The Give and Take of Mental Health and Romantic Relationships

This paper examines the impact of mental health on romantic relationships using a symbolic interactionist approach. Specifically, this paper will focus on the dimensions of anxiety/attachment, depression, and mastery/self-esteem and how they impact romantic relationships. The impact of these dimensions is not always negative; some of the aspects can have a positive impact on relationships.

Religion, Platonist Dialectics, and Pragmatist Analysis: Marcus Tullius Cicero’s Contributions to the Philosophy and Sociology of Divine and Human Knowing

Whereas Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and Augustine are probably the best known of the early Western philosophers of religion, Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BCE) also played a particularly consequential role in the development and continuity of Greco-Latin-European social thought. Cicero may be best known for his work on rhetoric and his involvements in the political intrigues of Rome, but Cicero’s comparative examinations of the Greco-Roman philosophies of his day merit much more attention than they have received from contemporary scholars. Cicero’s considerations of philosophy encompass much more than the theological issues considered in this statement, but, in the process of engaging Epicurean and Stoic thought from an Academician (Platonist) perspective, Cicero significantly extends the remarkable insights provided by Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Although especially central to the present analysis, Cicero’s On the Nature of the Gods (1972) is only one of several texts that Cicero directs to a comparative (multiparadigmatic and transhistorical) analysis of divine and human knowing. Much of Cicero’s treatment of the philosophy of religion revolves around variants of the Socratic standpoints (i.e., dialectics, theology, moralism) that characterized the philosophies of Cicero’s era (i.e., Stoicism, Epicureanism, Academician dialectics), but Cicero also engages the matters of human knowing and acting in what may be envisioned as more distinctively pragmatist sociological terms. As well, although Cicero’s materials reflect the socio-historical context in which he worked, his detailed analysis of religion represents a valuable source of comparison with present day viewpoints and practices. Likewise, a closer examination of Cicero’s texts indicates that many of the issues of divine and human knowing, with which he explicitly grapples, have maintained an enduring conceptual currency. This paper concludes with a consideration of the relevance of Cicero’s works for a contemporary pragmatist sociological (symbolic interactionist) approach to the more generic study of human knowing and acting.

Negotiating Authenticity in Technological Environments

Essentialists understand authenticity as an inherent quality of a person, object, artifact, or place, whereas constructionists consider authenticity as a social creation without any pre-given essence, factuality, or reality. In this paper, we move beyond the essentialist-constructionist dichotomy. Rather than focusing on the question whether authenticity can be found or needs to be constructed, we hook into the idea that authenticity is an interactive, culturally informed process of negotiation. In addition to essentialist and constructionist approaches, we discuss a third, less well-known approach that cannot be reduced to any of the two forms. This approach celebrates the authenticity of inauthenticity by amplifying the made. We argue that the value of (in)authenticity lies not in choosing for one of these approaches, but in the degree to which the process of negotiating authenticity enables a critical formation of selves and societies. Authenticity is often invoked as a method of social control or a mark of power relations: once something is defined as authentic, it is no longer questioned. Emerging technologies—especially data-driven technologies—have the capacity to conceal these power relations, propel a shift in power, and dominate authentication processes. This raises the question how processes of authentication can contribute to a critical formation of selves and societies, against the backdrop of emerging technologies. We argue in favor of an interactionist approach of authenticity and discuss the importance of creating space in authentication processes that are increasingly influenced by technology as an invisible actor.

Examining the Language Learning Potential of a Task-Based Approach to Synchronous Computer-Meditated communication

<p>This study investigates the influence of two task implementation features, the level of task structure and the use of language support, on learner language production during task-based text synchronous computer-mediated communication (text-SCMC) interactions. The study draws on two theoretical sets of claims concerning the process of second language acquisition (SLA). The first, broadly described as cognitive accounts of language learning, the Cognition Hypothesis (Robinson, 2001b, 2003b, 2005) and the Trade-off Hypothesis (Skehan, 1998, 2009), has generated a large body of research on the role of implementation features (a means of varying task complexity) in influencing learner language production. The second, the Interactionist Approach (Gass & Mackey, 2006) has also claimed the facilitative role of interaction in promoting second language production. Most of the studies in both these areas were conducted in face-to-face settings (e.g. Gilabert, 2007b; Michel, Kuiken & Vedder, 2007; Robinson, 2007b; Tavakoli & Foster, 2008; Tavakoli & Skehan, 2005). Because SCMC is growing more pervasive in academic and professional communication, it is timely for empirical research into the effect of task complexity on interaction and language production to be conducted in this setting (Lee, 2008; Smith, 2008). It is this gap that the current study aims to address. The participants were 96 engineering learners at a technical university in Malaysia in an English for Professional Communication course. Using a 2x2 experimental design, the learners were placed in one of four experimental groups defined by high or low task structure (+TS or -TS), and with or without language support (+LS or -LS). Each group was subdivided into teams of four. In each team, the students engaged in a 45-minute chat session performing a simulation of a decision-making task on an engineering problem. The chat exchanges were captured and then analyzed to determine the role of these task implementation features on the occurrence of focus on form sequences and on the accuracy, complexity, and quantity of language produced during the tasks. Results showed that the two task implementation features (+/-TS and +/-LS) influenced the occurrence of language-related episodes (LREs), accuracy, complexity and quantity of output. The findings on the effects of task structure (TS) revealed that the learners engaged in more LREs and their output was more accurate when task performance was highly structured (+TS). However, task structure did not have a significant effect on the structural and lexical complexity of the output nor on the amount of language produced and equality of participation. The findings on the effects of language support (LS) demonstrated that the participants engaged in more LREs and their language use was more accurate when performing the task with language support (+LS) than without it (-LS). In contrast, they produced more complex language when performing the task without language support (-LS). Without language support (-LS), the learners were also found to produce fewer turns but with more words per turn. The finding for equality of participation was non-significant which suggests that participation was not affected by language support. To summarize, the current study lends qualified empirical support to the Interactionist Approach (Gass & Mackey, 2006) and the trade-off effects proposed by Skehan (1998, 2009) in that cognitively simple tasks promoted more accurate, but less complex production than cognitively complex tasks as they apply to taskbased interactions in a text-SCMC context. Additionally, the finding demonstrates partial support for the Cognition Hypothesis (Robinson, 2001b; 2003b, 2005) in that increasing task complexity along the resource-dispersing dimension decreased the accuracy of language production. The visual salience of language in a text-SCMC setting may be an important explanatory factor in accounting for this finding. The study, therefore, provides evidence that the nature of text-SCMC may be facilitative to L2 learning, particularly as a medium for learning of form during communicative practice.</p>

Examining the Language Learning Potential of a Task-Based Approach to Synchronous Computer-Meditated communication

<p>This study investigates the influence of two task implementation features, the level of task structure and the use of language support, on learner language production during task-based text synchronous computer-mediated communication (text-SCMC) interactions. The study draws on two theoretical sets of claims concerning the process of second language acquisition (SLA). The first, broadly described as cognitive accounts of language learning, the Cognition Hypothesis (Robinson, 2001b, 2003b, 2005) and the Trade-off Hypothesis (Skehan, 1998, 2009), has generated a large body of research on the role of implementation features (a means of varying task complexity) in influencing learner language production. The second, the Interactionist Approach (Gass & Mackey, 2006) has also claimed the facilitative role of interaction in promoting second language production. Most of the studies in both these areas were conducted in face-to-face settings (e.g. Gilabert, 2007b; Michel, Kuiken & Vedder, 2007; Robinson, 2007b; Tavakoli & Foster, 2008; Tavakoli & Skehan, 2005). Because SCMC is growing more pervasive in academic and professional communication, it is timely for empirical research into the effect of task complexity on interaction and language production to be conducted in this setting (Lee, 2008; Smith, 2008). It is this gap that the current study aims to address. The participants were 96 engineering learners at a technical university in Malaysia in an English for Professional Communication course. Using a 2x2 experimental design, the learners were placed in one of four experimental groups defined by high or low task structure (+TS or -TS), and with or without language support (+LS or -LS). Each group was subdivided into teams of four. In each team, the students engaged in a 45-minute chat session performing a simulation of a decision-making task on an engineering problem. The chat exchanges were captured and then analyzed to determine the role of these task implementation features on the occurrence of focus on form sequences and on the accuracy, complexity, and quantity of language produced during the tasks. Results showed that the two task implementation features (+/-TS and +/-LS) influenced the occurrence of language-related episodes (LREs), accuracy, complexity and quantity of output. The findings on the effects of task structure (TS) revealed that the learners engaged in more LREs and their output was more accurate when task performance was highly structured (+TS). However, task structure did not have a significant effect on the structural and lexical complexity of the output nor on the amount of language produced and equality of participation. The findings on the effects of language support (LS) demonstrated that the participants engaged in more LREs and their language use was more accurate when performing the task with language support (+LS) than without it (-LS). In contrast, they produced more complex language when performing the task without language support (-LS). Without language support (-LS), the learners were also found to produce fewer turns but with more words per turn. The finding for equality of participation was non-significant which suggests that participation was not affected by language support. To summarize, the current study lends qualified empirical support to the Interactionist Approach (Gass & Mackey, 2006) and the trade-off effects proposed by Skehan (1998, 2009) in that cognitively simple tasks promoted more accurate, but less complex production than cognitively complex tasks as they apply to taskbased interactions in a text-SCMC context. Additionally, the finding demonstrates partial support for the Cognition Hypothesis (Robinson, 2001b; 2003b, 2005) in that increasing task complexity along the resource-dispersing dimension decreased the accuracy of language production. The visual salience of language in a text-SCMC setting may be an important explanatory factor in accounting for this finding. The study, therefore, provides evidence that the nature of text-SCMC may be facilitative to L2 learning, particularly as a medium for learning of form during communicative practice.</p>

Gender and Embodiment as Negotiated Relations

Gender pervades every part of life, from identity and embodied practices to institutional and transnational social order. An interactionist approach recognizes that gender is constituted by pervasive, thoroughgoing, situational organizing practices of meaning-making pervading our worlds, which are always relational and emergent among people in institutional contexts at historical moments. Gender identities are not a feature of “types” of individuals but, rather, comprise negotiated relations between and among us—which can be normalizing or resistant. This chapter examines the development of sociological theory on gender and embodiment. It begins by looking at a brief timeline of the last 150 years of the everyday (US) “queer” lexicon to demonstrate how academic concepts seem to intertwine with the proliferation of everyday identities in the mundane world. The chapter then outlines its beginnings in microsociology, the connections between micro and macro theorizations, and emergent masculinities, femininities, transgender, and non-binary identity practices, pointing to various paradigm shifts along the way including feminisms, intersectionality, and queer theory. Constantly in production for everyone, gender proliferates as negotiated relations, made especially visible by resistance identities. We conclude briefly with future directions.

Greek History

I commence this review with a major contribution to the social history of classical Athens. Athenian social history is traditionally focused on polarities of class, status, and gender; while these polarities were obviously important, it is equally significant to adopt an interactionist approach and explore the shape of encounters between people belonging to the same or different groups. Rafał Matuszewski has chosen to focus on the interactions and communication between male Athenian citizens: in particular, the various spaces in which those interactions took place, as well as the means of communication. As regards the spaces, he explores in detail the noisy streets, the Agora, the various shops, workshops, and places of commensality and entertainment, the baths, the gymnasia, and the palaestrae. This is an excellent synthesis of a large number of social spaces in classical Athens, which have never been explored in the same detail as, for example, sanctuaries and cemeteries. Equally fascinating is the second part of the work and its detailed exploration of the body as a means of communication, alongside elements of material culture like clothes, houses, and graves. The wealth of material that is collected and examined and the interactionist framework employed have the potential to revolutionize how we study Greek social and cultural history; it is to be hoped that Anglophone readers will make the effort to engage seriously with this important German book.

Interaction

This Element in the Cambridge Elements in Second Language Acquisition series examines the role of interaction in Second Language Acquisition research, with a focus on the cognitive interactionist approach. The Element describes the major branches of the field, considering the importance of conversational interaction in both the cognitive interactionist framework as well as in sociocultural approaches to second language learning. The authors discuss the key concepts of the framework, including input, negotiation for meaning, corrective feedback, and output. The key readings in the field and the emphases of current and future research are explained. Finally, the authors describe the pedagogical implications that the cognitive interactionist approach has had on the teaching of second languages.

Power and Interaction

In this chapter we draw on G. H. Mead to formulate a definition of power as an organism’s capacity to modify its environment to satisfy its needs and desires. We argue that in the social world this capacity is exercised by individuals and groups through forms of action that elicit the cooperation of others. This fundamentally symbolic interactionist approach to power helps us see how power operates on both situational and structural levels. Our argument highlights five forms of action through which the cooperation of others is elicited: (1) crafting virtual selves; (2) using normative and procedural rules; (3) establishing frames and definitions of reality; (4) managing emotions; and (5) invoking extra-situational relationships or “nets of accountability.” An advantage of this approach is that it can illuminate the processes through which power is nurtured, undermined, and resisted. Introduction

The shift to cause framing in Egyptian LGBT advocacy after the January 25 revolution

This study sheds light on LGBT activists’ recourse to the rights frame as a means to overcome social and political restrictions and develop an effective advocacy in an authoritarian context. While the literature has de-emphasized social movements’ recourse to cultural resources in authoritarian contexts, this study presents cause framing and its interactionist approach, cultural opportunity structure, as a means of adaptation to repression. Thanks to the rights frame, activists used cultural resources in the formulation of their cause based on feelings of common injustice and the development of a flexible transnational cyber-advocacy calling for the end to the state’s violation of individual rights.