Towards Gonzo Anthropology : Ethnography as Cultural Performance

OpenAIRE

Fedorowicz Steven C

2013-01-01

This essay provides an" ethnography of ethnography" through investigating and advocating certain research methodologies referred to as "Gonzo Anthropology." Ethnography is viewed as a process entailing both actual research, especially participant observation, and discourse, i.e. some form of cultural representation. In this way the ethnographic process can be seen as a form of cultural performance; the ethnographer is an actor, director, recorder of events, writer, artist and audience all in ...

Racial identification, knowledge, and the politics of everyday life in an Arizona science classroom: A linguistic ethnography

Science.gov (United States)

O'Connor, Brendan Harold

This dissertation is a linguistic ethnography of a high school Astronomy/Oceanography classroom in southern Arizona, where an exceptionally promising, novice, white science teacher and mostly Mexican-American students confronted issues of identity and difference through interactions both related and unrelated to science learning. Through close analysis of video-recorded, naturally-occurring interaction and rich ethnographic description, the study documents how a teacher and students accomplished everyday classroom life, built caring relationships, and pursued scientific inquiry at a time and in a place where nationally- and locally-circulating discourses about immigration and race infused even routine interactions with tension and uncertainty. In their talk, students appropriated elements of racializing discourses, but also used language creatively to "speak back" to commonsense notions about Mexicanness. Careful examination of science-related interactions reveals the participants' negotiation of multiple, intersecting forms of citizenship (i.e., cultural and scientific citizenship) in the classroom, through multidirectional processes of language socialization in which students and the teacher regularly exchanged expert and novice roles. This study offers insight into the continuing relevance of racial, cultural, and linguistic identity to students' experiences of schooling, and sheds new light on classroom discourse, teacher-student relationships, and dimensions of citizenship in science learning, with important implications for teacher preparation and practice.

Towards a doubly reflexive ethnography: A proposal from the anthropology of interculturality

OpenAIRE

Gunther Dietz

2011-01-01

Starting from the contemporary debate on ethnographic methodology in anthropology, this paper analyses how new methodological options arise throughout processes of educational interculturality and how these can nourish, rejuvenate and decolonize classica anthropological ethnography. The contrast between a postmodern anthropology and activist ethnography reveals possibilities for fruitfully complement social and political en gagement with the classical canon of ethnography, which ...

Evaluation, Ethnography, and Auditing in Educational Research: Methodological and Conceptual Comparisons.

Science.gov (United States)

Fetterman, David M.

The most important distinction between evaluation (in the psychometric tradition), ethnography, and auditing is that they are guided by three distinctively separate principles. The underlying principle guiding evaluation is assessment. Ethnography is guided by description. Auditing uses description and assessment to establish an opinion on…

Immersion Ethnography of Elites

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Harrington, Brooke

2016-01-01

This chapter examines an innovative form of data-gathering that brings together two of the greatest methodological challenges social scientists face: conducting classical immersion ethnography and gaining access to elites. The difficulties of accessing elites for research purposes have been well......-documented (Conti and O’Neill 2007; Gilding 2010; Harrington 2003). There has been less scholarly discussion of the challenges posed by traditional ethnography, a method whose claim to scientific status is based on the length and depth of the investigator’s immersion in an organization or culture....

Sociolinguistic Documentation of Endangered Ethnography of Communication in Yoruba Language

Science.gov (United States)

Olaoye, Anthony Ayodele

2013-01-01

The ethnography of communication, particularly of greetings, among speakers of some Yoruba dialects is the major concern of this paper. The author observed that the much-cherished, rich culture of greetings, among Yoruba, which the author grew up to know, by linguistic globalization and modernization is being eroded fast. The study and…

Population health and social governance: analyzing the mainstream incorporation of ethnography.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Byrne, Patrick

2012-06-01

Recently, health care workers (researchers, academics, policy writers, clinicians) have begun to view ethnography as an acceptable research methodology for informing public health work. This corresponds with a change in public health practice toward population health, wherein identifiable groups are examined to identify the group-level and contextual factors that affect their health statuses. Although population health-based methodological and outcomes-focused examinations have already occurred regarding ethnography, no extant literature scrutinizes the incorporation of ethnography into mainstream public and population health work from a sociopolitical viewpoint. Consequently, such an investigation occurs here using Foucault's concepts of discipline and Lupton's advancement of Foucault's ideas about the imperative of health. The outcome of this investigation is the assertion that ethnography is a strategic method for disciplining populations that do not respect the imperative of health. In other words, ethnography helps generate the data that can be used to normalize large groups of people.

Respecifying lab ethnography an ethnomethodological study of experimental physics

CERN Document Server

Sormani, Philippe

2014-01-01

Respecifying Lab Ethnography delivers the first ethnomethodological study of current experimental physics in action, describing the disciplinary orientation of lab work and exploring the discipline in its social order, formal stringency and skilful performance - in situ and in vivo. In bringing together two major strands of ethnomethodological inquiry, reflexive ethnography and video analysis, which have hitherto existed in parallel, Respecifying Lab Ethnography introduces a practice-based video analysis. In doing so, the book recasts conventional distinctions to shed fresh light on methodolog

[Ethnography and nursing research].

Science.gov (United States)

Debout, Christophe

2012-06-01

Ethnography, a qualitative research methodology, is used to describe culture shared by a group or to explore a cultural phenomenon. Nurse researchers seeking better understanding of the health practices of certain cultural groups became rapidly interested in it. Its application relies on a process that requires time.

The use of focused ethnography in nursing research.

Science.gov (United States)

Cruz, Edward Venzon; Higginbottom, Gina

2013-03-01

To provide an overview of the relevance and strengths of focused ethnography in nursing research. The paper provides descriptions of focused ethnography and discusses using exemplars to show how focused ethnographies can enhance and understand nursing practice. Orthodox ethnographic approaches may not always be suitable or desirable for research in diverse nursing contexts. Focused ethnography has emerged as a promising method for applying ethnography to a distinct issue or shared experience in cultures or sub-cultures and in specific settings, rather than throughout entire communities. Unfortunately, there is limited guidance on using focused ethnography, particularly as applied to nursing research. Research studies performed by nurses using focused ethnography are summarised to show how they fulfilled three main purposes of the genre in nursing research. Additional citations are provided to help demonstrate the versatility of focused ethnography in exploring distinct problems in a specific context in different populations and groups of people. The unique role that nurses play in health care, coupled with their skills in enquiry, can contribute to the further development of the discipline. Focused ethnography offers an opportunity to gain a better understanding and appreciation of nursing as a profession, and the role it plays in society. Focused ethnography has emerged as a relevant research methodology that can be used by nurse researchers to understand specific societal issues that affect different facets of nursing practice. As nurse researchers endeavour to understand experiences in light of their health and life situations, focused ethnography enables them to understand the interrelationship between people and their environments in the society in which they live.

Auto-Interviewing, Auto-Ethnography and Critical Incident Methodology for Eliciting a Self-Conceptualised Worldview

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Béatrice Boufoy-Bastick

2004-01-01

Full Text Available Knowing oneself has been an age-old humanistic concern for many western and oriental philosophers. The same concern is now shared by modern psychologists and anthropologists who seek to understand the "self" and others by eluci­dating their worldviews. This paper presents an auto-anthropological methodology which can ef­fec­tively elucidate one's worldview. This intro­spective qualitative methodology uses integratively three methodological processes, namely auto-inter­viewing, auto-ethnography and critical incident technique to elicit baseline cultural data. The paper reports on how this methodology was used to elicit my current worldview. It first explains how emic data were educed and rendered in emo­tionally enhanced narratives, which were then deconstructed to elicit the major recurring themes in the etic interpretive content analysis. To illus­trate this auto-anthropological methodology, two cultural life events have been used: a critical incident in Singapore and a consciousness raising process in Fiji. The first event revealed my own education ideology while the second made me realise my mitigated support for cultural diversity. URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs0401371

An introduction to the origins, history and principles of ethnography.

Science.gov (United States)

Sinead Ryan, Gemma

2017-03-22

Background Ethnography is embedded in the history of research and has been considered a methodology in its own right. Its long history means those new to ethnography may find it complex to navigate the differing perspectives and its historical context. Philosophical perspectives further compound the complexities of understanding and making decisions about method. Aim To introduce the historical context of ethnography and its wide-ranging and differing perspectives. Discussion This paper provides an overview of the historical context of ethnography and discusses the different approaches to ethnography based on philosophical paradigms. Examples of ethnographic research in nursing literature are used to illustrate how these different approaches and types of ethnography can be used in nursing. Conclusion Ethnographic research has much to contribute to nursing knowledge. However, it is important to understand the philosophical influences when making decisions about research approach. Implications for practice This article provides an overview of the historic context of ethnography and may improve the knowledge of nurses wishing to employ ethnographic approaches in their own post-graduate and doctoral research.

Applying ethnography to the study of context in healthcare quality and safety.

Science.gov (United States)

Leslie, Myles; Paradis, Elise; Gropper, Michael A; Reeves, Scott; Kitto, Simon

2014-02-01

Translating and scaling healthcare quality improvement (QI) and patient safety interventions remains a significant challenge. Context has been identified as a major factor in this. QI and patient safety research have begun to focus on context, with ethnography seen as a promising methodology for understanding the professional, organisational and cultural aspects of context. While ethnography is used to investigate the context of a variety of QI and safety interventions, the challenges inherent in effectively importing a qualitative methodology and its social science practitioners into this work have been largely unexamined. We explain ethnography as a research practice grounded in theory and dependent on observations gathered and interpreted in particular ways. We then review the approach of health services literature to evaluating this sort of qualitative research. Although the study of context is an interest shared by both social scientists and healthcare QI and safety researchers, we identify three key points at which those 'exporting' ethnography as a methodology and those 'importing' it to deal with QI and safety challenges may diverge. We describe perspectival divergences on the methodology's mission, form and scale. At the level of mission we demonstrate how ethnography has been adapted to a 'describe and feed back' role in the service of QI. At the level of form, we show how the long-term embedded observation at the heart of ethnography can be adapted only so far to accommodate QI interests if both data quality and ethical standards are to be upheld. Finally, at the level of scale, we demonstrate one ethnographic study design that balances breadth of exposure with depth of experience in its observations and so generates a particular type of scalable findings. The effective export of ethnography into QI and safety research requires discussion and negotiation between social scientific and health services research perspectives, as well as creative approaches

A Fuzzy Linguistic Methodology to Deal With Unbalanced Linguistic Term Sets

OpenAIRE

Herrera, F.; Herrera-Viedma, Enrique; Martinez, L.

2008-01-01

Many real problems dealing with qualitative aspects use linguistic approaches to assess such aspects. In most of these problems, a uniform and symmetrical distribution of the linguistic term sets for linguistic modeling is assumed. However, there exist problems whose assessments need to be represented by means of unbalanced linguistic term sets, i.e., using term sets that are not uniformly and symmetrically distributed. The use of linguistic variables implies processes of computing with words...

Automethodology: Tracing a Home for Praxis-Oriented Ethnography

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sandra L. Pensoneau-Conway

2011-12-01

Full Text Available The authors trace the development of ethnographic practices according to the methodological assumptions of ethnographers within different historical periods. As communication scholars, the authors find Calvin O. Schrag's conceptualization of the self to be informative and advantageous for navigating an ethnographic sense of ‘self in the current status of the methodological contestation. Borrowing from Schrag’ s work, which focuses on communicative praxis in understanding the self, this article explores an innovative methodological framework called automethodology. By examining the deployment and emplotment of the self within the automethods of autobiography, autoethnography, narrative co-construction, community autoethnography, critical complete-member ethnography, reflexive ethnography, autoperformance, and layered account, the authors develop epistemological foundations for praxis-oriented ethnographers. Throughout this journey, the authors end up situating themselves in a place they consider home-in the practices of automethodology.

Conducting a meta-ethnography of qualitative literature: lessons learnt.

Science.gov (United States)

Atkins, Salla; Lewin, Simon; Smith, Helen; Engel, Mark; Fretheim, Atle; Volmink, Jimmy

2008-04-16

Qualitative synthesis has become more commonplace in recent years. Meta-ethnography is one of several methods for synthesising qualitative research and is being used increasingly within health care research. However, many aspects of the steps in the process remain ill-defined. We utilized the seven stages of the synthesis process to synthesise qualitative research on adherence to tuberculosis treatment. In this paper we discuss the methodological and practical challenges faced; of particular note are the methods used in our synthesis, the additional steps that we found useful in clarifying the process, and the key methodological challenges encountered in implementing the meta-ethnographic approach. The challenges included shaping an appropriate question for the synthesis; identifying relevant studies; assessing the quality of the studies; and synthesising findings across a very large number of primary studies from different contexts and research traditions. We offer suggestions that may assist in undertaking meta-ethnographies in the future. Meta-ethnography is a useful method for synthesising qualitative research and for developing models that interpret findings across multiple studies. Despite its growing use in health research, further research is needed to address the wide range of methodological and epistemological questions raised by the approach.

Adaptive ethnography

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Berth, Mette

2005-01-01

This paper focuses on the use of an adaptive ethnography when studying such phenomena as young people's use of mobile media in a learning perspective. Mobile media such as PDAs and mobile phones have a number of affordances which make them potential tools for learning. However, before we begin to...... formal and informal learning contexts. The paper also proposes several adaptive methodological techniques for studying young people's interaction with mobiles.......This paper focuses on the use of an adaptive ethnography when studying such phenomena as young people's use of mobile media in a learning perspective. Mobile media such as PDAs and mobile phones have a number of affordances which make them potential tools for learning. However, before we begin...... to design and develop educational materials for mobile media platforms we must first understand everyday use and behaviour with a medium such as a mobile phone. The paper outlines the research design for a PhD project on mobile learning which focuses on mobile phones as a way to bridge the gap between...

Focusing ethnography

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Woermann, Niklas

2018-01-01

underpinnings of focusing ethnographic research by comparing different schools of thought and suggesting a practice theory-based approach. It argues that many research projects are focused but do not reflect on the process of focusing, describes how to identify focal settings or practices, and introduces......Building theory with ethnography and filmic research increasingly requires focussing on key practices or settings, instead of painting a broad panorama of a culture. But few authors discuss why and how to focus. This article provides a systematic discussion of the theoretical and methodological...

Why, when and how to update a meta-ethnography qualitative synthesis.

Science.gov (United States)

France, Emma F; Wells, Mary; Lang, Heidi; Williams, Brian

2016-03-15

Meta-ethnography is a unique, systematic, qualitative synthesis approach widely used to provide robust evidence on patient and clinician beliefs and experiences and understandings of complex social phenomena. It can make important theoretical and conceptual contributions to health care policy and practice. Since beliefs, experiences, health care contexts and social phenomena change over time, the continued relevance of the findings from meta-ethnographies cannot be assumed. However, there is little guidance on whether, when and how meta-ethnographies should be updated; Cochrane guidance on updating reviews of intervention effectiveness is unlikely to be fully appropriate. This is the first in-depth discussion on updating a meta-ethnography; it explores why, when and how to update a meta-ethnography. Three main methods of updating the analysis and synthesis are examined. Advantages and disadvantages of each method are outlined, relating to the context, purpose, process and output of the update and the nature of the new data available. Recommendations are made for the appropriate use of each method, and a worked example of updating a meta-ethnography is provided. This article makes a unique contribution to this evolving area of meta-ethnography methodology.

Shared worlds: multi-sited ethnography and nursing research.

Science.gov (United States)

Molloy, Luke; Walker, Kim; Lakeman, Richard

2017-03-22

Background Ethnography, originally developed for the study of supposedly small-scale societies, is now faced with an increasingly mobile, changing and globalised world. Cultural identities can exist without reference to a specific location and extend beyond regional and national boundaries. It is therefore no longer imperative that the sole object of the ethnographer's practice should be a geographically bounded site. Aim To present a critical methodological review of multi-sited ethnography. Discussion Understanding that it can no longer be taken with any certainty that location alone determines culture, multi-sited ethnography provides a method of contextualising multi-sited social phenomena. The method enables researchers to examine social phenomena that are simultaneously produced in different locations. It has been used to undertake cultural analysis of diverse areas such as organ trafficking, global organisations, technologies and anorexia. Conclusion The authors contend that multi-sited ethnography is particularly suited to nursing research as it provides researchers with an ethnographic method that is more relevant to the interconnected world of health and healthcare services. Implications for practice Multi-sited ethnography provides nurse researchers with an approach to cultural analysis in areas such as the social determinants of health, healthcare services and the effects of health policies across multiple locations.

Doing laboratory ethnography: reflections on method in scientific workplaces.

Science.gov (United States)

Stephens, Neil; Lewis, Jamie

2017-04-01

Laboratory ethnography extended the social scientist's gaze into the day-to-day accomplishment of scientific practice. Here we reflect upon our own ethnographies of biomedical scientific workspaces to provoke methodological discussion on the doing of laboratory ethnography. What we provide is less a 'how to' guide and more a commentary on what to look for and what to look at. We draw upon our empirical research with stem cell laboratories and animal houses, teams producing robotic surgical tools, musicians sonifying data science, a psychiatric genetics laboratory, and scientists developing laboratory grown meat. We use these cases to example a set of potential ethnographic themes worthy of pursuit: science epistemics and the extended laboratory, the interaction order of scientific work, sensory realms and the rending of science as sensible, conferences as performative sites, and the spaces, places and temporalities of scientific work.

Linguistic and Psycho-Linguistic Principles of Linguadidactics (theoretical interpretation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Liudmila Mauzienė

2011-04-01

Full Text Available This article considers linguadidactics being closely related to linguistics, psychology, psycholinguistics and didactics and applies their theoretical statements and regularities in its scientific studies. Methodology refers to linguistics which investigates the language as a teaching subject. Methodology is linked to psychology in two ways. First of all, it is based on psychology as the teaching process is an intellectual psychical act and its regularities are necessary to know. On the other hand, methodology applies rules of pedagogy that predicts ways of learning and development of language skills. The article emphasizes that sustainable work experience and analysis of scientific research show that teaching process is more effective if consistent patterns of linguistics and psychology are appropriately applied.

Ethnographies across Virtual and Physical Spaces: A Reflexive Commentary on a Live Canadian/UK Ethnography of Distributed Medical Education

Science.gov (United States)

Tummons, Jonathan; Macleod, Anna; Kits, Olga

2015-01-01

This article draws on an ongoing ethnography of distributed medical education (DME) provision in Canada in order to explore the methodological choices of the researchers as well as the wider pluralisation of ethnographic frameworks that is reflected within current research literature. The article begins with a consideration of the technologically…

Meta-Ethnography and Systematic Reviews--Linked to the Evidence Movement and Caught in a Dilemma

Science.gov (United States)

Borgnakke, Karen

2017-01-01

Meta-ethnography and systematic review of qualitative research are needed but also challenged by the link to the evidence movement's models and PISA-traditions for measuring learning effects. For reflections on the perspective for meta-ethnography it means to reconstruct the methodological argument almost divided in a "Before and After…

ETHNOGRAPHY FOR INVESTIGATING THE INTERNET

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Per Hetland

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Several concepts are used to describe ethnographic approaches for investigating the Internet; competing concepts include virtual ethnography, netnography, digital ethnography, web-ethnography, online ethnography, and e-ethnography. However, as the field matures, several writers simply call their approach "ethnography" and specify new fields of practice. In this paper, we will explore the content of ethnographic approach for investigating the Internet and the direction in which this new field of ethnography is moving, that is, whether it is the study of blended worlds or online worlds. We start by introducing the emerging field sites or fields of practice. Then, we describe how participant observation and other data collection techniques are carried out. Next, we describe how ethnographic practice is understood within the emerging field. Finally, we discuss some possible changes in the ethnographic landscape: unobtrusive methods, the communal-commercial relationship, and team-ethnography.

Ethnography in qualitative educational research: AMEE Guide No. 80.

Science.gov (United States)

Reeves, Scott; Peller, Jennifer; Goldman, Joanne; Kitto, Simon

2013-08-01

Ethnography is a type of qualitative research that gathers observations, interviews and documentary data to produce detailed and comprehensive accounts of different social phenomena. The use of ethnographic research in medical education has produced a number of insightful accounts into its role, functions and difficulties in the preparation of medical students for clinical practice. This AMEE Guide offers an introduction to ethnography - its history, its differing forms, its role in medical education and its practical application. Specifically, the Guide initially outlines the main characteristics of ethnography: describing its origins, outlining its varying forms and discussing its use of theory. It also explores the role, contribution and limitations of ethnographic work undertaken in a medical education context. In addition, the Guide goes on to offer a range of ideas, methods, tools and techniques needed to undertake an ethnographic study. In doing so it discusses its conceptual, methodological, ethical and practice challenges (e.g. demands of recording the complexity of social action, the unpredictability of data collection activities). Finally, the Guide provides a series of final thoughts and ideas for future engagement with ethnography in medical education. This Guide is aimed for those interested in understanding ethnography to develop their evaluative skills when reading such work. It is also aimed at those interested in considering the use of ethnographic methods in their own research work.

Facebook Ethnography: The Poststructural Ontology of Transnational (Im Migration Research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David Joseph Piacenti PhD

2014-02-01

Full Text Available This theoretical article discusses the creative utility of Facebook as a new ethnographic tool in which to study transnational (im migration. Facebook ethnography allows the (im migration researcher to transcend the four structural dualities that constrain transnational ethnographic research: (a geographic constraints, (b travel funding constraints, (c travel time constraints, and (d the logistical constraints of entrée into new ethnographic contexts. Facebook ethnography also allows the qualitative researcher to temporarily transcend the ontological structuralist dualities of traditional research methods, producing a new poststructural epistemological and ontological methodology.

Corpus linguistics and statistics with R introduction to quantitative methods in linguistics

CERN Document Server

Desagulier, Guillaume

2017-01-01

This textbook examines empirical linguistics from a theoretical linguist’s perspective. It provides both a theoretical discussion of what quantitative corpus linguistics entails and detailed, hands-on, step-by-step instructions to implement the techniques in the field. The statistical methodology and R-based coding from this book teach readers the basic and then more advanced skills to work with large data sets in their linguistics research and studies. Massive data sets are now more than ever the basis for work that ranges from usage-based linguistics to the far reaches of applied linguistics. This book presents much of the methodology in a corpus-based approach. However, the corpus-based methods in this book are also essential components of recent developments in sociolinguistics, historical linguistics, computational linguistics, and psycholinguistics. Material from the book will also be appealing to researchers in digital humanities and the many non-linguistic fields that use textual data analysis and t...

Practice development using video-reflexive ethnography: promoting safe space(s towards the end of life in hospital

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aileen Collier

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Background: There is international consensus of the need for improved palliative and end-of-life care in hospital settings. What is less clear is how such improvements might be realised in practice. Research and practice improvement methodologies need to acknowledge the relational, spiritual, moral and ethical as well as physical dimensions of death and dying if improvements in care are to be achieved. Aims and objectives: The aim of this article is to explore the potential of video-reflexive ethnography as a practice development methodology to improve care of people with a life-limiting illness in the hospital setting. Methods: The study used video-reflexive ethnography and was underpinned by an indigenous research ethical framework. Findings: Study findings highlight the potential of video-reflexive ethnography as a practice development methodology. The reach of video extended internally and externally beyond immediate practice research sites to make hospital dying tangible. The research acted as a disruptive innovation, foregrounding peoples’ (patients and families expertise as well as that of healthcare workers. For some patient and family participants, the research offered a visual legacy. Conclusions: The theories underpinning video-reflexive ethnography and practice development are closely aligned; the former has potential as a practice development methodology to promote person-centred palliative and end-of-life care. The underpinning philosophical, ethical and values framework through which it is applied, along with the skills and aptitude of facilitation, are critical if its potential is to be realised. Implications for practice development: The delivery of person-centred end-of-life care may be facilitated by: Healthcare workers seeing themselves and those they care for differently Healthcare organisations seeing their employees as well as patients and families differently Researchers also being prepared to see themselves differently

For Ethnography

Science.gov (United States)

Walford, Geoffrey

2009-01-01

This article seeks to promote what might be called a traditional form of ethnography. It recognises that all traditions change, but puts forward a view that, for an activity or product to be regarded as ethnographic, there is a need for some recognisable continuity with what has been regarded as ethnography in the last century. This article thus…

An Analytic Glossary to Social Inquiry Using Institutional and Political Activist Ethnography

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laura Bisaillon PhD

2012-12-01

Full Text Available This analytic glossary, composed of 52 terms, is a practical reference and working tool for persons preparing to conduct theoretically informed qualitative social science research drawing from institutional and political activist ethnography. Researchers using these approaches examine social problems and move beyond interpretation by explicating how these problems are organized and what social and ruling relations coordinate them. Political activist ethnography emerges from, and extends, institutional ethnography by producing knowledge explicitly for activism and social movement organizing ends. The assemblage of vocabulary and ideas in this word list are new, and build on existing methodological resources. This glossary offers an extensive, analytic, and challenging inventory of language that brings together terms from these ethnographic approaches with shared ancestry. This compilation is designed to serve as an accessible “one-stop-shop” resource for persons using or contemplating using institutional and political activist ethnography in their research and/or activist projects.

Multi-criteria decision making with linguistic labels: a comparison of two methodologies applied to energy planning

OpenAIRE

Afsordegan, Arayeh; Sánchez Soler, Monica; Agell Jané, Núria; Cremades Oliver, Lázaro Vicente; Zahedi, Siamak

2014-01-01

This paper compares two multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) approaches based on linguistic label assessment. The first approach consists of a modified fuzzy TOPSIS methodology introduced by Kaya and Kahraman in 2011. The second approach, introduced by Agell et al. in 2012, is based on qualitative reasoning techniques for ranking multi-attribute alternatives in group decision-making with linguistic labels. Both approaches are applied to a case of assessment and selection of the most suita...

Ethnography at work

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Moeran, Brian

to a potential client will be preferred over that of a rival firm. The book shows how detailed ethnography can lead to an understanding of numerous different, but interlocking, theoretical issues. It demonstrates how ethnography can travel beyond the academic realm and be used by business personnel to heighten...... their understanding of their companies' organizational structures, strategies and daily work practices. Asking crucial questions about the role of the anthropologist in the field, "Ethnography at Work" introduces students to ways in which anthropologists study social systems in business....

J-School Ethnography

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hermann, Anne Kirstine

overlaps between journalism and academic practices like ethnography are utilized in American programs. Based on fieldwork in the United States, this paper offers an empirical study of ethnography in journalism education. Tracing the epistemic clashes between journalism and academia and showing how...

Neoliberalism, Governmentality, Ethnography

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dean, Mitchell

2015-01-01

A letter to the editor is presented in response to the article "Neoliberalism, Governmentality, Ethnography," by Michelle Brady in the previous issue.......A letter to the editor is presented in response to the article "Neoliberalism, Governmentality, Ethnography," by Michelle Brady in the previous issue....

Digital-Visual-Sensory-Design Anthropology: Ethnography, Imagination and Intervention

Science.gov (United States)

Pink, Sarah

2014-01-01

In this article I outline how a digital-visual-sensory approach to anthropological ethnography might participate in the making of relationship between design and anthropology. While design anthropology is itself coming of age, the potential of its relationship with applied visual anthropology methodology and theory has not been considered in the…

Researching virtual worlds methodologies for studying emergent practices

CERN Document Server

Phillips, Louise

2013-01-01

This volume presents a wide range of methodological strategies that are designed to take into account the complex, emergent, and continually shifting character of virtual worlds. It interrogates how virtual worlds emerge as objects of study through the development and application of various methodological strategies. Virtual worlds are not considered objects that exist as entities with fixed attributes independent of our continuous engagement with them and interpretation of them. Instead, they are conceived of as complex ensembles of technology, humans, symbols, discourses, and economic structures, ensembles that emerge in ongoing practices and specific situations. A broad spectrum of perspectives and methodologies is presented: Actor-Network-Theory and post-Actor-Network-Theory, performativity theory, ethnography, discourse analysis, Sense-Making Methodology, visual ethnography, multi-sited ethnography, and Social Network Analysis.

Distance learning methodology and technique in scientific and vocational communication (on the example of the master’s distance course in linguistics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. S. Khromov

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The article is devoted to the elaboration of methodology and technique of the master’s distance course in linguistics for Russian students. The research novelty lies in the fact that the course presents the results methodic and scientific work of the teachers’ and students’ stuff. Within the course framework we plan to transfer the communicative activity concept to the distance forms of education and modeling a new type of the educational product.The purposes of the research are: 1 to develop the distance learning methodology and technique for a linguistic master’s course; 2 to elaborate an internal structure of the project; 3 to demonstrate which vocational, language and speech competencies are to appear as tge result of the project; 4 to describe the algorithm of the full-time lecture course in linguistics in a distance format; 5 to conduct a pedagogical experiment realizing the distance learning education in master’s linguistic course; 6 to prove the innovation and the productivity of the elaborated master’s course in linguistics.The research is based on 1 the paper variant of the full-time lecture course 2 the curriculum of the lecture course 3 the concept of the master’s course in linguistics 4 the concept of the distance course in linguistics 5 students’ interviews 6 virtual tools The research methods are 1 descriptive 2 project 3 comparative 4 statistic methodsConclusion. The novelty and the productivity of the course have been proved and they are manifested in the following 1 in the ability to develop vocational, language and speech competences of the students 2 in developing individual trajectories of the students 3 in expanding sociocultural potential of the students 4 in developing sociocultural potential of the students 5 in intensifying education process. As a result of the experiment we can state that 1 the methodology and technique of distance tools in projecting master’s course in linguistics are described 2 the

Kam zmizela etnografie dělnictva/Wohin verschwand die Ethnographie der Arbeiterschaft?

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Woitsch, Jiří

2012-01-01

Roč. 110, 3/4 (2012), s. 692-727 ISSN 0862-6111 Institutional support: RVO:68378076 Keywords : ethnography of the working class * theory and methodology * history of ethnology * Czechoslovakia * Czech Republic Subject RIV: AC - Archeology, Anthropology, Ethnology

Explaining why nurses remain in or leave bedside nursing: a critical ethnography.

Science.gov (United States)

Mahon, Paula; McPherson, Gladys

2014-09-01

To describe the application of critical ethnography to explain nurses' decisions to remain in or leave bedside nursing, and to describe researcher positioning and reflexivity. Enquiry into hospital nurses' decisions to remain in or leave bedside nursing positions has been conducted from a variety of theoretical perspectives by researchers adopting a range of methodological approaches. This research helps to explain how work environments can affect variables such as job satisfaction and turnover, but provides less insight into how personal and professional factors shape decisions to remain in or leave bedside nursing. A critical theoretical perspective was taken to examine the employment decisions made by nurses in a paediatric intensive care unit (PICU). Data was collected from nurses (n=31) through semi-structured interviews and unobtrusive observation. The authors describe critical ethnography as a powerful research framework for enquiry that allowed them to challenge assumptions about why nurses remain in or leave their jobs, and to explore how issues of fairness and equity contribute to these decisions. Critical ethnography offers a powerful methodology for investigations into complex interactions, such as those between nurses in a PICU. In adopting this methodology, researchers should be sensitised to manifestations of power, attend to their stance and location, and reflexion. The greatest challenges from this research included how to make sense of the insider position, how to acknowledge assumptions and allow these to be challenged, and how to ensure that power relationships in the environment and in the research were attended to.

Reflexivity and Dialogue in Collaborative Ethnography: the Ethnographic Accompaniment of a Mexican “Intercultural” Educational Institution

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gunther Dietz

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Starting from an ethnographic-dialogical case study on the Universidad Veracruzana Intercultural (UVI in Mexico, in which I pretend to combine principles of “activist anthropology” with a “doubly reflexive ethnography”, this paper analyzes how in the process of interculturalizing educational institutions new methodological options arise and how these may contribute to nurture, refresh and decolonize classical anthropological ethnography. Strongly influenced by discourses and models of intercultural education, the so called “intercultural higher education” in Mexico is emerging as a new university sub-system, aimed at providing a culturally pertinent university training to ethically, linguistically and/or culturally diverse students. The ethnographic analysis starts with the official intercultural discourse and contrasts it with the praxis of educational diversity management, as offered in a non-conventional B.A. program. From the “glocal” dialogue between different academic and peasant, external and internal ways of knowledge we develop a series of proposals to modify the curriculum of this B.A. program. Accordingly, a “dialogue of knowledge”, which implies “inter-cultural”, “inter-lingual” and “inter-actor” dimensions, obliges academic anthropology to revise its methodological practice. This paper therefore concludes with a proposal to redefine ethnographic practice in terms of dialogues and shared reflexivity among diverse actors.

Linguistic fuzzy selection of liquid levelmeters in nuclear facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ghyym, S. H.

1999-01-01

In this work, a selection methodology of liquid levelmeters, especially, level sensors in non-nuclear category, to be installed in nuclear facilities is developed using a linguistic fuzzy approach. Depending on defuzzification techniques, the linguistic fuzzy methodology leads to either linguistic (exactly, fully-linguistic) or cardinal (i.e., semi-linguistic) evaluation. In the case of the linguistic method, for each alternative, fuzzy preference index is converted to linguistic utility value by means of a similarity measure determining the degree of similarity between fuzzy index and linguistic ratings. For the cardinal method, the index is translated to cardinal overall utility value. According to these values, alternatives of interest are linguistically or numerically evaluated and a suitable alternative can be selected. Under given selection criteria, the suitable selections out of some liquid levelmeters for nuclear facilities are dealt with using the linguistic fuzzy methodology proposed. Then, linguistic fuzzy evaluation results are compared with numerical results available in the literature. It is found that as to a suitable option the linguistic fuzzy selection is in agreement with the crisp numerical selection. In addition, this comparison shows that the fully-linguistic method facilitates linguistic interpretation regarding evaluation results

Linguistic fuzzy selection of liquid levelmeters in nuclear facilities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ghyym, S. H. [KEPRI, Taejon (Korea, Republic of)

1999-10-01

In this work, a selection methodology of liquid levelmeters, especially, level sensors in non-nuclear category, to be installed in nuclear facilities is developed using a linguistic fuzzy approach. Depending on defuzzification techniques, the linguistic fuzzy methodology leads to either linguistic (exactly, fully-linguistic) or cardinal (i.e., semi-linguistic) evaluation. In the case of the linguistic method, for each alternative, fuzzy preference index is converted to linguistic utility value by means of a similarity measure determining the degree of similarity between fuzzy index and linguistic ratings. For the cardinal method, the index is translated to cardinal overall utility value. According to these values, alternatives of interest are linguistically or numerically evaluated and a suitable alternative can be selected. Under given selection criteria, the suitable selections out of some liquid levelmeters for nuclear facilities are dealt with using the linguistic fuzzy methodology proposed. Then, linguistic fuzzy evaluation results are compared with numerical results available in the literature. It is found that as to a suitable option the linguistic fuzzy selection is in agreement with the crisp numerical selection. In addition, this comparison shows that the fully-linguistic method facilitates linguistic interpretation regarding evaluation results.

Disrupting Ethnography through Rhizoanalysis

Science.gov (United States)

Masny, Diana

2014-01-01

This article interrogates principles of ethnography in education proposed by Mills and Morton: raw tellings, analytic pattern, vignette and empathy. This article adopts a position that is uncomfortable, unconventional and interesting. It involves a deterritorialization/rupture of ethnography in education in order to reterritorialize a different…

Mental Health Ethnography

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ringer, Agnes

2017-01-01

hospitalized, but to get inside the contemporary psychiatric institution and to participate in the social world of patients and professionals, I had to experiment with different ethnographic approaches. Ethnographies of mental health have become increasingly rare, and much research on language in psychiatric...... institutions is done by interview research. My study involved observing and participating in the day-to-day life at two mental health facilities: an outpatient clinic and an inpatient closed ward. The case study provides an account of some of the specific methodological problems and unanticipated events...... that emerged in the course of the study. It discusses the particular challenges involved in negotiating access in a hierarchical and conflict-ridden setting with tangible power differences between professionals and patients. I pay particular attention to the positions that became available to the researcher...

With the Eyes of Others: An Ethnography of an Academic Office

Science.gov (United States)

Ruth, Damian

2016-01-01

The author raises questions about ethnographic methodology through exploring the implications of using observations produced by his colleagues about his office as data for his research. This process blurred the boundaries between researcher, method and the object and subject of research. It meets some criteria for ethnography and not others, and…

Romanian Diaspora in the Making? An Online Ethnography of Romaniancommunity.net

Science.gov (United States)

Macri, Gloria

2013-01-01

This chapter presents a case study of an online ethnography which examines the Romanian Community of Ireland forum. Apart from highlighting the main challenges and advantages of engaging with an ethnographic methodology online, this chapter also showcases the key findings emerging in relation to the meanings which members of this community…

Producing ethnographies: workplace ethnographies in history.

Science.gov (United States)

Platt, Jennifer; Crothers, Charles; Horgan, Mervyn

2013-01-01

Data on a large set of workplace ethnographies published from 1940 to 2002, compiled by Randy Hodson, are analyzed to show the trends over time in the production of such ethnographic work, its shifting disciplinary base, the relevance of the personal backgrounds of its authors, the contributions made by academic amateurs, the changing roles of gender and political stances, and the nature of different routes to publication. The definition of what counts as an ethnography is important to the character of the set available and has implications for its potential uses in secondary analysis. It is found that both personal and disciplinary identities and wider social factors have played roles in the production of ethnographic work that need to be understood to account for its history, though it is to be expected that the forms these take will differ for work in different subfields. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Ethnography in Design

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bossen, Claus

2002-01-01

The role of ethnography in system development is discussed through hte selective application of an ethnographic easy-to-use toolkit, Contextual Design, by a computer firm in the initial stages of the development of a health care system.......The role of ethnography in system development is discussed through hte selective application of an ethnographic easy-to-use toolkit, Contextual Design, by a computer firm in the initial stages of the development of a health care system....

Digital ethnography and the social dimension of introspection: an empirical study in two Colombian schools.

Science.gov (United States)

Rieken, Johannes; Garcia-Sanchez, Efraín; Trujillo, Mónica Pérez; Bear, Daniel

2015-06-01

We developed a teaching-led research project to empirically ground methodological reflection about digital ethnography. Drawing on Cordelois' collective ethnographic observation approach, fifteen emerging professionals (from a private general education university and a Police Academy in Bogota) collaborated in a method seminar on digital ethnography. They worked in cross-institutional research teams, each carrying SenseCams for 3 days. Students had a dual role as both participants and observers during self-confrontation interviews. The research design enabled emerging professionals to introspect about what it is to be a member of their institution. The SenseCam provided an additional opportunity for observation as it elicited different reactions in the two institutions. The fact that SenseCams produce sequential accounts of activity as well as its situated nature made apparent the autonomy to study and solve daily issues (e.g. transport, security, commitments) by students from the university, while students in the police academy are more focused on responding to unforeseen activities (e.g. police services, unexpected requests). Finally, our research highlights the relevance of the social dimension of introspection for digital ethnography. How digital data that captures an individual perspective is negotiated in a group becomes a key methodological question.

Introducing 'Ethnography and Self-Exploration'

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Geest, S.; Gerrits, T.; Aaslid, F.S.

2012-01-01

This introduction presents three broad themes in this special issue about subjectivity and ethnography: 1. How subjectivity affects anthropological research and analysis; 2. How - conversely - ethnographic fieldwork affects the researcher’s personal life; and 3. How ethnography feeds

Linguistic & Rhetorical Paradigm as Innovative Theoretical Methodological Platform of Studying Discursive Processes of East Slavic and Western Cultures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Аlexandra A. Vorozhbitova

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The paper suggests studying conceptual models and mechanisms of linguistic consciousness of East Slavic and Western cultures with the application of the theoretical methodological approach of Linguistic & Rhetorical (L&R Paradigm as an integrative philological trend of an innovative type. The L&R Paradigm rests on the intersection of three categorical dimensions: ideological aspects of a speech event (ethos, logos, pathos; stages of universal cycle of idea-into-speech transformation (invention, disposition, elocution as a technology of discursive processes; levels of the structure of a linguistic personality as a discourse producer and ideology bearer (associative verbal network, thesaurus, pragmatic field. Hence, the article proposes three groups of L&R parameters of studying speech and thinking phenomena: ethos-motivational-dispositional; logos-thesaurus-inventional; pathos-verbal-elocutionary.

To Perceive and to Be Perceived: Challenges of Ethnography in Elite Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Mercader, Patricia; Weber, Rebecca; Durif-Varembont, Jean-Pierre

2015-01-01

Drawing on a larger study on "Gender practices and violence between peers: the stakes of mixed-sex education", this paper examines the methodological challenges specific to carrying out ethnography in an elite high school. The researcher's subjective experience in the field reveals the power dynamics at play in the elite setting. We also…

Ethnographies of Waiting

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Janeja, Manpreet Kaur; Bandak, Andreas

We all wait – in traffic jams, passport offices, school meal queues, for better weather, an end to fighting, peace. Time spent waiting produces hope, boredom, anxiety, doubt, or uncertainty. Ethnographies of Waiting explores the social phenomenon of waiting and its centrality in human society...... worth the wait?" Waiting thus conceived is intrinsic to the ethnographic method at the heart of the anthropological enterprise. Featuring detailed ethnographies from Japan, Georgia, England, Ghana, Norway, Russia and the United States, a Foreword by Craig Jeffrey and an Afterword by Ghassan Hage...

On Research Methodology in Applied Linguistics in 2002-2008

Science.gov (United States)

Martynychev, Andrey

2010-01-01

This dissertation examined the status of data-based research in applied linguistics through an analysis of published research studies in nine peer-reviewed applied linguistics journals ("Applied Language Learning, The Canadian Modern Language Review / La Revue canadienne des langues vivantes, Current Issues in Language Planning, Dialog on Language…

Ethnography in community psychology: promises and tensions.

Science.gov (United States)

Case, Andrew D; Todd, Nathan R; Kral, Michael J

2014-09-01

Community psychology recognizes the need for research methods that illuminate context, culture, diversity, and process. One such method, ethnography, has crossed into multiple disciplines from anthropology, and indeed, community psychologists are becoming community ethnographers. Ethnographic work stands at the intersection of bridging universal questions with the particularities of people and groups bounded in time, geographic location, and social location. Ethnography is thus historical and deeply contextual, enabling a rich, in-depth understanding of communities that is aligned with the values and goals of community psychology. The purpose of this paper is to elucidate the potential of ethnography for community psychology and to encourage its use within the field as a method to capture culture and context, to document process, and to reveal how social change and action occur within and through communities. We discuss the method of ethnography, draw connections to community psychology values and goals, and identify tensions from our experiences doing ethnography. Overall, we assert that ethnography is a method that resonates with community psychology and present this paper as a resource for those interested in using this method in their research or community activism.

Trademarks in the Linguistic Landscape: Methodological and Theoretical Challenges in Qualifying Brand Names in the Public Space

Science.gov (United States)

Tufi, Stefania; Blackwood, Robert

2010-01-01

In the last few decades, investigations into the linguistic landscape (LL) have sought to analyse written language practices as they are observable in public space. Whilst the LL analysis of language choice in given contexts has opened a host of possibilities for scientific enquiry in the field, the methodologies employed in the collection and…

What Makes School Ethnography "Ethnographic?"

Science.gov (United States)

Erickson, Frederick

Ethnography as an inquiry process guided by a point of view rather than as a reporting process guided by a standard technique or set of techniques is the main point of this essay which suggests the application of Malinowski's theories and methods to an ethnology of the school, indicates reasons why traditional ethnography is inadequate to the…

Message Received: Virtual Ethnography in Online Message Boards

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kevin F. Steinmetz

2012-02-01

Full Text Available As the Internet begins to encapsulate more people within online communities, it is important that the social researcher have well-rounded ethnographic methodologies for observing these phenomena. This article seeks to contribute to methodology by detailing and providing insights into three specific facets of virtual ethnography that need attention: space and time, identity and authenticity, and ethics. Because the Internet is a globalized and instantaneous medium where space and time collapse, identity becomes more playful, and ethics become more tenuous; understanding these aspects is crucial to the study of online social groups. A second focus of this article is to apply these notions to the study of online message boards—a frequently used medium for online communication that is frequently overlooked by methodologists.

Border Crossing in the Classroom through Performed Ethnography

Science.gov (United States)

Goldstein, Tara

2016-01-01

In this essay I share the ways I have used performed ethnography to explore the notion of border crossing in an undergraduate course called "Equity and Activism in Education." Performed ethnography involves turning the findings of ethnographic research into a play script. My students read two performed ethnographies, "Harriet's…

Ethnography by Design: On Goals and Mediating Artefacts

Science.gov (United States)

Segelström, Fabian; Holmlid, Stefan

2015-01-01

Design ethnography is the appropriation of ethnography for the purposes of informing design. This paper investigates the effects of these appropriations, through a comparative study of how designers and anthropologists approach the same field site and by a review of new techniques introduced by designers to do ethnography. The techniques reviewed…

E-Learning Course Design from a Cross Cultural Perspective

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fahmy, Sandra Safwat Youssef

national, cultural and linguistic borders. The study attempts to shed a light on the differences in the learning practices of students in different countries, by using a mix between ethnography and grounded theory methodologies, to explore the different educational systems and learning practices...

The Acoustic Dimension of Social Protest: Notes from an Ethnography of Sound

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

José Luis Martin

2017-09-01

Full Text Available In this article we analyse the role of sound in protest marches from an interactional communication perspective. We present an inter-disciplinary proposal for the development of a methodology suited for the ethnography of sound in the contemporary context. We also present the results of the application of this methodology in the context of the protests against the forced disappearance of the 43 students from Ayotzinapa, Guerrero in Mexico. The study questions the social modes of sound as the acoustic materialization of the communication processes within specific sound contexts.

The Extension of Quality Function Deployment Based on 2-Tuple Linguistic Representation Model for Product Design under Multigranularity Linguistic Environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ming Li

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Quality function deployment (QFD is a customer-driven approach for product design and development. A QFD analysis process includes a series of subprocesses, such as determination of the importance of customer requirements (CRs, the correlation among engineering characteristics (ECs, and the relationship between CRs and ECs. Usually more than group of one decision makers are involved in the subprocesses to make the decision. In most decision making problems, they often provide their evaluation information in the linguistic form. Moreover, because of different knowledge, background, and discrimination ability, decision makers may express their linguistic preferences in multigranularity linguistic information. Therefore, an effective approach to deal with the multi-granularity linguistic information in QFD analysis process is highly needed. In this study, the QFD methodology is extended with 2-tuple linguistic representation model under multi-granularity linguistic environment. The extended QFD methodology can cope with multi-granularity linguistic evaluation information and avoid the loss of information. The applicability of the proposed approach is demonstrated with a numerical example.

Linguistics and the TEFL Teacher.

Science.gov (United States)

Fraser, Bruce

This paper asserts the "unquestionable" relevance of linguistic insights in the training of and subsequent use by teachers of English as a foreign language. Although the author agrees with Chomsky's view that linguistics has nothing to offer the teacher in the form of specific proposals for language teaching methodology, he argues that linguistics…

Educational Ethnography in Blended Learning Environments

Science.gov (United States)

Antoniadou, Victoria; Dooly, Melinda

2017-01-01

This chapter aims to answer some of the questions that emerge when carrying out educational ethnography in a blended learning environment. The authors first outline how Virtual Ethnography (VE) has been developed and applied by other researchers. Then, to better illustrate the approach, they describe a doctoral research project that implemented…

Conducting a team-based multi-sited focused ethnography in primary care

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A.P. Bikker

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Focused ethnography is an applied and pragmatic form of ethnography that explores a specific social phenomenon as it occurs in everyday life. Based on the literature a problem-focused research question is formulated before the data collection. The data generation process targets key informants and situations so that relevant results on the pre-defined topic can be obtained within a relatively short time-span. As part of a theory based evaluation of alternative forms of consultation (such as video, phone and email in primary care we used the focused ethnographic method in a multisite study in general practice across the UK. To date there is a gap in the literature on using focused ethnography in healthcare research. The aim of the paper is to build on the various methodological approaches in health services research by presenting the challenges and benefits we encountered whilst conducing a focused ethnography in British primary care. Our considerations are clustered under three headings: constructing a shared understanding, dividing the tasks within the team, and the functioning of the focused ethnographers within the broader multi-disciplinary team. As a result of using this approach we experienced several advantages, like the ability to collect focused data in several settings simultaneously within in a short time-span. Also, the sharing of experiences and interpretations between the researchers contributed to a more holistic understanding of the research topic. However, mechanisms need to be in place to facilitate and synthesise the observations, guide the analysis, and to ensure that all researchers feel engaged. Reflection, trust and flexibility among the team members were crucial to successfully adopt a team focused ethnographic approach. When used for policy focussed applied healthcare research a team-based multi-sited focused ethnography can uncover practices and understandings that would not be apparent through surveys or

Conducting a team-based multi-sited focused ethnography in primary care.

Science.gov (United States)

Bikker, A P; Atherton, H; Brant, H; Porqueddu, T; Campbell, J L; Gibson, A; McKinstry, B; Salisbury, C; Ziebland, S

2017-09-12

Focused ethnography is an applied and pragmatic form of ethnography that explores a specific social phenomenon as it occurs in everyday life. Based on the literature a problem-focused research question is formulated before the data collection. The data generation process targets key informants and situations so that relevant results on the pre-defined topic can be obtained within a relatively short time-span. As part of a theory based evaluation of alternative forms of consultation (such as video, phone and email) in primary care we used the focused ethnographic method in a multisite study in general practice across the UK. To date there is a gap in the literature on using focused ethnography in healthcare research.The aim of the paper is to build on the various methodological approaches in health services research by presenting the challenges and benefits we encountered whilst conducing a focused ethnography in British primary care. Our considerations are clustered under three headings: constructing a shared understanding, dividing the tasks within the team, and the functioning of the focused ethnographers within the broader multi-disciplinary team.As a result of using this approach we experienced several advantages, like the ability to collect focused data in several settings simultaneously within in a short time-span. Also, the sharing of experiences and interpretations between the researchers contributed to a more holistic understanding of the research topic. However, mechanisms need to be in place to facilitate and synthesise the observations, guide the analysis, and to ensure that all researchers feel engaged. Reflection, trust and flexibility among the team members were crucial to successfully adopt a team focused ethnographic approach. When used for policy focussed applied healthcare research a team-based multi-sited focused ethnography can uncover practices and understandings that would not be apparent through surveys or interviews alone. If conducted with

Educational Ethnography in the Field of Health Care

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kramer, Tina

-site ethnography' and involving a mix of Methods (Borgnakke 1996 & 2013, Hammersley and Atkinson 2007, Marcus 1995), including participant observations, interviews, videos, audio logbooks and documents. The research project’s practice orientation is emphasized as the interprofessional practice is studied.......ed. Marcus GE. 1995. Ethnography in/of the World System: The Emergence of Multi-Sited Ethnography. Annual Review of Anthropology, Vol.24, p. 96‐117....

Auto/Ethnography and the Question of Ethics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wolff-Michael Roth

2008-10-01

Full Text Available Auto/ethnography has emerged as an important method in the social sciences for contributing to the project of understanding human actions and concerns. Although the name of the method includes "ethnography," auto/ethnography often is concerned exclusively with an abstract (i.e., undeveloped and abstracting understanding, and therefore the writing, of the Self rather than the writing of the "ethno." Auto/ethnography, such conceived, is a form of therapy, in the best case, and a form of narcissism and autoerotic relation, in the worst case. But because the Self exists in relation to the world, becomes in and through participation in everyday events, and because the human relation is inherently ethical, there are inherent ethical questions where the Other may come to be harmed as much as the Self. URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs0901381

Review: Ina-Maria Greverus, Sharon MacDonald, Regina Romhild, Gisela Welz & Helena Wullf (Eds. (2002. Stability Upon Shifting Ground: Review Note of Shifting Grounds: Experiments in Doing Ethnography

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robin M. Boylorn

2005-09-01

Full Text Available This review is written in response to "Shifting Grounds: Experiments in Doing Ethno­graphy," a volume of the Anthropological Journal on European Cultures. This review cites the history and implications of ethnography as a methodology within various academic disciplines while praising the authors within this text for their contributions to various ways of "doing ethnography." By investi­gating and considering the body as an ethno­graphic site where life and stories are performed and em­bodied, this article considers the varying ways the authors respond to experimental and performative ethnography while applying it to relevant and current issues within anthropology. By engaging both the anthropological and historical turn of ethnography, this book thematically discusses the mobility of fieldwork, time, space, multi-locality, tour­ism, and tradition/culture. Shifting Grounds does not only offer experiments in doing ethnography, it also offers alternatives for doing ethnography. URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs0503175

The Notion of Culture in Linguistic Research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dominic Busch

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Many works on intercultural communication from the field of linguistics share the assumption that influences of culture on social interaction will manifest in communicative exchanges—and conversely, that an academic's look at these exchanges will be a sufficient basis for an adequate description of what intercultural communication is supposed to be about. Linguistic theory itself lacking of places to integrate culture as a factor into its concepts, urges scholars to borrow operationalizations of culture from neighboring disciplines like e.g. different strands of psychology, sociology or anthropology. Approaches resulting from this transdisciplinary orientation as a consequence share very divergent assumptions on how, at what moment in a communicative process and with what effects culture influences social interaction. While many surveys on similar behalf distinguish between primordial and constructionist approaches, a closer look at different strands of empirical linguistic research may reveal even more precise and detailed distinctions on how culture may be captured and framed. This article will present and analyze a selection of approaches from the mentioned field, e.g. from intercultural and contrastive pragmatics, interactional sociolinguistics, ethnography of communication, ethnomethodology as well as discourse analysis. In each case, the underlying notions of culture will be revealed and put into contrast. Additionally, this exemplary analysis may show that most of the empirical schools mentioned follow and adopt changing notions of culture from social theory over time. URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs0901508

A Survey on the Exchange of Linguistic Resources: Publishing Linguistic Linked Open Data on the Web

Science.gov (United States)

Lezcano, Leonardo; Sanchez-Alonso, Salvador; Roa-Valverde, Antonio J.

2013-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide a literature review of the principal formats and frameworks that have been used in the last 20 years to exchange linguistic resources. It aims to give special attention to the most recent approaches to publishing linguistic linked open data on the Web. Design/methodology/approach: Research papers…

Statistical Measures for Usage-Based Linguistics

Science.gov (United States)

Gries, Stefan Th.; Ellis, Nick C.

2015-01-01

The advent of usage-/exemplar-based approaches has resulted in a major change in the theoretical landscape of linguistics, but also in the range of methodologies that are brought to bear on the study of language acquisition/learning, structure, and use. In particular, methods from corpus linguistics are now frequently used to study distributional…

An e-Learning Team's Life on and Offline: A Collaborative Self-Ethnography in Postgraduate Education Development

Science.gov (United States)

Clapp, Alison

2017-01-01

This paper primarily discusses the methodology of a case study into interactions and working practices of an elearning team, on and offline. Although several ethnographies have been published on online learning, there are apparently none involving communities developing courses. This is a unique insight, bringing a new view of course and staff…

Institutional Ethnography as Materialist Framework for Writing Program Research and the Faculty-Staff Work Standpoints Project

Science.gov (United States)

LaFrance, Michelle; Nicolas, Melissa

2012-01-01

Institutional ethnography seeks to uncover how things happen--how institutional discourse compels and shapes practice(s) and how norms of practice speak to, for, and over individuals. The Faculty and Staff Standpoints project is shaped by this methodology, as it explores writing center staff and faculty relationships to their work. (Contains 10…

Focused Ethnography as Research Method: A Case Study of Techno Music Producers in Home-Recording Studios

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jan Michael Kühn

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Translator's Introduction: Jan-Michael Kühn's essay introduces the reader to Hubert Knoblauch's focused ethnography [fokussierte Ethnographie] as an ethnographic fieldwork method. More than a decade after Knoblauch's first publications on this method, there are precious few guides to focused ethnography in the English language, save one (Knoblauch 2005. At any rate, there are certainly no introductions to this methodology that also use EDM scenes as a case study. Kühn's article was originally published in German in Soziologie Magazin, a student-run journal published from Martin Luther University in Halle (Saale but operated by an editorial network that spans Germany. As a result, Kühn orients his writing towards an audience of junior researchers, post-docs and graduate students, highlighting the ways in which focused ethnography suits the circumstances of early research careers, where one may have difficulty securing long-term research stays for fieldwork of broader scope. In particular, he notes that Knoblauch's methods require a very narrow scope for the project (i.e., a "field sector" rather than the whole field, a reliance on the researcher's previous knowledge of the field, and short bursts of intense ethnographic activity in order to create work that is tightly focused but still rigorous and generative of fresh knowledge and new concepts.KEYWORDS: qualitative methods; cultural production; music production; home-recording; technoculture

Child Participant Roles in Applied Linguistics Research

Science.gov (United States)

Pinter, Annamaria

2014-01-01

Children's status as research participants in applied linguistics has been largely overlooked even though unique methodological and ethical concerns arise in projects where children, rather than adults, are involved. This article examines the role of children as research participants in applied linguistics and discusses the limitations of…

Priorities of Dialogic Speech Teaching Methodology at Higher Non-Linguistic School

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vida Asanavičienė

2011-04-01

Full Text Available The article deals with a number of relevant methodological issues. First of all, the author analyses psychological peculiarities of dialogic speech and states that the dialogue is the product of at least two persons. Therefore, in this view, dialogic speech, unlike monologic speech, happens impromptu and is not prepared in advance. Dialogic speech is mainly of situational character. The linguistic nature of dialogic speech, in the author’s opinion, lies in the process of exchanging replications, which are coherent in structural and functional character. The author classifies dialogue groups by the number of replications and communicative parameters. The basic goal of dialogic speech teaching is developing the abilities and skills which enable to exchange replications. The author distinguishes two basic stages of dialogic speech teaching: 1. Training of abilities to exchange replications during communicative exercises. 2. Development of skills by training the capability to perform exercises of creative nature during a group dialogue, conversation or debate.

Linguistic Intuitions and Cognitive Penetrability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael Devitt

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Metalinguistic intuitions play a very large evidential role in both linguistics and philosophy. Linguists think that these intuitions are products of underlying linguistic competence. I call this view “the voice of competence” (“VoC”. Although many philosophers seem to think that metalinguistic intuitions are a priori many may implicitly hold the more scientifically respectable VoC. According to VoC, I argue, these intuitions can be cognitively penetrated by the central processor. But, I have argued elsewhere, VoC is false. Instead, we should hold “the modest explanation” (“ME” according to which these intuitions are fairly unreflective empirical theory-laden central-processor responses to phenomena. On ME, no question of cognitive penetration arises. ME has great methodological significance for the study of language. Insofar as we rely on intuitions as evidence we should prefer those of linguists and philosophers because they are more expert. But, more importantly, we should be seeking other evidence in linguistic usage.

Moving ethnography to explore children and youngsters trajectories in Barcelona

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Diana Arias

2017-06-01

Full Text Available This article presents the application of a mobile methodology to a research focused on adoption. Accompanying the participants in their routines we shared public spaces where, due to social constructions, they are taken by “immigrants” because of their physical features. Walking with them also allowed me to gain access to their perception of the city and the way they live in. This methodology is based on other ‘mobile methodologies’, which are briefly described in this article with an especial emphasis on French literature. As a result, we obtain a mobile ethnography that introduces Information and Communication Technologies [ICTs]; works from the horizontality; values the silence; collects urban emergencies and fate in order to have access to the information that is banned to direct and even indirect questions.

The spiralling swallow : a sociological auto-ethnography of "eating disorders(s)" and "recovery"

OpenAIRE

O'Farrell, Bríd

2008-01-01

This thesis is a sociological auto-ethnography of "eating disorder(s)" and "recovery".Using creative methodologies, I have created an intersubjective, poly-vocal account of bodies in encounter with medicine. I position this thesis as a counter-narrative and narrative of resistance to the hegemonic narratives circulated in contemporary Western cultures about health, healing and dys-order. Exploring the impact of dualistic medicalised cultures upon the lived experience of the body, I have posed...

Ethnography as Method, Methodology, and "Deep Theorizing" Closing the Gap between Text and Context in Academic Writing Research

Science.gov (United States)

Lillis, Theresa

2008-01-01

This article critically explores the value of ethnography for enhancing context-sensitive approaches to the study of academic writing. Drawing on data from two longitudinal studies, student writing in the United Kingdom and professional academic writing in Hungary, Slovakia, Spain, and Portugal, the author illustrates the different contributions…

Ethnography in Educational Research: The Dynamics of Diffusion.

Science.gov (United States)

Fetterman, David M.

1982-01-01

Ascribes difficulties associated with the use of ethnography in educational research to faulty or partial transmission of traits from one sociocultural system to another. Maintains that the appropriate use of ethnography demands that the whole trait complex be borrowed. Describes educational studies that used ethnographic methods. (Author/MJL)

'Trying to pin down jelly' - exploring intuitive processes in quality assessment for meta-ethnography.

Science.gov (United States)

Toye, Francine; Seers, Kate; Allcock, Nick; Briggs, Michelle; Carr, Eloise; Andrews, JoyAnn; Barker, Karen

2013-03-21

be some assurance that qualitative findings are more than simply anecdotal. Although our conceptual model was developed specifically for meta-ethnography, it may be transferable to other research methodologies.

Ethnographies of Youth and Temporality

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dalsgård, Anne Line; Frederiksen, Martin Demant; Højlund, Susanne

As we experience and manipulate time—be it as boredom or impatience—it becomes an object: something materialized and social, something that affects perception, or something that may motivate reconsideration and change. The editors and contributors to this important new book, Ethnographies of Youth...... emotional unrest and violence but also creativity and hope are responses to troubling times. The chapters discuss notions of time and its “objectification” in diverse locales including the Georgian Republic, Brazil, Denmark, and Uganda. Based on long-term ethnographic fieldwork, the essays in Ethnographies...... of Youth and Temporality use youth as a prism to understand time and its subjective experience....

Combining ethnography and object-orientation for mobile interaction design

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kjeldskov, Jesper; Stage, Jan

2012-01-01

There has been a lot of interest in ethnography within human–computer interaction over the last two decades, and its relevance within systems development is today beyond question. However, one of the challenges reported is that ethnography generates findings and knowledge with such contextual...... richness that it can be hard to transfer into system design. In the light of recent years' push for the use of ethnography within the area of mobile human–computer interaction, this challenge has resurfaced and is of renewed importance to the research field. In this article we describe an interdisciplinary...

Designing with ethnography : an integrative approach to CSCW design

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Iqbal, Rahat; James, A.; Gatward, R.

2005-01-01

This paper presents a part of wider research endeavor within the field of Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) to leverage the use of ethnography for systems design. It investigates the role of ethnography in the development of CSCW systems and its relevance to real world problems,

Heritage language and linguistic theory

Science.gov (United States)

Scontras, Gregory; Fuchs, Zuzanna; Polinsky, Maria

2015-01-01

This paper discusses a common reality in many cases of multilingualism: heritage speakers, or unbalanced bilinguals, simultaneous or sequential, who shifted early in childhood from one language (their heritage language) to their dominant language (the language of their speech community). To demonstrate the relevance of heritage linguistics to the study of linguistic competence more broadly defined, we present a series of case studies on heritage linguistics, documenting some of the deficits and abilities typical of heritage speakers, together with the broader theoretical questions they inform. We consider the reorganization of morphosyntactic feature systems, the reanalysis of atypical argument structure, the attrition of the syntax of relativization, and the simplification of scope interpretations; these phenomena implicate diverging trajectories and outcomes in the development of heritage speakers. The case studies also have practical and methodological implications for the study of multilingualism. We conclude by discussing more general concepts central to linguistic inquiry, in particular, complexity and native speaker competence. PMID:26500595

GEOLINGUISTICS: THE LINGUISTIC ATLAS OF PARANÁ

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rosa Evangelina de Santana BELLI RODRIGUES

2015-06-01

Full Text Available The objective of this work is to analyze the methodology adopted by the Linguistic Atlas of Paraná – APLR (AGUILERA, 1990 and to describe its results in relation to other Brazilian atlas. To meet this objective, we first present the modifications, mainly methodological, under gone by Geolinguistics towards a more complete and in depth description of linguistic variation. The Pluridimensional Geolinguistics and Contractual model of Harald Thun (1998 and the Linguistics Atlas of Brazil – ALiB (CARDOSO et all, 2014, published in October, 2014, are presented. It was also necessary to describe, although briefly, the most traditional Geolinguistics research method, characteristic of the ALPR, before referring the text back to Aguilera’s Atlas. After discussing the criteria on which the ALPR was constructed, from choice of informers to the Geolinguistics charts that compose it, as well as its complementation by the ALPR II (ALTINO, 2007, it was possible to analyze the results and relate them to the hypotheses posed by the thesis which gave origin to it.

‘Trying to pin down jelly’ - exploring intuitive processes in quality assessment for meta-ethnography

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

to be judged ‘good enough’ there also needs to be some assurance that qualitative findings are more than simply anecdotal. Although our conceptual model was developed specifically for meta-ethnography, it may be transferable to other research methodologies. PMID:23517438

Institutional ethnography for people in a vulnerable and oppressed situation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Høgsbro, Kjeld

2017-01-01

and communicative skills are highly valued and sometimes requisite for achieving a position at the labour market as well as getting into social networks of modern urban subcultures. This chapter will summarize the methodological challenges when entering the life-world and institutional structures for people...... in especially vulnerable and oppressed situations and present some of its results. To deal with the situation of these people is a challenge to institutional ethnography and changes slightly the elements in the research designs. Among the regulatory principles that gain importance and weight in this field...... are discourses referring to pedagogical theories, diagnostic systems and the concept of evidence....

Ethnographies of Higher Education: Introduction to the Special Issue

Science.gov (United States)

Pabian, Petr

2014-01-01

While acknowledging that ethnography has been a rarely adopted approach in the field of higher education research, I will try to demonstrate the contributions that ethnographies have made to higher education studies. I will introduce readers to several of the most important and interesting ethnographic studies of university settings, focusing on…

Ethnographies of pain: culture, context and complexity

Science.gov (United States)

2015-01-01

This article briefly introduces and discusses the value of ethnographic research, particularly research hailing from the discipline of social and cultural anthropology. After an introduction to ethnography in general, key ethnographic studies of pain are described. These show that ethnography provides a set of techniques for data collection and analysis, as well as a way of thinking about pain as socially and culturally embedded. Modern ethnographic writing is far removed from the literature of the past that sometimes described stereotypes rather than process and complexity. Ethnography provides the chance to describe the complexity and nuance of culture, which serves to counter stereotypes. The article concludes with an example from pain research conducted in a clinical setting. Through the use of ethnographic techniques, the research study provided greater insight than other methods alone might have achieved. The article includes references for further reading should readers be interested in developing their engagement with ethnographic method and interpretation. PMID:26516554

Applying corpus linguistics methodology to psycholinguistics research Aplicando a metodologia da linguística de corpus à pesquisa psicolinguística

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luciane Corrêa Ferreira

2010-01-01

Full Text Available This study concerns the use of corpus linguistics methodology in psycholinguistics research. Ten linguistic metaphors were selected from English and American newspapers. After that, we identified the underlying conceptual metaphor based on the conceptual metaphor inventory by Lakoff and Johnson (1980, 1999. We seek to investigate what sort of knowledge EFL-learners use when trying to understand a linguistic metaphor. We examined how EFL-learners comprehend linguistic metaphors, firstly without using the context and then using the context. The sample comprised 221 Brazilian students and 16 American students at UCSC. We have also carried out an empirical research using WebCorp.Este estudo investiga o uso de metodologia de lingüística de corpus na pesquisa psicolingüística. Selecionaram-se dez metáforas em jornais ingleses e norte-americanos. Depois, identificou-se a metáfora conceptual subjacente com base no inventário de metáforas conceptuais apresentado por Lakoff e Johnson (1980, 1999. Buscou-se investigar que tipo de conhecimento os aprendizes de LE empregam ao tentar compreender metáforas. Analisou-se a maneira como os aprendizes de LE compreendem metáforas lingüísticas sem usar o contexto e, depois, utilizando o contexto. A amostra incluiu 221 estudantes brasileiros e 16 estudantes norte-americanos da UCSC.

(Auto)Ethnographies and Cycling

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Jonas

2014-01-01

, habits and affective capacities of cycling are cultivated and performed. The article argues that autoethnography is particularly apt at illuminating the embodied qualities of movement, and it sits within established ethnographies of ‘excising’ and ‘mobile bodies’. In the second part of the article, I...

Lessons from a Postcritical Ethnography, Burundian Children with Refugee Status, and Their Teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Anders, Allison

2012-01-01

This article represents one orientation to postcritical ethnography. Framing research with Burundian children and their teachers in a small city in Appalachia, the author shares the ways postcritical ethnography informed the process and representations of her work. After introducing postcritical ethnography and early beginnings to the research,…

Voicing Solidarity: Linguistic Hospitality and Poststructuralism in the Real World

Science.gov (United States)

Phipps, Alison

2012-01-01

Structuralism has dominated the field of applied linguistics, which has consequences for the positioning of applied linguistics "vis-a-vis" policy makers, educational practice, and also theoretical and methodological innovations. These consequences pertain to how the field advocates, takes sides, balances its descriptive modes with its discursive…

Cognitive linguistics.

Science.gov (United States)

Evans, Vyvyan

2012-03-01

Cognitive linguistics is one of the fastest growing and influential perspectives on the nature of language, the mind, and their relationship with sociophysical (embodied) experience. It is a broad theoretical and methodological enterprise, rather than a single, closely articulated theory. Its primary commitments are outlined. These are the Cognitive Commitment-a commitment to providing a characterization of language that accords with what is known about the mind and brain from other disciplines-and the Generalization Commitment-which represents a dedication to characterizing general principles that apply to all aspects of human language. The article also outlines the assumptions and worldview which arises from these commitments, as represented in the work of leading cognitive linguists. WIREs Cogn Sci 2012, 3:129-141. doi: 10.1002/wcs.1163 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

A kindergarten experiment in linguistic e-learning

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Valente, Andrea; Marchetti, Emanuela

2006-01-01

As part of the BlaSq project, we are developing a set of linguistic games to be used in kindergartens. The first of these games is Crazipes, that we are currently testing in a Danish kindergarten, with the support of the local teachers. Here we discuss the architecture of the game, its potentials...... as a linguistic e-learning tool, together with the design and methodology adopted for the study. Some early results are also discussed....

Using Rapid Ethnography to Support the Design and Implementation of Health Information Technologies.

Science.gov (United States)

Ackerman, Sara; Gleason, Nathaniel; Gonzales, Ralph

2015-01-01

Ethnography is the defining practice - and art - of anthropology. Among health information technology (IT) developers, however, ethnography remains a little used and undervalued mode of inquiry and representation. In this chapter we demonstrate that ethnography can make important contributions to the design and implementation of more user-oriented health IT devices and systems. In particular, we propose 'rapid ethnography' as a pragmatic strategy that draws on classic ethnographic methods, but emphasizes shorter periods of fieldwork and quick turnaround of findings to inform (re)design, programming and implementation efforts. Rapid ethnography is theoretically and empirically situated in science and technology studies' explorations of a) the entanglement of social and technical dimensions of technology use; b) how getting tools to 'work' requires aligning interests across a wide range of human and non-human actors; and c) the ways in which humans and technology transform each other as they interact. We provide two detailed case studies to illustrate the evolution and uses of rapid ethnography at a U.S. academic medical center. By providing deeper insights into the experiences of users, and the contexts and communities in which new tools are introduced, rapid ethnography can serve as a valuable component of Techno-Anthropology and health IT innovation.

Institutional ethnography

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lund, Rebecca; Tienari, Janne

2016-01-01

The study of M&As is dominated by positivist and functionalist world views and the use of quantitative methods. Although extant research also uses qualitative and mixed methods, it can be criticized for viewing its subject matter through an abstract and external lens. The researcher is placed in ......, and point to some of the problems in M&A studies identified through this lens. Finally, we argue why institutional ethnography, in comparison with other methods of inquiry, is particularly fruitful in the study of mergers and acquisitions....

A perceptual study of Scottish dialects

OpenAIRE

Tichenor, Sydney

2012-01-01

Perceptual dialectology is dedicated to the formal study of folk linguistic perceptions. Through an amalgamation of social psychology, ethnography, dialectology, sociolinguistics, cultural geography and myriad other fields, perceptual dialectology provides a methodology to gain insight to overt folk language attitudes, knowledge of regional distribution, and the importance of language variation and change (Preston 1989, 1999a). This study conducts the first investigation of folk percept...

[An essay about science and linguistics].

Science.gov (United States)

Cugini, P

2011-01-01

Both the methodology and epistemology of science provided the criteria by which the scientific research can describe and interpret data and results of its observational or experimental studies. When the scientist approaches the conclusive inference, it is mandatory to think that both the knowledge and truth imply the use of words semantically and etymologically (semiologically) appropriate, especially if neologisms are required. Lacking a vocabulary, there will be the need of popularizing the inference to the linguistics of the context to which the message is addressed. This could imply a discrepancy among science, knowledge, truth and linguistics, that can be defined "semiologic bias". To avoid this linguistic error, the scientist must feel the responsibility to provide the scientific community with the new words that are semantically and etymologically coherent with what it has been scientifically discovered.

Using ethnography in implementation research to improve nutrition interventions in populations

Science.gov (United States)

Neufeld, Lynnette M.; Pelto, Gretel H.

2015-01-01

Abstract ‘Implementation research in nutrition’ is an emerging area of study aimed at building evidence‐based knowledge and sound theory to design and implement programs that will effectively deliver nutrition interventions. This paper describes some of the basic features of ethnography and illustrates its applications in components of the implementation process. We review the central purpose of ethnography, which is to obtain the emic view – the insider's perspective – and how ethnography has historically interfaced with nutrition. We present examples of ethnographic studies in relation to an analytic framework of the implementation process, situating them with respect to landscape analysis, formative research, process evaluation and impact evaluation. These examples, conducted in various parts of the world by different investigators, demonstrate how ethnography provided important, often essential, insights that influenced programming decisions or explained programme outcomes. Key messages Designing, implementing and evaluating interventions requires knowledge about the populations and communities in which interventions are situated, including knowledge from the ‘emic’ (insider's) perspective.Obtaining emic perspectives and analysing them in relation to cultural, economic and structural features of social organisation in societies is a central purpose of ethnography.Ethnography is an essential aspect of implementation research in nutrition, as it provides important insights for making decisions about appropriate interventions and delivery platforms; determining how best to fit aspects of programme design and implementation into different environmental and cultural contexts; opening the ‘black box’ in interventions to understand how delivery and utilisation processes affect programme outcomes or impacts; and understanding how programme impacts were achieved, or not. PMID:26778802

Using ethnography in implementation research to improve nutrition interventions in populations.

Science.gov (United States)

Tumilowicz, Alison; Neufeld, Lynnette M; Pelto, Gretel H

2015-12-01

'Implementation research in nutrition' is an emerging area of study aimed at building evidence-based knowledge and sound theory to design and implement programs that will effectively deliver nutrition interventions. This paper describes some of the basic features of ethnography and illustrates its applications in components of the implementation process. We review the central purpose of ethnography, which is to obtain the emic view--the insider's perspective--and how ethnography has historically interfaced with nutrition. We present examples of ethnographic studies in relation to an analytic framework of the implementation process, situating them with respect to landscape analysis, formative research, process evaluation and impact evaluation. These examples, conducted in various parts of the world by different investigators, demonstrate how ethnography provided important, often essential, insights that influenced programming decisions or explained programme outcomes. Key messages Designing, implementing and evaluating interventions requires knowledge about the populations and communities in which interventions are situated, including knowledge from the 'emic' (insider's) perspective. Obtaining emic perspectives and analysing them in relation to cultural, economic and structural features of social organisation in societies is a central purpose of ethnography. Ethnography is an essential aspect of implementation research in nutrition, as it provides important insights for making decisions about appropriate interventions and delivery platforms; determining how best to fit aspects of programme design and implementation into different environmental and cultural contexts; opening the 'black box' in interventions to understand how delivery and utilisation processes affect programme outcomes or impacts; and understanding how programme impacts were achieved, or not. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Cultural specificity in food choice - The case of ethnography in Japan.

Science.gov (United States)

Freedman, Irith

2016-01-01

Previous studies examining food choice from a cross-cultural perspective were based primarily on quantitative research using the Food Choice Questionnaire (FCQ). This study suggests ethnography as a complementary research method in cross-cultural food choice studies. While use of the FCQ resulted in findings of cultural differences in food choice processes, within a preliminary motive list, ethnography allows the exploration of new, possibly culture-specific motives for food choice. Moreover, ethnography allows a deeper understanding of the cultural background of food choice processes in a studied culture. Using Japan as a case study, this research demonstrates the use of ethnography to argue that variety is a primary motive for food choice in contemporary Japanese culture. Variety is hence regarded here as a part of a larger food culture attribute, an "adventurous palate," which can also provide a background for previous FCQ findings (Prescott, Young, O'neill, Yau, & Stevens, 2002). Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Dialogues with ethnography : Notes on classics, and how I read them

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Blommaert, Jan

2018-01-01

This book persuasively argues the case that ethnography must be viewed as a full theoretical system, rather than just as a research method. Blommaert traces the influence of his reading of classic works about ethnography on his thinking, and discusses a range of authors who have influenced the

Multi-Sited Global Ethnography and Travel: Gendered Journeys in Three Registers

Science.gov (United States)

Epstein, Debbie; Fahey, Johannah; Kenway, Jane

2013-01-01

This paper joins a barely begun conversation about multi-sited and global ethnography in educational research; a conversation that is likely to intensify along with growing interest in the links between education, globalisation, internationalisation and transnationalism. Drawing on an ongoing multi-sited global ethnography of elite schools and…

Doing Ethnography: Studying Everyday Life

Science.gov (United States)

Pawluch, Dorothy, Ed.; Shaffir, William, Ed.; Miall, Charlene E., Ed.

2005-01-01

This original contributed book will become an essential text for those teaching Ethnography, Research Methods (qualitative emphasis), applied sociology, and related subjects across Canada. Chapters in the first section of this volume consider the merits of qualitative research, profile interviewing strategies, and discuss the relationship to…

Whose Side Are You on? Advocacy Ethnography: Some Methodological Aspects of Narrative Portraits of Disadvantaged Young People, in Socially Critical Research

Science.gov (United States)

Smyth, John; McInerney, Peter

2013-01-01

This paper is primarily interested in opening up a strategy to counter the increasing silencing of perspectives resulting from the press towards "evidence-based" forms of research. We argue that all researchers have interests, declared or otherwise. What we advance in the paper is an approach to ethnography that is inclusive of the lives,…

Ethnography in a Virtual World

Science.gov (United States)

Shumar, Wesley; Madison, Nora

2013-01-01

This article situates the discussion of virtual ethnography within the larger political/economic changes of twenty-first century consumer capitalism and suggests that increasingly our entire social world is a virtual world and that there were very particular utopian and dystopian framings of virtual community growing out of that history. The…

A kindergarten experiment in linguistic e-learning

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Valente, Andrea; Marchetti, Emanuela

2006-01-01

As part of the BlaSq project, we are developing a set of linguistic games to be used in kindergartens. The first of these games is Crazipes, that we are currently testing in a Danish kindergarten, with the support of the local teachers. Here we discuss the architecture of the game, its potentials...... as a linguistic e-learning tool, together with the design and methodology adopted for the study. Some early results are also discussed.......As part of the BlaSq project, we are developing a set of linguistic games to be used in kindergartens. The first of these games is Crazipes, that we are currently testing in a Danish kindergarten, with the support of the local teachers. Here we discuss the architecture of the game, its potentials...

Children Writing Ethnography: Children's Perspectives and Nomadic Thinking in Researching School Classrooms

Science.gov (United States)

Hohti, Riikka

2016-01-01

This article makes a connection between narrative ethnography, childhood studies and new materialist theories in studying children's perspective on school. It presents "children writing ethnography" as an approach based on complexity and involving participatory research. The question of "what is happening in the classroom" is…

Linguistic Engineering and Linguistic of Engineering: Adaptation of Linguistic Paradigm for Circumstance of Engineering Epoch

OpenAIRE

Natalya Halina

2014-01-01

The article is devoted to the problems of linguistic knowledge in the Engineering Epoch. Engineering Epoch is the time of adaptation to the information flows by knowledge management, The system of adaptation mechanisms is connected with linguistic and linguistic technologies, forming in new linguistic patterns Linguistic Engineering and Linguistic of Engineering.

Ethnographies "de Lucha" (of Struggle) in Latino Education: Toward Social Movement

Science.gov (United States)

Villenas, Sofia A.

2012-01-01

In this article, I describe the fight back imperatives of Latino educational ethnography at a time when Latino children's education continues to be the battleground for nation and culture wars. I briefly trace the expansion of the field of Latino educational ethnography during the last two decades, and point to the possibilities for the future of…

An analysis of the benefits of ethnography design methods for product modelling

Science.gov (United States)

Butlewski, M.; Misztal, A.; Belu, N.

2016-08-01

application of ethnography design methodology in product design and to analyse the benefits of its use. The analysis is based on effects of its application with the support of product design from various industries, along with a discussion of the method's limitations. Among benefits of ethnography design, the greatest proved to be providing knowledge of nonspecific user behaviour previously unknown to designers, which when rendered by models allowed to develop innovative solutions.

A new linguistic aggregation operator and its application to multiple attribute decision making

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jibin Lan

2015-12-01

Full Text Available In this paper, a new linguistic aggregation operator in linguistic environment is established and the desirable properties: monotonic, focus effect, idempotent, commutative and bounded are studied. Then, a new restricted ordering relation on the n-dimensional linguistic scales is proposed which satisfies strict pareto-dominance and is restricted by a weighting vector. A practical multiple attribute decision making methodology for an uncertain linguistic environment is proposed based on the proposed operator. An example is given to illustrate the rationality and validity of the new approach to decision making application.

A Linguistic Study of Courtship as a Rule-Bound Social Institution in Pride and Prejudice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Akram Pouralifard

2017-11-01

Full Text Available The focus of this research is in the area of the relationship between linguistics and the Victorian literature. Such a study is important in order to demonstrate how the masterpieces of Victorian literature possess the potential to be studied according to the principles of linguistics and how the motives behind many characters’ activities can be determined by recourse to linguistics. The findings from this research provide evidence that all human activities follow the same rules which all the human languages are based on and according to which they all function due to their common root in the human mind. The main conclusion drawn from this study is that linguistic principles can constitute a great methodology for determining the real motives behind many activities done by the humans. This paper recommends that linguistic principles can be an excellent methodology by means of which the researchers can study the literary works of other eras in the English literature.

Ethnography in Foreign Language Teaching

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Huszti Ilona

2004-08-01

Full Text Available The aim of the present article is to describe ethnography as a qualitative approach frequently applied in foreign language acquisition research (Pollard,1985; Smith, 1992; Robinson-Stuart and Nocon, 1996. Reviews of two studies having used ethnographic techniques are presented in the paper to highlight the theoretical background for such an investigative method. The first study discusses issues about participant observation, while the second depicts the language learner in the role of the ethnographer. The paper also tries to throw light on the various tasks of the ethnographer as well as the values (emic and holistic view and limitations (the insider/outsider dilemma of ethnography. Key words: Culture, Ethnography, Ethnographer, Qualitative Research- Techniques, Participant Observation El objetivo de este artículo es describir la etnografía como un método cualitativo que es utilizado frecuentemente en la investigación de la adquisición de una lengua extranjera (Pollard, 1985; Smith, 1992; Robinson-Stuart and Nocon, 1996. En el documento se presentan reseñas de dos estudios que implementaron técnicas etnográficas, con el propósito de resaltar los antecedentes históricos de este tipo de método de investigación. El primer estudio trata acerca de temas relacionados con la observación de los participantes, mientras que el segundo estudio presenta al aprendiz de lengua en el rol de etnógrafo. El documento también da varias pautas sobre las tareas del etnógrafo, así como los valores (el punto de vista émico y holístico y las limitaciones (el dilema interno y externo de la etnografía. Palabras claves: Cultura, Etnografía, Etnógrafo, Técnicas InvestigaciónCualitativa, Observación Participativa

Incorporating linguistic, probabilistic, and possibilistic information in a risk-based approach for ranking contaminated sites.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Kejiang; Achari, Gopal; Pei, Yuansheng

2010-10-01

Different types of uncertain information-linguistic, probabilistic, and possibilistic-exist in site characterization. Their representation and propagation significantly influence the management of contaminated sites. In the absence of a framework with which to properly represent and integrate these quantitative and qualitative inputs together, decision makers cannot fully take advantage of the available and necessary information to identify all the plausible alternatives. A systematic methodology was developed in the present work to incorporate linguistic, probabilistic, and possibilistic information into the Preference Ranking Organization METHod for Enrichment Evaluation (PROMETHEE), a subgroup of Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) methods for ranking contaminated sites. The identification of criteria based on the paradigm of comparative risk assessment provides a rationale for risk-based prioritization. Uncertain linguistic, probabilistic, and possibilistic information identified in characterizing contaminated sites can be properly represented as numerical values, intervals, probability distributions, and fuzzy sets or possibility distributions, and linguistic variables according to their nature. These different kinds of representation are first transformed into a 2-tuple linguistic representation domain. The propagation of hybrid uncertainties is then carried out in the same domain. This methodology can use the original site information directly as much as possible. The case study shows that this systematic methodology provides more reasonable results. © 2010 SETAC.

Co-constructing Appreciative Inquiry across disciplines: A duo-ethnography

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Corinne Meier

2017-03-01

Research purpose: The aim of this study was for two AI practitioners, one in the field of Industrial and Organisational Psychology and one in Education, to partake in a collaborative study proceeding from reflection on the said researchers’ experiences with facilitating AI in different contexts. Motivation for the study: With social constructionism as a core principle underlying AI, it is argued that sharing experiences across disciplines could enrich the literature and the application of AI in different contexts. Research design, approach and method: The research is based on a qualitative, empirical, duo-ethnography using self-reflective narratives of the experiences of facilitating AI in cross-disciplinary contexts. Main findings: Reflecting on experiences in various disciplines lead to the co-construction of new knowledge. Not only were similar experiences supported, validated and extended, thus affirming the strength-based principle of AI, but it also provided the opportunity for disciplinary cross-fertilisation by combining different perspectives regarding the formality of the AI process and the extent of the facilitator’s and participants readiness to work with AI methodology. Practical/managerial implications: The formality of the AI process and hence the extent of the facilitator’s involvement (signalling his or her readiness to participate actively and take the lead in co-creating a new reality must be tempered by due allowance for the participant’s readiness to work with AI methodology. Furthermore, participants should be accommodated within the psychological space where they find themselves at the moment when the intended intervention is initiated. Contribution/value-add: Duo-ethnography provided the researchers with the opportunity to challenge the ‘other’ to reflect on their own discipline-related AI experiences, in a deeper, more relational and authentic way. The voices and ideas identified and presented counter narratives, also blended in

Disrupting Ethnography through Rhizoanalysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Diana Masny

2014-10-01

Full Text Available This article interrogates principles of ethnography in education proposed by Mills and Morton: raw tellings, analytic pattern, vignette and empathy. This article adopts a position that is uncomfortable, unconventional and interesting. It involves a deterritorialization/ rupture of ethnography in education in order to reterritorialize a different concept: rhizoanalysis, a way to position theory and data that is multilayered, complex and messy. Rhizoanalysis, the main focus of this article is not a method. It is an approach to research conditioned by a reality in which Deleuze and Guattari disrupt representation, interpretation and subjectivity. In this article, Multiple Literacies Theory, a theoretical and practical framework, becomes a lens to examine a rhizomatic study of a Korean family recently arrived to Australia and attending English as a second language classes. Observations and interviews recorded the daily lives of the family. The vignettes were selected by reading data intensively and immanently through a process of palpation, an innovative approach to educational research. Rhizoanalysis proposes to abandon the given and invent different ways of thinking about and doing research and what might happen when reading data differently, intensively and immanently, through Multiple Literacies Theory. Rhizoanalysis, a game-changer in the way research can be conducted, affords a different lens to tackle issues in education through research.

Hybrid Scenarios, Transmedia Storytelling, Expanded Ethnography

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel Domínguez Figaredo

2012-10-01

Full Text Available The transformation of social scenarios due to the impact of digital technologies, introduces new possibilities for ethnographic research. Once the initial approaches focused on the dichotomy of “physical-virtual spaces” have been overcame, it comes a stage of maturity that allows the ethnographers to open new avenues for conceptual and analytical methodology applied in techno-social scenarios. This article discusses the evolution of some key dimensions of ethnography according to the new social and epistemological framework. The discussion is based on the analysis of expanded practices that take place in the new techno-social spaces, defined as hybrid environments, where technologies are embedded in the physical life of the subjects. On the one hand, we consider the production of actions based on the assembly of ideas, meanings and objects through digital mediation devices. It is also analysed the transmedia component of the narratives that make sense to allow the experiments. Underlying the analysis, some elements are introduced for discussion on the scope of expanded ethnographic research, the influence of transmedia phenomenon in the notion of “field” and the methods for determining the significance through digital storytelling.

Grammar in 3D: on linguistic theory design

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Contreras García, L.

2013-01-01

Each model of grammar represents linguistic phenomena differently. The main architectural tenets of a grammatical framework determine whether it makes use of devices such as mismatches, empty categories or derivation. This study develops a metatheoretical methodology for the assessment of and

Newsroom Ethnography in a Field Perspective

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Willig, Ida

2012-01-01

in ethnographic research: how should we theorise and empirically investigate context? The question is, not least, practical in nature. When it comes to newsroom ethnography, one of the traditional problems concerns the ‘invisibility’ of certain structures such as the political economy of everyday news work which...

Conversation Analysis in Applied Linguistics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kasper, Gabriele; Wagner, Johannes

2014-01-01

on applied CA, the application of basic CA's principles, methods, and findings to the study of social domains and practices that are interactionally constituted. We consider three strands—foundational, social problem oriented, and institutional applied CA—before turning to recent developments in CA research...... on learning and development. In conclusion, we address some emerging themes in the relationship of CA and applied linguistics, including the role of multilingualism, standard social science methods as research objects, CA's potential for direct social intervention, and increasing efforts to complement CA......For the last decade, conversation analysis (CA) has increasingly contributed to several established fields in applied linguistics. In this article, we will discuss its methodological contributions. The article distinguishes between basic and applied CA. Basic CA is a sociological endeavor concerned...

Anansi's Still at School: John Furlong's Contribution to School and Classroom Ethnography

Science.gov (United States)

Delamont, Sara

2014-01-01

The work of John Furlong on school and classroom ethnography is located in its context and its achievements celebrated. The paper focuses on class, ethnicity and gender issues as it explores the changes and continuities in the ethnography of education over the 66-year period covered. The qualities of a good ethnographer are playfully compared to…

Feminist Ethnography on International Migration: From Acculturation Studies to Gender Studies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ethel V. Kosminsky

2007-09-01

Full Text Available This article intends to analyze the book Italianos no mundo rural paulista, by João Baptista Borges Pereira (1974, one of the earliest Brazilian ethnographic international migration researches, based on the acculturation theory, in order to corroborate its contribution to the feminist ethnography. We focus on the use of gender as a central category on the international migration studies, thus empowering the Feminist Ethnography.

Three Advantages of Cross-National Comparative Ethnography--Methodological Reflections from a Study of Migrants and Minority Ethnic Youth in English and Spanish Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Jørgensen, Clara Rübner

2015-01-01

This paper discusses the strengths of using ethnographic research methods in cross-national comparative research. It focuses particularly on the potential of applying such methods to the study of migrants and minority ethnic youth in education, where large-scale quantitative studies or single-sited ethnographies are currently dominant. By linking…

Ethnography of Language Planning and Policy

Science.gov (United States)

Hornberger, Nancy H.; Tapia, Aldo Anzures; Hanks, David H.; Dueñas, Frances Kvietok

2018-01-01

A decade ago, Hornberger & Johnson proposed that the ethnography of language planning and policy (ELPP) offers a useful way to understand how people create, interpret, and at times resist language policy and planning (LPP). They envisioned ethnographic investigation of layered LPP ideological and implementational spaces, taking up Hornberger's…

Language and Communicative Practices: An Approach from the Ethnography of Speech at Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrés Romero

2009-07-01

Full Text Available Language regulates and facilitates social practices; that lends it a particular character, given that it is not presented in an isolated way, but rather utilized real and concretely by the individuals that constitute a determined society of discourse. That way, language is action, strength; it creates and is the vehicle through which beliefs are transmittedand the inherently symbolic world of a determined society or group is interpreted. This article, from a specific point of view based on the ethnography of speech, presents the results of a preliminary study about forms of communications and the way in which these form animate the construction of meaning within a particular spiritual community ofOriental origin. In this way, the article discusses how particular linguistic forms framed by specific communicative events bring about the structurizing of the symbolic world of the Brahma Kumaris language community, distinguish it from other spiritual communities, constitute its identity and establish a complex network of interpersonal relationships.

Mobile technologies in teaching a foreign language to non-linguistic major students

OpenAIRE

KAPRANCHIKOVA KSENIYA

2014-01-01

The paper addresses methodological potential of mobile technologies in teaching a foreign language to non-linguistic students. The author a) gives definition of the term "mobile education", b) suggests a list of mobile technologies used in foreign language teaching; c) develops a list of non-linguistic major students'' language abilities and language skills, which can be developed via mobile technologies.

Novice Teachers and Linguistics: Foregrounding the Functional

Science.gov (United States)

Chappell, Phil; Moore, Stephen

2012-01-01

This forum article describes a postgraduate certificate teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) program with a strong linguistics orientation and argues that such a program provides novice language teachers with knowledge and skills superior to those of programs which focus more on methodology and practicum experience and less on…

Linguistic analysis of discourse in aphasia: A review of the literature.

Science.gov (United States)

Bryant, Lucy; Ferguson, Alison; Spencer, Elizabeth

This review examined previous research applications of linguistic discourse analysis to assess the language of adults with aphasia. A comprehensive literature search of seven databases identified 165 studies that applied linguistic measures to samples of discourse collected from people with aphasia. Analysis of methodological applications revealed an increase in published research using linguistic discourse analysis over the past 40 years, particularly to measure the generalisation of therapy outcomes to language in use. Narrative language samples were most frequently subject to analysis though all language genres were observed across included studies. A total of 536 different linguistic measures were applied to examine language behaviours. Growth in the research use of linguistic discourse analysis and suggestions that this growth may be reflected in clinical practice requires further investigation. Future research directions are discussed to investigate clinical use of discourse analysis and examine the differences that exist between research and clinical practice.

Case Study Research Methodology in Nursing Research.

Science.gov (United States)

Cope, Diane G

2015-11-01

Through data collection methods using a holistic approach that focuses on variables in a natural setting, qualitative research methods seek to understand participants' perceptions and interpretations. Common qualitative research methods include ethnography, phenomenology, grounded theory, and historic research. Another type of methodology that has a similar qualitative approach is case study research, which seeks to understand a phenomenon or case from multiple perspectives within a given real-world context.

Problematising Ethnography and Case Study: Reflections on Using Ethnographic Techniques and Researcher Positioning

Science.gov (United States)

Parker-Jenkins, Marie

2018-01-01

This paper was prompted by the question, what do we mean by conducting "ethnography"? Is it in fact "case study" drawing on ethnographic techniques? My contention is that in many cases, researchers are not actually conducting ethnography as understood within a traditional sense but rather are engaging in case study, drawing on…

A meta-ethnography of organisational culture in primary care medical practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Grant, Suzanne; Guthrie, Bruce; Entwistle, Vikki; Williams, Brian

2014-01-01

Over the past decade, there has been growing international interest in shaping local organisational cultures in primary healthcare. However, the contextual relevance of extant culture assessment instruments to the primary care context has been questioned. The aim of this paper is to derive a new contextually appropriate understanding of the key dimensions of primary care medical practice organisational culture and their inter-relationship through a synthesis of published qualitative research. A systematic search of six electronic databases followed by a synthesis using techniques of meta-ethnography involving translation and re-interpretation. A total of 16 papers were included in the meta-ethnography from the UK, the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand that fell into two related groups: those focused on practice organisational characteristics and narratives of practice individuality; and those focused on sub-practice variation across professional, managerial and administrative lines. It was found that primary care organisational culture was characterised by four key dimensions, i.e. responsiveness, team hierarchy, care philosophy and communication. These dimensions are multi-level and inter-professional in nature, spanning both practice and sub-practice levels. The research contributes to organisational culture theory development. The four new cultural dimensions provide a synthesized conceptual framework for researchers to evaluate and understand primary care cultural and sub-cultural levels. The synthesised cultural dimensions present a framework for practitioners to understand and change organisational culture in primary care teams. The research uses an innovative research methodology to synthesise the existing qualitative research and is one of the first to develop systematically a qualitative conceptual framing of primary care organisational culture.

Continuing professional development (CPD) in radiography: A collaborative European meta-ethnography literature review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wareing, A.; Buissink, C.; Harper, D.; Gellert Olesen, M.; Soto, M.; Braico, S.; Van Laer, P.; Gremion, I.; Rainford, L.

2017-01-01

�� CPD must be flexible/multi-modal to support the changing workforce. • Collaboration between the stakeholders involved with CPD could be improved. • The perceived ‘importance’ of barriers and drivers to CPD activity is changeable. • Meta-ethnography methodology is useful for novice researchers.

Very Special Natives: The Evolving Role of Teachers as Informants in Educational Ethnography.

Science.gov (United States)

Florio, Susan

Underlying the current use of ethnography in the study of teaching and learning is the assumption of an analogy between the school or classroom and culture. The claim of educational ethnography is that it discovers and describes the ways that members of the school community create and share meaning. Ethnographers aim to discover the operating…

[Reflections on ethnography in the emergency department].

Science.gov (United States)

Aredes, Janaína de Souza; Firmo, Josélia Oliveira Araújo; Leibing, Annette; Giacomin, Karla Cristina

2017-09-28

: Ethnography is the principal research method in Anthropology. With a broad scope, it allows using different data collection techniques and incorporates elements observed and obtained in the field into the analysis. In Public Health, it can contribute to understanding the health/disease process and health professionals' and patients' values and attitudes in different healthcare settings. The aim of this article is to present and discuss the ethnographic method based on an empirical study of physicians' hospital work in the face of the limits between life and death. Data collection involved nine months of participant observation and interviews with 43 physicians (25 men and 18 women), 28 to 69 years of age, treating critical patients in different departments of a metropolitan emergency hospital. The various social and cultural aspects experienced by the researcher and obtained from the interlocutors in the field provide a dense description of this hospital ethnography.

Forensic linguistics: Applications of forensic linguistics methods to anonymous letters

OpenAIRE

NOVÁKOVÁ, Veronika

2011-01-01

The title of my bachelor work is ?Forensic linguistics: Applications of forensic linguistics methods to anonymous letters?. Forensic linguistics is young and not very known branch of applied linguistics. This bachelor work wants to introduce forensic linguistics and its method. The bachelor work has two parts ? theory and practice. The theoretical part informs about forensic linguistics in general. Its two basic aspects utilized in forensic science and respective methods. The practical part t...

Applied Linguistics and the "Annual Review of Applied Linguistics."

Science.gov (United States)

Kaplan, Robert B.; Grabe, William

2000-01-01

Examines the complexities and differences involved in granting disciplinary status to the role of applied linguistics, discusses the role of the "Annual Review of Applied Linguistics" as a contributor to the development of applied linguistics, and highlights a set of publications for the future of applied linguistics. (Author/VWL)

A Critical Ethnography of Democratic Music Listening

Science.gov (United States)

Silverman, Marissa

2013-01-01

The purpose of this critical ethnography was to investigate how music educators can approach the development of students' music listening abilities democratically in order to deepen students' musical understandings and, by teaching through music, create pathways for student-teacher transactions that are inclusive, educative, ethical and…

Curious parallels and curious connections--phylogenetic thinking in biology and historical linguistics.

Science.gov (United States)

Atkinson, Quentin D; Gray, Russell D

2005-08-01

In The Descent of Man (1871), Darwin observed "curious parallels" between the processes of biological and linguistic evolution. These parallels mean that evolutionary biologists and historical linguists seek answers to similar questions and face similar problems. As a result, the theory and methodology of the two disciplines have evolved in remarkably similar ways. In addition to Darwin's curious parallels of process, there are a number of equally curious parallels and connections between the development of methods in biology and historical linguistics. Here we briefly review the parallels between biological and linguistic evolution and contrast the historical development of phylogenetic methods in the two disciplines. We then look at a number of recent studies that have applied phylogenetic methods to language data and outline some current problems shared by the two fields.

Ethnography in Charting Paths toward Personal and Social Liberation: Using My Latina Cultural Intuition

Science.gov (United States)

Monzó, Lilia D.

2015-01-01

Drawing on a Chicana feminist epistemology, the author, a Latina immigrant, presents how she used her cultural intuition to engage in a two-year ethnography with Latino immigrant families. She argues that for her engaging in ethnography with her "own community" is an endeavor that calls to the fore her homegrown epistemologies and her…

On Linguistic Abilities, Multilingualism, and Linguistic Justice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Iannàccaro Gabriele

2016-10-01

Full Text Available The notion of linguistic justice should be related to the concept of linguistic ease, by which we mean the full social and communicative freedom of concern of the speaker in a given social interaction involving the use of language(s present in the society, according to the social norms of use. To acquire an acceptable degree of linguistic ease, the knowledge of at least one L2 is considered important. But the acquisition of a L2 is interfered by the previous linguistic skills of the learner/speaker who, in many cases, does not have a suitable competence even of the languages of the society in which he/she lives.

Quantitative Social Dialectology : Explaining Linguistic Variation Geographically and Socially

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wieling, Martijn; Nerbonne, John; Baayen, R. Harald

2011-01-01

In this study we examine linguistic variation and its dependence on both social and geographic factors. We follow dialectometry in applying a quantitative methodology and focusing on dialect distances, and social dialectology in the choice of factors we examine in building a model to predict word

The linguistically aware teacher and the teacher-aware linguist.

Science.gov (United States)

McCartney, Elspeth; Ellis, Sue

2013-07-01

This review evaluates issues of teacher linguistic knowledge relating to their work with children with speech, language and communication difficulties (SLCD). Information is from Ellis and McCartney [(2011a). Applied linguistics and primary school teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press], a state-of-the-art text deriving from a British Association of Applied Linguistics/Cambridge University Press expert seminar series that details: linguistic research underpinning primary school curricula and pedagogy; the form of linguistic knowledge useful for teachers supporting children with SLCD in partnership with speech and language therapists; and how and when teachers acquire and learn to apply such knowledge. Critical analysis of the options presented for teacher learning indicate that policy enjoinders now include linguistic application as an expected part of teachers' professional knowledge, for all children including those with SLCD, but there is a large unmet learning need. It is concluded that there is a role for clinical linguists to disseminate useable knowledge to teachers in an accessible format. Ways of achieving this are considered.

Review: Michael Dellwing & Robert Prus (2012. Einführung in die interaktionistische Ethnografie [Introduction to Interactionist Ethnography

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dirk vom Lehn

2014-09-01

Full Text Available DELLWING and PRUS's "Introduction to Interactionist Ethnography" is a textbook that offers (university students and teachers an introduction to and instruction on how to conduct ethnographic studies using interactionist concepts and techniques. With their focus on the interactionist approach to ethnography, DELLWING and PRUS differ from the phenomenological approaches that pervade German ethnography. The book begins with a competent and very readable explanation of the analytic basis of interactionist ethnography that is characterized by a plurality of perspectives and the need for negotiations about the "definition of the situation." It then turns to practical aspects of conducting interactionist ethnographies and addresses all parts of the research process, including access to the field, field observation, and field notes, as well as the writing-up of an ethnographic study for a book, journal article, dissertation, or coursework. DELLWING and PRUS's book should be read by established ethnographers as well as by students looking for a competent and thorough introduction to the praxis of conducting ethnographic studies using an interactionist approach. URN: http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs1403244

Linguistic Polyphony

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nølke, Henning

on the Scandinavian variant of polyphony, ScaPoLine. ScaPoLine is a formal linguistic theory whose main purpose is to specify the instructions conveyed through linguistic form for the creation of polyphonic meaning. The theoretical introduction is followed by polyphonic analyses of linguistic phenomena...

Patients' experience with cancer recurrence: a meta-ethnography.

Science.gov (United States)

Wanat, Marta; Boulton, Mary; Watson, Eila

2016-03-01

Recurrence is a difficult stage in the cancer journey as it brings to the fore the life-threatening nature of the illness. This meta-ethnography examines and synthesises the findings of qualitative research regarding patients' experience of cancer recurrence. A systematic search of the qualitative studies published between January 1994 to April 2014 was undertaken. Seventeen relevant papers were identified, and a meta-ethnography was conducted. Six third-order concepts were developed to capture patients' experiences: experiencing emotional turmoil following diagnosis, which described the emotional impact of diagnosis and the influence of previous experiences on how the news were received; experiencing otherness, encompassing changed relationships; seeking support in the health care system, describing the extent of information needs and the importance of the relationship with health care professionals; adjusting to a new prognosis and uncertain future, highlighting the changes associated with uncertainty; finding strategies to deal with recurrence, describing ways of maintaining emotional well-being and regaining a sense of control over cancer; and facing mortality, describing the difficulties in facing death-related concerns and associated consequences. This meta-ethnography clarifies the fundamental aspects of patients' experience of recurrence. It suggests that health care professionals can promote a positive experience of care and help lessen the psychosocial impact of recurrence by providing information in an approachable way and being sensitive to their changing needs. It also points to the importance of supporting patients in adopting strategies to regain a sense of control and to address their potential mortality and its impact on loved ones. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

"Animals like us": Revisiting organizational ethnography and research

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wels, H.

2015-01-01

Purpose – Now that the human-animal distinction is increasingly critiqued from various disciplinary perspectives, to the point where some suggest even letting go of the distinction completely, the purpose of this paper is to argue that organizational ethnography should start to explore in more

Educational Evaluation: Ethnography in Theory, Practice, and Politics.

Science.gov (United States)

Fetterman, David M., Ed.; Pitman, Mary Anne, Ed.

Ten essays on the use of ethnography in educational assessment are presented. Overview essays include: (1) "Beyond the Status Quo in Ethnographic Educational Evaluation" (David M. Fetterman) and (2) "The Ethnographic Evaluator" (David M. Fetterman). Theoretical papers include: (3) "Theory in Education Evaluation: Or,…

Review: Giampietro Gobo (2008). Doing Ethnography

OpenAIRE

Thomas, Stefan

2010-01-01

Das Buch "Doing Ethnography" von Giampietro GOBO bietet eine Einführung in die Ethnografie vonseiten der Praxis her. In systematischer Weise behandelt er zentrale Themen wie Definition, Umsetzung und Reflexion ethnografischen Forschens. Das Buch bietet einen umfassenden Überblick über die ethnografische Methodendebatte, was immer auch einen Blick auf zukunftsweisende Entwicklungen einschließt. Dabei erfährt der Methodendiskurs eine Einordnung in eine konstruktivistische Forschungsperspektive....

Voice and Meaning-Making in Team Ethnography

Science.gov (United States)

Creese, Angela; Blackledge, Adrian

2012-01-01

Drawing on research on complementary schools in the United Kingdom, this presentation considers some of the issues in the research method used in studying this after-school community site. Processes of analysis employed by the ethnography team are disclosed so as to illuminate the dynamics of theory building in a large research team. (Contains 2…

The Role of Ethnography in the Design and Implementation of IT Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Simonsen, Jesper

2009-01-01

an example from a case where a fully functional prototype of a large Electronic Patient Record (EPR) system was designed, implemented, used as a pilot study, and subjected to evaluations based on ethno- graphic observations. The case demonstrates how a new and important role for ethnography can...... be established as an integral part of iterative approaches to design and organizational implementation of large IT systems. The role of ethnography can be expanded from a descriptive role (describing ex- isting work practices or the situation after a complete implementation) to a constructive role focusing...

How the Ethnography of Communication Provides Resources for Design

Science.gov (United States)

Leighter, James L.; Rudnick, Lisa; Edmonds, Theresa J.

2013-01-01

Designing solutions to social problems requires some degree of interpretive accountability to the sociocultural systems in which design solutions must live. Our case studies show how ethnography of communication research generates distinctive resources for design. (Contains 5 notes.)

Coyote Papers: The University of Arizona Working Papers in Linguistics, Volume 11. Special Volume on Native American Languages.

Science.gov (United States)

Weinberg, Jessica P., Ed.; O'Bryan, Erin L., Ed.; Moll, Laura A., Ed.; Haugan, Jason D., Ed.

The five papers included in this volume approach the study of American Indian languages from a diverse array of methodological and theoretical approaches to linguistics. Two papers focus on approaches that come from the applied linguistics tradition, emphasizing ethnolinguistics and discourse analysis: Sonya Bird's paper "A Cross Cultural…

Institutional Ethnography: A Holistic Approach to Understanding Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Wright, Ursula T.; Rocco, Tonette S.

2016-01-01

This paper introduces institutional ethnography (IE) as a useful and systematic process for examining organizations and work data through the lens of stakeholders, at different levels, and considering the different forces at play. Drawing from ethnomethodology, IE focuses on how everyday experience is socially organized. Ideological shifts have…

How Institutions Deprive: Ethnography, Social Work, and Interventionist Ethics Among the Hypermarginalized

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Megan Comfort

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Hypermarginalized populations, such as homeless drug users with acute health problems, are subject to multiple intersecting adversities that result in social exclusion and chronic suffering. Despite this population's high need for health and social services, institutions provide services that are fragmented and often punitive, contributing to further marginality. In this article, we present a hybrid methodological approach that combines clinical social work and ethnography in a study of intensive case management for HIV-positive indigent adults in Oakland, California. We investigate two primary research questions. First, we consider the challenges this population faces in navigating institutions to meet their basic needs, and we demonstrate how organizational irrationality has severe consequences for this population. Second, we grapple with the question of how to ethically engage hypermarginalized participants in research by presenting a clinically informed intervention that is responsive to individual vulnerabilities and also enhances our understanding of institutional failure.

On Structure and Agency in Ethnographies of Education: Examples from This Special Issue and More Generally

Science.gov (United States)

Beach, Dennis

2011-01-01

The articles in this collection are about the development, possibility, exercise and possible frustration of human agency within educational exchanges. They are also all based on ethnography, which is now a common approach to educational research. Ethnography is not a seamless, neutral observational practice but is instead variable in relation to…

A Meta-Ethnography of Two Studies on Interactions in Schools: Reflections on the Process of Translation

Science.gov (United States)

Kakos, Michalis; Fritzsche, Bettina

2017-01-01

This paper reflects upon our experience gained from engagement in a meta-ethnography of two studies on interactions between teachers and students in schools situated in England and Germany. Starting with a short overview of Noblit and Hare's (1988) conceptualisation of the method, the paper outlines the meta-ethnography we undertook especially…

Mixed-effects regression models in linguistics

CERN Document Server

Heylen, Kris; Geeraerts, Dirk

2018-01-01

When data consist of grouped observations or clusters, and there is a risk that measurements within the same group are not independent, group-specific random effects can be added to a regression model in order to account for such within-group associations. Regression models that contain such group-specific random effects are called mixed-effects regression models, or simply mixed models. Mixed models are a versatile tool that can handle both balanced and unbalanced datasets and that can also be applied when several layers of grouping are present in the data; these layers can either be nested or crossed.  In linguistics, as in many other fields, the use of mixed models has gained ground rapidly over the last decade. This methodological evolution enables us to build more sophisticated and arguably more realistic models, but, due to its technical complexity, also introduces new challenges. This volume brings together a number of promising new evolutions in the use of mixed models in linguistics, but also addres...

What Is Ethnography? Can It Survive? Should It?

Science.gov (United States)

Hammersley, Martyn

2018-01-01

This paper notes that, in the field of education and beyond, the term "ethnography" has acquired a range of meanings, and comes in many different versions, these often reflecting sharply divergent orientations. I argue that this is a major problem that requires attention; particularly since today there are some serious threats to the…

Identifying and Comparing Scandinavian Ethnography: Comparisons and Influences

Science.gov (United States)

Beach, Dennis

2010-01-01

In recent years, there has been a significant growth in the volume of research production in education ethnography in Scandinavia due partly to a regionally financed network. The present article makes some comparisons between Scandinavian and other education research contexts in relation to aspects of general ethnographic design to try to analyse…

Keeping Our Cultural and Linguistic Heritage Alive: A Canadian Literary Experience.

Science.gov (United States)

Mylopoulos, Chryssafi

1992-01-01

Describes how multicultural library services have contributed to the promotion, support, and preservation of the cultural and linguistic identity of the community being served, using the Public Library of Scarborough in Ontario (Canada) as a case study. Observation reveals the importance of commitment, planning, and methodology. (SLD)

Implementation in the midst of complexity: Using ethnography to study health care-associated infection prevention and control.

Science.gov (United States)

Knobloch, Mary Jo; Thomas, Kevin V; Patterson, Erin; Zimbric, Michele L; Musuuza, Jackson; Safdar, Nasia

2017-10-01

Contextual factors associated with health care settings make reducing health care-associated infections (HAIs) a complex task. The aim of this article is to highlight how ethnography can assist in understanding contextual factors that support or hinder the implementation of evidence-based practices for reducing HAIs. We conducted a review of ethnographic studies specifically related to HAI prevention and control in the last 5 years (2012-2017). Twelve studies specific to HAIs and ethnographic methods were found. Researchers used various methods with video-reflexive sessions used in 6 of the 12 studies. Ethnography was used to understand variation in data reporting, identify barriers to adherence, explore patient perceptions of isolation practices and highlight the influence of physical design on infection prevention practices. The term ethnography was used to describe varied research methods. Most studies were conducted outside the United States, and authors indicate insights gained using ethnographic methods (whether observations, interviews, or reflexive video recording) as beneficial to unraveling the complexities of HAI prevention. Ethnography is well-suited for HAI prevention, especially video-reflexive ethnography, for activating patients and clinicians in infection control work. In this era of increasing pressure to reduce HAIs within complex work systems, ethnographic methods can promote understanding of contextual factors and may expedite translation evidence to practice. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Researchers’ communication on Twitter. A virtual ethnography in the area of information science

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Belén Álvarez-Bornstein

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The present article analyzes the scientific communication that takes place on Twitter. Its aim is to understand and describe the types of scientific activities that occur on this platform, by identifying the type of information exchanged and the activities that researchers perform. Thus we attempt to better understand the number of times that research work is mentioned within a specific context. We followed a group of researchers and professionals with Twitter profiles who had published at least 3 articles in the journal EPI between 2009 and 2013. The research methodology was qualitative using virtual ethnography based on non-participant observation. Among the main conclusions, we found that researchers use Twitter mostly as a way to make their professional activity public and to disseminate their own research works or those of close collaborators, in order to give them more visibility and impact.

Researching Primary Teachers' Professional Agency: Employing Interactive Ethnography to Overcome Reluctance to Teach Science

Science.gov (United States)

Martin, Jenny

2017-09-01

This paper provides a report of a case study on the professional agency of an experienced early years teacher, Sarah, who successfully embedded a chemical science program of teaching-learning for her students aged between 6 and 8. Interactive ethnography informs the research design, and discursive psychology provides the tools for the analysis of Sarah's speech acts for her positioning as a responsible agent. Reframing the problem of primary teacher reluctance to teach science in terms of primary teachers' professional agency using discursive psychology, this ontological study provides new insight into issues related to the provision of science education in primary schools and asks: How do primary teachers position themselves and others in relation to science curriculum and education? The research calls for research methodologies and reform efforts in primary science that are better grounded in the local moral orders of primary schools.

Linguistic Structure Prediction

CERN Document Server

Smith, Noah A

2011-01-01

A major part of natural language processing now depends on the use of text data to build linguistic analyzers. We consider statistical, computational approaches to modeling linguistic structure. We seek to unify across many approaches and many kinds of linguistic structures. Assuming a basic understanding of natural language processing and/or machine learning, we seek to bridge the gap between the two fields. Approaches to decoding (i.e., carrying out linguistic structure prediction) and supervised and unsupervised learning of models that predict discrete structures as outputs are the focus. W

Ethnography of epidemiologic transition: Avian flu, global health politics and agro-industrial capitalism in Thailand.

Science.gov (United States)

Chuengsatiansup, Komatra

2008-04-01

This paper situates the ethnography of avian flu within the geo-political context of a new epidemiologic transition. Drawing on anthropological experience and insight, this paper examines areas of enquiry in which an ethnographic approach could contribute to a better implementation of prevention and control measures. Within the context of newly emerging diseases and accelerated globalization, the task of ethnography needs to extend far beyond the local. This paper reveals two major global issues that the ethnography of epidemiologic transition must take into consideration: (1) Global agro-industrial capitalism, and (2) global politics in the context of international health organizations and multi-national drug companies. The case of Thailand poses a question of how the strength of ethnographic practice could be deployed to account for the reality of the global-local interface of the new epidemiologic transition.

Ethnographic Locations: The Geographies of Feminist Post-Structural Ethnography

Science.gov (United States)

Cairns, Kate

2013-01-01

The feminist post-structuralist emphasis on social location has yielded crucial insights within debates about power and reflexivity in educational research; however, spatial location is also at play in the formation of educational ethnographies. Reflecting upon various aspects of a research project with rural students in Ontario, Canada, this…

Ethnography of Communication in Praxis in the Literature Classroom

Science.gov (United States)

Hepburn, Carol

2016-01-01

In this article, I suggest that an applied communication approach using Dell Hymes' framework of "ethnography of communication" could serve as an intervention strategy in order to promote a greater sense of shared community within the college literature classroom. I explore this framework with consideration on how this communication…

An anthropological approach to teach and evaluate cultural competence in medical students - the application of mini-ethnography in medical history taking.

Science.gov (United States)

Hsieh, Jyh-Gang; Hsu, Mutsu; Wang, Ying-Wei

2016-01-01

Purpose To use mini-ethnographies narrating patient illness to improve the cultural competence of the medical students. Methods Between September 2013 and June 2015, all sixth-year medical students doing their internship at a medical center in eastern Taiwan were trained to write mini-ethnographies for one of the patients in their care. The mini-ethnographies were analyzed by authors with focus on the various aspects of cultural sensitivity and a holistic care approach. Results Ninety-one students handed in mini-ethnographies, of whom 56 were male (61.5%) and 35 were female (38.5%). From the mini-ethnographies, three core aspects were derived: 1) the explanatory models and perceptions of illness, 2) culture and health care, and 3) society, resources, and health care. Based on the qualities of each aspect, nine secondary nodes were classified: expectations and attitude about illness/treatment, perceptions about their own prognosis in particular, knowledge and feelings regarding illness, cause of illness, choice of treatment method (including traditional medical treatments), prejudice and discrimination, influences of traditional culture and language, social support and resources, and inequality in health care. Conclusions Mini-ethnography is an effective teaching method that can help students to develop cultural competence. It also serves as an effective instrument to assess the cultural competence of medical students.

Images of flight nursing in Australia: A study using institutional ethnography.

Science.gov (United States)

Brideson, Genevieve; Willis, Eileen; Mayner, Lidia; Chamberlain, Diane J

2016-03-01

Pictures speak a thousand words. The traditional romantic image of an Australian aeromedical service is a male doctor and male pilot, out to rescue the male stockman from the red dust of the Australian outback. However, the reality is considerably different, particularly in the current context of the Australian healthcare system. This paper examines the images of flight nursing using a critical lens. The images are derived from popular literature sources from the early 1940s through to the present. A textual analysis of the images of flight nursing using the methodology of institutional ethnography reveals a number of themes including the glamorous, the romantic, and the heroic nurse. This study illustrates that the way these nurses are portrayed within popular literature mirrors the Australian cultural ethic of heroic bush pioneer, yet at the same time the work these nurses do is undervalued by various omissions and misrepresentations. The results from this study have the potential to significantly improve recognition of the work performed by flight nurses and to challenge incorrect cultural myths. © 2015 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

Crossroads Poetics : Édouard Glissant and Ethnography

OpenAIRE

Kullberg, Christina

2013-01-01

Édouard Glissant’s work seems to actualize the metaphor used by French ethnographer and writer Michel Leiris to capture the Caribbean: it is a poetics of the crossroads between several discourses and forms of expression. But the intersection between history, sociology, philosophy, poetry, and other areas often occurs without the author fully explaining the mechanisms behind his appropriations of discourses that usually lie outside the realm of literature. Ethnography, for example, appears wit...

Probabilistic linguistics

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bod, R.; Heine, B.; Narrog, H.

2010-01-01

Probabilistic linguistics takes all linguistic evidence as positive evidence and lets statistics decide. It allows for accurate modelling of gradient phenomena in production and perception, and suggests that rule-like behaviour is no more than a side effect of maximizing probability. This chapter

Que peuvent apporter les faits linguistiques a l'analyse de l'argumentation en biologie? (What Can Linguistic Data Contribute to Argumentation Analysis in Biology?)

Science.gov (United States)

Zaslawsky, D.

1976-01-01

Attempts to determine to what extent a linguistic analysis can contribute to an epistemological study of scientific texts. Considerations are also given on the methodological role of argumentation in linguistic science. (Text is in French.) (CDSH/AM)

The Problem of Evaluative Categorization of Human Intelligence in Linguistic World Images

Science.gov (United States)

Abisheva, Klara M.; Dossanova, Altynay Zh.; Ismakova, Bibissara S.; Aupova, Gulbagira K.; Ayapbergenov, Bulat K.; Tlegenova, Kulyan A.

2016-01-01

The aim of the research is to determine the peculiarities of the evaluative categorization of human intelligence in linguistic world images. The study describes the interdisciplinary approach to studying evaluative categorization, which assumes the use of complex methodology including the anthropocentric, the interdisciplinary, and the cognitive…

Linguistic analysis of project ownership for undergraduate research experiences.

Science.gov (United States)

Hanauer, D I; Frederick, J; Fotinakes, B; Strobel, S A

2012-01-01

We used computational linguistic and content analyses to explore the concept of project ownership for undergraduate research. We used linguistic analysis of student interview data to develop a quantitative methodology for assessing project ownership and applied this method to measure degrees of project ownership expressed by students in relation to different types of educational research experiences. The results of the study suggest that the design of a research experience significantly influences the degree of project ownership expressed by students when they describe those experiences. The analysis identified both positive and negative aspects of project ownership and provided a working definition for how a student experiences his or her research opportunity. These elements suggest several features that could be incorporated into an undergraduate research experience to foster a student's sense of project ownership.

Applying Linguistics in the Teaching of Reading and the Language Arts.

Science.gov (United States)

Eisenhardt, Catheryn

The purpose of this book is to illustrate how the principles revealed by linguistic research can be translated into classroom practice. Emphasis is placed on: (1) a methodology which offers opportunities for children to create knowledge based on their observations of language tested against their intiutive speech, and (2) a content which is…

Evaluating meta-ethnography: systematic analysis and synthesis of qualitative research.

Science.gov (United States)

Campbell, R; Pound, P; Morgan, M; Daker-White, G; Britten, N; Pill, R; Yardley, L; Pope, C; Donovan, J

2011-12-01

Methods for reviewing and synthesising findings from quantitative research studies in health care are well established. Although there is recognition of the need for qualitative research to be brought into the evidence base, there is no consensus about how this should be done and the methods for synthesising qualitative research are at a relatively early stage of development. To evaluate meta-ethnography as a method for synthesising qualitative research studies in health and health care. Two full syntheses of qualitative research studies were conducted between April 2002 and September 2004 using meta-ethnography: (1) studies of medicine-taking and (2) studies exploring patients' experiences of living with rheumatoid arthritis. Potentially relevant studies identified in multiple literature searches conducted in July and August 2002 (electronically and by hand) were appraised using a modified version of the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme questions for understanding qualitative research. Candidate papers were excluded on grounds of lack of relevance to the aims of the synthesis or because the work failed to employ qualitative methods of data collection and analysis. Thirty-eight studies were entered into the medicine-taking synthesis, one of which did not contribute to the final synthesis. The synthesis revealed a general caution about taking medicine, and that the practice of lay testing of medicines was widespread. People were found to take their medicine passively or actively or to reject it outright. Some, in particular clinical areas, were coerced into taking it. Those who actively accepted their medicine often modified the regimen prescribed by a doctor, without the doctor's knowledge. The synthesis concluded that people often do not take their medicines as prescribed because of concern about the medicines themselves. 'Resistance' emerged from the synthesis as a concept that best encapsulated the lay response to prescribed medicines. It was suggested that a

Mo(ve)ment methodology – Researching conflictual meanings, double-binds and change in extreme life situations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mørck, Line Lerche

2015-01-01

and change in conduct of life. This moment-movement methodology is developed in close collaboration with a former biker-gang member - involved as a research apprentice. Together we are developing the methodology, while researching concrete processes of change from biker gang member towards becoming......The social practice theoretical moment-movement methodology explores significant moments in depth, such as moments of frustration, anger, engagement and (be)longing. The moments are conceptualized as part of broader conflictual struggles and processes (movements), which include both continuity...... are reflected when methodological aspects from Collective Biography Work is integrated with a social phenomenological concept of double bind situations (R.D. Laing) into a social practice theoretical moment-movement ethnography....

Linguistic aspects of eponymic professional endocrinologic terminology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N.I. Bytsko

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Background. Special linguistic researches of terminological units of different branches of medicine allow analyzing in details the ways of creating the systems of clinical terminology from different aspects: historical, scientific, cultural, linguistic and semantic. There is a wide area of terminology related to the clinical and experimental endocrino­logy within general medical terminological system. The purpose of the study: to demonstrate the structure of endocrine medical terms — eponyms through the prism of systematization of methodological researches on eponymic vocabulary. Materials and methods. The actual material received as a result of a total choice of eponyms (there were 296 terms from the “Reference dictionary for endocrinologist”, which was composed by the scientists of V. Danilevsky Institute of Endocrine Pathology Problems and Kharkiv Medical Academy of Postgraduate education — A.V. Kozakov, N.A. Kravchun, I.M. Ilyina, M.I. Zubko, O.A. Goncharova, I.V. Cherniavska has 10,000 endocrine terms, the authors successfully streamlined medical terms of the clinical and experimental endocrinology into the vocabulary. The method of total choice of terms from professional literature, the descriptive method and distributive method were used in the study that allowed distinguishing lexical and semantic features of eponymic terms in the branch of endocrinology. Results. The obtained results point out to the modernity of studies in the field of clinical and experimental endocrinology, which is due to the fact that this is the oldest terminology, by the example of which it is possible to trace the ways of formation, development and improvement of terms, the realization of semantic processes, certain trends, ways and means of word formation. Conclusions. The results of the research on the above mentioned sublanguage of clinical medicine at the level of linguistic observations of the functio­ning in dictionaries and scientific works will

Multi-Sited Ethnography and the Field of Educational Research

Science.gov (United States)

Pierides, Dean

2010-01-01

This paper responds to the challenge of how educational research might be practised in a contemporary world that is no longer necessarily organised by nearness and unity. Focusing on ethnography, it argues for what a multi-sited imaginary contributes to research in the field of education. By giving prominence to the notion of multi-sited…

A New Hesitant Fuzzy Linguistic TOPSIS Method for Group Multi-Criteria Linguistic Decision Making

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fangling Ren

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Hesitant fuzzy linguistic decision making is a focus point in linguistic decision making, in which the main method is based on preference ordering. This paper develops a new hesitant fuzzy linguistic TOPSIS method for group multi-criteria linguistic decision making; the method is inspired by the TOPSIS method and the preference degree between two hesitant fuzzy linguistic term sets (HFLTSs. To this end, we first use the preference degree to define a pseudo-distance between two HFLTSs and analyze its properties. Then we present the positive (optimistic and negative (pessimistic information of each criterion provided by each decision maker and aggregate these by using weights of decision makers to obtain the hesitant fuzzy linguistic positive and negative ideal solutions. On the basis of the proposed pseudo-distance, we finally obtain the positive (negative ideal separation matrix and a new relative closeness degree to rank alternatives. We also design an algorithm based on the provided method to carry out hesitant fuzzy linguistic decision making. An illustrative example shows the elaboration of the proposed method and comparison with the symbolic aggregation-based method, the hesitant fuzzy linguistic TOPSIS method and the hesitant fuzzy linguistic VIKOR method; it seems that the proposed method is a useful and alternative decision-making method.

Linguistic Imperialism

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Phillipson, Robert

2013-01-01

The study of linguistic imperialism focuses on how and why certain languages dominate internationally, and attempts to account for such dominance in a theoretically informed way.......The study of linguistic imperialism focuses on how and why certain languages dominate internationally, and attempts to account for such dominance in a theoretically informed way....

What Is Applied Linguistics?

Science.gov (United States)

James, Carl

1993-01-01

Ostensive and expository definitions of applied linguistics are assessed. It is suggested that the key to a meaningful definition lies in the dual articulation of applied linguistics: it is an interface between linguistics and practicality. Its role as an "expert system" is suggested. (45 references) (Author/LB)

The Virtual Workplace Ethnography: Positioning Student Writers as Knowledge Makers

Science.gov (United States)

Sommers, Jeff

2015-01-01

The Virtual Workplace Ethnography is a first-year composition assignment that positions students as knowledge makers by requiring them to apply a theoretical lens ("Working Knowledge") to a video representation of a workplace. The lens provides multiple terms for analysis of workplace behaviors in context, providing a scaffolding for…

The Study of Critical Eco-Linguistic in Green Discourse: Prospective Eco-Linguistic Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tommi Yuniawan

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Eco-linguistic studies are influenced by one of the other interdisciplinary sciences, namely critical discourse analysis. The combination of these two sciences is called critical eco-linguistic studies. Critical eco-linguistic examines the discourse about the environment and various forms of discourse and their ideology which concerns people and the environment. The environmental discourse with all its manifestations (oral text, written text is called green discourse. To that end, critical eco-linguistic dictates the linguistic aspects contained in the green discourse. Utilization of lingual units in green discourse will affect the sense and logic of people involved in the discourse, ie the writers and readers or the speakers and the speakers. What is recorded in their cognition, will affect their attitudes and actions to the environment. If green discourse is constructive, then their attitude and actions to the environment are constructive. Conversely, if green discourse is more destructive and exploitative, then their attitudes and actions towards the environment will also be affected towards destruction and exploitation. For this reason, critical eco-linguistic studies in green discourse deserve to be given space as a form of prospective eco-linguistic analysis.

The Business of Ethnography

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Moeran, Brian

not only on social behavior and human relations in general but, more specifically, on the importance of strategic exchange to all business practices. Moeran's fieldwork, rooted in participant-observation of business life in communities and corporations, leads him to an original theory of how business...... operates. Culture is not all-powerful, Moeran shows. Instead, social structures strongly influence behavior. At the heart of Moeran's analysis is a firm belief in fieldwork and ethnography - terms much bandied about in business, management and cultural studies, but rarely undertaken in depth. The Business......Can an anthropologist help us understand the world of business? Armed with this question, veteran anthropologist Brian Moeran embarks on an in-depth study of cultural production and creative industries in Japan. At once the blundering ethnographer and shrewd observer, Moeran is able to shed light...

Doing Multisensory Ethnography In Classroom Study In Danish Secondary Schools

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Falkenberg, Helene

The thesis of this Ph.D. is new forms of organizing the secondary school in Denmark and the potential of these organizational forms as inclusive learning environments. I´m inspired by multisensory ethnography (Pink, 2011a, 2011b) in my study of the ways the students are categorized into included...

Ethnography of a Sustainable Agriculture Program: A Case Study of a Social Movement's Inception and Growth on a University Campus

Science.gov (United States)

Triana, Benjamin

2016-01-01

This ethnography documents how the message of sustainability was interpreted and communicated through a sustainable agricultural (SAG) program at an American higher education institution. The ethnography documents the evolution of the program as the program tackled obstacles and accomplished its goals during the initial phases of the program's…

Actualization of Categories Linguonationalism and Linguopatriotism in Modern Linguistics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kosmeda Tetiana

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Background: In modern linguistics E. Sepir’s-B. Warf’s theory of a language relativity attracts attention of many scientists, the essence of which some linguists negate as well as they don’t agree to a traditional system of the methodological bases of linguoculturology because this theory «approves» linguonationalism. Purpose: The purpose of the analysis is to illustrate the fact of implementation of the linguonationalism ideology concerning the Ukrainian language by the Russian Empire; the very fact is observed nowadays and the linguopatriotism of the Ukrainians is negated and disrespected by the Russian linguists. Results: Linguonationalism is the ideologization of the very language and a language as a means of a collective self-identification, as a realization of a certain language policy of totalitarian states and modelling of myths in different language forms (discourses. The status of the Ukrainian language, its functions, ontology in Ukraine is considered by modern Russian linguists untruthfully, certain facts are falsified. The system of O. Potebnya’s views represents the objective points of view on the actualized in this research notions of «linguonationalism» and «linguopatriotism». O. Potebnya singled out the task to keep to a reasonable linguopatriotism, which is mentioned in his quotation: «a gradual nationalism – is internationalism». O. Potebnya emphasizes that a nation can be understood only through its language. It is the language that gives the opportunity to see and to feel a nation’s seeing of the world. The scientist actualizes the problem of a modern culturology and the language must be considered as «a certain means of creation and thought refining». Discussion: Modern Ukrainian linguists must elaborate a certain perspective programme aimed at the explanation of the problem of linguonationalism and linguopatriotism.

A mega-ethnography of eleven qualitative evidence syntheses exploring the experience of living with chronic non-malignant pain.

Science.gov (United States)

Toye, Fran; Seers, Kate; Hannink, Erin; Barker, Karen

2017-08-01

Each year over five million people develop chronic non-malignant pain and can experience healthcare as an adversarial struggle. The aims of this study were: (1) to bring together qualitative evidence syntheses that explore patients' experience of living with chronic non-malignant pain and develop conceptual understanding of what it is like to live with chronic non-malignant pain for improved healthcare; (2) to undertake the first mega-ethnography of qualitative evidence syntheses using the methods of meta-ethnography. We used the seven stages of meta-ethnography refined for large studies. The innovation of mega-ethnography is to use conceptual findings from qualitative evidence syntheses as primary data. We searched 7 bibliographic databases from inception until February 2016 to identify qualitative evidence syntheses that explored patients' experience of living with chronic non-malignant pain. We identified 82 potential studies from 556 titles, screened 34 full text articles and included 11 qualitative evidence syntheses synthesising a total of 187 qualitative studies reporting more than 5000 international participants living with chronic pain. We abstracted concepts into 7 conceptual categories: (1) my life is impoverished and confined; (2) struggling against my body to be me; (3) the quest for the diagnostic 'holy grail'; (4) lost personal credibility; (5) trying to keep up appearances; (6) need to be treated with dignity; and (7) deciding to end the quest for the grail is not easy. Each conceptual category was supported by at least 7 of the 11 qualitative evidence syntheses. This is the first mega-ethnography, or synthesis of qualitative evidence syntheses using the methods of meta-ethnography. Findings help us to understand that the decision to end the quest for a diagnosis can leave patients feeling vulnerable and this may contribute to the adversarial nature of the clinical encounter. This knowledge demonstrates that treating a patient with a sense that they

Transforming Data: An Ethnography of Scientific Data from the Brazilian Amazon

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Walford, Antonia Caitlin

This thesis is an ethnography of scientific data produced by a Brazil-led scientific project in the Brazilian Amazon. It describes how the researchers and technicians make data about the Amazon forest, and how this data in turn generates different scientific communities, scientific subjectivities...

On sitting and doing: ethnography as action in global health.

Science.gov (United States)

Pigg, Stacy Leigh

2013-12-01

Contemporary discussions within the arenas of medical anthropology and global health are often restricted by the driving imperatives to "do something" about a particular health problem. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Nepal in 1997, which sought to follow the translation of AIDS prevention policies into local awareness, this paper addresses the need to revitalize theories of ethnography for an understanding of global health goals. The Nepal example underscores how the path toward decisions is never entirely clear, nor is it always obvious who benefits or loses from different approaches, even as public health discourse seeks to set a strict agenda around what the problem is and what should be done about it. Ethnography shows that definitions of what matters as well as understandings of why certain things matter are formulated from specific social locations. The paper therefore advocates for a practice of patient ethnographic "sitting" as a means to understanding, as a form of critical reflexivity, and as a diagnostic of the politics of relevance. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A case for critical ethnography: rethinking the early years of the AIDS epidemic in South Africa.

Science.gov (United States)

Fassin, Didier

2013-12-01

The epidemic of AIDS in South Africa has been characterized not only by its rapid progression but also its impassioned controversies. Retrospectively examining a long-term anthropological project and discussing some reactions it elicited, the paper proposes a defense and illustration of a critical ethnography at three moments of the research. Ethnography is first discussed as fieldworks, proposing an alternative to the horizontal multi-sited approach via a vertical multi-layered method using various scales and locations, and thus connecting the disease endured by patients in townships and former homelands with the heated debates in scientific and political forums: this procedure substitutes a political economy of the disease for its cultural and behavioral interpretations. Ethnography is then discussed as writing, suggesting acknowledgment of the social intelligence of the agents as well as the need for a scientific distance: this principle allows the articulation of the objective historical condition of the individuals and their subjective experience of history, both revealed in the development of the epidemic. Ultimately ethnography is considered from the perspective of its afterlife, that is, the continuous process of its translation by readers and commentators, on the one hand, by the author trying to reach beyond the boundaries of the academic realm, on the other, the work of anthropology appearing as a living object open to public conversation and consequently a resource for knowledge and action. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ethnographies of Education: anthropological knowledge production in education

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pradhan, Uma; Valentin, Karen

2018-01-01

This paper critically examines the situated nature of ethnography for anthropological knowledge production in education and to discuss complex educational processes and meanings within and beyond institutions of formal learning central to the field of educational anthropology. The paper extends...... ongoing debates in educational anthropology on the importance of a localized, comparative and historically grounded approach to ethnographic studies of education, thereby acknowledging the anthropology of education in plural. It adds an intersubjective dimension to this through the biographical...

Forensic Linguistics: The Linguistic Analyst and Expert Witness of Language Evidence in Criminal Trials.

Science.gov (United States)

Jordan, Sherilynn Nidever

Forensic linguistics (FL) provides consultation to lawyers through the analysis of language evidence during the pre-trial investigation. Evidence commonly analyzed by linguists in criminal cases includes transcripts of police interviews and language crimes (such as bribery) and anonymous or questioned texts. Forensic linguistic testimony is rarely…

Book Review: Backhaus, Peter (2007: Linguistic Landscapes: A Comparative Study of Urban Multilingualism in Tokyo. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters; 158 Pages ISBN 9781853599460

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Omar Alomoush

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Backhaus examines urban multilingualism in the linguistic landscape of Tokyo, the capital city of Japan. In this monograph, the linguistic landscape is seen as a sub-discipline of sociolinguistics. The significance of this monograph to linguistic landscape research is that it represents the first comprehensive approach tackling multilingualism in the linguistic landscape and overcoming a range of methodological problems facing former studies. In this sense, Backhaus’s approach in data collection and analysis may help linguistic landscapers and researchers to undertake research in multilingualism in the linguistic landscape. The current work comprises acknowledgements, a foreword by Bernard Spolsky, six chapters, an appendix, references, and an index. While the first three chapters represent an introduction and theoretical background, the fourth chapter in turn paves the way for the application of an empirical study in Tokyo’s linguistic landscape, applied in chapter five. That chapter one discusses the examination of written language in the public space of metropolises is the bulk of Backhaus’s work.  In this respect, the author (p.1 refers to previous studies such as Halliday (1972, who considers the city not only a place of talk, but also a place of writing and reading.  At the same time, this work focuses on ‘urban language contact in the written medium: the languages of the signs’. Backhaus (p.1 holds: Every urban environment is a myriad of written messages on public display: office and shop signs, billboards, and neon advertisements, traffic signs, topographic information and area maps, emergency guidance and political poster campaigns, stone inscriptions, and enigmatic graffiti discourse. The author maintains that these messages contribute to the making of the linguistic landscape of any given place. In chapter two, Semiotic Background and Terminology, Backhaus gives an introduction to the main features of language use on signs

Sample Undergraduate Linguistics Courses. Linguistics in the Undergraduate Curriculum, Appendix 5.

Science.gov (United States)

Linguistic Society of America, Washington, DC.

Thirty-six nontraditional undergraduate courses in linguistics are described. Course topics include: animal communication, bilingualism, sociolinguistics, introductory linguistics, language and formal reasoning, language and human conflict, language and power, language and sex, language and the brain, language planning, language typology and…

Talking Spaces, Locating Discourses? Thoughts about a Transdisciplinary Ethnography

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anne Huffschmid

2009-07-01

Full Text Available In this article the possibilities for and attainment of knowledge in a transdisciplinary combination of the analytical categories "space" and "discourse" are explored, focusing on research of the urban and the public in the area of cultural science. The background of this article is a shared research experience in an interdisciplinary ethnography project investigating political appropriation of urban space in Mexico City. In this project ethnographic research on urban space by WILDNER and the semiotic analysis of discourse by HUFFSCHMID were combined. In the first part of the article the conceptual assumptions of this intersection are discussed, followed by questions about what was learned from the respective analytical practices. Our assumption is the interpenetration of space and discourse: no space (as discussed by LEFEBVRE can be acknowledged without its discursive configurations; meanwhile discourse (as discussed by FOUCAULT does not take place in a void, but rather in a material as well as socially constructed space. The authors discuss different levels of methodological approaches as observation, reading, description, and analysis of spatial and discursive practices and materiality. On the basis of the case study (three closing events of the election campaign in Mexico City 2006 possible interfaces and intersections between research on spaces and on discourses are delineated in connection to the concepts of setting/stage/dramatization, control/power, and inscription. URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs0903253

Linguistics and the digital humanities

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Kim Ebensgaard

2014-01-01

Corpus linguistics has been closely intertwined with digital technology since the introduction of university computer mainframes in the 1960s. Making use of both digitized data in the form of the language corpus and computational methods of analysis involving concordancers and statistics software......, corpus linguistics arguably has a place in the digital humanities. Still, it remains obscure and figures only sporadically in the literature on the digital humanities. This article provides an overview of the main principles of corpus linguistics and the role of computer technology in relation to data...... and method and also offers a bird's-eye view of the history of corpus linguistics with a focus on its intimate relationship with digital technology and how digital technology has impacted the very core of corpus linguistics and shaped the identity of the corpus linguist. Ultimately, the article is oriented...

Data modelling in corpus linguistics: how low may we go?

Science.gov (United States)

van Velzen, Marjolein H; Nanetti, Luca; de Deyn, Peter P

2014-06-01

Corpus linguistics allows researchers to process millions of words. However, the more words we analyse, i.e., the more data we acquire, the more urgent the call for correct data interpretation becomes. In recent years, a number of studies saw the light attempting to profile some prolific authors' linguistic decline, linking this decline to pathological conditions such as Alzheimer's Disease (AD). However, in line with the nature of the (literary) work that was analysed, numbers alone do not suffice to 'tell the story'. The one and only objective of using statistical methods for the analysis of research data is to tell a story--what happened, when, and how. In the present study we describe a computerised but individualised approach to linguistic analysis--we propose a unifying approach, with firm grounds in Information Theory, that, independently from the specific parameter being investigated, guarantees to produce a robust model of the temporal dynamics of an author's linguistic richness over his or her lifetime. We applied this methodology to six renowned authors with an active writing life of four decades or more: Iris Murdoch, Gerard Reve, Hugo Claus, Agatha Christie, P.D. James, and Harry Mulisch. The first three were diagnosed with probable Alzheimer Disease, confirmed post-mortem for Iris Murdoch; this same condition was hypothesized for Agatha Christie. Our analysis reveals different evolutive patterns of lexical richness, in turn plausibly correlated with the authors' different conditions. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Using peer ethnography to address health disparities among young urban Black and Latino men who have sex with men.

Science.gov (United States)

Mutchler, Matt G; McKay, Tara; McDavitt, Bryce; Gordon, Kristie K

2013-05-01

We examined the effectiveness of peer ethnography to gain insider views on substance use and sex among a diverse range of high-risk substance-using Black and Latino young men who have sex with men. We recruited 9 peer ethnographers aged 21 to 24 years from youth programs for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community in Los Angeles, California, and trained them in ethnography, study protocol, and human participant protection. Peer ethnographers collected 137 single-spaced pages of field notes in 2009 and 2010 derived from observation of 150 members of the target population. Peer ethnography revealed local language and phrasing and provided a window into new and different social contexts. Peers provided valuable information on current trends in substance use, revealing themes that needed to be addressed in further research, such as the use of substances during sex to "clock coin" (exchange sex for money and substances). These data enabled us to refine our recruitment strategies and ask more culturally relevant questions in a later phase of the study. The peer ethnography method can provide a sound basis for further research phases in multistage studies on numerous other social issues and with other hard-to-reach populations.

The Routledge Applied Linguistics Reader

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Li, Ed.

2011-01-01

"The Routledge Applied Linguistics Reader" is an essential collection of readings for students of Applied Linguistics. Divided into five sections: Language Teaching and Learning, Second Language Acquisition, Applied Linguistics, Identity and Power and Language Use in Professional Contexts, the "Reader" takes a broad…

Targeted ethnography as a critical step to inform cultural adaptations of HIV prevention interventions for adults with severe mental illness.

Science.gov (United States)

Wainberg, Milton L; Alfredo González, M; McKinnon, Karen; Elkington, Katherine S; Pinto, Diana; Gruber Mann, Claudio; Mattos, Paulo E

2007-07-01

As in other countries worldwide, adults with severe mental illness (SMI) in Brazil are disproportionately infected with HIV relative to the general population. Brazilian psychiatric facilities lack tested HIV prevention interventions. To adapt existing interventions, developed only in the US, we conducted targeted ethnography with adults with SMI and staff from two psychiatric institutions in Brazil. We sought to characterize individual, institutional, and interpersonal factors that may affect HIV risk behavior in this population. We conducted 350 hours of ethnographic field observations in two mental health service settings in Rio de Janeiro, and 9 focus groups (n=72) and 16 key-informant interviews with patients and staff in these settings. Data comprised field notes and audiotapes of all exchanges, which were transcribed, coded, and systematically analyzed. The ethnography identified and/or characterized the institutional culture: (1) patients' risk behaviors; (2) the institutional setting; (3) intervention content; and (4) intervention format and delivery strategies. Targeted ethnography also illuminated broader contextual issues for development and implementation of HIV prevention interventions for adults with SMI in Brazil, including an institutional culture that did not systematically address patients' sexual behavior, sexual health, or HIV sexual risk, yet strongly impacted the structure of patients' sexual networks. Further, ethnography identified the Brazilian concept of "social responsibility" as important to prevention work with psychiatric patients. Targeted ethnography with adults with SMI and institutional staff provided information critical to the adaptation of tested US HIV prevention interventions for Brazilians with SMI.

Toward a Methodology of Death: Deleuze's "Event" as Method for Critical Ethnography

Science.gov (United States)

Rodriguez, Sophia

2016-01-01

This article examines how qualitative researchers, specifically ethnographers, might utilize complex philosophical concepts in order to disrupt the normative truth-telling practices embedded in social science research. Drawing on my own research experiences, I move toward a methodology of death (for researcher/researched alike) grounded in…

Sociocultural and linguistic boundaries influencing intercultural communication between nurses and Moroccan patients in southern Spain: a focused ethnography.

Science.gov (United States)

Plaza Del Pino, Fernando J; Soriano, Encarnación; Higginbottom, Gina Ma

2013-01-01

During the last 25 years, cultural diversity has increased substantially with global migration. In more recent years this has become highly evident in the south of Spain with its steadily increasing Moroccan population. The accompanying differences in ethnocultural values and traditions between the host and newcomer populations may greatly impact healthcare interactions and thus also effective provision of care. This landscape provides for excellent exploration of intercultural communication in healthcare settings and elucidation of possible ways to overcome existing barriers to provision of culturally competent care by nurses. This study aimed to ascertain how nurses perceive their intercultural communication with Moroccan patients and what barriers are evident which may be preventing effective communication and care. A focused ethnography was conducted with semi-structured interviews of 32 nurses in three public hospitals in southern Spain. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim before undergoing translation and back-translation between Spanish and English. Data was managed, classified and ordered with the aid of AQUAD.6 (Günter L. Huber, Tübingen, Germany) qualitative data analysis software. As an important dimension of cultural competence, findings from the interviews with nurses in this study were interpreted within the framework of intercultural communication. Various barriers, for which we have termed "boundaries", seem to exist preventing effective communication between nurses and their patients. The substantial language barrier seems to negatively affect communication. Relations between the nurses and their Moroccan patients are also marked by prejudices and social stereotypes which likely compromise the provision of culturally appropriate care. The language barrier may compromise nursing care delivery and could be readily overcome by implementation of professional interpretation within the hospital settings. Moreover, it is essential

Comparing Case Study and Ethnography as Qualitative Research Approaches

OpenAIRE

Suryani, Anne

2008-01-01

Abstract: This article reviews several differences between case study and ethnography in terms of definitions, characteristics, strengths and limitations. It provides current information by comparing these approaches from various social researchers’ perspectives. Although each method has strong points, they both have differences in conducting observation and interview as data collection techniques; choosing the length of time of data gathering and reporting details of a particular reality....

Measuring Linguistic Empathy: An Experimental Approach to Connecting Linguistic and Social Psychological Notions of Empathy

Science.gov (United States)

Kann, Trevor

2017-01-01

This dissertation investigated the relationship between Linguistic Empathy and Psychological Empathy by implementing a psycholinguistic experiment that measured a person's acceptability ratings of sentences with violations of Linguistic Empathy and correlating them with a measure of the person's Psychological Empathy. Linguistic Empathy…

LANGUE AND PAROLE IN AMERICAN LINGUISTICS.

Science.gov (United States)

LEVIN, SAMUEL R.

THE PROBLEM OF THE NATURE OF LANGUAGE STRUCTURE IS CONSIDERED AND THE FORM WHICH ANY LINGUISTIC DESCRIPTION SHOULD TAKE. THE AUTHOR EXAMINES THE INFLUENCE OF THE SWISS LINGUIST, FERDINAND DE SAUSSURE, ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF AMERICAN LINGUISTICS. THE QUESTION OF "MENTALISM" IN LINGUISTICS IS REDUCED TO THE PROBLEM OF WHETHER LINGUISTIC…

Linguistic Communications 1.

Science.gov (United States)

Monash Univ., Clayton, Victoria (Australia).

The present compilation of papers on linguistics is the result of joint efforts by the Classical Studies, French, Japanese, Linguistics, and Russian Departments of Monash University. Selections in the Pre-Prints and Articles section include: "For/Arabic Bilingualism in the Zalingei Area," by B. Jernudd; "Prosodic Problems in a Generative Phonology…

Negotiating Power Relations and Ethnicity in a Sociolinguistic Ethnography in Madrid

Science.gov (United States)

Santos, Adriana Patino

2011-01-01

One of the major dilemmas when practising critical sociolinguistic ethnography within the field of education is the ethnographer's degree of implication within the studied site (Goldstein, 2003; Martin Rojo, 2003; Unamuno, 2004). How far should the researcher intervene within the daily practices he/she is observing? This exercise of methodological…

Working Memory for Linguistic and Non-linguistic Manual Gestures: Evidence, Theory, and Application.

Science.gov (United States)

Rudner, Mary

2018-01-01

Linguistic manual gestures are the basis of sign languages used by deaf individuals. Working memory and language processing are intimately connected and thus when language is gesture-based, it is important to understand related working memory mechanisms. This article reviews work on working memory for linguistic and non-linguistic manual gestures and discusses theoretical and applied implications. Empirical evidence shows that there are effects of load and stimulus degradation on working memory for manual gestures. These effects are similar to those found for working memory for speech-based language. Further, there are effects of pre-existing linguistic representation that are partially similar across language modalities. But above all, deaf signers score higher than hearing non-signers on an n-back task with sign-based stimuli, irrespective of their semantic and phonological content, but not with non-linguistic manual actions. This pattern may be partially explained by recent findings relating to cross-modal plasticity in deaf individuals. It suggests that in linguistic gesture-based working memory, semantic aspects may outweigh phonological aspects when processing takes place under challenging conditions. The close association between working memory and language development should be taken into account in understanding and alleviating the challenges faced by deaf children growing up with cochlear implants as well as other clinical populations.

LINGUISTICS AND SECOND LANGUAGE TEACHING: AN ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The relationship between linguistics and second language teaching has always been a controversial one. Many linguists have argued that linguistics has nothing to say to the teacher. Sampson (1980, p.10), for example, says: ·"1 do not believe that linguistics has any contribution to make to the teaching of English or the.

On the concept of a linguistic variable

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kerre, E.

1996-01-01

The concept of a linguistic variable plays a crucial role in the representation of imprecise knowledge in information sciences. A variable is called linguistic as soon as its values are linguistic terms rather than numerical ones. The power of daily communication and common sense reasoning lies in the use of such linguistic values. Even when exact numerical values are available, experts tend to transform these values into linguistic ones. A physician will usually translate a numerical measurement of a blood pressure into linguistic specifications such as normal, very high, too low... Zadeh has argued that the set of values for a linguistic variable assumes a more-or-less fixed structure. Starting from an atomic value and its antonym all remaining values are constructed using logical connectives on the one hand and linguistic hedges on the other hand. In this paper we will describe how to represent the value set of a linguistic variable in general and of linguistic hedges in particular

Clinical Linguistics--Retrospect and Prospect.

Science.gov (United States)

Grunwell, Pamela

In the past 20 years, linguistics has gained a prominent position in speech and language pathology in Britain, evolving into a new field, clinical linguistics. It includes three related areas of activity: training of speech pathologists/therapists; professional practice; and research. Linguistics and speech/language pathology have developed as…

Etymology and Modern Linguistics

Science.gov (United States)

Malkiel, Yakov

1975-01-01

Discusses the estrangement between etymology and modern linguistics, and concludes that a reconciliation between spatio-temporal linguistics and etymology must occur, because without it, both disciplines are doomed to inanition. (Author/AM)

Post-Monolingual Research Methodology: Multilingual Researchers Democratizing Theorizing and Doctoral Education

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael Singh

2017-02-01

Full Text Available This paper reports on the ground-breaking research in the study of languages in doctoral education. It argues for democratizing the production and dissemination of original contributions to knowledge through activating and mobilizing multilingual Higher Degree Researchers’ (HDRs capabilities for theorizing through them using their full linguistic repertoire. This paper contributes to this study’s development of post-monolingual research methodology which provides a theoretic-pedagogical framework for multilingual HDRs (a to use their full linguistic repertoire in their research; (b to develop their capabilities for theorizing and (c to construct potentially valuable theoretical tools using metaphors, images, concepts and modes of critique. This paper is based on a longitudinal program of collaborative research whereby monolingual Anglophone and multilingual HDRs jointly developed their capabilities for theorizing through producing Anglo-Chinese analytical tools, and the associated pedagogies for using their languages in doctoral research. This longitudinal research program has been undertaken in the field of doctoral education to further a defining feature of democracy, namely linguistic diversity. This research has been conducted with the aims of promoting the multilingualism of Australian universities and activating linguistic communities of scholars to use their full linguistic repertoire in their research. The main finding arising from this program of research has been the development of post-monolingual research methodology which (a uses the divergences within and between languages to undertake theorizing and (b in co-existence with the tensions posed by monolingualism, especially the insistence on using extant theories available in only one language. Doctoral pedagogies of intellectual/racial equality provide multilingual HDRs with insights into the debates about the geopolitics governing the use of languages in the production and

Guidance on Performing Focused Ethnographies with an Emphasis on Healthcare Research

Science.gov (United States)

Higginbottom, Gina M. A.; Pillay, Jennifer J.; Boadu, Nana Y.

2013-01-01

Focused ethnographies can have meaningful and useful application in primary care, community, or hospital healthcare practice, and are often used to determine ways to improve care and care processes. They can be pragmatic and efficient ways to capture data on a specific topic of importance to individual clinicians or clinical specialties. While…

Polymedia and Ethnography: Understanding the Social in Social Media

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mirca Madianou

2015-04-01

Full Text Available In this essay I argue that social media need to be understood as part of complex environments of communicative opportunities which I conceptualize as polymedia. This approach shifts our attention from social media as discrete platforms to the ways users navigate environments of affordances in order to manage their social relationships. Ethnography emerges as the most appropriate method to capture the relational dynamics that underpin social media practices within polymedia.

Comparing Case Study and Ethnography as Qualitative Research Approaches

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anne Suryani

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract: This article reviews several differences between case study and ethnography in terms of definitions, characteristics, strengths and limitations. It provides current information by comparing these approaches from various social researchers’ perspectives. Although each method has strong points, they both have differences in conducting observation and interview as data collection techniques; choosing the length of time of data gathering and reporting details of a particular reality.

Linguistic Corpora and Language Teaching.

Science.gov (United States)

Murison-Bowie, Simon

1996-01-01

Examines issues raised by corpus linguistics concerning the description of language. The article argues that it is necessary to start from correct descriptions of linguistic units and the contexts in which they occur. Corpus linguistics has joined with language teaching by sharing a recognition of the importance of a larger, schematic view of…

Corpora and historical linguistics Corpora e linguística histórica

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Merja Kytö

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The present article aims to survey and assess the current state of electronic historical corpora and corpus methodology, and attempts to look into possible future developments. It highlights the fact that within the wide spectrum of corpus linguistic methodology, historical corpus linguistics has emerged as a vibrant field that has significantly added to the appeal felt for the study of language history and change. In fact, according to a historical linguist with more than fifty years of experience, "[w]e could even go as far as to say that without the support and new impetus provided by corpora, evidence-based historical linguistics would have been close to the end of its life-span in these days of rapid-changing life and research, increasing competition on the academic career track and the methodological attractions offered to young scholars" (RISSANEN, forthcoming. Historical corpora and other electronic resources have also made the study of language history attractive: working on them engages students in an individual and interactive way that they find appealing (CURZAN 2000, p. 81.Este artigo objetiva fazer um levantamento e avaliar o estado da arte dos corpora históricos eletrônicos e da metodologia de estudos de corpora, assim como sugerir possíveis desenvolvimentos futuros na área. Destaca-se que dentro do espectro metodológico da linguística de corpus, a linguística de corpus histórica emergiu como um campo de investigação vibrante que tem adicionado interesse ao estudo da história e da mudança linguística. De acordo com um pesquisador da área com mais de cinqüenta anos de experiência, "pode-se dizer que sem o apoio e o novo ímpeto trazidos pelos corpora, a linguística histórica baseada em evidências teria estado próxima ao fim de sua vida nesses tempos de rápidas mudanças de vida e de pesquisa, aumentando a competição na carreira acadêmica e nas atrações metodológicas oferecidas aos jovens pesquisadores

Linguistic dating of biblical texts

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Young, Ian; Rezetko, Robert; Ehrensvärd, Martin Gustaf

Since the beginning of critical scholarship biblical texts have been dated using linguistic evidence. In recent years this has become a controversial topic, especially with the publication of Ian Young (ed.), Biblical Hebrew: Studies in Chronology and Typology (2003). However, until now there has...... been no introduction and comprehensive study of the field. Volume 1 introduces the field of linguistic dating of biblical texts, particularly to intermediate and advanced students of biblical Hebrew who have a reasonable background in the language, having completed at least an introductory course...... in this volume are: What is it that makes Archaic Biblical Hebrew archaic , Early Biblical Hebrew early , and Late Biblical Hebrew late ? Does linguistic typology, i.e. different linguistic characteristics, convert easily and neatly into linguistic chronology, i.e. different historical origins? A large amount...

Police as Life World. An Ethnography of Police-Officers' Identity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rafael Behr

2002-01-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to present some findings and problems which I encountered during my ethnography work on several German police units conducted in 1995. Participant observation is not original, but nevertheless unusual for a study of police work. To understand the behavior and the thinking of police officers, one must regard their exclusive possession of power and their discretion for using it. The power of the police is different to the power of suspects or other individuals: Police-power is part of the monopolized state-force, the action of suspects against the police is seen as violence or obstruction. The tensions following this difference are both subject and background of stories and actions of police officers, especially for those "on the beat" (also called "street cops". The ethnography of police-work refers to the narrations of street cops and the observation of their attitudes for "managing the job". I argue, that in contrast to the official "police culture", it can also be referred to it as "cop culture". Cop culture is significantly connected with "doing masculinity". URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs0201134

A meta-ethnography of the acculturation and socialization experiences of migrant care workers.

Science.gov (United States)

Ho, Ken H M; Chiang, Vico C L

2015-02-01

To report a meta-ethnography of qualitative research studies exploring the acculturation and socialization experiences of migrant care workers. Migrant care workers are increasingly participating in health and social care in developed countries. There is a need to understand this increasingly socioculturally diversified workforce. A comprehensive search through 12 databases and a manual search of journals related to transculture for studies on socialization and acculturation experiences (published 1993-2013) was completed. The inclusion criteria were peer-reviewed studies on the acculturation or socialization experiences of migrant care workers published in English in any country, using a qualitative or mixed-methods approach. This meta-ethnography employed the seven-phase Noblit and Hare method with reciprocal translation, refutational synthesis and lines-of-argument to synthesize qualitative studies. Three main themes were identified: (a) schema for the migration dream: optimism; (b) the reality of the migration dream: so close, yet so far; and (c) resilience: from chaos to order. A general framework of motivated psychosocial and behavioural adaptation was proposed. This meta-ethnography also revealed the vulnerabilities of migrant nurses in the process of acculturation and socialization. The general framework of behavioural and psychosocial adaptation revealed factors that impede and facilitate behavioural and psychosocial changes. Strategies to enrich external and internal resources should be targeted at encouraging multiculturalism and at improving the psychosocial resources of migrant care workers. It is suggested that research investigating the prominence of nursing vulnerabilities be conducted. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Working Memory for Linguistic and Non-linguistic Manual Gestures: Evidence, Theory, and Application

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mary Rudner

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Linguistic manual gestures are the basis of sign languages used by deaf individuals. Working memory and language processing are intimately connected and thus when language is gesture-based, it is important to understand related working memory mechanisms. This article reviews work on working memory for linguistic and non-linguistic manual gestures and discusses theoretical and applied implications. Empirical evidence shows that there are effects of load and stimulus degradation on working memory for manual gestures. These effects are similar to those found for working memory for speech-based language. Further, there are effects of pre-existing linguistic representation that are partially similar across language modalities. But above all, deaf signers score higher than hearing non-signers on an n-back task with sign-based stimuli, irrespective of their semantic and phonological content, but not with non-linguistic manual actions. This pattern may be partially explained by recent findings relating to cross-modal plasticity in deaf individuals. It suggests that in linguistic gesture-based working memory, semantic aspects may outweigh phonological aspects when processing takes place under challenging conditions. The close association between working memory and language development should be taken into account in understanding and alleviating the challenges faced by deaf children growing up with cochlear implants as well as other clinical populations.

Towards a Multimodal Methodology for the Analysis of Translated/Localised Games

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bárbara Resende Coelho

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Multimedia materials require research methodologies that are able to comprehend all of their assets. Videogames are the epitome of multimedia, joining image, sound, video, animation, graphics and text with the interactivity factor. A methodology to conduct research into translation and localisation of videogames should be able to analyse all of its assets and features. This paper sets out to develop a research methodology for games and their translations/localisations that goes beyond the collection and analysis of “screenshots” and includes as many of their assets as possible. Using the fully localised version of the game Watchdogs, this papers shows how tools and technologies allow for transcending the mere analysis of linguistic contents within multimedia materials. Using software ELAN Language Archive to analyse Portuguese-language dubbed and English-language subtitled excerpts from the videogame, it was possible to identify patterns in both linguistic and audio-visual elements, as well as to correlate them.

Anti-Racist Teaching, Student Ethnography and the Multiracial Model of Islam

Science.gov (United States)

Rana, Junaid

2013-01-01

My Ethnography of the University (EUI) course "Muslims in America" introduces undergraduate students to the racialisation of Islam and Muslims in the U.S. at large, and in the University in particular. In this article, I describe how an anti-racist pedagogy coupled with student ethnographic research can yield a rich learning process.…

Innovative Mixed-Methods Research: Moving beyond Design Technicalities to Epistemological and Methodological Realizations

Science.gov (United States)

Riazi, A. Mehdi

2016-01-01

Mixed-methods research (MMR), as an inter-discourse (quantitative and qualitative) methodology, can provide applied linguistics researchers the opportunity to draw on and integrate the strengths of the two research methodological approaches in favour of making more rigorous inferences about research problems. In this article, the argument is made…

Evidence-based Neuro Linguistic Psychotherapy: a meta-analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Zaharia, Cătălin; Reiner, Melita; Schütz, Peter

2015-12-01

meta-analysis evaluating the effectiveness of NLP therapy for individuals with social/psychological problems. The overall meta-analysis found that the NLP therapy may add an overall standardized mean difference of 0.54 with a confidence interval of CI=[0.20; 0.88]. Neuro-Linguistic Psychotherapy as a psychotherapeutic modality grounded in theoretical frameworks, methodologies and interventions scientifically developed, including models developed by NLP, shows results that can hold its ground in comparison with other psychotherapeutic methods.

The linguistic repudiation of Wundt.

Science.gov (United States)

Nerlich, B; Clarke, D D

1998-08-01

Wilhelm Wundt's influence on the development of linguistics and psychology was pervasive. The foundations for this web of influence on the sciences of mind and language were laid down in Wundt's own research program, which was quite different from other attempts at founding a new psychology, as it was deeply rooted in German philosophy. This resulted in certain gaps in Wundt's conception of mind and language. These gaps provoked a double repudiation of Wundt's theories, by linguists and psychologists. The psychological repudiation has been studied by historians of psychology, and the linguistic repudiation has been studied by historians of linguistics. The intent of this article is to bring the linguistic repudiation to the attention of historians of psychology, especially the one outlined by two important figures in the history of psychology: Karl Buhler and George Mead.

Stellenbosch Papers in Linguistics Plus: Journal Sponsorship

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Publisher. Stellenbosch Papers in Linguistics (SPiL) is published by the Department of General Linguistics of Stellenbosch University. Department of General Linguistics, Stellenbosch University. Sources of Support. The Department of General Linguistics acknowledges the financial support provided by the Fonds ...

Peace linguistics for language teachers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Francisco GOMES DE MATOS

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This text aims at presenting the concept of Peace Linguistics - origins and recent developments -- as being implemented in the author's ongoing work in that emerging branch of Applied Linguistics. Examples of applicational possibilities are given, with a focus on language teaching-learning and a Checklist is provided, of topics for suggested linguistic-educational research, centered on communicative peace.

Legal Linguistics as a Mutual Arena for Cooperation: Recent Developments in the Field of Applied Linguistics and Law

Science.gov (United States)

Engberg, Jan

2013-01-01

This article reports on some of the recent projects and individual works in the field of Legal Linguistics as examples of cooperation between Applied Linguistics and law. The article starts by discussing relevant prototypical concepts of Legal Linguistics. Legal Linguistics scrutinizes interactions between human beings in the framework of legal…

Measuring the diffusion of linguistic change.

Science.gov (United States)

Nerbonne, John

2010-12-12

We examine situations in which linguistic changes have probably been propagated via normal contact as opposed to via conquest, recent settlement and large-scale migration. We proceed then from two simplifying assumptions: first, that all linguistic variation is the result of either diffusion or independent innovation, and, second, that we may operationalize social contact as geographical distance. It is clear that both of these assumptions are imperfect, but they allow us to examine diffusion via the distribution of linguistic variation as a function of geographical distance. Several studies in quantitative linguistics have examined this relation, starting with Séguy (Séguy 1971 Rev. Linguist. Romane 35, 335-357), and virtually all report a sublinear growth in aggregate linguistic variation as a function of geographical distance. The literature from dialectology and historical linguistics has mostly traced the diffusion of individual features, however, so that it is sensible to ask what sort of dynamic in the diffusion of individual features is compatible with Séguy's curve. We examine some simulations of diffusion in an effort to shed light on this question.

Linguistic Dating of Biblical Texts

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ehrensvärd, Martin Gustaf

2003-01-01

For two centuries, scholars have pointed to consistent differences in the Hebrew of certain biblical texts and interpreted these differences as reflecting the date of composition of the texts. Until the 1980s, this was quite uncontroversial as the linguistic findings largely confirmed the chronol......For two centuries, scholars have pointed to consistent differences in the Hebrew of certain biblical texts and interpreted these differences as reflecting the date of composition of the texts. Until the 1980s, this was quite uncontroversial as the linguistic findings largely confirmed...... the chronology of the texts established by other means: the Hebrew of Genesis-2 Kings was judged to be early and that of Esther, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Chronicles to be late. In the current debate where revisionists have questioned the traditional dating, linguistic arguments in the dating of texts have...... come more into focus. The study critically examines some linguistic arguments adduced to support the traditional position, and reviewing the arguments it points to weaknesses in the linguistic dating of EBH texts to pre-exilic times. When viewing the linguistic evidence in isolation it will be clear...

[Ethnography for nursing research, a sensible way to understand human behaviors in their context].

Science.gov (United States)

Bourbonnais, Anne

2015-03-01

Understanding human behaviours is at the heart of the nursing discipline. Knowledge development about behaviours is essential to guide nursing practice in the clinical field, for nursing education or in nursing management. In this context, ethnography is often overlooked as a research method to understand better behaviours in their sociocultural environment This article aims to present the principles guiding this qualitative method and its application to nursing research. First, the ethnographic method and some of its variants will be described. The conduct of an ethnographic study will then be exposed. Finally, examples of ethnographic studies in nursing will be presented. This article provides a foundation for the development of research protocols using ethnography for the advancement of nursing knowledge, as well as better use of ethnographic findings to improve care practices.

Food as Social Justice: Critical Ethnography as a Lens for Communication Activism

Science.gov (United States)

Louis, Ross

2016-01-01

Courses: Public Speaking. Objectives: This semester-long service-learning activity examines access to affordable healthy food as a social justice issue, using critical ethnography as a framework to help students understand the link between activism and public speaking skills. After completing the project, students will be able to: (1) develop a…

THE INFLUENCE OF THE SOCIAL ADVERTISEMENT ON THE LINGUISTIC CONSCIENCE OF CITIZENS OF MULTICULTURAL CITY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elena Eduardovna Shtukina

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Aim: to reveal how and with the help of what methods and techniques the social advertisement changes the social conscience of the citizens of Kostanai city.Methods or methodology of the study: method of conceptual analysis aimed at the displaying and matter of axiological concepts; method of sociological survey; psycholinguistic method of free association experiment.Results. The phenomenon of social advertisement is studied in an anthropocentric aspect; the ways and techniques of attracting attention used by social advertisement are studied; linguistic means of conscience manipulating are analyzed; the use of psycholinguistic method of free association experiment gives the possibility to prove the undoubted influence of social advertisement directed at changing of linguistic conscience of recipients.The area of results application. The results of estimation of social advertisement influence on recipient linguistic conscience could be relevant for advertising experts when composing social advertisement texts and carrying out PR-actions focused on the attracting attention to modern worthwhile problems.

M.Yu. Lermontov’s linguistic/literary personality through perspective of linguistic personality perception by philologist V.V. Vinogrado

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Larisa N. Kuznetsova

2011-04-01

Full Text Available The article considers M.Yu. Lermontov’s linguistic / literary personality through perspective of linguistic personality perception by Great Russian scientist-philologist and linguist, Academician V.V. Vinogradov.

Teaching Hispanic Linguistics: Strategies to Engage Learners

Science.gov (United States)

Knouse, Stephanie M.; Gupton, Timothy; Abreau, Laurel

2015-01-01

Even though many post-secondary institutions offer a variety of Hispanic linguistics classes (Hualde 2006; Lipski 2006), research on the pedagogy of Hispanic linguistics is an underdeveloped or non-existent area of the discipline. Courses in Hispanic linguistics can present not only linguistic challenges for non-native speakers of Spanish, but…

Mathematics and linguistics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Landauer, C.; Bellman, K.L.

1996-12-31

In this paper, we study foundational issues that we believe will help us develop a theoretically sound approach to constructing complex systems. The two theoretical approaches that have helped us understand and develop computational systems in the past are mathematics and linguistics. We describe some differences and strengths of the approaches, and propose a research program to combine the richness of linguistic reasoning with the precision of mathematics.

Stellenbosch Papers in Linguistics

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Stellenbosch Papers in Linguistics (SPiL) is an annual/biannual open access, peer-reviewed international journal, published by the Department of General Linguistics, Stellenbosch University. The papers published in SPiL are ... Poetry in South African Sign Language: What is different? EMAIL FREE FULL TEXT EMAIL ...

From a dictionary to an atlas: segmental mapping of the linguistic picture of the world

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sergey N. Gagarin

2014-01-01

Full Text Available 'At the heart of any language lies a vision. It embraces the world around us in myriads of complex ways. It is the lifeblood of every people's identity. It is so essential and indispensable that few assets of humankind can rival it for value or timelessness. It is known as the linguistic picture of the world, and it is notorious for being among the knottiest study subjects of language science. No coherent methodology has been proposed to date as to how it should be consistently structured to result in a systemic and navigable map of its core words and concepts. This constitutes a conspicuous gap in contemporary linguistics, which the present article addresses from the perspective of cognitive lexicology and lexicography while engaging the linguistic picture of the world on a segment-by-segment basis. In keeping with the aforesaid approach, one segment at a time is selected, and the discourse that reflects it is analysed with a view to identifying transcendental notions contained therein. The latter are construed as a type of cognitive concepts which epitomise the core ideas inherent in a particular type of spoken or written discourse. Being verbalised by means of relevant verbal fields, these transcendental notions permeate the cognitive and textual fabric of the selected segment of a linguistic picture of the world. By way of demonstrating the feasibility of this approach, a new type of dictionary has been compiled by the author, which captures and reveals in a semantically structured way the verbal side of the transcendental notion "countering" in the socio-political discourse of English-language media. Along with other transcendental notions, such as "facilitation", "communication", "attitude", etc., it is viewed as part of a range of the cognitive pillars which are essential to a limited segment of a linguistic picture of the world, but are by no means reserved to it, stretching far beyond and reaching throughout the vision of the world

Interfering With Others - Re-configuring Ethnography as a Diffractive Practice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elias Mellander

2016-07-01

Full Text Available This essay will concern itself with what we – ethnologists or ethnographers by any other name – do. Not primarily “do” in terms of activities we undertake; we interview, we observe, we write, we send emails, we have coffee, we print stacks of paper, we structure administrative chores, we go to meetings, we apply for grants, etc. Rather, we want to address the “do” in terms of what we make, or bring into the world through ethnography. What is it that we through the combination of all of our practices bring into being? What is that bringing into being dependent on? And, how does it influence the world? The first step to addressing these questions is outlining ethnography itself and how we – the authors – choose to articulate it. Articulation, as articulated by Donna Haraway is a process of signifying and of putting things together, letting them be diverse and maybe even in friction with one another and themselves. The concept connotes an on-going indeterminacy. The articulations made in research, we argue, should be allowed to be of a searching quality, as well as being relational and expressive. They should not excuse themselves, neither make greater claims than they can fulfill. They should never be conclusive.

Extending the Mind: A Review of Ethnographies of Neuroscience Practice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tara eMahfoud

2014-06-01

Full Text Available This paper reviews ethnographies of neuroscience laboratories in the United States and Europe, organizing them into three main sections: 1 descriptions of the capabilities and limitations of technologies used in neuroimaging laboratories to map ‘activity’ or ‘function’ onto structural models of the brain, 2 discussions of the ‘distributed’ or ‘extended’ mind in neuroscience practice, and 3 the implications of neuroscience research and the power of brain images outside the laboratory. I will try to show the importance of ethnographic work in such settings, and place this body of ethnographic work within its historical framework - such ethnographies largely emerged within the Decade of the Brain, as announced by former President of the United States George H. W. Bush in 1990. The main argument is that neuroscience research and the context within which it is taking place has changed since the 1990’s - specifically with the launch of ‘big science’ projects such as the Human Brain Project in the European Union and the BRAIN initiative in the United States. There is an opportunity for more research into the institutional and politico-economic context within which neuroscience research is taking place, and for continued engagement between the social and biological sciences.

Dual mode linguistic hedge fuzzy logic controller for an isolated wind-diesel hybrid power system with superconducting magnetic energy storage unit

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thameem Ansari, M.Md.; Velusami, S.

2010-01-01

A design of dual mode linguistic hedge fuzzy logic controller for an isolated wind-diesel hybrid power system with superconducting magnetic energy storage unit is proposed in this paper. The design methodology of dual mode linguistic hedge fuzzy logic controller is a hybrid model based on the concepts of linguistic hedges and hybrid genetic algorithm-simulated annealing algorithms. The linguistic hedge operators are used to adjust the shape of the system membership functions dynamically and can speed up the control result to fit the system demand. The hybrid genetic algorithm-simulated annealing algorithm is adopted to search the optimal linguistic hedge combination in the linguistic hedge module. Dual mode concept is also incorporated in the proposed controller because it can improve the system performance. The system with the proposed controller was simulated and the frequency deviation resulting from a step load disturbance is presented. The comparison of the proportional plus integral controller, fuzzy logic controller and the proposed dual mode linguistic hedge fuzzy logic controller shows that, with the application of the proposed controller, the system performance is improved significantly. The proposed controller is also found to be less sensitive to the changes in the parameters of the system and also robust under different operating modes of the hybrid power system.

The Dutch Linguistic Intraoperative Protocol: a valid linguistic approach to awake brain surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

De Witte, E; Satoer, D; Robert, E; Colle, H; Verheyen, S; Visch-Brink, E; Mariën, P

2015-01-01

Intraoperative direct electrical stimulation (DES) is increasingly used in patients operated on for tumours in eloquent areas. Although a positive impact of DES on postoperative linguistic outcome is generally advocated, information about the neurolinguistic methods applied in awake surgery is scarce. We developed for the first time a standardised Dutch linguistic test battery (measuring phonology, semantics, syntax) to reliably identify the critical language zones in detail. A normative study was carried out in a control group of 250 native Dutch-speaking healthy adults. In addition, the clinical application of the Dutch Linguistic Intraoperative Protocol (DuLIP) was demonstrated by means of anatomo-functional models and five case studies. A set of DuLIP tests was selected for each patient depending on the tumour location and degree of linguistic impairment. DuLIP is a valid test battery for pre-, intraoperative and postoperative language testing and facilitates intraoperative mapping of eloquent language regions that are variably located. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Unbalanced Linguistic Aggregation Operator in Group Decision Making

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Li Zou

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Many linguistic aggregation methods have been proposed and applied in the linguistic decision-making problems. In practice, experts need to assess a number of values in a side of reference domain higher than in the other one; that is, experts use unbalanced linguistic values to express their evaluation for problems. In this paper, we propose a new linguistic aggregation operator to deal with unbalanced linguistic values in group decision making, we adopt 2-tuple representation model of linguistic values and linguistic hierarchies to express unbalanced linguistic values, and moreover, we present the unbalanced linguistic ordered weighted geometric operator to aggregate unbalanced linguistic evaluation values; a comparison example is given to show the advantage of our method.

Speculative prototypes and exogenous ethnographies: Experiencing relationships beyond the human

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jönsson, Li; Ulv Lenskjold, Tau

2017-01-01

This article deals with the role that speculative design prototypes have as means to intervene in contexts of everyday life in order to explore, and possibly facilitate, new types of relationships between human and non-human beings. Focusing on an off-centered design of the human, it seeks to exp...... to explore what types of new possibilities may arise when speculation in design meets the practice of doing what might be termed an "exogenous ethnography"....

Quantitative Research in Systemic Functional Linguistics

Science.gov (United States)

He, Qingshun

2018-01-01

The research of Systemic Functional Linguistics has been quite in-depth in both theory and practice. However, many linguists hold that Systemic Functional Linguistics has no hypothesis testing or experiments and its research is only qualitative. Analyses of the corpus, intelligent computing and language evolution on the ideological background of…

The Role of the Emperor’s University of Kazan in the History of Formation of Tatar Musical Ethnography (XIX – Early ХХ Century

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elmira I. Safiullina

2014-03-01

Full Text Available The article reveals the role of the Emperor’s University of Kazan of the XIX-early ХХ century in the history of formation of Tatar musical ethnography. Special attention is paid to activities of scientific organizations at the Emperor’s University of Kazan. Based on the study of manuscripts stored at the Department of Manuscripts and Rare Books at the N.I. Lobachevsky Scientific Library, the article gives information concerning the Asian Musical Magazine by I. Dobrovolsky, as well as the Society for Archeology, History and Ethnography. The author concludes that the Emperor’s University of Kazan has an important role in formation of Tatar musical ethnography.

The Experience of Evidence-Based Practice in an Australian Public Library: An Ethnography

Science.gov (United States)

Gillespie, Ann; Partridge, Helen; Bruce, Christine; Howlett, Alisa

2016-01-01

Introduction: This paper presents the findings from a project that investigated the lived experiences of library and information professionals in relation to evidence-based practice within an Australian public library. Method: The project employed ethnography, which allows holistic description of people's experiences within a particular community…

Meta-Ethnography of Autoethnographies: A Worked Example of the Method Using Educational Studies

Science.gov (United States)

Hughes, Sherick; Noblit, George

2017-01-01

Despite questions about autoethnography in the ethnography and education research family, autoethnography is published in selective peer-reviewed journals in education and in the social and health sciences. Even critics of autoethnographic studies note their "rising acceptance in the past 15 years" [Delamont, S. 2009. "The Only…

How an Exchange of Perspectives Led to Tentative Ethical Guidelines for Visual Ethnography

Science.gov (United States)

Pope, Clive C.; De Luca, Rosemary; Tolich, Martin

2010-01-01

Qualitative research, especially visual ethnography, is an iterative not a linear process, replete with good intentions, false starts, mistaken assumptions, miscommunication and a continually revised statement of the problem. That the camera freezes everything and everyone in the frame only complicates ethical considerations. This work, jointly…

Logic Programming for Linguistics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christiansen, Henning

2010-01-01

This article gives a short introduction on how to get started with logic pro- gramming in Prolog that does not require any previous programming expe- rience. The presentation is aimed at students of linguistics, but it does not go deeper into linguistics than any student who has some ideas of what...

A meta-ethnography of interview-based qualitative research studies on medical students' views and experiences of empathy.

Science.gov (United States)

Jeffrey, David

2016-12-01

Quantitative research suggests that medical students' empathy declines during their training. This meta-ethnography asks: What new understanding may be gained by a synthesis of interview-based qualitative research on medical students' views and experiences of empathy? How can such a synthesis be undertaken? A meta-ethnography synthesizes individual qualitative studies to generate knowledge increasing understanding and informing debate. A literature search yielded eight qualitative studies which met the inclusion criteria. These were analyzed from a phenomenological and interpretative perspective. The meta-ethnography revealed a conceptual confusion around empathy and a tension in medical education between distancing and connecting with patients. Barriers to empathy included a lack of patient contact and a strong emphasis on the biomedical over the psycho-social aspects of the curriculum. A number of influences discussed in the paper lead students to adopt less overt ways of showing their empathy. These insights deepen our understanding of the apparent decline in empathy in medical students. The lessons from these studies suggest that future curriculum development should include earlier patient contact, more emphasis on psycho-social aspects of care and address the barriers to empathy to ensure that tomorrow's doctors are empathetic as well as competent.

Functional MR imaging of cerebral auditory cortex with linguistic and non-linguistic stimulation: preliminary study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kang, Su Jin; Kim, Jae Hyoung; Shin, Tae Min

1999-01-01

To obtain preliminary data for understanding the central auditory neural pathway by means of functional MR imaging (fMRI) of the cerebral auditory cortex during linguistic and non-linguistic auditory stimulation. In three right-handed volunteers we conducted fMRI of auditory cortex stimulation at 1.5 T using a conventional gradient-echo technique (TR/TE/flip angle: 80/60/40 deg). Using a pulsed tone of 1000 Hz and speech as non-linguistic and linguistic auditory stimuli, respectively, images-including those of the superior temporal gyrus of both hemispheres-were obtained in sagittal plases. Both stimuli were separately delivered binaurally or monoaurally through a plastic earphone. Images were activated by processing with homemade software. In order to analyze patterns of auditory cortex activation according to type of stimulus and which side of the ear was stimulated, the number and extent of activated pixels were compared between both temporal lobes. Biaural stimulation led to bilateral activation of the superior temporal gyrus, while monoaural stimulation led to more activation in the contralateral temporal lobe than in the ipsilateral. A trend toward slight activation of the left (dominant) temporal lobe in ipsilateral stimulation, particularly with a linguistic stimulus, was observed. During both biaural and monoaural stimulation, a linguistic stimulus produced more widespread activation than did a non-linguistic one. The superior temporal gyri of both temporal lobes are associated with acoustic-phonetic analysis, and the left (dominant) superior temporal gyrus is likely to play a dominant role in this processing. For better understanding of physiological and pathological central auditory pathways, further investigation is needed

Meta-ethnography 25 years on: challenges and insights for synthesising a large number of qualitative studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Toye, Francine; Seers, Kate; Allcock, Nick; Briggs, Michelle; Carr, Eloise; Barker, Karen

2014-06-21

Studies that systematically search for and synthesise qualitative research are becoming more evident in health care, and they can make an important contribution to patient care. Our team was funded to complete a meta-ethnography of patients' experience of chronic musculoskeletal pain. It has been 25 years since Noblit and Hare published their core text on meta-ethnography, and the current health research environment brings additional challenges to researchers aiming to synthesise qualitative research. Noblit and Hare propose seven stages of meta-ethnography which take the researcher from formulating a research idea to expressing the findings. These stages are not discrete but form part of an iterative research process. We aimed to build on the methods of Noblit and Hare and explore the challenges of including a large number of qualitative studies into a qualitative systematic review. These challenges hinge upon epistemological and practical issues to be considered alongside expectations about what determines high quality research. This paper describes our method and explores these challenges. Central to our method was the process of collaborative interpretation of concepts and the decision to exclude original material where we could not decipher a concept. We use excerpts from our research team's reflexive statements to illustrate the development of our methods.

The Generic Style Rules for Linguistics

OpenAIRE

Haspelmath, Martin

2014-01-01

The Generic Style Rules for Linguistics provide a style sheet that can be used by any linguistics journal or edited book, or for teaching purposes. They regulate aspects of text-structure style such as typographic highlighting, citation style, use of capitalization, and bibliographic style (based on the LSA's Unified Stylesheet for linguistics).

Proxy-produced ethnographic work: what are the problems, issues, and dilemmas arising from proxy ethnography?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Martinussen, Marie Louise; Højbjerg, Karin; Tamborg, Andreas Lindenskov

2018-01-01

This article addresses the implications of research-student cooperation in the production of empirical material. For the student to replace the experienced researcher and work under the researcher’s supervision, we call such work proxy-produced ethnographic work. The specific relations...... and positions arising from such a setup between the teacher/researcher and the proxy ethnographer/student are found to have implications for the ethnographies produced. This article’s main focus is to show how these relations and positions have not distorted the ethnographic work and the ethnographies but......, rather, have oriented it in certain ways. It is shown how the participating researchers – both senior and junior - have distinctive, incorporated dispositions with which they pre-consciously participate in an implicit and subtle relation that can make it very easy to overlook distortions during...

Collaborative ethnography for information systems research Studying knowledge work practices and designing supportive information systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ronald Maier

2012-04-01

Full Text Available Understanding knowledge work and supporting it with information systems (ISs are challenging tasks. Knowledge work has changed substantially recently and studies on how knowledge work is currently performed are scarce. Ethnography is the most suitable qualitative research method for studying knowledge work, yet too time-consuming, costly and unfocused for the fast changing IS domain. Moreover, results from qualitative studies need to be transformed into artefacts useful for IS requirements engineering and design. This paper proposes a procedure for collaborative ethnography to study knowledge work practices and inform IS requirements gathering and design illustrated with the case of a collaborative ethnographic study of seven organisations in four European countries performed in a large-scale international IS research and development project. The paper also critically discusses the procedure’s applicability and limitations.

Methodology in Bi- and Multilingual Studies: From Simplification to Complexity

Science.gov (United States)

Aronin, Larissa; Jessner, Ulrike

2014-01-01

Research methodology is determined by theoretical approaches. This article discusses methods of multilingualism research in connection with theoretical developments in linguistics, psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics, and education. Taking a brief glance at the past, the article starts with a discussion of an issue underlying the choice of…

LEXICAL STUDY OF VARIATION IN THE PARÁ AMAZON: A LOOK ON THE LINGUISTIC ATLAS OF BRAZIL

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sandra Regina FEITEIRO

2015-06-01

Full Text Available This article presents an analysis of the semantic-lexical occurrences of speech of residents located in rural Pará Amazon, compared to proposals from the Linguistic Atlas of Brazil (COMITÊ NACIONAL, 2001. Data were collected in situ by applying the Semantic-Lexical Questionnaire (QSL, composed of fourteen semantic fields for four informants that linguistic point. Analyzes were made with the intention of fulfilling the diatopical, diageneric and diageracional dimensions the variation in the speech of informants. This study was also guided by theoretical and methodological assumptions of Sociolinguistics, Dialectology and Linguistic Geography. Therefore, the research appealed to authors like Cardoso and Ferreira (1994, Aguilera (2005, Brandão (2005 and Labov (2008, among others. The results presented in language letters show the importance of dialectologies research to the knowledge of lexical norm of a geographic space, with high productivity variants for the same semantic content and not coincident with the Alib.

Field – Football Expressions Dictionary: a lexicographic resource based on the theoretical-methodological approach of frame semantics and corpus linguistics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rove Luiza de Oliveira Chishman

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The present article aims at problematizing the relevance of Frame Semantics (Fillmore, 1982 in the development of Field – Dictionary of Football Expressions – which the configuration allows the access to football language through expressions or through scenarios – or semantic frames. Frame Semantics, a theory developed in the realm of Cognitive Linguistics, is based on empirical data collected from the analysis of electronic corpora. The extraction of the data presented in this study was done with the Sketch Engine concordance, while their analysis was relegated to Frame Semantics. Among the results, it is possible to point out at the manner in which Fillmore´s theory contributes to the analysis of polysemy, presenting the different senses of a lexical unit considering different situations – or different frames – in which they appear. This article also emphasizes the pertinence of corpus linguistics and the processing of corpora as resources that allow the analysis of linguistic constructs present in the texts. It is also important to emphasize the applicability of Frame Semantics to a resource devoted to a non-specialized public, once the theory makes the contextualization of language possible through the everyday routine of the speakers.

Having Linguistic Rules and Knowing Linguistic Facts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peter Ludlow

2010-11-01

Full Text Available

'Knowledge' doesn't correctly describe our relation to linguistic rules. It is too thick a notion (for example, we don't believe linguistic rules. On the other hand, 'cognize', without further elaboration, is too thin a notion, which is to say that it is too thin to play a role in a competence theory. One advantage of the term 'knowledge'-and presumably Chomsky's original motivation for using it-is that knowledge would play the right kind of role in a competence theory: Our competence would consist in a body of knowledge which we have and which we may or may not act upon-our performance need not conform to the linguistic rules that we know.

Is there a way out of the dilemma? I'm going to make the case that the best way to talk about grammatical rules is simply to say that we have them. That doesn't sound very deep, I know, but saying that we have individual rules leaves room for individual norm guidance in a way that 'cognize' does not. Saying we have a rule like subjacency is also thicker than merely saying we cognize it. Saying I have such a rule invites the interpretation that it is a rule for me-that I am normatively guided by it. The competence theory thus becomes a theory of the rules that we have. Whether we follow those rules is another matter entirely.

International Journal of Arts and Humanities(IJAH) Ethiopia

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Nneka Umera-Okeke

to the rule of law (Gibbons, 2003), and researchers have been concerned with the roles ... to find out how this power manifests itself in courtroom interaction. ... traceable to sociology, ethnography, philosophy, applied linguistics and pragmatics ...

Non-linguistic Conditions for Causativization as a Linguistic Attractor.

Science.gov (United States)

Nichols, Johanna

2017-01-01

An attractor, in complex systems theory, is any state that is more easily or more often entered or acquired than departed or lost; attractor states therefore accumulate more members than non-attractors, other things being equal. In the context of language evolution, linguistic attractors include sounds, forms, and grammatical structures that are prone to be selected when sociolinguistics and language contact make it possible for speakers to choose between competing forms. The reasons why an element is an attractor are linguistic (auditory salience, ease of processing, paradigm structure, etc.), but the factors that make selection possible and propagate selected items through the speech community are non-linguistic. This paper uses the consonants in personal pronouns to show what makes for an attractor and how selection and diffusion work, then presents a survey of several language families and areas showing that the derivational morphology of pairs of verbs like fear and frighten , or Turkish korkmak 'fear, be afraid' and korkutmak 'frighten, scare', or Finnish istua 'sit' and istutta 'seat (someone)', or Spanish sentarse 'sit down' and sentar 'seat (someone)' is susceptible to selection. Specifically, the Turkish and Finnish pattern, where 'seat' is derived from 'sit' by addition of a suffix-is an attractor and a favored target of selection. This selection occurs chiefly in sociolinguistic contexts of what is defined here as linguistic symbiosis, where languages mingle in speech, which in turn is favored by certain demographic, sociocultural, and environmental factors here termed frontier conditions. Evidence is surveyed from northern Eurasia, the Caucasus, North and Central America, and the Pacific and from both modern and ancient languages to raise the hypothesis that frontier conditions and symbiosis favor causativization.

Between power and powerlessness : a meta-ethnography of sources of resilience in young refugees

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sleijpen, Marieke; Boeije, Hennie R; Kleber, Rolf J; Mooren, Trudy

OBJECTIVE: This article reviews available qualitative studies that report young refugees' ways of dealing with adversity to address their sources of resilience. DESIGN: We searched five electronic databases. Twenty-six empirical studies were included in the review. A meta-ethnography approach was

Between power and powerlessness: a meta-ethnography of sources of resilience in young refugees.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sleijpen, M.; Boeije, H.R.; Kleber, R.J.; Mooren, T.

2016-01-01

Objective. This article reviews available qualitative studies that report young refugees’ ways of dealing with adversity to address their sources of resilience. Design.We searched five electronic databases. Twenty-six empirical studies were included in the review.Ameta-ethnography approach was used

Georgetown University Round Table on Languages and Linguistics 2001. Linguistics, Language, and the Real World: Discourse and Beyond.

Science.gov (United States)

Tannen, Deborah, Ed.; Alatis, James E., Ed.

This book contains papers from the 2001 Georgetown University Round Table on Languages and Linguistics, "Linguistics, Language, and the Real World: Discourse and Beyond." Papers include: "Introduction" (Deborah Tannen); "A Brief History of the Georgetown University Round Table on Languages and Linguistics" (James E.…

Conversation Analysis and Applied Linguistics.

Science.gov (United States)

Schegloff, Emanuel A.; Koshik, Irene; Jacoby, Sally; Olsher, David

2002-01-01

Offers biographical guidance on several major areas of conversation-analytic work--turn-taking, repair, and word selection--and indicates past or potential points of contact with applied linguistics. Also discusses areas of applied linguistic work. (Author/VWL)

New Love, Long Love: Keeping Social Justice and Ethnography of Education in Mind

Science.gov (United States)

Heath, Shirley Brice

2011-01-01

Heath takes readers back to Hymes's years as Dean of the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education. She recalls, in particular, his relentless passion for introducing public school administrators to ethnography's potential for seeing what could be done to increase equity and social justice within public education. She contrasts this…

Therapeutic Alliances in Stroke Rehabilitation: A Meta-Ethnography.

Science.gov (United States)

Lawton, Michelle; Haddock, Gillian; Conroy, Paul; Sage, Karen

2016-11-01

To synthesize qualitative studies exploring patients' and professionals' perspectives and experiences of developing and maintaining therapeutic alliances in stroke rehabilitation. A systematic literature search was conducted using the following electronic databases: PsycINFO, CINAHL, Embase, MEDLINE, Allied and Complementary Medicine Database, Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts, and ComDisDome from inception to May 2014. This was supplemented by hand searching, reference tracking, generic web searching, and e-mail contact with experts. Qualitative peer reviewed articles reporting experiences or perceptions of the patient or professional in relation to therapeutic alliance construction and maintenance in stroke rehabilitation were selected for inclusion. After a process of exclusion, 17 publications were included in the synthesis. All text identified in the results and discussion sections of the selected studies were extracted verbatim for analysis in a qualitative software program. Studies were critically appraised independently by 2 reviewers. Articles were synthesized using a technique of meta-ethnography. Four overarching themes emerged from the process of reciprocal translation: (1) the professional-patient relationship: degree of connectedness; (2) asymmetrical contributions; (3) the process of collaboration: finding the middle ground; and (4) system drivers. The findings from the meta-ethnography suggest that the balance of power between the patient and professional is asymmetrically distributed in the construction of the alliance. However, given that none of the studies included in the review addressed therapeutic alliance as a primary research area, further research is required to develop a conceptual framework relevant to stroke rehabilitation, in order to determine how this construct contributes to treatment efficacy. Copyright © 2016 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Lancaster Summer School in Corpus Linguistics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jaka Čibej

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Med 12. in 15. julijem je na Univerzi v Lancastru potekala poletna šola korpusnega jezikoslovja Lancaster Summer Schools in Corpus Linguistics and Other Digital Methods. Poletno šolo so organizirali UCREL (University Centre for Computer Corpus Research on Language, ERC (Evropski svet za raziskave – European Research Council, CASS (ESRC Centre for Corpus Approaches to Social Science in ESRC (Economic and Social Research Council, razdeljena pa je bila na šest programov, prilagojenih različnim področjem: Korpusno jezikoslovje za proučevanje jezikov (Corpus Linguistics for Language Studies, Korpusno jezikoslovje za družbene vede (Corpus Linguistics for Social Science, Korpusno jezikoslovje za humanistiko (Corpus Linguistics for Humanities, Statistika za korpusno jezikoslovje (Statistics for Corpus Linguistics, Geografski informacijski sistemi za digitalno humanistiko (Geographical Information Systems for the Digital Humanities in Korpusno podprta obdelava naravnih jezikov (Corpus-based Natural Language Processing.

Predicting panel scores by linguistic analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Van den Besselaar, P.; Stout, L.; Gou, X

2016-07-01

In this paper we explore the use of text analysis for deriving quality indicators of project proposals. We do full text analysis of 3030 review reports. After term extraction, we aggregate the term occurrences to linguistic categories. Using thse linguistic categories as independent variables, we study how well these predict the grading by the review panels. Together, the different linguistic categories explain about 50% of the variance in the grading of the applications. The relative importance of the different linguistic categories inform us about the way the panels work. This can be used to develop altmetrics for the quality of the peer and panel review processes. (Author)

English linguistic purism: history, development, criticism

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Grishechko Ovsanna Savvichna

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Linguistic purism as an area of linguistic analysis describes the practices of identification and acknowledgement of a certain language variety as more structurally advanced as compared to its other varieties. Linguistic protection is associated with preservation of some abstract, classical, conservative linguistic ideal and performs the regulatory function, above all. The puristic approach to the development of the English language has been subjected to heated debate for several centuries and is reflected in both scientific research and literary texts. Supporters of purification of the English language champion the idea of protection of “pure language”. The idea, however, is actively criticized by opponents.

Writing, Literacy, and Applied Linguistics.

Science.gov (United States)

Leki, Ilona

2000-01-01

Discusses writing and literacy in the domain of applied linguistics. Focus is on needs analysis for literacy acquisition; second language learner identity; longitudinal studies as extensions of identity work; and applied linguistics contributions to second language literacy research. (Author/VWL)

Racism, Public Schooling, and the Entrenchment of White Supremacy: A Critical Race Ethnography

Science.gov (United States)

Vaught, Sabina E.

2011-01-01

Racism and inequity in U.S. education are pervasive and consistent problems, unavoidable facts of public schooling in this country. This book is a multisite critical race ethnography of institutional relationships and organization in a large, urban, West Coast school district. In this daring and provocative work, Sabina E. Vaught examines the…

Footy, Gangs and Love: Using Auto-Ethnography to Problematise Practice on a Practicum

Science.gov (United States)

Bellamy, Roz

2017-01-01

This article was written as an auto ethnography, which allowed for a complex and personal exploration of professional standards, teachers' professional identities, neoliberal reforms, and approaches to literacy and creativity. This article reflects on a practicum which involved teaching Romeo and Juliet to two year nine classes at an all boys'…

Non-linguistic Conditions for Causativization as a Linguistic Attractor

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Johanna Nichols

2018-01-01

Full Text Available An attractor, in complex systems theory, is any state that is more easily or more often entered or acquired than departed or lost; attractor states therefore accumulate more members than non-attractors, other things being equal. In the context of language evolution, linguistic attractors include sounds, forms, and grammatical structures that are prone to be selected when sociolinguistics and language contact make it possible for speakers to choose between competing forms. The reasons why an element is an attractor are linguistic (auditory salience, ease of processing, paradigm structure, etc., but the factors that make selection possible and propagate selected items through the speech community are non-linguistic. This paper uses the consonants in personal pronouns to show what makes for an attractor and how selection and diffusion work, then presents a survey of several language families and areas showing that the derivational morphology of pairs of verbs like fear and frighten, or Turkish korkmak ‘fear, be afraid’ and korkutmak ‘frighten, scare’, or Finnish istua ‘sit’ and istutta ‘seat (someone’, or Spanish sentarse ‘sit down’ and sentar ‘seat (someone’ is susceptible to selection. Specifically, the Turkish and Finnish pattern, where ‘seat’ is derived from ‘sit’ by addition of a suffix—is an attractor and a favored target of selection. This selection occurs chiefly in sociolinguistic contexts of what is defined here as linguistic symbiosis, where languages mingle in speech, which in turn is favored by certain demographic, sociocultural, and environmental factors here termed frontier conditions. Evidence is surveyed from northern Eurasia, the Caucasus, North and Central America, and the Pacific and from both modern and ancient languages to raise the hypothesis that frontier conditions and symbiosis favor causativization.

Meta-ethnography 25 years on: challenges and insights for synthesising a large number of qualitative studies

Science.gov (United States)

2014-01-01

Studies that systematically search for and synthesise qualitative research are becoming more evident in health care, and they can make an important contribution to patient care. Our team was funded to complete a meta-ethnography of patients’ experience of chronic musculoskeletal pain. It has been 25 years since Noblit and Hare published their core text on meta-ethnography, and the current health research environment brings additional challenges to researchers aiming to synthesise qualitative research. Noblit and Hare propose seven stages of meta-ethnography which take the researcher from formulating a research idea to expressing the findings. These stages are not discrete but form part of an iterative research process. We aimed to build on the methods of Noblit and Hare and explore the challenges of including a large number of qualitative studies into a qualitative systematic review. These challenges hinge upon epistemological and practical issues to be considered alongside expectations about what determines high quality research. This paper describes our method and explores these challenges. Central to our method was the process of collaborative interpretation of concepts and the decision to exclude original material where we could not decipher a concept. We use excerpts from our research team’s reflexive statements to illustrate the development of our methods. PMID:24951054

Police as Life World. An Ethnography of Police-Officers' Identity

OpenAIRE

Rafael Behr

2002-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to present some findings and problems which I encountered during my ethnography work on several German police units conducted in 1995. Participant observation is not original, but nevertheless unusual for a study of police work. To understand the behavior and the thinking of police officers, one must regard their exclusive possession of power and their discretion for using it. The power of the police is different to the power of suspects or other individuals: Poli...

Stellenbosch Papers in Linguistics: Contact

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Mailing Address. Editors SPiL. Department of General Linguistics University of Stellenbosch Private Bag X1 Matieland, 7602. Stellenbosch South Africa. Principal Contact. Dr Kate Huddlestone Journal Manager Department of General Linguistics. University of Stellenbosch. Private Bag X1. Matieland, 7602. Stellenbosch.

Evaluating automatically annotated treebanks for linguistic research

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bloem, J.; Bański, P.; Kupietz, M.; Lüngen, H.; Witt, A.; Barbaresi, A.; Biber, H.; Breiteneder, E.; Clematide, S.

2016-01-01

This study discusses evaluation methods for linguists to use when employing an automatically annotated treebank as a source of linguistic evidence. While treebanks are usually evaluated with a general measure over all the data, linguistic studies often focus on a particular construction or a group

Linguistica matematica, statistica linguistica e linguistica applicata. Una nota storica sui lessici di frequenza e l'educazione linguistica (Mathematical Linguistics, Linguistic Statistics, and Applied Linguistics. An Historical Note on Word Frequencies and Linguistic Education)

Science.gov (United States)

Elia, Annibale

1977-01-01

This article traces the history of several themes in applied linguistics and to show the relationships between linguistic theory and the sciences concerned with the learning and teaching of languages. Interest in word frequency statistics is discussed in particular. (Text is in Italian.) (CFM)

Genetic and linguistic coevolution in Northern Island Melanesia.

Science.gov (United States)

Hunley, Keith; Dunn, Michael; Lindström, Eva; Reesink, Ger; Terrill, Angela; Healy, Meghan E; Koki, George; Friedlaender, Françoise R; Friedlaender, Jonathan S

2008-10-01

Recent studies have detailed a remarkable degree of genetic and linguistic diversity in Northern Island Melanesia. Here we utilize that diversity to examine two models of genetic and linguistic coevolution. The first model predicts that genetic and linguistic correspondences formed following population splits and isolation at the time of early range expansions into the region. The second is analogous to the genetic model of isolation by distance, and it predicts that genetic and linguistic correspondences formed through continuing genetic and linguistic exchange between neighboring populations. We tested the predictions of the two models by comparing observed and simulated patterns of genetic variation, genetic and linguistic trees, and matrices of genetic, linguistic, and geographic distances. The data consist of 751 autosomal microsatellites and 108 structural linguistic features collected from 33 Northern Island Melanesian populations. The results of the tests indicate that linguistic and genetic exchange have erased any evidence of a splitting and isolation process that might have occurred early in the settlement history of the region. The correlation patterns are also inconsistent with the predictions of the isolation by distance coevolutionary process in the larger Northern Island Melanesian region, but there is strong evidence for the process in the rugged interior of the largest island in the region (New Britain). There we found some of the strongest recorded correlations between genetic, linguistic, and geographic distances. We also found that, throughout the region, linguistic features have generally been less likely to diffuse across population boundaries than genes. The results from our study, based on exceptionally fine-grained data, show that local genetic and linguistic exchange are likely to obscure evidence of the early history of a region, and that language barriers do not particularly hinder genetic exchange. In contrast, global patterns may

Genetic and linguistic coevolution in Northern Island Melanesia.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Keith Hunley

2008-10-01

Full Text Available Recent studies have detailed a remarkable degree of genetic and linguistic diversity in Northern Island Melanesia. Here we utilize that diversity to examine two models of genetic and linguistic coevolution. The first model predicts that genetic and linguistic correspondences formed following population splits and isolation at the time of early range expansions into the region. The second is analogous to the genetic model of isolation by distance, and it predicts that genetic and linguistic correspondences formed through continuing genetic and linguistic exchange between neighboring populations. We tested the predictions of the two models by comparing observed and simulated patterns of genetic variation, genetic and linguistic trees, and matrices of genetic, linguistic, and geographic distances. The data consist of 751 autosomal microsatellites and 108 structural linguistic features collected from 33 Northern Island Melanesian populations. The results of the tests indicate that linguistic and genetic exchange have erased any evidence of a splitting and isolation process that might have occurred early in the settlement history of the region. The correlation patterns are also inconsistent with the predictions of the isolation by distance coevolutionary process in the larger Northern Island Melanesian region, but there is strong evidence for the process in the rugged interior of the largest island in the region (New Britain. There we found some of the strongest recorded correlations between genetic, linguistic, and geographic distances. We also found that, throughout the region, linguistic features have generally been less likely to diffuse across population boundaries than genes. The results from our study, based on exceptionally fine-grained data, show that local genetic and linguistic exchange are likely to obscure evidence of the early history of a region, and that language barriers do not particularly hinder genetic exchange. In contrast

Literacy in Somali: Linguistic Consequences.

Science.gov (United States)

Biber, Douglas; Hared, Mohamed

1991-01-01

Linguistic consequences of literacy in Somalia are examined in a review of the literature and through a study of five dimensions of variation among Somali registers and the expansion of linguistic variation in Somali resulting from the introduction of written registers. (36 references) (LB)

Functional categories in comparative linguistics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rijkhoff, Jan

, Roger M. 1979. Linguistic knowledge and cultural knowledge: some doubts and speculation. American Anthropologist 81-1, 14-36. Levinson, Stephen C. 1997. From outer to inner space: linguistic categories and non-linguistic thinking. In J. Nuyts and E. Pederson (eds.), Language and Conceptualization, 13......). Furthermore certain ‘ontological categories’ are language-specific (Malt 1995). For example, speakers of Kalam (New Guinea) do not classify the cassowary as a bird, because they believe it has a mythical kinship relation with humans (Bulmer 1967).       In this talk I will discuss the role of functional...

Experiences of chronic low back pain: a meta-ethnography of qualitative research.

Science.gov (United States)

MacNeela, Padraig; Doyle, Catherine; O'Gorman, David; Ruane, Nancy; McGuire, Brian E

2015-01-01

Chronic low back pain (CLBP) is associated with a number of costly disability-related outcomes. It has received increasing attention from qualitative researchers studying its consequences for personal, social, and health care experiences. As research questions and methods diversify, there is a growing need to integrate findings emerging from these studies. A meta-ethnography was carried out to synthesise the findings of 38 separate qualitative articles published on the subjective experience of CLBP between 1994 and 2011. Studies were identified following a literature search and quality appraisal. Four themes were proposed after a process of translating the meaning of text extracts from the findings sections across all the articles. The themes referred to the undermining influence of pain, its disempowering impact on all levels, unsatisfying relationships with health care professionals, and learning to live with the pain. The findings are dominated by wide-ranging distress and loss but also acknowledge self-determination and resilience. Implications of the meta-ethnography for clinicians and future qualitative research are outlined, including the need to study relatively unexamined facets of subjective experience such as illness trajectory and social identity.

Conversation Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Schiffrin, Deborah

1990-01-01

Summarizes the current state of research in conversation analysis, referring primarily to six different perspectives that have developed from the philosophy, sociology, anthropology, and linguistics disciplines. These include pragmatics; speech act theory; interactional sociolinguistics; ethnomethodology; ethnography of communication; and…

The ethnography of help - Supporting families with children with intellectual disabilities

OpenAIRE

Summers, N.

2010-01-01

This thesis explored parents’ of children with learning disabilities perceptions of family support workers’ helping strategies. A qualitative approach drawing on the principles of ethnography was used to explore the experiences of six families of the helping strategies adopted by family workers and posed three research questions:\\ud (1) What are the perceptions of parents, of children with learning disabilities, of the helping strategies of family support workers?\\ud (2) How do parents unders...

Representation of Power in Class Discourse: A Study of Communication Ethnography

OpenAIRE

Jumadi Jumadi

2016-01-01

This study is aimed at describing the use of power in class discourse covering representation of power in speech act, representation of power in communication patterns and function of power in class discourse. Communication ethnography and pragmatic methods were used. The research results show that the use of directive, assertive, and expressive acts in class discourse represent the power with certain domination; that the control of speech topics, interruptions, and overlapping tend to repres...

Machine Learning and Applied Linguistics

OpenAIRE

Vajjala, Sowmya

2018-01-01

This entry introduces the topic of machine learning and provides an overview of its relevance for applied linguistics and language learning. The discussion will focus on giving an introduction to the methods and applications of machine learning in applied linguistics, and will provide references for further study.

Ontological problems of contemporary linguistics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

А В Бондаренко

2009-03-01

Full Text Available The article studies linguistic ontology problems such as evolution of essential-existential views of language, interrelation within Being-Language-Man triad, linguistics gnosiological principles, language essence localization, and «expression» as language metalinguistic unit as well as architectonics of language personality et alia.

Concise Lexicon for Sign Linguistics

NARCIS (Netherlands)

dr. Jan Nijen Twilhaar; Dr. Beppie van den Bogaerde

2016-01-01

This extensive, well-researched and clearly formatted lexicon of a wide variety of linguistic terms is a long overdue. It is an extremely welcome addition to the bookshelves of sign language teachers, interpreters, linguists, learners and other sign language users, and of course of the Deaf

Comparative and International Learning from Vanuatu Research Moratoria: A Plurilevel, Plurilocal Researcher's Auto-Ethnography

Science.gov (United States)

McCormick, Alexandra

2017-01-01

In this article, I offer a reflexive auto-ethnography to revisit questions about knowledge and research practices in international contexts, influenced differently by aspects of globalization. Specifically, I position my experience of the Vanuatu research moratorium on "foreign" researchers of 2013/2014 as a lynchpin to analyse and…

Ethical Issues of Ethnography Method: A Comparative Approach to Subaltern, Self, and the Others

Science.gov (United States)

Odeyemi, Christo

2013-01-01

Using urban and rural community settings, this review article focuses on ethical issues associated with ethnographer-participant interaction and draws from the ethnographic accounts of Bronislaw Malinowski and Susan Krieger. As such, the following sections intend to illuminate the issue of ethics in ethnography research. As case studies, the…

Evidence from Neurolinguistic Methodologies: Can It Actually Inform Linguistic/Language Acquisition Theories and Translate to Evidence-Based Applications?

Science.gov (United States)

Roberts, Leah; González Alonso, Jorge; Pliatsikas, Christos; Rothman, Jason

2018-01-01

This special issue is a testament to the recent burgeoning interest by theoretical linguists, language acquisitionists and teaching practitioners in the neuroscience of language. It offers a highly valuable, state-of-the-art overview of the neurophysiological methods that are currently being applied to questions in the field of second language…

Ethnographies of "A Lesson in Racism": Class, Ethnicity, and the Supremacy of the Psychological Discourse

Science.gov (United States)

Shoshana, Avihu

2017-01-01

Through the ethnographies of two schools serving different socioeconomic communities, this article offers an examination of students' and teachers' interpretations of the anti-racism text "Brown Morning" taught in civics classes. Findings present the dramatic differences between the interpretations of students from dissimilar…

New Conceptualizations of Linguistic Giftedness

Science.gov (United States)

Biedron, Adriana; Pawlak, Miroslaw

2016-01-01

This state-of-the art paper focuses on the issue of linguistic giftedness, somewhat neglected in the second language acquisition (SLA) literature, attempting to reconceptualize, expand and update this concept in response to latest developments in the fields of psychology, linguistics and neurology. It first discusses contemporary perspectives on…

Employing an ethnographic approach: key characteristics.

Science.gov (United States)

Lambert, Veronica; Glacken, Michele; McCarron, Mary

2011-01-01

Nurses are increasingly embracing ethnography as a useful research methodology. This paper presents an overview of some of the main characteristics we considered and the challenges encountered when using ethnography to explore the nature of communication between children and health professionals in a children's hospital. There is no consensual definition or single procedure to follow when using ethnography. This is largely attributable to the re-contextualisation of ethnography over time through diversification in and across many disciplines. Thus, it is imperative to consider some of ethnography's trademark features. To identify core trademark features of ethnography, we collated data following a scoping review of pertinent ethnographic textbooks, journal articles, attendance at ethnographic workshops and discussions with principle ethnographers. This is a methodological paper. Essentially, ethnography is a field-orientated activity that has cultural interpretations at its core, although the levels of those interpretations vary. We identified six trademark features to be considered when embracing an ethnographic approach: naturalism; context; multiple data sources; small case numbers; 'emic' and 'etic' perspectives, and ethical considerations. Ethnography has an assortment of meanings, so it is not often used in a wholly orthodox way and does not fall under the auspices of one epistemological belief. Yet, there are core criteria and trademark features that researchers should take into account alongside their particular epistemological beliefs when embracing an ethnographic inquiry. We hope this paper promotes a clearer vision of the methodological processes to consider when embarking on ethnography and creates an avenue for others to disseminate their experiences of and challenges encountered when applying ethnography's trademark features in different healthcare contexts.

Critical and Alternative Directions in Applied Linguistics

Science.gov (United States)

Pennycook, Alastair

2010-01-01

Critical directions in applied linguistics can be understood in various ways. The term "critical" as it has been used in "critical applied linguistics," "critical discourse analysis," "critical literacy" and so forth, is now embedded as part of applied linguistic work, adding an overt focus on questions of power and inequality to discourse…

CaELEjeros: el estudiante como etnógrafo para el desarrollo de la Competencia Comunicativa Intercultural

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yeray González Plasencia

2017-11-01

  Abstract: this paper offers an approach to integrate Intercultural Communicative Competence into S/FL through ethnographic practices. The objective of the proposal is to produce an audiovisual report on a specific cultural fact, taking the famous Spanish programme Callejeros as a textual model. The didactic proposal is organized in five phases: approximation, introduction, deepening, consolidation and co-evaluation, in which the student works individually, in groups and in collaboration with the teacher. Finally, it is exposed that this methodology promotes autonomous and integral learning, given that it promotes the development of both linguistic and communicative skills as well as affective, procedural and cognitive strategies. A proposal that encourage the student's critical awareness in a highly motivating framework. Keywords: intercultural communicative competence, ethnography, Spanish culture, audiovisual report.

On Redundancy in Describing Linguistic Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vladimir Borissov Pericliev

2015-12-01

Full Text Available On Redundancy in Describing Linguistic Systems The notion of system of linguistic elements figures prominently in most post-Saussurian linguistics up to the present. A “system” is the network of the contrastive (or, distinctive features each element in the system bears to the remaining elements. The meaning (valeur of each element in the system is the set of features that are necessary and jointly sufficient to distinguish this element from all others. The paper addresses the problems of “redundancy”, i.e. the occurrence of features that are not strictly necessary in describing an element in a system. Redundancy is shown to smuggle into the description of linguistic systems, this infelicitous practice illustrated with some examples from the literature (e.g. the classical phonemic analysis of Russian by Cherry, Halle, and Jakobson, 1953. The logic and psychology of the occurrence of redundancy are briefly sketched and it is shown that, in addition to some other problems, redundancy leads to a huge and unresolvable ambiguity of descriptions of linguistic systems (the Buridan’s ass problem.

Linguistic Theory and Actual Language.

Science.gov (United States)

Segerdahl, Par

1995-01-01

Examines Noam Chomsky's (1957) discussion of "grammaticalness" and the role of linguistics in the "correct" way of speaking and writing. It is argued that the concern of linguistics with the tools of grammar has resulted in confusion, with the tools becoming mixed up with the actual language, thereby becoming the central…

The impact of peer support in the context of perinatal mental illness: a meta-ethnography.

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Catriona C G; Jomeen, Julie; Hayter, Mark

2014-05-01

this paper is a report of a systematic review and meta-ethnography to explore the impact of peer support in the context of perinatal mental illness (PMI). systematic review methods identified five qualitative studies about women's experiences of PMI, and the impact peer support has on their journey towards emotional well-being. Findings from the identified studies were synthesised into themes, using meta-ethnography. the meta-ethnography produced four themes; 'Isolation: the role of peer support', 'Seeking validation through peer support', 'The importance of social norms of motherhood', and 'Finding affirmation/a way forward; the impact of peer support'. These themes represent women's experiences of PMI, their encounters with peer support groups within that context, and the impact of such encounters on their mental health status. recognising the risk of isolation and having pathways of referral to peer support networks is important, as are practitioners roles in nurturing peer support networks in perinatal care. More research is required to establish the most successful formats/structures of peer support. Practitioners should also recognise their individual and collective professional duty to challenge stereotypical depictions of motherhood wherever they arise, as this 'gold standard' benchmark of good mothering engenders guilt about not being good enough, often leaving women feeling inadequate. isolation is a key factor in PMI. Practitioners should be instrumental in their acceptance and development of peer support for PMI, ensuring these networks are valued, nurtured and encouraged. This study illustrates the powerful effect of professional and social forces on how new mothers feel about themselves. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

In the Picture or off the Wall? Ethical Regulation, Research Habitus, and Unpeopled Ethnography

Science.gov (United States)

Hurdley, Rachel

2010-01-01

This article focuses on two unintended consequences of ethical regulation of social enquiry: the exclusion of participants and, subsequently, a transformation of research practice. An ethnography of corridor life in a large university building forms the basis of the discussion. Originally intended as a pilot for a broader study of informal…

The Perilous Life of a Linguistic Genre Convention

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Borchmann, Simon

2014-01-01

, the descriptions are more informative than the structures hitherto described by text linguistics. Secondly, as historical norms, they are a testimony to the development and change of language use. Thirdly, the descriptions contribute to language users’ awareness of the origin of standards, their understanding......The primary, theoretical aim of the article is to present a linguistic text analysis that differs from standard text linguistic approaches by being informative with regard to the linguistic choices and textual organisation that characterise a text as a social act. The analysis is exemplified...... by using texts of a relatively new Danish journalistic genre nyhedsanalyse (news analysis). The secondary, empirical aim of the article is to present a corpus-based, linguistic analysis of central elements of the genre nyhedsanalyse within the Danish system of newspaper genres. Text linguistics is based...

African Woman Rises from the Ashes: Alice Walker’s Mimicry of Classic Ethnography in Possessing the Secret of Joy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zohreh Ramin

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Before the advent of deconstructive schools of thought in the second half of the twentieth century, anthropology and ethnography were hailed as scientific disciplines whose major consideration was to provide an objective analysis of other cultures. However, the launch of such critical approaches as postcolonialism, feminism, and postmodernism has nullified the two disciplines’ claim to scientificity and objectivity by laying bare their sexist, racist backdrop. In the postist zeitgeist, new ethnographies have been promoted in an attempt to disrupt the hierarchical relationship between the researcher and the studied subject of classic ethnography through including first-hand marginalized voices. Moreover, they blur the long-held generic boundaries between science and fiction via establishing the “ethnographic novel” as a medium that committedly voices the subalterns. Alice Walker’s Possessing the Secret of Joy (1992 is one of these new ethnographic novels which has as its protagonist an oppressed African woman. What makes Walker’s work distinct and notable is that the feminist writer subversively employs the conventional mode of ethnographic writing to stand up to African patriarchy and its horrific ritual of female circumcision.

Language Works. Linguistic Journal

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hartling, Anna Sofie; Nørreby, Thomas Rørbeck; Skovse, Astrid Ravn

2016-01-01

Language works! – and with this initiative and this journal we want to give the opportunity to many more students to present their linguistic research to each other, to the scientific community and to all interested.......Language works! – and with this initiative and this journal we want to give the opportunity to many more students to present their linguistic research to each other, to the scientific community and to all interested....

Collective Variables in Apphed Linguistics Research

OpenAIRE

ヘンスリー, ジョール; HENSLEY, Joel

2011-01-01

This paper focuses on the key dynamic(al)systems theory concept of collective variables as it relates to developmental research in applied linguistics. Dynamic(al) systems theory is becoming prevalent in linguistic research and in the past two decades has jumped to the forefront of cutting edge in the field. One key concept in dynamic(al) systems theory is that of collective variables. In order to help properly orient this concept in the field of applied linguistics, this paper discusses the ...

The unintended consequences of sex education: an ethnography of a development intervention in Latin America

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nelson, E.; Edmonds, A.; Ballesteros, M.; Encalada Soto, D.; Rodriguez, O.

2014-01-01

This paper is an ethnography of a four-year, multi-disciplinary adolescent sexual and reproductive health intervention in Bolivia, Nicaragua and Ecuador. An important goal of the intervention--and of the larger global field of adolescent sexual and reproductive health--is to create more open

A pesquisa etnográfica e sua importância para os estudos de aquisição de língua estrangeira

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Denise de Souza Silva Pinto

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract This article intends to give a general view of the discussions around a scientific method of classroom research called ethnography. This research method came from the social sciences with a clear concern for providing a cultural explanation of social groups. But, within the field of applied linguistics, the tradition of a quantitative view of research brought some other concerns to this research method, such as validity and reliability. However, in relation to the definition and to the essential elements of ethnography there is agreement among all authors.

Linguistics and the Literary Text.

Science.gov (United States)

Ferrar, Madeleine

1984-01-01

Discusses the opposing viewpoints of the two most influential linguists of this century--Saussure and Chomsky--suggesting that while both are interested in form as opposed to substance, Saussure sees linguistics as a branch of semiotics and Chomsky sees it as part of cognitive psychology. Evaluates the relevance of these two viewpoints to the…

Reframing the discourse: Ethnography, Bernstein and the distribution of reading attainment by gender

OpenAIRE

Moss, P. J. G.

2018-01-01

This paper has two aims: to introduce readers to Bernstein’s concept of languages of description, interpreted through the lens of ethnography; and to demonstrate the value of this approach to theory-making by showing how a qualitative study conducted on these principles led to new explanations for gender differences in literacy attainment that can be tested using PISA data.

Hope and Sorrow

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Warner, Cameron David

2013-01-01

China, Tibetans have begun to add these videos to the growing canon of an emerging uncivil religion, which emphasizes Tibetan cultural, linguistic, and religious autonomy within China. Through comparing online and offline ethnography, this article explores the relationship between offline and online...

On the methodology of dialectology of language families : determining the existence of a dialect areal

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Simona Klemenčič

2010-12-01

Full Text Available The author treats the processes that lead to the establishment of a prehistorical dialect area, in other words, a connection between two or more proto-related languages in a known or unknown geographical territory. The dialectology of linguistic families must, as every inductive inquiry, frequently allow a certain degree of vagueness if it is to come to any conclusions. However, the discrepancy between a good and bad interpretation of linguistic material can be significant. This is demonstrated by the analysis of examples that linguists have adduced in support of a prehistorical ancient Balkan-Baltic-Slavic dialect areal. By examining the argumentation theory, the author reveals typical fallacies and questionable methods in the process of reaching conclusions. These are: 1 the attempt to interpret material from a poorly attested language (the linguistic laws are unknown, etymologies unverifiable; 2 comparison of roots (because of the small number of elements and the typically simple structures, there is high probability that the similarity is coincidental; 3 circular reasoning, in which the author explains a fact with an unproven premise; examples where the author is led to a decision among variant readings by a preferred outcome; 4 drawing equivalencies among various types of proper nouns and appellatives without consideration of the methodological problems surrounding them; 5 ignorance of facts concerning a linguistic phenomenon that exists outside of the areal under consideration, as well as failure to consider the full weight of the evidence; 6 uncritical appropriation of findings from other disciplines and the transfer of these findings to comparative linguistics; 7 the explanation of poorly attested material with further poorly attested material; 8 explanation failing to follow logically from the material. With the aid of some of the procedures adduced we can prove the existence of dialect areals that are known never to have existed in

Methodological Flaws in Corpus-Based Studies on Malaysian ESL Textbooks

Science.gov (United States)

Zarifi, Abdolvahed; Mukundan, Jayakaran; Rezvani Kalajahi, Seyed Ali

2014-01-01

With the increasing interest among the pedagogy researchers in the use of corpus linguistics methodologies to study textbooks, there has emerged a similar enthusiasm among the materials developers to draw on empirical findings in the development of the state-of-the-art curricula and syllabi. In order for these research findings to have their…

The Magic of the Populace: An Ethnography of Illegibility in the South African Immigration Bureaucracy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hoag, Colin Brewster

2010-01-01

their interactions with the public. This perspectival bias needs to be overcome through ethnographies of the state and of state bureaucracies in everyday practice. This article examines the Immigration Services Branch of the South African Department of Home Affairs, a state bureaucracy widely deemed “illegible...

La etnografía utilizada en una investigación en enfermería: La construcción de una "descripción densa" Ethnography in nursing research: The construction of a "dense description"

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adelina Giacomelli Prochnow

2009-03-01

Full Text Available La etnografía ha sido utilizada con frecuencia en la investigación en el campo de la enfermería. Así mismo, es considerada por muchos investigadores como un método destinado a estudiar culturas exóticas o grupos sociales de desfavorecidos. Este artículo pretende compartir las experiencias de los autores con la utilización de la etnografía como abordaje metodológico, en una investigación sobre las perspectivas culturales en el ejercicio del liderazgo del enfermero, considerando el contexto hospitalario. La fundamentación teórica y metodológica utilizada como base en la investigación fue la Antropología Interpretativa de Cliffort Geertz. Se realizan consideraciones conceptuales y prácticas de la construcción del análisis etnográfico, el cual comprendió la utilización de las técnicas de investigación, observación participante y encuesta semi-estructurada, permitiendo la construcción de una "descripción densa" del objeto en cuestión. La etnografía es destacada como una posibilidad a utilizarse en el estudio de los fenómenos del trabajo y de la gestión en enfermería.The ethnography has been often used in nursing researches. However, it is still considered by many researchers as a scientific method for studies of exotic cultures or poorer social groups. This paper aims to report and share its authors’ experiences with the use of the ethnography as a methodological approach in the investigation one tried to understand the cultural perspectives that involve the leadership practice of the nurse in the hospital context. The theoretical and methodological approach used in this investigation was the Interpretative Anthropology by Clifford Geertz. There are conceptual and practical considerations which are vivified in the construct of the ethnographic analysis, which involved the use of research techniques participant observation and semi-structured interview, allowing the construction of a "dense description" of the object

Etnografia de sujeitos em sofrimento psíquico Ethnography of individuals in psychological distress

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bernadete Maria Dalmolin

2008-02-01

Full Text Available OBJETIVO: Analisar como pessoas com doenças mentais vivenciam suas necessidades especiais e interagem com a comunidade local nos espaços públicos urbanos. METODOLOGIA: Pesquisa realizada na cidade de Passo Fundo, Rio Grande do Sul, utilizando como abordagem teórico-metodológica a etnografia. A partir de estudo de um sujeito, buscou-se compreender o que caracteriza as pessoas como doentes mentais e como as adversidades decorrentes de seus quadros mentais não as impossibilitam de construir circuitos, trajetos e redes sociais no espaço urbano. RESULTADOS E CONCLUSÕES: O estudo identificou os processos de subjetivação dos sujeitos no espaço da cidade. Uma vez que os serviços de saúde reconhecem esses sujeitos, podem criar formas de intervenção mais adequadas às suas necessidades especiais.OBJECTIVE: To asses how people with mental disorders experience their special needs and interact with the community in public urban places. METHODOLOGY: The research was performed in the city of Passo Fundo, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, using ethnography as the theoretical methodological approach. As of the study of one subject, the objective was to understand what characterizes people as mentally sick and how the adversities of their mental picture do not prevent them from building circuits, paths, and social networks with the urban space. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: It was identified the subjectivity processes of subjects in the spaces of the city. Since health services recognized these individuals, it is possible to create interventions which are more suitable to their special needs.

Clinical linguistics: its past, present and future.

Science.gov (United States)

Perkins, Michael R

2011-11-01

Historiography is a growing area of research within the discipline of linguistics, but so far the subfield of clinical linguistics has received virtually no systematic attention. This article attempts to rectify this by tracing the development of the discipline from its pre-scientific days up to the present time. As part of this, I include the results of a survey of articles published in Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics between 1987 and 2008 which shows, for example, a consistent primary focus on phonetics and phonology at the expense of grammar, semantics and pragmatics. I also trace the gradual broadening of the discipline from its roots in structural linguistics to its current reciprocal relationship with speech and language pathology and a range of other academic disciplines. Finally, I consider the scope of clinical linguistic research in 2011 and assess how the discipline seems likely develop in the future.

Right Lateral Cerebellum Represents Linguistic Predictability.

Science.gov (United States)

Lesage, Elise; Hansen, Peter C; Miall, R Chris

2017-06-28

Mounting evidence indicates that posterolateral portions of the cerebellum (right Crus I/II) contribute to language processing, but the nature of this role remains unclear. Based on a well-supported theory of cerebellar motor function, which ascribes to the cerebellum a role in short-term prediction through internal modeling, we hypothesize that right cerebellar Crus I/II supports prediction of upcoming sentence content. We tested this hypothesis using event-related fMRI in male and female human subjects by manipulating the predictability of written sentences. Our design controlled for motor planning and execution, as well as for linguistic features and working memory load; it also allowed separation of the prediction interval from the presentation of the final sentence item. In addition, three further fMRI tasks captured semantic, phonological, and orthographic processing to shed light on the nature of the information processed. As hypothesized, activity in right posterolateral cerebellum correlated with the predictability of the upcoming target word. This cerebellar region also responded to prediction error during the outcome of the trial. Further, this region was engaged in phonological, but not semantic or orthographic, processing. This is the first imaging study to demonstrate a right cerebellar contribution in language comprehension independently from motor, cognitive, and linguistic confounds. These results complement our work using other methodologies showing cerebellar engagement in linguistic prediction and suggest that internal modeling of phonological representations aids language production and comprehension. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The cerebellum is traditionally seen as a motor structure that allows for smooth movement by predicting upcoming signals. However, the cerebellum is also consistently implicated in nonmotor functions such as language and working memory. Using fMRI, we identify a cerebellar area that is active when words are predicted and

Seeking Systematicity in Variation: Theoretical and Methodological Considerations on the "Variety" Concept.

Science.gov (United States)

Ghyselen, Anne-Sophie; De Vogelaer, Gunther

2018-01-01

One centennial discussion in linguistics concerns whether languages, or linguistic systems, are, essentially, homogeneous or rather show "structured heterogeneity." In this contribution, the question is addressed whether and how sociolinguistically defined systems (or 'varieties') are to be distinguished in a heterogeneous linguistic landscape: to what extent can structure be found in the myriads of language variants heard in everyday language use? We first elaborate on the theoretical importance of this 'variety question' by relating it to current approaches from, among others, generative linguistics (competing grammars), sociolinguistics (style-shifting, polylanguaging), and cognitive linguistics (prototype theory). Possible criteria for defining and detecting varieties are introduced, which are subsequently tested empirically, using a self-compiled corpus of spoken Dutch in West Flanders (Belgium). This empirical study demonstrates that the speech repertoire of the studied West Flemish speakers consists of four varieties, viz. a fairly stable dialect variety, a more or less virtual standard Dutch variety, and two intermediate varieties, which we will label 'cleaned-up dialect' and 'substandard.' On the methodological level, this case-study underscores the importance of speech corpora comprising both inter- and intra-speaker variation on the one hand, and the merits of triangulating qualitative and quantitative approaches on the other.

Applied linguistics - a science of culture?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Benke, Gertraud

2003-01-01

Full Text Available In this article, the status of applied linguistics as discipline is questioned and problems of establishing it - and other newly formed scientific enterprises like cultural science - as disciplines are discussed. This discussion is contextualized using the author's own experience as applied linguist working in (the institutional structure of Austria. Secondly, applied linguistics is presented as complementing cultural science, with both exploring at times the same phenomena albeit under different perspectives and focussing on different levels of experience. Two examples of research involving such a joint interest with different foci are discussed.

Linguistic fire and human cognitive powers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cowley, Stephen

2012-01-01

To view language as a cultural tool challenges much of what claims to be linguistic science while opening up a new people-centred linguistics. On this view, how we speak, think and act depends on, not just brains (or minds), but also cultural traditions. Yet, Everett is conservative: like others...... theory, bodily dynamics themselves act as cues to meaning. Linguistic exostructures resemble tools that constrain how people concert acting-perceiving bodies. The result is unending renewal of verbal structures: like artefacts and institutions, they function to sustain a species-specific cultural ecology...

e-Government Maturity Model Based on Systematic Review and Meta-Ethnography Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Darmawan Napitupulu

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Maturity model based on e-Government portal has been developed by a number of researchers both individually and institutionally, but still scattered in various journals and conference articles and can be said to have a different focus with each other, both in terms of stages and features. The aim of this research is conducting a study to integrate a number of maturity models existing today in order to build generic maturity model based on e-Government portal. The method used in this study is Systematic Review with meta-ethnography qualitative approach. Meta-ethnography, which is part of Systematic Review method, is a technique to perform data integration to obtain theories and concepts with a new level of understanding that is deeper and thorough. The result obtained is a maturity model based on e-Government portal that consists of 7 (seven stages, namely web presence, interaction, transaction, vertical integration, horizontal integration, full integration, and open participation. These seven stages are synthesized from the 111 key concepts related to 25 studies of maturity model based e-Government portal. The maturity model resulted is more comprehensive and generic because it is an integration of models (best practices that exists today.

Reliability modelling of repairable systems using Petri nets and fuzzy Lambda-Tau methodology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Knezevic, J.; Odoom, E.R.

2001-01-01

A methodology is developed which uses Petri nets instead of the fault tree methodology and solves for reliability indices utilising fuzzy Lambda-Tau method. Fuzzy set theory is used for representing the failure rate and repair time instead of the classical (crisp) set theory because fuzzy numbers allow expert opinions, linguistic variables, operating conditions, uncertainty and imprecision in reliability information to be incorporated into the system model. Petri nets are used because unlike the fault tree methodology, the use of Petri nets allows efficient simultaneous generation of minimal cut and path sets

Relations between Formal Linguistic Insecurity and the Perception of Linguistic Insecurity: A Quantitative Study in an Educational Environment at the Valencian Community (Spain)

Science.gov (United States)

Baldaqui Escandell, Josep M.

2011-01-01

What is the relationship between the awareness of linguistic prestige and the security or insecurity in the use of minoritised languages? Is formal linguistic insecurity (as initially described by Labov) the same as the speakers' perception of linguistic insecurity? Which are the variables related to the various types of linguistic insecurity in…

The purification of aid : an ethnography of Dutch partnership policy and (broken) dreams of development

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gastel, van J.N.

2011-01-01

This thesis explores the shift from ownership to partnership policy in Dutch development aid. It is an ethnography based on participant observation during several periods between 2001 and 2006 in the Ministry’s headquarters in The Hague and the Dutch embassy in developing country Z. The aim of this

Psychological and Linguistic Portrait of Criminals. Introduction to Discussion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jadwiga Stawnicka

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The article concerns one aspect of forensic linguistics, which concerns determination by the challenged statements. This is done in collaboration with linguist – creating a profile linguistic songwriter – and a psychologist – that creates a psychological profile. The cooperation of specialists can be used at the level of assessment, which is used for the purposes of investigation and legal proceedings. Expertise in the field of forensic linguistics (forensic linguistics, German. Forensische Linguistik include setting by/performance of speech based on the content of spoken or written (eg. The farewell letters, threatening letters, ransom demands; the possibility of setting texts by anonymous on the Internet, to determine the characteristics of linguistic stalkers and cyberstalkerów that can identify the sender of the message sender identification of the origin country, constructing linguistic profile anonymous author, the linguistic profile of the author of the well-known text. It should be added that the analysis of the content in content-language document contains emotional component, which is related to our knowledge about the determinants of language to express emotions, both negative and positive. An important element of the text is a matter of psychological portrait of the sender (author and / or performer of the text based on the identified linguistic features.

Perceptions of Breast Cancer Screening in Older Chinese Women: A Meta-Ethnography

OpenAIRE

Banning, M; Shia, N

2014-01-01

In Eastern Asia, as the incidence of breast cancer continues to increase yet compliance with breast cancer screening in older Chinese women who are at risk of early stage breast cancer is poor. This meta-ethnography explored breast cancer awareness, attitudes and breast screening behaviour in older Chinese women. Nine qualitative studies were appraised using CASP tools. Many Chinese women believed that illness is preordained, therefore mammography was a futile exercise. Older Chinese women he...

What can literature do for linguistics?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nørgaard, Nina

2007-01-01

  Through analyses of selected passages from James Joyce's Ulysses, this article demonstrates how the challenging of the boundaries between linguistics and literary studies can be more than a one-way process aimed at uncovering linguistic patterns of literary texts. The theoretical basis...

Dell H. Hymes: His Scholarship and Legacy in Anthropology and Education

Science.gov (United States)

Hornberger, Nancy H., Ed.

2011-01-01

Dell Hathaway Hymes, linguistic anthropologist and educational visionary extraordinaire, passed away in November 2009, leaving behind a voluminous scholarship and inspirational legacy in the study of language and inequality, ethnography, sociolinguistics, Native American ethnopoetics, and education. This essay provides a brief account of Hymes's…

Newly graduated nurses' use of knowledge sources: a meta-ethnography.

Science.gov (United States)

Voldbjerg, Siri Lygum; Grønkjaer, Mette; Sørensen, Erik Elgaard; Hall, Elisabeth O C

2016-08-01

To advance evidence on newly graduated nurses' use of knowledge sources. Clinical decisions need to be evidence-based and understanding the knowledge sources that newly graduated nurses use will inform both education and practice. Qualitative studies on newly graduated nurses' use of knowledge sources are increasing though generated from scattered healthcare contexts. Therefore, a metasynthesis of qualitative research on what knowledge sources new graduates use in decision-making was conducted. Meta-ethnography. Nineteen reports, representing 17 studies, published from 2000-2014 were identified from iterative searches in relevant databases from May 2013-May 2014. Included reports were appraised for quality and Noblit and Hare's meta-ethnography guided the interpretation and synthesis of data. Newly graduated nurses' use of knowledge sources during their first 2-year postgraduation were interpreted in the main theme 'self and others as knowledge sources,' with two subthemes 'doing and following' and 'knowing and doing,' each with several elucidating categories. The metasynthesis revealed a line of argument among the report findings underscoring progression in knowledge use and perception of competence and confidence among newly graduated nurses. The transition phase, feeling of confidence and ability to use critical thinking and reflection, has a great impact on knowledge sources incorporated in clinical decisions. The synthesis accentuates that for use of newly graduated nurses' qualifications and skills in evidence-based practice, clinical practice needs to provide a supportive environment which nurtures critical thinking and questions and articulates use of multiple knowledge sources. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

On Virtual Face-Work: An Ethnography of Communication Approach to a Live Chat Reference Interaction

Science.gov (United States)

Radford, Marie L.; Radford, Gary P.; Connaway, Lynn Silipigni; DeAngelis, Jocelyn A.

2011-01-01

Erving Goffman's theoretical framework and concept of face-work has the potential to greatly increase the understanding of interpersonal dynamics in computer-mediated communication realms. This research used an ethnography of communication approach and the concept of face-work to analyze the transcript of an interaction between a librarian and a…

Towards a theoretical framework for analyzing complex linguistic networks

CERN Document Server

Lücking, Andy; Banisch, Sven; Blanchard, Philippe; Job, Barbara

2016-01-01

The aim of this book is to advocate and promote network models of linguistic systems that are both based on thorough mathematical models and substantiated in terms of linguistics. In this way, the book contributes first steps towards establishing a statistical network theory as a theoretical basis of linguistic network analysis the boarder of the natural sciences and the humanities.This book addresses researchers who want to get familiar with theoretical developments, computational models and their empirical evaluation in the field of complex linguistic networks. It is intended to all those who are interested in statisticalmodels of linguistic systems from the point of view of network research. This includes all relevant areas of linguistics ranging from phonological, morphological and lexical networks on the one hand and syntactic, semantic and pragmatic networks on the other. In this sense, the volume concerns readers from many disciplines such as physics, linguistics, computer science and information scien...

LINGUISTIC DIVERSITY AT PORTUGUESE TEXTBOOK: SOME CONSIDERATIONS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paula Gaida Winch

2013-12-01

Full Text Available It is analyzed how linguistic diversity is dealt with in a Portuguese textbook, where two chapters are designated to it. In these, it is pointed out that speaker ethnic origin can be manifested differently by: morphological changes; use of foreign expressions; accent in oral language. In synthesis, the linguistic diversity is dealt with through activities of identification and reproduction of linguistic varieties to be carried out by the students.

Linguistic Characteristics of Advertising English

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

易高燕

2010-01-01

Advertising language takes form under the influence of linguistics,psychology and sociology,etc,and its way of choosing words and building sentences are quite different from normal English.And as a practical language,advertising English has its specific functions,and it has been distinguished from normal English as an independent language,and it has plentiful values.This paper aims to discuss some linguistic characteristics of advertising English.

Fall-related experiences of stroke survivors: a meta-ethnography.

Science.gov (United States)

Walsh, Mary; Galvin, Rose; Horgan, N Frances

2017-04-01

Health professionals view falls after stroke as common adverse events with both physical and psychological consequences. Stroke survivors' experiences are less well understood. The aim of this systematic review was to explore the perception of falls-risk within the stroke recovery experience from the perspective of people with stroke. A systematic literature search was conducted. Papers that used qualitative methods to explore the experiences of individuals with stroke around falls, falls-risk and fear of falling were included. Two reviewers independently assessed the methodological quality of papers. Meta-ethnography was conducted. Concepts from each study were translated into each other to form theories that were combined through a "lines-of-argument" synthesis. Four themes emerged from the six included qualitative studies: (i) Fall circumstances, (ii) perception of fall consequences, (iii) barriers to community participation and (iv) coping strategies. The synthesis revealed that stroke survivors' perceived consequences of falls exist on a continuum. Cognitive and emotional adjustment may be required in the successful adoption of coping strategies to overcome fall-related barriers to participation. Stroke survivors' fall-related experiences appear to exist within the context of activity and community participation. Further research is warranted due to the small number of substantive studies available for synthesis. Implications for Rehabilitation Health care professionals should recognize that cognitive and emotional adjustment may berequired for stroke survivors to accept strategies for overcoming falls-risk, including dependenceon carers and assistive devices. Several factors in addition to physical interventions may be needed to minimize falls-risk whileincreasing activity participation. These factors could include increasing public awareness about the effects of stroke and falls-risk,and ensuring access to psychological services for stroke survivors

Are Prospective English Teachers Linguistically Intelligent?

Science.gov (United States)

Tezel, Kadir Vefa

2017-01-01

Language is normally associated with linguistic capabilities of individuals. In the theory of multiple intelligences, language is considered to be related primarily to linguistic intelligence. Using the theory of Multiple Intelligences as its starting point, this descriptive survey study investigated to what extent prospective English teachers'…

Linguistic Recycling and the Open Community.

Science.gov (United States)

Dasgupta, Probal

2001-01-01

Examines linguistic recycling in the context of domestic Esperanto use. Argues that word-meaning recycling reflects the same fundamental principles as sentential recursion, and that a linguistics theoretically sensitive to these principles strengthens practical efforts towards the social goal of an open speech community. (Author/VWL)

Researching Reflexively With Patients and Families: Two Studies Using Video-Reflexive Ethnography to Collaborate With Patients and Families in Patient Safety Research.

Science.gov (United States)

Collier, Aileen; Wyer, Mary

2016-06-01

Patient safety research has to date offered few opportunities for patients and families to be actively involved in the research process. This article describes our collaboration with patients and families in two separate studies, involving end-of-life care and infection control in acute care. We used the collaborative methodology of video-reflexive ethnography, which has been primarily used with clinicians, to involve patients and families as active participants and collaborators in our research. The purpose of this article is to share our experiences and findings that iterative researcher reflexivity in the field was critical to the progress and success of each study. We present and analyze the complexities of reflexivity-in-the-field through a framework of multilayered reflexivity. We share our lessons here for other researchers seeking to actively involve patients and families in patient safety research using collaborative visual methods. © The Author(s) 2015.

Data Acquisition and Linguistic Resources

Science.gov (United States)

Strassel, Stephanie; Christianson, Caitlin; McCary, John; Staderman, William; Olive, Joseph

All human language technology demands substantial quantities of data for system training and development, plus stable benchmark data to measure ongoing progress. While creation of high quality linguistic resources is both costly and time consuming, such data has the potential to profoundly impact not just a single evaluation program but language technology research in general. GALE's challenging performance targets demand linguistic data on a scale and complexity never before encountered. Resources cover multiple languages (Arabic, Chinese, and English) and multiple genres -- both structured (newswire and broadcast news) and unstructured (web text, including blogs and newsgroups, and broadcast conversation). These resources include significant volumes of monolingual text and speech, parallel text, and transcribed audio combined with multiple layers of linguistic annotation, ranging from word aligned parallel text and Treebanks to rich semantic annotation.

Protein linguistics - a grammar for modular protein assembly?

Science.gov (United States)

Gimona, Mario

2006-01-01

The correspondence between biology and linguistics at the level of sequence and lexical inventories, and of structure and syntax, has fuelled attempts to describe genome structure by the rules of formal linguistics. But how can we define protein linguistic rules? And how could compositional semantics improve our understanding of protein organization and functional plasticity?

On Norms and Linguistic Categories in Linguistic Diversity Management

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Marácz, L.

2014-01-01

Due to globalization there is an increase in the appearances of languages in the multilingual linguistic landscape in urban spaces. Commentators have described this state of affairs as super-, mega- or complex diversity. Mainstream sociolinguists have argued that languages have no fixed boundaries

Seeking Systematicity in Variation: Theoretical and Methodological Considerations on the “Variety” Concept

Science.gov (United States)

Ghyselen, Anne-Sophie; De Vogelaer, Gunther

2018-01-01

One centennial discussion in linguistics concerns whether languages, or linguistic systems, are, essentially, homogeneous or rather show “structured heterogeneity.” In this contribution, the question is addressed whether and how sociolinguistically defined systems (or ‘varieties’) are to be distinguished in a heterogeneous linguistic landscape: to what extent can structure be found in the myriads of language variants heard in everyday language use? We first elaborate on the theoretical importance of this ‘variety question’ by relating it to current approaches from, among others, generative linguistics (competing grammars), sociolinguistics (style-shifting, polylanguaging), and cognitive linguistics (prototype theory). Possible criteria for defining and detecting varieties are introduced, which are subsequently tested empirically, using a self-compiled corpus of spoken Dutch in West Flanders (Belgium). This empirical study demonstrates that the speech repertoire of the studied West Flemish speakers consists of four varieties, viz. a fairly stable dialect variety, a more or less virtual standard Dutch variety, and two intermediate varieties, which we will label ‘cleaned-up dialect’ and ‘substandard.’ On the methodological level, this case-study underscores the importance of speech corpora comprising both inter- and intra-speaker variation on the one hand, and the merits of triangulating qualitative and quantitative approaches on the other. PMID:29632503

Stellenbosch Papers in Linguistics: Journal Sponsorship

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Publisher. Stellenbosch Papers in Linguistics (SPiL) is published by the Department of General Linguistics of Stellenbosch University. Publisher contact person: Mrs Christine Smit. Email: linguis@sun.ac.za. Phone: 021 808 2052. Fax: 021 808 2009. Mailing address: Private Bag X1, Matieland, 7602. Department of General ...

Applied Linguistics in Its Disciplinary Context

Science.gov (United States)

Liddicoat, Anthony J.

2010-01-01

Australia's current attempt to develop a process to evaluate the quality of research (Excellence in Research for Australia--ERA) places a central emphasis on the disciplinary organisation of academic work. This disciplinary focus poses particular problems for Applied Linguistics in Australia. This paper will examine Applied Linguistics in relation…

Ninth international conference on computational linguistics Coling 82

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1983-01-01

This paper presents the summary reports presented at the concluding session and evaluating the state of the art, trends and perspectives as reflected in the papers presented at Coling 82 in six domains: machine translation, grammatico-semantic analysis, linguistics in its relations to computational linguistics, question answering, artificial intelligence and knowledge representation, and information retrieval and linguistic data bases.

A phylogenetic and cognitive perspective on linguistic complexity ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

In recent years a growing interest in the nature of linguistic complexity has emerged in linguistic circles. A striking feature of this interest is that linguistic complexity is taken to be a phenomenon in its own right. In fact, an extreme construal of the inherent complexity of language is represented in the notion of universal ...

Ideologeme "Order" in Modern American Linguistic World Image

Science.gov (United States)

Ibatova, Aygul Z.; Vdovichenko, Larisa V.; Ilyashenko, Lubov K.

2016-01-01

The paper studies the topic of modern American linguistic world image. It is known that any language is the most important instrument of cognition of the world by a person but there is also no doubt that any language is the way of perception and conceptualization of this knowledge about the world. In modern linguistics linguistic world image is…

Corpus Linguistics, Network Analysis and Co-occurrence Matrices Corpus Linguistics, Network Analysis and Co-occurrence Matrices

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Keith Stuart

2009-12-01

Full Text Available This article describes research undertaken in order to design a methodology for the reticular representation of knowledge of a specific discourse community. To achieve this goal, a representative corpus of the scientific production of the members of this discourse community (Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, UPV was created. The article presents the practical analysis (frequency, keyword, collocation and cluster analysis that was carried out in the initial phases of the study aimed at establishing the theoretical and practical background and framework for our matrix and network analysis of the scientific discourse of the UPV. In the methodology section, the processes that have allowed us to extract from the corpus the linguistic elements needed to develop co-occurrence matrices, as well as the computer tools used in the research, are described. From these co-occurrence matrices, semantic networks of subject and discipline knowledge were generated. Finally, based on the results obtained, we suggest that it may be viable to extract and to represent the intellectual capital of an academic institution using corpus linguistics methods in combination with the formulations of network theory.En este artículo describimos la investigación que se ha desarrollado en el diseño de una metodología para la representación reticular del conocimiento que se genera en el seno de una institución a partir de un corpus representativo de la producción científica de los integrantes de dicha comunidad discursiva, la Universidad Politécnica de Valencia.. Para ello, presentamos las acciones que se realizaron en las fases iniciales del estudio encaminadas a establecer el marco teórico y práctico en el que se inscribe nuestro análisis. En la sección de metodología se describen las herramientas informáticas utilizadas, así como los procesos que nos permitieron disponer de aquellos elementos presentes en el corpus, que nos llevarían al desarrollo de

MODERN LINGUISTICS, ITS DEVELOPMENT AND SCOPE.

Science.gov (United States)

LEVIN, SAMUEL R.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF MODERN LINGUISTICS STARTED WITH JONES' DISCOVERY IN 1786 THAT SANSKRIT IS CLOSELY RELATED TO THE CLASSICAL, GERMANIC, AND CELTIC LANGUAGES, AND HAS ADVANCED TO INCLUDE THE APPLICATION OF COMPUTERS IN LANGUAGE ANALYSIS. THE HIGHLIGHTS OF LINGUISTIC RESEARCH HAVE BEEN DE SAUSSURE'S DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE DIACHRONIC AND THE…

Applied Linguistics: The Challenge of Theory

Science.gov (United States)

McNamara, Tim

2015-01-01

Language has featured prominently in contemporary social theory, but the relevance of this fact to the concerns of Applied Linguistics, with its necessary orientation to practical issues of language in context, represents an ongoing challenge. This article supports the need for a greater engagement with theory in Applied Linguistics. It considers…

Automated Linguistic Personality Description and Recognition Methods

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Danylyuk Illya

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Background: The relevance of our research, above all, is theoretically motivated by the development of extraordinary scientific and practical interest in the possibilities of language processing of huge amount of data generated by people in everyday professional and personal life in the electronic forms of communication (e-mail, sms, voice, audio and video blogs, social networks, etc.. Purpose: The purpose of the article is to describe the theoretical and practical framework of the project "Communicative-pragmatic and discourse-grammatical lingvopersonology: structuring linguistic identity and computer modeling". The description of key techniques is given, such as machine learning for language modeling, speech synthesis, handwriting simulation. Results: Lingvopersonology developed some great theoretical foundations, its methods, tools, and significant achievements let us predict that the newest promising trend is a linguistic identity modeling by means of information technology, including language. We see three aspects of the modeling: 1 modeling the semantic level of linguistic identity – by means of the use of corpus linguistics; 2 sound level formal modeling of linguistic identity – with the help of speech synthesis; 3 formal graphic level modeling of linguistic identity – with the help of image synthesis (handwriting. For the first case, we suppose to use machine learning technics and vector-space (word2vec algorithm for textual speech modeling. Hybrid CUTE method for personality speech modeling will be applied to the second case. Finally, trained with the person handwriting images neural network can be an instrument for the last case. Discussion: The project "Communicative-pragmatic, discourse, and grammatical lingvopersonology: structuring linguistic identity and computer modeling", which is implementing by the Department of General and Applied Linguistics and Slavonic philology, selected a task to model Yuriy Shevelyov (Sherekh�

A Novel Multiperson Game Approach for Linguistic Multicriteria Decision Making Problems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ching-San Lin

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Game theory is considered as an efficient framework in dealing with decision making problems for two players in the competitive environment. In general, the evaluation values of payoffs matrix are expressed by crisp values in a game model. However, many uncertainties and vagueness should be considered due to the qualitative criteria and the subjective judgment of decision makers in the decision making process. The aim of this study is to develop an effective methodology for solving the payoffs matrix with linguistic variables by multiple decision makers in a game model. Based on the linguistic variables, the decision makers can easily express their opinions with respect to criteria for each alternative. By using the linear programming method, we can find the optimal solution of a game matrix in accordance with the combination of strategies of each player effectively. In addition, the expected performance value (EPV index is defined in this paper to compare the competition ability of each player based on the optimal probability of each strategy combination. And then, numerical example will be implemented to illustrate the computation process of the proposed model. The conclusion and future research are discussed at the end of this paper.

Ethnographic Research and Globalization: A Discussion of Joseph Tobin's Model of Video-Cued Multivocal Ethnography

Science.gov (United States)

Watras, Joseph

2014-01-01

Joseph Tobin made an impact on the field of comparative education in 2009 when he used a unique form of ethnography to illuminate the effects of world-wide forces, such as modernization, on schools in specific countries. Earlier, in 1989, he published "Preschool in Three Cultures" with co-authors David Wu and Dana Davidson. The…

Ghana Journal of Linguistics: Editorial Policies

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Focus and Scope. The Ghana Journal of Linguistics is a peer-reviewed scholarly journal appearing twice a year, published by the Linguistics Association of Ghana. Beginning with Volume 2 (2013) it is published in electronic format only, open access, at www.ajol.info. However print-on-demand copies can be made ...

Physical Linguistics.

Science.gov (United States)

Tice, Bradley S.

Physical linguistics is defined as the use of treatments from the field of speech pathology to enhance first and second language production in healthy individuals, resulting in increased quality and strength of phonation and articulation. A series of exercises for treating dysarthria (weakness, paralysis, discoordination, primary and secondary…

Dissociating linguistic and non-linguistic gesture processing: electrophysiological evidence from American Sign Language.

Science.gov (United States)

Grosvald, Michael; Gutierrez, Eva; Hafer, Sarah; Corina, David

2012-04-01

A fundamental advance in our understanding of human language would come from a detailed account of how non-linguistic and linguistic manual actions are differentiated in real time by language users. To explore this issue, we targeted the N400, an ERP component known to be sensitive to semantic context. Deaf signers saw 120 American Sign Language sentences, each consisting of a "frame" (a sentence without the last word; e.g. BOY SLEEP IN HIS) followed by a "last item" belonging to one of four categories: a high-close-probability sign (a "semantically reasonable" completion to the sentence; e.g. BED), a low-close-probability sign (a real sign that is nonetheless a "semantically odd" completion to the sentence; e.g. LEMON), a pseudo-sign (phonologically legal but non-lexical form), or a non-linguistic grooming gesture (e.g. the performer scratching her face). We found significant N400-like responses in the incongruent and pseudo-sign contexts, while the gestures elicited a large positivity. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

LINGUISTIC AND CULTURAL STUDIES: THE QUEST FOR NEW IDEAS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vitalii Kononenko

2015-05-01

Full Text Available The article highlights the principles of researching into text from the interdisciplinary linguistic and cultural perspective. Cognitological analysis of linguistic and extralinguistic cultural meanings reveals that there exist of specific linguistic and aesthetic formations best presented through the ‘language – culture – identity’ triad. One of the components of literary discourse is monocultural layer, which secures the continuity of national cultural tradition; researching into it, one should take into account mental and historical, psycholinguistic, sociolinguistic and other factors. Linguistic and aesthetic analysis helps to establish the system of linguistic and cultural means (metaphorization, imagery, verbal symbols, linguistic conceptualization, connotative meanings, which reveals its potential in literary texts. The lingual identity as a general notional category shows its nationally-oriented characteristics through the dichotomies of ‘addresser-addressee’ , ‘author-reader’, ‘narrator-narratee’ and is presented in the author’s idiolect.

Negotiating Love and Work: A Critical Ethnography of A Gay Porn Star

OpenAIRE

Johnson Jr., Michael

2013-01-01

This ethnography offers a glimpse into one person’s pornographic film career, thus rendering visible a frequently invisible sub-textual accounting of the adult film industry. And in so doing, I offer some critiques about how popular constructions of what “love” and affection mean are always tentatively related to our relationship with and exposure to pornography. This research thus argues that our popular understanding of sexual desire, lust, and love are in constant states of flux as sex is ...

Role of linguistic skills in fifth-grade mathematics.

Science.gov (United States)

Kleemans, Tijs; Segers, Eliane; Verhoeven, Ludo

2018-03-01

The current study investigated the direct and indirect relations between basic linguistic skills (i.e., phonological skills and grammatical ability) and advanced linguistic skills (i.e., academic vocabulary and verbal reasoning), on the one hand, and fifth-grade mathematics (i.e., arithmetic, geometry, and fractions), on the other, taking working memory and general intelligence into account and controlling for socioeconomic status, age, and gender. The results showed the basic linguistic representations of 167 fifth graders to be indirectly related to their geometric and fraction skills via arithmetic. Furthermore, advanced linguistic skills were found to be directly related to geometry and fractions after controlling for arithmetic. It can be concluded that linguistic skills directly and indirectly relate to mathematical ability in the upper grades of primary education, which highlights the importance of paying attention to such skills in the school curriculum. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Aspects of conversational style-linguistic versus behavioral analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, G A

1992-01-01

Skinner's functional analysis of verbal behavior has been contrasted with formal linguistic analysis which studies the grammatical structure and "meaning" of verbal response-products, regardless of the circumstances under which they are produced. Nevertheless, it appears that certain areas of linguistic analysis are not entirely structural. In her recent books That's Not What I Meant (1986) and You Just Don't Understand (1990), the linguist Deborah Tannen purports to explain how people exhibit different "conversation styles"-that is, how they speak and achieve effects on listeners in different ways. There are indications, however, that the linguistic model may not be the most functional and precise one that could be used in analyzing conversational style. This paper takes concepts presented in Deborah Tannen's book That's Not What I Meant (1986), analyzes them from a linguistic and a behavioral perspective, and compares the relative utility of the two approaches.

Wittgenstein and the linguistic turn in social theory

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hermansen, Jens Christian

of Winch in social theory, the wider and more recent influence of Wittgenstein in areas such as technology and science studies, social theory, feminist and gender studies and conversation and discourse analysis is also considered. Historically, the readings of Wittgenstein in the social sciences have taken...... of the linguistic turn in social theory, the linguistic turn is a double-edged sword of both profound insights and limits; the claim is that the limits of the linguistic turn are the strengths of functionalist, structuralist and materialist approaches to the social sciences. The approach of the critical turn...... is to develop a more comprehensive social theory that is sensitive to these strengths and thus supersedes the limits of the linguistic turn. This paper suggests a different approach. Against the critical turn, the paper argues that the limits of the linguistic turn are identical with the very assumptions...

Educational language planning and linguistic identity

Science.gov (United States)

Sutton, Peter

1991-03-01

There are cases in which a "high" form of a language is taught and used in formal situations, but linguistic variation is also caused by geography, ethnicity and socioeconomic class. Certain variants are regarded as inferior and restricted in expressive capacity, and are disadvantageous. The paper suggests that it is possible to map each person's linguistic identity in two dimensions: the number of languages spoken, and the situation-specific variants of each language. Further, it is argued that the distance between a "low" variant and a "high" standard form of a language may present to the "low" learner of a standardized mother tongue a barrier just as great as that posed by the learning of a related foreign language to a speaker of the high variant. It is proposed that greater tolerance be exercised in acceptance of variation and in recognition of linguistic identity, so that this can be built on in the necessary and desirable expansion of linguistic competence, rather than being devalued. The relevance of the communicative approach to language teaching is touched on.

Steady and Delayed: Explaining the Different Development of Meta-Ethnography in Health Care and Education

Science.gov (United States)

Uny, I.; France, E. F.; Noblit, G. W.

2017-01-01

Since its inception in the 1980s, the meta-ethnography approach for synthesising qualitative study accounts has been used extensively in health and social care research and to a lesser extent in educational research. The aim of this article is to reflect on the evolution of the method in both fields. It starts by describing the meta-ethnography…

A meta-ethnography of patients' experiences of chronic pelvic pain: struggling to construct chronic pelvic pain as 'real'.

Science.gov (United States)

Toye, Francine; Seers, Kate; Barker, Karen

2014-12-01

To review systematically and integrate the findings of qualitative research to increase our understanding of patients' experiences of chronic pelvic pain. Chronic pelvic pain is a prevalent pain condition with a high disease burden for men and women. Its multifactorial nature makes it challenging for clinicians and patients. Synthesis of qualitative research using meta-ethnography. Five electronic bibliographic databases from inception until March 2014 supplemented by citation tracking. Of 488 papers retrieved, 32 met the review aim. Central to meta-ethnography is identifying 'concepts' and developing a conceptual model through constant comparison. Concepts are the primary data of meta-ethnography. Two team members read each paper to identify and collaboratively describe the concepts. We next compared concepts across studies and organized them into categories with shared meaning. Finally, we developed a conceptual model, or line of argument, to explain the conceptual categories. Our findings incorporate the following categories into a conceptual model: relentless and overwhelming pain; threat to self; unpredictability, struggle to construct pain as normal or pathological; a culture of secrecy; validation by diagnosis; ambiguous experience of health care; elevation of experiential knowledge and embodiment of knowledge through a community. The innovation of our model is to demonstrate, for the first time, the central struggle to construct 'pathological' vs. 'normal' chronic pelvic pain, a struggle that is exacerbated by a culture of secrecy. More research is needed to explore men's experience and to compare this with women's experience. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Plenary Speeches: Applied Linguists without Borders

Science.gov (United States)

Tarone, Elaine

2013-01-01

Until 1989, the American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL) could have been viewed as an interest group of the Linguistics Society of America (LSA); AAAL met in two designated meeting rooms as a subsection of the LSA conference. In 1991, I was asked to organize the first independent meeting of AAAL in New York City, with the help of…

Educational Linguistics and College English Syllabus Design

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

LIU Ji-xin

2016-01-01

The direct application of linguistic theories to syllabus design gives rise to frequent change of syllabus type in the histo-ry of syllabus development, which makes language teachers feel difficult to adapt to, to adopt and to implement. The recognition and popularization of the new-born discipline educational linguistics servers as a method to ease the situation, especially in the college English syllabus design in China. The development and application of the fruitful achievements in educational linguis-tics is bound to provide us with a more scientific approach to syllabus design in the future.

Those Who Know and Are Known: Students Using Ethnography to Interrogate Language and Literacy Ideologies

Science.gov (United States)

LeBlanc, Robert Jean

2018-01-01

Framing ethnography as a form of democratic inquiry, this study examines how the author worked with a group of Mexican and Vietnamese American adolescents to learn and apply ethnographic tools to interrogate language and literacy ideologies in their school and community. Examination of the students' findings reveals circulating ideologies and…

Translating Linguistic Jokes for Dubbing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elena ALEKSANDROVA

2012-01-01

Full Text Available This study has attempted to establish the possible ways of translating linguistic jokes whendubbing. The study is also intended to identify the most problematic cases of screen translation andthe factors which cause these problems. In order to support such an approach a corpus of 7American and British films has been compiled, including as many as 16 as their various dubbingtranslations into Russian. In the films, almost 12 instances of original linguistic jokes have beenidentified.

COGNITIVE METAPHOR IN MODERN LINGUISTICS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Antonina KARTASHOVA

2010-11-01

Full Text Available The article outlines the basic notions connected with cognitive metaphor which has lately undergone a thorough examination. The contribution made by linguists resulted in the rise of cognitive linguistics. This science regards metaphor not as a linguistic phenomenon but as a mental one that establishes connection between language and mind in the form of understanding new notions in terms of notions and categories known due to the previously gained experience. The interaction of new and previous experience can generate three main types of metaphors: structural metaphors which imply the structuring of target domain in terms of source domain, ontological metaphors which view abstract notions as concrete objects with clear outlines and orientational metaphors which represent the ways to fix the experience of spatial orientation. The classification of metaphors complemented with examples is presented below along with some controversial cases of determining the type of metaphor.

Sows' Ears and Silver Linings. A Backward Look at Ethnography.

Science.gov (United States)

Mintz

2000-04-01

Globalization, changing views of science, and alterations in the culture concept have gradually modified the way fieldwork is perceived within anthropology. This paper briefly examines the contributions of four ethnographers in order to argue that ethnography based on fieldwork remains essential to our definition as a profession. The claim is made here that unless anthropologists continue to make fieldwork central, anthropological theory will be cut off from its grounding in data. Other observers, less skilled than anthropologists but more daring, will increasingly supplant ethnographers in gathering new information that they then interpret and in claiming the public readership that anthropologists were once able successfully to address.

The Transition from Animal to Linguistic Communication

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Smit, Harry

2016-01-01

Darwin's theory predicts that linguistic behavior gradually evolved out of animal forms of communication (signaling). However, this prediction is confronted by the conceptual problem that there is an essential difference between signaling and linguistic behavior: using words is a normative practice.

Aspects of conversational style—linguistic versus behavioral analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, Genae A.

1992-01-01

Skinner's functional analysis of verbal behavior has been contrasted with formal linguistic analysis which studies the grammatical structure and “meaning” of verbal response-products, regardless of the circumstances under which they are produced. Nevertheless, it appears that certain areas of linguistic analysis are not entirely structural. In her recent books That's Not What I Meant (1986) and You Just Don't Understand (1990), the linguist Deborah Tannen purports to explain how people exhibit different “conversation styles”—that is, how they speak and achieve effects on listeners in different ways. There are indications, however, that the linguistic model may not be the most functional and precise one that could be used in analyzing conversational style. This paper takes concepts presented in Deborah Tannen's book That's Not What I Meant (1986), analyzes them from a linguistic and a behavioral perspective, and compares the relative utility of the two approaches. PMID:22477048

Citation Analysis and Authorship Patterns of Two Linguistics Journals

Science.gov (United States)

Ezema, Ifeanyi J.; Asogwa, Brendan E.

2014-01-01

This article analyzes the sources cited in articles published in two linguistics journals, "Applied Linguistics and Journal of Linguistics," from 2001 to 2010. A retrospective descriptive study was conducted using bibliometric indicators, such as types of cited sources, timeliness of cited sources, authorship patterns, rank lists of the…

Australia and New Zealand Applied Linguistics (ANZAL): Taking Stock

Science.gov (United States)

Kleinsasser, Robert C.

2004-01-01

This paper reviews some emerging trends in applied linguistics in both Australia and New Zealand. It sketches the current scene of (selected) postgraduate applied linguistics programs in higher education and considers how various university programs define applied linguistics through the classes (titles) they have postgraduate students complete to…

Historical Trajectory of the Quechuan Linguistic Family and its Relations to the Aimaran Linguistic Family

OpenAIRE

Adelaar, Willem

2012-01-01

This article seeks to present the principal stages of the prehistory and history of the Quechuan language family in its interaction with the Aimaran family. It reconstructs a plausible scenario for a unique, intensive process of linguistic convergence that underlies the protolanguages of both families. From there on, it traces the principal developments that characterize the history of the Quechuan linguistic family, such as the initial split in two main branches, Quechua I and Quechua II (fo...

The Leaps of Faith in Social Science: Study of the Imagined in the Discourse of the Real

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Barbara Dennis Korth

2007-03-01

Full Text Available In this paper, the author introduces a post-Meadian concept useful for contemporary ethnography. Emergent ideal types capture the imaginary (that which is not bound to space and time coordinates in the doing ethnography and making empirical claims (the empirical is considered that which is limited to space and time coordinates. She uses a heuristic device, grounded narrative fictions, as one way of depicting the imaginary for ethnographic audiences. The exploration draws on the ethnography of a kindergarten/Grade 1 class. The author does not use many scholarly references. Instead, she tries to develop two innovations to ethnographic analysis (emergent ideal types and grounded narrative fictions from within an ethnographic example. She tries in this thought piece to explicate the linguistic mechanisms through which ethnographers draw on the imaginary to link empirical patterns with interpretive analyses.

Implicit learning of non-linguistic and linguistic regularities in children with dyslexia.

Science.gov (United States)

Nigro, Luciana; Jiménez-Fernández, Gracia; Simpson, Ian C; Defior, Sylvia

2016-07-01

One of the hallmarks of dyslexia is the failure to automatise written patterns despite repeated exposure to print. Although many explanations have been proposed to explain this problem, researchers have recently begun to explore the possibility that an underlying implicit learning deficit may play a role in dyslexia. This hypothesis has been investigated through non-linguistic tasks exploring implicit learning in a general domain. In this study, we examined the abilities of children with dyslexia to implicitly acquire positional regularities embedded in both non-linguistic and linguistic stimuli. In experiment 1, 42 children (21 with dyslexia and 21 typically developing) were exposed to rule-governed shape sequences; whereas in experiment 2, a new group of 42 children were exposed to rule-governed letter strings. Implicit learning was assessed in both experiments via a forced-choice task. Experiments 1 and 2 showed a similar pattern of results. ANOVA analyses revealed no significant differences between the dyslexic and the typically developing group, indicating that children with dyslexia are not impaired in the acquisition of simple positional regularities, regardless of the nature of the stimuli. However, within group t-tests suggested that children from the dyslexic group could not transfer the underlying positional rules to novel instances as efficiently as typically developing children.

Aspects of conversational style—linguistic versus behavioral analysis

OpenAIRE

Hall, Genae A.

1992-01-01

Skinner's functional analysis of verbal behavior has been contrasted with formal linguistic analysis which studies the grammatical structure and “meaning” of verbal response-products, regardless of the circumstances under which they are produced. Nevertheless, it appears that certain areas of linguistic analysis are not entirely structural. In her recent books That's Not What I Meant (1986) and You Just Don't Understand (1990), the linguist Deborah Tannen purports to explain how people exhibi...

Social network size can influence linguistic malleability and the propagation of linguistic change.

Science.gov (United States)

Lev-Ari, Shiri

2018-07-01

We learn language from our social environment, but the more sources we have, the less informative each source is, and therefore, the less weight we ascribe its input. According to this principle, people with larger social networks should give less weight to new incoming information, and should therefore be less susceptible to the influence of new speakers. This paper tests this prediction, and shows that speakers with smaller social networks indeed have more malleable linguistic representations. In particular, they are more likely to adjust their lexical boundary following exposure to a new speaker. Experiment 2 uses computational simulations to test whether this greater malleability could lead people with smaller social networks to be important for the propagation of linguistic change despite the fact that they interact with fewer people. The results indicate that when innovators were connected with people with smaller rather than larger social networks, the population exhibited greater and faster diffusion. Together these experiments show that the properties of people's social networks can influence individuals' learning and use as well as linguistic phenomena at the community level. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Co-Constructing Family Identities through Young Children's Telephone-Mediated Narrative Exchanges

Science.gov (United States)

Cameron, Catherine Ann; Gillen, Julia

2013-01-01

This article explores telephone interactions between young children and adult family members as contributing insights to the co-construction of identities within both the nuclear and the extended family. The authors deploy methods of linguistic ethnography to enrich the scope of interpreting the data beyond textual analysis. The study's premise…

Unity and disunity in evolutionary sciences: process-based analogies open common research avenues for biology and linguistics.

Science.gov (United States)

List, Johann-Mattis; Pathmanathan, Jananan Sylvestre; Lopez, Philippe; Bapteste, Eric

2016-08-20

For a long time biologists and linguists have been noticing surprising similarities between the evolution of life forms and languages. Most of the proposed analogies have been rejected. Some, however, have persisted, and some even turned out to be fruitful, inspiring the transfer of methods and models between biology and linguistics up to today. Most proposed analogies were based on a comparison of the research objects rather than the processes that shaped their evolution. Focusing on process-based analogies, however, has the advantage of minimizing the risk of overstating similarities, while at the same time reflecting the common strategy to use processes to explain the evolution of complexity in both fields. We compared important evolutionary processes in biology and linguistics and identified processes specific to only one of the two disciplines as well as processes which seem to be analogous, potentially reflecting core evolutionary processes. These new process-based analogies support novel methodological transfer, expanding the application range of biological methods to the field of historical linguistics. We illustrate this by showing (i) how methods dealing with incomplete lineage sorting offer an introgression-free framework to analyze highly mosaic word distributions across languages; (ii) how sequence similarity networks can be used to identify composite and borrowed words across different languages; (iii) how research on partial homology can inspire new methods and models in both fields; and (iv) how constructive neutral evolution provides an original framework for analyzing convergent evolution in languages resulting from common descent (Sapir's drift). Apart from new analogies between evolutionary processes, we also identified processes which are specific to either biology or linguistics. This shows that general evolution cannot be studied from within one discipline alone. In order to get a full picture of evolution, biologists and linguists need to

Using meta-ethnography to understand the emotional impact of caring for people with increasing cognitive impairment.

Science.gov (United States)

Grose, Jane; Frost, Julia; Richardson, Janet; Skirton, Heather

2013-03-01

The majority of people with degenerative neurological conditions are cared for within their own families. Cognitive impairment can be a significant and increasing symptom of these conditions. In this article we report how a team of experienced researchers carried out a meta-ethnography of qualitative research articles focusing on the impact of caring for a loved one with cognitive impairment. We followed the seven-step process outlined by Noblit and Hare. Synthesized findings from 31 papers suggest emotional impact is complex and uncertain and varies from day to day. The benefit of using meta-ethnography is that the results represent a larger sample size and a reinterpretation of multiple studies can hold greater application for practice. The results of this study offer an opportunity for nurses to be aware of both the positive and negative sides of caring and being cared for. This knowledge can be used to discuss with patients and carers how best to prepare for decreasing cognition and still maintain a worthwhile quality of life. © 2013 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

A lattice-valued linguistic decision model for nuclear safeguards applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ruan, D.; Liu, J.; Carchon, R.

2001-01-01

In this study, we focus our attention on decision making models to process uncertainty-based information directly without transforming them into any particular membership function, i.e., directly using linguistic information (linguistic values) instead of numbers (numerical values). By analyzing the feature of linguistic values ordered by their means of common usage, we argue that the set of linguistic values should be characterized by a lattice structure. We propose the lattice structure based on a logical algebraic structure i.e., lattice implication algebra. Finally, we obtain a multi-objective decision-making model by extending Yager's multi-objective model from the following aspects: (1) extension of linguistic information: from a set of linear ordered linguistic labels (values) to that of lattice-valued linguistic labels; (2) extension of the combination function M, which is used to combine the individual ratings with the weights of criteria. We propose an implication operation form of M. The implication operation can be drawn from lattice implication algebra. As an illustration, we will finally apply this decision model to the evaluation problem in safeguard relevant information. (orig.)

Chomsky and Wittgenstein on Linguistic Competence

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thomas McNally

2012-11-01

Full Text Available In his Wittgenstein on Rules and Private Language, Saul Kripke presents his influential reading of Wittgenstein’s later writings on language. One of the largely unexplored features of that reading is that Kripke makes a small number of suggestive remarks concerning the possible threat that Wittgenstein’s arguments pose for Chomsky’s linguistic project. In this paper, we attempt to characterise the relevance of Wittgenstein’s later work on meaning and rule-following for transformational linguistics, and in particular to identify the potentially negative impact it has on that project. Although we use Kripke’s remarks to articulate some of the pertinent issues, we return to Wittgenstein’s later writings to address them. We argue that Wittgenstein’s main target in the relevant sections of the Philosophical Investigations is the notion of ‘logical compulsion’, which involves assuming that there is more to applying a word or rule than how we are naturally or “psychologically” compelled to apply. We characterise two of the main lines of argument in the Investigations in terms of the rejection of logical compulsion. We thus propose to address the relevance of Wittgenstein’s writings for Chomsky by considering whether Chomsky’s linguistics presupposes the targeted notion of logical compulsion. We argue that Chomsky’s conception of linguistic competence in terms of successive states of the “language faculty” (containing the principles of universal grammar does presuppose this problematic notion. Chomsky responded to Kripke by devoting a chapter of his Knowledge of Language to defending this conception of linguistic competence against the Wittgensteinian arguments. We evaluate his response and argue that he has misidentified the threat to his linguistic project as consisting in the attack on its ‘individual psychology’ standpoint, rather than its commitment to logical compulsion. We conclude by arguing that Chomsky�

Linguistic complex networks as a young field of quantitative linguistics. Comment on "Approaching human language with complex networks" by J. Cong and H. Liu

Science.gov (United States)

Köhler, Reinhard

2014-12-01

We have long been used to the domination of qualitative methods in modern linguistics. Indeed, qualitative methods have advantages such as ease of use and wide applicability to many types of linguistic phenomena. However, this shall not overshadow the fact that a great part of human language is amenable to quantification. Moreover, qualitative methods may lead to over-simplification by employing the rigid yes/no scale. When variability and vagueness of human language must be taken into account, qualitative methods will prove inadequate and give way to quantitative methods [1, p. 11]. In addition to such advantages as exactness and precision, quantitative concepts and methods make it possible to find laws of human language which are just like those in natural sciences. These laws are fundamental elements of linguistic theories in the spirit of the philosophy of science [2,3]. Theorization effort of this type is what quantitative linguistics [1,4,5] is devoted to. The review of Cong and Liu [6] has provided an informative and insightful survey of linguistic complex networks as a young field of quantitative linguistics, including the basic concepts and measures, the major lines of research with linguistic motivation, and suggestions for future research.

François Couperin’s Allemandes for Harpsichord: Linguistic Characteristics of 18th Century French Oratory as an Interpretive Resource

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Beatriz Pavan

2016-11-01

Full Text Available This text discusses the linguistic characteristics of French oratory of the eighteenth century as an interpretive resource for François Couperin’s allemandes for harpsichord. The main objective was to investigate the oratory and its equivalence with the musical discourse of this time and place as a tool for interpreting the genre. The methodological approach followed was an analysis of the linguistic variations of French oratory of the eighteenth century and its correspondence with the allemandes of François Couperin contained in the four Livres de pièces de clavecin. Upon establishing the close relationship between the spoken language and musical expression, it was possible to apply the study of the suggested discourse to interpretative decisions.

Women's experiences during myocardial infarction: systematic review and meta-ethnography.

Science.gov (United States)

Madsen, Rikke; Birkelund, Regner

2016-03-01

The aim of this review is to identify, analyse and synthesise existing knowledge concerning female experiences during myocardial infarction. There is a lack of knowledge about women's experiences during myocardial infarction, and a meta-synthesis is needed to synthesise existing evidence. A systematic review and meta-ethnography. A systematic review was undertaken in September 2013. Four databases were searched. Grey literature and reference lists were screened for relevant studies. Four hundred and eighty-one papers were identified and 14 were included. The method of Noblit and Hare was used in the process of conducting this review and meta-ethnography. Three themes were identified. 1. 'Feeling the changes in my body', 2. 'Understanding the changes in my body' and 3. 'Acting on the changes in my body'. The majority of women did not experience their body changes as being severe and threatening. Therefore, the women chose to wait or self-medicate before consulting others. The women who initially experienced the symptoms related to myocardial infarction as being severe and threatening, chose to consult others earlier than the majority of women. Women's experiences and interpretation of body symptoms during myocardial infarction vary. Most commonly women do not initially recognise their body symptoms as being severe and life threatening. The theory of Merleau-Ponty's 'current and habituated body' is relevant for explaining women's ways of understanding and acting on their body changes during myocardial infarction. This review is relevant in a preventive and rehabilitating perspective for professionals working in health care. It helps professionals to understand women's experiences during myocardial infarction, optimises their ability to suspect myocardial infarction and teach women to react on these body changes. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Nursing practice in stroke rehabilitation: systematic review and meta-ethnography.

Science.gov (United States)

Clarke, David J

2014-05-01

To identify and synthesise the available research evidence in order to generate an explanatory framework for nursing practice in stroke rehabilitation. Although nurses are the largest professional group working with stroke survivors, there is limited understanding of nursing practice in stroke units. In particular, there is currently very little evidence in respect of nurses' involvement in poststroke rehabilitation. Meta-ethnography. A systematic review was undertaken. The review question was: 'What is the nature of nursing practice in the care and rehabilitation of inpatient stroke survivors?' Searches of 12 electronic databases identified 14,655 publications, and after screening, 778 remained; 137 papers were obtained and 54 retained for mapping. Sixteen qualitative studies were included in the meta-ethnography. Nurses' involvement in poststroke rehabilitation was limited. Contextual factors impacted on nurses' perceptions and practice. Nurses' integration of rehabilitation skills was perceived to be contingent on adequate nurse staffing levels and management of demands on nurses' time. Team working practices and use of the built environment indicated separation of nursing and therapy work. Physical care and monitoring were prioritised. Stroke-specific education and training was evident, but not consistent in content or approach. Stroke survivors and families needed help to understand nurses' role in rehabilitation. The review provides compelling evidence that there is an need to re-examine the role of nurses in contributing to poststroke rehabilitation, including clarifying when this process can safely begin and specifying the techniques that can be integrated in nurses' practice. Integrating stroke-specific rehabilitation skills in nurses' practice could contribute substantially to improving outcomes for stroke survivors. The explanatory framework developed from the review findings identifies issues which will need to be addressed in order to maximise nurses

Political Liberalism, Linguistic Diversity and Equal Treatment

Science.gov (United States)

Bonotti, Matteo

2017-01-01

This article explores the implications of John Rawls' political liberalism for linguistic diversity and language policy, by focusing on the following question: what kind(s) of equality between speakers of different languages and with different linguistic identities should the state guarantee under political liberalism? The article makes three…

Term Bases and Linguistic Linked Open Data

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

for pursuing their work. The theme of this year’s TKE is ‘Term Bases and Linguistic Linked Open Data’. Mono- and multi-lingual term bases, which contain information about concepts (terms, definitions, examples of use, references, comments on equivalence etc.), have always made up valuable linguistic resources...

Masekitlana re-membered: A performance-based ethnography of South African black children’s pretend play

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Esther Ofenste Phetlhu

2014-07-01

Full Text Available The extensive empirical research inspired by Piaget and Vygotsky’s theories of make-believe play has been criticised for restricting data to western, urban, middle-class children. We seek to redress this bias by researching a traditional black South African Pedi children’s game Masekitlana. Our data relies on embodied memories enacted by Mapelo (one of the authors, and interviews of two other informants. The analytical framework draws upon ‘emergent methods’ in ethnography such as performance ethnography, autoethnography and memory elicitation through ‘bodynotes’ within a Vygotskyian orientation to play. The findings show that Masekitlana shares features common to all pretend play, but others unique to it  including: i extended monologue, ii metacommunicative frames for realistic thinking, and iii a complex relation between social and solitary play. These findings support Vygotsky. However, ‘the long childhood’ of Masekitlana suggests that the stages theory of Piaget, as well as  Vygotskyian ideas that have come down to us via Cole & Scribner and Valsiner, require revision in the light of Bruner’s two modes of cognition, and Veresov’s reinterpretation of the theatre movement, within which Vygotsky’s central ideas are embedded.

Linguistic approaches to the study of Persian Literature

OpenAIRE

محمد امین ناصح

2010-01-01

Since the start of the last century, along with those literary men who took a literary approach to the study of literary texts, there has been another group who has taken a linguistic approach. The ancient and ever flourishing tradition of literary studies of translation can no doubt take benefit from linguistic methods and tools in the investigations of literary texts. As a result of this we come across linguistic terms in three high school textbooks of Persian language and literature. In f...

Ideology, Linguistic Capital and the Medium of Instruction in Hong Kong.

Science.gov (United States)

Morrison, Keith; Lui, Icy

2000-01-01

Examines the links between linguistic capital, cultural capital, linguistic imperialism, and the use of English as the medium of instruction (MOI) in Hong Kong. Suggests that the notion of linguistic imperialism in Hong Kong is superceded by the notion of linguistic capital, although neither presents a complete analysis of the MOI issue in Hong…

The Quest for Really Useful Knowledge: An Institutional Ethnography of Community Adult Education in the Digital Age

Science.gov (United States)

Selvaraj, Shivaani Aruna

2016-01-01

The purpose of this institutional ethnography was to explicate the social relations of broadband adoption through the public programs implemented by the Media Mobilizing Project (MMP) between 2009 and 2013, when they operated for the first time in alignment with federal regulations that orchestrated the practice of the Broadband Technology…

Words Get in the Way: Linguistic Effects on Talker Discrimination.

Science.gov (United States)

Narayan, Chandan R; Mak, Lorinda; Bialystok, Ellen

2017-07-01

A speech perception experiment provides evidence that the linguistic relationship between words affects the discrimination of their talkers. Listeners discriminated two talkers' voices with various linguistic relationships between their spoken words. Listeners were asked whether two words were spoken by the same person or not. Word pairs varied with respect to the linguistic relationship between the component words, forming either: phonological rhymes, lexical compounds, reversed compounds, or unrelated pairs. The degree of linguistic relationship between the words affected talker discrimination in a graded fashion, revealing biases listeners have regarding the nature of words and the talkers that speak them. These results indicate that listeners expect a talker's words to be linguistically related, and more generally, indexical processing is affected by linguistic information in a top-down fashion even when listeners are not told to attend to it. Copyright © 2016 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Exploring Linguistic Identity in Young Multilingual Learners

Science.gov (United States)

Dressler, Roswita

2014-01-01

This article explores the linguistic identity of young multilingual learners through the use of a Language Portrait Silhouette. Examples from a research study of children aged 6-8 years in a German bilingual program in Canada provide teachers with an understanding that linguistic identity comprises expertise, affiliation, and inheritance. This…

Youth Culture, Language Endangerment and Linguistic Survivance

Science.gov (United States)

Wyman, Leisy

2012-01-01

Detailing a decade of life and language use in a remote Alaskan Yup'ik community, Youth Culture, Language Endangerment and Linguistic Survivance provides rare insight into young people's language brokering and Indigenous people's contemporary linguistic ecologies. This book examines how two consecutive groups of youth in a Yup'ik village…

Improving English Instruction through Neuro-Linguistic Programming

Science.gov (United States)

Helm, David Jay

2009-01-01

This study examines the background information and numerous applications of neuro-linguistic programming as it applies to improving English instruction. In addition, the N.L.P. modalities of eye movement, the use of predicates, and posturing are discussed. Neuro-linguistic programming presents all students of English an opportunity to reach their…

Linguistic Theory in the Practical Lexicography of the African Languages

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emmanuel Chabata

2011-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract: In this article, we look at the relationship between linguistics and lexicography. We specifically look at the relevance of data derived from theoretical linguistic investigations to the compilation of diction-aries in African languages. Our point of departure is that since it is language description that lies at the core of both lexicography and linguistic theory, lexicographers can improve their work by using insights from theoretically-guided linguistic investigations. Our view is that as long as lexicographers focus on words and their existence in the linguistic system, they cannot work effectively without referring to linguistic theory, consciously or unconsciously. Lexicography is not only concerned with dictionary creation, that is, with the collection of lexical units and their proper description in dictionary entries, but also with the theoretical aspects concerning the lexicon. It is necessary for dictionaries to capture all lexical interrelationships of a phonetic, morphological, syntactic or semantic nature. Drawing examples from a few dictionaries on African languages, we try to show how dictionary compilers have benefited from specific theoretical investigations in general linguistics. We look at how the different linguistic theories have contributed to the improvement in the quality of the contents of some dictionaries of African languages. Our conclusion is that there is a stronger bond between linguistic theory and lexicographic practice than is generally assumed. Ways must therefore be found to understand the various links between the two disciplines. There should be a deliberate move from mutual neglect to collaboration between the two disciplines.

"New linguistic issues", by Pier Pasolini, is causing scandal among linguists, philologists, writers, critics and intellectuals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Teodoro Negri

1993-12-01

Full Text Available Pasolini departs from the diagnosis of a problem: the critical quest stage in contemporary literature, centered on the 1950s; he points out the author´s inability to create the design for a national language. He goes on to analyze the deep mutation in Italian Society, which determineted a new socio-linguistic outlook; to wit, a language clearly marked by strong technicality and instrumentation. Drawing examples from newspapers, TV features, official political speeches and commercials, Pasolini demonstrates that factual communication takes precedence over formal expression. This is ascribed to one principle which sets both rules and approvals for all forms of national language. This fact, according to Pasolini, is the result of an industrial and technological transformation process, which would  permite advent of a new linguistic bourgeoisie. The linguistic unification caused by such approving  principle would, therefore, imply the social manifestation of the bourgeoisie.

Design Features for Linguistically-Mediated Meaning Construction: The Relative Roles of the Linguistic and Conceptual Systems in Subserving the Ideational Function of Language.

Science.gov (United States)

Evans, Vyvyan

2016-01-01

Recent research in language and cognitive science proposes that the linguistic system evolved to provide an "executive" control system on the evolutionarily more ancient conceptual system (e.g., Barsalou et al., 2008; Evans, 2009, 2015a,b; Bergen, 2012). In short, the claim is that embodied representations in the linguistic system interface with non-linguistic representations in the conceptual system, facilitating rich meanings, or simulations, enabling linguistically mediated communication. In this paper I build on these proposals by examining the nature of what I identify as design features for this control system. In particular, I address how the ideational function of language-our ability to deploy linguistic symbols to convey meanings of great complexity-is facilitated. The central proposal of this paper is as follows. The linguistic system of any given language user, of any given linguistic system-spoken or signed-facilitates access to knowledge representation-concepts-in the conceptual system, which subserves this ideational function. In the most general terms, the human meaning-making capacity is underpinned by two distinct, although tightly coupled representational systems: the conceptual system and the linguistic system. Each system contributes to meaning construction in qualitatively distinct ways. This leads to the first design feature: given that the two systems are representational-they are populated by semantic representations-the nature and function of the representations are qualitatively different. This proposed design feature I term the bifurcation in semantic representation. After all, it stands to reason that if a linguistic system has a different function, vis-à-vis the conceptual system, which is of far greater evolutionary antiquity, then the semantic representations will be complementary, and as such, qualitatively different, reflecting the functional distinctions of the two systems, in collectively giving rise to meaning. I consider the

Reflexive Language and Ethnic Minority Activism in Hong Kong: A Trajectory-Based Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Pérez-Milans, Miguel; Soto, Carlos

2016-01-01

This article engages with Archer's call to further research on reflexivity and social change under conditions of late modernity (2007, 2010, 2012) from the perspective of existing work on reflexive discourse in the language disciplines (Silverstein 1976, Lucy 1993). Drawing from a linguistic ethnography of the networked trajectories of a group of…

Romanian Roma: An Institutional Ethnography of Labour Market Exclusion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Janne Paulsen Breimo

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Roma individuals are struggling to access the formal labour market in Romania. Previous research occupied with this issue has traditionally been dominated by quantitative studies of socio-economic indicators that cling to the characteristics of the ethnic group. The study presented here, however, uses institutional ethnography as a method of social inquiry to demonstrate that this issue needs to be studied from a bottom-up perspective. The article illustrates that there are factors connected to how the system of occupational integration operates that must be taken into consideration in order to explain the difficulties Roma individuals face when trying to enter the labour market in Romania. We argue that these structural barriers create and reinforce processes of minoritising that increase marginalization and discrimination and thereby hinder work inclusion for Roma individuals.

Exploring Socio-material Orderings in Ethnography of Architectural Design

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lotz, Katrine; Stang Våland, Marianne

How can the socio-material assemblages involved in contemporary ‘doings of architecture’ be identified and studied? The paper discusses recent transformations within architectural design practice and the extended network of local actors and technologies mobilized in contemporary building...... construction. Interested in examining how the current requirements in the field are – and can be - handled in architectural production, we aim to contribute to the ongoing development of ethnography of Architectural Design (Yaneva 2008, 2009, 2012). In our research, we focus on recent requirements...... in contemporary architectural design. We attempt to follow the actors in detail through their socio-material involvements and ‘architectural inventions’ such as visualized motives of space, materials, atmospheres, buildingparts and -components, and to explore how relations continuously tie and untie as a means...

Genre Analysis in the Frame of Systemic Functional Linguistics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Najih Imtihani

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Systemic Functional Linguistics is a linguistics approach which cop-siders not only the structure of the language but also its social context. In the Systemic Functional Linguistics the concept of genre is defined as a step-by-step activity to reach the goal. The concept of genre is used to describe the cultural context in a language. According to this view, text should be seen and observed in its interaction with the context and social background. For that, the genre analysis will constantly involve the linguistic social context in the forms of field, tenor, mode, schematic structure and its realization in the text.

Using the Linguistic Landscape to Bridge Languages

Science.gov (United States)

Mari, Vanessa

2018-01-01

In this article Vanessa Mari describes how she uses the linguistic landscape to bridge two or more languages with students learning English. The linguistic landscape is defined by Landry and Bourhis (1997, 25) as "the language of public road signs, advertising billboards, street names, place names, commercial shop signs, and public signs on…

Examining emotional expressions in discourse: methodological considerations

Science.gov (United States)

Hufnagel, Elizabeth; Kelly, Gregory J.

2017-10-01

This methodological paper presents an approach for examining emotional expressions through discourse analysis and ethnographic methods. Drawing on trends in the current literature in science education, we briefly explain the importance of emotions in science education and examine the current research methodologies used in interactional emotion studies. We put forth and substantiate a methodological approach that attends to the interactional, contextual, intertextual, and consequential aspects of emotional expressions. By examining emotional expressions in the discourse in which they are constructed, emotional expressions are identified through semantics, contextualization, and linguistic features. These features make salient four dimensions of emotional expressions: aboutness, frequency, type, and ownership. Drawing on data from a large empirical study of pre-service elementary teachers' emotional expressions about climate change in a science course, we provide illustrative examples to describe what counts as emotional expressions in situ. In doing so we explain how our approach makes salient the nuanced nature of such expressions as well as the broader discourse in which they are constructed and the implications for researching emotional expressions in science education discourse. We suggest reasons why this discourse orientated research methodology can contribute to the interactional study of emotions in science education contexts.

Can delusions be understood linguistically?

Science.gov (United States)

Hinzen, Wolfram; Rosselló, Joana; McKenna, Peter

2016-07-01

Delusions are widely believed to reflect disturbed cognitive function, but the nature of this remains elusive. The "un-Cartesian" cognitive-linguistic hypothesis maintains (a) that there is no thought separate from language, that is, there is no distinct mental space removed from language where "thinking" takes place; and (b) that a somewhat broadened concept of grammar is responsible for bestowing meaning on propositions, and this among other things gives them their quality of being true or false. It is argued that a loss of propositional meaning explains why delusions are false, impossible and sometimes fantastic. A closely related abnormality, failure of linguistic embedding, can additionally account for why delusions are held with fixed conviction and are not adequately justified by the patient. The un-Cartesian linguistic approach to delusions has points of contact with Frith's theory that inability to form meta-representations underlies a range of schizophrenic symptoms. It may also be relevant to the nature of the "second factor" in monothematic delusions in neurological disease. Finally, it can inform the current debate about whether or not delusions really are beliefs.

Formal monkey linguistics

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schlenker, Philippe; Chemla, Emmanuel; Schel, Anne M.; Fuller, James; Gautier, Jean Pierre; Kuhn, Jeremy; Veselinović, Dunja; Arnold, Kate; Cäsar, Cristiane; Keenan, Sumir; Lemasson, Alban; Ouattara, Karim; Ryder, Robin; Zuberbühler, Klaus

2016-01-01

We argue that rich data gathered in experimental primatology in the last 40 years can benefit from analytical methods used in contemporary linguistics. Focusing on the syntactic and especially semantic side, we suggest that these methods could help clarify five questions: (i) what morphology and

Linguistic Variability and Intellectual Development. Miami Linguistics Series No. 9.

Science.gov (United States)

von Humboldt, Wilhelm

Although this edition of Wilhelm von Humboldt's "Linguistic Variability and Intellectual Development" is based entirely on the original German edition, the translators (George C. Buck and Frithjof A. Raven) and the publisher have attempted to clarify certain aspects of this work for the modern-day reader. These features include the addition of…

Mathematical Approaches to Cognitive Linguistics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chuluundorj Begz

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Cognitive linguistics, neuro-cognitive and psychological analysis of human verbal cognition present important area of multidisciplinary research. Mathematical methods and models have been introduced in number of publications with increasing attention to these theories. In this paper we have described some possible applications of mathematical methods to cognitive linguistics. Human verbal perception and verbal mapping deal with dissipative mental structures and symmetric/asymmetric relationships between objects of perception and deep (also surface structures of language. In that’s way methods of tensor analysis are ambitious candidate to be applied to analysis of human verbal thinking and mental space.

Linguistics, human communication and psychiatry.

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas, P; Fraser, W

1994-11-01

Psycholinguistics and sociolinguistics have extended our understanding of the abnormal communication seen in psychosis, as well as that of people with autism and Asperger's syndrome. Psycholinguistics has the potential to increase the explanatory power of cognitive and neuropsychological approaches to psychosis and new methods of assessment and therapy are now being developed, based on linguistic theory. A MEDLINE literature search was used. Of 205 relevant articles identified, 65 were selected for review. Greater familiarity with linguistic theory could improve psychiatrists' assessment skills and their understanding of the relevance of human communication to the new cognitive models of psychosis.

Untangling Linguistic Salience

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Boswijk, Vincent; Coler, Matt; Loerts, Hanneke; Hilton, Nanna

2018-01-01

The concept of linguistic salience is broadly used within sociolinguistics to account for processes as diverse as language change (Kerswill & Williams, 2002) and language acquisition (Ellis, 2016) in that salient forms are e.g. more likely to undergo change, or are often acquired earlier than other

Linguistics and Literacy.

Science.gov (United States)

Kindell, Gloria

1983-01-01

Discusses four general areas of linguistics studies that are particularly relevant to literacy issues: (1) discourse analysis, including text analysis, spoken and written language, and home and school discourse; (2) relationships between speech and writing, the distance between dialects and written norms, and developmental writing; (3)…

Saussure and Linguistic Geography.

Science.gov (United States)

Harris, Roy

1993-01-01

Discusses Saussures's "Cours de linguistique generale," which was published in 1916, and devotes specific attention to the significance of Part VI, which is devoted to linguistic geography. (16 references) (Author/VWL)

From ethnography to the EAST method: a tractable approach for representing distributed cognition in Air Traffic Control.

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, Guy H; Stanton, Neville A; Baber, Chris; Wells, Linda; Gibson, Huw; Salmon, Paul; Jenkins, Daniel

2010-02-01

Command and control is a generic activity involving the exercise of authority over assigned resources, combined with planning, coordinating and controlling how those resources are used. The challenge for understanding this type of activity is that it is not often amenable to the conventional experimental/methodological approach. Command and control tends to be multi-faceted (so requires more than one method), is made up of interacting socio and technical elements (so requires a systemic approach) and exhibits aggregate behaviours that emerge from these interactions (so requires methods that go beyond reductionism). In these circumstances a distributed cognition approach is highly appropriate yet the existing ethnographic methods make it difficult to apply and, for non-specialist audiences, sometimes difficult to meaningfully interpret. The Event Analysis for Systemic Teamwork method is put forward as a means of working from a distributed cognition perspective but in a way that goes beyond ethnography. A worked example from Air Traffic Control is used to illustrate how the language of social science can be translated into the language of systems analysis. Statement of Relevance: Distributed cognition provides a highly appropriate conceptual response to complex work settings such as Air Traffic Control. This paper deals with how to realise those benefits in practice without recourse to problematic ethnographic techniques.

Academically Elite Students in Singapore: A Collective Moral Stance toward Aspirations and Trajectories

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Luke

2016-01-01

This paper draws on a Linguistic Ethnography (Blommaert & Rampton 2011) of a group of academically elite students in Singapore. The group comprises locals born in Singapore, as well as immigrants from China and Vietnam. My informants all attended a top-ranked secondary school in Singapore. I present data from interviews and a focus group…

What Does Corpus Linguistics Have to Offer to Language Assessment?

Science.gov (United States)

Xi, Xiaoming

2017-01-01

In recent years, continuing advances in technology have increased the capacity to automate the extraction of a range of linguistic features of texts and thus have provided the impetus for the substantial growth of corpus linguistics. While corpus linguistic tools and methods have been used extensively in second language learning research, they…

An institutional ethnography of a feminist organization: a study of community education in Ireland

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maeve O'Grady

2017-10-01

Full Text Available A small Irish independent women's community education organisation, founded to provide personal development and community education programmes for women who cannot pay for them, has experienced the struggles of surviving in a patriarchal state that no longer supports women's community building but which funds individual capacity building for 'labour market activation' purposes. The organisation consists of three staff funded to work on a part-time basis, facilitators who work on an ad-hoc basis to meet the needs of groups of participants, the women who participate in different groups in the organisation, the staff of a crèche, and voluntary members. The purpose of the research is to support the need for the organisation to reconceptualise the meaning of the work of the organisation using institutional ethnography methodology to question the extent to which the work can been seen as political and feminist, and adhering to its original ideals. The research consisted of four weeks of fieldwork in the organisation with the participants, followed by a focus group of staff and facilitators reflecting on features that participants valued: making new connections, groupwork, the physical environment, the challenge and support, and the pace of the work. The provision of a space and culture that transgresses the norms of dominant cultural understandings of being a working-class woman is now understood to be the radical outcome, with the original expectation of the possibility of empowering participants to become feminist activists receding but remaining an ideal.

Linguistic Policies, Linguistic Planning, and Brazilian Sign Language in Brazil

Science.gov (United States)

de Quadros, Ronice Muller

2012-01-01

This article explains the consolidation of Brazilian Sign Language in Brazil through a linguistic plan that arose from the Brazilian Sign Language Federal Law 10.436 of April 2002 and the subsequent Federal Decree 5695 of December 2005. Two concrete facts that emerged from this existing language plan are discussed: the implementation of bilingual…

Hemispheric lateralization of linguistic prosody recognition in comparison to speech and speaker recognition.

Science.gov (United States)

Kreitewolf, Jens; Friederici, Angela D; von Kriegstein, Katharina

2014-11-15

Hemispheric specialization for linguistic prosody is a controversial issue. While it is commonly assumed that linguistic prosody and emotional prosody are preferentially processed in the right hemisphere, neuropsychological work directly comparing processes of linguistic prosody and emotional prosody suggests a predominant role of the left hemisphere for linguistic prosody processing. Here, we used two functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiments to clarify the role of left and right hemispheres in the neural processing of linguistic prosody. In the first experiment, we sought to confirm previous findings showing that linguistic prosody processing compared to other speech-related processes predominantly involves the right hemisphere. Unlike previous studies, we controlled for stimulus influences by employing a prosody and speech task using the same speech material. The second experiment was designed to investigate whether a left-hemispheric involvement in linguistic prosody processing is specific to contrasts between linguistic prosody and emotional prosody or whether it also occurs when linguistic prosody is contrasted against other non-linguistic processes (i.e., speaker recognition). Prosody and speaker tasks were performed on the same stimulus material. In both experiments, linguistic prosody processing was associated with activity in temporal, frontal, parietal and cerebellar regions. Activation in temporo-frontal regions showed differential lateralization depending on whether the control task required recognition of speech or speaker: recognition of linguistic prosody predominantly involved right temporo-frontal areas when it was contrasted against speech recognition; when contrasted against speaker recognition, recognition of linguistic prosody predominantly involved left temporo-frontal areas. The results show that linguistic prosody processing involves functions of both hemispheres and suggest that recognition of linguistic prosody is based on

Guatemalan Linguistics Project

Science.gov (United States)

Linguistic Reporter, 1974

1974-01-01

The general goals of the Guatemalan technical institution, the Proyecto Linguistico Francisco Marroquin, are to: create a national technical resource institution in linguistics and Mayan languages; enable Indians to influence programs for their communities; and stimulate the study of Mayan languages and their use as communication medium. (SW)

Stability of Shifting Ground. Feminist Ethnography and Practice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Deborah Blizzard

2013-01-01

Full Text Available In this article the two authors problematize the moment of stabilization in doing fieldwork and writing ethnography from a feminist perspective. The paper begins with an introduction to the question: How do feminist science studies scholars reconcile a normative need to stabilize our research site to create knowledge within the shifting ground of “truth claims” that feminist practices acknowledge and document? The heart of the paper reflects on our experiences as feminist theorists, teachers, and ethnographers with vignettes from studies of high-risk pregnancies in the industrialized world, specifically the United States, and gender and everyday technologies in West Africa. Our goal is to theorize this instability in order to highlight the limits and benefits of working with consciousness and reflectivity in social contexts while challenging and enriching the vibrancy of our feminist theory and practice.

Cross-Linguistic Transfer among Iranian Learners of English as a Foreign Language

Science.gov (United States)

Talebi, Seyed Hassan

2014-01-01

Cross-linguistic transfer studies began from linguistic aspects of language learning and moved to non-linguistic aspects. The intriguing question is whether students are aware of the nature of these cross-linguistic interactions in their minds. For this purpose, a semi-structured interview was conducted with four Iranian university students. It…

Functional Grammar in the Context of Linguistic Applications in Turkish Language Teaching

Science.gov (United States)

Epcacan, Cahit

2013-01-01

In the last century, language researches adopted the scientific method and linguistics became an autonomous discipline. Linguistics is a framework concept that analyzes all languages in the world in various contexts according to its own rules and draws conclusions using the systematic approach. Functional linguistics is a linguistic trend that…

The Actualization of Literary Learning Model Based on Verbal-Linguistic Intelligence

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nur Ihsan Halil

2017-10-01

Full Text Available This article is inspired by Howard Gardner's concept of linguistic intelligence and also from some authors' previous writings. All of them became the authors' reference in developing ideas on constructing a literary learning model based on linguistic intelligence. The writing of this article is not done by collecting data empirically, but by developing and constructing an existing concept, namely the concept of linguistic intelligence, which is disseminated into a literature-based learning of verbal-linguistic intelligence. The purpose of this paper is to answer the question of how to apply the literary learning model based on the verbal-linguistic intelligence. Then, regarding Gardner's concept, the author formulated a literary learning model based on the verbal-linguistic intelligence through a story-telling learning model with five steps namely arguing, discussing, interpreting, speaking, and writing about literary works. In short, the writer draw a conclusion that learning-based models of verbal-linguistic intelligence can be designed with attention into five components namely (1 definition, (2 characteristics, (3 teaching strategy, (4 final learning outcomes, and (5 figures.

A General Overview of Motivation in Linguistics

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

王航

2014-01-01

In recent years, the term of motivation in linguistics study has aroused the interests of scholars. Different studies of mo -tivation have been produced by different scholars. In this paper, the writer organizes the recent studies on motivation in linguistics. the paper is divided into three parts, the introduction of the term motivation, different types of motivation, and theories of moti -vation.

Towards a Critical Health Equity Research Stance: Why Epistemology and Methodology Matter More Than Qualitative Methods.

Science.gov (United States)

Bowleg, Lisa

2017-10-01

Qualitative methods are not intrinsically progressive. Methods are simply tools to conduct research. Epistemology, the justification of knowledge, shapes methodology and methods, and thus is a vital starting point for a critical health equity research stance, regardless of whether the methods are qualitative, quantitative, or mixed. In line with this premise, I address four themes in this commentary. First, I criticize the ubiquitous and uncritical use of the term health disparities in U.S. public health. Next, I advocate for the increased use of qualitative methodologies-namely, photovoice and critical ethnography-that, pursuant to critical approaches, prioritize dismantling social-structural inequities as a prerequisite to health equity. Thereafter, I discuss epistemological stance and its influence on all aspects of the research process. Finally, I highlight my critical discourse analysis HIV prevention research based on individual interviews and focus groups with Black men, as an example of a critical health equity research approach.

A note on statistical methods in comparative linguistics

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Cowan, H.K.J.

1959-01-01

It is desirable to distinguish between lexicostatistics as a means of proving relationships between languages or linguistic groups not previously known to be related, and glottochronology as a means of measuring the time depths of separations between languages or linguistic groups already known to

Genre and Literacy-Modeling Context in Educational Linguistics.

Science.gov (United States)

Martin, James R.

1992-01-01

Complements review in previous volume concerning Australian literacy (in first- and second-language) initiatives that drew on systemic functional linguistics, highlights ongoing research within the same theoretical framework, and focuses on the question of modeling context in educational linguistics. The discussion includes modeling context as…

Linguistic Culture and Essentialism in South Africa

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stephanie Rudwick

2008-10-01

Full Text Available This paper explores how language and culture are intertwined and often regarded as “invariable fixed properties” in contemporary South Africa by focusing on one particular indigenous African language group, i.e. isiZulu-speakers. Drawing from general theoretical sociolinguistic approaches to language and culture and considering South Africa’s socio-political history, the paper demonstrates the significance and saliency of Zulu linguistic culture to Zulu people in the post-apartheid state. It is examined, how Zulu linguistic culture is regarded a resource in the isiZulu-speaking community and as one of the most salient tools of in-group identification in the larger contemporary South African society. Zulu people’s culture is profoundly language-embedded and Zulu linguistic culture often based on essentialism.

ARGUMENTAÇÃO NA LINGUÍSTICA DOS GÊNEROS: ESPECIFICIDADES TEÓRICO-METODOLÓGICAS / Argumentation in linguistics of genres: theoretical and methodological specificities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rosalice Pinto

2016-05-01

Full Text Available RESUMO Este artigo, perspectivado no quadro teórico de uma linguística dos gêneros (RASTIER, 2001, mas com contribuições teóricas de abordagens textual-discursivas – Adam (2008, Amossy (2012, Maingueneau (2004 – visa a estudar de que forma fatores contextuais (prática social, lugar de circulação, agente de produção, público-alvo, objetivo e suporte, de caráter genérico, podem vir a influenciar a materialidade argumentativa multimodal, de alguns gêneros persuasivos – Pinto (2011. Seguindo uma metodologia descendente de análise (BRONCKART, 1999, objetiva-se aqui atestar que as escolhas argumentativas perpetradas pelo agente produtor são condicionadas por aspectos genéricos diversos (PINTO, 2010; 2011. Para fins demostrativos, este estudo se centra na análise de um exemplar de outdoor político produzido em Portugal. Estudos preliminares confirmam a correlação entre coerções contextuais impostas pelo gênero e a seleção de recursos textuais. Especialmente, no caso deste exemplar prototípico, o lugar de circulação e a finalidade do próprio texto coíbem fortemente a construção argumentativa multimodal do gênero outdoor político. Palavras-chave: Argumentação, Linguística dos gêneros, Multimodalidade. ABSTRACT This paper, based on the perspective of Linguistics of genres with the theoretical contributions of some textual-discursive approaches Adam (2008, Amossy (2012, Maingueneau (2004 aims at verifying that contextual aspects (social practice, place of circulation, producer agent, interpreter, objective and support, concerning generic elements, may influence the argumentative multimodal materiality of some persuasive genres. Following a top-down methodology of analysis (BRONCKART, 1999, the objetive is to verify that the argumentative strategies selected by the producer are constrained by diferente generic aspects (PINTO, 2010; 2011. In order to confirm this hypothesis, this study is focused on the analysis

A responsible agenda for applied linguistics: Confessions of a philosopher

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Albert Weideman

2011-08-01

Full Text Available When we undertake academic, disciplinary work, we rely on philosophical starting points. Several straightforward illustrations of this can be found in the history of applied linguistics. It is evident from the history of our field that various historically influential approaches to our discipline base themselves upon different academic confessions. This paper examines the effects of basing our applied linguistic work on the idea that applied linguistics is a discipline concerned with design. Such a characterisation does justice to both modernist and postmodernist emphases in applied linguistics. Conceptualisations of applied linguistics that came with the proposals for communicative language teaching (CLT some thirty to forty years ago propelled the discipline squarely into postmodern times. To account for this, we need to develop a theory of applied linguistics which shows what constitutive and regulative conditions exist for doing applied linguistic designs. A responsible agenda for applied linguistics today has as its first responsibility to free the users of its designs from toil and drudgery, as well as from becoming victims of fashion, ideology or theory. Secondly, it should design solutions to language problems in such a way that the technical imagination of the designer is not restricted but supported by theory and empirical investigation, and that the productive pedagogical fantasy of the implementers of such plans is set free. Thirdly, it must seek to become accountable by designing theoretically and socially defensible solutions to language problems, solutions that relieve some of the suffering, pain, poverty and injustice in our world.

An experimental methodology for a fuzzy set preference model

Science.gov (United States)

Turksen, I. B.; Willson, Ian A.

1992-01-01

A flexible fuzzy set preference model first requires approximate methodologies for implementation. Fuzzy sets must be defined for each individual consumer using computer software, requiring a minimum of time and expertise on the part of the consumer. The amount of information needed in defining sets must also be established. The model itself must adapt fully to the subject's choice of attributes (vague or precise), attribute levels, and importance weights. The resulting individual-level model should be fully adapted to each consumer. The methodologies needed to develop this model will be equally useful in a new generation of intelligent systems which interact with ordinary consumers, controlling electronic devices through fuzzy expert systems or making recommendations based on a variety of inputs. The power of personal computers and their acceptance by consumers has yet to be fully utilized to create interactive knowledge systems that fully adapt their function to the user. Understanding individual consumer preferences is critical to the design of new products and the estimation of demand (market share) for existing products, which in turn is an input to management systems concerned with production and distribution. The question of what to make, for whom to make it and how much to make requires an understanding of the customer's preferences and the trade-offs that exist between alternatives. Conjoint analysis is a widely used methodology which de-composes an overall preference for an object into a combination of preferences for its constituent parts (attributes such as taste and price), which are combined using an appropriate combination function. Preferences are often expressed using linguistic terms which cannot be represented in conjoint models. Current models are also not implemented an individual level, making it difficult to reach meaningful conclusions about the cause of an individual's behavior from an aggregate model. The combination of complex aggregate

Image schemas and mimetic schemas in cognitive linguistics and gesture studies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Cienki, A.J.

2013-01-01

Image schemas have been a fundamental construct in cognitive linguistics, providing grounds for psychological, philosophical, as well as linguistic research. Given the focus in cognitive linguistics on embodied experience as a fundamental basis for language structure and meaning, the employment of

Linguistic Barriers and Bridges

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thuesen, Frederik

2016-01-01

The influence of language on social capital in low-skill and ethnically diverse workplaces has thus far received very limited attention within the sociology of work. As the ethnically diverse workplace is an important social space for the construction of social relations bridging different social...... groups, the sociology of work needs to develop a better understanding of the way in which linguistic diversity influences the formation of social capital, i.e. resources such as the trust and reciprocity inherent in social relations in such workplaces. Drawing on theories about intergroup contact...... and intercultural communication, this article analyses interviews with 31 employees from two highly ethnically diverse Danish workplaces. The article shows how linguistic barriers such as different levels of majority language competence and their consequent misunderstandings breed mistrust and hostility, whilst...

Can delusions be understood linguistically?

Science.gov (United States)

Hinzen, Wolfram; Rosselló, Joana; McKenna, Peter

2016-01-01

ABSTRACT Delusions are widely believed to reflect disturbed cognitive function, but the nature of this remains elusive. The “un-Cartesian” cognitive-linguistic hypothesis maintains (a) that there is no thought separate from language, that is, there is no distinct mental space removed from language where “thinking” takes place; and (b) that a somewhat broadened concept of grammar is responsible for bestowing meaning on propositions, and this among other things gives them their quality of being true or false. It is argued that a loss of propositional meaning explains why delusions are false, impossible and sometimes fantastic. A closely related abnormality, failure of linguistic embedding, can additionally account for why delusions are held with fixed conviction and are not adequately justified by the patient. The un-Cartesian linguistic approach to delusions has points of contact with Frith’s theory that inability to form meta-representations underlies a range of schizophrenic symptoms. It may also be relevant to the nature of the “second factor” in monothematic delusions in neurological disease. Finally, it can inform the current debate about whether or not delusions really are beliefs. PMID:27322493

Linguistic Features of Humor in Academic Writing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stephen Skalicky

2016-06-01

Full Text Available A corpus of 313 freshman college essays was analyzed in order to better understand the forms and functions of humor in academic writing. Human ratings of humor and wordplay were statistically aggregated using Factor Analysis to provide an overall Humor component score for each essay in the corpus. In addition, the essays were also scored for overall writing quality by human raters, which correlated (r = .195 with the humor component score. Correlations between the humor component scores and linguistic features were examined. To investigate the potential for linguistic features to predict the Humor component scores, regression analysis identified four linguistic indices that accounted for approximately 17.5% of the variance in humor scores. These indices were related to text descriptiveness (i.e., more adjective and adverb use, lower cohesion (i.e., less paragraph-to-paragraph similarity, and lexical sophistication (lower word frequency. The findings suggest that humor can be partially predicted by linguistic features in the text. Furthermore, there was a small but significant correlation between the humor and essay quality scores, suggesting a positive relation between humor and writing quality. Keywords: humor, academic writing, text analysis, essay score, human rating

Preprocessing Greek Papyri for Linguistic Annotation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vierros, Marja

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Greek documentary papyri form an important direct source for Ancient Greek. It has been exploited surprisingly little in Greek linguistics due to a lack of good tools for searching linguistic structures. This article presents a new tool and digital platform, “Sematia”, which enables transforming the digital texts available in TEI EpiDoc XML format to a format which can be morphologically and syntactically annotated (treebanked, and where the user can add new metadata concerning the text type, writer and handwriting of each act of writing. An important aspect in this process is to take into account the original surviving writing vs. the standardization of language and supplements made by the editors. This is performed by creating two different layers of the same text. The platform is in its early development phase. Ongoing and future developments, such as tagging linguistic variation phenomena as well as queries performed within Sematia, are discussed at the end of the article.

Probabilistic Linguistic Power Aggregation Operators for Multi-Criteria Group Decision Making

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Agbodah Kobina

2017-12-01

Full Text Available As an effective aggregation tool, power average (PA allows the input arguments being aggregated to support and reinforce each other, which provides more versatility in the information aggregation process. Under the probabilistic linguistic term environment, we deeply investigate the new power aggregation (PA operators for fusing the probabilistic linguistic term sets (PLTSs. In this paper, we firstly develop the probabilistic linguistic power average (PLPA, the weighted probabilistic linguistic power average (WPLPA operators, the probabilistic linguistic power geometric (PLPG and the weighted probabilistic linguistic power geometric (WPLPG operators. At the same time, we carefully analyze the properties of these new aggregation operators. With the aid of the WPLPA and WPLPG operators, we further design the approaches for the application of multi-criteria group decision-making (MCGDM with PLTSs. Finally, we use an illustrated example to expound our proposed methods and verify their performances.

A Python Library for Historical Comparative Linguistics

OpenAIRE

Moran , Steven; List , Johann-Mattis

2012-01-01

Awarded best paper award; International audience; In this talk we will discuss a European Research Council funded collaborative effort to build a Python library for undertaking academic research in historical-comparative linguistics. Our aim of implementing quantitative methods, specifically in Python, is to transform historical-comparative linguistics from a primarily handcrafted scientific scholarly endeavor, performed by individual researchers, into a quantitative and collaborative field o...

Linguistic relativity.

Science.gov (United States)

Wolff, Phillip; Holmes, Kevin J

2011-05-01

The central question in research on linguistic relativity, or the Whorfian hypothesis, is whether people who speak different languages think differently. The recent resurgence of research on this question can be attributed, in part, to new insights about the ways in which language might impact thought. We identify seven categories of hypotheses about the possible effects of language on thought across a wide range of domains, including motion, color, spatial relations, number, and false belief understanding. While we do not find support for the idea that language determines the basic categories of thought or that it overwrites preexisting conceptual distinctions, we do find support for the proposal that language can make some distinctions difficult to avoid, as well as for the proposal that language can augment certain types of thinking. Further, we highlight recent evidence suggesting that language may induce a relatively schematic mode of thinking. Although the literature on linguistic relativity remains contentious, there is growing support for the view that language has a profound effect on thought. WIREs Cogni Sci 2011 2 253-265 DOI: 10.1002/wcs.104 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

ファッションのエスノグラフィー : 写真が伝える装いの実像

OpenAIRE

渡辺, 明日香; Asuka, Watanabe

2015-01-01

This paper presents the ethnography methodologies that situate collections of fashion photographs as their subject. In particular, the focus herein is on concrete examples of fashion photography collections that have, in recent years, gained new meaning as ethnographic case studies in the realm of fashion. We explored the various research methodologies that are used on these subjects. If we consider that ethnography developed as a means of understanding the worldview of other cultures and peo...

The Linguistic and Embodied Nature of Conceptual Processing

Science.gov (United States)

Louwerse, Max M.; Jeuniaux, Patrick

2010-01-01

Recent theories of cognition have argued that embodied experience is important for conceptual processing. Embodiment can be contrasted with linguistic factors such as the typical order in which words appear in language. Here, we report four experiments that investigated the conditions under which embodiment and linguistic factors determine…

Gradual linguistic summaries

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wilbik, A.M.; Kaymak, U.; Laurent, A.; Strauss, O.; Bouchon-Meunier, xx

2014-01-01

In this paper we propose a new type of protoform-based linguistic summary – the gradual summary. This new type of summaries aims in capturing the change over some time span. Such summaries can be useful in many domains, for instance in economics, e.g., "prices of X are getting smaller" in eldercare,

Perspectives in Linguistics.

Science.gov (United States)

Waterman, John T.

Intended for the student of linguistics or the structural grammarian, who must develop an awareness of their intellectual heritage, the present work surveys the study of language in ancient times, the medieval and early modern periods, the nineteenth century, and the twentieth century to 1950. (This second edition includes additional material on…

Cross-linguistic perspectives on speech assessment in cleft palate

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Willadsen, Elisabeth; Henningsson, Gunilla

2012-01-01

. Finally, the influence of different languages on some aspects of language acquisition in young children with cleft palate is presented and discussed. Until recently, not much has been written about cross linguistic perspectives when dealing with cleft palate speech. Most literature about assessment......This chapter deals with cross linguistic perspectives that need to be taken into account when comparing speech assessment and speech outcome obtained from cleft palate speakers of different languages. Firstly, an overview of consonants and vowels vulnerable to the cleft condition is presented. Then......, consequences for assessment of cleft palate speech by native versus non-native speakers of a language are discussed, as well as the use of phonemic versus phonetic transcription in cross linguistic studies. Specific recommendations for the construction of speech samples in cross linguistic studies are given...

Italian version of Dyspnoea-12: cultural-linguistic validation, quantitative and qualitative content validity study.

Science.gov (United States)

Caruso, Rosario; Arrigoni, Cristina; Groppelli, Katia; Magon, Arianna; Dellafiore, Federica; Pittella, Francesco; Grugnetti, Anna Maria; Chessa, Massimo; Yorke, Janelle

2018-01-16

Dyspnoea-12 is a valid and reliable scale to assess dyspneic symptom, considering its severity, physical and emotional components. However, it is not available in Italian version due to it was not yet translated and validated. For this reason, the aim of this study was to develop an Italian version Dyspnoea-12, providing a cultural and linguistic validation, supported by the quantitative and qualitative content validity. This was a methodological study, divided into two phases: phase one is related to the cultural and linguistic validation, phase two is related to test the quantitative and qualitative content validity. Linguistic validation followed a standardized translation process. Quantitative content validity was assessed computing content validity ratio (CVR) and index (I-CVIs and S-CVI) from expert panellists response. Qualitative content validity was assessed by the narrative analysis on the answers of three open-ended questions to the expert panellists, aimed to investigate the clarity and the pertinence of the Italian items. The translation process found a good agreement in considering clear the items in both the six involved bilingual expert translators and among the ten voluntary involved patients. CVR, I-CVIs and S-CVI were satisfactory for all the translated items. This study has represented a pivotal step to use Dyspnoea-12 amongst Italian patients. Future researches are needed to deeply investigate the Italian version of  Dyspnoea-12 construct validity and its reliability, and to describe how dyspnoea components (i.e. physical and emotional) impact the life of patients with cardiorespiratory diseases.

A Brief History of the 19th-century Historical and Comparative Linguistics

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

郭丽娟

2016-01-01

In a broad sense Linguistics boasts a history as long as the history of writing. Knowledge of linguistics involves its history. And a history of linguistics is related to the origin of human language. Language is one of the most wonderful phenomena in human ’s social life. This paper introduce a brief history of historical and comparative linguistics in 19th–century.

The value and potential of multisited ethnography for science education research: a review of Jrène Rahm's Science in the Making at the Margin

Science.gov (United States)

Beeman-Cadwallader, Nicole

2012-03-01

Rahm sought to illuminate how children and youth make meaning of science in three out-of-school time programs, and the identity work that is done through the trajectory of their youth toward their young adulthood. Through using multisited ethnography, she asserts that we can learn more about what the youth say about their science learning and science literacy development in these programs. She has revealed through her rich data the potential value of multisited ethnography for science education research. A similar theme of insider/outsider status to science emerged in each of the three sites. The nature of the data collected in Rahm's multisited ethnography allowed for the unveiling of the similarities in this theme, but also made evident the nuanced ways that this theme presented itself differently across the three sites. The additional potential came through in the varied data Rahm could have delved into and did not. A unique characteristic of ethnographic research, that is not necessarily present in other research methods, is that a wide array of varied data is collected. An analysis of documents, images, and observational field notes, which go beyond interview data, may provide deeper understandings previously untouched in science education.

An Analysis of Social Class Classification Based on Linguistic Variables

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

QU Xia-sha

2016-01-01

Since language is an influential tool in social interaction, the relationship of speech and social factors, such as social class, gender, even age is worth studying. People employ different linguistic variables to imply their social class, status and iden-tity in the social interaction. Thus the linguistic variation involves vocabulary, sounds, grammatical constructions, dialects and so on. As a result, a classification of social class draws people’s attention. Linguistic variable in speech interactions indicate the social relationship between people. This paper attempts to illustrate three main linguistic variables which influence the social class, and further sociolinguistic studies need to be more concerned about.

Building "Applied Linguistic Historiography": Rationale, Scope, and Methods

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Richard

2016-01-01

In this article I argue for the establishment of "Applied Linguistic Historiography" (ALH), that is, a new domain of enquiry within applied linguistics involving a rigorous, scholarly, and self-reflexive approach to historical research. Considering issues of rationale, scope, and methods in turn, I provide reasons why ALH is needed and…

An Art Educator's Journey of Becoming a Researcher: A Self-Reflective Auto-Ethnography of Identity Construction and Personal Growth

Science.gov (United States)

Riedler, Martina

2016-01-01

In this self-reflective auto-ethnographic research, the author shares her experiences of introspection, change and professional growth as an art educator in an international context. Auto-ethnography is an approach to qualitative inquiry in which the researcher employs self-reflection to explore her personal experiences and connect these…

A Linguistic Analysis of Suicide-Related Twitter Posts.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Dea, Bridianne; Larsen, Mark E; Batterham, Philip J; Calear, Alison L; Christensen, Helen

2017-09-01

Suicide is a leading cause of death worldwide. Identifying those at risk and delivering timely interventions is challenging. Social media site Twitter is used to express suicidality. Automated linguistic analysis of suicide-related posts may help to differentiate those who require support or intervention from those who do not. This study aims to characterize the linguistic profiles of suicide-related Twitter posts. Using a dataset of suicide-related Twitter posts previously coded for suicide risk by experts, Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) and regression analyses were conducted to determine differences in linguistic profiles. When compared with matched non-suicide-related Twitter posts, strongly concerning suicide-related posts were characterized by a higher word count, increased use of first-person pronouns, and more references to death. When compared with safe-to-ignore suicide-related posts, strongly concerning suicide-related posts were characterized by increased use of first-person pronouns, greater anger, and increased focus on the present. Other differences were found. The predictive validity of the identified features needs further testing before these results can be used for interventional purposes. This study demonstrates that strongly concerning suicide-related Twitter posts have unique linguistic profiles. The examination of Twitter data for the presence of such features may help to validate online risk assessments and determine those in need of further support or intervention.

Backward Dependencies and in-Situ wh-Questions as Test Cases on How to Approach Experimental Linguistics Research That Pursues Theoretical Linguistics Questions

Science.gov (United States)

Pablos, Leticia; Doetjes, Jenny; Cheng, Lisa L.-S.

2018-01-01

The empirical study of language is a young field in contemporary linguistics. This being the case, and following a natural development process, the field is currently at a stage where different research methods and experimental approaches are being put into question in terms of their validity. Without pretending to provide an answer with respect to the best way to conduct linguistics related experimental research, in this article we aim at examining the process that researchers follow in the design and implementation of experimental linguistics research with a goal to validate specific theoretical linguistic analyses. First, we discuss the general challenges that experimental work faces in finding a compromise between addressing theoretically relevant questions and being able to implement these questions in a specific controlled experimental paradigm. We discuss the Granularity Mismatch Problem (Poeppel and Embick, 2005) which addresses the challenges that research that is trying to bridge the representations and computations of language and their psycholinguistic/neurolinguistic evidence faces, and the basic assumptions that interdisciplinary research needs to consider due to the different conceptual granularity of the objects under study. To illustrate the practical implications of the points addressed, we compare two approaches to perform linguistic experimental research by reviewing a number of our own studies strongly grounded on theoretically informed questions. First, we show how linguistic phenomena similar at a conceptual level can be tested within the same language using measurement of event-related potentials (ERP) by discussing results from two ERP experiments on the processing of long-distance backward dependencies that involve coreference and negative polarity items respectively in Dutch. Second, we examine how the same linguistic phenomenon can be tested in different languages using reading time measures by discussing the outcome of four self

Backward Dependencies and in-Situ wh-Questions as Test Cases on How to Approach Experimental Linguistics Research That Pursues Theoretical Linguistics Questions.

Science.gov (United States)

Pablos, Leticia; Doetjes, Jenny; Cheng, Lisa L-S

2017-01-01

The empirical study of language is a young field in contemporary linguistics. This being the case, and following a natural development process, the field is currently at a stage where different research methods and experimental approaches are being put into question in terms of their validity. Without pretending to provide an answer with respect to the best way to conduct linguistics related experimental research, in this article we aim at examining the process that researchers follow in the design and implementation of experimental linguistics research with a goal to validate specific theoretical linguistic analyses. First, we discuss the general challenges that experimental work faces in finding a compromise between addressing theoretically relevant questions and being able to implement these questions in a specific controlled experimental paradigm. We discuss the Granularity Mismatch Problem (Poeppel and Embick, 2005) which addresses the challenges that research that is trying to bridge the representations and computations of language and their psycholinguistic/neurolinguistic evidence faces, and the basic assumptions that interdisciplinary research needs to consider due to the different conceptual granularity of the objects under study. To illustrate the practical implications of the points addressed, we compare two approaches to perform linguistic experimental research by reviewing a number of our own studies strongly grounded on theoretically informed questions. First, we show how linguistic phenomena similar at a conceptual level can be tested within the same language using measurement of event-related potentials (ERP) by discussing results from two ERP experiments on the processing of long-distance backward dependencies that involve coreference and negative polarity items respectively in Dutch. Second, we examine how the same linguistic phenomenon can be tested in different languages using reading time measures by discussing the outcome of four self

Backward Dependencies and in-Situ wh-Questions as Test Cases on How to Approach Experimental Linguistics Research That Pursues Theoretical Linguistics Questions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leticia Pablos

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The empirical study of language is a young field in contemporary linguistics. This being the case, and following a natural development process, the field is currently at a stage where different research methods and experimental approaches are being put into question in terms of their validity. Without pretending to provide an answer with respect to the best way to conduct linguistics related experimental research, in this article we aim at examining the process that researchers follow in the design and implementation of experimental linguistics research with a goal to validate specific theoretical linguistic analyses. First, we discuss the general challenges that experimental work faces in finding a compromise between addressing theoretically relevant questions and being able to implement these questions in a specific controlled experimental paradigm. We discuss the Granularity Mismatch Problem (Poeppel and Embick, 2005 which addresses the challenges that research that is trying to bridge the representations and computations of language and their psycholinguistic/neurolinguistic evidence faces, and the basic assumptions that interdisciplinary research needs to consider due to the different conceptual granularity of the objects under study. To illustrate the practical implications of the points addressed, we compare two approaches to perform linguistic experimental research by reviewing a number of our own studies strongly grounded on theoretically informed questions. First, we show how linguistic phenomena similar at a conceptual level can be tested within the same language using measurement of event-related potentials (ERP by discussing results from two ERP experiments on the processing of long-distance backward dependencies that involve coreference and negative polarity items respectively in Dutch. Second, we examine how the same linguistic phenomenon can be tested in different languages using reading time measures by discussing the outcome of

Knowing linguistic conventions | Robinson | South African Journal of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

These are three standard accounts of the epistemic status of linguistic conventions, which all play into the first camp: (1) knowledge by intuition, (2) inferential a priori knowledge and (3) a posteriori knowledge. I give reasons why these accounts should be rejected. I then argue that linguistic conventions, if conceived of as ...

Resources on Quantitative/Statistical Research for Applied Linguists

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, James Dean

2004-01-01

The purpose of this review article is to survey and evaluate existing books on quantitative/statistical research in applied linguistics. The article begins by explaining the types of texts that will not be reviewed, then it briefly describes nine books that address how to do quantitative/statistical applied linguistics research. The review then…

Abnormal motor cortex excitability during linguistic tasks in adductor-type spasmodic dysphonia.

Science.gov (United States)

Suppa, A; Marsili, L; Giovannelli, F; Di Stasio, F; Rocchi, L; Upadhyay, N; Ruoppolo, G; Cincotta, M; Berardelli, A

2015-08-01

In healthy subjects (HS), transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) applied during 'linguistic' tasks discloses excitability changes in the dominant hemisphere primary motor cortex (M1). We investigated 'linguistic' task-related cortical excitability modulation in patients with adductor-type spasmodic dysphonia (ASD), a speech-related focal dystonia. We studied 10 ASD patients and 10 HS. Speech examination included voice cepstral analysis. We investigated the dominant/non-dominant M1 excitability at baseline, during 'linguistic' (reading aloud/silent reading/producing simple phonation) and 'non-linguistic' tasks (looking at non-letter strings/producing oral movements). Motor evoked potentials (MEPs) were recorded from the contralateral hand muscles. We measured the cortical silent period (CSP) length and tested MEPs in HS and patients performing the 'linguistic' tasks with different voice intensities. We also examined MEPs in HS and ASD during hand-related 'action-verb' observation. Patients were studied under and not-under botulinum neurotoxin-type A (BoNT-A). In HS, TMS over the dominant M1 elicited larger MEPs during 'reading aloud' than during the other 'linguistic'/'non-linguistic' tasks. Conversely, in ASD, TMS over the dominant M1 elicited increased-amplitude MEPs during 'reading aloud' and 'syllabic phonation' tasks. CSP length was shorter in ASD than in HS and remained unchanged in both groups performing 'linguistic'/'non-linguistic' tasks. In HS and ASD, 'linguistic' task-related excitability changes were present regardless of the different voice intensities. During hand-related 'action-verb' observation, MEPs decreased in HS, whereas in ASD they increased. In ASD, BoNT-A improved speech, as demonstrated by cepstral analysis and restored the TMS abnormalities. ASD reflects dominant hemisphere excitability changes related to 'linguistic' tasks; BoNT-A returns these excitability changes to normal. © 2015 Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and John

Practicing ethnography in migration-related detention centers: A reflexive account.

Science.gov (United States)

Esposito, Francesca

2017-01-01

Feminist scholars, as well as community psychologists, have advocated the role of reflexive engagement in the research process in order to challenge power relations. Moreover, the liberating potential of storytelling, especially when working with issues of diversity and marginalization, has been stressed. The purpose of this article is to reflect on an ethnographic work underway in the Identification and Expulsion Center-CIE of Ponte Galeria, Rome. How the researcher's identities, values, and experiences, alongside power and privilege, have influenced her positioning in the research setting and the relationships formed with the different setting members is the subject of discussion. In sharing the story of this work, the final intent is to contribute to the joint effort to foster a reflexive community psychology practice incorporating feminist goals and a dialogue about ethnography in community psychology.

LINGUISTIC FEATURES ANALYSIS OF THE ENGLISH ELECTRONIC COMMERCE WEBSITES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Siti Nurani

2014-06-01

Full Text Available This research aims at identifying linguistic features used in the English electronic commerce websites used in correlation with the field, tenor and mode of discourse as parts of Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL approach. Findings have shown that in the field of discourse, the linguistic features are largely appeared in the experiential domain analysis which shows that all terms of registers function as technical terms, of which the two major forms of nouns and verbs were the most frequent categories among other kinds of technical terms. The goal orientation is considered to be as a long term and the social activity is exchange. In the tenor of discourse, the linguistic features are highly appeared in the social distance analysis which shows that the social distance between participants is considered minimal. The agentive role is said to be equal and the social role is considered as non-hierarchic. In the mode of discourse, the linguistic features are excessively occurred in the language role analysis which exists equally of both constitutive and ancillary. The channel is in graphic mode. The medium is in written with a visual contact as its device.

The Linguistic Landscape as a Learning Space for Contextual Language Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Aladjem, Ruthi; Jou, Bibiana

2016-01-01

One of the challenges of teaching and learning a foreign language is that students are not being sufficiently exposed to the target language. However, it is quite common to find linguistic and cultural exponents of different foreign languages in authentic contexts (termed the "Linguistic landscape"). Using the Linguistic landscape as a…

Mapping the Linguistic Landscape of Athens: The Case of Shop Signs

Science.gov (United States)

Nikolaou, Alexander

2017-01-01

This paper focuses on the linguistic composition of commercial signs in the linguistic landscape (LL) of Athens, Greece. Previous studies have mainly been carried out in officially multilingual and multi-ethnic areas [Ben-Rafael, E., Shohamy, E., Amara, M. H., & Trumper-Hecht, N. (2006). "Linguistic landscape as symbolic construction of…

Early Detection of Cognitive-Linguistic Change Associated with Mild Cognitive Impairment

Science.gov (United States)

Fleming, Valarie B.

2014-01-01

Individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) may present with subtle declines in linguistic ability that go undetected by tasks not challenging enough to tax a relatively intact cognitive-linguistic system. This study was designed to replicate and extend a previous study of cognitive-linguistic ability in MCI using a complex discourse…

A primer in macromolecular linguistics.

Science.gov (United States)

Searls, David B

2013-03-01

Polymeric macromolecules, when viewed abstractly as strings of symbols, can be treated in terms of formal language theory, providing a mathematical foundation for characterizing such strings both as collections and in terms of their individual structures. In addition this approach offers a framework for analysis of macromolecules by tools and conventions widely used in computational linguistics. This article introduces the ways that linguistics can be and has been applied to molecular biology, covering the relevant formal language theory at a relatively nontechnical level. Analogies between macromolecules and human natural language are used to provide intuitive insights into the relevance of grammars, parsing, and analysis of language complexity to biology. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Southwest Hispanic Community -- The Absence of Homeland Security Threats

Science.gov (United States)

2012-12-01

or insurgent threats unique to that community are revealed. A mixed method research methodology using components of “ ethnography ,” along with other... qualitative analysis methods, will be utilized. Ethnography includes both quantitative and qualitative methods to determine the sociocultural contexts...1 B. RESEARCH QUESTIONS .............................................................................4

Reflections on Mixing Methods in Applied Linguistics Research

Science.gov (United States)

Hashemi, Mohammad R.

2012-01-01

This commentary advocates the use of mixed methods research--that is the integration of qualitative and quantitative methods in a single study--in applied linguistics. Based on preliminary findings from a research project in progress, some reflections on the current practice of mixing methods as a new trend in applied linguistics are put forward.…