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This study has been undertaken using an interpretive methodology in order to examine the socially constructed views of Saudi EFL teachers and their decision-making with regards to the appropriate cultural models for EFL textbooks in Saudi public schools. The study also examines the factors affecting the teachers’ views and how they apply their beliefs in their classrooms. In addition, the study will also examine if the Saudi EFL teachers have any concerns about what they have been through and examined and accordingly investigates how they address their pedagogical decision-making in the classroom. Moreover, this study is interested in looking at EFL teachers as local teachers teaching a global language. In view of the exploratory nature of this study and its context-specificity, the naturalistic orientation of interpretive and social constructivism as an epistemological stance were selected. The research design employed a concurrent mixed methods design using an adapted version of Cresswell (1996). In this study, the participants were Saudi Arabian EFL teachers from one city in Saudi Arabia teaching in all of the three public education levels (primary, intermediate and secondary). The data collected were both qualitative (interviews and open-ended questionnaires) and quantitative (close-ended questionnaires). For the interviews, 14 male and female teachers equally interviewed, whereas for the questionnaires 280 male and female participated. The data collection of both data qualitative and quantitative occurred at the same time during my field journey in 2009 in Saudi Arabia. I used the SPSS descriptive statistics for the analysing the quantitative data and used exploratory content analysis for the qualitative data. The study findings revealed that the Saudi EFL teachers were not satisfied with the cultural content currently promoted in the Textbooks as they inappropriately contradict the local cultural values. Thus, they believe that for a better cultural content, the textbooks should therefore include a mixture of different cultures that do not mismatch with the local. And as they are controlled by some educational and social factors, they are limited to practice what they think is appropriate to apply in the classroom, therefore, their decision-making in this regards to some extent are to be controlled. In addition, the findings of the current study revealed that the Saudi EFL teachers show their openness to other cultures based on their glocal position as local Saudis teaching a global language. The conclusion of the study has some suggestion and implications to improve the cultural content of the EFL textbooks as well as implications for the EFL teachers in general and their practices and decision-making with regards to the textbook. Furthermore, the study proposed a model for the appropriate EFL textbooks for each educational level and can be applied locally in the Saudi context and globally for other similar context around the world.

In this thesis I analyze semi-structured interviews I conducted with fifteen young French and American business students and professionals in order to uncover cultural models relating to work, while paying particular attention to the acceptance or rejection of neoliberal ideas. To contextualize the analysis, I first review the history of neoliberal ideology along with its arrival and political and institutional influence in both countries. In the U.S., the neoliberal transition was rapid and dramatic under the Reagan administration, which constitutes a critical institutional juncture and a shift in the dominant paradigm of governance. In France, in contrast, neoliberal policies have been implemented reluctantly and incrementally, suggesting traditional French values relating to the state and its role in regulating the economy remain largely intact. In line with these historical patterns, the Americans I spoke to primarily conceptualize work as a commodity, accepting the definition of work as defined in the market; while the French interviewees conceptualize work as personal fulfillment and occupational citizenship, emphasizing the human and psychological essence of work and the need for moral regulation of the market economy, perceived as immoral and anarchic. Overall, the Americans much more readily accepted neoliberal ideas and policy directives and towards which the French were far less welcoming. In particular, I argue that the traditional role of the French state as responsible for the wellbeing of its citizens presents a major obstacle to neoliberal ideology, historically on an institutional level as well as in the minds of the French interviewees.

Abstract Language is a repertoire of culture and a powerful and versatile medium in communication. Idioms mirror human wisdom in the process of conceptualization of the world. Idioms have interlocked and grown into records of a community’s past culture. Idioms therefore constitute a rich, but at the same time elusive, area of cross-cultural exchanges. Idioms reflect the colour and variety of human social activities, and so play an important role in the linguistic ontologization of emotions. The vocabulary of emotions has been the object of intensive investigations in many languages, but bibliographical exploration reveals that idioms as a component of the lexicon are not yet part of the main field of theoretical interest. In particular, while there have been studies of idioms of emotion in English, there have been few on emotion idioms in Vietnamese, and very few systematic investigations of emotion idioms (EIs) across English and Vietnamese. Hence, our linguistic study of the conceptualization of emotions in English and Vietnamese will significantly contribute to the development of this research domain with data from a language other than English. The study undertakes a contrastive investigation of idioms that express the seven basic emotional concepts of HAPPINESS, SADNESS, ANGER, DISGUST, LOVE, FEAR, and DESIRE in English and Vietnamese. There are three foci: (1) similarities and differences in formal structure between the EIs in English and Vietnamese; (2) similarities and differences in semantics between such idioms; and (3) an investigation of the patterning and regularities of the established similarities and differences between the EIs in the two languages. To the end, we have conducted a hand search approach of the dictionaries in both languages, which has enabled the establishing of a corpus of 1065 entries (603 for English and 462 for Vietnamese). As regards the formal structure, the study sets up the lexicogrammatical frames for the canonical forms and variation patterns of the idioms, and interrelates quantitatively and quantitatively the relationship of the idioms’ variant form vis-à-vis the canonical form. In light of the findings, the study has shown that a high level of canonicity is observed in the idioms in both English and Vietnamese. In general, they conform to a restricted number of construction types: verbal, nominal, adjectival, prepositional, and sentential. Nevertheless, many other idioms permit variable flexibility in their composition: the substitutability of their component parts, insertion of lexical items, and some variation in syntactic patterning. For the idioms which are logged as canonical and variant, we have suggested rules to cover the patterns. As regards the semantic features of the idioms, the study is substantially reliant on the theory of conceptual metaphor (CMT) and metonymy, as first developed by Lakoff & Johnson (1980), to analyze the data. The data analysis leads to the discovery of conceptual mappings/correspondences from the various source domains on to the target domains of emotions, which are very productive of idioms. An in-depth analysis of cross-linguistic and cross-cultural aspects in the idioms is provided to determine similarities and differences in terms of conceptualization of the emotions between the two languages. The contrastive analysis of idioms reported in the traditional literature is usually the comparison of idioms with body-part terms: e.g., mát mặt (‘cool face’) ‘HAPPINESS’ in Vietnamese; lose one’s head in English, animals: e.g., gầm như hổ đói (‘roar like tiger hungry’); go ape ‘ANGER’, and colours: e.g., đỏ mặt tía tai (‘red face purple ear’); blue in the face ‘ANGER’. The present analysis seeks greater explanatory depth and theoretical grounding in the framework of cognitive linguistics. We present the semantic patterning of the idioms, and the patterning in turn reveals how English and Vietnamese people talk about and structure the abstract conceptual domains (i.e., emotions) (Gibbs & Wilson, 2002). In light of the findings, this research has revealed both commonalities and differences in the conceptualization of the emotions in English and Vietnamese. The affinities are grounded in common bodily experiences. On the other hand, cross-cultural variations are also obvious. The most important conclusion that can be drawn for the study is that metaphors and metonymies involved in emotion-expressing idioms are not only heavily subject to physiological basis (Solomon, 1984), but also to cultural influences on the basis of the cultural image schemas (Dobrovol'skij & Piirainen, 2006; Emanatian, 1995; Geeraerts & Grondelaers, 1995; Ungerer, 1993). The thesis also presents implications concerning the linguistic ontologization of emotions, and their application to second language learning and the translation of idioms.

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Como a literatura dificilmente investiga variáveis culturais e situacionais em conjunto, o presente trabalho procurou conjugar tais variáveis (depressão pós-parto, fatores ecossociais, modelos culturais de self, etnoteorias e práticas de cuidado) a fim de caracterizar uma amostra de mães paulistanas atendidas pelo sistema público de saúde do Butantã. Estas mães já faziam parte do projeto temático e longitudinal da FAPESP (No. 06/59192) que deu origem a este trabalho. Partiu-se da premissa de que etnoteorias (metas de socialização e crenças sobre práticas) e práticas de cuidado maternas, além de serem influenciadas pelo contexto ecossocial e modelos culturais de self, também poderiam ser afetadas por uma variável situacional materna mais específica: depressão pós-parto (DPP). Dividiu-se a amostra (N=91) em função da intensidade da DPP: (1) Menor intensidade (escores 0-24): N=46; e (2) Maior intensidade (escores 24-67): N=45. Foram utilizadas: (1) Entrevistas estruturadas; (2) Escala de Depressão Pós-parto de Edimburgo; (3) Escala de Apoio Social; (4) Critério de Classificação Econômica Brasil; (5) Escala de Metas de Socialização; (6) Escala de Crenças sobre Práticas; (7) Escala de Importância Atribuída às Atividades Realizadas; e (8) Escala de Atividades Realizadas. As mães foram de modo geral autônomo-relacionais e strictu sensu mais interdependentes em suas metas e mais autônomas em suas crenças e práticas de cuidado. Encontraram-se as seguintes variáveis (1) associadas e (2) preditivas da intensidade da DPP: (1) relação empobrecida com a mãe na infância e adolescência; menarca precoce; maior número de homens com quem já teve filhos; conflito conjugal; história prévia de doença psiquiátrica; menor religiosidade; gravidez não desejada; e percepção de se dedicar menos do que o suficiente à criança, de considerar os cuidados infantis difíceis, de vivenciar impaciência com a criança e de receber menos apoio social principalmente do companheiro; (2) relação empobrecida com a mãe na infância; percepção de vivenciar impaciência com a criança; percepção de receber menos apoio social; e menor realização de práticas autônomas. As mães não se diferenciaram em função da intensidade da DPP quanto aos modelos culturais e metas de socialização, tendo se diferenciado quanto às crenças e práticas de cuidado. Mães de ambos os grupos valorizaram e realizaram igualmente cuidados primários, mas apenas mães mais deprimidas: (1) valorizaram menos práticas de cuidado interdependentes (fazer massagem; tentar evitar que se acidente; abraçar e beijar) e autônomas (responder perguntas; ficar olho no olho; ver livrinhos juntos); e (2) realizaram menos práticas de cuidado autônomas (jogar jogos; pendurar brinquedos no berço; ver livrinhos juntos; mostrar coisas interessantes; responder a perguntas). Os resultados sugerem que devemos considerar o quadro completo onde experiências estressantes vivenciadas na infância, adolescência e início da vida adulta das mães, ao se associarem e/ou predizerem a maior intensidade de DPP, podem afetar parcialmente a cognição e o comportamento materno. Tais resultados apontam ainda que em um único contexto urbano de criação podem coexistir cenários de risco e de proteção regidos por estratégias reprodutivas quantitativas e qualitativas, respectivamente / As literature hardly investigates cultural and situational variables together, we conjugate these variables (postpartum depression, ecosocial factors, cultural models, and maternal ethnotheories and practices of care) in order to characterize a sample of mothers who were attended by public health system of Butantã (city of São Paulo). Those mothers had already taken part of FAPESP´s thematic and longitudinal project (No. 06/59192) which gave rise to this work. The starting point was that maternal ethnotheories (socialization goals and beliefs about practices) and practices of care besides being influenced by ecosocial context and cultural models, they could also be affected by a specific maternal situational variable: postpartum depression (PPD). The sample was divided (N=91) according to intensity of PPD: (1) Lower intensity (scores 0-24): N=46; e (2) Higher intensity (scores 24-67): N=45. It was applied: (1) Structured interviews; (2) Brazilian Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale; (3) Brazil Economic Classification Criterion; (4) Brazilian Social Support Scale; (5) Brazilian Socialization Goals Scale; (6) Brazilian Parenting Ethnotheories Scale; (7) Brazilian Scale of Importance Assigned to Accomplished Parental Practices; and (8) Brazilian Scale of Accomplished Parental Practices. The mothers were broadly considered autonomy-relatedness and strictu sensu more interdependent in their socialization goals and more autonomous in their beliefs and practices of care. We found the following (1) associated and (2) predictive variables of the intensity of PPD: (1) poor relationship with the mother in childhood and adolescence; early menarche; the highest number of sex partners with mothers had children with; marital conflict; previous history of psychiatric illness; lower religiosity; unwanted pregnancy; and perception of devoting less than enough to the child, considering childcare a difficult task, experiencing impatience with the child, and receiving less social support especially from their partners; (2) poor relationship with the mother in childhood; perception of experiencing impatience with the child; perception of receiving less social support; and less autonomous practices performed. The mothers did not differ according to the intensity of PPD regarding cultural models and socialization goals, they only differed concerning their beliefs and practices of care. Mothers of both groups valued and performed primary care practices equally, but only more depressed ones: (1) valued less interdependent (do massage; try to avoid child accident; hug and kiss) and autonomous (answer questions; make eye contact; see books together) practices of care; and (2) performed less autonomous practices of care (playing games; hanging toys in the crib; seeing books together, showing interesting things, answering questions). The results suggest that we must consider the \"whole picture\" in which stressful events experienced in mothers childhood, adolescence and early adulthood when associated and/or predictive to higher intensity of PPD can partially affect maternal cognition and behavior. These results also show that in a single urban context of child rearing can coexist risky and protective scenarios which are governed by quantitative and qualitative reproductive strategies, respectively

Como a literatura dificilmente investiga variáveis culturais e situacionais em conjunto, o presente trabalho procurou conjugar tais variáveis (depressão pós-parto, fatores ecossociais, modelos culturais de self, etnoteorias e práticas de cuidado) a fim de caracterizar uma amostra de mães paulistanas atendidas pelo sistema público de saúde do Butantã. Estas mães já faziam parte do projeto temático e longitudinal da FAPESP (No. 06/59192) que deu origem a este trabalho. Partiu-se da premissa de que etnoteorias (metas de socialização e crenças sobre práticas) e práticas de cuidado maternas, além de serem influenciadas pelo contexto ecossocial e modelos culturais de self, também poderiam ser afetadas por uma variável situacional materna mais específica: depressão pós-parto (DPP). Dividiu-se a amostra (N=91) em função da intensidade da DPP: (1) Menor intensidade (escores 0-24): N=46; e (2) Maior intensidade (escores 24-67): N=45. Foram utilizadas: (1) Entrevistas estruturadas; (2) Escala de Depressão Pós-parto de Edimburgo; (3) Escala de Apoio Social; (4) Critério de Classificação Econômica Brasil; (5) Escala de Metas de Socialização; (6) Escala de Crenças sobre Práticas; (7) Escala de Importância Atribuída às Atividades Realizadas; e (8) Escala de Atividades Realizadas. As mães foram de modo geral autônomo-relacionais e strictu sensu mais interdependentes em suas metas e mais autônomas em suas crenças e práticas de cuidado. Encontraram-se as seguintes variáveis (1) associadas e (2) preditivas da intensidade da DPP: (1) relação empobrecida com a mãe na infância e adolescência; menarca precoce; maior número de homens com quem já teve filhos; conflito conjugal; história prévia de doença psiquiátrica; menor religiosidade; gravidez não desejada; e percepção de se dedicar menos do que o suficiente à criança, de considerar os cuidados infantis difíceis, de vivenciar impaciência com a criança e de receber menos apoio social principalmente do companheiro; (2) relação empobrecida com a mãe na infância; percepção de vivenciar impaciência com a criança; percepção de receber menos apoio social; e menor realização de práticas autônomas. As mães não se diferenciaram em função da intensidade da DPP quanto aos modelos culturais e metas de socialização, tendo se diferenciado quanto às crenças e práticas de cuidado. Mães de ambos os grupos valorizaram e realizaram igualmente cuidados primários, mas apenas mães mais deprimidas: (1) valorizaram menos práticas de cuidado interdependentes (fazer massagem; tentar evitar que se acidente; abraçar e beijar) e autônomas (responder perguntas; ficar olho no olho; ver livrinhos juntos); e (2) realizaram menos práticas de cuidado autônomas (jogar jogos; pendurar brinquedos no berço; ver livrinhos juntos; mostrar coisas interessantes; responder a perguntas). Os resultados sugerem que devemos considerar o quadro completo onde experiências estressantes vivenciadas na infância, adolescência e início da vida adulta das mães, ao se associarem e/ou predizerem a maior intensidade de DPP, podem afetar parcialmente a cognição e o comportamento materno. Tais resultados apontam ainda que em um único contexto urbano de criação podem coexistir cenários de risco e de proteção regidos por estratégias reprodutivas quantitativas e qualitativas, respectivamente / As literature hardly investigates cultural and situational variables together, we conjugate these variables (postpartum depression, ecosocial factors, cultural models, and maternal ethnotheories and practices of care) in order to characterize a sample of mothers who were attended by public health system of Butantã (city of São Paulo). Those mothers had already taken part of FAPESP´s thematic and longitudinal project (No. 06/59192) which gave rise to this work. The starting point was that maternal ethnotheories (socialization goals and beliefs about practices) and practices of care besides being influenced by ecosocial context and cultural models, they could also be affected by a specific maternal situational variable: postpartum depression (PPD). The sample was divided (N=91) according to intensity of PPD: (1) Lower intensity (scores 0-24): N=46; e (2) Higher intensity (scores 24-67): N=45. It was applied: (1) Structured interviews; (2) Brazilian Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale; (3) Brazil Economic Classification Criterion; (4) Brazilian Social Support Scale; (5) Brazilian Socialization Goals Scale; (6) Brazilian Parenting Ethnotheories Scale; (7) Brazilian Scale of Importance Assigned to Accomplished Parental Practices; and (8) Brazilian Scale of Accomplished Parental Practices. The mothers were broadly considered autonomy-relatedness and strictu sensu more interdependent in their socialization goals and more autonomous in their beliefs and practices of care. We found the following (1) associated and (2) predictive variables of the intensity of PPD: (1) poor relationship with the mother in childhood and adolescence; early menarche; the highest number of sex partners with mothers had children with; marital conflict; previous history of psychiatric illness; lower religiosity; unwanted pregnancy; and perception of devoting less than enough to the child, considering childcare a difficult task, experiencing impatience with the child, and receiving less social support especially from their partners; (2) poor relationship with the mother in childhood; perception of experiencing impatience with the child; perception of receiving less social support; and less autonomous practices performed. The mothers did not differ according to the intensity of PPD regarding cultural models and socialization goals, they only differed concerning their beliefs and practices of care. Mothers of both groups valued and performed primary care practices equally, but only more depressed ones: (1) valued less interdependent (do massage; try to avoid child accident; hug and kiss) and autonomous (answer questions; make eye contact; see books together) practices of care; and (2) performed less autonomous practices of care (playing games; hanging toys in the crib; seeing books together, showing interesting things, answering questions). The results suggest that we must consider the \"whole picture\" in which stressful events experienced in mothers childhood, adolescence and early adulthood when associated and/or predictive to higher intensity of PPD can partially affect maternal cognition and behavior. These results also show that in a single urban context of child rearing can coexist risky and protective scenarios which are governed by quantitative and qualitative reproductive strategies, respectively

Die vorliegende Arbeit untersucht kulturelle Vorstellungen und Praktiken von Elternschaft in Deutschland. Wie Familien ihre Kinder erziehen ruft ein steigendes Interesse von Seiten der Politik, Wissenschaft und weiterer (Bildungs-)Professionen hervor. Gegenwärtig wird von Eltern erwartet, dass sie sich mit Expertenwissen auseinandersetzen, welches oftmals kostspielige und zeitaufwändige Praktiken nahelegt. Zur gleichen Zeit nehmen staatliche Akteure verstärkt Einfluss auf das familiale Leben und insbesondere die Kindererziehung. Als Folge dieser Entwicklung haben sich die kulturellen Vorstellungen von Elternschaft in Deutschland gewandelt. Mit diesen Entwicklungen beschäftigt sich die vorliegende Arbeit in drei Aufsätzen. Im Einzelnen betrachten die Artikel: (1) die Bedingungen von familienpolitischen Reformen, (2) die elterlichen Diskussionen um sich wandelnde Erwartungen sowie (3) die Auswirkung der elterlichen Klassenposition auf deren Erziehungspraktiken. Um diese Fragen zu beantworten greifen die Artikel sowohl auf Umfragedaten als auch digitale Daten zurück, die mit neuen Methoden der computergestützten Sozialforschung analysiert werden. Insgesamt erweitert die vorliegende Dissertation unser Wissen um den aktuellen Wandel von Elternschaft in Deutschland. Zudem werden innovative Methoden der computergestützten Sozialforschung in die Familiensoziologie eingeführt. Zuletzt wurde mit kulturellen Leitbildern von Elternschaft ein Zugang vorgeschlagen, der es erlaubt den gegenwärtigen Wandel von Elternschaft zu untersuchen. / The thesis at hand investigates conceptions and practices of parenthood in Germany. How families approach their childrearing has attracted growing interest in politics, science, and by (education) professionals. Today, parents are encouraged to seek expert advice to inform their childrearing. Such advice often involves the expenditure of considerable amounts of time and money. At the same time, the state has become increasingly active in the intimate life of families and, in particular, their parenting practices. As a result, the cultural models of parenthood in Germany have been changed. At the background of these changes, I designed three papers that analyze (1) the conditions of family policy change, (2) the way parents adopt changing expectations and demands, and (3) the relationship between parenting practices and social class. In order to address these questions, the respective articles use survey and digital data as well as methods from the computational social sciences (CSS). In sum, the dissertation expands our knowledge on the current recalibration of parenthood in Germany. It also introduces innovative methods from CSS to family sociology. Finally, cultural models of parenthood are proposed as a way to organize the research on changing standards and norms of parenthood.

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