bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Developing rating scales for the assessment of second language performance
Authors: Turner Carolyn E. , Upshur John A.
Published: May 2018

The two most common approaches to rating second language performance pose problems of reliability and validity. An alternative method utilizes rating scales that are empirically derived from samples of learner performance; these scales define boundaries between adjacent score levels rather than provide normative descriptions of ideal performances; the rating process requires making two or three binary choices about a language performance being rated. A procedure, that consists of a series of five explicit tasks, is used to construct a rating scale. The scale is designed for use with a specific population and a specific test task.

A group of primary school ESL teachers used this procedure to make two speaking tests, including elicitation tasks and rating scales, for use in their school district. The tests were administered to 255 sixth grade learners. The scales were found to be highly accurate for scoring short speech samples, and were quite efficient in time required for scale development and rater training. Scales exhibit content relevance in the instructional setting. Development of this type of scale is recommended for use in high-stakes assessment.
Administering a performance test in Fiji Hindi
Authors: Shameem Nikhat , Read John
Published: May 2018

As part of a research study on language maintenance and shift in the Indo-Fijian community in Wellington, New Zealand, a performance test was developed to assess the speaking and listening skills in Fiji Hindi of a sample of the Indo-Fijian teenagers. The design of the test needed to take account of the fact that Fiji Hindi is a preliterate vernacular language with no role in education and an ambivalent status within its own speech community. The test consisted of three main parts: a naturalistic conversation, two structured speaking tasks and a structured listening task. This paper focuses on some facets of the test administration, including the decision to administer it in the test-takers’ homes; the influence of various personal attributes of the interviewer; the ways of dealing with the lack of a script for Fiji Hindi; and the issue of live versus tape-based assessment of the test-takers’ performance. Both the test-takers and an independent rater provided feedback on the test that was generally very positive. The paper concludes with a discussion of various factors that may have influenced the reliability and validity of this somewhat unconventional language test.
Rasch scaling
Authors: McQueen Joy
Published: May 2018

This paper describes a methodology for exploring the validity of the Rasch scaling procedure in relation to a multiple-choice test of reading Chinese as a foreign language. The validation procedure involved a post hoc content analysis of test items to identify factors which the research literature on early reading indicated were likely to be related to item difficulty. A comparison was then made between these difficulty factors and the item-difficulty ranking produced by a Rasch analysis of test items. The analysis revealed that the dimension mapped out by the Rasch scaling (and to some extent the corresponding wording of the reporting descriptors) does indeed reflect certain elements thought to be related to early reading ability.
Knowledge of gendered sentence-final forms in Japanese as a second language
Authors: Asada Hirofumi , Harrington Michael
Published: May 2018

This study examines the use of gendered sentence-final forms by learners of Japanese as a second language (JSL). Sentence-final forms (SFF) like wa, zo, kashira, etc., are pervasive in Japanese speech, and serve to signal agreement or empathy with the interlocutor and to maintain the ongoing discourse. Although these forms carry no syntactic or semantic meaning, they serve a range of pragmatic functions, including that of marking gender, which is an important distinction in Japanese. In this study the receptive and productive knowledge of gendered forms by advanced JSL learners is examined. Results from a recognition test and an analysis of oral speech samples produced by JSL learners are compared with those of a control group of native Japanese speakers. Three findings emerged. 1) The advanced JSL learners consistently used the same sentence-final forms, which were far fewer in number than those used native speaker counterparts. 2) No clear-cut male-female differences emerged in either language group for most of the forms studied. 3) The productive and receptive responses for both groups differed from traditional classifications of the forms. The implications of the results for JSL pedagogy are discussed.
The study of culture in Japanese
Authors: Nagata Yuriko
Published: May 2018

For many years the study of culture in Japanese as a foreign language (JFL) has relied on a teacher-centred, prescriptive approach introducing cultural characteristics and facts about Japan. Most syllabuses used in JFL programs in Australian universities have cultural, as well as linguistic aims. However, objectives for cultural studies are harder to define than for linguistic studies and are generally treated as something extra, or detachable. The study of Japanese culture and society is regarded as the responsibility of Japanese Studies (JS) and there has been little integration of the two. However, as awareness about the nature of language studies grows, there is a concomitant need for JFL to shift educational focus to more interactive, cross-cultural participation. This paper explores an alternative approach to the study of culture in JFL, with particular attention to material and topics.
Impact of an interaction-oriented Japanese course on learners
Authors: Ogawa Kyoko
Published: May 2018

Neustupny (1988, 1991) recommended an interactive competence approach for second language acquisition that places a greater emphasis on learners’ active interaction with native speakers in real communicative situations. In order to have the opportunity to interact with native speakers in the target language, a conscious effort by the learners as well as support from the teachers and the community is essential. The third-year Japanese course at Monash University was designed to encourage and support learners to establish and maintain relationships with Japanese people as well as to utilise various other resources of the target language and culture. This paper examines the impact of this interaction-oriented course on learners in their establishment and maintenance of relationships with Japanese people, and cultural and social understanding. It is based on data collected during 1996 and 1997.
Listening strategies used by adult learners of Japanese to comprehend satellite television programs
Authors: Seo Kyoko , McMeniman Marilyn
Published: May 2018

This paper identifies listening comprehension strategies from the perspective of cognitive psychology, with a focus on the experience of Australian learners of Japanese as a foreign language (L2). In this study, a listening strategy is conceptualised as a mental operation undertaken by a learner to solve a listening comprehension problem in a non-interactional situation. Reading researchers in L2 identified one of the variables which affects text comprehension as formal schema or discourse organisation of text (Meyer and Freedle, 1984; Carrell and Eisterhold, 1988; Carrell, 1991). However, this variable has not been the subject of intensive and extensive research in L2 listening and consequently, there is little empirical evidence which has explored this important variable. With the increased availability of media technology, satellite programs offer rich content and have the potential to provide such information. This paper investigates how news and drama texts may affect the choice of listener strategies, and discusses how the strategies selected by listeners relate to L2 learners’ language proficiency. To collect data on strategies, an introspective ‘think-aloud’ procedure is used and the results are analysed quantitatively.
Vocabulary acquisition by advanced learners
Authors: Yoshikawa Mariko
Published: May 2018

This paper looks at the acquisition of the vocabulary used in daily conversation by advanced level English speaking learners of Japanese language. Five factors which were found to affect learners’ acquisition are discussed. The aim of this paper is to discuss lexical errors made by advanced learners of Japanese and identify the factors which hinder their lexical acquisition by focusing on intralexical factors and interlexical factors. The data was obtained from interviews with fourteen advanced level students. The findings of the study reveal that interlexical divergence of semantic structure is the most common reason for advanced learners failure to acquire vocabulary in the target language. This finding highlights the difficulty learners face in comprehending the lexical semantic structure in the target language and maintaining all the lexical items which correspond to single word in their native language. Intralexical phonological similarity is also a confounding factor for learners. These findings are relevant in the context of vocabulary teaching from the aspect of facilitating learners’ semantic knowledge.
‘Virtual’ learning communities beyond the classroom
Authors: Ramsay Guy
Published: May 2018

As class contact times are reduced as a result of fiscal restraints in the modern tertiary sector, language instructors are placed in the position of having to find new ways to provide experience and continuity in language learning. Extending ‘learning communities’ — sites of learner knowledge exchange, exposure to diverse learning styles and strategies, and mutual support — beyond the classroom is one solution to maintaining successful linguistic competencies amongst learners. This, however, can conflict with the diverse extra-curricular commitments faced by tertiary students. The flexibility of web-based learning platforms provides one means of overcoming these obstacles. This study investigates learner perceptions of the use of the Web-CT® platform’s CMC tools as a means of extending the community of learning in tertiary Chinese language and non-language courses. Learner responses to Likert and open-ended questionnaires show that flexibility and reduction of negative affect are seen as significant benefits to ‘virtual’ interaction and communication, although responses are notably stronger in the non-language compared with the language cohort. While both learner cohorts acknowledge positive learning outcomes, CMC is not seen to consistently further interpersonal rapport beyond that established in the classroom. Maintaining a balance between web-based and classroom learning emerges as a concern, especially amongst language learners.
Maintaining the dialogue
Authors: Orton Jane
Published: May 2018

In 1999, Bridges To China, a 40-unit, intermediate level, Web-based course in Modern Standard Chinese was produced. The design drew on the work of Vygotsky, Bruner and Halliday for an integrated linguistic, learning and instructional framework. The course is now being extended to a standalone CD-ROM version, with consequent loss of peer interaction and live teacher guidance. Access to other people in joint involvement episodes (Schaffer, 1996) was fundamental to the goals of the original course. Consequently, attempts have been made to “maintain the dialogue” in the CD-ROM course. The paper will report the trialling of one such attempt: an innovative mode of self-assessment in tasks of length where the learner’s efforts are novel, using annotated sample texts generated by other students. The trials show that using annotated samples facilitated by the computer allows learners to assess their own work, learn a great deal from the language used by others, identify and even correct formal errors of their own, and enjoy contact with virtual classmates. The result means that a major limitation on CD-ROM CALL design can be considerably lessened.
The World Wide Web as a teaching and learning resource
Authors: Ushida Eiko , Kinoshita Thomson Chihiro
Published: May 2018

This empirical study of Resource Based Learning in a group project in intermediate Japanese classes investigated students’ learning process during their interactions with Web resources. The learners researched an aspect of Japanese society of their choice, using different types of available learning resources (e.g., human, media, literature, e-mail, and the Web) and gave oral presentations based on their research. The researchers observed the students throughout the semester while they were working on the various learning resources and took notes on their activities and interactions. After the presentation, one of the researchers conducted a follow-up interview with seven students from different groups. Based on the empirical data, the findings are described and interpreted. Results show learners’ positive perceptions of the gains of the project, and that learners most valued the resource from which they best obtained the information needed for their research content and topic. Although this project created a larger learning environment, learners were required to develop strategies to understand and use the authentic Web resources beyond their language proficiency; and to use information searching skills and critical thinking skills in order to be successful in resource-based learning using the Web.
Trilingual women as language mediators in the family
Authors: Rubino Antonia
Published: May 2018

In the process of language shift from the immigrant languages to English, everyday communication within the family can become increasingly problematic due to strong divergences in the linguistic competences of the older and the younger generations. This article explores the process of language mediation between different generations, as it occurs within a Sicilian-Australian family belonging to the last wave of Italian mass immigration to Australia Through a corpus of spontaneous conversations, the study focuses on the role played by a second generation woman as a mediator within her family. The linguistic analysis shows that, in order to overcome communication breakdown, she makes full use of her competence in all three languages: Italian, Sicilian and English, and employs codeswitching extensively as a conversational strategy to accommodate participants with different language abilities. Furthermore, while she maintains Dialect as the language of the most inner family circle, she shifts to Italian as the more ‘learneable’ language that can contribute to cohesion in the extended family.
Using the functional grammar to understand children’s written texts
Authors: Christie Frances H.
Published: May 2018

This paper reports on an analysis of the assessment principles used in marking students’ written texts in the UK. It considers the assessment advice offered markers with respect to two stories written by 14 year old students in the Key Stage 3 English test in England. The observations offered on the written texts are shown to be general and lacking in much understanding of the ways the texts work linguistically. Using the functional grammar, an attempt is made to explore aspects of the grammatical organization of the two texts, and hence to reveal why one text was deemed superior to the other.
Argumentation in a multi party asynchronous computer mediated conference
Authors: Coffin Caroline , Painter Clare , Hewings Ann
Published: May 2018

This paper draws on systemic functional linguistic genre analysis to illuminate the way in which postgraduate applied linguistics students structure their argumentation within a multi party asynchronous computer mediated conference. Two conference discussions within the same postgraduate course are compared in order to reveal the way in which computer-based argumentation may differ from that operating in written essays and to show the influence of tutor role and task set in shaping the discussions in this mode. The analysis undertaken demonstrates differences in both conferences between the ‘stages’ found in written argument and those found in the electronic discussion and also differences between the two conference discussions attributable to differences in the discussion task. In particular, in one conference, there was a higher frequency of counter-argumentation, while in the other there was a greater degree of disclosing personal and professional experiences on the basis of which participants (often collaboratively) constructed claims. It is hoped that these findings will point to fruitful new lines of enquiry both in terms of a) the special characteristics of computer mediated conferencing, particularly its use within an educational context, and b) the methods of analysis which we developed as a means of illuminating a relatively new form of communication.
Narrative and the origins of discourse
Authors: Rose David
Published: May 2018

This paper summarises findings of discourse analyses of traditional stories from eleven language phyla around the world. The aim is a preliminary exploration of relationships amongst diverse languages in patterns of discourse, using a systemic functional language model. Several techniques were developed for managing and displaying the analyses, including translations of the stories, patterns of Theme and participant identities, staging of texts and conjunctive relations between messages, and relations between elements of clauses and between clauses in sequences. These techniques are exemplified with one story from the south Indian language Kodava. Some variations across languages, in strategies for realising these functions are then illustrated. Intriguing commonalities are found in discourse patterns in all the stories, realised by diverse but finite sets of options for grammatical strategies. Finally a map is displayed of relations between discourse features and the discourse systems they realise, and some suggestions are mooted for explaining commonality and diversity.
Drama and the advanced ESL learner
Authors: Gassin June
Published: May 2018

This paper describes an experimental drama workshop offered to advanced level ESL students attending the University of Melbourne. The aims of the workshop are to increase awareness and control of body, breath and voice as well as to develop self-confidence, flexibility and spontaneity in participants. The principles used to guide the evolution of the teaching/learning process include 1) emphasis on the body as the source of breath, sound and perception; 2) emphasis on process rather than product: and 3) emphasis on linking past experience to present knowledge and situation. The content of the workshop consists of a variety of dramatic activities organized according to these principles. Results as recorded in videos, student diaries and drawings are encouraging.
Word order and topic prominence in the interlanguage of an Australian learner of Chinese
Authors: Shuhuai Yu
Published: May 2018

This project studies the word orders of adjective and noun and adverb and verb in a Chinese learner’s interlanguage and compares the word order features with the corresponding features in Chinese. It shows significant evidence of the subject’s “NA” word order in his interlanguage. Features of the interlanguage which conform with neither the subject’s first language nor with the target language are related to the topic prominence of the inter language.
Aboriginal language programmes and language maintenance in the Kimberley
Authors: McConvell Patrick
Published: May 2018

Different types of language programmes for indigenous Australian languages should be developed to suit different language situations. Programmes are here divided into three types: Bilingual Education, Language Maintenance and Language Renewal. The Kija language of Warrmarn community, Western Australia is cited as an example of a situation requiring a Language Maintenance programme. In Language Maintenance programmes thought needs to be given to the intended function of the target language in the future. Consideration of this question tends to favour an approach which emphasizes cultural maintenance and the oral side of the programme.
Teaching Slavonic languages in Australia
Authors: Hill Peter
Published: May 2018

The absence of suitable materials for use in beginners’ courses in Macedonian for Australian undergraduates has led to the production of an Australia-based audio-visual course. The development of this course has involved decisions that fall within the area of language planning. Macedonians in Australia are not normally very conversant with the Macedonian standard or “literary” language (MSL), which is, in any case, not very highly standardized. It still shows considerable variation in lexicon and syntax.

The MSL was chosen as the basis for the course, despite initial consideration being given to the idea that some form of dialectal language might be taught. The MSL Provides a neutral idiom that can serve people of different dialectal backgrounds. However, forms that are not likely to be accepted or even understood by large sections of the Macedonian communities in Australia are avoided. Colloquial, obsolescent and dialectal lexical items are included if they rate positively by this criterion.
Some grammatical problems in scientific English
Authors: Halliday M.A.K.
Published: May 2018

This paper examines the manner in which scientific English constitutes learning problems for students being introduced to science. It develops a taxonomy of the difficulties and investigates means of overcoming the problems which texts in scientific English create.
Qǐ, Chéng, Zhuan, Hé, Jié the discourse pattern of a chinese text of literary criticism
Authors: Mingchen Liu
Published: May 2018

This paper attempts to describe some of the basic organizational features in Chinese writing as shown in a particular expository text. With detailed analysis of linguistic properties in the text, such as lexical cohesion, conjunction, thematic structure and schematic structure, this paper discusses how the text is organized in terms of qǐ ‘beginning’, chéng ‘transition’, zhuÇŽn ‘turning’, hé ‘synthesis’ and jié ‘end’. The study suggests that the defining features culturally preferred in Chinese writing seem to be related to zhuÇŽn, i.e. the emphasis on the ups and downs, twists and turns, of the argumentative development, which reminds of but by far outshines Kaplan (1972).
An investigation of the generic structure of the material/methods section of scientific reports
Authors: Conduit Anne Murray , Modesto Diana V. , Pugh Winston , Imnaruddin D.
Published: May 2018

A study was undertaken to investigate the generic structure of Material/Methods sections in Theses and Journal articles, using Halliday’s Systemic Functional Grammar and Martin’s Genre theory. Literature to date has indicated that the Materials/Methods section is considered the easiest section to write up, with its simple structure of past passive organized around implicit conjunction depending on sequence of events. However, it seems from this study that, although this might be so in scientific reports written for the social sciences, for the physical sciences a much more complicated structure of the Materials/Methods section is required.
A review of some of the achievements of the National Policy on Languages
Authors: Lo Bianco Joseph
Published: May 2018

This paper is a review of the achievements of the National Policy on Languages. The National Policy on Languages was adopted by the Federal government in May 1987 and implemented from that date until June 1991. In September of 1991 the Federal government adopted a White Paper entitled Australia’s Language; The Australian Language and Literacy Policy. In the companion volume to this it stated that the White Paper is an extension and maintenance of the National Policy on Languages.
The role of the national languages institute of Australia in the development and implementation of language policy in Australia
Authors: Fullagar Susan , Liddicoat Anthony J.
Published: May 2018

The establishment of a languages institute has long been seen as an important step in the development of Australian language policy. After the adoption of the National Policy Languages, renewed impetus for a languages institute gave rise to the establishment of the National Languages Institute of Australia, a languages institute with a broad charter and wide-ranging functions. This paper reviews the development of the structure of the NLIA and examines the role the institute has in language policy development and implementation in three main areas: research, policy advice and service provision.
Language profiles, language attitudes and acquisition planning
Authors: Djité Paulin G. , Munro Belinda A.
Published: May 2018

How can the social and psychological contexts of a language affect the policy to increase the number of people who speak it? It is crucial to investigate this question at a time when Australia’s ability to compete in a changing world has brought the study of LOTE to the forefront. As the implementation of the National Policy on Languages proceeds, it becomes increasingly evident that a deeper understanding of the nine or ten key languages, namely Mandarin Chinese, Indonesian/Malay, Japanese, French, German, Italian, Modern Greek, Arabic, Spanish and Russian (cf. Lo Bianco 1987 and Leal 1991:167-168), taught in our schools is required. This paper argues that a sociolinguistic profile of each of these languages and the attitudes towards them are some of the relevant and crucial empirical data which need to be integrated in the design of educational programs.
Informal language planning for elementary school language development
Authors: Rodriquez Carol J.
Published: May 2018

Language planning is an activity that takes place in formal/national situations, but it also occurs in a variety of unintended ways and on smaller scales (e.g. Russo and Baldauf 1986). This paper documents the informal language planning which has occurred as part of the process of developing and implementing Arizona’s Elementary Foreign Language Mandate. It is a case study which demonstrates the problems and effects of informal language planning in public education systems such as Arizona’s. The study focuses on the initial specifications of the mandate and the efforts of individual school districts to comply in a timely manner. The difficulties encountered by one school district as it considers ways to implement the mandate are examined in detail. The data for this study was gathered from official documents, personal interviews, videotapes, newspaper articles, public meetings and independent research related to language policy in the state of Arizona. The study suggests that a greater awareness of language planning skills at this level could lead to the development of more effective language programs.
Innovations in university language teaching
Authors: Gassin June
Published: May 2018

University language teaching in Australia has undergone significant changes over the past few years in spite of considerable constraints. Many institutions have responded positively to the changing needs of their students with new courses, study abroad programs and summer schools. This paper focuses on some recent innovations taking place in language teaching at the University of Melbourne. These relate to both policy and practice and include the establishment of a School of Languages. Taken as a whole these innovations constitute an important step in the development of a coherent university language policy and provide new directions in language teaching at this University.
Variable article use with acronyms and initialisms
Authors: Callegaro Elena , Clematide Simon , Hundt Marianne , Wick Sara
Published: May 2018

Shortening is a common type of word-formation in many languages. Crystal (2008) distinguishes two kinds of abbreviation: initialisms and acronyms. Article use in English is variable with both acronyms and initialisms used as proper names (e.g. (the) UKIP, at the UN vs. at MIT). The question is whether variability is largely dependent on the semantics of the underlying full form (i.e. whether this is derived from a proper name or common noun) or whether the two types of abbreviation show different behaviour with respect to variable article use. This paper uses data from CoStEP, a new, word-aligned version of EuroParl, and a data-driven approach to investigate variable article use with abbreviations and their full forms uttered by English native speakers and compares the findings to data from parallel German and Italian corpora. The results show higher article variability in English and a marked preference for and near categorical article use in German and Italian. Furthermore, our evidence confirms that acronyms tend towards the proper name end of the cline, while initialisms behave syntactically more like common nouns.
Haphazard, Systematic, or Both?
Authors: Miller Banks , Curry Brett
Published: May 2018

In 2006, the Bush administration directed nine US attorneys to resign. This decision was a partial cause of the attorney general’s departure from the administration, and it prompted investigations and congressional hearings. Seen as largely ad hoc, we argue that theory predicts a more systematic decision-making process. We investigate this empirically and find, consistent with literature on principal-agent theories and bureaucracy, that performance on easily monitored metrics and adverse-selection concerns predict the firings. We explore the implications of these findings for efforts to centralize decision-making in the Department of Justice and to exert political control over US attorneys.
Workplace Deviance
Authors: Bennett Rebecca J. , Marasi Shelly , Locklear Lauren
Published: May 2018

The history of workplace deviance research has evolved from a focus on singular behaviors, such as theft or withdrawal in the 1970s and 1980s, to the broader focus on a range of behaviors in the 21st century. This more inclusive cluster of related “dark side” behaviors is made up of voluntary behaviors that violate significant organizational norms and in so doing threaten the well-being of an organization, its members, or both. Examples of behaviors that fall in this domain are employee theft and sabotage of organizational goods, services, data, customer lists, materials, working slow, calling in sick when you are not, bullying, harassment, discrimination, and gossip. Workplace deviance can be targeted at other individuals in the organization (coworkers, supervisors, subordinates) or at the organization itself, or both. Typically the actor’s perspective is considered, but other relevant views of the behavior include the supervisor/the organization, peers, customers, or other third parties. Many causes have been studied as sources of deviant workplace behaviors, for example personality characteristics such as neuroticism or low conscientiousness, modeling others’ behavior, experiences of injustice, uncertainty, lack of control or feelings of anger, frustration, and dissatisfaction. Nowadays, some researchers are returning to a focus on individual behaviors, or smaller clusters of behaviors such as sexual misconduct, gossip, and even constructive deviance, and the outcomes of workplace deviance on actors, targets, and observers are being investigated.
Exploring the “Three Ps” of Service-Learning: Practice, Partnering, and Pressures
Authors: Leigh Jennifer S. , Kenworthy Amy
Published: May 2018

Over the last three decades, service-learning has become a well-known experiential learning pedagogy in both management education and higher education more broadly. This popularity is observed in the increasing number of peer-reviewed publications on service-learning in management and business education journals, and on management education topics within higher education journals focused on civic engagement and community-based teaching and learning. In this field of study, it is known that service-learning can result in positive outcomes for students, faculty, and community members. In particular, for students, positive results are related to mastery of course content and group process skills like teamwork and communication, leadership, and diversity awareness. Despite the rise in scholarship, service-learning instructors still face several challenges in the area of best practice standards, fostering deep and cohesive partnerships, and managing institutional pressures that disincentivize engaged teaching practices. With constantly evolving challenges in management education, continued research is needed to understand a variety of service-learning facets such as platforms (face-to-face, hybrid, and virtual learning), populations (graduate vs. undergraduate populations and adult vs. traditional college-age learners), measurement (how to assess university-community partnerships and faculty instruction), and which institutional policies and procedures can enable and reward community-engaged teaching and learning approach.
Communicating about Climate Change with Religious Groups and Leaders
Authors: Haluza-DeLay Randolph
Published: May 2018

Communicating about climate change with religious groups should recognize the diversity incorporated in the term “religion.” Diversity in practice, institutional forms, belief systems, values, and core narratives mean that climate communication cannot be formulaic application of communication techniques and social psychology tweaked for spirituality. Because all people see phenomena like climate change through the prisms of their existing ideas, values, influence of significant others, sociostructural position, and personal experience, and expect these to be respected, communication with religious groups should respect the particular religious tradition and draw on narratives and language that are meaningful to the particular faith. Emphasis is placed on the role of religion as a social space wherein people come together, form ideas, and act collectively. Social networks and established practice are likely to be as significant as the influence of a religious leader although such elite influence can also be important. Roman Catholic Pope Francis’ recent teaching document on the environment, Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home, serves as one example of communication about climate change. An understanding of the cultural assumptions, narratives, and framings relevant to a particular group is essential regardless of whether the people are secular or religious.
Climate Change Communication in China
Authors: Li Ji , Dan Luo
Published: May 2018

As one of the most serious challenges facing humankind during the 21st century, climate change not only relates to many fields such as science, culture, economics, and politics, but also affects the survival and future development of human beings. In China, climate change communication research specifically first began to be conducted quite late, as the significance of climate change issues came to the fore in the international arena. The year 2007 is known as China’s “first year of climate change communication research.” Climate change coverage up to 2007 can be divided into two periods: In the early period, the number of reports was small, the reporting agenda was simple, and public’s attention was limited, whereas in the late period coverage changed visibly: the amount of coverage experienced a sharp increase, the topics covered were diverse, and reporting gradually reached an advanced level of sophistication. Research on climate change is not only limited to the analysis of science reporters from the professional field, but also includes studies conducted by the government, academia, NGOs, enterprises, and the like, and it has already reached certain research conclusions. Media coverage of climate issues and research on climat communication complement each other—the former promoting the latter and the latter enriching the former—and they jointly advance the dissemination of climate issues in China. This article hopes to sort out the research on media reports on climate change and climate change communication research to gain an overall and comprehensive understanding of climate change communication in China
The European Parliament: A Normal Parliament in a Polity of a Different Kind
Authors: Ripoll Servent Ariadna , Roederer-Rynning Christilla
Published: May 2018

The European Parliament (EP) has grown from a “talking shop” to a fully-fledged legislative body in the European Union (EU)’s bicameral system. This process of communautarization and parliamentarization has generated considerable attention in the academic field. Furthermore, in today’s political environment—characterized by the polarization of public opinion, Brexit, the lingering effects of the Eurozone crisis, and the steady rise of Euroskeptical and radical forces throughout Europe—the role of the European Parliament (EP) is perhaps more critical to understand and assess than ever before. An overarching question in the literature is how “normal” the EP has become. Drawing on David Easton’s political systems approach, we examine this condition in three sub-literatures: the literature on inputs (demands), the literature on withinputs (inter-institutional processing of inputs), and the literature on outputs (EP decisions and actions, and the impact thereof). Building on this literature and contributing to the ongoing debate on the nature and significance of the EP, we propose to conceptualize the EP as “a normal parliament in a polity of a different kind.” This paradoxical conceptualization reflects abundant insights that, despite the EP gaining comprehensive lawmaking powers that are quite unparalleled in the world of international politics, its functioning and significance remain profoundly, distinctly, and probably durably, shaped by the multilevel nature of EU politics.
Men’s Political Representation
Authors: Bjarnegård Elin
Published: May 2018

In much research on gender and representation, the constraining factors for women’s political representation have served as a backdrop against which women’s activities are contextualized, rather than as a primary focus of research. Research explicitly focusing on men’s overrepresentation in politics does the opposite: it puts the reproduction of male dominance at the center of the analysis. Such a focus on men and masculinities and their relation to political power requires a set of analytical tools that are partly distinctly different from the tools used to analyze women’s underrepresentation. A feminist institutionalist framework is used to identify the logic of recruitment underpinning the reproduction of male dominance. It proposes and elaborates on two main types of political capital that under certain circumstances may reinforce male dominance and resist challenges to it: homosocial capital, consisting of instrumental and expressive rules favoring different types of similarity; and male capital, consisting of sexist and patriarchal resources that always favor men. Although the different types of political capital may be empirically related, they should be analytically separated because they require different methodological approaches and call for different strategies for change.
The Politics of Domestic Taxation
Authors: Barnes Lucy
Published: May 2018

All governments require revenue, and domestic taxes are the primary means for generating it. Yet both the size and shape of taxation vary significantly across countries and have been transformed over time. What explains variation in domestic taxation? To answer this question, recent scholarship on taxation has focused on the politics of taxation as a tool for redistribution. This has led to a wide body of research on the fiscal impact of taxation and on the introduction, evolution, and variation in direct and progressive tax regimes, particularly the income tax. Yet the focus on taxation as a redistributive tool yields a puzzle, as more progressive tax systems tend to be found where redistribution is in fact the lowest. Explanations of this paradox often center on the impossibility of high and progressive taxes on capital in the context of international economic integration. Not as well studied are taxes other than the taxation of income, and the deliberate politics of nonfiscal, regulatory, and incentive effects of different tax choices. Methodologically, problems of endogeneity are ubiquitous in the study of tax policy choices, but more sophisticated experimental work is well underway in research on individual preferences for taxation.
The Domestic Politics of International Cooperation
Authors: Schneider Christina J.
Published: May 2018

How does domestic politics affect international cooperation? Even though classic work on international relations already acknowledges the central role of domestic politics in international relations, the first generation of scholarly work on international cooperation focused almost exclusively on the international sources of cooperation. Theories that explicitly link domestic politics and international cooperation did not take a more prominent place in the scholarly work on international cooperation until the late 1980s.

Recent research analyzes how interests and institutions at the domestic level affect the cooperation of governments at the international level. The analysis is structured along a political economy model, which emphasizes the decision making calculus of office-motivated political leaders who find themselves under pressure by different societal groups interested in promoting or hindering international cooperation. These pressures are conveyed, constrained, and calibrated by domestic institutions, which provide an important context for policy making, and in particular for the choice to cooperate at the international level. This standard political economy model of domestic politics is embedded within models of international cooperation, which entail decisions by governments about (a) whether to cooperate (and to comply with international agreements), (b) how to distribute the gains and costs from cooperation, (c) and how to design cooperation as to maximize the likelihood that the public good will be provided.

Domestic politics is significant to explain all aspects of international cooperation. The likelihood that governments engage in international cooperation does not only depend on international factors, but is also and sometimes predominantly driven by the demands of societal groups and variations in institutional structures across countries. Domestic factors can explain how governments behave in distributive negotiations, whether they can achieve advantageous deals, and if negotiations succeed to produce an international collective action. They also contribute to our understanding about whether and how governments comply with international agreements, and consequently, how the design of international institutions affects government compliance. More recently, scholars have become interested in the democratic responsiveness of governments when they cooperate at the international level. Whereas research is still sparse, emerging evidence points to responsive conduct of governments particularly when international cooperation is politicized at the national level.
Interviews and Interviewing in the Ethnography of Education
Authors: Walford Geoffrey
Published: May 2018

Interviews are frequently used in ethnographic research, but it is argued that they pose particular difficulties in interpretation. While ethnographers are interested in understanding how people construct and interpret cultures in their natural settings, interviews are based on rules that counteract most normal interactions. Thus interviews in ethnography can only be interpreted within the context of that wider ethnography and the data generated has to be tested against other data generated by different means and data generated in other interviews.

Although some ethnographers avoid the use of interviews, others use a range of different forms of interviews. It is argued that Basil Bernstein’s concepts of classification and framing can be used to clarify the range of forms and to highlight the potential relationships between the form of interview and class, gender, and ethnicity.
The Kök Türk Empires
Authors: Drompp Michael R.
Published: May 2018

The people who called themselves Türk (Chinese Tujue突厥) appear in historical records only a few years before they overthrow their political masters in the middle of the 6th century CE and create a powerful steppe empire that stretched at its height from Manchuria to the Black Sea. These early Türks are sometimes called “Kök” (Old Turkic “Blue,” referring particularly to the color of the sky but also indicating the East) Türks to distinguish them from other peoples who spoke Turkic languages and called themselves by various names, some of which included the term Türk. The Kök Türks dominated much of Inner Asia for most of the period from the mid-6th to the mid-8th centuries; during that era their polity waxed and waned in strength and did not always enjoy political unity. Nevertheless, they exercised authority throughout much of Eurasia for some two centuries; Türk military, diplomatic, and economic interactions with their neighbors, including the Chinese, Persians, and Byzantines, are an important component of their historical significance. They created Inner Asia’s first native script and first known examples of historiography, and promoted the international exchange of goods and ideas on an unprecedented scale. The expansion of Türk power and culture helped shape the Inner Asian world in which the Mongols later established their empire.
Challenges in Financing Universal Health Coverage in Sub-Saharan Africa
Authors: McIntyre Diane , Obse Amarech G. , Barasa Edwine W. , Ataguba John E.
Published: May 2018

Within the context of the Sustainable Development Goals, it is important to critically review research on healthcare financing in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) from the perspective of the universal health coverage (UHC) goals of financial protection and access to quality health services for all. There is a concerning reliance on direct out-of-pocket payments in many SSA countries, accounting for an average of 36% of current health expenditure compared to only 22% in the rest of the world. Contributions to health insurance schemes, whether voluntary or mandatory, contribute a small share of current health expenditure. While domestic mandatory prepayment mechanisms (tax and mandatory insurance) is the next largest category of healthcare financing in SSA (35%), a relatively large share of funding in SSA (14% compared to <1% in the rest of the world) is attributable to, sometimes unstable, external funding sources. There is a growing recognition of the need to reduce out-of-pocket payments and increase domestic mandatory prepayment financing to move towards UHC. Many SSA countries have declared a preference for achieving this through contributory health insurance schemes, particularly for formal sector workers, with service entitlements tied to contributions. Policy debates about whether a contributory approach is the most efficient, equitable and sustainable means of financing progress to UHC are emotive and infused with “conventional wisdom.” A range of research questions must be addressed to provide a more comprehensive empirical evidence base for these debates and to support progress to UHC.