Identity performance in a TESOL classroom

Udostępnienie publikacji Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego finansowane w ramach projektu „Doskonałość naukowa kluczem do doskonałości kształcenia”. Projekt realizowany jest ze środków Europejskiego Funduszu Społecznego w ramach Programu Operacyjnego Wiedza Edukacja Rozwój; nr umowy: POWER.03.05.00-00-Z092/17-00

The Body Discourse and Dystopian Identity Narratives of Women with Turner Syndrome

The aim of the article is to compare and contrast dystopian discourse with the first-person life narratives told by females with a rare genetic disorder, Turner syndrome (TS). Employing the methodology of discourse analysis, I trace the themes related to the most challenging areas of the lives of women with TS, and find certain tendencies in the way they position themselves and others in the contemporary discourse of medical treatment, femininity and social relationships. I analyze stories whose characters are developed on the basis of experiences that their tellers lived through. I argue that the discourse of Turner syndrome and the dystopian discourse are analogous on the grounds of the rarity of the syndrome and its two main symptoms — short stature and gonadal dysgenesis

Weight of diagnostic characteristics in the assess ment of tourism potential of rural areas according to Siedlce inhabitants

The presented work is an attempt to determine the importance of individual diagnostic characteristics conditioning rural tourism development by calculating their weights. The research was conducted in 2020 and involved the inhabitants of the city of Siedlce. The research method comprised a diagnostic survey. The authors’ research tool of choice was a questionnaire. The research pertained to an assessment of characteristics reflecting the tourism potential of rural areas in Poland. Evaluation of attitudes was based on a 10-grade Likert scale. The resulting point scores were used to calculate weights of characteristics affecting tourism development in rural areas. The characteristics representing structural resources which had the greatest impact on rural tourism development included: presence of natural water bodies in the commune, number of historic sites,number of food and beverage serving establishments, convenient road access to the commune’s administrative centre, and distance between the locality and the nearest town whose population exceeds 20 thousand inhabitants. Considering functional resources, indicators which may enhance an area’s attractiveness to tourists include commune’s ability to obtain EU funds and their expenses on tourism and entrepreneurship

Zespół współpracy terytorialnej nową jednostką sektora finansów publicznych?

Autorka analizuje zapisy prezydenckiego projektu ustawy o wzmocnieniu udziału mieszkańców w działaniach samorządu terytorialnego, o współdziałaniu gmin, powiatów i województw oraz o zmianie niektórych ustaw oraz wskazuje obszary, które mogłyby być uzupełnione przez projektodawcę.Publikacja dofinansowana przez Urząd Miasta Łodzi; Udostępnienie publikacji Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego finansowane w ramach projektu „Doskonałość naukowa kluczem do doskonałości kształcenia”. Projekt realizowany jest ze środków Europejskiego Funduszu Społecznego w ramach Programu Operacyjnego Wiedza Edukacja Rozwój; nr umowy: POWER.03.05.00-00-Z092/17-00

EFL Teacher Identity: From Mental Representation to Situated Performance

This book features critical and interpretive, linguistic perspective on foreign language teaching and learning in the 21st century Poland. By juxtaposing two conceptions of identity: essentialist and poststructuralist, the author attempts to present the problem of an EFL teacher identity construction and performance. Language is key to the study, both as a methodology for making more evident how identity operates through discourses and also as the object being studied. The author brings together these two dimensions of language with attention to both the specifics of participants' words and to the wider frames of discourse. The two conceptions of identity are discussed on the basis of the research conducted in one community of practice, i.e. Polish teachers of English. The results of the study lead to the conclusion that an EFL teacher identity should be recognized as an individual self-concept that is (re)fashioned every time individuals engage in interactions with varied milieus.Udostępnienie publikacji Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego finansowane w ramach projektu „Doskonałość naukowa kluczem do doskonałości kształcenia”. Projekt realizowany jest ze środków Europejskiego Funduszu Społecznego w ramach Programu Operacyjnego Wiedza Edukacja Rozwój; nr umowy: POWER.03.05.00-00-Z092/17-00

The accommodation and transport modes of choice of Siedlce and Siedlce poviat residents engaged in domestic religious tourism in the years 2017-2019

The objective of the present work was to fill in the research space exploring the existential issues of people participating in religious tourism. The authors undertook to indicate places of accommodation and transport modes of choice for the purpose of religious trips made by people living either in the town of Siedlce or in the surrounding area called Siedlce poviat. The following determinants were used while establishing the aim of the study: gender, age andlevel of education. The study here involved the method of diagnostic survey whose research tool was the authors’ own questionnaire. The analysis conducted in the study reported here demonstrated significant relationships between accommodation of choice and gender, level of education as well as age of the pilgrims. By far the greatest number of respondents used accommodation offered in pilgrim hostels. The majority of subjects travelling for religious purposes in Poland participated in walking pilgrimages. Despite a convenient location of Siedlce poviat with regard to airports, tourists from the study area did not choose this mode of transport at all. The objective of the present work was to fill in the research space exploring the existential issues of people participating in religious tourism. The authors undertook to indicate places of accommodation and transport modes of choice for the purpose of religious trips made by people living either in the town of Siedlce or in the surrounding area called Siedlce poviat. The following determinants were used while establishing the aim of the study: gender, age andlevel of education. The study here involved the method of diagnostic survey whose research tool was the authors’ own questionnaire. The analysis conducted in the study reported here demonstrated significant relationships between accommodation of choice and gender, level of education as well as age of the pilgrims. By far the greatest number of respondents used accommodation offered in pilgrim hostels. The majority of subjects travelling for religious purposes in Poland participated in walking pilgrimages. Despite a convenient location of Siedlce poviat with regard to airports, tourists from the study area did not choose this mode of transport at all.

An Analysis of Identity Construction in Interactional Narratives by Women with Turner Syndrome

The study aims to uncover and explore the social identities of women suffering from a genetic disorder called Turner syndrome (TS), and whose main symptoms are a short stature and gonadal dysgenesis. Such a genetically-determined physical appearance is argued to influence the positioning of TS women in the web of social relationships and identities. This linguistic analysis of narratives delivered by Polish women with TS in semi-structured interviews aims to explicate the extent to which they are actors or recipients in creating their own identities. The analysis draws on the assumptions of the ‘small story’ paradigm developed by Michael Bamberg (1997, 2005) who claims that in interaction, narrative is not only used to convey meaning, but also to construct the identities of the interlocutors. Thus, narrative is treated in a functional way, in which its formal structure and content are integrally associated with its use and any deviations are relativized as a consequence of a user’s deliberate activity

The identity category: a product and/or a process

The article focuses on the category of identity and aims to compare and contrast in a cursory manner two major approaches to the issue, namely the one that views identity as a product of the rational mind and the other that expands it to embrace the socio-cultural and interactional milieu. The former sees identity as a category that is constructed as any other object category. The latter posits to move identity to exteriority where it is not only embodied but also negotiated and performed. By drawing on works from the two traditions, the article aims to provide a clearer picture of how the views on the identity construct have changed and developed, by which a conceptually clearer and richer understanding of the issue could have been achieved

The influence of sublingual immunotherapy on several parameters of immunological response in children suffering from atopic asthma and allergic rhinitis depending on asthma features

Wstęp: Kliniczna skuteczność immunoterapii podjęzykowej została już gruntowanie potwierdzona i udokumentowana. Badano również jej wpływ na układ odpornościowy chorych na astmę oskrzelową. J ednak do tej pory nie wyjaśniono zależności pomiędzy występowaniem alergii wieloważnej, współwystępowaniem innych chorób alergicznych i stopniem terapii astmy a wpływem prowadzonej alergenowo-swoistej immunoterapii podjęzykowej. Celem niniejszej pracy była ocena wpływu rocznej immunoterapii podjęzykowej na wybrane parametry odpowiedzi immunologicznej w zależności od cech osobniczych i klinicznych cech choroby u pacjentów chorych na astmę i alergiczny nieżyt nosa.Materiał i metody: Do badania zakwalifikowano 25 dzieci w wieku 8,1 ± 3,1 roku (5–15 lat), 21 chłopców i 4 dziewczynki, chorych na astmę oskrzelową i alergiczny nieżyt nosa z alergiami poliwalentnymi sezonowymi i niesezonowymi, które były zakwalifikowane do alergenowo-swoistej immunoterapii podjęzykowej. Odsetek limfocytów pomocniczych Th1 i Th2, ekspresję antygenu Bcl-2 w limfocytach T oraz aktywację bazofilów pod wpływem swoistych alergenów (zawiesiny antygenów roztoczy kurzu domowego i/lub pyłków traw do testów skórnych) badano metodą cytometrii przepływowej. Z ależności pomiędzy badanymi parametrami oceniano dokładnym testem Fishera.Wyniki: Nie zaobserwowano istotnych zależności pomiędzy wpływem immunoterapii podjęzykowej na układ odpornościowy pacjentów a wiekiem, występowaniem alergii wieloważnej, stopniem terapii astmy i współwystępowaniem innych chorób alergicznych. Wzrost odsetka limfocytów pomocniczych Th1 pod wpływem immunoterapii podjęzykowej obserwowano nieco częściej u dzieci uczulonych na więcej niż 3 alergeny niż u pozostałych.Wnioski: Na podstawie badań przeprowadzonych przez autorów pracy nie można wskazać żadnej grupy pacjentów, u których można się spodziewać silniejszej mobilizacji układu odpornościowego jako odpowiedzi na prowadzoną immunoterapię podjęzykową u dzieci chorych na astmę i alergiczny nieżyt nosa. Wzrost odsetka limfocytów pomocniczych Th1 może występować częściej u dzieci z alergią poliwalentną.Introduction: The clinical efficacy of sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) has already been proven and is known to be high. Its influence on the immunological system of patients suffering from bronchial asthma was also examined. However, it is still unclear how the polysensitisation, coexistence of other atopic disease and asthma treatment step influence the response to treatment with specific immunotherapy. Herein we evaluate the impact of one-year SLIT on selected markers of immunological response depending on different individual and clinical factors of children suffering from atopic asthma and allergic rhinitis.Material and methods: Twenty-five patients aged 8.1 ± 3.1 years (range 5–15 years), 21 boys and 4 girls, suffering from asthma and allergic rhinitis with polysensitisation to seasonal and non-seasonal allergens, shortlisted for SLIT, were included in the study. Th1 cell and Th2 cell percentages, Bcl-2 expression in T cells, and basophil activation after allergen challenge (house dust mite and/or grass pollen antigen in solution used for skin prick tests) in peripheral blood were measured using flow cytometry. The association between clinical features of asthma and the influence of SLIT on immunological parameters was evaluated with exact Fisher test.Results: No association between the influence of one-year sublingual immunotherapy on immunological system and patients’ age, polysensitisation, asthma treatment step, or coexistence of any other atopic diseases was observed. However, an increase of the Th1 percentage in children sensitised against more than three allergens was found more often (at the limit of statistical significance) than in the group of children sensitised against three or less allergens.Conclusions: Based on our results, we cannot point to any subgroup isolated in the study, in which the response of the immunological system to sublingual immunotherapy is more satisfactory than any other. Nevertheless, the increase of Th1 cells may be more specific for polysensitised children

Biotechnological and clinical outcome of in vitro fertilization in non-obese patients with polycystic ovarian syndrome.

INTRODUCTIONPolycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is a hormonal and metabolic disorder which poses problems with controlled ovarian stimulation (COH). It has been also postulated that PCOS patients have oocytes and embryos with poorer quality which affects IVF results.AIMTo verify IVF outcome in non-obese patients with PCOS.MATERIALS AND METHODSIVF results of 71 non-obese PCOS patients with 243 non-obese non-POCS patients, regardless of stimulation protocol, from years 2004-2006 were compared.RESULTSBiotechnological results of PCOS patients in opposition to non-PCOS patients were respectively as follows: higher average number (10.19 vs. 7.61; p=0.001) and percentage (82.34% vs. 76.25%; p=0.025) of retrieved mature M2 oocytes; similar (77.01% vs. 76.75%; p=0.835) fertilization rate with higher average number of embryos (7.633 vs. 5.650 p=0.003); higher average number (4.830 vs. 3.304; p=0.001) and percentage (65.66% vs. 60.57%; p=0.006) of embryos with optimal Z1 and Z2 pronuclei pattern according to Scott; higher average number of class Aembryos (3.57 vs. 2.34; p=0.001). Similar number of embryos were transferred in both groups (2.408 vs. 2.485, p=0.552). Clinical results in PCOS and non-PCOS patients were as follows: similar stimulation duration (10.53 days vs. 10.31 days; p=0.639) with significant less gonadotropin total usage (1866.54 IU vs. 2276.18 IU; p=0.001). Also clinical pregnancy per transfer (57.75% vs. 41.98%; p=0.021) and delivery per transfer (45.07% vs. 32.51%; p=0.066) were more often in PCOS patients with comparable miscarriages (12,68% vs. 6,58%; p=0.131) and ectopic pregnancy (0.00% vs. 2.06%; p=0.591) rates, respectively.CONCLUSIONPCOS in non-obese patients is linked with good biotechnological and clinical IVF outcome