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To better understand pre-service teachers' teaching anxiety in specific cultural contexts and promote their overall anticipatory socialisation process, this study investigated the level, dimensions and causality of Chinese pre-service teachers' teaching anxiety during student teaching. We conducted a survey of 426 Chinese pre-service teachers who were at the end of their bachelor or master programmes to become primary or secondary school teachers. The results of this study revealed that the participants experienced moderate anxiety (M = 25.51), with more concerns about their professional teaching competencies (M = 10.75) and teaching management ability (M = 7.66) than personal image, personal affairs and evaluation (M = 2.92, 2.35, 1.82). Moreover, gender, educational background, self-concept, student ability, job demands and job resources were correlated with teaching anxiety. Among these, self-concept and job demands best explained teaching anxiety with estimated regression weights of -0.541 for self-concept and 0.079 for job demands (p < 0.001). This study contributes to the literature on teaching anxiety by exploring culturally specific elements in China and offers valuable implications for interventions to reduce anxiety among pre-service teachers.

In English teaching, developing students' reading habits has been emphasized for its critical role in promoting overall core competencies. However, in practice, many teachers and parents are not informed of the effective approaches to developing good English reading habits, hindering the overall development of students' core competencies. In light of this, an empirical study was carried out to explore the developmental features of students' English reading habits and individual, family and school factors that affect its development. A questionnaire was adopted to collect quantitative data. A total of 2,130 primary and secondary school students from China participated in the study. The results indicated that their English reading habits varied with age and gender. In terms of age, secondary school students, especially middle school students, performed better than primary school students. In terms of gender, females performed better in reading frequency, reading time and ways of reading, while males had a larger reading volume. Reading habits were found to be impacted by individual, school and family factors. Among them, age had the strongest influence on the development of English reading habits. These findings shed light on effective ways to develop English reading habits, especially in foreign-language-learning contexts.

In English teaching, developing students' reading habits has been emphasized for its critical role in promoting overall core competencies. However, in practice, many teachers and parents are not informed of the effective approaches to developing good English reading habits, hindering the overall development of students' core competencies. In light of this, an empirical study was carried out to explore the developmental features of students' English reading habits and individual, family and school factors that affect its development. A questionnaire was adopted to collect quantitative data. A total of 2,130 primary and secondary school students from China participated in the study. The results indicated that their English reading habits varied with age and gender. In terms of age, secondary school students, especially middle school students, performed better than primary school students. In terms of gender, females performed better in reading frequency, reading time and ways of reading, while males had a larger reading volume. Reading habits were found to be impacted by individual, school and family factors. Among them, age had the strongest influence on the development of English reading habits. These findings shed light on effective ways to develop English reading habits, especially in foreign‐language‐learning contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Dating the desert lake sediments using 210Pbuns and 137Cs methods is challenging because of the low atmospheric fluxes and the unexpected irregular variations in the specific activity profiles. Due to the large numbers of permanent lakes in the Badain Jaran Desert, they provide abundant sites for investigating the desert 210Pbuns and 137Cs geochronology. Research was performed to determine the reliable ages using this methodology and obtain a better understanding of the principal factors that affect the dating results. The top 20–30 cm of core SH-1 from Lake Shuanghaizi and of core YD-1 from Lake Yindeertu in Badain Jaran Desert were dated. The results support multiple conclusions. (1) Both cores have low surficial 210Pbuns activities (SH-1, 24.5 Bq kg−1; YD-1, 59.7 Bq kg−1) compared with those of the cores from arid Northwest China, such as Lake Bosten (350 Bq kg−1) and Lake Wulungu (523.37 Bq kg−1) from Xinjiang. Although the 210Pb record in SH-1 has multiple irregular variations with depth, the exponential decrease in the YD-1 activity profiles appears fairly regular. (2) The 210Pbuns activities are highly correlated with the sample salt concentration (SSC). (3) Sediment dates for core SH-1 derived from the constant rate of 210Pb supply (CRS) model indicate that it spans a period of 65 years (1942 AD–2007 AD) with an average sedimentation rate of 0.21 cm a−1 (0.16 g cm−2 a−1). Sediment dates for core YD-1 derived from the corrected CRS model indicate that it spans a period of 121 years old (1889 AD–2010 AD) with an average sedimentation rate of 0.16 cm a−1 (0.12 g cm−2 a−1). In both cores, the 137Cs time markers of 1963 appeared at different depths, which may result from the differing sedimentation rates at the sites of the cores. The sedimentation rates calculated from the CRS-determined age differences between the SH-1 and YD-1 cores appear to have resulted from the topographies containing various mega-dunes and regional aeolian activity patterns. We believe that the low 210Pb flux and the unexpected fluctuations in the 210Pb profiles are the principal factors affecting our dating results. The low 210Pbuns activities were caused by infrequent rainfall and mega-dune barriers. The unexpected fluctuations in the 210Pbuns profiles resulted from the salt crystallisation that occurred via deposition or post-sedimentation. The salt crystallisation has been closely associated with abrupt regional climate changes, including rainfall, temperature and serious drought events during the 1950s–1970s. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]