Critical Discourse Analysis and the challenges and opportunities of social media

ABSTRACT

Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) is a particular strand of discourse analysis that focuses on the role of language in society and in political processes, traditionally targeting texts produced by elites and powerful institutions, such as news and political speeches. The aim is to reveal discourses buried in language used to maintain power and sustain existing social relations. However, since the internet and social media have come to define much of the way that we communicate, this brings numerous challenges and also opportunities for CDA. The relationship between text and ideology, and between the author and reader, appears to have changed. It is also clear that new methods are required for data collection, as content takes new forms and also moves away from running texts to language that is much more integrated with forms of design, images, and data. Also, new models are required to address how the technologies themselves come to shape the nature of content and discourse.     

Critical Discourse Analysis and the ecological turn in intercultural communication

ABSTRACT

Intercultural communication and Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) have formed a fruitful partnership over the last decade. However, both stand at a juncture with exciting possibilities and imperatives for growth as the fields reflect on their overwhelming emphasis on deconstructive critiques and largely anthropocentric inquiry. In a recent work, S. Lily Mendoza and I argued that (critical) intercultural communication must go beyond its exclusive attention to anthropocentric concerns and begin to approach identity, culture, and intercultural communication from an ecologically grounded perspective. One part of this move is the need for examining culture, communication, and interculturality with critical eyes on the ways anthropocentrism shapes and organizes them, and another part is engaging and exploring alternatives. Building on this argument, this essay will discuss the potential of CDA in playing an integral role in the ecological turn in the study of intercultural communication. With rapidly deteriorating ecological health as an urgent context, CDA has already begun to take an ecological turn as marked by the articulation of ecolingustics as CDA. This essay presents a discussion of ecolingustics as a promising lens through which to examine intercultural communication.     

Progressing Positive Discourse Analysis and/in Critical Discourse Studies: reconstructing resistance through progressive discourse analysis

ABSTRACT

This article argues for an increased emphasis on resistance in Critical Discourse Studies (CDS), thereby joining calls for more Positive Discourse Analysis (PDA), a branch of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) focused on progressive—rather than oppressive—discourse that has been slowly gaining traction in international circles but remains largely unknown within U.S. communication studies. While CDS brings oppression and resistance together in theory, in practice it is overwhelmingly focused on deconstructing oppression, not reconstructing resistance. In spite of calls for more generative analyses focused on progressive discourses, PDA has not yet been established as a necessary complement to CDA. Thus, CDS’s potential as a lens for understanding resistance is underdeveloped. In an effort to push CDS in a more progressive direction, this article considers the role of design in CDS and outlines the aims, contributions, and challenges of PDA as a tool for emancipatory CDS research. A critical action implicative discourse analysis of neurodiversity discourse is provided as a model of PDA that may be useful for scholars interested in analyzing progressive discourse as well as disability rights activists interested in challenging cognitive ableism.     

Characteristics and social impact of the use of social media by Chinese Dama

Against the backdrop of broader social changes, social media has developed rapidly in China, which has pushed the transition of the media environment from a traditional authority-dominated one to a modern media society. In particular, the use of social media by Chinese Dama can be perceived as an exemplar of media-driven social change. ‘Chinese Dama’ is a buzzword coined in tandem with the development of social media since 2013. This term represents a particular group of middle-aged Chinese women who reflect a distinctive social phenomenon in China. It is noteworthy that a growing number of Chinese Dama are learning to use social media and have established thousands of social media communities, exerting significant influence on the wider media and social environment. This study focuses on the major changes undergone by Dama, transitioning from being passively covered by media to becoming active users of social media, and this research analyzes the motivations and hallmarks of their social media activity. Although the use of social media by Chinese Dama, the traditional nucleus of Chinese society, has contributed to narrowing the digital divide and resulted in the Dama’s gaining more discourse power and ushered in new diverse lifestyles, we argue that the Dama also exert a far-reaching positive and negative influence on society, pushing for the modernization transformation of the Chinese society.     

海上无线宽带网络架构研究现状及相关技术展望

近年来,国家智慧海洋战略的实施对海上无线通信网络全方位覆盖、海上应急管理水平和信息服务能力等提出更高的要求。从部署海上无线宽带网络的实际需求出发,总结了海上无线宽带网络架构的国内外研究现状,概括了海上无线宽带技术的特点,最后展望了海上无线宽带网络技术的研究前景。在广阔的海洋上部署高速低成本的无线宽带网络定会为海洋产业的发展提供有力的通信保障和技术支持。     

A Critical Analysis of Cultivation Theory

This critical analysis of the "cultivation" literature reveals 3 conceptions of the term: (a) George Gerbner's macrosystem explanation of mass media processes and effects, (b) a pattern of operational practices that searches for relationships between television exposure and a wide range of cultivation indicators, and (c) a general forum of explorations of media influence where researchers break away from Gerbner's conceptualizations and boundaries. Using the criteria of heuristic value, empirical support, and precision, this essay evaluates the contribution this large cultivation literature has made to increasing our understanding of the mass media.     

无线传感器网络的路由协议分析

无线传感器网络是由大量微型传感器节点组成的一个自组织的网络系统,路由协议是其关键技术之一.现有的路由协议分为:能量感知路由协议、以数据为中心的路由协议、基于地理位置的路由协议、可靠的路由协议和层次路由协议五类,对每类协议的特点和比较典型的协议进行了介绍.     

面向频谱感知的传感器网络设计

针对认知无线电网络、频谱监测等领域对宽频段频谱感知的需求,基于无线传感器网络的特点,提出了一种面向频谱感知的传感器网络设计方案,包括分簇的网络结构、分频段的协作感知机制以及感知结果的协作处理机制,分析了实现这种方案的关键技术,为利用传感器网络进行宽频带协作频谱感知提供了一种可选的方案。     

Technology standards-setting in the US wireless telecommunications industry: A study of three generations of digital standards development

This article focuses on the evolution of technology standards-setting in the US wireless telecommunications industry during the decades of the 1980s and 1990s. The purpose of this exploratory study is to understand and model the organizational process and environmental influences employed to develop three generations (i.e. second generation (2.0) Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), second generation (2.5) Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), and third generation (3.0) Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA)) of de jure US wireless digital telecommunications standards. Through the use of a multi-case study approach, the research study focuses on inter-organizational strategic cooperation among wireless telecommunications firms proposing competitive technology designs in the standard development process. Based on data collected in these three case studies, wireless standard development models are “mapped” for the TDMA, CDMA and WCDMA technologies. Moreover, a generic, conceptual wireless technology standard development model is “mapped”, a further refinement of an earlier seminal model of telecommunications standard-setting. Finally, conclusions are reached, with both theoretical and practical implications, and suggested areas of future research (in the form of a set of research hypotheses) are presented.     

公路边坡监测无线传感器网络分簇路由协议分析

针对现有公路边坡监测手段成本高、线路维护困难和实时性差等问题,在介绍了无线传感器网络技术的特点之后,提出了一种基于无线传感器网络的公路边坡监测系统方案,并在此方案的基础上,结合公路边坡监测的实际应用环境,对无线传感器网络中的四种分簇路由协议进行了详细分析,最后主要从节能性、扩展性和适用环境3个方面总结了这4种路由协议各自的优缺点.     

基于概率检测的时隙式多通道随机多址无线通信网络协议分析

提出了一种基于概率检测的时隙式多通道随机多址接入(SPMRM)控制协议,通过对时间离散化的多通道负载均衡、优先级控制、概率p检测控制,实现了系统的多业务通信,使所研究的无线通信网络具有较高的通道利用率。通过数学建模分析,得到了SPMRM控制协议的吞吐量解析结果,理论分析与仿真实验相一致。另外,在仿真实验中还给出了连续时间型系统的比较结果,进一步说明SPMRM控制协议具有较优的系统性能。     

Digital inequalities and implications for social inequalities: A study of Internet penetration amongst university students in South Africa

International and national data sources confirm the limited access to the Internet in South Africa. However, there is a need to study how this limited access is distributed amongst population groups in the country. This study investigates the pattern of Internet access amongst university students in South Africa. University students are a relevant population group for studying technology penetration; this population is a generation born in the current era of digital revolution, they are presumably early adopters of technology and are adept in using them. A survey conducted in ten South African universities reveals that beyond publicly available access on campuses – with its attendant constraints, personal/household Internet access is a challenge and it reflects a pattern of inequalities in South Africa. Bearing in mind that social and economic exclusion is the biggest challenge for South Africa, this study reveals that digital inequalities amongst students replicate the pattern of social inequalities in the country. This exacerbates existing social inequalities, specifically amongst university students in South Africa, with certain categories of students being disproportionately disadvantaged.     

无线接入网中两种关键技术:OFDM与CDMA的比较分析

介绍了无线接入网中的两种关键技术，OFDM（正交频分复用）和CDMA（码分多址），从调制技术，抗干扰能力，功率控制、网络规划，峰均功率比和均衡技术等方面全面系统地比较分析了OFDM和CDMA各自的优缺点，结果证明了OFDM技术的先进性及其令人瞩目的应用前景。     

A novel residual energy‐based distributed clustering and routing approach for performance study of wireless sensor network

Non‐uniform energy consumption during operation of a cluster‐based routing protocol for large‐scale wireless sensor networks (WSN) is major area of concern. Unbalanced energy consumption in the wireless network results in early node death and reduces the network lifetime. This is because nodes near the sink are overloaded in terms of data traffic compared with the far away nodes resulting in node deaths. In this work, a novel residual energy–based distributed clustering and routing (REDCR) protocol has been proposed, which allows multi‐hop communication based on cuckoo‐search (CS) algorithm and low‐energy adaptive‐clustering–hierarchy (LEACH) protocol. LEACH protocol allows choice of possible cluster heads by rotation at every round of data transmission by a newly developed objective function based on residual energy of the nodes. The information about the location and energy of the nodes is forwarded to the sink node where CS algorithm is implemented to choose optimal number of cluster heads and their positions in the network. This approach helps in uniform distribution of the cluster heads throughout the network and enhances the network stability. Several case studies have been performed by varying the position of the base stations and by changing the number of nodes in the area of application. The proposed REDCR protocol shows significant improvement by an average of 15% for network throughput, 25% for network scalability, 30% for network stability, 33% for residual energy conservation, and 60% for network lifetime proving this approach to be more acceptable one in near future.