Shared Epiphanies of My Constantly Challenged Linguistic Membership

The pluralization of English has enabled the use of its varieties in cultural contexts that are not traditionally associated with the language. Yet, the inequality of Englishes remains a main characteristic of globalizing and localizing the language. The spread of English use in Kuwait was a result of establishing reconfigured imperial relations during the British protectorate era. Mediated by language ideologies, the English language has ‘settled’ Kuwait’s local linguistic ecology, and its spread remains sustained by the imposition of colonial practices and ideologies through contemporary processes of capitalist globalization. I argue that the pluralization of English in Kuwait’s nuanced experience typifies a mechanism to (un)consciously enable globally-formed power relations between local ‘native’ and ‘nonnative’ speakers, rendering it unequal. In this article, I lay bare the impact of the phenomenon of Unequal Englishes on my life as a Kuwaiti English language teacher (KELT). Through writing two personal epiphanies, I conducted a critical autoethnographic study in response to my trajectory of English speaking and teaching. Anderson’s (1983, 2006) imagined community concept and Phillipson’s (1992) native speaker fallacy constituted the theoretical framework of the study, which ultimately explored the perpetuation of unequal power dynamics between ‘native’ and ‘nonnative’ English speaking teachers in Kuwait. Keywords: Unequal Englishes, power relations, Kuwait, KELT, imagined community, native-speakerism, autoethnography

Turbiny wiatrowe na obszarach osuwiskowych?! Przykład błędu w planowaniu przestrzennym z Wyżyny Woźnicko-Wieluńskiej

Recent years have seen growing interest in wind energy. Sadly, it has not been accompanied by proper iden-tification of areas for location of wind power plants. One example is an attempt to set up wind turbines in an area in danger of slope movement on the border of boroughs of Rudniki, Krzepice and Lipie. The authors call for detailed phy-siographic research to be carried out for all boroughs in the country by specialists who deal with various components of the environment. Such research should aim at developing reliable foundations for spatial planning. It is especially im-portant in case of such critical investments as e.g. wind power plants, which are tall structures subject to vibration. The institution which should have information regarding geohazards is the district hall. Considering increasing needs, it is also essential to develop a training system for highly-specialised staff whose task would be to identify geohazards for spatial planning and construction design

Powierzchniowe utwory geologiczne rezerwatu przyrody Góra Zborów

This paper presents the results of a field study on the surficial geological deposits in „Góra Zborów” nature reserve. Research was realized as a part of the project ʺThe Protection and rational use of the special area of conservation of the Natura 2000 habitats, Ostoja Kroczycka, in the Góra Zborów nature reserveʺ. In the nature reserve, apart from Upper Jurassic massy limestones, rock waste and waste clay on limestones and allochthonous silicious Quaternary deposits (medium and fine-grained sand and loess) appears. The humus and plant debris lie on their surface (fig. 1 and 2). These deposits on slopes locally mix and interfinger in layers. The surficial deposits in Góra Zborów are arranged in arc- and ring-shaped bands. Every complex consists of three zones: 1 – central – massive limestone rocks, 2 – transition – stone rubble, 3 – outside – band with predomination of silicious Quaternary deposits. In more morphological diversified parts of slopes the sequence repeats in the form of arcs directing from the outcrop of limestone rocks into the bottom of the slope. The thickness of Quaternary sandy and silty deposits is different, depending on diversified relief of bedrock. The thickness is the largest at the base of the slope

Reliktowe osuwisko w Zajączkach Drugich-Łękawicy koło Krzepic (Wyżyna Woźnicko-Wieluńska)

This article pre-sents the preliminary results of research on the relict landslide in Middle Jurassic clays. Field mapping, analysis of the Di-gital Elevation Model created from the laser scanning (LiDAR) and orthophotomap was made. It allowed to determine the morphological characteristics of the landslide. We tried to identify the main factors affecting mass movement and to de-termine the probable age of this process. Studied landslide belongs to a larger complex of similar forms. These are forms, pro-bably developed in the Late Pleistocene periglacial conditions, although we can not rule out the Holocene age. Landslide presented in article is due to the size the unique form in the highland-lowland part of the Silesian Voivodeship

The scars of war : a programme for the identification of the environmental effects of Word War II bombings for the purposes of spatial management in the Koźle Basin, Poland

Poland’s Koźle Basin contains numerous craters created from the explosions of World War II aerial bombs as well as craters left by unexploded ordnance. The state of the local environment has been severely affected. This situation presents an obstacle to spatial management of the land to this day. This research programme studied the distribution of postmilitary anthropogenic geohazards in the area. It was intended to help to indicate the appropriate courses of action, including in the field of spatial planning, in the areas affected by former bombing. Desk studies focused on photo-interpretive analysis of archival aerial photographs and took advantage of the potential of high-resolution shaded relief rasters created from digital terrain models derived from LiDAR scanning. Field studies used classic geomorphological methods. Studies conducted so far in the bombed areas indicate the necessity of carrying out systematic, anticipatory, accurate surveys of the land and soil surface with the use of geophysical methods. Currently, the traces identified in the field suggest that the amount of unexploded ordnance remaining in the ground is very large

The late Vistulian and Holocene evolution of Jezioro Lake : a record of environmental change in southern Poland found in deposits and landforms

Jezioro Lake is the only natural lake in southern Poland outside mountainous areas to have existed continuously since the Pleistocene. The record of environmental change in the Late Vistulian (Weichselian) and Holocene is preserved in the deposits and landforms around the lake. This paper presents the results of paleogeographical and paleoecological research that emabled us to reconstruct the history of the Jezioro Lake. At the end of the Vistulian period, the outlet of the lake was blocked by a parabolic dune moving in from the west. Limnic sedimentation was evident in the sediment core at all levels from the Holocene, with remains of Cladocera, Chironomidae larvae, and aquatic plants. The lake did not disappear at that time, although its area decreased by a factor of 12 by the end of the period. Paleobotanical research permitted the reconstruction of sequences of plant communities and changes in nutrient status and water level. An initial oligotrophic lake, as indicated by the presence of Isoe¨tes lacustris L., changed to a eutrophic lake, as indicated by the presence of Potamogeton natans L. and Nuphar sp., then the lake progressed to the present-day dystrophic lake that is surrounded by a swamp. The profile of organic deposits contains a record of environmental change at least since the Younger Dryas in southern Poland

PHOTOCHEMICAL RING-OPENING IN meso-CHLORINATED CHLOROPHYLLS

Irradiation of 20-chloro-chlorophylls of the a-type with visible light produces long-wavelength shifted photoproducts, which transform in the dark to linear tetrapyrroles (bile pigments). The possible significance for chlorophyll degradation is discussed

Electrochemical deposition of NiMnGa alloys

L'article final d'aquest post-print canvia pacialment el títol a: "Single step electrosynthesis of NiMnGa alloys"An electrochemical synthesis route for NiMnGa alloys is presented. Thin films (TFs) of NiMnGa were fabricated by single step electrodeposition from aqueous electrolytes using direct current (DC) over a range of current densities. By meticulous electrolyte tuning, homogeneous TFs with high Ga and Mn content could be achieved at current densities as high as -400 mA cm-2. Detailed compositional analysis of the alloys showed that growth was homogeneous and oxygen content was minimized. TFs plated at very low current densities were found to be nanocrystalline/ amorphous. In order to obtain fully crystalline samples, thermal annealing was carried out. Mechanical characterization was assessed by nanoindentation, and the effect of Ga content on mechanical properties was investigated