bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Some functions and uses of literacy in the deaf community
Authors: Maxwell Madeline
Published: December 2008

Differences in patterns of literacy can be understood in terms of communicative needs as governed by culturally learned notions about the appropriateness of a given communicative mode for a given social activity and by practicality as determined by biological structures and processes. It is through literacy that the deaf person can share in the linguistic experiences of the society at large, since written language is not distorted by the handicapped auditory sense. This study provides the first analysis of the ways writing is used among the deaf and between deaf and hearing communicators. Four groups were consulted and observed: the social community of deaf adults who sign, families in which parents are hearing and at least one child is deaf, families in which parents are deaf and children are hearing or deaf, deaf and hearing schoolteachers. Families with hearing parents use virtually no writing, whereas families with deaf parents and deaf adults in general use writing for several functions. The reading abilities of deaf school leavers seldom exceed fourth grade level; nevertheless, deaf adults use writing daily for exchange of information in the home, in public, on the job, and for communication by means of a telephone adaptation with a keyboard. The uses of literacy are largely conversational, personal, and instrumental. Commercial print in the form of captioned television and movies is also available. Deaf children born to deaf parents are socialized into these uses. Deaf children born to hearing parents are not. Writing which occurs in classrooms with deaf children is largely limited to lesson work, even when teachers are deaf. Literacy programs should take into account the communicative needs of deaf adults and the patterns of literacy use in deaf families. (Literacy, deafness, crosscultural analysis, ethnography of communication)
The interactional accomplishment of discrimination in South Africa
Authors: Chick J. Keith
Published: December 2008

In this paper I attempt to show what a micro approach involving fine-grained sociolinguistic analyses has to contribute to the understanding of the causes of discrimination on grounds of race in South Africa. I present analyses of intra- and intercultural encounters involving native speakers of English and Zulu which suggest that differences in sociocultural background and discourse conventions contribute to misinterpretation of intent and misjudgement of attitude and ability. Repeated stressful encounters of this kind, I suggest, generate negative cultural stereotypes. Finally, I sketch how the larger, structural, historically given forces, which are the concern of macro studies, combine with the results of intercultural encounters to achieve a negative cycle of socially created discrimination. (Interactional sociolinguistics, culture-specific discourse conventions. intercultural communication failure and prejudice, South African English)
On the interactional unpackaging of a ‘gloss’
Authors: Jefferson Gail
Published: December 2008

In the reporting of a situation or event, a speaker can sometimes be seen to have omitted or ‘glossed over’ a constituent component. There are times when that component is something a speaker would rather not have the coparticipant know. Sometimes, however, the speaker is willing, indeed eager, to share this material with the coparticipant, but is constrained from simply producing it then and there (the matter being possibly bizarre, risqué, or in other ways problematic). In either case, whether the problematic component is delivered or not (i.e., whether a ‘gloss’ is ‘unpackaged’) can depend upon what the coparticipant does. This report focuses on the ways in which a coparticipant's activities are implicated in the maintaining as-is, or unpackaging, of a ‘glossed’ component. (Sociology, psychology, ethnomethodology, conversation analysis, sociolinguistics)
Perspectives on sociolinguistic variation (Review article)
Authors: Fasold Ralph W.
Published: December 2008

This chapter [of Sociolinguistic patterns – RWF] will deal with the study of language structure and evolution within the social context of the speech community. The linguistic topics to be considered here cover the area usually named “general linguistics,” dealing with phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics (Labov 1972:184). Surely, this is too narrow a conception of the role of sociolinguistic research (Romaine 1982:6).
Medical professionals and parents: A linguistic analysis of communication across contexts
Authors: Tannen Deborah , Wallat Cynthia
Published: December 2008

The study is based on analysis of videotaped conversation that occurred in five different settings involving various family members and medical professionals in a single pediatric case. We examine (1) the elaboration and condensation of information through spoken and written channels; (2) the negotiation of information exchanged in interactions characterized by different participant structures; and (3) the methodological benefit of examining interaction across contexts. We find that (a) information is negotiated, as well as discovered, during the medical interviews; and (b) information exchanged is often less resilient than participants' cognitive schemas which precede and apparently outlive the exchange of information in the interaction. These findings contribute to an understanding of the negotiation of meaning as well as the creation of context in interaction. (Discourse, interactional sociolinguistics, context, doctor–patient communication, spoken and written language, schema theory)
A bibliography of fieldwork in the ethnography of communication
Authors: Philipsen Gerry , Carbaugh Donal
Published: December 2008

In 1962, Dell Hymes proposed the project he subsequently named the ethnography of communication (Hymes1961, 1962, 1964b). Its central motive was to create a theory of linguistic communication which is grounded in the comparative analysis of many communities and their distinctive ways of speaking. Just as there is a comparative politics, law, religion, and so forth, he said, so should there be a comparative analysis of “studies ethnographic in basis and communicative in scope” (Hymes1964b:9). Such studies would be “whole ethnographies focused on communicative behavior” (1964b:9) and would be guided by, and subsequently used to guide the revision of, a descriptive framework which itself is a model of sociolinguistic description.
The spontaneous use of thank you by preschoolers as a function of sex, socioeconomic status, and listener status
Authors: Becker Judith A. , Smenner Patricia C.
Published: December 2008

This study investigated whether preschoolers would spontaneously say thank you in a familiar context without their parents' presence. Two hundred and fifty 3 1/2- to 4 1/2-year-olds played a game with their teachers and received a reward from either an unfamiliar peer or adult. Across conditions, 37 percent of the children said thank you spontaneously, more than in previous studies. The frequency of the spontaneous use of thank you was assessed as a function of sex, socioeconomic status, and listener status. Preschool-aged girls said thank you spontaneously more than boys, χ2(1) = 7.95, p < .01. Also, children from families of low economic status said thank you spontaneously more than children from middle income families, χ2(1) = 7.17, p < .01. This finding does not appear to be due to racial differences. Finally, the preschoolers said thank you spontaneously more to the adult than to the peer, χ2(1) = 4.27, p < .05. These results are discussed in terms of their implications for pragmatic socialization and the acquisition of politeness formulas such as thank you. (Routines, politeness formulas, pragmatic socialization, sex differences, socioeconomic differences, language and status)
The language of legislation
Authors: Maley Yon
Published: December 2008

The characteristics of the language of legislation are derived from its role in the institution of law. An analysis of the institutional context reveals links among history, social function, participant roles, accepted goals of legislation, and language use. The nature of an Act of Parliament as a perpetual speech act creates a frozen authoritative text so that the language itself becomes a component of the law. If legislation is to be both stable and flexible, institutional communicative strategies are required to organise linguistic means to these sociolinguistic ends. (Law, legislation, register, speech acts, communicative competence, communicative strategies)
The Ịjọ element in Berbice Dutch
Authors: Smith Norval S. H. , Robertson Ian E. , Williamson Kay
Published: December 2008

Berbice Dutch is one of two recently rediscovered Dutch-based Creole languages spoken in Guyana. It is spoken in the county of Berbice, which corresponds to the former Dutch colony of Berbice, founded in the early seventeenth century.

This language possesses certain features that make it unique in comparison to other European language-based Creoles spoken in the Atlantic region. Because of these unique features, it represents a promising test case for the presence of substrate influence, and as such, is of obvious relevance for the present creolist debate between substratists and universalists.

The article discusses four different conceivable hypotheses to explain the origin of Berbice Dutch. The first of these assumes that a mixed Dutch–Kalaịarḅ trading jargon was developed in Africa as a result of the operations of the slave traders, and that this formed the basis of Berbice Dutch.

The second hypothesis depends critically on the ethnic homogeneity of the slaves. This hypothesis would assume that the planters/overseers in Berbice attempted to learn those aspects of Eastern Ịjọ that could be utilized on the plantations.

The third hypothesis assumes that Berbice Dutch is genetically descended from Eastern Ịjọ, but that this is not obvious due to large-scale relexification.

The fourth hypothesis assumes that Eastern Ịjọ was replaced by Berbice Dutch under the catalysing influence of (creole) Dutch, rather as the fully inflected Romani language was replaced in England by the creolized Anglo-romani under the catalysing influence of English.

The hypothesis that is selected as probably the best is the fourth, where it is argued that Berbice Dutch was adopted as the language of the Berbice slaves because it offered a means of expressing the identity of a newly created “ethnic” group.

The most important moral that can be drawn from this article is that the development of each Creole must be examined individually. Only after such an examination has taken place for a significant number of Creoles will it be possible to define what is meant by creolization. In addition to the detailed linguistic examination required, it will also be necessary to carry out detailed (socio)historical work demonstrating if possible that the linguistic sequence of events is supported by the available historical data. (Creole language, substrate, Ịjọ language, ethnicity, mixed language)
“Bexibùdim!”: Ritualized sharing among Israeli children
Authors: Katriel Tamar
Published: December 2008

An ethnographic-folkloristic approach to the study of children's peer group culture is illustrated with a study of children's practice of and lore about the sharing of treats in ritualized exchanges that are a widely recognized feature of Israeli childhood culture. These exchanges are a taken-for-granted part of children's daily experiences yet become the topic of intense gossip and the measure of “character” when the norm of generalized reciprocity which underlies them is breached. The rules of verbal and nonverbal conduct associated with them are formulated, and the social function they play in delineating and reaffirming the boundaries of a child's larger, diffuse affiliative group is discussed. (Ethnography of communication, interaction rituals, exchange, communication competence, peer group culture)
Adolescent social structure and the spread of linguistic change
Authors: Eckert Penelope
Published: December 2008

Detailed participant observation among Detroit area adolescents provides explanations for the mechanisms of the spread of sound change outward from urban areas and upward through the socioeconomic hierarchy. The use of local phonological variables in adolescence is determined by a social structure within the age cohort, dominated by two opposed, and frequently polarized, school-based social categories. These categories, called “Jocks” and “Burnouts” in the school under study, embody middle-class and working-class cultures respectively, and articulate adolescent social structure with adult socioeconomic class. Differences between Jock and Burnout cultures entail differences in social network structure and in orientation to the urban area, and hence to urban sound changes. Parents' socioeconomic class is related to, but does not determine, category affiliation, and while category affiliation is a significant predictor in phonological variation, parents' socioeconomic class is not. (Variation, sound change, adolescents, urban dialects, suburban dialects, schools)
Indoubil: A Swahili hybrid in Bukavu (with comments on Indu Bill by K. Kabongo-Mianda)
Authors: Goyvaerts Didier L. , Kabongo-Mianda Kalala
Published: December 2008

An attempt is made at defining the phenomenon of Indoubil. Its origin, use, and function are discussed. Indoubil, the language of Bukavu's [Zaire] younger generation, would seem to serve a number of purposes. It is argued that Indoubil functions not only as a means of identification for a particular age group but that in a variety of contexts it is also used to neutralize the illeffects of ethnicity. (Ethnicity, melting pot, lingua franca, Swahili)
Round numbers
Authors: Sigurd Bengt
Published: December 2008

Numbers are used for exact and approximative estimations. The numbers used in approximative expressions are typically so-called round numbers, such as 10, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 100, 1,000, and such numbers are also very frequent in texts. This article presents evidence that some numbers are rounder than others and discusses how the roundness of a number can be derived from its contents of the base number of the numeral System of the culture. A formula for deriving the roundness of a number is suggested, and some evidence that intuitions about roundness vary between vigesimal and decimal cultures as predicted by the formula is given. (Number, numeral, decimal, vigesimal, money, anthropology, sociolinguistics, language and culture, English, French, Swedish)
The quantitative study of communicative success: Politeness and accidents in aviation discourse
Authors: Linde Charlotte
Published: December 2008

Sociolinguistics has never been a closed or autonomous discipline, but rather has considered relations between linguistic variables and so-called real-world variables, such as age, sex, and social class. Developments in discourse analysis now permit the analysis of the effectiveness of utterances in their real-world context. This study of communicative success uses as its data transcripts of eight aviation accidents, as well as transcripts of fourteen flight simulator sessions. The linguistic variable considered is mitigation; the real-world variables are success or failure of the individual communication, and peer judgments of the overall effectiveness of the simulator crews. To quantify the use of mitigation, a four-degree scale was established by using the judgments of several linguistic analysts and was validated against the judgments of members of the aviation community. Using this scale, a number of hypotheses were confirmed: (1) Utterances going up the chain of command are more mitigated than those going down, showing that mitigation is sensitive to social rank. (2) Utterances introducing a new topic are more likely to fail if they are mitigated than if they are direct. (3) Suggestions by a crew member to the captain are more likely to fail if they are mitigated than if they are direct. These results show a strong effect of mitigation on several measures of communicative success. This study shows that a quantitative study of communicative success is possible and suggests the necessity for further studies of this type as a necessary direction for discourse analysis. (Pragmatics, discourse analysis, communicative effectiveness, politeness, mitigation, perlocutionary force, man-machine interface)
A turn-taking system for British news interviews
Authors: Greatbatch David
Published: December 2008

The British news interview turn-taking system operates through a simple form of turn-type preallocation. This article shows that a large number of the systematic differences between the news interview and mundane conversation are a product of these constraints on the production of types of turns. It then explores the relationship of turn-type preallocation in news interviews to the background legal and institutional restrictions on British broadcast journalists. In so doing, it notes how the organisation of turn-taking in two other types of broadcast interview can differ from that in the news interview due to differences between the institutionalized footings that the interviewers are conventionally required to maintain within them. (Conversation analysis, mass communication, British speech, turn-taking systems, institutional talk)
Are “powerless” communication strategies the Japanese norm?
Authors: Wetzel Patricia J.
Published: December 2008

Parallels between female communication strategies in the West and Japanese communication strategies are striking.Powerfigures prominently in descriptions of male-female behavior in the West and, by implication, in descriptions of Japanese linguistic behavior. Similarities between Western female and Japanese communication styles are taken not as an indication that Japanese linguistic behavior is feminine, but as indicative of the problems inherent in analyzing linguistic behavior in culturally bound-terms such as power. (Japanese sociolinguistics, language and the sexes, inter-cultural communication)
Backchannels across cultures: A study of Americans and Japanese
Authors: White Sheida
Published: December 2008

The frequency of listener responses, calledbackchannels, was studied in English conversations within and across two cultural groups: Americans from the midwestern United States and Japanese who were born and raised in Japan. The findings reveal that backchannels of several types are displayed far more frequently by Japanese listeners. This appears to be related to the greater use by Japanese of certain discourse constructions that favor backchannels, and to the Japanese culture. The Japanese listening style remains unchanged in cross-cultural conversations, but Americans alter listening style in the direction of their non-native interlocutors. The study found no evidence for the hypothesis that backchanneling conventions that are not shared contribute to negative personality attributions or stereotyping. (Conversational analysis, intercultural communication, Japanese and American English discourse)
Is phonology going haywire in dying languages? Phonological variations in Chipewyan and Sarcee
Authors: Cook Eung-Do
Published: December 2008

The two most conspicuous phenomena reported on dying languages are (a) structural (and stylistic) simplifications and (b) dramatic increases of variability due to incongruent and idiosyncratic “change.” The phonological data from two Athapaskan languages, as well as other published data (Dorian 1973, 1978; Hill 1978; Schmidt 1985a), demonstrate that underlying the apparent degeneration of the system there is an orderly progression which is viewed as aretarded process of language acquisition. Different semispeakers reach different levels of maturity due to different degrees of retardation, consequently increasing variability and complexity for the total system, whereas each idiolect undergoes systematic developmental stages albeit retarded, decreasing eventually structural (and stylistic) profusion. Therefore, a dying language mirrors the successive stages of ontogenesis. (Historical linguistics, language acquisition, language death, language contact, bilingualism, sociolinguistics)
A sketch of the linguistic situation in Israel today
Authors: Gold David L.
Published: December 2008

The results of the reintroduction and renativization of Hebrew are highlighted, and some commonly made assumptions about Hebrew and its place in Israeli life examined. The main topics are (a) the debatable equation of an ideal nation-state with a single and exclusive language, (b) the long history of Hebrew as a component of Jewish multilingualism, (c) the Hebraist movement, (d) the extent of its success and its advantages and disadvantages, (e) linguistic rights in Israel. (Language revitalization, language and nationalism, language policy and planning)
Cats, dogs, and sweets in the clinical negotiation of reality: On politeness and coherence in pediatric discourse
Authors: Aronsson Karin , Rundström Bengt
Published: December 2008

Doctor–parent–child interaction is analyzed in terms of Brown and Levinson's (1978) theory on facework and politeness. The determinism of the Brown and Levinson (B & L) model is discussed in terms of the present data, which show how discourse is a matter of continuousnegotiationbetween participants. For instance, it is shown how the on record/off record distinction is best understood sequentially. When doctors seem to sense that respectful indirectness does not work, they tend to phrase their requests in an increasingly direct fashion. Hence, the full meaning of doctors' directives is revealed only via the outcome of social interaction, regulated by both parties (doctor and patient/spokesperson). This means that utterances must be analyzed sequentially (and not in a mechanistic, static fashion). Moreover, discourse cannot be understood in terms of any unidirectional social determinism. It is also shown here how doctors can talk to parents through children, as it were. Within a joking relationship format with the child, it is possible for a doctor to convey potentially offensive information to the child's parent. Doctors' moves can thus be seen as direct or indirect depending on type of addressee perspective (parent as participant or as side-participant). The pediatric multiparty setting thus highlights the impossibility of a more formalistic application of the B & L model. (Politeness, facework, negotiations, medical discourse, child discourse)
Beyond the adjacency pair
Authors: Tsui Amy B. M.
Published: December 2008

This article examines the descriptive power of theadjacency pairas a basic unit of conversational organization. It applies the notion to the analysis of conversational data and points out that there are utterances which are important contributions to the conversation and yet for which the notion fails to account. They are utterances which are not the component parts of an adjacency pair and yet form a bounded unit with it. This raises the question of which is more adequate as a basic unit of conversational organization: athree-part exchangeor anadjacency pair?This article proposes that it is the former, based on the observation that the third part of an exchange is a very important element of conversational interaction, and that when it does not occur, it is often withheld for social or strategic reasons. The article argues for the nontrivial absence of the third part by showing its relevance of occurrence (Sacks 1972:342). An investigation is made of its functions by examining where, when, and why it does not occur, and where, when, and why it does occur in conversation. The discussion is exemplified by face-to-face and telephone conversation data. (Sociolinguistics, ethnomethodology, discourse analysis, pragmatics)
Speaking style as an expression of solidarity: Words per pause
Authors: Markel Norman
Published: December 2008

This study examines the use of words per pause (W/P) as a practical means for identifying solidarity in everyday conversation. Eight listeners recorded the narratives of a female and a male, either friends or strangers. Ten speakers were categorized as friends and six as strangers; they talked about a good and a bad experience. Average reliability of coding pauses was .83. The results indicated a statistically significant difference in W/P of speakers who were friends and those who were strangers. Statistical results support the conclusion that friends are more likely to employ many W/P and strangers few W/P. One practical implication of this study is that W/P can be employed by researchers with relative ease and a high degree of reliability for investigations of speaking style in a variety of contexts. A second practical implication is that W/P is a diagnostic device that can serve as a social litmus test in everyday conversation to identify the expression of sympathy and estrangement. (Expressive language, nonverbal communication, paralanguage, pauses, psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics, solidarity, speech and personality)
Naive linguistic explanation
Authors: Dixon R. M. W.
Published: December 2008

Five examples are presented of how native speakers may try to explain a grammatical point to a linguist, and, in the absence of a suitable metalanguage, adopt some “lateral” way of demonstrating the point. They may, for instance, give another paradigmatic form of a word under scrutiny to show its word class; they may switch to another dialect to clarify some ambiguity; they may add some extra sentence constituents to each noun in a lexical elicit, to reveal its gender class. (Field methods, grammatical explanation, use of informants/consultants, Australian Aboriginal languages, Amazonian languages)
Sociolinguistic behavior in a Detroit inner-city black neighborhood
Authors: Edwards Walter F.
Published: December 2008

The integration of 66 black Detroit inner-city residents (33 males and 33 females) into their neighborhood is measured quantitatively by a Vernacular Culture Index (VCI) constructed from the respondents' responses to 10 statements, each with values ranging from 1 to 4. The speech behaviors of these respondents with respect to variants of six linguistic variables (each with a black English [BE] and a colloquial Standard English variant) are quantified and the statistical relationships between the VCI scores and linguistic behavior are determined. The results of the study reveal that respondents in the older age groups (40–59, 60+) are more likely to choose BE variants than respondents in the younger age groups (18–25, 26–39), and that there are consistent statistically significant correlations between high scores on the VCI and the choice of BE variants of the linguistic variables. This is taken to support the proposal that the Social Network Theory approach, of which the VCI concept is a part, is capable of explaining intracommunity linguistic variation in socioeconomically homogeneous areas such as the black community studied. (Sociolinguistics, sociolinguistic theory, black English)
Diglossia and the present language situation in Greece: A sociological approach to the interpretation of diglossia and some hypotheses on today's linguistic reality
Authors: Frangoudaki Anna
Published: December 2008

In the first part of the article, an approach to Greek diglossia is proposed, focusing on the differing social functions of the two coexisting Greek languages. The adoption of “pure” Greek in the early 19th century represented a compromise, which made possible the rejection of Ancient Greek as the official language of the new state. The language question that developed at the turn of the century represented an effort to modernize Greek culture in the context of economic and social change brought about by the rise of the bourgeoisie. Starting in the interwar period and increasingly after the civil war, “pure” Greek became associated exclusively with authoritarian politics. The language reform of 1976, which formally abolished diglossia, thus came at the end of a long process of devaluation of the official “pure” language. Yet, in recent years, a metalinguistic prophecy of language decline has received widespread acceptance. The second half of the article examines the reasons for its success and the resulting revival of the argumentation questioning Demotic Greek, and concludes that they should be attributed to a crisis of national identity. (Diglossia, language ideology, language planning, Greek)
Current trends in the secularization of Hebrew
Authors: Kantor Hadassa
Published: December 2008

Secularization has played a significant role in the revival of Hebrew. Use of words and phrases from the religious domain in secular contexts, so natural to the native Israeli, may at times shock students who have studied Hebrew outside Israel, especially those trained in Jewish day schools. The growing secularization of Israeli life-style and the increasing influence of foreign languages, as manifested in the local media, indeed have given rise to new forms of language secularization. These have split modern Hebrew into two varieties: on the one hand, a language clinging to its historical roots, spoken and understood by observant Jews in Israel and studied abroad in religious day schools, and on the other hand, a secularized variety, separated from its ancient culture, adopted by many circles of Israeli Hebrew speakers. (Semantic change, language varieties, Hebrew)
Learning how to ask: Native metacommunicative competence and the incompetence of fieldworkers
Authors: Briggs Charles L.
Published: December 2008

Every speech community boasts an array of devices for characterizing communicative events. These native metacommunicative repertoires are culturally patterned in terms of both use and acquisition. Interviews meet with varying degrees of success by virtue of their relative (in-)compatibility with the norms underlying such events. An analysis of the way in which Spanish speakers in rural New Mexico gain metacommunicative competence suggests that native metacommunicative routines provide a rich source of sociolinguistic and social/cultural data and that awareness of these repertoires can assist fieldworkers in using interviews more appropriately and effectively. (Interview techniques, metacommunication, acquisition of sociolinguistic competence, ethnopoetics, New Mexican Spanish)
Beyond Notation
Authors: Wishart Trevor
Published: December 2008

What exactly is the relationship between notation and the music we hear? How has this relationship been affected by the development of first analogue and then digital recording of sound during the present century? This article looks at these issues from the point of view of a composer working with both traditional and unconventional notation and with recorded sound in the electronic music studio. The arguments present a very much condensed and simplified version of a discussion presented in the author's recently published book On Sonic Art.
A Developmental View of Children's Singing
Authors: Welch Graham F.
Published: December 2008

Research into children's singing has gradually gained momentum since the beginning of this century. These studies have principally concentrated on the identification of children's ‘comfortable’ singing ranges, and the identification and treatment of children who sing out-of-tune, usually termed ‘uncertain singers’ or ‘poor pitch singers’ (p.p.s.). Several investigators have commented that out-of-tune singing appears in different forms (for reviews, see Phillips 1984; Welch 1979a, b, 1985b). The aim of the present article is to discuss these findings and to suggest that children's singing has an underlying developmental process.
An Evaluation of the Effects of London Sinfonietta Education Projects on their Participants
Authors: Winterson Julia
Published: December 2008

The effects of London Sinfonietta education projects on their participants are identified and analysed, through questionnaire and interview, and then measured against London Sinfonietta policy itself. To a great extent the aims of the policy are being met: the work is found to be an enjoyable and valuable experience leading towards an understanding of contemporary art music. Some problems identified concern the integration of the teachers, appropriate training for the players and composers, and the elitism of the concert hall. The fieldwork was undertaken with the kind co-operation of the London Sinfonietta education team and the schools involved.
Assessing Musical Quality in the National Curriculum
Authors: Swanwick Keith
Published: December 2008

Recommendations for the assessment of music at Key Stage 3 now accompany the revised National Curriculum for both England and Wales. Although some of the material may be helpful to teachers, certain underlying assumptions compromise valid and reliable assessment. Weaknesses arise from initial confusion when formulating attainment targets, the vagueness and ambiguity of music curriculum wording and reliance on End of Key Stage Descriptions for assessing the work of pupils throughout the whole key stage, causing elements of complexity and range to be inappropriately introduced at each assessment point. This article offers an alternative model that puts the assessment of musical quality first and defers the assessment of musical complexity and range of styles until there are pupil profiles later in the key stage.
The Music National Curriculum: Overcoming a Compromise
Authors: Thomas Ruth
Published: December 2008

The 1995 Music National Curriculum orders represent a significant change from the Interim Report of 1990 in which the Music Working Group presented its findings and made recommendations to the Secretary of State for Education for a new curriculum. This article explores developments which have led from the original recommendations to the 1995 Curriculum. As it now stands, the curriculum does not develop children's musical skills and understanding in a systematic way. This is not helpful, even to the music specialist, but also it gives rise to another problem. At Key Stages 1 and 2, where there is possibly no music specialist to interpret it, and where generalist class teachers have traditionally felt ill-equipped to teach music, the 1995 curriculum – because it does not prescribe the work to be done in a systematic and developmental way – fails to make clear the achievements expected at the various levels. Therefore, it does nothing to persuade primary teachers that they can contribute usefully to the skill- and knowledge-development which is essential if children are to move systematically through their musical education. Indeed, the Programmes of Study are so lacking in any sense of development or skill-building that they are exactly the same for each of the first three Key Stages. This study looks at the causes of these difficulties and proposes an original scheme of work to address the problem of teacher confidence at Key Stage 1.
The Musical Training of Primary Teachers: Old Problems, New Insights and Possible Solutions
Authors: Gifford Edward
Published: December 2008

Recent national and international documents dealing with education and the arts have attributed poor teaching of music in primary schools to inadequacies in the training of primary teachers. The most frequently reported problems associated with the training of teachers in music education were students' lack of confidence and their low musical ability.

Against this background, a study was undertaken to examine further the extent to which participation in a music education course during pre-service training advanced the musical skills, music teaching ability, musical sensitivity, and attitudes towards music of students who become general primary teachers. It was hypothesised that the quality of music education was influenced by the multi-dimensional interactions of a range of factors. These included: attitude towards music and to music education; musical achievement; the classroom learning environment; students' preferred learning styles and their previous musical background. This paper reports data on these factors and the influence of preservice training on attitudes to music and to music teaching.

The investigation confirmed general primary pre-service teachers' low perception of their competence and confidence as music teachers, and established that any limited gains in music and music teaching skills were offset by their enjoying and valuing music and music education less. Causal explanations for the findings are discussed and a model of music education is proposed both as a further means of interpreting the data and a basis for the potential re-focussing of the music curriculum.
Schema Theory and the Effect of Variable Practice in String Teaching
Authors: Pacey Fiona
Published: December 2008

Schmidt (1975) postulates that motor skills are learned as schemas, which should be better learned if built up from experiencing a wide variety of actions. This variable practice hypothesis is tested in teaching string pupils selected skills, namely the ability to control loudness, tempo and intonation. Results suggest a positive conclusion in the first two instances, but are more ambivalent in the third. There is some discussion of the implications for developing effective practising skills, to help learning become more productive and interesting, and in the application of such skills to the goal of musical and expressive performance.
Music, Gender and Education Conference, Bristol University, March 1993
Authors: Glover Jo
Published: December 2008

The Music, Gender and Education Conference was organised jointly by Women in Music and Bristol University and held as a weekend event with contributors from a wide field of working contexts and interests in music education. The group of papers which follows is indicative of the breadth of standpoints and approaches to research which were represented.
Women's Ways of Knowing
Authors: Boyce-Tillman June
Published: December 2008

The article explores reasons for the absence of women from the world of professional music making. The processes of women's music making are examined, especially oral transmission, communal creation and ownership, its relation to everyday living, and holistic approaches to its role in education. These are illustrated by examples drawn from composers such as Hildegard of Bingen and Clara Schumann, and traditional sources, together with education and good practice in a variety of areas.
The University of Huddersfield Department of Music Project: Women Composers, 12th–20th Centuries
Authors: Wilkins Margaret Lucy , Askew Caroline
Published: December 2008

Many women have led successful lives as professional musicians, but their contributions to our cultural heritage have largely been ignored. This article describes a project, at the University of Huddersfield, designed to redress the balance by systematically presenting the case for the work of women composers to be recognised in the University's History of Music courses and Compositional Studies lectures.
Attitudes and Expectations of A-Level Musicians
Authors: Maidlow Sarah
Published: December 2008

Whilst public music-making is generally perceived as largely a male domain, the perception of school music is that, at all levels, it is dominated by females. This article describes the author's attempt to find out how A-level music students see themselves in relation to their past experiences as musicians, their current work for A-level, and their potential musical future. The aim of the research was to identify differences that might exist between the perceptions of girls and boys in the sample, and between those at state-maintained and private schools.

Apart from generating a psychological and autobiographical profile for the cohort as a whole, results from the students' responses were analysed by using a quantitative statistical measure. Then the autobiographies of the constituents of these groups were examined, and this threw up interesting and unlooked for similarities within them.
Towards a Model of Effective Communication: A Case for Structured Teaching of Conducting
Authors: Durrant Colin
Published: December 2008

Recent teaching with PGCE secondary music students has revealed that conducting ensembles is a musical activity in which they have variable knowledge, skills and experience. It is a general expectation, nevertheless, that music teachers still conduct choral and instrumental ensembles as part of their job in schools, and some may also undertake such roles in the wider community. This paper seeks to identify from research literature aspects of effective conducting that warrant greater attention. This forms part of a research project which is exploring definitions of effective conducting and making an analysis and case for more structured teaching in this area within higher education.
Incidental Music: a case study in the development of sound therapy
Authors: Ellis Phil
Published: December 2008

Incidental Music describes the early stages of the development of a new approach – sound therapy – for children who have severe learning difficulties (SLD) and profound and multiple learning difficulties (PMLD). Sound itself, including what we call ‘music’, in combination with aspects of new music technology, provide the basis for this approach. Sound therapy acknowledges the expressive potential of all sound with the aim of enabling and developing additional ways of communicating and expressing. A research methodology has been developed to enable a detailed, rigorous analysis and evaluation of observed phenomena. This is briefly described and a case study, based on the use of Soundbeam, reveals some aspects of sound therapy. I am grateful to the staff and pupils of the Lambert School for their help, encouragement, co-operation and warmth in enabling this project.
Peer assessment in performance studies
Authors: Hunter Desmond , Russ Michael
Published: December 2008

The purpose of this paper is to outline the background to the introduction of peer assessment at the University of Ulster and to report on how the project has operated and developed over the past three years. Initially assessors were drawn from the same student year group as the performers (BMus, year 2). The process was monitored by the authors who subsequently met with each assessment panel to discuss the performances before marks and reports were finalised. In the following years the assessment of second-year performances was conducted by panels of final-year students; this resulted in more objective reporting.
The form of finality: a context for musical education
Authors: Paynter John
Published: December 2008

Music is supremely a manifestation of thought and perceptual judgement. Yet – and in spite of the good intentions of the National Curriculum - because the importance of these qualities is not generally acknowledged, musical education is in danger of being marginalized. Drawing on the work of W.E. Johnson and F.N. Sibley in logic and aesthetics, the author formulates a hierarchy of musical perception corresponding to Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of basic human needs and suggests that the future status of musical education could depend upon the extent to which teaching can be focused at a level of perception where musk as thought is most evident.
Compositional Strategies in Computer-Based Music-Making
Authors: Folkestad Göran , Hargreaves David J. , Lindström Berner
Published: December 2008

Recent technological developments and the increasing impact of the media mean that listening to music and creative music making constitutes a major and integrated part of many young people's lives.

The aim of the present article is to describe the process of computer-based composition, and how this is perceived by young composers. This paper describes a three-year empirical study of 129 computer-based compositions by 15 to 16-year-olds. Computer MIDI-fti.es were system- atically collected covering the sequence of the creation processes step by step; interviews were carried out with each of the participants; and observations were made of their work.

All the participants succeeded in creating music, and in the subsequent analysis, six qualitatively different ways of creating music were identified which could be divided into two main categories: HORIZONTAL andVERTICAL.These categories, devised by the authors in this context, refer to compositional strategies,notto structures in the music itself. In the horizontal categories composition and arranging are separate processes, whereas in the vertical categories composition and arranging are one integrated process.
Partnerships in the classroom
Authors: Cottrell Sue
Published: December 2008

This article is a summary of a report and survey commissioned by the London Arts Board (LAB) and Yamaha-Kemble (UK) in August 1994. The survey followed the progress of a year-long music education partnership between seven schools and three music organisations in the capital. The aim of the survey was to monitor pupils' learning outcomes in order to evaluate the effects of the musicians' and teachers' work on pupils' progress and to identify the core elements for effective collaboration between music organisations and schools. Of the seven partnerships, four had largely favourable outcomes. This article summarises the findings and conclusions which may be drawn from the project.
Music: a source of deep imaginative satisfaction?
Authors: Byrne Charles , Sheridan Mark
Published: December 2008

This paper gives the first insight into the establishment and development of the Strathclyde Consortium for Action Research in Learning Approaches and Teaching Techniques in Inventing (SCARLATTI) Project, and reflects on the changes to the music curriculum in Scottish secondary schools over the last twenty years. There is evidence to support the view that Inventing is an area of the curriculum which is causing music teachers some anxiety (Sheridan, 1992) and this paper examines the teaching and learning of the skills required of both teachers and pupils for the Inventing element of Standard Grade music (Byrne, 1996). The authors have launched an action research music project (Bresler, 1995; Adelman & Kemp, 1992; Treacher, 1989) which it is hoped will refocus the thinking of music teachers in schools by creating a dynamic network to provide a forum for the discussion of ideas and a means whereby experiences and materials can be shared, and new approaches and methods considered and implemented. A feature of the SCARLATTI project is a World Wide Web discussion group that will provide a communication link for schools involved in the project as well as a platform for teachers to air issues, ideas and views.
Imagination and Understanding in the Music Curriculum Tom Gamble
Authors: Gamble Tom
Published: December 2008

Music is unique in its power to involve the whole person, intellectually as well as emotionally and kinaesthetically. Our ultimate aim in music education, therefore, should be to develop musical imagination and understanding. We can achieve this by making composition and improvisation the central focus of the music curriculum, with listening activities carefully related to children's work. Musical experiences in the classroom should be adventurous, challenging, joyful yet serious, taking place in an atmosphere of warm, sympathetic, tolerant, and respectful relationships. In this environment, children are more likely to value music, and to develop sensitivity not only to music, but to other people. Schools too often underestimate children's potential. In music we can help all children to experience a sense of achievement, leading to greater self-respect.