Comics as a literary-didactic method and their use for reducing gender differences in reading literacy at the primary level of education

The aim of the present study was to examine the effect of the systematic use of comics as a literary-didactic method to reduce gender differences in reading literacy and reading motivation at the primary level of education. It was assumed that the use of comics would have a positive effect on pupils’ reading literacy and reading motivation, while also reducing the aforementioned differences between boys and girls. The dimensions of reading literacy and reading motivation were examined in experimental and control groups, before and after the intervention, by means of questionnaires and tests for pupils. The sample consisted of 143 pupils from second to fifth grade from two Slovenian primary schools in a rural environment, of which 73 pupils participated in the experimental group and 70 pupils represented the control group. Effects of the use of comics as a literary-didactic method were not found: using comics as a literary-didactic method did not have a statistically significant effect on pupils’ reading literacy and reading motivation. However, when the four-way structure of the research (taking into account the age and gender of the pupils) was considered, some subgroups showed a statistically significant increase in reading interest and attitude towards reading. No reduction of gender differences in reading literacy and reading motivation was found. Based on the results, guidelines for further research are established and suggestions are offered for teachers’ work. (DIPF/Orig.)

Ritual and routine: a means of adaption

Researchers have demonstrated how engaging in rituals or ‘patterned’ behaviours can help people cope with stressful situations and significant life changes. However, limited knowledge exists on the role of ritual practices in prison and how federally incarcerated Canadian men use these rituals to deal with their imprisonment. To respond to this lacuna in the literature, transcripts from 56 semi-structured interviews with former male federal prisoners released on parole into Ontario, Canada, were analyzed for emergent themes identifying the purpose of ritual and routine practices across prisons with different security classifications. Findings reveal the effectiveness of rituals for managing and mitigating the stresses of incarceration, specifically that prisoners’ routine behaviours constitute a positive strategy of adaption to incarceration (e.g., alleviating stress and passing time) in preparation for life postincarceration (e.g., anticipatory socialization). Structural Ritualization Theory frames the analyses and implications presented in this study.

The Wounded Me: a novel and critical essay on Hugo Simberg's oeuvre and the literary engagement with his painting The Wounded Angel

No abstract available.

Mesh Adaption for Tracking Vortex Structures in OVERTURNS Simulation of the S-76 Rotor in Hover

The constant need to improve helicopter performance requires the optimization of existing and future rotor designs. A crucial indicator of rotor capability is hover performance, which depends on the near-body flow as well as the structure and strength of the tip vortices formed at the trailing edge of the blades. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) solvers must balance computational expenses with preservation of the flow, and to limit computational expenses the mesh is often coarsened in the outer regions of the computational domain. This can lead to degradation of the vortex structures which compose the rotor wake. The current work conducts three-dimensional simulations using OVERTURNS, a three-dimensional structured grid solver that models the flow field using the Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes equations. The S-76 rotor in hover was chosen as the test case for evaluating the OVERTURNS solver, focusing on methods to better preserve the rotor wake. Using the hover condition, various computational domains, spatial schemes, and boundary conditions were tested. Furthermore, a mesh adaption routine was implemented, allowing for the increased refinement of the mesh in areas of turbulent flow without the need to add points to the mesh. The adapted mesh was employed to conduct a sweep of collective pitch angles, comparing the resolved wake and integrated forces to existing computational and experimental results. The integrated thrust values saw very close agreement across all tested pitch angles, while the power was slightly over predicted, resulting in under prediction of the Figure of Merit. Meanwhile, the tip vortices have been preserved for multiple blade passages, indicating an improvement in vortex preservation when compared with previous work. Finally, further results from a single collective pitch case were presented to provide a more complete picture of the solver results.

A literary approach to teaching english language in a multicultural classroom

Literature is not generally considered as a coherent branch of the curriculum in relation to language development in either native or foreign language teaching. As teachers of English in multicultural Indian classrooms, we come across students with varying degrees of competence in English language learning. Although language learning is a natural process for natives, students of other languages put in colossal efforts to learn it. Despite their sincere efforts, they face challenges regarding pronunciation, spelling, and vocabulary. Indian classrooms are a microcosm of the larger society, so teaching English language in a manner that equips the students to face the cutthroat competition has become a necessity and a challenge for English language teachers. English today has become the key determinant for being successful in their careers. The hackneyed and stereotypical methods of teaching are not acceptable now. Teachers are no longer arbitrary dispensers of knowledge, but they are playing the role of a guide and facilitator for the students. Teachers of English are using innovative ideas to make English language teaching and learning interesting and simple. Teachers have started using literary texts and their analyses to explore and ignite the imagination and creative skills of the students. One needs to think and rethink the contribution of literature to intelligent thinking as well as its role in the process of teaching/learning. This article is, therefore, an attempt at exploring the nature of the literary experience in the present-day classrooms and the broader role of literature in life.

Literary reading is a team game: exercices with Carroll and Carle.

This paper will focus on the issue of training future literary reading mediators or promoters. It will propose a practical exercise on playing with intertextuality with the aid of two children literature classics and masterpieces—The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (1865) and The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle (1969). This exercise is not designed to be a pedagogical or didactic tool used with children (that could alternatively be done with the same corpora), but it is designed to focus on issues of literary studies and contemporary culture. The aim of this practical exercise with future reading promoters is to enable graduate students or trainees to be able to recognize that literary reading can be a team game. However, before arriving at the agan stage, where the rules get simplified and attainable by young readers, hard and solitary work of the mediator is required. The rules of this solitary game of preparing the reading of classical texts are not always evident. On the other hand, the reason why literary reading could be (and perhaps should be) defined as a new team game in our contemporary and globalized world derives directly from the fact that we now live in a world where mass culture is definitely installed. We should be pragmatic on evaluating the conditions of communication between people (not only young adults or children) and we should look the way people read the signs on everyday life and consequently behave in contemporary society, and then apply the same rules or procedures to introduce old players such as the classical books in the game. We are talking about adult mediators and native digital readers. In the contemporary democratic social context, cultural producers and consumers are two very important elements (as the book itself) of the literary polissystem. So, teaching literature is more than ever to be aware that the literary reader meaning of a text does not reside only in the text and in its solitary relationship with the quiet and comfortably installed reader. Meaning is produced by the reader in relation both to the text in question and to the complex network of texts invoked in the reading process and plural connections provided by the world of a new media environment.

Using performance measurement models for benefit realization with enterprise systems: The Queensland Government approach (Case Study)

A range of influences, technical and organizational, has encouraged the wide spread adaption of Enterprise Systems (ES). Nevertheless, there is a growing consensus that Enterprise Systems have in the many cases failed to provide the expected benefits to organizations. This paper presents ongoing research, which analyzes the benefits realization approach of the Queensland Government. This approach applies a modified Balance Scorecard. First, history and background of Queensland Government’s Enterprise Systems initiative is introduced. Second, the most common reasons for ES under performance are related. Third, relevant performance measurement models and the Balanced Scorecard in particular are discussed. Finally, the Queensland Government initiative is evaluated in light of this overview of current work in the area. In the current and future work, the authors aim to use their active involvement in Queensland Government’s benefits realization initiative for an Action Research based project investigating the appropriateness of the Balanced Scorecard for the purposes of Enterprise Systems benefits realization.

Co-creative media : theorising digital storytelling as a platform for researching and developing participatory culture

This paper considers the question, ‘what is co-creative media, and why is it a useful idea in social media research’? The term ‘co-creative media’ is now used by Creative Industries researchers at QUT to describe their digital storytelling practices. Digital storytelling is a set of collaborative digital media production techniques that have been used to facilitate social participation in numerous Australian and international contexts. Digital storytelling has been adapted by Creative Industries researchers at QUT as a platform for researching the potential of vernacular creativity in a variety of contexts, including social inclusion of marginalized and disadvantaged groups; inclusion in public histories of narratives that might be overlooked; and articulation of voices that otherwise remain silent in the formulation of social and economic development strategies. The adaption of digital storytelling to different contexts has been shaped by the reflexive, recursive, and pragmatic requirements of action research. Amongst other things, this activity draws attention to the agency of researchers in facilitating these kinds of participatory media processes and outcomes. This discussion serves to problematise concepts of participatory media by introducing the term ‘co-creative media’ and differentiating these from other social media production practices.

A Short History of Cultural Studies (Taiwanese edition)

This is the first volume to capture the essence of the burgeoning field of cultural studies in a concise and accessible manner. Other books have explored the British and North American traditions, but this is the first guide to the ideas, purposes and controversies that have shaped the subject. The author sheds new light on neglected pioneers and a clear route map through the terrain. He provides lively critical narratives on a dazzling array of key figures including, Arnold, Barrell, Bennett, Carey, Fiske, Foucault, Grossberg, Hall, Hawkes, hooks, Hoggart, Leadbeater, Lissistzky, Malevich, Marx, McLuhan, McRobbie, D Miller, T Miller, Morris, Quiller-Couch, Ross, Shaw, Urry, Williams, Wilson, Wolfe and Woolf. Hartley also examines a host of central themes in the subject including literary and political writing, publishing, civic humanism, political economy and Marxism, sociology, feminism, anthropology and the pedagogy of cultural studies.

Review of Latecomers

This is a review of a poetry book by Jaya Savige (Latecomers, University of Qld Press, 2005), which explores contemporary poetics.