Investigating residual rhoticity in a non-rhotic accent

This paper reports on preliminary findings of a study conducted in the Black Country area of the west midlands of England. The small number of linguistic studies carried out in this region in the last 40 years have not found evidence of the continuing existence of variable rhoticity in the local speech variety. The Survey of English Dialects in the 1950s found low levels of rhoticity among speakers in the location closest to the Black Country, and I examine here similar findings from a detailed study of the variety, carried out between 2003-2006

The sociolinguistic stratification of a connected speech process - The case of the T to R rule in the Black Country

This paper examines the connected speech process described by Wells (1982b) as the T to R rule in the West Midlands speech variety associated with the Black Country. The T to R rule is well known as a linguistic marker of local varieties of the middle and far north of England. Less well understood is its position in the phonological systems of Midlands varieties. Varieties of the Midlands of England are underresearched in comparison with varieties of the north, and what is known about the application of the T to R rule in this transitional dialect area is correspondingly nebulous. This paper focuses on the Black Country area, and examines the possible outputs in the contexts which give rise to /t/ becoming [?] in local varieties of the north. I examine the written and spoken evidence which suggests that the T to R rule does indeed operate in the Black Country variety. My analysis focuses on possible phonetic outcomes of the T to R rule across time. In my conclusion, I discuss briefly the possibility that, lying on a bundle of isoglosses separating north from south, the variety of the Black Country reflects this in that a T to [?] rule, rather than a T to R rule, is the dominant output of this connected speech process in the Black Country

Victim: a Study of the Place of British Cinema in Social and Legal Reform

During the 1960s, Britain underwent seismic cultural, social and legal change. This change was reflected in British cinema of the "Swinging 60s" and beyond, but I believe its origins are evident in the cinema of Britain after World War 2 and throughout the 1950s. This thesis examines the links between the cultural, social and legal changes of the 1950s and 60s, and certain British films of the era that relate to them. It focuses on one particular issue: homosexual law reform, and a number of relevant films, the key one being 'Victim' (1961, Dearden)

‘Pack up your blarting’: The language of the senses in Black Country dialect

This is an accepted manuscript of a chapter published by Palgrave Macmillan in Smell, Memory, and Literature in the Black Country edited by Sebastian Groes & R. M. Francis. For re-use please see the publisher's terms and conditions: https://www.springernature.com/gp/open-research/policies/accepted-manuscript-termsThis chapter examines literary and vernacular sources to consider how sensory experiences become encoded in dialect; looking at how words change meaning over time, how the dialect remains vital, and at the kinds of sensory experiences residents reported having. I explore the Aristotelian model of the senses, relating it to words which were present in my doctoral fieldwork and broaden the discussion of these words and their history. Using speech and writing by Black Country people, drawing on poetry, fiction and spoken data I critique the idea that the dialect is in any greater danger of becoming less vital than any other regional dialect of the UK. Using current linguistic research, I consider the future of the dialect, questioning what experiences speakers may wish to encode through language in a changing Black Country

An investigation into the use of collaborative online documents to promote critical reflection in trainee teachers

This thesis reports an investigation of the nature of trainee teachers’ critical reflections in collaborative online weekly reviews and the contribution made by interactions with a university tutor and the affordances of the technology used. The study draws on three principal areas of literature and theory: the nature and process of learning; workplace learning; and critical reflection. Each area includes the role and influence of online technologies. These principal areas are used to interpret the data and ultimately support the development of an evaluative continuum. The data comprises reflective weekly reviews written by trainee teachers engaged in the primary and early years PGCE programme of Initial Teacher Education at a university in England. The reviews are online documents that are created and owned by the trainee but shared with and editable by the trainee’s university tutor and school-based mentor. Recursive methods of analysis, involving constant movement between the data and the researcher’s interpretations, have been used to ensure rigour in the construction of codes and themes from the data. The findings are that trainees’ critical reflections consisted of: questioning of their own learning, practice and assumptions; taking a wider view by engaging with broader perspectives; considering and articulating their understanding of learning and teaching; and taking responsibility for professional development and practice. Analysis of the data shows that critical reflection can be promoted by tutors’ use of collaborative online documents to support these processes through dialogue and that collaborative online documents afford the making of connections in learning across school and university-based contexts. The resulting continuum of expansive-restrictive learning in collaborative online environments in ITE has implications for teacher educators as it could be used to inform the introduction and evaluation of the use of collaborative online documents to facilitate trainees’ critical reflections

Trust, negotiation, and communication: young adults' experiences of primary care services.

BACKGROUND: Young adulthood is an important transitional period during which there is a higher risk of individuals engaging in behaviours which could have a lasting impact on their health. Research has shown that young adults are the lowest responders to surveys about healthcare experiences and are also the least satisfied with the care they receive. However, the factors contributing to this reduced satisfaction are not clear. The focus of our research was to explore the needs and experiences of young adults around healthcare services with an aim of finding out possible reasons for lower satisfaction. METHODS: Twenty young adults were interviewed at GP surgeries and at a local young adult advice agency, exploring their experiences and use of primary care services. Interviews were analysed using thematic analysis. RESULTS: The use of primary care services varied amongst the young adult interviewees. Many interviewees reported positive experiences; those who did not linked their negative experiences to difficulties in negotiating their care with the health care system, and reported issues with trust, and communication difficulties. Most of the interviewees were unaware of the use of patient surveys to inform healthcare planning and delivery and were not inclined to take part, mainly because of the length of surveys and lack of interest in the topic area. CONCLUSIONS: In order to effectively address the health needs of young adults, young adults need to be educated about their rights as patients, and how to most efficiently use primary care services. GPs should be alert to effective means of approaching and handling the healthcare needs of young adults. A flexible, varied approach is needed to gathering high quality data from this group in order to provide services with information on the changes necessary for making primary care services more accessible for young adults

First Observations of Benthos and Seston from a Submersible in the Lower St. Lawrence Estuary

Six dives with the submersible PISCES IV have permitted a unique description of the benthic and pelagic environments of a large, deep Canadian estuary. The estuarine floor and continental slopes are divided into five depth-dependent benthic zones. In order of decreasing depth are the Bathyal Trough Zone, the lnfaunal Zone, the Ophiura Zone, the Ice Rafting Zone and the Wave Base Zone. The zonal boundaries are based on changes in the faunal community, sediment texture, current energy, level of bioturbation and suspended particulate loading. Biological resuspension appears important in the Bathyal Trough and lnfaunal Zones. Current resuspension dominates the Ophiura and Ice Rafting Zones with storm waves additionally reworking the Wave-Base sediments. Seston characteristics are strongly influenced by the source and dynamics of the host water mass. The Surface Layer, the entrained outflow from the St. Lawrence River, is the source of most suspended matter found beneath. Large particles, mostly organo-mineral aggregates, become even larger with depth and indicate a rapid downward transfer of suspended sediment. The upper Intermediate Layer is complicated by stratified zones of turbulence that temporarily reduce the floe size. With the absence of such fine water structure, the lower Intermediate Layer is characterized by long chains of marine "snow" joined by delicate filaments. The Bottom Layer, a zone of increased turbulence, had aggregates breaking up into a haze of fine particles.Six plongées à bord du submersible Pisces IV ont permis de décrire les milieux benthique et pélagique de l'estuaire, large et profond, du Saint-Laurent. Le fond de l'estuaire et les talus continentaux ont été divisés, selon la profondeur, en cinq zones benthiques. Ce sont, du fond vers la surface, la zone bathyale du chenal Laurentien, la zone endobenthique, la zone à Ophiura, la zone de dépôts glaciels et la zone sous l'influence des vagues. Ces zones ont été déterminées à partir des variations des populations macrobenthiques, de la texture des sédiments, de l'énergie des courants, du niveau de bioturbation et de la concentration des particules en suspension. La resuspension biologique semble être importante dans les zones bathyale et endobenthique, mais la resuspension par les courants domine dans les trois autres zones. Les sédiments de la zone sous l'influence des vagues peuvent aussi être remaniés par les vagues de tempêtes. Les caractéristiques du seston sont fortement influencées par la source et la dynamique des différentes masses d'eau. Une grande partie du matériel en suspension provient de la couche superficielle, entraîné par le courant du Saint-Laurent. Les grosses particules, surtout les agrégats organo-minéraux, sont de plus en plus grosses en profondeur, ce qui suppose une descente rapide du matériel en suspension vers le fond. Dans la couche intermédiaire supérieure, des zones de turbulence stratifiées réduisent temporairement la taille des agrégats. La partie inférieure de la couche intermédiaire ne contient pas de ces stratifications fines et est plutôt caractérisée par la présence de longues chaînes de particules rattachées par un filament délicat. Dans la couche de fond, l'accroissement de la turbulence transforme les agrégats en un brouillard de fines particules.Sechs Tauchmanôver mit dem U-Boot Pisces IV haben eine einzigartige Beschreibung der benthis-chen und pelagischen Umgebung einer grossen, tiefen, kanadischen Mùndung erlaubt. Der Aestuarboden und die Kon-tinentalhànge sind in fùnf tiefenbedingte benthische Zonen eingeteilt. Der Ordnung nach, in abnehmender Tiefe, liegen die bathyal Zone des Skt-Lorenz Kanals, die endobenthische Zone, die Ophiura Zone, die Eisstrandungs Zone und die Wellen-Einfluss-Zone. Die Zonengrenzen sind auf Verànderungen in der Faunenwelt, Sedimenttextur, Strômungsenergie, Niveau der Bioturbation und der Konzentration der Schwebstoffe gegrùndet. Biologische Resuspension ist in der bathyalen und endobentischen Zone wichtig, wàhrend die Resuspension durch die Strômung in der Ophiura und Eisstrandungszone ùberwiegt, mit zusàtzlicher Bearbeitung der Wellen-Basis-Elemente durch Sturmwellen. Seston Kennzeichen sind durch die Dynamik der Gastgewàsser stark beeinflusst. Ein grosser Teil der Schwebstoffe kommt aus der oberen Schicht und wird durch die Strômung des Skt Lorenz Stromes mitgeschleppt. Grosse Teile, meistens organischmineral Aggregate werden mit wachsender Tiefe noch grosser und zeigen ein schnelles Sinken der Schwebstoffe an. In der oberen Zwischenschicht verringern die stratifizierten Turbulen Zonen zeitweilig die Grosse der Aggregate. Der untere Teil der Zwischenschicht zeigt keine solche feinen Stratifikationen und kennzeichnet sich eher durch die Gegenwart von langen Ketten von Schwebstoffteilchen, die durch einen dùnnen Faden zusammenhalten. In der Grundschicht, einer Zone mit vermehrterTurbulenz, werden die Aggregate zu einem Nebel feiner Teilchen aufgebrochen

First approaches to an underexplored dialect region: Trudgill’s Upper Southwest

© 2021 De Gruyter. The article can be accessed at the following link on the publisher’s website: https://doi.org/10.1515/dialect-2021-0008 For re-use please see the publisher's terms and conditions: https://www.degruyter.com/publishing/services/rights-and-permissionsAlthough dialectology in England received two major boosts at the end of the 19th century and the middle of the 20th century (Ellis 1889 and Orton & Barry 1956-8), discussion of dialect change since that time has avoided discussion of many areas, concentrated as it was in those Universities with a tradition of dialectology (Essex, Leeds, Sheffield, Newcastle). Though many areas have since been re-examined in England; notably Bristol dialect (Blaxter & Coates 2019), Newcastle dialect (Milroy 1994, Milroy et al. 1999) Sunderland dialect (Burbano-Elizondo 2007), and Manchester dialect (Baranowski & Turton 2015, Bermúdez-Otero et al. 2015) there remain many areas which were never fully explored at the time of the Survey of English Dialects (Birmingham as an urban area for example was completely bypassed by that survey), as well as many areas which remain little known and studied. This paper brings together what is known about the dialects of the Upper Southwest and suggests pointers for directions in future research there based on the data from Worcestershire and Herefordshire that we discuss

THE FIRST ISOLATION OF AMERICIUM IN THE FORM OF PURE COMPOUNDS - THE SPECIFIC ALPHA-ACTIVITY AND HALF-LIFE OF Am241

The microgram scale isolation and preparation of pure compounds of americium is described. Data are presented to show that the alpha-half-life of the isotope Am{sup 241} is 490 {+-} 14 years. The absorption spectrum of Am(III) in 1M nitric acid in the range 3500-8000 mu is given. The wave lengths of 10 of the most prominent lines in the copper spark emission spectrum of americium are given to the nearest 0.01 {angstrom}. Evidence is presented to show that the potential for the Am(III)-Am(IV) couple in acid solution is more negative than -2v and that the potential for the Am(II)-Am(III) couple is more positive than +0.9v