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In the present study, we reported two experiments that examined how syntactic category information affects the acquisition of ambiguous words in second language (L2). Chinese-English bilinguals were instructed to learn a set of English pseudowords to simulate ambiguous words' learning process. Each ambiguous pseudoword was paired with two unrelated Chinese meanings, which either belonged to the same syntactic category (i.e., both were nouns or both were verbs) or belonged to different syntactic categories (i.e., one was a noun and the other one was a verb or vice versa). The results from translation recognition and L2-L1 production tasks showed that ambiguous words with two noun meanings were easier to learn than ambiguous words with one noun meaning and one verb meaning (Experiment 1). Ambiguous words with one verb meaning and one noun meaning were easier to learn than those with two verb meanings (Experiment 2). These results suggest that the syntactic categorical structure of an L2 ambiguous word impacts the whole word's learning efficiency, and noun meanings facilitate the learning performance of L2 ambiguous words., Author(s): Xuefeng Yang [sup.1] , Yuanyue Zhang [sup.1] , Lijuan Liang [sup.2] , Si Cheng [sup.1] , Baoguo Chen [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) https://ror.org/022k4wk35, grid.20513.35, 0000 0004 1789 9964, Beijing [...]

The perfective aspect marker in Chinese is partly functionally similar to inflectional suffixes in Indo-European languages but is non-inflectional and lexical in nature, lying thus at the semantics-syntax interface. This provides us with the opportunity to compare directly the syntactic and semantic constraints during second language (L2) sentence processing. The present study explored how L2 Chinese learners with Indo-European languages as their first languages (L1s) process the Chinese perfective marker. The Competition Model prioritizes syntactic processes entailed by cross-linguistic transfer from the participants' L1s, but this prediction might be challenged by the concurrent functioning of semantic processes. In an event-related potentials (ERP) experiment, 22 European language-speaking L2 Chinese learners with low to intermediate proficiency level and 20 native Chinese speakers (i.e. the control group) participated. An aspectual agreement paradigm was used for materials. Results showed that in the aspect marker mismatch condition, L2 Chinese learners with a shorter learning experience were more likely to show a P600-like component, indicating a morpho-syntactic routine, supporting thus the predictions of cross-linguistic transfer based on the Competition Model. Those with a longer L2 learning experience were more likely to show an N400-like component similar to native Chinese speakers. This shift from P600 to N400 for more advanced learners suggests that L1-L2 syntactic similarity may exert much stronger influence than semantic constraints for learners with shorter L2 experience.

China has launched a nation-wide project of learning English as a "core" subject starting from the third grade in primary schools after the Ministry of Education (MOE) issued "National English Curriculum Standards for Compulsory Education" at the beginning of this century. However, EFL teachers are far from sufficient in rural schools, and thus students are in a more disadvantageous position compared to their peers in the urban area. To meet this need, many "Zhuangang" teachers are employed after being trained. This study examined a phonics-oriented training program in which scholars and practitioners cooperated to train EFL teachers and prospective trainers in rural west China. The current study collected data about EFL teachers' perceptions on the effect of this program and student achievement. The results showed that the training program was quite effective with EFL teachers regarding the program as helpful and students obtaining significantly better scores. These findings indicate that phonics-oriented professional support system is a good way to make teacher development sustainable in the long run.

Although gastric cancer rates have been reported to have declined in recent years, it remains the fifth leading cause of cancer death worldwide. Patients with advanced gastric cancer often face extremely limited treatment options and poor prognosis. Chronic atrophic gastritis and intraepithelial neoplasia are typical precancerous manifestations in the development of gastric cancer. Therefore, correct understanding of the characteristics and evolution of gastric precancerous lesions and precancerous conditions, so as to accurately deal with precancerous lesions and precancerous lesions. This will greatly reduce the incidence of gastric cancer, improve the prognosis of patients, and improve the quality of life of patients.

The trap-assisted charge injection in polyfluorene-poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene): poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) model systems with an Al or Al/LiF cathode is investigated. We find that inserting 1.3 nm LiF increases electron and hole injections simultaneously and the increase of holes is greater than electrons. The evolution of internal interfaces within polymer light-emitting diodes is observed by transmission electron microscopy, which reveals that the introduction of LiF improves the interface stability at both the cathode (cathode/polymer) and the anode (indium tin oxide (ITO)/PEDOT:PSS). Above-mentioned experimental results have been compared to the numerical simulations with a revised Davids model and potential physical mechanisms for the trap-assisted charge injection are discussed.