Discursive constructions of language and identity: parents' competing perspectives in London Turkish complementary schools

In this paper, I draw on interview data to explore parents' constructions of language and identity in two London Turkish complementary schools. I examine parents' evaluative talk about standard Turkish, Cypriot-Turkish and other regional varieties of Turkish, the cultural values they attach to them and images of personhood these invoke. I demonstrate how parents brought up in Turkey and Cyprus tend to privilege standard Turkish and acknowledge the crucial role Turkish complementary schools play as one of the key vehicles for its spread and promotion. Some parents, however, especially those politically active in promoting Cypriot-Turkish language, culture and history to the British-born generation, voice an alternative discourse where Cypriot-Turkish is intimately linked to their sense of self. Moreover, I investigate parents' perspectives of their children and of their own Turkish language competence in the case of parents brought up in the UK. I illustrate how their Turkish and their children's are compared against a ‘native’ speaker norm firmly located in the countries of origin. The parents' accounts show how different self- and other-ascriptions of proficiency in Turkish are linked to claims of or lack of ‘Turkishness’, largely shaped by their migration histories and narratives, personal and professional transnational experiences

The fungi responsible for dermatomycoses in Adana, Turkey [Grzybyodpowiedzialne za grzybice skóry w Adani w Turcji]

Background: Superficial mycoses are defined as the development of fungal growth on epithelial tissues such as human hair, skin or nails, without noticeable invasion of living tissues and without apparently provoking an immune response by the host. The causative agents of superficial mycoses are classified as dermatophytes, yeasts and some non-dermatophytic moulds. The isolation of aetiological agents of superficial mycoses would not only provide tho most efficient treatments but would also help to improve epidemiological, ethiological studies and prevent the diseases. Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the causative agents in patients with dermatomycoses in Adana, Turkey. Material and methods: In this study, superficial mycotic infections were investigated in 182 clinically suspected cases. The specimens of skin and nail scrapings were collected into paper packs, after cleaning the lesion with 70% alcohol. Mycological examination was carried out by direct examination cultural procedures. The clinical samples were treated with 15% potassium hydroxide to determine fungal elements. The samples were heated for a short time to increase the likelihood of observing the causative fungus. All of the samples were cultured on agar slants of Sabouraud glucose agar, potato dextrose agar and Mycobiotic agar. Cultures were incubated at 26°C for four weeks and growing colonies were recognized with appropriate technics. Results: Superficial mycoses were found in a total of 59 (32.4%) patients; 42 (71.2%) dermatophytosis 17 (28.8%) candidosis. Tinea pedis was the most common type of dermatophytoses onychomycoses was the most common type of candidosis. And also Trichophyton rubrum was the frequent causative agent followed by T. mentagrophytes. Conclusion: In conclusion, the results of this study emphasizes that the causative agent of dermatomycoses should be diagnosed at a species level for the choice of suitable treatment and for efficient control of the infections

Migrating cultural capital: Bourdieu in migration studies

A Bourdieusian concept of cultural capital is used to investigate the transformations and contestations of migrants’ cultural capital. Research often treated migrants’ cultural capital as reified and ethnically bounded, assuming they bring a set of cultural resources from the country of origin to the country of migration that either fit or do not fit. Critiquing such ‘rucksack approaches’, I argue that migration results in new ways of producing and re-producing (mobilizing, enacting, validating) cultural capital that builds on, rather than simply mirrors, power relations of either the country of origin or the country of migration. Migrants create mechanisms of validation for their cultural capital, negotiating both ethnic majority and migrant institutions and networks. Migration-specific cultural capital (re-)produces intra-migrant differentiations of gender, ethnicity and class, in the process creating modes of validation alternative to national capital.The argument builds on case studies of skilled Turkish and Kurdish migrant women in Britain and German