History and uses of music education for children who are hearing impaired

This paper discusses hearing impaired children and their ability to learn and enjoy music.

The use of music education in oral schools for children who are deaf and hard of hearing

This paper is a survey and discussion of the teaching methods, objectives, and benefits associated with music programs in oral schools for children who are deaf and hard of hearing.

Subjective versus objective measures of daily listening environments

This study examined hearing impaired listeners’ subjective perceptions of listening environments through a listening questionnaire and compared these results to objective measures mimicked by the questionnaire in the datalogging device SAM (Sound Activity Meter). Results indicate audiologists should not rely on patient reports of “typical” listening environments for hearing aid selection as significant discrepancies were present between several of the subjective and objective measures.

Most comfortable listening levels of hearing impaired people: effects of everyday auditory and visual environments

This paper discusses a study to evaluate the changes that may occur in most comfortable listening levels when hearing aid users encounter a realistic auditory and visual environment.

A consumer survey designed to identify attitudes, knowledge, acceptance, and use of assistive listening devices in public facilities

This paper presents a consumer survey of hearing-impaired persons used to identify their attitudes, knowledge, acceptance, and use of assistive listening devices in public facilities.

Subjective and objective measures of adult bimodal users' listening

Inconsistencies exist between traditional objective measures such as speech recognition and localization, and subjective reports of bimodal benefit. The purpose of this study was to expand the set of objective measures of bimodal benefit to include non-traditional listening tests, and to examine possible correlations between objective measures of auditory perception and subjective satisfaction reports.

Influencia de la combinación de marketing digital y marketing tradicional en el comportamiento de las ventas empresariales. Caso: música digital Universal Music Ecuador

Las ventas del formato físico de música se han reducido en Ecuador por falta de control de la piratería y elevados precios de venta al público, provocando la reducción de tiendas discos y el fortalecimiento de la ilegalidad. El lanzamiento de tiendas digitales legales de música en el país representa una oportunidad para las compañías discográficas de impulsar el consumo de música digital, destacando iTunes como la plataforma de mayor difusión y penetración, frente a la cual ninguna compañía ha desarrollado una estrategia. Universal Music es la compañía discográfica número uno en el mundo, y en Ecuador la única con operaciones propias, para la que se propone una estrategia mixta de marketing tradicional y digital, siguiendo una estrategia genérica de enfoque, actual en la empresa, orientada al segmento joven y joven – adulto y estrategias específicas de: penetración de mercado a través del diseño de un plan de comunicación de medios online y offline que promueva la venta del producto digital de la empresa en iTunes e incremente su participación en el mercado musical digital del país, y una estrategia específica de diversificación concéntrica proponiendo la música digital como nuevo formato de calidad, variedad y bajo costo para un mercado que opta por la piratería ante la falta de opciones. El plan de acción considera estrategias y herramientas obtenidas el análisis de las 4 P tradicionales y las 4 nuevas P, desde un enfoque online y offline de product e- marketing, e-promotion, e- communication, e-advertising, ecommerce. La implementación de la estrategia contempla la aplicación del plan mixto de medios propuesto para el nuevo disco del cantante Juanes “Loco de Amor”, con énfasis en la campaña de medios online.

Strategy clusters and sources of knowledge in French L2 listening comprehension

This article reports on an exploratory investigation into the listening strategies of lower-intermediate learners of French as an L2, including the sources of knowledge they employed in order to comprehend spoken French. Data from 14 learners were analysed to investigate whether employment of strategies in general and sources of knowledge in particular varied according to the underlying linguistic knowledge of the student. While low linguistic knowledge learners were less likely to deploy effectively certain strategies or strategy clusters, high linguistic knowledge levels were not always associated with effective strategy use. Similarly, while there was an association between linguistic knowledge and learners’ ability to draw on more than one source of knowledge in a facilitative manner, there was also evidence that learners tended to over-rely on linguistic knowledge where other sources, such as world knowledge, would have proved facilitative. We conclude by arguing for a fresh approach to listening pedagogy and research, including strategy instruction, bottom-up skill development and a consideration of the role of linguistic knowledge in strategy use.

Strategy instruction in listening for lower-intermediate learners of French

Second language listening has historically proved to be a difficult skill. Strategy instruction studies have sought to bring about improvements in subjects’ listening but with mixed results. This lack of success might be due to the nature of listening strategy theory and its influence on conceptualizations of listening strategy instruction. The current study, based on an initial descriptive investigation of a specific population of learners, measured the effects of strategy instruction on both the listening performance and self-efficacy of 68 lower-intermediate learners of French in England, against a comparison group. Moreover, the effects of high- and low-scaffolded interventions were compared. Results suggest that the program improved listening proficiency and learners’ confidence about listening. Implications for pedagogy and strategy theory are discussed.

Life histories of music service histories, the past in inductees' present

This article discusses inductee music service teachers (to 25 years of age). It explores how their lives, as perceived, shape current identities in teaching and result in several career problems. Respondents were drawn from a comprehensive life history study of 28 Local Education Authority employees. Of this larger cohort, four were age 25 years and below, and the remaining 24 teachers made retrospective comments. Data were collected and analysed between October 2002 and March 2004. Principal findings suggest that schooling failed to address these educators' needs as musical learners; key childhood experiences were external of schools. This often resulted in an idealistic trajectory, in teenage years, towards an occupation as a performer. An occupation in music education was entirely disregarded. Consequently, inductees now consider training experiences an inappropriate platform for their professional lives. Managing group teaching and children's behaviour engenders considerable anxiety. Music service work is also deemed a transient state of affairs. There are implications for training, retention and professional development.