Bilingual episodic memory: an introduction

Our current models of bilingual memory are essentially accounts of semantic memory whose goal is to explain bilingual lexical access to underlying imagistic and conceptual referents. While this research has included episodic memory, it has focused largely on recall for words, phrases, and sentences in the service of understanding the structure of semantic memory. Building on the four papers in this special issue, this article focuses on larger units of episodic memory(from quotidian events with simple narrative form to complex autobiographical memories) in service of developing a model of bilingual episodic memory. This requires integrating theory and research on how culture-specific narrative traditions inform encoding and retrieval with theory and research on the relation between(monolingual) semantic and episodic memory(Schank, 1982; Schank & Abelson, 1995; Tulving, 2002). Then, taking a cue from memory-based text processing studies in psycholinguistics(McKoon & Ratcliff, 1998), we suggest that as language forms surface in the progressive retrieval of features of an event, they trigger further forms within the same language serving to guide a within-language/ within-culture retrieval

Submerged in the mainstream? A case study of an immigrant learner in a New Zealand primary classroom

Immigrant children from diverse language backgrounds face not only linguistic challenges when enrolled in mainstream English-medium classrooms, but also difficulties adjusting to an unfamiliar learning community. The culture of primary school classrooms in New Zealand typically reflects conventions across three dimensions: interactional, instructional task performance and cognitive-academic development. All three dimensions are underpinned by the culturally specific discourse conventions involved in language socialisation. New learners may be helped by classmates or their teacher to understand and successfully use these conventions, but left on their own they may sink rather than swim. This is a case study of one Taiwanese 11-year old boy, 'John', who entered a New Zealand primary classroom midway through the school year. John's basic conversational ability was sound, but he did not possess the interactive classroom skills needed to operate in the new culture of learning. Selected from a wider study of the classroom, transcript data from audio-recorded excerpts of John's interactions over several months with his teacher and classmates are interpreted from perspectives derived from sociocultural and language socialisation theories. The article concludes with a brief consideration of the extent to which John constructed, or was constrained from constructing meaningful learning experiences, and suggestions for further research and reflection

The importance of language for language development: Linguistic determinism in the 1980s

The semantic and syntactic functions of verbs are the major aspects of linguistic complexity that contribute to the cognitive requirements for learning language between two and three years of age. Several contrastive categories of verbs emerged from our studies with action/state as the largest and most general. Contrastive subcategories of action verbs were locative/nonlocative action, durative/nondurative action, and completive/noncompletive action. The subcategories of state verbs were volitional/epistemic/notice/communication states. The psychological and linguistic validity of these semantic categories rests on their being coextensive with major grammatical developments and/or their sequential development

Long-Term Complications of Ebola Virus Disease: Prevalence and Predictors of Major Symptoms and the Role of Inflammation

Background Cohort studies have reported a high prevalence of musculoskeletal, neurologic, auditory, and visual complications among Ebola virus disease (EVD) survivors. However, little is known about the host- and disease-related predictors of these symptoms and their etiological mechanisms. Methods The presence and patterns of 8 cardinal symptoms that are most commonly reported following EVD survival were assessed in the 326 EVD survivors who participated in the ongoing longitudinal Liberian EVD Survivor Study. At quarterly study visits, symptoms that developed since acute EVD were recorded and blood was collected for biomarkers of inflammation and immune activation. Results At baseline (mean 408 days from acute EVD), 75.5% of survivors reported at least 1 new cardinal symptom since surviving EVD, which in 85.8% was rated as highly interfering with life. Two or more incident symptoms were reported by 61.0% of survivors, with pairings of joint pain, headache, or fatigue the most frequent. Women were significantly more likely than men to report headache, while older age was significantly associated with musculoskeletal and visual symptoms. In analyses adjusted for multiple comparisons, no statistically significant association was found between any symptom and 26 markers of inflammation and immune activation. Symptom frequency remained largely unchanged during study follow-up. Conclusions Post-EVD complications occur in a majority of survivors and remain present more than 4 years after acute infection. An association between markers of inflammation and immune activation and individual symptoms was not found, suggesting an alternative etiology for persistent post-EVD symptomatology

Ebola Virus–Specific Neutralizing Antibody Persists at High Levels in Survivors 2 Years After Resolution of Disease in a Sierra Leonean Cohort

Ebola virus (EBOV) infection results in Ebola virus disease (EVD), an often severe disease with a nonspecific presentation. Since its recognition, periodic outbreaks of EVD continue to occur in sub-Saharan Africa. The 2013-2016 West African EVD outbreak was the largest recorded, resulting in a substantial cohort of EVD survivors with persistent health complaints and variable immune responses. In this study, we characterize humoral immune responses in EVD survivors and their contacts in Eastern Sierra Leone. We found high levels of EBOV IgG in EVD survivors and lower yet substantial antibody levels in household contacts, suggesting subclinical transmission. Neutralizing antibody function was prevalent but variable in EVD survivors, raising questions about the durability of immune responses from natural infection with EBOV. Additionally, we found that certain discrete symptoms-ophthalmologic and auditory-are associated with EBOV IgG seropositivity, while an array of symptoms are associated with the presence of neutralizing antibody

“No, no Maama! Say ‘Shaatir ya Ouledee Shaatir’!” Children’s agency in language use and socialisation

Aims and objectives: This paper investigates how children in multilingual and transnational families mobilise their multiple and developing linguistic repertoires creatively to assert their agency in language use and socialisation, and why these acts of agency are conducive to successful maintenance of the so-called “home”, “community” or “minority” language. Methodology: Close, qualitative analysis of mealtime multiparty conversations is carried out to examine children’s agency in language use and socialisation. Data and analysis: Twelve hours of mealtime conversations within one Arabic and English speaking multilingual family in the UK were recorded over a period of eight months. The excerpts selected for analysis in this paper illustrate how agency is enacted in interaction. Findings: The data analyses of the family’s language practices reveal both their flexible language policy and the importance the family attaches to Arabic. The children in this family are fully aware of the language preferences of their parents and are capable of manipulating that knowledge and asserting their agency through their linguistic choices to achieve their interactional goals. Originality: This paper explores how Arabic is maintained as a minority language by second and third generations of Arabic-speaking immigrants in the UK through close analysis of conversations. Significance: The findings contribute to the current discussions of family language policy and maintenance by demonstrating children’s agentive and creative roles in language use and socialisation. Three factors are identified as the reason for the successful language learning, use and maintenance of Arabic: firstly, a family language policy that has a positive multilingual outlook; secondly, family relationship dynamics that connect and bond family members; and thirdly, the children’s highly developed ability to understand their parents’ language preferences

Being Ready to Treat Ebola Virus Disease Patients

As the outbreak of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in West Africa continues, clinical preparedness is needed in countries at risk for EVD (e.g., United States) and more fully equipped and supported clinical teams in those countries with epidemic spread of EVD in Africa. Clinical staff must approach the patient with a very deliberate focus on providing effective care while assuring personal safety. To do this, both individual health care providers and health systems must improve EVD care. Although formal guidance toward these goals exists from the World Health Organization, Medecin Sans Frontières, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other groups, some of the most critical lessons come from personal experience. In this narrative, clinicians deployed by the World Health Organization into a wide range of clinical settings in West Africa distill key, practical considerations for working safely and effectively with patients with EVD

Jean Briggs's Never in Anger as an Ethnography of Experience

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/66542/2/10.1177_0308275X9301300406.pd