Notes, summaries, assignments, exams, and problems for Social sciences

Languages in Contact: Bilingualism and Diglossia

The Sociolinguistic Situation of Asturias

Currently, there are approximately five thousand languages in the world, grouped into language families based on historical relationships. Most European languages are derived from a now-extinct language, Indo-European.

Political and linguistic boundaries do not always align. Sometimes, a single state has several languages, as in Spain. Conversely, different states may use the same language, such as Great Britain and America, or Spain and South American countries. Language contact situations are very common, where people develop the ability to communicate in two or more languages (bilingualism) for various reasons.

The nature of language coexistence, the communicative... Continue reading "Bilingualism, Diglossia, and Sociolinguistics in Asturias" »

Semantic changes are produced using a process where several stages are distinguished: innovation, spread, generalization, and consolidation. As a part of this process, there are specific procedures or mechanisms that lead to changes in the meaning of words:

1. Significant Extent

A term acquires a more general meaning. It is also a significant expansion in the use of nouns as names referring to a singular class of people (a womanizer). For this procedure, common nouns have been created (matchmaker).

2. Significant Restrictions

A common language word acquires a new meaning, more specifically, to pass as a specific term used in a group. It is also common in scientific and technical language that relies on words commonly used to form jargon (acid).... Continue reading "Semantic Changes: Mechanisms and Processes" »

Understanding the L-1 Status

The institutions created to organize the life and activities of people living within the same territory are governed by certain laws:

Key Elements of a State

• Territory: Well-defined borders distinguish it from other states.
• Population: People living within the state's territory are subject to its power and laws, with corresponding rights and obligations.
• Power: The state performs several crucial functions:

Functions of the State

• Sets the laws governing social relations. In democratic countries, these laws are made in Parliament.
• Enforces laws through the judiciary.
• Maintains order within its territory and ensures external security.
• Holds exclusive competence in foreign policy (relations with other states).
• Collects taxes,

Welfare Society in a Globalized World

Market and Social Control

The market has had to accept some social control policies. This is the setting in which people seek their representation. There is a new prevalence of economics over politics. The market is valued as the foundation of the welfare society.

Globalization

Social costs:

• Almost full employment growth
• Old forms of labor organization (suitable for large and stable markets)
• Uniform work
• Standardized products
• Mass consumption
• Effects of perverse state performance
• Structural unemployment

Key areas:

• Industry
• Productive work
• Territorialization
• Material concentration
• Vertical integration
• Hierarchy and bureaucracy
• Homogeneity conditions (stable job)
• Social recognition of the union: strong

Informational Services

• Business

Ausubel's Theory of Meaningful Learning

Educational psychologist David Ausubel emphasizes that learning involves the active restructuring of perceptions, ideas, concepts, and schemas within a learner's cognitive structure. He views the student as an active processor of information, asserting that learning is a systematic and complex phenomenon that cannot be reduced to simple rote associations.

While acknowledging the importance of discovering new facts, concepts, inferring relationships, and creating original products, Ausubel suggests that student learning significantly depends on their prior cognitive structure and how it relates to new information. The cognitive structure encompasses the entirety of concepts and ideas held by an individual... Continue reading "Ausubel's Meaningful Learning Theory and Text Comprehension" »

Alternation

The ability to choose between different, and sometimes contradictory, systems of meaning. This often involves semi-conscious processes throughout life, raising questions such as:

• Who am I?
• What do I do in this world?
• What is the meaning of my life?

Social Control

Social control refers to the various methods society uses to regulate its members. Every society employs social control, aiming to:

• Eliminate unwanted behaviors (as defined by the system)
• Set an example for others

Institutionalization

Society is a product of human actions, performed by individuals within that society. Through routines and established practices, real institutions like education are formed. This process shapes the social world, constantly creating new forms and structures.... Continue reading "Social Structures and Individual Identity" »

Sociolinguistics

Sociolinguistics examines language use influenced by social context, including dialects and language contact situations.

Multilingualism and Language Contact

Multilingualism refers to the use of more than one language in a territory or by an individual. Language contact occurs when two or more languages coexist within a region.

Bilingualism

Bilingualism is the minimal expression of language contact, involving two languages. It can be:

• Individual: Two languages used by one person, which can be active (spoken and written) or passive (understood). It can be symmetric (both languages equally known) or asymmetric (one language dominant). It can be instrumental (practical use) or integrative (community integration).
• Territorial: Two linguistic

Minority Languages: A Sociolinguistic Perspective

Dominant and Recessive Languages

In communities with two languages in contact, the existing social hierarchy is often reproduced. A dominant language gradually encroaches upon the domains of a recessive language, leading to its displacement. This recessive, or minority, language becomes relegated to lower socio-cultural spheres, ignored or overlooked in higher domains where the dominant language prevails.

The term "minority language" is a sociolinguistic concept unrelated to the sheer number of speakers. A minority language may be spoken by a majority in a linguistic community (e.g., Galician), or it may not.

Challenges in Quantifying Languages

The complex social composition and constant population... Continue reading "Minority Languages: Sociolinguistic Considerations and Recovery Efforts" »

Foundational Concepts in Organizations

• Application
• Power (McClelland)
• Achievement (McClelland)

Management and Leadership Principles

The Director's Role in Resource Management

The director's role involves the process by which those responsible combine available resources to achieve set objectives.

Defining Leadership in the Workplace

A leader is an individual within a company or group who gains significant influence, potentially exceeding that of other employees. They may operate beyond standard company rules and possess strong support and influence over others.

Consequently, company directors should ideally be perceived as leaders by their staff. However, not all individuals in managerial positions possess the inherent capacity to fulfill leadership... Continue reading "Management, Leadership, Power & Authority Dynamics" »

European Construction After the Second World War

In 1951, the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was created.

The European Economic Community

The Treaty of Rome, signed on March 25, 1957, established two key organizations central to the construction of Europe:

• The European Economic Community (EEC), commonly known as the Common Market.
• The European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom).

The Treaties of Rome set the objective of free movement of persons, goods, services, and capital throughout the territory of the member states.

The Treaty on European Union

On November 1, 1993, the Treaty on European Union (TEU), signed on February 7, 1992, in Maastricht, Netherlands, came into force. Approving the TEU, also known as the Maastricht Treaty, renamed... Continue reading "European Union Milestones: Treaties and Enlargement" »