These two volumes contain 16 chapters together with an editorial introduction. One of the papers in Volume II is also by Slobin and he is coauthor of the chapter on Turkish in Volume I. Volume I is oriented towards the acquisition of specific languages (namely, English, German, Hebrew, Japanese, Kaluli, Polish, Romance [with special reference to French], Samoan, Turkish, American Sign language), whereas the second focuses on theoretical issues. MacWhinney's paper in the second volume adds Hungarian to the list of languages from which the data are drawn. It should be obvious that this is an important collection since nothing of this scope and type exists. It is the culmination of some 15 years of research on language acquisition motivated largely by Slobin's notion of the operating principles which guide language acquisition. The contributors address themselves to a common set of issues and sum up the research that has been done on particular languages. At the same time, however, these volumes draw our attention to how few languages we have adequate acquisitional data for. One useful function of this collection is thus to identify lacunae in the literature and to isolate particular problems that require elucidation from a particular type of data. There are still many aspects of acquisition for which we have no data, even in relatively well-investigated languages like English and French. At the moment, cross-linguistic comparison can be realistically carried out for only a handful of constructions and/or categories, for example, passives, locative prepositions, relative clauses. And even for features that have been extensively studied, there is often little agreement across different studies. The subsystems chosen for cross-linguistic comparison are generally biased towards the typological distinctions made within Indo-European languages. Thus, not surprisingly, there have been no comparative studies of children's acquisition of switch reference systems, as far as I know. The evidence presented from languages like Japanese, Samoan, and Kaluli indicate too how biased our notions are of what children's language is like. Linguistics generally refer to the early stages of child language as telegraphic because much that would have to be present in the presumed adult equivalent has not been expressed. However, in other languages ellipsis is the norm. As Ochs (808) points out, in Samoan the relative nonexpression of major constituents is a sign of competence, since the presence of a subject or object would represent a marked strategy of expression. In English, however, telegraphic speech is indicative of incompetence. In still other cases, like Turkish, child speech is not telegraphic because children acquire most of the inflectional system by 2 years of age or earlier. Although utterances are short
Verbs of speaking are widely represented in modern English and Russian. The group of semantically related speaking verbs in English includes: to say, to speak, to tell, and to talk ; in Russian, this group can include the following words: говорить, сказать, рассказывать, and разговаривать . In both languages, the semantic group of verbs of speaking is much broader and is not limited to the verbs listed above. A significant number of synonyms for speaking appear and disappear under the influence of language style and usage in various historical periods. At the same time, the above-mentioned verbs, which appeared at the time of the emergence of the language, have not only preserved their original meanings but have also significantly expanded them. Therefore, the aim of this study is to identify the features of the development of the semantic meaning of verbs of speaking in English and Russian from both diachronic and synchronic perspectives. The relevance of this study lies in the need to examine the semantic meaning of verbs of speaking in both languages, as they are widely used across a wide variety of subject areas. Data from the British National Corpus show that the four synonymous verbs occur in both spoken and written English and are used in the following subject fields: literature, religion, mathematics, economics and commerce, linguistics, law, telecommunications, and others. According to the Russian National Corpus, these Russian speaking verbs occur in areas such as: fiction, journalism, everyday speech, educational and scientific literature, church and theological texts, electronic communications, official and business documents, advertising, and industrial and technical writing. In addition, these verbs are among the first 1,000 most frequently used words in modern English and Russian.
The paper investigates punctuation rules and their application in Serbian and English, focusing on the examples that comply with different normative solutions in the two languages. The main goal of the research is to compare and contrast the results obtained from a survey done by a group of seventh-grade primary school students. The paper aims to determine how well the respondents apply punctuation rules in Serbian and English, to examine whether there is interference in the application of rules, and to investigate to what extent the detected errors illustrate the tendency of spreading pseudo-norms that violate the orthography of both languages. The results show that the respondents use punctuation marks with more precision in Serbian than in English. The percentage of incorrect answers to each question and the types of errors indicate interference and the creation of hybrid forms that are incorrect in both languages, which represent the creation of pseudo-norms. Furthermore, the results show a greater influence of the application of the rules adopted in the Serbian language on the English language, which can be interpreted by the bigger number of Serbian classes and clearly stated topics within the syllabus of the Serbian language course.
History of scholarship and learning. The humanities
Ramos Asafo-Adjei, Ronald Osei Mensah, Ernest Kwesi Klu
et al.
AbstractThe nexus among social media usage and the English language writing performances of a Ghanaian English as Second Language (ESL) class was investigated in this enquiry. The simple qualitative case study design was used, and the data was collected from a co-educational government secondary school Form 2 General Arts One class in Ghana. A focus group discussion (FGD) guide was employed to elicit the data, and the data were synthesised and analysed using the Data Analysis Spiral. It was evidenced that social media has adversely impacted the students’ English Language learning, as oblivious and non-standard contents have been smuggled into the students’ academic writings and have negatively affected their performances. We recommend that teachers and parents regulate students’ access to social media to restrict them to confined times to prevent them from wasting time on unproductive and non-academic-related activities. Also, stakeholders in education should consider integrating pedagogical practices that leverage social media to engage students.
The effect of reading and teaching literary texts on the development of productive skills of language learners has long been an eye-catching factor for researchers. Having determined the interest through analysis, the present study seeks to search the effect of literary texts on the enhancement of vocabulary usage and composition length of the EFL learners. To achieve the above-mentioned desire, a case study was designed, including the population of 15 intermediate EFL. The case was chosen from the language learners of the Velayat University of Iranshahr. They were supposed to read and discuss a literary text, the effect of which on their writing was later compared to a previously prepared composition, before the exposure of the literary text. A focus on the vocabulary range and composition length along with the progression of their ideas in writing revealed that literary text and the discussion session were highly influential on the above-mentioned features. They used more lexical resources from the literary text in their composition along with a longer and more comprehensive text in terms of progression.
In Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, Nora’s departure from home being hurt by her husband’s behavior appears to be the most important event of the drama igniting so far a wide critical parlances of Feminist array that appreciate the departure as Nora’s freedom from male-dominated society. But Nora’s success in having a home of comfort and happiness in her post-departure future life in Feminist world deserves critical attention too. We may posit Nora will shift to a Feminist world considering the departure as the manifestation of her newly imbibed Feminist spirit because the first wave Feminism of her time is either indifferent about or antagonistic to family life by being politics-centric. However, when Nora has within her a woman’s indispensable family-centric female construction to face nonfamilial politics-centric first wave feminism, she is sure to find no home in that Feminist world. Thus, this paper aims at examining how Nora, with her declared departure from home, is going to shift to the world of first wave Feminism which, by being nonfamilial and politics-centric, works against the very family-centric construction of Nora’s female construction and offers homelessness to her.
Nirel Angwen Wisley Tan, Mike Pratiwi Wijaya, Nina Setyaningsih
Being a stand-up comedian with medical issue requires the ability to apply certain techniques to create humor when performing stand-up comedy. Josh Blue (JB) is one of those well-known stand-up comedians diagnosed with cerebral palsy. This study aims to investigate the linguistics aspects applied by JB in delivering his jokes and how these aspects relate to identity JB wants to present. This research employed a qualitative descriptive method to analyze the data. The results reveal that JB uses irony in his stand-up comedy. In terms of linguistic features, JB mostly applies silent pause, while in joke technique JB applies self-ridicule. These findings suggest that the linguistics aspects used by JB present that disability can be a special identity that affects people’s perception and their ways of interaction with other people. JB linked each of his experience of being disabled by wrapping it well as his joke technique. JB has privilege in processing his disability into a primacy in joke technique without sounding condescending and even sarcastic.
• HIGHLIGHTS:
Irony is the language feature commonly used by Josh Blue as he often shares his experiences
implicitly.
• Ridicule is the most dominant joke technique used by Josh Blue since most topics that he
shares are about his condition of being disabled.
• The linguistics aspects used by Josh Blue demonstrates that disability identity can be a
special phenomenon that affects people’s perception and their ways of interaction with
other people.
Rachel G. A. Thompson, Jerry John Nutor, Julene K. Johnson
Research has shown that music can be used to educate or disseminate information about public health crises. Grounded in the edutainment approach, we explored how songs are being used to create awareness about COVID-19 in Ghana, a sub-Saharan African country. YouTube was searched, and 28 songs met the study inclusion criteria. We conducted a thematic analysis of the song lyrics. Most lyrics were in English, Ghanaian Pidgin English, Akan, Ga, or Dagbani. Reflecting the multilingual population of Ghana, half of the songs contained three languages to convey their message, and only five songs were in one language. Eight themes emerged from the analysis: public health guidelines, COVID-19 is real and not a hoax, COVID-19 is infectious, prayer as method to stop the virus, emotional reaction and disruption of “everyday” activities; verbally expelling the virus, call for unity and collective efforts, and inspiring hope. We show that songs have the potential as a method for rapidly sharing information about emerging public health crises. Even though, it is beyond the scope of this study to draw conclusions about the reception and impact of songs on awareness and knowledge, the study shows that examining song lyrics can still be useful in understanding local attitudes toward COVID-19, as well as strategies for promoting preventive behaviors. We note that additional multidimensional efforts are needed to increase awareness among the general public about the COVID-19 pandemic.
Smitha Elizabeth George, Grace Rebekah, Anita Shirley Joselyn
Background: There is a huge deficit in patient knowledge about roles played by an anesthesiologist and about the relevance of a proper preanesthetic evaluation. This study attempted to evaluate if quality improvement strategies could improve it during the preanesthesia clinic (PAC) visit.
Materials and Methods: The Plan, Do, Study, Act cycle model of quality control projects was implemented by a prospective audit using a questionnaire, conducted in 170 patients scheduled for elective surgeries in the PAC of a tertiary care hospital, to assess knowledge levels about the relevance of PAC and roles of the anesthesiologist. Educational tools consisting of posters and information on a screen displayed in the PAC waiting area were designed. Another audit in consecutive 170 patients was conducted to assess if educational tools improved the patient's knowledge, and if factors such as patient's gender, language, educational level, and previous anesthetic exposure had any impact on knowledge levels.
Results: The initial audit demonstrated a knowledge deficit about preanesthesia checkups and about the roles of the anesthesiologist. Quality improvement steps were taken, and educational tools implemented. Knowledge scores improved from 44.54 ± 17.45 to 52.12 ± 18.8 (P < 0.001, confidence interval −11.45–−3.69). Male gender, higher educational levels, and knowledge of the English language were associated with higher knowledge levels after the intervention.
Conclusion: Waiting time at PAC can be utilized to educate patients about the relevance of preanesthesia checkup and about various roles of the anesthesiologist by means of posters and information on a display screen.
On 10 September 1928, Morduch Max Halsmann fell to his death while hiking in the Tyrolean Alps. Three months later, his son was convicted of patricide and sentenced to ten years’ hard labour. What lay between these events was the beginning of one of Austria’s greatest judiciary scandals, frequently dubbed “the Austrian Dreyfus Affair”.
The murder case against Philipp Halsmann has received a modicum of scholarly attention especially in the last two decades; however, there exists to date no full-length account of the trial in English, and no detailed account of the efforts undertaken to rehabilitate Philipp Halsmann in any language. This article strives to close this gap. Drawing on the files held at the Tyrolean County Archives (TCA) and the Austrian State Archives (AStA), Hermine Hupka’s privately held correspondence, contemporary media coverage of the trial and contemporary as well as recent scholarly publications, it attempts to rectify certain long-standing misconceptions and to showcase the role individual members of the law faculty of the University of Vienna played in Philipp Halsmann’s trial and its aftermath.