27,767 results on '"discourse analysis"'
Search Results
2. The Triangle of Language Use: A Corpus-Based Analysis of Hotel Responses to Reviews
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Piyanuch Laosrirattanachai and Piyapong Laosrirattanachai
- Abstract
Mastery of the art of crafting online reviews and responses is essential as a valuable additional tool for enhancing learners' English proficiency in specialised contexts. This study aims to: 1) Examine the formality levels in crafting reviews and responses; 2) Explore face-threatening acts utilised in reviews and politeness strategies employed in responses; and 3) Uncover moves and steps in composing reviews and responses. Data was collected from the Top 25 Hotels in the World in 2022 according to Tripadvisor.com. Six distinct corpora were formed, comprising positive, negative, and mixed reviews, along with corresponding responses, resulting in 87,973 tokens. Findings show reviewers leaned towards casual language (85.87%), while respondents used a consultative style (82.67%) in their responses. The shift from casual to consultative occurred most frequently (70.67%). For politeness, admiration (73.07%) and expressions of complaints/reprimands (64.53%) were common in reviews. In responses, strategies like offering, promising, or giving gifts (72.00%) and apologising and begging for forgiveness (50.40%) were prevalent. Reviews used three moves and ten steps, while responses employed six moves and 16 steps. These insights can be integrated into ESP classrooms to enhance review and response writing skills effectively.
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- 2024
3. Listening to Foreign Language Student Teachers: The Use of Transcripts to Study Classroom Interactions
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Majid N. Al-Amri
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Although many issues about the use of transcripts for studying classroom interactions have been addressed in other studies, little attention has been given to the use of transcripts to study student teachers' classroom interactions. To achieve a deeper understanding of student teachers' perspectives and permit the formulation of a more appropriate framework, it is crucial to hear from student teachers and investigate their experiences about the use of transcripts. Therefore, in the study reported on here we used 7 focus-group interviews of approximately 6 Saudi EFL (English as a foreign language) student teachers in each group to investigate their perceptions on the use of transcripts for studying their classroom interactions. The data were thematically analysed. Three themes that represented the participants' experiences of using transcripts to study their classroom interactions emerged: using the transcript analysis, learning from the transcript analysis, and committing to using the transcript analysis. The findings reveal that most participants felt they had autonomy in using transcripts to study their classroom interactions, but experienced some challenges. Most students were determined to change their classroom interaction based on their analyses of classroom interactions but only a few demonstrated the determination to continue using the transcript analysis approach.
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- 2024
4. Trying to Be Funny: A Conversation Analysis of Humor in EFL University Students' Role-Plays
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Siriprapa Srithep and Patharaorn Patharakorn
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Through the lens of conversational analysis (CA), humor or funniness is not an inherent property of a message, nor an internal state of any social action, but as something interactionally achieved (Glenn, 2003). Teachers are often encouraged to utilize humor to reduce anxiety, lower affective filters, and make language more "memorable" (Bell, 2005; Tarone, 2000; Ziyaeemehr et al., 2011). In the current research endeavor, we focused on an activity called "Drama and Creativity," an extracurricular activity which is offered to firstyear undergraduate students at a public university in Thailand. During the activity, students worked in groups of three to four to collaboratively create a role-play which they later performed in front of their peers. Twenty-four students participated in the activity, and a total of seven role-plays were video-recorded. The goal of this study was to offer evidence of student achievements of humor construction in an EFL classroom context. We analyzed the sequences where laughter occurred in the data and identified linguistic and sociolinguistic resources that students used to construct incongruity and project laughable tokens in their role-play performances. The findings revealed that students were able to mobilize category-bound practices (Housley & Fitzgerald, 2015), embodied gestures, and activity-bound expectations to create unexpectedness which resulted in laughter among the audience.
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- 2024
5. A Corpus-Based Analysis of Critical Thinking through Interactional Metadiscourse in Pre-Service EFL Teachers' Writing
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Selahattin Yilmaz and Ferda Ilerten
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Critical writing seeks to enhance university students' ability to think causally and reason effectively, and this improvement should be evident in their language use in the assignments. An example of such language is interactional metadiscourse, the expression of attitudes and opinions in line with the intended audience. In pursuit of these objectives, this study investigated the textual characteristics of critical thinking by examining interactional metadiscourse markers (MDMs) in the critical response papers authored by English Language Teaching (ELT) undergraduate students throughout a semester at a Turkish state university. The findings revealed shifts in the use of interactional MDMs by the end of the semester. While markers for engagement, hedging, and boosting remained prevalent across various tasks, the utilization of self-mentions and attitude markers declined, indicating a transition from the students' sharing personal opinions and experiences to relying on evidence from research in academic texts to support their arguments. Additionally, the study highlighted the impact of topic selection on how students incorporated metadiscourse markers into their response papers.
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- 2024
6. Co-opting Equity: Advancing a Neoliberal Agenda in Manitoba Education Reforms
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Ellen Bees
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This paper uses critical policy analysis to investigate how the concept of equity has been co-opted to promote a neoliberal agenda in education reforms in Manitoba. Early provincial reform documents contained a narrow definition of equity focused primarily on closing achievement gaps between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students. These reform documents were rejected by the public, in part due to concerns about equity. The Manitoba Education Action Plan was introduced in 2022, which more explicitly focused on achieving equity as part of the education reform process. However, the framing of equity in the Action Plan was narrow, emphasizing individualism rather than a more systemic pursuit of equity. While some recommended actions in the Action Plan have promoted a more inclusive and culturally responsive education system, other actions have advanced a neoliberal agenda focused on work-readiness and accountability, while actions to remove barriers to education have been undertaken with limited urgency.
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- 2024
7. Linguistic Framing of the Qatar Blockade: A Critical Stylistic Analysis of Al Jazeera's News Reports of the Gulf Crisis 2017
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Samir A. Jasim, Mohd Azidan Abdul Jabar, Hazlina Abdul Halim, and Ilyana Jalaluddin
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The main objective of the current study is to carry out a critical stylistic analysis of Al Jazeera's online news reports of the 2017 Gulf crisis. The study specifically examines the linguistic strategies employed by Al Jazeera newsmakers in order to effectively communicate their ideological perspectives. The research employs Jeffries's critical stylistic framework (2010) and corpus methodologies to examine a corpus obtained from Al Jazeera English, which covers the first month of the crisis. A combination of qualitative and quantitative methodologies has been employed to analyze the ideological implications embedded within the narrative of the platform, focusing specifically on the strategies of naming, describing, equating, and contrasting. The study discloses that Al Jazeera has used specific nouns and phrases to portray the measures against Qatar as deliberate, violent, unjustifiable, and retaliatory, blaming the Saudi leadership. Complex noun phrases and evaluative adjectives have been utilized to intensify this description, while nominalization conceals agency and creates skepticism. The narrative has subtly portrayed Qatar as a passive victim of negative actions, using equating strategies to criticize the Saudi leadership's policies and the blockade. Contrasting strategies have presented contradictory actions, questioned their credibility and legitimacy, and encouraged cohesion among Gulf nations.
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- 2024
8. Kazakh Gluttonous Discourse Analysis of 'Bas Tartu' & 'Tabak Tartu': Conceptual Image and Institutional Function
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Ayauzhan Taussogarova, Diana Tuzelbayeva, Saule Bektemirova, Vera Yermakova, Zhaina Satkenova, and Abdibek Amirov
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The scientific advancement and globalization have influenced the way fields like anthropolinguistics, cognitive linguistics, and ethnolinguistics should be studied to research intercultural communication. This study examined the national dishes that make up the Kazakh gluttonous discourse, its components, customs, and rituals, and how serving a dish to a guest can cause both positive and negative cultural consciousness in cultures. The data collected in the form of lexical and semiotic units, forming a gluttonous discourse at individual and institutional levels, was subjected to a conceptual analysis. It was felt that gluttonyms as lexical units played an important role in preventing negative cultural consciousness and forming empathy for national dishes. National dishes such as 'bas tartu', 'tabak tartu' in the Kazakh gluttonous discourse and cognitive conceptual basis of some customs in the preparation process and serving a dish to the guest were studied. It was found that the Kazakh gluttonous discourse was one of the sources of the national conceptual image of the world. This allowed us to determine that some of the institutional functions of the Kazakh gluttonous discourse were based on the national conceptual image of the world.
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- 2024
9. Cognitive Aspects of Persuasion in Marketing Discourse a Cognitive Linguistic Study
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Othman Khalid Al-Shboul, Nisreen Naji Al-Khawaldeh, Asim Ayed Alkhawaldeh, Hady J.Hamdan, and Ahmed Sulieman Al-Oliemat
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The use of language in digital discourse for marketing has rapidly developed through mass media. This paper elucidates how advertisers employ various pragmatic strategies to persuade the recipient to act (behavior) by purchasing specific products. This study utilized different theoretical and conceptual frameworks (Theory of Reasoned Action and Aristotle's Models of Persuasion) to address the shortcomings of the social cognitive approach in studying persuasion, to investigate how language of advertisements can influence the recipient's thinking of a product from a psychological perspective. Guided by the principles of TRA, the present study argues that persuasion in advertisements is structured by three dimensions: attraction (through language features and appeals), evaluation (through beliefs, attitudes, and intention), and behavior (social acceptance or reluctance). This study revealed eight persuasion techniques employed by advertisers including demonstrating distinction, honoring commitment, expressing authority, hyperbolizing, glorification, providing proofs, expressing solidarity, and proving success. Showing distinction and Honoring commitment were the most frequently used strategies. Additionally, the study found that strategies of persuasion involved ethical, logical, and emotional appeals for their large effect on the recipient as they contribute to the recipient's positive evaluations. Appealing to reasoning (logic) is the most common one in slogans.
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- 2024
10. A Pragma Stylistic Analysis of Aggression in Hillary Clinton's Speech on Trump
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Taif Hatam Shardaghly
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Being ubiquitous, language is essential to our everyday existence. Human language is seen to be a traditional field that depends on using words in accordance with intricate standards. In this study, the idea of aggressiveness is investigated from a pragmatic viewpoint. The goals of this research are to identify the aggressive techniques that Clinton uses in her speeches, to show the impoliteness tactics that she mostly uses to accomplish her goals, and to expose the pragma-rhetorical tropes that are mostly mentioned in her speeches. The research proposes that in her presentations, Clinton utilizes indirect verbal passive aggression, mostly negative impoliteness techniques, and often metaphor as the main rhetorical device. The study's results validate that Clinton utilizes indirect verbal passive aggression, mostly employs negative impoliteness techniques, and emphasizes overstatement as the main rhetorical device in her hostile speeches. Clinton's speeches are analyzed pragmatically to find rhetorical devices, aggressive messages, and rudeness tactics. The research admits several limitations, namely the subjectivity that might lead to interpretive biases in pragma-stylistic analysis. Notwithstanding these drawbacks, this research provides important new information on the aggressive language used by public authorities to shape public opinion.
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- 2024
11. Terminology in Political Discourse as a Means of Language Representation of the Image of the Country
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Meirambek Taubaldiyev, Sarsenbay Kulmanov, Aigul Amirbekova, Ybyrayim Azimkhan, Bauyrzhan Zhonkeshov, Gulmira Utemissova, and Yedilbay Ospanov
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A political discourse would comprise terminology related to economic development, social welfare, national identity, international relations, and security. The purpose of this study was to determine the function of political discourse and study its role as a mass media that shapes public opinion, and to prove through discourse that political terminology plays a key role in shaping the country's image. Through a qualitative analysis of speeches, official documents, media coverage, and public statements, a dialectical approach was adopted to enhance understanding of the role of language in shaping perceptions of nations in the contemporary global context. The data mainly comprised secondary data, speeches of political leaders, official documents and media reports. Political archives, media reports and newspaper editorials also supplemented the data about Kazakhstan and its historical evolution. The research findings identified patterns, trends, and differences in the portrayal of a country's image and the strategies used to promote or defend it. It also found the nuanced interplay between political terminology, discourse, and the construction of a country's image. The findings would contribute to a deeper understanding of the role of language in shaping perceptions of nations in the contemporary global context.
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- 2024
12. The Combination of Functional Equivalence and Cultural Translation--Looking at the Translation Strategies of Cultural Differences and Special Expressions from the Chinese Translation of Chekhov's Short Story 'The Lady with a Dog'
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Shiguo Shan
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The translation of Russian literature into Chinese requires careful consideration due to the linguistic nuances and cultural subtleties involved. The works of Chekhov present challenges for translators aiming to maintain the original narrative's richness and cultural resonance in the Chinese context. The main objective of this study is to analyse the translation strategies used to make Chekhov's literary masterpiece accessible to Chinese readers. This study examines translators' decisions regarding functional equivalence, cultural adaptation, and the treatment of special expressions. It provides valuable insights into the wider discussion on literary translation. This research aims to fill a gap in the existing literature by examining a specific work in the Russian literary canon. By doing so, it contributes to our understanding of cross-cultural literary transmission. This study utilises a close reading methodology and participant analysis with a sample of five translators to investigate the translation process by analysing key passages. The study employs a qualitative analysis approach to examine linguistic and cultural aspects, providing a comprehensive perspective on the translation challenges and opportunities when translating Chekhov's works into Chinese. The findings highlight the translators' ability to maintain fidelity to the source text while adapting to Chinese linguistic and cultural nuances. The study identifies strategies used to handle special expressions and emphasises the choices made in linguistic and cultural adaptation. This study provides new contributions to the field of translation studies by examining the translation dynamics of Chekhov's work in the context of Russian Chinese literary exchange. The study is significant as it can provide insights into translation practices and enhance our understanding of the interplay between cultural and linguistic elements in literary translation.
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- 2024
13. Educational Politics and Policy Change in Neoliberal Times: An Argumentative Discourse Analysis
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Ee-Seul Yoon, Sue Winton, and Amira El Masri
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With the rise of neoliberal reforms and efforts to privatize education, there is a growing need to examine how actors and groups from the public and private sectors influence educational policy change together. In this article, we advance a critical approach to understanding the changing discursive space of educational politics by following discourses through an expansive policy network that goes beyond its traditional boundaries. Specifically, we draw on argumentative discourse analysis (ADA), which allows for the analysis of how and why various actors and groups come together to assign certain meanings to educational phenomena or problems, leading to policy responses or changes. Rooted in Foucault's notions of discourse and power, ADA offers a unique approach to discourse analysis that can illuminate policy change through discourse coalitions. Three case studies from educational policy scholarship are discussed to illustrate the value and utility of ADA in future critical education policy studies.
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- 2024
14. Race-Conscious Professional Teaching Standards: Where Do the States Stand?
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Danielle M. Carrier
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Education policymakers have long sought to reduce persistent achievement disparities between students of color and White students with varying levels of success. Understanding the different needs and obstacles faced by students and families of color is important given educating all individuals for our future U.S. society is a priority. Educational policy should reflect the assumption that race matters and continues to impact educational opportunity. This paper argues that race-conscious professional teaching standards could extend the structural boundaries of teacher practice when working with racially, culturally, and linguistically diverse students. Using discourse analysis to analyze the deeper meanings of selected states' teaching standards in different sociopolitical contexts, this paper describes the challenges and opportunities for infusing race-conscious perspectives in teaching standards. Implications for how states' teaching policy language actively creates and builds teaching and learning environments are discussed.
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- 2024
15. Lexical Bundles in the Discussion Sections of Medical Sciences Articles: Frequencies, Syntactic Structures, and Discourse Functions
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Roya Goodarzi, Javad Gholami, and Zeinab Abdollahpour
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Lexical bundles (LBs) are frequent groups of words that appear repeatedly in different academic texts. A plethora of research has explored their distribution and usage in general, particularly in academic texts. However, to our knowledge, the extent of research investigating LBs in the discussion sections of Medical Research Articles (MRAs) is scant. The present study examined the diversity and density of four-word LBs in the discussions of 1400 MRAs. Four-word bundles totaling 413, including general and subject-bound LBs, were extracted using the freeware "concordance software program" AntConc and categorized based on their syntactic structures and discourse functions. The findings revealed that discussions structurally rely heavily on phrasal LBs (i.e., prepositional phrases and noun phrases) in general and subject-bound LBs compared to clausal bundles, which include VP-based and Clause-based LBs. Regarding functional categories, the general referential bundles with their subcategories were found to have the most considerable proportion in the medical RA genre. Given the importance of LBs in disciplinary writing and academic discourse, the findings could be instrumental in crafting suitable pedagogical materials and activities on general and subject-specific LBs for academic writing in English for Medical Purposes.
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- 2024
16. Metaphors in Media Discourse: A Closer Look at Newspapers
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Ludmila Baturina, Elena Panova, Elena Tjumentseva, Zulkhumar Jumanova, Nikolay Lepikhov, Ilona Koroleva, Galina Vorobeva, and Elena Khripunova
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As newspapers follow editorial work, the author's identity remains in the background. Hence, newspapers' discursive features should be studied from textual perspectives to understand the social dimension of the messages produced in such texts. What is more, pragmatically, the text as a whole and its separate language units with their structural elements require careful attention. Thus, this paper aims to analyze onomastic metaphors as one of the structural-stylistic types functioning in the language of newspapers. We analyzed the Moskovskij Komsomolets, Arguments and Facts, Komsomolskaya Pravda, Rossiyskaya Gazeta, and Izvestia during our analysis, with specific attention paid to the proper names as the binding elements with their substantial and semantic functions. Our results suggest that certain metaphorical language uses appear repetitively in the texts.
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- 2024
17. The Effects of Students' Standpoints in Argumentation Regarding Socio-Scientific Issues
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Yu-Ren Lin and Tzu-Ting Wei
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This study examined the effects of students' argumentation standpoints on their argumentation learning in the context of socio-scientific issues (SSIs). To that end, four kinds of argumentation standpoints were defined: affirmative standpoints, oppositional standpoints, multiple standpoints, and non-standpoints. These four kinds of standpoints allow for six possible combinations of any two of the different kinds of standpoints, which enabled us to conduct six kinds of 2-team format debates. The resulting differences of students' four types of arguments (i.e., claims, warrants, rebuttals, and qualifiers) generated in six types of debates were examined. This study invited 208 10th-grade students to participate in a quasi-experimental research design. The results showed the affirmative group students demonstrated superior performance in terms of claims and warrants, and the oppositional group students had the largest number of rebuttals. The students in the debate with combinations of affirmative and oppositional groups exhibited the best performance regarding the generation of claims, warrants, and rebuttals. Based on the results, the present study concluded the standpoint had significant effects on the students' argumentation learning, which suggests that teachers can investigate students' standpoint on the learning topic of SSI and their prior knowledge about the standpoint before teaching.
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- 2024
18. Information Literacy and Discourse Analysis for Verifying Information among EFL Learners
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Yaseen Ali Azi, Sami Abdullah Hamdi, and Mohammed Ahmad Okasha
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The task of verifying credible and original information is now more complicated, especially for undergraduate students. This study uses information literacy and discourse analysis to develop English as a foreign language learners' critical reading skills while verifying information on social media. A reading test including false news was used to assess the learners' awareness of the credibility of social media information. Then, they were divided into experimental and control groups. The experimental group was trained in evaluating a set of false news using information literacy and discourse analysis skills. The control group did not receive any training. The experiment was conducted again on both groups. The results show a significant improvement among the experimental group compared to the control group. The findings of this study shed light on the growing need for creating a pedagogical space in English as a foreign language classroom that focuses on raising learners' awareness of information literacy and discourse analysis skills to read with critical perspectives.
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- 2024
19. The Merits of Mobile Instant Messaging for EFL Learners: Learning Engagement, Achievement, and Authentic Relationships
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David Imamyartha, Utami Widiati, and M. Zaini Miftah
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Despite the recent growth of mobile instant messenger (MIM), research into the correlation between English learners' learning gains, learning engagement, and how this engagement helps develop authentic relationships remains underexplored. This mixed-method study involved 222 college English learners to investigate their engagement in team-based mobile learning (TBML) assisted by "WhatsApp" as an MIM and its relationship with their learning gains. In addition, it was designed to document the social construction of existential and relational authenticity between teacher and students. The study collected data on students' online learning engagement through an online survey, and their learning achievement was measured by the course final examination. Grounded in thematic discourse analysis, the study collected qualitative data from the archives of "WhatsApp" group chats. Retrospective reflection was also used to triangulate the findings. The findings show the value of MIM to develop strong engagement and authentic relationships in socio-constructivist learning as the precursor to learning achievement.
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- 2024
20. A Functional Analysis of EFL Classroom Talk: The Case of Experience
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Mohamed Reza Farangi, Naser Rashidi, and Abolfazl Sanjarani
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This study investigated EFL classroom talk using Halliday and Matthiessen's (2013) meta-functions framework. Four female participants, including two experienced and two inexperienced teachers, taught similar grammar subjects to their intact classes. Classes were video-recorded and transcribed by the researchers. The meta-functions included topical themes, multiple themes, theme markedness and theme patterning. The results demonstrated differences between the experienced and inexperienced teachers' discourse on the use of simple themes, multiple themes, marked themes, and theme patterning. The total number of simple themes used by the inexperienced teachers was higher than their experienced colleagues, except for the interrogative clauses. However, the experienced teachers used more interpersonal and textual themes. In addition, patterns of theme development were found to be different in discourses of experienced and inexperienced teachers. The researchers concluded that the experienced teachers' talk was more cohesive, elaborated, and systematic. Moreover, it was shown that experience can play an important role in shaping language teachers' talk and theme/rheme distinction can be used as an effective tool to investigate the nature of it. Several implications concerning various stakeholders are provided at the end.
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- 2024
21. Constructing Youth Identities: Newspaper Coverage of Exclusionary Discipline
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Brandon D. Mitchell and Carl D. Greer
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The school reliance on exclusionary discipline drives behavioral inequities and sustains the marginalization of youth in schools. The narratives of punishment often extend beyond the walls of the school system and may be reinforced by news media discourse. Never-the-less, the relationship between news media discourse and the school disciplinary structure is an understudied area of research. Using critical discourse techniques--with a theoretical framework of critical race and news framing theories--we analyze news coverage of exclusionary discipline across (N = 64) newspaper articles. Our findings underscore news discourse with a hyper-focus on youth deficits, stigmatizing portrayals of violence and blame, and teacher resistance to discipline alternatives and reform. Discursive absence included a lack of youth and family voices and perspectives, and a disconnection from the systemic mechanisms that shape the disciplinary structure. We conclude with implications for educators, policymakers, and scholars--as we advocate for a re-invigorated focus to-ward the equitable support and inclusion of youth.
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- 2024
22. Using Metadiscourse to Create Effective and Engaging EFL Virtual Classrooms during the COVID-19 Pandemic
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Ghaleb Rabab'Ah, Sane Yagi, and Sharif Alghazo
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This study investigated the use and functions of metadiscourse markers in English as a foreign language (EFL) virtual classroom during the Covid-19 pandemic. The study examined which metadiscourse markers--interactive or interactional--were used more frequently and how they were employed in an EFL context. It explored two interactive metadiscourse resources (code glosses and evidentials) and two interactional metadiscourse resources (attitude and engagement markers). The study utilized a mixed-method approach, using Hyland's (2004) two-componential taxonomy, to analyze a corpus of 303,148 words from 35 online lectures (90 minutes each) delivered by three university instructors in the UAE. The Mann-Whitney U test was employed to determine any significant differences in the use of these resources and their subcategories. The results revealed that the three instructors used more interactional than interactive resources. The qualitative analysis showed that code glosses and evidentials were primarily used to manage the flow of information, provide elaboration on propositional content, and provide evidence to support arguments. They were also employed to achieve cohesion and logical coherence in online classrooms. In contrast, attitude and engagement markers were used to engage students and signal the instructors' attitudes toward their material and audience. The study concludes with pedagogical implications for EFL instructors, students, and syllabus designers to foster social justice and fairness in the online learning environment, ensuring all students feel valued and empowered in their educational journey.
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- 2024
23. Reflective Practice: A Corpus-Based Analysis of In-Service ESL Teachers' Reflective Discourse
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Ender Velasco
- Abstract
Reflective practice, in the shape of post-teaching self-evaluations, is a core element of many pre-service English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher training programmes such as CELTA. Most research on reflective practice has been carried out with pre-service teachers, but more evidence is needed to understand the reflective practice of in-service ESL teachers. This study employed a Corpus-Linguistics tool called LancsBox to analyse the nature of reflective discourse found in 44 post-teaching self-evaluations, written by in-service L1-English ESL teachers, in a language school in Colombia. Corpus Linguistics techniques included frequency lists, keywords, ngrams, and concordances. Results suggest that in-service teachers tend to reflect upon the area of Subject Knowledge the most. Other frequent areas of reflection include Lesson Planning and Classroom Management. Areas such as Understanding Learners and Use of Learning Technologies seem far less important. Generally, the most salient reflective discourse type they produce is Factual, followed by Prudential and Evaluative discourse. The pedagogical implications of this study are threefold. First, both preservice and in-service ESL teachers need to be taught how to reflect and this needs to be supported by teacher trainers. Second, to guide overall reflective practices, tools employed by pre- and in-service ESL teachers to reflect on their lessons could be adapted, so they mirror specific areas of reflection such as the teaching skills and reflective discourse types being evaluated. Third, the current study suggests a self-reflection tool pre- and in-service ESL teachers can use to assess and reflect on their own teaching practices.
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- 2024
24. Macrostructural Analysis of STEM Students' Research Introductions in the Secondary Education Context: Implications for Pedagogy, Curriculum, and Teacher Professional Development
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Bonjovi H. Hajan, Jovito C. Anito, Potchong M. Jackaria, and Al-Rashiff H. Mastul
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There is a growing interest in exploring the structure of student academic writing across different disciplinary backgrounds, including the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) field. However, despite the availability of relevant literature on STEM student writing, research on the structure of STEM students' research introductions, particularly within the secondary education context, remains essentially scant. Consequently, STEM student research writers should be redirected towards a genre-based academic writing practice to meet the rhetorical demands of their discourse community. Drawing on this research gap, this qualitative genre analytic study was conducted to explore the structure of STEM students' research introductions, with an emphasis on the macrostructures and the move/step occurrences. Ten research introductions submitted as preliminary examination papers by the Grade 11 STEM students in an online research writing course at a private Philippine university were collected and further screened via Turnitin, ensuring their authenticity. Following Biber et al.'s (2007) top-down corpus-based discourse analytic framework, moves and steps in the research introductions were carefully analyzed, with Swales' (1990, 2004) Creating A Research Space (CARS) model as basis for move/step identification. The findings indicated variations in the move structure of students' research introductions, with the majority deviating from Swales' (1990, 2004) model. While the students employed all three moves by Swales (1990, 2004), they hardly established a niche in writing a research introduction. The study highlights important implications for pedagogy, curriculum, and teacher professional development in the context of STEM research writing.
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- 2024
25. Mathematical Symbols in Academic Writing: The Case of Incorporating Mathematical Ideals in Academic Writing for Education Researchers
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Lin Li
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Mathematical symbols, such as those embodying quantum concepts, are indispensable for conveying complex ideas and relationships in academic writing. However, some education researchers and students keep a distance from anything mathematical: algebraic equations, geometrical reasoning, or statistical symbols. How to lower the access threshold for this type of mathematical narrative and reveal the meanings of a range of quantum conceptions to modern educators thus becomes a real problem. Using the pendulum motion equation as a reference point, I argue in this article for the advantages of academic English or French writing genres that fuse a range of mathematical symbols of quantum concepts and conceptual change. Such writings help demonstrate how incorporating the idea of probability (a) refines the debate among conceptual, verbal, and mathematical academic writing; (b) allows new conceptions that draw on the insights from quantum cognition-supported theories; (c) helps explain students' understanding of mathematical symbols; and (d) offers a new taxonomy for categorizing academic writings.
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- 2024
26. Analysing the Functionality of Twitter for Science Dissemination in EFL Teaching and Learning
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Ana E. Sancho-Ortiz
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Communication through social media is a phenomenon whose relevance has involved the consideration of online discourse in the language teaching context. This article explores the functionality of Twitter (now called "X") for science dissemination within the teaching and learning of English as a foreign language. To do this, 100 tweets from the accounts @WWF and @Greenpeace were gathered and analysed from the perspective of digital discourse analysis and communicative language teaching. I argue that using these tweets encourages the development of key competencies, provides room for the practice of integrated skills, and enhances the application of 21st-century skills. Conclusively, science dissemination tweets may be considered adequate for teaching and learning English.
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- 2024
27. Discriminatory Practices against Non-Native English Speaker Teachers in Colombia's Language Centers: A Multimodal Study
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Adriana Montoya and Doris Correa
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This multimodal/multimedia discourse analysis explored institutional practices regarding native and non-native English speaker teachers in five language centers in Medellín, Colombia, as reflected in interviews with coordinators and teachers, language centers' websites, social media, and recruitment materials. Data were analyzed using content and multimodal discourse analysis. Findings unveiled that, in general, these language centers favor native English speaker teachers and discriminate against non-native English speaker teachers in multiple ways, as the former are privileged in job searches, are asked fewer hiring requirements, have more room for negotiation, earn higher salaries, and enjoy more perks.
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- 2024
28. Educational Language in Political Advertising: An Assessment on the Campaigns of Mustafa Akinci and Ersin Tatar in the TRNC 2020 Presidential Elections
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Mine Kar and Neriman Saygili
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In this study, since no candidate received more than fifty percent of the votes in the TRNC Presidential election held on October 11, 2020, the election campaign visions of the candidates who made it to the second round and their latest commercials were analyzed using discourse analysis. For this purpose, the political advertising campaign contents of Mustafa Akinci and Ersin Tatar, who made it to the second round of the Presidential election, were examined under the four headings of language clarity and understandability, transmission of political messages, informative content, political ethics and impartiality, which are four items within the scope of educational language in political advertising, and their contribution to the election result was evaluated.
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- 2024
29. Unfolding the Community Engagement Narratives of Three Universities Using a Discourse Analysis Approach
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Gustavo Gregorutti
- Abstract
Although a large body of literature discusses the advancement of community engagement in higher education, a less substantial body of scholarship explores how engagement is promoted and institutionalized within universities. In this exploratory study, using a discourse analysis of official reports posted on the websites of three university cases, the qualitative results unfolded how community engagement was institutionalized. The study identified some of the basic mechanisms social language uses to create institutions within institutions, like university engagement. The study provided data to support the theoretical assumption that language, through a host of possible configurations of texts, generates discourses that engender social actions such as institutionalization. Those processes disclosed how engagement was produced, and it is still evolving. Further research strategies are discussed.
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- 2024
30. Corpus-Based Teaching of English Conversation and Potential Integration of Conversation Analysis (CA) for the Benefit of EFL Teachers and Learners
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Patson Jaihow and Kemtong Sinwongsuwat
- Abstract
Even though corpora have transformed language education, the majority of corpus-related research focuses on the teaching of writing. Via a systematic review of previous studies and a survey of language corpora available, this study aims to ascertain whether and to what extent the teaching of speaking, especially of conversation skills, to EFL learners, has been informed by existing language corpora, to identify spoken English corpora available and discover whether they have been informed by insights from such an approach to studying conversation as Conversation Analysis (CA). Finally, the study suggests possibilities for incorporating CA insights such that CA-informed, corpus-driven language pedagogy can be materialized. Previous studies on the use of corpora for teaching speaking were examined and spoken language corpora available were identified along with how they have been recommended and applied to the teaching of speaking, as well as possibilities for developing CA-informed corpora of spoken English for conversation teaching. The study revealed that conversation teaching in the EFL context remains to be informed by corpus linguistics. Accessible spoken English corpora are not yet geared towards language teachers and learners, and there remain issues to be resolved before employing the available corpus data and confirming its efficacy in teaching EFL conversation or speaking in general.
- Published
- 2024
31. Supervision Models and Supervisory Feedback in English Language Teacher Education: A Meta-Synthesis Study Adopting a Discourse Analytic Perspective
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Fatma Seyma Koç and Perihan Savas
- Abstract
This meta-synthesis reviewed and synthesized the findings of 53 studies on supervisory post-conferences and feedback with a total of 807 participants published between 2004-2023. The aim of this meta-synthesis was to illustrate the trends in the reviewed studies and synthesize the results of the studies on supervisory discourse and models of supervision in the field of English language teaching. The criteria for eligibility for selection were being empirical, peer-reviewed, and published in English. Articles were scanned through the Web of Science, ERIC, SCOPUS, and Google Scholar till July, 2023. The studies lacking a report of detailed and clear-cut data collection and analysis phases were removed in the appraisal phase to avoid a risk of bias. The results indicated that supervisors implemented directive supervisory styles as well as collaborative approaches exploiting power dynamics such as expert power. The findings also showed that the use of conversational techniques such as mediation, mitigators, and elicitation in supervisory talk play a central role in supervising English language teachers. The results suggested that supervised teachers demonstrated confronting, autonomous, and fluid identities when faced with a directive style of supervision. The limitations of evidence for this study related the search strategy, participants and variations in educational settings.
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- 2024
32. Pragmatic Discourse of Givenness through A-Movement Constructions of Thai EFL Learners
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Abhinan Wongkittiporn
- Abstract
The current study examined Thai EFL Mattayom learners' pragmatic discourse of givenness via A-movement constructions. While previous studies focused on Thai undergraduate students and their error production in passive voice, this study innovatively contributes to the field by selecting a different group of participants. The participants in this study were 67 Mattayom students in Thailand, of which 45 were from public schools and 22 were from private schools. The participants were asked to write an academic essay on the topic of Thai Soft Power, which is the Thai government's campaign for tourism and culture from 2023 to 2024. The data analysis follows the principle of pragmatic discourse of givenness. The SPSS version 29 was used for the data analysis to seek a correlation between the production of passive voice by EFL learners and pragmatic discourse of givenness via A-movement constructions. The study showed that there is no statistically significant relationship between the production of passive voice by EFL Mattayom learners and pragmatic discourse of givenness where the p-value is reported at 0.79. It seems that Thai EFL Mattayom learners have not yet acquired the pragmatic discourse of given and new information in producing A-movement constructions in English. The discussion is given in the scope of a lack of experience of writing passive voice with other discourses. In addition, the traditional styles of teaching active and passive voice as interchangeable structures in Thai schools do not support the actual use of A-movement constructions in practicality. It is recommended that pragmatic discourse of givenness via A-movement constructions should be built into the curriculum for Thai EFL learners to develop cohesion in writing academic texts.
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- 2024
33. Securitisation in Citizenship Education in Poland: Critical Analysis of the Discourses Linked with the Changes in Core Curricula Following the Russo-Ukrainian War
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Violetta Kopinska and Natalia Stek-Lopatka
- Abstract
Purpose: The research aimed to critically analyse the changes that have occurred in the core curricula of general education in Poland following the Russo--Ukrainian war from the perspective of the securitisation process. Methodology: The research involved analysing 366 texts spanning various genres. These texts were produced by both securitising actors and recipients of the change. The research employed content analysis and Critical Discourse Analysis, following the approaches of Ruth Wodak and Martin Reisigl. Findings: The research revealed that the securitising actors advocating for changes in the core curricula have been identified as a threat directly linked to the war in Ukraine. However, the discourse surrounding these changes also exhibited several features that indicate a hidden political dimension. Further, the analysis emphasised the use of 'ministryplaining' towards the audience involved in education, who formulate critical remarks.
- Published
- 2024
34. Navigating Parental Rights: A Study of Virginia'S Model Policies on Transgender Student Treatment
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Dustin Hornbeck
- Abstract
In this study, I explore the discourse surrounding parental rights in U.S. public schools, with Virginia as a focal point. Analyzing two sets of model policies regarding the treatment of transgender students--one established under a Democratic governor and another implemented following the election of a Republican candidate championing parental rights--this research employs qualitative content analysis to gain insight into the contemporary parental rights movement in educational settings. Five key themes emerged: 1. Reliance on expert opinions; 2. Variation in depth and breadth of information within policies; 3. Transgender student inclusion in policies; 4. Student and parent focus imbalance; and 5. Adherence to legal intent. The findings indicate a shift in emphasis from addressing gender identity concerns to prioritizing parental rights, with ramifications for the broader political landscape. This research enriches the ongoing dialogue on the role of parents in education and the consequences of the conservative parental rights movement for educational policy.
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- 2023
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
35. Teaching Work and Equality in the Official Pedagogic Discourse in Argentina (2003-2019)
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Alejandro Vassiliades
- Abstract
This article is aimed at analysing the modes in which educational instruction and equality are joined together in the official pedagogic discourse in Argentina during the period 2003-2019. This short period encompasses two moments of engaging in debates over the nature of this articulation--namely, the presidencies of Néstor Kirchner followed by Cristina Fernández (2003-2105) and that of Mauricio Macri (2015-2019). The analysis will be constructed through conceptual tools and methodologies arising from a political analysis of the discourse and will involve a set of documents that constitute expressions of the official discursiveness on the national level. The trajectory realised in this review considers three political-pedagogical antagonisms throughout the length of the period analysed: regarding (i) the idea of equality in official discourse, (ii) pedagogy as specific language for the construction of educational policies, and (iii) the degree of politicizing in the training and work of teachers.
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- 2024
36. Promoting Arabic as a Foreign Language in the Middle East and North Africa: Host-Grounded Study Abroad Discourses
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Zakaria Fahmi and Dakota Liska
- Abstract
Following the 9/11 tragedies, the interest in Arabic language and culture in nontraditional destinations such as MENA (Middle East & North Africa) has become vastly obscured with sociocultural and political issues. The mandate to maintain national security served to designate the language and its destinations critical, producing the hegemony of a political rationality that thrives on the globalist commodification of language and risks the homogenization of world cultures. To interrogate these essentialist discourses and others, we examine the ideologies underlying MENA host-grounded discourses to discern the valorization of the language in those destinations, as steered by the needs of globalization and power relations. Drawing upon an adapted, complementary multimodal critical discourse analysis (MCDA) approach, the current study analyzes the linguistic and visual resources of three study abroad (SA) programs' websites. We argue that the orientalist gaze is bidirectional within the host and U.S. based discourse for matters of sociopolitical and economic interdependencies and that joint constructions of global hierarchies and economic inaccessibilities remain prevalent.
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- 2024
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
37. Regionalization and Policy Mobilities in Comparative Perspective: Composing Educational Assemblages in Quasi-Federal Polities
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Jules, Tavis D. and Salajan, Florin D.
- Abstract
We employ a policy assemblage, mobilities, and mutations framework to analyze the geographies that constitute and reflect educational policy circulation at the regional or supranational level in trans-regional regimes and/or quasi-federal polities such as the European Union (EU) and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). Recognizing that policies are mobile in a fragmentary fashion as they are re/dis/assembled in specific ways, places, and purposes, we move beyond methodological nationalism and pay attention to the make-up of policies as they are in motion and the places they affect. In other words, using the trans-regional and/or quasifederal level, we juxtapose the tensions between policy as fixed, territorial, or place-specific against the dynamic, regional, and relational policy elements. Methodologically, we use a comparative federalist lens to trace and examine the distillation, translation, and mobilization of education policy across and between quasi-federal polities. In this sense, epistemologically, we further explicate the manner in which such policy instruments move across the various interconnected units and sites composing these federal-type entities, while (re)territorializing and deterritorializing what we construe as complex educational assemblages. We show that contra to the extant literature, in Europe/EU and the Caribbean/CARICOM, movement, and mobility involves the connectivity between policymaking sites, and policies arrive at their destination in the same form as they appeared elsewhere, allowing for forms of discursive isomorphism.
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- 2023
38. Discourse Analysis of Directive Speech Acts Used by Teachers in Classroom Interactions
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Aini, Qurrotu, Hidayat, Didin Nuruddin, Husna, Nida, and Alek
- Abstract
This study investigates the types of directive speech acts employed by English teachers in online classroom interaction with their students. In addition, the study details the frequency with which teachers in the third grade of SD IT Widya Cendekia use directive speech acts in the context of online learning and classroom interactions. As a descriptive research method, this analysis was designed. The information gleaned from the English class video recording through the Microsoft team application as a learning tool. According to Yule's theory of directive speech act, video recordings were used to capture data for analysis. The study employed Miles and Huberman (1994) qualitative approach to data analysis. According to the findings of this study of teachers' use of directive speech acts in online learning contexts, only 7 of 62 directive utterances were classified as commands, nine as requests, two as suggestions, two as invites, and one as a warning. Besides, the request kind of directive is employed by English teachers in online classroom interactions at a significantly higher frequency than any other form of directive speech acts.
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- 2023
39. Obfuscating Systemic Racism: A Critical Policy Discourse Analysis on the Operation of Neoliberal Ideas in Media Representation of a School District State Takeover
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Lopez, Trish A., Riesco, Holly Sheppard, and Goering, Christian Z.
- Abstract
Education reform in the United States has unwisely focused attention on standards and accountability to the state as determined by standardized testing (Berliner & Biddle, 1995; Mehta, 2013). Stemming from the emphasis on standards-based accountability are the ideas of rapid school "turnaround" and the state's role in this process (Peck & Reitzug, 2014; VanGronigen & Meyers, 2019). The current study employed critical policy discourse analysis to examine the media's portrayal of the 2019 determination to continue or terminate state control of the Little Rock School District. The analysis highlights two argumentative frames--one that emphasized neoliberal values in support of continued state control of the district and another that focused on systemic racism as the basis for advocating for local control of the district. These frames, along with their implications for future actions within the educational policy making process, guide the discussion. Our findings suggest sustained community and media participation is needed to bring attention to education policy issues while underscoring the importance of taking a critical stance to assess media coverage.
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- 2023
40. Gender and Higher Education in African Universities: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Key Policy Mandates in Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda
- Author
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Hailu, Meseret F., Lee, Earl E., Halkiyo, Atota, Tsotniashvili, Keti, and Tewari, Neelakshi Rajeev
- Abstract
In this comparative project, we analyze three policy documents that have guided genderbased higher education initiatives in Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda. Two research questions guided our work: (1) How do key policy documents conceptualize gender equity? and (2) How is gender equity discussed in relation to economic priorities and sociopolitical realities in each country? To address these questions, we conducted a critical discourse analysis of the following: Kenya's Education and Training Gender Policy in Kenya, Rwanda's Education Sector Strategic Plan 2018/19--022/23, and Uganda's Gender in Education Policy. Corroborating the work of other scholars, we found that all three documents shared (1) an increased commitment to gender equality, (2) persistent underrepresentation of women in higher education despite increased participation of women over time, and (3) markedly low gender parity in STEM disciplines. Our findings are significant because they confirm that there is a disconnect between stated policy goals and actual student outcomes, which limits institutional success and economic development. Additionally, our analysis highlights differences in the strength in commitment to gender equity in policy mandates in these three countries. This is a key issue which warrants further research attention.
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- 2023
41. Achievement as White Settler Property: How the Discourse of Achievement Gaps Reproduces Settler Colonial Constructions of Race
- Author
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Barrero Jaramillo, Diana M.
- Abstract
Racialized narratives of academic ability, perpetuated by ahistorical interpretations of student performance data, have led to educational policies focusing on short-term solutions, instead of the ongoing legacies of racism and settler colonialism. The aim of this paper is to show how the racially defined achievement gap operates within the structure of settler colonialism. Informed by theories of settler colonialism (Tuck & Yang, 2012, Veracini, 2010) and critical race theory (Harris, 1993; Ladson-Billings & Tate, 1995), I closely examine some Toronto District School Board documents that address the so-called achievement and opportunity gaps. Using critical discourse analysis, this paper shows how the notion of achievement is racialized to protect white settler property rights, and how the discourse of achievement gaps functions as a settler technology to concurrently include and exclude individuals from the settler project. Understanding the settler colonial constructions of race brings to the foreground the relations between Indigenous erasure, anti-Blackness, and othering of racialized communities within the contemporary multicultural nation (Haque, 2012; Tuck & Gorlewski, 2016).
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- 2023
42. Enacting Paulo Freire's Thoughts in the University English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Classroom through the Analysis of Mo Salah Phenomenon in the UK
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Mochammad Choirul Anwar and Ribut Wahyudi
- Abstract
In this paper, we present an example of how the selected texts (on the footballer Mo Salah) can potentially be discussed in the university EFL classroom especially (Critical) Discourse Analysis course using Freire's seminal work on Critical Pedagogy (CP). We do it by firstly introducing Freire's concept of CP which includes problem posing education and dialog as elaborated by Durakoglu et al. (2013). Then we move on to highlight the previous works conducted on CP in Indonesian EFL contexts and provide critical analysis of how the particular texts drawn from Anwar's (2020) unpublished thesis on Mo Salah's phenomenal career could be analyzed using Freire's concepts. Closing this reflection, we locate this paper within critical approaches to English Language Teaching such as post-method pedagogy and post-structural and post-colonially informed teaching.
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- 2023
43. 'Nip This Crap in the Bud': Using Social Media to Understand Bullying in Graduate School
- Author
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Josie L. Andrews
- Abstract
Graduate school experience is regarded as a "period of professional infancy" in which graduate students rely on a successful socialization process to help them develop a professional identity within the profession. Unfortunately, the socialization process has also emerged as a hotbed of academic bullying. In this study, 621 online public social media written posts were analyzed to further understand graduate students' experiences of academic bullying. Based on a thematic analysis, three themes emerged -- "mental gymnastics," hammering on all sides, and "nip this crap in the bud." Implications for academic leaders will be discussed. [For the full proceedings, see ED648717.]
- Published
- 2023
44. Exploring Directive Speech Acts in Elementary School Communication in Kolaka: Language Pedagogy Implications
- Author
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Halil, Nur Ihsan, Samsuddin, Yawan, Hendri, and Yuliati
- Abstract
This sociopragmatics study aims to investigate the various types of directive speech acts and the markers of local wisdom in the communication of elementary students in Kolaka. The research design employed is qualitative descriptive, chosen for its ability to describe the types of directive speech acts and the manifestation of local wisdom within the context of elementary school students. The participants in this study consisted of elementary school students from Kolaka Regency. Data were collected through nonparticipant observation, and the analysis followed qualitative data procedures based on the interactive model developed by Miles and Huberman, which involved data reduction, data presentation, and drawing conclusions. The findings revealed four types of directive speech acts commonly used by elementary school students: demanding, commanding, begging, and challenging. These directive speech acts were found to be influenced by the cultural context, specifically manifested through the use of clitics. The clitics -ko, -mi, - ka, -hae, and -na were identified as significant markers of the local wisdom in the communication of elementary students, observed in utterances such as lihatko, ayomi, pindahko, biarmi, siniko, and jemputna. These clitics not only serve as markers of cultural identity but also indicate different levels of politeness in communication. Further implications for language teaching practices are also discussed.
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- 2023
45. Four Person-Ideas in a Soul-Searching Internally Persuasive Discourse
- Author
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Marjanovic-Shane, Ana
- Abstract
The monologues presented in this article represent a particular Bakhtinian analysis of a transcript of a passionate, dramatic, and conflictual General Assembly meeting held in the first democratic school in Norway, the Experimental Gymnasium of Oslo (EGO), only two months after the school was opened, on November 2nd, 1967. In the meeting, they confronted each other with deep disagreements in their vision of the school and ways to govern it. The Bakhtinian assumption is that a dialogic analysis of any dialogue takes entering into dialogic relationships with the original participants in the analyzed dialogue (Matusov, Marjanovic-Shane, & Gradovski, 2019; Matusov, Marjanovic-Shane, Kullenberg, & Curtis, 2019). By taking the floor in the Soul-Searching Assembly, the students confronted each other fully from the bottom of their hearts and minds. Their ideas were embodied intentions, motives, reasons, and desires--what Bakhtin called the person-ideas (Bakhtin, 1999). I constructed four person-ideas based on the transcript of the Soul-searching assembly. In that process of dialogic abstraction, I attempted to distill specific points of view without depersonalizing them into abstract ideas thorn out of the living moment of their lives. The analysis through the construction of the four person-ideas complements a vignette I wrote based on the same transcript (Marjanovic-Shane, 2023b). It is both a distinctive kind of dialogic analysis, and it also helps me prepare the data regarding the students' ideas for a further conceptual analysis, where I explore the students' ideological positions, beliefs, and worldviews. That conceptual analysis is published in a separate article of this special issue (Marjanovic-Shane, 2023a).
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- 2023
46. Emergent Multilingual Learners Use of Multimodal Discursive Resources in Science Journals to Communicate 'Doing' and 'Learning'
- Author
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Price, Callie, Biffi, Daniella, Weinburgh, Molly H., Smith, Kathy Horak, Silva, Cecilia, Amylett, Monica, and Domino, Antonia
- Abstract
Sociocultural language learning theory and situated learning theory stress the importance of social interactions and context in both science and language learning. In addition, researchers have highlighted the important role that multimodal language plays in meaning-making and communication in science. The purpose of this study was to examine the multimodal discursive resources emergent multilingual learners (EMLs) used in their journals on the topic of erosion. Thus, we ask "in what ways do multimodal discursive resources differ as EMLs describe doing an investigation (practices) and learning (content) in response to a writing prompt (What I did-What I learned)?" This research, grounded in an interpretive/constructivist paradigm, examined the journals of 18 EMLs who participated in a summer program where they engaged in the social context of scientific practice. Students used the What I Did/What I Learned (WID/WIL) writing prompt to describe the practices used in the classroom investigations and the knowledge resulting from these investigations. The WID/WIL journal entries were examined using template analysis coding. The template consisted of four major categories: writing, mathematical expressions, manual-technical operations, and setting. Findings indicated that EMLs utilized writing and mathematical expressions to communicate their manual technical operations (practice) and knowledge (content) of erosion. EMLs did not use visual representations as part of their multimodal resources. Implications for science teaching and the use of the WID/WIL as a writing prompt are included.
- Published
- 2023
47. Scarcely Visible? Analysing Initial Teacher Education Research and the Research Excellence Framework
- Author
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Clapham, Andrew, Richards, Ruth, Lonsdale, Katie, and la Velle, Linda
- Abstract
In the UK, the Research Excellence Framework is a mechanism used for ranking the quality of research in higher education institutions. While there has been analysis of the entire Research Excellence Framework, and of the Education unit of assessment more generally, analysis of how research on initial teacher education featured in the Research Excellence Framework has been minimal. In this article, we report on Phase I of an 18-month project that mapped the extent to which initial teacher education-focused research was included in the 2014 Research Excellence Framework. Employing a novel methodology and a theoretical framework based on policy as text and discourse, we identify a sample of 12 higher education institutions that provided initial teacher education programmes and returned outputs to the 2014 Research Excellence Framework. Analysis of over 1,600 outputs suggest that in the 2014 Research Excellence Framework only 5.5 per cent of these were focused on initial teacher education. We discuss the methodological approach, some headline findings and areas for future research, arguing that these add evidence to the literature of initial teacher education-focused research and, in doing so, can inform policy at the levels of schools, higher education institutions, Research Excellence Framework and the government. We conclude that although the Research Excellence Framework only concerns the UK, similar exercises are becoming increasingly prevalent globally, and therefore the extent to which research on initial teacher education was marginalised in the 2014 Research Excellence Framework is of interest to all concerned with teacher education.
- Published
- 2023
48. Learning by Researching: Achievements and Actions of Teacher Learning in a School-University Collaborative Project
- Author
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Wei, Ge and Chung, Chi-yang
- Abstract
Purpose: This study explores the achievements and process of a group of Chinese primary school teachers learning from a research-based school-university collaborative project. Design/Approach/Methods: We used qualitative methods to construct our research design, collecting data through participatory observations of weekly meetings, teacher interviews, and participants' reflective journals. Both thematic analysis and discursive analysis were employed as strategies to scrutinize the data. Findings: We categorize teachers' learning into five achievements--outcome, processual, democratic, catalytic, and dialogic achievement. A further examination highlights seven successive learning actions composing an implicit mechanism to facilitate these achievements: questioning, analyzing, modeling, examining, implementing, reflecting, and consolidating. Originality/Value: Through this longitudinal study, we more comprehensively record details about teachers' learning as they conduct their own research. Although school-university heterogeneous collaboration has potential conflicts, teachers can improve their problem-solving and knowledge creation and sharing abilities, promoting a sense of professional accomplishment. These findings also suggest the need to reconsider the authentic process of teacher research, a task equally significant for international educators.
- Published
- 2023
49. Commognitive Conflicts in Mathematics Teachers' Pedagogical Discourse in Lesson Study
- Author
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Tyskerud, Anita, Mosvold, Reidar, and Bjuland, Raymond
- Abstract
The study reported in this paper applies the commognitive theory as a lens to study teacher learning in lesson study to better understand how and why teachers learn from lesson study. Video recordings were made from reflection meetings in three lesson study cycles with a group of four Norwegian lower secondary school teachers, one person from the school administration and a participating observer. The research revealed the potential of commognitive conflicts to explain teachers' pedagogical discourse. The analyses identified and described patterns in the teachers' pedagogical discourse when focused on observations of student learning during the reflection meetings. The discourse aligned more with a pedagogical delivery discourse rather than an explorative pedagogical discourse that was the aim of lesson study participation. Three examples illuminate the mismatch in the teachers' discourse with the canonical pedagogical discourse.
- Published
- 2023
50. The Morphology of the SoTL Article: New Possibilities for the Stories That SoTL Scholars Tell about Teaching and Learning
- Author
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Halpern, Faye
- Abstract
The folklorist Vladímir Propp identified a curious phenomenon in his study of 100 Russian fairy tales: despite their tremendous surface variety, they followed a single narrative structure or morphology. This article argues that the same phenomenon applies to SoTL articles: despite the tremendous variety of content and methods that SoTL articles evince, they have come to tell the same kind of story. They tell, over and over, a story of redemption. I identify two problems with the story of redemption, the first having to do with ethos (the character that an author projects to their readers), and the second having to do with plausibility. I propose an array of narrative possibilities to enable SoTL authors to tell other kinds of stories--possibilities based on problematizing rather than easily solving. I argue that these possibilities better realize how some of the foundational thinkers in SoTL wanted the field to evolve. While benefiting all SoTL practitioners, such an expansion of narrative possibilities will make the field a more welcoming place to humanities scholars in particular, many of whom share a skepticism about the possibility of linear progress and perpetual self-improvement.
- Published
- 2023
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