This article explores teachers' identity formation through a narrative inquiry of the professional identity of an EFL teacher, Minfang, in the People's Republic of China. Drawing on Wenger's (1998) social theory of identity formation as a dual process of identification and negotiation of meanings, it examines the lived experience of Minfang as an…

Research suggests that females are vastly under-represented in the upper echelons of sport organizations. As such, the purpose of the current article was to apply a symbolic interactionist perspective to the lacking presence of women in leadership positions of sport organizations. The model proposes that gender-role meanings and stereotypes…

Instructor persona in online discussion may set the tone for a variety of course outcomes. Instructors establish persona via both presence (amount of instructor posts) and position (interaction relative to those in the student role). In this paper, three online classes were studied using positioning theory as a grounding framework to elicit ways…

In this brief essay the authors reflect on the value of community participation and cultural adaptation in their evolving research on American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) infant and toddler development. They describe three concerns identified by their AI/AN community partners in adapting established research methodologies to work in AI/AN…

This paper reports on a study of disagreement strategies used by Japanese learners of English (JLEs) studying at language schools in New Zealand. The study stemmed from an observation that JLEs were unwilling to express disagreements in exchanges with high-power (+P) interlocutors, possibly due to the threat of face-loss and the consequences of…

Decentralization occupies a prominent place on the policy agenda at international level and, within many countries, at national level. It regularly forms part of an overall package of reform of the public service, which has been summarized under the concept of "new public management" (Pollitt & Bouckaert, 2000). This package also…

In higher education, issues of "in loco parentis" have been most often discussed in connection with campus administrative policies. College writing teachers need to reflect, however, on the ways they conceivably exercise parental authority in their own classrooms, through such models as the Stern Father and the Nurturing Mother. (Contains 26…

This paper uses ethnographic observation and in-depth interview to look at the ways in which an English-dominant school in California, USA inhibits the fulfilment of the goals of its dual immersion "strand" programme. Taking a Bakhtinian perspective on discourses, and leaning on Bourdieu's concept of "linguistic capital", the…

Looking at descriptive, comparative social and historical evidence, this study explored factors contributing to language death for two languages formerly spoken on the Indonesian island of Buru. Field data were gathered from the last remaining speaker of Hukumina and from the last four speakers of Kayeli. A significant historical event that set in…

This paper conceives of a model of democracy that is tied up with narrative practices, and demonstrates how the initially democratic and radical auspices of one scholar's critique developed into a form of theory that was profoundly undemocratic in its narrative. The paper notes that the contemporary debate about power derives from a series of…

A current movement in qualitative research is a preoccupation with representation of the "other" (Denzin and Lincoln 1994). Feminists, critical theorists and postmodernists have questioned the dominant, legitimized social order and remained sensitive to the multiple issues related to and emanating from power. This paper briefly reviews the…

Most of the research on hate has focused on specific acts of hatred, but little attention has been given to the rhetorical expression and strategies of hate. The insights of scholars from a variety of disciplines have been gathered in this collection to explore hate as a communication phenomenon. Essays include: (1) "Elite Discourse and the…

Most of the papers in this volume were presented at a workshop in New Delhi (India) in April 1993, although some revisions and additions are included. Presenting primary evidence from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh and existing survey and census data, the papers in this collection explore interrelated issues of women's autonomy, female…

Literacy experts in composition have examined the exclusionary forces of academic discourse, and have identified various forms of classroom power that result from the system of academic literacy. Little is understood about the power relations that function to relate and regulate the classroom. Largely a humanistic notion, literacy has been defined…

Two characteristics that are commonly associated with organizational behavior, power and sex, are examined. Sexual behavior within the workplace and schools is discussed as are the effects of sexual stereotypes, sexually harassing and non-harassing sexual behavior, and office romances on the organization and its members. A conclusion is that these…