bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Second Language Processing of Subordinate Clauses and Anaphora—First Language and Universal Influences: A Review of Flynn's Research*
Authors: Bley‐Vroman Robert , Chaudron Craig
Published: October 2006

Flynn has reported that the second‐language processing of subordinate clauses and of anaphora is affected by the basic word order (head direction) of the learner's native language. This phenomenon is claimed to be a prediction of Universal Grammar and of Flynn's formulation of a parameter‐setting model of second‐language acquisition.

This paper explores both the theoretical status of the prediction and the factual status of the phenomenon. The principal conclusions are that the prediction cannot derive from any current version of the theory of Universal Grammar, and that there is no evidence in Flynn's research for a processing difference based upon L1 grammatical contrasts. The clearest results are subject to more plausible interpretations, involving general considerations of online sentence processing that are prerequisite to other psycholinguistic explanations. The L1‐based differences reported by Flynn are evidently artifacts of experimental method and inappropriate analysis, especially of the incorrect use of analysis of covariance in an attempt to correct for a mismatch between experimental groups.

Flynn's version of a head direction parameter linked to anaphora interpretation is thus without foundation in linguistic theory and, furthermore, is founded upon empirical observations of doubtful applicability and replicability. However, Flynn's research is still of considerable importance, for three reasons. First, the study of pronoun processing ease in language acquisition is of intrinsic psycholinguistic interest. Whereas a fair amount of information about anaphora in child language acquisition exists, there is little in adult language acquisition. Second, Flynn's research is of methodological interest, especially with regard to the techniques used to deal with the crucial problem of comparing groups with different L1s and at different proficiency levels. Third, Flynn's claimed findings are relevant to the general issue of the effect of L1/L2 differences and of universal processing strategies in second‐language acquisition. Thus, despite our general reservations as to the theoretical validity of this research, we will attempt to review the major claims and findings, adhering as much as possible to Flynn's own formulations.
The Effects of Formal Instruction on the Second‐Language Acquisition of Temporal Location*
Authors: Buczowska Ewa , Weist Richard M.
Published: October 2006

The purpose of this research was to contrast the acquisition of temporal systems in L1 and tutored L2 learners. The research focused on the distinction between absolute and relative temporal location: the former relates event time to speech time and the latter relates event time to reference time. An experiment was conducted using a sentence‐picture matching task with Polish adults learning English and American children ranging in age from 2½ to 6½ years. The comprehension test contained contrasts that required absolute location (e.g., past/future) and relative location (e.g., before/after). L1 learners comprehended problems involving absolute temporal contrasts first and those with a relative component later. Tutored L2 learners follow a different pattern. Their initial temporal system had both absolute and relative dimensions. A second major difference between L1 and tutored L2 learners concerned the acquisition of tense and aspect. L1 learners understood both tense and aspect contrasts from the earliest phase of development evaluated. Tutored L2 learners could understand tense well before aspect. The research emphasizes the relevance of pedagogical practices to the foreign language learning process as opposed to so‐called “natural sequences”.
Segment Composition as a Factor in the Syllabification Errors of Second‐Language Speakers*
Authors: Stockman Ida J. , Pluut Erna
Published: October 2006

Native Chinese Mandarin speakers spoke and aurally identified monosyllables that included oral and nasal stops. These consonants represented English/Mandarin contrasts and noncontrasts in syllable‐initial/‐final positions. Error frequencies for four syllable position/contrast conditions were compared to determine if they were rank ordered according to the hierarchy derived from Anderson's (1987) test of the Markedness Differential Hypothesis. Neither production nor identification errors were ranked in the predicted order. The presence of nasal as opposed to oral stop consonants in the syllables appeared to be the most significant factor affecting error distribution. The findings suggest that the error predictions for initial/final segments can be neutralized by the requirements of producing and perceiving particular speech sounds.
Field Independence/Dependence in Second‐Language Acquisition Research*
Authors: Chapelle Carol , Green Pat
Published: October 2006

Field independence/dependence (FI/D) has been hypothesized to be an important variable in second‐language acquisition (SLA); however, interpretations of empirical research on the role of FI/D vary. This paper establishes the significance of FI/D‐SLA research by reexamining the construct of FI/D and its measurement and clarifying its role in language testing and good language‐learner theories.
The Variable Effects of Some Task‐Based Learning Procedures on L2 Communicative Effectiveness
Authors: Yule George , Powers Maggie , Macdonald Doris
Published: October 2006

This study attempted to evaluate the benefits of some task‐based procedures used to develop L2 communicative effectiveness in spoken English among a group of advanced proficiency learners. Using three information transfer tasks and intervening discussion sessions, we attempted to investigate the actual communicative outcomes of interaction prompted by the tasks. When the intervening discussion focused on linguistic aspects of task performance, there was a tendency for speakers to adopt a noticeably more egocentric perspective in a subsequent communicative task. When referential aspects of the task were discussed, subsequent communicative performance was characterized by speakers taking their interlocutor's perspective much more into account. It is suggested that L2 communicative effectiveness in an information transfer task will be enhanced when the speaker is led to think primarily about the listener's needs rather than the form of the speaker's message.
Listening Comprehension: Construct Validity and Trait Characteristics*
Authors: Buck Gary
Published: October 2006

It has been customary among both language teachers and testers to regard listening as a separate skill in language proficiency. However, the evidence for the existence of listening comprehension as a separate trait is contradictory. This paper reviews the conflictingevidence, and presents two studies that use the multitrait‐multimethod (MTMM) methodology to examine the construct validity of the listening trait. These were carried out in Japan using college‐level students of English (N=220 and 353). Both studies had two traits, listening and reading comprehension, with three and four methods, respectively. One study shows no significant trait effect, whereas the other shows a strong trait effect; indicating that there is a separate listening trait, but that this is not necessarily operationalized by oral input alone. This necessitates recognition of two types of listening test: (1) orally presented tests of general language comprehension, and (2) tests of the listeningtrait proper. The tests used in the two studies are compared and some tentative suggestions are made regarding those variables that may account for the separate nature of listening comprehension.
Cantonese Speakers and the Acquisition of French Consonants
Authors: Cichocki W. , House A.B. , Kinloch A.M. , Lister A.C.
Published: October 2006

This article reports the findings of research on the acquisition of French consonants by native speakers of Cantonese. An error analysis based on a careful phonetic transcription of production data resulted in a scale of difficulty of consonants in both initial and final positions. Several of the major patterns of difficulty are explained by the Markedness Differential Hypothesis. On the basis of errors found, and which are not perfectly predicted by this theory, it is shown that there is an interaction of language acquisition with markedness reversals.
Universals of Word Formation Processes: Noun Incorporation in the Acquisition of Samoan as a Second Language
Authors: Robinson Peter
Published: October 2006

This study examines the influence of a proposed implicational hierarchy (Mithun, 1984) and constraints of Universal Grammar (Baker, 1988) on the acquisition of noun incorporation processes by 29 adult learners of Samoan, compared to the performance of a control group of 11 native Samoan speakers. The methodology involved reaction time, grammaticality judgment and response certainty measures of the processing difficulty and acceptability of examples of noun incorporation for English speaking learners of Samoan, with the latter measure giving the clearest support for two hypothesized orders of difficulty.
The Effects of Simplified and Elaborated Texts on Foreign Language Reading Comprehension
Authors: Yano Yasukata , Long Michael H. , Ross Steven
Published: October 2006

Linguistic simplification of written texts can increase their comprehensibility for nonnative speakers but reduce their utility for language learning in other ways, for example, through the removal of linguistic items that learners do not know but need to learn. This study was conducted to test the hypothesis that elaborative modification observed in oral foreigner talk discourse, where redundancy and explicitness compensate for unknown linguistic items, offers a potential alternative approach to written text modification. We randomly presented 13 reading passages to 483 Japanese college students in one of three forms: (a) native baseline, (b) simplified, or (c) elaborated. Comprehension, assessed by 30 multiple‐choice test items, was highest among learners reading the simplified version, but not significantly different from those reading the elaborated version. The type of modifications to the texts interacted significantly with the kind of test item used to, assess comprehension—replication, synthesis or inference—suggesting that different kinds of text modification facilitate different levels of comprehension.
The Subtle Effects of Language Anxiety on Cognitive Processing in the Second Language
Authors: MacIntyre Peter D. , Gardner R. C.
Published: October 2006

Previous research has shown language anxiety to be associated with broad‐based indices of language achievement, such as course grades. This study examined some of the more specific cognitive processes that may be involved in language acquisition in terms of a three‐stage model of learning: Input, Processing, and Output. These stages were represented in a set of nine tasks that were employed to isolate and measure the language acquisition stages. A new anxiety scale was also developed to measure anxiety at each of the stages. Generally, significant correlations were obtained between the stage‐specific anxiety scales and stage‐specific tasks (e.g., output anxiety with output tasks) suggesting that the effects of language anxiety may be both pervasive and subtle.
Classroom Interaction, Comprehension, and the Acquisition of L2 Word Meanings
Authors: Ellis Rod , Tanaka Yoshihiro , Yamazaki Asako
Published: October 2006

There are substantial theoretical and empirical grounds for believing that opportunities to negotiate meaning through interaction facilitate comprehension. However, although there are theoretical grounds for believing that meaning negotiation aids second language acquisition, these are not supported by any empirical evidence. This article reports two classroom studies, based on the same design, which investigated the effects of modified interaction on comprehension and vocabulary acquisition among 79 and 127 high‐school students of English in Japan. The main results were: (a) interactionally modified input resulted in better comprehension than premodified input, (b) interactiqnally modified input led to more new words being acquired than premodified input, (c) learners who actively participated in negotiating meaning did not understand any better than those simply exposed to modified interaction, and (d) the active participators did not learn more new words. These results are discussed in terms of the interaction hypothesis (Long, 1981). The dual‐study method in classroom research is a useful way of establishing which results are generalizable and which are subject to situational variation.
MODELS OF BANKING INSTABILITY: A PARTIAL REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
Authors: Dowd Kevin
Published: October 2006

Abstract. This paper critically examines the theoretical literature on banking instability that has followed Diamond and Dybvig (1983). It explores the extent to which it (a) explains banking instability within a theoretical context in which financial intermediaries improve on unintermediated markets, and (b) justifies government involvement in the financial intermediation industry. It suggests that the literature has yet to provide a satisfactory theoretical basis for banking instability as such since the intermediaries which arise from it are peculiar mutual funds that bear little resemblance to real‐world banks. In addition, the paper challenges the widespread belief that this literature provides a sound foundation for government involvement in the industry. It suggests that arguments for government intervention are open to objection on various grounds, the most important one being that they are inconsistent with the existence of properly motivated financial intermediation in these models.
SOCIAL CHANGE AND ECONOMIC LIFE IN BRITAIN IN THE 1980s
Authors: Clark Simon
Published: October 2006

Books reviewed in this article:

Duncan Gallie, Catherine Marsh, and Carolyn Vogler (eds.) (1994) Social Change and the Experience of Unemployment.

Jill Rubery and Frank Wilkinson (eds.) (1994) Employer Strategy and the Labour Market.

Alison McEwan Scott (ed.) (1994) Gender Segregation and Social Change: Men and Women in Changing Labour Markets.

Roger Penn, Michael Rose, and Jill Rubery (eds.) (1994) Skill and Occupational Change.

Michael Anderson, Frank Bechhofer, and Jonathan Gershuny (eds.) (1994) The Social and Political Economy of the Household.

Duncan Gallie, Roger Penn, and Michael Rose (eds.) (1996) Trade Unionism in Recession.
PICKING WINNERS? A SURVEY OF THE MEAN REVERSION AND OVERREACTION OF STOCK PRICES LITERATURE
Authors: Forbes William P.
Published: October 2006

Abstract. This paper surveys, and suggests a possible synthesis of, two growing literatures concerning stock market anomalies. The first concentrates on identifying contrarian trading rules, capable of generating profits, when securities are segregated on the basis of past earnings, or share price performance. The other simply examines the time‐series properties of security prices to find evidence of low‐frequency negative autocorrelation, or ‘meanreversion’. We seek to articulate the points of interdependence between the two strands of research and the problems of joint hypothesis testing implied by the close relation between ‘Overreaction’and ‘mean‐reversion’tests.
ENVY‐FREENESS AND DISTRIBUTIVE JUSTICE: A REPLY TO KOLM'S COMMENT
Authors: Arnsperger Christian
Published: October 2006

Abstract. This reply takes up specific points raised by Professor Kolm over which there persists some disagreement between us. It offers a rather broad, philosophically oriented discussion of the issues. I explain why I think Kolm is right in preferring the term ‘equity’to that of ‘envy‐freeness,’but I express moral doubts concerning the interpretation proposed by Kolm of equity as a criterion of equal liberty. On this basis, I then defend my own specific interpretation of equity as a welfarist‐egalitarian criterion, and express some reluctance as to the alleged ‘moral irrelevance’of individual preferences in the theory of equity. I also briefly discuss the conceptual role played by counterfactuals and try to mitigate somewhat Kolm's critique of the use of axioms involving ‘imaginary’ situations.
RECENT ADVANCES IN MODELLING SEASONALITY
Authors: Franses Philip Hans
Published: October 2006

Abstract.In this paper we review recent developments in econometric modelling of economic time series with seasonality. The prime focus is on econometric models which incorporate explicit descriptions of seasonal variation, instead of removing this variation using a seasonal adjustment method. This review centres around developments in seasonal unit root models and in periodic parameter models, both in the univariate and multivariate context. Several empirical examples are used for illustration. We also discuss several areas for further research.
Through the Looking‐glass: Colonial Encounters of the First Kind
Authors: COMAROFF JEAN , COMAROFF JOHN
Published: October 2006

Abstract
Notwithstanding Gramsci or Foucault, there remains a tendency, in historical sociology, to explain processes of domination in terms of political and economic forces. In the study of state formation and imperialism, realpolitik is given precedence over ritual, material factors over the moral suasion of the sign. Yet European colonialism was also a cultural project. In Southern Africa, nonconformist missions, the vanguards of empire, conjured up new maps, new systems of relations, new notions of time, production and personhood. From their very first encounters with native communities, it is argued, they sowed the state of colonialism on which the colonial state ‐ and a more enduring condition of dependency ‐ was founded.

About sunset the king, attended by his brothers and a few more persons, came to our tent…I said that I had brought a small present for him, as a token of friendship—while opening it he remained silent, not moving even his head, only his eyes towards the parcel. I then took from it a gilded copper comb and put it into his hair, and tied a silver spangled band and tassel round his head, and a chain about his neck, and last of all presented him with a looking glass…
The Effects of Truth: Re‐Presentations of the Past and the Imagining of Community
Authors: ALONSO ANA MARIA
Published: October 2006

Abstract
Social memory is integral to the creation of social meaning; representations of the past are central to the symbolic constitution of social groups and social identities. This paper examines the production of effects of truth and power in both official and popular historical discourses in Mexico and demonstrates how representations of the past configure the imagining of community (social memory; official/popular historical discourses; nationalism: revolution; hegemony; Mexico).
Memories, vision and hope: themes in an historical sociology of Britain since the Second World War
Authors: WILLIAMSON BILL
Published: October 2006

Abstract
This paper suggests in an exploratory way that an historical sociology of post‐war British society should include a concern with changes in sentiment and emotion or in what following Raymond Williams is termed ‘structures of feeling’. The main theme discussed is what people from different social backgrounds feel about the changes which have taken place in their lives and in the society around them and in how the future is conceived. Three issues focus this ‐ change in aspects of national identity, in prevailing conceptions of citizenship and belonging, and in feelings towards the welfare state.
Supplementing English parish listings—a way forward?
Authors: NAIR GWYNETH
Published: October 2006

Abstract
This article outlines a methodology for reconstructing census‐type listings of English parishes for the pre‐census era. The methodology is offered as a possible way around the impasse created by the uneven and random survival of a relatively small number of contemporary listings of the period. Examples are drawn from a series of reconstructed listings for the parish of Highley in Shropshire from the seventeenth, eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.
The Iconography of the Durham Miners' Gala
Authors: BEYNON HUW , AUSTRIN TERRY
Published: October 2006

Abstract
The Durham Miners Gala has taken place annually for over a hundred years. In its heyday it was an immensely popular occasion. In the post‐war period it became an established part of the British Labour calendar, being attended regularly by Prime Ministers, Cabinet Ministers and foreign ambassadors. The Gala can be understood as a ceremony which links twentieth century class politics with the more spontaneous and religious forms of political activity in the nineteenth century. This historical continuity is rooted in the culture of mining and mining villages, developed by the social isolation of miners and their particular legal status and adapted periodically by the formal structures of the mining union.
Culture, Capital and Class Conflicts in the Political Economy of Cape Breton
Authors: BARBER PAULINE
Published: October 2006

Abstract
This paper examines the unprecedented rapid unionization of fish processing plant workers in the industrial town of Glace Bay, Cape Breton. The explanation for union militancy is tied to historical dynamics in local labour markets and the transposition of working class consciousness from the mining sector to the fish processing sector. Historically forged household and community dynamics and cultural values provide the key to the mobilization of the Cape Breton fish plant workers. While the contradictory and complex nature of local culture allowed for the emergence of resistance, the conditions which inspired such action also nurtured social patterns well accommodated to the region's marginal economic conditions. Thus, the circumstances under which strategies for resistance are forthcoming must hold particular and locally meaningful cultural significance. Paternalistic control of the labour force in local fish plants successfully manipulated local cultural values. Impersonal corporate management strategies violated these codes of conduct and provoked rapid collective response.
‘For England and For Christ’: The Gospel of Liberation and Subordination in Early Nineteenth Century Southern Africa
Authors: STUART DOUG
Published: October 2006

Abstract
This paper argues that British evangelical missions in the early nineteenth century provided a cultural site for the building of national imaginings. Just as success in proselytizing confirmed the self‐knowledge of salvation for individuals, so missionary enterprise demonstrated divine favour toward the nation. It is suggested that the mythological language of national self identity, elaborated by missionaries to South Africa, enabled, and even required, the projection of images of African inferiority. The implication is that the language of racial stereotyping and domination in nineteenth century South Africa was not simply an expression of competing claims to land and labour.
Wresting Memory from the Violence of the Present: Rape, Martyrdom, and Double Narrative in Paul Friedrich's Agrarian Revolt in a Mexican Village*
Authors: GILL CHRIS
Published: October 2006

Abstract
Post‐Modernist critiques of ethnographic method tend to reduce research and writing to only writing and erase the traces of the researcher's field experience that may appear in a text. Such critiques confer more power on the ethnographer or oral historian than he or she possesses. I argue that researchers invariably manoeuvre within political contexts in order to obtain knowledge, and that the intersubjective interaction between scholar and subject creates both silences and visibilities in the final text. In Agrarian Revolt Paul Friedrich constructed a revolutionary counter memory against his own hidden master narrative of opportunism, betrayal, and political violence. Yet partly due to his interaction with members of the competing political clans, he replicated in his counter‐memeory the crucial premises of the ruling clan's ideology: the ‘doctrine of genealogical unity’ and its correlates of blood descent and female purity.
Identity and History: Class and Regional Consciousness in Rural Languedoc
Authors: LEM WINNIE
Published: October 2006

Abstract
The history of the peasants of Languedoc has been marked by continual struggles to defend a livelihood against the combined forces of capitalist development and state integration. Constant references to this history of contentiousness in popular representations of the past have been critical in the emergence of a culture of opposition among the Languedoc peasantry. This paper explores the relationship between historical consciousness, identity construction and expressions of resistance in class and regionalist ideologies of political struggle in rural southern France.
Egalitarian Ideals and Exclusionary Practices: U.S. Pedagogy in the Colonial Philippines
Authors: MARGOLD JANE A.
Published: October 2006

Abstract
This essay examines U.S. colonial education in the early 20th‐century Philippines, focusing on the ways in which the teachers recruited from the U.S. derailed the colonial administrators’ earnest if ingenuous attempt to dismantle the indigenous structure of privilege in the new possession vie a system of free primary schooling. The approach breaks with the notion of the state as the ultimate locus of force and attends instead to the study of local sites and ordinary, everyday practices of social regulation. In so doing, it argues that the U.S. teachers in the field transformed the directives handed down to them into a pedagogy that came to have its own subverting tactics, mechanisms and trajectory within the wider colonial polity.
‘Englishness’ on the Imperial Circuit: Mutiny Tours in Colonial South Asia
Authors: GOSWAMI MANU
Published: October 2006

Abstract
Dominant analyses of the generative conditions and the particular forms assumed by ‘Englishness’ in the late nineteenth century continue to territorialise its formation within the metropole. This paper seeks to challenge the reified binary topography of metropole/periphery by situating dominant articulations of ‘Englishness’ within the territorial and discursive ground of colonial South Asia. A recognition of the broader, asymmetrically structured field of imperial social relations, I argue, requires a reconceptualization of ‘Englishness’ as an imperial formation. Through a critical analysis of the official historiography on the mutiny, the spatial and discursive practices of mutiny tours, and their constitutive role in shaping the identity of tourists, this paper attempts to show the intersections between ‘Englishness’, England and Empire.
Organisation and Creativity: Mere Administration and Mere Theology
Authors: YEO STEPHEN
Published: October 2006

Abstract
This essay uses personal experience at the University of Sussex and as Principal of Ruskin College since 1989, to argue that Creativity in associational form has been systematically marginalised as ‘Mere Administration’ or even as ‘Theology’. New forms and relations of production (of ideas and culture as much as of material goods) depend upon organisational innovation. Max Weber's work, together with some of the best 19th and 20th century Social History (particularly of voluntary organisations) in Britain, together with the author's own experience all point to the importance of what Marx called ‘Centres of Organisation for the working class’ which can do what the medieval municipalities and communes did for the middle class’.

Don't forget. I set out our principles before we came into power so that people knew exactly what we stood for. Let me try briefly to sum up. It is the sanctity of the individual. Margaret Thatcher, in Newsweek, April 1992, reprinted in The Guardian, 22/4/92

Our case, after all, is the sociality of general freedom.

Raymond Williams, Politics and Letters, 1979
Janus the Consultant: educational technology at the Open University
Authors: Macdonald‐Ross Michael
Published: October 2006

The Open University is well placed to examine the way educational technologists can help improve the quality of students' learning experience. In this paper I have discussed four styles of consultancy which are not quite satisfactory, and proposed a fifth. As ‘scientist’ and ‘systematic technician’ the consultant runs into trouble because he underestimates the complexity of education. His tools are too limited for the situations he faces, and his vision of the end of education too simple‐minded. As ‘students' advocate’ and ‘problem solver’ he can, in principle, treat situations on their merits. These styles are humanistic and satisfying—when they work. Unfortunately there are no good, hard prescriptions for showing younger consultants how to do it. There certainly are good consultants who have mastered these styles, but their methods have been little studied, and are not easily made public. The transformer, on the other hand, is a practical vision. Transformation is a process whereby complex information is organised for the reader's benefit. The constituent activities can be analysed and learnt; in other words, there are pro‐cedures which can be specified. The notion of transforming does justice to the real complexity of education, and puts the student's interest in the foreground. In this way the idea of the transformer is quite consistent with the ‘students' advocate’ and ‘problem‐solver’ styles while being more practical for many purposes.
The Role of Self‐paced Self‐study in Undergraduate Science Teaching. I. Consequences of the Structure of the Subject Area
Authors: Davies E. R.
Published: October 2006

This article (I) examines styles of self‐study in relation to the type of subject matter to be covered. It appears that self‐paced self‐study (Keller plan) is the natural method to use when many links between topics appear on the ‘prerequisite structure diagram’ appropriate to the subject area—as happens often in science. However, since understanding of a given topic requires only a ‘local mastery’ which may be provided by the skilled focusing of attention by the teacher, teacher‐paced self‐study can be permissible. It is left to a future article (II) to examine when teacher‐pacing offers positive advantages.
CALCHE Mistry
Authors: Ayscough Peter
Published: October 2006

The purpose of this article is to explore some aspects of the development of a large multi‐institutional network concerned with applications of educational computing in chemistry. We shall consider the style and content of the teaching programs which have been produced and draw attention to the way these have been modified as a result of the widening of the objectives of the project since its inception four years ago. We shall also draw on the experience gained from the work of the CALCHEM project to make some generalizations about the operation of a cooperative project in which shared production and use of CAL materials has been crucial.
Computer Assisted Learning and Occupational Training
Authors: Patrick John , Stammers Robert
Published: October 2006

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the potential role of the computer in occupational training. More specifically this involves firstly a systems view of the use of a computer in the training system and how it may fulfil different training functions. Guidelines are presented concerning those functions most likely to benefit from computer assistance. The advantages and disadvantages are illustrated with particular case studies in occupational training. Finally a brief indication is given of the future use of computers in training systems.
Visual Testing: a Viable Instructional Variable
Authors: Tanner Jerome , Dwyer Francis M
Published: October 2006

The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the instructional effects of externally controlled pacing of multiple‐choice questions on the achievement of students when tested by means of projected slides. Two 50‐item multiple choice criterion measures were developed. Students were evaluated twice during a five‐week period. Results of the investigation indicated that: (1) projected‐slide tests are as effective as a means of presenting and measuring student achievement as are conventionally printed tests, (b) an item exposure time of 30 seconds is adequate for effective student interaction, (c) two exposures to a multiple‐choice test item is no more effective than one exposure, and (d) altering the pacing, item exposure time, or number of times an item is presented, does not significantly affect the reliability of the test.

Prior research has concluded that the use of a visual medium to complement conventional classroom instruction, can, in fact, improve student achievement (Gropper, 1962; Twyford et al, 1964; Dwyer, 1972). A majority of these studies were comparative in nature comparing conventional methods of classroom instruction with conventional instruction complemented by media. In these studies media were not utilized as a testing device to evaluate student achievement. The major thrust toward the use of media for testing purposes occurred at the time of World War II when there was a real need to train and test large groups of men in the military service. Additional research studies (Gross, 1969; Hill, 1976; Torrence, 1976) however, have established the feasibility of employing visualized testing to assess student achievement.

Specifically, this study was designed to compare student achievement scores on a standard paper‐pencil test with the following.

The achievement scores of students taking a 50‐item multiple choice test on projected‐slides with an exposure time consisting of one 30‐second viewing of each test item.

The achievement scores of students taking a 50‐item multiple choice test on projected‐slides with an exposure time consisting of two separate viewings. During all viewings students were exposed to each test item for 30 seconds.

The achievement scores of students taking a 50‐item multiple choice test on projected‐slides with an exposure time consisting of one 60‐second viewing of each test item.

The study also measured the achievement scores of students tested under one set of conditions and tested again under the exact same set of conditions five weeks later on different content relating to the course (internal consistency).
Tape/Pictures in the Laboratory
Authors: Gaunt H M
Published: October 2006

An account is given of the use of cassette recorders plus colour prints as a teaching aid in a laboratory. There are advantages in the areas of education, organization and ease of implementation.
Bridging the Gap between Teaching and Learning at a Distance
Authors: Nathenson Michael B
Published: October 2006

Unlike teachers in traditional universities, Open University teachers are faced with the very difficult task of having to produce course materials for students learning at a distance. Typically, Open University materials include a number of adjunct teaching aids which encourage students to become actively involved in the learning process (eg, aims and objectives, study guides, self‐assessment questions, in‐text summaries, etc). Unfortunately, few of these teaching aids have been evaluated systematically. Open University teachers simply do not know, for example, whether a list of objectives placed at the beginning of a course unit actually helps students to learn the related material. This paper describes a methodology for helping Open University teachers find out whether the particular teaching practices they adopt are successful. The effectiveness of the methodology is also evaluated.
Open Learning or Open Access? Some questions from the institutional viewpoint
Authors: Davies W J K
Published: October 2006

This paper looks at the current emphasis in open learning from the institutional point of view as the eventual provider. It outlines the current trends towards distance learning, considers the implications of them for institutional organization and compares them with other forms of opening up learning opportunities for individuals. In particular the problems and advantages of various college study schemes are outlined and the implications for individual institutions discussed. The paper draws on what evidence is available but does not attempt to provide solutions.
Television Text: first experiences with a new medium
Authors: Jackson Richard
Published: October 2006

New information services are becoming available for home users. These use the broadcast television channels—as in Teletext—and the public telephone network—as in Viewdata—to make information in the form of text and diagrams available on the screens of domestic television receivers. The viewer has a keyboard so that he or she can choose what to see and when to see it. Such services are expected to grow and further sources of information will become available which use similar display facilities. The main features of these new systems are outlined and an experimental home terminal equipment is described which has been used to explore possible future development in this field.

The displayed text pages are currently limited to a maximum of 960 alphanumeric characters or to simple diagrams. This represents a very small window with which to observe what may be a very large amount of information. Normal search and scanning techniques developed for books and newspapers do not necessarily apply. The paper outlines the methods currently used and their limitations and describes possible further technological development which may be helpful. Other features of the display, such as the restricted paragraph size and the free availability of coloured text are also commented upon. It is concluded that television text is an attractive medium which will play an important role in future communications. New studies of the human factors involved in this medium would be highly desirable.
The Use of Student‐Led Groups or Syndicates in French Literature Courses
Authors: Evans Colin
Published: October 2006

I describe in this article my own development as a university teacher away from reproduction of the methods by which I was taught, from lecture performances in French, using the transmission model, to the heuristic model, using student‐led groups as the core element. I give a description of the mechanics of this method, insisting on the need for detailed planning, carefully designed and formulated tasks and a supportive atmosphere. Finally I look at objections to the method, list what I feel to be the advantages and set it in the context of teaching methods typical of civic universities on the one hand and of Oxbridge on the other.
An Intensive Practical Film Course for Educational Technology Students
Authors: Conway H T , Price E M , Sayers P
Published: October 2006

A practical film course for educational technology students is described. The course is designed as an intensive two‐day ‘immersion’ in film techniques and ideas. It begins with the making of simple 16mm animated cartoon films using transparent film and coloured spirit pens. Synchronized sound is incorporated in a second cartoon. After exercises designed to teach the recognition of ‘shots’, the editing and assembly of previously‐shot Super 8mm film material is set as an individual exercise. A short Super 8 film is then planned by each student and also (working in pairs) a further short advertising‐type film. After basic camera instruction these films are shot, the films being edited at a later date. Student reactions to the course are indicated and simple costing is also included.
The Development and Implications of Frames of Reference in Curriculum Evaluation Programmes: the Experience of a British School of Medicine
Authors: Gale Janet , O'Pray Michael
Published: October 2006

For both practical and theoretical reasons, the evaluation of any educational programme requires the evaluator to make selective decisions about data gathering and interpretation. In particular, he must develop frames of reference within which data collection and interpretation can fulfil its stated role and purpose. This paper describes factors which gave rise to the need for delineation of frames of reference, their derivation and rationale, during a curriculum evaluation programme at a British School of Medicine. The curriculum, the evaluation role and methodology and the derivation of appropriate frames of reference are described and discussed both in practical terms and with regard to wider theories and implications.
An Analysis of the Strategy Used in the Development of a CAL Program in the History of Education
Authors: Beynon A L
Published: October 2006

The author outlines some of the problems involved in developing a CAL program in a non‐science‐based subject and discusses some aspects of the teaching strategy employed. The qualitative aspects of CAL, and its use in the tutorial mode, are described.
Computer‐Assisted Learning and In‐Service Teacher Training
Authors: Gardner John R
Published: October 2006

Beginning in the spring of 1983, a series of in‐service courses in computer‐assisted learning (CAL) for post‐primary schoolteachers was organized under the auspices of the Microelectronics Education Programme (Northern Ireland Region). The courses were presented on a workshop basis and provided the teachers with the opportunity to consider the use of CAL in their teaching. The teachers attending the courses were invited to complete questionnaires which were designed to assess (a) the current level of CAL practice in schools and (b) the effectiveness of the various types of support, including in‐service training, available for teachers interested in developing CAL practice in their teaching. This paper reports on the findings arising from the questionnaires.
A Thesaurus‐Linked Science Question‐Banking System
Authors: Johnson Sandra , Maher Brian
Published: October 2006

A computerized question‐banking system has been developed for use in the APU national assessment in science programme. Search‐relevant information for approximately 3000 science questions is currently machine‐stored; among this information for each question is a set of key terms (up to 30 characters each). Test selection and general browse facilities are available in addition to the usual bank management routines. The power of the browse procedure has lately been dramatically increased by linking a thesaurus‐access option into the system; this allows total flexibility in the assignment of key terms to individual questions while minimizing the possibility of relevant questions being missed in a search involving key term criteria. This paper outlines the implementation and potential uses of the thesaurus‐linked browse procedure.
A Logical Model for Curriculum Development
Authors: Cowan John , Harding Alan G
Published: October 2006

Curriculum development is presented in a model arranged on a logical rather than a chronological basis, with emphasis on process rather than on product or syllabus content. The writers relate various components of the model to recent researches into student learning, and advocate its use as practical assistance for self‐organization when approaching curriculum development tasks.
Developing POPTRAN, a population modelling package
Authors: Henderson Euan , Kinzett Steve , Lockwood Fred
Published: October 2006

Collaboration between subject matter specialists, computer programmers and educational technologists has resulted in the production of POPTRAN, a computer assisted learning package designed to teach the basic concepts of population studies. Its evaluation in developing countries, with both naive and specialist users, and subsequent revision, has produced a package of both academic quality and teaching effectiveness.
How Nigerian teachers select instructional materials
Authors: Ibe‐Bassey George S
Published: October 2006

Instructional systems designers and developers have assumed idealized models and theories about the selection and use of materials for instruction. Such models and theories are based on what teachers should do instead of recognizing what teachers are doing when they select materials for instructions. This study examined how teachers select instructional materials for instruction. When making decisions for selecting and using materials teachers were influenced by the content of lessons taught, and by their professional training, rather than by the stating of behavioural objectives. An integrated instructional design should include a consideration of the mental and intuitive efforts of teachers, and of the qualities of materials during not after the need assessment.
Distance education and the World Bank
Authors: Hawkridge David
Published: October 2006

This article is based on a study undertaken for the Education and Training Department at the World Bank which reviewed 32 Bank projects 1963–1985 that included education via broadcasting (television and/or radio) and by correspondence. It is clear that Bank investments in distance education were most beneficial when the borrowing country and the Bank agreed on the educational objectives of the distance education component. It is also clear that distance education was most effective when it was sharply focussed on improving the quality of teaching available, when it was used to offer non‐formal education to students who were without teachers and classrooms, and/ or when it met social demands and answered urgent needs for formation of human capital through education and training.
Educational technology's metaphors
Authors: Karovsky Penelope
Published: October 2006

This article starts from an assumption that the essence of technology is a realm of discovery. Within this realm, humanity and the tools of technology are engaged in a dialogue. The author challenges the objectivism of technical rationality which fragments this dialogue and replaces people's creativity with rigorous, but often useless, propositions. It suggests that, at least in the field of education, it is time to break away from technical rationality and its accompanying focus on mastery of information.

The author looks at some of educational technology's metaphors and discusses how they reflect determinism and consumerism. She explores an alternative approach, the musical metaphor (Hlynka & Nelson, 1986), which encourages both rigour and creativity. She concludes with an appeal to researchers in the field of educational technology to grapple with new metaphors to help us cope with the exponential growth of information. She further suggests that educational technology need not be limited by the legacy of positivism, but can ally itself with communications technologies and the fine arts.
Evaluating new technology: the case of the Interactive Video in Schools (IVIS) programme
Authors: Morris Nigel , Davies Richard , Beattie Catherine
Published: October 2006

The Interactive Video in Schools (IVIS) programme was evaluated by a team from the Centre for Applied Research in Education. This article is based upon the final report which they prepared for the Department of Trade and Industry and the programme management. It provides a brief description of the programme and its eight projects, followed by an overview of the educational potential of interactive video as evidenced by the programme, a classification of the interactions made available by the IVIS packages, and some consideration of interactive video and educational improvement. The article closes with some of the lessons that emerged from IVIS on how to introduce, support, and evaluate comparable programmes.