scholarly journals Language practice in the multilingual workplace: A Confucius Institute in Macau

2021 ◽  
Vol 86 ◽  
pp. 43-54
Author(s):  
Gong Yang (Frank) ◽  
Gao Xuesong (Andy) ◽  
Li Citing ◽  
Xue Lian
Keyword(s):  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Language Diversity ◽  
Language Practice ◽  
Confucius Institute ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
Multilingual Communication ◽  
Multiple Data ◽  
Confucius Institutes ◽  
Field Notes ◽  
Multilingual Workplace

This article reports on an ethnographic study that investigated language practice in a multilingual workplace, a Confucius Institute in Macau. In the study we collected multiple data from five staff members through participatory observations, open-ended interviews, and field notes, to examine their language practice in the Institute. The analysis revealed that multiple languages were chosen to fulfill different purposes on different occasions. Specifically, Putonghua served as the working language of the Institute, English emerged as an auxiliary language along with Putonghua, and Cantonese was used as a group language for native-Cantonese speaker staff. This study also identified that the staff members adopted multilingualism (flexibly using different languages) and English as a lingua franca for communicating with learners outside the classroom, as important strategies for dealing with tasks in encounters with language diversity, divergence between spoken communication and written communication, and lack of multilingual competence. These findings suggest that the stakeholders in Confucius Institutes need to pay more attention to the language practice in these multilingual settings, and provide resources and support to enhance the staff’s bilingual/multilingual communication competence

scholarly journals Possibilities for interprofessional learning at a Swedish acute healthcare ward not dedicated to interprofessional education: an ethnographic study

BMJ Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. e027590 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann Hägg-Martinell ◽  
Håkan Hult ◽  
Peter Henriksson ◽  
Anna Kiessling
Keyword(s):  
Nursing Students ◽  
Interprofessional Education ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Clinical Settings ◽  
Interprofessional Learning ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
Questions And Answers ◽  
Field Notes ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Acute Healthcare

ObjectivesAlmost all healthcare today is team-based in collaboration over professional borders, and numerous students have work-based learning in such contexts. However, interprofessional learning (IPL) in clinical settings has mostly been systematically explored in specially designed contexts dedicated to interprofessional education (IPE). This study aimed to explore the possibilities for IPL activities, and if or how they occur, in an acute ward context not dedicated to IPE.Design and settingBetween 2011 and 2013 ethnographic observations were performed of medical and nursing students’ interactions and IPL during early clerkship at an acute internal medicine ward in Sweden. Field notes were taken and analysed based on the framework of IPE:learning with, from and about.Participants21 medical, 4 nursing students and 30 supervisors participated.ResultsLearning with—there were no organised IPE activities. Instead, medical and nursing students learnt in parallel. However, students interacted with staff members from other professions.Learning from—interprofessional supervision was frequent. Interprofessional supervision of nursing students by doctors focused on theoretical questions and answers, while interprofessional supervision of medical students by nurses focused on the performance of technical skills.Learning about—students were observed to actively observe interactions between staff and learnt how staff conducted different tasks.ConclusionThis study shows that there were plenty of possibilities for IPL activities, but the potential was not fully utilised or facilitated. Serendipitous IPL activities differed between observed medical and nursing students. Although interprofessional supervision was fairly frequent, students were not learning with, from or about each other over professional borders.

scholarly journals Sociolinguistic Markers of Friendship Among Persons With Dementia in Long-Term Care

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 575-575
Author(s):  
Pamela Saunders
Keyword(s):  
Social Interaction ◽  
Long Term Care ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Linguistic Features ◽  
Term Care ◽  
Socially Constructed ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Pronominal Reference ◽  
Field Notes

Abstract Sociolinguistics and discourse analysis provide tools through which to examine how friendship is socially constructed through language and communication. Research on social isolation and loneliness reveals the importance of social interaction on the psychological and physical health of older adults. Given that linguistic, communicative, and functional abilities decline as dementia progresses, it is challenging to identify markers of friendship. The Friendship Project is an ethnographic study of social interaction among persons with dementia living in a long-term care setting. The data are from transcripts and field-notes of social interactions among residents with a range of cognitive impairments over a six-month time period. Results reveal that persons with dementia employ specific linguistic features such as narrative, evaluation, evidentials, and pronominal reference to make meaning and create relationships over time. Practical implications will be discussed.

scholarly journals Mealtime Care for People With Dementia: What Do Nursing Home Staff Think?

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 182-183
Author(s):  
James Faraday ◽  
Clare Abley ◽  
Catherine Exley ◽  
Joanne Patterson
Keyword(s):  
Nursing Homes ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Direct Care ◽  
Care Staff ◽  
Direct Care Staff ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
People With Dementia ◽  
Comparison Approach ◽  
The Right

Abstract More and more people with dementia are living in nursing homes (NH). Often, they depend on NH staff for help with eating and drinking. It is important that staff have the skills and support they need to provide good care at mealtimes. This qualitative study explores mealtime care for people with dementia, from the perspective of NH staff. Semi-structured interviews with NH staff (n=16) were carried out in two nursing homes. The homes were chosen to have diverse characteristics: one home had a large number of beds and was part of a small local organization; the other had a small number of beds and was part of a large national organization. Various staff members were interviewed, including direct care staff, senior carers, nurses, managers, and kitchen staff. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. A constant comparison approach was taken, so that data from early interviews were explored in more depth subsequently. From the analysis, five themes emerged as important in mealtime care for people with dementia living in nursing homes: Setting the right tone; Working well as a team; Knowing the residents; Promoting autonomy and independence; Gently persevering. This work forms part of a larger ethnographic study on the topic, which includes data from residents with dementia, and family carers. Results will inform the development of a staff training intervention to optimize mealtime care for this population.

Exploring hospital nurses’ transitional medication management for older patients with multi-morbidity: An ethnographic study

2021 ◽  
pp. 205715852110617
Author(s):  
Mette Geil Kollerup ◽  
Birgitte Schantz Laursen
Keyword(s):  
Older Patients ◽  
Communication Systems ◽  
Clinical Decision Making ◽  
Medication Management ◽  
Clinical Decision ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
University Hospital ◽  
Hospital Nurses ◽  
Assessment Skills ◽  
Field Notes

Transitional medication management, in which individual needs are balanced against organizational priorities, is crucial for safe discharge processes. The aim of this study was to explore hospital nurses’ transitional medication management in the discharge of older patients with multi-morbidity. Using an ethnographic approach the data were collected through participant observations at a mixed medical ward at a Danish university hospital for two weeks. The participants were five registered nurses, responsible for nursing care of 23 patients with multi-morbidity and planned for discharge. The data comprised field notes that were analysed using iterative processes of domain, taxonomic and component analysis. The reporting adhered to the COREQ checklist. Hospital nurses’ transitional medication management was characterized by unpredictability and inconsistency in patient situations, fragmentation and discontinuity in working processes and complexity in communication systems. Special attention to nurses’ needs assessment skills and clinical decision making in caring for patients with multi-morbidity in a single focused healthcare system is required.

scholarly journals Humour in Sports Coaching: ‘It’s a Funny Old Game’

2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 744-762 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Nicholas Edwards ◽  
Robyn L Jones
Keyword(s):  
Social Order ◽  
Social Role ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
The Body ◽  
Social Significance ◽  
Ethnographic Film ◽  
The Social ◽  
Field Notes ◽  
Sports Coaching

The primary purpose of this article was to investigate the use and manifestation of humour within sports coaching. This was particularly in light of the social significance of humour as a critical component in cultural creation and negotiation. Data were gathered from a 10-month ethnographic study that tracked the players and coaches of Senghenydd City Football Club (a pseudonym) over the course of a full season. Precise methods of data collection included participant observation, reflective personal field notes, and ethnographic film. The results demonstrated the dominating presence of both ‘inclusionary putdowns’ and ‘disciplinary humour’, particularly in relation to how they contributed to the production and maintenance of the social order. Finally, a reflective conclusion discusses the temporal nature of the collective understanding evident among the group at Senghenydd, and its effect on the humour evident. In doing so, the work contributes to the body of knowledge regarding the social role of humour within sports coaching.

scholarly journals “But I Learn More Bad Grammars When I Write to My Classmates”: Acquiring Academic Literacies in a Multicultural Writing Class

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 638-658
Author(s):  
Teresa Chen
Keyword(s):  
Second Language Writing ◽  
Data Sources ◽  
Communication Styles ◽  
Academic Literacies ◽  
Online Discussion Forum ◽  
Multiple Data ◽  
Writing Class ◽  
Language Writing ◽  
International College ◽  
Field Notes

This qualitative case study sought to understand the experiences of international college students who were involved in the acquisition of academic literacies (via an English-as-a-Second-Language writing class). Data sources included observation field notes; messages posted in an online discussion forum; transcripts of interviews with five focal students and their instructor; and student-level reflective journal entries. Findings were validated via the triangulation of multiple data sources. Several themes emerged from the analyses that are associated with academic adjustment and intercultural communication, including an energetic class that highly valued participation, conflicting student views on participation, and unvalued collaboration. Implications included the provision of instructionrelated opportunities that enable students to explore the cultures and culturally diverse communication styles of their academic peers

scholarly journals A comparative study of the Confucius Institute in the United Kingdom and the British Council in China

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-63
Author(s):  
Liexu Cai
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Educational Communication ◽  
Chinese Government ◽  
Confucius Institute ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
British Council ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Confucius Institutes ◽  
International Comparative

Since the first Confucius Institute was set up by the Chinese government for the promotion of Chinese language and culture overseas in 2004, the development of Confucius Institutes has become exponentially increasing. Currently, there are 29 Confucius Institutes in the United Kingdom among over 500 Confucius Institutes abroad; meanwhile, the activities of the British Council in China also became popular as one of the central paradigms for educational communication between China and the United Kingdom. Although there have been several studies on Confucius Institutes and British Council, respectively, little research exists about them from the international comparative perspective, with regard to both of them being cultural institutes abroad and the establishment of Confucius Institutes benefitting from the United Kingdom’s experience in promoting its national languages and culture. This article aims to discover the general similarities and differences between Confucius Institutes and the British Council in three aspects: the organisation structures and culture diffusion models, the language teaching and learning resources and activities, and the cooperation that the two institutes have with the other organisations.

scholarly journals China's Confucius Institutes and the "Necessary White Body"

2013 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 647-668 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather Schmidt
Keyword(s):  
Chinese Culture ◽  
National Language ◽  
Ethnographic Research ◽  
Confucius Institute ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
Social Landscape ◽  
Distinct Process ◽  
Confucius Institutes ◽  
Canadian Multiculturalism

Abstract. Confucius Institutes (CIs), modelled on similar European organizations, promote China’s official national language and culture abroad. Unlike their European counterparts, however, the interactions between CIs and Canadian audiences are haunted by complex histories of a racialized “Oriental Other” in Canada and “Western Other” in China. Through ethnographic research on the Confucius Institute in Edmonton and the CI Headquarters in Beijing, this paper explores racialized representations of China and Chinese culture, as well as racialized understandings of the desired Western audience, in both locations. I argue that representations of Chinese culture are caught between two competing logics which I term reorientalism and reorientality. Reorientalism attempts to reclaim definitions of Chineseness and redress misunderstandings about China while simultaneously making China comprehensible and ultimately marketable through reorientality, or a use of familiar Orientalist tropes. Canadians (most often imagined and represented as white) are encouraged to engage with this reorientality through their own performance and embodiment of Chinese culture (a conceptually distinct process I call re-orientality) as a means of understanding the project of reorientalism. However, the spectacle of Chinese culture through CIs resonates with Canadian multiculturalism in ways that may unintentionally reproduce a social landscape that normalizes whiteness and the consumption of ethnicized Otherness.

Immigrant New Mothers in Finnish Maternity Care: An Ethnographic Study of Caring

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 86-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anita Wikberg ◽  
Katie Eriksson ◽  
Terese Bondas
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Nursing Education ◽  
Maternity Care ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Cultural Knowledge ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
New Mothers ◽  
Centered Care ◽  
Field Notes ◽  
Care Culture

PURPOSE: To illuminate experiences and perceptions of caring in the maternity care culture of immigrant new mothers in Finland.DESIGN: This is a descriptive interpretive ethnography.PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: Seventeen new mothers from different cultures on a maternity ward in a medium-sized hospital in Finland.METHODS: Focused ethnographic analysis and interpretation of interviews, observations, and field notes were used.FINDINGS: Caring was part of the positive experience of childbearing and beneficial for the health and well-being of the immigrant new mothers. Negative experiences of health care impaired their well-being. The resources of Finnish maternity care and cultural knowledge of the nurses facilitated the caring. The policy and attitude of Finnish society encouraged childbearing. The immigration regulations affected support during childbearing negatively and tended to caused loneliness. The Finnish maternity care was not fully adapted to the mothers’ wishes to understand the organization of Finnish maternity care, to communicate, to breastfeed, and to have family-centered care, a flexible length of stay in the hospital, and extended support after childbirth.CONCLUSION: Caring improves the childbearing experience and the well-being and health of new immigrant mothers; therefore, caring needs to be emphasized in maternity care, health care administration, and nursing education.

An Ethnographic Study of Deinstitutionalized Adults: Their Community Settings and Daily Life Experiences

1981 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 125-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary Kielhofner
Keyword(s):  
Mentally Ill ◽  
Historical Development ◽  
Life Experiences ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Analytic Model ◽  
Community Settings ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
The Past ◽  
Field Notes

In the past two decades deinstitutionalization policy has relocated thousands of mentally ill and mentally retarded persons and reshaped a major sector of the health care system. This paper reports a 3-year ethnographic study of 69 deinstitutionalized retarded persons in which occupational therapy and social science participant observers followed subjects in their everyday environments. Field notes, interviews, and videotape data were collected. The aim of the study was to examine the daily lives, living settings, and social circumstances of retarded adults. This paper describes findings on the community residential system and its impact on the lives and adaptation of retarded persons. The discussion of the study methods details the historical development of the research process. The findings presented are an analytic model of the community residential system and a description of adaptive problems of retarded persons living in the community.

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