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Supporting new arrival students' engagement with picture books: analysis of teacher talk using the appraisal theory
Functional Linguistics volume 1, Article number: 12 (2014)
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For a considerable number of migrant and refugee children, their first experience of reading in a second language, and for some even their first encounter with printed materials, is in a new arrivals classroom. This paper looks at teacher talk with new arrival students as they were introduced to reading practices in a classroom. I attempt to use the Appraisal theory to investigate one teacher's talk, particularly on how she engages the students in reading and talking about children's picture books. Data for this study were obtained from a new arrivals classroom consisting of Year 6 and 7 students. Using a functional analysis provided by the Engagement system of the Appraisal theory, this paper aims to uncover some of the ways in which the teacher makes use of the verbal and visual resources in children's picture books to promote engagement with the texts. It is found that teacher talk plays a crucial role in supporting new arrival students' participation in practices associated with reading and talking about picture book texts. The analysis provides insights into how a teacher supports students with varying backgrounds of literacy experiences to engage with children's picture books.
Over the years individuals from communities around the world have entered Australia as migrants and refugees for different reasons. Some groups have been assisted to Australia from refugee camps, for example those from Sub-Sahara Africa and Afghanistan . One outcome of developments such as this is that the previous education experience of new arrival children may have been severely interrupted or in some cases, there may have been no previous education experience. This is commonly a result of the 'refugee experience' where there may not have been adequate and on-going access to school due to war and displacement, the lack of resources for the children to attend schools, or the children were simply not well enough to attend schools due to sickness caused by the harsh conditions in refugee camps (DEECD Department of Education and Early Childhood Development [2008]: 8–9). Due to the vulnerability of new arrival students as a result of these prior experiences, more care and attention are needed to support them when they attend schools in Australia. For the majority of new arrivals, being at a school also means they are learning to read and write for the first time.
Martin and Rose ([2005]) argue that school success depends largely on the student's ability to read independently with understanding. Rose ([2007]) presents a model of reading development explicating the two-way system underlying school reading practices (Figure 1).
At the same time that proposed pedagogic aims are executed to prepare students in achieving reading development at different levels of schooling, it is also evaluating the students by way of assessing whether they are able to perform the type of reading skills anticipated in the preceding stages. It is advocated in this model and elsewhere that young children should ideally begin to engage in the process of reading at home with their parents and caregivers before starting school (Martin and Rose [2005]; Rose [2004], [2007]). This model of reading development brings to light potential challenges for new arrival students learning to read in the classroom. For a considerable number of new arrival students such as in this study, the new arrivals classroom is where they will experience reading texts in the English language for the first time. In some cases it may even be their first encounter with printed materials. Therefore, the majority of students may not have possessed the reading skills that are required of students at their level of study, which is supposedly the ability to read independently as indicated in Figure 1. In fact, using the reading sequence model as a measure, for many new arrival students their reading level may well be equivalent to that indicated in the first stage or 'before school – learning to engage with reading'. Therefore, developing reading skills in such a context is complex as reading instruction has to be targeted at providing students with opportunities to simultaneously learn to engage with reading, to learn to read independently, as well as to learn from reading. Familiarity with these skills is important for new arrival students so that they do not continue to be disadvantaged even in classrooms supposedly targeted for their learning.
Although much has been written about first and second language learning in relation to reading development, yet not as much has been said for the teaching of reading in a new arrivals classroom. Studies on reading development have primarily been concerned with whole language or top down (e.g. Goodman [1967]; Smith [1971], [1983], [1994]) and phonics or bottom up models (e.g. Gough [1972]). Yet the phenomenon surrounding new arrival students deserves close attention beyond the identification of suitable reading models, to a need for an informed understanding of how teachers are working with students in classrooms. Some examples of studies as such have been previously undertaken on teacher talk in Science classrooms (Thwaite [2014]; Thorne and Gericke [2014]) and in other subject-specific classrooms, but little has been said on teacher talk with new arrival students in a book reading context. This paper attempts to make a contribution to this focus.
This paper presents an investigation of teacher talk as one teacher reads and talks about children's picture books with new arrival students. A systemic functional analysis drawing on the Engagement system of the Appraisal theory will be used in this study in the attempt to uncover from teacher talk, how the teacher makes use of the visual and verbal resources in picture books to engage students in reading practices. This study aims also to verify the efficacy of the Engagement system towards the analysis of teacher talk as this analytical tool has not been previously employed for such a purpose.
Systemic functional linguistics
Systemic functional linguistics views language as inseparable from its context of use. It is characterised as functional, semantic, semiotic and contextual (Halliday [1978]). Language is functional because it is used to fulfil particular purposes; semantic as it is used to make meanings; semiotic because it provides sets of options for making meaning; and contextual for the reason that language use is influenced by social context. Therefore, systemic functional theory emphasises the inter-relations between language and the social system.
Likewise, the construction of spoken and written texts takes into account its social and cultural context (Martin and Rose [2008]). According to the systemic functional theory, three social functions are established within any context of language use, known as field, tenor and mode. Field refers to the topic or focus of an activity; Tenor refers to the social role relationships played by interactants; and Mode describes the role that language plays in an interaction. Further, Halliday and Matthiessen ([2004]) suggest that language is used to serve any or all of three metafunctions that are the ideational meaning – to construe human experience, interpersonal meaning – to establish relationships with people around us, and textual meaning – to organise these construals and relationships with people into a cohesive text. Based on these theoretical understandings, texts differ from one to another as a result of variations in their metafunctions. This understanding also means that the systemic functional theory can be applied towards unpacking strands of meanings in spoken and written texts. For example, researchers have applied systemic functional analysis in a range of contexts such as parent–child or teacher-student interactions (see Hasan [1991]; Christie [2002]; Thwaite and McKay [2013]), news reporting (see White [2006]; Thomson et al. [2010]), and multimodal texts (O'Halloran [1999]; Unsworth and Cleirigh [2009]). However, there has not been many studies that have examined teacher talk using the Appraisal theory. In this paper, I attempt a systemic functional analysis using the Appraisal theory to demonstrate how teacher talk encodes specific meanings and how these may impact on new arrival students' engagement with children's picture books.
The appraisal theory
The Appraisal theory is concerned with the interpersonal meaning in language use, for example how speakers/writers negotiate feelings with one another? or how certain attitudes are expressed in a speech/written text?. The strength of the Appraisal system is in its account for the nature of the complementarity between the 'inter' and 'personal' foci in spoken dialogue. Martin ([2000a]) explains that 'personal' meanings negotiated between speakers are not restricted only to expressions of mental states, but involves also the conveyance of attitudes as they adopt stances towards the material they present and those with whom they communicate with. What this means is that attitudes or feelings are conveyed alongside expressions of content in spoken interactions. Three broad areas of language use are considered within the system of Appraisal: Attitude, Engagement, and Graduation (Figure 2).
According to the Engagement system, utterances are either 'monoglossic' or 'heteroglossic'. An utterance is 'monoglossic' when it makes no reference to other voices, and 'heteroglossic' when other voices other than the speaker can be detected. Graduation is concerned with the grading of attitude by reference to the application of two senses. The first is that of Force, which refers to the 'degree of intensity' (Hood [2010]: 85) or as Martin ([2000b]: 148) defines 'turning up the volume'. The second is concerned with adjustments by way of sharpening or softening that can be applied to the categorical meaning. The emphasis within the system of Attitude is on the emotions of interlocutors. A range of emotional reactions are accounted for through its sub-categories of Affect, Judgement, and Appreciation. The region of Affect concerns the 'resources for expressing feelings', whilst both Judgement and Appreciation are to do with the resources for 'judging character' and for 'valuing the worth of things' respectively (Martin and Rose [2003]: 24).
The Attitude system has often been applied to study interpersonal meanings in written texts. In Martin's ([2001]) analysis of the 'Mourning' editorial from a Hong Kong lifestyle magazine, for example, it is used to identify the Appraisal resources that conveyed feelings related to the events of 9/11. The analysis brings to light how the text unfolded with a universal communality to invoke readers' humanity or sorrow for another's loss and then moved on to more specific alignment that played on readers' moral and political response to American rhetoric.
Similarly, Hood and Martin ([2007]) draw on the Attitude system to argue that academic writers utilised inscribed attitude in the construction of arguments within their research. The study points out that academic writers often made use of valuation in the form of positive Appreciation, for example words such as significant are used to align readers to the value of a topic that is worthy of research. Further, Hood ([2010]) applies the Graduation system on research article introductions. Her analysis shows that authors used language in ways that functioned to grade or evaluate research undertaken by others. Analyses on written texts such as these demonstrate the strength of the Appraisal theory for unpacking the intentions of the writers as well as their stances in relation to the issues or materials. This also suggests the potential in the Appraisal theory for examining teacher talk.
To date there has been little attention on the application of the Appraisal theory to teacher talk around picture books. The analysis of teacher talk in this paper will draw on the Engagement system to identify, firstly the intentions of the teacher as she engages the students in discourse and secondly, her stance in relation to the visual and verbal resources in picture books. Martin ([2014]) proposes that the Engagement system provides the means for sourcing attitudes and managing heteroglossia. This means that the system accounts for the analysis of spoken interaction, in that it acknowledges the presence of more than one interactant. Further, resources in the system makes way for consideration of issues such as the ways in which the speaker/writer adopts a stance in relation to the value positions presented, of whether the speaker/writer aligns or disaligns listeners/readers to their stances, and the ways in which the authorial voice positions itself in relation to other voices in a communicative event. This is of particular interest to this paper as the aim of the analysis is to uncover some of the ways that the teacher talks about the visual and verbal components in picture books, and how in doing so she engages the students in reading and talking about the texts. This analysis would provide insights into how the teacher supports new arrival students' engagement with picture books.
Analysis of teacher talk using the engagement system
The analysis here concentrates on the role of teacher talk as she engages the new arrival students in talk around children's picture books. Teacher talk is focused on as it interacts with the students, and at the same time it draws on the visual and verbal resources that construct the picture book texts. As a way into the discussion, I will present the options in the Engagement system and will draw on examples from the classroom talk data collected for this study to demonstrate the different categories of Engagement meanings.
The Engagement system categorises any utterances into two types: monoglossic or heteroglossic. Monoglossic utterances are those which 'make no reference to other voices and viewpoints', whereas heteroglossic assertions 'invoke or allow for dialogistic alternatives' (Martin and White [2005]: 99–100). The Engagement system is presented in Figure 3.
The Engagement system provides the means for characterising speaker or writer voice as it 'positions itself with respect to, and hence to 'engage' with, the other voices and alternative positions construed as being in play in the current communicative event'. (Martin and White [2005]: 94). For this reason, the system offers a way into investigating how the teacher, as the 'authorial voice' during talk around picture books, adopts stances both in relation to the students and the visual-verbal components in texts, and in doing so, aligns or 'disaligns' the students with these positions. The unit of discourse taken up as the point of departure for analysis of spoken data is that of a 'message', which is proposed by Hasan ([1995]: 227) as 'capable of realizing an element in the structure of texts'.
The analysis in this section will now present examples of classroom talk collected for this study to demonstrate the various options within the Engagement system of the Appraisal theory. Brief explanations are provided following from each of the selected classroom talk in order to provide a linguistic description of individual semantic options within the Engagement system.
Example 1
The English-speaking countries were having a very big war with Germany (message 1118)
…they thought that they might not be treated very well (message 1123)
Any heteroglossic utterance can be treated as either contracting or expanding the dialogic space. If it contracts the space, the utterance 'acts to challenge, fend off or restrict' (Martin and White [2005]: 102) other alternative positions and voices.
The two broad categories in which the function of 'contracting the space' can be achieved are to [disclaim] or to [proclaim]. The more delicate options of the former are [deny] and [counter], while the options [concur], [pronounce] and [endorse] belong to the latter option.
Example 2
[contract; disclaim; deny]
There are no mountains on the Moon (message 181)
Message 181 is an example of an utterance that functions to deny or reject the position that there are mountains on the Moon. Martin and White ([2005]: 118) propose that denials are commonly realised by negatives such as no, not or not the case. In the above example, the negative no acts to deny the presence of mountains on the Moon, and in doing so, rejects alternative positions other than the proposed formulation, which is the non-presence of mountains on the Moon.
Example 3
[contract; disclaim; counter]
Will everybody just find a seat please? (message 1416)
The adjunct just suggests that the imperative find a seat replaces any other actions that the students may be doing or wanting to do. In contrast to the two options previously discussed which directly reject or over-rule alternative positions, this option contracts the heteroglossic space by way of 'proclaiming' - that is, not to reject explicitly but rather to limit the scope of alternative positions.
Example 4
[contract; proclaim; concur]
Yes of course (message 804)
The formulation Yes of course announces the speaker's agreement with a previously proposed proposition. Following Martin and White ([2005]: 124), such formulations are contractive because they 'represent the shared value or belief' and in so doing, 'exclude any dialogistic alternatives', and at the same time 'position any who would advance such an alternative as at odds with what is purportedly generally agreed upon or known'.
Example 5
[contract; proclaim; pronounce]
I want you to copy it onto your page as well (message 418)
The category of [pronounce] describes explicit interventions or interpolations from the speaker through such formulations as I contend…, The facts of the matter are that…, You must agree that…, as well as the intensifiers really, indeed and so on (Martin and White [2005]: 127). In other words, the speaker is seen to assert his/her authorial voice through such pronouncements which then fend off or challenge other viewpoints. Such pronouncements are often observed in the spoken data to be in the form of more explicit instructing by the teacher, I want you, as in the example in message 418.
Example 6
[contract; proclaim; endorse]
What else that you can think of that shows it's a question? (message 266)
By endorsing, the speaker 'construes external sources as correct, valid [and] undeniable' (Martin and White [2005]: 126). In message 266, the teacher's question asks the ways that show the statement in the text to be a question. The response to the question can be represented as …show that it is a question. In short, she is not seeking to discuss the validity of the elements, i.e. the punctuation marks or Wh- tag, as indicators that the statement is a question. Rather, the verb show demonstrates that she construes these elements as undeniable and her purpose is to encourage the students to identify these elements.
The options that expand heteroglossic space, that is, open up the space for alternative positions and viewpoints are to [entertain] or to [attribute]. Propositions selecting the option [attribute] can be further categorised into the options [acknowledge] or [distance].
Example 7
[expand; entertain]
You might have another idea for the story (message 1605)
The distinction between the options [entertain] and [attribute] is that the former indicates 'its position as one of a number of possible positions' whereas the latter 'disassociates the proposition from the text's internal authorial voice by attributing it to some external source'
(Martin and White [2005]: 104–111). Message 1605 demonstrates the value of entertain. The modal auxiliary might indicates the speaker's assessment of likelihood that the audience may have other possible ideas for the story, and thereby, recognises that its proposition is but one of a number of alternatives.
In comparison, the speaker in message 1343 is reporting on a proposition put forward by others as indicated in the verb say. Such formulations do not reveal the stance of the authorial voice.
Example 8
[expand; attribute; acknowledge]
They say that they are on Kaurna land (message 1343)
Nowhere in the spoken data does the teacher make use of the option [distance], that is, the explicit distancing of authorial voice from the attributed material.
Data for this study were obtained from a new arrivals classroom at a public primary school situated in the western suburbs of Adelaide, South Australia for the author's PhD study entitled 'Picture book reading in a new arrival context: A multimodal perspective on teaching reading'. The project had been approved by the University of Adelaide and the South Australian Department for Education and Child Development.
The main objective of the new arrivals curriculum is to provide English language support to newly-arrived students which then allows them to join a mainstream class in the same school or in other schools. The teacher observed in this study is a native English-speaker with thirty-five years teaching experience. Her educational qualifications include a Diploma of Teaching, Bachelor of Special Education, Master of Educational Psychology and Master by Research in Applied Linguistics. The student cohort consisted of nineteen students, ten female and nine male students. Of these nineteen students, sixteen were Year 7 and three were Year 6 students. The majority of the students were from Africa, mostly from the Sub-Saharan region, while the others were from Middle-Eastern and Asian backgrounds.
The interactions that took place during the reading of picture books were audio-recorded. Observations of lessons were undertaken five hours per week over a period of nine months in 2008. This paper draws on three one-hour lessons, with each focusing on a different picture book. These lessons were selected for analysis as they had an obvious emphasis on developing students' reading ability, as implicated in the large amount of reading and talking about picture books. In these sessions, the students were often divided into two groups. The first group of students comprised two subsets. The first were students who newly enrolled in the new arrivals program and had little or no literacy background due to a lack of prior schooling experiences. The second were those who, having been in the new arrivals program for a number of months, were still struggling with their reading and writing abilities. While this paper aims primarily at identifying the roles of teacher talk during picture book reading with new arrival students, it is necessary in some instances to comment on teacher talk with groups of differing literacy abilities as the teacher adopted different strategies with these students. For this reason, I shall label the group consisting of newly enrolled new arrivals as 'beginning students', and the second group consisting of those who had prior schooling and were able to read, write and interact with much less guidance is labelled as 'competent students'.
This section presents the various roles of teacher talk around picture books that had surfaced from the analysis of Engagement meanings.
In instructing 'beginning' and 'competent' students
In Table 1 below, the teacher instructs the 'beginning students' to read the start of The Earth and the Moon:
By directing students to the written words at the beginning of the text, the teacher fends off or restricts alternative positions other than that proposed by the teacher, such as the naming of objects from an image or discussing grammatical elements. The teacher voice encodes the engagement meaning of [proclaim] by acting to limit the students' scope of focus. Her instruction to S8 in message 99 further encodes the meaning [pronounce] whereby she explicitly intervenes to assert her proposition for the student to focus on the written text. By overtly directing the student focus to the written text, the teacher directs the reading path of the picture book which is to attend first to the written text on the page before its visual image.
This contrasts with the talk with the 'competent students' as the teacher brings their attention to Australia's Changing Voice, as in Table 2 below:
The teacher directs student attention to the picture book as they discuss the topic of Creole and Aboriginal languages. The mental verb I think, observed in the teacher talk, encodes the meaning [entertain], indicating her position as 'one of a number of possible positions and thereby, to greater or lesser degrees, makes dialogic space for those possibilities' (Martin and White [2005]: 104). The rest of the exchange reveals that she does not point to any particular information on the page; rather, she encourages the students to explore the information on their own or with a partner. Teacher talk in this exchange entertains other dialogic alternatives by making room for student exploration of the information on the page as marked by her later talk I'm interested in what S3 has discovered…Tell them what you found out.
Differences in the way that the teacher engages the 'beginning students' and the 'competent students' in the reading of picture book texts are brought to light when the Engagement meanings in teacher talk are examined. When introducing the texts for book-reading, the distinction between the instructions to the 'beginning students' and the 'competent students' is clearest. Teacher talk targeting the 'beginning students' encodes the Engagement meaning of [proclaim], as she often brings their attention to specific sections of the text such as to a word/sentence, or to the object in an image. It is revealed that her instructions to the 'competent students' instead encodes the Engagement meaning [entertain], as she frequently encourages them to explore the text on their own or with a partner and to then share information that is relevant for class discussion. The 'competent students' are given more autonomy to explore the reading materials and to express their views in relation to the content, in comparison with the 'beginning students' who at most times are instructed to read the sentences in the texts.
In lending support to writer voice
Teacher talk during the reading lessons often emphasises the pattern of object-identification built into the text by the picture book writer, as for example in the extract in Table 3:
The teacher repeats the question posed through the writer voice Are there mountains on the Moon? (message 114), thereby eliciting a response from the students, and at the same time giving expression to reader voice as intended in the text. However, when the students do not provide the correct answer, which is that there are no mountains in the picture of the Moon, teacher voice counters the response by focusing student attention onto the visual image (message 116). She continues to challenge the students to locate the mountains in the picture as a way of countering the position of those students who responded Yes (messages 115 and 117). In the end, she explicitly tells the students the need to show the objects in the picture as a way of supporting their responses (message 119), and then proceeds to acknowledge the mountains in the image of the Earth.
Teacher voice here encodes the Engagement meaning [disclaim], or to be more specific [counter], in its role to support the intention of writer voice in the picture book. Instead of directly rejecting the student responses, teacher voice replaces it with a proposition to encourage reference to the image and to locate the object as implicated in the connective Then (message 118), followed by her countering proposition where are the mountains in that picture? The role of teacher voice here is significant as the mediator between the text and the students, aligning them to the pattern of object identification intended by the writer.
Later in the classroom transcript, it is evident that the students have picked up the question-answer structure as demonstrated in the extract in Table 4:
The students no longer require the teacher's additional cue to respond to the question. As soon as the teacher repeats the question, all the students call out the correct response. The direction of talk then becomes less predictable as observed in the teacher's genuine comment My gosh I wonder who went up there, expressing her surprise at the information. Such a personal expression deviates from the sequence of talk dominating the earlier parts of the teacher-student interaction, where teacher talk frequently encodes the Engagement meanings of [disclaim] and [counter] that function primarily to guide the students to engage with the text in a specific way and at the same time 'contracting' the possibilities for the students to explore the text in other ways.
In supplementing verbal text
Apart from lending support to the writer voice, the teacher encourages student attention to the visual images in the picture book in order to supplement the interpretation of the story from the verbal text. A student's attempt to recount the story with little specificity in terms of differentiating between the characters is demonstrated in this example in Table 5:
The student's brief recount of the story does not differentiate the man as 'the swagman' or 'the squatter', which are the two male characters in the story. The teacher is seen to guide the students for the second time through the unfolding of the narrative, within which she focuses on identifying the characters and their individual roles in the story, as seen in Table 6:
In the message The man is called squatter (message 455), the teacher consciously differentiates between the characters in the story. She also details the different characters by focusing on their individual roles within the narrative, and at the same time deliberately referring to them through their names in the verbal text as squatter and swagman (messages 455 and 458). As well as making use of the verbal text, the teacher also engages the students with the visual images. She points students to the visual images in order to ensure that they are able to visually identify the characters as seen in her confirmatory questions (messages 471 and 475). On receiving an affirmation from the students, the teacher then aligns them to the terms used by narrator voice by referring them to instances in the verbal text (messages 477–486).
It can be inferred that teacher voice, by bringing in and inviting student attention to the images, encodes the Engagement meaning of [attribute], or to be more specific [acknowledge]. The analysis demonstrates two findings; firstly that teacher talk takes on the significant role of scaffolding the students' interpretation of the individual characters at the point where the student talk suggested that they needed that guidance. More importantly, by focusing student attention on the characters in the visual image, the teacher is preparing the students to associate the visual depictions of these characters to their representation in the verbal text as demonstrated in her proposition Now in the song they're called another name…who is in here. The teacher makes use of the visual images as a way to support the propositions advanced in the verbal text, demonstrating her approach of the use of the verbal and visual modes in texts.
In identifying specific language or grammatical elements
The type of interaction, of discussing language or grammatical elements, as presented in Table 7 is most frequently observed in this study:
Teacher voice interposes in the interaction (message 259) to bring the students' attention to the recognition of the statement-question structure, which is utilised by the writer voice to draw on the reader's participation in the intended activity. The interaction centres on the identification of punctuation, i.e. question mark.
The teacher's position in relation to the value of the picture book materials is clear as the Engagement meanings are examined in her talk. When highlighting the language structures or items in the picture books (messages 263–266), she construes these resources as correct, valid and undeniable, thereby fulfilling the Engagement meaning of [endorse]. In other words, the use of the language items in the texts is not set up by the teacher to be challenged or debated upon in the discussion. Rather, the particular language items serve as correct or ideal instances of usage as indicated in the teacher's evaluation of the verbal text So that's a good way to begin a question… (message 265). In other words, she uses the picture book texts to demonstrate appropriate usage of grammatical elements and guides the students towards recognising the language patterns.
The analysis has revealed features in one teacher's talk as she engages new arrival students in reading and talking about picture books. The analysis of teacher talk drew on Martin and White's ([2005]) Appraisal theory, specifically the Engagement system, which has proven to be useful for uncovering a number of characteristics of teacher talk around picture books related to: i) the ways that the teacher valued the text and specific modes within the text, including whether she approved or disapproved the text as well as whether prominence was given to either the verbal or visual system; and ii) the ways that the teacher adopted stance as well as negotiated rapport with the students towards engagement with the resources in the texts and importantly, how she aligned or disaligned them to do likewise.
Findings from the analysis suggested that the teacher did prioritise the verbal mode over the visuals when using picture books with the students. It was found that the teacher often directed attention to the images for the purpose of preparing the students for further instructions on the verbal text. The options within the Engagement system demonstrated how the students, whose contributions aligned in this way, were acknowledged by the teacher or otherwise countered and re-aligned to her intended focus. Therefore, it can be said that the teacher placed more emphasis on learning from and about the verbal text, with attention to the visuals functioning to support learning from the verbal mode.
Developing teacher understanding about the semiotic system of visual images has potentially important implications for pedagogic practices around teaching reading (Stenglin and Iedema [2001]). Informed understandings about the meaning affordances of the visual images and of how the visual mode, like the verbal mode, comprises a systematic grammatical set of meanings can translate to an increased awareness of the roles and functions of images in picture books (Kress and van Leeuwen [1996]). The analysis has shown that the teacher focused and emphasised student attention on the verbal text. Her practices came from her knowledge about the role of the verbal text in the construction of meanings in the texts. The same could not be achieved in relation to the engagement with the visual mode due to the lesser degree of understanding around the semiotic system of visual images. Professional development in this area potentially benefits teachers in a number of ways; in choosing texts for reading with students, in planning and programming curriculum based on increased understanding and knowledge about picture books, and in their scaffolding exchanges with students during reading lessons.
Analysis of teacher talk also revealed her attitude towards the picture books. Drawing upon the Engagement system, it was found that teacher talk displayed characteristics that revealed her attitude to be one where she valued the material and recognised the information within them as valid, undeniable or unchallengeable. Her talk around the picture books indicated that she treated the texts as exemplary texts, drawing from within them examples of language use for the purpose of demonstrating to the students appropriate usage of grammatical or language items.
Another outcome of the analysis was in realising differences in the way that the teacher instructed the 'beginning' and the 'competent' students. Teacher talk with the 'competent' students frequently encoded characteristics that created opportunities for the students to engage in discourse in a less-restrictive way. For example, the teacher was often found to adopt indefinite positions on a topic related to the narrative and instead encouraged the students to express their personal opinions. In contrast, talk between the teacher and the 'beginning' students was more restrictive. The analysis revealed that teacher talk was limited to eliciting short or yes/no responses such as those that focused student attention onto specific parts of the texts. This kind of talk limits opportunities for students to express and to explore parts of a text that may have been of interest to them.
This paper has attempted to use the Engagement system of the Appraisal theory to examine teacher talk. The primary advantage that has surfaced from the use of the Appraisal theory for this analysis is in its capacity to trace teacher talk for its expressions of feelings or attitudes, thereby revealing the teacher's intentions at particular points of her talk with the students. The analytical tool, afforded by the Engagement system, has been useful for the analysis of teacher talk in this study as it had allowed for a linguistic description of the teacher's approach to inducting new arrival students to ways of engaging with reading and talking about picture book texts. Discussion of the analysis uncovers the teacher's stance and the alignment or disalignment of students to the stance identified in the picture book texts, as well as the teacher's self-positioning in relation to the students', the writer's and the illustrator's voices that were all a part of the classroom interaction around children's picture books. More studies are needed, especially in different contexts, in order to generalise the use of the Engagement system on teacher talk.
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Martin JR, Rose D: Genre Relations: Mapping Culture. Equinox, London; 2008.
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Chu, C.P. Supporting new arrival students' engagement with picture books: analysis of teacher talk using the appraisal theory. Functional Linguist. 1, 12 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40554-014-0012-3
- Classroom discourse analysis
- Teaching reading
- New arrival students
- Appraisal theory


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Product Description
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subset: commoncrawl


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I rarely watch mainstream television , But I made an exception tonight. David Love did a very good job with the limited on camera time allowed.It was good to see this report aired. Hopefully this will make the state actually act upon this sad situation.
We need a favor, more of a 3D/4D favor. I am reaching out to youbecause I know you can be tone 40 about this. It is a short cyclebut needs push.Narconon is about to get a big attack on NBC news tonight.Same old crap, we've survived it before and will again but your help isneeded. This is of course a Scientology attack as well.We got instructions from up the line to have everyone call in andcomplain about this one sided biased show and say that theypersonally know people whose lives have been saved by NN. ......... Don't use Scientology lingo. Leave a message and let me know when done.Can you do this?Sigal AdiniNarconon Drug Prevention and RehabAddiction Treatment and DrugAbuse Prevention Specialist
[..] Ivester offered no specifics of his proposal — but said he believes the state can impose "strict regulations" on drug treatment programs.
Why couldn't they do this before people died?? /rhetorical
New laws may help, but this is doubtful, especially if there is no follow-up action by dedicated people with the integrity and stamina to endure the fair-gaming and enforce the existing laws.
They already have the laws. And they know Narconon violates the laws. Narconon dispenses niacin at levels normally requiring a prescription; They override doctors decisions when they prevent clients from taking prescribed medications for epilepsy, diabetes, etc;They far exceed the sauna mfg's recommended 10-15 minute time limit while operating the saunas at temperatures above the mfg's safe rating; On site personnel have had no real medical or rehab training and exhibit a pattern of complete disregard for clients' physical and emotional well-being during and after treatment; The required affiliated medical personnel are absent mentally or physically at crucial times; Narconon advertises ridiculously fraudulent success rates, uses fake referral sites, and pays for client referrals; and evidenced based evaluations for this program, based on quack-science SO bad it's "not even wrong" are non-existent, which explains why they also have no accreditation by any reputable organization. New laws may help, but this is doubtful, especially if there is no follow-up action by dedicated people with the integrity and stamina to endure the fair-gaming and enforce the existing laws.
And it won't be over until the parent group is held accountable for its role in all this, as they will simply spawn more bogus "public betterment" programs. IMHO.
I wonder, would shutting down US operations (Scientology headquarters) be enough, or would they simply move the headquarters to another country?
Seems an email went out to scientologists urging them to hassle NBC and overwhelm them with messages about how Narconon has saved people. It's common for scientologists to do letter writing campaigns, all in the name of KSW (Keeping Scientology Working).


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VALDOSTA, GA (WALB) - Heavy rain caused a major sewage spill into the Withlacoochee River.
It's a recurring problem Valdosta city leaders are working to prevent.
Excess storm water caused an overflow at the Withlacoochee Water Pollution Control Plant.
City officials plan to move the entire plant to higher ground because the land is in a flood zone area.
The city has purchased higher land but is still waiting to get finances in order.
"We've got a lot of storm water, river water, coming into the system; that causes the plant to be overwhelmed, especially when the rivers get high, streams get high. So now we're not treating just sewage, we're treating storm water and sewage," said Utilities Dir., Henry Hicks.
Right now, officials are asking residents to avoid contact with the Withlacoochee River.
Copyright 2013 WALB. All rights reserved.


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Project Description
Slone Law Office
Site built with WordPress, with a similar look to the site previously built using Intuit's web service, without all their fees.
"Rochelle is on the cutting edge, and develops eye-catching websites. She has always made herself available–even after hours. She explain details and answers questions to make the technology easy to understand, and to take the anxiety out of getting a website. She is also excellent with follow-through and not afraid to let me know if something I need is outside her scope of expertise; moreover, you take time to find someone, or to suggest someone, who deals with the matter outside her scope. I am totally satisfied with her and her work."


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February 21, 1995, Section A, Page 3Buy Reprints
A century after a famous Japanese scholar proposed that the country drop Japanese and switch to English, it sometimes seems he almost got his way.
Take the latest scheme by the Liberal Democratic Party. The party has decided to use the Roman letters JF as its new nickname, apparently in the belief that a Western-sounding nickname may be the first step to a more sprightly image.
So what does JF stand for?
"It does not stand for one specific idea," the party responded in a statement, "but may be interpreted in a number of positive ways -- for example, 'Japan Family' or 'Justice and Freedom.' "
It is unclear whether the nickname, which is to be formally ratified at the party convention next month, will revitalize the Liberal Democrats, who have been criticized as corrupt and stale after running Japan for almost half a century. Yet there is no doubt that however reluctant Japan may sometimes be to accept imported cars or rice, it could not be more enthusiastic about absorbing foreign words.
"Lots of Japanese are interested in new sounds, and they find foreign words very fresh and interesting," said Maki Nishinomiya, the chief editor of a popular dictionary of foreign words used in Japanese.
Thus the newspapers these days are full of references to heaa nuudo, derived from "hair nude." The term, which refers to photos that show pubic hair, is in the news because the police have arrested a magazine publisher for printing particularly graphic heaa nuudo photos.
Another hot phrase is raifu rain (lifeline), referring to utilities like electricity and gas service. The term had been used only occasionally in Japan until last month's devastating earthquake near Kobe, and then suddenly it was all over the airwaves. Even Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama pointed to the restoration of the raifu rain in defending his ridashippu (leadership).
All languages borrow foreign words, of course, but Japanese has gone further than most. A Cabinet minister, Arinori Mori, provoked a controversy in the 1870's when he suggested that Japan abandon Japanese and adopt English.
Emperor Hirohito, who reigned for six decades until his death in 1989, spoke an obscure court form of Japanese, but even he took the leap in 1976 and publicly used an English-derived word -- damu, meaning dam -- in a poem. .
While the French and some others sometimes rail at the encroachment of English, there seems to be no controversy over the growth of foreign words in Japanese. In fact, it may be a mistake to think of them as foreign words at all.
"Pocket is an English word, and bell is an English word, but if I say 'pocket bell' an English speaker won't know what I'm speaking about," noted Shizuka Sakagami, a doctoral student at Columbia University who is writing a dissertation on foreign words in Japanese.
Pocket bell, transformed into Japanese as poke beru, is a beeper, "so these are Japanese words, even if they came from foreign languages," Ms. Sakagami said.
Many of the English expressions, like pocket bell, are wasei English -- made-in-Japan English -- and they are expressed in special Japanese characters, katakana, that render foreign words into the sounds of the Japanese language.
There is an entire genre of words like "my home" and "my car," for example, meaning individually owned cars and homes. A Japanese might ask a colleague if he is a my car commuter or takes the subway. Taking this a step further, one grocery store chain offers strawberry My Jam.
English words are particularly useful as euphemisms, serving the Japanese preference for approaching delicate topics indirectly.
"When we're talking about older people, the Japanese ro jin is too direct and hurts people's feelings," said Hiroki Matsumoto, another editor of foreign-word dictionaries. "But if we use an English expression like 'silver age' it sounds much softer."
Silver age is not quite English, but Japanese abounds with such euphemisms for older people, based on graying hair. In Japan, those in the shirubaa raifu (silver life) can live in shirubaa hauzingu (silver housing) for the elderly and enjoy products aimed at the shirubaa maaketto (silver market) while serving part time as shirubaa vorantia (silver volunteers).
Likewise, the Japanese use sekkusu when discussing sex, and if they have trouble achieving sekkusu tashi (sex ecstasy), they can consult a sekkusu pato (sex expert). A young woman who wears daringly tight clothes is described as a bodi-kon garu (body-conscious gal).
Japanese companies are particularly avid creators of English expressions because foreign names help sell products domestically. Even in Japan, Sony markets the Walkman, not the Aruku Hito (the equivalent in Japanese).
Nori Kobayashi, a manager of Dentsu, the largest advertising agency in Japan, said Japanese are often better than Americans at coming up with English expressions that sell products.
"It has to sound good in Japanese," she said. "Sometimes the real meaning may sound awful for native speakers, but good to Japanese."
A case in point is Pocari Sweat, one of the most popular drinks in Japan. It is a health beverage that replaces the minerals that the body loses during perspiration, so the manufacturer called it Sweat, and invented the word Pocari because it sounded good.
"The name was the inspiration of our top management," said Kakesuke Harada, a company official. "There was a big argument about whether it was appropriate to name it Sweat, because some English speakers said it didn't sound right. But most Japanese people know the word sweat, and they don't see it as anything dirty."
Sweat is widely marketed in Asia, although not in any English-speaking countries.
"We test-marketed it in the West Coast of the United States," Mr. Harada said, "but conditions were not right."


text: When we were at the Mission Inn for Weekend of Wonder, this 5-port USB desktop charging station, on sale at Amazon for $(removed) kept 3 iPhones and a tablet well-fed. I used the additional port to charge a battery pack. The great thing about it is that you can plug it into a wall outlet (which are always in weird places in hotel rooms for some reason) and set the charger on a desk for ready access. It even comes with a suction cup mat to hold your soap in the shower!


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To John Adams from Thomas Boylston Adams, 9 January 1801
Philadelphia 9th: January 1801.
Dear Sir
I have searched, in conformity to the request expressed in your favor of the 2d: instt: all the writers upon the law of Nature and Nations, which I have in my Office, for authorities to support & justify & explain, the Sixth article of the Convention with France.
The extracts from Vallet in your letter are somewhat more explicit on the particular point in question, than his masters, Puffendorf & Grotius—The distinction drawn by him between "a treaty which prescribes & a treaty which forbids" I cannot find in the other writers; but the case supposed of "all other things being equal," wherein he undertakes to shew, that "a treaty cannot derogate from another more antient, concluded with another State, nor hinder its effect either directly or indirectly," is supported by his predecessors, at least in spirit & by construction.
The sixth article of the Convention then, must be considered as entirely nugatory and as if nothing had been done respecting it, because says Vallet, "where there is collision, it forms an exception to the treaty which prescribes, and that which forbids has the advantage." Why? "Because we have not the power of doing what another treaty forbids—" The Commercial treaty with Britain in the 25th: article forbids our stipulating any thing inconsistent with it, during the continuance of amity between the two Countries. The sixth article of the french Convention, prescribes, something inconsistent with it, and consequently cannot be carried into effect—
But unless it were to pacify the jealousy or the pride of the french Republic, I can see no reason why this article should have been inserted; for if our negociators were aware of its interference with prior existing engagements, and that by the law of Nations it would be construed to be nugatory; there could be no use in consenting to it. But says Vallet, "the interpretation, which should render an act nul & void, cannot be admitted, for it is not to be presumed that persons in their right senses should pretend to do nothing, in treating or performing any serious act between them." If it were not in the power of our Commissioners to consent to this article as I am inclined to think it was not, neither is it in the power of the Government to ratify or fulfill it.
I believe the Senate will eventually ratify the Treaty, with the exception of the 6th: article, and I think the Merchants expect & hope they will. I look upon it precisely as I did upon the treaty with Britain, as only better than war. The house of Representatives, which called for the instructions of our first Commissioners, in consequence of which they were published to the world, deserve all the odium of the sufferers by Commercial spoliations, for the want of indemnity. Indemnity is to be the subject of future negociation—How could it be otherwise, when the french Govt knew that our former Commissioners were not instructed to insist upon indemnity as a sine-qua-non of negociation? The instruction was good & proper as a Secret, but once known, it could never be used on a future occasion between the same parties.
I enclose three numbers of "Manlius," who is examining the important features of the Convention, to which he is inimical in principle & ab initio—He has always attributed the downfall of the federal cause to the mission to France; he has always been opposed to it and I believe, from a conviction that the measure was calculated to divide the federal party—I have differed from him entirely on the policy & the expediency of the measure, and that from the beginning, but I will not say that I disagree as to the consequences—But I will go so far as to say, that had I foreseen the utmost extent of the consequences, I would not have refrained from the cause. It was time that the party called federal should be broken up, for the materials of which it was composed were too discordant, ever to harmonize on the subject of the Country's good—
The federal Constitution has never yet had a fair experiment as a System of Government; for the confidence that has buoyed it up was personal to Washington & yourself—I believe it is in a fair way now, of being tried upon its own strength—
I have heard nothing further from Mr: Ingersoll and suppose he is waiting to hear what answer Mr: Jay gives and what fate attends the new judiciary Bill. I will be careful to give you his definitive answer, in Season—He will be at Washington in February.
I am with great attachment / Your Son
T B Adams
MHi: Adams Papers.


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- Updated 10 months ago
London Borough Profiles and AtlasGreater London Authority (GLA)The London Borough Profiles help paint a general picture of an area by presenting a range of headline indicator data in both spreadsheet and map form to help show statistics covering demographic, economic, social and environmental datasets for each borough, alongside relevant comparator areas. The London Borough Atlas does the same but provides further detailed breakdowns and time-series data for each borough. The full datasets and more...
- Created 7 years ago
Detailed Country of birth (2011 Census), BoroughOffice for National Statistics (ONS)Detailed Country of birth, by borough from the 2011 Census. Most detailed country of birth (274 countries), by borough. Data taken from 2011 Census Commissioned table CT0048 (ONS). Source: 2011 Census (27 March). File contains two tables of the same data with boroughs arranged down the side and along the top. Visualise the data in this Instant Atlas report. Similar data to this at ward level is available in this census tool.


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Join the Thunder for the "Disability Treaty" (#CRPD)!
Originally posted two days ago at my primary blog site, http://ramblingjustice.wordpress.com. Please go sign up NOW to participate in the June 10 CRPD / Disability Rights Treaty Thunder Clap It at http://thndr.it/1ky8p97!
Help bring attention to the "Disability Treaty" (Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, CRPD)! We need the U.S. to ratify this important international human rights treaty protecting the civil rights of 1 billion people with disabilities worldwide. Sign up your Twitter, Facebook, or Tumblr account NOW to join the next "Thunder Clap It" for the CRPD at http://thndr.it/1ky8p97 !
What's A "Thunder Clap It"?
A "Thunder Clap It" is when 100 or more people sign on their Twitter, Facebook, or Tumblr account to all send out the same message at the same time to all their followers. To participate, you need to sign up in advance. The next CRPD "Thunder Clap It" will be at 2pm EST on June 10, 2014 (1pm Central Time, 11am Pacific Time). Sign up BEFORE this time or you will miss the Thunder Clap.
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Incipio Orion
Received my Incipio Orion case from bestpric3.
packaging View
Case View
Inside View
EasyReach System
iPhone Inside
The case fits my iPhone 3GS perfectly. It is still a little tight, but I think once it is season, it will be alright. The EasyReach system allows you to take out your iPhone easier. Just pull the "tab" and your iPhone will popup a little.
You can get the Incipio Orion for S$28 from bestpric3 in his WTS: Incipio Orion Leather Cases for 2G, 3G, 3G S iPhone, iPod Touch, Nokia E71, E63, E72, etc. thread in Hardware Zone.


text: CULTURE #MoreThanMean Tweets Video Exposes Online Hate for Female Sports Reporters 12:05 PM PDT 4/27/2016 by Jackie Strause FACEBOOK TWITTER EMAIL ME Courtesy of YouTube/Just Not Sports #MoreThanMean Tweets After the powerful PSA — which shows men reading hateful tweets to the women face-to-face — went viral Wednesday, one of the sportscasters weighed in on the "soul-sucking" online vitriol. A new #MoreThanMean tweets video might sound like the popular Jimmy Kimmel sketch "Mean Tweets," but there's one major difference: It's not funny. Sports podcast Just Not Sports asked average men to sit down with two Chicago-based female sports writers, ESPN columnist and radio host Sarah Spain and 670 The Score anchor Julie DiCaro, and read aloud some of the offensive Twitter posts directed at the women on a regular basis. At first the men think they are in for a light-hearted gag. But soon things take a turn as they are forced to regurgitate comments that range from explicit name-calling and gender stereotypes to threats of rape, domestic violence and even death. The women have seen the tweets, but the men haven't. "I'm having trouble looking at you when I'm saying these things," says one of the struggling men, while another squirms before reading a comment about DiCaro becoming "Bill Cosby's next victim." All men are shown becoming visibly upset, with many expressing their condolences and some even refusing to continue. The video, which you can watch below, has been viewed more than 1 million times. "It was really emotional and it kind of knocks you back a bit," DiCaro, who also writes for sports website The Cauldron, told Metro Morning on Wednesday after the video went viral. "Even the tweets that don't necessarily cross the line into death or rape threats are still sort of soul-sucking because they come at you in such an avalanche every day." In a statement on their website, Just Not Sports says: "In reading the statements out loud to women journalists, guys are forced to experience, sometimes for the first time, the shocking online harassment happening to women in sports day in, day out. It serves as proof most sports fans would NEVER say these things to another person — so we shouldn't type this garbage, either." DiCaro, who covered the rape allegations against Patrick Kane, and Spain, who wrote about the sexual assault allegations against Peyton Manning, plan to discuss the video and online harassment during a panel in Chicago later today. FACEBOOK TWITTER EMAIL ME Jackie Strause email@example.com jackiedstrause


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September 12, 2014
Nathaniel Fajardo
Biblical Numerology-Part I
God Creator, reverently addressed as Jehovah in the Old Testament, and Jesus Christ, God incarnate, in the New Testament is also introduced to in at least 224 other names and titles (See Strong's Comprehensive Concordance, Universal Subject Guide to the Bible, under "Christ, the Anointed One,Other Names,"). It should have included Michael, the Archangel or "Commander-in-Chief of the angelic hosts." (Daniel 10: 13, 21; 12: 1; Jude 9; Rev. 12: 7). He is also identified in the prophetic book of Daniel as "Palmoni, the Numberer of secrets or Wonderful Numberer."
"In Daniel 8, Verse 13 the word 'saint' is supplied. 'Certain' is a combination of two Hebrew words. The first is either pali or pala. The second is mena. Each are applied in the Scriptures to the Lord. The margin says, "Heb. Palmoni; the numbered of secrets, or Wonderful Numberer. This is undoubtedly a referral to Jesus, and Jesus is the one who gives the answer in Daniel 8: 14. [pali, "secret," Judges 13: 18; pala, "wonderful," Isa. 9:6 + mena, "numbers," Daniel 5:26]." http:www.patmospapers.com/daniel/Daniel 8. htm:
"In the Authorized Version (K.J.V.) Bible with margin notes, there is a marker against 'that certain saint.' The margin note reads: Palmoni, or, the numbered of secrets, or wonderful numbered. The word 'Palmoni' is the transliteration of a mysterious Hebrew word that cannot be translated. This word is a strange amalgamation of two other Hebrew words meaning 'wonderful' and 'to number or count.' JESUS CHRIST is that certain PALMONI, the WONDERFUL Numberer." http://www.fivedoves.com/nuberbite/NUMBERB17F%20OOO6.HTM.
The above are quoted on the website nabiy4America.wordpress.com/2011/01/24/the-wonderful-numberer-of-secrets—palmomi-certain-saint/. While I disagree with certain interpretations on this website such as, "the United States is Babylon the Great," I concur with the interpretation that Jesus is "that certain saint, Palmoni," as did many of the Protestant commentators and Pioneer SDA theologians and Bible commentators.
It was no less than Christ who instructed Gabriel to explain the amazing 2300-day prophecy of Daniel 8: 14 to the beloved prophet. (Dan. 9: 23; 10: 11, 19). John, who wrote the book of Revelation for the last days, is also called "the beloved." (John 21: 20).
Biblical principle of Two: contrasts and opposites, types and antitype, literal and spiritual. –We start these series on the significance of numbers in the Bible. It is in the broadest sense of the specific numbers we will be citing that the Bible identifies two classes or kinds of (alphabetically listed): animals, armies, brothers, characters, churches, deaths, doctrines, families, followers, generals, gods, laws, leaders, Sabbaths, paths, servants, sexes, sides, worshippers, etc. Thus, there are only two final rewards—eternal life or eternal death.
The correct interpretation of the prophecies (and parables) clearly exposes Preterism and Futurism as counterfeit hyperliteralistic interpretations of the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation. These were introduced during the latter part of the Reformation by two Spanish Jesuit priests, Alcasar and Ribera, respectively, to counteract the work of the Protestant Reformation,—which is already dead.
See update in a Boston Globe article by Austen Ivereigh/Globe Correspondent, Aug. 07, 2014, titled "Pope's Protestant friend dies, but push for unity lives." This man was Anthony Joseph "Tony" Palmer, British-born South African bishop with the Communion of Evangelical Communion Churches.
There have ever been two classes and two choices as far as "the truth as it is in Jesus" is concerned. In between these is the freewill and voluntary choice based on the conviction of one's conscience. Man was created in the image of God as a free moral agent. Yet we know that most have, and will choose to believe what they want to believe against overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
"And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, Choose for yourselves this day, whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River [flood, K.J.V.] or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." Joshua 24: 14, 15. (See also Rom. 6: 1-23).
"And Elijah came to all the people, and said, How long will you falter [halt, K.J.V] between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, then follow him. But the people answered him not a word." 1 Kings 18: 21.
"There are only two classes. Each party is distinctly stamped, either with the seal of the living God, or with the mark of the beast, or his image. Each son or daughter of Adam chooses Christ or Satan as hisgeneral. All who place themselves on the side of the disloyal are under Satan's black banner and stand charged with rejecting and despitefully using Jesus Christ. They are charged with deliberately crucifying the Lord of life and glory." – E. G. White, Manuscript 40, 1897. See also Vol. 3 Selected Messages, pp. 415-8, "The Last Great Struggle."
Starting with Adam and Eve's first two sons, Cain and Abel, there have ever been two major classes and lines down to the close of earth's history—the righteous and the wicked. After the Fall, righteousness, loyalty, and faithfulness to God and His immutable law have ever been in the minority. Prophecy says thus it will be to the end. So choose we must, intellectually and spiritually, not on inclination or popularity as our fallen natures bear the propensities to disobedience and sin. Only by God's grace in Christ through the Holy Spirit can we fully overcome as Jesus did in His human nature.
Through Moses, God says to His chosen people–both of the Old and New Testaments— ancient Israel under the Jewish or Mosaic dispensation, transitioning to the Christian church in the Christian dispensation, respectively,–that their high calling, special privileges, and standing before Him as a "chosen people" has, and always will be conditional: Notice:
"See, I have set before you today life and good and death and evil, in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess.
But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn away, and worship other gods and serve them, I announce to you today that you shall surely perish; that you shall not prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to go in and possess. I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; thereforechoose life, that both you and your descendants may live." Deut. 30: 15-19. The heavens above and the earth beneath it, which remain even today, are the two witnesses to this covenant terms.
Jesus repeated the same warnings raised by His prophets to His people in the Old Testament, contrasting the broad way with the narrow way: "Enter by the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it." Matt. 7: 13, 14.
"Then one said to Him, Lord are there few who are saved? And He said to them, Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able." Luke 13: 23, 24. The Ten Commandments, God's covenant (Deut. 4: 13) which were written in the minds and hearts of Adam and Eve, which they transgressed, He repeated verbally and wrote with His own finger on two tables of stone and gave to Moses. Exo. 19, 20. In the New Covenant, it was ratified by His own blood, written no longer on stone but in the hearts and minds of all who are truly born-again. John 3: 1-21; Heb. 8: 10-13; 10: 16, 17.
God's Faithful Servants versus Multitudes; Lonely Voices of Warnings against Prevailing and Fashionable Errors and Sins of the Times. – In every age, God has called His servants to lift up their voices against the prevailing errors and sins of the multitudes. Read the message, works and fate of all the prophets, major and minor, in the Old Testament. There are about 42 of them listed, beginning with Enoch in Gen. 5: 21, 24 to Malachi (1: 1), the last of the 39 books of the Old Testament, a prophetic book. The last of the 27 books of the New Testament is also a prophetic book—the one in which the 66 books of the Bible meet and end for it is the final "Revelation of Jesus Christ." So says its introduction.
Christ said, "Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist." Luke 7: 27, 28. Paul was a prophet, 2 Cor. 12: 1-4. All of them were raised and empowered by God to counsel, comfort, reprove, and solemnly warn God's people against apostatizing from the truth, worshipping other gods, both animate and inanimate, and rebelling against His law of love and life, replacing it with man-made laws, traditions, and state-church edicts.
Satan also has his false christs, prophets, pastors, "wolves in sheep's clothing," and counterfeit revivals and reformations. Jer. 2: 8;10:21; 12:10; 23: 1, 2; Matt. 24: 24; Mark 13: 22; Matt. 7: 15; 10: 16, etc. This is the true nature of the war of wars between Christ and Satan and their respective agencies on earth, which is nearing its stupendous climax. Are we preparing for it by fortifying our minds with present truth? (Continued next week).


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You can theme your engagement shoot in any way your mind (and heart!) can imagine! This couple came up with the idea of cowboy themed engagement photos and what a great idea it was!
Brent with Brent Sucher Photography, a photographer from the Dominican Republic, had the opportunity to photograph Jose Felix and Yarelis during their engagement session and the photos were so fun! Check out the photos from their engagement session and here what Brent had to say about it all!
"When you think about getting outside the box with weddings, Yarelis and Jose Felix are the perfect example. This couple went much more out of the box than your typical engagement session to take cowboy themed engagement photos. We managed to create along side them a youthful, fun, romantic and remarkable sequence of images that the couple said "totally captured their crazy side." After the first planning meeting and hearing their expectations with their engagement session it was one of those moments when you take a risk that either pays off or ends up not working out. Their photos came out spectacular and we wanted to share the rest of their photos with you here!!"
"When we first started planning the shoot all we had was our heads full of ideas that we wanted to execute, but we didn't have the clothes, location or any accessories. However we kept believing and not giving up on our original idea with which we had all felt in love with. We kept asking friends for location suggestions, and to others for whatever else that was missing be it the perfect boots or country-themed attire, all the way down to ropes and spurs. It was really a lot of hard work and preproduction to plan out most of the shots, but in the end it was very much worth the effort!
Jose Felix and Yarelis are a great example of not quitting when you know you have an amazing idea. I personally had the blessing of creating one of the photo shoots that will stay in my heart and gallery for a long time!"
Thank you so much, Brent, for sharing these fun, and beautiful, cowboy themed engagement photos with us! To see more work from Brent Sucher Photography, or if you are planning a wedding in the Dominican Republic, be sure to visit his SnapKnot profile or check out his website at www.sucherphotography.com.
If you loved these great cowboy themed engagement photos, you will be sure to love these other great ideas including a road trip engagement session, this Michigan engagement session and these fun engagement photos with pets!


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What is a learnership?
It is a structured learning programme during which the learner spends some time learning theory and some time learning practical skills in the workplace. A learnership is a work-based learning programme that leads to an NQF registered qualification. Learnerships are directly related to an occupation or field of work, for example, electrical engineering, office management or project management.
Learnerships are managed by Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs). They were introduced by government to help skill learners and to prepare them for the workplace.
SETAs oversee learnerships and ensure that they offer qualifications related to a specific occupation or sector of the economy. All 21 SETAs have developed NQF-aligned programmes that will help you gain recognised qualifications while getting on-the-job experience.
Before the programme is implemented, a contract is drawn up by the employer, the learner and an accredited skills development training provider. Each agrees to specific conditions and the contract protects all parties for the duration of the programme.
Why were learnerships created?
The government was looking for ways to transform skills development in South Africa. In the past, education and training and workplace experience did not always provide a direct link between theory and practice.
To address this, the Skills Development Act and the Skills Levies Act were passed by Parliament, and structures and processes to transform skills development in South Africa were put in place.
The primary aim of learnerships is to address the gap between the current education and training provided and the needs of the labour market. In fact, learnerships are seen as central to skills upliftment in South Africa.
Learnership aim to address the following challenges:
- Decreasing employment;
- Unequal access to education and training, and employment opportunities;
- The effects of race, gender and geographical location on educational advancement; and
- The skills shortages in South Africa.
Who are the parties involved in a learnership?
There are three parties involved in a learnership: The learner, the employer (offering the practical training component in their business) and the education and training provider (offering the theoretical component of the learnership).
Who is eligible for a learnership?
- Learnerships are available for young people who have completed school, college or learning at other training institutions. You must be older than 16 and younger than 35 to be eligible for a learnership.
- Unemployed South Africans can only participate in a learnership if there is an employer prepared to provide the required work experience.
- In fact, a learnership is dependent on a contract that legally binds the learner, the employer and the education and training provider. This contract requires the learner to be employed by the employer only for the duration of the learnership. Once the learnership has been completed, the employer can decide on whether to continue to employ the learner or not.
What are the benefits for learners?
- They may have better employment opportunities after completing a learnership;
- They have a fixed-term employment contract for the duration of the learnership;
- Learnerships improve on the job performance so they are able to do things relevant to the job;
- They obtain a nationally-recognised qualification that is relevant to the sector;
- They earn a learner allowance for the duration of the learnership.
Will the learner be paid?
There is a specified minimum learner allowance that must be paid to unemployed learners in a learnership. This is not a salary but covers expenses like travel and meals.
What does a learner receive on completion?
During the learnership, learners will be required to complete assignments, tasks and practical tests and projects. They will be formally assessed in the classroom and workplace.
If all these assignments are completed successfully, they will be awarded an NQF-registered qualification, which is recognized nationally. They will receive a certificate stating the qualification and the area of skill development.
What is required to enter into a learnership?
If they are accepted they will need to sign two legal documents:
1. Learnership Agreement: this is an agreement signed by the learner, the organisation employing the learner, and the education provider offering the theoretical training component of the learnership. This agreement clearly outlines the rights and responsibilities of all three parties.
2. Employment contract: this is a contract they will sign with the employer, which is only valid for the time period of the learnership.
Can a learnership be terminated?
An employer can terminate the contract of a learnership if:
- The duration specified in the learnership agreement has expired;
- The employer and learner have agreed in writing to terminate the learnership agreement, or if there is no such agreement, the SETA that registered the agreement approves the termination; or
- The learner is fairly dismissed for a reason related to the learner`s conduct or capacity as an employee.
What are the benefits of learnerships to employers?
1. Relevance of training to business needs
- Learnerships are developed by the industry for the industry, in consultation with all relevant stakeholders, so the learning programme and qualification of the Learners are relevant to the specific occupation
- The outcomes of the learning programme meet the standards for the industry
- Greater credibility of qualifications, as employers have the assurance that the learners can demonstrate the competence reflected in their qualifications
- Opportunity to collaborate with training providers in customising learning programmes to meet specific workplace needs
2. Improved skills and work performance
- A Learnership is a tool for multi-skilling, as it develops the competence of employees in every component of the work processes of an occupation
- The learning route of a Learnership is more effective in promoting the practical application of learning in the workplace than most other routes
- Because employees will be acquiring new knowledge and skills and applying these in the workplace, companies will be raising the skills levels of employees while improving work performance
As training programmes that combine theory and relevant practical elements, learnerships create skilled people who:
- tend to work more independently, need less supervision and possess enhanced problem solving capabilities;
- are motivated and strive to add value to the business;
- are less likely to leave a company that takes an interest and invests in their personal and professional development.
- entering into learning contracts with unemployed people, contributes to building up the skills pool, from which employers may recruit relevant skills as needed.
- the more skills gained, the greater the productivity and the more meaningful the individual's contribution to South Africa's global competitiveness and to creating an environment conducive to investment.
3. Achievement of Employment Equity Objectives
- Progress in meeting Employment Equity targets, since previously disadvantaged employees have opportunities to improve their work-related competence and obtain qualifications
- Your business can improve its competitiveness by earning additional points on the BEE scorecard that are reserved for learnership training.
4. Appropriately Trained Recruitment Pool of Potential Employees
- Employers will be able to select employees from a wider pool of appropriately qualified workers who have developed skills that are relevant to the company's specific work context
5. Increased Return on Investment in Training
- Higher returns from the Skills Levy and investment in training, due to transfer of learning to the job
- Increased grant disbursements from Skills Levy contributions. Many SETAs offer learnership grants ranging from R 4 000 – R 40 000 per learner. However the grants are subject to availability and are offered on a first come, first serve basis on the condition that the learnership address a scarce skills in the sector, so you will need to plan ahead and get your grant application in to the SETA as early as possible to stand a chance of getting the additional help.
- Tax Incentives: SARS offers companies attractive tax incentives for participating in learnerships. In addition to claiming Learnership Discretionary grants from a SETA, an employer can also claim a tax incentive when an employer registers a learnership agreement with a SETA.
- Tax Incentives are deductions on your taxable income that you can claim for each learnership candidate that you have in your employment, once at the start of the learnership, and once again at its completion.
- The details of the tax incentive are contained in Government gazette No. 23 709 that was published on the 5 August 2002. The entitlement derives from the Taxation Laws Amendment Act, No 30 of 2002. You can find a copy on the SARS website: (First select Legislation, then Acts, then Act No 30 of 2002) or on website www.inseta.org.za (First select Learnerships, then Legislation Relative to Learnerships, then Amendment to the income Tax Act).
- There are 2 levels:
- R 30 000 commencement and completion allowances for learnerships and apprenticeships
- R 50 000 commencement and completion allowances for learners with disabilities
The principle is straightforward.
- For each year that a learner is registered for a learnership linked to the employer's trade, the employer claims an allowance of R 30 000 for that learnership. This allowance is based on a 12 months periods, and full periods of a month, so if a learnership starts half way through the employer's year of assessment, half of the allowance is claimed by the employer in the first year and half in the second.
- If the learner leaves during the year, there is no recoupment. The R 30 000 is merely apportioned for the part of the year, so that if the learner leaves after 4 months, the employer only claims 4/12 of the allowance, i.e. R 10 000. These must be full months, so if the learner leaves after 3 and a half months, the allowance must be claimed for 3 months, i.e. 3/12 X R 30 000 = R 7 500.
- Similarly, if a learnership spans 3 and half months in the first year of assessment and 8 and a half months in the second year of assessment of a single employer, the employer claims commencement allowance of R 7500 in the first year and R 20 000 in the second year.
- When a learnership is successfully completed, the employer claims an allowance of R 30 000 for each completed 12 months of the learnership. So if it was a 2-year learnership, the employer claims an allowance of R 60 000. If the learnership was for 30 months, the employer's allowance in the year of completion is also R 60 000, because two full periods of 12 months has been completed. No completion allowance is claimable until the learnership is successfully completed.
- If the learner goes to another employer while he is still doing his learnership and the learnership is carried on, linked to that employer's trade, the new employer claims the learnership for the rest of the year, i.e. 8/12 X R 30 000 = R 20 000. The new employer will also claim the full completion allowance, even if the learner was not employed by that employer in the earlier years or months of the learnership.
- If a learner fails his or her learnership and registers for a new learnership, section 12H will not apply to the new learnership if it contains the same education and training component of the learnership that the person failed.
These in addition to Learnership discretionary grants, is a substantial amount that is made available to subsidise the training of a learner on a learnership.
- Services SETA
- Skills Universe


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Sympathy Flowers by Sandy Run Florist
When you need to share a comforting thought, let Sandy Run Florist in Gaston help you select an appropriate flower option for the home, office, service or cemetery. Ask about same day delivery to Gaston and the surrounding area.
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It's Monday, and time for a new challenge at Eureka Stamps. This week, our theme is Vintage. Vintage is not always easy for me. I thought tea cups and tea pots must certainly qualify!
This card uses 3 different Eureka Stamps digis: Tea maker (digi14501), Teapot (digi11401), and Tea cup (digi9701)
I used a Spellbinder label die to cut out the Tea maker poem, then inked it with a couple shades of Tim Holtz distress inks. I also used 2 Spellbinders doily dies behind the tea pot and tea cup. The tea set is colored with Copic markers.
Designer Papers are from My Mind's Eye. Half pearls are from my stash.
Check out the Eureka Stamps challenge blog for more great Vintage inspiration, then join in our challenge!
I'd like to enter this card in the following challenges:
Word Art Wednesday -- ATG


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In late 1811 and early 1812, the town of New Madrid in the Missouri territory was hammered by three major earthquakes.
"The ground heaved and pitched, hurling furniture, snapping trees and destroying barns and homesteads,"wrote Elizabeth Rusch in Smithsonian Magazine. "Sections of riverbed below the Mississippi rose so high that part of the river ran backward."
Like those earthquakes, the election of 2016 produced two "rivers" in U.S. media. The Donald Trump earthquake seems to have hastened the final split of American media into two very distinct waters, with very little irrigation connecting them. One of those rivers is thoroughly inundated with anti-Trump, #NeverTrump debris and sediment. The other is almost wholly free of those ingredients.
It isn't just cable news, though MSNBC and CNN are mostly in the former and Fox News almost wholly in the latter. The "two rivers" effect is mostly the result of the self-selected flows we direct ourselves to via Twitter feeds and chosen for us by Facebook's and Google's almighty algorithms. News consumers have to consciously seek out the other wellspring to make sure they aren't isolated from 40 percent of the country's views and heartfelt beliefs.
Some activists don't care that they don't know what the other part of politicized America is feeling, much less thinking. But serious people know how destructive this condition is, both short --- and long-term. Democrats who aren't reading Andrew C. McCarthy about the special counsel investigation or David French about guns are willfully committing themselves to ignorance. The same goes for Republicans ignoring Nicholas Kristof on gun violence or Benjamin Wittes on the Russia probe.
Unfortunately, there are immense amounts of dollars to be made by sticking close to one river and one river only. It would take another upheaval as consequential as 2016's to commit a significant number of media platforms to something other than profitability, but such a shaking is urgently needed. The rise of partisanship on every issue, unleavened by levity, unmediated by respect for basic decency, is accelerating. Tapping the brakes, and eventually making a U-turn, is what the media need to do.
And don't tell me it starts with the president. Of course he could, and he should lower the temperature on everything. But if he doesn't, so what? That changes nothing about the responsibility to manage every platform for the common good.
"Our Republic and its press will rise or fall together," Joseph Pulitzer wrote. "An able, disinterested, public-spirited press, with trained intelligence to know the right and courage to do it, can preserve that public virtue without which popular government is a sham and a mockery. A cynical, mercenary, demagogic press will produce in time a people as base as itself. The power to mould the future of the Republic will be in the hands of the journalists of future generations." Now the question is whether today's media will use that power responsibly.