Linguistic diversity and the politics of international inclusion in higher education: A critical sociolinguistic study international teaching assistants

Institutions of higher education (HEIs) in the United States recruit numerous international graduate students, many of whom serve as teaching assistants. HEIs’ motivations for employing international teaching assistants (ITAs) include not only economic incentives but also humanistic aims of internationalization, for example, increasing cross-cultural cooperation. However, integrating ITAs into the institution, making them welcomed and respected members of the community, has proven difficult. In particular, problems in ITA-student communication have been reported for decades. I argue that the crux of these integration difficulties lies in how linguistic diversity is approached. Policymakers and researchers usually treat ITAs’ Englishes as the cause of communication difficulties, with the implication that ITAs should more closely conform to norms of ‘native’ English. I propose instead that the primary problem is not linguistic diversity itself but ideological perceptions of other Englishes and unproductive responses to the difficulties that arise in trying to communicate across linguistic difference. This study examined policies and perceptions related to ITA-student communication at one internationalizing university through document collection, interviews, and classroom observation. I found that, despite its strategic plan calling for preparing students to enter a globalizing world, the institution’s response to ITA-student communication difficulties targets only ITAs’ competencies, mainly by assessing and remediating their language proficiency. Discussions with students and observations of classroom interaction revealed that many students appeared to orient to communication with ITAs in ways that did not help promote successful communication or prepare them to communicate across linguistic difference in a globalizing world. I also found that available ideological stances and strategies for addressing linguistic difference made it difficult for ITAs to be simultaneously liked and respected as instructors. This study has implications for HEIs seeking to create internationally inclusive communities and prepare their students and other stakeholders for communication across linguistic difference. First, ITA preparation should be reframed so as not to stigmatize ITAs’ Englishes. It should also prepare ITAs to become active agents in socializing students into productive and respectful orientations to linguistic difference. Second, HEIs must more comprehensively seek to confront students’ deficit language ideologies and unproductive responses to communication difficulties

"I’m still not sounds like native speaker" : the native speaker norm, language ideology, and the empowerment of international students

International students in the United States are a large and growing population (Institute of International Education, 2010). Universities in the United States and elsewhere are attempting to tap into the potential benefits of international education including the advantages that a culturally and racially diverse student body offers. Despite valuing international students for their cultural diversity, universities still seem reluctant to embrace the linguistic diversity that international students who are ‘non-­‐native speakers’ of English inevitably bring with them (cf. Jenkins, 2011). This study explores this issue from the point of view of eight international students studying at a mid-­‐sized US university, using questionnaire and interview data collected longitudinally over eight months. The data reveals that despite many claims to the contrary (e.g. Carter, 1998; Kubota, 2006; Kuo, 2006; Prodromou, 2006; Scheuer, 2005; Sobkowiak, 2005), international students are not unequivocally in support of using a standard based on native speaker norms for language learning and use. Rather, the issue is a source of conflict and contradiction for the students. Furthermore, this ideology of ‘nativeness’ formed on the basis of the belief that ‘native speaker’ language represents ‘authentic’ or ‘superior’ language leads the participants to a position of devaluing their own and other ‘non-­‐native speakers’’ intelligibility and communicative capacity. The study concludes with the suggestion that the ideology that holds that ‘non-­‐native speaker’ language is deficient as opposed to different from ‘native speaker’ language is incompatible with a vision of egalitarian international education, in which English is used as a common language or lingua franca. In order to empower international students to contribute to the academic discourses that characterize US higher education (and other contexts), recognition of the legitimate speakerhood of ‘non-­‐native speakers’ of English is critical.Department of EnglishIntroduction : international students in the US and the NS norm -- Relevant research : norms for language learning, teaching and use -- The study : methods, context and participants -- Perceptions of 'intelligibility' -- What [do] learners want? -- Balancing feasibility and desire -- Imagined communities and legitimate speakerhood -- Conclusion : 'nativeness' ideology and international education.Thesis (M.A.

'Riots engulfed the city':an experimental study investigating the legitimating effects of fire metaphors in discourses of disorder

In Cognitive Linguistic Critical Discourse Studies (CL-CDS), metaphor is identified as a key index of ideology and an important device in the legitimation of social action. From this perspective, metaphor is a cognitive-semiotic operation, invoked by metaphorical expressions in discourse, in which a source frame is mobilised to provide a template for sense-making inside a target frame, leading to particular framing effects. However, the extent to which metaphors in discourse genuinely activate an alternative frame and thereby achieve framing effects has recently been subject to question. Amid calls for more empirical forms of analysis in Critical Discourse Studies, the paper reports two experiments testing the legitimating framing effects of fire metaphors in discourses of disorder. Results show that images of fire and fire metaphors in the absence of competing images facilitate support for police use of water cannon in response to social unrest. The study not only justifies attention to metaphor in CL-CDS but similar effects across semiotic modalities are interpreted as evidence in support of simulation-based theories of metaphor

Analysis of Financial Losses due to Poor Adherence of Patients with Chronic Diseases and Their Impact on Health Economics

Pharmaceutical drugs—prescription drugs, not over-the-counter drugs—have prices that are negotiated between pharmaceutical companies and National Ministry of Health or national agency for medicines or national health insurers in every country. Prescription drug expenditures have increased every country’s healthcare costs. Medication adherence (defined as not obtained refills of prescriptions or suboptimal dosing of prescribed drugs) is a growing concern to physicians and healthcare systems because of the multiple evidence of noncompliance among patients and correlated adverse outcomes. A patient is considered adherent if he/she takes 80% of his/her prescribed medicine(s). Different studies showed that patients do not take their prescribed medicines about half the time. Financial losses due to poor adherence are the result of unnecessary time-consuming work and costs for potential harm to patients. Hospitalization rates are reduced at higher levels of medication adherence. There are two types of financial losses due to poor treatment adherence: medical costs (measured by hospitalization risk) and drugs costs (without patient copayments). This financial loss analysis underlines the promotion of medication adherence by the patients

The Biological as a Double Limit for Artificial Intelligence: Review and Futuristic Debate

This paper aims to identify to what extent artificial intelligence (AI) is biologically limited and to launch a debate on the issue of overcoming these limitations. To achieve our goal, we utilized a qualitative research methodology framework, providing an in-depth analysis of AI limitations formulated by prominent scholars within this field of specialization. We found that the biological boundary imposes a double limitation on AI, both from a gnoseological perspective and from a technological perspective. This twofold limitation of AI underpins the idea that as long as the biological cannot be understood, formalized, and imitated, we will not be able to develop technologies that mimic it. By adopting an original approach, our research paper focused on mapping out the twofold limitation of the biological with reference to the success of AI. Special attention was paid to the motivational analysis of this limitation in terms of human existence, the opportunity and utility to create artificial intelligences as superior to the human-like condition. We have opened the door for future debates on the need to decode cellular communication by understanding and developing a natural language of the living cell (N2LC). Based on the present research, we proposed that within the current technological context, biological computers (biocomputing) could represent a so-called invisible hand outstretched by biological systems towards AI

AN ECONOMIC PRICE ANALYSIS OF CONVENTIONAL REMISSION THERAPY VS BIOLOGICAL THERAPY FOR RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS TREATMENT

Rheumatoid arthritis represents the most common inflammatory rheumatism, affecting about 1% of the general population. Inappropriately untreated usually has a progressively aggressive perspective, generating pain and joint inflammation and functional disability. The severity of the disease results from the fact that more than 50% of patients cease their professional activity in the first 5 years of the disease and 10% of cases show severe disability in the first two years of evolution. The aim of the study is to conduct a comparative price analysis between a conventional remission therapy and a biological therapy for rheumatoid arthritis in Romania. Biologics are huge financial burden due to their high price, large number of patients and the considerable budget impact. The data was obtained from the official pages of National Health Insurance House in Romania up to date December 2018, and also the algorithm treatment for rheumatoid arthritis is followed. Conventional remission therapy is 30-100 times cheaper than biological therapy. The results show that two out of eight INNs (International non-proprietary name or a generic name) have authorized biosimilars (similar biological medicinal product) in Romania, despite of bigger number of authorized biosimilars in EMA (European Medicines Agency) for rheumatoid arthritis. Biosimilars’ prices have a 19.66-29.68% reduction in the price of biologics. Introduction of biosimilars on the Romanian market will lead to significant decrease in reimbursed prices paid by public funds and thus increase the patients’ access to biological therapy

Bilateral Carotid Artery Molecular Calcification Assessed by [18F] Fluoride PET/CT:Correlation with Cardiovascular and Thromboembolic Risk Factors

Atherosclerosis, a leading cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide, involves inflammatory processes that result in plaque formation and calcification. The early detection of the molecular changes underlying these processes is crucial for effective disease management. This study utilized positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) with [18F] sodium fluoride (NaF) as a tracer to visualize active calcification and inflammation at the molecular level. Our aim was to investigate the association between cardiovascular risk factors and [18F] NaF uptake in the left and right common carotid arteries (LCC and RCC). A cohort of 102 subjects, comprising both at-risk individuals and healthy controls, underwent [18F] NaF PET/CT imaging. The results revealed significant correlations between [18F] NaF uptake and cardiovascular risk factors such as age (β = 0.005, 95% CI 0.003-0.008, p &lt; 0.01 in LCC and β = 0.006, 95% CI 0.004-0.009, p &lt; 0.01 in RCC), male gender (β = -0.08, 95% CI -0.173--0.002, p = 0.04 in LCC and β = -0.13, 95% CI -0.21--0.06, p &lt; 0.01 in RCC), BMI (β = 0.02, 95% CI 0.01-0.03, p &lt; 0.01 in LCC and β = 0.02, 95% CI 0.01-0.03, p &lt; 0.01 in RCC), fibrinogen (β = 0.006, 95% CI 0.0009-0.01, p = 0.02 in LCC and β = 0.005, 95% CI 0.001-0.01, p = 0.01), HDL cholesterol (β = 0.13, 95% CI 0.04-0.21, p &lt; 0.01 in RCC only), and CRP (β = -0.01, 95% CI -0.02-0.001, p = 0.03 in RCC only). Subjects at risk showed a higher [18F] NaF uptake compared to healthy controls (one-way ANOVA; p = 0.02 in LCC and p = 0.04 in RCC), and uptake increased with estimated cardiovascular risk (one-way ANOVA, p &lt; 0.01 in LCC only). These findings underscore the potential of [18F] NaF PET/CT as a sensitive tool for the early detection of atherosclerotic plaque, assessment of cardiovascular risk, and monitoring of disease progression. Further research is needed to validate the technique's predictive value and its potential impact on clinical outcomes.</p

Personal Autonomy as Quality of Life Predictor for Multiple Sclerosis Patients

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, severe disease, characterized by a progressive alteration in neuronal transmission, which decreases personal independence and quality of life (QoL). This study aimed to investigate the relationship between QoL and personal autonomy in patients with MS, as well as its correlation with age, educational level, and diseases severity. Twenty-six MS patients were followed-up for six months. All patients completed the 15D questionnaire two times: at T0, when they started a new treatment, and at T1 after six months of treatment. At the end point, all patients completed the Personal Autonomy Questionnaire. The average patient age was 43 years (SD = 10), and 89% of them were female. The mean severity and duration of MS were 3.5 (SD = 1.75) and 9.5 (SD = 5.1), respectively. The average QoL of MS patients at T0 was 0.66 (SD = 0.18), and that at T1 was 0.71 (SD = 0.16). The scores of patients with different types of MS, i.e., relapsing–remitting MS (RRMS) or secondary progressive MS (SPMS), were compared. SPMS patients were older than RRMS patients (mean age 47.5 vs. 39.7 years; p = 0.032), and more RRMS patients were working (0.014). SPMS patients described the same QoL and personal autonomy as RRMS patients. Results from bivariate correlation analyses showed a significant relationship between QoL and age, education, and severity of MS. Also, the analysis showed no significant correlation between QoL and personal autonomy

Personal Autonomy as Quality of Life Predictor for Multiple Sclerosis Patients

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, severe disease, characterized by a progressive alteration in neuronal transmission, which decreases personal independence and quality of life (QoL). This study aimed to investigate the relationship between QoL and personal autonomy in patients with MS, as well as its correlation with age, educational level, and diseases severity. Twenty-six MS patients were followed-up for six months. All patients completed the 15D questionnaire two times: at T0, when they started a new treatment, and at T1 after six months of treatment. At the end point, all patients completed the Personal Autonomy Questionnaire. The average patient age was 43 years (SD = 10), and 89% of them were female. The mean severity and duration of MS were 3.5 (SD = 1.75) and 9.5 (SD = 5.1), respectively. The average QoL of MS patients at T0 was 0.66 (SD = 0.18), and that at T1 was 0.71 (SD = 0.16). The scores of patients with different types of MS, i.e., relapsing–remitting MS (RRMS) or secondary progressive MS (SPMS), were compared. SPMS patients were older than RRMS patients (mean age 47.5 vs. 39.7 years; p = 0.032), and more RRMS patients were working (0.014). SPMS patients described the same QoL and personal autonomy as RRMS patients. Results from bivariate correlation analyses showed a significant relationship between QoL and age, education, and severity of MS. Also, the analysis showed no significant correlation between QoL and personal autonomy