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Increased trade, commerce and business transactions at the international level are placing a substantial demand upon working professionals and college students who must learn English, the lingua franca of international business, in order to thrive in a competitive global workplace. Learning English as a second language (L2) can be a daunting task for many reasons. For instance, how does a student or teacher really know which words or phrases are the most practical to focus upon when learning or teaching? With expanding technology and tech tools (e.g., computer software, apps, etc.) widely available, more modern approaches to learning authentic discourse can increasingly be developed. Lexical chunks, or bundles, i.e., the building blocks of oral discourse, may be analyzed via corpus concordance software and serve as a useful pedagogical tool for teachers and a practical learning tool for students in the L2 classroom. Anyone today can access online corpora, making it an easy resource for L2 teachers and learners to utilize. Teachers may draw content that is suitable for the unique needs of their class, and students can form novel and autonomous linguistic conclusions instead of being spoon fed fixed textbook content. Geared towards L2 educators, this paper more specifically illustrates how corpus-based tools can be utilized to augment second language learning, helping L2 college students achieve communicative competence in their academic and professional lives.

Objective: Past research suggests students have differing definitions of sexual assault, violence and intimate partner violence (IPV). To adequately develop violence prevention efforts, it is important to examine how college students understand these terms and associated behaviours. The purpose of this study was to identify which behaviours are categorised as IPV by college women and whether there are any 'grey areas' when it comes to IPV. Design: A three-phase e-Delphi study was conducted with US college women to reach consensus on the behaviours commonly associated with IPV. Setting: The study was conducted in one large, Southeastern USA university. Method: In a first phase of work, participants answered open-ended questions about the behaviours they associated with IPV and related terms. In phase 2, participants categorised the behaviours identified in phase 1. In phase 3, consensus was reached by the 12 women who completed all three phases of work. Results: Women agreed on a list of 45 behaviours that constitute IPV as well as behaviours that fall into a 'grey area', with many of the latter occurring between boyfriends/girlfriends. Conclusion: Findings from the study contribute to the current knowledge base concerning IPV among US college students and their understanding of which behaviours are acceptable by intimate partners and which are not. Future research is needed with a larger more representative sample to extend the current findings. However, interim findings can be used to drive future research and may provide some insight into current student perceptions of IPV.

Online learning has become a ubiquitous part of the educational landscape and how teachers are supported in developing approaches to teaching online is a fundamental aspect of the students' learning experience. Based on the implementation of a professional development course on becoming an online teacher offered in a blended learning mode at one university in Hong Kong, this article proposes that offering this type of professional development in a blended mode is very effective in facilitating enhanced usage of the university's learning management system. In a blended mode, teachers are actively engaged with blended learning and were found to make more extensive use of features/tools in Blackboard after they attended the professional development course. Results support that offering professional development in a blended mode provides teachers with an authentic student perspective, at the same time as they take guided steps in the teacher's role in blended learning.

With increasing numbers of the public using social media applications, Extension professionals have the ability to apply these same tools to connect with their clients. This article demonstrates how a social media toolset can be employed by Extension professionals by identifying how Extension professionals are currently using social media, illustrating how social media can be integrated into outreach and measured, and describing opportunities and challenges for Extension professionals enhancing their work with social media. With this information, Extension professionals will be better prepared to expand their outreach efforts using social media.

Purpose: The paper aims to focus on institutional initiatives to embed e-learning in a university in Hong Kong, from 2006-12, through large-scale funding of 43 e-learning projects. It outlines the guiding principles behind the university's e-learning development and discusses the significance of various procedures and practices in project planning, development and implementation. Design/methodology/approach: This longitudinal study combines historical perspectives with process description, analysis and personal observations. Its approach is based in action research. The authors are engaged both as participants/learning designers in particular projects and in management, administration and evaluation of the projects at the institutional level. Findings: It is proposed that e-learning projects need careful planning, scaffolding and managing. Also that piloting, evaluation and formal reporting as well as the availability of professional, technical and instructional design support are significant factors in success. Research limitations/implications: This paper is preliminary work. Further findings and analysis are expected at the final completion of all projects. A wealth of data is available in accumulated project documentation and reports, including individual project evaluations with quantitative and qualitative data. Originality/value: Given the commonly acknowledged difficulties in helping e-learning projects continue to completion and actually be implemented, this study can offer strategies that may be widely applied in different contexts. The scale and timeframe of the study and the amount of funding available in one institution are unusual so emerging implications are potentially significant. (Contains 1 table.)

In April 2005, the University of Maryland Libraries launched "ArchivesUM" (www.lib.umd.edu/archivesum), an online database of finding aids for manuscript and archival collections using Encoded Archival Description (EAD). "ArchivesUM," however, is only the publicly available end-product of a much larger project-an integrated system that ties together the basic archival functions of accessioning, inventory control, and description with a public interface for searching and browsing collection descriptions. In this article, the authors explore the challenges and solutions encountered while developing the system, addressing the theoretical, practical, and programming decisions that contributed to the design of this archival management system. (Contains 24 notes and 13 figures.)

This paper traces the trajectory of New Labour education policy since the formation of the first New Labour government in 1997. During that time the policy discourse has moved from a position of individualized school improvement through competition, to one where there is an emphasis on "partnership" and "collaboration" as key mechanisms for improvement. We note, however, that "specialism", "diversity" and "choice" are still key components of policy and that "partnership" often denotes a deficit model, with more successful schools supporting (or in some cases taking over) less successful ones. Although there are the beginnings of a recognition that social class and social deprivation are factors which make achievement at school more problematic, generally New Labour policy has not attempted to alleviate the tendency to social polarization which has emerged as a result of school choice policies.

In this article, we ask "how can we judge whether a policy initiative produces innovation?". We focus first on the concept of innovation, touching on some aspects of its recent development, noting a resurgence of interest in it over the past few years in the schools policy field in England and proposing a tentative definition. We, then, refer to the national initiative known as Diversity Pathfinders (DP), of which we are conducting an evaluation, and briefly consider the implications of the idea of "pathfinding" and related notions. Finally, we describe some possible examples of innovations from our DP case studies and draw some conclusions for thinking about and researching innovations. (Contains 1 note.)

This article describes the processes and findings of a systematic review of research into the effectiveness of strategies to support pupils with emotional and behavioural difficulties (EBD) in mainstream primary schools. A search for studies carried out from 1975-1999 resulted in 265 citations, of which 96 were found to be within the scope of the review topic. Of these, 27 reported on 28 research studies, which could address the review question. Findings from these 28 studies indicated that a number of strategies, based on a range of theoretical frameworks, showed some positive impacts on pupil behaviour. However, the review highlighted a dearth of good quality research on strategy effectiveness. There is a need for higher quality research into strategies currently being used in schools. Practitioners, parents and children should all be involved in setting the parameters for interventions and research concerned with EBD.

Case studies of English schools with "outstanding leaders" finds them avoiding doing "bastard leadership" by mediating government policy through their own values. Explores ways in which school leaders promote and encourage shared values. Discusses how these leaders enact values-driven leadership by, for example, developing leadership capacity and responsibility throughout their schools. (Contains 21 references.) (Authors/PKP)

Examined three interpersonal relations constructs and their interrelationships that characterize principals' leadership behaviors. The investigation surveyed teachers' perceptions of 250 elementary school principals management styles. Many principals are engaged in interpersonal behaviors (using high levels of personal power, cooperative conflict management, and supportive communicator styles) appropriate for transforming schools into collaborative cultures. (39 references) (MLH)