A taxonomy of asymmetric requirements aspects

The early aspects community has received increasing attention among researchers and practitioners, and has grown a set of meaningful terminology and concepts in recent years, including the notion of requirements aspects. Aspects at the requirements level present stakeholder concerns that crosscut the problem domain, with the potential for a broad impact on questions of scoping, prioritization, and architectural design. Although many existing requirements engineering approaches advocate and advertise an integral support of early aspects analysis, one challenge is that the notion of a requirements aspect is not yet well established to efficaciously serve the community. Instead of defining the term once and for all in a normally arduous and unproductive conceptual unification stage, we present a preliminary taxonomy based on the literature survey to show the different features of an asymmetric requirements aspect. Existing approaches that handle requirements aspects are compared and classified according to the proposed taxonomy. In addition,we study crosscutting security requirements to exemplify the taxonomy's use, substantiate its value, and explore its future directions

Teacher cognition in language teaching: A review of research on what language teachers think, know, believe, and do

This paper reviews a selection of research from the field of foreign and second language teaching into what is referred to here as teacher cognition – what teachers think, know, and believe and the relationships of these mental constructs to what teachers do in the language teaching classroom. Within a framework suggested by more general mainstream educational research on teacher cognition, language teacher cognition is here discussed with reference to three main themes: (1) cognition and prior language learning experience, (2) cognition and teacher education, and (3) cognition and classroom practice. In addition, the findings of studies into two specific curricular areas in language teaching which have been examined by teacher cognition – grammar teaching and literacy – are discussed. This review indicates that, while the study of teacher cognition has established itself on the research agenda in the field of language teaching and provided valuable insight into the mental lives of language teachers, a clear sense of unity is lacking in the work and there are several major issues in language teaching which have yet to be explored from the perspective of teacher cognition

A decision support system for evaluating local authority housing maintenance strategies in the United Kingdom

Purpose The lack of smart resources management and servicescape strategies within the social housing sector in the late 1970s influenced the rise of successive Governments to consider the restructuring of the traditional ‘cumbersome’ Local Authority based structures and approaches toward more ‘enterprise focussed’ management organisations (Sharp & Jones 2012). This change in central Government policy encouraged Local Authorities to assign through outsourcing their housing stock (including associated asset management services) as part of a Large Scale Voluntary Transfer (LSVT) via a process of compulsory competitive tendering to Housing Associations and / or set up Housing Trusts to increase the accountability, efficiency, and effectiveness of social housing and healthcare provision in the local community. As part of this modernisation process, all social housing and community care providers (also known as ‘Registered Social Landlords’ - RSLs) became subject to statutory audits, inspections and regulation, and performance management, to ensure the service quality delivery requirements. More recently, however, changes in the legislative framework have introduced choice-based letting policy, putting the customer first, service delivery and additionally RSLs are required to act as ‘Corporate Social Landlords’. These changes have focused RSLs attention on the need to sharpen service responsiveness, especially in the area of housing maintenance management (DETR 2000). Previous research (Holmes 1985; Spedding 1990; Johnston 1993; Stewart & Stoker 1995; Olubodun 1996, 2000, 2001; Sagoo et al. 1996; El-Haram & Horner 2002; Kangwa & Olubodun 2003, 2005; Boussabaine & Kirkham 2004; Jones & Cooper 2007; Prowle 2009; Babangida et al. 2012) has mainly concentrated on analysing maintenance management factors at the micro level; developing maintenance models and framework design for operational level. However, in the social housing sector, there have been no studies undertaken to date that have been focused on housing maintenance strategies – for example, how this is formulated, the key drivers of change and the impact on customer orientated service delivery. The purpose of this study is to identify the critical factors that drive the decision-making process in order to formulate responsive housing maintenance strategies and to develop a decision support model to improve customer service delivery of social housing provision. Research methodology Through a process of qualitative case study, pilot questionnaire surveys, workshops and qualitative in-depth interviews, the research has identified how the housing maintenance strategies are formulated and how social housing providers could enhance customer service delivery. The study comprised four phases in order to reflect the key objectives of the research. The first phase comprised a review of literature on social housing provision in the UK, identifying relevant changes in the legislative framework, an assessment of the challenges faced by RSLs and the key factors influencing performance of social housing provision. This phase also included undertaking a case study based on five different RSLs to examine the ‘real problems’ as to how and to what extent RSLs have adopted their organisation in order to meet the changes and challenges which they now face. The second phase investigated the key service factors impacting on housing maintenance strategy design and development through the use of a pilot study questionnaire directed to the asset managers (participating in the survey) and also included a selection of end users of the services (tenants). This phase identified the differences between the perceptions of service providers and the expectations of the service users. A key feature of this phase entailed conducting a workshop to disseminate findings of the pilot study. The workshop also formed a basis for ‘in-depth’ discussions for identifying the key factors, their descriptions, their interactions with each other, their inter-relationships with the tenant type, and their combined impact on formulating responsive housing maintenance strategy. The third phase of the study entailed eliciting qualitative data from the participants using the Repertory Grid (RG) ‘in-depth’ interview technique - a psychology tool in order to gain a deeper understanding of the core important ‘constructs’ and sub-constructs, their characteristics, their inter-relationships in the design and development of effective housing asset maintenance strategies. The fourth phase of this study entailed the development of a decision support system and the qualitative validation of the relationships found to exist between the constructs examined in phase three together with the testing of the model over a period of two months with four of the participating social housing providers. Findings The key findings arising from this research suggest that the design and development of value for money maintenance strategies within the public housing sector, are not solely based on physical factors related to the age, condition, location, construction type for example, but rather it was found that the majority of the asset management decisions made, were dependent upon a multivariate of key factors. The study identified 52 key factors, which when grouped together formed seven key cluster (Customer risk factors, Asset manager risk factors, Tenancy risk factors, Neighbourhood and community sustainability risk factors, Financial and economic risk factors, continuous service improvement risk factors and corporate risk factors) which are both ‘unique’ and ‘novel’ and are identified as having a direct influence on the formulation of housing maintenance strategy. These factors should not be considered in isolation and are more akin to the business success factors. The business ‘Balanced Scorecard’ (BSC) was evaluated and used as the basis for a ‘best fit’ model which was tested against four RSL to confirm its validity and its appropriateness. The responses obtained from these trials has indicated that the BSC provides a working tool capable of enhancing RSL organisational capabilities and service delivery effectiveness but also able to incorporate customer views regarding service delivery. This research makes major contributions to the existing limited pool of knowledge relating to strategic asset management within social housing sector and in addition, provides an insight into how housing maintenance strategy can be developed to incorporate feedback from customers (tenants) regarding the quality and responsive service delivery. The research also demonstrates the potential value of the BSC approach to the management tool capable of generating a competitive edge in line with government policy which is currently directed towards encouraging RSLs to adopt a commercial business approach to their operations. The research also demonstrates that the adoption of a decision support system in the form of BSC has the potential to provide useful assistance to RSLs intending to move away from the traditional public sector approaches to management (a more private sector orientated) approach to their operations. The research also shows that asset managers experience little difficulty in understanding the principles behind the BSC approach and its application. In addition, the cascading effect of BSC in housing maintenance strategy means that the strategy can be converted into measurable actions at the operational levels thereby providing a direct link between strategy and its implementation. Due to the absence of suitable benchmarking data, score rating derived from the RG were adopted by asset managers. This approach was found to be highly sensitive in assessing service delivery constructs. Furthermore, the research revealed that the individual constructs (52 key factors) had a profound influence in relation to the strategy formation and the assessment of customer service delivery. The study found that RSLs need to develop a deeper understanding and awareness of their customers concerns in that these factors may have a major impact in the development of a responsive housing maintenance strategy and overall improvements on RSLs performance. A close link was found between customer profile, their financial standing and their service expectations, patterns of behaviour and their interaction with their RSLs. High performance expectation was found on the part of affordable customers, presumably reflecting a higher level of social and economic dependency within this group and greater need for access to services thereby challenging RSLs to deliver higher standards of performance including housing maintenance provision. Other customer groups were noted as placing demand on their RSLs to adopt more holistic approach to formulation of housing maintenance strategy and embrace business-like approach to service delivery in order to facilitate a smooth transition from traditional public sector ethos to one closely akin to that associated with the private sector organisation. Practical implications The practical implications of this research are, that, if RSLs are to meet the demands of complying with a changed legislative framework, deliver responsive housing maintenance services to reflect the ever-changing customer expectations, and to adopt commercial approaches to the development of housing maintenance strategies, RSLs will need to re-engineer their business processes if the demands are to be satisfactorily accommodated. RSLs must also be prepared to adopt ‘smart business’ practices in the future, given that existing Key Line Of Enquiry (KLOEs) approaches now provide an inadequate tool for assessing performance in housing asset management nor are KLOEs sufficiently robust or possessing a sufficient degree of agility for modelling complex service delivery scenarios. As a result of this research, the BSC model has demonstrated its usefulness and its appropriateness to housing maintenance decision making within the current economic conditions and changed regulatory regime. The BSC model is simple in nature but nonetheless sufficiently flexible to allow factors to be added or omitted to accommodate the requirements and structures of individual RSLs. Academic implications To date, most housing asset management have concentrated on the technical and cost aspects of maintenance management aimed at the micro level and have attached little attention to the needs of strategic management or the potential significance of the customer. These earlier researches have limited application to the needs of strategy management particularly under the current conditions which social housing providers are now required to operate (Sharp & Jones 2012). This study is first of its kind to attempt to evaluate housing maintenance strategy giving considerations to end user ‘the customer’ dimension in service delivery within the social housing sector. This study has adopted a novel approach to this area of research by employing a technique frequently encountered in clinical psychology, based upon the use of a Repertory Grid – a qualitative tool for triadic elicitation of key drivers with a view to providing a robust tool for assisting housing asset managers involved in the development of housing maintenance strategy. The RG personal interviews with senior asset managers revealed hidden and latent factors, which would not have been easily identified had a quantitative questionnaire been used. The hidden constructs which were identified as a result of the applications of this technique are considered to be ‘akin’ to business success factors. Originality This study is also unique in that it has given particular considerations to the provision of housing maintenance service as perceived from the view point of the end users rather than directing itself to the constructional and technical aspects of housing asset management. Also, the research recognises the need for asset managers to become more aware of the implications of social factors and the need for these aspects to be incorporated into strategic maintenance models. A further unique aspect of this research is that it has endeavoured to obtain an insight into the cognitive processes (mind mapping and analytical mental processes) behind the decision making of asset management, in order to identify and understand the nature of the drivers behind these processes to develop a rational decision support model for assisting in the rational formulating of housing maintenance strategy. KEYWORDS Social Housing, Registered Social Landlords, Social Housing Providers, Customer Service Delivery, Asset Managers, Customer, Tenants, Repertory Gri

In search of effective training models for Mozambican translators and interpreters

Although Eduardo Mondlane University (UEM) has the longest history of BA Honours level translator and interpreter training in Mozambique, the university still lacks an effective model for the development of translation and interpreting competence in students. To address this problem, the present study seeks to find a practical model for the training of Mozambican professional translators and interpreters at BA Honours level that can guide the design of conducive curricula. The critical question the study attempts to answer is: What model for developing translation and interpreting competence could lead to an effective curriculum design that best meets the employment needs of Mozambican students? To this end, the study has been designed as action-research because this design enables better understanding and improvement of training processes (Cravo & Neves 2007). Three data collection tools are used to generate both qualitative and quantitative data from over 120 participants, namely: (i) a survey, (ii) an English translation test and (iii) a sample of archived Portuguese translations produced by former students. The survey findings suggest the need for a model whereby translators and interpreters are trained simultaneously within the same programme. Moreover, the results of macro- and micro-textual analysis show that, overall, the translation competence of former students is poor, suggesting that the current curriculum at UEM is failing to produce BA Honours translation/interpreting professionals. The proposed solution would be a curriculum based on a new integrated translation and interpreting competence development model with the following four pillars: communicative competence, general knowledge, strategic competence and service provision.Nangona iyunivesithi iEduardo Mondlane University (UEM) inembali kwizifundo zesidanga esiphakamileyo (BA Honours) kuqeqesho lwabaguquleli neetoliki eMozambique, le yunivesithi ayikabi namzekelo unguwo nosebenzayo ekuphuhliseni izakhono zokuguqula nokutolika kubafundi bayo. Ukukhawulelana nale ngxaki olu phando lujolise ekufumaneni owona mzekelo usebenzayo onokusetyenziswa nonokuthi ube sisikhokelo kuyilo lwekharityhulam yesidanga esiphakamileyo iBA Honours esithatha iminyaka emine ekuqeqesheni abafundi babe ngabaguquleli neetoliki eziphume izandla zaseMozambique. Umbuzo ongundoqo nozanywa ukuphendulwa lolu phando ngulo: Ngowuphi umzekelo wokuphuhlisa izakhono zokuguqulela nokutolika onokukhokelela kuyilo lwekharityhulam esebenzayo nefezekisa iimfuno zengqesho zabafundi baseMozambique? Kungoko olu phando luye lwasebenzisa indlela yokuphanda ekuthiwa yi-action research eyenza kube lula ukuqonda nokuphucula iinkqubo zoqeqesho (Cravo & Neves 2007). Kuye kwasetyenziswa iindlela ezintathu zophando ukufumana ulwazi kubathathi-nxaxheba abali-120 ezizezi: (1) uvavanyo lwezimvo, (ii) uvavanyo lwenguqulelo yesicatshulwa esibhalwe ngesiNgesi kunye (iii) neenguqulelo zesiPhuthukezi ezenziwe ngabafundi bangaphambili ezigciniweyo. Iziphumo zeemvavanyo zezimvo zibonisa ukuba kufuneka kukho umzekelo onokusetyenziswa ekuqeqesheni abaguquleli neetoliki ngaxeshanye phantsi kwenkqubo enye. Ukongeza koku, iziphumo zohlalutyo lwesicatshulwa zibonise ukuba izakhono zokuguqulela zabafundi bangaphambili azikho mgangathweni, nto leyo ethetha ukuba ikharityhulam esetyenziswayo eUEM iyasilela ekukhupheni abaguquleli neetoliki ezinobuchule neziziincutshe. Isisombululo esicetyiswayo ke ngoko, sesokuba kubekho ikharityhulam ehlangeneyo eza kuphuhlisa izakhono zabaguquleli neetoliki esekelwe kwiintsika ezine ezizezi: isakhono sonxibelelwano, ulwazi jikelele, isakhono sobuchule kunye nokunikezwa kweenkonzo.Nakuba iNyuvesi i-Eduardo Mondlane University (i-UEM) isinomlando omude kakhulu wokuqeqesha abahumushi notolika ezingeni leziqu ze-BA Honours eMozambique, le nyuvesi ayikabi nayo indlela esebenzayo yokuthuthukisa amakhono ezitshudeni kwezokuhumusha nokutolika. Ukubhekana nale nkinga lolu cwaningo kuhloswe ngalo ukuthola indlela esebenzayo yokuqeqesha ongoti babahumushi notolika baseMozambique ezingeni leziqu ze-BA Honours (iziqu zeminyaka emine) ezingahlahla indlela yokuklama uhlelo lwezifundo olungasiza kule nkinga. Umbuzo omkhulu lolu cwaningo oluzama ukuwuphendula ngothi: Iyiphi indlela yokuthuthukisa amakhono okuhumusha nokutolika engaholela ekuklanyweni kohlelo lwezifundo olungahlangabezana nezidingo zokuqasheka kwezitshudeni zaseMozambique? Ukufeza le nhloso, lolu cwaningo lusebenzisa uhlelo lokucwaninga olubizwa nge-action-research ngoba luyasiza ekuqondeni kangcono nasekuthuthukiseni inqubo yokuqeqesha (Cravo & Neves 2007). Kusetshenziswa amathuluzi amathathu okuqoqa imininingobunjalo nemininingobuningi evela kubabambiqhaza abangaphezu kwabayi-120, okuyilokhu: (i) ngohlolocwaningo (i-survey), (ii) ngesivivinyo sesihumusho sesiNgisi (iii) nangesampula lezihumusho zesiPutukezi zabafundi baphambilini. Okutholakale kulo uhlolocwaningo kuveza isidingo sendlela yokuqeqesha abahumushi notolika kanyekanye ohlelweni lokufundiswa olufanayo. Ngaphezu kwalokho, imiphumela yokuhlaziywa kwemibhalo nezimo eyabhalwa ngaphansi kwazo ibonisa ukuthi, ngokubanzi, amakhono okuhumusha abafundi baphambilini awamahle, okuyinkomba yokuthi uhlelo lwezifundo lwamanje e-UEM luyehluleka ukukhiqiza ongoti bokuhumusha nokutolika ezingeni le-BA Honours. Isixazululo esiphakanyiswayo ngesendlela entsha esuselwa ekuthuthukiseni amakhono edidiyela ukuhumusha nokutolika, enalezi zinsika ezine ezilandelayo: amakhono kwezokuxhumana, ulwazi ngokubanzi, ikhono lokusebenzisa amasu, nokuhlinzekwa kwezidingo.Linguistics and Modern LanguagesD. Phil. (Languages, Linguistics and Literature

Second Language Teacher Education: The Development of Pre-Service Teacher Cognitions About the Characteristics and Practices of Effective ESL Instructors

My dissertation explores the impact of second language teacher education on the development of the pedagogic beliefs held by student teachers enrolled in the University of Guanajuato’s Licenciatura en la Enseñanza de Inglés. Specifically, my research investigates the origins of these students’ pedagogic beliefs, the development of their beliefs over the course of the four-year language teacher program, and the convergence of their beliefs and professional practices. The current research can be described as a synchronic, exploratory-descriptive study based on a cross-sectional investigation of participant beliefs. Repertory grid interviews were used as the primary method of data collection. The repertory grid technique (RGT or “rep grid”) is the best known of several data solicitation instruments associated with the field of personal construct psychology. Data was subjected to both qualitative and quantitative inspection, including principal component and FOCUS analyses. Despite the use of statistical interpretation, the RGT is firmly grounded in qualitative, constructivist assumptions. As with any qualitative research, conclusions are necessarily tentative and must be heavily caveated. However, a number of findings seem sufficiently robust to be worthy of mention. These include the following: LEI students do not appear to significantly change their pedagogic beliefs as a result of second language teacher education; LEI student beliefs about pedagogy look to be primarily concerned with socio-affective aspects of teaching; LEI student attention seems to be as drawn to the personal characteristics and behaviors of their teachers as to the formal educational information these instructors provide; and LEI students tend not reflect on practice

Blended EAP professionals in corporatized higher educational institutions: a critical grounded theory

As momentous changes continue to sweep across higher education, tertiary-level English for Academic Purposes (EAP) has experienced a time of challenging and sometimes painful professional transition. In many Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) around the world, EAP units have been transferred from academic departments to administrative offices responsible for international student recruitment and entrepreneurial talent development. The new locus of conflict for many teachers of EAP has centered on the significant disconnect between them and their new administrative managers about the purposes of second language pedagpgy. This thesis is a qualitative grounded theory study situated within these restive dynamics. Drawing from in-depth interviews of over ninety informants at eleven higher educational institutions in the UK, Japan and the United States, I focus upon the new middle managers of EAP units, referred to in this thesis as Blended EAP Professionals (BLEAPs). I develop a Critical Grounded Theory about the processes and strategies BLEAPs use to survive in corporatized HEIs while working with international students and Teachers of EAP (TEAPs). It was discovered during the course of analysis that, even while BLEAPs are often responsible for teaching EAP classes, those who succeed in corporatized HEIs dedicated most of their energies to processes identified as Hunting & Gathering , Weighing & Measuring, and Molding & Shaping. All of these are linked to a basic social process, which is theorized to be that of Struggling to Manage and to Lead. This thesis discusses each of these processes in detail, and after explaining how the data used in this grounded theory study was philosophically construed, methodologically structured and theoretically analyzed, I consider the implications of this theory for Tertiary EAP as the profession approaches the middle of the 21st century

Sharing understandings of information systems development methodologies : a critical reflexive issue for practice and curriculum

Most contemporary organizations make use of computer-based information systems to support their management activities. There is considerable evidence that many of these systems experience problems during the development phases and a large proportion of these systems may, using specific criteria, be classed as failures. The reported high level of such failure in the development of computer-based information systems is not a new phenomenon for business, having been present almost from the inception of these systems. The frameworks that guide developers through the process can be labelled as information systems development methodologies, or ISDMs.For an educator involved with the teaching of some or all aspects of the development process this perceived high level of failure of systems development and implementation in practice raises some significant concerns. If there is a 'silver bullet' approach that students need to be equipped with to become successful systems developers we need to identify it and ensure that they are proficient with it. If there is no silver bullet we need to acknowledge this in our teaching and equip the students with the critical thinking skills to help them appreciate this in their later practice.This thesis takes as its central theme the view that there is currently no 'silver bullet' and one may never be found to fit all development projects and environments. Under such a constraint our students, as would-be practitioners, need to be helped to approach practice unfettered by a naïve belief that there is a single approach that offers guaranteed success in the development of information systems. Flexible, contingent and possibly creative approaches need to be fostered so that students can both work in the field and can contribute to both the overall understanding of that field and to their own personal development. The thesis considers the role of multiple perspectives, constructivism, language, communication and reflection as vehicles to allow the building and sharing of accessible understanding of information systems development methodologies in a tertiary education setting. The issues are explored through the design and development of a Masters course titled 'Information Systems Development Methodologies' that was designed and implemented at the University of South Australia in the period 1999 to 2008. The course was initially designed within an interpretivist paradigm and rather than following a traditional systems analysis and design path could be viewed more as a liberal arts course. However, as the course moved towards the end of its life it began to take on a more positivistic flavour.The story of the course emerged from a series of action learning cycles and is told from the perspective of the author who was both the researcher and the subject of the research.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Social work with airports passengers

Social work at the airport is in to offer to passengers social services. The main methodological position is that people are under stress, which characterized by a particular set of characteristics in appearance and behavior. In such circumstances passenger attracts in his actions some attention. Only person whom he trusts can help him with the documents or psychologically

Transformation and power in a multiorganizational partnership: a case study.

Transformation and power in a multiorganizational partnership: A case study One of the challenges for multiorganizational partnerships is the inability of agencies involved to address or even be prepared to address issues of power. Power relations in partnerships are a neglected area in the literature (e.g. Hastings, 1999; Huxham and Vangen, 2005; Marsh and Murie, 1997; Martin, 1999). This case study contributes to this debate through an insider's perspective in the context of the author's experience working as a partnership manager and researcher. This was neither a neutral nor an objective engagement as I played an active part in the unfolding story as a powerful, reflexive actor. My inquiry addresses the issue of power in relation to transformation processes. Specifically set within an action inquiry strategy, the research focuses on the emergent nature of partnership transformation and the ways in which power manifested itself and influenced the Partnership's development. Partnerships open up opportunities for political activity through a reframing of activity in a domain, and whilst this can be positive in forging new relationships and generating new ideas, it can also have potentially negative effects for partnership transformation. The thesis offers a syntactical approach using first-, second-, and third-person voices in order to explicate a real partnership's transformation processes and power issues and to enhance validity through triangulation and integration of these perspectives. In the first-person the thesis concludes that greater recognition should be given to the critical role, competences and development needs of partnership professionals and particularly partnership managers as boundary spanners. In the second-person the inquiry claims that more attention could usefully be focused on intra-partnership conflict as a means of improving partnership effectiveness. In the third-person voice the study concludes that remedial action may be necessary to resolve shadows of the past that may continue to blight partnership transformation and that the under-resourcing of partnerships is a critical issue for partnerships