Welcome on board! Prefiguring knowledge production in the sociology of language

This Special Issue constitutes a parenthesis from our daily lives as editors, an attempt to not forgot why we do what we do, and a direction for what we should do in the near future with the International Journal of the Sociology of Language (IJSL). The idea of this Special Issue originated in conjunction with the renewal of our Editorial Board. After many years of service, the term of the previous Editorial Board came to an end in 2020 and coincided, with a slight delay, with the start of the new General Editor and newly appointed Associate Editors

Democratization and gender-neutrality in English(es)

"Democratization" and "gender-neutrality" are two concepts commonly used in recent studies on language variation. While both concepts link linguistic phenomena to sociocultural changes, the extent to which they overlap and/or interact has not been studied in detail. In particular, not much is known about how linguistic changes related to democratization and gender-neutrality spread across registers or varieties of English, as well as whether speakers are aware of the changes that are taking place. In this paper we review the main theoretical issues regarding these concepts and relate them to the main findings in the articles in this issue, all of which study lexical and grammatical variation from a corpus-based perspective. Taken together, they help unveil some of the conscious and unconscious mechanisms that operate at the interface between democratization and gender-neutrality.Peer reviewe

Learning about learning: literacy demands in ‘Singapore’s global university

This paper was borne out of a student‟s remark on the failure of his English classes to make him a good English language learner. From the point-of-view of teacher, course designer and coordinator of these courses, I would like to locate this remark in a range of institutional and ideological contexts which shape the student‟s learning. This attempt at explaining the student‟s „failure‟ is not a simple one: it necessitates an understanding of an academic tertiary institution‟s discursive (re)packaging as a global university which has implications for the privileging of certain institutionalized literacy demands in English as an academic language which, in turn, impact on -and resist -the students‟ „real‟ English language needs outside the classroom. This paper argues that the institutional, ideological and discursive closures to my student‟s English language learning, in the end, are also opportunities for change because the university is,borrowing the words of Soudien (2005) about education in general, “one space in which self-reflection is possible”. The issue here is not to transform the university from the „outside‟, but to (re)negotiate terms and policies from „within‟ in order to locate spaces of intervention and resistance to transform the learning process

Language as a problem of development: Ideological debates and comprehensive education in the Philippines

10.1075/aila.22.03tupAILA Review22123-3

An evaluation of students\u27 level of conceptual and procedural understanding in solid mensuration

This study evaluates the students\u27 conceptual and procedural understanding using problem-based learning (PBL) approach. Fifteen participants were chosen among the 40 regular freshman BSMT students of John B. Lacson Colleges Foundation-Bacolod enrolled in Solid Mensuration. Participants for data analysis were based from their pretest results. They were exposed to a constructivist-inspired instruction for 5 months. Problems were posed for students to work individually and in group of two or three. They were encouraged to participate in the analysis of the problem situation. They were made to understand that there are multiple solutions to a problem and there are no prescribed standard procedures. Rubrics were made to determine the level of students\u27 conceptual and procedural understanding of perimeter, area, and volume of plane and solid figures in solving the four routine and six non-routine problems. Results revealed that the levels of conceptual. and procedural understanding were both rated good. Participants employed various strategies as evidence of their conceptual and procedural understanding. Researcher believed that exposing students to PBL will develop long term conceptual and procedural understanding of mathematics

Detection of staphylococcus aureus and escherichia coli in disposable spoons of fast food chains along Dasmarinas City, Cavite

Majority of people dine or eat in fast food chains which gives them the option to choose what utensil to use: Stainless steel or Disposable utensils. Staphylococcus aureus can remain viable on hands and environmental surfaces for extended durations after initial contact. Escherichia Coli are mostly harmless bacteria however some may cause infections when transmitted directly or indirectly. Six disposable spoons from selected fast food chains along Dasmariñas City, Cavite were obtained to identify the presence or absence of the bacteria S. aureus and E. coli. The results are determined on the standards for number of spoilage microorganisms on food contact based from the Compendium of Methods for the Microbiological Examination of Foods, 5th Edition. Although, the researchers’ experience in acquiring the samples were different from different fast food chain, results obtained show that all disposable spoons tested resulted to an excellent remark by having a less than 1 CFU/cm^2 for Staphylococcus Aureus and an absence of Escherichia Coli. It is deemed that disposable spoons is safe to use because of low microbial count