Heritage Language Research Articles

Cultural and religious structures influencing the use of maternal health services in Nigeria: a focused ethnographic research

BackgroundCultural and religious structures encompass a set pattern of values, beliefs, systems and practices that define a community's behaviour and identity. These structures influence women's health-seeking behaviour and access to maternal health services, predisposing women to preventable maternal health complications. However, most maternal health policies have focused on biomedical strategies, with limited attention to women’s cultural challenges around childbirth. The overall aim of this paper is to provide a thick description and understanding of cultural and religious structures in Nigeria, their meaning and how they influence women’s use of maternal health services.MethodsRoper and Shapira’s (2000) focused ethnography comprising 189 h of observation of nine women from the third trimester to deliveries. Using purposive and snowballing techniques, 21 in-depth interviews and two focus group discussions comprising 13 women, were conducted in two Nigerian primary healthcare facilities in rural and urban area of Kogi State. Data was analyzed using the steps described by Roper and Shapira.ResultsUsing the PEN-3 cultural model, nine themes were generated. Positive factor, such as the language of communication, existential factor, such as religion, and negative factors, such as the use of prayer houses and lack of women’s autonomy, were either positive or negative enablers influencing women’s use of maternal health services. Additionally, women's perceptions, such as their dependency on God and reliance on cultural norms were significant factors that influence the use of maternal health services. We also found that the use of herbal medicine was a negative enabler of women’s access to facility care. At the same time, family support was also a positive and a negative nurturer that could influence how women use facility care. Finally, factors such as religion, Ibegwu, and male child syndrome were negative nurturers influencing women’s contraceptive use.ConclusionCultural and religious structures are significant factors that could promote or limit women’s use of maternal health services. Further studies are needed to understand culturally focused approaches to enhance women’s use of maternal health services in Nigeria.

Parental ideologies in heritage language maintenance

Abstract This study explores the role of parental ideologies in heritage language (HL) maintenance among three interlingual families in New Zealand. This study draws on data from semi-structured interviews with Korean immigrant mothers and non-Korean fathers. A thematic approach was used to analyze the data. The findings in this study revealed that the three families placed great value in Korean HL maintenance. All three family language policies (FLPs) centered around a “One Person, One Language” approach, with the mothers using Korean. However, there were still wide-ranging variations in their FLPs. Moreover, the mothers’ attitudes toward HL learning were related to their perceptions of their children’s identities, which affected their HL-teaching strategies. The mothers’ HL maintenance efforts were possible because of their partners’ support. However, their husbands’ positive attitudes were also clearly associated with heteronormative gender roles and a related ideology of parenting. The findings suggest that even in positive FLP contexts, there is thus still a role for a more holistic and critical approach to HL maintenance.

(Ne)prijazni zmaji v službi polonistične ekoglotodidaktike

The article focuses on the Polish cultureme of the Vistula River as defined by Maciej Rak as well as the ecoglottodidactic educational potential resulting from the juxtaposition of the Polish legend of the Wawel dragon and the Slovenian legend of the dragon and the Argonauts. The selected folk texts become a stimulus for conversations with students about the Vistula and the Sava and Ljubljanica rivers flowing through Slovenia. The text follows the postulates of environmental humanities, promoting a non-anthropocentric view of the world as well as intercultural and outdoor education. The theoretical reflection is complemented by a proposal of an ecological field game, titled “In the footsteps of centuries-old dragons”, based on an aquatic theme and adapted to the needs of Polish language learners at B1-B2 level. The use of information and communication technology such as QR codes, interactivity and digital flipbooks ensures the attractiveness of educational activities and allows correlating the teaching of a foreign/second or heritage language with the objectives of sustainable development.

Law and Order in Exile Communities in Early Modern Norfolk

AbstractIn November 1565, Queen Elizabeth issued Letters Patent permitting thirty textile masters from the Low Countries to settle in Norwich and practice their trade. By early 1566, two language communities, one Dutch and the other French, had been established, each with its own church. However, in the wake of the Iconoclastic Fury in the Low Countries, which began in August 1566, many Calvinists left their homes and moved to Norwich. By 1568, the number of exiles in the town exceeded 2000. This led to tensions between the exile community and local people. Alongside a raft of regulations setting limits on the exiles’ commercial activities, the local authorities asked the Dutch and French communities to elect officials to maintain order within their communities and to act as a bridge in relations with the Anglophone community. These officials, known as politicke mannen in Dutch and hommes politiques in French, were elected annually for over 150 years. This article examines how they kept order within their communities and how they maintained relations with the local authorities, above all the mayor and the town council. It does so using correspondence and two minute‐books of the weekly meetings of these officials in the town's Guildhall. Furthermore, the article examines how this ad hoc solution to the sudden influx of migrants provided a template for the maintaining of law and order in other English towns with significant exile communities.

DECODING DIGITAL YOUTH:COMMUNICATION TRENDS IN THE INTERNET ERA TION

The article focuses on increasing developments in the structure of the language of online communication. It is already common knowledge that online communication or otherwise, multimedia communication has set quite specific language rules, especially in the ways of encoding and, consequently, decoding messages. The so-called “new normal” has gradually crept into reality, even if virtual, unnoticed, and seems to have stayed. The “new normal” does not remain the same and changes with time and the new requirements of the users. The ever-growing striving of people to make things work faster has not left the sphere of human communication untouched, particularly, informal online communication. Thus, most of the changes in the means of encoding a message primarily aim at brevity and efficiency. It is noteworthy that changes are mainly implemented by young users of online space. It is usually they who set new trends in the ways and means of coding meaning in the text, often posing challenges and risks in balancing personal and professional boundaries.

Functional Peculiarities of Culturonyms in The Context Of Political Media Discourse

The workings of culturally influenced language indicators in political mass media are revealed in this essay. The way that culturally marked linguistic signs are used in political conversation has some quirks that enable them to accomplish the objectives that political communication sets. The political communication tasks, on the one hand, determine the reality that culturally marked units actively participate in political debate. However, these objectives and activities align with the ontological characteristics of these signals. These characteristics include the axiogeneity of linguistic signals with cultural markers, their innate capacity to designate, recognize, and encode the values of the language and cultural community, their capacity to refer to the latter, and their capacity to fulfill evaluative and expressive functions. These indicators' primary characteristic is the information about cultural values they transmit; that is, their capacity to create a modal environment by making reference to societal value vectors. Cultural names become sources of cultural modality throughout the discursive adaptation process. This is defined as the assessment from the perspective of society cultural values; in other words, it is accountable for providing an assessment or refutation based on a particular cultural tradition. Ideological and cultural modalities are combined in a political mediatext. This process intensifies the persuasiveness and agony of this kind of discourse.

A content analysis of government-issued social media posts during multi-jurisdictional enteric illness outbreaks in Canada

IntroductionMost Canadians use at least one social media platform regularly, making social media a potentially effective tool for reaching broad audiences. The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) uses social media as one tool for rapidly communicating with the public during multi-jurisdictional enteric illness outbreaks. However, the effectiveness of social media in enhancing public risk communication during these outbreaks remains unexplored. Addressing this gap may help optimise social media use for risk communication to inform the public and prevent additional illness. This study aims to analyse the engagement with and quality of PHAC’s social media content regarding multi-jurisdictional enteric illness outbreaks.MethodsUsing a search of PHAC’s social media platforms, 482 posts during enteric illness outbreaks (2014–2022) were identified, including 198 posts from Facebook and 284 posts from X (formerly Twitter) in English and French. A codebook was developed using engagement metrics for gauging public interest, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Modified Clear Communication Index (CCI) to assess clarity as a proxy for comprehension, the Health Belief Model (HBM) to evaluate the potential to motivate behaviour change, and measures of consistency. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse post content.ResultsThe average engagement rates for PHAC social media accounts were < 1%, below standard average engagement rates (1–5%). While posts generally adhered to the CDC’s CCI criteria, clear language (45.7% on Facebook, 26.5% on X) and clear communication of risk (7.6% on Facebook, 0.0% on X) were scarce. HBM constructs were present in all posts, but certain constructs, such as barriers were used sparingly (1% on Facebook, 0% on X). Despite this, posts consistently communicated outbreak investigation details and prevention information.DiscussionThe low average engagement rates suggest a lack of public awareness or interest in the posts. The partial adherence to the CCI indicates room for improvement in clarity, a key component for supporting public understanding. Although some HBM constructs were utilised, no posts incorporated all HBM constructs, which may hinder efforts to promote behaviour change. To enhance effective risk communication using social media during multi-jurisdictional enteric illness outbreaks in Canada, tools like the CDC’s CCI should be used to improve message clarity, use of all HBM constructs as applicable, and message consistency across products and channels are recommended to improve overall message quality and content.

Contemporary Literary Translations into Judeo-Spanish as a Territory of Sephardic Language in its Postvernacular Mode

This article presents the contemporary translations into Judeo-Spanish, published in the form of a book, against the background of the current sociolinguistic and sociocultural situation of Sephardic language, which nowadays is considered as severely endangered. It has ceased to be the language of literature with the exception of several authors who since 1970-ties have published poetry. In the 21st century some of them have noticed the usefulness of translation in the protection of Judeo-Spanish. My analysis of different elements of the books in question shows that translation belongs to the repertoire of postvernacular practices. The further claim is that in times when there is no geographical area where Judeo-Spanish continues to be spoken, the translated literature is an important part of the «territory» of the existence of the language which intersects with other «territories». They function together as points of reference in the construction of Sephardic identity based on the relation with its language of heritage.

The Struggle for Professional Recognition by Polish Complementary Schools When Preparing Students for the GCSE Polish Exam During the 2020 COVID-19 Exam Period in England

ABSTRACT The disruption to the national GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education) examinations in England during the summer (June–August) exam period of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic has been well documented; however, less attention has been paid to the challenges faced by complementary schools in preparing students for GCSEs in heritage languages. This paper addresses this lacuna in exploring the results of a small-scale study investigating the challenges faced by eight Polish school heads as they attempted to follow the various guidelines for the 2020 GCSE exam period. Findings suggest that support from the mainstream sector was limited, and Polish complementary schools struggled with being seen as less legitimate sites of learning, as heads, teachers and students negotiated the changes made to the GCSE exam due to the pandemic. This paper highlights the negative positioning of Polish language exams within the English education system through the lens of a linguistic ideology which positions some languages as more worthy of study than others. It also argues that the pandemic highlighted how complementary schools and teachers working within them are frequently seen as less professionally competent than those in mainstream schools and calls for greater recognition for complementary schooling.

Voices Unveiled: Navigating NNESTs’ Beliefs on Pronunciation Teaching － A Systematic Review

Pronunciation instruction is crucial to English language teaching, significantly impacting communicative competence and language acquisition. In this context, in-service non-native English-speaking teachers (NNESTs) play a pivotal role, although their beliefs regarding pronunciation teaching practices are diverse and complex. This systematic review, conducted in accordance with the PRISMA statement, examines 22 peer-reviewed papers published between 2014 and 2023 to thoroughly explore these beliefs. The reviewed studies predominantly utilized qualitative methods to explore teachers’ perceptions and teaching approaches, and four key themes emerge. First, NNESTs emphasize the importance of pronunciation for communicative competence, shifting focus from native-like pronunciation to intelligibility. Second, pedagogical approaches vary, with many teachers still relying on traditional methods such as drills, despite a growing interest in integrating pronunciation into communicative tasks like role-plays and discussions. Third, significant challenges hinder effective pronunciation instruction, including inadequate teacher training, time constraints, and a lack of suitable teaching materials. Teachers often resort to traditional methods due to these limitations, despite recognizing the need for more interactive strategies. Finally, factors such as teachers’ linguistic backgrounds, sociocultural expectations, and institutional contexts shape their instructional practices. The review emphasizes the need for targeted professional development and institutional policies that support pronunciation teaching. Addressing these issues is crucial for enhancing pronunciation instruction and supporting NNESTs in diverse educational settings.

EDUKASI MENGENAI PEMANFAATAN MEDIA SOSIAL DALAM PUBLIC SPEAKING BAGI SISWA/I SMK KARYA NASIONAL, KAB. KUNINGAN JAWA BARAT

This research activity is to determin the impat of using social media in public speaking activities forr students at SMK Karya National. The times have entered the digital era where technology continues to develop rapidly and everyone is involved in the dynamics of social media. This research aims to provide education about social media in depth, both in terms of positive and negative azpects of public speaking sklills. Where currently social media is very common for everyone. Social media is also able to influence speaking style, grammar and word use. The influence of informal language and casual communication styles common on social media can be a challenge in formal communication. The significance of public speaking in the educational and professional world is crucial, students are faced with the challenge of developing public speaking skills along with the dominance of social media

Shifting trends in communicative English language teaching in Icelandic compulsory schools

This paper maps shifts in English language teaching in compulsory schools since curricular changes in 2007 and again in 2011/2013. The primary purpose of the current study is to examine the status of English language teaching from the perspective of active teachers. The secondary aim is to inform the development of teacher education programmes at the University of Iceland and improve English teacher preparation for those entering or working in the compulsory education system. When earlier surveys were conducted – a large-scale ministry survey in 2005/2006 and a smaller follow-up survey in 2007– teaching English was heavily influenced by the preparation of students for the final state exams, with a strong focus on reading comprehension, writing, and grammar. The National Curriculum Guide 2011/2013 introduced the fundamental pillars of education and competences as the base for teaching and assessment. Through a quantitative survey carried out in 2022, the researchers collected responses from 7th- and 10th-grade teachers about their access to, and usage of, teaching and learning materials, teaching practices, approaches to assessment, teachers’ professional development, and the use of English in the classroom. The response rate was 53% and a total of 156 teachers participated. The results show that traditional, textbook-based teaching methods are still prevalent, although oral communication skills receive increased emphasis. Cultural competences and learning skills need to receive substantial attention if they are to meet the requirements of the National Curriculum 2011/2013. The use of the target language (English) in the classrooms should increase, while the purposeful use of L1 Icelandic is still relevant in foreign language classrooms. Overall, communicative language teaching seems to be gaining ground.

Soundboard-trained dogs produce non-accidental, non-random and non-imitative two-button combinations

Early studies attempting interspecies communication with great apes trained to use sign language and Augmented Interspecies Communication (AIC) devices were limited by methodological and technological constraints, as well as restrictive sample sizes. Evidence for animals’ intentional production of symbols was met with considerable criticisms which could not be easily deflected with existing data. More recently, thousands of pet dogs have been trained with AIC devices comprising soundboards of buttons that can be pressed to produce prerecorded human words or phrases. However, the nature of pets’ button presses remains an open question: are presses deliberate, and potentially meaningful? Using a large dataset of button presses by family dogs and their owners, we investigate whether dogs’ button presses are (i) non-accidental, (ii) non-random, and (iii) not mere repetitions of their owners’ presses. Our analyses reveal that, at the population level, soundboard use by dogs cannot be explained by random pressing, and that certain two-button concept combinations appear more often than expected by chance at the population level. We also find that dogs’ presses are not perfectly predicted by their owners’, suggesting that dogs’ presses are not merely repetitions of human presses, therefore suggesting that dog soundboard use is deliberate.

Unlocking the potential of willingness to communicate on the Clubhouse application: Insights from the Heuristic Pyramid Theory

Despite the growing popularity of digital language learning platforms, understanding the intricacies of communication willingness within these contexts remains limited. This study addresses the gaps in understanding the dynamics of willingness to communicate (WTC) on the “Smart and Easy English” Clubhouse Application through the lens of the Heuristic Pyramid Theory. The study adopts a case study design with three participants and employs a questionnaire encompassing Motivational Propensities (MP), Affective and Cognitive Context (ACC), and Social and Individual Context (SIC), complemented by an interview. The findings reveal both positive and negative insights into the participants’ communication experiences on the platform, shedding light on the multifaceted nature of WTC. The positive results highlight enhanced confidence and motivation, while negative aspects point to challenges in affective and cognitive dimensions. These findings have significant implications for optimizing communication experiences on Clubhouse and similar platforms, emphasizing the need for tailored interventions to address individual and social factors influencing WTC. This study contributes valuable insights to the intersection of language learning, communication willingness, and digital platforms, paving the way for improved user experiences and educational outcomes on Clubhouse.

From the kitchen to pop culture: The role of Mansi heritage speakers in language shift and language revitalisation

Abstract Mansi is a severely endangered minority language spoken mainly by the Mansi, an indigenous people of the Russian North. Traditionally the Mansi were living on fishing, hunting, gathering, and reindeer breeding, but as a result of industrialisation in the region, they gradually moved to urban types of settlements. Since the beginning of the 21st century the heritage language speakers became visible as a distinctive category beside the group of Mansi native speakers. The Mansi heritage language speakers have less proficiency in Mansi, but they are more active and creative in negotiating the position of their language and culture. As a result of the heritage language speakers’ activity, Mansi is not only the language of the kitchen small talks, but also became the language of the contemporary indigenous pop culture.

Is it a method or approach? A systematic review of communicative language teaching in Japan

ABSTRACT In many FL contexts, pressure to adopt Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) has surged. In Japan, CLT is gradually being implemented by teachers and schools following the Ministry of Education’s efforts to improve Japanese learners’ communication skills. This systematic review article has two primary goals: to understand how the Japanese research community define and conceptualize CLT in the context of the ongoing policy shift, and to evaluate the effectiveness of classroom-based CLT research on Japanese learners’ language development. Analysis reveals significant inconsistencies in how CLT is defined and conceptualized, often conflating it with a method of training speaking proficiency. This framing of CLT as a method primarily for speaking is argued to stem from misinterpretations of domestic macro-level policies and CLT’s positioning in duality with traditional methods which inaccurately shoehorn it into the same categorical container of a method rather than approach. Moreover, while classroom-based research in Japan offers some empirical evidence that CLT has language learning benefits, there are insufficient studies which show how CLT can be effectively adapted in contextually appropriate ways, which is partly due to methodological issues and a lack of robust testing instruments. The paper concludes by offering suggestions for future research.

Indigenous languages as predictors of understanding and accepting COVID-19 vaccines in Nigeria and South Africa

Indigenous African languages have often suffered neglect in health development campaigns until recently. Considering the multi-faceted effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on different peoples and societies worldwide, this article argues that vaccine campaigns in African settings cannot be impactful if they are not disseminated in the indigenous African languages. The article is hinged on Salawu’s model of indigenous language for development communication, which affirms the connection between language of communication and people’s understanding of the message communicated. The study employed a survey experimental research method. Using the pool sampling technique, both online and offline questionnaires were used to survey the opinions of 191 Nigerian and 114 South African respondents in Lagos and Mafikeng, respectively, about dominant indigenous languages used for COVID-19 vaccine messages, their degree of understanding vaccine messages and their acceptance or rejection of the vaccine messages. Interview sessions were conducted with five purposively selected health communication and media experts to determine the significance of and challenges encountered in the use of indigenous African languages for COVID-19 vaccine campaigns. The quantitative data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistical tools, such as frequency count and percentage, chi-square, percentile and logistic regression; while the qualitative data were thematically analysed. While respondents mostly identified with messages in Yoruba, Igbo, Setswana and isiZulu, a few respondents identified with a combination of languages, although these languages did not influence their acceptance of vaccines.

Reconstructing the population history of theNicobarese.

The Nicobarese are the major tribal groups in the Nicobar district, situated south of the Andaman group of Islands. Linguistic phylogeny suggests that the linguistic ancestors of the Nicobarese settled the Nicobar archipelago in the early Holocene. So far, genetic research on them is low-resolution and restricted to the haploid DNA markers. Therefore, in the present analysis, we have used the high-resolution biparental (1554 published and 5 newly genotyped Nicobarese individuals) and uniparental genetic markers and looked at the genetic association of Nicobarese with the South and Southeast Asian populations. We report a common ancestral component shared among the Austroasiatic of South and Southeast Asia. Our analyses have suggested that the Nicobarese peoples retain this ancestral Austroasiatic predominant component in their genomes in the highest proportion. On the Southeast Asian mainland, the Htin Mal, who speak an Austroasiatic language of the Khmuic branch, represent a population that has preserved their ethnic distinctness from other groups over time and consequently shown the highest drift with the Nicobarese. The analysis based on haplotypes indicated a significant level of genomic segment sharing across linguistic groups, indicating an ancient broader distribution of Austroasiatic populations in Southeast Asia. Based on the temporal analyses of haploid DNA, it is suggested that the forebears of the Nicobarese people may have arrived on the Nicobar Islands in the last 5000 YBP. Therefore, among the modern populations, the Nicobarese peoples and the Htin Mal language community represent good genetic proxies for ancient Austroasiatics.

Multilingualism in Contemporary Sephardic Children’s Literature

This article explores the resurgence of contemporary Sephardic children’s literature, with a particular focus on its multilingual nature as a central feature. The study aims to demonstrate how the use of multiple languages within a book serves as a tool to keep young Sephardic readers connected to Ladino – their heritage language – which, nowadays, is considered severely endangered. The methodological approach is based on Jeffrey Shandler’s concept of post-vernacularity, positioning contemporary Judeo-Spanish children’s literature as a post-vernacular phenomenon. The selected books were published in Israel and the United States between 2010 and 2023. This research categorises these works based on the various configurations of multilingualism, which may manifest as direct translations or the use of different languages (and alphabets) in distinct sections of the text and in the pictures. The study concludes that multilingual children’s literature offers a meaningful way for young Sephardim to connect with their cultural roots and engage with Ladino culture.

Architecture and Language Heritage: Beirut, the Cradle of Culture of the Middle East

People strive to maintain their lives and existence and live together with other people. This way of living together creates the concept of society. Society, on the other hand, contributed to the emergence of a concept such as culture. It is deeply related to the concepts of culture, language and space. In places where social dynamics are dominant, both language and place have become a part of cultural richness. Architecture is also a field that affects the formation of culture through the concept of space. Beirut is the capital of Lebanon and a multicultural city where many languages are spoken. Blending the culture of the Middle East and the Mediterranean, Beirut reflects the most concrete examples of intercultural transition with its nearly 5000-year-old history and later established modern and cosmopolitan structures. Traces of a city's language and culture can be understood through the architecture of that city. Beirut's architectural heritage can also have an impact on the language; because architecture provides clues to the society about the history, cultural values and identity of a society. Beirut's different architectural styles, historical structures and modern buildings reflect the city's history and cultural identity, also creating an impact on the language. Architecture and language help preserve and transmit a society's history, traditions and beliefs to future generations and play a key role in the formation of cultural identity. From this point of view, the study reveals this cultural influence of the city of Beirut and the reflections of this influence.