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Rubrics for writing courses have become increasingly popular yet there have been few studies published from the GCC. This study investigated the effectiveness of rubrics in business writing classes at a Kuwait university. The participants were 104 students who were given a survey that evaluated their opinions of the rubrics. In addition, several instructors from these writing courses were interviewed. It found that a robust rubric may help ensure that grading is consistent and fair, and that it was highly useful as a guide for students when writing the assignments, and assisted students in crafting the essay. A proportion of students suggested that additional feedback beyond the rubric was desirable. The writing instructors were generally supportive of the value of rubrics, especially as a means to indicate to students what is required in classroom assignments. Overall, this study contributes to the body of literature demonstrating the value of rubrics for writing classes.

This study proposes transformation functions and matrices between coefficients in the original and reparameterized parameter spaces for an existing linear-linear piecewise model to derive the interpretable coefficients directly related to the underlying change pattern. Additionally, the study extends the existing model to allow individual measurement occasions and investigates predictors for individual differences in change patterns. We present the proposed methods with simulation studies and a real-world data analysis. Our simulation study demonstrates that the method can generally provide an unbiased and accurate point estimate and appropriate confidence interval coverage for each parameter. The empirical analysis shows that the model can estimate the growth factor coefficients and path coefficients directly related to the underlying developmental process, thereby providing meaningful interpretation.

This mixed-methods multinational study examined how achievement emotions predict the cognitive, behavioural, and emotional engagement of multilingual learners within Chinese, Iranian, and Kuwaiti L2 classrooms. The study also assessed the potential association between participants’ achievement emotions and their L2 engagement levels. Additionally, this research focused on the participants’ subjective perceptions concerning the role of negative and positive achievement emotions in shaping multilingual learners’ L2 engagement. In doing so, a total of 1509 multilingual English learners were purposefully recruited from various educational institutions in China, Iran, and Kuwait. Following that, the quantitative and qualitative data were gleaned via two validated scales and a semi-structured interview, respectively. Correlational analyses uncovered significant associations between achievement emotions and the L2 engagement components. Regression analyses further highlighted the strong role of achievement emotions in predicting multilingual learners’ L2 engagement. Surprisingly, measurement invariance testing indicated no significant differences among Chinese, Iranian, and Kuwaiti regression models regarding the predictive power of achievement emotions. Additionally, the findings derived from content analysis illuminated that participants viewed achievement emotions as key factors affecting learners’ L2 engagement. The outcomes of this inquiry offer valuable insights for language teachers, policymakers, and curriculum designers aiming to promote multilingual learners’ engagement in L2 classrooms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the impact of teacher metapathy, or teachers' capacity to comprehend and sympathize with students' emotional and cognitive requirements, on the academic outcomes of IELTS applicants, such as total band scores, motivation, and language learning orientation. Ten IELTS teachers from five language training centers and 100 IELTS candidates participated in the mixed methods design. Standardized surveys and official IELTS scores were used to collect quantitative data, and semi-structured interviews were used to acquire qualitative data. The associations between teacher metapathy, student motivation (passive vs. active), learning orientation (integrative vs. instrumental), and band scores were examined using logistic regression, Pearson correlation, chi-square tests, and structural equation modeling (SEM). Thematic analysis was used to explore participants' perceptions of metapathy in the classroom. Results revealed a significant positive correlation between teacher metapathy and students' overall IELTS band scores. High levels of teacher metapathy were associated with increased active motivation and integrative learning orientation among students. Additionally, the frequency of teacher-student interaction was found to mediate the relationship between teacher metapathy and students' motivation levels. Qualitative findings reinforced these results, highlighting the importance of emotional and instructional support in promoting student engagement and success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cell-to-cell communication is essential for the organization, coordination, and development of cellular networks and multi-cellular systems. Intercellular communication is mediated by soluble factors (including growth factors, neurotransmitters, and cytokines/chemokines), gap junctions, exosomes and recently described tunneling nanotubes (TNTs). It is unknown whether a combination of these communication mechanisms such as TNTs and gap junctions may be important, but further research is required. TNTs are long cytoplasmic bridges that enable long-range, directed communication between connected cells. The proposed functions of TNTs are diverse and not well understood but have been shown to include the cell-to-cell transfer of vesicles, organelles, electrical stimuli and small molecules. However, the exact role of TNTs and gap junctions for intercellular communication and their impact on disease is still uncertain and thus, the subject of much debate. The combined data from numerous laboratories indicate that some TNT mediate a long-range gap junctional communication to coordinate metabolism and signaling, in relation to infectious, genetic, metabolic, cancer, and age-related diseases. This review aims to describe the current knowledge, challenges and future perspectives to characterize and explore this new intercellular communication system and to design TNT-based therapeutic strategies.

Cell-to-cell communication is essential for the organization, coordination, and development of cellular networks and multi-cellular systems. Intercellular communication is mediated by soluble factors (including growth factors, neurotransmitters, and cytokines/chemokines), gap junctions, exosomes and recently described tunneling nanotubes (TNTs). It is unknown whether a combination of these communication mechanisms such as TNTs and gap junctions may be important, but further research is required. TNTs are long cytoplasmic bridges that enable long-range, directed communication between connected cells. The proposed functions of TNTs are diverse and not well understood but have been shown to include the cell-to-cell transfer of vesicles, organelles, electrical stimuli and small molecules. However, the exact role of TNTs and gap junctions for intercellular communication and their impact on disease is still uncertain and thus, the subject of much debate. The combined data from numerous laboratories indicate that some TNT mediate a long-range gap junctional communication to coordinate metabolism and signaling, in relation to infectious, genetic, metabolic, cancer, and age-related diseases. This review aims to describe the current knowledge, challenges and future perspectives to characterize and explore this new intercellular communication system and to design TNT-based therapeutic strategies.

Behavioral disinhibition (BD) is a quantitative measure designed to capture the heritable variation encompassing risky and impulsive behaviors. As a result, BD represents an ideal target for discovering genetic loci that predispose individuals to a wide range of antisocial behaviors and substance misuse that together represent a large cost to society as a whole. Published genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have examined specific phenotypes that fall under the umbrella of BD (e.g. alcohol dependence, conduct disorder); however no GWAS has specifically examined the overall BD construct. We conducted a GWAS of BD using a sample of 1,901 adolescents over-selected for characteristics that define high BD, such as substance and antisocial behavior problems, finding no individual locus that surpassed genome-wide significance. Although no single SNP was significantly associated with BD, restricted maximum likelihood analysis estimated that 49.3 % of the variance in BD within the Caucasian sub-sample was accounted for by the genotyped SNPs (p = 0.06). Gene-based tests identified seven genes associated with BD (p ≤ 2.0 × 10(-6)). Although the current study was unable to identify specific SNPs or pathways with replicable effects on BD, the substantial sample variance that could be explained by all genotyped SNPs suggests that larger studies could successfully identify common variants associated with BD.

The release of ChatGPT has marked the dawn of a new information revolution that will transform how people communicate and make meaning. However, to date, little is known about the implications of ChatGPT for L2 composition instruction. To address this gap, the present study uses a systematic review design to synthesize available research on the educational potentials of ChatGPT as an instructional assistant, outline the implications of these potentials for L2 writing instruction, and discuss their practical applications. The findings, based on a meta-analysis of 42 research articles, demonstrate that ChatGPT can enhance L2 writing instruction by boosting learners’ motivation, automating instructional tasks, and offering instantaneous, personalized feedback to learners. These findings have important implications for harnessing the instructional potential of generative AI in L2 writing classes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present mixed-methods cross-cultural study probed the association between bilingual English teachers’ enjoyment, passion, and desire for professional development from the Iranian and Kuwaiti teachers’ standpoints. In doing so, a random sample of bilingual English teachers (N = 426) was chosen from educational institutions in Iran and Kuwait. Then, using self-report questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, participants’ beliefs and attitudes on the interaction of enjoyment, passion, and desire for professional development were evaluated. The results of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) exhibited close, positive associations between Iranian and Kuwaiti teachers’ passion, enjoyment, and desire for professional development. Moreover, the results obtained from structural equation modelling (SEM) uncovered that Iranian and Kuwaiti teachers’ enjoyment and passion can positively predict their desire for professional development. However, as the results of measurement invariance revealed, some meaningful differences were found between Iranian and Kuwaiti structural models concerning the predictive role of passion and enjoyment. Additionally, according to the thematic analysis (TA) outcomes, both Iranian and Kuwaiti instructors believed that passion and enjoyment can trigger teachers to attend professional development courses. These findings may contribute to a better understanding of the role of pleasant emotions in language teachers’ motivation for professional advancement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the present study was to develop and evaluate two procedures flagging consequential item parameter drift (IPD) in an operational testing program. The first procedure was based on flagging items that exhibit a meaningful magnitude of IPD using a critical value that was defined to represent barely tolerable IPD. The second procedure was based on flagging items in which the D[superscript 2] statistic was more than two standard deviations from the mean. Both procedures were implemented using an iterative purification approach to detect IPD. A simulation study was implemented to evaluate the effectiveness of both detection procedures in flagging non-negligible IPD. Both procedures were able to identify IPD and the iterative purification method provided useful information regarding the consequences of excluding or including a flagged item. The advantages and disadvantages of both procedures as well as possible modifications intended to improve the procedures' effectiveness are discussed in the article.