Language Discrimination Research Articles

Language Adaptation for Entity Relation Classification via Adversarial Neural Networks

Entity relation classification aims to classify the semantic relationship between two marked entities in a given sentence, and plays a vital role in various natural language processing applications. However, existing studies focus on exploiting mono-lingual data in English, due to the lack of labeled data in other languages. How to effectively benefit from a richly-labeled language to help a poorly-labeled language is still an open problem. In this paper, we come up with a language adaptation framework for cross-lingual entity relation classification. The basic idea is to employ adversarial neural networks (AdvNN) to transfer feature representations from one language to another. Especially, such a language adaptation framework enables feature imitation via the competition between a sentence encoder and a rival language discriminator to generate effective representations. To verify the effectiveness of AdvNN, we introduce two kinds of adversarial structures, dual-channel AdvNN and single-channel AdvNN. Experimental results on the ACE 2005 multilingual training corpus show that our single-channel AdvNN achieves the best performance on both unsupervised and semi-supervised scenarios, yield- ing an improvement of 6.61% and 2.98% over the state-of-the-art, respectively. Compared with baselines which directly adopt a machine translation module, we find that both dual-channel and single-channel AdvNN significantly improve the performances (F1) of cross-lingual entity relation classification. Moreover, extensive analysis and discussion demonstrate the appropriateness and effectiveness of different parameter settings in our language adaptation framework.

O potrzebie zachowań etycznych we współczesnej edukacji

In the context of the ongoing transformations of society, politics and manners, the author focuses on the changes observed at school. She points to the violation of speech ethics in formal and informal situations (verbal and physical aggression). She describes and analyses manifestations of linguistic and paralinguistic discrimination, such as volume and modulation of the voice, as well as bodily behavior: gestures, facial and eye expressions. An attempt is made at characterizing the “new” school pupil, the “new” teacher and postulating a “new” educational milieu in which the traditional oppositions <em>I</em> − <em>he</em>/<em>she</em> and <em>we</em> − <em>they</em> will be replaced by one category we meaning <em>I-the teacher and my pupils</em> or <em>I-the pupil, my colleagues and teachers</em>. The author considers communication ethics as a foundation for building interpersonal relations.

The Language of Derogation and Hate: Functions, Consequences, and Reappropriation

Over the last decades, the use of explicit derogatory language (e.g., hate speech, slurs, micro-insults) has risen in many countries. We provide an overview on blatant language discrimination, including its psychological antecedents and consequences. After presenting a working definition of derogatory language and describing its prevalence, we discuss the social functions it serves and the role it plays in identity protection, in legitimizing group hierarchies, and in establishing and enforcing group norms. Drawing from both the socio-cognitive and discursive traditions in social psychology, it is argued that the language people are exposed to and the language they employ, shape the way they think and construct reality. We also consider two ways in which targeted groups may respond to derogatory language, specifically confrontation and reappropriation. Finally, we address challenges for future research, in particular the need for more cross disciplinary research to ebb the growing proliferation of hate speech on digital media which has become a global international concern.

A Longitudinal Investigation of Discrimination and Mental Health in Chinese International Students: The Role of Social Connectedness

Race-based discrimination is associated with negative mental health outcomes for Chinese international students. Host and ethnic social connectedness have been demonstrated to buffer the effects of discrimination on mental health. However, most studies thus far have utilized cross-sectional designs. The current study was a longitudinal investigation of the effects of race- and language-based discrimination on anxiety and depression symptoms among 210 Chinese international students studying in the U.S. Participants were assessed during their first academic term at a U.S. university (T1) and 3 months later during their second term (T2). Measures included the Brief Perceived Discrimination Scale, the Perceived Language Discrimination Scale, the Social Connectedness Scale, the Beck Anxiety Inventory, and the Beck Depression Inventory-II. Results from a cross-lag model showed that T1 perceived discrimination was significantly predictive of T2 negative mental health symptoms, whereas T1 mental health symptoms did not predict T2 perceived discrimination. Subsequent moderation models revealed that this association between discrimination and mental health symptoms was buffered by host social connectedness (i.e., social connectedness with American students) but not ethnic social connectedness (i.e., social connectedness with Chinese students). This longitudinal analysis implies that efforts to reduce experiences of discrimination and to facilitate social connections between international and American students may help prevent negative mental health outcomes among international students.

La discriminación lingüística en estudiantes de bilingüismo de nativa.

El trabajo de investigación se desarrolló en el Instituto de Educación Superior Pedagógico Público de Arequipa, con el propósito de analizar, en primer lugar, si existe discriminación lingüística hacia los bilingües de nativa y, en segundo término, conocer cuáles son las formas de tal exclusión. Para la operacionalización de variables se consideró las siguientes dimensiones: bilingüismo de nativa (quechua-castellano; aimara-castellano) y cuatro formas de discriminación lingüística. El tipo de investigación es descriptiva, de diseño ex-post-facto, desarrollada bajo el enfoque cuantitativo. Se utilizó la encuesta y un cuestionario de 21 preguntas para el recojo de información; con estos materiales pudimos obtener datos respecto de las diferentes formas de discriminación lingüística hacia los bilingües nativos quechua-aimaras, dentro de la institución en mención. La población está constituida por el 100% de los estudiantes del IESPPA. Las conclusiones evidencian la existencia de discriminación lingüística hacia los bilingües de nativa, debido a que la mayoría de ellos aún no tiene claro las variedades lingüísticas y que en nuestro medio persiste el prejuicio de que hay una sola norma estándar, que se presenta como única y válida y esta se debe aplicar en todas las situaciones y contextos comunicativos.

Different When I Opened My Mouth

Abstract This article explores experiences, reflections, and perspectives of actual or perceived linguistic discrimination as experienced by four Latina/o and one White foreign-born professors currently working in research universities across the United States. Building on the literature on linguistic discrimination and the theoretical framing of LangCrit, the authors exemplify instances of linguistic discrimination resulting from a member of the majority culture asserting their native speaker power over the foreign-born speaker with an accent. Through examining the participants’ accents, the authors expose the paradoxical simultaneous positions the participants occupy as oppressed-privileged beings. In the discussion and implications, the authors address raising consciousness around linguistic discrimination in an effort to transform the educational landscape and opportunities for historically marginalized communities.

Effect of Various Visual Speech Units on Language Identification Using Visual Speech Recognition

In this paper, we describe our work in Spoken language Identification using Visual Speech Recognition (VSR) and analyze the effect of various visual speech units used to transcribe the visual speech on language recognition. We have proposed a new approach of word recognition followed by the word N-gram language model (WRWLM), which uses high-level syntactic features and the word bigram language model for language discrimination. Also, as opposed to the traditional visemic approach, we propose a holistic approach of using the signature of a whole word, referred to as a “Visual Word” as visual speech unit for transcribing visual speech. The result shows Word Recognition Rate (WRR) of 88% and Language Recognition Rate (LRR) of 94% in speaker dependent cases and 58% WRR and 77% LRR in speaker independent cases for English and Marathi digit classification task. The proposed approach is also evaluated for continuous speech input. The result shows that the Spoken Language Identification rate of 50% is possible even though the WRR using Visual Speech Recognition is below 10%, using only 1[Formula: see text]s of speech. Also, there is an improvement of about 5% in language discrimination as compared to traditional visemic approaches.

Comparison of Cognitive Performance Between Two Generations of Immigrant School-Aged Children: Child Development Change Over Time

The objective of this research is to comparatively analyze the performance of two generations of children (as first generation of immigrants) attending primary and secondary education in different geographical areas, evaluated in different decades but with equivalent age brackets. Two samples of 169 immigrant school populations in Portugal, with fair immigration criteria, were evaluated for the same verbal reasoning and auditory discrimination tasks in different periods (cohort 1—2001–2009 and cohort 2—2013–2017). The aim is to verify if age remains a differentiating variable of the performance and acuity, as maintained by the critical period hypothesis. That performance referring to two samples evaluated in second language decoding tasks, in different periods. Additionally, to evaluate the emergence of other factors that explain proficiency, cognitive and linguistic discrimination behaviors of two generations of immigrant students in Portugal. The results contribute to a new direction in the analysis and intervention for school groups that are highly diverse in terms of mother tongue and nationalities. The data point to a greater divergence of performance and difficulties not according only to the disparity of ages, but considering the nationality (country of origin and respective educational system). It is also clear, despite just the difference of a decade, how subjects are changing their immigration routes and their cognitive and social development.

Miguel Bloombito’s Spanish Translingual Twitter Account as a Means of Overcoming Discrimination against the Hispanic population in the United States

The question of the use of the Spanish translingual idiom in the Twitter account of the American satirist of Puerto Rican origin, writing under the pseudonym Miguel Bloombito, is considered. Particular attention is paid to one of the main functions of such an idiom, which is used as a way to overcome language discrimination against Latin Americans living in the United States. Separately, a comprehensive analysis of this Spanish idiom, characteristic of the speech of Puerto Rican Americans, is offered. The issue of switching and mixing codes at different levels of Spanish is of interest. The author dwells on the graphic-phonetic, wordformation and lexical levels, at which a large number of contaminated elements containing allusion and based on the play of meanings are revealed. A level-by-level classification of the elements of the Spanish idiom is proposed. Evidence is given that this idiom has sufficient system stability for the language, regularity and productivity of the models for the formation of certain units, as well as a tendency towards standardization, including outside the analyzed texts. It is proved that the Spanish translingual idiom, which appeared as a result of the contact of linguistic cultures in a multi-ethnic state, demonstrates a high degree of convergence of prototype languages, expressed through switching and mixing codes.

Modern Ukrainian sociolinguistics: development of theory and applied aspects of research in the works of representatives of Lviv Sociolinguistic Circle

The article is devoted to some aspects of the analysis of the interaction of language and society in the modern paradigm. Its results relate to the formation of the content of such categories as “Ukrainian sociolinguistic tradition”, “periods of the development of knowledge about the social nature of language”, “sociological direction in Ukrainian linguistics”, “codification”, “codification on a folk basis”, “asymmetric communication situation”, “social - individual nature of family communication”, “social nature of a name”, “social functions of the Ukrainian language in the church”, “conversion to Orthodoxy of Greek Catholics”, “Ukrainization in the 20-30s of the twentieth century”. Researchers also analyze modern aspects of language-nation interaction, language-national security, the concept of “institutional language management”, “language discrimination”, “hate speech as a form of discursive discrimination”, “linguistic landscape”, informal names in the socio-group “ students”, communication in the socio-group “political elite”, etc. In general, the results obtained in the works of representatives of Lviv sociolinguistic circle contribute to the development of the terminological system and the categorical base of historical, theoretical, applied and cognitive sociolinguistics.

Formation and development of international standards in the field of linguistic rights of indigenous peoples: historical and legal aspects

Introduction. The main objective of this article is to study the historical and legal aspects of the formation and development of international standards in the field of linguistic rights of indigenous peoples. This topic is particularly relevant in connection with the proclamation of the period 2022–2032 International Decade of Indigenous Languages by UN General Assembly. Materials and Methods. The research methodology is based on a systematic approach that incorporates the historical, formal-legal, system-structural methods of scientific knowledge. The material was provided by the main international legal documents in the field of the linguistic rights of indigenous peoples, research by Russian and international authors on the legal status of indigenous peoples, and the protection of their linguistic rights in particular. Results and Discussion. Based on the analysis of international legal acts, the following can be distinguished among the linguistic rights of indigenous peoples: the right to preserve and use native languages in private and publicly; the right to education in the mother tongue; the right to create and have access to the media in their native languages; the right to recognize indigenous languages in constitutions and national laws; the right to a life free of linguistic discrimination and other rights. The article also discusses the main UN mechanisms and tools in the field of ensuring and protecting the rights of indigenous peoples. The protection of the linguistic rights of indigenous peoples is currently carried out by numerous specialized agencies such as UNESCO, United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, UN Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples and etc. An important mechanism for promoting the theme of languages of indigenous peoples, the unification of partners and resources for joint action around the world was the proclamation by the UN General Assembly of the International Year of Indigenous Languages (2019) and the International Decade of Indigenous Languages (2022–2032). Conclusion. At the level of the international community, it formed a serious understanding of the need to preserve and develop languages, the realization of the linguistic rights of indigenous peoples, which will be facilitated by the International Decade of Indigenous Languages.

Immigration stress among refugees resettled in the United States.

Immigration stress includes acculturation stress and the stress related to language barriers, discrimination, occupational challenges, and feelings of isolation from society and a sense of newness or loss. The purpose of this study was to examine immigration stress among refugees resettled in the United States. A self-administered or interviewer-administered survey was collected from individuals with a refugee background in Utah from summer through fall in 2017 (N = 190). Older age was associated with higher levels of financial stress and homesickness. Poorer levels of self-rated health and fewer somatic symptoms were related to higher levels of homesickness and language barriers. Higher educational attainment was associated with higher levels of financial stress. Refugees are a vulnerable population due to being displaced to a foreign country and having to quickly learn a new language and different culture. It is imperative to gain more knowledge on diverse refugee groups and ways in which they can maintain optimum quality of life through and after the resettlement process.

The Attitudes of Chinese ELT Stakeholders toward Different English Language Varieties

The glocalization of the English language has produced various indigenized English varieties, posing a challenge to the conventional monolithic view of English, particularly the traditional practice of upholding Inner Circle English as the gold standard in English language teaching (ELT). Against this backdrop as well as the current gigantic size of English as a foreign language (EFL) education in China, a large scale study was conducted via questionniare suvery and interview to investigate the attitudes of Chinese ELT stakeholders toward different English language varieties. This article reports on part of the findings of this study based on the data collected through semi-structured interviews with 26 students, 14 teachers and eight EFL program administrators from six Chinese universities. The analysis of data reveals that the three participants groups as an entirety regarded Inner Circle English as being (more) standard, authentic and intelligible, and upheld this English variety as the teaching model and learning target. The vast majority of the participants were also found uncognizant of the discrimination against Outer and Expanding Circle English initiated by the promotion of Inner Circle English in English language teaching (ELT). Although a certain proportion of the teachers and administrators displayed critical awareness on this issue, they argued that the discimination is inresitable or inevitable. All these findings indicate the prevalence of the conventional pro-nativeness ideology among Chinese ELT stakeholders and by extension the tenacity of native-speakerism across the terrain of EFL education in China. Keywords : attitudes, Chinese ELT stakeholders, English language varieties, teaching/learning model, linguistic discrimination DOI: 10.7176/JLLL/70-07 Publication date: July 31 st 2020

Sensitivity of occipito-temporal cortex, premotor and Broca's areas to visible speech gestures in a familiar language.

When looking at a speaking person, the analysis of facial kinematics contributes to language discrimination and to the decoding of the time flow of visual speech. To disentangle these two factors, we investigated behavioural and fMRI responses to familiar and unfamiliar languages when observing speech gestures with natural or reversed kinematics. Twenty Italian volunteers viewed silent video-clips of speech shown as recorded (Forward, biological motion) or reversed in time (Backward, non-biological motion), in Italian (familiar language) or Arabic (non-familiar language). fMRI revealed that language (Italian/Arabic) and time-rendering (Forward/Backward) modulated distinct areas in the ventral occipito-temporal cortex, suggesting that visual speech analysis begins in this region, earlier than previously thought. Left premotor ventral (superior subdivision) and dorsal areas were preferentially activated with the familiar language independently of time-rendering, challenging the view that the role of these regions in speech processing is purely articulatory. The left premotor ventral region in the frontal operculum, thought to include part of the Broca’s area, responded to the natural familiar language, consistent with the hypothesis of motor simulation of speech gestures.

Sprache – Macht – Schule

This article reflects on how language can be a hegemonic practice, as illustrated by the term linguicism. This linguistic discrimination is used to legitimate an unequal division of power and needs to be tackled through decolonial approaches. Switzerland has an offcial tradition of multilingualism, yet people in Switzerland experience discrimination depending on the languages they speak. Pupils in Switzerland are increasingly multilingual but, given their transnational family backgrounds, not always in an offcial Swiss language. Pupils and teachers perceive and value languages differently, often at a subconscious level. Where pupils speak a prestigious language, their language skills are more highly valued. If multilingualism is coupled with a language of migration, a negative connotation occurs and students experience linguicism.

Not professional enough to be a therapist: international therapists’ experience of language discrimination

International therapists’ languages have been viewed as a barrier in conducting therapy. Our study utilized language subordination process as a framework to examine the experiences of eight international Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) students facing language and cultural bias from clients. Our findings suggest that language proficiency affects the communication process, and other factors (e.g., ethnicity) are also important. Therapists who speak English as a second language (ESL) experience language discrimination through judgements of their professionalism, competence, and credibility. When facing language discrimination, ESL therapists often experience self-doubt, which affects their counseling efficacy. ESL therapists use their language and culture as strengths and supervision to cope.

Speech-Driven End-to-End Language Discrimination toward Chinese Dialects

Language discrimination among similar languages, varieties, and dialects is a challenging natural language processing task. The traditional text-driven focus leads to poor results. In this article, we explore the effectiveness of speech-driven features toward language discrimination among Chinese dialects. First, we systematically explore the appropriateness of speech-driven MFCC features toward CNN-based language discrimination. Then, we design an end-to-end speech recognition model based on HMM-DNN to predict Chinese dialect words. We adopt attention mechanism to extract the discriminative words related to different Chinese dialects. Finally, through a CNN, we combine the word-level embedding and the MFCC-based features. Evaluation of two benchmark Chinese dialect corpora shows the appropriateness and effectiveness of the proposed speech-driven approach to fine-grained Chinese dialect discrimination compared to the state-of-the-art methods.

Заборона дискримінації за мовною ознакою при реалізації права на освіту у практиці Європейського суду з прав людини

The article deals with the analysis of the legal positions of the European Court of Human Rights formed in the process of hearing cases of human rights violations through language discrimination (discrimination on the basis of language) in the exercise of the right to education. On the basis of the analyzed legal positions it is possible to explain the unreasonableness of the

Needs of Migrant Arab Muslim Childbearing Women in the United Kingdom.

Introduction: This study aims to examine the challenges faced by migrant Arab Muslim women in accessing maternity services and to suggest ways to improve the childbirth experience for them. Methodology: An interpretive ontological-phenomenological perspective guided by the philosophical tenets of Heidegger was used to examine the childbirth experiences of Arab Muslim women. Results: The sample size was 24 in-depth semistructured audiotaped interviews with eight women in the United Kingdom. The "Vulnerable Woman" was the main theme of our findings, which was discussed in five subthemes: language exclusion, discrimination and prejudice, bureaucracy and "stiff upper lip," conflicting ideology, and the conventional as strange. Conclusions: Maternity care should be culturally competent and emphasize the importance of recognizing differences as well as creating trusting relationships. At the same time, midwives should be aware of the dangers of labeling women because of their cultural and religious beliefs.

Strangers in the School: Facilitators and Barriers Regarding Refugee Parental Involvement

Parental involvement has been deemed one of today’s most important topics in educational spheres. Refugee parents face many challenges upon resettling in the US, impacting their engagement in the US educational system. This study explores Muslim refugee parents’ experiences with schools and the facilitators and barriers for their engagement. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted with 19 Muslim refugee parents from Syria and Iraq who resettled to the US. Facilitators of parental involvement included a welcoming and inclusive environment cultivated by educators who shared racial and ethnic similarities to refugee families. Barriers to their involvement included a lack of English language proficiency and discrimination and xenophobia instigated against their children, which caused parents to develop a level of distrust in the school staff. A major resource for educators, mental health specialists, and other stakeholders, this research augments understanding of the experiences of Muslim refugee parents and sheds light on the challenges, needs, and vulnerabilities of this understudied population.