Susan Ferrier's marriage and Inveraray

The article discusses the various ways in which Susan Ferrier incorporates her experiences with the people and buildings of Inveraray Castle into her first novel Marriage

The ethics of machine translation

In this paper I first describe the two main branches in machine translation research. I then go to discuss why the second of these, statistical machine translation, can cause some malaise among translation scholars. As some of the issues that arise are ethical in nature, I stop to ponder what an ethics of machine translation might involve, before considering the ethical stance adopted by some of the main protagonists in the development and popularisation of statistical machine translation, and in the teaching of translation

Women in Thomas Hardy's novels : an interpretative study : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in English at Massey University

When one begins a study of the women in Hardy's novels one discovers critical views of great diversity. There are features of Hardy's work which received favourable comment then as now; his descriptions of nature for instance, and his rustic characters have appealed to most critics over the years. But his philosophical and social comment have drawn criticism ranging from the virulent to the scornful. In particular his attitude to and treatment of love and marriage relationships have been widely argued, and it is the women concerned who have been assessed in the most surprising and contradictory manner. The first critic of stature was Lionel Johnson¹Lionel Johnson, The Art of Thomas Hardy (1894). London, 1923, p.193. best known as a poet. In 1894 he wrote of Hardy's women: 'I cannot think that any of them is so powerfully conceived and drawn as are the best of the men;' but he adds that they provoke an 'amazed awe of their infinite ingenuities,' and quotes a remark of Swift's about the pleasure that a few words 'spoken plain by a parrot will give.' [FROM INTRODUCTION

The evolution of the modern hymn tune

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston Universit

Dr. Johnson on Shakespeare : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in English at Massey University

The thesis examines Dr Johnson's opinions about Shakespeare's poetic language and wishes to question the view that Johnson, blinded by his concern for linguistic propriety, was incapable of properly appreciating Shakespeare's freedom with the English language. The thesis proceeds by looking at the Notes in Johnson's edition of Shakespeare and by analysing the passages to which they refer, in order to ascertain the real meaning and implications of Johnson's comments. Chapter I outlines the problem. Chapter II notes some points at which Johnson seems unjustly to apply such terms as "harsh" to Shakespeare's poetry. Chapter III looks at the concept of "harshness" in more detail. Chapter IV takes the word "nature" as a focus for Johnson's positive appreciation of Shakespeare's poetic language. Chapter V analyses some Shakespearean passages of the general type for which Johnson, in his Preface to Shakespeare, indicates a preference. Chapter VI considers some Notes in which Johnson specifically praises Shakespeare's poetry. Chapter VII looks at points at which Johnson's adverse comments on the poetry might be argued to be justified

The impact of pregnancy on foot health

Although pregnancy should be a joyous experience to all expectant mothers, it is also known to bring about a number of bodily changes which could impose lifestyle limitations throughout the nine months of pregnancy. In this study, the authors sought to evaluate the impact of pregnancy on foot health. A prospective non-experimental study was conducted. The authors interviewed 40 expectant Maltese mothers using the Bristol Foot Score (BFS). Results showed a significant difference (p < 0.001) in foot health in the recruited subjects from Time 0 (15 weeks pregnancy) to Time 1 (37 weeks pregnancy), implying that pregnancy imposes a negative impact on foot health. This finding is of key importance and needs to be taken into consideration by all health stakeholders if better health care is to be offered to all expectant mothers. Both locally and internationally, antenatal care aims to monitor pregnant women’s general health and foetal development. However, very little attention is given to foot health. The authors highlight the importance of providing all expectant mothers with footcare education and podiatry services in the Antenatal Clinic.peer-reviewe

School change and development: the influence of a reflective practitioner

The broad reality of change is impacting on every organisation including schools. More than often in a process of change there will be an input of an enormous amount of human energy and physical resources that results in change that in effect does not lead to improvement. Therefore, the question remains: How can we ensure that responses to change from managers and teachers within the organisation will lead to school improvement? The case study reported in this book substantiates the importance of the individual in a leadership role, acting and learning within a context, dealing with the reality of change that is part of the routine tasks of the organisation. This book argues that only attention to the individual will bring about long lasting change. People change themselves and people change organisations. The experience of the individual relayed in this book will resonate with leaders in organisations and provide insights into actions that bring about change in long standing, stable organisations

Materials to Meet Special Needs

published or submitted for publicatio

Angels, tooth fairies and ghosts: thinking creatively in an early years classroom

This chapter offers an evaluation and interpretation of the creative thinking and collaboration that took place in a class of five year olds in an English primary school during the academic year 2004–05. This school was committed to developing itself as a creative learning community by participating in a creativity-training programme, Synectics, more usually employed in an adult business context. This school wanted to develop its capacity for creative teaching and learning. This intent was in tune with national and international developments in education where strenuous efforts were being made to extend the reach of creative education which had for a long time been more or less exclusively associated with the arts. The chapter offers an outline of these developments to set the research in context. The research described is a case study and second phase of an evaluation of the project EXCITE! (Excellence, Creativity and Innovation in Teaching and Education) and was carried out by researchers from the Open University. Previous research suggests that when children first start school, they are already competent creative thinkers and storytellers and that both creative and narrative modes of thinking involve abductive rather than deductive inferential reasoning. It is argued that although children may need training in paradigmatic (deductive) modes of thought, they do not necessarily need further training in narrative modes of thought. The examples of young children’s thinking discussed in chapter support this argument. The Synectics creativity-training programme does not claim to ‘teach’ creative thinking per se. The evidence presented suggests that when teachers use Synectics tools and techniques to inform practice, these allow them to create a positive, emotional climate that allows young children to use analogy and metaphor to construct creative explanations and narratives through collaborative discussion