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The Imperial Imaginary & Whiteness in US Cultural Politics
The Imperial Imaginary & Whiteness in US Cultural Politics
The United States in a multicultural country that is rich in history from people with different beliefs and customs that come together in unison to form a democratic country. Rich in its heritage, the constitution allows for every citizen to have their rights and freedom regardless of their race, gender, religious affiliations and even origins. This is clearly stated to ensure equal treatment at all times, however the situation on the ground begs to adversely differ from the dictates of the constitution. This is because stereotypes are there and they not only lead to social discrimination, they can lead to arrests and convictions simply based on the race and /or origin of a person.
During the 07/11 bombing of the United States, without even any consideration all Middle East people were arrested and some even arraigned in court for being in conjunction with the bombing. They were suspects not because they had any involvement with Al Qaeda, but because of their race. When a robbery and shoot out takes place in a neighbourhood, the black people are usually the suspects. This is not based on anything else but their race, the colour of their skin (Lipsitz, 2009). How then can we say that the law is an equalizing tool when the law enforcers discriminate based on race?
Politics in America has always been known to be a white man’s world. This is the reason as to why even up to now people are still amazed at the fact that there is a black president ruling the nation. In real sense this is not true, His Excellency the President is a half white and half black, but emphasis is on his black side because it is the one that makes his position to deviate from the norm.
The main root of this type of discrimination is based on ethnocentrism, whereby the white people in the US believe that their race is superior to any other race in the country (Shohat, 1995). This kind of mentality is allowed to grow with the children and when they are all grown up they believe that the only race that is superior is the white race. The media also plays a fundamental role in creating the stereotypic attitudes. This is because the media focuses on the negative sides of the story, most of the pictures and videos from the Middle east is about men training on how to fight, dressed up to hide their faces with long beard and are ruthless.
Most African-American neighbourhood are depicted as full of illiterate people who easily involve in drugs and listening to noisy music. The white people are always shown to live in suburb places that are well organised and are always concerned about each other with neighbourhood watch, however there is always the other side of these stories but the media does not show that (Lipsitz, 2009).
We cannot wholly blame it on media alone because as a famous feminist once said, positive images alone cannot undo years, decades and centuries of chauvinism, biasness based on race and gender (Shohat, 1995). This means it has to be a personal initiative for us not to discriminate, to teach our children that we are all the same and no one culture is superior to any other. To encourage people in the society to embrace diversity and differences amongst ourselves for that is what makes a country. The differences should bring us together in an effort to cater for the multiplicity of the needs that come with the differences. For this is our country and if we do not do it who will?
References
Shohat Ella, Stam Robert,(1995), Unthinking Euro centrism: Multiculturalism and the Media, Routledge Publishers, New York and London
Lipsitz George,(2009), The Possessive Investment in Whiteness: How White People Profit From It, Random House Publishers
Rapport in Clinical Settings
Rapport in Clinical Settings
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Introduction
Background Information
Rapport is the emotional experience of high-quality interactions. An example of rapport is when someone opens up to a friend about their problems, and then the friend listens attentively offers validation and respect for the person’s feelings, which allows them to feel safe and open up more. Rapport is feeling understood, safe, and valued by the other person. Building rapport is a skill that must be learned to successfully work with others in many settings, including healthcare providers, educators, and business professionals. Clinical settings require a particular type of rapport building called "therapeutic rapport" (Therrien et al., 2021). To establish therapeutic rapport, you need to focus on attunement which helps the patient feel safe and confident about discussing difficult issues. Attunement is listening empathically to build trust and demonstrate attentiveness, which builds confidence in the provider’s ability not only to listen but also to care for their patient’s needs. These factors allow rapport building, which is a necessary component of effective health care.
It is important to note that rapport is best established between individuals when the same demographics are present in both the individual and the other person. For this dynamic of reciprocity to exist, it is best if both parties have similar cultural, organizational and societal experiences. This can be achieved through shared interaction with the same social groups, economic status and educational level (Sauerland et al., 2018). To establish therapeutic rapport in clinical settings between healthcare providers and patients, one needs to understand the characteristics of therapeutic rapport, which include trust, safety, vulnerability and confidentiality.
Trust allows for risk-taking by the patient and a greater ability to disclose personal information. Safety is achieved through the patient’s sense of assurance that the provider is safe and will not judge them when disclosing personal information. Patients also feel safer sharing with their providers when mutual trust between them. Vulnerability, which defines the ability to open up to a patient, allows the patient to open up more and be seen as having more potential. For this to occur, one needs to demonstrate attentiveness which demonstrates genuine care for a person’s needs and well-being (English et al., 2022). Lastly, confidentiality is established when the patient has confidence in their healthcare provider that what they are sharing with them will not be used against them negatively.
Theories of Rapport Creation in Clinical Settings
There are four theories of rapport in clinical settings that demonstrate how healthcare providers can achieve rapport with their patients. The four theories are Social Exchange Theory, Reciprocity Theory, Situationism Theory, and High Touch Low Touch Approach. Social Exchange Theory explains why people establish relationships with others (Dang et al., 2017). This theory suggests that humans seek to gain rewards from others; this process is called positive reciprocity, which can be achieved through cooperation, altruism, or gratitude. Social exchange theory would explain that a doctor’s kindness towards a patient would elicit positive behaviour from the patient (Therrien et al., 2021). In addition, doctors should be careful not to provide too much help because patients may become dependent on these services; this phenomenon is referred to as negative reciprocity. According to the High Touch Low Touch Approach, the doctor should provide treatment and establish strong personal relationships with his or her patient. The doctor would be able to help more by being sensitive to the patient’s needs; this could be done through interactions, physical contact, and talking about the weather.
The Reciprocity Theory suggests that humans are motivated to maintain appropriate relationships with others. In this theory, the amount of cooperation that a person receives is based on their intentions, the amount of help they give, and the form of help given. The doctor can call more attention to his or her presence by changing his or her attitude towards patients, making them more likely to be helpful (Sauerland et al., 2018). Doctors can also decrease their help level by interacting with patients in a non-cooperative fashion. The Situationism Theory suggests that people feel happy when involved in situations where their behaviour can influence the outcomes. This theory suggests that doctors who help their patients perform more successfully in stressful situations will increase the likelihood of positive outcomes for the patients (English et al., 2022). In addition, doctors should be aware of these patients’ needs and avoid giving unnecessary advice that does not fit their situation because this could cause negative reactions from patients.
Benefits and Methods of Rapport Creation
There are many benefits to building rapport with clients that include the satisfaction of needs, client and family active involvement, and a higher rate of improvement. The best methods for building rapport include community involvement, relating to their personal lives, and building friendships.
Benefits of Rapport Creation within the Clinical Setting
Rapport creation in the clinical setting facilitates the satisfaction of psychological needs, involvement of family in the delivery of healthcare services, and the improvement of healthcare outcomes. Understanding the concept of rapport is a key determinant in successfully applying effective interpersonal skills, which are predicated upon building rapport with patients and families. When receiving bad news from a physician, breaking rapport may result in psychological discord and resistance to treatment (Akamoglu et al., 2018). Service delivery may be adversely affected without establishing rapport between healthcare providers and patients or between family members. Rapport creation also helps satisfy some psychological needs, such as the need for relationships among vulnerable populations such as those suffering from aphasia. This is because one of the characteristics of rapport that people show is acceptance and support (Dang et al., 2017). People with aphasia may have difficulty initiating or maintaining conversations, understanding conversations, and communicating with others; therefore, they need others to help them satisfy their social needs—meeting the psychological needs of patients and families while creating rapport can improve health outcomes in a variety of ways. Ultimately, rapport creation in the healthcare setting helps to improve outcomes for populations such as people living with HIV/AIDS, new patients, and patients who continuously seek healthcare services (English et al., 2022). First, family members would be more likely to take an active role in healthcare by taking responsibility for their loved ones’ health by playing an active role in treatments. The therapeutic relationships resulting from rapport creation, which are based on trust among patients and healthcare providers, consequently create a safe space for patients to disclose inner thoughts and feelings and share ideas about treatment. Second, it makes patients feel more comfortable and relieves stress which improves their immune system.
Methods of Improving Rapport within the Clinical Setting
Rapport in the clinical setting might be improved through community involvement, especially of marginalized populations such as low-income families, incorporating personal experiences of healthcare providers, and building friendships through home visits and telepractice. Rapport, defined as "a connection characterized by harmony or accord (usually between people)", is an important component of medicine in that a rapport between the practitioner and patient can help alleviate pain and create a better understanding of treatment plans (Dang et al., 2017). However, it is often difficult for medical professionals to relate to their patients because they may come from different cultural backgrounds or socioeconomics (Akamoglu et al., 2018). This disconnection in the medical field between providers and patients has been seen as a major deterrent in treating some populations, such as those with low literacy levels, low-income levels, limited access to healthcare, or ethnic minorities. Based on these factors, the healthcare providers’ understanding of the patients’ lived experiences contributes to high levels of rapport (Akamoglu et al., 2018). On top of this, medical professionals can create better relationships with their patients if they utilize community resources such as home visits or telehealth.
Empathic skills can be learned through observation and role-play. The ability to identify with a patient’s experience and imagine what it would be like for them to feel how they feel helps providers develop a rapport over time. Providers should be able to identify when a patient is in pain and use the skills of empathy to help them through the tough times. Providers need to learn how to move from the past, present, and future so that their patients will feel better about their care. One way to improve empathy would be for providers to find ways to be comfortable in the clinical setting with their patients (Akamoglu et al., 2018). Although providers are more likely to have more rapport with patients they have worked with longer, having an empathic bond is useful in short-term arrangements and long-term ones.
Conclusion
Various theories can justify the need for rapport creation within the healthcare settings, including the theories of social exchange governed by concepts of reciprocity. By implementing rapport within the clinical setting through various means such as community involvement and telepractice, various benefits can be observed. For example, healthcare outcomes can be improved, and families become motivated to be included in the care of patients as much as patients are motivated to be involved in the decision making of matters related to their health and the satisfaction of psychological needs. Therefore, rapport creation within the healthcare setting can help improve the system’s efficiency. Healthcare providers should therefore be sensitized to the need for rapport creation. At the same time, system-wide changes are implemented to equip healthcare providers with the requisite skills to implement rapport with patients.
References
Akamoglu, Y., Meadan, H., Pearson, J. N., & Cummings, K. (2018). Getting connected: Speech and language pathologists’ perceptions of building rapport via telepractice. Journal of Developmental and Physical Disabilities, 30(4), 569–585. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10882-018-9603-3
Baker, Z. G., Watlington, E. M., & Knee, C. R. (2020). The role of rapport in satisfying one’s basic psychological needs. Motivation and Emotion, 44(2), 329–343. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-020-09819-5
Dang, B. N., Westbrook, R. A., Njue, S. M., & Giordano, T. P. (2017). Building trust and rapport early in the new doctor-patient relationship: A longitudinal qualitative study. BMC Medical Education, 17(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-017-0868-5
English, W., Gott, M., & Robinson, J. (2022). The meaning of rapport for patients, families, and healthcare professionals: A scoping review. Patient Education and Counseling, 105(1), 2–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2021.06.003
Sauerland, M., Brackmann, N., & Otgaar, H. (2018). Rapport: Little effect on children’s, adolescents’, and adults’ statement quantity, accuracy, and suggestibility. Journal of Child Custody, 15(4), 268–285. https://doi.org/10.1080/15379418.2018.1509759
Therrien, M. C. S., Madden, E. B., Bislick, L., & Wallace, S. E. (2021). Aphasia and friendship: The role and perspectives of speech-language pathologists. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 30(5), 2228–2240. https://doi.org/10.1044/2021_ajslp-20-00370
The Impacts of the Social Media on Language and Communication in Asia
The Impacts of the Social Media on Language and Communication in Asia
Introduction
The emergence of social media, as a result of the advancement in technologies and the internet, has led to a consequential array of new types of written languages and communication channels. According to Dovchin, Sultana, and Pennycook (2016), people now communicate through different languages and using new formats available on social media such as tweets, Instagram items, Facebook posts, blogs, profiles on LinkedIn, and so many more. it is also noted that as English remains the most dominant international language on social media and the internet in general, other languages and communications styles are being changed, as some converge to the rules applied in English and others diverging to use English in their native communication style and language. Undoubtedly, social media has affected the volume of people one is able to communicate with at a go and also affected the frequency with which communication occurs. With this in mind, the current essay looks at the impact of social media on language and communication in Asia with a specific focus on China. The development of social media in China will be explored, followed by an analysis of how this development has affected how individuals communicate in the society. The fluid nature of the Asian society will be assessed in relation to the proliferation of English in the communication avenues and styles. Ultimately, English has changed how Chinese people communicate on social media, leading to more consideration of recipients of messages and conforming to the demand for convenient and faster conveyance of messages, but has had little to no effect on the Chinese societies in terms of the language change and communication.
The Development of Social Media in China
China does not have the conventional social media platforms available to the rest of the world including Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook. Yet, the country has a vast network of sites that make it one of the world’s largest social media market. The development of social media in China is noted by Zhou and Wang (2014) to be very different from the rest of the world with an internet user base reaching more than 520 million individuals and the most active social media users in the world. The country enjoys a wide array of platforms that range from blogs to networking sites, microblogs, and a variety of social online communities. In China, social media stated at the end of the 20th century with a few online communities and forums, which later migrated to instant messaging by 2001 (Zhou and Wang, 2014). The emergence of user review sites, for example Dianping, and blogging sites took off in early 2005, followed closely by social networking websites with the capacity to include chatting such as Renren (Wei, Xu, & Zhao, 2015). Later, Sina Weibo emerged towards the beginning of 2010 to offer microblogging and multimedia sharing, and location sharing applications like Jiepang followed suit. Today, the above explosive growth continues to reveal continuous growth, a trend that can be attributed to global growth and development of social media. Image 1 below shows how social media has grown in China in line with parallel developments elsewhere in the world.
Image 1: Comparison of social media development and timeline in China (bottom row) and the rest of the world (upper row) (Source: Zhou and Wang, 2014)
From the above image, the development of social media in China can be said to be at per with the rest of the world. This explains why China has among the highest usage numbers in terms of active social media users, despite its large population and size.
The Development of Social Media and How it Affects Communication in the Chinese Society
Social media is applauded as the best invention of the 21st century in relation to how the platforms are used to support people across the globe in meeting new people, socialization, learning new experiences, communicating, interacting with others, and networking. However, this interaction, especially in countries like China where the use of social media is relatively high, has led to a change in the way people communicate. Bamman, Eisenstein, & Schnoebelen (2014) posit that social media has led to an increase in intercultural adaptation in China as more people interact with others from different parts of the world through business transactions, socialization, and various forms of engagement on social media. One of the notable effects of social media development and use in China is that it has facilitated intercultural communication competence, an ability to interact more with other people from various cultural backgrounds with effectiveness and appropriateness (Qin, Strömberg, & Wu, 2017). Today, children in grade school use and carry smart gadgets everywhere. Undeniably, social media use in China has not only changed the lifestyle of the Chinese people but also changed how people communicate on various levels. In the current digital age, people are knowable to pass across messages to more people in a single communication (Wei, Xu, & Zhao, 2015). The direct consequence is that language has changed significantly, including use of short hand messages, use of emoticons (emoji) for effective communication, use of globally acronyms such as LOL and OMG, and the relative reliance of memes for communicating messages (Bolton & Graddol, 2012). Language has evolved, not just because of the dominance of a new generation of internet users, but also because of the said changes in the way people pass messages across.
The Use of English in the Chinese Society
In the Chinese society, the evolution of language has included both positive and negative aspects. Positive aspects include the ability to communicate widely with more people outside of one’s culture and the ability to keep current in socialization and other interactions and engagements with people. Negative aspects have included the inclusion of other languages, such as English, in daily communication. While such inclusion has led to better and effective communication on social media, it has also changed how young people in China view their own language and culture. The older generation of Chinese people in the society view the inclusion of other languages as a divergent element that takes away from the socio-cultural benefits of the community. However, the younger internet users on social media see other language, such as English, as an added advantage in interaction with other users from different cultures (Otsuji and Pennycook, 2010). The notions about the English language are therefore different amongst various social media users. The discursive practices in the Chinese language and those in the English language are made to converge through a new language style and format used on social media. For example, new language used includes a mixture of Chinese and English with the common use of emoticons and English phrases such as LOL (laughing out loud) or OMG (oh my god). While the concept of linguistic dystopia is portrayed as a death of language and its pollution (Jacquemet 2005), it also bears several advantages in the current society where young Chinese people are able to communicate better with others on social media for various reasons including business interactions or social engagements. The overall effect of the English language on written Chinese on social media is that there is a clear distortion of writing and communication rules compared to other forms of interactions.
The English language and the influences of the same to language use on social media has brought about linguistic diversity. Linguistic diversity is a powerful tool that creates new opportunities and is a core part of a society’s modernization. Social media and the use of the English language has increased the number of young Chinese people who are bi/multilingual, noted by Pennycook (2018) to welcome diversity instead of the traditional insistence on the use of one language. Notably, social media has led to multilingualism and multiculturalism as a new norm in Chinese urban centers and in different fields including the education sector, academia, and policymaking. Additionally, there is an emergence of linguistic creativity in the Chinese society, where social media users borrow, re-contextualize, and take up cultural and linguistic resources to create new languages, identities, and meanings (Jacquemet, 2005). Social media has turned language users in China to be creative and playful in a way that allows them to mingle and mix various cultural and linguistic codes in their Chinese (various dialects) with the dominant English language (Dovchin, Sultana, and Pennycook, 2016). The result is that new meanings are incomprehensible to a specific language as an independent entity. For example, using English rules to express oneself on social media while mixing various Chinese dialects may not make any sense to an individual language, but is effective and applicable to the said situation based on context.
Conclusion
The number of social media users has grown steadily from the late 20th century to become the highest in the world today. The new trends and continued social media use has meant more active young people and increased interactions with other cultures. The result is that Chinese youth language and culture has been altered significantly to factor in the rules of writing and communicating in the English language, including how people communicate outside of social media. More people are becoming bi/multilingual and creating new languages due to the need to interact with others outside of one’s main culture on social media. In the end, English has changed how Chinese people communicate on social media, leading to more consideration of recipients of messages and conforming to the demand for convenient and faster conveyance of messages.
References
Bamman, D., Eisenstein, J., & Schnoebelen, T. (2014). Gender identity and lexical variation in social media. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 18(2), 135-160.
Bolton, K., & Graddol, D. (2012). English in China today. English Today, 28(3).
Dovchin, S., Sultana, S., and Pennycook, A. (2016). Unequal translingual Englishes in the Asian peripheries. Asian Englishes, 18 (2), 92–108
Heath, SB. (1977). Social history. In Bilingual Education: Current Perspectives. Vol. 1: Social Science, pp. 53–72. Arlington, VA: Center for Applied Linguistics
Jacquemet, M. (2005). Transidiomatic practices: Language and power in the age of globalization. Language & Communication, 25(3), 257-277.
Otsuji, E., and Pennycook, A. (2010). Metrolingualism: Fixity, fluidity and language in flux. International Journal of Multilingualism , 7 (3), 240–254.
Pennycook, A. (2018). Posthumanist applied linguistics. Routledge, London.
Qin, B., Strömberg, D., & Wu, Y. (2017). Why does China allow freer social media? Protests versus surveillance and propaganda. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 31(1), 117-40.
Wei, J., Xu, J., & Zhao, D. (2015). Public engagement with firms on social media in China. Journal of Information Science, 41(5), 624-639.
Zhou, L., & Wang, T. (2014). Social media: A new vehicle for city marketing in China. Cities, 37, 27-32.