Aeronautic Science & Aerodynamics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Aeronautic Science & Aerodynamics - Essay Example The aerodynamics component of the wind on the tall buildings would be necessary to decide on the type of shape and orientation of the structure. The detailed aerodynamic analysis would be necessary not only for its design but also for the selection of materials for construction and also the construction technology. As a practice, model of the building would be initially tested for its behavior under different environmental conditions in the wind tunnels before arriving on the final form. The role of HVAC systems in ensuring the required comfort inside the functional space of any building is well known. The operation of these systems demand large amount of energy and also consumes considerable amount of expenditure for their operation. Hence, in an effort to minimize the energy use in the building units, it is essential that the renewable systems are given the priority. Maximising the adoption of the natural methods of ensuring the ventilation in the building would bring considerable saving in the consumption of energy. But effective implementation of the natural means of ventilation like passive cooling systems required extensive information on the natural air flow pattern prevailing in that region. Also, the air movement inside the building units can be directed appropriately configuring the enclosures and also placing the opening at suitable locations. The aerodynamics inside the buildings would be governed most by the wind velocity, the size of the openings , the heating –cooling rates of the building and also the indoor environment prevailing. In addition, the external environmental conditions like neighborhood buildings and natural vegetation too need to be considered here. The aerodynamic situation around all buildings are turbulent and three dimensional. The air flow patter around the building would change subject to any new constructed building

Creoles & language evolution process Essay Example for Free

Creoles language evolution process Essay Creoles have generally been considered to have more complex formation processes than pidgins, which lie at an earlier stage in the language evolution process (Culpeper, 1997). The processes that drive the development of creoles and pidgins have been the subject of interest and debate to linguists for many decades. Some have hypothesized that the development of these forms has been driven by variables similar to those that drive the creation of languages. Some of these hypotheses have included biological approaches to creole and pidgin evolution, while others have posited synchronic methods (Adone Vainikka, 1999; Bickerton, 1999). Many of these synchronic and biological ideas are compelling highly challenging in their plausibility, employing ideas related to Universal Grammar as a means of illuminating creole and pidgin development. The development of pidgins has been considered to be less difficult to understand than that of creoles, mainly because of the precise phenomenon that pidgins describe. As a language form that develops from the mixing of two distinct languages, many have simply considered it to occur as a result of the mixing of two (or more) people groups that possess distinct languages. Yet, some complexity exists in the different scales to which pidgins might develop (Adone Vainikka, 1999). Furthermore, it is interesting to note that when the languages of a bilingual child develop, even at an early age, that child generally distinguishes between the two perfectly without mixing them (Culpeper, 1997). When languages exist together on larger scales could be when pidgins are more likely to develop, and this appears to stem from the likelihood that the multiplicity of languages is intelligible by a wider range of persons. When this is the case, it creates no real need for any one speaker to make the effort distinguish between them for purposes of being understood. Despite the fact that pidgins and creoles are distinct language forms, many consider pidgins as a form that occurs on the way to the formation of a creole. In fact, the definition of creolization given by Adone and Vainikka is â€Å"the process by which pidgins develop into creole languages† (1999, p. 76). Discussions regarding the relationship that creolization bears to language acquisition processes and language development have led to two distinct schools of thought. One has viewed creolizaiton as being an extended process that takes several generations to mature. Indeed, this process never ends but continues to develop alongside the development of the particular culture in which it occurs. The other school of thought has viewed the process of creolization as on that has the potential to occur suddenly, within only one generation (1999). The gradual development of creoles appears to be more consistent with the prevailing theories of language development. If creoles are viewed according to the definition above (as a product of pidgin development) then it would appear that such a fast development of the language would be very difficult. Such speedy development would afford little time for the creation of the pidgin itself before its further evolution into a fully developed creole. The mixing of more than one language appears to be a phenomenon that would take quite some time, as this would involve a certain degree of standardization concerning which parts of each language should be included in this pidgin. In addition, it would appear that more than one generation would be needed to allow the general spread of this understanding among the population. However, it would also seem that geographical and population-density concerns would have a bearing on the ability of the creole to develop and suffuse an entire region. It may also depend on the demographic of the individuals who act as the agents of this development. Those theorists who believe that creolization has the potential to develop within one generation have cited young children as being the agents of such change (Bickerton, 1991, cited in Adone Vainikka, 1999). This researcher argues that this form of â€Å"radical creole† develops through a Bioprogram that operates very closely with the theory of Universal Grammar. Such a development, therefore, is based on humans’ innate understanding of language, which is to some degree distinct from the language that is learned in any given cultural context. Because this theory posits humans as having a relationship to grammar that transcends the grammar rules of any given language, the development of a particular radical creole would be based on the similarity of the language variation put forth by each child despite the fact that they may not grow up in close proximity to each other (1991; 1999). This particular view of creolization is based on language evolution theories that take a biological or even genetic approach to language change (Mufwene, 2001; 2006). In the creole form used in Mauritius, for instance, the children have been found to make fewer â€Å"mistakes† that represent a non-conformity to the language than those found in many standardized, non-creole language (Adone Vainikka, 1999; Bickerton, 1999). Bickerton writes, â€Å"Children acquiring English and other noncreole languages make a number of â€Å"mistakes,† a very high percentage of which would be fully grammatical utterances if the children were acquiring a creole language† (1999, p. 66). The opposite of this does not appear to be true—children acquiring creole languages do not make as many mistakes that would be considered grammatical in a noncreole language such as English or French (1999). It would seem therefore that creole might be considered a more naturally occurring form of a given language as distilled through the human’s biological propensity toward language expression. However, while this supports the idea of Universal Grammar, it does not appear to offer much support of radical creolization, as the Mauritian Creole has been evolving for many generations. Creoles and pidgins are interesting in that they offer insight into the earlier stages of language development. Many ideas exist concerning the classification of these language forms. Theories also exist concerning how such forms are developed, as well as the relationship they have to each other and to the languages on which they are based. Biological and synchronic approaches have both pointed toward the idea of Universal Grammar as having a bearing on the development of these forms of language, and intriguing (yet inconclusive) discussions have come about as a result of research done in that direction. . References Adone, D. A. Vainikka. (1999). â€Å"Acquisition of Wh-questions in Mauritian creole. † Language creation and language change: creolization, diachrony, and development. Boston: MIT Press. p. 75-95. Bickerton, D. (1999). â€Å"How to acquire language without positive evidence: what acquisitionists can learn from creoles. Language creation and language change: creolization, diachrony, and development. Boston: MIT Press. p. 49-75. Bickerton, D. (1991). â€Å"Haunted by the specter of creole genesis. † Behavioral and Brain Sciences. 14: 364-366. Culpeper, J. (1997). History of English. Oxford: Routledge. Mufwene, S. S. (2001). The Ecology of Language Evolution. Cambridge: Cambridge UP. Mufwene, S. S. (2006). Language evolution : the population genetics way. Marges linguistiques, 11, 243-260.

Portion Control for Weight Management

Portion Control for Weight Management Netan Bhardwaj Lifestyle, social status and frame of mind all depend on your health thus everybody wants a perfect physical appearance, which may vary based on gender and age, and the way people see it is by attaining an ideal weight. But every challenge comes with obstacles e.g. lack of knowledge, resources and many other factors, due to that fact obesity and weight management have become enormous problem amongst individuals of all ages. To a certain extent minor weight loss can alter ones path of life. Whether it’s living life to the fullest or being overweight holding you down. And everyone that is overweight or obese is always looking for the â€Å"easy way out† to lose weight by not doing any exercise and eating anything they please. So can weight reduction really occur without any medications, surgery, or even extensive exercise? To begin with, people who are obese tend to be uneducated about effects of obesity, nutrition, and portion control. Now knowing about the major risk that obesity brings is a major issue such as 29% of all deaths in Canada are because of obesity, where females are at a higher risk of dying than males, and learning about these risks can be an eye opener for some and life changer for others. Obesity causes or is closely linked with a large number of health conditions like heart disease, stroke, diabetes are just to name a few and as many as 11 types of cancer, including leukemia, colon, breast cancer [WHO. 2014]. Not just that but obesity also comes with social and emotional effects including discrimination, lower wages, lower Quality of life and people being effected by obesity are more likely susceptible to depression. The type of diet you eat can have a major impact on your weight i.e. eating a high energy/calorie dense meal (coffee and a doughnut) can cause overeating whereas eating multiple low energy/calorie meals (juice, a piece of toast, and scrambled eggs) can provide an provide array of healthy choices by incorporating more food consumption but less calorie intake and also it can help with optimum weight management. For instance [Rolls. 2014] compiled three systematic studies on various individuals and this is what was conducted. The first trial involved overweight men and overweight women, they were given isocaloric portions of either high or low dense food to be eaten daily into a reduced energy diet for two months and one year later the group that was given low energy dense soup saw a 50% more reduction then the other control group. The second trial only obese women were tested and they were split into two groups. One grope was counseled to portion control and eat more water rich foods (fruits, vegetables) and the other group was asked to eat limited portions (fats and everything else). After a year the group that was told to eat more water rich foods lost 23% more weight, had a reduction in hunger and felt greater gratification. In the final trial, participants from trial one and trial two were monitored for six months. It was found that individuals who eat a low energy diet lost more than 50% of weight and eat 300grams more than the high energy diet group. From these trial it can be concluded that for weight management to occur simply saying â€Å"eat less† is not the best approach to reducing the amount of intake. Therefore large portions of low energy dense foods can be used strategically to encourage their lower consumption and caloric intake. If people lowered the density of energy in their diet, they can eat pleasurable portions while managing as well as maintaining their body weight [Rolls. 2014]. Also through these trials it can be said that a variety of portion control methods can be applied, eating less high energy meals or eating more low energy foods, for exemplary portion management leading to a lower chance of weight gain. Obesity has become a significant problem, it causes more deaths the being underweight, across many regions of multiple countries. Obesity has become such a high risk factor that even minimal weight loss of 5 to 10% seems to be enough to provide a clinically significant health benefit and reduce the risk of death, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and many other [Lagerros. 2013]. But there are limitations to weight loss i.e. physical disabilities, the quality of produce at a supermarket, cultural acceptance (being fat or over weight considered good, shows how healthy you are), neighborhood accessibility (neighborhood around the world tend not to have any sidewalks thus making it difficult for individuals of all ages to be healthy) as well as neighborhood safety (Places where criminal activity is high, People are less likely to leave their residence) and other resources. All these aspects play a tremendous role in weight reduction and or weight management. A study done by [Amanda Reichards et al. 2014] about adults with physical disabilities with a BMI of >25%. So these individuals were randomized into two weight management approaches. One of these was My plate diet (consists of a meal with fruits, vegetables, protein and dairy all in one plate) and the other was Stoplight diet (foods are based on the light consisted in traffic lights such as vegetables/fruits are green, potatoes/ cheese are yellow and fat foods are red) supplemented with portion controlled meals for 6 months. There were 126 enrollees and of those 70% of them completed initial 6 months and 60% of the 70% completed a follow up phase. The Stoplight diet group reduced weight during initial 6 month and lost more weight during the follow up phase whereas the My plate diet group only lost weight during the initial 6 months from the studies done by Amanda Reichards and her colleagues it can be stated that by using portion control, barriers can be overcome for individuals that are overweight and have physical mobility impairments. Consumers are uncovered to many pieces of data such as the media, commercials and promotions. The comparison between two merchandises that are similar in prices or completely buying a product for the first time, â€Å"58% of the consumers said that they used product labels† [Wills et al2009].Furthermore, Canadians believe that labels are the most important way to get nutritional data. â€Å"This source is then shadowed by various forms of media, friends and family, electronic media channels and lastly family physicians or other professionals â€Å"[Willset al.2009]. It is notable that family physicians/medical professionals seem to play such a minimal role in general information. In the past, significant findings have been conducted by researchers to help modern scientist. Lexis, L (2004) conducted multiple studies where 38% of the people’s portions were controlled and the others weren’t. The research shows that 5% of the 38% examined saw a weight reduction from their baseline weight whereas the other control group saw a 5% weight gain from their base line. She also did a study on Elevated waist/hip on men and women this a body mass index (BMI) greater the 27. Being overweight comes at a cost and its â€Å"$656 higher annual medical care costs, and the IV results indicate that obesity raises annual medical costs by $2741 in 2005 dollars.† [Cawley J. 2012]. â€Å"More than 2 in 3 adults are considered to be overweight or obese. More than 0.33% adults are considered to be obese. More than 0.05 adults in North America are considered to have extreme obesity. About 0.33%of children and adolescents from ages 6 to 19 are considered to be overwe ight or obese. More than 16% of children and adolescents from the ages of 6 to 19 are considered to be obese† National Health and Nutrition (2010). â€Å"Obesity can occur one pound at a time. Just like obesity so does prevention. † [National Institutes of Health. 2013] these are just some facts about obesity that can be prevented by portion control. Solutions. Are there any? With so many problem and hardly any solutions. Here are a couple of solutions that can help with implicating portion control, first would be liquid meal replacement (shakes) can be a very useful technique there were small experiments designed to makes many of the studies on the effectiveness of meal replacements were tough to interpret as few were intended to regulate whether meal replacements are closely linked with greater weight reduction than a self-selected consumption of regular foods. They also found that there is a relationship between the intakes of meal replacements in exchange of regular meals in the framework of energy controlled diets and decline in body weight. The second method would be tax increasing and front back trafficking. Increasing the tax on unhealthy food could be a substantial answer to many problems, the Danish government has put a 25% tax on unhealthy foods (sweet based) such as ice cream chocolate and many others and beverages. T hey also banned the use of Trans-fatty acid (increases coronary heart cancer) leading companies to use a different method of production and provide a better fat quality product. There is also Front of Pack traffic light nutrition labeling (this is when the nutritional label is put in the front and the product is labelled as a colour that indicated the type of product which is stated earlier in this paper). There was a randomized-controlled study was conducted to determine different food label formats on consumers’ product choices, the study established that traffic light labels had the most influential on consumers, compared to other methods. Even with time constraint consumers the traffic light labels and logos were more effective and efficient rather than the ordinary label furthermore the likelihood of healthy choices had increased moreover with unlabeled food it is more difficult to classify as whether it’s healthy or unhealthy [Borgmeier and Westenhoefer, 2009]. By making such a major impact, neighboring countries are putting an emphasis on disease deduction methods as well. The third method is Pre-portioned foods it is an alternative approach to liquid meal plan it is a pre-packaged single meal /snack which is bound to reduce weight also temporary studies have found that solid meal substitutes (bars) caused the tendency to feel more full than isocaloric liquid meal substitutes (shakes) [ Tieken et al. 2007]. In an 18-month study conducted by [Wing et al. 1996] where contributors were allocated to one of the four groups: a usual behavioral treatment was given, a behavioral treatment accompanied with financial encouragement for weight reduction, food source, or a combination of food establishment and motivations. The food that was provided to the individuals consisted of pre-portioned conventional foods suitable for five breakfasts and five suppers each week for 18 months. The quantity of weight reduction in the two groups, provided with sufficient food, was significantly superior to the other groups at 6, 12 and 18 months [Wing et al. 1996]. Also in another study, patients were given either a prepackaged, nutritionally complete, organised meal, plan that provided almost all of their diet and the other group was given a macronutrient equivalent usual-care diet. The prepackaged meal was designed to sustain long-term weight loss. This was proven at 1 year when the first group lost 5.8 kilograms while the other group only lost 1.7 kilograms loss [Metz et al. 2000]. A certain study, sought to separate the properties of the portion-controlled diets from other mechanisms of the weight reduction intervention by keeping the additional variables similar across the two study groups. The pre-portioned food group was provided with three starters and one snack daily, which they could substitute with conventional foods by the rules of their program. After 6 months, the pre-portioned food group lost 7.3kg whereas the control group only lost [Foster et al. 2013]. The take away message from these studies is that Portioned food can cause a substantial difference between casual meals in terms of weight reduction thus allowing a greater consumption of food and loss in weight. Another solution is by regulating the advertisements that are shown to adolescents. This will cause children to be less attracted to food which can lead them to gain weight. In Sweden, Norway and Quebec the government has restricted television advertisements for children. More specifically , the Swedish Radio and Television act does not grant commercial television advertisement that is intended to attract or gain the attention of children who are under the age of 12. However, most countries tend not to revise advertisements, to make sure they are meant for children. A comparison of food advertising in 13 countries in different parts of the world, found that children who were watching more than 2 hours would be exposed to between 28 and 84 food advertisements per day [Lagerros. 2013]. Weight management/reduction has been a major problem for decades now. Obesity is something that is increasingly on the rise today and will continue to rise unless we do something about it, food is being pushed on television all the time. Corrupting minds to eat calorie dense food but there is a way to fix that by informing people of how bad it really is and encouraging people to live a health-enhancing lifestyle. The solution is as simple as eating a portioned diet and making it a lifelong diet. Some fat is essential for the body. It uses it for various implications such as heat, padding, insulation, and stored energy. Eating healthy and keeping active is all a part of a lifelong daily routine No diet should be promoted as being a temporary eating plan, but rather a permanent plan for healthy eating and living. References Borgmeier I., Westenhoefer J. (2009)Impact of different food label formats on healthiness evaluation and food choice of consumers: a randomized-controlled study.BMC Public Health9: 184. Cawley, J., Meyerhoefer, C. (2012). The medical care costs of obesity: An instrumental variables approach. J Health Econ. Ello-Martin, J., H Ledikwe, J., Rolls, B. (2005). The Influence of Food Portion Size and Energy Density on Energy Intake: Implications for Weight Management. Foster GD, Wadden TA, Lagrotte CA, Vander Veur SS, Hesson LA, Homko CJ, et al.(2013) A randomized comparison of a commercially available portion-controlled weight-loss intervention with a diabetes self-management education program,Nutr Diabetes, 3:e63. Lagerros, Y., Rà ¶ssner, S. (2013). Obesity management: What brings success? Therap Adv Gastroenterol, 6(1), 77–88. Rolls, B. (2012). Dietary strategies for weight management. Nestlà © Nutrition Institute Workshop (2012), 73, 37-48. Rolls, B. (2014). What is the role of portion control in weight management? International Journal of Obesity (2005). Metz JA, Stern JS, Kris-Etherton P, Reusser ME, Morris CD, Hatton DC, et al.(2000) A randomized trial of improved weight loss with a prepared meal plan in overweight and obese patients: impact on cardiovascular risk reduction, Arch Intern Med, 160:2150–2158 National Institues of Health. (2012). Overweight and Obesity Statistics. Weight-control  Information Network. Reichard, A., D. Saunders, M., R. Saunders, R., Ptomey, L. (2014). A comparison of two weight management programs for adults with mobility impairments, Disability and Health Journal. Tieken SM, Leidy HJ, Stull AJ, Mattes RD, Schuster RA, Campbell WW. (2007). Effects of solid versus liquid meal-replacement products of similar energy content on hunger, satiety, and appetite-regulating hormones in older adults,Horm Metab Res, 39:389–394 Wing RR, Jeffery RW, Burton LR, Thorson C, Nissinoff KS, Baxter JE. (1996). Food provision vs structured meal plans in the behavioral treatment of obesity.Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord.;20:56–62 Wills J., Schmidt D., Pillo-Blocka F., Cairns G. (2009)Exploring global consumer attitudes toward nutrition information on food labels.Nutr Rev67(Suppl. 1): S102–S106Frenk, D. (2012, May 1). Obesity Consequences. Retrieved October 22, 2014, from http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/obesity-prevention-source/obesity-consequences/ Obesity and overweight. (2014, August 1). Retrieved October 22, 2014, from http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs311/en/ Statistics Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada. (n.d.). Retrieved November 24, 2014, from http://www.heartandstroke.com/site/c.ikIQLcMWJtE/b.3483991/k.34A8/Statistics.htm

The Dream Act Promotes Illegal Immigration Essay -- Argumentative, Per

Today, there are about 80,000 undocumented students who will graduate from high school in the United States. Nearly 65,000 of these students will not only be graduating, but have been living in the country for five years or more. Undocumented students face various challenges as they move along the academic pipeline. Yet, a growing number of them are graduating from U.S. high schools each year prepared to enter our nation’s colleges and universities. These students are most likely in favor of the Dream Act, Development Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act. This is a proposed legislation in the United States that was introduced to the Senate on August 1, 2001, and was re-introduced on March 26, 2009 (Miranda). This proposed bill will grant amnesty to illegal aliens who entered the country as children illegally but now meet the requirements and reverses current law to allow states to provide taxpayer subsidize in-state tuition to illegal aliens. Also, qualifying undocumente d youths will be eligible for a 6 year long conditional path to citizenship that requires completion of a college degree or two years of military service (Miranda). In order to qualify for The Dream Act, if it is passed, the person must meet five requirements. One requirement includes that the person who is applying must have entered the United States before the age of sixteen (Miranda). This condition should logically disqualify the chances of the applicant’s parents to qualify for The Dream Act, unless if they are under the age of sixteen. However, this poses an issue for if the minor does not have a guardian with citizenship already inhabiting the states this does not change the fact that it won’t stop the minor’s parents from entering the country illega... ...ed as a law. Rather a reformation of the proposed legislation to better suit the majority’s needs as well as help innocent students should be considered. Works Cited Arne, Duncan. "Why DREAM Act is right for U.S., young people." USA Today n.d.: Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 1 July 2011. Brad Knickerbocker Staff, writer, and writer Stacy Teicher Khadaroo Monitor staff. "DREAM act poised for Senate vote Saturday." Christian Science Monitor 17 Dec. 2010: N.PAG. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 2 July 2011. Mertens, Richard. "College-educated and illegal: Immigrants pin job hopes on DREAM Act." Christian Science Monitor 15 Dec. 2010: N.PAG. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 30 June 2011. MIRANDA, MARà A EUGENIA. "DREAM Act, Part II." Diverse: Issues in Higher Education 28.6 (2011): 8. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 1 July 2011.

Planned Change at the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority Essay

Planned Change at the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority In 2001 (SDCRAA) was created to be implemented in 2003 by the senior director of the aviation division in the port of San Diego, Thella Bowens. She was held responsible for the transition of operations from the airport authority to SDCRAA. Because Bowens had a good experience in the organization, this made her important in providing support to the operation in develops the transition plan as well as dealing with legal and regulatory issues. The group led by Thella Bowens understood the importance of SDCRAA quickly becoming a separate organization and suggested studying the existing strategic plan to gather the needed resources for this project. Bowens chartered the Airtport Transition Team to ensure the smooth and seamless transfer of operations and public services provided by the airport. In May 2002, seven employees were selected from the Aviation Division to improve members of the Airport Transition Team .The method was to get people with the ability to work within a process yet think outside of the box, to communicate well with others in a team, and influence directors without having formal authority. The plan phase also determined the when, where, and how of the plan. A â€Å"war room† was established for the team to and serves as a communication hub. The team named themselves the â€Å"Metamorphs† and many of its members came from different parts of the organization. SDCRAA had only one worker in 2002 which is Thella Browens she was dealing with regulatory issues at that time such as property transfer and the transitioning of workers. She also helped in passing the legislation which insured the employees their jobs. Furthermore, Browens renegotiated the union contract together with working beside an external counsel and state senators. The implementation process required a decision on the best way to bring about the change. The strategic plan evolved during the transition, had two important elements: human resources and communication plans. The human resources plan specified the transition of 145 budgeted Aviation Division employees to 52 vacancies plus the 90 othe r positions. The airport transition plan contained a special emphasis on the needs of the employee. Bowens included a number of change management education sessions for all employees.

An alternative in language testing research

An alternative in language testing research Free Online Research Papers Validation in language testing in general and in cloze testing in particular has been mainly based on criterion-related validity in addition to construct and content validity. As the validity of the former validation technique in which tests are considered either valid or invalid based on their correlations with other supposedly valid criterion tests is seriously under question, the present study introduces a new qualitative technique for validation purposes. Researcher research, as it is called here, refers the researcher’s investigation of his/her own internal thought processes at the same time as he/she is taking a test. The idiosyncratic feature of this technique is that while researching others, the inferences of what is happening are only made indirectly and may therefore be wrong, using this technique, the researcher, being involved in the task, himself/herself directly experiences what others can only observe. Such a technique was applied to 11 cloze tests, constructed out of the researcher’s previous writings. The cloze-taking processes as experienced by the researcher reveal that different cloze items make different demands on the test-taker. Further applications of the technique and also implications for cloze validity as a measure of reading comprehension are discussed. ________________ Background Validity which refers to how far an instrument really measures what it is intended to is one of the characteristics of a good test, others being reliability and practicality. Traditionally validity has been discussed and researched in the forms of content validity, construct validity, and criterion-related validity including concurrent and predictive validity. Content validity refers to the degree a test measures a representative sample of the content area it is intended to measure. Construct validity deals with whether a testing instrument really measures the underlying construct the test is supposed to measure. The criterion-validity refers to the degree a test measures what another test measures either at the same time (concurrently) or at a later time (predictively). While the two former validity types have been used to study the validity of a test per se without comparing it to others, in criterion-related validity, one tests validity has been researched based on another measure . This latter kind of validation studies has prevailed language testing research, and as a result, newly constructed tests have been claimed to be either valid or invalid measures of the criterion tests used. In criterion-related validation research, the validity of a test has been established based on the degree of correlation between the new (experimental) test and the old (criterion) test. Namely, if the observed degree of correlation between two tests has been high and significant, the new test has been regarded as valid, and if the correlation has not been high enough, the test being validated 86 has been considered invalid. Based on such a validation procedure, the new test, if concluded as valid, could replace the older test and be used for exactly what that test had been or could be used. Such a validation procedure has been a norm in language testing research and has been practiced by many well-known testing researchers including Taylor (1957), Carroll at al. (1959), Bormuth (1967), Rankin Culhane (1969), Oller Conrad (1971), Oller (1973), Stubbs Tucker (1974), Irvine et al. (1974), Jonz (1976), Alderson (1979a, b), Hinofotis (1980), Shohamy (1983), Hanania Shikhani (1986), Illyin et al. (1987), Hale at al. (1989), Stansfield Hansen (1989), Chapelle Abraham (1990), Fotos (1991), and Greene (2001) to name a few. (For a review of these studies, see Sadeghi, 2002c). Serious doubts have been cast on this kind of validation in which one test has been proposed to substitute the other simply because they are moderately to highly correlated. The concern over the validity of criterion-validation stems from the fact that the statistical technique of correlation, which is the main statistical tool used in this kind of validation, has been devised and intended to show the degree of association between two variables, and that the presence of a high degree of relationship or even a perfect correlation coefficient between two variables is not intended to mean that they are of the same nature or that they are interchangeable. Although no such thing has been claimed in the underlying concept of correlation, the technique has been vastly used for this improper purpose, whereby based on high correlations between two tests, for example, cloze and reading tests, they have been concluded to be measuring the same thing, and thus being interchangeable. The arguments against this research trend in language testing have been put forward by Sadeghi (2002a, b, and c). The application of correlational techniques for validation purpose whereb y one test is suggested to be a valid measure of another, and therefore, to be able to replace that test is, however, possible only if three conditions are met: 1) The tests are of the same nature and character (for example, if both are tests of language proficiency with similar item types); 2) The tests are intended for the same purpose (both intended to measure language proficiency, for example); and 3) The degree of correlation and the variance overlap between two measures is near perfect, and if we need to lose no significant information by substituting one test for another, the correlation should be +1.00. (For further discussion, see Sadeghi, 2002c). As a result of his dissatisfaction with criterion-validation in language-testing and particularly in cloze testing where attempts of content-validation and construct validation have been in vain because it is not at all clear what cloze tests are measuring, the present researcher suggests a new validation technique, called ‘researcher research’, which is hoped to clarify more about what cloze tests are exactly doing and whether claims made on cloze tests as to what they measure are substantiated or not. ‘Researcher research’ refers to the active and conscious engagement of a researcher in the test-taking process and is a kind of research in which the researcher and the subject of the research both refer to the same individual. Instead of indirectly observing the test-taking process in others, the researcher becomes an insider and gains direct access to first-hand data by directly experiencing the problem under investigation. The application of the technique to a few cloze tests are presented below, and suggestions are made as to how the technique may be applied in other testing contexts. 87 Method Subjects. The only subject of this study was the researcher himself. Materials. The research and measurement tools used in this study were 11 cloze tests. The cloze tests, with the deletion rate of every 7th word, were made from the researcher’s previous writings which ranged from three months to one year old. Another person was instructed to make cloze tests form extracts that the researcher had already selected so as not to contain much quoted material. To allow what is called lead-in and lead-out, the first and the last sentences of each passage were left intact. The cloze tests constructed varied in length: while the shortest cloze test contained 34 items, the longest had 53 blanks. A sample of the cloze tests used in the study appears in the appendix. Procedure. After cloze tests were constructed, the researcher sat half of the tests in one session, and the other half in another session and made a note of the time used for each cloze test separately. After completing the blanks, cloze tests were scored using both exact-word scoring and acceptable-word scoring methods by the researcher himself. Although there is contradiction in research findings as to whether allowing acceptable-scoring makes significant differences to the results and mismatching conclusions seem to have been arrived in different studies, using acceptable-scoring, at least for non-native speakers of the language, seems to be fairer even if the differences are not large enough. Based on such a justification, the cloze tests used here were also scored using acceptable-scoring procedure. Findings Quantitative data. The following table represents the observed mean score in both exact- and acceptable-scoring for all of the tests used, and also the mean score that could be obtained if all items in all tests were answered correctly. Table 1: mean observed and expected score on cloze tests in exact- and acceptable-scoring Descriptive characteristic Scoring method Observed mean Expected mean Exact-scoring 34.36 43.18 Acceptable scoring 42.00 43.18 A comparison of the average for exact-scoring (observed mean) with the total possible average (expected mean) indicates that if exact-scoring only was to be allowed, and if cloze was to be regarded as a measure of reading comprehension, the results obtained would mean that the researcher was very far form understanding what he had himself written. As the table above shows, the scores have improved a lot with acceptable scoring. This was very much expected especially because the texts were the researchers own previous written samples, with the content and the written style of which the researcher was well familiar. To give more meaning to the quantitative data in the above table, the following findings should also be taken into account. 88 Acceptable answers that could be counted unacceptable. As the following examples show, some of the answers regarded as acceptable were acceptable taking the contextual clues in the text into account, but if the meaning intended by the original word was to be the criterion for acceptability, most of the items considered ‘acceptable’ here would have been counted as unacceptable and thus distancing the observed acceptable score mean even further form the expected score mean, lead us to the conclusion that even acceptable-score average may not be significantly high. Such a consideration will further reduce the chances of cloze being a proper measure of reading comprehension as far as statistics are concerned. Instances of such cases in which scores have been counted as ‘acceptable’ in the context in this study but could be counted as ‘unacceptable’ if the criterion for acceptability was stating the same information as expressed by the original word are the following: 1) Although the beginning of reading dates back to the invention of writing, and since †¦ [original: 5000; acceptable: many] years ago people have been dealing with reading (Orasanu Penny, 1986: 1), the real nature of reading remained uninvestigated until the mid 19-th century (Vernon, 1984: 48). 2) During this period of research on reading, different people (†¦ [original: psychologists; acceptable: i.e.,], linguists, psycholinguists, educators, second-language researchers, language teachers, etc.) have looked at the same entity from different angels. 3) †¦it is not clear at all what the cloze tests are intended to measure and that they turn out to measure different things based on †¦ [original: correlational; acceptable: different] analyses. 4) In real-life reading, the reader has a purpose and an interest in reading a passage, and because he/she chooses to read one text rather than the other, he/she has an idea of what the text is about and expects to find some †¦ [original: expected; acceptable: specific] information in the text. 5) There is no doubt in the fact that communication whether in spoken or written mode does not occur in a vacuum. The implication for the comprehension of the †¦ [original: communicated; acceptable: written] message is that all elements present in that particular event have their share in affecting the success of communication. 6) K. Brown (1994: 61) points out that different types of lexical sets can be chosen to transfer the meaning †¦[original: of; written: and/] or the perspective on the same event. As the above examples illustrate, an ‘acceptable’ answer may not convey the meaning originally intended and can therefore be regarded as ‘unacceptable’ if the comprehension of the original meaning is of interest. In such cases where the word is counted as acceptable, there seems to be a meaning loss, and something is conveyed either less or more than what was originally intended by the writer. And because it cannot be said that the writer has been unable to understand what he has originally written, it can be concluded that cloze procedure may not be an appropriate technique for this purpose, for measuring the comprehension of a written passage. 89 Acceptable answers that could not have been provided without the researcher’s familiarity with the content of the quoted material. Sometimes the different processes involved in cloze-taking (i.e., stopping and thinking about what the whole thing was about) led to giving acceptable answers and other times despite really engaging with the problem, the researcher was unable to make sense of what was originally meant. This latter case led to giving inappropriate and irrelevant answers, clearly showing the lack of comprehension in that part. Has it not been for the researchers familiarity with the content of his own writing, instances like these where the flow of reading was interrupted would have been even greater. Instances of the blanks which produced real challenge to the present researcher, leading to inappropriate answers or no answer and could therefore be interpreted as miscomprehension or the lack of comprehension are as follows: 1) One group sat the test in the normal way; with the other group however, after each subject gave his/her answer to an item, the correct word was revealed. Brown (1983: 247) called the first cloze-type †¦ [independent-item original word] cloze and the second type †¦ [dependent-item] cloze. In this item, had it not been for the researchers familiarity with what Brown had called such cloze-tests, he would have been unable to fill in the blank correctly. The problem in this case and the following one is more related to the fact that the omitted words are the original writers words being quoted: 2) Discourse-level knowledge has also been called ‘formal’ or †¦ [original: textual; written: content] schema (Singhal, 1998: 2). Similarly, in the following example, had it not been for the researchers familiarity with the original writer’s focus of study, the omitted word could not have been restored correctly: 3) Khaldieh (2001: 427), for example, working on reading comprehension of †¦[Arabic] as a foreign language, found that reading comprehension was a direct result of knowledge of vocabulary. Answers that were unacceptable and produced challenge leading to miscomprehension and/or incomprehension. In the following cases, obviously the researcher understood the text differently. Reflecting on the actual test-taking process, the researcher remembers how challenging it was to understand the relationships between sentences in these cases where miscomprehension was the result. Comprehension was achieved in other similar cases after much effort and challenge while the same texts would have provided no challenge in normal reading: 4) The implication of these lines for testing reading comprehension is that due attention should be given to selecting those kinds of texts for measurement purposes that are culturally unbiased. [original: Otherwise; written: However], our estimates of the reader’s comprehension may be incorrect because they will include results gained for testing the subjects understanding of L2 cultural knowledge rather than L2 linguistic knowledge. 5) That is to say, the content validity of the cloze procedure, whether it is supposed to measure reading ability, language proficiency, etc. is under question, because in neither case is a content area identified a priori from which a representative sample may be selected and †¦[original: whatever; written, the] sample is taken by the cloze procedure is just a random selection of a text or at best influenced by the test-constructors judgements of its suitability for the context he/she is working in. 90 6) Generally, context variable refers to all reader-, writer-, and†¦[original: text-external; written: text?] factors, such as environmental and situational elements, which may affect reading comprehension. The sign ‘?’ after the word written in the blank shows the reader’s doubt on what he has written and indicates that he had difficulty in getting at the intended meaning at that part. Answers considered unacceptable but which do not show the researcher’s inability in comprehension or lack of related grammatical knowledge. There were a few other instances which would be considered incorrect responses in both exact- and acceptable-scoring of cloze tests, meaning that comprehension had not taken place if cloze scores are accepted as evidence of showing comprehension. Reflecting on such cases, the researcher research process allows the researcher to note that such wrong or unacceptable answers are perhaps some type of mistakes, and he is not satisfied that he did not comprehend the part in which he made the mistake. A few such cases are as follows: 1) He also notes other scoring methods like form class scoring where any word coming from the same form class as the original word †¦[original: is; written: are] deleted. 2) Taylor (1956: 48) found a high negative correlation between exact scoring †¦[original: and; written: a] clozentropy scoring (r= -0.87), which was taken to mean that cloze scores are dependable estimates of negative entropy†¦ 3) Validity of a test †¦[original: means; written: refers] the degree to which a test actually measures what it is intended to measure. 4) Different camps have chosen to look at the same thing from different angles and have focused their attention on particular aspects of language. As a result language has been viewed †¦[original: as; written: a] a system by some and as an institution or a social act by others. These examples clearly prove that they are simply mistakes showing the test-taker’s slip of the pen or mind, and they do not show that he did not have relevant knowledge to answer correctly or that because he did not give correct answers, so he was not able to comprehend the relevant parts. Discussion The argument in this paper is that if cloze tests measured reading comprehension as a lot of studies based on correlational research claim, then it is expected that a person who is doing cloze tests based on his/her own writing should be able to complete all blanks with no errors, at least in acceptable scoring. Such an argument is based on the assumption that somebody who writes a text has an ability beyond comprehending what he/she writes because without proper comprehension one cannot produce a coherent piece of text. Based on this argument, it can be concluded that somebody who writes something is able to comprehend it completely because otherwise he/she would not have been to write the text. So it follows that if a cloze test can properly measure reading comprehension, it should not present any challenge to somebody who is doing a cloze based on what he/she has written. The fact that the scores of the cloze-taker in this study did not amount to the total possible score expected in neither exact-scoring nor acceptable-scoring gives us some quantitative evidence that cloze may not be testing 91 reading comprehension properly and that it may be testing something below and beyond mere comprehension. The validity of cloze procedure to measure reading comprehension in such a context is under question not only because the cloze-taker was unable to fill-in all the blanks correctly but also because of the other challenges it produced to the test-taker. Furthermore, not all the blanks which the cloze-taker completed successfully required real comprehension of the passage. Some were either parts of clichà © phrases or idioms; others were function words which required some grammatical knowledge only. Not all blanks, however, were like these. It should also be stressed that the familiarity of the texts to the researcher was a great help and he sometimes remembered a whole sentence before he saw it on the paper (and this is why it was decided to select texts written at least three months earlier so as to lessen the role of memory). Reflecting on test sessions, the researcher remembers that cloze did produce some challenge. First of all, the time for cloze-testing was about one and a half times longer than the time he spent on reading the texts in non-cloze format. In addition to the time-factor, while in the majority of cases in many of which either function words or words frequently used in his writings (such as reading, comprehension, cloze, procedure, measure, test, etc.) were needed to complete the blanks, cloze-taking involved no further challenge, resembling a normal-reading in which the flow of reading was not blocked, in a few other cases, the process of cloze-taking was really very different from that of normal reading. In other words, if the researcher read the original version of the text he had written, he would no doubt have understood every bit without his reading being blocked or the flow disturbed. While taking some cloze-tests, however, the researcher was stopped in some cases and needed to thi nk about what ideas were being talked about and what words should have been inserted into the blanks. Such cases blocked the flow of reading compared to the way the same text would be read with no blanks. Although it is accepted that if somebody is reading a text for the first time, his/her reading may not be so fluent, and he/she may need to stop and think to understand what he/she is reading before he/she can move forward, such a consideration seems unacceptable in this research context because the text was the readers own, which he had already read (and understood) several times. Reflecting on what it was that the researcher was doing when he was taking cloze-tests constructed from his own writing and comparing it with normal reading fallow him to conclude that cloze-tests as used in this study may not be proper testing instruments for measuring ones degree of reading comprehension. The researchers direct involvement in taking cloze-tests allows him to claim that cloze tests may measure some degree of superficial comprehension where the blanks are completed by structural words or frequently used content words. They do not seem to be able to appropriately measure high-level and overall comprehension as shown to the researcher through the researcher research process. The fact that proper comprehension is expected to take place only after reading a text in its complete and undeleted format, and that only after we have provided the reader such a chance, can we then talk about how we are going to assess his/her degree of comprehension of what he/she has read, force the researcher to conclude that cloze tests are unsuitable for assessing reading comprehension. The reason for this conclusion is 92 mainly that cloze tests put a double-task on the shoulder of the reader. Namely, they require the readers to reconstruct an incomplete passage, and reproduce something that has not been presented to them. No doubt this reproduction may be far away from the original text. Based on such a reproduction which needs as much thinking and intelligence as knowledge of language, concluding that the original text has been comprehended or not does not seem to be logical at all simply because the reader has been prevented from access to the total meaning from the very beginning. Requiring the reader to produce something that is partly unknown to him/her and then to comprehend it is a different thing from giving him/her the text in full and then asking him/her to read and understand something which has already been produced. It is not, however, implied here that all the meaning resides in the written text, but that some elements are missing in the negotiation of meaning between the reader and the text in cloze reading. Supporting this argument are the results from this study in which cloze-taking was found as a different process from normal reading and challenging at times. The application of a technique called researcher research here to the cloze tests in this study clarified to the researcher that concluding cloze tests as valid tests of reading comprehension simply based on score correlations with other tests of reading cannot be sustained. A similar finding was arrived based on both qualitative and quantitative data from 213 Iranian EFL students who took different forms of cloze tests as part of the researcher’s PhD project (Sadeghi, 2003). Conclusions and Suggestions The paper began with a short review of the dominant validation techniques used in the field of second/foreign language testing research. Casting doubt on the validity of the most widely used validation technique, i.e., criterion-validation, in which the technique of correlation is used for improper purposes, a new technique was introduced in which the validity of a testing instrument could be directly accounted for by the researcher. The technique called ‘researcher research’ was applied to a few cloze tests constructed out of the researcher’s previous writing samples. The conscious involvement of the researcher in the test-taking process allowed him to understand better what it was that was required for the successful completion of cloze items and how cloze reading could be compared to normal non-cloze reading. The findings indicated that contrary to normal reading in which the flow of reading is less interrupted, cloze-reading blocked the access to meaning in so me cases, producing serious challenge and leading to miscomprehension or the lack of comprehension in a few cases. In the majority of the instances where blanks produced no interruption and challenge, the deleted words were either function words needing a minimum degree of inter-sentential comprehension or content words which the researcher frequently used in his writing and could therefore be regarded as clichà ©d words for him. Based on the evidence produced through ‘researcher-research’, the cloze tests studied were regarded as testing something below and beyond mere reading comprehension. The validation technique presented here is not intended for use with cloze tests only. ‘Researcher research’ can guide the researcher in finding out whether other tests intended to measure reading and listening comprehension or to test knowledge of vocabulary and grammar appropriately serve what they are intended to. The evidence 93 such produced may be combined with other qualitative and quantitative data to support the validity of a test for a particular purpose. References Alderson, J. C. (1979a). The cloze procedure and proficiency in English as a foreign language. TESOL Quarterly, 13 (2), 291-228. Alderson, J. C. (1979b). Scoring procedures for use on cloze tests. In C. A. Yorio, K. Perkins, and J. Schachter (Eds), On TESOL ’79: The learner in focus (pp.193-205). Washington, D.C.: TESOL. Bormuth, J. R. (1967). Comparable cloze and multiple-choice comprehension test scores. Journal of Reading, 10, 291-299. Carroll, J. B., Carton, A. S., Wilds, C. (1959). An investigation of cloze items in the measurement of achievement in foreign languages. Cambridge, MA: Graduate School of Education, Harvard University, Laboratory for Research in Instruction. (ERIC ED 021-513) Chapelle, C. A., Abraham, R. G. (1990). Cloze method: What difference does it make? Language Testing, 7 (2), 121-146. Fotos, S. S. (1991). The cloze test as an integrative measure of EFL proficiency: A substitute for essays on college entrance examinations? Language Learning, 41 (2), 313-336. Greene, B. B. (2001). Testing reading comprehension of theoretical discourse with cloze. Journal of Research in Reading, 24 (1), 82-98. Hale, G. A., Stansfield, C. W., Rock, D. A., Hicks, M. M., Butler, F. A., Oller, J. W. (1989). The relation of multiple-choice cloze items to the Test of English as a Foreign Language. Language Testing, 6 (1), 47-76. Hanania, E, Shikhani, M. (1986). Interrelationships among three tests of language proficiency: Standardized ESL, cloze and writing. TESOL Quarterly, 20 (1), 97-110. Hinofotis, F. B. (1980). Cloze an alternative method of ESL placement and proficiency testing. In , J. W. Oller and K. Perkins (Eds), Research in language testing (pp. 121-128). Rowley, MA: Newbury House. Ilyin, D., Spurling, S., Seymour, S. (1987). Do learner variables affect cloze correlations? System, 15 (2),149-160. Irvine, P., Atai, P., Oller, J. W. (1974). Cloze, dictation, and the test of English as a foreign language. Language Learning, 24 (2), 245-252. Jonz, J. (1976). Improving on the basic egg: The M-C cloze. Language Learning, 26 (2), 255-265. Oller, J. W. (1973). Cloze tests of second language proficiency and what they measure. Language Learning, 23 (1), 105-118. Oller, J. W., Conrad, C. A. (1971). The cloze technique and ESL proficiency. Language Learning, 21 (2), 183-195. Rankin, E. F., Culhane, J. W. (1969). Comparable cloze and multiple-choice comprehension scores. Journal of Reading, 13, 193-198. Sadeghi, K. (2003). An investigation of cloze procedure as a measure of EFL reading comprehension with reference to educational context in Iran. Unpublished PhD dissertation. Norwich: University of East Anglia. Sadeghi, K. (2002a). The judgmental validity of cloze as a measure of reading comprehension. Paper presented at the 7th METU International ELT Convention, METU, Ankara, Turkey, 23-25 May. Sadeghi, K. (2002b). The criterion validity of cloze as a measure of EFL reading comprehension. Paper presented at BERA Research Student Symposium, The University of Exeter, Exeter, UK, 11-12 September. 94 Sadeghi, K. (2002c). Is correlation a valid statistical tool in second language research? Paper presented at the 12th European Second Language Association Conference (EUROSLA12), Basel University, Basel, Switzerland, 18-21 September. Shohamy, E. (1983). Interrater and intrarater reliability of the oral interview and concurrent validity with cloze procedure in Hebrew. In J. W. Oller (Ed.), Issues in Language testing research (pp. 229-236). Rowley, MA: Newbury House. Stansfield, C., Hansen, H. (1983). Field dependence-independence as a variable in second language cloze test performance. TESOL Quarterly, 17 (1), 29-38. Stubbs, J. B., Tucker, G. R. (1974). The cloze test as a measure of English proficiency. Modern Language Journal, 58, 239-241. Taylor, W. L. (1957). ‘cloze’ readability scores as indices of individual differences in comprehension and aptitude. Journal of Applied Psychology, 41, 19-26. Karim Sadeghi holds a Ph.D. in TEFL/TESOL (Language Testing) from the University of East Anglia in the UK. He has several years of teaching EFL at various levels. After he finished his Ph.D. in August 2003, he returned to Iran and since then has been teaching and researching in Urmia University. 95 Appendix A: The sample cloze test used in the study There is no doubt in the fact that communication whether in spoken or written mode does not occur in a vacuum. (1)The implication for the comprehension of the (2)communicated message is that all elements present (3)in that particular event have their share (4)in affecting the success of communication, i.e., (5)the comprehension of the intended message. The (6)most obvious of all is the knowledge (7)of the linguistic elements involved such as (8)lexicon and syntax. Although some superficial comprehension (9)may take place in spoken language as (10)a result of contextual clues present, it (11)can be argued that without a certain (12)degree of linguistic competence the achievement of (13)proper comprehension will be out of reach. (14)Knowing the meanings of vocabulary items has (15)been regarded as the most important element (16)of linguistic competence. However, knowing word meaning (17)is no guarantee that comprehension will take (18)place and the knowledge of how words (19)are relate d to one another and how (20)sentences or utterances are related to one (21)another are crucial in shaping the outcome (22)of communication. The second important factor in (23)determining the success of communication is knowledge (24)of the context or situation in which (25)the communicative event is taking place. The (26)same sentence or utterance may have totally (27)different and unrelated and sometimes opposite meanings (28)if spoken or written in different situations. (29)Apart from immediate physical context, a knowledge (30)of the larger socio-cultural context in which (31)the message is being conveyed may also (32)shape the way a reader/listener approaches the (33)massage and will therefore lead to the (34)kind of comprehension and interpretation motivated by (35)that context. No doubt, the lack of knowledge of such contextual conditions may sometimes lead to misunderstanding of the message despite having no problem in decoding the linguistic elements present in the message. Research Papers on An alternative in language testing researchStandardized TestingResearch Process Part OneMoral and Ethical Issues in Hiring New EmployeesInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesIncorporating Risk and Uncertainty Factor in CapitalEffects of Television Violence on ChildrenThe Relationship Between Delinquency and Drug UseGenetic EngineeringOpen Architechture a white paperThe Project Managment Office System