scholarly journals The Rule of Three by E. Walters

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marylou Dickson
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Adolescent Literacy ◽  
Literacy Practices ◽  
Social Power ◽  
Police Chief ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Division Iii ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Rule Of Three ◽  
The University

Walters, Eric. The Rule of Three. Toronto: Penguin Canada Books Inc., 2014. PrintWith all the dystopian novels written over the last ten, years Eric Walters has composed a refreshing and believable look at how a community survives after the world has been changed by a computer virus which has immobilized any vehicle, utility, or device that requires computer technology.  The villains the community members have to face are not zombies or other fantasy creatures but humans.  How long will this disaster last?  They don’t know.The “rule of three” is an idea that we can live for three seconds without air, three days without water, and three weeks without food.  Keeping this in mind, the protagonist, sixteen-year-old Adam Daley, his mom, the police chief, and neighbour Herb, an ex-spy, must come up with ways to keep their community of Eden Mills safe and self-reliant.  Three days after the outage, people begin to panic because the basics of life – water and food – become either inaccessible or depleted.  The protection of one’s own family becomes the priority and mob mentality and the survival of the fittest become paramount obstacles that Eden Mills residents must endure.  There is a fight for power both figuratively and literally.  They must get energy to survive and also have the physical, mental, and social power to live.In some ways, The Rule of Three takes an idealistic view of how a community could band together to survive after a disastrous event.  I would hope that if this happened in any community that citizens would have the same attitude and skills. Following Eric Walter’s style, the characters are realistic, relatable, and believable.  Like We All Fall Down and many of Walters’ other books, reluctant readers would find the book both readable and interesting.  Readers looking for high vocabulary and intricate plot may find this read disappointing. The Rule of Three has suspense, drama, likable characters, and even a little romance; ages 13 and up would enjoy this novel.  I am looking forward to the sequel The Rule of Three: The Fight for Power.Recommended: 3 out of 4 starsReviewer: Marylou DicksonTeaching Division III English Language Arts and impacting students’ abilities to improve their literacy practices are passions of Marylou Dickson.  She is a teacher in the Edmonton Public School Board and is also a doctoral student at the University of Alberta researching adolescent literacy.  When not teaching or studying, you can find Marylou and her husband Al watching movies, enjoying friends, and/or working on their homestead.

scholarly journals A is for activist by I. Nagar

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Leslie Aitken
Keyword(s):  
High School Students ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
English Language ◽  
Solar Panels ◽  
School Students ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Alphabet Books ◽  
Book Format ◽  
The Mind ◽  
The University

Nagar, Innosanto.  A is for activist.  Mississauga, Ontario: Random House, 2013. Print.A publisher’s release indicates that Innosanto Nagar is the founder of “…The Design Action Collective, a worker-owned cooperative design studio in Oakland, California, that is dedicated to “serving the movement…” (Enclosure dated November 16, 2013).  It is not the least bit surprising, then, that he would produce a book in the cause of activism; in fact, he would appear singularly qualified to do so.  But that he should, in good conscience, produce this particular book is baffling.At times political propaganda, always a diatribe, A is for activism comes in the form of a board book for tiny hands, and in the guise of an ABC book.  Who is Nagar’s intended audience?  Or, more cynically, just whom is his publisher trying to kid?The underlying intent of English language alphabet books is to introduce preschoolers to phonics.  Typically, words and illustrations are kept within the young child’s own experience level, real or vicarious.  One is free to agree with the following sentiment; it is, however, absurd to suggest it as an appropriate mnemonic for fastening the sound of the letter “d” in the mind of a three-year-old:            “Little d democracy            More than voting, you’ll agree.            Dictators Detest it. Donkeys Don’t get it.            But you and me? We Demand equality!” It also strains credibility to think that the symbolism of the illustration accompanying this stanza, a donkey and an elephant butting heads, will be grasped by American infants. This mnemonic for “n,” I grant you, might appeal to a two-year-old; but his mother?  Not so much.            “N is for NO             No! No! No!            Yes, to what we want.             No to what must go!             No! No! No!” Finally, if you are seriously opposed to the expanding use of fossil fuels, join the adult conversation.  Sell your car.  Install some solar panels. Vote.  Don’t waste time teaching your babies to chant,            “Silly Selfish Scoundrels Sucking on dinosaur Sludge!”Some of Nagar’s ideas would be worth presenting to high school students—but not in board book format.   For young children, there are excellent picture books about people who have championed human causes with courage and conviction; for example, Every Day is Malala Day by Rosemary McCarney.  Don’t buy A is for activist for a little child.  If you must have it, buy it as a gift for your adult friend who joins causes.  With this last possibility in mind, I am awarding the book one out of four stars.Not Recommended: 1 out of 4 starsReviewer:  Leslie AitkenLeslie Aitken’s long career in librarianship involved selection of children’s literature for school, public, special, and university collections.  She is a former Curriculum Librarian at the University of Alberta.

scholarly journals Memories of a Beluga Whale Hunt from I, Nuligak by Nuligak

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandy Campbell
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Beluga Whale ◽  
Cultural Resource ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Children's Book ◽  
Four Books ◽  
English Language Publication ◽  
The University

Nuligak. Memories of a Beluga Whale Hunt from I, Nuligak.  Inuvik, NT:  Inuvialuit Cultural Resource Centre, 2015.  Print.Itqaginaqtuat Qilalugarniarnikkun Uvanga, Nuligak. Inuvik, NT:  Inuvialuit Cultural Resource Centre, 2015.  Print. (Uummarmiutun edition)Puigulaitatka Qilalugaqhiurnik Umanga Uvanga, Nuligak. Inuvik, NT:  Inuvialuit Cultural Resource Centre, 2015.  Print. (Kangiryuarmiutun edition)Puigulaitkiga Qilalukkiqiniq Uvanga, Nuligak. Inuvik, NT:  Inuvialuit Cultural Resource Centre, 2015.  Print.  (Siglitun edition)I, Nuligak is a classic Northern Canadian work and was the first Inuvialuit book to be published.  Nuligak was an orphaned Inuvialuit who documented his life and the lives of his people.  The work was published in 1966 and printed in paperback in 1971.  The Inuvialuit Cultural Resource Centre, the primary keeper of the documentary record of cultural and historical knowledge of the Inuvialuit people also has a mandate to help preserve and promote all three of the Inuvialuktun dialects:  Uummarmiutun, Kangiryuarmiutun and Siglitun.  This is one example of their work, taking a short passage from the beginning of I, Nuligak, in which Nuligak describes a Beluga whale hunt and turning it into an illustrated children’s book, published in all three dialects, as well as English. The text is simple and closely follows the original English language publication.  Nuligak describes what the scenes of the hunt were like, how the kayaks were built, how the hunt was structured, both practically and socially and how the catch was managed.  The text for the story in each dialect was created by local native speakers from the Inuvialuit Settlement Region. The illustrations are the same in all four books.  Each pair of pages is a beautiful illustration by Toronto artist, John Mantha.  Mantha has done an excellent job of capturing the Inuvialuit people, their clothing, kayaks, tools and their environment. All four volumes should be added to library collections that collect Northern Canadian Children’s literature.  The English language volume should be added to all Canadian public and school libraries.Highly recommended:  4 stars out of 4Reviewer: Sandy CampbellSandy is a Health Sciences Librarian at the University of Alberta, who has written hundreds of book reviews across many disciplines.  Sandy thinks that sharing books with children is one of the greatest gifts anyone can give.

scholarly journals Treasure by M. K. Doman

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anita Hammond
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Reading Level ◽  
Full Time ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
High Interest ◽  
Grade 5 ◽  
Penn State ◽  
Interest Level ◽  
Simple Language ◽  
The University

Doman, Mary Kate. Treasure. Costa Mesa: Saddleback, 2013. Print.Treasure, one installment from The Heights series, is the story of Todd Bardo Jr., a junior at Penn State and his adventure diving for treasure off the shore of Ecuador.  As a thank you for his work with the poor in that country, Todd’s father, a prominent and respected doctor, was awarded salvage rights to five miles of the reef by the Ecuadorian government. Todd inherits the salvage rights at his father’s death, and needs to complete the dive before his rights expire.  With the help of a diving team headed by his best friend’s father, he and his team attempt the impossible – to find and claim treasure from a sunken ship.  With her audience in mind, Doman has woven an adventure story driven by plot, dialogue, and simple language.  This high-interest low-vocabulary book introduces readers to the country of Ecuador and its colourful history. Through Todd’s eyes we experience the excitement of organizing a treasure dive and some of its challenges.  Will Todd find enough money to fund the expedition?  Will his ship be targeted by thieves?  Will his team be attacked by sharks?  Ultimately, will he succeed and find a treasure?Students who appreciate simpler text and an exciting plot will enjoy this read.  The resolution of some conflicts seems a bit convenient, but certainly keeps the story moving.  The interest level is grade 5 to 8; the reading level is grade 1 to 2.  This book is available at Saddleback Educational Publishing.Recommended: 3 out of 4 starsReviewer: Anita HammondAnita Hammond taught English Language Arts and music with Regina Catholic Schools for eleven years.  Currently, as a full-time mother, she has returned to Education studies at the University of Alberta in the Masters of Education program specializing in teacher-librarian studies.  She has enjoyed the opportunity to read numerous high-interest low-vocabulary titles, and hopes to share these titles and others with colleagues and students to support literacy goals.

Happy Birthday, Deakin Review!

2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Desmarais
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Book Publishing ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Children's Book ◽  
Look Ahead ◽  
To Come ◽  
One Year ◽  
The One ◽  
The University

Dear Readers, This issue marks the one-year anniversary of The Deakin Review of Children’s Literature, and our reviewers and editors are delighted to report that well over 100 English language books have been reviewed. We’re thrilled that so many reviews have been shared with our readers and although we’ve only been around for a year, we’re optimistic that our publication will be around for years and decades to come. Indeed, our user statistics continue to grow each month and it is fascinating to see that our publication has a growing international readership. As I look ahead to the next year I know we’ll continue to publish thoughtful reviews of new titles from picture books to teen fiction, and we’ll expand our offerings to include an occasional interview with an author or illustrator. We’re considering other changes like themed issues, guest editorials, and articles, but our raison d’être will always be to publish high quality book reviews. Our publication is distinctive in that our reviewers are all librarians, library staff, and educators from the University of Alberta, and thanks to this fine team we are able to serve our readers with so much thought-provoking content about the world of children’s book publishing. I wish you all a restful break now that summer is upon us and children are out of school, and I hope you share our excitement for the abundance of charming books in this issue. Happy reading! Robert DesmaraisManaging Editor   

The Center for International Biomedical Communications Research

1966 ◽  
Vol 05 (03) ◽  
pp. 142-146
Author(s):  
A. Kent ◽  
P. J. Vinken
Keyword(s):  
Information Needs ◽  
English Language ◽  
Medical Information ◽  
Biomedical Literature ◽  
Information Storage ◽  
Control Mechanisms ◽  
University Of Pittsburgh ◽  
The World ◽  
The University ◽  
Excerpta Medica Foundation

A joint center has been established by the University of Pittsburgh and the Excerpta Medica Foundation. The basic objective of the Center is to seek ways in which the health sciences community may achieve increasingly convenient and economical access to scientific findings. The research center will make use of facilities and resources of both participating institutions. Cooperating from the University of Pittsburgh will be the School of Medicine, the Computation and Data Processing Center, and the Knowledge Availability Systems (KAS) Center. The KAS Center is an interdisciplinary organization engaging in research, operations, and teaching in the information sciences.Excerpta Medica Foundation, which is the largest international medical abstracting service in the world, with offices in Amsterdam, New York, London, Milan, Tokyo and Buenos Aires, will draw on its permanent medical staff of 54 specialists in charge of the 35 abstracting journals and other reference works prepared and published by the Foundation, the 700 eminent clinicians and researchers represented on its International Editorial Boards, and the 6,000 physicians who participate in its abstracting programs throughout the world. Excerpta Medica will also make available to the Center its long experience in the field, as well as its extensive resources of medical information accumulated during the Foundation’s twenty years of existence. These consist of over 1,300,000 English-language _abstract of the world’s biomedical literature, indexes to its abstracting journals, and the microfilm library in which complete original texts of all the 3,000 primary biomedical journals, monitored by Excerpta Medica in Amsterdam are stored since 1960.The objectives of the program of the combined Center include: (1) establishing a firm base of user relevance data; (2) developing improved vocabulary control mechanisms; (3) developing means of determining confidence limits of vocabulary control mechanisms in terms of user relevance data; 4. developing and field testing of new or improved media for providing medical literature to users; 5. developing methods for determining the relationship between learning and relevance in medical information storage and retrieval systems’; and (6) exploring automatic methods for retrospective searching of the specialized indexes of Excerpta Medica.The priority projects to be undertaken by the Center are (1) the investigation of the information needs of medical scientists, and (2) the development of a highly detailed Master List of Biomedical Indexing Terms. Excerpta Medica has already been at work on the latter project for several years.

Tertiary English-majored Students’ Perceptions toward the Role of Pronunciation in English Language Learning and their Practicing Strategies

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 264-279
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
English Language Learning ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
The University

Accurate pronunciation has a vital role in English language learning as it can help learners to avoid misunderstanding in communication. However, EFL learners in many contexts, especially at the University of Phan Thiet, still encounter many difficulties in pronouncing English correctly. Therefore, this study endeavors to explore English-majored students’ perceptions towards the role of pronunciation in English language learning and examine their pronunciation practicing strategies (PPS). It involved 155 English-majored students at the University of Phan Thiet who answered closed-ended questionnaires and 18 English-majored students who participated in semi-structured interviews. The findings revealed that students strongly believed in the important role of pronunciation in English language learning; however, they sometimes employed PPS for their pronunciation improvement. Furthermore, the results showed that participants tended to use naturalistic practicing strategies and formal practicing strategies with sounds, but they overlooked strategies such as asking for help and cooperating with peers. Such findings could contribute further to the understanding of how students perceive the role of pronunciation and their PPS use in the research’s context and other similar ones. Received 10th June 2019; Revised 12th March 2020; Accepted 12th April 2020

Problems in English Communicating Skills for Learners of English

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (07) ◽  
pp. 20484-20491
Author(s):  
Dr. Ishag Adam Hassan Ahmed
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
English Language ◽  
Communicative Competence ◽  
Daily Practice ◽  
Small Component ◽  
Curriculum Review ◽  
Comprehension Skills ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The University ◽  
Reading Comprehension Skills

This paper is devoted to presenting the methods in English communicating skills for Learners of English in general and the problems specific to University of Bahri. English language major’s graduates then; it discusses the notion of communicative competence, and defines strategic competence. It also briefly deals with the various definitions of communication strategies and taxonomies of conversation strategies. Also, I give brief definition of the word conversation, that is the act of talking together or exchange ideas, opinions, skills, and information. As accustomed, speaking is natural and automatic but communication is an art which must be learned and practiced. Also the aim of this paper is to present you with suitable suggestions about how you can solve problems while reading English? In order to comply with this objective: we considered two variables. The first one is that within our daily practice at the university we have students with different abilities while reading English. Therefore, we need to help them increase the ability in reading comprehension. However, we don’t have enough teachers and needed resources to supply them with the help they need. The second variable is related to the fact that at University there are different centers where the students’ skills can improve and their reading comprehension skills deficiencies could be overcome by getting help from the teachers. This study is small component of a larger curriculum review exercise. The findings of study in general suggest that both students and English language lecturers were in agreement that Sudanese students had a problem in writing and speaking English and due to that the conversational problems are raised.      Finally, the paper concludes by representing the pedagogical implications of conversation strategies.

More Christian Apocrypha

2012 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 16-21
Author(s):  
Tony Burke
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
North American ◽  
English Language ◽  
Primary Sources ◽  
University Of Edinburgh ◽  
The University ◽  
First Time ◽  
Medieval Christianity

Scholars interested in the Christian Apocrypha (CA) typically appeal to CA collections when in need of primary sources. But many of these collections limit themselves to material believed to have been written within the first to fourth centuries CE. As a result a large amount of non-canonical Christian texts important for the study of ancient and medieval Christianity have been neglected. The More Christian Apocrypha Project will address this neglect by providing a collection of new editions (some for the first time) of these texts for English readers. The project is inspired by the More Old Testament Pseudepigrapha Project headed by Richard Bauckham and Jim Davila from the University of Edinburgh. Like the MOTP, the MCAP is envisioned as a supplement to an earlier collection of texts—in this case J. K. Elliott’s The Apocryphal New Testament (Oxford 1991), the most recent English-language CA collection (but now almost two decades old). The texts to be included are either absent in Elliott or require significant revision. Many of the texts have scarcely been examined in over a century and are in dire need of new examination. One of the goals of the project is to spotlight the abilities and achievements of English (i.e., British and North American) scholars of the CA, so that English readers have access to material that has achieved some exposure in French, German, and Italian collections.

Can-Do descriptors – Realigning English Language Curriculum at Higher Education Institution to CEFR

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 84
Author(s):  
Erda Wati Bakar
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
English Language ◽  
Education Institution ◽  
Ministry Of Education ◽  
Language Curriculum ◽  
English Curriculum ◽  
The Common ◽  
The University

The Common European Framework of Reference for Language (CEFR) has become the standard used to describe and evaluate students’ command of a second or foreign language. It is an internationally acknowledged standard language proficiency framework which many countries have adopted such as China, Thailand, Japan and Taiwan. Malaysia Ministry of Education is aware and realise the need for the current English language curriculum to be validated as to reach the international standard as prescribed by the CEFR. The implementation of CEFR has begun at primary and secondary level since 2017 and now higher education institutions are urged to align their English Language Curriculum to CEFR as part of preparation in receiving students who have been taught using CEFR-aligned curriculum at schools by year 2022. This critical reflection article elucidates the meticulous processes that we have embarked on in re-aligning our English Language Curriculum to the standard and requirements of CEFR. The paper concludes with a remark that the alignment of the English curriculum at the university needs full support from the management in ensuring that all the stakeholders are fully prepared, informed and familiar with the framework.

The University Student’s Motivation Level on Learning English

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 130
Author(s):  
Esmira Mehdiyev ◽  
Celal Teyyar Uğurlu ◽  
Gonca Usta
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
T Test ◽  
University Graduates ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Personal Use ◽  
Motivation Level ◽  
Motivation Scale ◽  
The University

This study aims to determine the university students’ level of motivation in terms of different variables. A study group of this research has been designed through one of the non-random sampling methods, Using appropriate sampling, 606 students from Faculty of Education of C.U. have been involved in this study. Motivation scale in English Language Learning developed by Mehdiyev,Usta,Uğurlu (2015) was used as an instrument of data collection. T-test and one - way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to resolve problems of this research. As a result of the research the motivation level of university students hasn’t been revealed significantly different regarding to the gender variable. However, considering the t-test results of motivation scale dimensions, confidence, attitude and personal use, significant difference is seen in favour of women in personal use dimension. The level of language learning motivation of female students is higher than men’s regarding to personal use dimension. However, men’s and women’s views don’t differ significantly in attitude and confidence dimensions. University students don’t present significant differences in terms of birth place, parent’s education level, total motivation scores and confident, attitude and personal dimensions. Students’ motivation levels are seen not to be influenced by the places such as village, provision or city where they have spent the most of their lifetime. At the same time the findings revealed that parental status variable in terms of primary, secondary and university graduates has no effects on students’ motivation.

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