The pathogenesis of Functional Dyspepsia (FD) remains unclear, appears diverse and is thus inadequately understood. Akin to other functional gastrointestinal disorders, research has demonstrated an association betwe...The pathogenesis of Functional Dyspepsia (FD) remains unclear, appears diverse and is thus inadequately understood. Akin to other functional gastrointestinal disorders, research has demonstrated an association between this common diagnosis and psychosocial factors and psychiatric morbidity. Conceptualising the relevance of these factors within the syndrome of FD requires application of the biopsychosocial model of disease. Using this paradigm, dysregulation of the reciprocal communication between the brain and the gut is central to symptom generation, interpretation and exacerbation. Appreciation and understanding of the neurobiological correlates of various psychological states is also relevant. The view that psychosocial factors exert their influence in FD predominantly through motivation of health care seeking also persists. This appears too one-dimensional an assertion in light of the evidence available supporting a more intdnsic aetiological link. Evolving understanding of pathogenic mechanisms and the heterogeneous nature of the syndrome will facilitate effective management. Co-morbid psychiatric illness warrants treatment with conventional therapies. Acknowledging the relevance of psychosocial variables in FD, the degree of which is subject to vadation, has implications for assessment and management. Available evidence suggests psychological therapies may benefit FD patients particularly those with chronic symptoms. The rationale for use of psychotropic medications in FD is apparent but the evidence base to support the use of antidepressant pharmacotherapy is to date limited.展开更多
Aim:To gain knowledge of how adult students experienced the first year of a blended learning master programme to better understand their learning process.Methods:A qualitative,exploratory,descriptive study based on da...Aim:To gain knowledge of how adult students experienced the first year of a blended learning master programme to better understand their learning process.Methods:A qualitative,exploratory,descriptive study based on data from two focus group interviews with students attending a blended learning Master programme.Qualitative content analysis based on Graneheim and Lundman’s procedures was applied.Findings:Our analyses revealed one main theme:aspiring for competence in a multifaceted everyday life and four main categories:acquiring professional competence,struggling to manage diverse forms of communication,demanding task juggling and confused student role.Conclusions:The participants experienced that the programme enabled them to acquire professional competence relevant to practice.Despite the challenges,the programme is recommended for prospective students who live in both urban and rural areas,who are working and also responsible for children and other family tasks.展开更多
The objective of this study is to explore the psychic, moral, ethical and logical significances in the spectatorship of Bollywood and Tamil film in the Sri Lanka. Bollywood and Tamil film has been taking a very popula...The objective of this study is to explore the psychic, moral, ethical and logical significances in the spectatorship of Bollywood and Tamil film in the Sri Lanka. Bollywood and Tamil film has been taking a very popular cultural performance in Sri Lanka. The original Indian spectatorship of these film traditions has been diverted by the cultural and political psychology of Sri Lanka. Hence, this local orientation of the Indian cinema remains a quite metamorphosis and deconstruction in its appreciation and screening in terms of the social, cultural and political features that deeply-rooted in Sri Lankan history, culture and geographical limitations. For this study, several film texts, which include typical Bollywood and Tamil film characteristic features were used and observed on how they have been absorbed in the Sri Lankan cultural society. And on the other hand, some audience surveys specific to different film appreciation contexts were conducted. They included urban slums, semi-rural Muslim societies, north and east areas of Tamil villages, Colombo urban society, Tamil state areas and Kandyan Sinhala rural villages. In the textual analysis of the film content, implicit psychological narrations and their social and aesthetic interpretations were revealed in the analytical explanations. Using the audience surveys, many different opinions that can be traditionally filtered in the screening and appreciation of these film traditions specific to their living cultural settings were also identified. In conclusion, perception in Sinhala film has been considerably designed by the experience of Bollywood and Tamil film spectatorship is deducted by this study. Hence, not only this social trend affected to the appreciation of film in local general audience but also in all the facets of film production (script writing, shooting, acting, dialoguing, music and choreography and screening) has also significantly being influenced by the Bollywood and Tamil film. As a result of this evolution of local film culture, most recent trend in Sinhala film noir is also being followed by the early subjective consequences of Bollywood and Tamil film culture in Sri Lanka.展开更多
Housing associations make too small a contribution to society, the government has to step in too frequently because of maladministration, and the associations' executives are often unaware of the far-reaching impact ...Housing associations make too small a contribution to society, the government has to step in too frequently because of maladministration, and the associations' executives are often unaware of the far-reaching impact of their decisions. These are the conclusions of new academic research conducted by Jan Veuger of Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM). In the author's dissertation, he asserts that in numerous cases, there is no correlation between social and financial objectives. The Dutch House of Representatives debated the results of the report Ver van huis from the Parliamentary Committee of Inquiry on Housing Associations in early December, 2014. The research that is being carried out at the moment is constructed in a manner that if we understand something about value thinking and what underlying motivation is, an approach can be deducted that will allow us to control them. After the introduction, an explanation of the theme of the research will be given and the choice for a four-phase model with a deepening as to what value(s) is (and are). From the perspective of the four-phase model, the emphasis will be put on the socialization and thinking capacities, and parallels will be drawn between the values within the four-phase model, the examined values, and in specific, public housing corporations.展开更多
Alienated labor, also known as labor alienation, was a concept with historical creativity, which was first raised in Marx' s Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844. The Manuscripts was important works of Marx...Alienated labor, also known as labor alienation, was a concept with historical creativity, which was first raised in Marx' s Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844. The Manuscripts was important works of Marx, in which the social relations of capitalism private ownership were analyzed by Marx using the concept of alienated labor. A deep analysis was conducted by Marx from the specific historical facts, in which the rational kernel of the alienated problem in the social relations of capitalism was mentioned. Specifically, the alienated labor theory was analyzed from the relationship of laborers with their labor products and labor itself, human' s essence, and other people under the condition of the capitalist private ownership; the "ought to be" ethical characteristics of labors were expounded from the perspective of ethics, and the abnormal labor relations in the process of capitalist production were ethically reviewed and criticized. Therefore, rich economic ethics thoughts were contained in Marx' s analysis of the alienated labor theory.展开更多
This article critically examines three most influential learning theories that underlie the instruction and learning environments in second language learning (SLL). Evaluation follows the description of each theory. T...This article critically examines three most influential learning theories that underlie the instruction and learning environments in second language learning (SLL). Evaluation follows the description of each theory. The point is to understand the impacts of different theories on second language learning. The paper argues that an integrated approach, which combines the three theories, is needed.展开更多
The past three decades have witnessed a proliferation of research on Chinese English as a foreign language (EFL) learners' use of learning strategies, but little has been examined about the potential influence of l...The past three decades have witnessed a proliferation of research on Chinese English as a foreign language (EFL) learners' use of learning strategies, but little has been examined about the potential influence of learning contexts upon their strategic engagement. This paper reports on the findings of an investigation of the impact of learning contexts upon the use of learning strategies of two cohorts of EFL learners in China. Both cohorts were non-English majors, one from a university where English is the medium of instruction (EMI) and the other from an EFL university. The data were collected using questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. Results reveal that learners from the EMI university demonstrated a higher level in their overall use of learning strategies over their counterparts from the EFL university. Independent T-test shows that the two cohorts were significantly different in their use of cognitive, meta-cognitive, affective and social strategies. These findings were discussed from a socio-cultural perspective. Implications are presented for the reform of English language education in China and beyond.展开更多
Strategy studies have been a well-established field in second language writing research and this article investigates English as a foreign language (EFL) learners' writing strategy use from a sociocultural perspect...Strategy studies have been a well-established field in second language writing research and this article investigates English as a foreign language (EFL) learners' writing strategy use from a sociocultural perspective. Unlike the traditional focus on internal cognitive mechanisms in writing strategy studies, this sociocultural approach highlights the dialectic relationship between cognition and the sociocultural context and the importance of mediating resources in strategy use. Six proficient English majors from a Chinese university participated in the study, and data about their writing experience were collected through interviews. The findings showed that the participants used four types of writing strategies: artifact-mediated, rule-mediated, community-mediated, and role-mediated strategies. Other features of their strategy use include the diversity of mediating resources, idiosyncratic use of these resources, and the common goal to enhance their language knowledge and writing ability. Drawing on these findings, it is suggested that teachers can reconfigure the sociocultural context of writing activities to help students enhance their strategy use and possible ways include artifact manipulation and community construction.展开更多
While the research agenda of classroom interaction has long been well established internationally, scholars in China have paid little empirical attention to these developments until recently. Furthermore, among the bo...While the research agenda of classroom interaction has long been well established internationally, scholars in China have paid little empirical attention to these developments until recently. Furthermore, among the body of work on the local classroom discourse, very few studies have focused on the secondary sectors. From the perspective of the sociocultural theory (SCT), this article examines the classroom discourse of Chinese middle school English language teaching (ELT) by investigating teacher-student interaction. The transcribed classroom discourse of 8 teachers' reading lessons is qualitatively coded and quantitatively measured. The study draws on a descriptive system focusing on the teacher-led three-part initiation-response-feedback (IRF) structure. The research findings reveal that quite similar discourse patterns are found in the lessons sampled, with the initiation-response-evaluation (IRE) sequence dominating the EFL (English as a Foreign Language) classroom interaction investigated. Theoretically, the paper aims to place the SCT perspectives in the foreground. Pedagogically, it attempts to raise teacher-practitioners' levels of awareness of the use of teacher talk in EFL classroom interaction.展开更多
China's social transformation since reform and opening up in 1978 has provided a unique social laboratory for Chinese researchers of social psychology. In order to describe, understand and interpret the psychological...China's social transformation since reform and opening up in 1978 has provided a unique social laboratory for Chinese researchers of social psychology. In order to describe, understand and interpret the psychological and behavioral logic of the Chinese people, we need to call on social psychology research or social transition psychology research that looks directly at social transition, in order to go beyond the cultural exceptionalism and static society approaches. Multiple group membership is the potential core construct of such a psychology.展开更多
This paper reports on a mixed method inquiry into the use of vocabulary learning strategies and their development as strategic vocabulary learners in a key middle school on the Chinese mainland. In the inquiry, 475 fi...This paper reports on a mixed method inquiry into the use of vocabulary learning strategies and their development as strategic vocabulary learners in a key middle school on the Chinese mainland. In the inquiry, 475 first year junior secondary school pupils (247 boys and 228 girls) were surveyed about their strategy use in learning English vocabulary. Sixteen pupils (8 boys and 8 girls) participated in paired semi-structured interviews about their experiences of learning English vocabulary. Drawing on socio-cultural perspectives on language learning, the inquiry established the interconnections between the participants' strategy use and beliefs and identified the roles that agency played in their vocabulary learning. The analysis of interview data further revealed that the participants' strategy use emerged from interaction between their agency and the mediation of contextual resources and social agents including parents and teachers. These findings suggest that it is important for language teachers to collaborate with social agents such as parents in their efforts to support young learners' strategic vocabulary learning.展开更多
Pragmatic rationality and scientific and technological developments in modem society have jointly put an end to classical myth and consigned it to the historical museum of the spiritual culture. However, mythical thin...Pragmatic rationality and scientific and technological developments in modem society have jointly put an end to classical myth and consigned it to the historical museum of the spiritual culture. However, mythical thinking and consciousness are synchronically hidden in our psychological structures and still exert an important influence on civilizations and cultures. In the modem and postmodem historical and cultural context, myth hides in our spiritual and cultural activities in various altered forms. Having evolved into a mythic form in the contemporary sense, it continues to play a powerful psychological role and to act as a midwife of conscious activities and forms. Contemporary myth typically comprises science myth, consumption myth and hero myth. It has inherited the symbols and structures of traditional myth, but with some developments and variations; in particular, by means of science and technology, it has acquired broader and richer social ingredients and swift and intensive modes of transmission, producing a widespread and far-reaching influence on various aspects of society.展开更多
文摘The pathogenesis of Functional Dyspepsia (FD) remains unclear, appears diverse and is thus inadequately understood. Akin to other functional gastrointestinal disorders, research has demonstrated an association between this common diagnosis and psychosocial factors and psychiatric morbidity. Conceptualising the relevance of these factors within the syndrome of FD requires application of the biopsychosocial model of disease. Using this paradigm, dysregulation of the reciprocal communication between the brain and the gut is central to symptom generation, interpretation and exacerbation. Appreciation and understanding of the neurobiological correlates of various psychological states is also relevant. The view that psychosocial factors exert their influence in FD predominantly through motivation of health care seeking also persists. This appears too one-dimensional an assertion in light of the evidence available supporting a more intdnsic aetiological link. Evolving understanding of pathogenic mechanisms and the heterogeneous nature of the syndrome will facilitate effective management. Co-morbid psychiatric illness warrants treatment with conventional therapies. Acknowledging the relevance of psychosocial variables in FD, the degree of which is subject to vadation, has implications for assessment and management. Available evidence suggests psychological therapies may benefit FD patients particularly those with chronic symptoms. The rationale for use of psychotropic medications in FD is apparent but the evidence base to support the use of antidepressant pharmacotherapy is to date limited.
基金supported in part by Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences,Faculty of Health and Social Sciences,NO-2418 Elverum,Norway.No external funding.
文摘Aim:To gain knowledge of how adult students experienced the first year of a blended learning master programme to better understand their learning process.Methods:A qualitative,exploratory,descriptive study based on data from two focus group interviews with students attending a blended learning Master programme.Qualitative content analysis based on Graneheim and Lundman’s procedures was applied.Findings:Our analyses revealed one main theme:aspiring for competence in a multifaceted everyday life and four main categories:acquiring professional competence,struggling to manage diverse forms of communication,demanding task juggling and confused student role.Conclusions:The participants experienced that the programme enabled them to acquire professional competence relevant to practice.Despite the challenges,the programme is recommended for prospective students who live in both urban and rural areas,who are working and also responsible for children and other family tasks.
文摘The objective of this study is to explore the psychic, moral, ethical and logical significances in the spectatorship of Bollywood and Tamil film in the Sri Lanka. Bollywood and Tamil film has been taking a very popular cultural performance in Sri Lanka. The original Indian spectatorship of these film traditions has been diverted by the cultural and political psychology of Sri Lanka. Hence, this local orientation of the Indian cinema remains a quite metamorphosis and deconstruction in its appreciation and screening in terms of the social, cultural and political features that deeply-rooted in Sri Lankan history, culture and geographical limitations. For this study, several film texts, which include typical Bollywood and Tamil film characteristic features were used and observed on how they have been absorbed in the Sri Lankan cultural society. And on the other hand, some audience surveys specific to different film appreciation contexts were conducted. They included urban slums, semi-rural Muslim societies, north and east areas of Tamil villages, Colombo urban society, Tamil state areas and Kandyan Sinhala rural villages. In the textual analysis of the film content, implicit psychological narrations and their social and aesthetic interpretations were revealed in the analytical explanations. Using the audience surveys, many different opinions that can be traditionally filtered in the screening and appreciation of these film traditions specific to their living cultural settings were also identified. In conclusion, perception in Sinhala film has been considerably designed by the experience of Bollywood and Tamil film spectatorship is deducted by this study. Hence, not only this social trend affected to the appreciation of film in local general audience but also in all the facets of film production (script writing, shooting, acting, dialoguing, music and choreography and screening) has also significantly being influenced by the Bollywood and Tamil film. As a result of this evolution of local film culture, most recent trend in Sinhala film noir is also being followed by the early subjective consequences of Bollywood and Tamil film culture in Sri Lanka.
文摘Housing associations make too small a contribution to society, the government has to step in too frequently because of maladministration, and the associations' executives are often unaware of the far-reaching impact of their decisions. These are the conclusions of new academic research conducted by Jan Veuger of Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM). In the author's dissertation, he asserts that in numerous cases, there is no correlation between social and financial objectives. The Dutch House of Representatives debated the results of the report Ver van huis from the Parliamentary Committee of Inquiry on Housing Associations in early December, 2014. The research that is being carried out at the moment is constructed in a manner that if we understand something about value thinking and what underlying motivation is, an approach can be deducted that will allow us to control them. After the introduction, an explanation of the theme of the research will be given and the choice for a four-phase model with a deepening as to what value(s) is (and are). From the perspective of the four-phase model, the emphasis will be put on the socialization and thinking capacities, and parallels will be drawn between the values within the four-phase model, the examined values, and in specific, public housing corporations.
文摘Alienated labor, also known as labor alienation, was a concept with historical creativity, which was first raised in Marx' s Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844. The Manuscripts was important works of Marx, in which the social relations of capitalism private ownership were analyzed by Marx using the concept of alienated labor. A deep analysis was conducted by Marx from the specific historical facts, in which the rational kernel of the alienated problem in the social relations of capitalism was mentioned. Specifically, the alienated labor theory was analyzed from the relationship of laborers with their labor products and labor itself, human' s essence, and other people under the condition of the capitalist private ownership; the "ought to be" ethical characteristics of labors were expounded from the perspective of ethics, and the abnormal labor relations in the process of capitalist production were ethically reviewed and criticized. Therefore, rich economic ethics thoughts were contained in Marx' s analysis of the alienated labor theory.
文摘This article critically examines three most influential learning theories that underlie the instruction and learning environments in second language learning (SLL). Evaluation follows the description of each theory. The point is to understand the impacts of different theories on second language learning. The paper argues that an integrated approach, which combines the three theories, is needed.
基金supported by a research grant of the Project of Foreign Language Education under the National Education Science Plan 2010 (GPA105613)a grant of the 2011-2012 Teaching and Research Fund for the Teaching of English Majors,Association of National Normal Universities (NNETRP2011009)a project of the National Social Science Research Fund (12CYY025)
文摘The past three decades have witnessed a proliferation of research on Chinese English as a foreign language (EFL) learners' use of learning strategies, but little has been examined about the potential influence of learning contexts upon their strategic engagement. This paper reports on the findings of an investigation of the impact of learning contexts upon the use of learning strategies of two cohorts of EFL learners in China. Both cohorts were non-English majors, one from a university where English is the medium of instruction (EMI) and the other from an EFL university. The data were collected using questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. Results reveal that learners from the EMI university demonstrated a higher level in their overall use of learning strategies over their counterparts from the EFL university. Independent T-test shows that the two cohorts were significantly different in their use of cognitive, meta-cognitive, affective and social strategies. These findings were discussed from a socio-cultural perspective. Implications are presented for the reform of English language education in China and beyond.
基金supported by Project Y1100070 funded by South China University of Technology in 2010
文摘Strategy studies have been a well-established field in second language writing research and this article investigates English as a foreign language (EFL) learners' writing strategy use from a sociocultural perspective. Unlike the traditional focus on internal cognitive mechanisms in writing strategy studies, this sociocultural approach highlights the dialectic relationship between cognition and the sociocultural context and the importance of mediating resources in strategy use. Six proficient English majors from a Chinese university participated in the study, and data about their writing experience were collected through interviews. The findings showed that the participants used four types of writing strategies: artifact-mediated, rule-mediated, community-mediated, and role-mediated strategies. Other features of their strategy use include the diversity of mediating resources, idiosyncratic use of these resources, and the common goal to enhance their language knowledge and writing ability. Drawing on these findings, it is suggested that teachers can reconfigure the sociocultural context of writing activities to help students enhance their strategy use and possible ways include artifact manipulation and community construction.
文摘While the research agenda of classroom interaction has long been well established internationally, scholars in China have paid little empirical attention to these developments until recently. Furthermore, among the body of work on the local classroom discourse, very few studies have focused on the secondary sectors. From the perspective of the sociocultural theory (SCT), this article examines the classroom discourse of Chinese middle school English language teaching (ELT) by investigating teacher-student interaction. The transcribed classroom discourse of 8 teachers' reading lessons is qualitatively coded and quantitatively measured. The study draws on a descriptive system focusing on the teacher-led three-part initiation-response-feedback (IRF) structure. The research findings reveal that quite similar discourse patterns are found in the lessons sampled, with the initiation-response-evaluation (IRE) sequence dominating the EFL (English as a Foreign Language) classroom interaction investigated. Theoretically, the paper aims to place the SCT perspectives in the foreground. Pedagogically, it attempts to raise teacher-practitioners' levels of awareness of the use of teacher talk in EFL classroom interaction.
文摘China's social transformation since reform and opening up in 1978 has provided a unique social laboratory for Chinese researchers of social psychology. In order to describe, understand and interpret the psychological and behavioral logic of the Chinese people, we need to call on social psychology research or social transition psychology research that looks directly at social transition, in order to go beyond the cultural exceptionalism and static society approaches. Multiple group membership is the potential core construct of such a psychology.
文摘This paper reports on a mixed method inquiry into the use of vocabulary learning strategies and their development as strategic vocabulary learners in a key middle school on the Chinese mainland. In the inquiry, 475 first year junior secondary school pupils (247 boys and 228 girls) were surveyed about their strategy use in learning English vocabulary. Sixteen pupils (8 boys and 8 girls) participated in paired semi-structured interviews about their experiences of learning English vocabulary. Drawing on socio-cultural perspectives on language learning, the inquiry established the interconnections between the participants' strategy use and beliefs and identified the roles that agency played in their vocabulary learning. The analysis of interview data further revealed that the participants' strategy use emerged from interaction between their agency and the mediation of contextual resources and social agents including parents and teachers. These findings suggest that it is important for language teachers to collaborate with social agents such as parents in their efforts to support young learners' strategic vocabulary learning.
文摘Pragmatic rationality and scientific and technological developments in modem society have jointly put an end to classical myth and consigned it to the historical museum of the spiritual culture. However, mythical thinking and consciousness are synchronically hidden in our psychological structures and still exert an important influence on civilizations and cultures. In the modem and postmodem historical and cultural context, myth hides in our spiritual and cultural activities in various altered forms. Having evolved into a mythic form in the contemporary sense, it continues to play a powerful psychological role and to act as a midwife of conscious activities and forms. Contemporary myth typically comprises science myth, consumption myth and hero myth. It has inherited the symbols and structures of traditional myth, but with some developments and variations; in particular, by means of science and technology, it has acquired broader and richer social ingredients and swift and intensive modes of transmission, producing a widespread and far-reaching influence on various aspects of society.