Intercultural Competence Development of Chinese Students After a Short-Term Study Abroad Experience

This study investigated Chinese students’ intercultural competence and linguistic growth during a six-week study abroad program. The students and their professor participated in pre- and post-tests covering written and oral language competency as well as intercultural competence. The Global Scale of English assessed student language development to determine linguistic growth and the Assessment of Intercultural Competence of Chinese College Students (AIC-CCS) was used to determine student growth of intercultural competence skills, specifically related to cultural knowledge, skills, attitudes, and awareness as a result of their experiences in a non-Western context. Results indicated that students experienced a change in the salience of intercultural knowledge themes over their period abroad, as well as improved their individual language abilities. This study provides suggestions for future programming focused on the development of Chinese student intercultural competencies during short-term study abroad experiences in Western university environments.

Modeling water resources under competing demands for sustainable development: A case study of Kaligandaki Gorge Hydropower Project in Nepal

The challenges posed by climate change require that the quantity and quality of water resources in Nepal be managed with sustainable development practices. The communities around the Kaligandaki Gorge Hydropower Project in the Myagdi District of Nepal depend on river flow for most of their rural and agricultural needs. Without a sustainable development plan, the growing population of the region, confined in an area with declining water resources, will face serious challenges to economic growth. Meteorological data show increasing annual average rainfall at a slight rate of about 0.284 mm/year, with erratic annual percentage change in rainfall in the area. The mean and minimum temperatures show decreasing trends at the rates of 0.05-C and 0.14-C per year, respectively. An assessment of the impacts on water availability for domestic and irrigation usage in the face of competing demands caused by the hydropower development project in the Kaligandaki Gorge was undertaken. The water demand and supply modeling were conducted using the water evaluation and planning (WEAP) model, based on discharge data from the Kaligandaki River, which were obtained from the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, Nepal. The available data from 2001 to 2003 were used to estimate the model parameters while the stability of these parameters was tested with a validation period from 2004 to 2007. The performance of the model was assessed through statistical measures of calibration with the root mean square error and coefficient of determination, whose values were 0.046% and 0.79, respectively. Two scenarios were created in addition to the base case scenario: the discharge decrement scenario and new irrigation technology scenario. Analysis showed that a prioritization of demands will be necessary in the area in the near future for the purpose of sustainability of water resources, due to climate change impacts.

Development and psychometric evaluation of the radiographers’ competence scale

Assessing the competence of registered radiographers’ clinical work is of great importance because of the recent change in nursing focus and rapid technological development. Self-assessment assists radiographers to validate and improve clinical practice by identifying their strengths as well as areas that may need to be developed. The aim of the study was to develop and psychometrically test a specially designed instrument, the Radiographers Competence Scale (RCS). A cross sectional survey was conducted comprising 406 randomly selected radiographers all over Sweden. The study consisted of two phases;the development of the instrument and evaluation of its psychometric properties. The first phase included three steps: 1) construction of the RCS;2) pilot testing of face and content validity;and 3) creation of a web-based 54-item questionnaire for testing the instrument. The second phase comprised psychometric evaluation of construct validity, internal consistency reliability and item reduction. The analysis reduced the initial 54 items of the RCS to 28 items. A logical two-factor solution was identified explaining 53.8% of the total variance. The first factor labelled “Nurse initiated care” explained 31.7% of the total variance. Factor 2 labelled “Technical and radiographic processes” explained 22.1% of the total variance. The scale had good internal consistency reliability, with a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.87. The RCS is a short, easy to administer scale for capturing radiographers’ competence levels and the frequency of using their competence. The scale was found to be valid and reliable. The self-assessment RCS can be used in management, patient safety and quality improvement to enhance the radiographic process.

Childhood Development Cross Culturally:Implications for Designing Childhood Obesity Interventions and Providing Culturally Competent Care

United States is experiencing significant growth in its foreign-born population,especially Chinese American population comprising of 1.2%of the U.S.population.Many healthcare providers are challenged in their efforts to provide culturally competent healthcare to this population.To provide culturally competent healthcare,healthcare providers should understand variations in cultural attributes that impact health.One group in which cultural variation holds great influence is that of children.Culture influences a child's behavior,development and health.This article provides a cross-cultural,comparative examination of important cultural influences on child behaviors development and health in China and the U.S.Using the findings about these two populations,interventions for childhood obesity cross culturally are addressed through the analysis of a U.S.based Children's Obesity Program.The author suggests that uniquely different approaches to childhood obesity intervention research are needed based upon the cultural differences identified within this paper.

Development and Validation of an Instrument for Assessing Perceived Competences in Didactic Activity

In the context of teacher competences’association with student performance,assessment of didactic competences is an important concern for educational professionals.The current study aims to develop and validate a tool for assessing perceived competences in didactic activity for a group of Romanian teachers.The study examined 160 teachers from 15 schools in Bucharest,Romania,aged 20-60 years old.In the process of development and validation of the instrument(Assessment of perceived competences in didactic activity),the recommended steps were followed.Exploratory factorial analysis indicated the existence of three factors:effective communication of the teacher,development of students’critical thinking,and use of auxiliary resources.Reliability analysis showed high reliability coefficients,indicating good psychometric qualities of the scale.The correlations between the three factors were high,so the scale has acceptable convergent validity.Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the three factor model has indicators of good fit,also indicating good psychometric properties.The main practical implication is that the proposed instrument can be successfully used in identifying development needs of teachers resulting from the evaluation process.Based on the results derived from self-assessment of teaching competencies,customized professional development programs can be created for each teacher,aiming at developing skills and,implicitly,improving performance at the workplace.

Historical Tracing of the Development of the Concepts of ＂Competence＂ and ＂Performance＂

Competence and performance is an important pair of concepts in linguistics. Ever since their originality, they have aroused sufficient attention of the linguists. Many linguists have contributed a lot in their attempt to illustrate the concepts and clarification of them. A proper understanding of them can help the readers to gain more insight into the linguistics. What the linguist, Chomsky, originally meant by using competence and performance is somewhat different from what the current linguists mean by using them. The distance and distinction between competence and performance meant by Chomsky is also different from that meant by current linguists. That＇s to say there is some development of competence and performance since they were put forward. The shift is a gradual one, yet a very significant one. It reflects the linguists＇ effort to try to describe and categorize language learners＇ ability and their attempt to make use of them and measure them. This process actually narrows the distance and gap not only between theory and practice, but also between competence and performance. And at the same time, it reflects the linguists＇ frustration and confusion caused by the abstraction and complexity of them. By consulting the literature, the paper tries to follow their development step by step. The paper also points out some assumptions used by linguists when applying competence and performance. At the end of paper, it points out some implications to language teaching, which is important to language teachers and learners.

Analysis of Employees’ Professional Development in a Forensic Science Laboratory as a Route towards Organizational Competitiveness

This study was conducted to analyze the competitiveness of a Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) based on employees’ professional development and diversification into different professions. The FSL is the sole Government Laboratory?in Tanzania which serves the police force, judiciary system and the public?prosecution. A sample of 88 current employees of different professions (53 chemists, 26 technologists and 9 accountants) was used. The data was collected from the?year 2000 to 2015. Mathematical expressions were developed to quantifystagnation and total service time at specific development levels based on which?new?indices (professional development index, PDI;leadership competency index, LCI;and succession index, SI) were developed. The number of employees for support cadres was observed to increase faster in the last 5 years from 34.3% in?2009/2010 to 57.1% in 2014/2015, compared to chemists and technologists.?The?staff-to-line ratio (SLR) has been increasing since 2000, reaching above 0.8?from 2013 to 2015 indicating that the FSL was undergoing diversification and division of labor. The FSL workforce comprised of mainly semi-skilled employees. Promotions have played a big role in employees’ professional development. In some cases employees were promoted to higher level before 3 years stipulated?by public service regulations, regarded as breach of procedures. However,?high?stagnation of employees at specific ranks was observed (up to 9 - 10 years) which causes frustrations, lost morale and engagement. Results indicated that most?of the service years are served in ranks A and B. Indices developed in thisstudy?form a baseline data for strategic analysis of FSL competitiveness in the future?and allow for proper human resource planning. Highest values of LCI and PDI were observed for chemists. Technologists in the FSL show higher succession index compared to chemists and accountants. Employee diversification in the?FSL has been increasing from 2003 to 2015. It was concluded that the FSL?competitive advantage is continuously increasing.

Instruction of the Multi-dimensional Developing Perspective on Translation in Translation Competence Development

The overlook of the cultivation of learners’perspective on translation is one of the essential reasons that we fail to enhance learners’translation competence effectively and efficiently.The perspective on translation mirrors not only the interpretation of the essence,value,and function of translation,but the interpretation of culture and intercultural communication,which offers inspiration and implication on translation in the current context.This study analyzes the significance of the multi-dimensional developing perspective on translation and elaborates on the HBARP model to integrate the perspective on translation throughout the learning and teaching process to inspire learners to interpret translation essence and features,to highlight the intercultural communicative significance in the current context with a historical vision.

基于Competency的高职商务英语写作实践教学

基于Competency的高职商务英语写作实践教学以CBLT和Competency职业能力发展结构为理论依据,旨在通过实践教学切实提高学生的商务英语写作能力。本文提出高职商务英语写作实践教学应以涉外商务助理岗位为基础,将以课程内容为导向的写作教学和以企业涉外商务助理岗位真实项目为导向的写作实践相结合,以取得较好的教学效果。

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.

Continuing professional development:progress beyond continuing medical education

Continuing medical education(CME)is rapidly evolving into competency-based continuing professional development(CPD)and this is driving change in self-directed CPD programs undertaken by individual practitioners as well as CPD programs or frameworks offered by CPD educators.This progression is being led by many factors including the rapid change in medical knowledge and medical practitioners along with changes in patients and society,healthcare systems,regulators and the political environment.We describe our experiences primarily concerning low-resource environments,in creating the International Council of Ophthalmology(ICO)Guide to Effective CPD/CME and in developing a CPD program for the Cambodian Ophthalmological Society(COS)twinned with the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists(RANZCO).At the conclusion of the project,47(100%)Cambodian practicing ophthalmologists were registered in the CPD program and 21(45%)were actively participating in the online COS-CPD program recording.We discuss challenges in CPD,propose solutions to overcome them and recommend developing research in CPD as needed to effectively enhance educational activities with impact in public health.

A Study of CFL Teacher Competency in the U.S.: An Overview of Professional Guidelines, Resources, and Standards

Chinese as a foreign language (CFL) is a critical language in the United States, and the importance to have competent CFL teachers has been more and more realized. However, the literature does not show sufficient research on CFL teacher competency. To fill the gap, a series of exploratory research studies are initiated. As a part of the initiation, this study overviews the professional guidelines, resources, standards and requirements for CFL education in the U.S. at the national and state levels. The findings will be useful for designing teacher education program and teacher training program. In addition, student teachers, pre-service teachers, and in-service teachers can also use them as great references for their academic and/or professional development.

A Case Study of Business Borderless Development in Internet Age

A firm may expand in two ways： by tangible expansion through an increase in the scale of the physical company, or by intangible expansion, an optimization process drawing on both the firm＇s physical entity as well as virtual resources, producing borderless growth. We take a case study approach to explore borderless development at business, managerial, and operational levels and to study four facilitators of borderless development： information technology, the virtual world, virtual operations, and concentration on core business. We conclude that firms may achieve global dominance in their area of core competency through borderless development.

Exposure to TL in class and IL refusal development

The present study aimed to account for the different degrees of IL refusal development in terms of the amount of exposure to TL in class. The refusing responses to various elicitations were collected by means of the written DCT, the oral DCT and the role-play and were processed by employing component analysis. The comparison of refusal components between Group A （with full exposure） and Group B （with partial exposure） presents that the exposure in class does facilitate the development of IL refusal competence. The findings in this study bring some pedagogical implications for L2 teachers and academic inspirations to the researchers in IL pragmatic acquisition.

Faculty development for teaching and assessing residents’professionalism

The teaching of professionalism,a key aspect of medical competence that regulates physician’s behavior towards patients,colleagues,society,and self,should be included in the curriculum of every training program.Studies suggest a variety of formats to teach and evaluate professionalism in residents,being role modeling,reflection,case discussions,and 360-degree assessments the most commonly used.However,little is published about the need to train faculty for teaching and evaluating professionalism,or how to improve institutional culture,so that principles that are indicated to teach in theory are also fulfilled in practice.

Development Program of Chemical Industry Based Computer Assisted Instruction for Students of Industrial Engineering Department in Indonesia

This study aims to improve the competence of students of the Department of Industrial Engineering in Indonesia in the subject of Chemical Industry, in particular through the model-based teaching materials CAI (Computer Assisted Instruction) in the form of an interactive CD. In particular, the study was carried out for the purposes of: 1) designing and developing models of devices based learning CAI (Computer Assisted Instruction) systematically in prototype form, 2) producing an interactive CD as a model learning devices Chemical Industry based CAI (Computer Assisted Instruction) to improve the competence of students of the Department of Industrial Engineering in Industrial chemistry courses. The benefits of this research are: 1) for the government, the results of this study can be used as a reference in implementing educational policies, especially to enhance the nation’s competitiveness in the era of informatics;and 2) for the Department of Industrial Engineering in Indonesia, the results of this research can be used to enhance learning that can improve the competence of students in the subject of Chemical Industry, which in turn can be passed with high achievement. Products produced in the first year are a design-based teaching materials CAI (Computer Assisted Instruction) in prototype form, with the following steps: 1) pre- production which includes needs analysis, identifying and analyzing the needs based on the content of curriculum and learning model based CAI (Computer Assisted Instruction), the development of a concept related to Chemical Industry, the development of multimedia content that includes developing materials, animation, and evaluation related to industrial chemicals, gathering material to make the recording sound, shooting, and editing with regard to the development of teaching materials chemical Industry based CAI (Computer Assisted Instruction), as well as developing the storyboard as the layout of the multimedia contents by involving experts multimedia;2) production process that includes design/design and conduct of programming a prototype which means at this stage of the design and development of teaching materials based CAI (Computer Assisted Instruction);and 3) post-production which includes the evaluation justification experts, conducted trials on stakeholders, being revised based on input from experts, and doing packing and labeling.

On Developing Oral Communicative Competence in TEFL

More than ever before does China demand English, especially oral English competence, so urgently. In accordance with the situation, the goal of language teaching is shifting from linguistic competence to communicative competence. To accomplish this goal, we have made some investigations into students＇ current oral proficiency and their English language needs, as well as a detailed analysis of the factors constraining the development of oral proficiency. And in the light of the principles of communicative language teaching, practical ways of reform are proposed in this thesis. Among the factors teaching methodology is highlighted, which is crucial in the enhancement of learners＇ oral competence in EFL situation.

专精特新企业新产品开发绩效的组态效应研究——基于“能力-行为”匹配视角

专精特新企业对解决我国关键核心技术“卡脖子”问题具有重要意义,现有研究主要集中于创新机制和政策培育两方面,而新产品开发绩效作为专精特新企业可持续发展的重要途径,鲜有学者关注。为弥补现有研究不足,本文遵循“能力-行为”匹配视角,将数字化能力与服务化导向纳入同一研究框架,构建影响专精特新企业新产品开发绩效的组态效应模型。运用fsQCA方法对48家专精特新企业进行实证检验,检验结果表明:(1)数字化能力和服务化导向之间存在“多重并发”效应,可以通过4种不同的组合路径实现高新产品开发绩效;(2)将4种高新产品开发绩效组合路径进一步聚类,可归结为强数字化资源协调能力的能力拉动型和强产品导向服务化的服务推动型,这两种类型下数字化感知能力与客户导向服务化均具有替代效应。本文从“能力-行为”匹配视角丰富新产品开发绩效的前因组态,并为专精特新企业提升新产品开发绩效提供实践建议。

加强高职护理专业学生核心素养培养的路径探索——以清远职业技术学院为例

加强高职护理专业学生核心素养培养是落实立德树人任务的重要举措,是适应护理岗位工作的迫切需要,是响应健康中国建设的必然要求。根据护理岗位工作需求构建包括高职护理专业学生必备的人文底蕴、交流合作、科学精神等七个方面组成的核心素养指标体系。高职护理专业应从课程体系的构建、课程标准的制定、教学方法和教学评价的改革四个方面加强学生核心素养的培养,以提高学生的综合素质,提升岗位胜任力,增强学生就业竞争力。