Theoretical Reflection on Meaning Production of Media Discourse in Intercultural Communications

Media discourse in the context of intercultural communications is an important channel that countries and cultures use to communicate. It is also a process of meaning interpretation and knowledge production, which exerts a great impact on the establishment of the world's cultural order. This paper discusses media discourse in intercultural communications theoretically from the perspective of knowledge production, media dialogue and meaning construction. It is suggested that an effective ideographic mechanism be developed and improved, and the essential meaning of Chinese culture be initiatively exported and integrated into a knowledge system of cognition and understanding about the world to promote the understanding and exchange between China and other countries and to help create an equal and reasonable world cultural order.

Information Competency and Pressure-induced Legislation

Pressure-induced legislation occasioned by media discourse is actually the result of an information deficit on the part of legislators. If legislators＇ information competency fails to meet the knowledge challenges of the modem legal system and its activities, they will be powerless to resist the infiltration of media discourse. The result is that legislative activities are inextricably intertwined with the media; once a particular social issue is catapulted on to the media agenda, legislators have no choice but to fall into line, creating the phenomenon of pressure-induced legislation. The essential characteristic of law is its inherent constancy and stability, whereas pressure-induced legislation often loses the calmness, objectivity, prudence and comprehensiveness proper to law. Such legislative decision-making runs counter to the inherently rational mechanism of legislation and produces unfair and ineffective redistributive results. Pressure-induced legislation highlights the importance of information in public policy choices and institution design. It would be desirable for the whole legal system aimed at evaluating legislative performance to be introduced so as to provide legislators with a sufficient incentive to remodel their information competency and ensure the scientific nature and rationality of legislation.

Digital Devices and Self-Expression among Teenagers in Osogbo, South-Western Nigeria

Digital devices have reshaped human communication in today's technology driven society. These devices, as a medium of identity and self-expression, now determine personal, domestic, and corporate interactions by providing access to digital and online facilities enabled by an influx of computer and portable mobile devices into the Nigerian market. The effect of this digitalization on self-expression cuts across contexts and age categories. This study, driven by new media theory and the theory of transitivity in systemic functional linguistics, examined the influence of digital devices on identity and self-expression among undergraduate teenagers in Osogbo, Osun State. Carefully selected through stratified and convenience sampling techniques, undergraduate teenagers involved in the survey—which employed a questionnaire—and focus group discussions, revealed that their preference for interactive chats, social media picture galleries, captions on photographs, and video subtitles outweighed their propensity to read long or academic texts and partake in online economic activities. Most of our respondents explored online communication through their mobile devices, while others accessed the internet on personal computers at home with little or no parental guidance or supervision. Subsequently, age falsification, wrong or misleading self-identification, and a consequent cultural literacy were common among undergraduate teenagers online. A selfregulation facility was then recommended alongside parental and caregiver monitoring of teenagers' virtual communication to reduce the influence of social media on teenagers' time management and self-identity. Further research is also recommended in the field of ICT to detect age falsification and other forms of online false-identity among minors.

A Cultural Analysis on Women’s Issues in Islam

This article gives a general survey of the mainstream spirit of Islamic views on women as well as Western media’s misperception of women in Islam,and analyzes the reason,phenomena and essence of their mutual misunderstandings.Academically,the theory of“origin and variation”is introduced as a new methodological tool to study the women’s issues in Islam in order to provide an authentic explanation.

The Power of Language： Globalizing ＂The Chinese Dream＂

After assuming the Chinese presidency in March 2013, Xi Jinping introduced the new political slogan ＂the Chinese Dream,＂ which he does not only address to the domestic audience but also aims to promote to the world. Since his inaugural trip abroad, Xi has repeatedly speeches when addressing international catchphrase received as much appeal as used the term ＂Chinese Dream＂ in his audiences. However, nowhere has the in Africa. Simultaneously, African academics and other interested parties have observed the promotion of the idea of an African Dream by the Chinese Communist Party （CCP） with great suspicion as they view it simply as a projection of China＇s own foreign policy onto Africa. But what do the Chinese Dream and African Dream actually mean？ How can we make sense out of these terms？ In order to decode or demystify the meaning behind the Chinese Dream narrative in the context of China＇s foreign policy, this paper argues that it is essential to examine how it is constructed and projected to the international audience, in particular to Africa. The Chinese Dream is understood as a narrative which is strategically used by the CCP in order to shape perceptions and behavior of other international actors according to their own agenda. Moreover, the dynamic interactions between the media and politics and how they impinge on the formation and projection of the Chinese Dream and African Dream narrative will also be taken into account.