Non-CPAP Therapies for Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Adults.

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a widespread sleep disorder characterized by repeated collapse of the upper airway during sleep, resulting in disruption of sleep. This condition is linked to a host of symptoms, including excessive daytime sleepiness, cardiovascular disorders, and a variety of other comorbidities. Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is, by far, the most common treatment for OSA, and has long served as the standard treatment for most patients.

Effects of pedagogical intervention on Chinese EFL learners' use of motivational regulation strategies and oral English proficiency improvement.

This study investigated the role of motivational regulation strategies (MRSs) in English as a foreign language (EFL) pedagogy, with a focus on Chinese university students. While prior research has explored MRSs, their specific impact on the oral proficiency of Chinese EFL learners remains under-examined. This mixed-methods research offers empirical insights, advocating for the integration of MRSs into EFL instruction to bolster students' oral proficiency.

Effects of cognitive task complexity and online planning on second language learners' argumentative writing.

Based on Kellogg's writing model, Skehan's Limited Attentional Capacity Model (LACM), and Robinson's Cognition Hypothesis, our study investigated the effects of cognitive task complexity on syntactic complexity, lexical complexity, accuracy, fluency, and functional adequacy in Chinese L2 students' argumentative writing, when students were under an online planning condition. Sixty-eight participants from a Chinese university were recruited to complete two writing tasks with task complexity varied in terms of [+ argument elements]. The findings showed that increasing task complexity led to decreased subordination in terms of clauses per T-unit and dependent clauses per clause, increased phrasal elaboration in terms of coordinate phrases per clause, and no changes in mean length of T-unit, T-units per sentence, mean length of clause, and complex nominals per clause.

Exploring native and non-native English speaker teachers' perceptions of English teacher qualities and their students' responses.

Due to globalization, English has gradually become a , leading to a rising demand for proficient English teachers all over the globe. In China, more EFL teachers are being recruited, particularly at the tertiary level, with a greater preference for so-called "native English speaking teachers (NESTs)" over "non-native English-speaking teachers (NNESTs)" due to the impacts of native-speakerism. Research has shown NESTs, NNESTs, and students are often misaligned in terms of beliefs about language learning and teaching which affect teaching effectiveness as well as student achievement.

Understanding teachers' online professional learning: A "community of inquiry" perspective on the role of Chinese middle school teachers' sense of self-efficacy, and online learning achievement.

Teachers' online professional development (PD) has been valued as a crucial and effective way to promote teaching competencies. Forming a professional learning community has been recognized as a means to promote effective PD. Within this realm of research, the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework was deemed as a collaborative-constructivist process model that describes successful online learning experiences.

Effects of mobile-supervised question-driven collaborative dialogues on EFL learners' communication strategy use and academic oral English performance.

This study investigated the effects of mobile-supervised question-driven collaborative dialogues (QDCDs) on reducing lower-intermediate-level English as a foreign language (EFL) participants' tendency of their first language (L1) use in academic collaborative dialogues and on improving their academic foreign language (L2) oral performance. Throughout a whole semester, one group ( = 20) was involved in a mobile-supervised QDCDs intervention and a control group ( = 26) was involved in QDCDs with no supervision. Three semi-open-ended and three closed-ended academic questions were used to elicit pre-and post-study oral performance data from the participants.

Predicting Teaching Enjoyment from Teachers' Perceived School Climate, Self-Efficacy, and Psychological Wellbeing at Work: EFL Teachers.

We tested an assessment model, by which teacher self-efficacy, perceived school climate, and psychological wellbeing at work, might predict teaching enjoyment. We invited a convenience sample of 355 teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) to respond to four online questionnaires. We used confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to check the scales' construct validity and structural equation modeling (SEM) to test associations among the variables.

Effects of teacher explicit instruction in stance-taking on students' perceptions of stance and on their academic writing beliefs.

Scholars have underscored the importance of raising students' awareness and understanding of stance-taking in academic writing. However, studies on the effects of the pedagogical intervention are just a few. To strengthen this line of inquiry, this paper reports on an intervention study with explicit instruction of stance metalanguage based on the Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) Engagement framework and its effects on EFL students' perceptions of stance as well as on their beliefs about academic writing.

Development and validation of a genre-based second language (L2) writing self-efficacy scale.

Writing self-efficacy serves as one of the essential motivational factors in L1 and L2 writing, which has been measured by a series of scales in L1 and L2 contexts. However, the issue of task specificity was not resolved appropriately. This study aims to tackle this issue by entailing the genre characteristics of L2 writing tasks through developing a genre-based L2 writing self-efficacy scale with pertinent items.

Developing the Metacognitive Awareness of Grit Scale for a better understanding of learners of English as a foreign language.

The prominent impact of metacognition on learners' academic achievement is widely discussed. Learners armed with appropriate metacognitive strategies should witness enhancement in learning performance. Similarly, the concept of grit is also valued as a crucial factor contributing to the improvement of academic achievement.

The Development of Accuracy and Fluency in Second Language (L2) Speaking Related to Self-Efficacy Through Online Scaffolding: A Latent Growth Curve Modeling Analysis.

This longitudinal study made the first attempt to employ Latent Growth Curve Modeling to analyze the development of L2 speaking accuracy and fluency through online scaffolding as well as the dynamic relationship between L2 speaking performance and self-efficacy. From the perspective of Complex Dynamic Systems Theory, it tracked the development of 45 Chinese undergraduates' English-speaking accuracy, fluency, self-efficacy for accuracy (SEA) and self-efficacy for fluency (SEF) over one semester of online teaching (six observations). Results show that speaking accuracy, SEA and SEF all improved significantly, but speaking fluency did not; these four variables all developed in non-linear trajectories, and the greatest growth of accuracy, SEA and SEF all took place at Time 2; there existed significant individual differences in the initial levels of fluency, SEA and SEF, and in the change rates of SEA; a higher initial level of accuracy was related to a greater increase in SEA and a greater decrease in growth rates with time.

Facilitating L2 writers' metacognitive strategy use in argumentative writing using a process-genre approach.

This paper reports on an empirical study that examined changes in L2 writers' perceived use of metacognitive strategies after receiving a process-genre writing instruction. Following a mixed-methods approach, this study was conducted in two intact College English classes at a university in China. Participants were 72 first-year undergraduates, with an experimental group ( = 40) taught by the process-genre writing approach and a comparison group ( = 32) receiving conventional writing instruction.

Exploring classroom-based assessment for young EFL learners in the Chinese context: Teachers' beliefs and practices.

Classroom-based assessment (CBA) is an approach for learning improvement that has been advocated as having strong potential in enhancing learner autonomy of young language learners (YLLs). This study investigated Chinese primary school English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers' beliefs about CBA, their assessment practices, and the relationship between their CBA beliefs and practices. Drawing on data from a survey of 195 Chinese primary school EFL teachers, results showed that the teachers positively believed in the value of various CBA processes, including planning assessment, collecting learning evidence, making professional judgments and providing appropriate feedback, and they also attempted to enact these assessment practices; belief-practice alignment was also identified, showing that teachers' beliefs about CBA were significant predictors of their assessment practices.

Understanding learners' metacognitive experiences in learning to write in English as a foreign language: A structural equation modeling approach.

Many researchers have acknowledged the role of metacognition in facilitating learning to write in English as a foreign language (EFL). Although research on metacognition has explored learners' metacognitive knowledge and metacognitive strategies in the field of EFL writing, little is known about the nature of learners' metacognitive experiences in EFL writing. To fill such an important gap, this study was designed to assess EFL learners' metacognitive experiences before, during, and after writing.

Exploring teachers' attitudes and self-efficacy beliefs for implementing student self-assessment of English as a foreign language writing.

With the growing need to nurture students' independent learning, English language teaching (ELT) practices should reflect student-centered assessment approaches, such as self-assessment, an ultimate goal of higher education. It has been pointed out that to conduct effective self-assessment, students need to be taught systematically, and that is where teachers are expected to step in. Prior to implementing such a change in ELT, it is important to conduct research on English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers' attitudes toward, and self-efficacy beliefs about, implementing self-assessment to cultivate capable student self-assessors.

Effects of Teacher Engagement on Students' Achievement in an Online English as a Foreign Language Classroom: The Mediating Role of Autonomous Motivation and Positive Emotions.

As an important factor promoting students' learning behavior and achievement, teacher engagement has been largely neglected in the research literature on English as a foreign language (EFL) and applied linguistics. Moreover, the few studies have focused more on conventional classrooms rather than online learning contexts and failed to reveal how teacher engagement in the online foreign language classroom affected students' achievement. The present study assessed 546 university students in China using self-report questionnaires to examine the relationship between teacher engagement and students' achievement in an online EFL course over an 18-week semester, taking into account the possible mediating effects of autonomous motivation and positive academic emotions.

Developing and Validating the English Teachers' Cognitions About Grammar Teaching Questionnaire (TCAGTQ) to Uncover Teacher Thinking.

It is well-acknowledged that teachers play a significant role in enhancing student learning and that investigating teachers' cognitions about teaching is a first and important step to understanding the phenomenon. Although much research into teachers' cognitions about grammar teaching has been conducted in various socio-cultural contexts, little has been reported on cognitions of Chinese teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) so far. Such understanding is of primary importance to student success in language learning given the sociocultural context where grammar takes a lion's share in high-stakes examinations.

Optimizing anti-androgen treatment use among men with pathologic lymph-node positive prostate cancer treated with radical prostatectomy: the importance of postoperative PSA kinetics.

Background: Optimal postsurgical management of prostate cancer (PCa) patients with nodal metastasis at the time of radical prostatectomy remains unclear. We sought to examine the role of postoperative PSA kinetics and pathologic tumor characteristics in guiding additional hormonal therapy use in pN1 men.

Methods: In total, 297 pN1 PCa patients treated with radical prostatectomy and ePLND between 2002 and 2018 were identified within our prospectively maintained institutional cancer data-registry.

Investigating Effects of Small-Group Student Talk on the Quality of Argument in Chinese Tertiary English as a Foreign Language Learners' Argumentative Writing.

Previous studies have offered a rationale for engaging students in small-group student talk for the planning of L2 individual writing. To further investigate whether such talk effectively promotes the quality of argument in the context of Chinese tertiary EFL learners' argumentative writing and whether such effects could be retained, the current study adopted a quasi-experimental design with a pretest, a posttest, and a delayed posttest in two intact EFL classes. The performance of the intervention group and the comparison group were scrutinized to examine the effects of the intervention.

Influence of Mentorship and the Working Environment on English as a Foreign Language Teachers' Research Productivity: The Mediation Role of Research Motivation and Self-Efficacy.

Research productivity is an important criterion for the university to assess teachers. Studies about factors that affect teachers' research productivity are increasing nowadays. It is generally agreed that academics' research productivity depends on how much mentorship is provided to them and how the current working environment is mediated by their research motivation and self-efficacy.

Emotional Labor in Teaching Chinese as an Additional Language in a Family-Based Context in New Zealand: A Chinese Teacher's Case.

New Zealand is a multilingual and multicultural society, where English, Maori, and the New Zealand sign language are designated as its official languages. However, some heritage languages (e.g.

Transurethral reconstruction of fossa navicularis strictures with dorsal inlay buccal mucosa graft urethroplasty.

Purpose: To describe a single stage, glans-sparing urethroplasty technique for fossa navicularis strictures using a transurethral dorsal inlay buccal mucosa graft.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective review of a prospectively maintained urethral stricture database to identify all fossa navicularis strictures reconstructed with a single stage, transurethral dorsal inlay buccal mucosa graft urethroplasty (5/2015-6/2020). Primary outcomes were anatomic success, defined as the ability to pass a 17 Fr flexible cystoscope, and functional success, defined as the lack of obstructive voiding symptoms and no need for further procedures.

Teachers Helping EFL Students Improve Their Writing Through Written Feedback: The Case of Native and Non-native English-Speaking Teachers' Beliefs.

Although the efficacy of teacher written feedback has been widely investigated, relatively few studies have been conducted from feedback practitioners' perspectives to investigate teachers' beliefs regarding it, particularly compare beliefs held by teachers with different sociocultural and linguistic backgrounds. Consequently, much remains to be known about teachers' conceptions about written feedback, who has different first languages (L1). To bridge such a gap, we conducted this qualitative study to examine the similarities and differences between native English-speaking (NES) and non-native English-speaking (NNES) teachers' beliefs in Chinese University EFL settings.

Authoring Selves in Language Teaching: A Dialogic Approach to Language Teacher Psychology.

The teacher self is a composite psychological construct which encompasses the cognitive, affective, emotional, and social dimensions of teaching. This qualitative study draws on Bakhtin's concepts of dialogism, answerability, and addressivity to discuss how English language teachers negotiated the shifting and conflictive context to construct selves in relation to the promoted communicative language teaching approach. Based on narrative interviews and classroom observations with five tertiary English teachers in China, we found that these teachers were actively engaged in the with their prior learning experiences and active, responsive in answering their contexts while authoring selves in everyday teaching practice.