Language learning motivation plays an important role in both research and teaching, yet language learners are still largely understood in terms of North American and European cultural values. This research explored language learning motivation constructs in a Chinese cultural setting, where large numbers of students are required to study English.…

This paper reports on a survey of how Australian undergraduate students perceive the benefits of broad study modes: face-to-face classes, web-based study, and print-based study. Two benefit types were identified through factor analysis: engagement and functionality. Respondents rated face-to-face classes highest on engagement and print-based study…

Nassaji and Geva (1999) concluded that lower level processes, particularly efficiency in phonological and orthographic processing contributed significantly to individual differences in adult ESL reading. Moreover, they reported that speed of letter naming, while not directly associated with reading comprehension, was related to linguistic…

The study set out to assess the needs of Nigerian science teachers, which the teachers believe are militating against their desired productivity. It seeks to find out the special needs and wants of science teachers in trying to discharge their duties well, and to find out the underlying relationship among these specials needs and wants. Six…

Construct validity of the Offer Self-Image Questionnaire (OSIQ) was studied in a sample of 194 normal Finnish adolescents from 14 to 16 years of age. Confirmatory factor analysis provided support for the hierarchical structure of adolescents' self-image with 5 lower-order factors loading on a single higher-order factor. Lower-order factors were…

Objective: To develop a reliable and valid parent-report screening instrument for mania, based on DSM-IV symptoms. Method: A 21-item Child Mania Rating Scale-Parent version (CMRS-P) was completed by parents of 150 children (42.3% female) ages 10.3 plus or minus 2.9 years (healthy controls = 50; bipolar disorder = 50;…

The increasing availability and performance of computer-based testing has prompted more research on the automatic assessment of language and speaking proficiency. In this investigation, we evaluated the feasibility of using an off-the-shelf speech-recognition system for scoring speaking prompts from the LanguEdge field test of 2002. We first…

Objective: To describe associations among socioeconomic conditions and dietary patterns of Botswana elderly. Design: Secondary analysis from a cross-sectional nationwide survey. Participants: Subjects (N = 1086, 60-99 years old) were selected after multistage sampling. Main Outcome Measures: Dietary patterns were dependent variables; health and…

Although some research data support the view that a "caring learning community" is important to student outcomes, there is a lack of literature describing the administrative behaviors that create such a community. This paper describes findings of a study that identified the behaviors used by teachers to create a caring learning…

Taxing situations that threaten the administrator's sense of self-efficacy meaningfully account for burnout in human-service professionals. This paper presents findings of a study that hypothesized that environmental or role stressors could be classified as task, organization, and relations stressors, each pertaining to a different domain of the…

Many multiple aptitude test batteries, including the Air Force Officer Qualifying Test (AFOQT), used for assigning or classifying individuals to jobs or for occupational counseling have subtests covering a broad range of content such as science, mathematics, reading, vocabulary, perceptual, mechanical, or technical knowledge. This content reflects…

This study was conducted to test the validity of previously developed theories as to why individuals select teaching as a career and to determine whether the orientation of preservice and inservice teachers differs regarding reasons for choosing the teaching profession. A 58-item instrument, "Orientations for Teaching Survey," was designed, with…

Issues related to between-class and within-class decomposition of achievement variance and the change of this decomposition over the course of the eighth-grade were examined using the Second International Mathematics Study (SIMS, 1985), a study in which there was a nested or hierarchical data structure of students within classes, within schools,…

This report examines the opinions of 726 registered voters in 5 small, rural mid-west school districts. The purposes of the study were: (1) to assess citizens' satisfaction with the school districts' programs and services; (2) to indicate strengths and weaknesses in the school districts' programs and services; (3) to identify problems facing the…

There is a natural tension between experimentally designed studies and case studies, which differ in that they are not concerned with the interaction of variables in the quantitative and statistical sense. This paper describes a study that was not experimentally designed, but its major findings were generalizable to the overall population of…