Linguistic Standards Research Articles

From poets to padonki: Linguistic authority and norm negotiation in modern Russian culture (review)

Ingunn Lunde and Martin Paulsen, eds. From poets to padonki: Linguistic authority and norm negotiation in modern Russian culture. Bergen: University of Bergen, 2009. [Slavica Bergensia, 9.] The issues discussed in From poets to padonki became a part of my life in 1999 when I began my university studies and using Russian and Estonian became my everyday reality. Choosing different languages for different purposes, code-switching, and multilingual play have all been part of my daily use for the last eleven years. This collection challenges definitions of what can be meant by language, and the linguistic norm. It acquaints readers with a wide range of linguistic phenomena in modern Russian culture. Padonki refers to a subculture within the Russian-speaking Internet (Runet), whose representatives use erratic spellings for words, aiming at creating a comic effect. Their nickname padonki itself illustrates such a trend--it is an alteration of podonki 'dregs'. Padonki is also characterized by gratuitous use of profanity and a penchant for obscene subjects. During the last decade, a body of literature has emerged proposing that (socio)linguists direct their attention away the traditional focus of linguistics, i.e., as a bounded system, towards broader semiotic resources, to see what is really going on when people use language (Stroud 2003, Jacquemet 2005, Shohamy 2006, Makoni and Pennycook 2007, Blommaert 2010). The notion of language becomes especially questionable in cases of (multilingual) computer-mediated communication. The last decade has also witnessed rising scholarly interest in on and of the Internet in general and in e-mails and postings on Internet discussion forums or message boards in particular (e.g., Koutsogiannis and Mitsikopoulou 2003, Palfreyman and al Khalil 2003, Hinrichs 2006, Dorleijn and Nortier 2009, Androutsopoulos 2006, 2009). Garda (2009: 32) instead of language offers a more suitable term for the multiple discursive practices--languaging, i.e., social practices that are actions performed by our meaning-making selves. For her, dialects, pidgins, creoles, and academic are all examples of languaging, as there are differences between practices at home, in communities, and in academic contexts. I would argue that standard languages are idealized constructs, and none can remain unaffected by contacts during its entire history. While studying use by individuals, it is important to shift from focus on structure to focus on function--from focus on linguistic form in isolation to linguistic form in human context (Hymes 1974: 77). The volume under review offers fascinating reading for (socio)linguists, who work with different manifestations of real practices rather than seeking for linguistic norm descriptions. Comprising 17 contributions written in English and Russian, the book summarizes analyses of the norm in modern Russian culture based on data multiple sources: fiction, Internet slang, literary criticism and aesthetics, writers' blogs, linguistic play, and various arenas for 'talk about talk,' such as the classroom, blogs, the media, the courtroom, etc. (11). The book opens with Ingunn Lunde and Martin Paulsen's excellent general introduction, an insightful synthesis of how various approaches to the standard Russian language, its norms, and linguistic standards see the history, development, and future of the Russian culture. The first paper, Living by Henning Andersen, gives a comprehensive overview of the history and development of the notion of norms. Andersen reviews historical contributions to the understanding of norms. Making a distinction between declarative and deontic norms and dividing them further into explicit and implicit norms, he highlights the leading ideas in the field of (socio)linguistic studies that concern the position of norms. …

Per Bergsjö, in memoriam

Professor Emeritus Per Bergsjö, a much esteemed Norwegian member of the Editorial Board of Acta, has quite unexpectedly left us at the age of 78 after several decades of service to our journal. He was for many years a prominent figure in Nordic obstetrics and gynecology in his capacities of scientist, clinician, teacher and author of textbooks, previous chief editorship and present associate editorship of Acta. After retirement from clinical commitments in the public health care system in Oslo and Bergen, he ran projects in Tanzania in the early 1990s under the auspices of the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) and left his position as chief editor of Acta. On his return from Africa to Norway he resumed his services to Acta as an associate editor. In his final years, he was also attached to the Norwegian Institute of Public Health as a visiting scientist. His very impressive and varied list of publications is a witness to his prevailing interest in the epidemiology of obstetrics and gynecology with recent papers on maternal mortality, birthweight and still births in the developing world, especially with a focus on East African conditions. Bergsjö's work in the Editorial Board of Acta was exemplary and dutiful and he was something of a role model for many co-editors. His distinct comments on issues of editorial policies were constructive, wise, well balanced and based on his long experience of being on the board. He never hesitated to debate questions which sometimes involved deviating opinions among board members, and he contributed with a sense of diplomacy to the consensus which was invariably reached in the final board decisions. He actively supported and encouraged authors of articles submitted from units in the developing countries and he contributed many times to optimize the scientific and linguistic standards of the papers allotted to him. As a rule, in the accompanying letter following the reviewing of a manuscript, Bergsjö gave polite and concrete hints regarding possible improvements and this was also true for manuscripts which had not fulfilled the standards for acceptance in the journal. Per Bergsjös command of English was widely recognized both in his work as an editor and in his extensive scientific and educational production. His ability to formulate his opinions eloquently was demonstrated in his numerous book reviews and editorials in Acta in which the well read and knowledgeable academic teacher provided his readers with educating and useful hints and views on the literature. A serial story which appeared during Per's time as chief editor, ‘Acta fifty years ago’ was highly appreciated by many. Per Bergsjö was highly respected by his Nordic colleagues. The Nordic Federation, NFOG, recognizes with gratitude his contributions to obstetrics and gynecology in the Nordic countries. His engagement in the developing world and his participation in the work around the 1997 FIGO congress in Copenhagen contributed to WHO's global aims being taken seriously in the Nordic countries. Many a lasting friendship was established between Per and his colleagues throughout the Nordic countries. Per possessed an enormous working capacity until the very end of his life and he had an ability to stimulate others to meaningful work. Health problems did not prevent him from fulfilling his tasks. He participated socially with delight and subtle humor. He wrote reports which were both astute and rich in substance in the journal of the Norwegian Medical Association on his experiences from work in sub-Saharan Africa. On reading such a report it becomes quite clear that Per's multifaceted working tasks and great engagement in women's health issues in the developing world gave him happiness and personal satisfaction. The possibility to have the opportunity for continuing post-retirement maturation and development professionally and personally was successfully managed by Per Bergsjö. Nordic obstetricians and gynecologists thank him for all that he has given during a long professional life! May his successors be inspired by him!

Vadja kirjaviisist ja sõnaloomest

To create an effective literary language, it is necessary to solve the following main problems: 1) selecting suitable dialect area(s); 2) establishing linguistic standards; 3) developing orthography; and 4) adapting the literary language to modern linguistic and cultural demands (Tauli 1968: 19). In solving these problems with regard to the Votic language, language planners can start from both general principles of language planning and the planning experiences of other Balto-Finnic literary languages, such as Estonian, Finnish, Võro and Veps. Today it is advisable to resolve the planning problems of minority languages as flexibly as possible. The author favours the Kattila dialect as the background for the written language, but does not exclude the use of other Votic dialects for this purpose. In the initial period of the Votic literary language at least there is no real need to determine strong norms. It is strongly advised that consistent use be made of a phonological writing system using the letters c, č, š, ž, õ, ä, ö, ü; ď, ń, ŕ, ź and ť. There is no need to designate the sandhi in the script. The language should be enriched with modern concepts where possible, with the creation of new lexis based on actual words and those borrowed from neighbouring languages. The formation of words is mainly the result of compounding and derivation, for example čehsi-škoulu ‘secondary school’ and nimezikko ‘list’ (< nimi ‘name’).

Zur maschinenunterstützten Übersetzung von Patentschriften: Der Stellenwert der internen Rekurrenz

The empirical study presented in this paper explores the relationship between the linguistic features of patent specifications as a text genre and the benefits to be gained from usingCAT tools for their translation. The database is a corpus of 60 complete original (i.e. non-translated) texts selected in accordance with the requirements of the task at hand. The study focuses on analysing patterns of intratextual recurrence that are typical of this genre with a view to examining their impact on the retrieval performance of commercial translation memory (TM) systems. Using the model developed by Reinke (2004) for comparing sentence content, it also looks at genre characteristics that may affect the usability of the search results. The test software was the Translator's Workbench by SDL/Trados (version 7.0.0). The results confirm that it makes sense from a linguistic point of view to use TM systems for patent translations for two reasons: first, because the corpus was found to contain a broad spectrum of recurring sentences, clauses and complex phrases, which is characteristic of this text genre, and second, because the analysis showed that the structural, argumentative and functional features of patent documents have a positive effecton the usability of the search results. The study is also of practical interest because patents are a frequently translated LSP genre, which, despite its high degree of linguistic standardisation, has so far not been one of the areas where memory-based translation tools are routinely used.

Język śląski – problem terminologiczny czy społeczny?

A discussion about the “Silesian language” that has recently become more intense is the effect of the Act on National and Ethnic Minorities and on Regional Language adopted by Sejm in 2005, on the basis of which Kashubian language was granted a status of regional language. This fact has aroused Silesian community, which has long been fighting for distinguishing their own cultural identity and increasing the prestige of Silesian dialect that is in common use there. On the one hand, the Silesians’ aspirations for statutory recognition of Silesian language as a regional one have manifested themselves in actions aiming at its linguistic standardization in the scope of grammar and spelling. Whereas on the other hand, they have been seen in political initiatives undertaken by Silesian social activists and members of Parliament. As far as a scientific discussion is concerned, apart from a traditional point of view recognizing Silesian as another dialect of Polish, there appear more and more postulates for replacing linguistic categories of a “language” and “dialect” with a new understanding of the language as it is already functioning in social awareness. In consequence, “Silesian language” should be statutorily recognized, which, in turn, should hasten works on its standardization. Regardless of theoretical opinions and political decisions, “Silesian language” is only just developing grammar and spelling standards, which may occur thanks to integrated actions aimed at creating norms and through regional writing enhancement. Silesian’s prestige will only be increased when it becomes a language of literature and goes beyond a barrier of colloquiality thus increasing a scope of its use to include official situations as well.

Caveat emptor

Caveat emptor

Literature and the Symbolic Engineering of the European Self

My study draws on the construction of a pro-European identity in modern Romania, a process set in motion by two main engines: a political one (the export around 1848 of the Great French Revolution, in a ‘tamed’ version, to Eastern Europe) and a cultural one (the emergence of Paris as the capital-city of European modernism). Born at the periphery of the continent, the Romanian identity project puts on display a series of insightful dimensions: a logic of homogenization, a centripetal pull towards centralization, linguistic standardization and unity, against any centrifugal forces of cultural difference, a top-down dynamics and, finally, an imaginary self-colonizing drive. As illustrated by the Romanian case, the paradigm of European nationalism opened up new ways of linking nation-building to the needs of modern societies and the interests of professional elites.

Standardness and nonstandardness in Spain: dialect attrition and revitalization of regional dialects of Spanish

In any process of linguistic standardization, the promotion of one variety to the status of standard triggers the devaluation of the other linguistic varieties present within the boundaries of the nation state and impinges upon their domains. Diachronically speaking, this process is a constant struggle between the standard and the nonstandard varieties either to reach uniformity and invariance, or to avoid compliance and maintain local values and customs, always under the pressures of prestige of different kinds. The present study accounts for certain aspects of the dialect contact maintained between the standard Castilian Spanish and nonstandard varieties in Spain. This ongoing contact situation normally yields cases of, more often, dialect obsolescence together with standardization and leveling, on the one hand, or, conversely, and less often, survival processes of dialect maintenance, on the other. Particular attention is paid here to dialect attrition and revitalization with reference to innovative regional dialects in Spain, including, among others, Andalusian and Murcian varieties.

QUANTIFICATION AND CONTRIBUTING OBJECTS TO THOUGHTS*

In this paper, I shall explore a determiner in natural language which is ambivalent as to whether it should be classified as quantificational or objectdenoting: the determiner both. Both in many ways appears to be a paradigmatic quantifier; and yet, I shall argue, it can be interpreted as having an individual—an object—as semantic value. To show the significance of this, I shall discuss two ways of thinking about quantifiers. We often think about quantifiers via intuitions about kinds of thoughts. Certain terms are naturally used to express singular thoughts, and appear to do so by contributing objects to the thoughts expressed. Other terms are naturally used to express general thoughts, and appear to do so by contributing higher-order properties to the thoughts expressed. Viewed this way, the main condition on whether a term is a quantifier or not is whether its semantic value is an object or a higher-order property. At least, these provide necessary conditions. Both can be interpreted as contributing objects to thoughts, and in many cases appears to express genuine singular thoughts. Thinking about quantifiers this way, both can appear object-denoting and non-quantificational. We also often think about quantifiers in terms of a range linguistic features, including semantic value, presupposition, scope, binding, syntactic distribution, and many others. Viewed this way, I shall argue, both can appear quantificational. In particular, it displays scope behavior that is one of the hallmarks of quantification. But, I shall show, it can do so even if given a semantics on which it denotes an object. Thus, both appears quantificational by some linguistic standards, and yet appears object-denoting by standards based on intuitions about the kinds of thoughts it expresses. It can appear this way, I shall argue, because the notion of quantification in natural language is in fact the intersection of a number of features, which do not always group together in the same ways, and do not always group together precisely in accord with our intuitions about expressing singular and general thoughts. Both has some important properties related to

The Talk of Tamils in Multilingual Montreal: A Study of Intersecting Language Ideologies in Nationalist Quebec

AbstractIn Montreal, racial, caste, socioeconomic, and gender inequalities are often masked as neutral‐seeming linguistic differences of dialect, register, and accent. These sociolinguistic hierarchies are upheld by intersecting language ideologies, or essentialised beliefs about language use and ethnic identity. Quebec nationalist and multicultural policies endorse language ideologies of linguistic purity and sociolinguistic compartmentalisation to depict a cohesive nation while maintaining its racial and ethnic distinctions. Similarly, Montreal Tamil diaspora leaders encourage different Tamil‐speaking groups to participate in sociolinguistically segregated domains to preserve purist linguistic standards and maintain socioeconomic, caste, and gender distinctions. Heritage language programmes reproduce these language‐based distinctions for differentiating between types of Québécois citizens, while Montreal Tamil youth selectively challenge or endorse such prescriptions to produce a range of social identities and linguistic practices that correspond to their experiences as ethnic and racial minorities.

Russia Learns to Write: Slavistics, Politics, and the Struggle to Redefine Empire in the Early 20th Century

At the end of the 19th century, a group of specialists--philologists, Slavists, Orientalists--participated in the birth of modern linguistics. In retrospect, as Roman Jakobson has shown, these changes occurred not just in Geneva (where Ferdinand de Saussure was working) but also in Kazan and Moscow, where the concept of the phoneme was being elaborated at the same time. (1) The debate about developing national languages had been transformed by new studies and new projects. The idea of simplifying written languages also was part of the movement for democratization and nationalization in the countries of Eastern Europe. Moreover, the spread of education had become a major issue, for the abolition of serfdom in Russia was expected to produce peasants who were self-aware, moral, and cultured. The study of speech and dialects was expected not only to identify linguistic borders but also to unify peoples through the creation of an accessible literary language. The impulse to modernization that emerged from the Great Reforms thus took shape as a series of measures affecting the schools. It was hoped that literacy across the empire would create peasants, subjects of the tsar--Russian citizens, even--who were capable of modernizing the economy and making the country more governable. The conclusion that literacy was necessary on a vast scale was expressed in a series of resolutions in the 1870s, but it was during the Duma period and within the Duma itself that the idea of universal education was discussed and then decided in 1911. (2) In this article, I study how Russian linguists positioned themselves on the question of linguistic standardization at the beginning of the 20th century by using two examples: the simplification of Russian spelling and the official recognition of a norm for the Ukrainian literary language. I propose to show how language specialists interfered in the question of recasting the empire, notably by encouraging the project of a transition to literacy for the population and defending either Russification or the right to speak, publish, and teach in the vernacular languages. In political expectations as well as technical matters, the supporters of simplification chose their positions based on experiments conducted outside Russia. Nevertheless, in this article I do not study just the importation of the slogan write as you speak. Certainly, the linguists studied here thought comparatively, situating themselves in an imaginary community (particularly with the other Slavic countries) and thereby sharing in the history of cultural transfers. But what interests me most is to show how much the history of Russia is necessarily part of a transnational history. (3) The issues of simplifying Russian and standardizing Ukrainian had characteristics specific to the administration of an empire and to anxieties linked to its future. For instance, some of the linguists discussed here had no specific nationality but instead navigated between empires. The disputes about the definition of written Ukrainian can be understood only in their connection to the question of Russian identity and in an international context of geopolitical tensions that made speakers of Ukrainian, who lived between empires, into key figures on essential national and political matters--especially when they acknowledged that Ukrainian had the qualities of a literary language, linguists were actively helping to reconfigure the empire. Questions about the future of the empire--as a nationstate or a federation, and with what place for Russians and non-Russians in its imperial structure--are essential to understanding scholarly conflicts that seem a priori technical. (4) It is this politicization of scholarship, so characteristic of troubled political times, that I want to study by examining one particular form of transfer--the transference of scientific questions into the political sphere and political questions into the scholarly. …

Art as a Critique of Language: On the Continuity of the Tradition of the Avant-Garde Aesthetic in the Modern and the Postmodern

That art functions as a corrective to rational-scientific insights is one of the formative thoughts of art philosophy. The fact that artistic expression represents a corrective to linguistically-rationally affected insight also ranks among the constants of art philosophy in the 20th century. “Expression is the opponent of articulating something” can be read, for instance, in Adorno’s Aesthetic Theory with regards to the character of language in art and Jean François Lyotard wrote on aesthetic experience: “What happens to us is by no means something which we would have controlled, programmed or conceptually apprehended beforehand”. The uneducible, conceptually unattainable is also at the centre of current art production of the 21st century. On the basis of Lyotard’s and Adorno’s positions, the article shows that one should acknowledge a constancy of the topos of art as non-conceptual knowledge on the one hand as the continuing function of a tradition defined from the philosophical aesthetics of modernity to post-modernity and orientated on the artistic avant-garde. On the other hand and beyond this a continuous line of tradition of New Music becomes clear, leading to the expressionistic avant-garde of the 20th century which represented the starting point for Adorno’s music philosophy, through Lyotard’s focus on John Cage, up to the avant-garde of New Music in the era of post modernity. Specific features of contemporary art, such as rebellion against linguistic standards, an understanding of expressivity that opposes the traditional language of music and operates on the verge of silence, as well as the utopian vision of a modified reality which aims at transcendency enable a conception of art as non-conceptual knowledge, corresponding with the positions of art philosophy in modernity and post-modernity in important points. The relevance of focusing on this line of tradition for musicology lies in the fact that it sheds new light on the musical avant-garde and its further function and, last but not least, that it opens new perspectives in understanding contemporary artistic productions.

Conceptions of Europe in Renaissance France: Essays in Honour of Keith Cameron

This well-presented volume honours Cameron with ten chapters on various aspects of Renaissance literature and culture, accompanied by a synoptic introduction (Cowling) and an engaging personal tribute (Sorrell). Balsamo opens discussion by considering how the notion of Europe (ostensibly the book's overall subject) can be linked in its emergence to the widespread community of scholars and the shared interests of a nobility whose ‘caractère internationale’ (sic) gained particular emphasis via plans for an anti-Turkish crusade. Heath treats an analogous theme in examining how Turkish views of the Occident, as presented by European and particularly French writers, were exploited to support their own national pride, whilst Lestringant too considers the concept of difference by examining the livre des contrariétés, a genre where nations and cultures (for instance, once again, Christian and Islamic) are schematically contrasted, be it for the reader's moral instruction or his mere delight. The theme of crusade returns in Bellenger's analysis of the literary and cultural background to Du Bartas's poem on Lepanto. Translated by a Protestant from a work by a Protestant monarch (James VI of Scotland), it celebrates a Catholic victory, and so bespeaks a European awareness that transcends sectarian differences. Fragonard focuses more centrally on Franco-British relations in a complex (and occasionally ungrammatical) treatment of d'Aubigné's diplomatic (and for him ultimately unfruitful) contacts with the English court. Roberts also considers religious oppositions, but in the context of the reign of Henry II and the French Religious Wars, where Baïf's political verses in praise of the Valois assisted the ultimate survival of the French state despite the accession of a Protestant king in 1589. Rabelais is subjected to two treatments, Morrison firstly examining his various reflexions of the ideas of Christendom and Europe, concluding that his international perspectives are largely pessimistic: a somewhat negative view given Rabelais's idealistic messages concerning war and colonization. After all, Thélème (for Morrison, his clearest example of a European culture) is only established once force of arms has restored international peace and brotherhood. Secondly, Charpentier considers the geographical and cultural implications of the Quart Livre and Cinquième Livre journeys, noting particularly how close to home they remain in some instances, either by implication or indeed in reality. Equally casanier is McGowan's treatment of Blaise de Vigenère, which comprises a general introduction to his humanistic attitudes, interests and achievements, and draws intriguing parallels with Montaigne, also a European traveller. Trotter's survey of the (non-)effects of the Edit de Villers-Cotterets centres, just as closely, on various archival sources in southwestern France which show that the linguistic standardization imposed by that pronouncement was far from universal. Some documents are composed in a style so telegraphic that it is hard to decide if they are in French or Gascon, with many Latinisms also surviving. In sum, this is a varied and stimulating collection, much of it promising fuller elaboration by the contributors, yet surely in its current form already as much a pleasure for Cameron as for his many admirers.

A ‘practice of the variant’ and the origins of the standard. Presentation of a variationist linguistics method for a corpus of Old French charters

Concerning the history of the linguistic standardisation of French, the period which begins with Louis XIV and the 17th century is well known and has been well documented. However, to the present day, discussions about the origins and the early periods of standardisation often suffer from a lack of intralinguistic evidence. The present article makes some suggestions which are designed to help compensate for this lack of evidence, and discusses some results from a German research project on Old French charters.

Language and Nationalism in Italy

. Language is a central gauge of a culture's desire for and ability to articulate a common cultural, and political, identity. As such, historical figures, as well as theorists and historians, often view linguistic standardisation as a critical step on the road to forging a nation. This article explores linguistic standardisation in Italy, focusing on the Cruscan Academy dictionaries, and assesses any links between the standardisation of Florentine and nationalism. It then compares the changing political terminology in Florentine to comparable terms in French and English. The article concludes that (a) unlike the cases of French and English and much current theory on linguistic standardisation, in Italy there was no connection between standardisation and nationalism; (b) the standardisation of Florentine was accompanied by the collapse of political concepts that could have been used to bolster a nationalist movement; and (c) Italian ideas about reason of state are distinguishable from other theoretical justifications of absolutism by the removal of political morality (virtu) from the political realm.

"They. .. Speak Better English Than the English Do": Colonialism and the Origins of National Linguistic Standardization in America

"They. .. Speak Better English Than the English Do": Colonialism and the Origins of National Linguistic Standardization in America

Turning the Tide in Acadian Nova Scotia: How Heritage Tourism is Changing Language Practices and Representations of Language

AbstractDrawn from ethnographic data collected in a small coastal village on Cape Breton Island, where tourism-related industries are emerging in response to the deep sea fishing crisis that hit the area in the early 1980s, this analysis focusses on the effects of tourism on linguistic practices and representations. It is argued that these effects are not without consequence on the way French-speakers in the region (re)construct their identity.Increased contact with outsiders leads to two seemingly contradictory tendencies: differentiation and standardization. These two strategies exert a marked influence on the social structure of the Acadian community. In this particular case, speakers must constantly negotiate an equilibrium between the desire to assert their specificity through discriminating traits that showcase their linguistic as well as cultural differences, on the one hand, and their need to communicate with a broader audience, on the other, the latter entailing a certain degree of linguistic standardization. This analysis focusses on how these speakers manage to perform this balancing act between differentiation and standardization.

Classroom Based Dialect Awareness in Heritage Language Instruction: A Critical Applied Linguistic Approach

The present paper argues that while the Spanish for Heritage Learners (SHL) profession has given ample attention to sociolinguistic issues such as linguistic standards and language variation in teacher training, it has not yet given sufficient attention to the promotion of dialect awareness among heritage learners themselves. After discussing the role of dialect in heritage language pedagogy, I review some of the ways in which dialect awareness has been fostered in existing SHL textbooks and ancillary materials. I argue that these approaches can be sharpened by attending to the social functions of language variation. I present a critical applied linguistic approach to dialect awareness that focuses on the indexical aspects of language variation in society. I discuss three strands of this approach to dialect awareness: functions of dialects, distributions of dialects, and evaluation of dialects. Finally, I suggest some activities to present these strands in a first year college level Spanish for heritage learners class.

Linguistic Services in Ambulatory Clinics

A review of the literature reveals few studies that focus on the challenge of language barriers in primary care settings. Recognizing the need for a national consensus on cultural and linguistic standards for health care in the United States, the Office of Minority Health recently released a set of standards for culturally and linguistically appropriate services (CLAS). These standards were utilized to examine the linguistic services available at eight ambulatory care centers in a small New England state in an effort to determine compliance with recommended national standards. Although myriad studies have focused on provision of linguistically appropriate care in emergency rooms (ERs), few studies have specifically examined ambulatory care settings. Numerous strategies have been adopted by individual clinics in an attempt to deal effectively with linguistic barriers. Yet without clear national regulations and dedicated funding for interpreter services, a large spectrum of services exists. Survey data were obtained from on-site visits at select community health clinics to ascertain availability, need, and utilization of linguistic services for patients with limited English proficiency. The majority of patients served by the clinics surveyed were predominantly Spanish-speaking. Results reveal that although most of the clinics provided informal mechanisms of interpreter services, few directly addressed linguistic services as a component of culturally competent care.

Die Sprachpolitik auf den Balearen

This article deals with the linguistic normalization process in the Balearic Islands. It first presents basic data on the Catalan-speaking population of the archipelago and the influence of Castilian on the local Catalan, e.g. through television and tourism. Secondly, it gives information about linguistic policy strategies such as, for example, the promotion of linguistic standardization by the Government of the Balearic Islands, which uses Catalan as the official language in administrative acts. It insists on the fact that the normalization process must include the entire population and must also promote the acquisition of the language (also by the non-Catalan-speaking part of the population) through language courses and above all with the help of television and radio, and the knowledge of Catalan. This favors the use of Catalan in situations of contact between the non-Catalan-speaking population and the Catalan-speaking population and its use with speakers of other languages.