Hasil untuk "African languages and literature"

L. Degenhardt, A. Peacock, Samantha Colledge et al.

Summary Background Sharing of equipment used for injecting drug use (IDU) is a substantial cause of disease burden and a contributor to blood-borne virus transmission. We did a global multistage systematic review to identify the prevalence of IDU among people aged 15–64 years; sociodemographic characteristics of and risk factors for people who inject drugs (PWID); and the prevalence of HIV, hepatitis C virus (HCV), and hepatitis B virus (HBV) among PWID. Methods Consistent with the GATHER and PRISMA guidelines and without language restrictions, we systematically searched peer-reviewed databases (MEDLINE, Embase, and PsycINFO; articles published since 2008, latest searches in June, 2017), searched the grey literature (websites and databases, searches between April and August, 2016), and disseminated data requests to international experts and agencies (requests sent in October, 2016). We searched for data on IDU prevalence, characteristics of PWID, including gender, age, and sociodemographic and risk characteristics, and the prevalence of HIV, HCV, and HBV among PWID. Eligible data on prevalence of IDU, HIV antibody, HBsAg, and HCV antibody among PWID were selected and, where multiple estimates were available, pooled for each country via random effects meta-analysis. So too were eligible data on percentage of PWID who were female; younger than 25 years; recently homeless; ever arrested; ever incarcerated; who had recently engaged in sex work, sexual risk, or injecting risk; and whose main drugs injected were opioids or stimulants. We generated regional and global estimates in line with previous global reviews. Findings We reviewed 55 671 papers and reports, and extracted data from 1147 eligible records. Evidence of IDU was recorded in 179 of 206 countries or territories, which cover 99% of the population aged 15–64 years, an increase of 31 countries (mostly in sub-Saharan Africa and the Pacific Islands) since a review in 2008. IDU prevalence estimates were identified in 83 countries. We estimate that there are 15·6 million (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 10·2–23·7 million) PWID aged 15–64 years globally, with 3·2 million (1·6–5·1 million) women and 12·5 million (7·5–18·4 million) men. Gender composition varied by location: women were estimated to comprise 30·0% (95% UI 28·5–31·5) of PWID in North America and 33·4% (31·0–35·6) in Australasia, compared with 3·1% (2·1–4·1) in south Asia. Globally, we estimate that 17·8% (10·8–24·8) of PWID are living with HIV, 52·3% (42·4–62·1) are HCV-antibody positive, and 9·0% (5·1–13·2) are HBV surface antigen positive; there is substantial geographic variation in these levels. Globally, we estimate 82·9% (76·6–88·9) of PWID mainly inject opioids and 33·0% (24·3–42·0) mainly inject stimulants. We estimate that 27·9% (20·9–36·8) of PWID globally are younger than 25 years, 21·7% (15·8–27·9) had recently (within the past year) experienced homelessness or unstable housing, and 57·9% (50·5–65·2) had a history of incarceration. Interpretation We identified evidence of IDU in more countries than in 2008, with the new countries largely consisting of low-income and middle-income countries in Africa. Across all countries, a substantial number of PWID are living with HIV and HCV and are exposed to multiple adverse risk environments that increase health harms. Funding Australian National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, Australian National Health and Medical Research Council, Open Society Foundation, World Health Organization, the Global Fund, and UNAIDS.

S. Bandyopadhyay, R. Baticulon, Murtaza Kadhum et al.

Objectives To estimate COVID-19 infections and deaths in healthcare workers (HCWs) from a global perspective during the early phases of the pandemic. Design Systematic review. Methods Two parallel searches of academic bibliographic databases and grey literature were undertaken until 8 May 2020. Governments were also contacted for further information where possible. There were no restrictions on language, information sources used, publication status and types of sources of evidence. The AACODS checklist or the National Institutes of Health study quality assessment tools were used to appraise each source of evidence. Outcome measures Publication characteristics, country-specific data points, COVID-19-specific data, demographics of affected HCWs and public health measures employed. Results A total of 152 888 infections and 1413 deaths were reported. Infections were mainly in women (71.6%, n=14 058) and nurses (38.6%, n=10 706), but deaths were mainly in men (70.8%, n=550) and doctors (51.4%, n=525). Limited data suggested that general practitioners and mental health nurses were the highest risk specialities for deaths. There were 37.2 deaths reported per 100 infections for HCWs aged over 70 years. Europe had the highest absolute numbers of reported infections (119 628) and deaths (712), but the Eastern Mediterranean region had the highest number of reported deaths per 100 infections (5.7). Conclusions COVID-19 infections and deaths among HCWs follow that of the general population around the world. The reasons for gender and specialty differences require further exploration, as do the low rates reported in Africa and India. Although physicians working in certain specialities may be considered high risk due to exposure to oronasal secretions, the risk to other specialities must not be underestimated. Elderly HCWs may require assigning to less risky settings such as telemedicine or administrative positions. Our pragmatic approach provides general trends, and highlights the need for universal guidelines for testing and reporting of infections in HCWs.

Adean van Dyk

Tessa Jones, Elizabeth A Luth, Shih-Yin Lin et al.

CONTEXT Persons from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups experience disparities in access to and quality of palliative and end-of-life care. OBJECTIVES To summarize and evaluate existing palliative and end-of-life care interventions that aim to improve outcomes for racial and ethnic underrepresented populations in the United States. METHODS We conducted a systematic review of the literature in the English language from four databases through January 2020. Peer-reviewed studies that implemented interventions on palliative care, advance care planning, or end-of-life care were considered eligible. Data were extracted from 16 articles using pre-specified inclusion and exclusion criteria. Quality was appraised using the modified Downs and Black tool for assessing risk of bias in quantitative studies. RESULTS Five studies were randomized controlled trials, and the remainder were quasi-experiments. Six studies targeted Latino/ Hispanic Americans, five African Americans, and five, Asian-American and/or Pacific Islanders. The two randomized control trials reviewed and rated "very high" quality, found educational interventions to have significant positive effects on advance care planning and advance directive completion and engagement for underrepresented racial or ethnic groups. CONCLUSION The effectiveness of advance care planning, end-of-life, and palliative care interventions in improving outcomes for underrepresented racial and ethnic populations remains uncertain. RCTs and educational interventions indicate that interventions targeting URGs can have significant and positive effects on AD and/or ACP-related outcomes. More high-quality intervention studies that address racial and ethnic health disparities in palliative care are needed, particularly those that address systemic racism and other complex multilevel factors that influence disparities in health.

A. Molan, K. Nosaka, M. Hunter et al.

Manahil Siddiqi, M. Greene

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development explicitly calls for an end to child, early, and forced marriages, a harmful practice that has been experienced by 650 million girls and women globally. The COVID-19 pandemic threatens to halt progress toward this goal and highlights the need to assess research progress and link emerging knowledge with efforts to prevent and respond to child marriage. We conducted a systematic search of publications focused on child marriage covering four languages (English, Spanish, Portuguese, and French), encompassing a 20-year period (1 January 2000-31 December 2019) and including peer-reviewed and gray literature across all major geographic regions of the world. Our review identified and analyzed 1,068 publications from an initial number of 4,081 abstracts screened, finding that studies on the prevalence, determinants, and consequences of child marriage represented a majority of the total publications. Including publications in Spanish and Portuguese yielded results from Latin America and the Caribbean, Mozambique, and Europe, and including publications in French yielded results from West Africa and the Maghreb, in addition to English language publications covering both these and other parts of the word. Our review of the evolution and distribution of research over time and space calls for a greater focus of research on interventions preventing child marriage and responding to the needs of individuals married as children, a multilinguistic approach to knowledge exchange, and for research to be conducted in neglected high-prevalence settings.

P. Gilbert, S. Zemore

Joseph Lovestrand

Tycho Maas

Andreia Alves Monteiro de Castro, Eduardo da Cruz

A partir da pesquisa sobre a presença de escritoras portuguesas na imprensa periódica brasileira, principalmente naquela dedicada à colônia portuguesa imigrante no Brasil, localizou-se um poema assinado por “Soror Saudade” na revista Portugal, dirigida literariamente por Rui Chianca. Discute-se a possibilidade de a autoria ser de Florbela Espanca. Primeira recepção de Florbela Espanca no Brasil. Possíveis ligações entre o diretor da revista e a escritora portuguesa. Aproximações entre o poema e a escrita de Florbela Espanca. Edição do poema.

Medadi Erisa Ssentanda, Samuel Andema

The purpose of this article is to highlight teachers’ beliefs and practices towards storytelling in the mother tongue in Ugandan rural classrooms and the effect this could have on efforts to promote reading, such as the mother-tongue (MT) education programme in Uganda and the African Storybook Project (ASb). The article demonstrates that although there are initiatives to promote storytelling in the mother tongue in Ugandan primary schools to enhance reading and literacy acquisition, teachers are not prepared for the task and, therefore, disregard storytelling in the mother tongue. This disregard of storytelling in the mother tongue stems from the fact that teachers view storytelling as a waste of time, time that can rather be spent on ’real’ lesson content. Furthermore, they feel that storytelling adds unnecessary pressure to their already demanding workload. Moreover, learners are not assessed for storytelling at the end of their primary education. In addition, teachers are not trained on how to integrate storytelling in their teaching practices. The article presents classroom-based research which highlights teachers’ practices towards storytelling. The article ends with a request for ethnographic fieldwork to educate teachers on the social-cultural values of storytelling beyond learner assessments (among other benefits) and to facilitate teachers on how to integrate stories in the learning process.

Rufus Gouws

Dictionary didactics within a comprehensive dictionary culture. This article argues that the curricula of language and linguistics departments should include a component on lexicography. It is indicated that within a comprehensive dictionary culture, users need to be familiar with a variety of dictionary types and need to be able to execute a successful retrieval of information from the data on offer in dictionaries. A comprehensive dictionary culture has both general language and specialised dictionaries in its scope. Users need to be made aware of these dictionary types. Lexicographic training can be directed at three groups, namely dictionary users (who need to become familiar with dictionary using skills), future lexicographers (who need to master those aspects of meta-lexicography needed for the compilation of dictionaries) and future trainers of lexicography (who need a sound theoretical basis). The contents of a tertiary course in lexicography could commence with a broad context of the development of both the lexicographic practice and the theory of lexicography. A second focus could be on the contents, the different lexicographic tools, as well as the medium – printed or online format. Proposals are made for issues that could be discussed, regarding the treatment of meaning in monolingual and translation equivalents in bilingual dictionaries.

Albert Weideman, Colleen du Plessis, Sanet Steyn

The post-1994 South African constitution proudly affirms the language diversity of the country, as do subsequent laws, while ministerial policies, both at further and higher education level, similarly promote the use of all 11 official languages in education. However, such recognition of diversity presents several challenges to accommodate potential variation. In language education at secondary school, which is nationally assessed, the variety being promoted immediately raises issues of fairness and equivalence. The final high-stakes examination of learners’ ability in home language at the exit level of their pre-tertiary education is currently contentious in South Africa. It is known, for example, that in certain indigenous languages, the exit level assessments barely discriminate among learners with different abilities, while in other languages they do. For that reason, the Council for Quality Assurance in General and Further Education, Umalusi, has commissioned several reports to attempt to understand the nature of the problem. This article will deal with a discussion of a fourth attempt by Umalusi to solve the problem. That attempt, undertaken by a consortium of four universities, has already delivered six interim reports to this statutory body, and the article will consider some of their content and methodology. In their reconceptualisation of the problem, the applied linguists involved first sought to identify the theoretical roots of the current curriculum in order to articulate more sharply the construct being assessed. That provides the basis for a theoretical justification of the several solutions being proposed, as well as for the preliminary designs of modifications to current, and the introduction of new assessments. The impact of equivalence of measurement as a design requirement will be specifically discussed, with reference to the empirical analyses of results of a number of pilots of equivalent tests in different languages.

Dewald Koen

Berghoff, Robyn

It has been convincingly argued that the so-called “left periphery” of the sentence makes available multiple positions which host topicalised and focalised phrases, among other elements. Projections in the C-domain have been shown to have a fixed ordering, the violation of which results in ungrammaticality. Rizzi (1997) provides a template that specifies this ordering. Botha and Oosthuizen (2009) examine this template’s ability to account for ordering phenomena in the Afrikaans left periphery and make certain necessary adjustments to Rizzi’s template to account for their data. This short paper takes Botha and Oosthuizen’s observations regarding the (im)possibility of a certain ordering in the Afrikaans CP as a case in point. Broadly put, the paper’s premise is that although the template provided for the Afrikaans CP may be descriptively adequate, in that it can accommodate and predict possible orderings, it falls short in that it does not account for why such a template should exist. That is, the template itself does not explain why certain orderings are permissible and others are not. It is the paper’s modest aim to test the ability of one theoretical perspective, namely Grohmann’s (2003) theory of anti-locality, to account for the illegality of a particular ordering in the Afrikaans CP. Antilocality’s ban on ‘too local’ movement is shown to predict the illicitness of this ordering. Due to the paper’s limited scope, the analysis is not extended to other constructions. Its aim is toprompt further efforts to account for the observed ordering in the CP domain, and it offers the theory of anti-locality as a possible starting point for these efforts.

David E. Robinson

This article considers the representation of children in Dickens’s most famous Christmas book. Central to the article is a consideration of historical circumstances in which the book was written, as well as Dickens’s own childhood, and the possibility of redemption through the force of the imagination from the negative consequences of social circumstances and personal choices. The changing conception of the Victorian child, from a conception of sinfulness to that of innocence, provides historical and theoretical positioning of the literary work. The role of childhood memory and its influence on Dickens’s work is presented. The work of Edmund Wilson and the children’s literary scholar Adrienne Gavin is included in this consideration of the short novel.

Review Editor

Book Reviews 16.3-4

J. J. Royster

Naomi Nkealah

Hierdie artikel is ’n ontleding vanDance of the vampires deur die Kameroense dramaturg, Bole Butake. Dit het die maniere ondersoek waarop die toneelstuk homself projekteer as verhaal van ’n nasie en omgekeerd, hoe die nasie in die toneelstuk as ’n narratiewe teks funksioneer waarin magsideologieë ingeskryf of uitgewis word. Butake se visie van die nasie omvat verskeie magsdiskoerse wat ondersoek word teen die agtergrond van die groteske in sisteme van dominasie, soos uiteengesit deur Achille Mbembe. Die artikel voer aan dat, terwyl die stuk van die ambivalensie in magsverhoudings afhang, die skrywer se visie onambivilant is in sy Utopiese konsepsie van politiese verandering en sy geslagtelike uitbeelding van vrouens binne nasionalistiese diskoerse.

Carol A. Puhl