Speakers
Description
The rapid development of social media platforms has significantly altered the way people communicate and express their opinions. Facebook is one of the most popular social networks worldwide, allowing users a place to freely voice their opinions, discuss current events and join networks with other communities. However, alongside the diversity of opinions and individual voices, Facebook has also bred a negative culture of its own - a culture of intolerance.
This qualitative study explored the representations of cultural intolerance in public posts and comments on Facebook in Vietnam. Seven public Facebook posts and 110 related comments were collected using keywords related to culturally sensitive topics (e.g., religion, ethnicity, traditions). The data were classified and analysed based on Baldwin et al.’s (2023) framework, which categorizes intolerance into cognition, stereotypes, prejudice, behavior, policy and social structure, ethnocentrism, and discrimination. The content analysis of the posts and comments demonstrated that prejudiced and stereotypical comments dominate the manifestations of cultural intolerance on Facebook. This research suggests that Facebook is not only a space for cultural exchange but also a platform that amplifies negative attitudes and engrains prejudices toward cultural, racial, and gender differences. This research provides valuable insights for readers to identify and handle cultural intolerance when using Facebook.
Biography
Dr. Lam Thi Lan Huong earned her Bachelor and Master degrees in TESOL in University of Foreign Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, and her PhD in Education at the University of Newcastle, Australia in 2018. She has more than twenty years of experience in teaching and conducting research. Her research interests include but are not limited to TESOL methodologies, intercultural communication, language and culture, professional development, educational management and internationalization of higher education. She worked as the project assistant for the book project entitled “English Tertiary Education in Vietnam” in the series of Routledge Critical Studies in Asia Education by Taylor and Francis group and published a chapter in this book. She has presented her work at various national and international conferences. Her works have also been published locally and internationally.
Ms. Hoang Thi Ha is the Class Manager at Babel English School, Hanoi. She is interested in teaching English to small children and adolescence and doing research in culture and language.
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