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There is currently much debate amongst EAL specialist teachers in the U. K. regarding the assessment of bilingual pupils. Several studies, including inspection evidence, highlight the consistent failure of some groups of minority ethnic and bilingual pupils within the current summative assessment arrangements. This study is an attempt to refocus concern back to the processes of teaching and learning and hence the formative assessment of bilingual pupils. More specifically, this study investigates whether analysis of pupil-pupil talk during game playing can reveal information about how bilingual pupils are learning English as an additional language in the context of U. K. classrooms, and whether this information can be used by teachers to promote such learning (i. e. as a formative assessment). The fieldwork was undertaken in four schools across Newcastle Upon Tyne, three of which have large and diverse bilingual and minority ethnic pupil populations. The investigation was achieved by video recording small groups of bilingual pupils working and talking together whilst playing specially designed board games which focus on aspects of English language learning in accord with the National Literacy Strategy. Each group interaction was then transcribed and analysed using a discourse analysis system designed to reflect the behaviour of pupils playing the games. This initial analysis was then used to facilitate a deeper, more qualitative and interpretive analysis informed by sociocultural theory where learning is viewed as a socially situated activity mediated by language. This theoretical structure provided both a conceptual framework in which to understand the role of language and collaborative interaction in learning, and an analytic framework through which to observe and interpret such learning. As such, an holistic and essentially qualitative approach was adopted. The resulting information about pupils' learning was then fed back to the class and EAL specialist teachers. The results clearly demonstrate that specially designed board games are an accessible and empowering context for bilingual pupils' learning of English in U. K. classrooms. Moreover, the analysis of pupils' interactive behaviour whilst playing such games reveals constructive information about how bilingual pupils are learning English, their motivation and confidence in approaching this learning, as well as what they have already learnt or are in the process of learning. This thesis exposes the exact nature of such learning. The results also reveal that, although time consuming, the information resulting from such analyses can help guide teaching and learning needs, and is especially useful for those bilingual pupils most reticent to talk in front of adults in the classroom. The results of this study broaden our understanding of the nature of L2 language learning as a socially situated interactive activity from both a theoretical and pedagogical perspective. In particular, by hybridising the process of sociocultural analysis with the pedagogic process of formative assessment, this research has profitably extended the scope of application of sociocultural theory. Furthermore, it raises some interesting policy implications in regard to the purpose and form of the assessment of bilingual pupils in the U. K.

This investigation aims to assess issues of physical, sensory and intellectual access to museums and galleries in Scotland, with a particular relevance to people with sight difficulties. The research has been completed from the point of view of the visually impaired visitor, using original fieldwork comprising visits to museums accompanied by people with different types of sight difficulties. An examination of the facilities provided has been undertaken from the visitors' perspective alongside the current and forthcoming legislative requirements. The opinions of the museums' community have been taken into consideration primarily by discussions with the curators of the museums and galleries visited. An appreciation of the legislative stimulus for museums and galleries to consider people with disabilities, the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, is also attempted, including reports from the MPs involved in the development and the introduction of this legislation and the MSPs with responsibilities for the representation of people with disabilities in the Scottish Parliament. A particular focus is applied to the introduction of Part 111 of the legislation which was enacted during the research period and used as a stimulus for the areas of questioning with the visually impaired people who assisted. This facilitates the presentation of a context against which to place the findings of the discussions with visually impaired people. Visitors are an essential requirement for the existence and future of museums and galleries and the potential audience of people with visual impairments is increasing and significant.

Safety aspects influencing emergency response on offshore installations and the influence of economic, legislative, safety management and safety engineering factors on the safety of the workforce are reviewed. The main objective of developing optimum strategies for emergency response is to reduce the risk to personnel by reducing the likelihood of precipitate or inappropriate decisions being made. This involves a judicious balance of significant predictive factors, namely: the estimated risk to personnel whilst remaining onboard and during evacuation, escape, recovery and rescue; and the estimated time required to gain control of an undesired event (or reach untenable conditions) and for evacuation and escape. The research focuses on the provision of significant information to the Offshore Installation Manager (OIM). A methodology is presented to assist in the development of optimum strategies for emergency response and in the design of a computer-based Emergency Response Information (ERI) system for providing the information. A fiamework is presented to assist in: identifying events, sequences and combinations of events and their potential consequences; and defining event type, severity and priority for emergency response. Typical resources and arrangements for responding to emergencies are reviewed and their adequacy for the effective employment of the ERI system evaluated. Typical information required at applicable activity stages is identified for defined areas of emergency response for events of varying degrees of severity. A statement of sensible and feasible' requirements of a typical ERI system is presented. A critical evaluation is presented of the feasibility of the design, manufacture and operation of the ERI system to provide the information and achieve specified requirements, namely: performance standards (functionality, reliability and survivability); and ergonomic and human resources requirements. The research concludes by examining ways in which the philosophy described in the thesis can be implemented in practice. A methodology for presenting the information is described.

This thesis examines the meaning of marriage for women in the eighteenth century by considering what actually constituted 'marriage' from both a legal and a social perspective. The thesis argues that evidence from the church court records suggest an overall continuity in social standards and practice in relation to marriage, despite the introduction of the Hardwicke Marriage Act in 1753. Whilst the Act played an important role in redefining the standards by which men and women were legally able to resolve their domestic disputes, it did not have a corresponding impact (at the same time) on social practice. For this reason, this thesis asserts that the standards represented in court after 1753 should only be read as evidence of a specific legal culture of marriage, and problematises the consequence of interpreting court evidence as an indicator of social change. The thesis draws together the evidence of premarital disputes, adultery, domestic violence and testamentary causes to examine attitudes towards marriage over the course of the eighteenth century. It finds that the first half of the century was characterised by disputes relating to the legal definitions of marriage, but later cases focused more on personal behaviour. Thus, the Hardwicke Act reformed ecclesiastical authority, but at the same time the courts began to rely more on personal interpretations of unacceptable behaviour. This suggests that although the judicial process played an important role in reforming litigants' expectations of their marital rights, it was also forced to address the changing experiences of an urban population. The influence of kin and other community members are seen as particularly important in shaping this process. They regulated and imposed standards (through opinions based on factors such as space, dress, gendered behaviour and reputation) that were malleable and open to interpretation. This produced a whole range of norms that, combined with legal conventions, defined in court the varied experience of matrimony for women.