“They have a Eureka moment – there’s a rule!” The role of grammar teaching in English as a second language in Norway.

This study investigates teacher cognition and the role of grammar in English second language instruction (ESL) and the use of the target language (TL) in selected secondary schools in Norway. The data include interviews with teachers, classroom observations, and a collection of term plans. The findings suggest that teachers consider grammar an important part of ESL-instruction in order to improve students’ writing and to learn a metalanguage that can be used for discussing the structure of languages. However, little time seems to be dedicated to systematic, explicit grammar teaching and metalinguistic discussions. Interestingly, focus on grammar seems to diminish as students’ language competence improves. Furthermore, most of the teachers say that they use a deductive approach, and speak both Norwegian and English when teaching grammar. The teachers also say that many students express that they have an intuition for what is grammatically correct, but that they still make mistakes. I conclude that increased focus on explicit grammar instruction and metalinguistic awareness and discussions may improve students’ overall proficiency of English

The significance of the personal in constructing gender equity practises in kindergartens

To realise the ambitious objectives of the Kindergarten Act is a challenge for all workers in Early Childhood Teacher Education. This is not only in relation to equality, gender equity and democracy, but in respect to the assumptions we have to confront within this legislation. This paper explores the concept and phenomenon of gender equity based on personal engagement. Progress and change in this field is dependent on self-insight and personal knowledge gained through explorations of lived experience that can enhance our understanding and develop a pedagogy of equity (Askland & Rossholt 2009; Marshall 2010). I wish to explore the core concepts of gender equity pedagogy and, second, examine practice that exercises gender sensitive ways of being in relation to children and colleagues. In addition, I will report on a ‘micro project approach’, which was developed in several kindergartens in Akershus, Norway, as part of a project into this area of research

Zapošljavanje muškaraca u dječjim vrtićima i ravnopravnost spolova

Leif Askland daje uvid u norveška iskustva i raspravlja o ovoj temi

Whole-genome association analysis of treatment response in obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Up to 30% of patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) exhibit an inadequate response to serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SRIs). To date, genetic predictors of OCD treatment response have not been systematically investigated using genome-wide association study (GWAS). To identify specific genetic variations potentially influencing SRI response, we conducted a GWAS study in 804 OCD patients with information on SRI response. SRI response was classified as 'response' (n=514) or 'non-response' (n=290), based on self-report. We used the more powerful Quasi-Likelihood Score Test (the MQLS test) to conduct a genome-wide association test correcting for relatedness, and then used an adjusted logistic model to evaluate the effect size of the variants in probands. The top single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) was rs17162912 (P=1.76 × 10(-8)), which is near the DISP1 gene on 1q41-q42, a microdeletion region implicated in neurological development. The other six SNPs showing suggestive evidence of association (P<10(-5)) were rs9303380, rs12437601, rs16988159, rs7676822, rs1911877 and rs723815. Among them, two SNPs in strong linkage disequilibrium, rs7676822 and rs1911877, located near the PCDH10 gene, gave P-values of 2.86 × 10(-6) and 8.41 × 10(-6), respectively. The other 35 variations with signals of potential significance (P<10(-4)) involve multiple genes expressed in the brain, including GRIN2B, PCDH10 and GPC6. Our enrichment analysis indicated suggestive roles of genes in the glutamatergic neurotransmission system (false discovery rate (FDR)=0.0097) and the serotonergic system (FDR=0.0213). Although the results presented may provide new insights into genetic mechanisms underlying treatment response in OCD, studies with larger sample sizes and detailed information on drug dosage and treatment duration are needed