A problem of intonation contours in relation to grammatical structure

From the introduction: A question of considerable importance in the present climate of linguistic debate is the relationship of phonological description to grammatical description. Viewpoints range all the way from a model which proposes the complete autonomy of phonology, to another which asserts its total dependence on grammar. This paper presents in summary form a problem of Kunimaipa intonation, showing how it is handled in relation to two different models

Early childhood development in Africa: interrogating constraints of prevailing knowledge bases

The past two decades have been characterized by renewed attention to the importance of early childhood development (ECD) policies and services in the world\u27s richest and most industrialized countries. During the same period, we have witnessed unprecedented efforts to place ECD policies on the national development planning agenda of the economically less advantaged countries of the Majority World. This paper is premised on the concern that the purposes that have led bilateral and multilateral international agencies to promote and support ECD services in Africa may also be paving the way for uncritical adoption of program and service delivery models grounded in value systems and knowledge bases that may not be appropriate for the continent. We present two critiques to highlight the dangers of ignoring the sociocultural contexts of the knowledge bases that inform ECD policies and practices. We describe one capacity-building effort, under the auspices of the Early Childhood Development Virtual University (ECDVU), to promote culturally relevant knowledge and prepare leadership personnel for Africa\u27s emerging ECD movement. Finally, based on an exercise designed for an ECDVU cohort to engage and reflect on critiques of mainstream research and theorizing on child development, we share insights that are suggestive of the ways in which African perspectives can contribute to and enrich a global knowledge base on child development

The Postmodern Curriculum: Making Space for Historically and Politically Situated Understandings

By engaging poststructural, postmodern and indigenous lenses, this article explores challenges associated with recently developed \u27postmodern\u27 early childhood education curricula. The authors propose that curricula should not be seen as neutral, but rather as historically and politically situated documents that require dynamic and critical engagements from educators. We situate our analysis within Canada

Strengthening Africa’s Contributions to Child Development Research: Introduction

The articles in this Special Section are based on contributions to an SRCD-sponsored invitational conference held in Victoria, Canada, in February 2009. This introductory article establishes the rationale for focusing on Africa as part of an effort to advance a more inclusive science of child development, provides a brief overview of the thrust of the other articles in the section, describes 2 research capacity-building initiatives that emerged from the conference, and concludes with reflective perspectives on conceptual and methodological considerations for a future African child development field

Helminth Community Dynamics in Populations of Blue-Winged Teal (Anas discors) Using Two Distinct Migratory Corridors

The influence of spatially distinct host subpopulations on helminth community structure and pattern was examined in a migratory avian host species. Forty helminth species represented by 24,082 individuals were collected from 184 blue-winged teal (Anas discors; BWT) from 2 primary migratory corridors in Florida (eastern migratory corridor; EMC) and Louisiana and Texas (western migratory corridor; WMC). Mean species richness was greater in BWT from the WMC (x̅±SE = 10.2 ± 0.3 species) than the EMC (8.6 ± 0.2). The helminth community from the WMC had higher abundances of 6 common/intermediate species. Corridor helminth communities were similar in species composition but less similar when incorporating abundances of those species. Overlapping distributions of phylogenetically related host species that share generalist helminth species across ecologically similar habitats seem to mitigate the isolating mechanisms that are necessary for the distinct coevolutionary pathways to develop between adjacent corridors