Regimes of language skill and competency assessment in an age of migration: the in/visibility of social relations and practices

This paper draws on ethnographic research to discuss the textual practices and social relations of language assessment. It examines the tensions that language educators and assessment practitioners encounter while making decisions about immigrant professionals’ language competence. It also analyzes the role of other social actors in constituting conceptions of skill. The paper concludes by considering social practice theory as an alternative for exploring conceptions of competence.     

The impact of various creative initiatives on wellbeing: a study of children in English primary schools

The following paper builds uon a survey of primary students’ wellbeing in an attempt to assess the impact of various creative initiatives on this aspect of their lives. Three case studies were conducted in schools with some of the highest aggregate wellbeing scores, all three schools having also been engaged in various extended Creative Partnership programmes. Teachers, Creative Practitioners and students were interviewed and observed during both normal lessons and Creative Partnership activities. It is posited that the implementation of creative activities under the framework adopted by Creative Partnership enhances both hedonic and eudaimonic aspects of wellbeing and accords with theories of motivation which stress the value of promoting student competencies and autonomy and creating classroom climates which promote connectedness.     

Improved Appreciation of Mathematics Through an IBL Liberal Arts Mathematics Course

Abstract

The author has taught an inquiry-based liberal arts mathematics class using the text “The Heart of Mathematics: An Invitation to Effective Thinking” by Edward B. Burger and Michael Starbird a total of 20 times since Spring 2001. The students in this class have almost all been in non-technical majors and many started the semester with negative or ambivalent attitudes toward mathematics based on their prior experiences. The author has gathered responses from students in this class that illustrate significant changes in their attitudes towards mathematics during the course. In particular, the responses gathered at the end of the semester are often eloquent about understanding the great ideas of mathematics that students confronted in this course and about seeing many more and varied connections between mathematics and the “real world” than they had previously realized existed.     

Language,institutional identity and integration: lived experiences of ESL teachers in Australia

Globalisation and increased patterns of immigration have turned workplace interactions to arenas for intercultural communication entailing negotiation of identity, membership and ‘social capital’. For many newcomer immigrants, this happens in an additional language and culture – English. This paper presents interaction experiences of four non-native English language teachers with other institutional members. It uses a sociocultural perspective of second language to map their approaches to negotiations of professional and institutional identities in and through these interactions. Their discussions highlight the role of language, cultural practices and the emic socio-political factors embedded within institutional interactions in individuals' identity negotiation and integration.     

土地与语言：生态文学双重本体论

“生态”与“文学”的遇合,凸显出人的生态本质与语言本质,旨在构建以生命意识为主导的社会公共性话语。中国三十多年生态文学创作还存在着深层生态伦理矛盾、价值观混沌与审美性缺陷。这种情状尤需要立足中国的社会基础与历史复杂性,对生态文学作出本体论的澄明,使之在人类生存与文学创作上担负起引领性,成为真正的生命艺术。     

内地、香港语文教科书的性别意识形态比较

教科书隐含着特定的性别意识形态,研究选择内地北师大版与香港新亚洲版小学语文教科书为文本,运用频度统计技术,从选文作者、课文主角、课文人名、插图人物、职业角色五个维度量化分析,认为两套教科书使用的是男性话语,隐含着男性文化或者说是父权意识形态,而且这种倾向香港比大陆更为突出。     

城市幼儿与流动幼儿入学语言准备的比较研究

以北京市272名城市大班幼儿与流动大班幼儿为研究对象,对其入学语言准备状况进行测查,结果显示：城市幼儿和流动幼儿语言各方面的发展不均衡,细微差异识别、前阅读技能和故事理解方面的发展水平均好于其他方面,基本达到了入学准备的要求,但阅读理解和口语表达能力与入学准备要求差距较大;城市幼儿和流动幼儿除汉字结构意识一项不存在显著差异外,无论是语言总分还是其他各项目得分均存在极其显著的差异,城市幼儿入学语言准备水平显著高于流动幼儿。政府应加大经费投入,提高城市幼儿和流动幼儿所在园教师的专业素质,改善流动幼儿的语言教育状况,有效地缩小流动幼儿与城市幼儿教育质量的差距,以推动教育公平的实现。     

高师院校语文教育专业专业任选课课程改革的研究与实践--以齐齐哈尔高等师范专科学校为例

当前高师语文教育专业的主要任务是培养能够在中小学从事语文教育工作及其他教育工作的高素质技能型专门人才,然而专业任选课却存在着与人才培养和课程改革的种种不适应,本文以齐齐哈尔高等师范专科学校为例,从任选课的课程设置、教学改革等方面的实践入手,探索高师语文教育专业任选课程改革策略,为提高高师人才培养质量提供一些有益的改革建议。