Diverse Linguistic Backgrounds Research Articles

Language Entropy Relates to Behavioral and Pupil Indices of Executive Control in Young Adult Bilinguals.

IntroductionIt has been proposed that bilinguals’ language use patterns are differentially associated with executive control. To further examine this, the present study relates the social diversity of bilingual language use to performance on a color-shape switching task (CSST) in a group of bilingual university students with diverse linguistic backgrounds. Crucially, this study used language entropy as a measure of bilinguals’ language use patterns. This continuous measure reflects a spectrum of language use in a variety of social contexts, ranging from compartmentalized use to fully integrated use.MethodsLanguage entropy for university and non-university contexts was calculated from questionnaire data on language use. Reaction times (RTs) were measured to calculate global RT and switching and mixing costs on the CSST, representing conflict monitoring, mental set shifting, and goal maintenance, respectively. In addition, this study innovatively recorded a potentially more sensitive measure of set shifting abilities, namely, pupil size during task performance.ResultsHigher university entropy was related to slower global RT. Neither university entropy nor non-university entropy were associated with switching costs as manifested in RTs. However, bilinguals with more compartmentalized language use in non-university contexts showed a larger difference in pupil dilation for switch trials in comparison with non-switch trials. Mixing costs in RTs were reduced for bilinguals with higher diversity of language use in non-university contexts. No such effects were found for university entropy.DiscussionThese results point to the social diversity of bilinguals’ language use as being associated with executive control, but the direction of the effects may depend on social context (university vs. non-university). Importantly, the results also suggest that some of these effects may only be detected by using more sensitive measures, such as pupil dilation. The paper discusses theoretical and practical implications regarding the language entropy measure and the cognitive effects of bilingual experiences more generally, as well as how methodological choices can advance our understanding of these effects.

The University of Pittsburgh English Language Institute Corpus (PELIC)

Abstract This report introduces the University of Pittsburgh English Language Institute Corpus (PELIC; Juffs et al., 2020), a publicly available 4.2-million-word learner corpus of written texts. Collected over seven years in the University of Pittsburgh’s Intensive English Program, these texts were produced by more than 1,100 students with diverse linguistic backgrounds and proficiency levels. Unlike most learner corpora which are cross-sectional, PELIC is longitudinal, offering greater opportunities for tracking development in a natural classroom setting. This potential is illustrated in an overview of the research conducted to date with these data. The report also provides a description of PELIC’s creation and contents, including how the texts have been managed to facilitate natural language processing. Overall, the corpus contributes to the field of learner corpus research by adding to the pool of freely and publicly available learner corpora, supplemented by a useful set of Python tools and tutorials for accessing these data.

What's in a name? Address practices in Swedish residential care facilities

Encountering residents living with dementia who come from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds is a common aspect of everyday life in residential care homes. These facilities may have systems of address that differ from those used in residents' respective cultures of origin. Residents' forms of address are elements of identity established in accordance with their life histories. The aim of this article is to investigate empirically the role of address forms for residents and care-providing staff in multilingual residential settings. The findings rely on observational and interactional data as well as interviews. The observational and interactional data includes 23 participants, consisting of five residents and 18 members of care-providing staff. The interviews consist of informal conversations and a corpus based on open-ended interviews with 21 staff members and five residents in two residential homes in Sweden. On the one hand, the findings indicate that addressing the residents with their first name is a prevalent address practice by the staff. They also displayed 20 additional types of address practices. On the other hand, these practices, which are chosen with the best of intentions, often seem to be inconsistent with the residents' preferred address forms. These data lend support to the large body of gerontological literature arguing that sensitivity to the life histories of residents, here the established forms of address, is vital to sustaining their identity.

Postgraduate Students’ Perceptions of Support Services Rendered by a Distance Learning Institution

Postgraduate studies are generally draining for most students because of the high rigour and cognitive demands required. They are even more arduous for students in a distance-learning context as most of them are full-time employees and lack enough time for their studies. Consequently, they tend to have low success rates due to a lack of required academic and research skills, low English proficiency, and inadequate student support. Underpinned by Simpson's student support model, this research adopted a qualitative approach and a focus group technique to probe nine Ethiopian doctoral students about their perceptions of the support provided by the University of South Africa (Unisa). From a thematic analysis of the themes that recurred, the findings revealed that despite the challenges, most students appreciated the support provided, particularly by supervisors who guided them efficiently and gave them feedback promptly. To improve graduation rates, it is recommended that supervisors be trained in effective supervision and support of students from diverse linguistic and educational backgrounds.

Using Spelling Error Analyses to Examine Individual Differences in German Students From Diverse Linguistic Backgrounds: A Latent Class Approach

The current study examined German spelling errors among students with German as their first language (L1) and those with German as their second language (L2) in Grades 3–4 (elementary school students; n = 127) and Grades 5–7 (secondary school students; n = 379). Five hundred and six students participated in the study. We performed two separate latent class analyses on elementary and secondary school students. Results indicate that elementary school students can be categorized as good (Class 1), consonant error dominant (Class 2), or poor (Class 3) spellers. However, secondary students can be categorized as addition and sequence error dominant (Class 1), substitution and omission error dominant (Class 2), or poor (Class 3) spellers. The three-step multinomial logistic regression analyses suggested that decoding was associated with the highest chances of being poor spellers in both elementary and secondary schools. Speaking German as L1 or L2 was a significant predictor of heterogeneities in secondary, but not elementary, school students. Polish L1 secondary students had the highest possibility of being poor spellers. The results suggest heterogeneities of student profiles. In addition, special attention should be given to secondary school students with the Polish L1 background in their spelling struggles associated with German orthography.

The use of questions posed by professors in English and Montenegrin academic lectures

Abstract Although questions are considered as important linguistic devices employed by lecturers to communicate facts and ideas to students and facilitate the learning process, they have not been a topic of extensive research. With that in mind, this paper explores the types and functions of questions asked by British and Montenegrin lecturers. It examines similarities and differences between two corpora – standard British academic corpora and a specially created corpus of Montenegrin lectures. Both quantitative and qualitative methodologies were used to conduct a contrastive analysis of lecturers’ questions. The results demonstrate that the differences in frequency, forms and functions of questions prevail over the similarities, which could be the impact of two different linguistic backgrounds and national academic cultures. The findings of this study could be useful in designing lecture-listening and note-taking courses for students in which they can get familiar with the forms and purpose of questions posed by professors. Research findings could be applied in training courses for novice lecturers and might also be useful to professors who give lectures to students with diverse linguistic backgrounds.

Embracing Linguistic Diversity: Catalysts for Collaboration and Innovation in Multinational Teams

This article delves into the dynamic interplay between linguistic diversity and its profound impact on collaboration, creativity, and innovation within multinational teams in the realms of commerce and management. By examining the challenges and opportunities posed by diverse linguistic backgrounds, the article aims to provide insights into fostering an inclusive and innovative team environment. Through real-world examples and theoretical frameworks, it explores the nuances of linguistic diversity as a driver for enhanced collaboration and innovative thinking, ultimately contributing to the success of multinational organizations.

Measuring Satisfaction in Breast Cancer Patients Receiving Ambulatory Care: A Validation Study

Abstract Introduction Patient satisfaction constitutes a vital service quality indicator. It provides a measure of the gap in health-care requirements and patients' expectations. Objective The aim of this study was to perform linguistic validation of the questionnaire assessing satisfaction with outpatient care. Materials and Methods A tool for measuring patient satisfaction was developed and validated at our institute in the English language. This tool was translated into Hindi and Marathi. Subsequently, 339 patients diagnosed with breast cancer consulting in the outpatient department from the different parts of India and having diverse linguistic and socioeconomic backgrounds were enrolled. Patients were asked to complete the satisfaction tool after consultation at a single point of time in a prospective manner. Results All patients completed the questionnaire. The questionnaire was filled by 120, 116, and 103 patients in Hindi, Marathi, and English, respectively. Both convergent validity and discriminant validity were supported as the correlation coefficient was >0.4 for all items within a scale and <0.7 between different scales. Factor analysis was valid for all except for open-end questions. The internal consistency was >0.9 for all the questions. The mean overall satisfaction score was 88.35 (standard deviation: 19.63). Patients were satisfied in all the aspects of the consultation process, including appointment scheduling, assistant medical staff and faculty, and treating physician. However, some expressed dissatisfaction toward long-waiting times. Conclusion The translated tool is reliable and valid and effectively measures the satisfaction of patients receiving ambulatory care.

Creating School Scientific Communities Among Urban Refugee ELL Populations

Studies on English language learners (ELLs) and school science have been conducted from a range of theoretical and disciplinary perspectives, the findings of which have indicated growth in science achievement among ELLs when exposed to science inquiry. Yet studies are still needed to address the needs of specific groups within this large, and growing population. Children who are underserved in schools offering limited ELL support continue to be marginalized, and the gap for their future professional and higher education opportunities continues to grow when compared to their majority peers. Teachers often lack the experience, knowledge, and institutional support needed to address the complex educational needs of ELLs. The goal of this study was to examine aspects of multimodal science inquiry teaching strategies using technology with a specific group of students learning English as a new language. This paper describes a qualitative, autoethnographic, case study with three students from the Karen and Karenni cultures, coming to the United States from three different refugee camps in Thailand. Multiple data sources were collected throughout an year-long study, including videos of lessons, recorded focus groups, student artifacts, researcher field notes and reflections, and interviews with the classroom teachers. We coded data as emerging themes iteratively using HyperResearch qualitative research software. The study demonstrated how refugees ELL students developed their discourse skills and classroom engagements through the yearlong intervention designed to build trust between teacher and students by sharing responsibility for practice and learning, to involve inquiry-based science activities, and to value students’ communities and culture. The study was founded on the premise that students of diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds can participate effectively in scientific inquiry.

An A to W of Academic Literacy: Key Concepts and Practices for Graduate Students. Mary Jane Curry, Fangzhi He, Weijia Li, Ting Zhang, Yanhong Zuo, Mahmoud Altalouli, & Jihan Ayesh. University of Michigan Press, 2021.

In the 2018-2019 academic year, the number of international students registered at Canadian universities rose to over 318,000 (Government of Canada, 2020). Hailing from diverse linguistic and socioeconomic backgrounds, these students face unique challenges when starting academic studies in Canada. But it is not just international students, and not just graduate students, who can benefit from Mary Jane Curry’s An A to W of Academic Literacy: Key Concepts and Practices for Graduate Students. Any first-generation academics, undergraduates in writing-heavy programs, and instructors will find this text useful, too.

Re-envisaging English medium instruction, intercultural citizenship development, and higher education in the context of studying abroad

Although the development of intercultural citizenship among university students has now been included as a key policy in international universities, pedagogical practices for promoting the awareness, understanding, and development of intercultural citizenship while studying abroad have reportedly been inadequate. To address this gap, this qualitative interview study 1) explores the perceptions of Thai and Chinese students enrolled in English-medium education programs on the development of intercultural citizenship and 2) identifies links between intercultural citizenship and English for students studying in international universities. The findings reveal that the participants generally had positive attitudes toward the concept of intercultural citizenship and agreed that living in a foreign country surrounded by individuals from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds made it more effective to learn about and promote awareness of intercultural citizenship compared to staying in their homelands. They further demonstrate that English proficiency levels, exposure to teaching methods before studying abroad, and regular on-campus and off-campus activities with international friends from different linguistic-cultural backgrounds are significant in enhancing intercultural citizenship competencies. Further, some implications in terms of the promotion of intercultural citizenship education through English are also proposed and discussed. Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/09500782.2021.1996595 .

Mind Your Language Series from the Standpoints of Applied Linguistics and Humour Studies

The scientific examination of humour is a recent development in Applied Linguistics and other diverse but cooperating disciplines. Though humour research took off only recently, there has been substantial progress in it. Among the variegated genres of humour situation comedy (abbreviated as sitcom) has received less attention than it merits. This paper analyses Mind Your Language, a situation comedy that is based on the EFL class of an adult education college in London. The show was aired as television series andreceived commendation across the globe. This paper identifies Mind Your Language as a suitable case to study the dynamics of humour in English language classrooms, especially where the learners represent highly diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. This paper applies descriptive and analytical techniques to study the humorous aspects of Mind Your Language series for which Attardo’s (1994) linguistic theory of humour and Grice’s (1975) logic and conversation form the basis. At first, this paper presents the case of situation comedy as a genre of humour and argues in favour of its inclusion in linguistic and scientific research. Then, it presents a review of relevant literature. Next, it lists the questions that outline the scope of the paper. Discussions from the perspective of Humour Studies, semantico-pragmatics, socio-pragmatics and Applied Linguistics follow the questions. The main findings and conclusions appear at the end.

Online Intercultural Dialogue: “Failed” Communication in a Telecollaboration Project

Over the past two decades, the development of computer-mediated communication technologies has modified human communication. Increasingly, representatives from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds are disposed to a constant negotiation of meanings. The main purpose of this study is to carry out a linguistically grounded analysis of the intercultural dialogue during online asynchronous written exchanges between Latvian and Cypriot students.Based on the politeness theory of Brown and Levinson (1987), which implies that all adult members of society are endowed with two universal aspects: “positive face” and “negative face”, and using the methods of content analysis and discourse analysis, this research analyses the way learners communicate or hide their position concerning sensitive cultural issues. To attain the objective of the present research, a quantitative and qualitative experimental study was conducted. The learners’ public messages in the discussion forums were juxtaposed with their private messages concerning proposed cultural topics. The findings show a strong interdependence between the politeness strategies used by the learners and the intercultural issue discussed. Thus, online intercultural discussions can be qualified as context-dependent and content-dependant. Discussion forum does not seem to be an appropriate environment to facilitate and encourage intercultural discussions about potentially controversial issues.

Localized Globalization: Directives in Augmented Reality Game Interaction

AbstractIn what has been termed the global era, individuals from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds frequently participate in joint activities that require intercultural communication. Concomitantly, research on communication in contexts involving mobile technologies is nascent, and investigations addressing pragmatics in particular are few. In this article, we examine place‐based mobile augmented reality (AR) apps, which have been shown to provide learners with valuable opportunities for location‐situated social and collaborative interaction and embodied experience of place. We focus on cataloguing social actions, specifically directives, in 4 groups of mobile AR game players using English as a lingua franca (ELF) to communicate. We uncovered a variety of directive strategies, both verbal and nonverbal, that are rarely discussed in pragmatics teaching and learning yet were critical to the unfolding communicative action. Implications of the study findings for pragmatics instruction are provided within the broader recommendations for ELF pragmatics.

Examining Burmese students’ multilingual practices and identity positionings at a border high school in China

This study explores a cohort of Burmese students’ lived experiences at a border high school in China and demonstrates that their multilingual practices and identity positionings constitute exclusionary effects that limit their interactions with their local Chinese teachers and peers. The paper argues that these Burmese students’ in-group interactions reproduce the process of exclusion, further complicating their identity positionings. This paper confirms the established fact that transnational students are marginalized in a variety of national contexts in complex ways, and draws attention to in-group differences among transnational students with diverse backgrounds. These findings have implications for multilingual practices and education policy makers, and for a more inclusive pedagogical approach to reducing marginalization and educating students of diverse linguistic, cultural, and racial backgrounds for global citizenship.

Novel vocalizations are understood across cultures

Linguistic communication requires speakers to mutually agree on the meanings of words, but how does such a system first get off the ground? One solution is to rely on iconic gestures: visual signs whose form directly resembles or otherwise cues their meaning without any previously established correspondence. However, it is debated whether vocalizations could have played a similar role. We report the first extensive cross-cultural study investigating whether people from diverse linguistic backgrounds can understand novel vocalizations for a range of meanings. In two comprehension experiments, we tested whether vocalizations produced by English speakers could be understood by listeners from 28 languages from 12 language families. Listeners from each language were more accurate than chance at guessing the intended referent of the vocalizations for each of the meanings tested. Our findings challenge the often-cited idea that vocalizations have limited potential for iconic representation, demonstrating that in the absence of words people can use vocalizations to communicate a variety of meanings.

The role of play in creating a language-conducive context in a bilingual preschool

ABSTRACT The current study was part of a large project focusing on bilingual development 1 in the preschool classroom context. Its aim was to theorize free play as a social and language learning activity that provides opportunities for young learners to move towards second language production. The role of free play for language development in general, and its unique contribution to L2 learning inspired our work. We applied a qualitative approach to perform close observations of eight children, four L1 Arabic-speakers and four L1 Hebrew-speakers and provided numerical data about the frequency of L2 use. The analysis revealed that free play created a fruitful language-conducive context for daring to use L2 (even with mistakes), peer language mediation, creative repetition, self-talk, focus on language form, and corrective feedback for others’ incorrect usage. Theorization of the role of free play in L2 production is followed by some suggestions for field applications in preschool classrooms, engaging children coming from diverse linguistic backgrounds.

Determining the core vocabulary used by Sepedi-speaking children during regular preschool activities

Purpose In order to provide equitable communication intervention and support services to clients from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds, the development of language-specific resources for assessment and intervention is needed. The purpose of the study was to develop a core vocabulary list based on language samples from Sepedi-speaking children, in order to make it available as a resource to inform vocabulary selection for augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems for children in need of AAC from a Sepedi language background. Method The speech of six typically developing Sepedi-speaking children aged 5–6 years was recorded using small body-worn audio recording devices. Children were recorded during their regular pre-school day. The recordings were transcribed, coded and analysed. Result The composite transcript consisted of 17 579 words, of which 1023 were different words. The core vocabulary was determined by identifying all words that were used with a minimal frequency of 0.05%, and were used by at least half of the participants. The Sepedi core vocabulary consisted of 226 words that accounted for 88.1% of the composite sample. Conclusion The core vocabulary determined in this study represents a small pool of reusable linguistic elements that form the grammatical framework of the Sepedi language. As such, is a valuable resource that can be used to assist with vocabulary selection for children who require AAC and who come from a Sepedi language background.

Translation as a pedagogical tool in multilingual classes

AbstractWhile translation has recently had a comeback in language pedagogy, its applicability in classrooms with students from diverse linguistic backgrounds has been underexplored. In countries with increasing immigration and high intakes of international students, which is the case of Canada, language classrooms are intrinsically multilingual. This multilingual reality provides unique opportunities for students to use their linguistic repertoire while learning English – one of Canada’s official languages –, but teachers may be hesitant to use translation as a pedagogical tool if they do not speak the languages of their students. This paper reports on the results of a qualitative study with three teachers and 40 adult learners of English for Academic Purposes (EAP) in a Canadian university. All of the student participants had at least two languages in their repertoire, and 90% reported being plurilingual, that is, using several languages with varying levels of proficiency. With the exception of English, the language of instruction, the teachers did not share any of the languages spoken by the students. The study explored how the teachers used translation to engage students’ plurilingual repertoires and investigated students’ perceptions of translation practices. Data was gathered through student diaries and classroom observations. Results of deductive analyses show that translation, when used within a plurilingual approach, was helpful for making sense of English vocabulary. Moreover, students reported that translation across languages enhanced conceptual knowledge. The paper argues that translation as a process rather than an L2-L1 textual product can advance language learning in multilingual classes.

Technology-enhanced multiliteracies teaching towards a culturally responsive curriculum: a multiliteracies approach to ECE

ABSTRACT Much attention has been paid to the introduction of a culturally responsive curriculum in early childhood education in our increasingly globalized society to support young children of diverse cultural and linguistic (CLD) backgrounds. With the rise of twenty-first century concepts of what literacy means in the digital age, traditional literacy practices that have relied primarily on print-based texts have been also challenged. To response to these imperatives, this qualitative case study presents a lived story of a grade one teacher who implemented multiliteracies pedagogy in her classroom for young culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) children. Our findings show that applying multiliteracies pedagogy not only motivated the teacher to value her CLD students’ diverse semiotic resources as available designs but also transformed the way the teacher integrated technology in literacy teaching. We end this paper with the discussion of implications of integration of multiliteracies pedagogy to technology-enhanced literacy teaching and learning.