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Although name, image, and likeness policy officially changed on July 1, 2021, actions leading up to this policy modification provide insight into the desires and perspectives of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Feeling pressure from individual states and federal legislators, the NCAA engaged in discussion regarding name, image, and likeness in Fall of 2019. In response to newly introduced name, image, and likeness policy changes, the NCAA listed their official statements on the Taking Actions: Name, Image and Likeness webpage. These statements (n = 10) were analyzed using critical discourse analysis methodology underpinned with a Foucaultian perspective. Using critical discourse analysis, we extrapolated three overarching themes related to power dynamics: (a) Establishing Control While Undercutting Oppositional Power, (b) Power Shifts Away from NCAA, and (c) Power Reinforcement. We conclude by discussing the importance of examining discourse within organizations and implications for policy and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines how the Soviet grand narrative of the Great Patriotic War (1941–45) was used in the school educational institution in one of the two Donbas "people's republics" between 2014 and 2021. Using as a case study a Luhansk school with one of the most pro-Russian and pro-occupation administrations, it explores which GPW sub-narratives were present in the school discourse of extracurricular activities, described in the school VKontakte online community. This article employs the elements of discourse analysis to assess visual and verbal texts, published by the school administration, which depict how schoolchildren engage in different Soviet-military contexts, celebrating, commemorating, or learning about GPW-related events. The article concludes that although the school administration incorporated the main Soviet narratives of the Great Patriotic War, present in contemporary Russian education, it also employed two regional GPW sub-narratives, which provide the Luhansk "republican" authorities with the local ideological foundation for militarizing the school youth. The article demonstrates that such militarization of the semiformal school setting is linked with the Russian educational policy and has implications on how pupils of different ages see the social reality and their role in it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to explore the range of sustainability-related discourses by the stakeholders within a particular Finnish Higher Education Institution (HEI); interaction between the discourses and the context of the HEI; and the extent to which different understandings of sustainability cause challenges for the implementation of the university strategy for sustainability. Specifically, the paper explores how the employees within the HEI make sense of sustainability in their teaching, research and daily life and the extent to which sustainability-related discourses are aligned with the university strategy. Design/methodology/approach: This research draws upon collected qualitative and quantitative data. It focuses on individual discourses by executives, teaching and research staff within an HEI regarding their understandings of sustainability and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Findings: This paper illustrates the key challenges of sustainability and SDG implementation that may emerge in HEIs due to varied understandings. The results indicate a need for efficient HEI strategic vision communication and consideration of the stakeholders' multiplicity of sustainability values. Originality/value: This paper sheds light on the challenges involved in seeking to enhance sustainable development in an academic setting with multiple disciplines and categories of staff guided by academic freedom. The analysis thus advances the understanding of academic sustainability-related discourses and framings as well as mechanisms through which the implementation of sustainability-related efforts can be enhanced in such a context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Narrating illness experiences in a culturally acceptable manner is essential for retaining quality of life after the disruptive event of being diagnosed for prostate cancer. Psychological pressures caused by treatment side-effects such as erectile dysfunction require reinterpretation of the meanings and impacts of these side-effects on masculinity. This helps maintain coherence in men's lives. We studied how men employ culturally available discursive strategies (compensation, redefinition, recontextualisation, and normalisation) in reconstructing masculinity and sexuality. Our data consists of 22 interviews of heterosexual Finnish prostate cancer patients who had undergone surgery. The aim was to analyse the ways in which various life situations and social relations shaped and limited the use of these strategies. Discourse analysis revealed that older age, a supportive spouse, children, supportive male friends, and good health – were key elements men used in reconstructing a coherent new self-image and conception of life following cancer treatment. Men with sexually active male friends, men without families, younger men and men with new intimate relationships struggled to develop a new version of their masculinity. Being able to effectively utilise certain aspects of one's life situation in re-constructing masculinity is important in maintaining quality of life despite troublesome treatment side-effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the media construction of Chiquita Evans, the first woman to participate in the NBA 2 K League, uncovering a complex interplay of gender norms and power dynamics. Explored through Foucauldian discourse analysis, her identity negotiation within this unique space, where sport, gaming, and media converge, is illuminated. Evans emerges as a trailblazer who challenges and reshapes established gender conventions in the male-dominated esports arena. While her defiance of gender norms is evident, the media's focus on her physicality inadvertently perpetuates gendered expectations. Moreover, Evans' participation showcases her navigation of racial and gender norms, exposing lingering biases. The intersection of sport and media logic demonstrates evolving dynamics while also highlighting challenges faced by women players. Overall, the media construction of Evans works to encourage acceptance while reproducing established stereotypes, suggesting that increased representation may not inherently challenge power dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper will examine how extremist organizations manage to present themselves as credible actors in the eyes of potential supporters on social media. This paper will address this question by exploring the role of authenticity in strategic narratives, which is believed to help these groups achieve this purpose. Apart from introducing this new theoretical concept, the paper will also apply it to a new case study of the Russian Imperial Movement (RIM) – the first far-right organization to be designated as terrorist by the U.S. and Canada. By conducting discourse analysis of the group's social media propaganda on the Russian network VKontakte, the paper will show how the RIM makes its strategic narratives authentic and, as a consequence, creates an image of a credible and trustworthy actor and thus manages to reach out to its target audience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: In early 2023, a new type of weight loss medication, Wegovy (semaglutide), was made available in Denmark. Both subsequent media coverage and public demand were huge. Wegovy is only available by prescription, primarily via general practitioners. However, there is very little knowledge about how healthcare professionals (HCPs) in general practice might deal with the great demand for and attention surrounding a new weight loss drug. The aim of this qualitative study was, therefore, to explore how Wegovy is managed and negotiated in general practice, particularly in terms of prescribing and follow‐up. We conducted a focused ethnography study based on direct observation of consultations and both formal and informal interviews with seven doctors and four nurses from three general practices in Denmark. Using discourse analysis, we identified four central discourses revolving around trust in medicine, individual responsibility for health, the cost of weight loss medication, and the importance of shared decision‐making. This study shows that the availability of a new, sought‐after weight loss medication presents both opportunities and challenges for HCPs in general practice. The management of Wegovy involves numerous factors, including medical, economic, organizational, interpersonal and moral concerns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several shifts in physiotherapy treatment of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have occurred over time. This paper aims to identify shifts in physiotherapy practice for patients with RA based on the author's work experiences from the 1980s until today at two Norwegian rheumatism hospitals, and to explore why shifts may have happened. A narrative was developed by describing events making a difference, categorizing, and ordering them with the help of narrative analysis and a sensitizing analytic lens on discourses. The storyline from the 1980s to approximately the turn of the millennium is called 'Shifts determined mainly by clinical context-driven events' which occurred in response to medical advances and physiotherapists' clinical experiences. These shifts were later justified by physiotherapists' research in the clinical context. The other storyline covers mainly the 2000s and is called 'Shifts increasingly determined by events beyond clinical physiotherapy context.' They include adjustments to further medical advances and implementation of biopsychosocial understanding of disease at the hospital, and to external research-based recommendations, health reforms, and economy. These processes have moved physiotherapy practice at the hospital from mainly providing individualized remedial and rehabilitative physiotherapy for the purpose to normalize physical function to an increasing focus on generic health measures for the purposes of health promotion and cardiovascular disease prevention. However, this shift may not fully match the complex needs presented by patients in disease remission with unrelenting fatigue and work inability and those who have multiple functional challenges and comorbidities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper develops a critical perspective on the use of conversational agents (CAs) with children at home. Drawing on interviews with eleven parents of pre-school children living in Norway, we illustrate the ways in which parents resisted the values epitomised by CAs. We problematise CAs' attributes in light of parents' ontological perceptions of what it means to be human and outline how their attitudes correspond to Bourdieu's [1998a. Acts of Resistance. New York: New Press] concept of acts of resistance. For example, parents saw artificial conversation designed for profit as a potential threat to users' autonomy and the instant gratification of CAs as a threat to children's development. Parents' antecedent beliefs map onto the ontological tensions between human and non-human attributes and challenge the neoliberal discourse by demanding freedom and equality for users rather than productivity and economic gain. Parents' comments reflect the belief that artificial conversation with a machine inappropriately and ineffectively mimics a nuanced and intimate human-to-human experience in service of profit motives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines imaginative geographies of forced migration and refugee settlement in a BBC radio series that follows and gives voice to a Syrian family as they journey to Europe. Originally broadcast on BBC Radio 4 between 2015 and 2017, the episodes have since been repackaged as a podcast on BBC Sounds. The paper answers Horton's (2019) call for greater engagement with media and popular culture by foregrounding radio as an understudied medium with the capacity to shape listeners' geographical imaginations. It explores how this series, presented by Manveen Rana, broke new ground through its journalistic-ethnographic form, eyewitness reporting and amplification of refugee voices, and analyses how two imaginative geographies of journey and settlement are constructed through sounds and the spoken word. The paper concludes by theorising radio as a slow medium and demonstrating how Rana's journalism pushes beyond Toal's (1996, p. 171) 'anti-geopolitical eye' to evidence an anti-geopolitical ear: that is to say, Rana encourages a way of listening to Europe's migration 'crisis' that disrupts discursive framings of refugees as 'victims' or 'threats' by recasting the family as tangible and relatable human beings. This finding has significant implications for media reporting on migration and scholarship on journalistic storytelling and the construction of geographical imaginations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this theoretical article, we argue that the imminent collapse of earth systems that sustain life forms calls for mathematics education as a field to reflect on and re-evaluate its priorities and thus practices. We consider both what ecological collapse means for mathematics education and whether mathematics education might offer meaningful gestures in response. We explore how the relationship between the social and the ecological is conceptualised in mathematics education (and other relevant) research and what this implies for mathematics education. We read, in this scholarship, a growing focus on the ecological and conceptualisations of socio-ecological relations between existing entities that are dialectical, or mutually dependent. More rarely, are they seen as entangled and monist, and it is in this thought that we locate our contribution of multi-layered gestures of mathematics education. We describe these, in terms of three broad practices: listening for socio-ecological entanglement; attending to the scales of socio-ecological entanglements; and living entanglement as mathematics educators. We exemplify these gestures through examples of curriculum innovation. This article, a socio-ecological gesture in itself, is written in the spirit of opening a conversation into which we invite others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last decades, many scholars have studied competition between cities and entrepreneurial urban policies. Coming from the evolving field of competition research, we are interested in how competition between cities is constructed and, for this purpose, examine the competition imaginary of Vienna, a city known less for its entrepreneurial policies than for its social welfare policies. The paper employs critical discourse analysis of Viennese policy papers from 1985–2015, a period particularly shaped by the process of competitization. The analysis shows that Vienna's social and welfare policies are also decisive for the city's positioning in city competition and rankings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With increasing integration of culture and politics in the digital age, memes tend to be politicized in academic research. Moving beyond the perspective of politicization, this study examines the depoliticizing potential of meme usage. Drawing on sassy socialist memes on the Chinese internet repackaging propaganda posters and slogans for online conversations, we conducted discourse analysis of these memes and interviews with meme users. We find that memes reappropriating political discourse are not necessarily used for political implications. Rather, their meanings vary in usage contexts that are mostly non-political daily conversations—political discourse in China has been gradually resignified to incorporate diverse non-political meanings in the memetic process of cultural reappropriation. Furthermore, the depoliticizing potential of memes is precisely built upon the politicization of propaganda discourse for mass persuasion. The discursive construction of propaganda and its indoctrination in Chinese society are potentially leading to its own deconstruction in the digital age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay reviews and builds upon Aníbal Quijano's contribution to decolonial theory to sketch out what I refer to as the geopolitics and coloniality of curriculum, broadly understood as an imperial doctrine and a pedagogical mode of domination aimed at producing a modern/colonial subjectivity. It argues that the geopolitics and coloniality of the curriculum reveal the relationship between geopolitical designs, colonialism, and curriculum, thereby contributing to the interrogation of how dominant ways of knowing are propagated discursively and pedagogically. The article focuses on how the geopolitics and coloniality of curriculum enable the reading, interpretation and unsettling of curricular discourses and pedagogical practices reproducing Euro‐Anglo‐American ways of being (ontological violence), individualist ways of knowing (epistemic violence) and racialised affective grammars. It concludes by gesturing towards ways to think, be, act, relate and do otherwise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper extends academic debates occurring in the discursive intersections between childhood studies and tourist studies. Drawing on theoretical concepts devised by Mikhail Bakhtin and Erving Goffman, it employs a critical discourse analysis that focuses on the representation of tourists in selected travel-themed episodes of three popular children's television series. This study investigates how travel experiences and practices of touristic consumption are discursively constructed and interrogates how this tourist discourse is implicated in relationships performed by children and adults or authority figures in these narratives. The findings imply that children's travel-themed television narratives both challenge and reinforce cultural assumptions about tourist behaviour. This paper highlights how literary devices such as carnivalesque humour and anthropomorphism are employed to convey cultural messages and touristic themes. It also demonstrates that critical discourse analysis is an effective framework for explaining and understanding the various social interactions, roles, and relationships portrayed in these narratives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Argumentation is a fundamental communicative ability that children develop over time through formal schooling and daily practice with peers and family members. Literature on children's argumentation appears to have focused on their social interactions out of school, clinical environment, or informal pedagogic contexts. Even though there are research inquiries into children's argumentation in formal academic learning, many have been focused on argumentative writing in math or science classes. Much less is known about teacher-led argumentation and the youngest children's emerging argumentation in language art classes, where argumentation is formally and systematically introduced and learned. This paper reports a year-long ethnographic study on argumentation in a first-grade English language art classroom in the United States. Ethnographic discourse analysis was conducted to analyze two key literacy events from the daily reader's and writer's workshop. It is supplemented with qualitative analysis of the researchers' field notes and the students' artifacts. Our findings highlight the inherent intertextual nature of children's argumentation and a critical role the teacher played in eliciting and steering the children's argumentation construction through strategic instructional conversations (especially accountable talk). Our findings also revealed teacher-led children's intertextual argumentation as a powerful heuristic process and tool to enrich students' learning. The paper concludes some classroom argumentation teaching practices based on the research findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholars have called for more critical considerations of social justice and tourism that align with the tenets, values, and practices for sustainability, transformation, and social change. The aim of this research was to map and critically assess the status of refugee-related research in tourism, particularly with regards to the extent to which it adopts, or extends, a social justice-oriented agenda. A systematic literature review of existing studies was conducted. Content analysis assessed three aspects of 37 studies, namely, (1) the topics covered, (2) the extent to which the research aligns with social justice research practices, and (3) the extent to which the research furthers the social justice agenda for transformation. The review revealed a body of work that does not demonstrate social justice research practices; mostly because the refugee-related research topics of focus do not exhibit a social justice-oriented agenda. Our review illustrated that existing tourism research tends to frame refugees negatively and as a threat to destinations, and neglect critical considerations of epistemologies, reflexivity, and research processes. We conclude by highlighting alternative approaches that could contribute to a social justice-oriented agenda, using tourism as a bridge for creating change within structures, discourses, and practices in refugee-related research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lately, there has been massive media coverage of gang-related criminality in 'exposed areas' in Sweden. Politicians have blamed the illegal drugs trade without questioning the country's prohibitionist drug policy. This study analyzes how cannabis is constructed in Swedish newspaper articles that mention both organized crime and cannabis. We ask how the drug and its buyers and sellers are described, what discourses are drawn upon, and discuss the relationship between media coverage and drug policy. We analyzed recent (2021) articles from four newspapers (n = 71) through Critical Discourse Analysis. Cannabis was constructed as a commodity linked to violence and deviance. Agency was attributed to people with power and status (e.g. gang leaders), and recreational cannabis users were described as guilty of feeding organized crime. A combination of economic and moral discourses was used to make the reported events meaningful, and to motivate both prohibition and decriminalization/legalization. The study shows that assumedly neutral journalistic voices emphasized the link between cannabis and violence and problematized cannabis buyers and sellers. This homogenous media coverage will probably contribute to keep the question of cannabis law reform discursively lifeless in Sweden. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores how bereaved individuals co-construct social support and social norms in the social interaction of 14 bereavement group meetings in Denmark. To study this, we used a discourse analytical approach focusing on how the participants position their social supporters. The results show that the participants designate, uphold, and presuppose two hierarchical positions to bereaved and non-bereaved supporters with different abilities to understand them. Based on this finding, the concepts of "grief participation rights" and "social support hierarchy" are proposed to supplement existing notions of "rights to grieve" and "grief hierarchy." These concepts suggest that non-bereaved supporters are not accorded the same participatory rights in social support conversations as bereaved individuals who have suffered a similar loss as the speaker. The concepts are discussed in relation to effective social support and in the context of research on social disconnection in grief. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Named entity recognition (NER) plays a pivotal role in Natural Language Processing by identifying and classifying entities within textual data. While NER methodologies have seen significant advancements, driven by pretrained word embeddings and deep neural networks, the majority of these studies have focused on text with well-defined grammar and structure. A significant research gap exists concerning NER in informal or unstructured text, where traditional grammar rules and sentence structure are absent. This research addresses this crucial gap by focusing on the detection of product names within unstructured Turkish text. To accomplish this, we propose a deep learning-based NER model which combines a Bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory (BiLSTM) architecture with a Conditional Random Field (CRF) layer, further enhanced by FastText embeddings. To comprehensively evaluate and compare our model's performance, we explore different embedding approaches, including Word2Vec and Glove, in conjunction with the Bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory and Conditional Random Field (BiLSTM-CRF) model. Furthermore, we conduct comparisons against BERT to assess the efficacy of our approach. Our experimentation utilizes a Turkish e-commerce dataset gathered from the internet, where traditional grammatical and structural rules may not apply. The BiLSTM-CRF model with FastText embeddings achieved an F1 score value of 57.40%, a precision value of 55.78%, and a recall value of 59.12%. These results indicate promising performance in outperforming other baseline techniques. This research contributes to the field of NER by addressing the unique challenges posed by unstructured Turkish text and opens avenues for improved entity recognition in informal language settings, with potential applications across various domains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the field of financial risk management, the accuracy of portfolio Value-at-Risk (VaR) forecasts is of critical importance to both practitioners and academics. This study pioneers a comprehensive evaluation of a univariate model that leverages high-frequency intraday data to improve portfolio VaR forecasts, providing a novel contrast to both univariate and multivariate models based on daily data. Existing research has used such high-frequency-based univariate models for index portfolios, it has not adequately studied their robustness for portfolios with diverse risk profiles, particularly under changing market conditions, such as during crises. Our research fills this gap by proposing a refined univariate long-memory realized volatility model that incorporates realized variance and covariance metrics, eliminating the necessity for a parametric covariance matrix. This model captures the long-run dependencies inherent in the volatility process and provides a flexible alternative that can be paired with appropriate return innovation distributions for VaR estimation. Empirical analyses show that our methodology significantly outperforms traditional univariate and multivariate Generalized AutoRegressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity (GARCH) models in terms of forecasting accuracy while maintaining computational simplicity and ease of implementation. In particular, the inclusion of high-frequency data in univariate volatility models not only improves forecasting accuracy but also streamlines the complexity of portfolio risk assessment. This research extends the discourse between academic research and financial practice, highlighting the transformative impact of high-frequency data on risk management strategies within the financial sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On the one hand, feminists critique the securitization of conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) on various grounds, but, on the other hand, also raise concerns that the Western hyper-fixation on CRSV reproduces colonial narratives about race, gender, and sexuality. However, the productive effects of specifically Western state discourse about CRSV have yet to be fully examined in this context. How do Western states make use of the colonial gaze in constructing CRSV as an issue of grave concern, and to what ends? Further, what are the implications of this for the nexus of feminist critique and praxis? This article utilizes a macro-structural approach to discourse analysis to analyze the 2014 Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict, led by the United Kingdom. It argues that Western delegates securitized CRSV by relying on tropes of racialized men as maintaining backwards practices of gender and sexuality, and the construction of CRSV as a “pre-modern” weapon of war. This frame reproduces a racialized hierarchy of masculinity that constructs men from “conflict countries” as potential perpetrators in need of intervention, and men from “safe countries” as role models for gender-conscious militarized manhood. The article concludes by identifying potential practical implications of this discourse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper reports findings from a study that examining how cross-platform social media analysis can help to map the digital discourse on sustainable mobility and sustainable transport, and enhance the understanding of sociotechnical low-carbon transport transitions. Using the hashtag search queries #sustainabletransport and #sustainablemobility, 33,121 Tweets (2013–2021) and 8,089 Instagram images including captions (2017/2018–2021) were scraped using the Python modules Twint and Instaloader. Quantitative text and sentiment analyses were applied to the Tweets and image captions. Additionally, an automated machine learning-based image analysis of the Instagram images was conducted using object detection via OpenCV. Synthesized results formed the base for a cross-platform analysis inspired by Rogers' method comprising hot topics/key themes, user mentions, sentiment polarity, and co-hashtags. Notably, electromobility emerged as a prominent theme, particularly on Instagram, while #sustainabletransport was closely associated with active travel, notably bicycling, and #sustainablemobility showcased a dominance of electromobility discourse. The study demonstrates the investigative potentials of cross-platform social media analysis studies to enhance the understanding of sociotechnical low-carbon transport transitions. Drawing on key results, the paper suggests an adapted version of the Geelsean Multi-Level Perspective on Sociotechnical Transitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractThis article discusses the use of multiple identities in narratives by refugees engaged in higher education paths at Kakuma camp (Kenya). Following the Positioning theory, we explored identity displays in narratives collected through semi-structured interviews. The analysis deepens 5 narratives which had been considered exemplary to showcase the transformative valence of higher education. Different identity positioning was analyzed looking at before and after graduation as a crucial episode. Results showed three different narratives, and a range of diverse identity positions: the first narrative is about becoming a community leader, which responds to the very aim of the diploma course; the second narrative is about becoming successful, prevalently as professionals and as community members; and the third one concerns women perspective about an emancipatory and empowering educational path that challenges the status quo. This study contributes to the analysis of refugees’ identities from a critical perspective that challenges stereotyped notions by showing the use of narratives to mobilize and display multi-faceted selves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brain fog is a phenomenon that is frequently reported by persons with chronic pain. Difficulties with cognition including memory impairments, attentional issues, and cloudiness are commonly described. The current medical literature demonstrates a similar cloudiness: there is no clear taxonomy or nomenclature, no well-validated evaluations and a dearth of effective interventions. To focus our understanding of this complex phenomenon, we will perform a discourse analysis to explore how brain fog is described in public posts on social media. Discursive methodology will generate insights regarding the societal understanding and meanings attributed to brain fog, by sampling perspectives of persons with lived experience, currently underrepresented in the medical literature. It is anticipated that the results of the proposed study will 1) help healthcare professionals better understand the experience of chronic pain-related brain fog and 2) generate hypotheses for future research. To conclude, by incorporating innovative and contemporary methods, this proposed discourse analysis of social media sources will generate nuanced insights, bridging the gap between researchers, health care providers, and persons with lived experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to explore how students interpret and negotiate menstruation in PE in online forums. We conducted a qualitative discourse analysis of 12 threads from 4 different German-language online forums, in which menstruation in PE is discussed by students. Our goal was to analyse which topics structure this online discourse and how menstruation in PE is constructed as a discourse phenomenon. The study found that participation in PE during menstruation and the use of hygiene products are the dominant topics, with swimming in PE gaining particular attention. The results further detail that students’ online posts invoke specific causes, conditions, consequences, and strategies for dealing with menstruation in PE. The results indicate that students posting in online forums mainly interpret menstruation as an individual, shameful, restrictive, and unpleasant issue, stabilising norms of silence and concealment. Future research and pedagogical approaches must account for this. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study combined ecological, environmental, nature-based, and epistemic interpretations of older adulthood to gain a previously unresearched look at how older adults feel that their relations with nature are treated by others. Sixty older adults were interviewed in-depth, and data was analyzed using the Eco-Appreciation framework and Thematic Content Analysis. The results indicate the concurrence of processes of withdrawal of older adults from spaces of nature and discourse about nature. These processes obstruct older adults' wellbeing; entail the infliction of existential epistemic injustices and "eco-ageism" toward them; and emphasize the crucial role social work can play in responding thereto. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to explore the potential challenges that may arise when employing generative AI models in the process of Shi'i ijtihad. By drawing upon academic literature and relevant primary sources, the essay surveys the most critical AI-related hurdles in this field, including issues of accessibility, privacy concerns, the problem of "AI hallucination" and the generative nature of AI models, biases in AI systems, the lack of transparency and inexplicability, the intricacies of interpreting and understanding sensitive topics, accountability, authority, trust and acceptance among lay believers. Using discourse and content analysis as method, the article concludes that, given these challenges, generative AI models are not yet suitable for utilization in this process. However, the rapid progress in AI may eventually make it an effective tool for this purpose. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article draws on ten semi-structured interviews with mothers about their maternal selfie practices in order to explore how they use and navigate the form in relation to their motherhood identities and experiences. Whilst work on the form is still emerging, we examine the claim that maternal selfies offer space for a uniquely subjective expression/depiction of motherhood. As part of this, we explore how discussions of their selfie practices – and appraisals of the cultural circulation of the maternal selfie – resist and (re)produce discourses on acceptable digital and cultural paradigms of motherhood. The themes which emerged from these data were 1) the maternal selfie as empowerment, 2) authenticity as regulatory discourse and 3) the risks of negative affect. In drawing on work on neoliberal and intensive mothering frames, the article examines how the increasing emphasis (in digital cultures in particular) on displaying the complex realities of motherhood are implicated within the surveillance and self-surveillance of maternal visibility in ways which may (further) delimit the possibilities for maternal self-expression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes to the burgeoning literature on how women construct resistance, project their agency and sculpt a positive identity for themselves. It employs feminist critical discourse analysis as a framework to examine how Nigerian blogs on gender issues constitute a discursive site for sociopolitical action, the interrogation and deconstruction of gendered social structures and the amplification of women's voices(s). The article analyzes discursive strategies used in the blogposts to resist gender inequality, women's exploitation and female subjugation while constructing a positive image for women and emphasizing their empowerment. The results reveal three main strategies: (1) denouncing patriarchy and gender discrimination, (2) countering toxic gender narratives and (3) calling out sexist attitudes and praising women who resist such behaviour. Together, these mechanisms contribute to a sociopolitical critique of systematic gendering of privilege aimed at social transformation and Nigerian/African women's emancipation. Implications of the study for research on marginalized, disenfranchised groups are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The subjective experience of neurological symptoms provides useful information for assessment, intervention and care. However, research in the subjective experience of aphasia is limited. Word production difficulties are universal to aphasia, and interdisciplinary research has produced sophisticated models of the multiple stages and processes involved. Critically, this word-production research does not incorporate the subjective experience of symptoms. We carried out a metaphor-led discourse analysis on autobiographical accounts written by people with aphasia, to determine whether subjective descriptions of word finding difficulties are consistent with the stages and processes of psycholinguistic models. Metaphor-led discourse analysis was used to identify, code and interpret metaphorical expressions describing word production difficulties in 12 English-language autobiographical accounts written by people with aphasia. These expressions were then analysed to determine the systematic metaphors (i.e., the related concepts which are used consistently to describe a particular topic). Two distinct types of systematic metaphor emerged in the analysis: conventional systematic metaphors frequently recurring throughout all or most of the accounts; novel systematic metaphors used in one or two extended passages in an overlapping subset of the accounts. 4020 metaphorical expressions described word production, predominantly using conventional metaphors about communication and cognition. The conventional metaphor WORD-PRODUCTION AS MOVING OBJECTS OUT OF A CONTAINER was the most prevalent, with elaborations and variations allowing mapping of different symptoms. Other conventional metaphors included: WORD PRODUCTION AS A JOURNEY/HUNTING/HERDING THROUGH A LANDSCAPE, allowing description of effortful or partial retrieval, neuroplastic recovery, and internal strategies; APHASIA AS BODILY IMPAIRMENT, which described various symptoms in terms of different body parts, including self-monitoring difficulties; and APHASIA AS FRAGMENTATION AND PERSONIFICATION OF SELF and SELF AS MACHINE/COMPUTER to describe a disrupted sense of agency and attention. Novel systematic metaphors were used to describe certain symptoms: APHASIA AS SILENCE and APHASIA AS SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE were used to describe a lack of 'inner speech', and APHASIA AS A DISMEMBERED TREE to describe problems making semantic associations. This research demonstrates the many consistencies of subjective descriptions of word production difficulties in aphasia with theoretical models, but also shows that some subjectively salient symptoms, in particular attentional and self-monitoring difficulties, and a lack of inner speech, are not captured by all theoretical models. Careful attention to the way that people with aphasia describe their symptoms can provide a valuable source of information to be integrated with objective measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an implication of the ethnically and nationally diverse nature of Mediterranean polities, identification-driven boundary-making strategies bear considerable relevance for their political processes, both in the contemporary context and in the historical past. By utilizing a Discourse-Historical Approach (DHA), this study provides an interpretative exploration of Greek-Cypriot elite discursive framing strategies regarding Turkish-Cypriot and Greek-Cypriot ethno-national identity during the Cypriot Civil War (1963–1967). The available historical interpretations of this period lead us to expect an exclusionary strategy of boundary contraction to be more prevalent than the inclusionary one of boundary expansion in the discourse of Greek-Cypriot elites. Through an examination of a sample of primary textual sources, the analysis disconfirms such an expectation, as elite figures primarily constructed broader, inclusive frames of ethno-national identity during the civil war. The relative absence of boundary contraction and the prevalence of boundary expansion indicate the applicability of Wimmer's (2008) universalist approach to ethnic boundary-making, in contrast to the expectations that are built by the Cyprus-specific historical evidence. This study thus lays the groundwork for future research to delineate the discursive framing strategies of elite figures in Cyprus and beyond the ethno-nationally divided island. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We explore discourses about social emotional learning (SEL) and trauma-informed practices (TIP) as school interventions in response to resistance from students and guardians. We analyze an illustrative example and one data source that casts light on the deficit impact of SEL and TIP discourses on both teacher/school practices and children and guardian experiences in navigating such discourses. Resistance is explored and ultimately defended in the context of the interventions being enacted upon the children/youth and as a literacy of survivance for children/youth with traumatized histories, along with the guardians who advocate for and shield them from such interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Science educators are integrating more and more computational thinking (CT) activities into their curricula. Proponents of CT offer two motivations: familiarizing students with a realistic depiction of the computational nature of modern scientific practices and encouraging more students from underrepresented backgrounds to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. However, some studies show that increasing exposure to computing may not necessarily translate to the hypothesized gains in participation by female students and students of color. Therefore, paying close attention to students' engagement in computationally intense science activities is important to finding more impactful ways to promote equitable science education. In this paper, we present an in‐depth analysis of the interactions among a small, racially diverse group of high school students during a chemistry unit with tightly integrated CT activities. We find a salient interaction between the students' engagement with the CT activities and their social identification with publicly recognizable categories such as "enjoys coding" or "finds computing boring." We show that CT activities in science education can lead to numerous rich interactions that could, if leveraged correctly, allow educators to facilitate more inclusive science classrooms. However, we also show that such opportunities would be missed unless teachers are attentive to them. We discuss the implications of our findings on future work to integrate CT across science curricula and teacher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Youths with physical disabilities experience various obstacles in their transition to adulthood which can contribute to poorer health and socioeconomic outcomes in later life, compared to their non-disabled peers. Transitional care offers these youths the necessary support to overcome such obstacles. The objective of this study was to explore participants' experiential learning in the development of life skills within the transitional care program TranXition, and their perceived contribution of the program to their goal attainment. Data were collected using photo-elicitation. Five participants were recruited from the TranXition program to audio-visually record (photographs or videos) their meaningful experiences in the program and to reflect on them during interviews. Participants felt the TranXition program helped them build their self-awareness and self-efficacy, and to feel more confident and skilled, whether at home, in school or in the community. Moreover, they appreciated the program's group cohesion which facilitated learning life skills from others in order to achieve their goals. Finally, results suggest that group interventions, while important, may need to be complemented by individual consultations. Rehabilitation programs in real-world settings, such as the TranXition program, may be a promising adjunct to traditional transitional care for youths with physical disabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines 2021 and 2022 news coverage of Generation Z and climate change to understand how this discursive relationship is constructed. This is important to understanding how Generation Z’s climate change activism is perceived by other groups such as other generations, activist groups, and journalists. This study answers the central question: In what ways do news articles construct and represent the relationship between Generation Z, climate change, activism, and intergenerational relationships? The study identifies five common discourses from the most popular news articles on the subject that reflect nuances in reporting and discursive construction of the group and issue: (1) climate change as inherited and chosen by Generation Z, (2) passive and active motivations for activism, (3) activism negatively impacting relationships with older groups, (4) future responsibilities, and (5) overuse of figureheads. The nuances of these news discourses impact opinions of Generation Z and the impact the group have on climate change activism with the potential to impact activist group outreach strategies, policy development, and relationships with the news media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Domestic violence (DV) is a serious problem that reinforces patriarchy and interlocking systems of oppression. Yet, as a form of gender-based violence, DV has long been implicated in essentialist discourses that produce cultural Others, primarily through a deficit lens. Similarly, the field of international development was founded upon a discursive binary between groups labeled "traditional" and an idealized portrait of Western modernity. Drawing on feminist and postcolonial scholarship, this study employed critical discourse analysis (CDA) to investigate how culture was constructed in 26 development research reports funded by international organizations that examined DV in Nepal. The analysis revealed that references to tradition and social change, and discourses of violence as endemic to place, sustained essentializing formulations of Nepali culture. Nevertheless, some passages in the documents inserted evidence that unsettled this essentialist narrative. These findings suggest that researchers, policymakers, and practitioners should develop a reflexive anti-essentialist stance, promote collaboration and leadership in research by diverse stakeholders in developing countries, seek to understand local strategies and resources that are being used to address social problems such as DV, and document the impacts of recent and transnational processes on social problems within developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article employed a historical and political theory to argue for the metamorphoses in the exposition of randomly selected isiXhosa words for the very reason that some semantic meanings in the isiXhosa domain have undergone an evolution. Qualitative research methodology and the two theories operate in a relationship to underline the historical meanings of certain isiXhosa words, and how political forces influenced their evolution. During the discourse, it becomes evident that semantic shift in the isiXhosa language occurs for various reasons other than political factors and through different processes. The final argument suggests that there is a gap in the paradigm of isiXhosa linguistics. Such a task is facing isiXhosa linguists and ought to be contested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Critical views on language testing have long pointed out that tests are not neutral and that the use of test results requires a deeper interrogation of who is assessed, in what language and to whose benefit In South Africa, English, especially Standard English, creates a linguistic market where additional language (L2) students' writing and English language proficiency are under constant evaluation. Various systemic tests since 1994 highlight students' low English language proficiency, often resulting in negative discourses about their L2 proficiency and teachers' pedagogy. However, a key factor missing in such a narrative is how writing test design and its corresponding examination discourse impact pedagogy and the required writer identities needed in post-school contexts. This study draws on systemic functional linguistics (SFL) to illustrate the relationship between L2 writing discourse in the National Senior Certificate (NSC) examination (2017-2019) and the writing requirements stipulated in the national curriculum. The findings reveal that narrow definitions of writing proficiency underpin the test items and that the assessment documents are unlikely to contribute to academic writing and discourse competencies in school or post-school contexts in South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the ethics and transformative potential of youth participatory action research (yPAR) using data from a 2‐year school‐based yPAR study at an elite, independent school in Toronto, Canada. I use discourse analysis to show how school‐based yPAR with racialized girls intensified their experiences of gendered racism, shaping the research in a circular fashion. I demonstrate how youth researchers' strategies for counteracting this intensification contradicted the project's critical race feminist investments. This study concludes that yPAR facilitators must address the potential/actual harm of youth researchers' involvement in yPAR as part of the research process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Latent class analysis (LCA) refers to techniques for identifying groups in data based on a parametric model. Examples include mixture models, LCA with ordinal indicators, and latent class growth analysis. Despite its popularity, there is limited guidance with respect to decisions that must be made when conducting and reporting LCA. Moreover, there is a lack of user-friendly open-source implementations. Based on contemporary academic discourse, this paper introduces recommendations for LCA which are summarized in the SMART-LCA checklist: Standards for More Accuracy in Reporting of different Types of Latent Class Analysis. The free open-source R-package package tidySEM implements the practices recommended here. It is easy for beginners to adopt thanks to user-friendly wrapper functions, and yet remains relevant for expert users as its models are integrated within the OpenMx structural equation modeling framework and remain fully customizable. The Appendices and tidySEM package vignettes include tutorial examples of common applications of LCA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maritime governance of international waterways such as the South China Sea (SCS) is still an overdue policy objective in a region fraught with ongoing political and military rivalry over natural as well as symbolic resources. Competition among supporters and challengers of the international 'rules-based order' is reshaping the normative-discursive framework in which negotiations over access to and management of maritime space are carried out. Among the players, the Republic of China (Taiwan)'s particular international status and geographic position make it a special case study, having shaped over the past decades its foreign policy into a liberal, international law (IL) stance. This article seeks to describe a contentious encounter at the boundary of these competing discourses by showing the extent to which the 'rules-based order', a normative-discursive structure represented by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), is coming under increasing pressure in maritime governance, an area of growing importance to international relations. My findings show how Taiwanese policy discourse regains symbolic 'access' to this framework through meaning change. I argue that, ultimately, this adjustment of a foreign policy discourse proves the resilience of the 'rules-based order'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Disfluency is a multifactorial concept that can be linked to several of the language production levels, in both typical and atypical populations. In children, the language system is still developing and few studies have explored disfluency patterns. In typical development (TD), in particular, studies have shown discrepancies according to the language being considered. In neurodevelopmental disorders, such as developmental dyslexia (DD), it is still unclear whether the pattern of disfluency is similar to TD. Aims: To analyse the type of disfluency and their evolution in French children aged 8–12 years. Also to compare the pattern of disfluency in DD and TD, and to test whether disfluencies were correlated with reading difficulties. Methods & Procedures: A total of 25 children with DD and 21 children with TD aged 8–12.6 years produced an autobiographical narrative. Seven types of disfluencies were coded: part‐word repetitions; repetitions of monosyllabic words; other types of repetitions (words and phrases); filled pauses; revisions—substitutions; revisions—additions; and abandoned utterances. We compared the proportion of each disfluency in DD and TD. Spearman correlations were then performed between disfluencies, reading performance and age. Outcomes & Results: The results showed that both DD and TD children mainly produced filled pauses, repetitions of monosyllabic words and substitutions. Both groups displayed a high rate of disfluency (> 10%). No correlations with age were found. Correlations with reading performance were significant in the TD group only. Conclusions & Implications: The study showed that DD is not characterized by a specific pattern of disfluency. Additionally, disfluency rates were similar in children aged 8–12 years. In contrast to other languages, the current study suggests that French‐speaking children have a high rate of disfluency. The study also suggests that disfluency should be interpreted with caution in DD, given that TD children also have a high rate of disfluency. Therefore, it seems important to adapt the pathological threshold of disfluency to the language being spoken in order to avoid an overestimation of the prevalence of these deficits in French‐speaking children. WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS: What is already known on this subject: TD children produce a high rate of disfluency, which is also influenced by the language being spoken. No study looked at the effect of DD on disfluency production. Nonetheless, problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience may impact lexical development and speech fluency. What this paper adds to the existing knowledge: In our study, both groups (French‐speaking children) produced a substantial amount of disfluency as compared with other languages (> 10%). Additionally, the pattern of disfluency was similar in TD and DD (namely, filled pauses, prolongations repetitions of monosyllabic words and substitutions). In the DD group, disfluency production was not correlated with reading performance. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work?: These results indicate that it is crucial to consider the language being spoken when examining disfluency in order to avoid an overestimation of language difficulties in some languages, such as in French. Moreover, the production of disfluencies in DD should not be considered as language dysfunction since the pattern of disfluency what quite similar in TD and DD, and did not correlate with their reading difficulties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The complexity of communication presents challenges for clinical assessment, outcome measurement and intervention for people with acquired brain injury. For the purposes of assessment or treatment, this complexity is usually managed by isolating specific linguistic functions or speech acts from the interactional context. Separating linguistic functions from their interactional context can lead to discourse being viewed as a static entity comprised of discrete features, rather than as a dynamic process of co‐constructing meaning. The ecological validity of discourse assessments which rely on the deconstruction of linguistic functions is unclear. Previous studies have reported assessment tasks that preserve some of the dialogic features of communication, but as yet, these tasks have not been identified as a distinct genre of assessment. We suggest the term 'co‐constructed communication' to describe tasks which are specifically designed to capture the dynamic, jointly produced nature of communication within a replicable assessment task. Aims: To identify and summarize how co‐constructed communication has been assessed with individuals with non‐progressive acquired communication disability regarding task design, measures and psychometric robustness. Methods: A scoping review methodology was used to identity relevant studies. Systematic database searches were conducted on studies published before July 2021. Studies in the yield were assessed against eligibility criteria, with 37 studies identified as eligible for inclusion. Main contribution: This is the first time that co‐constructed communication has been defined as a genre of discourse assessment for stroke and traumatic brain injury populations. Co‐constructed communication has been assessed for 144 individuals with aphasia and 111 with cognitive–communication disability. Five categories of co‐constructed communication tasks were identified, ranging in complexity. Variability exists in how these assessment tasks are labelled and measured. Assessment measures require further psychometric profiling, specifically regarding test–retest reliability and validity. Conclusions: Co‐constructed communication is a discourse genre which offers researchers and clinicians a replicable method to assess language and communication in an experimentally rigorous way, within an ecologically valid context, bridging the gap between experimental and ecological assessment approaches. What this paper adds: What is already known on this subject: Standardized assessments of language skills and monologue offer reliable, replicable ways to measure language. However, isolating language from an interactional context fundamentally changes the behaviour under study. This raises questions about the ecological validity of the measures we routinely use to determine diagnoses, guide treatment planning and measure the success of treatment. What this study adds to the existing knowledge: This review highlights studies that conceptualize, and often quantify, interaction by combining experimental rigour and aspects of everyday dialogue. This is the first time this genre of discourse assessment has been identified. We propose the term 'co‐constructed communication' to describe this genre and provide an operational definition for the term. What are the practical and clinical implications of this study?: Co‐constructed communication assessment tasks require refinement, particularly regarding aspects of psychometric robustness. In the future, these tasks offer pragmatic, meaningful ways to capture the effect and impact of aphasia and cognitive–communication disability within interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research has shown that trade unions have resorted to a number of rhetorical tools to make their arguments and ensure the voice of their members was heard. In a time in which union membership is declining and many have questioned trade unions' representation role, the recourse to figurative language – e.g. metaphors – might contribute to getting unions' messages through, restoring trust among affiliates. Against this backdrop, this paper examines the metaphorical devices employed in trade union discourse, with a view to appreciating the way they are utilised in employee relations and highlighting the values unions intend to promote through these figures of speech. To this end, discourse analysis is carried out on a data corpus consisting of documents issued by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in a given timeframe, in which metaphorical language is employed. The analysis focuses on a specific topic, i.e. platform workers and the protection of their rights. The findings reveal that metaphors are used by trade unions to convey different meanings, which are intended to generate narratives aimed at safeguarding the rights of platform workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The weakening of 'racial democracy,' or the idea of Brazil as a color-blind society that was central to what being Brazilian meant throughout much of the 20th century, raises a question about how the state attempts to reconstruct national identity rhetorically after the deconstruction of this foundational myth. I propose to answer this question by examining how 10 presidential inauguration speeches given between 1990 and 2019 challenge the myth of racial democracy inconsistently, characterize Brazilian national identity generally around the theme of societal resilience, and contest 'racial democracy' and 'national identity' content along ideological lines. My findings imply that state rhetoric may not acknowledge the myth's deconstruction fully, while engaging in the reconstruction of national identity in a highly fragmented fashion around the ability to withstand adversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To examine how social work students and faculty perceive and embody cultural competence, we conducted five focus groups with graduate students (N = 16) and faculty members (N = 10) from Canadian schools of social work. We interrogated how different theoretical frameworks related to cross-cultural social work practice (CCSWP) have been circulated and reified in social work education, and how certain dominant frameworks have been translated to embodied cross-cultural interactions in social work practice. To examine the praxis of CCSWP, which is often subtle and embedded in the semantics of languages and discourses, we were informed by critical theories of power, language, and discourses to analyze the data. The interview transcripts of both student and faculty focus groups showed similar dominant discursive patterns: (1) critiquing the conceptual use of cultural competence, (2) having a preference for terms such as cultural humility, cultural safety, or other constructs, and (3) describing the embodied practice of these constructs mainly as a general practice and omitting cross-cultural work. Participants differed in their expressed opposition to cultural competence and the exact terms they preferred as an alternative. Overall, participants discursively changed from a critical debate on semantic and conceptual differences between these constructs to negating them altogether as meaningless, effacing the very notion of cross-cultural social work and its embodied practice. In the end, cultural competence was discounted as both oppressive and anti-oppressive, a position which is reflected in the contested scholarship on cultural competence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]