Namur Institute of Language, Text and Transmediality

Fluency and disfluency are characteristic of online language production and may be signalled by markers such as filled and unfilled pauses, discourse markers, repeats or self-repairs, which can be said to reflect ongoing mechanisms of processing and monitoring. The Fluency & Disfluency across Languages and Language Varieties conference held at the University of Louvain in February 2017 marked the closing of a five-year research project dedicated to the multimodal and contrastive investigation of fluency and disfluency in (L1 and L2) English, French and French Belgian sign language, with a focus on variation according to language, speaker and genre. The closing conference was intended as an opportunity to further expand the range of languages, language varieties and genres studied from the (dis)fluency perspective. The selection of papers in this volume reflects the diversity of approaches aiming to uncover the ways in which fluency and disfluency are conceived in language production and comprehension and how they are signalled. Topics include methodological challenges in cross-linguistic (dis)fluency research, the role of contextual features in professional and non-professional settings, and the characteristics of fluency and disfluency in second language speech. Of particular importance in all contributions is the ambivalent role of pauses, discourse markers, repeats and other markers, which can be both a symptom of encoding difficulties and a sign that the speaker is trying to help the hearer decode the message. They should thus be interpreted in context to identify their contribution to fluency and/or disfluency, which can be viewed as two sides of the same coin.

This book presents the first ever comprehensive overview of national laws recognising sign languages, the impacts they have and the advocacy campaigns which led to their creation. It comprises 18 studies from communities across Europe, the US, South America, Asia and New Zealand. They set sign language legislation within the national context of language policies in each country and show patterns of intersection between language ideologies, public policy and deaf communities' discourses. The chapters are grounded in a collaborative writing approach between deaf and hearing scholars and activists involved in legislative campaigns. Each one describes a deaf community's expectations and hopes for legal recognition and the type of sign language legislation achieved. The chapters also discuss the strategies used in achieving the passage of the legislation, as well as an account of barriers confronted and surmounted (or not) in the legislative process. The book will be of interest to language activists in the fields of sign language and other minority languages, policymakers and researchers in deaf studies, sign linguistics, sociolinguistics, human rights law and applied linguistics

This paper reports on studies of early language development in young deaf and hearing children exposed to both a spoken language and a sign language, within the context of bilingualism and bilingual language acquisition more generally. The course of early sign language acquisition in terms of vocabulary as measured by the British Sign Language (BSL) adaptation of the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory is described in detail for deaf children of hearing parents and deaf children of deaf parents, and compared to BSL data for hearing children of deaf parents. Additionally, data on English language development in deaf children with hearing parents exposed to both BSL and English will be compared to norms for English language development in hearing children of hearing parents. The implications of the findings will be discussed in relation to children's differing language experiences and to early diagnosis and intervention for language development in the deaf population.

The recent advances in deep learning have been beneficial to automatic sign language recognition (SLR). However, free-to-access, usable, and accessible tools are still not widely available to the deaf community. The need for a sign language-to-text dictionary was raised by a bilingual deaf school in Belgium and linguist experts in sign languages (SL) in order to improve the autonomy of students. To meet that need, an efficient SLR system was built based on a specific transformer model. The proposed system is able to recognize 700 different signs, with a top-10 accuracy of 83%. Those results are competitive with other systems in the literature while using 10 times less parameters than existing solutions. The integration of this model into a usable and accessible web application for the dictionary is also introduced. A user-centered human-computer interaction (HCI) methodology was followed to design and implement the user interface. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first publicly released sign language-to-text dictionary using video captured by a standard camera.

Definities van termen in verband met de Nederlandse letterkunde en haar studie.

This article discusses the rationale for using language diaries as a method to evaluate language use and language choice in multilingual contexts, as well as the benefits and limitations of this approach vis-à-vis other research methods. This is illustrated using examples from two contexts: Flemish Sign Language/Dutch bilinguals in Flanders and Gaelic/English bilinguals in the Western Isles of Scotland. In both cases, the language diaries were part of a larger mixed-method study which aimed to evaluate language use and language choice in contexts in which the majority language is in almost all instances the unmarked choice. Language diaries provide a new perspective on individual language practices as they allow for an evaluation of contextualised examples of language use and give insight into the factors that drive language and modality choice, and language ideologies. Language diaries give participants ownership over the information shared with the researcher and provide access to a number of different domains. Despite being based on self-reported practices, their situated nature demonstrates how language use can change through personal circumstances. This in turn contributes to a greater understanding of the use of Flemish Sign Language and Gaelic in the wider sociolinguistic contexts in which these languages exist.

Depuis 2000, un enseignement inclusif et bilingue en français et langue des signes de Belgique francophone (LSFB) est proposé à l'école Sainte-Marie à Namur (Belgique). Il accueille des groupes d'élèves sourds et malentendants, de la pré-maternelle (2,5 ans) à la fin du secondaire (18 ans) dans des classes ordinaires de l’enseignement général. L’objectif est de permettre à ces élèves de suivre un enseignement ordinaire, inclus dans la même classe que des élèves entendants, en bénéficiant d’un accès aux savoirs et aux échanges qui ne soit pas limité par leur audition.<br/>La première partie du livre expose les fondements sur lesquels ce dispositif d’enseignement est construit : le bilinguisme et l’alternance linguistique, l’inclusion collective, et le fonctionnement en binômes d’enseignants. La seconde partie explore les implications concrètes de ces fondements et de leur articulation sur les pratiques pédagogiques des enseignants, tant dans les disciplines linguistiques (français, LSFB, anglais) que dans les disciplines non linguistiques (en particulier les mathématiques). Une attention particulière est donnée à l’enseignement de la lecture et de l’écriture, décliné en fonction des différents profils d’élèves malentendants et sourds.<br/>Cet ouvrage vise à transmettre l’expérience développée depuis près de vingt ans par l’équipe enseignante de ces classes. Il met en évidence que, malgré l’accès toujours plus performant au monde sonore que permettent les implants cochléaires, l’enseignement aux enfants malentendants et sourds présente de nombreuses spécificités par rapport à l’éducation des entendants. Les lecteurs visés au premier chef sont les enseignants, les interprètes, les aides pédagogiques ou les aides à la communication qui travaillent avec un ou plusieurs enfants sourds et qui désirent prendre du recul sur leurs interventions.<br/><br/>Les auteures<br/><br/>Magaly Ghesquière est enseignante de formation. Elle a été la première institutrice à s’engager dans les classes bilingues de Sainte-Marie à Namur. Entre 2012 et 2017, elle a collaboré comme détachée pédagogique au sein du Laboratoire de langue des signes de Belgique francophone (LSFB-Lab) de l’Université de Namur en vue de décrire, de transmettre et d’améliorer l’expérience de ce dispositif scolaire inédit en Belgique.<br/><br/>Laurence Meurant est linguiste, Chercheuse qualifiée du F.R.S.-FNRS à l’Université de Namur et membre de l’Institut namurois de Langue, Texte et Transmédialité (NaLTT). Elle dirige le Laboratoire de Langue des signes de Belgique francophone (LSFB-Lab) où elle développe les premières études discursives sur la LSFB et sur la comparaison entre français et LSFB. Elle collabore depuis 2004 à l’encadrement des enseignants des classes bilingues inclusives décrites dans ce livre.<br/>

This article wants to make a case for research into the historical dynamics of language ideologies, from the perspective of the long 'language conflict' in Belgium. Although the prominent language-ideological baggage of this conflict has been pointed out more than once, the precise ways and mechanisms through which language ideologies emerge, compete, transform or return over a longer time span have been less extensively explored. We attempt to reiterate and expand existing rationales for such a historical perspective, and provide a brief empirical illustration using parliamentary data from the Language-in-Education Acts of 1883 and 1963. This will shed light on the layered and adaptive behavior of a language-ideological 'classic' (the belief that 'language', 'nation', and 'people' neatly coincide), and hints at the further nuancing potential of a historical and diachronic perspective on language ideology.

This chapter examines the transfers of cultural images and linguistic inter-<br/>actions staged by Charlotte Brontë in her notoriously unsuccessful novel The Professor (published posthumously in 1857), and their back transfers as<br/>evidenced by the first French (Paris, 1858, tr. Henriette Loreau) and Dutch<br/>(Groningen, 1859, anonymous) translations. Brontë’s novel tells the story of a<br/>young Englishman leaving Great Britain to work in Brussels as a teacher and<br/>ultimately finding professional and romantic happiness after many struggles.<br/>It presents numerous critical and often dismissive images of the “Flemish”<br/>(meaning ‘Belgian’) and French people, of the Catholic Church it is associated<br/>with, and more generally of the mores and culture of “continentals.” With its<br/>negative and often hostile representation of (parts of) the receptor culture,<br/>it was a sensitive text to translate/transfer (back) into Dutch and French. In<br/>addition, the ample use of heterolingualism (French, occasionally Flemish)<br/>created several potential, practical obstacles to a smooth transfer process.<br/>This paper compares two very early translations of The Professor against the<br/>backdrop of the wider historical pattern of reception of Charlotte Brontë’s<br/>works, with a special focus on how these translations rendered the original<br/>text’s heterolingualism and how they transferred its underlying axiological<br/>oppositions (British vs continental, Catholic vs Protestant, French vs English,<br/>French vs Belgian, Dutch vs Belgian).

editorial reviewed

Issu d’une these menee sous la direction de Tiphaine Samoyault, l’essai de Zoe Carle adopte les points de vue et outils de la poetique, de la rhetorique, de l’anthropologie et de la linguistique pour se donner les moyens de saisir les contours d’une forme breve, polymorphe, susceptible de s’epanouir sur des supports et dans des domaines varies, dont l’auteure isole un regime particulier. Comme l’ecrit cette derniere, il s’agit ici, « en prenant en compte a la fois les caracteristiques formell...

In an era of internationalisation, triggering increased multilingualism, Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) provides an interesting alternative to traditional education for the acquisition of an additional language. A new interdisciplinary research project entitled ‘Assessing CLIL’ has just been launched and aims to tackle the interplay between linguistic, cognitive and educational aspects of the CLIL approach in French-speaking Belgium. Despite abundant literature indicating higher proficiency in the target language for CLIL learners (Admiraal et al. 2006, Dalton-Puffer 2011, Lasagabaster 2008), it largely remains unclear to what extent, in what respect and thanks to which (internal and external) processes/factors CLIL learners outperform traditional learners. The present study is part of this evaluation project and focuses on socio-affective variables. While it is established that language attitudes and motivation play a significant role in language learning (see amongst others Gardner 1985, Dörnyei 2003 and, for Belgium, Mettewie 2004), this study wishes to investigate the attitudinal profiles and motivational processes in CLIL, including the possible impact of different target languages (Dutch and English in this case) and individual variables, compared to non-CLIL contexts. The aim is to isolate and/or integrate into a model, socio-affective variables both as outcomes of the specific language learning and contact situation CLIL and as predictors of linguistic and cognitive variables. Our hypotheses are that CLIL contexts might not only affect language attitudes, but also enhance self-efficacy and perceived task value (Wentzel &amp; Wigfield 2009) and, as such, influence cognitive, linguistic, and socio-cultural outcomes. These hypotheses will be tested through three types of data collection within a longitudinal design, comparing CLIL-pupils in Dutch or English in the 5th and 6th grade of primary and secondary education with equivalent non-CLIL pupils. The first data type consists of a large quantitative background and socio-affective questionnaire, which will be administered at the beginning and end of the overall data collection. In the mean time, complementary qualitative data will be collected through focus group sessions, tackling pupils’ language use, intergroup contacts, attitudes, motivation, emotions and perceptions about the teaching/learning experience in CLIL/non-CLIL. Finally, qualitative and quantitative data will be contrasted with classroom observations in an attempt to capture the role of socio-affective variables within the teaching/learning process in situ.

«Pas de retour à l’anormal», «Ne télétravaillez jamais !», «Macron 0 – Covid 19»… En instaurant mi-mars le confinement, le président de la République a pu se consoler en espérant mettre un terme aux manifestations et mouvements sociaux en cours. C’était sans compter sur les réseaux sociaux mais surtout sur les balcons et leurs banderoles. Le 1er mai vient d’en offrir de nouvelles illustrations.

This volume was put together in honour of Professor Guido Latré on the occasion of his retirement. The dozens of contributions it gathers reflect the span of his distinguished teaching and scholarly career, with work on Chaucer, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Tyndale and other Bible translators, Shakespeare, Henry James, the War Poets, T.S. Eliot, Philip Larkin, and many others. Echoing the polyphony of his life and interests, the book offers texts in three languages, including several full-length articles based on original research, as well as shorter, more personal or playful pieces, and much that lies between. The contributions are divided into five sections: Biblical and philological excursions; Shakespearean wanderings; Flanders Fields and other sites of memory; Border crossings; and Moments revisited, futures envisaged. Its excursions into a wide range of periods, languages, nations, genres and styles make the book a fitting tribute to the wide and penetrating vision of a much appreciated friend and colleague, who surely knows how to make words sparkle.

The expression and exchange of stance drives much social media discourse, including internet memes. We demonstrate how, even in the absence of actual face-to-face communication, online discourse and memes rely on the dynamics of embodiment and dialogue in comparable ways, while also developing specific constructional forms for this with no direct face-to-face equivalent. We introduce the notion of simulated interaction to refer to the combinations of embodied expression, images, and the structures of (apparent) quotation and dialogue allowing online communicators to vividly represent experience and signal stance.

Despite the claims regarding the potential disruptiveness of subtitling for audiovisual processing, existing empirical evidence supports the idea that subtitle processing is semi-automatic and cognitively effective, and that, in moderately complex viewing scenarios, dubbing does not necessarily help viewers. In this paper we appraise whether the complexity of the translated audiovisual material matters for the cognitive and evaluative reception of subtitled vs. dubbed audiovisual material. To this aim, we present the results of two studies on the viewers’ reception of film translation (dubbing vs. subtitling), in which we investigate the cognitive and evaluative consequences of audiovisual complexity. In Study 1, the results show that a moderately complex film is processed effectively and is enjoyed irrespective of the translation method. In Study 2, the subtitling (vs. dubbing) of a more complex film leads to more effortful processing and lower cognitive performance, but not to a lessened appreciation. These results expose the boundaries of subtitle processing, which are reached only when the audiovisual material to be processed is complex, and they encourage scholars and practitioners to reconsider old standards as well as to invest more effort in crafting diverse types of audiovisual translations tailored both to the degree of complexity of the source product and to the individual differences of the target viewers.

Autour du rire et de l’irrévérence, deux discours antagonistes dominent notre époque : pour l’un, l’esprit de dérision a tout envahi, au point même de disqualifier le sérieux ; pour l’autre, à l’inverse, l’époque est devenue si «pudibonde» ou «politiquement correcte» qu’il est devenu impossible de rire de tout. Comment la littérature française contemporaine se comporte-t-elle vis-à-vis de ces discours ? Quelles sont les modalités actuelles d’élaboration d’une satire ? Quels sont les effets, limites et enjeux d’une veine satirique en régime contemporain ? Ces questions sont abordées ici sous l’angle de la théorie littéraire mais aussi au travers d’un ensemble d’études où le lecteur croisera notamment Éric Chevillard, Marie NDiaye, Iegor Gran, Sophie Divry, Laurent Mauvignier, Camille Bordas, Antoine Volodine ou encore Christine Montalbetti.

Le présent article porte sur les rôles que nous occupons en tant que chercheuse universitaire ou que les observés, des soignants d’une équipe hématologique, nous attribuent lors d’une enquête ethnographique dans un hôpital belge francophone. Ces derniers et nous-même faisons connaissance et construisons une relation qui peut être rythmée par l’expérience de la vulnérabilité ou de l’invulnérabilité. Ce double concept sera abordé de manière dynamique tout au long de notre réflexion centrée sur une approche méthodologique. Un tel ancrage nous amènera également à poser quelques éléments éthiques auxquels nous avons été confrontée durant la collecte et le traitement de données recueillies lors d’une enquête ethnographique dans une unité hématologique d’un hôpital belge francophone.

This paper focuses on the methodological and epistemological limits posed by the national framework when studying texts from the Renaissance, especially from the English Renaissance. Starting from the paradoxical observation that some of Shakespeare’s texts, in particular Henry V, tend to be interpreted as conveying national sentiments, even though modern conceptions of the nation, according to the theoretical consensus, only appeared in the late eighteenth century, this article both interrogates the temporal limit of the nation and the issues of when national ideas appeared and, more largely, the relevance of the national framework itself in the context of medieval and early modern studies. This study offers, first, an overview and brief review of the two main critical trends surrounding these issues, which apprehends the national framework either as an unpassable limit which, if used in the wrong setting, might prevent a proper understanding of the pre-modern past by imposing an anachronical reading, or, conversely, as a tool which may help to make sense of past allegiances and senses of cultural belonging. It then attempts to go beyond the apparent dichotomy of these two approaches, and argues for the development of a theoretical model of the nation based on cognitive semantic approaches, which accounts for the inherent plurality, dynamism, and temporal instability of national allegiances and sentiments.

Ce texte propose une introduction théorique et méthodologique sur les écrits sauvages de la contestation et expose les enjeux de l’Observatoire des Littératures Sauvages (OLSa). Aux côtés des écrits sauvages nés dans l’ombre de l’institution littéraire, il existe une série de pratiques d’écriture spontanées, brutes et éphémères qui sont indépendantes des rouages et logiques du milieu littéraire. Afin de mesurer leurs effets et fonctions dans la constitution d’un contre-pouvoir, ils doivent être appréhendés d’un point de vue sociologique et pragmatique comme des « socioécritures », selon la formule de Christophe Hanna, mais il semble aussi nécessaire de les étudier d’un point de vue plus internaliste, en prenant en compte leur poétique.