语言测试与第二语言习得研究的接口与合作

尽管二语习得和语言测试属应用语言学的两个不同分支,研究的重点也不尽相同,但二者在一些研究问题和研究方法上仍有不少相通或接口之处。遗憾的是长期以来两领域缺少沟通与合作。文章主要探讨了双方的互补性并且指出今后合作的必要性和可行性。     

Mandatory HIV/AIDS Testing: An Ethical Issue

Should HIV/AIDS testing be required for health care workers and patients? This study compared the perceptions of 64 health care professionals and 97 nursing students on mandatory HIV testing, the risk of accidental infection, the appropriate industry response to infection, and the placement of costs. Significant differences were found between the two groups. While health care professionals favored testing for patients, students favored mandatory testing for both health care workers and patients. Students also viewed the risk of HIV/AIDS infection by a patient as significantly higher than did health care workers. Overall younger respondents tended to favor mandatory testing and also thought that hospitals should bear the cost.     

群体决策基本理论评述

本文对群体决策研究的历史和现状进行了评述,分析研究了群体决策的定义和基本假设。将群体决策的偏好集结分为个体决策偏好序、概率偏好和模糊偏好三种集结类型,并对这三种不同的集结模型进行了探讨。     

Bayesian Analysis on a Noncentral Fisher–Student’s Hypersphere

Fisher succeeded early on in redefining Student’s t-distribution in geometrical terms on a central hypersphere. Intriguingly, a noncentral analytical extension for this fundamental Fisher–Student’s central hypersphere h-distribution does not exist. We therefore set to derive the noncentral h-distribution and use it to graphically illustrate the limitations of the Neyman–Pearson null hypothesis significance testing framework and the strengths of the Bayesian statistical hypothesis analysis framework on the hypersphere polar axis, a compact nontrivial one-dimensional parameter space. Using a geometrically meaningful maximal entropy prior, we requalify the apparent failure of an important psychological science reproducibility project. We proceed to show that the Bayes factor appropriately models the two-sample t-test p-value density of a gene expression profile produced by the high-throughput genomic-scale microarray technology, and provides a simple expression for a local false discovery rate addressing the multiple hypothesis testing problem brought about by such a technology.     

Test for the mean matrix in a Growth Curve model for high dimensions

We consider the problem of estimating and testing a general linear hypothesis in a general multivariate linear model, the so-called Growth Curve model, when the p × N observation matrix is normally distributed.

The maximum likelihood estimator (MLE) for the mean is a weighted estimator with the inverse of the sample covariance matrix which is unstable for large p close to N and singular for p larger than N. We modify the MLE to an unweighted estimator and propose new tests which we compare with the previous likelihood ratio test (LRT) based on the weighted estimator, i.e., the MLE. We show that the performance of these new tests based on the unweighted estimator is better than the LRT based on the MLE.     

Chlamydia and gonorrhea screening and expedited partner therapy (EPT) practices of college student health centers

Objective: To examine college student health centers' (SHCs) practices related to sexually transmitted disease (STD) screening and treatment over a 5-year period. Participants: College SHCs that completed the ACHA Pap and STI Survey between 2010 and 2014. Methods: Chi-square tests were conducted with Cramer's V providing a measure of association. Results: Chlamydia screening of women under 25 years of age was a well-established practice. Almost one-third of SHCs did not report screening practices of men who have sex with men (MSM) consistent with current chlamydia and gonorrhea guidelines; however, there was improvement over time. Few college SHCs utilized expedited partner therapy (EPT), though fewer had blanket restrictions prohibiting its use in 2014 compared to 2010. Conclusions: Over the 5-year period, more SHCs followed current best practices. Improvement in compliance with guidelines related to MSM STD screening as well as increased usage of EPT is needed to best address the needs of the diverse college student population.     

Confidence intervals for a population proportion using group testing in the presence of misclassification

In this study, we consider the construction of the confidence interval for the population proportion while using group testing with misclassification. We propose two confidence intervals based on Cornish-Fisher expansion and a modified Wilson’s interval based on a newly developed estimator. We investigate the performance of these intervals extensively and also apply the methods to real datasets. Our newly derived methods have competitive performance compared with existing methods.     

Generalized Holm’s procedure for multiple hypotheses testing problems

A generalized Holm’s procedure is proposed which can reject several null hypotheses at each step sequentially and also strongly controls the family-wise error rate regardless of the dependence of individual test statistics. The new procedure is more powerful than Holm’s procedure if the number of rejections m and m > 0 is prespecified before the test.     

A DSM-5-Based Online Mental Health Referral Inventory: A Large-Scale Validation Study

In 2007, a comprehensive mental health referral inventory based on the 4th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) was posted online as an alternative to the informal tests the public now uses to self-diagnose mental health problems. A validation study was published in 2011 (Epstein &; Muzzatti, 2011 Epstein, R., &; Muzzatti, L. (2011). Preliminary validation of an online DSM-based mental health referral inventory. Journal of Technology in Human Services, 29, 284–295. doi:10.1080/15228835.2011.638421[Taylor &; Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]). In 2013, a revision of that inventory that was consistent with the DSM-5 was posted. The present study evaluates the new inventory with a diverse sample of 201,625 people from 184 countries (mainly the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom). The 63-item inventory screens for 21 common problems and typically takes about 5?min to complete. Test scores proved to be good predictors of a variety of self-reported criterion measures, including happiness, personal and professional success, history of hospitalization, history of therapy, current participation in therapy, and employment. Females were found to have slightly more mental health problems than males, and effects were also found for education and race/ethnicity. The revised test is more accessible than the original, reducing the reading level from grade 10.2 to 6.6. It is not designed to diagnose; rather, its primary purpose is to refer people to mental health professionals for further evaluation. It can also be used in clinical settings for quick screening purposes.     

A multilingual approach to analysing standardized test results: immigrant primary school children and the role of languages spoken in a bi-/multilingual community

The present study adopts a multilingual approach to analysing the standardized test results of primary school immigrant children living in the bi-/multilingual context of South Tyrol, Italy. The standardized test results are from the Invalsi test administered across Italy in 2009/2010. In South Tyrol, several languages are spoken on a daily basis and the long-established ethnic groups are speakers of German (69%), Italian (26%) and Ladin (4%). While the language of instruction for immigrant children attending Italian language schools is Italian, these children live in Italian- or German-speaking environments. I argue that standardized testing data should be analysed in conjunction with local language information to better serve the educational needs of bi-/multilingual children. The Italian test results of I and II Generation immigrant children (n?=?225) are re-examined in light of the languages spoken in their living environment. Results show that the approach used is useful in identifying information that would have otherwise remained undetected. The additional data provide valuable input for school administrators, educators and policy-makers and can be used to devise suitable remedial measures for immigrant children attending school in bi-/multilingual environments.