Catalan

Abstract: 1. Bionomial Coefficients 2. The Central Binomial Coefficient 3. The Central Binomial Coefficient Revisited 4. Binomial Coeffiecients Revisited 5. Catalan Numbers 6. The Ubiquity of Catalan Numbers I 7. The Ubiquity of Catalan Numbers II 8. Trees and Catalan Numbers 9. Lattice Paths and Catalan Numbers 10. Partitions and Catalan Numbers 11. Algebra, Sports, and Catalan Numbers 12. Catalan Numbers and Pascal's Triangle 13. Divisibilty Properties 14. A Catalan Triangle 15. A Family of Binary Words 16. Tribinomial Coefficients 17. Generalized Catalan Numbers

Abstract: Studies on the acquisition of a third language (L3) in a bilingual context have shown that literacy in two languages facilitates the acquisition of a third (Cenoz & Valencia, 1994; Swain, Lapkin, Rowen, & Hart, 1990). The present study seeks to contribute to this line of research by comparing the acquisition of English as an L3 by Catalan/Spanish bilingual high school students in an immersion program with the acquisition of English by Spanish monolinguals. Data from 201 participants were submitted to a hierarchical multiple regression analysis, rendering results that show that bilingualism indeed has a positive effect on the acquisition of an L3. The evidence is discussed from a cognitive perspective.

Abstract: A surge of public and political advocacy for an independent Catalonia has brought renewed urgency to questions about what it means, personally and politically, to speak or not to speak Catalan and to claim Catalan identity. This book develops a framework for analyzing ideologies of linguistic authority and uses it to illuminate the politics of language in Catalonia, where Catalan jostles with Castilian for legitimacy. Longitudinal research by the author across decades of political autonomy contextualizes this ethnographic study of the social meaning of Catalan in the 21st century. Part I lays out the ideologies of linguistic authenticity, anonymity, and naturalism that underpin linguistic authority in the modern western world, and gives an overview of a shift in the ideological grounding of linguistic authority in contemporary Catalonia. Part II examines public discourses in the media. Chapters analyze three public linguistic controversies, over an immigrant president’s linguistic competence, a municipal festival, and an international book fair. Part III explores linguistic practices and discourses at the individual level, drawing on classroom ethnographies and interviews with two generations of young people from the same high school. The book argues that there is an ongoing shift at both public and personal levels away from the ethnolinguistic authenticity that powered relations in the early transition to political autonomy, and toward new discourses of anonymity, rooted cosmopolitanism, and authenticity understood as a project rather than an essence.

Abstract: The process of individual identity formation is still an enigma, as is the capacity of public bodies to intervene in it. In 1983, the Catalan education system became bilingual, and Catalan, along with Spanish, was taught in schools. Using survey data from Catalonia we show that respondents who have been exposed for a longer time period to teaching in Catalan have stronger Catalan feelings. The effect also appears to be present among individuals whose parents do not have Catalan origins; in addition the reform affects political preferences and attitudes towards the organisation of the State.