A discourse study of Persian ra

The object marker râ in Persian has been studied extensively in the domain of sentence level syntax. It has been claimed that it functions as a definiteness marker, a specificity marker, and a topicalization marker. This paper focuses on the way it signals identifiability of discourse referents. It is argued that the identifiabilty phenomenon, an aspect of the theory of information flow, can adequately explain the role of this particle as used in actual discourse.

Democracy in Iraq : history, politics, discourse

This book proposes a significant reassessment of the history of Iraq, documenting democratic experiences from ancient Mesopotamia through to the US occupation. Such an analysis takes to task claims that the ‘West’ has a uniquely democratic history and a responsibility to spread democracy across the world. It also reveals that Iraq has a democratic history all of its own, from ancient Middle Eastern assemblies and classical Islamic theology and philosophy, through to the myriad political parties, newspapers and protest movements of more recent times. This book argues that the democratic history of Iraq could serve as a powerful political and discursive tool where the Iraqi people may come to feel a sense of ownership over democracy and take pride in endorsing it. This could go a long way towards mitigating the current conflicts across the nation and in stabilizing and legitimating its troubled democracy.

Taking an interdisciplinary approach and referring to some of the most influential critical theorists to question ideological assumptions about democracy and its history, this book will be useful to those interested in political and legal history, human rights and democracy.

Exercising sociomathematical norms in classroom discourse about data representation : insights from one case study of a grade 6 lesson in Indonesia

This paper examines a research study to foster mathematical discourse about data representations among Indonesian students. It was situated in the context of implementing an Indonesian version of Realistic Mathematics Education, labelled as PMRI, in primary schools. A case study of one lesson involving Grade 6 students on the choice of data representations in Yogyakarta will be discussed. The analysis focused on the enacted social norms and sociomathematical norms during a wholeclass discussion and their impacts on students’ knowledge of data representations. The need for constant effort to enact these norms in classroom mathematical discourse is highlighted.

Beyond the rational museum : toward a discourse of inclusion

Museum discourse is not inclusive in that it neglects or negates the affective potential of museums. Affect is precognitive sensation, it is unexpected, and leaves a more lasting impression than re-cognition. The museum’s role in the shaping of histories, and its origins in class and gender exploitation are important areas of discourse, however, the focus on these issues also limits discourse. Ideologically driven critique seems unable to explain the experiential affect of exhibits of art and material culture. Arguably, an alternative museum with a contradictory set of meanings has always existed alongside the rational museum of critical discourse. Some critics do acknowledge that their disciplines seem unable to grapple with this ‘alternative museum’, however, there is not a critical vocabulary of affect with which to give it appropriate expression. Gilles Deleuze’s philosophical ideas give relevance to affect, and are useful in shaping or ‘shocking’ a way toward a more inclusive critical discourse, which might lead toward more inclusive museum practices.

Applying King et al.'s taxonomy to frame the IS discipline's engagement in green IS discourse

This paper considers how the IS discipline can engage with discourse on the institutions and their interventions which influence and regulate green IS innovation. To consider possible responses, we apply King et al.’s (1994) taxonomy, based on Institutional Theory, to frame a research agenda to guide future exploration and debate on the interventions to facilitate green IS innovation. Through the application of the taxonomy, we derive several pertinent questions for the discipline to consider as part of this debate. We conclude that the IS discipline can, and indeed should, play a more prominent role both through traditional responses (e.g., descriptive studies of green IS methodologies, organisational best practice, maturity models, etc.), but also through more active engagement in the form of participation and advocacy in shaping future green policy and regulation.

Power and discourse in information systems practice : a narrative research method

Relationships of authority and control and their effect on information systems actors has interested IS researchers since at least the 1980’s. The study of power itself has also troubled organisational and sociological theorists, from which information systems researchers have drawn various lines of attack. Our approach to power rests on an historical synchronic theory that seeks to uncover the places and operation of power through an examination of narrative ‘testaments’ which are analysed not from the perspective of the giving individual but from the structural elements of discourse that they may represent. This paper compliments previous research methods on the topic of power especially in expert reports and systems development methodologies; provides specific guidance on how to apply the notion of discourse synchronically; and reconstructs the commercial practice of information systems, not as a broad church, but as one of competing and epistemologically incommensurate discourse, where the fates of the powerful are balanced against the fearful and silent disciplined.

Persuasion as a contest

We examine how the probability of persuading an audience depends on resources expended by contending parties as well as on other factors. We use a Bayesian approach whereby the audience makes inferences solely based on the evidence produced by the contestants. We find conditions that yield the well-known additive contest success function, including the logit function. We also find conditions that produce a generalized “difference” functional form. In all cases, there are three main determinants of audience choice: (i) the truth and other objective parameters of the environment; (ii) the biases of the audience, and (iii) the resources expended by the interested parties.

Moral rights and Australian contemporary architecture : recent professional dilemmas and the thoughts of Peter Muller in this discourse

The moral rights of contemporary design projects has arisen as a difficult ethical dilemma in Australian architectural discourses, and is more complex when matters of heritage are implicated. This paper considers the position of moral rights under the AustralianCopyright Act 19682 having regard to the Australian exemplars of Peter Muller. Muller is one of the most highly regarded Australian architects of the twentieth century possessing a passion for organic architecture realised in several significant Australian and Indonesian design exemplars. The paper considers recent Australian debates about moral rights and projects that implicate several architectural and landscape architecture projects, the current legal interpretations, and explains the ideas, values, and opinions and practice of Muller in this context. A clear conclusion is that while the Act confers rights, there is no mechanism to ensure adherence to these rights, and particularly in the situation of a living designer where one of their designs is being accorded heritage status.

Spoken mathematics as an instructional strategy: the public discourse of mathematics classrooms in different countries

This chapter examines the use of spoken mathematics in the public discourse of eighth-grade mathematics classrooms internationally. By “spoken mathematics” we mean the recognizably mathematical terms used in spoken interaction in the classroom. Our principal focus was the relatively sophisticated terms by which each lesson’s central concepts or procedures were named. In our analysis we addressed the question(s): “What is the occurrence of publicly spoken mathematics in the different classrooms studied and what efforts do the teachers appear to make to promote students’ use of technical mathematical terms in their public classroom talk?” A companion chapter examines the question of students’ private spoken mathematics in the classroom and the possible learning that might result.

Uni has a different language … to the real world: demystifying academic culture and discourse for students from low socioeconomic backgrounds

The Australian government has set ambitious targets for increased higher-education participation of people from low socioeconomic backgrounds. There is, thus, a pressing need to explore how best to empower these students with what they require to progress and succeed at university. The paper draws on a literature review and qualitative data from a national study in which 89 students from low socioeconomic backgrounds and 26 staff were interviewed. The paper argues that demystifying academic culture and discourses for these students is a key step institutions and staff can take in assisting students from low socioeconomic backgrounds to progress and succeed at university. A recurring theme to emerge from both the literature and interviews with students and staff was that teaching the discourse empowers and enables students to learn, has a positive impact on their sense of belonging and ultimately helps them succeed in higher education.

PhD crisis discourse: a critical approach to the framing of the problem and some Australian ‘solutions’

A feature of HE reform discourse is the tendency to construct the rationale for reform in terms of averting calamity and risk. We refer to this risk talk as ‘crisis discourse’. This study examines the formulation of PhD crisis discourse internationally and in Australia. We find that a key feature of PhD crisis discourse is that universities are producing too many graduates for too few academic jobs; and graduates lack skills that enable them to be productive in jobs outside academia. In Australia, the discourse has shifted from one dominated by efficiency concerns from the late 1990s to the present focus on graduate skills and employability. The policy solution to the efficiency crisis in the Australian PhD resulted in system-wide changes in research training funding focused on increased efficiency. The current unemployability discourse has as yet prompted isolated institutional responses, the introduction of new PhD programs or re-badging existing offerings as pro-skills development offerings. Following an examination of three Australian institutional responses, we conclude that the crisis discourse signals tensions surrounding the PhD: should achievement in doctoral education be measured by outcomes in intellectual excellence or the responsiveness of qualification to the current needs and priorities of society?