Language-specific aspects of reading acquisition: the case of Russian

We have investigated Russian children’s reading acquisition during an intermediate period in their development: after literacy onset, but before they have acquired well-developed decoding skills. The results of our study suggest that Russian first graders rely primarily on phonemes and syllables as reading grain-size units. Phonemic awareness seems to have reached the metalinguistic level more rapidly than syllabic awareness after the onset of reading instruction, the reversal which is typical for the initial stages of formal reading instruction creating external demand for phonemic awareness. Another reason might be the inherent instability of syllabic boundaries in Russian. We have shown that body-coda is a more natural representation of subsyllabic structure in Russian than onset-rime. We also found that Russian children displayed variability of syllable onset and offset decisions which can be attributed to the lack of congruence between syllabic and morphemic word division in Russian. We suggest that fuzziness of syllable boundary decisions is a sign of the transitional nature of this stage in the reading development and it indicates progress towards an awareness of morphologically determined closed syllables. Our study also showed that orthographic complexity exerts an influence on reading in Russian from the very start of reading acquisition. Besides, we found that Russian first graders experience fluency difficulties in reading orthographically simple words and nonwords of two and more syllables. The transition from monosyllabic to bisyllabic lexical items constitutes a certain threshold, for which the syllabic structure seemed to be of no difference. When we compared the outcomes of the Russian children with the ones produced by speakers of other languages, we discovered that in the tasks which could be performed with the help of alphabetic recoding Russian children’s accuracy was comparable to that of children learning to read in relatively shallow orthographies. In tasks where this approach works only partially, Russian children demonstrated accuracy results similar to those in deeper orthographies. This pattern of moderate results in accuracy and excellent performance in terms of reaction times is an indication that children apply phonological recoding as their dominant strategy to various reading tasks and are only beginning to develop suitable multiple strategies in dealing with orthographically complex material. The development of these strategies is not completed during Grade 1 and the shift towards diversification of strategies apparently continues in Grade 2.

(Re)writing the other/self : autoethnography in the transcultural arena of representation

Abstract: In Imperial Eyes Mary Louise Pratt (1992: 7, emphasis original) defines autoethnography as "instances in which colonized subjects undertake to represent themselves in ways that engage with the colonizer's own terms ... in response to or in dialogue with . . . metropolitan representations." Although Pratt's conceptualization of autoethnography has much to offer post-colonial studies, it has received little attention in the field. In this thesis, I interrogate Pratt's notion of autoethnography as a theoretical tool for understanding the self-representations of subordinate peoples within transcultural terrains of signification. I argue that autoethnography is a concept that allows us to move beyond some theoretical dualisms, and to recognize the (necessary) coexistence of subordinate peoples' simultaneous accommodation of and resistance to dominant representations of themselves. I suggest that even when autoethnographic expressions seem to rely on or to reproduce dominant knowledges, their very existence as speech acts implicitly resists dominant discourses which objectify members of oppressed populations and re-create them as Native Informants. I use Pratt's concept to analyze two books by Islamic feminist sociologist Fatima Memissi. Memissi's Dreams ofTrespass and Scheherazade Goes West illustrate the simultaneity of accommodation and disruption evident in autoethnographic communication. Across the two books, Memissi shows herself renegotiating the discourses which discipline her (and her speech). She switches back and forth between the positions of reader and author, demonstrates the reciprocity of the disciplinary gaze (she looks back at her dominants, reading their own reading of her representation of her social group), and provides a model of autoethnographic dialogue.

American Desi : representation and reproduction in diaspora /

This study explores ~ow South Asian diasporic film represents and reproduces South Asian identity in the diaspora. It commences with a review of the literature in cultural studies and post-colonial theory on identity in the diaspora. A textual analysis of three films: American Desi, Bollywood/Hollywood, and East Is East, helps frame the characteristics of South Asian diasporic film. Theoretical concepts of diaspora and identity are extended to this reading of the films. In-depth, open-ended, semi structured interviews were conducted with eight participants to test the validity of theoretical concepts through participants' own reading of American Desi. Findings indicate that while theoretical concepts of identity can be usefully applied at the level of the text, these perspectives do not always easily explain participants' interpretation of the film in relation to their everyday experiences.

The effects of a language intervention program on the phonological and word awareness skills of language-delayed kindergarten children

Over the past decade, research has suggested that phonological and word awareness skills (i.e., the ability to reflect on and manipulate the components of language) are important for early reading acquisition. This study examined the phonological and word awareness skills of language-delayed kindergarten children at the beginning and end of a language intervention program using five tasks. The results were compared to the performances of average kindergarten children who did not participate in the language intervention program. There were significant performance differences for all tasks, favouring the average children, at the beginning of the intervention program. However, at the end of the training interval, the languagedelayed children performed as well as the average children.

The impact of a training program in phonological awareness on children's early writing

This study examined the effects that a training program in phonological awareness had on the early writing skills of children in a Grade One class in the Lincoln County Separate school system. The intent of the training program was to provide consistent and systematic practice in the manipulation of the phonological structure of language. The games and activities of the training program were related to a framework of developmental phonological skills and practised in a group setting during an unstructured period of the regular classroom schedule. The training program operated three days in a six-day cycle for approximately twenty minutes a day, from November until mid-March. All children were tested at the outset and conclusion of the study to determine level of functioning in letter identification, word recognition, verbal intelligence, phonological awareness and spelling. Results of the pre-tests and post-tests were compared to determine differences between the experimental and control groups over time. In addition, a systematic analysis of the children's writing looked at the development of the spelling of regular and irregular words. The results of this study provided strong support for the hypothesis that the treatment group would progress through the stages of early writing development more quickly than children without such training. On the basis of differences between the groups over time, it was evident that training in phonological awareness had a direct positive effect on the spelling of regular words for children during the early stages of writing. The training program did not have a significant effect on the spelling of irregular words. Test results evaluating phonological awareness indicated a significant difference within each group over time but no significance between the groups during the experimental period. It would appear that the results of these tests reflect maturational changes in the child rather than causal effects of the training program. Nor did the effects of the training program transfer significantly to other aspects of language. Although some of the hypotheses considered were not supported by the study, the results do indicate that children during the early stages of writing development can benefit from a training program in phonological awareness. The theoretical direction for effective programming as a result of this study is discussed. The educational implications of training phonological awareness concurrent to beginning efforts in writing are considered.

Quadtree representation and compression of spatial data

Spatial data representation and compression has become a focus issue in computer graphics and image processing applications. Quadtrees, as one of hierarchical data structures, basing on the principle of recursive decomposition of space, always offer a compact and efficient representation of an image. For a given image, the choice of quadtree root node plays an important role in its quadtree representation and final data compression. The goal of this thesis is to present a heuristic algorithm for finding a root node of a region quadtree, which is able to reduce the number of leaf nodes when compared with the standard quadtree decomposition. The empirical results indicate that, this proposed algorithm has quadtree representation and data compression improvement when in comparison with the traditional method.

A Foucauldian Analysis of Power and Representation in an Attempt to Run a Photovoice Project with Youth

This project evolved out of a search for ways to conduct research on “others” in a way that does not exploit, stigmatize or misrepresent their experience. This thesis is an ethnographic study in leisure research and youth work and an experiment in running a photovoice project. Photovoice is a participatory visual method that embodies the emancipatory ideal of empowering others through self-representation. The literature on photovoice lacks a comprehensive discussion on the complexity of power and representation. Postmodern theorists have proposed that participatory methods are not benign and that initiatives are acts of power in themselves that produce effects (Cook & Kothari, 2001). A Foucauldian analysis of power is used to deconstruct the researcher’s practice and reflect on why and how youth are “engaged”. This project seeks to embrace the principle of working “with” others, but also work from a postmodern perspective that acknowledges power and representation as ongoing problems.

Promoting Early Reading: A Parent Handbook for Developing Children's Phonological Awareness Using Authentic Activities

The purpose of this project was to create a handbook for parents to develop their children's phonological awareness using authentic activities that parents and children can complete together. The handbook aims to provide parents with fundamental background information regarding phonological awareness as well as effective instruction practices, followed by authentic activities that are clearly laid out and easy to implement. Through a comprehensive study of the literature it became evident that parents should be the target audience for the handbook as they have the greatest influence on the development of their young children. Phonological awareness was also found to be an important contributor to early literacy development including oral language skills and reading. The handbook was reviewed by 2 teaching professionals in order to claim face validity of the document. The results of the project indicate that the handbook which was produced meets its goals of creating a product that is easy to use, practical, and effective for both parents and children. The implementation of the handbook in the home environment can benefit children's phonological awareness and in turn improve their oral language and reading abilities.

Using HeadSprout Early Reading with a child with Autism Spectrum Disorder: An examination of phonological awareness, participant engagement, and participant enjoyment

This study examined the effectiveness of a 9-week reading program in improving the phonological awareness (PA) skills of a seven year old boy with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD). The study’s secondary goal was to describe how the participant engaged with and enjoyed the HeadSprout computer program. The participant attended a one hour reading program incorporating 30 minutes of HeadSprout Early Reading three days a week for 9 weeks. Results demonstrated that the participant’s PA scores increased from the 16th percentile at pre-test to the 35th percentile post program. Four of five measures of PA increased, segmenting nonwords decreased to the 2nd percentile post program. Momentary time sampling procedures revealed the participant was engaged with the computer program 94.5% of the time. Perceived ratings of enjoyment indicated the participant enjoyed using the program. Specific components of the program which may have influenced participant enjoyment and engagement are discussed. Study limitations and implications of these findings are discussed in reference to future research.

‘Designer Vaginas': The Representation of Female Genitals on Canadian Cosmetic Surgeons' Websites

This thesis critically examines the online marketing tactics of 10 (English language) Canadian cosmetic surgery clinics’ websites that offer Female Genital Cosmetic Surgery (FGCS), specifically, labiaplasty (labial reduction) and vaginoplasty (vaginal tightening). Drawing on a qualitative Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis (MCDA) and a feminist-informed social constructionist framework (Lazar, 2007), I examine how FGCS discourses reiterate and reinforce heteronormative sexual scripts for women, and impose restrictive models of femininity through the pathologization of genital diversity and the appropriation of postfeminist and neoliberal discourses of individual choice and empowerment. I explore feminist analyses of the links between FGCS and contemporary Western women’s postfeminist subjectivity, and the reconfiguration of women’s sexual agency, to better understand what these contemporary shifts may mean for women’s sexual anxiety and expression. My analysis highlights several discourses that organize the online marketing material of Canadian FGCS websites, including: the pathologization of genital diversity; restrictive models of femininity; heteronormative sexual scripts; neoliberal and post-feminist rhetorics of individual choice and empowerment; and psychological and sexual transformation. Overall, these discourses undermine acceptance of women’s genital diversity, legitimize the FGCS industry and frame FGCS as the only viable solution to alleviate women’s genital and sexual distress despite the lack of evidence regarding the long-term benefits and risks of these procedures, and the recommendations against FGCS by professional medical organizations.

A Representation Theorem for Domains with Discrete and Continuous Variables.

This paper proves a new representation theorem for domains with both discrete and continuous variables. The result generalizes Debreu's well-known representation theorem on connected domains. A strengthening of the standard continuity axiom is used in order to guarantee the existence of a representation. A generalization of the main theorem and an application of the more general result are also presented.

ARMA Representation of Integrated and Realized Variances

This paper derives the ARMA representation of integrated and realized variances when the spot variance depends linearly on two autoregressive factors, i.e., SR SARV(2) models. This class of processes includes affine, GARCH diffusion, CEV models, as well as the eigenfunction stochastic volatility and the positive Ornstein-Uhlenbeck models. We also study the leverage effect case, the relationship between weak GARCH representation of returns and the ARMA representation of realized variances. Finally, various empirical implications of these ARMA representations are considered. We find that it is possible that some parameters of the ARMA representation are negative. Hence, the positiveness of the expected values of integrated or realized variances is not guaranteed. We also find that for some frequencies of observations, the continuous time model parameters may be weakly or not identified through the ARMA representation of realized variances.

On the Manipulability of Proportional Representation

This paper presents a new model of voter behaviour under methods of proportional representation (PR). We abstract away from rounding, and assume that a party securing k percent of the vote wins exactly k percent of the available seats. Under this assumption PR is not manipulable by any voter aiming at maximisation of the number of seats in the parliament of her most preferred party. However in this paper we assume that voters are concerned, first and foremost, with the distribution of power in the post-election parliament. We show that, irrespective of which positional scoring rule is adopted, there will always exist circumstances where a voter would have an incentive to vote insincerely. We demonstrate that a voter’s attitude toward uncertainty can influence her incentives to make an insincere vote. Finally, we show that the introduction of a threshold - a rule that a party must secure at least a certain percentage of the vote in order to reach parliament - creates new opportunities for strategic voting. We use the model to explain voter behaviour at the most recent New Zealand general election.

Alternative Time Representation in Dopamine Models

Groupe de recherche sur le système nerveux central, Département d'informatique et de recherche opérationnelle, Département de physiologie.