Taboos are not a new phenomenon. Yet, taboos change over time as social customs change, discard old taboos, and create new ones. What does not change, however, is how taboos regulate the way in which ...we live together in different communities and how they influence our behaviours. Notwithstanding the ubiquity of all sorts of taboos in daily life, many of them do not seem to find their way into foreign language classrooms easily. This is particularly surprising if we consider the growing importance of critical language pedagogy approaches to foreign language learning. Despite relevant efforts there, teachers, pre-service teachers, and learners often appear to feel discomfort as conversations about controversial issues such as mental illnesses, disabilities, racism, conspiracy theories, violence, and gender unfold. Consequently, classroom materials as well as suitable approaches to these issues in foreign language learning are needed. Taking this as a starting point, this introductory chapter argues for the integration of taboos and controversial topics into the foreign language classroom. It first investigates the concept of critical pedagogy in general and critical (foreign) language pedagogy more specifically. It then discusses taboos in the context of critical language pedagogy, arguing that despite numerous challenges, the foreign language classroom provides the perfect space for discussing some controversial topics with students—primarily by exploring a variety of different texts dealing with taboos instead of personalising a topic, which would be more common in communicative approaches. The chapter closes with a practical framework that provides suggestions for handling taboos in foreign language education.
This chapter examines the translation and reception of two Swedish young adult novels – Spelar död Play Dead and När tågen går förbi When the Trains Pass By – published in France in the 2000s. Both ...books use unprovoked violence in a realistic genre for adolescents, something no French author had dared to do previously. The two novels ignited a moral panic in France that led to heated debates in the French literary field. This chapter retraces the stormy reception of these novels in France and analyzes the constraints to which translations of unprovoked violence are often subject, especially when translated from a source culture whose norms are more liberal than the target culture. Linking translation strategies with reception, this chapter uses Even-Zohar’s polysystem theory to determine how the two novels became ‘innovative’ (in Even-Zohar’s sense of the term) in the French literary field in the 2000s.
This ethnographic study brings together theories of civil society and race scholarship, to ask how people talk about race in conversations that are not exclusively devoted to talking about race. In ...theory, civic participation in voluntary associations expands citizens' horizons; but in practice, thoughtful conversation about race can be impossible in public. In showing this process, the two U.S. civic groups studied here become springboards for refining theories of civic culture and ideology. Recent race scholarship examines racial discourse as a language that structures thought; few have asked how the very act of speaking about race can mean something in itself. The whites in these two groups were "doing things with words" together, using references to race as "moves in games." Avoidance of public speech was not just a result of participants' way of "thinking through race," not primarily the symptom of a bond of shared, secret racism. It was a bond of interactional norms, that revealed members' understanding of the very meaning of public speech itself, showing what they assumed the nature of the civic forum itself was. Paradoxically, in the two voluntary associations, members who could voice anti-racist sentiments in private, "backstage" settings could not do so in more public, "frontstage" settings. The very act of speaking carried meaning itself; theorizing this meaning-making can help us understand civic life and the reproduction of racism in it.
Abstract
Discussion is a staple in an academic classroom and remains at the apex of importance regarding student learning. It offers students an opportunity to have discourse around course material, ...other scholarly material, life experiences, etc. Discussion can lead to a deeper understanding of the subject matter and provide students and faculty exposure to perspectives that may challenge, validate, or reframe existing perspectives. Such discourse can also shatter existing perspectives and create opportunities for the development of new ones. The central role of faculty is to develop topics to be discussed and facilitate said discussions. Topics perceived as controversial (e.g., politics, human sexuality, religion, etc.) tend to produce the most lively and valuable discussions. Unfortunately, fears of retribution for engaging in such topics have commonly caused faculty to shy away from having such difficult dialogues. These fears persist even though the 1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure position is to allow professors the opportunity to discuss challenging topics in the classroom (AAUP, n.d.). The current chapter addresses the challenge of protecting faculty who need the support of academic freedom in their classroom discussions. The authors approach this problem by discussing factors that leave faculty hesitant to engage in provocative classroom discussions such as the institution’s culture, faculty characteristics, rights of the faculty, and student population. Finally, the authors conclude with practical implications for how faculty hesitancy has the consequence of not promoting the critical thinking skills of students, which are required for today’s students who will become and who are already working professionals.
The method of voice centered listening is a qualitative-psychological approach that is well suited to analyze psychological strategies of dealing with taboo-topics and psychological conflicts. This ...expanded version is based on approaches of analyzing moral development, expanded to trace different of ways handling taboo subjects. The goal of this method is to interpret the interplay of dissonant (or harmonious) and inconsistent "voices" dealing with these taboo subjects. URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs0002136
A study adopted W. Gudykunst and Ting-Toomey's Cultural Variability Model to examine gender and cultural patterns in levels of taboo within the friendships of students from British and Chinese ...cultures. Chinese students recorded a greater level of taboo than their British counterparts.
Provider: - Institution: - Data provided by Europeana Collections- Die hier vorgestellte Voice-Methode ist ein qualitativ-psychologischer Ansatz, der besonders geeignet ist, um psychologische ...Umgangsprozesse mit tabuisierten Themen oder mit psychischen Konflikten zu analysieren. Ursprünglich basierend auf einem Verfahren zur Analyse von Moralentwicklung wird in diesem erweiterten Verfahren den verschiedenen Strängen von Umgangsformen mit Tabuthemen nachgespürt. Dabei entsteht eine Analyse des Zusammenspiels einzelner dieser Stränge oder Stimmen, die Dissonanzen, Harmonien und Widersprüche in die psychologische Auswertung mit einbezieht.- The method of voice centered listening is a qualitative-psychological approach that is well suited to analyze psychological strategies of dealing with taboo-topics and psychological conflicts. This expanded version is based on approaches of analyzing moral development, expanded to trace different of ways handling taboo subjects. The goal of this method is to interpret the interplay of dissonant (or harmonious) and inconsistent "voices" dealing with these taboo subjects.- El método centrado en la escucha de la voz es un enfoque psicológico-cualitativo muy conveniente para analizar las estrategias psicológicas empleadas para lidiar con tópicos que son taboo y con conflictos psicológicos. Esta forma de abordaje se basa en los enfoques empleados para el análisis del desarrollo moral, ampliados para la identificación de las diferentes formas con que se manejan las cuestiones taboo. La meta del método es la interpretación del interjuego existente entre las "voces" disonantes (o armoniosas) y las "voces" inconsistentes que tratan con los asuntos considearos como taboo.- All metadata published by Europeana are available free of restriction under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication. However, Europeana requests that you actively acknowledge and give attribution to all metadata sources including Europeana
Communication is crucial in healthcare settings as patients rely on language to articulate their symptoms and concerns to the doctor. However, language barriers and the sensitive nature of certain ...subjects often complicate these interactions. Reproductive health is one such subject that poses a challenge in clinical and societal contexts due to its intimate nature. Guided by H·P Grice's Cooperative Principle, maxim of manner, this paper examines the use of circumlocution as a discourse strategy employed by male patients in a doctor-patient interaction in a reproductive health clinic in Kenya.
Data is drawn from a qualitative study carried out in reproductive health clinic in Nakuru County, Kenya. Using participant observation as a tool, doctor-patient conversations were audio-recorded and transcribed, and discourse analysis adopted as the guiding framework of analysis.
Circumlocution is prevalent in male patients and female parents when discussing reproductive health issues, regardless of the doctor's gender. The use of circumlocution can hinder clear and direct communication, contradicting Grice's maxim of manner emphasizing the importance of clear and concise communication for effective communication. Circumlocution serves as a euphemistic tool for addressing taboo subject. Its use allows patients to approach reproductive health topic indirectly, reducing embarrassment and discomfort.
There's a need for improved communication strategies in healthcare settings with emphasis on a delicate balance between sensitivity and clarity when discussing reproductive health problems. The work underscores importance of doctors being skilled in deciphering meanings and patients being more direct when discussing reproductive health concerns.
The study contributes to the broader conversation on effective communication in healthcare especially in men's reproductive health context. It is important to adapt and tailor communication strategies to the cultural and social contexts of male patients and the unique challenges they face.
•The study investigates circumlocution as a discourse strategy used by male patients when discussing reproductive health issues in a Kenyan public health facility. The findings are:•Circumlocution is employed by male patients when discussing reproductive health issues. This strategy is used to avoid direct and explicit language when talking about sensitive matters.•Circumlocution can hinder clear and direct communication, contrary to Grice's maxim which emphasizes the importance of clear and concise communication in effective dialogue.•Circumlocution delicately broaches taboo topic of reproductive health, easing discomfort and embarassment for male patients.•Enhance healthcare communication in Kenya by simplifying the language, listening actively and respecting cultural nuances.
The purpose of this study was to understand what, if any, messages adult children recalled receiving from family members following the discovery of their parents' infidelity that either discouraged ...or encouraged feeling caught. Thirty-eight individuals were interviewed. Findings suggested that adult children received messages about parental conflict being between their parents, no one being the good/bad guy, and speaking favorably about change, all of which discouraged feeling caught. Messages that encouraged feeling caught involved urging the child to uncover information, serve as a mediator, and field other family members' opinions. These findings are compared to previous research.
PDF
