title: Cognitive genre prototype modelling and its implications for the teaching of academic writing to learners of English as a second language

authors: Bruce, Ian

abstract: The overall aim of this research project is to identify and analyse recurring prototypical discourse patterns in academic writing in English in order to inform the teaching of writing for academic purposes to non English-speaking background (NESB) students. 

Chapter 1 presents the motivation for the thesis, and outlines the aims, objectives, and research methods. Two concepts for the classification of discourse are proposed cognitive genre and social genre. In relation to the former, four prototypes (termed Rhetorical Types), characteristic of written academic discourse, are identified. 

Chapter 2 reviews a number of approaches to the categorisation of discourse, beginning with classical rhetoric, and tracing the progress of discourse-classification constructs over time, focusing primarily on cognitive rather than social genre.

Chapter 3 critically reviews recent pedagogic approaches to the classification of extended written discourse in terms of social genre. These focus, at a macro-level, on overall organisational structure and, at a micro-level, on linguistic features. It is concluded that any adequate construct for classifying extended written discourse also needs to involve cognitive frameworks that organise knowledge (see Chapter 4).

Chapter 4 reviews cognitive approaches to the classification of knowledge and seeks to establish the centrality of knowledge-organising prototypes and prototype-internal, procedural knowledge and to relate these to the cognitive organisation of written discourse.

Chapter 5 proposes a cognitive model for the organisation of procedural knowledge in written academic discourse in English. On the basis of this model, four types of cognitive genre (referred to here as Rhetorical Types) commonly drawn upon in the structuring of academic discourse are discussed. They are: Report, Explanation, Recount, and Discussion. The relationship between the Rhetorical Type construct (as a cognitive genre) and the concept of social genre is also discussed.

Chapter 6 examines each aspect of the Rhetorical Type model proposed earlier (see Chapter 5) in terms of its occurrence in a corpus of academic texts and by reference to sample texts from the corpus. 

Chapter 7 reports on two studies. The first involves examining samples of native-speaker and non-native-speaker writing in terms of the model proposed in Chapters 5 and 6. In the second, the model ratings of a small number of scripts (from the first study) are compared with grades assigned to the same scripts by two expert raters unfamiliar with the model.

Chapter 8 provides an overview of the research, and discusses its implications for the teaching and learning of English as a second language.

text: Cognitive genre prototype modelling and its implications for the teaching of academic writing to learners of English as a second language The overall aim of this research project is to identify and analyse recurring prototypical discourse patterns in academic writing in English in order to inform the teaching of writing for academic purposes to non English-speaking background (NESB) students. 

Chapter 1 presents the motivation for the thesis, and outlines the aims, objectives, and research methods. Two concepts for the classification of discourse are proposed cognitive genre and social genre. In relation to the former, four prototypes (termed Rhetorical Types), characteristic of written academic discourse, are identified. 

Chapter 2 reviews a number of approaches to the categorisation of discourse, beginning with classical rhetoric, and tracing the progress of discourse-classification constructs over time, focusing primarily on cognitive rather than social genre.

Chapter 3 critically reviews recent pedagogic approaches to the classification of extended written discourse in terms of social genre. These focus, at a macro-level, on overall organisational structure and, at a micro-level, on linguistic features. It is concluded that any adequate construct for classifying extended written discourse also needs to involve cognitive frameworks that organise knowledge (see Chapter 4).

Chapter 4 reviews cognitive approaches to the classification of knowledge and seeks to establish the centrality of knowledge-organising prototypes and prototype-internal, procedural knowledge and to relate these to the cognitive organisation of written discourse.

Chapter 5 proposes a cognitive model for the organisation of procedural knowledge in written academic discourse in English. On the basis of this model, four types of cognitive genre (referred to here as Rhetorical Types) commonly drawn upon in the structuring of academic discourse are discussed. They are: Report, Explanation, Recount, and Discussion. The relationship between the Rhetorical Type construct (as a cognitive genre) and the concept of social genre is also discussed.

Chapter 6 examines each aspect of the Rhetorical Type model proposed earlier (see Chapter 5) in terms of its occurrence in a corpus of academic texts and by reference to sample texts from the corpus. 

Chapter 7 reports on two studies. The first involves examining samples of native-speaker and non-native-speaker writing in terms of the model proposed in Chapters 5 and 6. In the second, the model ratings of a small number of scripts (from the first study) are compared with grades assigned to the same scripts by two expert raters unfamiliar with the model.

Chapter 8 provides an overview of the research, and discusses its implications for the teaching and learning of English as a second language.

year: 2003

title: The Darwin Continuum: The Influence of Charles Darwin on Victorian and Neo-Victorian Fiction

authors: Nelson, Emma Ashley-Rose

subjects: Charles Darwin

abstract: Abstract

In 1859 Charles Darwin challenged the Victorian worldview with his first controversial publication, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection. The Victorian understanding of species-relatedness had primarily rested on the biblical idea of species-specific design by God, in which animals are considered wholly separate, and unrelated to, the human species. The Origin outlines the conflicting theory of evolution by natural selection, whereby animal species descend from one another over time, in response to factors such as climate, resource availability, and competition. Darwin thus suggests the mutability and connectivity of species. The Origin does not explicitly address human evolution. It does, however, imply that humanity is not exempt from possessing animal ancestry. The apparent need for empathy, respect and equality across all species is emphasised. Human evolution was given greater attention in Darwin’s second work, The Descent of Man and, and Selection in Relation to Sex (1871).		
Herbert Spencer regarded natural selection as the ‘survival of the fittest’, a term which Darwin adopted in his fifth edition of The Origin in 1869. Described within The Origin as the survival of those better adapted for an immediate local environment, Darwin did not intend for the idea to transcend biology. Spencer, however, believed that survival of the fittest could be applied to sociology, and thus, as Social Darwinism, it became connected to ideas of racial superiority, eugenics, and justified genocide. 							
This thesis aims to analyse the nature of Darwin’s influence on novelists from the nineteenth century to present day. Of particular focus is how his ideas are represented and, on occasion, altered in the work of creative writers. The first half of this thesis focuses on late nineteenth-century authors writing in the immediate wake of The Origin. These novelists were inevitably influenced by Darwin’s ideas. Their fiction reflects both the Victorian fascination with Darwin, and the cultural, social, and theological unease that his theories stirred. Chapter One examines H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine (1895), The Island of Dr. Moreau (1896), and War of the Worlds (1898), highlighting Wells’ intimate knowledge of Darwin’s theories, but also Wells’ anxieties about devolution and extinction. In Chapter Two attention turns to five late nineteenth and early twentieth-century novelists writing scientific romances and gothic fiction. Charles Kingsley’s Water Babies (1863), Samuel Butler’s Erewhon (1872), Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886), Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897), and Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World (1912) all exhibit respect for Darwin as a scientist, whilst also echoing Wells’ anxieties for the possible degeneration and regression of humanity. 								Having established these nineteenth-century contexts, I then move forward more than a century to explore neo-Victorian re-imaginings of Darwin and his ideas. Chapter Three focuses on The French Lieutenant’s Woman (1969) by John Fowles; Morpho Eugenia (1992) by A.S. Byatt; This Thing of Darkness (2005) by Harry Thompson; The Darwin Conspiracy by John Darnton (2005); and The Naturalist (2014) by Thom Conroy. These works showcase contemporary acceptance of many of Darwin’s views. Repulsion towards the way in which Darwin’s theories were applied in relation to issues of race creates a tension in these works, with Darwin perpetually mediated through a late twentieth and early twenty-first century lens. A similar self-reflexivity is evident in the Steampunk authors discussed in Chapter Four. In K.W. Jeter's Morlock Night (1979), Scott Westerfeld's Leviathan trilogy (2009-2011), and Mark Hodder's The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack (2010), however, the seriousness of the neo-Victorians gives way to a playful spirit of fun.

text: The Darwin Continuum: The Influence of Charles Darwin on Victorian and Neo-Victorian Fiction Abstract

In 1859 Charles Darwin challenged the Victorian worldview with his first controversial publication, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection. The Victorian understanding of species-relatedness had primarily rested on the biblical idea of species-specific design by God, in which animals are considered wholly separate, and unrelated to, the human species. The Origin outlines the conflicting theory of evolution by natural selection, whereby animal species descend from one another over time, in response to factors such as climate, resource availability, and competition. Darwin thus suggests the mutability and connectivity of species. The Origin does not explicitly address human evolution. It does, however, imply that humanity is not exempt from possessing animal ancestry. The apparent need for empathy, respect and equality across all species is emphasised. Human evolution was given greater attention in Darwin’s second work, The Descent of Man and, and Selection in Relation to Sex (1871).		
Herbert Spencer regarded natural selection as the ‘survival of the fittest’, a term which Darwin adopted in his fifth edition of The Origin in 1869. Described within The Origin as the survival of those better adapted for an immediate local environment, Darwin did not intend for the idea to transcend biology. Spencer, however, believed that survival of the fittest could be applied to sociology, and thus, as Social Darwinism, it became connected to ideas of racial superiority, eugenics, and justified genocide. 							
This thesis aims to analyse the nature of Darwin’s influence on novelists from the nineteenth century to present day. Of particular focus is how his ideas are represented and, on occasion, altered in the work of creative writers. The first half of this thesis focuses on late nineteenth-century authors writing in the immediate wake of The Origin. These novelists were inevitably influenced by Darwin’s ideas. Their fiction reflects both the Victorian fascination with Darwin, and the cultural, social, and theological unease that his theories stirred. Chapter One examines H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine (1895), The Island of Dr. Moreau (1896), and War of the Worlds (1898), highlighting Wells’ intimate knowledge of Darwin’s theories, but also Wells’ anxieties about devolution and extinction. In Chapter Two attention turns to five late nineteenth and early twentieth-century novelists writing scientific romances and gothic fiction. Charles Kingsley’s Water Babies (1863), Samuel Butler’s Erewhon (1872), Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886), Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897), and Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World (1912) all exhibit respect for Darwin as a scientist, whilst also echoing Wells’ anxieties for the possible degeneration and regression of humanity. 								Having established these nineteenth-century contexts, I then move forward more than a century to explore neo-Victorian re-imaginings of Darwin and his ideas. Chapter Three focuses on The French Lieutenant’s Woman (1969) by John Fowles; Morpho Eugenia (1992) by A.S. Byatt; This Thing of Darkness (2005) by Harry Thompson; The Darwin Conspiracy by John Darnton (2005); and The Naturalist (2014) by Thom Conroy. These works showcase contemporary acceptance of many of Darwin’s views. Repulsion towards the way in which Darwin’s theories were applied in relation to issues of race creates a tension in these works, with Darwin perpetually mediated through a late twentieth and early twenty-first century lens. A similar self-reflexivity is evident in the Steampunk authors discussed in Chapter Four. In K.W. Jeter's Morlock Night (1979), Scott Westerfeld's Leviathan trilogy (2009-2011), and Mark Hodder's The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack (2010), however, the seriousness of the neo-Victorians gives way to a playful spirit of fun.

year: 2015

title: Mā mahi, ka ora: by work, we prosper--traditional healers and workforce development.

authors: Ahuriri-Driscoll, Annabel

subjects: Adult

abstract: AIM: Rongoā Māori practitioners make a valuable contribution towards Māori health outcomes, albeit with limited resourcing or formal training. This paper reports on a survey of healers/healing practices-specifically healers' aspirations for professional development and training-and considers the implications for healing practice and future training undertakings. 
METHODS: Healers in seven districts around the country were surveyed about rongoā practice and service delivery during 2013. Consenting healers completed surveys either in person, via phone, or returned them via post, according to their preference and convenience. Resulting data were analysed and reported according to frequency of responses. 
RESULTS: Thirty-eight healers/rongoā clinics completed the survey--a 79% response rate. Respondents were primarily Māori (88%), female (69%), aged 50 years or older (60%), and worked as volunteers. Informal training modes focused on te reo, mātauranga and tikanga were the most common means of skill/ knowledge acquisition, and preferred modes for further training. 
CONCLUSIONS: The survey highlights the pressing need for expansion of the rongoā Māori workforce and training/service funding, to sustain rongoā practice. The findings add to what little is known about the training pathways and aspirations of practising healers, identified targets of the Māori Health Workforce Development Plan 2006.

text: Mā mahi, ka ora: by work, we prosper--traditional healers and workforce development. AIM: Rongoā Māori practitioners make a valuable contribution towards Māori health outcomes, albeit with limited resourcing or formal training. This paper reports on a survey of healers/healing practices-specifically healers' aspirations for professional development and training-and considers the implications for healing practice and future training undertakings. 
METHODS: Healers in seven districts around the country were surveyed about rongoā practice and service delivery during 2013. Consenting healers completed surveys either in person, via phone, or returned them via post, according to their preference and convenience. Resulting data were analysed and reported according to frequency of responses. 
RESULTS: Thirty-eight healers/rongoā clinics completed the survey--a 79% response rate. Respondents were primarily Māori (88%), female (69%), aged 50 years or older (60%), and worked as volunteers. Informal training modes focused on te reo, mātauranga and tikanga were the most common means of skill/ knowledge acquisition, and preferred modes for further training. 
CONCLUSIONS: The survey highlights the pressing need for expansion of the rongoā Māori workforce and training/service funding, to sustain rongoā practice. The findings add to what little is known about the training pathways and aspirations of practising healers, identified targets of the Māori Health Workforce Development Plan 2006.

year: 2015