Search results

To conclude this book, we take stock of the state of the field of clean language interviewing (CLI). The field has matured considerably in 20 years and yet is still young and emergent. Through articulating the principles of CLI and exploring its application in many fields of practice, we hope this book might come to be seen as a milestone on its path. From its informal beginnings and earliest applications, we believe we can claim with justification that clean language interviewing has developed into a well-specified, well-tested and well-appreciated method that can be used to access both explicitly- and tacitly-held knowledge in a wide range of research projects.

As editors of this volume, we have been gratified and humbled by the ways in which CLI has been used by the contributors. Part II has demonstrated the value of clean language interviewing in both academic and applied research. The applications presented illustrate that CLI has breadth – given the diverse fields in which it has been applied – as well as depth, due to the various levels at which it can be used.

Our aim in this chapter is to reflect on themes that have emerged from the contributions in Part II and the experience of compiling the book as a whole. We begin by reviewing the frameworks that we regard as essential to CLI, then discuss three issues of practice and theory that have emerged from Part II. We sum up the key benefits and limitations of CLI for interviewers and interviewees before indicating some possible directions for future research.

The purpose of this monograph is to present the first English translation of a unique French colonial report on women living under colonial rule in West Africa.

The issue begins with a discussion of the contribution this report makes to the history of social development policy in Africa, and how it serves the on‐going critique of colonisation. This is followed by the English translation of the original report held in the National Archives of Senegal. The translation is accompanied by explanatory notes, translator’s comments, a glossary of African and technical terms, and a bibliography.

The discussion highlights contemporary social development policies and practices which featured in identical or similar forms in French colonial social policy.

As the report demonstrates, access to basic education and improving maternal/infant health care have dominated the social development agenda for women in sub‐Saharan Africa for over a century, and will continue to do so in the foreseeable future in the Millennium Development Goals which define the international community’s agenda for social development to 2015. The parallels between colonial and post‐colonial social policies in Africa raise questions about the philosophical and cultural foundations of contemporary social development policy in Africa and the direction policy is following in the 21st century.

Though the discussion adopts a consciously postcolonial perspective, the report that follows presents a consciously colonial view of the “Other”. Given the parallels identified here between contemporary and colonial policy‐making, this can only add to the value of the document in exploring the values that underpin contemporary social development practice.

The purpose of this paper is to break the silence surrounding the politics of translation that influence cross-language/cultural accounting research. It gives due consideration to the ways in which translation gaps are produced and re-produced in qualitative interdisciplinary accounting research (IAR).

First, the authors discuss backstage insights and the authors’ own life experiences vis-à-vis translating cross-cultural/language research. The authors provide a critical self-reflection on the process as non-Western female researchers publishing in English-language accounting journals. Second, the authors carry out a content analysis to examine reported translation practices in three long-established interdisciplinary accounting journals from 2015 to 2017. The conclusion integrates these analyses to discuss the reproduction process of the translation gap in accounting research and its outcomes.

The study identifies inherent contradictions in IAR and its emancipatory agenda, where translation gaps are structural outcomes of overlaps between the politics of translation and the politics of publishing IAR. The study highlights the IAR community’s lack of awareness regarding political and methodological sensitivities in dealing with particularities in cultural contexts. The authors argue that this reflects the institutional norms for publishing in IAR, which contributes to neutralising cultural diversity and complex translation processes in the name of objectivity. This could ultimately lead to further marginalisation of non-Western cultural knowledge and values, while producing academic “elites” within the IAR community, meanwhile missing opportunities for innovation.

By opening the “black box” pertaining to translation gaps in the context of cross-language/cultural accounting research, the study calls for IAR scholars to help raise awareness of their role and identity as “cultural brokers”.

The chapter describes how the application of clean language interviewing (CLI) to management systems auditing (MSA) originated; the resulting Yamagami-Small (YS) process; the challenge of gaining acceptance from auditors and leaders in Japanese manufacturing companies; and the lessons learned as a result of the application of CLI to MSA in a Japanese culture. The chapter will be relevant to quality improvement specialists and more widely to anyone conducting an audit in an organisational setting.

For many years I lived among debilitating violent conflict in Northern Ireland. My experience of working in other conflict-related zones such as Haiti, Nicaragua, Gaza, the Balkans and the Ukraine has demonstrated to me the commonality of the human experience of violence. Knowing the effects is one thing; knowing how to heal them is another.

Addressing circumstances related to violent conflict and its impact can take many forms. The one I have chosen to rely upon most often has been clean language interviewing. I call upon this method in situations that demand high levels of sensitivity for the safety of the local people and my personal safety. For example, when working with people with a history of violence who initially perceive me to be of a particular worldview unrelated or even antagonistic to their own.

Impartiality is imperative when working with groups of opposing views. Clean language interviewing, used in a sympathetic manner, is a practical way for me to demonstrate neutrality to others even in the most challenging of situations and it allows me to engage with people and their desires, beliefs and values.

Having the ability to ask searching questions that are challenging and yet non-confrontational has been an important resource for me as a facilitator and participatory action researcher (Snoddon, 2005, 2014). In this chapter I share some of these experiences using a case study of my work with Haitian armed gangs. My aim is to take you into the world of conflict resolution where credibility can rest on your very next question.

The rapid rise of large language models (LLMs) has propelled them to the forefront of applications in natural language processing (NLP). This paper aims to present a comprehensive examination of the research landscape in LLMs, providing an overview of the prevailing themes and topics within this dynamic domain.

Drawing from an extensive corpus of 198 records published between 1996 to 2023 from the relevant academic database encompassing journal articles, books, book chapters, conference papers and selected working papers, this study delves deep into the multifaceted world of LLM research. In this study, the authors employed the BERTopic algorithm, a recent advancement in topic modeling, to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the data after it had been meticulously cleaned and preprocessed. BERTopic leverages the power of transformer-based language models like bidirectional encoder representations from transformers (BERT) to generate more meaningful and coherent topics. This approach facilitates the identification of hidden patterns within the data, enabling authors to uncover valuable insights that might otherwise have remained obscure. The analysis revealed four distinct clusters of topics in LLM research: “language and NLP”, “education and teaching”, “clinical and medical applications” and “speech and recognition techniques”. Each cluster embodies a unique aspect of LLM application and showcases the breadth of possibilities that LLM technology has to offer. In addition to presenting the research findings, this paper identifies key challenges and opportunities in the realm of LLMs. It underscores the necessity for further investigation in specific areas, including the paramount importance of addressing potential biases, transparency and explainability, data privacy and security, and responsible deployment of LLM technology.

The analysis revealed four distinct clusters of topics in LLM research: “language and NLP”, “education and teaching”, “clinical and medical applications” and “speech and recognition techniques”. Each cluster embodies a unique aspect of LLM application and showcases the breadth of possibilities that LLM technology has to offer. In addition to presenting the research findings, this paper identifies key challenges and opportunities in the realm of LLMs. It underscores the necessity for further investigation in specific areas, including the paramount importance of addressing potential biases, transparency and explainability, data privacy and security, and responsible deployment of LLM technology.

This classification offers practical guidance for researchers, developers, educators, and policymakers to focus efforts and resources. The study underscores the importance of addressing challenges in LLMs, including potential biases, transparency, data privacy, and responsible deployment. Policymakers can utilize this information to shape regulations, while developers can tailor technology development based on the diverse applications identified. The findings also emphasize the need for interdisciplinary collaboration and highlight ethical considerations, providing a roadmap for navigating the complex landscape of LLM research and applications.

This study stands out as the first to examine the evolution of LLMs across such a long time frame and across such diversified disciplines. It provides a unique perspective on the key areas of LLM research, highlighting the breadth and depth of LLM’s evolution.

Less than eight years remain to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Numerous authors underlined the importance of language in achieving the SDGs; however, its role in the process remains overlooked. This paper aims to investigate the sustainability understanding among Tanzanian students and graduates, their translation approaches and the awareness of people living outside of universities regarding sustainability and the SDGs. The importance of including language in implementing the SDGs is highlighted, and further research regarding local languages to enhance sustainability awareness is suggested.

This study builds upon an extensive review of the current language of instruction conundrum present in many African countries and embeds the SDGs in this complex situation. Using a Tanzanian University as a case study, a questionnaire was administered to Tanzanian students and graduates, and follow-up interviews were conducted.

Findings suggest that Tanzanian higher education students and graduates are knowledgeable about both sustainability and the SDGs, with most of them integrating at least one goal into their respective research. However, in the interviews conducted, interviewees stated that in their experience, only a minority of people outside of universities are aware of both concepts. The findings indicate that the aim of target 4.7 and, ultimately, the pledge to leave no one behind remain void when African languages continue to be neglected.

A case study is characterized by a lack of generalizability. Findings from this study should, therefore, be transferred cautiously to other African countries and universities. Furthermore, university students and graduates represent highly educated participants, which does not allow deductions to other parts of society.

The authors are not aware of other studies investigating the views of Tanzanian students and graduates regarding sustainability and language and how they handle emerging translation challenges in their research. Furthermore, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is the first to highlight the importance of language in achieving target 4.7 of the SDGs and, ultimately, the pledge to leave no one behind. It, therefore, represents a valuable contribution to the scientific body of knowledge regarding education for sustainable development and language.

The Howard Shuttering Contractors case throws considerable light on the importance which the tribunals attach to warnings before dismissing an employee. In this case the tribunal took great pains to interpret the intention of the parties to the different site agreements, and it came to the conclusion that the agreed procedure was not followed. One other matter, which must be particularly noted by employers, is that where a final warning is required, this final warning must be “a warning”, and not the actual dismissal. So that where, for example, three warnings are to be given, the third must be a “warning”. It is after the employee has misconducted himself thereafter that the employer may dismiss.

There is a huge amount of information and data stored in publicly available online databases that consist of large text files accessed by Boolean search techniques. It is widely held that less use is made of these databases than could or should be the case, and that one reason for this is that potential users find it difficult to identify which databases to search, to use the various command languages of the hosts and to construct the Boolean search statements required. This reasoning has stimulated a considerable amount of exploration and development work on the construction of search interfaces, to aid the inexperienced user to gain effective access to these databases. The aim of our paper is to review aspects of the design of such interfaces: to indicate the requirements that must be met if maximum aid is to be offered to the inexperienced searcher; to spell out the knowledge that must be incorporated in an interface if such aid is to be given; to describe some of the solutions that have been implemented in experimental and operational interfaces; and to discuss some of the problems encountered. The paper closes with an extensive bibliography of references relevant to online search aids, going well beyond the items explicitly mentioned in the text. An index to software appears after the bibliography at the end of the paper.