The evolution of trilingual code-switching from infancy to school age: the shaping of trilingual competence through dynamic language dominance

This article reports on a study of the code-switches produced by two children who acquired their three languages in early childhood. We compared formal and functional aspects of their switches recorded at two different stages of their development. Of particular interest was the consideration of sociolinguistic variables that have intervened in the children’s environment. We undertook a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the children’s code-switches to ascertain the frequency of switching, the use of each of the three languages employed for switching and the linguistic complexity of the switches. We assumed that the sociolinguistic conditions that changed the linguistic landscape in which these children operated would be reflected not only in the development of each of their languages, but also in the kind of switches that they produced. We tried to establish whether it is the case that certain forms and functions of code-switches constitute a "core" of trilingual language behaviour while others are prone to change. Ultimately, our aim was to gain an insight into the specific trilingual language production processes over a given period of time that can shed light on the development and nature of trilingual competence

Contact without Contact: English Digital Language Input and Its Effects on L1 Icelandic

Publisher's version (útgefin grein)onsidering work on quantitative input effects and the possible distributive characteristics of bilingual knowledge (e.g. Pearson et al. 1997; Oller, Pearson & Cobo-Lewis 2007; Thordardottir 2011 and 2014; Paradis & Grüter 2014; Unsworth 2015 and 2016), should we expect English digital language input through contextual learning to impact the domestically dominant but globally small L1, Icelandic? The direct and indirect effects of an L2 on an L1 are well-known in various contexts (e.g. in work on L1 attrition). However, the research is usually conducted in a setting where the L1 is a minority language and not the dominant language of schooling or society more broadly (e.g. Montrul 2008; Sorace 2011; Schmid 2013). In this paper, we address this understudied scenario and ask: Can a contextually learned and globally dominant L2 (English) affect a domestically dominant L1 (Icelandic) through digital language input? In particular, our research questions are: (1) a. Does English digital language input entail a reduction of L1 input for children acquiring Icelandic in Iceland? b. If it does, is the input reduction significant enough to predict individual differences in outcomes on vocabulary and grammar measures?This research was supported by a grant of excellence from the Icelandic Research Fund 2016-2019 (RANNÍS 162991) awarded to Sigríður Sigurjónsdóttir and Eiríkur Rögnvaldsson. We thank the children and their parents for their participation and the MoLiCoDiLaCo-research team as well as our local and international collaborators for their contribution.Peer reviewe

The cessation in pregnancy incentives trial (CPIT): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Background: Seventy percent of women in Scotland have at least one baby, making pregnancy an opportunity to help most young women quit smoking before their own health is irreparably compromised. By quitting during pregnancy their infants will be protected from miscarriage and still birth as well as low birth weight, asthma, attention deficit disorder and adult cardiovascular disease. In the UK, the NICE guidelines: 'How to stop smoking in pregnancy and following childbirth' (June 2010) highlighted that little evidence exists in the literature to confirm the efficacy of financial incentives to help pregnant smokers to quit. Its first research recommendation was to determine: Within a UK context, are incentives an acceptable, effective and cost-effective way to help pregnant women who smoke to quit? <p/>Design and Methods: This study is a phase II exploratory individually randomised controlled trial comparing standard care for pregnant smokers with standard care plus the additional offer of financial voucher incentives to engage with specialist cessation services and/or to quit smoking during pregnancy. Participants (n=600) will be pregnant smokers identified at maternity booking who when contacted by specialist cessation services agree to having their details passed to the NHS Smokefree Pregnancy Study Helpline to discuss the trial. The NHS Smokefree Pregnancy Study Helpline will be responsible for telephone consent and follow-up in late pregnancy. The primary outcome will be self reported smoking in late pregnancy verified by cotinine measurement. An economic evaluation will refine cost data collection and assess potential cost-effectiveness while qualitative research interviews with clients and health professionals will assess the level of acceptance of this form of incentive payment. Research questions What is the likely therapeutic efficacy? Are incentives potentially cost-effective? Is individual randomisation an efficient trial design without introducing outcome bias? Can incentives be introduced in a way that is feasible and acceptable? <p/>Discussion: This phase II trial will establish a workable design to reduce the risks associated with a future definitive phase III multicentre randomised controlled trial and establish a framework to assess the costs and benefits of financial incentives to help pregnant smokers to quit

West African English in Digital Discourse

This paper applies sociolinguistic and discourse-analytical approaches to examine the features of West African English (WAE) in digital discourse. Data comprises 23,374 posts and responses from some popular social and political online forums hosted by Nigerians (i.e. Nairaland and Naijapals); Ghanaians (i.e. Ghanaforum.com), and Sierra Leoneans (i.e. Sierra Online club and Sierra Leone Forum). These digital forums have served as social media platforms for discussions and debates on, and responses to recent socio-political events in those countries. Findings show that three varieties of WAE are evident in online discourse namely, the acrolect (high), mesolect (middle), and basilect (low), which sometimes depend on the educational level of the users. The local pidgin is also frequently used especially in the Nigerian forums. These varieties in turn reflect features that are characteristic of WAE such as (i) loan words within the standard (acrolect) variety (ii) code-switching between the standard variety and pidgin/Krio (iii) evidence of deviants/errors characteristic of the basilect variety and (iv) linguistic creativity such as coinages, and the language style of the Internet. Findings further show that West African online communicators in English have adapted their socio-cultural nuances of language use to modern information technology

English as a lingua franca in marketing: Focus on the use of anglicisms in Italian and Polish

openThis dissertation aims to analyse the worldwide spread and use of the English language as a lingua franca, and the different experiences of acquisition of anglicisms by the Italian and Polish languages, in particular in the semantic field of economics and marketing. The economic sector is one of those areas, in which the influence of English is felt most throughout almost all languages. This phenomenon can be traced back to the influence of the United States as an economic power, as well as to the globalisation of work marketplace and marketing, and to the spread of digital technologies that allow people and nations, who are geographically distant from each other, to be brought into contact. English has been considered the lingua franca of global communication for decades now and is usually also used by non-native speakers when they need to communicate in a language known to all. This enormous diffusion of the English language in the majority of economic sectors has as a consequence a notable linguistic interference between the speakers’ native language and English, while the number of anglicisms introduced into all languages appears to be constantly increasing, especially when it comes to terms relating to the technological and economic sphere. This occurrence has also been noticed, among many, in the Italian and Polish languages, but there are differences between the two. This work thus aims to analyse the ways in which such phenomenon occurs, the differences between these two experiences, as well as the similarities

English as a Contact Language: Singapore English

Singapore English is a perfect variety to analyse in order to stress the importance of linguistic contact in shaping languages.English is undoubtedly considered a universal language today. However, as it is the case with all languages in the world, there is a major factor that has had an enormous impact on the English that is spoken nowadays: linguistic contact. English has been shaped as a result of language and dialect contact and this phenomenon is likely to continue in the future. Besides, English has been one of the main languages of colonization throughout the world during different periods in history. Consequently, a number of vernacular languages have been in direct contact with English and this has led to the flourishing of diverse varieties of English, known as ‘New Englishes’. The situation of each of these New Englishes varies considerably depending on several historical, sociolinguistic and geographical factors; and the consequence of this is that most of them can be considered or are close to be ingconsidered independent and autonomous linguistic systems. One of the most paradigmatic examples of this situation is Singapore English. Singapore is a multi-ethnic country in which English serves as a lingua franca for Chinese, Malay or Tamil speakers, as well as being the language used for formal purposes such as administration and education. At the same time, there is another variety in Singapore, called Singapore Colloquial English or Singlish, which differs considerably from Standard English and is mainly used in informal settings. Thus, both the Standard variety and Singlish live together in Singapore. Since all these conditions make Singapore English a perfect variety to analyse,and the main objective will be to stress the relevant role that contact plays in shaping languages, this paper will focus on analysing some of the most relevant syntactic and morphological features of Singlish, together with describing the way in which both the Standard and the Colloquial variety co-exist

African Loanwords in the History of English: A Diachronic Study Based on the OED

Trabajo de fin de Grado. Grado en Estudios Ingleses. Curso académico 2014-2015[ES]Este Trabajo de Fin de Grado se centra en el impacto léxico que las variedades no nativas del inglés que se usa en África tienen el inglés. Mi objetivo es analizar los préstamos léxicos africanos durante la historia del inglés teniendo en cuenta el testimonio que proporciona el Oxford English Dictionary (OED). Aunque al principio los editores del diccionario no estaban muy decididos en incluir palabras de origen africano y finalmente decidieron omitirlas, en la segunda y tercera edición cambiaron su política a favor de su inclusión en el diccionario, mostrando la importancia que estas palabras tienen en el inglés no solo hoy en día, sino también en el pasado. El análisis del corpus recuperado de la tercera edición del OED nos ayuda a entender el contacto léxico que el inglés tenía, y todavía tiene, con idiomas africanos como el suajili y el yoruba, cuándo este contacto era más notorio y cómo esto ha afectado al inglés en como un todo.[EN]This BA thesis focuses on the lexical impact of non-natives varieties of English used in Africa on the English language. My aim is to analyse African loanwords in the history of English looking at the evidence provided by the Oxford English Dictionary (OED). Although at first the editors of the dictionary were not very determined to include words of African origin and finally decided to omit them, in the second and third editions they changed their policy towards their inclusion in the dictionary, showing the importance that these words have on the English language not only nowadays, but also in the past. The analysis of the corpus retrieved from the third edition of the OED helps us to understand the lexical contact English had, and still has, with African languages such as Swahili and Yoruba, when this contact was more prominent and how this has affected the English language as a whole