What is the Makaton Vocabulary?

Margaret Walker, research speech therapist. Psychiatry of Mental Handicap, London University, and project coordinator, Makaton Vocabulary Development Project, and Dr Aaron Armfield, Professor of Special Education, University of Nebraska at Omaha, describe the Makaton language programme     

Technology and Change

Technology affects education through teaching, research, desktop publishing, rapid communication, management decision‐making and administration, to mention but a few impacts. In this paper the author discusses the ways in which the Computing Policy Committee at the University of Tasmania has sought to introduce technological change in a rapid and controlled manner over the last five years. The paper also discusses future developments in information technology and its likely impact on tertiary institutions in the coming decade.     

Rethinking family (dis)engagement with augmentative & alternative communication

Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) is a core component of special education for many children with learning disabilities and/or autism who have minimal or no speech. Much literature focuses on implementation of AAC in the classroom or therapy setting, but less is known about how AAC is used in the family home. Few studies are authored by an AAC parent/researcher with reflection on positionality, power and the advantages conferred by ‘insider’ status. This paper addresses this gap by exploring the perspectives of five families of minimally verbal children on the place of AAC in their child’s home communication. Semi-structured family interviews were transcribed and subjected to Thematic Analysis. Formal AAC practices such as Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) and Makaton were found to play a limited role in the children’s home communication. Findings indicate three possible explanations: the emotional and relationship-building dimensions of family communication; the competing priorities of family life with a disabled child; and the child’s existing multimodal communication strategies including the use of household objects. These findings offer a preliminary starting point for understanding the emic perspectives of AAC families and reasons for their convergence/divergence with professional attitudes to AAC, and warrant further investigation in larger-scale studies.     

The use of Makaton for supporting talk,through play,for pupils who have English as an Additional Language (EAL) in the Foundation Stage

This study examines the use of Makaton, a language programme based on the use of signing, symbols and speech, as a pedagogic tool to support the development of talk for pupils learning English as an Additional Language (EAL). The research setting was a Reception class with a high percentage of pupils who have EAL in the initial stages of learning English. Observations, questionnaires and interviews were used to collect data to ensure reliability and validity of the conclusions. The findings suggest that Makaton can assist in the development of talk, as the data showed a positive correlation between the use of Makaton and the use of spoken English. This study has implications for practitioners and schools, not only those catering for the specific needs of EAL learners because Makaton® is a skilfully devised programme that is underpinned by the very principles that are documented to support pupils who have EAL.     

对于培养大学生跨文化交际能力问题的新思考

大学生跨文化交际能力的培养是大学英语课程改革的重要目标,是素质教育的必然要求。为研究现阶段大学生跨文化交际能力的现状。笔者在浙江中医药大学非英语专业的学生中进行了问卷调查。问卷调壶结果表明．现阶段大学生的跨文化交际能力与学生在今后的工作环境中,与各国人之间的跨文化交际的实际需要存在昔巨大的矛盾。为了解决该矛盾,笔者提出了采用国际目标语文化教学培养大学生跨文化交际能力。     

Linguistic influences on professional communication and recognition: A study of chemists and engineers in two Quebec universities

Linguistic influences on networks of professional communication and recognition among engineers at two Quebec universities were examined. It was hypothesized that chemists and engineers affiliated with the French medium University of Montreal and the Ecole Polytechnique would be less active in research and more likely to obtain scientific recognition locally and to feel professionally unrecognized outside Quebec compared to their colleagues at McGill University. The findings suggest that the localizing effects of using a medium of scientific training which is not the predominant language of international scientific communication and recognition (French) are ambiguous. Although chemists and engineers at the French medium institutions were less active researchers, their language of professional communication with other scientific communities was English and there was little sense of isolation.This research has been supported by grants from the Canadian Council and the Ecole Polytechnique of Montreal. The authors also wish to thank Miss Madeleine Palmer, Miss Daniella Quiniou and Miss Rosalba Casas for their help in data collection for this paper.     

Self-Injurious Behaviour: A Unitary Phenomenon or a Set of Diverse Behaviours?

The author is head of the department for children with specific behaviour and communication difficulties, Whitefield School, London Borough of Waltham Forest. He is course tutor on the M.Sc. course in special education (autism) jointly run by the school and the Cranfield Institute of Technology. This account of an original research project is based on his thesis for the M.Ed. degree in special education at Manchester University.     

MOOC设计、学生参与和讨论质量的关系研究

MOOC凭借其资源多元化、使用便捷性、参与自主性风靡全球,但已有研究表明MOOC因缺乏面对面的人际交流,其讨论效果难以达到传统教学的效果.以中国大学MOOC平台中的30门课程为研究对象,对这些课程的5750个主题的讨论质量进行打分,运用回归分析法,探索MOOC设计、学习参与和讨论质量的关系.结果表明,教学内容、课程时长...     

一项关于笔语中介语的实证研究

采用定量实证研究的方法,借助社会统计软件Statistical Package for Social Science(简称SPSS),对上海电机学院非英语专业本科学生写作中语法和词汇层面的中介语进行统计并将其进行分类,分析中介语产生的主要原因,发现学生写作中出现的中介语主要是由于语言迁移和语言交际策略所导致的,基于对数据的分析,提出了相应的改进措施,以改进大学英语写作教学。     

UNIVERSITY‐LEVEL GENERAL ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION

The author describes the development of environmental education at Kharkov University in the USSR. The uniqueness of the main programme in general ecodevelopmental education is that its basic disciplinary affiliation is geography, a deliberate choice made by the university authorities’ which the author amply justifies. In the process of explaining this choice, he presents eight theses with regard to the social demand for ecologists and the ecologization of education and what he believes to be the three principal bases for general environmental education at the university level.     

道德教育语境中的道德对话

对话是交往的重要环节,道德交往的主要形式是道德对话。在道德教育语境中,道德对话是人与人之间透过语言进行的平等交流,是人与文本作者之间借助文本内容达到的视界融合,是个体对自我道德意识、道德实践和道德教育活动的反思。在道德对话中,教育者与受教育者达成理解、共鸣与共享,在此基础上共同建构美好的道德生活。     

言语交际中的成就感

本文从讲话者交际成就感的全新视角对言语交际进行了重新诠释。对交际成就感进行了界定,分析了它的心理基础与生理基础,剖析了它的一些二元性特征,划分了它的三个强度等级并探讨了它与年龄之间的关系。     

推销交流论

在研讨推销内涵的基础上，从交流性态的新角度探讨社会流中普遍存在的微循环现象即推销交流现象；尝试按性态将社会交流分成弱态交流、中态交流、强态交流和超强态交流等4种级态，明确定位推销交流为其中的第3级态；首次提出推销交流场的概念，初步给出了由4个交流效应模块构成的推销交流场的定性模型，并研究了它的基本特性。     

多伦多大学的外语教学条件及其启示

文章根据笔者在加拿大多伦多大学学术访问期间对其教学环境和教学条件的了解,从一个侧面阐述该校外语教学条件。良好的教学条件和教师条件给笔者带来这样的启示,我们应借鉴加拿大多伦多大学的成功经验并结合我国的国情,在定位、师生关系、双语教学、信息化建设等方面进行英语教学改革。     

欧洲跨国网络课程学习体验与反思——以瑞典斯德哥尔摩大学“基于ICT的协作交流”课程为对象

近年来欧洲一些国家提供跨校、跨国的学位课程越来越多,以网络课程为依托的课程共享已成为欧洲跨国高等教育的主要模式之一。笔者亲历了由瑞典斯德哥尔摩大学等校共同开设的“基于ICT的协作交流”课程的学习过程。该课程的学习目标是锻炼学习者在多元文化情况下的沟通能力和协作能力。课程主要采用通过网络的个人自学和小组团队学习相结合的方式。笔者总结完成全球性课程的原因主要是,政府对网络学习的重视,拥有发达的信息技术基础设施,拥有成熟的具有较高信息素养的远程学习者,学校对教学各环节的精心组织和设计。当然,全球性课程建设根本保障是欧洲高等教育一体化的发展,成功实施了欧洲学分转换系统,鼓励欧洲各国大学利用各自优势,共同建立世界一流的网络课程。     

浅谈英国开放大学的全日制研究生教育

与英国开放大学著名的远程教育模式相比,她的全日制研究生的教育模式还未被世人所了解和熟悉。针对这一情况并结合作者在该校学习全日制硕士课程的经历和体会,文章介绍了英国开放大学的全日制研究生教育的主要特点、培养模式以及分析了其存在意义。     

Exploring Sign Use in Two Settings

Nicola Grove, speech/language therapist, and Sine McDougall, psychologist, from the Division of Psychiatry of Disability, Department of Mental Health Sciences, St. George's Hospital Medical School, London, explore use of Makaton signs in teacher-directed and free play settings by children with severe learning difficulties.     

台州学院校训文化建设的探索和实践

校训是校园文化的灵魂。台州学院是一所具有深厚办学底蕴的百年老校,通过几年的酝酿徵集,确定了＂澡身浴德修业及时＂的新校训,并以＂五个一＂（一志、一片、一展、一线、一课）文化工程为载体,打造校训文化体系,以丰富多彩的活动为依托,弘扬校训文化精神,取得了很好的实践效果。今后,校训文化应从深化学术、丰富内容、扩大交流等方面加强建设。     

语用迁移与交际效应

语用迁移是跨文化交际中常见的语言现象,它无时不在影响着人们的交际效应。因此语用迁移一直是语际语用学研究领域颇有争议的论题。通常认为正语用迁移产生正交际效应,负语用迁移产生负交际效应。但是,在真实的跨文化交际中,正语用迁移并非一定会保证交际的成功,负语用迁移也并非一定会导致交际的失败。本文重点探讨正、负语用迁移的交际效应,尤其是负语用迁移的正交际效应。