Towards a material ethnography of linguistic landscape: Multilingualism,mobility and space in a South African township1

The study of multilingual landscapes promises to introduce a new perspective into theories and policies of multilingualism, and to provide essential data for a politics of language. However, the theorization of space and language underlying the notion of linguistic landscape is not able to capture the manifold complexities of (transnational) multilingual mobility that is characteristic of many late‐modern multilingual societies. Basing our argument on signage data from a contemporary South Africa in a dynamic phase of social transformation, we argue that more refined notions of space coupled to a material ethnography of multilingualism could provide a theoretically more relevant and methodologically refocused notion of (multilingual) linguistic landscape. Specifically, we take an approach to landscapes as semiotic moments in the social circulation of discourses (in multiple languages), and view signs as re‐semiotized, socially invested distributions of multilingual resources, the material, symbolic and interactional artifacts of a sociolinguistics of mobility.     

The Legal Regulation of Irrational Elements in the Operations of Boards of Directors

The operating processes of boards of directors are delicate and complex, so corporate legislation cannot simply equate board structure law with board governance law. It is therefore necessary to start from China’s actual conditions and grasp the operating processes of Chinese boards with a sober appreciation of the irrational elements in their operating mechanisms. Board governance has entered a new stage of institutionalization, and the law should shift from its emphasis on structure to give equal attention to structure and process in optimizing institutional structure. In the construction of board operating mechanisms, we should treat differently such “living laws” as customs, experiences and traditions, give full play to the functionality of boards’ strategic choices, and provide legal regulation of irrational elements, so as to distinguish between different roles, develop consensus, select strong points and improve efficiency. We should build control over board operational procedures, improve the system of functional allocation, correct assessment mechanisms, develop a mechanism for judicial scrutiny of the affective relationships in society and curb such behavioral tendencies as relational identity, structural bias and group polarization, with a view to controlling such “living laws” within the framework of the basic values and principles of board governance.     

The optimism trap: Migrants’ educational choices in stratified education systems

Immigrant children's ambitious educational choices have often been linked to their families' high level of optimism and motivation for upward mobility. However, previous research has mostly neglected alternative explanations such as information asymmetries or anticipated discrimination. Moreover, immigrant children's higher dropout rates at the higher secondary and university level suggest that low performing migrant students could have benefitted more from pursuing less ambitious tracks, especially in countries that offer viable vocational alternatives. We examine ethnic minority's educational choices using a sample of academically low performing, lower secondary school students in Germany's highly stratified education system. We find that their families' optimism diverts migrant students from viable vocational alternatives. Information asymmetries and anticipated discrimination do not explain their high educational ambitions. While our findings further support the immigrant optimism hypothesis, we discuss how its effect may have different implications depending on the education system.     

Linguistic instrumentalism and national language policy in Mainland China’s state print media coverage of the Protecting Cantonese Movement

This article examines the Chinese government’s use of the print media to justify the national language policy and address individuals’ concerns about the vitality of regional varieties of the Chinese language (i.e., Cantonese) in its coverage of the Protecting Cantonese Movement (July 2010) in Guangzhou. The analysis revealed that the Chinese government adopted a relatively reconciliatory response to the Movement, which apparently contested the relevant language policy. However, the media texts maintained the national policy of promoting Putonghua as inviolable, whereas they assigned Cantonese the role of the carrier of cultural tradition and stressed that the rise or fall of particular regional language depended on regional socioeconomic developments. Such media discussions showed that the state carefully managed relevant discussions about the vitality of regional Chinese varieties within the discursive space defined by legalistic, cultural, and socioeconomic development discourses. These discursive boundaries reflect the dominance of linguistic instrumentalism in the Chinese government’s language policymaking.     

中国大学英文简介的语言图式

中国大学英文简介的语言图式,即语言的背景知识,是通过简介中的语言内容激活并构建的。语言图式的构建,表明图式理论对中国大学英文简介的理解有帮助作用。对英文简介语言图式的研究,具有一定的理论意义和实践价值。     

Organizational characteristics that foster early adoption of cultural and linguistic competence in outpatient substance abuse treatment in the United States

Recent years have seen an increased interest in developing culturally and linguistically responsive systems of care in substance abuse treatment in the United States. This study examines the extent to which external and internal organizational pressures contributed to the degree of adoption of culturally and linguistically responsive practices in the nation's outpatient substance abuse treatment system early in the period of development of this system of care. Findings show that a higher degree of adoption of culturally competent practices was most likely in treatment programs with high dependence on external funding and regulation. Internally, programs with a larger number of professionals were associated with the lowest degree of adoption, while managers’ cultural sensitivity contributed significantly to a high degree of adoption of these responsive practices. Considering the passage of recent legislation enforcing the use of cultural and linguistic competence in health care, implications of these baseline findings on early adoption patterns are discussed for future research and health care policy evaluation.     

简论奥斯汀的语言分析方法

奥斯汀的语言分析方法是通过对语言各种用法之间的细微区别来说明这些用法的不同使用的哲学意义。对奥斯汀语言分析方法的理解,关键要看他是如何运用这种方法去分析具体的语词用法问题的。他对语言各种用法的细致考察,目的不是为了简单地说明字面上的意义,而是要表明,这些用法之间的区别反映了外在事实和世界中的细微区别。     

论鲁迅小说的非常规修辞艺术

鲁迅的小说集《呐喊》与《彷徨》是一部"语言的艺术作品"。作为语言艺术大师,鲁迅非常重视修辞,非常善于修辞。他的小说内蕴着伟大的精神、广播的知识和真知灼见,同时又体现了高超的修辞技巧和独特的语言风格。这主要体现在:丰富独创的辞格运用;古朴凝练的短句艺术;多彩精湛的语言变异艺术。     

Socioeconomic inequality and adjustments in children’s perceptions of their agency as they age in South Korea

This paper explores how children's perceptions of their agency, as something that is closely associated with its exercise, appear in relation to social structural factors, especially their socioeconomic positions, as they age. Using data from 862 10–18 years old in South Korea, we examine how children's expressed optimism about their ability to achieve their occupational choices can conceal the impact of structural factors on their ‘choices’ and dispositions for (non‐)action over time. Based on the findings, we argue for a more careful interpretation of children's sense of agency that recognises its propensity to continuously adjust in contexts of structural inequality.     

基于犹豫直觉模糊语言集均值-标准差偏好距离的多属性决策研究

在犹豫直觉模糊语言集和语言尺度函数的基础上定义了均值-标准差偏好的Hamming距离，并提出了基于犹豫直觉模糊语言集距离TOPSIS和TODIM的多属性决策方法，进一步利用这两种方法对实例问题建筑商的招标方案进行排序，并讨论了偏好参数对排序结果的灵敏度分析。为验证上述方法的有效性，与已有方法对同一实例的排序结果进行了比较分析。