Heroes and villains: discursive strategies for (re)producing ‘myths’ of national identity in the newspaper coverage of international football

The aim of this paper is to explore, taking a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) approach, some of the discursive strategies employed by British newspapers to construct representations of national identity and unity in the reporting of a major sporting event. Taking the concept of ‘nation’ to be ‘imagined’(Anderson 1983) and thus an ‘ideologically constructed’ social group (Billig 1995), this paper considers how social representations serve to (re)produce myths of national identity through the reinforcing of national stereotypes based on narratives of heroes, villains and their deeds and the construction of social representations of in‑groups and out‑groups. The analysis presented in this paper supports the argument that the representation of social actors and action in news stories is clearly ideologically situated and can be used to great effect to cognitively reinforce a sense of ‘us’ v. ‘them’, a fundamental element of myths of national identity and the reiteration of collective national unity

Exploring the micro-politics of place: lifestyle migrants, collective identities and modes of belonging

Taking up Hopkins and Dixon’s (2006) call to attend to the micro-politics of everyday constructions of space and place, which necessarily involves psychological concepts such as identity, belonging and attachment, this paper aims to show how a critical socio-cognitive approach to discourse analysis is an effective means of unpacking the ways in which versions of place are (re)produced and negotiated through discursive practices, and in particular the ways in which ‘legitimate’ collective identities are constructed in relation to place. I focus on the contemporary social phenomenon of lifestyle migration. Within Europe, this typically involves relatively affluent northern Europeans moving to destinations in southern Europe that are strongly linked to tourism. Although lifestyle migrants are generally viewed by their hosts as ‘desirable’ migrants due to their perceived economic and socio-cultural capital, their integration into destination communities is often minimal. The question arises as to how these migrants construct modes of belonging in relation to their adopted home-place and how they relate to the other social groups with whom they share it. Using texts from a variety of sources, including in-depth interviews with British migrants in Portugal, I explore not only how migrants position themselves (and others) discursively in relation to places, but also how they are already positioned by discursive practices in the public sphere. I also examine to what extent the construction of a ‘legitimate’ mode of belonging involves the construction of intergroup cooperation within that place

Exploring the linguistic landscape: the case of the ‘Golden Triangle’ in the Algarve, Portugal

Studies of the linguistic landscape (LL) are concerned with language in its written form, in the public sphere; language that is visible to all through texts such as billboards and other public signs. The LL is such a taken-for-granted part of our everyday experience that its importance as a form of social practice is often overlooked. Taking a mixed methods approach to the case of the linguistic landscape of the ‘Golden Triangle’, an area of tourist resorts which is gradually becoming a residential area in the Algarve, Portugal, I suggest that the discursive construction of a place is partly achieved through the highly visible texts of the LL which may also impact upon the discursive construction of the collective identities of those who inhabit the place

The discursive construction of place-identity: british lifestyle migrants in the Algarve

Tese dout., Philosophy, Lancaster University, 2011This thesis takes an interdisciplinary, critical discourse analysis (CDA) approach to investigate the discursive construction of place-identity. For the purposes of this research, place-identity is understood as the relationship between the discursive construction of place and the discursive construction of the multiplicities of the individual and collective self. The main data is provided by interviews with British lifestyle migrants in the Algarve, Portugal. I develop a framework for investigating both the individual and the collective dimensions of migrant place-identity by combining elements from Systemic Functional Linguistics (in particular Appraisal theory) and Cognitive Linguistics. This allows an analysis of both strategic features of the micro-level of discourse, such as evaluation of place(s), and apparently less conscious features, such as the use of spatial deixis. I draw on Positioning Analysis as a means of linking micro- and macrolevels of analysis. At the micro-level, the findings suggest that various modes of belonging are constructed in interaction by positioning the self as being attitudinally aligned (or not) with place(s) and by positioning the self as being (literally and metaphorically) inside/outside place(s). The macro-level context of the research is the growing contemporary trend of lifestyle migration, which is strongly related to tourism mobilities. Since this social phenomenon is fertile ground for the production of privileged, elite identities, one of the aims of this thesis is to expand the agenda of CDA research by developing an understanding of how such privileged identities are articulated, (re)produced, reinforced and negotiated through discursive positionings, and how these positionings are linked to hegemonic discourses that ‘legitimise’ certain types of migration. The study thus aims to show how the discursive construction of place-identity is not only an integral part of the discursive construction of migrant identities, but also how place-identity is linked to broader ideologies and contributes to the politics of place

Defining lifestyle migration

This paper seeks to provide a conceptual framework for studying migration to the Algarve by Northern Europeans. ‘Lifestyle migration’ is suggested as a generic term for this trend, which is part of a recent but flourishing global social phenomenon. I also point to the glaring gap in the literature as far as empirical studies based in the Algarve are concerned, and make suggestions for a research agenda

Place and lifestyle migration: the discursive construction of ‘glocal’ place-identity

International lifestyle migration is a rapidly growing worldwide phenomenon. Within Europe, increasingly large numbers of northern Europeans are moving south in search of what they perceive as a better quality of life. The typical representation of this form of migration suggests that it is consumption-led, tourism-related and leisure-based; it is to be located within late modern, global, elitist, borderless and highly mobile social practices. The question arises as to the role of local place in this type of migration process and in the construction of individual and collective social identities. Using data from advertising texts produced by a residential-tourism resort and from in-depth interviews with British residents in the Golden Triangle area of the Algarve, Portugal, this article explores the relationships between discourse, identity, g/local place and lifestyle migration

A place in the sun? Discursive constructions of positive outcomes in post-migration stories in the Algarve

This study argues for more comparative research between seemingly different migrant groups, bringing a new focus on intra-European migration in Portugal by examining and comparing the reasons why migrants from different geographical origins choose to settle in the tourism-based Algarve region. Drawing on data collected from a questionnaire survey and interviews, the study first compares the profiles of two apparently distinct migrant groups - Northern and Eastern Europeans - and goes on to explore their discursive representations of migration experiences. Findings reveal that despite differences in initial motivations for moving to the Algarve, there are similarities between the two groups in terms of what leads them to settle in the region. Among both groups there is a high level of positive place-identity, suggesting that the specific context of the destination place plays a significant role in positive post-migration outcomes, something which is often overlooked in migration studies. Furthermore, the lived and perceived lifestyle affordances of the destination place, especially when discursively compared with the place and lifestyle left behind, are flagged by both groups and lend support to the idea that the role of lifestyle in migration has a wider significance than is usually credited.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The effect of task type on the assessment of grammatical competence in oral proficiency tests.

Dissertação mest., Applied Linguistics, University of Wales, College of Cardiff, 1997The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of task type on the linguistic output produced in an oral proficiency test situation, with particular reference to grammatical forms and the functions/meanings they realise. Two tasks were designed for use with paired test candidates. Although both tasks can be said to fall within the communicative paradigm as they are interactive in nature and, to some extent, reflect real-world communicative situations, they differ in that one is an information/opinion gap activity with a focused communicative goal, whereas the other is an open-ended discussion task. The tasks were aimed at students of upper-intermediate/advanced level. Language proficiency at this level is often measured by means of a criterion-referenced scale which consists of statements (band descriptors) about performance. The top end of the scale usually corresponds with what test developers consider to be an ‘educated’ native speaker performance. The two tasks were therefore given to a sample of both native and non-native speakers of English under simulated test conditions. The subsequently transcribed data was then analysed both quantitatively and qualitatively to determine if and why certain grammatical structures are more likely to be elicited from one task or the other. The results suggest that there does appear to be a difference in linguistic output between the two tasks, and that this may well have implications for both the testing and the teaching of spoken English

‘A true feeling of authentic portuguese golf'? The discursive construction of the Algarve region in portuguese golf websites

In an increasingly competitive global marketplace, the need for golf destinations to differentiate themselves from competitors has become more critical than ever. This paper raises questions about the promotional strategies employed by the golf sector in the Algarve, focusing on internet communication strategies, since this medium has become the biggest driving force towards the commoditisation of all aspects of the tourism experience. By offering a complementary perspective to the field of (critical) tourism studies, and drawing on a qualitative, multi-modal discourse analysis, this work-in-progress looks at the particular ways that representations and images presented on the Algarve golf websites constitute and frame identities (of people and places) and socio-spatial relationships. This paper analyses a corpus of 45 texts collected from official websites of the 40 Algarve golf courses and from five entities which promote the Algarve as a golf destination, along with the golf images that are displayed alongside them. Findings point to salient discursive and visual representations of a global setting enjoyed by the global elite. Whereas the courses‟ positioning in relation to their regional competitors draws on similar discursive strategies which reflect those used in tourism advertising discourses in general – e.g. reiteration of explicit comparisons, superlatives and hyperbolic statements -, representations of local emplacedness are not salient; in some cases local place seems to have been almost intentionally suppressed

O Evento FCNC 2005 e o Turismo

Este relatório foi elaborado com base num estudo que decorreu entre Julho e Dezembro de 2005. O objectivo geral do projecto que se desenvolveu traduziu-se na tentativa de aprofundar o conhecimento sobre o perfil dos visitantes não residentes no Algarve que participaram nos eventos culturais da Faro, Capital Nacional da Cultura, assim como as suas motivações, actividades e impressões. Além deste objectivo o Centro de Estudos da Escola Superior de Gestão Hotelaria e Turismo (ESGHT) da Universidade do Algarve tinha em mente a prossecução de outros fins que se prendiam com a criação de uma linha de investigação nos domínios do Património, da Cultura e do Turismo dado que possui um conjunto de docentes com formação especializada nesta área. Acresce que esta instituição é membro da ATLAS - Association for Tourism and Leisure Studies agremiação que desenvolve, com regularidade, estudos sobre o Perfil do Turista Cultural, a nível mundial, em parceria com estabelecimentos de ensino superior, nos quais nós temos vindo a participar com a colaboração de algumas câmaras municipais do Algarve. Para concretizar os objectivos propostos, foi realizada, numa primeira fase, recolha de informação relativa a estudos desenvolvidos no âmbito de eventos anteriores, nomeadamente: Cidades e Capitais Europeias da Cultura; Porto, Capital Europeia da Cultura; Coimbra, Capital Nacional da Cultura; entre outros. A investigação primária teve por base principal um inquérito aplicado junto de uma amostra de visitantes/turistas participantes na programação de Faro Capital Nacional da Cultura, tendo-se previsto uma amostragem mínima de 500 inquéritos a visitantes de várias nacionalidades. Estes inquéritos foram administrados por dois estagiários recrutados entre os alunos finalistas da ESGHT. O inquérito que se aplicou teve por base o já produzido pela ATLAS (Association for Tourism and Leisure Education) para estudar eventos associados ao turismo e estava disponível em quatro idiomas: português, inglês, alemão e espanhol. Na amostragem desenvolvida tentou-se aplicar os questionários em diferentes tipos de eventos, para que a amostra fosse representativa (ver capítulo 6) das várias actividades programadas: exposições; eventos de rua (concertos, festivais); eventos em recinto fechado (teatro, dança, concerto); atracções (museus, monumentos). No final da investigação teve lugar uma apresentação pública dos resultados a que se seguiu a elaboração do relatório que se passa a apresentar. Este é constituído por sete capítulos sendo que no primeiro se estabelece a relação entre turismo e cultura, no segundo sumaria-se a evolução do turismo cultural na Europa e traça- se o perfil do turista cultural, no terceiro expõe-se a ligação entre turismo e eventos, (com maior relevo para os eventos culturais), no quarto descreve-se o conceito de cidade e de capital europeia da cultura, no quinto caracteriza-se a Faro capital da Cultura, no sexto explica-se a metodologia seguida, e por fim, no sétimo apresentam-se os resultados obtidos e tecem-se as considerações finais