MFL homework in Year 9 French: rising to the challenge

The objectives of this article are, first, to describe a collaborative project between teacher educators and a foreign languages (FL) department in a specialist language college and, second, to evaluate its success. The project focuses on Year 9 pupils across the ability range (in four groups) and involves staff in both institutions working together to plan and produce stimulating homework tasks in French, integrated into the spring term scheme of work. Pupils' work and progress were evaluated and their views sought as well as those of participating staff. A classroom-based action research approach was adopted for the project. The article concludes with outcomes, which include recommendations and ideas to increase the effectiveness of FL homework

The Cepheid Distance Scale: recent progress in fundamental techniques

This review examines progress on the Pop I, fundamental-mode Cepheid distance scale with emphasis on recent developments in geometric and quasi-geometric techniques for Cepheid distance determination. Specifically I examine the surface brightness method, interferometric pulsation method, and trigonometric measurements. The three techniques are found to be in excellent agreement for distance measures in the Galaxy. The velocity p-factor is of crucial importance in the first two of these methods. A comparison of recent determinations of the p-factor for Cepheids demonstrates that observational measures of p and theoretical predictions agree within their uncertainties for Galactic Cepheids.Comment: An invited review at the Santa Fe, NM, conference -- Stellar Pulsation: Challenges for Theory and Observation; May 31-June 5, 2009 10 pages, 8 figure

The Relationship between Socioeconomic Factors, Attitudes, and the Frequency of Pap Smears of Female Patients in a Rural Health Care Center

Fifty-seven women over the age of 16, seeking care at a rural health center, completed questionnaires concerning demographic factors and health beliefs and attitudes. Correlation coefficients and Z scores were computed for the variables. There was significant positive correlation in both demographic and health belief and attitude areas. Discussed also are factors possibly contributing to the test results, as well as alternative research models

On the Radio: Using Radio in ESL Classes

Recent studies have brought about an increased awareness of the need for better listening comprehension skills among ESL students, and as a result there is heightened interest in the use of live language in the classroom. Radio is a highly accessible and versatile source of such, providing the student with a limitless supply of current language. This paper focuses on the use of radio as a live language tool. Included in the paper are a rationale for using radio; a description of the author\u27s work with commercials, news and weather reports; specific lesson plans; guidelines for using radio as a teaching mode; and samples of student work

Student modern foreign languages teachers learning to teach: beliefs, attitudes and the development of a methodological landscape

This study examines the motivations, beliefs and attitudes of beginning modern foreign languages teachers towards foreign language teaching and learning during their initial teacher education and the changes in attitudes towards and beliefs about their subject and its methodology. In so doing, the study uncovers the students' initial and developing methodological landscapes. The scope of the study is unusual in its breadth of response'a! nd in its multi-method approach incorporating qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis, identifying interconnections in the data. A total of 235 student teachers' responses contribute to the research: the pre-course beliefs of eight cohorts of beginning teachers are analysed to establish a basis for exploring any change. The research subsequently adopts a longitudinal approach, where data' is obtained through a series of ten snapshot questionnaires administered to three separate cohorts of student teachers. This data is supplemented by smaller samples from two cohorts in a different initial teacher education institution. It is further triangulated through twelve group discussions on video from two cohorts. Analysis is of whole and aggregated cohorts and also by gender and native speaker. Views indicated by the beginning teachers' stated perceptions of their development incorporate elements from a variety of learning-to-teach theories. Some more generic themes which emerge as important in student teachers' thinking throughout the year include the desire for fantasy solutions and the process of future-wishing, both of which serve as attempts to avoid a true (and difficult) developmental process. Stability of fundamental beliefs is evident, but substantial change occurs in perceptions of items contributing to the methodological landscape, particularly in the areas of target language and grammar

Teacher’s Manual SRA Based Listening Course

This manual is a guide to using the SRA materials for listening and notetaking. The lectures cover a variety of topics from a low to high intermediate level and become progressively harder. They have also been labeled according to organization function. Therefore a teacher can choose a listening assignment in this manual by level, topic, or function. Specific material is provided for each function to give the teacher background information for the initial presentation. Beyond this, each individual lesson includes vocabulary words and suggested classroom activities. The format is fairly simple and direct. It is intended as a first step in preparation for the lectures students will be hearing in college classrooms

Mary Ann Barnes Williams collection of papers, 1931-1971

Correspondence and reminiscences, relating to General George Custer, the Battle of the Little Big Horn, forts Buford, Mandan, and Abraham Lincoln, Sakakawea, frontier life, and North Dakota history; and newspaper articles concerning Williams