A Non-standard Approach to Standard English

This paper proposes a nonstandard approach to standard English as a second dialect (SESD). It rejects assimilationist ideology as a way of legitimizing the educational experience of language minority groups, advocating instead a pluralist position which views the acquisition of standard English by native speakers of other varieties as "additive bidialectalism" rather than remediation. The paper begins by clarifying "dialect," "creole" and "standard" as necessary background to a discussion of the ideology of linguistic prescriptivism. Research in two areas is then reviewed: (a) studies examining dialectal differences and their influence on cross-dialectal communication, and (b) sociolinguistic research on classroom participation structures involving language minority students. It is concluded that dialectal differences are not trivial, and that culturally appropriate modifications to classroom discourse patterns, such as those implemented in a program for Hawaii Creole English-speaking children, are useful models for other SESD settings

Language Attitudes and Sociolinguistic Variation in Hawai'i

Sociolinguistic research that acknowledges the importance of viewing language as a human problem attempts to reconcile the facts of linguistic variation with those of social identity and inequality (Hymes, 1973). To date, this question has not been of primary concern to creolists, partly because of their deeper interest in language universals and the linguistic nature of pidginization and creolization. Neglect of sociolinguistic phenomena in creole communities has also resulted from the relative independence of pidgin/creole studies and the sociolinguistic and social psychological study of language attitudes in multiethnic settings (e.g., Milroy, 1982; Ryan and Giles [eds.], 1982). However, recent research (by, e.g., Le Page, 1980; Le Page and Tabouret-Keller 1985; Rickford 1985) has bridged these areas through systematic study of the relationship between linguistic variation in creoletypically, decreolizing-communities and the social evaluation of language by different groups of speakers in these communities. In this paper I present a case study of Hawai'i which examines this relationship in a Pacific English creole continuum and, more specifically, calls attention to its dynamic nature. I begin with a historical sketch (for fuller accounts, see Bickerton and Odo, 1976; Carr, 1972; Day, 1987; Reinecke 1935/1969; Sato, 1985) and a description of sociolinguistic variation in Hawai'i. I then review recent public controversies surrounding the role of Hawai'i Creole English (HCE) which have revealed competing sociolinguistic trends in the Islands: (1) a continued adherence to stereotypical attitudes toward Hawai'i Creole English (HCE) and standard (US mainland) English (SE) by some segments of the community, and (2) a growing militancy in other segments of the community concerning the legitimacy of HCE use in institutional contexts. Finally, I tum to the question of how these trends may influence linguistic variation and the course of sociolinguistic change in Hawai'i's post-creole continuum

Origins of Complex Syntax in Interlanguage Development

Functionalist analyses of interlanguage (IL) development have been concerned to establish the discoursepragmatic foundations of morphosyntax. A number of domains have been investigated in such work, including referentiality, topiccomment encoding, and temporal reference. The present study extends the focus to the encoding of simple and complex propositions in IL. Through a longitudinal analysis of conversational data from two Vietnamese learners of American English, the study examines propositional syntax with direct reference to discoursepragmatic factors in face-to-face interaction, in particular, to learners' reliance on the collaboration of their (English-speaking) interlocutors. Syntacticization - movement from highly context-dependent, "paratactic" speech to more explicit, morphosyntactically enco9ed speech - is observed in (1) high proportions of propositional utterances in both learners' speech, (2) a tendency to distribute propositional content over single utterances, and (3) little interlocutor collaboration in the encoding of complex propositions. Parataxis is found in the encoding of complex propositions: a low rate of multipropositional utterances (MPUs) is observed throughout the study, as well as a preference for juxtaposed rather than morphologically bound MPUs. Of note is a difference in the developmental paths of complementation and modification. Production of the former but not the latter appears to be facilitated by the existence of specific lexical entry points

Language Change in a Creole Crontinuum: Decreolization

DECREOUZATION IS TYPICALLY VIEWED as the process through which a creole language gradually merges with its lexifier language, i.e., the standard language of the community, as a result of creole speakers' increased access to and "targeting" of the latter (Andersen 1983, Bickerton 1975, DeCamp 1971, Rickford 1983). The study of this process, largely motivated over the last twenty years by questions about the consequences of language contact and the nature of language change, has made less mysterious the extensive linguistic variation observed in contemporary creole communities. Specifically, the proposal that synchronic variation reflects diachronic change in systematic ways (Weinreich, Labov & Herzog 1968) has received considerable support in cross-sectional investigations (see, e.g, Bickerton 1973 & 1975, DeCamp 1971, Rickford 1979). Perhaps because these studies have yielded significant insights into the systematicity of variation in creole settings, it has been assumed rather than demonstrated that their findings reflect how decreolization actually occurs in real time. Yet, as researchers (e.g., Meisel, Clahsen & Pienemann 1981) in the field of second language acquisition have convincingly shown, important aspects of interlanguage development can be distorted or inadequately described in cross-sectional studies. Among creolists, Rickford (1983) has discussed this problem most extensively and emphasized the need for longitudinal studies to document actual patterns and rates of change. The present paper reports on such a study of Hawai'i's creole continuum, focusing on (1) the decreolization rates of different linguistic and discoursal features; (2) the proposal that substantial decreolization occurs, not over the lifetimes of individuals (as in the case of "normal" second language acquisition), but across generations of speakers (Rickford 1983); and (3) the role of political and sociopsychological factors in decreolization. The first and second issues will be addressed through quantitative analysis of longitudinal data from four Hawai 'i Creole English (HCE) speakers.2 The third will draw upon this writer's analysis, based on participant-observation, of recent public controversies involving HCE

Diversidade e educação : prática reflexiva na superação de preconceitos

Orientadora: Profª. Dra. Édina VergaraMonografia (especialização) - Universidade Federal do Paraná, Setor Litoral, Curso de Especialização em Gestão e Processo em Educação, Diversidade e InclusãoInclui referência

Post-intervention Status in Patients With Refractory Myasthenia Gravis Treated With Eculizumab During REGAIN and Its Open-Label Extension

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether eculizumab helps patients with anti-acetylcholine receptor-positive (AChR+) refractory generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG) achieve the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America (MGFA) post-intervention status of minimal manifestations (MM), we assessed patients' status throughout REGAIN (Safety and Efficacy of Eculizumab in AChR+ Refractory Generalized Myasthenia Gravis) and its open-label extension. METHODS: Patients who completed the REGAIN randomized controlled trial and continued into the open-label extension were included in this tertiary endpoint analysis. Patients were assessed for the MGFA post-intervention status of improved, unchanged, worse, MM, and pharmacologic remission at defined time points during REGAIN and through week 130 of the open-label study. RESULTS: A total of 117 patients completed REGAIN and continued into the open-label study (eculizumab/eculizumab: 56; placebo/eculizumab: 61). At week 26 of REGAIN, more eculizumab-treated patients than placebo-treated patients achieved a status of improved (60.7% vs 41.7%) or MM (25.0% vs 13.3%; common OR: 2.3; 95% CI: 1.1-4.5). After 130 weeks of eculizumab treatment, 88.0% of patients achieved improved status and 57.3% of patients achieved MM status. The safety profile of eculizumab was consistent with its known profile and no new safety signals were detected. CONCLUSION: Eculizumab led to rapid and sustained achievement of MM in patients with AChR+ refractory gMG. These findings support the use of eculizumab in this previously difficult-to-treat patient population. CLINICALTRIALSGOV IDENTIFIER: REGAIN, NCT01997229; REGAIN open-label extension, NCT02301624. CLASSIFICATION OF EVIDENCE: This study provides Class II evidence that, after 26 weeks of eculizumab treatment, 25.0% of adults with AChR+ refractory gMG achieved MM, compared with 13.3% who received placebo

Minimal Symptom Expression' in Patients With Acetylcholine Receptor Antibody-Positive Refractory Generalized Myasthenia Gravis Treated With Eculizumab

The efficacy and tolerability of eculizumab were assessed in REGAIN, a 26-week, phase 3, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study in anti-acetylcholine receptor antibody-positive (AChR+) refractory generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG), and its open-label extension

Task Variation in Interlanguage Phonology

Research on phonological aspects of second language acquisition (SLA) has been built in large part upon a foundation of Labovian sociolinguistics. A major goal of such research is to describe and explain systematic variation in linguistic phenomena with reference to such factors as speech situation, discourse topic, speech situation, and interlocutor roles and relationships. In the most clearly articulated work in this tradition to date, Tarone (1979, 1982, 1983) posits speech style as the locus of variation in interlanguage (IL) development. The principle claim made is that learner speech "varies systematically with elicitation task'' in terms of phonological, morphological, and syntactic structure (Tarone 1983, p. 142), and that this variability must be accounted for by an adequate model of SLA. While earlier studies have provided support for this claim, Tarone (1983) notes the serious need for longitudinal studies with data collected on different communicative tasks which reflect different speech styles, e.g. spontaneous conversation, elicitation, oral reading, and grammaticality judgments. The present study directly addresses this need through a longitudinal analysis of natural speech produced by an adolescent Vietnamese learner of English

Diversidade e educação : prática reflexiva na superação de preconceitos

Orientadora: Profª. Dra. Édina VergaraMonografia (especialização) - Universidade Federal do Paraná, Setor Litoral, Curso de Especialização em Gestão e Processo em Educação, Diversidade e InclusãoInclui referência