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1

Contextual factors, methodological principles and teacher cognition

100%

Walsh R., Wyatt M.

Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching

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2014

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vol. 4

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issue 4

693-718

EN

Teachers in various contexts worldwide are sometimes unfairly criticized for not putting teaching methods developed for the well-resourced classrooms of Western countries into practice. Factors such as the teachers’ “misconceptualizations” of “imported” methods, including Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), are often blamed, though the challenges imposed by “contextual demands,” such as large class sizes, are sometimes recognised. Meanwhile, there is sometimes an assumption that in the West there is a happy congruence between policy supportive of CLT or Task-Based Language Teaching, teacher education and supervision, and curriculum design with teachers’ cognitions and their practices. Our case study of three EFL teachers at a UK adult education college is motivated by a wish to question this assumption. Findings from observational and interview data suggest the practices of two teachers were largely consistent with their methodological principles, relating to stronger and weaker forms of CLT respectively, as well as to more general educational principles, such as a concern for learners; the supportive environment seemed to help. The third teacher appeared to put “difficult” contextual factors, for example, tests, ahead of methodological principles without, however, obviously benefiting. Implications highlight the important role of teacher cognition research in challenging cultural assumptions.

2

Contextual factors, methodological principles and teacher cognition

100%

Walsh R., Wyatt M.

Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching

|

2014

|

vol. 4

|

issue 4

693-718

EN

Teachers in various contexts worldwide are sometimes unfairly criticized for not putting teaching methods developed for the well-resourced classrooms of Western countries into practice. Factors such as the teachers’ “misconceptualizations” of “imported” methods, including Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), are often blamed, though the challenges imposed by “contextual demands,” such as large class sizes, are sometimes recognised. Meanwhile, there is sometimes an assumption that in the West there is a happy congruence between policy supportive of CLT or Task-Based Language Teaching, teacher education and supervision, and curriculum design with teachers’ cognitions and their practices. Our case study of three EFL teachers at a UK adult education college is motivated by a wish to question this assumption. Findings from observational and interview data suggest the practices of two teachers were largely consistent with their methodological principles, relating to stronger and weaker forms of CLT respectively, as well as to more general educational principles, such as a concern for learners; the supportive environment seemed to help. The third teacher appeared to put “difficult” contextual factors, for example, tests, ahead of methodological principles without, however, obviously benefiting. Implications highlight the important role of teacher cognition research in challenging cultural assumptions.

3

Socially Insensitive Messages, Stereotypes and the Disadvantaged Others in the Czech Advertising

100%

Renáta S.

Communication Today

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2017

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vol. 8

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issue 1

114–129

EN

Based on the theory of othering and the theory of stereotypes the author discusses a concept of the socially insensitive message. There are five key features defining such statements. Firstly, they latently communicate controversial meaning and are based on presumption that recipients will decode intended meaning on the basis of shared cultural knowledge. Secondly, they are based on the opposition of ‘We X They’. Thirdly, theyspeak about the Others and define them. These Others are members of socially disadvantaged groups and they are reduced to a few stereotypical features in these messages. Fourthly, the socially insensitive advertising utilizes humour and principle of jokes. Fifthly, these principles are related to commercial advertising with and their key ambition is to ensure a profit or benefit for producers. Most of such messages are examples of hate speech. Several cases are discussed in detail based on the semiotic case study analysis; advertisements on consumer goods, media, and political ideas are among them. The author regards these socially insensitive messages as ignored in general and in the long term not reflected critically in contemporary Czech society.

4

Organizations and History – Are There Any Lessons to Be Learned From Genocide?

72%

Gabriel Y., Stokes P.

Problemy Zarządzania

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2020

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issue 2/2020 (88)

11-33

PL

Cel: celem artykułu jest wykazanie, że ludobójstwo nie jest zjawiskiem marginalnym w sferze zarządzania i organizacji, lecz takim, z którego dyscypliny te czerpią wiele wniosków i do którego muszą wnosić własny wkład. Podejście: historyczny i socjologiczny przegląd części obszernej literatury na temat ludobójstwa i Holokaustu dokonanego przez nazistowskie Niemcy. Wnioski: ludobójstwo jest wysoce zorganizowanym procesem, którego zainicjowanie, przeprowadzenie, a często zatuszowanie wymaga systemu biurokratycznego. Wywołuje opór i uległość, wykorzystuje techniki materialne i społeczne, jest przepojone własnymi wartościami i założeniami kulturowymi oraz stosuje własne przerażające innowacje i rozwiązania. Ludobójstwo wymaga współpracy wielu formalnych organizacji, w tym armii, dostawców, wywiadu i innych służb, ale także nieformalnych sieci i grup. Ograniczenia: biorąc pod uwagę obszerną literaturę dotyczącą ludobójstwa i Holokaustu, przeanalizowano i zacytowano oczywiście tylko niewielką część najważniejszych dzieł. Mimo wszystko wystarczają one, aby wykazać, że masowych mordów nie dokonują sadystyczni maniacy ani bezosobowi biurokraci, zgodnie z hipotezą banalności zła. Prowadzą je członkowie organizacji, zarządzający danymi realiami i znajdujący konkretne rozwiązania, przy czym potworności nie przeszkadzają im w procesie decyzyjnym. Implikacje praktyczne: autorzy również dowodzą, że ludobójstwa nie można badać poza dziedziną historiografii, gdyż prowadziłoby to do wszelkiego rodzaju głęboko błędnych wniosków, nawet jeśli teoretycznie rozważają je wybitni uczeni, tacy jak Arendt i Bauman. Oryginalność: w artykule obalono niektóre szeroko rozpowszechnione teorie ludobójstwa, w tym tezy adiaforyzacji i banalności zła. JEL: F54, D73, D74 Acknowledgements: This research received no funds. Suggested Citation: Gabriel, Y., & Stokes, P. (2020). Organizations and History – Are There Any Lessons to Be Learned from Genocide? Problemy Zarządzania (Management Issues), 18(2), 11–33.

EN

Purpose: The paper seeks to demonstrate that genocide is not a phenomenon marginal to the world of management and organizations, but one from which these disciplines stand to learn a lot and one to which they must contribute their own insights. Approach: A historical and sociological review of some of the voluminous literature on genocide and the Nazi Holocaust. Findings: Genocide is a highly organized process, requiring bureaucratic resources to initiate, sustain and, often, cover it up. It generates resistance and compliance, it makes use of material and social technologies, it is imbued with its own cultural values and assumptions and calls for its own morbid innovations and problem solving. Genocide requires the collaboration of numerous formal organizations, including armies, suppliers, intelligence and other services, but also informal networks and groups. Limitations: Given the vast literature on genocide and the Nazi Holocaust, obviously only a small sample of crucial texts were reviewed and cited. All the same, they are enough to demonstrate that democide is not carried out by sadistic maniacs or by impersonal bureaucrats in line with the banality of evil hypothesis. It is carried out by organizational members, managing and problem-solving realities whose horrors do not impede them in their decision making. Practical implications: At the same time, the authors argue that genocide cannot be studied outside historiography and that doing so leads to all kinds of gravely mistaken conclusions, even when theorized by distinguished scholars like Arendt and Bauman. Originality: The article debunks some widely espoused theories of genocide, including the adiaphorization and banality of evil theses. JEL: F54, D73, D74 Acknowledgements: This research received no funds. Suggested Citation: Gabriel, Y., & Stokes, P. (2020). Organizations and History – Are There Any Lessons to Be Learned from Genocide? Problemy Zarządzania (Management Issues), 18(2), 11–33.

5

Needing the other: the anatomy of the Mass Noun Thesis

58%

Brons L.

ARGUMENT: Biannual Philosophical Journal

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2014

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vol. 4

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issue 1

103-122

EN

Othering is the construction and identification of the self or in-group and the other or out-group in mutual, unequal opposition by attributing relative inferiority and/or radical alienness to the other/out-group. Othering can be “crude” or “sophisticated”, the defining difference being that in the latter case othering depends on the interpretation of the other/out-group in terms that are applicable only to the self/in-group but that are unconsciously assumed to be universal. The Mass Noun Thesis, the idea that all nouns in certain languages are grammatically and folk-ontologically similar to mass nouns in English, is an example of such sophisticated othering. According to this Thesis, (a) count nouns refer to discrete objects and mass nouns to stuffs; (b) the other’s language has only mass nouns and thus no count nouns; and therefore, (c) the other’s folk-ontology is an ontology of mass stuffs only. There is much evidence, however, that folk-ontology is independent from language. This paper argues that the Mass Noun Thesis is a case of sophisticated othering rooted in a conflation of grammatical and ontological conceptions of mass and count nouns that is applicable to the language of the interpreter/self but not to the languages of the relevant others, and that othering in this case is driven by a need to create some radically alien other to support a scientific or philosophical theory.

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2 Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching

1 ARGUMENT: Biannual Philosophical Journal

1 Communication Today

1 Problemy Zarządzania

2 Walsh R.

2 Wyatt M.

1 Brons L.

1 Gabriel Y.

1 Renáta S.

1 Stokes P.

1 2020

1 2017

3 2014

Contextual factors, methodological principles and teacher cognition

Contextual factors, methodological principles and teacher cognition

Socially Insensitive Messages, Stereotypes and the Disadvantaged Others in the Czech Advertising

Organizations and History – Are There Any Lessons to Be Learned From Genocide?

Needing the other: the anatomy of the Mass Noun Thesis