Search

This exploratory study provides an overview of prominent themes pertaining to portrayals of sign languages (SLs) and Deaf people in the South African press (2011–2019), as well as an analysis of a subset of articles to illustrate the discursive constructions of each of the prominent ideological framings. The findings of the paper suggest that many ways of representing South African Sign Language (SASL) and their users align with international trends. The two most prominent ideological framings are the medical/disability model and the linguistic minority model. Within the medical model, SLs are seen as inferior means of communication used by a disabled minority. Within the linguistic minority framework SLs are regarded as natural, legitimate languages deserving equal status to spoken languages. The paper also identifies an ideological framing that is not predicted by the international literature, coined here as 'diversity tokenism'. Diversity tokenism is when SL is mentioned only to increase perceived diversity, where diversity is a commodity that holds social capital. This portrayal of SASL seems to be increasing and holds a warning: although SASL users have received official recognition and rights through the recent declaration of SASL as an official language, it might not be the end of the battle to ensure that users of SASL can live out their linguistic citizenship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues that the opening up of international organisations (IOs) to the participation of civil society organisations (CSOs) has not only failed to dismantle structures of rule. Rather, it should be understood as a perpetuation of rule, re-enacted in and through the everyday practices of IO-CSO interactions in dialogue forums. To make this argument, I build on Bourdieu's notion of symbolic power to conceptualise rule as a hierarchical relationship of mutual recognition, characterised by compliance and actualised through (discursive) practices. In dialogue forums, rule is enacted through the ability of dominant actors to impose meanings (classifications, categories, normative standards) as legitimate. By analysing the Civil Society Policy Forum, I show how the institutions have managed the criticism emanating from CSOs through discursive assimilation, i.e. by both opening up space for dialogue and delimiting the boundaries of political discourse, leading CSOs to accept the conditions for reproducing the institutional discourse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the open court principle in Zimbabwe from a language rights perspective. Data were collected through an analysis of the statutes which enshrine this principle to examine their adequacy (or lack thereof). Court observations and semi-structured interviews with purposively sampled key participants were used to corroborate data from document analysis. Findings of this study show that Zimbabwean courts are not open courts in the true sense of the word because members of the public in the gallery are not guaranteed the right to an interpreter or translator. Legally represented litigants or those who express comfort with English are not offered interpretation services, which is a clear indication that interpretation services are primarily meant for litigants and not members of the public in the gallery. Consequently, Zimbabwean courts merely guarantee physical access, and deny members of the public linguistic access. English is the language of the proceedings and record, yet the majority of the members of the public are functionally illiterate in English. Based on this, I therefore argue that opening up the physical space of courts and guaranteeing physical access to the court documents is of little or no use if the citizens are linguistically excluded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on elements of successful sociocultural inclusion and linguistic participation in a bilingual dual-language preschool for Latinx children. It presents a subset of findings from a three-year qualitative research project in which Latinx critical race theory and a translanguaging framework were used to illuminate critical intersections between children's funds of knowledge, their translanguaging talents, and their interests in play and social interaction. Learning Stories served as both the focus for documentation and the unit of analysis for understanding children's translanguaging experiences, as well as for promoting new forms of authentic assessment for family engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crave TV's niche hit Letterkenny is packed with exercises in wordplay and examinations of semantics that serve various functions in its presentation of life in small‐town Canada. This article examines how the progymnasmata of classical rhetorical education and the linguistic comedy bits in Letterkenny serve a similar role in preparing their users (and viewers) to both engage in a specific type of dialogue and establish and enforce moral boundaries as are accepted in the society in which they live and participate, and how fan circulation of these language memes reflects the transference of those morals to the culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The patriation of the Constitution and the enshrinement of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in 1982 opened a new "window of opportunity" for equity-seeking groups to better access legal arenas in Canada. They have been frequent interveners in Canadian courts within the post-Charter era, where they are perceived to have a heightened potential to influence public policy. However, whether this potential to enact change through the courts has been realized, or whether it has been realized to the same extent for all equityseeking groups, is disputed in the literature. Francophone minority communities in particular have been among the most active equity-seeking interveners, but their legal activism has been significantly understudied. To better understand the legal mobilization of Francophone minority communities, we conducted a mixed-methods analysis of the 35 language-rights cases heard by the Supreme Court of Canada between 1975 and 2020. From an empirical analysis of court transcripts and interest group documentation, as well as semi-directed interviews with key stakeholders, we find these groups to be distinct in a number of ways. Most prominently, the findings reveal that Francophone minority community organizations are strategically collaborative actors, and legal mobilization as a result is more sophisticated than what is typically assumed about equity-seeking groups. We situate these findings within a wider historical and political context and comment on the lessons that can be gleaned for equity-seeking interveners writ large. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research has suggested that Swedish higher education institutions' (HEIs') language policies may exclude some academic staff from work-related activities due to (dual) monolingual ideologies requiring one language at a time. This study, based on the analysis of twenty-one language policy texts, investigates HEIs' policies using a lens of inclusion at workplaces with linguistic diversity, drawing on concepts from diversity management and language policy for democracy of inclusion. All documents examined began with statements of HEIs' values relevant to the policies. Inclusion was seldom explicitly emphasized, although policies suggested ways to facilitate it. We argue that some of the approaches – namely, taking a top-down monolinguistic approach to language choice, requiring staff to be highly proficient in both Swedish and English, and offering unspecified language support – reinforce language-based in-groups and out-groups, likely compromising rather than facilitating inclusion. Another approach, emphasizing individuals' rights to choose what language they use, facilitates inclusion only if support is provided for everyone's understanding. Providing immediate language support and encouraging bottom-up, flexible language choice were less common approaches but seem particularly likely to facilitate inclusion. Our analysis suggests that policies prioritizing successful communication, not specific languages, facilitate inclusion and help employees develop job-related language and intercultural communicative competence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Pattern similarity in left pars triangularis was related to L2 spoken words learning. • Pattern similarity in right temporal lobe was related to L2 written word processing. • The neural mechanisms that underlie the processing of written and spoken words are different. Previous research has mapped out the brain regions that respond to semantic stimuli presented visually and auditorily, but there is debate about whether semantic representation is modality-specific (only written or only spoken) or modality-invariant (both written and spoken). The mechanism of semantic representation underlying native (L1) and second language (L2) comprehension in different modalities as well as how this mechanism is influenced by L2 proficiency, remains unclear. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data from the OpenNEURO database to calculate neural pattern similarity across native and second languages (Spanish and English) for different input modalities (written and spoken) and learning sessions (before and after training). The correlations between behavioral performance and cross-language pattern similarity for L1 and L2 were also calculated. Spanish-English bilingual adolescents (N = 24; ages 16–17; 19 girls) participated in a 3-month English immersion after-school program. As L2 proficiency increased, greater cross-language pattern similarity between L1 and L2 spoken words was observed in the left pars triangularis. Cross-language pattern similarity between L1 and L2 written words was observed in the right anterior temporal lobe. Brain-behavior correlations indicated that increased cross-language pattern similarity between L1 and L2 written words in the right anterior temporal lobe was associated with L2 written word comprehension. This study identified an effective neurofunctional predictor related to L2 written word comprehension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rules in the family are the creators of legal relationships, and the implementation of the legal orders is the basis for the organization of the affairs. Sometimes due to the situation where the rights of the family to the spouses are recognized, the parties to each other do harm and use their rights inappropriately and, namely, abuse their rights. In the present paper, using the descriptive-linguistic method, the non-financial rights in spousal relationships and the possibility of their abuse have attracted greater attention. In addition, the explanation of the orientation of the teachings of Islam regarding the abuse of non-financial couples' rights and its prohibition without providing a guarantee of implementation is discussed, which constitutes it among the moral recommendations; the need to develop and determine the guarantee of effective implementations to prevent the abuse of non-financial rights and to control the exercise rights for the realization of the legislator's goal and the realization of justice in the relationships of couples has been examined and proved, and for certain reasons such as the rule of no loss, the principle of expediency, the rule of maintaining the system (social system) and determining the punishment by the government has been referred to prove the point. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The language and cultural priorities in Australian Indigenous education have been priority areas since the inaugural national Indigenous education policy was launched in 1989. For over thirty years, these priorities have sat awkwardly in the largely non-Indigenous teaching profession and classroom teachers continue to struggle with how to embed these priorities into the education process, despite the efforts of Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority and their elaborations for application at curriculum and practice levels. In this article, I suggest that these language and cultural priorities are at cross-purposes with education priorities, and neither have helped to curb the demise of our Indigenous languages nor improved Indigenous students' educational outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is concerned with the evaluation of cultural contextualization of two widely used EFL textbooks in Iran, Prospect (2014) and Interchange (2012). Looking at these textbooks, it tries to investigate key issues such as culture, ideology, and otherness, which are imperative for creating learners' third space (Kramsch, C. J. (1998). Language and Culture, 67–70, Oxford: Oxford University Press). Therefore, it investigates which types of cultures based on Cortazzi and Jin's (1999. Cultural Mirrors: Materials and Methods in the EFL Classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) classification of culture (source, target, and international target) are demonstrated in the textbooks' discourses at both linguistic and visual levels. The study is based on a qualitative method of research and utilizes a social semiotic multimodal approach, developed by Souryana Yassine (2012. "Culture Ideology and Otherness in EFL Textbooks in Algeria: A Multimodal Approach" Ph.D. diss., Mouloudi Mammeri University of Tizi-Ouzou, Algeria) according to the maxims of social semiotics. The results indicate how the two textbooks represent culture dissimilarly. While the Interchange series approve the mainstream American target, neglecting source culture completely, the Iranian ELT textbooks contain more source cultural content. Moreover, the representation of Self and Other reflects the societies' diverse underlying ideological positions in explicit and implicit ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the spatiotemporal and affective qualities of linguistic landscapes at three linguistically diverse neighborhoods in Helsinki, Finland. The three sites were selected for qualitative fieldwork using a method that combines social media and population registry data with quantitative measures of diversity and spatial analytics. The article demonstrates how each site is characterized by its own distinct affective atmosphere, which is discursively construed and made sense of through references to other places and times. The timespace analysis of affects provides conceptual and methodological tools that allow analyzing the change and circulation of social meanings in the landscape, as well as differences in these aspects across settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents an empirical investigation of 54 police interviews in Norway conducted with suspects speaking Norwegian as a second language. Using Conversation Analysis as our method, we examine how investigators seek to ensure that suspects understand their rights. We find a range of practices for making rights more accessible compared to how they are formulated in legal acts. Investigators divide their turns into smaller segments and monitor the suspect for displays of understanding along the way. They simplify the syntax and substitute technical terms with plain vocabulary. Sometimes they supplement the wording of the prosecution instructions with explanations or reformulations. In a few instances, they also check understanding by asking a simple yes/no question. However, such questions only generate claims of understanding and no actual evidence of what has been understood. While there are isolated cases of requests to retell the rights, even these practices are problematic in generating strong evidence of understanding. This study discusses the importance of linguistic education and training in police forces for dealing with potential or emerging understanding problems during investigative interviews. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on analyzing French philosopher, Sophie de Grouchy's political thought as expressed in her "Letters on Sympathy" (1798), particularly in relation to her translation of Adam Smith's "Theory of Moral Sentiments." It delves into Grouchy's views on sympathy, society, liberty, and equality, highlighting her arguments regarding the importance of sympathy in fostering societal cohesion and the role of reason in enhancing this capacity.

The article discusses a report released by The Office for Students (OfS) regarding the assessment of technical proficiency in writing (TPWE) in higher education providers. The author analyzes the report and its policy contexts, emphasizing the importance of understanding transnational policy regimes in writing studies. The article also highlights the need to study and critique policies that impact educators and students, particularly those who are marginalized. The document analyzes power relations within the context of the OfS and its interactions with providers, students, employers, taxpayers, and faculty. The text discusses the positioning of the OfS and its policies in relation to standards, accountability, and the use of Standard English in higher education. It also discusses the influence of neoliberalism and the transnational diffusion of standards and accountability policies. The text explores different policy regimes that shape transnational education, language, and writing policies, and emphasizes the importance of understanding these regimes and their implications. Finally, the text provides a list of references and citations from various sources related to language policy, education, and assessment in higher education. [Extracted from the article]

Verb generation is among the most frequently used tasks in presurgical mapping. Because this task involves many processes, the overall brain effects are not specific. While it is necessary to identify the whole network involving noun comprehension or semantic retrieval and lexical selection to produce the verb, isolation of those components is also crucial. Here, we present data from four patients undergoing presurgical brain mapping. The study implied a reanalysis of magnetoencephalography data with a recategorization of the used items. It aimed to extract the task component that relies on the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG). The task could be applied with higher specificity when targeting frontal areas. For that, we based item classification on the selection demands imposed by the noun. It is a robust finding that the IFG carries out this selection and that a quantitative index can be calculated for each noun, which depends on the selection effort (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 1997; 94(26):14792–14797, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 1998; 95(26):15855–15860). Data showed focality and specificity, with a correlation between this derived index and source activations in the inferior frontal gyrus for all patients. Strikingly, we detected when the right‐hemisphere homologue area was involved in the selection process in two patients showing reorganization or language right lateralization. The present data are a step towards a dissection of broad specific tasks frequently used in presurgical protocols. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives. It is a high risk for adolescents with first-episode major depressive disorder (MDD) to commit suicide. However, few studies reported the effect of modified electroconvulsive therapy (MECT) in first-episode antipsychotic-naive MDD adolescents. Methods. The study explores the alternations of regional homogeneity of modified electroconvulsive therapy to treat the first-episode antipsychotic-naive major depressive disorder. 72 first-episode MDD patients were recruited from Tianyou Hospital Affiliated to Wuhan University of Science and Technology from October 2017 to May 2020, and 65 of 72 completed the trial. Results. Before MECT treatment, ReHo values of the bilateral cerebellum and left cuneus were higher, and ReHo value of left postcentral and supramarginal gyrus was lower in MDD patients compared to healthy subjects (HS). After treatment, the MDD patients have higher ReHo values of the right insula and postcentral gyrus, while left fusiform gyrus were lower than the pretreatment. Compared to the HS, the ReHo values of left lingual gyrus, right calcarine cortex, and right mid occipital thalamus were higher in the posttreatment. In the posttreatment, left calcarine cortex and right cerebrum were lower than in healthy subjects. Conclusions. The study confirmed that MECT improves psychotic symptoms in patients with first-episode antipsychotic-naive MDD. These results further contributed to a more tailored treatment approach to MDD from the pathophysiological and neuroimaging views. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The classical Wada test (cWada), performed by injecting a short-acting anesthetic through the intracarotid route, helps determine language dominance. In the cWada, adverse effects are observed in 10–30% of trials, hindering accurate assessments. In this study, we assessed the effectiveness of the super-selective Wada test (ssWada), a more selective approach for anesthetic infusion into the middle cerebral artery (MCA). Methods: We retrospectively examined the data of 17 patients with epilepsy who underwent ssWada via anesthetic injection into one M1 segment of the MCA and at least one contralateral trial. Results: The ssWada identified 12 patients with left language dominance, 3 with right language dominance, and 2 with bilateral language distribution. Nine trials on the language dominant side resulted in global aphasia for patients with left- or right language dominance. Of the 13 trials conducted on the non-dominant language side, 12 revealed intact language function and one resulted in confusion. Among these, the outcomes of global aphasia or no language impairment were confirmed in the contralateral trials. Among the 22 trials of unilateral M1 injections in patients with unilateral language dominance, 21 (95.5%) showed either global aphasia or no language impairment, indicating language dominance. Conclusions: The ssWada yields clear results, with a high rate of over 90% in determining the language dominant hemisphere with few side effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Tuxá people from Rodelas, in the Brazilian state of Bahia, traditionally live at the São Francisco riverbanks. Because of their historical dwelling in the place, many more-than-human relations have been established, especially with their ancestors, supernatural beings known as encantados who continue to live in the land. Nowadays, Tuxá teachers, working on a specific school curriculum, are revitalizing Dzubukuá, a language that they currently master only to a certain extent and within ritual contexts. Strengthening the relations with the encantados due to their continuous political struggle to guarantee Indigenous rights, the Tuxá have been emboldening their engagement with Dzubukuá revitalization through both the ritual communication with encantados and the linguistic studies based on a colonial bilingual catechism written in Portuguese and Dzubukuá. Here I demonstrate how Tuxá's understanding of territoriality, inhabited along with other cosmological entities, can offer a view of Indigenous knowledge, education, and resistance in Northeast Brazil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Language policy is a hugely diverse field, united only by the intent to influence language use in some way. Much early research in the field asserted that language policy had an emancipatory drive, to empower downtrodden minorities against the cruelty or indifference of majoritarian politics. But over the years, critical accounts have increasingly questioned who precisely benefits from promoting minoritized languages. Indeed, can the language itself, valorized as an emblem of heritage, sometimes become invested with its own separate value? Can that value even outweigh concerns over improving people's prospects and capabilities? In what follows, I compare that balance between people's capabilities and the language itself, across a range of cases. I show especially how a growing focus on "new speakers" affects that balance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the complications experienced by Switzerland and Spain in administering the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML). The Charter is a vital legislative instrument for defending the varied languages across Europe. The paper digs into the problems encountered, including concerns with ratification, sociolinguistic obstacles, resource limits, and linguistic variety. The research highlights the need to maintain language rights while encouraging multilingualism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rudolf Smend's constitutional theory, developed in the context of the Weimar Republic crisis, sought to address and resolve the challenges of that time. The integration concept he articulated in his theory assumes the unity of the political community around a set of shared values, embraced by individuals from a conviction of their validity. The underlying objective of this approach was to find a pathway out of the political conflicts that hindered the stabilization of the German state. However, Smend's theory surpassed its initial purpose, leaving behind interesting points of reflection that can now serve as valuable tools for interpreting contemporary reality. The article aims to identify in the jurisprudence of the Spanish Constitutional Court some of Smend's ideas particularly those related to the process of material integration facilitated by national symbols, language, rights, and the notion of a community bound by shared values. The ultimate goal is to assess the strength of this jurisprudence and consider whether it allows us to speak of its quality as a tool for integration". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper refers to the language of rights in the public debate, focusing the attention with the characters of imperativity, inviolability, absoluteness which are proper to the term 'right'. It focuses, on the one hand, on situations where every interest is claimed as a 'right', and, on the other hand, on situations where, on the contrary, fundamental human rights are not widely and unanimously recognized, which is typically the case of women's human rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides an overview of the changing language and literacy landscapes in Brazilian universities. It covers topics such as language policy, English as a Medium of Instruction, digitization, and the inclusion of minority groups. The article includes qualitative research from different regions of Brazil and explores the impact of internationalization and digitization on academic practices. It also discusses the changing student population and the need for support in navigating academic literacies. The article concludes with a summary of the articles included in the special issue, which cover a range of topics related to language, education, and internationalization in Brazil. Additionally, the text provides information about experts in the field of linguistics and education, as well as a list of references and citations from various sources on these topics. [Extracted from the article]

This article analyses the film Thappad (The Slap) (2020) directed by Anubhav Sinha, which portrays slapping as a form of domestic abuse and a violation of women's right to self-respect. This study investigates the incorporation of Universal Human Rights principles into the discourse of Hindi cinema. Through textual analysis of the film text, the paper examines how the film employs the language of rights as a counter-narrative against patriarchal ideologies, promoting gender equality and dignity within domestic settings. It argues that by countering the conservative cultural perspectives pertaining to spousal abuse through the discourse and philosophy of Human Rights, the film contributes to societal transformation. The paper identifies a shift in the film's discourse from traditional, orthodox narratives to universal narratives centred around rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The proliferation of gender-based violence against women in politics (WIP) is increasingly recognized as a global phenomenon of interest. In particular, the new affordances of the Web 2.0 play a crucial role in the use of language, images, and other symbols to marginalize and exclude women as political actors. This paper illustrates the visual semiotics of misogyny against WIP on social media platforms. Two multimodal strategies are inductively identified and critically explicated as examples of semiotic violence at work: 1) image manipulation and 2) false identity attribution, both characterized by the use of image-based, user-generated content to abuse WIP. Delving into an inductive conceptualization of digital visual misogyny, this paper accounts for the long-standing, sexist and objectifying attention towards women's bodies which now proliferates on the inherently visual digital media platforms. As such, it underscores the relevance of a semiotic and multimodal approach to social media data in order to critically analyze the complex, multimodal discursive events of the Web 2.0. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since a proper understanding of the respective claims and sensitivities of Russians and Ukrainians, also towards the terms of a possible peace agreement, requires a certain awareness of the Soviet Union's ambiguous approach towards the different ethnic groups in that multi-ethnic state, the article starts with a succinct account of the history of the Soviet Union and its demise. The 'legal' status quo, more particularly legal standards and practice concerning minority rights and language rights in both Ukraine and Russia, is also covered. The second sub-chapter will then provide an overview of the international legal framework regarding minority (language) rights, starting from the overarching principles, over the main legally binding standards to soft law standards. Thirdly, a brief overall evaluation of the status quo in Ukraine and Russia regarding minority(language) rights in terms of the international legal framework, allows to identify parameters that can be used during the peace negotiations, more particularly benchmarks about what can be reasonably expected from the respective governments. The latter may be particularly useful in relation to some of the claims of the Russian government. The fourth sub-chapter delves into the most sensitive matter of minority language rights in Ukraine, and particularly the position and rights of the Russian minority, while also briefly sketching the situation of minority language rights in Russia. By way of conclusion, recommendations for the peace negotiations are offered, which build on the guiding principle of a proportionate balance between the wish to promote the national language on the one hand and a suitable (proportionate) protection of languages of minorities (with neighboring kin-states) on the other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The book illustrates that speaking Spanish is tied to being from another country, portraying the message that any language other than English is not compatible with living in the United States (p. 105). I The Spanish language in the United States i , edited by José A. Cobas, Bonnie Urciuoli, Joe R. Feagin, and Daniel J. Delgado, aims to illustrate the sociopolitical situation of Spanish and Spanish speakers in the United States by addressing the rootedness of the language in the country, its racialization, and the resistance of Spanish speakers toward that racialization. By taking this stance, the book revitalizes the origins of approaches to studying Spanish in the United States, which was intimately connected with Latinx activism. The book brings together the study of Spanish in the United States with an activist stance centered on the defense of the cultural, political, and economic rights of Latinxs in the United States. [Extracted from the article]

This article calls for studying German history and culture from the margins, an approach that highlights unexpected mutual influences and entanglements between German and non-German cultures in Europe and beyond and that challenges essentialist understandings of German identity. Moreover, by looking at peripheries of German culture, scholars can break out of the straitjacket of national narratives and rediscover the transnational dimensions inherent in German history. Bukovina, a multiethnic former province of the Habsburg Empire that now spans the border between Ukraine and Romania, is one such place. The article sketches how the German concept of Kultur was first used to legitimize the Habsburg Empire in Bukovina and was later absorbed into a new language of rights in a postimperial age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article highlights the assumption that translation promotes social justice, arguing it can instead discriminate against subordinated languages. It also discusses punitive multilingualism, forensic translation, and linguistic justice. Commentators explore linguistic subordination's origins in race, class, and translation directions, highlighting discrimination in translating 'up' and 'down.'

The article discusses Angermeyer's focus on the significance of 'translation practices' within sociolinguistics, particularly exploring 'punitive multilingualism' in bureaucratic contexts and public signage, illustrating how these practices can both acknowledge and stigmatize languages. Topics include Angermeyer's analysis of bureaucratic translation practices and 'punitive multilingualism' in public signage, shedding light on language acknowledgment and stigmatization.

The Treaty of Lausanne was signed on 24th July 1923 as a peace treaty that ended the first world war for Turkey and the allied powers. In a section entitled “protection of minorities”, it provides rights for minorities. However, the beneficiaries of minority rights in Lausanne are more narrow than those provided in other treaties and declarations of the time. With a legal basis in domestic law, Turkey traditionally applied the rights provided in the Lausanne Treaty only for three so-called non-Muslim groups, i.e. Greeks, Armenians and Jews. Neither the Turkish delegation nor the members of the allied forces’ delegations could foresee that some members of the Muslim groups of 1923 might quit Islam in the future and recourse to Lausanne rights as new beneficiaries. This article, by referring to preparatory works of the Treaty, examining its legal validity internationally and nationally, and applying interpretative principles of international treaties, argues for the extension of Lausanne rights to other groups via re-interpretation and re-implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Normative political theorists working in the field of linguistic justice generally believe that participation in democratic life in linguistically diverse societies requires a shared lingua franca (e.g., Patten 2009; Van Parijs 2011). Even when a shared lingua franca is present, however, there is likely to be a variety of ways in which people speak it, due to variations in accent, pitch, register, and lexicon. This paper examines the implications of intra‐linguistic diversity for democracy and political representation. More specifically, by drawing on Andrew Rehfeld's (2010) work and on relevant sociolinguistics research, the paper argues that widespread unconscious linguistic prejudice constitutes a constraint on some citizens' right to run for political office that is incompatible with democratic equality. The argument is illustrated via a number of examples concerning Australian politicians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Access to information is a right that should not be limited because of being a member of a linguistic minority. The Deaf Community, which has its own language and culture, faces limitations in access to the media, such as open-signal television, unlike hearing people. This phenomenon was investigated from the point of view of people from the Deaf Community in order to be able to raise coherent proposals to meet their needs. The objective was to know the perception of members of the Peruvian Deaf Community about the interpretation in Peruvian Sign Language (PSL) in open signal television channels in Peru. It was a qualitative study of phenomenological design in which a group of people representing the Deaf Community of Lima, Peru participated. Group interviews were conducted with the presence of an interpreter known by all the interviewees. The results show that the Deaf Community interviewed perceives that there are deficiencies in terms of the number of interpreters and the space assigned to them on screen. The people interviewed stated that the Deaf Community experiences a feeling of isolation and mockery due to the small number of programs that are interpreted and the appointment of interpreters who do not adequately convey the information. In addition, they consider that there is a need for better training of interpreters in aspects such as linguistic diversity and the use of classifiers and spacing. Based on the findings and their interpretation, the researchers make some final considerations to promote good practices aimed at reducing the gap in access to information for the Deaf Community in Lima, based on inclusion and equity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Language comprehension is a complex process involving an extensive brain network. Brain regions responsible for prosodic processing have been studied in adults; however, much less is known about the neural bases of prosodic processing in children. Using magnetoencephalography (MEG), we mapped regions supporting speech envelope tracking (a marker of prosodic processing) in 80 typically developing children, ages 4–18 years, completing a stories listening paradigm. Neuromagnetic signals coherent with the speech envelope were localized using dynamic imaging of coherent sources (DICS). Across the group, we observed coherence in bilateral perisylvian cortex. We observed age-related increases in coherence to the speech envelope in the right superior temporal gyrus (r = 0.31, df = 78, p = 0.0047) and primary auditory cortex (r = 0.27, df = 78, p = 0.016); age-related decreases in coherence to the speech envelope were observed in the left superior temporal gyrus (r = − 0.25, df = 78, p = 0.026). This pattern may indicate a refinement of the networks responsible for prosodic processing during development, where language areas in the right hemisphere become increasingly specialized for prosodic processing. Altogether, these results reveal a distinct neurodevelopmental trajectory for the processing of prosodic cues, highlighting the presence of supportive language functions in the right hemisphere. Findings from this dataset of typically developing children may serve as a potential reference timeline for assessing children with neurodevelopmental hearing and speech disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Children with self-limited epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes show developmental delays in the neuromagnetic activity of the language brain regions. • Self-limited epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes with and without language deficits, as for healthy controls, show different levels of development. • Children with inferior speech comprehension had more seizures and localization of epileptiform discharges on the left side. Children with self-limited epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes (SeLECTS) typically indicate cognitive impairment with widespread speech impairment. We explored how epilepsy affects language-related brain areas and areas in their vicinity. Twenty-two children with SeLECTS and declined verbal comprehension (DVC), 21 with SeLECTS and normal verbal comprehension (NVC), and 23 healthy controls (HCs) underwent high-sampling magnetoencephalography recordings. According to a previous study, 24 language-related regions of interest were selected bilaterally, and the relative spectral power was estimated using a minimum norm estimate. The highest mean power spectral density was observed in the delta band for the DVC group, in the theta band for the NVC group, and in the alpha band for HCs within language-specific brain regions. The distinctions between the DVC and NVC groups in the delta and theta frequency bands were primarily concentrated in the right linguistic brain area. Children with SeLECTS may have developmental problems in language-related brain areas, with different developmental levels observed in the DVC, NVC, and HC groups. The DVC group could have inferior speech comprehension due to a more significant number of seizures and more left-sided spike locations. Children having SeLECTS showed impaired brain maturation, leading to associated language impairment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On 18 January 2022, the parliament of Lithuania adopted the law on writing personal names in the official documents. Having substantially liberalised the existing practice, the law, however, offered only a partial solution because it did not sanction the use of non-Lithuanian diacritical characters. Based on the relevant legal, linguistic and historical contexts, relevant Lithuanian legislation and case law, this study analyses the evolution of Lithuania's approach towards the writing of its citizens' personal names in official documents. The text shows that the significant changes that took place in Lithuanian society during the last 30 years have resulted in a partial liberalisation of these practices. The recent case law suggests that the state is on the verge of accepting full liberalisation, particularly if relevant interwar legislation and a broader understanding of historical traditions of the Lithuanian language will be taken into account. However, the Constitutional Court plays a key role in determining the contents and directions of this process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Linguistic discrimination can have adverse consequences on individuals, organizations, and society at large. This paper provides an overview of the manifestation of this phenomenon in philosophy, psychology, and academia. It also discusses various research methods and techniques to combat linguistic bias and promote linguistic justice while highlighting weaknesses in current research and offering future directions for investigation. The authors highlight the need for expanding the study of marginalized languages worldwide and advocate for researchers to test ideological claims, increase replicability, and employ new approaches to studying linguistically marginalized languages and populations. Ultimately, this overview article aims to inspire future researchers to take multifaceted, multidisciplinary approaches to combat linguistic discrimination. The authors recommend that institutions of higher education and funding bodies play a critical role in promoting linguistic inclusivity in academia through language support, multilingualism, language-inclusive pedagogy, funding and scholarships, language and culture immersion programs, interdisciplinary collaboration, partnerships with local communities, evaluation and revision of language policies. These efforts can help decrease the consequences of linguistic discrimination and have positive impacts on academia and society through language inclusivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Voice recognition lies at the heart of linguistic profiling, a discriminatory practice whereby goods, services, or opportunities that might otherwise be available are denied to someone, typically sight unseen, based on the sound of their voice. The technology that faithfully recreates one's voice during phone conversations provides the basis on which nefarious, if not illegal, voice-derived discrimination occurs. These denials often go undetected because callers typically believe that the declination of their request for an apartment or a job or a loan is valid; that is, they do not necessarily assume that they were turned down because of negative stereotypes about their speech. I debunk a long-standing myth that exists among well-educated native speakers of the dominant language(s) in the countries where they live: namely, that such individuals speak without an accent. After dispelling this prevalent falsehood, I explore various forms of linguistic profiling throughout the world, culminating with observations intended to promote linguistic human rights and the aspirational goal of equality among people who do not share common sociolinguistic backgrounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1981, Sweden was the first country in the world to entitle deaf pupils to a bimodal-bilingual education. However, drawing from interviews with key past Stockholm teacher trainers and on our own efforts to update teacher training, we note that sign-bilingual teacher training in Sweden has been ad hoc to this day. The interviewees' accounts highlight that deaf education is essentially about language access, that sign-bilingualism is core to the educational inclusion of all deaf pupils, and that only audism stands in the way of this. We argue against the Swedish national policy presumption of special need, pointing out that deaf pupils have an inalienable entitlement to sign language in much the same way that the right to speak Swedish is an inalienable part of being Swedish and not a need that only some Swedish people have. This makes national recognition of sign language a necessary precondition to deaf pupils' full educational inclusion. Policy should then likewise guarantee the sign-bilingual competence of teachers seeking to work with deaf pupils, this being a matter that necessarily conjoins educational and language (minority) rights as the two flipsides of one single coin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a contrastive analysis of COVID-19-related EU legislative texts with emphasis on term variants. The analysis carried out on a parallel corpus consisting of English and Croatian texts has identified multiple examples of variation of predominately multi-word terms at several levels. These include orthographic and grammatical variants, unit shifts and denominative variants creating different meanings. The findings support other contemporary studies into variation within specialized language, highlighting the importance of studying variation to gain understanding about the dynamics of domain knowledge. By focusing on variation in a parallel corpus, conclusions are drawn about the prevalence of variation in a newer EU official language, as opposed to English as the draft text of EU legislation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper outlines the challenges of doing legal terminology work in Italian and German to support the development of a local-only minority language (South Tyrolean German) and to foster communication with other German-speaking countries. The target groups of terminology - legal experts, language mediators and the public - have different needs and expectations that were addressed in the Information System for Legal Terminology bistro by exploiting specific terminological data categories, by seeking a compromise when drafting definitions and by implementing technical functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a study of the timpani drum beats and the akarima drummer among the Dagomba of Ghana, using analysis of audio and video recordings of drumming sessions and interviews with the drummers. Borrowed from the Asantes in the eighteenth century, the timpani transmits limited, oft-repeated messages in Akan, a language that neither the drummer nor his Dagomba patrons understand. In spite of this, the timpani is an integral part of Dagomba culture and rituals. In addition to transmitting messages with the drum, the akarima guards the tradition and cultural heritage, and reinforces Dagomba values and cultural ethos. As a guardian of tradition, the akarima resists innovation of the practices associated with the use of the drum. As a constructor of realities, he creates knowledge and values from the praises of chiefs, imparts them to his patrons and actively moulds their lives to conform to these values. The article argues that, far from being a deficiency, the use of the drum to transmit messages in a language not comprehensible to the people contributes significantly to the success of the akarima, who functions as imparter of values to his listeners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The PM is the leader of His Majesty's Government and is ultimately responsible for the policy and decisions of the executive government. He concluded that whatever the precise meaning of the statements made, and whatever the position of the Government had been over the intervening months, the position in practical terms as at the date of decision was that government policy was now aimed at the result that the claimants were seeking, namely the re-opening of schools. The claimants had sought a remedy which would, in some way, make it clear that school attendance was not prohibited by the Government, or to require or encourage the Government to issue some form of guidance that children should return to school. 1. Part 1 of this article: set out what happened in terms of school closures in England during the first nationwide lockdown, the easing of these restrictions, and then the further closures of schools during the second and third lockdowns; and looked at the extensive evidence as to the dire consequences that school closures had for children. [Extracted from the article]

This article is based on texts recorded during field studies carried out in Daugavpils in the summer of 2019. It compares the language of two representatives of older-generation intelligentsia and juxtaposes the findings with materials from an unpublished doctoral thesis by Małgorzata Ostrówka Współczesna polszczyzna mówiona na Łotwie ("Contemporary Spoken Polish Language in Latvia"). The author collected her material in the 1990s. In this article we describe both the contemporary and past sociolinguistic situation highlighting changes that occurred in the Polish language. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid decline of minority languages has been declared an urgent global challenge (Izsak, 2012). UNESCO (2016) reported that at least 40 per cent of some 7,000 languages across the world are extinct or endangered. The threatened status of minority languages is particularly concerning for Southeast Asia, a region characterised by its diverse linguistic heritage. Despite the numerous minority languages spoken in the region, there are limited instruments and mechanisms at the regional level specifically devoted to the protection and preservation of the language rights of linguistic minorities. This article examines the right of linguistic minorities to use their own language under international law and considers the extent to which the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration (AHRD), and the broader ASEAN regime, protects this right. Using the Malay and Khmer-speaking minorities in Thailand as a case study, this article explores how language rights are regulated within the domestic legal system and influenced by the state's nationalist political ideology. I argue that although Thailand's laws and policies on minority languages generally align with the AHRD, they fall short of international standards, highlighting a gap in the protection afforded to linguistic minorities under the regional regime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The book "Ugly Words" by Joachim Scharloth deals with the ideological discourse of the New Right and their use of hate speech. The author analyzes the abusive vocabulary of the New Right, which is mainly found on mainstream platforms of the AfD (Alternative for Germany). Societal issues and political fields that are discussed by the New Right in the media are addressed. The book provides insight into the processes of abusive word formation and the instrumentalization of language by the New Right. It invites readers to approach language in a reflective manner and is aimed at a broad audience, especially advanced learners of the German language and students in the field of linguistics. However, it is pointed out that discriminatory speech is not only used by the New Right, but also by other parts of German society. It is emphasized that the recognition of cultural differences is an important part of democratic discourse. [Extracted from the article]

Despite a growing body of research on experiences of discrimination and racism within the police, literature showing how these experiences impact on ethnic representation remains scarce. In this article, I explore which forms of microaggression ethnic minority officers in Norway experience 'behind the scenes', from colleagues, and how these experiences affect ethnic representation in the patrol service. A crucial test of whether passive representation translates into active representation is whether police officers make use of their cultural and linguistic competence during police work. Fieldwork observations of and narratives from ethnic minority police officers show that minority officers, on their own initiative, make use of their cultural and linguistic skills in specific situations. Thus, experiences of microaggression impact the use of cultural and linguistic competence among minority officers in a less negative manner than expected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]