English Workshop Research Articles

How Can Newborn Toxicology Testing Be More Equitable? An Interactive Ethics Workshop.

Practice variation in newborn toxicology testing during the birth hospitalization exists across institutions and legal jurisdictions. While testing can provide benefits, indiscriminate testing has been shown to perpetuate health care inequities. In the backdrop of an opioid epidemic and a charged medicolegal landscape, this workshop guides participants to reexamine newborn toxicology testing through a shared ethical lens. We conducted a live, 90-minute workshop in English at an international pediatric conference. Physicians, residents, and fellows participated in large- and small-group breakout sessions to learn relevant clinical and bioethical frameworks, share their own local context and expertise, and explore ethical applications through case-based discussions. We administered two anonymous online follow-up surveys to assess self-perceived impact on participant knowledge, behavior, and clinical practice. Seven facilitators and 45 individuals participated in the workshop. Eighteen participants completed survey 1 immediately following workshop conclusion, and six participants completed survey 2 after 3 months had elapsed. Immediately following the workshop, 94% of respondents reported that they had been introduced to a new idea, and 82% were considering practice change. A low response rate to survey 2 limited interpretation, but some respondents reported self-perceived change following workshop attendance. This workshop facilitated conversation between physician participants on a complex pediatric health care inequity issue using an ethical framework.

Establishing a Roadmap for Acute Stroke Care in the Caribbean Region: The Mission Thrombectomy 2020+ Caribbean Experience (P6-9.003)

Establishing a Roadmap for Acute Stroke Care in the Caribbean Region: The Mission Thrombectomy 2020+ Caribbean Experience (P6-9.003)

Bengkel Inggris Program For Enhancing English Potencial

The era of rapidly developing scientific and technological progress has opened up opportunities for international communication through English. The study was conducted to analyze the potential of elementary school students in English skills in Klambir Lima Kebun Village. Realizing this reality, the "Bengkel Inggris" program is offered to be one of the solutions. The program further investigates the causes of their difficulties in English. In addition, the " Bengkel Inggris " program is not only a place to learn English but also a place for consultation about English. As a result, there was an increase in both classes as seen from the scores on the pre-test, cycle 1 test and cycle 2 test. In the basic English class, the scores are 65, 73.5 and 89.5 while in the intermediate English class the scores are 65.83, 73 and 88.75. Therefore, it was concluded that English Workshop is a program to improve the English learning achievement of elementary school children in Klambir Lima Kebun.

This is my truth, tell me yours. Positioning children as authors of knowledge through facilitation of narratives in dialogic interactions

ABSTRACT The article discusses data from educational workshops in English and Italian classrooms, in the context of a research project funded by the European Union. The research promoted children’s work on personal memories and the dialogical exchange in the classroom of narratives related to memories. Facilitation was utilised to foster children’s contributions to interactions, empowering children's epistemic status as authors of valid knowledge to create favourable conditions for dialogue in the classroom. The article discusses a facilitative action that impacted on the promotion of children’s narratives: facilitators’ comments on narratives. Facilitators’ comments take form as 1) personal stories; 2) displacements. Both types of comments proved particularly effective in supporting children’s agency as authorship of narratives during workshops as a component of dialogic learning.

Content-Based Instruction- A Method of Developing Language and Social Competences

Abstract This paper examines Romanian students‘ attitudes towards several content-based instruction (CBI) workshops in English on topics such as leadership, human rights, successful women, violence and environmental protection. The purpose of this study is to show that CBI is not only an effective means of developing language skills, content-based knowledge, but also a very engaging and motivating way of enhancing civic and social competences such as justice, equality, non-discrimination, non-violence, tolerance and respect for human dignity. These workshops incorporated a blended approach which focused on analysis and discussion of critical subject matters that also engaged an interdisciplinary perspective. The conclusion is that by choosing topics that render both language and social competencies, the process of learning a foreign language (in our case, the English language) becomes more meaningful for the learners as the values they absorb will have a long-lasting impression on their overall education.

Effectiveness of chronic disease self-management education (CDSME) programs to reduce loneliness.

With about half of older adults reporting feelings of loneliness, interventions are needed to improve connectedness among our aging population. The health benefits of Chronic Disease Self-Management Education (CDSME) programs are well documented, but workshops' ability to reduce loneliness remains unknown. Using the Campaign to End Loneliness Measurement Tool, we examined 295 CDSME participants' loneliness changes before and after the 6-week face-to-face workshops. Statistical analyzes used generalized estimating equations (GEE). On average, participants were age 74.3(±8.9) years and self-reported 3.3(±2.2) chronic conditions. The majority of participants were female (83%) and attended workshops in English (77%). Significant reductions in loneliness scores were observed from baseline to post-workshop (p < 0.001). Findings expand our understanding about the benefits of small-group CDSME workshops to reduce loneliness among participants. CDSME workshops may reduce loneliness because of their highly interactive and process-driven format and ability to create bonds between participants with chronic conditions and shared experiences.

Outraged housewives and sympathetic school children: Primary drama in digital form

This article focuses on the delivery of two primary English workshops delivered on the BA Primary (with QTS) degree course to first year trainees studying in the School of Education at University of Brighton. These interactive sessions include practical activity, specifically drama, and are typically delivered on campus. This is a significant point for our first-year students in primary teacher education as they explore challenging texts through drama, positioning themselves as learners in the primary classroom. Transformative learning occurs as aspiring teachers negotiate their previous experiences of drama and develop their understanding of it as a tool for the classroom. This article, a jointly composed reflection upon adapted practice during the Covid 19 pandemic, considers how drama (as a practical, interactive pedagogical tool) was delivered and engaged with in digital form. Feedback was gathered through informal interviews to collate student and tutor perspectives on the experience.

Students' computer-based workshops in mandatory classes of English for students majoring in psychology and linguistics: A comparative experimental study

This article addresses the issue of developing and using students’ workshops in English. In the article, such workshops are defined as the fullest form of peer-teaching in which one or several students (workshop organizers) guide their group-mates in performing extra-linguistic learning activities conducted in the target language. The research describes workshops as one of the most efficient ways of involuntary (subconscious) target language acquisition achieved through extra-linguistic practical (experiential) activities performed by way of communication in the language to be learned. The article reports the results of a comparative experimental study in which students of a non-linguistic major (Psychology) and students majoring in English as a foreign language on which their career option (Applied Linguistics) is based were practicing workshops in English in their mandatory classes on that language. The results of the experimental study clearly demonstrate and prove that workshop practice was quite successful in both cases not only in what concerns the involuntary (subconscious) development of learners’ target language communication skills. No less evident was the development of some of the students’ psychological qualities (emotional intelligence) important for their further studies and professional careers.

Participation of Latinos in the Diabetes Self-Management Program and Programa de Manejo Personal de la Diabetes.

Background and ObjectivesThe Diabetes Self-Management Program (DSMP) and Programa de Manejo Personal de la Diabetes (PMPD) have been shown to reduce complications from poorly controlled diabetes. Only a few research studies have examined Latino individuals’ participation in them. This study examines workshop completion among DSMP and PMPD participants and the effects of race/ethnicity, workshop language, workshop type, and workshop site on program completion rates by participants.Research Design and MethodsWe used data from the National Council on Aging’s data repository of individuals who participated in DSMP or PMPD between January 2010 and March 2019. Using a pooled cross-sectional study design, we examined workshop completion among 8,321 Latino and 23,537 non-Latino white (NLW) participants. We utilized linear probability models to estimate the effects of race/ethnicity and workshop language/type among the full sample; a stratified model estimated the separate effects of workshop language, type, and delivery site among Latinos. Participant characteristics included age, sex, education, number of chronic health conditions, living arrangement, health insurance status, and geographic location of workshop.ResultsCompared to NLW participants in DSMP English workshops, Latinos enrolled in any workshop had a higher probability of completing at least four workshop sessions, and Latinos enrolled in PMPD Spanish workshops had a higher probability of completing six of six sessions. Among the Latino subsample, participation in PMPD Spanish or English workshops was associated with completing at least four sessions or all six sessions compared with participation in DSMP Spanish or English workshops. Among Latino participants, the effects of workshop site on completion rates were mixed.Discussion and ImplicationsDiabetes self-management education programs tailored for Latino participants had higher completion rates. Further research is warranted to better understand the effect of workshop site and participant characteristics on completion of DSMP and PMPD programs.

Short fiction writing in English by Chinese university students: An integrated F-A-I-T-H approach

When delivering a speech at a meeting of the Writers’ Congress, Ernest Hemingway said as a fiction writer:A writer's problem does not change. He himself changes, but his problem remains the same. It is always how to write truly and having found what is true, to project it in such a way that it becomes part of the experience of the person who reads it. (1937)Does this statement still ring true today? If it does, what approach should and can be taken for Chinese university students to write ‘truly’ during their fiction writing workshops in English when they know what they try to accomplish is indeed something fictional or self-evidently ‘untrue’? What characterises the main thematic and stylistic elements of Chinese students’ short stories written in English as creative outcomes?

International Collaboration in School Library Education Programs

This paper addresses the need for and the requirements of international collaboration as a means of improving school library education in Japan. In 2008, in an official report by the Central Council on Education, the learning process was defined as “acquirement, application, and inquiry.” Since then, Japanese teachers have become especially interested in “inquiry,” a word that used to be uncommon in the country’s educational system. This major trend in Japanese education and in the development of information technologies has increased the expectation that students should have a variety of learning resources available to them with help from professional school library staff. At the same time, however, Japanese school librarianship has a significant problem with its training. Most school library education programs are offered at the undergraduate level with the goal of training students who will receive the national certificate for shisho-kyoyu—literally, librarian-teachers. Universities seem to lack incentives to improve their curricula because the certificate is regulated by the School Library Law, and school librarianship in Japan largely remains locally/nationally determined. To explore the issue, a small group of volunteers, including the authors of this paper, planned the International School Librarians’ Forum of East Asia 2018, which held three workshops in English in Japan. After each workshop, an online survey was conducted among approximately 20 participants to evaluate the demand for advanced training such as the workshops they attended. Finally, ideas of how to improve education for school librarianship worldwide by connecting programs such as the one in Japan with leading exemplary programs in the world are discussed, with reference to the survey results.

Chinese Americans' attitudes toward advance directives: An assessment of outcomes based on a nursing-led intervention

BackgroundThe process of advance care planning (ACP) encompasses learning about and planning for end-of-life (EOL) decisions, documenting preferences through legal forms known as Advance Directives (ADs), and having discussions with loved ones to share these preferences. While most ethnic minority groups have low ACP engagement and AD completion rates, Chinese Americans face additional challenges related to cultural beliefs and ACP. PurposeThe purpose of this study was to estimate the impact of a culturally tailored nurse-driven educational intervention on the relationship between attitudes toward ADs and AD completion and ACP discussions. DesignPre-posttest, repeated measures non-experimental design. MethodsA convenience sample of Chinese Americans participated in a culturally tailored nurse led AD and ACP workshop in English and Mandarin in a Chinese Community Center. Participants completed surveys before and after the workshop and at one-month follow-up. ResultsSeventy-two Chinese Americans participated in this study. Most were female and born in China. Attitudes toward ADs improved after participating in the workshop and remained consistent at one-month follow-up. There was a significant positive relationship between attitudes and AD completion and ACP discussions. ConclusionsNurse-driven interventions improved engagement in the ACP process in Chinese Americans, a population thought to be averse to discussing death and dying and one with lower than average AD completion rates. Using culturally tailored interventions improves engagement in the ACP process.

Evaluation of the Pilot Implementation of the Coaching for Life Skills Program

Many forms of mainstream coach education continue to sparingly address content specifically related to positive youth development and/or life skills, instead maintaining a focus on the technical and tactical aspects of sport. The purpose of the paper is to present the evaluation findings of the pilot implementation of the Coaching for Life Skills program, designed to serve coaches operating in the context of high school sport. The study qualitatively explored what participants believed they experienced during their participation in the Coaching for Life Skills program, which was delivered to 68 Canadian high school coaches. Participants took part in one of six three-hour workshop (i.e., three workshops in English, three workshops in French). Of these 68 coaches, 10 voluntarily agreed to take part in individual semi-structured interviews. Findings demonstrated how the participants believed they learned important elements related to the coaching of life skills, particularly in terms of increasing their awareness of life skills, improving coach-athlete relationships, and employing coaching strategies that deliberately target life skills development and transfer.

Development and evaluation of a genomics training program for community health workers in Texas.

Genomics services have the potential to reduce incidence and mortality of diseases by providing individualized, family health history (FHH)-based prevention strategies to clients. These services may benefit from the involvement of community health workers (CHWs) in the provision of FHH-based genomics education and services, as CHWs are frontline public health workers and lay health educators, who share similar ethnicities, languages, socioeconomic statuses, and life experiences with the communities they serve. We developed, implemented, and evaluated the FHH-based genomics training program for CHWs. This theory- and evidence-based FHH-focused genomics curriculum was developed by an interdisciplinary team. Full-day workshops in English and Spanish were delivered to 145 Texas CHWs (91.6% were Hispanic/black). Preworkshop, postworkshop, and 3-month follow-up data were collected. CHWs significantly improved their attitudes, intention, self-efficacy, and knowledge regarding adopting FHH-based genomics into their practice after the workshops. At 3-month follow-up, these scores remained higher, and there was a significant increase in CHWs' genomics practices. This FHH-based genomics training successfully educated Texas CHWs, and the outcomes were promising. Dissemination of training to CHWs in and outside of Texas is needed to promote better access to and delivery of personalized genomics services for the lay and underserved communities.

48th Conference of the International Federation of Knitting Technologists (IFKT)

Susanne Aumann, Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences, GermanyAndrea Ehrmann, Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences, GermanyMarcus O. Weber, Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences, GermanyPrefaceDuring June 09-10th 2016 the “48th International Congress of the International Federation of Knitting Technologists (IFKT)” coincided with IFKTs’ 60th anniversary. The Congress was held together with the national conference of the Research Institute for Textile and Clothing from the Faculty of Textile and Clothing Technology, Mönchengladbach “MG Open Spaces” and the “Members’ Conference of the Verein Deutscher Textilveredlungsfachleute (VDTF)” (an association of experts in the field of textile finishing). The whole event lasted from 09 until 11th June 2016 and took place in Mönchengladbach and Cologne, Germany. More than 220 people from universities, companies and other fields out of 15 different nations participated in the congressThe congress program consisted of seven keynote speakers, 45 oral presentations in 7 sections, 11 open spaces workshops in English and German, including a special workshop at Monforts’ Advanced Technology Center (ATC) on “Knitting Concepts”. Furthermore, a design showroom and a poster session were part of the program.This issue of the IOP Conference Series, Materials Science and Engineering (MSE), records papers of the Congress selected by the Congress Scientific Committee. Additional and further papers, information, articles as well as presentations were submitted to the participants after the Congress by download option.Without the tremendous efforts and dedication of many people from all parties involved in both the planning and organization, the joint congress would have been impossible. We express also our thanks to the impressive team of reviewers, authors and presenters for their contributions to the success of this event. We also thank our sponsors very much for their generous support.We invite all participants to the next Congresses of IFKT (please see www.knittingfed.com).Prof. Dr. Marcus O. WeberNiederrhein University, Mönchengladbach, Germany Secretary General of IFKT

A report on an English workshop and orientation for the 2013 pre-graduation overseas clinical clerkship program

A report on an English workshop and orientation for the 2013 pre-graduation overseas clinical clerkship program

Bilingual creativity: University–level poetry writing workshops in English in China

The university-level poetry writing workshops in English taught in a Chinese context are characterized chiefly by bilingual creativity. Based on the practical task of creating ‘contact literature’ (Kachru, 1992: 317), to be more exact, ‘contact poetry’, they transcend the limits of any one single language and culture so as to make points of contact between Chinese and English languages and cultures in terms of verbal images, sound devices, and thematic concerns.

English Workshops for Primary School Children in Romania – A Privileged Didactic Activity

The main aim of the present article consists in highlighting the advantage of teaching English to second language learners within workshops. Among all types of learning activities, workshops have a privileged place, i.e., they do not imply high difficulty examinations and they take place in a relaxed and joyful atmosphere. Our work is intended to emphasize the range of extracurricular educational offers and pinpoint the methods of teaching English as a second language within a borderline educational activity: the workshop. The deliberate and meaningful choice of content, ambience and methods represent important elements meant to grant the success of such types of activities.

How do i see myself? What do I want to become? A study on english as an additional language teachers' identity reconstruction

This text aims at presenting a piece of qualitative research that investigated the process by which some English as Additional Language (EAL) teachers were involved in (re) constructing their professional identity. Based on socio-interactionist perspectives, the study focuses on investigating some written and oral texts produced by a group of EAL teachers in southwest Paraná to see what these texts reveal concerning their professional identity. In relation to data generation and analysis, this study draws on data from three English workshops of an Extension Program which occurred from March 2012 to June 2013. In those workshops, concepts and ideas related to teachers' professional identity and subjectivity, teacher's social role in public schools, as well as teaching practices were widely discussed. Six in-service teachers attended the workshops regularly and produced oral and written texts of different genres, such as oral discussions and written autobiographies and reports. Some of those texts were, then, selected and analysed. Results show that a) the participant-teachers' identities seem to be fragmented and a life-long process; b) teachers see themselves in constant change and in professional development due to the changes in relation to the EAL teacher's role in public schools and to the EAL status in the world; c) the EAL teachers' life trajectories, including social positions (in family, school, work, and in other different social contexts), are essential in the construction of their professional and academic identities.

A systematic process for creating and appraising clinical vignettes to illustrate interprofessional shared decision making

Vignettes and written case simulations have been widely used by educators and health services researchers to illustrate plausible situations and measure processes in a wide range of practice settings. We devised a systematic process to create and appraise theory-based vignettes for illustrating an interprofessional approach to shared decision making (IP-SDM) for health professionals. A vignette was developed in six stages: (1) determine IP-SDM content elements; (2) choose true-to-life clinical scenario; (3) draft script; (4) appraise IP-SDM concepts illustrated using two evaluation instruments and an interprofessional concept grid; (5) peer review script for content validity; and (6) retrospective pre-/post-test evaluation of video vignette by health professionals. The vignette contained six scenes demonstrating the asynchronous involvement of five health professionals with an elderly woman and her daughter facing a decision about location of care. The script scored highly on both evaluation scales. Twenty-nine health professionals working in home care watched the vignette during IP-SDM workshops in English or French and rated it as excellent (n = 6), good (n = 20), fair (n = 0) or weak (n = 3). Participants reported higher knowledge of IP-SDM after the workshops compared to before (p < 0.0001). Our video vignette development process resulted in a product that was true-to-life and as part of a multifaceted workshop it appears to improve knowledge among health professionals. This could be used to create and appraise vignettes targeting IP-SDM in other contexts.