Language Groups Research Articles

Going Paperless: Using Electronic Questionnaires to Improve the Quality of Well-Child Checkups.

At our large, university-affiliated primary care clinic, we aimed to enhance the quality of well-child checkups (WCCs) to align with Bright Futures/American Academy of Pediatrics recommendations. Our primary goal was to increase the rate of complete WCCs from 45.6% to 80% by April 2024. Our secondary aims were to ensure WCC improvement for all language groups and to increase referrals to 2 community partners. A multidisciplinary team initiated a quality improvement project primarily focused on transitioning from paper-based to electronic questionnaires for patient screenings. Clinic processes were developed to assist families in completing questionnaires. The percentage of complete WCCs was the primary outcome measure. We defined complete WCCs as those that included note documentation of all required patient-reported elements. Our primary outcome measure was analyzed by using statistical process control charts to identify special cause variation. We reviewed 51 809 WCCs from July 2022 to April 2024, and the rate of complete WCCs improved from 45.6% to 84.7%. We significantly improved the rates for all measured aspects of WCCs as follows: 7 different common pediatric questionnaires and 7 routine WCC assessments. Referrals to 2 community nutrition and literacy resources increased. Despite large improvements across all language groups, disparities remained for patients who spoke languages other than English. Transitioning to electronic questionnaires and revised clinic procedures led to more comprehensive WCCs and connected more families with community resources. Although progress was made across all language groups, we note ongoing challenges in eliminating disparities.

On some cognates of Avestan hakat̰

Abstract This article deals with a number of Middle and New Iranian words of doubtful etymology for which a derivation from Ir. *hakat ‘together, at once’ is proposed. Its possible reflexes in Western Iranian witness a development towards a conditional or temporal meaning (Parth. ag ‘if’, NP aknūn ‘now’), but remnants of the old meaning ‘together’ can be identified in MP ag(e)nēn ‘together’ and in the Arm. loanword hakaṙak ‘opposite, against’. In Eastern Iranian it seems to have undergone grammaticalization and developed into a preverb (Khot. gga‑) or a preposition (Sogd. ku ‘towards’, Orm. ku- ‘to, on, etc.’, Ishk. kI ‘to, on, for’, Zeb. ka ‘id.’). Especially in this latter group of languages, Ir. *hakat shows an evolution largely comparable to that of *hačā ‘from’, which, according to most scholars, belongs to the same root.

Language and parental satisfaction during inpatient stay: A pilot survey study in a quaternary pediatric hospital.

Considering the significant volume of non-English speakers seeking medical care in the United States and the challenges they may encounter within the hospital environment, it is necessary to assess the satisfaction of non-English-speaking families during their hospital stays and to determine potential areas of improvement in order to optimize care. We aimed to evaluate and describe the satisfaction of Arabic-, Spanish-, and English-speaking families at a quaternary pediatric hospital. From the measures assessed, we sought to identify perceived strengths and weaknesses of the inpatient experience for families who spoke different languages. In doing so, we aimed to identify ways to improve the hospital experience for patients and their families. We created a 23-item satisfaction questionnaire that was vetted by the hospital's Global Services Department, professionally translated into Arabic and Spanish, and tested by native speakers. The survey contained questions pertaining to parent/guardian demographics, their experience with the hospital environment, and their care team or services. Using the questionnaire, we surveyed Arabic-, Spanish-, and English-speaking parents/guardians of post-procedural patients under 18 years of age in intensive care units (ICUs) and on inpatient floors. A total of 162 surveys were collected with roughly equal distribution across the three language groups (52 Arabic, 53 Spanish, 57 English). We found no statistically significant difference in satisfaction scores across the three language groups, nor across self-reported English-proficient and non-English-proficient Arabic and Spanish respondents. In addition, there was no statistically significant difference in satisfaction between parents/guardians in ICUs and those on inpatient floors. This pilot survey suggests that inclusivity and availability of interpretation resources play a role in successfully creating an environment where both English and non-English speakers are satisfied. Further development and validation of the survey instrument should be performed, along with testing at other institutions.

THE VIEWS OF SCHOLAR MAXIMILIAN LAMBERTZ ON LANGUAGE, FOLKLORE AND LITERATURE

The aim of this work is to present the scientific contribution of the Austrian-German researcher Maximilian Lambertz to the field of Albanology and its culture in general. His scholarly perspectives are broad and multifaceted, highlighting the Albanian language and oral literature as crucial subjects of study, particularly in relation to Balkan cultures and the role of the Albanian language within the larger Indo-European language group. In addition to his studies of the languages and cultures of Europe, Lambertz's research included the study of Albanian culture, language, literature and religious beliefs, which had been relatively unknown to scholars. His sensitive treatment of such creations made them important not only for the field of Albanology but also for broader scientific contexts. Therefore, our paper analyses Lambertz's monographs and other writings dealing specifically with linguistic and literary issues, starting with his well-known monograph "Midis Drinit dhe Vjosë" (Between the Drin and Vjosa) and another equally important study,"Posta e Shypnisë" (The Post of Albania). These works represent the foundations of the cultural internationalization of Albanian language and literature, as many of his articles were published in the prestigious German-language journals of the time. Against this background, it is no coincidence that Lambertz's studies, although his first contact with the Albanian language and oral literature was accidental, are still relevant today among young researchers. This is because no one else, like him, has clarified and scientifically established the meaning of these literary works, making them significant not only within Albanian-speaking cultural circles but also beyond.

Comprehensive Analysis Using Probabilistic Linguistic Group Decision-Making and MEREC Technique With Sustainable Development Evaluation in Higher Education

University administrators should organize and coordinate various affairs, scientifically utilize resources such as budget, teaching equipment, and faculty, continuously improve teaching quality, and ensure the sustainable development of educational management. The sustainable development evaluation in higher education management is a multiple-attribute group decision-making (MAGDM) problem. Recently, the Exponential TODIM (ExpTODIM) and PROMETHEE technique was employed to put forward the MAGDM issues. The probabilistic linguistic term sets (PLTSs) are employed as a technique for characterizing uncertain information during the sustainable development evaluation in higher education management. In this paper, the probabilistic linguistic ExpTODIM-MABAC (PL-ExpTODIM-MABAC) technique is constructed to put forward the MAGDM under PLTSs. The MEREC technique is employed to obtain the weight values under PLTSs. Finally, a numerical example for sustainable development evaluation in higher education management is put forward to validate the ExpTODIM-MABAC technique.

A corpus-assisted discourse study of parental concerns regarding multilingual child-rearing

ABSTRACT Many parents have concerns about raising their children with multiple languages. However, there is a paucity of previous research regarding parental concerns about multilingual child-rearing, particularly in multilingual societies. We address this gap with a corpus-assisted discourse study of parental concerns regarding multilingual child-rearing in Quebec, Canada. We created two corpora comprising 641 parents’ responses to an open-ended survey question regarding their main concerns about raising multilingual infants/toddlers (English corpus: 12,502 words, French corpus: 9,360 words). We examined frequencies, collocations, concordance lines, and longer segments to investigate the nature and strength of different concerns. Our results revealed that two previously-attested concern types – cognition concerns and exposure-fluency concerns – were most prominent. The results also provided more nuanced insights into the nature of these concerns. Moreover, the results revealed two additional concern types: concerns regarding trilingual/heritage language transmission and concerns about the effect of multilingualism on children’s identity and social/emotional well-being. These had not previously been attested. Our research makes a theoretical contribution by advancing knowledge about parental concerns and how they can contribute to the study of family language policies. Additionally, our findings may serve as the basis for improving support for multilingual families.

The perception of emotional prosody in Mandarin Chinese words and sentences

Emotional prosody refers to the ways in which the tone of voice can be modulated to convey emotions, feelings, and attitudes. Previous studies have explored the perception of emotional prosody and whether native speakers (L1) have an in-group advantage in recognizing the emotional prosody of their own cultural groups over non-native speakers. However, little is known about whether these findings in non-tonal languages can be generalized to tonal languages. Mandarin Chinese uses the tone of voice to encode word meanings in addition to emotional prosody. This study investigates the perception of emotional prosody in Mandarin Chinese using an emotion judgment task, focusing on the effects of emotion type (e.g., neutral, joy, anger, sadness) and syllable length (e.g., monosyllable, disyllable, trisyllable, and sentence). Three groups were included, consisting of 20 native Chinese speakers (native group), 20 L1-English L2-Chinese learners (second language group), and 20 native English speakers without Chinese learning experience (non-native group). The results revealed that all three groups can identify emotional prosody well above the chance level in Mandarin Chinese words and sentences. Moreover, the native group and the second language (L2) group showed an in-group advantage in recognizing emotional prosody compared to the non-native group, highlighting the impact of linguistic experience in addition to cultural backgrounds on the perception of emotional prosody. Notably, the effects of emotion type and syllable length differed across the three groups in terms of their perception of emotional prosody. The native group had difficulty identifying positive emotional prosody, whereas both the L2 group and the non-native group showed a pattern of improved accuracy as syllable length increased, with an interaction effect with emotion type.

Gender Bias in Linguistic Structures: A Comparative Study of French

Language is a form of power that can shape the cognitive thinking of its users and even serve as a tool of domination for those in authority. Historically, language has been an instrument of patriarchy, with its use under patriarchal systems that often serving to suppress women. However, in the modern era, with the rise of feminism, there has been increasing attention to issues of gender inequality. Many linguists have begun to question whether gendered languages exacerbate existing gender biases. Yet, few have undertaken comparative analyses across different language families. Considering grammatical structures and language origins, this paper will examine French from the Romance language family and German from the Germanic language family—both of them are gendered languages. This study will conduct a comparative analysis to identify the gender biases present in these languages and to explain the cognitive and linguistic causes underlying these biases. By highlighting these issues, the research aims to raise readers’ awareness of gender bias in linguistic structures.

An asymmetrical partnership: The shifting onus of Hmong heritage language teaching from families to dual‐language programs

AbstractFramed by family language policy (FLP), in conjunction with the Douglas Fir Group's ecological transdisciplinary framework for second language acquisition, this multiple case study investigates the FLPs of two Hmong–American families in relation to a Hmong–English dual‐language program (DLP) where their children are enrolled. Interviews, artifacts, and family‐recorded interactions were utilized to get a full understanding of what factors at the different levels of interaction shaped their FLP. The findings reveal that both sets of parents perceived the relationship between the home and school as a partnership for their children's heritage language development, with the school taking on the onus for Hmong literacy. This resulted in both families’ more secondary role and, thus, home language practices that merely supplement the school content. Importantly, while both sets of parents held similar beliefs regarding the role of the DLP in heritage language maintenance, it was their beliefs in the value of Hmong that led to the different FLPs between the families. The article concludes with limitations and implications for schools interested in wanting to better serve their heritage language learners and families.

Genetic Relationships and Population Structure among Nigerian Ethnic Groups (Ibibio, Igbo, Hausa, Tiv and Yoruba) Based on Nine DNA Loci

Abstract 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.

A Cross-Lingual Media Profiling Model for Detecting Factuality and Political Bias

Media profiling offers valuable insights to enhance the objectivity and reliability of news coverage by providing comprehensive analysis, but the diversity in languages posed significant challenges to our identification of factuality and political bias of non-English sources. The limitation of existing media analysis research is its concentration on a singular high-resource language, and it hardly extends to languages beyond English. To address this, we introduce xMP, a dataset for zero-shot cross-lingual media profiling tasks. xMP’s cross-lingual test set encompasses 34 non-English languages and 18 language families, extending media profiling beyond English resources and allowing us to assess cross-lingual media profiling model performance. Additionally, we propose a method, named R-KAT, to enhance the model’s zero-shot cross-lingual transfer learning capability by building virtual multilingual embedding. Our experiments illustrate that our method improves the transferability of models in cross-lingual media profiling tasks. Additionally, we further discuss the performance of our method for different target languages. Our dataset and code are publicly available.

The impact of patient-facility language discordance on potentially inappropriate prescribing of antipsychotics in long-term care home in Ontario, Canada: a retrospective population health cohort study

BackgroundAppropriate use of medication is a key indicator of the quality of care provided in long-term care (LTC). The objective of this study was to determine whether resident-facility language concordance/discordance is associated with the odds of potentially inappropriate prescribing of antipsychotics (PIP-AP) in LTC.MethodsWe conducted a population-based, retrospective cohort study of LTC residents in Ontario, Canada from 2010 to 2019. We obtained resident language from standardized resident assessments, and derived facility language by determining the proportion of residents belonging to each linguistic group within individual LTC homes. Using linked administrative databases, we identified all instances of PIP-AP during a 1-year follow-up period. PIP-AP was defined using the STOPP-START criteria, which have previously been shown to predict adverse clinical events such as emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalizations. The association between linguistic factors and PIP-AP was assessed using adjusted multivariable logistic regression analysis.ResultsWe identified 198,729 LTC residents consisting of 162,814 Anglophones (81.9%), 6,230 Francophones (3.1%), and 29,685 Allophones (14.9%). The odds of PIP-AP of were higher for both Francophones (aOR 1.15, 95% CI 1.08–1.23) and Allophones (aOR 1.11, 95% CI 1.08–1.15) when compared to Anglophones. When compared to English LTC homes, French LTC homes had greater odds of PIP-AP (aOR 1.12, 95% CI 1.05–1.20), while Allophone homes had lower odds of PIP-AP (aOR 0.82, 95% CI 0.77–0.86). Residents living in language-discordant LTC homes had higher odds of PIP-AP when compared to LTC residents living in language-concordant LTC homes (aOR 1.07, 95% CI 1.04–1.10).ConclusionThis study identified linguistic factors related to the odds of PIP-AP in LTC, suggesting that the linguistic environment may have an impact on the quality of care provided to residents.

Teasing apart time reference-related encoding and retrieval deficits in aphasia: evidence from Greek, Russian, Italian and English

ABSTRACT Background Persons with aphasia (PWAs) are often impaired in time reference/tense production. It has been suggested that this impairment is due to encoding or/and retrieval deficits. However, to the best of our knowledge, no experimental design that enables teasing apart selective encoding and retrieval deficits has been proposed thus far. Aims This study aims at disentangling time reference-related encoding deficits from time reference-related retrieval deficits in PWAs. Methods & procedures Two sentence completion tasks tapping production of time reference and subject-verb agreement (control condition) were administered to eight Greek-speaking PWAs, eight Russian-speaking PWAs, six Italian-speaking PWAs, seven English-speaking PWAs and four groups of language-, age- and education-matched healthy controls. Task 1 tapped encoding and retrieval processes to a similar extent. Task 2 predominantly tapped retrieval processes. Comparisons between each PWA and the corresponding control group, as well as within-participant comparisons were performed. Outcomes & results All four control groups performed at ceiling. Twenty-eight out of 29 PWAs were impaired in time reference in at least one of the two completion tasks, and all but three PWAs were impaired in production of subject-verb agreement in at least one of the two tasks. In all language groups, there were PWAs exhibiting between-task dissociations. A double dissociation emerged in the time reference condition, as some Greek-, Russian- and English-speaking PWAs performed better on Task 1 than on Task 2, whereas other Greek- and Italian-speaking PWAs performed worse on Task 1 than on Task 2. In the agreement condition, in each language group, there were PWAs performing better on Task 1 than on Task 2. However, none PWA exhibited the opposite pattern. Based on the results, we identified both PWAs with selective time reference-related encoding deficits and PWAs with selective time reference-related retrieval deficits. Conclusions The present experimental design provides a sound basis for teasing apart selective time reference-related encoding deficits and time reference-related retrieval deficits.

Evaluating a phone-based Interactive Voice Response system for reducing misinformation and improving malaria literacy

ABSTRACT In Burkina Faso, malaria remains a major issue despite the use of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs), especially in underserved communities. A study assessed a mobile phone-based Interactive Voice Response (IVR) service in local languages to improve malaria health literacy. A randomized trial compared users of the local language version with those using a French version. The results showed a 30.33% increase in knowledge, 21.77% in attitude, and 35.38% in practice among the local language group, while the French group had lower improvements. Key factors for adoption included usability, privacy, trust, and compatibility. Participants preferred local language and voice interfaces, with younger users favoring games and older ones preferring text-based interfaces. This study highlights the potential of local language IVR to effectively boost malaria health literacy and combat misinformation in underserved areas.

Measuring Happiness and Life Satisfaction amongst Swedish Citizens: an Inquiry into Semantic Equivalence in Comparative Survey Research

A consistent empirical finding is that Scandinavian countries by international standards score steadily high in terms of subjectively reported levels of happiness and life satisfaction. Intrigued by previous findings in Denmark (Lolle and Goul Anderson in Metode Og Forskningsdesign 1:95–119, 2013, in Journal of Happiness Studies 6:1–14)), this paper confirms that this is partly due to language effects. In this paper, Sweden serves as a case study that, similar to the Danish study, seeks to determine whether it is possible to establish semantic equivalence between translated survey items. By using randomized experiments on a representative sample of Swedish citizens with fluent skills in English, we test the effects of different designs in question wordings and response scale labels implemented by international surveys. The results reveal significant differences in answers on happiness. While the mean differences are very small, the distribution of answers is substantial enough to confirm a strong semantic threshold between the English term happy the Swedish term lycklig. Hence, it requires something more to be “very happy” in Swedish than in English. Notably, language appears to have a lesser impact on the distribution of responses across language groups when using a numbered response scale with endpoint labels, indicating that a particular question design either mitigates or intensifies translational effects. Happiness, it is concluded, is not easily translated and survey practitioners should bear this caveat in mind when operationalizing the concept across countries and cultures.

EXPRESS: Cross-Linguistic Effects of the Speech-to-Song Illusion in Speakers of Bangla and English.

The speech-to-song illusion is a phenomenon in which the continuous repetition of a spoken utterance induces the listeners to perceive it as more song-like. Thus far, this perceptual transformation has been observed in mostly European languages, such as English; however, it is unclear whether the illusion is experienced by speakers of Bangla (Bengali), an Indo-Aryan language. The current study, therefore, investigates the illusion in 28 Bangla- and 31 English-speaking participants. The experiment consisted of a listening task in which participants were asked to rate their perception of repeating short speech stimuli on a scale from 1-5, where 1 = "sounds like speech" and 5 = "sounds like song". The stimuli were composed of English and Bangla utterances produced by two bilingual speakers. To account for possible group differences in music engagement, participants self-reported musical experience and also performed a rhythm discrimination task as an objective measure of non-verbal auditory sequence processing. Stimulus ratings were analysed with cumulative link mixed modelling. Overall, English- and Bangla-speaking participants rated the stimuli similarly and, in both groups, better performance in the rhythm discrimination task significantly predicted more song-like ratings beyond self-reported musical experience. An exploratory acoustic analysis revealed a role of harmonic ratio in the illusion for both language groups. These results demonstrate that the speech-to-song-illusion occurs for Bangla speakers to a similar extent as English speakers and that, across both groups, sensitivity to non-verbal auditory structure is positively correlated with susceptibility to this perceptual transformation.

The importance of sharing: wild plant knowledge in three valleys of Northern Pakistan

Mountain communities are often defined by their distinctive flora and fauna, and the way local people utilize these natural resources. Our study aims to document the indigenous knowledge of wild flora among the local people of three valleys in Northern Pakistan. The ethnobotanical study was conducted in July and August of 2019 and 2020 in 21 hill villages across Shamshal, Hopper, and Phandar valleys in Gilgit-Baltistan, Northern Pakistan. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 90 key informants. We collected data on traditional knowledge of wild food plants (WFPs), wild medicinal plants (WMPs), and wild veterinary plants (WVPs) among three selected linguistic and religious groups scattered in different villages of the valleys. We documented 79 wild plant taxa belonging to 68 genera and 33 families utilized in the study area, among which, 50% were used as food, 43% were used for veterinary purposes, and 24% for medicinal applications. The data analysis revealed significant differences among the studied valleys and communities. The highest overlap was recorded between the Wakhi and Burushaski communities with a Jaccard Similarity Index (JI) value of 0.265, while the lowest was between the Burushaski and Khowar communities with a JI value of 0.238.

Intergenerational transmission and multilingual dynamics: exploring language policies in Chaoshan families through a contextual lens

ABSTRACT Amidst the rapid processes of industrialization and globalization, the interplay between minority and majority languages has garnered increasing attention, highlighting concerns surrounding linguistic diversity and the efficacious enactment of language policies. This study delves into the intricacies of language planning within the familial domain, specifically scrutinizing Chaoshan families in the Chaoshan region as pivotal arenas for nurturing the enduring vitality of Teochew. Employing a methodological approach integrating family visits, interaction recordings, and interviews, this study probes the dynamics of family language policies and individuals’ perceptions vis-à-vis the nexus between linguistic practices and identity formation, with particular emphasis on intergenerational transmission. The results highlight that although Teochew continues to be actively used in family conversations and is closely linked to local identity formation, it is gradually losing ground among younger generations. This decline in passing down the dialect from one generation to the next is noticeable and poses a challenge to its long-term continuity. These insights indicate potential challenges to the sustained perpetuation of Teochew, warranting concerted societal and individual endeavors to safeguard its status as a cherished linguistic asset. The study underscores the importance of societal and individual efforts in preserving Teochew as a valuable linguistic resource.

We don’t have a family language policy: exploring overt and covert family language policy planning styles

ABSTRACT Family language policy (FLP) is a key focus of immigrant families, as parents are considered to play a vital role in children’s bilingual language development. Nevertheless, many parents report that they do not have an FLP. Accordingly, their FLP planning style is unplanned and spontaneous. This study compares families’ FLP planning styles (overt vs. covert). Data was collected via questionnaires from parents and their English-Hebrew bilingual children (n = 82). Children’s receptive and expressive vocabulary of both languages were assessed to explore the impact of FLP planning style. Results confirm that families present with a desire for proficient outcomes in both languages. However, families with an overt planning style present with more pro-heritage language policies (e.g. promoting English use with siblings). Those with a covert planning style lean towards pro-societal language policies and children may be allowed to speak any language at home. Differences in FLP planning did not significantly impact ratings of home language use or children’s vocabulary. The perceived value of English as a global language may be partially responsible for the findings. The study confirms that although there are many effective ways to raise a bilingual child, FLP planning has implications for the bilingual language learning environment.

On decision problems concerning contextual insertions and deletions

The notions of stability, anti-stability, and error-correctability of a language that is modified by making contextual insertions in the words of the language were introduced in a previous paper by Bottoni et al. in 2011, where it was shown that these properties are decidable for regular languages. The authors proposed investigating the decidability of these properties for other classes of languages. Here, we derive necessary and sufficient conditions for a class of languages to have decidable stable, anti-stable, and error-correctable properties, and use these conditions to exhibit general classes of languages (strictly greater than the regular languages) for which the properties are decidable, and also simple classes (the first such classes) for which the properties are undecidable. We obtain identical results for the case when contextual deletions (instead of insertions) are made in the words of the language, and also with mixes of insertions and deletions. Our constructions also demonstrate that certain general problems involving nondeterministic generalized sequential machines (GSMs) applied to languages accepted by deterministic machine models are decidable, which is surprising as the deterministic language families do not need to be closed under GSM mappings.