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Schools in the rural context of Limpopo Province, South Africa have a plethora of challenges, which have a negative impact on learner achievement. This paper argues that for schools to triumph over the obstacles, effective school leaders are necessary. Such leaders must define and communicate a clear vision and mission and work with stakeholders to achieve them. With these assumptions, this paper explores how members of the school management team (SMT) of a rural school in the Limpopo Province define and communicate their school's vision and mission. Through the qualitative research method underpinned by the interpretive paradigm, a case research design was adopted and a single high school sampled to participate. Data were generated from semi-structured interviews with seven SMT members, a focus-group discussion with six teachers, and an observation of the research site. The findings revealed that most participants could not articulate the school's vision and mission. In addition, stakeholders were not involved in the processes of defining the vision and mission and communication methods in this regard were also ineffective. Lastly, the SMT viewed the vision and mission as fixed and did not review them. Based on these findings, I conclude that SMT members must understand that the vision and mission could serve more than a visual purpose when designed as guiding principles to direct smaller objectives within the organisation.

Whilst the practitioner field around current student communications has developed in recent years, most published research still focuses either on prospective students, theoretical benefits of student communications or usage of individual channels of communication. This paper contributes to policy and practice by providing the first UK-wide look at current students' communications preferences and behaviours through a meta-analysis of 17 student communications surveys (total students surveyed 20,134). Results show that students expect their universities to utilise a range of channels (including email, social media and student portals) -- i.e. an integrated marketing theory approach. Most students feel that they receive the right level of information; however, overall satisfaction with communications has decreased in recent years. This paper provides recommendations for practice, as well as a template to improve consistency in future institutional student communications evaluations.

The escalating integration of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, particularly the widespread use of ChatGPT in higher education, necessitates a profound exploration of effective communication strategies. This paper addresses the critical role of prompt development as a skill essential for university instructors engaging with ChatGPT. While emphasizing the practical implications for higher education, the study introduces a novel two-layered AI prompt formula, considering both components and elements. In methodology, the research synthesizes insights from existing models and proposes a tailored approach for ChatGPT, addressing its unique characteristics and the contextual elements within higher education. The results highlight the formula's flexibility and potential applications in diverse fields, from syllabus planning to assessment. Moreover, the study identifies limitations inherent in ChatGPT, emphasizing the need for instructors to exercise caution in its usage. In conclusion, the paper underscores the evolving landscape of AI in education, envisaging specialized versions of ChatGPT for academic settings and advocating for the proactive adoption of ethical frameworks in the use of AI in higher education. This study serves as a foundational contribution to the discourse on effective AI communication in educational settings.

This paper responds to Ippolito et al.'s (2021) "wonder," "What preparation and in-service support do coaches need to become systems thinkers, thought leaders, and change agents within their schools" (p. 182) by describing the obstacles and complexities experienced by two first-year literacy coaches as they transitioned from classroom teacher to coach. They described challenges related to adult learning principles and communication (e.g., questioning) and understanding their role and position when working with teachers. Ultimately, they wanted to feel valuable to teachers but did not know what that looked like. The findings from this paper highlight the need for specific training in negotiating roles within relationships and adult learning principles. Coaches must understand adult-centered communication and receive ongoing professional learning to develop a repertoire of adult communication strategies that will help them work with a broad swath of teachers.

The U.S. healthcare system struggles to provide adequate language assistance to medical practitioners and patients. As a result, health providers and patients rely on ad hoc interpreters, including children, to communicate. Bilingual children who regularly interpret for others, whom we refer to as child language brokers, are important linguistic and cultural conduits for their communities and bridge language differences in vital contexts, such as health and medical settings. In this paper, we explore the experiences of 17 adolescent language brokers and consider the settings, tasks, and people they engage with when language brokering for health. Findings illustrate that child language brokering is a real and important component for immigrant family health, that child language brokering for health is not a uniform experience, and that language brokering for health can sometimes have severe ramifications.

Artificial intelligence can support increasingly complex conversational interactions and also has the potential to interpret meanings from free text input and make recommendations based on patterns in data. There are important opportunities to apply this to real-world problems faced in access to education. In this paper, we summarise existing research and trends linking disability support and technology, then report on a survey conducted with students with disclosed disabilities (n = 138) to explore what systems might need to do to effectively understand disabled students in their own words, and provide suggestions of technologies, strategies and resources that could be relevant to overcoming barriers to learning. Through thematic analysis, five approaches that students used to talk about their disabilities are identified(medical, functional, support, experiential and administrative), and three major types of suggestions they make around what supported them and may be useful to others are also identified (external tools, university support and practices, concerns and solutions). The survey approach and the findings of the analysis provide a potential foundation for the effective design of systems that could crowdsource a knowledgebase around disabilities, hold conversations to understand disabilities and barriers and make relevant recommendations to individuals as to how they could overcome these barriers.

Deaf people use visual language and communication strategies naturally. Moreover, hearing people (both young children and adults) can also benefit from sign language and the visual strategies that deaf parents and teachers use with young children, an example of deaf gain. This paper will provide an overview of the concept of deaf gain, review previous research on deaf parents' visual strategies for interacting with young deaf children, and suggest ways for professionals and hearing parents with young children to integrate these visual strategies. We will also discuss the research-based visual strategies used by deaf adults and teachers outlined in a tip sheet from the Deaf Leadership International Alliance (DLIA), with examples from two popular curricula used by early intervention: the SKI-HI Deaf Mentor Program and ASL at Home.

This paper explores whether a Serbia preschool institution is prepared for education during the pandemic. The research subject is nine kindergarten-preschool units where 140 teachers work with about 2500 children up to 6.5 years. We examined all teachers that work in preschool units. The study aims, for a case study of music education, to answer: Whether the COVID-19 pandemic affected the change in the educational work in the field of music in preschool; Can web-based applications and educational resources improve preschool music outcomes, especially during a pandemic; Would web applications and educational resources reduce financial costs; Would web applications and educational resources enhance parent-teacher communication. The findings show preschool teachers mostly use traditional offline educational techniques and tools but need more online learning tools, Web resources, and applications, especially when working remotely. They believe such resources can reduce financial costs and improve parent-teacher communication. The study found that the pandemic has forced changes in practice. However, according to teachers, these changes can enhance future post-pandemic practice thanks to web-based educational technologies that more closely connect all participants in early childhood education.

Dance educators frequently function in a performance situation--teaching, leading discussion, rehearsing, choreographing. Because of the nature of the work, introverts may be driven to behave in a more extroverted manner and less like themselves. How do introverted teachers navigate the demands of teaching and preserve their energy while best serving their students and themselves? This paper shares strategies on teaching, learning, and leading as an introverted teacher. I draw on existing literature about the introverted teacher, learner, and leader, as well as ideas on effective teaching, and I apply these ideas specifically to dance. While many introverted dance educators successfully teach and perform as extroverts, by openly claiming their introverted personality and implementing practices for teaching, leading, and learning that are specific to introverts, they can feel more confident and engaged in their teaching and working lives.

We have observed that as the theoretical landscape in behavioral science continues to proliferate and diversify, it is not uncommon that distance between subspecialties emerge, artificially accentuating differences between camps. This may occur at the risk of losing sight of the common ground, and worsening communication between subspecialties. In this paper, we propose conceptual "crosswalking" as a means to preserve interdisciplinary communication within the behavioral sciences. This is illustrated using Bronfenbrenner's Person-Process-Context-Time (PPCT) Model, mapped onto therapeutic modalities with a focus on ecological systems. Recommendations for future crosswalking are made.

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education research and physics education research, in particular, are currently struggling with a dearth of research into understanding the experiences and identity development of neurodivergent students. In addition, an even larger gap in research exists looking into nonacademic members who have left the field and still strongly identify with their disciplinary identity. As valued members of our physics community, these colleagues provide a unique perspective as to how identity and participation are nurtured and developed, particularly among rising disabled physicists. To resolve these current issues and aid in future research, we operationalize our new Critical Disability Physics Identity framework and present results from interviews with three neurodivergent post-baccalaureate nonacademic physicists (those who have left physics and retain a strong affinity toward their identity as a physicist). As the first paper in a four-part phenomenological study into the identity development of neurodivergent physicists, we also present an analysis of each interview through a Critical Disability Physics Identity lens and discuss the implications of their Critical Disability Physics Identity development. We find that neurodivergent students experience very little outright discrimination and violence but experience structural ableism in the form of assessment that is not constructed for how neurodivergent physicists perform physics-related tasks. Additionally, we find that neurodivergent physicists seem to ground identity in having a strong interest in physics, something that is only shaken by professors and others in power being neutral toward the discrimination experienced by neurodivergent people. We find that there are very large power imbalances between professors and neurodivergent students and that only when professors and others in power are actively anti-ableist is this power imbalance remedied and neurodivergent students begin to feel that they are physicists.

The importance and the impact of communication in every domain that deals with human resources is undeniable. Yet, as far as the authors' knowledge concerns, the research has been mostly developed in the human resources field. In the project management field, the research developed is still scarce. Yet, some authors emphasise the role of the project managers' communication with teams, and the importance of the project management teams on the success of projects. Therefore, this paper aims to analyse the influence of the communication styles and leadership of the project managers on the motivation of the teams and the success of projects. Literature was reviewed and exploratory research was developed using a qualitative methodology (content analysis of eight semi-structured interviews). A conceptual framework was developed. The results suggest that communication style and leadership are related and impact the teams' motivation and the projects' success.

Currently, the analysis of rhetorical moves is extensively applied to business genre conventions. This paper adopts a corpus-assisted genre approach to compare three major rhetorical moves in corpora of students' and professionals' project proposal abstracts to elicit evidence-based recommendations for the pedagogy of business communication. The findings indicate that, while overall features in the proposal abstracts written by actual business professionals and those by students of business vary quantitatively but not qualitatively, students focus more on the aim of the project, and professionals tend to evenly highlight all sides of the project and position it within the context.

The evidence-based decision-making movement often assumes that once evidence is available (e.g., via the What Works Clearinghouse), decision-makers will integrate it into their practice. Research-practice partnership studies have shown this is not always true. In this paper, we argue that instead of assuming research will be useful and used, we should directly study strategies for disseminating evidence and mobilizing knowledge. We present a framework for organizing knowledge mobilization research into three facets: (1) examining "norms" embedded in evidence we communicate, (2) "descriptively" understanding how decision-makers reason about this evidence as well as their varied decision-making needs, and (3) "prescriptively" developing and evaluating communication strategies that facilitate better use of evidence by decision-makers. We delineate this three-faceted framework--"normative," "descriptive," "prescriptive"--and demonstrate how it considers the perspectives and priorities of both researchers and decision-makers. Focusing on a case study--of how statistical evidence is conveyed by clearinghouses--we point to existing evidence in education and other fields such as data visualization and cognitive psychology that should inform our communication practices and identify areas where further knowledge mobilization research is needed.

Purpose: Climate change poses risks to society and the demand for carbon literacy within small and medium-sized enterprises is increasing. Skills and knowledge are required for organizational greenhouse gas accounting and science-based decisions to help businesses reduce transitional risks. At the University of Copenhagen and the University of Northern British Columbia, two carbon management courses have been developed to respond to this growing need. Using an action-based co-learning model, students and business are paired to quantify and report emissions and develop climate plans and communication strategies. Design/methodology/approach: This paper draws on surveys of businesses that have partnered with the co-learning model, designed to provide insight on carbon reductions and the impacts of co-learning. Data collected from 12 respondents in Denmark and 19 respondents in Canada allow for cross-institutional and international comparison in a Global North context. Findings: Results show that while co-learning for carbon literacy is welcomed, companies identify limitations: time and resources; solution feasibility; governance and reporting structures; and communication methods. Findings reveal a need for extension, both forwards and backwards in time, indicating that the collaborations need to be lengthened and/or intensified. Balancing academic requirements detracts from usability for businesses, and while municipal and national policy and emission targets help generate a general societal understanding of the issue, there is no concrete guidance on how businesses can implement operational changes based on inventory results. Originality/value: The research brings new knowledge to the field of transitional climate risks and does so with a focus on both small businesses and universities as important co-learning actors in low-carbon transitions. The comparison across geographies and institutions contributes an international solution perspective to climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies.

Technology is advancing and metaverse is gaining popularity. The magic of metaverse is beyond our imagination. In simple terms, the metaverse refers to a virtual shared space that exists online, where people can interact, socialise, work, and play using digital avatars, just like they do in the real world. It is a combination of virtual reality, augmented reality, and the internet, all rolled into one immersive environment. Virtual reality (VR) immerses users in entirely computer-generated environments through headsets, while augmented reality (AR) overlays digital information onto the real world, enhancing the user's perception. This paper introduces new strategies to bring healthcare into the metaverse by providing solutions to the hurdles that have kept us from exploring this idea. These include reducing data transfer delays in the metaverse, making VR headsets more affordable, accurately predicting diseases by studying symptoms, and creating a platform for medical professionals to practice procedures on avatars before performing them on real patients. Metaverse has immense scope of revolutionising the healthcare and we are yet to unfold its complete usefulness.

Copyright of Tourism Review is the property of Emerald Publishing Limited 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.)

Science communication strategy plays a crucial role in effectively conveying scientific information to target audiences. While various models exist for developing communication strategies, many focus on measuring the effectiveness of communication efforts and adjusting these based on audience feedback. However, traditional methods of evaluating communication effectiveness often measure one component at a time and do not consider how people make decisions in real-life situations. This paper proposes the use of continuous response measurement (CRM) as a method to evaluate science communication in agricultural social science research. CRM allows for real-time measurement of how individuals make decisions in response to dynamic communication content. This paper compares different types of CRM, including in-person and virtual dial CRM, and provides resources for researchers interested in implementing this methodology. The paper also discusses various research designs that can be used with CRM, such as experimental designs, survey designs, time-series designs, focus groups, and coding content and behavior. The benefits and limitations of CRM are outlined, highlighting the need for immediate feedback and real-time response in science communication campaigns. In-person CRM is discussed, including the selection of stimuli, response prompts, data collection procedures, and data analysis. Virtual CRM is also examined, highlighting its advantages in terms of flexibility and cost-effectiveness. The paper concludes by discussing data output and analysis methods for CRM data. Overall, this paper serves as a methodological proposal for the use of CRM in agricultural social science research, emphasizing the importance of real-time measurement and response in science communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

English nowadays can no longer be related solely to Standard English and an Anglo-centred standpoint, but it needs to be understood from a wider perspective, one that takes into account World Englishes varieties and its use as a lingua franca (ELF). Indeed, English has developed into one of the most widespread means of communication in contexts where speakers do not always share the same linguistic and cultural background and need to coconstruct mutual understanding. In order for students to effectively and appropriately use English in today globalised world, they need to be prepared to a wide range of English practices and to be able to interact in diverse and complex communicative contexts. The development of students' ELF communicative skills entails the need to adopt and devise materials that provide a more complex conceptualisation of English, including how communication strategies represent important resources to reach mutual understanding in ELF intercultural communication. Adopting an ELF-aware pedagogical perspective, this paper aims at presenting and discussing some guidelines that could help teachers develop their own ELF-aware materials, especially focusing on the use of communication strategies and meaning negotiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of increasing data scale, contemporary optimization algorithms struggle with cost and complexity in addressing the feature selection (FS) problem. This paper introduces a Harris hawks optimization (HHO) variant, enhanced with a multi-strategy augmentation (CXSHHO), for FS. The CXSHHO incorporates a communication and collaboration strategy (CC) into the baseline HHO, facilitating better information exchange among individuals, thereby expediting algorithmic convergence. Additionally, a directional crossover (DX) component refines the algorithm's ability to thoroughly explore the feature space. Furthermore, the soft-rime strategy (SR) broadens population diversity, enabling stochastic exploration of an extensive decision space and reducing the risk of local optima entrapment. The CXSHHO's global optimization efficacy is demonstrated through experiments on 30 functions from CEC2017, where it outperforms 15 established algorithms. Moreover, the paper presents a novel FS method based on CXSHHO, validated across 18 varied datasets from UCI. The results confirm CXSHHO's effectiveness in identifying subsets of features conducive to classification tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the role of cross-cultural mediators in resolving conflicts related to cultural violence in Indonesia and provides an overview of the cultural context in Indonesia and the factors that contribute to the prevalence of cultural violence. The article then discusses the role of cross-cultural mediators in facilitating dialogue and promoting understanding between different cultural groups. Using a qualitative research methodology, the article explores the experiences of cross-cultural mediators working in different parts of Indonesia. Diverse references like literature, academic papers, scientific publications, dissertations, and similar materials concerning delicate cultural aspects, categorization of aggression within Indonesian society, and elements impacting the development of a violent culture are mentioned within the paper. The article highlights the challenges and opportunities that mediators face in their work, including the need to build trust and develop effective communication strategies. The article argues that cross-cultural mediation can be an effective tool for resolving conflicts related to cultural violence in Indonesia. The article emphasizes the importance of developing culturally sensitive and context-specific mediation strategies that take into account the unique cultural and historical factors that contribute to violence in different regions of the country. In conclusion, the article highlights the need for greater support for cross-cultural mediators in Indonesia, including training and capacity-building programs, as well as increased awareness and recognition of the important role that mediators play in promoting peace and resolving conflicts related to cultural violence. The article argues that cross-cultural mediation has the potential to contribute to building a more peaceful and just society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The paper aims to support employers in avoiding linguistic profiling of individuals with communication disabilities; thereby reducing their exclusion from the workforce. It provides employers and others in the workplace with examples of speech, language and communication differences, common false stereotypes and assumptions, and strategies to prevent and address the negative effects of linguistic profiling. Design/methodology/approach: The paper offers a general overview of linguistic profiling as it relates to individuals with communication disabilities. Pertinent examples and findings from previous literature are included to illustrate linguistic profiling across speech, language and mode of communication, and to provide recommendations for inclusive workplace practices to ensure that career success is accessible to individuals with communication disabilities. Findings: Linguistic profiling is a barrier to successful and inclusive employment for individuals with communication disabilities. Education, training and the use of inclusive practices can reduce linguistic profiling of individuals with communication disabilities in the workplace. Originality/value: Though linguistic profiling used to make inferences of social constructs such as race and gender has long been discussed, little discussion surrounds individuals with communication disabilities and the impact it has in their lives and careers. This paper uniquely highlights communication disability in the linguistic profiling discussion so that organizations can be more aware of the impact and the need to create supportive and inclusive workplace environments and in turn reduce discrimination and increase diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The female target group is becoming increasingly important for both the luxury market and the luxury watch market. As a result, brands that have so far focused predominantly on the male target group must develop strategies to attract the female target group to their brand and products. Only with the help of a clear brand management and positioning strategy of the brand in the luxury watch market can a desirable brand be established. The aim of this paper is to investigate communication measures and position strategies that can contribute to enhancing the desirability of the TAG Heuer brand specifically within the female target group. To answer the underlying research questions, a quantitative consumer survey was conducted and completed by 135 participants. Furthermore, this paper aims to identify trends for the luxury goods industry that could bear relevance to the TAG Heuer brand in the future. The findings of the paper suggest that both events and collaboration with other brands, as well as collaboration with female influencers and testimonials, can increase the desirability of the TAG Heuer brand among the female target group. In addition, limited and special editions have great potential to increase the desirability of the brand. In the long run, the positioning of the TAG Heuer brand in the luxury segment is recommended. Overall, the paper provides important insights into the consumer behaviour of the female target group in the luxury watch market and suggests the measures that may be taken to increase the desirability of the TAG Heuer brand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inside a regenerative framework, stakeholder networks in the roundabout economy (CE) handle maintainable creation and utilization. Accordingly, an examination of stakeholder communications inside these organizations offers significant experiences into the prompt estimates that ventures should accept to advance more noteworthy congruity between human action and the climate. Regardless, the administration writing on CE doesn't give a reasonable insightful system to stakeholder support. To address this lack, we played out a thorough evaluation of the writing that included subjective substance examination of the board research on CE to unwind the complexities of stakeholder cooperations in CE. By considering the moral, key, and commonsense parts of stakeholder contribution in CE, we can observe specific targets, activities, and results. While even minded stakeholder commitment prevails in our example, the review shows that to exploit stakeholder relationship collaborations in CE, embracing moral and key stakeholder involvement is similarly critical. Our characterization of stakeholder association in CE offers scholastics and directors an outline and features the helpfulness of the stakeholder network rationale driving cooperative endeavors to address ecological worries like biodiversity misfortune and environmental change. In this thus, we add to the collection of information on the convergence of stakeholder commitment and CE the executives writing and give a structure to additional examination around here. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Communication about sustainability in fashion is complex. While fashion businesses have increasingly sought to manage their sustainability practices, their understanding of how to communicate about sustainability persuasively remains limited. The authors argue that a key problem with a firm's efforts in communicating about sustainability is that it is a psychologically distant issue for both businesses and stakeholders. This paper aims to apply construal level theory to explore managers' construal level in shaping communication about sustainability. Design/methodology/approach: The paper used a two-phase qualitative methodology. Phase one involved undertaking interviews with ten managers in fashion firms to address communications about sustainability in the UK. In phase two, 16 consumers interpreted and reflected on the persuasiveness of communications about sustainability encompassing both concrete and abstract forms of messaging. Findings: The authors identify the factors driving different approaches to communication (concrete and abstract) depending on the construal levels of managers, managers' perceptions of the construal level of target stakeholders and the perceived authenticity of the sustainability claim. The paper highlights the conditions under which the (mis)match with the brands' sustainable practices works in crafting communication. The authors also highlight three main communication strategies in responding to the complexity of sustainability in fashion ecosystems: amplification, quiet activist and populist coupling. Research limitations/implications: As an in-depth qualitative study, the authors seek to expose an under-researched phenomenon, yet generalisations both within the fashion industry and beyond are limited by this focus. Practical implications: Fashion managers need to be flexible and evaluate how their communications about sustainability affect stakeholders' evaluations of their brands. As sustainability in fashion brands grows, concrete and specific sustainability messaging may be necessary to improve sustainable behaviours. Originality/value: The prevailing literature encourages symbiosis between sustainability practices and communications; such relationships are rare, and studies outside the consumer perspective are also rare. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this exploratory study is the first to understand how managers' construal level influences decisions around communications about sustainability in fashion and how these messages are perceived by consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This conceptual paper aims to explore the current state of sustainability communication research, focusing on the challenges of communicating inconvenient truths in an era of scientific mistrust. Therefore, this study aims to (1) examine the existing research landscape in sustainability communication, (2) identify unresolved problems and challenges, and (3) propose strategies for counteract misinformation through targeted communication. Design/methodology/approach: For this, the authors conducted a critical literature review and analyzed the resulting sample (n = 473 journal articles) by means of qualitative content analysis to (1) evaluate existing communication approaches dealing with the communication of sustainability's inconvenient truth, (2) identify stakeholder groups involved in sustainability communication, (3) discuss limitations of current communication approaches and (4) present recommendations on (more) effective communication strategies to address the unresolved issues in sustainability communication. Findings: The analysis reveals that when it comes to sustainability communication and its unresolved problems, literature refers to four key stakeholder groups: (1) science deniers; (2) adaptation skeptics; (3) whitewashers and (4) world saviors. Furthermore, the analysis provides valuable insights into the complex dynamics involved in communicating sustainability, emphasizes the need for tailored approaches to engage and address the concerns of each stakeholder group, and exposes limitations in current communication methods and approaches. Accordingly, the analysis highlights the necessity of developing new theories, models and methods specific to sustainability communication to tackle its unique challenges effectively. Research limitations/implications: Like our society, communication sciences need a fundamental transformation to meet sustainability communication's new challenges induced by the necessary shift toward sustainable development. Originality/value: This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the current state of sustainability communication in research, specifically addressing the challenges of effectively communicating unpleasant news in the context of scientific mistrust. It fills a gap in existing literature by examining the progress made in addressing these issues and identifying the emerging challenges that need to be addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a theoretical approach to discuss the relations among reality, chemists' interactions with it, and the resulting interpretation and representation of the acquired scientific knowledge. Taking into account that such relations are of semiotic nature, this paper aims at discussing in the light of Peirce's theory of signs different descriptions of chemical activity and chemical education proposed by Alex Johnstone and elaborated by other science educators. In order to discuss the contributions and limitations of the proposed theoretical framework, and considering its potential interest for chemical education, an example on the communication strategies for the content 'vapour pressure' found in twentieth-century general chemistry university textbooks is also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brands are increasingly required to be 'woke' and communicate their stance on various divisive sociopolitical issues and to do so particularly on social media platforms. However, research shedding light on the outcome of woke brand communication is in short supply; it does not compare the suasory effects of the latter with those achieved by traditional persuasive appeals; and it provides scant guidance on which brands ought to adopt this strategy. Combining language expectancy theory, the brands-as-intentional-agents framework, and the literature on consumer engagement in social media, this paper aims to fill these gaps by means of a multi-industry, text-mining-based study which investigates both the volume and the semantic virality patterns of traditional vs. woke persuasive appeals adopted by brands on social media platforms. The findings suggest that woke communication generates higher levels of consumer engagement than do traditional persuasive appeals; in particular, woke communication is more effective for warm brands. Moreover, when competent brands undertake woke campaigns, they tend to trigger more polarized reactions in consumers' comments than warm brands do. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Field experiment in mandatory recycling scheme tests effectiveness of door stepping. • Majority of households in mandatory recycling schemes separates waste correctly. • Minority of households is responsible for most miss sorting. • Door stepping does not influence behavior of households in mandatory schemes. • Door stepping can improve recycling behavior in voluntary recycling schemes. Household organic waste has great potential for closing nutrient cycles in agriculture. This requires proper waste separation by households. Personal communication at the doorstep potentially improves household waste separation behaviour but it is expensive and findings from existing research are mixed. Based on results of previous studies and from a quasi-experiment with non-equivalent groups design in two German municipalities, this paper argues that efficiency of personal communication depends on its context. It can positively influence behaviour when recycling is voluntary and participation rates are low. However, it has no significant effects if recycling is mandatory. One explanation could be different perceptions of recycling in mandatory and voluntary schemes. In voluntary schemes door stepping can activate the intrinsic motivation of households. In mandatory schemes, all households need to participate irrespective of intrinsic motivation. This research shows that this creates a situation in which a small share of households is responsible for almost all contamination. This can be overcome by considering extrinsic factors that affect recycling behaviour. The paper recommends further research to understand which combination of incentives, sanctions and information is efficient in affecting behaviour change in mandatory recycling schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Environmental & Social Management Journal / Revista de Gestão Social e Ambiental is the property of Environmental & Social Management Journal 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 article examines the role and influence of the media elite in shaping communication strategies, political communications, and the editorial policies of corporate publishing. Given the current changes in the global media landscape, this research is highly relevant. This paper aims to identify the main characteristics and functions of the media elite, define the content and structure of ideas about media elites and their communication policy. The study employs an integrated approach, utilizing descriptive, analytical, and synthetic methods to present the theoretical and methodological framework. It also applies an interdisciplinary research method to examine specific features of media elites and their communication strategies. Analysis of statistical data was used to determine the popularity and frequency of use of various sources of information, as well as to assess the level of trust in the media elite among society. A semantic and stylistic method is employed to illustrate language resource utilization in media texts. The research establishes that media elites' structure and ideological guidelines significantly impact the style of political communications, communication strategies in the media, and the type, content, and meaning of contemporary media texts. The findings emphasize the evolving nature of media elite communication strategies in response to various factors, including technological advancements, socio-political shifts, and cultural changes. This underscores the importance of further exploration of their roles in transitional democracies and regions facing media challenges. This research provides a foundation for understanding how media elites align with other influential groups, their perspectives on national interests, and the potential implications for democratic processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Artificial intelligence (AI) technology has brought new reconstruction opportunities for the intelligence of the advertisement industry through the help of AI technologies such as machine learning and deep learning. First, the relationship between AI and the attractiveness of green advertisements is investigated, and the influence of different AI technologies in green advertisements on consumers' perception of the attractiveness of green advertisements is summarized. Second, based on the green advertisement dissemination rate data set, the data visualization exploration is carried out, and the data deletion and coding processing are carried out aiming at different characteristic variables. Finally, according to the problems existing in the current green advertisement communication and the high‐dimensional and sparse characteristics of the communication rate data set. In this paper, based on Deep FM (Factorization Machine), Gradient Boost Decision Tree (GBDT) is added to assist the experiment, and the prediction performance of green advertising communication is tested. The results are as follows. (1) Different AI expressions in green advertisements will affect consumers' perception of the attractiveness of green advertisements. (2) The prediction ability of Deep FM model after feature engineering is better than that of data cleaning only. The prediction effect of the model is obviously improved. The purpose of this paper is to integrate green advertising media communication into the ecological concept of harmonious coexistence between man and nature, strengthen the political belief of ecological civilization construction, and conform to the communication trend of today's severe ecological situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: When companies face a crisis, they sometimes deliver blame-shifting communications, trying to shift blame onto another actor to protect their reputation. While previous research has considered how different features of the message affect its persuasiveness, little is known about whether specific senders can blame more effectively. This paper aims to contribute to research in this domain through an investigation of the sender's social perception as a critical moderator to the persuasiveness of blame shifting. Design/methodology/approach: The authors conduct four between-subjects scenario experiments to test the research hypotheses. In each experiment, participants are presented with a realistic crisis scenario and the crisis communications delivered by the company. The authors assess the extent to which perceptions of the sender influence the message's ability to reduce negative word-of-mouth intentions and to increase purchase intentions. Findings: The authors show that blame shifting is more likely to be effective when deployed by senders that are small (Study 1) or have a positive CSR track record (Study 2). Furthermore, The authors find that even large senders can successfully deploy blame shifting if they can benefit from being known for their CSR programs (Study 3). Finally, the authors show that the effect of blame shifting depends on the receiver's level of concern about the crisis: stakeholders significantly concerned by the crisis reject blame-shifting communications (Study 4). Research limitations/implications: Further research should examine the impact of information about brand competence on blame-shifting effectiveness. Further research is also needed to explore sender effects for other defensive crisis communication strategies such as denial or the use of excuses or justifications. Practical implications: The study offers critical information for marketers considering the use of defensive crisis communications strategies such as blame shifting. Originality/value: The study extends the understanding of how sender effects influence blame-shifting communications. The analysis allows us to clarify why this strategy is effective for certain senders and certain receivers while, for others, it tends to backfire. Blame shifting backfires for large senders unless they can boast a strong CSR record. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper analyzes Xiaomi's social media posts on Facebook and Weibo, addressing three different audiences: the global audience, the Egyptian audience, and the Chinese audience. Its primary aim is to dissect Xiaomi's strategies in employing local, global, or glocal approaches within its intercultural brand communication. To achieve this, the study employs a multimodal framework that integrates brand communication and linguistics, allowing for a comprehensive examination of Xiaomi's digital marketing strategies through brand personality appeals and the strategic use of linguistic features. The paper finds that Xiaomi displays an exciting personality on its global and Chinese social media pages, while it reflects a competent personality on its Egyptian social media page. The study also finds that Xiaomi employs culture-specific linguistic features in its social media posts, including intimate address forms for its Chinese audience, colloquial expressions for its global audience, and codemixing and dialect for its Egyptian audience. These insights not only affirm the existing literature's observations of cultural disparities in intercultural marketing but also contribute to our understanding of how global brands strategically adapt to diverse cultural contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current paper explores crosslinguistic and multimodal health communication strategies employed by the South African government during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020-2022. Some governments used multiple languages, yet in most cases, English monolingualism was a predominant form of communication. This paper utilised a multimodal critical discourse analysis to explore public health communication by government officials in South Africa and by members of the National Coronavirus Command Council mandated to combat the spread of COVID-19 in South Africa. The paper interrogates how this language and messaging limited or enabled linguistic equity and social justice. The paper concludes that in a country such as South Africa, for any government's initiative to promote linguistic and social justice, it ought to be 'languaged' and messaged through the linguistic repertoires that the majority of its citizens understand; if not, it is doomed to fail as was the case with the South African government's COVID-19 communication strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores Ghana's two-decade journey in developing a digital land information system (LIS), exemplified by Ghana Enterprise Land Information System (GELIS) and Enterprise Land Information System (ELIS). Despite advancements by Ghana's Lands Commission, manual processes persist and coexist with digital ones. Our study uses a qualitative approach to assess the effectiveness of the LIS implemented in Accra. This study found that Accra's LIS is highly aligned with clear institutional mandates, roles, and responsibilities, as well as the availability of laws and policies to support analogue-to-digital conversion. Furthermore, a robust approach to protecting the data, operating system, and software underpins the system. Subsequently, the integration of a digital LIS has enhanced service delivery and accountability. Nonetheless, Accra's LIS is still at the beginning of a comprehensive learning and development curve. Sustaining the LIS requires furtherance in the implementation plan, funding, law implementation, ICT strategy, divisional integration, work processes, data quality, and communication strategy. These findings will inform the next steps of improvement for Accra's LIS and guide its nationwide scaling, contributing to discussions on technology acceptance dynamics in predominantly analogue environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, artificial intelligence has become the most important topic when it comes to the use of future competitive information and communication technologies. The central challenge for future use of artificial intelligence is to develop suitable application scenarios, turn them into prototypes, and then, in the next decisive steps, develop operational applications that are productive. This paper aims to explore the competitive benefits of using artificial intelligence and suggest potential strategies for achieving business success. The results of the analysis showed that top companies are working to use artificial intelligence not only through people specializing in computer science and mathematics in operational processes but also, for example, through low-code environments to allow employees to gain their own experience in artificial intelligence management and get initial ideas implemented in prototypes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper delves into the pragma-crafting communication acts of the academic interactions on Messenger—utilizing a qualitative lens focused on selected ISU English major students and their instructors. It seeks to present communicative strategies, structures, and meaning-making by exploring the features that explore even the inexplicable messages. Through the pragma-crafting method, the researcher scrutinizes linguistic acts, extra-linguistic acts, and psychological acts inherent in these exchanges. Moreover, the research analyzes the group interviews conducted on Zoom to further explain the acts. The findings delineate the diverse language contexts present in the application, which serves as an alternative online classroom for academic instruction and interactions. This further emphasizes the importance of considering each learner's language proficiency amidst the dynamics and complexities of social media apps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technology makes it possible for management to personalize communication with individual investors on a broad scale. Building on information processing research, we predict and find that personalized communication prompts investors to process financial information more systematically and rely less on summary measures, such as earnings. Investors receiving more (as opposed to less) personalized communication respond less to management's myopic decisions that boost short-term performance in their assessments of investment attractiveness, such that they assess a company that increases R&D (at the expense of net income) as more attractive and a company that decreases R&D as less attractive. Further analysis suggests this result is driven by investors with greater experience evaluating financial statements processing the longer-term implications of R&D expenditures for performance more fully when personalization is present. Our paper speaks to investor earnings fixation and myopic behavior from management and provides insights for implementing investor communication strategies. JEL Classifications: O33; O31; L14; M41; D12; D83. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resilience communication is a fundamental tool for destinations to improve their image and recover after a crisis. Social media are also important tools for tourism communication and for creating tourist experiences and destination image. Therefore, social media are key tools for crisis communication. Based on a series of hypotheses, this paper proposes a conceptual model of crisis communication management that responds to the need to establish a set of premises related to resilience communication in the tourism sector. The empirical analytical study consisted of the quantitative analysis of the results of a survey questionnaire applied to test the hypotheses based on the formulation of a structural equation model. The results demonstrate the importance of social media communication in Perceived Health Risk (PHR) and its effect on perceived impressions, destination image, and related behavioral responses (Destination Recommendation, DR, and Visit Intention, VI). The four hypotheses in the research model have been confirmed, as the effects are statistically significant in a sample of posts analyzed, and the selected items explain every one of the factors. Specifically, the analysis shows that PHR negatively affects Destination Image (DI) and, in a stronger way, Post Impression (PI). Secondly, PI and DI influence one another and covary to some extent. Moreover, the overall DI, which has been affected by PHR, in turn affects DR and VI, demonstrating that PHR in communication ultimately influences DR and VI negatively too. Finally, is also verified both DR and VI are related and covary as intrinsic behavioral aspects related to DI. Resilience communication is a basic tool for destinations to improve their image and recover after a crisis and this research contributes to the literature on the subject by analyzing the impact of this communication on tourists, and specifically on destination image. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

6G will connect heterogeneous intelligent agents to make them natively operate complex cooperative tasks. When connecting intelligence, two main research questions arise to identify how artificial intelligence and machine learning models behave depending on (i) their input data quality, affected by errors induced by interference and additive noise during wireless communication; (ii) their contextual effectiveness and resilience to interpret and exploit the meaning behind the data. Both questions are within the realm of semantic and goal-oriented communications. With this paper, we investigate how to effectively share communication spectrum resources between a legacy communication system (i.e., data-oriented) and a new goal-oriented edge intelligence one. Specifically, we address the scenario of an enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) service, i.e., a user uploading a video stream to a radio access point, interfering with an edge inference system, in which a user uploads images to a Mobile Edge Host that runs a classification task. Our objective is to achieve, through cooperation, the highest eMBB service data rate, subject to a targeted goal effectiveness of the edge inference service, namely the probability of confident inference on time. We first formalize a general definition of a goal in the context of wireless communications. This includes the goal effectiveness, (i.e., the goal achievability rate, or the probability of achieving the goal), as well as goal cost (i.e., the network resource consumption needed to achieve the goal with target effectiveness). We argue and show, through numerical evaluations, that communication reliability and goal effectiveness are not straightforwardly linked. Then, after a performance evaluation aiming to clarify the difference between communication performance and goal effectiveness, a long-term optimization problem is formulated and solved via Lyapunov stochastic network optimization tools to guarantee the desired target performance. Finally, our numerical results assess the advantages of the proposed optimization and the superiority of the goal-oriented strategy against baseline 5G-compliant legacy approaches, under both stationary and non-stationary communication (and computation) environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The identification of opinion leaders is a matter of great significance for companies and authorities, as these individuals are able to shape the opinions and attitudes of entire societies. In this paper, we consider X (formerly Twitter) as a passive sensor to identify opinion leaders. Given the unreliability of the traditional follower count metric due to the presence of fake accounts and farm bots, our approach combines the measures of visibility and community engagement to identify these influential individuals. Through an experimental evaluation involving approximately 4 million tweets, we showed two important findings: (i) relying solely on follower count or post frequency is inadequate for accurately identifying opinion leaders, (ii) opinion leaders are able to build community and gain visibility around specific themes. The results showed the benefits of using X as a passive sensor to identify opinion leaders, as the proposed method offers substantial advantages for those who are involved in social media communication strategies, including political campaigns, brand monitoring, and policymaking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The variable-order fractional (VOF) chaotic systems offer a promising solution for applications in secure communication due to their unique properties. This paper addresses the synchronisation problem in secure communication for these systems, which have uncertainties and external disturbances with unknown bounds. According to the variable-order fractional type Mittag-Leffler stability theorem, a fractional-order derivative is applied to a sliding surface, and suitable adaptive laws are devised to address uncertainties and disturbances. A variable-order fractional control strategy and a new criterion are developed to ensure the synchronisation error systems achieve asymptotic stability in finite time, for which the upper limit can be obtained. Simulation outcomes demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed synchronisation strategy in secure communication scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The number of online users has increased continuously over many years. In this context, effective communication is essential for the success of any organization, and in today's digital age, online communication has become an increasingly important tool for achieving corporate success. The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of effective online communication in achieving corporate success. The results of the analysis showed that communication has become an integral part of corporate management because it contributes significantly to the success of a company. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the area of digital media narratives, an important communication role is played by influencers who, thanks to original media messages, become creative gatekeepers of specific ideas. Travel videoblogs are often underestimated as pure entertainment, whereas they can be seen as important tools for public discourse creators. The research uses methods of compositional and content analysis, supplemented with narratology and netnography. In the space of popular travel videoblogs, the main ideas promoted include the ideas of sustainable development and intercultural dialogue. Bloggers create and stimulate the existence of online communities, express specific ideas, concepts and worldviews that partly come from the area of scientific discourse, particularly anthropological, cultural and ethical ones. The research highlights the serious public role played by the digital nomads as influencers and new kind of friendly authority and presents case study of successful communication strategies, narrative skills and technical competences of authors. The online travel narratives can be seen as marketing of ideas and thus used as practical tool of communication for institutions, non-governmental organizations and other actors of communication. The paper analyses new material (new genres of communication, new channels, new strategies) and topic of high importance in the context of intercultural conflicts and ecological problems. One of the most influential Polish travel vlogs, Globstory by Kaja Kraska (initiated in August, 2014), serves here as a case study. It was chosen because its content is typical for this genre and because of creative and engaging practices of the vlogger who successfully influences the public and its understanding of specific ideas and problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This editorial explores the value and viability of interdisciplinary approaches within African humanities scholarship. It argues that complex contemporary issues require perspectives spanning traditional disciplines. However, African humanities faculties remain largely siloed in colonial-legacy models limiting theoretical synergy. Pursuing meaningful interdisciplinarity has the potential to dismantle ideological constraints, better comprehend multidimensional African realities, restore epistemological cohesion severed through Western knowledge fracturing, and develop contextual, analytical tools. However, the paper cautions against superficial interdisciplinarity lacking methodological rigor or merely signalling trendiness. It stresses retaining a disciplinary base while leveraging scoping reviews to chart relevance for other fields in addressing complex questions. Harnessing interdisciplinarity's potential requires institutional structures and incentives to facilitate humanities scholars to cross boundaries without abandoning specialisation. This editorial seeks to continue the debate on pursuing deliberate, purposedriven interconnection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces moral argument analytics, a technology that provides insights into the use of moral arguments in discourse. We analyse five socio-political corpora of argument annotated data from offline and online discussions, totalling 240k words with 9k arguments, with an average annotation accuracy of 78%. Using a lexicon-based method, we automatically annotate these arguments with moral foundations, achieving an estimated accuracy of 83%. Quantitative analysis allows us to observe statistical patterns and trends in the use of moral arguments, whereas qualitative analysis enables us to understand and explain the communication strategies in the use of moral arguments in different settings. For instance, supporting arguments often rely on Loyalty and Authority, while attacking arguments use Care. We find that online discussions exhibit a greater diversity of moral foundations and a higher negative valence of moral arguments. Online arguers often rely more on Harm rather than Care, Degradation rather than Sanctity. These insights have significant implications for AI applications, particularly in understanding and predicting human and machine moral behaviours. This work contributes to the construction of more convincing messages and the detection of harmful or biased AI-generated synthetic content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food media content has recently grown tremendously in quantity and types. To understand food media's popularity and the role they play for their audience members, this paper applies a uses and gratifications (U&G) approach to study the recipients' motives for using or encountering various food media. Where do they come across media messages about food? Do they consciously or unconsciously seek or use them, and why? How do they perceive the outcomes of using food media? Twelve focus group interviews were conducted combined with a photovoice task. Results indicate that many of the encounters with food media were accidental in nature. In total, seven gratifications for using food media were confirmed: education, entertainment, social utility, identity-building, passing the time, motivations for healthier eating, and making grocery choices. Affordance-driven gratifications were ease-of-use of a medium, accessibility of -, trust in -, and emotional connection to the medium. This study forms a basis for further audience-centered research on food content so that both scholars and content creators can better understand how food media content can meet recipients' needs and how it can be employed in communication strategies regarding, for example, conveying nutritional information or providing entertainment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]