We report a study comparing teaching written and spoken Chinese separately to adult learners without prior knowledge of Chinese in the traditional classroom setting and in the online format. The best way of introducing Chinese characters remains one of the major challenges in teaching Chinese as a foreign language: different methods have been used in practice and more empirical evidence is needed to identify their advantages and limitations. In a crossover design, we compared groups which received either four-week tuition in Chinese characters only (without teaching the sound or pinyin spelling) or the same period of tuition in spoken Chinese (without any writing, neither characters nor pinyin). After a two-week break, the groups were swapped, such that the writing class received tuition in spoken Chinese and vice versa. The first four-week block was delivered in the traditional classroom format, while the remaining tuition took place online, due to the Covid-19-related lockdown. The idea of teaching spoken and written Chinese entirely separately, although initially unfamiliar to teachers, proved to be feasible. The transition to online teaching worked Article
Recent replication crises in psychology and other fields have led to intense reflection about the validity of common research practices. Much of this reflection has focussed on reporting standards, and how they may be related to the questionable research practices that could underlie a high proportion of irreproducible findings in the published record. As a developing field, it is particularly important for Experimental Philosophy to avoid some of the pitfalls that have beset other disciplines. To this end, here we provide a detailed, comprehensive assessment of current reporting practices in Experimental Philosophy. We focus on the quality of statistical reporting and the disclosure of information about study methodology. We assess all the articles using quantitative methods (n = 134) that were published over the years 2013-2016 in 29 leading philosophy journals. We find that null hypothesis significance testing is the prevalent statistical practice in Experimental Philosophy, although relying solely on this approach has been criticised in the psychological literature. To augment this approach, various additional measures have become commonplace in other fields, but we find that Experimental Philosophy has adopted these only partially: 53% of the papers report an effect size, 28% confidence intervals, 1% examined prospective statistical power and 5% report observed statistical power. Importantly, we find no direct relation between an article's reporting quality and its impact (numbers of citations). We conclude with recommendations for authors, reviewers and editors in Experimental Philosophy, to facilitate making research statistically-transparent and reproducible.Rev.Phil.Psych.
Background: Converging evidence from across the world suggests positive effects of bilingualism on cognitive ageing and dementia, including a ca. 4-6 years delay in the onset of dementia and'or Mild Cognitive Impairment. However, it is less clear whether language learning can also have a positive effect after the onset of dementia. A positive influence would include psychological and social variables, such as patients' well-being and their relationship with relatives and carers. Method:We examined the feasibility and tolerability of language learning for people in early stages of dementia and their family carers in two Scottish Dementia Day Care Centres. A total of 12 people with dementia and 7 family carers participated in the study. All participants had only limited experience of language learning and none were bi-/multilingual. The 2-week courses of beginners Italian were delivered by specially trained tutors from Lingo Flamingo, a social enterprise specialising in language teaching for older learners and learners with Dementia. Before and after the course, we conducted focus group sessions with learners and their carers as well as interviews with teachers and Day Centre care workers. Results:Qualitative analyses revealed a positive perception of the courses by patients, carers, and centre managers, impacting both the individual (e.g., boosting self-esteem) and group (e.g., socialising) levels. No adverse effects (e.g., confusion) were reported.The family carers perceived the courses as empowering, as they allowed them to take an active part. The courses led also to a higher attendance in other activities conducted in the Day Care Centre.Conclusions: Despite initial fears from professional carers that being confronted with the task of learning a new language might be stressful and lead to frustration and confusion, all participants reported a highly positive experience of the course, including a higher self-esteem and self-confidence as well as establishment of new social contacts and a more positive attitude to other activities of the day care centre. Further studies will be required to determine the optimal frequency, intensity and duration of language courses for people with dementia as well as the best practice of their delivery.
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