A funny thing happened on the way to the forum: Electronic discussion and foreign language learning

Amongst the opportunities for cross-cultural contact created by the burgeoning use of the Internet are those provided by electronic discussion lists. This study looks at what happens when language students venture out of the classroom (virtual or otherwise) to participate in on-line discussion groups with native speakers. Responses to messages and commentary by moderators and other participants on the (in) appropriateness of contributions allow us to determine what constitutes successful participation and to make suggestions regarding effective teaching strategies for this medium. A case study examines the threads started by four anglophone students of French when they post messages to a forum on the Web site of the French newspaper Le Monde. Investigation of these examples points to the ways in which electronic discussion inflects and is inflected by cultural and generic expectations. We suggest that successful participation on Internet fora depends on awareness of such cultural and generic mores and an ability to work within and/or with them. Teachers therefore need to find ways in which students can be sensitized to such issues so that their participation in such electronic discussion is no longer seen as linguistic training, but as engagement with a cultural practice.

Mental health recovery and occupational therapy in Australia and New Zealand

Every individual with mental illness has the right to be safe and cared for. Most people will receive the love and care from their families and friends, but they will also expect mental-health professionals, occupational therapists and the community to work together to provide the necessary services to support their recovery from mental illness. This article highlights the development of the recovery approach for people with mental illness in Australia and New Zealand. The implications of recovery concepts for occupational therapy, in the areas of individualized approach, participation of service users and carers, person-centred assessment and intervention, intersectoral links and mental-health promotion, are discussed. There are a number of key areas requiring further research and debate, notably the most effective means of implementing and evaluating recovery-focused interventions.

Reliability and validity of arm volume measurements for assessment of lymphedema

Background and Purpose. Arm lymphedema following breast cancer In this study, we assessed the surgery is a continuing problem. reliability and validity of circumferential measurements and water displacement for measuring upper-limb volume. Subjects. Participants included subjects who had had breast cancer surgery, including axillary dissection-19 with and 22 without a diagnosis of arm lymphedema-and 25 control subjects. Methods. Two raters measured each subject by using circumferential tape measurements at specified distances from the fingertips and in relation to anatornic landmarks and by using water displacement. Interrater reliability was calculated by analysis of variance and multilevel modeling. Volumes from circumferential measurements were compared with those from water displacement by use of means and correlation coefficients, respectively. The standard error of measurement, minimum detectable change (MDC), and limits of agreement (LOA) for volumes also were calculated. Results. Arm volumes obtained with these methods had high reliability. Compared with volumes from water displacement, volumes from circumferential measurements had high validity, although these volumes were slightly larger. Expected differences between subjects with and without clinical lymphedema following breast cancer were found. The MDC of volumes or the error associated with a single measure for data based oil anatomic landmarks was lower than that based oil distance from fingertips. The mean LOA with water displacement were lower for data based on anatomic landmarks than for data based on distance from fingertips. Discussion and Conclusion. Volumes calculated from anatomic landmarks are reliable, valid, and more accurate than those obtained from circumferential measurements based on distance from fingertips.