Sociocultural Orientation Research Articles

A Sociolinguistic Analysis of Newspaper Coverage and Reader Response to Covid-19 Reports

Studies attest to the importance of official languages in health communication in multilingual societies. However, the challenge lies in using an official language in ways that enable both majority and minority language speakers to identify with their sociocultural orientations when using a lingua franca. With the emergence of Covid-19, this challenge has come to the forefront following surveys on citizen responses to health messages. The study examines the themes, narrative viewpoints, language modes of newspaper reports on Covid-19, and reader responses to these reports. We aim to determine the implications of reader response on the credibility, severity, and transmissibility of Covid-19. The contents of three Nigerian newspapers (The Guardian, Punch, and Premium Times) were analyzed using quantitative and discourse analysis. The results showed that the themes of newspaper reports focused on challenges, progress made, preparedness, and containment measures. The language mode was predominantly negative, using fear appeals. Audience responses followed the same themes as the newspapers but demonstrated a remarkable shift in narrative viewpoint and language mode, which in Nigerian style English indicated low source credibility, ethnic divisions, and the denial of the severity and transmissibility of Covid-19. Readers’ responses to newspaper coverage of Covid-19 reinforce the view among scholars that trust in information sources is linked to attitudes toward health risks.

The Ukrainian experience of implementing innovative practices in experimental educational institutions in the wartime conditions

The article analyzes that in the conditions of the martial law in Ukraine, which began on February 24, 2022, Ukrainian science and education need to enter the European sociocultural area as soon as possible. This process involves not only the implementation of a broad program of activities aimed at creative cooperation, but also the openness of the country to economic, information, cultural and educational investments. The successful solution of such tasks provides for, on the one hand, the purposeful formation of universal Euro-Atlantic values and sociocultural orientations in the mass consciousness, and on the other hand, the preservation of Ukrainian national identity and uniqueness. They are revealed in the consideration of education as a way of promoting Ukrainian interests through the dissemination of Ukrainian cultural and educational experience and a means of conquering one’s own intellectual niche. Attention is drawn to the fact that innovative educational activity allows to identify problems of the development of social and personal competences of students and teachers, which are connected both with the need to outline the value and meaning content, and with the risks of informational, political and military confrontation. The article emphasizes that the difficulty of implementing innovative educational activities in educational institutions under the conditions of martial law in Ukraine is that a teacher must analyze the general social, political, economic and cultural signs of Ukrainian unity and represent the national area.

Современная модель культуры производственной безопасности в аспекте устойчивого развития промышленного производства Российской Федерации

Topic. The article updates the main trends of sustainable development of industrial production in the Russian Federation. Despite the growing interest in various aspects of the humanitarian and socio-cultural orientation of the development of industrial production, the essence and practical significance of the production safety culture is realized by a poorly studied topic. The object of the study is the normativemethodological, legal and socio-psychological foundations of the formation of a production safety culture of industrial enterprises. The subject of the study is the system of production safety culture. Goal. The purpose of the study is to systematize and characterize the structural and substantive aspects of the modern model of production safety culture of industrial enterprises. Tasks. The objectives of the study are to substantiate the key provisions that ensure the formation and development of a production safety culture of industrial production, including, industrial safety culture, occupational safety culture, quality culture, environmental culture. Methodology. The research methodology is based on a systematic and process approach to managing the production safety culture. Results. The main results of the study are the actualization and systematization of conceptual, normative and axiological aspects of the formation of a production safety culture. Practical aspects of the formation of a production safety culture are presented on the example of PJSC «Gazprom». Conclusions. The importance of the conceptual foundations and practical aspects of the formation and development of a production safety culture is determined by modern trends in the sustainable development of industrial production. The proposed model promotes the recognition of the culture of industrial safety as a goal, value, norm, quality standard.

Pedagogical conditions of the formation of communicative skills of future philologists

In the context of Ukraine's rapid integration into European economic, political, cultural, and educational structures. The availability of a sufficient level of communication skills is of major importance, as is being on par with professional competence. The study used a range of research methods: analysis, systematization of psychological and pedagogical sources, and generalization of effective pedagogical conditions for the development of future philologists' communicative skills. The study particularly highlights the dominant pedagogical conditions for the formation of future philologists' communicative skills, which are as follows: incorporating a personality-oriented approach in the educational process, principally in the organization of communicative activities for philology students; forming aspect of the positive motivation of future specialists aimed at active self-study; the use of a set of thematic materials of linguistic and sociocultural orientation implies strict compliance with the latest relevant and modern scientific developments; the use of interactive tools in professional communication through the introduction of contextual communication technology techniques; ensuring a psychological climate at lectures, practical classes, and during extracurricular activities for all participants in the educational process. The obtained results of the study will be used to substantiate the methodology of pedagogical conditions for the formation of future philologists' communicative skills as prospects for further research.

Implementation of methods for implementing pedagogical conditions for forming socio-cultural competence of future foreign language teachers

The article is devoted to the problem of the formation of sociocultural competence of future foreign language teachers in the pedagogical college system. The article reveals the essence of the methodology for the implementation of pedagogical conditions for the formation of sociocultural competence of future foreign language teachers, which is implemented in three stages (stimulation-motivational – formation of motivation, adaptation of students to the conditions of the experiment; activity – implementation of pedagogical conditions in the classroom and outside the classroom for the effective formation of sociocultural competence ; correctiveresultative – analysis and correction of results) and the veracity of the research hypothesis was verified according to the effectiveness of statistical and mathematical indicators. In the aspect of our previous studies, it was revealed that in the structure of sociocultural competence of future foreign language teachers, information-cognitive, motivational-value, and practical-activity components are distinguished. The criteria for determining the level of formation of the information-cognitive component of the socio-cultural competence of future foreign language teachers are axiological, linguistic-cultural, and practical-communicative. The developed criteria and indicators made it possible to distinguish four conditional levels of formation of sociocultural competence of future foreign language teachers in the process of professional training in the conditions of a pedagogical college: high, sufficient, basic and elementary levels. Research has proven a positive influence on the formation of sociocultural competence of students of the Pedagogical College of the disciplines of psychological and pedagogical and special training. Expanding the content of professional disciplines by adding texts, exercises, audio and video files of a socio-cultural orientation has a positive effect on the development of their socio-cultural competence as an individual’s ability through adequate understanding and respect for other languages and cultures to manifest an active and responsible life in society.

Integration and differentiation in science and their practical significance

The article deals with the laws of dialectics, methods of cognition in science, integration and differentiation as two components of science advancement. The factors causing uneven development of these components are presented. General laws specific for various dynamic systems and forms of movement, general principles of understanding the surrounding world, which enable to combine knowledge of various subjects into a single, integral, harmonious system are presented. The authors of the article emphasise the need to integrate science, education and production, and identify the main problems that arise when implementing integrative programs. The competence-based approach in education, the need to focus on professional qualities, the socio-cultural orientation of the individual, intellectual maturity, and making non-standard decisions are emphasized. Systematization and interdisciplinary differentiation of the components of professional skills, which indicates the development of modern science, the engine of which is differentiation and integration are important for the integration of science and education.

Directing Models of Author Cinema in the Context of Intercultural Dialogue. Part 3. Creativity of Directors-Authors with the Assistance of International Programs, Funds, Conventions

The purposeof the article is to identify the problems of intercultural cooperation within the framework of supporting international programs, funds, and agreements in the process of production and global distribution of films directed by auteur models and to determine scientific guidelines that will contribute to a comprehensive analysis of the phenomenon of Ukrainian auteur cinema in an intercultural environment. Research methodology. Analytical method was used in the development of the topic, which is necessary for studying the art history and cultural aspect of the problem. In addition, the researcher has used the methods of systematisation and generalisation, which came in handy for arguing the originality of the phenomenon of auteur cinematography, its place in modern culture-creating processes, as well as the determination of objective regularities that characterise auteur cinematographic practices in modern intercultural space. A cross-cultural method has also been applied, which contributed to the identification of the peculiarities of the production and distribution of films of directorial models of auteur cinema in the system of international cooperation. The cultural approach conditioned the generalised socio-cultural orientation of the research of the author's cinematography of the culture of the postmodern and post-postmodern era. The scientific novelty of the research lies in the fact that the problem of intercultural cooperation in the production and global distribution of original cinema in Ukraine and abroad in the context of the functioning of international support programs became the subject of a special study for the first time; the work of Ukrainian filmmakers-authors, whose films were created as international projects with the support of international programs and funds, is highlighted and characterised; the expediency of using the system method in studying the peculiarities of the international film production and distribution process has been proven. Conclusions. Acquaintance with the materials presented in the article expands the arsenal of knowledge regarding the specifics of the production and distribution of films by directorial models of auteur cinema within the framework of intercultural projects and enables their use in educational courses on the theory and history of cinema and directing. Key words: Ukrainian auteur cinematography, international cooperation, director-author, producer, directorial model of authorship, Creative Europe, European Convention on joint cinematographic production.

Historical and Аnthropological Сontext and Рersonal Image in the Persian-Tajik Literature of the Heyday Period (X–XIII Centuries)

Тhe study presents an analysis of a unique civilizational phenomenon: the Iranian-Tajik literature of the heyday period (X-XIII centuries), its historical and social environment. The article is rather staged in nature and anticipates the author’s intention to conduct a broader historical and comparative comparison of the epic and artistic works of the peoples of the Indo–Iranian world, of which the Ossetian ethnos is also a part. This research is the initial stage of the planned research, its introductory part. The possibilities of one journal publication allow us to turn to the analysis of Persian literature on the example of only the most prominent representatives of the period of its heyday: Firdousi, Omar Khayyam, Saadi, Rumi. The study provides a brief substantive analysis of the creativity of these authors by the main ideological categories: the semantic context of the eternal confrontation between good and evil; views on the concept of power and the image of the “good king”; understanding of physical labor, humanistic meanings of human existence; religion, love. The specificity of the article is the scientific interest in the socio-cultural orientation of the artistic creativity of medieval poets who wrote in Farsi, its aesthetics, moral motivation, value characteristics and the general historical and anthropological content of the sung ideals. Having settled at the crossroads of trade routes and cultural influences, the Iranians were distinguished by genuine loyalty and at the same time unique civilizational stability. The indescribable charm of Persian literature reflected the influence of various ideological, philosophical, religious, moral and ethical systems and ancient beliefs. But the main focus is still on the “Iranian world’s” own refraction of this unique cultural and ethical symbiosis.

Типологический анализ социокультурной направленности личности представителей разных возрастных групп

The introduction focuses on the role of sociocultural determination, mechanisms of cultural transmission and social inheritance in the development of human psyche and personality. The theoretical part considers psychological types of a personality’s sociocultural orientation that were theoretically deduced through the analysis of a subject’s attitude to traditions and innovations, in-group and out-group culture. The author describes ten types of a personality’s sociocultural orientation: harmoniously balanced, locally oriented, locally-traditional, locally innovative, alternatively oriented, alternatively traditional, alternatively innovative, globally-traditional, globally-innovative, globally-indifferent ones. The empirical part provides the results of the comparative research into the types of a personality’s sociocultural orientation among representatives of three age groups: 1) age range of 46–54 years, 2) age range of 27–36 years, 3) age range of 17–19 years. The author ascertains dominating types of a personality’s sociocultural orientation for each group under study. Harmoniously balanced and globally-innovative types of a personality’s sociocultural orientation prevail among the representatives of the older generation; globally-innovative and alternatively oriented (to the values of out-group culture) types are more common for the age range of 27–36 years. Globally-indifferent type of a personality’s sociocultural orientation is of greatest research interest in the youngest age group. The conclusion looks at the key trends, factors, risks and resources of a personality’s sociocultural development among various age groups.

Directing models of author cinema in the context of intercultural dialogue. Part 2. The creativity of the director-author in the system of international cooperation

The purpose of the article is to identify problems of intercultural cooperation in the production and distribution of films directed by auteur cinema and to identify scientific guidelines that will contribute to a comprehensive analysis of the phenomenon of Ukrainian auteur cinema in the intercultural space. Research methodology. An analytical method was used to study the topic, which is necessary to study the art history and cultural aspects of the problem. In addition, the researcher used methods of systematization and generalization, which were useful to argue the identity of the phenomenon of directing auteur cinema, its place in modern cultural processes, as well as to determine the objective patterns that characterize auteur cinematographic practices in modern intercultural space. A cross-cultural method was also used, which helped to identify the peculiarities of production and distribution of films directed by auteur films in the system of international cooperation. In turn, the culturological approach led to a generalized socio-cultural orientation of the study of the author's cinema of postmodern and postmodern culture. The scientific novelty of the study is that the problem of intercultural cooperation in the production and distribution of auteur cinema in Ukraine and abroad in the context of the functioning of international support programs has first become the subject of a special study; the content of the concepts "intercultural dialogue", "co-production" as a certain specific integrity and unity of interconnected elements is argued; the works of Ukrainian film directors-authors, whose films were created as international projects, are singled out and characterized; the expediency of using the system method in studying the peculiarities of the international filmmaking process is proved; a comprehensive analysis and features of production and distribution of films by directors-authors in co-production projects in Ukraine and abroad. Conclusions. Acquaintance with the materials presented in the article expands the arsenal of knowledge on the specifics of production and distribution of films of directorial models of auteur cinema within intercultural projects and allows their use in training courses on the theory and history of cinema and directing. Keywords: intercultural dialogue, director-author, producer, Ukrainian author's cinema, co-production, director's model of authorship.

The evolving international entrepreneurship orientations and international entrepreneurship capital in the rapidly changing and digitizing international environments

The relationship between entrepreneurial orientations and internationalization has been examined extensively, but the recent developments in the rapidly changing environment point to the need for further examination of international entrepreneurs’ orientations in their own embedding contexts and beyond. There is ample evidence suggesting a positive relationship between the firm’s combined overall international entrepreneurial orientation, its extent of innovativeness, export (or international marketing), collaborative, and socio-cultural orientations and the scope and speed of its internationalization. The aim of this article is to examine the challenges and developments among the integral components of international entrepreneurial orientations and their associated activities, strategies, and resources to integrate their interactive impacts for better understanding of the broader concepts of international entrepreneurship orientations and international entrepreneurship capital in the increasing complexities of entrepreneurial internationalization processes.

Реализация принципа социокультурной направленности в обучении иноязычному произношению в вузе

This article is an interdisciplinary study of the currently relevant problem of co-studying language and culture in the aspect of linguodidactic interpretation of the sociocultural orientation principle of teaching foreign-language pronunciation. The aim of the study is to develop methods and techniques for implementing the principle of socio-cultural orientation in teaching foreign-language pronunciation at the university. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the description of the sociocultural orientation principle in relation to the phonetic aspect of the English language, the introduction of the new notion of “phonocultureme” into the practice of teaching foreign-language pronunciation at the university. As a result, it is proved that the analysis of the features of cultural meanings manifestation in the system of phonetic means of English speech arrangement contributes to the definition of methods and techniques for teaching foreign-language pronunciation at the university, taking into account the principle of socio-cultural orientation.

Sociocultural Orientation and Perceived Utility of Base Rates in Self and Social Judgments of Cyber Risk

Despite ground-breaking technological advances, scientists still have difficulty patching one of the most threatening bugs in the cyber world: human error. Individuals constitute a unique vulnerability in cybersecurity because they systematically make errors when perceiving their own risk. Specifically, individuals underestimate their own susceptibility to cyber-attacks. Among the most common ways companies seek to improve security is presenting clients and employees with base rate information on the prevalence of cyber threats and the likelihood of the general population to succumb to them. This strategy is intended to increase the accuracy with which clients and employees assess their threat levels. However, outcomes typically fall short of this goal. We review the differential use of base rate information as a cognitive and motivational bias that contributes to forecasting errors and accuracy in self and social risk assessment. We also examine two dimensions of sociocultural orientation: individualism-collectivism and tightness-looseness-and their potential influence on the use of base rate information. We discuss implications for interventions that could mitigate the threat of cyber-attacks

Music culture of China in the middle of the XX century in the context of socio-cultural and ideological transformations

The purpose of the article is to explore the main aspects of musical culture development in China in the mid-twentieth century in the context of political reforms. The methodology is based on the usage of culturological approach, which determines the generalized socio-cultural orientation of the work, as well as the principle of historicism as the main when considering Chinese musical culture in relation to political processes that took place during this period. The main research methods were: historical and cultural – to study the process of forming the cultural policy of the CCP; comparative – in determining the political influence in different periods of musical culture; content analysis – to reveal the ideological essence of CCP documents. The scientific novelty of the article is the analysis of political documents that determine the direction and mechanisms of implementation of the CCP's cultural policy and their impact on the development of Chinese musical culture in the mid-twentieth century. Conclusions. The process of the formation of the CCP's cultural policy and the main directions of musical art development in the middle of the twentieth century is determined by the call for the creation of a «mass new culture» combined with reliance on millennial national traditions. The “reformist” movement of the Jiang Qing Group, aimed to transform traditional Beijing opera and create model revolutionary works, significantly limited the creative freedom of artists and was the main cause of «artificial stagnation» in the musical culture of the 60-the 70s of the twentieth century. The suspension of cultural and ideological experiments and overcoming its negative consequences, together with effective economic reforms, paved the way for the formation of a new progressive direction in the development of musical art in the country.
 Key words: China, musical culture, cultural policy, music-educational system, ideological influence.

Addressing water scarcity in developing country contexts: a socio-cultural approach

Current conceptualizations of and approaches to scarcity tend to be economic-focused and institution driven with understated and underemphasized sociocultural dimensions. We address this lack in a socio-cultural orientation to natural resource scarcity and draw upon Vygotsky’s theorizations to do so. We rely on the existing literature and secondary sources of information to overview issues relating to water scarcity and the survival related challenges especially in developing country contexts with a specific focus on India. Although Vygotsky theorizes individual learning and development in terms of influences from more knowledgeable individuals to the less knowledgeable, he does not engage so much with how individual learning and development is tied to community interests and community development. We extend Vygotsky by incorporating a responsibilization dimension in theorizations of individual development. Neither does Vygotsky consider how a range of communication modes including traditional or non-traditional media and technology can play an enabling role in reinforcing processes of influence. We include these to further extend Vygotsky. We consider the role of elite individuals such as community leaders and others well-recognized for their socio-cultural status or specialized skills in disseminating knowledge in Vygotsky’s zones of proximal development. We emphasize the circulation of knowledge via sociocultural interactions as pertinent to raising consciousness of natural resource scarcity. We finally discuss initiatives to manage water scarcity at consumer, community and industry-consumer partnership levels. The paper broadens current understandings of scarcity and extends Vygotsky’s sociocultural theorizations in the focus on communities, the responsibilization of consumers as well as in the usage of communication modes, and suggests independent and supported consumer-driven and consumer-centered initiatives as complementary to the existing in seeking solutions to water-scarcity in developing country contexts.

Trait dialectical thinking is associated with the strength of functional coupling between the dACC and the default mode network.

Dialectical thinking is an overarching and sophisticated thinking style that involves accepting and resolving contradictions. The current study examined whether the dispositional tendency of dialectical thinking is mediated by organizational patterns of intrinsic brain networks. Based on previous theoretical and empirical works, we hypothesized that the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC), the hub for conflict processing, shows increased couplings with nodes in the default mode network (DMN). A sample of 380 young and healthy participants completed a self-reported measure of dialectical thinking and underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scanning. Results of seed-based correlational ROI and whole-brain analyses supported our hypothesis that trait dialectical thinking was positively correlated with the strength of the dACC-DMN couplings. These findings demonstrate the possibility of identifying network-level neural representations of sociocultural orientations.

Un(Bundling) the Black Experience at PWIs: Using Assets-based Frameworks to Explore the Lived Experiences of Black Sub-Sharan African-born Graduate Students in STEM

Despite the promise that improving campus climate offers for promoting students' socialization and psychological safety, marginalized students continue to face negative experiences on campuses that hamper their academic success. This experience is mainly grave in graduate educational environments, the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, and at Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs). Meanwhile, foreign-born students are represented and thrive in these educational environments, despite the odds. In the United States (U.S.), foreign-born students are critical to diversity in graduate education, national innovation and economic growth, and global competitiveness in the STEM fields. Specifically, Black Sub-Saharan African-born (BSSA) students are unique; hence, there are within-group differences depicted by socio-cultural orientation among Black students. Therefore, seeking to explore the Black student population's perspectives as a monolith is problematic. From this backdrop, this dissertation seeks to unbundle the Black experience by focusing on BSSA graduate students in STEM at PWIs.

Promoting Social Justice Through Usability in Technical Communication: An Integrative Literature Review

Purpose: Recently, interest in usability has grown in the technical communication (TC) field, but we lack a current cohesive literature review that reflects this new growth. This article provides an integrative literature review on usability, its goals, and approaches to accomplish those goals in relation to TC's commitment to social justice and empowerment.<br/> Methods: I conducted an integrative literature review on usability to synthesize and characterize TC's growing commitment to social justice and empowerment. I searched scholarly publications and trade literature that included books and book chapters on usability. Adopting grounded theory and content analysis as research techniques to systematically evaluate data corpus, I read and classified selected publications to approach the research questions and iteratively analyzed the data to identify themes within each research question.<br/> Results: Surveying the definitions and descriptions of usability in the literature corpus shows that there is no consensus definition of usability. Findings suggest that the goal of usability can be classified as: a) pragmatic or functional goals, b) user experience goals, and c) sociocultural goals. Given the recent cultural and social justice turns in TC, my findings reveal a number of social justice-oriented design approaches for usability.<br/> Conclusions: Usability should not be viewed solely as a means of achieving pragmatic and/or user experience goals. Practitioners also need to consider usability from sociocultural orientations to accomplish its sociocultural goals. From interconnected global perspectives, the review implies the need for adopting more viable and culturally sustaining design approaches for successfully accommodating cultural differences and complexities for promoting social justice and user empowerment.

Perceptions on the Significance of the Clinical Social Workers’ Dress in the Helping Process in Zimbabwe

When dealing with vulnerable populations, the first impression can have far-reaching implications due to socio-cultural dynamics. This has proved true in clinical social work practice where a fiduciary relationship is critical for the restoration of social functioning. The study discovered that service users in Zimbabwe generally have differing opinions regarding how clinical social workers should dress. This was attributed to age, personal preferences, and socio-cultural orientations. Furthermore, service users suggested the prevalence of a perceived connection between dress and the competence of the practitioner. The possibility of service user resistance and inability to build a good rapport if the practitioner's dress is unacceptable to the service user was also noted. The study thus advocates for the need to have social work organizational training on the issue of dress to orient social workers on the sensitivity of dress in practice. By so doing, a social worker will be intentional in their choice of a dress, being cognisant of the fact that their dress is a language that has the potential to either catalyze or hinder the effectiveness of the helping process.

Slow Open Dialectical Behavior Group Therapy for Adolescents and Parents: Comparison between Groups

Introduction: The study’s objective is to explore the common behavior of the participants in four slow open groups taking part in a Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) skills training. The experiment population consisted of two groups of adolescents and two of some of their parents or legal guardians. We compared the groups via their answers to the “absurd questionnaire” during the training sessions. Methods: the participants had to select one image in each of 50 pairs in a questionnaire (“absurd questionnaire”). In this experiment, we were able to administer a version of the questionnaire to the participants before forming the groups. We analyzed the differences between the four groups, considering their initial picture choices and how these evolved, the changes in the choices, the flux, and the answers’ focus. Results: The presence of a questionnaire administered before the group experience allows us to distinguish between socio-cultural orientation and group effects. A strong orientation precedes the group formation, is partially lost during the group activity and is eventually recovered at the end of the group work. In addition, there are apparent similarities between the same age groups (parents and adolescents), while family ties seem to play a lesser role in shaping the group’s behavior. Conclusions: The slow-open setting appears to render the groups more susceptible to the external environment. While we can observe the formation of a group identity distinguishable from the “clan loyalty” via a decrease in the initial orientation, this is short-lived, and the external environment asserts its eventual dominance. Family ties are less effective than generational kinship in shaping the groups’ behavior.