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Start date: 2020Subject: search.filters.subject.Language

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    'But we're just the same humans as you' : refugees negotiating exclusions, belonging and language in Sweden and New Zealand : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Applied Linguistics at Massey University, Manawatū, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2025-01-28) Svensson, Hanna Lena Katrin
    Refugee settlement is a complex process requiring the navigation of new linguistic and social spaces and the renegotiation of belonging and identity. The process can also be complicated by the contested nature of national belonging and the politicisation of social cohesion, as well as by forms of everyday exclusion. Drawing on a Bakhtinian dialogical framework, this study used qualitative data from interviews with language teachers, settlement support workers and refugee-background residents in New Zealand and Sweden to investigate dimensions of belonging, social cohesion, and language in relation to refugee settlement. The study sought to discover how belonging and social cohesion are perceived and experienced by refugee-background residents in these contexts, how they are promoted by the two settlement nations, and how they are operationalised in political and public discourse to enforce boundaries and construct national and refugee identities. Of particular interest was the intersection of public discourse and lived experience, and the tensions and contestations that may arise in these spaces. Language learning and use were seen as crucial aspects of belonging and social cohesion and were investigated both in terms of linguistic inequalities in the settlement location and in terms of the unique language learning journeys of adult learners. The findings suggest that there are significant gaps in the understanding of refugee experiences among policy makers and that discursive representations of refugees, particularly in terms of social cohesion and belonging, often impact negatively on the settlement process. The politicisation of belonging and the appropriation of social cohesion discourses as tools for differentiation, and potentially exclusion, can have negative impacts on individuals’ rights and settlement prospects while reductive representations of refugees lead to unrealistic expectations in terms of language acquisition and labour market participation and to restrictive policies that hinder the settlement process. The thesis concludes by arguing that in order to strengthen social cohesion and belonging, it is imperative that refugees are included as dialogical partners, practically and ideologically. It identifies theoretical, methodological, and practical implications of the research and raises further questions in relation to gender, language acquisition, incentivisation and dialogical practice in the context of refugee settlement.
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    Causal involvement of the left angular gyrus in higher functions as revealed by transcranial magnetic stimulation: a systematic review
    (Springer Nature, 2023-01-01) Wagner J; Rusconi E
    Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a non-invasive technique that can transiently interfere with local cortical functioning, thus enabling inferences of causal left AG involvement in higher functions from experimentation with healthy participants. Here, we examine 35 studies that measure behavioural outcomes soon after or during targeting TMS to the left AG, by design and as documented by individual magnetic resonance images, in healthy adult participants. The reviewed evidence suggests a specific causal involvement of the left AG in a wide range of tasks involving language, memory, number processing, visuospatial attention, body awareness and motor planning functions. These core findings are particularly valuable to inform theoretical models of the left AG role(s) in higher functions, due to the anatomical specificity afforded by the selected studies and the complementarity of TMS to different methods of investigation. In particular, the variety of the operations within and between functions in which the left AG appears to be causally involved poses a formidable challenge to any attempts to identify a single computational process subserved by the left AG (as opposed to just outlining a broad type of functional contribution) that could apply across thematic areas. We conclude by highlighting directions for improvement in future experimentation with TMS, in order to strengthen the available evidence, while taking into account the anatomical heterogeneity of this brain region.
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    Body appreciation around the world: Measurement invariance of the Body Appreciation Scale-2 (BAS-2) across 65 nations, 40 languages, gender identities, and age.
    (Elsevier B.V., 2023-08-13) Swami V; Tran US; Stieger S; Aavik T; Ranjbar HA; Adebayo SO; Afhami R; Ahmed O; Aimé A; Akel M; Halbusi HA; Alexias G; Ali KF; Alp-Dal N; Alsalhani AB; Álvares-Solas S; Amaral ACS; Andrianto S; Aspden T; Argyrides M; Aruta JJBR; Atkin S; Ayandele O; Baceviciene M; Bahbouh R; Ballesio A; Barron D; Bellard A; Bender SS; Beydağ KD; Birovljević G; Blackburn M-È; Borja-Alvarez T; Borowiec J; Bozogáňová M; Bratland-Sanda S; Browning MHEM; Brytek-Matera A; Burakova M; Çakır-Koçak Y; Camacho P; Camilleri VE; Cazzato V; Cerea S; Chaiwutikornwanich A; Chaleeraktrakoon T; Chambers T; Chen Q-W; Chen X; Chien C-L; Chobthamkit P; Choompunuch B; Compte EJ; Corrigan J; Cosmas G; Cowden RG; Czepczor-Bernat K; Czub M; da Silva WR; Dadfar M; Dalley SE; Dany L; Datu JAD; Berbert de Carvalho PH; Coelho GLDH; De Jesus AOS; Debbabi SH; Dhakal S; Di Bernardo F; Dimitrova DD; Dion J; Dixson B; Donofrio SM; Drysch M; Du H; Dzhambov AM; El-Jor C; Enea V; Eskin M; Farbod F; Farrugia L; Fian L; Fisher ML; Folwarczny M; Frederick DA; Fuller-Tyszkiewicz M; Furnham A; García AA; Geller S; Ghisi M; Ghorbani A; Martinez MAG; Gradidge S; Graf S; Grano C; Gyene G; Hallit S; Hamdan M; Handelzalts JE; Hanel PHP; Hawks SR; Hekmati I; Helmy M; Hill T; Hina F; Holenweger G; Hřebíčková M; Ijabadeniyi OA; Imam A; İnce B; Irrazabal N; Jankauskiene R; Jiang D-Y; Jiménez-Borja M; Jiménez-Borja V; Johnson EM; Jovanović V; Jović M; Jović M; Junqueira ACP; Kahle L-M; Kantanista A; Karakiraz A; Karkin AN; Kasten E; Khatib S; Khieowan N; Kimong PJ; Kiropoulos L; Knittel J; Kohli N; Koprivnik M; Kospakov A; Król-Zielińska M; Krug I; Kuan G; Kueh YC; Kujan O; Kukić M; Kumar S; Kumar V; Lamba N; Lauri MA; Laus MF; LeBlanc LA; Lee HJ; Lipowska M; Lipowski M; Lombardo C; Lukács A; Maïano C; Malik S; Manjary M; Baldó LM; Martinez-Banfi M; Massar K; Matera C; McAnirlin O; Mebarak MR; Mechri A; Meireles JFF; Mesko N; Mills J; Miyairi M; Modi R; Modrzejewska A; Modrzejewska J; Mulgrew KE; Myers TA; Namatame H; Nassani MZ; Nerini A; Neto F; Neto J; Neves AN; Ng S-K; Nithiya D; O J; Obeid S; Oda-Montecinos C; Olapegba PO; Olonisakin TT; Omar SS; Örlygsdóttir B; Özsoy E; Otterbring T; Pahl S; Panasiti MS; Park Y; Patwary MM; Pethö T; Petrova N; Pietschnig J; Pourmahmoud S; Prabhu VG; Poštuvan V; Prokop P; Ramseyer Winter VL; Razmus M; Ru T; Rupar M; Sahlan RN; Hassan MS; Šalov A; Sapkota S; Sarfo JO; Sawamiya Y; Schaefer K; Schulte-Mecklenbeck M; Seekis V; Selvi K; Sharifi M; Shrivastava A; Siddique RF; Sigurdsson V; Silkane V; Šimunić A; Singh G; Slezáčková A; Sundgot-Borgen C; Ten Hoor G; Tevichapong P; Tipandjan A; Todd J; Togas C; Tonini F; Tovar-Castro JC; Trangsrud LKJ; Tripathi P; Tudorel O; Tylka TL; Uyzbayeva A; Vally Z; Vanags E; Vega LD; Vicente-Arruebarrena A; Vidal-Mollón J; Vilar R; Villegas H; Vintilă M; Wallner C; White MP; Whitebridge S; Windhager S; Wong KY; Yau EK; Yamamiya Y; Yeung VWL; Zanetti MC; Zawisza M; Zeeni N; Zvaríková M; Voracek M
    The Body Appreciation Scale-2 (BAS-2) is a widely used measure of a core facet of the positive body image construct. However, extant research concerning measurement invariance of the BAS-2 across a large number of nations remains limited. Here, we utilised the Body Image in Nature (BINS) dataset - with data collected between 2020 and 2022 - to assess measurement invariance of the BAS-2 across 65 nations, 40 languages, gender identities, and age groups. Multi-group confirmatory factor analysis indicated that full scalar invariance was upheld across all nations, languages, gender identities, and age groups, suggesting that the unidimensional BAS-2 model has widespread applicability. There were large differences across nations and languages in latent body appreciation, while differences across gender identities and age groups were negligible-to-small. Additionally, greater body appreciation was significantly associated with higher life satisfaction, being single (versus being married or in a committed relationship), and greater rurality (versus urbanicity). Across a subset of nations where nation-level data were available, greater body appreciation was also significantly associated with greater cultural distance from the United States and greater relative income inequality. These findings suggest that the BAS-2 likely captures a near-universal conceptualisation of the body appreciation construct, which should facilitate further cross-cultural research.
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    Kaumātua Mana Motuhake Pōi: a study protocol for enhancing wellbeing, social connectedness and cultural identity for Māori elders.
    (BioMed Central, 2020-10-02) Hokowhitu B; Oetzel JG; Simpson ML; Nock S; Reddy R; Meha P; Johnston K; Jackson A-M; Erueti B; Rewi P; Warbrick I; Cameron MP; Zhang Y; Ruru S
    BACKGROUND: The Aotearoa New Zealand population is ageing accompanied by health and social challenges including significant inequities that exist between Māori and non-Māori around poor ageing and health. Although historically kaumātua (elder Māori) faced a dominant society that failed to realise their full potential as they age, Māori culture has remained steadfast in upholding elders as cultural/community anchors. Yet, many of today's kaumātua have experienced 'cultural dissonance' as the result of a hegemonic dominant culture subjugating an Indigenous culture, leading to generations of Indigenous peoples compelled or forced to dissociate with their culture. The present research project, Kaumātua Mana Motuhake Pōī (KMMP) comprises two interrelated projects that foreground dimensions of wellbeing within a holistic Te Ao Māori (Māori epistemology) view of wellbeing. Project 1 involves a tuakana-teina/peer educator model approach focused on increasing service access and utilisation to support kaumātua with the greatest health and social needs. Project 2 focuses on physical activity and cultural knowledge exchange (including te reo Māori--Māori language) through intergenerational models of learning. METHODS: Both projects have a consistent research design and common set of methods that coalesce around the emphasis on kaupapa kaumatua; research projects led by kaumātua and kaumātua providers that advance better life outcomes for kaumātua and their communities. The research design for each project is a mixed-methods, pre-test and two post-test, staggered design with 2-3 providers receiving the approach first and then 2-3 receiving it on a delayed basis. A pre-test (baseline) of all participants will be completed. The approach will then be implemented with the first providers. There will then be a follow-up data collection for all participants (post-test 1). The second providers will then implement the approach, which will be followed by a final data collection for all participants (post-test 2). DISCUSSION: Two specific outcomes are anticipated from this research; firstly, it is hoped that the research methodology provides a framework for how government agencies, researchers and relevant sector stakeholders can work with Māori communities. Secondly, the two individual projects will each produce a tangible approach that, it is anticipated, will be cost effective in enhancing kaumātua hauora and mana motuhake. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Australia New Zealand Clinical Trial Registry ( ACTRN12620000316909 ). Registered 6 March 2020.
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    Effects of APOE e4-allele and mental work demands on cognitive decline in old age: Results from the German Study on Ageing, Cognition, and Dementia in Primary Care Patients (AgeCoDe)
    (John Wiley and Sons Ltd, 2021-01) Rodriguez FS; Roehr S; Pabst A; Kleineidam L; Fuchs A; Wiese B; Lühmann D; Brettschneider C; Wolfsgruber S; Pentzek M; van den Bussche H; König H-H; Weyerer S; Werle J; Bickel H; Weeg D; Maier W; Scherer M; Wagner M; Riedel-Heller SG
    Objectives Previous studies have observed protective effects of high mental demands at work on cognitive functioning and dementia risk. However, it is unclear what types of demands drive this effect and whether this effect is subject to a person's genetic risk. We investigated to what extent eight different types of mental demands at work together with the APOE e4 allele, a major risk gene for late-onset Alzheimer's disease, affect cognitive functioning in late life. Methods/Design The population-based German Study on Ageing, Cognition, and Dementia in Primary Care Patients (AgeCoDe, n = 2 154) followed cognitively healthy individuals aged 75 years and older in seven assessment waves. Cognitive functioning was assessed via the mini-mental status examination. Results Mixed-effects modeling (adjusted for education, gender, marital status, stroke, depression, and diabetes) indicated that participants who had an occupational history of working in jobs with high compared to low demands in “Language & Knowledge”, “Pattern detection”, “Information processing”, and “Service” had a slower cognitive decline. APOE e4-allele carriers had an accelerated cognitive decline, but this decline was significantly smaller if they had a medium compared to a low level of demands in contrast to non-carriers. Conclusions Our longitudinal observations suggest that cognitive decline could be slowed by an intellectually enriched lifestyle even in risk gene carriers. Fostering intellectual engagement throughout the life-course could be a key prevention initiative to promote better cognitive health in old age.