Accent Attitudes: Reactions to English as a Lingua Franca

AbstractThe emergence of English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) and English as an International Language (EIL) has implored us to re-examine the relevance and necessity of the ideology of the native speaker as a model in English language teaching. ELF celebrates the diversity of the various varieties of Englishes that are used in non-native as well as native speaker environments. One obvious manifestation of the diversity of English spoken in the various parts of the world is the accent that is often ascribed to the various diverse speakers of English, wherever it is spoken and used. Generally, the aim of this paper is to examine how non-native speakers (NNS) of English view NNS accents in relation to NS accents. Specifically, the study will discuss the findings of a study that explored the attitudes and beliefs regarding ELF accents in relation to NS accents. The data for this study was collected using a questionnaire adapted from Jenkins (2007). The respondents were a group of trainee teachers of English in a Malaysian public institution of higher learning. The findings show that the respondents perceived the NS accents as being better and described them in more positive categories than the non NNS accents. The NS accents are preferred by the respondents. The findings here reveal biasness towards NS accents as being more correct and proper as opposed to NNS accents. Although there is a shift in the number of users and uses of English in recent times, these teachers still think and believe that ‘proper’ English remains the preserve of inner circle countries

Tracking progress of tobacco control in Pakistan against the MPOWER package of interventions : challenges and opportunities

MPOWER is an evidence-based package of the six most effective demand reduction interventions to reduce tobacco use. Global evidence shows that introduction of this package has accelerated and strengthened tobacco control worldwide with over 5 billion people living in 136 countries covered by at least one of these key interventions. This paper comments on how tobacco control laws in a low and middle income country, Pakistan, are meeting the MPOWER package provisions and what the challenges and opportunities for tobacco control are in the country. Pakistan is home to over 24 million tobacco users consuming a variety of tobacco products including 10 million smokeless tobacco users. Pakistan has introduced several laws to meet its international commitments under the framework convention against tobacco control and MPOWER package. However, gaps in existing policies, poor law enforcement, and a conflicting political economy of tobacco in the country pose major challenges for effective tobacco control. The changing political environment with renowned public health activists in current government, an active and independent judiciary, increasing use of social media, and a dynamic civil society offer opportunities to strengthen its efforts for effective policy actions against tobacco use

Spatial and Temporal Variation of Old Age Group Population in India

old age group includes population above 60 years of age. This age group is an economic burden upon the adult age group as it is to be provided with food, clothing and sufficient health care. Social science research on old age group population has been gaining much momentum since 1970's. The rapid growth of elderly population raises two main areas of concern for government policy makers firstly how to ensure adequate health care and secondly how to build adequate economic and social support for elderly population. In this paper an attempt has been made to understand the trend of young age group population at state level from 1881-2001. It reveals that according to 1881 census the proportion of the old age population (60 years and above) was (7.43 per cent) as a country as a whole. However the trend show that the proportion of old age population has continuously increased from 5.27 per cent in 1881 to 7.43 per cent in 2001 to the total population, except during the census 1891, 1901, 1931 and 1951 when the country experienced a slight decline in the percentage of old age population

Demographic and Geo-Agriculture Profile of Saharanpur District

Saharanpur district lies between 29°34’45” N to 30°21’30”N latitudinal extent and 77°9’ E to 78°14’45” E longitudinal extent..Saharanpur forms the most northerly position of the Doab land which stretches between the holy rivers of the Ganges and the Yamuna. The Shivalik hills rise above it on the northern frontier. Saharanpur district attained the status as Saharanpur division in 1997 of Uttar Pradesh. As regards its physical features, the north and the north east of the district is surrounded by Shivalik hills and separates it from Dehradun district in the recently created state of Uttaranchal. The river Yamuna forms its boundary in the west, which separates it from Karnal and Yamunanagar districts of Haryana. In the East lies the district of Haridwar, which was the part of district Saharanpur before 1989 and in the South lays the district Muzaffar Nagar. At the time of British rule district Muzaffar Nagar was also a part of district Saharanpur

Temporal Change of Cropping Pattern in Western Uttar Pradesh

The agriculture sectors continue to predominate and contribute a large share of the western Uttar Pradesh output. Agriculture is the main source of livelihood to majority of the population of western Uttar Pradesh. More than 70 percent of population western Uttar Pradesh directly or indirectly is depended on agriculture and allied sectors. The aim of this study is to examine the cropping pattern in western Uttar Pradesh in Uttar Pradesh state. This paper also estimated the changing cropping pattern at the district level between 2000-01 to 2013-14. The data has been derived from the district statistical handbooks. The findings demonstrate that there is increase in the cropped area of wheat and rice crop, whereas maize and barley shows a decline in the cropped area

Spatial and Temporal Variation of Adult Age Group Population in India

The adult age group population holds a prime place in governing the demographic and socio­economic conditions of any country. It is the adult age group population with which all other characteristics of population are intimately related and from which they derive their significance. The adult age group includes people in the age group of 15-59 years. The proportion of adult age group population depends upon a variety of demographic and economic factors. Demographically, the birth rate, longevity of life and the migration behaviour are important. In this paper an attempt has been made to understand the trend of adult age group population at state level from 1881-2001. It reveals that the proportion of adult age group population in the country increased from 56.34 per cent in 1881 census to 56.90 percent in 2001 census. However the trend shows that the proportion of adult age group population has not uniform from 1881 census to 2001 census

Global, regional, and national burden of neurological disorders, 1990–2016 : a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016

Background Neurological disorders are increasingly recognised as major causes of death and disability worldwide. The aim of this analysis from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2016 is to provide the most comprehensive and up-to-date estimates of the global, regional, and national burden from neurological disorders. Methods We estimated prevalence, incidence, deaths, and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs; the sum of years of life lost [YLLs] and years lived with disability [YLDs]) by age and sex for 15 neurological disorder categories (tetanus, meningitis, encephalitis, stroke, brain and other CNS cancers, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, motor neuron diseases, idiopathic epilepsy, migraine, tension-type headache, and a residual category for other less common neurological disorders) in 195 countries from 1990 to 2016. DisMod-MR 2.1, a Bayesian meta-regression tool, was the main method of estimation of prevalence and incidence, and the Cause of Death Ensemble model (CODEm) was used for mortality estimation. We quantified the contribution of 84 risks and combinations of risk to the disease estimates for the 15 neurological disorder categories using the GBD comparative risk assessment approach. Findings Globally, in 2016, neurological disorders were the leading cause of DALYs (276 million [95% UI 247–308]) and second leading cause of deaths (9·0 million [8·8–9·4]). The absolute number of deaths and DALYs from all neurological disorders combined increased (deaths by 39% [34–44] and DALYs by 15% [9–21]) whereas their age-standardised rates decreased (deaths by 28% [26–30] and DALYs by 27% [24–31]) between 1990 and 2016. The only neurological disorders that had a decrease in rates and absolute numbers of deaths and DALYs were tetanus, meningitis, and encephalitis. The four largest contributors of neurological DALYs were stroke (42·2% [38·6–46·1]), migraine (16·3% [11·7–20·8]), Alzheimer's and other dementias (10·4% [9·0–12·1]), and meningitis (7·9% [6·6–10·4]). For the combined neurological disorders, age-standardised DALY rates were significantly higher in males than in females (male-to-female ratio 1·12 [1·05–1·20]), but migraine, multiple sclerosis, and tension-type headache were more common and caused more burden in females, with male-to-female ratios of less than 0·7. The 84 risks quantified in GBD explain less than 10% of neurological disorder DALY burdens, except stroke, for which 88·8% (86·5–90·9) of DALYs are attributable to risk factors, and to a lesser extent Alzheimer's disease and other dementias (22·3% [11·8–35·1] of DALYs are risk attributable) and idiopathic epilepsy (14·1% [10·8–17·5] of DALYs are risk attributable). Interpretation Globally, the burden of neurological disorders, as measured by the absolute number of DALYs, continues to increase. As populations are growing and ageing, and the prevalence of major disabling neurological disorders steeply increases with age, governments will face increasing demand for treatment, rehabilitation, and support services for neurological disorders. The scarcity of established modifiable risks for most of the neurological burden demonstrates that new knowledge is required to develop effective prevention and treatment strategies