Browsing by Author "Negrea-Busuioc, Elena"

Now showing 1 - 6 of 6

Explaining solidarity through metaphors: two examples from a romanian textbook
(2021) Negrea-Busuioc, Elena
Solidarity is a complex, abstract, multifaceted concept that may be unpacked and used in a variety of situations, ranging from socio-economic and political contexts to the currently salient pandemic context. Defining solidarity, either in theory or in practice, requires connections to other less abstract ideas, which are more familiar to people. In this paper, I examine the way in which the concept of solidarity is defined and explained in a Romanian social studies textbook for 6th graders. My analysis focuses on two metaphorical framings of solidarity found in the textbook, namely ‘solidarity as exchange’ and ‘solidarity as assistance’. I discuss these examples of metaphors of solidarity in the context of broader discussions surrounding the construction of the intercultural society (of which solidarity is a crucial value) in textbooks.
Hate speech in the Romanian online media and its impact on peoplețs civic engagement with the Roma minority
(Publishing House of the Romanian Academy, 2023) Negrea-Busuioc, Elena; Buturoiu, Raluca; Oprea, Denisa Adriana; Boțan, Mădălina
In addition to their potential to stimulate conversation and participation in the (online) public sphere, social media have also become a springboard for hate speech (KhosraviNik & Esposito, 2018). Ethnic minorities are among the preferred targets of online hateful content. In this paper, we report findings from an experiment that measured the extent to which exposure to various degrees of hate speech on Facebook, accompanied by positive or negative comments, might influence Romanians’ willingness to engage civically with the Roma minority. The results show that the level of civic engagement is negatively impacted by exposure to hateful content, ranging from derogatory to extreme hate speech. People’s willingness to support the Roma minority is reduced by exposure to hateful Facebook posts accompanied by negative comments. Furthermore, negative comments are associated with lower levels of civic engagement, which may suggest that reactions to hate speech could play a more significant role than the post itself.
Science meets metaphor: Teaching and communicating about abstract concepts in Romanian science textbooks
(2022) Negrea-Busuioc, Elena; Ștefăniță, Oana; Guiu, Gabriela
Metaphors and analogies are efficient and attractive tools used in science teaching to explain ab-stract ideas in simpler, familiar terms. Science textbook authors and teachers rely on metaphors and analo-gies to explain abstract scientific concepts and convey them to young learners. In this paper, we discussa corpus of metaphorical expressions found in Romanian physics and chemistry textbooks for second-ary education (grades 6-8), and classified based on target domains (i.e., the core scientific conceptspresented in the unit lessons of the analyzed textbooks) and source domains (i.e., the more concrete,more familiar concepts used to explain scientific concepts from the analyzed textbooks). Furthermore,we explore the way in which the identified and annotated metaphors may provide the basis for under-standing core concepts from physics (e.g., electricity in terms of ‘water flowing’) and chemistry (e.g.,electron shells as ‘field track lanes’). This study is part of a larger research project which aims is to ex-amine how metaphors and analogies used in Romanian science textbooks are understood and misun-derstood by young learners and what (mis-) understanding complex scientific ideas might mean forpupils’ preparedness to make sense of the world we live in and, ultimately, for their future engagementwith and interest in science.
The Rise of Euroscepticism in Times of Crisis. Evidence from the 2008–2013 Eurobarometers
(College of Communication and Public Relations, NUPSPA, 2014) Bârgăoanu, Alina; Radu, Loredana; Negrea-Busuioc, Elena
The financial and economic turmoil within the European Union has significantly impacted upon the way in which the European citizens assess the advantages of EU membership and the future of the integration process. Intensely preoccupied with the economic problems, the EU leadership has lost sight of the constant decrease of public support and the increasing lack of citizens’ confidence in the Union. This paper seeks to show the dynamics of public opinion between 2008 and 2013 with a special focus on the rise of Euroscepticism, using secondary data analysis of standard Eurobarometers. Our longitudinal analysis reveals the dynamics of EU-related attitudes and perceptions before, during, and after most of events that are usually labeled under the rather generic term “crisis”.
‘They can’t fool me, but they can fool the others!’ Third person effect and fake news detection
(SAGE Publications, 2020) Corbu, Nicoleta; Oprea, Denisa Adriana; Negrea-Busuioc, Elena; Radu, Loredana
The aftermath of the 2016 US Presidential Elections and the Brexit campaign in Europe have opened the floor to heated debates about fake news and the dangers that these phenomena pose to elections and to democracy, in general. Despite a growing body of scholarly literature on fake news and its close relatives misinformation, disinformation or, more encompassing, communication and information disorders, few studies have so far attempted to empirically account for the effects that fake news might have, especially with respect to what communication scholars call the third person effect. This study aims to provide empirical evidence for the third person effect in the case of people’s self-perceived ability to detect fake news and of their perception of others’ ability to detect it. Based on a survey run in August 2018 and comprising a national, diverse sample of Romanian adults (N = 813), this research reveals that there is a significant third person effect regarding people’s self-reported ability to spot fake news and that this effect is stronger when people compare their fake news detection literacy to that of distant others than to that close others. Furthermore, this study shows that the most important predictors of third person effect related to fake news detection are education, income, interest in politics, Facebook dependency and confirmation bias, with age being a non-significant predictor.
What kind of Union? The future of the European Union as seen by the candidates to the European Commission Presidency in 2014 EP Elections
(Department of International Relations and European Integration of the National University of Political Studies and Public Administration (NUPSPA), 2014) Bârgăoanu, Alina; Negrea-Busuioc, Elena
There is no doubt that the European Union is at a crossroads. The recently (arguably) ended economic and financial crisis has left serious marks on the deep structure of the Union, which seems feebler than ever in its history. What is currently contested by politicians and people alike is the very raison d‟être of the European project: do we need a Union anymore? Should the European Union be abandoned or should it be revived and consolidated? These are serious and timely questions that require urgent attention. The 2014 EP elections offered a platform spread across Europe where issues such as the future of the EU could have been addressed. In this paper, we analyze the three debates between the candidates to the Presidency of the European Commission. We particularly focus on the scenarios for Europe proposed by three of the five main participants and examine their proposals against the arguments on the future of the European project made by established scholars and experts (i.e. federation, supranational democracy, Europe of nation states, an association of sovereign states, fiscal union, banking union, etc.)