Challenging assumptions about migrant language use: Evidence from a Swedish study with the Experience Sampling Method and the Lang-Track-App

This study explores how a multilingual Hong Kong student exercised agency to maintain a stable Dominant Language Constellation (DLC) amidst significant shifts in sociolinguistic contexts. Employing an intrinsic case study approach, the study collected data through interviews and written documents, which were then analysed using thematic analysis. The findings revealed that the multilingual student strategically managed his language use by compartmentalising Cantonese, Putonghua, and English into distinct domains, a practice he maintained consistently across different environments, including Hong Kong, Beijing, and Montreal. Key sources of his agency were identified, such as his self-conception as an introverted individual, parental influence, and the demands of his educational contexts. His strategic non-participation in social interactions helped him avoid linguistic discomfort and maintain psychological stability. This study contributes to the field of multilingualism by illustrating how agency can be manifested through deliberate non-participation and strategic language use, offering new insights into the dynamic interplay between individual agency and sociolinguistic environments.

The idea that Joyce’s multilingual experimentations and translational writing style are a reflection of his exposure to linguistic diversity during his voluntary exile has already been advanced by Italian scholar Serenella Zanotti (2013). This article expands on this observation and highlights the fact that the Irish author’s real-life multilingualism was never static. Rather, Joyce’s multilingual and translingual experience constantly evolved throughout his life as a three-times migrant to cosmopolitan European cities (Trieste, Zurich, Paris). This eventually resulted in a cosmopolitan inner language. This paper therefore argues that Joyce’s migration experience is at the basis of his evolving literary translanguaging or, in other words, that the latter should be seen as the textual reflection of his constantly growing personal exposure to different languages in cosmopolitan environments. Each translinguistic instance should therefore be considered in light of the specific spatio-temporal situatedness it originated from. Using Joyce’s correspondence in addition to his novels A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916), Ulysses (1922), and Finnegans Wake (1939) as examples, this article will explore how Joyce’s literary use of language(s) evolved hand-in-hand with a growing metalinguistic awareness and crosslinguistic agility, which characterized his everyday use of language as a multilingual speaker. Finally, this article will reflect both on the implications that Joyce’s use of language(s) has for the translation of his literary works, as well as on his contribution to the issue of migration and identity.

Effects of socioeconomic status and language use on academic language proficiency in children with a migration background: An evaluation using quantile regressions

This article investigates the position of migrant languages in Northern Ireland's two largest cities, Belfast and Derry/Londonderry. The paper comments on how deliberations around public policy objectives in a post-conflict era have led to a broader understanding of cultural identity and consequently to an ‘opening-up’ of urban spaces for speakers of migrant community languages. For such linguistic minorities, museums, libraries, community festivals, arts projects and grass roots community initiatives can be noted as especially important in contributing to higher levels of inclusion and accessibility to urban spaces. Nonetheless, while the debates on such ‘peace-oriented’ policy frameworks have certainly accommodated the wider visibility and use of migrant languages in city spaces, there is more that can be done by planners in these sectors to further enhance opportunities for social cohesion.

The way people use language determines and (or) reflects their experience in their social context; the use of everyday language becomes a lens through which people behave and see their world and at other time it is the social practices that influence certain choices of language used by community members. For that reason research on how languages affect women’s image in different speech communities is highly needed for the sake of saving women’s face. This brought to the attention the concept of language and gender in applied linguistics whose focus is on how language use and labelling is associated with gender differences. And those language forms that show gender bias are known as sexist expressions. Drawing on the above scenario, the present study explores sexist expressions in Nyakyusa language using data collected from four Nyakyusa speaking people as key informants through mobile phone interviews. Data were analysed thematically in which I generated themes from coded and categorised data. Findings show that Nyakyusa exhibits elements of sexism through five forms of sexist expressions namely referential gender, social gender, lexical gender, proverbs and idioms and agreements. The researcher calls for creation of awareness among Nyakyusa speech communities for reformation of sexist expressions.

Gender-related vocabulary among native Finnish speakers In recent decades, a significant shift towards gender neutrality has been observed in the Finnish language (as well). The study examined the vocabulary and gender-related elements of native Finnish speakers using a questionnaire. The responses received clearly confirm the rise of gender- neutral, inclusive language use. The use of gender-neutral alternatives instead of occupational names with the suffix -mies is particularly striking, especially when referring to women (e.g. palomies ~ palopelastaja, sähkömies ~ sähköasentaja). Although forms with the suffix -mies are still common in the case of certain – usually strongly masculine – occupations (e.g. kaivosmies, kirvesmies), these are used significantly less often for women, and instead, gender-neutral alternatives or the creation of feminine pairs (e.g. kirvesnainen, kaivosnainen naispalomies). When using gender-neutral forms, respondents did not feel the need to express gender, and gender-referring elements associated with them rarely appeared (e.g. naisopettaja, myyjätär). Based on all this, the spread of inclusive language use is not only a phenomenon that exists in theory but is also widespread in everyday language use. Keywords: Finnish language, gender-related elements, questionnaire

Language profoundly shapes human perception and social interactions. Sigmund Freud emphasized the role of language in uncovering and addressing unconscious conflicts, particularly in the treatment of mental illness. Ludwig Wittgenstein examined the everyday use of language through his concept of “language games,” thereby revealing its normative function in shaping meaning, behavior, and societal norms. This paper compares Freud’s and Wittgenstein’s approaches to language, highlighting their shared emphasis on its normativity and therapeutic potential. While their perspectives differ — Freud focusing on the unconscious structures underlying speech and Wittgenstein on the rule–governed nature of language use — they both illustrate that language is an active force that shapes human experience rather than a passive medium. Finally, the paper argues that Freud’s insights into the symbolic dimensions of language and Wittgenstein’s emphasis on linguistic practice together suggest the need for a culturally sensitive and holistic approach to therapy.

BackgroundRecently, the efficacy of a novel virtual reality based cognitive behavior therapy (VR-CBT) for paranoia was demonstrated. Evidence is growing that the maintenance of psychosis may be influenced by affective processes. This study examined how treatment with VR-CBT influenced positive and negative affect states, and whether the interplay between mental states was affected.MethodsThe sample consisted of 91 patients with a psychotic disorder randomized either to 16-session individual VR-CBT or treatment as usual. The experience sampling method (ESM; a structured diary technique) was used to assess mental states at baseline, post-intervention and 6-month follow-up. Mixed model analyses were conducted to study treatment effects. Lagged associations between mental states were estimated at baseline and post-intervention, and were visualized with networks.ResultsVR-CBT, but not treatment as usual, resulted in reduced levels of paranoia and negative affect. At pre-intervention networks depicting the dynamic interplay between mental states over time had limited significant connections, with most stable connections being auto-relations. I.e., paranoia was best predicted by paranoia at the previous moment. The dynamic interplay between affective states did not change over time after VR-CBT.DiscussionWe found that VR-CBT specifically targets paranoia and there are indications that VR-CBT had an enduring effect on negative emotions. These beneficial treatment effects do not seem to transfer to positive affective states. Unexpectedly, we did not find evidence that negative mental states such as feeling down or lonely triggered paranoia in the next moment even at pre-intervention, and these temporal relations between mental states did not change over time in response to treatment.

This paper explores the intricate relationship between identity and language use in a multilingual university context by analyzing a Filipina international student’s narrativized accounts of her experiences in a Hong Kong university. The findings suggest that the international student’s identity negotiation and language practices vary markedly across contexts and appear to be shaped by different language regimes operating in different in-class and out-of-class spaces within the university. The study also reveals that various language ideologies mediate the international student’s situated identity negotiation and language use, including ideologies pertaining to the relationship between language and ethnicity, the relationship between English proficiency levels and the local/non-local student categorization, and the hierarchization of different varieties of English. Overall, the study argues for the need to attend to the complex and dynamic interplay between identity negotiation, language use and language ideology in understanding the international student’s experiences in a multilingual university context.

Human thought and language have extraordinary expressive power because meaningful parts can be assembled into more complex semantic structures. This partly underlies our ability to compose meanings into endlessly novel configurations, and sets us apart from other species and current computing devices. Crucially, human behaviour, including language use and linguistic data, indicates that composing parts into complex structures does not threaten the existence of constituent parts as independent units in the system: parts and wholes exist simultaneously yet independently from one another in the mind and brain. This independence is evident in human behaviour, but it seems at odds with what is known about the brain's exquisite sensitivity to statistical patterns: everyday language use is productive and expressive precisely because it can go beyond statistical regularities. Formal theories in philosophy and linguistics explain this fact by assuming that language and thought are compositional: systems of representations that separate a variable (or role) from its values (fillers), such that the meaning of a complex expression is a function of the values assigned to the variables. The debate on whether and how compositional systems could be implemented in minds, brains and machines remains vigorous. However, it has not yet resulted in mechanistic models of semantic composition: how, then, are the constituents of thoughts and sentences put and held together? We review and discuss current efforts at understanding this problem, and we chart possible routes for future research. This article is part of the theme issue 'Towards mechanistic models of meaning composition'.

This study aims to analyze the Indonesian language proficiency of students at Muhammadiyah Vocational High School (SMK) Sukabumi through the Indonesian Language Proficiency Test (UKBI). Previous studies have mainly focused only on reading proficiency at the senior high school level, whereas this research covers overall language competence, differences in performance across the domains of listening, grammatical response, and reading, the factors influencing test results, and their relevance to Indonesian language learning needs at the vocational level. This research employed a quantitative descriptive method, involving 46 students as participants. Data were collected through a manual UKBI using a paper-based test format. The results show that the majority of students fall into the Intermediate (Semenjana) category (60.87%) and Marginal category (17.39%), while only 6.52% achieved the Excellent (Unggul) level. Domain analysis revealed that listening skills were relatively stronger, while reading and grammatical response skills were lower. Factors influencing performance included learning motivation, literacy exposure, teaching methods, social background, and everyday language use. This study highlights the importance of implementing literacy-based learning and practical language use to improve the language competence of vocational students.

This paper examines the ethnolinguistic vitality of the Tonga community of Mkoka in Gokwe South, with a focus on the Tonga language. The Tonga in Gokwe South have received little attention from researchers, if any, when compared to the other Tonga communities of Zimbabwe, who like them were displaced from the Zambezi valley when the Kariba dam claimed their homes in the 1950s. The research focuses on the way the Tonga of Mkoka in Gokwe South use their mother-tongue, Tonga and the second language, Shona, in the primary home/family domain and the secondary domains of language. Results show that Tonga vitality is based on social status, demographic and informal support variables, while its economic, socio-historical and formal support vitality is very low. In terms of language preferences, the Tonga mainly use their L1 in the family/home domain with interlocutors who are family, friends and neighbours for everyday language use and in social activities in their environments, while for the secondary language use domains, they shift to Shona, the economically more powerful language in the area. Shona was, however, found to be creeping into some Tonga homes, but reasons for this encroachment could not be concluded in this paper.

In view of their bilingualism, these communities adopt specific strategies to everyday language use. This paper addresses the development of communication skills in less dominant languages in bilingual children from Argentina’s indigenous communities (Toba / Qom and Mbya). In particular, we set out to emphasize how certain recreational practices have impacted on use of less dominant languages among children in these groups (Toba / Qom in the first case, and Spanish in the second). The article is organized into five sections. It begins with a brief contextualization of the sociolinguistic situation of the languages spoken in the empirical referents analysed, to facilitate understanding of the importance and singularity of the case studies presented. We go on to develop the methodology supporting our research and finally consider the selected theoretical framework regarding the anthropology of childhood, while revisiting a number of anthropological contributions to studies on play and language. We also refer to the Toba / Qom and Mbya definitions of childhood and analyse games and language use among children.

The author of this article employs some twenty-first-century Lithuanian and Latvian (e)migration literary accounts to examine various expressions of the (e)migrant language, speech, and linguistic inability. The goal of the article is to determine the ways a foreign linguistic medium affects the landscape of the identity of a contemporary mobile individual, and how the performative identity responds to the use of language. The author examines the additional content that language norms and codes acquire in emigration, and the ways in which individuals’ inability to express their thoughts in a non-native language diminishes the representative power and influence of the individual (emigrant). On the basis of the concepts and the power principle developed by post-colonialism and imagology, the author points to the power logic that reveals itself through language. She analyses linguistic paradoxes (lapsus linguae) provoked by intersecting languages and discusses the ways in which the deteriorating mother tongue skills and altered personal names relate directly to cultural integration and assimilation. The author also discusses the influence of linguistically hybridized sociolects (the language of emigrant construction workers) or medialects (the language of contemporary social networks) on the techniques of the “literary language”. Laura Laurušaitė argues that the functioning of language is primarily related to various perturbations of identity. Language and heritage, personal name and identity, linguistic expression and the representative power of an (e)migrant are closely interrelated and interact with each other. Without knowing the language of the host country, Lithuanian emigrants remain as outsiders or protagonists of a tragic fortune imprisoned between their lost linguistic environment and the new (poorly understood) language setting.

To describe the diverse methodologies for researching daily life a variety of terms have been coined: ecological momentary assessment (EMA), ambulatory assessment, experience sampling method (ESM), real-time data capture, or digital phenotyping, just to name a few. In line with the definition of the international society devoted to researching daily life Society for Ambulatory Assessment (SAA), these various terms serve to highlight the different origins and ancestors. Researchers in the Netherlands, Germany, and the United States started developing cutting-edge methods to assess dynamics of behavior and experience in everyday life in the 1970s and 1980s. Although the diverse backgrounds can be clearly differentiated, with Ambulatory Assessment having a focus on combining e-diaries with physiological and behavioral monitoring—ESM, by using paper-pencil diaries and pagers, and EMA, by utilizing e-diaries early on—these research groups coined their terms to describe a broad set of tools to assess affective experiences, cognition, behavior, and physiological processes in daily life. Accordingly, the Society for Ambulatory Assessment introduced “ambulatory assessment” as the umbrella term, covering a range of real-time data capture methodologies that originate from different scientific disciplines (psychology, medicine, computer science, etc.), and it focuses on the common goal, namely, to assess the ongoing behavior, physiology, experience, and environmental aspects of people in naturalistic settings. Distinct features of ambulatory assessment, which differentiates it from traditional assessment approaches like retrospective questionnaires or laboratory-based techniques, include: (1) assessment of data in the real world, increasing the ecological validity and generalizability of the method, (2) focus on individuals’ momentary or very recent states to minimize retrospective biases, (3) ability to study within-subject processes and dynamics, (4) possibility for multimodal and context-specific assessments, and (5) use of real-time analyses to trigger situational assessments and interventions.