Metaphorical use of language in educational discourse : a theoretical and empirical investigation.

This thesis investigates metaphor used by teachers and textbook writers, and the impact\ud on children. The theoretical investigation clarifies definitions and descriptions of\ud metaphor, to establish a valid, adequate framework for analysis of metaphor in ordinary,\ud contextualised interaction. A "prosaics of metaphor" is developed, including metaphor\ud identification procedures, a set of graded descriptors of metaphor, and interactional units\ud of analysis to investigate metaphor in talk. Theoretical issues of the coherence of the\ud category "prosaic metaphor", and the relation between prosaic and poetic metaphor, are\ud discussed.\ud Two linked empirical investigations are centred around a ten year old child's discourse\ud experience in a U.K. primary classroom. The first analyses transcribed talk, collected\ud across several different lessons, for use of metaphor in relation to teaching/learning\ud goals. Results include information on the frequency, distribution and nature of metaphor\ud in use, and insights into how metaphor is signalled and supported in teacher-pupil\ud interaction. Metaphor use is explained in terms of contextual demands, and the set of\ud graded metaphor descriptors is refined. The second investigation uses a variation of\ud Think Aloud methodology to explore understanding of metaphors in scientific texts.\ud Analysis shows how knowledge brought to a text, selection of metaphors, the place of\ud metaphor in text structure, and peer or adult mediation can influence understanding and\ud learning.\ud The study reveals how metaphor choice can oversimplify concepts and skills which\ud children need to acquire in the middle years of education. Interaction is shown as central\ud in providing access to new ideas through metaphor. These results carry implications for\ud textbook writers, teachers, and others who may mediate content through metaphor. The\ud thesis contributes to the field of metaphor studies through links found between child and\ud adult use of metaphor, and through the development of tools for analysing metaphor in\ud interaction, which can be refined and extended to other discourse contexts

Rituals surrounding the care of the dying previable baby in labour ward: a critical interpretive synthesis of the literature

The thesis begins with an exploration of my experiences of caring for dying babies which considers the way in which the care given to dying babies differs according to the care environment. This sets the scene for an exploration of rituals surrounding their care. Critical Interpretive Synthesis was selected as a research design for the study because it offered the opportunity to take an interpretive approach to a range of data and allowed the creation of new arguments. Documentary data including professional literature, professional textbooks and professional guidelines were analysed and interpreted using methods which guideline analysis, critical appraisal and rhetorical analysis. The diverse range of analyses facilitated both the rigour and meaning of the data to interrogated. Performance Theory was used as the theoretical framework in the thesis to allow the rituals to be revealed and explored as dramatic performances. The thesis demonstrated that the origin of the rituals was rooted in the need for the baby to be treated with compassion and dignity and to provide parents with the opportunity to form meaningful attachments in the brief period between the previable baby’s birth and death. The rituals were devised by parents who had been bereaved and were incorporated into guidelines. The guidelines practised the rhetoric of choice but the data demonstrated that the rituals appear to have been adopted as routines which were then used indiscriminately, robbing them of their meaning.The findings reveal how care to meet the physical needs of the dying previable baby requires to be made more explicit to enable the ideology and of ‘comfort care’ to be realised in practice. The thesis also demonstrated a need for inclusiveness to represent the spectrum of parents affected by the death of a previable baby when researching perinatal loss and formulating policy.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Evaluation of the New Employer-led Model of Clinical Supervision for Midwives in Scotland

A review of maternity care into the deaths of babies and a mother in Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust raised concerns about the effectiveness of Statutory Supervision of midwives in protecting the public. Following this, the NMC commissioned a review of Statutory Supervision of midwifery which recommended that the dual roles of supervision and regulation should be separated

Evaluation of the New Employer-led Model of Clinical Supervision for Midwives in Scotland

A review of maternity care into the deaths of babies and a mother in Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust raised concerns about the effectiveness of Statutory Supervision of midwives in protecting the public. Following this, the NMC commissioned a review of Statutory Supervision of midwifery which recommended that the dual roles of supervision and regulation should be separated

Acoustic analyses and perceptual data on anticipatory labial coarticulation in adults and children

The present study investigated anticipatory labial coarticulation in the speech of adults and children. CV syllables, [s], [t], and [d] before [i] and [u], were produced by an adult male speaker and a female child speaker age 3 years 6 months. Each syllable was computer‐edited to include only the noise‐excited portion of fricative‐vowel stimuli and only the aperiodic portion of stop‐vowel stimuli. LPC spectra were computed for each excised segment. Analyses of the effect of the following vowel on the spectral peak associated with the second formant frequency and on the characteristic spectral prominence for each consonant were performed. Perceptual data were obtained by presenting the aperiodic consonantal segments to subjects who were instructed to identify in a forced choice paradigm the following vowel [i] or [u]. Both the acoustic and perceptual data show strong coarticulatory effects for adults and the absence of such coarticulations in the speech stimuli of the child. The results are discussed in terms of the articulatory and perceptual aspects of coarticulation in language learning

Acoustic analyses and perceptual data on anticipatory labial coarticulation in adults and children

This is the published version, also available here: http://dx.doi.org/10.1121/1.394917.The present study investigated anticipatory labial coarticulation in the speech of adults and children. CV syllables, composed of [s], [t], and [d] before [i] and [u], were produced by four adult speakers and eight child speakers aged 3–7 years. Each stimulus was computer edited to include only the aperiodic portion of fricative‐vowel and stop‐vowel syllables. LPC spectra were then computed for each excised segment. Analyses of the effect of the following vowel on the spectral peak associated with the second formant frequency and on the characteristic spectral prominence for each consonant were performed. Perceptual data were obtained by presenting the aperiodic consonantal segments to subjects who were instructed to identify the following vowel as [i] or [u]. Both the acoustic and the perceptual data show strong coarticulatory effects for the adults and comparable, although less consistent, coarticulation in the speech stimuli of the children. The results are discussed in terms of the articulatory and perceptual aspects of coarticulation in language learning

Circadian symptom fluctuations in people with anxiety disorders

Circadian rhythm abnormalities have been demonstrated in people with depression, including a tendency toward maximal symptom severity in the morning. Although a few studies have suggested that symptoms in people with anxiety are worse later in the day, no detailed study of this observation has been reported. In 86 patients with anxiety disorders (63 with panic disorder or agoraphobia with panic attacks), anxiety symptoms tended to be more severe in the afternoon or evening than in the morning, with no abnormalities of heart rate or oral temperature. This is the first systematic demonstration of a circadian fluctuation of mood in any disorder other than depression.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/25991/1/0000057.pd