Learning probability in the Kingdom of Tonga: the influence of language and culture

2021 ◽  
Vol 107 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-134
Author(s):  
Noah Morris
Author(s):  
Mohamed Ahmed

In the late 1950s, Iraqi Jews were either forced or chose to leave Iraq for Israel. Finding it impossible to continue writing in Arabic in Israel, many Iraqi Jewish novelists faced the literary challenge of switching to Hebrew. Focusing on the literary works of the writers Shimon Ballas, Sami Michael and Eli Amir, this book examines their use of their native Iraqi Arabic in their Hebrew works. It examines the influence of Arabic language and culture and explores questions of language, place and belonging from the perspective of sociolinguistics and multilingualism. In addition, the book applies stylistics as a framework to investigate the range of linguistic phenomena that can be found in these exophonic texts, such as code-switching, borrowing, language and translation strategies. This new stylistic framework for analysing exophonic texts offers a future model for the study of other languages. The social and political implications of this dilemma, as it finds expression in creative writing, are also manifold. In an age of mass migration and population displacement, the conflicted loyalties explored in this book through the prism of Arabic and Hebrew are relevant in a range of linguistic contexts.


Author(s):  
Jennifer J. Smith

Coherence of place often exists alongside irregularities in time in cycles, and chapter three turns to cycles linked by temporal markers. Ray Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles (1950) follows a linear chronology and describes the exploration, conquest, and repopulation of Mars by humans. Conversely, Louise Erdrich’s Love Medicine (1984) jumps back and forth across time to narrate the lives of interconnected families in the western United States. Bradbury’s cycle invokes a confluence of historical forces—time as value-laden, work as a calling, and travel as necessitating standardized time—and contextualizes them in relation to anxieties about the space race. Erdrich’s cycle invokes broader, oppositional conceptions of time—as recursive and arbitrary and as causal and meaningful—to depict time as implicated in an entire system of measurement that made possible the destruction and exploitation of the Chippewa people. Both volumes understand the United States to be preoccupied with imperialist impulses. Even as they critique such projects, they also point to the tenacity with which individuals encounter these systems, and they do so by creating “interstitial temporalities,” which allow them to navigate time at the crossroads of language and culture.


2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 197-210
Author(s):  
Susan M. Bridges ◽  
Cynthia K.Y. Yiu ◽  
Colman P. McGrath

In clinical dental consultations in multilingual contexts, medical interpreting is often performed by the supporting staff as part of routine triadic formulations. As academic dentistry becomes increasingly internationalised, issues of language and culture add to the interactional complexity of clinical communication and education. A multivariate approach was adopted to investigate one case of multilingualism in dentistry in Asia. Collection of both survey (n=86) and interactional data provided empirical evidence regarding language use and language demands across integrated Polyclinics. Descriptive statistics of Dental Surgery Assistant (DSA) perception data and conversation analysis (CA) of mediated interpretation indicate that, as members of the oral healthcare team, DSAs in Hong Kong are an essential resource in their role of intercultural mediators between patients and clinicians, both staff and students. Discussion of sociolinguistic notions of place-as-location and place-as-meaning supports a wider conceptualisation of the role of support staff as interpreters in clinical settings. Implications are drawn for policy, curriculum and staff development.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 137-164
Author(s):  
Narges Firouzshahi ◽  
Elena Babatsouli

The present article proposes a sociolinguistic stance in the dissemination of information for use in the clinical context of speech language pathology (SLP) internationally. This practical guide to speech and culture aims to encourage the integration of linguistic and cultural facets in clinical practicum approaches, providing a useful and clinically relevant resource. This comes as a natural consequence of the systematic efforts worldwide to train and inform SLP workforces on providing equitable, targeted, and appropriate service to linguistically and culturally diverse clients such as minorities and immigrants. The specific focus of this guide is on Iranian Persian, a language and culture that is under-represented in published, clinically relevant literature. The paper provides an easily accessible reference manual on the phonological development and clinical assessment of Iranian Persian child speech in typical and atypical, monolingual and bilingual contexts, as well as on cultural aspects that may dictate the success of clinician and client/family interactions.


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