The ABG of ELT... EAP ——In the first article in this new commissioned series,Andy Gillett looks at EAP- English for Academic Purposes

EAP refers to the language and associated skills that students need to undertake study in higher education through the medium of English. EAP is a branch of ESP * in that the teaching content is matched to the learners requirements (Robinson, 1991, pp. 2-5): EAP is goal directed - students learn Enligsh because they need it. EAP courses are based on needs analyses - which specify clearly what students have to do in English (but see: Benesch, 2001). Most EAP courses are fixed term - short presessional courses are fixed term - short presessional courses or longer foundation courses - in preparation for academic courses. Students may need specialist language, but not necessarily - courses are defined by the activities the students will engage in. A very high level of proficiency may not be required -     

Resistance and Relative Autonomy Theories: problems of distortion and incoherence in recent Marxist analyses of education

This article takes issue with the claims of Arnot & Whitty in the previous number of this journal, that many recent Marxist analyses of education are theoretically ‘open’ and use evidence to interrogate theory. On the contrary, it is argued, contemporary Marxist sociology of education is characterised by theoretical closure and an absence of empirical rigour. The reason for these shortcomings is to be found in a third factor which Arnot & Whitty mistakenly regard as a virtue of recent Marxist analyses — the optimistic commitment to social transformation.

The effect of such commitments on the validity of social scientific explanations, it is suggested, have made themselves fell in two ways: in distorted theories of resistance and transformation, where schools are seen as sites of resistance and struggle as well as places of ideological subjection; and in incoherent theories of relative autonomy which attempt to demonstrate the simultaneous autonomy and dependence of schooling.

At the end of the article, it is proposed that theoretical openness and empirical rigour can only be developed within a value‐free analysis of schooling and capitalism, and that this will entail the suspension of political commitments during the course of the analysis. Contrary to the usual Marxist critique of ‘value‐freedom’ it is also argued that such a ‘value‐free’ sociology of education is quite compatible with socialist theory and practice.     

Success at Scale: Outcomes of Community-Based Neurodevelopment Intervention (CASITA) for Children Ages 6–20 months With Risk of Delay in Lima,Peru

This study is a randomized controlled trial of a 12-week community-based group parenting intervention (“CASITA”) in Lima, Peru. CASITA improved neurodevelopment in a pilot study of 60 Peruvian children and subsequently scaled to 3,000 households throughout the district. The objective of this study was to assess intervention effectiveness when implemented at scale. A total of 347 children ages 6–20 months (52.7% male, 100% identified as “mestizo”) at risk for developmental difficulties were randomized to immediate or delayed CASITA. At 3 months after enrollment, the immediate arm showed significantly higher overall development, based on the Extended Ages and Stages Questionnaire and Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment scores (Cohen’s ds = .36 and .31, respectively). Programs demonstrably effective at scale could help address children’s development risks worldwide.     

Educational reform and teacher development in Hong Kong and on the Chinese Mainland

Open File: Professionalism in Teaching

Educational reform and teacher development in Hong Kong and on the Chinese Mainland     

Quantifying the effects of acute hypoxic exposure on exercise performance and capacity: A systematic review and meta-regression

Objective: To quantify the effects of acute hypoxic exposure on exercise capacity and performance, which includes continuous and intermittent forms of exercise. Design: A systematic review was conducted with a three-level mixed effects meta-regression. The ratio of means method was used to evaluate main effects and moderators providing practical interpretations with percentage change. Data sources: A systemic search was performed using three databases (Google scholar, PubMed and SPORTDiscus). Eligibility criteria for selecting studies: Inclusion was restricted to investigations that assessed exercise performance (time trials (TTs), sprint and intermittent exercise tests) and capacity (time to exhaustion test, TTE) with acute hypoxic (<24?h) exposure and a normoxic comparator. Results: Eighty-two outcomes from 53 studies (N?=?798) were included in this review. The results show an overall reduction in exercise performance/capacity ?17.8?±?3.9% (95% CI ?22.8% to ?11.0%), which was significantly moderated by ?6.5?±?0.9% per 1000 m altitude elevation (95% CI ?8.2% to ?4.8%) and oxygen saturation (?2.0?±?0.4%; 95% CI ?2.9% to ?1.2%). TT (?16.2?±?4.3%; 95% CI ?22.9% to ?9%) and TTE (?44.5?±?6.9%; 95% CI ?51.3% to ?36.7%) elicited a negative effect, whilst indicating a quadratic relationship between hypoxic magnitude and both TTE and TT performance. Furthermore, exercise less than 2 min exhibited no ergolytic effect from acute hypoxia.

Summary/Conclusion: This review highlights the ergolytic effect of acute hypoxic exposure, which is curvilinear for TTE and TT performance with increasing hypoxic levels, but short duration intermittent and sprint exercise seem to be unaffected.     

Preserving digital scholarship: the future is now

The Cedars project in the UK has been set up to explore some of the issues associated with archiving of digital materials and to make recommendations to libraries about preserving digital materials. Cedars, which is led by the Consortium of University Research Libraries (CURL), is funded as part of the Electronic Libraries Programme (eLib) by the Joint Information Systems Committee of the Higher Education Funding Councils.     

Educational Outcomes,Modern and Postmodern Interpretations: Response to Smyth and Dow

Drawing on research in Canada as well as studies in Australia and elsewhere, this paper challenges the arguments of Smyth and Dow (British Journal of Sociology in Education, 19(3), pp. 291-303) that outcomes-based education necessarily embodies a form of technical rationality which routinizes, proletarianizes and deskills teachers and their work. This paper criticizes Smyth and Dow for applying a universalistic and monolithic labour process theory to outcomes issues, for paying little or no attention to published evidence and argument on outcomes, and for being insensitive to the variable geometries of the outcomes phenomenon across different contexts. This paper, by contrast, identifies how investigating outcomes in a context of socialist policy-making, where equity goals are explicit and high discretion is granted to teachers, can contribute to clearer understanding of the variable postmodern geometries and educational possibilities of outcomes technology. These possibilities include fostering stronger collegiality among teachers, and democratic inclusion of pupils and parents in the teaching and learning process.     

How Much Do They Understand? Lectures,students and comprehension

A recent study into tertiary literacy (Reid, Kirkpatrick, & Mulligan, 1998) found that many students have problems with comprehension and note-taking in lectures and that students from non-English speaking backgrounds (NESB) reported particular difficulty. Despite the increase in the number of international students attending Australian universities over the past decade, it seems that many lecturers are still failing to accommodate the cultural and linguistic diversity of the classes they teach. The study reported here aimed to determine the nature and extent of problems experienced by NESB students in comprehending lectures and found significant gaps in understanding: slightly fewer than 1 in 10 NESB students was able to understand the content and intent of their lectures very well. More disturbingly, almost one-quarter of them had not understood much of the lectures at all. The paper offers some suggested strategies for change—for those who prepare students for university study, for the students themselves, and for the lecturers who teach them.