Van Dijk Research Articles

Editorial Introduction of the Special Issue of the Studies in Nonlinear Dynamics and Econometrics in Honor of Herman van Dijk

Editorial Introduction of the Special Issue of the Studies in Nonlinear Dynamics and Econometrics in Honor of Herman van Dijk

Bank performance and financial stability during the COVID-19 pandemic: lessons from the MENA region

PurposeThis study investigates the role of market concentration and efficiency in banking system stability during the COVID-19 pandemic. We empirically test the hypothesis that market concentration and efficiency are significant determinants of bank performance and stability during the time of crises, using a sample of 575 banks in 20 countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).Design/methodology/approachThe main sources of bank data are the BankScope and BankFocus (Bureau van Dijk) databases, World Bank development indicators, and official websites of banks in MENA countries. This study combined descriptive and analytical approaches. We utilize a panel dataset and adopt panel data econometric techniques such as fixed/random effects and the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimator.FindingsThe results reveal that market concentration negatively affects bank profitability, whereas improved efficiency further enhances bank performance and contributes to the banking sector’s overall stability. Furthermore, our analysis indicates that during the COVID-19 pandemic, bank stability strongly depended on the level of market concentration, but not on bank efficiency. However, more efficient banks are more profitable and stable if the banking institutions are Islamic. Similarly, Islamic banks with the same level of efficiency demonstrated better overall financial performance during the pandemic than their conventional peers did.Research limitations/implicationsThe main limitation is related to the period of COVID-19 pandemic that was covered in this paper (2020–2021). Therefore, further investigation of the COVID-19 effects on bank profitability and risk will require an extended period of the pandemic crisis, including 2022.Practical implicationsThis study provides information that will enable bank managers and policymakers in MENA countries to assess the growing impact of market concentration and efficiency on the banking sector stability. It also helps them in formulating suitable strategies to mitigate the adverse consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our recommendations are useful guides for policymakers and regulators in countries where Islamic and conventional banking systems co-exist and compete, based on different business models and risk management practices.Originality/valueThe authors contribute to the banking stability literature by investigating the role of market concentration and efficiency as the main determinants of bank performance and stability during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study is the first to analyze banking sector stability in the MENA region, using both individual and risk-adjusted aggregated performance measures.

THE REPRESENTATION OF INDONESIAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE IN MEDIA: A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS

Mr. Prabowo Subianto is often regarded as a controversial figure, both in his military and political career. This research aims to find out Mr. Prabowo Subianto’s representation in one of The New York Times articles entitled “Indonesian General Accused of Kidnapping Is Named Defense Minister”, which was written by Richard C. Paddock in 2019. The article mainly discusses the controversial issue regarding Mr. Joko Widodo’s, the re-elected President of Indonesia, decision to appoint Mr. Subianto, his rival in the presidential election, to be one of his cabinet ministers. In analyzing the topic, van Dijk’s Critical Discourse Analysis, is utilized. Despite the fact that in van Dijk’s CDA there are three levels of analysis, namely the macro, meso, and micro levels, this paper is limited to the micro level only, as this focuses more on unveiling a more specific and detailed portrayal of Mr. Subianto’s representation in the newspaper article. In the microstructure analysis, three linguistics tools are employed, namely actor description, level of description, and rhetoric. The research applies the descriptive qualitative method as well as the library research method. The findings consistently show the negative representation of Mr. Subianto in the macrostructure, microstructure and superstructure analyses.

MR. PRABOWO SUBIANTO’S REPRESENTATION IN THE NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE “INDONESIAN GENERAL ACCUSED OF KIDNAPPING IS NAMED DEFENSE MINISTER”

Mr. Prabowo Subianto is often regarded as a controversial figure, both in his military and political career. This research aims to find out Mr. Prabowo Subianto’s representation in one of The New York Times articles entitled “Indonesian General Accused of Kidnapping Is Named Defense Minister”, which was written by Richard C. Paddock in 2019. The article mainly discusses the controversial issue regarding Mr. Joko Widodo, the re-elected President of Indonesia, decision to appoint Mr. Subianto, his rival in the presidential election, to be one of his cabinet ministers. In analyzing the topic, van Dijk’s Critical Discourse Analysis is utilized. Even though in van Dijk’s CDA there are three levels of analysis, namely the macro, meso, and micro levels, this paper is limited to the micro level only, as this focuses more on unveiling a more specific and detailed portrayal of Mr. Subianto’s representation in the newspaper article. In the microstructure analysis, three linguistics tools are employed, namely actor description, level of description, and rhetoric. The research applies the descriptive qualitative method as well as the library research method. The findings consistently show the negative representation of Mr. Subianto in the macrostructure, microstructure, and superstructure analyses.

Gendered expectations and the framing of Afghan women in peacebuilding: a critical discourse analysis

ABSTRACT Despite the invaluable role that women play in the peacebuilding process, statistics still show this as a male-dominated field. Since media narratives have the power to frame reality providing the public with preferred lenses to understand it, this study asks, How do media narratives frame the role of Afghan women in conflict resolution? To address this question, we combine Frame Theory (Entman, R. M. (1993). Framing: Toward clarification of a fractured paradigm. Journal of Communication, 43(4), 51–58) and Critical Discourse Analysis (van Dijk, T. A. (2015). Critical discourse analysis. In D. Tannen, H. E. Hamilton, & D. Schiffrin (Eds.), The handbook of discourse analysis (pp. 466–485). Wiley Blackwell) to explore media narratives before and after the Taliban came into power in August 2021. The samples include 32 articles published between 2018 and 2022 on different sources ranging from traditional news outlets to magazines, newsrooms, intergovernmental organizations, and think tanks. Findings show that media narratives perpetuate unfair gendered expectations, failing to effectively render the irreplaceable role of women in peacebuilding. Frames confirm the double bind of hegemonic femininity (Schneiker, A. (2021). The UN and women's marginalization in peace negotiations. International Affairs, 97(4), 1165–1182) as women are subject to different expectations – the exception presents them as courageous, yet the norm frames them as being too vulnerable and without a voice.

Abstract 1331: MiNK-215, an IL-15 armored FAP-targeting CAR iNKT cell therapy, effectively treats human organoid models of treatment-refractory MSS colorectal cancer (CRC) liver metastases

Abstract The presence of liver metastases in patients with microsatellite-stable (MSS) or mismatch repair proficient (pMMR) colorectal cancer (CRC) is associated with poor response to current pharmacological treatments, including immune checkpoint blockade (ICB). The tumor microenvironment (TME) of CRC liver metastases is characterized by a highly immunosuppressive phenotype that includes poor immunogenicity, a paucity of dendritic cells, elimination of tumor-specific effector T cells, and an abundance of immunosuppressive intrahepatic Kupffer cells and myeloid-derived suppressor cells. This underscores the urgent need for innovative therapeutic approaches targeted specifically to patients with CRC liver metastases. Here we describe MiNK-215, an IL-15 armored FAP-targeting CAR iNKT cell therapy, derived from the AgenT-797 allogeneic iNKT platform, as a potential novel therapeutic approach for patients with CRC liver metastases. To better model ICB refractory human MSS CRC liver metastases, we developed an ex vivo human organoid model that recapitulates the histological and immunological features of human disease. Organoids were comprised of MSS CRC cells engineered to express nuclear GFP and HLA-A2-NY-ESO-1, hepatocytes, Kupffer cell-enriched non-parenchymal cells, and HLA-matched peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) supplemented with NY-ESO-1-reactive T cells. Organoid models of CRC lung metastases, which are traditionally more responsive to ICB therapy were also developed to compare the models to clinical experience and further validate their usefulness. Models were treated with Fc-enhanced anti-CTLA-4 (botensilimab) and anti-PD-1 (balstilimab) antibodies, or MiNK-215 to assess tumor killing and immune activation. Botensilimab and balstilimab enhanced T cell activation and cytotoxicity of CRC tumor cells in the absence of “normal” liver cells and in lung organoids. However, they were less effective in organoid models of CRC with liver metastases consistent with clinical observations. In contrast, MiNK-215 potently enhanced tumor killing by T cells in models of CRC with liver metastases. Tumor killing in CRC liver organoid models by MiNK-215 was associated with depletion of immune suppressive FAP-expressing stellate cells and increased CD8+ T cell infiltration. Our findings demonstrate that in treatment-refractory CRC-liver metastatic organoid models, MiNK-215 overcomes the limitations of ICB therapy to home to sites of disease, reprogram the TME, recruit tumor-reactive T cells and enhance tumor killing. Ex-vivo human CRC liver and lung metastatic organoid models are a novel platform that can be leveraged to rapidly identify new therapeutic approaches for potential clinical evaluation. Citation Format: Shanmugarajan Krishnan, Bishnu Joshi, Justin Keith, Ryan Frazier, Barbara Kalinowska, Jin San Choi, Stephanie Sanders, Shannon Boi, Olivier Le Tonqueze, Nick Kushner, Kah Teong Soh, Robert Stein, Tyler J. Curiel, Marc A. van Dijk, Enoch Kim, Eleni Chantzoura, Nils-Petter Rudqvist, Dhan Chand. MiNK-215, an IL-15 armored FAP-targeting CAR iNKT cell therapy, effectively treats human organoid models of treatment-refractory MSS colorectal cancer (CRC) liver metastases [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2024; Part 1 (Regular Abstracts); 2024 Apr 5-10; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(6_Suppl):Abstract nr 1331.

Topic models indicate textual aboutness and pragmatics: Valuation practices in Islamophobic discourse

This study investigates the analysis of evaluative linguistic patterns within the context of the German-language Islamophobic online blog PI-News. The corpus consists of texts that refer to the Quran. The innovation of this research lies in two primary dimensions: Firstly, it adopts John Dewey’s pragmatism to establish an explicit valuation theory. Secondly, it extends the boundaries of topic modeling in the digital humanities by integrating van Dijk’s differentiation between aboutness and pragmatic macrostructures of texts. Notably, within these pragmatic macrostructures, the study highlights the practice of quoting Quran suras as a significant linguistic pattern. Together with the analysis of topic distribution and topic pathways in texts, the paper illustrates how evaluative practices reinforce the ideal of an Islam-free Europe.

Moral Values Representation through Speech Acts in Indonesian EFL Textbooks: A Critical Discourse Analysis

Abstract: In the last ten years, studies of the representation of moral values in English textbooks have been growing. However, little empirical evidence reveals the use of speech acts to represent moral values through utterances. This study aims to investigate the representation of moral values depicted through utterances in English textbooks for elementary school grades 2 and 5 in Indonesia. By adopting a socio-cognitive critical discourse analysis (Van Dijk, 2015) framework integrated with Searle’s (1969) speech acts, this qualitative study elucidates the representation of moral values only in the verbal text. The data were analyzed by applying several steps, including unitizing, sampling, recording/coding, reducing, inferring, and narrating. The findings of this study showed that curiosity, honesty, and friendliness are the most dominant moral values depicted in two English textbooks for elementary schools in Indonesia.  Dialogue/conversation, chapter cover, and instruction for students’ activity are the strategies to promote moral values in the textbooks. This study implies that teachers and textbook writers should provide students with more examples of moral values, particularly those related to daily life communication.    

No heaven but no longer hell? Tales of criminal victimization and shelter among irregular migrant men

Irregular migrants are legally excluded from formal employment, regular housing markets, and unemployment benefits, and in the Netherlands, they are also excluded from governmentally funded homeless shelters. While alternative sheltering arrangements have emerged for specific irregular migrants (e.g. minors, victims of human trafficking), unaccompanied adult men were typically still excluded from institutionalized shelter. In 2019, however, the national government launched a sheltering pilot for irregular migrants, which involves unaccompanied adult men in particular. Based on qualitative fieldwork in Rotterdam, and using Van Dijk and Steinmetz’s risk model as a theoretical lens, we argue that irregular status, interacting with other relevant factors such as social capital, co-determines the men’s criminal victimization risks, and fear of crime. In addition, we show how access to shelter changed the meaning and therefore the consequences of irregular status, resulting in both ‘de-marginalization’ and ‘re-marginalization’: victimization risks were generally reported to be lower in the shelter than in the streets, but sheltering also introduced new risks, which were mostly attributed to the co-presence of other sheltered groups, especially marginalized European Union (EU) citizens with a stronger immigration status. Paying attention to immigration statuses, and how they are socially constructed, thus helps to shed light on contemporary criminal victimization risks.

Analysis of Adjacency Pairs of Beckham’s Interview

  Conversation is a vital tool in communication for communicating meaningful pieces of interactions. Adjacency pairs are often seen as fundamental units in conversational organization. The form and purpose of a specific pair component, as well as the context beside the stage of the conversation, all play essential roles in determining the meaning and function of an utterance. Each pair has special intended meaning, purpose and function which cannot be fully understood without relying on the context at which the adjacency pairs appear. The present study tends to focus on adjacency pairs within sports interviews with the aim of studying these pairs pragmatically since defining the underlying expectations on which the regularities are founded is difficult. The study also aims at examining the adjacency pairs included in the exchanges between the TV interviewers as well as the footballers, finding out the communicative purposes behind the adjacency pairs usage that the player wishes to transmit when being interviewed. The method used for analysis is a mixed one (quantitative and qualitative) to analyze the latest interview for the player. The qualitative analysis examines the content of the utterances descriptively and the quantitative analysis relies on a table, under the interview, that shows the rates of the types of adjacency pairs. So, the selected interview is analyzed in terms of number, types, frequency and distribution of adjacency pairs. The adopted model is an eclectic one which composes Cook's (1989) model of Adjacency Pairs, Van Dijk's (2006) model of Context and Grice's (1975) model of Cooperative Principles.

Stories Sit in Places: News Media Representations and Social Development Communication of the Protesting Farmers in Central Mindanao, Philippines of the Kidapawan Massacre

This study explored the media representations of farmer-victims in Kidapawan City, the Philippines. Specifically, this examined how Metropolis-based news media represented the farmers who were reportedly involved in socio-political issues with the government that paved the way to the Kidapawan Massacre dated 1 April 2016. Juxtaposed with the exploration was the examination of how the oppressed and marginalised group was presented in media reports within the context of social development. This researcher employed van Dijk’s (1998, A critical discourse analysis) Critical Discourse Analysis of selected 27 tabloid news stories. This critical research led to the way of thinking that because of the government’s inaction and the media’s neoliberal-capitalistic ideology, farmers’ plight was overlooked and silenced. In this elite-dominated Philippine society as well as in the Asia-Pacific, discourses of people-centred development were relatively scant and torpid. Hence, the conceptualisation of an alternative model, that is Communication and Social Development ( Pascual, 2018 : Media representations of the Kidapawan farmers and social development communication in the Kidapawan Massacre).

DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF MISS UNIVERSE 2018—2023’s WINNING ANSWERS

This article aims to describe Miss Universe 2018—2023’s winning answers textually and contextually with qualitative descriptive research to see the use of language functions in a Miss Universe Competition. The data for this research are words, phrases, clauses, and sentences from Miss Universe 2018—2023’s winning answers that are collected using listening and note-taking techniques. This research step includes determining the type of discourse, the unit of analysis, and describing data units. This research found that there are 126 grammatical and lexical elements. In the grammatical aspect, there are 54 references, 2 substitutions, 14 ellipsis, and 33 conjunctions. In the lexical aspect, there are 3 synonyms, 2 antonyms, 2 hyponyms, 6 repetitions, 8 collocations, and 2 equivalences. In the contextual aspect, the discourse is discussed in social cognition and social analysis using Teun Van Dijk's theory. As a result, the discourse was influenced by negative events occurring in society, so the content of the discourse focused on Miss Universe 2018—2023's efforts to influence the target audience to be brave in facing that inequality. This discourse also emerged due to two social factors, the power factor with the prestigious status of Miss Universe and the broad international access factor.

Global and Micro Analysis of Discourse Coherence Relations in English and American Literature

This research paper, titled Global and Micro Analysis of Discourse Coherence Relations in English and American Literature, delves into the intricate world of discourse coherence relations within the realm of English and American literature. Employing discourse coherence theory, the study conducts, global and micro-level analyses of selected literary works to uncover the profound connections between language, narrative, and the human psyche. The paper begins with an exploration of the background and significance of the study, highlighting the importance of understanding how literary texts achieve coherence and coherence relations. It emphasizes the interdisciplinary nature of discourse coherence theory, bridging the fields of literature and linguistics. The research objectives are outlined, focusing on the examination of overarching discourse coherence, micro-level linguistic and semantic connections, and their impact on character development, narrative structure, and thematic exploration. The literature review section provides an overview of previous research in the field, emphasizing the need for a comprehensive study combining both global and micro-level analyses of discourse coherence in literature. Scholars such as Teun A. van Dijk, Michael Hoey, and Walter Nash have contributed valuable insights into the analysis of coherence relations in texts. In conclusion, this research aims to enrich our understanding of the art of storytelling and the human experience as conveyed through language.

Social Media Continuing Medical Education: Next Steps

Conference Education Session Report Speakers Cindy van Dijk, Principal, Scientific Communications Allison Kickel, President and Founder, Bonum Continuing Education

Efficacy of observational care versus antibiotic therapy for treatment of acute uncomplicated diverticulitis

A clinical decision report using: van Dijk ST, Daniels L, Ünlü Ç, et al. for the Dutch Diverticular Disease (3D) Collaborative Study Group. Long-Term Effects of Omitting Antibiotics in Uncomplicated Acute Diverticulitis. Am J Gastroenterol. 2018;113(7):1045-1052. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41395-018-0030-y for a patient with acute uncomplicated diverticulitis.

A discursive reading of ideology, dominance and resistance in political texts

The North (or the West) considers itself superior to the South and has thus arrogated to itself the right to ‘guide’ it in many a sphere, something that has gone down badly with some countries in the South, so much so that some of them resist this domination. It is against this background that this paper analyses four texts from the two contending geo-political zones to untangle discursive strategies of positive self-presentation and negative other presentation. Using Teun van Dijk’s (2006) ideological square, the paper analyses the texts concerning aspects of ideology, dominance and resistance. It has been found that Donald Trump and the European Parliament (representing the North), as well as John Pombe Joseph Magufuli and Nicolas Maduro (representing the South), deployed semantic macrostructures, macro-speech acts, the active voice and lexical resources, among others, to do positive self-presentation and negative other-presentation. The paper contends that the two sides deployed the strategies because the North wants to continue dominating and exploiting the South and the South wants to liberate itself from the chain the former placed around its neck centuries ago. About the South’s goal, the paper shows how the South could go it alone, with a bias towards Africa.

DuPont analysis among European dentistry companies to measure the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic

Although health economics belongs to the highly respected economic disciplines within the research literature, there is a considerable gap related to the investigation of dentistry in particular, even after the global pandemic of COVID-19 disease. Fundamentally, the DuPont framework is a well-known complex analysis to evaluate companies from the point of view of financial performance. The investigation of the return on equity as a relation between the return on assets and the equity multiplier, simply called the leverage effect, is presented in this paper. Therefore, this study aims to estimate the effect of leverage and its changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic among dentistry companies in selected European countries with different healthcare insurance systems. This comparative investigation focused on the generalised method of moments with dynamic panel data from Orbis, the Bureau van Dijk financial database for 1,128 dentistry companies in nine European countries. Methodologically, concerning those post-estimation techniques to evaluate over- and underestimation of the models. It has been differentiating between companies with a high or low ownership concentration structure. The results have shown differences in the leverage effect during the pandemic, assuming that companies with a major owner increased their equity, while the debt leverage increased among those companies with dispersed ownership and vice versa. If economic theory states that debt financing is more effective for a company than using internal sources, it is apparently different in the case of dentistry during the pandemic. However, dispersed ownership is more often related to dentistry, according to mergers in this particular business industry.

Muslim women’s diasporic identity: a critical discourse analysis of Leila Aboulela’s Minaret (2005)

ABSTRACT Due to different unpropitious circumstances, immigration is globally on the rise. A Muslim Sudanese woman’s diasporic experience can be best perceived through a critical discourse analysis (CDA) of Leila Aboulela’s novel Minaret (2005). In a study of Minaret’s textual analysis, this article applies three central CDA postulations: 1. Teun A. van Dijk’s (1993a, & 2006b) three layers of study through ‘Discourse, Cognitive, and Society’, 2. Ruth Wodak’s ‘Language, and Ideology’ in the study of discourse analysis, and 3. Norman Fairclough’s (1996a, 2001b & 2013c) ‘3D model of CDA’. This research explores the social, diasporic, and historical challenges through a textual analysis of Minaret, which is faced by Sudanese women in Britain. Najwa, the protagonist struggles to find her identity while encountering innumerable challenges in the diasporic route. Her dis/placement of identity, and religion can be seen to construct an identity in a multicultural world (like Britain). In a nutshell, Minaret presents Najwa’s identity, representation, and language relation in social practice. Class conflict, power inequality, and a struggle for identity quest are contemporary issues that have been demonstrated around Najwa’s life.

Speech and Genre Characteristics of Express Consultation as a New Phenomenon of Medical Discourse

Introduction. The aim of the article is to analyze an extramural express consultation as a genre of oral medical discourse. New telemedicine technologies expand the forms of communication, it results in transformation of the dialogue between a doctor and a patient when communicating online, which requires linguistic research.Methodology and sources. The article is based on the main theses of the theory of speech genres formulated by M.M. Bakhtin, T.A. Van Dijk, O.B. Sirotinina, T.V. Shmeleva and others. The author has taken the scientific works on the study of speech genres of oral medical discourse as the methodological basis of the analysis. This includes the works of V.V. Zhura, E.A. Ponomarenko, M.I. Barsukova and others. The study applies methods of linguistic analysis of recorded online consultations for speech-genre characteristics of express consultations.Results and discussion. The article gives a description of an express consultation, including the following parameters: communicative goal, utterance content, speech roles of communicators, linguistic embodiment of the genre. The author pays special attention to doctor's communicative style and gives its assessment in terms of achieving communicative and consequently professional success. The author also describes a speech-genre scenario of a medical online consultation and a chain of communicative moves in a doctor's speech.Conclusion. The study shows that doctor's every speech act is specified by a complex system of communicative targets, primarily related to informative goals (requesting information from the patient and providing information in the form of an explanation and recommendation) and therapy goals to maintain a patient's psychological and emotional well-being. Communicators' speech behavior is regulated by the institutional roles of «an agent» and «a client» of an institution, native speakers having their own invariants. The utterance content is specified by a patient's specific complaint and is organized in accordance with the stages of a medical consultation. The study concludes that genre competence as a part of communicative competence in the form of online communication is the most important professional tool of a consulting specialist.

STRATEGY IN SAMPRADAYA DISCOURSE ON FACEBOOK

Background: The term sampradaya is used to denote the Hindu spiritual community in Bali with new traditions and ways originating in India starting in 1980. The debate about sampradaya also took place on social media, resulting in contesting discourses. Research on sampradaya discourse on social media is still very poorly conducted. Based on this, the study aims to determine the strategy of sampradaya discourse in the battle of discourse about sampradaya on Facebook.   Methods: This research uses a combination of critical di methods Teun Van Dijk model and netnographic methods. Research data in the form of discourse was collected by copying communication between participants in the Facebook community environment.   Result: Based on research, the strategies used by discourse in combat are symbolic capital strategies, reproduction strategies, distinctive strategies, rejection and exclusion strategies, and transformation strategies.   Conclussion: The strategies employed in the discourse battles of the Sampradaya on Facebook encompass symbolic capital, reproduction, distinction, rejection and exclusion, and transformation strategies. The use of these strategies in discourse battles aims to maintain and, in some cases, alter the distribution of symbolic resources in relation to power hierarchies, thereby influencing the online community.