Geriatric nursing competence of clinical nursing staff at different hospital levels in Chongqing,China:A cross-sectional study

Objectives:This study aimed to survey the geriatric nursing competencies of clinical nursing staff in Chongqing City,China,and provide suggestions to enhance these competencies.Methods:This study was conducted in 204 hospitals in Southwest China from December 24,2022 to January 7,2023.The“Geriatric Nursing Competence of Clinical Nurse Investigation Tool”was used to explore factors that influence geriatric nurses’competencies via stratified sampling.The survey was conducted by distributing and collecting questionnaires through the online platform Wenjuanxing.Results:A total of 10,692 nurses answered the questionnaires.Of these questionnaires,9,442 were valid.The total geriatric nursing competence score of the clinical nursing staff was 2.29±0.81,the secondary hospital score was 2.23±0.78,and the tertiary hospital’s overall mean score was 2.33±0.83.The factors that influenced secondary hospitals included the department of medicine,age of nurses and total length of career(P<0.05).The factors that influenced tertiary hospitals included the department of medicine,age of nurses,nurses’professional title,and geriatric practical advanced nurses’certification(P<0.05).Conclusions:Geriatric nursing competence among clinical nursing staff is imbalanced at a lower-middle level and is influenced by various factors.Thefindings highlight the need for further clinical training in geriatric nursing.The training of geriatric nurses should focus on necessary clinical skills and on preparing them to adequately manage comprehensive geriatric syndromes.

A Comparative Study of the L2 Pragmatic Competence of University Students in Hong Kong and the Chinese Mainland:The Contributions of Sociocultural Context and Linguistic Proficiency

This study investigates the differences in pragmatic competence between Hong Kong and Chinese mainland university students.Participants included 19 native speakers of English,115 Chinese mainland students,divided into those who had spent time abroad in an English-speaking country(CM A)and those who had not(CM NA),and 97 Hong Kong students,divided into those from an English-medium secondary school(Hong Kong EMI)and those from a Chinese-medium school(Hong Kong CMI).Linguistic proficiency was measured by a C-test,and pragmatic competence by a Metapragmatic Knowledge Test,an Irony Test and a Monologic Role Play.Group scores were compared using ANCOVAs to control for differences in proficiency.The results point to a continuum of pragmatic competence—EMI>CMI>CM A>CM NA—reflecting the groups’access to English in real-life contexts.The differences between the Hong Kong groups and the Chinese mainland groups were clearest in those tests measuring processing capacity(i.e.,Irony Response Time and the Monologic Role Play).CM A,but not CM NA,performed as well as the Hong Kong groups on measures of metapragmatic awareness.The results are discussed in terms of Bialystok’s(1993)distinction between analyzed representation and control of processing.

From Theoretical Grammar to Grammatical Competence:An Empirical Study

In China,English teachers usually take a three-step approach to grammar teaching,namely,the presentation—practice—production principle(3P Principle).This method consists of both“morphology”and“syntax.”It adopts the traditional mode of grammar teaching,including knowledge presentation,grammar exercises,and grammatical competence production,which will inevitably lead to time consumption and low efficiency in grammar learning.This study is about cultivating English majors'grammatical competence through the theoretical mode of grammar teaching.The research results show that the theoretical mode of grammar teaching helps cultivate learners'grammatical competence.

A Study of Innovative College English Teaching Model for Global Competence

Against the backdrop of globalization and deepening international cooperation,countries are putting forward higher demands on the global competence of talents.In this context,college English teaching,as an important part of the higher education system,faces the challenge of cultivating globally competent talents.This study analyzes the core components of global competence through literature review,analyzes the deficiencies in existing college English teaching,and aims to explore and construct a college English teaching model that is compatible with the global competence framework.This study explores how to integrate global competency development into college English teaching from three aspects:curriculum content,teaching methodology,and assessment system.We expect that the proposed teaching model can effectively improve students’English application skills,intercultural communication skills,and critical thinking skills,so as to better meet the demand for global competence in the context of globalization.

Research on Enhancing Students’Intercultural Awareness and Competence in English Teaching

With the deepening of globalization,intercultural communication has become an important part of people’s daily lives and work.English,as an international language,plays a vital role in intercultural communication.However,simple language knowledge can no longer meet the needs of modern society.Students need to have intercultural awareness and competence to better adapt to the development of globalization.Therefore,it is particularly important to improve students’intercultural awareness and competence in English teaching.This paper will discuss how to improve students’intercultural awareness and competence in English teaching,which includes three parts.The first part introduces the definition of intercultural awareness and competence.The second part explores the importance of intercultural awareness and competence to students,which can help students better understand and respect different cultures,stimulate students’innovative thinking and creativity,and cultivate critical thinking skills,and is also of great significance to students’professional development,personal growth,and social responsibility.The third part discusses the effective methods and strategies to improve students’intercultural awareness and competence in teaching,including carrying out cultural discussion and debate,introducing diverse materials,creating intercultural experience teaching activities,and using virtual learning tools.To a certain extent,this study can enrich the theoretical research in the field of intercultural awareness and competence,help to improve students’intercultural awareness and competence,and provide certain practical guidance for educators to teach intercultural courses.

Enhancement of Innovation Competence of College Students Majoring in Mathematics Education through Curriculum Optimization

The innovation competence of K-12 education teachers undoubtedly plays a crucial role in fostering the innovation abilities of their students.K-12 mathematics education equips students with the critical thinking and problem-solving skills essential for their future studies in colleges and universities,helping them grasp complex techniques to address challenges in everyday life and their careers.Therefore,it is of great significance to study strategies for improving the innovation competence of college students majoring in Mathematics Education,as they will likely become K-12 education mathematics teachers directly after graduating from colleges or universities.In this paper,we study strategies for enhancing the innovation competence of college students majoring in Mathematics Education through curriculum optimization.We analyze and explain in detail the importance of innovation competence for college students majoring in Mathematics Education and the difficulties encountered in enhancing college students’innovation competence.With the help of the analysis of the importance and challenges of enhancing college students’innovation competence,we propose several strategies to improve the innovation competence of college students majoring in Mathematics Education based on curriculum optimization.The findings presented in this paper can be applied to develop strategies for college students majoring in Physics and Chemistry Education.

Research on the Status Quo and Improvement Needs of Foreign Language Teachers’ Teaching Competence in Curriculum-Based Ideological Education in Xinjiang Colleges and Universities

This study investigated the status quo and further improvement needs of foreign language teachers’teaching competence in curriculum-based ideological education(CIE)in Xinjiang colleges and universities.The results show that the teachers’teaching competence in CIE is generally good,with the“cultivating quality”being the highest and the“scientific research quality”the lowest;there still exist several problems,such as teachers’lack of theoretical knowledge in CIE,lack of teaching resources,and insufficient abilities in teaching design and research.It is hoped that with the support and efforts from university administrations,teachers can improve their teaching competence in CIE through various approaches adopted and multiple measures taken,thus optimizing their teaching effectiveness,promoting the construction of CIE in Xinjiang colleges and universities in the new era,and contributing to Xinjiang’s high-quality development.

The Impact of Street Interviews on Chinese EFL Undergraduates’Intercultural Communicative Competence

The study adopts Byram’s Intercultural Communicative Competence(ICC)model as the theoretical framework,and structured interviews were conducted to explore the impact of street interviews on the participants’ICC.Analysis results revealed street interviews help students acquire knowledge in intercultural attitudes,intercultural knowledge,skills of discovery and interaction,and critical cultural awareness,aligning with the four components of Byram’s ICC model.Meanwhile,they have positive perceptions of street interviews.Therefore,street interviews have a positive effect on the development of participants’ICC.

Autonomous Learning and Improving Communicative Competence

Nowadays, English as a world language becomes more and more important. Consequently, English learning becomes more and more popular. As we know, an important object for English learners is to improve their communicative competence. So autonomous learning is a good way to improve communicative competence. In this paper, two terms, autonomous learning and communicative competence, and their relationship will be introduced from the perspective of English learning. Autonomous learning is self-managed learning, which is contrary to passive learning and mechanical learning, according to intrinsic property of language learning. Communicative competence is a concept introduced by Dell Hymes and is discussed and refined by many other linguists. According to Hymes, communicative competence is the ability not only to apply the grammatical rules of language in order to form grammatically correct sentences but also to know when and where to use these sentences and to whom. Communicative competence includes 4 aspects: Possibility, feasibility, appropriateness and performance. Improving communicative competence is the result of autonomous learning, autonomous learning is the motivation of improving communicative competence. English, of course, is a bridge connecting China to the world, and fostering students'communicative competence through autonomous learning is the vital element of improving English learning in China.

Taking Stock of Grammar-Translation Teaching Method in Developing Intercultural Pragmatic Competence

Grammar-translation teaching method(GTTM as a shorthand below) has long been a buzzword when it is adopted in the class of English as a foreign language.It has been universally acknowledged that such teaching method contradicts the development of communicative language competence advocated in recent decades.However,I positively argue that GTTM in English class,as a comparative and intercultural model,should be given a due reconsideration to improve L2 learners' pragmatic competence.

TABLE BASED METHOD FOR COMPETENCE SET EXPANSION

Each directed graph with the asymmetric costs defined over its arcs,can be represented by a table,which we call an expansion table.The basic properties of cycles and spanning tables of the expansion table corresponding to the cycles and spanning trees of the directed graph is first explored.An algorithm is then derived to find a minimum spanning table corresponding to a minimum spanning tree in the directed graph.Finally,how to use the algorithm to find the optimal expansion of competence set and related problems are discussed.

The framework and cultivating modes of intercultural communication competence for business English majors in vocational colleges： Based on the study of vocational colleges in Guangxi

The teaching objective of vocational business English is not only to improve students＇ English language competence, but also to develop their intercultural communication competence. Based on an analysis of the outcome of a survey on cultivation of English majors＇ intercultural competence among vocational colleges in Guangxi, the paper aims at exploring the framework and cultivating modes of intercultural communication competence for business English majors in vocational colleges.

Employing the Communicative Approach to Improve the Competence of Listening and Speaking

It is well know that a human linguistic communicative behavior,listening and speaking occupies a very important position in both our daily life and foreign language teaching.Now the classroom becomes more student-centered with the teacher allowing for students to output the language more often on their own.In order to improve the students' listening and speaking,the Communicative Approach has been exploited,which is based on communicative efficiency.It sees communicative competence of language.

How Teachers' Attitudes During Error Treatment May Influence Students' Oral English Competence

Usually, Chinese EFL students make satisfactory progress in reading, grammar and writing. However, it is very difficult for them to transmit messages, exchange thoughts in English. I conducted a questionnaire in Inner Mongolia Teachers’ University and found out that when the students come to speak English, they tend to appear frustrated, lack confidence on the grounds of fear of making errors, which may be closely related to the teachers’ attitudes towards students’ errors. Therefore, it is essential for English teachers to have proper attitudes to errors in English teaching. The paper discusses some important strategies on whether, when and how speaking errors should be corrected based on some researchers’ views and on a small scale of experiment for the purpose of helping teachers deal with students’ errors effectively in communication.

On Second Language Learners＇ Lexical Competence

The paper discusses SL learners＇ lexical competence from O＇Connor＇s Five Steps of Vocabulary Acquisition Theory, Collins ＆ Loftus＇s Semantic Network Theory and Fay ＆ Cutler＇s Mental Lexicon Theory. From the discussion, the author finds that second language learners＇ lexical competence includes the following aspects： the ability to recall the words which are similar to the target words in spelling and pronunciation; the ability to recall the synonyms of the target words; the ability to recall the antonyms of the target words; and the ability to recall the related words which come together with the target words in a context. Meanwhile it advances some strategies to develop the corresponding competence.

Investigating L2 Request Strategies: A Case Study of Chinese English teachers' L2 Pragmatic Competence

Empirical descriptions of how the teacher performs requests in English can make them realize the importance of improving pragmatic competence, so that they could help students develop more native-like pragmatic behaviors and enhance cultural competence. This case study is to explore the pragmatic competence of a Chinese EFL teacher by investigating the patterns of realization strategies and the ways of reacting to the different social and contextual variables in her requests. It was found out that the teacher investigated in the study had good pragmatic awareness and pragmatic competence to produce the speech act of requests and develop students' pragmatic competence, but more explicit instructions should be provided to help students develop more native-like speech acts by providing more explicit instructions.

Reviewing the Model of Communicative Competence in English Teaching

English communicative competence is growingly important,however,many college graduates can't communicate smoothly in English.Therefore,the English teacher is supposed to know clearly what abilities English communicative competence should contain,namely:what ability a person needs to be able to use English to communicate effectively.To that end,a large number of relevant literatures is carefully read;the evolution of English communicative competence model is reviewed;and then an English communicative competence model,inclusive,open-ended and dynamic,is put forward to guide English teaching and learning.

Communicative Competence & Communicative Language Teaching

Traditionally, English teaching in China is dominated by a teacher-centered, book-centered, grammar-translation method, audio-lingual method and an emphasis on rote learning, resulting in limited vocabulary and poor communicative competence. However, the communicative approach has provided the expected results since it was introduced into China in the 1990s, improving their linguistic competence as well as their communicative competence.

ECOC多类分类中基分类器non-competence问题研究

在纠错输出编码(error-correcting output code,ECOC)多类分类中,当待识别样本的真实类别不属于对应二类子类划分时,训练得到的基分类器将不具备对此类样本进行分类的能力,此时的基分类器在解码融合时面临着non-competence问题。如何衡量基分类器是否具备对样本的分类能力,以及如果不具备,如何减少此种情况下对分类效果的影响是基于ECOC多类分类面临的新问题。针对解码框架中non-competent基分类器的分类融合问题,提出一种基于基分类器对样本是否具有分类能力的加权解码方法。该方法利用支持向量数据描述衡量待识别样本与各划分子类之间的距离,同时利用加权解码,通过对基分类器权重的学习,进而增强对类别拥有分类能力的基分类器的影响,减少不具备分类能力的基分类器产生的误差。基于UCI数据集的实验表明所提方法的有效性和实用性。

Striking A Balance in the Process of Developing EFL Learners' Communicative Competence

Communicative language teaching has been popular for more than 3 decades but there is still no shortage of argument in cases of how to develop communicative competence as a whole. Strategic competence,one of the four components of communicative competence,has been given much priority. The paper reexamines the four components of communicative competence and points out that we need to strike a balance in the process of developing learner's communicative competencein foreign language teaching.