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Motivational regulation has long been recognized as an essential but insufficiently investigated aspect of self-regulated learning (SRL), especially in relation to learning English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) writing. This study intends to fill the gap by investigating the predictive effect of motivational regulation strategies on EFL students’ writing performance mediated by SRL strategies. Data were collected from undergraduate students in mainland China (N = 512) through self-report questionnaires and an English writing test. Results of structural equation modeling (SEM) confirmed a partial mediation model in which motivational regulation strategies, as a whole, not only had direct and indirect effects on students’ writing performance but were also significantly correlated with their reported use of SRL strategies relating to cognition, metacognition, and social behavior. In addition, only cognitive and metacognitive strategies were found to be significant mediators in the model while social behavior strategies were not. The findings suggest that cumulative knowledge of motivational regulation is an antecedent of the reported use of other SRL strategies in affecting EFL writing performance. The inclusion of SRL strategies in the mediation model also contributes to a clear understanding of L2 writing processes within the SRL mechanism for improving writing outcomes.

This study was designed to validate a multidimensional structure of writing self-efficacy in English as a foreign language contexts, conceptualized in self-regulated learning theory and social cognitive theory. The Second Language Writer Self-Efficacy Scale was developed and evaluated through a series of rigorous validation procedures. The researchers collected data from 609 university students in China. Confirmatory factory analyses through structural equation modeling validated the proposed three-dimensional structure of writing self-efficacy, including linguistic self-efficacy, self-regulatory efficacy, and performance self-efficacy. Model comparisons confirmed the hypothesis that writing self-efficacy is a multidimensional construct, in which the three factors are conceptually related. Internal and composite reliability, convergent validity, and discriminant validity were examined, suggesting satisfactory psychometric properties of the scale. The concurrent validity and predictive validity were checked by examining correlations of writing self-efficacy with motivational beliefs and writing performance. Findings revealed that the three dimensions of self-efficacy had small to moderate correlations with writing performance. Significant correlations were also found between writing self-efficacy and motivational beliefs (e.g., task value, intrinsic goal orientation, extrinsic goal orientation). The findings support a social cognitive view of self-efficacy that acknowledges the interplay of behaviors, personal factors, and environmental conditions. Theoretical and pedagogical implications are discussed.

This article describes the development and validation of a survey instrument, the Writing Strategies for Motivational Regulation Questionnaire ( WSMRQ ), designed to measure Chinese university students’ reported use of motivational regulation strategies in writing in English as a second/foreign language (L2). Conceptualized in a self-regulated learning framework, the WSMRQ was developed and validated. Two independent samples of 359 and 373 Chinese university students were recruited. The data were subject to exploratory factory analyses (EFA) and confirmatory factor analyses (CFA), respectively, to evaluate the psychometric properties of the instrument. Results of the EFA revealed a five-factor structure of motivational regulation strategies: Interesting enhancement, performance self-talk, mastery self-talk, emotional control, and environment structuring. The CFA results from another sample supported a five-factor correlated model with the best fit, confirming the validity and reliability of the WSMRQ. The significant, moderate correlations between the five motivational regulation strategies and writing scores showed the instrument's reasonable predictive validity. Pedagogical implications are also discussed.

This study aimed to validate a newly-developed instrument, The Writing Strategies for Self-Regulated Learning (SRL) Questionnaire, with respect to its multifaceted structure of SRL strategies in English as a foreign language (EFL) writing. A total of 790 undergraduate students from 6 universities in Northeast China volunteered to be participants. Confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) through structural equation modeling (SEM) were applied to evaluate 3 hypothesized models. The results of the CFA validated a 9-factor correlated model of second language (L2) writing strategies for SRL with satisfactory psychometric characteristics. Model comparisons confirmed a hierarchical, multidimensional structure of SRL as the best model, in which self-regulation, as a higher order construct, accounted for the correlations of the 9 lower-order writing strategies, pertaining to cognitive, metacognitive, social-behavioral, and motivational regulation aspects. Multiple regression analysis revealed that 6 out of 9 SRL strategies had significant predictive effects on EFL writing proficiency. The empirical evidence lends preliminary support to a transfer of SRL theory from educational psychology to the field of L2/EFL education, particularly L2/EFL writing. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Teachers’ psychological condition is important to both their professional well-being and their students’ learning. Among various psychological factors, turnover intention is a major concern for school leaders and policymakers. While some effects of burnout and job satisfaction on turnover intention have been reported, little is known about the associations between different types of turnover intention and job satisfaction and burnout, especially among English language teachers in China. Informed by the literature on teachers’ psychology and education policy in China, this study differentiates three types of turnover intention—intention to leave the current school, intention to leave junior high school, and intention to quit the teaching profession—and then examines their relationships with job satisfaction and burnout among Chinese English language teachers in junior high school. Data on English language teachers’ psychological condition in junior high schools were elicited from a public database, the China Education Panel Survey. Multiple regression analysis revealed that: (a) satisfaction with salary and students’ behavior affected their intention to leave junior high school teaching; (b) general job satisfaction and satisfaction with school management were related to organizational turnover intention; and (c) professional turnover intention was positively influenced by teachers’ burnout. These findings suggest that job satisfaction and burnout have different effects on turnover intention, which enriches our understanding of English language teachers’ turnover intention and may provide insights for policymakers and school leaders in reducing their turnover intention.

This study revisited Reid’s ( 1987 ) perceptual learning style preference questionnaire (PLSPQ) in an attempt to answer whether the PLSPQ fits in the Chinese-as-a-second-language (CSL) context. If not, what are CSL learners’ learning styles drawing on the PLSPQ? The PLSPQ was first re-examined through reliability analysis and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with 224 CSL learners. The results showed that Reid’s six-factor PLSPQ could not satisfactorily explain the CSL learners’ learning styles. Exploratory factor analyses were, therefore, performed to explore the dimensionality of the PLSPQ in the CSL context. A four-factor PLSPQ was successfully constructed including auditory/visual , kinaesthetic/tactile , group , and individual styles. Such a measurement model was cross-validated through CFAs with 118 CSL learners. The study not only lends evidence to the literature that Reid’s PLSPQ lacks construct validity, but also provides CSL teachers and learners with insightful and practical guidance concerning learning styles. Implications and limitations of the present study are discussed.

Students’ social and emotional development matters to their educational success. Ubiquitous digital use in schooling creates new contexts for development, raising the question of the nature of the relationships under these new conditions. Ratings of 9 to 13 year old students’ (n = 296) social skills and self-regulation and their writing achievement were examined in schools with 1:1 devices and ubiquitous access and use of digital tools in school and out of school. After controlling for demographic and school level variables two significant relationships emerged. Higher ratings of inhibitory control and cognitive empathy were associated with higher achievement in writing. The former replicates previous research and the latter provides evidence for a specific relationship between writing and social skills. Both extend what has been found in other academic areas to writing and to wide spread digital usage in schools.

Infection with Plasmodium can elicit antibodies that inhibit parasite survival in the mosquito, when they are ingested in an infectious blood meal. Here, we determine the transmission-reducing activity (TRA) of naturally acquired antibodies from 648 malaria-exposed individuals using lab-based mosquito-feeding assays. Transmission inhibition is significantly associated with antibody responses to Pfs48/45, Pfs230, and to 43 novel gametocyte proteins assessed by protein microarray. In field-based mosquito-feeding assays the likelihood and rate of mosquito infection are significantly lower for individuals reactive to Pfs48/45, Pfs230 or to combinations of the novel TRA-associated proteins. We also show that naturally acquired purified antibodies against key transmission-blocking epitopes of Pfs48/45 and Pfs230 are mechanistically involved in TRA, whereas sera depleted of these antibodies retain high-level, complement-independent TRA. Our analysis demonstrates that host antibody responses to gametocyte proteins are associated with reduced malaria transmission efficiency from humans to mosquitoes. Naturally acquired antibodies may inhibit Plasmodium survival in mosquitoes, alter malaria transmission dynamics, and form the basis for transmission-blocking vaccines. Here, using sera from malaria-exposed individuals, Stone et al. reveal novel antibody correlates of transmission-reducing activity.

To guide the use of human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) toward clinical applications, identifying pluripotent-like-markers for selecting MSCs that retain potent self-renewal-ability should be addressed. Here, an insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF1R)–expressing sub-population in human dental pulp MSCs (hDSCs), displayed multipotent properties. IGF1R expression could be maintained in hDSCs when they were cultured in 2% human cord blood serum (hUCS) in contrast to that in 10% fetal calf serum (FCS). Cytokine array showed that hUCS contained higher amount of several growth factors compared to FCS, including IGF-1 and platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF-BB). These cytokines modulates the signaling events in the hDSCs and potentially enhances engraftment upon transplantation. Specifically, a bidirectional cross-talk between IGF1R/IGF1 and CXCR4/SDF-1α signaling pathways in hDSCs, as revealed by interaction of the two receptors and synergistic activation of both signaling pathways. In rat stroke model, animals receiving IGF1R + hDSCs transplantation, interaction between IGF1R and CXCR4 was demonstrated to promote neuroplasticity, therefore improving neurological function through increasing glucose metabolic activity, enhancing angiogenesis and anti-inflammatiory effects. Therefore, PDGF in hUCS-culture system contributed to the maintenance of the expression of IGF1R in hDSCs. Furthermore, implantation of IGF1R + hDSCs exerted enhanced neuroplasticity via integrating inputs from both CXCR4 and IGF1R signaling pathways.

The original version of this Article contained errors in Fig. 3. In panel a, bars from a chart depicting the percentage of antibody-positive individuals in non-infectious and infectious groups were inadvertently included in place of bars depicting the percentage of infectious individuals, as described in the Article and figure legend. However, the p values reported in the Figure and the resulting conclusions were based on the correct dataset. The corrected Fig. 3a now shows the percentage of infectious individuals in antibody-negative and -positive groups, in both the PDF and HTML versions of the Article. The incorrect and correct versions of Figure 3a are also presented for comparison in the accompanying Publisher Correction as Figure 1. The HTML version of the Article also omitted a link to Supplementary Data 6. The error has now been fixed and Supplementary Data 6 is available to download.