Learner initiative in the language classroom

This article looks at learner initiative in teacher-fronted activities and how this can influence classroom interaction. Extracts from lesson transcripts of adult evening classes in Italy are used to give a precise definition of what is meant by learner initiative and to illustrate how it can change interaction patterns. It is suggested that learner initiative could have an important role to play in promoting comprehensible input and output and therefore language learning. It will be seen how, by giving learners more space and time, initiative can be actively encouraged. However, there are direct implications for teacher training as it is necessary to change traditional interaction patterns and make learner initiative more effective.

Human resource management in foreign-owned subsidiaries:China versus India

This study examines the HRM practices and the role played by the HR department in foreign-owned units located in China and India. The study of 170 Western-owned subsidiaries analyses the extent to which the HRM practices associated with the local professionals and managerial-level employees resemble those of local firms versus those of the (main) Western parent organization, and investigates the degree to which the unit's HR department was perceived to play a strategic role. The results indicate clear differences between HRM characteristics in Western-owned units in China and India, and suggest that the use of expatriates and the background of the HR managers are important determinants of subsidiary HRM.

The role of commitment in foreign-Japanese relationships:mediating performance for foreign sellers in Japan

A lack of commitment between Japanese buyers and their foreign trading partners is often attributed as the cause of failure for foreign sellers in Japan. Due to Japanese idiosyncrasies, commitment plays a dominant, but poorly understood, role in the business relationship between foreign sellers and Japanese buyers. This research examines the role that the attachment bond between U.S. sellers and Japanese buyers plays in mediating the impact of exchange characteristics on performance in the domestic Japanese market. An analysis of 198 U.S. sellers in Japan demonstrates the complex web of calculative, social, and normative factors that account for the commitment existing in this foreign–Japanese trading relationship. The results highlight the importance of specific investments and cultural sensitivity for the seller’s commitment and the role of trust and switching costs in the buyer’s commitment.

Interhemispheric differences of spectral power in expressive language:a MEG study with clinical applications

In the last decade we have seen an exponential growth of functional imaging studies investigating multiple aspects of language processing. These studies have sparked an interest in applying some of the paradigms to various clinically relevant questions, such as the identification of the cortical regions mediating language function in surgical candidates for refractory epilepsy. Here we present data from a group of adult control participants in order to investigate the potential of using frequency specific spectral power changes in MEG activation patterns to establish lateralisation of language function using expressive language tasks. In addition, we report on a paediatric patient whose language function was assessed before and after a left hemisphere amygdalo-hippocampectomy. Our verb generation task produced left hemisphere decreases in beta-band power accompanied by right hemisphere increases in low beta-band power in the majority of the control group, a previously unreported phenomenon. This pattern of spectral power was also found in the patient's post-surgery data, though not her pre-surgery data. Comparison of pre and post-operative results also provided some evidence of reorganisation in language related cortex both inter- and intra-hemispherically following surgery. The differences were not limited to changes in localisation of language specific cortex but also changes in the spectral and temporal profile of frontal brain regions during verb generation. While further investigation is required to establish concordance with invasive measures, our data suggest that the methods described may serve as a reliable lateralisation marker for clinical assessment. Furthermore, our findings highlight the potential utility of MEG for the investigation of cortical language functioning in both healthy development and pathology.

Languaging the worker:globalized governmentalities in/of language in peripheral spaces

In the introduction to the special issue “Languaging the worker: globalized governmentalities in/of language in peripheral spaces”, we take up the notion of governmentality as a means to interrogate the complex relationship between language, labor, power and subjectivity in peripheral multilingual spaces. Our aim here is to argue for the study of governmentality as a viable and growing approach in critical sociolinguistic research. As such, in this introduction, we first discuss key concepts germane to our interrogations, including the notions of governmentality, languaging, peripherality and language worker. We proceed to map out five ethnographically and discourse-analytically informed case studies. These examine diverse actors in different settings pertaining to the domain of work. Finally we chart how the case studies construe the issue of languaging the worker through a governmentality frame.

Reconstructing the past? Low German and the creating of regional identity in public language display

This article deals with language contact between a dominant standard language -German - and a lesser-used variety - Low German - in a situation in which the minoritised language is threatened by language shift and language loss. It analyses the application of Low German in forms of public language display and the selfpresentation of the community in tourism brochures, focusing on bilingual linguistic practices on the one hand and on underlying discourses on the other. It reveals that top-down and bottom-up approaches to implementing Low German in public language display show a remarkable homogeneity, thus creating a regional 'brand'. The article asks whether a raised level of visibility will in itself guarantee better chances for linguistic maintenance and survival of the threatened language. © 2011 Taylor & Francis.

Solidarity and power in German : language as political action : a contribution to the socio-cultural history of the German language

Germany's latest attempt at unification raises again the question of German nationhood and nationality. The present study examines the links between the development of the German language and the political history of Germany, principally in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. By examining the role of language in the establishment and exercise of political power and in the creation of national and group solidarity in Germany, the study both provides insights into the nature of language as political action and contributes to the socio-cultural history of the German language. The language-theoretical hypothesis on which the study is based sees language as a central factor in political action, and opposes the notion that language is a reflection of underlying political 'realities' which exist independently of language. Language is viewed as language-in-text which performs identifiable functions. Following Leech, five functions are distinguished, two of which (the regulative and the phatic) are regarded as central to political processes. The phatic function is tested against the role of the German language as a creator and symbol of national identity, with particular attention being paid to concepts of the 'purity' of the language. The regulative function (under which a persuasive function is also subsumed) is illustrated using the examples of German fascist discourse and selected cases from German history post-1945. In addition, the interactions are examined between language change and socio-economic change by postulating that language change is both a condition and consequence of socio-economic change, in that socio-economic change both requires and conditions changes in the communicative environment. Finally, three politocolinguistic case studies from the eight and ninth decades of the twentieth century are introduced in order to demonstrate specific ways in which language has been deployed in an attempt to create political realities, thus verifying the initial hypothesis of the centrality of language to the political process.

Management of human resources in foreign firms operating in India:the role of HR in country-specific headquarters

Multinational companies (MNCs) are known to establish country-specific headquarters (CSHQs) or centres to create and transfer knowledge in order to better co-ordinate and control their operations, and also to share knowledge between affiliates both within and outside the country. This paper highlights the role played by the human resource (HR) function in Indian CSHQs. The analysis is based on interview and survey data from senior HR specialists in 74 foreign firms operating CSHQs in India. The study identifies the range of services that the Indian CSHQs' HR function provides to the local business units of the MNC. A high level of freedom from the MNCs' corporate headquarters to both develop and implement HR policies and practices is found. The CSHQ is found to be instrumental in the creation and dissemination of HR-related learning. The study also identifies the problems faced by the HR function operating with a CSHQ and the actions necessary to overcome these issues.