Taiwanese speech–language therapists’ awareness and experiences of service provision to transgender clients

Background: One of the most influential factors that affect the quality of life of transgender individuals is whether they can be perceived by others to “pass” in their felt gender. Voice and communication style are two important identifying dimensions of gender and many transgender individuals wish to acquire a voice that matches their gender. Evidence shows that few transgender individuals access voice therapy, and that this is caused by their concerns about stigmatization or negative past experiences within healthcare services. In order to address the negative experiences faced by transgender populations we need a better understanding of healthcare services’ current levels of knowledge and LGBT awareness. Some studies of Speech–Language Therapists’ (SLTs’) experience and confidence working with transgender individuals have recently been undertaken in the United States (US). However, little research has been carried out in Asia. Aims: To investigate Taiwanese SLTs’ knowledge, attitudes and experiences of providing transgender individuals with relevant therapy. Method: A cross-sectional self-administered web-based survey hosted on the Qualtrics platform was delivered to 140 Taiwanese SLTs. Results: Taiwanese SLTs were, (i) more familiar with the terminology used to address “lesbian, gay, and bisexual groups” than with “transgender” terminology, (ii) generally positive in their attitudes toward transgender individuals, and (iii) comfortable about providing clinical services to transgender clients. However, the majority of participants did not feel that they were sufficiently skilled in working with transgender individuals, even though most believed that providing them with voice and communication services fell within the SLT scope of practice. Conclusion: It is important for clinicians to both be skilled in transgender voice and communication therapy and to be culturally competent when providing services to transgender individuals. This study recommends that cultural competence relating to gender and sexual minority groups should be addressed in SLTs’ university education as well as in their continuing educational programs

Gender and language in sub-Saharan African contexts: Issues and challenges

In this paper, we examine a range of issues associated with the study of gender and language in sub-Saharan African contexts. These include whether (and in what sense) such contexts may constitute a ‘special case’, the relevance of feminism, and what might be encompassed by ‘context’, ‘African contexts’ and ‘African topics’ – and a substantial amount of what we write is relevant to Applied Linguistics in Africa more broadly (see Makoni and Meinhof 2004 for a discussion). We argue that while all the gender issues are of interest and importance to language and gender study in general, it is possible to see some of these issues as ‘characteristic’ of African contexts (albeit with ‘echoes’ elsewhere). It will be evident from this first paper (and those which follow) that along with taking on board commonalities in terms of the theoretical notions used in our field in African and non-African contexts, there is also a need to recognise a range of situated understandings of gender identities, gender relations, understandings of gender more broadly, and feminism

Information needs after stroke: What to include and how to structure it on a website. A qualitative study using focus groups and card sorting

Background: Use of the Internet to obtain health and other information is increasing. Previous studies have identified the specific information needs of people with stroke but not in relation to the Internet. People with aphasia (PwA) may face barriers in accessing the Internet: Navigating websites requires an ability to categorise information and this ability is often impaired in PwA. The website categorisation preferences of people with stroke and with aphasia have not yet been reported. Aims: This study aimed: (a) to determine what information people who have had a stroke would like to see on a website about living with stroke; (b) to determine the most effective means of structuring information on the website so that it is accessible to people with stroke; and c) to identify any differences between people with and without aphasia in terms of preferences for structuring information on the website. Methods & Procedures: Participants were recruited from a hospital's Stroke Database. Focus groups were used to elicit what information participants wanted on a website about living with stroke. The themes raised were depicted on 133 cards. To determine the most effective way of structuring information on the website, and whether there were any differences in preferences between PwA and PwoA, participants used a modified closed card-sorting technique to sort the cards under website categories. Outcomes & Results: A total of 48 people were invited, and 12 (25%) agreed to take part. We ran three focus groups: one with PwA (n = 5) and two with people without aphasia (PwoA) (n = 3, n = 4). Participants wanted more information about stroke causes and effects (particularly emotional issues), roles of local agencies, and returning to previous activities (driving, going out). All participants completed the card-sorting exercise. Few cards (6%) were categorised identically by everyone. Cards relating to local agencies and groups were not consistently categorised together. Cards relating to emotions were segregated. The categorisation preferences for PwA were more fragmented than those for PwoA: 60% of PwA agreed on the categorisation of 51% of the cards, whereas 60% of PwoA agreed on the categorisation of 76% of the cards. Conclusions: Information needs covered all stages of the stroke journey. The card sorting was accessible to everyone, and provided evidence of structuring preferences and of some of the categorisation difficulties faced by PwA. More research is needed on what an accessible website looks like for PwA

New perspectives on language and gender: Linguistic prescription and compliance in call centres

Despite a shift to service-based economies, male-dominated, high-status workplaces have been the predominant focus of research into language and gender in the workplace. This study redresses this shortcoming by considering one female-dominated, low-status, highly regimented workplace that is emblematic of the globalized service economy: call centres. Drawing on 187 call centre service interactions, institutional documents, interviews, and observations from call centres in two national contexts, the study employs an innovative combination of quantitative and qualitative discourse-analytic techniques to compare rule compliance of male and female workers. Female agents in both national contexts are found to comply more with the linguistic prescriptions despite managers and agents emphatically denying the relevance of gender. The study offers a new perspective on language and gender, pointing to the need to expand the methodologies and theories currently favoured to understand how language perpetuates occupational segregation in twenty-first-century workplaces

Promoting good academic practice through the curriculum and project work

This paper outlines a University wide initiative introduced at City University London, the underlying aim of which is to develop good academic practice skills amongst students and discourage them from undertaking plagiarism or other forms of academic misconduct. The initiative is organised under three projects, which are being undertaken by a set of eight Educational Development Associates (EDAs) - existing academics acting as ‘change agents’ within their Schools. The paper focuses on the first project that EDAs undertook, that being the Learning Activity Project. This involved EDAs working with staff within their Schools to develop new, formative, programme-specific learning activities, to be undertaken by all students in the first term of their studies, and with the aim of providing students with practice in the study skills that they need to demonstrate in subsequent assessments of that programme. After reviewing relevant literature on academic conduct issues, the main body of the paper provides three case studies, each of which details the development of a learning activity in one of the Schools of the University. These learning activities share a common element, in that they are all delivered using a piece of software called OLIVIA. However, for purposes of this paper, each case study details specific aspects of the relevant learning activity, such that readers are provided with a broad perspective of the experiences of implementation of the project through the lenses of different Schools. The last section of the paper details the evaluative mechanism that is being used for the initiative as a whole

Postfeminism as a critical tool for gender and language study

This article introduces the concept of postfeminism and highlights its value for research in language and gender studies. After discussing theoretical, historical and backlash perspectives, we advance an understanding of postfeminism as a sensibility – a patterned-yet-contradictory phenomenon intimately connected to neoliberalism. We consider elements widely theorised as constituting the postfeminist sensibility, alongside concerns shared by those who take postfeminism as their object of critical inquiry, in addition to an analytic category for cultural critique. The article then illustrates how the postfeminist sensibility may operate empirically, in the context of the doing and undoing of gender equality policies in workplaces. The article responds to calls for the field of language and gender to reinvigorate its political impetus, and to engage with feminist scholarship on postfeminism, particularly as recently developed in media and cultural studies

Postfeminism as a critical tool for gender and language study

This article introduces the concept of postfeminism and highlights its value for research in language and gender studies. After discussing theoretical, historical and backlash perspectives, we advance an understanding of postfeminism as a sensibility - a patterned-yet-contradictory phenomenon intimately connected to neoliberalism. We consider elements widely theorised as constituting the postfeminist sensibility, alongside concerns shared by those who take postfeminism as their object of critical inquiry, in addition to an analytic category for cultural critique. The article then illustrates how the postfeminist sensibility may operate empirically, in the context of the doing and undoing of gender equality policies in workplaces. The article responds to calls for the field of language and gender to reinvigorate its political impetus, and to engage with feminist scholarship on postfeminism, particularly as recently developed in media and cultural studies

Inducing labour in the United Kingdom: A feminist critical discourse analysis of policy and guidance

Induction of labour (IOL), the process of starting labour artificially, is one of the most commonly performed procedures in maternity care in the United Kingdom (UK), yet there is debate whether inducing labour at ‘term’, in the absence of specific medical indication, is beneficial and reduces risk of stillbirth. Moreover, rates of routine IOL are rapidly rising in the UK, despite uncertainty about the evidence base and parents reporting receiving a lack of balanced information about the process. As a contested area of maternity care, the language used to debate, describe and discuss IOL takes on added significance and requires in-depth examination and analysis. To address this, we conducted a feminist critical discourse analysis on policy and professional writing about IOL in the UK, focusing on how these both reflect and construct social practices of pregnancy and birth. Our analysis identified a double discourse about IOL, which we term ‘explicit-implicit discourse of care’, revealing the differences between what is expected to be said and what is really said. Though most texts displayed an explicit discourse of care, which espoused women-centred care and informed choice, they also conveyed an implicit discourse of care, primarily composed of three key dimensions: women as absent actors, disembodiment, and evidence as a primary actor. We argue that this explicit-implicit discourse functions to preserve healthcare professionals' control over maternity care and further alienate women from their own bodies while maintaining a discursive position of women-centred care and informed choice

Use of focus groups in business ethics research: potential, problems and paths to progress

Focus groups are a well established qualitative research method in the social sciences that would seem to offer scope for a significant contribution to the advancement of knowledge and understanding in the field of business ethics. This paper explores their potential contribution, reviews their contribution to date and makes some recommendations regarding their future use. We find that, while the use of focus groups is not extensive, they have been utilised in a non-negligible number of studies. Focus groups are usually used a supplementary method, often as part of the development of a research instrument. Whether used on their own or in conjunction with other methods, we find that in the majority of cases there is insufficient information for a reader to judge that the method has been carried out well and hence that the ‘findings’ may be trusted. Nor is it easy for future researchers to learn about the practical application of the method in business ethics contexts. We therefore recommend improved reporting in future published studies. Based on an analysis of a sub-sample of papers that provided a reasonable level of methodological detail, we provide further insights into, and recommendations for, the use of focus groups in business ethics research