The Impact of Interactive Shared Book Reading on Children's Language Skills: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Purpose Research has indicated that interactive shared book reading can support a wide range of early language skills and that children who are read to regularly in the early years learn language faster, enter school with a larger vocabulary, and become more successful readers at school. Despite the large volume of research suggesting interactive shared reading is beneficial for language development, two fundamental issues remain outstanding: whether shared book reading interventions are equally effective (a) for children from all socioeconomic backgrounds and (b) for a range of language skills. Method To address these issues, we conducted a randomized controlled trial to investigate the effects of two 6-week interactive shared reading interventions on a range of language skills in children across the socioeconomic spectrum. One hundred and fifty children aged between 2;6 and 3;0 (years;months) were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: a pause reading, a dialogic reading, or an active shared reading control condition. Results The findings indicated that the interventions were effective at changing caregiver reading behaviors. However, the interventions did not boost children's language skills over and above the effect of an active reading control condition. There were also no effects of socioeconomic status. Conclusion This randomized controlled trial showed that caregivers from all socioeconomic backgrounds successfully adopted an interactive shared reading style. However, while the interventions were effective at increasing caregivers' use of interactive shared book reading behaviors, this did not have a significant impact on the children's language skills. The findings are discussed in terms of practical implications and future research. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.12420539

Pan-Africanism: a contorted delirium or a pseudonationalist paradigm? Revivalist critique

This essaic-article goes against established conventions that there is anything ethno-cultural (and hence national) about the so-called African tribes. Drawing largely from the culture history of precolonial/prepolitical Africans—that is, the Bantu/Cushitic-Ethiopians (Azanians)—the author has demonstrated vividly that far from being distinct ethno-culture national communities, the so-called tribes of African states are better considered subculture groups, whose regional culture practices erstwhile paid tribute to their nation’s main culture center in Karnak. For example, using the culture symbols and practices of some local groups and linking them to the predynastic and dynastic Pharaonic periods, I argued that there is compelling evidence against qualifying Africa’s tribes as distinct ethno-culture national entities. In genuine culture context, I stressed that the Ritual of Resurrection and its twin culture process of the mummification of deceased indigenous Pharaohs tend to suggest that the object of the Bantu/Cushitic-Ethiopians national culture was life (in its eternal manifestation) and then resurrection later, and that there are recurring (culturally sanctioned) ethical examples among the culture custodians of these subculture groups that generally pay tribute to the overarching culture norm. Furthermore, the fact that the Ritual of Resurrection began in the Delta region and ended at the Sources of the Nile, where the spirit of the deceased indigenous Pharaohs was introduced into the spiritual world of their ancestors, contradicts conventional perceptions that ancient Egypt was a distinct national community isolated from precolonial/prepolitical Africa/Azania

Learning collective care to support young climate justice advocates

Young people mitigate their climate distress, develop their efficacy, and contribute to the effectiveness of climate movements through activism. However, they are often excluded from adult-led climate movements and exposed to a number of risks when they do participate. In this context, this participatory action research study draws on multiple care theories to offer collective care praxis through which adults and young people might co-create more care-full and safe climate justice movements capable of supporting, sustaining, and sharing power with young people. The study examines how 13 young and three adult co-researchers learned about and applied collective care through a youth climate justice training program in Western Australia. The program enabled young people to engage with climate emotions, identify care practices, and map support networks. Furthermore, the study developed three practices for adult-led climate movements engaging with young people: Responding to intersectionality with active solidarity, child safeguarding, and building care-full community coalitions. We conclude that a collective care praxis offers organisers and activists in all their diversities an opportunity to prefigure more care-full and just climate movements

Shoreline armoring removal: assessment of restoration effectiveness in the Salish Sea

Shoreline armoring removal is becoming a common restoration technique in the nearshore of the Salish Sea, yet we lack a comprehensive understanding of the ecological benefits obtained, and how such an understanding could be used to inform management recommendations and educate diverse audiences. To address this knowledge gap, we studied effects of shoreline armor removal at 10 sites, expanding the spatial framework of what was previously known by collaborating across academic (University of Washington), agency (Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife), and citizen science groups. Each site had three beach types of: (1) restored beaches with armoring removed 1-11 years ago, with a mean of four years, (2) armored beaches altered by bulkheads or riprap, and (3) un-armored reference beaches with more natural conditions. We sampled eight metrics of physical and biological conditions, focusing on supratidal and upper intertidal elevations most affected by armoring and targeted by restoration actions: beach wrack, wrack invertebrates, sediments, terrestrial insects, riparian vegetation and logs, beach profiles, forage fish habitat, and stable isotopes of beach-hopper amphipods to reveal ratios of marine and terrestrial food sources. These metrics spanned the functions of beach stability, ecological diversity, and food web support for juvenile salmon and birds. Results indicated that some beach metrics restore quickly, such as wrack accumulation, while others take longer, such as log accumulation. Sediment sizes at restored beaches approximated those of reference beaches, and were appropriate for forage fish spawning. In general, terrestrial-associated metrics were greater at reference beaches, although there was evidence that insect diversity and logs with plant growth increased when beaches were restored greater than four years. This implies that restored beach functions increase through time, providing improved support for forage fish, salmon, and birds

Innovations in Regulatory Permit Processes for Aquatic Habitat Protection and Restoration in Washington

Innovations in Regulatory Permit Processes for Aquatic Habitat Protection and Restoration in Washington Aquatic habitats are vital for the region’s salmon, steelhead, and Southern Resident Killer Whales. Regulatory permitting is our principal mechanism for protecting these ecosystems from human activities. Projects that affect aquatic habitat are subject to a complex and often lengthy local, state, and federal regulatory process commonly intersecting more than nine agencies and consulting with tribes. Each permit has specific requirements for application, review, and compliance, shaped by a constantly evolving legal, social and economic context. Permitting processes may discourage or delay restoration projects, reducing the effectiveness of state and federal restoration funding. On the other hand, pressure to minimize regulatory impacts on private activities may result in development that damages the very resources we are attempting to restore. Recognizing these challenges, three pilot efforts are working to remove barriers to restoration and improve protection. With support from the Puget Sound Federal Task Force, a Multi-Agency Review Team of federal and state regulatory agencies is testing a coordinated, collaborative approach to permitting marine shoreline enhancement. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has been authorized to establish a four-year program to streamline permitting for qualifying fish habitat projects. Over the same time period, NOAA Fisheries has been developing tools to quantify nearshore habitat services. Such tools allow for shoreline development that has unavoidable long-term impacts on shoreline habitats to offset those impacts by supporting restoration. Panelists will present on these three programs and their lessons learned to date and open a discussion about how we can continue to improve regulatory permitting as a critical component of our ecosystem recovery system