Participatory Communication Research Articles

The Effect of Employee Involvement in Strategic Change on the Performance of Insurance Companies in Zimbabwe

Due to rapid technological advancements and intense competition, organizations must find new ways to do business. As a result, changes in an organization’s structures, systems, and strategies are now a pre-requisite to survive the competition. Involving employees in strategic change programmes will harness ideas that enhance competitive advantage and organizational performance. The purpose of this study is to inform industry executives, especially in insurance companies, that employees are crucial resources that must be valued for their contribution to the survival of the organization. A total of 115 respondents were surveyed using a 5-point Likert scale questionnaire in a quantitative research approach. This study employed the multiple regression method to test the effect of five employee involvement constructs on organizational performance using IBM SPSS V28 software. All five constructs, that is, participation in decision-making, teamwork, communication, creativity, and innovation, significantly affected the performance of insurance companies in Zimbabwe. This study’s findings will convince top managerial leaders of the insurance industry to acknowledge and appreciate the importance of involving employees in strategic change programmes. Furthermore, industry regulatory authorities can promote policies and practices that involve employees in decision-making.

Empowering Voices: The Role of Community Media in Strengthening Democracy and Fostering Inclusive Development in India

Community media is widely recognised as a tool to give voice to the voiceless. This study investigates the transformative potential of community media in India as a vehicle for promoting inclusive development and enhancing democracy. The research aims to examine the distinctive ways that community media promotes diverse viewpoints, local content, and participatory communication, contributing to social change and community empowerment. It draws on secondary data and case studies of successful community media initiatives in India and other nations with comparable socio-political contexts. A thorough literature review and thematic analysis are used in the study's qualitative methodology to identify major topics, such as community participation and empowerment, local content and cultural preservation, solving development difficulties, and challenges and opportunities. The results show that community media projects like Radio Namaskar, Radio Mewat, and Radio Ada are effective in fostering community ownership, empowering marginalised populations, and involving community members in content development and decision-making processes. The findings also emphasise how community media may help with local development challenges and cultural heritage preservation. Community media initiatives in India, however, encounter a number of obstacles, such as legal restrictions, a lack of funding, and low media literacy among underprivileged groups. The findings of the study also provide policy recommendations for boosting community media efforts' efficacy in India, dealing with the problems they encounter, and utilising the advantages offered by digital technologies and social media platforms. The research adds to the current discussion about the function of community media in advancing democratic ideals, inclusive growth, and social transformation in India and elsewhere.

Psycholinguistic Issues of Medical Communication

The present paper summarizes the available theoretical and empirical data of medical communication scientific research in the addresser-addressee aspect in Russian and foreign works. The information on the study of the psycholinguistic aspect of communication between the medical staff and the patient is systematized not only taking into account differences in the provision of medical services in Russia and abroad, but also depending on the age of communicants, the chosen communication strategies and the conditions of speakers’ effective interaction. The paper shows the scarcity of works dealing with the study of communication between a doctor and a child. The paper also considers some psychological aspects of child/adolescent communication with an adult, which is very important in doctors’ professional activity. It is pointed out that research on communication between a doctor and a parent/a legal representative of a minor patient is relevant, but also scarce. Foreign research is centered on communication of nurses and the patients/their relatives, as well as of patients with loss of voice. Russian scientists’ works, carried out on the basis of the communication analysis between the adult patient and the doctor, can be roughly divided into three types: 1) studies dealing with the strategies of the communicants. These are both communication strategies, conditioned by professional tasks of a doctor, and speech strategies implementing them; 2) works studying verbal, non-verbal and paraverbal means of communication between a doctor and a patient; 3) research describing and comparing effective communication conditions between a doctor and a patient. This study is grounded on the theoretical and methodological basis of psycholinguistics and takes into account the stipulations of communication theory. The methods of analysis, synthesis and systematization have been used to achieve the goal. The analysis and grouping of data confirmed the presence of theoretical and methodological flaws in the study of professional communication between a doctor and other participants of medical communication. The works revealed an unintentional blending of the concepts “professional communicative strategy” and “speech strategy”. The analysis of linguistic means that implement speech strategy tactics in medical communication is important for linguistic research in the future.

Peer-to-peer support: digital networking in aphasia to improve quality of life (PeerPAL)

BackgroundPeople with aphasia (PWA) often suffer from reduced participation and quality of life. Nevertheless, there are currently only a few specific interventions that respond to this problem. Participation and quality of life could be increased by interacting with peers who have similar experiences. Digital social networks could stimulate an autonomous interaction. However, digital social networks need to be adapted to the specific needs of PWA. Therefore, a participatory, agile process involving the target group should be chosen to develop such a solution, i.e., an app. The research project consists of a total of three phases. In the first phase—app development—the app was developed and programmed including the target group. In the second phase—app testing—the usability and user-friendliness of the app were evaluated with four PWA. In the third phase—feasibility and preliminary efficacy—that will be described in the article, the impact of the app on PWA will be evaluated.AimsThe overarching aim of our study is to provide preliminary efficacy of the intervention. Digital social interaction with other PWA can lead to increased social integration. In addition to digital interaction, personal encounters between PWA should be encouraged. As a result, we expect an improvement in quality of life of PWA. Additionally, we focus on identification of the most appropriate measurements to discover changes associated with the intervention.MethodsThe evaluation, which is described in this paper, takes place in a pre-test - post-test design with a total of n = 48 PWA. Participants will be recruited in regional clusters to facilitate face-to-face meetings. Half of the participants will be assigned to the delayed intervention group and the other half to the immediate intervention group. Participants in the delayed intervention group will go through a 3-month waiting period before using the app, while the participants of the immediate intervention group will start using the app for 3 months right away. Inclusion criteria are the presence of chronic aphasia (at least 6 months) and possession of a smartphone with internet access. Questionnaires on quality of life (SAQOL-39, GHQ-12), depression (GDS, DISCs), communicative participation (CPIB), and social support (F-SozU) will be conducted at inclusion (t0), after 3 months of app use (t1), and after another 3 months for follow-up (t2). Participants in the delayed intervention group will be assessed twice before the intervention, before the 3-month waiting period (t0a) and after the waiting period (t0b). In addition to the quantitative measures, interviews will take place with 6 to 8 selected participants after 3 months of app use. Responses will be analysed using Thematic Analysis.DiscussionThe app will be the first social network tool that is systematically developed with PWA. Initial indications from the first phases are that the app can be used by PWA, so that the evaluation of this app version can take place in the third phase. Results of this study can provide an initial indication of whether social network support is a suitable intervention. Findings will help provide information on the feasibility of digital connectivity for PWA. Preliminary findings on its impact on the participation and quality of life of PWA could be made available.

Strategi Komunikasi Pengurus Dalam Penegakan Disiplin Kepada Santri Di Pondok Pesantren Madrasatul Qur’an Tebuireng Jombang

Communication as something essential is a very important point for all aspects of human life. In communication there is a communication strategy, such as the communication strategy in enforcing discipline in the Islamic boarding school students of Madrasatul Qur'an Tebuireng. This study aims to examine the communication strategies used by administrators in enforcing discipline against Islamic boarding school students Madrasatul Qur'an Tebuireng in Jombang. This study uses a qualitative method with a descriptive approach. Data collection techniques used in this study were interviews, documentation and observation. The results of this study indicate that the management of Madrasatul Qur'an Tebuireng Islamic Boarding School uses several effective communication strategies in enforcing discipline to students. First, they apply persuasive communication by providing clear explanations and building a shared understanding of the importance of discipline in the life of students. Second, administrators use participatory communication by involving students in making decisions regarding disciplinary rules and sanctions. Third, administrators also use positive communication by giving praise and appreciation to students who show a good level of discipline. Keyword: Management Communication Strategy, Santri Discipline

Preliminary Data: Powered Mobility Intervention With Language Monitoring for Children With Cerebral Palsy

Purpose: Adapted ride-on cars offer an affordable mobility intervention that provides broader access to a child's environment. Such newfound independence is a unique opportunity to examine changes in environmental language and communicative participation as children acquire mobility. New technologies such as the Language Environmental Analysis (LENA) system hold promise for evaluating naturalistic language interactions but have not yet been applied to children with cerebral palsy with physical and/or communication impairments. This study sought to use LENA with a sample of children with cerebral palsy to determine the feasibility of monitoring environmental language patterns during longitudinal mobility intervention. Method: LENA's adult word counts, conversational turns, and child vocalizations were compared across three time points for participants aged 16–49 months with a range of communication skills (indexed by Communication Function Classification System Levels I–IV). Results: Feasibility was established with acceptable criterion validity during active drive time. Results had large effect sizes, likely diluted by sample size and heterogeneity. Conclusions: Limitations include small sample size, nonprescriptive use of powered mobility devices, and lack of control group. Future studies should incorporate these features to more closely examine communication patterns.

Russian Proverbs in the Individual Communication Space of the Model [A<B

The article is devoted to the study of proverb models, thanks to which communication participants can indicate their intentions in a speech event. Within the declared communicative space, the models [A < B] can be updated as an argument in direct interaction (icon <) of the speaker (A) with the listener (B) – a person, on the one hand, playing a secondary role in a speech event, and on the other hand, affecting the result planned by the speaker. Communicative and pragmatic analysis of the proverbs of the model [A < B] will identify the boundaries of the possible use of sayings in a specific communication situation; classify them in the process of monologue or hidden dialogue, respectively, of the present model, including in terms of the degree of impact, taking into account possible options for solving the problem through in our case proverbs-arguments acting as semantic synonyms for the main proverb in the context of the work or as independent microtexts of a particular speech event.

Institutional Repositories of Higher Education Institutions in Ukraine for Training Specialists in the Field of Information, Li-Brary and Archive Studies as a Component of Academic Communica-Tion Quality in Modern Educational Space

The purpose of the article is to conduct a comparative analysis of institutional repositories of higher education institutions of Ukraine for training specialists in the field of information, library, and archival studies as a component of the quality of academic communication in the modern educational space. The research methodology is based on the application of the theory of scientific communication, general scientific and special methods of cognition, including analysis, synthesis, monitoring, and comparison. The scientific novelty of the study is to expand the understanding of the current situation of demand among users of scientific and educational resources of institutional repositories of higher education institutions for the training of specialists in the field of information, library, and archival studies. Conclusions. The article analyses the institutional repositories of ten higher education institutions for training of specialists in the field of information, library, and archival studies using Webometrics, QS World University Rankings, and SimilarWeb. Despite the high-ranking positions of the leading higher education institutions in Webometrics and QS World University Rankings, user access to institutional repositories remains at an insufficient level. A study based on web analytics by SimilarWeb has identified four leading HEIs by the number of visits to their repositories by users: Western Ukrainian National University (WUNU), Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (TSNU), National Aviation University (NAU), and Lesya Ukrainka Volyn National University (VNU). The level of use of the main communication channels (direct access, regular (standard) search, referrals, e-mail, social networks) for the use of repositories by each higher education institution is also determined, and recommendations are given on the promotion of scientific and educational resources of repositories and the use of PR and advertising technologies by librarians and all participants of scientific communication of higher education institutions to improve its quality in the modern educational space. Key words: institutional repository, higher education institution, electronic archive, training of specialists in the field of information, library, and archive studies, communication channels, scientific communication.

A Comparison of Sound Production Treatment and Metrical Pacing Therapy for Apraxia of Speech: A Single-Case Experimental Design.

The purpose of this investigation was to compare the effects of two specific treatment protocols for acquired apraxia of speech (AOS): Sound Production Treatment (SPT) and Metrical Pacing Therapy (MPT), and to examine changes in communicative participation. Four speakers with chronic AOS and aphasia were each administered SPT and MPT in a replicated crossover design (ABACA/ACABA) with nonconcurrent multiple baselines across participants and behaviors. Treatment outcomes were compared with respect to whole word correctness (WWC) for treated and untreated multisyllabic word targets. Speech intelligibility was assessed using the Chapel Hill Multilingual Intelligibility Test, and communicative participation was measured using the Communicative Participation Item Bank at baseline, washout, and follow-up phases. Three of the four participants experienced statistically significant improvements in WWC with SPT, and three of the four participants with MPT. Based on a priori criteria, three participants demonstrated relatively greater benefit from SPT and one participant demonstrated relatively greater benefit from MPT. There were measurable improvements in intelligibility following SPT for three of the four participants. Only one participant in this investigation reported a significant change in communicative participation, and only following MPT. This study demonstrated that individuals in the chronic stages of AOS can benefit from both SPT and MPT, corroborating prior research on articulatory kinematic and rate and/or rhythm control treatment approaches. It contributes a comparison of two protocols for AOS with respect to whole word targets, intelligibility, and individual self-report of communicative participation changes. More participants showed a relative advantage of SPT over MPT. One individual reported communicative participation improvement after MPT. https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.23971929.

Judicial complaints about the activities of magistrates of the Yakut region in the late XIX — early XX centuries

The subject of the study is Judicial complaints about the activities of magistrates of the Yakut region in the communicative space of the Yakut District Court at the end of the XIX − beginning of the XX century. The object of the study is the communicative practice associated with the development of legal proceedings in the Yakut region above the specified period. In the article, the author analyzed judicial complaints against the activities of magistrates and their consideration in the Yakutsk District Court. The study is based on the methodological principles of the frontier modernization approach of I.V. Berezhnikov, which is used to analyze the peripheral regions of the Russian Empire. As a tool of cognition, the comparative historical method is used, which allows to reveal the cause-and-effect relationships and patterns of the historical process. For the first time, the article undertakes a special study of judicial complaints against the activities of magistrates in the communicative space of the Yakut District Court, which is understood as a system of diverse communicative connections arising between various communication participants. The author comes to the conclusion that complaints about the activities of magistrates played an important role in the communicative space of the Yakut District Court during the period under review as a channel of communication between society and the judiciary, which was regulated by the Judicial Statutes of 1864. Appeals of the accused, defendants to the judiciary acted as a communicative channel through which feedback was carried out, through which the Yakut the district court could supervise the activities of magistrates. The Yakutsk District Court considered incoming complaints against magistrates regardless of the severity of the accused's crime.

I Still Know What You Did Last Summer: Inferring Sensitive User Activities on Messaging Applications Through Traffic Analysis

Instant Messaging (IM) applications such as Signal, Telegram, and WhatsApp have become tremendously popular in recent years. Unfortunately, such IM services have been targets of governmental surveillance and censorship, as these services are home to public and private communications on socially and politically sensitive topics. To protect their clients, popular IM services deploy state-of-the-art encryption. Despite the use of advanced encryption, we show that popular IM applications leak sensitive information about their clients to adversaries merely monitoring their encrypted IM traffic, with no need for leveraging any software vulnerabilities of IM applications. Specifically, we devise traffic analysis attacks enabling an adversary to identify participants of target IM communications (e.g., forums) with high accuracies. We believe that our study demonstrates a significant, real-world threat to the users of such services. <p xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">We demonstrate the practicality of our attacks through extensive experiments on real-world IM communications. We show that standard countermeasure techniques can degrade the effectiveness of these attacks. We hope our study will encourage IM providers to integrate effective traffic obfuscation into their software. In the meantime, we have designed a countermeasure system, called IMProxy that can be used by IM clients with no need for any support from IM providers. We demonstrate the effectiveness of IMProxy through simulation and experiments.

POLITICAL REPRESENTATION: HISTORICAL SOURCES AND INSTITUTIONAL DETERMINANTS

The article identifies historical sources for studying the phenomenon of political representation and its institutional determinants. The idea of political representation has been most developed in modern European philosophical and political thought. It is directly related to the formation of the institution of parliamentarism. The social contract theory became the basis of parliamentarism and representative democracy. It is the parliament that has long determined the institutional determinants of political representation, including parliamentary election patterns and political parties. In modern conditions, the institutions of mass media and public intellectuals also play an important role for political representation and representative democracy. Thanks to the Internet, the scale of citizens' participation in political communication, and therefore their political participation, has significantly expanded. The mass media institute creates conditions not only for informing citizens, but also for their interactive participation in the decision-making process of the bureaucracy. The role of the mass media institute during electoral campaigns is also ever grows. In the process of mediatization of politics, the institutional determinants of political representation are transformed – from opposition activities to political parties and parliaments. Mass media shape public opinion, determine the agenda, influence the interpretation of the public good and evaluate the activities of political actors.

Modern Library Potential as Science Popularizer: Inquiry Results of SB RAS Scientists

The objective of the article is to present the results of a study of scientists’ attitude to communication between science and society by means of libraries. The working method of the study was an online questionnaire of academic specialists of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (SB RAS) research institutes. Data collection took place in early 2023. The questionnaire consisted of 20 questions, divided into four thematic blocks: 1) the main science popularizers in Russia (researchers’ opinion); 2) participation of SB RAS research institutes in communication with society and the most important directions of this activity; 3) attitude of scientists to necessity of interaction with society aimed at popularization of science; 4) attitude of scientists to libraries as science and society communication participants including science popularization. Basing on the data obtained, Siberian scientists appear to be, in general, positive about libraries as popularizers of domestic science and technology achievements. However, they consider scientists themselves and media the main actors in this field, as well as scientific societies, research and educational institutions, museums and professional science communicators. A number of respondents noted low attendance of libraries, their archaic and closed nature, and lack of sufficient competence of library specialists to promote science at a high level. Nevertheless, most of the researchers highly appreciated library as a full-fledged science and society communication participant. Many SB RAS scientists have experience of cooperation with libraries, such as, for example, reading popular science lectures and preparing exhibitions. The survey showed that researchers are not well aware of the activities and opportunities of modern libraries, therefore library institutions are invited to be active in building effective interaction with science and society.

The impact of agricultural collectivization on participatory communication: a case study of the Maoist literacy movement

Participatory development communication is often hindered by two major obstacles: insufficient funding and community residents’ reluctance to participate. This article proposes that agricultural collectivization can serve as an institutional prerequisite for overcoming these obstacles. Collectivization establishes a new property rights system and labor relations that facilitate labor-intensive projects, thereby reducing the costs of participatory approaches. Moreover, the new labor relations and distribution system shape peasants’ preferences and behaviors, motivating them to engage in public affairs. Through a case study of the literacy movement in Mao-era China, the latter part of the paper provides a detailed description and analysis of the mechanisms through which collectivization impacted participatory communication. In the end, the paper highlights the importance of considering the relations of production when examining the relationship between communication and development.

THE ROLE OF NEGATIVE CONSTRUCTIONS IN FUNCTIONING OF THE CATEGORY OF CATEGORICITY / NON-CATEGORICITY IN THE SCIENTIFIC TEXT

The article focuses on the role of the negative constructions in functioning of the communicative category of categoricity / non-categoricity in the English-language scientific texts. The analysis reveals two groups of the negative structures. The first group includes negative constructions that act as markers of categoricity and emphasize the author's confidence in reliability of the presented conclusions or legitimacy of the expressed criticism. The second group embraces negative constructions that reduce categoricity of the statement, thus acting as deintensifiers, which emphasizes the interest of the participants of scientific communication in cooperation. The study reveals that the quantitative and qualitative representation of the analyzed groups of the negative constructions is influenced by the genre of the scientific text.

Influence of news media use and political discussions on social self-efficacy through sense of unity: an analysis of mediation model invariance with Spanish and Portuguese adolescents

Discussing sociopolitical issues with family or friends during adolescence, as well as staying informed through media outlets, is key to developing active civic engagement for both youth and future adults. Likewise, these communicative exchanges promote a sense of belonging and social skills which foster adolescents’ wellbeing. This research aims to analyze the influence of participation in communication about political and social issues on adolescents’ social self-efficacy, both directly and as well as indirectly through sense of unity, in two Mediterranean countries (Portugal and Spain). The sample was selected through random multistage sampling by conglomerates. The 36,992 adolescents (50.6% girls and 49.4% boys) participated in the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study in Portugal and Spain, and the age groups were distributed as following: 39.6% 13–14-years-old; 35.8% 15–16-years-old; and 25.6% 17–18-years-old. Analyses showed positive associations between the proposed indicator of civic engagement –news media use and political discussions– and social self-efficacy, both directly as well as through sense of unity, with similar results for adolescents in Portugal and Spain. Accordingly, educational programs promoting communication about sociopolitical issues could foster adolescents’ sense of unity and social skills, contributing to their positive development, wellbeing, and civic engagement. Curricular materials on current politics and social affairs could increase classroom dialogue based on respect, healthy peer relationships, and sense of belonging, fostering effective political socialization amongst youth and the development of democratic behaviors beneficial to society.

Participation in eHealth communication among patients undergoing hemodialysis: a scoping review (Preprint)

Participation in eHealth communication among patients undergoing hemodialysis: a scoping review (Preprint)

The Inconvenience of Tradition

In the early 1930s, the well-known man of letters Phan Khôi wrote a series of essays about the Vietnamese language in which he advanced a number of proposals for reform. I focus on those arguments that are specifically concerned with the practices for referring to persons and, in particular, the practices for referring to participants in communication (i.e., speaker-addressee, writer-reader). I suggest that these arguments articulate a vision for Vietnamese public life that was imagined as breaking from the legacy of a Confucian past and establishing the conditions for the free flow of discourse among self-abstracted individuals.

Self-Stigma of Stuttering: Implications for Communicative Participation and Mental Health.

The purpose of this study was to determine if self-stigma-related variables predicted communicative participation and mental health in adults who stutter. A progressive model of self-stigma was theorized and tested. Adults who stutter (N = 344) completed a survey that included measures of communicative participation, global mental health, and a variety of self-stigma-related variables including perceived enacted stigma, stigma awareness, anticipated stigma, felt stigma, stereotype agreement, and stigma application, in addition to demographic and speech-related variables. Hierarchical regression was performed to test whether self-stigma-related variables progressively explained significant variance in both communicative participation and global mental health.c Results: After controlling for demographic and speech-related variables, stigma-related variables were found to be significant predictors of both communicative participation and global mental health among adults who stutter. Most self-stigma-related variables entered later in the model predicted additional unique variance in the outcome variables than the self-stigma-related variables entered in previous steps, thus supporting the trickle-down and progressive nature of the self-stigma model theorized. Accounting for self-stigma in the assessment and treatment of individuals who stutter may identify and ultimately reduce environmental and personal barriers to communicative functioning and well-being in people who stutter. The self-stigma terminology and model described in this study will help practitioners, researchers, and the public better understand the process of self-stigma and how it may be associated with adverse outcomes experienced by people who stutter.

INTEGRATIVE COMMUNICATION IN CONSERVING TAOISM AND CHINESE CULTURE SIU HOK BIO TEMPLE SEMARANG, CENTRAL JAVA

Pagoda as a cultural product and religious institution that must be maintained as a national cultural treasure. Siu Hok Bio Temple is one of the oldest temples in Semarang. The pagoda is able to maintain the authenticity of the building and the values of Chinese culture and Taoist religious values, and even become a center of reference for the culture and values of Taoism. However, there are concerns about its sustainability because there is no younger generation who want to continue their cultural and religious values. Starting from this, this research wants to examine by focusing on the efforts of pagodas to maintain their existence as centers of Chinese culture and Taoist values in areas where the majority are of other religions. This research uses a theoretical approach through the perspective of social exchange evolution theory developed by Sillar, 2019 and ICT (Integrative Communication Theory) theory, 2005. The research method uses subjective interpretive research, a qualitative approach through participatory research. The conclusion of the research shows that the external approach to the environment is carried out in participatory communication quite successfully. However, in building communication with the congregation the pagoda tends to be puritanical and conservative, so that integrative communication cannot be carried out, which in the end does not occur conducive social exchange. The recommendation is to separate the values of Taoism and Chinese culture in order to be adaptive to the younger generation who have entered the digital world.