Abstract
This study employs a critical review of the scholarly and relevant literature concerning reading and decoding to determine what role, if any, the small group decoding instruction plays in the improvement of reading achievement for students.

From the Paper
"Differences in the academic performance of children appear early. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NEAP) (1996) reported that students from low socio-economic backgrounds and many minority students consistently achieve below the national average in reading skills. Unfortunately, there is no relief as students continue on through the grade levels. In fact, according to the NAEP study, the gap widens. The longer some children stay in school, the greater the discrepancy between their educational performance and that of white and middle-class students. Steadily and inexorably, the chances for academic achievement diminish for poor and minority students as they are seemingly put on the paths toward failure. The elementary grades, subsequently, are an essential time for students to gain much needed literacy skills. When these skills are not acquired intervention mechanisms need to be put into action quickly if we, as educators, expect to change outcomes."

Tags:literacy, writing, success, higher, education, careers, remedial, achievement, gap

Abstract
"Bruno" is a documentary based on a gay Austrian fashion journalist and his attempt at becoming famous in the fashion industry. This paper looks at how "Bruno" crosses the intersectionality of race, gender and sexuality and how different audience members can perceive certain messages differently. In particular, the paper discusses how in order to decode the messages or images, the audience need to incorporate their own life experiences into the situation and how "Bruno" reinforces certain stereotypes about homosexuals and black people, which could be very offensive to those audience members who are marginalized.

From the Paper
"Encoding and decoding as part of cultural studies text has taught that decoding "has the possibility of creating different meanings than those consciously encoded through the production of media texts"(Marsan, 2). It is a useful model to understand how certain situations or cultural products can be evoked with different reactions. In the trailer, Bruno doesn't adhere to the norm by the way that he dresses. For example, in one scene where Bruno attends military camp, he dresses in an army outfit with a scarf and a D&G belt. The captain asks him "What is D&G?" and he responds "Dolce and Gabbana, hello?" I perceived the message as gay men know how to dress and must accessorize their outfits. It also sent out a message that straight men aren't into the commodity fetishism of branded goods unlike homosexual men. "

Tags:social, construction, race, gender, sexuality, gay, homosexuality

Abstract
In this article, the writer states that she has noticed something curious about one item of clothing worn by the women who study in the university library, which is conscientiously worn as a badge of their status. Specifically, the writer maintains that the women's shoes are almost a badge of their status. At the college library, the women wearing casual shoes by and large wear canvas sneakers. The writer points out that this style is so commonplace that it is almost a uniform for the women in the library, although everything else about them suggests that these are not uniform people. By contrast, the writer notes that at a local gymnasium, women generally come and go wearing running shoes of one sort or another, the popular brands being Nike, Reebok, and Saucony. The writer then discusses what these women's images and dress codes portray.

From the Paper
"Given this, I believe that the preference of the library women for sneakers reflects a cultural orientation rather than any practical need.
"The library women call their shoes "sneakers." I find this a very apt term, because it has a bit of a sinister connotation, and while these women are university students, they bear a sense of being rebels, of cutting against the grain. They have an air of breaking the stereotype that a university student is male. Their bearing suggests a firm intention not to have their career paths limited to being merely secretaries, teachers, nurses, or any other sort of subservient role, particularly not that of a traditional housewife."

Tags:identify, dress, code, casual, comfortable

Abstract
The name Hockey Night in Canada brings a fervor in Canadians of all ages. Hockey is a way of life in Canada and it as strong in their culture as the French and English language that is spoken throughout the nation. When people around the world think of Canadians they think hockey. When Canadians think of themselves they breath hockey. The difference between thinking and breathing hockey is what separates Canadians from the rest of the world-hockey is not a sport they do will in, it is a way of life ("Going Bananas").

From the Paper
Decoding Hockey Night in Canada Canada is advanced in its media in comparison to other countries including the United States, but the type of programming offered is taking a backseat to the United States. Canada imports much of its programming for film, television and magazines from the Untied States. Sales related revenues from Canadian media are intertwined with the American programming from the United States. Although the media in Canada is a for-profit business, there is still strong government intervention in terms of tax laws, broadcasting and publishing. The government has even placed limits on the amount of foreign advertising allowed in publishing and

Tags:cbc, ctv, hockey

Abstract
This paper discusses the teaching of phonics to ESL learners. According to this paper, it's imperative that classes in pronunciation are complemented with lessons in phonics. The method used to teach a small child how to speak, is the same method that should be implemented with ESL learners.

From the Paper
"Why a phonics lesson should follow a pronunciation lesson when teaching ESL English The pronunciation lesson teaches the learner how to say the word. This basic ability is a prerequisite for learning the associated phonics. The ability to speak must come first, followed by the ability to recognize or write the associated phoneme/s down. In the same way, we do not teach children to write prior to their learning to speak. Why the teaching of phonics is especially important when working with ESL learners Written English has a high level of complexity, with many different ways to render the same phoneme, many rules pertaining to the rendering of phonemes, and many exceptions to the rules."

Tags:esl, teaching, reading

Abstract
In this article, the writer examines several aspects of decoding language regarding specific components of language and language instruction articulated in the writings of Marica Henry. The specific components that are addressed in the paper are: The Anglo-Saxon Layer of Language; the Latin Layer of Language; Methods for Creating Competent Readers; How to Teach Latin Roots, How to Teach Greek Combining Forms, and the Overall Benefits associated with Learning the Morphological Structure of the English Language.

From the Paper
"Marcia Henry notes that the two most significant factors in acquiring literacy are decoding word identification and spelling. This paper examines several aspects of decoding language by answering several questions regarding specific components of language and language instruction as these are articulated in the writings of Marcia Henry. The specific components that are addressed in the paper are The Anglo-Saxon Layer of Language the Latin Layer of Language Methods for Creating Competent Readers How to Teach Latin Roots How to Teach Greek Combining Forms and the Overall ..."

Tags:morphological structure English language Latin Anglo-Saxon readers, Marcia Henry, literacy

Abstract
Through a review of ten articles, this paper looks at the importance of building up "domain knowledge" and prominently features the findings of a National Reading Panel study conducted some years ago that argues (among other things) that vocabulary building, phonemic awareness exercises, systematic phonics instruction, and in-service upgrades for teachers all positively correlate to student achievement.

Table of Contents:
Abstract
Article Summaries
Article Summary One: Teaching children to read
Article Summary Two: The Nature of Effective First-Grade Literacy Instruction
Article Summary Three: The Utility of Phonic Generalizations in the Primary Grades
Article Summary Four: Reading Comprehension Requires Knowledge - of Words and the World
Article Summary Five: What Reading Does for the Mind
Summary Six: The Case for Bringing Content into the Language Arts Block and for a Knowledge-Rich Curriculum Core for all Children
Summary Seven: Teaching Decoding
Summary Eight: One Down and 80,000 to Go
Summary Nine: Teaching Vocabulary: Early, Direct, and Sequential
Summary Ten: Findings and Determinations of the National Reading Panel by Topic Areas

From the Paper
"Theodore Clymer (1963) reports that five types of generalizations have historically been utilized (at least if teacher's manuals are any indication) in teaching children to pronounce words: vowels, consonants, endings, syllabication, and miscellaneous relationships. Eventually, Clymer came up with a list of 45 generalizations or rules for study. These were arrived at by asking whether or not a candidate generalization was sufficiently specific that it could be said to actually assist (or hinder) in the pronunciation of a particular word. Clymer then made up a composite word list of all the words introduced in the four basic series from which the generalizations were drawn - plus words from the Gates Reading Vocabulary for the Primary Grades. On pages 186 and 187 of the study, Clymer outlines the basic approach undertaken to assess the efficacy of the 45 phonic generalizations; this step-by-step approach is rather complicated and cannot be easily described in the space we are allotted. Nonetheless, the study found that many commonplace phonics generalizations are of limited worth; in particular, vowel generalizations are especially unreliable while consonant generalizations are a little better. One thing that complicates Clymer's study is that his success rate for an effective phonics generalization (75 percent or above) is quite high - as he himself acknowledges.

Tags:phonemic, domain knowledge, vocabulary building, phonics in-service

Abstract
This paper answers three questions on the Exodus--the first about whether the student liked the Book of Joshua or the Book of Judges better, the second about whether the judges were meant to be humorous, and the third about how convincing the explanations of Exodus events were in "The Exodus Decoded".

From the Paper
"I like both Joshua and Judges. In Joshua, the miracles done by the Lord on behalf of the Israelites-like allowing them to walk on dry land across the Jordan-are inspiring to read about while in Judges, the endless litany of verses in which the Israelites once again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and the Lord's responses to their disobedience were compelling. If I had to choose, I would choose Judges because the picture of God's mercy toward..."

Tags:Joshua, Judges, the Exodus Decoded, The Bible Unearthed, Gideon, Samson

Abstract
This paper considers how mass media texts are encoded with many levels of meaning, all of which are consciously constructed, and how these representations of meaning are understood in various ways by audiences. It does so by examining how gender is represented in the context of the protagonist of the show Family Guy and his interactions with those around him.

From the Paper
"The text which I have chosen to discuss is Fox-Tv's series "Family Guy" which aired from April 1999 to about February 2002. It is essentially an animated Sit-Com depicting white middle class American suburbia in contemporary times. The focus of the show is on one man, the "head" of a family, and his interactions with himself, his family, his neighbors, and the world around him."

Tags:decode, encode, family, gender, guy, mass, media, representation, texts

From the Paper
"Introduction
All computers have two key components that determine their performance and power: architecture and operating system. The architecture is how the computer receives and processes information. In its broadest definition, computer architecture includes all the components of a system, but its heart is its central processing unit (CPU) and the microprocessor chip on which that unit is based. The operating system is the interface utilized by users and programs to interact with the machine. The operating system determines whether a system is multi-tasking or single tasking, what types of programs can be run, and what type of external communications can be undertaken. Where the architecture is a hardware issue, the operating system is a software issue. This research combines those two issues to consider microcomputer .."