Individual differences in late bilinguals' L2 phonological processes: From acoustic-phonetic analysis to lexical access

The extent to which the phonetic system of a second language is mastered varies across individuals. The present study evaluates the pattern of individual differences in late bilinguals across different phonological processes. Fifty-five late Dutch-English bilinguals were tested on their ability to perceive a difficult L2 speech contrast (the English /æ/-/ε/ contrast) in three different tasks: A categorization task, a word identification task and a lexical decision task. As a group, L2 listeners were less accurate than native listeners. However, at the individual level, almost half of the L2 listeners scored within the native range in the categorization task whereas a small percentage scored within the native range in the identification and lexical decision tasks. These results show that L2 listeners' performance crucially depends on the nature of the task, with higher L2 listener accuracy on an acoustic-phonetic analysis task than on tasks involving lexical processes. These findings parallel previous results for early bilinguals, where the pattern of performance was consistent with the processing hierarchy proposed by different models of speech perception. The results indicate that the analysis of patterns of non-native performance can provide important insights concerning the architecture of the speech perception system and the issue of language learnability.     

The relation between self-regulation and the embedding of support in learning environments

The current study investigates whether embedding support may provide a solution to sub optimal use of support and whether this is related to learners’ self-regulation skills and goal orientation. Sixty students were divided in a condition where support was embedded and a condition where support was non-embedded. Results reveal that the embedded group used more and spent more time on the use of support. Quality of use differed for one support device only, with quality being higher in the non-embedded group. An interaction with self-regulation was found. High self-regulators use the support devices less optimal when support is embedded. No conclusions could be drawn with respect to goal orientation. Quality of usage and proportional time spent on support influenced learning outcomes.     

Childhood learning,life skills and well‐being in adult life: a Senegalese case

Education is not easily converted into human capital and well‐being in low‐income countries, because these countries do not have a high degree of economic and labour market differentiation that makes it possible to convert acquired knowledge and skills. Consequently, to have completed primary or even secondary education does not necessarily lead to a better life situation than some types of Islamic education. This paper reports findings from an ongoing longitudinal research project in Senegal. The study compares the relationships between educational/learning background, life skills and well‐being in adult life among individuals who attended primary school, Quranic, Arabic or Indigenous learning systems at the beginning of the 1980s. The findings illustrate some of the complexities in the relationships between, on the one hand, education and life skills and, on the other hand, individual well‐being in a low‐income society. Since this study enters into an area that has not been very much researched, this study is explorative and employs concepts heuristically. Some findings in relation to different theoretical approaches are also discussed here.     

Personalised virtual learning spaces to support undergraduates in producing research reports: Two case studies

The purpose of this study was to create and evaluate personalised virtual learning spaces (PVLSs) in a course that was previously delivered face-to-face only. The study addressed three related questions: (1) Can a PVLS successfully be introduced into a course where IT has not previously featured? (2) Can the PVLSs be used to enhance the assessment from an extended essay to a higher-level empirical research project? (3) What are the perceptions of the students and the tutor of the PVLSs in terms of access, clarity and usefulness of the supervision of undergraduate research projects? Results showed that the introduction of the PVLSs into the course was trouble-free and that the PVLSs were able to enhance assessment. The vast majority of students and their tutor showed high levels of satisfaction, particularly with (1) the messaging tool, which allowed asynchronous, one-to-one communication with the tutor, and (2) the interactive web-forms, which provided structured guidance of how to conduct a small-scale empirical research project. The study concludes that the interactive web-forms and messaging tool can be beneficial functions of virtual learning spaces.     

Informal scientific communication in the agricultural sciences2

This analysis of informal scientific communication emphasizes the communication which occurs among public sector agricultural researchers. While the formal channels and the informal channels constitute the two mutually dependent elements of this communication, the importance of the informal channels is often ignored. The informal communication network is examined utilizing a survey of randomly sampled U.S. agricultural scientists listed in the Current Research Information System (N = 1431). Particular individuals in the informal communication network are viewed as important sources of influence for a variety of research decisions such as choice of problem, methods, key concepts and theoretical orientation. However, informal scientific communication appears to occur infrequently, and to be primarily limited to one's own discipline. Scientists report communication with scientists outside their department, clients and extension staff is limited to less than once a month. In addition, the nature and frequency of the informal scientific communication is highly related to the criteria utilized in establishing research agendas and the publication products. However, the use of and reliance on particular channels of communication may affect scientists and their research in different and sometimes contradictory ways. Consequently, it is important to view the informal scientific communication and the processes and products of science as inextricably bound together in a mutually interdependent social system.     

Curriculum-based measurement in the content areas: vocabulary matching as an indicator of progress in social studies learning

The purpose of this study was to examine the reliability and validity of curriculum-based measures as indicator of growth in content-area learning. Participants were 58 students in 2 seventh-grade social studies classes. CBM measures were student- and administrator-read vocabulary-matching probes. Criterion measures were performance on a knowledge test, the social studies subtest of the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS), and student grades. Both the student- and examiner-read measures reflected change in performance; however, only the student-read measure resulted in interindividual differences in growth rates. Significant relations were found between the growth rates generated by the student-read vocabulary measure and student course grades, ITBS scores, and growth on the knowledge test. These results support the validity of a vocabulary-matching measure as an indicator of student learning in the content areas. The results are discussed in terms of the use of CBM as a system for monitoring performance and evaluating interventions for students with learning disabilities in content-area classrooms.     

Education in Europe and Muslim Demands for Competitive and Moral Education

While European education systems fundamentally rest on a rather monolithic world-view, some of them are explicitly oriented towards Christianity and others are comparatively secular. Apart from this, they differ in the way that they offer opportunities for Muslim minorities to enjoy a modern and competitive as well as religious-moral education. Principally, there are three approaches. The first allows private Muslim schools which are neither subsidized nor controlled or regulated by the state. Other countries require Muslim schools to apply for approval, and such schools are then subsidized and regulated; but they do not have to teach a national curriculum. In a third group of countries, only schools that teach the national curriculum are permitted, and they are subsidized and controlled by the state. In the latter case, because Islamic matters are not taught in these schools, many Muslim parents send their children to non-formal Qur’anic schools in the evening or during weekends. This study examines some typical arrangements in a number of countries.     

Influence of Type of Judge, Normative Information, and Discussion on Standards Recommended for the National Teacher Examinations

There are few empirical investigations of the consequences of using widely recommended data collection procedures in conjunction with a specific standardsetting method such as the Angoff (1971) procedure. Such recommendations include the use of several types of judges, the provision of normative information on examinees' test performance, and the opportunity to discuss and reconsider initial recommendations in an iterative standard-setting procedure. This study of 236 expert judges investigated the effects of using these recommended procedures on (a) average recommended test standards, (b) the variability of recommended test standards, and (c) the reliability of recommended standards for seven subtests of the National Teacher Examinations Communication Skills and General Knowledge Tests. Small, but sometimes statistically significant, changes in mean recommended test standards were observed when judges were allowed to reconsider their initial recommendations following review of normative information and discussion. Means for public school judges changed more than did those for college or university judges. In addition, there was a significant reduction in the within-group variability of standards recommended for several subtests. Methods for estimating the reliability of recommended test standards proposed by Kane and Wilson (1984) were applied, and their hypothesis of positive covariation between empirical item difficulties and mean recommended standards was confirmed. The data collection procedures examined in this study resulted in substantial increases in the reliability of recommended test standards.