Standard Error of Measurement

The standard error of measurement (SEM) is the standard deviation of errors of measurement that are associated with test scores from a particular group of examinees. When used to calculate confidence bands around obtained test scores, it can be helpful in expressing the unreliability of individual test scores in an understandable way. Score bands can also be used to interpret intraindividual and interindividual score differences. Interpreters should be wary of over-interpretation when using approximations for correctly calculated score bands. It is recommended that SEMs at various score levels be used in calculating score bands rather than a single SEM value.     

The Concept of Inclusive Education: Teacher Training and Acquisition of English Language in the Hearing Impaired

Three languages are widely used in schools in Kenya – English, Kiswahili and Kenya Sign Language. Many pupils with hearing impairments are taught separately from the mainstream, in specialist settings. The fact that most of the formal teaching, assessment and examination processes in Kenyan schools rely upon spoken and written English compounds the separation of these pupils from the mainstream of education and, potentially, from the mainstream of society. In this article, Gertrude Wamae, graduate assistant in the Department of English and Linguistics at Kenyatta University, and Rachael Kang'ethe-Kamau, lecturer in the Department of Special Education at Kenyatta University, discuss the relationships between language, hearing impairment and inclusion in the Kenyan context. The article suggests that the use of signed exact English would enhance opportunities for inclusion for those with hearing impairments and that programmes of teacher training need to take account of persuasive research in this area. The article closes with a plea for further research, carried out collaboratively by educationalists, linguists, teacher trainers and practitioners, to develop policies and practices suited to more inclusive futures. The article is based on a paper presented to the International Conference on Inclusive Education run by Maseno University in September 2002.     

International Early Childhood Resources from Educational Research Abstracts (ERA)

The aim was to examine cross-cultural variation in linguistic responsiveness to young children in 10 English-speaking mother–child dyads and 10 Italian-speaking mother– child dyads. All 20 children were late talkers who possessed delays in expressive vocabulary development but age-appropriate cognitive and receptive language skills. Dyads were filmed in 15 minute free play contexts, which were transcribed and coded for measures of maternal linguistic input (e.g. rate, MLU, labels, expansions) and child language productivity (e.g. utterances, different words used). The results revealed that the Italian mothers used more utterances, spoke more quickly and used a more diverse vocabulary than the Canadian mothers. The Italian children mirrored their mothers and also used more utterances and a more diverse vocabulary than the Canadian children. Mothers in both groups used similar percentages of responsive labels and expansions. However, Italian mothers responded to fewer of their children's vocalisations, using a smaller percentage of imitations and interpretations than the Canadian mothers. Correlations between maternal input and children's language productivity revealed that contingent language measures (e.g. imitations, interpretations, expansions) were related to high levels of productivity in children in both cultural groups. The results support the use of language interventions based on increasing maternal responsiveness for these children at the one-word stage of language development. They also point to differences that may be culturally based. For example, Italian mothers use faster rates of interaction and appear to have higher expectations for their children's verbal participation in interaction. This is reflected in higher rates of language production from their children, even though children in both cultural groups have similar vocabulary sizes.     

九运会前对击剑重剑重点运动员身体机能与心理状况的监测与分析

为了调控好运动员参赛时的身体和心理状态以取得九运会决赛权 ,在九运会预选赛 (第1站、第 2站 )的赛前各周 ,对上海队男子重剑重点运动员运动时的心率、血色素、血尿素氮、血睾酮、皮质醇、闪光融合频率、反应时运动时、心境状态等指标进行了定期的监测。结果显示 :1)血色素和血尿素氮能很好地反映击剑运动员所承受的训练负荷和身体机能状况 ;2 )在大负荷训练期间运动员的血睾酮水平呈下降趋势 ;3) POMS量表还可以用来监控大赛前运动员的情绪状态     

三路长拳教法刍议

三路长辈是普通高校武术教学的一项重要教材。为了在较少的学时内能够较好地掌握三路长拳，本文从分析研究它的特点和规律出发，提出了相应的教学手段和方法．