A pedagogical perspective on communication strategies: Benefits of training and an analysis of English language teaching materials

Effective strategies used to overcome communication difficulties are of crucial importance for second language (L2) learners. Therefore, L2 learners might benefit from instruction on how to cope with such difficulties. Since the early 1970’s, much research has been conducted on communication strategies (CS), the means used to overcome some difficulty in expressing an intended meaning. Due to differing theoretical perspectives, researchers have disagreed about the question of whether such strategy training is beneficial. However, few studies have specifically considered communication strategies from a pedagogical point of view. Also, practicing teachers of communication strategies may be at a loss when searching for appropriate materials. This study addresses this issue. In this paper, I will first briefly present a definition, some conceptualizations, and examples of communication strategies. Then, I will discuss the controversy concerning teaching CS, arguing in favor of it. This will be followed by a description of a research project that analyzed communication strategies found in English language teaching (ELT) materials. Findings suggest that although there are at least a few materials available from which language teachers could draw appropriate, adaptable CS activities, particularly from teachers’ resource books, most of the surveyed materials offer few suitable ideas for CS instruction. More materials that introduce communication strategy activities/tasks would be welcomed. Finally, suggestions for materials and pedagogical implications will be discussed

A phase I dose-escalation study of TAK-733, an investigational oral MEK inhibitor, in patients with advanced solid tumors.

Purpose TAK-733, an investigational, selective, allosteric MEK1/2 inhibitor, has demonstrated antitumor effects against multiple cancer cell lines and xenograft models. This first-in-human study investigated TAK-733 in patients with solid tumors. Methods Patients received oral TAK-733 once daily on days 1-21 in 28-day treatment cycles. Adverse events (AEs) were graded using the Common Terminology Criteria for AEs version 3.0. Response was assessed using RECIST v1.1. Blood samples for TAK-733 pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics (inhibition of ERK phosphorylation) were collected during cycle 1. Results Fifty-one patients received TAK-733 0.2-22 mg. Primary diagnoses included uveal melanoma (24 %), colon cancer (22 %), and cutaneous melanoma (10 %). Four patients had dose-limiting toxicities of dermatitis acneiform, plus fatigue and pustular rash in one patient, and stomatitis in one patient. The maximum tolerated dose was 16 mg. Common drug-related AEs included dermatitis acneiform (51 %), diarrhea (29 %), and increased blood creatine phosphokinase (20 %); grade ≥ 3 AEs were reported in 27 (53 %) patients. Median Tmax was 3 h; systemic exposure increased less than dose-proportionally over the dose range 0.2-22 mg. On day 21 maximum inhibition of ERK phosphorylation in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of 46-97 % was seen in patients receiving TAK-733 ≥ 8.4 mg. Among 41 response-evaluable patients, 2 (5 %) patients with cutaneous melanoma (one with BRAF L597R mutant melanoma) had partial responses. Conclusions TAK-733 had a generally manageable toxicity profile up to the maximum tolerated dose, and showed the anticipated pharmacodynamic effect of sustained inhibition of ERK phosphorylation. Limited antitumor activity was demonstrated. Further investigation is not currently planned

Information Systems Management Strategies for Faith-based Organizations to Maintain Funding

Faith-based organizations that fail to secure consistent funding risk discontinuation of operations. To ensure stable funding, leaders of these organizations must understand effective information systems management strategies. Grounded in the management information systems (MIS) framework, the purpose of this qualitative pragmatic inquiry study was to explore effective information systems management strategies that leaders of faith-based organizations use to maintain funding to continue their operations. The participants were six leaders of faith-based organizations in central Arkansas. Data was collected using semistructured interviews and a review of publicly available documents about MIS strategies and financial statements. Using thematic analysis, three themes were identified: management information system strategies, multiple funding opportunities, and proper organizational structure. A key recommendation is for leaders of faith-based organizations to utilize MIS to identify and manage an increased base of funding opportunities. The implications for positive social change include the ability of faith-based organizations to continue offering programs that assist community members to maintain quality of life and employment without reliance on government assistance programs

So is There a Place for Morality? A Defence of Jilrgen Habermas's Discourse Ethics.

The purpose of this thesis is to offer a defence of Jlirgen Habermas's discourse ethics against rival ethical theories that are oriented toward questions of the good life. Habermas's discourse ethics is founded on the Kantian distinction between the right and good. This distinction has come under fire from hermeneutically informed theorists, such as Georgia Warnke and Charles Taylor, as being either unattainable and unnecessary (Warnke), or contradictory as it must rely on the cultural contextuality in which it is formed (Taylor). But since Habermas's discourse ethics is discursive in nature and founded on the structural pragmatics of language use, it is able to effectively answer both Warnke's and Taylor's concerns. I attempt to prove this by showing that Habermas grounds discourse ethics through linking it with the perspective in which participants partake in actual discourse; thus providing a quasi-contextual basis, while it still remains Kantian in nature, as its scope and function is cognitive, universal and formal.Master of Arts (MA

Warner Bros. Forgotten Men: Representations of Shifting Masculinities in 1930s Hollywood

This dissertation examines the stardom, characters, and and shifting nature of the styles of masculinities enacted by Paul Muni, George Brent, Dick Powell, and Errol Flynn's characters in the films produced during their tenure at Warner Bros. in the 1930s. This study argues that the styles of masculinities in operation on the Warner Bros. lot were in fact more complex and contradictory than previous studies have acknowledged. Robert Sklar argues that the dominant type of masculinity represented by the studio was that of the "city boy." However in examining the films, fan magazines, movie reviews and studio records from the period dealing with Muni, Brent, Powell, and Flynn what is evident is that crafting a unified stable masculine screen presence for each of these men was something that the studio was unable to achieve. The dissertation uses elements of "whiteness," as well as gender, and class to look at how each of these four men and their characters represented an image of American masculinities during the 1930s that attempted to model the various experiences and frustrations of men as a result of the Great Depression

Southern Echoes : March And Two - Step

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