scholarly journals La dimension pragmatico-discursive du français en contact

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 62-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martina Drescher
Keyword(s):  
Language Contact ◽  
African Country ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Direct Interaction ◽  
Linguistic Landscape ◽  
Methodological Issues ◽  
Local Contact ◽  
Medical Issues ◽  
Mitigation Technique

The aim of this paper is two-fold : First it argues for a stronger consideration of the pragmatic and discourse level in research on language contact. Secondly it contributes to the pragmatics of a specific regional variety of French, namely Cameroonian French. Starting with a picture of the complex linguistic landscape of this multilingual African country, the paper stresses the importance of the pragmatic and discourse level by raising some of the crucial theoretical and methodological issues that a broader, usage-based view on language contact has to cope with. First it suggests that pragmatic and discourse conventions may be influenced by the local contact languages and secondly it emphasizes that they may not be specific to a language, but be shared by a much larger and encompassing community of discourse. A case study of Cameroonian radio phone-ins where callers seek advice on medical issues points out some of these conventions. Here the participants establish a specific participation framework that avoids direct interaction between caller and expert while the host is set in as a mediator. This global mitigation technique then allows for quite direct realisations of the advice at a local level.

Examining language policy and practices on the ground: German and French in the public space of two Walloon municipalities with language facilities

2019 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 78-102
Author(s):  
Raúl Sánchez Prieto
Keyword(s):  
Language Policy ◽  
Public Space ◽  
Language Contact ◽  
Comparative Approach ◽  
Linguistic Landscape ◽  
Methodological Issues ◽  
The Public ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative ◽  
Language Legislation ◽  
Different Types

Abstract Building on previous research on the new subfield of Linguistic Landscape (LL), this article adopts a comparative approach to study language policy practices that take place on the ground in East Belgium, a language contact area which is not usually considered conflictive. The research design is both qualitative and quantitative and aimed at overcoming some critical methodological issues. The taxonomy, which distinguishes different types of items in the LL of two municipalities with language facilities, Kelmis and Waimes, has led to a detailed qualitative analysis of the application of the current language legislation.

scholarly journals Financial controls to control corruption in an African country: insider experts within an enabling environment

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Trevor Hopper ◽  
P Lassou ◽  
T Soobaroyen
Keyword(s):  
African Country ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Civil Servants ◽  
Accounting Systems ◽  
Enabling Environment ◽  
Government Accounting ◽  
Public Sector Organizations ◽  
Accounting Changes ◽  
Suitable Environment

© 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd This study analyses an implementation of a government accounting reform in Benin directed at redressing fraudulent and corrupt practices. Although reforms to improve public administration and to mitigate corruption in Africa often have disappointing outcomes, our case study involving systems for payment of supplier invoices, payroll matters, and debt certificates had encouraging findings. The systems reduced inefficiencies and corrupt practices. An “enabling environment” (its main elements being emancipatory space, empowered participation, and ethical leadership) encouraged the deeper involvement of committed, expert, and ethical local civil servants in establishing effective financial controls. In the context of anticorruption reforms, this illustrates that public sector organizations in Africa should not invariably be regarded as monolithic bureaucratic top-down entities, staffed by civil servants who are either passive “bystanders,” purely self-interested “players,” or insufficiently expert, and hence in need for more training, and of imported, expensive, accounting systems implemented by foreign consultants. In contrast, the paper argues that, within a suitable environment, granting indigenous experts enough latitude to enact incremental yet substantive accounting changes at the local level may be more effective.

scholarly journals Financial controls to control corruption in an African country: insider experts within an enabling environment

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Trevor Hopper ◽  
P Lassou ◽  
T Soobaroyen
Keyword(s):  
African Country ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Civil Servants ◽  
Accounting Systems ◽  
Enabling Environment ◽  
Government Accounting ◽  
Public Sector Organizations ◽  
Accounting Changes ◽  
Suitable Environment

© 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd This study analyses an implementation of a government accounting reform in Benin directed at redressing fraudulent and corrupt practices. Although reforms to improve public administration and to mitigate corruption in Africa often have disappointing outcomes, our case study involving systems for payment of supplier invoices, payroll matters, and debt certificates had encouraging findings. The systems reduced inefficiencies and corrupt practices. An “enabling environment” (its main elements being emancipatory space, empowered participation, and ethical leadership) encouraged the deeper involvement of committed, expert, and ethical local civil servants in establishing effective financial controls. In the context of anticorruption reforms, this illustrates that public sector organizations in Africa should not invariably be regarded as monolithic bureaucratic top-down entities, staffed by civil servants who are either passive “bystanders,” purely self-interested “players,” or insufficiently expert, and hence in need for more training, and of imported, expensive, accounting systems implemented by foreign consultants. In contrast, the paper argues that, within a suitable environment, granting indigenous experts enough latitude to enact incremental yet substantive accounting changes at the local level may be more effective.

Progressive Law, Activism, and Lawyering in an Age of Preemption

2021 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 252-267
Author(s):  
Rashmi Dyal-Chand
Keyword(s):  
Working Conditions ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Global Supply Chain ◽  
Environmental Movements ◽  
Improve Working ◽  
Detailed History ◽  
History Of ◽  
State And Local ◽  
Core Questions

Preemption is one of the most important legal doctrines for today’s progressives to understand because of its power to constrain progressive policymaking and social movement lawyering at the state and local level. By examining the detailed history of a decades-long campaign by the labor and environmental movements to improve working conditions in an industry at the heart of the global supply chain, Scott L. Cummings’s Blue and Green: The Drive for Justice at America’s Port (2018) provides a case study about the doctrine and impacts of preemption. The study also inspires lawyers and activists alike to reexamine core questions of factual relevance, representation and voice, and precedent.

Multilingualism in eastern Indonesia: linguistic evidence of a shift from symmetric to asymmetric multilingualism

2021 ◽  
pp. 136700692110231
Author(s):  
Francesca Romana Moro
Keyword(s):  
Language Contact ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Modelling Language ◽  
Apparent Paradox ◽  
Eastern Indonesia ◽  
Communicative Strategies ◽  
Linguistic Evidence ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Bilingual Communities

Aims and Objectives/Purpose/Research Questions: The Alorese in eastern Indonesia are an Austronesian community who have inhabited two Papuan-speaking islands for approximately 600 years. Their language presents a paradox: contact with the neighbouring Papuan languages has led to both complexification and simplification. This article argues that these opposite outcomes of contact result from two distinct scenarios, and formulates a hypothesis about a shift in multilingual patterns in Alorese history. Design/Methodology/Approach: To formulate a hypothesis about the discontinuity of multilingual patterns, this article first sketches the past and present multilingual patterns of the Alorese by modelling language contact outcomes in terms of bilingual optimisation strategies. This is followed by a comparison of the two scenarios to pinpoint similarities and differences. Data and Analysis: Previous research shows that two types of contact phenomena are attested in Alorese: (a) complexification arising from grammatical borrowings from Papuan languages, and (b) morphological simplification. The first change is associated with prolonged child bilingualism and is the result of Papuan-oriented bilingual strategies, while the latter change is associated with adult second language (L2) learning and is the result of universal communicative strategies. Findings/Conclusions Complexification and simplification are the results of two different layers of contact. Alorese was first used in small-scale bilingual communities, with widespread symmetric multilingualism. Later, multilingualism became more asymmetric, and the language started to undergo a simplification process due to the considerable number of L2 speakers. Originality: This article is innovative in providing a clear case study showing discontinuity of multilingual patterns, supported by linguistic and non-linguistic evidence. Significance/Implications: This article provides a plausible explanation for the apparent paradox found in Alorese, by showing that different outcomes of contact in the same language are due to different patterns of acquisition and socialisation. This discontinuity should be taken into account by models of language contact.

scholarly journals Decomposition Analysis of the Evolution of the Local Energy System as a Tool to Assess the Effect of Local Actions: Methodology and Example of Malmö, Sweden

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 461
Author(s):  
Isabel Azevedo ◽  
Vítor Leal
Keyword(s):  
Local Level ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Decomposition Analysis ◽  
Specific Effect ◽  
Energy System ◽  
Local Energy ◽  
Total Change ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Change Mitigation

This paper proposes the use of decomposition analysis to assess the effect of local energy-related actions towards climate change mitigation, and thus improve policy evaluation and planning at the local level. The assessment of the impact of local actions has been a challenge, even from a strictly technical perspective. This happens because the total change observed is the result of multiple factors influencing local energy-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, many of them not even influenced by local authorities. A methodology was developed, based on a recently developed decomposition model, that disaggregates the total observed changes in the local energy system into multiple causes/effects (including local socio-economic evolution, technology evolution, higher-level governance frame and local actions). The proposed methodology, including the quantification of the specific effect associated with local actions, is demonstrated with the case study of the municipality of Malmö (Sweden) in the timeframe between 1990 and 2015.

scholarly journals Characterising Local Knowledge across the Flood Risk Management Cycle: A Case Study of Southern Malawi

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 1681 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Šakić Trogrlić ◽  
Grant Wright ◽  
Melanie Duncan ◽  
Marc van den Homberg ◽  
Adebayo Adeloye ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Management ◽  
Local Knowledge ◽  
Flood Risk ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Flood Risk Management ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
The Social ◽  
Underlying Causes ◽  
Complex Knowledge

People possess a creative set of strategies based on their local knowledge (LK) that allow them to stay in flood-prone areas. Stakeholders involved with local level flood risk management (FRM) often overlook and underutilise this LK. There is thus an increasing need for its identification, documentation and assessment. Based on qualitative research, this paper critically explores the notion of LK in Malawi. Data was collected through 15 focus group discussions, 36 interviews and field observation, and analysed using thematic analysis. Findings indicate that local communities have a complex knowledge system that cuts across different stages of the FRM cycle and forms a component of community resilience. LK is not homogenous within a community, and is highly dependent on the social and political contexts. Access to LK is not equally available to everyone, conditioned by the access to resources and underlying causes of vulnerability that are outside communities’ influence. There are also limits to LK; it is impacted by exogenous processes (e.g., environmental degradation, climate change) that are changing the nature of flooding at local levels, rendering LK, which is based on historical observations, less relevant. It is dynamic and informally triangulated with scientific knowledge brought about by development partners. This paper offers valuable insights for FRM stakeholders as to how to consider LK in their approaches.

Indigenization in a downgraded continuum: Ideologies behind phonetic variation in Namibian Afrikaans

2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerald Stell
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Power Relations ◽  
African Country ◽  
Language Ideologies ◽  
Ethnically Diverse ◽  
Official Language ◽  
Phonetic Variation ◽  
Variation Patterns ◽  
Standard Models

AbstractThis study generally looks at indigenization in languages historically introduced and promoted by colonial regimes. The case study that it presents involves Namibia, a Subsaharan African country formerly administered by South Africa, where Afrikaans was the dominant official language before being replaced by English upon independence. Afrikaans in Namibia still functions as an informal urban lingua franca while being spoken as a native language by substantial White and Coloured minorities. To what extent does the downranking of Afrikaans in Namibia co-occur with divergence from standard models historically located in South Africa? To answer this question, the study identifies variation patterns in Namibian Afrikaans phonetic data elicited from ethnically diverse young urban informants and links these patterns with perceptions and language ideologies. The phonetic data reveal divergence between Whites and Non-Whites and some convergence among Black L2 Afrikaans-speakers with Coloured varieties, while suggesting that a distinctive Black variety is emerging. The observed trends generally reflect perceived ethnoracial distinctions and segregation. They must be read against the background of shifting inter-group power relations and sociolinguistic prestige norms in independent Namibia, as well as of emergent ethnically inclusive Black urban identities.

Indian in Education: One Community's Experience

1977 ◽  
Vol 159 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-42
Author(s):  
Kenneth Peterson
Keyword(s):  
American Indians ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Indian Education ◽  
Federal Spending ◽  
Indian Children ◽  
Assistance Programs ◽  
Congressional Committees ◽  
The Right ◽  
Federal Assistance

American Indians have historically been denied the opportunity to participate in policy-making in schools. Now because of belated recognition of tribe's rights to self-determination and because of an awareness of past failures, Indian people can have a voice in their children's education. The original aim of institutionalized Indian education was to separate Indian children from their tribal past and encourage them to adopt the ways of white people. This was often done by sending children hundreds of miles away from their home and reservations to boarding schools. Termed assimilation, this policy has been judged a failure by educators, congressional committees, and Indians themselves. Today federal assistance programs require involvement by Indian parents and students both in reservation and urban schools. By exploiting these programs, Indian parents can change the type of education provided their children. A case study demonstrating possibilities of participation is the focus of this article. Unfortunately special federal spending programs can and do end. Hence, Indian parents, while participating at the local level, must advocate the development of new permanent law guaranteeing their children the right to a bi-cultural education.

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