Maritime Technology 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Maritime Technology 2 - Essay Example Development of Container Ships Container ships are usually defined in terms of TEU or twenty foot equivalent units. An 8500 TEU for example can transport 8500; twenty foot equivalent units of containers between two ports. With time being a critical factor for most globalized operations and fuel costs increasing by the day it has become inevitable for the shipping owners to transport maximum number of containers possible in one single voyage. This has lead to a continuous research and study into the development of new designs of increased capacity that would be capable of withstanding the rigours at sea. At the time, it should also be able to navigate easily through different canals and seas offering varying degrees of drafts. (Container Ship Types, 2000) Source: 4250 TEU Container ship, (Container Ship Focus, June 2006) Technical Requirements Purchasing of 18000 TEU ships is a matter of great achievement for any company and it is said that only Maersk which is the leader in Container ship transportation have ventured into buying 10 number of ships from Daewoo. The increased container capacity poses lot of technical queries, which need to be taken care of. 1. To account for the increased number of containers the length and width of the ship would be needed to be increased proportionately. This increase would again pose problems to the ships manovereability. It is known that ships have to navigate through various canals that exist between high seas to cross across continents. The PanaMax of size 4100 TEU’s delivered in 1980 was the largest to be delivered in those times and was named by its ability to pass through the Panama Canal. There was however no major change in the next twelve years and the size hovered around 4500-5500 TEU’s. Ships of length 294.1m, width 32.3m and draft of 12m was the maximum dimension of a ship capable of passing the Panama Canal. An accident leading to the slippage of 4 containers containing lethal arsenic oxide into the sea in 1992 near New Jersey lead to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) adopting the guidelines on safe securing of cargoes and became part of the International Convention for Safety of life at sea, 1974. (SOLAS) This required the ship must have a Cargo securing manual approved by the Flag State.( Container Ship Types, 2000) Most container ships built thereafter were an offshoot of the PanaMax category with increased TEU. The Post-PanaMax built in 1996 had a capacity of 6400TEU. By 1999 this size had increased to 9000 TEU’s. These ships have cell guides which enable better arrangement of container cargo above deck. However five cargo holds were unprotected from rain and rough seas which made it very critical to have an efficient bilge or waste water disposal system. The Suez-Max Large container ships (ULCS) built thereafter were capable of carrying 12000 TEU’s. The Post-Suez-Max ships are classified as those ships which can carry capacities upto 18000 TEU. Th is would require a ship breadth of 60m with a maximum draft of 21m. The Suez Canal is being revamped to accommodate these increased sizes of ships in the current years. Ships of 18000TEU are classified as Malacca Max since the Malacca strait offers a draft of 21m. The harbours of Singapore and Rotterdam are the other ports that offer such drafts. (Container Ship Types, 2000). Therefore it is inevitable that while placing orders for such large container shi

Differentiation made among poor readers into dyslexics

Differentiation made among poor readers into dyslexics Is dyslexia a big, expensive myth (Mills 2007)? Despite the popular acceptance of dyslexia as a type of learning disability, particularly as a persistent and significant form of reading difficulty, the debate surrounding its existence, definition, and diagnosis persists (Doyle 2003). For many years now, school systems around the world have developed and implemented strategies in order to address dyslexia because it affects a considerable percentage in the population. In the United Kingdom, one out of 10 people are considered dyslexic, 375,000 children (Hayes 2005) and in other studies, 5% of the childrens population (Ramus 2003). Dyslexia is widely thought to be a deficit that can be overcome with proper learning interventions; some very prominent personalities have been said to succeed over dyslexia: Hans Christian Andersen and Nelson Rockefeller, for instance. Scientific and academic discourse on dyslexia, which is derived from the Greek words dys meaning difficult and lexia meaning reading, is plagued by a definitional crisis (Snowling 2000; Ingram, Pianu and Welsh 2007). Until now, there is still no consensus on the definition of dyslexia. Moreover, issues on categorisation also face the dyslexia community (Lyon, Shaywitz, and Shaywitz 2003). This is perhaps because poor reading is influenced by a myriad of factors: socio-economic disadvantage, poor diet, poor living conditions, and others. This paper centralises on the controversy on whether or not a) it is possible to differentiate dyslexics from garden-variety poor readers and b) it is useful to make such a differentiation. The issue of differentiation has significant implications and until now, psychologists and academic writers are still debating over it. Treating dyslexia as a distinct entity seems logically sound. In every class, there are students who do very poorly in reading bu t exhibit higher ability in other competencies. There are also those who do poorly in reading and in generally all other competencies. In terms of diagnosis, some claim that differentiating dyslexics from poor readers will enable educators to development the most suitable interventions. Nonetheless, the definitional crisis over dyslexia makes it a dilemma to make that diagnosis. Labelling someone as dyslexic actually makes the assumption that existing literature and empirical data have generated more precise insight into what dyslexia is. The fact of the matter is experts have only agreed to disagree on the criteria by which dyslexia is diagnosed, including the types of intervention necessary to help children overcome their reading difficulties (Rice and Brooks 2004). The peril of differentiating dyslexics and garden-variety poor readers without any clear and conclusive parameters for diagnosis is that in the end, students with temporary reading difficulties may be branded dyslexics needlessly and students who are in genuine danger may not be getting the appropriate learning interventions they need. Due to the unstable and inconsistent definitions of dyslexia, some academic writers have questioned whether the disorder really exists. Some people view dyslexia as a social and emotional construct (Elliott 2005, p. 485) and politicians claim the impairment as a fictional malady (Hayes 2005, p. 1) to suggest that dyslexia is an artificial disorder concocted by the school system to promote their interests or to hide weaknesses in language instruction. Some have even claimed that dyslexia has a class bias: that it is the middle-class way of covering up intellectual weakness. Despite these allegations, the dyslexia movement worldwide has gained wide acceptance and scientific endeavours, which although inconclusive have provided greater insight into how this impairment can be overcome by children and adults. This paper explored recent literature on dyslexia, its definitions, causes, and critically discussed the issue of differentiation between dyslexics and garden-variety poor readers, how such a difference could be diagnosed, and its implications. The paper concludes that while there are proposed methods of evaluation, there remains no conclusive means of differentiating dyslexics and garden-variety poor readers. 1 Dyslexia: definitions and causes 1.1 The reading process In order to critically examine dyslexia, models of the reading process need to be reviewed. There have been two predominant theoretical models to answer the questions: how do children read? and how do they learn how to read? (Harrison 2000, p. 35). Kenneth Goodman (1970, as cited in Harrison 2000) explained that reading was a selective process which requires children to use minimal language cues but maximum contextual information. In what he calls the psycholinguistic guessing game, Goodman argued that the objective of reading is not word or letter recognition but to make sense of it the construction of meaning. Recent studies have shown the fluent reading requires a fairly complete and rapid visual processing of text while hypothesising or guessing as Goodman (1970) suggested has a small role to play in word recognition. The most widely accepted model of reading among experts and psychologists is the interactive model which states that the reading process is largely supportive of the bottom-up model as well as the input of top-down processes when required (Harrison 2000). This means that in order for individuals to read fluently, what occurs is automatic, rapid, and context-free word recognition having a fixation duration dependent on the relative word frequency of separate words. Stanovich (1980) attempted to incorporate what is known about skilled and unskilled reading into the interactive-compensatory model. A key concept of this model of reading is that a process at any level can compensate for deficiencies at any other level (p. 36). Stanovichs model was a response to both bottom-up models and top-down models which had their own problems. One of the problems for the top-down model is that for many texts, the reader has littlele knowledge of the topic and cannot generate predictions. While the top-down models may explain beginning reading, with slow rates of word recognition, they do not accurately describe skilled reading behavior. Stanovich (1980) argued that good readers recognised words rapidly because their recognition was automatic. It was poor readers, by contrast, who needed to make the greatest use of context in order to facilitate word recognition, and they did so at the expense of needing to devote extra time to this part of the processes. The o bvious implication of this model is that accurate, rapid word recognition is really important in fluent reading. 1.2 Defining Dyslexia Dyslexia is difficult to define. Although there have been several definitions introduced since its inception, experts have relied on identifying exclusionary and inclusionary characteristics to define who has dyslexia (Rice and Brooks 2004). Fletcher and Lyon (2008) offered three primary reasons why dyslexia is hard to define. First, dyslexia is unobservable construct meaning that attempts to measure it are imperfect and people suffering from the disorder cannot objectively report it. Second, dyslexia is dimensional, meaning that there are varying degrees to which individuals may experience difficulty, from minor, severe, and even in-between. Third, what characteristics to include and what to exclude have been a site for great disagreement among practitioners and psychologists. Nevertheless, common points in several definitions can be seen are elaborated in this paper. A specific learning disability Defining dyslexia as one disorder among a whole umbrella of learning disabilities (LD) has been criticised (Shaywitz, Morris and Shaywitz 2003; Snowling 2000). Studies have shown that among all learning disabilities, reading disability is the most prevalent, affecting 80% of people diagnosed with learning disabilities. In the past, LD encompassed a broad selection of difficulties experienced by children and adults in several competencies: reading, listening, writing, mathematics, and speaking. Dyslexia is now defined as a specific learning disability (Shaywitz, Morris, and Shaywitz 2003, p. 2). Some definitions on dyslexia describe the different areas impaired. The British Association of Dyslexia (2010) defines dyslexia as a specific learning difficulty which mainly affects the development of literacy and language related skills wherein difficulties may experienced in rapid naming, working memory, phonological processing, processing speed, and other skills. The definition also elaborates that dyslexia may occur among people who are of normal or average intelligence. Shaywitz, Morris, and Shaywitz (2003) explained that among the indicators of dyslexia may be poor spelling, inaccurate word recognition, and poor decoding abilities. The National Centre for Learning Disabilities treats dyslexia as a language processing disorder which may impair reading, writing, spelling, and speaking. Dyslexia Scotland (2010) defined dyslexia as a specific leaning difficulty affecting almost 10% of the population. Dyslexics are said to experience difficulty in reading, spelling, writing, and mathematics. It explained that dyslexia occurs as a consequence of poor short-term memory; hence, dyslexics do poorly in learning abilities because they are unable to maintain the sequencing of numbers, words, or simple instructions. The Miles Dyslexia Centre (2010) defined dyslexia as a combination of abilities and difficulties which affect the learning process in one or more of reading, spelling, writing and sometimes numeracy/language (n.p.). Dyslexics have weaknesses in the following areas: memory, processing speed, short-term memory, visual perception, auditory perception, spoken language, and motor skills. Nevertheless, their definition of dyslexia also reiterates that in place of such weaknesses, dyslexics are gifted with creative or oral skills and that the impairment occurs regardless of socioeconomic or linguistic background. In addition, the National Strategy for Improving Adult Literacy and Numeracy Skills point out that dyslexia is the result of poor phonological processing and poor short-term memory. Hence, dyslexics often struggle with following instructions, copying notes from the board, and difficulty in reading (Department for Education and Skills 2004). The Dyslexia Institute (2002) also outlined some of the shortcomings of dyslexic individuals, such as: 1) difficulty in processing real-time information due to poor short-term memory or working memory, 2) problems in the phonological process which make them struggle in associating letters to sounds, and 3) problems in visual processing. A neurobiological dysfunction Many definitions focus on the neurobiological origins of dyslexia (Shaywitz, Morris, and Shaywitz 2003; Nicolson and Fawcett 2005). Dyslexia is seen not as a consequence of impaired vision or poor intelligence, but as a neurological disorder which has caused brains of individuals to interpret and process information in a different manner (National Centre for Learning Disabilities 2007). The National Institute of Health (2008) also viewed dyslexia as a problem with the brains ability to recognise and process symbols which may affect childrens capacity to separate sounds in spoken words or in rhyming skills which are fundamental in the reading process. The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS 2010) indicates that dyslexics experience difficulties with writing, phonological processing and rapid visual-verbal responding. It defined dyslexia as a brain-based type of learning disability that specifically impairs a persons ability to read. These individuals typically read at levels significantly lower than expected of them despite having normal intelligence (NINDS 2010, n.p.). While the effects of dyslexia vary, the most common characteristics among dyslexics are said to include phonological processing, spelling, and rapid verbal-visual response. Dyslexia is also heritable and recent studies have pointed to genes which make individuals predisposed to the learning disorder. A phonological deficit Secondary to the biological basis of dyslexia is that it is the consequence of a phonological deficit. The phonological deficit hypothesis originated from Pringle Morgan, considered to be the father of dyslexia (Snowling 2001). According to this hypothesis, reading entails the segmentation of texts into the smallest units of language called graphemes. Graphemes are then converted to phonemes which then become then complete sound of a word. For this to take place, the reader needs to assemble and address the phonology of a word. Dyslexics have difficulty in phonemic representations and phonemic recall due to poor short-term memory and other weaknesses in brain mapping. The International Dyslexia Association (IDA 2008) describes dyslexia a language-based type of learning disorder. Dyslexics experience difficulty in developing fluent single-word decoding skills. Furthermore, Fletcher et al. (2002, as cited in Rice and Brooks 2004) supported the notion that dyslexia indicates a problem with phonological processing. Accordingly, children who suffer from dyslexia are identified when they appear a deficit in the skills of words recognition which is associated with rapid naming and phonological memory. In addition, Snowling (2001) considered the importance of phonological processing as one of the etiology of dyslexia. Therefore, this definition focuses on the issues with word-decoding more than reading comprehension, which are controversial and critical point to distinguish between children who have specific difficulties in reading and those who have more problems and weaknesses in language. Finally, this definition is clear by clarifying that dyslexia includes some difficulties in spelling and other writing skills. Snowling (2001) attributes dyslexia to weaknesses in language that affect the development of reading and spelling with dyslexic people. The phenomenon of weakness in language do not affect the reading directly, but also affect the development of the spoken language, which is the basic foundation for learning to read. Snowling (2009) then defined dyslexia as: A specific form of language impairment that affects the way in which the brain encodes the phonological features of spoken words. The core deficit is in phonological processing and stems from poorly specified phonological representations. Dyslexia specifically affects the development of reading and spelling skills but its effects can be modified through development leading to a variety of behavioural manifestations (pp. 213-214). This definition stresses the importance of focusing on the ability to read text not only accurately, but also rapidly and with the importance of proper expression. The acute shortage in the development of fluent reading is characteristic of dyslexia, which continues into adulthood, even if accuracy evolved. Therefore, the importance of reading fluently must be encouraged dyslexic children who read accurately but not fluently will pass unnoticed. Fletcher et.al. (2002, as cited in Rice and Brooks 2004) agreed that most students with dyslexia frequently encounter problems in reading comprehension because of the difficulties in the accuracy and fluency of word recognition. They may also suffer from these problems even if the skills of the accuracy and fluency were improved because of weaknesses in vocabulary as well as in language abilities. One of the most popular and widely-used definition dates back to 1928 and developed by The World Federation of Neurology: A disorder manifested by difficulty learning to read, despite conventional instruction, adequate intelligence and sociocultural opportunity. It is dependent upon fundamental cognitive disabilities which are frequently constitutional in origin (as cited in Gustafson and Samuelsson 1999, p. 127). This definition is the basis of what is known as the discrepancy-based view of dyslexia (Fletcher et al. 2007). This definition assumes dyslexia as an unexpected difficulty in reading. By unexpected, dyslexia is taken to occur as a reading disorder in a child or an adult who despite having all the various factors crucial to developing fluent reading (motivation, intelligence, good instruction) still struggles with reading (Shaywitz 1998). More challenging has been the question of how to operationalise the unexpected nature of dyslexia. This has been achieved by allowing a certain amount of discrepancy between a childs level of intelligence (evaluated through an IQ test) and reading ability. Some schools use the absolute discrepancy involving 1 to 1.5 standard deviations across scores while others use the regression-based model of ascertaining the correlation between reading achievement and IQ. The discrepancy-based definition of dyslexia provides the basis for the categorisation of dyslexics with garden-variety poor readers. Genuine dyslexics are those who despite having average intelligence struggle with reading while poor readers are those who struggle with reading because of intellectual weakness and other demographic and sociocultural factors. The phonological deficit is considered as the cognitive basis to dyslexia (Snowling 2001; Vellutino et al. 2004). Nonetheless, this deficit is also viewed as secondary only to other deficits such auditory temporal processing deficits (Tallal 1980) or low-level visual deficit induced by inhibitions in the magnocellular system (Livingstone, Rosen, Drislane, and Galaburda 1991). 1.3 Visual Processing in Dyslexia The most dominant etiological explanation for dyslexia had been that it was phonological deficit and not the result of problems in visual functioning or processing. However, in the 1980s, several researchers undertook systematic studies and found that many dyslexic readers experienced visual deficits. For instance, Getman (1985, as cited in Ramus 2003) attributed problems in visual tracking to oculomotor deficiencies as well as a supposed deficit in the transient visual system. This theory has been discredited by several controlled experiments but the hypothesised effect of the transient visual system gained empirical interest. While proponents of theories attributing dyslexia to visual deficits do not exclude other explanations, the relationship between dyslexia and problems in visual processing has spurred academic interest in the subject. The main theory behind such systematic reports indicates that dyslexia is caused by a deficit in the transient system or the magnocellular system in the visual pathway. The magnocellular-deficit theory explains that two parallel systems lead the visual pathway from the eyes to the visual cortex: the magno- (large) and parvo- (small) cellular systems. The larger system consisting of large cells possesses high conduction velocity as well as sensitivity to rapid movement and stimulus changes. The smaller system is sensitive to fine spatial details and color. Dyslexia occurs among people which have magnocellular systems that have reduced sensitivity (Lovegrove, Garzia, and Nicholson 1990). The magnocellular system indirectly influences the parvocellular system by pressuring the latter in the course of the reading process. As one reads, there occurs a series of fixations followed by saccades or short rapid eye movements. The magnocellular deficit theory proposes that the larger system is stimulated by the saccades and the parvocellular system by the fixations. Dyslexia occurs when there is inhibition in the magnocellular system, consequently suppressing activity in the parvocellular system. While a number of psychologists and writers have accepted the magnocellular deficit theory, there have also been counterproductive results. For instance, in a review of contrast sensitivity studies which support the magnocellular deficit theory, Skottun (2000) found the studies which are consistent with the theory are outnumbered by studies that disprove it. An explanation behind the conflicting results is the lack of definite parameters to diagnose dyslexia. One author has alleged that the confirmability of the magnocellular deficit theory is confined to only one subtype of dyslexics (Borsting et al. 1996, as cited in Skottun 2000). 1.4 Auditory Processing in Dyslexia Another alternative explanation to dyslexia does not discount the deficit as phonological in nature but sees it more as one that stems from an auditory deficit in temporal processing. This theory is based on Tallal (1980) who proposed that children who are poor readers have difficulty processing brief or rapidly changing acoustic events whether used in speech or not. Hence, children find it difficult to judge the temporal order of nonspeech tones presented but stop-consonant-vowel syllables as well. This deficit interferes with their overall speech perception which is crucial to normal development of language, in turn, a fundamental requirement in reading. Tallal and colleagues arrived at this hypothesis after studying children with language impairments. When presented with high and low tones at long (400ms) and short (50 ms) interstimulus intervals (ISIs), the children were found unable to make temporal order judgments (TOJ). Tallal (1980) found that compared to normal readers, dyslexics performed poorly when presented long ISIs. From this observation, Tallal made an inference that dyslexics have a non-linguistic deficit in temporal resolution of rapidly changing auditory stimuli which impairs speech perception. Tallal also inferred that this deficit underlies the phonological problem. Studies which replicated Tallals work had mixed findings. Reed (1989, as cited in Ramus 2003) found that when using stop consonants and tones, dyslexics performed poorly compared to normals in making TOJs but performed equally with normals when presented with steady state vowels. Other studies lent support and contradiction to Tallals hypothesis. For instance, Mody, Studdert-Kennedy, and Brady (1997) concluded that dyslexics suffered from speech discrimination deficits rather than TOJs. In sum, evidence suggesting a direct link of temporal processing deficit to dyslexia has not been established. The auditory disorders that are observed in individuals with dyslexia are not particularly rapid or temporal in nature. These disorders are restricted to a subset of the dyslexic population, and have little influence on the development of phonology and reading. It therefore seems that the phonological deficit that is characteristic of dyslexia can arise in the absence of any auditory disorder, with the most severe auditory impairments nevertheless acting as aggravating factors (Ramus 2003). 2. Does dyslexia exist? There is also some debate on whether it is meaningful to speak of dyslexia as a distinct disorder in relation to other individuals classified as poor readers. If it can be proven that there is no significant difference among individuals diagnosed with dyslexia and your average or garden-variety poor reader, then it would make sense to question whether to study dyslexia at all. 2.1 Difference between dyslexics and garden-variety poor readers Gough and Tumner (1986, as cited in Siegel 1992) introduced the concept of the garden-variety poor readers in order to separate dyslexics from poor readers found to be poor in language, listening, verbal knowledge, decoding skills or pronunciation language. The authors differentiated dyslexics from the poor readers by diagnosing them as low in decoding skills but not long in listening. Behind this differentiation is the definition of reading disability based on an aptitude-achievement discrepancy (Stanovich 1991). There were children who were observed to be poor readers but perform well in other skills. On the other hand, there were poor readers who perform poorly in intellectual skills. This discrepancy criterion made the key assumption that: poor readers with a high aptitude (based on IQ test scores) were neurologically and cognitively different from poor readers with a low IQ. Hence, clinically, the term dyslexic came to mean only children with significant discrepancy in reading ability and intelligence. The discrepancy criterion is the basis of legal statutes governing special education practice in the U.S. and elsewhere. Academically, research definitions of dyslexia use this criterion widely. Dyslexia is officially diagnosed using the discrepancy criterion in the ICD-10 Classification of Mental and Behavioural Disorders (World Health Organisation 1993), and to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV [DSM-IV]. Before a child or adult is diagnosed as dyslexic, his or her reading achievement must be considerably lower than what is expected of him or her by age and IQ score. Valtin (2010) concludes that using this criterion, dyslexia is then defined as a medical, eetiological concept of specific reading impairment in children of normal intelligence, due to genetic or neuropsychological deficits'(p. 3) while normal reading disability occurs in children tested as having subnormal intelligence. The operationalisation of the discrepancy concept has been critiqued as a reification of something that has not been substantiated empirically (Stanovich 1994). The basic assumption is that a child or adults intellectual capacity is the norm for determining reading underachievement. Hence, the degree of discrepancy of reading ability from IQ was judged as meaningful, in the almost total absence of empirical evidence (Stanovich 1994, p. 581). Children with reading disabilities were categorised as RD-D or reading-disabled with IQ discrepancy (dyslexics) and RD-N (reading-disabled without IQ discrepancy (poor readers). Supporters of the discrepancy criterion argue that differentiation among poor readers assists in determining which learning interventions suit groups of reading-disabled children. Because dyslexics suffer from reading disorders without showing measurable signs of intellectual weakness, their needs are different from those who read poorly because of low IQ, socioeconomic disadvantage, health problems, and others. There are many however who question its usefulness in diagnosis because dyslexics and garden-variety poor readers experience the same weaknesses in spelling and reading (Valtin 2010). Moreover, the task of differentiating children with reading disorders into dyslexics and garden-variety poor readers is a largely arbitrary one (Rice and Brooks 2004) because it may be diagnosed under one method but not in another. Because there is no clear-cut definition of dyslexia, it has been considered a construct to refer to descriptive characteristics and not due to any cognitive dysfunct ions (Rice and Brooks 2004). 2.2 Diagnosing differences between dyslexics and garden-variety poor readers It is also relevant to review existing literature and empirical data to conclude that it is scientifically possible to distinguish which children are dyslexics and which are garden-variety poor readers. While some findings have pointed to noticeable differences between dyslexics and poor readers, they are mixed and cannot be considered unequivocal evidence to suggest differences in both groups. Rice and Brooks (2004) listed several studies that suggested moderate differences in the performance of dyslexic and poor readers on a few reading-related tests but these differences are overrun with similarities in performance of the same groups in tests measuring reading-related characteristics such as reversal errors in alphabet, digital sequencing errors, spelling of sight vocabulary, phonemic segmentation, and pseudoword reading. Moreover, studies (Fawcett et al 2001, Jorm et al 1986, as cited in Rice and Brooks 2004) have also found that garden-variety readers had lower scores than dyslexics in the areas of rhyme task, memory span, segmentation, and pseudoword repetition. Badian (1994) conducted an experimental study to secure support for the treatment of dyslexia as a separate entity by proving that dyslexics and garden-variety poor readers differ significantly in cognitive skills which are reading-related. Using 110 children subjects grouped into three dyslexic, garden-variety poor readers, and good readers, Badian (1994) found that it is empirically sound to differentiate dyslexics from garden-variety poor readers. While nonword reading and phonological awareness among dyslexic and garden-variety poor readers were both low in comparison to good readers, the study found that dyslexics had unique weaknesses in phonological coding of graphic stimuli and automatic visual recognition, consistent to Stanovichs phonological-core variable-difference model of dyslexia. Aaron (1989) also found differences between dyslexics and non-dyslexic poor readers in an experimental study on reading comprehension but not on word reading. Using two groups of primary-level poor readers, one group diagnosed as dyslexics (normal IQ scores) and the other as NSRD (nonspecific reading-disabled) or those having below normal IQ scores. The dyslexics were inferior than other two groups in terms of spelling and decoding, were more context-dependent when it came to word recognition, and did the worst on inferential comprehension. Ellis, McDougall, and Monk (1996) had somewhat contradicting results with Aaron (1989). Using four groups dyslexics (mean IQ 118), normal readers (mean IQ 107), and garden-variety poor readers (mean IQ 80), and precocious readers (mean IQ 126) the study measured reading accuracy as a measure of reading ability. They concluded that dyslexics and garden-variety poor readers had insignificant differences in decoding skills, consistent with Siegels (1992) claim and Stanovichs (1994) assertion. Moreover, unlike Aarons (1989) earlier finding, the poor readers obtained lower scores on comprehension of text and listening comprehension compared to dyslexics. The lack of scientific rigour in some of the psychometric tests and research on differentiation has also been criticised. Two control groups are required to undergo such experiments. Controlling for confounding variables in the tests is also difficult. Researchers need to take note of demographic and psychometric measures to establish validity of the findings (Chiappe et al. 2001, as cited in Rice and Brooks 2004). While Aaron (1989) and Badian (1994) gathering encouraging results that support differentiation, they also accepted several methodological issues with their experiments. First, the definitions were not uniformly used. There were considerable age differences in the sample of normal readers and garden-variety poor readers as well as the type of experimental design used. 2.3 Relationship of intelligence and dyslexia The discrepancy-based criterion in diagnosing dyslexics is largely because of a few prominent and highly gifted dyslexics known in history. Hence, dyslexia has come to be known as a disorder afflicting individuals who are otherwise intelligent but have difficulty reading. However, as Siegel (1992) explains, there is absolutely no scientific data suggesting that only intelligent people have dyslexia or that people considered of low intelligence cannot suffer from dyslexia. The reason why level of intelligence is used to isolate individuals having reading programs is that the IQ score is the best measure of someones intellectual capacity. Hence, people with a high IQ can be said to have greater intellectual capacity than those who have lower IQ. In the context of the reading-disabled, a dyslexic is someone who cannot perform up to their maximum potential because of neurobiological or genetic factors. Intelligence scores also

Essay on Escape in The Glass Menagerie -- Glass Menagerie essays

Escape in The Glass Menagerie In Tennessee Williams' play, The Glass Menagerie, none of the characters are capable of living in the real world. Laura, Amanda, Tom and Jim use various methods to escape the brutalities of life. Laura retreats into a world of glass animals and old gramophone records. Amanda is obsessed with living in her past. Tom escapes into his world of poetry writing and movies. Jim also reverts to his past and remembers the days when he was a hero. Laura retreats into a world of glass animals and old gramophone records. Even when it appears that Laura is finally overcoming her shyness and hypersensitivity with Jim, she instantly reverts back to playing the Victrola once he tells her he's engaged. She is unable to cope with the truth so she goes back to her fantasy world of records and glass figurines. Laura can only live a brief moment in the real. Amanda is obsessed with her past as she constantly reminds Tom and Laura of that 'one Sunday afternoon in Blue Mountain' when she received seventeen gentlemen callers (Williams 32). The reader cannot even be sure that this actually happened. However, it is clear that despite its possible falsity, Amanda has come to believe it. She refuses to acknowledge that her daughter is crippled and refers to her handicap as 'a little defect - hardly noticeable' (Williams 45). Only for brief moments does she ever admit that her daughter is 'crippled' and then she resorts back to denial. She doesn't perceive anything realistically. She believes that this gentleman caller, Jim, is going to be the man to rescue Laura and she hasn't even met him yet. She tells Laura when Laura is nervous about the gentleman caller, 'You couldn't be satisfied with just sitting home', whe... ...he major characters in this play are so warped and their lives so distorted and perverted by fantasies that each is left with only broken fragments of what might have been' (Davis 205). Works Cited Thompson, Judith J. Tennessee Williams' Plays: Memory, Myth, and Symbol. New York: Peter Land Publishing, Inc., 1987. Davis, Joseph K. "Landscapes of the Dislocated Mind in Williams' The Glass Menagerie." Tennessee Williams: A Tribute. Ed. Jac Tharpe. Hattiesburg: Heritage Printers, Inc., 1977. 192-206. Scanlan, Tom. "Family and Psyche in The Glass Menagerie." Twentieth Century Interpretations of The Glass Menagerie. Ed. R.B. Parker. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1983. 96-108. Williams, Tennessee. "The Glass Menagerie." Concise Anthology of American Literature. Ed. George McMichael. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1985. 2112-2156

Does the Internet Make Us Better People Essay

In a fast paced world like ours today, the internet plays a significant role in our everyday life. Such a revolutionary invention, with its own pros and cons, has stood out to be a major debatable topic. In my opinion, the advantages of the internet in our society outrun the disadvantages and help us to be better. It has blessed us with vast knowledge, has reduced distance and has made the world look smaller to us. Every corner of this world today is connected through the internet. This latest discovery has majorly improved our communication industry. By clicking a few buttons, we can send out electronic mails to any part of the world at no cost and save time and paper. The internet has also broadened business possibilities. In very less time, we can advertise, sell and even buy products online. We can also rely on the internet for secure online banking, searching for jobs and so on. One of the most popular uses of the internet is social networking. Social networking sites are ideal for staying in touch with friends and family, sharing and gathering ideas, publicizing events and ideas and so on. The internet is a portable encyclopaedia of any information that we can access anytime. It is the greatest profit we can gain from using the internet. Researchers and writers can take absolute advantage of this tool. Instead of spending hours in the library and trying to gather information, it is much comfortable to do the same at home. The internet is also used as a great learning method for students. Nowadays electronic books are also very popular amongst educators. Saving paper can help our environment tremendously. Like every other revolutionary advancement, the internet also has its disadvantages and failures. Social networking sites can have a negative impact on young minds by influencing them to visit dating and pornographic sites. Cyber bullying is a huge issue in our society. Young people may come across abusive and violent contents on the internet. Protecting one’s privacy is a key concern of the internet. Personal information that is shared online is never safe and it may lead to identity thefts. Sometimes photographs and videos are published on websites without the consent of the people in it. Using the internet can be very addictive at times, leading us to procrastinate, lose productivity to junk which can lower our efficiency in jobs and education. The vast information on the internet can also be used wrongfully. The internet gives us access to almost everything. Instead of buying software, music files and movies, people are doing injustice towards the makers of the original products by simply downloading them for free or cheap. The internet is a tool that can be utilized well or poorly. It has immensely helped us in communicating with the world. From mass information sharing to collaborating ideas and then presenting those, it plays a great role. If the misuses of the internet can be avoided, our everyday life can be easier, less time consuming and more comfortable. Such an invention boosts us up to make us better at everything we do. Word Count: 521

Curriculum Strengths and Weaknesses

The curriculum that I have chosen is the K-12 Physical Education curriculum of a school in the United States. The strengths and weaknesses of the curriculum were assessed and are explained below. Besides this, recommendations are also provided for improving the physical education curriculum of the school. Strengths and weaknesses of the school physical education program The school-community environment was examined and the quality of the environment was considered to be moderately strong. The awareness of the mission/philosophy statement of the school is strong, but the classroom instruction does not seem to be integrated with the mission/philosophy statement of the school. The curriculum should be integrated to help the â€Å"students see and make the connections between and among subjects† (ETIM, 2005). The school environment is strong. There is general concern among the staff for the welfare of the students but more should be done to strengthen the student assistance program to help students at risk right from the elementary level. Students who have motor and fitness requirements besides emotional and other special needs are considered as at-risk students. There is strong recognition of student achievements but there is lesser recognition for the achievements of teachers and administrators. There is a need for recognizing quality teaching and this is one area where there is scope for a lot of improvement. Parent involvement is very strong and there is enough opportunities for parents to be involved in the activities of their wards. But there is scope for improvement in this area too, because getting parent input on their ward's development in a frequent and systematic manner. This is required especially in the school's curriculum, recognition and evaluation areas. There is scope for improvement in the communication and evaluation categories. The quality of communication needs to be improved especially at the elementary, middle and high school levels. The communication between classroom teachers and the physical education instructor needs to be improved. An effective communication program that highlights the activities and achievements of the physical education program is very much needed to gain much needed support for the physical education program. The goals and objectives of the school physical education program needs to be clear and as such it should improved. A clear program and instruction objectives is necessary to organize, implement and evaluate the quality of the K-12 program. If the goals and objectives of the chool physical education program are clear then designing high-quality instructional material and its evaluation becomes much easier. Also, the reports of the evaluation can be sent to the students, parents and others who are keenly involved in the development of the physical education program. There is also a need to implement, monitor and refine the school physical education curriculum to make it consistent with the resources available within the community. This is needed to eliminate redundancy and to promote a K-12 program that supports sequential learning. The secondary physical education service for students with special needs is very strong in the school overall, but there is scope for improvement of this service at the elementary school level. The quality of physical education for special students has to be improved at the elementary school level. There is scope for improvement of the program evaluation, implementation and dissemination needs for the K-12 physical education program in the school. Staff should concentrate more on improving the physical education program in the school because â€Å" a quality physical education program focuses on physical development, while integrating emotional, social and intellectual components† (Klungseth, 2009). Classroom instruction and class management are moderately strong but it should be improved to the level that it becomes absolutely strong. Currently, classroom instruction and class management are negatively impacted by the size of the class, the bigger the class the poorer the classroom instruction and class management, this situation should change. The certification process for physical education instructors should be tightened especially for activities that are considered high-risk activities. Also, the variance in qualification should be reduced for staff members in the school and it should be effectively streamlined. Staff development programs should be improved and there should be periodic evaluation of the staff. There should be involvement of the physical education director in monitoring physical education instruction, and there should be a clear role for a physical education coordinator. Information for garnering support for the physical education program should be provided to administrators by the physical education staff. The physical education facilities need to be upgraded. Currently they appear to be outdated, over-utilized and poorly maintained. Inadequate facilities can lead to injuries and poor physical education instruction. If facilities are inadequate then larger classes would thoroughly expose this problem. Poor facilities are the cause of less funds and decreased student enrollment. Student records in the physical education planning process needs to be automated. Currently the availability of equipment for this purpose is reasonably strong along with the availability of equipment for safety and medical records categories. Safety should be a top priority issue for the school, emergency action plans have to be drawn up with emergency first aid kit, telephones and supplies being made available at each teaching station. Teachers should be provided with student health information so that students are not put at risk by the physical education regimen. There is a need to improve the safety practices at the school that reduces risk to the well-being of students. Recommendations to improve the school physical education program The safety practices at the school needs to be improved, the safety practices should â€Å"recognize the risk and safety factors associated with regular participation in physical activity† (Griffey, Housener, 2007). There should be emergency action plans, telephones and first aid kit installed at all teaching stations. The process for getting student medical and health records should be improved. Staff development programs should be put in place especially in areas where there is need to improve safety practices. Proper processes and procedures should be developed for continuous evaluation of the physical education program. The program evaluation should lead to a proper assessment of the specified objectives of the program. The physical education program has to be implemented fully at all grade levels and to this extent additional physical education teachers need to be hired. Also, the standards set by the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) should be implemented in the school. The NASPE standards â€Å"inform the teachers of the primary outcomes to be achieved in physical education at each grade level† (Lund, Tannehill, 2010) The goals and objectives of the physical education program needs to be implemented through the design of a curriculum framework. The framework should state the goals and objectives clearly and speak about the role of a comprehensive physical education program, besides, the program content should be matched with the local resources and prioritized based on the objectives of the program and the importance of the program content. Also, the program content should be in synchronization with the K-12 curriculum. The physical education program results should be summarized and provided as feedback to all stakeholders concerned besides this, adequate funds should be obtained for creating physical education facilities and for the purchase of equipment to be used at the facilities to enable the smooth implementation of the physical education program. Committees should be formed to monitor the implementation of the physical education program and to suggest and implement improvements where ever needed in the physical education program. References ETIM, J. 2005. CURRICULUM INTEGRATION K-12 – THEORY AND PRACTICE. University Press of America, Maryland. Griffey D. C. , Housener L. D. 2007. Designing effective instructional tasks for physical education and sports. Human Kinetics. Klungseth S. 2009. A comparison between public elementary physical education programs in South Dakota and the STARS criteria for high quality physical education programs. ProQuest LLC. Eisenhower Parkway, Ann Arbor, MI. Lund J, Tannehill D. 2010. Standards-Based Physical Education Curriculum. Jones and Bartlett Publishers, LLC, MA 0 1776, USA.