Response to instruction, English language learners and disproportionate representation : The role of assessment

Resumen tomado de la publicaci??n

A Self-Scoring Exercise On APA Style, Research Language, and Referencing for Undergraduate Students

Based on examples provided by 27 graduate psychology faculty, this self-test incorporates many of the more common errors in style, language, and referencing found in student papers. Taking this self-test helps students to recognize common errors and encourages them to refer the APA Publication Manual on a regular basis. In addition, students begin to think about how to use correctly the language of psychological research. This self-test should take about 30 minutes to complete and score. It is composed of three parts: a) a mock Discussion section, where students are asked to act as editors and find the errors, p. 2 (10 minutes). b) a corrected Discussion section, where students find the errors they missed, p. 3 (5 minutes) and, c) a full description of each error with illustrations of correct usage, pp. 4-7 (15 minutes). This exercise assumes some knowledge of APA style. Thus, it is best-suited for advanced undergraduates who need to write research reports and all levels of graduate students. It may be taken at home or in class. Although the self-test is designed to be fully self-directed, instructors may wish to use it at the beginning or end of a classroom discussion on APA style. It could also be used in a pre-test-post-test fashion to evaluate students learning over the course of a term.

Self-study Language Modules Using Blackboard - Julie Watson

This is one of a series of short case studies describing how academic tutors at the University of Southampton have made use of learning technologies to support their students.

WAIS Seminar:Modelling the Web: Examples of modelling language, network evolution and physical-social systems

Speaker(s): Prof. Steffen Staab Organiser: Dr Tim Chown Time: 23/05/2014 10:30-11:30 Location: B53/4025 Abstract The Web is constructed based on our experiences in a multitude of modalities: text, networks, images, physical locations are some examples. Understanding the Web requires from us that we can model these modalities as they appear on the Web. In this talk I will show some examples of how we model text, hyperlink networks and physical-social systems in order to improve our understanding and our use of the Web.

"Thematically Analysing Social Network Content During Disasters Through the Lens of the Disaster Management Lifecycle" & "Investigating Similarity Between Privacy Policies of Social Networking Sites as a Precursor for Standardization"

Abstract 1: Social Networks such as Twitter are often used for disseminating and collecting information during natural disasters. The potential for its use in Disaster Management has been acknowledged. However, more nuanced understanding of the communications that take place on social networks are required to more effectively integrate this information into the processes within disaster management. The type and value of information shared should be assessed, determining the benefits and issues, with credibility and reliability as known concerns. Mapping the tweets in relation to the modelled stages of a disaster can be a useful evaluation for determining the benefits/drawbacks of using data from social networks, such as Twitter, in disaster management.A thematic analysis of tweets’ content, language and tone during the UK Storms and Floods 2013/14 was conducted. Manual scripting was used to determine the official sequence of events, and classify the stages of the disaster into the phases of the Disaster Management Lifecycle, to produce a timeline. Twenty- five topics discussed on Twitter emerged, and three key types of tweets, based on the language and tone, were identified. The timeline represents the events of the disaster, according to the Met Office reports, classed into B. Faulkner’s Disaster Management Lifecycle framework. Context is provided when observing the analysed tweets against the timeline. This illustrates a potential basis and benefit for mapping tweets into the Disaster Management Lifecycle phases. Comparing the number of tweets submitted in each month with the timeline, suggests users tweet more as an event heightens and persists. Furthermore, users generally express greater emotion and urgency in their tweets.This paper concludes that the thematic analysis of content on social networks, such as Twitter, can be useful in gaining additional perspectives for disaster management. It demonstrates that mapping tweets into the phases of a Disaster Management Lifecycle model can have benefits in the recovery phase, not just in the response phase, to potentially improve future policies and activities. Abstract2: The current execution of privacy policies, as a mode of communicating information to users, is unsatisfactory. Social networking sites (SNS) exemplify this issue, attracting growing concerns regarding their use of personal data and its effect on user privacy. This demonstrates the need for more informative policies. However, SNS lack the incentives required to improve policies, which is exacerbated by the difficulties of creating a policy that is both concise and compliant. Standardization addresses many of these issues, providing benefits for users and SNS, although it is only possible if policies share attributes which can be standardized. This investigation used thematic analysis and cross- document structure theory, to assess the similarity of attributes between the privacy policies (as available in August 2014), of the six most frequently visited SNS globally. Using the Jaccard similarity coefficient, two types of attribute were measured; the clauses used by SNS and the coverage of forty recommendations made by the UK Information Commissioner’s Office. Analysis showed that whilst similarity in the clauses used was low, similarity in the recommendations covered was high, indicating that SNS use different clauses, but to convey similar information. The analysis also showed that low similarity in the clauses was largely due to differences in semantics, elaboration and functionality between SNS. Therefore, this paper proposes that the policies of SNS already share attributes, indicating the feasibility of standardization and five recommendations are made to begin facilitating this, based on the findings of the investigation.

Estudiar a Mallorca : a language emergency kit. 'Estudiar en Mallorca : una herramienta de lenguaje de emergencia'.

Resumen tomado de la publicación

A l'abast : comunicació bàsica en llengua catalana : basic communication in the catalan language. 'Al alcance : comunicación básica en lengua catalana'.

Pensado para las personas no catalanoparlantes que, tanto si han decidido convertir las islas en su lugar de residencia como si no es el caso, tienen la inquietud de acercarse a esta realidad lingüística y cultural. Pretende facilitar la adquisición de una serie de recursos útiles para una comunicación básica en lengua catalana. Consiste en un conjunto de frases frecuentes en situaciones usuales de la vida cotidiana. El texto escrito se complementa con un cd-rom que permite escuchar estas frases pronunciadas por hablantes nativos y registrar y escuchar aquellas que produce el alumno. No es un curso de catalán, es sólo una aproximación a la lengua catalana que debe estimular a aprender más. Incluye también una guía de recursos para aprender catalán desde las Islas Baleares: cursos, centros de autoaprendizaje, recursos en soporte informático o accesibles a través de Internet, que se adaptan a las necesidades de todos los que desean aprender esta lengua.

A l'abast : comunicació bàsica en llengua catalana : comunicación básica en lengua catalana : basic communication in the catalan language : communication basique en langue catalane. 'Al alcance : comunicación básica en lengua catalana'.

Pensado para las personas no catalanoparlantes que, tanto si han decidido convertir las islas en su lugar de residencia como si no es el caso, tienen la inquietud de acercarse a esta realidad lingüística y cultural. Pretende facilitar la adquisición de una serie de recursos útiles para una comunicación básica en lengua catalana. Consiste en un conjunto de frases frecuentes en situaciones usuales de la vida cotidiana. El texto escrito se complementa con un cd-rom que permite escuchar estas frases pronunciadas por hablantes nativos y registrar y escuchar aquellas que produce el alumno. No es un curso de catalán, es sólo una aproximación a la lengua catalana que debe estimular a aprender más. Incluye también una guía de recursos para aprender catalán desde las Islas Baleares: cursos, centros de autoaprendizaje, recursos en soporte informático o accesibles a través de Internet, que se adaptan a las necesidades de todos los que desean aprender esta lengua.

Language acquisition in the classroom.

Revisión didáctica subyacente a la impartición de lenguas extranjeras en el contexto sociopedagógico de las aulas, con el fin de que los alumnos puedan adquirir las destrezas comunicativas lingüísticas necesarias a nivel oral y escrito. Aplicado a seis grupos de primero de BUP de 35 alumnos cada grupo, del Instituto Tomás de Iriarte de Santa Cruz de Tenerife. La metodología llevada a cabo ha sido a través de un enfoque natural, siendo indispensable para ello, actitud favorable, orden creciente de dificultad, creación de reglas formales, mensajes significativos para el discente, etc. Los instrumentos de obtención de la información se llevaron a cabo a través de cuestionarios personales (intereses, nivel social, etc.) y observaciones de conocimientos y actitudes hacia la segunda lengua. La experiencia ha sido válida tanto para la formación profesional de los profesores como para el aprovechamiento académico de los alumnos. Valoración favorable del enfoque natural y necesidad de investigar en el área de adquisición de segundas lenguas.

Language acquisition through topical syllabus.

El presente proyecto viene a ser una labor ya experimentada desde hace cuatro años. Se trata de una aproximación a la Lengua Inglesa de COU de una forma totalmente innovadora. A partir de una serie de tópicos o temas de actualidad o considerados de interés por los alumnos, se elaboran unas tareas o actividades a realizar por el alumnado. Estos tópicos se trabajan a partir de material auténtico, tanto escrito como audiovisual, atendiendo tanto a razones de complejidad lingüística como de complejidad conceptual. Su contenido oscilará desde lo puramente morfosintáctico-léxico hasta el más puramente comunicativo. El proyecto afecta a todos los grupos de COU de los siguientes centros de Bachillerato: Anaga, Tomás de Iriarte, Padre Anchieta, Tejina, Cabrera Pinto, y de Formación Profesional Los Realejos, todos de la isla de Tenerife. Se llevó a cabo una evaluación continua a través de observación directa, participación y trabajo en clase, pruebas orales y escritas, etc. No constan resultados ni valoraciones al respecto.

The acquisition of expository uses of language

Objective: This study offers a description of the kinds of linguistic aids offered by adults while giving explanations to young children about different issues. During the midst of these conversations children have several opportunities to learn, not only from objects and events, but also from the utterances used to refer to them, learning how realities are named after, and in many cases, how to participate in them. Methodology: Through the analysis of eleven minutes of interaction between young child and his maternal grandparents. Results: Adults offers young child different discursive ways for helping him to add information, organize and clarify the topic that he is talking about. Conclusions: The results allow to identify different ways that the adults use for helping young child to improve his explanations.