Ciné débat as an integrated tool for combining traditional debating habits with awareness-raising activities

Author(s):  
Johanna Richter
Keyword(s):  
2004 ◽  
Vol 145-146 ◽  
pp. 219-268 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lawrence Zhang

This paper reports on two phases of a study of a group of advanced TEFL (teachers-of-English-as-a-foreign-language) students. To raise their awareness of the importance of discourse intonation while they were receiving teacher training, this study focuses on examining their sociocultural and psychological inclinations in the choice of phonological models. The first phase is an exploration of their attitudes toward, a native-speaker variety (British English) and a nonnative (Chinese EFL-speaker) variety of English pronunciation and intonation. The second reports on a didactic intervention study of the impact of activities that engaged the students in the awareness-raising of the importance of suprasegmental features, especially discourse intonation, on self-perceptions of their efficacy and confidence in communication. The results showed a systematic pattern of participant endorsement for a native-speaker model and a clear improvement in theIr perceptions of the importance of suprasegmental features of standard English because of teacher-student co-construction of meaning through interactive awareness-raising activities. The findings are discussed with reference to the students' sociocultural and psychological needs in TEFL training, particularly with reference to recent academic discourse on the issue of “linguistic imperialism” (Canagarajah, 1999; Phillipson, 1992, 1996) and ElL in pedagogy (Jenkins, 1998, 2002) and their wider implications in typical EFL contexts.


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. bmjoq-2018-000347 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilsa Louisa Haeusler ◽  
Felicity Knights ◽  
Vishaal George ◽  
Andy Parrish

This quality improvement (QI) work was carried out in Cecilia Makiwane Hospital (CMH), a regional public hospital in the Eastern Cape, South Africa (SA). SA has among the highest incidence of tuberculosis (TB) in the world and this is a leading cause of death in SA. Nosocomial infection is an important source of TB transmission. Adherence to TB infection prevention control (IPC) measures in the medical inpatient department was suboptimal at CMH. The overall aim of this QI project was to make sustainable improvements in TB IPC. A multidisciplinary team was formed to undertake a root cause analysis and develop a strategy for change. The main barriers to adherence to IPC measures were limited knowledge of IPC methods and stigma associated with TB. Specifically, the project aimed to increase the number of: ‘airborne precaution’ signs placed above patients’ beds, patients correctly isolated and patients wearing surgical face masks. Four Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles were used. The strategy for change involved education and awareness-raising in different formats, including formal in-service training delivered to nurses and doctors, a hospital-wide TB awareness week with engaging activities and competitions, and a World TB Day provincial solidarity march. Data on adherence to the three IPC measures were collected over an 8-month period. Pre-intervention (October 2016), a mean of 2% of patients wore face masks, 22% were correctly isolated and 12% had an airborne precaution sign. Post-intervention (May 2017), the compliance improved to 17%, 50% and 25%, respectively. There was a large variation in compliance to each measure. Improvement was greatest in the number of patients correctly isolated. We learnt it is important to work with, not in parallel to, existing teams or structures during QI work. On-the-ground training of nurses and clinicians should be undertaken alongside engagement of senior staff members and managers. This improves the chance of change being adopted into hospital policy.


Author(s):  
Chan Ying Ying ◽  
S Maria Awaluddin ◽  
Lim Kuang Kuay ◽  
Cheong Siew Man ◽  
Azli Baharudin ◽  
...  

Internet addiction (IA) among adolescents is an issue of growing concern with adverse effects on adolescents’ health and social functioning. This study aims to determine the prevalence of IA among school-going adolescents in Malaysia and its associated factors—specifically, lifestyle factors. A nationwide cross-sectional school-based health survey was conducted in 2017 among 27,497 students from 212 randomly selected secondary schools. Information regarding sociodemography, lifestyle, and internet use was obtained using a self-administered questionnaire. IA was measured using the Malay Version of Internet Addiction Test (MVIAT). The prevalence of internet addiction was 29.0%. A multivariable logistic analysis revealed that inadequate fruit and vegetable intakes, consumed carbonated soft drinks at least once a day, consumed fast food at least three days/week, sedentary behavior, current E-cigarette users, and ever/current alcohol drinkers were lifestyle factors significantly associated with IA. Adolescents from urban schools, of higher school grade, and those whose parents are married but living apart were also found to have a greater risk for internet addiction. A positive association was found between IA with unhealthy dietary and lifestyle behaviors among adolescents. The modification of lifestyle factors needs to be considered while developing strategies and interventions for awareness-raising and prevention of IA among adolescents.


2014 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabine De Knop ◽  
Julien Perrez

The article deals with the typological differences between the Romance language French and the Germanic languages German and Dutch for the linguistic expressions of posture and location. It describes how these typological differences can be problematic for French-speaking learners of German and Dutch. The main difference between both types of languages is that posture and location tend to be encoded by posture verbs in Germanic languages and by very general verbs in Romance languages (Talmy 2000). After a detailed description of the semantic networks of the German and Dutch posture verbs, the paper takes a critical look at how these expressions are dealt with in teaching manuals. It further presents strategies for the efficient teaching of posture verbs to foreign language learners. These strategies are among others awareness-raising exercises about the compulsory use of posture verbs in Germanic languages and the description of conceptual metaphors in different languages. These pedagogical avenues for the efficient teaching of the Dutch and German posture verbs constitute a first step towards the elaboration of an experimental set-up aiming at verifying them.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vera Chiodi ◽  
◽  
Verónica Escudero

What works to reduce child labor in agriculture? In this paper, we evaluate two randomized livelihood intervention programs, aimed to reduce child labor, particularly in its most exploitative forms, in rural areas of Peru and the Philippines. In the first randomized experiment, we evaluate a livelihood intervention provided to farmers in Peru that use the labor of their children on their family farms, accompanied by an education intervention aimed to improve the quality of schools and an awareness-raising intervention. In the second randomized experiment, we evaluate the incremental effect of the livelihood intervention implemented within a similar program in the Philippines, focused on the sugarcane agricultural sector. We find that when livelihood interventions were provided alone, they did not manage to improve economic conditions, and hence generally failed to reduce child labor rates in rural areas. However, when the livelihood intervention was combined with measures to improve the quality of education in Peru, we see a reduction in hazardous child labor and child labor overall. Awareness-raising interventions, aimed at changing the perceptions of parents through community interaction, appear to have also had an effect in the reduction of child labor, and these effects were reinforced by education interventions. Results indicate that a comprehensive approach including livelihood support with education and awareness-raising components is a more effective way to reduce child labor and hazardous labor for children in the agricultural sector.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chloé Duffaut ◽  
Nathalie Frascaria-Lacoste ◽  
Pierre-Antoine Versini

<p>Hydro-meteorological risks are increasing and this could be due to global changes. These risks are particularly important in the urban context where most human beings live. Indeed, the impervious surfaces present in cities increase the risk of flooding, for example. Nature-Based Solutions can help to reduce these risks by creating permeable soils or storing water while promoting biodiversity. In this context, it is essential to understand what hinders the development and sustainability of these Nature-based Solutions in the city and what could help to deploy them on a large scale. For this purpose, various professionals working on Nature-Based Solutions in the city in France, were interviewed between 2020 and 2021, both in the academic and operational sectors, or even at the interface between the two: researchers in ecology or hydrology, IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) project manager, project managers at the Regional Biodiversity Agency, director and natural environment manager of a watershed union, agro-economists engineer among others. They were asked what are the barriers and potential opportunities for Nature-Based Solutions implementation and sustainability in city. By analysing their answers, it emerges that the obstacles are more often cultural, political or financial than technical. The potential levers often mentioned are education and awareness-raising at all levels, especially for elected officials and the general public. Regulations such as the PLU (Local Urban Plan) and new funding for more natural spaces in the city also seem to be means of promoting Nature-based Solutions in urban areas. These interviews with diverse professionals directly involved in Nature-Based Solutions in cities allow to give real courses of action to be taken to democratize these Solutions throughout the French territory, or even internationally, and therefore ultimately reduce the risks of hydro-meteorology. This is one of the objectives of the French ANR project EVNATURB (Assessment of ecosystem performance of a renaturation of the urban environment), in which this study has been carried out.</p>


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