Individuals who speak more than one language have been found to enjoy a number of benefits not directly associated with the use of the languages themselves. One of these benefits is that bilingual individuals appear to develop symptoms of dementia 4-5 years later than comparable individuals who speak just one language. Studies on this topic, however, do not consistently account for factors including if the individual learned their second language as a child or later in life, or their language proficiency. In an attempt to more carefully examine these variables, this study looks at structural and resting-state functional MRI scans of the default mode network, English and Spanish (where applicable) proficiency, language background, and demographics of young healthy adults who fall into one of three groups: early bilinguals, late bilinguals, and monolinguals. Of the three groups, late bilinguals were found to have a small but statistically significantly higher level of connectivity compared with early bilinguals in the region of the medial prefrontal cortex; patterns found examining number of languages and language proficiency in relation to functional connectivity and research group also supported this finding. These results indicate studying a language after adolescence could provide neuroprotective benefits of a nature that could potentially help delay symptoms of dementia. Age, gender, ethnicity, level of education, English language proficiency, and Spanish language use did not result in statistically significant findings, the latter of which challenges using frequency of language use to define bilingualism.

No description available.

No description available.

This thesis examines writing conference interactions between multilingual students and first-year composition instructors in order to understand the co-construction of instructor authority and student agency in discussions of academic writing. Multilingual approaches to first-year writing assert that inviting students’ home languages or dialects into the classroom allows multilingual students to use languages other than English connect with the curriculum, develop rhetorical complexity as writers, and to be validated as language users; however, scholarship could benefit from examining social interactions. Because identities, ideologies, and stances are co-constructed between people and emerge in social interactions,a discourse analysis of interactions between first-year composition instructors and multilingual students could identify ways that multilingual students and instructors position themselves, and how this positioning affects the validation of multilingualism, and hybrid identities. Data consists of 18 audio recordings of writing conferences between instructors and multilingual students, five interviews with first-year writing instructors, and audio-recorded post-conference interviews, where instructors and students were separately asked open-ended questions about the content of the writing conference. Employing a Communities of Practice lens in a discourse analysis of the data revealed that that expert-novice identities were co-constructed in interaction, and the emergence of this power differential that inhibited the validation of multilingualism, and hybridity. Implications for mitigating instructor authority and promoting student agency in interactions with multilingual students are discussed.

Within the population of adult English-language learners in the United States, the largest portion is comprised of Spanish speakers from Mexico and Central and South America. At the same time, Spanish is the second-most commonly spoken language in the U.S., and an increasing presence in U.S. media and culture. This puts English learners from this demographic in a unique position with respect to language and culture acquisition and the experience of working towards their goals within U.S. society at large. The purpose of this study is to explore motivations and beliefs about language and culture held by a small number English-language learners belonging to this huge, diverse community. Drawing on theory from the fields of second language acquisition and sociolinguistics, a survey eliciting opinions about cultural affiliation and language standards was created and versions in either English or Spanish were distributed to volunteers from this population living in Oregon. Fifty-two surveys were returned. The responses to the surveys were then compared with one another to examine any connections between participant beliefs about language value, cultural affiliation, and learning strategy preferences. Statistical comparisons were also carried out to determine whether certain orientations correlated with one another. Analysis of the survey responses showed that while affiliation to United States culture was variable, all participants maintained at least a moderate feeling of affiliation to their home countries, despite twenty-seven, or just over half, of them having lived in the U.S. for over ten years. However, all but one of the participants were also interested in learning about U.S. culture and thirty-nine believed in the possibility of being part of more than one culture at a time. Participants were more likely to prefer collaborative strategies for learning about culture, but for learning language they preferred individual strategies, and had a general low estimation of the utility of non-standard forms of language, including non-standard English and Spanglish. A moderate negative correlation (Spearman p=.521) that was statistically significant (p=.001) was found between the degree to which participants had a multicultural affiliation and their beliefs about the importance of knowing non-standard forms of English. While the participating sample is too small and opportunistic for the findings to be generalizable, from the results of the surveys it can be concluded that: multicultural affiliation is something that can be (and is) experienced to varying degrees by some language learners in this population sample; individual learning strategies seem preferred for learning language; and non-standard English is not considered as valuable as standard English. Additionally, a negative correlation between multicultural affiliation and the perceived importance of knowing non-standard English is suggested. These findings may have implications for language instructors and others who wish to investigate the motivations, priorities, and language beliefs of adult English students from this particular demographic.

The thesis speaks about the multilingual region Trentino-Alto Adige in Italy. The aim of the research was to define regional and linguistic identity, specifically in the context of this region. In order to do so, I relied on theoretical and empirical data collected through interviews. After having analyzing and interpreting them, I compared them to give my final conclusion.

Thesis (M. A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

<p>Denna studie handlar om språk och statusskillnader mellan språken. Syftet var att ta reda på om flerspråkiga grundskoleelever upplever att deras olika språk har olika status. Undersökningen är deskriptiv till sin karaktär. Sex stycken respondenter från åk 9 blev intervjuade. Intervjun består av två delar en skriftlig del och en muntlig del. Resultatet visar att respondenterna betraktade sina språk olika viktiga. Slutsats var att undersökningen trots vaga resultat indikerar att elever i denna studie upplever att det finns statusskillnader mellan sina olika språk.</p><p>This study is about language and status distinctions between languages. The purpose was to find out if multilingual pupils’ experiences that their different languages have different status. The characteristic of this study is that the study is descriptive. Six respondents from the 9th year of the compulsory school were interviewed. The interview was divided into two different parts written and oral. The result of this study shows that respondents considered that their language differs in importance. The conclusion of this study is that in spite of vague results the study indicates that pupils experiences that there is status distinctions between languages.</p>

Thesis (Ph.D. (English))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2005.

Thesis (M. Communication Pathology)--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Summary in English and Afrikaans. Includes bibliographical references.