An Integrated Approach: Techniques for Teaching Pronunciation Skills and Communicating in the ESL Classroom

Our intention in contributing to this book chapter is to bring together some aspects of research and best practice in Oral Communication teaching in both the Arts and the Sciences and in so doing, apply a problem-solving approach to the teaching of successful Oral Communication to Second Language learners. We define successful Oral Communication as the process of giving and uveiving a clear message. This process both weaves and is woven from our acculturated concepts of reality and involves not only all aspects of pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary, but also intention, and verbal and non-verbal language

Homelessness and the Private Rented Sector

Homelessness has a devastating effect on those who experience it and is costly to the public purse. Homelessness acceptances have been increasing since 2009, with the most significant growth being from the private rented sector. The number of such households has grown in absolute terms – from 4580 acceptances in 2009 to 16,320 acceptances in 2017, and as a proportion of all acceptances, from eleven percent to twenty eight percent (MHCLG, 2018). Yet, while there has been some excellent research published recently about particular aspects of this growth, there remain a number of gaps in our understanding. Knowing what is driving recent increases in homelessness from the private rented sector is key to understanding what policy and other changes are necessary to address this proble

Activate, Collaborate, Participate. The network revolutions of Riot Grrrl affiliated music worlds.

Social networks act as a metaphor for discussion about many historical and contemporary music worlds. Much of the literature on feminist music movements like Riot Grrrl, Ladyfest, and Girls Rock camps, conceptualise collective action and participation in network terms. However, in doing so the approach is almost exclusively qualitative. Individuals tie movements, collectives and organisations together and help their cultural spread across cities and countries. Yet individuals can also cause ruptures in networks that may lead to their collapse or fracturing. This paper uses mixed-methods social network analysis (SNA) to unpack the structure, development and impact of a Riot Grrrl associated music network across geographical space and time. By investigating the strong ties of shared band membership and playing together, the centrality of key bands and musicians across overlapping music movements associated with Riot Grrrl are explored at micro, meso and macro levels of network interaction. The ability to visualize music collaboration networks allows us to see patterns and connections that may not have been previously apparent. Whilst there is a small but growing body of work on punk using SNA methods, these have overwhelmingly been male dominated. This is the first formal network application on punk-inspired feminist music worlds that redresses the gender imbalance

The Role of Migrant Care Workers in Ageing Societies: Report on Research Findings in the U.K., Ireland, Canada and the U.S.

Migrants play an increasingly significant role in caring for the elderly due to a growing number of older people and declining domestic labour supplies, according to this report in the IOM Migration Research Series. It examines the demand for migrant care workers; compares the experiences of migrants, employers and older people; and presents recommendations for addressing the increasing significance of elder care and its implications for migrant labour

On Dissonant Landscapes: Tore Størvold and Susan O’Shea, in conversation

An interview with Susan O'Shea and Tore Størvold to discuss the recently published book, Dissonant Landscapes: Music, Nature and The Performance of Iceland

Innovative approaches to methodological challenges facing ageing cohort studies

Ageing cohort studies around the world face common methodological challenges of data collection, measurement and analysis, which become increasingly problematic as participants grow older. While these challenges are common to all longitudinal studies, ageing cohort studies in particular highlight complex methodological issues due to the nature of the population. The National Centre for Research Methods (NCRM) funded a series of workshops during 2012 that brought together experts and researchers in longitudinal and ageing cohort studies to discuss some of these methodological challenges. The series was divided into workshops around the challenges of data collection, measurement and analysis in ageing cohort studies. The workshops and international conference brought together over 150 researchers working primarily in the social and medical sciences. Within the social sciences, social statistics and sociology were the main disciplines represented; while within the medical sciences, epidemiology and gerontology were the main disciplines. Principal investigators and researchers from a number of ageing cohort studies attended the events, including the 1946, 1958, 1970 British Birth Cohort studies, English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA), Whitehall II study, the Cognitive Function and Ageing Studies, the Gas and Electricity Workers cohort study (GAZEL) and the Lothian birth cohort. There were presentations from early career researchers at all the events. These workshops were successful in generating discussions about the methodological contributions from different disciplines on the challenges related to data collection and analysis for ageing cohort studies. The seminar series was responsive to suggestions from attendees, for example, the theme of workshop 2 emerged from discussions at workshop 1. The themes of the conference and related training workshops emerged from the evaluations from previous workshops. Evaluations for each event were very positive, with a strong appreciation for the training workshops. Attendees were very appreciative of the provision of STATA .do files for complex analyses and they indicated a strong preference for more training events on the topics of missing data and life course analysis. This report summarises some of the work underlying the workshops and highlights some of the innovative solutions researchers have adopted to overcome these challenges. These include using mixed modes of data collection to deal with respondent burden, using the Life Grid history method to deal with recall bias for proxy respondents, using auxiliary variables to adjust for ‘missing not at random’ mechanisms, and using a range of missing data analysis methods and simulation studies to assess the performance of a different analytical strategies to deal with missing data

Phase One Process Evaluation Report The Getting Out for Good (GOFG) Project

This report presents the findings of the independent phase one, process evaluation of the Getting Out for Good (GOFG) project at Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) which operated between January 2017 and July 2019. This section introduces the GOFG project, its context, and explains the aims and objectives of the evaluation and the evaluation methodology. The GoFG project is funded by ‘I Define Me’ and was established in spring 2017. It seeks to engage with G&YW (14 – 24 years) at risk of gang involvement in the Greater Manchester area. Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) was the lead organisation of the GoFG project. The project was co-designed by MMU with The Averment Group. The project specifically targets G&YW who have been identified as being at risk of serious gang related youth violence, sexual exploitation and abuse, and modern slavery. The G&YW who are referred to the project are given an intensive three-month programme of mentoring, advice and activities by the charity Positive Steps together with local sport, art and cultural providers. With a focus on boxing and football, supported by youth theatre and film-making, the G&YW help their peers to address pathways into and out of gang involvement, devising their own solutions through up-skilling and resilience buildin

Regulation of Chromatin Remodeling by Inositol Polyphosphates

Chromatin remodeling is required for efficient transcription of eukaryotic genes. In a genetic selection for budding yeast mutants that were defective in induction of the phosphate-responsive PHO5 gene, we identified mutations inARG82/IPK2, which encodes a nuclear inositol polyphosphate kinase. In arg82 mutant strains, remodeling ofPHO5 promoter chromatin is impaired, and the adenosine triphosphate–dependent chromatin-remodeling complexes SWI/SNF and INO80 are not efficiently recruited to phosphate-responsive promoters. These results suggest a role for the small molecule inositol polyphosphate in the regulation of chromatin remodeling and transcription