Goals for the rich: Indispensable for a universal post-2015 agenda

The paper deals with the question of how a fair sharing of costs, responsibilities and opportunities among and within countries can be achieved in formulating and implementing a post-2015 sustainability agenda. Introduction After many years of focusing on the symptoms of extreme poverty with the pursuit of the Millennium Development Goals, the UN system is finally picking up a universal sustainability agenda, enshrined in the Sustainable Development Goals, that address sustainability and causes of poverty and inequality.The Open Working Group of the UN General Assembly on Sustainable Development Goals has proposed a list of 17 goals and 169 targets. The consensus outcome of this group, endorsed by the UN General Assembly in September 2014 as the "main basis" of the post-2015 development agenda, goes far beyond the narrow scope of the MDGs. The Millennium Development Goals provided an international framework for the advancement of social development for the poor in the global South with a little help from the rich in the global North. Unlike the Millennium Development Goals, the Post-2015 Agenda with the Sustainable Development Goals as a pivotal building block is intended to be truly universal and global. Sustainable Development Goals will be for everybody, rich countries, countries with emerging economies and poor countries &nbsp

European perspectives on global imbalances

Alan Ahearne and Jürgen von Hagen explore the options European policy makers have in the context of global current account imbalances. Some Europeans are concerned that a disproportionately large burden of adjustment will fall on Europe when the European economy is not flexible enough to cope with a substantial appreciation of the euro. This paper was prepared for the Asia Europe Economic Forum conference.

Changing Perspectives on Language Learning: Towards Multilinguality

In the development of current perspectives on language learning, there is an increasing recognition of the limits of communicative language teaching as it is practiced in particular contexts and with this an emphasis on the ‘bilingual turn' and the development of multilinguality. This emphasis represents a shift from a monolingual view of language learning to one which recognises the relationships among the language(s) that learners bring to their learning and the language being learnt. Drawing on examples from classroom based research and with recent work on development of a national curriculum for language learning in Australia, I discuss some of the characteristic features of learning within a multilingual and multicultural perspective and I discuss implications for teaching practice

“Shouldn’t We Do More Grammar?”: Learners’ Perspectives on the Communicative Approach in the Russian L2 Classroom

The communicative approach to language teaching (CA) has commonly been recognized as having a positive impact on student motivation. However, language instructors notice that the CA does not elicit enthusiastic response from all learners. Based on the dynamic conception of motivation (Dörnyei & Ryan, 2015), this paper shares data from the empirical study examining Russian L2 learners’ attitudes to the CA. A qualitative analysis of 241 comments collected from 448 participants in five North-American institutions enabled us to distinguish thematic clusters organized along the lines of the contrast between total-acceptance vs. criticism/disappointment. The findings also demonstrate students’ readiness to participate in discussions on L2 methodology. We propose that students’ attitudes to the CA correlate with their ability to cope with novelty and discuss this assumption in connection with “tolerance for ambiguity” as a constitutive feature of the CA (Oprandy, 1999), on the one hand, and cognitive learning style theory— which also makes use of the concept of “tolerance for ambiguity” (Grigorenko et al., 2000)—on the other. Finally, we raise the possibility of the “consultative L2 pedagogy” approach—the term we propose to use to indicate students participation in the process of curriculum design, including decisions related to teaching methodology

Evolutionary perspectives on neurodevelopmental disorders

We discuss evolutionary perspectives on two neurodevelopmental disorders: attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Both have a genetic background, and we explore why these genes may have survived the process of natural selection. We draw on the concept of evolutionary mismatch, in which a trait that may have conferred advantages in the past can become disadvantageous when the environment changes. We also describe the non-genetic influences on these conditions. We point out that children with neurodevelopmental conditions are more likely to suffer maltreatment, so it is important to consider both the genes and the environment in which children have grown up. In hunter-gatherer societies, ADHD may have favoured risk-taking, which may explain why it has survived. The contemporary model of schooling, in which children are expected to sit still for many hours a day, does not favour this. Understanding ADHD in terms of an evolutionary mismatch therefore raises ethical issues regarding both medication and the school environment. ASDs are far more heterogeneous and are characterised by high heritability and low reproductive success. At the severe end of the spectrum, ASD is highly disadvantageous and often co-occurs with intellectual disability. On the other hand, high-functioning ASD may have been adaptive in our evolutionary past in terms of the potential for the development of specialist skills and can still be so today in the right environment

Validation instruments for health promotion in the community pharmacy setting

The developments during the past fifty years have resulted in a complete shift in the role of the community pharmacist from that of mainly compounding of medicines to becoming an advisor on health-related issues (Schaefer, 1998). This shift resulted in highlighting the intervention of the pharmacist as the initial contact point for the provision of primary health care. An initiative undertaken in the United Kingdom in 1995, 'Pharmacy in a New Age', identified health promotion as one of the areas that community pharmacists should focus more on (Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, 1996). In this day and age of cost containment. evidence-based practice is required to confirm the provision of professional services, including the provision of health promotion (Rupp, 1997). This prompted the development of the Validation Method for Community Pharmacy, which is a process carried out to confirm the effectiveness of the pharmacist in the community setting (Azzopardi, 2000).peer-reviewe

Evolutionary perspectives on human infectious diseases: Challenges, advances, and promises.

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Patient Perspectives On The Benefits Of Psychotherapy For Late-Life Depression

Objectives: The future of psychotherapy research lies in the development of easy-to-use, efficient treatments that target specific characteristics and needs of patients with a given disorder. Meeting this aim will involve understanding why people seek psychotherapy and the therapeutic features that they feel are most helpful in their recovery. Identifying key features of treatment that patients feel lead to improvement may help identify the active ingredients of psychotherapy and further refine treatment. Design: We selected 22 older adults who participated in a larger randomized trial of psychotherapy for late-life depression to participate in individual, semistructured qualitative interviews. Setting: Interviews took place at the University of California, San Francisco or in the participant's home. Participants: All participants were age 60 years or older with major depression and co-occurring executive dysfunction. Measurements: Participants were asked about their depression experience, their expectations for treatment, most and least helpful aspects of treatment, effects of treatment, and recommended improvements to treatment. Data were transcribed, coded, and analyzed using NVivo (QSR International, Cambridge, MA). Results: The most commonly noted causes for seeking treatment were depression related to interpersonal relationships, health conditions, grief/loss, finances, housing, and challenges due to executive dysfunction. Participants had few expectations about treatment and they found support, the problem-solving therapy process, and focus on interpersonal relationships to be the most helpful processes in treatment. Conclusion: Suggestions for psychotherapy include increasing the number of sessions, discussing problems in a more proactive way, and considering participant choice in treatment. This research demonstrates the value of mixed-methods approaches, in that qualitative approaches assist in contextualizing and interpreting quantitative data

Students' Perspectives on the Application of Information and Communication Technology in English Language Learning

The aim of this study was to find out students' perspectives on the application of ICT in English language learning. The methodological stance used in this study was a mixed-method study. Close-ended questionnaires were administered to 74 participants from the Fourth Semester Students of English Study Program of FKIP UNTAN. The survey stage was followed by individual in-depth interview with 10 voluntary participants. The data were fully corroborated by the analysis of the interactions in online discussion forum. The findings of the study were evidence of critical incidents of how ICT has facilitated students in learning English. The findings revealed four emerging themes namely learning motive, learning effected, task effected, and learning reshaped. From the emerging themes, it can be concluded that students' higher preference was more likely to have experiential learning activities. Based on the findings, it is recommended that students' perspectives on the application of ICT in English language learning could be the catalyst to promote an integration of technological surrounded environment in the faculty