title: Phonological awareness and alphabet knowledge in the acquisition of literacy skills

authors: Blaiklock, Kenneth E.

subjects: English language Acquisition

abstract: The nature of the relationship between phonological awareness and the acquisition of literacy was investigated in a longitudinal study of 29 children during their first two years at school. At the beginning of the study, when all children were nonreaders, syllable awareness was the strongest predictor of later word reading and spelling. During the first year, correlations from rhyme or alliteration awareness to later literacy were significant over intervals of two or three months. Correlations in the other direction, that is, from literacy to later rhyme or alliteration awareness were also significant over these periods. These results support the notion that early awareness of syllables, rhyme, and alliteration has a small facilitative effect on the first months of learning to read and spell, after which time a reciprocal relationship develops. Children were unable to score on both measures of phoneme awareness until after they could read a number of words. From half way through the first year, significant correlations were often found from phoneme awareness to later literacy. Correlations in the other direction, that is, from literacy to later phoneme awareness, were also significant. These results are consistent with phoneme awareness initially being a consequence of learning to read and write, and then having a reciprocal relationship with literacy. Controlling for verbal ability or phonological memory made little difference to the size of the correlations between measures of phonological awareness and literacy. Controlling for letter knowledge, however, often resulted in substantial reductions in the size of the correlations. Letter knowledge was frequently a strong predictor of later literacy. It is argued that letter knowledge has a central role in the development of literacy skills and in the relationship between phonological awareness and literacy.

text: Phonological awareness and alphabet knowledge in the acquisition of literacy skills The nature of the relationship between phonological awareness and the acquisition of literacy was investigated in a longitudinal study of 29 children during their first two years at school. At the beginning of the study, when all children were nonreaders, syllable awareness was the strongest predictor of later word reading and spelling. During the first year, correlations from rhyme or alliteration awareness to later literacy were significant over intervals of two or three months. Correlations in the other direction, that is, from literacy to later rhyme or alliteration awareness were also significant over these periods. These results support the notion that early awareness of syllables, rhyme, and alliteration has a small facilitative effect on the first months of learning to read and spell, after which time a reciprocal relationship develops. Children were unable to score on both measures of phoneme awareness until after they could read a number of words. From half way through the first year, significant correlations were often found from phoneme awareness to later literacy. Correlations in the other direction, that is, from literacy to later phoneme awareness, were also significant. These results are consistent with phoneme awareness initially being a consequence of learning to read and write, and then having a reciprocal relationship with literacy. Controlling for verbal ability or phonological memory made little difference to the size of the correlations between measures of phonological awareness and literacy. Controlling for letter knowledge, however, often resulted in substantial reductions in the size of the correlations. Letter knowledge was frequently a strong predictor of later literacy. It is argued that letter knowledge has a central role in the development of literacy skills and in the relationship between phonological awareness and literacy.

year: 1999

title: Convergence in floodplain pond communities indicates different pathways to community assembly

authors: Chanut, P. C. M.

subjects: Disturbance

abstract: Disturbance can strongly influence ecosystems, yet much remains unknown about the relative importance of key processes (selection, drift, and dispersal) in the recovery of ecological communities following disturbance. We combined field surveys with a field experiment to elucidate mechanisms governing the recovery of aquatic macroinvertebrates in habitats of an alluvial floodplain following flood disturbance. We monitored macroinvertebrates in 24 natural parafluvial habitats over 60 days after a major flood, as well as the colonization of 24 newly-built ponds by macroinvertebrates over 45 days in the same floodplain. We examined the sources of environmental variation and their relative effects on aquatic assemblages using a combination of null models and Mantel tests. We also used a joint species distribution model to investigate the importance of primary metacommunity structuring processes during recovery: selection, dispersal, and drift. Contrary to expectations, we found that beta diversity actually decreased among natural habitats over time after the flood or the creation of the ponds, instead of increasing. This result was despite environmental predictors showing contrasting patterns for explaining community variation over time in the natural habitats compared with the experimental ponds. Flood heterogeneity across the floodplain and spatial scale differences between the experimental ponds and the natural habitats seemingly constrained the balance between deterministic and stochastic processes driving the ecological convergence of assemblages over time. While environmental selection was the dominant structuring process in both groups, biotic interactions also had a prominent influence on community assembly. These findings have profound implications towards understanding metacommunity structuring in riverscapes that includes common linkages between disturbance heterogeneity, spatial scale properties, and community composition.

text: Convergence in floodplain pond communities indicates different pathways to community assembly Disturbance can strongly influence ecosystems, yet much remains unknown about the relative importance of key processes (selection, drift, and dispersal) in the recovery of ecological communities following disturbance. We combined field surveys with a field experiment to elucidate mechanisms governing the recovery of aquatic macroinvertebrates in habitats of an alluvial floodplain following flood disturbance. We monitored macroinvertebrates in 24 natural parafluvial habitats over 60 days after a major flood, as well as the colonization of 24 newly-built ponds by macroinvertebrates over 45 days in the same floodplain. We examined the sources of environmental variation and their relative effects on aquatic assemblages using a combination of null models and Mantel tests. We also used a joint species distribution model to investigate the importance of primary metacommunity structuring processes during recovery: selection, dispersal, and drift. Contrary to expectations, we found that beta diversity actually decreased among natural habitats over time after the flood or the creation of the ponds, instead of increasing. This result was despite environmental predictors showing contrasting patterns for explaining community variation over time in the natural habitats compared with the experimental ponds. Flood heterogeneity across the floodplain and spatial scale differences between the experimental ponds and the natural habitats seemingly constrained the balance between deterministic and stochastic processes driving the ecological convergence of assemblages over time. While environmental selection was the dominant structuring process in both groups, biotic interactions also had a prominent influence on community assembly. These findings have profound implications towards understanding metacommunity structuring in riverscapes that includes common linkages between disturbance heterogeneity, spatial scale properties, and community composition.

year: 2023

title: Aihe Pepene

authors: Hart, Philip

abstract: Sharing the same illustrious whakapapa as his brother Reha Aperahama, Aihe Pepene was prominent when living in the Thames district before settling at Te Aroha in 1878. When speculators tried to acquire the Thames foreshore from Pepene and others in 1870, he became involved in the subsequent legal actions over unpaid promissory notes. Later he would acquire interests in many blocks of land, and received a steady income by leasing or selling these plus his share in the goldfields revenue. When the Aroha Block was considered by the land court for the last time, in 1878, he conducted the case for Ngati Rahiri.
He invested in four Hauraki goldfields, and was briefly an owner and skipper of two small river steamers, an unsuccessful endeavour that resulted in his being forced to sell more land to meet his debts. Once his 1880 and 1881 financial difficulties were resolved, no more such problems recurred. 
A leading rangatira in Hauraki generally as well as at Te Aroha, he would be elected to a Maori Committee that was soon revealed to have no significance. Closely involved with Pakeha, he assisted settlement, and his loyalty to the Crown was illustrated by his becoming an officer in the Thames Native Volunteer Corps. A member of the Church of England for many years, like many Maori he became a Mormon, a faith perhaps more appropriate to his private life, for he had more than one wife, notoriously eloping with the wife of a more senior rangatira despite already being married.

text: Aihe Pepene Sharing the same illustrious whakapapa as his brother Reha Aperahama, Aihe Pepene was prominent when living in the Thames district before settling at Te Aroha in 1878. When speculators tried to acquire the Thames foreshore from Pepene and others in 1870, he became involved in the subsequent legal actions over unpaid promissory notes. Later he would acquire interests in many blocks of land, and received a steady income by leasing or selling these plus his share in the goldfields revenue. When the Aroha Block was considered by the land court for the last time, in 1878, he conducted the case for Ngati Rahiri.
He invested in four Hauraki goldfields, and was briefly an owner and skipper of two small river steamers, an unsuccessful endeavour that resulted in his being forced to sell more land to meet his debts. Once his 1880 and 1881 financial difficulties were resolved, no more such problems recurred. 
A leading rangatira in Hauraki generally as well as at Te Aroha, he would be elected to a Maori Committee that was soon revealed to have no significance. Closely involved with Pakeha, he assisted settlement, and his loyalty to the Crown was illustrated by his becoming an officer in the Thames Native Volunteer Corps. A member of the Church of England for many years, like many Maori he became a Mormon, a faith perhaps more appropriate to his private life, for he had more than one wife, notoriously eloping with the wife of a more senior rangatira despite already being married.

year: 2016