Papers by Ellen Van Praet
Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2020
Ecommerce livestreaming, also known as live commerce or social commerce, has taken off over the p... more Ecommerce livestreaming, also known as live commerce or social commerce, has taken off over the past two years in East Asia and is showing the tendency of going global. Intrigued by the phenomenal success of ecommerce livestream, we concentrate on analyzing the most prominent and illustrative example of Chinese ecommerce live-streamer Austin Li. Through this individual case study, we aim to investigate discursive strategies employed in ecommerce livestreaming and reveal resources specific to this new media genre. Guided by multimodal discourse analysis, our research first accommodates the socioeconomic context of Li's success to warrant social situatedness in interpreting data. After that we move into analyzing his discourse employed in livestreaming. Research findings suggest that in attention economy, Li strategically utilizes his male gender as a resource in trying on lipsticks for female customers. His discourse in multiple modes serves to build consumer trust and propagate products. An in-depth analysis of his discursive strategies indicates that, ecommerce livestreaming as a new form of advertising not only shares commonalities with traditional advertisement discourse but also embodies affordances that are specific to livestreaming platforms. To be more specific, livestreaming is featured with delimitation of time, real-time interactivity, and video-aided communication. These affordances enable Li to adopt more interactive and personalized persuasive discourse than conventional advertisements.
Linguistic Landscapes and Educational Spaces, 2022
Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork at Kind en Gezin (K&G), the organization that monitors childcar... more Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork at Kind en Gezin (K&G), the organization that monitors childcare for the Flemish authorities in Belgium, we analyzed 74 video recorded conversations between service providers and immigrant mothers (for a general overview of the research project, we refer to the presentation of Van Praet, De Wilde & Rillof). In this paper we discuss a subpart of the total corpus (15 video recorded conversations out of 74), thereby zooming in on the institutional encounters where two service providers – non-Turkish nurses on the one hand and Dutch-Turkish bilingual family support workers on the other – collaborate in order to enhance service quality provided to Turkish-speaking mothers. The first part of the paper addresses the implications of the organization’s multilingual strategies, some of which are no longer suited to face the challenges posed by a growing superdiverse society. Analyzing institutional documents and interview content with key figures, we set out ...
In this paper, we report on the design and development of an interactive web app to facilitate th... more In this paper, we report on the design and development of an interactive web app to facilitate the communication between service providers of Kind & Gezin (Child & Family) and foreign mothers with limited Dutch proficiency (lower than or equal to A1, CEFR). The multimodal web app, available on Windows 8 tablets, groups various support tools, such as videos, images, pictograms, icons, translations, links to existing medical apps, spoken messages in foreign languages and telephone or webcam interpreting. Besides developing the web-app, the aim of the research project was to measure the intrinsic impact of the web app on service quality and to gauge practitioner and client satisfaction. Closely collaborating with practitioners of Kind & Gezin, we analysed 15 video recorded conversations between public service providers and immigrant mothers with app, and 15 conversations without app, both quantitatively and qualitatively. The filmed excerpts were coded, analyzed and systematically inco...
Journal of Pragmatics, 2011
This special issue marks a significant step in the development of a linguistics of news productio... more This special issue marks a significant step in the development of a linguistics of news production. It is part of a long tradition in media studies which started in the 1970s with a number of ethnographies conducted by news sociologists who went into newsrooms and whose observational studies of news organisations provided the first insights into how the news is actually made (Golding and Elliott, 1979; Schlesinger, 1987; Tuchman, 1978). More recently, researchers from a wide range of discourse-related disciplines have started to insist that we investigate the discursive processes that shape the news product (
Het onderzoek omvat een analyse van verbale en non-verbale interactie in dienstverleningsgesprekk... more Het onderzoek omvat een analyse van verbale en non-verbale interactie in dienstverleningsgesprekken van Kind en Gezin met anderstalige clienten. Op basis van een steekproef van 74 geobserveerde en gefilmde dienstverleningsgesprekken wordt een communicatiematrix voorgesteld die schematisch weergeeft welke brugfuncties idealiter worden ingezet in welke dienstverleningscontext of in welk onderdeel / voor welk doeleinde van een dienstverleningsgesprek, rekening houdend met de meertalige context van het gesprek. De filmdata werden zowel kwantitatief als kwalitatief geanalyseerd.
Op grond van een vergelijkende discoursanalytische studie, steunend op Appraisal Theory (Iedema, ... more Op grond van een vergelijkende discoursanalytische studie, steunend op Appraisal Theory (Iedema, Feez & White 2008 [1994]; Martin & Rose 2007 [2003]; Martin & White 2005; Thomson, White & Kitley 2008), gekoppeld aan face-to-face diepte-interviews, onderzoekt het artikel in welke mate de meertalige context in Belgie de buitenlandberichtgeving over dit land beinvloedt. Eenzijdige selectie van bronnen, stereotiepe invalshoeken en hardnekkige referentiekaders zouden het beeld van de realiteit vertekenen, met nadelige gevolgen voor het imago van Belgen in het buitenland. Bestaat het gevaar dat informatie verloren gaat als gevolg van ingewikkelde taalkwesties? Zijn buitenlandcorrespondenten zich bewust van de mogelijke valstrikken van het gescheiden medialandschap in Belgie? Vertrouwt een groot aantal buitenlandcorrespondenten inderdaad uitsluitend op Franstalige bronnen? En is er een aantoonbaar verschil in perspectief merkbaar? Concreet gaat het artikel dieper in op een welbepaald nieuw...
Social services and public services are facing a remarkable diversity of clients today. Existing ... more Social services and public services are facing a remarkable diversity of clients today. Existing tools for communication do not always work or are not used efficiently. To better bridge the communication gap between service providers and multilingual immigrant clients, Kruispunt Migratie-Integratie, an independent organization, recognized and subsidized by the Flemish government to develop expertise on migration, integration and ethno-cultural diversity set up a joint exploratory research with Ghent University and Kind & Gezin (K&G), the organization that monitors childcare for the Flemish authorities in Belgium. Closely collaborating with practitioners and policymakers, Ghent University researchers analyzed 74 video recorded conversations between K &G service providers and immigrant mothers, both quantitatively and qualitatively. The project was financed by Kruispunt Migratie-Integratie, the data collection was done by Kind & Gezin, the filmed excerpts were coded, analyzed and syst...
Internal communication is an essential element to create willingness to change in organizations (... more Internal communication is an essential element to create willingness to change in organizations (Elving 2005a, 2005b; Clampitt et al. 2000; Armenakis et al. 2007). In this paper, we present the results of a mixed method research assessing change communication in a Belgian governmental institution which recently implemented a change in its organizational structure. Our approach to the data was twofold. The descriptive, quantitative first part of the research relies on a survey of 718 staff members involved in the change. The survey consists of 30 questions assessing the internal communication about the change, and the staff’s willingness to change. The questionnaire is based on existing instruments - such as the ICA audit, the scales of Armenakis et al (2007) and Wanous et al (2000). We addressed the following research questions: RQ1 - To what extent are staff members willing to go along with the change? RQ2 - To what extent are staff members satisfied with the internal communication...
In this chapter we report on a simulation-based experiment which was set up to test a custom-made... more In this chapter we report on a simulation-based experiment which was set up to test a custom-made multilingual app. The app had been designed to facilitate healthcare consultations for immigrant mothers with limited proficiency in the host country’s language. We investigate to which extent the app advances the clarification of complex, abstract notions. In doing so, we focus on two questions: (i) Does technological facilitation reduce the time needed to explain abstract notions to the mothers? (ii) Does technological facilitation reduce the amount of hand gestures needed to explain the abstract notions? Relying on both experimental and qualitative research methods, we describe the results of a two-group between-subjects experiment, in which respondents (N = 12) were randomly assigned to either a consultation with app (N = 7), or a consultation without app (N = 5). The findings address lengthened visit time, a reduced usage of hand gestures, and additional training needs. The chapter...
Both in social sciences and public institutions, there is growing recognition that contexts of ra... more Both in social sciences and public institutions, there is growing recognition that contexts of rapid change, diversity, mobility and the negotiation and mediation of complex affiliations highlight the constraints of conventional language policies in public service encounters. Our paper critically questions traditional language policy views insisting on language proficiency in a single ‘national’, ’legitimate’ language as the touchstone of social cohesion and integration. In addressing this question, we zoom in on the day to day practices of service providers working with multilingual immigrants in an urban area in Belgium. Closely collaborating with practitioners and policymakers, we analyzed 74 video recorded conversations between public service providers and immigrant mothers, both quantitatively and qualitatively. The project was financed by Kruispunt Migratie-Integratie, an independent organization, subsidized by the Flemish government to develop expertise on migration, integrat...
Overheidsdiensten en sociale dienstverleners worden steeds vaker met een opvallende diversiteit a... more Overheidsdiensten en sociale dienstverleners worden steeds vaker met een opvallende diversiteit aan clienten geconfronteerd. De Vakgroep Vertalen, Tolken en Communicatie van Universiteit Gent ontwikkelde, naar een concept van Kruispunt Migratie-Integratie en met de medewerking van Kind en Gezin, een meetinstrument om de communicatie met anderstalige clienten die het Nederlands niet of slechts beperkt beheersen in kaart te brengen. Met de steun van het Impulsfonds kreeg dit initiatief een vervolg en wordt een multimodale app ontwikkeld voor een Windows 8 tablet die de communicatie tussen anderstalige moeders en dienstverleners van Kind en Gezin faciliteert.
FITISPos International Journal, 2019
In a 21 st century superdiverse world, public service providers increasingly resort to technologi... more In a 21 st century superdiverse world, public service providers increasingly resort to technologies facilitating face-to-face consultations. In this paper, we evaluate the use and efficiency of a multilingual website in 11 video-recorded consultations of HIV/STI counselling. We address three central research questions: (i) How is the multilingual website embedded (or not) in the consultations? (ii) For what particular communicative purposes? (iii) How are the interactional routines shaped by the use of the multilingual website? The results show that the website is most efficient in consultations characterized by high levels of institution-specific arrangements of talk enabling varying tasks, e.g. announcing the taking of a HIV test, asking the patient's consent for taking a HIV test, exploring sexual risk behaviours and infections, empowering the patient in the search for reliable information on sexual health related topics.
Technology Mediated Service Encounters, 2019
This chapter reports on the design and implementation of a multilingual, mobile app to facilitate... more This chapter reports on the design and implementation of a multilingual, mobile app to facilitate the communication in language discordant service encounters (SE). It describes the results of a two-group between-subjects experiment, in which respondents (N=20) were randomly assigned to either a SE with app (N=11), or a SE without app (N=9). The research builds on the hypothesis that technological mediation facilitates the transfer of information. To verify this hypothesis, it relies on qualitative and quantitative research data: (i) SERVQUAL satisfaction questionnaires and (ii) interaction analysis of video-recorded SEs. The findings address concerns of lengthened visit time, reduced eye contact and additional training needs. The chapter closes with brief guidelines for unlocking the potential of mHealth in language discordant SEs.
Multilingua, 2018
This paper addresses the challenges service providers are facing amidst growing ethnolinguistic d... more This paper addresses the challenges service providers are facing amidst growing ethnolinguistic diversity in a neoliberal climate. We focus on the public service provider Kind & Gezin (K&G), the agency that monitors the wellbeing of young children on behalf of the Flemish authorities in Belgium. We demonstrate that the organisation has taken various multilingual measures that go against the government’s preference for monolingual service provision. This is particularly the case for ‘bottom-up’ bilingual practices, where bilingual family support workers and medical staff developed bilingual routines in service provision, much in line with the ‘client-centered communication’ which K&G professes. Whereas these practices were initially endorsed by K&G’s management, a further diversification of K&G’s clientele, along with budgetary restrictions, prompted management to restrict these practices and explore alternative ways of providing multilingual services that do not require the recruitm...
Interpreting. International Journal of Research and Practice in Interpreting, 2018
In response to calls in the literature for more collaborative practice in interpreter training, t... more In response to calls in the literature for more collaborative practice in interpreter training, this paper describes the design, implementation and part of the evaluation of an innovative joint training intervention for interpreting students (Master’s level) and 3rd- and 4th-year medical students at Ghent University. In order to assess the development of the students’ knowledge and skills, we employed self-efficacy questionnaires; the training intervention was evaluated in a debriefing session with trainers from both fields. A development in skills that involve direct interaction with the primary participants and address specific communicative goals was noted. Our initial evaluation suggests that interprofessional education and collaborative practice in interpreter training can create the conditions for interpreting students to develop a more insightful and reflective approach to their interpreting practice.
Uploads
Papers by Ellen Van Praet