Identifying high-functioning dyslexics: is self-report of early reading problems enough?

We used a questionnaire to identify university students with self-reported difficulties in reading acquisition during elementary school (self-report; n=31). The performance of the self-report group on standardized measures of word and non-word reading and fluency, passage comprehension and reading rate, and phonological awareness was compared to that of two other groups of university students: one with a recent diagnosis (diagnosed; n=20) and one with no self-reported reading acquisition problems (comparison group; n=33). The comparison group outperformed both groups with a history of reading difficulties (self-report and diagnosed) on almost all measures. The self-report and diagnosed groups performed similarly on most tasks, with the exception of untimed reading comprehension (better performance for diagnosed) and reading rate (better performance for self-report). The two recruitment methods likely sample from the same underlying population but identify individuals with different adaptive strategies.     

Effects of removing morphemic information and adding interword spacing on reading in Chinese experienced and inexperienced readers

Two experiments tested the role of morphemic information and interword spacing in reading in experienced and inexperienced Chinese readers. Chinese is normally written in hanzi, or characters, which mostly represent monosyllabic morphemes, but it can also be written in pinyin, or romanised Chinese, which represents phonemes and is word-spaced. While previous research has shown that Chinese readers are slower with pinyin than hanzi materials, this has mostly been explained in terms of lack of proficiency in pinyin reading. The present study aimed at testing whether pinyin reading may be slow because morphemic information is needed for fluent Chinese reading, and phonemic information alone is not sufficient; for this purpose, the study included not only adults but also primary school students, who are experienced pinyin readers and unproficient hanzi readers. Participants performed a sentence-picture verification task. Sentences were written with morphemic or phonemic information (in hanzi or pinyin, respectively), and with interword or inter-morpheme spacing. Removing morphemic information had strong negative effects on all readers, including children. Adding interword spacing had no facilitative effects, and had some negative effects, especially with children. Results reveal the important role of morphemic information in Chinese reading, and fail to support the universality of the facilitative effects of interword spacing.     

The small group subtlety of using ICT for participatory governance: A South African experience

The greater number of government efforts to stimulate participative governance in communities using Information and Communication Technology (ICT) often fall short of expectations. In South Africa extending e-government to communities has been in the form of more and/or better equipped ICT-enabled community centres, called Thusong Service Centres. In this paper, based on action research experiences, we report outcomes of interpretive research into ICT-enabled approaches to participative governance in communities. Using the Diffusion of Innovations theory as an analytic lens, the findings reveal a subtlety that is not often mentioned in the call for participative e-governance; people from communities prefer to work in groups rather than individually. The collectiveness inclination is a common denominator of many developing countries where people choose to come together to leverage the few available resources. Individuals become apprehensive when made to work on their own using the ICT. The research reveals the necessity to re-design ICT to suit small groups as part of participative e-governance rather than the normative ICT design that suits individual work styles. Additionally, the research reveals that by working in groups, communities are more willing to accept the government initiatives that are being energised with the use of ICT. Methodologically, the research revealed the ethical issue that arises from action research in its raising of unrealistic expectations in a community.     

Film Biography

Kenneth L. Geist's Pictures will Talk: The Life and Films of Joseph L. Mankiewicz (New York: Scribner's, 1978---$12.95)

Two new books, one a revision, deal with another important director, Alfred Hitchcock

Donald Spoto's Stanley Kramer: Filmmaker (New York: Putnam, 1978---$12.95)

James Robert Parish, et al., Hollywood Character Actors (New Rochelle, N.Y.: Arlington House, 1978--- $30.00)

Jesse L. Lasky Jr. with Pat Silver, Love Scene: The Story of Lawrence Olivier and Vivien Leigh (New York: Crowell, 1978---$10.95)

Hollywood actress and actor biographies, a round up of recent titles

Danny Peary, ed. Close-Ups: The Movie Star Book--Intimate Profiles of Movie Stars by their Co-Stars, Directors, Screenwriters and Friends (New York: Workman Press, 1978---$8.95 in paper with a hardback also available)     

What satisfactions do self‐publishing authors gain from the process?

This paper, a follow‐up to our previous Learned Publishing paper ( http://dx.doi.org/10.1087/20130310 ), extends the reporting of new research into the motivations, demographics, processes, and outcomes of self‐publishing authors. The research findings challenge traditionally held notions about the lack of satisfaction in either the process or final product in self‐publishing. By contrast, the authors researched emerged as very satisfied with the process of self‐publishing, likely to do it again and recommend it to others – and these trends were observed across all the demographic categories and types of content. The generally high rate of republishing among the cohort can be taken as further evidence of associated satisfaction. The research offers conclusions that are relevant to all stakeholders in publishing and provides a foundation for more specific research within particular publishing sectors and roles.     

Our Experience with User Experience: Exploring Staffing Configurations to Conduct UX in an Academic Library

ABSTRACT

A research project was undertaken by a university library system to develop a sustainable user experience strategy. A task force was convened to conduct a pilot project with members from both libraries in the system to assess staffing responsibilities, guidelines, processes, and data-gathering procedures. The team tested an electronic resources list common to both libraries. In describing the methods employed by the task force in their research, this article outlines the benefits and drawbacks of staffing configurations to initiate user experience practices in an academic library setting.     

Rethinking the work and training of special education teachers: Colorado,USA, viewed from a Scottish perspective

ABSTRACT

Colorado, the USA and Scotland are alike in many ways. Both have a relatively small population (3.3 and 5 million respectively) and, though Colorado is bigger than even the entire United Kingdom, both are largely rural, with most people living in the central area. The educational challenges which they face are, as in most advanced nations today, determined by considerations of economy as well as of philosophy and these pressures have led to changes in the delivery of special educational services, the way teachers are certified and the content of their training. This article examines these changes and concludes that Colorado has been more radical in the reorganization of its service delivery and certification of teachers, with changes in the schools being the stimulus to change in the state administration of education and thus the training provided by the universities. In Scotland, on the other hand, change in schools has been more gradual, but the education authorities and the colleges have had a greater hand in the process.