Type of speech,sex of speaker,and sex of subject as factors influencing persuasion

Speeches that advocated “institutional”; norms were compared with speeches that did not, in conditions where male and female speakers were varied. Female speakers were more successful when they took a noninstitutional position, and male speakers were more successful when they took an institutional position. “Masculinity”; and “Femininity”; were not significant factors in any of the effects.     

The Aims of English Teaching: A View from History

Once again, the National Curriculum orders for English are being rewritten. The writers of the new curriculum have looked to the education systems of ‘high-performing jurisdictions’ for inspiration. The result is a curriculum draft that offers a limited view of the subject and one which apparently fails to prioritise the needs of the learner. The model of English developed in the postwar years by those working within the London Association for the Teaching of English (LATE) offers a very different view of the subject. The Aims of English Teaching is an early document articulating LATE’s vision of the subject; this article offers a reading of this document and suggests that there may be much in this history to draw on as teachers are apparently offered more freedom to design their own programmes of study.     

Academic Mentoring and Dropout Prevention for Students in Math,Science and Technology

In this study, we examined the impact of a new academic mentoring program aimed at preventing student dropout in math, science and technology. The MIRES program entails bimonthly meetings between students entering college and university students completing their undergraduate degree in science and engineering. A randomized pretest-posttest control group design was used to evaluate the program’s short-term impact. At the end of the program, mentees (n = 150) presented significantly higher levels of motivation, a more positive career decision profile and enhanced institutional attachment and social adjustment than students in the control group (n = 157). MIRES mentees also showed success and persistence rates (mainly male participants) that were significantly higher than those of students in the control group.     

Combination Classrooms Revisited

In their box score review, Mason and Burns (1997) conclude that while comparisons of combination and single‐grade classes show no general differences in student achievement, combination classes nevertheless have a small negative effect. Based on the results of a best‐evidence synthesis (Veenman, 1995) and a meta‐analysis of an extensive and international research base (Veenman, 1996), I argue that there is no empirical evidence at this moment showing student learning to suffer in combination classes. Mason and Burns also conclude that the negative instructional effects characteristic of combination classes are compensated for by placing better students and teachers in combination classes. On the basis of my best‐evidence synthesis and meta‐analysis, however, I can find no indication of the selection bias suggested by Mason and Burns.     

Exploring the Popperian Framework in a Pre‐service Teacher Education Program

The study reported in this article is derived from a critical analysis of the work of 28 pre‐service teachers enrolled in the course “Teaching elementary language arts” in a Bachelor of Education concurrent program in a southern State university. The pre‐service teachers were taught how to use an innovative knowledge‐building framework based on the ideas of the philosopher of science, Karl Popper. Two samples of pre‐service teachers’ writing were analyzed to provide evidence of whether they support the occurrence of growth and development of professional knowledge. This study provides some indication of Popper’s framework potential as an effective critical analysis framework for achieving this goal.     

Developing Sustainable Farmer-led Extension Groups: Lessons from a Bangladeshi Case Study

Abstract

The limited effectiveness and fiscal unsustainability of professional-led public sector extension systems in developing countries have aroused considerable interest in Farmer-led Extension (FLE) approaches in the recent decades. A key challenge facing these initiatives is a lack of sustainability of the farmer groups developed through project or programme assistance. This not only makes FLE initiatives costly, but also creates dependency among farmers. Despite this, the knowledge of what can make externally-initiated FLE groups sustainable is scant and largely anecdotal. In this paper we provide an empirically-drawn and theoretically-informed framework to fill this knowledge gap.

The framework is based on a comparative case study of six non-sustained and four sustained FLE groups initiated through an innovative extension reform project in Bangladesh and a comparison of the results with the theories of collective action.

We have identified four sets of inter-related factors called ‘capitals’ affecting group sustainability: ‘financial capital’ accumulated through group-based microcredit activities, an effective governance mechanism called ‘institutional capital’ devised by the members themselves, good quality group leaders and facilitators called ‘human capital’, and past relations of exchange, reciprocity, trust and respect called ‘social capital’ among members and between members and professional facilitators. While microcredit can benefit sustainability, it suits women rather than men farmers. Good quality leaders and facilitators are not only technically competent, but also fair, innovative, tenacious, self-sacrificing, trustworthy, honest, and sincere. All forms of social capital are not useful for group sustainability and social capital can make a positive impact only when the other types of capital—human and institutional—are present within a group.

To improve group sustainability, FLE programmes should take a holistic approach and address the four kinds of capitals proposed in this paper. Key strategies may include: combining extension (information or advisory functions) with economic activities but avoiding a one-size-fits-all solution, recruiting group leaders and facilitators by going beyond technical considerations (e.g. taking into account the personality traits identified in this study), adopting a bottom-up approach in devising group rules and regulations, and taking into account both the positive and negative aspects of social capital.

The originality of our research lies in the explanatory framework that we provide in this paper. Our study also contributes to the intellectual debates on social capital by exhibiting the dual roles that social capital plays and its complex interrelationships with other forms of capital.     

Self-Publishing: Opportunities and Threats in a New Age of Mass Culture

Developments in vanity presses, electronic publishing and social media have led to outstanding growth in the publishing industry. Eighty percent of people believe they have a book in them and the opportunities provided by new technologies are responding to their needs. This raises important questions: What effect will these developments have on the industry? In this environment, is quality control feasible? How will potential readers find their treasure? Will book publishing remain a cost-effective activity? We will examine the publishing industry looking for the answers to these questions and may just find that things are not as bleak as we initially thought.     

Directors and Writers

Eric Sherman's Directing the Film: Film Directors on Their Art (Boston: Little, Brown, 1976---$15.00)

Donald Spoto's The Art of Alfred Hitchcock: Fifty Years of His Motion Pictures (New York: Hopkinson and Blake, 1976---$13.00/8.95)

Kemp R. Niver's D.W. Griffith: His Biograph Films in Perspective (Historical Films, P.O. Box 46505, Los Angeles, Calif. 90046---$12.00)

Stephen Pendo's Raymond Chandler on Screen: His Novels into Film (Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1976---$10.00)

Ronald Lloyd's American Film Directors: The World as They See It (New York: New Viewpoints/Franklin Watts, 1976---price not given, paper)

Maureen Lambray's The American Film Directors (New York: Whirlwind/Pathe Press, 1976---$22.50)

Bob Thomas' Walt Disney: An American Original (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1976---$9.95)

Richard Koszarski's Hollywood Directors, 1914-1940 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1976---$13.95/3.95)

Philip Cecchettini and Don Whittemore's Passport to Hollywood: Film Immigramts (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1976---413.50)

Beatriz Reyes Nevares' The Mexican Cinema: Interviews with Thirteen Directors (Albuquerque, N.M.: University of New Mexico Press, 1976---$9.95/4.50)

Francisco Aranda's Luis Bunuel: A Critical Biography (New York: Da Capo Press, 1976---44.95, paper)

Glenn B. Infield's Leni Riefenstahl: The Fallen Film Goddess (New York: Crowell, 1976---$9.95)

Stuart Rosenthal's The Cinema of Federico Fellini (Cranbury, N.J.: A.S. Barnes, 1976---$9.95)

Edward Murray's Fellini the Artist (New York: Ungar, 1976---$10.00)     

Foreign Communications

The Media: Contexts of Study (114 pp.---$6.30)

The Study of Culture 1 (152 pp---$7.65)

The Study of Culture 2 (144 pp.---$7.65)

The Audience (104 pp.---$6.16)

Media Organization 1 (106 pp.---$6.l6)

Media Organization 2 (60 pp.---$5.31)

Media and Society 1 (92 pp.---$6.16)

Media and Society 2 (53 pp.---$4.25)

Secrecy and the Right to Know, by Dina Goren (Ramat Gan, Israel: Turtledove Publishing, 1978---no price given)

Newspapers: The Power and the Money, by Simon Jenkins (London: Faber & Faber, 1978---E1.95, paper)

The Abuse of Power, by James Margach (London: W.H. Allen, 1978---95 p, paperback)

The Spanish Media Since Franco, by William Chislett (London: Writers and Scholars Educational Trust, 1978---£3.00)

T.J. Allard's Straight Up: Private Broadcasting in Canada 1918-1958 (Canadian Communications Foundation, 165 Sparks St., Ottawa, Ontario KiP 5S2---$10.95 1 paper including mailing)

Oswald H. Ganley's The Role of Communications and Information Resources in Canada (Program on Information Resources Policy, 200 Aiken, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. 02138---$10.90, paper--ask for Working Paper W79-1)

Anthony Smith's The Newspaper: An International History (London: Thames and Hudson, 1979 ---$14.95)