Open Research Exeter - University of Exeter
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An Investigation into L2 Lexical Proficiency of Norwegian Secondary Learners
No full textThis thesis explores lexical proficiency in L2 learner writing across different year groups and writing genres. Given the intricate nature of lexical proficiency, this thesis investigates lexical proficiency in L2 learner writing through one of its dimensions, which is lexical diversity. This dimension is addressed from the multivariate perspective, based on Jarvis’s (2013a, 2013b) reconceptualization. Six dimensions
of lexical diversity were under examination, namely volume, variability, rarity, dispersion, evenness, and semantic disparity. Rarity in this study was examined
based on the frequency information from three registers, which are general (i.e. frequency per million words), academic, and fiction. A total of 739 texts responding to 110 writing tasks in three genres (i.e. narrative, descriptive, opinion) written by
136 Norwegian learners of English from Year 8 to Year 11 were under investigation for lexical proficiency. The thesis aims to examine the extent that lexical proficiency, as measured through lexical diversity, is different in young L2 learner writing over
time and across genres.
Four major findings were drawn from this study. First, there was a significant difference across year groups and genres in most dimensions of lexical diversity,
namely volume, variability, rarity by types based on general frequency, rarity by tokens and by types based on academic/fiction frequency, evenness, and
dispersion. Meanwhile, no significant difference was found across year groups and genres in rarity by tokens based on general frequency, and no significant difference was identified across genres in semantic disparity. Second, robust developments were consistently found from Year 10 to Year 11 in descriptive writing (i.e. volume, dispersion, rarity by tokens and by types based on general/fiction register, and semantic disparity) and in opinion writing (i.e. variability, rarity by tokens and by types based on general/fiction register, and semantic disparity). Third, narrative genre was
found to be significantly different from descriptive and opinion genre in volume, variability, rarity based on academic and fiction frequency, dispersion, and semantic disparity. Finally, dimensions of lexical diversity were found to have significant yet low degree of dependence on each other, implying the need to consider lexical diversity a multivariate phenomenon.
This thesis provides theoretical and methodological implications for the examination and understanding of lexical proficiency through the multidimensional lexical
diversity. Moreover, pedagogical implications are also proposed to promote L2 learners’ lexical proficiency in their writing.</p
My Life as I Remember It: Subjectivities, feeling, and narrative in working-class women’s self-representation from late-twentieth-century England
No full textThis thesis is an historical and literary study of working-class women’s lifewriting from texts written in England during the 1970s and 1980s. The main objectives are to recover these author’s subjectivities and emotional worlds, situating them in their historic and cultural contexts, and to understand the ways in which they negotiated the intersections of their identities. Moreover, it considers how different historical experiences including class, gender, and race shape literary form and examine what it meant for these women to write in such a way about their lives.
These aims are achieved in two ways. The first chapter of analysis features a comparative methodology of texts from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries with works from the late twentieth century to historicise dominant structures of feeling and examine how working-class women responded to patterns of social change. The following chapters each focus on a single author writing in the 1970s and 1980s, examining the works of Adeline Hodges, Kathleen Betterton, Pauline Wiltshire, Louise Shore, and Katherine Henderson. This enables a more comprehensive analysis of their use of genre, language, rhetorical devices, and the discourses they were writing within. Using the frameworks of intersubjectivity and intersectionality it considers how life stories are told in relation to different audiences and how overlapping and sometimes conflicting identities are negotiated and expressed.
In doing so, this thesis contributes to understandings of working-class women’s engagement with autobiographical writing and how they constructed and reconstructed their selves through its form, emphasising working-class women’s self-representation as a reparative practice that is both dialogical and introspective and that facilitates coping with trauma and memorialising and building community.</p
The dark pyramid: Unpacking the multidimensional nature of the dark side of leadership
No full textThe dark side of leadership has been employed as an umbrella term to cover an array of concepts typically concerned with the dysfunctionality and/or toxicity of individual leaders. As the field of leadership studies moves towards ‘post‐heroic’ perspectives, we apply the same ontological positioning, adopting a ‘post‐villainous’ perspective in order to explore the wider network of influence that facilitates and enables the dark side of leadership to emerge and thrive. Through analysis of four high profile case studies of corporate bankruptcies attributed to the dark side of leadership (Enron, Purdue Pharma, Theranos and Wirecard), this paper takes a subjective collective approach that reveals the dark side of leadership as a multi‐faceted phenomenon with varying perceptions and interpretations. We propose a three‐dimensional, dark pyramid comprising internal (f)actors (similar to the original framework), external (f)actors, regulatory (f)actors and outcomes (the word ‘(f)actors’ is used to denote the potential for the influence to be an actor or another factor). By conceptualizing the dark side of leadership as a multidimensional phenomenon, we offer new ways of theorizing, researching and/or addressing the factors that contribute towards the dark side of leadership in organizations.</p
Information on public opinion has lasting effects on second-order climate beliefs, but minimal and ephemeral effects on first-order beliefs
No full textAcross western democracies, pro-climate beliefs are widespread. Yet, vocal minorities contest scientific consensus about global warming. Perhaps as a consequence, the extent to which the public accepts global warming and climate action is often underestimated. Correcting this perceptual deficit has been proposed as a promising way to strengthen climate action, since knowledge of broad public consensus could motivate environmentally friendly behaviours, increase support for policy interventions, or shift perceptions of political feasibility. In a preregistered two-wave survey experiment in Germany, we provide a novel test of this strategy in a national context with already high pro-climate support, using real and comprehensive public opinion data. We find that exposure to this information can produce a lasting, significant increase in second-order beliefs (perceptions of public opinion) two weeks after treatment, especially among those who initially underestimated public support. However, the effects on first-order outcomes—policy feasibility perceptions, attitudes, and behavioural intentions—are small, short-lived, and largely non-significant. By demonstrating the boundary conditions of second-order interventions, our study suggests that their promise may be more limited than often assumed. These findings may highlight the potential need for more targeted, repeated, and context-sensitive approaches if second-order information is to meaningfully shift climate beliefs and behaviours.</p
Sustainability on the small screen: Low carbon living in UK home improvement TV shows
No full textThis is a working brief summarising findings of a C3DS project looking at sustainability on screen in UK television content. The project was carried out in collaboration with Nesta, Picture Zero, and University of Southern California.</p
Buried before the flood? A regional study of Romano-British tableware
No full textPast discussions of Romano-British pewter tableware have tended to view the vessels in representative terms, as evidence either for the ‘Romanisation’ of the south of Britain, or as signifiers of elite identity. This thesis builds a more holistic understanding of how these vessels may have been used and perceived by contemporary communities by engaging with the materiality of pewter vessels and comparing them to contemporary vessels in other materials. The thesis utilises the framework provided by the theoretical tools of affordances and objectscapes to structure discussion and reach an understanding of pewter tableware vessels as functional objects and active social agents. The thesis also seeks to demonstrate the important role which regional museum collections continue to play in archaeological research, and draws upon a survey of over 100 Romano-British pewter vessels from the modern ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire, Bristol, Wiltshire, Somerset, and Dorset now held in museum collections, as well as a detailed case study of the largely unpublished material from ‘Blagan Hill’ (Roughridge Hill) in Wiltshire.</p
Infrastructures of influence: The British Federation of Film Societies and the Circulation of Soft Power, 1960-2000
No full textThis article examines the role of the British Federation of Film Societies (BFFS) in the international circulation of film culture from 1960 to 2000, arguing that the Federation functioned as an infrastructural conduit for cultural diplomacy through which soft power could be generated. Drawing on newly catalogued archival materials from the recently established BFFS Archive in Sheffield, the article analyses seven case studies of film societies affiliated with the BFFS between the 1960s and 1990s, in contexts ranging from postcolonial India and post-Soviet Poland to the pre-millennium Faroe Islands, Switzerland, and London. While Joseph Nye’s concept of soft power has typically been applied to state-led cultural diplomacy, this article extends recent critiques by showing how cultural influence can emerge from the logistical and bureaucratic structures of non-governmental institutions. It proposes a four-part typology—coincidental, strategic, logistical, and negated soft power—to account for the varied ways in which the BFFS created the conditions for influence to be accrued depending on local conditions, institutional design, and audience access. In doing so, the article repositions the BFFS not as a purely domestic cultural body, but as part of a wider transnational infrastructure that linked national film cultures with international publics in often unexpected ways.</p
Healthcare Provider Perspectives of Various Signs and Symptoms for Diagnosing Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy: Results of an International, Multidisciplinary Survey
No full textIntroduction/Aims: Diagnosis of degenerative cervical myelopathy (DCM) is frequently delayed. A lack of awareness and standardized screening criteria have been identified as major contributors. The objective of this study was to conduct a survey of international experts to determine the value of various signs and symptoms in diagnosing patients with DCM. This study forms part of a three-step initiative that aims to develop pragmatic screening criteria for DCM. Methods: An open voluntary English-language Likert scale survey was disseminated among international networks of experts in DCM. Respondents were asked to rank each sign or symptom on a scale of 0 (not important at all) to 10 (extremely important); a mean value of ≥ 6.5 was set a priori as the threshold to consider a feature as having significant diagnostic value. Results: Fifteen symptoms and 12 signs were ranked as having significant diagnostic value. The most highly ranked symptoms are primarily related to abnormalities of the upper limb, hand function, and gait. The top-rated signs included pathological reflexes as well as impairment of motor function, gait, and coordination. Features ranked as significant were largely consistent across professions, levels of experience, and continental regions. Discussion: The integration of expert stakeholder opinion with evidence from existing literature strengthens the clinical framework for identifying key clinical features of DCM. These 27 features will be discussed at an international consensus meeting to establish a standardized clinical screening toolkit that can be used by frontline healthcare professionals to detect patients with DCM.</p
Navigating tricky trade-offs in busy seas: Insights from England for blue justice
No full textThe expanding blue economy intensifies competition for marine resources worldwide, necessitating trade-offs among sectors, stakeholders, and ecosystems. Our qualitative research examined how these marine trade-offs are managed in England and the implications for blue (social) justice. Through a desk review and interviews with marine managers and policy-makers we found that trade-offs are not addressed systematically, with decision-making biased by evidence gaps, limited stakeholder participation, and inconsistent reasoning. Social impacts are particularly underrepresented due to data limitations and consultation processes favouring well-resourced stakeholders. The sector-by-sector approach to trade-off decision-making generates cumulative impacts on vulnerable groups and species that often go unrecognised. While environmental compensation mechanisms exist, compensation for social losses is ad hoc. Equitable ocean governance requires moving from tacit to explicit consideration of trade-offs. This article argues this can be achieved through systematic and deliberative trade-off assessments with meaningful stakeholder participation (procedural justice) that is inclusive of diverse values and knowledges (recognition justice), establishing thresholds for determining unacceptable trade-offs (distributive justice), and mechanisms for addressing both unavoidable environmental and social losses (restorative justice).</p
No evidence for genotype-treatment interactions with breast cancer endocrine therapy adverse effects in UK Biobank.
No full textBreast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer worldwide. Earlier studies have demonstrated that breast cancer patients with particular genomic variants are more susceptible to adverse drug effects (ADEs) when they are receiving endocrine therapy. However, to establish a robust body of evidence with regard to the potential utility and predictive value of these variants, findings from these reports require replication. This study aimed to validate previously reported associations between genomic variants and medically important adverse drug effects (MIADEs) using UK Biobank (UKBB). In 2729 female participants who had received endocrine therapy in the UKBB, no statistically significant genotype-treatment interactions were observed for the outcomes examined after correction for multiple testing. Power was limited for modest interactions involving low-frequency variants and less frequent outcomes, whereas power was high to detect larger interaction effects in common-variant scenarios. Accordingly, the findings do not provide robust evidence to support previously reported pharmacogenomic associations in this dataset, and current evidence does not support the use of pharmacogenomic testing for individualised endocrine therapy selection in clinical practice.</p