“Die pad is lank en swaar.” Taalreise in Mangaung

Linguistic journeys in Mangaung. It is argued that all learners, even if taught through medium of their mother tongue, have to undertake a linguistic journey to cover the distance between the language variety spoken at home and the more formal variety used in the school as social institution. Learners who are taught through medium of a foreign language, not related to their mother tongue, have to cover an extra distance. Against the background of the distance between home language and the language of the school, this article discusses some of the qualitative results of an international research project, called the Phaphamang Language Project. Phaphamang means “Wake up!”. The research took place at three school in Mangaung, a township near Bloemfontein, in the Free State. Classroom observations of the presentation of specially designed task-based lessons revealed how Gr. 4 learners used English and Southern Sotho while learning history. Although English is the official medium of instruction according to the policy of the schools, teachers had no choice but to switch to Southern Sotho to make the input comprehensible and to initiate the learning process. Co-operative learning and negotiating of meaning took place in Southern Sotho. The learners were not able to use English to bridge information gaps. Their productive skills in English were restricted to single words, a combination of two words and fixed patterns. A general perception exists that learners will acquire English by using it as the language of teaching and learning. The learners in Mangaung have thus embarked upon a linguistic journey, the destination of which is the control of the English language in its educational function: as a tool to think and reason, and to access, process and use information for learning. Some of the stumbling blocks on the road are the initial language skills of the learners when the switch to English is made, the teachers' command of the language and the absence of the language in the environment. The conclusion is reached that the distance the learners have to cover, is too long and the road is too difficult to lead to academic success. (Journal for Language Teaching: 2002 36(3-4): 246-258

PHACTR1 genetic variability is not critical in small vessel ischemic disease patients and PcomA recruitment in C57BL/6J mice

Recently, several genome-wide association studies identified PHACTR1 as key locus for five diverse vascular disorders: coronary artery disease, migraine, fibromuscular dysplasia, cervical artery dissection and hypertension. Although these represent significant risk factors or comorbidities for ischemic stroke, PHACTR1 role in brain small vessel ischemic disease and ischemic stroke most important survival mechanism, such as the recruitment of brain collateral arteries like posterior communicating arteries (PcomAs), remains unknown. Therefore, we applied exome and genome sequencing in a multi-ethnic cohort of 180 early-onset independent familial and apparently sporadic brain small vessel ischemic disease and CADASIL-like Caucasian patients from US, Portugal, Finland, Serbia and Turkey and in 2 C57BL/6J stroke mouse models (bilateral common carotid artery stenosis [BCCAS] and middle cerebral artery occlusion [MCAO]), characterized by different degrees of PcomAs patency. We report 3 very rare coding variants in the small vessel ischemic disease-CADASIL-like cohort (p.Glu198Gln, p.Arg204Gly, p.Val251Leu) and a stop-gain mutation (p.Gln273*) in one MCAO mouse. These coding variants do not cluster in PHACTR1 known pathogenic domains and are not likely to play a critical role in small vessel ischemic disease or brain collateral circulation. We also exclude the possibility that copy number variants (CNVs) or a variant enrichment in Phactr1 may be associated with PcomA recruitment in BCCAS mice or linked to diverse vascular traits (cerebral blood flow pre-surgery, PcomA size, leptomeningeal microcollateral length and junction density during brain hypoperfusion) in C57BL/6J mice, respectively. Genetic variability in PHACTR1 is not likely to be a common susceptibility factor influencing small vessel ischemic disease in patients and PcomA recruitment in C57BL/6J mice. Nonetheless, rare variants in PHACTR1 RPEL domains may influence the stroke outcome and are worth investigating in a larger cohort of small vessel ischemic disease patients, different ischemic stroke subtypes and with functional studies

PHACTR1 genetic variability is not critical in small vessel ischemic disease patients and PcomA recruitment in C57BL/6J mice

Recently, several genome-wide association studies identified PHACTR1 as key locus for five diverse vascular disorders: coronary artery disease, migraine, fibromuscular dysplasia, cervical artery dissection and hypertension. Although these represent significant risk factors or comorbidities for ischemic stroke, PHACTR1 role in brain small vessel ischemic disease and ischemic stroke most important survival mechanism, such as the recruitment of brain collateral arteries like posterior communicating arteries (PcomAs), remains unknown. Therefore, we applied exome and genome sequencing in a multi-ethnic cohort of 180 early-onset independent familial and apparently sporadic brain small vessel ischemic disease and CADASIL-like Caucasian patients from US, Portugal, Finland, Serbia and Turkey and in 2 C57BL/6J stroke mouse models (bilateral common carotid artery stenosis [BCCAS] and middle cerebral artery occlusion [MCAO]), characterized by different degrees of PcomAs patency. We report 3 very rare coding variants in the small vessel ischemic disease-CADASIL-like cohort (p.Glu198Gln, p.Arg204Gly, p.Val251Leu) and a stop-gain mutation (p.Gln273*) in one MCAO mouse. These coding variants do not cluster in PHACTR1 known pathogenic domains and are not likely to play a critical role in small vessel ischemic disease or brain collateral circulation. We also exclude the possibility that copy number variants (CNVs) or a variant enrichment in Phactr1 may be associated with PcomA recruitment in BCCAS mice or linked to diverse vascular traits (cerebral blood flow pre-surgery, PcomA size, leptomeningeal microcollateral length and junction density during brain hypoperfusion) in C57BL/6J mice, respectively. Genetic variability in PHACTR1 is not likely to be a common susceptibility factor influencing small vessel ischemic disease in patients and PcomA recruitment in C57BL/6J mice. Nonetheless, rare variants in PHACTR1 RPEL domains may influence the stroke outcome and are worth investigating in a larger cohort of small vessel ischemic disease patients, different ischemic stroke subtypes and with functional studies.</p

PHACTR1 genetic variability is not critical in small vessel ischemic disease patients and PcomA recruitment in C57BL/6J mice

Recently, several genome-wide association studies identified PHACTR1 as key locus for five diverse vascular disorders: coronary artery disease, migraine, fibromuscular dysplasia, cervical artery dissection and hypertension. Although these represent significant risk factors or comorbidities for ischemic stroke, PHACTR1 role in brain small vessel ischemic disease and ischemic stroke most important survival mechanism, such as the recruitment of brain collateral arteries like posterior communicating arteries (PcomAs), remains unknown. Therefore, we applied exome and genome sequencing in a multi-ethnic cohort of 180 early-onset independent familial and apparently sporadic brain small vessel ischemic disease and CADASIL-like Caucasian patients from US, Portugal, Finland, Serbia and Turkey and in 2 C57BL/6J stroke mouse models (bilateral common carotid artery stenosis [BCCAS] and middle cerebral artery occlusion [MCAO]), characterized by different degrees of PcomAs patency. We report 3 very rare coding variants in the small vessel ischemic disease-CADASIL-like cohort (p.Glu198Gln, p.Arg204Gly, p.Val251Leu) and a stop-gain mutation (p.Gln273*) in one MCAO mouse. These coding variants do not cluster in PHACTR1 known pathogenic domains and are not likely to play a critical role in small vessel ischemic disease or brain collateral circulation. We also exclude the possibility that copy number variants (CNVs) or a variant enrichment in Phactr1 may be associated with PcomA recruitment in BCCAS mice or linked to diverse vascular traits (cerebral blood flow pre-surgery, PcomA size, leptomeningeal microcollateral length and junction density during brain hypoperfusion) in C57BL/6J mice, respectively. Genetic variability in PHACTR1 is not likely to be a common susceptibility factor influencing small vessel ischemic disease in patients and PcomA recruitment in C57BL/6J mice. Nonetheless, rare variants in PHACTR1 RPEL domains may influence the stroke outcome and are worth investigating in a larger cohort of small vessel ischemic disease patients, different ischemic stroke subtypes and with functional studies

A global experiment on motivating social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic

Finding communication strategies that effectively motivate social distancing continues to be a global public health priority during the COVID-19 pandemic. This cross-country, preregistered experiment (n = 25,718 from 89 countries) tested hypotheses concerning generalizable positive and negative outcomes of social distancing messages that promoted personal agency and reflective choices (i.e., an autonomy-supportive message) or were restrictive and shaming (i.e., a controlling message) compared with no message at all. Results partially supported experimental hypotheses in that the controlling message increased controlled motivation (a poorly internalized form of motivation relying on shame, guilt, and fear of social consequences) relative to no message. On the other hand, the autonomy-supportive message lowered feelings of defiance compared with the controlling message, but the controlling message did not differ from receiving no message at all. Unexpectedly, messages did not influence autonomous motivation (a highly internalized form of motivation relying on one’s core values) or behavioral intentions. Results supported hypothesized associations between people’s existing autonomous and controlled motivations and self-reported behavioral intentions to engage in social distancing. Controlled motivation was associated with more defiance and less long-term behavioral intention to engage in social distancing, whereas autonomous motivation was associated with less defiance and more short- and long-term intentions to social distance. Overall, this work highlights the potential harm of using shaming and pressuring language in public health communication, with implications for the current and future global health challenges

A multi-country test of brief reappraisal interventions on emotions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased negative emotions and decreased positive emotions globally. Left unchecked, these emotional changes might have a wide array of adverse impacts. To reduce negative emotions and increase positive emotions, we tested the effectiveness of reappraisal, an emotion-regulation strategy that modifies how one thinks about a situation. Participants from 87 countries and regions (n = 21,644) were randomly assigned to one of two brief reappraisal interventions (reconstrual or repurposing) or one of two control conditions (active or passive). Results revealed that both reappraisal interventions (vesus both control conditions) consistently reduced negative emotions and increased positive emotions across different measures. Reconstrual and repurposing interventions had similar effects. Importantly, planned exploratory analyses indicated that reappraisal interventions did not reduce intentions to practice preventive health behaviours. The findings demonstrate the viability of creating scalable, low-cost interventions for use around the world

The use of the Afrikaans conjunction &quot;wanneer&quot; (when) in subordinate clause embedding

ABSTRACT The use of the Afrikaans conjunction &quot;wanneer&quot; (when) in subordinate clause embedding The Afrikaans conjunction &quot;wanneer&quot; (when

Beeldskemas van tydsduur: die polisemiese aard van terwyl, onderwylen wyl

Hierdie artikel toon aan hoe die polisemiese aard van ‘n groep onderskikkers, nl. terwyl, onderwyl en wyl, in terme van drie onderliggende beeldskemas verklaar kan word en hoe betekenis uitbreidings in die vorm van betekenis kettings voorgestel kan word. Die ondersoek is in ooreenstemming met die aannames van die kognitiewe grammatika op gebruiksdata gebaseer. In die mees basiese betekenis druk die bysin wat deur terwyl ingelei word, die agtergrondom-standighede uit waarbinne ‘n voorgrondgebeurtenis plaasvind. Dit word verteenwoordig deurskema 1: ‘n gebeurtenis binne ‘n ander gebeurtenis. Wanneer die voorgrondgebeurtenis net solank duur soos die agtergrondgebeurtenis, kan skema 2 geabstraheer word: parallelle gebeurtenisse. Behalwe vir gelyke tydsduur, kom teenstelling en toegewing ook as meer abstrakte betekenisse in hierdie skema voor. Uit gevalle waar groepe in numeriese terme vergelyk word, word skema 3 geabstraheer: deel-geheel. By verdere betekenisuitbreidings gaan die geheelbeeld verlore en word ‘n los reeks gegewens weergegee. Onderwyl en wyl kan as gedeeltelike sinonieme van terwyl beskou word. Hulle gebruik is meerbeperk en hulle vertoon nie die mate van grammatikalisering wat vir terwyl waargeneem is nie. Abstract: This article shows how the polysemic nature af a group of subordinating conjunctions in Afrikaans, ‘terwyl', ‘onderwyl'and ‘wyl' (meaning nuances of ‘while'and ‘whilst') can be explained in terms of three underlying image schemas. The expansion of their meaning is depicted through chains of meaning. In accordance with the basic tenets of cognitive linguistics a usage-based approach is followed. In the most basic meaning the subordinate clause introduced by ‘terwyl' describes the background against which a foreground event takes place. This representation is shown in schema 1. The foreground event occurs within the time span of a background event. In schema 2 we depict simultaneous foreground and background events. In addition to events with equal time span, this schema also depicts contradiction and concession in the more abstract sense. In cases wheregroups are compared in numerical terms schema 3 can be used to express ‘part-of-whole'. Further augmentation of meaning causes loss of cohesion and a discontinuous series of events is listed. ‘Onderwyl' and ‘wyl'can be seen as partial synonyms of ‘terwyl'. Their use is less frequent andless grammaticalisation was observed than in the case of ‘terwyl'. Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies 2007, 25(1): 57–7

Die kategorisering van onderskikkers: enkele kenmerke van ‘dat'-samestellings

This paper, entitled “On the categorisation of subordinating conjunctions: some characteristics of ‘dat' compounds”, describes the syntactic and semantic characteristics of a group of subordinating conjunctions in Afrikaans, i.e. the compound conjunctions with ‘dat' (‘that'). Most of these compounds contain a preposition as the leading element, e.g. ‘voordat' (‘before'), ‘nadat' (‘after'), ‘vandat' (‘from'), ‘totdat' (‘until'), ‘metdat' (‘with'), ‘omdat' (‘for'), ‘oordat' (‘over'), ‘deurdat' (‘through'), ‘indat' (‘in') and ‘opdat' (‘on'). A few are formed with adverbs, i.e. ‘eerdat' (‘ere'), ‘noudat' (‘now'), ‘sodat' (‘so') and ‘hoedat' (‘how'). In the framework of cognitive grammar, this work is corpus-based. The Internet provided 557 Afrikaans documents. A total of 9 177 uses of the conjunction ‘dat' and 1 909 uses of the ‘dat' compounds were found. Sixtythree examples from the corpus are cited. The subordinating conjunction ‘indat' appears six times in the corpus, but has as yet not been included in the Afrikaans dictionaries, proving the class of subordinating conjuctions to be an open class where members may be added. The greatest similarity is that all compound subordinating conjunctions with ‘dat' lead to the same sentential order. The ‘dat' group is, however, heterogeneous with respect to the type of subordination. Hypotactic binding was observed in the case of all the ‘dat' compounds, except ‘hoedat', while incorporation as a participant in the main clause was only found with ‘hoedat' and a few cases of ‘oordat'. A variety of meaning nuances can be expressed with these compounds. These range from a more or less literal meaning of the preposition or adverb through to causal relationships used for argumentation.Abstract In hierdie artikel word sintaktiese en semantiese kenmerke van 'n groep onderskikkers, nl. samestellings met ‘-dat' beskryf. Dit blyk dat die meeste van die samestellings 'n voorsetsel as vormelement bevat, nl. ‘voordat', ‘nadat', ‘vandat', ‘totdat', ‘metdat', ‘omdat', ‘oordat', ‘deurdat', ‘indat' en ‘opdat', terwyl sommige 'n bywoord bevat, nl. ‘eerdat', ‘noudat', ‘sodat' en ‘hoedat'. Die ondersoek is korpusgebaseerd in ooreenstemming met die aannames van die kognitiewe grammatika. Die korpus bestaan uit 557 Afrikaanse dokumente wat via die Internet verkry is. Altesaam 9 177 gevalle van ‘dat' en 1 909 gevalle van ‘dat'-samestellings kom in die korpus voor. Drie-en-sestig voorbeelde uit die korpus word in die teks aangehaal. Die onderskikker ‘indat' kom ses keer in die korpus voor, terwyl dit nog nie in woordeboeke opgeneem is nie. Dit bewys dat die onderskikkers 'n oop klas is waar nuwe lede bygevoeg kan word. Die grootste ooreenkoms in sintaktiese optrede is dat al die onderskikkers met ‘-dat' dieselfde sinsvolgordepatrone tot gevolg het. Die groep ‘dat'-samestellings is egter nie homogeen ten opsigte van die soort onderskikking nie. Daar kan twee subkategorieë op grond van die verskil tussen hipotaktiese verbinding en inlywing onderskei word. Hipotaktiese verbinding kom by al die ‘dat'-samestellings, behalwe ‘hoedat' voor, terwyl inlywing as sinsdeel by ‘hoedat' en enkele gebruike van ‘oordat' waargeneem is. By inlywing speel die semantiese struktuur van die hoofwerkwoord 'n rol. 'n Verskeidenheid betekenisnuanses kan deur verbindende ‘dat'-samestellings uitgedruk word. Dit strek van min of meer letterlike betekenisse van die betrokke voorsetsels en bywoorde tot by kousale verhoudings wat in argumentasie gebruik word.Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies 2006, 24(1): 7–2

Met kerse op met-konstruksies1: ’n Verwysingspuntperspektief

This article analyses the usage of the Afrikaans preposition met (‘with’). The analysis is done within the framework of Cognitive Linguistics and more specifically within the model proposed by Langacker (1993) and Van Hoek (1992, 1995, 1997) regarding reference point phenomena within Cognitive Grammar. This leads to a more comprehensive analysis and extends the description given by Ponelis. A thorough overview of the applicable literature is given, both classic and recent. Using real usage data, the article classifies the usage of met into six categories and shows that more than one prototype exists. A systematic extension of the metaphor ASSOCIATED ENTITIES ARE is proposed and shown to exist in the data. The research shows that a reference point interpretation leads to a comprehensive analysis that brings out the richness involved in the patterned and motivated use of this preposition in Afrikaans.Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies 2011, 29(1): 97–11