Improved handoff quality and reduction in adverse events following implementation of a Spanish-language version of the I-PASS bundle for pediatric hospitalized patients in Argentina

Introduction communication errors between medical personnel are known to be a leading source of adverse events (AEs). The implementation of teamwork training together with the use of a standardized handoff bundle has previously shown to reduce the number of AEs. However, the applicability of this program in spanish-speaker countries remains unclear. Objective to assess whether the exploratory implementation of I-PASS bundle in an Argentine pediatric hospital is associated with a reduction in the rate of AEs. Methods Design: an exploratory, uncontrolled, pre-post study. Population and sample: medical records (MR), medical prescriptions, and physician reports were reviewed in two clinical wards of the "Hospital General de Niños Pedro de Elizalde". Intervention: I-PASS Spanish version, an standardized handoff bundle consists in: a mnemonics, an introductory workshop, a written handoff tool, simulation sessions, and structured observations with feedback. Results we reviewed 264 MR. Preventable AEs decreased by 62.8% between pre-intervention and post-intervention period (12.1 vs 4.5 AEs/100 admissions; IC95: 0.010; 0.142; [p = 0.025]). Adherence to the use of quality handoff key elements increased significantly, from 25% to 61% in post-intervention period (p = 0.0001). Handoff duration did not change significantly (5.5 ± 0.2 vs 5.3 ± 0.3 minutes per patient [p = 0.59]). Conclusion Implementation of an I-PASS Spanish version was associated with a significant reduction in the rate of AEs and with improvements in handoff quality; without changes in duration.

Las oraciones de relativo y la definitud de su antecedente expreso

The paper is concerned with the (in)definite reference of a noun phrase which is the head of a relative clause in Spanish. Speaker and hearer do not share any knowledge of the referent on the basis of previous mention (anaphora) or situational uses. There is something about the relative clause which makes a first-mention definite article possible. We take an insight into the contents of the description conveyed by such relatives.

Learning Astrobiology 101 with experiments in Baja California, Mexico

We present our experience teaching the subject ‘Astrobiology 101’ (“Introducción a la Astrobiología”, in Spanish), given in the University of Baja California at Ensenada, Mexico, since 2004 up to the present. The place of Astrobiology in Mexico, as well as the local academic context in Baja California are presented, as we consider that the multidisciplinary academic environment plays an important role in the motivation of our students. We describe the course itself, its materials, and resources. The course was designed based on classical books as well as news, academic papers, and internet sources. After seven editions of the course, we have noted that making practical experiments improves the understanding of concepts, ideas, and also strengths the interaction among students with different majors. This course has received support by means of an educational grant which objective is to compile all the experimental and hands-on activities in two manuals: one for students and the other for the teachers These manuals will be available to all the Spanish-speaker teachers who want to teach the full course or part of it, as well as those only interested in the hands-on activities. Locally, the establishment of the new Astrobiology Laboratory, in the Institute of Astronomy (UNAM, Campus Ensenada), surely will help us to increase the opportunities on research and education for our students, as well as visiting students and teachers.

LANGUAGE AS SOCIAL PRACTICE: DECONSTRUCTING BOUNDARIES IN INTERCULTURAL BILINGUAL EDUCATION

ABSTRACT Although Peru’s Intercultural Bilingual Education (IBE) program has been attempting to pursue new directions, it still carries many ideologies and practices that have defined it since it started half a century ago. In this article, I discuss the way some of these ideologies and practices related to language are reproduced in a preservice teacher training program in one of the capital city’s private universities, which implements a national policy of social inclusion for Quechua-speaking youth from vulnerable contexts. On the basis of diverse dichotomies (L1/L2, Spanish use/Quechua use, Spanish literacy practices/Quechua literacy practices, Quechua speaker/Spanish speaker), the program produces two types of hierarchized subjectivities: one related to the subject educated in Quechua and another related to the subject educated in Spanish, both coming from a conception of languages as discrete codes that go together with fixed ethnolinguistic groups and bounded cultural practices (GARCÍA et al., 2017). In the context of new sociocultural dynamics and bilingualisms, young students in the program subvert these divisions and begin to trace new paths for IBE and Quechua in Perú.

Children’s Third-Party Understanding of Communicative Interactions in a Foreign Language

Two studies explored young children’s understanding of the role of shared language in communication by investigating how monolingual English-speaking children interact with an English speaker, a Spanish speaker, and a bilingual experimenter who spoke both English and Spanish. When the bilingual experimenter spoke in Spanish or English to request objects, four-year-old children, but not three-year-olds, used her language choice to determine whom she addressed (e.g. requests in Spanish were directed to the Spanish speaker). Importantly, children used this cue – language choice – only in a communicative context. The findings suggest that by four years, monolingual children recognize that speaking the same language enables successful communication, even when that language is unfamiliar to them. Three-year-old children’s failure to make this distinction suggests that this capacity likely undergoes significant development in early childhood, although other capacities might also be at play.

A metadialogic approach to intercultural dialogue

Our objective is to discover if metadialogic discussion by participants and researchers increases their understanding of the dialogue. We videotaped a native Spanish speaker and a fifth-semester Spanish learner from the U.S. as they discussed a conversational prompt. Next, a facilitator guided the participants in a videotaped retrospection to uncover what their thoughts and feelings had been during the original interaction. A third party then analyzed the original videotaped dialogue and compared it to the participants’ metadialogic commentary to determine accuracy and adequacy of the analysis. Results show that dialogic retrospection is an effective tool and should be incorporated into dialogue research methodology. Instead of analyzing solely a transcription of an audiotape or film, metadialogic retrospection can access hidden motivations underlying language use, leading to greater accuracy. We argue that such retrospection is necessary for understanding cognitive and psychological dimensions of co-constructing meaning in intercultural dialogue.