The aim of this thesis is to operationalise the concept of other-orientation. Based on an explorative approach, a tentative model for analysing the marks of other-orientation is developed. The model consists of four grammatical and pragmatic categories in language: deixis, speech acts, modality, and evaluative words. The process of finding out the significant marks in each category and develop a model has been an interplay between a thorough linguistic coding, an interpretative, evaluating reading, and abductive reasoning in a step-by-step process. Theoretically the study is based on dialogism. From this perspective, the very fact that human nature is social indicates that other-orientation is a constituent component in every communicative act. For that reason, the challenge has not been to prove that other-orientation exists in texts, but to explore how a text is made interactive, contextual, dynamic and other-oriented by means of grammatical and pragmatic selectives such as words, phrases, and clauses. The data consists of eight personally addressed mass communication letters about everyday matters. Each text has its model reader in a readers’ collective. Consequently the language in the texts is construed to form a dialogue between an in-text writer and reader that share the same context, although the distance between the real writer and reader is crucial. One result of the study is the model as such, another the analyses in which the functions of other-orientation related to the four categories are presented. Moreover, the linguistic analyses show differences between texts and readers’ collectives. Texts aimed at large anonymous collectives generally feature a direct address singular you, a high rate of positive evaluative words, more responsive speech acts, and some more potential modality. In texts aimed at a small familiar collective, there is an "I" or a "we" addressing a collective "you". There are not as many evaluative words but more assertions without any evaluation or modality. When it comes to other-orientation, the categories of deixis and speech acts tend to be of greater importance compared to modality and evaluative words. It makes a difference if you address a reader with a singular or collective "you" and if you choose to interact with responsive speech acts or informative statements. These contrast ways to address a reader are of importance for the construction of genre and say a great deal about other-orientation in texts.

Magister Artium (Social Work) - MA(SW) / The time period of this study is the contemporary first half of the Nineties, a momentous time in the history of South Africa. The country is passing from apartheid (the "old" South Africa) to the hope of democracy (the "new" South Africa). Nelson Mandela was inaugurated as President of South Africa in May 1994. Social workers, too, find themselves in transition. What is the thinking of experienced progressive social workers at this historical moment, concerning themselves and their profession within its context of social welfare as societal institution? This is the question I explore, specifically with reference to senior social workers within the area of greater Cape Town It is important to note that in terms of the research philosophy underlying this enquiry, the methodological process of the thesis is integral to its substance. My approach, along "New Paradigm" lines, is descriptive dialogical. Implicit in it is a "confrontation of the positivistic epistemology of 'The Scientific Method' in the misguided sense of an 'absolute and only' method of science, which unfortunately is still prevalent in standard practices of enquiry inside and outside the university" (see Note [i] at the end of this Summary). My thesis therefore offers not only outcomes but, as much as possible, also the process of the enquiry. A descriptive-dialogical approach also takes the idea of narrative seriously, "narrative being a mode that makes room for in fact, that insists on more than merely written presentation" (see Note [ii] at the end of this Summary). My research philosophy and methodology accommodate as far as possible "the whole academic and professional potential of a student, rather than just the student's writing potential" (see Note [iii] at the end of this Summary). In line with this, I submit as an accompaniment to this writing -- and as holistically intrinsic to this thesis -- a relevant video-recording and audio recordings illustrating myself at work in the execution of this study. In conclusion of this Summary I must indicate my promoter's and my own serious commitment to the possibility of creative indigenousness of academic style and presentation. This must be viewed within African and South African context, and it explains much of the "humanistically holistic" tenor of this study. This, of course, is in no way intended to discount the worthwhileness and substantiality, in fact the necessity for us, of recourse to the best tenets of European and Euro-American university tradition.

By “taking a knee” during the performance of the U.S. national anthem, National Football League (NFL) players have been protesting “the oppression of people of colour and ongoing issues with police brutality” in America (Colin Kaepernick, the movement’s founder, quoted in Coombs et. al., 2017). Despite this clarity of intention, the meaning of these protests (whether they are necessary and patriotic or counterproductive and ‘un-American’, for example) has been hotly contested in the public sphere, indicating the presence of a deeply seated counter-hegemonic struggle that is both expressed and contributed to by the anthem protest discourse. This project explores this struggle through the lens of narrative assembly, or the individual and intertextual construction of meaning through the selection and arrangement of narrative objects. Special attention is paid to the treatment of social, symbolic, and normative boundaries by storytellers responding to the anthem protest and by the anthem protesters themselves, especially those related to political expression in professional sports, American national and racial identity, and racial exclusion and marginalization. The project utilizes a structural approach to narrative analysis called the Qualitative Narrative Policy Framework (QNPF) supplemented by insights from Arthur Frank’s (2010) method of Dialogical Narrative Analysis (DNA). These methods are applied in a sociological study of a segment of the NFL anthem protest discourse published in newspaper articles during the first 16 months following the start of the controversy. This sample captures narrative responses to three significant moments—Kaepernick’s initiation of the protest, U.S. president Donald Trump’s verbal attack on protesting players in speeches and over social media (which also resulted in mass-displays of unified resistance from NFL players), and Kaepernick’s failure to obtain an NFL contract the year following his protest. Findings indicate that by transgressing several normative boundaries related to work, sports, protest, and signalling patriotism, NFL anthem protest subverts a hegemonic tale of national unity and exposes the systemic discrimination and symbolic/social exclusion that continue to produce experiences of oppression for people of colour and others in the United States. By attending to their assembly of settings, characters, plotlines, memories, solutions, and moral lessons, authors that support the protests are shown forming an intertextual or collective narrative around a central demand for justice that challenges the American status quo and projects a preferred future of enhanced racial equality yet to be achieved by the nation. Alternately, authors who oppose the protests are observed assembling a collective narrative around a demand for respect that defends boundaries essential to the maintenance of the status quo and expresses a desire to return to a past America of uninterrupted white dominance. In addition to providing a detailed case study that focuses on processes of narrative assembly in relation to counter-hegemony and social, symbolic, and normative boundaries, the project serves as an example of how the emergent methodology of the QNPF can be applied to the study of dynamic instances of everyday cultural-political struggle that may fall outside the sphere of policy research in which it has typically been employed. / Graduate / 2021-01-06

“Mindfulness gets thrown around all the time, but what does it actually mean in practice?” I interpreted this question posed by a nurse in this inquiry, as a statement of curiosity and concern. As conceptualizations, practices, and programs of mindfulness continue to diversify, there is a call to understand mindfulness as a socially and culturally embedded practice. Some critiques suggest mindfulness is moving too far from its ethical orientation and becoming instrumentalized as a tool. Therefore, the pervasive presence of ‘mindfulness’ across work and educational settings renders the question what does mindfulness actually mean in practice? an important one for nursing as a discipline, and within palliative care nursing practice. Mindfulness is proposed broadly here as an approach to meet therapeutic and relational aims for nurses within palliative care practice. What it means to be mindfully present and compassionate in the midst of suffering, strong emotion and profound uncertainty is rarely discussed. Grounded in conversations with nine palliative care nurses (their words italicized), I explored how mindfulness shapes relationally engaged ways of being while caring for people with terminal disease and existential distress. Using a contemplative dialogical narrative approach, I analyzed nurses’ stories as units of data to explore multilayered narratives with personal, social, and cultural storylines. Using an emergent and iterative design, I dialogued across various aspects of the research process enacting an integrative approach. Metaphorically, this dissertation is structured as a contemplative walk within a classical seven-circuit labyrinth; readers are invited to walk a circuitous path while following along as stories take the lead. Seven turns in the labyrinth outline a path conveying key recursive narratives of mindfulness. Turning in various directions three guiding story threads are woven together to create the path: 1) palliative care nursing as mindfulness is an embodied ethic creating space(s) for creativity and ‘connection’ through the ‘big stuff’; 2) such ‘space’ can be generated and accessed through somatic practices of ‘self-awareness’ and ‘self-care’; and 3) spaces of caring are continuously transforming within the communities in which they are practiced. Nurses’ stories foreground ways organizational and educational systems support or constrain how mindfulness as an embodied ethic of care can be enacted. This study adds to the ongoing conversation of mindfulness and its value when practiced/understood as palliative care nursing. As the historical Buddha was quoted to have said “of all mindfulness meditation, that on death is supreme.”

The purpose of this essay is to investigate Year 5 pupils’ evaluation of their own abilities regarding spoken English and to see if this is reflected in an individual’s communicative activity and participation in the lesson. This essay also poses the question if it is possible to increase spoken communicative activity in the lesson through a three-week programme of interactive exercises designed to emulate the criteria of the syllabus and the National Test. A class of 24 pupils participated in the study. The material was collected through a pre-study questionnaire and a post-study evaluation, class logbook writing after each activity and my own active observations as teacher. Results show that although the majority of pupils at this age believe they can cope in a communicative situation in English, this is no guarantee of their active participation in classroom speaking activities. However, communicative activity can be increased with the establishment of the dialogical classroom characterised by genuine discourse, authentic questions and subjects relevant to the age group. At this stage, differences can be witnessed in pupils’ language skills with some able to use language strategies to achieve understanding whilst others rely on translation into their mother tongue. The study concludes that controlled practice helps those pupils with lower self confidence in the subject and pair- or group work maximises participation from all parties. It is essential that the teacher draws on the pupils’ enthusiasm for the subject in order to create a successful forum for language acquisition.

This thesis studies current preaching praxis in Australia through a practical theology perspective. It is argued that Evangelical churches in Australia operate predominantly with a narrow applicational hermeneutical model in regard to preaching and hence communicate the gospel ineffectually to ordinary Australians. A need for contextualised and dialogical preaching is presented. Using Zerfass's model a situational analysis of the Australian context and the effects of modernism and postmodernism are explored. Theological tradition in regard to preaching is then analyzed with a focus on incarnational, Trinitarian and covenantal theology, scripture as public text and dialogue as scriptural pattern. Preaching is then analyzed using the communication theories of Gadamer, Searle, Ricoeur, and Habermas. The need for contextualised preaching is critiqued in light of the concerns of Barth regarding preaching and the concerns of Strom in regards to the nature of church in Australia. A new evangelical practical theological/ preaching model is then offered. Zerfass's model emphasises dialectic tension as the basis for moving from praxis to praxis. While movement from praxis to praxis does occur via dialectic tension there are also elements of change that are based on processes of continuity and evolution. A model that reflects this dynamic is forwarded. Finally an ideal praxis for dialogical preaching is presented with possibilities for further research. Throughout the thesis five interviews are used to illustrate the research, concepts and recommendations presented. / Practical Theology / D.Th.

Text in Afrikaans / Een van die grootste probleme waarmee die prediker in 'n industriele konteks te doen het, is om die evangelie op 'n sinvolle wyse aan die hoarders oor te dra. Die radikale verandering in die samelewing deur die moderniseringsproses, het die homiletiek gedwing om teoreties her te besin. Hierdie moderne homiletiese teorie soos deur H.J.C. Pieterse, T.G. Long en G.D.J. Dingemans verteenwoordig het die volgende belangrike teoretiese aanpassings gemaak: Eerstens, in plaas van die tradisionele beweging van die teks na die hoarders, is die homiletiese proses omgekeer. Die beweging is nou vanaf die hoarder na die teks deur middel van die prediker en weer terug van die teks na die hoorder. Tweedens, hierdie benadering het noodwendig hermeneutiese implikasies gehad. Daarom het die homiletiek die bree aanpak van die moderne kritiese hermeneutiek in diens geneem. Derdens moes 'n nuwe kommunikasieteorie ondersoek word naamlik, die dialogiese kommunikasieteorie van H.J.C. Pieterse en C.J.A. Vos. / One of the greatest problems, with which a preacher in an industrial context have to deal with, is to convey the gospel in a sensible manner to the listeners. The radical change in society caused by the modernisation process, forced homiletics to review its theoretical base. Modern homiletics as represented by H.J.C. Pieterse, T.G. Long and G.D.J. Dingemans, has made the following theoretic adjustments: Firstly, in stead of the traditional movement of the text to the listeners, the homiletical process is revearsed. The movement is from the listener to the text by means of the preacher and back from the text to the listener. Secondly, this approach inevitably has hermeneutic implications. Therefore homiletics has employed the broad approach of modern critical hermeneutics. Thirdly, a new communication theory has to be developed namely, the dialogical communication theory of H.J.C. Pieterse and C.J.A. Vos. The most important theoretical foundation for preaching in an industrial context is the approach of taking the listeners as starting point without neglecting the text. In practice, it brings about that the following topics ask for particular attention: For the understanding and formulating of the message of the Scriptures, the modern critical hermeneutics and the use of metaphors is of the greatest importance. The new understanding of rhetorics which is about conveying the message, must be taken into consideration. The formulating of the message in the language of the listeners has a theoretical influence on the formulating and use of the theological concepts during preaching. The dialogical communication theory is also of great importance, and has dialogue before, during and after the preaching in mind. For it to be fulfilled, preaching work groups is an important component to improve dialogical communication in the congregation. / Practical Theology / D.Th. (Practical theology)

Diante do crescente desenvolvimento da tecnologia da informação e da comunicação, o sistema educacional vem gradualmente modificando as estratégias de ensino-aprendizagem, adaptando para tanto, os tradicionais procedimentos e técnicas didáticas aos instrumentos tecnológicos fornecidos pelos ambientes virtuais de aprendizagem. O processo de avaliação e acompanhamento da aprendizagem nestes ambientes requer o uso de novas estratégias de ensino que congregue os recursos tecnológicos e a intervenção positiva do professor/tutor. Propõe-se um modelo de design instrucional estendido do \"Integrative Learning Design Framework On-line\" (ILDF) sob o enfoque da taxonomia dos objetivos educacionais de Bloom e do ciclo de aprendizagem vivencial de Kolb adaptado por Belhot para uma disciplina de pós-graduação em Engenharia de Produção. Este modelo foi implementado e avaliado na disciplina \"Metodologia de Pesquisa para Engenharia\" oferecida no primeiro semestre de 2008 para 14 alunos de pós-graduação de Engenharia de Produção e envolveu o planejamento, elaboração e disposição do material didático e de atividades orientadas no ambiente virtual de aprendizagem - Moodle. Sugere-se um protocolo de organização de estratégias dialógicas como os fóruns de discussões on-line e uma rubrica avaliativa sobre a qualidade, quantidade, relevância, forma das mensagens e dos níveis de conhecimento cognitivo dos alunos para a construção do conhecimento colaborativo. Os resultados revelam que, as estratégias dialógicas e exploratórias adotadas, promoveram a evolução dos alunos com relação aos níveis de desenvolvimento cognitivo e da aprendizagem vivencial e contribuíram para a construção do conhecimento de forma colaborativa e significativa. / Faced with increasing development of information technology and communication, the educational system is gradually changing the teaching-learning strategies, adapting to both the traditional procedures and techniques for teaching technologica tools provided by the virtual environment of learning. The evaluation process and monitoring of learning in this environment require the use of new teaching strategies for bringing together the technological resources and positive intervention of the teacher/tutor. The present work proposes a model of instructional design extended from the \"Integrative Learning Design Framework On-line\" (ILDF) under the focus of the taxonomy of educational objectives of Bloom and the Kolb´s cycle of experiential learning adapted by Belhot to a discipline of Production Engineering postgraduate program. This model was implemented and assessed during the course \"Research Methodology for Engineering\" offered in the first half of 2008 to 14 postgraduate students of Production Engineering and it involved the planning, preparation and disposal of teaching material and activities geared to virtual environment of learning - Moodle. It is suggested a protocol for organizing dialogical strategies as forums for discussions on-line and a evaluative rubric about quality, quantity, relevance, and the message structures, and the levels of cognitive knowledge of the students for the construction of collaborative knowledge. The results show that the dialogical and exploratory strategies adopted, have contributed to the progress of students with respect to the levels of cognitive development and the experiential learning and they have also contributed to the construction of knowledge in a collaborative and significant way.

Esta dissertação é um estudo exploratório sobre o conceito de mediação cultural dialógica realizado a partir de oficinas de leitura comprometidas com o protagonismo cultural de crianças e adolescentes (00 a 18 anos) em situação de abrigo numa cidade do interior paulista a cerca de 80 kilômetros da capital. A metodologia utilizada foi a da pesquisa colaborativa e os dados foram analisados por meio das seguintes categorias: ambientes, ações, tempos, protagonistas e polifonia. Os resultados indicam que as mediações culturais realizadas no abrigo, centradas na singularização de crianças e jovens, foram capazes de romper com a impessoalidade, a frieza e a monotonia que marcam diversos aspectos da vida nos abrigos. Resistentes no início, à medida que as oficinas de leitura se desenvolviam e ganhavam corpo na dialogia todos os protagonistas (crianças, adolescentes, monitores e o próprio pesquisador) se reconheciam como parte destas ações, apropriando-se delas segundo suas expectativas e interesses específicos, criando vínculos com o mediador e com os livros, relacionando as leituras com outras atividades e práticas culturais, mostrando-se aptos a ressignificar o ato de ler. A mediação cultural dialógica, ao propiciar a singularização dessas crianças e jovens, permitiu a emergência de valores e significados para textos e contextos, para leitores e mediadores que se apresentaram como protagonistas culturais, categoria centrada no encontro e na vinculação com o outro. / This dissertation is an exploratory study of the concept of dialogical cultural mediation focused on reading skills workshops for the cultural protagonism of children and teenagers (0 to 18) at a shelter (in a city 80 kilometers from São Paulo). A collaborative research methodology was used so that data could be analyzed framed by the following categories: environments, actions, time, actors and polyphony. Results indicate that cultural mediations rooted in the singularization of children and teenagers empower them to break away from impersonal, cold and monotonous disciplinary practices. Resistant at first, all actors then engaged and enthused as the workshops were developed and reading became part of a dialogue among children, teenagers, instructors and the researcher herself. Actions could then be adapted to their expectations and specific interests, creating links with the mediator so as to connect elements in the books and readings with other cultural practices and activities. The act of reading was infused with new meanings as dialogical cultural mediation facilitated the singularization of children and teenagers. Readers and mediators became cultural protagonists a category founded on the encounter with the other.

A pesquisa trata da compreensão da atividade de projetar através de abordagens que propõem a concepção de conversação ou diálogo na caracterização do processo projetual em arquitetura. Investigamos o surgimento destas abordagens na segunda metade do século XX e começo do século XXI, cuidando em apresentar uma leitura das transformações nos modos de se ver tanto o design quanto o designer arquitetônico, dentro do recorte temático a que nos referimos como \'horizonte da conversação\'. Realizamos uma revisão sobre aspectos conceituais centrais às visões de teóricos do design que, além da arquitetura, transitam por outros domínios do saber como filosofia e cibernética, e que reconhecem o design como uma troca dialógica envolvendo tanto a transformação da situação projetual quanto a transformação do próprio designer pela percepção de consequências não intencionais de suas ações projetuais. A partir desta revisão, elaboramos uma reflexão sobre uma ordem de preocupações compartilhadas entre as abordagens de nosso horizonte temático, pela qual buscamos o desenvolvimento de um entendimento mais abrangente e enriquecido sobre o processo projetual arquitetônico. / The research deals with the understanding of the design activity by approaches which proposes the concept of conversation or dialogue in the characterization of the design process in architecture. We investigate the emergence of these approaches in the second half of the twentieth century and early twenty-first century, taking care to present a reading of underlying changes in the ways of seeing of both design and the architectural designer in the thematic focus we refer as horizon of conversation\'. We accomplished a review of central conceptual issues to views of design theorists that in addition to architecture, transiting through other domains of knowledge as philosophy and cybernetics, and recognize design as a dialogic exchange involving both the transformation of the design situation and the designer himself by the perception of unintended consequences of their design actions. From this review, we present a reflection about an order of shared concerns between the approaches of our thematic horizon, which we seek the development of a broader and enriched understanding of design process.