Shaping literacy in the secondary school: policy, practice and agency in the age of the national literacy strategy

This article examines the definitions of literacy in operation in secondary schools, and the relationship between official literacy policy and the practices of the agents responsible for implementing this policy. We trace the history of national policy back to the Language Across the Curriculum movement of the 1970s as it provides an illustrative point of comparison with the first five years of the National Literacy Strategy. Drawing on empirical data which illuminate the views, perceptions and practices of key agents on a number of levels, we critically review the concept of 'school literacy' promoted in government policy, defining it as 'school-centric literacy' and question its ability to facilitate participation in the practices associated with the media and technological literacies which are increasingly a feature of school life. There is evidence of some unplanned effects of the current national policy but also that levels of agency, for literacy teachers in particular, may be rapidly diminishing.

Designing Year 12 strategy training in listening and writing: from theory to practice

This article outlines some of the key issues involved in developing a programme of strategy training for learners of French, in listening and in writing. It highlights the theoretical perspectives and research findings on listening and writing that informed the selection of strategies to teach learners and thence the development of appropriate materials. Examples of these materials are given as well as advice regarding their use. The article concludes with suggestions for how strategy training might be incorporated into teachers' own work with learners.

Second language listening strategy research: methodological challenges and perspectives

This paper explores methodological issues related to research into second language listening strategies. We argue that a number of central questions regarding research methodology in this line of enquiry are underexamined, and we engage in the discussion of three key methodological questions: (1) To what extent is a verbal report a valid and reliable way of eliciting information about strategies? (2) Should we control for learners' level of linguistic knowledge when examining their listening strategy use? and (3) What are the problems surrounding the analysis of data gained through verbal reports? We discuss each of these three methodological issues within the framework of a research project investigating listening strategies deployed by learners of French in secondary schools in England. Implications from these findings for future research are discussed.

Description of a multifaceted strategy for recruiting general practitioners and community pharmacists to talk about medication errors

Objective: To describe the use of a multifaceted strategy for recruiting general practitioners (GPs) and community pharmacists to talk about medication errors which have resulted in preventable drug-related admissions to hospital. This is a potentially sensitive subject with medicolegal implications. Setting: Four primary care trusts and one teaching hospital in the UK. Method: Letters were mailed to community pharmacists and general practitioners asking for provisional consent to be interviewed and permission to contact them again should a patient be admitted to hospital as a result of a medication error. In addition, GPs were asked for permission to approach their patients should they be admitted to hospital. A multifaceted approach to recruitment was used including gaining support for the study from professional defence agencies and local champions. Key findings: Eighty-five percent (310/385) of GPs and 62% (93/149) of community pharmacists responded to the letters. Eighty-five percent (266/310) of GPs who responded and 81% (75/93) of community pharmacists who responded gave provisional consent to participate in interviews. All GPs (14 out of 14) and community pharmacists (10 out of 10) who were subsequently asked to participate, when patients were admitted to hospital, agreed to be interviewed. Conclusion: The multifaceted approach to recruitment was associated with an impressive response when asking healthcare professionals to be interviewed about medication errors which have resulted in preventable drug-related morbidity.

Collaborative tele-rehabilitation: A strategy for increasing engagement

This paper examines the influence of a collaborative rehabilitation environment that encourages a long-distance collaborative "play" using two robot-mediated environments. This study presents a strategy for increasing motivation on able-bodied persons, applicable to impaired persons, to engage, sustain play and relate during a shared task. The study consisted of a series of eighteen single case studies, each involved in two distinct phases and assessed using a multidimensional measurement intended to assess participant' subjective experience. The results showed a clear positive trend in favour of the robot-mediated game environment. Subjects found the collaborative environment more valuable and more interesting and enjoyable. As a consequence, it appears subjects were willing to spend more time at a task.

A knowledge-based evolution strategy for the multi-objective minimum spanning tree problem

A fast Knowledge-based Evolution Strategy, KES, for the multi-objective minimum spanning tree, is presented. The proposed algorithm is validated, for the bi-objective case, with an exhaustive search for small problems (4-10 nodes), and compared with a deterministic algorithm, EPDA and NSGA-II for larger problems (up to 100 nodes) using benchmark hard instances. Experimental results show that KES finds the true Pareto fronts for small instances of the problem and calculates good approximation Pareto sets for larger instances tested. It is shown that the fronts calculated by YES are superior to NSGA-II fronts and almost as good as those established by EPDA. KES is designed to be scalable to multi-objective problems and fast due to its small complexity.

A new strategy for the blind MMSE equalization

This paper describes a new strategy for the blind equalization so that the blind Constant Module Algorithm (CMA) can be smoothly switched to the decision- directed (DD) equalization. First, we propose a combination approach by running the CMA and DD equalization simultaneously to obtain a smooth switch between them. We then describe an "anchoring process" to eliminate the effect from the CMA at the steady state to achieve low residual noise. The overall equalization can be regarded as the DD equalization being anchored by the combination approach. Numerical simulations are given to verify the proposed strategy.