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1 – 10 of 725
Article
Publication date: 20 August 2024

Huiping Xian, Yingying He, Fanke Huang and Paul Latreille

This study aims to advance knowledge in international management research about how researchers’ cultural identity in fieldwork encounters may be grounded in the choice of…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to advance knowledge in international management research about how researchers’ cultural identity in fieldwork encounters may be grounded in the choice of language in multicultural and multilingual projects.

Design/methodology/approach

The study is based on critical reflections on the experience of two co-authors as Chinese nationals conducting research in overseas Chinese multinational corporations (MNCs) in developing economies.

Findings

Drawing on social identity theory, the authors demonstrate that the cultural identity and cultural insider/outsider positionality of both the researcher and research participants can be shaped by language, translation and other artefacts in cross-cultural interviews, constantly being shifted, managed and renegotiated during qualitative interviewing. This study highlights the politics of language which, when combined with other forms of power relations, such as the researcher’s perceived status, economic development of the MNCs’ home country and the participants’ organisational hierarchy, affect power distribution between the researcher and participants. Researchers often need to move from being an “insider” to an “outsider” and often to an “in-betweener” at different stages in an interview interaction to balance power.

Originality/value

This study contributes to international debates about the complex interplay of languages, politics and identity in multilingual and multicultural qualitative research. In contributing to these literatures, the authors focus on the relatively under-researched Chinese MNCs in other developing countries including Mongolia and Tanzania. Recommendations for researcher training and reflexivity are proposed.

Details

Critical Perspectives on International Business, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1742-2043

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 22 May 2024

Gareth Davey

Translanguaging is a language-related pedagogy drawing upon all resources within a learner’s linguistic repertoire, in contrast to conventional monolingual pedagogy. Most research…

Abstract

Purpose

Translanguaging is a language-related pedagogy drawing upon all resources within a learner’s linguistic repertoire, in contrast to conventional monolingual pedagogy. Most research about translanguaging concerns English-language learning in primary schools and secondary schools and overlooks psychology subject matter, higher education and countries in southeast Asia. This article reports a small-scale practitioner enquiry into translanguaging on an English-medium undergraduate research methods course for psychology students in Vietnam and into the usefulness of the Multimodalities-Entextualization Cycle as a conceptual framework for integrating translanguaging into the course.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with students and reflective journaling by the teacher, and the data were analysed in a hybrid deductive-inductive thematic analysis.

Findings

The first theme about teaching and translanguaging consists of the following subthemes: (a) enhanced communication, (b) increased awareness of language use, (c) supported interaction in class and (d) time and workload issues. The second theme about learning and translanguaging is subdivided into the following subthemes: (a) a new approach to learning, (b) beneficial for learning, (c) developing confidence in learning in English and (d) enjoyment of translanguaging. The conceptual framework underpinning the study was useful for designing and implementing translanguaging activities for the course.

Research limitations/implications

The study is limited to one course and a small group of students in Vietnam learning English as a second language. It addresses limited research on translanguaging in psychology courses, higher education, and southeast Asia.

Practical implications

The study makes a valuable contribution to the teaching profession by offering practical insights into the application, benefits, and drawbacks of translanguaging for psychology and research methods subject matter.

Social implications

Moreover, the findings lay the groundwork for potential influences on education policy, aligning with broader societal impacts.

Originality/value

The study makes a valuable contribution to the literature by delving into a relatively unexplored domain.

Details

Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2050-7003

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 23 May 2023

Yung-Ching Tseng, Hua-Wei Hung and Bou-Wen Lin

This paper examines the framing of digital transformation. The research questions are specified as follows: what are the different types of framing strategies in response to…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper examines the framing of digital transformation. The research questions are specified as follows: what are the different types of framing strategies in response to digital transformation? How do the strategies differ across organizations? Theoretically, the authors draw on the framing perspective to emphasize the use of linguistic frames in shaping innovation and change processes. Empirically, the authors choose to study the Taiwanese sectors, including publicly governed entities, traditional private business or technology-based ventures.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors’ approach combines topic modeling and qualitative analysis. Using data collected from newspaper and magazine articles, the authors employ topic modeling to generate a set of distinctive framings that Taiwanese actors typically adopt to motivate and justify their digital move. The authors also conduct personal interviews to qualitatively complement the authors’ topic modeling analysis and to identify the rationale behind the linguistic framings and the strategic differences brought about by the various organizations.

Findings

The authors identify five topics that the Taiwanese actors commonly used in the framing of digital transformation. These topics or frames are labeled as cross-domain coordination, market demand, intelligent technology, global trend and competition and digital innovation. The practical use of the framings is contingent on organizational characteristics. Furthermore, the authors show how the framings can be classified as either positive framing (e.g. winning the next war) or negative framing (e.g. innovate or die), generally applicable to organizations around the world struggling to cope with digital disruption.

Research limitations/implications

The authors’ study has two research implications. First, the authors extend the appreciation of the digital transformation from the usual concern with technological and business model innovations to linguistic or framing practices. Second, the authors enrich the framing analysis by emphasizing a practice or contingency perspective based on sector difference. The findings are subject to the limitations of the choice of only established and reputable media outlets, the diatextual reading and filtering of useful articles for topic modeling analysis and the use of world frequency to account for frame significance.

Practical implications

The authors shift actors' attention from improving technical efficiency to acquiring linguistic resources in the pursuit of digitalization. For example, framing the digital transformation in terms of creating a market orientation calls for not only real consumer power but also strategic discursive competence that enables the move to change. The findings also point out that practitioners can enlarge the scope of their agency rather than being trapped in the habituated routine of practices. Despite social embeddedness, organizations are more often widely connected and built enough to call for more of the cognitive frames to appeal to heterogeneous stakeholders.

Originality/value

The authors study contributes to the literature by developing a linguistic or socio-cognitive view of digital transformation strategy that is capable of expanding organizational attention toward change and innovation. The authors explore menus of strategic frames employed by actors in response to digital transformation. We also address the application of a machine-learning tool such as topic modeling to explore the socio-cognitive dimensions of digital transformation. Furthermore, the analysis leads us to identify the outcomes or effects – either positive or negative – that move beyond the particular Taiwanese case to explain the framing of digital transformation in general.

Details

European Journal of Innovation Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1460-1060

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 May 2024

Lala Hajibayova, Mallory McCorkhill and Timothy D. Bowman

In this study, STEM resources reviewed in Goodreads were investigated to determine their authorship, linguistic characteristics and impact. The analysis reveals gender disparity…

Abstract

Purpose

In this study, STEM resources reviewed in Goodreads were investigated to determine their authorship, linguistic characteristics and impact. The analysis reveals gender disparity favoring titles with male authors.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper applies theoretical concepts of knowledge commons to understand how individuals leverage the affordances of the Goodreads platform to share their perceptions of STEM-related books.

Findings

The analysis reveals gender disparity favoring titles with male authors. Female-authored STEM publications represent popular science nonfiction and juvenile genres. Analysis of the scholarly impact of the reviewed titles revealed that Google Scholar provides broader and more diverse coverage than Web of Science. Linguistic analysis of the reviews revealed the relatively low aesthetic disposition of reviewers with an emphasis on embodied experiences that emerged from the reading.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the understanding of the impact of popular STEM resources as well as the influence of the language of user-generated reviews on production, consumption and discoverability of STEM titles.

Details

Journal of Documentation, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0022-0418

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 19 April 2024

Daniel Sidney Fussy and Hassan Iddy

This study aims to explore motives behind teachers' and students' use of translanguaging and how they use it in Tanzanian public secondary school classrooms.

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to explore motives behind teachers' and students' use of translanguaging and how they use it in Tanzanian public secondary school classrooms.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected using interviews and non-participant observations.

Findings

The findings indicate that translanguaging was used to facilitate content comprehension, promote classroom interaction and increase students' motivation to learn. Translanguaging was implemented using three strategies: paraphrasing an English text into Kiswahili, translating an English text into its Kiswahili equivalent and word-level translanguaging.

Practical implications

By highlighting the motivations for translanguaging and corresponding strategies associated with translanguaging pedagogy in the Tanzanian context, this study has significant practical implications for teachers and students to showcase their linguistic and multimodal knowledge, while fostering a safe learning space that relates to students' daily experiences.

Originality/value

The study offers new insights into previous research on the role of language-supportive pedagogy appropriate for teachers and students working within bi-/multilingual education settings.

Details

Qualitative Research Journal, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1443-9883

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 24 April 2024

Zhuo Min Huang, Heather Cockayne and Jenna Mittelmeier

The study explores diverse and critical understandings of “international” in a higher education curriculum context, situated in a curriculum review of a postgraduate taught…

Abstract

Purpose

The study explores diverse and critical understandings of “international” in a higher education curriculum context, situated in a curriculum review of a postgraduate taught programme entitled “International Education” at a university located in England. Our study problematises and decentres some dominant, normalised notions of “international”, exploring critical possibilities of engaging with the term for higher education internationalisation.

Design/methodology/approach

We examined a set of programme curriculum documents and conducted a survey exploring teaching staff’s uses and interpretations of “international” in their design and delivery of course units. Through a thematic analysis of the dataset, we identify what “international” might mean or how it may be missing across the curriculum.

Findings

Our findings suggest a locally-developed conceptualisation of “international” beyond the normalised interpretation of “international” as the inclusion or comparison of multiple nations, and different, other countries around the global world. More diverse, critical understandings of the term have been considered, including international as intercultural, competences, ethics, languages and methods. The study provides an example approach to reflective scholarship that programmes can undergo in order to develop clarity, depth and purposefulness into internationalisation as enacted in a local curriculum context.

Originality/value

The study provides a first step towards establishing clearer guidelines on internationalising the curriculum by higher education institutions and individual programmes in order to challenge a superficial engagement of “international” within internationalisation. It exemplifies a starting point for making purposeful steps away from normalised notions and assumptions of international education and facilitates development towards its critical, ethically-grounded opportunities.

Details

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-7149

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 27 August 2024

Cesar Teló, Pavel Trofimovich, Mary Grantham O'Brien, Thao-Nguyen Nina Le and Anamaria Bodea

High-stakes decision-makers, including human resource (HR) professionals, often exhibit accent biases against second language speakers in professional evaluations. We extend this…

Abstract

Purpose

High-stakes decision-makers, including human resource (HR) professionals, often exhibit accent biases against second language speakers in professional evaluations. We extend this work by investigating how HR students evaluate simulated job interview performances in English by first and second language speakers of English.

Design/methodology/approach

Eighty HR students from Calgary and Montreal evaluated the employability of first language (L1) Arabic, English, and Tagalog candidates applying for two positions (nurse, teacher) at four points in the interview (after reading the applicant’s resume, hearing their self-introduction, and listening to each of two responses to interview questions). Candidates’ responses additionally varied in the extent to which they meaningfully answered the interview questions.

Findings

Students from both cities provided similar evaluations, employability ratings were similar for both advertised positions, and high-quality responses elicited consistently high ratings while evaluations for low-quality responses declined over time. All speakers were evaluated similarly based on their resumes and self-introductions, regardless of their language background. However, evaluations diverged for interview responses, where L1 Arabic and Tagalog speakers were considered more employable than L1 English speakers. Importantly, students’ preference for L1 Arabic and Tagalog candidates over L1 English candidates was magnified when those candidates provided low-quality interview responses.

Originality/value

Results suggest that even in the absence of dedicated equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) training focusing on language and accent bias, HR students may be aware of second language speakers’ potential disadvantages in the workplace, rewarding them in the current evaluations. Findings also highlight the potential influence of contextual factors on HR students’ decision-making.

Details

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-7149

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 29 June 2022

Ibtissam Touahri

This paper purposed a multi-facet sentiment analysis system.

Abstract

Purpose

This paper purposed a multi-facet sentiment analysis system.

Design/methodology/approach

Hence, This paper uses multidomain resources to build a sentiment analysis system. The manual lexicon based features that are extracted from the resources are fed into a machine learning classifier to compare their performance afterward. The manual lexicon is replaced with a custom BOW to deal with its time consuming construction. To help the system run faster and make the model interpretable, this will be performed by employing different existing and custom approaches such as term occurrence, information gain, principal component analysis, semantic clustering, and POS tagging filters.

Findings

The proposed system featured by lexicon extraction automation and characteristics size optimization proved its efficiency when applied to multidomain and benchmark datasets by reaching 93.59% accuracy which makes it competitive to the state-of-the-art systems.

Originality/value

The construction of a custom BOW. Optimizing features based on existing and custom feature selection and clustering approaches.

Details

Applied Computing and Informatics, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2634-1964

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 January 2024

Amir Ghajarieh and Afarin Aghabozorgi

This study aims to analyze translanguaging practices and beliefs of Iranian English for General Purposes (EGP) teachers and find discrepancies between the practice and perception…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to analyze translanguaging practices and beliefs of Iranian English for General Purposes (EGP) teachers and find discrepancies between the practice and perception of educators in bi/multilingual species in Iranian educational settings.

Design/methodology/approach

The study involved interviewing ten teachers and observing six of their sessions, which yielded qualitative data.

Findings

The results showed that the participating teachers produced recurring themes such as the significance and limitations of translanguaging, techniques for training multilingual learners and the restrictions imposed by policies that discourage the use of L1 in language institutes in Iran. A noteworthy observation made in this investigation was that educators who possessed competency in three or more languages exhibited greater endorsement of translanguaging in both their perceptions and practices.

Practical implications

This study has significant implications for instructors, teacher trainers and policymakers operating within multilingual environments. It serves as a pioneering study that invites a productive synergy between Western and Asian researchers in exploring bi/multilingual spaces within Asian educational contexts.

Originality/value

This study brings a fresh perspective to the current body of research on teacher agency in bi/multilingual educational settings. By utilizing qualitative methods, it offers unique and original insights. Particularly noteworthy is the discovery that educators who are proficient in three or more languages are more inclined to support translanguaging. This observation adds a distinctive understanding of translanguaging in language education. It opens up new possibilities for exploring the application and efficacy of the translanguaging approach in Asian bi/multilingual spaces in education.

Details

Qualitative Research Journal, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1443-9883

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 August 2024

Chengyuan Yu

While higher education has been encouraging interdisciplinary research, few studies have been conducted to understand how interdisciplinarity shapes the identity construction of…

Abstract

Purpose

While higher education has been encouraging interdisciplinary research, few studies have been conducted to understand how interdisciplinarity shapes the identity construction of scholars, especially doctoral students who may already strive to socialize into academia.

Design/methodology/approach

Therefore, this study adopts the approach of autoethnography to analyze my lived experience of developing disciplinary literacy and constructing interdisciplinary identity as a Chinese international doctoral student at a North American university. Communication theory of identity (CTI) is the theoretical framework through which I understand the negotiation among my personal, enacted, relational and communal identities while communicating my research through diverse literacy practices.

Findings

This autoethnography reveals that interdisciplinary doctoral students can flexibly use discursive resources from different disciplines and literacy practices in both English and their first language to dynamically create interdisciplinary identities communicable to different discourse communities. Their identities in different disciplines can develop simultaneously, rather than suppressing one for the development of the other as they do interdisciplinary research.

Originality/value

This study first extends current scholarly discussion of disciplinary literacy to a less-investigated setting, i.e. doctoral education in higher education. Second, it adds an additive and current layer of interdisciplinarity to the existing understanding of international doctoral students’ identity construction. Third, it helps to understand how the development of disciplinary literacy can facilitate disciplinary identity construction and how disciplinary identity construction can facilitate the development of disciplinary literacy.

Details

Qualitative Research Journal, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1443-9883

Keywords

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