Beginning readers' use of talking books: styles of working

This paper examines young children's working styles when they are engaged with a peer on a computer‐based reading task. Two types of pairing were investigated: (i) ‘Equal’ pairs, where the children were of equal reading attainment and (ii) ‘Unequal pairs’, where there was a disparity between the children's reading attainment. The results suggest that the children's reading attainment and/or their gender may be more significant factors in determining the nature of children's collaborative activity than pair type. The implications of these results for practitioners who wish to use talking books as a classroom resource are discussed.     

Dissonance between the digitally created words of school and home

This article considers the potential for dissonance that one 12‐year‐old child (Clare) may experience as a text producer using new technologies, when working across a range of contexts. In this ongoing case study, two types of text are explored: a computer‐generated text produced as a homework task for school, and texts produced using an Internet‐based social network site called ‘Bebo’. Key features of Clare's text production in both contexts are identified and compared in an attempt to establish the dissonance that may be experienced as she switches from one context to another. However, by placing the texts alongside each other, it can be seen that although they look markedly different, the acts of composing the texts bear some significant resemblance. The article concludes by suggesting that experiences of dissonance in relation to text production may in fact be lodged more firmly with the recipient of any text, when it fails to meet their social, cultural and linguistic expectations, than with the child composer.     

Use of predictive text in text messaging over the course of a year and its relationship with spelling,orthographic processing and grammar

An investigation into the impact of predictive text use upon the literacy skills of primary school, secondary school and university cohorts was conducted over the course of a year. No differences in use of text abbreviations (‘textisms’) were found between predictive text users and nonusers. However, secondary school children who used predictive text made more genuine spelling errors than nonusers. Predictive text was related to use of some specific grammatical violations in school‐age children's text messages but was not related overall to the tendency to make grammatical errors when texting. University students, however, made significantly fewer grammatical errors in their text messages when they used predictive text. Over the course of a year, predictive text use was variable for all age groups. Consistency of predictive text use was unrelated to grammatical understanding, spelling or orthographic processing for primary and secondary school cohorts. Predictive text use was negatively related to morphological awareness for adult participants.     

The roles of specialist provision for children with specific speech and language difficulties in England and Wales: a model for inclusion?

Children with specific speech and language difficulties pose a challenge to the education and health systems. In addition to their language difficulties they are also at risk of literacy and social, emotional and behavioural difficulties. The main support for children with more severe difficulties has been enhanced provision in mainstream schools (language units or integrated resources) and special schools. The move to an inclusive education system challenges this tradition. This paper reports the results of interviews with heads of language units/integrated resources and head teachers of special schools (n = 57) as part of a larger study within England and Wales. Their views are considered with reference to criteria for entry to specialist provision, the development of collaborative practice between teachers, teaching assistants and speech and language therapists, and the implications for inclusive education.     

Gaining ‘Raw Insider Knowledge’: The Benefits and Challenges of International Study Tours for Creative Industries Students

International short‐term study tours are a fast‐growing format for outbound education and provide exciting experiential learning opportunities for students in the creative industries disciplines. This success has encouraged researchers to seek a comprehensive view of the various concrete experiences that contribute to student learning during study tours. To that end, this article presents evidence from a qualitative online post‐tour questionnaire administered with students studying various art and design disciplines who participated in short‐term international study tours at a large Australian university in 2015. Using Kolb's Experiential Learning Theory as a framework, data collected explored student perceptions of which concrete experiences on a study tour are most impactful and which may actually hinder learning. Findings revealed: experiencing key industry venues are the most significant aspects of a study tour, rather than networking or personal growth; poor itinerary planning and travel issues are the least liked aspects of a tour, yet are often the most easily addressed with better tour management and planning; and students were positively impacted by unexpected gains in knowledge about their creative industries discipline. This study, therefore, provides unique insights into which concrete experiences may be most impactful as part of the experiential learning cycle within an international study tour for creative industries students.     

The Developing Bodily Self: How Posture Constrains Body Representation in Childhood

Adults’ body representation is constrained by multisensory information and knowledge of the body such as its possible postures. This study (N = 180) tested for similar constraints in children. Using the rubber hand illusion with adults and 6- to 7-year olds, we measured proprioceptive drift (an index of hand localization) and ratings of felt hand ownership. The fake hand was either congruent or incongruent with the participant’s own. Across ages, congruency of posture and visual–tactile congruency yielded greater drift toward the fake hand. Ownership ratings were higher with congruent visual–tactile information, but unaffected by posture. Posture constrains body representation similarly in children and adults, suggesting that children have sensitive, robust mechanisms for maintaining a sense of bodily self.     

Early Intervention for Behaviour Problems in Young Children with Developmental Disabilities

This article reviews research on intervention for young children with dual developmental and behavioural problems. It makes a case for intervention to include family variables and to occur in the preschool years. Behaviour problems are common in young children with developmental disabilities. If untreated these problems are likely to persist and become more challenging and severe in adulthood. Behaviour problems interfere with cognitive, social and emotional development, create additional family stress, often lead to exclusion from community services, and result in additional financial costs to the community. Intervention research provides some support for the effectiveness of parent management training and interventions based upon applied behaviour analysis. However, randomised controlled trials with adequate follow-up periods are required, along with the measurement of outcomes for the family as a whole.     

A Comparison of Adults’ and Children's Abilities to Distinguish between Aggressive and Playful Fighting in Middle School Pupils: implications for playground supervision and behaviour management

A sample of adults (N = 44) was shown an edited videotape of episodes of playful and aggressive fighting involving middle school pupils that had previously been shown to a sample of 8 and 11 year‐old children. Each participant was asked to say whether she/he thought each episode was playful or aggressive and then to give the reasons for her/his choice. The majority view of the adults’ perceptions of the episodes matched the majority view of the children. As individuals, all 20 of the males and 22 of the 24 females showed significant agreement with the standard view of these episodes. Overall, the adults made significantly fewer errors than the 8 year‐olds had done, but did not differ in this respect compared to the 11 year‐olds. Adult males in this study were more likely to mistakenly view aggressive episodes as playful than to mistakenly view playful episodes as aggressive, with the opposite being the case for adult females. Among the adults, the most frequently reported criteria for deciding upon the nature of the episodes were the nature of the physical actions, inferences about action/intent, facial expressions, and whether the children in the episodes remained together or separated after the interaction. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for playground supervision and behaviour management.     

Emotional Feeding and Emotional Eating: Reciprocal Processes and the Influence of Negative Affectivity

Emotional eating, that is, eating more in response to negative mood, is often seen in children. But the origins of emotional eating remain unclear. In a representative community sample of Norwegian 4‐year‐olds followed up at ages 6, 8, and 10 years (analysis sample: n = 801), one potential developmental pathway was examined: a reciprocal relation between parental emotional feeding and child emotional eating. The results revealed that higher levels of emotional feeding predicted higher levels of emotional eating and vice versa, adjusting for body mass index and initial levels of feeding and eating. Higher levels of temperamental negative affectivity (at age 4) increased the risk for future emotional eating and feeding.