Language behaviour and the contributing factors towards it among the Georgian ethnic minorities in Luton

A thesis submitted to the University of Bedfordshire in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of PhilosophyThis study investigated the Georgian language behaviour and contributing factors to this language behaviour among the Georgian ethnic minorities in Luton (UK). Attention was paid to the following: language choice and code-switching as the language behaviour phenomena in bi-/multilingual context. Research into language behaviour explored age-related behaviour, attitudes towards maintaining the Georgian language, social networks including closest and non-closest ties in the UK and outside the UK, and participants’ perceptions of their identity (ethnicity). Forty-two individuals were approached to participate in this sociolinguistic and partly ethnographic study, employing mixed-methods approach conveyed in the questionnaire, interview and observation data collection formats. The research results indicate consistent links between the language behaviour and contributing factors to the language behaviour – social networks, age, language maintenance and identity. It was found that language choices, as well as code-switching, depend on other factors too, such as their interlocutors, environment, activity, choice of topic, length of utterances, language fluency, which varied across the age groups, hence language choice and code-switching patterns. Language shift was found in a non-indigenous member of the Georgian community. Accommodation took place in the observed interactions whilst participants converged or diverged in their speech. Code-switching instances varied across the age groups with different speakers. It was found that they code-switch either intentionally or spontaneously. Various types of code-alterations were found in participants’ speech, such as inter- and intra-sentential code-switching, and intra-word code-switching. The stronger networks participants had with Georgians, the more they used Georgian. It was evident that participants try to maintain Georgian and preserve their identity through their language, culture and networks and vice versa- maintain their identity and social networks through their language

Metals in LBA Minoan and Mycenaean Societies on Crete : A Quantitative Approach

The aims of the study were both to determine whether a systematic analysis of the quantity and quality of the copper and bronze metal finds in all their forms in the preserved metal record from the Minoan Neopalatial and the Mycenaean Final Palatial and Postpalatial societies on Late Bronze Age Crete (ca. 1600 - 1200 BC) increases our understanding of these metal systems and their effect on the political economy, social values, and cultural habits in the society and to test a method devised especially for this study. The most decisive feature of the metal system on LBA Crete is that the island lacked viable ore deposits: the copper and tin needed in the bronze industry had to be imported from abroad. A surprisingly large amount of metal, ca. 2000 kg., has been preserved from LBA Crete, divided equally between ingots and objects. Scholars are generally in agreement on the importance of metals in the Bronze Age societies, but so far no one has focused directly on this topic. The study material consists of published bronze objects, ingots and refractory material, in total ca. 3300 finds collected from many sources. This heterogeneous material was managed by coding the finds and registering them in a flexible database ΧΑΛΚΟΣ especially designed for this study, enabling searching and sorting of the material at will. Central to the method is its focus on the metal amount, its volume, use and circulation, and not on specific bronze objects. Analyses of selected aspects of the record included the spatial distribution of the metal amount, the balances between metal in prestige and utilitarian objects and that between metal in circulation and metal permanently deposited plus its distribution in the metal cycle. The analyses were made for the three periods, each subdivided geographically for East, Central and West Crete. The approach is new in three ways: the metal-centered focus for studying Aegean societies, the holistic view comprising all types of copper-based metal finds, and the quantification of the metal finds by weight. As only some few metal weights have been published, weight estimations were an important part of the study. In conclusion it is argued that the method devised for the study works. The results indicate that metal seems to have been a crucial, strategic resource for both the Minoan and the Mycenaean palatial societies on LBA Crete, but the motives for acquiring it and its uses might have been different: for the Minoans metals were mainly prime movers for general economic development, they let the metal make the world go round, with metals a part of daily life, whereas the Mycenaeans regarded metal mainly as a means for generating status and power for an elite, strictly controlling it. In the third, Postpalatial, period metals seem to have been one commodity of many, to which the whole population had access.Koppar och Brons på Minoernas Kreta. Metallernas betydelse i Samhället under senminoisk tid, ca. I600 - 1200 BC. Syftet med studien var att dels bestämma om en systematisk analys av kvantiteten och kvaliteten av de bevarade metallfynden av koppar och brons i alla dess former från den minoiska Neopalatiala och de mykenska Final- och Postpalatiala samhällena på det Senminoiska Kreta (ca. 1600 - 1200 f.Kr) ökar vår förståelse av metalhanteringen i dessa samhällen och dess inverkan på politiska, ekonomiska och sociala värdegrunder och kulturella sedvänjor, och dels att testa en metod utarbetad speciellt för denna studie. Den mest avgörande faktorn för metalhanteringen på Kreta under den Senminoiska perioden är att ön saknade ekonomiskt lönsamma metallresurser: all koppar och tenn som användes inom bronsindustrin måste importeras. En förvånansvärt stor mängd metal, ca. 2000 kg. har bevarats från Senminoisk tid på Kreta. Mängden är jämnt fördelad mellan ingots och föremål. Det har i allmänhet rått samförstånd bland forskarna om metallernas stora betydelse i bronsålderssamhället, men tillsvidare har ingen undersökt frågan närmare. Basmaterialet utgöres av publicerade föremål av koppar och brons, koppar ingots samt eldfast material från verkstäder, totalt ca. 3300 fynd, sammanställda från ett omfattande källmaterial. Det heterogena materialet kunde behärskas genom att kodifiera fynden och lagra dem i en flexibel databas ΧΑΛΚΟΣ uppgjord speciellt för studien, som gjorde det möjligt att godtyckligt söka i och sortera materialet. Det centrala i studiemetoden är ett kvantitativt grepp med focus på mängden metall, dess volym, användning och circulation, och inte på specifika typer av bronsobjekt. Analysen av materialet inkluderar den spatiala distributionen av metallmängden, förhållandet mellan metallvolymen i prestige och praktiska bronsföremål och mellan volymen av metall i circulation och permanent deponerad som grav- eller votivgåva, samt dess fördelning i de olika faserna av metallcykeln. Analyserna gjordes separat för de tre perioderna, geografiskt indelade i Öst- Central- och Västkreta. Arbetsmetoden är ny i tre hänseenden: studiet av bronsålderssamhället på basen av metallfynden, det holistiska synsättet att inkludera alla typer av brons- och kopparfynd samt kvantifieringen av fynden på basen av deras vikt. Beroende på att endast få vikter för metallföremål publicerats, utgjorde estimeringen av vikterna en central del av studien. En slutledning av arbetet är att den använda arbetsmetoden fungerar. Resultaten indikerar att metallerna var en central strategisk resurs i både de minoiska och mykenska palatiala samhällena under den Senminoiska perioden på Kreta, men att motiven för att förvärva och använda den kan ha varit olika: minoerna kan ha betraktat metaller som prime movers för den allmänna ekonomiska utvecklingen, let the metal make the world go round , metallerna var en naturlig del av det dagliga livet, medan mykenarna främst betraktade metaller som ett strikt controllerat medel för att uppnå status och inflytande för en elit. Under den Postpalatiala perioden betraktades metaller som en bruksvara bland andra, tillgänglig för och använd av hela befolkningen

DETERIORATION OF CARBONATE ROCKS AND VULNERABILITY OF CULTURAL HERITAGE IN A CHANGING CLIMATE

The main aim of this study is to understand the effect of microclimatic factors on the decay of carbonate rocks with different petrography and textural features. A set of different kind of limestones commonly used in Built Heritage of Veneto and Northern Italy was selected. Innovative and non-invasive methods for surface recession measurements in different environmental conditions have been used and results are useful for refine currently available equations. Besides some routine laboratory analysis (OM, SEM-EDS, XRD, XRF, MIP, m-CT, densitometry), two different experimental approaches were designed: i) determination of the recession rate in headstones from a series of Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries ii) accelerated ageing tests at controlled environmental conditions on different carbonate rock types previously petrographically and texturally characterized

Relationship between dissimilar cognitive styles, use of coping behavior and use of learning strategies

Research on teacher learning styles and teaching styles have explained that teachers inadvertently mirror their own styles as they teach (Sternberg, 1994; Zhang, 2002) and as such apply teaching strategies that fit personal preference. With this one-style-fits-all approach, students’ individual differences are often ignored and teaching methods are rarely varied to accommodate (McKeachie, 1995) the student. This relationship between one’s preferred style and his or her teaching style may also influence student learning (Zhang, 2001) based on findings which pointed out that students who had similar styles like those of their instructors were more comfortable with the techniques the instructor applied when teaching. Hoogasion (1971) and Lange (1972), as cited by Lutz (1983) inferred that students, who were style-similar to their professor, did better in those classes and the instructor was more positively perceived by the students who matched the instructor’s style. The students who did not share the instructor’s style, a study by Oxford and Lavine (1992) suggested, felt greater anxiety and responded negatively to the instruction. Should this issue be ignored, other adverse consequences including learning-associated emotional problems (Sitler, 2009) and physically health-related problems (Pritchard & Wilson, 2003) could be aggravated. Furthermore, if relationships existed between differences of cognitive style and coping behavior, would it not be also useful if this study were to discover findings of positive coping behaviors associated with the cognitive style gap between a student and his or her instructor? In order to promote diversity in learning, Prashnig (1998) and Rayner (2000) supported research on dissimilar learning styles in relation to learning strategies and coping behavior. Rayner (2007) advocated for aids which may help educators better meet individual learning needs in the classroom. The findings of this study may provide suggestions to the teaching practitioner regarding productive study strategies used by students, among other beneficial aids. This study may augment the sparse body of research which has demonstrated how cognitive style gap related to practical coping and learning strategies used by students. Further, it is intended to be another study extending Kirton’s theory and challenging its application to and sustainability in the classroom environment