Researching language and culture in Africa using an autoethnographic approach     

Birgit Brock-Utne 《International Review of Education/Internationale Zeitschrift für Erziehungswissenschaft/Revue internationale l'éducation》2018,64(6):713-735

This article has its basis in the author’s own growing annoyance at so-called “sandwich” programmes, where young academics from developing countries study and learn theories at universities in the Global North, then go to their own countries for fieldwork – only to return to the host country to fit their data into the theories of the Global North. The purpose of this article is twofold. The author’s first aim is to demonstrate that the thinking and concepts of some African educational thinkers such as, for example, Julius Nyerere, fit the educational reality in Africa better than those of Western thinkers, and that these concepts should therefore be used. Second, she argues that when it comes to building theories from the ground, the life experiences of Africans (in terms of everyday reality, indigenous knowledge, cultural transmission, community engagement etc.) should be taken into account. She explains why, through her own teaching at the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, she became interested in the qualitative research method called autoethnography. She also draws on her experience of teaching qualitative research methods at a number of historically black universities in South Africa. She notes a recent positive development in the availability of a promising postgraduate programme with an authoethnographic approach. Entitled “The Narrative Study of Lives” and launched by the South African University of the Free State (UFS) Department of Sociology in 2012, this Master’s and PhD programme builds entirely on African experiences. In the last part of her article, the author applies an autoethnographic approach to the study of languages in Africa. She explains that some of her Tanzanian students grew up with several Tanzanian languages simultaneously, so that Western linguists’ terms like “mother tongue”, first and second language do not make sense to them. She also introduces the concept of ubuntu translanguaging, an effective practice of purposeful juxtaposition of languages observed in African empirical research.  相似文献   

Language of Instruction and Research in Higher Education in Europe: Highlights from the Current Debate in Norway and Sweden     

Birgit Brock-Utne 《International Review of Education/Internationale Zeitschrift für Erziehungswissenschaft/Revue internationale l'éducation》2007,53(4):367-388

This article examines some of the problems concerning the language of instruction in higher education within Europe and relates them to the African context. The author argues that there is reason to be worried about the spread of the use of English as a language of instruction in higher education, to the detriment of the smaller European languages in particular. The article gives an insight into the Norwegian and Swedish debate on the issue of domain loss to English in higher education. Towards the end, the article examines the language situation within the European Union. Here politicians publicly stress the need to maintain all the languages of the EU as part of the community’s wealth, but the reality appears to be different, as the EU is marked by the ever greater predominance of just one language, English.  相似文献   

Prelude to Victory in Neo-traditional Turkish Oil Wrestling: Sense Perceptions,Aesthetics and Performance     

Birgit Krawietz 《国际体育史杂志》2014,31(4):445-458

Managed officially by the Turkish Wrestling Federation, neo-traditional oil wrestling with its deep historical heritage is nowadays appropriated as a typically Turkish sport. It has to navigate between national regulation demands, local dynamics, engrossments of sorts and international attention. Its summit as the main athletic event with its pompous ritual program at the annual festival of Kirkpinar in the city of Edirne presents a full-screen picture that is taken here as a prism to analyse its special attraction and the predilection of various actors.  相似文献   

Enamel insert restorations on Limoges painted enamels: A study on a remarkable nineteenth-century restoration technique with particular attention to the original paillon designs     

Birgit Schwahn 《文物保护研究》2014,59(3):161-179

Two sixteenth-century Limoges painted enamel plaques by Léonard Limosin in the collection of the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, show a remarkable restoration technique consisting of separately enameled pieces that have been inserted into areas where original enamel was lost. A detailed investigation of the two plaques brought information about this former restoration method and the materials used. Investigation included optical microscopy, UV-A examination, and X-radiography for identification and mapping of the insert restorations, scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy for analyzing organic restoration material as well as X-ray fluorescence for studying the enamel compositions. A survey of six other Limoges painted enamel collections in the USA was carried out, which revealed many more of these insert restorations and indicated particular damages related to the so-called paillon designs on silver or gold foils. A literature review was undertaken focusing on possible causes of the damage as well as on persons and workshops that may have executed the insert restorations.  相似文献   

Competence beliefs and perceived ability evaluations: How do they contribute to intrinsic motivation and achievement?     

Verena Freiberger  Ricarda Steinmayr  Birgit Spinath 《Learning and individual differences》2012,22(4):518-522

To study the role of students' competence beliefs and their perceived teachers' ability evaluations for intrinsic motivation and achievement in math, 459 second graders from 27 German classrooms were examined. Students provided self-reports on their intrinsic motivation, competence beliefs and perceived teachers' ability evaluations in math. Teachers gave insight in students' math grades. Relations were analyzed by three different models: a direct, an indirect and an interaction effect model. Concerning intrinsic motivation, results provided support for both an indirect effect and an interaction effect model, but not for a direct effect model. With regard to math achievement, only the indirect model appeared to be appropriate. The finding that perceived teachers' ability evaluations had an (indirect) effect on students' intrinsic motivation and achievement in math hints at the role of significant others in the development of children's academic functioning and might guide potential interventions.  相似文献