The development of gaze following in monolingual and bilingual infants: A multi-laboratory study

Determining the meanings of words requires language learners to attend to what other people say. However, it behooves a young language learner to simultaneously encode relevant non-verbal cues, for example, by following the direction of their eye gaze. Sensitivity to cues such as eye gaze might be particularly important for bilingual infants, as they encounter less consistency between words and objects than monolingual infants, and do not always have access to the same word-learning heuristics (e.g., mutual exclusivity). In a preregistered study, we tested the hypothesis that bilingual experience would lead to a more pronounced ability to follow another's gaze. We used a gaze-following paradigm developed by Senju and Csibra (Current Biology, 18, 2008, 668) to test a total of 93 6- to 9-month-old and 229 12- to 15-month-old monolingual and bilingual infants, in 11 laboratories located in 8 countries. Monolingual and bilingual infants showed similar gaze-following abilities, and both groups showed age-related improvements in speed, accuracy, frequency, and duration of fixations to congruent objects. Unexpectedly, bilinguals tended to make more frequent fixations to on-screen objects, whether or not they were cued by the actor. These results suggest that gaze sensitivity is a fundamental aspect of development that is robust to variation in language exposure.     

Double it up: Vocabulary size comparisons between UK bilingual and monolingual toddlers

We compared vocabulary sizes in comprehension and production between bilingual toddlers growing up in the United Kingdom (UK) and age-matched UK English monolinguals (12–36 months old) using parent-report vocabulary questionnaires. We found that bilingual toddlers' vocabulary sizes in English were smaller than the vocabulary sizes of their monolingual peers. Notably, this vocabulary gap was not found when groups were compared on conceptual vocabulary in comprehension. Conceptual scoring also reduced the vocabulary gap in production but group differences were still significant. Bilingual toddlers knew more words than monolinguals when words across their two languages were added together, for both comprehension and production. This large total vocabulary size could be attributed to a high proportion of doublets (cross-linguistic word pairs with the same meaning) in bilinguals' vocabularies. These findings are discussed in relation to language exposure, facilitation from cross-linguistic overlap and maturation constraints on vocabulary size.     

Staffing,retention, and government funding: A case study

This study analyzes the implications of government‐contract funding on the staffing pattern of a nonprofit agency, the Canadian Red Cross, Toronto Region. Furthermore, the study explains the implications of the staffing pattern on services and on the agency's organization. Staffing is one area that the literature on nonprofit organizations has not adequately addressed. The findings indicate that contract‐based funding leads to the hiring of temporary staff and affects the retention of employees. Although contract funding has some benefits, temporary staffing is detrimental to the agency's services. It affects not only employee recruitment and retention but also training. The results highlight how change in government funding from grants to contracts resulted in the agency's new staffing strategy and ultimately reduced the effectiveness of the services the agency provided to the community.     

A longitudinal study of the learning and retention of task-specific training

This longitudinal study evaluated the learning and retention of task-specific training during the subjects' classroom performance of a one-person pivot transfer. Twelve subjects were videotaped completing the transfer (pretest). The subjects then participated in a two-hour training session. One week later (posttest 1), and one year later (posttest 2) the subjects were videotaped again. A checklist was used to analyze the videotapes. A one-way ANOVA with repeated measures revealed that there was a statistically significant difference between the tests (F = 243.73, p-value < 0.0001). A post hoc analysis (Bonferroni procedure) indicated that the posttest 1 scores (mean = 13, SD = 0.40) were significantly higher than the pretest scores (mean = 2.96, SD = 0.39) indicating an improved score on the checklist. There was no significant difference between the scores of posttest 1 and posttest 2 (mean = 12.79, SD = 0.60) indicating that subjects continued to perform the task with proper body mechanics one year post training.     

Overrepresentation of bilingual and poor children in special education classes: A continuing problem

Sufficient research has not been directed toward the effect of language and dialect on the placement of children in special education classes. This inquiry considers teachers' choices of assessment materials and knowledge of second language learning in young pre-literate children. Data was gathered from a representative sampling of kindergarten-aged children receiving special education services in three urban Massachusetts communities. The inquiry resulted in a finding of a lack of information on the part of educators as to selection of proper assessment instruments, knowledge of second language learning, and consequent misplacement of young children into special education classes as a result of culture and ethnicity rather than cognitive or physical need. This review highlights the need for further research into the continuing problem of the overrepresentation of poor and bilingual children in special education classes.     

Patterns of mutual and nonmutual spouse abuse in the U.S. Army (1998-2002)

The pattern and severity of substantiated mutual and nonmutual spouse abuse between U.S. Army enlisted personnel and their spouses was determined for 1998 to 2002. The number of nonmutual and mutual abuse victims was equal in 1998, but by 2002 there were about twice as many non mutual as mutual victims. The rate per thousand of mutual abuse decreased by 58% while that of nonmutual abuse decreased by 13%. The rate per thousand of female victims was always greater than male victims for non-mutual abuse and the severity of abuse of female victims was always more severe than male victims. The active duty female had the highest risk of becoming a victim. These patterns of mutual and nonmutual domestic abuse in the U.S. Army suggest that prevention and educational approaches could be developed that would be useful to prevention specialists and to clinicians as the Army pursues avenues to reduce domestic violence.     

The self-image in the therapeutic dyad: A case example of mutual growth

The therapeutic relationship is seen as a mutual experiencing of self and other which is growth-promoting for the therapist as well as the patient. Work with a borderline woman during a period of two years evoked strong countertransference reactions in the therapist who, at times, experienced the patient as a mirror. A beginning sense of cohesion in the patient's highly fragmented sense of self found a parallel in this beginning therapist's developing professional identity.     

Scheduling Telephone Interviews: A Study of Seasonal Patterns

What is the best hour, day of the week, or month to conducttelephone intel-views? Data in this paper suggest that weekdayevening hours during the spring and fall are optima] times forcontacting households for personal interviews.     

A mixed-methods study of the impact of organizational culture on workforce retention in child welfare

The recruitment and retention of a stable, qualified workforce has been an on-going challenge for the child welfare system. Prior research has identified both individual and organizational factors influencing retention and turnover in child welfare. The current study uses mixed methods to examine the impact of perceived organizational culture on workers' intention to remain employed. Thematic analysis of the qualitative data revealed that perceived organizational culture, as understood as being comprised of both relationships and values, could be related to worker retention. Based on the qualitative findings, the researchers selected quantitative measures to operationalize the various aspects of organizational culture. Results from the logistic regression indicated that intention to remain employed was significantly related to organizational culture. Implications for practice are discussed.     

A qualitative study of 369 child welfare professionals' perspectives about factors contributing to employee retention and turnover

A statewide qualitative study of personal and organizational factors contributing to employees' decisions to either remain or leave employment in child welfare is described. Of particular interest was identifying factors related to employee retention. Professional staff (n = 369) in a state public child welfare agency, representing all levels of the agency and regions of the state, participated in 58 focus group interviews comprising some 1200 person hours of data collection. Core findings of the results are presented and discussed in view of information from other recent child welfare workforce studies. Recommendations and implications of the results for policy and practice are described.     

Legible lesbian lines: The bilingual poetry of Irena Klepfisz

Abstract

This article focuses on the poetry of Jewish lesbian poet Irena Klepfisz, written in New York starting in the 1970s. While drawing on the tradition of Yiddish women’s poetry from the first half of the twentieth century, both as scholar and poet, Klepfisz also creates a brand new, bilingual, Yiddish-English poetic mode. By mobilizing both Yiddish and English to voice her poetic and political concerns, Klepfisz stages the English/Yiddish encounter as a site where dominant norms in both languages can be challenged and new possibilities emerge. Exploring both her turn to the past and her bilingual poetry, this article reveals how Klepfisz puts her politics and scholarship to poetic practice and suggests that Klepfisz offers a model of queer translation that undoes the borders between past and present, English and Yiddish, creating a unique mode of Jewish lesbian reclamation and invention.     

Choices and Challenges: A Qualitative Exploration of Professional Women's Career Patterns

With the rapid changes occurring in the role of work in women's lives, this research project was designed to examine the career planning, career decision making, and work history of women in both female‐dominated and gender‐neutral careers (U.S. Department of Labor, n.d.‐a). A qualitative analysis of structured interviews identified 6 emerging themes: variations of career/family patterns, career encouragers, career obstacles, personal compromises, career changes, and career decision‐making patterns. Insights for strengthening the exploration process and strategies for supporting career management are presented based on the emerging themes.     

Social Enterprise Innovation: A Quantitative Analysis of Global Patterns

Social enterprise and innovation are inextricably linked in the literature (Chell et al. in Entrepr Reg Dev 22(6):485–493, 2010; Dees in Harv Bus Rev 76:54, 1998; Light in Stanf Soc Innov Rev 4(3):47–51, 2006). To date, research on social enterprise innovation has predominantly focused on micro-level factors, such as the social entrepreneur or organizational attributes. Inversely, recent empirical advances on social enterprise find a country’s social enterprise sector is influenced by macro-institutional factors, including form of government, stage of economic development, culture and model of civil society (Monroe-White and Coskun, in: Shaping social enterprise: understanding institutional context and influence, Emerald Publishing Limited, London, pp 27–48, 2017). Given the link between social enterprise and innovation, recent empirical findings around social enterprise beg the question, do macro-institutional factors similarly predict innovation by social enterprises? This paper uses a hierarchical linear model to examine the influence of national-level variables on social enterprise innovation. Results indicate that similar to social enterprise, macro-institutional factors predict social enterprise innovation. More specifically, macro-institutional factors influence the various types of innovations (product, process and marketing) differently. Moreover, country-level innovation is traditionally defined by economic factors, such as R&D funding and STEM workforce, however, these factors do not help explain social enterprise innovation. Given the social aspects of social enterprise innovation, to capture the full scope of innovation within countries, expanded definitions of national-level innovation should be considered.     

International Patterns of Interpersonal Tactile Communication: A Field Study

An awareness of how touch is employed in communicative interactions among peoples of different nations can be a critical requisite to effective inter-cultural communication. This study examined cross-sex, interpersonal, public touch to determine whether (1) the number of body areas touched varied between members of different societies; (2) the type of relationship between dyadic partners influenced tactile behavior; and (3) the amount of total body areas touched for each society correlated with latitude of origin. Variation in interpersonal touch as a function of nationality was confirmed. Results also confirmed that touch between dyads from an international sample was affected by type of relationship. Correspondence in the occurrence of tactile behavior among dyads from similar latitudes of origin was not confirmed. Findings call into question the designation of Northern European and U.S. cultures as non-contact.     

A postcolonial perspective on language and difference in social work: bilingual practitioners working in the linguistic borderlands

This paper employs a postcolonial perspective to explore the issue of language identity and difference in social work. It presents a case study of three bilingual practitioners who acquired English either as a result of colonial or postcolonial language policies in their respective countries of birth and who at the time of the study were residing in Australia. These informants demonstrate a variety of patterns of cross-border mobility currently being exercised by social workers in an era marked by transnational activities such as education and practice. The three accounts are mediated through a postcolonial lens in order to reveal some of the distinct linguistic dimensions of social work in terms of how and why personal language biography may become a salient issue in practice. The discussion that follows illustrates the potential of a postcolonial perspective for enhancing understandings of language in social work in terms of four themes: the relocation of difference from the margins to the centre; the historical dimensions of language identity; the spatial dimensions of linguistic relations; and the role of English in knowledge production.