Discourse Research Articles

Gender equality in STEMM: the legitimisation of existing inequalities through “resistance talk”

Purpose Despite some recent progress, gender inequality remains a persistent problem in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine (STEMM) organisations. This article seeks to better understand resistance to gender equality (GE) in this context with the aim of shedding light on the workplace-based impediments to equality and unlocking remediation opportunities.Design/methodology/approachThe article draws on in-depth interviews with 20 STEMM leaders to examine how they talk about the problem of gender inequality in the organisations they lead. Because resistance is rarely expressed directly, we adopt an in-depth, granular approach to examining what we call STEMM leaders’ “resistance talk” by decoding expressions of GE resistance that may appear, ostensibly, as something else.FindingsWe found various ideas, arguments and other discursive practices which function to legitimate or justify the status quo. These are both described by leaders in relation to what they are dealing with in their own organisations and expressed themselves. While similar “legitimating discourses” operate in other gender-segregated workplaces, our findings show how they manifest specifically in STEMM contexts.Originality/value Our results provide much-needed granular level evidence of the discursive tactics deployed to legitimate the status quo and obstruct progress toward GE in STEMM. This extends understanding of barriers to GE in STEMM and, importantly, highlights where attention might be directed to both counter resistance and harness potentially changing attitudes to expedite the necessary change required for GE in STEMM.

Éthique et pratiques discursives des « influenceurs Web pour la paix » : une analyse technolinguistique des messages de sensibilisation sur Facebook

Le phénomène d’influenceur numérique peut être saisi sous divers angles, dont le versant technolinguistique qui mobilise notre attention dans cette réflexion. Il pose précisément le problème de la nature et des enjeux des messages de sensibilisation postés par les influenceurs web de WILPF Cameroon à travers le réseau social Facebook. On mettra en évidence la portée éthique du technodiscours de sensibilisation aux bonnes pratiques en contexte socionumérique. Le cadre méthodologique choisi est celui de l’analyse du discours numérique théorisée par Marie-Anne Paveau. À travers la méthode de capture d’écran statique, les données technolangagières de l’écologie numérique ont été extraites et déplacées vers une analyse discursive et éthique. Il en ressort que les influenceurs web pour la paix ont une identité numérique réelle qui leur permet de sensibiliser les masses en rapport avec les mauvaises pratiques récurrentes sur un lieu de corpus qu’est Facebook. La prise en compte des variables technolinguistiques et technographiques met en évidence les vertus éthiques d’une telle communication en temps de crise ; d’où les indicateurs d’impact positifs qui en ressortent.

Exploring Legitimization of Religio-Politico Discursive Practices: A Critical Discourse Analysis

The current study examines the legitimacy of religio-politico discursive practices prevalent in the novel a case study of exploding mangoes (2008) by Muhammad Hanif. This text is a cut-throat satire on the military interference in state affairs. Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) is used as a major method under the theoretical lens of legitimization theory to execute the study. The major character of the novel, General Zia ul Haq, exercises his powers and controls the government of Pakistan by the takeover of the military forces till his death in an aircraft crash on 17 August 1988 in Bahawalpur. On multiple levels, Hanif reveals the religio-political mechanisms wielded by the titled political and religious stooges. The theory of Legitimization interprets how power structures legalize their authority on social, political, and religious groundings. The study also underscores the religiosity imposed by Zia under the pretext of Islamization in this particular era. The study's objective is to spotlight various doctrines of religio-political machinery used to manipulate the political system in the 1980s.

Discursive Violence Analysis: Epistemological Advances in Qualitative Research

This article outlines a new methodological approach, Discursive Violence Analysis (DVA). Discursive Violence Analysis is a qualitative methodology that is the conceptual convergence of Foucauldian and Fairclough Discourse Analysis, Critical Discourse Analysis, and Critical Legal Studies that operationalizes systemic oppression. This conceptual framework expands the existing repository of qualitative methodology that recalibrates how researchers identify, qualify, and interpret various disparate discursive social practices as evidence of racism. The DVA frames how scholars interrogate racism and how racism is institutionalized and codified within education and networking social systems. This article aims to provoke an inclusive and empirical engagement on ways to reimagine epistemology within education scholarship—suggesting that ways of knowing racism and understanding racism have experiential origins. Discursive Violence Analysis is an alternative qualitative means of identifying and describing the fundamental sophistications of discourses that steer, normalize, and legitimize racism. This article begins with a researcher reflexivity that foregrounds my journey toward developing DVA—briefly revisiting my experience as a doctoral candidate. Secondly, this article transitions into a “how-to” guide, mapping the conceptual and methodological process. And lastly, this article ends by explaining the critical assumptions of DVA and research queries for emerging scholars.

Exploring the enactment of a coaching stance: Findings from one coach–teacher dyad

AbstractCoaching teachers is complex work as coaches must navigate multiple and competing roles of expert and colleague. Within mathematics education, there is a lack of research exploring how coaches enact their stance for coaching, balancing the roles of expert and colleague, in ways that best support teacher learning. Furthermore, little is known about the specific discursive practices coaches use when enacting different stances during mathematics interactions with teachers. Drawing on data collected from one coaching cycle for one coach–teacher dyad during mathematics instruction, including transcripts of two planning meetings, one modeled lesson, one reflection meeting, and five semi‐structured interviews, this study explores one instructional coach's discursive enactment of their coaching stance. Qualitative analyses indicate that the coach had the goal of enacting a responsive coaching stance, and in her practice the coach discursively enacted multiple coaching stances. Furthermore, findings indicate that the coach's disciplinary expertise seemed to influence the discursive enactment of her coaching stance. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

When women left their patrie: transborder mobility, women’s sexual agency, and moral panic in Turkey

ABSTRACT The labor exchange agreements signed between Turkey and several European countries in the 1960s resulted in a large population move to Europe. While the majority of workers were men, the share of women had increased over the years. Initially overlooked, women’s transborder mobility came under public scrutiny from the mid-1960s onwards. Migration scholarship has demonstrated that sending states may impose restrictive policies on women’s transborder mobility to regulate their sexuality. However, this research often relies on a binary model (travel bans/no bans) where attention is paid mostly to cases in the former group. Under the rubric of moral panic, this paper offers an analytical framework to explore how control over women’s sexuality can be maintained in contexts where no travel bans are adopted. Drawing on archival research, this study reveals that women’s mobility triggered a moral panic in Turkey, prompting various political demands for prohibitive policies, which were met with state reluctance. Still, the disciplinary control over women’s sexuality was maintained through a transnational network of ethno-national kin, spontaneous and independent of any state authority. While it was not designed to fill any power vacuum, the network effectively exercised disciplinary control over numerous Turkish women, employing discursive and punitive practices.

Discourses of Blindness in Visual Impairment Rehabilitation: An Exploration of the Ideological Assumptions Embedded in Rehabilitation Practice in South Africa

ABSTRACT Rehabilitation services play an important role in the lives of persons who experience vision loss. These services provide necessary practical techniques for adjustment to visual impairment. However, there is insufficient research exploring the ways in which these services act at the level of meaning and identity. This paper summarises the findings from a study that investigated the operation of blindness discourses in rehabilitation services for adults with visual impairments in South Africa. The study posed questions concerning the meanings about blindness which are produced and reinforced in rehabilitation practice. It also considered the implications of exposure to these meanings for persons with visual impairments. Foucauldian discourse analytic reviews were conducted on digital documentary sources, as well as on data gathered through semi-structured interviews with rehabilitation service providers and service users. This paper discusses two overarching discursive practices in visual impairment rehabilitation, namely, ‘Journey discourse’ and ‘charitable discourse’. We conclude that, rather than an abstract exercise, considering the ideological assumptions embedded in rehabilitation practice is essential to uncover and address discursive systems that support the continued marginalisation of people with visual impairment.

Избыточность лично-возвратного местоимения себя: к вопросу о небанальном грамматическом плеоназме

The article deals with the case of grammatical pleonasm, which involves the verbalization of the verbal position of the actant or localizer by the case forms of the personal reflexive pronoun self, which have a spatial or subject-object meaning. This phenomenon is widespread in modern usage (at least 50 verbs participate in it), in different types of discourse (journalistic, political, advertising, colloquial, literary, educational and scientific), in oral and written speech, but it is not comprehended in terms of “language norm” or “speech error”, although the data of explanatory dictionaries impose a ban on the duplicate use of the pronoun self with some verbs. The article proves the deficiency of such combinations based on the semantic analysis of verbs, as well as by means of grammatical transformation – changing the part of speech or word order, which serve as additional methods of error verification. Based on the analysis of semantics, the list of verbs (50 units) that form pleonastic collocations (55 units) with all members of the case paradigm (Genitive, Accusative, Dative, Ablative and Locative with or without a preposition) of the personal reflexive pronoun self was revealed. Pleonastic control is provoked mainly by transitive verbs with the meaning of “location” and “placement / movement of an object” (integrating it into something, or excluding it, joining it with something, collecting or eliminating), as well as the meaning of “possessing” or “obtaining”. In metaphorical contexts with these verbs, the pronoun self is also redundant. From the point of view of linguistic logic, semantics and existing dictionary stipulations, this phenomenon should be codified as a grammatical pleonasm.

How is discursive practice on l2 learners conducted? Exploring peace values in environmental conservation texts in textbooks for Indonesian language for foreign speakers

How is discursive practice on l2 learners conducted? Exploring peace values in environmental conservation texts in textbooks for Indonesian language for foreign speakers

Discourse analysis of knowledge-based live streaming: a case study of East Buy streamer Dong Yuhui

Abstract Live streaming e-commerce is not only an important part of China’s digital economy but also the preferred way of purchase for many Chinese, especially the young. Since 2022, a new model initiated by East Buy has emerged, quickly becoming known as knowledge-based live streaming. The most famous streamer from this novel type of live streaming is Dong Yuhui, a former English teacher of the New Oriental School. As a top Internet influencer with millions of followers, Dong Yuhui has become a conspicuous social sign of the rising China that is undergoing fast technological, economic, and cultural changes. This study thus takes Dong Yuhui as an example to examine the typical discourses of the knowledge-based live streaming. Through a triangulation of case study, discourse analysis, and sentiment analysis, it finds that Dong Yuhui mainly employs the strategies of disseminating encyclopedic knowledge, telling intriguing stories, and using poetic language in his live streaming discourse. This unique discourse has the main function of fulfilling customers’ intellectual, emotional, and psychological needs. As such, it is warmly received by customers, whose comments are centered on the talents of the streamer rather than the attributes of the commodity.

Power relations in the novel My Name is Alam by Leila S. Chudori

Exploring discursive formations in literary works allows researchers to analyze how language and discourse shape meaning, power dynamics, and cultural ideologies within a specific literary context. Understanding the discursive formations in literary works is crucial for comprehending the historical and social context in which these works were produced. This research aims to describe the forms and representations of power relations in the novel My Name is Alam by Leila S. Chudori. This is qualitative descriptive research where the data is interpreted using the genealogical and archaeological analysis methods promoted by Foucault. This method aims to uncover and understand hidden power dynamics in various aspects of human life. The research results prove that the author's statements were spread across various formations and became material for discussion. Two forms of power relations are being discussed; the first is the New Order government's practice of authoritarian power in its various policies, which limits human rights. Second, there is resistance from marginalized groups, namely political prisoners and their families. This form of resistance is an effort by marginalized groups to fight for equality and justice. The New Order government in Indonesia constructed a discourse to create a simulated space to legitimize its power within national memory politics. This simulated world is a blend of reality and fantasy constantly reproduced. As a result, the actual reality becomes obscured, and the symbols created are perceived as reality.

Параметрирование содержания коммуникации в бизнес-дискурсе (на материале русского и английского языков)

The aim of the study is to identify the possibility of parameterization of data and the means of parameterization of the multilevel system of business discourse, based on its inherent models of communication, distributive analysis, contextual translations, stereotypes and realities, units of categorical and axiological semantics, the frame structure, and discourse constraints. The article reviews the representation of parameters in terms of the content of business discourse in a comparative-contrastive aspect. The scientific novelty of the research is that for the first time, based on the material of the Russian and English languages, it presents a comprehensive structure of business discourse, describes some of its components, and practically creates an algorithm for working with text or information, which allows, according to formal criteria, provided that the parameters are met, to classify the text as business discourse. In the future, it may be possible to create special software that will be able, in addition to analytics for semantics, sentiment, and content, to process texts, including spoken texts, for compliance with a certain type of discourse. Such algorithms in the form of a set of rules, tasks, and parameters can contribute to the automation of business processes, in particular within the framework of business discourse, generate scenarios for the interaction of actors in it, and search for the most favorable course of discourse for intentional purposes. As a result of the study, a multilevel structure of business discourse was recorded, due to its frame nature; the most important parameters of the discourse space were classified. It has been established that under the influence of changing geopolitical conditions, there is a conscious emotional and evaluative rethinking of business processes and phenomena, which causes changes in the speech activity of communicators in the fields of discourse. It has been proved that discourse as a process of linguistic activity is a system and, like any system, can be modeled and parameterized.

Al-Jazeera Arabic and Al-Jazeera English headlines on the Russian-Ukrainian conflict: a Hallidayan transitivity analysis

ABSTRACT Research in communication studies has suggested that Al-Jazeera produces different versions of news stories for different audiences. Yet, examining the linguistic means used to create these versions has remained under-researched. Drawing on Fairclough’s three-dimensional model (1992) and Halliday’s transitivity model (1985), this study aims at exploring how Al-Jazeera Arabic (AJA) and Al-Jazeera English (AJE) discursively represented the participants involved in the 2022 Russo-Ukrainian conflict in headlines. The analysis of transitivity patterns in AJA and AJE headlines reveals both similar and different representations of the conflict. Although they avoided negative labeling of the Russian government, both channels ascribed conflict escalation to it, highlighting civilians suffering and protesting. Nevertheless, while AJE emphasized the Ukrainian government vulnerability, AJA presented the conflict as a confrontation between two symmetrical forces. Similarities are attributed to organizational and social institutional forces, while differences result from different editorial policies and audience preferences. As discursive and social practices, the headlines contribute to shaping audience perceptions of the conflict, with AJA challenging the prevailing western narrative of the conflict while AJE reinforcing it.

The Role of Republican and AKP Elites in the Construction and Reconstruction of Turkiye’s Foreign Policy Identity: A Critical Narrative Analysis

ABSTRACT Building on the argument that foreign policy identities are discursively constructed by the dominant elite, this study analyzes the construction and reconstruction of Turkiye’s foreign policy identity during the Early Republican and AKP periods in a comparative way, focusing on political narratives as discursive practices. Adopting a critical narrative analysis method, the study first distinguishes the linguistic construction of a common past, a common geopolitical imagination and a common perception of the international environment as substantive contents of foreign policy identity. It then addresses different strategies used within these three thematic areas. Finally, narrative analysis is adopted to extract the repeated themes and storylines used in the narratives of the Republican and AKP elites about history, geopolitical location, and the international environment as means of linguistic realizations.

Специфика языковой реализации жанра обращения руководства в годовом отчете (на материале русского языка)

The article is carried out within the framework of the analysis of institutional business discourse and is devoted to the problem of genres in corporate communication. The paper aims to reveal structural-linguistic and communicative-pragmatic peculiarities of the genre of top-managers’ message in the annual report in Russian language. The article considers the genre as an open and flexible scheme in a prototypical model with different frequency of elements. More and less typical sets and narrative schemes are described, which make it possible to establish genre relatedness in the type of text under study. Typical speech patterns and their sequences are also established. The scientific originality of the study lies in the fact that the change in the genre-forming factors of the top-managers’ message in annual reports belongs to one of the insufficiently developed areas in Russian linguistics. In this regard, for the first time an integrated approach to the linguistic analysis of this genre has been implemented on the Russian material. As a result of the analysis, it was revealed that the elements of the genres of business letter and report are the most frequent in the type of text under analysis. It has been established that the category of addressee serves to vary the distance between communicants. It is also demonstrated that the described discursive practices of constructing written speech in the top-managers’ messages in annual reports of Russian companies are due not only to the informing, but also to the argumentative function.

Politics and Pluralism: Analyzing State Official Tafsir and Interfaith Discourse in Indonesia

This research aims to explore the Tafsir produced by the Ministry of Religious Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia, specifically focusing on the potential politicization of the Qur’an, particularly in the narrative of inter-religious relationships in Indonesia. The study underscores the crucial role of Tafsir in shaping societal perceptions of religious pluralism in the country. In this context, a significant question arises concerning the extent to which the interpretations generated through the state's political mechanisms contribute to the discourse on religious pluralism. To address this inquiry, the critical discourse analysis approach by Norman Fairclough is employed, encompassing three dimensions: text analysis, discursive practices, and social practices. The analysis focuses on the Tafsir produced in 1980 by the Indonesian Ministry of Religious Affairs titled "Al-Qur’an dan Tafsirnya." The research reveals that the narrative regarding inter-religious relationships in Indonesia within the official Tafsir is not solely connected to the state's role through the Ministry of Religious Affairs of Indonesia. It is also influenced by various factors such as the socio-religious context and the role of Mufassir (mufasir). This situation is reflected through three patterns of state affirmation: Affirmative-Accommodative, Affirmative-Permissive, and Affirmative-Disruptive. The substantial contribution of this research lies in enhancing the understanding of the intricate relationship between religious exegesis, state politics, and radicalism in Indonesia. This opens avenues for further reflection and debate in scholarly literature, particularly regarding the impact of state involvement in the Qur’an interpretation process on the narrative of inter-religious relationships in Indonesia.

‘You are not empowered, you have neither character nor pride’

Abstract This paper aims to unveil the most frequent discursive practices of aggressive language addressed at three female Spanish politicians on X (formerly Twitter) and the themes around which these practices revolve. Isabel Díaz-Ayuso, Irene Montero, and Yolanda Díaz were selected for analysis. A mixed-methods analysis of 1,500 randomly retrieved posts was conducted. Aggressive language aimed at delegitimizing the politicians was manually coded based on existing taxonomies. A data-driven taxonomy was obtained with the most frequently involved themes to assess gender-based representations. Quantitative findings pointed to interindividual differences that were qualitatively analyzed. Aggression towards Yolanda Díaz was conveyed through insults and negative comments questioning her intelligence, physical appearance, and political affiliation. Replies to Isabel Díaz-Ayuso questioned the morality of her decisions regarding social issues. At the same time, Irene Montero received more insults and sexist negative comments focusing on her sexuality and subordination to male figures.

Linguistic and pragmatic aspects of communication in the modern media world

Taking into account the purposeful activity of modern man, his acquisition of huge masses of information during a short period, the communication aspect of communication in the business sphere has gradually turned from a means of enjoyment, length, and unhurried language interaction into a means of accurate, short and simultaneous full communication of a problem, initiative, proposal. Communication pragmatics came to the aid of such language transformations. The article proves that pragmalinguistics studies speech communication as a manifestation of speech activity – purposeful influence on each other (persuasion, persuasion, request for information, etc.) using language. To achieve their communicative goals, depending on the context and situation, their communicative roles, the speaker and the addressee use certain speech acts (written as sentences) corresponding to these goals – stating facts, encouraging action, etc. It is scientifically determined that the emergence of ecolinguistics is due to the need to solve the problems of interaction between language, man and nature. It is indicated that it covers extremely diverse research that reflects the importance of environmental issues in society. The attention paid to issues of environmental protection at all levels of society, and as a result, the relevance of environmental issues, as well as the peculiarities of communication in the field of environmental protection, allow us to distinguish a separate type of discourse - ecological, which is characterized by the constant addition of the ecological glossary, the emergence of special axiological units, the presence of separate status models - role configuration, which determine the use of certain communicative strategies in specific communicative situations. It was highlighted in practice that the main discourse-creating concepts in environmental discourse are environment, pollution, energy, and climate change, which constitute the semantic base of communication in the field of environmental protection.

Social norms and the dynamics of practices

ABSTRACT I endorse five central themes of Charlotte Witt's Social Goodness: the pervasiveness and irreducibility of social roles and norms; normative externalism; the artisanal model; a richer social ontology; and the possible critical transformation of social norms from within. I reframe these themes within the biological account of the evolution and development of human ways of life in Joseph Rouse's Social Practices as Biological Niche Construction. Witt's social analysis attends to human bodies as loci of artisanal skills and social salience as gendered, sexed, and raced, but not to bodies as vulnerable, dependent organisms in social environments. A broader, biological conception of normativity shifts from Witt's focus on social roles and norms to the dynamics of social practices as shaping people's developmental environments. This more complex account of social dynamics enriches Witt's conservative account of how practices are transmitted and sustained. It thereby surpasses limitations in her account of how hierarchical social norms can be both obligating and open to critical challenge from within. It does so in three ways: by emphasizing normative conflicts within practices, by shifting from individual know-how to discursive practices as loci of artisanal authority, and by an account of power relations as intertwined with biosocial normativity.

Diabolical devil’s advocates and the weaponization of illocutionary force

Abstract A standing presumption in the literature is that devil’s advocacy is an inherently beneficial argumentative move; and that those who take on this role in conversation are paradigms of argumentative virtue. Outside academic circles, however, devil’s advocacy has acquired something of a notorious reputation: real-world conversations are rife with self-proclaimed devil’s advocates who are anything but virtuous. Motivated by this observation, in this paper we offer the first in-depth exploration of non-ideal devil’s advocacy. We draw on recent analyses of two better known discursive practices—mansplaining and trolling—to illuminate some of the signature traits of vicious devil’s advocacy. Building on this comparative examination, we show that all three practices trade on a manipulation of illocutionary force; and we evaluate their respective options for securing plausible deniability.