Bat Mitzvah Research Articles

Applying Sociolinguistics: Domains and Face-to-Face Interaction (review)

Reviewed by: Applying sociolinguistics: Domains and face-to-face interaction by Diana Boxer Bingyun Li Applying sociolinguistics: Domains and face-to-face interaction. By Diana Boxer. (Impact: Studies in language and society 15.) Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2002. Pp. xii, 244. ISBN 1588111970. $90 (Hb). Diana Boxer presents an excellent account of face-to-face interaction in various domains. Her book comprises eight chapters. In Ch. 1, an introduction, B addresses the confusion between applied linguistics and applied sociolinguistics and points out the book’s focus on microsociolinguistic phenomena. For B, both pragmatics and sociolinguistics are subfields of linguistics. This chapter is fascinating in that it presents an excellent overview of many widelyemployed methodologies of research in face-to-face interaction, such as discourse analysis, conversation analysis, ethnography of communication, interactional sociolinguistics, elicitation instruments, role plays, sociolinguistic interviews, radio and television talk, and laboratory data. B invokes recorded spontaneous speech in naturally occurring settings in accounting for various phenomena in ordinary interactions. In Ch. 2, she examines the family domain, discussing family talk and couples talk, focusing on a face-threatening speech act of nagging which, according to B, contains a prior request, a reminder, an exclamation expressing irritation, and a scolding or a threat. Much of this chapter is devoted to analyzing nagging within the sociolinguistic variables of gender, power, social distance, and social status. Ch. 3 tackles ‘Face-to-face in the social domain’. This chapter first presents an exemplary ‘review of literature on conversational interaction in social life’ (47), surveying phatic communication (greetings, partings), speech acts and events (refusals, invitations and compliments, complaining, advice giving), interlocutor variables, and gender problems in social interaction. It then moves on to give an in-depth analysis of humor in social talk, discussing three humorous speech genres (teasing, joking about absent others, and self-denigrating humor) and arguing that identity display and relational identity display/development can be the most important functions of these types of verbal play. For B, social distance and gender are sociolinguistic factors having the strongest effect on teasing and joking. In Ch. 4, ‘Face-to-face in the education domain’, B narrows the focus to higher education discourse, discussing sociolinguistic functions of sarcasm in classroom discourse and attempting to find out who uses sarcasm, how it is used, why it is used, what effect it brings about, and how recipients respond. This chapter identifies three uses of classroom sarcasm—positive, negative, and neutral. As for topics triggering sarcasm, B includes student participation, grades, and individual abilities; the research being discussed; the course itself; and the instructor’s teaching style or personality (117–18). Ch. 5 deals with the religious domain. After presenting an overview of what has been researched in religious discourse, B presents an in-depth ethnographic analysis of language use of the ‘bar and bat mitzvah’, ‘a coming of age rite of passage ceremony in Judaism’ (126), trying to show ‘how the spiritual, intellectual, and social spheres interact’ (133). The workplace domain is the focus of Ch. 6, where B reviews talk in service encounters, institutional encounters, and workplace encounters and investigates male boasting behavior in a brokerage firm. Ch. 7 touches upon crosscultural interactions. After examining social life, educational life, and workplace life from a crosscultural perspective, B provides a detailed analysis of crosscultural interaction in university gatekeeping encounters. Finally, in Ch. 8, B reiterates the major viewpoints of previous chapters and concludes with a discussion of the goal of applying sociolinguistics. As can be seen from the above introduction, this well-written and reader-friendly book shows the contributions sociolinguistics can make to better understanding between human beings. This book would be of value to anyone interested in the face-to-face interaction that is part of our life. [End Page 831] Bingyun Li Fujian Teachers University Copyright © 2003 Linguistic Society of America

Restorying Jewish Lives Post Adult Bat Mitzvah

(2003). Restorying Jewish Lives Post Adult Bat Mitzvah. Journal of Jewish Education: Vol. 69, No. 2, pp. 34-51.

L'Arche Daybreak: an example of interfaith ministry among people with developmental disabilities.

Describes pastoral support of a representational Jewish adult with a developmental disability in a predominantly Christian setting, including Bat Mitzvah preparation and celebration, and the resulting growth in self-esteem. Outlines how this undertaking initiates a transformation into interfaith awareness and appreciation in the author and in the surrounding Jewish and Christian communities. Urges recognition of the gift of people with disabilities to bring together others of varied religious traditions in mutual appreciation and friendship.

Teaching Judaism to Teenagers Using Critical Methodology

The typical Jewish child's Jewish education ends with his or her Bar or Bat Mitzvah which, more than likely, focused on the acquisition of practical synagogue skills. As they grow older, these young Jewish adults will more than likely learn far more about Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and other religious traditions in the course of their college and university educations whereas they will still only have a simplistic, child's understanding of their own religious tradition. As a result, most young Jews today possess only a superficial understanding of Judaism which cannot possibly compete for their spiritual loyalty or serve as a focus for future study.

The Adult Bat Mitzvah: Its Use in the Articulation of Women's Identity

This article examines the adult bat mitzvah, a Jewish life-cycle ritual for adult women, for a link between it and a woman's negotiation of identity development. Vignettes from interviews with adult bat mitz vah celebrants demonstrate the ritual's use in specific identification functions and its ability to enable a woman to articulate a meaning system that encompasses the complexity of her identity.

Folk judaism, elite judaism and the role of bar mitzvah in the development of the synagogue and jewish school in America

mitzvah only in passing. This is unfortunate because these commonly held, and typically very public, life-cycle events are a major part of the North America Jewish experience. Three different types of questions may be raised by research on bar and bat mitzvah. First are those about social change and change in religious ritual. Bar mitzvah and bat mitzvah have a history, and their modern history in particular is one of innovation and variation. A study of this historical development gives the opportunity to explore theories about modernization, assimilation, and seculariza tion while at the same time illuminating a life-cycle event which is part of the early adolescent experience of almost all North American Jews. A second set of questions is concerned with the meanings overt and symbolic-conveyed in ritual ceremonies and celebrations. There are authoritatively defined meanings (see e.g., Spiro, 1977) and some attempts at interpretation by psychologists (see e.g. Ar low, 1982 [1951]), but very little ethnographic material using obser vations and interviews to discover what the rituals mean to those