Comparison of NIRS based methods to determine legume content of mixed swards

Four established and two new NIRS calibrations for the determination of legume content in dry ground mixtures were used to estimate clover content in ten Finnish red clover-grass mixtures of known legume content

Multilingualism in fiction

Multilingualism is a fact that has shaped and is shaping the linguistic set-up of our societies. Fictional texts also have a long tradition of drawing on polyglottal means, a fact that has been studied in many different disciplines. This chapter sketches the different research traditions that explore the phenomenon. It touches especially on the techniques of incorporating different languages in the same fictional text, such as attempts at presenting authentic multilingual renditions as well as simplifying the multilingual situation in processes that draw on the potential of linguistic indexicality, translation and contextual embedding. The main focus lies on the potential pragmatic effects that the texts can achieve, such as scene creation/enrichment, character creation, the creation of humor, the display of social criticism, realism and ideological debates of difference and belonging. For a text to work it is rarely necessary to transpose multilingual reality entirely in all its complexity into a fictional text. However, the ways in which multilingualism does occur in fiction deserve to be studied in their own right

Interpersonal Pragmatics and its link to (im)politeness research

"In light of the fact that politeness research has been on the map since the 1970s, this paper revisits some of the more recent developments. The scope of analysis has been widened from face-maintaining and face-enhancing data to instances of conflictual and face-aggravating behaviour. There is an increase in discussions about appropriate methodological and theoretical approaches to politeness, and we see a tendency to creatively draw on approaches from other fields (such as identity construction research). These trends have made the field an especially vibrant one that is currently witnessing a struggle to (re)define its focus. Two connected issues (clarifying and refining the scope of our research questions and efforts of developing an interdisciplinary approach within interpersonal pragmatics) are particularly discussed in an endeavour to outline potential research paths.

The relational aspect of language : avenues of research

In this theoretical chapter center stage is given to the 'relational aspect' of language and how it has been studied in a number of avenues of research, primarily within the field of politeness research. This overview draws on previously published work on the pragmatic turn (Locher 2012) and on insights from the recent special issue on interpersonal pragmatics in the Journal of Pragmatics (Haugh, Kádár and Mills 2013)

Review of: Real Talk. Reality Television and Discourse Analysis in Action. Nuria Lorenzo-Dus and Pilar Garcés-Conejos Blitvich (Eds), Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, 2013, 296 pp., ISBN 978-0-230-36871-2, £74, EUR 100, USD 88 (hardback; paperback available)

The collection on Real Talk. Reality Television and Discourse Analysis in Action, edited by Nuria Lorenzo-Dus and Pilar Garcés-Conejos Blitvich, is divided into three parts containing 12 chapters in total and offers insights into the study of identity construction, (im)politeness and genre by studying and comparing reality TV shows in different countries. In addition to the many important insights on identity construction and face-aggravating behavior, the collection is particularly valuable since it brings together scholars working on data from different countries. We learn about shows in Argentina, China, Israel, New Zealand, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States and about the ways in which language is used to manage identity and (im)politeness concerns in this TV genre/discourse. It is particularly fortunate that direct comparisons of the same shows that are broadcast in different countries and have been adapted to the norms of these countries are available. Furthermore, the collection is refreshing since there is no apologetic defense of why one should study this data. In line with other scholars who work on telecinematic discourse where the fictional element of the data is more dominant (see, e.g., the collections edited by Piazza et al., 2011; and Androutsopoulos, 2012; or scholars such as Bednarek, 2010), the contributors to the collection understand the data as naturally-occurring and as cultural artifacts worthy of being studied in their own right. Overall, the collection convincingly offers insights into theories, methodologies and topics of relevance to the study of language use in reality TV shows from a discourse analytic perspective. This carefully edited work is highly recommended for scholars working in media linguistics and discourse analysis, especially those who work on identity construction, (im)politeness and genre

Language and Communication in Computer-Mediated Contexts: A Rich and Challenging Research Field

This special issue offers an invitation to think about the first decade of the 21st century. Acknowledging that millennia boundaries are always arbitrary such that any development is likely to have started earlier and to still be ongoing, I decided to write about the advent of computer-mediated communication (CMC) as one of the linguistic areas that are topical and prominent in today's world. In recent overview articles on 'electronic discourse' (Locher 2014; Locher and Mondada 2014) and on challenges in research methodology for scholars working on computer-mediated discourse (Bolander and Locher 2014), a number of observations were made that I want to revisit in light of the aim of this special issue. Given the fact that communication through computer-mediated means is a fairly recent phenomenon and that the vast majority of research on this use of language have been published since the turn of the millennium, we can indeed state that this topic is relevant. In line with Crystal, "[t]he Internet is the largest area of language development we have seen in our lifetimes. Only two things are certain: it is not going to go away, and it is going to get larger" (2011, 149). In this chapter, I will briefly sketch the object of study, show some of the research questions and developments that have occurred and discuss some of the ways linguists have responded to language online

The Efficacy of Thermal Imaging Technology for Documenting American Woodcock on Pine Stands

Thermal imaging technology provides a useful tool to understand nocturnal activity of wildlife. We used thermal imaging to document American woodcock use of pine stands in Arkansas. A thermal imaging camera was used along logging roads on sampling dates ranging from December 2009 – February 2010 and in February 2011. We located 4 woodcock in 2010 in 20.27 hours of sampling within all stand types. For 11.55 h we only sampled pine seedling/clearcut stands due to vegetation structure inhibiting our ability to identify woodcock with the camera. In 2011 we found 2 woodcock in 7.42 hours of sampling on pine seedling/clearcut stands. Detection was highest during the peak in woodcock courtship and it increased by 75% when only pine seedling/clearcut stands were sampled in 2010. We detected almost 2 times as many woodcock per hour in 2010 than 2011. We feel that thermal imaging is a viable tool for documenting woodcock. However, we suggest that a handheld thermal camera be used as this would likely increase woodcock detection

‘So let's talk. Let's chat. Let's start a dialog': An analysis of the conversation metaphor employed in Clinton's and Obama's YouTube campaign clips

This paper examines how two American presidential candidates, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, make use of a Video exchange is conversation metaphor on YouTube, a channel of communication that allows the exchange of video clips on the Internet. It is argued that the politicians exploit the metaphor for its connotations of creating involvement and closeness and its potential as a persuasive strategy. They are, however, also restricted by the Video exchange is conversation metaphor: since the metaphor entails alternating speaker roles, the willingness of the addressee to engage in the exchange and to personally bond, the candidates have to construct a viewer identity and a candidate identity that matches the framework of the metaphor. In addition, the influence of the medium YouTube on the linguistic presentation is discussed in a close reading of the video clips, its main restrictions being currency (topicality and coherence), as well as asynchronicity, which results in a pseudo-dialogic character of the exchang

Typing yourself healthy: Introduction to the special issue on language and health online

This chapter functions as an introduction to the special issue on Language and Health Online, which features 10 original research papers. It reviews the results of the papers and the joint emerging themes: the impact of technical and social affordances of computer-mediated interaction; discovering an emic perspective of health issues, uncovering health ideologies, and the theme of patient empowerment; the construction of identities, the construction of shared experiences, and the use of narratives. The diverse methodologies that are employed are introduced and a case is made for an open, versatile and mixed methodology when researching language and health online