Relationship among Iranian EFL students’ foreign language anxiety, foreign language listening anxiety and their listening comprehension.

Anxiety is an influential factor in a foreign language learning domain and plays a crucial role in language learners’ performance. The following study was conducted to explore the possible impact of Foreign Language Anxiety and Foreign Language Listening Anxiety on language learners’ listening skill. The researcher was interested to know the correlation that could exist among the three variables: Listening Comprehension, Foreign Language Anxiety and Foreign Language Listening Anxiety. The participants of the study were 210 Iranian EFL students in Iran. The study revealed that there was -.414 correlations between FLLA and listening comprehension and -.214 correlations between FLA and listening comprehension whereas FLA and FLLA enjoyed a .513 correlation. It can be concluded that the relationship between Foreign Language Anxiety and Foreign Language Listening Anxiety of the participants are in accordance with each other. Furthermore the result shows that the impact of FLLA on Iranian students’ listening comprehension skill is significantly more problematic. Therefore it is recommended that FL teachers and learners should be more aware of the hindering effect of FLA and FLLA in particular on the process of teaching and learning the listening comprehension

Iranian Efl Learners’ Listening Comprehension Of Texts Read By Instructors, Peers And Native Speakers

This study is an attempt to gauge Iranian EFL learners’ listening comprehension of different texts read by Persian and non-Persian speaking EFL learners, Persian speaking English instructors and native English speakers. The globalization of English has witnessed an increase in the number of non-native English speakers born in different countries and those learning English in EFL contexts. These learners often learn English as a foreign language and they will never leave their countries and encounter neither other non-native English speakers nor native ones. This fact highlights the EFL learners’ problem of intelligibility and comprehensibility in other contexts. This study attempts to answer to two questions: (i) While listening to oral readings, do Iranian advanced learners perceive the English of their peers with similar L1 background or/and age to be better than that of their instructors or native English speakers?, and (ii) While listening to oral readings, do Iranian intermediate learners perceive the English of their peers with similar L1 background or/and age to be better than that of their instructors or native English speakers? The data was collected using a quantitative research method with a descriptive design and cross-sectional method. The subject of the study is a group of 64 female Iranian EFL learners (aged 18-24). They are divided into two groups of advanced and intermediate based on a placement test, and then subdivided into four subgroups based on the Latin Square. Two sets of semi direct CD mediated comprehension texts followed by multiple-choice questions were administrated. The data is analyzed using ANOVA. The findings show that for the advanced groups, the difference between aural perceptions is significant and the similarities of L1 and/or age background cause a better result in their listening comprehension tests. On the other hand, although the difference in the scores from the listening comprehension tests is significant for the intermediate groups, the similarities of L1 and/or age background did not cause a better comprehension. The advanced groups perceived their Persian-speaking peers the best, followed by their instructors, non-Persian speaking peers and finally native English speakers. The intermediate group, however, perceived native English speakers the best, followed by their instructors, their Persian-speaking peers and finally non-Persian speaking peers

Concerted changes in N and C primary metabolism in alfalfa (Medicago sativa) under water restriction

Although the mechanisms of nodule N2 fixation in legumes are now well documented, some uncertainty remains on the metabolic consequences of water deficit. In most cases, little consideration is given to other organs and, therefore, the coordinated changes in metabolism in leaves, roots, and nodules are not well known. Here, the effect of water restriction on exclusively N2-fixing alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) plants was investigated, and proteomic, metabolomic, and physiological analyses were carried out. It is shown that the inhibition of nitrogenase activity caused by water restriction was accompanied by concerted alterations in metabolic pathways in nodules, leaves, and roots. The data suggest that nodule metabolism and metabolic exchange between plant organs nearly reached homeostasis in asparagine synthesis and partitioning, as well as the N demand from leaves. Typically, there was (i) a stimulation of the anaplerotic pathway to sustain the provision of C skeletons for amino acid (e.g. glutamate and proline) synthesis; (ii) re-allocation of glycolytic products to alanine and serine/glycine; and (iii) subtle changes in redox metabolites suggesting the implication of a slight oxidative stress. Furthermore, water restriction caused little change in both photosynthetic efficiency and respiratory cost of N2 fixation by nodules. In other words, the results suggest that under water stress, nodule metabolism follows a compromise between physiological imperatives (N demand, oxidative stress) and the lower input to sustain catabolism

Conservation agriculture in the dry Mediterranean climate

The objective of this article is to review: (a) the concepts and principles that underpin Conservation Agriculture (CA) ecologically and operationally; (b) the potential benefits that can be harnessed through CA systems in the dry Mediterranean climates; (c) current status of adoption and spread of CA in the dry Mediterranean climate countries; and (d) opportunities for CA in the Central and West Asia and North Africa (CWANA) region. CA, comprising minimum mechanical soil disturbance and no-tillage seeding, organic mulch cover, and crop diversification is now practised on some 125 million ha, corresponding to about 9% of the global arable cropped land. Globally, the area under CA is spread across all continents and all agro-ecologies, including the dryland climates in the Mediterranean basin region as well as in the Mediterranean climates elsewhere in the world. Worldwide empirical and scientific evidence is available to show that significant productivity, economic, social and environmental benefits exist that can be harnessed through the adoption of CA principles for sustainable production intensification in the dry Mediterranean climates, including those in the CWANA region. The benefits include: fundamental change for the better in the sustainability of production systems and ecosystem services; higher stable yields and incomes; climate change adaptation and reduced vulnerability to the highly erratic rainfall distribution; and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. CA has taken off globally and is now spreading in several Mediterranean climates outside the Mediterranean basin particularly in South America, South Africa and Australia. In the dry Mediterranean climates in the CWANA region, CA is perceived to be a powerful tool of land management but CA has not yet taken off. Research on CA in the CWANA region has shown that there are opportunities for CA adoption in rainfed and irrigated farming systems involving arable and perennial crops as well as livestock

Nitrogen yield advantage from grass-legume mixtures is robust over a wide range of legume proportions and environmental conditions

Coordination of this project was supported by the EU Commission through COST Action 852 ‘Quality legume-based forage systems for contrasting environments‘. A636 contribution to the research leading to these results has been conducted as part of the Animal Change project which received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-20 13) under the grant agreement no. 266018.peer-reviewedCurrent challenges to global food security require sustainable intensification of agriculture through initiatives that include more efficient use of nitrogen (N), increased protein self-sufficiency through home-grown crops, and reduced N losses to the environment. Such challenges were addressed in a continental-scale field experiment conducted over three years, in which the amount of total nitrogen yield (Ntot) and the gain of N yield in mixtures as compared to grass monocultures (Ngainmix) was quantified from four-species grass-legume stands with greatly varying legume proportions. Stands consisted of monocultures and mixtures of two N2 fixing legumes and two non-fixing grasses.The amount of Ntot of mixtures was significantly greater (P ≤ 0.05) than that of grass monocultures at the majority of evaluated sites in all three years. Ntot and thus Ngainmix increased with increasing legume proportion up to one third of legumes. With higher legume percentages, Ntot and Ngainmix did not continue to increase. Thus, across sites and years, mixtures with one third proportion of legumes attained ~95% of the maximum Ntot acquired by any stand and had 57% higher Ntot than grass monocultures.Realized legume proportion in stands and the relative N gain in mixture (Ngainmix/Ntot in mixture) were most severely impaired by minimum site temperature (R = 0.70, P = 0.003 for legume proportion; R = 0.64, P = 0.010 for Ngainmix/Ntot in mixture). Nevertheless, the relative N gain in mixture was not correlated to site productivity (P = 0.500), suggesting that, within climatic restrictions, balanced grass-legume mixtures can benefit from comparable relative gains in N yield across largely differing productivity levels.We conclude that the use of grass-legume mixtures can substantially contribute to resource-efficient agricultural grassland systems over a wide range of productivity levels, implying important savings in N fertilizers and thus greenhouse gas emissions and a considerable potential for climate change mitigation.European Unio

Transcriptional profiling of the leaves of near-isogenic rice lines with contrasting drought tolerance at the reproductive stage in response to water deficit

Different genes involved in ABA and calcium signaling in leaf tissue of rice NILs and the parent IR64 under different water-deficit treatments. 1: up-regulated; -1: down-regulated; blank: no change in expression; 10: IR77298-14-1-2-B tolerant NIL, i.e., IR77298-14-1-2-B-10; 13: IR77298-14-1-2-B susceptible NIL, i.e., IR77298-14-1-2-B-13; 18: IR77298-5-6-B tolerant NIL, i.e., IR77298-5-6-B-18; 11: IR77298-5-6-B susceptible NIL, i.e., IR77298-5-6-B-11; 0.2 and 0.5 FTSW are severe and mild water-deficit treatments (XLSX 46 kb

Comprehensive gene expression analysis of the NAC gene family under normal growth conditions, hormone treatment, and drought stress conditions in rice using near-isogenic lines (NILs) generated from crossing Aday Selection (drought tolerant) and IR64

The NAC (NAM, ATAF1/2 and CUC2) genes are plant-specific transcriptional factors known to play diverse roles in various plant developmental processes. We describe the rice (Oryza sativa) OsNAC genes expression profiles (GEPs) under normal and water-deficit treatments (WDTs). The GEPs of the OsNAC genes were analyzed in 25 tissues covering the entire life cycle of Minghui 63. High expression levels of 17 genes were demonstrated in certain tissues under normal conditions suggesting that these genes may play important roles in specific organs. We determined that 16 genes were differentially expressed under at least 1 phytohormone (NAA, GA3, KT, SA, ABA, and JA) treatment. To investigate the GEPs in the root, leaf, and panicle of three rice genotypes [e.g., 2 near-isogenic lines (NILs) and IR64], we used two NILs from a common genetic combination backcross developed by Aday Selection and IR64. WDTs were applied using the fraction of transpirable soil water at severe, mild, and control conditions. Transcriptomic analysis using a 44K oligoarray from Agilent was performed on all the tissue samples. We identified common and specific genes in all tissues from the two NILs under both WDTs, and the majority of the OsNAC genes that were activated were in the drought-tolerant IR77298-14-1-2-B-10 line compared with the drought-susceptible IR77298-14-1-2-B-13 or IR64. In IR77298-14-1-2-B-10, seventeen genes were very specific in their expression levels. Approximately 70 % of the genes from subgroups SNAC and NAM/CUC3 were activated in the leaf, but 37 % genes from subgroup SND were inactivated in the root compared with the control under severe stress conditions. These results provide a useful reference for the cloning of candidate genes from the specific subgroup for further functional analysis. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00438-012-0686-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Symbiotic nitrogen fixation : prospects for enhanced application in tropical agriculture

In addition to their Nitrogen (N2)-fixing capacity legumes are extremely important in human and animal diets, significantly improving household health standards. This book is based on the proceedings of the workshop (“International Workshop on Biological Nitrogen Fixation for Increased Crop Productivity, Enhanced Human Health and Sustained Soil Fertility,” 2002, at ENSAM-INRA, Montpellier, France), takes a holistic approach to harnessing legume Biological Nitrogen Fixation (BNF) technologies, starting from a socioeconomic perspective, and progressing to agronomic and genetic options, bringing together innovative aspects and participatory research strategies

Atmospheric CO2 increase benefits symbiotic N2 fixation by legumes under drought

Leguminous plants are considered to have a competitive advantage under global climate change because of increased rates of symbiotic nitrogen (N2) fixation in response to increased atmospheric CO2. However, this hypothetical advantage may not be realized under actual climate change due to the associated increase in frequency and duration of drought, as N2 fixation in legume species such as soybean is sensitive to soil drying. Yet, it has been discovered that N2 fixation in soybean becomes drought-tolerant under increased CO2 concentration. The reduced susceptibility of N2 fixation to drought was associated with an increase in total nonstructural carbohydrates and a decrease in ureides in leaves. These results empirically indicate that legumes will have substantial comparative advantage over cereals under climate change