bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Forced to work and liberated from work
Authors: Lindqvist R. , Marklund S.
Published: April 2007

The work‐welfare nexus is essential in all social policy regimes. The question is in what situations individuals should be entitled to social welfare benefits and in which situations they should be obliged to work. Social welfare law and administrative practices define mechanisms that separate the deserving poor from people able to work. This article analyses the functions and character of these “separation mechanisms” in Sweden during three periods in history: a) in rural society in the late 19th century; b) in industrial society during the successful years of the Swedish model from World War II until the late 1970s; and c) the present, including the period of welfare retrenchment and reconsideration since the early 1980s. The conclusion is that Swedish social policy has always been strongly work‐oriented, but the specific form and content of the work ethic has varied under the influence of different ideologies and handled in different social policy institutions. Under specific conditions the work line has been either generous or restrictive and it has been based on structural attempts to improve the opportunities to work as well as on attempts to strongly pressure the individual to work. The work line of today is seen as an interesting attempt to combine an effort to create good work through improved work conditions and an effort to reinforce elements of work enforcement in the social insurance system.
Ethnic and cultural differences in knowledge about HIV and AIDS: a study of 150 young women from Sweden, Chile and Ecuador
Authors: Bayard L. , Sundquist J. , Engström M.‐A. , Mattson I.
Published: April 2007

This article illustrates the differences in knowledge about HIV and AIDS and attitudes among 150 young women from three different countries (Sweden, Chile and Ecuador). In each country, 50 consecutive women, visiting a family planning clinic answered 23 structured questions. The questionnaire was translated into Spanish. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of age, education, ethnicity and religion on young women's knowledge of HIV and AIDS. This study shows that ethnicity is the most important independent variable influencing the level of knowledge (stepwise logistic regression). Also, in Chile and Ecuador, less than 10% of the women in the study required that their partner use a condom. In Sweden the use of condoms is often combined with another contraceptive, yet more than two thirds of the women in Sweden were unprotected from a sexually transmitted disease during coitus.
Distribution of home help services in an elderly urban population: data from the Kungsholmen Project
Authors: Torres H. Agüero , Kabir Z. N. , Winblad B.
Published: April 2007

Data from the total urban population 75 years and older in Kungsholmen, Stockholm were used to calculate the distribution of home help services. A structured questionnaire was used to collect information about education, occupation, living conditions, Katz Activities of Daily Living Scale, contact with the family, medical treatment and also questions about help needed and functional ability. Home help was considered to be provided when the subjects reported receiving home help service from the municipality. The number of hours of home help and the services received were registered. The results show that 86% of the elderly population in the Municipality of Kungsholmen live in their own homes, even when they are very old. Twenty‐seven percent of those over 74 years and 33% of those over 80 years received home help services. The people receiving help were mostly women, single living, older and with disability detected by the Katz Activities of Daily Living Scale. The predicting factors of hours of home help are older age, condition of single living, disability detected by the Katz Activities of Daily Living Scale and less years of education. Our results also show that, among those who receive home help service, those with disability in the activities of daily living get more hours of help. However, a considerable group of elderly people are disabled but do not receive any home help. Our data stress the need for more attention by health care planners of domiciliary and intensive care and residential facilities for the high risk population (very old, living alone and with disability).
The changing social profile of mothers whose children are admitted into institutional care in Greece
Authors: Vorria P.
Published: April 2007

The study sample consisted of 69 mothers in Greece whose children had been admitted into institutional care at an age of less than 7 years. These mothers were divided into two groups, 32 whose children were aged 2.5–5.5 years and 37 whose children were aged 15.5–17.5 years at the time of study. The mean age of the first group of mothers was 27 years and the second 42 years. Corresponding control groups consisted of 65 mothers, 24 younger and 37 older, in intact families. All the mothers were interviewed using a semistructured interview schedule. Study mothers of both groups were from a lower social class (occupation, education) than controls, had experienced more adversity in childhood and had more health problems. They had left their parental homes and given birth at a younger age and faced more difficulties (financial, housing problems, marital discord and/or divorce). The older group of study mothers more often had their children admitted into care because of financial difficulties or illegitimacy, in contrast with the younger mothers who more often gave the reason of marital breakdown. There were indications that the same kind of adversity that they had experienced themselves as children was the main reason for admission of their children into institutional care.
Lapsele Oma Kodu (bringing abandoned children home): a project from Tallinn, Estonia to reunite institutionalized children with families
Authors: Harrison L. , Rubeiz G. , Kochubey A.
Published: April 2007

In 1993 it was estimated that there were approximately 2000 children in 64 institutions in Estonia. Children in Estonia and in other central and eastern European countries are often removed from their homes and placed in institutions in order to ensure that their basic physical needs will be met. Lapsele Oma Kodu is a project that was initiated in Estonia in 1993 to (a) train social workers and homemakers to provide family services to reunite institutionalized children with families; (b) return home a minimum of 50 institutionalized children; (c) demonstrate a model family support program; and (d) influence public opinion and child welfare policy in Estonia. Between April 1993 and June 1994, services were provided to 150 families (including 187 children). A total of 101 children have been removed from institutions and placed with biological, foster or adoptive families. An additional 19 children have been able to remain with their families through preventive services. This article presents data from the first 15 months of project activities that can be useful to other countries in central and eastern Europe initiating similar family service programs in the post‐Soviet era.
Social welfare and social work: the meaning of poverty programs in Latin America
Authors: Laurell Å. C.
Published: April 2007

During the last decade, the concern about poverty has turned into a key issue in the government discourse, and participatory poverty programs have multiplied all over Latin America. Nevertheless, poverty and social unrest keep growing. The objective of this article is to explain this apparent paradox. First there is an analysis of the relationship between structural adjustment, the growth of poverty, and the reorientation of broad social policy away from social rights towards selective and targeted poor relief. In order to illustrate the content and operation of a typical Latin American poverty program, the Mexican National Solidarity Program is examined. The initial question posed is whether this program alleviates poverty and grants a social minimum for the poor in view of the magnitude of poverty, the quantity of resources and their allocation. Next the participatory approach of the program is analyzed in relation to the empowerment of poor groups and communities. Finally, there is a reflection on the place of social work in this program and how the role of the social worker has been transformed.
Steps towards an integration of basic therapeutic skills: a qualitative study of the development of the ideas of 15 social work students about being helpful to clients
Authors: Nerdrum P.
Published: April 2007

Social work students (n=39) were shown 10 videotaped client situations prior to and after participating in a communication skills training course. At both times, they were asked to write proposals for helpful answers for each of these situations. Proposals made by a sample of 15 students were analyzed with regard to patterns in their answers before and after the training course. These 15 were selected by using quantitative data identifying those students who changed their level of communicated empathy during the training course and those who did not. The communication course is described. Patterns in the proposals are examined and discussed in relation to central concepts of helping; such as acknowledging, empathic communication and working alliance. Three steps in the development of skillfulness are described and suggested as more general steps in the acquisition of therapeutic competence. The validity and reliability of the study are discussed, as well as possible implications of the findings for social work education.
Policy‐makers in social services in Finland: the municipality and the state
Authors: Kröger T. , Kröger Teppo
Published: April 2007

Finland has been a latecomer in its development of social services. Nevertheless, during the 1970s and 1980s, it constructed a wide‐ranging system of social services. This is a result of cooperation, but also of inter‐administrational struggle between central and local government. The provision of Finnish social services has been the responsibility of self‐governing local municipalities, although it is subsidized and controlled by the state. The proportion of state financing has increased remarkably during the last decades, but the municipalities still finance half of their social service expenditure themselves. The economic recession of the 1990s has led to a restructuring of the Finnish model of social services, but local government will evidently remain at the center of decision‐making on social service provision.
Quality attributes of home help services in Sweden and Canada – a consumer view
Authors: Samuelsson G. , Brink S.
Published: April 2007

The ranking pattern of quality attributes among the respondents of the sample from Canada was very different from those comprising the sample from Sweden. Both samples were drawn from city populations and some similarities were expected. In Sweden, continuity and personal suitability (personal qualities and professional competence) were the most important general quality attributes followed by personal relationship, times/availability and influence. The Canadian sample ranked personal suitability and the time/availability variables as the most important quality attributes followed by influence, continuity and personal relationship. Background factors linked to each sample appeared to affect the ranking pattern. In the Swedish sample, the ranking pattern was affected mainly by the same independent background variable, while in the Canadian sample the ranking pattern was a little more diversified. There were also differences in the satisfaction arising from home help services received by the two samples. The Swedish sample generally experienced a higher level of satisfaction for individual attributes of home help, but overall satisfaction with the home helper and the home services were similar, with both groups being “rather to very satisfied”. Good subjective health in the Swedish group was significantly related to positive overall judgment of the home help. In the Canadian population, high age and low charge for the home help services were significantly related to positive evaluation of the home help. The policy implications of the results for the future are discussed.
The effects of poverty on sleep problems in Sweden
Authors: Blank N. , Diderichsen F.
Published: April 2007

Does relative poverty measured as low disposable household income or the presence of personal financial crisis affect health measured in terms of self‐reported sleep problems? If so, is this effect modified by macroeconomic conditions or life changes such as unemployment experience, divorce or limiting illness, and it is buffered by social networks or coping behavior such as smoking? These questions are studied on a representative sample of employed people aged 20‐65 who participated in the Survey of Living Conditions conducted by Statistics Sweden for the years 1980‐1981 (7180 people) and 1986‐1989 (13,376 people). The results reveal a conditional relationship between poverty and sleep problems. Among men it is modified, in particular, by previous experience of unemployment. Among women strong social networks buffers the effect but smoking aggravates it. Men's sleep was affected more by poverty and unemployment in the late 1980s than in the earlier period.
Short‐term and long‐term effects of an outpatient rehabilitation program for patients with musculoskeletal disorders
Authors: Ejlertsson G. , Leden I. , Berglund P. , Hansson T.
Published: April 2007

The objective of the study was to investigate whether intensified rehabilitation efforts in primary health care may produce any short‐term or long‐term reduction of sick leave. The resources at the health care center were fortified with a coordinator from the local insurance office and a specialist group from the hospital. In one primary health care district, a prospective study was performed among 100 patients with a musculoskeletal disorder, having caused at least 21 consecutive days of full‐time sick leave (patients). Serving as a control group were individually matched patients from any other health care center in the surrounding municipality of Kristianstad (controls). The number of sick leave days was assessed during year one (short‐term) and year three (long‐term) after rehabilitation was initiated. The median number of days with sickness benefits for men in the short‐term was lower for patients than for controls (34.5 vs 48.5). No difference was found among women. No differences were found in the long‐term between patients and controls, either for men or women. We conclude that rehabilitation in primary health care was made more efficient through collaboration with the local insurance office and the specialists, but the effects were not maintained after the collaboration ended.
How to start to talk about money: developing clienthood in interaction in a social welfare office
Authors: Rostila I.
Published: April 2007

The process of defining clienthood, in terms of real‐time talk and the inherently local linguistic and interactive practices, which highlights the need for an explication of the interaction order, is analyzed in this article. The tracking of the objectives and patterns of actions of local interaction in a Finnish social welfare office between social workers and longterm clients reveals the ongoing negotiating about meaning, rights and social positions and the central role of institutional speech in the constitution of a social welfare office. Basic interactional solutions for managing the institutional task of dealing with the applicant's interested claims was found. The social workers could, using different practices, initiate the treatment of the question of benefits so that the participants, with mutual alignment, avoided representing the clients interested claims. Also the clients could initiate the treatment, but the social workers did not align with the initiations that could be classified as interested.
Social well‐being and gender: post‐Soviet Estonia and the welfare state Finland
Authors: Narusk A. , Kandolin I.
Published: April 2007

Recent research has pointed out the gender‐blindness of mainstream discussion on social well‐being, social policy and citizenship. In this article the differences between men's and women's well‐being in Estonia and Finland were studied according to the subjects' perceived stress symptoms within their work‐family arrangements. While paid work is expected to be the responsibility of both genders in both countries, unpaid work is expected to be the main responsibility of women in Estonia, and the shared responsibility of both men and women in Finland. The results support the hypotheses about the different gendered outcomes of social policy in these countries. The greater load of unpaid work of the employed Estonian women was connected with a higher level of stress. The fact that the Finnish women perceived less stress than their Estonian counterparts and that the difference between women's and men's stress level in two‐earner families with children was smaller in Finland than in Estonia, supports previous research illustrating the more women‐friendly character of Finnish social policy.
Trade unions and the elderly population: is retirement still linked to the sphere of work?
Authors: Kohli M. , Künemund H. , Wolf J.
Published: April 2007

Although trade unions focus on the labor force, they are important for the retirees as well. In Germany there are three main reasons for this importance. 1) Quite unintentionally, the unions ‐ with 1.7 million retired members ‐ have become one of the largest old‐age organizations, 2) In a corporatist work and welfare regime such as Germany, the unions are one of the key actors not only in labor market policy but also in social policy, including the generational contract of old‐age security. 3) The unions potentially link the retirees to the sphere of work, and thus to the concerns and conflicts of the work society. In an aging society, the saliency of such a link between work and retirement is increasing. On the one hand, with their active membership decreasing, unions are compelled to turn also to those who have retired from work to maintain their organizational strength. On the other hand, the retirees have a greater interest in union activity. By calling for a larger share in union affairs, they present the unions with an organizational dilemma. This article discusses the practice and potential of the link between unions and their older members from both perspectives: from that of the unions and their interest in the retirees and from that of the retirees and their interest in maintaining membership. Our empirical basis is a multi‐level study of unions and old‐age politics in Germany, including some steps towards comparison with other European countries. The study focuses on the German Metal Workers' Union ‐ with its 3 million members the biggest single trade union not only in Germany but in all the Western world. After introducing our approach, we follow the three points outlined above. We begin by examining the evolution of the membership share of retirees in the unions. Secondly, we discuss the role of the unions in the corporatist system, especially with respect to policies concerning the elderly population. The third point, the link between retirement and the work sphere, is treated by first looking at the organizational supply of union activities for the elderly population, and then at the demand by elderly members. Finally, we briefly address the possible directions for the future, especially with regard to models of organizational representation.
Difficult decisions on care and services for elderly people: the dilemma of setting priorities in the welfare state
Authors: Thorslund M. , Bergmark Å. , Parker M. G.
Published: April 2007

The aging of the population combined with restricted economic resources is leading to an increasing gap between care needs and care resources. The first strategy to cope with this growing disparity is often the rather non‐controversial attempt to optimize the use of the resources. At some point in time, however, more crucial decisions are needed. Four levels of decision‐making in the system of care services may be identified ‐ from decisions regarding national resource allocation to decisions regarding individual users. The different conditions for making decisions and setting priorities at each level must be considered when studying the decision‐making process and the consequences ‐ including the repercussions for other levels and sectors. With Sweden as a case, four trends in decision‐making can be seen: decentralization of many controversial decisions; redefining of the lines of responsibility between sectors; increasing inequality in the accessibility, cost, and quality of care; and a general lack of public discussion and debate about central welfare issues.
Relationships between traumatic life events, symptoms and Sense of Coherence subscale meaningfulness in a group of refugee and immigrant patients referred to a psychiatric outpatient clinic in Stockholm
Authors: Ekblad S. , Wennström C.
Published: April 2007

This pilot study had the aim to test the long version of the Sense of Coherence (SOC) questionnaire and its relationship to mental symptoms using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM‐III‐R (SCID) and a battery of traumatic life event questionnaires, in a multicultural immigrant and refugee sample of 33 volunteer patients at a psychiatric outpatient clinic. The total mean value of SOC was very low: 104.6 (SD=13.7), which is over 30 points lower than most published normative data. Since the Cronbach alpha coefficient was very low in this sample for SOC, totally 0.17, we analyzed the subscale with the highest alpha, i.e., meaningfulness 0.62. The SOC subscale meaningfulness scores were significantly correlated with three of the four dimensions of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM‐III‐R used as well as with traumatic life events and mental symptoms. No gender differences were found. The results of this study are consistent with previously reported cross‐sectional data, i.e., that low SOC subscale meaningfulness is associated with mental distress and impaired functioning. However, these findings must be considered in light of methodological issues and the limitations of research in this area. Implications of these findings are presented, as are methodological issues that concern Antonovsky's measure.
Contraceptive utilization: profile of the Muslim Arab women in rural Israel
Authors: Azaiza F.
Published: April 2007

The contraceptive habits of the Arab population in rural Israel was explored by means of a cohort (n=429) of rural Muslim women, with the aim to compose a profile of the women who practice modern contraception. Self‐reported information revealed that only one third of the women apply modern contraceptive devices. Multivariate analysis showed the following independent variables to bear a contributory and predictive value with respect to use or non‐use of modern contraceptive means by Muslim village women in Israel: degree of religiosity of the woman, male offspring, extent of modernity within the nuclear family, number of children, occupation of the husband, and adherence to traditional norms by the woman.
Decentralization of decision making: the case of payment policies for children's daycare
Authors: Forssén K.
Published: April 2007

To bring about equality, the Nordic welfare states have provided a broad range of services with as homogenous eligibility criteria as possible. This homogeneity of social benefits has been obtained by centralized decision making and a high degree of statutory regulation. Recent trends in all welfare states veer towards greater local independence and decentralization. This article examines how the decentralization of decision making in Finland has affected the realization of basic welfare state principles. The specific aspect from which the topic is examined are user fee policies for children's daycare. The analysis gives a rather inconsistent picture of possible explanations for the differences between daycare payment policies. Municipal decision making is influenced by economic rather than political or structural factors. However, logical economic explanations are found only in large municipalities. This study highlights that decentralization of decision making has put families in very different economic positions in different municipalities ‐ municipal traps are emerging. The relationship between welfare services and income redistribution has become ever more complicated as decision‐making powers have been localized. A family may, for example, be paying the highest daycare fees but at the same time be entitled to social assistance.
Is disability pension related to quality of life?
Authors: Edén L. , Brokhöj T. , Ejlertsson G. , Leden I. , Nordbeck B.
Published: April 2007

The aim of this study was to investigate the quality of life (QL) among early retired pensioners (ERPs) granted a disability pension due to musculoskeletal disorders. A questionnaire was sent to 450 ERPs and to a control group of the same size living in the municipality of Kristianstad, Sweden. Interviews were performed with ERPs with positive and progressing QL (n = 29) and ERPs with negative and declining QL (n = 26). The QL among ERPs was lower than among controls. ERPs below 55 years of age and immigrant ERPs had higher odds for a low/declining QL than older and Swedish ERPs, respectively. The most important domain influencing the QL among ERPs was the relationship or lack of relationship with family and others. ERPs with low/declining QL pointed out that poor subjective health status and economic problems were crucial reasons for their low QL.
Youth unemployment, economic deprivation and suicide
Authors: Hagquist C.
Published: April 2007

The objective of this article is to shed light on the relationship between unemployment and financial hardship/ recession on the one hand and suicide of young persons on the other, based partly on a review of the literature and partly on a tentative analysis of empirical data from Sweden. Aggregated data have been used to produce a descriptive analysis of the changes in suicide rate with time, changes in the unemployment rate and the proportions of those in receipt of social allowance. Individual level data have been used to perform a cohort study.

The results based on aggregated data show that no signs of positive links between suicide rates and unemployment/social allowance recipients figures can be found among Swedish young persons during the last decade. The results from the cohort analysis show a clear link between economic deprivation on the one hand and suicide on the other during the second part of the 1980s.
Institutionalized strategies in face‐to‐face encounters: focus on immigrant clients
Authors: Jonsson T. B.
Published: April 2007

The aim of this article is to explore how officials' institutionalized patterns of acting can be useful for understanding encounters between immigrant clients and representatives of a welfare organization. The data indicate that there are two fundamental social mechanisms at work: the materialization of the organizational ideology, and the cultural filter. Both have an impact on the type of action strategy chosen by an official in handling client problems. An analysis of the strategy outcomes according to the social mechanisms shows that: 1) The outcome will depend on the client's consent to the organizational ideology. Immigrant clients more often than other clients are assumed to have different views on, for example, sickness, work capability and retirement age; 2) Comparing clients to the image of an ideal‐typical long‐term sick person can lead to the definition of clients with different cultural backgrounds or those of immigrant status as deviant, and therefore problematic to deal with; 3) The cultural filter through which the officials interpret their clients' situation can be an important obstacle in understanding the responses of immigrant clients.

The study was conducted at a local social insurance office in a suburban area of a major Swedish city. Immigrants represented approximately 60% of the long‐term sick people. The empirical material consists of observations of encounters and interviews with the officials working with rehabilitation of the long‐term sick.
Symbolic purposes and factual consequences of the concepts “self‐reliance” and “dependency” in contemporary discourses on welfare
Authors: Halvorsen K.
Published: April 2007

To be self‐reliant has been a dominant norm in Western societies since early Christianity. Today the concept has the symbolic purpose of maintaining individualism and the work ethic in capitalism and reducing dependency on the state. This article contrasts the original meaning of individual self‐reliance with its contemporary use in public discourses on welfare. We demonstrate the vagueness of the term and its varying interpretations. Using examples from the United States, the United Kingdom and Norway, the article attempts to demonstrate that the hegemonic use of the concepts of self‐reliance and dependency today provides ideological justifications for keeping people in poverty and outside the mainstream of life. It increases social distance and promotes marginality. The article concludes by suggesting that other ways for solving problems of balancing rights and duties of citizens have to be found in order to maintain a fair distribution of dignity and social integration.
Unemployment and mental health: evidence from research in the Nordic countries
Authors: Björklund A. , Eriksson T.
Published: April 2007

In this article we examine research on effects of unemployment on mental health in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. We describe studies that use cross‐sectional, longitudinal and time‐series data, and we discuss studies that investigated the duration‐dependence issue in exit rates out of unemployment. Not surprisingly, cross‐sectional studies reveal that unemployed persons have worse mental health than do others. Most longitudinal studies suggest that unemployment is associated with deteriorating mental health, even though it is somewhat unclear how long such an effect persists. Most duration‐dependence studies were done using Swedish data. It turns out that unemployment benefits and labour‐market policies affect the pattern of exit rates out of unemployment.
Self‐perception of minority group adolescents: the experience of Arabs living in Israel
Authors: Azaiza F. , Ben‐Ari A.T.
Published: April 2007

This article describes the self‐perception of Arab adolescents living in Israel. The experience of Arab adolescents in Israel is that of a minority group which is currently undergoing cultural, social and political changes. The Arabs in Israel are a non‐assimilating minority, a status that is not the result of their free choice, but of the 1948 Arab‐Israeli war. The continuing state of conflict after this war between Israel and the Arab world has placed the Arabs in Israel in the permanent status of a hostile “minority”, while the Jewish nationalist approach of the state of Israel has placed them outside the national consensus.

The sample consists of 692 twelfth‐grade Arab adolescents from seven high schools located in Arab villages, Arab towns and mixed Jewish‐Arab towns all over the country. Questionnaires were distributed among the students and were answered anonymously, each taking about 45 minutes to complete. The questionnaire is a version of the Offer Self‐Image Questionnaire. It was translated from Hebrew into Arabic and modified to fit the unique situation of Arab adolescents in Israel. Demographic information included variables such as gender, religion and level of religiosity, number of years of parents education, and form of residence.

Findings show differences in various aspects of adolescents' self‐perception according to gender, family level of religiosity and form of residence. The significance of the findings is discussed within two frameworks: environmental stability as related to self‐concept, and the changes taking place in ethnic minority communities.
The client interview and the context
Authors: Sørensen T. Berg
Published: April 2007

Based on analysis of 60 tape‐recorded or observed interviews from a Danish social welfare office the article examines the Lipssky‐like question: How and to what extent are macro structures such as social legislation and local municipal rules brought into real live existence in the meeting between case workers and clients? To what extent do the case workers show rule‐conforming practice? Illustrated by several extracts, it is shown that the legislation is not a simple governing instance and that the case workers do not serve as simple tools for fulfilling decisions made as formal rules at a macro level. On the contrary, the case workers made use of those rules and official client or benefit categories that seemed helpful to them for their own professional purposes, and so did the clients in order to secure their interests.

All in all, the case workers showed a considerable distance to social security office which was presented for the clients as distant and partly hostile towards the clients.
An inter‐polity perspective on the relationships between linguistic heterogeneity, civil strife and per capita gross national product*
Authors: Fishman Joshua A.
Published: April 2007

Based on an analysis of 238 variables pertaining to 170 polities, it becomes apparent that linguistic heterogeneity is not an independent predictor of either GNP or civil strife. The former is primarily accounted for by modernization and industrialization variables, while the latter is primarily accounted for by long‐ and short‐term deprivation and the inadequacy of prior coercive power. It is hypothesized that linguistic heterogeneity at the polity level will have positive consequences only if positive policies are instituted toward it.
Differences in reading strategies reflect differences in linguistic abilities1
Authors: Elbro Carsten
Published: April 2007

A strong tendency towards a letter‐level recoding strategy in reading has traditionally been interpreted as a sign of poor skills in the visual modality. Dyslexics who read relatively few words ‘immediately’have been considered to suffer from poor visual discrimination and memory (e.g. Boder & Jarrico 1982). However, this assumption has never been experimentally verified. The present study compared reading skills and strategies with auditory skills and naming speed using 26 severely dyslexic adolescents and 26 younger, normal readers matched for reading level and IQ. Phonological discrimination abilities were found to account for much of the variance in phonological abilities in reading such as the ability to read nonsense words. Naming speed was found to explain much of the variance in reading strategies. The last result was replicated in a post hoc analysis of the data from the Colorado twin study (Olson et al. 1989). The result indicates that terms like ‘visually’impaired or ‘dyseidetic’used for poor whole‐word readers may be grossly misleading. Rather, dyslexics with a relatively small vocabulary of ‘sight words’may have specific difficulties with retrieval of the sounds of words, and teaching should develop methods to deal with this problem.
What are applied linguistics?
Authors: Sridhar S.N.
Published: April 2007

This paper articulates (and evaluates) several different conceptualizations of applied linguistics, ranging from “applications of linguistic theory” to alternative paradigms for studying language that extend and complement generative grammar as a theory of language. It is shown that these different conceptualizations imply substantive, fundamental differences in goals, methods, and priorities of language study, leading to a dynamic tension between the formally‐oriented linguistic theory and other paradigms for the study of language.
The uses of folk linguistics
Authors: Preston Dennis R.
Published: April 2007

Folk linguistics seeks to discover non‐linguists’beliefs about language in general; the work reported here looks primarily at the employment of such beliefs in ongoing discussions of linguistic topics. Variety imitation tasks and perceptual dialectology studies briefly outlined here only began the task of uncovering what non‐specialists know about language but do not reveal how such beliefs are put to use. Content‐oriented approaches to conversations which have language as their topic are illustrated here from an interaction in which African‐American Vernacular English is the focus. The article illustrates approaches to discoursal meaning based on vantage theory and argument analysis, on topic continuity as revealed in pronominal reference, on footing as revealed in personal pronominal reference, and on the meaning of discourse markers. Such approaches reveal underlying consistency and elaborateness of folk belief rather than disorganization and unconnected and/or simple notions. Differences between folk and scientific theories of language range from the dramatic in some cases to the inconsequential in others. The position of folk linguistics within the general study of language is described and assessed.
An endonormative model for the teaching of the English language in Nigeria
Authors: Banjo Ayo
Published: April 2007

After a brief discussion of the development of Nigerian English, the author classifies Nigerian English into four linguistically‐based varieties by considering how transfers from the indigenous languages affect phonological, syntactic and lexical features. The article argues that an endonormative model must pass two tests – local acceptibility and international intelligibility – and that only one variety of Nigerian English meets these criteria satisfactorily.
Learning and teaching languages: the role of “conceptual fluency”
Authors: Danesi Marcel
Published: April 2007

Despite considerable research in second language learning in classroom environments in this century, and despite the many pedagogical applications that such work has made possible, teachers and learners alike still complain about the fact that autonomous student discourse lacks the conceptual richness that characterizes native speaker discourse. The purpose of this essay is to suggest that the notion of “conceptual fluency”, which has been derived from the current research on the role of metaphor in language and cognition, can be used to draft a teaching curriculum around the notion that metaphor is the organizing principle of common discourse.
A texture index: measuring texture in discourse1
Authors: Roseberry Robert L.
Published: April 2007

The purpose of this study was to devise and validate an index of texture that could be used easily and accurately to analyze texts – especially those of developing writers – as an aid in improving readability in education and business settings, among others. Texture is defined as a synergistic combination of conjunction, conjunctive reach, specificity, connectivity, topic, and topic shift. An index reflecting these six indexicals was devised. The index was used to measure the texture of four expository texts, which were then subjected to the judgements of nineteen expert judges, comprising the English departments of two universities. Results indicated a perfect correlation in rankings produced by the index and by the judges. Furthermore, a high level of concordance was found to exist among the rankings of the individual judges. It is concluded that the six indexicals reflect those elements of texture that interpreters perceive as crucial to texturing in such texts. It is further concluded that the index gives a highly reliable rating of texture and provides a more consistent and more delicate basis for measuring texture than has heretofore been available.
Retuning in applied linguistics
Authors: Rampton Ben
Published: April 2007

What do we now mean by the term ‘applied linguistics’? Can we provide a coherent characterisation that says it's more than simply all and anything that isn't ‘autonomous’/‘core’? Should we even try? Nik Coupland's paper, “Language, ageing and ageism: a project for applied linguistics?”, provides a focus for reflection on this issue, and the present paper serves as an introduction, setting up some of the context for the subsequent discussion. As its point of departure, the paper cites the Widdowson‐Brumfit view that AL should serve as a point of interdisciplinary synthesis where theories with their own integrity are developed in close interaction with users and professionals. There are, however, reasons for doubting how far this has succeeded in the area that is sometimes regarded as most typically AL (SLA research and L2 teacher education), and so it ‘s important to look to other fields of AL. In fact, a good model can be found in Hymes’ 1972 vision of a linguistics that is ‘socially constituted’, and the relevance and force of this has now been enhanced by much wider developments in social science. A serious commitment to dialogue outside the academy is now characteristic of a great many programmes of basic, specialist research, and while there is still great value in Strevens' view of AL as a relatively open space where a large variety of practical interest groups, researchers and development projects can meet, there are no longer any grounds for assuming that the generalist in applied linguistics should hold the central place.
Gerontolinguistics in South Africa
Authors: Makoni Sinfree
Published: April 2007

This paper evaluates the contribution of Coupland's research project from the perspective of an African interest in gerontology, and I argue that some of the underlying concepts need to be reconsidered if the project is to be extended to a different context. Then, using Rampton's paper as a starting point, I outline some of the strengths and frustrations typical of a serious attempt at multidisciplinary research.
Acquiring, teaching and testing vocabulary
Authors: Mobärg Mats
Published: April 2007

The main argument of this article is that the treatment of foreign language vocabulary in an educational context will vary predictably according to whether the pedagogical activity is founded on a structural or a lexical/collocational view of language. It is argued that in a structural approach, for which the author expresses a preference, vocabulary learning is primarily a frequency‐ and input‐based individual endeavor, whereas the lexical approach is said to be more teaching‐ and textbook‐oriented. As a consequence, there will also be a difference in the way vocabulary is tested. It is argued that a statistical testing method is more suitable in a structural context, whereas the lexical context will call for teaching‐based tests.
Academic writing in English and Polish: comparing and subverting genres
Authors: Duszak Anna
Published: April 2007

The paper addresses the discourse domains of academic writing in English and Polish using the example of school writing. The English argumentative‐expository essay is related to its potential counterpart in Polish. Incongruencies between the two genre prototypes are examined in terms of cultural emphases, text characteristics and educational traditions. An integrated approach is adopted in which user‐centered and text‐centered parameters are correlated. To drive the issue home, an empirical project was devised in which Polish students were asked to perform a task that subverted the regular expectations of school writing in their native tongue.
Negotiating a working consensus: conversations about HIV and AIDS
Authors: Pittam Jeffery , Gallois Cynthia
Published: April 2007

Successful relationships demand neither harmony nor discord, but rather the resources to manage both polarities. Thus, miscommunication in many contexts can become part of an attempt to create a working consensus. This is especially likely in conversations between strangers, when there is little to be gained by arguing a position in either relational or self‐esteem terms. In this study we adopted a qualitative methodology to explore, in conversations among strangers about HIV and AIDS, the participants’attempts to repair miscommunications by negotiating a working consensus. This paper examines attempts at repair by letting the problem pass, by shifting the outgroup to a less salient social identity, and by negotiating a resolution, however farfetched, that accommodates all positions on an issue. In doing this, the speakers illustrated, as Coupland, Giles & Wiemann (1991) have proposed, that while miscommunication may result in communication breakdown, it may also contribute positively to ongoing interaction and social relationships.
‘The canary in the coalmine’: The nonaccommodation cycle in the gendered workplace
Authors: Boggs Cathy , Giles Howard
Published: April 2007

In this paper, we look at workplace communication nonaccommodation between men and women coworkers and its role in the persistence of organizational gender inequality. We contend that the principles of Communication Accommodation Theory (CAT) explain the dynamics of intergroup psychological processes underlying gender‐based workplace communication breakdowns, which contribute to the development and maintenance of separate gender group workplace social identities. Drawing upon prior research and theory, especially Coupland, Wiemann & Giles’(1991) miscommunication model and Dubë‐Simard's model of intergroup communication breakdown, we develop a model of the workplace gender nonaccommodation cycle and its effects upon men's and women's workplace linguistic practices. We also suggest that recognition of the intergroup nature of gender‐based workplace conflicts can point the way to finding solutions that reduce the incidence of these communication breakdowns or, at the least, mitigate their worst effects.
Germans welcome? Reflections on media discourse analysis in practice
Authors: Langer Roy
Published: April 2007

In the spring and summer of 1996. one of the more prominent Danish media discourses was the coverage and discussion of the practice whereby some German citizens bought Danish houses for holiday purposes, even though these houses by law had to be permanent residences. This paper attempts to pin‐point different argumentation strategies and linguistic realisations in this media discourse with particular reference to central concepts in Critical Discourse Analysis. It throws light on the interrelationship between these strategies/realisations, on the one hand, and the socio‐psychological and cultural‐historical background of the discourse, on the other hand. By so doing, it discusses central concepts of Critical Discourse Analysis in terms of their heuristic value and presents an analytical frame based on a synthesis of different approaches in order to bridge the gap between quantitative and qualitative media text analysis and to show how language use is an integrated part of the analysis of media and social practices.
Talking English from 9 to 5: challenges for ESL learners at work
Authors: Holmes Janet
Published: April 2007

Getting along well at work involves a variety of sociolinguistic and pragmatic skills. Drawing on a database of over 300 interactions collected in a range of New Zealand professional workplaces, this article identifies some potentially problematic areas for those who are expected to communicate in English at work, although English is not their first language. The discussion focuses in particular on the topics, distribution and functions of small talk and social talk in the workplace.