Factors contributing to effective language laboratory use in New Zealand tertiary institutes : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Japanese at Massey University

This study focuses on how language laboratories in New Zealand tertiary institutes can be used more effectively. The language laboratory is an excellent tool of learning which can be used to aid the development of both listening and speaking skills as well as a range of competency skills. Clear guidelines for use and management of this complex equipment with focus on full integration with classroom language teaching are not currently available to users of the language laboratory. The issues are: Our ability to use the language laboratory to its full extent Our ability to effectively manage the language laboratory Our ability to keep pace with the changing nature of language teaching Our awareness of the value of the language laboratory as a learning aid. The importance of the language laboratory to our teaching programmes Self-paced student-centred learning versus teacher control Discussion of the above with particular emphasis on training, preparation of materials, organisation and management, and integration with the classroom, help provide basic guidelines for improved language laboratory use and a basis for future research and debate

Religious education in the experience of young people from mixed-faith families

On the basis of recent ethnographic study at the University of Warwick of the religious identity formation of young people in ‘mixed-faith’ families, this article focuses on their (and their parents’) experiences and perceptions of religious education (RE) and of religious nurture in the community. The young people’s experience of RE differed between primary and secondary school and only a few were engaged in supplementary classes. We highlight the complementarity between school and home in young people’s religious learning and draw out implications for RE

Research report: Studying the religious socialization of Sikh and 'mixed-faith' youth in Britain: contexts and issues

Against a backdrop of phases of Sikh settlement in the UK, this article provides an overview of scholarship on UK Sikh communities. Attention turns to four ethnographic studies conducted by the author, two of which focused on unambiguously Sikh communities, and two of which challenge presuppositions of the boundedness of faith communities. Of these one was a study of two historically stigmatised caste-specific Punjabi communities; the other is currently examining the religious identity formation of young people in families in which only one parent is Sikh. Pointers and questions are identified that arise from these UK studies for researchers in mainland Europe. These include methodological considerations and encouragement to contribute to debates in the sociology of religion and to take account of Sikhs' increasing appearance in creative literature

Peace and non-violence : Sathya Sai education in human values in British schools

Not only is peace one of the values at the heart of Sathya Sai Education in Human Values (SSEHV), it is also presented as one of the programme's outcomes. The SSEHV programme seeks to promote 'human values' in British schools, also with regard to educating pupils from different social, cultural or ethnic backgrounds towards greater tolerance and understanding. The programme aims to achieve this as part of the statutory provision of physical, social and health education (PSHE) and citizenship education as well provision for the social, moral, cultural and spiritual (SMCS) development of pupils in community schools. This article reports on an ethnographic study of SSEHV in the UK, which was conducted by members of the Warwick Religions and Education Research Unit (WRERU) at the University of Warwick. The research reported here focused on the development of the programme, its contents (including the value of 'non-violence' and the practice of 'silent sitting'), its application in the classroom, and its reception by pupils and teachers. Further, this article seeks to embed SSEHV in the wider theoretical context of peace education and suggests theoretical discussions to which this investigation contributes

Securitising Citizenship: (B)ordering Practices and Strategies of Resistance

This article builds upon Yasemin Soysal's early work on post-national citizenship as constituting sites of resistance in contemporary European politics. Post-national citizenship provides every person with the right and duty of participation in the authority structures and public life of a polity, regardless of their historical ties to that community. This celebration of human rights as a world-level organising principle is, however, constantly challenged by liberal discourses and practices aimed to securitise identities and citizenships through the bordering of space, place and identities. Proceeding from a critical take on securitisation, we propose that in addition to a focus on the exceptional and on elite speech acts, we need to recognise that it is through everyday practices that people engage in (de)securitising strategies and practices that both rely upon and contest notions of belonging and borders. We exemplify by looking at two (diverse) minority communities in Britain and Canada that have been securitised at transnational, national and local levels, and study the extent to which we can see evidence of everyday resistance through the explicit or implicit use of desecuritising strategies. In both settings, the communities we study are young Muslims

Student Attitudes Toward Client Sponsors and Learning: An Analysis of the Effects of Incorporating a Client Sponsored Project in an Introductory Marketing Course

This study examines i) the effects of a client-sponsored project (CSP) on student attitudes toward a sponsoring client, ii) the effects of a CSP on student attitudes toward learning core marketing concepts, and iii) moderators of student attitudes toward learning core marketing concepts. Introductory marketing course students prepared marketing plans for a client-sponsor who awarded cash prizes. The CSP yielded i) positive student attitudes toward client sponsors and ii) beliefs that CSPs enhance learning of core marketing concepts and increase confidence in academic ability. Positive attitudes toward competition and instructor helpfulness strengthened student perceptions that the CSP enhanced learning

Locating British Hindus' sacred space

This article examines the ways in which the sacred is located in British Hindus' homes, as well as in public places of worship. Attention is drawn to scholars' concentration on these public places of worship and identification of stages in the development of temples, and to the role of the temple as a resource and a site for negotiation involving both Hindus and non-Hindus. The contested character of the 'sacred' and the increasingly virtual dimension of 'space' are also addressed