New Article: Netz & Lefstein, Disagreements in Classroom Discourse: England, US, Israel

Netz, Hadar, and Adam Lefstein. “A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Disagreements in Classroom Discourse: Comparative Case Studies from England, the United States, and Israel.” Intercultural Pragmatics 13.2 (2016): 211-55.

 

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/ip-2016-0009

 

Abstract

How do cultural and institutional factors interact in shaping preference structures? This paper presents a cross-cultural analysis of disagreements in three different classroom settings: (1) a year 6 (ages 11–12) mainstream class in England, (2) a fifth-grade class of gifted students in the United States, and (3) a fourth-grade mainstream class in Israel. The aim of the study is to investigate how disagreements are enacted in these settings, exploring the influence of cultural communicative norms on the one hand and pedagogical goals and norms on the other. The study highlights culture-specific discursive patterns that emerge as the teacher and students manage a delicate balance between often clashing cultural and educational motives.

 

 

 

New Article: Abu-Kaf and Braun-Lewensohn, Paths to Depression. Comparing Bedouin Arab and Jewish Students

Abu-Kaf, Sarah and Orna Braun-Lewensohn. “Paths to Depression Among Two Different Cultural Contexts. Comparing Bedouin Arab and Jewish Students.” Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 46.4 (2015): 612-30.

 

URL: http://jcc.sagepub.com/content/46/4/612

 

Abstract

Over the past two decades, there has been an increase in the number of Bedouin Arab students studying at institutions of higher education in Southern Israel. To date, research on Bedouin students is limited, particularly with regard to their coping and adjustment. The main aim of the current study is to shed more light on potential pathways between vulnerability factors and depression among Bedouin Arab and Jewish students. This study was designed to explore cultural differences in the levels of self-criticism, depression, coping, and social support among Bedouin Arab college/university students and their Jewish peers, and to examine the effects of self-criticism on depression in the two cultural contexts. To that end, we conducted a cross-sectional study of 108 Bedouin students and 109 Jewish students. The participants completed the Depressive Experiences Questionnaire, Medical Outcomes Study Social Support Survey, Orientations to Problems Experienced Inventory, the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale, and demographic questionnaire. In this work, we observed differences in the levels of self-criticism, depression, avoidant coping, and social support in the different groups. Moreover, among the Jewish participants, self-criticism affected depression directly. However, among the Bedouin Arabs, self-criticism affected depression only indirectly, through avoidant coping. The present study highlights the possibility that specific cultural contexts underscore the role of avoidant coping in the pathways between self-criticism and depression, whereas other cultural contexts underscore the direct effect of self-criticism on depression levels. Furthermore, the current research underscores the importance of cross-cultural perspectives in studies of vulnerability factors and depression.

Cite: Schwarz, Arab Sounds in Contested Space: Life Quality, Cultural Hierarchies and National Silencing

Schwarz, Ori. “Arab Sounds in a Contested Space: Life Quality, Cultural Hierarchies and National Silencing.” Ethnic and Racial Studies (published online before print publication).

 

URL: www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01419870.2013.786109

 

Abstract

Sounds and sonic norms and regimes characterize both spaces/territories and individual bodies. This article explores the meanings of and reactions to Arab sounds in Israel – political struggles over muezzins, stereotypical representations of Israeli Palestinians as loud, and so on – in order to offer general insights into the role of the sonic (both actual sounds and their discursive representations) in the new ‘cultural’ racism, in the everyday ethnicized experience of one’s body, and in shaping relations between ethnic and national groups.