Studies on Positive Evidence Feedback in Second Language Writing: Status Quo and Implications

While a surge of research has investigated the use of reformulations and models as positive evidence feedback (PEF) in second language (L2) writing, so far no research synthesis seeking to review the status quo of this particular topic has been published. To fill the gap, the present study synthesized 23 studies on reformulations and models as PEF in L2 writing and examined the salient findings regarding three major research strands: (1) students’ noticing and incorporation from reformulations; (2) students’ noticing and incorporation from models; and (3) effects of PEF on L2 writing. Informed by the study findings, we suggest L2 teachers vary their feedback decisions with flexibility, consider individual and contextual factors in PEF practices, combine PEF and corrective feedback to maximize student learning, and provide guidance to support student actions in response to PEF. We also propose three areas for further research, namely going beyond linguistic issues to explore the potential of PEF, systematically investigating factors influencing students’ engagement with PEF, and collecting longitudinal data to examine the long-term effect of PEF. This study enhances our understanding of this emerging research area and provides implications for L2 pedagogy, as well as suggestions for future investigations.

"All mimsy were the borogoves” – A discriminative learning model of morphological knowledge in pseudo-word inflection

Grammatical knowledge of native speakers has often been investigated in so-called wug tests, in which participants have to inflect pseudo-word forms (wugs). Typically it has been argued that in inflecting these pseudo-words, speakers apply their knowledge of word formation processes. However, it remains unclear what exactly this knowledge is and how it is learned.According to one theory, the knowledge is best characterized as abstractions and rules that specify how units can be combined. Another theory maintains that it is best characterized by analogy. In both cases the knowledge is learned by association based on positive evidence alone.In this paper, we model the classification of pseudo-words to Maltese plural classes on the basis of phonetic input using a shallow neural network trained with an error-driven learning algorithm. We demonstrate that the classification patterns mirror those of Maltese native speakers in a wug test. Our results indicate that speakers rely on gradient knowledge of a relation between the phonetics of whole words and plural classes, which is learned in an error-driven way.

The prophet, the mother, the avenger: An examination of Gaia's cult worship and the "bricolage" in her myth

<p>This thesis is a study of the cult of the Greek goddess Gaia (Gē). Gaia’s cult has long been interpreted by scholars though the lens of her mythical roles. She featured in literature as the mother of the Titans, as an oracular goddess at Delphi, and as the mythical mother of Erichthonios; she is also a force that watched over curses and oaths. Her cult has been most strongly associated with Delphi, where she was part of the Previous Owners myth, a tradition that made her the primary goddess at Delphi before Apollo took over. She is also strongly associated with Athens, where almost all of our literary evidence comes from. Early 20th century scholarship characterised Gaia as a universally-worshipped “Mother Earth” figure; more specifically, she has been identified as the Greek version of the Anatolian Mother Goddess, Kybele. Gaia’s cult worship as an oracular goddess and as a mother figure is overstated, and I argue that these associations are examples of confirmation bias. In this thesis, I examine the sources for both myth and cult to establish where the boundaries lie between the two, both through re-examination of the primary sources and through a critical appraisal of secondary discussions. To compare, I examine the positive evidence for Gaia’s cult, with a particular focus on the epigraphical evidence, including a 5th century BCE statue base and inscriptions from the 4th century BCE that describe a ἱερόν of Gaia at Delphi and Attic deme calendars that provide sacrifices to Gaia, some of which are expensive. Further evidence is offered by Pausanias and Plutarch, who attest to a sanctuary of Gaia at Delphi in the 1st and 2nd centuries CE, cults of Gē Kourotrophos and Gē Themis in Athens, and other cults of Gaia elsewhere. I also explore the significance of Gaia as the mother of Ericthonios, the autochthonous founder of Athens, in myth and Athenian literature. I conclude that Gaia was not worshipped at Delphi before the 5th century BCE. Gaia was receiving cult worship in Athens from the 5th century BCE in the form of deme sacrifices. Also in Athens, Gaia’s worship as Gē Themis appears arounds the 4th century BCE, while Pausanias attests to a temple of Gē Kourotrophos on the acropolis. Before the time of Pausanias, Kourotrophos appears to be a separate deity. Finally, I conclude that Gaia rarely receives cult worship under the epithet “Meter” and cannot be identified as the Greek version of Anatolian Kybele.</p>

The prophet, the mother, the avenger: An examination of Gaia's cult worship and the "bricolage" in her myth

<p>This thesis is a study of the cult of the Greek goddess Gaia (Gē). Gaia’s cult has long been interpreted by scholars though the lens of her mythical roles. She featured in literature as the mother of the Titans, as an oracular goddess at Delphi, and as the mythical mother of Erichthonios; she is also a force that watched over curses and oaths. Her cult has been most strongly associated with Delphi, where she was part of the Previous Owners myth, a tradition that made her the primary goddess at Delphi before Apollo took over. She is also strongly associated with Athens, where almost all of our literary evidence comes from. Early 20th century scholarship characterised Gaia as a universally-worshipped “Mother Earth” figure; more specifically, she has been identified as the Greek version of the Anatolian Mother Goddess, Kybele. Gaia’s cult worship as an oracular goddess and as a mother figure is overstated, and I argue that these associations are examples of confirmation bias. In this thesis, I examine the sources for both myth and cult to establish where the boundaries lie between the two, both through re-examination of the primary sources and through a critical appraisal of secondary discussions. To compare, I examine the positive evidence for Gaia’s cult, with a particular focus on the epigraphical evidence, including a 5th century BCE statue base and inscriptions from the 4th century BCE that describe a ἱερόν of Gaia at Delphi and Attic deme calendars that provide sacrifices to Gaia, some of which are expensive. Further evidence is offered by Pausanias and Plutarch, who attest to a sanctuary of Gaia at Delphi in the 1st and 2nd centuries CE, cults of Gē Kourotrophos and Gē Themis in Athens, and other cults of Gaia elsewhere. I also explore the significance of Gaia as the mother of Ericthonios, the autochthonous founder of Athens, in myth and Athenian literature. I conclude that Gaia was not worshipped at Delphi before the 5th century BCE. Gaia was receiving cult worship in Athens from the 5th century BCE in the form of deme sacrifices. Also in Athens, Gaia’s worship as Gē Themis appears arounds the 4th century BCE, while Pausanias attests to a temple of Gē Kourotrophos on the acropolis. Before the time of Pausanias, Kourotrophos appears to be a separate deity. Finally, I conclude that Gaia rarely receives cult worship under the epithet “Meter” and cannot be identified as the Greek version of Anatolian Kybele.</p>

VR Tools – A Free Open-source Platform for Virtual and Augmented Reality Applications on the Web

This paper aims to introduce a free educational web platform that offers a repository for viewing interactive content, using Computer Graphics (CG), Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) resources. The platform provides curatorship for third party and copyright projects. Within the scope of this research, two projects of the platform were subject to a qualitative evaluation. The evaluation carried out focused on the analysis of the motivating potential of using the platform during the distance teaching-learning process. It was possible to collect positive evidence about its viability for use in supporting both presential and remote learning.

Through the Looking Glass: A Systematic Review of Longitudinal Evidence, Providing New Insight for Motor Competence and Health

Introduction In 2008, a conceptual model explaining the role of motor competence (MC) in children’s physical activity (PA), weight status, perceived MC and health-related fitness was published. Objective The purpose of the current review was to systematically compile mediation, longitudinal and experimental evidence in support of this conceptual model. Methods This systematic review (registered with PROSPERO on 28 April 2020) was conducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) statement. Separate searches were undertaken for each pathway of interest (final search 8 November 2019) using CINAHL Complete, ERIC, Medline (OVID), PsycINFO, Web of Science Core Collection, Scopus and SportDiscus. Potential articles were initially identified through abstract and title checking (N = 585) then screened further and combined into one review (n = 152), with 43 articles identified for extraction. Studies needed to be original and peer reviewed, include typically developing children and adolescents first assessed between 2 and 18 years and objective assessment of gross MC and at least one other variable (i.e., PA, weight status, perceived MC, health-related fitness). PA included sport participation, but sport-specific samples were excluded. Longitudinal or experimental designs and cross-sectional mediated models were sought. Strength of evidence was calculated for each pathway in both directions for each domain (i.e., skill composite, object control and locomotor/coordination/stability) by dividing the proportion of studies indicating a significantly positive pathway in the hypothesised direction by the total associations examined for that pathway. Classifications were no association (0–33%), indeterminate/inconsistent (34–59%), or a positive ‘+’ or negative ‘ − ’ association (≥ 60%). The latter category was classified as strong evidence (i.e., ++or −−) when four or more studies found an association. If the total number of studies in a domain of interest was three or fewer, this was considered insufficient evidence to make a determination. Results There was strong evidence in both directions for a negative association between MC and weight status. There was strong positive evidence for a pathway from MC to fitness and indeterminate evidence for the reverse. There was indeterminate evidence for a pathway from MC to PA and no evidence for the reverse pathway. There was insufficient evidence for the MC to perceived MC pathway. There was strong positive evidence for the fitness-mediated MC/PA pathway in both directions. There was indeterminate evidence for the perceived MC-mediated pathway from PA to MC and no evidence for the reverse. Conclusion Bidirectional longitudinal associations of MC with weight status are consistent with the model authored by Stodden et al. (Quest 2008;60(2):290–306, 2008). However, to test the whole model, the field needs robust longitudinal studies across childhood and adolescence that include all variables in the model, have multiple time points and account for potential confounding factors. Furthermore, experimental studies that examine change in MC relative to change in the other constructs are needed. Trial Registrations PROSPERO ID# CRD42020155799.

Exposure to pesticides and digestive system cancers: systematic review and meta-analysis

Pesticides are substances often described as carcinogenic initiators for some neoplasms, such as lympho-hematopoietic and breast cancer. As for cancer of the digestive system, this relationship is still poorly explored and requires more evidence. A systematic review with meta-analysis was conducted on the association between pesticides and cancer of the digestive system in the PUBMED database. Of the 567 papers found, 32 were approved for qualitative analysis and seven for meta-analysis. Hexachlorobenzene and DDT were significantly associated with colorectal cancer (MD: 15.92; CI: 6.45; 25.40) in the analysis of continuous data and showed a borderline association in the analysis of binary data (OR: 1.17; CI: 0.93; 1.47). The cyclodienes family showed similar results in both analyzes. Polychlorinated biphenyls with low dosages were also associated with colorectal cancer (MD: 38.95; CI: 12.78; 65.11). Organophosphates (OR: 0.54; 95% CI: 0.29; 0.98), carbamates (OR: 0.96; CI: 0.77; 1.21) and triazines (OR: 0.91; 95% CI: 0.74; 1.13) showed inconclusive results. This review presents positive evidence for the association of pesticides with colorectal cancer. However, more evidence is required to determine the role of pesticides in the development of other cancers of the digestive system.

A partial oviraptorosaur skeleton suggests low caenagnathid diversity in the Late Cretaceous Nemegt Formation of Mongolia

The Nemegt Formation of the Gobi Desert of Mongolia has produced one of the most abundant and diverse oviraptorosaur records globally. However, the caenagnathid component of this fauna remains poorly known. Two caenagnathid taxa are currently recognized from the Nemegt Formation: Elmisaurus rarus and Nomingia gobiensis. Because these taxa are known from mostly non-overlapping material, there are concerns that they could represent the same animal. A partial, weathered caenagnathid skeleton discovered adjacent to the holotype quarry of Nomingia gobiensis is referable to Elmisaurus rarus, revealing more of the morphology of the cranium, mandible, pectoral girdle, and pubis. Despite metatarsals clearly exhibiting autapomorphies of Elmisaurus rarus, overlapping elements are identical to those of Nomingia gobiensis, and add to a growing body of evidence that these taxa represent a single morphotype. In the absence of any positive evidence for two caenagnathid taxa in the Nemegt Formation, Nomingia gobiensis is best regarded as a junior synonym of Elmisaurus rarus. Low caenagnathid diversity in the Nemegt Formation may reflect broader coexistence patterns with other oviraptorosaur families, particularly oviraptorids. In contrast to North America, competition with the exceptionally diverse oviraptorids may have restricted caenagnathids to marginal roles in Late Cretaceous Asian ecosystems.

A need for time-varying models to suppress artefacts of tACS in the M/EEG

Rhythmic modulation of brain activity by transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) can entrain neural oscillations in a frequency- and phase-specific manner. However, large stimulation artefacts contaminate concurrent 'online' neuroimaging measures, including magneto- and electro-encephalography (M/EEG) — restricting most analyses to periods free from stimulation ('offline' aftereffects). While many published methods exist for removing artefacts of tACS from M/EEG recordings, they universally assume linear artefacts: either time-invariance (i.e., an artefact is a scaled version of itself from cycle to cycle) or sensor-invariance (i.e., artefacts are scaled versions of one another from sensor to sensor). However, heartbeat and respiration both nonlinearly modulate the amplitude and phase of these artefacts, predominantly via changes in scalp impedance. The spectral symmetry this introduces to the M/EEG spectra may lead to false-positive evidence for entrainment around the frequency of tACS, if not adequately suppressed. Good electrophysiological evidence for entrainment therefore requires that tACS artefacts are fully accounted for before comparing online spectra to a control (e.g., as might be observed during sham stimulation). Here I outline an approach to linearly solve templates for tACS artefacts, and demonstrate how event-locked perturbations to amplitude and phase can be introduced from simultaneous recordings of heartbeat and respiration — effectively forming time-varying models of tACS artefacts. These models are constructed for individual sensors, and can therefore be used in contexts with few EEG sensors and with no assumption of artefact collinearity. I also discuss the feasibility of this approach in the absence of simultaneous recordings of heartbeat and respiration traces.