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Purpose – Disputes provide a way for children to negotiate how they stand in relationship to one another in the local peer group interaction (Goodwin, 1990, 2006). This study follows the everyday peer disputes and classroom negotiations of a peer group of 8-year-old to 12-year-old Turkish–English speaking (and Meskhetian Turkish–English–Russian speaking) children attending a Turkish Saturday School in the United States, where a monolingual Turkish norm is projected by the teachers, to see how these institutional language norms are used as a resource for the peers to conduct their everyday interactions.

Methodology/approach – This study combines methods of ethnography (data are drawn from a year-long ethnography which followed children's everyday language practices in two school settings) and talk-in-interaction, specifically Membership Categorization Analysis (Sacks, 1972, 1992).

Findings – Children draw upon the monolingual school norm of using Turkish only, and speaking Turkish correctly, by way of positioning themselves moment-to-moment during disputes with one another. Through repeated appeals to their teachers to relax the Turkish-only rule, they also collaboratively index “speaking English” as a positive category-bound activity (Cekaite & Evaldsson, 2008; Evaldsson, 2007), influencing the local moral order of the peer group.

Social implications/originality/value of chapter – The study provides a view of how children living in a transnational society orient to wider societal structures and “build the phenomenal and social worlds they inhabit” (Goodwin & Kyratzis, 2012) as part of their everyday disputes and negotiations with one another.

The purpose of this paper is to study two native and equal population groups, Finnish speakers and Swedish speakers in Finland, to examine whether there is income variation across couples that differ on ethno-linguistic composition, and if such variation can be attributed to differences in education, educational homogamy and other observable characteristics.

Using detailed register-based household data, the authors estimate OLS models to compare endogamous and exogamous couples with respect to income of the man, the woman, and both partners, respectively.

Endogamous Swedish-speaking couples are found to have on average 25 per cent higher income than other couples. The advantage is not related to differences in educational homogamy, but primarily to man’s income, and roughly half of the income difference is explained by the higher educational level of Swedish-speaking men in endogamous couples. Although women in endogamous Swedish-speaking couples are higher educated than other women, and there is a higher degree of educational homogamy in these couples, their education has only a modest bearing on the income differential.

In the case of Finland, educational homogamy does not affect income variation across native couples that differ on ethno-linguistic composition. Endogamous mate selection seems to increase economic inequality, uphold gender inequality, and help the native minority group in sustaining its own community.

Non-communicable diseases (NCD) such as heart disease, diabetes and overweight and obesity are associated with physical inactivity and represent the leading cause of death globally. In the Arabic-speaking region, NCD is associated with more than 2.3 million deaths annually with rates expected to increase. Professional physical education (PE) journals are important resources in the dissemination of knowledge from evidence to practice. With the growing physical inactivity problem among Arabic-speaking countries, the purpose of this paper is to assess the availability culturally relevant peer-reviewed physical education journals in this region.

An assessment of professional PE journals within this region was conducted using four academic databases and journal directories. The electronic search generated 14 PE-affiliated journals in Arabic-speaking countries with a publication status of active, interrupted or ceased; search parameters were limited to English, Arabic and French languages.

Results indicated that no professional publications identified in this review predates to 2005 within the Arabic-speaking region. Although all 14 journals within the sample offer both electronic and open access, only one provided both print and electronic versions. Iraq was over-represented with 12 PE journals; no other country offered more than one.

Systematic analyses of PE prevalence among Arabic-speaking countries are scarce, and there are no current evaluations of peer-reviewed publications addressing PE within the Arabic-speaking region. PE capacity building and collaboration can be fostered, improved and maintained when supported by regionally and culturally congruent research.

This study aims to present a brief overview of developments in management accounting research and practice in German-speaking countries, locate the contributions of this special issue in historical trajectories and provide an outlook of expected future developments in this area.

This study reviews the literature and draws a critically reflective approach.

A century after Schmalenbach, Germanic management and cost accounting have significantly changed, even though the roots of the cost accounting tradition of the late 19th and early 20th centuries are still visible in practice and teaching, which is true for both organisational practice and research. In both cases, an encroachment of the global on the local can be seen but, paradoxically, as Hopwood (1999) noted, the seemingly globally standardised accounting systems allow for local idiosyncrasies to specifically stand out. The anchoring of management accounting in financial accounting, the country-specific ownership and financing models, the importance of capital and labour markets (e.g. strong codetermination) for companies, regulations on corporate governance and the determination of the tax base are examples of institutions that can shape the behaviour of management and, thus, also idiosyncrasies of management accounting in a country.

The contributions of this special issue provide insight into developments in management accounting research and practice in German-speaking countries and, thus, enhance our understanding of the different historical trajectories and traditions in management accounting. The papers by Weber and Wiegmann and by Gisch et al. demonstrate how specific idiosyncratic practices and understandings of management accounting in German-speaking countries mediate global influences on management accounting in private- and public-sector organisations. The papers by Endenich et al. and by Kreilkamp et al. show that the influence of international developments in management accounting research has become stronger in German-speaking management accounting academia.

Close inspection reveals subtle differences in managerial style and culture within Austria, Germany and Switzerland. Foreign management development (MD) practitioners are more likely to be impressed by the management and cultural similarities within the German‐speaking nations, especially when contrasted with the North American model. While many of the MD techniques used in the German‐speaking areas will be familiar to North American practitioners, not all foreign MD techniques are directly applicable to management in the German‐speaking region. Nonetheless, these countries face familiar challenges in developing managers into the twenty‐first century. These countries need managers who can cope with rapid change, manage innovation and new technologies, develop their human resource and management skills, face globalisation, deal with information technology, as well as manage teams and external workforces. Many of these areas offer opportunities for foreign MD practitioners. Promoting intercultural development could be a strong argument for exposing German‐nation managers to foreign MDPs

The migration background can influence the life satisfaction of migrants. The purpose of this paper is to examine the life satisfaction of migrants and particularly the satisfaction regarding their health in comparison to natives.

The life satisfaction of 50 Turkish-speaking migrants living in Vienna was compared with the life satisfaction of 50 native Austrians by the questionnaire of life satisfaction by Fahrenberg et al. (2000).

Turkish-speaking migrants had lower values than natives in all scales of the questionnaire concerning life satisfaction. Turkish-speaking women reported the lowest satisfaction regarding their health state. In the migrant group the satisfaction regarding health decreased with increasing age.

The Turkish version of the questionnaire was translated into Turkish by authors but not formally validated. Furthermore acculturation strategies as well as the mental and physical health state of the participant, which can crucially influence the life satisfaction of migrants, were not surveyed.

Migrants have lower life satisfaction possibly because of their physical and mental health problems. Therefore in countries with a high proportion of migrants the health-care system should be adapted for the needs of migrants, especially for the needs of women and older migrants in order to increase the utilization of the health-care services, primarily the use of the preventive health-care services.

The results of the present study can be helpful to develop strategies for improving the life satisfaction of migrants, especially the satisfaction regarding their health.

To the authors’ knowledge, the present study is the first research project in Vienna conducted to estimate the impact of migration background on life satisfaction.

The anxiety that usually comes with a speaking performance is said to be both personal and situational. Researchers have over the years sought to understand how the combined effects of personal traits of an individual and situational conditions such as the nature of the speaking environment, the size of the audience and negative perception over the outcome of a speech, affects a person’s ability to effectively communicate. While studies on speech-related anxiety in the academic environment is not new (Basic, 2011; Behnke et al., 2006), the attention of many of these studies has focused on students rather than lectures/instructors. While this study is not the first to focus on the role of lecturers in reducing the incidence of speech anxiety, the purpose of this paper is to stress the role of lecturers in reducing speech-related anxieties and its attendant effects on the academic and professional performances of students. It was found out that most speech-related anxiety is largely situational, rather than personal. The study found that out of fear of being negatively evaluated, students became highly apprehensive when asked to perform a speech-related task in the classroom. This, the study found, can potentially have adverse effects on the academic and professional performance of students. Most importantly, the study established the significant role of lecturers in managing a friendly and pleasant environment that facilitate speaking and positive learning outcomes. As Varron (2011) asserts: “the teacher is the one that facilitates the whole process of leaning and create favorable environment, where there is a smooth flow of communication.”

In total, 40 respondents from the School of Communications of the African University College of Communications were sampled for the study. The selection of only communication students was premised on the study’s quest to unravel the irony inherent in the fact that those communication students that are by their training required to be voluble, tend to be apprehensive, especially under the classroom situation. Doing this was to inevitably help to find out whether or not there is a relationship between an individual’s career choice and the behavioral tendencies such a person is likely to exhibit. Again, the fact that communication students are more competent to speak on issues regarding any subject on communication makes them an ideal choice for this study. A stratified probability sampling method was used to group the sample into various layers (levels). The study using stratified sampling grouped the various respondents into their various levels (strata) and sampled ten respondents from each level. This was to help the study ascertain whether or not any relationship existed between a student’s level and the level of their speaking apprehension. A questionnaire, close and open ended, was employed as the study’s principal instrument for data. Each respondent was given a questionnaire each to respond to. A “descriptive statistical measure was used to describe the characteristics of the sample, whereupon conclusions were generalized for the entire study population.” In addition, graphs, charts, and frequency tabulation made from the coded data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences, after which the corresponding interpretation was assigned. To ensure accuracy, data were coded, entered, and cleaned. Tables and figures from the SPSS helped in making the results of the study easier to interpret and understandable.

The outcome of the administered questionnaire indicated that negative evaluation was caused by lack of adequate preparation, inferiority complex, fear of derision and needless comparisons among students. In respect of how fear of derision causes anxiety, it was found that fear of derision stifles students’ desire to be heard, makes students timid and prevents class participation. On the issue of why some student were deficient in the use of English language, it was found that poor reading habits, overuse of vernacular, obsession with the use of pidgin and apprehension following from the fear of making mistakes were the major causes.

The authors consider the proposed study original both in conceptualisation and design. The main question being interrogated stems from identified gaps in the literature and the study intends to fill these knowledge gaps. The study’s originality stems from the fact that there is paucity of information on the subject of study in the context of Ghana.

Cross-cultural studies on differences in eating and consumer behavior have several limitations due to differences between countries, for example, in national health policies. Switzerland combines cultural diversity between the language regions, but with a common national health policy. Therefore, Switzerland provides an ideal framework to investigate cross-cultural eating and consumer behavior. The aim of this study was to combine food consumption, purchase data and sales data to obtain a more comprehensive understanding of cultural dietary differences.

Six national Swiss studies on food consumption, one study of food sales from the largest supermarket chain in Switzerland and one national study of food purchasing were included. The estimated marginal mean of each food category in each language region was calculated using linear regression and respective linear random effect models.

In the French- and Italian-speaking regions more fish was sold, bought and consumed than in the German-speaking region of Switzerland. In contrast, in the German-speaking region, more milk and dairy products were sold, bought and consumed. Language regions explained sales, purchase and consumption of foods, but the findings were only consistent for fish and milk and dairy products.

If possible limitations of cross-culture studies between countries are eliminated, cultural eating and consumer differences are still visible, even in a small country like Switzerland. For the first time, the complexity of studying food consumption, purchasing and sales is shown in one study. This indicates the importance of further studies which consider these three perspectives to better understand cultural differences in eating and consumption behavior.

By keynoting at association conferences, CEOs and other top executives use speaking as a platform to introduce their companies’ brands into new markets and solidly position them in established markets. Their speeches create “3D branding”, a customized experience that constituents can feel, touch, and interact with. Giving speeches also leverages the credible endorsement of the association and, if made part of a systematic approach, starts building a community of evangelists. Yes, the applause feels good, too.

Mastery of spoken English is a priority for many learners of English in Iran. Opportunities to acquire spoken English through the public school system are very limited, hence many students enroll in “conversation” courses in private institutes. The purpose of this paper is to report a study of how institute teachers address the teaching of spoken English.

Eighty-nine teachers completed a questionnaire on how they teach spoken English. The information was supplemented with interviews and classroom observation.

Results suggest that institute courses reflect a poor understanding of the nature of spoken interaction, which is reflected in speaking courses that are unfocused and that do not address key aspects of conversational interaction.

Suggestions are given for a re-examination of the differences between “conversation” and “discussion” in spoken English classes as the basis for designing spoken English classes and materials, as well as for the use of out-of-class learning opportunities to enhance the learning of spoken English in Iran and elsewhere.

This paper is based on the authors’ original research, and the authors believe this is the first study of its kind in the Iranian context.