Younger Informants Research Articles

Die Konjunktiv-II-Bildung im Kontext von Partikelverben in den Basisdialekten Salzburgs

Focusing on phrasal verbs such as einbringen ‘to harvest’ or abbringen ‘to dissuade’, the aim of the present exploratory apparent-time study is to uncover factors affecting the subjunctive II formation in the traditional base dialects of Salzburg (Austria). Depending on whether the subjunctive II formation is synthetic or periphrastic, phrasal verbs are formed in contact position (e. g., würde/täte abbringen ‘would dissuade’) or in distance position (e. g. brächte ab ‘would dissuade’) between particle and verb stem.
 In order to examine which subjunctive II variants are used for 15 phrasal verbs in the traditional dialects of Salzburg, an indirect survey was carried out with 25 informants in six rural locations. These villages are spread across the three dialect areas (West-Central Bavarian, South-Central Bavarian, and South Bavarian) cutting through the federal state of Salzburg. Furthermore, the subjunctive II formation of the phrasal verbs is compared to that of the simple verbs (e. g., bringen ‘to bring’) corresponding to the derivational bases of the respective phrasal verbs investigated (e. g., einbringen or abbringen). In addition to linguistic and areal factors, sociolinguistic factors (age and gender) are taken into account.
 Results show that the subjunctive II formation of phrasal verbs differs significantly from that of simple verbs: compared to the corresponding simple verbs, the informants used the phrasal verbs significantly more often with periphrastic variants. It is argued that this tendency is related to specific semantic-lexical and morpho-syntactic properties of phrasal verbs. Regarding the areal distribution, there are differences between the individual locations. These differences do not correlate with the traditional dialect regions but can be traced back to the socio-demographic characteristics of the locations (number of inhabitants, transport connections, tourism etc.). Moreover, age proves to be a relevant factor: there is a statistically significant difference in both, simple verbs and phrasal verbs, with the younger informants preferring the periphrastic variants.

Subordinate questions in Swedish by 12- and 15- year-old Finnish immersion students

Abstract The present study explores how 12- and 15-year-old immersion students (n=75 and n=73) produce subordinate questions in Swedish on a written test. Previous studies are sparse, but they report difficulties with both subject-verb word order and use of the subjunctor om and the subject marker som occurring in these clauses; informants with varying ages and competence levels struggle with similar problems. However, the acquisition order between these two types of constructions, a central theme in this study, has gained less attention. Analyses of the actual data show significant differences with varying effect sizes in accuracy between the different subcategories of subordinate questions and both informant groups. Insertion of grammatical words was mastered by significantly fewer informants than word order. Also, effect sizes were large in these contexts. Older informants do better than the younger ones, but the differences are not always statistically significant, as certain constructions are already mastered at a high level by the younger informants, whereas other constructions are still difficult for the older ones.

Urban Youth Style or Emergent Urban Vernacular? The Rise of Namibia's Kasietaal

This study discusses Kasietaal, a continuum of language practices associated with youth in the low-income areas of Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. To what extent does Kasietaal fit the description of an urban youth speech style or of a new lingua franca? To answer this question, this study discusses sociolinguistic perceptions of younger and older residents of Katutura, Windhoek's historically Black neighbourhood. It also uses linguistic materials produced by a Kasietaal performance elicited from a subset of the younger informants. The data suggest that Kasietaal is a post-independence phenomenon, with a manipulated lexicon of diverse origins as its most salient feature. But Kasietaal is not just a “floating lexicon” like South Africa's Tsotsitaal: It is tied to an Afrikaans variety with low-status lingua franca functions, with which it is likely to be co-evolving for want of other linguistic options for projecting urban inter-ethnic solidarity.

The intersection of global mobility, lifestyle and ELT work: a critical examination of language instructors’ trajectories

ABSTRACTThis paper examines the intersection of one form of contemporary mobility, i.e. lifestyle mobility, with the ELT industry. It draws on the discursive analysis of a small corpus of life story data produced by native English language teachers of different ages residing in Barcelona. Through their own personal and professional accounts and rationales, it seeks to comprehend how they construct their work experiences in the light of previous professional trajectories, prior expectations and future mobility plans, but also against the backdrop of a highly precarised job market. The article argues that the ‘backpacker’ language teacher is certainly a reality but also a contemporary cultural myth that works to disguise a complex humanscape of relocators of different ages and aspirations who face difficulties fitting in an industry that expects docile and inexperienced bodies and a local market where nativeness enables quick access to teaching jobs but only to unskilled and temporary ones. The younger informants narrate biographies in flux and a sense of life stagnation or development to which commercial ELT may be differently instrumental. This article challenges assumptions about the value of (native) English in the work field and how easily work experience and qualifications travel around for middle-class professionals.

Ethnobotany of Phu Thai Ethnic Group in Nakhon Phanom Province, Thailand

The present study aimed to study the diversity of plants used by Phu Thai ethnic groups in Nakhon Phanom province, and to find out the correlation between genders, age, and indigenous knowledge of the Phu Thai groups. The data were analyzed by using independent-samples t-test, one way ANOVA, cultural importance index (CI), informant consensus factor (ICF), and fidelity level (FL %). The results showed that there were 329 plant species from 89 families used in the daily life by the Phu Thai.The largest number of plant species were from Fabaceae (42 species, 12.77 %), followed by Zingiberaceae (20 species, 6.07 %), and Poaceae (15 species, 4.56 %). One hundred and ninety nine species were edible and used for consumption, 176 species for medicine, 56 species for cultural purposes, and 79 for other uses. The highest informant consensus factor (ICF) of medicinal plants were calculated for injuries (ICF = 0.961) indicating the highest degree of agreement among the informants knowledge of medicinal plants used to treat disorders in this category. The highest fidelity level (FL %) values were calculated for Crinum asiaticum L. var. asiaticum (93.62%), showing the conformity of knowledge regarding use of this plant to heal ankle sprains and postpartum women. The CI values were calculated for Oryza sativa L. (CI = 2.74), followed by Saccharum officinarum L. (CI = 2.64), and Cocos nucifera L. (CI = 2.57), respectively. The most frequently used parts of the plant were leaves (82 species; 21.20 %) followed by fruits (70 species; 17.99 %), and stems (46 species; 11.85 %). Tree was the most common plant habit (77 species; 26.50 %), followed by the herb (72 species; 22.90 %), and climber (34 species; 9.20 %). The plants were gathered from cultivated fields more than from the forest. The ethnobotanical knowledge listed by males and females did not differ significantly (p > 0.05). The older informants had significantly more knowledge of medicinal plant uses than younger informants (p < 0.05). The Phu Thai ethnic group used Oryza sativa L. to make glutinous fermented liquors called “U”. It contains a variety of plants such as Alpinia galangal (L.) Willd., Lepisanthes rubiginosa (Roxb.) Leenh., Albizia myriophylla Benth., Paederia linearis Hook. f. var. linearis, Saccharum officinarum L., Streptocaulon juventas (Lour.) Merr., Oroxylum indicum (L.) Benth. ex Kurz, Harrisonia perforata (Blanco) Merr., and Tacca leontopetaloides (L.) Kuntze.

Informant-Provided Leisure Constraints in Six Taiwanese Cities

Lists of leisure activities and/or constraints used in research in non-Western settings are typically imported from studies executed in North America or Europe despite the possible influence of cultural context. To avoid this problem, we asked 182 informants from six cities in Taiwan to free list leisure constraints. While our primary purpose was to develop a culture-appropriate list of constraints for use in future research, we also illustrate how free lists can be analyzed in terms of item salience and the frequency with which groups that varied in terms of gender and age listed particular items. Results indicated that older informants listed constraints related to age and health more frequently than younger informants while younger informants were more concerned with resources, such as money. This study takes culture into account in research on leisure constraints by using an approach based on informant-provided items rather than standardized lists taken from other contexts and imposed by researchers.

<em>Las Tonadas Trinitarias</em>: History of an Afro-Cuban Musical Tradition from Trinidad de Cuba

The tonadas trinitarias are an Afro-Cuban musical manifestation native to Trinidad de Cuba, a town on Cuba's south-central coast. They represent a transcultural product of guajiro (1) and Bantu-derived musical practices, originating among members of Trinidad's Cabildo de San Antonio de Congos Reales in late nineteenth century. Now confined to local folkloric stage as tourist entertainment, in their original form they were performed by neighborhood groups of singers and drummers during nocturnal transits through town's streets. In this article, I hope to accomplish three things. The first is to draw attention to and contribute to gap in research on music of Cuba's provincial areas (commonly referred to as las provincias)--particularly central provinces--which are often sidelined in favor of research focusing on cities of Havana, Matanzas, and Santiago. The second is to provide a comprehensive history of origins and evolution of a local, small-scale creole (2) genre in Cuba, drawing on literary sources and oral histories of elder musicians in Trinidad. Finally, I will assess both positive and negative effects of state support of tonadas trinitarias and accompanying process of folkloricization. My conclusions are drawn primarily from fieldwork I conducted in Trinidad in 2009 for my master's thesis, during which I interviewed various local musicians involved with tonadas trinitarias and took percussion lessons in order to learn parts. I also attended daily performances of Conjunto Folklorico de Trinidad, which are put on for tourists at El Palenque bar and restaurant. I met my informants through Cuban musicologist Enrique Zayas Bringas, a native of Trinidad, who encouraged me to document tradition. Many of musicians were longtime friends of Zayas Bringas, including members of Conjunto Folklorico de Trinidad as well as elder musicians who were no longer active participants. These elder musicians proved to be my most interesting informants, and their accounts are included here. Since tonadas trinitarias are currently only performed in staged tourist performances and primarily by younger musicians, elders' recollections served to paint a portrait of tradition in its original community-oriented context. Nonetheless, input provided by my younger informants in Conjunto Folklorico de Trinidad allowed me to contrast their experiences with those of elder performers and assess recent changes, such as effects of folkloricization. The tonadas trinitarias (also referred to as simply tonadas (3)) underwent a process of folkloricization under Cuba's Revolutionary government. Hagedorn defines folkloricization as the process of making a folk tradition folkloric, and uses performance of Afro-Cuban religious repertoire by state-sponsored Conjunto Folklorico Nacional in Havana as an example (2001, 12). She explains how creation of state-sponsored folkloric troupes by Revolutionary government in 1960s was meant to preserve and elevate folk traditions by turning them into staged, choreographed representations. Afro-Cuban folklore was heavily impacted by this, as it was a primary source of material for state's folkloric troupes. Afro-Cuban music and dance had long been looked down upon as vulgar by economically and politically dominant white population, and yet they were also promoted as a unique element of national identity since 1930s (Moore 1997). The creation of state folkloric troupes for Afro-Cuban music following 1959 Revolution was a way for state to promote traditions in a controlled setting (the public stage) in a way that was both educational and more acceptable to dominant (white) sectors of society. Notwithstanding undertones of racism and state control, state's creation of folkloric troupes had positive effects as well, particularly in case of Trinidad's folkloric troupe, created in early 1960s. …

Intracultural variation of knowledge about wild plant uses in the Biosphere Reserve Grosses Walsertal (Austria)

BackgroundLeading scholars in ethnobiology and ethnomedicine continuously stress the need for moving beyond the bare description of local knowledge and to additionally analyse and theorise about the characteristics and dynamics of human interactions with plants and related local knowledge. Analyses of the variation of local knowledge are thereby perceived as minimal standard. In this study we investigate the distribution and variation of wild plant knowledge in five domains: food, drinks, human medicine, veterinary medicine and customs. We assess relations between the wild plant knowledge of informants and their socio-demographic as well as geographic background.MethodResearch was conducted in the Biosphere Reserve Grosses Walsertal, Austria. Structured questionnaires were used to inquire wild plant knowledge from 433 informants with varying socio-demographic and geographic background. Children assisted in the data collection. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics and generalized linear models.Results and discussionA majority of respondents is familiar with wild plant uses, however to varying degrees. Knowledge variations depend on the socio-demographic and geographic background of the informants as well as on the domains of knowledge under investigation: women, older informants and homegardeners report more human medicinal applications and applications in drinks than men, younger informants and non-homegardeners; farmers know a greater variety of veterinary medicinal applications than non-farmers; the place of residence relates significantly to food and veterinary uses. Customs are difficult to investigate in standardized matrices. The household-related distribution of work and the general socio-cultural context are especially helpful in order to explain intracultural variation of knowledge in the Grosses Walsertal.ConclusionsResearch on the intracultural variation of local knowledge exposes cultural characteristics and highlights the cultural embeddedness of local knowledge. The impact of socio-cultural developments on local knowledge may be anticipated from understanding the intracultural variation of knowledge.

Polilingvali Vilniaus jaunimo raiška: socialinės tapatybės paieškos

Straipsnyje keliama iki šiol Lietuvoje nenagrinėta jaunimo polilingvalaus elgesio problema. Tyrimo duomenis sudaro Vilniaus paauglių kalbos tekstynas, sukauptas renkant savanorių informantų įrašus ir atliekant etnografinius stebėjimus. Darbo tikslas – palyginti kitų kalbų elementų vartojimo dažnumą ir funkcijas jaunesniųjų (13–14 m.) ir vyresniųjų (15–17 m.) moksleivių kalboje. Be to, remiantis pokalbių analizės metodu, norima ištirti, kokius vaidmenis Vilniaus jaunuoliai sau priskiria ir kokias socialines tapatybes kuria, pasitelkdami polilingvalią raišką.

Rapidly Shifting Baselines in Yangtze Fishing Communities and Local Memory of Extinct Species

Local ecological knowledge can provide a unique source of data for conservation, especially in efforts to investigate the status of rare or possibly extinct species, but it is unlikely to remain constant over time. Loss of perspective about past ecological conditions caused by lack of communication between generations may create "shifting baseline syndrome," in which younger generations are less aware of local species diversity or abundance in the recent past. This phenomenon has been widely discussed, but has rarely been examined quantitatively. We present new evidence of shifting baselines in local perception of regional species declines and on the duration of "community memory" of extinct species on the basis of extensive interviews with fishers in communities across the middle-lower Yangtze basin. Many Yangtze species have experienced major declines in recent decades, and the Yangtze River dolphin or baiji (Lipotes vexillifer) and Yangtze paddlefish (Psephurus gladius) may have become extinct during the 21(st) century. Although informants across all age classes were strongly aware of the Yangtze ecosystem's escalating resource depletion and environmental degradation, older informants were more likely to recognize declines in two commercially important fish species, Reeves' shad (Tenualosa reevesii) and Yangtze pufferfish (Takifugu fasciatus), and to have encountered baiji and paddlefish in the past. Age was also a strong predictor of whether informants had even heard of baiji or paddlefish, with younger informants being substantially less likely to recognize either species. A marked decrease in local knowledge about the Yangtze freshwater megafauna matched the time of major population declines of these species from the 1970s onwards, and paddlefish were already unknown to over 70% of all informants below the age of 40 and to those who first started fishing after 1995. This rapid rate of cultural baseline shift suggests that once even megafaunal species cease to be encountered on a fairly regular basis, they are rapidly forgotten by local communities.

Fly-posting: An exploration of a ‘controversial’ medium

This paper investigates the concept of a controversial medium focussing on fly posting and provides insights into the attitudes held on it, the controversies surrounding it, its media effects, and on how these issues affect sponsoring organisations. Overall, the findings from the group depth interviews paint an attractive picture for potential users, as target groups of younger informants hold positive overall attitudes towards the medium. Indeed, rather than offending, fly posting's illegality and covert use were found to further enhance its ability to communicate effectively with this group. In contrast, older respondents held a range of negative views, suggesting that fly posting is not inherently controversial but it can become so in combination with audience and executional factors. Our main contribution is that we provide evidence on which to caution organisations about putting the goal of engaging with youth segments above their responsibility to other customer groups, employees, and society.

“Correct” Usages — Views of Australian Teachers and Students

This paper reports the findings of a survey of the acceptability of 28 debatable English usages, which figure prominently in Australian usage guides and whose acceptability and propriety are open to debate. Data were collected from Australian teachers and students via several elicitation methods: a judgement test, a slot-filling test and a proofreading test. Respondents’ acceptability judgements were found to be dependent on a number of sociolinguistic variables. Informants who were older (in this case, English language teachers) were less ready to accept non-traditional usages than younger informants (students), as were students studying in selective schools compared to those studying in non-selective schools. Prescribed traditional usages were noted to be more readily accepted in formal than informal styles. It is hoped that through this study language teachers will more openly embrace developments in contemporary corpus-based descriptive linguistics rather than encouraging their students to defend shibboleths.

Linguistic Acceptability in Hong Kong English

This paper reports the findings of a study of 28 debatable English usages — items whose acceptability is the subject of community debate — which figure prominently in usage guides in Hong Kong. Data were collected from Hong Kong informants via several elicitation methods: a judgment test, a slot-filling test and a proofreading test. Respondents’ acceptability judgments were noted to be sensitive to a number of sociolinguistic variables. Informants who were older (in this case, members of the English teaching profession) were more tolerant of traditional debatable usages than younger informants (students), as were students with higher levels of English proficiencncy (as indicated by students’ results in the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination) compared to those with lower levels. Finally, prescribed debatable usages were found to be more readily embraced in formal than informal styles.

Shopping for a New Identity

This article aims to show the varying constructions of the Polish–German border in the Polish border town of Zgorzelec. We are interested in how informants from three generations discursively position the frontier itself and the two towns on its either side: Polish Zgorzelec and German Görlitz. The data comes from a Europe-wide ethnographic project studying communities living on the borders between the European Union (EU) and its ascendant nations, funded by the European Commission's Fifth Framework Programme. We suggest that the inhabitants of Zgorzelec construct the border on two planes: public and private. In the public sphere, the border is constructed as a means of identifying ‘us Poles’ against all those living on the other side. In those nationalized terms, the border is also constructed as protecting Poland and Zgorzelec's (Polish) community. On the other hand, in the private sphere, the border is represented as virtually invisible allowing the individual to cross it for shopping or entertainment. The border becomes a gateway in which the individual becomes a customer, a shopper with his or her national identity pushed to the background. We also show that the two spheres intersect, creating spaces in which the two orders of discourse are made to co-exist and the discursive mechanisms of separation run next to the mechanisms of inclusion. We explore our informants’ discourses as mediated by the historical context of common experience (eviction, displacement, communism) pertaining mostly to the older generation and by the cultural-economic context (shopping, entertainment) largely in the case of our younger informants.

Symptoms of Depression in Older Home-Care Patients: Patient and Informant Reports.

The purpose of this study was to examine the level of agreement and patterns of disagreement between home-care patient and informant reports of depressive symptoms. The authors interviewed a sample of 355 older home-care patients and their informants using the Structured Diagnostic Interview for DSM-IV (R. L. Spitzer, M. Gibbon, & J. B. Williams, 1995). Informants reported more psychological symptoms than patients, and this type of discrepancy was higher for patients with cognitive impairment and patients who had younger informants. Younger informants also reported more cognitive symptoms, whereas patients were more likely to report suicidal thoughts or ideation if they were not cognitively impaired. The patterns of these discrepancies may reflect age- and cohort-related response bias in the reports of depressive symptoms obtained from older adults.

The housing and support needs of visually impaired adults living in England today

This article reports findings from two linked projects. The first examined the housing, support and care needs of 400 visually impaired people aged 55 and over. The second looked at the housing and support needs of 121 adults aged 18-55. Only one half of younger informants and just over half of older informants had made physical alterations to their home to manage with impaired sight. A quarter of older people and three in ten younger people made no use whatsoever of aids or assistive technology. A lack of basic information prevented both groups from taking informed decisions about obtaining and adapting their accommodation. Older visually impaired people are the larger group numerically within society, and we found serious under provision of housing and services to ameliorate the problems of chronic ill health, social isolation and anxiety that many faced on a daily basis. Yet the difficulties faced by younger people were if anything even greater, especially if they had additional disabilities, were female or came from an ethnic minority. These findings challenge housing and service providers to devise innovative, person-centred and cost-effective solutions that improve the quality of life for adults of all ages with impaired vision.

‘Idealists Headed to Israel, Pragmatics Chose Europe’: Identity Dilemmas and Social Incorporation among Former Soviet Jews who Migrated to Germany

Since German reunification in 1989, about 185,000 former Soviet Jews have been granted refugee status in Germany. Drawing on my observations and in-depth interviews with recent immigrants in five German cities, this qualitative study explores the identity dilemmas faced by Russian Jews who moved to the lands of the historic nemesis loaded with the memories of the Holocaust. The findings suggest that for most informants migrating to Germany (rather than Israel or North America) was a pragmatic decision based on the anticipated benefits from the German welfare system, security and comfort of living in Europe. All but a few informants were secular and had limited interest in the Jewish life, keeping in touch with the Jewish communities only inasmuch as it proved useful for their resettlement. Most middle-aged informants were traumatised by their occupational downgrading and/or chronic unemployment, but many also believed that the welfare aid they receive from the German state is morally justified as a continuing retribution for the wartime crimes. Older immigrants did not even try to narrow a cultural gap with German society, kept to their co-ethnic social circle, and were permanently intimidated by the shadow of anti-Semitism. Conversely, many younger informants opined that past grievances were no longer relevant, tried to adopt some cultural features of the mainstream, and saw themselves as citizens of unified Europe, rather than Germany as such.

Depression in elderly homecare patients: patient versus informant reports

This study compares patient and informant reports of depressive disorders in a community sample of elderly medical homecare patients. The associations between specific patterns of agreement/disagreement and other patient and informant characteristics are examined. A random sample of 355 elderly medical homecare patients and their informants were interviewed using the current mood section of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID). Thirty-seven patients (10.4 %) reported a depressive disorder (major or subsyndromal) that was also identified by their informant while 27 (7.6 %) patients self-reported depression that the informant did not identify. There were 250 patients (70.4 %) who were not depressed according to both patient and informant report and 41 patients (11.5%) were identified as depressed by informant report alone. Patients identified as depressed by informant report alone were similar to patients who self-reported depression on a number of the sociodemographic and clinical correlates of depression, but had significantly poorer performance on items assessing orientation and short-term recall. These patients also had poorer functioning in a number of domains (social, cognitive, and functional) when compared with patients who were not depressed according to both the patient and informant. Finally, patients with younger informants were more likely to be identified as depressed by their informant. Obtaining informant reports of depression may be a useful method for detecting clinically significant cases of late-life depression that would otherwise be missed when relying only on patient report.

Maintenance of Slovene in Carinthia (Austria): Grounds for Guarded Optimism?

Fieldwork in the Slovene-minority area of Austrian Carinthia is described. Over two hundred informants were interviewed. Three kinds of techniques were used: informants (1) reported on their patterns of language use; (2) responded to cues that test attitudes; and (3) were tested for their competence in Slovene and German. From the extensive results of statistical analysis, three sets are selected from the attitudinal data which bear on prospects for the future maintenance of Slovene. Only significant results are considered. Comparison of results for different age-groups shows sixteen respects where younger informants are more positive than their elders with respect to the “ethnolinguistic vitality” of Slovene, as against four which are more negative. Female informants are shown to be more negative than males, but only in four particulars; this is a potential symptom of the frailty of a minority language, but given the small incidence it is not considered an actual symptom. Finally, twelve “Present Vitality” results are compared with the corresponding “Future Vitality” results: in seven instances minority respondents are positive about the future, in four instances they are negative. The conclusion: minority “ethnolinguistic vitality” attitudes, which are crucial for language maintenance, suggest optimism; this must however be a guarded optimism, especially because of measures taken against the Slovenophone minority in the last two years.

Diversity of plant uses in two Caiçara communities from the Atlantic Forest coast, Brazil

Caicaras are native inhabitants of the Atlantic coast on southeastern Brazil, whose subsistence is based especially on agriculture and artisanal fishing. Because of their knowledge about the environment acquired through generations, Caicara people can play an important role in Atlantic Forest conservation. An ethnobotanical study was conducted within two Caicara communities (Ponta do Almada and Camburi beach, Sao Paulo State, Brazil), focusing on plant uses. In 102 interviews, 227 plant ethnospecies were quoted, mainly for food, medicine, handicraft and construction of houses and canoes. People from studied communities depend on the native vegetation for more than a half of the species known and used. Using diversity indices, plant uses are compared between studied communities and between gender and age categories within each community. We found quantitative differences in the knowledge about plants between gender categories for each kind of use (medicinal, food and handicrafts). Older and younger informants also have different knowledge about plants for handicraft and medicine, but not for edible plants.