title: Infants' conceptual representations of meaningful verbal and nonverbal sounds

authors: Sirri, Louah

abstract: In adults, words are more effective than sounds at activating conceptual representations. We aimed to replicate these findings and extend them to infants. In a series of experiments using an eye tracker object recognition task, suitable for both adults and infants, participants heard either a word (e.g. cow) or an associated sound (e.g. mooing) followed by an image illustrating a target (e.g. cow) and a distracter (e.g. telephone). The results showed that adults reacted faster when the visual object matched the auditory stimulus and even faster in the word relative to the associated sound condition. Infants, however, did not show a similar pattern of eye-movements: only eighteen-month-olds, but not 9- or 12-month-olds, were equally fast at recognizing the target object in both conditions. Looking times, however, were longer for associated sounds, suggesting that processing sounds elicits greater allocation of attention. Our findings suggest that the advantage of words over associated sounds in activating conceptual representations emerges at a later stage during language development.

text: Infants' conceptual representations of meaningful verbal and nonverbal sounds In adults, words are more effective than sounds at activating conceptual representations. We aimed to replicate these findings and extend them to infants. In a series of experiments using an eye tracker object recognition task, suitable for both adults and infants, participants heard either a word (e.g. cow) or an associated sound (e.g. mooing) followed by an image illustrating a target (e.g. cow) and a distracter (e.g. telephone). The results showed that adults reacted faster when the visual object matched the auditory stimulus and even faster in the word relative to the associated sound condition. Infants, however, did not show a similar pattern of eye-movements: only eighteen-month-olds, but not 9- or 12-month-olds, were equally fast at recognizing the target object in both conditions. Looking times, however, were longer for associated sounds, suggesting that processing sounds elicits greater allocation of attention. Our findings suggest that the advantage of words over associated sounds in activating conceptual representations emerges at a later stage during language development.

year: 2020

title: Grounding Pacific practice: Fono at the fale and Veiqaraqaravi Vakavanua

authors: Aporosa, S. 'Apo'

abstract: Pacific practice is grounded in vanua and fonua, Fijian and Tongan terms encapsulating notions of land, culture and people. Fono at the Fale and Veiqaraqaravi Vakavanua are expressions of vanua and fonua cultural practice and are facilitated by, and through, the use of kava. Kava, a culturally significant drink made from the roots of the piper methysticum plant, is used in many areas of the Pacific (or Moana), grounding cultural practice in tradition, values and beliefs—with knowledge and meaning-making imparted and shared with those involved (Aporosa, 2019b). That meaning-making includes talanoa, an explanatory and conversational process fundamental to the ways in which Fijian and Tongan people make sense of their veiyaloni and vā inter-connections and interactions with the physical, spiritual, sacred and ancestral vanua and fonua—through land, sky, moana and people, including deity (Fa‘avae et al., 2021). In this paper we explain and reflect on the use of Fono at the Fale and Veiqaraqaravi Vakavanua, inclusive of kava and talanoa at the University of Waikato (UoW) as culturally-embedded practices associated with Pacific student and staff learning and interactions, through vanua and fonua expressions of iMua linked to UoW strategic vision and goals.
With this paper focusing primarily on Fono at the Fale and Veiqaraqaravi Vakavanua, minimal explanation is given concerning iMua at the UoW, or kava as a cultural keystone species, drink and facilitator of talanoa-vā. For details on these themes, readers are encouraged to consult the following papers included in this special issue: Imua: Reflections on imua and talanoa–vā in the ongoing strategic journey of a New Zealand university and The virtual faikava: Maintaining vā and creating online learning spaces during COVID-19.

text: Grounding Pacific practice: Fono at the fale and Veiqaraqaravi Vakavanua Pacific practice is grounded in vanua and fonua, Fijian and Tongan terms encapsulating notions of land, culture and people. Fono at the Fale and Veiqaraqaravi Vakavanua are expressions of vanua and fonua cultural practice and are facilitated by, and through, the use of kava. Kava, a culturally significant drink made from the roots of the piper methysticum plant, is used in many areas of the Pacific (or Moana), grounding cultural practice in tradition, values and beliefs—with knowledge and meaning-making imparted and shared with those involved (Aporosa, 2019b). That meaning-making includes talanoa, an explanatory and conversational process fundamental to the ways in which Fijian and Tongan people make sense of their veiyaloni and vā inter-connections and interactions with the physical, spiritual, sacred and ancestral vanua and fonua—through land, sky, moana and people, including deity (Fa‘avae et al., 2021). In this paper we explain and reflect on the use of Fono at the Fale and Veiqaraqaravi Vakavanua, inclusive of kava and talanoa at the University of Waikato (UoW) as culturally-embedded practices associated with Pacific student and staff learning and interactions, through vanua and fonua expressions of iMua linked to UoW strategic vision and goals.
With this paper focusing primarily on Fono at the Fale and Veiqaraqaravi Vakavanua, minimal explanation is given concerning iMua at the UoW, or kava as a cultural keystone species, drink and facilitator of talanoa-vā. For details on these themes, readers are encouraged to consult the following papers included in this special issue: Imua: Reflections on imua and talanoa–vā in the ongoing strategic journey of a New Zealand university and The virtual faikava: Maintaining vā and creating online learning spaces during COVID-19.

year: 2021

title: The rhetorical organisation of Maori discourse: An illustration

authors: Crombie, Winifred

subjects: Māori medium education

abstract: Almost 20% all Māori students in New Zealand schools are involved in some form of Māori-medium education. These students need to develop competence in using the language for a wide range of purposes. They need, therefore, to understand a range of written discourse conventions. In seeking to assist them in this task, elders and scholars are turning to the works of major Māori figures of the past, works composed when the language was used widely in a range of discourse contexts. However, scholars need ways of analysing these texts and of communicating their findings to others. The primary aim of this paper is to demonstrate one such approach. A single letter of condolence written in Māori is analysed here in terms of rhetorical discourse structure. On the basis of the analysis, a number of hypotheses concerning epistolary discourse in Māori are put forward. The primary hypothesis is that letters of condolence written in Māori by highly competent users of the language are likely to be characterized by an overall Problem-Solution rhetorical prototype involving spiral multilayering.

text: The rhetorical organisation of Maori discourse: An illustration Almost 20% all Māori students in New Zealand schools are involved in some form of Māori-medium education. These students need to develop competence in using the language for a wide range of purposes. They need, therefore, to understand a range of written discourse conventions. In seeking to assist them in this task, elders and scholars are turning to the works of major Māori figures of the past, works composed when the language was used widely in a range of discourse contexts. However, scholars need ways of analysing these texts and of communicating their findings to others. The primary aim of this paper is to demonstrate one such approach. A single letter of condolence written in Māori is analysed here in terms of rhetorical discourse structure. On the basis of the analysis, a number of hypotheses concerning epistolary discourse in Māori are put forward. The primary hypothesis is that letters of condolence written in Māori by highly competent users of the language are likely to be characterized by an overall Problem-Solution rhetorical prototype involving spiral multilayering.

year: 2001-02