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In the past decade, extra-institutional file-sharing and homework-help websites have gone from being small-scale operations to large corporate businesses. File-sharing and homework-help websites threaten academic integrity when students use assessment work sourced from these sites as if it were their own. However, little is known about how students use these websites, what motivates students' use, and whether students are aware of the risks of using these sites. In an international survey of 1000 students, nearly half had heard of, or used, file-sharing and homework-help websites, and 377 completed a longer follow-up survey. We also undertook qualitative analysis of social media posts related to file-sharing and homework-help websites. Students indicate that they used the websites to obtain material to study for and/or complete assessments, and they exchanged assessment and study materials for altruistic reasons as well as for personal benefit. Students were mostly aware of academic integrity risks in using the websites but were typically unaware of their own institutions' position or policies regarding the use of these sites. It is recommended that higher education institutions develop policies and educate students regarding unaffiliated file-sharing and homework-help websites to promote academic integrity.

We examined the naturalistic pronunciation development of two groups of L2 speakers over 10 years. Initially, 50 beginner ESL students participated in production tasks; despite attrition, the tasks were administered eight more times. Here we report listener judgements of accentedness, comprehensibility and fluency for the remaining six Mandarin and 12 Slavic language speakers at Year 10. Analyses of listener judgments of accentedness, comprehensibility, and fluency of utterances recorded at the 2-month, 1-year, 2-year, 7-year and 10-year points revealed that the Slavic language speakers improved in comprehensibility and fluency at each comparison point, while the Mandarin speakers' results were variable; there was improvement in comprehensibility from Year 7 to Year 10, but only after worsening at earlier points. The Slavic language group showed improvement in accentedness several times, whereas the Mandarin group showed no improvement in accentedness at any point. The data were examined for individual differences in learning trajectories. Interview responses and a survey of language use were compared to participants' trajectories. Some speakers showed steady improvement from Year 7 to Year 10, but the majority plateaued or regressed. We also elicited speakers' views of their progress. The results are interpreted through Complexity Theory and the Willingness to Communicate framework. Suggestions are made for research and teaching interventions.

College and university remain the dominant academic pathways for graduating Canadian high school students. However, apprenticeships can provide alternative education pathways for a significant proportion of the population. Despite the push to undergraduate programming, some students end up in fields that don't suit their interests. To pursue academic programming that better suits personal interests and academic aptitudes, students have the option of transferring schools. However, no study to-date has explored the transfer reasons and process of students moving between university and apprenticeships in Canada. To address this knowledge gap, we collected qualitative interview data from post-secondary administrators who work directly with transfer students. We also collected interview data from Ontario-based students who transferred to apprenticeships from university. Analysis of our interview data identifies mechanisms that influenced participants' education pathway choices.

The series of responses in this article were gathered as part of an online mini conference held in September 2021 that sought to explore different ideas and articulations of school autonomy reform across the world (Australia, Canada, England, Ireland, the USA, Norway, Sweden and New Zealand). It centred upon an important question: what needs to happen for school autonomy to be mobilised to create more equitable public schools and systems of education? There was consensus across the group that school autonomy reform creates further inequities at school and system levels when driven by the logics of marketisation, competition, economic efficiency and public accountability. Against the backdrop of these themes, the conference generated discussion and debate where provocations and points of agreement and disagreement about issues of social justice and the mobilisation of school autonomy reform were raised. As an important output of this discussion, we asked participants to write a short response to the guiding conference question. The following are these responses which range from philosophical considerations, systems and governance perspectives, national particularities and teacher and principal perspectives.

Introduction: Health and social service providers have limited expertise with regard to assessing and treating psychiatric disorders in adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The aim of this study was to describe the development and pilot evaluation of a virtual capacity-building program (Project ECHO) focused on supporting the mental health of adults with these disabilities in Ontario, Canada. Method: The pilot program consisted of 12 weekly 1.5 hour sessions hosted through a video-conferencing platform, with a combined focus of didactic teaching and case-based learning, led by an interprofessional team of subject matter experts. The program evaluation was informed by Moore's evaluation framework for continuing medical education. Ongoing attendance tracking, weekly surveys, and pre-post questionnaires were used to evaluate participation, satisfaction, learning and self-efficacy, and practice change. Results: The program included 62 participants from across Ontario, Canada, from both the health and social service sectors. Seventy-three percent of participants attended six or more sessions, with high participant satisfaction ratings seen with the program. A statistically significant improvement in self-efficacy mean scores of 14.7% was observed pre-post. Seventy-four percent of respondents indicated that they had changed their practice because of participating in this ECHO. Conclusion: Good participant retention, satisfaction, and increased confidence suggests this cross-sector virtual medical education program may have value for health and social service providers as they support the mental health of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Background: Parents of children with intellectual and neurodevelopmental disorders are a highly burdened group that faces additional challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: In this study, parents of children with intellectual and neurodevelopmental disorders (N = 600) living in Canada participated in a cross-sectional online survey. Results: More than 96% of the parents reported facing additional challenges due to the pandemic. COVID-19-related stressors correlated with poorer mental and physical health. Parents who reported a higher amount of COVID-19-related stressors also reported more post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. Discussion: Resuming and implementing new services for children with intellectual and neurodevelopmental disorders and their parents will be key in alleviating the challenges for those parents.

We developed a program that paired newcomer international students with Canadian student mentors. These pairs met weekly throughout a semester and international student participants completed measures at both the beginning and end of the program. We found that program participants experienced positive changes in sociocultural and psychological adaptation, and a reduction in acculturative stress over time. At the conclusion of the program, program participants also showed higher levels of psychological adaptation and lower levels of acculturative stress than control participants, who had not participated in the program. These findings make an important contribution to the empirical literature on the acculturation of international students and provide foundations for future research.

Tracey Derwing and Ron Thomson reflect on the growth of Canadian L2 pronunciation research from the early 1990s onward. Although many phoneticians and language educators called for pronunciation instruction (PI) for decades, in the early 1980s little empirical research existed to inform pronunciation pedagogy, despite an influx of Vietnamese refugees, many of whom needed help with intelligibility. It was serendipity that linguistics students from the University of Alberta were teaching in an ESL program; their employer assigned them stand-alone pronunciation classes. Upon graduating, Tracey Derwing and Murray Munro probed L2 pronunciation issues extensively. Initially they found it difficult to publish, because journals could not identify suitable reviewers. Eventually, however, they garnered grants, hired students, and met like-minded colleagues. Graduate students from several universities have pursued pronunciation-related studies, extending our knowledge of PI and laying the foundation for second and third waves of researchers. Positive team dynamics and sustained scientific curiosity have established Canada as a dominant force in empirical pronunciation research.

Body image might be explained as "how we picture ourselves" and, while the image may or may not be accurate, it can affect decisions about physical, social, and emotional health. Schools are seen as potential sites for universal intervention programs to promote health, self-esteem, and size acceptance, and also to discourage unhealthy eating and body-based bullying. The implementation of a body image program is contextualized by embedded cultural ideals of body perfection, which affect students and teachers and potentially affect implementation. This research uses a case study methodology and a planned behaviour analysis framework to analyze the issues that emerge in the implementation of a body image and self-esteem curriculum across six schools. The findings provide a window on the complexity of behavioural beliefs, cultural beliefs, and perceptions of efficacy impacting a body image curriculum project. The authors see potential solutions in knowledge mobilization and critical body literacy.

Body image is an individual's emotional response to one's appearance including size and shape; this response may not be helpful in the pursuit of overall health and well-being. This policy analysis examines the treatment of body image in Canadian Health and Physical Education (HPE) curriculum policies using a body image analysis framework developed by the authors and based on health sciences research. The analysis indicates that most Canadian educational jurisdictions minimally address the topic of body image while some jurisdictions view it as important. As a result, curriculum policy responses to this important issue are scattered and inconsistent. (Contains 2 tables.)

This article argues for the importance of broad and on-going research to support initial or pre-service teacher education program admissions. Examples from a large initial teacher education program at one Canadian university illustrate the contributions of research to the evaluation and refinement of admission processes. These examples include anonymous surveys and confidential interviews of current pre-service teachers about their experiences of answering application questions about their social identity, how they decided to apply to and attend the program, and their expectations of teacher education and teaching. Research studies about the perspectives of and agreement among the application raters are also discussed. Finally, how the operational needs of the admission processes shape the research agenda and the emerging research findings in turn shape the admission processes is explored.

Maljkovic and Nakayama (1994) found that pop-out search performance is more efficient when a singleton target feature repeats rather than switches from 1 trial to the next--an effect known as priming of pop-out (PoP). They also reported findings indicating that the PoP effect is strongly automatic, as it was unaffected by knowledge of the upcoming target color. In the present study, we examined the impact of visual imagery on the PoP effect. Participants were instructed to imagine a target color that was opposite that of the preceding trial (e.g., if the prior target was red, then imagine green). Under these conditions, responses were faster for targets that matched the imagined color than for targets that matched the previous target color, reversing the typical PoP effect. There was no such reversal of the PoP effect for participants asked to verbalize rather than imagine an upcoming target color. In Experiment 3, we explored whether the PoP effect was indeed eliminated in the prior experiments, or instead obscured by the opposing visual imagery effect. Two conditions were compared, 1 in which a PoP effect could oppose the visual imagery effect, and another in which no such effect was possible, allowing inferences about whether a PoP effect was present. The results indicated that the PoP effect was present, but obscured by the larger visual imagery strategy effect that pushed performance in the opposite direction. Overall, the results suggest that the PoP effect is sensitive to top-down strategies that involve visual representations.

Discrete-trials teaching (DTT) is a frequently used method for implementing Applied Behavior Analysis treatment with children with autism. Fazzio, Arnal, and Martin (2007) developed a 21-component checklist, the Discrete-Trials Teaching Evaluation Form (DTTEF), for assessing instructors conducting DTT. In Phase 1 of this research, three experts on DTT rated all 21 components of the DTTEF as very important, demonstrating its high face validity. In Phase 2, the DTTEF had high interobserver reliability for live scoring of trainees' DTT performances, and it differentiated between the DTT performances of trainees before and after receiving instruction in applying DTT. In Phase 3, the DTTEF evaluations of the DTT performances of trainees in Phase 2 compared favorably to ratings of video clips of those performances by DTT experts, demonstrating high concurrent validity. (Contains 2 tables and 1 figure.)

In this study we surveyed teachers and program coordinators of Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) from Ontario, British Columbia, and Alberta to determine to what degree they believe they are incorporating citizenship concepts into the ESL classroom. Respondents provided us with information on the nature of their programs, the role of LINC, the types of materials they used, general course content, challenges faced, and their evaluation of the success of LINC in view of the government mandate to provide instruction that will lead to social integration. Most LINC providers felt that their programs were well tailored to the needs of their students, but in general they did not see LINC as a substitute for citizenship preparation courses. We recommend that optional citizenship courses be made widely available to immigrants after LINC, where the focus is on complex issues facing Canadians rather than a superficial coverage of facts for the citizenship test.

A survey of 63 employees in LINC programs in Ontario, British Columbia, and Alberta Indicated that the mandate of LINC to incorporate information on "Canadian values" remains partly unfulfilled. Although professionally trained ESL instructors may be equipped to incorporate Canadian values into the content of classroom instruction, those who lack specific preparation are likely to rely on published texts. We analyzed 67 textbooks used in LINC programs. In general, most of the materials have little in the way of Canadian content and even less in the way of Canadian values. The survey responses suggested that some teachers dealt with general Canadian values if they cam up in class: others, however, felt that it was inappropriate to deal with such complex topics in LINC programs and that the proficiency level of LINC students was an obstacle. Most teachers felt that survival English was paramount in LINC.

Significant progress has been made toward greater professional recognition for adult ESL instructors in Canada over the past decade. At the same time, an ever-increasing demand for English-language teachers, particularly abroad, has resulted in a substantial growth in the number of private companies offering short-term ESL/EFL teacher training. Often these programs make inflated claims about the worth of their certificates in the job market, undermining attempts to professionalize the field in the eyes of the public. In this article, I propose basic requirements that should be expected of any professionally adequate TESL training program. I then assess several TESL "certificate" programs from across Canada to determine to what degree they meet these minimal professional standards. I conclude with a discussion on why increasingly stringent training standards are essential if we are to promote professionalism in the field and to achieve recognition commensurate with that in other disciplines.

Several studies have linked specific learning disorders (SLDs) with suicidal ideation, but less is known about the disorders' association with suicide attempts. This gap in the literature is addressed via the 2012 nationally representative Canadian Community Health Survey (n = 21,744). The prevalence of lifetime suicide attempts among those with an SLD was much higher than those without (11.1% vs. 2.7%, p < 0.001). In comparison with their peers without SLDs, adults with SLDs had 46% higher odds of having ever attempted suicide, even after adjusting for most known risk factors (e.g., childhood adversities, history of mental illness and substance abuse, sociodemographics; odds ratio = 1.46, 95% CI [1.05, 2.04]). The largest attenuation in the association between SLD and suicidal attempts was accounted for by adverse childhood experiences. Among those with SLDs (n = 745), a history of witnessing chronic parental domestic violence and ever having had a major depressive disorder were associated with substantially higher odds of suicide attempts.

Although the development of second language (L2) oral fluency has been widely investigated over the past several decades, there remains a paucity of research examining language instruction specifically aimed at improving this cognitive skill. In this study, the researchers investigate how instructional techniques adapted from drama can positively impact L2 fluency, comprehensibility, and accentedness--three frequently discussed dimensions of L2 speech. Following a pretest-posttest design, the researchers obtained speech samples from 24 adolescent Brazilian EFL learners before and after their participation in a 4-month drama-based English language program. The development of oral skills by this group was compared with that of a parallel group of learners who received 4 months of instruction in a traditional communicative EFL classroom. Thirty untrained Canadian native English speaker raters evaluated randomized recorded L2 speech samples and provided impressionistic scalar judgments of fluency, comprehensibility, and accentedness. Results indicate that drama-based instruction can lead to significantly larger gains in L2 English oral fluency relative to more traditional communicative EFL instruction; comprehensibility scores also appear to be impacted, but with a much smaller effect; accentedness scores do not seem to benefit from one type of instruction over the other. The authors discuss implications for teaching practice.

This article describes a four-credit semester program at Elliot Lake Secondary School in the late 1990s. This New Trails program is based around physical education and leadership, geography, Native studies, and English credits. The students are outside much of the time. The students become certified in the use of GPS and in map and compass work, and earn accreditation in chain saw use, ORCA Tripping I, Basic Flatwater, Basic Kayaking, WHIMIS, Skidder/Cutter operator's license, Pleasure Craft operator's card and Wilderness First Aid. They have used these skills to fundraise for the program, for example by cutting trees for a local home. Students also engage in a two-week co-op placement with local municipalities and tourism businesses to prepare for work in the growing eco-tourism sector. Finally, the program integrates elements common to many four-credit semester Outdoor Education programs, including cross-country and downhill skiing, fitness, and a culminating canoe trip. The program also has the support of local Aboriginal professionals, and includes a weekly sharing circle led by a certified addictions counsellor. (Contains 2 footnotes.)

Using the iterative process of action research, we identify six portals of understanding, called threshold concepts, which can be used as curricular guideposts to disrupt the socially constituted separation, and hierarchy, between humans and the more-than-human. The threshold concepts identified in this study provide focal points for a curriculum in transformative sustainability learning which (1) acknowledges non-human agency; and (2) recognizes that the capacity to work with multiple ways of knowing is required to effectively engage in the process of sustainability knowledge creation. These concepts are: there are different ways of knowing; we can communicate with non-human nature and non-human nature can communicate with us; knowing is relational; transrational intuition and embodied knowing are valuable and valid ways of knowing; worldview is the lens through which we view reality; and the power of dominant beliefs (represented in discourse) supports and/or undermines particular ways of knowing and being as in/valid.

The authors hypothesized that a social and emotional learning (SEL) program involving mindfulness and caring for others, designed for elementary school students, would enhance cognitive control, reduce stress, promote well-being and prosociality, and produce positive school outcomes. To test this hypothesis, 4 classes of combined 4th and 5th graders (N = 99) were randomly assigned to receive the SEL with mindfulness program versus a regular social responsibility program. Measures assessed executive functions (EFs), stress physiology via salivary cortisol, well-being (self-reports), prosociality and peer acceptance (peer reports), and math grades. Relative to children in the social responsibility program, children who received the SEL program with mindfulness (a) improved more in their cognitive control and stress physiology; (b) reported greater empathy, perspective-taking, emotional control, optimism, school self-concept, and mindfulness, (c) showed greater decreases in self-reported symptoms of depression and peer-rated aggression, (d) were rated by peers as more prosocial, and (e) increased in peer acceptance (or sociometric popularity). The results of this investigation suggest the promise of this SEL intervention and address a lacuna in the scientific literature--identifying strategies not only to ameliorate children's problems but also to cultivate their well-being and thriving. Directions for future research are discussed.

In the present work, we investigate the hypothesis that failures of task-related executive control that occur during episodes of mind wandering are associated with an increase in extraneous movements (fidgeting). In 2 studies, we assessed mind wandering using thought probes while participants performed the metronome response task (MRT), which required them to synchronize button presses with tones. Participants performed this task while sitting on a Wii Balance Board providing us with an index of fidgeting. Results of Study 1 demonstrate that relative to on-task periods, mind wandering is indeed accompanied by increases in fidgeting, as well as increased response variability in the MRT. In Study 2, we observed that only deep mind wandering was associated with increases in fidgeting, whereas task-related response variability increased even during mild mind wandering. We interpret these findings in the context of current theories of mind wandering and suggest that (a) mind wandering is associated with costs not only to primary-task performance but also to secondary-task goals (e.g., controlling extraneous movements) and (b) these costs may depend on the degree to which task-related executive control processes are disengaged during mind wandering (i.e., depth of mind wandering).

As the rates of diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) increase and more students with ASD are enrolled in mainstream schools, educators face many challenges in teaching and managing social and behavioural development while ensuring academic success for all students. This descriptive, qualitative study, embedded within an inclusive pedagogical approach, draws on a purposive sample of 13 elementary school teachers who have experience in teaching children with ASD within two cities in Ontario, Canada. Through in-depth interviews we asked about teachers' strategies for creating an inclusive environment within their classroom. Teachers had several recommendations for successfully including children with ASD in mainstream classrooms including: (1) advocating for resources and essential training; (2) tailored teaching methods; (3) teamwork within the school; (4) building a rapport with parents and students; and (5) building a climate of acceptance within the classroom through disability awareness, education and sensitivity training. In conclusion, teachers need to use several strategies and have appropriate training and resources to optimise the successful inclusion of children with ASD.

The effects of randomization to mindfulness training (MT) or to a waitlist-control condition on psychological and physiological indicators of teachers' occupational stress and burnout were examined in 2 field trials. The sample included 113 elementary and secondary school teachers (89% female) from Canada and the United States. Measures were collected at baseline, post-program, and 3-month follow-up; teachers were randomly assigned to condition after baseline assessment. Results showed that 87% of teachers completed the program and found it beneficial. Teachers randomized to MT showed greater mindfulness, focused attention and working memory capacity, and occupational self-compassion, as well as lower levels of occupational stress and burnout at post-program and follow-up, than did those in the control condition. No statistically significant differences due to MT were found for physiological measures of stress. Mediational analyses showed that group differences in mindfulness and self-compassion at post-program mediated reductions in stress and burnout as well as symptoms of anxiety and depression at follow-up. Implications for teaching and learning are discussed.

Maljkovic and Nakayama have demonstrated memory influences in singleton search from one trial to the next, an effect they termed "priming of pop-out" (PoP). This effect was described as resulting from the persistence of an implicit memory trace, the influence of which could be observed for around 5-8 subsequent trials. Thomson and Milliken (2012) recently reported that PoP effects can survive a lag of up to 16 trials for "rare" trials that were composed of distinct target and distracter colors relative to intervening "common" trials. The present experiments tested the idea that long-term PoP effects can depend on the retrieval of distinct contextual cues. Across the experiments reported here, rare trials differed from common trials in spatial location (Experiments 1A and 2A), stimulus configuration (Experiments 1B and 2B), target and distracter colors (Experiments 2A and 2B), or response-selection task (Experiment 3). PoP effects that survived 15 intervening trials were observed with rare search stimuli that were composed of distinct target and distracter colors or required a distinct selection task. Distinct stimulus location and distinct stimulus configuration failed to produce a measurable effect on PoP for rare trials, either on their own or in conjunction with other distinct features. These results are interpreted as evidence that episodic memory retrieval processes can produce relatively long-term PoP effects. (Contains 3 figures and 1 table.)

This mixed-methods study examines the effects of rating scale length and rater experience on listeners' judgments of second-language (L2) speech. Twenty experienced and 20 novice raters, who were randomly assigned to 5-point or 9-point rating scale conditions, judged speech samples of 38 newcomers to Canada on numerical rating scales for comprehensibility, accentedness, and fluency. Results yielded high Cronbach's alpha coefficients and no group differences for rating scale length or rater experience. However, Rasch category probability plots revealed that raters had difficulty differentiating between scale steps, particularly in mid-scale range--a challenge that was exacerbated in the 9-point scale condition. Evidence from verbal protocols and posttask interviews suggested that experienced and novice raters adopted strategies to either draw on or offset their perceived experience with L2 speech in conducting their ratings. Implications for L2 pronunciation research are discussed, including the need to draw on raters' perceptions to develop a greater understanding of major listener perceptual constructs in L2 pronunciation and to move beyond adherence to the native speaking standard in data collection procedures. (Contains 5 tables, 9 figures, and 7 footnotes.)

The purpose of this grounded theory study was to provide a framework for understanding the contemporary experience of First Nations grandparents. Fifteen respondents (N = 15) were selected from two demographically different Canadian cities. Seven of the grandparents lived with their child and a grandchild or grandchildren at the time of the interview; an additional four had lived with their grandchildren at some point prior to this investigation. Results revealed that First Nations grandparents had leveraged their own experiences of cultural disruption to reinvest in the cultural health and well-being of their grandchildren. One grandfather described this role as "walking the red road" which entailed a responsibility "to provide wisdom and . . . protection." Identified benefits of rejuvenating traditions and grandparent involvement included cultural healing and joy. (Contains 1 figure and 3 footnotes.)

Although children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are increasingly being placed within mainstream classes, little is known about the challenges that teachers encounter with including them as full participants in the class. This qualitative study draws on a purposive sample of 13 educators who have experience teaching children with ASD within two cities in Ontario, Canada. Through in-depth interviews we asked about teachers' challenges regarding creating an inclusive environment within their classroom. Teachers reported several challenges, including: understanding and managing behaviour; socio-structural barriers (i.e., school policy, lack of training and resources); and creating an inclusive environment (i.e., lack of understanding from other teachers, students and parents). Teachers recommend that more resources, training and support are needed to enhance the education and inclusion of children with ASD.

A regionally representative Canadian sample was used to investigate the gender-specific relationship between childhood physical abuse and lifetime suicidal ideation. The prevalence of suicidal ideation was about five times higher in abused men and women compared with their nonabused counterparts. After controlling for five clusters of potentially confounding factors (adverse childhood conditions, socioeconomic factors, health behaviors, psychosocial stressors/chronic illnesses, and mental health), childhood physical abuse was significantly associated with suicidal ideation (OR[subscript adjusted] women = 4.48, 95% CI = 3.32-6.04; men = 3.57, 95% CI = 2.08-6.14). These findings suggest childhood physical abuse is independently associated with suicidal ideation and highlight the importance of providing preventative treatment to childhood abuse survivors.

Schools are places of learning, but they are also sites of struggle when fitness, obesity, and body image issues converge for students and teachers. Responding to teachers' concerns about their students on diets, a Canadian teachers' organization produced a body image program which included a training day for schools undertaking whole-school implementation. The teachers' organization commissioned research to determine program outcomes. The research team interviewed 48 participating teachers. Data include: teacher responses to a post-training survey, interview transcripts, and artefacts from school visits. Findings indicate that implementation is impacted by resources and the complex ways that students' and teachers' bodies are positioned socially. While the program intent was to provide teachers with body image lessons, findings suggest that other supports are needed such as knowledge mobilization of body image research, critical framing to respond to issues, and a theoretical map such as critical body literacy in order to navigate these uncharted waters.

This study investigated childhood physical abuse and ulcers in a regionally representative community sample. Age, race and sex were controlled for in addition to five clusters of potentially confounding factors: adverse childhood conditions, adult socioeconomic status, current health behaviors, current stress and marital status, and history of mood/anxiety disorders. Childhood physical abuse is associated with many negative physical and psychological adult health outcomes. Two recent studies demonstrate a potential link between childhood physical abuse and peptic ulcer disease in adulthood. The authors use regional data for the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan from the 2005 Canadian Community Health Survey. Of the 13,069 respondents with complete data on abuse and ulcers, 7.3% (n = 1,020) report that they had been physically abused as a child by someone close to them and 3.0% (n = 493) report that they had been diagnosed with peptic ulcers by a health professional. The regional response rate is approximately 84%. Findings show that those reporting abuse had more than twice the prevalence of ulcers than did those not reporting abuse (6.6% vs. 2.7%). The fully adjusted odd ratio of peptic ulcers among those who had reported childhood physical abuse is 1.68 (95% CI = 1.22, 2.32). A significant and stable relationship between childhood physical abuse and peptic ulcers is found, even when taking into account five clusters of potentially confounding factors. Prospective studies that apply the biopsychosocial model are likely to be the most effective for identifying the pathways that connect childhood physical abuse and ulcer disease. (Contains 1 table and 1 figure.)

This paper first provides an overview of factors that constrain ultimate attainment in adult second language (L2) pronunciation, finding that first language influence and the quantity and quality of L2 phonetic input account for much of the variation in the degree of foreign accent found across adult L2 learners. The author then evaluates current approaches to computer assisted pronunciation training (CAPT), concluding that they are not well grounded in a current understanding of L2 accent. Finally, the author reports on a study in which twenty-two Mandarin speakers were trained to better discriminate ten Canadian English vowels. Using a specially designed computer application, learners were randomly presented with recordings of the target vowels in monosyllabic frames, produced by twenty native speakers. The learners responded by clicking on one of ten salient graphical images representing each vowel category and were given both visual and auditory feedback as to the accuracy of their selections. Pre- and post-tests of the learners' English vowel pronunciation indicated that their vowel intelligibility significantly improved as a result of training, not only in the training context, but also in an untrained context. In a third context, vowel intelligibility did not improve. (Contains 6 figures, 1 table and 3 notes.)

There is an inconsistency between a growing need for national research on issues of child and adolescent health and the wide range of diverse curriculum responses to health issues undertaken by individual provinces and territories in Canada. Measuring the effect of interventions is more difficult in this contradiction. In this study, the authors uncover a growing need for national research, knowledge mobilization, and the development of a common language and Internet protocols to enable sharing of health education initiatives using the affordances of technology. The authors find that in an era where difficult social challenges for children and adolescents require not only national but global attention, the current jurisdictional structures present significant and challenging barriers to accessing national and global expertise. These barriers will need to be addressed in order to maximize the affordances of digital technologies for knowledge mobilization toward the goal of coherent pan-Canadian health curriculum approaches.

Objectives: Although, the relationship between childhood physical abuse and adult heart disease has been documented, very few studies have controlled for many of the known risk factors for heart disease. The objective of the current study, therefore, was to investigate the association between childhood physical abuse and adult heart disease while controlling for the following established risk factors: (1) childhood stressors; (2) adult health behaviors; (3) adult stressors; (4) depression; and, (5) high pressure. Methods: Data was obtained from the 2005 Canadian Community Health Survey. The sample included 13,093 respondents from the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan, of whom 7.4% (n = 1025) reported that they had been physically abused as a child by someone close to them and 4.4% (n = 850) reported that they had been diagnosed with heart disease by a health professional. The regional level response rate was 84%. Results: The age-gender-race adjusted odds ratio of heart disease among those who had reported childhood physical abuse was 1.57 (95% CI = 1.12, 2.20). When adjustments were made for all of the established risk factors the odds ratio declined to 1.45 (95% CI = 1.01, 2.08). Conclusions: The relationship between childhood physical abuse and heart disease persists even when controlling for five types of factors previously thought to mediate the relationship. Practice implications: Further research would benefit from a closer analysis of the potential mechanisms linking childhood physical abuse and heart disease. (Contains 2 tables and 1 figure.)

A fundamental question in the study of second language (L2) fluency is the extent to which temporal characteristics of speakers' first language (L1) productions predict the same characteristics in the L2. A close relationship between a speaker's L1 and L2 temporal characteristics would suggest that fluency is governed by an underlying trait. This longitudinal investigation compared L1 and L2 English fluency at three times over 2 years in Russian- and Ukrainian- (which we will refer to here as Slavic) and Mandarin-speaking adult immigrants to Canada. Fluency ratings of narratives by trained judges indicated a relationship between the L1 and the L2 in the initial stages of L2 exposure, although this relationship was found to be stronger in the Slavic than in the Mandarin learners. Pauses per second, speech rate, and pruned syllables per second were all related to the listeners' judgments in both languages, although vowel durations were not. Between-group differences may reflect differential exposure to spoken English and a closer relationship between Slavic languages and English than between Mandarin and English. Suggestions for pedagogical interventions and further research are also proposed.

The single-stimulus (SS) preference assessment procedure has been described as more appropriate than the paired stimulus (PS) procedure for "lower functioning" individuals, but this guideline's vagueness limits its usefulness. We administered the SS and PS preference assessment procedures with food items to seven individuals with severe or profound developmental disabilities who scored at level 2 of the Assessment of Basic Learning Abilities (ABLA) and seven who scored at ABLA level 3. Thirteen of the 14 participants also received these assessments (PS and SS), with non-food items. The two procedures were about equally effective for both groups, and with both types of stimuli, although the PS procedure produced more refined preference hierarchies. Most participants showed moderate to high correlations in preference scores between the two procedures for both food and non-food items. These results suggest that, for individuals who score at either ABLA level 2 or ABLA level 3, the SS and the PS procedures are equally likely to identify preferred stimuli. (Contains 1 table and 1 figure.)

Since the mid-1990s, government policies in the USA, Canada, England, and Australia have promoted the need to produce an ICT skilled workforce in order to ensure national competitiveness in globalised economic conditions. In this article, we examine the ways in which these policy intentions in 1 state in Australia were translated into a techno-determinist and technocentric plan which focused primarily on getting wired up and connected. We summarise the findings from 2 projects: an investigation of a state-wide principals' professional development programme and an action research study investigating literacy, educational disadvantage, and information technologies. We found significant differences in the distribution of the physical and human capabilities between schools which made the task of engaging with ICT harder for some than others. Nevertheless, we suggest that some school leaders did develop innovative practice. We suggest that policy deficits made it difficult for school leaders to grapple with the dimensions of and debates about the kinds of educational changes that schools and school systems should be making. (Contains 1 figure, 2 notes and 1 table.)

The development of accent and fluency are traced in the speech of 20 Mandarin and 20 Slavic adult immigrants to Canada over a period of 10 months. The participants were enrolled in an ESL program but had no special instruction in either pronunciation or fluency. The immigrants' self-reported exposure to English outside of class was used to determine whether there was a relationship between accent, fluency, and voluntary contact with English. Judgment tasks were carried out in which native English listeners assessed L2 speech samples recorded at the outset of their studies, 2 months later, and again 10 months after the first recording. The listeners' scalar judgments of accentedness and fluency indicated that there was a small improvement in accent over time, and that the Slavic learners made significant progress in fluency, whereas the Mandarin participants showed no improvement. The Slavic participants reported significantly more contact with English speakers than did the Mandarin speakers. Suggestions are made for ESL instruction and further research. (Contains 3 figures and 2 tables.)

This study compared procedures in Scotland and Ontario (Canada) for planning for the transition to adulthood of young people with physical disabilities. In Scotland such planning is mandated, while in Canada such procedures are dependent on local initiatives. In both instances, transition was seen to be a prolonged phase. Case studies illustrate differences between the two systems. (Author/DB)

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health is the property of Canadian Periodical for Community Studies Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health is the property of Canadian Periodical for Community Studies Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of Medical Imaging & Radiation Sciences is the property of Elsevier B.V. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Provides guidelines for writing book reviews, particularly for nonfiction works. A checklist of basic elements that are often included in book reviews is given; organization and writing style are discussed; and a sample review is included from the "Canadian Book Review Annual." (four references) (LRW)

Offers a number of practical suggestions to Canadian academic librarians expected to write for publication. Areas discussed include choosing a topic; finding a publisher; collecting data; allowing respondents to comment on manuscript drafts; preparation of manuscripts; joint authorship; expenditures, royalties, and taxes; and publishing contracts. (CLB)

• Two interventions (in the US and Canada) reduced household food waste by up to 46%. • Interventions focused on being resourceful with unused foods. • The intervention was to set a specific day to use up food with flexible recipes. • Flexible recipes - based on a 3 + 1 heuristic - made using up food easy. • Change in perceived behavioral control mediated food waste reduction in the US. In two 5-week randomized-controlled field studies, Canadian and US households were invited to make one meal per week from food that might otherwise be discarded, using flexible recipes. In the first study (Canada), tools to increase the salience of unused food (storage basket, clips to tag, or whiteboard) were also explored. A second study (US) examined a shorter program and the addition of follow-up reminders. Food waste was assessed with a self-reported food waste measure. Intervention groups reduced their food waste significantly versus baseline by 33% (Canada) and 46% (US) and versus control by 27% (Canada) and 33% (US). The salience tools (study 1) or duration (study 2) had no impact. Eight weeks after the intervention food saving continued although the intervention conditions no longer differed significantly from control. In the US, change in Perceived Behavioral Control partially mediated the impact of the intervention on food waste reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]