Modern languages

This essay analyzes the image of Brazilian Indigenous minority groups as a figurehead in media discourse, based on racializing logics that celebrate historical performances of Indigeneity but minimize attention to the political activity and grassroots movements of the existing population. Using cultural studies as a starting point, this study draws upon Diana Taylor’s understanding of identity as well as postcolonial thinker Homi Bhabha’s theorization on nation to conduct a reading of discourses and performances of Indigeneity as part of cultural memory. I propose an analysis of the limited scenarios allowed in this construction of a nation in Brazilian media outlets, often claiming political motivation for identity and incapable of dealing with contemporary Indigenous groups. Overall, this analysis highlights the need to rethink the way we discuss ethnic identity, so as to foster a larger dialogue about identity, heritage, and minority cultures, in such a way that we avoid falling into a modernization and acculturation paradigm when discussing ethnicity, and to promote better understanding of the different ongoing political and cultural movements in contemporary Brazil.

This article addresses the use of media for self-representation by the Roma community in Spain, and their process of negotiating a local, national, and transnational ethnic and political identity. I focus on Voces gitanas: Rromane glasură/Roma Voices, a radio program created in the city of Barcelona in 2005, using as its frame of reference cultural studies and urban theory, including David Harvey and Manuell Castells. Based on radio shows transmitted online and through FM radio, I discuss how the program constitutes a tool for promoting culture, conducting political activism and discussing issues important to local communities. Through constant performances that translate as definitions of culture, I argue, the Roma community is able to restore and participate in the dialogue on self-determination and minority rights in a different sphere of discourse, both locally and globally, at the same time that they also influence their own (and others’) understanding of their ethnic identity.

The present study outlines the current Portuguese language offerings in select New England universities and colleges vis-à-vis a call for more specialized heritage learner programs in Portuguese. Building on and garnering theoretical support from more established heritage language programs in Spanish, this study details the learner profiles and goals of existing programs in local educational institutions. The goal is to delineate the gaps and opportunities in Portuguese heritage language programs and to offer suggestions for further research.

This website provides free activities for Spanish speakers (native speakers, heritage speakers, FL/SL learners of Spanish) interested in learning (or improving) your Portuguese skills. It was created for the Center for Educational Resources in Culture, Language and Literacy, in collaboration with the Center for Latin American Studies and the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at The University of Arizona. Directed by Dr. Ana Carvalho and co-authored by Juliana Luna Freire and Antonio José B. da Silva, this website provides users with authentic readings, grammatical explanations and exercises to help them learn some of the structural aspects of the Portuguese language. For more information on methodology and to give us some suggestions, please visit the "About the Project" section.

How much have we progressed in the area of Portuguese for Spanish speakers (PSS) in the United States? The essay provides a thorough examination of previous research, raising issues of linguistic multicompetence also relevant to the field of third language acquisition (TLA). It dialogues with other research being done in Europe and elsewhere (see Aronin and Hufeisen 2009: 4; Cenoz, Hufeisen, and Jessner 2001: 2–3; De Angelis 2007: 10; Lindqvist and Bardel 2010: 87; Ó Laoire 2005: 82, and the role of language transfer in the learning process. PSS in the United States exists since the 1970s, gaining increased attention in the United States in the last decade with the support of associations such as AATSP and ACTFL, and conferences specifically tailored to the field (Carvalho 2013: 1). The author of the article proposes this particular context in the United States as a unique research setting where we

This study analyzes the experience of the Indigenous Paiter-Suruí in Brazil with the Fifty-Year Plan and the Forest Carbon project implemented inside the Sete de Setembro Indigenous Land (SSIL) with the support of distinct political players such as United States-based Google Earth engine, Metareilá, Ministry of Culture, Ecosystem Marketplace/Forest Trends, among others. Brazil has a long history of complex relations with Indigenous rights, including long-due discussions on identity, land
recognition and demarcation. The concern with environmental issues brings in a different layer of political interests to the scene. There is very little dialogue on the acceptance of their forms of
knowledge by mainstream society, and, as this study highlights, this relation to nature is being pressured to be commercialized and quantified in a Western-style system. The essay concludes that the Suruí pact to sell its Carbon Credits to multinationals such as Natura is a good example of this
strategy of paradoxical post-modernity: the traditional local values and culture of the Indigenous society can be represented through new technology, but it is through those machines that the groups can
be observed and appropriated as non-threatening to a global audience.

... Ana M. Carvalho Juliana Luna Freire Antonio JB da Silva University of Arizona, USA ... In our view, materials developed specifically for teaching Portuguese to Spanish speakers should draw heavily on Schmidt's ("The Role," "Interlanguage," "Foreign Language") idea that ...

... Ana M. Carvalho Juliana Luna Freire Antonio JB da Silva University of Arizona, USA ... In our view, materials developed specifically for teaching Portuguese to Spanish speakers should draw heavily on Schmidt's ("The Role," "Interlanguage," "Foreign Language") idea that ...

addresses this contradiction, its main objective is to depict the emergence and proliferation of a border transformed into a virtual form that extends across the political landscape of the country. In engaging the analysis with the challenges this phenomenon poses for the politics of citizenship and immigration, the discussion interrogates implications for a shifting political imagination that may have already developed into new forms of social sorting. The multilayered cultural and social fabric of the population and the new ubiquitous nature of this contemporary border, reveal the need to reframe conceptual analysis about the borderlands where actual resources, experience and expertise are eclipsed by the shadow of a new “zero-risk” approach to security. Muller explains how “reliance on risk management in border security leads inevitably to a “zero risk” approach [that] acts most acutely to the detriment of the long-standing trans-border cultural, political, and market relations that make the borderland so robust.” He concludes that trends since 9-11 of centralizing control have disempowered the border region, threatening local knowledge and identity. Organized in eight generally brief chapters, the book effectively combines interdisciplinary theory and empirical evidence. The first four chapters provide an overview of the theoretical concepts that shape the author’s ideas, while the latter ones comprehensively integrate case studies to ground the discussion both temporally and spatially. For example, specific cases of the Canada-US border, and Iraq situate otherwise abstract concepts and temper a potentially simplified reading of the text. Muller’s treatment of the subject provides a level of detail appropriate for students and researchers seeking a well-grounded introduction to the topics, an approach that should also be a valuable resource for analysts interested in the broader implications of these modes of border security. Throughout the book the reader experiences a kind of maturation of the author’s original viewpoints from a primarily theoretical narrative with many technical terms and scholarly concepts of the earlier chapters, to the increased fluidity in the case studies. Therefore the power of the original ideas that the book contributes may not always be readily accessible to the reader until the later chapters where case studies allow them to be expressed with their full strength. The book largely succeeds in its examination of securitization and biopolitics, although Muller’s critical questioning of the potential for eroding democratic notions of citizenship, diversity, and collective identity is not extensive. Nonetheless, its outlook makes it an essential contribution to the field as it provides a sound basis for understanding potential transformations of borders and governance. While the book focuses on security, borders and the measured bodies that cross them, its implications reach a broader spectrum of issues including social values, ethics, international relations and the potential virtual erasure of the diverse nature of an entire citizenry.