1,827 research outputs found
Investigating the home literacy environment and emergent literacy skills of children as they start school in New Zealand : a thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Educational Psychology, Massey University, Albany, New Zealand
Home literacy environment (HLE) has been consistently linked with children’s early
literacy skills in international research, and is argued to be an important variable
influencing the development of children’s emergent literacy. However, there is very limited
New Zealand research investigating this relationship. Therefore, to address this gap in the
literature, the present study sought to explore whether there is a relationship between HLE
and children’s emergent literacy at school entry within the New Zealand context.
Additional research aims involved exploring the impact of years spent in early childhood
education (ECE) on emergent literacy, and exploring the role of parent education level on
both HLE and children’s emergent literacy within the New Zealand context. The study used
a correlational research design to explore these research aims. A total of 35 five-year old
children and their parents participated in this study. Children were assessed using a range of
emergent literacy assessments and HLE was measured through parental questionnaire.
Results showed that there was some correlation between HLE and children’s emergent
literacy. However the nature of these correlations differed depending on the component of
HLE used in the analysis. Additionally, ECE attendance was not positively associated with
any measure of children’s emergent literacy. Further, parent educational level showed little
or no correlation with children’s emergent skills and HLE. Two particular implications
associated with the present study include the importance of using a wide conceptualisation
of HLE in research and the importance of considering proximal variables of influence, such
as HLE, over distal variables of influence, such as socioeconomic status
On the Representation Theory of Negative Spin
We construct a class of negative spin irreducible representations of the
su(2) Lie algebra. These representations are infinite-dimensional and have an
indefinite inner product. We analyze the decomposition of arbitrary products of
positive and negative representations with the help of generalized characters
and write down explicit reduction formulae for the products. From the
characters, we define effective dimensions for the negative spin
representations, find that they are fractional, and point out that the
dimensions behave consistently under multiplication and decomposition of
representations.Comment: 21 pages, no figures, Latex2
Finite [q-Oscillator] Description of 2-D String Theory
We present a simple physical representation for states of the two-dimensional
string theory. In order to incorporate a fundamental cutoff of the order 1/g we
use a picture consisting of q-oscillators at the first-quantized level. In this
framework we also find a representation for the (singular) negatively dressed
states representing nontrivial string backgrounds.Comment: 13 pages, phyzzx forma
An Algebra of Pure Quantum Programming
We develop a sound and complete equational theory for the functional quantum
programming language QML. The soundness and completeness of the theory are with
respect to the previously-developed denotational semantics of QML. The
completeness proof also gives rise to a normalisation algorithm following the
normalisation by evaluation approach. The current work focuses on the pure
fragment of QML omitting measurements.Comment: To appear in ENTCS, 3rd International Workshop on Quantum Programming
Languages, 2005. 21 Page
Marinari-Parisi and Supersymmetric Collective Field Theory
A field theoretic formulation of the Marinari-Parisi supersymmetric matrix
model is established and shown to be equivalent to a recently proposed
supersymmetrization of the bosonic collective string field theory. It also
corresponds to a continuum description of super-Calogero models. The
perturbation theory of the model is developed and, in this approach, an
infinite sequence of vertices is generated. A class of potentials is identified
for which the spectrum is that of a massless boson and Majorana fermion. For
the harmonic oscillator case, the cubic vertices are obtained in an oscillator
basis. For a rather general class of potentials it is argued that one cannot
generate from Marinari-Parisi models a continuum limit similar to that of the
d=1 bosonic string.Comment: 45 page
Cohomology and Decomposition of Tensor Product Representations of SL(2,R)
We analyze the decomposition of tensor products between infinite dimensional
(unitary) and finite-dimensional (non-unitary) representations of SL(2,R).
Using classical results on indefinite inner product spaces, we derive explicit
decomposition formulae, true modulo a natural cohomological reduction, for the
tensor products.Comment: 22 pages, no figures, Latex2e Added section on product of finite and
continuous serie
Racemic tricarbonyl[7-methoxy-2-(η6-phenyl)chromane]chromium(0)
In the title compound, [Cr(C16H16O2)(CO)3], the Cr0 atom of the Cr(CO)3 unit is coordinated to the phenyl ring of the flavan ligand in an η6 mode, with a normal arene-to-metal distance. The Cr(CO)3 unit exhibits a three-legged piano-stool conformation, while the dihydropyran ring displays a distorted envelope configuration. The phenyl ring is twisted away from the fused ring system by 25.5 (2)°. The methoxy group is almost coplanar with the phenyl ring [CMe—O—Car—Car torsion angle = 8.46 (2)°]. The crystal packing is stabilized by intermolecular C—H⋯O interactions
The Causes of Conflict in Public and Private Sector Organizations in South Africa
The uncertainty that accompanies organizational change heightens prospects for intra organizational conflict. Notwithstanding this, the knowledge base on the sources (or causes) of organizational conflict is underdeveloped – largely as a result of a low incidence of empirical research, and in particular in South Africa. The current study explored the perceived sources of conflict in two South African organizations operating in different economic sectors. An experimental survey focusing on both the causes and the impact of conflict was administered to a sample of 203 employees, representing both companies. Comparative analysis revealed significant differences between the two organizations’ views with regard to the causes and consequences of conflict. The implications of these findings for future research and conflict management are discussed.organizational conflict, conflict management, human resource management, management
Gangs, councillors and the apartheid state: The Newclare Squatters Movements of 1952
African Studies Seminar series. Paper presented 23 October 1989. Not to be quoted without the Author's permission.They were bloody clashes but ... in the context of the
time and the circumstances in that part of the world,
they were relatively minor. Fighting was an absolutely
common feature there every weekend without exception...
Periodically these became more serious... instead of one or
two murders, there'd be say, half a dozen, perhaps even
more. But the violence was not exceptional.. .This was the
normal feature of life in Sophiatown and particularly in
Newclare...Newclare was a yery tough area and like any
slum ... you accept that there is violence constantly ... One
must ... [also] ... remember that rioting and fighting was
a form of amusement ... Young people stiff with boredom (1).
This was the judgement of W.J.P. Carr, former Manager of the Non-
European Affairs Department of the Johannesburg City Council, when
asked about the violence in Newclare during the 1940s and 50s. Yet,
in 1952, this "relatively minor" type of clash erupted into one of
the largest suburbian squatter movements that Johannesburg has ever
experienced. Not only did some 300 African families move across the
railway line to Northern Newclare to squat on Council-owned land, but
they remained there for seven months while the Johannesburg City
Council and the Central Government deliberated on ways of removing
them
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