Reading fluency and speech perception speed of beginning readers with persistent reading problems: the perception of initial stop consonants and consonant clusters

This study investigated the role of speech perception accuracy and speed in fluent word decoding of reading disabled (RD) children. A same-different phoneme discrimination task with natural speech tested the perception of single consonants and consonant clusters by young but persistent RD children. RD children were slower than chronological age (CA) controls in recognizing identical sounds, suggesting less distinct phonemic categories. In addition, after controlling for phonetic similarity Tallal’s (Brain Lang 9:182–198, 1980) fast transitions account of RD children’s speech perception problems was contrasted with Studdert-Kennedy’s (Read Writ Interdiscip J 15:5–14, 2002) similarity explanation. Results showed no specific RD deficit in perceiving fast transitions. Both phonetic similarity and fast transitions influenced accurate speech perception for RD children as well as CA controls.     

Fan identification and national identity

It is commonly assumed that sport plays an important role for national identity. However, empirical research has primarily focused on sport’s role for emotional-affectice rather than cognitive aspects of national identity. Therefore, research presented here explores whether identification with the German national soccer team serves to reinforce ethnic or civic conceptions of national identity. Analyses of a unique dataset conducted during the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016?EURO show that national team identification is an important determinant of national pride and national belonging. Respondents who identify with the national soccer team can adhere to different conceptions of national identity. It seems that national pride and affection as well as conceptions of national identity represent stable attitudes not affected by the success of the national team. Further research should improve conceptual clarity and measurement.     

TIJAH: Embracing IR Methods in XML Databases

This paper discusses our participation in INEX (the Initiative for the Evaluation of XML Retrieval) using the TIJAH XML-IR system. TIJAHs system design follows a standard layered database architecture, carefully separating the conceptual, logical and physical levels. At the conceptual level, we classify the INEX XPath-based query expressions into three different query patterns. For each pattern, we present its mapping into a query execution strategy. The logical layer exploits score region algebra (SRA) as the basis for query processing. We discuss the region operators used to select and manipulate XML document components. The logical algebra expressions are mapped into efficient relational algebra expressions over a physical representation of the XML document collection using the pre-post numbering scheme. The paper concludes with an analysis of experiments performed with the INEX test collection.     

The social meanings of the C-Card scheme: the importance of friends and peers

This paper draws on findings from an analysis of interviews with young people aged 14–18 years, to explore the peer influences in young people's informal social networks which can affect their access to sexual health services. The research focuses on the social meanings of a C-Card condom distribution scheme in North East England. Such schemes are widespread in the UK as a way of providing access to condoms and sexual health advice for young people in health and community settings. Focusing on one aspect of a broader study, the paper outlines the important social, emotional and practical resources provided by young people's chosen friendship groups in the process of acquiring a C-Card, which offers a route to accessing sex and relationships advice and condoms. Informal peer networks inform attitudes and expectations which can influence gendered patterns of behaviour. Through a focus on the educational possibilities of the C-Card scheme, the study suggests a need to revisit the dynamics of young people's peer relationships and harness their potential to influence sexual attitudes and behaviour in positive ways, rather than simply seeing these always as a source of negative pressure.     

Performance in Home Schooling: An Argument against Compulsory Schooling in the Netherlands

International Review of Education - Although home education is a growing phenomenon in many Western countries, it is almost non-existent in the Netherlands. Under Dutch educational law, children...     

Outline of a Teaching‐Learning Package on Information Technology for use in Teacher Education

The article reports on a joint programme of study being developed by the North‐East London Polytechnic and the University of Groningen. The aim has been to produce a teaching/learning package to be used mainly by students following courses of professional training after completion of their subject studies. Two focuses for development have been identified: the Information area, dealing with some of the larger societal implications of IT, and the ‘IT in school’ area, concentrating more on the possible utilisation of the new technologies in the classroom and the school generally. Care is being taken to relate the materials produced to the real world and to allow for revision and updating.     

Effects of staff and student tutors on student achievement

In the problem-based curriculum of the faculty of Law, students of the first year are guided by staff tutors or undergraduate student tutors in small tutorial groups. In this study, academic achievement of staff tutor-guided groups are compared with student tutor-guided groups. After an eight-week course students' level of academic achievement was tested by essay questions. Two methods of assessing students' performance are used: expert judgements and propositional analysis. Results of both methods used indicate that no differences in academic achievement occur. Students guided by student tutors perform as well as students guided by staff tutors. Several explanations are proposed to account for these results.     

Preliminary Detection of Relations Among Dynamic Processes With Two-Occasion Data

Most novel analytic methods for longitudinal data are applicable to studies spanning three time-points of data at a minimum, whereas methods for two-occasion data have garnered comparatively little attention. Here, we address this limitation by introducing the two-wave latent change score (2W-LCS) model, a technique appropriate for preliminary detection of relations among dynamic processes with two-occasion data. The 2W-LCS model is well suited for the investigation of hypotheses in which changes in a construct are posited as predictors of changes in another construct. In an empirical illustration using data of elderly Hispanics from the Health and Retirement Study, we demonstrate how the 2W-LCS model provides the best match to theories rooted in changes, and highlight the advantages of this approach over other modeling alternatives (i.e., Little, Preacher, Selig, & Card, 2007; Selig & Preacher, 2009).