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A refugee crisis is taking place as an unprecedented number of people, half of whom are under the age of 18, become displaced following conflict and persecution in their home countries. In the Aote...

This article explores the agency of novice New Zealand language teachers in the multi-level class. While the experiences of novice teachers have been widely reported, the field of language teacher ...

This study explores six secondary school English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers’ views on classroom-based assessment at an Islamic boarding school in Lombok, Indonesia. Researching teacher vi...

This paper explores New Zealand teacher views of multi-level language classes, an increasingly common practice where learners at different curriculum and year levels are combined into a single class due to declining learner numbers. Findings from exploratory qualitative surveys and interviews show that the majority of teachers do not feel supported within their school and have not received professional development for this significant change to their practice which they feel devalues language learning. Teachers feel that multi-level classes are hard work, increase their workload, and negatively impact on their well-being, student learning and assessment grades.

What approaches are used in the multi-level language class and what influences a teacher's choice of approach? Multi-level language classes, the combining of two or more senior year levels into a s...

Ontological politics has received increasing attention within education policy studies, particularly as a support for the notion of policy enactment. While policy enactment offers serious challenge...

This paper explores the approaches and strategies used by secondary school learners of different languages in England completing Asset Languages reading tasks at levels A1 and A2 of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR). Assessments across languages at the same level of proficiency were designed to a common specification and at comparable levels of functional difficulty following the CEFR. However, as the majority of research in this area has focused on learners of English, little is known about the impact of having a common framework on learners of non-European languages. Does one-size fit all? Findings from think-aloud protocols reveal that different approaches and strategies were used by learners of different languages. In particular, the study shows the impact of learning a new writing system and the variation in ability of community language learners, highlighting limitations in adopting a framework designed for ‘typical’ foreign language learners for learners of all languages.

This chapter, drawing on my personal experience as the project manager for a large-scale survey – the European Survey on Language Competences – reflects on the aspects that influence my own research most strongly, namely the limitations of the methodology used in such surveys to produce data that can feed into policy formation and positively impact what goes on inside classrooms around the world. Future trends and directions for research in comparative education are then explored, where I suggest practical case studies focusing on comparative pedagogy within a policy learning approach as a possible way forward in providing a rich and robust supplementary source of evidence for policymakers.

This paper reflects on the methodology used in international comparative education surveys by conducting a systematic review of the European Survey on Language Competences (ESLC). The ESLC was administered from February to March 2011, with final results released in June 2012. The survey tested approximately 55,000 students across 14 European countries with the goals of (1) providing comparative data on foreign language competence and (2) informing policy on language learning and teaching. The paper argues that there is a gap between the purpose of international comparative education surveys such as the ESLC and the methodology used, and thus also the ability of the data to feed into and inform policy. It is suggested that further methodological advances and improvements are needed if surveys are to produce data that give a clearer and more in-depth understanding of what actually goes on in classrooms and positively impact on learning and teaching.

Can-do statements are commonly used in language education to describe the level of a learner's proficiency. However, there is little research on whether they represent proficiency and progression for non-European languages, particularly non-Latin script or community languages. A self-assessment can-do survey was developed to investigate and compare secondary school learner self-assessments of reading proficiency in German, Japanese and Urdu for the multilingual assessment scheme Asset Languages in England. Findings show that the same three factors best represent learners' self-assessed reading proficiency across all three languages. However, differences were also found raising the need for further research in the way can-do statements represent progression for learners of Japanese and Urdu. Additionally, and in contrast to the findings for German and Japanese, results indicate that learners of Urdu and their teachers underestimated learner proficiency in relation to test scores. Finally, this research demonstrates that the construct of reading in the current National Curriculum for Modern Foreign Languages is not endorsed by the learners in this study.

Plastic production pellets sampled from four beaches along a stretch of coastline (south Devon, SW England) and accompanying, loosely adhered and entrapped material removed ultrasonically have been analysed for major metals (Al, Fe, Mn) and trace metals (Cu, Zn, Pb, Ag, Cd, Co, Cr, Mo, Sb, Sn, U) following acid digestion. In most cases, metal concentrations in composite pellet samples from each site were less than but within an order of magnitude of corresponding concentrations in the pooled extraneous materials. However, normalisation of data with respect to Al revealed enrichment of Cd and Pb in plastic pellets at two sites. These observations are not wholly due to the association of pellets with fine material that is resistant to ultrasonication since new polyethylene pellets suspended in a harbour for 8 weeks accumulated metals from sea water through adsorption and precipitation. The environmental implications and potential applications of these findings are discussed.

To relate the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) appearance of autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI) in the knee in the 1st postoperative year with other knee features on MRI and with clinical outcome.Forty-nine examinations were performed in 49 patients at 1 year after ACI in the knee. Forty-one preoperative magnetic resonance (MR) examinations were also available. The grafts were assessed for smoothness, thickness in comparison with that of adjacent cartilage, signal intensity, integration to underlying bone and adjacent cartilage, and congruity of subchondral bone. Presence of overgrowth and bone marrow appearance beneath the graft were also assessed. Presence of osteophyte formation, further cartilage defects, appearance of the cruciate ligaments and the menisci were also recorded. An overall graft score was constructed, using the graft appearances. This was correlated with the knee features and the Lysholm score, a clinical self-assessment score. The data were analysed by a Kruskal-Wallis H test followed by a Mann-Whitney U test with Bonferroni correction as post-hoc test.Of 49 grafts, 32 (65%) demonstrated complete defect filling 1 year postoperatively. General overgrowth was seen in eight grafts (16%), and partial overgrowth in 13 grafts (26%). Bone marrow change underneath the graft was seen; oedema was seen in 23 grafts (47%), cysts in six grafts (12%) and sclerosis in two grafts (4%). Mean graft score was 8.7 (of maximal 12) (95% CI 8.0-9.5). Knees without osteophyte formation or additional other cartilage defects (other than the graft site) had a significantly higher graft score than knees with multiple osteophytes (P=0.0057) or multiple further cartilage defects (P=0.014). At 1 year follow-up improvement in the clinical scores was not significantly different for any subgroup. Knees with a graft score of 8 points or greater had a better improvement of the clinical score than those of 7 points or fewer.At 1 year follow-up after ACI, higher graft scores are associated with an overall better preserved knee joint. ACI improves the clinical outcome, but there is no statistically significant correlation of graft score and clinical outcome.

The annulus fibrosus of the human intervertebral disc is sparsely innervated, some of the fibers containing substance P. We could demonstrate, by autoradiography, binding sites for substance P localized on the endothelium of small blood vessels in the annulus fibrosus of human intervertebral discs removed during anterior fusion for back pain. In binding inhibition studies, binding of 125I-Bolton Hunter-substance P was inhibited by unlabeled substance P and the related tachykinins neurokinin A and neurokinin B with a rank order of potency substance PNKANKB. Specific binding was reduced75 percent by 5'-guanylylimidodiphosphate, indicating G-protein coupling. These features are characteristic of an NK1 receptor through which vascular effects, i.e., vasodilation, plasma extravasation and angiogenesis of substance P, are mediated. The presence of NK1 receptors on blood vessels in the annulus fibrosus may indicate a role for substance P in tissue repair although acute proinflammatory effects may contribute to discogenic pain.

Recent attempts to elucidate the structure of yeast pyruvate kinase (EC 2.7.1.40) have shown some discrepancies in the values quoted for the molecular weights of both the enzyme and its subunits. Kuczenski and Suelter [l] reported a value of 166,000-168,000 for the molecular weight of the undissociated enzyme and that dissociation in 6 M guanidinium hydrochloride (GdHCl) containing 0.1 M fl-mercaptoethanol yielded subunits for which values of M, and M, of 4 1,400 and 45,900, respectively, were obtained. Bischofberger et al. [2] found that in 8 M urea and in 6 M GdHCl (with lo-’ mg/ml dithioerythritol) the enzyme dissociated into subunits of M, 62,000 and that their native enzyme had a molecular weight in the range 185,000-200,000. It should be noted that in both of these studies [ 1, 21 , the partial specific volume V (ml/g) in dilute buffers was accorded a value (0.734 ml/g) calculated from the amino acid composition; and for GdHCl as solvent, the approximate adjustment of Ullman et al. [3] was applied to V by Bischofberger et al. [2] . In the following, a re-examination of this problem is described in which, in particular, conditions for stability of the intact enzyme have been ascertained, and it is concluded that pyruvate kinase from Saccharomyces cerevisiae contains 8 subunits each of molecular weight 20,000.

The role of active sodium transport in the partes rectae of subcortical and juxtamedullary proximal nephrons has not yet been established. Recent knowledge of the histotopographical positions of both types of pars recta has now enabled them to be accurately distinguished and isolated from freeze-dried sections. Na K ATPase activity was measured in single dissected tubular segments by an ultramicro method. No significant difference in Na K ATPase activity in the partes rectae from subcortical and juxtamedullary nephrons could be detected.