Mobile Indonesians: social differentiation and digital literacies in the twenty first century. This is the first dedicated study of the social implications of mobile telephony's recent and rapid popularisation throughout the country. This project will study metropolitan, urban and rural users to understand how mobile phones create the new and unexpected social networks which will shape tomorrow's Indonesians.
Does phonological awareness help children learn to read? An almost universally-accepted view in the field of reading acquisition is that phonological awareness, or the ability to perceive and manipulate speech sounds, causes a child to be good at learning to read. We argue that, despite the voluminous literature on this issue, it has not been conclusively established that such a causal link exists. To do so requires a project, proposed here, in which completely pre-literate children are selec ....Does phonological awareness help children learn to read? An almost universally-accepted view in the field of reading acquisition is that phonological awareness, or the ability to perceive and manipulate speech sounds, causes a child to be good at learning to read. We argue that, despite the voluminous literature on this issue, it has not been conclusively established that such a causal link exists. To do so requires a project, proposed here, in which completely pre-literate children are selected, their phonological awareness measured, and its relationship with subsequent literacy acquisition followed. Settling this issue will have significant consequences for both theory and practice in reading acquisition and dyslexia.Read moreRead less
A panel study of Kobe women’s interview discourse. This project aims to investigate women’s life transitions and language use over 30 years. Analysis of changes to the languages, societies and cultures of Asia is essential to Australia’s Asia literacy. This project will analyse shifts and changes in women’s language, discourse and identities by examining ethnographic data of a longitudinal research project into working-class women’s life trajectories in Kobe, Japan. The project will research lan ....A panel study of Kobe women’s interview discourse. This project aims to investigate women’s life transitions and language use over 30 years. Analysis of changes to the languages, societies and cultures of Asia is essential to Australia’s Asia literacy. This project will analyse shifts and changes in women’s language, discourse and identities by examining ethnographic data of a longitudinal research project into working-class women’s life trajectories in Kobe, Japan. The project will research language, gender, class and mobility in Japan in the transition from young adulthood to middle adulthood. Understanding how life transitions and identities shape ways of speaking Japanese is expected to contribute to sociocultural understandings, and influence social and public policies about Japan.Read moreRead less
The role of feedback in second language learning processes. Teachers spend an inordinate amount of time providing feedback to second language learners on their written work. This research investigation has two stages. Stage one aims to examine the effectiveness of different kinds of feedback, the extent to which learners take notice of the feedback, and the extent to which learners are able to incorporate the feedback into their developing second language systems both in the short term, and th ....The role of feedback in second language learning processes. Teachers spend an inordinate amount of time providing feedback to second language learners on their written work. This research investigation has two stages. Stage one aims to examine the effectiveness of different kinds of feedback, the extent to which learners take notice of the feedback, and the extent to which learners are able to incorporate the feedback into their developing second language systems both in the short term, and the longer term. In the second stage we investigate the success with which the findings from the first stage can be transferred into the classroom context.Read moreRead less
Reconciling perceptual and cognitive accounts of dyslexia: The neural rate deficit hypothesis. The proposed research will form part of a co-ordinated program to understand the causes of dyslexia, a disorder that affects a large number of children and often persists into adulthood. It complements parallel efforts to elucidate the genetic basis of dyslexia, the heterogeneity and subtypes of dyslexia, and the developmental precursors to the disorder. This research will inform early intervention and ....Reconciling perceptual and cognitive accounts of dyslexia: The neural rate deficit hypothesis. The proposed research will form part of a co-ordinated program to understand the causes of dyslexia, a disorder that affects a large number of children and often persists into adulthood. It complements parallel efforts to elucidate the genetic basis of dyslexia, the heterogeneity and subtypes of dyslexia, and the developmental precursors to the disorder. This research will inform early intervention and remediation efforts and will also assist in the understanding of the normal process of reading acquisition in children.Read moreRead less
Autism and written narrative: discourse analysis and the characterisation of higher level language disorder phenotypes. This work contributes to the national research priority goal 'A healthy start to life', in advancing our understanding of the language disorder of autism. It is expected to benefit the children, their families and the community in furthering the basic research necessary for the development of new measures of performance, of use in the better assessment of children with language ....Autism and written narrative: discourse analysis and the characterisation of higher level language disorder phenotypes. This work contributes to the national research priority goal 'A healthy start to life', in advancing our understanding of the language disorder of autism. It is expected to benefit the children, their families and the community in furthering the basic research necessary for the development of new measures of performance, of use in the better assessment of children with language disorders and in the design and targeting of intervention programs. This work is cutting edge internationally in the approach it takes to the naturalistic language of children with autism. Hence it will raise the profile of Australia in this research domain.Read moreRead less
Writing Identity onto the Screen: Subtitles and captions in Japanese media. This project analyses how varieties of language (dialect, gendered speech styles, youth slang) are written onto the screen in audiovisual media as subtitles and impact-captions. It explores the attitudes held by editors, producers and translators towards language which influence this process. It aims to use the Japanese global media, which is well-known for its heavy use of text-on-screen and its rich diversity of langu ....Writing Identity onto the Screen: Subtitles and captions in Japanese media. This project analyses how varieties of language (dialect, gendered speech styles, youth slang) are written onto the screen in audiovisual media as subtitles and impact-captions. It explores the attitudes held by editors, producers and translators towards language which influence this process. It aims to use the Japanese global media, which is well-known for its heavy use of text-on-screen and its rich diversity of language styles, as a case study. This is expected to lead to a greater understanding of textual representation of identity in contemporary digital media.Read moreRead less
Oral Tradition, Literacy and Education in Two Eastern Indonesian Societies. This project will improve our understanding of social and cultural change in eastern Indonesia, a region of strategic importance to Australia. The research will contribute significantly to knowledge of the educational system and literacy levels in eastern Indonesia. This knowledge will be of practical use in development projects in the region and to policy makers in Canberra who are concerned with Indonesian affairs. The ....Oral Tradition, Literacy and Education in Two Eastern Indonesian Societies. This project will improve our understanding of social and cultural change in eastern Indonesia, a region of strategic importance to Australia. The research will contribute significantly to knowledge of the educational system and literacy levels in eastern Indonesia. This knowledge will be of practical use in development projects in the region and to policy makers in Canberra who are concerned with Indonesian affairs. The involvement of a PhD student in the project will increase our national research capacity in eastern Indonesia. The contributions to anthropological theory and method this research will produce will enhance Australia's international reputation as a centre of anthropology, southeast Asian studies and the study of literacy.Read moreRead less
Being digital in school, home and community: investigating the implications of young people's engagement with ICT for education. Understanding more about young people's use of ICT at home, at school and in the community has major potential to contribute to the improvement of education. Data on young people's everyday digital literacy practices will point the way to the strategic targeting of government investment in ICT. These data will assist schools in designing their missions, trajectories an ....Being digital in school, home and community: investigating the implications of young people's engagement with ICT for education. Understanding more about young people's use of ICT at home, at school and in the community has major potential to contribute to the improvement of education. Data on young people's everyday digital literacy practices will point the way to the strategic targeting of government investment in ICT. These data will assist schools in designing their missions, trajectories and curricula. They will also interest parents, employers, community groups and the public at large. If well publicised, the study will generate pressure for more and better understanding of how to integrate the use of ICT into education programs in the future. Read moreRead less
Coding animated narratives as contemporary multimodal authorship in schools. This project aims to investigate a re-conceptualisation of multimodal text creation to include inter-related processes of computer programming (coding) and computational thinking, which have previously been confined to technical fields in education research. The project seeks to generate knowledge of cross-curricular teaching pedagogies and student learning of multimodal composition, coding, and computational thinking i ....Coding animated narratives as contemporary multimodal authorship in schools. This project aims to investigate a re-conceptualisation of multimodal text creation to include inter-related processes of computer programming (coding) and computational thinking, which have previously been confined to technical fields in education research. The project seeks to generate knowledge of cross-curricular teaching pedagogies and student learning of multimodal composition, coding, and computational thinking in schools. The project expects to fortify students' capabilities to participate in new forms of digital authorship, developing their capacity for innovative application of computational thinking and coding. Intended benefits include an established evidence base for strengthening English and technology curricula in Australia and internationally.Read moreRead less