Reward priming differentially modulates enhancement and inhibition in auditory decision-making

In cognitive sciences, rewards, such as money and food, play a fundamental role in individuals' daily lives and well-being. Moreover, rewards that are irrelevant to the task alter individuals' behavior. However, it is unclear whether explicit knowledge of reward irrelevancy has an impact on reward priming enhancements and inhibition. In this study, an auditory change-detection task with task-irrelevant rewards was introduced. The participants were informed explicitly in advance that the rewards would be given randomly. The results revealed that while inhibition related to reward priming only occurred when the participants were explicitly informed about rewards, implicit instruction thereof resulted in enhancement and inhibition associated with reward priming. These findings highlight the contribution of explicit information about rewards associated with auditory decisions.

Teaching second language pragmatics in the current era of globalization: An introduction

The increasing mobility of speakers of different languages to different countries, together with the globalized world we live in, have led to multilingual societies in which linguistic exchanges between both native and non-native speakers have become a very common practice. This reality emphasizes the need to help learners of foreign and second languages become not only linguistically competent but also pragmatically competent, in order not to sound impolite or inappropriate in the target language. Addressing this need, studies in interlanguage pragmatics (ILP) have explored which methodology is most effective for teaching pragmatics. Earlier ILP studies compared explicit versus implicit instruction, highlighting the key role of explicit metapragmatic explanations. More recently, scholars have investigated how to create opportunities to for authentic pragmatic practice inside the classroom. To do so, some studies have implemented task-based language teaching to provide students with goal-oriented meaningful activities that address their real-world needs. Other studies have incorporated technology-enhanced materials such as simulated immersive environments and computer-mediated communication to promote students’ engagement in authentic use of the language beyond the classroom. Another current concern in L2 pragmatic instruction is how to account for the emergence of English as an International Language (EIL), and the consequent need to guide learners into acquiring language as a tool to mediate across linguistic and cultural boundaries. Different studies have adopted an EIL perspective, proposing the enhancement of students’ metapragmatic awareness and strategies to deal with the hybrid nature of English and its associated varieties and cultures. The special issue ‘Teaching second language pragmatics in the current era of globalization’ aims to illustrate such current trends, with six contributions by distinguished scholars in the field of L2 pragmatics from all over the globe.

Mastering Prepositions in English: Explicit versus Implicit Instruction

Prepositions form a hurdle for several EFL learners, Arabs in particular. One major catalyst is that the preposition systems in English and Arabic rarely correspond to one another. Most scholars who researched this area concentrated on the problem itself, rather than finding a successful remedy that can empower these students to masterfully handle such a thorny area. This study is novel inasmuch as it concerns itself with finding means of facilitating this language area for Arab learners. It reveals the effectiveness of using translation to teach English prepositions to these learners. The research question of this study is: do students who have received explicit tuition and adequate practice on the use of English prepositions in translated texts naturally perform better using such grammatical items in subsequently translated texts than those who have not been instructed on such exemplars in similar language contexts? Sixty students at the Gulf University for Science and Technology in Kuwait participated in the field experiment. The study paradigm had a pre-test/post-test protocol. While the pre-test included four fill-in-the-gap exercises, the post-test contained three Arabic passages which participants were required to translate into English. The findings showed that teaching prepositions explicitly in translated texts is a viable technique for EFL learners’ mastery of such grammatical items. This has implications for EFL specialists and syllabus designers.

Mastering Prepositions in English: Explicit versus Implicit Instruction

Prepositions form a hurdle for several EFL learners, Arabs in particular. One major catalyst is that the preposition systems in English and Arabic rarely correspond to one another. Most scholars who researched this area concentrated on the problem itself, rather than finding a successful remedy that can empower these students to masterfully handle such a thorny area. This study is novel inasmuch as it concerns itself with finding means of facilitating this language area for Arab learners. It reveals the effectiveness of using translation to teach English prepositions to these learners. The research question of this study is: do students who have received explicit tuition and adequate practice on the use of English prepositions in translated texts naturally perform better using such grammatical items in subsequently translated texts than those who have not been instructed on such exemplars in similar language contexts? Sixty students at the Gulf University for Science and Technology in Kuwait participated in the field experiment. The study paradigm had a pre-test/post-test protocol. While the pre-test included four fill-in-the-gap exercises, the post-test contained three Arabic passages which participants were required to translate into English. The findings showed that teaching prepositions explicitly in translated texts is a viable technique for EFL learners’ mastery of such grammatical items. This has implications for EFL specialists and syllabus designers.

DEVELOPING ETHICAL ENGINEERS WITH EMPATHY

Empathy-based skill development can help engineering students work towards professional expectations regarding ethical duties. However, there is a lack of explicit, holistic pedagogical approaches toempathy education in engineering. In BME161, a first-year biomedical engineering design course, students received explicit and implicit instruction focused on empathy and ethics. Students were also expected to use empathy-based tools and incorporate stakeholder perspectives in their design process in meaningful and explainable ways. While this approach was successful in incorporating empathybased education into a design course, a more holistic approach is needed throughout the program. Therefore, a high-level framework is presented based on four pillars of empathy development: communication, collaboration, decision-making, and values with a goal of achieving an interpersonal, user-centered, empathic culture of design in engineering students. Future work will focus on developing a more detailed and actionable framework.