The perception of English-accented polish – a pilot study

•Does familiarity with a specific foreign language facilitate the recognition and identification of that accent in foreign-accented Polish

A pilot study on Poles' attitudes to foreign-accented Polish and its users

Badania empiryczne nad percepcją obcojęzycznej wymowy przez rodzimych użytkowników danego języka, prowadzone od lat w krajach przyjmujących duże grupy imigrantów, takich jak Wielka Brytania, Stany Zjednoczone i Australia (np. Kalin i Rayko 1978; Lippi-Green 1997; Munro et al. 2006), pozwoliły na sformułowanie wielu międzykulturowych uogólnień dotyczących tego zjawiska. Na przykład Lindemann (2002, 2010) twierdzi, że postawy wobec cudzoziemców, kształtowane przez stereotypy i uprzedzenia kulturowe, odgrywają kluczową rolę w rozumieniu akcentowanej wymowy. Często podkreśla się również (np. Said 2006; Lev-Ari i Keysar 2010), że silny obcy akcent ma negatywny wpływ na postrzeganie cech mówiącego, takich jak wiarygodność, wykształcenie czy inteligencja. Co więcej, jak pokazuje Lippi-Green (1997), negatywna ocena akcentowanej mowy często prowadzi do dyskryminacji cudzoziemców. Współczesna Polska, gdzie obcokrajowcy mówiący po polsku ciągle jeszcze należą do rzadkości, stanowi ciekawy i do tej pory niezbadany obszar, na którym można dokonać weryfikacji prawdziwości powyższych twierdzeń w odniesieniu do relacji między kulturowymi uprzedzeniami Polaków a ich ewaluacją właściwości obcego akcentu oraz cech intelektualno-osobowościowych przypisywanych cudzoziemcom mówiącym po polsku. Niniejszy artykuł stanowi opis eksperymentu, w którym 40 polskich studentów oceniało 11 nagrań polszczyzny z obcym akcentem pod względem wymienionych dwóch grup cech. Głównym celem badania była próba określenia, czy stereotypy kulturowe oraz obecność informacji dotyczącej narodowości mówiącego ma wpływ na oceny dokonywane przez słuchających. Uzyskane wyniki wskazują, że narodowość mówiących nie wpływa znacząco na ocenę cech ich akcentu (tj. jego zrozumiałość, stopień nasilenia obcego akcentu i estetykę brzmienia). Związek taki zachodzi jednak w przypadku ewaluacji cech intelektualno-osobowościowych cudzoziemców, na którą, do pewnego stopnia, wpływa informacja dotycząca narodowości mówiącego oraz uprzedzenia kulturowe słuchających.Extensive research on native speakers' attitudes towards foreign accents and their users carried out in immigrant-receiving countries such as, for example, Great Britain, the United States and Australia (e.g. Kalin and Rayko 1978; Lippi-Green 1997; Munro et al. 2006), has allowed specialists to formulate several cross-cultural generalizations concerning the perception and evaluation of accented speech. For instance, according to Lindemann (2002, 2010), the listeners' attitude towards foreign speakers, shaped by cultural stereotypes and prejudices, plays a crucial role in comprehending accented speech. It is also often claimed (e.g. Said 2006; Lev-Ari and Keysar 2010) that a heavy foreign accent has a negative impact on the listeners' assessment of speakers' personality traits, such as credibility, intelligence and competence. Moreover, this negative accent-based social evaluation, as shown by Lippi-Green (1997), might even lead to various kinds of foreign speakers' discrimination. Contemporary Poland, where Polish-speaking foreigners are still a relative rarity, constitutes an interesting and yet unexplored ground for testing the universality of claims concerning the relationship between the listeners' cultural prejudices and their evaluations of foreign speakers' accents, as well as personality traits. In this paper we report on an empirical study in which 40 Polish university students assessed 11 samples of foreign-accented Polish, both in terms of accent features and personal characteristics ascribed to the speakers, in order to find out whether these judgements are affected by Polish listeners' attitudes towards the speakers' cultural background and knowledge of their nationality. The results of the study indicate that, on the whole, the speakers' nationality does not significantly affect the participants' evaluation of foreign speakers' accent features (i.e. comprehensibility, foreign-accentedness and acceptability). Such relationship can, however, be found in the attribution of personal characteristics to foreign speakers, which, to some extent, is influenced by the information concerning their nationality and listeners' cultural prejudices

Komponent fonologiczny języka polskiego jako struktura rdzeń-peryferie na przykładzie akcentu wyrazowego w galicyzmach

The article deals with word stress adaptation in French loanwords in Polish. The presented data demonstrate that the borrowings in question can be divided into two categories in terms of stress placement. On the one hand, there are items with penultimate stress, which conform to native Polish stress rules. On the other hand, there are those which retain the original final stress in violation of these rules. The proposed formal analysis of this phenomenon within Optimality Theory is based on the assumption derived from Itô and Mester (1995, 1999, 2001) that phonological systems of natural languages have a core-periphery structure. The gallicisms with penultimate stress have thus been assigned to the core, while those with final stress to the periphery. It is argued that each stratum has a different constraint ranking, which results in the divergent adaptation of word stress.Tematem artykułu jest adaptacja akcentu wyrazowego w galicyzmach w języku polskim. Przedstawione dane pokazują, że omawiane zapożyczenia można podzielić na dwie kategorie pod względem umiejscowienia akcentu. Z jednej strony istnieją wyrazy z akcentem paroksytonicznym, zgodne z rodzimymi regułami akcentowania. Z drugiej strony są takie wyrazy, które zachowują pierwotny akcent oksytoniczny, naruszając te zasady. Proponowana analiza formalna tego zjawiska w ramach teorii optymalności opiera się na założeniu wywiedzionym z prac Itô i Mestera (1995, 1999, 2001), zgodnie z którym systemy fonologiczne języków naturalnych mają strukturę rdzeń-peryferie. Galicyzmy z akcentem paroksytonicznym zostały przyporządkowane do rdzenia, natomiast te z akcentem oksytonicznym do sfery peryferyjnej. W każdej z tych warstw obowiązują odmienne rankingi ograniczeń fonologicznych, czego wynikiem jest rozbieżność akcentowania w obu grupach zapożyczeń

Coronary artery aneurysm after implantation of an endothelial progenitor cell capturing stent

The GenousTM stent coated with anti-CD34 antibodies has been designed to accelerate healing of the vessel by attracting circulating endothelial progenitor cells. Rapid restoration of a functional endothelial layer with a full coverage of the stent struts aims to minimise arterial injury after coronary stenting and to prevent thrombus formation and neointima proliferation. We report a case of a 56 year-old man who developed a coronary artery aneurysm after the implantation of a GenousTM stent due to an edge restenosis in sirolimus-eluting stent. We present diagnostics of our patient with the application of intravascular ultrasound and coronary computed tomography angiography, discuss his management, and hypothesise about the pathomechanism of aneurysm formation

Usefulness of optical coherence tomography in the assessment of atherosclerotic culprit lesions in acute coronary syndromes. Comparison with intravascular ultrasound and virtual histology

In this paper, we present a case of a female patient with clinically unstable angina pectoris and a bordeline stenosis in the proximal segment of the left anterior descending coronary artery as assessed by coronary angiography and intravascular ultrasound. Virtual histology revealed morphological criteria of a vulnerable plaque forming the culprit lesion. Optical coherence tomography visualized both fibrous cap fracture and a significant stenosis of a coronary artery caused by soft structures identified as mural thrombus covering the plaque surface. The image of atherosclerotic plaque obtained by optical coherence tomography enabled explanation of the cause of coronary instability and influenced subsequent management. The presented case illustrates usefulness of optical coherence tomography as an imaging method complementary to virtual histology and intravascular ultrasound in the diagnostic evaluation of selected patients with acute coronary syndromes. Application of optical coherence tomography in the assessment of vulnerable atherosclerotic plaques is discussed as related to the presented case

A Pilot Study on Poles’ Attitudes to Foreign-Accented Polish and Its Users

Extensive research on native speakers’ attitudes towards foreign accents and their users carried out in immigrant-receiving countries such as, for example, Great Britain, the United States and Australia (e.g. Kalin and Rayko 1978; Lippi-Green 1997; Munro et al. 2006), has allowed specialists to formulate several cross-cultural generalizations concerning the perception and evaluation of accented speech. For instance, according to Lindemann (2002, 2010), the listeners’ attitude towards foreign speakers, shaped by cultural stereotypes and prejudices, plays a crucial role in comprehending accented speech. It is also often claimed (e.g. Said 2006; Lev-Ari and Keysar 2010) that a heavy foreign accent has a negative impact on the listeners’ assessment of speakers’ personality traits, such as credibility, intelligence and competence. Moreover, this negative accent-based social evaluation, as shown by Lippi-Green (1997), might even lead to various kinds of foreign speakers’ discrimination. Contemporary Poland, where Polish-speaking foreigners are still a relative rarity, constitutes an interesting and yet unexplored ground for testing the universality of claims concerning the relationship between the listeners’ cultural prejudices and their evaluations of foreign speakers’ accents, as well as personality traits. In this paper we report on an empirical study in which 40 Polish university students assessed 11 samples of foreign-accented Polish, both in terms of accent features and personal characteristics ascribed to the speakers, in order to find out whether these judgements are affected by Polish listeners’ attitudes towards the speakers’ cultural background and knowledge of their nationality. The results of the study indicate that, on the whole, the speakers’ nationality does not significantly affect the participants’ evaluation of foreign speakers’ accent features (i.e. comprehensibility, foreign-accentedness and acceptability). Such relationship can, however, be found in the attribution of personal characteristics to foreign speakers, which, to some extent, is influenced by the information concerning their nationality and listeners’ cultural prejudices

Ischaemic heart disease in patients with neoplasm

Duża częstość występowania choroby wieńcowej i nowotworów w krajach europejskich sprawia, że prawie codziennie spotyka się osoby, u których współistnieją oba te schorzenia. Ich wzajemny wpływ powoduje zwiększone ryzyko zarówno leczenia kardiologicznego, jak i onkologicznego. Leczenie stosowane w onkologii, radioterapia i chemioterapia istotnie wpływają na przyspieszenie rozwoju miażdżycy i wystąpienia klinicznych objawów choroby wieńcowej. Chemioterapia może dodatkowo wywoływać skurcz tętnic wieńcowych. Obecność choroby niedokrwiennej serca często ogranicza możliwości intensywnego leczenia nowotworu. W takich przypadkach zabiegi rewaskularyzacyjne mogą umożliwić intensywniejsze leczenie onkologiczne i poprawić jego wyniki. Celem niniejszej pracy jest omówienie związków między chorobą nowotworową i chorobą wieńcową oraz zasadniczych problemów, z jakimi wiąże się leczenie kardiologiczne pacjentów obciążonych tymi chorobami.High incidence of coronary artery and neoplastic diseases in European countries results in coexistence of both in many patients. Interactions between malignancy and ischaemic heart disease may enhance the risk of oncologic and cardiologic treatment. Potential adverse effects of therapeutic mediastinal irradiation and chemotherapy include initiation and acceleration of atherosclerosis and cardiac ischaemia symptoms occurring. Chemotherapy can cause additional coronary vasospasm. Aggressive oncologic treatment may be limited by coronary artery disease, and revascularization can lead to improved results. In our article we discuss most common problems in patients with coronary artery disease and neoplasm

Amorphous silica nanoparticles aggregate human platelets: potential implications for vascular homeostasis

J Jose Corbalan1,2, Carlos Medina1, Adam Jacoby2, Tadeusz Malinski2, Marek W Radomski11School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, Panoz Institute, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland; 2Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Ohio University, Athens, OH, USABackground: Amorphous silica nanoparticles (SiNP) can be used in medical technologies and other industries leading to human exposure. However, an increased number of studies indicate that this exposure may result in cardiovascular inflammation and damage. A high ratio of nitric oxide to peroxynitrite concentrations ([NO]/[ONOO-]) is crucial for cardiovascular homeostasis and platelet hemostasis. Therefore, we studied the influence of SiNP on the platelet [NO]/[ONOO-] balance and platelet aggregation.Methods: Nanoparticle–platelet interaction was examined using transmission electron microscopy. Electrochemical nanosensors were used to measure the levels of NO and ONOO- released by platelets upon nanoparticle stimulation. Platelet aggregation was studied using light aggregometry, flow cytometry, and phase contrast microscopy.Results: Amorphous SiNP induced NO release from platelets followed by a massive stimulation of ONOO- leading to an unfavorably low [NO]/[ONOO-] ratio. In addition, SiNP induced an upregulation of selectin P expression and glycoprotein IIb/IIIa activation on the platelet surface membrane, and led to platelet aggregation via adenosine diphosphate and matrix metalloproteinase 2-dependent mechanisms. Importantly, all the effects on platelet aggregation were inversely proportional to nanoparticle size.Conclusions: The exposure of platelets to amorphous SiNP induces a critically low [NO]/[ONOO-] ratio leading to platelet aggregation. These findings provide new insights into the pharmacological profile of SiNP in platelets.Keywords: amorphous silica nanoparticles, nanotoxicology, nitric oxide, peroxynitrite, platelet aggregatio