This autobiographical narrative focuses on my life experiences learning two languages as well as the cultures. It acts as an archive from which I elicit evidence in exploring issues and themes related to learning language and culture, particularly those issues and themes relating to the complex dynamics of context. It explores factors influencing learning language/culture, such as subjective constructions and interpretations of teachers and learners, cultural, social, geographical, political, and local community aspects.

Keywords

Learning language; Teaching; Conceptual background; Methodological background; Autobiography.

Background

Microaggressions — as a cumulative psychosocial stressor — may be a unique mechanism in the development of cardiovascular diseases, via transient changes in cardiovascular reactivity (CVR), for Latinx.

Method

Experimental study with Latinx college students (n=33) randomly assigned to either a microinsult, microinvalidation, or control condition. Independent variables for MANOVA/MANCOVAs were the study conditions and dependent variables were blood pressure (BP) and impedance cardiography (ICG) indicators.

Results

At baseline, two one-way MANOVAs showed no differences by condition for BP or ICG indicators. For the manipulation, results indicated no significant differences by condition for BP or ICG indices. During recovery, results demonstrated no significant differences by condition in BP or ICG indicators. Lastly, baseline experiences of microaggressions were not significantly associated with BP and ICG at recovery.

Conclusion

The experimental manipulation produced no significant difference in CVR by condition. Inferiority and second-class citizen microaggressions were not significantly associated with CVR at recovery. Findings do not negate the existence or cardiovascular impact of microaggressions; rather, these effects appear to be subtle. Implications for Latinx cardiovascular health are discussed.

Keywords

Blood pressure (BP); Impedance cardiography; Cardiovascular reactivity; Latinx; Racial/ethnic microaggressions;

Cardiovascular health disparities.

Background
We examined content and expression of Instagram captions of major celebrities who differed according to sex and status, with a focus on determining whether these variables influenced the use of analytic language and cognitive content.
Method
Instagram captions (n=942) were analyzed with the linguistic inquiry and word count (LIWC), which delineated percentage of language reflecting analytical thought and various cognitive mechanisms, such as causality and discrepancy.
Results
Men and low-status persons used more functional analytic language, demonstrating critical thought; in contrast, high-status celebrities showed more causality. Women more than men “qualified” their speech with discrepancy. These findings were not a function of sentence length.
Conclusion
Status increased the tendency to construct and explain, perhaps because higher status celebrities (particularly women) knew that they could hold followers’ attention with complex content. The tendency to write captions that were concrete was seen in those lower-status persons who may have perceived that followers would not wade through a lot of complicated thoughts. Thus, status contributes to the manner in captioning based, perhaps, on having a broader audience willing to read more complex language.
Keywords
Language use; Status; Instagram; Sex differences in linguistics.