Pub Date : 2024-07-03DOI: 10.3389/fcomm.2024.1379935
Betty Lanteigne, Hedieh Najafi
Transactional and interactional English communications tend to be on a continuum rather than a dichotomy, with some communications having characteristics of both, yet others tending more toward one type of communication or the other. In general, written communication tends to be more informative (transactional) than spoken communication, which tends to include more interactional communication. Using insights from geosemiotics and linguistic analysis, this study analyzed spoken English-as-a-lingua-franca (ELF) communication observed in Dubai/Sharjah and written communication in public signs in Al Ain, looking at how contextual influences play a role in facilitating hearer/reader understanding of the meaning being communicated. From identified ELF communications in Dubai/Sharjah and photographed public signs with English text in Al Ain in the UAE, 10 spoken and eight written instances of transactional English were selected to be analyzed in terms of patterns in the role of context in hearer/reader understanding of intended meaning. Comparing/contrasting contextualization of these spoken and written transactional English communications revealed the influence of the context on hearer/reader awareness of spatiotemporal aspects, background schemata (social/societal, cultural, economic, and religious aspects), prior communications, and ELF mutual accommodation of meaning in terms of understanding and interpreting intended meaning, as well as identifying aspects of contextualization common to both spoken and written transactional English.
{"title":"The role of context in transactional English: spoken utterances and public signs in the UAE","authors":"Betty Lanteigne, Hedieh Najafi","doi":"10.3389/fcomm.2024.1379935","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2024.1379935","url":null,"abstract":"Transactional and interactional English communications tend to be on a continuum rather than a dichotomy, with some communications having characteristics of both, yet others tending more toward one type of communication or the other. In general, written communication tends to be more informative (transactional) than spoken communication, which tends to include more interactional communication. Using insights from geosemiotics and linguistic analysis, this study analyzed spoken English-as-a-lingua-franca (ELF) communication observed in Dubai/Sharjah and written communication in public signs in Al Ain, looking at how contextual influences play a role in facilitating hearer/reader understanding of the meaning being communicated. From identified ELF communications in Dubai/Sharjah and photographed public signs with English text in Al Ain in the UAE, 10 spoken and eight written instances of transactional English were selected to be analyzed in terms of patterns in the role of context in hearer/reader understanding of intended meaning. Comparing/contrasting contextualization of these spoken and written transactional English communications revealed the influence of the context on hearer/reader awareness of spatiotemporal aspects, background schemata (social/societal, cultural, economic, and religious aspects), prior communications, and ELF mutual accommodation of meaning in terms of understanding and interpreting intended meaning, as well as identifying aspects of contextualization common to both spoken and written transactional English.","PeriodicalId":31739,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Communication","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141681405","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-07-02DOI: 10.3389/fcomm.2024.1407295
Manuela Vida-Mannl
In Croatia, speaking many different languages is popular and perceived as a prestigious skill. English is one of the most commonly spoken additional languages and many Croats engage with it frequently, e.g., when watching undubbed American or British TV programs and movies. Due to this frequent engagement as well as the rise of English as a global language, especially younger Croats and those who work in the tourism sector tend to be quite proficient users of English. When interacting with tourists, Croats use accommodation strategies to cater to the tourists’ linguistic needs to increase understanding and communicative success (cf., e.g., Kaur, 2022 on pragmatic strategies). The present investigation centers on the specific pragmatic strategies present in such interactions between international tourists and local tourism workers and, based on a subset of 48 conversations recorded at the Franjo Tuđman Airport Zagreb, it illustrates the pragmatic strategies in the negotiation of directions to the city center. It shows that tourists and tourism workers tend to use the investigated pragmatic strategies in the following order of frequency: SMs>DMs>HMS>repetition>rephrasing>other features. However, taking a closer look, the study unveils how tourism workers balance the needs for efficiency and sociability when engaging with international tourists and offers a first take at understanding why the answers to similar questions often vary as the quality and quantity of the provided answers are influenced not only by linguistic factors.
{"title":"“How can I get into the city center?”—pragmatic strategies at use in international tourism interactions in Croatia","authors":"Manuela Vida-Mannl","doi":"10.3389/fcomm.2024.1407295","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2024.1407295","url":null,"abstract":"In Croatia, speaking many different languages is popular and perceived as a prestigious skill. English is one of the most commonly spoken additional languages and many Croats engage with it frequently, e.g., when watching undubbed American or British TV programs and movies. Due to this frequent engagement as well as the rise of English as a global language, especially younger Croats and those who work in the tourism sector tend to be quite proficient users of English. When interacting with tourists, Croats use accommodation strategies to cater to the tourists’ linguistic needs to increase understanding and communicative success (cf., e.g., Kaur, 2022 on pragmatic strategies). The present investigation centers on the specific pragmatic strategies present in such interactions between international tourists and local tourism workers and, based on a subset of 48 conversations recorded at the Franjo Tuđman Airport Zagreb, it illustrates the pragmatic strategies in the negotiation of directions to the city center. It shows that tourists and tourism workers tend to use the investigated pragmatic strategies in the following order of frequency: SMs>DMs>HMS>repetition>rephrasing>other features. However, taking a closer look, the study unveils how tourism workers balance the needs for efficiency and sociability when engaging with international tourists and offers a first take at understanding why the answers to similar questions often vary as the quality and quantity of the provided answers are influenced not only by linguistic factors.","PeriodicalId":31739,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Communication","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-07-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141686422","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-07-02DOI: 10.3389/fcomm.2024.1380775
Xintao Yu, Xiaochen Liu, Zhen Xu
In an era where user experience reigns supreme, an unexpected element is subtly influencing our interactions with technology— “Cuteness.” However, when discussing the design of digital products such as AIVAs, is cuteness merely a matter of appearance? This paper aims to unveil the complex psychological mechanisms and their impact on usage intention hidden behind the seemingly harmless allure of cuteness. Through an experimental study involving 284 participants and utilizing a moderated serial mediation model via PLS-SEM, this research reveals how aesthetic design differences influence usage intentions. The findings disclose three key insights: (1) A positive relationship between cuteness and usage intention is confirmed; (2) Social presence, performance expectancy and customer value act as serial mediations between cuteness and usage intention; (3) Perceived risk moderates the impact of cuteness on usage intentions by influencing social presence, performance expectancy, hedonic value and functional value. This contributes theoretical insights and practical guidance for the sustainable development and success of AIVAs.
{"title":"Adorable interactions: investigating the influence of AI voice assistant cuteness on consumer usage intentions","authors":"Xintao Yu, Xiaochen Liu, Zhen Xu","doi":"10.3389/fcomm.2024.1380775","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2024.1380775","url":null,"abstract":"In an era where user experience reigns supreme, an unexpected element is subtly influencing our interactions with technology— “Cuteness.” However, when discussing the design of digital products such as AIVAs, is cuteness merely a matter of appearance? This paper aims to unveil the complex psychological mechanisms and their impact on usage intention hidden behind the seemingly harmless allure of cuteness. Through an experimental study involving 284 participants and utilizing a moderated serial mediation model via PLS-SEM, this research reveals how aesthetic design differences influence usage intentions. The findings disclose three key insights: (1) A positive relationship between cuteness and usage intention is confirmed; (2) Social presence, performance expectancy and customer value act as serial mediations between cuteness and usage intention; (3) Perceived risk moderates the impact of cuteness on usage intentions by influencing social presence, performance expectancy, hedonic value and functional value. This contributes theoretical insights and practical guidance for the sustainable development and success of AIVAs.","PeriodicalId":31739,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Communication","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-07-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141686958","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-07-02DOI: 10.3389/fcomm.2024.1409851
Jun Peng, Fred Dervin
The world has been experiencing huge upheavals since the COVID-19 crises. Conflicts caused by opposing ideologies, economic-political agendas and realities are rampant within or across borders. Such unsteady circumstances contribute to shifting how Transnational Education (TNE) occurs worldwide, as well as the scientific, epistemic and educational discourses that go with it. Anchored within critical interculturality, this paper explores the concept of ‘inter-ideologicality’. The study looks at short-term online international student mobility to demonstrate how students from China and Finland navigate and negotiate ideologies around the concept of culture in intercultural research and education. The study also employs Wang Chong’s perspectives on criticality to identify emerging ideologies in the co-construction of criticality in students’ online cooperation. Findings reveal that (1) two ideological orientations, nation-oriented and society-oriented, developed during discussions about culture; (2) Finnish students used a specific form of reasoning to contradict Chinese students’ thoughts about Finland by means of criticality towards the nation-oriented ideology; (3) Chinese and Finnish students employed questioning and challenging to help each other be aware of something left unsaid about the status of women in their societies within the society-oriented ideology. The study represents an important meta-approach to intercultural communication education within internationalization of Higher Education, aimed at supporting mobile students to reflect critically on the scientific and educational notion of interculturality rather than providing them with ready-made recipes as to how to communicate and behave interculturally.
{"title":"‘Inter-ideologicality’ in intercultural communication education: co-constructing criticality around the concept of culture in international online student mobility","authors":"Jun Peng, Fred Dervin","doi":"10.3389/fcomm.2024.1409851","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2024.1409851","url":null,"abstract":"The world has been experiencing huge upheavals since the COVID-19 crises. Conflicts caused by opposing ideologies, economic-political agendas and realities are rampant within or across borders. Such unsteady circumstances contribute to shifting how Transnational Education (TNE) occurs worldwide, as well as the scientific, epistemic and educational discourses that go with it. Anchored within critical interculturality, this paper explores the concept of ‘inter-ideologicality’. The study looks at short-term online international student mobility to demonstrate how students from China and Finland navigate and negotiate ideologies around the concept of culture in intercultural research and education. The study also employs Wang Chong’s perspectives on criticality to identify emerging ideologies in the co-construction of criticality in students’ online cooperation. Findings reveal that (1) two ideological orientations, nation-oriented and society-oriented, developed during discussions about culture; (2) Finnish students used a specific form of reasoning to contradict Chinese students’ thoughts about Finland by means of criticality towards the nation-oriented ideology; (3) Chinese and Finnish students employed questioning and challenging to help each other be aware of something left unsaid about the status of women in their societies within the society-oriented ideology. The study represents an important meta-approach to intercultural communication education within internationalization of Higher Education, aimed at supporting mobile students to reflect critically on the scientific and educational notion of interculturality rather than providing them with ready-made recipes as to how to communicate and behave interculturally.","PeriodicalId":31739,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Communication","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-07-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141685373","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-07-01DOI: 10.3389/fcomm.2024.1402125
Florentina-Mihaela Barbulescu, Marius Vasiluță-Ștefănescu, Ionela Stoicov, Claudiu Coman, Ecaterina Coman
In a globalized and constantly evolving employment environment, it is imperative that organizations cultivate effective employer branding strategies to maintain competitiveness and attractiveness. These would allow them to obtain unique advantages in the market but also support for the internal employer brand. Despite the critical role of employer branding in attracting and retaining top talent, there remains a gap in understanding its relationship to HRM practices and employee perceptions of those practices. The purpose of this research was to investigate the correlation between human resources management practices and employer branding measured through organizational attractiveness and seen from the employees’ perspective. Additionally, to find out if there is a significant difference between the private and public sector in terms of the perception of HRM practices influencing organizational attractiveness.A questionnaire was applied to 800 respondents, employed in various positions in private and public sector organizations in western Romania. Two scales were applied to evaluate human resources management practices and the employer’s attractiveness from the employees’ perspective.Findings indicate a direct and positive relation between HRM practices and organizational attractiveness, with particular emphasis on performance appraisal practice, training and development, and work-life balance practices. When it comes to private sector, the significant practices influencing organizational attractiveness are performance appraisal, safety, and work-life balance practices, whereas in the public sector we have training-development and performance appraisal practices.These results underline the role of human resource management in strengthening internal support for the employer brand and increasing overall employer attractiveness. The more appropriate human resource management practices are in the perception of employees, the more attractive the organization is perceived as an employer.
{"title":"Strategic management of internal employer branding – guerilla strategies to engage and retain top employees in a challenging workforce environment","authors":"Florentina-Mihaela Barbulescu, Marius Vasiluță-Ștefănescu, Ionela Stoicov, Claudiu Coman, Ecaterina Coman","doi":"10.3389/fcomm.2024.1402125","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2024.1402125","url":null,"abstract":"In a globalized and constantly evolving employment environment, it is imperative that organizations cultivate effective employer branding strategies to maintain competitiveness and attractiveness. These would allow them to obtain unique advantages in the market but also support for the internal employer brand. Despite the critical role of employer branding in attracting and retaining top talent, there remains a gap in understanding its relationship to HRM practices and employee perceptions of those practices. The purpose of this research was to investigate the correlation between human resources management practices and employer branding measured through organizational attractiveness and seen from the employees’ perspective. Additionally, to find out if there is a significant difference between the private and public sector in terms of the perception of HRM practices influencing organizational attractiveness.A questionnaire was applied to 800 respondents, employed in various positions in private and public sector organizations in western Romania. Two scales were applied to evaluate human resources management practices and the employer’s attractiveness from the employees’ perspective.Findings indicate a direct and positive relation between HRM practices and organizational attractiveness, with particular emphasis on performance appraisal practice, training and development, and work-life balance practices. When it comes to private sector, the significant practices influencing organizational attractiveness are performance appraisal, safety, and work-life balance practices, whereas in the public sector we have training-development and performance appraisal practices.These results underline the role of human resource management in strengthening internal support for the employer brand and increasing overall employer attractiveness. The more appropriate human resource management practices are in the perception of employees, the more attractive the organization is perceived as an employer.","PeriodicalId":31739,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Communication","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141689379","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-07-01DOI: 10.3389/fcomm.2024.1279906
Jean-Michel Mercier, Victoria Carmichael, Gabrielle Dupuis, Sayed Ahmad Zia Mazhari, Yahseer Fatimi, Tim Laidler, F. Hosseiny
Though much research has been conducted on the potential well-being effects of deployment on armed forces members, a significant gap seems to exist in the literature when it comes to its effect on conflict-zone interpreters. Drawing on the experiences of six former Afghan-Canadian Language and Cultural Advisors (LCAs), this paper aims to contribute to expanding the nascent literature on conflict-zone interpreters by exploring how former LCAs perceive their experiences before, during, and after their deployment and the resulting impacts on their well-being. Interested in an in-depth exploration of the experiences of former LCAs, this study employed an interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA) approach. Through the analysis, four superordinate themes emerged in participants’ narratives including: (1) the right opportunity, referring to the reasons for becoming an LCA; (2) overcoming challenges, when it comes to the work itself; (3) deserving better, relating to the experience returning to post-service life; and (4) moving forward, speaking to the current reality of participants. The results reveal key insights into the unique experiences and support needs of former Afghan-Canadian LCAs included in the study, offering an in-depth account of their experience before, during and after their service. The findings also offer important considerations regarding the support available not just to interpreters but to all contractors deployed in conflict-zones.
{"title":"Experiences of Afghan-Canadian language and cultural advisors who served with Canadian forces abroad: an interpretive phenomenological analysis","authors":"Jean-Michel Mercier, Victoria Carmichael, Gabrielle Dupuis, Sayed Ahmad Zia Mazhari, Yahseer Fatimi, Tim Laidler, F. Hosseiny","doi":"10.3389/fcomm.2024.1279906","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2024.1279906","url":null,"abstract":"Though much research has been conducted on the potential well-being effects of deployment on armed forces members, a significant gap seems to exist in the literature when it comes to its effect on conflict-zone interpreters. Drawing on the experiences of six former Afghan-Canadian Language and Cultural Advisors (LCAs), this paper aims to contribute to expanding the nascent literature on conflict-zone interpreters by exploring how former LCAs perceive their experiences before, during, and after their deployment and the resulting impacts on their well-being. Interested in an in-depth exploration of the experiences of former LCAs, this study employed an interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA) approach. Through the analysis, four superordinate themes emerged in participants’ narratives including: (1) the right opportunity, referring to the reasons for becoming an LCA; (2) overcoming challenges, when it comes to the work itself; (3) deserving better, relating to the experience returning to post-service life; and (4) moving forward, speaking to the current reality of participants. The results reveal key insights into the unique experiences and support needs of former Afghan-Canadian LCAs included in the study, offering an in-depth account of their experience before, during and after their service. The findings also offer important considerations regarding the support available not just to interpreters but to all contractors deployed in conflict-zones.","PeriodicalId":31739,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Communication","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141694168","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-06-03DOI: 10.3389/fcomm.2024.1375133
Ruta Vaidya, Yousra Osman
Popular culture characters and narratives can influence people’s understanding of moral actions, and thus guide their behaviors accordingly. Films have proven to be strong anchors in people’s understanding of morality. We examine the perception of resilience as a moral characteristic in examining not just how people become resilient (thereby focusing on impact and action) but also to study “resilience” as a discourse and discussion in society as a moral message. We argue that popular culture narratives, particularly Disney films, help reinforce moral meanings of resilience. By conducting a discourse analysis of two films-Encanto and Coco and particularly focusing on resilience, we aim to contribute to a deepened understanding of Disney’s role in producing morality through diverse narratives and characters who serve as role models.
{"title":"Disney characters as moral role models: a discourse analysis of Coco and Encanto","authors":"Ruta Vaidya, Yousra Osman","doi":"10.3389/fcomm.2024.1375133","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2024.1375133","url":null,"abstract":"Popular culture characters and narratives can influence people’s understanding of moral actions, and thus guide their behaviors accordingly. Films have proven to be strong anchors in people’s understanding of morality. We examine the perception of resilience as a moral characteristic in examining not just how people become resilient (thereby focusing on impact and action) but also to study “resilience” as a discourse and discussion in society as a moral message. We argue that popular culture narratives, particularly Disney films, help reinforce moral meanings of resilience. By conducting a discourse analysis of two films-Encanto and Coco and particularly focusing on resilience, we aim to contribute to a deepened understanding of Disney’s role in producing morality through diverse narratives and characters who serve as role models.","PeriodicalId":31739,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Communication","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2024-06-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141272673","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-06-03DOI: 10.3389/fcomm.2024.1297246
R. M. Lopes, M. W. Comarú, M. Pierini, Raphael Argento de Souza, R. Hauser‐Davis
The association between environmental degradation, social disparities, and disease emergence has become clearer than ever in the last decades, emphasizing the need for scientific approaches to protect human and environmental health. Despite scientific consensus, however, the general public often lacks awareness and understanding of these relationships. Misinformation and compartmentalized knowledge further complicate conveying the importance of the subject to the lay population. Thus, scientists must engage in effective scientific communication and promote scientific literacy (SL) among the public. This study discusses the strategies that may be employed to overcome disinformation and enhance scientific literacy and communication, all of which are paramount to deepen the understanding of the connections between biodiversity conservation, environmental health, and public well-being, empowering individuals to take informed actions for a sustainable and healthy future.
{"title":"Scientific communication and scientific literacy for the public perception of the importance of environmental quality for public health","authors":"R. M. Lopes, M. W. Comarú, M. Pierini, Raphael Argento de Souza, R. Hauser‐Davis","doi":"10.3389/fcomm.2024.1297246","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2024.1297246","url":null,"abstract":"The association between environmental degradation, social disparities, and disease emergence has become clearer than ever in the last decades, emphasizing the need for scientific approaches to protect human and environmental health. Despite scientific consensus, however, the general public often lacks awareness and understanding of these relationships. Misinformation and compartmentalized knowledge further complicate conveying the importance of the subject to the lay population. Thus, scientists must engage in effective scientific communication and promote scientific literacy (SL) among the public. This study discusses the strategies that may be employed to overcome disinformation and enhance scientific literacy and communication, all of which are paramount to deepen the understanding of the connections between biodiversity conservation, environmental health, and public well-being, empowering individuals to take informed actions for a sustainable and healthy future.","PeriodicalId":31739,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Communication","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2024-06-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141271535","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-05-23DOI: 10.3389/fcomm.2024.1369290
Timo Buchholz, Klaus von Heusinger
German has two demonstrative pronoun series: the short form der, die, das, and the long form dieser, diese, dieses. Both forms can be used anaphorically, and they contrast with the personal pronouns er, sie, es in that they refer to an antecedent that is less prominent at that point in the discourse when the discourse provides different potential antecedents. Demonstrative pronouns are typically used in the preverbal position in a German sentence, i.e., the topic position. Thus, they are assumed to be topic shifters (from a non-topical antecedent to the topical argument in the current sentence). However, der can be repeated, yielding topic chains, thus referring back to a topical antecedent, while this is not the case for dieser. In this article, we argue that der and dieser both contribute to topic management, but they do this in different ways: der is a marker of a sentence topic, while dieser is a marker of discourse topic shift. We present the results of two experiments that compare the use of personal pronouns with either demonstrative pronoun manipulating sentence topic or discourse topic. First, both experiments show that the personal pronoun is not sensitive to either type of topichood of its antecedent. Second, Experiment 1 shows that both demonstrative pronouns prefer a context where discourse topic and sentence topic are shifted. Third, Experiment 2 shows that only dieser prefers a context with a shifted discourse topic, but der is not sensitive to discourse topichood alone. We take the results as supporting our claim that the two demonstratives have different discourse functions: der marks a sentence topic, while dieser is a shifter (and marker) of the discourse topic.
德语有两个示意代词系列：短代词 der、die、das 和长代词 dieser、diese、dieses。这两种形式都可以隐喻使用，它们与人称代词er、sie、es的不同之处在于，当话语提供了不同的潜在先行词时，它们指的是话语中不那么突出的先行词。在德语句子中，示意代词通常用在动词前的位置，即话题位置。因此，它们被认为是话题转换器（从非话题前置句到当前句子中的话题论据）。然而，der 可以重复，产生话题链，从而指回话题前件，而 dieser 却不是这种情况。在本文中，我们认为 der 和 dieser 都有助于话题管理，但它们的作用方式不同：der 是句子话题的标记，而 dieser 是话语话题转换的标记。我们介绍了两个实验的结果，这两个实验比较了人称代词和指示代词在句子话题或话语话题中的使用。首先，两个实验都表明，人称代词对其前置词的任何一种拓扑结构都不敏感。其次，实验 1 表明，两个示范代词都喜欢话语主题和句子主题发生转换的语境。第三，实验 2 显示，只有 dieser 才喜欢话语主题发生变化的语境，但 der 对话语的 topichood 并不敏感。我们认为实验结果支持了我们的观点，即这两个指示代词具有不同的话语功能：der 标记一个句子话题，而 dieser 是话语话题的转移者（和标记者）。
{"title":"German demonstrative pronouns differ in their sensitivity to discourse and sentence topics","authors":"Timo Buchholz, Klaus von Heusinger","doi":"10.3389/fcomm.2024.1369290","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2024.1369290","url":null,"abstract":"German has two demonstrative pronoun series: the short form der, die, das, and the long form dieser, diese, dieses. Both forms can be used anaphorically, and they contrast with the personal pronouns er, sie, es in that they refer to an antecedent that is less prominent at that point in the discourse when the discourse provides different potential antecedents. Demonstrative pronouns are typically used in the preverbal position in a German sentence, i.e., the topic position. Thus, they are assumed to be topic shifters (from a non-topical antecedent to the topical argument in the current sentence). However, der can be repeated, yielding topic chains, thus referring back to a topical antecedent, while this is not the case for dieser. In this article, we argue that der and dieser both contribute to topic management, but they do this in different ways: der is a marker of a sentence topic, while dieser is a marker of discourse topic shift. We present the results of two experiments that compare the use of personal pronouns with either demonstrative pronoun manipulating sentence topic or discourse topic. First, both experiments show that the personal pronoun is not sensitive to either type of topichood of its antecedent. Second, Experiment 1 shows that both demonstrative pronouns prefer a context where discourse topic and sentence topic are shifted. Third, Experiment 2 shows that only dieser prefers a context with a shifted discourse topic, but der is not sensitive to discourse topichood alone. We take the results as supporting our claim that the two demonstratives have different discourse functions: der marks a sentence topic, while dieser is a shifter (and marker) of the discourse topic.","PeriodicalId":31739,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Communication","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2024-05-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141105312","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-05-23DOI: 10.3389/fcomm.2024.1384403
Monika Taddicken, Julian Fick, Nina Wicke
The expansion of science communication underscores the increasing importance of understanding what constitutes good science communication. This question concerns the public’s understanding and engagement with science. The scholarly discussion has shifted from the traditional deficit model to a more dialog-oriented approach yet remains normatively anchored. There is a pivotal lack of attention to the audience’s perspective regarding the question of what good science communication is. Moreover, different formats of science communication have hardly been researched thus far. Therefore, this paper introduces a multi-dimensional scale to capture the audience’s assessment of specific science communication formats. We utilized a multi-step process to identify relevant criteria from both theoretical and practical perspectives. The instrument integrates 15 distinct quality dimensions, such as comprehensibility, credibility, fun, and applicability, structured according to different quality levels (functional, normative, user-, and communication-oriented). It considered theory-driven and practice-experienced categories and was validated through confirmatory factor analyses conducted on a German representative sample (n = 990). For validation, the scale was applied to a science blog post and a science video on homeopathy. After employing a seven-step process, we conclude that the newly devised scale effectively assesses the perceived quality of both blog and video science communication content. The overall assessment aligns with common target variables, such as interest and attitudes. The results regarding the different quality subdimensions provide a nuanced understanding of their contribution to the perceived overall quality. In this way, the scale aids in enhancing science communication in accordance with audience perceptions of quality. This marks the inaugural introduction of a comprehensive measurement instrument tailored to gauge quality from the audience’s standpoint, rendering it applicable for utilization by both researchers and practitioners.
{"title":"Is this good science communication? Construction and validation of a multi-dimensional quality assessment scale from the audience’s perspective","authors":"Monika Taddicken, Julian Fick, Nina Wicke","doi":"10.3389/fcomm.2024.1384403","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2024.1384403","url":null,"abstract":"The expansion of science communication underscores the increasing importance of understanding what constitutes good science communication. This question concerns the public’s understanding and engagement with science. The scholarly discussion has shifted from the traditional deficit model to a more dialog-oriented approach yet remains normatively anchored. There is a pivotal lack of attention to the audience’s perspective regarding the question of what good science communication is. Moreover, different formats of science communication have hardly been researched thus far. Therefore, this paper introduces a multi-dimensional scale to capture the audience’s assessment of specific science communication formats. We utilized a multi-step process to identify relevant criteria from both theoretical and practical perspectives. The instrument integrates 15 distinct quality dimensions, such as comprehensibility, credibility, fun, and applicability, structured according to different quality levels (functional, normative, user-, and communication-oriented). It considered theory-driven and practice-experienced categories and was validated through confirmatory factor analyses conducted on a German representative sample (n = 990). For validation, the scale was applied to a science blog post and a science video on homeopathy. After employing a seven-step process, we conclude that the newly devised scale effectively assesses the perceived quality of both blog and video science communication content. The overall assessment aligns with common target variables, such as interest and attitudes. The results regarding the different quality subdimensions provide a nuanced understanding of their contribution to the perceived overall quality. In this way, the scale aids in enhancing science communication in accordance with audience perceptions of quality. This marks the inaugural introduction of a comprehensive measurement instrument tailored to gauge quality from the audience’s standpoint, rendering it applicable for utilization by both researchers and practitioners.","PeriodicalId":31739,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Communication","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2024-05-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141105394","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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