Anthropological Linguistics and Sociolinguistics Commons^™

Language, Exogamy And Ethnicity In The Upper Rio Negro Region, Thiago Chacon, Luis Cayón

Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America

In this article we explore how languages interact with exogamous social units (e.g., clans and phratries) and descent ideologies (such as having a common mythical ancestor and emergence from the same mythical place) to help organize the multilingual and interethnic societies from the Upper Rio Negro region (URN) in the Amazon. We show that the expected alignment of language boundary, exogamous group and descent group is actually quite unusual. Complex social structures involving the aggregation of clans into larger ethnic groups or marriage alliances with other clans have important variations in the alignment of language, exogamy, and descent ideology. Existing …

Catholicism In Context: Religious Practice In Latin America, Gustavo Morello Sj

Journal of Global Catholicism

A critical problem to study Catholicism in the context of Latin American modernity, is that the conceptual tools we use to study religion were designed to understand the transformations that modernity provoked in European religiosity. Studies on the religion of Latin Americans have largely explored the religiosity of the population through surveys that measure attendance, adherence and affiliation. While some anthropologists have explored religious practices among particular groups, we do not know how ordinary, urban Latin Americans practice religion. To fill this gap, a group of researchers from Boston College, Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, Catholic University of Córdoba, and …

Editor's Introduction, Mathew N. Schmalz

Journal of Global Catholicism

No abstract provided.

Young Brazilian Catholics Reaffiliating: A Case Study In The City Of Campos, Rj, Brazil, Cecilia L. Mariz, Wânia Amélia Belchior Mesquita, Michelle Piraciaba Araújo

Journal of Global Catholicism

Through a case study in Campos, a northern city of Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil, this article analyzes reports from young people who state that they have undergone a process of revival or reactivation of their Catholic faith. They all declared to have participated in the “St Andrew’s School of Evangelization.” They also mentioned having experienced an "encounter with God." Their narratives were similar to conversion accounts reported by practitioners of other religious traditions. The interviewees describe faith as a personal choice, and emphasize the need for religious study and the value of religious knowledge. To what extent these values …

Contemporary Brazilian Catholicism And Healing Practices: Notes On Environmentalism And Medicalization, Juliano F. Almeida

Journal of Global Catholicism

Anthropological studies on Brazilian Catholicism traditionally focused on popular variants of this religious practice and their relationship with the official Catholicism. Encouraged by recent anthropological perspectives, which highlight the relevance of devoting researches not only on the margins, but also on the center of social practices, this paper analyzes contemporary practices of Brazilian Catholic friars and priests on health promotion. The analysis of their publications (books that include practices and tips on health and that became best sellers etc.), as well as interviews, allows us to perceive a process of environmentalization on the contemporary Brazilian Catholicism. This process seems to …

Strong Church, Weak Catholicism: Transformations In Brazilian Catholicism, Carlos Alberto Steil, Rodrigo Toniol

Journal of Global Catholicism

In this paper we explore data on Catholicism from the 2010 census in Brazil, as well as other data from the Center for Religious Statistics and Social Investigation. Using these statistics, we question those arguments that explain the reduction in the number of Catholics in Brazilian society as a problem in the institution’s adaptation in response to the challenges of evangelization, or as a lack of ministerial vocations to meet the religious demands of the people. Pursuing an alternative argument, we consider the weakening of the relationship between the Catholic institution and traditional popular Catholicism to be a fundamental aspect …

Editor's Introduction, Marc Roscoe Loustau

Journal of Global Catholicism

No abstract provided.

A Widened Angle Of View: Teaching Theology And Racial Embodiment, Mara Brecht

Journal of Global Catholicism

Today’s undergraduate students are digital natives, shaped by constant access to information and countless experiences of encountering the world through the convenience of a screen. The ostensible comfort students have with difference gives way to a paradox, and one that’s made especially apparent in the theology classroom: Students are comfortable with seeing difference and particularity at a distance, but not adept at locating difference and particularity “at home.” I contend that Catholics & Cultures can help students from the dominant culture—namely, white students who comprise the vast majority of Catholic college students—destabilize their notion of the Catholic tradition as tightly …

The Promises And Perils Of Radio As A Medium Of Faith In A Q’Eqchi’-Maya Catholic Community, Eric Hoenes Del Pinal

Journal of Global Catholicism

Because their parish is large, dispersed, and overwhelmingly rural, FM radio is one of the few reliable means through which the Q’eqchi’-Maya Catholics of San Felipe in Alta Verapaz, Guatemala, can communicate with each other en masse. Yet, because it is a one-way medium, it is also impossible to gauge how its intended audience is responding, or if is even there to receive broadcasted messages. Drawing on ethnographic material collected in 2005 (on the use of radio broadcasting to call together ritual participants) and 2016 (on an ultimately failed attempt to launch a radio station to serve rural parishioners), …

L’Agitation Du Quotidien: Une Conversation Sur La Réflexion Ⓐnarchiste Face Au Sexisme Dans La Langue, Mariel Mercedes Acosta Matos, Ernesto Cuba

Publications and Research

Ernesto Cuba interviewe Mariel Acosta au sujet des résultats de son mémoire de master, qui traite des propositions de morphèmes de genre inclusif dans des publications anarchistes de langue espagnole, parmi lesquelles le @, le x et d’autres innovations orthographiques cherchant à contrecarrer le biais androcentré de la langue.

Ernesto Cuba interviews Mariel Acosta about the findings in her master’s thesis, which investigates inclusive gender morphemes in Spanish-language anarchist publications, among which is the use of @, x and other orthographic innovations that seek to challenge the androcentric bias of language.

A National Bilingual Education Policy For The Economic And Academic Empowerment Of Youth In St. Lucia, West Indies, Gabriella Bellegarde

Capstone Collection

This campaign portfolio argues the case for a national bilingual education policy on the island of St. Lucia, where youth speak both St Lucian Creole and St. Lucian standard English. The portfolio consists of a policy paper and brief, an advocacy plan, a communications plan, monitoring and evaluation plan. The Bilingual Education Taskforce (BET), made up of teachers, parents and principals, is an advocacy organization that discovered the need for a bilingual education intervention when they observed, assessed and analyzed the written work of struggling readers at their school, the Anse la Raye Infant School on the west coast of …

Thinking Outside The (Archival) Box: Innovative Uses Of Jules Henry’S Field Notes, Miranda Rectenwald

University Libraries Presentations

This poster presents a case study of how archived documents provide multi-faceted, dynamic opportunity for teaching and learning in both academia and indigenous communities. Anthropologist Jules Henry compiled extensive language and cultural field notes in the 1930s while living among the Xokleng Laklãnõ (Brazil) and Pilaga (Argentina) communities. Until recently, these documents and photographs archived at Washington University in St. Louis were seldom used. However, by starting a collaborative digital project with Unicamp State University (São Paulo, Brazil) a number of innovative uses have emerged. Examples include: The Unicamp Linguistics Department is working with the Xokleng Laklãnõ to turn the …

Toward A Biocommunicable Cartography Of Health Decision-Making In The Amazon Basin Of Ecuador, James Cartwright

Lawrence University Honors Projects

This paper comprises a critical, ethnographic study of health communication in a rural community of Amazonian Ecuador. By synthesizing approaches from anthropology, discourse studies, and public health, the study explores how conversations influence health decisions, how communities understand health systems, and how macrostructural discourse changes the political economy of healthcare in Ecuador. My work draws on the recent theoretical development of ‘biocommunicability’ in anthropology as well as earlier sociological research on knowledge construction. Most importantly, this paper offers a critique of current interventions by NGOs in the region.

Migration For Education: Haitian University Students In The Dominican Republic, Jenny Miner

Pomona Senior Theses

Haitian university students represent a part of the increasing diversity of Haitian migrants in the Dominican Republic. Using an ethnographic approach, I explore university students’ motivations for studying in the Dominican Republic, their experiences at Dominican universities and in Dominican society, Haitian student organizations, and their future plans. Additionally, I focus on Haitian students’ experiences with discrimination and how they relate to other Haitian migrants in the Dominican Republic. I find that most students come to the Dominican Republic due to the difficulty of gaining entrance to affordable Haitian universities and logistical convenience. The university is a unique setting where …

Is Spanish-English Bilingualism Truly An Economic Benefit In New York?, Lionel Chan

Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies

Introduction: This report explores if there is truly a trend in income levels for Latinos who speak both English and Spanish compared to those of Latinos who speak English only in New York City.

Methods: Data on Latinos and other racial/ethnic groups were obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, reorganized for public use by the Minnesota Population Center, University of Minnesota, IPUMSusa. Cases in the dataset were weighted and analyzed to produce population estimates.

Results: When taking into account language variables to analyze the income levels of Latinos, one notices a minor difference between bilingual Latinos and …

What Code-Mixed Dps Can Tell Us About Gender, Elena Valenzuela, Joyce Bruhn De Garavito, Ewelina Barski, Maria De Luna Villalón, Ana Faure, Yolanda Pangtay, Alma Ramírez Trujillo, Sonia Reis

Ewelina Barski, PhD

There has been a growing interest in the examination of the steady state of simultaneous bilinguals. An understanding of what leads to the possible weaknesses in the grammar of early bilinguals can contribute to our understanding of the possible causes of the apparent characteristic ‘failures’ in second language acquisition (Montrul 2008). Spanish has a gender feature for nouns (Carroll 1989) and gender agreement for determiners and adjectives. Problems with the acquisition of gender marking on the noun and/or with gender agreement are well-known in the L2 literature (Hawkins 1998; Fernández–Garcia 1999; Franceschina 2001; Bruhn de Garavito and White 2002; White …

What Code-Mixed Dps Can Tell Us About Gender, Elena Valenzuela, Joyce Bruhn De Garavito, Ewelina Barski, Maria De Luna Villalón, Ana Faure, Yolanda Pangtay, Alma Ramírez Trujillo, Sonia Reis

Joyce Bruhn de Garavito

There has been a growing interest in the examination of the steady state of simultaneous bilinguals. An understanding of what leads to the possible weaknesses in the grammar of early bilinguals can contribute to our understanding of the possible causes of the apparent characteristic ‘failures’ in second language acquisition (Montrul 2008). Spanish has a gender feature for nouns (Carroll 1989) and gender agreement for determiners and adjectives. Problems with the acquisition of gender marking on the noun and/or with gender agreement are well-known in the L2 literature (Hawkins 1998; Fernández–Garcia 1999; Franceschina 2001; Bruhn de Garavito and White 2002; White …

Rethinking Language Contact, Maria Eugenia De Luna Villalón

Maria Eugenia De Luna Villalón

You can find here an overview of my thesis research project, related to the topic of Multilingual Language Education.

Escenario Lingüístico Multilingüe: Una Evidencia De Vitalidad Etnolingüística, Maria Eugenia De Luna Villalón

Maria Eugenia De Luna Villalón

No abstract provided.

Temporary Migrants: Coping With Language Barriers... Temporarily?, Maria Eugenia De Luna Villalón

Maria Eugenia De Luna Villalón

No abstract provided.

Governance And The Revitalisation Of The Guaraní Language In Paraguay, Robert Andrew Nickson

Robert Andrew Nickson

This article takes a governance perspective to examine the contemporary revitalization of Guaraní, a “repressed” language that is spoken by a majority of the population in Paraguay. A historical overview highlights the striking endurance of the language in spite of two centuries of official subjugation. The article traces the positive impact of political democratization since 1989 on the revitalization of Guaraní by examining four interrelated areas that are closely linked to the governance agenda: the education system, the media, the political system, and popular culture. However, the absence of a comprehensive language policy continues to limit progress in improving governance, …

Teaching Spanish Language Using On-Line Technologies, Maria Eugenia De Luna Villalón, Ana María García-Allén

Maria Eugenia De Luna Villalón

The main objective of this work is to give University students in a Canadian University the best learning experience as second language learners. For that reason, it is essential to introduce Graduate Teaching Assistants (TAs) to their duties as Second Language Instructors before they begin their teaching role. In Canadian Universities the TA’s role, in Languages’ Departments, is to teach a second language course as instructors at the beginner and intermediate levels. Most TAs come directly to teach from another cultural and geographical background and have no experience in the North American University teaching setting and even maybe, have no …

Política Y Planeación De Lenguaje En México: ¿Excesos Políticos O Falta De Planeación?, Maria Eugenia De Luna Villalón

Maria Eugenia De Luna Villalón

El usar las lenguas para establecer autoridad no es algo nuevo (Fishman, 2006); sin embargo, la política y planeación de lenguaje (PPL) como disciplina de estudio es relativamente joven. La PPL promueve el estudio del uso del lenguaje a nivel político y social, así como sus implicaciones para la política en la práctica. Algunas de las metas de PPL son revitalizar, renovar e invertir el desplazamiento de lenguaje, así como mantener, difundir y cultivar el estatus de una lengua al incrementar sus funciones y cultivar su forma para que pueda tener otras funciones y por lo tanto, se pueda difundir …

Migración Temporal: Un Factor Importante Para Repensar Las Lenguas En Contacto, Maria Eugenia De Luna Villalón

Maria Eugenia De Luna Villalón

Migración temporal: un factor importante para repensar las lenguas en contacto Canadá es reconocido por sus políticas de inmigración y establecimiento que incluyen clases de inglés o francés como segunda lengua para ayudar a los recien llegados en su proceso de adaptación e integración; reconociendo de esta manera que la competencia lingüística es crucial para la inclusión social de los inmigrantes. Sin embargo, las leyes migratorias no contemplan este tipo de ayuda para los migrantes temporales que vienen a Canadá con programas como el de los Trabajadores Agrícolas Temporales (PTAT). EL PTAT ha estado en función desde los años 60’s …

La Clase De Español Como L2: Una Comunidad De Práctica Donde Se Puede Promover El Diálogo Colaborativo Sobre Temas Interculturales, Maria Eugenia De Luna Villalón

Maria Eugenia De Luna Villalón

La clase de español como L2: Una comunidad de práctica donde se puede promover el diálogo colaborativo sobre temas interculturales El diálogo colaborativo es una actividad que promueve la producción oral a través del compromiso activo y la participación constructiva. A partir del modelo World Café (2008), que tiene como objetivo promover el diálogo colaborativo, se pretende crear una atmósfera acogedora donde los estudiantes se puedan sentir cómodos para poder escuchar, comprender, pensar y hablar en español creativamente. Para poder realizar este tipo de actividad de manera exitosa, se recomienda que la clase de español como L2 sea ya una …

El Hogar Como Un Contexto Sociocultural De Prácticas De Lectoescritura De Inmigrantes Mexicanos En Canadá., Maria Eugenia De Luna Villalón

Maria Eugenia De Luna Villalón

El propósito de este estudio es investigar, describir y explicar cuáles son las prácticas de lectoescritura en el hogar de cuatro familias mexicanas inmigrantes en Canadá; conocer la interrelación de las prácticas de lectoescritura en el hogar y las prácticas de lectoescritura escolar; el papel que juega la familia como mediadora en el ejercicio de las prácticas de lectoescritura y finalmente las diferencias y semejanzas que encuentran los participantes entre las prácticas de lectoescritura en el hogar en México y en Canadá. Canadá es una nación de inmigrantes que basa su política migratoria en la política multicultural que reconoce, promueve …

Leer Y Escribir En El Hogar De Familias Mexicanas Inmigrantes En Canadá: Transmisión, Mantenimiento, Y Reapropiación De Prácticas Culturales., Maria Eugenia De Luna Villalón

Maria Eugenia De Luna Villalón

No abstract provided.

What Code-Mixed Dps Can Tell Us About Gender, Elena Valenzuela, Joyce Bruhn De Garavito, Ewelina Barski, Maria Eugenia De Luna Villalón, Ana Faure, Yolanda Pangtay, Alma Ramírez Trujillo, Sonia Reis

Maria Eugenia De Luna Villalón

There has been a growing interest in the examination of the steady state of simultaneous bilinguals. An understanding of what leads to the possible weaknesses in the grammar of early bilinguals can contribute to our understanding of the possible causes of the apparent characteristic ‘failures’ in second language acquisition (Montrul 2008). Spanish has a gender feature for nouns (Carroll 1989) and gender agreement for determiners and adjectives. Problems with the acquisition of gender marking on the noun and/or with gender agreement are well-known in the L2 literature (Hawkins 1998; Fernández–Garcia 1999; Franceschina 2001; Bruhn de Garavito and White 2002; White …

Mexican Temporary Migrants In Canada: A Sociolinguistic Approach, Maria Eugenia De Luna Villalón

Maria Eugenia De Luna Villalón

Mexican temporary migrants in Canada: a sociolinguistic approach Canada is well recognized because of its immigration policies and settlement programs that include ESL classes that help newcomers in its adaptation and integration process, recognizing in this way that linguistic competence is crucial for the social inclusion and engagement of migrants. However, migratory laws do not contemplate these kinds of help for temporary migrants that come from Mexico and the Caribbean through the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program (SWAP). The SWAP has been a source of relevant economical, political, and social research with important policy implications. Within the literature, language barriers have …

Seminario On-Line Para Los Ta's De Español, Maria Eugenia De Luna Villalón, Ana María García-Allén

Maria Eugenia De Luna Villalón

The main objective of this work is to give University students in a Canadian University the best learning experience as second language learners. For that reason, it is essential to introduce Graduate Teaching Assistants (TAs) to their duties as Second Language Instructors before they begin their teaching role. In Canadian Universities the TA’s role, in Languages Departments, is to teach a second language course as instructors at the beginner and intermediate levels. It is a great challenge for Graduate Students to face the responsibility of teaching at the University level in a Canadian environment. Most TAs come directly to teach …