scholarly journals My Language Autobiography and Critical Reflections

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Pan
Keyword(s):  
Critical Role ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
Personal Story ◽  
Critical Reflections

Language has always played a critical role in my life. In fact, if I were to select one way to tell my personal story, it would be through the influence of language and culture on my life. If one were to break my life into several distinct stages so far, then language has played an important role in every stage.

The importance of language and culture to the growing Sino-Caribbean commercial relationship

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helene Zamor ◽  
Alicia D. Nicholls ◽  
Albert Christopher Lee
Keyword(s):  
Chinese Culture ◽  
English Language ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Cultural Barriers ◽  
Small Island ◽  
Lingua Franca ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
Linguistic Understanding ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
The 19Th Century

Language and culture play a critical role in international commercial relations. Since the 19th century, the English language has undeniably held the prominent position as the global lingua franca to facilitate communication between nations. However, China’s contemporary re-emergence as an economic superpower has expanded its global influence. Consequently, awareness of Chinese culture and language is becoming important not only globally, but also in the Caribbean, where China’s economic footprint has expanded considerably in recent years. This article conceptually explores the important role of language and culture within the growing Sino-Caribbean commercial relationship. Specifically, it discusses the potential impact of language on the trade and tourism sectors, which are two key industries that drive the economies of English-speaking Caribbean small island developing states. It does this by charting the development of the English and Chinese languages as dominant languages. It then briefly looks at the current level of Chinese engagement with the region in trade and, more contemporarily, the potential of greater Chinese tourism in the Caribbean. It discusses the value of deeper cultural and linguistic understanding in nurturing and expanding these relationships. Finally, the article concludes by providing meaningful recommendations on ways to mitigate cultural and linguistic barriers in order to promote deeper Sino-Caribbean trade and tourism.<br /><br />Key messages<br /><ul><li>Language and culture are two important factors in commercial relationships, especially trade and tourism.</li><br /><li>This article adds to the growing literature on budding Sino-Caribbean relations by exploring the importance of linguistic and cultural understanding to nurturing this relationship.</li><br /><li>It argues that Caribbean countries cannot take for granted that English will always be the lingua franca for Chinese-Caribbean relations given China’s expanding global footprint.</li><br /><li>The article makes recommendations on ways to mitigate linguistic and cultural barriers in order to deepen Sino-Caribbean commercial ties.</li></ul>

Translingual transcultural competence: student agency, teacher guidance, and program support

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 343-358
Author(s):  
Claudia Kunschak
Keyword(s):  
Critical Role ◽  
Current Trend ◽  
Student Agency ◽  
Student Survey ◽  
Intercultural Communicative Competence ◽  
Teacher Interviews ◽  
Teacher Guidance ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
Program Support ◽  
Native Teachers

Abstract An increasingly interconnected world requires people to become versatile communicators in a variety of different settings. Language centers have a critical role to play in this process by offering language and culture training in multiple languages to students, professionals and the wider community alike. They may do so from the perspective of developing plurilingual pluricultural competence, translingual transcultural competence or intercultural communicative competence and intercultural citizenship. This paper takes as its framework translingual transcultural competence, which not only reflects the current trend of transnationalism and diasporic communities, but also emphasizes the need to be critically aware, culturally reflective and socially sensitive. In order to better understand affordances and challenges in developing this competence, or set of competences, the author surveyed and interviewed students and teachers at one university-affiliated language center offering 30 languages besides German as the main language of study. Students at all proficiency levels as well as native and non-native teachers of the language taught were included in the study. Whereas the student survey investigated awareness and attitude, identity and community as well as the autonomy and agency of students in the program, teacher interviews provided insights into program parameters, classroom pedagogy and out-of-class projects. Findings from the study indicate a strong foundation in multicompetence thinking with some challenges in developing the transcultural component.

Intercultural Challenges of Teaching in Multilingual/Multicultural Classrooms

2022 ◽  
pp. 481-499
Author(s):  
Éva Csillik
Keyword(s):  
Critical Role ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Cultural Backgrounds ◽  
Lingua Franca ◽  
Melting Pot ◽  
Global Citizens ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
Multilingual Students ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
Multilingual Classroom

Language and culture are inseparable entities forming an interdependent relationship within the multilingual classroom, which is both a melting pot of languages as well as a myriad of cultural backgrounds. In learning a common language, known as “lingua franca,” in the multilingual classroom, culture plays a critical role since the lingua franca makes communication possible between language teachers and multilingual students. Cultural connections and effective communication enables these students to engage in social and interactive activities and allows them to become active participants of the multilingual classroom. This chapter addresses some of the major intercultural challenges that both teachers and students of multilingual classrooms currently face within the “cultural jungle” of New York City. These multilingual students are simultaneously learning English as the lingua franca and participating in an intercultural educational experience in order to become linguistically and interculturally competent global citizens.

Supporting toddlers as competent story navigators across home and early childhood contexts

2021 ◽  
pp. 3-8
Author(s):  
Amanda White ◽  
Irene Padtoc
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Home Language ◽  
Personal Story ◽  
Personal Experiences ◽  
Role Of Teachers ◽  
Early Childhood Settings

Young children learn how to communicate with others through their everyday interactions and social relationships. In this article, we argue that stories about personal experiences are a valuable context for exploring how 1-year-old toddlers learn to engage with others across their family homes and early childhood settings. We demonstrate how Lexie, aged 16 months, communicated multimodally as she contributed to a personal story about her experience of eating lunch. Lexie’s competence as a storyteller was supported by a teacher who shared her cultural background and home language. Lexie’s story highlights the critical role of teachers in supporting story interactions in attuned and reciprocal ways that allow the competencies of 1-year-old toddlers as learners and communicators to be recognised and extended.

Intercultural Challenges of Teaching in Multilingual/Multicultural Classrooms

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Éva Csillik
Keyword(s):  
Critical Role ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Cultural Backgrounds ◽  
Lingua Franca ◽  
Melting Pot ◽  
Global Citizens ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
Multilingual Students ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
Multilingual Classroom

Language and culture are inseparable entities forming an interdependent relationship within the multilingual classroom, which is both a melting pot of languages as well as a myriad of cultural backgrounds. In learning a common language, known as “lingua franca,” in the multilingual classroom, culture plays a critical role since the lingua franca makes communication possible between language teachers and multilingual students. Cultural connections and effective communication enables these students to engage in social and interactive activities and allows them to become active participants of the multilingual classroom. This chapter addresses some of the major intercultural challenges that both teachers and students of multilingual classrooms currently face within the “cultural jungle” of New York City. These multilingual students are simultaneously learning English as the lingua franca and participating in an intercultural educational experience in order to become linguistically and interculturally competent global citizens.

Dexamethasone Effect on Embryonic Chick Respiratory Epithelium

1982 ◽  
Vol 40 ◽  
pp. 248-249
Author(s):  
M.R. Richter ◽  
R.V. Blystone
Keyword(s):  
Lung Development ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Respiratory Epithelium ◽  
Chick Embryos ◽  
Embryonic Chick ◽  
White Leghorn ◽  
Lung Maturation ◽  
Synthetic Analogs ◽  
Lung Physiology ◽  
Avian Lung

Dexamethasone and other synthetic analogs of corticosteroids have been employed clinically as enhancers of lung development. The mechanism(s) by which this steroid induction of later lung maturation operates is not clear. This study reports the effect on lung epithelia of dexamethasone administered at different intervals during development. White Leghorn chick embryos were used so as to remove possible maternal and placental influences on the exogenously applied steroid. Avian lung architecture does vary from mammals; however, respiratory surfactant produced by the lung epithelia serves an equally critical role in avian lung physiology.

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