The impact of language choice on language endangerment in educated bilingual homes in Nigeria

The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between board ethnicity and sustainability reporting of listed deposit money banks in Nigeria from the period 2013–2020. The study examined the impact board members’ interaction from major and minor ethnic groups have on the sustainability reporting of listed deposit money banks. Secondary data was collected from annual reports and account of listed deposit money banks from the Nigeria Stock Exchange website. Results from the panel least squares regression revealed that the proportion of directors from HAUSA ethnic group have a positive influence on sustainability reporting; while the proportion of directors from YORUBA ethnic group negatively affects sustainability reporting. Furthermore, on the example of major and minor ethnic groups, it was found that the presence of directors from HAUSA and YORUBA ethnic groups; and HAUSA, YORUBA, IGBO and MINOR ethnic groups have negative and significant impact on sustainability reporting of listed deposit money banks in Nigeria. The study concluded that banks should employ the services of directors from both major and minor ethnic groups to improve the extent of sustainability reporting. Also, financial institutions, specifically deposit money banks should increase the representation of directors from IGBO and MINOR ethnic groups.


 
 
 
 Background: Fetal ultrasound-estimated cephalic index refers to the ratio of the fetal biparietal diameter (BPD) to the occipito-frontal diameter (OFD) by means of ultrasound estimation. The cephalic index is regarded as a useful anthropometric variable in medicine, forensic science and anthropology. There is limited data on the cephalic indices of Nigerian fetuses
 Objective: To check for variations of prenatal ultrasound-estimated cephalic indices between fetuses of Igbo, Yoruba and Hausa ancestry.
 Methodology: In a cross sectional study carried out in ultrasound diagnostic centres in Lagos, Enugu and Kano, all in Nigeria, fetal biparietal and occipitofrontal diameters were obtained from 200 fetuses each of Igbo, Yoruba and Hausa ethnic groups. The cephalic index was calculated for each group. The values were statistically analysed after deriving the relevant indices.
 Result: The fetal cephalic indices for Igbo, Yoruba and Hausa ethnic groups were observed to be 80 ± 3.4, 79.1 ± 5.1 and 78.4 ± 2.6 %, respectively.
 Conclusion: The results showed that fetuses of Igbo ancestry had a different cephalic index categorization from other ethnic groups. This knowledge will be useful to sonographers and researchers.
 
 
 
 
 


 
 
 
 Background: Fetal ultrasound-estimated cephalic index refers to the ratio of the fetal biparietal diameter (BPD) to the occipito-frontal diameter (OFD) by means of ultrasound estimation. The cephalic index is regarded as a useful anthropometric variable in medicine, forensic science and anthropology. There is limited data on the cephalic indices of Nigerian fetuses
 Objective: To check for variations of prenatal ultrasound-estimated cephalic indices between fetuses of Igbo, Yoruba and Hausa ancestry.
 Methodology: In a cross sectional study carried out in ultrasound diagnostic centres in Lagos, Enugu and Kano, all in Nigeria, fetal biparietal and occipitofrontal diameters were obtained from 200 fetuses each of Igbo, Yoruba and Hausa ethnic groups. The cephalic index was calculated for each group. The values were statistically analysed after deriving the relevant indices.
 Result: The fetal cephalic indices for Igbo, Yoruba and Hausa ethnic groups were observed to be 80 ± 3.4, 79.1 ± 5.1 and 78.4 ± 2.6 %, respectively.
 Conclusion: The results showed that fetuses of Igbo ancestry had a different cephalic index categorization from other ethnic groups. This knowledge will be useful to sonographers and researchers.
 
 
 
 
 

Reviewed by: Colonizing Language: Cultural Production and Language Politics in Modern Japan and Korea by Christina Yi Travis Workman (bio) Colonizing Language: Cultural Production and Language Politics in Modern Japan and Korea. By Christina Yi. Columbia University Press, New York, 2018. xiv, 211 pages. $65.00, cloth; $64.99, E-book. A number of scholarly publications on the Japanese empire have come out in the last two decades, expanding our understanding of the history, culture, and politics of Japan's imperialist expansion in the early twentieth century. They have explored the colonial histories and literatures of Taiwan, China, Manchuria, and Korea from multiple vantage points and theoretical orientations. This is a welcome development, considering the various ways that cold war political ideologies—including, most prominently, ethnonationalism—had previously led to myopic and present-oriented narratives of the period. Works concerning "the colonial period" in Korea have brought to light the complexity of issues of national identity, gender, language, and cultural erasure under Japanese colonial rule. Contemporaneously, a number of scholars have drawn from developments in the study of the Japanese empire to expand the context for reading and interpreting the literary works of ethnic Koreans in postwar Japan (zainichi). Considering the literal meaning of the term zainichi, this is a necessary recognition of changing views of the Japanese empire, which produced the conditions of possibility for Koreans "remaining" in postwar Japan. One of the virtues of Christina Yi's Colonizing Language: Cultural Production and Language Politics in Modern Japan and Korea is that it bridges these two areas of research to present an illuminating account of "Japanese language literature" (Nihongo bungaku) in the mid-twentieth century. As the title of the book suggests, Yi's primary concern is "language ideology"—how concepts and practices of national language were employed for colonial rule and how colonial and minority subjects responded to and worked within regimes of national language. In this regard, the "colonizing" of the title has a double meaning, referring both to the way that concepts of language were integral to subject formation, and therefore colonized the bodies and consciousnesses of modern national and imperial [End Page 183] subjects, as well as to the ways that local, regional, and individual languages were objects of colonization during the processes of nation building and empire building. One important intervention of Yi's work is that she reads this subject-object duality of language and colonization not simply as an erasure of the Korean national language by Japanese national-imperial language. She rather emphasizes the power of modern language ideology to establish the parameters of the universal and the particular, the cosmopolitan and the local, and the national and the regional, categories that then structure how literary and cinematic texts engage with and attempt to overcome the problem of their linguistic medium in a colonial situation. Therefore, she not only analyzes and clarifies the colonial effects of the policies and practices of the Japanese national language (kokugo) in colonial Korea, but also shows how the idea of kokugo came to affect Korean intellectuals' imagination of the Korean national language (kug'ŏ) after liberation. She also explains how speaking and writing in a national language as a colonial or minority subject are not simply matters of subordinating one's original national identity out of self-interest. She shows the ambivalence of the desire to be a proper speaking and writing subject of national language: national language at once empowers and subordinates; it provides access and includes, while discriminating and excluding. Although she does not refer directly to Naoki Sakai's discussions of national language as a "regulative idea" (in the Kantian sense), Yi shows, through close readings and a detailed literary-historical account, how "Japanese-language literature" grapples with the normative function of "national language," and how colonial and minority subjects engage with language ideology in ways irreducible to a political calculation. Therefore, by focusing on language ideology and reorienting our attention to the tropes and practices through which Koreans imagined themselves as imperial subjects, Yi disrupts powerful cold war–era ideas about collaboration and resistance during the colonial period. At the same time, she also provides a conceptual framework through which to judge the...

Context: Population-specific attributes typically determine the behavior of human genotypes and traits in individuals. Examining the genetic relationships between populations presents an opportunity to observe patterns of genetic changes over time. By comparing populations, it is possible to see factors that may have sparked the evolution of a trait or genotype as well as the genetic diversity of the populations. Genetic diversity in the groups in Nigeria is still largely undefined. This can be achieved with the use of genetic markers. Aims: To determine the genetic relationships between Igbo, Ibibio, Yoruba, Tiv, and Hausa ethnic groups using nine short tandem repeat DNA markers. Settings and Design: Observational studies of 250 consenting participants. Methods and Material: Individuals of Igbo, Yoruba, Hausa, Ibibio, and Tiv were randomly sampled from their ethnic homes in Nigeria at participating institutions. DNA was extracted from blood samples using commercial DNA kits, and tested for nine autosomal short tandem repeat loci alleles using PCR and electrophoresis. The allele types and sizes were read and recorded for each locus for every individual. Statistical Analysis Used: Allelic frequencies, population pairwise genetic distances (FST and RST, analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA), and principal component analysis (PCA) were calculated using GenAlEx v6.502. Results: The fixation index (FST) was between 0.001 and 0.500 in the five populations. The estimated variation was 99.98% within individuals and 0.10% among populations. Four heterogeneous clusters were observed with three axes accounting for 32.86% variation. Conclusions: The genetic relationships closely mirrored linguistic groupings showing that language may have shaped early interaction and ultimately gene transfer between these groups.

The article analyzes the actual problems of the methodology of professional education in the humanities field of knowledge, in particular, the Surgut dialect of the Khanty language in Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug-Yugra. In modern vocational education, the study of native language becomes an integral part of national culture, which absorbs history, spiritual values, moral norms and models of speech etiquette. That is why it is important to preserve the native language of each ethnic group. There is an urgent need for the socialization and development of the student's personality as a subject of ethnicity and as a citizen of the Russian Federation. Preservation and development of native languages and traditional culture of indigenous peoples of the North is one of the state tasks facing Russia and Yugra as a subject of the Federation at the present stage. The absence of the uniform approved alphabet on the Khanty language and the educational-methodical complexes recommended by the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation does not allow studying a native (Khanty) language in vocational education. We believe that it is unacceptable to study the subjects Native Language and Native Literature (subject area Native (Khanty) Language and Literature) at the expense of the academic time allocated by the educational organization within the framework of extracurricular activities and educational work. Hence, there is a need to develop the content and methodological organization of the educational process of the Native Language discipline at vocational and specialized secondary educational institutions and universities, as well as for the course training in Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug-Yugra. Native language serves not only as a means of communication and cognition of the surrounding reality, but also as a means of recording, preserving national and cultural traditions and introducing them to future generations. That is why the quality of education of the native (Khanty) language at professional institutions in general depends on the quality of education of the modern generation of indigenous peoples of the North of the Russian Federation. We believe that the improvement of skills and development of abilities in the subject Native language will be successful if we implement an effective methodological system based on integration of phonetic, word-formation, lexical, grammatical and syntactical levels of Khanty language.

Enhancing Language Services to Native American Children: A Look From the Inside

This study investigates Azerbaijani bilinguals’ language choice and identity construction processes in family and friendship domains. Individual interviews were conducted with 19 (11 male, 8 female) participants. The emerged themes were classified under three categories, i.e. age, gender and language ideologies. The findings revealed that language attitudes and ideologies are the main reason for Azerbaijani bilinguals’ language choice in family and friendship domains. Farsi as the national language and the only language of education is considered important symbolic power compared to Azerbaijani Turkish language. The findings of the study also showed that age and gender in family domain and gender in friendship domain are influential factors in Azerbaijani bilinguals’ language choice. Azerbaijani bilingual females use Azerbaijani Turkish to speak to their older family members while they choose Farsi to speak to other family members. Azerbaijani bilingual males choose Azerbaijani Turkish to speak to their older family members, their brothers and their male friends but they speak in Farsi to their female family members and female friends as well as their children. The findings and implications are discussed in detail.

Introduction A native language is a language that a person has been subjected to from birth or within a period in childhood where a language is acquired. Motivational Interviewing (MI) is a collaborative, goal-oriented style of communication with an emphasis on change. It has been developed to encourage a person’s motivation through compassion and acceptance. ‘The spirit’ of MI is captured through its key concepts include collaboration, evocation, and autonomy. Emotion and the therapeutic relationship are also important features of this connection within the MI process (1). Research on bilingualism and emotions has found that bilingual speakers show stronger emotional responses in their first language compared to their second language (2). Aim To explore the role of native language use between health care practitioners and their clients during Motivational Interviewing and other consultations related to behaviour change. Methods After obtaining ethics consent, participants were recruited using a snowball sampling technique. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 19 health care practitioners (HCP’s) from various disciplines including pharmacists, psychologists, nurses, a psychiatrist, a G.P and dieticians. The interview schedule included questions about the HCP’s native language, language choices, their professional and MI experience. The interviews were conducted via video calls; eleven in Welsh and eight in English. The transcribed interviews were recorded and analysed using a Thematic Analysis approach and a synthesis of the themes were created. Results Four main themes were identified, with several sub-themes, which included: 1.) Language and Motivational Interviewing (internal dialogue, unique role of the individual’s words, use of translators); 2.) Therapeutic Relationship (respect and empathy, being heard, connection, non-verbal communication, trust, and autonomy) 3.) Emotion (a comfortable environment, depth, emotion, and the process of change) 4.) Culture and Identity (native language, acknowledge individual differences). “I think emotion is crucial to the change process…..so being able to touch people emotionally is really important…..it definitely works much easier in their own native language”(Psychiatrist). Conclusion Many of the HCP’s recognised that communicating with a client in their native language had a positive effect on the therapeutic relationship especially while using MI. This experience was not unique to HCP’s who spoke Welsh as their first language. It was suggested that there is something subtle and powerful occurring on several levels in the process of communicating and maintaining relationships linguistically, particularly when communicating in a native language, and emotion plays a key role in this process. Recommendations Creating a network and a database of Welsh-speaking MI practitioners, offering better training through the medium of Welsh, and recognising that an individual does not have to be fluent in Welsh and should encouraged to speak whatever the standard of their Welsh were key recommendations. The advantage of this research is that it has been possible to gather and analyse individualistic perspectives of the HCPs on a deeper level. The smaller sample size of this research can also be a disadvantage, as a small sample is not always representative of a larger population demographic. References (1) Miller W R, Rollnick S (2002). Motivational interviewing: Preparing people for change. New York: Guilford Press. (2) Caldwell-Harris, C. (2014). Emotionality differences between a native and foreign language: Theoretical implications. Frontiers in Psychology, 5. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01055

This paper explores the role of radio as a powerful medium for the promotion and preservation of indigenous languages in Nigeria. With a diverse linguistic landscape, Nigeria is home to numerous indigenous languages, many of which are at risk of extinction due to the dominance of English and other major languages. Radio, as a mass communication tool, is assumed to have the potential to revitalize the use of indigenous languages, thus fostering cultural identity and linguistic diversity. The paper examines the impact of radio in promoting indigenous languages in Nigeria and discusses the challenges, strategies, and possible initiatives to employ in language promoting indigenous language through radio broadcasts. In assessing the possibility of radio to serve as a Vehicle for Promotion of Indigenous Languages in Nigeria, the paper adopted survey method, using a structured questionnaire to gather data from 172 respondents drawn from the coverage areas of the selected indigenous radio stations. The study is anchored on Agenda Setting Theory. Data gathered were analysed and presented in tables and simples percentages. Findings show that Amuludun FM, Ibadan and Orisun FM, Ile-Ife, enjoy a high number of audiences who listen to the stations because of their peculiarity of using indigenous languages to present programmes. The respondents affirmed that Amuludun FM, Ibadan and Orisun FM, Ile-Ife promote indigenous language and also ensure effective communication through Yoruba indigenous language particularly for people in the Yoruba rural communities. The study recommends that Indigenous languages should be encouraged because it is the native language. Media campaigns for promotion of indigenous languages and implementation across schools must be intensified to prevent the indigenous languages from going into extinction.

PurposeThe purpose of this article is to demonstrate how artificial intelligence contributes to the preservation of the cultural identity of native peoples as well as to reduce the gap in access to verified information in native languages of Peru.Design/methodology/approachAn analysis of the context of artificial intelligence in the field of preservation of native languages was developed. Subsequently, the case of the digital tool Quispe Chequea was highlighted, which uses artificial intelligence to produce journalistic content of verification in three native languages of Peru (Quechua, Aimara and Awajún). Finally, a reflection was made on the contributions of artificial intelligence in reducing the gap in access to information, vindication and preservation of native Peruvian languages.FindingsThe findings evidenced the importance of the principles of indigenous data sovereignty to respect cultural rights. Also, it was determined that artificial intelligence contributes to the preservation of cultural values of ethnic groups. It also provides verified information in the native language in order to promote inclusion. Finally, this enabling technology proved to be an important resource in reducing social and cultural gaps.Practical implicationsThe use of artificial intelligence will enable the preservation of the native languages of marginalized and ethnic groups. It also favors the dissemination and communication of truthful information in native languages.Originality/valueThis opinion article highlights a little-explored context in the field of native Peruvian languages. It highlights the contribution that artificial intelligence can bring to ethnic groups, especially in the preservation of their languages and the reduction of the information access gap.

Linguistic diversity has seen two large waves of the loss of linguistic diversity across history. The first wave occurred with the transition from hunter-gatherer to agricultural societies, a process that started 11,000 years ago with the Neolithic revolution when agrarian societies colonized territories of hunter-gatherer communities. The second wave started with the establishment of modern nation states and the creation and diffusion of national languages. It is in the latter setting that the vast majority of language endangerment cases are set today. Endangered languages are predominantly replaced by national languages (and not by global English). The institutions of the ‘nation state’ and of ‘national language’ constitute fundamental problems for ethnolinguistic minorities, because their establishment entail the threat of either exclusion or assimilation of these minorities from the nation. In such a situation, minority language and their speakers do usually not fare well. Without altering the modernist language ecologies that exist in modern nation states, language maintenance and revitalization activities are bound to fail in their principal objectives. In this paper, I examine the rise of language nationalism in Japan in the Meiji period (1868-1912), depict how it led to language endangerment, and show how it continues to shape believes about language in contemporary Japan, also within endangered language revitalization activities and policies themselves. Language revitalization requires language ideological clarification, a recalibration of the relations between majority and minorities, and fundamentally new language policies. In the final part, I report on partial changes that can be seen in this direction for the case of the endangered Ainu and Ryukyuan languages in Japan, and analyze to what extent the local language revitalization movements and efforts have so far succeeded in “remaking social reality” (Fishman 1991: 411) together with the majority population of Japan.

Kenya is linguistically diverse with approximately 66 native and 8 non-native languages; out of which 33 are developing, 15 are vigorous, 2 are in trouble and 4 dying. Generally, actively used native languages in Kenya have been on the decline due to a number of forces such as colonisation, globalisation and language policies. This presentation focuses on educational language policy implementation in Kenya and illustrates its effects on the use of “minority languages”. The study establishes that language policies in Kenya are ad hoc declarations that have had negligible impact on the use of native African languages in schools and other formal settings. The policies greatly favor English following the logic of pre-colonial practices of assimilation and exclusion. English and Kiswahili, the regional lingua franca, remain the most prominent languages in formal education, overshadowing over fifty native African languages spoken in Kenya. English continues to be used in classroom and formal settings even in areas where native languages are dominantly spoken. Those who advocate for the use of English view it as a language of science and technology and that which propels one to a higher social status. English is also promoted as a language that helps to ease mobility within and beyond the East African region

The perennial questions about the national language and the Nigerian Pidgin (Naija) status remain unresolved in Nigeria. Hence, this paper focuses on the national language question for Nigeria against the theoretical background of the national language, national identity, and linguistic relativism. The paper sets out to reevaluate the common arguments often articulated against adopting Naija as the national language and advance the reasons why it should be adopted as the national language. The paper adopted the qualitative approach to research. Primary data were generated from the interview, observation, and spontaneous speech recording, while secondary data were taken from library materials and the Internet. Educated and illiterate Nigerians constituted the study population, and mixed and purposive sampling methods were used to select informants. It is established in this paper that it is the de facto national language and the most undermined and neglected among the five major languages in Nigeria. The paper concludes that language, a critical factor of production, has been undermined. Adopting Naija as a national language will foster national unity and cohesion, accelerate scientific advancement, facilitate democratization and enhance teaching and learning in the long run.

“The way the Irish asylum system turns people into un-human is my problem”: An Interview with Ifedinma Dimbo