The In-Between of Jazz and the Blues : Beyond Marginality in Esi Edugyan’s Half-Blood Blues by Ineke Bockting

“…In order to do so, I focus on the different forms of liminality—or in-betweenness—that these memories present : temporal, spacial, ethnic and musical, as well as generic and finally linguistic. I show that these liminalities—at the very margin of marginality, or beyond—will reveal the horrors of war but will also create a Deleuzian ligne de fuite that allows the protagonist to come to terms with this painful period in his life as a musician and as a man.…”
Get full text

Linguistic distances between native languages and Chinese influence acquisition of Chinese character, vocabulary, and grammar by Xingsan Chai, Jie Bao

“…We found that closer linguistic distance facilitated more favorable Chinese character and vocabulary acquisition at elementary, intermediate, and advanced Chinese proficiency levels, and that the influence of linguistic distance on CSL learners’ vocabulary acquisition tended to decrease as Chinese proficiency increased. Finally, linguistic difference did not significantly affect CSL learners’ grammar acquisition at elementary proficiency, but as Chinese proficiency improved, an L1 interference effect occurred among CSL learners with a short linguistic distance from Chinese, which hindered grammar acquisition. …”
Get full text