Creative English and public relations in Hong Kong

This paper investigates employer perceptions of the nature and importance of the English language in public relations agencies in Hong Kong. Based on in-depth interviews with senior managers from eight Hong Kong-based public relations companies, it examines how the linguistic currency ofEnglish is used collaboratively in creative organizations. Findings suggest that English is used as the common language among transnational public relations work teams and the clients that they service. Itis also used as a creative resource for facilitating collaboration, staff development and socialization into corporate and professional cultures.

English compound and non-compound processing in bilingual and multilingual speakers: effects of dominance and sequential multilingualism

This article reports on a study investigating the relative influence of the first and dominant language on L2 and L3 morpho-lexical processing. A lexical decision task compared the responses to English NV-er compounds (e.g., taxi driver) and non-compounds provided by a group of native speakers and three groups of learners at various levels of English proficiency: L1 Spanish-L2 English sequential bilinguals and two groups of early Spanish-Basque bilinguals with English as their L3. Crucially, the two trilingual groups differed in their first and dominant language (i.e., L1 Spanish-L2 Basque vs. L1 Basque-L2 Spanish). Our materials exploit an (a)symmetry between these languages: while Basque and English pattern together in the basic structure of (productive) NV-er compounds, Spanish presents a construction that differs in directionality as well as inflection of the verbal element (V[3SG] + N). Results show between and within group differences in accuracy and response times that may be ascribable to two factors besides proficiency: the number of languages spoken by a given participant and their dominant language. An examination of response bias reveals an influence of the participants' first and dominant language on the processing of NV-er compounds. Our data suggest that morphological information in the nonnative lexicon may extend beyond morphemic structure and that, similarly to bilingualism, there are costs to sequential multilingualism in lexical retrieval.

Innovation and change in English teaching in the western provinces of China: the impact of overseas training

In this article we explore issues around the impact of continuing professional development (CPD) for secondary teachers of English offered by an overseas provider through the lens of participants from the Western provinces of China who completed courses at a UK university between 2003 and 2012. We start by offering an overview of English teaching in China. We then report two complementary studies of the same programme. The first aimed for breadth of understanding and involved the collection and analysis of interviews and focus groups discussions with former participants, their teaching colleagues and senior management, as well as classroom observation. The second aimed for depth and drew on data collected from a cohort of 38 teachers on one of the courses, using pre- and post-course surveys; focus group discussions at the end of the course with the whole cohort; and interviews with five of the participants both before they left the UK and again six months later. Evidence is presented for changes in teachers’ philosophies of education directly attributable to participation in the courses; for improved teacher competencies (linguistic, cultural and pedagogical) in the classroom; and for the ways in which returnees are undertaking new roles and responsibilities that exploit their new understandings. Finally, we discuss the implications of these findings for both providers and sponsors of CPD for English language teachers.

Masked constituent priming of English compounds in native and nonnative speakers

The present research explores the degree of morphological structure of compound words in the native and nonnative lexicons, and provides additional data on the access to these representations. Native and nonnative speakers (L1 Spanish) of English were tested using a lexical decision task with masked priming of the compound’s constituents in isolation, including two orthographic conditions to control for a potential orthographic locus of effects. Both groups displayed reliable priming effects, unmediated by semantics, for the morphological but not the orthographic conditions as compared to an unrelated baseline. Results contribute further evidence of morphological structure in the lexicon of native speakers, and suggest that lexical representation and access in a second language are qualitatively comparable at relatively advanced levels of proficiency.

Writing westwards: medieval English literature and its early modern Irish audiences

Quite a few texts from England were translated into Irish in the fifteenth and early-sixteenth centuries. The number of these texts was significant enough to suggest that foreign material of this sort enjoyed something of a vogue in late-medieval Ireland. Translated texts include Mandeville’s Travels, Guy of Warwick, Bevis of Hampton, Fierabras and a selection of saints’ lives. Scholars have paid little attention to the origins and initial readerships of these texts, but still less research has been conducted into their afterlife in early modern Ireland. However, a strikingly high number of these works continued to be read and copied well into the seventeenth century and some, such as the Irish translations of Octavian and William of Palerne, only survive in manuscripts from this later period. This paper takes these translations as a test case to explore the ways in which a cross-period approach to such writing is applicable in Ireland, a country where the renaissance is generally considered to have taken little hold. It considers the extent to which Irish reception of this translated material shifts and evolves in the course of this turbulent period and whether the same factors that contributed to the continued demand for a range of similar texts in England into the seventeenth century are also discernible in the Irish context.

Medieval romance, English

Annotated bibliography of romance from medieval England. It focuses on medieval romances in various languages written in England or translated into English before 1500.

The Route of the English Ambassador: Valladolid, 1605

Hand-held map of the entry into the city of Valladolid by the English Ambassador and his embassy to the court of Philip III of Spain in May 1605.

Psychometric evaluation of the Disordered Eating Attitude Scale (DEAS). English version

Eating attitudes are defined as beliefs, thoughts, feelings, behaviors and relationship with food They could influence people`s food choices and their health status Objective This study aimed to adapt from Portuguese to English the Disordered Eating Attitude Scale (DEAS) and evaluate its validity and reliability. The original scale in Portuguese was translated and adapted into English and was applied to female university students of University of Minnesota USA (n = 224). Internal consistency was determined (Cronbach`s Alpha). Convergent validity was assessed by correlations between Eating Attitude Test-26 (EAT-26) and Restrain Scale (RS). Reliability was evaluated applying twice the scale to a sub-sample (n = 30). The scale was back translated into Portuguese and compared with the original version and discrepancies were not found. The internal consistency was .76 The DEAS total score was significantly associated with EAT-26 (r = 0.65) and RS (r = 0 69) scores The correlation between test-retest was r = 09 The English version of DEAS showed appropriate internal consistency, convergent validity and test-retest reliability and will be useful to assess eating attitudes in different population groups in English spoken countries. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Chromosome homologies of the highly rearranged karyotypes of four Akodon species (Rodentia, Cricetidae) resolved by reciprocal chromosome painting: the evolution of the lowest diploid number in rodents

Traditionally comparative cytogenetic studies are based mainly on banding patterns. Nevertheless, when dealing with species with highly rearranged genomes, as in Akodon species, or with other highly divergent species, cytogenetic comparisons of banding patterns prove inadequate. Hence, comparative chromosome painting has become the method of choice for genome comparisons at the cytogenetic level since it allows complete chromosome probes of a species to be hybridized in situ onto chromosomes of other species, detecting homologous genomic regions between them. In the present study, we have explored the highly rearranged complements of the Akodon species using reciprocal chromosome painting through species-specific chromosome probes obtained by chromosome sorting. The results revealed complete homology among the complements of Akodon sp. n. (ASP), 2n = 10; Akodon cursor (ACU), 2n = 15; Akodon montensis (AMO), 2n = 24; and Akodon paranaensis (APA), 2n = 44, and extensive chromosome rearrangements have been detected within the species with high precision. Robertsonian and tandem rearrangements, pericentric inversions and/or centromere repositioning, paracentric inversion, translocations, insertions, and breakpoints, where chromosomal rearrangements, seen to be favorable, were observed. Chromosome painting using the APA set of 21 autosomes plus X and Y revealed eight syntenic segments that are shared with A. montensis, A. cursor, and ASP, and one syntenic segment shared by A. montensis and A. cursor plus five exclusive chromosome associations for A. cursor and six for ASP chromosome X, except for the heterochromatin region of ASP X, and even chromosome Y shared complete homology among the species. These data indicate that all those closely related species have experienced a recent extensive process of autosomal rearrangement in which, except for ASP, there is still complete conservation of sex chromosomes homologies.

Painting Students at Work

Two students learning painting at the New York Trade School are shown here working on decorative designs. Black and white photograph.

Sign Painting Department

In this section of the Sign Painting Department several students are shown working on projects. Decorating the walls are numerous signs, likely painted by students in the department. Black and white photograph.

Sign Painting Students at Work

A classroom of students in the Sign Painting Department at the New York Students is shown working on a variety of signs. Black and white photograph.

Sign Painting Student Working Outside

A Sign Painting student from the New York Trade School is pictured working outside on scaffolding on an AMOCO sign. Black and white photograph.

Section of Sign Painting Department

A section of the Sign Painting Department is shown with students working at tables. A variety of signs can be seen hanging around the room including one for a Holiday Inn, an American Meat Market, and one for a Laundrette. Black and white photograph with slight damage from a tear.