Search

Harvey Whitehouse offers a complex and stimulating theory of rituals that bind people together and propagate via affiliative imitation. The Ritual Animal argues that fundamental problems of group cooperation can be solved by causally opaque and goal-demoted behaviors which produce arbitrary cultural conventions, honest signals of membership, and collective fused identities. This amply evidenced and compelling account explains a broad variety of prominent examples, yet other key causal mechanisms emerge from the ethnographic literature and analytical reflection on affiliation and groups. Taking a glance at some widespread and unusual rituals, this paper highlights the importance of cultural transmission via pedagogy with or without copying, costly signaling and coordination without coalitional groups, and meta-representations of impenetrable ritual efficacy. Future research can explain how bonding rituals become central features of social interaction without relying upon a quite debatable adaptive function of ritual behavior for cooperation - or anything else. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Violence against women is a pervasive problem, both in New Zealand society and around the world. Yet assessing the scale and effects of violence is difficult, as many women face barriers to disclosure. This paper examines women's disclosures of violence in calls for help to a victim support agency. We use conversation analysis and focus on membership categorisation to describe the different ways disclosures are built and understood in situ. It was only in a minority of cases (around 20%), that callers made direct reference to violence, or categorised themselves explicitly as victims, albeit with indications of problems in speaking. However, for the majority, women did not mention the words 'victim' or 'violence' at all. Instead, culturally shared knowledge associated with categories of people (e.g. ex-partners) and places (e.g. home and jail) were used to build and interpret a description as a disclosure of violence. Our work contributes to an understanding of women's disclosures of violence by examining them directly in the setting where they occur. We discuss some of the insights gained from examining interactions in situ, and the practical applications of our work for improving services for women who have experienced violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Kong Girl stereotype has been circulating in the media since the mid-2000s. The indexical process of associating social meanings to the Kong Girl label becomes heightened in situations of uncertainty and change. Kira Hall uses the term 'indexical dissonance' to explain the state of identity under globalisation. In this paper, we identify three strategies by which more 'positive' representations of Kong Girls emerge: (1) the Kong Girl label shifts in semantic meaning; (2) the specific Kong Girl qualities taken as stance objects shift; and (3) the Kong Girl label is reappropriated. Through these strategies, we show how the meanings associated with a gender stereotype may be co-opted in emerging discourses of social change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper I analyze the remarks men make to passing young women on the street in 134 naturally occurring encounters that were video recorded in 2013 and 2014 across five countries and four languages and posted on the internet. I categorize these remarks in terms of the speech acts they contain, showing the most common acts, in descending order of frequency, to be addressing, greeting, expressing astonishment or admiration, summoning, and asking rhetorical questions. In immediate interactional terms, the great majority of the men's actions are thus oriented to constituting what Goffman (1963) called a 'focused interaction', a face-to-face engagement with a common focus of attention. The very ordinariness of these acts in terms of content and surface meaning - they are not vulgar or explicitly threatening - may explain why defenders of street remarks regularly draw attention to seemingly benign referential or speech act content, e.g., 'He was just saying "Hi"' or 'He was just giving her a compliment'. At another level, however, street remarks impose intimacy on passing strangers, thus flouting the normative conventions for interaction through which we manage social and personal risk and establish trust. Women targeted by street remarks treat them as breaches by not responding to them. The very ordinariness of the language in the street remarks documented, along with the relative difficulty of articulating the implicit social conventions that they breach, may veil their harm and indirectly contribute to the perpetuation of male domination of women in public spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Workplace transitions provide rich material for understanding intercultural interaction. Research on transitions has typically focused on the sociocultural effects of moving between nations and/or on examples of career change. Boundary crossing at this macro level has provided insight into how newcomers negotiate novel cultural expectations. As workplace discourse analysts our particular interest is the interactional negotiation that occurs as these newcomers move from one environment to the next. In this paper, using the reflections of those who have experienced such transitions, along with an analysis of recordings of professional migrants in new workplace contexts, we demonstrate how micro-level instantiations of these transitions offer a lens on the contrasting and sometimes conflicting societal norms and sociocultural practices which must be managed in these contexts. The analysis makes use of our social realist model for understanding workplace talk and our interpretations are supported by ethnographic observations and discussion with those who have observed or experienced these transitions. We conclude by outlining ways in which this approach to understanding interaction can be used to help prepare newcomers to navigate new workplace contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social presence is considered an important quality in computer-mediated communication as it promotes willingness in learners to take risks through participation in interpersonal exchanges (Kehrwald, 2008) and makes communication more natural (Lowenthal, 2010). While social presence has mostly been investigated through questionnaire data and quantitative content analysis of online interactions based on a set of predefined indicators, in a smaller number of studies the concept has also been investigated through qualitative analysis of interviews (Kehrwald, 2008, 2010). Yet studies that bring together multiple sources of data collection and examine multimodal language learning contexts are almost non-existent. In this paper, the theory of social presence is employed to explicate language learners' online multimodal communication using a case study approach. Multiple sources of data were collected, including interviews, open-ended and closed post-task questionnaires, stimulated reflection and recordings of video interactions. The main findings of the study included an innovative social presence framework developed for the analysis of online multimodal language learner interactions (Satar, 2010), which can be used in further qualitative and exploratory research. It also has potential applicability for educators to develop strategies for language learners to guide them in creating and transmitting their social presence. The focus of this article is a cross-case analysis for one of the components of social presence, sustaining interaction, bringing together social presence theory, interactional sociolinguistics and multimodal interaction analysis. Finally, strategies are proposed for language learners on how to sustain their online multimodal interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An important theoretical construct within the Vygotskian sociocultural approach to second language learning is private speech. Within a conversation-analytic framework, an agnostic stance is taken in this paper toward the possible intrapsychological function(s) of private speech in order to (1) illustrate how private speech can be identified within the details of talk-in-interaction and (2) how private speech can be understood as social action. It is argued that attention to the details of how private speech is produced is important in order to show how private speech has been identified as such; that viewing private speech as social action allows for a more emic perspective; and that, at least within interaction, private speech is social not just in origin, but each time that it is produced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trans-exclusionary radical feminists challenge transgender people (specifically women) from within a claimed feminist struggle. They exclude transgender women and instead claim they are men colonising women's spaces. I present a conversation analytic and analytical membership categorisation case study of a national radio interview in which the spokesperson for a trans-exclusionary feminist political group debates with the host on the nature of trans women and their exclusion from women's spaces. I show how the interviewee accomplishes trans exclusion in talk, often without making explicit claims about trans women, by constructing both biologically essentialist and experiential distinctions between trans and cis women, constructing trans women as participants in patriarchal oppression, and by problematising a claimed redefinition of the category woman being enacted by trans women. This analysis highlights how transphobic (and specifically transmisogynistic) attitudes are accomplished in social interaction through sequential action and categorial inferences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Gender & Language is the property of Equinox Publishing Group and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The introduction to the special issue The "Muslim Question": The Micropolitics of Normalizing Islam and Muslims outlines three dynamics at play in all four contributions: normalization, classification and micropolitics. Starting with Michel Foucault and his notion of normalization, I argue that Muslims are classified and problematized in specific ways depending on the particular socio-historical context. Every problem and every classification depends on an idea of the "normal" or on norms. These norms central to the dynamics of normalization are reproduced through practices in everyday life. From this perspective, norm-reproducing micropolitics shapes the social fabric of interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the applicability of a Peircean approach to the intersubjectivity of adult-child shared reading. Peirce's semiosis serves as an analytical device for ways in which intersubjectivity transcends social interaction. By scrutinising instances of signification, i.e., the production and interpretation of signs constitutive of meaning making in the reading of a dual-language picturebook, the analysis reveals that the word-image complementarity renders an unfolding of intersubjective nuances in collaborative learning and intervention. This provides impetus for furthering Vygotsky's sign mediation to embrace the notion of 'intersemiosis' as indexed to the interdependence of signifying codes in communication and representation, thus theorising how the signification of such codes elicits, invites, and empowers social interaction. Resonant with edusemiotics, increasingly a reference point in the philosophical foundation of learning and development, this article offers pedagogical implications for teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/method: Using conversation analytical methodology, this article presents a detailed analysis of how a person with dementia uses the affordances of a print newspaper to initiate, manage, and close topics in an interaction with a visiting researcher during leisure time in the common room of a dementia unit. Results: The analyses show how a print newspaper is introduced and handled effortlessly by a person with dementia and used for communication purposes. The person with dementia recurrently contributes to the interaction by making observations about and assessments of the visual appearance of the newspaper, reading aloud from the newspaper, and commenting. Discussion/conclusion: The study discusses how social interaction that is anchored in familiar objects such as a newspaper may help persons with dementia and their interactional partners find common conversational ground that does not rely on access to specific memories of the past, which may increase active participation by the person with dementia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Online learning environments are changing the landscape of education, with evidence supporting their efficacy. However, research that focuses entirely on online distance English-language programs is sparse, especially in regards to oral proficiency. The purpose of this study is to investigate the efficacy of an online distance-learning program in helping students develop oral English-language proficiency as they prepare to attend a university in the United States. The curriculum for the distance-learning program was built upon Moore's transactional distance theory, with an emphasis on interpersonal dialogue as a key tool in promoting oral proficiency. Students participated in synchronous and asynchronous interaction with fellow students, tutors, and their instructors. The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) computer-assisted Oral Proficiency Interview (OPIc) provided the pretest and posttest measures for this study. To supplement this data, course surveys provided information concerning student opinions of course activities. OPIc results showed that students made significant gains in their oral proficiency from pretest to posttest. In surveys, students rated interaction with other tutors and teachers as instrumental in assisting them with their language learning, but rated interaction with their peers as less helpful. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This article reconceptualizes theory of mind (ToM) and perspective-taking as a practical accomplishment in social interaction, and analyzes how, and when, autistic children produce explanations of their behavior in ways that address how other people do, or may, understand it. Method: Three families with autistic children collected video recordings of themselves interacting at home. From 5 hours of video, a collection of 45 instances of accounts produced by autistic children was made, transcribed, and subjected to conversation analysis. Results: Accounts occurred in both initiating and responsive turns. Accounts produced in initiating turns addressed the potential characterizations of this and themselves their interlocutors might make. Their accounts in second position addressed actual characterizations in interlocutors' preceding turns. As well, two of the children produced accounts which constructed their behavior as the result of internal causes. Discussion and conclusion: These analyses demonstrate the children's practical reasoning about how other people observe, recognize, and understand their behavior. Despite autism being linked to difficulties with ToM and perspective-taking, these autistic children manage perspective-taking through the provision of accounts in multiple sequential positions. These findings challenge the emphasis on ToM deficitbased explanations of autism, while suggesting a stronger research focus on local, situated perspective-taking in social interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A career-long focus on the intersections between religion and politics grew out of family, personal and academic interests. These influences and academic explorations led to questioning the common assumption that religion and politics should--or even can--be 'kept separate'. On the other hand, the ways in which religion and politics intersect and interact, and their various configurations, provide fertile ground for analysis, and have important consequences for our national life. These intersections and interactions take distinctive forms in Australia, meaning that we need local research that, while informed by international models, is firmly grounded in our own situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Decades of language attitudes research have documented negative evaluations of non-standard speakers. However, fewer studies have investigated the experience of stigmatization from the perspective of the non-standard speakers themselves. The study aims to explore the following questions: (1) What perception do speakers hold of their accent? (2) What does perceived accent discrimination look like? (3) How do stigmatized speakers respond to discriminatory experiences? Semistructured interviews were conducted among 36 (native, n=18; non-native, n=18) French-speaking participants in Canada. Participants were systematically selected from three regions in Canada for each group, capturing the experiences of nonstandard speakers from areas with varying levels of French ethnolinguistic vitality. The results show that (1) attitudes towards one's accent often appear to reinforce or diminish pride in one's way of speaking, and feelings of belonging or language competency; (2) accent stigmatization among French speakers in Canada is perceived by many non-standard speakers, and discrimination is perceived to occur in various settings and to take multiple forms; (3) behavioural, cognitive and affective responses to and consequences of discrimination are identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study documented the communicative behaviors exhibited by sibling dyads comprised of one typically developing child and his/her sibling with autism. Six US families participated in one 45-minute home observation of sibling interactions, a 20-minute semi-structured interview with the typically developing child, and a 20-minute semi-structured interview with the siblings' parents. Dyads varied across birth order, ages, and genders. Observational data were coded to reveal 38 categories of communicative behaviors and their frequency of occurrence. Interviews yielded information about the siblings' usual interactions and parents' perceptions about their children's relationships. Families provided evidence of sibling support for the communication skills of the child with autism. Findings have implications for siblingmediated facilitation of communicative behaviors in children with autism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Members of the indigenous Quichuan minority population living in Cali within an asymmetrical contact setting usually make use of linguistic marked elements from two varieties of Spanish which they speak: Andean Spanish and Spanish from Cali. One of these marked linguistic elements is OV syntactic constructions, highly frequent in Andean Spanish. A sequential conversation analysis shows that when Quichuas in Cali interact with someone outside the group, they may express differentiation through the use of OV constructions. Construed as a social positioning, this differentiation takes place in an act of stance (Du Bois 2002, 2007; Jaffe 2009; Johnstone 2009; Kiesling 2011) which arises with an evaluation of a referent in the discourse situation by a speaker, then triggers a social positioning that finally leads to a disalignment vis-à-vis another speaker. This article discusses the social effects of linguistic marked forms such as OV constructions in an understudied area (Cali, Colombia) within a field of research (Spanish-Quichua contact) that usually focuses on contact issues from a typological perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the role and function of imagination and parasocial (fiction-based) relations among autistic individuals. In interviews, seventeen high functioning, autistic young adults describe how they frequently absorb into daydreams, fantasy literature and multiplayer online roleplaying games. These findings diverge from previous cognitive research which suggests that imagination is limited in autistic individuals; a conclusion which is also challenged by scholars in critical autism research. It is suggested that these opposed scholarly views can be bridged analytically and methodologically by separating interpersonal and intrapersonal imagination, of which only the former, social aspect is affected across the whole autism spectrum. The results indicate that parasocial relations are used both for pleasure and to cope with adversities, and that imaginary realms serve as optimal autistic spaces for simulating and practicing social interaction. The article moreover provides a comparative discussion on parasocial and supernatural relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children with autism, spectrum, disorder (ASD) are vulnerable to interactional trouble. Conversation analytic (CA) work has extensively examined how interactional trouble gets repaired verbally among neurotypical speakers. Other examinations have been concerned with how children with ASD respond to clarification requests, yet little is known about how they might initiate solving difficulties in social interaction. Drawing on CA, this study reports on video recorded interactions involving school-aged children with ASD and their adult co-participants. The analysis shows that children use both verbal and nonverbal resources to initiate the management of apparent troubles. Occasionally the co-participants carry out the repair work, yet sometimes they demonstrate challenges in identifying what the nature of a child's trouble is. In trying to solve such dilemmas, the candidate repairs produced by the co-participants can create further difficulties for these children. The study suggests that the co-participants' sensitive facilitation provides a resource for building mutual understanding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Russian-speaking migrant communities in Germany and Norway share a large part of a common history during the time of the Soviet Union, and each community has developed their unique ways of interaction in and with the accepting society. The article focuses on the main areas for communication between Russian-speaking migrants in Germany and Norway, as well as the wish to maintain contact with ones' home country. As the question of maintaining ones identity as well as the vitality of these communities is strongly linked to its members' wish to maintain their common language, these aspects were covered in particular through the study. The article uses a combined research method consisting of a quantitative and qualitative part. The findings indicate that while the groups are different from each other, particularly in their demographic composition, distribution and communication patterns, they do possess some similarities, for example having common elements defining and retaining their cultural heritage and approaches towards maintaining the Russian language. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]