Pagdihon: The Art and Language of Pottery Making in Bari, Sibalom, Antique

Pottery is seen as creation of ornamentals, cooking and storing materials. Yet, while economic gains are often considered from producing these materials, the artistic and linguistic aspects have been ignored. This study discusses the factors influencing the culture of pottery, the processes of pottery making, and seeks to uncover the language used in processes of pottery making in Bari, Sibalom, Antique. A qualitative research employing ethnographic study with participant observation and face to face interviews using photo documentation, video recording and open-ended questions in gathering the data was employed. There were five manugdihon, or potters, purposively selected as key informants of the study. The study revealed that environmental factors influenced the culture of pottery making in the barangay. There were seven main processes in pottery making. These included gathering and preparing of materials, mixing the needed materials, cleaning the mixed clay, forming of desired shape, detaching, drying, and polishing and varnishing. Further findings indicate that, together the other processes, the language used in poterry making was archaic Kinaray-a, the language of the province. This language pattern suggests a specialized pottery making. Ultimately, the study suggest that the manugdihon should continue their artistic talents so that the language may be preserved. The educational institutions of the province may provide ways to include pottery making in the curriculum so that the art and language of pottery making will be preserved and promoted.

'How Does the ASEAN Region Localize International Brands?’ A Multidimensional Analysis of Thai TV ads

In intercultural scholarship, there is a considerable number of studies that explores the impact and effect of culturally oriented social media (see Koda 2014, 2016; Mendoza 2010). Of these studies, however, there is a paucity of understanding on how social media becomes a third space of cultural representation, especially in the Southeast Asian context (Dumlao and Wattakan 2020; Feng 2009; Kalscheuer 2008). Drawing from insights connected to inter-semiosis by Kress and Van Leeuwen (1996) and SF-MDA by O’Halloran (2011), therefore, this paper explores the glocalization process and its inclination to cultural representation, and thus creating new discursive forms of identities, by looking at Thai TV ads from January 2019 to December 2019. Two Thai TV ads were purposively chosen from international beverage companies. To capture the glocalization and cultural representation, we compared these with TV ads from other countries, namely, the Philippines, and the U.S.A. Through content and multidimensional analysis, the findings suggest that commercials construct glocal identities through several factors and incidences. These incidences and factors support and provide understanding for brand identity positioning, which itself describes the intersemiosis of elements within contemporary consumer cultures. Implications of this study are discussed in the paper.

Rain or Shine Shield: Language and Ropes of Sadok Making

A sadok or salakot is a farmer’s cherished possession, protecting him from the sun or rain. The Sadok, persisting up to the present, has many uses. The study of Sadok making was pursued to highlight an important product, as a cultural tradition in the community as craft, art, and part of indigenous knowledge in central Antique in the Philippines. Despite that this valuable economic activity needs sustainability, it is given little importance if not neglected, and seems to be a dying economic activity. The qualitative study uses ethnophenomenological approaches to gather data using interviews and participant observation, which aims to describe the importance of Sadok making. It describes how the makers learned the language of Sadok making, especially terms related to materials and processes. The study revealed that the makers of Sadok learned the language from their ancestors. They have lived with them and interacted with them since they were young. Sadok making is a way of life and the people observe their parents work and assist in the work which allows them to learn Sadok making. They were exposed to this process through observations and hands-on activities or ‘on-the-job’ informal training. They were adept with the terms related to the materials and processes involved in the making of Sadok as they heard these terms from them. They learned the terms bamboo, rattan, tabun-ak (leaves used) and nito (those creeping vines) as materials used in Sadok making. The informants revealed that the processes involved in the making of Sadok are long and tedious, starting from the soaking, curing and drying of the bamboo, cleaning and cutting these bamboo into desired pieces, then with the intricacies in arranging the tabun-ak or the leaves, and the weaving part, until the leaves are arranged, up to the last phase of decorating the already made Sadok. In summary, socialization is one important factor in learning the language and a cultural practice such as Sadok making. It is an important aspect of indigenous knowledge that must be communicated to the young for it to become a sustainable economic activity, which could impact on the economy of the locality. Local government units should give attention to this indigenous livelihood. Studies that would help in the enhancement of the products can likewise be given emphasis.

Subtitle Translation Strategies of Dish Name in the Chinese Documentary-A Bite of China 1

With the implementation of “go globally” strategy of Chinese culture, a large number of Chinese films and TV programs have been produced to go abroad. As a medium and carrier of cultural communication, the quality of documentary subtitle translation determines whether Chinese culture can be appropriately disseminated or not. This paper aims to investigate the translation strategies of culture-specific items with special focus on name of dishes. The object of study in this paper is A Bite of China 1 produced by CCTV in 2012, which is not only about Chinese foods but also geography, local customs and dietary habit. Firstly, by using comparative approach, the linguistic characteristics are discussed to identify the similarities and differences between source and translated dish names. Then the translation strategies for dish name are examined. Next, such factors affecting translation strategies as cultural ideology is analyzed. The objective of this paper is to study what translation strategies are possibly adopted when translating Chinese dish name into English in the documentary. The findings show that in the process of dish name translation of Chinese documentaries, domestication and foreignization are two frequently used strategies which is complementary to each other.

Translating space from Chinese to English: A Case Study of Cao Wenxuan’s Bronze and Sunflower

Translated children’s works from English to Chinese have flooded China unprecedentedly since the end of the 19PthP century. However, there is a discrepancy in the translation of Chinese children’s works into the English language. This is maybe because western scholars are still largely ignoring Asian texts for young readers. Therefore, the research aims to fill the gap in the scholarship by studying the translated Bronze and Sunflower, which is a renowned work written by the Chinese first Hans Christian Anderson winner Cao Wenxuan, from the aspect of narrative space. A qualitative approach is adopted to compare the similarities and differences of narrative space between the source text and the target text. The samples will be taken from Cao Wenxuan’s Bronze and Sunflower and its English translation. The textual analysis is illuminated through the narratological framework, which is based on three-layered space: The topographic level, the chronotopic level and the textual level. The study explores how narrative space is constructed in the process of translating Bronze and Sunflower. It is hoped that the findings of the study will show how space is created in a different languagea, and that the translator prefers to change the narrative space rather than keeping the same spatial structure in the target text.

Exploring Intercultural Interaction: The Use of Semiotic Resources in Meaning-Making Processes

Intercultural communication refers to interaction between speakers of different backgrounds, such as different linguistic and cultural origins (Kim 2001). Interaction in face-to face situations has demonstrated that spoken language involves both verbal and semiotic resources for social action. Semiotic resources that include use of talk, gestures, eye gaze and other nonverbal cues can convey semantic content and can become a crucial point in conversation (Hazel et al. 2014). Drawing on a Aonversation Analysis (CA) approach, we explore how participants employed semiotic resources in word searches activities in an intercultural context. Word searches are moments in interaction when a speaker’s turn is temporarily ceased as the speaker displays difficulty in searching for appropriate linguistic items so as to formulate the talk (Schegloff et al. 1977; Kurhila 2006). In this study, naturally occurring interactions in a multilingual setting were video recorded. The participants were Asian university students with different language backgrounds. The findings suggest that multilingual participants mutually collaborate by utilizing verbal affordances, gaze, gesture and other nonverbal cues as useful semiotic resources in the meaning-making process, and thus resolving word search impediments to facilitate intercultural interaction.

Migration, Language, Identity: The Journey of Meixian Hakkas from Calcutta to Vienna

Hakkas from Meizhou who migrated to Calcutta established suc¬cessful businesses, and then, in the 1970s to the 1990s, moved on to settle in Vienna (and Toronto). Prac¬ticing a closed-group life both in Vienna and across continents, the Hakkas preserved their lan¬gua¬ge and culture while adapting both to India and Austria in various ways. In a series of open interviews with Vienna-based Hakkas, questions of identity and the preservation of a minority culture are raised. In dependence to age, the consultants have very different personal identities behind a shared social identity of being ‘Indian Hak¬ka¬s,’ which is, however, mostly borne out of practical considerations of mutual support and certain cultural practices. As mi¬grants, they can profit from close friendship and loyalty between group members, sharing the same pro¬fes¬sions, marrying inside the group, and speaking their own language. Questions of identity are most¬ly relevant for the younger generation which has to deal with a confusingly layered familial iden¬tity.

Conceptualising Doctoral Supervision in Malaysia as a Small Culture

Research on doctoral supervision in the field of Intercultural Communication has traditionally been applied to cross-cultural comparison, particularly across national systems and cultural boundaries. However, recent years have witnessed that such comparison is being challenged and re-analysed in light of potential risk of over generalisation and stereotyping in its observation. In this research, we consider the relevance of small cultures (Holliday 1994, 1999) as an alternative approach to conceptualise doctoral supervisory practice as a dynamic on-going group process through which its members make sense of and operate purposefully within particular contexts and shared behaviours. Narrative-based qualitative research was designed to generate and analyse the data. The participants were a purposive sample of six recently graduated PhD students at a Malaysian public university. One-on-one narrative interviews were conducted with the students to gather their supervisory narratives. Analyses of the students’ transcripts were completed using a holistic-content approach (Lieblich et al. 2008). Findings reveal a distinct set of behaviours and understandings that constitute the cultures of supervisory practice in the Malaysian university context. Through the notion of small cultures, this research proposes that cultures of PhD supervision can be best understood through an analysis of shared norms, behaviours and values between students and supervisors during supervisory practice. This research hopes that the move from a focus on large culture (i.e. Malaysianness per se) to a focus on the meaning-making process between students and supervisors from different backgrounds can assist education practitioners such as PhD supervisors to avoid stereotyping and overgeneralising.

Between Global and Local Contexts: The Seoul Linguistic Landscape

Multilingualism in urban spaces is mainly studied as an oral practice. Nevertheless, linguistic landscape studies can serve as a good explorative method for studying multilingualism in written practices. Moreover, resent research on linguistic landscapes (Blommaert 2013; Shohamy et. al. 2010; Backhaus 2006) have shed some light on the power relations between different ethnic groups in urban public space. Multilingual practices exist in a certain ideological context, and not only official language policy but speaker linguistic stereotypes and attitudes can influence and modify those practices. Historically, South Korea tended to be oriented towards monolingualism; one nation-one people-one language ideology was domineering public discourse. However, globalization and recent increase in migration resulted in gradual changes in attitudes towards multilingualism (Lo and Kim 2012). The linguistic landscapes of Seoul, on the one hand, reflect these changes, and However, they demonstrates pragmatic inequality of languages other than South Korean in public use. This inequality, though, is represented differently in certain spatial urban contexts. The proposed paper aims at analyzing data on linguistic landscapes of Seoul, South Korea ,with the focus on different contexts of language use and different sets of norms and ideological constructs underlying particular linguistic choices. In my presentation I will examine data from three urban contexts: ‘general’ (typical for most public spaces); ‘foreign-oriented’ (seen in tourist oriented locations such as airport, expensive hotels, or popular historical sites, which dominates the Itaewon district); and ‘ethnic-oriented’ (specific for spaces created by and for ethnic minority groups, such as Mongolian / Central Asian / Russian districts near the Dongdaemun History and Culture Park station). I will show that foreign languages used in public written communication are embedded into different frameworks in these three urban contexts, and that the patterns of their use vary from pragmatically oriented ones to predominately symbolic ones, with English functioning as a substitution for other foreign languages, as an emblem of ‘foreignness.’

Compliment Strategies Employed by Japanese and Malaysian Tour Guides during Tour Sessions

This research is a comparative study of Japanese language communication between the Japanese and Malay tourist guides during tourism tour sessions. The research goal is to examine patterns of compliment strategies implemented throughout the interactions of the tour sessions. The study results acquired are in the form of four recordings of a dialogue between the tourist guides and the tourists, in audio and video modes. The conversations are transcribed and coded. The tour guides included two Japanese native speakers and two Malaysian-Japanese speakers. In contrast, the tourists are Japanese native speakers who visited Malaysia, and Malaysians who attended the tourist attractions in Japan. The study reveals that the frequency of compliments applied by both Japanese and Malaysian tour guides are alike, or in other words, there are no significant differences. Nevertheless, category, function and topic or theme of compliment utterance present ssubstantial distinction.