Writing Motivation of Students with Specific Language Impairments

This study was designed to compare the writing motivation of students with specific language impairments with their non-disabled peers. Due to the cognitive and linguistic demands of the writing process, students with language impairments face unique difficulties during the writing process. It was hypothesized that students with specific language impairments will be more likely to report lower levels of perceived writing competence and be less autonomously motivated to write. Students in grades 3-5 in 11 schools (33 with specific language impairments, 242 non-disabled peers) completed self-report measures, designed from a Self-Determination Theory perspective, which measured the degree that students are intrinsically motivated to write as well as their perceived writing competence. Statistical analyses showed that (1) students with specific language impairments reported lower levels of perceived writing competence and autonomous writing motivation; (2) SLI status was a significant predictor of perceived writing competence after spelling, grade, and gender were controlled; and (3) when spelling, grade, and gender were controlled, perceived writing competence was a significant predictor of autonomous writing motivation, but SLI status was not. The results of this study are expected to inform the current understanding of the relationship between language ability and writing motivation in students with specific language impairments, as well as the design of future writing interventions.

Mycobacterium bovis–Infected White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus Virginianus): Detection of Immunoglobulin Specific to Crude Mycobacterial Antigens by ELISA

White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) have recently emerged as a source of Mycobacterium bovis infection for cattle within North America. The objective of this study was to evaluate the antibody response of M. bovis–infected deer to crude mycobacterial antigens. Deer were experimentally inoculated with M. bovis strain 1315 either by intratonsilar instillation or by exposure to M. bovis–infected (i.e., in contact) deer. To determine the time course of the response, including the effects of antigen administration for comparative cervical skin testing, serum was collected periodically and evaluated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for immunoglobulin (i.e., IgG heavy and light chains) reactivity to mycobacterial antigens. The reactivity to M. bovis purified protein derivative (PPDb) exceeded (P < 0.05) the reactivity to M. avium PPD (PPDa) only after in vivo administration of PPDa and PPDb for comparative cervical testing of the infected deer. The mean immunoglobulin response, as measured by ELISA, of intratonsilar-inoculated deer to a proteinase K–digested whole-cell sonicate (WCS-PK) of M. bovis strain 1315 exceeded (P < 0.05) the mean of the prechallenge responses to this antigen at approximately 1 month after inoculation and throughout the remainder of the study (i.e., ~11 months). This response also exceeded (P < 0.05) that of the uninfected deer. Although this is encouraging, further studies are necessary to validate the use of the proteinase K–digested M. bovis antigens in the antibody-based assays of tuberculosis.

Review of The Search for a Common Language: Environmental Writing and Education Edited by Melody Graulich and Paul Crumbley

This edited collection grew out of a symposium held at Utah State University in Logan in 2002. According to the editors, the symposium's purpose was to "publicly explore the particular ways environmental writing educates the public through a fusion of science and literary expression." The Search for a Common Language achieves that purpose by including short prose pieces-ranging from memoirs, essays on specific locations, and scientific papers - as well as poetry on natural themes. The range of topics and genres and the inclusion of poetry provide a variety of ways to talk about the environment and reach out to different audiences to educate them about the natural world.

Precise Mathematical Language: Exploring the Relationship Between Student Vocabulary Understanding and Student Achievement

In this action research study of my classroom of fifth grade mathematics, I investigate the relationship between student understanding of precise mathematics vocabulary and student achievement in mathematics. Specifically, I focused on students’ understanding of written mathematics problems and on their ability to use precise mathematical language in their written solutions of critical thinking problems. I discovered that students are resistant to change; they prefer to do what comes naturally to them. Since they have not been previously taught to use precise mathematical language in their communication about math, they have great difficulty in adapting to this new requirement. However, with teaching modeling and ample opportunities to use the language of mathematics, students’ understanding and use of specific mathematical vocabulary is increased.

Scaling a Dataflow Testing Methodology to the MultiparadigmWorld of Commercial Spreadsheets

Spreadsheets are widely used but often contain faults. Thus, in prior work we presented a data-flow testing methodology for use with spreadsheets, which studies have shown can be used cost-effectively by end-user programmers. To date, however, the methodology has been investigated across a limited set of spreadsheet language features. Commercial spreadsheet environments are multiparadigm languages, utilizing features not accommodated by our prior approaches. In addition, most spreadsheets contain large numbers of replicated formulas that severely limit the efficiency of data-flow testing approaches. We show how to handle these two issues with a new data-flow adequacy criterion and automated detection of areas of replicated formulas, and report results of a controlled experiment investigating the feasibility of our approach.