Effects and Causes of VR-Supported Interpreting Learning Environment on the Interpretation Classroom Anxiety of Student Interpreter

Interpreting activity is considered a high-anxiety activity due to its immediacy, multitasking, complexity of cognitive processing, and uncertainty of cognitive processing. Research has shown that interpreting anxiety, as the biggest emotional obstacle in the interpreting process, is the main emotional factor that leads to individual differences in interpreting. Students often claim to have fear or anxiety behaviors in interpreting exams, interpreting competitions, and interpreting classes. However, the research on interpreting teaching attaches importance to the cultivation of language knowledge, cultural knowledge, and interpreting skills, and does not pay enough attention to emotional factors such as motivation and anxiety in interpreting learning, which makes it difficult for the cultivated interpreters to meet the requirements of professional practice. In recent years, virtual reality technology (VR) has been gradually applied in the field of foreign language and interpreting teaching for creating a real, interactive and experiential language learning environment. Situated Learning Theory stresses that the fundamental mechanism for learning to take place is for individuals to participate in the real context in which knowledge is generated, and to realize the construction of knowledge through the interaction with the community of practice and the environment. Virtual reality technology can satisfy the needs of language learners for real contexts by providing learners with immersive, imaginative and interactive scenario simulations, and has a certain positive effect on alleviating learning anxiety. Therefore, relying on the virtual simulation course “United Nations Kubuqi International Desert Ecological Science and Technology Innovation International Volunteer Language Service Practical Training System”, this paper adopts a combination of quantitative and qualitative analyses to investigate the interpretation anxiety level of the interpreter trainees and the factors affecting them in the VR situation to help them discover effective responses to interpreter anxiety.

Anderson's Cognitive Theory and Learning Strategy Studies in Second Language Acquisition

Second language acquisition can not be understood without addressing the interaction between language and cognition. Cognitive theory can extend to describe learning strategies as complex cognitive skills. Theoretical developments in Anderson’s production systems cover a broader range of behavior than other theories, including comprehension and production of oral and written texts as well as comprehension, problem solving, and verbal learning.Thus Anderson’s cognitive theory can be served as a rationale for learning strategy studies in second language acquisition.

Do Learners' Preferred Learning Styles Affect Learning Outcomes and Satisfaction in PLE: A Pilot Study of the Supervised-PLE-IELTS Platform

Personal Learning Environment(PLE)enables a knowledge-based,learner-centered lifelong learning which could be successfully integrated with formal education when taking educators’supervision into consideration.But do learners’preferred Learning Styles matter in PLE?To investigate the relationship among learners’Learning Styles,learning outcomes and satisfaction towards the PLE platform,the study constructed and applied a supervised-PLE-IELTS platform.57 sophomores majored in Business in Wenzhou University took part in a 16-week project.Data were collected by Honey and Mumford’s Learning Styles questionnaire for the Learning Styles,post-test of IELTS reading,listening and vocabulary for the cognitive learning outcomes,and Distance Education Learning Environments Survey(DELES)for the satisfaction towards the PLE platform.The results showed:(1)Learning Styles have positive relationship with the cognitive learning achievements in PLE;(2)Learning Styles had no direct effect on satisfaction,and learners of all Learning Styles enjoyed PLE-IELTS platform;and(3)learners who spent more time on PLE platform achieved better cognitive learning outcomes.The paper shed light on the future construction of supervised-PLEs.

Parallel cognition:hybrid intelligence for human-machine interaction and management

As an interdisciplinary research approach,traditional cognitive science adopts mainly the experiment,induction,modeling,and validation paradigm.Such models are sometimes not applicable in cyber-physical-socialsystems (CPSSs),where the large number of human users involves severe heterogeneity and dynamics.To reduce the decision-making conflicts between people and machines in human-centered systems,we propose a new research paradigm called parallel cognition that uses the system of intelligent techniques to investigate cognitive activities and functionals in three stages:descriptive cognition based on artificial cognitive systems (ACSs),predictive cognition with computational deliberation experiments,and prescriptive cognition via parallel behavioral prescription.To make iteration of these stages constantly on-line,a hybrid learning method based on both a psychological model and user behavioral data is further proposed to adaptively learn an individual’s cognitive knowledge.Preliminary experiments on two representative scenarios,urban travel behavioral prescription and cognitive visual reasoning,indicate that our parallel cognition learning is effective and feasible for human behavioral prescription,and can thus facilitate human-machine cooperation in both complex engineering and social systems.

Neuroprotective Effects of Electroacupuncture Preventive Treatment in Senescence-Accelerated Mouse Prone 8 Mice

Objective： To investigate the preventive treatment effects of electroacupuncture（EA） on cognitive changes and brain damage in senescence-accelerated mouse prone 8（SAMP8） mice. Methods： The 5-month-old male SAMP8 and age-matched homologous normal aging mice（SAMR1） were adopted in this study. EA stimulation at Baihui（GV 20） and Yintang（EX-HN 3） was performed every other day for 12 weeks, 4 weeks as a course. Morris water maze test and Nissl-stained with cresyl violet were used for cognitive impairments evaluation and brain morphometric analysis. Amyloid-β（Aβ） expression in hippocampus and parietal cortex was detected by immunohistochemistry, and apoptosis was observed by TUNEL staining. Results： After 3 courses of EA preventive treatment, the escape latencies of 8-month-old SAMP8 mice in EA group were significantly shortened than those of un-pretreated SAMP8 mice. Compared with SAMR1 mice, extensive neuronal changes were visualized in the CA1 area of hippocampus in SAMP8 mice, while these pathological changes and attenuate cell loss in hippocampal CA1 area of SAMP8 mice markedly reduced after EA preventive treatment. Furthermore, Aβ expression in hippocampus and parietal cortex of SAMP8 mice decreased significantly after EA treatment, and neuronal apoptosis decreased as well. Conclusion： EA preventive treatment at GV 20 and EX-HN 3 might improve cognitive deficits and neuropathological changes in SAMP8 mice, which might be, at least in part, due to the effects of reducing brain neuronal damage, decreasing neuronal apoptosis and inhibiting Aβ-containing aggregates.