Contextual Forms Research Articles

Inducting the Socratic Method of Forming Faith in African Contexts

The Socratic method of questioning and answering as a learning and teaching strategy has been used widely over time, for it effectively stimulates meaningful learning. Its learner-centered and transformative nature promotes ongoing dialogue. Since cultural differences influence the nature of questions asked, induction of the Socratic method is inevitable so that faith formation leads to thinking theologically where faith becomes a contextual form of thinking and thinking a form of contextualized faith. Some mainline churches in Africa have adopted catechisms with pre-asked and pre-answered questions formulated in Europe between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. The challenges of time, culture, and geographical contextual differences create a gap between the church’s faith formation and context-based spiritual quests. These gaps demand asking the right questions that challenge and inverse wrong attitudes that foster deep reflective self-evaluation, interpretation, and understanding, shaping appropriate perceptions to address the contemporary spiritual quests of Africa. Using the qualitative literature review methodology, this article discovered that there are some gaps between questions and answers in catechisms used in mainline churches and contemporary spiritual quests of Africa. This article aims to discuss the means of closing the gap between questions and answers in catechism and context-based spiritual quests. It recommends induction of the Socratic method so that the questions and answers in catechisms are contextual, communicable, assimilable, and appropriable in African contexts. This study contributes to faith formation by recommending the induction of the Socratic method so that the questions and answers in catechisms are contextual, communicable, assimilable, and appropriable in African contexts. Keywords: Inducting, Socratic Method, Faith Formation, Questions and Answers Communicability, Assimilability, Appropriateness

Ontological agility and infrastructure: Palestinian liberation's praxis in the corridor between Ramallah and East Jerusalem

ABSTRACT This ethnographic study examines how Palestinians navigate bureaucracies along the corridor between Ramallah and East Jerusalem, a fragmented border zone between the Palestinian Authority and Israeli Authorities. The central research questions are as follows. First, how do Palestinian users cultivate mobility, subsistence, and relatedness practices within and against the bureaucratic infrastructures and regimes of enclosure imposed since the Oslo Accords? Second, how might these grounded modes of agency unsettle the prevailing theoretical paradigms related to resistance, futurity, and liberating praxis? Interviews with 25 Palestinian commuters reveal their use of “ontological agility,” “performative ambiguity,” and subvert the built environments to traverse jurisdictions, access rights, and enable survival. However, these tactics remain ambivalent and potentially reinforce oppressive structures. The corridor represents a space where Palestinian experiences are caught between sovereignty, fracturing stable meanings and generating new cultural expressions beyond traditional decolonization. By embracing these lived ambiguities, the study demonstrates how everyday Palestinian practices constitute a form of spatial and political liberating praxis that cannot be fully captured by rational actor models or rights-based approaches to political struggle. Instead, these practices reveal the potential for a more nuanced, contextual form of agency that operates within and against settler colonial logics.

Suppletion of numerals ‘one’ and ‘two’ in Mandarin Chinese

In many languages numerals may appear in different forms depending on the context, which Greenberg (1978) called the contextual and absolute forms respectively. Greenberg made the universal generalization that if a numeral has two forms, then all the lower numerals also do. He then mentioned Mandarin Chinese as an exception because while its numeral ‘2’ has two forms, he thinks that the lower numeral ‘1’ doesn’t. This paper argues for a different view about Mandarin ‘1’–that is, ‘1’ actually has two forms just like ‘2’, despite their segmental identity. Then I argue that the two forms of ‘1’ and ‘2’ are not distinguished by use as Greenberg claimed for ‘2’, but rather by the morphophonological context: the contextual form appears when followed by overt material at the point of vocabulary insertion of the numeral, otherwise the absolute form appears. This generalization, together with the key assumption that vocabulary insertion proceeds bottom-up, leads to a particular structure for enumerating numerals like liǎng gè nv̌hái ‘two girls’, where the Cardinal head liǎng ‘two’ takes the Classifier Phrase gè nv̌hái as its complement. This paper also provides novel evidence suggesting that in Mandarin a complex enumerating numeral like ‘125 pears’ merges the complex cardinal phrase ‘125’ with the Classifier Phrase, supporting He (2015) and challenging Ionin & Matushansky (2016, 2018).

Presuppositional epistemic contextualism and non-ideal contexts

ABSTRACT Conversational contextualists claim that the truth-conditions of knowledge claims depend upon the dynamics of the conversation in which the knowledge claim is made. However, they have failed to appreciate the ways in which conversational dynamics are influenced by unjust distributions of power. What would the implications be for conversational contextualism if its proponents were not guilty of this oversight? I ask this question for Blome-Tillmann’s presuppositional epistemic contextualism (PEC), perhaps the most sophisticated form of conversational contextualism. The investigation turns up a host of counterintuitive implications of PEC that count against it. I suggest placing moral constraints on conversational dynamics as a way of revising PEC in order to avoid the identified counterintuitive implications.

Turkish women's perception of low sexual desire, its causes and consequences: an online qualitative survey.

Background The nature of sexual desire is complex, and little phenomenological consensus exists about its meaning. Low sexual desire (LSD) is a commonly reported sexual difficulty among women, but it is less frequently associated with sexual distress. The aim of this qualitative study is to explore women's understanding of sexual desire, and their perceptions of factors that may contribute to LSD, its effects and their methods of seeking help. Methods The research employed a questionnaire with 12 open-ended questions, developed by the researchers based on sexual script theory. Data were collected from 165 heterosexual Turkish women who reported LSD, recruited through social media platforms between August and October 2021. The data were analysed using a contextual form of thematic analysis to identify and explore patterns. Results The ages of the participants ranged from 20 to 63years. The majority of participants held a Bachelor's degree (81.2%) and in a relationship (78.8%). Three main themes emerged from the study: (1) gendered messages concerning sex, (2) multi-level sexual desire, and (3) minimisation. The research revealed that women's sexual desire is often ignored and repressed, and has negative consequences if not expressed in socially acceptable contexts. The causes of LSD in women go beyond personal factors, and include relational and social influences. Women experiencing LSD report distressing effects on their relationships and general wellbeing, yet they tend not to seek help. Conclusions Our findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the factors impacting women's sexual desire and the barriers to seeking help.

PROBLEMATIKA PENERAPAN SOAL BERBASIS NUMERASI PADA PEMBELAJARAN MATEMATIKA KELAS V SEKOLAH DASAR DI KABUPATEN LOMBOK BARAT

Numeracy skills are needed in all aspects of life. Numeracy is the ability to apply number concepts and mathematical skills in everyday life as well as being able to use mathematics practically and have an understanding of information that is expressed mathematically.This study uses a qualitative approach with a multi-case study design. Data were collected through observation, interviews and documentation. The data analysis process is done through single case data analysis and cross case data analysis. The location of the study was conducted at three elementary schools in West Lombok regency, namely SDN 3 Kuripan, SDN 2 Jembatan Kembar Timur and SDN 4 Dasan Geres. The findings from the three schools showed that teachers in constructing numeracy-based problems refer to the components of the numeracy AKM but still in the form of simple questions. In pemanfataanya, numeracy-based questions are not done routinely and according to the needs of ANBK only. The lack of workshops and references as well as the distribution of teaching materials on numeracy in schools is a significant obstacle to the use of numeracy-based problems. While the supporting factor in the form of online sites that discuss examples of numeracy problems and the form of contextualization of the problem in the form of personal, socio-cultural and scientific contexts are still minimal.

A puzzle about guessing and inquiry

Abstract I discuss a puzzle that arises as an apparent tension between plausible theories of good guessing and intuitive constraints on rational inquiry. Clearly, our best guess at a question should reflect the likelihoods we assign to its possible answers. Your best guess is the answer you judge most likely. Additionally, it seems like a requirement of rational inquiry that our guesses be coherent. Thus, our best guess to a constituent (wh-) questions should cohere with our best guess to a polar (yes/no) question whenever answers to the former entail answers to the latter. I argue that these requirements are in conflict and that a familiar form of contextualism doesn’t resolve the issue. The puzzle stands as a challenge to existing accounts of rational inquiry and question directed attitudes like guessing.

The mission and people of God: Rethinking theology and theological methodology in Asia

The 20th century brought unprecedented growth to the global church. With this growth came new and contextual forms of theology, as well as recognition of the limits of the Western theological tradition. However, compared with Africa and Latin America, Asian theology has been slow to develop in response to this shift, especially among conservatives and evangelicals. While several prominent names are often cited as representatives of Asian theology, their work has little impact on much of the Asian church, which is characteristically grassroots and conservative. Scholars continue to debate what Asian theology is and how to do it. This article explores some of the methodological implications of the global shift in theology, specifically for Asian contexts. It also identifies some of the hindrances to better and more relevant Asian theology: (1) a universal top–down approach to theology in Asia and (2) overly Western ways of thinking that have shaped the discipline. Finally, this article offers two possibilities for Asian theology going forward: (1) mission and the reality of God’s work in Asia and (2) the people themselves and the stories of God’s work among them.

Generic cognition: A neglected source of context sensitivity

What is the relationship between the claim that generics articulate psychologically primitive generalizations and the claim that they exhibit a unique form of context sensitivity? This article maintains that the two claims are compatible. It develops and defends an overlooked form of contextualism grounded in the idiosyncrasies of system 1 thought.

Examining behavioral aspect of urban context effect on residential building energy use in Seoul – linking urban walkability to energy

Recent studies show that urban contextual form can influence building energy use intensity (EUI). While many studies have focused on the thermal properties of buildings and their environment, human behavior, a key determinant of EUI, is also influenced by the contextual form. Urban walkability, a key measure of urban vitality, can encourage outdoor activity and thus alter occupant behavior and outsource energy demand. This study examines the behavioral aspect of the context effect on residential building EUI in Seoul. Summer electricity, winter gas, annual electricity, and annual gas EUIs are individually analyzed. Two sets of analyses are executed for each energy type. First, walkability is used as a simple explanatory variable in an ordinary least squares regression model. Second, walkability is used as a moderator for the socioeconomic parameters of occupant density, occupant age, and real estate price. The results suggest that an increase in walkability can significantly reduce residential electricity EUI, and walkability can modify the influence of occupant density and occupant age on electricity EUI. However, walkability is only a marginally significant predictor of residential gas EUI, and all interactions with socioeconomic variables are insignificant. These findings highlight the importance of walkability as a means of linking urban form and building energy.

On the assumptions of inferential contextualism

The text argues in favor of the thesis that inferential contextualism is the most successful form of epistemic contextualism. To support this claim, the opposing stance of conversational contextualism and the critique of the inferential version of contextualism by Thomas Grundmann will be presented. Conversational contextualism will be scrutinized through criticism from Michael Williams, the foremost representative of inferential contextualism. It will be claimed that Williams? criticisms expose the untenability of conversational contextualism. Subsequently, Grundmann?s critique of Williams? inferential contextualism, asserting that Williams?s position implies epistemic realism, will be examined. Ultimately, it will be demonstrated that Grundmann?s critique does not undermine Williams?s theory. The externalism that Grundmann associates with epistemic realism is argued not to align with the externalism within the framework of Williams?s inferential contextualism. In conclusion, it will be asserted that inferential contextualism emerges as the most plausible version of this position.

Graffiti and new media: Levearaging technology to advance creativity and learning in Nigeria

The paper explored the relationship between graffiti and new media, with specific focus on the effect of new media appropriation on the growth of graffiti writing in Nigeria. Qualitative research design and methodologies were used. The theory of technological determinism provided the conceptual directions. Findings showed that graffiti artists were increasingly active on social media; and, used social media for different purposes, including graffiti-based artistic activities. While a wide range of social media were used, only Instagram was the most preferred, because of its unique technical qualities. The engagements of graffiti artists with new media were, in varying ways, bearing innovative and socio-cultural benefits. Apart from providing opportunities for the showcasing of talents or the digital documentation of graffiti, the interface had also allowed for improved artistic creativity, through the placements of graffiti arts unto virtual spaces as Non-Fundable Token Arts (NFTs), as well as the education of young adults online/offline on graffiti arts. Also, in order to mitigate the low status of public awareness on graffiti in Nigeria, graffiti artists should heighten their engagements with social media to popularize the practice in its contextual form; and, the placements of graffiti arts on NFT panels should be seen as a step in the right direction, towards the preservation of graffiti arts for posterity.

KONTEKSTUALISASI PEMBERITAAN INJIL TERHADAP BUDAYA SLAMETAN SUKU JAWA DI DESA BADES JAWA

The Gospel is a good news that should be accepted by everyone. However, the Javanese in Bades Village, East Java, need to be reached with the preaching of the Bible, in view of the minimal number of believers in the local village. However, to reach this village, it is necessary to make an effort so that the Gospel conveyed can be accepted by local residents, namely through the contextualization of the slametan culture which is a Javanese culture that is already inherent in people's lives which is entrusted as anticipation for safety and unwanted disturbances that refers to a peaceful life. The purpose of this research is to find out the form of contextualization of the preaching of the Bible on slametan culture that can be done to reach people from the village of Bades Lumajang, East Java. The method used in this writing is a descriptive qualitative research method with an approach to library data, interviews, book literature and also several articles that are relevant to the research being conducted. This research conveys that in order to preach the gospel to people in Bades Village, East Java, this must be adjusted using the accommodation and adaptation contextualization model which is an act of respecting local culture, being able to express and translate the Bible through slametan culture, so that the people of East Java Those in Bades Village have true knowledge about God and accept Christ as God and eternal savior. Keywords: Contextualization, Bible, Slametan Culture, Javanese Tribe.

Egalitarianisme Muslim Dan Nonmuslim Dalam Kitab Al-Musāwah Al-Insāniyyah Karya ‘Ali Jum’ah

The relationship between non-Muslims and their status in the Muslim community, according to Islamic law, it is a topic that has been discussed for a long time. The development of human civilization brought about the ideas of Muslim and non-Muslim egalitarianism. However, in the classical jurisprudence literature, non-Muslims have always been positioned as second-class people in Muslim societies. One of the modern ulama who contributed to this discourse is 'Ali Jum'ah. His capacity as someone who has served as Grand Mufti in Egypt makes his thoughts urgent to study. For this reason, this study aims to analyze the thoughts of 'Ali Jum about Muslim and non-Muslim egalitarianism in his book Al-Musāwāh Al-Insāniyyah Fī Al-Islām Bayna An-Na ariyyah wa At-Taṭbīq. To achieve these objectives, the method used in this research is content analysis, which is classified as a qualitative method that uses descriptive analytics. As a result, 'Ali Jum'ah's thoughts on Muslim and non-Muslim egalitarianism in that book have an aqliy and naqliy basis, and contain four main principles; justice (al-‘adālah), tolerance (at-tasāmuḥ), brotherhood (al-ukhuwwah), and freedom (al-ḥurriyah). Meanwhile, its scope covers only the rights and obligations of a human nature. In the book, 'Ali Jum’ also provides several forms of contextualization of Muslim and non-Muslim egalitarianism. Some of the ideas of 'Ali Jum'ah in the book also confront the fiqh theories written by the majority of Shafi’i madhab fuqahā.’ Thus, some of his ideas contradict these theorie.

Bilingual Teachers’ Contextualization in Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language in Australian Schools

This research focuses on the practice of contextualization in teaching Chinese as a foreign language among a cohort of bilingual language teacher-researchers. It aims to extend the prevalent emphasis in the current literature that acknowledges the role of context in language education; however, these research studies primarily give voice to linguistic contexts or relegates context into a static physical space such as ‘environment’. This research is grounded in a social constructionism perspective whereby context is regarded as a dynamic relation-building process, or more accurately, a contextualizing process, enabled through various sociocultural activities. The data reveal that the teacher-researchers employed various forms of contextualization in teaching and linked these to particular teaching content through identifiable, purposeful activities, resulting in a variety of students’ responses. This research provides an evidence-based understanding of contextualization in CFL teaching for a more sustainable second language education.

A mathematical framework for operational fine tunings

In the framework of ontological models, the inherently nonclassical features of quantum theory always seem to involve properties that are fine tuned, i.e. properties that hold at the operational level but break at the ontological level. Their appearance at the operational level is due to unexplained special choices of the ontological parameters, which is what we mean by a fine tuning. Famous examples of such features are contextuality and nonlocality. In this article, we develop a theory-independent mathematical framework for characterizing operational fine tunings. These are distinct from causal fine tunings – already introduced by Wood and Spekkens in [NJP,17 033002(2015)] – as the definition of an operational fine tuning does not involve any assumptions about the underlying causal structure. We show how known examples of operational fine tunings, such as Spekkens' generalized contextuality, violation of parameter independence in Bell experiment, and ontological time asymmetry, fit into our framework. We discuss the possibility of finding new fine tunings and we use the framework to shed new light on the relation between nonlocality and generalized contextuality. Although nonlocality has often been argued to be a form of contextuality, this is only true when nonlocality consists of a violation of parameter independence. We formulate our framework also in the language of category theory using the concept of functors.

Contextualization of Productive Zakat in the Modern Era to Reduce Poverty

This study aims to analyze empirically whether productive zakat has an impact on community economic development. Poverty is a social problem that has not been resolved and continues to emerge along with the times. Thus, the existence of productive zakat in the form of business capital can be a solution as a form of contextualization. To develop the economy, it is necessary to develop the distribution of zakat to micro, small and medium enterprises so that there is cooperation and synergy between individuals. Using a qualitative method by taking primary sources on productive zakat at the zakat institution al-Hidayah Sidoarjo on mustahiq income. The findings show that mustahiq's income is affected by the utilization of productive zakat with a large influence contribution of 41%. This can be seen from the development of income and meeting the needs of mustahiq after participating in the productive zakat empowerment program and the LAZ al-Hidayah Sidoarjo waqf can be used for business capital.

Bicontextualism

Can one quantify over absolutely everything? Absolutists answer positively, while relativists answer negatively. Here, I focus on the absolutism versus relativism debate in the framework of theories of truth, where relativism becomes a form of contextualism about truth predications. Contextualist theories of truth provide elegant and uniform solutions to the semantic paradoxes while preserving classical logic. However, they interpret harmless generalizations (such as “everything is self-identical”) in less than absolutely comprehensive domains, thus systematically misconstruing them. In this article, I show that contextualism is broadly compatible with absolute generality. More specifically, I develop a bipartite contextualist semantics, or “bicontextualism,” on which sentences are split in two groups: the unproblematic sentences, which are compatible with absolute generality, and the problematic ones, which are given a relativist semantics. I then argue that bicontextualism retains the advantages of (orthodox) contextualism and does not give rise to new revenge paradoxes.

الصنعة البديعية عند أحمد شوقي: دراسة تحليلية بلاغية لقصيدة "غاندي بطل الهند"

The embellishment elements are the most important in achieving internal rhyme in Arabic poems because the value of poetry is based on the impact it has on the minds of readers and listeners through its musical structure. As a result, this study focuses on Ahmed Shawqi's poem "Gandhi Hero of India," with the objective of revealing the rhythmic and semantic functions of each of the rhetorical styles jinās, ṭibāq, tawāzī al tarkībī, and Taqsīm. This study adopted the analytical method, which analyzes the poetic verses according to the science of Badīʿ. The importance of the study is reflected in the fact that it sheds light on the extent to which the poet invests these literary devices in displaying images and emotions consistent with the nature of the text. The study concluded that the poet used al jinās al nāqiṣ in its most prominent patterns, the ṭibāq in its linguistic and contextual forms, and he also distributed the two words of these two literary styles between the two halves of the poetic verse, which strengthens the poem rhythmically and semantically. It also concluded that the complete and partial grammatical parallelism on the vertical and horizontal levels provided the poem with a distinct rhythm and semantic richness, in addition to the phenomenon of al Taqsīm al ʿaḍūḍī which played a role in moving the internal rhyme that drew readers' attention to the text's content.

Tafsir Al-Mizan fi Tafsir Al-Qur’an by Thabathabai: Analysis of The Relationship Between Zalim and Syirk Meaning in Surah Al-An'am Verse 82

The understanding of the Shia groups majority is considered too literal as the ideology that the caliph after the Prophet Muhammad is ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib, which has an indirect impact on the rejection of his controversial exegesis, including al-Mi>za>n fi> Tafsi>r al-Qur’a>n written by Thabathabai. Thabathabai's credibility in al-Mizan is still often doubted for its validity to be used as a reference for the Qur'an reviewers because it includes a lot of Shia ideology, eventhough Quraish Shihab used it as a reference in his exegesis. This study aims to analyze the contextual form of Thabathabai’s exegesis in al-Mi>za>n fi> Tafsi>r al-Qur’a>n . This research is qualitative research with a normative-linguistic approach. The data used is the book of al-Mi>za>n fi> Tafsi>r al-Qur’a>n in the letter al-An'am verse 82, which discusses related to understanding the word za>lim which is interpreted as syirk , and is supported by scientific articles and books. Collecting data using documentation techniques, then the data were analyzed using descriptive qualitative analysis. This study proves that the contextualization efforts carried out by Thabathabai used linguistic analysis and also a comparative study between the Companions and Ulama after the Companions period, so the assumption that the Shia group is considered a literal and textual group needs to be re-examined.