African American English-Speaking Children\u27s Judgments of Grammaticality: Effects of Clinical Status and Grammatical Structures

African American English (AAE)-speaking children’s ability to judge the grammaticality of sentences was evaluated by their clinical status and grammatical structure. The study originated from a need to understand more about the tense and agreement systems of AAE speakers with specific language impairment (SLI) relative to their typically developing (TD) AAE-speaking peers. Tense and agreement forms are typically excluded from the assessment and treatment of children who speak AAE in fear of misinterpreting a dialect difference as a language disorder. As a result, limited information exists about the tense and agreement systems of AAE-speaking children. The data were archival and from 91 AAE-speaking kindergartners (SLI = 34; TD = 57). The children’s judgments were elicited from the Rice/Wexler Test of Early Grammatical Impairment (Rice & Wexler, 2001). This test was designed for General American English (GAE). Given this, I first examined the items using A’ values and GAE as the dialect referent. Then I re-analyzed the data using percentages of acceptability and AAE as the dialect referent. Not surprisingly, the A¢ values based on GAE did not differ by clinical group. Although both groups earned higher A’ for the control forms than the zero forms, both groups performed at chance level on the zero forms. When AAE was used as the dialect referent and percentages of acceptability were examined, clinical differences were found, with the TD group accepting the AAE-appropriate overt forms at higher percentages than the SLI group. The TD group also showed greater discernment within their acceptability percentages when AAE-appropriate forms were compared to AAE-inappropriate forms, although both groups accepted the former forms at higher percentages than the latter. The findings indicate that AAE-speaking children with SLI are not as discerning as TD controls when asked to judge the grammatical acceptability of AAE-appropriate tense and agreement forms and when asked to judge the acceptability of AAE-appropriate and inappropriate forms. These findings contribute to the growing literature base that shows tense and agreement weaknesses in AAE-speaking children with SLI and calls for the inclusion of tense and agreement structures in dialect-appropriate assessments and treatments of SLI within AAE

An Action Research Study on Visible Learning Feedback and Motivational Interviewing Concerning Underserved Advanced Placement Students

Underserved minority students participating in Advanced Placement (AP) courses encountered increased academic pressures, in addition to inequitable conditions in education. The following study addressed inequity, as well as self-motivation, self-regulation, feedback practices, and student autonomy. The researcher implemented Visible Learning Feedback, an academic intervention, focused on bridging the gap in knowledge (Brooks et al., 2019; Hattie & Yates, 2014). Furthermore, the researcher designed a Motivational Interviewing (MI) pilot program, a client-centered approach concentrated on participant social-emotional well-being (Miller & Rollnick, 2013). The study’s purpose involved improving AP exam scores, increasing post-test essay grades, and raising self-motivation and self-regulation measurements through the Motivated Student Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ). Additionally, the study examined student perceptions of the interventions, self-motivation and self-regulation relating to the programs, and racial bias in feedback through feedback forms, interviews, MI conversations, and a feedback perceptions survey (Rowe & Wood, 2008. Quantitative results indicated little to no statistically significant increase in AP exam scores or self-motivation and self-regulation measurements; however, increased post-test essay scores demonstrated a large positive statistical difference and a high effect size for VLF. Qualitative results showed students perceived VLF as helpful and aiding in academic growth, and conclusively reported zero racial bias in feedback received in the APELC classroom. Furthermore, students articulated struggles, such as apathy, and successes, such as utilizing strategies for growth, with self-motivation and self-regulation regarding VLF. Participants viewed MI as also contributing to personal growth and as a personalized activity. Concerning self-motivation and self-regulation relating to MI, students perceived the intervention as an autonomy-building and identity-forging endeavor

The Potential of Virtual Reality in Social Skills Training for Autism: Bridging the Gap Between Research and Adoption of Virtual Reality in Occupational Therapy Practice

Impairments in social functioning greatly hinder children and youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) from responding appropriately and adapting to various social situations. As a result, individuals with ASD get fewer opportunities for social inclusion, physical well-being, and forming interpersonal relationships. Virtual reality (VR) has been studied extensively in this area, where a large body of evidence shows that VR is a promising tool for social skills training (SST) in individuals with ASD. With the flexibility and projected effectiveness that VR offers, it can provide more opportunities to learn and practice strategies for recognizing daily challenges that involve forming social relationships and associated reasoning. This paper discusses the gap between the effectiveness of VR-based SST and its adoption in occupational therapy (OT) practice. There is a significant dearth of resources for the development of occupational therapists to effectively administer these interventions. Such resources that summarize empirically supported VR interventions to teach social skills to people with autism would be very valuable in training therapists who wish to employ them. Using theory-driven approaches, this paper intends to empower occupational therapists in becoming efficient and confident in using this technology for addressing social skills deficits in people with ASD

Normative Values for Driving Simulation Parameters: A Pilot Study

In this pilot study, data obtained from a population of healthy younger (18-24 yrs), middle aged (25-64 yrs) and older drivers (65+ yrs) were used to establish normative values of parameters commonly documented during simulated driving. The older drivers’ performances in most of the driving skills assessed were significantly worse than those of the other 2 classes of drivers. In line with previous studies, our data showed deterioration of driving skills with increasing age. The test-retest reliability of the driving simulation parameters were moderate to very high

Upward revision of global fossil fuel methane emissions based on isotope database

Methane has the second-largest global radiative forcing impact of anthropogenic greenhouse gases after carbon dioxide, but our understanding of the global atmospheric methane budget is incomplete. The global fossil fuel industry (production and usage of natural gas, oil and coal) is thought to contribute 15 to 22 per cent of methane emissions to the total atmospheric methane budget. However, questions remain regarding methane emission trends as a result of fossil fuel industrial activity and the contribution to total methane emissions of sources from the fossil fuel industry and from natural geological seepage, which are often co-located. Here we re-evaluate the global methane budget and the contribution of the fossil fuel industry to methane emissions based on long-term global methane and methane carbon isotope records. We compile the largest isotopic methane source signature database so far, including fossil fuel, microbial and biomass-burning methane emission sources. We find that total fossil fuel methane emissions (fossil fuel industry plus natural geological seepage) are not increasing over time, but are 60 to 110 per cent greater than current estimates owing to large revisions in isotope source signatures. We show that this is consistent with the observed global latitudinal methane gradient. After accounting for natural geological methane seepage, we find that methane emissions from natural gas, oil and coal production and their usage are 20 to 60 per cent greater than inventories. Our findings imply a greater potential for the fossil fuel industry to mitigate anthropogenic climate forcing, but we also find that methane emissions from natural gas as a fraction of production have declined from approximately 8 per cent to approximately 2 per cent over the past three decades.Published88-916A. Geochimica per l'ambienteJCR Journa

Expressions 1997

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