners combine temporally interleaved envelope-ITD information across two sites of stimulation. When two cochlear sites jointly transmit ITD information, one possibility is that CI listeners can extract the most reliable ITD cues available. As a result, ITD sensitivity would be sustained or enhanced compared to single-site stimulation. Alternatively, mutual interference across multiple sites of ITD stimulation could worsen dual-site performance compared to listening to the better of two electrode pairs. Two experiments used direct stimulation to examine how CI users can integrate ITDs across two pairs of electrodes. Experiment 1 tested ITD discrimination for two stimulation sites using 100-Hz sinusoidally modulated 1000-pps-carrier pulse trains. Experiment 2 used the same stimuli ramped with 100 ms windows, as a control condition with minimized onset cues. For all stimuli, performance improved monotonically with increasing modulation depth. Results show that when CI listeners are stimulated with electrode pairs at two cochlear sites, sensitivity to ITDs was similar to that seen when only the electrode pair with better sensitivity was activated. None of the listeners showed a decrement in performance from the worse electrode pair. This could be achieved either by listening to the better electrode pair or by truly integrating the information across cochlear sites.

COMMUNICATIVE VALIDITY OF THE NEW CET-4 LISTENING COMPREHENSION TEST IN CHINA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chao Wang

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract: Based on the major dimensions of a communicative language test that Bachman proposed, this paper aims to have an investigation on the validity of the new CET-4 listening subtest in China from a communicative point of view. Both qualitative and quantitative methods are involved in the study. Material analysis falls into qualitative study, including analysis of the CET-4 testing syllabus and eight new CET-4 listening comprehension tests. Students’ scores of two tests and the questionnaires are analyzed quantitatively. Through analysis, it is found that the new CET-4 listening subtest has a high validity and can measure test-takers’ listening ability in real communication. First, the new CET-4 listening subtest has the quality of reliability. Second, the seven listening skills tested in this subtest can measure the communicative language ability required in the testing syllabus. The intra-correlation analysis shows that each part of the new CET-4 listening subtest focuses on different language abilities related to listening. Third, the authenticity of the new CET-4 listening subtest reaches a satisfactory level. The materials chosen in the test cover various topics and genres. Speakers’ pronunciation, tone and speed are in accordance with the real situation. However, some shortcomings also exist in the test design and should be improved later. For example, its limited item types cannot represent the task types in real life, and the actual input is too ideal to be authentic.   Keywords: Communicative language ability, communicative language testing, listening comprehension, test validity

A new NH 3 orbital of the NH 3/Ni(110) surface observed by metastable quenching spectroscopy

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Lihwa; Arias, Jose; Hanrahan, Ciaran; Martin, Richard M.; Metiu, Horia

1986-01-01

By using metastable quenching spectroscopy we have found a new NH 3 filled orbital (in the language of one electron theory) for NH 3/Ni(110), located at the Fermi level of the surface. The orbital is not observed when NH 3 is adsorbed on Ni(110), but it is detected for NH 3 adsorbed on polycrystalline Al.

Active Listening Strategies of Academically Successful University Students

OpenAIRE

Canpolat, Murat; Kuzu, Sekvan; Yıldırım, Bilal; CANPOLAT, Sevilay

2015-01-01

Problem Statement:In formal educational environments, the quality of student listening affects learning considerably. Students who areuninterested in a lesson listen reluctantly, wanting time to pass quickly andthe classto end as soon as possible. In such situations, students become passive and, thoughappearing to be listening, will not use listening strategies that promote productive and permanent learning. By contrast, when students willingly participate in lessonsby listening to instructor...

Crystal structure of [UO2(NH35]NO3·NH3

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Patrick Woidy

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Pentaammine dioxide uranium(V nitrate ammonia (1/1, [UO2(NH35]NO3·NH3, was obtained in the form of yellow crystals from the reaction of caesium uranyl nitrate, Cs[UO2(NO33], and uranium tetrafluoride, UF4, in dry liquid ammonia. The [UO2]+ cation is coordinated by five ammine ligands. The resulting [UO2(NH35] coordination polyhedron is best described as a pentagonal bipyramid with the O atoms forming the apices. In the crystal, numerous N—H...N and N—H...O hydrogen bonds are present between the cation, anion and solvent molecules, leading to a three-dimensional network.

Crystal structure and characterization of the novel NH{sup +} Midline-Horizontal-Ellipsis N hydrogen bonded polar crystal [NH{sub 2}(CH{sub 2}){sub 4}NH][BF{sub 4}

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wojtas, M., E-mail: maciej.wojtas@chem.uni.wroc.pl [Faculty of Chemistry, University of Wroclaw, Joliot-Curie 14, 50-383 Wroclaw (Poland); Gagor, A. [W. Trzebiatowski Institute of Low Temperature and Structure Research, Polish Academy of Science, PO Box 1410, 50-950 Wroclaw (Poland); Czupinski, O. [Faculty of Chemistry, University of Wroclaw, Joliot-Curie 14, 50-383 Wroclaw (Poland); Medycki, W. [Institute of Molecular Physics, Polish Academy of Science, Smoluchowskiego 17, 60-179 Poznan (Poland); Jakubas, R. [Faculty of Chemistry, University of Wroclaw, Joliot-Curie 14, 50-383 Wroclaw (Poland)

2012-03-15

Dielectric properties and phase transitions of the piperazinium tetrafluoroborate ([NH{sub 2}(CH{sub 2}){sub 4}NH][BF{sub 4}], abbreviated as PFB) crystal are related to the one-dimensional arrangement of the cations linked by the bistable NH{sup +} Midline-Horizontal-Ellipsis N hydrogen bonds and molecular motions of the [BF{sub 4}]{sup -} units. The crystal structure of [NH{sub 2}(CH{sub 2}){sub 4}NH][BF{sub 4}] is monoclinic at room temperature with the polar space group Pn. The polar/acentric properties of the room temperature phase IV have been confirmed by the piezoelectric and pyroelectric measurements. DSC measurements show that the compound undergoes three first-order structural phase transitions: at 421/411 K (heating/cooling), at 386/372 K and at 364/349 K. {sup 1}H and {sup 19}F NMR measurements indicate the reorientational motions of [BF{sub 4}]{sup -} anions and piperazinium(+) cations as well as the proton motion in the hydrogen-bonded chains of piperazine along the [001] direction. Over the phase I the isotropic reorientational motions or even self-diffusion of the cations and anions are expected. The conductivity measurements in the vicinity of the II-I PT indicate a superionic phase over the phase I. - Graphical abstract: It must be emphasized that the titled compound represents the first organic-inorganic simple salt containing the single-protonated piperazinium cation which was studied by means of the wide variety of experimental techniques. A survey of Cambridge Structural Database (CSD version 5.32 (November 2010) and updates (May 2011)) for structure containing the piperazinium cations yields 248 compounds with the doubly protonated piperazinium(2+) cations and only eight compounds with the singly protonated piperazinium(+) cations. Among these structures only one is the hybrid organic-inorganic material. This is piperazinium nitrate characterized structurally. The crystal packing of [NH{sub 2}(CH{sub 2}){sub 4}NH][BF{sub 4}], phase IV. The

The Impact of Listening Strategy Training on the Meta-Cognitive Listening Strategies Awareness of Different Learner Types

Science.gov (United States)

Zarrabi, Fatemeh

2016-01-01

The present study investigated the effectiveness of listening strategy instruction on the metacognitive listening strategies awareness of different EFL learner types (LTs). To achieve this goal, 150 EFL students took part in the study and were taught based on a guided lesson plan regarding listening strategies and a pre-test/post-test design was…

A Correlation Study between Motivation Orientations and Metacognitive Strategies in English Listening

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

余婷

2016-01-01

Based on learning motivation theory and metacognitive theory, the present study reports questionnaire surveys on cor-relation between motivation orientations and listening metacognitive strategies among 117 English majors. Findings suggest that:1) English majors are mainly stimulated by instrumental motivation and show bias towards planning and evaluation strate-gy in listening comprehension;2) there is a significant positive correlation between instrumental motivation and strategy of plan-ning and evaluation;3) significant difference between high motive group and low motive group only exists in planning and eval-uation strategy. Therefore, teachers are encouraged to help students strengthen the training of listening metacognitive strategies form long-lasting motivation and promote listening proficiency as well as self-learning ability.

Enhancing listener strategies using a payoff matrix in speech-on-speech masking experiments.

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, Eric R; Iyer, Nandini; Simpson, Brian D; Wakefield, Gregory H; Kieras, David E; Brungart, Douglas S

2015-09-01

Speech recognition was measured as a function of the target-to-masker ratio (TMR) with syntactically similar speech maskers. In the first experiment, listeners were instructed to report keywords from the target sentence. Data averaged across listeners showed a plateau in performance below 0 dB TMR when masker and target sentences were from the same talker. In this experiment, some listeners tended to report the target words at all TMRs in accordance with the instructions, while others reported keywords from the louder of the sentences, contrary to the instructions. In the second experiment, stimuli were the same as in the first experiment, but listeners were also instructed to avoid reporting the masker keywords, and a payoff matrix penalizing masker keywords and rewarding target keywords was used. In this experiment, listeners reduced the number of reported masker keywords, and increased the number of reported target keywords overall, and the average data showed a local minimum at 0 dB TMR with same-talker maskers. The best overall performance with a same-talker masker was obtained with a level difference of 9 dB, where listeners achieved near perfect performance when the target was louder, and at least 80% correct performance when the target was the quieter of the two sentences.

Evidence of across-channel processing for spectral-ripple discrimination in cochlear implant listeners a

Science.gov (United States)

Ho Won, Jong; Jones, Gary L.; Drennan, Ward R.; Jameyson, Elyse M.; Rubinstein, Jay T.

2011-01-01

Spectral-ripple discrimination has been used widely for psychoacoustical studies in normal-hearing, hearing-impaired, and cochlear implant listeners. The present study investigated the perceptual mechanism for spectral-ripple discrimination in cochlear implant listeners. The main goal of this study was to determine whether cochlear implant listeners use a local intensity cue or global spectral shape for spectral-ripple discrimination. The effect of electrode separation on spectral-ripple discrimination was also evaluated. Results showed that it is highly unlikely that cochlear implant listeners depend on a local intensity cue for spectral-ripple discrimination. A phenomenological model of spectral-ripple discrimination, as an “ideal observer,” showed that a perceptual mechanism based on discrimination of a single intensity difference cannot account for performance of cochlear implant listeners. Spectral modulation depth and electrode separation were found to significantly affect spectral-ripple discrimination. The evidence supports the hypothesis that spectral-ripple discrimination involves integrating information from multiple channels. PMID:21973363

NH4+ triggers the release of astrocytic lactate via mitochondrial pyruvate shunting

Science.gov (United States)

Lerchundi, Rodrigo; Fernández-Moncada, Ignacio; Contreras-Baeza, Yasna; Sotelo-Hitschfeld, Tamara; Mächler, Philipp; Wyss, Matthias T.; Stobart, Jillian; Baeza-Lehnert, Felipe; Alegría, Karin; Weber, Bruno; Barros, L. Felipe

2015-01-01

Neural activity is accompanied by a transient mismatch between local glucose and oxygen metabolism, a phenomenon of physiological and pathophysiological importance termed aerobic glycolysis. Previous studies have proposed glutamate and K+ as the neuronal signals that trigger aerobic glycolysis in astrocytes. Here we used a panel of genetically encoded FRET sensors in vitro and in vivo to investigate the participation of NH4+, a by-product of catabolism that is also released by active neurons. Astrocytes in mixed cortical cultures responded to physiological levels of NH4+ with an acute rise in cytosolic lactate followed by lactate release into the extracellular space, as detected by a lactate-sniffer. An acute increase in astrocytic lactate was also observed in acute hippocampal slices exposed to NH4+ and in the somatosensory cortex of anesthetized mice in response to i.v. NH4+. Unexpectedly, NH4+ had no effect on astrocytic glucose consumption. Parallel measurements showed simultaneous cytosolic pyruvate accumulation and NADH depletion, suggesting the involvement of mitochondria. An inhibitor-stop technique confirmed a strong inhibition of mitochondrial pyruvate uptake that can be explained by mitochondrial matrix acidification. These results show that physiological NH4+ diverts the flux of pyruvate from mitochondria to lactate production and release. Considering that NH4+ is produced stoichiometrically with glutamate during excitatory neurotransmission, we propose that NH4+ behaves as an intercellular signal and that pyruvate shunting contributes to aerobic lactate production by astrocytes. PMID:26286989

NH4(+) triggers the release of astrocytic lactate via mitochondrial pyruvate shunting.

Science.gov (United States)

Lerchundi, Rodrigo; Fernández-Moncada, Ignacio; Contreras-Baeza, Yasna; Sotelo-Hitschfeld, Tamara; Mächler, Philipp; Wyss, Matthias T; Stobart, Jillian; Baeza-Lehnert, Felipe; Alegría, Karin; Weber, Bruno; Barros, L Felipe

2015-09-01

Neural activity is accompanied by a transient mismatch between local glucose and oxygen metabolism, a phenomenon of physiological and pathophysiological importance termed aerobic glycolysis. Previous studies have proposed glutamate and K(+) as the neuronal signals that trigger aerobic glycolysis in astrocytes. Here we used a panel of genetically encoded FRET sensors in vitro and in vivo to investigate the participation of NH4(+), a by-product of catabolism that is also released by active neurons. Astrocytes in mixed cortical cultures responded to physiological levels of NH4(+) with an acute rise in cytosolic lactate followed by lactate release into the extracellular space, as detected by a lactate-sniffer. An acute increase in astrocytic lactate was also observed in acute hippocampal slices exposed to NH4(+) and in the somatosensory cortex of anesthetized mice in response to i.v. NH4(+). Unexpectedly, NH4(+) had no effect on astrocytic glucose consumption. Parallel measurements showed simultaneous cytosolic pyruvate accumulation and NADH depletion, suggesting the involvement of mitochondria. An inhibitor-stop technique confirmed a strong inhibition of mitochondrial pyruvate uptake that can be explained by mitochondrial matrix acidification. These results show that physiological NH4(+) diverts the flux of pyruvate from mitochondria to lactate production and release. Considering that NH4(+) is produced stoichiometrically with glutamate during excitatory neurotransmission, we propose that NH4(+) behaves as an intercellular signal and that pyruvate shunting contributes to aerobic lactate production by astrocytes.

Communication: Equivalence between symmetric and antisymmetric stretching modes of NH3 in promoting H + NH3 → H2 + NH2 reaction

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Hongwei; Yang, Minghui; Guo, Hua

2016-10-01

Vibrational excitations of reactants sometimes promote reactions more effectively than the same amount of translational energy. Such mode specificity provides insights into the transition-state modulation of reactivity and might be used to control chemical reactions. We report here a state-of-the-art full-dimensional quantum dynamical study of the hydrogen abstraction reaction H + NH3 → H2 + NH2 on an accurate ab initio based global potential energy surface. This reaction serves as an ideal candidate to study the relative efficacies of symmetric and degenerate antisymmetric stretching modes. Strong mode specificity, particularly for the NH3 stretching modes, is demonstrated. It is further shown that nearly identical efficacies of the symmetric and antisymmetric stretching modes of NH3 in promoting the reaction can be understood in terms of local-mode stretching vibrations of the reactant molecule.

Mixed adenine/guanine quartets with three trans-a2 Pt(II) (a=NH(3) or MeNH(2)) cross-links: linkage and rotational isomerism, base pairing, and loss of NH(3).

Science.gov (United States)

Albertí, Francisca M; Rodríguez-Santiago, Luis; Sodupe, Mariona; Mirats, Andrea; Kaitsiotou, Helena; Sanz Miguel, Pablo J; Lippert, Bernhard

2014-03-17

Of the numerous ways in which two adenine and two guanines (N9 positions blocked in each) can be cross-linked by three linear metal moieties such as trans-a2 Pt(II) (with a=NH3 or MeNH2 ) to produce open metalated purine quartets with exclusive metal coordination through N1 and N7 sites, one linkage isomer was studied in detail. The isomer trans,trans,trans-[{Pt(NH3 )2 (N7-9-EtA-N1)2 }{Pt(MeNH2 )2 (N7-9-MeGH)}2 ][(ClO4 )6 ]⋅3H2 O (1) (with 9-EtA=9-ethyladenine and 9-MeGH=9-methylguanine) was crystallized from water and found to adopt a flat Z-shape in the solid state as far as the trinuclear cation is concerned. In the presence of excess 9-MeGH, a meander-like construct, trans,trans,trans-[{Pt(NH3 )2 (N7-9-EtA-N1)2 }{Pt(MeNH2 )2 (N7-9-MeGH)2 }][(ClO4 )6 ]⋅[(9-MeGH)2 ]⋅7 H2 O (2) is formed, in which the two extra 9-MeGH nucleobases are hydrogen bonded to the two terminal platinated guanine ligands of 1. Compound 1, and likewise the analogous complex 1 a (with NH3 ligands only), undergo loss of an ammonia ligand and formation of NH4 (+) when dissolved in [D6 ]DMSO. From the analogy between the behavior of 1 and 1 a it is concluded that a NH3 ligand from the central Pt atom is lost. Addition of 1-methylcytosine (1-MeC) to such a DMSO solution reveals coordination of 1-MeC to the central Pt. In an analogous manner, 9-MeGH can coordinate to the central Pt in [D6 ]DMSO. It is proposed that the proton responsible for formation of NH4 (+) is from one of the exocyclic amino groups of the two adenine bases, and furthermore, that this process is accompanied by a conformational change of the cation from Z-form to U-form. DFT calculations confirm the proposed mechanism and shed light on possible pathways of this process. Calculations show that rotational isomerism is not kinetically hindered and that it would preferably occur previous to the displacement of NH3 by DMSO. This displacement is the most energetically costly step, but it is compensated by the proton

Aquaporin 4 as a NH3 Channel

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Assentoft, Mette; Kaptan, Shreyas; Schneider, Hans-Peter

2016-01-01

-brain-interface, participate in the exchange of ammonia, which is required to sustain the glutamate-glutamine cycle. Here we observe that AQP4-expressing Xenopus oocytes display a reflection coefficient NH4Cl at pH 8.0, at which pH an increased amount of the ammonia occurs in the form of NH3 Taken together with an NH4......Cl-mediated intracellular alkalization (or lesser acidification) of AQP4-expressing oocytes, these data suggest that NH3 is able to permeate the pore of AQP4. Exposure to NH4Cl increased the membrane currents to a similar extent in uninjected oocytes and in oocytes expressing AQP4, indicating...... that the ionic NH4 (+) did not permeate AQP4. Molecular dynamics simulations revealed partial pore permeation events of NH3 but not of NH4 (+) and a reduced energy barrier for NH3 permeation through AQP4 compared with that of a cholesterol-containing lipid bilayer, suggesting AQP4 as a favored transmembrane...

Heterogeneous reactions between ions NH3+and NH+andhydrocarbons adsorbed on a tungsten surface.Formation of HCN+in NH+-surface hydrocarbon collisions

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Harnisch, M.; Scheier, P.; Herman, Zdeněk

2015-01-01

Roč. 392, DEC 2015 (2015), s. 139-144 ISSN 1387-3806 Institutional support: RVO:61388955 Keywords : ion-surface collisions * NH3+ and NH+projectiles * surface hydrocarbons Subject RIV: CF - Physical ; Theoretical Chemistry Impact factor: 2.183, year: 2015

Improved GaSb surfaces using a (NH{sub 4}){sub 2}S/(NH{sub 4}){sub 2}S0{sub 4} solution

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Murape, D.M., E-mail: Davison.Murape@live.nmmu.ac.za [Department of Physics, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, PO Box 77000, Port Elizabeth 6031 (South Africa); Eassa, N.; Nyamhere, C.; Neethling, J.H. [Department of Physics, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, PO Box 77000, Port Elizabeth 6031 (South Africa); Betz, R. [Department of Chemistry, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, PO Box 77000, Port Elizabeth 6031 (South Africa); Coetsee, E.; Swart, H.C. [Department of Physics, University of the Free State, PO Box 339, Bloemfontein 9300 (South Africa); Botha, J.R.; Venter, A. [Department of Physics, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, PO Box 77000, Port Elizabeth 6031 (South Africa)

2012-05-15

Bulk (1 0 0) n-GaSb surfaces have been treated with a sulphur based solution ((NH{sub 4}){sub 2}S/(NH{sub 4}){sub 2}SO{sub 4}) to which sulphur has been added, not previously reported for the passivation of GaSb surfaces. Au/n-GaSb Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) fabricated on the treated material show significant improvement compared to that of the similar SBDs on the as-received material as evidenced by the lower ideality factor (n), higher barrier height ({phi}{sub b}) and lower contact resistance obtained. Additionally, the reverse leakage current, although not saturating, has been reduced by almost an order of magnitude at -0.2 V. The sample surfaces were studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The native oxide, Sb-O, present on the as-received material is effectively removed on treating with ([(NH{sub 4}){sub 2}S/(NH{sub 4}){sub 2}SO{sub 4}]+S) and (NH{sub 4}){sub 2}S. Analysis of the as-received surface by XPS, prior to and after argon sputtering, suggests that the native oxide layer is {<=}8.5 nm.

The Influence of Working Memory on Listening Comprehension

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

张军

2008-01-01

@@ We many notice that in listening classroom, what proficient students complain most is that they can get every word in the listening material but the most difficult thing for them is to keep in mind what they have heard. Although listening comprehension is now widely considered to be of great importance in second language learning and is extensively studied, there has not been enough research on listening comprehensionfrom the language processing perspective. And there is not too much studies involving the concept of memory in listening comprehension,especially the relationship between working memory capacity and listening comprehension.

Physical load handling and listening comprehension effects on balance control.

Science.gov (United States)

Qu, Xingda

2010-12-01

The purpose of this study was to determine the physical load handling and listening comprehension effects on balance control. A total of 16 young and 16 elderly participants were recruited in this study. The physical load handling task required holding a 5-kg load in each hand with arms at sides. The listening comprehension task involved attentive listening to a short conversation. Three short questions were asked regarding the conversation right after the testing trial to test the participants' attentiveness during the experiment. Balance control was assessed by centre of pressure-based measures, which were calculated from the force platform data when the participants were quietly standing upright on a force platform. Results from this study showed that both physical load handling and listening comprehension adversely affected balance control. Physical load handling had a more deleterious effect on balance control under the listening comprehension condition vs. no-listening comprehension condition. Based on the findings from this study, interventions for the improvement of balance could be focused on avoiding exposures to physically demanding tasks and cognitively demanding tasks simultaneously. STATEMENT OF RELEVANCE: Findings from this study can aid in better understanding how humans maintain balance, especially when physical and cognitive loads are applied. Such information is useful for developing interventions to prevent fall incidents and injuries in occupational settings and daily activities.

Teachers' practices and perceptions regarding listening strategies, and perceptions of difficulties likely to arise in English listening comprehension lessons

OpenAIRE

Yükselci, Sema

2003-01-01

Cataloged from PDF version of article. Students at English-medium universities (EMUs) in Turkey need to develop strategic listening abilities to prepare for English-medium content instruction. Listening strategies need to be taught because they help learners deal with incoming speech, particularly when comprehension is not complete. This study aimed to explore the extent to which teacher participants (a) incorporate listening strategies into teaching listening (b) perceive l...

Effective Listening: Five Lessons from the Best.

Science.gov (United States)

Watson, Kittie W

For many nurses, especially when workloads are high, it can be difficult to listen carefully to patients. Federally mandated Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) surveys that help determine insurance reimbursement are asking patients how carefully their nurses listened. For Christian nurses, effective listening demonstrates the compassion, understanding, and care modeled by Jesus. An exploration of Jesus' responses reveals five ways Christ effectively listened to people that can guide nurses.

Second Language Learners' Perceptions of Listening Strategy Instruction

Science.gov (United States)

Siegel, Joseph

2013-01-01

Much research regarding listening strategies has focused on assembling lists of reported strategies and gaining better understanding of differences in strategy usage between less- and more-skilled listeners. Less attention has been given to how the accumulating knowledge based on listening strategies informs listening strategy instruction as…

ENHANCING THE LISTENING MOTIVATION AND ACHIEVEMENT OF THE ELEVENTH GRADERS BY USING DRAMA MOVIES VIEWING TECHNIQUES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Suramto Suramto

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The present study aimed to investigate whether or not there was a significant differencein students’ listening motivation and achievement after they were taught by dramamovies viewing technique. The objects of the study were 60 eleventh graders. A quasiexperimental design was used in this study.Data were collected by using motivationquestionnaire and listening achievement tests. The results showed that the students whowere treated by drama movies viewing technique achieved higher mean score inlistening motivation (80.57 and listening achievement (81.46. Drama movies viewingtechnique also gave contribution in listening motivation (31.9% and listeningachievement (61.8%.Keywords: drama movies viewing techniques, listening motivation, and listeningAchievement.

L2 listening at work

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Øhrstrøm, Charlotte

This dissertation on adult second language (L2) learning investigates individual learners’ experiences with listening in Danish as an L2 in everyday situations at work. More specifically, the study explores when international employees, who work at international companies in Denmark with English...... as a corporate language, listen in Danish at work, how they handle these situations, what problems they experience, and why some situations are more difficult to listen in than others. The study makes use of qualitative research methods and theoretical aspects from psycholinguistic approaches as well as socially...

Extensive Listening in a Colombian University: Process, Product, and Perceptions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carlos A. Mayora

2017-02-01

Full Text Available The current paper reports an experience implementing a small-scale narrow listening scheme (one of the varieties of extensive listening with intermediate learners of English as a foreign language in a Colombian university. The paper presents (a how the scheme was designed and implemented, including materials and procedures (the process; (b how the students performed in the different activities with an emphasis on time spent watching/listening and their perceptions of video difficulty and self-rated comprehension (the product; and (c how the students felt and viewed the experience (perception. Product and perceptions showed that the pedagogical implementation was positive which leads to a discussion of a number of implications for this context and similar ones.

Listening Effectively For Results in an ESL/EFL Classroom. | Umera ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

... looks into the different listening styles exhibited by people; gives reasons why people are poor listeners and how to develop effective listening habit. It also states what an ideal listening process ought to be; what people listen to and how to improve listening through active and critical listening. African Research Review Vol ...

Rethinking Conceptual Approaches to the Study of "Listening"

Science.gov (United States)

Bostrom, Robert N.

2011-01-01

Theory about listening has been strongly affected by methodological orientations and institutional pressures. It would help if researchers spent more time on the objects of study rather than method. Traditional listening research has confused listening with general cognitive abilities, such as IQ. Studying listening as memory is a tempting…

Listen: when words don't come easy.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dulmen, S. van

2017-01-01

Objective: Listening is at the very heart of communication in healthcare, but largely ignored in research and teaching. This paper presents different perspectives on listening within the context of healthcare and its implications for goal-directed communication. Methods: The assets of listening

Maltreatment type and behaviors: does listening matter?

Science.gov (United States)

Merritt, Darcey H; Snyder, Susan M

2014-12-01

This article presents an exploratory assessment of whether children's perceptions of caseworker support (e.g. feeling listened to) moderates the relationship between the type of maltreatment and problematic behaviors. Relying on data collected for the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW I), this research measures how often children felt listened to by their caseworkers and the effect on the relationship between two types of maltreatment (e.g. physical abuse and neglect) and problematic child behaviors. Results indicate that whereas children reported feeling listened to most of the time, there are significant differences in the probabilities of problematic behavior scores between physically abused and neglected children according to how often they felt listened to. With the exception of those children who felt listened to all of the time, physically abused children have a higher probability of problematic behaviors than neglected children. Comparisons between the two maltreatment types indicate a greater impact of listening on physically abused children across the continuum of feeling listened to (e.g. never to all of the time), than for neglected children, except for at the highest level of listening, as results indicate a small, but significant difference indicating neglected children are more positively impacted by listening than physically abused kids. Implications for practice are that children's perceptions of support from caseworkers may influence behavioral outcomes differently according to maltreatment type. Additionally, these findings encourage the inclusion of children's perspectives regarding the relationships they have with caseworkers. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Effects of Active Listening, Reformulation, and Imitation on Mediator Success: Preliminary Results.

Science.gov (United States)

Fischer-Lokou, Jacques; Lamy, Lubomir; Guéguen, Nicolas; Dubarry, Alexandre

2016-06-01

An experiment with 212 students (100 men, 112 women; M age = 18.3 years, SD = 0.9) was carried out to compare the effect of four techniques used by mediators on the number of agreements contracted by negotiators. Under experimental conditions, mediators were asked either to rephrase (reformulate) negotiators' words or to imitate them or to show active listening behavior, or finally, to use a free technique. More agreements were reached in the active listening condition than in both free and rephrase conditions. Furthermore, mediators in the active listening condition were perceived, by the negotiators, as more efficient than mediators using other techniques, although there was no significant difference observed between the active listening and imitation conditions. © The Author(s) 2016.

Listening Comprehension Strategies: A Review of the Literature

Science.gov (United States)

Berne, Jane E.

2004-01-01

Numerous studies related to listening comprehension strategies have been published in the past two decades. The present study seeks to build upon two previous reviews of listening comprehension strategies research. Of particular interest in this review are studies dealing with the types of cues used by listeners, the sequence of listening,…

Multicentre evaluation of music perception in adult users of Advanced Bionics cochlear implants.

Science.gov (United States)

Adams, Doris; Ajimsha, Khalid Mohamed; Barberá, Manuel Tomás; Gazibegovic, Dzemal; Gisbert, Javier; Gómez, Justo; Raveh, Eyal; Rocca, Christine; Romanet, Philipe; Seebens, Yvonne; Zarowski, Andrzej

2014-01-01

To document musical listening and enjoyment in recipients of Advanced Bionics cochlear implants (CIs) and to compare musical perception in those using early coding strategies with subjects using the newer HiRes and HiRes 120 strategies. A questionnaire was completed by 136 adult subjects, including questions on the ability to identify specific musical features. The subjects were in three groups: those using early coding strategies (n = 29), HiRes (n = 59), and HiRes 120 (n = 48), and results were compared with a group of 84 normally hearing (NH) subjects. Of the CI users, 79% reported listening to music. The NH group rated listening frequency and enjoyment higher than the CI users. Thirty-five users reported that they sang and this group had significantly higher overall performance. There were no significant differences in overall perception of specific musical features among the strategy groups, though some individual questions showed significantly higher performance in the HiRes 120 users. Users of current CI technology show a high level of musical appreciation, though still significantly less than NH subjects. Frequency of listening and enjoyment were significantly correlated and active participation in musical activities, specifically singing, resulted in significantly higher overall performance scores.

Classroom listening assessment: strategies for speech-language pathologists.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Cheryl DeConde

2012-11-01

Emphasis on classroom listening has gained importance for all children and especially for those with hearing loss and special listening needs. The rationale can be supported from trends in educational placements, the Response to Intervention initiative, student performance and accountability, the role of audition in reading, and improvement in hearing technologies. Speech-language pathologists have an instrumental role advocating for the accommodations that are necessary for effective listening for these children in school. To identify individual listening needs and make relevant recommendations for accommodations, a classroom listening assessment is suggested. Components of the classroom listening assessment include observation, behavioral assessment, self-assessment, and classroom acoustics measurements. Together, with a strong rationale, the results can be used to implement a plan that results in effective classroom listening for these children. Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

Developing Native-Like Listening Comprehension Materials Perceptions of a Digital Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Herri Mulyono

2016-01-01

Full Text Available This paper reported the attempt teachers did in developing native-like (NLS listening materials for their EFL learners using a text-to-speech (TTS technology. Observation was carried out to record teachers’ procedures for developing NLS materials. Interview with teachers were undertaken to explore their’ perceptions towards the NLS listening materials and the benefits they gained from developing instructional media using technology. In addition, a questionnaire was distributed to 65 eight-grade pupils to gather information related to their opinions regarding the listening materials developed and used by their teachers. The findings show that teachers and pupils responded positively towards the NLS materials for listening comprehension. In addition, teachers were found to have more confidence in teaching listening skill while using the technology. There are three conditions which endorse this teaching confidence: the suitability of instructional materials used with the learning curriculum and pupils’ level of English proficiency, teachers’ self-efficacy to the teaching task, and the integration of technology in classroom teaching. The study suggests that TTS system can be used as computer assisted language learning (CALL application particularly in the development of listening comprehension materials. The study also confirms earlier studies that teacher professional development can be promoted through integrated training on technology for classroom use.

Personality Traits and Performance in Listening for Minimal Pairs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Saemeh Askani

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study was to compare the performances of EFL learners belonging to various personality groups in listening tests. A group of 30 high school EFL learners were selected for this study. All of them were at low-intermediate level of general English proficiency. Based on Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI personality questionnaire (2017, these participants were classified into four pairs of contrasting personality groups. The analysis of the participants‟ personality types was conducted online and took about twenty minutes. Then, they took a test of listening for minimal pairs. Scores of contrasting personality groups were compared with each other by running four paired t-tests. Results obtained by these t-tests showed that intuitive participants outperformed sensing ones, and perceiving participants outperformed judging ones in the listening test. No significant difference was found between the performances of contrasting personality groups in the two pairs of extrovert/introvert and thinking/feeling. Flexibility, adaptability, and being open to a larger set of options are suggested to be possible reasons behind the success of these groups. However, the influence of large set of interacting factors that might have a significant impact on the performance of people in listening test cannot be denied. Depending on the type of listening test, some of these factors might play a more significant role compared to other competing factors.

Impacts of Captioned Movies on Listening Comprehension

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abusaied Janfaza

2014-04-01

Full Text Available With the advent of technology, the implication of authentic multimedia-based teaching materials are using widely in language classrooms. Technology can be in service of teaching different skills such as listening, reading, speaking and writing. Among these skills listening comprehension is a skill in which the learners have problems to master. Regarding this issue, utilizing captions for the education purposes has been a good motivation for conducting some research on the effects of captions of listening skills. However, it seems that there is a gap in the literature whether to use captioned movies in the classroom and whether they are effective in improving listening comprehension. Many studies have been conducted on this issue. However, their findings are conclusive. While some studies refer to the effectiveness of using captions, others revel that they are not so effective for improving the learner’s language skills. Hence, the present study is a review of the effects of captioned movies on the improvement of listening skill. In this case, the findings of this study can clarify the role of using captioned movies in improving the listening skill Keywords: captioned movie, technology, listening comprehension, instruction

Tullis Rennie's Muscle Memory: Listening to the Act of Listening

OpenAIRE

Waters, Simon

2015-01-01

This paper explores a recent, broadly 'electroacoustic', fixed medium composition by Tullis Rennie, which uses his background in ethnographic fieldwork to explore (in this case through auto-ethnography) modes of listening, and the role of technologies in mediating this listening. Muscle Memory: A conversation about jazz, with Graham South (trumpet) (2014) begins to answer questions about how one work can comment on and analyse or critique another through its own agency as music, bringing comp...

Speech perception in older hearing impaired listeners: benefits of perceptual training.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David L Woods

Full Text Available Hearing aids (HAs only partially restore the ability of older hearing impaired (OHI listeners to understand speech in noise, due in large part to persistent deficits in consonant identification. Here, we investigated whether adaptive perceptual training would improve consonant-identification in noise in sixteen aided OHI listeners who underwent 40 hours of computer-based training in their homes. Listeners identified 20 onset and 20 coda consonants in 9,600 consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC syllables containing different vowels (/ɑ/, /i/, or /u/ and spoken by four different talkers. Consonants were presented at three consonant-specific signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs spanning a 12 dB range. Noise levels were adjusted over training sessions based on d' measures. Listeners were tested before and after training to measure (1 changes in consonant-identification thresholds using syllables spoken by familiar and unfamiliar talkers, and (2 sentence reception thresholds (SeRTs using two different sentence tests. Consonant-identification thresholds improved gradually during training. Laboratory tests of d' thresholds showed an average improvement of 9.1 dB, with 94% of listeners showing statistically significant training benefit. Training normalized consonant confusions and improved the thresholds of some consonants into the normal range. Benefits were equivalent for onset and coda consonants, syllables containing different vowels, and syllables presented at different SNRs. Greater training benefits were found for hard-to-identify consonants and for consonants spoken by familiar than unfamiliar talkers. SeRTs, tested with simple sentences, showed less elevation than consonant-identification thresholds prior to training and failed to show significant training benefit, although SeRT improvements did correlate with improvements in consonant thresholds. We argue that the lack of SeRT improvement reflects the dominant role of top-down semantic processing in

Impact of Nursery Rhymes on Iranian EFL Learners’ Listening Comprehension Skill Improvement-A Study

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Omid Pourkalhor

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The present study was an attempt to investigate the effect of nursery rhymes on the young language learners listening comprehension ability. To do so, 30 elementary learners were selected as the potential participants of the study. The learners’ perceptions about using nursery rhymes in teaching listening as well as teachers’ perceptions about teaching listening comprehension through nursery rhymes were taken into account. The listening pre- and post-tests and teachers and learners’ interviews were employed for data collection procedures. Quantitative as well as qualitative methodologies were adapted for data analysis. Findings showed that the young learners could improve their listening comprehension ability as a result of using nursery rhymes. Interview data also indicated that the learners’ perceptions about nursery rhymes were found to be positive since the rhymes provided an interesting atmosphere for the learners to improve their listening comprehension while benefiting from peer interaction and teacher’s support in the listening classroom. Teachers’ perceptions were also realistic regarding using nursery rhymes in teaching listening, especially for young learners. As to the implication side, finding can contribute to the positive application of nursery rhymes in paving the way for young learners to improve their listening comprehension ability.

English for Specific Purposes: Podcasts for Listening Skills

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Galina Kavaliauskienė

2011-04-01

Full Text Available The most needed ability in everyday communication is skills of listening. Ability to follow a speaker in a foreign language and respond appropriately needs to be taught like all other language skills. A novel approach to perfecting listening skills has emerged due to audio publishing online. It is known as “podcasting” and has become very popular because it offers language learners extra listening practice both inside and outside the classroom. Moreover, podcasting as online communication technology is a new way to inspire learning: it provides an exciting way for students and educators to explore and discover educational content. However, the applicability of podcasting to teaching English needs researching.This paper addresses research into learners’ perceptions of online listening to podcasts, self-evaluation of one’s performance in individual listening practice and reflections on practical ways of improving skills of listening and developing listening competence. Some implications of research are suggested including a blended learning, i.e. combination of multiple approaches to learning by harmonizing online listening with classroom audition activities in teaching / learning English for Specific Purposes.

Making Listening Instruction Meaningful: A Literature Review

Science.gov (United States)

Todd, Jennifer R.; Mishra, Jennifer

2013-01-01

Listening to, analyzing, and describing music, is perhaps the most difficult standard to present effectively in allotted classroom time. The purpose of this literature review is to better understand what constitutes effective listening instruction by examining students' listening practices, receptiveness, attentiveness, and activities that lead to…

Observations on Listener Responses from Multiple Perspectives

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Kok, I.A.; Heylen, Dirk K.J.

In this paper we present three studies that investigate the individual differences in nonverbal listening behavior. Besides collecting a corpus of listener responses, we asked people to watch a video of a speaker and indicate where they would produce a listener response. Also we asked people to

Synthesis, Resistivity, and Thermal Properties of the Cubic Perovskite NH 2CH=NH 2SnI 3and Related Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Mitzi, D. B.; Liang, K.

1997-12-01

Combining concentrated hydriodic acid solutions of tin(II) iodide and formamidine acetate in an inert atmosphere results in the precipitation of a new conducting organic-inorganic compound, NH 2CH=NH 2SnI 3, which at room temperature adopts a cubic perovskite structure. The lattice constant for NH 2CH=NH 2SnI 3is found to be a=6.316(1) Å, which is approximately 1.2% larger than that for the isostructural compound CH 3NH 3SnI 3. The electrical resistivity of a pressed pellet of the new compound exhibits semimetallic temperature dependence from 10 to 300 K, with evidence of a structural transition at approximately 75 K. NH 2CH=NH 2SnI 3begins to slowly decompose in an inert atmosphere at temperatures as low as 200°C, with bulk decomposition/melting occurring above 300°C. The properties of the formamidinium-based perovskite are compared with those of the related cubic (at room temperature) perovskite CH 3NH 3SnI 3and the mixed-cation system (CH 3NH 3) 1- x(NH 2CH=NH 2) xSnI 3.

Real-time observation of formation and relaxation dynamics of NH4 in (CH3OH)m(NH3)n clusters.

Science.gov (United States)

Yamada, Yuji; Nishino, Yoko; Fujihara, Akimasa; Ishikawa, Haruki; Fuke, Kiyokazu

2009-03-26

The formation and relaxation dynamics of NH4(CH3OH)m(NH3)n clusters produced by photolysis of ammonia-methanol mixed clusters has been observed by a time-resolved pump-probe method with femtosecond pulse lasers. From the detailed analysis of the time evolutions of the protonated cluster ions, NH4(+)(CH3OH)m(NH3)n, the kinetic model has been constructed, which consists of sequential three-step reaction: ultrafast hydrogen-atom transfer producing the radical pair (NH4-NH2)*, the relaxation process of radical-pair clusters, and dissociation of the solvated NH4 clusters. The initial hydrogen transfer hardly occurs between ammonia and methanol, implying the unfavorable formation of radical pair, (CH3OH2-NH2)*. The remarkable dependence of the time constants in each step on the number and composition of solvents has been explained by the following factors: hydrogen delocalization within the clusters, the internal conversion of the excited-state radical pair, and the stabilization of NH4 by solvation. The dependence of the time profiles on the probe wavelength is attributed to the different ionization efficiency of the NH4(CH3OH)m(NH3)n clusters.

Music Listening in Electric Hearing -designing and testing two novel EEG paradigms for measuring music perception in cochlear implant users

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Petersen, Bjørn; Friis Andersen, Anne Sofie; Højlund, Andreas

With the considerable advances made in cochlear implant (CI) technology with regards to speech perception, it is natural that many CI users express hopes of being able to enjoy music. For the majority of CI users, however, the music experience is disappointing and their discrimination of musical...... features as well as self-reported levels of music enjoyment is significantly lower than normal-hearing (NH) listeners (1,2). Therefore, it is important that ongoing efforts are made to improve the quality of music through a CI. To aid in this process, the aim of this study is to validate two new musical...

Preferred listening levels of mobile phone programs when considering subway interior noise

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jyaehyoung Yu

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Today, people listen to music loud using personal listening devices. Although a majority of studies have reported that the high volume played on these listening devices produces a latent risk of hearing problems, there is a lack of studies on "double noise exposures" such as environmental noise plus recreational noise. The present study measures the preferred listening levels of a mobile phone program with subway interior noise for 74 normal-hearing participants in five age groups (ranging from 20s to 60s. The speakers presented the subway interior noise at 73.45 dB, while each subject listened to three application programs [Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB, music, game] for 30 min using a tablet personal computer with an earphone. The participants′ earphone volume levels were analyzed using a sound level meter and a 2cc coupler. Overall, the results showed that those in their 20s listened to the three programs significantly louder with DMB set at significantly higher volume levels than for the other programs. Higher volume levels were needed for middle frequency compared to the lower and higher frequencies. We concluded that any potential risk of noise-induced hearing loss for mobile phone users should be communicated when users listen regularly, although the volume level was not high enough that the users felt uncomfortable. When considering individual listening habits on mobile phones, further study to predict total accumulated environmental noise is still needed.

Preferred listening levels of mobile phone programs when considering subway interior noise.

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Jyaehyoung; Lee, Donguk; Han, Woojae

2016-01-01

Today, people listen to music loud using personal listening devices. Although a majority of studies have reported that the high volume played on these listening devices produces a latent risk of hearing problems, there is a lack of studies on "double noise exposures" such as environmental noise plus recreational noise. The present study measures the preferred listening levels of a mobile phone program with subway interior noise for 74 normal-hearing participants in five age groups (ranging from 20s to 60s). The speakers presented the subway interior noise at 73.45 dB, while each subject listened to three application programs [Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB), music, game] for 30 min using a tablet personal computer with an earphone. The participants' earphone volume levels were analyzed using a sound level meter and a 2cc coupler. Overall, the results showed that those in their 20s listened to the three programs significantly louder with DMB set at significantly higher volume levels than for the other programs. Higher volume levels were needed for middle frequency compared to the lower and higher frequencies. We concluded that any potential risk of noise-induced hearing loss for mobile phone users should be communicated when users listen regularly, although the volume level was not high enough that the users felt uncomfortable. When considering individual listening habits on mobile phones, further study to predict total accumulated environmental noise is still needed.

Teach More Strategies in EFL College Listening Classroom

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Wen-sheng

2007-01-01

Listening is very important. Conversations will take place only when we can understand what our interlocutor says; listening is also an important input. Yet, many of my students got frustrated in listening. Being a teacher, I tried to rethink about what I did in my listening classes and did some literature review. As a result, I found that there…

Effects of Cooperative Learning Method on the Development of Listening Comprehension and Listening Skills

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Kirbas, Abdulkadir

2017-01-01

In this study, the effect of the learning together technique, which is one of the cooperative learning methods, on the development of the listening comprehension and listening skills of the secondary school eighth grade students was investigated. Regarding the purpose of the research, experimental and control groups consisting of 75 students from,…

Listener evaluations of new and Old Italian violins

Science.gov (United States)

Fritz, Claudia; Curtin, Joseph; Poitevineau, Jacques; Tao, Fan-Chia

2017-05-01

Old Italian violins are routinely credited with playing qualities supposedly unobtainable in new instruments. These qualities include the ability to project their sound more effectively in a concert hall—despite seeming relatively quiet under the ear of the player—compared with new violins. Although researchers have long tried to explain the “mystery” of Stradivari’s sound, it is only recently that studies have addressed the fundamental assumption of tonal superiority. Results from two studies show that, under blind conditions, experienced violinists tend to prefer playing new violins over Old Italians. Moreover, they are unable to tell new from old at better than chance levels. This study explores the relative merits of Stradivari and new violins from the perspective of listeners in a hall. Projection and preference are taken as the two broadest criteria by which listeners might meaningfully compare violins. Which violins are heard better, and which are preferred? In two separate experiments, three new violins were compared with three by Stradivari. Projection was tested both with and without orchestral accompaniment. Projection and preference were judged simultaneously by dividing listeners into two groups. Results are unambiguous. The new violins projected better than the Stradivaris whether tested with orchestra or without, the new violins were generally preferred by the listeners, and the listeners could not reliably distinguish new from old. The single best-projecting violin was considered the loudest under the ear by players, and on average, violins that were quieter under the ear were found to project less well.

Listener evaluations of new and Old Italian violins.

Science.gov (United States)

Fritz, Claudia; Curtin, Joseph; Poitevineau, Jacques; Tao, Fan-Chia

2017-05-23

Old Italian violins are routinely credited with playing qualities supposedly unobtainable in new instruments. These qualities include the ability to project their sound more effectively in a concert hall-despite seeming relatively quiet under the ear of the player-compared with new violins. Although researchers have long tried to explain the "mystery" of Stradivari's sound, it is only recently that studies have addressed the fundamental assumption of tonal superiority. Results from two studies show that, under blind conditions, experienced violinists tend to prefer playing new violins over Old Italians. Moreover, they are unable to tell new from old at better than chance levels. This study explores the relative merits of Stradivari and new violins from the perspective of listeners in a hall. Projection and preference are taken as the two broadest criteria by which listeners might meaningfully compare violins. Which violins are heard better, and which are preferred? In two separate experiments, three new violins were compared with three by Stradivari. Projection was tested both with and without orchestral accompaniment. Projection and preference were judged simultaneously by dividing listeners into two groups. Results are unambiguous. The new violins projected better than the Stradivaris whether tested with orchestra or without, the new violins were generally preferred by the listeners, and the listeners could not reliably distinguish new from old. The single best-projecting violin was considered the loudest under the ear by players, and on average, violins that were quieter under the ear were found to project less well.

Moessbauer study of 57Fe isolated in NH3 and NH3/Xe matrices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saitovitch, E.M.B.; Litterst, F.J.; Micklitz, H.

1981-01-01

Moessbauer studies on 57 Fe isolated in solid ammonia and ammonia/xenon mixtures were perfomed at 4.2 K and 77 K. They show clearly that atomic iron reacts only with one ammonia molecule forming FeNH 3 which is stable in an ammonia matrix up to 77 K. In addition a compound is formed which is attributed to an iron (II) hexammine. (Author) [pt

Listening comprehension across the adult lifespan.

Science.gov (United States)

Sommers, Mitchell S; Hale, Sandra; Myerson, Joel; Rose, Nathan; Tye-Murray, Nancy; Spehar, Brent

2011-01-01

Although age-related declines in perceiving spoken language are well established, the primary focus of research has been on perception of phonemes, words, and sentences. In contrast, relatively few investigations have been directed at establishing the effects of age on the comprehension of extended spoken passages. Moreover, most previous work has used extreme-group designs in which the performance of a group of young adults is contrasted with that of a group of older adults and little if any information is available regarding changes in listening comprehension across the adult lifespan. Accordingly, the goals of the current investigation were to determine whether there are age differences in listening comprehension across the adult lifespan and, if so, whether similar trajectories are observed for age-related changes in auditory sensitivity and listening comprehension. This study used a cross-sectional lifespan design in which approximately 60 individuals in each of 7 decades, from age 20 to 89 yr (a total of 433 participants), were tested on three different measures of listening comprehension. In addition, we obtained measures of auditory sensitivity from all participants. Changes in auditory sensitivity across the adult lifespan exhibited the progressive high-frequency loss typical of age-related hearing impairment. Performance on the listening comprehension measures, however, demonstrated a very different pattern, with scores on all measures remaining relatively stable until age 65 to 70 yr, after which significant declines were observed. Follow-up analyses indicated that this same general pattern was observed across three different types of passages (lectures, interviews, and narratives) and three different question types (information, integration, and inference). Multiple regression analyses indicated that low-frequency pure-tone average was the single largest contributor to age-related variance in listening comprehension for individuals older than 65 yr, but

Writing a love letter to your (perceived enemy: Thích Nhất Hạnh and the rhetoric of nonviolence

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Michael PHILLIPS-ANDERSON

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Vietnamese Buddhist monk and peace activist Thích Nhất Hạnh has been a leading figure in the promotion of nonviolent practice throughout the world. We examine his concept of engaged Buddhism, theories of nonviolence, and intersections with rhetorical and communication studies. His approach takes nonviolence beyond the realm of refusing to use physical violence to the recognition that language itself can be violent. In order to understand this approach we detail the concepts of interbeing, loving speech, and deep listening. We examine the role of love in Nhất Hạnh’s theory of nonviolence, comparing it with approaches taken by Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. Examples are given from many of Nhất Hạnh’s speeches and writings with particular attention paid to a love letter he wrote to US President George W. Bush during the Iraq War. Thích Nhất Hạnh offers the practice of writing a love letter to one’s perceived enemy as a means to persuade for a turn to nonviolence.

13N-NH3 PET in the diagnosis of astrocytomas: preliminary result

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Xiangsong; He Zuoxiang; Tang Anwu

2004-01-01

Objective: To evaluate the feasibility of diagnosing the astrocytoma with 13N-NH3 PET imaging. Methods 13N-NH3 and 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET imaging were performed in seven cases of astrocytomas including 3 anteoperative astrocytomas, 2 recurrent astrocytomas, 2 brain injury or necrosis after the operation and radiotherapy. The radioactivity ratios of the tumor and normal white matter (T/WM) were calculated. Results: The tumor lesions in 3 anteoperative astrocytomas and 2 recurrent astrocytomas all uptake 13N-NH3. The average T/WM on 13N-NH3 images was 1.82±0.21, and T/WM on 13N-NH3 and 18F-FDG images were 1.98 and 0.97 for one case with grade 1 astrocytoma. 13N-NH3 and 18F-FDG PET imaging both showed decreased uptake in 2 brain injury or necrosis after the operation and radiotherapy of astrocytomas. Conclusions: 13N-NH3 was uptaken in astrocytomas. 13N-NH3 can be useful in the diagnosis of astrocytoma, and potentially improve diagnostic accuracy of astrocytoma, especially in low-grade astrocytoma. (authors)

13N-NH3 PET in the diagnosis of astrocytomas: preliminary result

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Xiangsong; He Zuoxiang; Tang Anwu

2004-01-01

Objective: To evaluate the feasibility of diagnosing the astrocytoma with 13N-NH3 PET imaging. Methods: 13N-NH3 and 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET imaging were performed in seven cases of astrocytomas including 3 anteoperative astrocytomas, 2 recurrent astrocytomas, 2 brain injury or necrosis after the operation and radiotherapy. The radioactivity ratios of the tumor and normal white matter (T/WM) were calculated. Results: The tumor lesions in 3 anteoperative astrocytomas and 2 recurrent astrocytomas all uptake 13N-NH3 .The average T/WM on 13N-NH3 images was 1.82±0.21, and T/WM on 13N-NH3 and 18F-FDG images were 1.98 and 0.97 for one case with grade 1 astrocytoma. 13N-NH3 and 18F-FDG PET imaging both showed decreased uptake in 2 brain injury or necrosis after the operation and radiotherapy of astrocytomas. Conclusions: 13N-NH3 was uptaken in astrocytomas. 13N-NH3 can be useful in the diagnosis of astrocytoma, and potentially improve diagnostic accuracy of astrocytoma, especially in low-grade astrocytoma. (authors)

The Mediating Effect of Listening Metacognitive Awareness between Test-Taking Motivation and Listening Test Score: An Expectancy-Value Theory Approach

OpenAIRE

Xu, Jian

2017-01-01

The present study investigated test-taking motivation in L2 listening testing context by applying Expectancy-Value Theory as the framework. Specifically, this study was intended to examine the complex relationships among expectancy, importance, interest, listening anxiety, listening metacognitive awareness, and listening test score using data from a large-scale and high-stakes language test among Chinese first-year undergraduates. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the mediating...

极压润滑剂NH-EPL性能评价与现场应用%Performance Evaluation and Application of Extreme Pressure Lubricant NH-EPL

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

逯贵广

2017-01-01

Aiming at the problems of commonly drilling fluid lubricant,such as low pressure,poor anti-friction effect and temperature resistance, extreme pressure lubricant NH-EPL was prepared by introducing metal organic compound into alkanolamine ester. The properties of NH-EPL,such as lubrication,friction-reduction and wear-resistance effect,temperature resistance and salt tolerance,foam ability,fluorescence level and biological toxicity and so on,were studied and the effect of NH-EPL on the rheological property of drilling fluid was investigated. Furthermore,NH-EPL was applied in Xinjiang and Jiangsu area on site. The results showed that NH-EPL had excellent extreme pressure friction resistance and lubrication performance. At room temperature,the lubrication factor reduced 93.4%and the wear loss reduced 99.87%by 0.5%NH-EPL. The pressure capacity of NH-EPL was 320 kgf. NH-EPL had good resistance to temperature(160℃)and salt. The lubrication factor of 20% NaCl salt water slurry reduced 80.43% by NH-EPL. The foam ability of NH-EPL was poor and the foaming rate of base slurry containing 0.5% NH-EPL was only 1.0%. The fluorescence level of NH-EPL was one level. It had no biological toxicity which was in accordance with environmental guidelines. NH-EPL had little effect on the rheological property and filtration property of mud,and the compatibility between NH-EPL and other treatment agent was good. The field application effect of NH-EPL was remarkable in Xinjiang and Jiangsu area with drilling friction reduction rate up to 50%,which met the demand for drilling service of deep, highly-deviated and horizontal wells.%针对目前钻井液常用润滑剂承压能力低、减磨效果和抗温性能差等问题,通过在醇胺酯中引入金属有机化合物制得极压润滑剂NH-EPL.研究了NH-EPL的润滑性能、极压减磨性能、抗温耐盐性能、起泡性、荧光级别以及生物毒性等,考察了其对钻井液流变性的影响,并在新疆和江苏地区进行了现场应用.结果表明,NH

Listening Comprehension Performance Viewed in the Light of Emotional Intelligence and Foreign Language Listening Anxiety

Science.gov (United States)

Valizadeh, Mohammad Reza; Alavinia, Parviz

2013-01-01

The researchers in the current study were after probing the potential relationship between emotional intelligence, foreign language listening anxiety (FLLA), and listening comprehension performance of Iranian EFL learners. To this end, 233 participants, studying English language and literature at three different Universities in Urmia, were…

Balancing Openness and Interpretation in Active Listening

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Topornycky, Joseph; Golparian, Shaya

2016-01-01

Active listening is an important communication skill in a variety of disciplines and professions, including the profession of Educational Development. In our roles as educational developers, we engage in a variety of processes, all of which rely heavily on the practice of active listening. Emerging strategies of active listening praxis have…

Relating binaural pitch perception to the individual listener's auditory profile.

Science.gov (United States)

Santurette, Sébastien; Dau, Torsten

2012-04-01

The ability of eight normal-hearing listeners and fourteen listeners with sensorineural hearing loss to detect and identify pitch contours was measured for binaural-pitch stimuli and salience-matched monaurally detectable pitches. In an effort to determine whether impaired binaural pitch perception was linked to a specific deficit, the auditory profiles of the individual listeners were characterized using measures of loudness perception, cognitive ability, binaural processing, temporal fine structure processing, and frequency selectivity, in addition to common audiometric measures. Two of the listeners were found not to perceive binaural pitch at all, despite a clear detection of monaural pitch. While both binaural and monaural pitches were detectable by all other listeners, identification scores were significantly lower for binaural than for monaural pitch. A total absence of binaural pitch sensation coexisted with a loss of a binaural signal-detection advantage in noise, without implying reduced cognitive function. Auditory filter bandwidths did not correlate with the difference in pitch identification scores between binaural and monaural pitches. However, subjects with impaired binaural pitch perception showed deficits in temporal fine structure processing. Whether the observed deficits stemmed from peripheral or central mechanisms could not be resolved here, but the present findings may be useful for hearing loss characterization.

Improved automated perimetry performance in elderly subjects after listening to Mozart.

Science.gov (United States)

Marques, Junia Cabral; Vanessa, Adriana Chaves Oliveira; Fiorelli, Macedo Batista; Kasahara, Niro

2009-01-01

To evaluate the performance of automated perimetry of elderly subjects naïve to AP after listening to a Mozart sonata. Automated perimetry (AP) is a psychophysical test used to assess visual fields in patients with neurological disorders and glaucoma. In a previous study, Fiorelli et al. showed that young subjects who listened to a Mozart sonata prior to undergoing AP performed better in terms of reliability than those who did not listen to the sonata. Fifty-two AP-naïve, normal subjects underwent Automated perimetry (SITA 24-2). The study group (25 subjects) underwent AP after listening to Mozart's Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major, and the control group (27 subjects) underwent Automated perimetry without prior exposure to the music. The study group had significantly lower false negative rates and a lower visual field reliability score than the controls (P=0.04 and P=0.04, respectively). The test time was shorter for the study group (P=0.03). This study shows that elderly subjects, when exposed to the Mozart sonata immediately before AP testing, have lower false negative rates and lower visual field reliability scores when compared with an age- and gender-matched control group. Our results differ from those of Fiorelli et al. who found lower false positive rates and less fixation loss in addition to lower false negative rates. Listening to a Mozart sonata seems to improve automated perimetry reliability in elderly subjects.

The Role of Temporal Envelope and Fine Structure in Mandarin Lexical Tone Perception in Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder.

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Shuo Wang

Full Text Available Temporal information in a signal can be partitioned into temporal envelope (E and fine structure (FS. Fine structure is important for lexical tone perception for normal-hearing (NH listeners, and listeners with sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL have an impaired ability to use FS in lexical tone perception due to the reduced frequency resolution. The present study was aimed to assess which of the acoustic aspects (E or FS played a more important role in lexical tone perception in subjects with auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder (ANSD and to determine whether it was the deficit in temporal resolution or frequency resolution that might lead to more detrimental effects on FS processing in pitch perception. Fifty-eight native Mandarin Chinese-speaking subjects (27 with ANSD, 16 with SNHL, and 15 with NH were assessed for (1 their ability to recognize lexical tones using acoustic E or FS cues with the "auditory chimera" technique, (2 temporal resolution as measured with temporal gap detection (TGD threshold, and (3 frequency resolution as measured with the Q(10dB values of the psychophysical tuning curves. Overall, 26.5%, 60.2%, and 92.1% of lexical tone responses were consistent with FS cues for tone perception for listeners with ANSD, SNHL, and NH, respectively. The mean TGD threshold was significantly higher for listeners with ANSD (11.9 ms than for SNHL (4.0 ms; p < 0.001 and NH (3.9 ms; p < 0.001 listeners, with no significant difference between SNHL and NH listeners. In contrast, the mean Q(10dB for listeners with SNHL (1.8 ± 0.4 was significantly lower than that for ANSD (3.5 ± 1.0; p < 0.001 and NH (3.4 ± 0.9; p < 0.001 listeners, with no significant difference between ANSD and NH listeners. These results suggest that reduced temporal resolution, as opposed to reduced frequency selectivity, in ANSD subjects leads to greater degradation of FS processing for pitch perception.

Cognitive Correlates of Listening Comprehension

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Young-Suk; Phillips, Beth

2014-01-01

In an effort to understand cognitive foundations of oral language comprehension (i.e., listening comprehension), we examined how inhibitory control, theory of mind, and comprehension monitoring are uniquely related to listening comprehension over and above vocabulary and age. A total of 156 children in kindergarten and first grade from…

Using Video in Web-Based Listening Tests

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Cristina Pardo-Ballester

2016-07-01

Full Text Available With sophisticated multimedia technology, there is a renewed interest in the relationship between visual and auditory channels in assessing listening comprehension (LC. Research on the use of visuals in assessing listening has emerged with inconclusive results. Some learners perform better on tests which include visual input (Wagner, 2007 while others have found no difference in the performance of participants on the two test formats (Batty, 2015. These mixed results make it necessary to examine the role of using audio and video in LC as measured by L2 listening tests. The current study examined the effects of two different types of listening support on L2 learners’ comprehension: (a visual aid in a video with input modified with redundancy and (b no visuals (audio-only input with input modified with redundancy. The participants of this study included 246 Spanish students enrolled in two different intermediate Spanish courses at a large Midwestern university who participated in four listening tasks either with video or with audio. Findings of whether the video serves as a listening support device and whether the course formats differ on intermediate-level Spanish learners’ comprehension will be shared as well as participants’ preferences with respect to listening support.

Listening Comprehension: Approach, Design, Procedure.

Science.gov (United States)

Richards, Jack C.

1983-01-01

Three dimensions in the teaching of listening comprehension are outlined: (1) a theory is presented that takes account of the cognitive processes used (approach); (2) listeners' needs are analyzed and a taxonomy of microskills and objectives for teaching them are proposed (design); and (3) classroom exercises and activities are suggested…

Active Listening in Peer Interviews: The Influence of Message Paraphrasing on Perceptions of Listening Skill

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Weger, Harry, Jr.; Castle, Gina R.; Emmett, Melissa C.

2010-01-01

Perhaps no communication skill is identified as regularly as active listening in training programs across a variety of disciplines and activities. Yet little empirical research has examined specific elements of active listening responses in terms of their effectiveness in achieving desired interpersonal outcomes. This study reports an experiment…

The brain dynamics of rapid perceptual adaptation to adverse listening conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Erb, Julia; Henry, Molly J; Eisner, Frank; Obleser, Jonas

2013-06-26

Listeners show a remarkable ability to quickly adjust to degraded speech input. Here, we aimed to identify the neural mechanisms of such short-term perceptual adaptation. In a sparse-sampling, cardiac-gated functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) acquisition, human listeners heard and repeated back 4-band-vocoded sentences (in which the temporal envelope of the acoustic signal is preserved, while spectral information is highly degraded). Clear-speech trials were included as baseline. An additional fMRI experiment on amplitude modulation rate discrimination quantified the convergence of neural mechanisms that subserve coping with challenging listening conditions for speech and non-speech. First, the degraded speech task revealed an "executive" network (comprising the anterior insula and anterior cingulate cortex), parts of which were also activated in the non-speech discrimination task. Second, trial-by-trial fluctuations in successful comprehension of degraded speech drove hemodynamic signal change in classic "language" areas (bilateral temporal cortices). Third, as listeners perceptually adapted to degraded speech, downregulation in a cortico-striato-thalamo-cortical circuit was observable. The present data highlight differential upregulation and downregulation in auditory-language and executive networks, respectively, with important subcortical contributions when successfully adapting to a challenging listening situation.

Optimizing Visually-Assisted Listening Comprehension

Science.gov (United States)

Kashani, Ahmad Sabouri; Sajjadi, Samad; Sohrabi, Mohammad Reza; Younespour, Shima

2011-01-01

The fact that visual aids such as pictures or graphs can lead to greater comprehension by language learners has been well established. Nonetheless, the order of presenting visuals to listeners is left unattended. This study examined listening comprehension from a strategy of introducing visual information, either prior to or during an audio…

Musical anhedonia: selective loss of emotional experience in listening to music.

Science.gov (United States)

Satoh, Masayuki; Nakase, Taizen; Nagata, Ken; Tomimoto, Hidekazu

2011-10-01

Recent case studies have suggested that emotion perception and emotional experience of music have independent cognitive processing. We report a patient who showed selective impairment of emotional experience only in listening to music, that is musical anhednia. A 71-year-old right-handed man developed an infarction in the right parietal lobe. He found himself unable to experience emotion in listening to music, even to which he had listened pleasantly before the illness. In neuropsychological assessments, his intellectual, memory, and constructional abilities were normal. Speech audiometry and recognition of environmental sounds were within normal limits. Neuromusicological assessments revealed no abnormality in the perception of elementary components of music, expression and emotion perception of music. Brain MRI identified the infarct lesion in the right inferior parietal lobule. These findings suggest that emotional experience of music could be selectively impaired without any disturbance of other musical, neuropsychological abilities. The right parietal lobe might participate in emotional experience in listening to music.

The Application of Podcasting as a Motivational Strategy to Iranian EFL Learners of English: A View toward Listening Comprehension

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Saeed Shiri

2015-06-01

Full Text Available This study was conducted in order to inspect the impact of podcasts as learning and teaching tools on Iranian EFL learners’ motivation for listening as well as on their listening comprehension ability. It also investigated the learners’ perception towards podcasts. 34 intermediate learners who were homogeneous in terms of listening ability were chosen and then assigned into two groups. While the experimental group were given the treatment i.e. podcasts, the control group received the traditional practice. Data analysis results showed that the learners in the podcasting group surpassed the participants in the control group in their listening comprehension tests and in ELCMS scale as used to measure changes in the motivation of learners for listening. Students' views about the program were also elicited via podcast contribution questionnaire and individual interviews. The analysis of qualitative data showed that students perceived improvement in their listening achievement. Keywords: CALL, Listening skill, Motivation, Motivational strategies, Podcast

"Can You Repeat That?" Teaching Active Listening in Management Education

Science.gov (United States)

Spataro, Sandra E.; Bloch, Janel

2018-01-01

Listening is a critical communication skill and therefore an essential element of management education. "Active" listening surpasses passive listening or simple hearing to establish a deeper connection between speaker and listener, as the listener gives the speaker full attention via inquiry, reflection, respect, and empathy. This…

ACADIA 2010 konference: listener

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ramsgaard Thomsen, Mette; Karmon, Ayelet

2010-01-01

This paper presents the thinking and making of the architectural research probe Listener. Developed as an interdisciplinary collaboration between textile design and architecture, Listener explores how information based fabrication technologies are challenging the material practices of architecture....... The paper investigates how textile design can be understood as a model for architectural production providing new strategies for material specification and allowing the thinking of material as inherently variegated and performative. The paper traces the two fold information based strategies present...

Application of Metacognitive Strategy to Primary Listening Teaching

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Jie

2017-12-01

It is of vital importance that our students should be taught to listen effectively and critically. This essay focuses the metacognitive strategy in listening and an empirical study of the application of metacognitive strategy to primary listening teaching is made.

Listening in the Language Arts

Science.gov (United States)

Ediger, Marlow

2015-01-01

The process of acquiring language is often depicted as a tiered process of oral development: listening and speaking; and, literacy development: reading, and writing. As infants we first learn language by listening, then speaking. That is, regardless of culture, or dialect we are first immersed in language in this oral context. It is only after one…

Improved automated perimetry performance in elderly subjects after listening to Mozart

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Junia Cabral Marques

2009-01-01

Full Text Available PURPOSE: To evaluate the performance of automated perimetry of elderly subjects naïve to AP after listening to a Mozart sonata. INTRODUCTION: Automated perimetry (AP is a psychophysical test used to assess visual fields in patients with neurological disorders and glaucoma. In a previous study, Fiorelli et al. showed that young subjects who listened to a Mozart sonata prior to undergoing AP performed better in terms of reliability than those who did not listen to the sonata. METHODS: Fifty-two AP-naïve, normal subjects underwent Automated perimetry (SITA 24-2. The study group (25 subjects underwent AP after listening to Mozart's Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major, and the control group (27 subjects underwent Automated perimetry without prior exposure to the music. RESULTS: The study group had significantly lower false negative rates and a lower visual field reliability score than the controls (P=0.04 and P=0.04, respectively. The test time was shorter for the study group (P=0.03. DISCUSSION: This study shows that elderly subjects, when exposed to the Mozart sonata immediately before AP testing, have lower false negative rates and lower visual field reliability scores when compared with an age- and gender-matched control group. Our results differ from those of Fiorelli et al. who found lower false positive rates and less fixation loss in addition to lower false negative rates. CONCLUSION: Listening to a Mozart sonata seems to improve automated perimetry reliability in elderly subjects.

Selective Catalytic Reduction of NO with NH3 Over V-MCM-41 Catalyst.

Science.gov (United States)

Kwon, Woo Hyun; Park, Sung Hoon; Kim, Ji Man; Park, Su Bin; Jung, Sang-Chul; Kim, Sang Chai; Jeon, Jong-Ki; Park, Young-Kwon

2016-02-01

V-MCM-41, a mesoporous catalyst doped with V2O5, was applied for the first time to the removal of atmospheric NO. The quantity of V2O5 added was 10 wt% and 30 wt%. The characteristics of the synthesized catalysts were examined using XRD, N2 soprtion, and NH3-TPD. With increasing quantity of V2O5 added, specific surface area decreased and pore size increased. When the quantity of V2O5 was 10 wt%, the MCM-41 structure was retained, whereas considerable collapse of mesoporous structure was observed when 30 wt% V2O5 was added. The examination of acid characteristics using NH3-TPD showed that 30 wt% V-MCM-41 had the higher NH3 adsorption ability, implying that it would exhibit high activity for NH3 SCR reaction. In the NO removal experiments, 30 wt% V-MCM-41 showed much higher NO removal efficiency than 10 wt% V-MCM-41, which was attributed to its high NH3 adsorption ability.

Visual cues and listening effort: individual variability.

Science.gov (United States)

Picou, Erin M; Ricketts, Todd A; Hornsby, Benjamin W Y

2011-10-01

To investigate the effect of visual cues on listening effort as well as whether predictive variables such as working memory capacity (WMC) and lipreading ability affect the magnitude of listening effort. Twenty participants with normal hearing were tested using a paired-associates recall task in 2 conditions (quiet and noise) and 2 presentation modalities (audio only [AO] and auditory-visual [AV]). Signal-to-noise ratios were adjusted to provide matched speech recognition across audio-only and AV noise conditions. Also measured were subjective perceptions of listening effort and 2 predictive variables: (a) lipreading ability and (b) WMC. Objective and subjective results indicated that listening effort increased in the presence of noise, but on average the addition of visual cues did not significantly affect the magnitude of listening effort. Although there was substantial individual variability, on average participants who were better lipreaders or had larger WMCs demonstrated reduced listening effort in noise in AV conditions. Overall, the results support the hypothesis that integrating auditory and visual cues requires cognitive resources in some participants. The data indicate that low lipreading ability or low WMC is associated with relatively effortful integration of auditory and visual information in noise.

The effects of captioning texts and caption ordering on L2 listening comprehension and vocabulary learning

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Fatemeh Alikhani

2013-07-01

Full Text Available This study investigated the effects of captioned texts on second/foreign (L2 listening comprehension and vocabulary gains using a computer multimedia program. Additionally, it explored the caption ordering effect (i.e. captions displayed during the first or second listening, and the interaction of captioning order with the L2 proficiency level of language learners in listening comprehension and vocabulary performance. To these ends, a computer software program was designed and 200 EFL learners (100 high-intermediate and 100 low-intermediate level students were asked to participate in the experiment. They were randomly assigned into four groups: captioned (listening to texts twice with captions, noncaptioned (listening to texts twice without captions, first captioned (listening to texts first with captions and then without captions, and second captioned (listening to texts first without captions and then with captions groups. They listened to four audio texts (i.e. short stories twice and took the listening and vocabulary tests, administered through the software. Results from t-tests and two-way ANOVAs showed that the captioned stories were more effective than the non-captioned ones. Moreover, the caption ordering had no significant effect on the participants' L2 listening comprehension and vocabulary performance. Finally, L2 proficiency level differences did not affect performance derived from caption ordering.

Cognitive Load and Listening Effort: Concepts and Age-Related Considerations.

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Lemke, Ulrike; Besser, Jana

2016-01-01

Listening effort has been recognized as an important dimension of everyday listening, especially with regard to the comprehension of spoken language. At constant levels of comprehension performance, the level of effort exerted and perceived during listening can differ considerably across listeners and situations. In this article, listening effort is used as an umbrella term for two different types of effort that can arise during listening. One of these types is processing effort, which is used to denote the utilization of "extra" mental processing resources in listening conditions that are adverse for an individual. A conceptual description is introduced how processing effort could be defined in terms of situational influences, the listener's auditory and cognitive resources, and the listener's personal state. Also, the proposed relationship between processing effort and subjectively perceived listening effort is discussed. Notably, previous research has shown that the availability of mental resources, as well as the ability to use them efficiently, changes over the course of adult aging. These common age-related changes in cognitive abilities and their neurocognitive organization are discussed in the context of the presented concept, especially regarding situations in which listening effort may be increased for older people.

HELPING ESL STUDENTS BECOME MOTIVATED LISTENER : USING FILMS TO DEVELOP LEARNERS’ MOTIVATION IN LISTENING CLASSROOM

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Rahmawati Sukmaningrum

2017-04-01

Full Text Available This article is based on an experiments conducted within 5 classes of ESL Listening classrooms in IKIP PGRI Semarang. It takes a very broad look at some theories relating to language learning (especially in listening skill and motivation. Listening is a receptive skill, and receptive skills give way to productive skills. If we have our students produce something, the teaching will be more communicative. Lack of sociocultural, factual, and contextual knowledge of the target language can present an obstacle to listening comprehension and hence decrease students’ motivation to learn. In order to teach listening skills, a teacher should firstly state the difficulties, find the solution to overcome the difficulties and then help the students to maintain their motivation in the classroom. The article then illustrates the possible solutions with a practical example of how movies may be employed in the classroom in a manner which both facilitates language learning and further encourages students’ motivation. In conducting the experiment, four steps were taken with each purposive reason. The activities given stimulated learners with a clear goal that is achievable; there are no right or wrong answers, as long as the script fits the scene. Learners are encouraged to use the linguistic tools they have to solve an immediate problem/question. The activities also practice both extensive and intensive listening skills of the learners and allow them to use the non-verbal clues which make video such a rich medium for language learning. In this case, the group has expressed an interest in watching movies in English. The teacher's task is to manipulate this enthusiasm in a way that develops a positive attitude towards language learning. The challenge is obvious; if learners can tackle tasks related to a full-length movie then their confidence and self-esteem will be raised.

Structure, phonon properties, and order-disorder transition in the metal formate framework of [NH4][Mg(HCOO)3].

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Mączka, Mirosław; Pietraszko, Adam; Macalik, Bogusław; Hermanowicz, Krzysztof

2014-01-21

We report the synthesis, crystal structure, thermal, dielectric, IR, and Raman studies of [NH4][Mg(HCOO)3] formate. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction shows that it crystallizes in the hexagonal space group P6322, with orientationally disordered NH4(+) ions located in the cages of the network. Upon cooling, [NH4][Mg(HCOO)3] undergoes a phase transition at around 255 K to the ferroelectric P63 structure. Raman and IR spectra show a strong increase in intensity of the N-H stretching bands as well as narrowing of the bands related to the NH4(+) ions upon cooling. These changes indicate that the phase transition is due to orientational ordering of the NH4(+) ions. Analysis of the Raman data show, however, that the rotational and translational motions of NH4(+) do not freeze completely at the phase transition but exhibit further slowing down below 255 K, and the motional freezing becomes nearly complete below 140 K.

Listen to Me Listen to You: A Step-By-Step Guide to Communication Skills Training

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Kotzman, Mandy; Kotzman, Anne

2008-01-01

This step-by-step guide is a companion to the popular "Listen to Me, Listen to You: A Practical Guide to Self-Awareness, Communication Skills and Conflict Management" (New Expanded Edition, Penguin Books, 2007). It is designed for use by anyone working in communication skills and personal development training. Resource material is grouped under…

Understanding Listening Competency: A Systematic Review of Research Scales

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Fontana, Peter C.; Cohen, Steven D.; Wolvin, Andrew D.

2015-01-01

To better understand what constitutes listening competency, we perform a systematic review of listening scales. Our goal was twofold: to determine the most commonly appearing listening traits and to determine if listening scales are similar to one other. As part of our analysis, we identified 53 relevant scales and analyzed the scales…

Low Temperature Catalyst for NH3 Removal

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Monje, Oscar; Melendez, Orlando

2013-01-01

Air revitalization technologies maintain a safe atmosphere inside spacecraft by the removal of C02, ammonia (NH3), and trace contaminants. NH3 onboard the International Space Station (ISS) is produced by crew metabolism, payloads, or during an accidental release of thermal control refrigerant. Currently, the ISS relies on removing NH3 via humidity condensate and the crew wears hooded respirators during emergencies. A different approach to cabin NH3 removal is to use selective catalytic oxidation (SCO), which builds on thermal catalytic oxidation concepts that could be incorporated into the existing TCCS process equipment architecture on ISS. A low temperature platinum-based catalyst (LTP-Catalyst) developed at KSC was used for converting NH3 to H20 and N2 gas by SCO. The challenge of implementing SCO is to reduce formation of undesirable byproducts like NOx (N20 and NO). Gas mixture analysis was conducted using FTIR spectrometry in the Regenerable VOC Control System (RVCS) Testbed. The RVCS was modified by adding a 66 L semi-sealed chamber, and a custom NH3 generator. The effect of temperature on NH3 removal using the LTP-Catalyst was examined. A suitable temperature was found where NH3 removal did not produce toxic NO, (NO, N02) and N20 formation was reduced.

On the Relationship between the IELTS Listening and Listening in Academic English Programs

OpenAIRE

Masood Khalili Sabet; Hamid Reza Babaei

2017-01-01

The challenge for many teachers teaching in academic English programs is, on the one hand, to actualize the objectives of their course and on the other hand, prepare their students for the important international tests such as IELTS and TOEFLE. The current study seeks to reconcile this challenge by drawing on the relationship between the IELTS listening and listening in academic English programs. The requirements of the two domains were compared through a semi – structured interview with five...

"Teacher, the Tape Is Too Fast!" Extensive Listening in ELT

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Renandya, Willy A.; Farrell, Thomas S. C.

2011-01-01

For many years, research effort has been devoted to understanding the nature of listening strategies and how listening strategies used by good listeners can be taught to so-called ineffective listeners. As a result of this line of research, strategy training activities have now become a standard feature of most modern listening coursebooks.…

Study of ZrO2-H2SO4-(NH4)2SO4(NH4Cl)-H2O systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Motov, D.L.; Sozinova, Yu.P.; Rys'kina, M.P.

1988-01-01

Regions of formation, composition and solubility of ammonium sulfatozirconates (ASZ) in ZrO 2 -H 2 SO 4 -(NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 (NH 4 Cl)-H 2 O systems at 25 and 75 deg C are studied by the isothermal method. Five ASZ: (NH 4 ) 2 Zr(OH) 2 (SO 4 ) 2 , NH 4 ZrOH(SO 4 ) 2 xH 2 O, NH 4 ZrO 0.5 (OH) 2 SO 4 x1.5H 2 O, (NH 4 ) 2 Zr(SO 4 ) 3 x2H 2 O, (NH 4 ) 4 Zr(SO 4 ) 4 x4H 2 O are detected, their properties are investigated. Main sulfates are new compounds never described ealier

Perceptual evaluation of backchannel strategies for artificial listeners

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Poppe, Ronald Walter; Truong, Khiet Phuong; Heylen, Dirk K.J.

Artificial listeners are virtual agents that can listen attentively to a human speaker in a dialog. In this paper, we present two experiments where we investigate the perception of rule-based backchannel strategies for artificial listeners. In both, we collect subjective judgements of humans who

Two-center three-electron bonding in ClNH{sub 3} revealed via helium droplet infrared laser Stark spectroscopy: Entrance channel complex along the Cl + NH{sub 3} → ClNH{sub 2} + H reaction

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Moradi, Christopher P.; Douberly, Gary E., E-mail: douberly@uga.edu [Department of Chemistry, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602-2556 (United States); Xie, Changjian; Guo, Hua [Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131 (United States); Kaufmann, Matin [Department of Physical Chemistry II, Ruhr-University Bochum, D-44801 Bochum (Germany)

2016-04-28

Pyrolytic dissociation of Cl{sub 2} is employed to dope helium droplets with single Cl atoms. Sequential addition of NH{sub 3} to Cl-doped droplets leads to the formation of a complex residing in the entry valley to the substitution reaction Cl + NH{sub 3} → ClNH{sub 2} + H. Infrared Stark spectroscopy in the NH stretching region reveals symmetric and antisymmetric vibrations of a C{sub 3v} symmetric top. Frequency shifts from NH{sub 3} and dipole moment measurements are consistent with a ClNH{sub 3} complex containing a relatively strong two-center three-electron (2c–3e) bond. The nature of the 2c–3e bonding in ClNH{sub 3} is explored computationally and found to be consistent with the complexation-induced blue shifts observed experimentally. Computations of interconversion pathways reveal nearly barrierless routes to the formation of this complex, consistent with the absence in experimental spectra of two other complexes, NH{sub 3}Cl and Cl–HNH{sub 2}, which are predicted in the entry valley to the hydrogen abstraction reaction Cl + NH{sub 3} → HCl + NH{sub 2}.

Babies in traffic: infant vocalizations and listener sex modulate auditory motion perception.

Science.gov (United States)

Neuhoff, John G; Hamilton, Grace R; Gittleson, Amanda L; Mejia, Adolfo

2014-04-01

Infant vocalizations and "looming sounds" are classes of environmental stimuli that are critically important to survival but can have dramatically different emotional valences. Here, we simultaneously presented listeners with a stationary infant vocalization and a 3D virtual looming tone for which listeners made auditory time-to-arrival judgments. Negatively valenced infant cries produced more cautious (anticipatory) estimates of auditory arrival time of the tone over a no-vocalization control. Positively valenced laughs had the opposite effect, and across all conditions, men showed smaller anticipatory biases than women. In Experiment 2, vocalization-matched vocoded noise stimuli did not influence concurrent auditory time-to-arrival estimates compared with a control condition. In Experiment 3, listeners estimated the egocentric distance of a looming tone that stopped before arriving. For distant stopping points, women estimated the stopping point as closer when the tone was presented with an infant cry than when it was presented with a laugh. For near stopping points, women showed no differential effect of vocalization type. Men did not show differential effects of vocalization type at either distance. Our results support the idea that both the sex of the listener and the emotional valence of infant vocalizations can influence auditory motion perception and can modulate motor responses to other behaviorally relevant environmental sounds. We also find support for previous work that shows sex differences in emotion processing are diminished under conditions of higher stress.

Enhancing Listening Comprehension through a Group Work Guessing Game

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Sasan Baleghizadeh

2010-12-01

Full Text Available The present paper is an attempt to introduce an innovative technique for a more effective teaching of L2 listening comprehension through a process-oriented approach. Much of what is traditionally known as listening practice is in fact testing material in which students are required to listen to a recording and answer a number of comprehension questions. However, as a preliminary step, teachers should focus on the process of listening comprehension by encouraging students to employ efficient learning strategies during the listening process and cooperatively evaluate them in the class. The suggested technique in this article provides students with appropriate metacognitive strategies, which pave the way for successful L2 listening practice.

A Survey of Iranian EFL Teachers’ and Learners’ Perceptions Toward Authentic Listening Materials at University Level

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Amir Mahdavi Zhafarghandi

2014-08-01

Full Text Available This study intends to deal with attitudes of teachers and learners toward authentic listening materials at pre- intermediate level. Studies have indicated the positive effect of authentic listening materials on motivation and listening comprehension ability in learners of English as a foreign language (Nuttall, 1996; Peacock, 1997; Miller, 2005; Field, 2008. It focused on EFL teachers and students at pre intermediate proficiency level. Participants included 60 students, from both gender; male and female university students studying at Rodaki Higher Institute Education in the fields of: Accounting, Computer Engineering and Commercial Management and also 30 teachers who taught listening at Rodaki Higher Institute Education. The students were randomly selected and assigned to two groups. Then, Oxford Placement test as a standard test was administered to the participant in order to determine their proficiency level. Then, the participants were divided into two groups of control and experiment. The experiment group received the listening materials taken from UK radio program whereas the other group received simplified listening materials taken from the authentic listening materials. Afterwards, to be sure that they know what authentic materials are, they were exposed to both of related materials, then the questionnaire was distributed among them, the results taken from the questionnaire showed that the participants of this study prefer authentic materials and have positive attitudes toward using them. By the same token, the analysis of teachers’ questionnaire also showed their satisfaction with authentic listening materials. These findings can have implications for language learning/teaching, and curriculum development paving the way for educational policy makers, teachers and learners to introduce authentic listening materials to EFL learners at pre- intermediate proficiency level.

Teaching Listening as a Communicative Skill in Military English

Science.gov (United States)

Likaj, Manjola

2015-01-01

This article deals with teaching listening in English for Specific Purposes and more specifically in Military English. There are presented different approaches on listening and ways on teaching it in ESP. Active listening it is seen as one of the most productive and applicable approach in teaching ESP students how to master the skill of listening.…

Second Language Listening Comprehension: A Schema-Theoretic Perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Long, Donna Reseigh

1989-01-01

Enormous potential exists for the transfer of listening comprehension theory to second language listening research. The need for such research is highlighted through an exploration of recurring themes in the literature on background knowledge and through application of these themes to second language listening comprehension. (CB)

The Effect of Dictogloss on Listening Comprehension: Focus on Metacognitive Strategies and Gender

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Mina Taheri

2017-10-01

Full Text Available This study aimed at investigating the effect of dictogloss on EFL learners’ listening comprehension as well as on their use of metacognitive listening strategies with a focus on the effects on male and female learners. To this end, a total number of 50 female and male Iranian EFL learners, aged between 12 and 15 years old, at the intermediate proficiency level in a private language school in Iran were selected and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups with 25 male and female learners in each group. Dictogloss was employed to teach the learners in the experimental group for an instruction period of 12 sessions. Participants’ listening comprehension was determined through a pre/posttest which was adapted from the listening section of the standard test of PET and their use of metacognitive listening strategies via the MALQ, a questionnaire developed by Vandergrift et al. (2006. The data obtained were submitted to the t-test and results revealed significant improvement in the experimental group’s listening comprehension with no significant difference between male and female learners. Finally, the results showed that the listeners in the experimental group made noticeable gains in their choice of metacognitive strategies through using the dictogloss technique.  Findings are discussed in light of recent theories of language learning and teaching.

Urban NH3 levels and sources in six major Spanish cities.

Science.gov (United States)

Reche, Cristina; Viana, Mar; Karanasiou, Angeliki; Cusack, Michael; Alastuey, Andrés; Artiñano, Begoña; Revuelta, M Aranzazu; López-Mahía, Purificación; Blanco-Heras, Gustavo; Rodríguez, Sergio; Sánchez de la Campa, Ana M; Fernández-Camacho, Rocío; González-Castanedo, Yolanda; Mantilla, Enrique; Tang, Y Sim; Querol, Xavier

2015-01-01

A detailed spatial and temporal assessment of urban NH3 levels and potential emission sources was made with passive samplers in six major Spanish cities (Barcelona, Madrid, A Coruña, Huelva, Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Valencia). Measurements were conducted during two different periods (winter-autumn and spring-summer) in each city. Barcelona showed the clearest spatial pattern, with the highest concentrations in the old city centre, an area characterised by a high population density and a dense urban architecture. The variability in NH3 concentrations did not follow a common seasonal pattern across the different cities. The relationship of urban NH3 with SO2 and NOX allowed concluding on the causes responsible for the variations in NH3 levels between measurement periods observed in Barcelona, Huelva and Madrid. However, the factors governing the variations in A Coruña, Valencia and Santa Cruz de Tenerife are still not fully understood. This study identified a broad variability in NH3 concentrations at the city-scale, and it confirms that NH3 sources in Spanish urban environments are vehicular traffic, biological sources (e.g. garbage containers), wastewater treatment plants, solid waste treatment plants and industry. The importance of NH3 monitoring in urban environments relies on its role as a precursor of secondary inorganic species and therefore PMX. Further research should be addressed in order to establish criteria to develop and implement mitigation strategies for cities, and to include urban NH3 sources in the emission inventories. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Preparation and preliminary evaluation of 99Tcm-HYNIC-β-Ala-BBN(7-14)NH2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Quan Xin; Zhang Yan; Jia Bing; Shi Jiyun; Wang Fan; Zhao Huiyun; Yu Zilin

2007-01-01

99 Tc m -HYNIC-β-Ala-BBN(7-14)NH 2 is prepared by choosing Tricine and EDDA as coligands, and the in vitro stability and biodistribution are compared for the two compounds. The results of ITLC and HPLC analyses show that the labeling yield of both compounds is >95%, and the radiochemical purity (RCP) after purification of Sep-Pak C-18 cartridge is >99%. Both of the compounds show pretty good stability in saline and fetal bovine serum, but cysteine challenge assay shows that the stability of 99 Tc m -HYNIC(EDDA)- β-Ala-BBN (7-14) NH 2 is much better than 99 Tc m -HYNIC (Tricine)-β-Ala-BBN (7-14) NH 2 , with the RCP is >95% and 99 Tc m HYNIC (EDDA)-βAla-BBN (7-14)NH 2 and 99 Tc m -HYNIC (Tricine)-β-Ala-BBN(7-14)NH 2 is defined as two-compartment model, with T 1/2α calculated to be 0.27 min and 1.55 min, and T 1/2β calculated to be 18.1 min and 29.7 min, respectively. Biodistribution reveals that the radio uptake of 99 Tc m -HYNIC(Tricine)-β-Ala-BBN(7-14)NH 2 is higher than that of 99 Tc m -HYNIC(EDDA)-β-Ala-BBN(7-14)NH 2 for all of tis- sues at all time points of the experiment. The uptake in kidneys for both compounds is relatively high, as the uptake in livers and intestines for 99 Tc m -HYNIC(Tricine)-β-Ala-BBN(7- 14)NH 2 is significantly higher than that for 99 Tc m -HYNIC(EDDA)-β-Ala-BBN(7-14)NH 2 , which means that 99 Tc m -HYNIC(EDDA)-β-Ala-BBN(7-14)NH 2 is mainly excreted through kidneys, while 99 Tc m -HYNIC(Tricine)-β-Ala-BBN(7-14)NH 2 is excreted through both kidneys and hepatobiliary system. The above data demonstrate that 99 Tc m -HYNIC(EDDA)-β- Ala-BBN(7-14)NH 2 possesses better chemical and biological properties. (authors)

Music evokes vicarious emotions in listeners.

Science.gov (United States)

Kawakami, Ai; Furukawa, Kiyoshi; Okanoya, Kazuo

2014-01-01

Why do we listen to sad music? We seek to answer this question using a psychological approach. It is possible to distinguish perceived emotions from those that are experienced. Therefore, we hypothesized that, although sad music is perceived as sad, listeners actually feel (experience) pleasant emotions concurrent with sadness. This hypothesis was supported, which led us to question whether sadness in the context of art is truly an unpleasant emotion. While experiencing sadness may be unpleasant, it may also be somewhat pleasant when experienced in the context of art, for example, when listening to sad music. We consider musically evoked emotion vicarious, as we are not threatened when we experience it, in the way that we can be during the course of experiencing emotion in daily life. When we listen to sad music, we experience vicarious sadness. In this review, we propose two sides to sadness by suggesting vicarious emotion.

DEVELOPING LISTENING MATERIALS FOR THE TENTH GRADERS

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Muhammad Lukman Syafi’i

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The needs survey shows that English listening skill of the students in the tenth graders of Indonesian Islamic High School or Madrasah Aliyah is not well developed. Consequently, the listening instructional materials based on standard of content 2006 used in the classes need to be advanced. The researcher used only one try out of the product, second revision in this study was the seventh step of Borg and Gall model operational product revision. This was done based on the result of the try out, and the final product (the production of the new materials. The development used in this study consists of needs survey, developing the materials, experts and teacher‟s validation, revision, try out, second revision and the final product. The product is found acceptable for the tenth grade students.

44Sc-DOTA-BN[2-14]NH2 in comparison to 68Ga-DOTA-BN[2-14]NH2 in pre-clinical investigation. Is 44Sc a potential radionuclide for PET?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koumarianou, E.; Loktionova, N.S.; Fellner, M.; Roesch, F.; Thews, O.; Pawlak, D.; Archimandritis, S.C.; Mikolajczak, R.

2012-01-01

Aim: In the present study we demonstrate the in vitro and in vivo comparison of the 44 Sc and 68 Ga labeled DOTA-BN[2-14]NH 2 . 44 Sc is a positron emitter with a half life of 3.92 h. Hence it could be used for PET imaging with ligands requiring longer observation time than in the case of 68 Ga. Methods: The binding affinity of nat Sc-DOTA-BN[2-14]NH 2 and nat Ga-DOTA-BN[2-14]NH 2 to GRP receptors was studied in competition to [ 125 I-Tyr 4 ]-Bombesin in the human prostate cancer cell line PC-3. A preliminary biodistribution in normal rats was performed, while first microPET images were assessed in male Copenhagen rats bearing the androgen-independent Dunning R-3327-AT-1 prostate cancer tumor. Results: The affinity to GRP receptors in the PC-3 cell line was higher for nat Ga-DOTA-BN[2-14]NH 2 (IC 50 (nM)=0.85±0.06) than that of nat Sc-DOTA-BN[2-14]NH 2 (IC 50 (nM)=6.49±0.13). The internalization rate of 68 Ga labeled DOTA-BN[2-14]NH 2 was slower than that of 44 Sc, but their final internalization percents were comparable. 68 Ga-DOTA-BN[2-14]NH 2 was externalized faster than 44 Sc-DOTA-BN[2-14]NH 2 . The biodistribution of 44 Sc-DOTA-BN[2-14]NH 2 and 68 Ga-DOTA-BN[2-14]NH 2 in normal rats revealed a higher uptake in target organs and tissues of the first one while both excreted mainly through urinary tract. In microPET images both tracers were accumulated in the tumor with similar uptake patterns. Conclusions: Despite the differences in the receptor affinity both the 68 Ga- and the 44 Sc-labeled DOTA-BN[2-14]NH 2 tracers showed comparable distribution and similar time constants of uptake and elimination. Moreover no differences in tumor accumulation (neither in the overall uptake nor in the dynamics) were observed from the microPet imaging. From that perspective the use of either 44 Sc or 68 Ga for detecting tumors with GRP receptors is equivalent. - Highlights: ► In vitro and in vivo evaluation of 44 Sc- and 68 Ga-DOTA-BN[2-14]NH 2 in reference to published

NH{sub 4}-doped anodic WO{sub 3} prepared through anodization and subsequent NH{sub 4}OH treatment for water splitting

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Choi, Yong-Wook; Kim, Sunkyu; Seong, Mijeong; Yoo, Hyeonseok; Choi, Jinsub, E-mail: jinsub@inha.ac.kr

2015-01-01

Highlights: • NN{sub 4}-doped WO{sub 3} was successfully fabricated by a wet-based method using ammonium hydroxide (NH{sub 4}OH). • (NH{sub 4}){sub 10}W{sub 12}O{sub 41} phase was formed during the NH{sub 4}OH treatment. • Over-doped NH{sub 4} in WO{sub 3} led to reduced photo-electrochemical performance for OER. • The optimized surface was achieved by thermal treatment of anodic WO{sub 3} with 2 g of NH{sub 4}OH solution. - Abstract: Tungsten trioxide (WO{sub 3}) prepared by anodization of a W foil was doped with NH{sub 4} through NH{sub 4}OH treatment at 450 °C. Since aqueous NH{sub 4}OH was used during doping instead of NH{sub 3} gas, the treatment step does not require complicated annealing facilities. Moreover, the state of doped N is a form of NH{sub 3}-W instead of W{sub 2}N, which lowers the bandgap but increases photocorrosion. We found that incorporation of NH{sub 4} into WO{sub 3} leads to reduction of the bandgap from 2.9 eV to 2.2 eV, regardless of the amount of NH{sub 4}OH treatment, lowering the onset potential and increasing the current density at fixed potential for oxygen evolution reaction under illumination. Scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were employed to investigate the surface morphologies, crystallinities of tungsten oxides and existence of NH{sub 4} doping, respectively. The bandgap energy was determined by UV–Vis spectroscopy to measure the transmittance and refraction. The water splitting performance of each sample was measured by electrochemical linear sweep voltammetry in a 3-electrode configuration under illumination.

Relationship among Iranian EFL Students' Foreign Language Anxiety, Foreign Language Listening Anxiety and Their Listening Comprehension

Science.gov (United States)

Serraj, Samaneh; Noordin, Noreen Bt.

2013-01-01

Anxiety is an influential factor in a foreign language learning domain and plays a crucial role in language learners' performance. The following study was conducted to explore the possible impact of Foreign Language Anxiety and Foreign Language Listening Anxiety on language learners' listening skill. The researcher was interested to know the…

Subjective study of preferred listening conditions in Italian Catholic churches

Science.gov (United States)

Martellotta, Francesco

2008-10-01

The paper describes the results of research aimed at investigating the preferred subjective listening conditions inside churches. The effect of different musical motifs (spanning Gregorian chants to symphonic music) was investigated and regression analysis was performed in order to point out the relationship between subjective ratings and acoustical parameters. In order to present realistic listening conditions to the subjects a small subset of nine churches was selected among a larger set of acoustic data collected in several Italian churches during a widespread on-site survey. The subset represented different architectural styles and shapes, and was characterized by average listening conditions. For each church a single source-receiver combination with fixed relative positions was chosen. Measured binaural impulse responses were cross-talk cancelled and then convolved with five anechoic motifs. Paired comparisons were finally performed, asking a trained panel of subjects their preference. Factor analysis pointed out a substantially common underlying pattern characterizing subjective responses. The results show that preferred listening conditions vary as a function of the musical motif, depending on early decay time for choral music and on a combination of initial time delay and lateral energy for instrumental music.

Semantic and phonetic enhancements for speech-in-noise recognition by native and non-native listeners.

Science.gov (United States)

Bradlow, Ann R; Alexander, Jennifer A

2007-04-01

Previous research has shown that speech recognition differences between native and proficient non-native listeners emerge under suboptimal conditions. Current evidence has suggested that the key deficit that underlies this disproportionate effect of unfavorable listening conditions for non-native listeners is their less effective use of compensatory information at higher levels of processing to recover from information loss at the phoneme identification level. The present study investigated whether this non-native disadvantage could be overcome if enhancements at various levels of processing were presented in combination. Native and non-native listeners were presented with English sentences in which the final word varied in predictability and which were produced in either plain or clear speech. Results showed that, relative to the low-predictability-plain-speech baseline condition, non-native listener final word recognition improved only when both semantic and acoustic enhancements were available (high-predictability-clear-speech). In contrast, the native listeners benefited from each source of enhancement separately and in combination. These results suggests that native and non-native listeners apply similar strategies for speech-in-noise perception: The crucial difference is in the signal clarity required for contextual information to be effective, rather than in an inability of non-native listeners to take advantage of this contextual information per se.

Listening in the General Education Curriculum

Science.gov (United States)

Wolvin, Andrew D.

2012-01-01

Research supports the point that listening skills play an important role in 21st century personal, academic, and professional success. This article argues that educators should include listening, a critical communication competency, in the oral communication course in the general education curriculum. (Contains 1 table.)

Non-listening and self centered leadership--relationships to socioeconomic conditions and employee mental health.

Science.gov (United States)

Theorell, Töres; Nyberg, Anna; Leineweber, Constanze; Magnusson Hanson, Linda L; Oxenstierna, Gabriel; Westerlund, Hugo

2012-01-01

The way in which leadership is experienced in different socioeconomic strata is of interest per se, as well as how it relates to employee mental health. Three waves of SLOSH (Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health, a questionnaire survey on a sample of the Swedish working population) were used, 2006, 2008 and 2010 (n = 5141). The leadership variables were: "Non-listening leadership" (one question: "Does your manager listen to you?"--four response categories), "Self centered leadership" (sum of three five-graded questions--"non-participating", "asocial" and "loner"). The socioeconomic factors were education and income. Emotional exhaustion and depressive symptoms were used as indicators of mental health. Non-listening leadership was associated with low income and low education whereas self-centered leadership showed a weaker relationship with education and no association at all with income. Both leadership variables were significantly associated with emotional exhaustion and depressive symptoms. "Self centered" as well as "non-listening" leadership in 2006 significantly predicted employee depressive symptoms in 2008 after adjustment for demographic variables. These predictions became non-significant when adjustment was made for job conditions (demands and decision latitude) in the "non-listening" leadership analyses, whereas predictions of depressive symptoms remained significant after these adjustments in the "self-centered leadership" analyses. Our results show that the leadership variables are associated with socioeconomic status and employee mental health. "Non-listening" scores were more sensitive to societal change and more strongly related to socioeconomic factors and job conditions than "self-centered" scores.

The Effects of Using Podcast on Listening Comprehension among Iranian Pre-intermediate EFL Learners

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Islam NamazianDost

2017-09-01

Full Text Available The purpose of the present study was to explore the effects of using podcast on listening comprehension among Iranian pre-intermediate EFL learners. To fulfill the objectives of the study a Homogeneity test (Oxford Quick Placement Test was administered among 90 students at the pre-intermediate level of Poyesh language Institute and finally 60 participants were selected. Then, they were non-randomly divided into two sub­groups, namely control and experimental groups.  Before starting the treatment, a validated teacher-made listening comprehension test was administered to students as pre-test to assess the participants' listening comprehension at the beginning of the course. Then, the experimental group received the treatment, which was teaching listening comprehension through using podcasts while the control group was taught using traditional methods of teaching listening with no multimedia source. After 20 sessions of treatment, the two groups were administered the same teacher-made listening test as post-test. Data were analyzed by Paired and Independent Samples t-­test. The findings showed that the experimental group significantly performed better than the control group. Generally, the experimental groups outperformed the control groups. The results suggest that podcasts can be used in English classes to develop listening ability among Iranian EFL learners.

Teacher’s Voice on Metacognitive Strategy Based Instruction Using Audio Visual Aids for Listening

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Salasiah Salasiah

2018-02-01

Full Text Available The paper primarily stresses on exploring the teacher’s voice toward the application of metacognitive strategy with audio-visual aid in improving listening comprehension. The metacognitive strategy model applied in the study was inspired from Vandergrift and Tafaghodtari (2010 instructional model. Thus it is modified in the procedure and applied with audio-visual aids for improving listening comprehension. The study’s setting was at SMA Negeri 2 Parepare, South Sulawesi Province, Indonesia. The population of the research was the teacher of English at tenth grade at SMAN 2. The sample was taken by using random sampling technique. The data was collected by using in depth interview during the research, recorded, and analyzed using qualitative analysis. This study explored the teacher’s response toward the modified model of metacognitive strategy with audio visual aids in class of listening which covers positive and negative response toward the strategy applied during the teaching of listening. The result of data showed that this strategy helped the teacher a lot in teaching listening comprehension as the procedure has systematic steps toward students’ listening comprehension. Also, it eases the teacher to teach listening by empowering audio visual aids such as video taken from youtube.

Machine listening intelligence

Science.gov (United States)

Cella, C. E.

2017-05-01

This manifesto paper will introduce machine listening intelligence, an integrated research framework for acoustic and musical signals modelling, based on signal processing, deep learning and computational musicology.

Active Listening Strategies of Academically Successful University Students

Science.gov (United States)

Canpolat, Murat; Kuzu, Sekvan; Yildirim, Bilal; Canpolat, Sevilay

2015-01-01

Problem Statement: In formal educational environments, the quality of student listening affects learning considerably. Students who are uninterested in a lesson listen reluctantly, wanting time to pass quickly and the class to end as soon as possible. In such situations, students become passive and, though appearing to be listening, will not use…

Portfolio-work and its effects on listening comprehension of very young learners

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Leeck Piri

2015-01-01

Full Text Available At elementary school the focus often lies on listening and speaking. While listening comprehension is the basis for learning a new language, children often feel differently about that. Many measure their success in their ability to speak. Some become frustrated, because they initially are not able to express much, not noticing how much they understand already. In my research I tried to find a way to help such children appreciate more what they have achieved so far. Through portfolio-work (self-evaluation and reflection I wanted them to see what is ‘unseen’, as well as get them to think about strategies that improve listening comprehension, as the following study report shows.

Towards validation of ammonia (NH3) measurements from the IASI satellite

Science.gov (United States)

Van Damme, M.; Clarisse, L.; Dammers, E.; Liu, X.; Nowak, J. B.; Clerbaux, C.; Flechard, C. R.; Galy-Lacaux, C.; Xu, W.; Neuman, J. A.; Tang, Y. S.; Sutton, M. A.; Erisman, J. W.; Coheur, P. F.

2015-03-01

Limited availability of ammonia (NH3) observations is currently a barrier for effective monitoring of the nitrogen cycle. It prevents a full understanding of the atmospheric processes in which this trace gas is involved and therefore impedes determining its related budgets. Since the end of 2007, the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) satellite has been observing NH3 from space at a high spatio-temporal resolution. This valuable data set, already used by models, still needs validation. We present here a first attempt to validate IASI-NH3 measurements using existing independent ground-based and airborne data sets. The yearly distributions reveal similar patterns between ground-based and space-borne observations and highlight the scarcity of local NH3 measurements as well as their spatial heterogeneity and lack of representativity. By comparison with monthly resolved data sets in Europe, China and Africa, we show that IASI-NH3 observations are in fair agreement, but they are characterized by a smaller variation in concentrations. The use of hourly and airborne data sets to compare with IASI individual observations allows investigations of the impact of averaging as well as the representativity of independent observations for the satellite footprint. The importance of considering the latter and the added value of densely located airborne measurements at various altitudes to validate IASI-NH3 columns are discussed. Perspectives and guidelines for future validation work on NH3 satellite observations are presented.

Is it possible to improve hearing by listening training?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Reuter, Karen

2011-01-01

Different listening training methods exist, which are based on the assumption that people can be trained to process incoming sound more effectively. It is often distinguished between the terms hearing (=passive reception of sound) and listening (=active process of tuning in to those sounds we wish...... to receive). Listening training methods claim to benefit a wide variety of people, e.g. people having learning disabilities, developmental delay or concentration problems. Sound therapists report about improved hearing/ listening curves following listening training programs. No independent research study has...... confirmed these results using standardized hearing test measures. Dr. Alfred Tomatis, a French ear nose throat doctor, developed the Tomatis listening training in the 1950s. The principles of the Tomatis method are described. A literature review has been conducted to investigate, whether the Tomatis method...

English Songs as an Effective Asset to Improve Listening Comprehension ability; Evidence from Iranian EFL Learners

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Samira Rahbar

2013-11-01

Full Text Available The present study has made an attempt to investigate the effectiveness of using English songs and lyrics on improving the listening comprehension ability of adult EFL learners in Iran. The participants of the study were selected based on their results in an OPT exam. 40 students whose score fell between 1SD below and above the mean were randomly assigned to two groups of control and experimental. At the beginning of the study a pre-test was run and the results of the groups were compared. The results didn’t show any specific difference between the groups. Experimental group received treatment via listening practice by English songs for two months. By the end of the study a listening post-test was run and the result of the independent sample t-test showed a significant difference between the control and experimental group. The findings of the study indicated that listening to English songs can be an effective way to improve listening comprehension ability of EFL learners.

A listening test system for automotive audio

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Flemming; Martin, Geoff; Minnaar, Pauli

2005-01-01

A selection procedure was devised in order to select listeners for experiments in which their main task will be to judge multi-channel reproduced sound. 91 participants filled in a web-based questionnaire. 78 of them took part in an assessment of their hearing thresholds, their spatial hearing......, and their verbal production abilities. The listeners displayed large individual differences in their performance. 40 subjects were selected based on the test results. The self-assessed listening habits and experience in the web questionnaire could not predict the results of the selection procedure. Further......, the hearing thresholds did not correlate with the spatial-hearing test. This leads to the conclusion that task-specific performance tests might be the preferable means of selecting a listening panel....

You know what it is: learning words through listening to hip-hop.

Science.gov (United States)

Chesley, Paula

2011-01-01

Music listeners have difficulty correctly understanding and remembering song lyrics. However, results from the present study support the hypothesis that young adults can learn African-American English (AAE) vocabulary from listening to hip-hop music. Non-African-American participants first gave free-response definitions to AAE vocabulary items, after which they answered demographic questions as well as questions addressing their social networks, their musical preferences, and their knowledge of popular culture. Results from the survey show a positive association between the number of hip-hop artists listened to and AAE comprehension vocabulary scores. Additionally, participants were more likely to know an AAE vocabulary item if the hip-hop artists they listen to use the word in their song lyrics. Together, these results suggest that young adults can acquire vocabulary through exposure to hip-hop music, a finding relevant for research on vocabulary acquisition, the construction of adolescent and adult identities, and the adoption of lexical innovations.

You know what it is: learning words through listening to hip-hop.

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Paula Chesley

Full Text Available Music listeners have difficulty correctly understanding and remembering song lyrics. However, results from the present study support the hypothesis that young adults can learn African-American English (AAE vocabulary from listening to hip-hop music. Non-African-American participants first gave free-response definitions to AAE vocabulary items, after which they answered demographic questions as well as questions addressing their social networks, their musical preferences, and their knowledge of popular culture. Results from the survey show a positive association between the number of hip-hop artists listened to and AAE comprehension vocabulary scores. Additionally, participants were more likely to know an AAE vocabulary item if the hip-hop artists they listen to use the word in their song lyrics. Together, these results suggest that young adults can acquire vocabulary through exposure to hip-hop music, a finding relevant for research on vocabulary acquisition, the construction of adolescent and adult identities, and the adoption of lexical innovations.

Mirroring, Mentalizing, and the Social Neuroscience of Listening

Science.gov (United States)

Spunt, Robert P.

2013-01-01

Listening to another speak is a basic process in social cognition. In the social neurosciences, there are relatively few studies that directly bear on listening; however, numerous studies have investigated the neural bases of some of the likely constituents of successful listening. In this article, I review some of this work as it relates to…

Open Listening: Creative Evolution in Early Childhood Settings

Science.gov (United States)

Davies, Bronwyn

2011-01-01

This article sketches out a philosophy and practice of open listening, linking open listening to Bergson's (1998) concept of creative evolution. I draw on examples of small children at play from a variety of sources, including Reggio-Emilia-inspired preschools in Sweden. The article offers a challenge to early childhood educators to listen and to…

Increasing Hydrogen Density with the Cation-Anion Pair BH4−-NH4+ in Perovskite-Type NH4Ca(BH43

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Pascal Schouwink

2015-08-01

Full Text Available A novel metal borohydride ammonia-borane complex Ca(BH42·NH3BH3 is characterized as the decomposition product of the recently reported perovskite-type metal borohydride NH4Ca(BH43, suggesting that ammonium-based metal borohydrides release hydrogen gas via ammonia-borane-complexes. For the first time the concept of proton-hydride interactions to promote hydrogen release is applied to a cation-anion pair in a complex metal hydride. NH4Ca(BH43 is prepared mechanochemically from Ca(BH42 and NH4Cl as well as NH4BH4 following two different protocols, where the synthesis procedures are modified in the latter to solvent-based ball-milling using diethyl ether to maximize the phase yield in chlorine-free samples. During decomposition of NH4Ca(BH43 pure H2 is released, prior to the decomposition of the complex to its constituents. As opposed to a previously reported adduct between Ca(BH42 and NH3BH3, the present complex is described as NH3BH3-stuffed α-Ca(BH42.

Listening Competence in Initial Interactions I: Distinguishing between What Listening Is and What Listeners Do

Science.gov (United States)

Bodie, Graham D.; St. Cyr, Kellie; Pence, Michelle; Rold, Michael; Honeycutt, James

2012-01-01

The impressions we form of others during initial interactions are powerful. These impressions are a product of various implicit theories--mental representations of people and actions. This article investigates the structure of implicit theories of listening used when forming impressions of others after an initial encounter. Specifically, three…

Listeners as Authors in Preaching

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gaarden, Marianne; Lorensen, Marlene Ringgaard

2013-01-01

Based on new empirical studies this essay explores how churchgoers listen to sermons in regard to the theological notion that “faith comes from hearing.” Through Bakhtinian theories presented by Lorensen and empirical findings presented by Gaarden, the apparently masked agency in preaching......) create new meaning and understanding. It is not a room that the listener or the preacher can control or occupy, but a room in which both engage....

An Examination of the Role of Listening in Judgments of Communication Competence in Co-Workers.

Science.gov (United States)

Haas, John W.; Arnold, Christa L.

1995-01-01

Shows that listening plays a central role in assessments of communication competence, accounting for approximately one-third of the characteristics perceivers use to evaluate communication competence in coworkers. Finds that organization members differ in their use of listening in judgments of communication competence in several kinds of…

Treatment for GaSb surfaces using a sulphur blended (NH4)2S/(NH4)2SO4 solution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Murape, D.M.; Eassa, N.; Neethling, J.H.; Betz, R.; Coetsee, E.; Swart, H.C.; Botha, J.R.; Venter, A.

2012-01-01

A sulphur based chemical, [(NH 4 ) 2 S/(NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 ] to which S has been added, not previously reported for the treatment of (1 0 0) n-GaSb surfaces, is introduced and benchmarked against the commonly used passivants Na 2 S·9H 2 O and (NH 4 ) 2 S. The surfaces of the treated material were studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). It has been found that the native oxides present on the GaSb surface are more effectively removed when treated with ([(NH 4 ) 2 S/(NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 ] + S) than with (NH 4 ) 2 S or Na 2 S·9H 2 O, as evidenced by the ratio of the O 506eV to Sb 457eV AES peaks. XPS results reveal that Sb 2 S 3 /Sb 2 S 5 “replaces” Sb 2 O 3 /Sb 2 O 5 , suggesting that sulphur atoms substitute oxygen atoms in Sb 2 O 3 /Sb 2 O 5 to form Sb-S. It seems sulphurization only partially removes Ga 2 O 3 . Treatment with ([(NH 4 ) 2 S/(NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 ] + S) also results in a noteworthy improvement in the current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of Au/n-GaSb Schottky contacts compared to those fabricated on as-received material.

Analysis of (NH4)2SO4/(NH4)H2PO4 mixtures by thermogravimetry and X-ray diffraction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Perez, Jose; Perez, Eduardo; Vas, Beatriz del; Garcia, Luis; Serrano, Jose Luis

2006-01-01

(NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 and (NH 4 )H 2 PO 4 are the principal components in the powder material used in fire extinguishers. In this paper the mutual influence in their thermal decomposition is investigated by thermogravimetry. Two methods for the quantification of both salts in mixtures (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 /(NH 4 )H 2 PO 4 are proposed. The first employs thermogravimetry and is based on the measurement of the mass fraction in the 500-550 deg. C interval, once (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 has totally decomposed to yield gaseous products. The second uses some selected peaks in the X-ray diffractogram

Engagement beyond Interruption: A Performative Perspective on Listening and Ethics

Science.gov (United States)

McRae, Chris; Nainby, Keith

2015-01-01

This article presents an understanding of listening as a performative and pedagogical act. Moving beyond existing theories of listening in communication and education studies that frame listening as a selective and incremental act, this article considers listening in terms of a performance studies and critical education studies perspective. An…

Native listeners

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Cutler, A.

2002-01-01

Becoming a native listener is the necessary precursor to becoming a native speaker. Babies in the first year of life undertake a remarkable amount of work; by the time they begin to speak, they have perceptually mastered the phonological repertoire and phoneme co-occurrence probabilities of the

The effect of short-time active listening training.

Science.gov (United States)

Tatsumi, Asami; Sumiyoshi, Kenichi; Kawaguchi, Hitomi; Sano, Yukiko

2010-01-01

We conducted mental health training incorporating active listening for managers at a site of a general chemical company with 1,400 employees. Our purpose was to clarify the effect of active listening training of 2.5h. All subjects were managers. The mental health training was given to 229 managers, 21 times from May 2007 until March 2008. Surveys were conducted from May 2007 to September 2008. The training sessions were conducted in a company meeting room, starting at 2:00 p.m. The importance and significance of listening as a mental health measure and methods of active listening were explained in the training. Afterward, role-playing and follow-up discussions were done twice each. In summaries, participants wrote down what they noticed about listening and gave group presentations. The instructor commented on the presentations, and ended the session by passing out and explaining a paper summarizing what is important in listening. The training was evaluated with a questionnaire distributed at the completion of training, and questionnaires on implementation of what was learned were distributed 1, 3, and 6 mo later. The Active Listening Attitude Scale (ALAS; composed of two scales for method of listening and listening attitude) developed by Mishima et al. was also used before and 1, 3, and 6 mo after the training. In questionnaires distributed on the same day after training, 60% of the 212 respondents said the training time was just right, and 30.1% felt it was too short. The difficulty level of the training was considered appropriate by 77.8%, and 79.7% intended to implement what they had learned. Overall satisfaction was high at 85.9%. In the questionnaire 6 mo after training, 81.4% of the 145 respondents remembered the content of the training and 49.7% said they were practicing what they had learned. They responded that their conversations with subordinates about non-work topics had increased, and communication and support at work had become smoother. ALAS was

"Listening Silence" and Its Discursive Effects

Science.gov (United States)

Applebaum, Barbara

2016-01-01

While researchers have studied how white silence protects white innocence and white ignorance, in this essay Barbara Applebaum explores a form of white silence that she refers to as "listening silence" in which silence protects white innocence but does not necessarily promote resistance to learning. White listening silence can appear to…

Learners' Listening Comprehension Difficulties in English Language Learning: A Literature Review

Science.gov (United States)

Gilakjani, Abbas Pourhosein; Sabouri, Narjes Banou

2016-01-01

Listening is one of the most important skills in English language learning. When students listen to English language, they face a lot of listening difficulties. Students have critical difficulties in listening comprehension because universities and schools pay more attention to writing, reading, and vocabulary. Listening is not an important part…

The Challenges of Listening to Academic Lectures for EAP Learners and the Impact of Metacognition on Academic Lecture Listening Comprehension

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Maryam Rahimirad

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Academic listening skill is an indispensable necessity for English for academic purposes (EAP students in English-medium universities and also critical for their future success in comprehending conference lectures. But due to the specific nature of such academic lectures, nonnative students all too often face challenges in getting a full command of this task. This study investigates the challenges of listening to academic lectures and the impact of related metacognitive strategies on academic lecture listening comprehension on a group of Iranian learners in an EAP workshop. Fifteen academic staff who took part in two intact classes at the University of Qom, Iran, were randomly assigned to treatment (N = 8 and control (N = 7 groups. The treatment group received 16 hr of metacognitive strategy instruction based on the models proposed by Vandergrift during academic listening instruction, while the control group was just exposed to academic lectures with no explicit strategy instruction. The academic listening sections of the British International English Language Testing System (IELTS were utilized to measure the listening comprehension of both groups before and after the treatment. The results of the data analysis determined that the experimental group significantly outperformed the control group in the listening posttest. The interviews before and after the treatment revealed details of challenges in academic lecture comprehension and also shed light on the perception of the learners regarding metacognitive strategy instruction and the frequency of main metacognitive strategies used in comprehending academic lectures.

Generation of nanopores during desorption of NH3 from Mg(NH3)6Cl2

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hummelshøj, Jens Strabo; Sørensen, Rasmus Zink; Kostova, M.Y.

2006-01-01

It is shown that nanopores are formed during desorption of NH3 from Mg(NH3)6Cl2, which has been proposed as a hydrogen storage material. The system of nanopores facilitates the transport of desorbed ammonia away from the interior of large volumes of compacted storage material. DFT calculations sh...

H2 dilution effect in the Cat-CVD processes of the SiH4/NH3 system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ansari, S.G.; Umemoto, Hironobu; Morimoto, Takashi; Yoneyama, Koji; Izumi, Akira; Masuda, Atsushi; Matsumura, Hideki

2006-01-01

Gas-phase diagnostics in the catalytic chemical vapor deposition processes of the SiH 4 /NH 3 /H 2 system were carried out to examine the effect of H 2 dilution. The decomposition efficiency of NH 3 showed a sharp decrease with the introduction of a small amount of SiH 4 , but this decrease was recovered by the addition of H 2 when the NH 3 pressure was low. On the other hand, at higher NH 3 pressures, the decomposition efficiency showed a minor dependence on the H 2 partial pressure. The addition of SiH 4 to the NH 3 system decreases the H-atom density by one order of magnitude, but this decrease is also recovered by H 2 addition. H atoms produced from H 2 must re-activate the catalyzer surfaces poisoned by SiH 4 when the NH 3 pressure is low

Listeners' comprehension of uptalk in spontaneous speech.

Science.gov (United States)

Tomlinson, John M; Fox Tree, Jean E

2011-04-01

Listeners' comprehension of phrase final rising pitch on declarative utterances, or uptalk, was examined to test the hypothesis that prolongations might differentiate conflicting functions of rising pitch. In Experiment 1 we found that listeners rated prolongations as indicating more speaker uncertainty, but that rising pitch was unrelated to ratings. In Experiment 2 we found that prolongations interacted with rising pitch when listeners monitored for words in the subsequent utterance. Words preceded by prolonged uptalk were monitored faster than words preceded by non-prolonged uptalk. In Experiment 3 we found that the interaction between rising pitch and prolongations depended on listeners' beliefs about speakers' mental states. Results support the theory that temporal and situational context are important in determining intonational meaning. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Application, results and perceptions of a think-aloud study in listening comprehension of Spanish

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nogueroles López, Marta

2017-01-01

. After listening, they completed five comprehension questions, listened one more time with the transcript, reflected on their understanding and their strategic behaviour, and evaluated the protocol itself. These interviews were recorded, transcribed, analysed, categorized and computed. Results reveal......The present article outlines the procedure and shows the outcomes of a think-aloud study intended to, first, find out what listening strategies Hong Kong students of Spanish use to comprehend a particular oral passage in the target language, and, second, understand the participants’ perceptions...... of the think-aloud protocol. Such a protocol was developed during interviews in which students listened to an unidirectional text in Spanish twice, the first time interruptedly and the second without intermediate pauses, and were asked to verbalize the processes they had been using to understand such a passage...

Empirical and mechanistic evaluation of NH4(+) release kinetic in calcareous soils.

Science.gov (United States)

Ranjbar, F; Jalali, M

2014-05-01

Release, fixation, and distribution of ammonium (NH4(+)) as a source of nitrogen can play an important role in soil fertility and plant nutrition. In this study, ten surface soils, after addition of 1,000 mg NH4(+) kg(-1,) were incubated for 1 week at the field capacity moisture and 25 ± 2 °C temperature, and then NH4(+) release kinetic was investigated by sequential extractions with 10 mM CaCl2. Furthermore, NH4(+) distribution among three fractions, including water-soluble, exchangeable, and non-exchangeable, was determined in all soil samples. NH4(+) release was initially rapid followed by a slower reaction, and this was described well with the Elovich equation as an empirical model. The cumulative NH4(+) concentration released in spiked soil samples had a positive significant correlation with sand content and negative ones with pH, exchangeable Ca(2+)m and K(+), cation exchange capacity (CEC), equivalent calcium carbonate (ECC), and clay content. The cation exchange model in the PHREEQC program was successful in mechanistic simulation of the release trend of native and added NH4(+) in all control and spiked soil samples. The results of fractionation experiments showed that the non-exchangeable fraction in control and spiked soil samples was greater than that in water-soluble and exchangeable fractions. Soil properties, such as pH, exchangeable Ca(2+) and K(+), CEC, ECC, and contents of sand and clay, had significant influences on the distribution of NH4(+) among three measured fractions. This study indicated that both native and recently fixed NH4(+), added to soil through the application of fertilizers, were readily available for plant roots during 1 week after exposure.

Empathic Listening as a Transferable Skill

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anthony Gritten

2015-09-01

Full Text Available This text responds to Deniz Peters' argument with three things: a broad context for empathic listening based on its value as a transferable skill; a comment on the relationship between musical empathy and "social empathy via music"; and a comment on the "indeterminacy" at the beginning of empathic listening.

Teaching Listening Comprehension: Bottom-Up Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Khuziakhmetov, Anvar N.; Porchesku, Galina V.

2016-01-01

Improving listening comprehension skills is one of the urgent contemporary educational problems in the field of second language acquisition. Understanding how L2 listening comprehension works can have a serious influence on language pedagogy. The aim of the paper is to discuss the practical and methodological value of the notion of the perception…

Active Listening : A View of Canadian Culture through Travel Conversations

OpenAIRE

ピアセツキ, リオン

2006-01-01

Ideas concerning the role of listening in SLA have evolved considerably in the last thirty years. In the 1960’s most researchers were convinced that listening was a passive skill of minor importance. However, listening is now considered a critical aspect of daily life and thus deserves primary consideration in SLA teaching and research. This article considers the role of listening in developing SL proficiency and offers an example of listening activities based on travel conversations. It is s...

High second-language proficiency protects against the effects of reverberation on listening comprehension.

Science.gov (United States)

Sörqvist, Patrik; Hurtig, Anders; Ljung, Robert; Rönnberg, Jerker

2014-04-01

The purpose of this experiment was to investigate whether classroom reverberation influences second-language (L2) listening comprehension. Moreover, we investigated whether individual differences in baseline L2 proficiency and in working memory capacity (WMC) modulate the effect of reverberation time on L2 listening comprehension. The results showed that L2 listening comprehension decreased as reverberation time increased. Participants with higher baseline L2 proficiency were less susceptible to this effect. WMC was also related to the effect of reverberation (although just barely significant), but the effect of WMC was eliminated when baseline L2 proficiency was statistically controlled. Taken together, the results suggest that top-down cognitive capabilities support listening in adverse conditions. Potential implications for the Swedish national tests in English are discussed. © 2014 The Authors. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology published by Scandinavian Psychological Associations and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Obesity: listening beyond the fat cells

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Junia de Vilhena

2012-09-01

Full Text Available What relation does obesity have with mental suffering? The authors investigated the relationship between traumas, melancholia, and loss, and show that obesity represents an attempt to fill in a void that goes beyond food. Based on the recognition of mental suffering, the authors underscore the need for a new type of therapeutic listening that promotes new ways of dealing with the emptiness of one's existence.

Listening and Reading Proficiency Levels of College Students

Science.gov (United States)

Tschirner, Erwin

2016-01-01

This article examines listening and reading proficiency levels of U.S. college foreign language students at major milestones throughout their undergraduate career. Data were collected from more than 3,000 participants studying seven languages at 21 universities and colleges across the United States. The results show that while listening…

LISTENING FOR EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION: A STUDY OF ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

JONATHAN

2016-07-01

Jul 1, 2016 ... In almost every human interaction, listening plays a vital role and so ... provided in order enhance effective communication. ... listening as “a deliberate process through which we seek to understand and retain aural (heard).

Task-Based Listening Assessment and the Influence of Construct-Irrelevant Variance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arshya Keyvanfar

2008-02-01

Full Text Available Task-based listening tests such as IELTS require testees to listen to some information on a CD and simultaneously answer the related items. To answer such items, testees are expected to comprehend, analyze, compare and infer pieces of information while listening to the incoming audio material. The present research attempted to investigate whether the two major characteristics of question type and consecutive/simultaneous performance have any impact on the listening performance of Iranian EFL learners. Findings indicated that participants had a significantly better performance when they tackled the tasks consecutively, and performed even better in listening MC items rather than in listening task-based items. The researchers, thus, concluded that task-based listening tests such as IELTS listening module may be under the influence of construct-irrelevant variance.

Listening to polyphonic music recruits domain-general attention and working memory circuits.

Science.gov (United States)

Janata, Petr; Tillmann, Barbara; Bharucha, Jamshed J

2002-06-01

Polyphonic music combines multiple auditory streams to create complex auditory scenes, thus providing a tool for investigating the neural mechanisms that orient attention in natural auditory contexts. Across two fMRI experiments, we varied stimuli and task demands in order to identify the cortical areas that are activated during attentive listening to real music. In individual experiments and in a conjunction analysis of the two experiments, we found bilateral blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) signal increases in temporal (the superior temporal gyrus), parietal (the intraparietal sulcus), and frontal (the precentral sulcus, the inferior frontal sulcus and gyrus, and the frontal operculum) areas during selective and global listening, as compared with passive rest without musical stimulation. Direct comparisons of the listening conditions showed significant differences between attending to single timbres (instruments) and attending across multiple instruments, although the patterns that were observed depended on the relative demands of the tasks being compared. The overall pattern of BOLD signal increases indicated that attentive listening to music recruits neural circuits underlying multiple forms of working memory, attention, semantic processing, target detection, and motor imagery. Thus, attentive listening to music appears to be enabled by areas that serve general functions, rather than by music-specific cortical modules.

The Relationship between Listening Strategies Used by Iranian EFL Freshman University Students and Their Listening Proficiency Levels

Science.gov (United States)

Bidabadi, Farinaz Shirani; Yamat, Hamidah

2011-01-01

The purpose of the current study was to identify Iranian EFL freshman university students' listening proficiency levels and the listening strategies they employed to investigate the relationship between these two variables. A total of 92 freshmen were involved in this study. The Oxford Placement Test was employed to identify the learners'…

An Investigation of the Use of Listening Strategies and Listening Performance of Proficient and Nonproficient Language Learners

Science.gov (United States)

Piamsai, Chatraporn

2014-01-01

This study was an attempt to investigate how proficient and non-proficient learners used listening strategies to complete a listening task. 65 third-year Chulalongkorn University Commerce and Accountancy students participated in the first stage of the quantitative data collection. 18 students were randomly selected from the group for more in depth…

Role of Active Listening and Listening Effort on Contralateral Suppression of Transient Evoked Otoacousic Emissions

OpenAIRE

Kalaiah, Mohan Kumar; Theruvan, Nikhitha B; Kumar, Kaushlendra; Bhat, Jayashree S

2017-01-01

Background and Objectives The present study aimed to investigate the effect of active listening and listening effort on the contralateral suppression of transient evoked otoacoustic emissions (CSTEOAEs). Subjects and Methods Twenty eight young adults participated in the study. Transient evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAEs) were recorded using ?linear? clicks at 60 dB peSPL, in three contralateral noise conditions. In condition 1, TEOAEs were obtained in the presence of white noise in the con...

Differential Difficulties in Perception of Tashlhiyt Berber Consonant Quantity Contrasts by Native Tashlhiyt Listeners vs. Berber-Naïve French Listeners.

Science.gov (United States)

Hallé, Pierre A; Ridouane, Rachid; Best, Catherine T

2016-01-01

In a discrimination experiment on several Tashlhiyt Berber singleton-geminate contrasts, we find that French listeners encounter substantial difficulty compared to native speakers. Native listeners of Tashlhiyt perform near ceiling level on all contrasts. French listeners perform better on final contrasts such as fit-fitt than initial contrasts such as bi-bbi or sir-ssir. That is, French listeners are more sensitive to silent closure duration in word-final voiceless stops than to either voiced murmur or frication duration of fully voiced stops or voiceless fricatives in word-initial position. We propose, tentatively, that native speakers of French, a language in which gemination is usually not considered to be phonemic, have not acquired quantity contrasts but yet exhibit a presumably universal sensitivity to rhythm, whereby listeners are able to perceive and compare the relative temporal distance between beats given by successive salient phonetic events such as a sequence of vowel nuclei.

A report on academic listening development of second language ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Particular attention is given to the students' ability to engage successfully in the academic discourse by employing effective listening skills in their second language. Listening tasks were developed within the theoretical and practical framework of active listening. The discussion will focus on the theoretical approach and ...

The Effects of Classical Music on Listening Comprehension.

Science.gov (United States)

Behar, Cara

A study determined the effectiveness of background classical music on listening comprehension. Nine special education students were read 10 different stories while music was either playing or not. They were asked the same four story element questions after each story. Results showed no significant differences between the two types of listening…

The effect of multiple modalities on the perception of a listening agent

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Poppe, Ronald Walter; ter Maat, Mark; Heylen, Dirk K.J.

Listening agents are IVAs that display attentive listening behavior to a human speaker. The research into listening agents has mainly focused on (1) automatically timing listener responses; and (2) investigating the perceptual quality of listening behavior. Both issues have predominantly been

The psychological functions of music listening.

Science.gov (United States)

Schäfer, Thomas; Sedlmeier, Peter; Städtler, Christine; Huron, David

2013-01-01

Why do people listen to music? Over the past several decades, scholars have proposed numerous functions that listening to music might fulfill. However, different theoretical approaches, different methods, and different samples have left a heterogeneous picture regarding the number and nature of musical functions. Moreover, there remains no agreement about the underlying dimensions of these functions. Part one of the paper reviews the research contributions that have explicitly referred to musical functions. It is concluded that a comprehensive investigation addressing the basic dimensions underlying the plethora of functions of music listening is warranted. Part two of the paper presents an empirical investigation of hundreds of functions that could be extracted from the reviewed contributions. These functions were distilled to 129 non-redundant functions that were then rated by 834 respondents. Principal component analysis suggested three distinct underlying dimensions: People listen to music to regulate arousal and mood, to achieve self-awareness, and as an expression of social relatedness. The first and second dimensions were judged to be much more important than the third-a result that contrasts with the idea that music has evolved primarily as a means for social cohesion and communication. The implications of these results are discussed in light of theories on the origin and the functionality of music listening and also for the application of musical stimuli in all areas of psychology and for research in music cognition.

The psychological functions of music listening

Science.gov (United States)

Schäfer, Thomas; Sedlmeier, Peter; Städtler, Christine; Huron, David

2013-01-01

Why do people listen to music? Over the past several decades, scholars have proposed numerous functions that listening to music might fulfill. However, different theoretical approaches, different methods, and different samples have left a heterogeneous picture regarding the number and nature of musical functions. Moreover, there remains no agreement about the underlying dimensions of these functions. Part one of the paper reviews the research contributions that have explicitly referred to musical functions. It is concluded that a comprehensive investigation addressing the basic dimensions underlying the plethora of functions of music listening is warranted. Part two of the paper presents an empirical investigation of hundreds of functions that could be extracted from the reviewed contributions. These functions were distilled to 129 non-redundant functions that were then rated by 834 respondents. Principal component analysis suggested three distinct underlying dimensions: People listen to music to regulate arousal and mood, to achieve self-awareness, and as an expression of social relatedness. The first and second dimensions were judged to be much more important than the third—a result that contrasts with the idea that music has evolved primarily as a means for social cohesion and communication. The implications of these results are discussed in light of theories on the origin and the functionality of music listening and also for the application of musical stimuli in all areas of psychology and for research in music cognition. PMID:23964257

Can you hear me now? Teaching listening skills.

Science.gov (United States)

Nemec, Patricia B; Spagnolo, Amy Cottone; Soydan, Anne Sullivan

2017-12-01

This column provides an overview of methods for training to improve service provider active listening and reflective responding skills. Basic skills in active listening and reflective responding allow service providers to gather information about and explore the needs, desires, concerns, and preference of people using their services-activities that are of critical importance if services are to be truly person-centered and person-driven. Sources include the personal experience of the authors as well as published literature on the value of basic counseling skills and best practices in training on listening and other related soft skills. Training in listening is often needed but rarely sought by behavioral health service providers. Effective curricula exist, providing content and practice opportunities that can be incorporated into training, supervision, and team meetings. When providers do not listen well to the people who use their services, the entire premise of recovery-oriented person-driven services is undermined. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Improving listening skills of tertiary level students for effective ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Listening is essential to the leaming process. Students in tertiary institutions of learning need to acquire effective listening and note-taking skiils in order to benefit from lectures. This paper focused on factors militating against effective listening during lectures such as poor rate of presentation, poor communication skills, ...

The effects of listening environment and earphone style on preferred listening levels of normal hearing adults using an MP3 player.

Science.gov (United States)

Hodgetts, William E; Rieger, Jana M; Szarko, Ryan A

2007-06-01

The main objective of this study was to determine the influence of listening environment and earphone style on the preferred-listening levels (PLLs) measured in users' ear canals with a commercially-available MP3 player. It was hypothesized that listeners would prefer higher levels with earbud headphones as opposed to over-the-ear headphones, and that the effects would depend on the environment in which the user was listening. A secondary objective was to use the measured PLLs to determine the permissible listening duration to reach 100% daily noise dose. There were two independent variables in this study. The first, headphone style, had three levels: earbud, over-the-ear, and over-the-ear with noise reduction (the same headphones with a noise reduction circuit). The second, environment, also had 3 levels: quiet, street noise and multi-talker babble. The dependent variable was ear canal A-weighted sound pressure level. A 3 x 3 within-subjects repeated-measures ANOVA was used to analyze the data. Thirty-eight normal hearing adults were recruited from the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine at the University of Alberta. Each subject listened to the same song and adjusted the level until it "sounded best" to them in each of the 9 conditions. Significant main effects were found for both the headphone style and environment factors. On average, listeners had higher preferred listening levels with the earbud headphones, than with the over-the-ear headphones. When the noise reduction circuit was used with the over-the-ear headphones, the average PLL was even lower. On average, listeners had higher PLLs in street noise than in multi-talker babble and both of these were higher than the PLL for the quiet condition. The interaction between headphone style and environment was also significant. Details of individual contrasts are explored. Overall, PLLs were quite conservative, which would theoretically allow for extended permissible listening durations. Finally, we investigated

Relationship between spectrotemporal modulation detection and music perception in normal-hearing, hearing-impaired, and cochlear implant listeners.

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, Ji Eun; Won, Jong Ho; Kim, Cheol Hee; Cho, Yang-Sun; Hong, Sung Hwa; Moon, Il Joon

2018-01-15

The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between spectrotemporal modulation (STM) sensitivity and the ability to perceive music. Ten normal-nearing (NH) listeners, ten hearing aid (HA) users with moderate hearing loss, and ten cochlear Implant (CI) users participated in this study. Three different types of psychoacoustic tests including spectral modulation detection (SMD), temporal modulation detection (TMD), and STM were administered. Performances on these psychoacoustic tests were compared to music perception abilities. In addition, psychoacoustic mechanisms involved in the improvement of music perception through HA were evaluated. Music perception abilities in unaided and aided conditions were measured for HA users. After that, HA benefit for music perception was correlated with aided psychoacoustic performance. STM detection study showed that a combination of spectral and temporal modulation cues were more strongly correlated with music perception abilities than spectral or temporal modulation cues measured separately. No correlation was found between music perception performance and SMD threshold or TMD threshold in each group. Also, HA benefits for melody and timbre identification were significantly correlated with a combination of spectral and temporal envelope cues though HA.

[Seasonal variation patterns of NH4(+) -N/NO3(-) -N ratio and delta 15 NH4(+) value in rainwater in Yangtze River Delta].

Science.gov (United States)

Xie, Ying-Xin; Zhang, Shu-Li; Zhao, Xu; Xiong, Zheng-Qin; Xing, Guang-Xi

2008-09-01

By using a customized manual rainwater sampler made of polyvinyl chloride plastic, the molar ratio of NH4(+) -N/NO3(-) -N and the natural 15N abundance of NH4(+) (delta 15 NH4(+) in rainwater was monitored all year round from June 2003 to July 2005 at three observation sites (Changshu, Nanjing, and Hangzhou) in the Yangtze River Delta. The results indicated that at the three sites, the NH4(+) -N/NO3(-) -N ratio and the delta 15 NH4(+) value in rainwater had the similar seasonal variation trend, being more obvious in Changshu (rural monitoring type) site than in Nanjing (urban monitoring type) and Hangzhou (urban-rural monitoring type) sites. The NH4(+) -N/NO3(-) -N ratio peaked from early June to early August, declined gradually afterwards, and reached the bottom in winter; while the delta 15 NH4(+) value was negative from late June to mid-August, turned positive from late August to mid or late November, became negative again when winter dominated from December to March, but turned positive again in next May and negative again in next July. These seasonal variation patterns of NH4(+) -N/NO3(-) -N ratio and delta 15 NH4(+) value were found in relation to the application of chemical nitrogen fertilizers during different crop growth periods, and also, the alternation of seasons and the NH3 volatilization from other NH3 emission sources (including excrements of human and animals, nitrogen- polluted water bodies, and organic nitrogen sources, etc.), which could be taken as an indicator of defining the sources and form composition of NH4(+) in atmospheric wet deposition and the intensity of various terrestrial NH3 emission sources.

Compassionate, Spiritual, and Creative Listening in Teaching and Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Garrison, Jim

2010-01-01

Background/Context: Listening is largely overlooked in cultures constituted on the basis of the freedom of speech, such as we find in the United States and elsewhere. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study: The article explores compassionate listening as a creative spiritual activity. Such listening recognizes the suffering of others…

The Effects of using VoiceThread on Students’ Listening Comprehension and Attitudes Toward using VoiceThread

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oraib Mango

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The current study investigated the effects of the use of VoiceThread (VT on the listening comprehension and attitudes of college students of Arabic as a foreign language. Thirty-five students in two 10-week classes of beginning Arabic participated in this study. The instruction in both classes was the same except that, for one group, the instruction was supplemented by the use of VT to enhance listening and speaking skills during the 10 weeks. Upon completion of the class, students using VT showed superior listening skills. Moreover, an Attitude and Engagement survey showed that the students enjoyed using VT and viewed it as a valuable tool that enhanced their language learning.

The Effect of Teaching Metacognitive Listening Strategy during Shadowing Activity on Field-Dependent and Field-Independent EFL Learners’ Listening Comprehension

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Parastoo Alizadeh Oghyanous

2017-11-01

Full Text Available This study aimed to compare the effect of teaching metacognitive listening strategies through shadowing activity on the listening comprehension of field-dependent (FD and field-independent (FI EFL learners. Since the researcher had access only to female participants,85 female EFL learners from a language institute in Tehran, at the pre-intermediate level of proficiency with the age range of 18-35 were selected out of the initial 120 participants based on their performance on a piloted PET. The Group Embedded Figures Test (GEFT was administered to the selected participants in order to categorize them into the two experimental groups (49 FD and 36 FI. The participants including both FD and FI sat in several classes. During a five-week instruction period (twice a week, both groups practiced listening comprehension for 45 minutes through a combination of shadowing activity, and metacognitive strategy instruction with no difference in treatment. The results of the independent samples t-test demonstrated that there was no significant difference between listening posttest scores of FI and FD groups. Therefore, it was concluded that metacognitive strategy training coupled with shadowing activity could be equally beneficial in terms of listening proficiency for all students regardless of their perceptual tendency (FD/FI. The findings of the present study have implications for language teachers regarding metacognitive strategy training and listening comprehension enhancement.

Co-Optima Stakeholder Listening Day Summary Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None, None

2016-04-01

On June 16–17, 2015, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) convened the Optima Stakeholder Listening ay to share information on an emerging effort to concurrently investigate the optimization of fuels and vehicles. At the time of the stakeholder listening day, this effort was referred to as “Optima.” The revised name of the effort is Co-Optimization of Fuels & Engines (Co-Optima). The effort and the listening day will use the term “Co-Optima” hereafter in this report.Co-Optima officially began in FY 2016 and is a collaboration of the DOE Vehicle Technologies Office, Bioenergy Technologies Office, and the DOE national laboratories. In FY 2015, DOE invited industry stakeholders to the listening day to obtain critical input on the opportunities and challenges of this effort. The meeting was held in Golden, Colorado, and hosted by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Exploring the Relationship between Listening Development and Strategy Use

Science.gov (United States)

Graham, Suzanne; Santos, Denise; Vanderplank, Robert

2011-01-01

This article reports on an investigation into the development of the listening proficiency and strategic behaviour of 15 lower-intermediate learners of French in England. We consider whether listeners remain in the same listening proficiency group after six months, and whether changes in strategy use are related to movement or non-movement between…

An Investigation of Metacognitive Strategies Used by EFL Listeners

Science.gov (United States)

Teng, Huei-Chun; Chan, Chi-Yeu

2008-01-01

The main intent of the present study is to find out what metacognitive strategies Taiwanese college students employ in EFL listening process. Four research questions explored in the study include: (1) What are the metacognitive strategies adopted by EFL listeners when they listen? (2) What are the differences of metacognitive strategies between…

Self-perceived Listening Comprehension Strategies Used by Iranian EFL Students

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sara Nowrouzi

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Numerous studies are available on L2 learners’ strategy use; however, there is no study investigating the Iranian tertiary level EFL learners’ listening strategy use. The present paper reports the findings of a cross-sectional study that explored a group of Iranian EFL learners’ (n = 100 use of listening comprehension strategies. The instrument that was used for collecting the data was called the Listening Strategy Use Questionnaire (LSUQ by Nowrouzi, Tam, Nimehchisalem, and Zareian (2014. The instrument divides listening strategies into cognitive, metacognitive, and socio-affective categories. Based on the results, on average the respondents reported low levels of self-perceived use of cognitive, metacognitive, and socio-affective strategies. The results indicate a serious need to focus more on the students’ listening comprehension skills in general and their listening strategies in particular.

Teaching How to Listen. Blended Learning for the Development and Assessment of Listening Skills in a Second Language

Science.gov (United States)

Caruso, Marinella; Gadd Colombi, Anna; Tebbit, Simon

2017-01-01

This paper discusses the integration and effectiveness of blended learning for the development and assessment of listening skills in a second language. The development of oral abilities (listening and speaking) is one of the most challenging and neglected aspects of second language learning (Vandergrift & Goh 2012, Graham & Santos 2015).…

Validation of an Academic Listening Test: Effects of "Breakdown" Tests and Test Takers' Cognitive Awareness of Listening Processes

Science.gov (United States)

Chi, Youngshin

2011-01-01

This study investigated the breakdown effect of a listening comprehension test, whether test takers are affected in comprehending lectures by impediments, and collected test takers' cognitive awareness on test tasks which contain listening breakdown factors how they perceived these impediments. In this context of the study, a "Breakdown" is a test…

Instructor Active Empathic Listening and Classroom Incivility

Science.gov (United States)

Weger, Harry

2018-01-01

Instructor listening skill is an understudied area in instructional communication research. This study looks at teachers' active empathic listening behavior association with student incivility. Scholars recognize student incivility as a growing problem and have called for research that identifies classroom behaviors that can affect classroom…

On the relationship between auditory cognition and speech intelligibility in cochlear implant users: An ERP study.

Science.gov (United States)

Finke, Mareike; Büchner, Andreas; Ruigendijk, Esther; Meyer, Martin; Sandmann, Pascale

2016-07-01

There is a high degree of variability in speech intelligibility outcomes across cochlear-implant (CI) users. To better understand how auditory cognition affects speech intelligibility with the CI, we performed an electroencephalography study in which we examined the relationship between central auditory processing, cognitive abilities, and speech intelligibility. Postlingually deafened CI users (N=13) and matched normal-hearing (NH) listeners (N=13) performed an oddball task with words presented in different background conditions (quiet, stationary noise, modulated noise). Participants had to categorize words as living (targets) or non-living entities (standards). We also assessed participants' working memory (WM) capacity and verbal abilities. For the oddball task, we found lower hit rates and prolonged response times in CI users when compared with NH listeners. Noise-related prolongation of the N1 amplitude was found for all participants. Further, we observed group-specific modulation effects of event-related potentials (ERPs) as a function of background noise. While NH listeners showed stronger noise-related modulation of the N1 latency, CI users revealed enhanced modulation effects of the N2/N4 latency. In general, higher-order processing (N2/N4, P3) was prolonged in CI users in all background conditions when compared with NH listeners. Longer N2/N4 latency in CI users suggests that these individuals have difficulties to map acoustic-phonetic features to lexical representations. These difficulties seem to be increased for speech-in-noise conditions when compared with speech in quiet background. Correlation analyses showed that shorter ERP latencies were related to enhanced speech intelligibility (N1, N2/N4), better lexical fluency (N1), and lower ratings of listening effort (N2/N4) in CI users. In sum, our findings suggest that CI users and NH listeners differ with regards to both the sensory and the higher-order processing of speech in quiet as well as in

The Effect of Question Position on Listening Comprehension: A Case Study

OpenAIRE

Naci Yildiz; Nikoloz Parjanadze; Mustafa Albay

2015-01-01

Though speaking has been considered as the most important skill in foreign language learning process, listening has a fundamental value because learning does not occur without comprehensible input. Listening is a complex process in which learners must do analysis to accurately interpret. In listening learners need to interpret with a speaker to construct meaning. This study tries to find out whether listening strategies are effective to influence listening comprehension and the major goal of ...

The Relationships between Social Class, Listening Test Anxiety and Test Scores

OpenAIRE

Omid Talebi Rezaabadi

2016-01-01

This study investigated the relationships between the social anxiety, social class and listening-test anxiety of students learning English as a foreign language. The aims of the study were to examine the relationship between listening-test anxiety and listening-test performance. The data were collected using an adapted Foreign Language Listening Anxiety Scale and a newly developed Foreign Language Social Anxiety Scale. The potential correlation between social anxiety and listening-test perfor...

Understanding the Listening Process: Rethinking the "One Size Fits All" Model

Science.gov (United States)

Wolvin, Andrew

2013-01-01

Robert Bostrom's seminal contributions to listening theory and research represent an impressive legacy and provide listening scholars with important perspectives on the complexities of listening cognition and behavior. Bostrom's work provides a solid foundation on which to build models that more realistically explain how listeners function…

Familiarity Affects Entrainment of EEG in Music Listening

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuiko Kumagai

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Music perception involves complex brain functions. The relationship between music and brain such as cortical entrainment to periodic tune, periodic beat, and music have been well investigated. It has also been reported that the cerebral cortex responded more strongly to the periodic rhythm of unfamiliar music than to that of familiar music. However, previous works mainly used simple and artificial auditory stimuli like pure tone or beep. It is still unclear how the brain response is influenced by the familiarity of music. To address this issue, we analyzed electroencelphalogram (EEG to investigate the relationship between cortical response and familiarity of music using melodies produced by piano sounds as simple natural stimuli. The cross-correlation function averaged across trials, channels, and participants showed two pronounced peaks at time lags around 70 and 140 ms. At the two peaks the magnitude of the cross-correlation values were significantly larger when listening to unfamiliar and scrambled music compared to those when listening to familiar music. Our findings suggest that the response to unfamiliar music is stronger than that to familiar music. One potential application of our findings would be the discrimination of listeners' familiarity with music, which provides an important tool for assessment of brain activity.

Equipping Learners with Listening Strategies in English Language Classes

Science.gov (United States)

Seferoglu, Golge; Uzakgoren, Sedef

2004-01-01

This study aimed at investigating beginner level English language learners' perspectives on the listening skill with regard to several dimensions, and to find out the extent to which the learners who have been trained in listening strategies actually use them while listening. The study took place at the English Preparatory School of an English…

Listening to music primes space: pianists, but not novices, simulate heard actions.

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, J Eric T; Witt, Jessica K

2015-03-01

Musicians sometimes report twitching in their fingers or hands while listening to music. This anecdote could be indicative of a tendency for auditory-motor co-representation in musicians. Here, we describe two studies showing that pianists (Experiment 1), but not novices (Experiment 2) automatically generate spatial representations that correspond to learned musical actions while listening to music. Participants made one-handed movements to the left or right from a central location in response to visual stimuli while listening to task-irrelevant auditory stimuli, which were scales played on a piano. These task-irrelevant scales were either ascending (compatible with rightward movements) or descending (compatible with leftward movements). Pianists were faster to respond when the scale direction was compatible with the direction of response movement, whereas novices' movements were unaffected by the scale. These results are in agreement with existing research on action-effect coupling in musicians, which draw heavily on common coding theory. In addition, these results show how intricate auditory stimuli (ascending or descending scales) evoke coarse, domain-general spatial representations.

Risky music-listening behaviors and associated health-risk behaviors.

Science.gov (United States)

Vogel, Ineke; van de Looij-Jansen, Petra M; Mieloo, Cathelijne L; Burdorf, Alex; de Waart, Frouwkje

2012-06-01

To examine, among adolescents and emerging adults attending inner-city lower education, associations between risky music-listening behaviors (from MP3 players and in discotheques and at pop concerts) and more traditional health-risk behaviors: substance use (cigarettes, alcohol, cannabis, and hard drugs) and unsafe sexual intercourse. A total of 944 students in Dutch inner-city senior-secondary vocational schools completed questionnaires about their music-listening and traditional health-risk behaviors. Multiple logistic regression analyses were used to examine associations between music-listening and traditional health-risk behaviors. Risky MP3-player listeners used cannabis more often during the past 4 weeks. Students exposed to risky sound levels during discotheque and pop concert attendance used cannabis less often during the past 4 weeks, were more often binge drinkers, and reported inconsistent condom use during sexual intercourse. The coexistence of risky music-listening behaviors with other health-risk behaviors provides evidence in support of the integration of risky music-listening behaviors within research on and programs aimed at reducing more traditional health-risk behaviors, such as substance abuse and unsafe sexual intercourse.

Senior radio listeners

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Blaakilde, Anne Leonora

Radiobroadcasting and the hardware materialization of radio have during the 20th century changed significantly, which means that senior radio listeners have travelled along with this evolution from large, impressive radio furnitures to DAB and small, wireless, mobile devices, and from grave...... and solemn radio voices to lightharted, laughing and chatting speakers. Senior radio listerners have experienced the development and refinements of technique, content and genres. It is now expected of all media users that they are capable of crossing media, combining, juggling and jumping between various...... media platforms, not the least when listening to radio. The elder generation is no exception from this. Recently, for instance, the Danish public broadcast DR has carried out an exodus of programmes targeted for the senior segment. These programmes are removed from regular FM and sent to DAB receivers...

[Effectively communicate active listening : Comparison of two concepts].

Science.gov (United States)

Martin, O; Rockenbauch, K; Kleinert, E; Stöbel-Richter, Y

2017-09-01

Communication between physicians and patients has a great influence on patient adherence, patient satisfaction and the success of treatment. In this context, patient centered care and emotional support have a high positive impact; however, it is unclear how physicians can be motivated to communicate with patients in an appreciative and empathetic way. The implementation of such behavior requires a multitude of communicative skills. One of them is active listening, which is very important in two respects. On the one hand active listening provides the basis for several conversational contexts as a special communication technique and on the other hand active listening is presented in current textbooks in different ways: as an attitude or as a technique. In light of this, the question arises how active listening should be taught in order to be not only applicable in concrete conversations but also to lead to the highest possible level of patient satisfaction. The aim of this pilot study was to examine some variations in simulated doctor-patient conversations, which are the result of the different approaches to active listening. For this purpose three groups of first semester medical students were recruited, two of which were schooled in active listening in different ways (two groups of six students), i.e. attitude versus technique oriented. The third group (seven students) acted as the control group. In a pre-post design interviews with standardized simulation patients were conducted and subsequently evaluated. The analysis of these interviews was considered from the perspectives of participants and observers as well as the quantitative aspects. This study revealed some interesting tendencies despite its status as a pilot study: in general, the two interventional groups performed significantly better than the control group in which no relevant changes occurred. In a direct comparison, the group in which active listening was taught from an attitude approach achieved

Hearing aid processing strategies for listeners with different auditory profiles: Insights from the BEAR project

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wu, Mengfan; El-Haj-Ali, Mouhamad; Sanchez Lopez, Raul

hearing aid settings that differed in terms of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) improvement and temporal and spectral speech distortions were selected for testing based on a comprehensive technical evaluation of different parameterisations of the hearing aid simulator. Speech-in-noise perception was assessed...... stimulus comparison paradigm. RESULTS We hypothesize that the perceptual outcomes from the six hearing aid settings will differ across listeners with different auditory profiles. More specifically, we expect listeners showing high sensitivity to temporal and spectral differences to perform best with and....../or to favour hearing aid settings that preserve those cues. In contrast, we expect listeners showing low sensitivity to temporal and spectral differences to perform best with and/or to favour settings that maximize SNR improvement, independent of any additional speech distortions. Altogether, we anticipate...

Academic Listening in the 21st Century: Reviewing a Decade of Research

Science.gov (United States)

Lynch, Tony

2011-01-01

This review article extends the conventional notion of academic listening to include reciprocal (two-way) listening events in academic settings, as well as (one-way) listening to lectures. The introductory section highlights the comparatively low profile of listening in EAP research, due in part to the inherent complexity of listening and its…

The Right Temporoparietal Junction Supports Speech Tracking During Selective Listening: Evidence from Concurrent EEG-fMRI.

Science.gov (United States)

Puschmann, Sebastian; Steinkamp, Simon; Gillich, Imke; Mirkovic, Bojana; Debener, Stefan; Thiel, Christiane M

2017-11-22

Listening selectively to one out of several competing speakers in a "cocktail party" situation is a highly demanding task. It relies on a widespread cortical network, including auditory sensory, but also frontal and parietal brain regions involved in controlling auditory attention. Previous work has shown that, during selective listening, ongoing neural activity in auditory sensory areas is dominated by the attended speech stream, whereas competing input is suppressed. The relationship between these attentional modulations in the sensory tracking of the attended speech stream and frontoparietal activity during selective listening is, however, not understood. We studied this question in young, healthy human participants (both sexes) using concurrent EEG-fMRI and a sustained selective listening task, in which one out of two competing speech streams had to be attended selectively. An EEG-based speech envelope reconstruction method was applied to assess the strength of the cortical tracking of the to-be-attended and the to-be-ignored stream during selective listening. Our results show that individual speech envelope reconstruction accuracies obtained for the to-be-attended speech stream were positively correlated with the amplitude of sustained BOLD responses in the right temporoparietal junction, a core region of the ventral attention network. This brain region further showed task-related functional connectivity to secondary auditory cortex and regions of the frontoparietal attention network, including the intraparietal sulcus and the inferior frontal gyrus. This suggests that the right temporoparietal junction is involved in controlling attention during selective listening, allowing for a better cortical tracking of the attended speech stream. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Listening selectively to one out of several simultaneously talking speakers in a "cocktail party" situation is a highly demanding task. It activates a widespread network of auditory sensory and

Content-specific coordination of listeners' to speakers' EEG during communication.

Science.gov (United States)

Kuhlen, Anna K; Allefeld, Carsten; Haynes, John-Dylan

2012-01-01

Cognitive neuroscience has recently begun to extend its focus from the isolated individual mind to two or more individuals coordinating with each other. In this study we uncover a coordination of neural activity between the ongoing electroencephalogram (EEG) of two people-a person speaking and a person listening. The EEG of one set of twelve participants ("speakers") was recorded while they were narrating short stories. The EEG of another set of twelve participants ("listeners") was recorded while watching audiovisual recordings of these stories. Specifically, listeners watched the superimposed videos of two speakers simultaneously and were instructed to attend either to one or the other speaker. This allowed us to isolate neural coordination due to processing the communicated content from the effects of sensory input. We find several neural signatures of communication: First, the EEG is more similar among listeners attending to the same speaker than among listeners attending to different speakers, indicating that listeners' EEG reflects content-specific information. Secondly, listeners' EEG activity correlates with the attended speakers' EEG, peaking at a time delay of about 12.5 s. This correlation takes place not only between homologous, but also between non-homologous brain areas in speakers and listeners. A semantic analysis of the stories suggests that listeners coordinate with speakers at the level of complex semantic representations, so-called "situation models". With this study we link a coordination of neural activity between individuals directly to verbally communicated information.

On the same wavelength: predictable language enhances speaker-listener brain-to-brain synchrony in posterior superior temporal gyrus.

Science.gov (United States)

Dikker, Suzanne; Silbert, Lauren J; Hasson, Uri; Zevin, Jason D

2014-04-30

Recent research has shown that the degree to which speakers and listeners exhibit similar brain activity patterns during human linguistic interaction is correlated with communicative success. Here, we used an intersubject correlation approach in fMRI to test the hypothesis that a listener's ability to predict a speaker's utterance increases such neural coupling between speakers and listeners. Nine subjects listened to recordings of a speaker describing visual scenes that varied in the degree to which they permitted specific linguistic predictions. In line with our hypothesis, the temporal profile of listeners' brain activity was significantly more synchronous with the speaker's brain activity for highly predictive contexts in left posterior superior temporal gyrus (pSTG), an area previously associated with predictive auditory language processing. In this region, predictability differentially affected the temporal profiles of brain responses in the speaker and listeners respectively, in turn affecting correlated activity between the two: whereas pSTG activation increased with predictability in the speaker, listeners' pSTG activity instead decreased for more predictable sentences. Listeners additionally showed stronger BOLD responses for predictive images before sentence onset, suggesting that highly predictable contexts lead comprehenders to preactivate predicted words.

Using Dictogloss As An Interactive Method Of Teaching Listening Comprehension

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ramlatu Jibir-Daura

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Listening is one of the important language skills. Traditionally, listening skills have been taught in isolation or it is sometimes combined with speaking tasks. Dictogloss is an interactive method which promotes cooperative learning and can assist in the development of both the teacher and students’ listening skills. Unlike in the traditional method of dictation, in dictogloss only the gist of the text is expected to be produced by the students. To find the usefulness of the method in a second language learning context, twenty BA ED (Hausa one hundred level students from the Language Arts section of the Ahmadu Bello University were used. Two texts, one from ‘Oliver Twist’ and the other was ‘The Seven Voyages of Simbad’. These were dictated to the students, one for each day. The result of the second task was recorded. The first exercise served as practice for the students to become familiar with the procedure. Although it is a new procedure, the results showed an improvement from the results of the first task. The students enjoyed the excercise and were willing to continue the next day even though the first results were not very good. Recommendations were given on how second language teachers could use dictogloss to their advantage for cooperative learning in listening comprehension classes.

Giant-Planet Chemistry: Ammonium Hydrosulfide (NH4SH), Its IR Spectra and Thermal and Radiolytic Stabilities

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Loeffler, Mark J.; Hudson, Reggie L.; Chanover, Nancy J.; Simon, Amy A.

2015-01-01

Here we present our recent studies of proton-irradiated and unirradiated ammonium hydrosulfide, NH4SH, a compound predicted to be an important tropospheric cloud component of Jupiter and other giant planets. We irradiated both crystalline and amorphous NH4SH at 10-160 K and used IR spectroscopy to observe and identify reaction products in the ice, specifically NH3 and long-chained sulfur-containing ions. Crystalline NH4SH was amorphized during irradiation at all temperatures studied with the rate being the fastest at the lowest temperatures. Irradiation of amorphous NH4SH at approximately 10-75 K showed that 60-80% of the NH4 + remained when equilibrium was reached, and that NH4SH destruction rates were relatively constant within this temperature range. Irradiations at higher temperatures produced different dose dependence and were accompanied by pressure outbursts that, in some cases, fractured the ice. The thermal stability of irradiated NH4SH was found to be greater than that of unirradiated NH4SH, suggesting that an irradiated giant-planet cloud precipitate can exist at temperatures and altitudes not previously considered.

Using ILD or ITD Cues for Sound Source Localization and Speech Understanding in a Complex Listening Environment by Listeners with Bilateral and with Hearing-Preservation Cochlear Implants

Science.gov (United States)

Loiselle, Louise H.; Dorman, Michael F.; Yost, William A.; Cook, Sarah J.; Gifford, Rene H.

2016-01-01

Purpose: To assess the role of interaural time differences and interaural level differences in (a) sound-source localization, and (b) speech understanding in a cocktail party listening environment for listeners with bilateral cochlear implants (CIs) and for listeners with hearing-preservation CIs. Methods: Eleven bilateral listeners with MED-EL…

Protonated MIL-125-NH2: Remarkable Adsorbent for the Removal of Quinoline and Indole from Liquid Fuel.

Science.gov (United States)

Ahmed, Imteaz; Khan, Nazmul Abedin; Yoon, Ji Woong; Chang, Jong-San; Jhung, Sung Hwa

2017-06-21

The removal of nitrogen-containing compounds (NCCs) from fossil fuels prior to combustion is currently of particular importance, and so we investigated an adsorptive method using metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) for the removal of indole (IND) and quinoline (QUI), which are two of the main NCCs present in fossil fuels. We herein employed an amino (-NH 2 )-functionalized MIL-125 (MIL-125-NH 2 ) MOF, which was further modified by protonation (P-MIL-125-NH 2 ). These modified MOFs exhibited extraordinary performance in the adsorption of both IND (as representative neutral NCC) and QUI (as representative basic NCC). These MOFs were one of the most efficient adsorbents for the removal of NCCs. For example, P-MIL-125-NH 2 showed the highest adsorption capacity for QUI among ever reported adsorbent. The improved adsorption of IND was explained by H-bonding and cation-π interactions for MIL-125-NH 2 and P-MIL-125-NH 2 , respectively, while the mechanisms for QUI were H-bonding and acid-base interactions, respectively. This is a rare phenomenon for a single material (especially not with very high porosity) to exhibit such remarkable performances in the adsorption of both basic QUI and neutral IND. The adsorption results obtained using regenerated MIL-125-NH 2 and P-MIL-125-NH 2 also showed that these materials can be used several times without any severe degradation.

A liquid-based eutectic system: LiBH4·NH 3-nNH3BH3 with high dehydrogenation capacity at moderate temperature

KAUST Repository

Tan, Yingbin; Guo, Yanhui; Li, Shaofeng; Sun, Weiwei; Zhu, Yihan; Li, Qi; Yu, Xuebin

2011-01-01

A novel eutectic hydrogen storage system, LiBH4·NH 3-nNH3BH3, which exists in a liquid state at room temperature, was synthesized through a simple mixing of LiBH 4·NH3 and NH3BH3 (AB). In the temperature range of 90-110 °C, the eutectic system

Culture and Listeners' Gaze Responses to Stuttering

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Jianliang; Kalinowski, Joseph

2012-01-01

Background: It is frequently observed that listeners demonstrate gaze aversion to stuttering. This response may have profound social/communicative implications for both fluent and stuttering individuals. However, there is a lack of empirical examination of listeners' eye gaze responses to stuttering, and it is unclear whether cultural background…

Analytic models of NH4+ uptake and regeneration experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Laws, E.A.

1985-01-01

Differential equations describing the uptake and regeneration of NH 4 + in both laboratory and field experiments are shown to have analytic solutions which can easily be inverted to determine the rate constants of interest. The solutions are used to study the descriptive ability of two fundamentally different models of NH 4 + cycling, one in which NH 4 + regeneration is regarded as a process that transfers N from participate N to NH 4 + , the other in which regeneration is regarded as a process that introduced NH 4 + to the dissolved phase without removing N from the particulate phase. The former model was found to give a good description of experimental field data and reasonable parameter values in all cases studied. The latter model was much less successful in describing the data and in producing reasonable parameter values. It is concluded that transfer of nitrogen from particulate N to NH 4 + is a process which must be taken into account in analyzing NH 4 + uptake and regeneration experiments

Coloring Jupiter's clouds: Radiolysis of ammonium hydrosulfide (NH4SH)

Science.gov (United States)

Loeffler, Mark J.; Hudson, Reggie L.

2018-03-01

Here we present our recent studies on the color and spectral reflectance changes induced by ∼0.9 MeV proton irradiation of ammonium hydrosulfide, NH4SH, a compound predicted to be an important tropospheric cloud component of Jupiter and other giant planets. Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy was used to observe and identify reaction products in the ice sample and digital photography was used to document the corresponding color changes at 10-160 K. Our experiments clearly show that the resulting color of the sample depends not only on the irradiation dose but also the irradiation temperature. Furthermore, unlike in our most recent studies of irradiation of NH4SH at 120 K, which showed that higher irradiation doses caused the sample to appear green, the lower temperature studies now show that the sample becomes red after irradiation. However, comparison of these lower temperature spectra over the entire spectral range observed by HST shows that even though the color and spectrum resemble the color and spectrum of the GRS, there is still enough difference to suggest that another component may be needed to adequately fit spectra of the GRS and other red regions of Jupiter's clouds. Regardless, the presence of NH4SH in the atmosphere of Jupiter and other gas giants, combined with this compound's clear alteration via radiolysis, suggests that its contribution to the ultraviolet-visible spectra of any of these object's clouds is significant.

NH4+ protects tomato plants against Pseudomonas syringae by activation of systemic acquired acclimation.

Science.gov (United States)

Fernández-Crespo, Emma; Scalschi, Loredana; Llorens, Eugenio; García-Agustín, Pilar; Camañes, Gemma

2015-11-01

NH4 (+) nutrition provokes mild toxicity by enhancing H2O2 accumulation, which acts as a signal activating systemic acquired acclimation (SAA). Until now, induced resistance mechanisms in response to an abiotic stimulus and related to SAA were only reported for exposure to a subsequent abiotic stress. Herein, the first evidence is provided that this acclimation to an abiotic stimulus induces resistance to later pathogen infection, since NH4 (+) nutrition (N-NH4 (+))-induced resistance (NH4 (+)-IR) against Pseudomonas syringae pv tomato DC3000 (Pst) in tomato plants was demonstrated. N-NH4 (+) plants displayed basal H2O2, abscisic acid (ABA), and putrescine (Put) accumulation. H2O2 accumulation acted as a signal to induce ABA-dependent signalling pathways required to prevent NH4 (+) toxicity. This acclimatory event provoked an increase in resistance against later pathogen infection. N-NH4 (+) plants displayed basal stomatal closure produced by H2O2 derived from enhanced CuAO and rboh1 activity that may reduce the entry of bacteria into the mesophyll, diminishing the disease symptoms as well as strongly inducing the oxidative burst upon Pst infection, favouring NH4 (+)-IR. Experiments with inhibitors of Put accumulation and the ABA-deficient mutant flacca demonstrated that Put and ABA downstream signalling pathways are required to complete NH4 (+)-IR. The metabolic profile revealed that infected N-NH4 (+) plants showed greater ferulic acid accumulation compared with control plants. Although classical salicylic acid (SA)-dependent responses against biotrophic pathogens were not found, the important role of Put in the resistance of tomato against Pst was demonstrated. Moreover, this work revealed the cross-talk between abiotic stress acclimation (NH4 (+) nutrition) and resistance to subsequent Pst infection. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Experimental Biology.

How hearing aids, background noise, and visual cues influence objective listening effort.

Science.gov (United States)

Picou, Erin M; Ricketts, Todd A; Hornsby, Benjamin W Y

2013-09-01

The purpose of this article was to evaluate factors that influence the listening effort experienced when processing speech for people with hearing loss. Specifically, the change in listening effort resulting from introducing hearing aids, visual cues, and background noise was evaluated. An additional exploratory aim was to investigate the possible relationships between the magnitude of listening effort change and individual listeners' working memory capacity, verbal processing speed, or lipreading skill. Twenty-seven participants with bilateral sensorineural hearing loss were fitted with linear behind-the-ear hearing aids and tested using a dual-task paradigm designed to evaluate listening effort. The primary task was monosyllable word recognition and the secondary task was a visual reaction time task. The test conditions varied by hearing aids (unaided, aided), visual cues (auditory-only, auditory-visual), and background noise (present, absent). For all participants, the signal to noise ratio was set individually so that speech recognition performance in noise was approximately 60% in both the auditory-only and auditory-visual conditions. In addition to measures of listening effort, working memory capacity, verbal processing speed, and lipreading ability were measured using the Automated Operational Span Task, a Lexical Decision Task, and the Revised Shortened Utley Lipreading Test, respectively. In general, the effects measured using the objective measure of listening effort were small (~10 msec). Results indicated that background noise increased listening effort, and hearing aids reduced listening effort, while visual cues did not influence listening effort. With regard to the individual variables, verbal processing speed was negatively correlated with hearing aid benefit for listening effort; faster processors were less likely to derive benefit. Working memory capacity, verbal processing speed, and lipreading ability were related to benefit from visual cues. No

NMR Spectroscopic Characterization of Methylcobalt(III) Compounds with Classical Ligands. Crystal Structures of [Co(NH(3))(5)(CH(3))]S(2)O(6), trans-[Co(en)(2)(NH(3))(CH(3))]S(2)O(6) (en = 1,2-Ethanediamine), and [Co(NH(3))(6)]-mer,trans-[Co(NO(2))(3)(NH(

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kofod, Pauli; Harris, Pernille; Larsen, Sine

1997-01-01

magnetic resonance spectroscopy and by absorption spectroscopy. Single-crystal X-ray structure determinations at 122.0(5) K were performed on [Co(NH(3))(5)(CH(3))]S(2)O(6) (1), trans-[Co(en)(2)(NH(3))(CH(3))]S(2)O(6) (2), and [Co(NH(3))(6)]-mer,trans-[Co(NO(2))(3)(NH(3))(2)(CH(3))](2)-trans-[Co(NO(2...

Methods of dichotic listening as a research methodology for hemispheric interaction.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kovyazina M.S.

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Experimental data was obtained from a dichotic listening test by patients with unilateral brain lesions and corpus callosum pathology (agenesis, cysts, degenerative changes, etc. Efficiency index analysis shows that interhemispheric interaction in the audioverbal sphere depends to a greater extent on the right hemisphere state. The dichotic listening technique is not an informative means of studying hemispheric interaction, since it does not allow a clear distinction between hemispheric symptoms and symptoms of pathology of the corpus callosum. Thus, violations of hemispheric relations caused by disorders of the corpus callosum and cerebral hemispheres change worth more right hemisphere activity.

The Effect of Transcribing on Elementary Iranian EFL Learners' Listening Comprehension

Science.gov (United States)

Afsharrad, Mohammad; Nafchi, Asghar Moulavi

2015-01-01

This study is motivated by the gap existing between theory and practice in teaching listening. Most of the techniques used to teach listening put more emphasis on top-down processing while listeners' problems are more of perceptive ones (bottom-up). In order to address the pervasive decoding problem in listening, this study suggests using…

Credibility of native and non-native speakers of English revisited: Do non-native listeners feel the same?

OpenAIRE

Hanzlíková, Dagmar; Skarnitzl, Radek

2017-01-01

This study reports on research stimulated by Lev-Ari and Keysar (2010) who showed that native listeners find statements delivered by foreign-accented speakers to be less true than those read by native speakers. Our objective was to replicate the study with non-native listeners to see whether this effect is also relevant in international communication contexts. The same set of statements from the original study was recorded by 6 native and 6 nonnative speakers of English. 121 non-native listen...

How Social Psychological Factors May Modulate Auditory and Cognitive Functioning During Listening.

Science.gov (United States)

Pichora-Fuller, M Kathleen

2016-01-01

The framework for understanding effortful listening (FUEL) draws on psychological theories of cognition and motivation. In the present article, theories of social-cognitive psychology are related to the FUEL. Listening effort is defined in our consensus as the deliberate allocation of mental resources to overcome obstacles in goal pursuit when carrying out a task that involves listening. Listening effort depends not only on hearing difficulties and task demands but also on the listener's motivation to expend mental effort in challenging situations. Listeners' cost/benefit evaluations involve appraisals of listening demands, their own capacity, and the importance of listening goals. Social psychological factors can affect a listener's actual and self-perceived auditory and cognitive abilities, especially when those abilities may be insufficient to readily meet listening demands. Whether or not listeners experience stress depends not only on how demanding a situation is relative to their actual abilities but also on how they appraise their capacity to meet those demands. The self-perception or appraisal of one's abilities can be lowered by poor self-efficacy or negative stereotypes. Stress may affect performance in a given situation and chronic stress can have deleterious effects on many aspects of health, including auditory and cognitive functioning. Social support can offset demands and mitigate stress; however, the burden of providing support may stress the significant other. Some listeners cope by avoiding challenging situations and withdrawing from social participation. Extending the FUEL using social-cognitive psychological theories may provide valuable insights into how effortful listening could be reduced by adopting health-promoting approaches to rehabilitation.

13N-NH3 PET dynamic imaging in the diagnosis of hypopituitarism: preliminary result

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Xiangsong; He Zuoxiang; Tang Anwu; Qiao Suixian

2004-01-01

Objective: To evaluate the feasibility of diagnosing hypopituitarism with 13N-NH3 PET dynamic imaging. Methods: Eight volunteers (2 male, 6 female, age from 23 to 53 years old) for control and 7 patients (6 female, 20-42 years old, 1 male, 21 year old) were enrolled in this study. 13N-NH3 PET dynamic imaging was performed under 3-D acquisition on the ECAT HR+ PET scanner (Siemens/CTI) with 5-minute transmission scan. The emission protocol was a 20-minute dynamic scan (10s x 12, 30s x 6, 900s x 1) triggered simultaneously with a bolus injection of 444 to 592 MBq of 13N-NH3. The radioactivity - time curves of pituitary and internal carotid artery were generated by setting regions of interest (ROIs) on the transaxial planes of the frames of 13N-NH3 PET sequences. The first-pass uptake rate of 13N-NH3 (R) and standard uptake, rate (SUV) in pituitary on the last frame were calculated. Results: In control studies, the radioactivity in pituitary demonstrated within 10 seconds after the internal carotid artery showed up, and the pituitary highly uptake 13N-NH3, the size of pituitary was (1.07±0.17) cm x (1.09±0.15) cm x (1.14 ± 0.17) cm, SUV was 3.84 ± 1.75, R was 0.75 ± 0.13. In hypopituitarism studies, the radioactivity in pituitary showed up slowly, the pituitary did not show up in two cases with serious hypopituitarism, the size of pituitary was (0.82±0.07) cm x (0.81±0.05) cm x(0.91±0.07) cm, SUV was 1.25±0.08, R was 0.35±0.09. Conclusion: 13N-NH3 PET dynamic imaging is valuable in the diagnosis of hypopituitarism. (authors)

CH3NH3PbI3 based solar cell: Modified by antisolvent treatment

Science.gov (United States)

Nandi, Pronoy; Giri, Chandan; Bansode, Umesh; Topwal, D.

2017-05-01

Solar cells based on new class of organic inorganic hybrid perovskite CH3NH3PbI3 were prepared by Ethyl acetate (EA); antisolvent treatment for the first time. This treatment results in new morphology for CH3NH3PbI3 thin film. FESEM image shows microrod type structures of CH3NH3PbI3 after EA antisolvent treatment. Energy band diagram was constructed using photoluminescence and photoemission studies. A better power conversion efficiency was achieved in EA treated film compare to without EA treated film.

Lithium amide (LiNH2) under pressure.

Science.gov (United States)

Prasad, Dasari L V K; Ashcroft, N W; Hoffmann, Roald

2012-10-11

Static high pressure lithium amide (LiNH(2)) crystal structures are predicted using evolutionary structure search methodologies and intuitive approaches. In the process, we explore the relationship of the structure and properties of solid LiNH(2) to its molecular monomer and dimer, as well as its valence-isoelectronic crystalline phases of methane, water, and ammonia all under pressure. A NaNH(2) (Fddd) structure type is found to be competitive for the ground state of LiNH(2) above 6 GPa with the P = 1 atm I4[overline] phase. Three novel phases emerge at 11 (P4[overline]2(1)m), 13 (P4(2)/ncm), and 46 GPa (P2(1)2(1)2(1)), still containing molecular amide anions, which begin to form N-H···N hydrogen bonds. The P2(1)2(1)2(1) phase remains stable over a wide pressure range. This phase and another Pmc2(1) structure found at 280 GPa have infinite ···(H)N···H···N(H)···H polymeric zigzag chains comprising symmetric N···H···N hydrogen bonds with one NH bond kept out of the chain, an interesting general feature found in many of our high pressure (>280 GPa) LiNH(2) structures, with analogies in high pressure H(2)O-ices. All the predicted low enthalpy LiNH(2) phases are calculated to be enthalpically stable with respect to their elements but resist metallization with increasing pressure up to several TPa. The possibility of Li sublattice melting in the intermediate pressure range structures is raised.

A Survey of the Status of Listening Training in Some Fortune 500 Corporations.

Science.gov (United States)

Wolvin, Andrew D.; Coakley, Carolyn Gwynn

1991-01-01

Surveys training directors of Fortune 500 corporations to determine the content and nature of listening training offered to employees. Discusses types of listening instruction, personnel receiving listening training, length of listening training, and backgrounds of listening trainers. (KEH)

Order-disorder phase transition in the peroxidovanadium complex NH4[VO(O2)2(NH3)].

Science.gov (United States)

Schwendt, Peter; Gyepes, Róbert; Chrappová, Jana; Němec, Ivan; Vaněk, Přemysl

2018-07-05

Complex NH 4 [VO(O 2 ) 2 (NH 3 )] (1) undergoes an order-disorder phase transition at T c ~258K. This transition is accompanied by change in the space group of the orthorhombic lattice and also by significant structural rearrangements of the constituent molecules, which are pertinent mostly to their NH 4 + ions and their ammonia ligands. The low-temperature solid state IR and Raman spectra of 1 were corroborated by solid-state computations that employed Gaussian functions as the basis set. Results of these computations yielded excellent agreement with experimental data. On the curves of temperature dependence of vibrational modes, the phase transition is expressed by an abrupt change of the slope above T c . Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Hydrogen selective NH{sub 2}-MIL-53(Al) MOF membranes with high permeability

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhang, Feng; Zou, Xiaoqin; Gao, Xue; Fan, Songjie; Sun, Fuxing; Ren, Hao; Zhu, Guangshan [State Key Laboratory of Inorganic, Synthesis and Preparative Chemistry, Jilin University, Changchun (China)

2012-09-11

Hydrogen-based energy is a promising renewable and clean resource. Thus, hydrogen selective microporous membranes with high performance and high stability are demanded. Novel NH{sub 2}-MIL-53(Al) membranes are evaluated for hydrogen separation for this goal. Continuous NH{sub 2}-MIL-53(Al) membranes have been prepared successfully on macroporous glass frit discs assisted with colloidal seeds. The gas sorption ability of NH{sub 2}-MIL-53(Al) materials is studied by gas adsorption measurement. The isosteric heats of adsorption in a sequence of CO{sub 2}> N{sub 2}> CH{sub 4}{approx} H{sub 2} indicates different interactions between NH{sub 2}-MIL-53(Al) framework and these gases. As-prepared membranes are measured by single and binary gas permeation at different temperatures. The results of singe gas permeation show a decreasing permeance in an order of H{sub 2}> CH{sub 4}> N{sub 2}> CO{sub 2}, suggesting that the diffusion and adsorption properties make significant contributions in the gas permeation through the membrane. In binary gas permeation, the NH{sub 2}-MIL-53(Al) membrane shows high selectivity for H{sub 2} with separation factors of 20.7, 23.9 and 30.9 at room temperature (288 K) for H{sub 2} over CH{sub 4}, N{sub 2} and CO{sub 2}, respectively. In comparison to single gas permeation, a slightly higher separation factor is obtained due to the competitive adsorption effect between the gases in the porous MOF membrane. Additionally, the NH{sub 2}-MIL-53(Al) membrane exhibits very high permeance for H{sub 2} in the mixtures separation (above 1.5 x 10{sup -6} mol m{sup -2} s{sup -1} Pa{sup -1}) due to its large cavity, resulting in a very high separation power. The details of the temperature effect on the permeances of H{sub 2} over other gases are investigated from 288 to 353 K. The supported NH{sub 2}-MIL-53(Al) membranes with high hydrogen separation power possess high stability, resistance to cracking, temperature cycling and show high reproducibility

Formulation of an inhibitor radiopharmaceutical of prostatic antigen of {sup 177}Lu-Glu-Nh-CO-Nh-Lys membrane; Formulacion de un radiofarmaco inhibidor del antigeno prostatico de membrana {sup 177}Lu-Glu-NH-CO-NH-Lys

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ortega S, D.

2015-07-01

The prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA) is a zinc metalloenzyme that is expressed on the cell membrane and highly expressed in prostate cancer. Recently, it has been demonstrated that the peptide sequence Glu-Nh-CO-Nh-Lys inhibit PSMA activity through an electrostatic interaction with the Zn. Several theragnostic radiopharmaceuticals with base in {sup 177}Lu have been developed for radiotherapy of specific molecular targets because gamma and beta emissions of the radionuclide (β = 0.498 MeV and γ= 0.133 MeV). However, there is currently no label a formulation for preparing a radiopharmaceutical of {sup 177}Lu-Glu-Nh-CO-Nh-Lys useful treatment of prostate cancer. The aim of this research was to optimize and document the process of production of the radiopharmaceutical {sup 177}Lu-Glu-Nh-CO-Nh-Lys for sanitary registration application before the Comision Federal para la Proteccion contra Riesgos Sanitarios (COFEPRIS). The optimization of the production process was assessed a factorial design of three variables with mixed levels (3 x 3 x 2) where the dependent variable is the radiochemical purity, the analytical method was validated by UV-Vis spectrophotometry. Next, process validation was carried out by labeling 3 lots of the optimized formulation of the radiopharmaceutical (5.55 GBq (2.16 μg) of {sup 177}LuCl{sub 3}, 90 mg peptide PSMA, 50 mg ascorbic acid and 150 μL of acetate buffer 1 M ph 5), long-term stability was performed by high resolution liquid chromatography) to determine its useful shelf life. 3 validation batches were prepared under protocols of Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) in the Production Plant of Radiopharmaceuticals of the Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Nucleares (ININ), meet specifications preset by obtaining a sterile and free development of bacterial endotoxin yields of labeled 100% and which retains its quality characteristics radiochemical purity greater than 90% for at least 15 days. (Author)

Lead-free Perovskite Materials (NH4 )3 Sb2 Ix Br9-x.

Science.gov (United States)

Zuo, Chuantian; Ding, Liming

2017-06-01

A family of perovskite light absorbers (NH 4 ) 3 Sb 2 I x Br 9-x (0≤x≤9) was prepared. These materials show good solubility in ethanol, a low-cost, hypotoxic, and environmentally friendly solvent. The light absorption of (NH 4 ) 3 Sb 2 I x Br 9-x films can be tuned by adjusting I and Br content. The absorption onset for (NH 4 ) 3 Sb 2 I x Br 9-x films changes from 558 nm to 453 nm as x changes from 9 to 0. (NH 4 ) 3 Sb 2 I 9 single crystals were prepared, exhibiting a hole mobility of 4.8 cm 2  V -1  s -1 and an electron mobility of 12.3 cm 2  V -1  s -1 . (NH 4 ) 3 Sb 2 I 9 solar cells gave an open-circuit voltage of 1.03 V and a power conversion efficiency of 0.51 %. © 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

The association of noise sensitivity with music listening, training, and aptitude

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marina Kliuchko

2015-01-01

Full Text Available After intensive, long-term musical training, the auditory system of a musician is specifically tuned to perceive musical sounds. We wished to find out whether a musician′s auditory system also develops increased sensitivity to any sound of everyday life, experiencing them as noise. For this purpose, an online survey, including questionnaires on noise sensitivity, musical background, and listening tests for assessing musical aptitude, was administered to 197 participants in Finland and Italy. Subjective noise sensitivity (assessed with the Weinstein′s Noise Sensitivity Scale was analyzed for associations with musicianship, musical aptitude, weekly time spent listening to music, and the importance of music in each person′s life (or music importance. Subjects were divided into three groups according to their musical expertise: Nonmusicians (N = 103, amateur musicians (N = 44, and professional musicians (N = 50. The results showed that noise sensitivity did not depend on musical expertise or performance on musicality tests or the amount of active (attentive listening to music. In contrast, it was associated with daily passive listening to music, so that individuals with higher noise sensitivity spent less time in passive (background listening to music than those with lower sensitivity to noise. Furthermore, noise-sensitive respondents rated music as less important in their life than did individuals with lower sensitivity to noise. The results demonstrate that the special sensitivity of the auditory system derived from musical training does not lead to increased irritability from unwanted sounds. However, the disposition to tolerate contingent musical backgrounds in everyday life depends on the individual′s noise sensitivity.

The association of noise sensitivity with music listening, training, and aptitude.

Science.gov (United States)

Kliuchko, Marina; Heinonen-Guzejev, Marja; Monacis, Lucia; Gold, Benjamin P; Heikkilä, Kauko V; Spinosa, Vittoria; Tervaniemi, Mari; Brattico, Elvira

2015-01-01

After intensive, long-term musical training, the auditory system of a musician is specifically tuned to perceive musical sounds. We wished to find out whether a musician's auditory system also develops increased sensitivity to any sound of everyday life, experiencing them as noise. For this purpose, an online survey, including questionnaires on noise sensitivity, musical background, and listening tests for assessing musical aptitude, was administered to 197 participants in Finland and Italy. Subjective noise sensitivity (assessed with the Weinstein's Noise Sensitivity Scale) was analyzed for associations with musicianship, musical aptitude, weekly time spent listening to music, and the importance of music in each person's life (or music importance). Subjects were divided into three groups according to their musical expertise: Nonmusicians (N = 103), amateur musicians (N = 44), and professional musicians (N = 50). The results showed that noise sensitivity did not depend on musical expertise or performance on musicality tests or the amount of active (attentive) listening to music. In contrast, it was associated with daily passive listening to music, so that individuals with higher noise sensitivity spent less time in passive (background) listening to music than those with lower sensitivity to noise. Furthermore, noise-sensitive respondents rated music as less important in their life than did individuals with lower sensitivity to noise. The results demonstrate that the special sensitivity of the auditory system derived from musical training does not lead to increased irritability from unwanted sounds. However, the disposition to tolerate contingent musical backgrounds in everyday life depends on the individual's noise sensitivity.

Effects of music listening on stress, anxiety, and sleep quality for sleep-disturbed pregnant women.

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Liu, Yu-Hsiang; Lee, ChihChen Sophia; Yu, Chen-Hsiang; Chen, Chung-Hey

2016-01-01

Prenatal sleep disturbance has been associated with undesirable birthing outcomes. To determine the effectiveness of listening to music at home in improving sleep quality, 121 Taiwanese pregnant women with poor sleep quality (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index [PSQI] score > 5) were systematically assigned, with a random start to music listening (n = 61) or control (n = 60) group. Participants in the music listening group self-regulated listening to music in addition to receiving general prenatal care similar to that in the control group for 2 weeks. The PSQI and State-Anxiety Inventory were used to assess outcomes. ANCOVA analyses were used with the pretest scores as covariates and showed significant improvement in sleep quality, stress, and anxiety in the music listening group compared with the control group. The most frequently used music genre by participants in the experimental group was lullabies, followed by classical music and crystal baby music. This study supported the theory that 2-week music listening interventions may reduce stress, anxiety, and yield better sleep quality for sleep-disturbed pregnant women. The analysis of participants' journals also implied that the expectant mothers' choices of musical genres may correlate more with perceived prenatal benefits or the desire to interact with their unborn child.

Characteristics of NH4+ and NO3- fluxes in tea (Camellia sinensis) roots measured by scanning ion-selective electrode technique.

Science.gov (United States)

Ruan, Li; Wei, Kang; Wang, Liyuan; Cheng, Hao; Zhang, Fen; Wu, Liyun; Bai, Peixian; Zhang, Chengcai

2016-12-05

As a vital beverage crop, tea has been extensively planted in tropical and subtropical regions. Nitrogen (N) levels and forms are closely related to tea quality. Based on different N levels and forms, we studied changes in NO 3 - and NH 4 + fluxes in tea roots utilizing scanning ion-selective electrode technique. Our results showed that under both single and mixed N forms, influx rates of NO 3 - were much lower than those of NH 4 + , suggesting a preference for NH 4 + in tea. With the increase in N concentration, the influx rate of NO 3 - increased more than that of NH 4 + . The NH 4 + influx rates in a solution without NO 3 - were much higher than those in a solution with NO 3 - , while the NO 3 - influx rates in a solution without NH 4 + were much lower than those in a solution with NH 4 + . We concluded that (1) tea roots showed a preference for NH 4 + , (2) presence of NO 3 - had a negative effect on NH 4 + influx, and (3) NH 4 + had a positive effect on NO 3 - influx. Our findings not only may help advance hydroponic tea experiments but also may be used to develop efficient fertilization protocols for soil-grown tea in the future.

How To Improve Listening Skills for Technical Students

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Galina Artyushina

2011-10-01

Full Text Available Communication competence includes four main activities: speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Listening is the most difficult skill for many of our students. But that of the time a person is engaged in communication, approximately 9% is devoted to writing, 16% to reading, 30% to speaking, and 45% to listening. That’s why for non-linguistic universities the perfection and development of the speech learning procedure becomes actual especially when we use academic hours of student independent work (self-study for this purpose.

Impacts of Captioned Movies on Listening Comprehension

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Janfaza, Abusaied; Jelyani, Saghar Javidi; Soori, Afshin

2014-01-01

With the advent of technology, the implication of authentic multimedia-based teaching materials are using widely in language classrooms. Technology can be in service of teaching different skills such as listening, reading, speaking and writing. Among these skills listening comprehension is a skill in which the learners have problems to master.…

Effects of music listening on anxiety and physiological responses in patients undergoing awake craniotomy.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Pao-Yuan; Huang, Mei-Lin; Lee, Wen-Ping; Wang, Chi; Shih, Whei-Mei

2017-06-01

The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of music listening on the level of anxiety and physiological responses for awake craniotomy. An experimental design with randomization was applied in this study. Participants in experimental group (19 patients) selected and listened music at their preferences in the waiting room and throughout the entire surgical procedure in addition to usual care while control group (19 patients) only gave usual care. State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), heartbeat, breathing, and blood pressure were collected for analysis. The results of this study showed that after music listening, there was significant decrease in the level of anxiety (pawake craniotomy patients. The results of this study can provide perioperative nursing care in providing music listening when patients were in the waiting room and during surgery to reduce the anxiety so as to reach the goal of human care and improve perioperative nursing care. Copyright © 2017 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

NH4+ adsorption and adsorption kinetics by sediments in a drinking water reservoir

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Suna Hongyan

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The sorption isotherm and sorption kinetics of NH4+ by the Fen River reservoir sediment were investigated for a better understanding of the NH4+ sorption characteristics and parameters. The results showed that Q (adsorption content increased with the increase of Ceq (equilibrium concentration, sorption isotherms could be described by Freundlich equation (R2 from 0.97 to 0.99. Cation exchange capacity (CEC had a significant correlation with the parameters K and n (R2 was 0.85 and 0.95, respectively. The ENC0 (Ceq as Q was zero of S1, S2, S3 and S4 was 1.25, 0.57, 1.15 and 1.14 mg L-1, respectively, and they were less than the NH4+ concentrations in reservoir water. The sediments released NH4+ to the Fen River reservoir water and acted as a pollution source, in the form of complex and heterogeneous adsorbents. The NH4+ adsorption kinetic process was composed of ‘fast’ and ‘slow’ reaction patterns and could be fitted using both Elovich equation and Pseudo second-equation. More than one-step may be involved in the NH4+ sorption processes, and interior diffusion was not dominant ion action.

Time course of auditory streaming: Do CI users differ from normal-hearing listeners?

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Martin eBöckmann-Barthel

2014-07-01

Full Text Available In a complex acoustical environment with multiple sound sources the auditory system uses streaming as a tool to organize the incoming sounds in one or more streams depending on the stimulus parameters. Streaming is commonly studied by alternating sequences of signals. These are often tones with different frequencies. The present study investigates stream segregation in cochlear implant (CI users, where hearing is restored by electrical stimulation of the auditory nerve. CI users listened to 30-s long sequences of alternating A and B harmonic complexes at four different fundamental frequency separations, ranging from 2 to 14 semitones. They had to indicate as promptly as possible after sequence onset, if they perceived one stream or two streams and, in addition, any changes of the percept throughout the rest of the sequence. The conventional view is that the initial percept is always that of a single stream which may after some time change to a percept of two streams. This general build-up hypothesis has recently been challenged on the basis of a new analysis of data of normal-hearing listeners which showed a build-up response only for an intermediate frequency separation. Using the same experimental paradigm and analysis, the present study found that the results of CI users agree with those of the normal-hearing listeners: (i the probability of the first decision to be a one-stream percept decreased and that of a two-stream percept increased as Δf increased, and (ii a build-up was only found for 6 semitones. Only the time elapsed before the listeners made their first decision of the percept was prolonged as compared to normal-hearing listeners. The similarity in the data of the CI user and the normal-hearing listeners indicates that the quality of stream formation is similar in these groups of listeners.

A few thoughts about teaching listening and grammar

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

吴西

2014-01-01

Listening and grammar are the most difficult subjects for both teacher and students. This passage discussed how to visual aid and brain storming in the listening class;and the importance of confidence in the grammar teaching and learning.

Penggunaan zeolit alam untuk mengurangi kandungan krom dan nh4+ dalam air limbah penyamakan kulit

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Supraptiningsih Supraptiningsih

2006-07-01

Full Text Available Leather tanning waste water contains chemical compounds, such as chromium and NH4+ in high concentration, so if they are thrown away without treatment they will make some problems. The aims of this research is to adsorb the cations in leather tanning waste water i.e chromium and NH4+ used natural zeolite as an adsorbent. Research was done by comparing amount of chromium and NH4+ in effluent waste water treatment unit with amount of chromium and NH4+ after being adsorbed by zeolite in a batch system. The result of this research showed that efficiency difference between using zeolite and waste water treatment unit was significant. The optimal condition to reduce chromium and NH4+ was by using 300 grams per liter waste, zeolite particle size was 50-60 mesh, contact time was 24 hours and pH 8±0,1. In this condition, zeolites could reduce chromium from 3728,56mg/l to 365,39 mg/l or 90,20%, and NH4+ from 3040,02 mg/l menjadi 209,76 mg/l or 93,10%. Waste water treatment unit could reduce chromium 63,55% and NH4+ 56,75%.

Formulation of an inhibitor radiopharmaceutical of prostatic antigen of 177Lu-Glu-Nh-CO-Nh-Lys membrane

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ortega S, D.

2015-01-01

The prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA) is a zinc metalloenzyme that is expressed on the cell membrane and highly expressed in prostate cancer. Recently, it has been demonstrated that the peptide sequence Glu-Nh-CO-Nh-Lys inhibit PSMA activity through an electrostatic interaction with the Zn. Several theragnostic radiopharmaceuticals with base in 177 Lu have been developed for radiotherapy of specific molecular targets because gamma and beta emissions of the radionuclide (β = 0.498 MeV and γ= 0.133 MeV). However, there is currently no label a formulation for preparing a radiopharmaceutical of 177 Lu-Glu-Nh-CO-Nh-Lys useful treatment of prostate cancer. The aim of this research was to optimize and document the process of production of the radiopharmaceutical 177 Lu-Glu-Nh-CO-Nh-Lys for sanitary registration application before the Comision Federal para la Proteccion contra Riesgos Sanitarios (COFEPRIS). The optimization of the production process was assessed a factorial design of three variables with mixed levels (3 x 3 x 2) where the dependent variable is the radiochemical purity, the analytical method was validated by UV-Vis spectrophotometry. Next, process validation was carried out by labeling 3 lots of the optimized formulation of the radiopharmaceutical (5.55 GBq (2.16 μg) of 177 LuCl 3 , 90 mg peptide PSMA, 50 mg ascorbic acid and 150 μL of acetate buffer 1 M ph 5), long-term stability was performed by high resolution liquid chromatography) to determine its useful shelf life. 3 validation batches were prepared under protocols of Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) in the Production Plant of Radiopharmaceuticals of the Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Nucleares (ININ), meet specifications preset by obtaining a sterile and free development of bacterial endotoxin yields of labeled 100% and which retains its quality characteristics radiochemical purity greater than 90% for at least 15 days. (Author)