New perspectives on the individual learner: Implications for research and teaching

Since the late 1960s, the individual learner has been the focus of research on the learning and, above all, on the teaching of languages. Given the importance of this topic to the field of language learning and teaching, two American Association of University Supervisors, Coordinators, and Directors of Language Programs (AAUSC) volumes, one in 1994 and another in 2013, have addressed issues related to the individual learner. This chapter explores the main trends in research on individual differences since the 2013 AAUSC volume. Given the proliferation of learner variables, we have chosen to focus on several key issues, specifically, the age of onset of acquisition, language aptitudes, motivation, emotion, and the willingness to communicate. After examining recent studies in each of these areas, we will turn our attention to current challenges related to research on individual differences and discuss the implications of a person-centered approach for language research and teaching

Variation and Change in Peruvian Spanish Word Order: Language Contact and Dialect Contact in Lima

Previous studies have revealed that the direct object/verb (OV) word order typical of Quechua and Aymara is also prevalent in Andean Spanish. The current study examines the frequency of such structures in Lima, Peru, where massive migration over the past 60 years has brought speakers of Andean indigenous languages and rural Andean Spanish into close contact with speakers of limeño Spanish. Goldvarb analysis of data from 34 participants (seven first-generation migrants, six 1.5-generation migrants, 10 second-generation migrants, and 11 native limeños) indicates that the pragmatic functions that motivated OV order among the participants include those found in noncontact varieties of Spanish, as well as others reported for rural Andean Spanish. Furthermore, L1 speakers of an indigenous language, who were almost all first- and 1.5-generation immigrants, were significantly more likely to use OV word order than L1 Spanish speakers. In contrast, in the speech of second-generation migrants, nearly all of whom spoke Spanish as an L1, the frequency of OV word order was similar to that documented for other non-contact varieties of Spanish

Migración y contacto en Lima: el pretérito perfecto en las cláusulas narrativas

El presente artículo aborda las alternancias entre pretérito perfecto simple y compuesto en las cláusulas narrativas de narraciones orales de hablantes andinos y limeños en el contacto migratorio en la capital peruana. El español andino es una modalidad devaluada en esta ciudad frente a la prestigiosa limeña, y presenta entre otras características distintivas un uso mayor del pretérito perfecto compuesto en situaciones en que la variedad limeña usaría el simple. Un valor paradigmático del pretérito simple tanto en el español limeño como en el peninsular, reconocido incluso en la Nueva Gramática de la RAE, es la iconización de la sucesión de acontecimientos pasados sobre todo en las cláusulas narrativas, las cuales constituyen la acción complicante de una narración. Precisamente partiendo de estas, hemos realizado un análisis sobre un corpus de 108 informantes con el objeto de averiguar la dirección de la variación de los patrones andinos y de los limeños, y su posible fusión, confrontados a través de las diferentes generaciones de migrantes en la capital. Valiéndonos del procesamiento probabilístico (Goldvarb X), mostraremos en qué medida la generación unida a la ascendencia andina / no andina del hablante resultan factores determinantes en la elección del patrón originario versus el patrón capitalino. Hemos complementado el análisis cuantitativo con el cualitativo, pues este último permite descubrir valores semántico-pragmáticos en las alternancias o en la elección de una u otra forma verbal que no se refl ejan en la mera cuantifi cación. No obstante, sostendremos que no se puede prescindir del procesamiento cuantitativo cuando se trata de abordar la variación progresiva en que ambas posibilidades están presentes en las variedades mencionadas, y no existe ningún contexto que las excluya de manera absoluta.Migration and contact in Lima: The present perfect in narratives clauses. This article focuses on the variation between the simple preterite and the present perfect in narrative clauses in the oral narratives of Migración y contacto en Lima: el pretérito perfecto en las cláusulas narrativas Andean and Limeño speakers who have come into contact as a result of migration to the Peruvian capital. Andean Spanish, in contrast to the prestigious coastal variety of Spanish, is stigmatized in Lima, and presents, among other distinctive characteristics, a more frequent use of the present perfect in situations in which the simple preterite predominates in the Limeño variety. A paradigmatic value of the simple preterite in Limeño as well as in peninsular Spanish, recognized even in the Nueva Gramática of the RAE, is its use in narrative clauses, which relate a sequence of events and form the complicating action of the narrative. With this as the starting point, our analysis focuses on the use of the simple preterite vs. the present perfect in narrative clauses in a corpus of 108 participants to determine the direction of change in Andean and Limeño patterns, and their possible fusion, in the speech of different generations of migrants in the capital. The results of a multivariate analysis (Goldvarb X) show the degree to which generation together with the Andean/non-Andean origin of the speaker are the determining factors in the selection of Andean vs. Limeño norms. In addition to the quantitative analysis, we provide a qualitative analysis as the latter allows for a description of other semantic-pragmatic values in the alternation or choice of one verbal form over the other, which is not refl ected in the quantifi able data. Nonetheless, we maintain that the multivariate analysis is fundamental when dealing with progressive variation in which both possibilities are present in each of the speech varieties and in which there is no context that excludes either one

Migración y contacto en Lima: el pretérito perfecto en las cláusulas narrativas

El presente artículo aborda las alternancias entre pretérito perfecto simple y compuesto en las cláusulas narrativas de narraciones orales de hablantes andinos y limeños en el contacto migratorio en la capital peruana. El español andino es una modalidad devaluada en esta ciudad frente a la prestigiosa limeña, y presenta entre otras características distintivas un uso mayor del pretérito perfecto compuesto en situaciones en que la variedad limeña usaría el simple. Un valor paradigmático del pretérito simple tanto en el español limeño como en el peninsular, reconocido incluso en la Nueva Gramática de la RAE, es la iconización de la sucesión de acontecimientos pasados sobre todo en las cláusulas narrativas, las cuales constituyen la acción complicante de una narración. Precisamente partiendo de estas, hemos realizado un análisis sobre un corpus de 108 informantes con el objeto de averiguar la dirección de la variación de los patrones andinos y de los limeños, y su posible fusión, confrontados a través de las diferentes generaciones de migrantes en la capital. Valiéndonos del procesamiento probabilístico (Goldvarb X), mostraremos en qué medida la generación unida a la ascendencia andina / no andina del hablante resultan factores determinantes en la elección del patrón originario versus el patrón capitalino. Hemos complementado el análisis cuantitativo con el cualitativo, pues este último permite descubrir valores semántico-pragmáticos en las alternancias o en la elección de una u otra forma verbal que no se refl ejan en la mera cuantifi cación. No obstante, sostendremos que no se puede prescindir del procesamiento cuantitativo cuando se trata de abordar la variación progresiva en que ambas posibilidades están presentes en las variedades mencionadas, y no existe ningún contexto que las excluya de manera absoluta.Migration and contact in Lima: The present perfect in narratives clauses. This article focuses on the variation between the simple preterite and the present perfect in narrative clauses in the oral narratives of Migración y contacto en Lima: el pretérito perfecto en las cláusulas narrativas Andean and Limeño speakers who have come into contact as a result of migration to the Peruvian capital. Andean Spanish, in contrast to the prestigious coastal variety of Spanish, is stigmatized in Lima, and presents, among other distinctive characteristics, a more frequent use of the present perfect in situations in which the simple preterite predominates in the Limeño variety. A paradigmatic value of the simple preterite in Limeño as well as in peninsular Spanish, recognized even in the Nueva Gramática of the RAE, is its use in narrative clauses, which relate a sequence of events and form the complicating action of the narrative. With this as the starting point, our analysis focuses on the use of the simple preterite vs. the present perfect in narrative clauses in a corpus of 108 participants to determine the direction of change in Andean and Limeño patterns, and their possible fusion, in the speech of different generations of migrants in the capital. The results of a multivariate analysis (Goldvarb X) show the degree to which generation together with the Andean/non-Andean origin of the speaker are the determining factors in the selection of Andean vs. Limeño norms. In addition to the quantitative analysis, we provide a qualitative analysis as the latter allows for a description of other semantic-pragmatic values in the alternation or choice of one verbal form over the other, which is not refl ected in the quantifi able data. Nonetheless, we maintain that the multivariate analysis is fundamental when dealing with progressive variation in which both possibilities are present in each of the speech varieties and in which there is no context that excludes either one

Prácticas lingüísticas heterogéneas: Nuevas perspectivas

En esta introducción se brinda un panorama de la obra, ofreciendo un cambio de perspectiva en la descripción de los fenómenos de contacto lingüístico en el campo del español en contacto con lenguas amerindias a partir de marcos metodológicos y teóricos de la sociolingüística del multilingüismo. Este cambio de perspectiva implica pasar del análisis de "sistemas" y de "códigos" en contacto, y de los resultados que se desligan, a la descripción y el análisis de prácticas sociales de lenguaje, centrados en la utilización de recursos semióticos y lingüísticos por parte de los hablantes para expresar mensajes, transmitir conocimientos o negociar posturas sociales, es decir, para construir significados en la interacción social

Coexpression and activation of TRPV1 suppress the activity of the KCNQ2/3 channel

Transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) is a ligand-gated nonselective cation channel expressed predominantly in peripheral nociceptors. By detecting and integrating diverse noxious thermal and chemical stimuli, and as a result of its sensitization by inflammatory mediators, the TRPV1 receptor plays a key role in inflammation-induced pain. Activation of TRPV1 leads to a cascade of pro-nociceptive mechanisms, many of which still remain to be identified. Here, we report a novel effect of TRPV1 on the activity of the potassium channel KCNQ2/3, a negative regulator of neuronal excitability. Using ion influx assays, we revealed that TRPV1 activation can abolish KCNQ2/3 activity, but not vice versa, in human embryonic kidney (HEK)293 cells. Electrophysiological studies showed that coexpression of TRPV1 caused a 7.5-mV depolarizing shift in the voltage dependence of KCNQ2/3 activation compared with control expressing KCNQ2/3 alone. Furthermore, activation of TRPV1 by capsaicin led to a 54% reduction of KCNQ2/3-mediated current amplitude and attenuation of KCNQ2/3 activation. The inhibitory effect of TRPV1 appears to depend on Ca2+ influx through the activated channel followed by Ca2+-sensitive depletion of phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate and activation of protein phosphatase calcineurin. We also identified physical interactions between TRPV1 and KCNQ2/3 coexpressed in HEK293 cells and in rat dorsal root ganglia neurons. Mutation studies established that this interaction is mediated predominantly by the membrane-spanning regions of the respective proteins and correlates with the shift of KCNQ2/3 activation. Collectively, these data reveal that TRPV1 activation may deprive neurons from inhibitory control mediated by KCNQ2/3. Such neurons may thus have a lower threshold for activation, which may indirectly facilitate TRPV1 in integrating multiple noxious signals and/or in the establishment or maintenance of chronic pain

The affective Bauhaus 1919: 2019

Bauhaus artists László Moholy-Nagy and Oskar Schlemmer dominate the opening exhibition of the year-long celebration of ‘100 Years The Bauhaus’: ‘Licht. Schatten. Spuren’ (Light. Shadow. Traces) (Kunsthalle, Berlin, January 2019). The curators cite these artists as driving forces behind the contemporary visual art and performance pieces, many specially commissioned. This suggests that both artists demand a more nuanced appraisal 100 years on than they have hitherto enjoyed. Part 1 of this article re-evaluates the history of the Bauhaus ‘gestalt’ thinking in relation to creativity; part 2 asserts the absolute modernity of Bauhaus thinking within contemporary performance. The two artists’ work and ideas in every medium were so far ahead of their time that only now are their ideas able to be (if only partially) realised, exploited and developed to create a strong and affective art for the twenty-first century

CATALISE: A multinational and multidisciplinary Delphi consensus study. Identifying language impairments in children

Delayed or impaired language development is a common developmental concern, yet thereis little agreement about the criteria used to identify and classify language impairments inchildren. Children's language difficulties are at the interface between education, medicineand the allied professions, who may all adopt different approaches to conceptualising them.Our goal in this study was to use an online Delphi technique to see whether it was possibleto achieve consensus among professionals on appropriate criteria for identifying childrenwho might benefit from specialist services. We recruited a panel of 59 experts representingten disciplines (including education, psychology, speech-language therapy/pathology, paediatricsand child psychiatry) from English-speaking countries (Australia, Canada, Ireland,New Zealand, United Kingdom and USA). The starting point for round 1 was a set of 46statements based on articles and commentaries in a special issue of a journal focusing onthis topic. Panel members rated each statement for both relevance and validity on a sevenpointscale, and added free text comments. These responses were synthesised by the firsttwo authors, who then removed, combined or modified items with a view to improving consensus.The resulting set of statements was returned to the panel for a second evaluation(round 2). Consensus (percentage reporting 'agree' or 'strongly agree') was at least 80 percentfor 24 of 27 round 2 statements, though many respondents qualified their responsewith written comments. These were again synthesised by the first two authors. The resultingconsensus statement is reported here, with additional summary of relevant evidence, and aconcluding commentary on residual disagreements and gaps in the evidence base.</p

Phase 2 of CATALISE: a multinational and multidisciplinary Delphi consensus study of problems with language development: Terminology.

Background: Lack of agreement about criteria and terminology for children’s language problems affects access to services as well as hindering research and practice. We report the second phase of a study using an online Delphi method to address these issues. In the first phase, we focused on criteria for language disorder. Here we consider terminology.Methods: The Delphi method is an iterative process in which an initial set of statements is rated by a panel of experts, who then have the opportunity to view anonymised ratings from other panel members. On this basis they can either revise their views or make a case for their position. The statements are then revised based on panel feedback, and again rated by and commented on by the panel. In this study, feedback from a second round was used to prepare a final set of statements in narrative form. The panel included 57 individuals representing a range of professions and nationalities. Results: We achieved at least 78% agreement for 19 of 21 statements within two rounds of ratings. These were collapsed into 12 statements for the final consensus reported here. The term ‘Language Disorder’ is recommended to refer to a profile of difficulties that causes functional impairment in everyday life and is associated with poor prognosis. The term, ‘Developmental Language Disorder’ (DLD) was endorsed for use when the language disorder was not associated with a known biomedical aetiology. It was also agreed that (a) presence of risk factors (neurobiological or environmental) does not preclude a diagnosis of DLD, (b) DLD can co-occur with other neurodevelopmental disorders (e.g. ADHD) and (c) DLD does not require a mismatch between verbal and nonverbal ability. Conclusions: This Delphi exercise highlights reasons for disagreements about terminology for language disorders and proposes standard definitions and nomenclature. </p