Spoken Grammar: Meaning, Principles and Characteristics

The terms Spoken Grammar was coined by the two corpus grammarians, Ronald Carter and Mike McCarthy. In the 19th century, it came under the impact of a number of local dialects represented by the cockney dialect in London, and the Lothian dialect in Edinburgh. The discussions, debates and studies on Spoken grammar have led to the specification of three main viewpoints concerning the existence of this types of grammar. The viewpoints entail that (1) grammatical rules do not govern spoken language, which is disorderly and disordered; (2) Speaking English lacks a distinct grammar. It has the same syntax as written English grammar; and (3) spoken language is regulated by a separate grammar with its own set of rules and conventions; i.e. it has its own grammar represented by its own set of rules, regulations, and classifications compared to those of the written language. T validate or refute the implications of the preceding viewpoints, relevant literature concludes that spoken grammar is quite prevalent in everyday conversational spoken English. It is characterized by being more flexible and less strict compared to written grammar. This is so because the informal context of using spoken grammar makes it have a syntax that varies from the traditional written grammar in a number of aspects. This purely theoretical research aims at shedding light on the definition, meaning, principles and the main characteristics of spoken grammar. The emphasis on the distinctive features of spoken grammar has triggered the researchers to focus on a further point of discussion, namely the differences between spoken and written grammar. To substantiate such differences, examples from closely relevant grammatical literature have also been provided. The research ends with some concluding points drawn upon from the preceding discussed and presented points.

Fixing the Crooked Heart: How Aesthetic Practices Support Sense Making in Mathematical Play

We build on mathematicians’ descriptions of their work and conceptualize mathematics as an aesthetic endeavor. Invoking the anthropological meaning of practice, we claim that mathematical aesthetic practices shape meanings of and appreciation (or distaste) for particular manifestations of mathematics. To see learners’ spontaneous mathematical aesthetic practices, we situate our study in an informal context featuring design-centered play with mathematical objects. Drawing from video data that support inferences about children’s perspectives, we use interaction analysis to examine one child’s mathematical aesthetic practices, highlighting the emergence of aesthetic problems whose resolution required engagement in mathematics sense making. As mathematics educators seek to broaden access, our empirical findings challenge commonsense understandings about what and where mathematics is, opening possibilities for designs for learning.

Un regard sur le français inclusif canadien dans une journée de Twitter

This paper looks at the variation of typographical procedures and agreements related to inclusive French (FI) on the microblogging system Twitter in Canada. The corpus used includes 464 tweets geo-localized in Montreal, Ottawa and Quebec and published on May 12th, 2020. They were sorted into cases of simple inclusion (IS), uniform agreement (AU) and mixed agreement (AM). The results showed that IS (57%) is the most preferred approach. When the tweets presented more than one FI mark, the preferred structure was AM (27%). When compared to the 15% of AU cases, we might conclude that uniform agreement is not common in this corpus. The analysis of AM tokens showed a gradual decrease in agreement marks throughout a given tweet. The preferred FI typographical procedures in this corpus (complete doublets, abbreviated doublets with parentheses, and epicene forms) are consistent with the recommendations of the Office québécois de la langue française, despite the informal context. As my results show a set of alternative overlapping agreement systems, I propose that this heterogeneity is one of the characteristic features of inclusive French.

Reaching early adolescents with a complex intervention for HIV prevention: findings from a cohort study to evaluate DREAMS in two informal settlements in Nairobi, Kenya

Background The DREAMS Partnership promotes combination HIV prevention among adolescent girls and young women. We examined the extent to which DREAMS interventions reached early adolescent girls (EAG; aged 10–14 years) in two informal settlements in Nairobi, and the characteristics of those reached, after 3 years of implementation. Methods We utilized three data rounds from a randomly-sampled cohort of EAG established in 2017 in Korogocho and Viwandani informal settlements where DREAMS interventions were implemented. Interventions were classified as individual or contextual-level, with individual interventions further categorised as primary (prioritised for this age group), or secondary. We summarised self-reported invitation to participate in DREAMS, and uptake of eight interventions that were supported by DREAMS, during 2017–2019. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to identify individual and household characteristics associated with invitation to DREAMS and uptake of primary interventions. Results Data were available for 606, 516 (retention rate of 85%) and 494 (82%) EAG in 2017, 2018 and 2019, respectively. Proportions invited to DREAMS increased from 49% in 2017, to 77% by 2018, and to 88% by 2019. School-based HIV and violence prevention, and HIV testing and counselling were the most accessed interventions (both at 82%). Cumulative uptake of interventions was higher among those invited to participate in DREAMS compared to those never invited, particularly for new interventions such as social asset building and financial capability training. Contextual-level interventions were accessed infrequently. Most of those invited both in 2017 and 2018 accessed ≥3 interventions (96%), and 55% received all three primary interventions by 2019. Conclusions Uptake of DREAMS interventions among a representative sample of EAG was high and quickly increased over the implementation period. The majority accessed multiple interventions, indicating that it is feasible to integrate and deliver a package of interventions to EAG in a challenging informal context.

Examining the Legal Legitimacy of Informal Economic Activities

This article explains the disjuncture between formal parliamentary laws and norms of informal economic activities on the basis of a contextual and layered idea of legitimacy. This explanation clarifies a misunderstanding in certain scholarly and policy circles characterising informal economic activities as extra-legal or illegal. The idea of legal legitimacy helps explain divergent normative logics of formal and informal spaces while indicating that informal activities are not performed in a regulatory void. In addition to helping redefine the informal space, the idea also helps clarify the interaction between formal and informal regulation. By employing Jürgen Habermas’ analytical characterisation of society as constitutive of lifeworld(s) and system, and drawing on the empirical literature, the article argues that a cautious interpretation of Habermas’ analytical categorization helps explain the legality of the informal space. If formal laws need to become legitimate for the informal context, they must integrate the contextual standards of legitimacy recognized in the informal space.

Plastic Recycling Practices in Vietnam and Related Hazards for Health and the Environment

Waste plastic today is a global threat. The rapid increase in global production and use has led to increasing quantities of plastics in industrial and municipal waste streams. While in industrialized countries plastic waste is taken up by a waste management system and at least partly recycled, in low-income countries adequate infrastructure to collect and treat waste adequately is often not in place. This paper analyzes how plastic waste is handled in Vietnam, a country with a fast-growing industry and growing consumption. The recycling of plastic waste typically takes place in an informal context. To demonstrate this in more detail, two rural settlements—so-called craft villages—are taken as case studies. Technologies and processes for plastic recycling are described and related risks for human health and the environment are shown, as well as the potential for the improvement of this situation.

Neformalni obrazovni kontekst i nastava prirode i društva u izmenjenom društvenom kontekstu – metodički pristup i značaj

Equally effective and demanding for all students, the traditional paradigm prevents independent acquisition of knowledge in a changed social context. Students should be able to independently research and analyze natural and social phenomena and processes. The role of the teacher is to create a complete picture, and not to interpret the content knowledge as biological, geographical, or historical. To avoid the passivity of students in the teaching process, it is necessary to choose an informal context and adapt it to the content being learned. In this paper, we have tried to point out the importance of an integrative approach in the non-formal educational context within the content of the subject Science and Social studies. We have presented the practical implication regarding natural and social contents. Lack of resources, time and interest of teachers are cited as obstacles to this way of working. In addition to pointing out the effective application of the informal context in a changed social context, we also provided suggestions for future research to improve teaching practice.

The informal city and the future of our cities: towards a manifesto

PurposeThe New Urban Agenda has catalyzed discussion across academia and practice on how to responsibly position ourselves as key players in the making of the future of our cities. With questions such as what is the right to the city? Who has those rights? What is a city? What is formal and who defines informal? These questions may prompt a need for departure from, or at least a reconsideration of the narrative surrounding formal and informal urbanism. This paper presents a pedagogical approach to addressing these and other questions within the framework of the new agenda. It reviews pedagogical approaches to understanding and learning to design within an informal context. It also foregrounds the process with the theoretical framing of Christopher Alexander's Pattern Language and Timeless way of Building as lenses through which to understand and identify common languages and intersections across the global spectrum of representations of informal urbanism. It then outlines the resultant process and products of a one-week intensive master-class and design charette of international scholars and students focusing on the Informal City.Design/methodology/approachIt reviews pedagogical approaches to understanding and learning to design within an informal context. It also foregrounds the process with the theoretical framing of Christopher Alexander's Pattern Language and Timeless way of Building as lenses through which to understand and identify common languages and intersections across the global spectrum of representations of informal urbanism. It then outlines the resultant process and products of a one-week intensive master-class and design charette of international scholars and students focusing on the Informal City.FindingsThe paper conclusively presents new nomenclature for informality that strives to shift the semantic lens from its current negative connotations to more productive, proactive and positive ones. It also presents an Informal City Manifesto, a call to arms of theoretical framing of how we think about the formal informal divide.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper, in part, outlines the results of a single studio with a small student number. Although diverse in its composition the student body is small.Originality/valueThis new framing could potentially allow us to best leverage lessons and mitigate challenges of the informal city condition, as our human settlements continue to urbanize.

FROM FRAGMENTED CERTAINTY TO POST COVID PARADIGM: RESILIENT MODALITIES BASED ON GROUP INTERACTION SUPPORTED BY TECHNOLOGIES

It is no longer the age of good practices and certainties, of well-made projects and great ideologies but it is the age of dynamic, creative and flexible strategies. In the midst of the crisis, we have acquired at least one certainty: No one saves himself alone. Reluctantly we understand that it is not a question of being strong or weak, “winning” or “losing”, but that we exist through this existential fragility that allows us to affirm our belonging to the community. The objective of this theoretical analysis is based on the analysis of the relationship between resilience and collaborative activity based on technologies. This analysis highlights that resilient action is activated thanks to the collaboration between the actors of the exceptional event that through technology redefine environmental boundaries, generating a resilient informal context. Keywords: collaborative activity, post covid paradigm, resilient modalities, theoretical analysis.