University of Chester Digital Repository

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ChesterRep is a digital repository containing research publications by researchers affiliated with the University of Chester.

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Now showing 1 - 5 of 12

Recent Submissions

Open Access
From opportunity to strategy: future scenarios for Nigeria–EU science, technology, and innovation collaboration
(UAB Sustainability for Regions, 2026-06-30) Piccinetti, Leonardo; Omoruyi, Trevor U.; Santoro, Donatella; Hassan, Mohammed Mahgoub; Bi, Irie Vroh; Rezk, Mohamed Ramadan A.; Sustainabile Innovation Technology Services Ltd, Limerick; University of Chester; Rete Europea dell'Innovazione (REDINN), Rome; National Research and Development Center for Sustainable Agriculture, Saudi Arabia; African Observatory for Science, Technology and Innovation, Equatorial Guinea; Academy of Scientific Research and Technology, Egypt
Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) have become central to international partnerships in the knowledge economy, particularly in addressing shared development challenges. Within this context, collaboration between Nigeria and the European Union (EU) presents important opportunities for strengthening research cooperation, innovation ecosystems, and technological development. Yet, despite growing policy momentum and expanding scientific engagement, this cooperation remains uneven and often fragmented across institutions, sectors, and funding mechanisms. This paper examines the future trajectory of Nigeria–EU STI collaboration through an integrated analytical framework combining bibliometric analysis, qualitative content analysis, PEST analysis, and scenario planning. Drawing on evidence from 8,468 Nigeria–EU co-authored publications published between 2020 and 2025, the study identifies the main thematic areas of cooperation and the key political, economic, social, and technological drivers shaping the partnership. Based on these drivers, three plausible future scenarios for collaboration by 2040 are developed: Green–Digital Leap, Uneven Pathways, and Drifting Apart. The findings show that Nigeria–EU STI cooperation has a strong foundation in public health, climate and sustainability, governance, education, and emerging digital fields, but its long-term effectiveness will depend on stronger political commitment, more stable and diversified funding, improved institutional and technological capacity, and broader participation across the innovation system. The paper concludes that a more strategic, inclusive, and challenge-oriented partnership could transform Nigeria–EU STI cooperation from fragmented project-based engagement into a resilient framework for co-innovation, capable of advancing sustainable development, green transition, and digital transformation by 2040.
Open Access
Worlds of evidence: Visualising patterns in witness statements in the aftermath of the Hillsborough football stadium disaster
(John Benjamins Publishing, 2021-09-15) Canning, Patricia; Ho, Yufang; Bartl, Sara; University College Utrecht; University of Chester; University of Birmingham
The Hillsborough football stadium disaster (1989) in Sheffield, UK, led to the deaths of 97 football fans and resulted in the longest jury case in British legal history (2016). This article examines the witness statements of two Sheffield residents who claim to have attended the match. Using a mixed-methods approach that incorporates a cognitive linguistic framework (Text World Theory) with visualisation software (VUE) we consider both form and function of a number of linguistic features, such as meta-narrative, evaluative lexis, syntax, and modality to investigate how institutional voices permeate and potentially distort layperson narratives. Our analysis casts doubt on the veracity of the statements and raises questions about what can be considered evidential in a forensic investigation.
Embargo
“I like French because I sing and dance!” Exploring the use of the Orff method for French language acquisition among young children in an international school in Qatar
(University of Chester, 2026-01) Rozmus, Cesar B.; Devarakonda, Chandrika
This study examines the application of the Orff method to enhance French language acquisition among multilingual children between 5 and 6 years at an international school in Doha, Qatar. In this culturally and linguistically diverse educational environment, children often speak several languages, learning French as a third or fourth language. Addressing the urgent need for developmentally suitable and culturally sensitive teaching methods in such settings, this research investigates how combining music, movement, and play can support the development of early foreign-language skills and emotional engagement. Despite growing interest in arts-integrated pedagogy, empirical research on Orff-based foreign language learning in Gulf early-years contexts remains limited. Grounded in a qualita4ve research paradigm, specifically interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA), the study investigated children’s lived experiences in a classroom where language instruction was enhanced with artistic modalities. Data collection methods included classroom observations, semi-structured interviews with students, focus groups with learners, reflective teaching journals, and the analysis of educational artefacts. The data were analysed following the IPA stages, starting with open and in vivo coding, progressing to the identification of emerging themes, and concluding with the development of higher-order interpretative structures through triangulation across data sources. The findings demonstrated that the Orff method contributed meaningfully to early language acquisition by creating a joyful, multisensory, and interactive learning environment. Moreover, team-based musical activities supported peer collaboration, intercultural awareness, and self-confidence, aligning with the skills needed in globally oriented education. Children were more willing to take linguistic risks, engage in spontaneous speech, and persist in communication despite limited vocabulary or fluency. This research contributed to early childhood language education and arts-integrated pedagogy by showing that the Orff method can enhance young children’s phonological awareness, vocabulary retention, emotional engagement, and willingness to participate in French learning. Through music, movement and play children demonstrated a more sustained focus and deeper linguistic processing than traditional grammar-centred instruction. These findings offer clear implications for educators and policymakers seeking developmentally appropriate and culturally responsive approaches in multilingual early-years settings, especially in regions such as the Gulf, where educational policies are becoming increasingly global but remain influenced by traditional paradigms. These findings emphasise the value of music- and movement-based pedagogies for early foreign language education and highlight the importance of integrating such approaches into teacher training programmes, especially in linguistically diverse and culturally rich educational settings.
Embargo
A qualitative study of familial relationship breakdown, as a feature of youth homelessness within Manchester, UK
(University of Chester, 2026-05) Kelbie, Sara; Bamber, Sally; Crutchley, Rebecca
Young people have many enduring relationships within their ecosystem, with caregivers and teachers noted as imparting the greatest influence. This helps explain why tensions within the family unit can create far-reaching reverberations for young people, including homelessness. The phenomenon of homelessness can profoundly affect multiple facets of a child's and family's life. In the UK context, familial relationship breakdown is identified as the primary causal factor contributing to youth homelessness. However, despite the growing prevalence of this issue, there are relatively few academic studies exploring this theme. The incorporation of insights from Homeless Service Providers (HSPs) remains limited, even though they are a critical stakeholder group given their frontline experience and privileged access to the experiences of young homeless people. This thesis aims to address gaps in the literature by employing an interpretivist qualitative methodology. It investigates the relationship between familial breakdown and subsequent homelessness among young people in Manchester. Data were gathered through four semi-structured interviews and twenty-three questionnaires administered to HSPs via online platforms. The analysis yielded four core themes: (1) drivers of homelessness for young women; (2) the need for a gendered approach to homelessness; (3) the role of mental health in youth experiences; and (4) the perspectives of frontline workers. Grounded in Urie Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological theory and Pierre Bourdieu’s concepts of cultural reproduction, the study further examined the interpersonal relationships, interactions, and engagements of those maintaining proximal relationships with young homeless people. Prominent relationships with caregivers, educators, and HSPs revealed instances of structural and symbolic violence 12 permeating institutions, hindering the quality of relationships and contributing to disruption, dysfunction, and the reproduction of poverty and deprivation for young people. Schools were recognised as integral arenas for cultivating supportive networks for young people and their families. Teachers’ potential to play a pivotal role in developing secure attachments that may alter trajectories for many young people experiencing homelessness was also noted. However, the findings of this study highlight the need for a better understanding of interventions, services, and support mechanisms to address the needs of young people and their family's experiencing homelessness. Specifically, the research advocates for a more ecologically informed approach that attends to the diverse factors impacting the wellbeing and adjustment trajectories of this vulnerable population.
Embargo
The borderwork of sexual violence in immigration detention
(Taylor & Francis, 2026 - forthcoming) Tyerman, Thom; Massey, Rachel; University of Edinburgh; University of Chester
This article examines the intimate geopolitical work that sexual violence in detention does. Focusing on the United States, which has the largest immigration detention system in the world, this article first explores how sexual violence and the figure of the ‘foreign rapist’ is discursively mobilised to justify the necessity of carceral bordering and racialised constructions of the nation. Second, it analyses the institutional policies and practices designed to address and mitigate sexual violence in immigration detention, revealing how they perpetuate these racialised discourses, entrench carceral technologies of governance, and obscure the systemic nature of sexual violence in detention. Third, we examine everyday practices of sexualised violence that pervade detention to show how it forms a key feature of the daily operation of carceral power. In doing so, we develop the concept of the borderwork of sexual violence in detention, to illuminate how sexual violence enforces detention’s coercive purpose, constructs incarcerated subjects as racialised ‘others’, and reinforces and polices racialised and sexualised national borders.