How peer relationships affect academic achievement among junior high school students: The chain mediating roles of learning motivation and learning engagement.

BACKGROUND: Despite the recognition of the impact of peer relationships, learning motivation, and learning engagement on academic achievement, there is still a gap in understanding the specific mechanisms through which peer relationships impact academic achievement via learning motivation and learning engagement. METHODS: This study aims to investigate how peer relationships affect junior high school students' academic achievement through the chain mediating roles of learning motivation and learning engagement, employing the self-system model of motivational development as the theoretical framework. In January 2024, 717 participants were selected from two middle schools in eastern China (mean age = 13.49 years, SD = 0.5). The data analysis in this study was performed using the structural equation model (SEM) in AMOS 24.0 and SPSS 24.0. RESULTS: The results showed that peer relationships were directly and significantly related to junior high school students' academic achievement, and that peer relationships were indirectly and positively related to junior high school students' academic achievement via learning motivation and learning engagement respectively. The results also revealed a significant indirect and positive relationship between peer relationships and junior high school students' academic achievement, mediated by the sequential mediating roles of learning motivation and learning engagement. Moreover, the path "peer relationship→learning motivation→academic achievement" has the strongest indirect effect. CONCLUSION: For junior high school students to achieve academic success, the appropriate interventions should be implemented to improve peer relationships, learning motivation, and learning engagement.

Development of the reading literacy questionnaire for EFL learners at primary schools.

Previous studies have indicated that there are a variety of factors influencing reading literacy assessment, including linguistic, cognitive, and affective factors, but little has been done on how to integrate these influential factors reasonably in a reading literacy instrument. As such, the purpose of this study is to develop and validate an English Reading Literacy Questionnaire (ERLQ) for English as foreign language (EFL) learners at the elementary level. The ERLQ was designed and revised through three rounds of validation with a sample of 784 pupils (Grades 3-6) in six primary schools from six provinces in China. Validity and reliability tests of the questionnaire were conducted with item analysis, Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), reliability test, and the analysis of criterion validity in SPSS 26.0 and AMOS 23.0. Results indicated that the revised ERLQ had high internal consistency, ranging from 0.729 to 0.823. The criterion validity of the ERLQ was supported by significant correlations to the Chinese Students' English Rating Scale verified by the authoritative department, with a correlation coefficient of 0.871. The study shows that the revised questionnaire, with 3 dimensions of 14 items, has high reliability and validity, which can be used as an assessment instrument for the intended audience. It also suggests that modifications may be made for further use in other regions and countries, depending on the background information of the learners.

A comparative study on lexical and syntactic features of ESL versus EFL learners' writing.

This study analyzes the compositions of Hong Kong English as a second language (ESL) learners and English as a foreign language (EFL) learners in Mainland China in terms of lexical and syntactic features. A program based on the CoreNLP was developed and used to analyze written language texts, and differences in tags of parts of speech and syntactic dependencies between the two groups of texts were compared statistically to examine differences in the lexical and syntactic features of the learners' written language. The results show significant differences in the lexical and syntactic features of learners' writing. Specifically, in EFL learners' writing, there is a salient group pattern of higher lexical diversity, whereas ESL compositions are more flexible in vocabulary use with higher information density, in that they use more syntactic phrases and content words. In terms of syntax, Hong Kong ESL students use more adverbials and adverbial clauses, which is advantageous in syntactic simplicity and readability over their counterparts, whereas Mainland China EFL students prefer using more specific expressions to demonstrate syntactic relations. Compared to EFL compositions, ESL compositions are more informative, coherent, and grammatical in lexical features and more readable in syntactic features, which require more attention and further improvements in terms of EFL teaching.

The association between peer relationship and learning engagement among adolescents: The chain mediating roles of self-efficacy and academic resilience.

Previous studies have shown that peer relationship affects learning engagement. And learning engagement plays a vital role in promoting knowledge acquisition and production, enhancing adolescents' academic success. However, few studies have focused on the mechanism between peer relationship and learning engagement. As such, based on Social Cognitive Theory, this study attempts to explore how peer relationship of adolescents is linked to learning engagement through the chain mediating roles of self-efficacy and academic resilience. The participants were 250 students who were selected via random sampling in a public middle school, in Eastern China, in June 2021. All the participants filled in the structured self-report questionnaires on peer relationship, self-efficacy, academic resilience, and learning engagement. The data were analyzed with structural equation modeling (SEM) in SPSS 24.0 and AMOS 24.0. Results indicated that peer relationship was directly and positively associated with learning engagement. Results also indicated that peer relationship was indirectly and positively associated with learning engagement via self-efficacy and academic resilience, respectively, and sequentially. More importantly, it was found that the direct effect was much lower than the indirect effects of which self-efficacy was the greatest. It is suggested that appropriate interventions and support should be provided to facilitate adolescents' peer relationship, self-efficacy, and academic resilience, thus promoting their learning engagement and academic success.

The 50/10 Oxygen-Induced Retinopathy Model Serves as a Hyperoxia and Hypoxia Model of Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia.

BACKGROUND: Animal models of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) are mainly created by hyperoxia exposure. However, these models do not fully recapitulate BPD pathophysiology as observed in clinical practice. To find a better BPD model, we established a rat 50/10 oxygen-induced retinopathy (OIR) model and analyzed the pathologic features of the lungs. METHODS: The rat OIR model was established by exposing newborn rats (P0) to 50% and 10% oxygen (hyperoxia and hypoxia) on alternating days for 14 days. Lungs were harvested immediately on postnatal day 14 (P14) and on P18 after 4 days of normoxia exposure for hematoxylin and eosin staining, antialpha smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) immunohistochemistry and Picrosirius red staining of collagen. Retinas were obtained to confirm successful model establishment by isolectin B4 staining of retinal vasculature. RESULTS: OIR rats presented with fewer and enlarged alveoli, and the septal walls were thicker than those in age-matched controls. α-SMA immunohistochemistry indicated increased abundance of myofibroblasts in OIR rats. At P18, α-SMA-positive myofibroblasts were present at extremely low levels from the alveolar walls of control rats, while OIR rats showed myofibroblast persistence. The amount of collagen in OIR rats was also higher than that in control rats at both P14 and P18 as evidenced by Picrosirius red staining. CONCLUSIONS: Alveolar changes observed by hematoxylin and eosin staining, prolonged and stronger α-SMA expression and augmented collagen accumulation resemble the histopathology of BPD, suggesting that the rat 50/10 OIR model is suitable for use in BPD research.

Early-life gut microbial colonization shapes Th1/Th2 balance in asthma model in BALB/c mice.

BACKGROUND: We aimed to investigate the effect of early-life diverse microbial exposures on gut microbial colonization in an OVA-induced asthma model in BALB/c mice. METHODS: BALB/c mice were divided into 4 groups: A, offsprings were kept in a SPF environment during fetal, lactation, and childhood periods; B, offsprings were kept in the SPF environment during fetal and lactation periods, and kept in the general environment during childhood; C, offsprings were kept in the SPF environment only during fetal period, and then kept in the general environment; and D, offsprings were kept in the general environment during whole periods. The diversity of intestinal flora was analyzed using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis. Mice were sensitized with OVA to establish an animal model of asthma. Then asthma-related inflammatory cytokines and histological analysis were performed. RESULTS: The diversity of intestinal microflora in group D was significantly higher than groups A, B and C at three days and three weeks after birth, and the diversity of intestinal microflora in groups C and D were significantly higher than groups A and B at five weeks after birth. The pathologic scores of OVA-induced asthmatic mice in group D were significantly lower than group A, and serum IFN-γ levels and the IFN-γ/IL-4 ratio in group D were significantly higher than group A. CONCLUSIONS: Exposure to diverse microbial environments in early life affects gut microbial colonization in BALB/c mice. The diversity of the intestinal flora in early life may prevent airway inflammation in asthma via regulating the Th1/Th2 balance.