This study aimed at comparing the level of social presence generated in a voice-based chat room and a text-based forum when learners tried to build personal relationships and form an online community for learning on a...This study aimed at comparing the level of social presence generated in a voice-based chat room and a text-based forum when learners tried to build personal relationships and form an online community for learning on an online language course in China. A mixed-method approach was taken for the study, drawing on data from questionnaires to find out about student perception of social presence, and postings of text messages and audio messages in the communication of the student learning process to search for students’ projected social presence in terms of affective, interactive and cohesive features. Interviews were also conducted to supplement additional information with the hope of forming a complete picture of social presence in the reality of an online learning environment. The text-based forum and the voice-based chat room were found to have a different impact on student social presence. In terms of student perception, most of them were more likely to get to know peers in the text-based forum and thus developed a sense of community in their learning process of the online course. Yet they believed that the voice-based chat room had the advantage of helping them with course learning. In the actual interaction, the voice-based chat room was more interactive although the text-based forum was more affective and cohesive. But in terms of the affective category, the problem with the existing framework in literature was that there were no prosodic features included. Therefore, in future more research is needed to probe for the relationship between prosodic sound features and social presence, and the present theoretic framework must be extended. In interviews, students explained that in the voice-based chat room prosodic features led to higher peer awareness, which further reinforced this need.展开更多
This paper discusses the issue of the hidden curriculum in the setting of a language classroom. The author first talks about the definition of the hidden curriculum from a theoretical perspective and proposes her own ...This paper discusses the issue of the hidden curriculum in the setting of a language classroom. The author first talks about the definition of the hidden curriculum from a theoretical perspective and proposes her own working definition. She then elaborates on the reasons and main manifestations of the hidden curriculum from the teachers＇ and learners＇ angles respectively with examples taken from language classrooms. Based on some profound reflections, some feasible suggestions on how to minimize the negative impacts of the hidden curriculum are suggested. On the basis of the previous discussion, the author reaches a conclusion： Language teachers should not avoid or ignore the hidden curriculum existing in the language teaching processes; rather, they are expected to face it positively and try their very best to solve the problems it brings. A sound attitude towards the hidden curriculum can help language teachers better understand and implement the formal or official curriculum made by the school or the state.展开更多
Hydrated Cement Treated Crushed Rock Base （HCTCRB） is widely used as a base course in Western Australian pavements. HCTCRB has been designed and used as a basis for empirical approaches and in empirical practices. T...Hydrated Cement Treated Crushed Rock Base （HCTCRB） is widely used as a base course in Western Australian pavements. HCTCRB has been designed and used as a basis for empirical approaches and in empirical practices. These methods are not all-encompassing enough to adequately explain the behaviour of HCTCRB in the field. Recent developments in mechanistic approaches have proven more reliable in the design and analysis of pavement, making it possible to more effectively document the characteristics of HCTCRB. The aim of this study was to carry out laboratory testing to assess the mechanical characteristics of HCTCRB. Conventional triaxial tests and repeated load triaxial tests （RLT tests） were performed. Factors affecting the performance of HCTCRB, namely hydration periods and the amount of added water were also investigated. It was found that the shear strength parameters of HCTCRB were 177 kPa for cohesion （c） and 42~ for the internal friction angle （~）. The hydration period, and the water added in this investigation affected the performance of HCTCRB. However, the related trends associated with such factors could not be assessed. All HCTCRB samples showed stress-dependency behaviour. Based on the stress stages of this experiment, the resilient modulus values of HCTCRB ranged from 300 MPa to 1100 MPa. CIRCLY, a computer program based on the multi-layer elastic theory was used in the mechanistic approach to pavement design and analysis, to determine the performance of a typical pavement model using HCTCRB as a base course layer. The mechanistic pavement design parameters for HCTCRB as a base course material were then introduced. The analysis suggests that the suitable depth for HCTCRB as a base layer for WA roads is at least 185 mm for the design equivalent standard axle （ESA） of 10 million.展开更多
文摘This study aimed at comparing the level of social presence generated in a voice-based chat room and a text-based forum when learners tried to build personal relationships and form an online community for learning on an online language course in China. A mixed-method approach was taken for the study, drawing on data from questionnaires to find out about student perception of social presence, and postings of text messages and audio messages in the communication of the student learning process to search for students’ projected social presence in terms of affective, interactive and cohesive features. Interviews were also conducted to supplement additional information with the hope of forming a complete picture of social presence in the reality of an online learning environment. The text-based forum and the voice-based chat room were found to have a different impact on student social presence. In terms of student perception, most of them were more likely to get to know peers in the text-based forum and thus developed a sense of community in their learning process of the online course. Yet they believed that the voice-based chat room had the advantage of helping them with course learning. In the actual interaction, the voice-based chat room was more interactive although the text-based forum was more affective and cohesive. But in terms of the affective category, the problem with the existing framework in literature was that there were no prosodic features included. Therefore, in future more research is needed to probe for the relationship between prosodic sound features and social presence, and the present theoretic framework must be extended. In interviews, students explained that in the voice-based chat room prosodic features led to higher peer awareness, which further reinforced this need.
文摘This paper discusses the issue of the hidden curriculum in the setting of a language classroom. The author first talks about the definition of the hidden curriculum from a theoretical perspective and proposes her own working definition. She then elaborates on the reasons and main manifestations of the hidden curriculum from the teachers＇ and learners＇ angles respectively with examples taken from language classrooms. Based on some profound reflections, some feasible suggestions on how to minimize the negative impacts of the hidden curriculum are suggested. On the basis of the previous discussion, the author reaches a conclusion： Language teachers should not avoid or ignore the hidden curriculum existing in the language teaching processes; rather, they are expected to face it positively and try their very best to solve the problems it brings. A sound attitude towards the hidden curriculum can help language teachers better understand and implement the formal or official curriculum made by the school or the state.
文摘Hydrated Cement Treated Crushed Rock Base （HCTCRB） is widely used as a base course in Western Australian pavements. HCTCRB has been designed and used as a basis for empirical approaches and in empirical practices. These methods are not all-encompassing enough to adequately explain the behaviour of HCTCRB in the field. Recent developments in mechanistic approaches have proven more reliable in the design and analysis of pavement, making it possible to more effectively document the characteristics of HCTCRB. The aim of this study was to carry out laboratory testing to assess the mechanical characteristics of HCTCRB. Conventional triaxial tests and repeated load triaxial tests （RLT tests） were performed. Factors affecting the performance of HCTCRB, namely hydration periods and the amount of added water were also investigated. It was found that the shear strength parameters of HCTCRB were 177 kPa for cohesion （c） and 42~ for the internal friction angle （~）. The hydration period, and the water added in this investigation affected the performance of HCTCRB. However, the related trends associated with such factors could not be assessed. All HCTCRB samples showed stress-dependency behaviour. Based on the stress stages of this experiment, the resilient modulus values of HCTCRB ranged from 300 MPa to 1100 MPa. CIRCLY, a computer program based on the multi-layer elastic theory was used in the mechanistic approach to pavement design and analysis, to determine the performance of a typical pavement model using HCTCRB as a base course layer. The mechanistic pavement design parameters for HCTCRB as a base course material were then introduced. The analysis suggests that the suitable depth for HCTCRB as a base layer for WA roads is at least 185 mm for the design equivalent standard axle （ESA） of 10 million.
