The ABCs of New Zealand Sign Language: Aerial Spelling

Aerial spelling is the term given here for the way many deaf people in New Zealand, especially the elderly, manually represent letters of the alphabet. It is simply a system using the index finger to write letter(s) "in the air" and is an integral part of New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL). Unfortunately, recent research into NZSL is either dismissive of it or fails to acknowledge it. This article describes aerial spelling and discusses its nature, as well as its indifferent treatment in current literature.     

Measures of Kindergarten Spelling and Their Relations to Later Spelling Performance

Learning the orthographic forms of words is important for both spelling and reading. To determine whether some methods of scoring children’s early spellings predict later spelling performance better than do other methods, we analyzed data from 374 U.S. and Australian children who took a 10-word spelling test at the end of kindergarten (M age = 6 years 2 months) and a standardized spelling test approximately 2 years later. Surprisingly, scoring methods that took account of phonological plausibility did not outperform methods that were based only on orthographic correctness. The scoring method that is most widely used in research with young children, which allots a certain number of points to each word and which considers both orthographic and phonological plausibility, did not rise to the top as a predictor. Prediction of Grade 2 spelling performance was improved to a small extent by considering children’s tendency to reverse letters in kindergarten.     

Defining Personal Epistemology: A Response to Hofer & Pintrich (1997) and Sandoval (2005)

Some researchers, including B. K. Hofer and P. R. Pintrich (1997) Hofer, B. K. and Pintrich, P. R. 1997. The development of epistemological theories: Beliefs about knowledge and knowing and their relation to learning.. Review of Educational Research, 67(1): 88–140. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar] and W. A. Sandoval (2005) Sandoval, W. A. 2005. Understanding students' practical epistemologies and their influence on learning through inquiry.. Science Education, 89: 634–656. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar], argue for defining personal epistemology as views about the nature of knowledge and knowing but not views about the nature of learning. Others continue using a more expansive definition of personal epistemology that includes views about learning. I argue that the scope of personal epistemology should not be decided entirely a priori. If people's views about the nature of knowing and knowledge turn out to be separable from (despite being intertwined with) their views about the nature of learning, then it makes sense to define 2 separate areas of study corresponding to those 2 separable sets of psychological constructs. From some theoretical perspectives, however, empirical results may support the interpretation that views about knowledge are inseparably entangled with views about learning. In that case, excluding views about learning from personal epistemology obscures rather than elucidates the content and cognitive structure of students' views. To be clear, I do not think the community should decide, now, to etch “views about the nature of learning” into the definition of personal epistemology. I argue instead that it is more productive not to converge on a definition until further empirical and theoretical progress points us toward the best way to “cut up [nature] … along its natural joints” (Plato, 1995 Plato. 1995. Phaedrus, Edited by: Nehamas, A. and Woodruff, P. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett.  [Google Scholar], p. 64).     

Integrating Response to Intervention (RTI) with neuropsychology: A scientific approach to reading

This article integrates the fundamental components of both Response to Intervention (RTI) and cognitive neuropsychology when identifying reading disorders in children. Both proponents of RTI and cognitive neuropsychology agree the discrepancy model is not a reliable or valid method to identify learning disorders in school. In addition, both proponents of RTI and cognitive neuropsychology agree that earlier intervention and the use of evidence‐based intervention techniques must permeate the thinking behind any educational reform. Lastly, both proponents of RTI and cognitive neuropsychology concur with the National Reading Panel's (2000) five core components of the reading process. Given the similarities between RTI and neuropsychological models of reading, a more integrative assessment model will be introduced to better diagnose and remediate subtypes of reading disorders in children. In summary, it is the author's belief that cognitive neuropsychology will emerge as the leading discipline in forging the inevitable alliance between science and education. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Spelling Dutch Doublets: Children's Learning of a Phonological and Morphological Spelling Rule

This study addresses the question of why spellings determined by morphology are relatively hard to acquire by presenting a latent class model of children's acquisition of a doublet of consonants in the spelling of Dutch verbs. This spelling pattern can be determined either by a phonological rule (after a short vowel, a doublet is spelled) or a morphological rule (doublets are spelled in past-tense forms). The results show that the youngest group of spellers identified by latent class analysis predominantly used an alphabetic strategy. They did not spell doublets at all. The latent class model further shows that the acquisition of phonologically determined spellings occurred at a lower average age than the acquisition of morphologically determined spellings. The latter led to overgeneralizations, and a U-shaped developmental pattern was found as a consequence of these overgeneralizations. Children over generalized doublets for different reasons. At younger ages, overgeneralizations of doublets occurred because children treated the doublet as a phonological alternative to the singleton, whereas at older ages, overgeneralizations of doublets were confined to homophones, indicating lexical effects.     

Spelling Mastery and Spelling through Morphographs: Direct Instruction programs for beginning and low-progress spellers

There has been concern about student literacy expressed in the community in recent years, following the results of national and international assessment. In spelling, there are insufficient hard data, but the perception is that our students are not receiving the exemplary spelling education they require. A number of possible reasons have been canvassed, including suboptimal teacher literacy and literacy knowledge, the inadequacy of teacher education, and a lack of attention to spelling instruction in the classroom. There is increasing evidence about the components of instruction that best aid students to become skilled spellers, though fewer well-designed evaluation studies to help consumers choose which programs are optimal. The three components that have received much research attention are: the phonemic, whole word, and morphological techniques. Spelling Mastery and Spelling through Morphographs are two programs that specifically emphasise these components and hence are worthy of investigation.     

Spelling without phonology: A study of deaf and hearing children

To what extent does phonology play a role in spelling English words? The written responses of deaf students and groups of hearing children to five tasks were subjected to quantitative and qualitative analyses. The first three tasks were used to see if deaf students utilized phonology when they generated their own words and to compare their spelling performance with that of hearing subjects. The fourth and fifth tasks were designed to compare the spelling performance of deaf and hearing subjects when they were required to reproduce visually presented common words. Results showed that deaf students, who were chronologically much older, were not better spellers than hearing children from the fifth grade. Analysis of data revealed little evidence that the deaf students involved in the present study utilize phonology in spelling. Nor did word-specific visual memory for entire words appears to play a role in spelling by deaf students. Rote visual memory for letter patterns and sequences of letters within words, however, appears to play a role in the spelling by deaf students. It is concluded that sensitivity to the stochastic-dependent probabilities of letter sequences may aid spelling up to certain point but phonology is essential for spelling words whose structure is morphophonemically complex.

     

The Developmental Spelling Analysis: A Measure of Orthographic Knowledge

This study describes the development and evaluation of an assessment of orthographic knowledge designed to help teachers interpret children's spellings for meaningful instruction and to aid researchers in advancing current understandings of how children acquire a knowledge of words. The Developmental Spelling Analysis (DSA) is based on developmental spelling theory and includes two components: a Screening Inventory for determining a child's stage of development, and parallel Feature Inventories for highlighting strengths and weaknesses in knowledge of specific orthographic features. Investigative results of the DSA's reliability and validity are presented, including developmental trends revealed by the performance of 1,016 students in Grades 1 to 8 and relations between the DSA and relevant reading and spelling tests. In addition, because teacher response ultimately determines the value of an assessment intended for their use, the reactions of teachers using the measure for the first time are examined.     

Measuring Mastery Across Grades: An Application to Spelling Ability

The distinction between quantitative and qualitative differences in mastery is essential when monitoring student progress and is crucial for instructional interventions to deal with learning difficulties. Mixture item response theory (IRT) models can provide a convenient way to make the distinction between quantitative and qualitative differences in mastery. The use of latent groups, rather than focusing on manifest groupings like gender or grade, in these models is very informative to give a substantive interpretation to the qualitative differences. In the current study, mixture IRT modeling is applied to the mastery of two crucial rules in vowel duration spelling in Dutch by pupils in the four final grades of primary school. Results indicate that differences in mastery of the spelling rules are not strictly quantitative. Three latent groups of pupils can be distinguished that show qualitative differences in the mastery of one of the crucial spelling rules involved.     

Sense and Sensitivity: A Response to the Commentary by Keller et al. (2018)

This reply to the commentary by Keller et al. (2018) on the article “Universality Without Uniformity: A Culturally Inclusive Approach to Sensitive Responsiveness in Infant Caregiving” (Mesman et al., 2017 ) highlights key points of agreement emphasizing the sense of investing in synergies across research traditions. These include the importance of distinguishing between different parenting constructs, the need for more studies to test the presented theoretical assumptions, and the value of examining multiple caregiver sensitivity in relation to infants’ developing membership of a community. The only point of disagreement reflects the rigidity versus flexibility of the sensitivity construct. This reply argues that it is exactly the versatility of the sensitivity construct that makes it a valuable building block for bridges between fields.     

Teachers' perceptions and attitudes about Response to Intervention (RTI) in their schools: A qualitative analysis

As Response to Intervention (RTI) models are increasingly implemented in United States' schools, it is important to consider the perceptions of those directly involved. The current study assessed teachers' perceptions of RTI and utilized qualitative methodology and a computer-based text search program to explore teachers' perceptions of RTI. Constant comparison analysis yielded four emergent themes related to teacher perception of RTI: (a) overall understanding of RTI, (b) teachers' perceptions of barriers to RTI in their schools, (c) teachers' suggestions to improve RTI, and (d) teachers' suggestions for making paperwork more efficient. We conclude with implications for training and RTI implementation.     

黑客帝国2:重装上阵

In this second chapter of the "Matrix" trilogy, Neo assumes greater command of his extraordinary powers as Zion falls under siege ( 包围,围攻) to the Machine Army. Only a matter of hours separates the last human enclave on Earth from 250, 000 Sentinels ( 士兵) programmed to destroy mankind. But the citizens of Zion, emboldened by Morpheus conviction that the One will fulfill the Oracles Prophecy and end the war with the Machines, rest all manner of hope and expectation on Neo, who finds himself stalled by disturbing