Background issues relating to the proposed Mass Literacy Campaign in Nigeria

Literacy education in Nigerian history finds its roots in the efforts of missionary endeavour. Subsequent work in the field has always been piecemeal and unco-ordinated, even though a degree of success has been achieved and valuable experience gained. The Federal Government's decision to launch a Mass Literacy Campaign in 1982 is primarily a political response to the needs and exigencies of a developing country rich both in natural and manpower resources. The campaign is seen not only as a necessary means of creating a permanently literate society within ten years but also as an assertion of the nation's unity. The problems of undertaking such a project are immensely complicated by the plethora of local languages and cultures, the preservation of which is seen to be imperative. But the campaign can succeed if the crucial issues identified in the article — functionality, personnel, training and materials, motivation, and above all the language to be used as the medium of literacy education — are resolved; if assistance from national development organisations and international bodies is matched by the determination of the government to create an environment capable of sustaining and reinforcing literacy and conducive to the use of the skills acquired; and if the illiterate respond with initiative and perseverence to the opportunity offered them.

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Zusammenfassung Die Alphabetisierung in Nigeria hat ihre historischen Wurzeln in missionarischen Bemühungen. Alle spätere Arbeit auf diesem Gebiet war stückenhaft und unkoordiniert, wenn ihr auch ein gewisses Maß von Erfolg beschieden war und wertvolle Erfahrungen gemacht wurden. Der Beschluß der nigerianischen Regierung, im Jahre 1982 eine Massen-Alphabetisierungskampagne durchzuführen, ist vor allem eine politische Antwort auf die Bedürfnisse und Erfordernisse eines an natürlichen und menschlichen Ressource reichen Entwicklungslandes. Die Kampagne wird nicht nur als notwendiges Mittel angesehen, innerhalb von zehn Jahren eine bleibend alphabetisierte Gesellschaft zu schaffen, sondern auch als eine Bestätigung der Einheit der Nation. Die einem solchen Projekt anhaftenden Probleme werden durch die Vielfalt einheimischer Sprachen und Kulturen, deren Erhaltung als unerläßlich betrachtet wird, außerordentlich kompliziert. Dennoch kann das Unternehmen zum Erfolg führen, wenn die wichtigsten, in diesem Artikel herausgearbeiteten Fragen — Funktionalität, Personal, Ausbildung und Materialien, Motivation und besonders die für die Alphabetisierung benutzte Sprache — gelöst werden; wenn der Unterstützung durch nationale Entwicklungsstellen und internationale Organisationen eine entsprechende Entschlossenheit der Regierung gegenübersteht, eine Umgebung herzustellen, die die Alphabetisierung aufrechterhalten und konsolidieren kann und zum Gebrauch der erworbenen Fähigkeiten herausfordert; und wenn die Analphabeten die ihnen gebotene Gelegenheit mit Initiative und Ausdauer nutzen.

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Résumé L'alphabétisation dans l'histoire nigériane prend sa source dans les efforts des missions religieuses. Le travail postérieur dans ce domaine a toujours été fragmentaire et sans coordination, bien qu'on ait atteint un certain degré de succès et qu'on ait acquis une expérience précieuse. La décision du Gouvernement Fédéral de lancer une Campagne d'Alphabétisation Massive en 1982 est avant tout une réponse politique aux besoins et aux exigences d'un pays en développement riche en ressources tant naturelles qu'humaines. Cette campagne est considérée non seulement comme un moyen nécessaire de créer une société définitivement alphabète en dix ans mais aussi comme une assertion de l'unité de la nation. Les problèmes soulevés par l'entreprise d'un tel projet sont énormément compliqués par la pléthore des langues et des cultures indigènes, dont la préservation est regardée comme impérative. Néanmoins, cette campagne a des chances de réussir si les points critiques identifiés dans cet article — fonctionnalité, personnel, formation et matériel, motivation, et par dessus tout la langue à employer comme véhicule de l'alphabétisation — sont résolus; si l'assistance accordée par les organisations pour le développement national et par les organismes internationaux rencontre sur le même niveau la détermination du gouvernment de créer un environment capable de maintenir et de renforcer l'alphabétisation qui soit aussi favorable à l'utilisation des connaissances et de l'expérience acquises; et si les illettrés répondent par la persévérance et par l'initiative aux occasions qui leur sont offertes.

     

Evaluating effects of atmospheric CO2 on stability of global climate: a cell-to-cell mapping approach

Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration [CO2], incoming solar radiation and sea ice coverage are among the most important factors that control the global climate. By applying the simple cell-to-cell mapping technique to a simplified atmosphere-ocean-sea ice feedback climate model, effects of these factors on the stability of the climatic system are studied. The current climatic system is found to be stable but highly nonlinear. The resiliency of stability increases with [CO2] to a summit when [CO2] reaches 290 μL/L which is comparable to the pre-industrial level, suggesting carbon dioxide is essential to the stability of the global climate. With [CO2] rising further, the global climate stability decreases, the mean ocean temperature goes up and the sea ice coverage shrinks in the polar region. When the incoming solar radiation is intensified, the ice coverage gradually diminishes, but the mean ocean temperature remains relatively constant. Overall, our analysis suggests that at the current levels of three external factors the stability of global climate is highly resilient. However, there exists a possibility of extreme states of climate, such as a snow-ball earth and an ice-free earth.     

Language and reading impairments are associated with increased prevalence of non-right-handedness

Handedness has been studied for association with language-related disorders because of its link with language hemispheric dominance. No clear pattern has emerged, possibly because of small samples, publication bias, and heterogeneous criteria across studies. Non-right-handedness (NRH) frequency was assessed in N = 2503 cases with reading and/or language impairment and N = 4316 sex-matched controls identified from 10 distinct cohorts (age range 6–19 years old; European ethnicity) using a priori set criteria. A meta-analysis (N_cases = 1994) showed elevated NRH % in individuals with language/reading impairment compared with controls (OR = 1.21, CI = 1.06–1.39, p = .01). The association between reading/language impairments and NRH could result from shared pathways underlying brain lateralization, handedness, and cognitive functions.     

Is Education Getting Lost in University Mergers?

Mergers are common phenomena in higher education institutions. Improving educational quality is typically one of the stated goals of university mergers. Yet, little information exists about how merging institutions approach this goal. This paper presents results from a study of planning documents created prior to four mergers in the Finnish higher education system. These documents show that there was little concrete attention given to the educational issues related to the mergers. Most attention was placed on administrative issues and issues related to research. When educational issues were mentioned, it was almost always in the form of vague goals with few details provided about how the goals were to be reached. We conclude that this lack of attention to the educational aspect of mergers is a significant weakness of the planning process in these mergers.     

A deficit in rime awareness in children with Down syndrome

This paper reports 3 studies comparing thereading and phonological skills of childrenwith Down syndrome (DS) and younger normallydeveloping children of similar reading level.In Study 1, the two groups did not differ insight word or nonword reading, but the childrenwith DS did marginally less well on syllablesegmentation, rhyme and phoneme detectiontasks. Group differences in syllable andphoneme awareness appeared attributable todifferences in verbal ability (BPVS, vocabularyknowledge); however, a significant impairmentin rhyme detection remained in an analysis ofsub-groups equated in vocabulary knowledge. Thedeficit in rhyme observed in DS was replicatedin Studies 2 and 3 using simplified tests ofrhyme judgement, with the majority of childrenwith DS performing at chance on the rhymemeasures. In contrast, the two groups did notdiffer in their ability to detect phonemes inany of the 3 studies and performed above chancein initial phoneme detection and alliterationjudgement tasks, although the identification offinal phonemes was at a much lower level. Correlational analyses indicated a relationshipbetween phonological skills and reading inboth groups. However, for children with DS,letter-sound knowledge did not predict readingwhereas it did for normal controls. It issuggested that children with DS do not possessfull phoneme awareness; although they canidentify initial phonemes in words, they do notunderstand phoneme invariance and may rely lesson phonological skills for reading thancontrols.     

Correlates of verbally aggressive communication in adolescents

This investigation identifies demographic, media, and social correlates of verbally aggressive communication in adolescence. Mail surveys were completed and returned by 2,300 adolescents between the ages of 13 and 15. These adolescents were asked about the prevalence of verbal and physical aggression, the context in which it occurred, demographics, and the interpersonal and media influences in their lives. The results indicate that verbal aggression is widespread, that committing and experiencing verbal aggression is largely reciprocal, that there is a strong relationship between committing verbal and physical aggression, and that peer social influence and listening to violently oriented music are mildly related to verbal aggression in adolescents. These findings suggest more resources should be allocated to teaching adolescents to understand and control verbal aggression. Further, they provide important answers to many prevention and intervention programmatic questions, including context, content, and targeting concerns. Since the negative consequences of verbal aggression are severe and long lasting, decreasing this destructive communication behavior should significantly improve the lives of many adolescents. These and other practical implications are expanded upon and discussed.