Correlates of Chinese kindergarteners’ word reading and writing: the unique role of copying skills?

Ninety-four Mainland Chinese children in the second and third years of kindergarten (mean age = 65 months, SD = 6.94) were tested on Pinyin letter-name knowledge, invented Pinyin spelling, general copying skills of unfamiliar print (in Korean, Hebrew and Vietnamese, ultimately combined to create a pure copying factor), delayed copying of characters, nonverbal reasoning, vocabulary knowledge, speeded number-naming, syllable deletion, and morphological awareness in order to examine unique correlates of beginning Chinese word reading and writing, which were also tested. With age, kindergarten level, and nonverbal reasoning statistically controlled, morphological awareness, speeded naming, and Pinyin letter-name knowledge uniquely explained Chinese word reading, whereas both the pure copying factor and delayed copying independently explained 11 and 5 % variance in Chinese word writing, respectively. Findings suggest a somewhat independent trajectory of developing word reading and writing skills in very young Chinese children and highlight the potential importance of both print-dependent and print-independent copying skills for the development of early word writing skill in Chinese.     

Production of a Science Documentary and its Usefulness in Teaching the Nature of Science: Indirect Experience of How Science Works

In this study, we produced a documentary which portrays scientists at work and critically evaluated the use of this film as a teaching tool to help students develop an understanding of the nature of science. The documentary, “Life as a Scientist: People in Love with Caenorhabditis elegans, a Soil Nematode” encompasses the entire process of a scientific investigation by exploring the everyday life of a particular group of scientists. We explored the effectiveness of this documentary in teaching the nature of science by examining the epistemological views of college students toward science before and after viewing. In addition, we collected written responses from the students where they described which aspect of the nature of science they learned from the documentary. The scores of epistemological views toward science increased between the pretest and the posttest (p < 0.01) with the most significant increase being in their views of the role of social negotiation. In the written responses, approximately half of the students suggested that they had learned more about the role which cooperation and collaboration play in the development of scientific knowledge by watching the documentary. The documentary overall provides a valuable instructional context so that students are able to discuss and reflect on various aspects of nature of science within authentic scientific research.     

Is oral/text reading fluency a “bridge” to reading comprehension?

In the present study we investigated developmental relations among word reading fluency, listening comprehension, and text reading fluency to reading comprehension in a relatively transparent language, Korean. A total of 98 kindergartners and 170 first graders in Korea were assessed on a series of tasks involving listening comprehension, word reading fluency, text reading fluency, and reading comprehension. Results from multigroup structural equation models showed that text reading fluency was a dissociable construct from word reading fluency for both kindergartners and first graders. In addition, a developmental pattern emerged: listening comprehension was not uniquely related to text reading fluency for first graders, but not for kindergartners, over and above word reading fluency. In addition, text reading fluency was uniquely related to reading comprehension for kindergartners, but not for first graders, after accounting for word reading fluency and listening comprehension. For first graders, listening comprehension dominated the relations. There were no differences in the pattern of relations for skilled and less skilled readers in first grade. Results are discussed from a developmental perspective for reading comprehension component skills including text reading fluency.     

Information literacy instruction in four Vietnamese university libraries

This case study explored the perceptions of academic stakeholders about the development and delivery of information literacy (IL) programs in four universities, and identified elements necessary to establishing IL credit courses in Vietnamese higher education. The following research questions framed this study: 1) How do library administrators, instruction librarians, and faculty perceive the current implementation of information literacy instruction (ILI) programs for undergraduates studies in universities libraries in Vietnam? 2) What are the challenges to including IL as a credit course in the curriculum as perceived by library administrators, instruction librarians, and faculty? Respondents were purposefully recruited from four universities, including library administrators, instruction librarians, and faculty. Three online surveys were distributed to 537 individuals through Survey Monkey with 149 replies and a final receipt of 133 completed surveys. Interview and focus group data collection included 23 face-to-face interviews and nine focus groups. Findings showed IL is considered the domain of librarians and has not influenced Vietnamese campus culture. IL activities at four university libraries take the form of lectures, workshops, and basic IL skills modules. Few ILI activities are subject discipline-related. Respondents reported challenges to an ILI credit course revolve around the lasting impact of teacher-centered instruction and rote learning, misperceptions about the effect of IL on student learning outcomes, degree of support of IL by academic stakeholders, degree of faculty–librarian collaboration, and scarcity of resources. Recommendations are given for academic librarians in Vietnam implementing ILI programs and considering developing IL credit courses.     

Biographies

THE MAKING OF CITIZEN KANE by Robert Carringer (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1985 -- $22.50)

ORSON WELLES: THE RISE AND FALL OF AN AMERICAN GENIUS (New York: St. Martin's, 1985 -- $19.95) by Charles Higham

ORSON WELLES by Barbara Learning (New York: Viking, 1985 -- $19.95)

CHAPLIN: HIS LIFE AND ART by David Robinson (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1985 — $24.95)

FRANKLIN J. SCHAFFNER by Erwin Kim (Metuchen, New Jersey: The Scarecrow Press, 1985 -- $35.00)     

Regulation

INFORMATION LAW: FREEDOM OF INFORMATION, PRIVACY, OPEN MEETINGS, OTHER ACCESS LAWS by Burt A. Braverman, and Frances J. Chetwynd (June McDonald, Practising Law Institute Dept. CBR, 810 Seventh Ave., New York 10019—$135, two volumes)

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE REGULATION OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS by Kim Robert Skovill (Telephony Publishing, 55 East Jackson Blvd., Chicago, ILL. 60604—$105 incl. postage)     

Market Competition and Cultural Tensions Between Hollywood and the Korean Film Industry

The market shares of Hollywood movies in European and Asian markets are so large that policymakers around the world are concerned about the import domination not only in theaters but also in the subsequent windows. Media economists acknowledge that domestic producers have an advantage in terms of a "cultural discount," referring to the unavoidable disadvantage of imported films. However, expenditure on a film's production also determines the extent of popular appeal, thus creating an advantage for films that have a large and wealthy home market base such as Hollywood. In this article, I aim at understanding the dynamics of these 2 seemingly opposing forces in the motion picture market in Korea. I review the film market in Korea, explore the relation between performances of 2 windows, theaters and home video, over the two countries-the United States and Korea-and compare the determinants of performance of Hollywood and local films in Korean box offices. A strong hit orientation and preference for local content was empirically found.     

The Gender War in U.S. Sport: Winners and Losers in News Coverage of Title IX

Title IX, the 1972 federal law that guarantees girls and young women access to scholastic sporting opportunities, has been the catalyst for explosive growth in female athletics. Despite evidence that Title IX has opened doors for female athletes without closing them to boys, the law continues to be a source of controversy. This research explores the ways stories in U.S. regional and national newspapers framed Title IX issues between 2002 and 2005, critical years for the civil-rights legislation because of political and legal activity at the national level. Content analysis found that although most stories avoided negative framing devices, stories about the Title IX Commission during 2002 and 2003 more often used negative framing that could perpetuate misunderstanding about the law. Further, paper size, placement of stories and reporter gender were factors in the way stories framed and sourced Title IX coverage. This study points to the need of journalists for a better understanding of the law and its impact on high school and collegiate athletics. Journalists also need to better understand Title IX's relationship with the fiscal hierarchy of collegiate athletics in U.S. universities so “blame the victim” mythology is not reinforced. Journalists should reject patriarchal frames and report about Title IX in ways that benefit public discourse.     

Partisans and Controversial News Online: Comparing Perceptions of Bias and Credibility in News Content From Blogs and Mainstream Media

Based on the hostile media effect (HME), this 2 (partisan opinion) × 2 (news source) × 2 (content valence) factorial experiment investigated how partisans (N = 132), in terms of perceived bias and credibility, assess same-sex marriage coverage by either an online mainstream news source or a citizen blog. Partisans who disagreed with the content's valence evaluated both mainstream online news and the blog posting as more biased and less credible than did partisans who agreed with the content's valence. The perceived reach of blog postings appears to generate a relative HME similar to that triggered by mainstream news. In particular, this study suggests that user-generated content—specifically blog postings—might generate a stronger relative HME than that observed with mainstream news.