Language politics

BackgroundThe provision of healthcare for asylum seekers is a global issue. Providing appropriate and culturally sensitive services requires us to understand the barriers facing asylum seekers and the facilitators that help them access health care. Here, we report on two linked studies exploring these issues, along with the health care needs and beliefs of asylum seekers living in the UK.MethodsTwo qualitative methods were employed: focus groups facilitated by members of the asylum seeking community and interviews, either one-to-one or in a group, conducted through an interpreter. Analysis was facilitated using the Framework method.ResultsMost asylum seekers were registered with a GP, facilitated for some by an Asylum Support nurse. Many experienced difficulty getting timely appointments with their doctor, especially for self-limiting symptoms that they felt could become more serious, especially in children. Most were positive about the health care they received, although some commented on the lack of continuity. However, there was surprise and disappointment at the length of waiting times both for hospital appointments and when attending accident and emergency departments. Most had attended a dentist, but usually only when there was a clinical need. The provision of interpreters in primary care was generally good, although there was a tension between interpreters translating verbatim and acting as patient advocates. Access to interpreters in other settings, e.g. in-patient hospital stays, was problematic. Barriers included the cost of over-the-counter medication, e.g. children's paracetamol; knowledge of out-of-hours medical care; and access to specialists in secondary care. Most respondents came from countries with no system of primary medical care, which impacted on their expectations of the UK system.ConclusionMost asylum seekers were positive about their experiences of health care. However, we have identified issues regarding their understanding of how the UK system works, in particular the role of general practitioners and referral to hospital specialists. The provision of an Asylum Support nurse was clearly a facilitator to accessing primary medical care. Initiatives to increase their awareness and understanding of the UK system would be beneficial. Interpreting services also need to be developed, in particular their role in secondary care and the development of the role of interpreter as patient advocate.

""This article is an ethnographic study of a 29-kilometer stretch of cross-border highway located in South Albania and linking the city of Gjirokaster with the main checkpoint on the Albanian–Greek border. The road, its politics, and its poetics
constitute an ideal point of entry for an anthropological analysis of contemporary South Albania. The physical and social construction, uses, and perceptions of this road uniquely encapsulate three phenomena that dominate social life in postsocialist South Albania: the transition to a market economy, new nationalisms, and massive emigration (mainly to Greece). Taking this cross-border road section as my main ethnographic
point of reference, I suggest the fruitfulness of further discussion of the relationship between roads, narratives, and anthropology.

[roads, globalization, transnationalism, development, postsocialism, materiality, Albania]""

Singapore, a young nation with a colonial past from 1819, has seen drastic changes in the sociolinguistic landscape, which has left indelible marks on the Singapore society and the Singapore deaf community. The country has experienced many political and social transitions from British colonialism to attaining independence in 1965 and thereafter. Since independence, English-based bilingualism has been vigorously promoted as part of nation-building. While the roles of the multiple languages in use in Singapore feature prominently in the discourse on language planning, historical records show no mention of how these impacts on the deaf community. The first documented deaf person in archival documents is a Chinese deaf immigrant from Shanghai who established the first deaf school in Singapore in 1954 teaching Shanghainese Sign Language (SSL) and Mandarin. Since then, the Singapore deaf community has seen many shifts and transitions in education programming for deaf children, which has also been largely influenced by exogeneous factors such as trends in deaf education in the United States A pivotal change that has far-reaching impact on the deaf community today, is the introduction of Signing Exact English (SEE) in 1976. This was in keeping with the statal English-based bilingual narrative. The subsequent decision to replace SSL with SEE has dramatic consequences for the current members of the deaf community resulting in internal divisions and fractiousness with lasting implications for the cohesion of the community. This publication traces the origins of Singapore Sign Language (SgSL) by giving readers (and future scholars) a road map on key issues and moments in this history. Bi- and multi-lingualism in Singapore as well as external forces will also be discussed from a social and historical perspective, along with the interplay of different forms of language ideologies. All the different sign languages and sign systems as well as the written/spoken languages used in Singapore, interact and compete with as well as influence each other. There will be an exploration of how both internal factors (local language ecology) and external factors (international trends and developments in deaf education), impact on how members of the deaf community negotiate their deaf identities.

This article analyzes the ways in which Canadian and Australian immigration policies represent causes and consequences of neoliberal restructuring. Interrogating neoliberalism as a series of political-economic and moral changes derived from the marketization of societal and governmental arrangements, it illustrates how numerically-based ‘points systems’ have been employed as mechanisms for: gauging human capital; establishing indices of risk and undesirability; and promoting the ‘responsibilization’ of incoming migrants. In doing so the points systems' historical trajectory is traced through a variety of administrative reforms characteristic of neoliberal government and flexible accumulation. Ultimately, this article contends that as rational, technical and economically guided systems of enumeration and assessment, both governments' policies mirror, enhance and extend neoliberal arrangements and sensibilities. In providing ostensibly objective techniques of evaluation the points systems have assisted in injecting the ideal neoliberal citizens- who are, above all, flexible, cosmopolitan, entrepreneurial and autonomous- from abroad. Overall this paper contributes to studies of state restructuring by providing new insights into the links between the neglected domain of immigration control and emergent techniques of societal regulation and citizen-making.

Background: The UK has substantial minority populations of short-term and long-term migrants from countries with various types of healthcare systems. Aim: This study explored how migrants' previous knowledge and experience of health care influences their current expectations of health care in a system relying on clinical generalists performing a gatekeeping role. Design of study: Two qualitative methods. Setting: Glasgow, UK. Method: Focus groups or semi-structured interviews were conducted with 52 asylum seekers. Analyses identified several areas where previous experience affected current expectations. An overview of health systems in each country of origin was established by combining responders' accounts with World Health Organization statistics. Results: Asylum seekers had previous experience of a diverse range of healthcare systems, most of which were characterised by a lack of GPs and direct access to hospital-based specialists. For some responders, war or internal conflict resulted in a complete breakdown of healthcare systems. Responders' accounts also highlighted the difficulties that marginalised groups had in accessing health care. Although asylum seekers were generally pleased with the care they received from the NHS, there were areas where they experienced difficulties: confidence in their GP and access to hospital-based specialists and medication. These difficulties encountered might be explained by previous experience. Conclusion: GPs and other healthcare professionals need to be aware that experience of different systems of care can have an impact on individuals' expectations in a GP-led system. If these are not acknowledged and addressed, a lack of confidence and trust in the GP may undermine the effectiveness of the clinical consultation.

Acculturation strategies have frequently been used to describe how members of ethnicminorities reconcile their heritage culture with the culture of their society of residence.Recently, studies have started to pay increased attention to the fact that the choice ofacculturation strategy does not take place in a social vacuum. In the present study, wetest whether the perception of assimilation expectations held by the societal majority(PSAE) as well as separation expectations held by ethnic peers (PESE) may be relatedto individuals’ own acculturation strategy. Furthermore, we investigate whether theseperceived expectations are directly related to stress and indirectly to adaptation, mediatedby acculturation strategies. All relationships were investigated using multi-group structuralequation modeling with members from three Muslim minority groups: 301 German-Turks,302 French-Maghrebis and 262 British-Pakistanis. Across the samples, PSAE was associatedwith higher degrees of stress. PESE was negatively related to integration, while it was pos-itively related to separation. In addition, PESE was indirectly and negatively related withself-esteem and/or socio-cultural adaptation in all samples. The impact of societal assim-ilation expectation appears to be limited in this regard. In all, the present study suggeststhat perceived acculturation expectations may influence ethnic minorities’ acculturationstrategy. The results also suggest that perceived expectations that contrast with individuals’personal acculturation preference could result in higher levels of stress and lower levels ofpsychological and socio-cultural adaptation, mediated by acculturation strategies.

Research in educational linguistics is now challenging the efficacy of
monolingual approaches that often dominate educational practices
in multilingual settings. In most African nations where
multilingualism is the norm, there remains a persistent reluctance
by educational stakeholders (principals, teachers, parents, and
students) to embrace multilingualism in education or to reposition
local languages as resources in classrooms. This article draws on
qualitative data from a multilingual, rural, fourth-grade classroom in
Kenya to interrogate the articulated ideologies and their effects on
communicative practices as voiced by the participants and by
observing actual classroom practices. Bourdieu’s notions of habitus,
legitimate language, and symbolic power serve as analytic lenses
for enhancing our understanding of the power of language
ideologies. From the data, ‘monoglossia’ emerged as the key
operating ideology, with time-on-task pedagogical practice helping
to consolidate these monoglossic practices. The most visible effect
of this ideology was silencing student engagement in the
classroom. I argue that an awareness of these articulated ideologies
and their observable effects on students’ learning and language-use
behaviors is important for challenging the subordination of home
languages and the epistemic exclusion of the children who speak
marginalized languages. Ideological awareness may open spaces for
alternative and inclusive educational approaches.

This article examines ideological constructions of the domestic sphere in metalinguistic commentary about loss in Buryat, a contracting language of Siberia whose speakers are shifting to Russian. Although calling Buryat “just a kitchen language” suggests that the kitchen is linguistically devalued, a popular joke told among bilingual speakers and its use-in-context show that kitchens can also be invoked to positively demarcate an inner sphere of comfortable, “offstage” interaction, to authenticate otherwise derided ways of speaking, and to build solidarity. The kitchen emerges as a complex discursive resource for commenting on—and for re-creating—pragmatic rules for the use of different codes and registers.

In this paper, I demonstrate the identity transformation of North Korean women in interaction with state and non-state actors and domestic and regional structures, which I formulate for the purposes of this paper. From a state-centric social constructivist perspective in politics and international relations, I examine how the identities and interests of North Korean women are constituted and reconstituted in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the People’s Republic of China and five South-East Asian countries along their migration routes before they reach the Republic of Korea – the so-called “Seoul Train in the Underground Railway”. Back in their country of origin, North Korean women are socially constructed as Confucian communist mothers. In China, the most frequently depicted images of North Korean women are trafficked wives. By paying for smugglers to cross borders to neighbouring South-East Asian countries, North Korean women finally become the agents of their own destiny, refugees in waiting to be transferred to South Korea.

Mobility is one of the defining concepts of globalization processes. For some migrants,
however, mobility is restricted by international and national laws as well as sociopolitical
discourses, which regulate the migrant body and her ability to create social relations. Based
on interviews in asylum seeker accommodations in Germany, this study illustrates how
asylum seekers are spatially constructed and arrested through bureaucratic labeling and
assignment to heterotopias and as a discursive location of transience and difference. Those
processes freeze the forced migrant in place, in social and semiotic spaces, and position it
as a politicized discursive location. The positioning is indicative of monitoring the Other as
a symbol of threat to the nation in times of risk. Overall, the study illustrates the tensions
between transnational mobility and fixity and the intersections between globalization,
communication, social, legal, and political practice, and space/place-making.

This paper explores the socio-psychological aspects of British national identification among British South Asians, which constitutes the largest ethnic minority group in Britain. Identity Process Theory can elucidate the social and psychological ‘functions’ of Britishness for social actors, offering a holistic account of national identification within this population. The paper provides a discussion of nationhood and the construction of national identity, temporal factors in national identification, its cognitive and affective aspects, the psychological ‘functionality’ of Britishness, and its social representations. It is argued that a civic, instrumental conception of Britishness might facilitate access to this identity among British South Asians.

The article analyzes the role of economists in public discourse with regard to the financial crisis. Specifically, it focuses on the prevailing rhetorical strategies and the economic convictions of leading German-speaking economists as they appear in seven leading newspapers and magazines in the German-speaking area. Special attention is given to the prevailing rationales and explanations for the financial crisis as well as on the metaphors used for describing specific economic events in particular and the market economy in general. The results of this article show that while the financial crisis could have offered a possibility for a paradigm shift in economic thinking, there is not much evidence for such a shift among German-speaking economists. The observed stability of the dominant paradigm is attributed primarily to the very stable role of certain basic economic convictions, which are exposed through the use of specific metaphors as well as a characterization of the financial c...

Citizenship in Turkey is one of the major instruments of nation-building.
The legal framework that Turkish citizenship rests on is universal and equal. The
non-Muslim minorities – the Armenians, the Greeks and the Jews – however are
granted special group rights in the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne. Despite the protection
of minorities and their rights in the treaty, the non-Muslim minorities, from
time to time, had been superceded by the universal norms of citizenship in Turkey.
This study discusses the history of the Jewish minority with a focus on the development
of citizenship in Turkey. The history of the Jews as a minority group and
as citizens is illustrated by way of a chronological methodology encompassing a
broad range of events, laws, ideas and movements spanning Early Republican
Period up to present-day Turkey. In line with the conventional classification utilized
by many studies of Turkish politics, the historical projection developed on the
citizenship and minority status of Jews in Turkey is categorized into three periods:
the Early Republican Period (1923–1945), the Multi-Party Democracy Period
(1945–1980) and the Post-1980 Period covering more recent developments.

One of the dangers that we should be aware of when we study issues of language policy and planning is the fragmentary perspective by which they can be approached. Reality, by contrast, is interrelated and overlapping. This is why a complexity perspective stresses the importance of studying the contexts of phenomena, that is to say, their external relations. The direction to be followed here leads towards a better understanding of reality as a set of open systems that are in continuous exchange with the surrounding ecosystem, bearing in mind always that any apparent stability is the result of a dynamic equilibrium. Making headway towards an interdisciplinary approach is therefore necessary and imperative.
Headings such as status/normative/institution vis-à-vis others such as solidarity/normal/individual seem to imply a basic distinction in the definition of sociocultural reality. To discover and understand the dynamics of the interaction between these two major categories is, in fact, one of the most important subjects waiting to be addressed by language planning and policy strategies and more broadly by sociolinguistics. An interrelated set of guiding questions for the field could thus be stated as follows: What group or organisation, in pursuit of what overall objective or intention, wants to achieve what, where, how and when; and what do they actually achieve, and why? With this approach, even if how a group or organisation obtains its desired goal – that is, its actual intervention – is included as one of the main elements in a piece of research, the research will not focus exclusively on this topic, but will frame the intervention and identify how it is interrelated with all the other elements involved globally in this phenomenon, trying to establish a clear theoretical understanding of the entire interwoven set of events and processes.

Contemporary migration has entailed the emergence of new forms of multilingualism in many European cities. The article uses the concept of complex diversity to analyse this dynamic. The concept points at settings where historical forms of multilingualism and more recent patterns of linguistic heterogeneity interact in ways that lead to particularly rich cultural configurations. The authors assess how local authorities deal with multilingualism in three cities that represent ‘most complex’ cases of diversity politics: Barcelona, Luxembourg and Riga. The focus is on policies related to public communication and on the approaches adopted to promote social and political inclusion in ever more multilingual urban environments. In normative terms, the article concludes that political responses to complex diversity should aim both at overcoming linguistic status inequalities based on historical structures of domination and at creating common spaces of communication for diverse citizens.

This chapter provides an overview of some of the core issues in English as a medium of instruction (EMI) in higher education (HE) in Pakistan. After contextualising EMI within the larger medium of instruction debate in the country, the chapter critically reviews some of the relevant findings from three major studies on attitudes towards languages in Pakistan. The chapter then evaluates the impact of EMI on academic performance by looking at current research on students’ language backgrounds, students’ English language proficiency, and research publications by Pakistani academics. The findings of this assessment suggest that the current EMI policies in HE do not enable all students in HE and might actually perpetuate the socio-class variations in the society. Next, the chapter discusses the role of language within EMI and considers what type of ‘English’ is appropriate within a HE context. Finally, the chapter looks at one project that successfully supported students’ English language and literacy skills as an example of how some of the issues discussed in this paper may be redressed. In summary, this paper critically analyses the status and use of EMI in HE in Pakistan and suggests some ways to move forward.

This article analyzes the visual linguistic "accent" of Mexican film actor Lupe Vélez in US English-language fan magazines from 1928 to 1941. The form in which Vélez was quoted in fan magazines, with a Spanish-inflected English (SIE) "accent," is telling of how language can racialize, exotify, and gender bodies by representing linguistic differences through text. Some visual techniques used to emphasize Vélez's foreignness were italicizing certain words, publishing words with missing consonants , and adding double vowels to represented speech. With a feminist critical discourse analysis (FCDA), Vélez's "accent" not only shows readers the gendered and racialized side effects of this form of representation but also reminds readers of the continual form in which media categorizes Mexican women in the United States.

Lupe Vélez y su picante "acento" visual en las publicaciones en inglés

Resumen: Este artículo analiza el "acento" lingüístico visual de la actriz de cine mexicana Lupe Vélez en las revistas para fans de idioma inglés en Estados Unidos de 1928 a 1941. La manera en que se citaba a Vélez en las revistas para fans, con un "acento" inglés con inflexión en español, es indicativa de cómo el idioma puede racializar, exotificar y generizar los cuerpos cuando representa las diferencias lingüísticas por medio del texto. Se utilizaban varias técnicas visuales para recalcar la condición de extranjera de Vélez, como poner ciertas palabras en cursiva, publicar palabras con consonantes omitidas y añadir vocales dobles al habla representada. Con un análisis de discurso crítico feminista, el "acento" de Vélez no solo muestra a los lectores los efectos se

Politicians have long engaged in marketing themselves by employing distinct speaking styles to signal social standing, competence, or a shared background with their audience. What effect does this use of different language appeals have on voter opinion? Utilizing a survey experiment in Thailand, I test a set of hypotheses about the effect of language on respondent opinions. Relying on three distinct treatments, a formal language register, an informal language register, and an ethnic language, I demonstrate the multiple effects of language on political appeal. The use of a formal register has mixed effects, signaling both high education as well as preparation for national office while also creating social distance between the speaker and audience. An informal register and the ethnic tongue both signal kinship ties to listeners, with the ethnic tongue having a much more profound effect. The results also show that an ethnic overture has greater electoral appeal than formal speech. These findings highlight the causal effect language has in shaping political opinions and illustrate the varied impacts of linguistic hierarchies on political appeal.

The article presents an analysis of the majority and minority opinions from the Supreme Court of the United States issued onDistrict of Columbia v. Hellerin 2008. The court case addressed the meaning of the Second Amendment to the US Constitution that establishes gun rights in a famously confusing wording. The analysis applies parts of Fairclough and Fairclough’s (2011, 2012) model of analysing argumentation and also discusses intertextuality to account for how the justices construct their arguments. The analysis shows how the justices shape their arguments on the basis of their values and beliefs, presenting contradictory readings of the amendment, sources of evidence and the preferred application of the amendment.

This paper investigates language policy formation through participatory and deliberative methods and, more concretely, the regulation of gender-neutral language in Barcelona City Council (Spain). Through an argumentative approach to policy, the paper examines a specific language policy idea, process and solution, and the accompanying discursive argumentation used by decision-makers. The paper (a) shows that linguistic preconceptions and power relations may constitute a potential barrier to effective deliberation on language, and (b) argues that if local modes of governance (as opposed to the centralised role assigned to language academies) are going to be used to prescribe language practices in institutional contexts, arrangements should be put in place to provide access to a full range of views about language, generate reflective judgments and promote a public exchange of arguments. The paper concludes with a discussion about the implications of this study for the inclusion of deliberation in language policy-making.

"Background
The implementation of guidelines and training initiatives to support communication in crosscultural primary care consultations is ad hoc across a range of international settings with a range of negative consequences particularly for migrants. This situation reflects a welldocumented translational gap between evidence and practice and is part of the wider problem of implementing guidelines and the broader range of professional educational and quality interventions in routine practice. In this paper, we describe our use of a contemporary social theory, Normalization Process Theory and participatory research methodology--Participatory Learning and Action--to investigate and support implementation of such guidelines and training initiatives in routine practice.
Methods
This is a qualitative case study, using multiple primary care sites across Europe. Purposive and maximum variation sampling approaches will be used to identify and recruit stakeholders--migrant service users, general practitioners, primary care nurses, practice managers and administrative staff, interpreters, cultural mediators, service planners, and policy makers. We are conducting a mapping exercise to identify relevant guidelines and training initiatives. We will then initiate a PLA-brokered dialogue with stakeholders around Normalization Process Theory's four constructs--coherence, cognitive participation, collective action, and reflexive monitoring. Through this, we will enable stakeholders in each setting to select a single guideline or training initiative for implementation in their local setting. We will prospectively investigate and support the implementation journeys for the five selected interventions. Data will be generated using a Participatory Learning and Action approach to interviews and focus groups. Data analysis will follow the principles of thematic analysis, will occur in iterative cycles throughout the project and will involve participatory co-analysis with key stakeholders to enhance the authenticity and veracity of findings.
Discussion
This research employs a unique combination of Normalization Process Theory and Participatory Learning and Action, which will provide a novel approach to the analysis of implementation journeys. The findings will advance knowledge in the field of implementation science because we are using and testing theoretical and methodological approaches so that we can critically appraise their scope to mediate barriers and improve the implementation processes.
"

In studies of minority language education, researchers base their arguments on the assumption that knowledge empowers and ignorance disempowers.  In this article, however, I show two alternative dynamics of knowledge and relations of dominance by drawing on my ethnographic fieldwork at a secondary school in Aotearoa/New Zealand in 1997-1998.  First, by analyzing the ways some Pākehā  (white) parents complained about Maori speeches at school by saying “not everyone understands it,” I argue that relations of dominance can create the legitimacy even in ignorance and work to marginalize an already repressed minority language.  Second, by showing how other Pākehā  accepted the speeches even though they did not understand them, I argue that an acknowledgement of ignorance can be an act of embracing the unknowable cultural others by abandoning a sense of entitlement to know.  From these observations,  this paper suggests a reformulation of the understanding of the relationship between knowledge and power and calls for investigating various contours of ignorance situated in specific relations of dominance.

After a record number of women were elected to the House of Commons in 1997, many incidents of sexism and abusive behaviour were reported. The aim of this article is twofold: on the one hand, to scrutinize the mechanisms and effects of sexist discrimination and stereotyping of women MPs in the House of Commons; on the other, to identify the strategies used by female (and male) MPs to subvert discriminatory representations, and to counteract gender-biased and sexist treatment. The focus of the multi-level analysis is on three recurrent strategies: objectifying women MPs through fixation on personal appearance rather than professional performance (e.g. making trivialising comments about women’s hair and dressing style); patronizing women MPs through the use of derogatory forms of address (e.g. directly addressing them by the terms of endearment “honey”, “dear”, “woman”); and stigmatizing women MPs through abusive and discriminatory labelling (e.g. ascribing to them stereotypically ins...

This paper adopts a “cultural political economy” (CPE) approach to examine the production of hegemony and related hegemonic struggles during the socio-spatial changes occurring in the Pearl River Delta. Drawing from the case of Hong Kong/Pearl River Delta, economic restructuring has given rise to the “hollowing out” debate. In face of this debate, two knowledge brands, the Harvard-Porter’s “competitive advantage” (1985) and MIT-Berger-Lester’s “industrial performance” models, have been stabilized as competing modes of developmentality (development governmentality) and have operated as paper-based economic panopticons to order/manage, at a distance, the organization of Hong Kong’s/Pearl River Delta’s space, policy, and, ultimately, the conduct of its population. These modes of developmentalities have met resistance from other forces in other spaces and with other interests, including from below. Nonetheless the two main power blocs are engaging in inter-bloc negotiations in the light...