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In this study, we examined how growing up in a bilingual (Swedish-Finnish) versus monolingual (Swedish only) household in a bilingual region of Finland affected adolescents' language competence and language-related perspective-taking, and how these factors were related to adolescents' language choice in interaction. Survey data were collected from 197 secondary school students in Finland, and analyzed via path modeling. Results supported predictions that children from bilingual households are both more aware of other speakers' linguistic preferences and needs, and more competent in their language skills, and that both these factors contribute to linguistic accommodation (i.e. language choice). Specifically, our findings suggest language competence appears to function as the 'default' determinant of language choice and that perspective-taking attenuates this relationship as consideration of others' wants or needs (that differ from this default) increase. These findings provide new insights into the drivers of language choice in multilingual contexts.

The role of basic emotions in SLA has been underestimated in both research and pedagogy. The present article examines 10 positive emotions ("joy," "gratitude," "serenity," "interest," "hope," "pride," "amusement," "inspiration," "awe," and "love") and 9 negative emotions ("anger," "contempt," "disgust," "embarrassment," "guilt," "hate," "sadness," "feeling scared," and "being stressed"). The emotions are correlated with core variables chosen from three well-known models of L2 motivation: Gardner's integrative motive, Clément's social-contextual model, and Dörnyei's L2 self system. Respondents came from Italian secondary schools, and most participants were from monolingual Italian speaking homes. They described their motivation and emotion with respect to learning German in a region of Italy (South Tyrol) that features high levels of contact between Italians and Germans. Results show that positive emotions are consistently and strongly correlated with motivation-related variables. Correlations involving negative emotions are weaker and less consistently implicated in motivation. The positivity ratio, that is, the relative prevalence of positive over negative emotion, showed strong correlations with all of the motivation constructs. Regression analysis supports the conclusion that a variety of emotions, not just one or two key ones, are implicated in L2 motivation processes in this high-contact context.

Energy‐dispersive Laue diffraction (EDLD) is a powerful method to obtain position‐resolved texture information in inhomogeneous biological samples without the need for sample rotation. This study employs EDLD texture scanning to investigate the impact of two salivary peptides, statherin (STN) and histatin‐1 (HTN) 21 N‐terminal peptides (STN21 and HTN21), on the crystallographic structure of dental enamel. These proteins are known to play crucial roles in dental caries progression. Three healthy incisors were randomly assigned to three groups: artificially demineralized, demineralized after HTN21 peptide pre‐treatment and demineralized after STN21 peptide pre‐treatment. To understand the micro‐scale structure of the enamel, each specimen was scanned from the enamel surface to a depth of 250 µm using microbeam EDLD. Via the use of a white beam and a pixelated detector, where each pixel functions as a spectrometer, pole figures were obtained in a single exposure at each measurement point. The results revealed distinct orientations of hydroxyapatite crystallites and notable texture variation in the peptide‐treated demineralized samples compared with the demineralized control. Specifically, the peptide‐treated demineralized samples exhibited up to three orientation populations, in contrast to the demineralized control which displayed only a single orientation population. The texture index of the demineralized control (2.00 ± 0.21) was found to be lower than that of either the STN21 (2.32 ± 0.20) or the HTN21 (2.90 ± 0.46) treated samples. Hence, texture scanning with EDLD gives new insights into dental enamel crystallite orientation and links the present understanding of enamel demineralization to the underlying crystalline texture. For the first time, the feasibility of EDLD texture measurements for quantitative texture evaluation in demineralized dental enamel samples is demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reviews recent advancements in X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometry, focusing on improvements in 3D chemical imaging and the development of specialized instruments. Topics include the progress in XRF spectrometry computed tomography, advancements in confocal XRF techniques, and the expanding applications of these methods in material science and cultural heritage.

Integrating the tenets of the social context model of L2 acquisition with insights from the parasocial contact hypothesis, the present paper addresses the role of mass media in L2 acquisition and acculturation among young Hungarian speakers in Slovakia. Questionnaire data were collected among Hungarian-speaking secondary school students (N = 310). The results indicated that integrative orientation guided individuals to seek media content in L2, and that L2 media use was associated with a higher L2 confidence and acculturation. Additionally, and in contrast to our expectations, L2 media use had a greater effect on acculturation and L2 confidence among those who had higher levels of positively valenced contact and lower levels of negatively valenced real-life contact with L2 speakers.

This paper explores the role of mediated intergroup contact in improving intergroup attitudes between Italian speakers and German speakers in South Tyrol, Italy. Specifically, we examine how German-language television consumption affects attitudes towards the German-speaking group among Italian- speaking youth. The data ("N" = 229) were collected among Italian-speaking secondary school students in 2011. As expected, the results indicated that more German TV use was associated with more positive attitudes toward German speakers. A cognitive mediator (intergroup understanding) had a greater influence than an affective one (intergroup anxiety) in mediating the effect of TV use on attitudes. The effect of TV use on attitudes was greater among those who had less personal intergroup contact, but there were no differences in the effects of television based on variations in the local ethnolinguistic vitality of the two groups. Findings and implications are discussed, and suggestions for future research are made. (Contains 1 table, 3 figures, and 3 footnotes.)

This article addresses the relationships between media, media use and language retention. In pursuing this aim, we explore the utility of ethnolinguistic vitality (EV) as a fruitful conceptual tool. The extant research on the relationship between the media and language retention and development provides an encouragement to pursue in more detail the role of media in this process: in other words to address more explicitly the features of media operation, and their relationship to audiences, which interface with the dynamics of EV. Based on four case studies of bilingual communities, the article concludes that media can be an important vehicle in maintaining and supporting EV. The extent to which this can be reached depends mostly on objective factors, such as the institutional completeness of the media landscape. (Contains 4 notes, 3 tables, and 2 figures.)

This article examines Swedish language television viewing among Finnish speakers in Finland. Finnish speakers who watch some Swedish language television are found to have more positive attitudes towards Swedish speakers and the Swedish language. Mediated models suggest that instrumental and integrative language learning motivations differentially mediate the association between Swedish language television viewing and attitudes. (Contains 2 tables and 2 figures.)

The utilisation of SR sources has significantly enhanced the analytical capabilities of XRF spectrometry techniques. With the latest generation of facilities, SR-XRF spectrometry achieves remarkably high nm-scale resolution with excellent LODs at ppb levels. A noteworthy trend is the increasing use of SR-XRF spectrometry together with other X-ray spectroscopic and imaging techniques. This provides complementary information on elemental speciation as well as structural and morphological characteristics of samples. Sub-μm SR-XRF spectrometry has been extensively applied in diverse fields such as environmental and planetary studies, biomedical research, materials science and cultural heritage investigations. Methods for handling the huge datasets produced by macroXRF spectrometry have become essential for processing and classifying the element distributions collected from the analysis of paintings. Machine-learning-based correlations of element maps have been developed for the automatic identification of patterns as an alternative method of processing macroXRF spectrometry data from cultural heritage samples. The microanalytical capabilities of TXRF spectrometry have led to a steep increase in applications to biomedical problems with successful analyses of minute amounts of samples (ca. 20 mg) of, e.g., blood, placenta and heart tissue. The suspension-assisted preparation of theses samples and of mineralogical materials was improved in many studies by extending the common internal standard calibration with uni- and multivariate approaches. The development of a scan-free grazing-exit XRF spectrometer improved accuracy in the analysis of periodic surface structures. The degree of protonation of different thiol- or hydroxyl-bearing organic monolayers was successfully determined using grazing-incidence XRF and TXRF spectrometries in combination with other techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]