The Intertextual Method for Art Education Applied in Japanese Paper Theatre—a Study on Discovering Intercultural Differences

In art education we need methods for studying works of art and visual culture interculturally because there are many multicultural art classes and little consensus as to how to interpret art in different cultures. In this article my central aim was to apply the intertextual method that I developed in my doctoral thesis for Western art education to explore whether the method would also work from a non‐Western point of view. My hypothesis was that it is possible to find local and global differences that arise from selected texts and study them interculturally. As postmodernism calls attention to marginal areas, I applied my method to a form of visual culture that is not well known in the European art education context, the Japanese kamishibai which can be translated as Japanese paper theatre. Based on the results, my study will propose a method for understanding visual culture and the multiple relations ‐ local and global ‐ between different cultures. Japanese paper theatre also offers an interesting potential for using visual and verbal stories in the theory and practice of art education.     

Reported pedagogical practices of faculty in higher education in the UAE

Higher Education - Higher education in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a relatively modern phenomenon, but it is a sector which has experienced immense growth since the first national university...     

Patterns of co-occurring non-verbal behaviour and self-directed speech; a comparison of three methodological approaches

Self-directed speech – the audible or partially whispered self-talk that children engage in during their daily activities, was proposed by Vygotsky to have a mediating role in the emerging self-regulatory behaviour of young children. Studies with correlational findings tend to lend support to this hypothesis but fail to delineate the real-time temporal interactions between self-directed speech and self-regulatory behaviour. The authors propose the use of lag sequential analysis and t-pattern analysis as useful and complementary methods for detecting significantly recurring patterns of co-occurrence of self-directed speech and non-verbal behaviour (that is either self-regulatory or shows a failure of self-regulation). Furthermore, it is argued that the analysis of these co-occurrences is required to establish the functions of self-directed speech, and to determine in what ways these might be self-regulatory. Illustrative analyses are presented of data from a study comparing the patterns of self-directed speech use during a planning task in typically developing children and matched peers with Specific Language Impairment. The results obtained from t-pattern analysis reveal qualitative differences between these two groups of children, in their use of self-directed speech, which were not detected by the other two methods. Implications of examining recurring temporal patterns in behaviour for research investigating aspects of development, particularly self-regulation, are discussed.     

Spatial abilities during the circalunar cycle in both sexes

Spatial abilities vary during the menstrual cycle. The effects of a similar rhythm in men are unknown. Mental rotation and spatial visualization of young healthy volunteers (29 females and 31 males) were tested during the menstrual and periovulatory phase of the menstrual cycle in women, and during the low-testosterone and high-testosterone phases of the circatrigintan rhythm in men in random order. Men outperformed women in both tests. In women, higher scores were achieved during the periovulatory phase, in men during the low-testosterone phase. The correlation between actual salivary testosterone levels and spatial abilities were positive in women and negative in men. According to our knowledge, this is the first study showing effects of a male infradian rhythm on cognitive abilities.     

Not all markets are created equal: re-conceptualizing market elements in higher education

Increasing reliance on market mechanisms in higher education is analysed both as one of the approaches to steering as well as in relation to the consequences of markets for quality and accessibility of higher education. This article goes beyond the normative considerations of market elements as inherently good or bad and the economic theory-guided focus on freedoms of users and providers, by presenting an alternative conceptualization. The conceptualization adapted from studies of markets in other parts of the welfare state to the context of higher education is based on two dimensions: (1) who effectively controls production of certain goods and services and (2) how access to and funding of these goods and services are regulated. It focuses on interests of three main actors—the state, the users (students) and the providers (higher education institutions). This leads to six conceptually distinct markets, whose key characteristics are illustrated by examples from Denmark, England, India, Norway, Portugal and Serbia. The key message is that this alternative conceptualization allows identifying variance in marketization of higher education with regards to (1) which actors are empowered, (2) who are the likely winners and losers and (3) what might be the risks of introducing specific market elements in a higher education system. More generally, a more nuanced analysis relying on this conceptualization can potentially contribute to a deeper understanding of political and policy dynamics in higher education.     

The role of vocabulary components in second language learners' early reading comprehension

Background

In countries with German as an official language, children with German as a second language perform overall worse in school than their German native speaking peers. This particularly affects written language skills, which require advanced language knowledge. The reasons are manifold, but one is prominent, namely poor vocabulary knowledge. Vocabulary, however, consists not only of the number of known words but also of a complex and hitherto under-researched lexico-semantic framework, which is referred to as vocabulary depth.

Method

In the present study, a sample of 373 children (322 German native speakers and 51 with German as a second language) was examined longitudinally in Grade 2 and 3 for their reading comprehension and vocabulary breadth and depth. Vocabulary depth was defined as relational and semantic word knowledge. Latent change score models on vocabulary breadth and depth development including reading precursor skills, non-verbal intelligence and SES were conducted.

Results

The children with German as a second language scored lower than the native German speakers in reading and vocabulary tests, with the difference in vocabulary depth being more pronounced than in vocabulary breadth. Importantly, the differences did not tend to diminish over time, which could have been expected. The differences in reading comprehension can be accounted for mainly by the variations in vocabulary, especially in vocabulary depth.

Conclusions

These findings emphasise the importance of including not only vocabulary breadth but also vocabulary depth in the context of reading research on children who do not speak the majority language.