volume-23-number-3

Editor-in-Chief: Joseph Ching Velasco

Preliminaries

Year: 2023, Volume 23 Number 3

Abstract: The present study investigated school-aged bullying history among university students in Sarawak and its relationship with depressive and PTSD symptoms and types of bullying. A total of 499 university students (Mage = 19.52, SD = 1.58) participated in this cross-sectional study, of which 72.1% (n = 360) were females and 27.9% (n = 139) were males. Results indicated a high prevalence of bullying history, 38.1% (n = 190); 21.4% (n = 107) identified as victims, 9.4% (n = 47) bullies (perpetrators), and 7.2% (n = 36) are bully–victims (being both perpetrators and victims). Participants with a bullying history scored significantly higher in depressive and PTSD symptoms. Based on the present findings, school-aged bullying history is one of the potentially traumatic events experienced by university students. The present findings contribute to the knowledge of the risk of developing depressive and PTSD symptoms. Prevention and intervention plans are needed to prevent school bullying from getting worse. Finally, it should be cautioned that this study adopted a convenient sample, and thus, the results cannot be generalized to other university students.

Keywords: School-aged bullying, depression, PTSD symptoms, university students, trauma

Abstract: When it comes to the perception and processing of social information, role schema serves as a key concept in cultural linguistics, which processes information about the perception of humans to make sense of the complex world and society, information about people, social groups, and events; therefore, the theory is valuable in deciphering culturally constructed concepts with the full range of human experience expressed through the linguistic picture of each ethnic community. Recognizing that the hierarchical cultural characteristics of the two ethnic communities of Vietnam and Japan are most clearly shown through the kinship words in the family and display the meaning of the role of each person in each family and society, we have named the paper “Similarities and Differences in Vietnamese- Japanese Language and Culture: A Study on the Domain of Words Indicating Kinship Relations from Role Schema Theory.” In this paper, based on the theoretical perspective of the role schema in cultural linguistics, a survey and a study are conducted in detail on the similarities and differences between the Vietnamese and Japanese kinship words with collected data from Từ Điển Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese Dictionary; Phe, 2021) and Japanese dictionary – Shinmeikai Kokugojiden (Yamada et al., 2021). Based on the semantic characteristics, structural system, and cultural characteristics of Vietnam and Japan, the qualitative method is deployed to definitely demonstrate the characteristics through specific hierarchies in the class from kinship. In addition, quantitative methods are applied to draw diagrams and tabulate the number of kinship words in Vietnamese and Japanese to clarify the ability to operate similar and different cultural characteristics in these two languages. Thereby, we apply the research results of the article as a source of materials that not only support teaching and translation of a second foreign language but also serve as a foundation for applying situations of intercultural communication between Vietnamese and Japanese.

Keywords: role schemas, culture, cultural linguistics, kinship words, Vietnamese ethnic community

Abstract: The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has not only undermined global health but has also shaken the economy at large. Gig workers in the ride-hailing, goods delivery, and food delivery sectors, which are predicted as future jobs and categorized as essential jobs, are one of the jobs hardest hit by COVID-19. Gig work, currently characterized as piecework and without job security, where the workers depend on daily income, makes it one of the most vulnerable jobs. So when the COVID-19 pandemic occurred, their income decreased drastically, and the lack of job protection forced them to live in
poverty. This article analyzes the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on gig workers in Indonesia. This study uses a mixed method in data collection that was carried out by in-depth interviews (52 people), focus group discussions (two times), and surveys (290 gig workers). We found that: (a) there was a 67% decline in income during the COVID-19 pandemic, and a downward trend also occurred before the pandemic due to the end of the honeymoon period; (b) the lack of job protection during the COVID-19 pandemic forced gig workers to work longer and work harder to get bigger income opportunities; and (c) gig workers’ gain position is weak due to large queues of workers (marketplace power), jobs that can be replaced by other people at any time (workplace power), and weak organization of gig workers (associational power) makes them unable to win demands for protection and rights for digital gig workers.

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic, gig workers, social security, workers’ power, precarious work

Abstract: The worsening state of local traffic conditions in many cities has motivated local government units to implement new mechanisms that can improve the welfare of various stakeholders. The introduction of a traffic discipline zone (TDZ) is one of the recent innovations in managing road traffic. This study identifies the social and gender issues arising from the implementation of a TDZ through the conduct of focus group discussions. A diverse group of participants, including informal public utility drivers, ambulant vendors, barangay executives, and school officials, identified traffic and safety concerns in
the vicinity of De La Salle University, Malate District in Manila, Philippines. A questionnaire survey was also conducted to supplement the results of the focus group discussions. These issues include the unavailability of parking spaces due to the increasing volume of vehicles; traffic violations of informal drivers such as tricycles and rickshaws, commonly known as pedicabs; and the proliferation of street vendors occupying the sidewalks. Furthermore, this study provides details regarding social issues, including the issue of gender in relation to pedicab drivers and vendors, such as pedicab drivers being male-dominated and female vendors being older and with more years of experience selling in the streets but earning less compared to male vendors. Recommendations on how to address these issues from the perspectives of the stakeholders are also discussed.

Keywords: social issues, traffic discipline zone, stakeholders, traffic congestion, ambulant vendors, rickshaw drivers, gender
issues