Language, culture, and image-driven interpretations in translation: A case for the university translation classroom in Ukraine

In this paper, we develop a theory of image-driven interpretations for the translation studies domain. Interpretations make the core of translation and are explained in terms of mental images. An image-driven interpretation gives a meaning to a source-language word and finds in the target language the word to capture this meaning, which is a creative act and a cross-cultural transfer. An interpretation is ‘drawing’ images in the human mind by the powers of the mind’s representational content. Our theory proposes a role for etymological insight in boosting translation students’ interpretive skills via exposed inner word forms. These archaic archetypal images contain culture-specific information transmitted through human generations with the help of language. Inner word forms are non-trivial triggers in cultural exposure that raise students’ awareness of the native and foreign cultures and add an in-depth dimension to regular vocabulary work and other good practices in the translation classroom. We pin down some of the influences that native Ukrainian words and borrowings have had on the Ukrainians’ interpretive mind.

Modifying the Mini-Cog to Screen for Cognitive Impairment in Nonliterate Individuals

Objectives. The Mini-Cog, a rapid, valid, and reliable screening tool for cognitive impairment, consists of 3-word recall and an executive clock drawing test (CDT). However, CDT requires at least basic literacy and cultural exposure to analog clocks, conditions not met in many population groups around the world. We developed a modification of the Mini-Cog (MMC) for use with nonliterate and literate individuals. Methods. Participants were adults (≥60 years) with no neurological diagnosis, with known cognitive impairment due to stroke, Parkinsonism, traumatic brain injury, or Alzheimer’s disease, and whose family members were able to read and write. We replaced the CDT with two tasks of everyday life: a serial subtraction task or a multistep performance task. Family members rated the acceptability and feasibility of the Mini-Cog versions using a 6-point scale and completed a proxy-rated cognitive staging tool, the Dementia Severity Rating Scale (DSRS). Spearman’s rho, Mann-Whitney U , and chi-square tests were used to evaluate group differences and associations between measures. Results. Data were collected from 63 participants ( 75 % ≥ 60 years , 67% nonliterate). Literacy was associated with CDT (chi-square strength 0.9, p < 0.001 ). Both MMC versions correlated with DSRS in healthy adults and patients (rho 0.6-0.7, p < 0.05 ). In literate individuals, the acceptability and feasibility of CDT and both alternate distractors were similarly high (5/6). Conclusions. Two alternate distractor tasks may successfully replace CDT in the Mini-Cog. The MMC versions are promising and deserve further study as screening tools for cognitive impairment in larger and more fully characterized samples.

Education and Cultural Navigation for Children in Refugee Resettlement Contexts

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), over half of the 25.4 million refugees worldwide are children under the age of 18. Given the instability and precariousness that displaced persons may experience, the provision of education for these children is of significant concern. Interaction between the culture of the host society and the cultures of immigrants, including experiences related to education, is a key aspect of transitioning to a new national environment. These interactions may be particularly salient for displaced populations, considering the particular circumstances and life trajectories that are characteristic of refugees and generally not shared by other immigrant groups. Empirical research on refugee children’s education in resettlement countries highlights the significance of acculturative processes for experiences and outcomes of schooling, as well as the importance of educational settings in facilitating cultural interaction—that is, the interlocking and complementary nature of acculturation and education. Education and cultural navigation are linked in significant ways, such that even as education facilitates the cultural exposure and integration of newcomer individuals to a receiving society, acculturation itself is associated with adaptation to the school context and academic experiences. In other words, educational and acculturative processes can facilitate and reinforce each other. Additional research that examines more specifically processes of cultural navigation by refugee children in particular can further illuminate the factors that shape their experience of education in resettlement contexts.

Cross-cultural emotion recognition in adults and children

The current studies investigated cross-cultural emotion recognition in South Asian and Caucasian Canadian adults and children. The two main goals of the current research were to disentangle the effects of culture and race on cross-cultural emotion recognition and to chart the development of cross-cultural differences in emotion recognition. Both adults and children completed an emotion recognition task, viewing faces of four different racial/cultural groups (South Asian Canadians and immigrants, Caucasian Canadian and immigrants). Adults completed a cultural identification task with these four racial/cultural groups and a contact questionnaire that assessed their exposure to Caucasian and South Asian individuals. Findings revealed that Caucasian and South Asian Canadian adults showed cross-cultural differences in emotion recognition; however, children did not. Furthermore, adults were able to identify the cultural background of Caucasian and South Asian faces at above-chance levels. Finally, results indicated that higher levels of cross-cultural exposure were related to improved cross-cultural emotion recognition for Caucasian adults only.

Cross-cultural emotion recognition in adults and children

The current studies investigated cross-cultural emotion recognition in South Asian and Caucasian Canadian adults and children. The two main goals of the current research were to disentangle the effects of culture and race on cross-cultural emotion recognition and to chart the development of cross-cultural differences in emotion recognition. Both adults and children completed an emotion recognition task, viewing faces of four different racial/cultural groups (South Asian Canadians and immigrants, Caucasian Canadian and immigrants). Adults completed a cultural identification task with these four racial/cultural groups and a contact questionnaire that assessed their exposure to Caucasian and South Asian individuals. Findings revealed that Caucasian and South Asian Canadian adults showed cross-cultural differences in emotion recognition; however, children did not. Furthermore, adults were able to identify the cultural background of Caucasian and South Asian faces at above-chance levels. Finally, results indicated that higher levels of cross-cultural exposure were related to improved cross-cultural emotion recognition for Caucasian adults only.

The influence of outside foreign language and culture exposure in EFL classroom collaborative writing tasks

<p>This study examines whether foreign language acquisition can be acquired through sharing information when students participate in knowledge building forums using English as the lingua franca. It also explores whether the students with higher levels of linguistic knowledge and cultural awareness relating to the foreign language share this information with their peers throughout the writing process. The study was conducted in two Spanish classrooms, where the participants were bilingual in both Catalan and Spanish. A pre-questionnaire was used to determine the level of exposure to the English language and English culture outside of the classroom. The students were scored on their responses and then divided into three groups: low-, medium-, and high-level exposure to the English language and culture. A one-way ANOVA was used to determine whether exposure to the English language and culture outside of the classroom would influence pre-test scores, and there is an interaction effect between language and cultural exposure and the pre-test scores (F = 5.17). Upon the conclusion of the collaborative writing task, a one-way ANOVA was used to determine whether there was an interaction effect between language and cultural exposure and the post-test scores (F = 4.47). The student scores increased at the same rate across the groups. In collaborative writing and knowledge building tasks, students learn about the content from their peers, and the information disperses throughout the group where there is a shared understanding of the content upon completion. However, the linguistic and cultural knowledge the students have prior to participating in these tasks do not get dispersed in the same manner, rather, all groups show an improvement in their foreign language skills, but the knowledge of the foreign language does not equalize across the groups.</p>

Cultural Intelligence (CQ) and Cultural Exposure Through Mobility Programs

As a result of globalisation, a significant proportion of companies operate across borders and in many cases, work communities are also organised from workers with diverse cultural backgrounds. Due to the intensive flow of services, goods and labour, and cultural differences, conflicts can arise, and these tensions can negatively affect people and organisations' well-being and performance. Nowadays, cultural knowledge and intercultural competencies are more appreciated and highly requested by most employers.The younger generations (Generation Z and Millennials) were born into cultural diversity and have broad mobility possibilities to deepen their intercultural competencies, but the older generations in Hungary had more limited mobility opportunities. Cultural intelligence (CQ), which is the ability to adapt to different intercultural interactions effectively, can be developed effortlessly by spending extended periods abroad. High CQ results in better interpersonal relationships and work performance in culturally diverse environments. Cultural intelligence is a widely researched field within the managerial studies, but most studies focus on international students, young business students and sojourners. Thus, our primary goal was to explore not just the adolescents and young professionals, but the middle-aged and seniors as well.This quantitative study aimed to explore Hungarian generations' cultural intelligence and find possible connections between cultural intelligence and overseas exposure/mobility program participation. To answer our research questions, we analysed the total and dimensional CQ scores of 329 Hungarian respondents and compared the results based on participation in different mobility programs, length and frequency of cultural exposure.

The Origins of Religious Disbelief: A Dual Inheritance Approach

Widespread religious disbelief represents a key testing ground for theories of religion. We evaluated the predictions of three prominent theoretical approaches—secularization, cognitive byproduct, and dual inheritance—in a nationally representative (United States, N = 1,417) data set with preregistered analyses and found considerable support for the dual inheritance perspective. Of key predictors of religious disbelief, witnessing fewer credible cultural cues of religious commitment was the most potent, β = .28, followed distantly by reflective cognitive style, β = .13, and less advanced mentalizing, β = .05. Low cultural exposure predicted about 90% higher odds of atheism than did peak cognitive reflection, and cognitive reflection only predicted disbelief among those relatively low in cultural exposure to religion. This highlights the utility of considering both evolved intuitions and transmitted culture and emphasizes the dual roles of content- and context-biased social learning in the cultural transmission of disbelief (preprint https://psyarxiv.com/e29rt/ ).