title: Dynamic conceptions of input, output and interaction: Vietnamese EFL lecturers learning second language acquisition theory

authors: Nguyen, Van Loi

subjects: conceptions

abstract: Although research into language teacher learning and cognition and teaching innovations oriented to communicative tasks has been abundant, little has addressed EFL teachers’ learning and conceiving of SLA principles underlying task-based language teaching. The study reported in the present thesis aims to fill this gap, specifically investigating teachers’ learning and conceiving of the notions of rich comprehensible language input, and authentic output and interaction, referred to as ‘SLA facilitating conditions’. The study explores three issues: teachers’ conceptions of the SLA facilitating conditions based on their practices in the tertiary English classroom; teachers’ perceptions of implementing the conditions, including factors affecting the implementation; and teachers’ perceived learning or change as a result of the process. Data for the study were obtained from six Vietnamese EFL lecturers who voluntarily participated in two short professional development workshops focusing on language input, and output and interaction. The data collection process was cumulative, beginning with pre-workshop interviews, followed by collection of lesson plans, lesson-based interviews, reflective writing, observation of lesson recordings, and a questionnaire. Analysis and interpretation followed a process of triangulation, and drew on the author’s knowledge of the context and the teachers’ backgrounds. The results showed that the six teachers held contextualised conceptions of language input, and output and interaction. Although they believed that these conditions are important for language learning, their conceptions based on their implementation of the conditions reflected a synthetic product-oriented view of language learning and teaching. The teachers demonstrated an accommodation of the notion of comprehensible input into their existing pedagogical understanding, and revealed a conception of language output oriented to accuracy and fluency of specific target language items. Tasks and activities for interaction were mainly to provide students with contexts to use the target language items meaningfully rather than to communicate meaning. Most teachers delayed communicative tasks until their students were acquainted with the language content of the day. Such conceptions and practices had a connection with both conceptual/experiential and contextual factors, namely their prior training and experience, time limitations, syllabus, and students’ characteristics. The study also showed that although the teachers’ perceptions of the feasibility of promoting rich language input and authentic output and interaction were neutral, they thought promoting these conditions was relevant to students’ learning, congruent with their pre-existing beliefs about teaching English, and this granted them a sense of agency. The teachers also reported they became more aware of input, and output and interaction in teaching, confident, and purposeful in actions, and some reported a widened view of English language teaching. The study confirms that teacher learning and cognition is conceptually and contextually conditioned (Borg, 2006). In terms of this, it provides a model of how EFL teachers’ learning SLA is constrained by prior pedagogical beliefs and contextual conditions. In conjunction with previous research, the study provided evidence to suggest that communicative and task-based language teaching would appear to run counter to existing beliefs about teaching and practical conditions in Asian EFL situations. This lends support to a more flexible organic approach to employing tasks, perhaps considering the extent to which and in what ways communicative tasks are pedagogically useful to the EFL classroom. An implication is that for any new approaches like task-based language teaching to be incorporated into teachers’ existing repertoire, teachers’ conceptions of language input and interaction, and the conceptual and practical constraints influencing their thinking and practice should be considered and addressed. In a broader sense, approaches to teacher education and development should take a constructivist perspective on teacher learning, taking into account the local context of teaching and teachers’ existing cognition.

text: Dynamic conceptions of input, output and interaction: Vietnamese EFL lecturers learning second language acquisition theory Although research into language teacher learning and cognition and teaching innovations oriented to communicative tasks has been abundant, little has addressed EFL teachers’ learning and conceiving of SLA principles underlying task-based language teaching. The study reported in the present thesis aims to fill this gap, specifically investigating teachers’ learning and conceiving of the notions of rich comprehensible language input, and authentic output and interaction, referred to as ‘SLA facilitating conditions’. The study explores three issues: teachers’ conceptions of the SLA facilitating conditions based on their practices in the tertiary English classroom; teachers’ perceptions of implementing the conditions, including factors affecting the implementation; and teachers’ perceived learning or change as a result of the process. Data for the study were obtained from six Vietnamese EFL lecturers who voluntarily participated in two short professional development workshops focusing on language input, and output and interaction. The data collection process was cumulative, beginning with pre-workshop interviews, followed by collection of lesson plans, lesson-based interviews, reflective writing, observation of lesson recordings, and a questionnaire. Analysis and interpretation followed a process of triangulation, and drew on the author’s knowledge of the context and the teachers’ backgrounds. The results showed that the six teachers held contextualised conceptions of language input, and output and interaction. Although they believed that these conditions are important for language learning, their conceptions based on their implementation of the conditions reflected a synthetic product-oriented view of language learning and teaching. The teachers demonstrated an accommodation of the notion of comprehensible input into their existing pedagogical understanding, and revealed a conception of language output oriented to accuracy and fluency of specific target language items. Tasks and activities for interaction were mainly to provide students with contexts to use the target language items meaningfully rather than to communicate meaning. Most teachers delayed communicative tasks until their students were acquainted with the language content of the day. Such conceptions and practices had a connection with both conceptual/experiential and contextual factors, namely their prior training and experience, time limitations, syllabus, and students’ characteristics. The study also showed that although the teachers’ perceptions of the feasibility of promoting rich language input and authentic output and interaction were neutral, they thought promoting these conditions was relevant to students’ learning, congruent with their pre-existing beliefs about teaching English, and this granted them a sense of agency. The teachers also reported they became more aware of input, and output and interaction in teaching, confident, and purposeful in actions, and some reported a widened view of English language teaching. The study confirms that teacher learning and cognition is conceptually and contextually conditioned (Borg, 2006). In terms of this, it provides a model of how EFL teachers’ learning SLA is constrained by prior pedagogical beliefs and contextual conditions. In conjunction with previous research, the study provided evidence to suggest that communicative and task-based language teaching would appear to run counter to existing beliefs about teaching and practical conditions in Asian EFL situations. This lends support to a more flexible organic approach to employing tasks, perhaps considering the extent to which and in what ways communicative tasks are pedagogically useful to the EFL classroom. An implication is that for any new approaches like task-based language teaching to be incorporated into teachers’ existing repertoire, teachers’ conceptions of language input and interaction, and the conceptual and practical constraints influencing their thinking and practice should be considered and addressed. In a broader sense, approaches to teacher education and development should take a constructivist perspective on teacher learning, taking into account the local context of teaching and teachers’ existing cognition.

year: 2011

title: Indole diterpenoid secondary metabolites produced by the Epichloë festucae var. lolii – Lolium perenne symbiosis.

authors: Kaufononga, Sangata Ana Fiealu

abstract: The indole diterpenoid intermediates of lolitrems in a crude extract of Lolium perenne (L. perenne) seed infected with Epichloë festucae var. lolii (E. festucae var. lolii) and their biological activity against porina larvae were investigated.

Liquid-liquid partitioning of the crude extract, together with a series of bench columns (normal and reversed phase) and semi-preparative High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) yielded the novel compounds A – D (64 – 67).

Mass spectrometry (MS) and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy were used to determine the structures of these alkaloids. The indole moiety of known indole diterpenoids was modified to a six-membered ring in the novel compounds A – D (64 – 67), with the right side of these molecules similar to that of lolitrem B (3) and terpendole C (49). Compounds A – D (64 – 67) differ in the stereochemistry and substituent at C-2. The structural features of these compounds are very unusual. These contain a spiro centre that fuses the modified indole region to the right side, indicating that they may be artefacts rather than naturally occurring, which in turn, could explain why they are not detectable in the Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS) analysis of fresh extract. However, further work would be required to confirm this. 

The known alkaloids, terpendole D (50), 13-desoxypaxilline (37) and paspaline (42) were also isolated, together with a potential emindole analogue. This is the first report of terpendole D (50) from this ryegrass-endophyte association. The presence of an emindole analogue suggested that further intermediates are yet to be isolated from this association as indicated in the LC MS analysis of the crude extract. However, due to the scarcity of the emindole analogue, complete structural confirmation was not possible.

The biological activity of paxilline (36), lolitrem B (3), 13-desoxypaxilline (37), paspaline (42), terpendole D (50) and compounds A (64) and B (65) on porina larvae was determined using a semi-synthetic diet feeding bioassay. These compounds had not been previously tested on porina. Paxilline (36) had a dose-dependent effect on both food consumption and larval weight. Diet consumption and weight gain of porina larvae were significantly reduced by paxilline at concentrations of  2.5, 5 and 10 μg/g but not at concentrations of 1.0 μg/g, compared to dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) solvent control diet. Lolitrem B (3) had a similar effect on consumption and weight gain to that of paxilline (36) at concentrations of 5 and 10 μg/g but there was no indication that 13-desoxypaxilline (37), terpendole D (50), paspaline (42), compound A (64) or compound B (65) reduced feeding by porina larvae.

text: Indole diterpenoid secondary metabolites produced by the Epichloë festucae var. lolii – Lolium perenne symbiosis. The indole diterpenoid intermediates of lolitrems in a crude extract of Lolium perenne (L. perenne) seed infected with Epichloë festucae var. lolii (E. festucae var. lolii) and their biological activity against porina larvae were investigated.

Liquid-liquid partitioning of the crude extract, together with a series of bench columns (normal and reversed phase) and semi-preparative High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) yielded the novel compounds A – D (64 – 67).

Mass spectrometry (MS) and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy were used to determine the structures of these alkaloids. The indole moiety of known indole diterpenoids was modified to a six-membered ring in the novel compounds A – D (64 – 67), with the right side of these molecules similar to that of lolitrem B (3) and terpendole C (49). Compounds A – D (64 – 67) differ in the stereochemistry and substituent at C-2. The structural features of these compounds are very unusual. These contain a spiro centre that fuses the modified indole region to the right side, indicating that they may be artefacts rather than naturally occurring, which in turn, could explain why they are not detectable in the Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS) analysis of fresh extract. However, further work would be required to confirm this. 

The known alkaloids, terpendole D (50), 13-desoxypaxilline (37) and paspaline (42) were also isolated, together with a potential emindole analogue. This is the first report of terpendole D (50) from this ryegrass-endophyte association. The presence of an emindole analogue suggested that further intermediates are yet to be isolated from this association as indicated in the LC MS analysis of the crude extract. However, due to the scarcity of the emindole analogue, complete structural confirmation was not possible.

The biological activity of paxilline (36), lolitrem B (3), 13-desoxypaxilline (37), paspaline (42), terpendole D (50) and compounds A (64) and B (65) on porina larvae was determined using a semi-synthetic diet feeding bioassay. These compounds had not been previously tested on porina. Paxilline (36) had a dose-dependent effect on both food consumption and larval weight. Diet consumption and weight gain of porina larvae were significantly reduced by paxilline at concentrations of  2.5, 5 and 10 μg/g but not at concentrations of 1.0 μg/g, compared to dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) solvent control diet. Lolitrem B (3) had a similar effect on consumption and weight gain to that of paxilline (36) at concentrations of 5 and 10 μg/g but there was no indication that 13-desoxypaxilline (37), terpendole D (50), paspaline (42), compound A (64) or compound B (65) reduced feeding by porina larvae.

year: 2019

title: Engaging Māori in Biobanking and Genetic Research: Legal, Ethical and Policy Challenges

authors: Beaton, Angela

subjects: Indigenous

abstract: Publically funded biobanking initiatives and genetic research should contribute towards reducing inequalities in health by reducing the prevalence and burden of disease. It is essential that Maori and other Indigenous populations share in health gains derived from these activities. The Health Research Council of New Zealand has funded a research project (2012-2015) to identify Maori perspectives on biobanking and genetic research, and to develop cultural guidelines for ethical biobanking and genetic research involving biospecimens. This review describes relevant values and ethics embedded in Maori indigenous knowledge, and how they may be applied to culturally safe interactions between biobanks, researchers, individual participants, and communities. Key issues of ownership, privacy, and consent are also considered within the legal and policy context that guides biobanking and genetic research practices within New Zealand. Areas of concern are highlighted and recommendations of international relevance are provided. To develop a productive environment for "next-generation" biobanking and genomic research,"‘next-generation" regulatory solutions will be required.

text: Engaging Māori in Biobanking and Genetic Research: Legal, Ethical and Policy Challenges Publically funded biobanking initiatives and genetic research should contribute towards reducing inequalities in health by reducing the prevalence and burden of disease. It is essential that Maori and other Indigenous populations share in health gains derived from these activities. The Health Research Council of New Zealand has funded a research project (2012-2015) to identify Maori perspectives on biobanking and genetic research, and to develop cultural guidelines for ethical biobanking and genetic research involving biospecimens. This review describes relevant values and ethics embedded in Maori indigenous knowledge, and how they may be applied to culturally safe interactions between biobanks, researchers, individual participants, and communities. Key issues of ownership, privacy, and consent are also considered within the legal and policy context that guides biobanking and genetic research practices within New Zealand. Areas of concern are highlighted and recommendations of international relevance are provided. To develop a productive environment for "next-generation" biobanking and genomic research,"‘next-generation" regulatory solutions will be required.

year: 2015