Digital Commons Network^™

An Examination Of The English Vocabulary Knowledge Of Adult English-For-Academic-Purposes Students: Correlation With English Second-Language Proficiency And The Validity Of Yes/No Vocabulary Tests, Robert Scott Fetter

Dissertations and Theses

The importance given to vocabulary in second language instruction and in theories of second language acquisition has increased greatly in the last fifteen years. It is thus important for second language teachers/researchers to have valid, useful methods of assessing the vocabulary needs and vocabulary knowledge of their students as well as valid and useful methods of assessing the efficacy of various methods and techniques of teaching and learning vocabulary.

This study examines the usefulness and validity of a relatively new type of checklist vocabulary test method known as the 'YES/NO' method. In the YES/NO method, nonsense words are listed together …

Insoluble Ambiguity: Criticism And The Structure Of The Frame Narrative In The Turn Of The Screw By Henry James, Cecilia Rosenow

Dissertations and Theses

Since its publication in 1898, The Turn of the Screw has been the focus of diverse critical interpretation. It has reflected shifts in critical theory that include the Freudian, psychoanalytic, mythological, structuralist, reader-response, linguistic, and new-historical schools.

The majority of critical interpretations have focused on the governess's narrative and have excluded the prologue, or frame narrative, that begins the novella. The critics who did examine the prologue overlooked James's departure from the traditional use of frame narration and the importance of the structure of the frame in creating a text of insoluble ambiguity.

James departed from traditional frame narration in …

Improved Finite Analytic Methods For Solving Advection-Dominated Transport Equation In Highly Variable Velocity Field, Wei Cuifeng

Dissertations and Theses

Solute transport studies frequently rely on numerical solutions of the classical advection-diffusion equation. Unfortunately, solutions obtained with traditional finite difference and finite element techniques typically exhibit excessive numerical diffusion or spurious oscillation when advection dominates, especially when velocity field is highly variable.

One recently developed technique, the finite analytic method, offers an attractive alternative. Finite analytic methods utilize local analytic solutions in discrete elements to obtain the algebraic representations of the governing partial differential equations, thus eliminating the truncation error in the finite difference and the use of approximating functions in the finite element method. The finite analytic solutions have …

An Analysis Of Socioeconomic Effects On Scrap Paper Recycling Participation, Sara Phyllis Zimmerman

Dissertations and Theses

In the Portland, Oregon, metropolitan region, almost 16% of the paper products discarded are recoverable mixed grade scrap paper. By targeting recycling campaigns at people who tend not to recycle, participation and recovery rates may be raised. This study attempts to determine if households with greater income and education levels tend to participate in scrap paper recycling more than those with lower levels. Ten areas in Portland, each with 125 households were selected as the sample to represent the population of Portland. Data was collected about each household's recycling participation rates and socioeconomic characteristics. Statistical tests found that people who …

Phytoplankton In Mt. St. Helens Lakes, Washington, Cynthia Fay Baker

Dissertations and Theses

Phytoplankton communities in fifteen lakes in the Mt. St. Helens area were surveyed to assess the abundance and species present. Eleven of the lakes were inside the blast zone of the 1980 eruption and four were located outside the blast zone as a comparison. The hypothesis is that lakes will cluster together based on the algal species present and that some algae will be correlated with certain environmental conditions. A cluster analysis was performed to determine if the lakes would group together based on algal abundance. There did not appear to be any distinct clustering among the study lakes, but …

Germany, Great Britain And The Rashid Ali Al-Kilani Revolt Of Spring 1941, James Christian Scott

Dissertations and Theses

There are few events in the history of humankind which have been more compelling than the Second World War (1939-1945). Unfortunately, most of what transpired during this period of history stands obscured by events such as D-Day, Kursk, and Midway, all happenings which popular history has been more than happy to dwell upon.

This study's intent is to, with the use of primary materials, analyze one of the more "obscured" happenings of the Second World War, the Rashid Ali al-Kilani Revolt of April and May 1941. Central to this work is an assessment of the policy responses of both Great …

Automatic Synthesis Of Vlsi Layout For Analog Continuous-Time Filters, David Lyle Robinson

Dissertations and Theses

Automatic synthesis of digital VLSI layout has been available for many years. It has become a necessary part of the design industry as the window of time from conception to production shrinks with ever increasing competition. However, automatic synthesis of analog VLSI layout remains rare.

With digital circuits, there is often room for signal drift. In a digital circuit, a signal can drift within a range before hitting the threshold which triggers a change in logic state. The effect of parasitic capacitances for the most part, hinders the timing margins of the signal, but not its functionality. The logic functionality …

An Exploration Of The Value Of Future Tesol Teachers Reflecting On Their Pasts As Language Learners, Sarah Elizabeth Lawrence

Dissertations and Theses

Virtually all future teachers of ESL/EFL have been foreign- or second-language learners themselves. However, reflection on their own past language-learning experiences is usually not integrated into the coursework of professional TESOL preparation programs and there has been little published research in TESOL in which students in professional TESOL preparation programs reflect on their past language learning experiences. The purpose of this research was to explore the effects on TESOL Methods students of revisiting a past language-learning experience.

The subjects were students in a TESOL Methods class. This study examined an assignment given to these students to write a short "language …

Motion Picture Exhibition And The Development Of A Middle-Class Clientele: Portland, Oregon, 1894-1915, James Bruce Labosier

Dissertations and Theses

For about the first fifteen years after its commercial introduction motion picture entertainment throughout the United States was supported almost entirely by the mass of urban industrial workers, immigrants and their families. Beginning a few years before 1910 motion pictures began acquiring regular support from a limited element of the more affluent citizens until by the end of 1916 they constituted motion pictures' primary audience. This paper examines the audience development and conversion as it occurred in the downtown theaters of Portland, Oregon. Motion pictures were shown to two diverse audiences in Portland during the 1890s, regularly on a mass …

Silence: A Comparison Of Japanese And U.S. Interpretation, Mimi Murayama

Dissertations and Theses

It is commonly argued that silence is an important Japanese communication strategy, with the goal of making oneself understood without words; on the other hand, in the U.S., silence tends to be filled by speaking, and speaking up clearly and the facilitation of talking is preferred. However, our knowledge about how silence is interpreted in the U.S. and Japan is weak and based on anecdotal evidence. Therefore, this study examines how people in the U.S. and Japan interpret silence according to contexts, examining what kinds of social rules underlie their interpretation. Interpretation is guided by how people connect ideas. One …

Zooplankton Community Structure In Lakes Near Mt. St. Helens, Wa, Larry Duane Scharnberg

Dissertations and Theses

Eighteen lakes around Mt. St. Helens (MSH) were sampled for zooplankton from September '92 until September '94. Samples were enumerated and identified to the species level in most cases. Standard deviation and t-tests were performed to determine the precision of enumeration methods and replication of duplicate tows. Palatability indexes based upon predator preferences were developed and coupled with length-frequency analyses as indicators of predation pressure. The weighted means of the summer samples were then subjected to cluster analysis in an attempt to categorize lakes with respect to zooplankton community structure. Lastly, the community compositions and abundances of MSH lakes were …

Redefining The Suburban Ideal: An Analysis Of Single-Family Residential Densities In Washington County, Oregon, David Morgan Coughlan

Dissertations and Theses

The United States' suburban landscape has historically been characterized by low-density residential development. This pattern was shaped by the abundance of developable land in nineteenth century America, and by the emergence of a suburban ideal which romanticized the concept of a spacious home set in a private, garden setting. For many homebuyers, the realization of the suburban ideal was made possible by continual improvements in intraurban transportation. The commuter rail, the electric streetcar, and ultimately the automobile increased the commuting range of inner-city workers, and contributed to the continual expansion of development on the periphery of cities. In recent years, …

Tree Restructuring Approach To Mapping Problem In Cellular Architecture Fpgas, Narahari Ramineni

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis presents a new technique for mapping combinational circuits to Fine-Grain Cellular-Architecture FPGAs. We represent the netlist as the binary tree with decision variables associated with each node of the tree. The functionality of the tree nodes is chosen based on the target FPGA architecture. The proposed tree restructuring algorithms preserve local connectivity and allow direct mapping of the trees to the cellular array, thus eliminating the traditional routing phase. Also, predictability of the signal delays is a very important advantage of the developed approach. The developed bus-assignment algorithm efficiently utilizes the medium distance routing resources (buses). The method …

The Biogeochemistry Of Lakes In The Mount St. Helens Blast Zone, Victor Lee Menting

Dissertations and Theses

Dilution and ash weathering are the most important processes controlling the ion chemistry of lakes in the Mount St. Helens blast zone. Gibbs' models indicated total dissolved solids were decreasing as a result of dilution from high precipitation and runoff and the lakes plot in the rock weathering dominated region. Plots of theoretical dilution curves indicated a decline in ion concentrations as a result of dilution. Ion concentrations followed the exponential decline predicted by the dilution curve, although concentrations were higher than predicted by the curve. Increased concentrations were a result of the rapid weathering of ash in basins and …

Design Of A Digital Compensation Filter, Nader Fakhry

Dissertations and Theses

The 24-bit Motorola DSP56001 processor will be used in combination with the DSP56ADC16 and the PCM-56 to design a good FIR compensation filter. Our objective is to digitize the input analog signal, and to compensate for the attenuation in the magnitude response of the digital sine wave. Two different experiments will be conducted, a hands on approach, and a simulation program. The first one will be realized directly, using the DSP system. We will determine the magnitude response of the system, and then deduce the coefficients of the FIR sin(x)/x filter. A look up table will store those values which …

Effects Of Oral And Silent Reading On The Reading Comprehension Performance Of Left Hemisphere-Damaged Individuals, Paul K. Akers

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine whether or not the method of reading (either aloud or silently) would affect the reading comprehension performance of left hemisphere-damaged (LHD) and non-brain-damaged (NBD) subjects across inference levels using the Nelson Reading Skills Test (NRST). The experimental group was comprised of fifteen subjects who had suffered a cerebrovascular accident (CVA) to the left hemisphere of the brain. Subjects were selected after they had demonstrated an adequate level of function on the Short Porch Index of Communicative Ability (SPICA), to perform the tasks required in this study. Subjects were then randomly assigned to …

Liberalism, Community, And The Context Of Choice, Marta R. Colburn

Dissertations and Theses

Issues of community have become an important focus in the field of political theory in North America. Critics of liberalism, the dominant American theoretical tradition, have charged that liberal theorists have misconceived the nature of community at the ontological and societal level. Some critics see a relationship between the failure of liberal theorists to adequately address community and certain social pathologies facing the American liberal polity.

This thesis seeks to address the following questions: How have liberal theorists typically dealt with the issue of community? What are the major criticisms related to issues of community currently being leveled at liberalism? …

Psusort: A Parallel External Sort For A Shared Memory Multiprocessor System, Sujata V. Ramamoorthy

Dissertations and Theses

A method to parallelize external sorts on a shared memory multiprocessing system is presented in this thesis. The main goal of the thesis is to develop a sorting package that is scale able and efficient. No prior knowledge of the nature, source or size of the data is assumed for this work. A dynamic load-balancing architecture is used with no static allocation of tasks to processes. The package consists of an interface and a kernel. The interface provides the sort with the following - the sort input, output and temporary work spaces as abstract data types (ADTs), memory available, number …

A Comparative Study Of The Flathead, Cayuse And Nez Perce Tribes In Reference To The Pattern Of Acceptance And Rejection To The Missionaries In The Mid-Nineteenth Century, Mary Kathleen Branson

Dissertations and Theses

By 1836 both the Presbyterians and the Jesuits had penetrated the Pacific Northwest. The Whitmans and the Spaldings were the first Presbyterians to settle in this region. The Whitmans settled with the Cayuse at Wailaptu near Walla Walla and the Spaldings resided at Lapwaii with the Nez Perce tribe. Although two Canadian priests were working in this region, it was not until 1840, with the arrival of Father Jean-Pierre DeSmet that the Jesuits commenced their missionary work. Fr. DeSmet initially settled with the Flathead tribe in the Bitterroot Valley of Montana.

This paper observes how the Jesuits in Montana and …

Using A Computer Program To Influence The Expectations Senior Adults Have Regarding Hearing Aids, Carol I. Sayre

Dissertations and Theses

A disabling condition that is common for many senior adults is hearing impairment. Studies have shown that a substantial number of people who could benefit from amplification choose not to use hearing aid. Often the reasons may be because they have unrealistic expectations of what hearing aids can do. These unrealistic expectations are not necessarily from personal use, but the senior adult is often influenced by the media, acquaintances, or advertisements. The purpose of this study was to determine if a computer program developed with information about hearing aids and their use could be used to influence the expectations senior …

Sustainable Development In Sub-Saharan Africa: Strategies For Self-Help In Food Production, Case Study Of Kenya, Dieudonne Mayi

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis analyses the food crisis in sub-Saharan Africa in the 1980s and 1990s, identifies roots of the problem, and proposes strategies of sustainable development based on self-sufficiency in food production for domestic needs. The main goal of this research has been to devise development strategies centered on development of the food production sector. The thesis strongly suggests that countries of the region should consider developing the food production sector to experience any meaningful development, and to escape a dark future of food shortages and food dependency on developed economies. Investigation into Development Economics, Dependency, Underdevelopment, and Modernization theories has …

Methods Of Language Assessment: A Survey Of Oregon Public School Speech-Language Pathologists, Staci Lee Johnson Ball

Dissertations and Theses

Much advice has been published in the last 40 years that has attempted to aid speech-language pathologists in choosing language assessment tools (e.g., Danwitz, 1981 & Darley, 1979 ). Questions have arisen about what tests are actually being used in public schools and the reasons for those tests being used over other tests. The data bank of information is minimal in this area as only one study has appeared in the literature in which Wilson, Blackmon, Hall, & Elcholtz, (1991), conducted a State survey of currently used language assessment instruments. The primary research question to be answered was: What methods …

The Effects Of Positive Illusions On Perceived Racism, Miyako Jun-Ko Hayashi

Dissertations and Theses

This study investigated the effects of self-esteem, controllability, and optimism, the constructs inherent in positive illusions, on perceived racism. The perceived racism scale in this study was found to contain two dimensions, Equal Opportunity (EO) racism and Authority (AUT) racism. Thirty-seven African-American, 64 Asian-American and 100 White-American students at Portland States University (101 females, 100 males and mean age of 25 years) served as subjects. The findings revealed that both African- and Asian-American students perceived a racist atmosphere from peer students (EO racism) significantly higher than did the White-American students. However, only African-American students perceived greater racism from faculty members …

Memory Deficit Compensation Among Survivors Of Traumatic Brain Injury, Hugo Maynard

Dissertations and Theses

Memory impairment is an outcome of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), and associated with lower levels of post-morbid adjustment. This research isolated the memory impairment of retrieval deficit, and examined the efficacy of cues and mnemonics in remediating the impairment. Thirty-three male and female TBI survivors, 18 to 71 years old, were pre-tested for attention (COPY), short-term memory (SD), long-term memory (LD) and recognition memory (RS) employing the Rey Osterrieth Complex Figure Test (CFT), and Subtest. Sixteen subjects demonstrating a retrieval deficit were administered the post-test, with even random assignment into four treatment conditions: a control group (CONTROL), a group administered …

Sex-Role Stereotypes: How Far Have We Come?, Erica D. Monte

Dissertations and Theses

Parents are the first source of a child's learning of her or his gender. In fact, sex-role stereotyping of infants by parents may occur within the first 24 hours of birth. This study examined the nature of parental stereotyping on the basis of their infant's sex by obtaining parents' descriptions of their newborn and toy and clothing preferences for their newborn. In 1974, Rubin found that parents responded stereotypically to their infants on the basis of sex. Following Rubin's interview approach, 50 parent pairs from two urban hospitals were asked to participate in a parent-infant study and were subsequently interviewed …

Implementing Community Policing: A Documentation And Assessment Of Organizational Change, Emmajean Williams

Dissertations and Theses

Four research questions guided this documentation and assessment of the Portland Police Bureau's conversion to community policing. These questions generated a description of the events and circumstances that created the perceived need for change in the Bureau's role and function; a search for justification for selecting community policing as an alternative policing approach; a comparative analysis of past attempts to implement innovative change of a similar dimension in police organizations; and an assessment of the process by which the Bureau implemented this new policing strategy.

The findings indicate that the prominent factors driving this change are first, the limitations of …

Analysis Of Intermodulation Distortion For Mesfet Small-Signal Amplifiers, Imad Saleh Ahmad

Dissertations and Theses

Using the nonlinear Volterra series representation, analytical expressions for the third-order intermodulation distortion power and intercept point for a MESFET small-signal amplifier are derived when its equivalent circuit is bilateral and includes the gate-to-drain capacitance (C_gd) explicitly as a nonlinear element. Previously developed analytical expressions treated C_gd as a linear element or incorporated it as part of gate-to-source and drainto- source capacitances (C_gs and C_ds). These new analytical expressions are then compared with experimental data and good agreement is obtained. The analytical expressions are also used to study the variation of intermodulation distortion with …

The Portland Learning Community : A History, Martin White

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis recounts the history of the Portland Learning Community, an experimental institution of higher education founded in 1970 by a group consisting mostly of former faculty and students at Reed College. The Learning Community was funded by the Carnegie Corporation and affiliated with Antioch College.

Performance Appraisal In Organizational Cultural Context, Unoda C. Moyo

Dissertations and Theses

This study examined the relationship between an organization's culture and its performance appraisal (PA) system and process. The initial phase of this study involved examining an organization's culture and the properties of its performance appraisal system from organizational archival information. Information derived from this phase of the study was later utilized to formulate interview questions, guide the search for the organizational culture survey instrument, and to construct the performance appraisal perceptions measuring instrument. This latter instrument is a quantitative measure that was later employed in testing the primary hypothesis that stated the performance appraisal process had a positive effect on …

A Study Of Special Preparation And Training Needs Of Middle School Teachers, Marilyn Seger

Dissertations and Theses

The concept of middle level schooling has existed in the United States since the early 1900s. During the early 1960s, middle level schools were organized to meet the unique developmental needs of early adolescents. Yet, special training, preparation and/or certification for aspiring teachers who wish to work at this level are not available in the majority of states. Many state licensing agencies provide either elementary or secondary certification, which historically was believed to be adequate for middle level teaching. This study investigates the special preparation and training needs of middle level teachers as perceived by teachers and administrators in a …