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Recently, the EMPRESS Collaboration has included new data in the extraction of the primordial He4 abundance from big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN), resulting in a determination that differs from the previous value and from theoretical expectations. There have been several studies attempting to explain this anomaly which involve variation of fundamental constants between the time of BBN and the present. Since the Higgs vacuum expectation value (vev) is the only dimensionful parameter in the Standard Model and it is already known to vary during the electroweak phase transition, we consider the possibility that the vev is slightly different during BBN compared to its present value. A modification of the vev changes not only particle masses but also affects, through mass thresholds, the QCD confinement scale. We use the recently developed prymordial program to study this variation and its impact on the He4 and deuterium abundances. We find that bounds on |δv/v| are approximately 0.01, and that the EMPRESS result can be explained within 2σ if 0.008

In this work we present PRyMordial: A package dedicated to efficient computations of observables in the Early Universe with the focus on the cosmological era of Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN). The code offers fast and precise evaluation of BBN light-element abundances together with the effective number of relativistic degrees of freedom, including non-instantaneous decoupling effects. PRyMordial is suitable for state-of-the-art analyses in the Standard Model as well as for general investigations into New Physics active during BBN. After reviewing the physics implemented in PRyMordial, we provide a short guide on how to use the code for applications in the Standard Model and beyond. The package is written in Python, but more advanced users can optionally take advantage of the open-source community for Julia. PRyMordial is publicly available on GitHub.

The recent measurement of helium-4 from the near-infrared spectroscopy of extremely metal-poor galaxies by the Subaru Survey may point to a new puzzle in the early Universe. We exploit this new helium measurement together with the percent-level determination of primordial deuterium, to assess indications for a nonvanishing lepton asymmetry during the big bang nucleosynthesis era, paying particular attention to the role of uncertainties in the nuclear reaction network. A cutting-edge Bayesian analysis focused on the role of the newly measured extremely metal-poor galaxies, jointly with information from the cosmic microwave background, suggests the existence of a nonzero lepton asymmetry at around the 2σ level, providing a hint for cosmology beyond lambda cold dark matter. We discuss conditions for a large total lepton asymmetry to be consistently realized in the early Universe.

Systematically and explicitly addressing the teaching of speaking is an aspect of English language teaching that is often underestimated. While teachers may be presenting various speaking activities in the classroom, such activities may amount to 'doing speaking' rather than 'teaching speaking'. In this article, I argue that being a competent teacher of speaking involves understanding the 'combinatorial' nature of speaking, which includes the linguistic and discoursal features of speech, the core speaking skills that enable speakers to process and produce speech, and the communication strategies for managing and maintaining spoken interactions. The article concludes by presenting a 'teaching-speaking cycle' (Goh and Burns, 2012) that teachers can use to plan tasks and activities that explicitly address these aspects of speaking and that scaffold student learning.

An excess γ-ray signal toward the outer halo of M31 has recently been reported. Although other explanations are plausible, the possibility that it arises from dark matter (DM) is valid. In this work we interpret the excess in the framework of DM annihilation, using as our representative case WIMP DM annihilating to bottom quarks, and we perform a detailed study of the systematic uncertainty in the J-factor for the M31 field. We find that the signal favors a DM particle with a mass of ~45-72 GeV. While the mass is well constrained, the systematic uncertainty in the cross section spans 3 orders of magnitude, ranging from ~5 × 10-27-5 × 10-24 cm3 s-1. This high uncertainty is due to two main factors, namely, an uncertainty in the substructure nature and geometry of the DM halos for both M31 and the Milky Way (MW), and correspondingly, an uncertainty in the contribution to the signal from the MW's DM halo along the line of sight. However, under the conditions that the minimum subhalo mass is ≲10-6M⊙ and the actual contribution from the MW's DM halo along the line of sight is at least ~30% of its total value, we show that there is a large overlap with the DM interpretations of both the Galactic center (GC) excess and the antiproton excess, while also being compatible with the limits for the MW dwarf spheroidals. More generally, we summarize the results from numerous complementary DM searches in the energy range 10 GeV-300 GeV corresponding to the GC excess and identify a region in parameter space that still remains viable for discovery of the DM particle.

One of the current challenges facing many universities is how to support teachers in becoming researchers. This article discusses the experiences at a small private Chilean university of a new action research programme that was developed as a vehicle for helping teachers to become involved in research and write a research publication for peer-reviewed journals. We present findings from research into similar programmes about relevant factors for their success, describe the programme developed at the university with five English as a Foreign Language teachers in 2016, and discuss some reflections on this first year of the programme.

Accounts of how teacher educators begin to plan, develop, and support action research programmes for language teachers are rare, as are descriptions of the responses of the teachers who participate. This article documents and analyses the initial processes of introducing and supporting a new programme of action research for language teachers at the Universidad Chileno-Británica de Cultura (UCBC) in Santiago, Chile. To evaluate the setting up of the programme and how the teachers have perceived it in its early stages, the authors, who are the programme facilitators, have conducted a meta-study. Data include workshop and meeting recordings, workshop observation notes, a reflective account, and a teacher questionnaire. The findings indicate that the teachers value the input and collaboration provided by an initial workshop, and subsequent meetings and discussions, very highly, but that issues of time, student involvement, and academic literature are areas for further debate and development. The article ends by drawing out the broader implications for UCBC and for others wishing to initiate similar action research programmes.

In this article, we describe and model the language classroom as a complex adaptive system (see Logan & Schumann, 2005). We argue that linear, categorical descriptions of classroom processes and interactions do not sufficiently explain the complex nature of classrooms, and cannot account for how classroom change occurs (or does not occur), over time. A relational model of classrooms is proposed which focuses on the relations between different elements (physical, environmental, cognitive, social) in the classroom and on how their interaction is crucial in understanding and describing classroom action. (Contains 5 figures, 2 tables, and 1 note.)

The recruitment of "native English-speaking teachers" (NESTs) is commonly practised in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) countries. This case study focuses on NESTs teaching in the setting of Vietnamese Foreign Language Centres (FLCs) - an under-researched non-state English language education sector. The case study investigates NESTs' professional learning support needs (PLSNs) across public and private FLCs. In-depth semi-structured interviews with 12 NESTs and 11 educational leaders revealed similarities and differences in the PLSNs of NESTs in public and private FLCs. What was most striking was the mismatches in the perceptions of the PLSNs of NESTs between educational leaders and teachers. This study calls for a need to listen to NESTs' voices and to consider the PLSNs of NESTs in English language reform policies and practice. The study puts forward implications for NESTs, policymakers, and educational leaders at a time of educational change in Vietnam and similar contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores how two language teachers constructed and reconstructed their professional identities through their action research (AR) facilitated by university researchers in China. Informed by the theory of 'community of practice', the findings of the study show that AR exerted a transformative impact on the teachers' identity development. Four distinctive routes of identity change were noted, namely their transformation from "fisherman" to "fishing coach", from "craftsman" to "teacher researcher", from "lonely fighter" to "collaborator", and from "housekeeper" to "change agent". Such change can be attributed to their engagement and practice in different communities of practice. However, the participants' identity development also encountered some contextual obstacles, including the rigid school curriculum, lack of research knowledge, as well as the power dynamics between them and the researchers. Several implications can be drawn for teachers, teacher educators, and school leaders to help teachers construct a solid and robust professional identity in seeking their continuing professional development through AR.

To date, research on feedback in second language (L2) writing has primarily focused on feedback per se, with little attention paid to the teachers' professional development with regard to feedback in writing. This study aims to explore the ways in which two secondary teachers in Hong Kong attempted to implement feedback innovation in their writing classrooms after receiving some professional development input, as well as the factors that influenced their attempts at feedback innovation. The findings indicate that the teachers were unable to fully translate into practice the feedback principles acquired from teacher education and reveal a string of factors that influenced their attempts at feedback innovation. The study has implications for teacher education and teacher professional development, shedding light on how teachers can be supported to bring innovation to conventional feedback approaches in the writing classroom.

Language teachers constantly create, adapt and evaluate classroom materials to develop new curricula and meet their learners' needs. It has long been argued (e.g. by Stenhouse, L. [1975]. "An Introduction to Curriculum Research and Development." London: Heinemann) that teachers themselves, as opposed to managers or course book writers, are best placed to develop context-specific materials that effectively and affectively engage learners. However, a systematic approach is required for materials development, and one practical option is through action research. Action research enables teachers to investigate learners' reactions to new materials, and work with them to develop engaging context-specific materials. To illustrate how action research can successfully support materials development, this paper reports on a classroom-based project the first author (Emily) conducted at her college in Australia. The project was part of an innovative national programme for the Australian English Language Intensive Courses for Overseas Students (ELICOS) sector, initiated and facilitated by the second author (Anne) and the ELICOS peak body English Australia. An Assessment for Learning (AfL) theoretical framework was adopted to integrate lesson materials and assessment, based on learner needs. At the college, previous assessment preparation materials had been ad hoc, so Emily explored what materials would best support her learners in preparing for written assessments and feedback. Innovative classroom materials were developed in negotiation with learners, who were actively involved in the process through interviews, focus groups and surveys. Findings included improved AfL classroom materials and new self-study resources, as well as increased learner motivation. The paper concludes with analysis of the implications of using action research for materials development.

Action research (AR) is becoming increasingly popular in ELT contexts as a means of continuous professional development. The positive impacts of AR on language teacher development are well documented, but the important question of how those impacts can be sustained over time is virtually unexplored. Drawing on findings from a study of teachers in Australia, we address the question of the sustainability of the impact of AR. Data from a survey and interviews show that, between one and four years after completing an AR programme, the teachers felt more confident, connected to their students, research-engaged, and recognized by colleagues and managers. We argue that a balance of top-down institutional support and individual teacher motivation is essential in ensuring sustainability of the impact over time. Finally, we suggest how the benefits of AR can be sustained for teachers doing AR and their colleagues.

Curriculum innovation is challenging and, as several commentators have reported, moves to introduce communicative language teaching in many contexts internationally have resulted in mixed outcomes, or even failure. In an effort to shed some light on this complex problem, this article focuses on curriculum change through the introduction of new communicative textbooks in an engineering college ("kosen") in Japan. First, three key factors that inhibit change are considered and then other factors that specifically hindered change in the "kosen" environment are identified. A study investigating the attitudes and classroom practices of four Japanese teachers of English highlighted a culture of pedagogical uncertainty and lack of professional support. Suggestions for supporting teachers to implement curriculum change more effectively, both in Japan and elsewhere, are drawn out.

The overarching project of the conceptual and empirical contributions in this special issue is to redraw boundaries for language teacher cognition research. Our aim in this final article is to complement the foregoing collection of articles by conceptualizing ontologically and methodologically past and current trajectories in language teacher cognition research and synthesizing various themes that arise across this body of work. To that end, we begin by first making the case for the construct under examination and posing some key questions: What is the nature of the mind that we are examining in language teacher cognition research? How have conceptualizations of that mind changed over the period that language teacher cognition research has emerged as a field of empirical study? We then consider how the mind in language teacher cognition research has been studied ontologically, and the conceptual advances that have characterized such research. We conclude by examining how studies in this collection reflect our account of these changes over time.

Drawing on data from a recent research international research project, this article focuses on the challenges faced by teachers of English to young learners against the backdrop of the global rise of English. A mixed-methods approach was used to obtain the data, including a survey, which was completed by 4,459 teachers worldwide, and case studies, including observations and interviews with teachers, in five different primary schools in five different countries. A number of challenges emerged as affecting large numbers of teachers in different educational contexts, namely, teaching speaking, motivation, differentiating learning, teaching large classes, discipline, teaching writing, and teaching grammar. Importantly, some of these challenges have not been highlighted in the literature on young learner teaching to date. Other challenges are more localised, such as developing teachers' English competence. The article argues that teacher education should focus less on introducing teachers to general approaches to English language teaching and more on supporting teachers to meet the challenges that they have identified.

In the 21st century, global flows politically, socially, economically, and environmentally are creating widespread movements of people around the world and giving rise to increased resettlements of immigrants and refugees internationally. The reality in most countries worldwide is that contemporary populations are multifaceted, multicultural, multiethnic, multiracial, and multi/plurilingual. And the experience of globalization has been conceptualised as space-time compression in which relocations and dislocations are lived out alongside persistent links with global diasporas. In this complex and dynamic environment, the need for sensitively designed and socially and culturally responsible educational and language programs for adult immigrants, migrants, and refugees who relocate, both voluntarily and involuntarily, across the world has never been greater. The body of literature that currently exists focusing on English language programs for adult immigrants and refugees is fragmented and underreported. Given the growing interest from and pressure on English language educators worldwide to research, develop, and theorize such programs, the need for a collection drawing from an international body of work is pressing. This article focuses on migrant identities and subjectivities and the relative investment in language learning within individual trajectories. It shows the thematic interests of researchers engaging with research in this field that are gaining sophistication as they seek to develop new ways of theorizing, illuminating, explaining, conceptualizing, and interpreting fundamental concerns within an important and growing sector of the globalized second language teaching world.

This paper examines the beliefs and practices about the integration of grammar and skills teaching reported by 176 English language teachers from 18 countries. Teachers completed a questionnaire which elicited beliefs about grammar teaching generally as well as specific beliefs and reported practices about the integration of grammar and skills teaching. Teachers expressed strong beliefs in the need to avoid teaching grammar in isolation and reported high levels of integration of grammar in their practices. This study also examines how teachers conceptualize integration and the sources of evidence they draw on in assessing the effectiveness of their instructional practices in teaching grammar. The major findings for this paper stem from an analysis of these two issues. A range of ways in which teachers understood integration are identified and classified into two broad orientations which we label temporal and contextual. An analysis of the evidence which teachers cited in making judgements about the effectiveness of their grammar teaching practices showed that it was overwhelmingly practical and experiential and did not refer in any explicit way to second language acquisition theory. Given the volume of available theory about L2 grammar teaching generally and integration specifically, the lack of direct reference to such evidence in teachers' accounts is noteworthy.

The field of accountancy plays a vital role in the financial health of modern-day economies. It also attracts very large numbers of students, many for whom English is not their first language, who train in a variety of undergraduate and postgraduate programs at English-medium universities. Yet, surprisingly, the discourse of accountants has been under-reported in the ESP literature (Burns & Moore, 2007a). This paper reports research investigating spoken accounting discourse derived from simulated accountant-client consultations. It draws on the work of Drew and Heritage (1992), in which questioning is identified as a key discursive feature in institutional talk, and also the more recent work reported in Heritage and Maynard (2006), in which the complexity of the formulation of questions and responses is revealed in doctor-patient consultations. The paper discusses the use of simulations in cases where access to actual workplace settings by ESP teachers is unattainable, as well as the usefulness of the interactional data these simulations generate. The paper reports a questioning typology, derived from the data, showing six typical question types found in advice-giving simulated encounters in accountant-client taxation-based consultations: information; clarification; client-specified; backchannel; discourse-related; and interpersonal. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of this research for ESP teaching. (Contains 3 tables.)

Research in the field of adult ESOL internationally is both spasmodic and fragmentary. The papers in this special issue therefore constitute a major contribution to the field by providing new insights into ESOL research from the perspective of current pedagogical practices in the British context. In this paper, I provide a response to this research from the Australasian perspective, focusing in particular on comparative work conducted in Australia, but also referring briefly to the New Zealand context. I offer comparisons and reflections from a number of perspectives including policy, research and curriculum developments that continue to shape practice in the respective pedagogical environments of Britain and Australasia. In so doing, I also make reference to specific issues raised by individual writers of the papers.

Focuses on individual reading practices both inside and outside the classroom. Aimed to reflect trends in the field of new literacy studies that draw on ethnographic accounts of the literacy practices of different groups. Investigated student perceptions of learning experiences in adult migrant English program classrooms. (Author/VWL)

Describes a recent national project focusing on involving teachers in carrying out action research in their teaching of vocabulary and the vocabulary learning of their own students. Teachers are given the opportunity to raise their professional knowledge and awareness of vocabulary issues and then to investigate their own classes. (Adjunct ERIC for ESL Literacy Education) (Author/VWL)