title: The provision of European languages in Anglophone contexts: Aotearoa/New Zealand in focus

authors: Johnson, Diane

subjects: European languages

abstract: The provision of European languages within the New Zealand education system is discussed here in the context of the origins and evolution of language education in the country and the various problems that have been associated with it. These problems include the fact that any discussion of languages inevitably raises issues concerning the endangered status of Māori, the indigenous language of the country, issues which have the potential to highlight deep divisions within society. Hence, there is an unwillingness on the part of successive governments to engage seriously in debate about language needs and aspirations. Only a very small percentage of students at any level of the education system study languages other than English and Māori. Although European languages are studied by over half of those who do study languages, there is very little choice in terms of the European languages on offer. Furthermore, public opinion favours the teaching and learning of Asian and Pacific languages. In fact, two of the languages on offer that originated in Europe, French and Spanish, may have retained their position, in part, because they are, for many New Zealanders, at least as strongly associated with the Pacific and Pacific Rim countries where they are spoken as they are with their countries of origin.

text: The provision of European languages in Anglophone contexts: Aotearoa/New Zealand in focus The provision of European languages within the New Zealand education system is discussed here in the context of the origins and evolution of language education in the country and the various problems that have been associated with it. These problems include the fact that any discussion of languages inevitably raises issues concerning the endangered status of Māori, the indigenous language of the country, issues which have the potential to highlight deep divisions within society. Hence, there is an unwillingness on the part of successive governments to engage seriously in debate about language needs and aspirations. Only a very small percentage of students at any level of the education system study languages other than English and Māori. Although European languages are studied by over half of those who do study languages, there is very little choice in terms of the European languages on offer. Furthermore, public opinion favours the teaching and learning of Asian and Pacific languages. In fact, two of the languages on offer that originated in Europe, French and Spanish, may have retained their position, in part, because they are, for many New Zealanders, at least as strongly associated with the Pacific and Pacific Rim countries where they are spoken as they are with their countries of origin.

year: 2015

title: Impact of Concomitant Surgical Atrial Fibrillation Ablation in Patients Undergoing Aortic Valve Replacement

authors: Yoo, Jae Suk

subjects: Science & Technology

abstract: Background: The clinical benefit of concomitant atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation at the time of aortic valve replacement (AVR) is uncertain.
Methods and Results: A total of 124 patients with AF who underwent AVR with (n=50) or without (n=74) a concomitant maze procedure, between 2000 and 2011, were evaluated. There were no significant differences in early postoperative outcomes. During a median clinical follow-up of 18.1 months (interquartile range: 6.9–47.8 months), 19 late deaths (15.3%) and 33 valve-related complications (26.6%) occurred, but the differences between groups were not statistically significant. Major event-free survival at 5 years was 60.9±9.9% vs. 57.0±10.3% (P=0.41). After adjustment, the maze group demonstrated similar risks for major adverse cardiac events (hazard ratio, 1.18; 95% confidence interval, 0.56–2.49; P=0.67). However, the rate of sinus rhythm restoration at 4 years was significantly higher in the maze group (80.6% vs. 3.6%, P<0.001). Left atrial dimension was smaller (46.9 vs. 50.4mm, P=0.017), and the ejection fraction was higher (60.6% vs. 58.0%, P=0.059) in the maze group. The rate of postoperative anticoagulation was also lower in the maze group (53.1% vs. 89.2%, P<0.001).
Conclusions: Concomitant AF ablation in patients undergoing AVR resulted in increased sinus rhythm restoration, better echocardiographic results, and decreased anticoagulation requirement, without increasing surgical morbidity or mortality.

text: Impact of Concomitant Surgical Atrial Fibrillation Ablation in Patients Undergoing Aortic Valve Replacement Background: The clinical benefit of concomitant atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation at the time of aortic valve replacement (AVR) is uncertain.
Methods and Results: A total of 124 patients with AF who underwent AVR with (n=50) or without (n=74) a concomitant maze procedure, between 2000 and 2011, were evaluated. There were no significant differences in early postoperative outcomes. During a median clinical follow-up of 18.1 months (interquartile range: 6.9–47.8 months), 19 late deaths (15.3%) and 33 valve-related complications (26.6%) occurred, but the differences between groups were not statistically significant. Major event-free survival at 5 years was 60.9±9.9% vs. 57.0±10.3% (P=0.41). After adjustment, the maze group demonstrated similar risks for major adverse cardiac events (hazard ratio, 1.18; 95% confidence interval, 0.56–2.49; P=0.67). However, the rate of sinus rhythm restoration at 4 years was significantly higher in the maze group (80.6% vs. 3.6%, P<0.001). Left atrial dimension was smaller (46.9 vs. 50.4mm, P=0.017), and the ejection fraction was higher (60.6% vs. 58.0%, P=0.059) in the maze group. The rate of postoperative anticoagulation was also lower in the maze group (53.1% vs. 89.2%, P<0.001).
Conclusions: Concomitant AF ablation in patients undergoing AVR resulted in increased sinus rhythm restoration, better echocardiographic results, and decreased anticoagulation requirement, without increasing surgical morbidity or mortality.

year: 2014-06

title: Land/seascapes of exclusion: social order on the coastal margins

authors: Ryks, John

abstract: The hegemonic discourse of coastal planning and development has an impact on the social ordering of Aotearoa/New Zealand’s coastal communities in a number of ways. One way in which social order is controlled and maintained is through the (ab)use of boundaries. Boundaries constructed and maintained under the authority of government and/or funded by development dictate where people may or may not live. In many cases these boundaries are used as instruments of exclusion. Boundaries constructed by hegemonic groups exclude those who define the coast according to other criteria. The hegemonic deployment of boundaries and the domination of coastal people and place generally is explored through an analysis of discourse. This analysis is structured according to differences in social order, coded as places of Otherness (heterotopia), Euclidean coasts, and places in transition reflecting images of both the former and the latter.
Drawing on a number of coastal communities, including the Northland community of Otia (otherwise known as the Seaweed Pickers), Taylor’s Mistake, Whitianga and the wealth enclave of Pauanui, it is shown that the land/seascape of coastal Aotearoa/New Zealand is gradually being disciplined through the design of coasts that are accommodating of a particular patronage. These ‘exclusive’ coasts appear in stark contrast to those places where an alternative social ordering takes place. Here, in the absence of a Euclidean spatiality, uncertainty and liminality feature in the social construction of the coast. Residents of these places mark out and define the coast in a way that is quite different from the accepted norm, a fact that determines a particular ‘cartographic anxiety’ on the part of the dominant. This anxiety is instrumental in the construction of Otherness and the (re)production of exclusion.

text: Land/seascapes of exclusion: social order on the coastal margins The hegemonic discourse of coastal planning and development has an impact on the social ordering of Aotearoa/New Zealand’s coastal communities in a number of ways. One way in which social order is controlled and maintained is through the (ab)use of boundaries. Boundaries constructed and maintained under the authority of government and/or funded by development dictate where people may or may not live. In many cases these boundaries are used as instruments of exclusion. Boundaries constructed by hegemonic groups exclude those who define the coast according to other criteria. The hegemonic deployment of boundaries and the domination of coastal people and place generally is explored through an analysis of discourse. This analysis is structured according to differences in social order, coded as places of Otherness (heterotopia), Euclidean coasts, and places in transition reflecting images of both the former and the latter.
Drawing on a number of coastal communities, including the Northland community of Otia (otherwise known as the Seaweed Pickers), Taylor’s Mistake, Whitianga and the wealth enclave of Pauanui, it is shown that the land/seascape of coastal Aotearoa/New Zealand is gradually being disciplined through the design of coasts that are accommodating of a particular patronage. These ‘exclusive’ coasts appear in stark contrast to those places where an alternative social ordering takes place. Here, in the absence of a Euclidean spatiality, uncertainty and liminality feature in the social construction of the coast. Residents of these places mark out and define the coast in a way that is quite different from the accepted norm, a fact that determines a particular ‘cartographic anxiety’ on the part of the dominant. This anxiety is instrumental in the construction of Otherness and the (re)production of exclusion.

year: 2002