Search

This paper supports efforts towards developing native information systems (IS) theories by providing exemplary case studies of how IS scholars have in the past undertaken native theorizing that produced native products of theorizing. It begins by arguing, based the IS field’s discursive activities, why relying on reference disciplines will not progress the IS field. Because descriptions of what native theories in IS and native products of theorizing look like are few and far between, this paper offers criteria for evaluating what a native IS product of theorizing looks like, which will lead to productive work in generating native IS theories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we describe how mathematical authority is enacted in middle-grades mathematics classrooms where authority, for us, is dynamic, negotiated, and discursively enacted. To operationalize authority, we considered (a) the mathematical activity for which one was claiming authority, and (b) the holder of authority (who deferred to whom for a given activity). We accounted for three broad categories of mathematical activity: Authorship, Animation (oral and written communication), and Assessment of mathematical ideas. The results shared here provide an overall characterization of mathematical authority for the classrooms in our study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on the critiquing process as an opportunity to engage high school geometry students with all aspects of the third Common Core Standard for Mathematical Practice (SMP3): construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others. We report on the types of critiques students provided one another and the extent to which students addressed each type of critique when revising their arguments. Nearly half of students’ critiques related to the clarity of a claim or need for a mathematical justification. Students consistently revised draft arguments based on peer critiques, but at times did so in ways that decreased the generality of the argument or inserted mathematically incorrect justifications. Findings suggest that the broader instructional sequence can afford opportunities to discuss the key components of proof by drawing on students’ ideas while maintaining shared authority throughout. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyses the didactic space of the Russian as a foreign language textbooks and manuals within the pedagogical discourse in terms of intercultural communication theory. It discloses the influence of national stereotypes on the image of Russia in the foreigners as a sketchy primitive idea on this social phenomenon formed during certain period of time. The paper highlights the necessity of altering the vector of stereotypes issues research taking into account their design properties and functions, in order to boost intercultural communication. The research characterizes the understanding and implementation of intercultural approach by the authors of contemporary Russian as a foreign language textbooks. It focuses on discursive strategies and tactics of establishing intercultural communication. Strategic component promotes didactic communication, when Russian as foreign language textbooks didactic space acquires associative, dialogue and polyphonic nature. The paper reveals positive and attractive for the foreign contacts Russia image within the analyzed textbooks and manuals. It elicits discursive features of Russian as a foreign language textbooks as a soft power tool that contributes to leveling negative (stereotypical) image of Russia and establishing the dialogue of cultures. The authors prove the process of teaching Russian as a foreign language to be based on essential support of the Russian language as a powerful resource of consolidating forces that strengthen the fundamental positions of the Russian Federation in the new geopolitical space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digitalization across sectors drives an increasing demand for IT specialists. Women, however, still make up a small part of computing communities, IT education and work – in the US and across Europe. The "gender equality paradox" is a label for women's underrepresentation in STEM disciplines, particularly in IT, that seems to be more extreme in highly gender egalitarian cultures. It has been suggested that the paradox is a result of women's choices in wealthy countries with a high degree of individual freedom. However, our research suggests that there is another side to this paradox, thus demonstrating the importance to recognize how other groups affect women's participation in IT. Our study of attitudes towards women's underrepresentation in IT among IT employers and organizations uncovers mixed signals from these actors, as they both welcome and doubt women in IT. Employers' negotiation of the meaning of women's underrepresentation in IT leaves little space for gender equality actions. While this can have major consequences for women's careers in computing and IT work, it also illustrates a central mechanism of the "gender equality paradox" characterized by a widely accepted norm of gender equality existing alongside employers' skepticism to the goal of gender balance in computing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this theoretical paper, we introduce analytic pragmatism (Brandom, 2008) as a paradigm that allows for the simultaneous discussion of findings from different theoretical traditions. We illustrate the use of this paradigm by examining literature about teaching and learning fractions. This novel approach is particularly well suited for the body of fraction research because in this domain the same terms are used differently across traditions, historical periods, and discursive levels. Moreover, different terms are sometimes used in the same way. We assume that the mathematical activity of learners is stable and, using analytic pragmatism (Brandom, 2008), we illustrate how analytic pragmatism can be used synthesize research across time, tradition, and discursive level. We discuss the utility of our approach for the field of mathematics education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study outlines methods to measure the impact of e-learning initiatives in the field of organization-driven induction training programs. Induction is a 'make or break' experience in a new employee's life, in terms of performance, trust and long-term retention. New learning environments are projected to bridge a gap in new staff integration in a critical interval wherein lack of adequate socialization and information dissemination leads to soaring premature attrition rates. Furthermore, the article intends to investigate the adaptation and customization of content topics and pedagogical methods to the new online learning context, within a milieu that elicits enhanced learners' experience by means of emerging technological innovation. The study relies on a practical perspective on e-learning impact assessment that makes use of method triangulation, using surveyed trainees' feedback, LMS (learning management system) platform reports and critical discourse analysis to depict new staff's interactions, expectations and perceived challenges or encountered hurdles in reference to e-learning induction programs. Software applications facilitate big data management and make online training output visible and readily available for data analysis. Theorists and practitioners strive to evaluate the impact of gamification strategies (e.g. awarding coins for correct answers or participation to interactive quizzes) on the perceived KPIs (key performance indicators) of online training that include attractiveness, interest, credibility, usefulness and applicability. In reference to the challenge of measuring innovative training platforms by means of beneficiaries' feedback, the study draws on practical know-how related to the construction and update of such e-learning modules. Hence, it features showcases of employee induction e-training across new learning environments using online technologies such as LMS platforms. Case studies involve the comparative analysis of four e-training induction programs, implemented in retail and private healthcare. Empirical data were collected concerning the thematic area coverage, including table of contents and the organization of structural units of content, i.e. main chapters, sub-chapters and sections such as company history, strategy, mission statement, vision and values, organizational charts, customer benefits, product and service portfolio and social involvement through CSR projects. Another explorative dimension involves the design and layout style, using visual analysis tools that streamlines the ocularcentric perspective by which today's public is mostly composed of viewers rather than readers. The third investigative dimension refers to a critical discourse analysis of employees' testimonials and success stories through the lens of recurring trends and sociolinguistic self-expression tools that emerge across communicative patterns. Synthetic conclusions and practical implications envision updated strategies for development of employee induction training and blended learning solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, I show how Eastern European cultural elites made sense of and not only accepted but also participated in building state socialism following World War II. I outline the discursive practices of Bulgarian Esperantists in 1946-1947 and trace their foundation in three discursive fields, communism, Esperanto, and Bulgarian society. The Esperanto movement, as the most institutionalized transnational social movement in the region during state socialism, is representative of the relations between the organized cultural elite and the state. Bulgaria, in turn, was selected because no widespread opposition to state-socialism was registered in the country prior to 1989. I find that Bulgarian Esperantists sided with the state-socialist project through advancing a form of cosmopolitan nationalism, a hybrid discourse creatively combining (1) socialist patriotism, (2) sensitivity to global developments--from war and nation-state relations to cultural achievements and progress--and to Bulgarians' position in the world, and (3) locally resonant ethics of fellowship. Consent consisted of creating a symbolic bridge at the intersection of distinct discursive fields resulting in a field-circumscribed multivocality. Bulgarian Esperantists saw the world through a lumping lens: the international and the domestic arenas, politics, culture, and the economy, the public and the private spheres were all connected. Different audiences could read into Esperanto discourse something familiar. Bulgarian Esperantists were able to thrive under the new regime, reconnect with the global Esperanto movement, and recruit new members. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vaccines play a key role in public health intervention, contributing to dramatic declines in morbidity and mortality rates. While medical knowledge delivery has been traditionally made by physicians (traditionally considered the best source of credible knowledge), patients can now widely access scientific and non-scientific information resources. There has been considerable research on knowledge delivery. However, we currently know little about healthcare knowledge delivery in online communities. In this research, we draw on material-discursive practices to conduct a qualitative study on knowledge delivery, with a focus on pro- and anti-vaccination movements. Our findings show that as knowledge delivery practices in offline settings and in online communities have different materializations, they can influence each other via their performative outcomes. We created a timeline to show important events regarding the influence of offline and online knowledge delivery practices on each other. We finally highlight the study contributions for research and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article describes the methodological shifts in the theory and philosophy of culture brought about by the influence of the postcolonial studies. The main focus is on the problems arising in the discursive representation of cultures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study outlines methods to measure the impact of e-learning initiatives in the field of organization-driven induction training programs. Induction is a 'make or break' experience in a new employee's life, in terms of performance, trust and long-term retention. New learning environments are projected to bridge a gap in new staff integration in a critical interval wherein lack of adequate socialization and information dissemination leads to soaring premature attrition rates. Furthermore, the article intends to investigate the adaptation and customization of content topics and pedagogical methods to the new online learning context, within a milieu that elicits enhanced learners' experience by means of emerging technological innovation. The study relies on a practical perspective on elearning impact assessment that makes use of method triangulation, using surveyed trainees' feedback, LMS (learning management system) platform reports and critical discourse analysis to depict new staff's interactions, expectations and perceived challenges or encountered hurdles in reference to elearning induction programs. Software applications facilitate big data management and make online training output visible and readily available for data analysis. Theorists and practitioners strive to evaluate the impact of gamification strategies (e.g. awarding coins for correct answers or participation to interactive quizzes) on the perceived KPIs (key performance indicators) of online training that include attractiveness, interest, credibility, usefulness and applicability. In reference to the challenge of measuring innovative training platforms by means of beneficiaries' feedback, the study draws on practical know-how related to the construction and update of such e-learning modules. Hence, it features showcases of employee induction e-training across new learning environments using online technologies such as LMS platforms. Case studies involve the comparative analysis of four e-training induction programs, implemented in retail and private healthcare. Empirical data were collected concerning the thematic area coverage, including table of contents and the organization of structural units of content, i.e. main chapters, sub-chapters and sections such as company history, strategy, mission statement, vision and values, organizational charts, customer benefits, product and service portfolio and social involvement through CSR projects. Another explorative dimension involves the design and layout style, using visual analysis tools that streamlines the ocularcentric perspective by which today's public is mostly composed of viewers rather than readers. The third investigative dimension refers to a critical discourse analysis of employees' testimonials and success stories through the lens of recurring trends and sociolinguistic self-expression tools that emerge across communicative patterns. Synthetic conclusions and practical implications envision updated strategies for development of employee induction training and blended learning solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores academics' interaction in an online forum, situated on the intranet of a South African university, where perceptions of racism within a larger discourse about transformation are shared and debated. The communicative model of democratic discourse directs the interpretation of an emancipatory discursive interaction, following a deductive textual analysis of the forum and interview texts from selected participants. The communicative model discourages normative judgements of others and focuses on an understanding of difference. The findings indicate that participants who engage in a deliberative demonstration of power, do not appreciate diverse social-historical contexts. Discursive interactions which indicate an understanding of participants' contexts are marked by a mitigating and sympathetic approach which allows for doubt in the judgements of participants. These mitigating interactions do however not persuade all participants to critically reflect on limiting opinions, attitudes and ways of interaction. An online curator who invites participants from diverse contexts might make the discourse more nuanced, create the opportunity to understand multiple realities and facilitate a transformative discussion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper focuses on modeling the macrostructure of discourse-world of the political event as derived from G20 Leaders' Declaration and publications united by the theme of 2017 summit. The purpose of the authors is to reveal basic macroframes that are viewed as cognitive 'pillars' of discourse world of one of the most crucial political events of the past year - international forum for economic cooperation. The notion of discourse world macrostructure draws on World-Modelling Theory initially inspired by Text-World Theory, introduced by Werth, Gavins, Semino and then expanded upon contemporary cognitive-discourse approaches proposed by Russian scholars Kubryakova, Boldyrev, Demyankov, and Socio-cognitive Theory of discourse, introduced by van Dijk. Discourse world of political event is treated as representational structure of discourse having its macrostructure that is made explicit on the level of discourse topics. It is argued that global economic challenges specify basic macroframes that constitute the macrostructure of the discourse world. In the present research, the established macroframes are grouped into three cognitive-semantic fields - 'Man and Society', 'Man and Nature', and 'World Economy'. It is proved that discourse world macrostructure has economic ideology and political intentions behind the linguistic expressions. Correlations are found between discourse world macrostructure of the political event and major political and economic initiatives aimed at changing for the better economic life of the global community. The conclusions might present interest for further investigation of the socially-determined discourse structures that govern the perception of the political events by mass audience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relevance of the subject and the research problem is conditioned by the following needs: (1) in the sociocultural context, to convincingly substantiate the pedagogical effectiveness of the dialogue system of higher professional education; (2) in the theoretical context, to substantiate the dialogical organics of pedagogical discourse, the methodological provisions of the dialogue concept of education, and radically revise the educational goals and results of training professional managers in the face of increasing personalization of individuals, the demand for their creative freedom and self-worth; and (3) in the educational context, not to reduce professionally significant language training of students-economists to a simplified modification of the classical university model. The article discusses the basic dialogue properties; it is particularly emphasized that the problems of studying the text, discourse and language of the operationalterminological apparatus are connected with the discursive concept of dialogism. The authors presented the results of their experiment on developing dialogical competence, which they understand as the ability of a linguistic persona to speak from the positions of the Author, Listener and Expert. It is noted that the interest of the humanities in the problems of dialogue reflects the polysemy and depth of this phenomenon and proves the urgency of further scientific and practical searches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study is referred to the necessity to provide a complex analysis of the language identity of British people in order to create the most influential and persuasive text based on the linguistic as well as extralinguistic factors involved in the process of the language identity formation together with the choice of speech strategies and tactics of their implementation that are able to have the most dramatic impact on British people and persuade them to perform some kind of actions. The relevance of this topic is due to the fact that we live in the world of highly-developed technologies which are used globally and may have an influence on people who belong to diverse language groups instantly. The given research is aimed at conducting an analysis and identifying the connection between speech strategies and tactics used in Internet advertising and language identity of British people as exemplified by British Internet-advertising. Despite the fact that the advertising sphere is at its height, the research topic of Internet advertising is still topical nowadays. To the present time, there is a limited number of classifications that describe speech strategies peculiar to Internet-advertising. The purpose of the present research is the systematisation of existing data and development of more comprehensive classification of speech strategies used in Internetadvertising as well as consideration of tactics necessary for the implementation of these strategies. Besides, one more aim of the research is the identification of the connection between the language identity and the choice of grammatical structures and constructions during the creation of an advertising text as exemplified by the modern advertising discourse. The following research methods were used in this work: cognitive and discursive analysis, method of qualitative analysis, generalization and systematization, which allowed conducting the complex analysis of the connection between the language identity and speech strategies as exemplified by the British Internet advertising. The language identity to a large extent identifies which speech strategy can become more efficient as each nation has its own reference points, values and needs. Due to this fact, special attention is paid to certain grammatical structure or constructions. The given research summarises the existing knowledge and suggests the classification that consists of the most frequently used speech strategies and tactics implemented in Internet-advertising from the perspective of language identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The term "pragmatic marker" (PM) is suggested in the article for a certain category of discourse markers (DMs), typically occurring in spoken language, - those which almost completely lack their lexical meaning and do not influence the semantic content of their context; meanwhile, they verbalize the mental process of speech production. Nowadays, there is no unanimity in differentiating categories of DMs in special linguistic literature, so DMs embrace a wide range of heterogeneous subgroups of markers with different functions and meanings. The scientific value of this paper resides in the fact that it specifies a particular category of DMs which is only characterized by their function, which they fulfill in speech, and, broadly speaking, in discourse. This terminological divergence is partly accounted for linguistic realities, for example, in the English language, there are only a few linguistic units that can be referred to the PM category (oh, well, like, you know). Nevertheless, their multi-functionality and zero effect on the semantic content of the discourse highlight the necessity of distinguishing a particular category of linguistic units - pragmatic markers. The results of the Russian corpus analysis show that PMs are quite numerous in the Russian language (jeto samoe, kak ego, kak ih, kak jeto, tipa/tipa togo chto, to-sjo, ja ne znaju). Therefore, this paper contains the explanation and typology of PMs. There is no doubt that linguistic analysis today cannot be only limited to description. Evidence shows that there are practical application areas, such as automatic speech recognition and linguistic expertise, which require clear unambiguous terminological systems for solving practical problems. The PMs' frequency occurrence in speech exceeds manifold that of meaningful units, including DMs. In addition, drawing a distinction between DMs and PMs contributes to separating text and discourse analysis, and identifying different degrees of speech spontaneity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the given article, the lexical units associated with the umbrella concept "clothes" in medieval Germany and its further development in idioms are considered as the material under study. The purpose of the work is to trace the influence of the concept "clothes" on the changes in the lexical composition of the language. According to the authors, this topic is studied insufficiently and may be of interest for further research, with a view to a more detailed understanding of the constituent components of idioms. The choice of this material is historically conditioned and is the most common in all strata of society. The chosen period of time is of interest from the point of view of intensive development in all spheres of life in medieval Germany. During this period of time, the country experienced an economic, cultural and social upsurge. The formation and development of the third class of society also occurred at that time. The authors relied on the material of earlier studies by German and Russian authors in the field of language history, phraseology, and linguistics. Studying the specified vocabulary in their work, the authors used the descriptive method and came to the conclusion that in the course of time some words fell out of use due to the fact that the objects (garments) they denoted were no longer used / worn. Some other words have retained their meaning and are widely used in modern vocabulary. A number of lexical units have been preserved in phraseological (idiomatic) locutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Topicality. The emancipated modern communication presumes the new language of everyday life that supports the tolerance and the open mind and pluralisms of all groups of society. The understanding of this new language, its philosophical basics and its actual application remains insufficiently studied. This report attempts to apply postmodern philosophy of language to the analysis of contemporary feminisms and gender studies of communication. Aim: to reconstruct the logic and basic philosophical concepts of contemporary cultural transformations in human relations. Hypothesis: the ideas of language of "maternity", the "feminine writing", "female literature" and the notions of "repetition", "difference", "abjection" and others are the keys for the understanding of contemporary political and cultural practices changing the "colonial" order. Discussion: The report is focused on the so-called linguistic breakthrough with the discursive methods of constructing subjectivity. The subject in thus specific linguistic practices does not play the passive role anymore. The new approach to the discursive practice means at the same time the new understanding of the phenomenon of subject. That is "the-subject-in-process" as J. Lacan claimed with his idea if "divid" and the "carnaval of identifications". Or, again, Julia Kristeva, or L. Irigaray suggests that the semiotic stage of the subject's formation, being beyond the control of conscious stereotypes (symbols that emerge later on), might most adequately and pluralistically express the infinite, polyvariant (or multivariant) desire that, as Lacan states, constitutes the basis of subjective identity. The philosophical feminist critique was shaped by the search for language practices that escape such relationships and are distinct from those dominating the contemporary scene. Method: Historical reconstruction of postmodern philosophy in the context of feminist and post-feminist critics of language. Results: development of understanding of contemporary feminisms and post-feminisms. The establishment a correlation between postmodernism and feminism gives us sufficient ground for some conclusions: feminist postmodernism or feminist poststructuralism does not appear to be merely a practical philosophy, and the feminist movement does not boil down to a set of women's sociopolitical or scientific activities but rather represents a broad theoretical approach to many areas. This conclusion is of critical importance when we evaluate the real prospects for women's struggle for liberation from male domination, the theoretical backing of which struggle is increasingly coming from male postmodernists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The modern media community becomes a platform for detecting transformational processes in the mental picture of the world. One of the factors in the analysis and monitoring of these changes is a linguistic mediaperson, its actual state and aspects of formation. Depending on the kind of discursive practices types of a language mediaperson could be classified as an elite language person (publicists in high-quality journals), a neutral language person (citizen journalists, bloggers) and mass linguistic identity (authors, commentators social networking and other sites of forum-type). The requirement to meet the information and cultural needs of the media community suggests the existence of a high standard mediality, in the formation of which media text plays an important role. We can distinguish the main linguistic and meta-linguistic factors of the formation of the high standard mediality: meaningful practices and codes; a special rhetorical strategy; overcoming of invectiveness; creative processes as the implementation of linguistic-creative needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. The political space is permeated with diverse types and kinds of discourses, which operate simultaneously and which concurrently function as autonomous, heterogeneous and continuous information flows. By applying language filters, geo-positioning data, markers of discursive practices to the online space, it is possible to identify the areas that are characteristic of a country, a city, a certain group of people, a political party's electorate, etc. The communication and the formation of social practices or social action takes place in these areas within the framework of various social networks and network communities. The Internet social network users act within certain roles: "Opinion leaders", "Sensors", "Implementors", "Readers" and "Reputation players". "Opinion leaders" start the wave effects of information dissemination, thus, changing the information and the news field. "Sensors" collect relevant information within a particular semantic concept; they constitute the context of the information generated by the opinion leaders. "Implementors" start blog-waves through the online space. "Readers", who are the majority, are always online and do not virtually generate public messages. "Reputational players" are the representatives of business and government. "Opinion leaders" and "sensors" produce and reproduce a system of socio-cultural attitudes, which are accepted and replicated by all the participants of a social network. This system of attitudes describes and defines the political reflexive space. Methods. In order to study the political reflexive space, it is necessary to analyze discursive practices generated by social networks. Users of social networks endue their discursive practices with markers and triggers, through which is possible to identify and study the socio-cultural attitudes of users and to assess their impact on the development of socio-political systems. One of these markers is a hashtag. All social platforms are interconnected by a unique set of hashtags, which users use to mark up their political reflexive space. The importance of hashtag analysis lies not only in the ability to group the messages which are similar in terms of topic, but also to conduct a research into the dependent entity, formed by means of folksonomy. Results and Conclusions. We have developed and approved the methodology for the discursive practices analysis, based on hashtag modeling, wherein hashtags are viewed as relational networks. It allows us to shift the focus from considering the subject of politics as an element of a polydisperse, rather than the element of a monodisperse system. Not only did we identify the quantitative indicators of the political reflexive space, but also we analyzed its qualitative characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Topicality. Russia was always one of the main subjects of political thought as one of influential factor in world policy. The report is focused on the history of American political thought that remains still unknown in this aspect. And attempts to better understanding of the roots of actual negative connotation of Russia and Russians in USA. Aim: to reconstruct the logic and basic political arguments of the negative image of Russia in America. Hypothesis: the negative discursive American practice about Russia is due to the growing of economical and geopolitical appetites of the new coming in the end of 19th century future transnational corporations, changing the classical political order. Discussion: The historical overview of Russian presence in USA in 19th century and its political receipt shows us that there was no negative attitude against Russians. Image of America as a country of open possibilities was working for Russians as well as for others. We depict conflict in the middle of the First World War when USA spontaneously recognized correlations with their own interests and Great Britain's. Conservative, liberal, socialist and even feminist political movement in USA have contacts with Russians and their own vision of Russia. When we try to evaluate the real prospects for the American struggle for liberation and emancipation, the theoretical backing of which struggle is increasingly coming with the hate for another big and independent country - Russia. The report is focused also on the so-called discourse analysis of texts of American politicians and political thinkers - from Roosevelt to Kennon, from Ericson to Dewey. Method: Historical reconstruction of political theories and real politics in the frame of the USA-Russian policy and strategic communication. Results: despising the systemic communicative crisis between Russia and America there is a potential to remedy the situation. As Henry Kissinger claimed the demonization of President Putin by the West is not the policy but an alibi for its absence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored how students appropriated mathematical and discursive practices in a class whose teacher took a discursive approach to instruction while supported by professional development and a curriculum designed with equity and discourse in mind. The study deployed a theoretical framework that used Academic Literacy in Mathematics (Moschkovich, 2015) as a framework for analysis of visual representations and Talk Moves (Anderson, Chapin, & O'Connor, 2011). The study examined a 4th-grade classroom in the San Francisco Bay Area where roughly three out of five students were English Language Learners and 19 out of 20 were low-income. Results showed that students appropriated the Talk Move, "Do you have any ideas?" for multiple purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite an expanding literature drawing attention to the key part played by the body in various organizational phenomena, and to the way organizations shape the bodies that populate them, the constitution of organizations has, to this day, been limited to either discursive practices or to a variety of non-human artifacts. In this paper, we remind readers that the body is also an object - although a human one. Through the study of three vignettes drawn through various datacollection strategies, we show that the body participates in the constitution of organizations, in particular by attributing actions to the organization it thus constitutes. We then discuss the implication of a greater participation of the body in organization constitution for the study of organizational rituals, the study of materiality in organizations, and for the four flows theory. We conclude that the communicative constitution of organizations (CCO) perspective is already well-equipped to extend its ontological generosity to the body - it must simply be willing to do so. This study therefore shows that a CCO framework can be used to study the body's participation to the constitution of organizations, without reducing it to its discursive dimension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cultural mythology, apart from archaic (typical of primitive societies and ancient civilizations) and religious (typical of medieval states) mythology, is the term that has been recently used to call systems of collective ideas, functioning similarly to archaic and religious mythological ideas, but under different historic circumstances, which were formed in Western secularized societies of Modern History and also in societies oriented to the Western civilization models. Such ideas are expressed, first of all, in various forms of verbal works. In modern poetics such forms are called discourses and versions of their functioning are called discursive practices. Discourses germinating mythological ideas are often combined with other forms of cultural works (cultural practices), which, first of all, are meant for visual sensing (visual practices) and function more or less in connection with them. Apart from purely informative discourses, discourses germinating myths or including some elements of the myth, besides the information itself, also contain such interpretation of this information that can't be unambiguously recognized as reliable. Interpretation in such discourses is more important than information itself due to which they hold a particular status in culture. The dominating mythology in the 18th century Russia can be called mythology of the Enlightenment. The idea of the State with its pathos of the state system and the idea of the Mind as the main way of world cognition and world order control can be considered the most important components of the mythmaking in Russia. Due to the importance of the idea of the State this mythology can be called state mythology. Along with state mythology in the 18th century Russia one could distinguish mythology of a peculiar community in educated noble cultural society, which is called Masonic brotherhood. Masonic mythology much more than state one relied on Christian mythology and intellectually opposed state mythology. Still, as its creators were the same people who, being outside Masonic brotherhood, lived and worked in the same society like other educated Russian noblemen who were not Masons. Masonic mythology first of all related to state mythology. Things are quite different with Old Believers' mythology, where one can find elements which obviously oppose state mythology (Peter the Great = Antichrist vs Peter the Great = God), but, essentially, Old Believers' mythology is based on a different cultural language of pre-Petrine era and, apparently, we can't say that it is complementary to mythology of Russian Enlightenment. Social nature of cultural mythology is one of its peculiar features. This peculiarity determines indissoluble unity of its productive and functional components: cultural mythology is both the result of a social group activity and its controller. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the research is in conceptual analysis of the problem concerning cultural security in Russian discourse. The main task is to systematize in terms of comparative analysis of close terminology in English and Russian scientific discourses ("cultural safety", "cultural security", "safety of culture" "культурная безопасность" ["kulturnaya bezopasnost"], "безопасность культуры" ["bezopasnost cultury"], and "культура безопасности" ["kultura bezopasnosti"]) the store of knowledge and unify the notional instrument. Besides the main characteristics of the notion "cultural security" and its operational sense are to be revealed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the research is investigation of a new phenomenon taking place in mass and information discourse called genre constellation. It is a new term for studies of text, genre and discourse. In linguistics it was used first by Danish scientist L. Hjelmslev. He introduced it to describe correlations in language structure, when two elements are compatible but one doesn't suppose presence of the other. In our work we use the term "genre constellation" to denote a special type of interaction between genres when one text combines the features of several genres and it is impossible to refer it to a definite one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses W. Labov's and J. Waletzky's notion of narrative clause functions as the analytical starting point for exploring the tension characterizing Chinese government-sponsored modernization discourses and socio-religious counter discourses produced by a Jone-speaking animist minority population living in the Li Shan (Black Horse Mountains) of Western China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how management concepts acquire meaning through discursive distinction and embedding. Drawing on Austrian public sector reform, we reconstruct a classification of vocabularies according to their internal integrative capacity and external connectivity in order to study how distinct bundles of management concepts are embedded in broader meaning structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An essay is presented on the social discourse regarding the North American Indian tribes known as Kennewick Man. It examines the infusion of the biological with the political concern on the management of life of the Kennewick Man. It cites the religious constitution of Indians in the Kennewick Man discourse for the epic struggle between science and religion.

As techno-environmental controversies increasingly confront us with tremendous democratic challenges, it is imperative to investigate which discursive strategies and processes in media discourses facilitate/impede democratic debate and citizenship. This paper puts forward an approach combining a risk conflict-perspective and analytical framework of critical discourse analysis which is applied to the debate on genetically manipulated crops and food by analyzing how two Belgian elite newspapers discursively (re-)define and interpret four controversial events. The analysis identifies two distinct ideological cultures. Driven by values of market liberalism and profitability, one ideological culture is found to repeatedly take up the defense of the status quo and to continuously enact processes of de-politicization to impede democratic debate. The other, driven by values of equity and social and global responsibility, is found to facilitate democratic debate by repeatedly challenging existing power relations, in terms of revealing competing sets of assumptions, values and interests underlying opposing responses to scientific uncertainty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study compares two participatory behaviors, online opinion expression and official channel opinion expression in China by relating them to media use habits and mediating factors such as perceived opinion support and personal issue stance. Findings from a telephone survey in Shanghai suggest that the opinion expression processes occurring in the two discursive universes in China - official and nonofficial - are distinctive. Opinion expression through governmental channels is conceptually grouped with pro-Party opinion and traditional news media consumption, while online opinion expression is associated with perceived opinion support and informational internet use. Furthermore, we find negative relationships between internet use and pro-Party opinion and between perceived opinion support and opinion expression via official channels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the relative prevalence of moral discourse in the U.S. intervention in the Bosnian war between 1992 and 1995. It states that the Bosnian Serbs are framed as villains while Muslims are framed as heroes. It notes the appeals to moral absolutes and moral inconsistency or changes of moral inconsistency. It mentions that the moral commentary was carried through the use of moral vocabulary.

The article explores a common place as a form of argumentative index consisting of a set of propositions taken as true which allows an arguer to draw conclusions based on reasoning. The factors contributing to the success of the controversy teaching argument are outlined. These include an appeal to the assumptions of conservatives, the ability to neutralize the strongest responses from academics and the left, and the concision that makes it ideally suited to the contemporary discursive arena.

This paper proposes a meta-theoretical exercise in order to explore the possible intersections between discourse and rhetorical studies. Rather than offering an abstract comprehensive review of the ways in which the two areas of study approach communicative practices, I start by examining two particular studies in order to explore the assumptions, purposes and claims that inform each tradition. This grounded exercise, I would contend, can serve as a useful window to explore what discourse analysts and rhetoricians have to offer to the examination of discourse as a social practice and the ways in which it relates to societies as a whole. My analysis suggests not only the possibility, but the inevitability of systematic grounding in the two traditions in order to assure a needed emphasis, not on discourse or society, but on discourse in society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By tradition many narrative researchers interested in questions about identity have focused on interview narratives and especially on their discursive organization in terms of coherence and referentiality. This paper argues that other aspects than coherence are of importance in negotiating identity. Examples are taken from narrative research to show the ways in which persons with dementia illnesses, brain injuries, and related problems actually use and tell stories in order to claim various identities. There is a special focus on the way the storytelling activity and all kinds of expressive resources are used in order to establish and negotiate identity. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper offers an analysis of how plastic surgeons make embodied arguments. Specifically, I seek to demonstrate that visible activities may function as part of the interactive structure of an "argument"; that, embodied actions can be forms of arguments. To support this claim, the paper analyzes naturally occurring interaction between plastic surgeons and patients seeking to alter their bodily landscape. Using AIDA (Tracy, 2005) and microethnography (Streeck & Mehus, 2005) as methodological-theoretical lenses, the essay challenges the assumption that making an argument solely is a discursive activity. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The argument developed in this essay is that community media democratize the structure and discursive practices of modern communication systems and in so doing, support popular participation in public discourse. In taking up this argument, I review academic thinking on the public sphere, especially as it relates to the field of media studies. Here, I describe the basic features of contemporary media culture that have prompted questions regarding the very existence, let alone the viability, of the public sphere. Throughout, I draw upon the work of scholars who challenge Habermas's historical account of a single, inclusive public sphere, but who, nevertheless, acknowledge the concept's utility to democratic theory. This discussion provides an appropriate context to evaluate community media's role in constructing discursive spaces for groups and individuals marginalized by dominant media institutions and practices. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This project explores identities of overseas Chinese as they are ascribed by their domestic Chinese (i.e., Chinese people who live and work in China, without any overseas experiences). It examines three ways overseas Chinese are talked about in China, demonstrating that identities are fluid and discursive constructions, a symbolic product of multiple forces such as political and cultural ideologies, social interactions, and interpersonal relationships. This study also shows that social interactions and personal relationships can help transform political and cultural ideologies. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on Goffman, Shugart, de Klerk, Cameron, Kulick, and Edley & Wetherell, this critical discourse analysis examines how players socio-discursively negotiate gendered identities and norms in video games. Game talk involves communicative sharing and policing of ideas, values and norms within a tortuous, mediated system of game mechanics, digital tradition and wider cultural constraints. Counter-Strike, played by millions worldwide, makes an excellent case study of gamer interaction. Transcription for this study was gathered digitally and analyzed for conversational sequences that demonstrate more widespread trends in game communication. Game messages are filled with disembedded references to broader social practice and pop culture. Messages are personal, spontaneous, informal, and linguistically transgressive, performing variety of purposes: from task accomplishment, to entertainment, persuasion, and identity work. This study focuses upon the ways in which participants employ socio-discursive power and construct both sexual identity and inter-gender relations within the game. Here, the Cartesian dualism imposed by games as media is felt. Masculinity is difficult to demonstrate physicality in games because one need not be macho to win. It is perhaps even more difficult to achieve femininity in a game that features all-male characters partaking in endless violent conflict. It is through discursive interaction that gamers achieve gender and sexuality in digital play. It is in the display of the mental or social attributes that gender is articulated in cyberspaces where the physical body is abstracted and only the movement of the eyes and hands externally marks the difference between 733T and n00b. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how pragmatics and semiotics intersect by unveiling what I claim to be a blind spot in language studies, i.e. objects ’ textual agency. By textual agency I mean the capacity to produce speech acts or, more broadly, discursive acts, a capacity that has traditionally been ascribed to human actors only. As shown in this paper, a semiotic approach to communication allows us to open up the traditional speaker-hearer schema by showing how textual entities can also be said to be doing something discursively. In keeping with the semiotic openness to non-linguistic objects, while acknowledging the incarnated dimension of communication, as highlighted by pragmaticians, I show that pragmatics could therefore benefit from opening its perspective to textual agency. Building on Sbis’s work on speech act theory and what Descombes identifies as tetravalent structures, I show to what extent a given speech act can be attributed not only to the person who produced it, but also to the textual entity he or she produced. It is precisely this logic of imbrication and representation that allows us to open up the traditional speaker-hearer schema by 1) acknowledging action from a distance, what could be called “tele-action,” while 2) highlighting the chain of agencies that pervade any interactional situation. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While conceptually discursive opportunities provides a bridge between structural and cultural approaches to social movements, there is still relatively little known about how discursive opportunities are produced, change over time, and affect movement dynamics and outcomes. This is largely a result of scholars focusing on claims makers and the challenges they face in diffusing their ideas throughout society rather than how the institutional processes affect discursive opportunities. I address this shortcoming in the literature by building on existing theories of social movements, mass media, and organizations to analyze how the principles and practices of journalists working in different kinds of media outlets (mainstream, conservative, and liberal) affect the discursive opportunities available to social movement actors over time. Drawing on media coverage of the abortion issue from 1980 to 2000 and interviews with journalists, editors, and producers in nine media outlets, I find that discursive opportunities are fluid, meaning that they both vary during the same historical moment and over time. Conceptually, I expand understandings of discursive opportunities by focusing on how journalistic principles and practices affect journalistic evaluations of different events, alter the standing of social movement actors across outlets and over time, and affect issue agendas. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discourse, conflict and negotiation have a fundamental role within the learning process. Web based discussion forums have proved to be efficient learning tools, when used to enhance dialogue and argumentation on a specific knowledge object. However, in traditional computer-based discussion systems, the negotiation process is hidden. Moreover, when the number of messages increases, it becomes difficult to find the results of the negotiation. In this paper, we describe eQuake (Electronic Question & Answer Knowledge Environment), a new web discussion system enhanced with intelligent software agents, focusing on its features aimed to improve negotiation and knowledge building. In particular, "Conversational Moves" and "Our Knowledge Repertoire" are tools expressly developed to elicit the negotiation process and to help students easily find the outcomes of their interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers a comparative examination studies focusing on state discourses that attempt to justify the surveillance of citizens. Throughout history, various ideals have disguised questionable objectives held by the powerful. In many if not all countries, the state has been just such a power holder, using various discursive strategies to encourage compliance from hesitant citizens. Yet, such tactics are pervasive in almost every country. To analyze how governments manage to gain compliance and/or a sense of legitimacy for such tactics, the article examines the communication that governments share with their citizens.

This essay extends recent discursive models of the dialectic of control by engaging the apparent irony of dominant voices resisting control lost. To examine how seemingly privileged professionals experience and respond to such loss, I examine data drawn from my study of occupational identity among U.S. commercial airline pilots. My analysis indicates a tension faced by many pilots today: how to reconcile the legacy of a potent professional identity with the organizational emasculation of that self. I demonstrate how participants in my study employed discursive tactics to both (a) embrace institutional mandates that airline Captains facilitate crew empowerment and (b) fend off the threat of feminization associated with such mandates. Participant tactics imply that resistance varies in relation to audience, as well as the ironic possibility of resistance through consent. I use the case to suggest that scholars grapple more fully with the empirical and political implications of discursive models of the dialectic of control. Ultimately, I argue that tales of resistance to control lost, however politically contentious, merit serious consideration, for these discursive realities shape lived experience and pose significant obstacles to social change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the role of resistance, reflexivity and the work of discursive operators in media ethnography. Ethnography is increasingly advocated in communication and cultural studies. Yet despite its renewed popularity among critics, ethnography seems to be a rather disorderly method, lacking in internal coherence and consistent application. In fact, what researchers mean when they claim to do ethnography is difficult to determine.

This article analyzes the nongovernmental organization Concerned Women for America (CWA), and the discourses and efforts used by the organization to advance its cultural, political and religious platform at the United Nations. Examining sex trafficking and CWA discourse from a transnational feminist cultural studies orientation has implications for both communication and feminist scholarship. As a critical practice, transnational feminist cultural studies interrogates to what extent cultural, political and academic discursive practices legitimize contemporary global power structures.

This paper examines the talking problems among a high school co-director and family members during a meeting for a returning student who is newly a mother. What is interesting about this is how the talk extends into the personal matters of the family, such as: interpersonal relationships with the father of the baby, accountability for the pregnancy, and birth control. We look at the discursive practices in formulating problems and in accounting for and resisting such versions. In particular we focus on how participants, at times, orient to these problems in various ways as delicate matters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on Ramón Rivero (Diplo), the most famous blackface and ?black? voice actor in Puerto Rico. From the 1930s until his death in 1956 Rivero?s characters embodied ?Caribbean? mediated ?blackness? and became ambivalent symbols of the oppressed sectors of the population. The author argues that Rivero?s popularity as a blackface and ?black? voice performer operated within three intertwined discursive spaces: the translation of Cuba?s Bufo theatre negrito catedrático type as a symbol of anti-colonialism and political satire, the actor?s left-wing nationalist persona and social activism, the re-articulation of la gran familia puertorriqueña as a hegemonic discourse. The author suggests that after Rivero?s death in 1956 subsequent televisual representations of Caribbean negritos during the 1950s and 1960s became racialized figures which reaffirmed the hegemonic ?whiteness? not only of the Puerto Rican nation, but also of the emerging post 1959 Cuban migrant community in Puerto Rico. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]