Of mermaids and spirit men

A late afternoon and two elderly people sit on an old, steel, wire-sprung camp stretcher bed. They sit back-to-back, engaging in commentary on the vehicles and people that pass them by. One of them, the old man, says suddenly, 'Me! I'm number one singer myself!' Without hesitation the old woman says, simply and bluntly, 'Bullshit!' For the next half an hour the dialogue between the two never varies though the utterances increase both in auditory levels and passion. To the outside observer the dialogue seems simple and nonsensical. However in the world of Yanyuwa music, composition and performance these two people - in their old age in the early 1980s - are unique. The old man Jerry Brown Ngarnawakajarra and the old woman Elma Brown a-Bunubunu are the last two people in Yanyuwa society to have had revealed to them what in this article we will call 'dream state' songs.

Revisiting the conceptualisation of politeness in English and Japanese

The issue of what in fact constitutes politeness remains a source of considerable debate amongst researchers. There is mounting evidence that although there may be common underlying elements, politeness is conceptualised differently across cultures. A comparison of the notions of politeness in English and teinei, reigi tadashii and keii hyoogen in Japanese indicates that these respective terms encompass somewhat different conceptual ranges. Politeness in English refers to showing consideration for others and demonstrating a polished self-presentation. In Japanese, on the other hand, it encompasses showing respect (with a strong nuance of vertical respect involved) and consideration towards the position and quality of character of others, and modesty about oneself While politeness in both English and Japanese involves showing one thinks well of others (other-oriented politeness) and showing one does not think too highly of oneself (self-oriented politeness), differences in the underlying conceptualisation of politeness give rise to different ways of expressing politeness. It is thus difficult to maintain the assumption that politeness can be defined in the same way across different cultures, although this does not necessarily preclude the identification of common elements of politeness across cultures. © Walter de Gruyter.

Literacy skills of adults with intellectual disability in community-based day programs

A brief narrative description of the journal article, document, or resource. There is limited information available related to the literacy skills of adults with intellectual disabilities. In this project, information was collected about the contexts, current practices, and clients' abilities in literacy in two community-based disability service programs. Individual assessments were undertaken to collect details of the current literacy levels of adults with intellectual disabilities in day program settings. These assessments focused on receptive language, reading at the letter, word and sentence level, writing vocabulary and connected text, and literacy preferences. Audits were also conducted related to the provision of opportunities for clients accessing these services to engage with literacy including environmental print. Structured day program activities were observed to gather information about current literacy teaching and learning. Implications of the research findings and suggestions for provision of literacy education in these settings are discusse