Evaluation of Word Processing for ESL Writers

This paper offers an assessment of the promise and problems for ESL of computerassisted writing using word processing. Both positive and negative effects reported in the published literature in ESL and native-speaker composition are reviewed, and the attempt is made to find explanations for the differing results of individual studies. In addition to the inherent properties of the medium, methodological and context effects are identified which help to account for the differential findings. These effects are attributable to variation across studies in one or more of the following variables: (a) the nature of the subjects, (b) the abilities and attitudes of teachers, (c) the setting for computer use, (d) the time-span of the research, (e) the type and amount of training for use of the software, (f) the instructional format for computer use, (g) the biases introduced by particular word processing software, and (h) the effectiveness measures applied to evaluate results. Considering the needs of ESL students in the area of writing and the results that can be predicted for word processing based on the nature of the computer medium, it is concluded that use of word processing seems justified as a medium for enhancing the creative revision process of ESL students, and recommendations are offered for pedagogy and research in ESL contexts

A Survey of Job Satisfaction in ESL: TESOL Members Respond to the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire

This paper reports on an international survey of job satisfaction in ESL based on a mailing of the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire to 100 randomly selected TESOL members. Demographic data from 32 respondents, approximately one-fifth from outside the U.S. and its possessions, indicate a sampling consistent with other demographic studies on TESOL members. Survey data from the respondents demonstrates a moderate level of overall job satisfaction and a pattern of attitudes towards individual job facets similar to that of comparison groups of American K-6 and Taiwanese K-12 teachers. The TESOL group reports most satisfaction in the categories of moral values and social service aspects of their work. Results of the survey show the least satisfaction obtaining in the categories of opportunities for advancement, compensation for work performed, and administrative policies and practices

Defining the Job of the ESL Program Director: Results of a National Survey

The ESL program director's job is examined through a national survey and comparison with earlier studies and with data from a group of university department and program heads. It is found that the ESL directors as a group have a higher terminal degree than in a 1981 study, with about half holding a doctorate. As compared with the other academic administrators, the ESL directors oversee a smaller number of full-time faculty and non-faculty staff positions, and they are younger, less experienced, more likely to be female, less likely to hold a professorial rank, less likely to be tenured, less likely to have been appointed from inside the department or program, and with less time available for teaching or research. Like the other academic administrators, the ESL directors are satisfied with their job performance and perceive a relatively good match between the level of skills needed for their job and the level which they actually possess. Of the three administrative skill types of human, conceptual, and technical, the ESL directors rate the first two as more important for their jobs than the third and feel that they possess human and conceptual skills to a greater degree than technical skills. An examination of job activities and concerns finds ESL administrators directing attention to business and managerial affairs, while maintaining their educational interests

Use of Computers in the Teaching of ESL Writing: Effectiveness of Text Analysis and Word Processing

This paper offers an assessment of the utility and effectiveness of text analysis and word processing in ESL composition. It includes a review of previous findings and a discussion of an investigation conducted by the authors on computer-assisted composition tutorials involving four non-native university students. In the investigation, two of the students revised their compositions based on surfaceoriented feedback from a text analysis program reinforced by a tutor, and the other two revised according to an approach combining word processing and processoriented input from the same tutor. The students using the text analysis program and receiving exclusively surface-oriented feedback produced a higher proportion of short sentences, shorter drafts, and fewer meaningful revisions than the students receiving process-oriented feedback. The findings of this and other investigations are reviewed in a context which addresses the nature of ESL writing and of these two different computer-assisted media. Focusing on questions of purpose, suitability, potential outcomes, and term of results, the authors conclude that use of word processing seems justified as a medium for enhancing the creative revision process of ESL students, while use of text analysis with this same population of students is less obviously justified

Convergence towards a European strategic culture? A constructivist framework for explaining changing norms.

The article contributes to the debate about the emergence of a European strategic culture to underpin a European Security and Defence Policy. Noting both conceptual and empirical weaknesses in the literature, the article disaggregates the concept of strategic culture and focuses on four types of norms concerning the means and ends for the use of force. The study argues that national strategic cultures are less resistant to change than commonly thought and that they have been subject to three types of learning pressures since 1989: changing threat perceptions, institutional socialization, and mediatized crisis learning. The combined effect of these mechanisms would be a process of convergence with regard to strategic norms prevalent in current EU countries. If the outlined hypotheses can be substantiated by further research the implications for ESDP are positive, especially if the EU acts cautiously in those cases which involve norms that are not yet sufficiently shared across countries

Psychosocial Treatment of Children in Foster Care: A Review

A substantial number of children in foster care exhibit psychiatric difficulties. Recent epidemiologi-cal and historical trends in foster care, clinical findings about the adjustment of children in foster care, and adult outcomes are reviewed, followed by a description of current approaches to treatment and extant empirical support. Available interventions for these children can be categorized as either symptom-focused or systemic, with empirical support for specific methods ranging from scant to substantial. Even with treatment, behavioral and emotional problems often persist into adulthood, resulting in poor functional outcomes. We suggest that self-regulation may be an important mediat-ing factor in the appearance of emotional and behavioral disturbance in these children

Clinical Sequencing Exploratory Research Consortium: Accelerating Evidence-Based Practice of Genomic Medicine

Despite rapid technical progress and demonstrable effectiveness for some types of diagnosis and therapy, much remains to be learned about clinical genome and exome sequencing (CGES) and its role within the practice of medicine. The Clinical Sequencing Exploratory Research (CSER) consortium includes 18 extramural research projects, one National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) intramural project, and a coordinating center funded by the NHGRI and National Cancer Institute. The consortium is exploring analytic and clinical validity and utility, as well as the ethical, legal, and social implications of sequencing via multidisciplinary approaches; it has thus far recruited 5,577 participants across a spectrum of symptomatic and healthy children and adults by utilizing both germline and cancer sequencing. The CSER consortium is analyzing data and creating publically available procedures and tools related to participant preferences and consent, variant classification, disclosure and management of primary and secondary findings, health outcomes, and integration with electronic health records. Future research directions will refine measures of clinical utility of CGES in both germline and somatic testing, evaluate the use of CGES for screening in healthy individuals, explore the penetrance of pathogenic variants through extensive phenotyping, reduce discordances in public databases of genes and variants, examine social and ethnic disparities in the provision of genomics services, explore regulatory issues, and estimate the value and downstream costs of sequencing. The CSER consortium has established a shared community of research sites by using diverse approaches to pursue the evidence-based development of best practices in genomic medicine