Kindergarten as a bastion: on the discursive construction of a homogeneous speech community and national identity

In der zweiten Hälfte der 2000er Jahre wurde in der deutschsprachigen Schweiz eine öffentliche Debatte geführt zur Frage, ob im Kindergarten Dialekt oder Hochdeutsch gesprochen werden soll. Dabei ging es aber um weit mehr als um eine Unterrichtssprache: der Kindergarten – so die These – ist Schauplatz für die diskursive Konstruktion nationaler Identität. Er gilt erstens als Garant für den Erhalt einer historisch gewachsenen Kultur und Nation. Zweitens wird eine homogene Gemein- schaft von Dialektsprecher_innen konstruiert und von Nicht-Zugehörigen abgegrenzt. Dadurch wird der Kindergarten zugleich zur Bastion gegen die Bedrohung der ›nationalen Identität‹ und der ›unbeschwerten‹ Kindheit.In the second half of the 2000s there was a public debate in German-speaking Switzerland about whether kindergarten teachers and children in class should speak the local dialect or High German. It was about more than just the language of instruction: I argue that kindergarten is a discursive arena in which national identity is constructed. First, it is viewed as protecting a presumably historically grown culture and nation. Secondly, a homogeneous community of dialect speakers is constructed and isolated from the ›others‹ that do not belong to it. As a consequence, kindergarten is becoming a bastion in defence of ›national identity‹ and ›unburdened‹ childhood at the same time

The Link between Greek Involvement and Alcohol Consumption: A Utilization of the Theory of Planned Behavior to Examine Fundamental Influences

Elevated levels of alcohol consumption among college students associated with Greek life are a well-documented occurrence in the United States (Baer, 1994; Capone et al., 2007). Many studies have sought to understand the precise influence(s) responsible for facilitating such inflated amounts of alcohol consumption behaviors. This study utilized the theory of planned behavior in an attempt to ascertain the most salient influences that may be contributing to Greek and non-Greek collegiate alcohol consumption. Specifically, one’s attitudes, perception of acceptable norms, and their perceived level of control over their behaviors were examined in relation to alcohol consumption. An undergraduate collegiate sample (N = 259) was collected from Sewanee: The University of the South, the University of South Carolina, and the online survey service Mturk. The study was administered to participants via online survey. The results of the study confirmed the hypothesis that more involved Greek students consume more alcohol. Additionally, it was found that a participant’s attitude and perceived level of behavioral control was related to their level of alcohol consumption, but the subjective norms component was not found to be a predictor of drinking behavior. Finally, participants’ level of behavioral control was found to be a significant moderator between Greek life and alcohol consumption. Clinical implications of these findings suggest that alcohol intervention programs should focus on bolstering individual’s perceived level of control over their drinking behaviors. Additionally, focusing on altering one’s attitude towards drinking may be beneficial in reducing overall alcohol consumption, as it was shown that those who endorsed more positive attitudes of alcohol consumption drank more heavily

Lost in diglossia? (Un-)doing difference by dealing with language variations in Swiss kindergartens

Language policy in German-speaking Swiss kindergartens recently has been subject to change. While dialect traditionally was spoken to kindergartners, the use of High German has been established to promote the integration of migrant children and equality of opportunity. In this contribution, we look at how kindergarten teachers translate the new diglossic language policy into language practices. Drawing on data from an ongoing ethnographic study, we examine four logics of language use concerning when to speak dialect or High German. As teachers’ use of language differs not only according to situations and pedagogical sequences but also due to children’s social and migrant backgrounds, we ask – drawing on the theoretical concept of (un-)doing difference – how different linguistic addressing reflects (and affects) children’s positions in the social order

Coherence Effects and Neutrino Pair Bremsstrahlung in Neutron Stars

We calculate the rate of energy radiation by bremsstrahlung of neutrino pairs by baryons in neutron stars employing a transport model in which neutrinos couple to baryons with spectral width. The coherence effects, which are included by computing the self energies with fully dressed propagators, lead to the Landau-Pomeranchuk-Migdal suppression of the neutrino emission rates in the soft neutrino and high temperature limit. A microscopic evaluation of the bremsstrahlung rate by neutrons is carried out using the Brueckner theory of nuclear matter at finite temperatures.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figures, Latex, uses elsart.sty; minor changes, to appear in Phys. Lett.

Laboratory Measurements of Wave Forcing and Reactions on a Model Submerged Mesh Breakwater

The purpose of this thesis is to design the test setup, perform the model tests, and process the data to find the wave forces on a submerged breakwater. Breakwaters are coastal protection structures used to help prevent the erosion of the shoreline. Submerged breakwaters are a more recently developed type of offshore detached breakwater that does not interfere with the ocean view and still helps prevent the longshore transport of sediment. For submerged breakwaters that are made of a single structure and placed on the seafloor, the forces must be estimated to ensure proper anchoring. The prototype submerged breakwater that was examined was a 40 ft long 14 ft diameter half cylinder. The model tested in the laboratory was a 4:1 scale, with a model diameter of 3.4 ft and a length of 10 ft. The estimated forcing on the structure came from measurements during model testing in the Haynes Coastal Engineering Laboratory wave tank. Both regular sinusoidal waves and irregular waves were generated. The significant wave heights ranged from 0.75 ft to 1.0 ft and wave periods varied from 2.0 sec to 3.0 sec using a JONSWAP wave spectrum with a peak enhancement factor of 3.3. Theoretical calculations were completed to help size the instrumentation needed to conduct the experiments. Theoretical calculations were based on the drag law to obtain the force, and Airy as well as Stokes 2nd Order wave theory to obtain the orbital velocities. It was found that the maximum expected load for all cases at the anchor without any factor of safety (FOS) is 38 lb in shear and 9.9 lb of uplift force. This equates to prototype forces of 2,433 lb of shear and 633 lb of uplift force. Using a FOS of 2.0 the prototype horizontal reaction force required is 4,866 lb and the prototype uplift reaction is 1,266 lb. A total prototype reaction force of 5,028 lbs per anchor is needed. These anchors could be gravity anchors, driven piles or screw anchors

Establishing multiple languages in early childhood : heritage languages and language hierarchies in German-English daycare centers in Switzerland

The number of conceptually bilingual daycare centers has been steadily increasing in Switzerland, a traditionally multilingual country. Yet, the focus on the languages introduced in these institutions has largely remained on one national language – and English. We look at how English and – in our case – German are employed in daycare centers and how their prioritization leads to a reproduction and legitimization of language hierarchies. Drawing on the theoretical perspectives of translanguaging, code-switching, and language hierarchies as well as data from an ethnographic study in three daycare centers, we investigate how teachers and children employ different languages in the light of restrictions imposed by the daycare centers’ language policy. Although these are implemented differently in each institution, the overall commonality is the juxtaposition of the prestigious and official languages used, German and English, and the virtual exclusion of children’s heritage languages

"E sin rumantsch?" On dealing with multilingualism, the promotion of Romansh and the dominance of German in multilingual school classes in the canton of Grisons

Der Beitrag hat den Umgang mit Mehrsprachigkeit in zwei-Weg-immersiven deutsch-rätoromanischen Schulklassen im Kanton Graubünden zum Thema. Er fragt, welche sprachlichen Ressourcen Lehrpersonen in den Unterricht einbringen, welche sprachlichen Anforderungen sie an die Schüler*innen stellen sowie welche Stellung das Rätoromanische im Verhältnis zum Deutschen dabei einnimmt. Die Untersuchung wurde aus einer ethnografischen Forschungsperspektive durchgeführt, der Unterricht in drei Mittelstufenschulklassen wurde im Frühjahr 2019 teilnehmend beobachtet. Insgesamt zeigte sich zwar ein heterogenes Bild von Sprachpraktiken seitens der Lehrpersonen sowie hinsichtlich sprachlicher Anforderungen an die Schüler*innen, aber auch eine ausgeprägte Dominanz des Deutschen im Unterricht. (DIPF/Orig.)The article focuses on how multilingualism is dealt with in two-way-immersive German-Romansh school classes in the canton of Grisons. It asks what linguistic resources teachers bring into the classroom, what linguistic demands they make on the pupils, and what position Romansh takes in relation to German. The study was carried out from an ethnographic research perspective, with participant observation of lessons in three intermediate school classes in spring 2019. Overall, a heterogeneous picture emerged of language practices on the part of the teachers and with regard to the linguistic demands on the pupils, but also a pronounced dominance of German in the classroom. (DIPF/Orig.

Förderbedürftige Kindheit - zur Konstruktion eines Kindheitsbildes aus der Sicht von Eltern

"Bilder vom 'Kind' sowie Vorstellungen davon, wie 'Kindheit' ausgestaltet werden soll, sind historisch und gesellschaftlich variabel. Im frühpädagogisch-wissenschaftlichen Feld prominent vertreten ist gegenwärtig das Bild des neugierigen, aktiven und in diesem Sinne durch Erwachsene förderbedürftigen Kindes. Dieses findet aktuell im Rahmen von Bildungs- und Erziehungsplänen und entsprechenden Programmen sowie Handlungsaufforderungen an frühpädagogische Fachkräfte Eingang in die (früh-)pädagogischen Institutionen. Bisher gibt es nur wenig Forschung dazu, wie diese Handlungsaufforderungen aufgenommen werden, insbesondere was die Eltern angeht, die trotz der gegenwärtigen Fokussierung auf institutionelle Settings als bedeutsame Akteure bei der Ausgestaltung von Kindheit betrachtet werden können. Auf der theoretischen Basis der sozialwissenschaftlichen Kindheitsforschung fragen wir deshalb, wie sich Förderbedürftigkeit von Kindern als diskursives Phänomen in der Elternperspektive darstellt. Dabei interessiert uns zum einen, wie das Konstrukt des 'förderbedürftigen Kindes' konkret hergestellt wird, und zum anderen, welche Anschlussmöglichkeiten dies für die Ausgestaltung des Kinderlebens mit sich bringt. Das empirische Fundament bilden 16 leitfadengestützte Interviews mit Eltern von Kindern im Alter von drei bis sechs Jahren, die im Rahmen zweier Forschungsprojekte in Deutschland und der deutschsprachigen Schweiz durchgeführt und in einem Sample zusammengeführt wurden, um übergreifende diskursive Strukturen sichtbar zu machen. Die Befunde zeigen zum einen, dass 'Förderbedürftigkeit' durch entsprechende Bilder vom Kind, z.B. dem 'wissbegierigen Kind' begründet wird. Zum anderen wird auch mit äußeren Notwendigkeiten wie antizipierten Anforderungen der Schule argumentiert. Die Eltern interpretieren kindliche Förderbedürftigkeit als Handlungsanweisung an sich selbst, was durch Förderung geprägte Gestaltungsweisen des kindlichen Alltags anschlussfähig macht. Die Orientierung von Eltern etwa am internationalen Wettbewerb um Ausbildungs- und Arbeitsplätze verweist darauf, dass öffentliche und politische Diskurse Eingang finden in die Begründung von Förderbedürftigkeit, was mit einer tendenziellen Engführung auf den Erwerb von verwertbaren Kompetenzen verbunden ist." (Autorenreferat)"Images of 'the child' and 'childhood' are subjects to changes over time and vary between different societies. In the scientific field of early childhood education, the image of the curious, active child that has to be cultivated by adults currently plays a dominant role. It is implemented in early childhood institutions by several educational preschool curriculums and programs. There is only little research on how these curriculums and programs affect the actions of their addressees, especially when it comes to parents who, despite the current focus on institutional settings, canbe viewed as significant actors shaping the everyday life of children. Theoretically based on the sociology of childhood, we therefore first ask how parents in a discursive way construct a childhood in which the child has to be cultivated by involving it in specific activities. Secondly, we explore the consequences of this image of childhood. The analysis is based on 16 semi-structured interviews with parents of children at the age of three to six. The interviews were conducted in two research projects in Germany and German-speaking Switzerland and merged into one sample in order to detect superior discursive structures. Findings first show that parents construct the child that has to be cultivated by referring to corresponding images of the child, e.g., the child being greedy for knowledge. Secondly, parents argue based on external necessities such as anticipated requirements of school. They interpret the child that has to be cultivated as an instruction for themselves. Hence, this image of childhood implies possibilities to shape childhood in a specific manner, i.e., by involving the child in goal-oriented practices. As parents orientate themselves for example toward the international competition for education and employment, this indicates that public and political discourses find their way into the justification of the child's cultivation. In consequence, the main task of the child is restricted to acquire applicable competencies." (author's abstract

User-driven development of a medical note generation system

A growing body of work uses Natural Language Processing (NLP) methods to automatically generate medical notes from audio recordings of doctor-patient consultations. However, there are very few studies on how such systems could be used in clinical practice, how clinicians would adjust to using them, or how system design should be influenced by such considerations. In this paper, we present three rounds of user studies, carried out in the context of developing a medical note generation system. We present, analyse and discuss the participating clinicians’ impressions and views of how the system ought to be adapted to be of value to them. Next, we describe a three-week test run of the system in a live telehealth clinical practice. Major findings include (i) the emergence of five different note-taking behaviours; (ii) the importance of the system generating notes in real time during the consultation; and (iii) the identification of a number of clinical use cases that could prove challenging for automatic note generation systems

Controlling crystallization and its absence: Proteins, colloids and patchy models

The ability to control the crystallization behaviour (including its absence) of particles, be they biomolecules such as globular proteins, inorganic colloids, nanoparticles, or metal atoms in an alloy, is of both fundamental and technological importance. Much can be learnt from the exquisite control that biological systems exert over the behaviour of proteins, where protein crystallization and aggregation are generally suppressed, but where in particular instances complex crystalline assemblies can be formed that have a functional purpose. We also explore the insights that can be obtained from computational modelling, focussing on the subtle interplay between the interparticle interactions, the preferred local order and the resulting crystallization kinetics. In particular, we highlight the role played by ``frustration'', where there is an incompatibility between the preferred local order and the global crystalline order, using examples from atomic glass formers and model anisotropic particles.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figure