title: The teaching of reading in English in Taiwan: A case study involving sustained silent reading

authors: Su, Chee

subjects: Taiwan

abstract: Krashen (1992) has proposed an approach to the teaching of reading in second/ foreign languages which he refers to as 'free voluntary reading' (FVR). This is essentially in-class 'sustained silent reading' (SSR) conducted according to a number of 'principles'. This approach has now been used for several years in various institutions in Taiwan. The aims of the research reported here were (a) to evaluate, in the context of an English reading program conducted in a Taiwanese educational institution, the effectiveness of this approach in relation to both reading comprehension development and attitudes towards reading in English, and (b) to determine whether there was any correlation between the effectiveness of the program in particular instances and students' learning styles. The results indicate that although the students who were involved in a free voluntary reading program did express increased interest in reading in English and although their progress (in terms of reading comprehension development) matched that of students following a different reading program after one year, their progress after two years of exposure to the programme was significantly lower than that of the students following a skills-based reading program. No correlation was found between student learning style preferences and the effectiveness of the free voluntary reading program.

text: The teaching of reading in English in Taiwan: A case study involving sustained silent reading Krashen (1992) has proposed an approach to the teaching of reading in second/ foreign languages which he refers to as 'free voluntary reading' (FVR). This is essentially in-class 'sustained silent reading' (SSR) conducted according to a number of 'principles'. This approach has now been used for several years in various institutions in Taiwan. The aims of the research reported here were (a) to evaluate, in the context of an English reading program conducted in a Taiwanese educational institution, the effectiveness of this approach in relation to both reading comprehension development and attitudes towards reading in English, and (b) to determine whether there was any correlation between the effectiveness of the program in particular instances and students' learning styles. The results indicate that although the students who were involved in a free voluntary reading program did express increased interest in reading in English and although their progress (in terms of reading comprehension development) matched that of students following a different reading program after one year, their progress after two years of exposure to the programme was significantly lower than that of the students following a skills-based reading program. No correlation was found between student learning style preferences and the effectiveness of the free voluntary reading program.

year: 2008-02

title: The Determinants of Customer Perceptions in a Dynamic Business Environment: An Exploratory Analysis of the ASP Business Model

authors: Liang, Yan-Mei (AMY)

subjects: ASP

abstract: Outsourcing attracted much attention in 1989 when Kodak outsourced its data center operation to IBM (International Business Machines Corp.).  Nowadays, this strategy has become more popular.  At the beginning of this century, the ASP (Application Service Provider) model was considered one of the typical solutions of Internet-based IT (Information Technology) outsourcing.  Although this model has been transformed and renamed (e.g. SaaS - Software as a Service), the principle concept of providing IT service through the Internet or wide area network is still there.
This study attempts to explore the determinants of customer perception of Internet-based IT outsourcing by obtaining a comprehensive understanding of the ASP model. The research dimensions not only include factors affecting users' perception of service quality but also ASP business position (i.e. the firm origin of ASP and its provider type) and services utilized by the customers.  Through the study of firm history, two important theoretical themes of this research - path-dependence and Ansoff's product/ market growth matrix - are taken account of in exploring the influence of the determinants.
Web-based questionnaire survey research is conducted together with a documentation study to collect data.  Targeting the customers of the top 50 ASPs selected by ASPnews.com during the period 2001-2004, the researcher contacted 597 potential respondents, and 196 responses were returned.  The valid sample consisted of 175 responses, and 124 of them not only provided full information for satisfaction evaluation but also the information for tracking their ASP vendors' business position.
The GLM (General Linear Model) and the Pearson correlation coefficient were the major statistical approaches used to evaluate the survey data for developing a structural model.  The research findings indicated that the factors associated with service competitiveness, such as capability and performance, reliability and trustworthiness, affordability, integration and customization, have positive effects on customer perceived satisfaction; whereas lock-in has a negative effect.  More specifically, the origin of the ASP firm has a direct effect on capacity and performance, and also directly influences the use of IT adoption services.  Based on this finding, a descriptive analysis and qualitative research shows that two mechanisms for path-dependence - existing expertise and perceived expertise - can affect the satisfaction level of capacity and performance of ASP services.  On the other hand, provider type has a direct effect on affordability and also directly influences the use of facility supporting services.  On this basis, another two mechanisms for path-dependence - transaction cost and standardization - can indirectly impact customer's perception of this business model via affordability.  In addition to those major findings, some other determinants (e.g. software applications, brand of applications, and intensity of service used) were also identified in this study.
The study result can be used for theoretical understanding about the determinants of ASP customer's perception.  It not only indicates a new perspective to enhance the current body of research on this topic, but can also be more broadly applied to any fast-growth firm, rapid-change business, or technology intensive industry.
Acknowledgements
I would like to sincerely thank the following people for their contribution to this research project.
Dr. Scott Koslow, my chief supervisor, for his continued encouragement, patience and guidance to ensure the completion of this project. His speciality in statistics has provided appropriate and valuable guidance in the data analysis for my research. 
Dr. Steven Lim, my second supervisor, for his advice, coherence, and support over the years. I also appreciate his constructive comments on my drafts and the shaping of my research.
Dr. Bob McQueen and Dr. Jim Corner, for their assistance and advice in the early stages of my study.
My parents, Yu-Ho and Lee-Chiung Liang, and my brother Ken, my sisters Annie, Eva, and Nancy, my brothers-in-law, J.C. and Chen, and Alice, my sister-in-law, for their emotional support throughout the length of my study.
I also thank Bessie, my best friend for her assistance in data collection and her loving support, as well as Ted, Kevin, Mark, Frank, and Shirley, my study mates for their encouragement and friendship.
Special thanks goes to Dr. Kuang-Ya Wang, the principal of Yu Da High School of Commerce and Home Economics, Taiwan, and also to the staff over there for their concern and assistance in data collection.
Most importantly, my heartfelt appreciation goes to Warren, my husband. I am deeply grateful to him for his understanding, patience, and practical help. Without his enduring support I could not have done this study.
Finally, my thanks and gratitude goes to those people who patiently answered my survey questionnaire as their kind assistance made it possible to complete this research.

text: The Determinants of Customer Perceptions in a Dynamic Business Environment: An Exploratory Analysis of the ASP Business Model Outsourcing attracted much attention in 1989 when Kodak outsourced its data center operation to IBM (International Business Machines Corp.).  Nowadays, this strategy has become more popular.  At the beginning of this century, the ASP (Application Service Provider) model was considered one of the typical solutions of Internet-based IT (Information Technology) outsourcing.  Although this model has been transformed and renamed (e.g. SaaS - Software as a Service), the principle concept of providing IT service through the Internet or wide area network is still there.
This study attempts to explore the determinants of customer perception of Internet-based IT outsourcing by obtaining a comprehensive understanding of the ASP model. The research dimensions not only include factors affecting users' perception of service quality but also ASP business position (i.e. the firm origin of ASP and its provider type) and services utilized by the customers.  Through the study of firm history, two important theoretical themes of this research - path-dependence and Ansoff's product/ market growth matrix - are taken account of in exploring the influence of the determinants.
Web-based questionnaire survey research is conducted together with a documentation study to collect data.  Targeting the customers of the top 50 ASPs selected by ASPnews.com during the period 2001-2004, the researcher contacted 597 potential respondents, and 196 responses were returned.  The valid sample consisted of 175 responses, and 124 of them not only provided full information for satisfaction evaluation but also the information for tracking their ASP vendors' business position.
The GLM (General Linear Model) and the Pearson correlation coefficient were the major statistical approaches used to evaluate the survey data for developing a structural model.  The research findings indicated that the factors associated with service competitiveness, such as capability and performance, reliability and trustworthiness, affordability, integration and customization, have positive effects on customer perceived satisfaction; whereas lock-in has a negative effect.  More specifically, the origin of the ASP firm has a direct effect on capacity and performance, and also directly influences the use of IT adoption services.  Based on this finding, a descriptive analysis and qualitative research shows that two mechanisms for path-dependence - existing expertise and perceived expertise - can affect the satisfaction level of capacity and performance of ASP services.  On the other hand, provider type has a direct effect on affordability and also directly influences the use of facility supporting services.  On this basis, another two mechanisms for path-dependence - transaction cost and standardization - can indirectly impact customer's perception of this business model via affordability.  In addition to those major findings, some other determinants (e.g. software applications, brand of applications, and intensity of service used) were also identified in this study.
The study result can be used for theoretical understanding about the determinants of ASP customer's perception.  It not only indicates a new perspective to enhance the current body of research on this topic, but can also be more broadly applied to any fast-growth firm, rapid-change business, or technology intensive industry.
Acknowledgements
I would like to sincerely thank the following people for their contribution to this research project.
Dr. Scott Koslow, my chief supervisor, for his continued encouragement, patience and guidance to ensure the completion of this project. His speciality in statistics has provided appropriate and valuable guidance in the data analysis for my research. 
Dr. Steven Lim, my second supervisor, for his advice, coherence, and support over the years. I also appreciate his constructive comments on my drafts and the shaping of my research.
Dr. Bob McQueen and Dr. Jim Corner, for their assistance and advice in the early stages of my study.
My parents, Yu-Ho and Lee-Chiung Liang, and my brother Ken, my sisters Annie, Eva, and Nancy, my brothers-in-law, J.C. and Chen, and Alice, my sister-in-law, for their emotional support throughout the length of my study.
I also thank Bessie, my best friend for her assistance in data collection and her loving support, as well as Ted, Kevin, Mark, Frank, and Shirley, my study mates for their encouragement and friendship.
Special thanks goes to Dr. Kuang-Ya Wang, the principal of Yu Da High School of Commerce and Home Economics, Taiwan, and also to the staff over there for their concern and assistance in data collection.
Most importantly, my heartfelt appreciation goes to Warren, my husband. I am deeply grateful to him for his understanding, patience, and practical help. Without his enduring support I could not have done this study.
Finally, my thanks and gratitude goes to those people who patiently answered my survey questionnaire as their kind assistance made it possible to complete this research.

year: 2008

title: George Lipsey: a Pakeha Maori who married Ema Mokena, daughter of mokena hou, and some of their children

authors: Hart, Philip

abstract: George Lipsey, an Irishman, went to the early Thames goldfield and became a publican. He soon acquired close links with Maori, notably with Ema Mokena, the younger daughter of Mokena Hou. After having two children, they married under Pakeha law just before the opening of the Te Aroha field, thereby ensuring that he was entitled to share in the goldfield’s revenue. From 1873 onwards he had been living at Te Aroha as a Pakeha Maori, erecting the first wooden house and the first Hot Springs Hotel. When gold was found, he encouraged Mokena Hou to open the field, and subsequently invested in the mines (as did Ema, to a much smaller extent). 
Ema and her two eldest children were granted land in a rapidly developing settlement, and the income received from leasing it enabled Lipsey to erect a substantial residence and to be a benefactor of the new settlement by donating land for churches and a school. A sympathetic landlord, he adjusted the rents to assist residents but opposed giving them the freehold because the land was held in trust for his two eldest children. Despite his steady income, his expenditure regularly exceeded it, and he ended up selling land, though not at first at Te Aroha. Initially opposed to his children selling their land, he came to accept this as being necessary, and spent years trying to obtain the highest prices possible from the government.
A leading figure in the local community, he held several local government positions. Sociable, with a fondness for drink that was usually under control, he was especially enthusiastic about horse-racing. As the spokesman for Ngati Rahiri, he advised the latter and was an interpreter.
All their children were educated, but some died tragically early deaths. After he died, the children sold their land because they needed money to develop their farms.

text: George Lipsey: a Pakeha Maori who married Ema Mokena, daughter of mokena hou, and some of their children George Lipsey, an Irishman, went to the early Thames goldfield and became a publican. He soon acquired close links with Maori, notably with Ema Mokena, the younger daughter of Mokena Hou. After having two children, they married under Pakeha law just before the opening of the Te Aroha field, thereby ensuring that he was entitled to share in the goldfield’s revenue. From 1873 onwards he had been living at Te Aroha as a Pakeha Maori, erecting the first wooden house and the first Hot Springs Hotel. When gold was found, he encouraged Mokena Hou to open the field, and subsequently invested in the mines (as did Ema, to a much smaller extent). 
Ema and her two eldest children were granted land in a rapidly developing settlement, and the income received from leasing it enabled Lipsey to erect a substantial residence and to be a benefactor of the new settlement by donating land for churches and a school. A sympathetic landlord, he adjusted the rents to assist residents but opposed giving them the freehold because the land was held in trust for his two eldest children. Despite his steady income, his expenditure regularly exceeded it, and he ended up selling land, though not at first at Te Aroha. Initially opposed to his children selling their land, he came to accept this as being necessary, and spent years trying to obtain the highest prices possible from the government.
A leading figure in the local community, he held several local government positions. Sociable, with a fondness for drink that was usually under control, he was especially enthusiastic about horse-racing. As the spokesman for Ngati Rahiri, he advised the latter and was an interpreter.
All their children were educated, but some died tragically early deaths. After he died, the children sold their land because they needed money to develop their farms.

year: 2016